Red (Jaye!)

Quiet as a mouse, Vixen moved through the woods. She was careful, very careful, not to make a sound, watching the ground for piles of leaves and dry sticks as she strode. However, her mind was not completely on her movements, her body having been trained to stealth to the point that it was second nature.

Instead, the young woman's dark eyes were trained on the scroll in her hands. It was an old, worn thing, stained with age and a small splatter of blood near the corner. Nevertheless, the contents were nearly perfectly preserved, the dark outlines of trails having been marked clearly and consisely. A map, it was... but not just any map.

It may have been nearly suicidal to 'sneak' through forign shinobi woods, but Vixen couldn't help it. She couldnt. When her abilities were stolen, so was her contract with the phoenixes, and she would to anything to repair it.

The young assassin's face twisted into a sharp scowl as she suppressed the udge to shout. No matter how well the directions were contained, they were still far too confusing - even for a skilled navigator such as herself.

Fighting down the frustration broiling in her gut, she took one, two breathes, before relaxing her sharp grip on the parchment she held. Vixen forced herself to calm down, despite the fact that she never let her guard down, and just take a quick moment to assess herself. She was decked into convenient clothing - in this case, a tight black sleeveless and dark shorts, with calf-high kunochi boots, arm bandages, and finglerless gloves as accessories. Though she wore no makeup or jewelry, her loose ponytail was still immaculate, and Vixen still looked stunning.

However, she was moving too slowly. If she wanted to find her summons without being caught, she needed to be quieter, more careful. She needed to be more silent than silence itself. It was with this mindset that she began walking once again, meaning no harm to Fire Country's inhabitants and only looking to reform a lost contract she had made.

However, little did Vixen know that finding her phoenixes would have to wait until later.

It had always been dark in the forests of Konoha, one of the best places to see the animals of the village in their natural habitat and to also seclude yourself from the world. Underneath a single canopy of trees one man or rather male sat, his eyes sat on a single area as he hummed lowly to himself. The Coal eyes had slowly flickered from the hues of red to a soft silver as he stood up and removed a few strands of his long black hair from his face, his mind wandering to what had been about the forest.

Beside him sat a single white hare, and a weasel that he had befriended not too long ago, his mind in pure tranquility as he wondered about what he could do now. Strength that been an important aspect to him now that he had the power his student and his teacher had but...What could he do about it. He had recently stored the body of the man who had given him these gifts in an undisclosed location, so it was safe for a moment. Now he needed to form a plan but before he could the animals about him looked up and ran.

Something had disturbed the flow of the forest and they had caught wind of it. Standing up he stretched his senses further before finding a chakra signature in the midst of the forest. With this he moved towards it at top speeds in a blur, coming to be in front of the body within seconds. His Silver eyes pierced the dark veil of the forest as he leaned against the tree's trunk obviously being in the way of them moving," And what brings you to these forests?"

Vixen wasn't stupid. She wasn't nearly oblivious enough to let her guard down in an enemy's territory, especially not one as dark and dense as the forest in which she stood. However, at the same time, she had overestimated her abilities. For years, she had maintained high speed and even higher reaction time. The new decrease in both was unsettling, and though she heard the rustling of an approaching shinobi, the assassin would have never guessed she would not have the time to even remove a katana from a pack.

However, as she turned to face the sound, Vixen found herself already looking up into the eyes of a stranger.

The girl didn't jump or jolt, didn't even widen her eyes. She was too used to surprises. However, she couldn't deny the jump in her heartbeat at the sudden appearance of the man. Vixen maintained her cool, gazing up into his ashen depths as coolly and calmly as she had ever done. Weak as she may be at the moment, she wouldn't dare show it. "I'm looking for something," she replied simply, "but it isn't trouble." She knew better than to be brash towards the new shinobi. So, instead of making a snarky comment and continuing on her way - which, mind you, she was tempted to do in her irritated state - she waited, watching the man intensely, and remained tense for any move he could make. 

Vixen wasn't stupid. She knew when to play it cool.

One move was all it took for this to get ugly yet Zero..Rather Touki didn't particularly mind this. slipping one of his hands into the depths of his pockets he observed the female for a moment before smiling and pointing towards the direction of the village he simply said," If that was the case then you should enter the actual village instead of sneaking through the forest. One might not like someone not of this village slipping through the cracks just to look for something, do not you not agree," the silver eyes had continued to look over the female for a moment. Judging from her body type she had to be around teenage age if not near it, though he wondered what affiliation she was under. Though it was in his jurisdiction to ask this, he simply waited for one question at a time to be answered before moving on with the next.

Vixen maintained and air of impassiveness about her as Zero spoke, schooling her facial expressions carefully into the mask of a true assassin. However, she made no move to fight nor flee, not having been shown a reason to... yet. So far, despite the general stiffness between a village Shinobi and a trespassing Nukenin, there was little tension. It was actually very calm.

Vixen felt her guard raise higher.

"You may be right, but the object of my mission is located here, many kilometers from the village gates. I have no reason to impose on your... Hokage, as you refer to him, and enter the village. Doing so would be a mutual hindrance," she replied, watching Zero carefully. The Shinobi may have been smiling, but any half-decent actor could pull off a grin. Vixen didn't buy it... not at all. "I wish only to complete my mission and leave, if you don't mind. No harm will be directed towards the citizens of Konohagakure no Sato unless I am provoked." It was an honest statement. She had no reason to lie, after all.

"Whether that be the case or not, in order to be in these areas that are owned by this village, your presence will need to be known by the village itself. Whatever you need from this area can be obtained easily by not sneaking and complying...unless we must get physical in order to get our point across?," the words slipped effortlessly from their mouth as the male continued to stare at the woman for a moment, waiting for the smallest movement that would have caused for retaliation. With this being said of course his arms dropped to the side silently as he sized her up and asked a follow up question," What mission do you have that makes it necessary to sneak about a countries territory? Such words make one highly suspicious of your motives...We require you to come with us in order to see whether your intentions are good or evil, if you shall comply this will go smoothly and you shall be on your way. If not? Force will be required," his tone sounded serious and a mix of multiple voices as he rolled his shoulders and waited for a response.

A vague look of annoyance crossed Vixen’s face as the man spoke. Really, she did not have time for this. All the teen wanted was to find her summons, reform a contract and leave. However, it seemed this Konoha shinobi was hellbent on wasting her time. Still, she didn’t let these aggravated thoughts show on her face… much, anyway. Her lips merely twisted slightly and her eyebrows furrowed in aggravation; nevertheless, her crimson irises still sparked a bit. She still made no move to attack.

“Oooh, Vixie…~ His will is strong…”

“...”

“...I wonder if he'd las--”

“...Shut up, Semira. Now isn’t the time…”

God, her Yuumei had such terrible tact.

Only a few moments after Zero finished speaking were spent on consideration, because Vixen simply didn’t need any longer. Difficulty would not benefit her. Compliance would, no matter how far it initially set her back.

“Very well,” she relented, a drop of her inner irritation flavoring her level voice, “violence will not be necessary. I will report to your superiors.” Not that she wanted to. In ordinary circumstances, Vixen would have already been gone. This weakness was annoying… very annoying. This was shown just a little more as a brief huff left her nose. “And if you must know, I am looking to reform a contract with my summon race. They are ever-so-conveniently located on your territory, though I suppose their current land is better than their prior, the Land of Volcanoes.”

Honestly, honesty was really getting old. She hated this. “You may refer to me as Vixen.” The assassin didn’t feel the need to supply him with a birth name, especially since she hadn’t used it in over a decade. She also didn't feel the need to tell him that she was, in fact, a foreigner from a distant land unknown to the shinobi; her accent was tangible, after all.

At least she had an excuse as to why not even a trace of her identity would be found on any village record.

Honesty. Vixen supposed it paid off sometimes.