Royal Emissary: Rogue Destruction! [NK,IO,P]

Spoiler:

Another day had passed and Atem was in the forest training his physical prowess with his sword, swinging it felt so natural and as he did he would always imagine the vital points of an enemy being in the spot corresponding with the swing’s height, speed and position. “Neck, heart, right eye.” Atem said as he swung or thrusted his finely made ninjato. Soon he would hear the rumbling of trees from 15 meters away, he was able to detect that someone was jumping from branch to branch and the sounds were getting louder and louder meaning that the person was getting closer to Atem’s position.


Atem would continue to act normal until the person got within the range of five meters of him, the sound was coming from behind him so he would have to use his other senses in order to determine what course of action he should take against this person. He knew this couldn’t have been Lucien because he was incredibly loud, finally closing in the person darts out from the tree and Atem turns his body at maximum speed with his ninjato held in both of his hands ready to slice the what seemed to be a ninja from the waist up.


Turning around he could see that the ninja was actually a messenger, Atem stopped in his tracks and bowed for his actions. “Atem? This letter is for you.” The female messenger said throwing the letter as if it were a kunai. Catching the letter he then opened it up and began to read. “ A visiting royal has unfortunately lost his/her way at the Haven borders and it is your task to first track them down and the lead them to Hoshigakure safely. Beware though, bandits are rumored to wander the borders and an organization called Jaws of Grima seems to have it out for the royalty of Haven. Should you encounter the
rogues, you are required to deal with them however you deem wise.” Is what the letter read.

“So, a mission huh?” Atem said. “I must head to the border s of Hoshi immediately to find this royal before they die. It would be sad if I didn’t get a reward for this.” Atem said striding to the forest. In a matter of minutes he was at the village gates and began to walk in the opposite direction of the village to begin a fresh start. “Okay, where to look?” Atem asked himself as he walked.

[WC 415]

Lucien had saw Atem from 35 meters away. Granted where he was, he suspected Atem of being on a mission of some kind. "Hmph, wouldn't hurt to join in and see what's going on around here." 

Lucien expected Atem to be able to sense him but proceeded into the area in a casual manner as always. "Sup Atem, I see you're on a mission of sorts, am I right? Mind if I tag along?" Lucien said looking out from the village gates as the large and winding path stretched outward from there. 


"Hmm, I remember when I walked here. What a strange day that was Kozai..." 
Lucien thought to himself. 

He'd now await for Atem's response as he at this point stood to his left of him by 1 meter or so. 

As usual, Lucien took a moment to further scan the area for various scents it seemed calm and peaceful at the moment which was fine by him. 

"So?" Lucien Asked. 

WC: 162

Lucien listened along and waited for the words of intel or rather instructions, he'd save those in his mind with a up-most importance as to not forget. 

"Oh, a rescue or counter operation, sounds like fun." 

As Atem would take off, Lucien would follow about and move from branch to branch until Atem called a halt. At this moment, he began scanning the surrounding forest with his clan's bloodline activated. 

"Well it looks like we aren't in range yet at all as I can't smell metals, blood or other common bandit traits from any directions. Nor do I see anything. As for sound, it's silent out here except for my talking." 

Lucien decided to check one more time making sure to look at all his directions including up and down. 

"Well then, in that case, should we progress along that path down to right but remain within the treeline as to not be seen? If the royal one went out here, she must have traveled on the path as the forest isn't suitable for royal garments by normal means." 

This entire time, Lucien would have his right hand connected to his Ninjato's hilt just in case something decided to be a pest while out here. 

He awaited response. 

WC: 370 
206 - 10 = 196 AP
- 10 AP for bloodline

Lucien became exceptionally interesting in the quest that he was now partaking it. It had been a while since he was running through the forest trying to hunt things while avoiding detection. In truth, it was rather refreshing to his average routine of going about in Hoshi each day despite Hoshi being such a great place and all. 

Atem agreed with moving down and checking the path and as he moved, Lucien would quickly follow. 

Now as a few minutes had passed, they were moving along the right side of the path aided by the obstructing tree line. Granted the environment they were both moving in, they made no sound what so ever. That's when a gold and purple carriage emerged into the view of both of them. They halted and inspected as suit. Lucien took in a quick area check before jumping into the path alongside Atem. 

"Hmm.... This carriage seems to have a special made wood within the seating area of it. The roof was open as well and it rained earlier in this day. With all that being true, this wood smells of a specific smell, mold like but faint. The trees around here aren't made from that wood and they have bark regardless. Thus, if I need to, I can track this smell as well. Anywho who would have sat in here would have this just lingering from them. But not for long." Lucien thought.

Lucien quickly relayed that information verbally to Atem in whispers. 

Regardless, he was passed the piece of cloth and he observed it for specific visual patterns in case he'd need to correlate them for later. While at work with that, he solidified the smell of the material as well. It has a strange perfume scent to it, something very distinct. 

"No prints anywhere either, strange..." 

"Alright, we'll move in sync and I'll be going along the left side of the road, you take the right. Flash any hand sign if you want me to halt. As I suspect we're both thinking, we should head left." 

Lucien would position himself at 38 speed to the left side of the path and hide in the nearby forest. "Oh and by the way, start suppressing your chakra, we're getting into the danger zone sorta." 

And from that point on, Lucien would no longer talk and simply wait for Atem to start moving so that he could continue onward as well. 

Feeling the gripping wetness of the grass below him as he helped his right palm into it, Lucien thought. "It's funny really, nature is like an echochamber of sounds, step on anything and poof. I'll make sure to avoid leaves and branches or twigs, in this way, my movement will remain silenced." 


Before moving, Lucien would suppress his chakra and wait. 

WC: 837
196 - 15 = 181 AP
- 15 AP for bloodlines

Lucien was now moving about on the left side of the path as soon as Atem began moving. At this point, they traveled for a while until Atem gave the halt hand sign of which Lucien would respond to. Atem relayed the information of the smoke and the size of the clearing up ahead to him as fast as possible. 

"I see heh... I'll remain on ground." Lucien said just loud enough for Atem to hear him clearer from the ground, otherwise, barely a whisper." Lucien saw Atem sprang back into motion and decided that he would do the same. Now knowing the size and area of what he was dealing with, he'd need to scope out the competition and figure out what course of action was best suited for the initial goal of the mission. To get the royal lady and escape with her. Moving along the right side of the path, Lucien noticed as the clearing started to form in close range, staying within 5 meters from it, he moved in the cover of the treelines while remaining quiet and suppressed of chakra. He kept moving around the clearing on its edge. 

"I see heh. 5 guys, the lady's pretty tall as well. The man next to here seems to be a bit stronger than all the others. In terms of assessing who's of most importance. It's obviously the royal one, in that case, that makes the one closest to here the target of priority. We could all and well leave without having any kills on our belt of these fodder looking guys, but I'm in a good mood so I feel like doing the nearby villages a favor and getting rid of these stupid punks. This entire clearing is within range of my keen vision as well as smelling, in that way, fighting them all head on would be an easy bet but not for the safety of the royal one which is most important. Him... I should regroup with Atem and form a plan." Lucien thought to himself, all in about no time at all. 

Lucien would then circle entirely around the camp getting a much better view of it all while he was still moving towards Atem. 

"There each carrying a longsword along with a dagger attached to their left side, there are a few tents as well but these won't be of any importance, I don't smell any metal coming from those areas, if there were any, that would generally mean weapons inside and otherwise people, but no. There's none." 

Lucien would now be moving towards Atem's side on the right side of the clearing in relation to the path they took. Speaking just enough for a member of his own clan to hear, Lucien began talking. "So, I know we gotta take out the main threat next to the princess first. But what do you feel like doing, taking them all out or just escaping with her. I think the villages nearby would prefer the former more so. In fact, I've got a plan if you want to do the first one." 

From there, Lucien would remain for a response while being on standby. 

WC: 1368 
181 - 10 AP = 171 AP
- 10 AP for bloodline.

Lucien already began moving once he agreed. He then moved to the front of the clearing still hiding in the treeline where he noticed that Atem had unsheathed his blade. This created a large glare that alerted the taller guy closest to the royal one. "Well shit, guess I've got the five other guys. I don't really don't got the time for a perfectly made plan so this should do." 

Lucien, making sure his angle of drawing and holding wouldn't result in a glare, got 2 kunai at the speed of 65 and threw them at two guys near the center of the clearing directly to the head, effectively taking them out in near silence. Now, there were 3 more left for him to successfully dispose. "This should be fun now." Lucien thought to himself. 

At this moment, Atem would already be engaging with the taller guy and keeping his busy. The other bandits that were around decided to back away from the sudden threat of Atem's quick assault on the taller guy and gathering of the royal one. "Well, I suppose these guys have no sense of loyalty nor duty, can't even defend a comrade can we?" 

Lucien another kunai and threw it directly into the sky at the speed of 65 in such a way that when he needed to, if he calculated correctly, it would fall into the center of the fire from the sky. Lucien rushed into the clearing at the speed of 14 first, moving up to the other three guys, they weren't even looking in the correct direction to defend against his assault. He'd unsheath his Ninjato and quickly perform a mediocre quickdraw with minimal movement slicing from left draw to right at 38 speed across the guy farthest to the left's neck. This ended him instantly. Now with his blade still in the air, the other two guys to his right looked over at Lucien. 

"Oh well, they've fallen into my natural trap. Sorta... Like I said, I didn't think this one through that much." 
Relying on pure instinct, Lucien kept his eyes on his opponents and lifted his sword at the speed of 38 in such a way that the falling kunai would slide and deflect it directly into the right eye of the man most in front of him. Luckily, he was close enough to the fire to perform this. The man was then hit in the face with a kunai before he could react at all. Lucien made sure to do this in a way that would conserve the sharpness of both items used. 

Now the last guy in the formation began to take hold of himself. He had a slight pause as the seeing of so many people dropping at once killed his morale to the core. Lucien began talking in his weird persuading tone. "What's the matter? Have you given up already?" Lucien lifted his Ninjato and held it outward towards the man over the fire in the most intimidating stance ever at 38 speed.. By this point, Atem had disposed of his target. Only low enough to let Atem here, Lucien spoke. "Back me up if I need it, though I think this guy's done.." 
He then returned to talking directly to the man who was still shocked. "Can't you see fool, I smell fear and you're reeking of it... I'll make a deal since I'm in a good mood now. Tell me who you work for and why you're here and how you captured that royal woman and I'll let you go." 
Hoping Atem would back his bluff, Lucien continued. "My partner here sure does like killing people more than I do and I don't know if I can stop him right now so you better decide swiftly." 

Lucien decided that if he was already in a state of fear, his next mental trick would work very well indeed. 

"By the way, you shouldn't try to attack or run, you should have paid more attention. You have 2 explosive tags on your back. They're set to explode if you touch them as well. Now fess up." That was a lie in all truth though. 

Lucien listened as the stupid guy told them all his plans, how they got here, who they work for, how they captured the royal one in detail. After he finished, Lucien spoke. "Man I sure do love intel, hope you're telling the truth my friend. We, being from Hoshi, the village blessed by the stars and skies have decided not to kill you. Take this as a mark of our gratitude towards the village, and not you." 

Lucien would then prepare himself by sheathing his blade and leaving alongside Atem with the royal one where they'd then return when they were all ready. At this point, he remained on standby while still watching the last bandit from a decent distance. Once they were all ready, Lucien and Atem would escort the royal one back and then return home. 

[Exit]
171 - 15 AP = 156 AP 
- 15 For Bloodline
WC: 2186
+ 5 AP
+ 2,000 Ryo