Re: Kiss From a Rose

Tue Jun 07, 2016 1:14 pm

Arashi had no idea exactly how tired he had become. Between watching Arata, studying techniques and politics, and of course listening into meeting with the Council, the shinobi was catching little time for sleep. It also didn't help that half of that remaining time Arashi was starting to give up sleep for spending time with... certain people. So it was frankly no surprise that being out on a mission and camped for the night, the older shinobi was fast asleep. It didn't exactly look good for him to sleep before the one he was supposed to guide, but it couldn't be helped. Especially not if the rock jutsu wasn't enough to wake him.

Meanwhile, Kenshin found himself with only a sandy dune and rocks separating him from the closest camp; a group of bandits who decided against standard judgement to move closer to this particular area.

"I'm telling you, I saw two of them dash in this direction."

"And what makes you think they are still here?"

"Tch, I don't know, its a gut feeling."

There was a total of 6 guys, too many for one shinobi; or two for that matter. It seemed that one of them saw the pair running during the fading light, and convinced his group to investigate. But now the group itself wasn't too pleased. There were too many variables to consider to even know if they stopped for the night or continued. The one who saw was convinced they were in the area; the others weren't. And in fact, two had already decided to just retire for the night.

The remaining four would argue for a time, until they agreed to keep watch and camp for the night. Mr. Gut feeling took the first watch, while the other 5 slept. It wasn't until after he roused another companion for the next shift that he too went to bed. Only after Gut Feeling started snoring peacefully, movement on the top of the dune (some nocturnal creature scurrying) caused the watchman to look straight in Kenshin's direction, and he slowly got up to investigate.

Wed Jun 08, 2016 9:27 pm

Kenshin would have his chakra sensory activated to ensure that he didn’t get too far away from Arashi to find his way back to the small alcove that his superior was sleeping in, and as such as soon as the bandit began to move in his direction the silver haired teen would know about it, due to his sensory he was able to tell that the five sleeping bandits were only around seven meters from his current position, and due to the fact that each of them were sleeping within a meter of another bandit he knew that a single jutsu from him would be enough to kill each and every one of them in but seconds. As Kenshin began to mould the chakra within his body and change it into the substance needed to perform this jutsu he began to think, did these men truly deserve death, sure they were nothing but bandits but did that truly mean that they deserved to have their lives snuffed out like they were nothing but flames on the wick of a candle. Perhaps these men had friends and family who would miss them should Kenshin kill them, perhaps they had no other way to earn ryo than by stealing from others, these were all questions that Kenshin asked himself as he felt the bandit on watch get closer and closer to his position

He had to make a decision and soon, because he could feel the bandit getting closer by the second and should he get discovered then he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter, the main question in his mind being did these men deserve to die simply because they were bandits. Of course there was the chance that these men truly were nothing but scum who raped and killed people for nothing but the sick sense of pleasure they received from the acts. But then again there was also the chance that the men were simply down on their luck and had no other way of making ryo, there was also the fact that there was a good chance that these men had friends and family who would be devastated by their deaths. But right as Kenshin was about to release control of the chakra he had been moulding and thus cancel the jutsu he had another thought, what if he spared them now only to find out that they had gone on to kill innocent people, would that in a way make him responsible for the deaths of anyone they killed in the future because he had the opportunity to end them and didn’t take it. This truly was a tough dilemma in the silver haired teen mind, should he kill the bandits because of the chance that they may harm innocent people in the future, or should he let them go on the chance that they were not truly bad people but had no other way to earn ryo.

In the end the decision came down to one very important question that only Kenshin would be able to answer...was he willing to stake the lives of innocent people on the slight chance that these men may only be bandits because they had no other way of gaining ryo. In the mind of the silver haired EGF user the answer to that question could not be simpler...no, no he was not willing to put the lives of who knows how many innocent people on the line, especially not on the off chance that these men may have only chosen the path of banditry because they had no other options to earn ryo. Who knows, maybe if Kenshin had a more positive outlook on the world and the people in it he would have been able to place his trust in this small group of bandits and allowed them to go along with the lives, blissfully unaware of how close they had come to death, but unfortunately for the six bandits everything that he had been through in the past left him with an extremely dark and pessimistic view of the world. No matter how much he wanted to simply allow the six bandits to leave and go on with their lives he found himself unable to actually do so, he just couldn’t let them go if there was even the slightest chance that he was wrong to place his trust in them and allow them to live, because if he ever found out that they had spilt the blood of innocent people after he spared their lives he was unsure if he could ever forgive himself.

Right as the guard reached the top of the sand dune Kenshin would open his mouth and exhale the chemical substance that he had created with his chakra into the air, an action which caused a rather interesting chemical reaction and turned the newly created substance into an extremely deadly poison that could kill most people with but a breath. The bandit standing guard had no time to react before he was engulfed in a cloud of noxious purple mist, and within seconds he dropped to the ground dead, but the cloud did not stop there, it continued on until it completely engulfed the sleeping bandits in the noxious cloud, and just like the guard the five remaining bandits died within seconds of breathing in the poison. With the deed done Kenshin would release a small sigh before returning to the alcove within which Arashi was sleeping, he would use the Moving Earth Core to lower the slab enough to enter the cave before once more raising the earth to hide the entrance. Kenshin would lean against the slab of earth he had raised at the entrance before sliding down so that he was sitting against it, he would allow his eyes to close before trying to drift off to sleep

WC: 981

Thu Jun 09, 2016 10:50 am

The watchman... and the bandits for that matter, never stood a chance. The only positive to their deaths was only one suffered the effects, the rest died in their sleep. Whether or not Kenshin made the right call would have to be determined in the morning... if they were still there.

Before Kenshin knew it, sleep reached him, and as the morning light shone through, Arashi was up, watching the sleeping ninja. He had no idea how long the young man had been able to sleep, but he seemed more at peace. The morning air was cool to the touch, thanks to the chill that the storm brought to the desert, but of course that wouldn't last very long.

Arashi had one bit of a conundrum, though... the entrance to the cave was blocked. Probably easy to move out of the way, but Kenshin was up against it and he really did not want to have to move the younger genin. Sighing, Arashi closed his eyes and concentrated, activating his cloud form, and then jumped through the small opening to reach the outside.

It was a sight to behold.. and one that Arashi would have loved to share with Tsuji. In the morning light, the wet desert sands had given way to green and white, as the very roses they were looking for had bloomed over the course of the night. Once again, what was said proved true.. they bloomed after a recent rain. The only question was why here? There were areas where the sand was clear, and a clear border between the flowers and the desert that had been rained on. So it was something about the soil itself. There was something present in one area, but not the other. But they had to work fast.. the day would get hot soon.

Reluctantly, Arashi climbed up on the slab, looking into the cave where Kenshin was.

"Wake up. We found them. Come take a look." he said, calling for him to wake up.

Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:13 pm

Kenshin would have fallen asleep almost as soon as his eyelids had closed themselves, telling his superior his life's story like he had ended up straining his mind a great deal, which in turn made it feel as though his body had been under an extreme amount of stress, and that final encounter with that group of bandits before falling asleep had only ended up pushing his already strained mind further. He would not be awoken when Arashi turned into his cloud form and exited through the small gap he had left at the top of his barrier, but when he heard Arashi call out to him from outside his eyes would open and he would stand up. He would clap his hands together and allow Arashi enough time to get off the stone slab before placing the palms of both hands on the ground, using the same technique once more to lower the thick slab of earth back into the ground, and the second the slab lowered the silver haired teen was greeted by the sight of a great deal of green and white, looks like the roses did indeed bloom after rain

Kenshin would give Arashi a small smile “Sorry about the stone barrier, I didn’t want to run the risk of bandits finding us while we slept, I mean I think we could have taken them without much of a problem if it came to that but I would rather avoid something like that if at all possible” Kenshin would say as he rubbed the back of his head. “Well, let's pick a few of these roses and get back to the village” Kenshin would then say with a small grin

WC: 284

(OOC: Sorry about the short post and long wait, I’ve just been going through some shit IRL and it’s killing my drive to RP, I would appreciate it if you could exit the topic for me in your exit, I’ll just put my claims below)

TWC: 8695

Claiming 10 stats

Claiming 3k ryo and 7AP

3260 words towards Chakra Scalpel, claiming (Other 740 words here)

4000 words towards Yin Healing Wound, claiming

1435 words towards Hiding Like a Mole, 565 remaining

2000 words spent with Arashi, memorizing his chakra signature

Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:20 pm

Arashi gave a slight chuckle after he jumped down, allowing the slab to return to its natural state. Kenshin really did nothing wrong.

"If it was another older ninja with you, perhaps they would have gotten annoyed about being trapped, but Kenshin you have nothing to apologize for. You saw an opportunity to hide our presence further and you took it. Its very admirable. Too many shinobi want to be in some sort of danger... to be able to fight and win, and therefore grow in power. But the true wisdom is when to fight, and when to avoid it. The shinobi who wait to unleash chakra is always the strongest in the fight. You did a good job." he said, looking around at the desert and the white growth.

"A few? We have a couple of hours, I'd rather gather as many as possible. But that's not the full purpose of this mission. We are trying to find out how, where, and why. We knew how, the rain. And we've found where. Last is why. Look what you see out there. Large swaths of flowers with distinct areas where nothing grew. But this entire region received the same amount of rain... what do you think is causing the difference?" he asked, listening for the answer. Kenshin spoke, and Arashi nodded.

"Soil. That's why it appears random. There is something in the soil that allows these growths. Collect as many as you can, I'm going to get some dirt samples. Well, one of me, that is." he said, crossing his fingers and summoning as many cloud clones as he was able to do. As the clones started picking with Kenshin, Arashi was digging at the soils, taking 5 total samples. Two from bare ground, and two from the flowered ground.

Within a couple of hours a large bundle was gathered, and Arashi went back inside the cave to retrieve his bag, as well as a scroll. He wasn't that gifted in this kind of item summoning, but luckily the scroll was previously prepared. Two large weave baskets popped out, with shoulder straps, and Arashi assisted himself and Kenshin on loading them, only releasing his clones after they were both strapped up. With a single direction, the two kicked off and made their way back.

The journey back was actually very much a smoother and quicker jury. They had a clear destination, a time limit, and to block the heat, Arashi had a cloud overhead blocking the sun for them. They were able to get back to the village in about half the time it took for them to leave.

Once they arrived, Arashi took the basket from Kenshin and released him, giving him the rest of the day off. Having finished what he started, he then went over to the Botanical society, and showed the two baskets he carried. To his surprise, Tsuji was there.

"Arashi-kun!" she shouted, jumping over and hugging him at the sight of the baskets. He handed her one while showing the soil samples to the technicians there.

"Kenshin and I found a place where it was raining and within a day these had sprouted. Not exactly everywhere. I have some soil samples here; three from the flowers, and two from bare desert. I think there is some common mineral in the ground, or seed, that is causing the flowers to grow. If we can find out what that is, we can start farming." the chunin said, while receiving yet another hug from Tsuji. The technicians thanked him, and he left to give a report to the mission office. As soon as he departed, though, the door burst open and Tsuji was there, hugging him.

"You didn't have to, but thank you. You have no idea what this means to me." she said and then she did the unthinkable... she reached up and kissed him. Arashi was stunned, but embraced her instead of pushing her away like he used to do. Instead... well, Tsuji was quite a girl....

[EXIT for me and Kenshin]

(Total WC: 4375)
(Mission Claims: 3000 ryo, 7 AP)
(Claiming: 3 Element Storm Sealing, Sealing Release, Mastering Water Clone Justsu)

Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:36 pm

@ Arashi

No addittional AP claims from missions, you just get the 7 for a B rank. You may however use discounted wc for techs you trained <3

Wed Jun 22, 2016 4:01 pm

Approved