If I'm not back in 6 days, send a party (Depart)

Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:04 pm

Mission:

The clusters of trees cast shadows that extend five meters behind them. On the horizon, the sun is just beginning to rise and Shiro’s own shadow shares its angle with the posts of the gate. With him, Shiro holds one of the same burlap sacks which he had taken with him months before on a five-day trek to the end of the forest. Back then, things had been different. Back then, his skills were as underdeveloped as his thinking was. Experience has molded him into the shinobi that he is now, mentally alert and emotionally mature. With these qualities comes the key to a new door and the means to walk through it. Days prior, Shiro had started his rise to the rank of chuunin through his displays of sharpness and skill. To Shiro, there is no question as to whether or not he is ready for the responsibilities of the next rank, only that the trust of those assigning him his current mission shows that he is.

“I remember the last time that I stood before the beginning of a journey, looking out at the road ahead and preparing myself to take the first step out into the wilderness.” He thinks as his right arm slacks the burlap sack over his shoulder. It isn’t as heavy as the items carried before because he no longer requires wrists weights and has taken less food due to his planning on returning within the next day. “It was preparatory. The training I did back then was good for my physical and mental development. Now, I’m on the verge of a transformation that will enlighten me beyond whatever it is troubling me. I can’t shake the feeling of… uncertainty that has plagued me for the past few days. Maybe, in Tengakure, I’ll find out what it means to be a ninja. I’ve been charged with performing research on the village ruins including what caused it to fall and how the attack could have been prevented. It’s possible that what I find may clarify my thinking and give me the serenity that I’ve been searching for. Of course, it’s also possible that what I find will delay that quest for inner peace…”

Shiro looks back over his shoulder and turns after seeing the beautiful bright orange glare overtaking the village. Each building casts a shadow that bathes the entire scene in more life than it originally had. Men and women in the city square are already setting up their shop stands in their usual spots.

“Whatever happens, I will only move forward. After all, there is nowhere else to go. Every being moves forward with time, none can go back. No matter how much something seems like a setback or roadblock, we still move forward. Working through these things is part of the journey. Without trials, lessons would be harder to learn. They happen because the world isn’t perfect and things go awry every now and again. Though, without times that test a person’s resolve and will, humans would be weak.” A cool breeze skims over Shiro’s lower arms and legs. The wind is audible as it whistles through leaves and branches, adding to the forest a single harmonic note that sets Shiro’s mind at ease. As quickly as this rest comes, it is gone when he acquires a new thought. “But the same difficult tests of life are partially responsible for the transformation of a ninja… and what that man or woman becomes afterward is left solely up to how they handle those situations. How far away are my most weighted challenges? What will I do when the time will have arrived for me to overcome those adversities? What will I become?”

Strapped horizontally across Shiro’s lower back is his katana in its scabbard while his Pike of Fudo is at a forty-five degree angle with the short blade exposed upward.

“I’ll be back in no more than six days, three to get to get to the village and three to return. This task shouldn’t take any longer than that.” Shiro thinks, turning back to the gates and focusing on the expanse of grass and trees that define the edges of the dirt path. Down the horizon, he can see the trees thin out in density and the grass become more abundant as the area opens up. Wide hills pepper the landscape ahead with trees becoming less and less abundant as distance increases. The dirt path continues onward and is visible throughout the varied ground, twisting between the hills and across the occasional valley. Farther off, mountains can just barely be seen in front of the blue background of the sky the tips partially covered by both snow and thick cotton-like clouds tinted gold by the rising sun.

“What I do know so far about Tengakure is that it was a ninja village and that it was destroyed, I assume, quite a while ago. Had the destruction occurred recently, I would have heard about the news. Besides that, I have knowledge of its location thanks to an atlas that I purchased from one of the shops in the city square.” Shiro reaches back and removes the neatly rolled up parchment from his carrying sack. With it in his hands, it is unrolled and he holds it out in front of him. The sun shines against it from afar, making it partially transparent because the parchment is so thin. “I couldn’t afford to pay for a more expensive map though this will do. It’s old and thin but still readable. To the east of Haven country, this country, is the village of Tengakure though it is far off. Besides that information, everything about the village is a mystery to me. From here on out, it’s new experiences.”

Shiro takes his first step forward and begins what he believes to be the final stage of his metamorphosis. The map in his hands is rolled up once again and placed back into the bag. Now, the sun is higher in the sky, giving the clouds a yellow tint rather than orange. In the opposite side of the sky, where the night still lingered, darkness has been quelled and replaced with a sky possessing more blue. The few stars bright enough to remain visible this morning are beginning to be washed out by the sun in its wake; so too are Shiro’s dim fears and doubts.

[Exit to Moon Country Borders]

(1,053/1,053)
(1,563/8,000 towards mission completion)
(1,000/1,000 for insta-travel to Tengakure Ruins)

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Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:14 pm

Approved <3

If I'm not back in 6 days, send a party (Depart)

If I'm not back in 6 days, send a party (Depart)

Re: If I'm not back in 6 days, send a party (Depart)