The Wolf, the Physicist, and the Medic [Sal, Jace]

Salzem's eyes widened in surprise when all they found of Ayame was a small pool of blood in the center of this new cavern-chamber and a few bloody drag-marks that dissipated a few feet away from it's source. The lycan immediately began sniffing around for something else that would indicate the direction Ayame had went, a piece of torn cloth, maybe a dropped kunai of hers... This blood wouldn't do them any good unless she was bleeding out and given the lack of blood-droplets or a larger smear that would indicate she was more wounded, he couldn't believe she was. Jace dropped down a moment or so after he made this conclusion, looking about the scene himself with equal or greater shock Salzem had displayed when he first came down.

"Sal..." Jace asked, prompting the lycanthrope to look back in his direction, the wolf's face scrunched up in thought and frustration. "What do we do now..."



"What do you mean 'what do we do'?" The lycan asked, his voice barbed. "Do you see a body, leader-guy? No. We don't. There are no tunnels around here either that would indicate she was taken by a worm or snake and no blood in any direction beyond that short smear there. She was taken alright... but she's not in any immediate danger. If she was, there'd be a lot more blood." He spoke quickly, as if trying to force that knowledge down Jace's throat to prevent any more dumb questions like "What do we do...?"

"We're going to find her, that's what. Now, go look for a way out of this chamber, a natural tunnel or something, where that might lead to the upper floors that she might've escaped through. I'm going in the direction of this smear..."

Much to his frustration, the only thing in the direction the smear was pointing was wall... nothing but stone wall... Gah... What DO they do now...?

Ayame followed around the group of people as they struggled to find a way out of the cave, having gotten what they had come for, but each pathway seemed to be blocked or lead to a dead end. It was very frustrating to all of them as they followed pathway after pathway, attempting to return to the surface.

After a few hours, depression sank in, and then afterward hopelessness as they marked the pathways they had searched with a rock in the center of it.

Eventually, they came to one that had a crevice big enough that the other villagers and Ayame could make it through and back up to the top level where a bunch of giant dead worms laid with blood and guts spilling out. She used her Yureigan and noticed the Gila monster's location, knowing that this is where she had been before.

Hopefully, the guys would be smart enough to follow the trail and try to fit through the thin gap. Ayame would listen and wait. She knew that the herb was important to have delivered, but she needed to make sure that her teammates didn't waste away looking for her and the herb if they were down there and simply had not left already.

She would wait at max an hour, and if they had not shown up, she would deliver the herb and come back to search for them. It was her fault they were down there and confused anyway.

WC: 248
TWC: 2609

Salzem's anger snapped Jace out of his stupor quickly. He was right. There wasn't enough blood to indicate that Ayame was bleeding out. There was still a chance she had survived after all. What did they do? What a stupid question. And he was supposed to be the leader of this team. He was supposed to be the one that Salzem and Ayame trusted to get them out of this mess safely. He needed to retain his level head. He needed to analyze the situation clearly. This was a test for him. What was all his training and motivation to become one of Konoha's ANBU for if he couldn't get them out of this. 

"Thank you Sal. I needed to hear that." his composure had returned now, his sharp eyes scanning the cavern for every and any minute detail. After a few moments he noticed a few footprints leading off toward what looked like just a normal wall. He made his way over to it and saw that in actuality it there was a small crevice in the wall just big enough for the two males to pass through. The footprints seemed to go in that direction as well. 

"I think I've found our way out!" he called back to Sal. "It looks like Ayame wasn't the only one down here either. There are several sets of footprints here. Let's go." He didn't wait for his teammate to respond before he made his way through the crevice. It took longer than he would have liked, but eventually the duo made it back up to the cavern where the slaughtered worms lay, their blood and guts covering the floor. The relief of making it back was nothing compared to the sight of Ayame standing there. She was covered in dirt and blood, but other than that she looked perfectly fine. 

"Ayame!" he shouted as he ran over and hugged her, not caring about where they were. After a second or two he let her go. "I'm so sorry. I thought...I thought we lost you..." Tears began to well up behind his eyes before he wiped them away, noticing the herb they had come for was in her hands. "You got it? Good. Now let's get the hell out of her and get these herbs back to the village. I hate this damn cave." He would wait for any more conversation or heartwarming reunions from Sal or Ayame before setting out, leading his team back out of the cave and to the village. The mission was finally over, not that Jace would forget it anytime soon.
[exit]
TWC: 2,831
claiming mission rewards(4k ryo and 10ap)
gonna push my luck and try to claim mangekyo even tho i know it will be denied. But why the hell not XD
Also requesting memorization of both Sal's and Ayame's chakra signatures

The lycan was glad that what he had said had busted through the dispair that had gripped the uchiha because, if it didn't, he might've needed to pound some sense into him. After observing the wall on the other side of the cave for a bit, Jace called the lycan over, declaring that he had, in fact, discovered a small crevasse in the wall, a space just large enough for two HUMANS to slink through. Sighing, worrying both that this path would lead to somewhere worse than where they currently were and that he'd have to abandon his lycan form, the sanguine-eyed ninja shrunk back down into his human shame, shuffling along inside the crack. Needless to say that the room was rather... claustrophobic to those that feared such things... luckily for him, he only merely felt a bit uncomfortable as the rough stone tore at his clothes and flesh.

Somehow, the two had managed to climb back up to the upper chambers of the cavern where the dead worms laid, the scent of bloodied dirt and murky water reaching the lycan's nose once again, much to his distaste.

"Ugh... I hate this cave..." Salzem muttered, before his eyes flicked up, spotting Ayame standing there... bloodied and muddied, but very much alive... Salzem only stared in stunned silence as Jace ran ahead, practically tackling the girl, whispering how he thought that they had lost her, practically spilling how afraid he was. The Lycan only stood a few feet away and watched, waving at Ayame lightly with a soft gesture as she'd see him over Jace's shoulder.

"Sup Aya. Never doubted you for a moment." Of course, that wasn't entirely accurate, but it might as well have been considering Jace's reaction. Noticing that Ayame had done the job and extracted a few samples of the vital herb, Jace declared that they would now head home and that he HATED this damned cave.

"Amen, brother..." Salzem muttered under his breath before slapping a letter bomb on the interior of the entrance to the cave on the way out.

(EXIT)
WC: 3396
Claiming Mission Rewards (4k Ryou and 10 AP)

Ayame had continued to practice her clan Jutsu on the monsters, as she had used earlier in the day. First, she would slow them with Yureigan, Agliophobia, then put them to sleep with Yureigan: Somnolent No Jutsu, as she waited. The boys had to be coming soon.

Then they came through the wall, Jace running to hug her as she took down another worm, putting it to sleep.

Ayame was shocked at the sudden display of affection from the boy, but hugged him back, not caring if she got him muddy.  "I-I got seeds too, so we could plant them if they can withstand the environment." Ayame pulled away from the hug at the same time as Jace, touched by his gesture.

"Sal was right, there were people down there... they healed me, and we thought we were trapped, but luckily we found a way out." Aya would say. "I tried to leave a trail by leaving a rock in the middle of the passageways that were dead ends so that if anyone had followed they could find the way out."

Ayame noted what sal said feeling rather awkward about how he was reacting. She had wanted to give him a hug, but she resisted the urge noting his grotesque form and his standoffish nature.

Aya followed the boys out of the cave and delivered the herbs and seeds as promised, though she did prevent Sal from blowing up the cave because it would have been a very stupid thing to do if the seeds did not grow. Plus that poor Gila monster was still inside there. She would give Sal his bomb back and return to Suna with them.

(Exit)

WC: 282
TWC: 2891

Claiming:

1659 words toward Yureigan: Somnolent No Jutsu
1233 words toward Yureigan: Agliophobia
4000 Ryo
10 AP (from mission)

(I used the Jutsu earlier in the thread as well as in this post)