Until Dusk (Mission)

Mission:

The old Hyuuga clan house always felt empty and desolate to Aryll. She hated this place, for each day it brought her a sense of dread and foreboding pain. Though she would love for nothing more than to leave this place, she had very little choice in the matter. Living here alone was all she could hope for, and the wealth that she and her clan possessed was enough to tide her over until she got her bearings. That said, she’d finally began to start doing missions again, something she hadn’t done since living in Tengakure. She knew she had to do it, and her recent fight against a band of pirates had gone incredibly well, even in spite of the mission’s extreme danger.

Rising from her bed to work had become much easier, her mess of silver hair frizzy and draping across her face like a cloak, as she began to go through what had become her daily routine. She lifted herself out of bed and down into her chair, her upper body, which was becoming larger and stronger by the day, doing all of the work as she slumped down into the chair. She pushed her chair towards the bathroom, where she set herself into the shower, hanging on the bars for support like an ape as she sat herself down and turned on the water, leaving her clothes neatly folded at the door.

She sat there, sighing as the warm water ran against her face, when a familiar tapping sound echoed through the bathroom. She remembered it well now, and was a little confused as to how exactly the pigeons knew she was taking a shower, but she got herself out of the shower, and as she did so, the tapping continued. Aryll pulled herself out of the shower, throwing a towel over her chair and wheeling herself over to the window, sliding it open just enough for the bird to enter. It landed on the counter, and Aryll quickly unhooked the letter from the creature’s leg, allowing it to fly out the window once again.

Slowly and carefully opening the letter, Aryll read the letter carefully. She sighed as she read it, knowing that she was probably being tested. After all, what other reason would there be for her to be assigned ANOTHER S-Ranked mission? Perhaps  she’d impressed, or perhaps she really was being tested. This time, she was to head to a nearby island and either capture or kill… Something called a… A wendigo? The name brought to mind an old school horror movie or something, perhaps one involving a handful of teenagers trapped in a ski lodge. She idly wondered which one of the horror movie kids she’d be.
”I hope I’m not the bitch. Or the one that dies right away.” Aryll muttered, setting down the letter.

She pulled on her clothes, a pair of navy blue NINJA pants and some black NINJA shoes, a black tank top and a jacket, tossing her beret onto her head haphazardly. Bringing Thane in her usual way, and by that, she meant that she wasn’t bringing him, she sat in her chair and wheeled herself out of the door.

Mercifully, it seemed that the village knew of her condition and wanted to make meeting up for missions as easy as possible for her. After all, Kirigakure was a very progressive village. For the second time, she headed to the meeting point, right across the street from where she lived. She pushed her chair out the front door, and down the makeshift ramp she’d built for herself, her chair thumping against the bricks of the street as the sidewalk ended. She dutifully wheeled herself across the street, spinning her chair so that she was in a comfortable spot, then pulled out a book that she nabbed from the Grand Kirigakure Academy, reading about the Hidden Mist Technique this time.

(652)

The young ANBU shrugged sleep from his body, rolling over in his bed to catch rays of sunlight to his eyes. God, this window was hazardous. He had hated it it Tengakure. Why had he had it reconstructed in a mirror image here? It was so annoying, light always seemed to manage it's way through the window, whether it was covered or not. Hell, light managed to get in at midnight. Perhaps it was some sort of plot device or something.

Ignoring the rhythmic snoring of the magma dragon at the foot of his bed, or the rhythmic buzzing of insect wings in his ears, the boy shuffled his way to his bathroom, stepping into the shower and cranking one knob halfway, and the other all the way.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
Cold. Wrong way.

Noted, the boy turned the knobs around the right way, putting the one at half to full, and reducing the full to half.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah..."
Warm. Right way.

After the shower, the boy would start to pull on his clothes before hearing a gentle tapping at his window. The boy would brush aside the curtain and crack the window open, letting inside a messenger bird. The boy would take the letter from the bird's leg, grabbing a cracker from his bedside and giving it to the bird before letting fly back outside.

Skimming the letter have the young ANBU the gist of what his activity for today would be. Meet up with Aryll, go kill some Wendigo on another island, sink the island or recapture it for inhabiting. Been there, done that. Maybe the mission would prove more difficult with a young ward at his side. Pulling on his clothes and pushing a few extras into a bag, the boy would set out to meet up with Aryll.

The boy would find her across the street from her house, reading a book. He couldn't make out the title, but it didn't matter really. "Ready to set out, Aryll? Wendigo are ferocious beasts, and we've gotta cleanse a full island of them." the young ANBU would say, setting for the docks without really waiting for the girl's reply. In truth, he was excited about this. It would be his first chance to fully flex his abilities since sealing the beast.

Angel stood looked down at the three books she was reading at the same time. What sort of crazy crap was this that Angel Uchiha, a fresh Genin straight out of the academy, was being made to go on an S ranked mission as her first mission? It was insane! Forget the basic E rank missions, Forget the simple D rank missions, forget the normal C rank mission, forget the bewildering B rank mission, heck, this wasn’t even an elite A rank mission! No, this was a top of the line, high tier, Only Anbu and kage level people should go on S rank mission. How did this make any sense? Either way, Angel knew what the mission was, she was supposed to go to an island that was a slight distance away, and attempt to capture a great beast, a monster called a Wendigo. The mission seemed simple enough, but there were three parts to it. The first was the wendigo… what exactly was it? That was what the first book was for, research to try to find out what the beast was…. The second was something to detain the beast, a jutsu that would be able to be used in order to restrain the beast. Finally, the third object would be something more of self defense… a jutsu that was able to be used for offense and Hikari could use to defend herself.

The first book, the book on weindigos… read something like this. According to folklore, the wendigo or windigo is a cannibal monster that originates from an island to the north of Kirigakure. The wendigo may appear as a monster with some characteristics of a human, or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them become monstrous. According to legend, it is historically associated with cannibalism, when a human being is forced to kill and digest another human being… an evil spirit or chakra comes to them and slowly takes the person over to the point that they would be unable to think rationally. The legend lends its name to the disputed modern medical term Wendigo psychosis, which is considered by psychiatrists to be a form of syndrome with symptoms such as an intense craving for human flesh and the desire to become a cannibal. In some Indigenous communities, environmental destruction and insatiable greed are also seen as a manifestation of Wendigo Psychosis. These monsters are quite dangerous and should be avoided at all cost….”

Yet the young girl was supposed to go charging head long into an island full of these things…. That…. Scares her… right down to her core. She didn’t know how many of them their were, she didn’t know how strong they were, she just knew they wanted to rip the flesh off of her bones and devower her.

That being said, Angel would look at the second book, it was a book about how to stop the enemy, and to restrain them so that she could escort them back to the village hidden in the mist. It was called the body paralysis jutsu…. And the book teaching it read as such. The Temperary body paralysis jutsu is A d rank technique that physically restrains an opponent, as if the opponent had been tied in invisible steel ropes. It paraylsis the victim for a short period of time, which allows the user to either strike the downed target, or take the target into custody. This is a D-rank ninjutsu where the intensity will vary greatly according to the user's level of skill. The technique can also be cast on every target at once, depending on the user's skill, and won't fail a shinobi during their missions. This is done by looking at the target and sending a small shock of chakra into their system to slow them down. That way, the target will feel their muscles go limp and will be unable to move for a short period. The only hand sign that this jutsu requires is the sign of the tiger.

This was to restrain the wendigos so that she could escort them back to the village once she was done. With luck she could hit this on one of them, and another could come in from behind and fully restrain them.

The led to the third and final book she was reading, a book on the shadow shruiken clone technique. It was a very deadly technique that allowed her to use the shadow clone jutsu on a thrown object, such as a shuriken or kunai, and make 1000 clones of said weapon. The book read as such, The Shadow shuriken clone jutsu is a technique where the user creates up to a thousand shadow clones from one shuriken, striking down one or multiple enemies. This is a technique that combines ninja tools with the ninjtsu, the shadow clone jutsu. Compared to normal clones, Shadow clones of material objects are said to be far more useful and far more destructive. There is no need for preparations beforehand, like stocking up on shuriken, or kunai, yet since the shadow clones are real and not illusions, all the shuriken are completely leathat and deadly. Because the clones form in just an instant, completely evading them is next to impossible. This technique can also be used on fūma shuriken, increasing its lethality, or on something as simiple as a rock, throwing it for a nonlethal strike. To use this technique, one must use the following hand signs along with throwing A kunai, Ram → Rat → Bird → Boar → Tiger.

She had read this book once before…. It was from when she was trying before with Aryll…. A book that she had been trying to learn from for quite some time. Angel was so nervous…. What was she going to do? She wasn’t proficient with any of these jutsu yet, so what was she to do? Either way, it was time for her to get going. The Uchiha would pack her weapons up and start to leave her apartment… however… before she did she would stop and look around her room, this might be the last time that she ever saw her room. Around the room, she saw her couch, a lamp for late night reading, a book shelf full of famous novels….. and to the side a fireplace. Angel’s piercing blue eyes would veir off to above the mantle, where looking down at the girl was a steel symbol. It was a symbol of her family crest, The Uchiha crest. It was that of an Uchiwa or a fan. This fan however, wasn’t one that just a normal fan, no, this fan was a fan made to fan flames, increasing their heat and size, making them hotter, and deadler. This was symbolic of the fact that Uchiha was a clan made to fight using fire style, showing that the Uchiha clan was a proud and powerful clan, with insane control over fire style jutsu. It’s funny, Angel never had any real control over fire…. Probably a symbol on to itself showing that she would never be accepted by her old clan. That being said, the young blonde would go up and take a deeper look at the fan, before closing her eyes, as if to say a little prayer.
”Please… watch over me and guide me, The girl would silentely pray to her ancestors. Make sure I can come home and rest my head, also that I don’t wind up dead.

Angel wasn’t quite sure why she did this…. She even thought to herself before she did it that her ancestors didn’t want her around. That being said, Angel would turn and look behind her, and leave her apartment for what could have been her last time.

As Angel arrived to the meet up point the docks by the side of the village. Waiting for a bit of time, Angel would sit down and start to hum to herself, waiting for her team to arrive.

Presuming that The two caught up to her, she would wave them down, she recognized the girl in the wheelchair, Aryll Hyuga, a friend of hers who she met up some time ago. The person she didn’t recognize was the young man in the dark clothes and the white hair who was with Aryll. Angel would wave hold up a hand to get their attention before alerting them, “Hello Aryll, along with sir….. My apologize, I don’t belive we have been introduced? My name is Angel Burr, sir…. May I inquire yours?”

She told her usual lie about her name… but this wasn’t meant to be a sign of disrespect to the young man, no… it was more because she kept her real name held close to her chest at all times and trusted no one with it. That being said, it would be hard for anyone to decern this as a lie, seeing that she had been calling herself this for as long as she could remember.


(If this is to much to read, basicly, Angel did some reading in preparation for this mission, made her way to the dock, said Hi to Aryll, introduced herself to Altar and asked for his name)
WC: 1554

Aryll was surprised to see that Altar was the one to arrive first. Punctuality wasn’t high on her list of expectations for the boy, given his self proclaimed dislike of formalities, but then she supposed she’d only met him the one time. There was a great deal she didn’t know about her brother’s protege’ as of yet. There could be two sides to him, after all. Maybe even three. Although more than three would be just ridiculous. This oddly specific line of thought was punctuated when Altar arrived, asking Aryll if she was ready to set out.
”Morning.” Aryll said simply, shrugging. ”Why hell do they keep giving me these big missions…?” She asked, to nobody in particular. She was referring to the fact that she was merely a genin attempting S Ranked missions somewhat regularly. As she spoke she registered that Altar had asked her to set off immediately. Perhaps he didn’t know that Angel was to be tagging along as well. In any case, before she could answer, the aforementioned Uchiha who bore a fake name appeared, greeting Aryll and introducing herself to Altar.

Aryll waved and smiled at her friend, who thankfully wasn’t mad at her after their previous meeting. Indeed, it was nice to have a friend in the lonely, cold place that they called their home. Around her were two people, one who was most definitely her friend, and one she wasn’t exactly sure about, but who she knew for sure meant her no harm, being a friend of the family. She didn’t quite know what to make of Altar, despite the kindly gesture he had made by bringing her to the market and then later training her. Still, she was not exactly sure what she thought of her own brother at the moment, and so had to reserve judgement on her brother’s closest friend. For posterity.

Angel, on the other hand, had been a fast friend for Aryll, the first she’d made in Kirigakure without her brother or Xyxer’s influence. Monarch had entertained Aryll’s attention for all of a few minutes. The boy didn’t really offer much in the way of conversation, and beyond using him as a punching bag, she didn’t have much to gain from a friendship with the boy. The Tadashi sisters were entertaining, but Aryll really didn’t like that every time she left that house she did so with blue hair and thick eyeliner. Once, they’d even tried to chop her hair short, into the “Tadashi special.” Aryll had thrown a fit at that, and nearly smashed the door trying to escape. The sisters had nearly frozen in fear when she did so, though Aryll could never determine why they were so mortified by the status of their door. Perhaps doors were very important to the Tadashi family, bearing some powerful symbolic importance or something. Aryll would probably never know.

Focusing on the moment, Aryll would look to the two that had gathered and realize that she didn’t have her most important piece of equipment.
”Hold on.” She would say, reaching out with her hand. Her threads stretched out and opened a large door that concealed Thane’s location. Tall dark and handsome would have threads attached and, at Aryll’s urging, lift a large metal blade, the very one that had nearly taken her own brother’s life. Thane would lift the huge blade and shorten it, setting it neatly on his back, before walking towards Aryll, who gripped the arm of her wheelchair as the automaton lifted her, chair and all, placing her inside the open cockpit, which she left open for convenience’s sake.
”If you’ll recall, Altar, I did tell you I liked to run people over.” She would tease, Thane’s lowermost arms clenching into fists and raising their thumbs in your typical thumbs up position. ”Everyone ready? Feel free to hitch a ride up top if you like. I’d offer you a seat in the cockpit, but you’d be riding in my lap, and that would be kinda awkward.” She said as Thane began to walk, stopping to wait should either one of them feel the need to hitch a ride on Thane, in which case, the automaton would assist in their climbing using the non-sharpened ends of his hands like a ladder.

Thane would then walk down the street, catching a lot of wary glances from pedestrians, who were definitely not used to seeing something like this. Aryll grinned at their discomfort. She liked standing out like this, rather than being forced to blend in when she assumed her role of the Hyuuga heiress. Thane would head down the street until they reached the docks, where a small boat was waiting for them, large enough for Thane to fit on without tipping the damn thing, fortunately. Thane would step aboard and wait for someone to pull the thing out. Though it might be seen as lazy, Aryll was largely useless in this part of the mission, for she had very little in the way of motor skills. Heh. Double entendre.

(1,494)

Ah, a new face. Of course, the boy knew the girl relatively well. Having access to the village files and ANBU viewing privilege came with many perks. He knew this girl was an Uchiha. Yet, she used a false family name. The Uchiha could be a very secretive clan, due to possessing one of the more powerful dojutsu, but most chose to honor their clan and use their name. Perhaps the girl had gotten into a spat with family. Perhaps she was exiled, or perhaps she just didn't want to be addressed as an Uchiha. Whatever her reason, it didn't truly matter to Altar; it was no business of his. He would simply play along and address the girl as she wanted to be addressed.

"Altar. Altar Shinkou. Nice to meet you, Angel." the boy would say, almost skipping over his own clan name after deliberating on why the girl chose to forsake hers.

It seemed Aryll and Angel already knew each other and were on, or appeared to be on, friendly terms with each other. Strange, as Aryll could be very... she was a sparkplug, let's put it that way. Altar was mulling how this was possible over as the aforementioned hyuuga brought a giant mechanical abomination out from a side door. The young ANBU would let her make her witty remark before replying, somewhat in kind.

"Well. Lot of storage space in that house, huh? I mean, that's not really a wheelchair to my credit, and I feel like IT'S running people over more than you, just... don't step on any pedestrians, okay?" The boy would say, a sly grin on his face as the girl lowered the arms of the puppet, putting the hands into a thumbs up gesture.

When asked if he wanted a ride, the boy would cast a sideways glance at the Uchiha girl, Angel, and shrug, deciding he'd rather walk. He could always use Void to travel there, but it'd be somewhat suspicious and hard to explain if he just disappeared to be found later at the island.

As the trio reached the boat and Aryll stepped her giant behemoth into the boat without managing to sink it or flip it somehow, because magic or something, quantum space time mechanics maybe, Altar would jump into the water behind the boat, waiting for Angel to seat herself comfortable before pushing untying the boat and pushing it away from the shore, further out into the open sea. When they were far enough out, Altar would jump haphazardly into the boat, resulting in him laying on the floor of the vessel, facing skyward, with his feet over the edge and his feet ankle deep in the water.

Due to his close proximity to the rear and sides of the boat, it was probably his job to keep it moving. So, the boy would manifest two of his Thousand Hands arms, one at each side, and use them as paddles to keep the boat in motion. Of course, he couldn't see where the hell he was going, but navigation could fall on someone else. To ease the passing of time, the young ANBU would reach into his pocket, pulling out a book slightly too large to actually fit in said pocket, and open it, continuing the story where he had last left off.

Man, pocket dimensions were great.

The dark clothed man with white hair would introduce himself as Altar Shinkaou. She could tell that he had a powerful chakra, probably as strong as Mr. (Or Mrs., Angel still never found out) Ren Tsubasa’s chakra level. As such, this man was probably about Jounin level.

“Hold on,” The crippled Hyuga would say after saying hello, and then shoot her chakra threads, which Angel was more than familiar with, out towards a door which Angel hadn’t notice due to the fact that it had been in disguise, and pulled it open. What was inside was quite a phenomenal site. Inside, there was a… well. Angel had seen nothing like it before… it was a giant metallic 15 structure…. Was it a person? No…. it looked to big in the body and to small of arms to actually be a metallic human…. What was it? Some kind of puppet? That is the only thing Angel’s mind could possibly think this thing could be. Suddenly a latch on the front and Aryll would be lifted up by the machine and placed into it….. was she… was she controlling the thing from the inside? That… was crazy…. How could someone ever get to her?


It was pure Genius….

”If you’ll recall, Altar, I did tell you I liked to run people over.” She would tease, The machine’s lower arms clenching into fists and raising their thumbs into a thumbs up position. ”Everyone ready? Feel free to hitch a ride up top if you like. I’d offer you a seat in the cockpit, but you’d be riding in my lap, and that would be kinda awkward.”

That, and Angel wasn’t sure if all three of them could fit in the cockpit. That being said, The blonde girl would look at Altar to see what he would do, and it appeared that he had every intention of just walking over to there location. Angel would look back up at Aryll and say “If it is all the same to you, we will just walk. No offense, but that thing looks dangerous and I am a bit scared it might give me a little bit of a shock.”

Angel would fully admit that that was Terrible Rhyme.

The girl knew that she was controlling it with her threads and it wasn’t electrical…. So there wasn’t much of a way that she could be shocked by the monstrous piece of metal.

The group made their way to the boat that was to take them out to the boat, At first Angel thought it was way to big for the three of them, but then she realized that they needed a huge boat so that the weight of the giant mec they were dragging with them wouldn’t cause the boat to sink.
Altar took the back, and As such, Angel thought it would be her job to take the wheel, as such, Angel would go up to the front of the boat where the wheel was and start to navigate the boat toward the island.

After a bit of time, Angel decided that she should probably share what she had learned about the weindigos.

“So…. I went ahead and did a little bit of studying last night.” The girl woud explain.
“So, the beast we are hunting are monsters…. Or sick people… called weindigos. Not a lot is known about them, which is why we are here to preform this mission of capturing them. Basicly one is formed when a human being commits cannibalism and eats another human. It isn’t sure what other effects there are to make them into this…. but the rumor is some sort of evil spirit/ chakra presence. Either way, once one turns into a Weindigo, they have super natural strength, beyond what most humans have the ability to do naturally… so it is kind of dangerous….. Angel would gulp a little bit, Seems strange that they would make 2 genin go along on this mission… but hey, at least we have Altar around to help us out on this.”

WC: 690

Aryll smiled as Altar commented on Thane, making a joke about the size of her house.
”Who needs space and time ninjutsu when you’ve got money?” She quipped back, the sarcasm heavy in her voice as she spoke. It was true, her house was quite large, larger by far than most of the spartan homes that the citizens of Kirigakure made their homes in. The Hyuuga had quite a lot of money to spare, and accommodations were always first class. This particular home tended to make Aryll nostalgic for their old home in Tengakure, situated several stories up in one of the best locations in all of the village. The breathtaking view that she saw from her window each morning, just as the sun rose, was to die for, and while this one paled in comparison, it did offer such a view, watered down as it might be. Really, Aryll didn’t have room to complain about accommodations, but their large, multi storied house had always felt so much fuller, if only because its occupants were much more numerous. This one felt empty and barren, nothing but a storage space and a place for Aryll to rest. It was all rather depressing.

Altar’s dispute over the technicalities of Aryll’s previous statement about her specialization made Aryll’s face break into a wry grin.
”Thane’s legs are under the chair, so it still counts. And make no mistake, every ounce of force this guy can generate comes from me and me alone. Puppets are a fascinatingly complex medium, I wouldn’t expect you to understand that much. Rest assured that he is not doing any of the work for me.” She explained. She was amused when he told her not to step on any pedestrians, shrugging her shoulders and giggling mischievously. ”As long as they mind the road, they will be fine.” She grinned.

The boy and the girl’s mutual refusal to ride along on Thane’s shoulder were met by a shrug from Aryll, and consequently, Thane, whose lower arms would twist into a thumbs down position, the machine visually sagging from the insult of not being accepted for help. It was all a joke, of course, but Aryll enjoyed making people believe that Thane was his own sentient being, with thoughts, wants, needs, and emotions all his own. It was an amusing ruse, and one that made people all the more likely to hesitate in combat against him, an edge she needed, considering he was a fifteen foot tall metal automaton with four arms and a razor sharp prehensile tail. Every edge counted, after all. ”If you insist. If you get tired, don’t say I didn’t offer.” She sobbed playfully.

When they reached the large boat, Aryll was just about to tell Altar to start the engine so that they could drive, when Altar seemed to decide that the boat didn’t need to use its previously provided amenities to function, instead choosing to doggie paddle the god damned boat with magical arms that seemed to grow out of his body. What a guy. As the boat took off, Thane lurched a bit, but stayed steady as the boat moved. As they took off, Aryll listened to Angel’s briefing on the creatures they would be fighting, which were called Wendigos. Hmm, supernatural strength? And they were created by eating people, yuck. If they weren’t capable, they’d end up as Wendigo chow, which, while admittedly a whole lot cooler than getting a stupid post mortem nickname like Kibbles, would still be rather embarrassing. Not to mention gross. As she listened to her friend explain what a Wendigo could do, she noticed that she didn’t mention anything about their speed and durability. Perhaps she didn’t know. Best to ask now, she figured.
”How fast are they? Or do we not know?” She asked. ”I’m pretty sure Thane will be able to keep up with them in both departments, but I probably shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.” She said, listening intently to Angel’s briefing about the capabilities of the wendigos.

As the boat arrived at the island, Thane was out before the boat even hit the beach, his metallic feet splashing and likely soaking Altar, who was probably already soaked due to his unusual method of paddling anyways. Aryll wasn’t just jumping out for her love of the water, however, for Thane’s many hands clasped against the boat and guided it into shore, assuring that it was safely beached before they got out. It would suck to lose their ride home after fighting all these damned things, after all. As Aryll pulled the boat ashore, she looked around at the barren beach.

”Oh, man, this island is big. If only we had a sensory ninja or two.” She gasped in mock sarcasm, her byakugan activating as she surveyed the area. Looking around, she examined the island. The woods were thick and hid all manner of creatures, but higher up, in the caves, hidden by waterfalls, the creatures loomed, hidden by the darkness. Aryll shuddered a bit at the sight of them, for they were long, slender, with clawed hands and a wiry frame that concealed their immense strength. In Layman's terms, they were creepy as fuck.

”Yuck. Okay, I see two caves full of them. I say we split up and clear them out separately.” She suggested, her eyes turning to the larger cave on their left. ”Altar, you’re a big boy, that one’s got your name all over it. You can come help us out once you’re done there, or meet us back here.” She said, pointing through the jungle to the cave, which would be obscured from normal vision, but Aryll had no doubt that he could see it. That white eye wasn’t just for show. Pointing to the second cave now, Aryll looked at Angel. ”We can take that one, it’s the smaller of the two. If we need help, we’ll retreat and wait for you. They don’t look too tough, though. I think we’ll be fine.” She said, Thane bending down to the ground to offer his arm to Angel.

”Wanna sit on my shoulders? They’ll have to climb up me to get to you.” She offered, once again. ”It’s probably for the best, but feel free to hoof it if you like.” She said. She’d wait for an answer and either retract the arm respectfully or assist her in climbing to the top of Thane, where she would be able to sit or stand somewhat comfortably. With that out of the way, Thane’s hatch would close, obscuring Aryll’s face. The Byakugan allowed her to see through the solid steel that separated her from the outside, and she used this ability to gaze through the brush, holding back limbs of trees for Angel and generally making it easier for her to walk.

As she did this, she would raise the huge metal blade that she had brought with her. She had crafted it while working on Thane, but only now been able to finish it. This was to be considered her first test run with the weapon, which was effectively a giant version of a Kirigakure (Or, technically, Tengakure) classic, the Vibroblade. As Thane gripped the blade from his back, it extended to about seven and a half feet, small enough for Thane to use like a sort of machete. This blade was used to cut through the brush, clearing a path for the two of them without making too much of a fuss. As they walked, Aryll spoke through the vents above her to Angel, amplifying her voice a bit so the girl could hear her better.

”I can’t see in three hundred and sixty degrees when I’m in here. I need you to watch our back. They’d have to travel miles to get around us without me noticing, but let’s just be cautious. We don’t want any surprise visitors.” She instructed Angel, wherever she was. Walking through the brush, hacking through it with her massive sword, she made her way to a huge waterfall. Glancing up, she saw the path that they climbed, to reach their cave, and, if not already carrying her, would attempt to lift Angel and set her on top. If and when she was there, Thane’s top two arms would shield his head, forming an umbrella for the girl, as Thane’s other two arms set to work scaling the cliff face hidden under the waterfall, the giant puppet proving to be surprisingly nimble despite his size. He scaled the cliffs with huge leaps, managing to keep both of the girls stable and dry, although more so Aryll then Angel.

Thane would lift the pair of them up, mantling the edge of the cliff, and pulling them into a cave. At this point, Aryll would manipulate Thane into depositing Angel beside him if she so desired, making sure to stay in front of her should an unsuspected visitor arrive. With a few cautious steps, Aryll entered the cave.
”Shit, it’s dark in here.” she complained, even though she could see fine. She eyed up the cave, counting the creatures within. One, two, three…. Four… five, six, seven…. Eight, nine… Geez, Ten. Eleven. Twelve… How many of these damned things were there? Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…. Fifteen. Fifteen cannibalistic creatures with super strength were ahead of them, positioned on different rock faces. They were lurking in the shadows, creeping towards the two of them.

”There’s three on my left, I can’t turn Thane to engage them without looking away from the rest.” She told Angel, Thane’s lowermost left hand pointing slowly to a large boulder. ”One is behind that rock. Another… There.” She said, pointing to a Wendigo creeping towards them along the ceiling, threatening to drop down upon them. Lastly, Thane pointed to the right wall, where one was resting on a shelf, eying them hungrily. ”I’ll point out any that try to flank us, okay? Can you take them out for me? I’m gonna start picking off the ones in front of me. It looks like they’re very sulky, perhaps they’re nocturnal. They weren’t expecting us, and it’ll take them awhile to realize that we’re a threat and start to fight back.” She explained to Angel, positively making that up on the spot to make her feel better. Aryll was wearing a suit of armor that weighed several tons. Angel was not. Thane readied his massive blade, the one that Aryll had brought for experimental purposes, and she silently wished she'd have given it more time in the lab. She was starting to doubt its sharpness.

(3319)

When Aryll asked about their speed, Altar would speak up while not taking his attention from the book above him, able to attest to their abilities in combat due to prior experience. "They're fast. Lightning fast. And they can take a big hit like it's nothing. The Wendigo are dangerous, very dangerous. But we have one thing over them. We're smart. They're not."

When the boat ran ashore, thanks to the titan of a puppet, the young ANBU would toss his book up, the paperback vanishing in mid air thanks to the boy's hammer space, or to name it more aptly, book space. Of course, once fully on the beach, the boy would hop out from the boat and onto the land, activating the byakugan in his left eye. As the veins on the left side of his face popped, becoming more distinguished, he could tell Aryll had done the same. Byakugan were incredibly useful tools for recon. Priceless dojutsu, really.

As the boy scanned where Aryll had pointed, he counted off the number of Wendigo in the cave in his head. One, two... four... eight... sixteen... thirty two... thirty five in total it seemed. "Thirty five in total. I got this. You two, be safe. Aryll I know that's a big puppet, but don't rely on it. If it busts, have a contingency. If you two finish before me... don't bother trying to retrieve the body." the boy would say, putting a hand over the scarf around his neck, tugging gently at one end of it as his byakugan deactivated, the Meigan in his right eye spurring to life, a brilliant jade color filling the outskirts and dancing with a vivid crimson.

God, he must've looked so weird.

With his Meigan active now, the boy would trek towards the larger of the two caves, discarding his overcoat on a hill near the landing point, using a tree branch as a hanger of sorts.

The cave wasn't far at all, but it was packed to burst with Wendigo. Once he attacked, they'd wake and all hell would break loose. But he could handle that. In fact, it may be more than a little enjoyable. Of course, unknown to Altar, now that he had wandered away from the two genin, a light crimson hue had begun to surround his body, delicately tracing him and flickering around him like a flame.

Unknown to Altar, the beast had taken over.

A shrill screech would sound out from the direction of the larger cave, and Altar would dive headfirst in. The beasts were still half asleep when the boy tore the first one in half. When the pained death scream of their brother sounded off, echoing through the spacious cavern, they jumped to attention so fast it was almost comedic. Of course, them lunging in the next half second was less comedic. But that mattered little to the beast.

Fangs, nails, tooth and claw. Razor sharp extremities and appendages were flung the way of the lucky beast, but were quickly done away with. The Wendigo were fast. But he was faster. They were strong. But the bijuu was stronger. The first few after the first fell easy. It was after them that they started attacking en masse. Of course, the pandemonium seemingly set them on panic mode, and they readily attacked each other as much as they attacked the boy. The only memories he would have of this encounter would be the horrid screams, the sound of tearing skin and shattering bone, and blood. So, so much blood.

When Altar came back to his senses, he was holding the last Wendigo in the cave, barely clinging to it's life, in the grasp of three of the Thousand Hands seals. The boy would place a hand on the bloody being, teleporting it to Void for safekeeping. On exiting the cave, the boy would form a handseal and breathe out a wall of flame, the fire filling the cave he had just... cleaned. He didn't know why, but burning the bodies felt like a good idea. The flames would extinguish themselves, they didn't have anywhere to spread in a closed rock cave.

Once that was said and done, the boy would trek again over to the smaller cave to check the progress of the two Genin, not taking notice of his bloodstained appearance, the crimson aura now almost completely dissipated, but his Meigan still active. His shirt was mauled and he was covered in scratches, and someone or something's blood. The scarf on his neck, however, remained completely unharmed. Even when lost to the beast Chomei, he would never let any harm come to that scrap of cloth.

(So wishing that I had Genjutsu right now)
“How fast are they? Or do we not know? I’m pretty sure Thane will be able to keep up with them in both departments, but I probably shouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch.” Aryll would ask, When Angel said they had super human strength she had meant they had supper human abilities, including sensory, strength, and speed. The Uchiha girl was about to answer that, when Altar decided to step in and say something, “They're fast. Lightning fast. And they can take a big hit like it's nothing. The Wendigo are dangerous, very dangerous. But we have one thing over them. We're smart. They're not."
‘Well, someone else did their research.’ Angel thought to herself.

After some time, the boat arrived at the island, the group got off the boat and onto the sandy shore. Looking around, The poet appreciated the soft ocean breeze that flew through her hair. Burr would look through the island… now came the hard part of the mission, find the Weindigoss before they find the group. The one good thing about the situation was that at least this group knew that wendigos were here…. And the wendigos didn’t. Prehaps the group could find a trail or something in order to hunt down the group.
”Oh, man, this island is big. If only we had a sensory ninja or two.” Angel could tell that she was being sarcastic… but wasn’t sure what about until she activated her dojutsu…. Oh…

“Yuck. Okay, I see two caves full of them. I say we split up and clear them out separately.” The Hyuga said, ”Altar, you’re a big boy, that one’s got your name all over it. You can come help us out once you’re done there, or meet us back here. ”
Aryll would then look toward the cave that Aryll had been pointing at, an analytical look on his face, as if he was thinking about something, sizing it up.
“We can take that one, it’s the smaller of the two. If we need help, we’ll retreat and wait for you. They don’t look too tough, though. I think we’ll be fine” Aryll would continue, pointing off some distance.
Angel would look at her a little bit strange, “Don’t… don’t look that tough…..? Aryll, they are evil possessed monsters that have beyond human strength… I am pretty sure that we shouldn’t be saying ‘they don’t look tough.’ but I also think we will be fine also.”
At this point, Altar finished his counting. "Thirty five in total. I got this. You two, be safe. Aryll I know that's a big puppet, but don't rely on it. If it busts, have a contingency. If you two finish before me... don't bother trying to retrieve the body.”

And with that, He disappeared.

Depressing much….

Angel thought this as the two went toward the other cave, perhaps this wasn’t the best idea… sending the two genin alone…. But this was Angel’s Premier mission, so she probably didn’t know any better.
“Wanna sit on my shoulders? They’ll have to climb up me to get to you.” She offered, once again. ”It’s probably for the best, but feel free to hoof it if you like.”
Angel would this time say, “Yeah, it is probably for the best if I do that this time… although from what I hear of these things, they might not climb up and instead just try to jump on us…. But hey, that’s fine, it will give me more time to react to their movements.”

The two then proceeded to enter into the dark cave together, As they did, Angel activated her strange eye ability which she didn’t fully understand yet and started to look around, she was barely able to see anything, it was so dark out.

Aryll would then go ahead and start to list off where each of them is at, Angel would pull out her Kunai and prepare to attack.

Suddenly, she could tell their was movement, toward the direction that Aryll pointed out to her. Angel would blindly throw her Kunai in that direction and hear it clatter on the stone.

Not being experienced in combat, Angel would look over, trying to tell if she got hit it (Like the dumb blonde from a horror movie).

Suddenly, from her back, she felt herself grabbed and thrown off the cave ground, hitting the ground with a solid *THUD*

“GAHHHH” Angel screamed out as the moster came up and jumped on her… grawling at Angel…. She wasn’t able to see anything, but she could smell its horrible order coming from the beast… feel it’s slimily bare skin on hers as she wasn’t weaing the most modest dress in the world. (Hey, this isn’t Hikari) Angel would look up at the monster… not sure what was it was about to do… this was probably the end…

WC: 851

Angel’s appraisal of the Wendigo was met by Aryll’s own cocky grin, same as usual.
”Not as fast as me. And not even half as tough.” She grinned. ”We’ll be fine, just stay close to me. I’ve got this.” She bragged. Aryll’s confidence was staggering, especially in the face of cannibalistic beasts that basically were better than them in every physical way. Well, not better then Aryll. ”Brains plus brawn, right here.”
As they went ashore, Altar counted out the Wendigo in his cave, before making a remark about not bothering to recover his body, should he perish. Thane’s fingers twisted into a peace sign as Aryll spoke.
”Go get ‘em, tiger. Get your ass back here in one piece, or wait for us if it’s too much.” She said, her tone surprisingly motherly. Aryll worried about people too, sometimes. Sometimes.
 
When Angel lectured her about referring to them as “Not looking that tough,” Aryll, and by extension, Thane, shrugged. ”Fine, then. I think I can kick their asses.” She said, correcting herself to a much more cocky statement. ”Effortlessly, even.” She added, as if to seal the deal. She was not worried. ”You probably can, too. Just stay close to me, just in case. I don’t want to see my buddy get dragged off.” She said, once again giving a motherly warning. Aryll DID have fears of her own, after all.
 
As she carried the girl towards the cave, she was glad to see that the girl was willing to take a ride this time, as Aryll was legitimately afraid she would step on her friend or something like that. That shit would suck. This way, she could keep track of her and protect her. It was for the best. As they walked, the two filled their roles very well, all the way up until they faced the wendigos. While Aryll was calling out their locations, she heard Angel preparing a kunai, but then… A shriek, and a clatter, as the knife hit stone. Looking up for a moment, Aryll saw her being dragged away.
 
”Shit.” She muttered. ”Hold on, Angel!” She shouted into the cave, her voice carrying and echoing through the entire place, which seemed to have set off the remainder of the Wendigo. As she chased the girl, who was being dragged through the cave, farther and farther to her death, Aryll became more frantic, swinging the giant blade that Thane wielded, trying to bat the creatures away. She was getting tunnel vision. As she chased her deeper into the cave, the sound of rending metal greeted Aryll as the back hatch was pried open, a hand reaching in and pulling Aryll clear out, dragging her away. Aryll shrieked, punching and biting, but she was of no use outside of Thane. What the hell was this? This was not heroic! This was pathetic! As she felt herself being dragged into the cave, towards where Angel was, she reached out, attaching chakra threads to Thane and reanimating him. The puppet gave chase, knocking aside several creatures on its way to Aryll. It stomped on the one that was gripping Aryll, forcing it to break its grip. As Thane bent down to retrieve Aryll, she switched vision modes. Grasping around in the dark, she found something shiny and small. Picking it up, she saw it was a bracelet. She felt immense chakra flowing through the bracelet, and recognized it as a Tengakure design. This was a chakra enhancer. This was exactly what she needed, left behind by some other poor soul who had fallen to these beasts. Aryll would not let her and Angel join that list. As she slipped the bracelet on, she immediately felt her power surge. Then, with the help of her byakugan, Aryll saw the thing about to clamp its jaws down on Angel.

”Get the hell off of her!” Aryll shrieked in rage, Thane rocketing past her and crushing the creature against the wall, using one of its four hands to grab Angel, another to grab Aryll, and clumsily shoving them both into the cockpit, closing all hatches. The result would be awkward, but it was gonna keep them alive, and that was all that mattered at this point, right? The clumsy save would be reinforced as Thane swung the heavy end of his blade, cleaving against the skulls of the beasts and incapitating them, one by one. Aryll felt her power and speed increasing vastly thanks to the bracelet she was wearing, the one that had saved her life. What a perfect time to find such a thing.

In no time at all, the cave was clear, with all fifteen wendigo lying broken and bloodied, but still alive. Aryll had spared them, as per the mission parameters. Now, they were to capture them and return them to Kirigakure, safely imprisoned, of course. This would be the easy part. As soon as she knew the fighting was over, she would deposit Angel, before lifting a few of the creatures in each of Thane’s arms, holding them tight, and leaping down the waterfall, with Angel hopefully in tow.
In a matter of minutes, Aryll would return to their boat, dropping each Wendigo, unconscious and bloodied, at Thane’s feet. Altar was there, similarly beaten and bloodied to the two of them, and Aryll did not say anything to that. Instead, she teased.
”Looks like we got more then you.” She said, Thane’s arms gesturing to the fifteen she had returned. Looking at their small boat, Aryll sighed. ”We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” She would say, exasperated. They had have to guard these damned things while they got help.

…Several hours later of cautiously guarding these damned things, the boats appeared on the horizon, and with them, cages. Sixteen of them. Thane would deposit one beast in each cage, hurling the beasts in with extreme prejudice. That done, she boarded their own ship once more and sat down. Or rather, Thane sat down. Even HE was tired, after all of this bullshit they were put through. They all deserved some rest and relaxation. As the boats took them back, Aryll killed time with idle chatter.
”See, I told you I was faster. Stronger too. These things didn’t stand a chance.” She bragged, looking to the bracelet on her hand ”Even got a nifty souvenir. We should really go on more outings like this.” Aryll chattered, whether or not anybody else offered his or her input. Aryll did not care. She was here for the banter, after all. As their boat took them home, the setting sun would remind them all that they had survived…


Until Dusk.

(4500)

1,500 Chakra Enhancer
3,000 Giant Vibroblade 
S-Rank Mission Rewards