The Lordly Rescue (Damon)

Spoiler:

Valen opened his eyes with a long yawn that threatened to cramp his jaw. He was tired as hell and blew some of his hair out of his eyes before deciding he’d do a mission today instead of train. He could always use the extra experience and he wanted to get out of the village for bit. Really see the desert that it was located in. He hadn’t left the village since the merchant caravan left him here to live a life that didn’t involve moving around so much after all. After making this decision that ruby eyed youth would get up and shower off before dressing in his full mission gear, sword included. He’d grab a protein bar and a mostly empty water bottle, if he ate too much before going into the desert after all he could easily throw up. The bar would give him plenty of energy for the morning. He’d open the compact pseudo-breakfast on the way the mission center and eat the bar quickly, trying to get past the taste. He finished it off with the water, using what was left of the bottle before tossing the empty plastic container in a trash can as he passed. Littering wasn’t good for the environment after all kids! Before long he would arrive at the mission center and take a mission from the C rank pile. There he’d open up the mission scroll and read through it carefully. ‘Find and escort Lord Delvar to Hoshigakure No Sato. Lord Delvar became lost at the border and must be found and escorted back lest Hoshi be seen as incapable of protecting it’s visiting dignitaries.’ The scroll would read. Valen would nod his head and hand the scroll to the receptionist. She’d look at it and turn to him “This mission will have you paired up with a partner, he hasn’t been decided yet but the next shinobi coming in for a C ranked mission will be assigned to it to accompany you as your teammate.” She would say before putting his ID code on the mission scroll and holding it in a pile for the next shinobi to put his on as well. Valen nodded at the receptionists words “Very well, I’ll meet him at the front gates in at the very least one hour from now.” He said as he turned toward the door and body flickered back home.

Here he would pick up a scroll and begin to seal in any necessities. Water, a first aid kit in case they or Lord Delvar were injured. Rations, plus a few more savory snacks and protein bars in case the Lord was captured by bandits and was being starved, and toilet paper. Always pack the toilet paper ladies and gentlemen you just never know when it’ll be needed. After packing these items he’d walk out of the door, locking it and moving toward the gate where he’d stand and await for his partner, letting the mission occupy his thoughts. ‘Lord Delvar is described as fairly fit, so hopefully he’s okay and in walkable position. The bandits out there can be vicious but they wouldn’t kill him. A lord would know better than to not announce himself as such if he life was on the line. It made him able to be ransomed. It made him worth something to them. So they’d keep him alive to trade him. Or in our case keep him alive while we arrive and ‘liberate’ him.’ He would think as the sun began rose a little higher. The last known location was along the border of Earth Country. Which was a large area to cover for sure, but it would be easier than they thought. As Lord Delvar would come along a main road into the country and the bandits wouldn’t possibly attack something as large as a Lord Caravan too far away from their base of operations. These thoughts and more occupied our crimson garbed shinobi’s mind as he awaited the arrival of his partner.

WC: 671

Valen would be contemplating the mission and what he might do in certain situations when his partner arrived. He would see him wave at him to get his attention and when he turned to fully look at him he would greeted by the same Uchiha that he taught Fire Release to not too long ago. He would nod his head in greeting and again when Damon asked if he was the partner for the mission. As usual he was quiet but now he would need to speak. After all Damon would probably have just gotten the mission as he didn’t seem like the type to keep someone waiting so he probably ran right over. That was fine of course, but it meant Valen had a bit more time to contemplate the mission. “I trust your fire nature training has served you well thus far, now to business.” He would start before opening a small map of Haven country, it didn’t show specific villages, it was more used to show the borders and main roads.. He would then point at the earth country borders. “Our missing noble, Lord Delvar, went missing coming in from the Earth Country. He probably came from the main road and I doubt he’s dead. He’d announce his title to any bandits or shinobi that successfully killed his guard. It’s common sense after all. If that know you’re a lord, they now have a reason to keep you alive, money.” He would continue, circling the main road from Earth country at the border. “I assume the bandit’s base camp isn’t far from the road. They wouldn’t attack anything as large of a lord’s caravan too far from their base. It’d be suicide.” He would continue as he looked up to make eye contact with Damon. Crimson eyes meeting bright grey as he continued speaking. “If we hurry we can make it to the border in a few hours with a small break just before to make sure we’re combat ready.” He would continue as he rolled up his map and put it away. “Unfortunately, I don’t know where around the border the base is other than that it’s not far from the road. We’ll have to be on guard around there to make sure they don’t see us. If they notice us before we find them they can actually use Lord Delvar as a hostage, or go for broke and kill him on the spot. I’d like to be in and out without them noticing if we can help it. I’d rather not risk a civilian’s life in a battle, bandits or not.” He would finish as he rolled his shoulders to prepare for a long run.

He would then reach back and make sure his packs and scrolls were secured, nodding his head in confirmation before looking back at Damon. “Let’s be off then..” He would say before turning in the direction of the border and running off as fast as he can. Even if the chances of the lord being alive were extremely high, that didn’t mean they had any time to spare. He would run through the desert at a good pace, made for long distance travel. This would allow them to get to the border without having to stop except for a small break before hand to make sure they were in fact combat ready just in case. After all Valen’s best case scenario might be to not get caught, but things rarely happened the way we planned in the shinobi world. As he ran he would practice running light chakra into his sword on his hip. He wanted to get a feel for using the element with the blade, if he could manage it he could get the upper hand in a great many sword battles with just that trick alone. Few people ever expected the blade they were blocking to light up like the damn sun. As he practiced this technique and ran across the desert he’d reach into his pouch and pull out a protein bar. He’d then toss the protein bar toward Damon if the boy followed him, which since he posted he’d respond accordingly meant he was probably close enough to catch it. Especially since he was faster than Valen was himself. He’d then continue focusing on his weapon, holding onto the hilt and the sheath as they ran, channeling his light nature element in the weapon and feeling it light up the blade. Small rays of light might be able to be seen trying to escape from the sheath, but since the blade itself was inside the bulk of the light would be contained. He might be able to use that to his advantage in combat too. Most people would be drawn to the small rays of light that would be trying to escape from the sheath. This meant they would look directly at the dangerous weapon, which in reality would be within their best interest anyway. Then he’d draw the sword, blind them with the light, and cut off their head.

He would continue to consider various situations for the technique in his head as they ran, preferring to be quiet as Damon would more than likely remember from their training session. He would continue like this for a few hours before deciding that they were close enough to the border to stop for a break and check the equipment. He’d hold a fist up in the air, the universal sign for ‘stop’ in case the wind was too loud while whipping past their ears. “We’re close to the border, and I have a feeling we’re closer than we’d like to the bandits, keep your senses sharp..let’s check our equipment and look for the camp, try to communicate through hand signs if you can. I’d like to figure out if they’re just capturing nobles for the ransom or if there’s an ulterior motive.” He’d say as he walked quietly through the area. His senses were sharpened as any shinobi’s would be and he walked through the sandy and rocky terrain like a trained shinobi would be expected to. Before long he’d hear the crackle of fire. It was then he knew he’d found them. Or at the very least find a target they might go after. He moved silently through the area to see a small group of tents with rugged, unshaven men surrounding a fire while chatting quietly to keep from being noticed. Sitting in the middle of them all was Lord Delvar. It was obvious with his fine clothing and how he was tied up and gagged. They weren’t taking chances, this meant they’d have to fight. He was glad they checked their equipment. But our crimson eyed shinobi still wanted information. He moved closer, keeping himself out of sight carefully while listening to the conversation. “So we got the lord, so when a shinobi squad arrived we kill him and our benefactor in the village spreads the word that the shinobi obviously can’t protect. Further pushing them toward the brink of war. Then they meet up with us and pay us right?” One of would toward one that looked much more well armed than the others. ‘Shit, a shinobi…’ Valen would think as he looked at the way the man carried himself. This was bad, he didn’t know how powerful the man was and he damn sure didn’t know Damon’s combat potential. One of them would have to protect Lord Delvar from the swarm of bandits while the other handled the shinobi leader. “That’s right, the man would say. The benefactor will pay when they finish their work. They can’t leave the city until then.” He would say as he took a drink. As the bottle was close to his mouth he’d pause and look over at Valen. Needless to say the crimson garbed youth would stop suddenly and when the man stood he’d swear. “Fuck!” He’d yell as he dashed toward the lord and drew Crimson End at lightning speed, blocking any weapons that may have been thrown to kill him. He’d proceed to begin killing bandits left and right, making sure Lord Delvar was protected behind him as he killed them left and right. He’d have to deal with the emotions from killing later. He didn’t have a choice to consider it right now. The moment he finished dispatching the bandits he’d grab Delvar and book it out of the camp. Soon after he’d be joined by Damon who must’ve fought the Shinobi to keep him off their back.

He’d nod at Damon as they ran toward the village, carrying Lord Delvar on his back the entire way, to make sure no one managed to surprise them. He wouldn’t chance it. He’d also have to look into this mysterious ‘Benefactor’ at some point very soon or things would be bad. If someone was trying to inflict a civil war then they would have to find them and eliminate them, or capture them and make an example. These thoughts and more crossed his mind as they crossed into the village, delivering Lord Delvar to safetly.

WC: 1523
TWC: 2194

[Exit]

Claiming mission completion and rewards, also claiming any word count I can toward Blade of Truthand knowledge of Damon's chakra signature.

Approved at bkth also damon/Komori/Alex I hate you and your stupid chirps.