Treasure Hunting in the Land of Wind

The First Day:
 
“Wha- What time is it?”
 
The warrior would slowly open his eyes, waking from his rest. Luckily for him, he had found this cave, else the first thing he would have woken to would have been the blinding rays of the sun. He didn’t want that. Hell, he could not think of anybody that would want such a thing. He would place his hand to his head, noting the throb of a headache. He was going to have to find some food today, though this place doesn’t make that easy. Rubbing his temples while trying to relieve the throb, he would think about what all he had to get done today.
 
Taishi flung the fur covers off of his body, slowly coming to and dragging himself up to a standing position. No matter what was on his agenda for today, it was likely going to be a rather long one. He needed to find food, he needed to find a new place to set up shelter, plus that didn’t even take into consideration the traveling that needed done. Taishi would begin stretching out, readying his body for the day. It wasn’t anything fancy, but in managed to get his blood pumping and limbering up his muscles. He would then pack up his bedding, placing it in a sack hung across his back. He would then get dressed and ready for the day, picking up his things and walking out of the mouth of the cave.
 
It was a hot day today, the sun beating down on the landscape. The lash of the sun stung as it burned the skin of Taishi on his trek. Why was he punishing himself like this? This god forsaken country was harsh living, and it would seem like living in such conditions would surely produce strong warriors. If one could survive here, they would surely be able to do well in less harsh climates. So in short, it was a bit of survivalist training… which had not really been going as well as expected. He didn’t have the right garb for the trip, and his bald head was sunburnt. His water supply had dwindled down to a mere four gallons. His back appreciated the reduced weight, but at this rate he only had another day or so before his supply was gone. He heard that there was an oasis here somewhere in the heart of the desert, and finding it would likely prove the only way he would survive out here unless he turned back.
 
Hah, hell with that thought. Plus, from what he’s heard there was a hidden village that was sacked here not so long ago. The ruins might have some valuables, and what is better than easy money? Best case scenario, he leaves a wealthy man. Just the chance at such would be worth the trip. Plus, he’s never seen this country before. It was a sunny, hellscape of a country and if he wasn’t trying to test his limits (and get rich in the process) he would leave this country as quickly as he could.
 
The intense heat and dry air left his mouth in a constant state of dryness, despite repeated attempts to quench it from sips from his waterskin. It would remedy the issue for a short period of time, only to return seemingly faster and faster. This damned heat!
 
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Taishi could see what looked like some sort of animal in the distance. A bird, and a rather large one too... a vulture.  
“A buzzard? Damn it! I have to eat something that literally eats the shit other stuff doesn’t want to eat? Food is food I guess.”
 
The man simply shook his head and pulled out a shuriken. He would have to be quick and precise if he wanted to eat today. There is no guarantee that if Taishi mucks this up he will find another source of food. Spinning the shuriken on his finger, he would eye up the target. The bird was around 15 meters away, easily within striking distance of the thrown shuriken. Gauging the shot, Taishi would ready himself, pulling back his arm and then launching the shuriken at the neck of the bird. If he was lucky, the bird wouldn’t have seen it coming and would face a swift end.
 
With a series of flaps, the now headless bird would die. Taishi would collect his shuriken and then dress the bird and pluck out all the feathers.  He would have to make a fire to cook the bird, and so he would look around and see if there was another cave or something, somewhere where he could get out of the sun and eat. Scanning the area he would find not a cave, but a large rock formation that would provide much needed shade. Making his way over, Taishi would whip out his flint, some dried plant fibers, and a small bundle of sticks that he managed to come across on his travels. Setting the sticks down he would use these to start a fire and cook the bird. The heat from the fire was nigh unbearable in this heat, but food was important and Taishi had to keep the bird from burning and becoming a black brick of charred garbage.
 
Finally the bird was done. Taishi would set the bird down on a rock and begin tearing into it. The taste was… pretty awful. There was nothing to season it with out here, and the bird is a carrion feeder too. The warrior wasn’t expecting much, but this was particularly bad.
“Eh, I guess it makes sense. Eats trash, tastes like trash.” He would complain, though simply to himself as nobody had been around. Maybe he just wanted to hear a voice, something to break the silence all around him it this huge void of space that this world swears is a country. They sure got the raw end of the stick. Biggest landmass, smallest amount of inhabitable and workable land. A country like this would surely have to depend heavily on trade just to get basic needs covered. Sad, really.
 
Tossing the scraps of leftover bird and bone off into the desert, Taishi would kick sand on to the fire, putting it out. If he was being more careful, he would bury the burned wood in an attempt to hide his presence, but really would be out here tracking him? If the Sand village was destroyed, there simply isn’t any reason people would come out here. Unless of course they were looking to pick the bones of Suna as well.
 
The day would drag on as he trekked across the desert looking for abandoned loot. Night would be close, and while Taishi wasn’t the brightest he knew that being out in the desert at night was a death sentence. It would seem that he would need to find shelter yet again. He could turn back and try to take shelter at that rock formation, but it wouldn’t provide what he needed. Scanning the land, Taishi sees what looks to be some sort of rock formation and what looks like a cave mouth. That would be as good a place as any, and realistically he didn’t have time to find something else.
 
The mouth of the cave was large enough for him to enter comfortably, and so he would begin setting up camp. A fire was made, and he took a log burning on the one end and used it as a simple makeshift light source while he investigated the cave. There were strange signs here, almost as if some kind of animal was here. Deep gashes in the wall would appear to be from some sort of animal, though no animal in this area would be able to make these marks. Hmm. It didn’t seem like there was anything else in the cave, so Taishi would simply return the wood to the fire and ready himself to sleep.
 
The Second Day:
Taishi groaned as he woke up. He didn’t want to wake up, as he knew that the unwavering heat and minimal water were the only things that would welcome him this day. Taishi had only enough water to last maybe the day, and he hadn’t found anything even remotely close to a water source. Hell, if there were the ruins of a hidden village here wouldn’t it be easier to find considering its size? Maybe it was completely destroyed and he simply couldn’t find it because it was not there.
 
Climbing his way over a dune he would see a rather large snake, much larger than he had ever seen before. Was it massive like some sort of huge ninja snake? No, because that would be silly and outlandish. Taishi wouldn’t be able to best that, but this was indeed a big snake. And more importantly, it was another source of food.
 
Taishi didn’t really have the extra energy of water to have a prolonged fight. He would have to end this quickly, else he would simply be wasting precious energy – a luxury he just could not afford. Forming a Tiger hand seal with his one hand he would morph a nearby rock into a stone staff with Earth Release: Rock Section Cane.
 
The snake would strike out with incredible speed, but Taishi was able to follow, swatting the snake away with his earth staff, shifting his body for the follow up attack. Swinging down with his full force the staff would smash the snake on the top of the head, its body going limp. That was… easier than he expected, but he wasn’t going to complain. It was just an easy meal in his books.
 
As Taishi walked over to the snakes body though it proved still full of life, and struck out at his leg. Was it playing dead? What a clever animal, allowing its opponent to lower their guard. The strike would nearly catch him if it were not for the stone staff being between the two. Taishi would shift the staff with a motion from his hand and strike away the creature again. It had proved to be a far more resilient opponent that originally expected, but who said life was easy?
 
The snake seemed to realize that it was in a bad spot and began to slither away in an attempt to find safety and shelter. Hopefully it would have no such luck though. Taishi would throw the stone weapon like a javelin at the fleeing beast.
 
Splat! The weapon crushed the head of the snake, killing it instantly. It was a gruesome sight, but definitely not the worst thing he had seen. Taishi would simple walk over and pick it up, slinging it over his back and walking continuing on his trek.
 
Upon reaching the top of a dune, Taishi would find himself looking at the walls of a settlement. This was not just any settlement, but it looked to be the Hidden Sand Village of Sunagakure. This didn’t look to be a ruin, though there wasn’t much foot traffic that he could see from here. There didn’t seem to be any guards patrolling the gates either.
 
Well, Taishi would simply walk up to the gates, all the while keeping his eyes open and his head on a swivel. There is no knowing what could be out here waiting to ambush weary travelers. It could be bandits, or even predators. Cautiously Taishi would step through the large stone gates and enter into the village. There was silence, almost a dead quiet here. Still, he felt as though he was being watched as he walked through the seemingly abandoned town.
 
First thing to do? Find some valuables to make this trip worthwhile. Taishi would enter into the largest building he could find, hoping to find something expensive to take. The stone structure stood empty, no signs of people nor any signs of treasures. This place looks to have already been stripped clean. He knew what to look for, the sure signs of former treasure seekers. There was nothing here at all. No person fleeing for their life would have the time to take everything. And no people could live here with nothing at all, no clothes, no cookware, nothing. Scavengers had to have already been here.
 
He would hear a shriek, immediately alerting him that he was not alone here. He would draw his kunai, holding it firmly as he scanned the area outside for assailants. A group of what looked to be unarmed civilians were running in a panic from a man carrying a katana at his side. He had a menacing look in his eyes, and what looked to be fresh blood on his clothes and weapon. Now there were a few ways to handle this encounter. The safest thing would be to simply not interfere, allowing the man to butcher the civilians. Taishi had no care for them, no attachment. Why risk himself to protect them? Of course, if they had been native remnants of the village they might know where something of value was hidden. Such knowledge would be lost if they were dead, or worse it could fall into the hands of this lunatic. Hmm, such an important decision to make on such short time.
 
Well, it looked like it was time for him to step in. He needed the information that they might have had, and while it was a gamble this crazed murderer didn’t look like he would pose too much of a threat. Taishi would fling a handful of shuriken at the enemy, hoping to catch him off guard and strike a fatal blow. The man was quick enough to parry the attack, deflecting a shuriken off of his blade. He simply smiled a large, unnerving grin before dashing at Taishi like a crazed bull. This was his chance to determine if this opponent was a trained shinobi or if he was simply a man with a sword that preyed upon those that cannot defend themselves.
 
Taishi would feel the earth chakra flowing within him and clap his hands, touching the ground. This would cause the ground around him to begin to rise, at a steady rate. If the man was able to climb the side of the rising platform without issue that would mean that he can control his chakra enough to use the Surface Walking technique. It was fairly basic and knowing it wouldn’t mean much, but if he didn’t know it than Taishi would be more than a match for the assailant.
 
Without pause the man runs up the side of the lifting platform with ease, making his way to Taishi with haste and readying an attack. Just as Taishi readies himself to try and block, shuriken find their ways into the back of the attacker. A squad of heavily armed shinobi can be seen along the tops of the buildings, all wearing headbands that suggested that they were not from Suna. No, they donned Kumogakure’s symbol. Perhaps Kumo had not destroyed the village, but merely took it over and placed their people in charge. What would they want with such a terrible wasteland though?
 
Taishi would know that he didn’t stand a chance against the sheer numbers of the enemy, regardless of their individual skills. Dashing for the wall he would use his head start advantage to make his way to the gates and make a break for it. He would get out of there without a scratch, but he now knows that Suna isn’t merely the ruins of a lost village and that it has an armed force within. This would be a task for another time it would seem.
 

Taishi could feel the earth chakra’s within him growing stronger. It was an impressive feeling… the feeling of power welling up inside of him. He would need to learn how to properly utilize this power. It would surely make living an easy life much simpler. The man would walk through the desert back the way he came. He still had much of the world to see.


---Exit---

TWC:2693

Claims: 
1000/1000 Earth Release: Moving Earth Core
500/500 Earth Release: Rock Section Cane
1000/1000 4th Stone (Meijin)

13 stats

Approved