A walk in town [Mission, IO, Bedi]

Mission Details:

Hachi hummed to herself while flipping through the pages of a large book, sitting at the edge of a fountain. She studied the pages intently, studying this book that detailed the development of portions of the city and what they represented. This particular fountain apparently seemed to be some sort of tribute or celebration of one of the god's that the founding villagers made. The booked detailed how people acted around and respected the figure in the center of the fountain that streamed water... yet when she looked around, the only ones who seemed to even act like the fountain existed were old-timers who politely bowed and those who wondered what the girl sitting at it's edge was reading.  Most people seemed to just continue on their way. Did they not hold the same beliefs as the founders, were they not as zealous, or were they so used to it's presence that they just, didn't care about it anymore? "I don't know if I'm ever going to understand this stuff."

[170]

The Knight Clad in Green, Bedivere, leapt from building to building heading to a certain fountain. He had gotten some weird mission to learn more about the village and it's architecture and such. The adventurous boy really wasn’t into it, that sounded more like the Blue Dragons sort of thing then Bedivere’s. But a mission was a mission. His hand gripped along a horizontal hanging pipe, the boy spinning around then up onto a roof as he surveyed the city. A local fountain near here was pretty historic, maybe he should start there. His original intention was simply to use it for a landmark but there was no reason to go skydiving all over the village to write this report. He then noticed a familiar purple haired girl, though she seemed to not be in mission gear at the moment. Though as Bedivere thought about it, he wasn’t sure what her mission gear would be anyway. He took a step and began leaping down the various buildings, grabbing a line headed to the fountain with a gloved hand and sliding down towards Hachi. He tried to wave when suddenly the line snapped in his hand, sending him tumbling to the ground. He managed to catch himself in a roll and skidded on his rear to the girls feet. “Uhh...Heya Hachi. Whaddya know about fountains?”
He didn’t really expect her to answer immediately of course considering the embarrassing way he had landed so he quickly added to his statement. “Wanna join me on a mission? I’m supposed to try and learn about the city or something?”

He had been on this task for five minutes and it already seemed fairly insurmountable with the size of the city before him. Well he was sure he’d learn something along the way, and now he had Hachi to help him!


[WC: 300]
[MWC: 300/500]

Hachi looked up when she heard something snap, jumping up and slamming her book shut as someone came skidding towards her. She started to ready the book to throw, but stopped when she realized it was someone she recognized, lowering the heavy block of paper. "Bedivere? Why were you falling out of the-?" Seeming to not want to talk about it, the knight quickly cut her off and moved on to a completely different topic. Hachi sighed and decided to let it go. It didn't really matter anyways, besides now he was asking for some help. "Well, I'm certainly not getting anything done just reading. This book says the fountain is important but people don't seem very interested in it. Oh, actually, since you're here this works out fine."
 Putting the book under one arm, Hachi puts a hand in her kunai bag where she kept the kunai that had led to her passing her genin exam, pulling out a small sugar cookie wrapped in brown paper. She smiles and holds it out to Bedivere. "I wanted to say thanks for the help when we first met. It really helped when I did the exam. Plus, maybe a little sugar will help give you that little boost you need to figure out this mission. I know my book isn't going to be any help this time, but maybe my baking will."


(wc 231)
(mwc 401/500)

Bedivere took the cookie with a smile, nodding. “Thanks. Sugar is never a bad thing ya know.”
He takes a bite of the delicious cookie as he looks around with an expression of disdain, unsure of where to start. Surrounding the fountain was a bakery that seems to have been renamed half a dozen times just from the letterwork markings alone. There was an old weapons shop that, compared to the buildings around, looked absolutely ancient to the Knight. Then there was simply a bunch of new shops scattered around, all looking neat and uniform within this circle with the fountain in the center. Bedivere took a thoughtful bite of his cookie as he turned in a circle. “This city is kinda ever changing huh? I never noticed since coming here but the old things can stay old, even as new things pop up all around. It's like those stubborn old priests that won’t accept people like us, even as they are surrounded by them.”
Even as he said that, the two were getting some disdainful looks from a congregation of the religious sect over by the bakery shop. It turns out angry priests liked cookies too. Who woulda guessed that? “What do you think Hachi? Is it really possible for any research to make scale like this fit inside words? It would take us days to write a report to put on some dirty old scroll and by then, that scroll would be inaccurate just like that book you have there.”

He may have seemed a bit callous, but his voice was joyful. He was coming to love this giant city, even with all the problems that came with it, it was still his home. He could explore for hours, and even days, and probably still find something new or interesting or unique about Hoshigakure. The camp for Pendragons was fitting for such a small clan and didn’t have anywhere near this beautiful or grand of scale to it. He smiled brightly and finished his cookie, crumbling up the wrapper and making a perfect shot into a nearby trash can. “Speaking of, Hachi, what do you know about Hoshi from your own personal experience? I’ve been wondering if you have always lived here. There's a good chance you would know even more then me about this whole place.”
He looked at her, curiosity painting his face as he waited on her response.

[MWC: 500/500]

[WC: 400]

"Heheh, I agree. If I could I'd just bake and eat sweets all day, I'd do it every other day."
After passing the cookie to Bediviere, Hachi would stretch a bit, it was becoming clear that just sitting around wasn't going to help. She looked around as Bedivere pointed out how things change without having to remove the old things. "What do I think? Hm... You may have a point. Things change a lot... but look, that one shop looks like it's older than the others. At one point though, that shop was brand new too. Maybe in a few years, one of the new shops will still be around too. Never know which one will end up being important."

When he asked about her personal experience, she took a moment to gather what memories she could before replying to him. She held her book close and looked away from the people who gave them scolding looks. "Based on my experience... My mother moved us here a few years ago. She wasn't part of any of the churches, but she did hold the same distaste for Shinobi, and she was hoping I'd develop one too I think. But this city isn't just some pit of hatred. It's a city of people. And people grow and change. The church might be here till the end of time, but that doesn't mean the church won't change on the inside. Even if everything stays right where you leave it, it still changes, a little bit every day. Hoshi is a place that doesn't like change... but I think the seeds of change are always being planted in the youth. Not all of them will grow, just like some of those shops failed. I believe that even if the elders are set in their ways, the youths can learn to be better. How could I hope to be a teacher if I didn't think that?"
Hachi would give Bediviere a smile, hoping that she had been able to help answer his question. "Even if Hoshi has an ugly side, I still think everyone should experience it for themselves. I think the reports are just to help people remember their ancestors and founders. Nothing could tell you what the city is like unless you live in it yourself I think. Just like how they believe jutsu is evil because they read about it instead of learning it themselves... Does that make sense?"

(wc 407)
(mwc: 500/500)
(twc: 808)

As Hachi talked, Bedivere began to kind of see her point about this whole mission. It wasn’t to fully learn something, more so it was a journey along the way sort of deal where they had to realize the full scope of the city was much farther beyond them then they could write down in a single report. He smiled, it was simple afterall. Without Hachi he may never have even realized it himself. Everything really did change. His King had disapeared, he hadn’t heard from his home in Suna and he was even missing his sword. There was so much change going around for him just thinking about it made his head spin but he stayed grounded as he let Hachi finish her ideas about the city, waiting to respond back in kind. “Yea I think your right. Unless you live in Hoshigakure, you’ll never really know what it's like at the very heart of it's streets. Those streets may slowly change overtime but I think the people will always largerly be the same. The good, and the bad of course. We just have to do our best to see this giant place for what it really is. Our home.”
He would smile and turn, closing his eyes and pointing. Cracking an eye open, he was pointing at a nice looking bakery. “Come on Hachi, lets go get some more sweets before we turn this report in. I hope we didn’t miss the point entirely haha.”
He would take her hand after her response and rush to the bakery, past the angry clergymen and past several other townspeople who laughed and bickered and went about their daily lives. There was an infinite amount of things to learn about this city, and Bedivere hoped he would be able to live here for many years to come.

[WC: 300]
[TWC: 1,000]
MISSION SUCCESS
EXIT
Claiming:
500 Ryo
1 Ap
1 CD with Kage
Basic Medical Jutsu: 500

Shock Paddles: 500

Please link the techs you're trying to learn in the future. Approved.

Hachi smiled as Bedivere agreed with her, turning to see what he was pointing at and laughing a bit when she saw it was a bakery. Giving a shrug she just smiled and responded, "Well, we aren't trying to rescue anybody or anything, so if we did mess up somehow we might as well have something nice before getting scolded... though, I really shouldn't-"
She was about to start analyzing whether or not she should really be eating sweets, when Bedivere grabbed her hand and pulled her along forward to the Bakery. She stumbles a bit from surprise and hurries to follow him as they rush past everyone, muttering to herself a bit that maybe just one sweet thing couldn't hurt. Maybe two.


(wc:123)
(TWC: 931)
(mission complete, exiting)
(Claiming: 500 Ryo, 1 AP and 1 CD post with Village Leader.  1431/2000 Sticky Water)

Approved