A Good Deed (MN Contract, Private)

It was early in the morning on what was about to become a hot summer day, the sun in the distance over the horizon slowly making it's way into view over the land, as the rays would wash over everything they touch and fill everything with light. The many trees that occupied the forests shook to the gentle morning breeze and the leaves soaked in the growing rays of light as their colors grew brighter and the shade provided by them was a sight to behold. The wind would bring a cool sigh of relief to the summer heat as the roads that curved within the forest, going to many different towns and village, would be occupied by the noises of footsteps as traders, ninjas, and tourists from all over made their way to their destinations. The peaceful serenity of their surroundings, morning birds chirping and trees rustling softly, would help them walk at ease while talking to one another all while a cloaked individual walked disguised among them. A hood would be drawn over this individual's face, all but the lower part of his pants and shoes shown thanks to his cloak, as he walked along the same path the others took to a very different destination set in his mind apart from them.

He walked along the rocky dirt road that had been manufactured specifically for this purpose, passing by others who gave him strange looks due to his demeanor and choice of travel wear, as he would get to a certain point in the road before turning down a way that lead into what was known as 'unsafe' territory of the forest. Walking along the untraveled way, a way known only for him and those who knew of where he lived, he would walk past multiple trees as he followed marking etched into him to help him follow along his intended path so he wouldn't get lost. He would walk along the trees until he found himself coming across another public road which held a little hut that served food to weary travelers and helped them get their energy back for their walks. The cloaked man couldn't help but feel that he, too, was hungry as he made his way to the hut and stepped through the threshold of the front door. Inside was rather quaint and peaceful, not a lot of people due to how early in the morning it was, as the man stepped in and got himself a chair by himself at one of the hut's smaller tables. One of the waitresses would walk over as they bowed to him. "Can I get you anything, sir?" The cloaked figure would respond in a carefree type of voice.

"Whatever you recommend for breakfast, please."

This would make his waitress give another bow before making her way quickly through back to the kitchens. Among her departure the cloaked figure would thus sit back in his chair and cross his legs as he relaxed and looked out of a window that he was sitting beside on his left. He watched all the people walk past the hut, going about their business as usual, as he looked back around the restaurant in order to see if there was anything interesting around inside... There wasn't. This would cause a small sigh to escape him as he sat up and rested his elbows on the table while craning his head on hand. It was boring. He had been unable to find much in the way of action lately and it didn't help the fact that he still hadn't found the right material that he needed during his travels on the road. While in these thoughts he would smell the delightful aroma of freshly cooked food coming towards his table as the waitress set a big plate with the works all along it! This made his mouth immediately water as the waitress set his silverware on the table in front of him and bowed once more before leaving him to his meal.

Hungrily the man would dig in to everything that waited for his mouth on the plate, making certain not to eat too fast as he wanted to savor some of the many flavors he was stuffing his face with, as a large group of other cloaked travelers stepped into the hut seemingly looking to eat something themselves as well. Our hero wouldn't notice any of them as he was too busy eating away at his delicious breakfast to care for anything else but what was in front of him. He would notice the waitress, however, coming back over to his table in order to place a bill upside down on the table beside him before going over to the table with the group that had just entered in order to take their order. He would stop eating for a moment in order to flip one of the edges of the bill over just enough to show how much his meal was as he gulped in order to not cough up his food. 'It's going to cost HOW MUCH??... I need to do some more jobs.'

One of the people of the group that had entered would get up upon placing their order in order to make their way to the back where the bathroom was. Our cloaked figure wouldn't pay much attention to this as he went back to finishing his meal while trying to come up with a plan to get out of his current money crisis. Would he make a break for the door and scram? 'Nah. Too risky. There's a known ninja village not too far from here and they could track me.' Steal money from someone until I have enough? 'More work for more punishment. That's too risky, too.' Work for it in order to apologize for not paying? 'And die of boredom? No thank you.' He would mull over his choices in his head rapidly, so much so that he started to develop a headache, as the man came from the bathroom down a path between some tables that led to his table.
Upon finishing his meal he would grab one of the napkins that were on the table to wipe his mouth clean just as the dude coming from the bathroom passed by his table. Apparently he had caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure's face as he stopped by his table in order to get a closer look. "Hey! You look familiar... Have I seen you somewhere before?" 'Perfect! I may have just found my way of paying for my meal.'

"I don't think so. I'm just a traveler passing through."

"No. No I'm quite sure I've seen you before... Possibly in a paper somewhere?... Wait... I think I've seen you in a wanted poster!" The cloaked figure would keep still upon hearing this as the guy started to laugh and called his buddies. "Lookie here, fellas! We got ourselves a runaway from his village. As it turns out your village seems to be missing you quite dearly. So much so they put a bounty on you, friend. Why don't you come quietly with us so that we can get you back home safe and sound, huh?" The cloaked man would look past his hood which shielded his eyes from view as he took a look at the guy threatening him and his friends. From the way they were dressed they were not ninja and seemed to be bandits that resided locally in the area. Perfect. He wouldn't draw any unwanted attention for letting off some steam against these fools. "So what do you say?"

"Look, man, I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast here. Surely there's someone else you can go out and harass about this?"

The bandit would respond by quickly drawing a knife and hold it near the cloaked figure's neck as his previous smile would disappear. "I'm not asking, scum. I'm telling you. Come with us or die." That did it. There was no turning back now. The cloaked man had no wishes to be carted off to a village with the risk of having his life taken without justified cause. This would cause a smile to form on the face of the man under the hood as he took a quick breath and drew his hands back as a disguise that he was about to surrender.

The bandit would be met with a surprising attack as the cloaked figure's leg would kick out and hit his knee which would cause him to buckle and lower his kunai in a more safer angle for the cloaked figure who would take the knife away and drive it deep into the bandit's shoulder. This would cause a cry of pain to escape from the bandit as his friends would rush in to try and help just as the cloaked figure was standing up from his chair. He would then deliver a kick to the bottom side of his chair which would cause it to fly into two of the incoming bandits and topple them to the ground from the force. Upon seeing this happen the cloaked man would toss away the bandit he was still holding onto by knife point before turning around to see a bandit tackle him over the table he was beside and after grabbing him and pinning his arms to the sides he would hold him there just as two other bandit's got knives out looking to throw. Our hero would use quick thinking with the limbs he still had access to, his legs, in order to kick and flip the table up just as they let loose their knives.

Their trajectory would be stopped by the underside of the wooden table as he would then kick the table back over to them causing them to duck out of the way. Upon seeing this he felt it was now time to get out of the grasp of his captor as he would pull himself free by ducking out of his cloak, leaving his captor hugging it for a moment, before turning around and delivering a jumping uppercut directly to his chin which would cause him to fly. The last thing the guy would see before being punched once more in the face whilst flying in the air and being surrounded by blackness would be a flash of red and white. Our hero, now uncloaked, would thus punch the guy in the face and keep the fist there all the way down to the ground as the bandit's head would be sandwiched between wood and fist. Instant K.O. which made our hero happy as he stood up and looked to the bandits hanging out by the door.

With the cloak now off the man was shown in full light, wearing a crimson trench coat that reached down to his calves, and would be revealed as none other than the missing ninja Dante. He sported a smirk on his lips as he looked at the bandits, using a hand to grab and pull up a chair in order to sit reverse style on it, while he reached and picked up a large piece of broken wood from one of the hut's tables to act as a toothpick before speaking to the four remaining bandits.

"Now this is what I'm talking about! Breakfast and a show. About time. Things have been very boring lately and the fact that I have you guys to help me blow off some steam? I'm definitely getting my money's worth for this meal."

One of the bandit's would become angry by this as he came forward a bit. "You think this is a game, punk?! Stop acting all tough when we got you surrounded! You're done for!" Dante couldn't help but give off a bit of a huff before taking his 'toothpick' and flicking it away from him before turning back to the bandits in question.

"Alright, I'll bite. Show me how 'done for' I am. I'd really love to know before you bore me to death here."

The bandit who had the big mouth would rush forward away from his compatriots, knife drawn, as Dante would watch him straight faced before cracking his knuckles. He would flex his hand a bit as he continued to watch the bandit get closer and closer before getting up from his chair, kicking it up for him to grab hold of it's front legs with both hands, and swinging it like a bat straight into the oncoming bandit's gut in order to cause the air to escape from his lungs. It would be an upward swing as to force the bandit into the air as Dante would quickly let go of the chair in order to allow it to fall to the ground before reaching up to grab the guy by one of his ankles and pulling him back down to the floor where he would land with a very audible and painful thud. Upon this happening Dante would roll over his body in order to land a painful punch to the bandit's face, knocking him unconscious, before taking yet another sitting position on top of his body to look at the remaining bandits. His gloved hands would rest under his chin with fingers covering his mouth to hide his smile.

"So any of you want to make the same mistake as your friend did? Or would you rather come at me all at once this time?"

The bandits would thus look at each other before getting out their own knives and getting into defensive stances as Dante would view this as a sign that they were going to get very serious about this little tussle of theirs which caused him to nod and stand up to his feet while stretching out his neck and shoulders.

"Finally. Now things get fun."

He would thus still try to get under his foes skin by taunting them further: He would kick his feet out a little bit before giving a few quick punches in the air in front of him before settling back into a stance that allowed him to extend his hand out to them and give them a 'come and get it' wave with his fingers.

"Make this interesting for me before you get knocked the hell out, eh?"

The bandits would foolishly take his bait as they rushed towards him with knives raised hoping to kill him. This would cause Dante to swing his leg around and use his surroundings to his advantage once more as he took another chair and tossed it at them. They showed some brains by ducking out of the way this time. This would make Dante have to dodge an incoming knife stab before sweeping his leg once more in order to trip the bandit up and taking one of his wrists and swinging him around into the other bandits. This would cause one of them to duck while one of them wasn't expecting it as the two would collide into each other and fall to the ground. Dante would allow them to as he turned his attention to the one who ducked, surprised by his quick thinking, as he prepared for whatever attack the bandit was coming at him with. It seemed that the bandit had a bit of ninja tendencies in him in the sense that the bandit had dodged deftly enough to the point where Dante had to concentrate to keep up. Good. This one might provide more entertainment for him in that case.

The bandit soon suddenly brought his knife up fast enough to make Dante have to jump up in order to dodge it. He would commence with a back flip as he saw the bandit jumping up to follow him. This turned out unexpected for Dante as he brought up a hand in order to block the incoming kunai as the blade sank into his palm out of the back of his hand. The bandit smirked at this as Dante took advantage of the attack by wrapping his fingers around the bandit's closed fist and using momentum to toss him back to the ground. Before landing he would pull the knife out of his hand and land while driving it into the hand of the now downed bandit. Upon doing so he would look at his hand and see his wound close up as his smirk returned.

"Seems Jashin is still on my side."

He looked down at the bandit and noticed he was trying to pull the knife out of his hand as he looked around to the two other bandits and noticed they were getting up. It seemed it was time to wrap things up as Dante thus pulled the knife out of the bandit's hand he had just stabbed and flicked into the shoulder of one of the bandits, downing him yet again, before he would focus on the remaining one and simply punch him in the face. This would knock the bandit out and cause the fight to come to an end with Dante standing the victor. He would sigh at this as he knelt beside one of the bandits and reached into his pockets in order to pull out a wallet. He would see a hefty amount of ryo inside as Dante would turn to see the waitress standing at a safe distance behind him in shock at everything that had just transpired. Looking around Dante had made indeed quite a mess of things and, feeling guilty, he tossed the wallet over to her as it landed on the floor at her feet.

"For the damages and my meal. It was really delicious. Thank you."

Offering a bow to her he would then walk over to his cloak that laid on the floor as he quickly tossed it around until it settled back into a state where it's hood was over his head once again. With that done he would exit the hut and revel in the fact that such a situation arose to where he could walk out of the hut without owing a debt.

"Wait!" Dante would stop at the door step as he turned around back to the waitress who had called out to him. "I know these guys. They come in here demanding ransom money all the time for my son and daughter. I... Could I ask you to please track the rest of them down and rescue them? I can pay you." This would give Dante pause as he looked at one of the bandits that wasn't quite knocked out and squirming on the ground before walking over to him and kicking him softly in the shin.

"Where are you keeping them?"

The bandit would look at him in defiance. "Like I'd tell you." Brandishing a kunai from under his cloak Dante would thus shrug.

"Your funeral."

He would make to stab down onto the bandit's face before the bandit screamed. "Wait! They're up the road about two miles away! To the North!!" Dante stopped as he put his kunai away and smiled down to the bandit.

"Thanks."

He would then stomp the bandit's face thus knocking him out before looking to the waitress and bowing.

"I'll be back and I'll bring them with me unharmed. Don't worry."

With that he would run out of the hut and make his way Northward as he was told and kept a fast pace for the whole two miles to his destination. There was a very big chance that the bandit had lied about the location and that he was about to wind up in an empty spot. Upon reaching his destination, however, he saw that there indeed seemed to be an underground safehouse as he rushed inside to see what awaited him. To his surprise it was a small and tiny room that seemed to be specifically for storage as he used the light from outside to look around the dimly lit room to see what looked to be two small silhouettes in a corner chained up. He rushed over to them, looking at the chains, as he quickly got out a kunai and used his strength and skill in weaponry to put a forceful enough slash that cut the chains loose.

Catching the kids he would pick them each up and quickly take them out into the sunlight while checking them out in order to see if they had any cuts or bruises or the like. They looked extremely pale and dehydrated but alive as he picked them up and started to go into a run back towards the hut where their mother was waiting for them. He was able to make it back to the hut without any complications or obstacles as he stepped through the threshold of the door to notice that the bandits were still there while the waitress seemed to be trying to explain the situation to her bosses in the back of the hut. He would go to set the children down in a chair, still unconscious from their time in captivity, as he would sit down beside them as their mother seemed to take notice that someone else had entered the hut and she looked around to see Dante there with her two children as she rushed from behind the counter to where they were and checked on them in worry due to how pale they looked. From what he had seen there weren't any other bandits nor the presence of anymore bandits during his time rescuing them which gave Dante the impression that these bandits left the children completely alone. Anything could've happened to them.

He would keep quiet about this fact, though, as the mother checked her children and tried to wake them while Dante watched. She would look to Dante and bow with a smile and tears on her face as she looked relieved and happy while reaching into her pocket. This would cause Dante to wave his hand to her as he smirked.

"Keep your money. Just wanted to help out."

In truth he had actually taken 2,000 ryo from the wallet of the bandit before tossing it to her so he already felt compensated from everything that he had done. With that he got up out of his chair and made his way to the door, leaving the woman bowing once again while checking on her children, as he would leave out the door and make certain his hood was adjusted to where no bounty hunters would try to recognize him once again in order to try and take him to his village by force as the bandits had tried.

He would continue to follow down the path he had originally intended, coursing it's way through the trees and brushes, as he made his way to a small shack that he called home in an unknown part of the forest. He walked in, his custom made fireplace in the middle of the interior and bed at one of the farther walls, as he walked over to a desk and pulled out a book that he was in the middle of finishing as he pulled up a chair and laid back and relaxed while reading it. He had done a fair bit of work today, all things considering, and he had gotten a little bit richer as a result of it as well. A win win in his book as he wondered where else he would have to go in order to get the materials to complete his sword. He had been given a tip that there were deposits for materials in more Northern and Southern regions of the land of Fire. He had checked the Southern region but hadn't checked the Northern yet. Maybe tomorrow he'd continue the search.

{Exit}

(WC 4,013)

(Finishing MN contract: Being a Good Person
Claiming mission rewards (2,000 ryo and 5 AP) and putting WC towards Rebellion)

"Keep your money. Just wanted to help out."

>claims Ryo

Mmkay  

Approved