Helping Out Zombies

Zyxis wouldn't lie. For his mostly bland personality, he was pretty excited to do his first mission. One of his dreams was to take care of his village. 

It wasn't the best place to live, their history consisted of war and death, and their gates were guarded by undead creatures. Their current leader was unknown, and most everybody feared them. Still, it wasn't the worst place to live. There was still Hoshi.

Anyway, he adored his home, and he wanted to protect it. There was no such thing as choosing a second home; there was only one for the rest of your life, and if you didn't love it you were screwed.

Good thing he loved it then, right? Zyxis strolled through the doors of the place where they were assigned missions. He politely bowed towards the man sitting behind the desk.

"Hello. I'd like to take the Deforestation mission. This mission will be for two people: Zyxis, and Ryūka. Both without last names, sir." 

The shinobi that enlisted missions looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're new to this, aren't you kid?"

He nodded once again, still bowing. The Chuunin chuckled, "That's nice. It's always great to see fresh faces around here." He reached down into his cabinets, fetching a scroll and tossing it towards Zyxis who clumsily caught it.

"Be careful not to get your face chomped off by zombies, vicious bastards they are," He warned. As soon as he was done talking, he continued to read his small book.

Zyxis calmly nodded and headed outside. Only then did he open the scroll, quietly examining the information.

'So the trees are disrupting the "perfect" views of our zombies. Cut down a few trees - precisely four, two for me and two for Ryūka - and then take them to the lumber yard so that they can be used by the village's lumberjacks. Seems pretty simple and easy for a first mission.' The Genin thought.

He felt a little bit worried at what the guy said about zombies. He took a deep breath and didn't try to think about it too much. Whatever happened, he would be fine. He was a Genin of the strongest village, Kumogakure no Sato. 

There would be no way that he would die to a couple of zombies. 

...Ryūka was going to be there anyway. He was stronger and more experienced. He wondered if he would be able to have a training session with him soon.

He was learning a few more techniques and strengthening his body, speed, and chakra strength. At that point, he wondered how he compared to the other Genin of the village. Hopefully, he was somewhat powerful to them. It probably wasn't accurate, as he had just graduated from the Academy, but he could hope. 

He sniffled and rubbed his nose. He looked at the sky. Was the weather changing? It seemed cold in Kumogakure. He wondered how it was in the ruins of Sungakure.

Where's Ryūka, he wondered.

Ryūka woke. He longed for the long day ahead of him, a long road, a lonely road it was supposed to be but in the end it was decided it was best if he went on this mission with another, Zyxis. Ryūka wasn't so sure of it, as last time they met the boy gave him good reason (in his eyes) to doubt his sincerity, perhaps even doubt his loyalty. But Ryūka wasn't bothered by that anymore, he was concerned by other things, he was feeling under the weather, whether it was actually Kumo's cloudy windy wether or the winding feelings left by the "Surprise tea" he drank the day before. He decided he'd never drink or eat something again if he didn't know the ingredients, unless maybe it was from a friend, in that case Ryūka would have probably drink poison knowingly, unless he felt something sinister.

He put his hands on his stomach as it growled. He wondered if it was caused by him not eating enough, or eating the wrong thing; whether he needed to eat now. But the mission he was tasked with was quite an unappetizing one. He moved on. He put his white t-shirt on first, then his jacket and pants, and then all of the weapons and items he would carry for the mission. He didn't want to hurt any zombies, he adored them. But it if came to saving himself and Zyxis or one of them, he wouldn' hesitate for a second, he would have chosen one of the former. When all was equipped, a requiem started playing in the Genin's head, a ballad of strings and flutes, and Ryūka imagined standing in the center. He let the melodies take over his mind and vocal chords, and mumbled, as he left the building, "We were at the table, by the window with the view...".

The Genin walked down the road. He didn't show a lot of symptoms of his illness, in fact he was looking like he usually did, mostly. There was less volume to his hair now (or as he would have rather put it, his hair was less fluffy) and that was basically it. "Damned trees..." Ryūka thought, "Couldn't leave our poor zombies alone. Like, do all wonders of nature have to be disturbed by alien-like giant species like that?". He shook his head, he almost felt angry at this point. "Nevermind that. I will protect our zombies. Our beloved dead friends. You will be safe from the trees, my brethren, just you wait.". There was an obvious link Ryūka felt to the zombies. It could have seemed weird to other people, but for Ryūka and the ones that knew him, it made a lot of sense. Ryūka had died too, after all, and then he became a human-adjacent. Not whom he was before, but 'alive' nonetheless. He tried not to fall into that rabbithole again, not when he was out for a mission. Thinking about that never helped Ryūka after all, it just put his mind somewhere dark, somewhere it became hard to find himself, a place not easy to get out of. 

Ryūka started playing with his hair, trying to make it more 'fluffy', a habit he picked up not only to make him look better (in his opinion, at least), but also a coping mechanism to save his mind - or more accurately, prevent it from falling into that headspace. It was an uphill battle usually, but distracting himself with things he loved was a tactic that worked without fail. And another advantage was that Ryūka loved a lot of things. And most of those things, were at his disposal any minute. Poetry, music, drawing, swords, fashion... There was nothing on that list that he couldn't do or use at any moment. He always kept his notebook and at least 1 blade on him, after all. After playing with his hair and his clothes for a short while longer, he had reached the meeting place for the mission.

"Hi... I'm reporting for a mission. Tree-slaying for the zombies?". The ninja standing behind the desk nodded, then looked at the papers in front of him. "Oh yeah." he answered, "I think your friend just checked in as well... Is it... Ryūka, no last name?". Ryūka sighed, "Oh Zyxis checked both of us in? It's actually an alias, my registered ninja name is Ryujin Kamidogu. Please make sure the rewards don't go to the wrong guy. Don't want any trouble with the laws or anything.". The chuunin that was handing out the missions went "Oh. Ok, don't worry, I'll correct all paperwork right now. You guys just go take care of the tree problem. We don't want our zombies so lose their view of our village.". Ryūka nodded. He turned around to leave, but quickly turned once again, effectively making a 360-degree turn, "Oh by the way..." he said to the Chuunin once again, "Where's Zyxis? - The, ummm, colleague that checked us in.". The chuunin pointed at the direction Zyxis was. 

Ryūka saw the boy. He sniffed and rubbed his nose. Ryūka simultaneously sighed and chuckled. Even he didn't know how that worked. But afterwards, a smile appeared on his face, albeit a slight one. It was nice to see someone he could have considered one of his friends, who had become a ninja now as well. "Hey." he said, "Heard you're finally a Genin now. Congrats.". Ryūka put one of his hands to his pouch, then took a kunai out. He slashed his left palm with it, then offered the slightly bloody kunai to Zyxis, "It's tradition. A gift, a show of loyalty and trust. Know it's not much of a gift, but I hope it works enough as a symbol.". He waited for Zyxis to take the kunai. "So... let's go slay some trees, right? I was thinking, since one of us is a trainee of weaponry and the other one a trainee of Taijutsu. I thought I would suggest that I could chop off the trees, and you could carry 3, and I could carry 1? Does that sound fair?". Nero waited for Zyxis' response.

As the boy greeted him, Zyxis spun around. His eyes took in his look of colorful hair and soft looking face. He nodded towards him calmly, throwing back the thoughts of when he threatened him with a kunai. It wouldn't help either of them if he dwelled on the fact.

"Ryūka, it's nice to see you," The boy said as he ran his hands through his snow colored hair. A smile small appeared on his face as he nodded towards his companion. After he asked about him becoming a Genin he'd respond, "Indeed, I have become a Genin. It wasn't that hard, thanks to a certain someone by the name of Ryūka," He lightly joked. His eyes instantly went down to the boy's palm, swallowing back the feeling of a wince as he drew a thin line on his hand.

He raised a white eyebrow, "A show of loyalty and trust? I've never heard of it before, but it'd be stupid if I didn't believe it after that showing." Zyxis took the kunai and looked at the blood that slowly dripped off of it. He slightly blanched at the sight. It was just like in movies when someone cut themselves, the blood stayed on the knife but slowly slid down it creating an eerie feeling in the bottom of his stomach. 

He quickly reminded himself he was a ninja, and there was no need to fear blood. On the road he was walking, there was bound to be blood somewhere throughout his journey. He smiled at Ryūka, "Thank you, friend."

He looked towards the direction they were supposed to be going, "Slaying some trees? Sounds like fun. I don't mind if I have to carry the brunt of the wood as long as you chop it down."

Zyxis began to walk, signaling for the other shinobi to follow him. He quickly summarized that it would be awkward if he stayed quiet like he always did. Zyxis was the type of the guy to keep to himself and only talk when he needed to. Once he became a certified shinobi and began to learn from others, he realized that he couldn't just stay quiet. He slightly frowned at the thought but didn't worry too much.

Talking never killed anyway, right? Anyway, he would make good company of the boy for going on this mission with him. He was happy that he had decided to come even though he had slightly betrayed his trust. He'd like to believe this was the start of a good friendship.

"So, Ryūka, what weapons do you specialize in? I was thinking of getting a katana when I rack up enough money. I'd like to learn a few sword techniques, I'm not sure if I'll focus on weaponry yet once I become a Chuunin. What do you think? What else will you specialize in?"

Zyxis would continue walking to where the trees were. The moans of the zombies around them caused him to slightly shudder but he promised himself he wouldn't be scared. This mission would help him build some backbone for when he actually had to deal with the scary stuff of becoming a ninja.

He would wait for Ryūka to start cutting down the trees. He would help if needed.

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t33977-deforestation (Since Zyxis forgot to post it)

Spoiler:

Ryūka chuckled. Zyxis had taken his show of loyalty quite well, better than Ryūka had expected in fact. "I currently just have a katana but I intend to carry an arsenal of weapons on me, as soon as I make enough money.". Ryūka walked towards the Zombieland. It was really one of his favorite spots in the village. As soon as the trees were in his field of view, Ryūka unsheathed his katana and dashed towards one of the trees. He quickly cut off one, than realised a sneaky tree was right behind him. The evil trees were trying to flank him. The bastards.

Ryūka wasn't having any of it. he stabbed the tree in its (potential) heart, without even looking at it. He had a cold heart when it came to trees. He turned around and slashed the tree, cutting it in half as well. He looked around. There were trees all around him. "Damn." he whispered. "Zyxis quick, grab the trees!" Ryūka shouted as he sliced two other trees in half, grabbing one of them behind his back, "Let's bail before we get surrounded! We have enough of them already!". Ryūka was breathing heavily. He didn't know by now if everything was intentional or not. He dashed out of the part with the trees, to take a deep breath where society existed once again. "Whew. Close one." he whispered once again. "So Zyxis," he said, "Up for another mission?".

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t15739-d-rank-art-thief

Spoiler:

Zyxis blinked once and then deadpanned as the boy in front him dramatically cut down trees. He couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing, he was acting as if they were in the middle of a war. It was stupid, ridiculous... then why did he have the sudden urge to clap and cheer him on with teary eyes.

The Genin was knocked out of his stupor as he heard the older boy scream to him. He sprinted forward, grabbing the two trees. He didn't feel any strain as he carried the wood to where it was supposed to go.

He turned to Ryūka once he asked him if he wanted to go on another mission. The boy nodded, "Sure." The two of them headed towards what Zyxis dubs HQ to get another mission. 

"Back so soon kid?" The same guy from before asked. Zyxis nodded, "I'm looking for the Art Thief mission. Is that still available?" From across the desk, he handed him another scroll. 

"Yeah, there seems to be some guy that must really like art for him to do this. Should be an easy mission, you'd notice a guy like that a mile away." Zyxis nodded, taking the mission scroll. "Thank you. Fair warning, we'll probably be back for more."

He flashed a thumbs-up with a smile, "That's what I like to hear!" Then his mood did a 360 and went back to concentrating on his book. Zyxis turned around and walked up to Ryūka handing him the scroll.

"Where should we look first?"

"Turns out this is gonna be an active day..." Ryūka thought, as he put one of his hands on his katana, and started walking with Zyxis. "Good mission choice." he said, "I'm a bit of an art enthusiast myself. Maybe my hobbies will come in useful in my job. I never expected this way would come.". He smiled looking at his fellow Genin, then turned forward once again. "To answer your question, I know exactly where we should check first. The gallery that the art was stolen from. And then, we'll go meet a friend of mine. Don't worry, I won't be wasting your time, I have reason to think he'll be useful.".

Ryūka led Zyxis to the Art Gallery that he knew the address of like the back of his hand. It was a huge stone building that had a very ancient ruin-like design. Lots of pillars, lots of moss over the stone. There was a sign in front of it that read 'Faeria Expo Center & Art Gallery'. Ryūka smiled as soon as he saw the building. Its mere existence was enough to put a smile on his face. "Welcome to the home of Kumo Culture." Ryūka said to Zyxis, leading him into the building. As soon as they entered, they would both realize the tall and wide hallways, chandeliers, and of course, art, all around. Paintings, statues, notebooks of popular historic figures, ancient relics, you name it. Ryūka took all of it in, enjoying every step he took inside the gallery. After walking for a few more minutes, a man in a suit recognized Ryūka and walked towards the two Genin.


"Ryujin!" the man said, "How are you doing this fine day?". He had a long white beard and a hair of the same color and length that was tied behind his head. "Hi, we have come to ask a few questions about the recent theft.". The man's smile suddenly faded as he nodded and answered Ryūka, "Follow me.". He led the two ninja to an office nearby. He sat behind the desk, and gestured for Ryūka and Zyxis to sit on the chairs in front of him. Ryūka did as was expected and sat down. "So..." the Genin said, sounding impatient, "So... The theft.". The man sighed, "It happened yesterday night. A fine piece by Rickasso just disappeared. No signs of the thief at all.". "What piece?" Ryūka asked, "What was the painting, be more detailed with your explanation, please...". The man sighed again, "The Ninja and the Lake. It's a ninja sitting in front of a campfire by the lake. Is that detailed enough?". Ryūka nodded. "Okay, we're done here.".  The man looked shocked, "Wait that's it?". Ryūka had already stood up and was leaving at that point. "Yeah we'll handle the rest." he said, "Let's bail, Zyxis." as he left the room.

He then led Zyxis out of the gallery. "Now to see the friend..." he said, "You'll see why in a few minutes. He lives close by.". Ryūka led his friend to a narrow street nearby. There was just one door in the whole street (it was a short one, to be fair). Ryūka knocked on the door 5 times, in a certain rhythm. "Password?" a voice asked from inside, and Ryūka answered, "The paint that dries is the paint that can be shaped no more.". The door opened. A purple, spiky haired young adult with shady eyes looked at Ryūka, "What can I help you with, Dag-". Ryūka stopped him with making a gesture with his hand, pretending to cut his head off with it. "What can I help you with?" the man repeated. "We're looking for a stolen piece. Wondered if itwas picked up by your... Radar. One called 'The Nnja and the Lake'. Any chance?". The man nodded. "Someone tried to come in and sell it, it looked real, but there was something shady about him so I told him to leave. Tall man, ponytail, huge scar on his left cheek, buff as all hell. Impossible to miss. When I told him to leave he headed east. He was wearing a brown kimono.". Ryūka nodded. "Thank you for your services." he said, and then the man closed the door. Ryūka said, "You haven't seen anything here, Zyxis, okay? Come on let's head east, I guess. I'll follow your lead now, if you'd prefer.". As he led Zyxis out of the narrow street and back into a main one.

Zyxis simply nodded as Ryūka spoke. It seemed that he would be the lead for this mission. As he leads them to the place and Zyxis took it all in, he had to admit, Ryūka really had a thing for fabulous stuff.  First of all, he had his hair, his ability to write lyrics and poems, and his liking of this art gallery. His eyes scanned the walls and the design of the place. His partner was definitely right, it was able to be dubbed Kumo's home of culture. It was probably the most beautiful place he had seen in his lifetime. All the paintings livened up the art gallery as the beautiful glass chandeliers strew light all around them.

An older voice knocked him out of his trance. "Ryujin?" Zyxis thought out loud, looking towards Ryūka. Maybe Ryujin was a nickname of some sorts. Zyxis couldn't have known that he had gotten it mixed around. He stayed quiet as Ryūka conversed with beard-guy. It seemed as soon as they had entered, they had fled. He was kind of disappointed that they had to go; when he had a day off from training and missions, he would come back here. The street that went down seemed kind of eerie, but Zyxis reassured himself that Ryūka knew what he was doing.

His eyes flickered from the man's hair to Ryūka's. He was about to mention the resemblance when the man was about to call his partner something, but Ryūka cut him off. His eyes narrowed, and he summarized it into one word: strange. If he was nosy and paranoid, then he could've decided to look into it more. Since he wasn't like that, when he had the chance, he would be able to ask his friend more about it. As of now, it seemed that Ryūka had three different names.

As the man in front of them began to explain the guy, he instantly began to search through his mind's files of people that he has seen on the east side of town this morning.  Once you've run in a particular area every morning, you begin to pick up and remember specific characters and different landmarks, you could say. Earlier this morning when he was walking towards the mission headquarters, he remembered seeing a guy there that fit that description almost exactly. He assumed that it was someone that had just moved into town, but now that he was aware, he was able to deduce that he was the painting thief.

He ignored the mysterious thing Ryūka said about not remembering anything here and signaled with his hand. "I know where the guy was earlier today, he should still be heading that way or in that area. If we hurry, we can apprehend him." He channeled chakra throughout his body and began to move, taking quick glances back to see if Ryūka was still trailing him. After about ten minutes of roof hopping, he stopped and began to scan the area. In just a couple of minutes, he spotted him.

"He's right there! I believe he's just a citizen, so let's take it easy on him." Zyxis states before jumping down from the roof and using chakra to diffuse the damage of the fall. He begins to speed towards him at full steam. The man seems to notice and starts. Hopefully, Ryūka would be able to jump in and help him take him down before he got too far.

Every time his foot hit the ground, every stride, every pump of his arm seemed to propel him forward even faster. He launched himself off the ground and tackled the guy. It appeared to him that he wasn't any push-over as his fist almost slammed into his jaw. He weaved around it and sent a quick jab, hitting him directly in the cheek. He measured the power of the strike to make sure that it wouldn't hurt him too much, but it seemed as if he used too little of strength as the man pushed him off of him and began to run again.

He almost growled but took a deep breath and kept a calm mind. By this time, Ryūka should be closing in on their location. The boy was pretty fast, maybe even quicker than he was. So he had no doubt that the boy would be able to take him down quickly enough. He just hoped that Ryūka wouldn't cut him up... too much.

Spoiler:

Ryūka had a puzzled facial expression after hearing Zyxis say he had seen the guy before that day. "Oh..." he thought, "Well that's convenient and saves us a lot of time to actually track him down. I'm sure he's been in the same spot the whole day. I'll take it.". As Zyxis found the man and started running after him, Ryūka did the same. 

The man looked exactly like he was described by Ryūka's nameless friend; and pretty easy to spot. He dashed after the man, hitting him in his spine. When the man was down, Ryūka started talking to him, "You monster." he said, there was not a glimpse of sympathy in his voice, "It's one thing to kidnap. It's one thing to kill someone... But to steal art...". He punched the man in his disgusting face. "Come on Zyxis..." he then said, once again, "Let's bail.". He started dragging the man through the streets of Kumogakure. When they left the man to the custody of higher ranked authority, Ryūka looked at the mission board once again. "Let's see here..." he thought out loud, "Murder, murder, murder, murder, arson, murder... Oh here's a good one.". Ryūka pointed to one titled "Picnic Prep". He then tore the notice off the board, "What do you say, Zyx? Up for another mission?". 

[TWC: 2239]

Zyxis nodded with a small smile, "Always. After this, you think we'll be done for the day? Or do you want to do some more? I don't mind either way." After Ryūka responded, he'd look at the mission. "So, we gotta clean up, deliver picnic tables, benches, barbeque grills, and firewood and drinks? Seems like a lot of work. Let's do it."

"But before we finish the mission, let's go eat, we can't work on an empty stomach," Zyxis said. "My favorite place to it is the Kumogakure's T-Bone and Smoothie. Not Shake and Steak, but T-Bone and Smoothie. My favorite thing to get there is a steak and a shake." He would lead them to the restaurant and order them tables. They would soon be sat down.

He read through the menu, and their waitress came back. She wore a skirt and a buttoned up shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned. "Hana, what are you doing here?" Zyxis said with a raised eyebrow. He put all of his concentration into not embarrassing himself. He kept reminding himself to not look at her.

She leaned on the table, "Hey Zyxis~ Who's your cute friend?" Zyxis ignored her, "May I get the steak and shake? Ryūka, what would you like?" Hopefully, Ryūka would answer quick so they could eat and leave before Ryūka discovered his greatest weakness: females. Hana giggled and tried to kiss him on the cheek, but he put his hand on her face to stop her, "Do you want me to tell your boss, Hana?"

She pouted, "You're such a buzz kill. I'll be back with your guy's food." With a hmph, she stormed off. Zyxis' cheeks turned red as she left. "Don't ask." After they ate their food, Zyxis and Ryūka would go and get the mission done.

As they left, he waved his hands, "Hana has always been a bother to me. She's teased me my whole life. She is really distracting. Let's just go," He scratched his head as he thought, "I'll deliver the stuff. You get the firewood, food, and drinks. Let's go!" The white-haired boy rushed out to the store and bought the stuff. He then wondered, how was he going to carry it all? This would be a convenient time to have a Shadow Clone. Alas, all he had was himself and his muscles. He grabbed the barbeque grills in one hand, stacked the benches on the picnic table, and picked up the picnic table with his other hand.

Zyxis was breathing heavily by the time he got there, and his face was completely red. He placed the stuff down and began to clean up around him. After everything was clean, he made sure that the barbeque grills were spaced out away from the wooden benches and picnic tables. He couldn't believe the mess here though. There were broken grills and wrappers everywhere. Why was this event so big? 

After he cleaned and set up everything, he would wait for Ryūka to set up the food and drinks and set up the firewood before they left.

Ryūka cracked his knuckles. Whether he would have liked to admit it or not, neither his body nor his mind were used to doing so many missions one after the other. Two, to be more accurate; three if he counted the next one they were doing; but it felt like he had already done 4 at that point, his body and mind being too tired after being overworked by the inexperienced boy that possessed both. “I’m honestly not sure…” Ryūka answered to Zyxis asking him whether he wanted for them to continue doing missions after that one or not. He kept going with a smile on his face “My wallet’s telling me to work all day, my body’s telling me one more mission is all I can take, my mind is telling me I should have stopped at one, and should have started work on… My notes, some time ago…”. He chuckled after finishing his words. “What about you? If you feel like you can do a few more missions, I’ll keep up.”.


Ryūka sighed. “That does sound like quite a few things actually…” he said, and repeated the list his friend Zyxis had given him, "Clean up, deliver picnic tables, benches, barbeque grills, firewood and drinks… Yeah I think it’s a good call to eat before we prepare where others will eat. You know, be the alpha of the house.". Ryūka smiled, “Just kidding, of course. It would just be impossible to work with an empty stomach, let alone on a mission where food would be the prime theme. It would be tough. Let’s eat.”.. Ryūka followed Zyxis to the (in his opinion) oddly-named steakhouse (as far as he could tell), as his stomach started speaking to him in a low-voice in the language of growls, telling him to eat as soon as possible, otherwise he would have went on a riot. Ryūka politely asked for his stomach to chill for a bit, as he would have been eating very soon.


"Hey Zyxis~ Who's your cute friend?". Only when she spoke did Ryūka actually notice that a waitress had already come to take their order. Ryūka politely smiled and subtly nodded. “Ryūka, like the poems, nice to meet you. And I guess your name is Hana? Nice name, has a certain rhythm to it. ”. He then turned and looked at Zyxis, then back at Hana and went on, “I’ll just have the… Steak and shake as well, I guess. Thanks in advance.”. Ryūka chuckled as he noticed Zyxis’ face almost matched the color of his eyes. “What’s with that?” he asked, hoping Zyxis would understand what he’s referring to. “Oh.” he would then say, “You know her then? I could kind of tell you two might have had history, from your speech and body gesture alone, but… Interesting. May I ask where you know her from?”. He ate the food served to him with joy. “I must say though, we should come here more often. The food’s nice, the place is nice... “ he hesitated for a second, but continued, “The service and the servers seem to be really nice. But okay, time to go on a mission I guess.”. As they left, Ryūka waved their waitress Hana goodbye.


Ryūka chuckled hearing Zyxis talk more about Hana, “She’s been teasing you how?” he asked, “And. Don’t get me wrong, but you don’t really seem to be bothered by it, unless I was mistaken.”. Ryūka smiled, and continued, “Okay yeah I’ll take care of it really quick.”. He then mentally took a note, “Drinks. Food. Firewood. Drinks. Food. Firewood. I can almost make a catchy song out of that. Eh, maybe another day. Right now I have to focus on this mission instead.”. Ryūka took his time while looking for a marketplace, strolling slowly towards a place he had in mind, while enjoying the weather. It was a nice day. In fact it would have been a great day to be on a vacation, to have taken a day off. Regardless, worrying about having to do missions would have only caused more stress, and dreaming about an off-day wouldn’t have helped at all either. He finally came across a shop he could go in and buy everything that was needed, on village funds of course. He hoped that Zyxis knew to spend village funds rather than his personal money for the mission.

He went in, bought the firewood, some great picnic snacks and dishes that could be barbecued, a variety of drinks, and got out. He went back to the picnic spot to meet Zyxis. “Hey Zyx. Did everything go well on your end? Mine was a… Picnic.”. He winked. Then he went on and set the tables, and gave the food for the chef that was readily waiting for the picnic to begin, and left the rest for the staff to handle. His part of the job was done. He could of course, stay and enjoy a part of it. But it wasn’t for Ryūka. He wanted get this over and done with as soon as possible and move on to the next mission. This was a work day after all, one he was really invested in now. He wanted to work as much as was physically and mentally possible to him to earn money, and earn the off-day he would take the next day. He turned to Zyxis and spoke again, “So… Next mission? Your pick this time.”. He smiled and waited for Zyxis to decide, so he could follow him.

[WC: 3163]