Missing pets (Hoshi/Ryuka double team)

Mission:

It was a pretty crappy day. Rain poured down upon the village and yet Hoshi was already at the village gates within the ripe time of 5 A.M. He had no choice as this mission was of the upmost importance. Even sending a letter to Ryuka for backup labelled emergency meet at Mission boards, as Hoshi may not be able to handle such a momentous task by himself. The urgency of this mission was absolute so Hoshi must be at his upmost prime in order to succeed. Whilst Ryuka was probably going to arrive for the money Hoshi had a much more important task at hand.

Within the 2 hours Hoshi had to wait for the meeting time as his orange clothes got soaked he decided to gather some information initially without the Ryuka around as he stood by the mission boards of an empty village for the hours. Waiting for perhaps one person. To help him save these precious cats. These animals are precious little creatures that should not under any circumstance be in danger and if danger arrives Hoshi may have no choice but to unless his full power. 

Within the rain Hoshi found a rough looking man with a crooked tie and an open suit. Yes perhaps he may help, With sonic speeds Hoshi ran towards the guy and before even asking questions the man just walked away telling Hoshi "Dude i'm not in the mood." leaving Hoshi with one only option. CHASE HIM DOWN! Yet as Hoshi began to chase the man down a familiar sight was in the distance.

It was not that crappy a day for Ryūka. He had woken up early, chilled on the porch of his apartment with his old neighbor, drinking tea with him, and then he had taken a stroll downtown, making chitchat with folk. Anyway, after all that joy, as the time approached 6am, Ryūka headed towards the mission boards, where he assumed his friend Hoshi would be waiting for him, being the ever morning person Ryūka believed he was.

He was really interested in what this mission was though, as Hoshi's letter had not mentioned it. It must have been a very important mission for Hoshi, or for the village, for the meeting time to be this early. Maybe there was an urgent matter on the Zombie Forest? "Oh god no." Ryūka mumbled on the way, picking up pace after coming into the realization of the mission's importance, "No. God no, please, no. Please. God, please don't let the zombies be in danger. Please. Please keep the zombies safe, God, from the evil of the trees.". Ryūka was not even a religious person, but at hours of darkness such as these, it was only natural for someone of Ryūka's inexperience and lack of wordly knowledge to want to hold onto forces that were strong beyond his imagining, and with a reach that transcended his own.

As he reached the meeting spot, and saw his friend Hoshi looking gloomier than ever, a wave of fear went through Ryūka's mind. First, the fear of his memories never coming back, then, the image of Kenshin, then the scars on his body, and finally, the zombies, all dead, as trees looked over their dead² bodies, cherishing their victory. It could not be. Ryūka hoped it wasn't. "Hoshi..." he said, his voice shaking, "A-Are the zombies alright? What's the mission about?".

As Ryuka arrived relief washed down Hoshi with the rain, as if the worries he had were now going to be solved easily. Yet Ryuka's talking about zombies ,Why the zombies, no this mission was much more important than simple zombies "No Ryuka even worse..."


"The cats from old lady Henderson have been lost! We must go find them as soon as possible. It is a very important mission as you've already gathered. Now we must go find leads to these cats. Follow me!" To save the cats one must break all their limits and go all out. And so Hoshi put his hands together unleashing the full power of seven heavens breathing technique to increase his speed beyond what even Ryuka has. "FOLLOW ME! I FEEL AS THOUGH INFORMATION COULD BE FOUND WITHIN THE VILLAGE IF WE SCOUR FOR PEOPLE!" 

With this said Hoshi dashed ahead with his massive speeds in order to search rapidly the village. Checking corners in case Ryuka needed to catch up. Yet as he kept sprinting he found a particularly old man holding one cat in his arms beneath the edge of a roof to cover the rain. Yes HE MUST KNOW WHERE THE CATS ARE! With a final leap Hoshi covered the ground between them. Huffing and puffing with white eye's, Yellow aura and darkened bigger muscles. Staring right at this old man in front of him.

Even worse? What could possibly be worse than a Zombie Holocaust? Ryūka's imagination knew not of such heights. He did not their think about it, he just patiently waited for Hoshi to explain. And he did. Cats being lost? That Ryūka could take. After all, it was a problem he could solve. And he had the help of Hoshi on top of that. This was basically going to be a picnic at this point. "Don't worry." he said, "We'll find all of them.".

He followed Hoshi throughout the village, looking around. An idea came to his mind. As Hoshi went towards an old man, Ryūka realized they were close to the home of an old lady. One called Sakura, who cared for street cats. "You talk to the old man Hoshi, I'll talk to someone else over here in the next house.". Ryūka knocked on the door. An old lady opened it. "Oh, Ryūka. My sweet child, how are you this fine day? What are you doing here this early, if I may ask?". Ryūka nodded. "Sorry for troubling you this early, Mrs. Sakura. I'm on a mission, and I need your help. It seems there are 5 missing cats, that old lady Henderson was caring for. Have you noticed new cats here, by any chance?". The old lady nodded, "Yes, I saw two new cats around here yesterday, who looked like they were housecats before. One a tabby, and one pure white. They should be around here somewhere.". Ryūka nodded again, "Thank you Mrs. Sakura, and sorry again for troubling you this early.". The old lady smiled and nodded back. 

Ryūka went back to Hoshi to exhange information.

"So geezer. Do ya know where some stray cats are. It's for a mission that's life or death for the cats so I REALLY need to know." With the old man spotted Hoshi decided to continue his seven heavens breathing technique simply so when the time comes he can dash for the cats. "AH IT'S YOU! THAT LITTLE CRAP WHO KEPT BEATING PEOPLE UP AROUND MY PARK BENCH!" Oh dear god it was him. That old man who used to try and report his old behaviours as he continuously assaulted bullies and thugs where there hotspot was. Which just so happened to be right next to the old man with the great tree and bench. 

"Geezer I've changed my ways and really am a genin looking for some cats... Like the one your holding right now... Where did you find him? I have to know!" The heat from the seven heavens technique used to be unbearable for him but now it's fine to keep for even longer periods of time... Guess that's what training does and with all that training he still has fundamentally changed recently. "You don't deserve to know little brat I hope you fail your mission right here and now. So just bugger off and beat up some other punks why don;t you. It's all your good for even if your a genin." This old man is starting to piss off Hoshi. The rage built up from all this mans nagging almost exploded and yet that's only because his words sadly ring the truth. 

With this truth Hoshi still had a side to him which wanted to simply threaten the old man with force but Hoshi knew it could end up miserably for the geezer and end up killing him. So the only thing left to do was to calm down ,releasing the seven heavens breathing technique, and calmly apologise to he geezer "As much as I dislike ya. Your right. I've been a pretty bad person for a while. But i'm looking to make a change. So please. Not for me but for the lost cats. Tell me where they could be." The apology may not have worked. But still Hoshi needed to say this whether he was on a mission or not. Even after the apology Hoshi went down to his knees to apologise with all his heart.

"Heh will you look at that. Kids can change if given enough influence throughout their life. Yes this cat is the one your looking for. I was thinking of handing him in myself but I can trust you... For now. The other 2 cats I've seen were heading towards that direction this day." He points towards where Hoshi is. "So you should be able to get them soon but if you don't succeed than nothings changed between you and I got it? For once this old man actually seemed like a decent man to Hoshi, With even Hoshi's determination back to find the cats. Hoshi made his way to Ryuka. Telling him what the old man told him whilst holding the cat the old man gave him. "Manged to find one cat. But the geezer said there were two more heading this way earlier. You know anything? If so we can go ahead and search for them right now."

Ryūka nodded. "2 cats. The opposite direction of the old man's suggestion. I've... Heard your talk. Are you okay?". Ryūka didn't want to step in to argue with an old man to protect Hoshi. He trusted his friend was a strong enough person and he could protect himself now. "You know. Just as a suggestion. You don't need to take that sort of speech from anyone.". Ryūka put his hand on Hoshi's shoulder. "Whoever you were before, you are a ninja now. And you deserve the respect a ninja gets. Especially when you're on a mission. If a citizen tries to stand between you and the goals of your mission, kindly remind them that you're not a civilian at that point, you're an arm of the village, and you're working for it. That your will is the village's now and standing against you means standing against the village, against their friends and families, against themselves.". Ryūka took his hand back. "Sorry if that was too... Much out of nowhere. Let's get back to the issue at hand.".

Ryūka pointed in the direction the old man pointed in. "You check that way, I'll check this way.". Ryūka turned back, heading in the direction he took over. After all, how bad a ninja would he be, if he did not follow orders, especially ones given by him in the first place. He walked around. He looked around. He didn't really know if he could do anything else. He thought about getting some cat food to 'summon' cats, but obviously working at as early as they were, it meant that most if not all shops would have been closed, so there was no reason in searching for a fisher's hut. He kept walking. After a while, he finally heard some little footsteps. He picked up the pace, heading in the direction of the sound. 

Two little cats. A tabby, and one that was as white as the clouds. They were cornered against the wall of a balcony. Ryūka kneeled down to the ground, and then held his hand forward. He made sure to move with slow, steady movements not to scare the cats away. "Come on, little ones." he said in a soft voice, and kept waiting. After a while, they cats didn't act that scared. And a short while after that, they finally approached Ryūka. Ryūka smiled, petting them for a short while before grabbing them both, and heading back in the direction of Hoshi. When they met he would say "Okay. Let's bring them back to Mrs. Whoever.". He would follow Hoshi's lead if he lead them, and give the cats to the owner.

[EXIT after Hoshi's post. WC:1026. Claiming:

1000ryo. 3ap.

Big Friendly Pipe (previous 3122 + 1026 = 4148/4500)

previous wc:

Approved unless interrupted.

Hoshi found Ryuka and was pleasantly surprised at the support he was trying to give Hoshi, yet also deeply disturbed by the subtext between the lines. Hoshi didn't really feel like he would be the kind of person who would exert his force against the civilians even if they became hostile, simply because Hoshi didn't want to really hurt anyone who didn't need to be hurt or wouldn't be fun otherwise and since the old man was truthful attacking the old man would simply prove him right that he himself hasn't changed even after becoming a ninja. "Thanks for the concern Ryuka. But instead of feeling down about that I feel relieved almost, As if I was facing a past self at a split decision and surpassing him not only physically but mentally at well. Also what would be the point of protecting the civilians if I couldn't change the mind of one old geezer." Who honestly changed Hoshi's mind more than anyone else ever had. 

Yet right now their were more important issues than the life advice he had learned today to which the cats still needed saving ,With one cradled under his left arm, Hoshi needed to take things slow and search every nock and cranny for the final cat. "ya search everywhere Ryuka now ok? We'll need to save ALL the cats." The hunt for the cats began. Hoshi had stalked around the open streets before Ryuka arrived and so he must go into the alleyways next ,Walking past the closed stores, Hoshi was surprised to see along the darkened pathway several alleyways alone here.

No good.

If Hoshi went down one of these alley's and explored too long it might become too late, So he instead of thinking where they could be perhaps he should start thinking of why they would be where they are instead of all the possibilities. The cat in his arm shivered giving Hoshi an idea. To look for an alleyway with an overhang and by sure enough he found one such alleyway where the roofs of the buildings around it cause a great enough shelter against the rain to be worthwhile and once he approached he saw 2 frightened cats. One very small probably child cat with another being a lean yet old looking cat. With a calm expression Hoshi decided to offer up my room on his arms by putting them together with the other cat convincing them it was ok to come with him.

After finding the 3 cats the next job was finding the final two. But soon Hoshi had discovered Ryuka had found the final two cats himself. "Nice job Ryuka. We've done it. We've saved the cats." It was a momentous success, to which now Hoshi made his way to old lady Henderson's house with cats in arm. Passing the geezers house with a smirk towards his way. He seemed happy enough at this success showing Hoshi the first smile he's ever shown him. Surprising Hoshi pleasantly as the cats were handed in 5 minutes later. MISSION CLEAR!

Approved.