A not so random encounter?

Shinoskay would enter the thread in the way he traveled in his previous border thread.

"Speaking of locations, the boy wasnt a fool. He knew that out here there were many and great risks that threatened all who would step aimlessly... naivety and innocents did not survive outside of the village walls... not for long anyways. Shinoskay had long since activated Clone jutsu, Rock Clone, and had his puppet out and ready. Given that Rock clone mimicked his items, in the context of all inclusive equipment and belongings, they each would have been formed with their own cloned version of 'The Last Puppet' and each would walk with a puppet next to them while each would also have the clone jutsu active since that had been utilized first. This bolstering of numbers would be absolutely pointless, of course, if it all looked its default and so each humanoid figured would be dressed head to toe in a thick travelers cloak like hooded poncho that had an inner face wrap to cover everything but the eyes... and each figure would be wearing mundane goggles (not to be mistake with the actual item goggles) so that it was unclear what was puppet and what was clone or what was Shinoskay... of course, the puppets had rather large barrel like bodies so there would be 3 figures with extremely bulbous torso's. The only exceptions here was that there would be one Shinoskay in the lead, a Rock Clone, that would be Un robed and in standard wear... and the rear Shinoskay, also a rock clone, would have the puppeteers tail leading out from the bottom back of its cloak to arc back, then up, to leave the menacing and bladed tip to hange about a meter above, and roughly half a meter forward, over its head with roughly a meter gap behind the same between its head and the extendable and flexible section of the blade known as puppeteers tail. All three Shinoskay's would appear to be 3 people cleanly and exactly walking in line, clearly clones up close but it was possible from a distance to mistake this as 9 people and 3 particularly large and oddly shaped people. The Puppet would be led behind each Shinosaky... While, if one looked, each puppet would hold a green cocoon creature with eyes.... only the lead Shinoskay's puppet would actually hold the real creature, likewise, the center Shinoskay was the one with the original puppet.

All 12 figures walked in roughtly a 6 meter line, about 3 meters between the three shinoskay's and each would be scanning their surroundings in separate patterns so as that one could catch what the other two would miss."


Shinoskay had journeyed out of Konoha, down to the mountains in the southern peek of fire country, he had gotten lost along the way but the journey was almost entirely uneventfully, Perhaps due to the boy's previous experience and skill out in the borderlands, or perhaps sheer luck, regardless the reason he was able to remain safe and unhindered despite even getting lost along the borders while trying to travel down to the southern mountains of fire country.

He had finally arrived their, though, and was now making way about a mile from the foot of the mountains. The Tree's around him were sparse, thin enough that he could probably push one over, with several meters between each one... the ground was charred and covered in a thin coat of ash suggesting a forest fire happened with the month and rains had not passed through yet to churn that into soil. It wasnt terribly loose, his feet had normal traction wherever he seemed to step. While short range vision was unobstructed one could only see a few hundred meters before the rebirthing forest became too thick. There was some rocks off to the right, about 60 meters, nearly as tall as the boy but otherwise the scene was devoid of any other environmental details.

"One, two, three~"

"One, two, three~"

"One, two, three~"

"Oooooh a pirates' life for me!~"

A songwriter Saladin was not, though his singing wasn't half bad. Leaned up against a burned out stump the rogue sang to himself. He couldn't rightly say how he came to find himself sitting in the middle of the devastated landscape and there he sat. Well, no, that wasn't true; he had a sneaking suspicion that the half-empty bottle of rum by his side had something to do with his strange new-found ability to close his eyes in a seaside bar and open them in a burned out forest. The details were definitely fuzzy to say the least. That said, for some reason, he remembered the name Sakimori and something about a new ship.

"Well, that doesn't make any sense..." the man pondered aloud. "Why would I need a new ship, I have the Alexan—"

It hit him mid-sentence: he didn't have his prized ship anymore. He recalled the pirates, the swim, and the drink that had filled his past two weeks. In an attempt to stave off such thoughts and the beginning of a headache, the man took a liberal swig of what remained of his rum. It was as his first mate always used to say, 'the best cure for drink is more drink'. Come to think of it, his first mate didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Oh well.

Bringing the fast-emptying bottle from his lips the man glanced to the horizon where a group of slow-moving people began to take their first few steps into the desolate land. This, however, Saladin reasoned could only be due to the rum he was drinking. No one in their right mind would bother coming all the way out here. Well, except for himself of course, for he was undoubtedly in his right mind.

Where is here anyhow?

Time passed and the former captain had to admit, this rum was great. It really made it look like nine ill-shaped figures were lumbering their way towards him. He really needed to find his way back to whatever bar he was at the night before, they served good stuff. Was it the Crow's Nest? No, that was a silly name for a bar. Perhaps it was something a bit more traditional like McCool's? No, that didn't make much sense either.

Hmmm...

"Ahoy!" Saladin bellowed when the caravan came within earshot.

Accenting his words, the once proud captain raised his nearly empty bottle in a mock salute with his left hand. Still sitting against the burned out stump and wearing what amounted to canvas rags the man surely looked like a lost drunk. And, honestly, looks were far from deceiving when it came to Saladin on this particular day. He was both lost and drunk—a truly winning combination if ever there was one.

---
TWC: 489

One of the better signs from someone you encounter out in the wastes is when you dont ever see them, when someone makes themselves visible it can usually mean one of three things... either they are strong and dont have a problem surviving encounters, they are not actually alone and have friends nearby, or they are just fools with fools luck and fools luck is a scary thing to face. As the man made a shout to the Shino crew, the numbers all moved enough so that each one could see the man and his bottle of alcohol.

Choosing to respect the situation, The lead Shinoskay would make a quick scan around before moving forward to approach this odd character while the center Shinoskay took to entering a tree and the rear took point somewhere in the middle of the lead and center to become the new center.

Upon approach, the lead boy would make a small boy, cautiously looking around as he did "Hello friend, how can we help you?" the large barreled body trailed about 2 meters behind him, it also seemed to be watching the surrounding area.

"I'm not sure you're my friend, buddy," Saladin retorted drinking down the last of his rum. "In fact, I don't even know you."

He nodded with a knowing air. He had definitely never seen any of these misshapen men before in his life. A few looked like potatoes while the others looked like, well, more human-shaped potatoes. Why was he fixating on potatoes anyhow? Ah, yes, his growling stomach reminded him why: he hadn't eaten in a good while. Rum was good, but it was far from something one could subsist off of for an extended period of time—Saladin had seen people try and if never ended well for anyone involved in the endeavor.

"Come to think of it," the man struggled to his feet and found he towered over a few of the figures present. "I suppose you can help me—call me Saladin by the by—I'm looking for..."

He stopped speaking rather abruptly only to gaze off into the distance before continuing.

"...I'm looking for," his attention returned the weird figures. "A place to drink, eat, and sleep. However, I'll settle for just the first if it comes down to it. Know any place like that?"

The man's focused shifted in and out making it appear as if the entire landscape was populated by potato people.

I need more rum...

---
TWC: 773

the lead Shinoskay would stand and listen to the man as he spoke, his expression masked, his eyes would remain fixed while only one would blink at a time rather then both together. The speed of a shinobi would allow one to move in that one instance the blink sealed ones sight and so the boy had worked to train himself to maintain a constant visual. As the man presented the name Saladin, the Shinoskay would nod in acknowledgement to this.

Just after the man would look off in the distance, the tree that the rear Shinoskay was in would snap, it was honestly foolish to think that these young tree's would hold the combined weight of the boy and his gear but he had tried regardless, thankfully the center Shinoskay was faster in moving the puppeteers tail and had it ready to catch the error. No sooner then the tree breaking would the rear Shinoskay be able to reach out his foot, activate surface walking, and catch himself on the tail like weapon. It would extend from the rear of the center Shinoskay, to the ground, then up to the rear genin so that the ground, rather then the wielder, held the weight. The Lead Shinoskay would flinch, wanting to look back but wouldn't, a small toot from the center boy told the lead that everything was ok.

If Saladin continued talking, then the front boy would nod at the end before replying by raising his right arm to point towards the general direction of Konoha, and Tanzaku village, to the right of them "It's a bit of a way's but the nearest populated place I know is Tanzaku Village. It hosts trade and traffic from around the world so I imagine it will have whatever drinks you desire." The distance between each boy and the rock formation off to the side was still 60 meter, Saladin was about 5 meters ahead still.

"Tanzaku it is, then."

Saladin took a deep in the direction of the oddly-shaped troupe.

"Gentlemen," he rose from his bow and winked at the one who had spoken with him. "My lady, I wish you all a good day!"

And, with that, the drunken captain sauntered off in a zig-zaggy line. If he was not stopped then he would soon disappear in the exact opposite direction the strange man woman had indicated. She really needed to work on her manners.

Oh well.


[Exit, TWC: 866, +4 stats & +866 Lightning Release: Chakra Blade]

With the man having left, shinoskay would carry on in his journey.

[exit]

1190 wc
5 stats
1000/1000 towards Moving Earth Core
190 towards mastering http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t34716-puppetry-technique-slicing-threads

Approved.