Pins and Thieves

http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t42749-what-s-in-the-box
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t42738-don-t-fear-the-shadow-kill-it

Mar despised thieves, where he'd grown up the local inhabitants had indeed often stolen out of necessity but at the same time immersing yourself with crooks who only sought out the value of your coin purse tended to sour his mood pretty quickly. It was basically like taking a long hard look at the worst humanity had to offer. Swindledon was just such a place, a small town with just three hundred inhabitants and no natural resources to speak of. Built on a barren wasteland that offended the sensibilities of even the most stubborn cactus farmers with an average temperature of one hundred and two degree's. Not to mention constant morning heat waves which caused a spike in the crime rate.

As he walked in he was grateful for his storage displacement technique, only equipped externally with his armor (that admittedly made him a target for gangs of thieves rather than lone muggers). And a small, highly replaceable bag that he did not mind loosing. Though, he did of course have the highly valuable box that had brought him into this town in the first place. He was making a delivery of rare, mint condition. Ninja-Inatu collectible pins. Made in the image of a comic series that had come out before he was born but that had seen a recent reprinting and even reboot in the world of cinema. To one man they were worthless pieces of shiny tin but to another they were the badges of honor that only a true fan could possibly still have. He'd checked the box himself and had been extra careful to not so much as breath on the certificate of authenticity. Apparently everything within the box had never been touched by human hands.

The entire two horse town was designed seemingly without ryme or reason. Huge spires of rock going twenty meters high jutted out interrupting rows of buildings. They twisted around each other, going nowhere. Twice already he'd had to turn around after coming to a dead end road. Some streets had two names, signs where rare and often highly vandalized and damaged. All of this made the address of his package virtually a riddle to detirmine. He was sure that he'd have to check every residence in town before he arrived at the right place.

All the while in the suit of armor he could not take off that made passers by hiss at they touched it's burning metal unbaked plates. Inside it was so hot that he was sure a camel would have long since died of heat stroke. Thankfully he was no camel, but a man of steel inside and out who was not even sweating under the extreme conditions. Though he was remembering this time just a couple weeks ago when he'd been doused with fire and attacked on all sides with spears by prison guards. Good times.

Though he passed by many beggers most of them seemed sordid and content with their defeat to the unrelenting sun. He'd had to listen closely at one point to ensure that one of them wasn't dead. Atleast the town seemed to have water. He stopped at one obvious pump, turning the crank and just lifting up his helmet enough to drink before a halfway charming looking begger woman quipped. "I wouldn't use that one, all the locals know it'll give you disentary. Well got infected a fortnight ago." Nodding. "Thank you." Mar moved onto one two pumps down across the street.

Before hearing her call out. "Dementia, that one makes you go insane!" Rolling his eyes the ninja dragged his feet over to the last water faucet and bent the handle slightly in frustration as he reached for it and called out. "Raving nightmares like you've never seen for weeks until you claw your own eyes out at the sheer horror of being alive! Also it tastes funny." "Where should I drink then woman?" He called out, rather frustrated with the current circumstance. "I'm a water merchant deerie, maby you'd like to buy some of my product?"

"Sounds like you should be in the poison business." He comments, meandering over as she revealed some bottles half filled with steam from under her cloak. Behind her, eight dirty kids matching her likeness where kicking around a ball. Some as old as thirteen. "How much?" He inquired. "Ten Ryo." She offered, a high cost. But he was indeed thirsty and in this climate it seemed reasonable. Not to mention that he was rich enough to afford to have this village flooded a couple times over. He reached into his bag, collecting some coin he kept on him for travel expenses. "Oh uh, water merchant. Can you break a 50 peice?" "Into 5 water bottles, sure."

He grumbled, handing it over and reaching to fill his bag. Stopping once she held a hand over the fifth bottle. "Products running low and I've got to keep some on hand for my children, consider it a pence of charity deerie." He sighed uncaringly. "Fine." Before noticing a kid all too obviously rooting around in his bag while another with a heat resistant glove felt against the confines of his metal plates. "What the hell are you doing?! Get off me." He replied in agitation. "Can it gramps! We're just taking a little tip off the top since you've got so much to spare and we're not but needy kids with a single mother."

One fingertip brushing the box of his delivery was enough for him to flex an arm and break a childs wrist. "OWWWWWW! OWWWWW! MOMMMMY!" He pleaded, ugly crying instantly as he crumbled to the ground next to his seemingly uncaring parent. "Ya stupid worthless brats, you're suppose to take tips while I'm selling the juice! Kevin, Kevin, you're ninteen. Kick your younger brother." Even through his armor Mar seemed dumbstruck. "Nineteen? What are you a dwarf?" The kid replied with an unflattering hand guesture. "Pffft, I just smoked a lot when I was little. You'd know, you're smoking like a chimney right now!"

The other children were all forming a rough circle around him, ready to pounce. Mar shook his head. "I broke a young mans wrist faster than any of you can see and you still want to rob me?" "Dibs on his bag!" "Dibs on his dumb armor!" "Dibs on both his kidneys!" One had even crawled on the straw ceiling of a nearby business to attack him from above. Just before they were about to begin he replied with a roundhouse kick hitting everyone on the ground except for the mother before jumping in a huge backflip and intentionalyl throwing the rooftop attacker into a pile of horse manure. "Oh I am not finding this place by myself." He groaned, taking a drink of foul tasting water and spitting it out before phoning his friends.

"Hiroaki? Yeah I got another job for you.... Eight thousand this time, should be a peace of cake. Lotsa thieves though don't bring anything valuable and be sure to pack some extra shoes... Yeah I'll text you my position, can you get here by tomorrow morning?" Then he phoned one of his favorite people finders in hopes of finding more backup. "Hey yeah, Seiichi and Eli don't carry phones but I was wondering if one of them is available... Ok yeah just use the brick."

Eli would be disturbed as a random black market trader would throw a brick strait at his stomach. On one end it said in Mar's handwriting. "Buy a phone you cave man." Ironically with a cell number attached that had a phone merchant on the other end. On the other it pitched an eight thousand payout if he were to join the mecha man in a thief filled city not far from his current position by sunrise tomorrow morning to pull a delivery job.

     Hiroaki was playing his role as security at the Chunin restaurant. Akihana had usually placed him at the door to screen ill comers and to not scare off the customers that were already inside. He was content with this as he didn't like to be near too many people all the time. A pair of kids that had to be younger than him carried a handful of cash in their hands, chattering louder than they should. 'Those dumb kids are going to get themselves robbed', he thought. One of the kid's with a fist full of cash, raised his hand in the air. "I can't wait to go in here! I heard they serve sake and I want to have a bottle full!", shouted the brat. When the kids approached the door to the restaurant, Hiroaki glared down at the kids. 

     The kids tried to ignore the fact Hiroaki was staring them down and attempted to head inside the restaurant. 'Akihana would kill me if I let these kids drink Sake even though I do when I'm not supposed to. But, in all honesty I just don't want these kids touching my alcohol.', thought Hiroaki. He nodded to himself which might make Hiroaki seem crazy to an outside spectator. 'No one may touch my Sake!', he continued his thought process. He nodded several more times furiously until he unsheathed his Akai Kumo Katana and blocked the doorway from the kids. "Beat it, brats.", he stated. The air around Hiroaki was suffocating. In fact, Hiroaki's whole aura about him had become intense with seriousness. 

     The kids looked at Hiroaki with tear filled eyes. Several of them pounded at his chest pleading for him to let them in. "Please, mister! You just gotta! You just gotta let us in!", the brat squealed. They sounded like a bunch of piglets to Hiroaki. He grabbed the nearest brat by the shirt and pushed him off. "I don't repeat myself", stated Hiroaki. He flipped his sword in the air, re-landing the hilt in his hand to show that he was very familiar with working around the blade. The kid kicked him in the shin, but he did not flinch. "Bully! Come on! I'll get my parents!", squealed a kid. Hiroaki coughed into his arm and turned his gaze to the fistful of cash. 

     He peaked inside to make sure Akihana wasn't looking before returning his gaze to the kids. With quick speed, he snatched the money from the kids. He licked his fingers and began to count the money in a dramatic manner. "ten, twenty, thirty..", he counted. The kids fake tears had turned into real tears. 'If anything, I'm teaching these kids early on not to flaunt their money around', thought Hiroaki. He looked from the money in his hand to the kids. "Alright, I'll give you your sake", he said. The kids looked astonished that Hiroaki had knew that they wanted Sake like they haven't been shouting it in the streets. "Y-You will!? You really will, mister!?", shouted the kid. Hiroaki's face turned stone cold. "No.", he stated. He went through the entrance of the Chunin and closed the door behind him. 

     Hiroaki sat at the counter that was attached to the kitchen window. He ordered himself some Sake and glugged it down. The phone attached to the wall next to him began to ring. Hiroaki coughed before answering the phone angrily. "Listen, I don't care about your rugr-", he started. The person on the other line turned out to be Mar rather than who he thought it was going to be. 'Oh', he thought. Hiroaki held the phone between face and shoulder while he continued to use his hands to drink more. Mar Byrd had told him he had another job for him. "More cash? Count me in.", said Hiroaki keeping it short. He finished the bottle and placed it on the counter, expecting someone working there to take care of it. "See you tomorrow, Mar.", said Hiroaki.

     The next morning, Hiroaki tightened his two Katanas on his waist and put the rest of his equipment on his person. Mar had mentioned that he should bring an extra pair of shoes, but he wasn't. 'If someone ruins my shoes, I'll just take theirs', he thought. Mar had mentioned previously that he would text his position, but Hiroaki explained that he was using the restaurants phone and there was no texting through that, so instead he supplemented Hiroaki with a meet up location. Hiroaki clocked out with Akihana and departed from the Chunin to meet up with Mar. 'I do like big payouts', he thought.

     Hiroaki arrived at the scene where Mar Byrd and to his surprise, Eliwood. Hiroaki nodded to them both. "I suppose there is enough cash to go around", said Hiroaki. He looked at the what Mar was carrying. It looked like a cooler. "That's what we have to deliver?", asked Hiroaki. He looked around the location they were in. The place looked trashy, but it wasn't something he was unfamiliar with. Hiroaki spit on the ground and eyed someone who was walking a little too close to them. He was just a straggler who walked down the wrong alleyway. "Beat it.", said Hiroaki, tugging his blade. The man raised his hands, not wanting any trouble and departed. Hiroaki could have sworn he saw a smile on the face of the leaving man.

     Hiroaki returned his attention to the two men in front of him. "Listen, I can slice and dice, but I'm not good with directions", stated Hiroaki simply. He looked at Eliwood who had accompanied them. "I suppose that's why you are here, Eli", said Hiroaki. Hiroaki took the package from Mar Byrd, who unconsciously have been leaving scorch marks on the handle of the cooler. "I'll be honest with you Mar. I don't know what happened to you, but it's none of my business", he continued. He nodded to Eliwood to take lead. He would make sure no one laid a hand on the merchandise. 

(WC: 1008)

"Thank you very much ma'am. I've been looking for this all day!" Eliwood would say as he walked away from the stall selling odd fruits he was just shopping at. In his hand was a peach from the land of rivers. He had eaten one off a tree on his way to the fishing competition where he met Maku. Ever since, he had craved the taste but could never find it. Today especially he had found himself desperate for the juicy sweetness of that peach. "It must be my lucky day." He laughed to himself as he walked down the cobbled street of the black market. "How could one little fruit be so beautiful." He sighed, "I could compose a song about th-"

His thought was cut short by a swift brick to the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him but more importantly it knocked the peach straight out of his hand. He quickly caught his bearings and scrambled for his peach. To his utter dismay it had landed in a pile of dog poop. Almost in tears he looked away from his ruined prize only to see writing on the offending brick. One side of it was mocking him for being behind the times, while the other was a job from Mar. One that paid quite handsomely.

"Flame help me Mar. When I said I preferred writing letters this was not what I had in mind." As upset as he was about the brick, the call of adventure and money was strong enough to pull him in. He would set out for the town immediately.

When he arrived it was already night, so he decided to take shelter in a tree outside the village. It was one of his favorite ways to camp out. He could see and hear so much from up high. He slept soundly, if not a little hungry, and in the morning he set off into town to find Mar. He found the mechanic at the meeting point and berated him for his choice of messaging system. "I do not need a phone. Why not just send a messenger. Birds are quite adept at that actually. I am however ready for this job." He was going to ask if they would be working alone when Hiroaki walked up. The monk nodded to the young swordsman. The more hands around the better. Hiro had very little charm, but he was surprisingly effective at getting jobs done.

"So where to Mar?"

(WC 416)

Mar gave Eliwood the details of the mission. They would be transporting a box. Should be a simple delivery mission, but something felt off about the job. It felt like the destination could easily be a trap. Mar knew he was a fighter, but some jobs require a little more finesse. Stealth can be hard to accomplish with a big metal bodysuit.

"Yeah stealth is kinda my thing. I prefer to not get my hands dirty if ever possible. If however, things do go south that is where you can come in Hiro." Eliwood could handle sneaking a case past any thugs, but if he was caught, a skilled swordsman would come in handy. "If I need you I'll signal. Let's try to do this quiet if we can."

Mar pointed out where they were supposed to be making the delivery, an old warehouse building on the outskirts of the town. Broken windows and cracked bricks clearly signified that the place was abandoned. The perfect location for the seedy dealings the monk often found himself involved in.

Eliwood broke off from the other two and crept up towards the building, Sitar in hand. He ran his back up against the wall and listened for noise coming from inside. Ear pressed against brick he could hear muffled voices, ones that sounded upset. It would appear that Mar was correct and the drop site was compromised. The voices could belong to warehouse employees, but given the state of the building he wouldnt put money on it. Better to be safe than sorry. Eli gave one more look back to Hiro to make sure he was watching and waiting for the signal to move, then headed over to the nearest window. The glass was about a story up, but nothing some surface walking couldnt solve. Eliwood planted his feet firmly on the wall and walked his way up to the window. He had the crate they needed to deliver strapped onto his back so his hands would be free to play his instrument. Silent footsteps could work, but this was a perfect opportunity to test out a technique he came up with.

The monk's fingers began to play the strings, but no sound emerged. The true test would be next. Eliwood kicked in the glass in front of him without stopping his strumming. The pieces shattered and fell to the floor, but there was no noise. Absolute Silence was a success! As long as he continued playing, nothing he did would be heard by the people laying in wait for him. Eli laughed, this would be almost too easy. He came through the window onto a metal catwalk that ringed the main warehouse floor. Usually he would worry about the metal creaking under foot, but now he simply walked around looking for the right place to drop the crate.

Mar said there would be a purple cloth somewhere inside. He just needed to place the box down and throw the cloth over the top of it. The buyer would do the rest from there. Scanning the room he could see four men waiting around. They were obviously waiting for someone to come through the door to make the delivery. They didn't expect the crate to come in from up above and so they were not facing Eliwood's direction when he dropped down from the catwalk, still silent. The purple cloth was hanging from a rusty hook on the wall next to a pile of crates that looked identical to the one on Eli's back.

'Makes sense. These idiots wouldn't think to look here.' He thought to himself.

He had to stop his playing to slip the crate from his back, which is where the silent footsteps technique would come into play. He placed the delivery as quietly as he could on top of the pile and draped the cloth over.

Escape through the front door would be difficult, so he would have to go out the way he came in. Eliwood leapt up as high as he could before jetting air from the bottom of his feet to propel himself the rest of the way onto the catwalk. From up there it was just the reverse of his entrance. He slipped out through the already broken window and surface walked his way down the side of the warehouse. He sauntered back to the others with a big smile plastered on his face. He had been making quite a good profit lately running jobs. Maybe it was time to buy something nice again. Maybe a new instrument.

"Easy in, easy out. Might as well have been free money." He'd laugh. "Sorry you didn't get to cut anything up Hiro."

(WC 784)
(TWC 1200)

(EXIT)
Claiming 3 chakra

+1200 words towards mastering Air pistol (900+1200=2100/2600)

+3600 ryo. 14800+3600 = 18400 ryo total

Hiroaki had followed Eliwood every step of the way, silent like his shadow. The musician seemed to have everything under control. "There's always next time", replied Hiroaki.

(WC: 27 | TWC: 1035)

[exit]

Note to Admin:

Claiming:
1035/400= 2 stats
 Tanku (D-Rank: 500 WC)
Kīsu (D-Rank: 500 WC)

Mission:
Reward: 3600 Ryo & 7 AP

Approved