Seedy People

Inoshishi grunts slightly in annoyance at the man's insinuation that they should murder everyone they come into contact with. She is also still very cold, and a little bit disappointed that he expects them to kill for him and won't even offer them tea.  "...nobody'll be able to trace it back to you by our actions," she says, squinting suspiciously at him. He doesn't seem like he does this very often. All he has provided in this transaction thus far is telling them where the caravan will be - they could just go rob it themselves, take the money and the gem, and be on their merry way.

At Ember's prompting, Inoshishi vaults into a laundry list of followup questions - exactly what time the caravan left, where, its destination, anything he knows about the itinerary along the way... eventually, she manages to shut up and leave the man alone, returning her attention to her newfound teammates. She crams Hiroaki's note into one of her pockets with a vague noise of thanks, scratching at her cheek thoughtfully and staring resolutely into space for a few moments before she says anything more.

"That guy was shaking like a little baby bird," Inoshishi murmurs, a bit of disgust in her voice. "I don't trust him. I think the kind of mess he's thinking of would attract too much attention. I'm not all that good at discretion..." she thinks to herself for a few moments, assembling the right words in her head.  "...but I think it'd be for the best if we're careful. We can get in and then leave the caravan like we were never there."

The west gate of Kekkonmon soon passes behind them, fading into grey. Snowflakes begin to fall again, the roads slick and icy, the countryside a mire of slush and mud. The country's namesake 'fangs', the stony karsts that dot the landscape, rise in the blurry distance. The gnarled pines that greet them when they leave the main road are a welcome sight for Inoshishi. They remind her of home.

At first, Inoshishi keeps her distance from Hiroaki, interested more in getting to know Ember better. She's likely quite a lot worse at small talk than either of her companions, but she certainly makes a painful effort. "...you said you're tired of small fry tasks," Inoshishi says to Ember, after yelling at lizards ends her end of the impromptu training session. "Uh, what kind of jobs were you getting?"

Later in their journey, as Hiroaki practices, she eventually draws closer. "...can you try and show me how to do that?" she ventures.

She didn't expect a yes... much less did she expect to actually do well in imitating him. Inoshishi doesn't quite understand why, but walking with strangers makes her feel more at ease than she ever had been with teachers or village shinobi. They'd probably say it's her bad attitude. Maybe it was. There's no way she's signing this chameleon contract, and the cause for that is definitely bad attitude - once Hiroaki manages to summon Gurimu, it takes less than a minute for Inoshishi to start getting snippy with him.

[521
TWC: 1600]

claims wrote:Claiming:

8 stats (+5 speed, +3 strength.)

Genjutsu Release (125 words) + Mastery (250 words)
Generic Sealing Technique (125 words)
Body Flicker (250 words)
Hidden Mist (250 words)
Bukijutsu Parry at C-rank (500 words)
Deflect at C-rank (applying 100 words out of 1000.)

All of the listed techniques are known by Hiroaki, and trained at half word cost.

“Hmm, Impresive,” Ember thought about the blade. She didn’t feel the need to voice her opinion as her expression told everything there was to tell. Besides, they all might be pit against each other someday… what was the point in forming needlessly close bonds?

“Yes, I don’t do so well in a physical fight so it’s best if we aren’t caught… but I imagine they’ll have some sort of defenses against thieves with that kind of precious cargo. Also I’ve mostly just had odd jobs like labor, or thievery now and then. This sounds a lot more exciting than anything I’ve done so far. It’s hard being a one woman team, as I’m sure you know…”

For the first bit of the trip she’d make light conversation, choosing to spend more time thinking about how to handle the mission rather than digging into her teammate’s backstories. There was a time for all that later… during the celebration after the victory. She likewise showed little interest in summoning the chameleons that the other girl seemed to be interested in. She already knew what family she wanted and it was the Fox family. Though, she hadn’t had much luck in finding them yet…
201 / 1602

exit


1,600 words

+8 speed
100 words towards Sharingan III
1000 words towards Demonic Illusion Descending Hell
500 words towards Leaf Whirlwind