Mining 2

Mission Details:

Snow had finished his job in the mine a few days ago, it was not something he enjoyed doing. This was mostly because he didn't enjoy the cramped spaces of the mine, as opposed to the wide open spaces of the woods that heavily comprised of the land of Fire. There was one great aspect about it though, it paid pretty well. Snow was within the village for the first time in a few weeks after his trip to Volcano country. The trip was still fresh in his mind as he tried to understand just what had happened there.

He was sure that there was more powerful ninja on that island, like that Zaled the leader of the village. Nobody tried to stop him, nobody came for retribution. Was this going to mean war between the two villages? Now Yen wanted to send him back to the same village to deliver a woman that was important to some of them? It was a plan for disaster that could and probably would end up in his and possibly the previous Hokage's death. This was in fact something that Snow had been thinking about ever since his meeting with the Hokage, Yen. 

He felt terrible for what he did, he thought that he had killed all of the emotions that laid dormant within his body, allowing himself to become the tool that the village needed him to be. He thought he had succeeded for a quite some time, the day that he finally forced himself to live through the murder of his mother by the Kiri invader. There was a lot of things that he thought he had burned from within his own psyche, but it was not the truth. He still remembered the woman's face as her body froze over. The look of terror as her body ceased to move.

The memory had burned itself into Snow's mind, causing him to relive the memory again and again. He wanted nothing more than to make it up to her. Why would he have done such a thing? Because she crumpled up a letter? Then he comes back to his "home" so his Kage can simply send him back to the place he had just escaped. March him straight to the front door to what? Send a message? Snow began to feel as though he was a pawn in Yen's chess game, and he didn't care for being played as such.

That was when it hit him, before any of this happened. Before any of this he broke into the Kage's office to ask for a task that would prove Snow's worth. Before he was actually given a task, he was thrown into a conversation with Yen, talking about the chess pieces on that board of his. Is that all he truly was to Yen? A simple pawn on the chess board for him to simply throw around recklessly to see if I would survive the turn? While he wasn't entirely sure that was all he was worth, the evidence was beginning to build toward that direction.

Snow walked through the forests, he was heading back towards the same mine that he had spent a few hours in a couple days ago. But this time he wasn't going in for Tungsten, but this time for something a little more shiny, a little more decorative. This time, he was going for Silver.  He continued to walk through the forest when he would remember the sounds the woman made as the cold began to set in. "Sephora... I'm sorry." Snow would remind himself, recounting the events once again. 

He tried to reassure himself that he wasn't going to die on this mission back to Volcano country, but he knew that all of his words would be empty and pointless. This was a suicide mission and Snow knew it. It was a way to show just how crazy Yen was, otherwise why would you send out the same guy that almost killed one of their own, or did kill depending on if she had actually managed to escaped her situation in that room. He did lock the entire room up with Fuuinjutsu seals to ensure that she wouldn't be able to get out easily. 

"What is next for me in this life?" Snow would ask himself as he began nearing the area in which the mine would be located. "Is it going to be suicide mission after suicide mission until I finally come upon the mission that I don't come back? Is that truly the life that I was meant to live? Is this what my mother gave her life up for? A child that was simply a pawn to be thrown into worse and worse situations until he was finally taken down? No. I refuse that is my reality. I refuse the notion that I am nothing more than a pawn." Snow would assure himself, still not knowing exactly how he was going to get himself out of that situation without dying. But he was going to have to figure something out, no matter what. This was not his time to die, at least he hoped it wasn't. He had finally learned the highest ranked secret technique for his clan, the Jotunn. Now it was going to be his time to shine in combat should the need arise, either that, or perish on the battlefield. 

Snow was getting close enough to the mines that he was able to smell the familiar smell within the mines, the damp and dark mine awaited him, and he was going to do whatever he could to get himself as much silver as he could muster, for he had himself a plan. A He was going to try and create a package for the island in Volcano. Maybe it would be enough to have them forgive Snow for what he did. Maybe they would just kill him on sight and not even bother with the gift that he would prepare, he didn't know. There was far too many things that he didn't know and he was getting exhausted to that fact. 

He walked up to the foreman of the mine that was having a smoke right outside the front entrance of the mine. As he saw Snow getting closer to the mine, the foreman gave out an amused chuckle as the Yuki got closer to the entrance. "I noticed you filled up two extra mine carts before you left. The men really appreciated that from you, as did I. Now what are you looking to obtain today young shinobi?" The foreman spoke with a matter of fact tone.

"I am looking for something a little more decorative this time, not so much for function this time as I did the high grade steel. Looking for silver. Is that something I can procure within this mine?" Snow would ask. The foreman shook his head, "Unfortunately we don't have any veins found within this mine, but if you want to head a little farther into the woods, you will find another mine. I'll let them know that you are on your way. They should let you right in. If I remember correctly they just found a few veins worth of silver within the mine a couple weeks ago, should still be plenty within there to get you what you need." Snow nodded his head and thanked the foreman, who in turn waved him off with some quick direction as to where he should go to find the correct mine. Snow then tightened the straps of his pack and he began to head farther down the path leading through the forests. He hoped that he would find himself some silver fairly quickly for he knew that he was going to need to get back into the village so he could get some training in before he had to get back on the road. 

As he trailed through the pathways, navigating them through the thick of the forests, he would do his best to get his mind off of what had happened to Sephora. He was slightly mad at himself for feeling the way that he did, he knew that he shouldx as a shinobi, be able to destroy his own emotions, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to make it up to them but he was sure that they would simply shrug it off, then kill him for what he did to one of their own. 

Snow would understand it. He did do something unbelievably cruel to her, to that wonderful woman Sephora. She had been nothing but kind to him, and he repaid her with the loss of her legs over the most menial of disrespectful motions towards his Kage. Was he having her pay for something far before? He never read the letter that he was told to deliver, was her crime written on that parchment? A measly piece of paper that sealed the woman's fate, to be punished by the lowly Yuki? He had far more questions than he had answers, but one day he was going to need to have that fixed. 

He arrived at the second mine, where the foreman began waving him into the mine. "I already received the call about you looking for some silver. We have just uncovered an entirely new vein this morning. If you want you can have pick of the litter in that vein, hasn't even been touched yet. Go ahead and head on in, the supervisor of that level of the mine will be able to give you the tools you need and guide you to the correct shaft where the silver can be found." Snow nodded his head and thanked the man as he entered through the front doors of the mine. 

As he entered the mine, the familiar damp smell filled the air that surrounded him within the mines, he was only a few steps within the mine and he was already dreading the environment that he would be enduring soon. He walked deeper into the mine, passing shaft after shaft, wondering if there was ever an end to it. Finally after coming to a mine that was lit by only the artificial light that was dimmed down due to the frigid cold that seemed to be within the mine that they were within. "This is where you will find it, head down toward the end and look to your right, that is where you will find your silver, friend." Snow was more than surprised to hear the words from the supervisor, he was not used to people actually being nice to him within the mines, maybe it was because of the extra work that he had done when he was within the first mine that he was in. 

The supervisor offered Snow a pick axe, to which Snow respectfully declined as he created two shadow clones. Then all three Snows created a pick axe out of ice to begin their work. The three Snows began striking the veins as hard and as fast as they could, getting more and more silver with every strike. They would continue to work until they were able to provide the same gift to the men of this mine as they were able to give the men of the first mine. They would fill up the one mine cart for himself, then he would send it back up to the main hub, then they would fill up one more cart per Snow so he would be able to feel right about taking the work away from the other miners whose whole lives depended on the mine and ore that it inhabited. 

When he finished his work he walked out of the mine and he thanked the supervisor as he walked out of the place. He had been given some processed silver in turn for all of the ore that he had mined for the mine, as well as a small amount of ryo for his troubles. Snow thanked the men and headed back for the village.

WC:2018
EXIT

+2,000 Ryo, 5AP, 1x Silver, 20 AP
+1500 toward ranking up Icing Over from A rank to S rank (Completed) 
+229 towards Freeze (Completed)(Previous Progress)
+289 towards Seal of Absorption (289/2500)

Approved