Climb this Peak Real Quick? [Holiday Mission/Open]

Spoiler:

It was not long after her first Holiday mission that Fu would encounter another, or an invitation to participate, that is. The next day Fu had exited the Desert Rose, just as she had the day prior, but this time marched directly towards the bulletin board where she had stumble upon the first flyer that had sucked her into a strange holiday mission of sorts.
 
Fu squinted her eyes- doing her best to spot something that did not look like the rest. After a few moments of looking to no avail, she would let out a sigh of disappointment.
 
“Maybe I really am going crazy…” she thought to herself, contemplating the legitimacy of her actions. She had dragged herself out here with hopes of holiday mischief, but only found disappointment. A few moments later, her ninja weapon pouch would begin glowing a beautiful gold and the sound of jingle-bells could be faintly heard in the background. Fu would open the pouch to find a letter, the same one from her dream! She would open it and examine its contents. It was the same message she had received the day prior and the task she had previously done had a tick mark next to it. Placing her hand on her chin, she would scroll through the tasks- the first catching her eye.
 
The task was to climb to the top of top of the “highest peak in all the realms” and harvest some of a fallen meteorite for the Hollykage. “Simple enough.” she thought. I’ll do this one.” She motioned her finger to touch the task she wished to complete next, but before she was able to, she found herself being teleported to her next mission.
 
When she arrived, the environment was almost identical to the starting location of her last Holiday Mission, except for a massive Peak she would need to figure out how to scale. Just at the base of the peak was a small wooden sign that would be pointing upwards clearly towards the direction she would need to travel. The girl sighed. “I really hope I don’t need to climb all the way up…” she thought to herself, staring upwards towards a seemingly impossible task.
 

Fu felt like she was standing inside the waiting lobby of a video game. She stood patiently near the sign as she was sure others would soon join her, hopefully. Fu was wearing a green and red Christmas sweater, depicted on the front was a dog wearing a Santa hat. Cloaked around her body was a red and green checkered cloak which provided another layer of protection from the cold. Diagonally across her back was a katana with a magenta and yellow hilt covered by a light blue sheath.

The magic of the Hollykage pulled Asahi from his apartment in Sugakure to a frozen wasteland once again.

He had been tending to his plants and doing a little house cleaning when that familiar voice popped into his head. There was another task for him, the Hollykage informed the Genin. This time more difficult and with other people. Evidently the mission was to climb to the top of a mountain and retrieve a piece of some sort of meteorite. Asahi wasn't quite sure if he was in the mood for another one of the Hollykage's wild adventures. He was in the middle of protest when the flash of light came and went. When he opened his eyes he was staring up at the peak of an enormous snow covered mountain.

"Guess I'm doing this, then," he said with a sigh.

Instinctively he brought his arms around his chest as the cold hit him. He wore a simple black jacket and pants. On his forehead was the shinobi headband of Sunagakure. Brown hair came down over the protector and green eyes peered out from under that. In front of him was a wooden sign with an arrow pointing upwards. He eyed the mountain before him, from base to peak. This will not be easy, he thought. But then again, nothing ventured nothing gained. It would be quite an accomplishment were he able to summit the beast before him. And the Hollykage's rewards are nothing to scoff at.

He felt a pair of eyes on him and had the sudden realization that he wasn't alone here. Asashi looked to the side and saw a girl dressed in the greens and reds of Christmas. Ah, the ninja realized, he did say there would be others here. Perhaps we can help each other make it to the top. He could see a katana poking out from behind her and thought that he wouldn't like to get on the wrong end of that blade. His body turned with his head then and he held out a hand for the girl to shake.

"I'm Asahi. Asahi Igarashi of Sunagakure. Are you here for the Hollykage's mission as well?" He paused to look up and down the mountain once more then turned back to her. "It looks difficult, but together we may just be able to reach the summit. I hope you don't mind working together. Seems that the Hollykage knew this would be a tough one and tried to get more people to complete it."

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414 WC
414 Asahi Total WC
870 Thread Total WC

Everything had happened so quickly. At one moment Ishi was explaining to his sister about the big bag of cookies and treats that fell out of the sky, using his whole body to explain before he blinked and was suddenly in the middle of a bunch of snow! A few blinks escaped from him before the first stage of freaking out happened. His arms flailed down and he instantly began looking around for his sister," Sis!!!! SISSSSS!! Where are you? Did you run off again....More importantly how did i get outside?," now that he had noticed his surroundings in full he realized that he wasn't at home. Maybe he was teleported to a new location or his house was suddenly switched with a bunch of snow and his sister was left in the house. So many strange things had been going on and this was just the icing on the cake. He prevented himself from freaking out further as he began to look around, using his chakra to further warm his body (Think the Kami for the Katon affinity!) As he walked about he could hear the voices of other people, two to be exact as he was walking about. To save some of his energy he simply walked over to them first, making sure they both saw him though he caught the back-end of one of the two here. Apparently he was a Suna shinobi which was weird....he didn't think it had snowed in Suna. Scratching his head he would introduce himself to the both of them," Hello! I'm Ishimura of Konoha...where exactly are we? At one moment I was with my sister and the next thing I knew I was here," he hoped one of the two had answers..and just who was this hollykage person they were mentioning.

WC: 300

"Oi, that's cheatin!" The roar of pure rage came the bar parton. Seated at his same table were four other, equally scruffy looking gentleman, and then there was Raian. A much younger, more muscular and much more youthful appearance about him as he stood up from the table enraged at the accusation before him. His hand slammed down hard on to the table knocking over every single person beverage who sat there. "You either pay.. what you owe.. or I'll rip your guts out and make these losers eat em! Raian yelled as his sharpened, shark like teeth came to bare. A tactic that usually resulted in an instant end to the conflict, this time however, would not go so easily.

Instead of backing down the large man flung the table to the side with ease before grabbing Raian by his shirt. "Youngin' you ain't getting nothing from me but a be.." The man's voice was cut off mid-sentence as Raian threw his head forward smashing the man's nose with his forehead. The man stumbled back, releasing Raian, as Raian closed in for a follow up punch however he was suddenly transported somewhere else. It happened so quickly that he hadn't time to halt his attack and fell face first into some thick snow. He quickly got back to his feet and looked around in all directions completely stunned. Then from the pouch holstered on his right hip, a small glowing scroll would catch his attention from nowhere. After retrieving and reading it's contents he realized what had happened. He had been summoned by the hollykage.. again.

"Not this again.. now he wants me to find some rock? Lame." Raian said to himself with distaste just as he heard other voices just out of sight. "Interesting, some company, things might actually go somewhere." Raian thought to himself as he slowly made his way towards the voices. Upon coming to the other three he would approach slowly, hoping his demonic appearance with the black eyes didn't make him seem threatening, though that's almost not possible. "Yo, I'm assuming you all were called here for the same reason right? In that case names Raian." Each person appeared as though they came from somewhere entirely different. "Quite the expansive cast we have here." Raian thought to himself as he looked everyone over.

[Nature Energy Stacks 0 -> 1]
[WC: 389]

Right before her eyes a boy would appear out of thin air- like magic. Fu had grown accustomed to such peculiar events that she no longer questioned them. Fu’s reddish orange eyes would scan the newcomer, observing his boyish features. He was slightly shorter than her and had brown hair and green eyes. Upon his forehead was a Sunagakure headband. Fu wondered what the Hollykage’s equation was when picking Holiday Mission teams. Whatever it was, she sure hoped one of them offered an easy solution to the top of the peak. It took a moment for him to realize that Fu was there, she figured that he was probably wondering how he was going to get up there himself.

After noticing her, he would promptly introduce himself to her. He appeared rather eager to introduce himself. He was probably hoping that Fu could offer an easy solution to the top. Unfortunately for them both, that was most likely not the case for either of them. “Nice to meet you Asahi of Sunagakure.” She would say in a confident manner. Neither of them would remember this interaction after the Holidays so there was no point in being rude, plus Fu was a social creature. “I am Fu the Monster Hunter. I am also a shinobi of Konohagakure.” She would say proudly. Although it was not a title of renowned fame, it was one in the making and she was not shy about force feeding it to others. “In fact, Before I was teleported here, I was in Sunagakure- on official business.” Fu would leave a cliff hanger for the boy to gain his attention. “To answer your question- yes I am also here for the Hollykage’s mission. This is my second one so there should be others arriving momentarily.” Informing him if he did not already know. “You don’t happen to know how to fly do you?” She would inquire, half serious, but entirely hopeful.

Just a few moments later, another person would join them. This person was slightly taller than Fu and appeared to be younger than the current pair despite the height difference. He also had matted messy blue-green colored hair that would capture Fu’s attention immediately. After making his presence known, he would begin to scratch his head and introduce himself to Fu and Asahi. His name was ‘Ishimura’ and he was too from Konoha. “Hi Ishimaru. I am Fu and I am also from Konoha. I haven’t met you before, are you a shinobi?” Fu would inquire. He appeared to not understand what was going on so Fu figured this was the first of the Hollykage’s missions he was venturing on. “Don’t worry my friend we will get started shortly.” Fu hoped that he was smart enough to catch on as she did not want to spoil the fun for him yet.

It wasn’t long until their final team member arrived. This hunk was much more mature looking then the rest of the group and much taller. In fact, compared to everyone else, he was a giant. An interesting one at that. He had black eyes, orange hair, and devil horns growing out of his forehead; accompanied by major muscles. He looked like the monsters that Fu hunted- but she was not about to reveal such a personal thought to the public. This specimen was named “Raian”, but unlike the others, he did not offer up where he was from. Mysterious. Fu thought to herself.

Although he did not disclose his entire story to the group, Fu would be consistent and introduce herself one last time. “Nice to meet you Raian, I am Fu the Monster Hunter.” She would say- knowing that such information did not matter seeing as their memories would be whipped as stated in the letters they received. 

Now that everyone arrived, Fu would get to the question that had been pestering her since her arrival, but she figured she would wait until everyone had arrived so she would not have to repeat herself 2 more times. “No one here can fly by any chance?” She would ask, hoping her question would induce at least a chuckle from the group before her. “Actually though, I assume we are all shinobi of sorts. Do any of you posses a skill that could get us there quicker? Or are we doing this the hard way.” Fu hoped that her blunt question would not take away from the potential fun of their challenge.

wc: 746
twc: 1,203

"Pleased to meet you, Fu the Monster Hunter from Konohagakure." He again took a look at the katana on her back. "Is that what you use to slay your monsters?" The Genin wasn't sure if she meant real beasts or those of the human variety. Perhaps it was best he didn't know. "Curious that you were also in Sunagakure when the Hollykage brought you here as well. Perhaps due to our proximity it was easier for him to work his magic. I've done a few of his mad tasks as well. Though none quite so difficult as this..." his voice trailed off as the winds howled louder. He chuckled softly when she mentioned flying. "Would if I could just sprout wings and fly us to the top. Looks like this is going to have to be done the old fashioned way."

It was then that another stranger materialized before them. Asahi took the time to also introduce himself to the newcomer, Ishimaru, who was also from Konahogakure. "Greetings. I am Asahi. This Hollykage has been putting people to these crazy tasks," he tried to explain. "Looks like he's managed to rope you into this as well. He wants something at the top of this peak, apparently. Beyond that I don't know much about this Hollykage, just that he's powerful." Just after that another person popped into existence. He introduced himself as Raian though from whereabouts he didn't offer up. "Hey there. Asahi," the Suna ninja responded. Raian's dark eyes and demonic visage were unsettling, but Asahi tried not to show how he really felt. "Quite right, looks like everyone is here," he took another look around to see if others would show but it appeared that this was it.

Asahi was curious as to how the other ninja's would answer Fu's question. If they were able to fly this could be over very shortly. If not it's going to be quite a trek to the peak. "I have an ability that can increase my strength and speed which should make it easier for me to climb the mountain," Asahi offered quickly to the group. "I know it doesn't do much for the rest of you, but I promise I can keep on eye on us all while we climb and be ready to help out at a moment's notice in case someone stumbles or misses a step."

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395 WC
809 Asahi Total WC
2700 Thread Total WC

A lot of information was being thrown at him at once which made his head spin, even if he understood it the constant flow of it made his mind...wander a lot. Mentally slapping himself he would catch the names of everyone there and was especially happy that someone of his own village was there. Smiling to Fu he would give her a two finger salute," Mhm! We might've not had the same academy class so that's potentially why you haven't seen me before. What's it like in Suna? I heard its really hot since its in a desert and all. Wait who did you go with?" the questions were slowly forming in his mind to ask the fellow Konoha shinobi about. When someone addressed themselves as a shinobi of Suna. It wasn't often he got to meet others from different villages given the current state of the world but so far he had met a rather nice Suna shinobi. When Fu asked if he could fly he tilted his head slightly before looking up at the mountain," I don't think I can fly...That would be out of my scope of abilities, but every mountain has a path we just have to find it in the mess of this snow. Have you met this Hollykage person yet? All i know is he dropped cookies in our village and wanted us to hand them out. They were really good...i shared some with my sister," he was still a little unsure about this, but he was here now. Thinking about the whole thing he began to tap his chin as he saw one more person come into the mix. He didn't mind other people, but as he looked at their eyes they eerily reminded him of his own eyes.

With everyone here he would turn to look at the mountain and when everyone started to move so too would Ishi, taking a place near the middle since he liked to get space out occasionally.

WC: 331

Raian raised an eyebrow at Fu's intro, stepping forward with his arms crossed. "Aye, a monster hunter eh? Interesting, never met a monster hunter before. You'll have to tell some stories along the way, should have quite a few. As for flying, negative not sure I can do that. Can alter my limbs to a degree however,so should come in handy." Raian stated invitingly to Fu as the others began to introduce themselves as well. He turned to each of them as they did so repeating their names back to them.

Asashi was next, and quite the talkative one. Raian wasn't usually one for talking so much. "I know it doesn't do much for the rest of you, but I promise I can keep on eye on us all while we climb and be ready to help out at a moment's notice in case someone stumbles or misses a step." Asashi finally finished talking, to which Raian responded. "An enhancement type ability, yeah could definitely be useful Asashi I'll keep it in mind."

The last person, Ishimaru of Konoha, was the only person who hadn't addressed or responded to Raian. Perfectly fine with Raian, he wasn't here to make friends after all he was here to do a task and a task that he figured they should begin.

"Well then if everyone's settled, shall we get going?" Raian asked as he curiously looked around at each person in their merry little band.

[Nature Energy Stacks 1->2]
[WC: 242]
[TWC: 631]

Fu sighed as she received the grim news that she would be hiking all the way to the top of the peak. In all honesty, she deserved this outcome because she too did not have a solution for the team. Fu made note of this plight as something she would need to train to overcome in the future in the case, she found herself in a similar situation. “Well, I’m going to get started.” Fu would announce to the group while walking from the back of the circle towards the starting point. The peak they planned to traverse was steep, but it did not get steep until closer to the top. The first leg of their hike would incorporate navigating a 35-degree elevation through a snowy terrain. Such a task would provide the ultimate physical endurance training for these shinobi.
 
By this point Fu would be leading the squadron of four shinobi on their mission- unless another one of the members would outpace her or decide not to follow along. She was impossible to miss as her checkered green and red outfit stuck out amongst the glistening white snow. The sun was high in the sky, yet it provided no warmth. The cold air did not bother Fu, she was used to being out in nature for days at a time. The cold air she felt now was no different than the cold air that one felt in the middle of the night while camping out in the wilderness.
 
Fu would focus chakra into the beds of her feet so increase the friction between the snowy landscape and her footing so that she could trek onwards without worry of slipping and looking like a fool. After a few minutes, Fu would locate the last member to join their group. If he were present on her journey, she would change her pace so that the two would now be walking alongside each other. She had questions for him, and he seemed to be interested by her self-proclaimed monster hunter title.

“So Raiain” Fu would begin, turning her head to face him without breaking stride. “How did you get those horns?” Fu would be rather upfront in her inquiry. If Raiain was emotionally intelligent, he would sense that the girl’s inquiry was purely inquisitive. Fu’s reddish-orange eyes would be studying the protrusions on his forehead. Fu hoped that he did not interpret her actions or questions as rude.  


Wc: 408
Twc: 1611

With introductions out of the way the party began their perilous journey to the top of the mountain.

They began to traverse the snowy terrain, which started out flat but soon enough had them on a significant incline. A slip or a misstep could spell disaster for any one of them. The angle that they were climbing was tough enough, but the snow was the cherry on top. It was difficult to find purchase and stay upright. One had to expend many times the effort as usual in this environment for the same action. After twenty minutes or so, Asahi was already feeling the burn. His legs ached and his breath was labored. At least I'm not so cold anymore, he thought to himself, the physical toll distracting him from the weather.

Though the group started together following Fu's lead, they began to spread out individually over the mountain. Wind howled as they ascended the peak. The sun was high overhead but offered little heat, only serving to blind them and make the climb more perilous. Asahi's eyes were growing tired from the light reflecting off of the white landscape. He took a step and sunk about two feet deep into the snow. He worked to pull himself out and was even more exhausted than before. This is not easy. He looked up to see how the others were doing and he noticed that he was falling behind quite a bit. Not good. I'll need to catch up. He had just the trick in his bag for such a moment, one he had been waiting to pull out. Let's see how this works.

Asahi stopped climbing and concentrated on his chakra within. He could feel it boiling up and he willed it to gather in a single spot in the center of his chest. Then he had the energy move upwards. He imagined an iron gate located beyond his temple. The energy burst through the metal, leaving destruction in its wake. His chakra then flowed freely through the opening, energizing his body and giving him a significant boost in strength and speed. With that the first of the Eight Inner Gates was activated; that of the Gate of Opening. Asahi started moving again and rapidly caught up to the group. He was finding the climb much easier going now and little seemed to bother him. Though I may pay the price for this later, he thought, knowing that when the Gate was deactivated his body would be crying out. But at least I should be able to summit.

He noticed then that Fu had moved over to speak to Raian and he figured that now would be a good time to talk to Ishimaru. Asahi changed his path to bring him closer to Ishi as the group slowly continued up towards the peak. The Genin looked up and thought he could see the end in sight. We're getting there. We just need to keep pushing, we're close.

"Hey Ishi," Asahi asked the boy from Konohagakure. "How are you fairing in the climb? I think I can see the end, it shouldn't be much further now. We just need to keep pressing on."

Jutsu Used:

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527 Asahi WC
1336 Asahi Total WC
4208 Thread Total WC