Lost Texts and Trials (Pageboy)

Mission:

Twilight washes over the sand-dunes of wind country, washing the bio-dome cooled, clay buildings of Sunagakure in its pale-purple glow. The haze of a new morning hangs over the empty streets, a lone person walks a main road. An open, white with orange-trim, Sarutobi kimono drapes his shoulders, a straw hat rests on his head. A dune-colored flak jacket can be seen under the kimono, the headband of sungakure wraps around his neck. A small pack rests on his shoulder, carrying the aroma of fresh cut, sweet and sour citrus.

The man turns down the main street and walks down a sandstone road, he pulls out a wood-and-jade pipe and places it in his mouth. He flicks his thumb and sparks fire on its tip, he lights the flower and herbs that fill his pipe. Smoke drifts from his nose, a plume of haze and fog escape his lips as he walks up a set of wooden stares. He opens a dark wooded door stamped with a drunken monkey, and enters the tea shop he owns, the Monkey's Uncle.

The fresh, wooden interior offers a strong sense of comfort, the new owner, Raleth, examines the renovations he and the traveler, Page, set up. During their work, Raleth got a strong sense of the old potato-farmers character and had agreed to train him. Though, the ashen-haired Sarutobi had not exchanged names with the traveler and his companion, instructing the missing-ninja to refer to Raleth as "sensei".

The ashen-haired sensei would go to the back kitchen, and prepare a kettle of black tea. The scent of the fruit in his pack would rouse Page's companion, Sheffield, from his sleep, the noise coming from downstairs would tell him to wake his friend up. The wolf would urge his friend to get ready, and gesture for him to go down to the tea shop. As the two walk down, they would see the immense Raleth sitting in a table in the center of the room, with a plate of fresh fruit, a saucer of black tea, and two cups as well.

"I hope you've found the room well. The space might be small, but I hope its comforting," thrums Raleth as he gestures for Page to sit in front of him. The trio eat their fruit in peace, and drink their tea in silence, the first meal of the day nourishes their minds and body. The drowsiness of sleep washes away, and Page and Sheffield are ready to take on the day. Raleth finishes his last sip of tea, satisfied with his brew of the day. He places his pipe to rest on his lips, and lays a scroll encased in wood on the table. If Page were to examine the scroll, he would see the carved shape of a cherry-blossom covered mountain.

"We're taking a trip out of Suna today, to the border of Fire Country. We need to be back before 10, so we're running there light, we leave in five minutes." The stone-faced Sarutobi takes a drag from his pipe. "Any questions?"

[[511]]

Page found himself waking with the dawn, a habit he had picked up while traveling that he was not a fan of. He layed in bed, enjoying the momentary peace as he tried to get back to sleep, resting his eyes. Just as his soul began to wonder, his eyes grew heavy and he ventured into the realm of dreams, a sweet smell filled his nostrils, almost pulling him out of his bed. No, Page thought, I have earned this rest and I'm going to hold onto it as long as I can. Just as the former farmer took comfort in this thought, almost as a retort to this, Sheffield pounced with all four paws on his companion, skyrocketing off and running as fast as he could down the newly refurbished stairs.

The newly made sand shinobi turned to his side, assuming a sitting position as he clutched his gut. Guess that's a sign from Sarutobi Sensei, should probably get down there asap, I swear that dog is going to be the death of me some day, Page thought, standing up and going to the closet, grabbing his normal clothes as well as the headbands gifted to him by the Kazekage herself just a day prior. Page took the headband with a shorter cloth and tied it around his arm over his clothes, taking the other one and heading downstairs to adorn Sheffield with it. The man took to stretching himself a bit to get himself ready for the day ahead, passing by the walls he helped decorate, getting reminded of how annoying it was to get the fencing along the stairs just right. There was a certain satisfaction found in being surrounded by work he assisted, a satisfaction that Page used to boost his confidence as he entered the tea shop, just behind Sheffield.

Seeing the big man that had took it upon himself to help out the genin sitting at a table, he took it as an invitation to sit with him. The young man, feeling his wolf companion's paws at his leg, took some of the fruit from the center and fed it to the hound, sticking a slice in his mouth as he tied the second of his ninja headbands around the neck of Sheffield like a scarf, before finishing it off and pouring himself some tea. "The room was nice," Page opened up, breaking the silence that bore down as they ate, "trust me, you spend enough nights sleeping in open fields and the comfort of an area to your own becomes a grand luxury, thank you for your help Sarutobi sensei." 

Page watched as his teacher presented a scroll on the table, the distinct carvings of a mountain blessed with plentiful cherry-blossoms adorning it. He head that they were leaving Suna but cringed slightly when he heard that they would be going to Fire Country. Page wanted to experience more of the world, not retrace his steps, especially not when it came to going back to that place. But, swallowing his pride, he nodded along. "I don't have much of anything in terms of belongings right now if I'm being honest, packing light doesn't present an issue at all, but I do have one question sensei," Page started, "Feel free to say that you can't answer this, but my curiosity is getting the better of me, what's in the scroll?"

WC: 566

Raleth eyes the engraved metal wrapped around Pageboy's arm, he observes him wrap a nin-scarf around his companion, Sheffield. The wolf shakes his head and adjusts the scarf to rest on a more comfortable place on his neck. He pants, looks to his friend, and wags his tail at the sight of the shinobi headbands they earned. The stone-faced sarutobi's heart wells with joy, the sight of two wayward souls welcomed in the fold of the sand village makes his eyes shine. As he hands Pageboy and Sheffield their tea, he comments on their headbands.

"Those headbands are a good fit for you two, take care to not get it damaged. Or scratched." thrums Raleth, in reference to his students unknown past.

The tea is sipped in silence, fruit is savoured and enjoyed, a peaceful breakfast concludes. The ashen-haired shinobi places  a scroll on the table, Shep gives it a cursory sniff as Pageboy eyes it. He mentiones his lack of belongings, Raleth chuckles at the humour his student. As Pageboy inquires about the contents of the scroll, the ashen-haired Sarutobi takes a drag of his petal and herbs. Wisps of smoke drift from his pipe, the stone-faced sensei thinks on how best to answer his student.

His first instinct is to give him a cryptic answer, one that would come in the form a metaphor to cause his student to rack his brain on the meaning of his sensei's words. Such an answer could prepare his student for the challenges that await him on their journey for the day; but, the aged Raleth feels Pageboy is above such a rudimentary teachings.

He thinks on answering with silence, to shroud the scroll in mystery. Such things could make his student's mind wander, which would keep his senses sharp, and mentally brace himself for the obstacles that's they'll face on their journey; but, the aged shinobi feels that such vagueness would disrespect his student, and lead to Pageboy and Sheffield distrusting Raleth. Weighing both options in his mind, Raleth decides on giving his student a straight forward answer.

Smoke billows from his mouth as he speaks, "It's a map that leads to a cave near a mountain," thrums the stone-faced sensei. With his student's question answered, and without another word, Raleth rises from his seat and make his way to the exit of the Monkey's Uncle, expecting Pageboy and Sheffield to follow him.

He leads the two to the entrance gate of Suna and converses.

"Shep's an interesting breed of dog, can't say I've seen much like him. How did you meet, was it when he was a pup, in your old village?" says Raleth, hoping to learns more about the ex-missing-ninja, and his student. Though, the stone-faced senses understands wanting to hide a sordid past, if Pageboy did not wish to share, Raleth would not press the issue, and would be fine with reaching the entrance to Suna in slience. With a quick wave to the wizened-gate guard, Hans, the stone doors of the village open, and the chill and cold of an early morning desert greets the him and his students.

"We've got a four hour journey ahead of us. We'll make it in two-and-a-half. Keep up your pace and steady your breathing. Let's go"


With that, the immense Sarutobi jogs in the direction of fire country, forgoing the trade roads for a path of rolling dunes and valleys. 

The temperature would be pleasant, and would not hinder one's stamina. Raleth would run at a speed Pageboy and Sheffield could follow with effort, though would adjust his tempo, decrease or increase his pace, as he saw fit, to ensure his student's were properly conditioned. How would the two handle running through patches of soft sand, that sapped away the strength of his legs every step? How would he deal with the sudden sprint down a valley, only to face the grueling challenge of the dune hill that followed it? Would he be able to outrun the maneating, Wind Country Skinks? And, would they be able to conserve their energy for what awaits them at their destination? Raleth observes his students responses, but offers no help.

[[696/1207]]

Accepting the tea and the compliment, Page graciously sipped the delicious brew and continued with the conversation, even if it was more body language than diction. He examined his teacher sitting on the question he asked, causing Page to begin to worry that this perhaps may not have been the best thing to ask about what was in the scroll, but when Raleth answered his question plainly, his worries were soothed. "Well I guess that answers that, we're off then," Page replied, rising with his sensei from the table and making his exit from the tea shop, Sheffield stuck close to his side.

The three sand shinobi walked down the stone paths of the village, making haste to get to the exit but making sure not to disrupt the business of any of the villagers. The comment from his master about his dog cracked the former farmer up quite a bit, laughing a bit at the not quite compliment to Sheffield, interesting, but mostly at the absurd situation to which the two met, and how close the combo had grown in such a short time. "Well," Page started, taking a break before fully going into his response, having to think about what to say exactly before properly replying, "To be quite frank, I met him pretty recently, maybe about 2 months ago. Don't know how old he is, er was, but I got a gut feeling the number is somewhere around 3 years, and considering I met him recently never got to see what he looked like younger. For how I met him, I need to first establish some context, I had been out of my old village for about 15 years and my farm wasn't doing so well. I woke up the night after my last pig passed to a flu to see my field either rotting away or dried up beyond any purpose. I figured well shit, I guess I better hope my chickens laid eggs, and headed to my coop only to see Shef here sticking his head in the hatch, tail side sticking out, blood and feathers scattered around the place. Not going to lie I was pretty pissed at first, but as I cooled off I realized that this dog here was the last product of this field, and while I was pulling him out I found out he had taken the some chicken, poured eggs over top it and made some sort of heat to cook it, he was a chef. And we been together ever since, made an instant connection type of thing, that's how Shef got his name too, seemed clever at the time, seems kinda tacky now but I like it." This oversharing extravaganza doubled as a way to pass the time on the way to the village gates, as well as a way to assuage any of the concerns that Raleth had that Page had a sort of mysterious past. 

Page waved to the gate guard as he departed from the gates for his first time since entering them, before being surprised by his master's description of the journey. "Well shit," said Page, "Guess if I've got an hour and a half to make up already, no point in lollygagging around, let's get going," getting right to jogging along, if slightly ahead at times, of the Sarutobi, thinking he could keep up for the entire time only to find that this was not the case. He soon started lagging behind, and the gap only grew as Page had failed to pace himself. Luckily, as he was bouncing from rock to rock, Sheffield had been keeping up a nice consistent pace that, although resulting him being slower temporarily than his partner, allowed for a much more consistent trip. Just as Page's legs started to buckle beneath him, his wolf picked him up and made sure he kept pace up. After riding his wolf essentially for a few miles, he had recuperate completely, and he caught back up with Raleth, and managed to retain pace for the duration of the trip, one he noticed ended when they came to a stop at the foot of a vast hill decorated with cherry blossoms. "This the place?" Page asked, clutching at his knees as he caught his breath.

WC: 714, TWC: 1,280

The immense Raleth smacks Page's back with a roaring laugh, he jostles the man's frame and alerts nearby villagers. "The Kami of Fortune and Luck favor you in the worst way; and, Shef's a chef, you say!?"

The joke tickles the aged Sarutobi, Raleth looks to the nin-wolf, and sees the animal glare back, having taken offense at the notion that his culinary skills are lacking. "Can he cook beef? I've been meaning to expand the Monkey's Uncle's menu." Laughs Raleth, genuinely offering the position to Sheffield. 

The Sensei and his students exit the gates of Suna, and are soon met with the trials of the desert. Page, being ovezealous, attempts to match pace with the well-conditioned taijutsu master. Though he surpasses his sensei's speed at times, the well-traveled shinobi soon tires himself out. Raleth notes this and continues forward.

After a few miles, the desert of wind country gives way to the forest of fire country, and the ashen-haired Raleth hears heavy footfalls behind him. He turns to see Page riding his nin-wolf Sheffield. The suna-nin jumps off his companion, and bursts forward with replenished stamina: catching up with his sensei, Sarutobi.

They can cover for each other's weakness? Marvelous

The two travel through the border forest, to an outcropping of stone and rock. Embbeded in this outcropping is a great, 5 meter wide metal door, emblazoned with the visage of a monkey crowned by stone and fire. Behind this, on the horizon, lies a great mountain blooming with cherry blossoms. Page rests on his knees, panting and asking if they've arrived.

"That it is," thrums the basso voice of Raleth as he walks up to the metal door. He takes out a folded piece of paper from his robe, and comments on his winded student. "Place your hands above and on your head, it'll help with circulation and recovery." If Page listens, he'll find it easier to catch his breath and slow his heart rate. The Sarutobi opens the piece of paper, packs his pipe with petals and herb, and lights it. He takes a long and calming drag.

Chakra flares inside him, Raleth performs a set of handseals and takes out his pipe. He blows a thin stream of ash at the metal door, and streams it into the nostrils of the Monkey King. It's eyes glow like burning coals, the Sarutobi's Ash unlocks the door.

A sudden scent and pressure alerts Sheffield, a presence appears above the outcropping. It's moves and jumps behind the trio of Suna-nin. The nin-wolf would growl, Page would turn and see a startiling sight.

A white-furred, pink-skinned monkey would be standing some meters away, posed, and draped in robes of cream and gold. It's pale-eyes would bore a hold through Page's forehead, the fury controlled by it's wrinkled expression would cause Shef to shiver. The monkey would tilt it's head to the immense man behind Page. She would speak, the thick consonants of her mountain voice sends shivers up Raleth's spine.

"Ral-ishki...who it is you have brought?"

Raleth starts, and turns part ways. Seeing the Gate-Gaurdian, he waves, "Yo, Ak-Achi!"

The monkey known as Ak-Achi grimaces as her question is not answered, the ferocity of her stare makes the ashen-haired shinobi sigh.


"They're students of mine, Guardian of the Gate."

The fur of Ak-Achi ruffles, her eyes dart back to Page.

"I remember your student. This is not his face. This is not his power. I do not know who stands before me, for they are not Family."

A deep sigh escapes Raleth, he was hoping he could avoid the Gaurdian's Trial. He puts his pipe to his mouth, and walks to a boulder nearby, sitting down.


"Indeed, I know the traditions." Raleth turns his attention to his student. "The Gaurdian won't let us in until you're a proven ally." He lights his bowl and takes a hit. "She's merciless; if I were you, I'd strike first."

The Gate-Gaurdian, Ak-Achi would stand 5 meters away from Page and Shef, posed on one leg, with her arms over one another, and she would extend her senses. Her body language would convey her intentions, she is willing to pummel Page to unconsciousness to protect the Gate she gaurds.

[Total Thread WC Completed for Search for Lost Texts]

[[706/1913]]

Page followed the directions of his sensei, lifting up his arms in the air then taking a deep breath to surprising effect. As he did breathing exercises, in and out, he caught a curious scent coming towards him from behind. He turned around with his dog to greet the approaching scent being somewhat startled with the appearance of large monkey in the mountains. He examined the exchange, being somewhat worried when the man and the monkey had some sort of visual tension going on he did not want to get involved with. Being warned by his sensei, he started to step out, removing his cloak as he tightened his forearm protector, revealing his bare chest. The former farmer was not entirely a well chiseled man, but what he lacked in definition he made up for in mass, flexing as he stuck the stance of the horse as he stretched out.

"So," he said, taking a deep breath before continuing, analyzing his situation carefully, "I'm assuming I can't convince you to trust me as an ally with just my words, I'd hate to do this, but it looks like we may have to fight, after all looks like my mission lies behind here and I don't think you're the type to just let me pass without a struggle. Well here goes nothing." Page had used this talking as part of the plot he had already been making, the voice masking the sound of the padded footsteps of as Sheffield assumed a position behind Raleth, but also providing time for Page to get used to and track the scent of Ak-Achi, shifting his stance from horse to tiger as he prepared to attack. "Before we get into this, Raleth, just want to make sure its okay with you that I get into this fight, you two seem to know each other but if I have to do this I will," the former farmer said, waiting to start his assault for the go ahead.

WC:331, TWC 1,611

Mission:

Smoke trails from his mouth as Raleth removes his pipe, it flows into his nose as Page removes his cloak. The sun hits his weathered, farmers physique, his trunk like arms and barrel chest signify a strength unseen in most shinobi, the guardian, Ak-Achi acknowledges the suna-genin's power.

The Sarutobi exhales a cloud of smoke as his student gets into a defensive position. He comments on the situation he's in, and explains his wish to avoid the fight in front of him. As he does, the nin-wolf Sheffield creeps behind the ashen-haired shinobi, timing his steps with the words of the barrel-chested shinobi, Page. 

Unfortunately for Page and Sheffield, Ak-Achi is a sensor with monkey senses. Though the steps of the wolf were masked, Sheffield would be moving within the 10 meter range of her perception, and she would feel his chakra shift to the position behind Raleth. The ashen-haired Shinobi smiles, the white-furred monkey would smirk, both would have the same thought.

Clever!

Page shifts from a defensive stance to an offensive stance, he asks his sensei if it's okay to follow through with the fight. A deep chuckle thrums from Raleth, "You're already fighting, do you need permission to defend yourself?"

Ak-Achi shifts her stance, placing her foot on the inside of her standing leg and extending her arms outward. As Page turns his attention to his sensei, her white fur turns to the colour of chakra-made-stone, her wrinkled face contorts into an expression of burning fury, her eyes glow red. As Raleth informs Page of his current situation, Ak-Achi flies through four hand seals at an enhanced speed of 80.

She completes her final seal, she brings her hand to her mouth and spits a line of 4, meter wide fireballs in the air. Each fireball would be spaced 1 meter apart and would have 35 power and 35 speed, and would travel in a 6 meter arc from the monkey to an area 1 meter behind her opponent, 3 meters from Raleth. Once they arrived at their location, they would explode into a 8 meter wide line of fire behind Page, cutting him off from Raleth and Sheffield. Ak-Achi would then spit two more fire balls that would travel in a wide 7 meter wide arc that would be aimed at Page's left and right side. As her Phoenix Flower jutus concludes, the guardian Ak-Achi continues her assault.

She dashes forward at 80 speed, more than double the speed of her fireballs, and travels the five meter distance to her opponent. She jumps to a tree to her left, and leaps to a tree on the opposite side, and launches herself forward with a flying kick towards Page before the fireballs arrive at their intended target. 

At the last moment, she uses her tail to flip herself forward, to tail slam Pageboy in the head with 60 strength, 10 more then his current. If it connects, it would have enough power to cause Page's head to slam to the ground. And, as Page would recover, the fireballs would explode into a line behind Page, and the two fireballs would arrive at their intended target, and explode into two, 4 meter wide fireballs with 35 power; enough to burn Pageboy, but not enough to overcome Ak-Achi's Earth Spear.

As the gate-guardian, Ak-Achi dashes forward, Page would realize the situation he's in. If he were to fall back to gain distance, or stay still, he might be trapped in the line of fireballs. If he were to block or dodge Ak-Achi's Tail slam, he might be caught by the fireballs coming to his side.  And, the biggest threat he faced was not then fireballs, but the erratic taijutsu of Ak-Achi.

Raleth observes his student, eager to see his response.

[[706/2616]]

AK-ACHI Jutsu:

So, before we go into this combat and mission, some claims. 
TWC: 1,611
+8 Stats Page
+8 Stats Sheffield
Divine Breathing Technique 1k/1k
Taijutsu Cloak 600/1.25k   Both of these are halved with Raleth Training Page

11 WC hanging for end of thread (might need that some day)
Also claiming WC req of initial mission, cleared making these claims with Raleth first

Approved

Page grinned as he turned to his master, figuring that neither the summon nor his master knew his clan's abilities nor him and his familiar's true connection, he had his familiar go behind Raleth hoping for an ambush, but also providing a valuable tool should this plan not come to fruition, Sheffield would serve as surveillance, with the former farmer's nose supplementing their connection by keeping a detailed track of the opponent. A single thought circled through both the heads of the duo of farmer and wolf, duck. As both had gotten into the swing of reading each other so well, Page started doing waving 3 hand seals at 48 speed subconsciously before fully realizing what was going on, but as soon as he realized which he was sealing, he gave a wink to his master before sinking down into the ground at a speed of 35 meters, sinking away from the monkey as he gave a thumbs up to Raleth traveling 2 meters down, completely submerging himself in less than the time it took for either the fireballs or the leaping monkey to reach him, hiding like a mole under the ground while he waited out this obvious boost of strength to the monkey. It was funny to the farmer, even though he would have likely made it underground if the monkey ran straight at him, with the eager primeape taking the time to hop from tree to tree for some extra oomph, their 3 meter spacing would prove to afford more than enough time for Page to slip away.

Sheffield used the large Sarutobi as cover from both suspicion and the blasts, hiding behind him as he surveyed the battlefield, giving eyes and scent to his submerged ally as he avoided the confrontation, avoiding any sense of threat too as he was not looking to the whooping that would be dealt out to him by the gate guardian in this form. 

Now... all I need is a little patience, if I sit here like this, they can't uphold that kind of power forever, the Inuzuka clan member thought, laying down in the sort of way only possible when the entire ground is under your control, thinking out a potential battle plan as he silently slunk around in the sand. He would think and think knowing that chances were he could spend more time in the dirt than the monkey could maintaining something as powerful as that. He knew he had the time advantage. He knew he could win. He knew this wasn't hopeless. What he didn't know however was if his dog was going to be kept safe. He hoped that the kind hearted wolf could be kept out of it, but he didn't know what he would do should that not have been the case. Judging from his previous experience, he would lose all sense of self control and go a certain kind of berserk that, given present company, would easily result in him getting maimed or worse. He worried about his dog quite a bit, but he realized that getting worked up before anything bad even happened in the first place would be ultimately purposeless and willed himself into calming down, restoring his battle mind and going back into the plotting stage.

Page kept up a tactile awareness of the 10 meter radius circle 2 meters above him, sensing out with precision the locations of Sheffield, Raleth, and the crashing down Ak-Achi. He would use this to track them from below, following the Gatekeeper of the Mountain while waiting for a signal from his dog to come back up, to be triggered when the iron skin of the warrior faded. Page would, when Ak-Achi lowers her guard, silently raise his right hand up from the ground with greater speed than the natural state of the monkey that they had returned to, grabbing onto their ankle, crushing it, and badly breaking it in multiple places with a 50 strength crushing attack. 

And that should do it for now, Page would think, if she doesn't concede at this point, I fear what I may have to do to end this battle, I'd hate to have to do anything... irreversible. He gritted his teeth and awaited for a response from the monkey, he'd be ready for anything they pulled, ready to circumvent any retaliation and deliver another crippling attack.

WC: 730 TWC: 2,341 Total Unclaimed WC: 741

AP costs and Stats: