Mischevious Creatures

Messenger from Gate Guard Mischevious Creatures 2000WC: 4000 Ryo, 20 AP (C)

The message was sent asking for any assistance to the nearby star Shinobi. Sadly so many were so engrossed with the training for the chunin exams, no one would of answered in time. However... Zeo was more than willing to stop to help. The mission was rather unusual as he heard the request and head to the gates that led to the outskirts of the village. Supposidly, odd creatures were appearing on the outskirts of town, digging into the village and stealing food and other supplies. It was an inconvenience. And also no one really saw these creatures, except they were small. Too small to be human.

Upon reaching the outskirts of the village, Zeo spoke to the guards. THey were surprised it was only him, but one knew Zeo from when he combatted the fire single-handily before months ago. "The creatures normally come at night, but they are slippery things. We suspect they also burrow into the earth to escape, making them difficult to track." he explained.

"Thanks," Zeo said as he pondered the nature of the intruders. "i'll see what I can do. Please keep an eye out if any of them show up further," he said as he proceeded further into the outskirts.

He did notice the tracks that were around the vicinity. Small clawed-like feet. They almost resembled the paw prints of rats or something, but way larger in size and weight. The more he tracked em, the sooner they disappeared. Still, the tracks went into the direction of the nearby mountain region. With that in mind, Zeo proceeded to explore the general area and with luck track them down.

He had hunted bandits, and enemy shinobi and other odd things but this was the first time of strange unidentified creatures. Still, he had read that chakra had an unusual impact on animal life. Perhaps this was one such example. He knew that animals did grow to possess the ability to manipulate chakra and in return grow into even sentient levels. Were these creatures much like that? It boggled his mind and he grew more curious. But why would they steal from the village was the bigger issue.

As he got to the edge of the mountains, he soon found some of the same tracks. This time, they went towards a cave system that would wind its way into the mountains. He hesitated, biting his lip a bit. He wished he didn't have to go in alone but he had no one to depend on at the moment. He looked into the dark cave, and hoped there would be some areas of light to guide him. Even so as a shinobi, he had been t rained to adapt and sense things better even in the dead of night. With determination and a gripping of his hands, he traveled into the maw of the cave...

WC: 478

The cave stretched deep into the mountainside, far deeper than it had when Zeo found that lone thief that raided the nearby shrines. It looked like an abandoned mine of all things, not just cause of its size but how wide it was. Someone had indeed added to its depth via mining, or perhaps even using earth release type ninjutsu. It was very quiet as he made his way in. His eyes easily adjusted in the darkness and his footsteps easily quiett as he went in gently. The passages were honeycombing into different directions and far wider caverns were revealed. Further, he soon found items-- tools, buckets, food. Someone was in here. But more clearly the tools were not just discarded but also worn and recently used. If t hese were mere animals, would they be able to use tools or need em?

Something was wrong as he glared around, worried just what he would of stumbled into.

As he searched, eyes were soon on him from the walls of the cavern. The soft scratch and ruffle of claws on stone would reach Zeo's ears, but he didn't react. His eyes glanced in the general direction. It sounded like a few of them. He gumped down a small lump of alarm as he brought his arms close...

"Rat... Horse... Dog..." he murmured, forming the hand signs and charged his chakra.

The jutsu he learned was an ideal tool for using in range and one he had grown to use far more than others. Or rather one he chose to favor due to the focus on chakra control he used. With it, he made the sign and waited, the tips of his fingers now glowing with chakra.

"SK-SK-SKREEEE!!" critters shrieked, yellow eyes shouting in the dark. Sensing the raise in chakra, they struck! Five of them lunged for Zeo from above, intending to attack. The creatures were black in color, furry and caked with rock and mud, looking like giant dust balls with small arms and legs with claws, and rat-like faces.

Zeo spun around with a hand-- and fired. His hand was in the shape of a gun, and a tip of chakra at his fingertip. With a mere gesture, he fired the ball of chakra, which shot right forward into the first of the creatures. The impact and flash lit up the cavern, illuminating his surroundings better. The blast struck one in the chest, propelling him to the far side of t he cavern but the four continued.

Zeo quickly jumped away as they attacked, the small tools they had struck the ground. Zeo skidded back, now seeing the strange creatures carefully. They were DEFINATELY not human.

"Kakkaaa! ninja! ninja! GRRR!!" one of the rat people growled.

"Fight! Take! Tools, Good! Take!" the other one chuckled.

WHile their speech was broken, Zeo sensed their hostility. He couldn't afford to let them get too close or surround him. Still, whatt concerned him was the earth and stone caked to them. They were using a form of earth release perhaps or were skilled in it. That was going to be a problem. His spirit gun jutsu was strong and could fend off their attacks but if he used water, it be less effective. Sadly for Zeo, water was his specialty. Still, he could use it to a degree and he did have THAT jutsu, but it was far too strong on just these little guys...

"GHRRRAAA!!" the little ones growled and charged intending to claw and stab Zeo.

Acting quickly, he reached behind and drew his sword. Though weak, he used the water contained within and made a hand sign, allowing the water to coat his weapon to add to its abilities. The first one tried to strike but Zeo struck it away with the broad side of his blade, the water soaking the creature's dusty exterior. The other one came with a rather intimidating knife. Zeo parried using the blade to block and divert the blade away as he backed up, trying to get a clearer distance. It was then that the next one came following the last, intending to stab where his ally couldn't.

Unable to keep up close-quarters fighting for long, he took one step back and then spun, swinging his sword's movement forward. The extended blade strike arched and projected the surrounding water from the blade out like a projectile, flying towards the attacker. The water impact with a sharp slice and cry, causing a part of its armor to slice off despite it earth release. While the attacks were not fatal, it was enough to knock them out of t he fight.

That's two, he thought.

The next attack however was met and he used his sword to block, causing the blade to go flying out of his hands. This one was stronger than the others and was using a form of martial arts to knock the blade out of his hand. It clattered across the floor, now useless to Zeo for the moment.

Zeo quickly jumped backwards, getting more distance. The three remaining creatures were quick to catch up, but he soon did the next best thing he could do. Reaching into the sleeves of his kimono-- he conjured water vapor. It formed between his fingers, into the shape of shuriken he could use. Using what speed he could, he quickly took flight toards the ceiling and flipped in the air. Overhead, he took out the throwing stars, creating a total of 10 between his fingers and conjured from his chakra. "SUiton! Water Shuriken!!" he shouted and threw them forward, aimed towards the three remaining creatures.

The rain of shuriken splashed and clashed into their armor, delivering stinging damage. The centermost one took the blunt of it, the sharpness of the water luckily enough able to pierce the rock armor and strike it down.

Zeo landed on the far side of the cavern, making enough distance to prepare his last counter-attack against t he two remaining creatures...

WC: 1003

Zeo backed up a bit more to the end of the cavern, the 2 remaining critters now pissed off he had fought them to this position. However, it was at that time their growls turned into something between chatter and giggles. He raised a brow, unsure what was going on... till he heard a thump behind him. Then another. Each one was close as he lowered his arms and his eyes widened to realize something was behind him.

In the shadow of another cave entrance, was a large shadow twice Zeo's height, hovering over him. Zeo turned to see it step into the cavern's 'light', and revealed to be another one of these creatures. however, while its furry body was no bigger than the others-- the armor it had was WAY bigger than the others. It wasn't as if it was wearing it, but riding in it, as the earth and rock became an exo-skeleton for it to ride in and fight in. "KRRREAAAA!!" it cried, "Beat the human! Beat the shinobi! Crush! SPLAT!!" it roared, raising one of its rock fists high overhead.

Zeo quickly rolled backwards just in time as the fist came down and smashed into the cave floor. The impact cracked the stone, kicking up dust and stones in its wake. As he got to his feet, now aware of enemies in front and behind him, he knew he couldn't afford to hold back as he had now. Pulling out his bubble pipe from his sleeve he quickly made a few quick hand signs. With a deep breath, he blew into the pipe, producing a series of bubbles that blew out as he spun, sending them in all directions in the cavern.

The bubbles was Zeo's best jutsu. Not merely for its chakra but its versatility and control. With it, he could utalize all kinds of tricks with them, and he just had to use them right to get out of this jam. The little creatures looked perplexed by the seemingly harmless bubbles. Each one drifted slowly among the space of the cavern with Zeo in its center, his ideal position now as he had the aid of his bubbles for support.

"Pop! Go Pop! Pop puny bubble--" one of the smaller ones said as it charged forward.

Zeo then formed a series of hand signs, charging the nearby bubbles to trigger their chakra...

BOOOM! The bubble nearest to the little creature exploded with a concussive force that echoed through the cavern. The blast successfully knocked it clear across the room, stunning it. The smaller one was in shock by the sudden surprise... the larger one, the leader it seemed, didn'tt seem to wise to it as it in anger charged.

Zeo didn't move where he stood but merely raised a seal of confrontation, preparing to trigger his jutsu once more. This time the wandering bubbles gathered to intercept the charging stone creature. "Ha!" Zeo breathed with a short breath-- triggering them.

THE surrounding bubbles the charging creature did suddenly popped and exploded, releasing smoke, water and blasts that were strong enough to shake the cave's foundation. The creature let out a cry of shock and pain as the explosions went off. The smoke soon billowed and chunks of rock went clattering to the surrounding floor. Zeo remained where he was as he saw the result of his gambit. While he knew suiton was weak to earth-- in this case, the well placed explosions indeed did have an impact. As the dust cleared, the stone carapace of an exoskeleton were now missing chunks with the little rat creature the only thing there, the rest crumbling around it with chunks of holes in it like swiss cheese.

The body crumbled , causing the creature to tumble forward like a hedgehog out of its burrow. It looked up at Zeo, surprised. "HAAA!! GAAAH!! SORRY! KOBOLD SORRY!" it cried, getting on hands and knees. "PLEASE DON"T KILL KOBOLDS! Sworry!!"

Zeo raised his brow in confusion. After all this they now were being apolegetic. He looked behind him to also see the other one cower in fear as well as the ones who were slowly coming to. Zeo wasn't an idiot. He did this with intention to not do lethal damage. Another benefit to water release over earth-- he could use more strength without fear to do permanent harm.

"Well, why did you attack me then?" Zeo asked, hoping the creatures while able to talk relatively decent, they could answer him. "You also stole from my village. Explain yourselves," he said sharply.

The creature, apparently called a Kobold squealed as he backed up. "We sorry! We needed munchies. Food, tools-- tools good. Tools help us dig. Digging is good for Kolbolds!"

The more Zeo heard them, the more he realized their theft wasn't merely out of greed. It was out of necessity. He put away his ninja tools, including his bubble pipe and calmed down. He was glad he could resort to a civil conversation with these creatures and they were not as blood-thirsty as they appeared. Things were finally calming down...

After a few minutes, the remaining kolbods that attacked Zeo had recovered and were all grouped together before Zeo. Each one of them seemed sullen, ashamed and apologetic to the taller blue-haired shinobi. "We sorry! We kobolds didn't mean bad! Shinobi scary! Shinobi see us as beasties. We no beasties. We peowple. We only want to live in peace, but can't without tools." one of them said.

Zeo tilted his head in confusion. "You couldn't just come up to the gate and ask for assistance?" Zeo asked.

The lead kobold let out a squeal. "We tried! We tried!" he said with a hint of anger. "Shinobi came, bared pointy things and told us to go away! Called us monsters..." he said.

"Oh..." Zeo said, realizing how that could of happened. It be hard to see a brand new species of creature and not think of them as sentient creatures looking to negotiate. Fear drove assumptions. Zeo let out a sigh and rubbed his head.

"We only took what we need. Food, water, tools. Tools good for us to carve caves and make home! Make good home!" another kolbod said. "We sorry... Please don't kill us...sob..."

Zeo shook his head. "No one is gonna kill you. Please calm down," Zeo said as he raised his hands. "Look, it is true I was asked to investigate because you stole things that didn't belong to you. But now I understand the situation.So let me tell you what we can do, okay?" His kind and understanding demeanor seemed to calm the kolbolds as he talked. They could truly sense Zeo was a kind person and one willing to show mercy to their needs.

"I am a shonbi true, and I am in good standing with Hoshigakure. Clearly you stole things but if I talk to the village, they will understand. Even better... if you agree to help them, I am willing to bet they will GIVE you food and supplies." Zeo explained enthusiastically.

"R-Really?! Kobolds help village-- village help kobolds! " the lead kobold asked enthusiastically.

"Yep," Zeo said with a nod. "Maybe you can help them with construction or even trade with them. You guys good at mining or something?" he asked, making an educated guess as he saw the cavern.

"Yeee! Yes yes! Kobolds good at digging, mining!" they said in a chatter of unison. "We did good ore and gems. Kobolds best at finding goodies in the earth," they cheered.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Zeo said with a smile. "So this is what I'd like to do. Why don't you come with me back to the village, and we talk to the leaders of the village. If you can state your case AND apologize to them, we can work out a deal so that you can work with the village and you don't have to steal things okay? Deal?" Zeo held out a hand to the little creatures.

The lead kobold enthusiastically took a hold of Zeo's fingers, its tiny claws pinching a bit but grateful as he shook the hand. "Deal! Deal! Thank you-Thankyou!" he cheered enthusiastically.

Zeo felt proud of himself as he escorted the kobolds to the village. Not only could he stop them, but even provide a brand new option for both the village and the kobolds to live together in peace. They wouldn't have to be at odds if both sides could help it. The fact Zeo tried to talk to them than just wipe them out was a far better way to bridge the gap and allow to bring in a brand new resource to the village. At the end of the day, Zeo feld proud he could add to the village's members and make new friends.

WC: 1473

End of Mission--
TWC: 2954
Jutsu 25% off due to max stats
Jutsu: Mastery of Spirit Gun Jutsu X 2 = 1875 -- to no hand seals required.
Suiton hiding in Water  C rank for 787 WC
Remaining 269 to finish training for Water Fang Bullet , (incomplete--856/1125)+262 to Topic Earned from for incomplete jutsu
23 WC excess but willing to discard.

Rewards: 4000 Ryo, 20 AP (C)

Approved