Sailing to the Land of Haven (Travel topic) (IO)

The morning was warm and full of sun with a vivid blue sky. The waves from the ocean cascaded onto the beach near the docks where Ban would be. Ban was waiting for a boat to arrive with Murata and Kita on board. They were supposed to travel together to the haven country where the chuunin exams were being held. Joining Ban in meeting Murata and Kita was Gonk, who was also planning to participate in the exams. 

With Ban, she held all her gear; Wave slicer, weapons pouches full of kunai, shuriken, explosive tags smoke bombs and a backup katana. She wore the Lightweight bodysuit that allowed her to move comfortably without restricting her movement but over it, she wore boots and a long overcoat that matched with the navy color of the bodysuit. On her head, she wrapped a bandana that covered the entire top of her head and tied around the back, concealing her hair. It matched what a lot of the male sailors did. Over the bandana was her Kirigakure headband which she wore with pride. 

Ban would wait for the ship for a good long while, waiting for Murata to return home just to hop back on a boat and sail to haven.

Snow Squall floats before the edge of the Storm Barrier, gently tossed by the ocean waves. The trip back has been thick with an unspoken tension. Murata has placed Samehada within the extra-dimensional confines of her Storage Displacement during the trip, which it had not liked very much at all, as the deep cuts on her hands attest. Murata picks idly at the wrist of her armor, pink-tinged bandages under her gloves itching. It's better than walking into the village with it on her shoulder.

For now, they wait.

[89]

Storage Displacement -10AP

Kita calmly made his way through a number of drills with his katana, taking care to move slowly and efficiently. His blade sliced cleanly through the air without a sound, parting the mist momentarily before it settled back into place. It wasn't particularly hot, but the water saturation in the air was enough to make Kita sweat. He did not look particularly happy as the Snow Squall slowly made its way through the storm barrier and into the docks.

Kita sheathed his blade and moved to the side of the boat to greet their companions. Kita gave a rather unenthusiastic wave as they pulled up to the side of Ban and Gonk. Ban seemed decent enough, though Kita truthfully knew very little about her aside from the one mission they had been on together. A weaponry user as well if Kita remembered correctly. Gonk on the other hand, Kita had had the pleasure of working with multiple times before. In fact...

Bobo clambered over to the side of the boat that Kita was standing at, grinning like a madman and swinging his arms wildly.

"Momo! It's been a while! How the hell have you been?!" A prideful look came into his eye, and he began to puff his chest outward. "You'll never guess what we found. We managed to find some sort of buried treasure. Kinda looks like the kid that took you in if you ask me."

Kita himself gives a sigh. "It's been a strange trip to say the least."

Word Count - 252

Patrolling the perimeter, Romp was hard at work just walking around the inner gates of Kirigakure. It seems like the people who he had let out recently had returned in order to pick up some others that were originally part of their group. All he had to do was check the other two out and made sure everything was in order. Walking to the docks, Romp made sure to check the boat for anything that looks out of place such as smuggled goods and classified information that may be written down. All in all, he didn't need to check their identification as he was informed ahead of time who the people he was allowed to let leave. After his inspection, he waved them off tell him they were free to go as he waved then away with a wide smile. With that, he went back to his post in order to rejoin his fellow gate guards.

[Exit.]

W.C: 156

Ability Claims (25% Max Stat Discount)
Using 150 words into B-Rank Copycat

Snow Squall is cleared to enter and exit the barrier at its leisure, the ship coming in to dock. The day is clear and bright, not so different from the weather outside of the storm. With a few scattered shouts, the crew pulls the ship in and gets to work briefly tethering it, a few of them departing to return to the village. Murata steps down to the docks, offering Ban and Gonk a tired smile as Bobo and Momo reunite.

"I will be back in an hour," she says to her team, seeming obviously distracted, "Then we will be ready to go. Go ahead and get comfortable on the ship."

At Bobo's excited chatter about buried treasure, Murata turns towards him and Kita, exhaling through her nose. Ban will obviously be able to gather what has happened from that brief description... but Gonk certainly does not need to know right now. "Bobo," she warns, having already had the brief conversation with everybody on the ship that Samehada's recovery is classified information.

Murata notices Wakame, and gives him a grimace, tilting her head to indicate that she needs to speak to him privately.

---

Murata returns sooner than expected, boarding the ship with a thoughtful hum. Wakame boards with her to finish seeing Gonk off, but he will be returning to the village before they depart. Rather than an emergency meeting with the Mizukage, she has instead been given a parcel of information to study on their way to Haven and instructions to keep herself and her team well-behaved... and Wakame has personally instructed her to keep herself safe, now knowing what she holds. For her part, Murata has asked Wakame to get in touch with her neighbour to catsit for her. They will deal with the issue of Samehada upon the team's return to Kirigakure - or upon the Mizukage's return, given Murata's ability to return home immediately once she is summoned.

The mission report detailing their excursion to Old Kirigakure and the recovery of Samehada is delivered to Romp's hands as he checks over everybody's papers, and soon enough the crew members have swapped out and everybody is ready for the trip to Haven.


364
TWC: 453

putting 453 words into starting Sensory Bloodhound at max stat discount (453/1500)

Shortly after Ban's arrival to the docks, Gonk also appeared. She was surprised to a monkey on Gonk's head- named Momo. The first time she had met Gonk, he didn't have a monkey companion with him. Even stranger was that it could talk. She had never heard a monkey talk before. In her defense, he hadn't come across many She hoped it would be well behaved as she didn't want to have a reason to dislike Gonk. He was a promising leader in the mission they had together and had earned her respect. It would be a shame if it was lost due to a primate companion. 

Murata's boat, the "Snow Squall", arrived at the docks rather quickly. Ban smiled when she saw Murata again, it had almost been a month since they last had a conversation. She knew that she was off to find the Mizukage's body and discover the real mystery of what happened to their dear leader. However, something was off. Murata gave Ban a half-witted smile like she had been staying up all night and had no energy. Ban left a sharp pain in her chest when Murata brushed them off - brushed her off - and left to go attend to something important. Murata was distracted by something else on her mind.

Bobo, Kita monkey companion, had said spoiled to Momo about the adventure they went on and how they found some "buried treasure." Ban knew that Murata was also looking for Xyxer's legendary sword, Samehada. This buried treasure they were talking about had to be it. She would be excited for Murata if she didn't respond with a huff and a warning call. Ban would give Bobo a menacing glare.

Once Murata left to go relay her information, Ban would head on board the "Snow Squall". But before heading on she would leave Kita with a warning as well without even looking at him or Bobo, "you should learn to keep your monkey quiet." Nothing further would be said about it and Ban would just load herself back on the boat. 

Murata returned to the boat and the crew was ready to sail off to Haven. Ban watched Murata board the boat but didn't approach her. She remained on the other side of the deck just looking out on the endless horizon of seawater. It was the sharp pain in her chest that kept her away from Murata on the trip. She wasn't sure how to feel about this feeling... so she channeled it into aggression. Aggression for the exams, aggression against Bobo and his babbling mouth, and aggression towards herself for letting something so small make her feel any emotion. 

WC: 445
TWC: 653
EXIT
Claiming
Travel to the Haven country
6 stats
653 Wc towards Hydrification (A-rank) mastery (653/2850)

Kita scratched at the back of his head sheepishly in response to the chastising his peers gave him. What was done was done however, and there was nothing that Kita could do to change it. Still, the tone with which Ban spoke to him was... aggravating. Now wasn't the time however.

Kita casually produced a shadow clone and sent it to gather a couple of last minute materials before the exams. He had an hour, so might as well stock up. Of course, he made sure to send the clone with real money. Yet another thought crossed his mind. He made sure that it picked up some legal documents from his shop as well. It wouldn't hurt to find business ventures in Hoshigakure, now would it? All that was left was to simply wait for his clone to arrive, and ship out.

Word Count - 142

Total Word Count - 394

Exit Claims:

approved