The Great Furry Escapade (Mission, Shin)

Mission Specs:

She was sitting upright in a shady bar, a clear glass in hand and bitter taste on her tongue. The smell and bustle was recognizable as Yugakure- the past few days had been rife with odd dreams and visions that took her and others in and out of the location, but some otherworldly force seemed to prevent her from recalling too much of them. The ninja looked down at herself. Black leggings, black long-sleeved shirt, socks with sandals (don’t judge, fuck you). A tanto was strapped to her side- not her usual weapon of choice. Lachesis swished her mouth around. The liquor was unrecognizable, though she’ll freely admit she wasn’t one for alcohol. A quick look behind the counter saw various bottles of rum, sake, and other bottles with illegible names.

The leather stool creaked under her weight as she stood up. There were a couple other people in the bar, but something- dream logic, mayhaps- compelled her to walk towards a bulletin board at the back. Numerous small papers and notices littered it, but tacked in major letters with a few flecks of browned liquid read the following:

BOUNTY:

Werewolf Head - 6,000 ryo

(inquire inside)

On it was depicted a crudely drawn wolf, more a caricature than an actual reference. Lachesis had her doubts about whether or not this was an actual werewolf as opposed to a bandit or ninja. There were many clans and techniques out there, and the possibility of one that granted wolf like features and attributes- especially in Yugakure, a place that used to be a hidden village- were much higher than some mythical… Hm.

She flexed her back, working out knots in her shoulders. These dreams had exit conditions- like a fucked up mission. Apparently this one was to hunt down and exterminate a ‘werewolf’. But… Every other dream she had been through, there’d been someone else with her. Whether or not they contributed was a different matter, but there was no reason that this would be different.

Her tanto weighed heavily on her waist. It wasn’t one she recognized… Delicately, the Yuki plucked off the bounty letter from the board and looked around. In the dreams, many people had hazy qualities. Perhaps they were people she’d met in passing, or people she no longer remembered- but one stood out. Was he lucid with her?

She approached the corner slowly, holding up the contract as she did so. To a ninja like him, the gesture was meant to come across as non threatening. Should he permit, she’d slide the parchment over to him, only speaking up once he had either voiced a thought of his own or read the paper in its entirety.

“Some kind of fucked up dream, I think. Only way out is to complete the constraints, which… Seem obvious.” her voice was surprisingly high pitched considering her size. Lachesis paused for a moment before continuing to elaborate. “I’ve been having a few, I think. Hard to remember when you wake up, but the ryo is sure as hell legitimate.” She certainly was speaking from experience- and sure enough, the ryo wasn’t taxed, either. Half of her weaponry at the moment was paid for by whatever mysterious dream entity saw fit to bring her here.

Thank you, mysterious dream entity.

[WC: 549]
[Total WC: 549]

She remained largely impassive at his comments, not stopping to add her own two cents until he- Shin?- had finished talking. “It’s some fucked up cultist thing, from what I can tell. I don’t like it, but I’d rather wake up as quickly as possible if it’s all the same to you.” Lachesis paused, tapping her forearm. “Onomori. Call me that- or don’t. Doesn’t make too much of a difference to me either way.” Who else was there to talk to here, anyway? The faceless, hazy figures skirting at the edges of her vision? She deliberately didn’t comment on his Byakugan, but part of her wondered if what he saw through his eyes was different from the things hers could pick up.

Gray eyes scanned the bounty image- if it could be called that- once more. It said to collect information from the front desk… But then again, the dreams hadn’t much cared either way when she ‘cheated’ out of their expected walkthroughs. She wasn’t punished at all for sending clones through the suicide puzzles after all. The Yuki clansman took one last look throughout the bar- spotting nothing of interest, before following Shin out.

The streets were an odd mix of deserted and active. People bustled to and fro, but no litter, no smudges, no imperfections littered the surrounding town square. It was as if all the little details people looked over had completely disappeared, or perhaps never existed, and only now that she cared to look could she tell that something was deeply wrong. Her fingers twitched minutely towards the tanto- unfamiliar as it was, it was still a weapon. There were no immediate signs of a werewolf, or missing ninja, or anything else that would stand out to the two of them. Hm.

Were they missing something? She brought her fingers up to her chin. It wasn’t until the final traces of daylight momentarily caught her eye that she felt dumb. Oh. Werewolves hunt at night... Or something. They’d probably have a few minutes to prepare. Her gaze travelled upwards- what was undoubtedly a full moon was partially obscured by clouds.

She glanced back to Shin, wondering if he’d caught the same information. Should he ask her, she’d reply with what she had noticed. But they still had a few minutes…

“Any preparations you need to make beforehand? Feel like we should probably try evacuating under other circumstances, but if we cause too much of a commotion, the target would become that much more difficult to locate.” The numbers of the faceless crowd were diminishing, but not nearly fast enough to leave the streets empty by the time the sun would have set entirely.

A small sigh left her lips and she unsheathed the tanto. She inspected it with barely restrained interest, checking for signs of wear, construction material, even potential signatures left by a blacksmith. Oddly enough, all she could find was an odd symbol at its hilt- a triangle entirely enclosed by a circle.

Regardless, the weapon seemed sturdy enough to last for a skirmish. She wouldn’t bring it to anything serious, but these dreams tended to hand hold more often than not.

Even so, her mind travelled back to the mark of unknown origin.

“Oi, Shin, you recognize this?” she angled the weapon better so he could see the inscription. Perhaps he’d be able to identify it?

[WC: 563]
[Total WC: 1,112]

Normally, the ninja would be against collateral damage on principle. She could cite numerous reasons- ethical and moral dilemma, getting footed the repair bill, not alienating future clients from Konohagakure... But ultimately, these weren't people, were they? The manifestations were just props, if even that, to make the landscape seem more lively. Whatever happened in this dream didn't carry over, and thus hardly mattered. "Do what you feel like you have to." she had little in the range of long range techniques, and she wasn't super comfortable revealing her bloodline to a total stranger, but... "I use primarily melee weaponry myself, and though I don't specialize in short swords, I could use the tanto in a pinch." she drew the offending weapon, giving it a few practice jabs into the air. Not one of the strange illusion people seemed to react much... Or at all.

In the resulting chaos from whatever Shin did, Lachesis would keep her eyes out for any stray stragglers- though Shin would likely spot any before she did, relying solely on the abilities of someone else (a stranger, no less) was a quick way to get yourself killed. She'd seen what those bounty missions did to the unprepared, after all- more than a few nameless Konoha nin had gotten themselves carted back to the village in a matchbox due to their misconceptions.

A few harsh sounds were what first caught her eye, oddly enough- many of the sounds made by the villagers were... Uniform. The shuffles and screams sounded more like repeated, distorted recordings than anything special. Her head whipped around, barking out a quick warning to Shin about the target's location, before she thrust out her tanto with near blinding speed. It wasn't as strong as she could have made the attack, in theory- she used the weakest one she could- but the Temple Style: Bark made a near deafening noise nonetheless as the resulting wall of force roared across the town square. It easily missed shin by several meters, and it would not register as a technique that contained chakra. He'd likely be able to pick up on its location due to the way the wind travelled, or whatever weird stuff the Byakugan did- but hopefully he wouldn't walk into it.

The wave sent the werewolf (hm, that shitty drawing was... surprisingly accurate?)- and a few nameless civilians- flying backwards into a wall with enough force to paint them across the concrete foundations. It wasn't quite strong enough to break it, of course, but spiderwebbed cracks spread out from their locations of impact.

She turned to Shin after a few moments of quietude before asking a certain question about an odd symbol on the hilt. Right as he began to speak his reply, however, the world shifted oddly. Not in terms of perception, necessarily, but she could feel that she was waking up nonetheless. Dammit- she wanted answers.

Perhaps they'd meet again...

[WC: 488]
[Total WC: 1,600]

(Exit)

Claiming:

+15 stats into chakra
+1 stat into speed
+6,500 ryo from rank
+30 AP
+8 tickets
+1,600 words into https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t50240-winter-breathing-style#380791

and a tentative friendship with shin

Approved