The Truth??

Mission details:

What on earth has been happening recently? It had appeared as if almost every night upon sleeping, he would awaken a few moments later in this weird, dream world. Was it even a dream world, or was this real? How did the mechanics work? If death happened here, did that mean death would also occur in real life? Was this some sort of ghost like plane? Who was behind all of this, and why did Hiroki keep showing up in this location? Some of these questions, were better left unanswered; primarily the ones involving death. There was no intent to die here, wherever this may be. Hell, there was no intent to while not asleep for a long time. More than half of his life was still ahead of him, to die now would be an absolute travesty.

Taking in his surroundings, he noticed this time around, he wasn't at the place where he had been previously awaking at in creepville. This time around, the teen had found himself lying on a bench along a gravel road. But something was off with the gravel. Some of the rocks themselves, scattered pieces amongst the many regular ones, were a reddish color; much like that of blood. Picking one up, it was cool to the touch, and rather sticky. Almost as if it wasn't entirely solid, but the viscosity of it was still dense to the point where it couldn't be bent or broken. A metallic aroma had begun to aerate from it, resembling a copper scent. Only solidifying the theory on what these bits and pieces could possibly be. There was no doubt within the troubled mind of the chaotic man, this was almost certainly hardened blood which had been shaped to resemble a pebble. Underneath the faint moon light of a half moon, the pebble almost casted a red reflection, as if it wasn't just consisting of blood, but also like it was coated with the crimson bodily fluid. Surely enough, upon the removal of his fingers from this thing, the substance was now coating them. Just enough to bring about the slight feeling like this was fresh blood. Someone only needed a little bit of medical knowledge to know that this in turn would mean that there must have been recent conflict of some sorts within this vicinity. Blood of this limited quantity would dry within a matter of minutes, if that. However, due to the other strange and unnatural occurrences which had played out over the past week or so would also lead him to believe that maybe this was just a supernatural curiosity of the place. After seeing a werewolf's dead head speak, nothing could really shock him too much at this point. Always one to rather be over cautious, Hiroki would prepare himself in the off chance that something bad were to happen, like a fight. If there was one already here, and if it had only happened a few minutes ago then whoever was involved would be nearby.

As for the path itself, besides the odd small rock which had been previously examined here and there, it wasn't too out of place. It was just a typical path, leading to both his left and right. Although in the distance, the blue eyes saw towards the left side, a rather familiar village, laying about 50 meters away. One could ask, how could it be possibly seen so clearly through the gentle mist which had begun to spring forth from the ground in a clawing manner. As an answer to said question, it was due to the fact that there was a rather large watch tower which had been positioned at the outskirts of it...the same one which had been blown up during the zombie plight. Now, this gray slate building was back in tact, towering above at the walled border; approximately 30 meters in height. While this was concocting a nasty, bubbling unease at the pit of the Kumogakuren's stomach, it was only added by the fact that it was eerily quiet. Too quiet. No wind could be heard, not even a quiet breeze. No insects were buzzing about. No animals such as toads, owls, and wolves, ones that usually would fill the night with their hauntingly beautiful forest chorus, weren't making a single peep. With all the other happenings, this deafening noise, or lack of any rather, was enough to drive Roki to his wit's end; which was also off beat as well. Typically, the lad was able to shake off these mixed emotions of utter dread and heart racing anxiety, but this time. This time, he just wasn't able to. These feelings, swirling around like the very fog beneath him, all came to a head, in which case the only way he knew how to react was to make an attempt to get out of here. Using prior knowledge of previous encounters faced here, he tried to lay back down. Rapidly shutting his eyes, holding them tight, just wishing for anyway out of here. Yet there was nothing. It was essentially hopeless.

C'mon Hiroki, pull yourself together man. If anyone else were around at this moment in time, I'd be as cool as a cucumber right now. I've faced many dangerous situations like this in the past, why is this now only bothering me? And why of all places, must it be here. Here, I'm a sitting duck. If I could just muster up the courage to actually do something instead of acting like...like a damned coward, then maybe. Just maybe. I'd actually find a way to escape this macabre Wonderland. Could this have been the straw that broke the camels back? No. I refuse. I refuse to go back into these feelings of isolation. Loneliness. Fear. Cowardice. All are human, yes, but those aren't good enough. They weren't good enough to save my parent's from being stolen away from me all those years ago, so what good would they possibly do for me now? What would my parents think if they saw me lazily laying on this bench, wallowing away in self pity and regret. I refuse to just sit here on the sidelines like I did before. It's time to take a stand, and figure out what is up with this place once and for all. Not only for myself, but for all of my friends, my family, and to get out of this night. Also, since when have I become this much of a boorish person? The old me, wouldn't have made any qualms with this scenario. He probably would have been rushing into the thick of things while I'm thinking. So it's time to get off my butt, and get a move on.

Freeing himself out of the prison that is doubt and lost hope, the Kumo man decided it was time to venture down the path now. Choosing to go right instead of left, the thought process there was the fact that this new direction would more than likely lead to someplace that was also new. Or maybe it wasn't necessarily new, just new to him. Hopefully he'd meet some others to help out there like before, but due to the extra uncannily air about the nightmare-scape, there was a feeling that this wouldn't be happening. Following the trail down, he decided to stick close to the tree line along the right side of it; the same side that the bench was positioned on. For the most part, there was nothing but the path, the trees, and the genin. That all changed when after traveling about 75 meters though. The first sign of something man made, was a mysterious looking building about another 25 meters further down. From what he could tell, the building was pretty tall compared to most, the top of it seen peaking above the tree line. At this distance, no real details of it though could be seen. This was the point where the young lad definitely became even more cautious than before. Fortunately for him, he slept with his katana at his side, so he had it with him here. Now drawing it from it's sheath, he crept further into the treeline on the same side he was on.

Once at a safe distance inward, the lightning elementalist climbed up a nearby tree to gain some higher ground. From here, his journey forward began once more. Step, leap. Hiroki made sure to remain as quiet as possible in case of any guards. Step, leap. The dark oaken branches quietly creaking beneath his feet. Step, leap. He took a pause. Pupils darting back and forth, the icy blue eyes first checked the road, which was 7 meters away. No one was seen standing there, but he remained focused on it for a minute or two, to ensure no one had come investigating any potential sound made through the stillness of the night air. And no one had approached. Not even a sign of any potential danger. How odd. After this, the eyes peered towards the direction of the building; which he could see now was most likely 19 meters away now. Some details could now be made out, minor ones, but details all the same. There was had multiple stories, for a light could be seen shining through a window at the top of the building. This information alone lead the vigorous one to believe that the building was at least 12 meters tall. Not much else could be made out, except for the fact that it was made out of some sort of dark colored material, such as blackened clay or a dark colored wood much like that of spruce trees. Besides these two things, nothing more could be perceived from here. And so, Hiroki Shimada continued forward once more, still doing so as quiet, yet swiftly, as possible.

While traveling the distance to where he'd be directly across from the building, his eyes remained on the road. Right as the Kumogakuren deviant neared 5 meters away from that specific point, he took notice of two people walking alongside the road. He didn't stop to take in too much of their appearance, but they were both of them were definitely male, wearing long, black and red, flowing robes. On the one's back, were a set of kamas attached to either end of a chain, while the other one sported a bow with a quiver of arrows strapped around his torso. From the looks of it, these two didn't necessarily appear to be shinobi, but the lad didn't necessarily count that possible factor out of the equation. To do so, would almost be a form of underestimating the enemy. One could never possibly know the full extent of tricks someone could pull out of their hat until they actually saw them in combat. Even then, there could be a numerous amount of variables which added to an overall sense of unpredictability; which, in his own opinion, was the most dangerous trait a foe could ever possess. This fact was only backed by the thought process that if you couldn't begin to comprehend what one could possibly do next, you would have to need an even quicker reaction speed. If someone could see through an opposing force's strategy, then they could properly prepare counter measures ahead of time, allowing for a person to be ahead of the enemy. This in and of itself granted a certain edge while fighting. And every edge, every angle needed to be looked at in order to ensure victory.

Finally reaching to where he was in front of the building, 10 meters away tucked in the treeline, Roki's movements came to a soft stop. Peering across the way, there was two more people positioned outside. One standing directly to the left of a set of dark red doors. The other was positioned on the side of the path, seemingly patrolling the perimeter of the front of the building. There was no doubt that there was then potentially another person around back, patrolling that area as well. But unfortunately, there was no definitive way to tell if this was true or not, unless he went to the opposite side and checked it out for himself. The two guards had also seemed to be decked out in the same garbs as the two seen traveling in the direction of the building. Something of note that was also seen, was the necklaces around their necks. It was black and metallic, the bottom of it forming some weird, occult like symbol. This was the same symbol that was seen when investigating the reports of that mysteriously shrouded figure back in Kumogakure. Could this all be correlated somehow? The thought of this being potentially linked blew Hiroki's mind away. Everything was all kind of making sense now. This might just be the work of the Jashin Cultists that he's been hearing about lately. If this was the case, then this would not be easy in the slightest. With his experience compared to theirs, being stealthy and subtle should be the route to take in this scenario. So that's exactly the route in which the D Rank Ninjutsu specialist.

Before approaching though, he would first take in his surroundings, and the opportunities which would be presented in order to gain access to the interior of this almost abandoned looking road side tavern; the exterior of which was seemingly lost within the bounds and grasps of mother nature's reclaiming talons. Thorny and wicked looking vines were snaking up the side of the darkened walls, which could now be clearly determined as the exact same wood of the surrounding forest. One of these vines was conveniently wrapping into an open window along the second floor. This window was right above an awning, which was also above the door as well. Option 1 for entering, and probably the sneakiest way to do so, would be this one. The second option was seen when his attention was drawn back towards the beaten path, were the one patrolling cultist was met by the archer and kama wielder seen down the road. After a knowing and cursory nod was exchanged there, those two had then further approached the one stationed at the door. Once there, it looked like they had shown their own amulets, thereby gaining access into the place. It would seem like that the amulet being worn by this group was also some form of special identification. However, Roki also hypothesized that there was possibly a way to simply steal one of these amulets and use that to be able to go in there since there didn't appear to be any facial identification required for access. While this was also a good means of infiltrating the creepy shack, it wouldn't have as good of a chance of success as it's previous one, and there would be a multitude of steps needed to be taken prior to actually fulfilling it. This included either stealing the robes and necklace from a corpse which could hopefully be found, or killing a potential lone cultist found further down in the direction in which he came from. Since it would involve a higher chance of getting caught, this strategy was placed on the backburner for now. The thought of creating a diversion to lure the guards away from the door, and simply sneak in through that entrance also flew around like a bothersome fly which kept nagging at the boy's thought process. He could always just set up some explosive tags even further in the forest, hide out a bit down the road, and make a run for it after detonation. But for each positive thought of how this could go right, there was at least two negative which took it's place. These included the fact that neither of them could possibly be bothered by a distant explosion as they could be somewhat accustomed to it, or possibly only one, most likely the one walking back and forth, would be sent to investigate it. While that would hold off one, it would still be extremely hard to sneak up on the other one without being seen. Lastly, there was the theoretically posed question of whether or not there was a back door. This was all simply speculation though. As the same with the question of if there was someone back there or not, there was no definite answer on if this was true or not. And if there wasn't a back door, then trying to get back there would be a complete and utter waste of time and energy. So as it would seem, the most solid course of action would be utilizing the growth of the blighted vines to scale the building, and make his way in through the window.

How to get to the other side of the road though without being seen? Now therein lies the only major flaw with this method. The distance from the trees to the awning was simply too far to be able to close with just a jump. Also doing so, he would definitely be caught by the cultists. There was potentially just going further down the road, back down the trees, and crossing over to the other side, but this wasn't fun. While this did need to be taken seriously, some fun was also a necessity. There was no fun to be had with that boring of a solution. Looking for other ways to bridge the gap, Hiro saw an area in which were almost quite literally, the gap was bridged in a sense. This was done so in a way where about 5 meters further up the path in the direction he was headed. Two twisted, decaying branches had spiraled out towards each other. Each from an opposing tree on opposing sides, creating an easy connection between the two. Seeing this, he begun to make take action. Heading towards the tree on his side, the Shimadan youth had begun to cross over; doing so while staying low towards the base of the branch. He took enough time to not make a sound, but fast enough to make it to the other side while the roamer was walking away with his back turned. This was thankfully achieved without any form of problem occurring. Next, he made his way a bit inward, to get out of view from when the cultist would turn back around, and climbed back down towards the ground. Landing gently upon his feet, Hiroki ducked down to have the fog as partial cover, and waited for his next opportunity. Upon seeing that the strange man had begun to pace back away again, that's when he moved forward to the right side of the building.

Under the cover of the haze caused by this ominous mist, the ninja had gotten to the side. Now, it was only a matter of scaling the vines and not being seen doing so. So, he had made his ascent as quickly as he could possibly could. There was a near miss in which one of the blood thirsting thorns had nearly snagged a part of his arm, but thankfully this was avoided. The footsteps could be heard moving back this way now, and he had only managed to make it half way up so far. Heartbeat pounding, sweat now starting to drip down his visage, Roki was determined to do this. He couldn't have fear within this moment. He couldn't freeze up now like earlier. He had to get going. Picking up the pace, he pitter pattered his feet up the side of the vines and the building. Noise to a minimum, the awning was in sight. Footsteps even louder, his hand could just reach out and touch it. There was possibly only a mere second left before the possibility of the guards being alerted to his presence could happen. But no. There was hope within him. A hope that wasn't there before. And he made it. He crawled up upon the awning. Softly easing his way onto the small platform, just as the Jashinist managed to circle back. Keeping his body out of sight, Hiroki then slinked in through the second floor window, achieving his goal of getting into what could be the epicenter of this nightmare.

WC: 3380
Mission WC Achieved:
Claims: 6,000 Ryo
30 AP
8 tickets
2,000 words to Sky Sword Shattering (B Rank, completing it)
958 words to One Handed Seals (542/1500 from here, completing it)
392 words to Chidori
Thread Exit
Stats, 33 total; 10 to Vigor; 10 to Chakra, 12 to Speed; and 1 to Strength

Approved

Miscalculations in claims

New claims: 6,000 Ryo
30 AP
8 tickets
1,000 words to Sky Sword Shattering (was C Rank, now B Rank, completing it)
958 words to One Handed Seals (542/1500 from here, completing it)
392 words to Chidori
500 words to Gigavolt (was C Rank, now B Rank, completing it)
500 words to Genjutsu Binding (500/1500)
Thread Exit
Stats, 33 total; 10 to Vigor; 10 to Chakra, 12 to Speed; and 1 to Strength

Approved