Snow Place Like Home [Vaera, IO]

As they watched and discussed the Star of the Moon, Ryō's eyes flitted over the crowd several times. Each of the elves he could see all sported equally ecstatic faces and brilliant smiles. There was an energy in the air that was infectious and seemed to enliven everyone around. More and more elves streamed into the plaza and the noise only grew from all the laughter and chatter. After the cookies, and then the snowball fight with the trolls, this had the makings of a perfect end to a perfect day. 

Of course, that was when a sharp feeling of apprehension spiked through the Senju's consciousness. 

Something was off.

He could not help but tense all over his body, muscles coiling like snakes ready to strike, as his eyes took on a new, almost frenetic zeal as he scanned the crowd repeatedly. The feeling in the back of his head only continued to build as he scanned, but everywhere he looked he only saw smiles and laughter and color. For a moment, he considered the embarrassing notion that perhaps he was just too wound up from all the training and missions he had taken recently; maybe he had only imagined the danger.

That's when the first explosion hit.

One of the nearby bakeries suddenly burst into flames, belching acrid smoke into the chill air. Immediately as the shock of it started to set in, another bakery across the plaza blew apart as well. Elves began to shout and panic, wildly running for cover any which way they could. Ryō tried to move but, against the onslaught of terrified elves, he could do nothing but stand helplessly in place and watch the scene unfold. He looked over at Vaera to make sure she was safe and unharmed from the chaos and that was when he saw it.

A trio of figures, too large to be elves and clad in all black, emerged from the treeline. Their movements were fluid and professional, and as they leaped over the crowd in a way that no normal human could, Ryō realized with a growing sense of dread that they had to be shinobi. What was worse was seeing them land directly in front of the pedestal holding the beloved Star of the Moon. The two others seemed to screen for the third, who pulled out some kind of tag and placed it on the village treasure before picking it up and fleeing back into the treeline with it.

"Vaera! We have to stop them!" Ryō called as he began to surge against the elves. After the kindness they showed him, after seeing the beauty of the village and the pure joy the elves seemed to have for life and each other, he knew he couldn't sit back and watch this tragedy unfold any longer. He stepped up onto a fallen piece of decoration, enough to clear the crowded ground, and immediately took to the air in great leaps as chakra began to flood his system. As he jumped in great arcs, elves began to stop and turn to follow his movement. Soon panic began to turn to cheer as it became imminently clear that he was chasing down the fiends that had stolen the star. If there was any doubt, it evaporated when he cried out, "Don't worry! We'll get the Star back!"

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@Vaera Vael

WC: 550
TWC: 3,152

(( As Vaera has declared that they're leaving the site and I'm not going to finish the WC to complete the third mission before the deadline, I'm just gonna get my claims for what's been done. ))

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Claims:

- 11,500 ryo
- +60 AP
- x1 Omnistone
- x1 Tinker's Toolkit
- +5 to Chakra
- +10 to Speed
- +5 to Strength
- (Max Stats)
- 3,000 / 8,000 WC for third Chakra Nature element (TBD on completing required WC)

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