Mining for Tungsten

Mission Details:

Ise had been woken up early in the morning by his mother, telling him that he had gotten orders for a mission. It apparently had something to do with the local mines at the country borders, which Ise was actually psyched about. He had only ventured to the borders once for a mission, but that had felt like a long time ago, at least for him. It was nice knowing that he could be entrusted to see this mission to its completion. What’s more was that he would not be taking this mission alone either, for he would have a partner as well. As for who his partner was though, the instructions did not say. “You’d think that they’d at least tell you who you were partnered up with,” The silver-haired Uchiha thought to himself, only mildly annoyed by the fact.

Luckily for him however, you could spot the mines just by standing at the village gates, so at least he knew where to venture to. Further instructions would be given to him and his partner once they arrived at the entrance to the mines, which saved Ise from asking too many questions. Once Ise had gotten himself ready, he quickly departed from the village, heading towards the mines, while also looking out for anyone who might attack him with the help of his sharingan. After a good bit of traveling, Ise had made it to the mines, seeing the miners hard at work. Ise continued to look around while saying aloud, “Alright, now where is my partner?” Ise had said with a grin, while continuing to look around for someone with a hoshigakure headband. What the young Uchiha didn’t know though was that his partner was actually someone whom he was familiar working with … technically at least.

WC: 299
3076 words to go

A knock on his door at five in the morning was not unexpected but it was out of the ordinary when you were supposedly living alone, however after taking in that poor family for a while he found that they were quite resourceful and they actually valued his hard work.  He also admired the fact that the mother of the two kids seemed to grow closer to him the more time they spent together.  She knew his age, but still she was at least pleasant to be around…the father…their patriarch abandoned them from what he found out, but today started with that surprise knock.  The mother solemnly handed him a missive and he unrolled it then and there and she looked at him having already checked it and she had tears in her eyes…this was the mine that her partner worked at and Yamato looked up at her.  “I will find out what happened today.”  He said as he prepared for the mission, it was probably nothing out of the ordinary yet he would still prepare.

He made it to the mines at the borders in record time and he noticed one face that stood out from the rest and he whistled out to him, of course causing the heads of the workers to turn and look at him, but they hardly paid any attention to him as he walked up to his Uchiha friend that he completed those yule missions with not too long ago.  “Good to see you again Isemori, how have you been?  Stronger and comfortable I take it?  So I am to assume we will be partners once more in the mines here?”  He asked that series of questions with a smile on his face, playing the part of a helpful Senju without the heat of the Terumi influencing his words.

WC:305

After a few minutes had passed of the young Uchiha looking around, he heard a loud whistling sound coming from behind him, and when he turned, seeing Yamato standing there. “Hey, Yamato Sensei!” The young Uchiha said with a grin, rushing over to him. “Good to see you again Isemori, how have you been? Stronger and comfortable I take it? So I am to assume we will be partners once more in the mines here?” Yamato had asked Ise a short series of questions which the young Uchiha simply answered them. “It seems that way! And Yeah, I’ve gotten a bit tougher since we last saw each other,” Ise had said with a grin while giving what sounded like a carefree tone in his voice. “I also ran into Toran a few days ago as well! I haven’t seen him in a while, so it was nice to see my little cousin,” Ise had said, continuing to hold his grin. Ise’s voice had also given Yamato a subtle hint that he knew about Toran being assigned to Team Winter, which Yamato was the leader of.

As the two of them had continued talking the Head miner had made their way over to the two of them, beginning to speak up. “Sorry to interrupt what seems to be a pleasant reunion, however we can’t afford to wait any longer.” The gentleman said, slightly adjusting his hat that sat on his head. “I’m not sure if you are aware, but today, we’ll be digging up some Tungsten ore today - particularly, rare tungsten veins to be more specific. Go ahead and grab some gear, which you can get over there where that guy’s standing,” The man pointed to where another miner was, standing in front of a set of large open crates. “Once you’ve gotten all of the gear you need, then you two can head into the mines to go and collect the ore. You’ll then take the ore over to that area, crush it up, and wash it down with the solution we have on hand. Once it’s smelted, you can consider your job finished. Sounds like a plan, eh?" The miner had asked, which Ise had said with excitement, “Heck yeah! I’m ready to get started!” The young Uchiha had said, making it over to the man who was assigning gear to people.

Ise had never done stuff like this before, and in a way, he thought that actually being a part of what the miners do was actually pretty cool. Once Ise already had his gear on him, he looked at Yamato and said, “This sounds like it can be a lot of fun!” the young Uchiha said, once again forming another toothy grin of his while he rested his pickaxe on his left shoulder.

WC: 466
TWC: 765
2610 words left to go

The greeting was pleasant and Isemori explained that he had at least gotten stronger since the time they last met, finally informing him he had seen Toran since their last encounter which meant that he knew about Team Winter now.  He knew of the other squads of course, but for the most part the team affairs were to stay secret.  He would need to talk to Toran once back at the village proper, but for now they had a job to do, and while his eyes were constantly scanning for the foreman, the man found the two shinobi faster, entering the scene with a rather blunt and gruff voice that Yamato nearly chuckled about.  

“Sorry, did not mean to make you wait when the break seems to have just finished for the crew.  Usually those assigned to these jobs when not their normal duty…would like to ensure they are on the same page.  However, I am aware we are under your care foreman Hau, so I am ready to get to work, so is Isemori here.”  He said back as they were then told where to go, and Yamato bowed respectfully before heading over to the mining site’s gear manager, leading Isemori the entire time as he was ready to get to work.  “A tungsten vein is rare, so we should hopefully have the opportunity to get some for ourselves if we are lucky.”  He said as he geared up, taking off some of his tools and armor so that way he would be able to move more freely.  His upper body was revealed as he removed the armor and let down the training gi he was covered in scars that looked brutal and some even looked like they should be fatal.  “It is likely to be warmer underground, and my body tends to be warmer, so I will choose this method to strengthen myself.  I am ready when you are Isemori.”  He called out and grabbed a pickaxe and swung it over his shoulder.

WC:335
TWC:640

Honestly, Ise didn’t know that tungsten was such a rarity in terms of the ore itself. But then again, Ise never paid attention to such things when he was a student at the academy. As Ise was getting helmet and gloves on, Yamato had begun to speak. “A tungsten vein is rare, so we should hopefully have the opportunity to get some for ourselves if we are lucky.” Ise had perked up and said, “Really? That makes me all the more eager to see this mission complete,” Ise had said, once again grinning. Lately, Ise had been thinking about things he could gather for a blacksmith to make him stuff. A nice weapon or even some protective gear of some kind could do him wonders while out doing missions. “Speaking of which, I should stop by the shop later on. They might have something decent for me,” The young Uchiha thought to himself. Lately, Ise had started dabbling in the use of weapons and rather than relying on his shuriken and kunai all the time, an actual sword of some kind would be way better in terms of durability.

“It is likely to be warmer underground, and my body tends to be warmer, so I will choose this method to strengthen myself. I am ready when you are Isemori.” Yamato said, which made Ise’s excitement swell up all the more. “Alright! Let’s get going!” Ise had said, leading the way into the mines. As they walked through the mines, Ise had turned on the flashlight that was attached to his helmet, allowing him to see in front of him. As they continued down the path there was occasionally a miner already at work. The young Uchiha thought it’d be best that he and Yamato find their own spot to work on rather than crowding around other miners. After a set of turns while traversing through the mines, They had come to a dead end, where the wall in front of them glistened from the light coming from Ise’s flashlight.

“Hehe! Score! Looks like we found a really nice spot!” the young Uchiha thought to himself. What’s ironic though was that the young Uchiha had no idea where they were going. In other words, they had found the ore poking out of the walls just by sheer dumb luck alone. “Let’s get started! Who knows the more we collect, the better!” Ise had said after turning to Yamato with his signature grin plastered on his face.

WC: 415
TWC: 1180
2195 words left

Yamato could see Isemori’s dedicated grin and  carefree attitude were still intact and it was at least refreshing to know that people still could hold on to that kind of ideology when the world was in a constant moving state…who knows, with that attitude he could likely end up where Yamato was now…or he could rise up and be someone great while also sticking to his happy go lucky demeanor.  “Glad you are so on board with this!”  The gear manager said as he chuckled and passed Isemori his own gear to use, some may be a little bit on the bigger side, but at least it would keep him safe while digging.  

Once the youth was ready to go Yamato walked alongside him into the mine, the lights gave off an eerie yellow glow as they moved deeper, a few twists and turns and the pair could actually no longer see the daylight, and much to Yamato’s dismay…it was not nearly as warm as he thought but he went with it anyway as he shivered lightly only once before adjusting his chakra to allow for the difference in body temperature so that way he could be at a normal temperature…even though most likely he would be seen as radiating heat.  When they came upon the shining, rocky wall and Isemori spoke up, Yamato gave a grin before popping his joints with a simple stretch.  “Well then it looks like we should get to work.” He said as he moved the pickaxe in front of him and gave it a rather cocky spin in his hand before hiking back the tool and giving it a hearty swing.  The sparks were kicked up and the rock began to chip away as he used his reaction, strength, speed and his keen eyes to look where he was digging away at the earth.  His breathing was even and he was focused on the task at hand.

WC:323
TWC:963

The sound of their pickaxes smashing against stone-walls of earth that surrounded them could be heard for a good hour or so. Ise remembered his mother telling him that his father was actually a miner before he had taken the path of a shinobi. The silver-haired Uchiha remembered how he had been surprised by this truth related to his father. After a while, Ise had stopped what he was doing; now only Yamato’s pickaxe could be heard making sound, however that was for only a brief moment. Once Ise had realized a few minutes later that he had sunk deep into his own thoughts that he had forgotten for a minute about what it was that he needed to be doing.

The older shinobi had more than likely realized that Ise had stopped digging, which was why when Ise had realized, he had quickly got back into the thick of it, bashing the sharp end of his pickaxe into the wall of earth once again. “Why did dad quit being a miner though? I mean, yeah, being a ninja is awesome, but it just didn’t make sense when he was already making a living,” The young Uchiha thought to himself, stopping once again due to his own thoughts. “Hey, Yamato Sensei?” Isemori had called out to him, hoping that he’d be able to hear him. “Sorry for the random question, but … So, you know how people have a job, but then later on, they end up doing something else? I guess what I’m tryna ask is … why would they do that?” Ise had asked him. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if Yamato could give him a proper answer, nor did Ise probably know why he was asking him such a thing.

Ise was trying to see if he could at least get some kind of understanding why his dad quit being a miner and became a shinobi instead. Honestly, it didn’t make any sense at all to the young Uchiha, especially if his dad was comfortable being a miner. If that was the case, why the sudden change. What’s more was that Isemori had wondered that if his father didn’t become a shinobi, then there might be a chance that he would still be alive.

WC: 377
TWC: 1557
1818 words left

The sound of their work filled the mine with a cacophony of noise, the other miners were…less than impressed as they spoke about shinobi coming to their mines and making them look bad or using them as a training course.  Yet the yield of what Yamato was putting out was akin to something like a tall tale where the hero goes against modern society and technology in favor of older…sure methods of doing his work.  His breathing was even, and his pace was like that of a machine, all in all he really was using it as a way to get his body more accustomed to swinging a tool, akin to a sword…or an ax in an attempt to master his own knowledge of weaponry.  However it was not long until the foreman came by and told Yamato and Isemori to slow it down just a little as they were producing far too much volume at the moment to keep up with when compared to the rest of the mine.  Then Isemore came up with a question, a discussion starter…a topic that honestly made him think back to the people under his care at his apartment.  When asked why people change, he had to remember that Isemori was likely a little more innocent than he was…at any age really.  It was not a bad thing, but it was still…a thing.

“Never feel sorry for asking questions, I am more than happy to answer any and all questions.  People grow and change…some find the need to change themselves whether it be a change in scenery…job…even lifestyles.  I have a family I currently am looking after…they are disposed of after their father, who was said to work at this mine mind you, he worked here then decided to up and leave.  His job, his home, his kids, his wife.  For what?  I have no clue, but the case is usually the same…Ryo is a great motivator.”  He sighed as he thought about it some more.  “However, my thoughts on it are…fear.  Fear makes people make stupid decisions, like fear of losing your ryo over your family…fear of death in the face of a madman declaring to destroy a village…fear of losing ones family to the traps of rogues and to the blades of bandits…”  He had the look of remorse moving in his eyes, but not too long after another cart was brought in, and Yamato picked up more of the rocks and ore and placed them inside for processing.

WC:418
TWC:1,381

Ise was confused as to why they had to slow down on their work, but hey, if they were told to do so, then he had no choice but to comply. “You’d think that they’d actually like the fact that we managed to get this much ore out from the wall,” The young Uchiha thought to himself. However, after a while, the boy had begun to think of reasons why they were told to stop. Mainly because of the fact that the tunnels could collapse right on top of them because they were digging too much out of the walls. Ise gulped loudly, sweating at the fact that they could die from having the tunnels collapsing on them all because they went too far in digging up the Tungsten ore.

Then shortly after, Ise couldn’t help but think about his dad, which was why he had asked the question he did to Yamato. The young Uchiha patiently waited as Yamato had started to give him an answer. “Never feel sorry for asking questions, I am more than happy to answer any and all questions. People grow and change…some find the need to change themselves whether it be a change in scenery…job…even lifestyles.” Yamato stated, which made the young Uchiha tilt his head, slightly confused. “Lifestyles? What do ya mean?” Ise had asked, obviously not understanding right away. That was when Yamato had continued to explain further.

“I have a family I currently am looking after…they are disposed of after their father, who was said to work at this mine mind you, he worked here then decided to up and leave. His job, his home, his kids, his wife. For what? I have no clue, but the case is usually the same…Ryo is a great motivator.” He said, explaining a bit more, which made Ise understand it a bit more, even though it was only a little bit. “However, my thoughts on it are…fear. Fear makes people make stupid decisions, like fear of losing your ryo over your family…fear of death in the face of a madman declaring to destroy a village…fear of losing ones family to the traps of rogues and to the blades of bandits…”

Before Ise could say anything, a cart was delivered for them and with that, Ise and Yamato had once again got back to work, shoveling the ore that they had collected into the cart, leaving Ise once again to his own train of thought as he shoveled the ore into the cart. Once they were finished, the foreman that observed them putting the ore into cart had begun to speak. “Now, for the hard part.” He said, which made Ise confused. “Wait - this was the easy part?” Ise had questioned, not meaning to doubt the man. In fact, his tone of voice had a little surprise to it more than actual doubt. “Yup. Now that the ore is collected, ya gotta wash the ore in the alkaline solution we have. Also, since you’ve collected a lot, you’ll also have to smelt the ore afterwards,” he said, which made Ise blink. That was when Ise had realized something. “Oh! That’s right, this is just the ore at the moment. But once we wash it down and smelt it, we’ll have the actual Tungsten,” Ise had said, realizing that the ore itself wasn’t the actual thing.

WC: 560
TWC: 2117

As they worked, the workers set up safety precautions in the tunnel to get everything to stay in place, wire mesh was placed upon the ceiling as timber was bracing the walls…really significant work being done.  He could see the worry on Isemori’s face and as he spoke he could tell that there was something bothering him.  When asked what he meant when people just changed he sighed and looked at the young shinobi. Then as the words clicked for Isemori he did not speak again, which meant that he needed to probably explain a bit further, but as of right now he was just going to let it hang as the foreman came back and with the cart empty he saw that the two shinobi were ready for more work so it was explained that they would now have to go wash the ore and get it into a workable condition before they could possibly go and smelt the ore they worked for.  “Well, I will follow your lead then foreman.”  Yamato said as he saw the foreman was ready to get them to work away from the others so that the work could continue at a better, more even pace.  

He was impressed at their output however, and soon they were brought to a station just outside of the mine where the solution was stored in a large container and a trough was filled with it, inside of the trough was the ore and the foreman would take their pickaxes before telling them what they would need to do to get the ore ready.  Once gone, Yamato finally spoke again.  “What I mean…with that whole thing… is that there is a switch that just flips…take this miner for example…”  He pointed to one of the workers that was chipping away at the excess stone and separating the rock from the actual ore.  “He works this job so that his family can have food on the table…is he happy?  I have no idea, but let me say…if I offered this man 100,000 Ryo how do you think he would act, perhaps he does not want to just feed his family…perhaps he has another vice…that Ryo can fuel a LOT of things…or the fear of LOSING that ryo can do even more harm.”  He sighed as he looked around and washed and worked at the various chunks of stone from the mine cart.

WC:404
TWC:1,785