Cabin in the Mountains

Mission:

Well this was certainly a way of fate to let a person know they were going to have a bad day. It was supposed to be just a routine trip in that Moyasu would just come along to the cabin, take care of it for a few hours, and then the owner would come back so that he could take his money and go home. Nope. Not this mission. As soon as he settled into the cabin in question a massive snowstorm slammed into the mountains where he was staying and unfortunately that would put both him and his client in a bit of a pickle. Based on the strength and the atmosphere that lingered in the air this was going to be a long stay at the freezing mansion as Moyasu got up onto the roof of the cabin and he clapped his hands together while channeling the chakra within him outwards in order to provide his body with an aura of hot fiery chakra that protected him from the cold. He would have to come up with a future plan apart from this, though, as he didn't have a limitless chakra pool that'd allow him to keep himself warm in this way the whole night. He thus hopped down from the roof, the heat of his chakra melting the snow everywhere he walked, as he went into the cabin and felt fortunate that he had made certain his flames wouldn't be capable of burning the wooden cabin.

He shut the door behind him, trying to keep as much of the cold outside as he could, before turning to the center of the small cabin where there was a fireplace with some fresh firewood he had prepared. With a wave of his hand the wood sparked into a ignited flame that spread along the logs and brought forth a fire that raged with heat enough to warm up the room almost immediately. With a relaxing of his chakra his aura disappeared as he stepped over to the fire and sat right beside it while holding out his hands and arms towards the fire in order to keep himself warm while the storm raged on. The wind made the cabin sound as though it was in the middle of a twister as the wood creaked and he looked over to the lone bed that his client must've slept in. 'Shoot. I can't sleep in that. Who knows what that guy's done in a lonely old cabin like this in that bed. How do I go about cleaning it, though, in a storm like this...?'

He looked around the cabin for some kind of basin or washing bin that he could use and found a small bucket that he walked over in order to find that it was incredibly dirty. 'Well better than nothing.' He took the bucket and walked outside in order to get himself some water to try and wash the bucket with. Being that he was surrounded by snow he wasn't going to be running out of water anytime soon as he channeled his chakra throughout his body once again in order to melt the snow around him and slink it into the bucket. He would fill it up to it's maximum before going back into the cabin and getting a rag that was sitting on one of the wooden shelves that sat along the rather barren wall of the owner's cabin. He soaked it in the cold water of the bucket, his aura heating the water up slightly until it came to a boil within seconds, as he began scrubbing the rag around the bucket's interior and removing all the dirt and grime that lined it's insides. 'That's better.' With that he went outside and dumped the dirty water out onto the ground before refilling the cleaned bucket with snow and going back inside as quick as he could.

He set the bucket of water atop the fire he had made as he prepared the bed for a washing by taking off it's blankets and comforter along with the mattress spreading. He soon realized that the bucket wasn't at all big enough but then noticed that there was a large basin nearby he could use as he got it and started filling it with the bed sheets. He would then go through the painstaking task of getting multiple buckets of water from outside and bringing them inside for boiling before dumping them into the basin of clothes. "Ah well at least I'll have a clean bed to sleep in once I'm done here." he said as he finished filling the basin with water and got a bar of soap in order to begin washing the sheets all at once. He wasn't really experienced in cleaning things in this way but it was better than nothing as he would scrub the sheets and soapy water together in order to get as much of the owner's essence out of them all. He was feeling more and more relieved by the minute as he did so.

After a few minutes of washing he was finally done getting all the sheets washed as he looked around for something to hang it all up upon to dry and couldn't find anything. He then decided just to use some ninja wire in his weapon pouch as he looped some along the walls and hung up all the sheets in order for them to drip out onto the floor. He would speed up the drying process by using his flames in order to draw them close to the sheets as he watched them flutter due to the heat of the flames as the water soon stopped dripping from them altogether. He would keep this up until they had all stiffened up from the heat and he relaxed his chakra finally in order to take down the sheets and redress the bed that was going to be his bed for who knew how long. With a quick sigh he would get into the bed, the sweet smell of the soap he had used to wash the sheets taking over his senses, as he would fall into a good and deep sleep despite the raging snow storm that continued outside.

Over the next few days Moyasu would be stuck inside the cabin doing his best to survive by utilizing whatever food he was able to scrounge up. Being that he was in the mountains animals were scarce but whatever was available made for good eating. His skills as a chef really came in handy as the meat he cooked was always tender and easy to get down. Preparing the animals for cooking came naturally easy for him as well. The hardest part of the whole ordeal was finding them and then tracking them. The snow did nothing to mask his footsteps and even the trees were covered in snow so he couldn't rely on vantage points to secure his hunts. The wind would make certain that his smell travelled for long distances giving animals away to his position long before he ever got to see any of them. Hunting in these conditions was certainly a hassle for him to go through though he was certainly lucky as he would bring home some squirrels, rabbits, and even a deer or two throughout his stay at the cabin.

Another day went by and this time the weather had eased up a good bit as he decided to take another hunting trip in order to take advantage of the calmer conditions. He managed to get more animals this time, bigger than most of his hunts had been to this point, as he decided that he would keep the meat that he wouldn't eat frozen by using the very snow that surrounded the cabin. He would cut away the meat from the carcasses before using making a small den using the logs next to the cabin in order to filter snow in and then place the meat into the den. This was a good makeshift freezer and it was also a good way of preserving the meat as it would cause the meat to gain a bit of a distinct sort of flavor upon being cooked. He filled up the den with all the meat he needed to survive his time at the cabin, burned away the carcass remains so that they would fester and stink, and then went to bed after his long day of preparation.

The next day he went outside in order to prepare a small bit of meat in order to make himself some stew. The cabin owner didn't have much apart from vegetables which was perfect for him to use in order to add a bit of health to his stew. It was delicious. The snow really did seem to be a very different way to freeze meat as he could take a distinct flavor coming from the meat that he had never tasted before. "Something to note for later." he said as he finished his bowl of stew and went outside in order to find something to do to pass the time. He decided to give the lake a view this time as he walked over to the frozen large lake and looked out at the snow covered icy canvas with a look of adoration. It was always surprising to him how beautiful nature was as he knelt down and touched the ice in order to feel it's chill seep in through his palm and up his arm. He drew his hand back in order to rub his fingers together only to notice that his hand wasn't wet at all even though he had just touched the ice. That only proved how frozen it was as he stood back up and settled for just looking out over the lake.

It wouldn't be too long before Moyasu would notice something... strange. Looking out over the lake he could see a shadowy figure gliding along the ice as though it was on skates when, in fact, it didn't look to be moving it's upper or lower body at all. This was a bit creepier than Moyasu would've liked to admit as he watched the figure continue to float along the ice as the snow didn't seem at all disturbed whenever the figure would glide over snowy patches of the ice. "If I recall correctly... Didn't the mission details state that this place was haunted?" he said to himself as his mind recollected what he had read in the mission scroll he had been given by his higher ups. This had suddenly become very interesting as Moyasu would channel chakra through the soles of his feet before stepping out onto the ice, his chakra making certain that he wouldn't slip, while making his way slowly to the floating figure. Many would've thought him insane for doing something this stupid, walking up to a ghost, but to be honest he was curious as to how this ghost would react to him due to how many times he had encountered ghosts in his other missions.

As he walked closer to the figure, however, he saw that the misty silhouette was slowly fading as he got closer to get a better look before it was gone completely from sight. He looked around to see if it had moved somewhere but found that he was standing completely alone atop the icy lake. 'Strange...' he thought to himself as he made his way back towards the cabin. 'Maybe this lake is haunted by a more peaceful ghost. Didn't seem interested in talking to me.' He kept on walking before making it back to the snowy edge and then turning back to see the figure once again gliding along the surface of the lake as though nothing had happened. 'You do you, ghost, and I'm going to continue doing my own thing.' he thought as he walked back towards the cabin and cooped himself up in warmth for the remainder of the day.

The next day he would find that he was in need of more firewood, the supply of logs that he had in order to keep his fire inside hot very limited, as he went back out into the forest in order to find some nice and burnable looking trees. He carried with him a hatchet that was the owner's specifically used for this sort of purpose, he guessed, as he would chop down about three thin yet long trees in order to bring them back to the cabin. He didn't possess the strength to carry them all at once but he had the knowledge to use a sled and the snowy ground in order to better transfer one at a time by pulling them along the ground. After getting all three back he would chop each one into finely even logs, stacking them along the log den neatly and organized, before taking a few and using them in order to feed the flames that were already dead inside the cabin. He would use his chakra flames to reignite the fire before staying by the heat of the reignited flames in order to warm his body up. He was bundled in the sheets of the bed that he had been comfortably sleeping in for over a week and he made a mental note that he would wash them again before his time in the cabin was up.

This thought would be followed by a knocking at the door as he was startled by it causing him to jump a bit from his seating position before looking at the door in bewilderment. No one was supposed to be here yet. The storm was still raging quite profusely after all. Nevertheless he got up from his seat and walked over to the door in order to open it and found... nothing. There was no one there. He looked around to find someone or something to indicate that someone had just been standing outside the door but he found nothing. Not even footprints in the snow. This was more than a little odd to Moyasu as he made to go back into the warmth of the hut but he suddenly saw on the ground a piece of paper. He bent down and picked it up, feeling a cold chill coming from it, as he went back inside and sat by the fire in order to be able to read it better. On the scroll was a very simple sentence written in a faded yet neat handwriting: 'Thank you for taking care of the cabin.'

Immediately he felt he knew exactly where this note had come from as he got up from his seating position and went over to the window in order to look out towards the lake. Through the torrential snowfall he could see, at the very edge of the lake looking towards him, the much clearer silhouette of a person standing completely still and looking towards the cabin in a very unnerving way. Moyasu felt a chill run down his spine as he stared directly at the ghost and felt as though if he hadn't taken care of the cabin the ghost's attitude might have been a lot different towards him. Possibly hostile. And he certainly didn't want to go against a ghost as he felt he would've been very outmatched against this certain foe. The two would stare at each other for a while before the ghost finally made a move and brought it's hand up before moving it slowly in a waving motion. Moyasu watched as the snow storm outside suddenly grew more intense, shrouding the ghost entirely, before suddenly slowing down and disappearing completely showing that the ghost had disappeared as well.

Moyasu walked out of the cabin and looked around as he saw the clouds above parting revealing sunlight once again. Warmth spread across the land as he took this as his sign and rushed back into the cabin in order to quickly wash the bedsheets as he had promised to himself earlier to do. Upon washing them as best as he could he replaced the sheets back onto the bed, wiped a bit of snow that had accumulated along the cabin floor out, and then took off in a run down the path that led back to the village. He would pass by the owner of the cabin, telling him that there was still fresh meat in the snow den he had made for the owner to use, as they smiled and said "So she was pleased by your work and finally let you go I take it?" Moyasu was confused when he heard this. "She?" he would ask but would receive no answer as the owner simply chuckled and walked the rest of his way up the mountain and towards his cabin. Moyasu felt that that was a rather strange interaction as he made the rest of his way down the mountain and towards the village.

He would turn in his report to his superiors, receiving a little scolding by how long it had taken him to complete though with a hint of understanding in their tone, as he made his way to his apartment and entered the warm setting only to see that weeks of neglect had caused the apartment to become dusty. He would give a sigh as he had been seemingly dropped from one cleaning duty to another as he got out a broom and a duster and began taking care of his apartment. After a full hour of cleaning he would then transition to cooking and feel a wave of relief wash over him as he worked with an actual stove and not a campfire and pot in order to cook his meals. He had much more control over his cooking abilities with this setup and that made him feel a bit better as he would cook himself a feast this time devoid of meat as that was what he had been mostly eating during his time in the cabin. He wouldn't be missing the cabin anytime soon that was for sure.

WC 3,030

Claiming mission rewards (18,000 ryo ((beloved presence)) and 45 AP) and 60 AP.

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