Sunny Delight

Mission:

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Mission:

Ko had barely taken a step outside of his village when he started to become light-headed. Stumbling forward into a tree, Ko put his arm out to brace against a tree ahead of him, spinning his body to rotate around the tree in an effort to keep his momentum going. Unfortunately a piece of undergrowth caught his foot during his spin causing him to completely lose his balance and end up splayed out on the ground, consciousness slipping away.

"Huoh! Huoh! Huoh!" The sounds of seagulls and crashing waves were the first sensory input that Ko perceived. As he came to, he was dumbfounded to find himself staring up at a large leafy tree. Pushing himself up, his hands sank a bit into the cold sand and he took in the most beautiful beach view he had ever seen. (In fairness it was also the first beach view he had ever seen.) He went to pinch himself as if he thought he were in a dream and noticed he was still wearing his clothes from when he left the village. This place seemed too real and he wouldn't expect to be wearing the same clothes if this were actually a dream. Somehow the feeling came to him that he would be able to leave this reality if he ever wanted to, and with that resolved Ko decided to check and the area and try to enjoy himself. It was his first time at a beach after all.

"This heat is a bit more than I care for however..." He was not a fan of hot weather and the clear blue sky was doing nothing to alleviate the situation for him. There was the pretty regular wind from the sea, but he figured a change of clothes would serve him the best regardless. Luckily, as if by design, he was carrying the lucky item of the day which happened to be a stylish little sailor outfit. The clothes had a base color of white with patches of blue squares in spots. There was a loose fitting top exposing much of his chest and a pair shorts came three-quarters of the way down to his knee. It wasn't something he would ever normally wear but it seemed like the best fit for the circumstances.

Standing now, but still in the shade, Ko observed his surroundings in greater detail. There were many groups of people ranging from families to friend groups that were scattered along the coast line engaging in a variety of activities. There were games of sport on the sand such as volleyball, people lounging around in chairs, and still others out in the water with tubes and boards enjoying the waves.

Nearby there was a young boy, probably around the age of 7, that was sitting in the shade on his own. The child seemed to be upset about something so Ko headed over to check on him and see if he could be of assistance. "Hello there. Are you hurt? I am a doctor so I can help if anything is wrong." The boy sniffled and looked up at Ko as he spoke. "No.... I'm not hurt. I'm just dumb and can't make a sand castle like everyone else does." He gestured towards the beach and Ko saw what he hadn't taken note of before. Everywhere along the beach were groups of kids and families working together to build up the most grand sand structures they could. Ko noted that there seemed to also be many standout castles being worked on by young kids and individuals that seemed to have auras indicating that there was more to them than just fun times on the beach.

"Well, I don't think you are dumb. And I bet that we could work together and make a castle that is pretty cool. Want to give it a shot?" The kid perked up and hopped to his feet. "Are you sure mister? That would be awesome!" Before Ko could even reassure the boy he had already taken off out of the shade and towards a raised pile of sand not too far away. Ko followed behind and as he approached he observed that the sand pile here looked like the failed remains of a sand castle attempt. The boy had sat down already and a sad look appeared on his face again. "How are we gonna make the sand castle mister?"

Ko didn't actually have any experience with this so he wasn't sure the best way to legitimately make the castle., but he had an idea nonetheless. "How about you start piling up the sand for the castle, and I will follow behind what you do and help make it more stable. How does that sound?" The boy got excited again. "Ok!" And he immediately went to work piling towers of sand as high as he could. Ko would follow behind anything the boy did and using Earth Release would pack the sand in together afterward to make sure that it wouldn't start falling apart.

After just a few minutes the boy stepped away and started jumping around. "Yay! This is the best castle ever!" The 'castle' was actually just 5 towers of sand around 4 feet tall in a circle. It looked more like an arrangement of columns than anything else but the boy seemed happy enough and that was fine with Ko. "I have to show this to my mom!" This is when the boy started looking around and became distressed. "Wait, where did mom and her boyfriend go?" The boy squatted down as if to start crying, but Ko quickly came over and put a hand on the kid's back to reassure him. "Hey, don't be sad. Come with me and I will help you find your parents in no time."

WC: 970
{First Mission Complete}

Ko didn't have to travel far to reach a spot with some towels, a cooler, an umbrella, and some other miscellaneous beach items. Carl started to fidget more on his shoulder and he spoke with panic in his voice. "Where is my mom? This is all of our stuff. Did something happen to her?!" The situation was getting more complicated by the second. Ko tried to speak calmly to reassure the boy that everything will be okay. "No, I am sure your parents are around here somewhere looking for you. Let's see if we can find someone to help us out."

Ko looked around purposefully and noticed the lifeguards positioned on elevated chairs along the beach. "Maybe the parents would have reported their child missing, it certainly can't hurt to ask." Ko contemplated asking Carl to stay at this spot in case his parents came back by at some point, but he couldn't risk something happening to the kid. Deciding it would be best to continue the search with Carl, Ko jogged over to the nearest lifeguard. On the approach Ko could here the sounds of an argument nearby.

"How could you let this happen!? I can't believe that this is our first trip together as a family and my 7 year old son is now LOST! Maybe we rushed into this marriage too quickly...." A mature looking woman appeared to be very upset and was venting her frustration on what seemed to be her new husband. It was at this moment that Carl's high-pitched shouts pierced through their conversation. "MOMMY!" The boy was excitedly happy and had a few involuntary tears run down his face. Ko stopped running to let the boy down off of his shoulders as the couple ran over to meet them.

"Oh my goodness. Carlos! Don't ever run off and scare us like that again." The mother was knelt down and squeezing her son to her. "I won't mom. I just wanted to play in the sand, I'm sorry. This nice man helped me out though." The woman stood up, hands firmly gripping her son as if to keep him from vanishing, and thanked Ko profusely while offering her name. "Thank you so very much for looking after my son. My name is Clarissa. Is there anything I can do to repay you."

Ko started to get a bit flustered. His work in the clinic made him more comfortable around young children and more elderly people, but he tended to get more awkward around other 'adults'. "Oh... uh, no. It is fine really. Carlos is a good kid, I am just happy to help." Ko scratched his head as he talked and waved his hand as if to decline a gift. He probably looked a bit silly in his sailor getup, but the obviously relieved family didn't seem to pay it much heed. "I'm gonna take off now. Carl, be sure not to cause any trouble for your parents, okay?" Carl was blushing a bit, either due to being held in place by his mother for so long or because Ko was putting the spotlight on him here. "Thank you for building the castle with me mister Koskay. I'll be good I promise!"

Ko smiled and waved as he back away slowly before turning to leave the family. He could hear the mom asking her son about the castle until the sound of their voices join in as another in the cacophony of beach activity. "It may be time to check out this beach and maybe try to have some fun while I'm at it."

WC: 731
TWC: 1701

{Second Mission Complete}

{Thread Exit}

Jutsu and AP:

Claims:

Approved!