Watering Hole Patrol

The silhouette gave no response to Cyrus' call, and as it neared closer, he realized that this was not the partner that he had been anticipating. A tall, burly man approached with a nod, and asked whether he was his partner for the watering supply contamination mission. Cyrus confirmed this, and the conversation ended there. Wondering why the partner he was assigned had been replaced, Cyrus thought that he might have just been busy with either matters. Either way, it shouldn't prove to be an issue for the mission. "Brute" was the first word that come to mind when looking at his quiet partner, and he felt confident that he would be useful in a combat situation.

The unlikely pair continued to trudge along through the sand, not a word exchanged between them. While he didn't mind the silence, Cyrus wanted to build a little rapport before proceeding with their mission.

"So, what's your name? I'm Cyrus."

The big man turned to look at his smaller compatriot, then responded, "I'm Akira."

"Good to meet you, Akira," Cyrus said, "hope we can get through everything smoothly today." Akira nodded, and went back to looking straight ahead. Internally sighing, Cyrus figured that the man just wasn't much of a talker. Regardless, they were closing in on their location, so he wasn't too concerned about small talk. The outline of buildings became more and more clear, until they finally reached the main road leading into a small, dilapidated town. "This oughta be it," Cyrus proclaimed, "then, let's get to it."

WC: 257
TWC: 504

"You've gotta help us sirs, we can't dun' do nothin' without no water, you hear?"
Cyrus looked warily at the village chief talking to them; a hobbled, crotchety looking old fart who must've worked in some kind of hard labor. Cyrus assured the man that they were on the case and that they would solve the problem, and the pair made their way to the aforementioned watering hole. Upon arriving, nothing in particular seemed to stand out. They looked for any possible holes or cracks where some other substance could be leaking through, or any other signs of natural interference, but could find none. After reporting their findings back to the chief, they informed him that they would be staying for a little while to conduct their investigation. Cyrus decided that the best plan of action would be to wait out at the watering hole for any unsavory people to come by and tamper with the water. He was sure that someone else had to be involved here, but what he was unsure of was why, who or how. So, unceremoniously, the pair of ninjas perched up on the roof of a tall building and set up camp, ready to apprehend any potential suspects. Cyrus considered striking up another conversation with the big man by his side, but after the last attempt he was a bit disheartened, so he decided to practice mindfulness and attempt to immerse himself in both his surroundings and the stimuli within them. Hopefully, someone would come by soon, before he keeled over from boredom.

WC: 259
TWC: 763

Chirps of crickets radiated through the night air. The sun had set over an hour ago, and the day ended as uneventfully as it had started. Cyrus had just begun to drift off to sleep when Akira shook his shoulder.

"Action, now," the big man stated matter-of-factually, pointing east of their rooftop perch. Cyrus groaned and rubbed his eyes, and when he turned, he saw two cloaked men standing together behind a wall, clearly discussing something. They both wore black face coverings, so all you could see of them was their eyes. In a town that small and mundane, something of that variety would be high cause for suspicion. Cyrus told his partner that they should continue observing for now and see what the men's plans were. Any intel would be helpful, as their knowledge on the situation was almost nil. The two men, indeed, made their way over to the watering hole, and once they started to tamper with it, the two boys made their move.

"Sorry guys, but we're gonna have to cut this short," Cyrus said confidently as he jumped down from the rooftop in front of the mysterious pair. Akira nodded in support. The shorter of the two laughed, and quickly threw 5 senbon in one motion towards Cyrus. Akira jumped in front of him, as they surprisingly bounced right off of his arm. "I'll take care of this guy," Akira said, and before Cyrus could even begin to respond, the big man leapt forward and launched a devastating haymaker at the senbon thrower, sending him careening through a wall. Cyrus stood with his mouth agape for a moment, then turned to face his opponent, the other member of the pair. "Let's dance."

WC: 287
TWC: 1050

Cyrus tilted his head, feeling the air around his cheek vibrate as a kick narrowly missed him. Two more strikes followed in this combination, and the boy had to truly focus in to dodge them. His opponent must be a taijutsu user, he thought, or, at the least, someone very quick. Jumping backwards to disengage, Cyrus crouched down into an athletic stance. One hand seal, Rat. Cyrus' shadow shot forward and extended well beyond its normal length, chasing down his adversary. The cloaked man skillfully avoided the shadow attack, jumping upwards to a rooftop and getting out of its range. The Shadow Imitation technique was something that Cyrus had only just recently learned, and it wasn't too powerful in its current state. Cyrus cursed, realizing he would need to come up with another strategy.

Cyrus threw down a smoke bomb, obscuring the vision of the criminal, and leaping up in the air to gain a vantage point. This opponent was certainly faster and stronger than him, but he had yet to see them use any ninjutsu. Cyrus figured he might have him beat here, so he attempted an Earth Style technique that he had recently been working on. While in the air, he charged chakra in his palm, and fell to the ground with his palm extended below him. When he impacted with the ground, a ripple of energy was sent forth from his palm, causing a mini earthquake in the surrounding area. Cyrus smirked, watching his opponent get sent back flying into a wall, which then collapsed on him. Suddenly, wiping away that smirk, Akira was sent through the air, battered and bruised, landing at Cyrus' feet.

WC: 278
TWC: 1328

"Sorry, buddy," said Akira, and, with that, his eyes shut and he slumped backwards. Cyrus wanted to tend to his new buddy, but there were more pressing matters at hand. The man who just left his partner in a catatonic state began to form handseals; suddenly, pillars of ice erupted from the dirt, closing in on Cyrus' location. He attempted to quickly disengage, but was clipped by one of the pillars and sent hurtling through a dilapidated wall. Cyrus needed to think quickly; this man was a user of the ice release, and he seemed to be fairly proficient with it. "My advantage here," Cyrus thought, "is that he knows nothing of my abilities. Shadow Possession Jutsu is my win condition." These thoughts were cut short, as a multitude of ice senbon shot at Cyrus through an old curtain. He slid underneath them, running around the corner and getting out of his enemy's eyesight. Once he was alone, he performed a basic clone jutsu, summoning a single illusion, and sent the clone outwards into the open area. While his clone moved forward, Cyrus cut around the building, attempting to get positioning behind his foe. He was able to successfully get behind the man unseen, and watched as the man noticed his clone standing alone in the open. Weaving handseals, the criminal prepared to launch a jutsu at his clone, and Cyrus grabbed at this opportunity. His shadow extended towards the ice style user, connecting with their shadow and freezing them in place. "That's check."

WC: 254
TWC: 1582

"Oops," Cyrus thought, "I didn't think this all the way through." Cyrus was so excited about learning how to use the Shadow Imitation, that he never devised a plan for how to secure victory after capturing the opponent. Thinking for a second, he decided to take a gamble, and formed the handseals for the Shadow Clone Jutsu. A physical copy of Cyrus appeared beside him, and while the criminal did form the handseals in unison with Cyrus, a clone did not appear next to him. "Hmm, interesting. I wonder if that was because he doesn't know that jutsu... Oh well, a thought for another time," rambled Cyrus internally. The Cyrus' clone looked at him, and he gave a single, clear command, "Put him to sleep." It hopped over to the ice style ninja, got behind him, and swiftly choked him out until he lost consciousness. With that, Cyrus dispelled both his Shadow Imitation and his Shadow Clone jutsu.

Before anything else, Cyrus restrained both of the perpetrators, so that they couldn't escape once they regained consciousness. Then, he walked over to his partner, Akira, to try and help with his injuries. While Cyrus wasn't a medical ninja, he knew a thing or two about providing basic medical attention. After a short period of time, the burly ninja had begun to stir, and suddenly, his eyes shot open and he jolted up to his feet.

"Where is the enemy!?" He shouted. Cyrus was surprised initially, then walked over and put his hand on Akira's shoulder.

"Easy buddy," Cyrus said calmly in an attempt to placate the man, "everything is taken care of. I handled the enemy and captured both of them, so don't worry." Akira nodded.

The two ninja sent a messenger bird to the village in order to arrange for some higher-ranked ninja to take over the mission, as it was clearly not the C-rank mission that it was described as. They waited and watched the prisoners to make sure they didn't get up to any shenanigans, and there weren't any shinobi currently in the small outpost. While there may not have been a military presence around, the local tavern certainly wasn't lacking in chefs. Akira and Cyrus ate, talked, drank and laughed, sharing stories from their past and what led up to this point. With a new friend, the time seemed to pass in a flash, and, before long, their relief had shown up. They explained the situation to the arriving ninja, and began their long trek back to the village.

WC: 422
TWC: 2004

+4000 Ryo
+20 Mission AP
+3 Speed
+17 Vigor
1500/1500 WC for Tearing Earth Turning Palm B-Rank (Previously 552/1000)
2500/2500 WC for Shadow Imitation A-Rank (Previously 1000/1000 aka C-Rank)
56/1000 WC for Earth Release: Rock Shelter