Putting together the pieces

Rin sat there, still kneeling as the girl she had come to take on as a comrade and pupil sat unmoving, her mind starting to reel a little, berating herself for making such a rash decision, of course she probably looked like a fool, trusting someone with so much of herself. She knew it was foolish, she knew it looked stupid, but all the same she felt like she could trust this girl, that she could help her and in the process perhaps help herself too...

If someone from another world was watching they might in fact think this was a case of tell not show, but then again, perhaps this was actually a case of a horribly traumatised girl who's own boundaries and mental state was so warped by her experiences that normal behavior was not something to be expected, perhaps they would think the girl's PTSD resulted in her oversharing, something that might actually be common knowledge of the long term effects of PTSD within said observer's world. But then that was all rather a moot point as this hypothetical observer most certainly didn't exist.

Thankfully for Rin before she could spiral too deeply Emi finally spoke...

"I shall keep your tale private. I can invite you into the Rice, though not as a Kage. You've shown yourself capable, far more than me, if I'm being honest. Perhaps your eventual place will be alongside me, acting in charge of war and tactics. But that is a possibility, a future. I will not break tradition more than I have. The Kages should be determined by vote, as I was. As such, upon our return, which I will assure happens in the near future, you will have to convince more than just myself that you are worth of such a role."

She said, and though she tried to hide it Rin's heart swelled. Standing and putting the poker back in it's place she nodded to the girl, "Of course, I have no intention to take on such a role without the support of your people, nor would i expect you to break from tradition in such a way, but if i can help I will, so I will make sure to assist you in this role as long as you ask me too." she said, a faint smile pulling at the edge of her lips. "Vis and codex of course will come and assist as well" she added, almost as an afterthought. They are both quite talented in their own ways, fragments of my own personality and experiences tailored to suit their roles." She added, feeling an explanation was likely in order.

"Now that that we have settled that, is there anything else we need to discuss or should we bring back in our rather suspicious messenger friend?"

WC: 468
TWC: 9,480

Mid thread Claims

Rin
1875 towards Genjutsu Frogging - A-rank
1875 towards Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique
1313 towards Hiding in the rain Finished with stat reduction
1125 towards Hidden mist technique
1125 towards Temporary paralysis
750 towards Vacuum Sword
750 Towards Wind Release Great Vacuum
375 towards Water Replacement
Note no techniques claimed with max stat discount on Rin
Remaining 292 wc towards Mist Servant Technique 292/375

Vis
94 Strength Points

Rin Togakawa wrote:Rin sat there, still kneeling as the girl she had come to take on as a comrade and pupil sat unmoving, her mind starting to reel a little, berating herself for making such a rash decision, of course she probably looked like a fool, trusting someone with so much of herself. She knew it was foolish, she knew it looked stupid, but all the same she felt like she could trust this girl, that she could help her and in the process perhaps help herself too...

If someone from another world was watching they might in fact think this was a case of tell not show, but then again, perhaps this was actually a case of a horribly traumatised girl who's own boundaries and mental state was so warped by her experiences that normal behavior was not something to be expected, perhaps they would think the girl's PTSD resulted in her oversharing, something that might actually be common knowledge of the long term effects of PTSD within said observer's world. But then that was all rather a moot point as this hypothetical observer most certainly didn't exist.

Thankfully for Rin before she could spiral too deeply Emi finally spoke...

"I shall keep your tale private. I can invite you into the Rice, though not as a Kage. You've shown yourself capable, far more than me, if I'm being honest. Perhaps your eventual place will be alongside me, acting in charge of war and tactics. But that is a possibility, a future. I will not break tradition more than I have. The Kages should be determined by vote, as I was. As such, upon our return, which I will assure happens in the near future, you will have to convince more than just myself that you are worth of such a role."

She said, and though she tried to hide it Rin's heart swelled. Standing and putting the poker back in it's place she nodded to the girl, "Of course, I have no intention to take on such a role without the support of your people, nor would i expect you to break from tradition in such a way, but if i can help I will, so I will make sure to assist you in this role as long as you ask me too." she said, a faint smile pulling at the edge of her lips. "Vis and codex of course will come and assist as well" she added, almost as an afterthought. They are both quite talented in their own ways, fragments of my own personality and experiences tailored to suit their roles." She added, feeling an explanation was likely in order.

"Now that that we have settled that, is there anything else we need to discuss or should we bring back in our rather suspicious messenger friend?"

WC: 468
TWC: 9,480

Mid thread Claims

Rin
1875 towards Genjutsu Frogging - A-rank
1875 towards Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique
1313 towards Hiding in the rain Finished with stat reduction
1125 towards Hidden mist technique
1125 towards Temporary paralysis
750 towards Vacuum Sword
750 Towards Wind Release Great Vacuum
375 towards Water Replacement
Note no techniques claimed with max stat discount on Rin
Remaining 292 wc towards Mist Servant Technique 292/375

Vis
94 Strength Points

Approved

Rin stood there waiting for Emi's response, she could see the girl processing something, truama? stress? a small glimpse of some traumatic future? She didn't know, but she waited politely as her friend? No that was too strong of a word just yet, Rin had not had a proper friend in years, not since she was a child, but progress was being made by this girl, despite her innocence and naivete she was steadily worming her way into Rin's heart, something that could not easily be done, though many had tried. Though she wouldn't admit such a thing even to herself, deep down Rin could only hope her trust wasn't misplaced; It was quite possible, likely even that should this girl betray her the last of Rin's trust would be shattered.

"Let's do this. Trial one of working together. Though let's respect our hosts and talk to him outside."

The girl's voice pierced through her own musings, Rin shook herself slightly, pulling her attention back to the problem at hand. "It's your call" she said turning to walk over towards the door even as emi stood and walked off in the other direction. Rin turned back, tilting her head curiously for a moment before she remembered the girl was still in her pajamas. Rin would have to get used to that, having spent years on the road, and years before that moving from slum to slum, bandit camp to bandit camp... Well Rin was used to making sure what she was wearing was always ready for combat and, more importantly, that she always had what she needed on her for a quick escape.

She would have to start remembering that not everyone around her lived by those rules, especially if she was going to be acting as the right hand of a kage. The though still felt foreign, she had seen the chance to benefit from an aliance, to slowly use the resources of this girl's village to build up enough forces to threaten the Demon of the endless night, but she had never expected her to take her on in such a role. she had kept a straight face of course, years of political manipulation, moving through high society gatherings, masquerading as one lady or another, had drilled the need to mask your emotions, especially her surprise, but internally she was still a little shaken. She had been expecting the girl to take her on as a right hand, perhaps induct her into her special forces, but to trust her so thurroughly as to put her in a position where she was second in power only to her... honestly Rin didn't know how to feel about that. It was benificial certainly, but it also spoke of the girl's naivete, she was far too trusting, far too easy going.

Again Rin was reminded of her younger self; she had never been trusting of others, but of herself, the overconfidence, the sense of indestructibility, the sentiment that she couldn't possibly loose or be overpowered. They had all been core pieces of her personality back in that time, and now here she found Emi, the kage of a vilage, looking like an odd mirror of her younger self, similar in so many ways, and yet so, so different. She watched the girl wander over to the coat rack she had taken to using for her clothing. Rin didn't begrudge her that of course, having a wide array of clothing was useful even on the road, being able to blend in with all sorts of individuals and societies made a significant difference, and whilst even most children could use a transformation technique to disguise themselves in the short term it was still far more efficient to disguise yourself the old fashion way, far less prone to mistakes or disruption; but then that wasn't why Emi had so much clothing, the girl was young, she wore clothes for their style, not for their practicality.

Rin couldn't decide if that was something that she needed to remedy; certainly it was another difference between those raised within the bounds of the hidden villages, safe from the horrors and rigors of the outside world, and someone like her, someone who had grown up struggling for scraps, crawling their way up through the muck of the world... She probably should educate the girl, and she would, but at least for now Rin decided she would let the girl enjoy that innocence a little longer, after all they had time enough that a few more days wouldn't hurt... Right?

Smiling slightly she watched as the girl picked out an outfit, allowing herself to indulge her own vicarious pleasure in seeing someone able to perform something so supurflous without any reason more than simply a desire to do so. Watched as the girl slowly picked out a simple plain black knit sweater. It was a nice piece Rin had to admit, casual and yet at the same time it was something that subtly showed off the wealth the girl represented. Cotton in cold climates was incredibly difficult to aquire, one of the first thing's Rin had studied when she began infiltraiting high society was the subtle implications of different outfits and how they varied within different countries. In the sand cotton had been cheep and relatively easy to aquire, the plant itself loved growing in a hot and dry climate, and the quality of the cotton produced was always better under such circumstances. In her homeland such a sweater would have been something worn by the upper middle class, made from cheep and easily avaliable materials, but crafted with a level of skill that allowed it to be sold for a reasonable profit.

Here in the sand however the implications of the clothing were completely different, cotton simply would not grow in such a cold climate, making the material exotic and consequently extremely expensive, couple that with the fact that foreigners only visited this town once a year, and the value of the material grew even further. Then there was the quality of the material, Rin had absentmindedly examined the material one night as she had stepped inside, it was quite impressive on its own, the cotton fabric woven together in such a way that it appeared to be knitted, and yet she could tell that wasn't actually the case, she couldn't identify the exact method to create the clothing but she had seen similar enough pieces to know that something of this quality and style was almost certainly an artefact of the once great village of tengakure. Not that the villagers emi had aquired it from likely knew of its true value. To them it was most likely just a curious piece purchased from a foreigner.

Next came a pair of simple leather pants, Rin would never understand the girl's pre-occupation with Men's pants, she had known some of the women in her bandit crew who swore by them, claiming they were far easier to move in, praising the loose fit around their legs and more importantly, at least to them, the presence of pockets. In Rin's opinion however it was a little silly to be buying clothing that simply wasn't made for your body type however. There were clear differences in the cut of Men's pant's that left them sitting awkwardly, you could mitigate that with a belt and careful tailoring of course, something Emi at least had the good sense to do, but it still seemed silly when you could just have someone tailor pants that were easy to move in and designed to fit you.

Speaking of mitigating the issues with such attire Emi threw on a D-ring belt, one that brought a flicker of a smile to Rin's face. This one had been a gift from her actually, a reward for Emi's first successful space time technique. She had noticed the girl's fondness for this particular style of belt and had, with the help of a kind shop keeper, picked out a belt for her. It wasn't intended to be a fashion statement, although the girl certainly wore it like one, but rather it had been intended as a practical gift.

The belt material was nylon, a rather strong modern material she had often only seen small scraps of back during her days moving about the ruined land of wind, that there was enough of such material to make a belt here spoke well again of how travelers from distant lands seemed to show up providing the village merchants with valuable resources found commonly within their homelands. Rin hadn't noticed the grift at first, but over time she took note of how the venders seemed oh so eager to pick up trinkets from travelers, momento's of their homelands. Regardless that wasn't what was important about the belt, the material was strong and sturdy, perfect for use in combat in fact. She had made sure to reinforce the inner lining of the belt herself with a small amount of chakra and threading a thin layer of what was effectively chainmail through it, it wouldn't provide much protection for the rest of her body of course, but that wasn't really it's intended function.

The nylon itself was quite strong, more than capable of supporting Emi's body weight ten times over, meanwhile the chain link would make it a lot harder to cut and give it just enough rigidity that it should be able to serve it's secondary function. Rin remembered showing the girl how the belt could be swiftly unclasped and used to support her weight when hanging from a beam, ceiling, cliff face or any number of other precarious positions; additionally once she got the hang of it the belt could be used to climb poles and similar things without the use of the surface walking technique. She remembered the look on the girl's face when she had showed that to her, the look practically screamed 'why would i do that when i can just walk up walls' but Rin had expected that; indeed when she had first been gifted one of these style of belt's from her master she had asked those exact same questions, so she had explained the value of being able to do things without the use of chakra; how being able to climb into a particular position or hang from an unorthodox location could be highly beneficial when dealing with opponents who were able to sense even such small uses of chakra.

As for the second use for the belt... well Rin didn't tell Emi where she had picked up the trick, but by looping the cord through the rings in a specific pattern the belt could also double as a pair of makeshift handcuffs that were surprisingly effective. She had shown the girl how to loob the belt and explained how it had helped he bring in a bounty or two as well as briefly mentioning a few other uses she had used the belt for... although of course nothing that wasn't above board.

Once the belt was on Emi sat down to throw on some socks and shoes, and whilst she had been relatively quick Rin still couldn't help but feel a little irritated, this whole process took far too long when the both of them could already be outside dealing with... well whatever problem the strange messenger had for them. Sighing as she watched emi throw on a pair of thick winter socks and grabbing a pair of shoes Rin reached out and with a flick of her wrist and a tiny exertion of her chakra, pulled open a small tear in the fabric of space, the chakra flowing out of her and rippling slightly as it did so. Rin couldn't help but notice that the world seemed to part for her far more easily now, as if the resistance that was once there had started to slacken. She wondered absentmindedly weather that was simply a result of the time they had spent here, whether the owner of this land had accepted them enough for the world to yield a little to their will, or perhaps it was simply that whatever poison was affecting the supposed saint of space and time was weakening him enough that his hold on this dimension was slipping. Either way it was ultimately un-important.

Reaching into her personal storage space, one that she used mainly to hold her own wardrobe, filled with numerous outfits, some ostentatious, others well worn and simple, at a glance it would look like she was simply incredibly vain with the large number of outfits held within, but of course with Rin very little was what it seemed. In this case the clothes at the front showed the primary focus of Rin's style. Every piece of clothing that sat at the front of the small pocket dimension was well worn and practical; Primarily composed of travel clothing and combat gear they all served their purpose of being both incredibly easy to doff or don, as well as providing some specific benefit for whatever climate they were tailored for. There were loose cotton dresses, cloaks, robes and other such attire made for her homeland with the blistering heat and burning sun in mind. There were woolen coats, fur scarfs, heavy boots and all sorts of other attire for the cold weather that they were in now, and the trend continued. Water proof boots and leather pants intended for travel in wetlands, snow shoes sat against one wall in preparation for traveling in the snow, the list went on. Eventually off to the side if one looked long enough they would come to the more formal wear, clothing that would certainly seem vain and pointless at first, suits and dresses of impecable quality, incredibly elaborate tailcoats and formal petticoats; but if one examined any of the pieces closely enough they would find hidden compartments, linings of sleves filled with blades, complicated mechanisms and hiding places designed for everything from assisting in assassinations to aiding in the theft and hiding of valuable goods.

With the space tailored so specifically to her current enviroment it was simple enough for Rin to pull out one of her thick winter coats, this one a pure white, designed to blend in with the snow around them and made from the fur of a white fox, it kept her warm and comfortable whilst serving a number of more practical purposes, not least of which was the camoflauge the attire offered; just as she finished throwing the coat over her Emi spoke, having finished pulling on the last of her own outfit.

"Time to tackle a fucker. Hopefully not literally." She said, and Rin couldn't help but let out a laugh, for once a genuine one releasing the tension from deep within her, now that she had shared some of the weight on her shoulders, it felt good to open up and trust someone, even if only a little; so, giving Emi a joyous smile Rin stepped forward, opening the door for her with a flourish.

"After you oh esteemed lady kage" She said this time no trace of the sour humor that the jibe had held before, instead it was simply a playful poke at their shared history... of course that was somewhat ruined by Emi's immediate response of "Who the fuck are you?" At first she blinked a moment, confused, surely that hadn't been so far removed from her normal personality that it would illicit that sort of response, of course then she looked at the girl's eyes, and followed them behind her to... a man who looked surprisingly like the other individual they had been talking too; and yet just different enough that it was clearly a different person.

Now that was odd, she glanced towards codex, exchanging a curious look with it as she mentally inquired as to why she hadn't been informed of the change. When codex supposedly claimed that it had informed her she found her blood beginning to run cold... so far they had never encountered anything that was capable of interfering with the innate communication between the two of them, and yet here they were with this... saint nick some how interfering with even that; and seemingly just to swap out a messenger.

"Ah, hello! My name is Jingle!." the odd man replied, and as he spoke Rin could catch that powerful whafting smell of peppermint, and sandalwood assaulting her nose even as the man continued to speak and Rin had to choke back a gag. Thankfully Emi seemed at least capable of continuing the conversation as Rin got her rebellious stomach under control. "What happened to the other guy?" The young girl enquired , much to the newcomer's chargrin. The odd man paused for a moment, tilting his head as if feining confusion for a good moment before snapping his fingers together with an exclamation of understanding. "Oh, you must mean Jack! It's OK, you don't need to worry! We determined he was being more harmful than helpful and reassigned him!" the man said, a joyful smile on his face as he spoke.

Rin felt the hair's on the back of her neck stand on end at that, perhaps she was simply being overly cautious, but the man's phrasing just felt off somehow, it set her on edge and her mind couldn't help but pick up on the man's choice of words. 'Reassigned?' that was an odd choice of word to say the least, certainly it fit, and it could be intended just to be taken at face value, but she also knew from experience it was one of the words most often used to tactfully explain away the absence of an underling who needed to be... disposed of, in one way or another. Still there was little either of them could really do about it, they were, for intents and purposes trapped here until this St nick released them from his personal pocket dimension, so really they only had the choice to co-operate here, at least for the time being.

Looking down at Emi, Rin could tell she had sensed something off about the man's words as well, perhaps not as deeply as Rin had but she still looked uneasy. Deciding it would be best if at least one of them felt comfortable for the time being, and knowing that Emi was the one that might be considered the 'face of their party' she figured she should at least give the girl some reassurance, so making sure to position herself to the side of the girl that left her good arm within easy reach of her, she put a comforting hand on the kage's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze even as she gave the girl a reassuring smile.

Rin wasn't entirely sure that it had helped all that much but it made enough of a difference that the girl eventually continued speaking, albeit clearly, at least to Rin, still a bit shaken. "Ok... so. We are ready to see... Santa, and help with his situation. How do we-" Suddenly becoming excited the man cut her off, Exclaiming "Perfect!" as a portal suddenly appeared beneath their feet, pulling the pair of them down into what was at first an inky black void before, once they had both passed through seemed to become a swirling mass of colours, Red, white, Green, and even the occasional hint of gold swirled around them both, spinning and twisting, spiraling around them. Rin had to close here eyes, the technique far too similar to some genjutsu techniques she had experimented with in her youth to comfortably stare at for any period of time. She of course had Codex do a quick scan of her mental state, and indeed a scan of all of their mental states to ensure that there was no lingering genjutsu or similar effects circulating within their chakra networks. Thankfully codex reported back nothing, leaving them to wonder exactly what was happening for just a moment longer before Rin felt gravity reassert itself, light flaring before her closed eyelids for a moment before she felt the impact of solid ground on her feet and a voice almost immediately beginning to speak before being interruptedwith a coughing fit.

"Wel- Welcome," the voice said, even as Rin quickly blinked here eyes, pushing away the flickering spots that came with such a rapid change in light levels, glancing around she saw a figure lying in a well worn four poster bed, it's poles each spiraling up wards, painted in that same red, green, and white spiral that seemed so prevalent here, the bed itself seemed simple enough, albeit adorned with carvings of what looked like little clay men... or perhaps not clay, they could be created from some other substance, but carved into the wood as they were that was the best Rin could think of, someone else within another world of course might make the connection that such things were likely the gingerbread men who followed the legend of Saint nick like a flock of followers. Regardless Rin took in the bed in an instant, far more interested in the figure that lay within than she was with the construction and adornment of the bed itself.

"I am Santa. Kris Kringle. Papa Noel. Sinterklaas. Weihnachtsmann. Babbo Natale. Many other names." the voice, deep and course, said continuing to list of it's many titles even as it coughed. "Thank you for heeding my call. I apologize for the hardships you encountered as you arrived. The-" The man paused, coughing again, although this time he seemed to pull something out from underneath the covers, and as he did so Rin could see the frail hand that extended out, far thinner and weaker than the legend of saint nick was proclaimed to be, this figure seemed like a weakened old man worn and weathered by age and weakened by illness. The skin was paper thin and rubbery, hanging off of the bone in large chunks as if the skin was used to holding far far much more flesh in place.

The hand quickly handed off the scroll it had retrieved off to a nearby attendant before darting back under the covers as the voice continued speaking. "I apologize, it was meant to bring you directly here, but I hope one of my elves was able to explain at least part of the troubles that arose. When the scroll arrived here without you... Well, I have reconfigured them. They will allow transit between your world and this one, wherever in this one you choose to be, and your home, at least for the next little while." The voice finished and Rin couldn't help but eye the scroll with interest, even now she was stretching out her spiritual senses to the small slip of parchment, doing what she could to examine it from here, to try and find any hint as to it's construction, to see if there was any sort of way she could extract the power and information that was no doubt kept within; but of course Emi had other plans, continuing on the conversation even as Rin continued pouring over what information she could gather from the scroll.

"So... We could just leave now? Open the scroll and boom, gone?" she asked, and Rin couldn't help but internally weep a little at such a waste, here was a scroll that might hold the secrets to the complete creation of an entire dimension, and here Emi was planning on using it to just open a portal? Rin could understand the desire to get home, to return to her... their (?) village, but the girl couldn't deny the value such a power would offer the village in the event of an attack. "You could, yes. Though I have this odd feeling you won't. That's not the type of person you are." the voice replied and Rin couldn't help but feel like those words were more targeted at her than at Emi; it was an odd feeling having someone see through her so much... of course then again perhaps she was being paranoid and it was actually just a comment directed at Emi, the girl certainly did have a bit of a hero streak from time to time.

Of course as if hearing Rin's thoughts Emi spoke, effectively volunteering the two of them for whatever it was that this St Nick wanted. "Ok. What needs to be done?" She said, and Rin could hear the pleasure in the voice as it spoke.

"I cannot leave my bed right now, but I can, at the least, open pathways for you, and change your interaction with time. The elves have already brought the presents in here. I shall open the portals. You need simply deliver the presents. Time past the portals will seem to be quite different. It would be impossible to deliver the presents so quickly, after all, even for me! Simply too little time in the day!" the voice said and despite herself Rin couldn't help but feel a little excitement at that, not only was this a rare chance to witness the use of highly advanced portal techniques, but on top of that the figure seemed capable of slowing the flow of time... or perhaps accelerating the personal time of others? Rin wasn't yet sure of the specifics but either way she was excited to see what she could learn from this experience.

"Are you ready to begin?" the voice asked, and Rin saw Emi nod in agreement. She pondered for a moment, wondering whether she should withdraw herself from this, but at the end of the day watching from within the technique was almost certainly going to be far more beneficial than watching from outside the technique.

Stepping through the portal Rin found herself somewhere separate from Emi, a sack of presents somehow already sitting at her side as she looked around her. Vis and codex had been shunted off to somewhere else as well, although thankfully she could still feel the threads of their connection tying them all together. Looking around a little more, this time with her spiritual senses Rin could feel how the flow of time seemed to be... different was really the only word for it; everything felt slower, it felt like she was the only part of the world flowing at a normal pace, and yet she could find no end to that effect, nor did it seem localized to just herself; it genuinely felt like this st nick had somehow fully slowed down the flow of time throughout the entire world... or at least far beyond the extent of even Rin's most focused of spiritual senses, perhaps more annoyingly however was the fact that for all her attention and effort she had found no way to examine this technique, whatever it was; instead she found herself left here without any information on it what so ever.

With a sight Rin sholdered the bag of presents, greatfull that at the very least it seemed light enough for her to cary even despite her horribly wounded and weakened body. Looking around, now with her eyes as she paid attention to her physical surroundings she found she was on the roof of a house, from the surrounding structures and the architecture involved she suspected one on or near the border of the land of fire and wind, the architecture seemed similar to the buildings she had seen during her time there and whilst there were some minor differences they were few and far enough between that Rin could at least infer a high likely hood of her being correct. Glancing over she saw a chimney and figured this was likely where she was expected to deliver the presents; why the portal couldn't have just opened up in the person's house she simply wasn't sure, although at this point she figured there was enough surreal absurd events happening that one more unexplained oddity probably wasn't worth her time or attention; instead of focussing on those questions she walked over to the chimney and, stepping up to the portal into the house. She stepped forwards, dropping down the chute with a subtle puff.

A few moment's later and a stifled coughing fit later Rin stepped out into the house, a building decorated in, as she had suspected, the festive style native to the land of wind, though once again she caught glimpses of trinkets and traditions that had no doubt bled over from the land of fire. Walking up to the gorgeously decorated christmas tree with another sigh Rin let her burden fall to the ground, the odd "thunk" that it made seeming far deeper, as if the sound itself was being warped by whatever temporal manipulation was being used here. Pulling out one present after the other she began placing them under the tree, careful to at least leave them presentable before standing up again, wondering just how she was going to get out of here.

She was just about to reluctantly step over to the fireplace and begin climbing back up the chimney when a portal flickered open in the corner of her vision, one that sat glowing faintly through the doorway to what looked to be the kitchen. Shaking her head at the absurdity of a portal now opening within this house she strode forwards, moving to get into the portal and out of this house as quickly as possible. Instead as she reached the portal she found a sort of intangible barrier preventing her from entering, almost knocking her over as she walked into it. Stumbling back she shook her head wearily before angrily trying again; and again nothing. Now even more irked she looked around annoyed for some sort of clue as to how to get through this portal... which was when she saw the cookies and milk that sat on the bench.

Looking back at the portal incredulously she spoke her thoughts aloud for once, the sheer absurdity of the situation starting to get to her. "You have to be kidding me" she said glowering at the portal. Of course being a technique with no will of it's own the portal just sat their unmoving, and impossible to enter. After a few moments Rin realised she wasn't going to win this stare off, but she was still reluctant to indulge in such an absurd tradition; especially when she hated the taste of milk. Left with no other choice however Rin reluctantly picked up one of the cookies from the bench, lifting it to her lips and taking a reluctant bite. "There, good enough?" she asked going to step through the portal again.

The portal it seemed was unimpressed of course, it's intangible barrier remaining in place as it rebuked her attempts to enter. Rin could feel her blood boiling a little now but left with no recourse to remedy this other than simply fulfilling the odd techniques wishes she sighed and took another, much larger bite of the cookies, along with a large swig of the milk that had been sitting next to them. The taste was foul, at least to her, and she had to stop herself from throwing the rest of what she had just drunk back up again. Thankfully that seemed enough for the portal which allowed her to step through with a smile.


When she stepped through the portal she found herself back in santa's... bedroom? she wasn't really sure what to call it, but regardless she looked around for Emi, the Christmas Kringle still laying there in bed, his deep raspy voice speaking even as another portal opened up infront of her. "Your friend is currently dealing with another enemy if mine... or ours as it would seem, you may watch but I am afraid this enemy is strong enough to prevent any more interference from me than what i have already done." the voice said. Rin could feel her blood boil a little at that, so this had been the trick they had sensed coming though not it's reason. For some bizzare reason this st nick had chosen emi to fight some great enemy of his, and this had been all a ploy to achieve that. Still she was far to weak to do much and so reluctantly sat and watched. To her surprise despite the significant difference in power emi seemed to be holding her own, every time she was cut or took a blow the enemy seemed to weaken, until eventually Emi won.

WC: 5439
TWC: 14919
Missions completed
Claims and exit on next post

Mission Rewards:

WC Allocation Total Remaining WC: 5439

Rin
IC as Deputy kage of tanbo (for probably five minutes)
Vanish [3750/5000] +1250WC -> 5000/5000
Lie To Me (1875/2500) +625WC -> 2500/2500
Autosuggestion (1875/2500) + 625 -> 2500/2500
Black Hole (1125/2500) + 1375 -> 2500/2500
Genjutsu Amplifire - A Rank (1875/2500) + 625 -> 2500/2500
Demonic Illusion: Mirage Crow (1875/2500) + 625 -> 2500/2500
 Mist Servant Technique (292/500) +208 -> 500/500
Water Replacement (315/500) +106 -> 421/500

Vis
IC Jounin of Tanbo
8 Strength Stat (now max stats)

Codex
IC Jounin of Tanbo
15 Chakra Stat 
31 Vigor

Think this should all be right, please let me know if i messed anything up

Approved Rin and congrats on the promotion

Missions Complete:

Mission Name: Merry Christmas!
Reward: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
Mission Name: And A Happy New Year!
Reward: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
Mission Name: I Haven’t Even Started My New Year’s Resolution Yet!
Reward: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / Access to a unique boss event during the next event
Mission Name: Run The Gambit!
Reward: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1 “Mythical Item” of the player’s choice (excluding “Black Zetsu Cells”, Bijuu Tickets and LEs) OR 1x “Golden Ticket” (allows entry into the LE raffle)


Total:

44,000 Ryo, 10,000 WE Tickets, 2x Blank Dice, Access to Unique Boss, 60,000 from Kage stipend

Emi Tanaka wrote:Missions Complete:

Mission Name: Merry Christmas!
Reward: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
Mission Name: And A Happy New Year!
Reward: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
Mission Name: I Haven’t Even Started My New Year’s Resolution Yet!
Reward: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / Access to a unique boss event during the next event
Mission Name: Run The Gambit!
Reward: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1 “Mythical Item” of the player’s choice (excluding “Black Zetsu Cells”, Bijuu Tickets and LEs) OR  1x “Golden Ticket” (allows entry into the LE raffle)


Total:

44,000 Ryo, 10,000 WE Tickets, 2x Blank Dice, Access to Unique Boss, 60,000 from Kage stipend

Approved

It occurs to me that I forgot to specify whether I was claiming the Golden Ticket or the Mythic Item!

Claiming Forged Papers, NOT the Ticket (and therefore not entering the raffle).

Approved