Like Snow to a Pole

I Triple Dog Dare You!:

Jingle All The Way:

Out and about, enjoying a simple stroll through the village as one would do from time to time, Akaboshi experienced a déjà vu or at least something close to it. The Nova Captain came to a sudden halt, a familiar and similar situation happening in front of him, albeit slightly different from the day before. Whereas that one involved a young child looking to build a snowman, this one pertained something else. "What do we have here?" he asked aloud, witnessing a rather peculiar sight. As he walked closer to get a better view of the current circumstances, Akaboshi noticed a person who had their tongue frozen to a pole.

He couldn't help but let out a small sigh, rubbing his temples as to describe the figurative headache he got from witnessing the view. "So far for enjoying a nice walk around the village" the Captain voiced upon approaching the young man who ended up getting himself attached to a pole in a not so pleasant manner. "Let me guess, a dare gone wrong?". With his tongue completely frozen the poor fool was unable to produce any sound, at least not ones that sounded close to anything a human would make. Regardless of the why or how of the situation, Akaboshi knew he couldn't exactly leave the man like that.

The Red Nova made his way to one of the stalls closeby, asking for a small cup of tea to help the man get out of the sticky situation. When he returned, Akaboshi carefully poured the liquid onto the pole and the stranger's tongue, slowly heating up the surface. It only took a couple of minutes before the unfortunate person was able to come loose and escape from the predicament he found himself in. "There, you're a free man again". He was met with an awkward bow, the individual he helped showing more than enough how grateful he was, asking what he could do to repay him. 

Akaboshi would usually pay no mind to that sort of comment, but this time he couldn't help but wait a moment to reply as his mind wandered back to earlier that day. During his walk, he was stopped by a mother of three young boys who had no time to spare, looking for a certain toy she could gift them for the upcoming holiday. Unfortunately it appeared that it had already been sold out, but fortunately it seemed that the man he just saved had just what he was looking for. "I'll take that toy in return for helping you, do we have a deal?". And that's how the Nova Captain was able to return to the mother and her oldest child, bringing a smile to their faces when they noticed he brought the popular toy the son wanted to receive so bad.

And with that all's well that ends well, Akaboshi's sign to finally return home and begin festivities of his own. After all, even the Nova Captain deserved some holiday spirit. 

(Exit)

(TWC: 500)
Claims:
- 500 towards mastering Rashomon
- Mission rewards (4000 + 20.000 Master bonus + 1000 AP conversion ryo, 1000 Winter Equinox Tickets)

An unknown area unlike any place he had been before yet familiar. His travels once took him to the Land of Iron where he was surrounded by snow during his hunts, but now he had been in a village of sorts. Small streams of breath and steam left his lips as he continued to walk forward trying to gain some traction in his current whereabouts, but nothing came to mind. Many of the people here had been merry and going along their way, children running about or playing in the snow that warranted the Demon to smile softly. Maybe the first smile in months from him. Either way he would continue to walk forward before being stopped by a woman. She had seemed frantic though her disposition at the current moment did not matter to him. Iscarot was about to push her to the side until she spoke," Pleas! I beg of your assistance. My eldest child wants this toy and it is no longer found in the stores...Will you help?," to which the male had pondered his course of action. She had approached the male on the pretense that he would stop what he had been doing to assist her, but in all reality he had no real reason to. Though that sentiment kept tugging at his mind. The Father Dragon. The only part of him that had remained of his Pendragon self. Sighing he would run his hands through his silver hair which would glide just past his horns," Fine. Because you said this was for a child. Stay here," where he would walk off while hearing her thanking him.

She had nothing to thank him for.

Iscarot walked silently for a moment looking from store to store until something had stood out to him. He had noticed the individual who had been near the pole, but the male who had been there had an aura he was familiar with. The aura of a dragon. Walking over he would be able to see that the unknown individual had been assisting someone stuck to a pole with their tongue. A small clicking sound would escape the lips of the Demon as he reached for a small knife was produced from behind his kimono," Silly fool. Who would stick their tongue on an object that has no reason to be licked. Stand still we might be able to." but he would have stopped once Akaboshi had found a solution that did not involve the individual losing a few layers of skin. Holstering the knife he would see that the male had also been here for the gift as well. As he was about to walk off, Iscarot would interject for just a moment." It would seem we were both on the same path. Very well. It seems you have this taken care of. May we meet again, Ye Dragon of Mystery," though he wouldn't interrupt Akaboshi any longer, he would take in his appearance for if there was another time they would meet, he could recognize him.

507 WC

Mission rewards (4000 Ryo, 20 AP, 5 Stats and 1000 Winter Equinox Tickets)

507 Words toward Red Oni, Blue Oni 507/2000

Once again, Baliquis had no choice but to sneak out of the Temple to go about among the people. She had no official reason nor business doing so, but she needed that permission to leave free outside of how she had been: which was sneaking out via some boards she had gotten loose with patience, time, and a claw hammer. How curious that she needed to go to such lengths when someone could just as easier given her mission to move about freely and with purpose, but clearly, that was too much for Baliquis to ask or even hope for; what a pity. Her trying to keep calm about it didn't help either.

Either way, now she was in the streets of this place as she had been many times before recently, and as she wandered, she heard a bit of a commotion and looked over to see a significant ground of people- no, children- had gathered around in ring around a tall lamp pole. The ring was two or three bodies deep and quickly formed a ‘bullseye’ formation where the pole was in the middle; there was a space between the pole and the outer ring of onlookers and then the rest of the village. Thankfully with Baliquis’s height, she could see that the children were gathered around two or three other children who did not seem willing to leave the aforementioned pole.

She looked around as she made her way over to the group and saw that though there were adults nearby, they were there with their own children or shopping in the nearby stores, and no one seemed to be paying attention to the children or their obsession with this pole. No one was stepping in of more than academy student age but her. That… was unsetting. Either way, as she came to the outer rim of the thick ring, a few of the children noticed and whipped around, then stared up at her as she towered over them. Baliquis looked down and gave them a sharp look, to which the children who did see her quietly and discreetly pulled away from the ring. Still, she looked ahead afterward to see-

The three children who were close to the pole were only close to it because they were fucking stuck after putting their little tongues against the pole and the cold freezing the tongues to the pole’s surface.

Were all children so fucking stupid?

Thankfully one child had gotten free while Baliquis was trying to understand the situation mentally. She gently moved the children out of her way to make her way over to the pole and sighed when she got to the pole. What to do? The two stuck children looked up at her as she tried to think of how to resolve this situation- then it dawned on her.

Perhaps her hydrifcation abilities could assist? Yes…that seemed like a good answer until she realized she would need warm water to help the children unstick themselves and not damage their tongues.

To test and see if her body temperature was adequate enough to help, she looked at the pole with a small amount of frost on it and wrapped her hand around the pole, just about where their heads were. That alone melted the frost off, and she put her hand squarely against the metal. She smiled and began the process of putting her hand through the hydrification technique, and as her hand turned to water and she pulled more from the air thanks to her natural affinity to do so, the water poured down the rest of the pole and moved over the children’s tongues. It held enough warmth to unstick them from the pole, and the children hastily pulled away once freed while Baliquis solidified her hand.

“Wow!” One exclaimed, and another slurred, “Thank you, big lady.” The ring of children groaned and quickly dispersed now that they had lost their source of entertainment. She nodded politely to the boys as their mother appeared nearby and called out for them to come over. They haphazardly thanked her but more or less ran off, and Baliquis smirked before making her own way back to the temple.

[ TWC: 701 ]

Claims:

Baliquis wrote:Once again, Baliquis had no choice but to sneak out of the Temple to go about among the people. She had no official reason nor business doing so, but she needed that permission to leave free outside of how she had been: which was sneaking out via some boards she had gotten loose with patience, time, and a claw hammer. How curious that she needed to go to such lengths when someone could just as easier given her mission to move about freely and with purpose, but clearly, that was too much for Baliquis to ask or even hope for; what a pity. Her trying to keep calm about it didn't help either.

Either way, now she was in the streets of this place as she had been many times before recently, and as she wandered, she heard a bit of a commotion and looked over to see a significant ground of people- no, children- had gathered around in ring around a tall lamp pole. The ring was two or three bodies deep and quickly formed a ‘bullseye’ formation where the pole was in the middle; there was a space between the pole and the outer ring of onlookers and then the rest of the village. Thankfully with Baliquis’s height, she could see that the children were gathered around two or three other children who did not seem willing to leave the aforementioned pole.

She looked around as she made her way over to the group and saw that though there were adults nearby, they were there with their own children or shopping in the nearby stores, and no one seemed to be paying attention to the children or their obsession with this pole. No one was stepping in of more than academy student age but her. That… was unsetting. Either way, as she came to the outer rim of the thick ring, a few of the children noticed and whipped around, then stared up at her as she towered over them. Baliquis looked down and gave them a sharp look, to which the children who did see her quietly and discreetly pulled away from the ring. Still, she looked ahead afterward to see-

The three children who were close to the pole were only close to it because they were fucking stuck after putting their little tongues against the pole and the cold freezing the tongues to the pole’s surface.

Were all children so fucking stupid?

Thankfully one child had gotten free while Baliquis was trying to understand the situation mentally. She gently moved the children out of her way to make her way over to the pole and sighed when she got to the pole. What to do? The two stuck children looked up at her as she tried to think of how to resolve this situation- then it dawned on her.

Perhaps her hydrifcation abilities could assist? Yes…that seemed like a good answer until she realized she would need warm water to help the children unstick themselves and not damage their tongues.

To test and see if her body temperature was adequate enough to help, she looked at the pole with a small amount of frost on it and wrapped her hand around the pole, just about where their heads were. That alone melted the frost off, and she put her hand squarely against the metal. She smiled and began the process of putting her hand through the hydrification technique, and as her hand turned to water and she pulled more from the air thanks to her natural affinity to do so, the water poured down the rest of the pole and moved over the children’s tongues. It held enough warmth to unstick them from the pole, and the children hastily pulled away once freed while Baliquis solidified her hand.

“Wow!” One exclaimed, and another slurred, “Thank you, big lady.” The ring of children groaned and quickly dispersed now that they had lost their source of entertainment. She nodded politely to the boys as their mother appeared nearby and called out for them to come over. They haphazardly thanked her but more or less ran off, and Baliquis smirked before making her own way back to the temple.

[ TWC: 701 ]

Claims:

Approved for everyone up to here due to a fourth joining the mission eventually

Ah the winter season, how awful for a time it was for someone who could freely manipulate her body in order to keep up with all of the weather and temperature changes within the area. Ryumi felt snug inside of her outfit, the bitter cold stabbing into her muscles, allowing her to feel that nice soreness once again on her skin. She felt as though it was very much easy to get lost inside of this sea of wonder and joy across the entire snowy little village that Hoshigakure was visiting along with everyone else. However she had at least met up with a few different individuals in order to help them with the tasks involved throughout the day. Her mission catalog was a bit strange… People were really getting their tongues stuck to a pole? Can that even happen? She’d have to see for herself when the time comes and she has someone with a pot of warm water to pour all over her tongue. Ryumi was more focused on the second mission than the first, as she was practically forced to try and steal a toy from someone else if she wanted to satisfy this mother and her three kids and a toy. A mother trying to help her child out… it hit her way too hard in the gut for her to not just try and help out. However, instead of stealing it from an unsuspecting boy or girl that happened to have the toy, she knew exactly where someone would have a huge supply of them.

People known as scalpers were rude, deranged, and very egotistical, and can get very aggressive, something that Ryumi was banking on for her next phase involved in her plan. She knew that a scalper would be in the area selling these toys for inflated prices in an attempt to make a quick buck or try and get something out of someone. The muscled up girl had seen much in her life already, and the one thing that she despised was those who took advantage of others for their own gains. Ryumi instead focused directly on where she was able to find one, a woman who was offering them for three times the initial pricing of the toy. Her hand clasped around the bridge of her nose. These people really had the nerve to try and pull something like that on people, what a sick joke it was for the christmas season.

So Ryumi decided to get a bit creative with her own powers, using the art of advanced transformation from within her own clan. She was able to shrink herself to be almost like a dwarf in size. Reaching barely up to two and a half feet, the small girl immediately dashed towards where that pile of action figures were. Snatching up three for the mother and her children, it was that of someone who looked like a captain, a falcon motif was for the action figure surrounding them, and the best part was all of them were in different colors for each of the children to play with. The women who had been scalping the prices screamed for someone to run after the child, however Ryumi was already dashing around buildings and street corners, gradually returning to her original size. She loved the rush, the pumping of her heart as she expected people to follow her back to the area. To which she saw that a massively tall woman was helping three other kids with getting their tongues unstuck, along with Akaboshi chilling near the area as well. Ryumi could only give a massive smile. Running towards another mother and gifting her the three action figures.

WC:617
6000 Ryo(+2000 Genin Bonus). +26 AP  |(1000 Equinox Tickets)
Expansion: Oliphant: 617/1750

Approved for Ryumi