NRPG Soaps Presents: The Equinox Gauntlet

Missions:

A snake in a snowstorm…

It sounded like the start line to a pun which doesn’t end well. Reptiles are ectothermic after all; cold blooded. They didn’t have the means like warm blooded creatures to properly regulate their inner body temperature. Thus the animals required the need for external factors to do this job for them. So, a snake in a snowstorm wouldn’t survive in the slightest. Winter’s extremely biting temperatures would gnash away at one of nature’s sneakiest marvels. But. It’s a good thing this is all metaphorically speaking. For it wasn’t an actual copperhead which had been traveling through one of many Jack Frost’s unpredictable snowy tempests.

No. For this venomous viper, was a kunoichi. A Viperis clan member. An assassin. Mikina of the Hidden Leaf. Mikina; luckily enough, was blessed to be a somewhat regular person, making her an aforementioned warm-blooded being. So, the cold didn’t bother her. Anyway. There she was. Walking through the serene downfall of solidified rain. What made it even more peaceful and calm, was there wasn’t a single noise to be heard. No crunching of a foot stepping against the frosted tip of the earth. Animals weren’t offering the calls or beckoning out with cries in the night. Everything was almost so in tune with one another to the point where someone could think that it was a dream. Surreal and encapsulating.

Almost as hypnotic as the way in which the Viperis vixen had carried herself. While the pace of the actual walk was so slow, it was still done so with a confidence. Truly, Mik didn’t have a clue as to where she was. But this could be seen as a potential weakness to others. So said feelings would be kept internalized, and instead, on the outside. Her aura would just exude with the same feelings denoted by the current atmosphere; cool and composed. Each step forward would cause the slightest of twitch within the clothing in which she wore. A ripple like effect. It would undulate outwards, up from the obsidian satin pants, and be drawn towards the mid section of her body before coming to a halt due to the lavender snakeskin belt which was drawn around her waist. As the arms would also stride to the same gait as the legs, a similar effect would breach the sleeves; consisted of the same cloth and color as the pants. The only other splotch of color currently residing within eyesight, would be the purple snake design which would slither up the spine on the back of the top.

Not the ideal kind of attire for being in a place such as this. But, Mikina lucked out earlier that day. She wouldn’t have expected being whisked away to this winter wonderland upon opening that one scroll. Even through the bitterness, she knew that her wits must stay about her. All the Kono nin would have to do was find a place to get warm. If it meant breaking into an abandoned house somewhere, who really cares? What mattered most would be to keep out of the chilling zephyrs for the time being. Casting her yellowish eyes upwards in an equally numbing slice, they’d see a cabin in the distance. There was a light echoing out from a window, but there was no door to the place. This must be the back of the house She thought. And looking around, there wasn’t any trace of anyone in the area…so perhaps it was time to test out her old skills?

WC: 587

Rin stood leaning on the porch railing of her cabin... or rather her hosts cabin, recovering from the days events and pondering how to deal with the latest problem. The snow storm her and Emi had managed to make their way through on their way into this little town had, up until today, receded to the distant borders of the plateau, the villagers had all assured the two of them that the storm would stay like that for well over a month, and yet here they were watching as the storm slowly receded inwards, back towards the village. The villagers had no idea how or why it was happening but Rin had her suspicions.

Glancing down at her limbless shoulder where her new serpentine friend was nested she couldn't help but consider the timing, earlier today she had ventured out to the storm wall borders and found the black scaled horned viper hidden amongst the snow, feasting upon whatever chakra fueled the storm... of course the chakra that fueled the storm was spread over such a wide area that it was relatively thin in any one given area and so the creature had much preferred feasting upon Rin's ambient chakra to the scraps it was able to gather out in the frigid cold of the plateau's borders... of course the little serpent hadn't been the only creature feasting upon the chakra of the storm so removing it shouldn't have caused this dramatic of a response, and to make matters worse Jean, one of the owners of the little cabin her and Emi had been staying in, had, once again, got himself lost in the oncoming storm.

Loathe as she was to head out into that blasted storm again she was, at least better equipped to do so this time, having had the time to browse through the markets scattered throughout this town, picking up an assortment of winter clothing she, vis, and codex, all had access to a wide array of coats, shoes, jackets, pants, and other thick winter clothing designed specifically for such an expedition. With a mental sigh she sent out a mental command to Vis and Codex, calling the two back to her even as she ran her fingers along a nearby pole, a small sliver of chakra drifting out from them and causing the air around them to ripple for a moment as space began to part under her will. Sensing a new food source the insatiable little creature that had, until now been nestling around the stump of her shoulder stirred and slithered across her back, coiling down her arm as it peaked out and began to lap at the edges of her little storage portal, leaching chakra off of rin's technique and into itself.

Rin watched the portal shudder and begin collapsing in on itself, as the serpent continued feasting, forcing Rin to draw on far more of her chakra than she should have to stabilize the technique. Frowning a little Rin made a mental note that she would have to find a way to dissuade the little critter from feeding on her techniques in the future, but for now she was on something of a time crunch. Reaching into her, now somewhat diminished portal she pulled out a trio of thick coats with an internal silver fox fur lining, its outer layer a thick hide that had been stuffed full of wool to help insulate their wearers even further. Throwing the coat over her body and buttoning the attire around herself she waited for her two mirror images to arrive. Passing them each a coat the group began to make their way towards the oncoming stormfront , codex exerting its sensory abilities to the fullest as it began searching for their lost host.

At least that was the intention, but as Rin's boots crunched into the snow she felt codex alerting her to something, an unknown chakra signature that was slowly making its way towards the rear of their small cabin retreat. Frowning slightly Rin sprung up onto the top of the cabin, facing in the direction of the oncoming individual, kneeling down to wait and watch with interest as she waited to see which newcomer the storm had brought this time.

WC:708

Slithering right up to the side of the house, the Copperhead of Konoha would press against it’s cold, wooden wall. The frame and structure tinged by white frost, creeping across the surface like small vines or veins. The window would be directly to her left, and with an ear placed right beside it…well; how odd…It was as quiet as a mouse inside. One would expect their to be some kind of noise being this close to the holidays, especially in a fleeting storm of ice and snow. But, on the bright side, it did mean that either no one was inside, or whoever was, was asleep. Giving Mikina the perfect opportunity to slip inside.

Slightly leaning in, the kunoichi would quickly take a glance into the house…just as she thought. Nothing. As she’d pull back however, there was a slight change within the sounds upon the wind. Laughter mixed with small, playground taunts. Miniscule insults at worst, witty and sarcastic jests at best. And this. Well it made Miki pause in the moment. To live like how she did in the past; secluded and alone. Or move onto a better future amongst those who she could laugh alongside of? Sighing, the ultimatum only had one true and clear choice.

Mikina Viperis would run off in the direction which she heard the voices call from. Using it to guide through a somewhat misty haze. Somewhat being the keyword here. The current weather didn’t fully obscure one’s vision, but it would make things slightly difficult for the average person. Luckily though, where her destination ended up being, was under a massive cloister of trees. All positioned evenly space from one another, there stood a total of 8 of them in an octagonal shape. They were all positioned in a way so that way their branches and foliage would act as a cover on all sides, but not from above. This was enough to do the trick however, for it was now made obvious that the zephyrs played the nastiest part in that little bit of the storm.

Within the grove, 6 people could be seen, playing about amongst themselves. They seemed to have been divided into two sides, amongst all of them the youngest looked to be about 12 or 13, with the oldest probably 17, maybe 18. They all appeared to be of one family, whether through shared blood or just a common bond of being home with one another. The Viperis nin knew this was something to be true, being an orphan growing up taught her that one didn’t need to have the same lineage in order to consider themselves family. Both sides were 5 meters apart from one another, and 2 meters in front of both groups, a single, perfectly circular ball of snow was mounted against the earth.

Now being closer, their conversation seemed to be more clear. They were making remarks on who would build the better snowman. Every person seemingly upping the last snide comment thrown in their direction with one of their own. Until, they would all simultaneously become hushed. Their voices completely silent. It seemed that Miki’s presence hadn’t gone unnoticed, as all six were now staring right at her. A tension arose, as she couldn’t tell if she had startled them or what. But, one would smile, breaking through the metaphorical ice. With one hand, said person would also then wave her over.

WC: 570
TWC: 1157

Vibrant and piercing lemony-lime orbs would be casted back in the direction of that group. They would come to a rest upon the man that was doing the hand gesture. He was tall and lean. Blonde hair, no wait. Dirty blonde from the looks of it, maybe even tinged with an extremely light red; potentially giving way to them actually being strawberry blonde. At this distance, it was hard to tell, but they certainly weren’t as red as a ginger. That much was for certain. Albeit, they wore a thick fur coat. One of the many common forms seen by most of the villagers residing within Snow Country. A neutral color, typically wolven in nature but there was a difference for this one. It was possibly mink, or some other smaller creature. The coat itself wasn’t necessarily patchwork, but it was fairly obvious that it wasn’t just a single panel of fur draped over the man.

Hesitantly though, the Viperis would start to meander silently and somewhat begrudgingly through the snow and over to the group. Each step felt like a slow slog which time would seem to deliberately drag out. A second would feel like a minute as the soft crunch from the sound of the foot making contact with the ground would be made. A minute felt like 10; there was no passing wind which blew through the area, making all the noise that much louder since there was nothing else to be drowning out the otherwise relatively quiet footfall. But eventually, within that minute, if that even, although it had felt like a whole journey had been underwent throughout the expeditious process in joining up with the 6 of them, Miki would find herself standing amongst them all; only to be greeted by a mixture of over joyous smiles and the occasional giggle from some of them. The giggles made it known that they didn’t get many visitors in this neck of the woods, especially around this time of year. It was all the same nonetheless. None of the laughter was a vicious cacophony of belittling prods and pokes. Said sound was actually quite welcomed in the ears of Miki.

But, before she could get too lost within this shared feeling of a jittery happiness presented by youthful bliss, the same man who had waved her over started to talk with a gruff tone. There was an accent to the words. Heavy and whatever the opposite of posh was. Not quite something which would be seen as shoddy, but it was a far cry from being something that people would denote as being prim and proper. ”Right, so, us lot- well. We were just about to take on a few contests love, if you have a care to join us. The first being a snowman building contest, on deck we had a snowball fight between the teams. Lastly, see that pole right over yonder.” And then moving his right arm so it would be pointed in a straight line directly behind him; the same hand clutching onto a few of it’s fingers in a way to where only the index and middle finger had been outstretched to give the point, he’d gesture towards where the previously mentioned pole was standing. Still, I mean, it was an inanimate object after all, and stationary, it’s red and white stripes spiraling all across it’s side until it would come to it’s culmination where a single lamp had made the top of the post. Unlit, and it’s iron hinges certainly being frozen shut due to the sheer nature of the frigid temperatures.

While keeping the arm resting in that position, he’d continue on to say ”Well, the last one is the most interesting. Gotta save the best for last after all, ain’t that right bruv.” A raucous giggle would break out between the other five as he’d sort of nudge one of them standing next to himself. ”But, I digress, if you can remove your tongue from the frozen pole as we call it, you get some Ryo. As a kunoichi, I’d assume that suits your interests, as much as it does ours. So what say you?” And it had all happened relatively quickly to be quite honest. Through all the blundering talk, Mikina had almost lost her train of thought. But, what else did she have to do. It would keep her busy, plus the constant movement back and forth should help keep her warm. So, flashing a cold yet light hearted stare at each and every single one of them. Gleaming their body language to try and gather any more intel. Seeing the little puppy dog eyes some of them would give…it was settled practically. ”Well, enough with the talking then. Let’s get this over with.”

A few more people would have joined by this point. All of them sporting the same headbands as one another. Headbands which proudly showed that they were from the village residing within Fire Countries neighbor, Rice Country; with the aptly named Tanbogakure as it’s main settlement there. This helped out a lot by ensuring that the teams would be made even throughout these little trials and tribulations, and while some may not originally think it. The Copperhead knew that numbers could mean everything in battles such as this, no matter how trifling or metaphorical the battle actually was. Having any bit of extra help, was extra help. Any less help than that given to an opposing side would certainly have been shown had that been the case. Luckily enough though, it wasn’t.

So, immediately getting things underway, the young viper would start to assist in building the snowman. She’d specifically be tasked with ensuring that the snowman was made with precision. Being a weaponry specialist, the woman had liked to think of herself as someone who had a fine knack for paying attention to small and rather finite details. This would be on full display as she’d immediately get to work smoothing out what was being formed by the rest of the group. Her small hands would patiently rub across the porcelain colored blobs. Smoothing them out, getting rid of any potential bumps, rumps, and lumps. Each and every single finger being maneuvered in such a way to where they worked in tandem with the last to get that overtly pristine shape that immediately comes to someone’s mind when they think of building these types of non living golems.

Once it would all 3 spheres of the snowman had been fully freshed out, each one delicately placed on top of the next, each one also successfully being smaller than the last, it truly was starting to all come together. All that was next, was the details. There was devil in the details, as some would say. First up, Mikina would carve out the edges. Specifically around the middle one. This was done to make sure it didn’t just end up being 3 mounds smooshed together to form one. It’s appearance was firm with the way it had been created, giving it that extra annunciation that each ball was it’s own individual one, the three just happened to be stacked one over the other. After that, she worked out other intricacies. Fashioning small hands made from twigs, two giant eyes from two loose buttons that the youngest offered up from their jacket. A nose that consisted of more snow, even down to two small clumps which resembled ears. She even went the extra mile in making the center snow ball appear as if it was also designed to give it a jacket like appearance. Taking a step back, Miki along with the rest of her group, whoever may be in it, would take a look at their masterpiece in awe.

Moving right along to the next task, taking her respective team’s side, it was time for a good old fashioned snowball fight. One which would turn out to be rather merry and lively. The leader looking dude would give a short countdown to get things underway for them all. Taking action the instant he reached one, she’d proceed to duck and weave amongst the 4 others that were on her side of the battleground. Matching pace with the other nin on the field, she knew exactly who to throw for first. Grabbing a handful of the white powder, she’d start making a handful of snowballs. Placing them all in two different piles, one on each side. Set and ready to just bend down and start going haywire with throws. The first shot would be hers, and Mikina would be thrilled in doing so by taking aim at one of the opposing nin. Whether it hit or not, wasn’t entirely made clear. For as soon as she threw it, she found herself having to leap out of the way of an oncoming projectile from one of the others. A near miss. They’d all go back and forth in this way for a few minutes, before slowly, one by one they’d all be knocked out. Whether from tapping out from exhaustion, or just overall being eliminated.

After the last person who was remaining, whoever that may be, declared the dub for their team, all of them within the clearing would then proceed to their final contest. The frozen pole. While it was as cold as her heart sometimes, the blondish kunoichi knew it was best to not go first in this scenario. Sometimes, it was better to be one of the people to take the last few attempts, just to see how everyone else would do when going at it. Low and behold, the first 4 of the original group members were all unsuccessful in doing what needed to be done; their tongues had all frozen onto the pole. Turning to one of them, she’d say ”So…say I get 2 of them unstuck from the pole…could that possibly count instead?” And while those stuck wouldn’t be able to actually move their heads, their eyes would wonder to their leader who just shrugged a bit. ”Sure, I don’t see why not.” So, seeing as the go ahead had been given, she’d whisper in the ears of the two who were her teammates, telling them to warmly breath through their mouths. The heat presented by it would naturally thaw off the frost from only the area directly around where they specifically had gotten stuck; allowing for those two to, in turn, remove themselves from the pole.

Once everyone was safely off of it, two adults would come into view, calling out to the six who were there first. ”It’s time to go home y’all! That’s enough fun for tonight.” But it seemed, as if those two interests had been piqued at the four others, Miki already included in that number, who had been there as well. Because quietly, and calmly, one of them would walk over as the six would walk away; pulling the four to the side. The lady would politely ask that the four of them undergo some more things. Average shinobi missions no less. But it was a quick and easy way to make some money, so Mikina would gladly oblige in assisting where needed. The older woman would inform them of a thief who’s been going around the village and stealing everyone’s presents, trees (ornaments included), and other Christmas decorations! Amongst those things, was a very limited edition toy in which she had planned on giving to her one kid, but unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as just swiftly going to the store to get a new one. To make matters even worse, her husband had gone missing amongst the chaos of the storm. She claimed that he had went out with a group his friends to the local bar, but never returned. She’d give the location of one of the friend’s houses for them to check there first as well as a description of her husband and the trio of friends he had set off with. If they weren’t still stuck at the bar due to the lockdown which had been placed after they all left, they would have gone there she said, since it was the closest house in proximity to the other building.

As long as the others would agree to aide in this, the four of them would then set off to this house. It was one located in a wealthier area of town. Everything her, seemed relatively unscathed from the robber or robbers as well. For the most part that was at least. It appeared as if whoever was conducting these thefts had actually been in the area recently, for fresh prints could be made out coming from only a few of the houses. This was quite odd considering that things were supposed to be on lockdown. But. Leading the way, Mikina would take a step onto the porch, and look through the window. Her snake like eyes not noticing any signs of life coming from within. If no one there had already gone to do so, she’d immediately head towards the front door to give the doorknob a little jiggle. Unlocked. How convenient. ”Here, let’s go inside. We can keep warm a bit. Maybe if we’re lucky, even be able to catch the person who was going about knicking everything from the citizens.”

Entering into the building, everything was dark. The only light given was that of the moon shining in through the windows. Something only fleeting though. Mikina would set up a makeshift fire in the fireplace, to give some heat and furthermore, some brightness to that room at least. And while the light would extend into the neighboring rooms of that house, it wouldn’t travel far enough to fully illuminate the place. However, through the roar of the starting flames, noise could be heard outside. Drunken rambling and somewhat devious laughs rang through from outside. It grew louder and louder by the second. Whoever it was, was drawing closer and closer to the place. She’d draw attention to her fellow mission takers to alert them on this matter had they not already been aware of it. Taking a quick peak out the window, she’d see a total of four people. All wearing black ski masks over their faces. They must have been the people stealing all the stuff, for each of them had carried a giant black sac that was slung over their shoulders.

Knowing that they would have to act as this group would draw near, and do so fast, the vixen would motion for them all to set up some traps. They could all take on one of the group members, and they needn’t actually be confrontational about it. An element of surprise could be added to the mix. They could set up some traps using whatever they could find within the house. She’d suggest that they all take a certain area of the house, with Mikina poising herself around the upper landing. Being someone who was relatively used to these kinds of tactics, she could easily jury rig a trip wire at the top of the stairs. It was designed, so that way, once triggered, it would release a wooden board which would come flying off from one of the doors to a bedroom which had been situated right near it all. And once this had been successfully set, it all came down to a waiting game.

The front door would open shortly after, with the four belligerent men all waltzing inside as if they had owned the place. From her hiding place, this would cause Mikina to slight scoff. How typical. But, immediately, the four would be somewhat aware that they weren’t alone in the house as they immediately saw something, their eyes growing wide. Whether this was just the fire that had been newly lit within the fireplace, or one of the others from Tanbo, it was yet to be seen. What was seen though, was one of the four motioning for them to remain quiet, and they’d all promptly spread out. One would start to ascend the staircase, and from her hiding position, the snake lied in wait. Ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

In quick succession, the trap would be successfully sprung. The person who tripped it would look down, mumbling ”Oh, shi-“ As they had realized what was happening. And then bam! They were knocked across the sternum with the wooden board as the door flew open from the wire being triggered, and they’d take a bit of a tumble back all the way to the bottom landing. Before she could jump on down to unmask who it was, Miki looked up and into the room that had now opened and there was…a bunch of Christmas trees inside…? And wrapped gifts…? Wait a minute…Something was off about this. Answers were needed.

Once she’d hear things which would act as a confirmation to the others being similarly knocked out by whatever traps had been laid from them, the former Konoha orphan wouldn’t even bother to take the stairs to get down. She’d just simply jump down over the bannister, landing with her foot positioned right between the guy’s legs. Had he still been conscious, which a flinch from the otherwise motionless body showed to be true, it would be made clear that she could have easily…taken out his manhood in that one fell swoop. But made the active decision not to. The fall backwards should’ve been enough to make their message loud and clear. Their thievery ended here. Without asking questions, Mikina Viperis would reach for the mask and pulled it off the intruder to reveal…

It was the husband!?!? What!? In a total twist of events, it had apparently been him and his friends who were doing the stealing all along! He would even go on to admit that he stole the things from his own house, making mentions that they all were down on their luck and in need of the money! He thought it was better to be able to just eat and survive, and that he had several years in his childhood where he went presentless on some Christmases, so why shouldn’t his kids do the same sometimes? Miki however wouldn’t even feel the need to explain how problematic this was, a solemn and stern look, biting, but not furious was enough to do that job. It was very much a look of, ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed’ kind of thing. A part of her could sympathize. Yet the other part knew that this was still wrong. Seeing this, the husband would look up, and softly say ”I…I’m sor- *hiccup* -ry. We’re druunk and hahd dis shtopid idear. I guess, we woulv got ten way wih it to, if it wernt fer yous kids. Buuuuu- *hiccup* -t, I promise thish won happen agan! You half me words!”

Mikina would wait at the door, gathering all the toys that had been stolen by the robbers, as well as placing a firm grip on the man’s arms behind his back. He would most likely have a lot of explaining to do to his wife once he got back to her. Leaving that to now be the only thing in which they had to do. Once Miki would meet up with the three others which had joined in on the mission, she’d scan them over them all, before stating. ”Well, that about sorts things out luckily enough. There’s a room on the second floor with all the things that they had been taking. Grab as much as you can. I have the toy which the woman wanted, and obviously, her husband.” This was the moment when she’d physically shake the man slightly to indicate that it was him within her grasp. ”All we have to do now is return everything and everyone safely, then that should be it!”

Which is exactly what they’d go about doing once everyone was all ready to do so.

WC: 3337
TWC: 4494
WC made to fulfill the missions once, any after this post made is just used to reduce WC needed for Rin! Post has also been made with OOC permission from Rin due to the potential of needing to claim dice rolls before the event ends, and to further explain how the missions go down, from Jingle All the Way to Home Alone have all been combined to solve in one go, see final few paragraphs for specific details on how.

Mid Thread Claims:

24k Ryo (base x 2 for Beloved Presence)= 48k Ryo
120 AP (base x 2 for Beloved Presence)= 240 AP
6000 Equinox Tickets
1 Full Dice (d10)
1 Crescent Dice (d6)

Will be making WC claims at the end!

Mikina Viperis wrote:
Mid Thread Claims:

24k Ryo (base x 2 for Beloved Presence)= 48k Ryo
120 AP (base x 2 for Beloved Presence)= 240 AP
6000 Equinox Tickets
1 Full Dice (d10)
1 Crescent Dice (d6)

Will be making WC claims at the end!

Mid-Thread claims Approved for Mikina!

[exit]
708 towards 

526 towards Nature Chakra Prof Vis 974-> 1500/1500 MSD
182 towards codex Mystic Palm MSD

Approved

[Thread Exit]

Claims:
With the 5202 total WC accumulated between both me and Rin, completing the C and B rank Missions (required WC would be 5000)

1125 words to Temple Style: Discovery of an Incomplete Truth, completing it using 25% max stat discount for B Rank
1875 words to make a Chakra Bonding Katana, using the Blacksmithing Skill w/ 25% max stat discount
750 words to Sakura: First Step, completing it w/ 25% max stat discount