The Shinobi and the Lion [P; Hiroshi and Ryouma]

MIssion Link

Otoko woke to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He had set a timer for the coffee pot to start brewing at six in the morning so he wouldn’t have to worry about getting off to a slow start today. The aroma wafted around him like a nice hug and tugged him out of bed and into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup and enjoyed it on his balcony as he watched the sun rise, something he found himself doing more and more often. His clock buzzed at him letting him know it was six thirty and he had thirty minutes to get showered and ready before he needed to leave for the day to make sure he made it to the preserve on time. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and rinsed his mug off before putting it in the sink to dry off. He headed to the shower to turn it on and brushed his teeth while he was waiting for the water to warm up enough so he wasn’t taking a cold shower. When he finished brushing his teeth he hopped in the shower only making sure to wash the dirty and give his head a good scrubbing. He hopped out of the shower as well and dried off quickly before heading to his closet and grabbing his outfit for the day, no surprise but he wore his usual garb, hat included. He donned his typical weapon array and went to grab a banana and a muffin so he could have some breakfast to scarf down on his way to the preserve.

Otoko heard the buzz of his second alarm indicating that it was now seven and time for him to hit the road or risk being late. While there wasn’t much of a chance of him being late as he was leaving thirty minutes before he needed to arrive, it was always his policy to be safe rather than sorry. He finished up the last bite of his banana and bounded out the door ensuring it was locked behind him before fully taking off to get his mission started. Otoko quickly made his way to the front doors of his apartment complex greeting his next door neighbor who was returning from his morning run as he was exiting the building. The fresh air hit Otoko and he took a deep breath in as he thought to himself that today was going to be an amazing day. His mission today was taking him to one of his favorite places in Hoshi, the Tachibana Wildlife Reserve, a place he had spent many an hour walking and enjoying the natural beauty of the reserve. His task today was to find a way to calm and heal one of the endangered species of the Tachibana Wildlife Reserve as it had fallen ill. This species was critically endangered and if the beast couldn’t be healed it would be a grave loss. This mission would prove itself to be extremely difficult as the creature was about twenty feet tall. However, he would not be alone in this endeavor and that gave him some comfort, he wasn’t sure who he would be paired with, but was certain they would both be capable shinobi.

Otoko neared the entrance to the reserve and was about ten minutes early, it appeared he was the first to arrive. The Tachibana Reserve was on the north side of the village and not too close to some of the residential areas so he wasn’t surprised that he was the first as he lived closer to the preserve than most. He walked over to the exterior fence of the reserve and looked over the vast expanse of forest that had been claimed as the reserve so many years ago. He was in awe of the forest almost every time he laid his eyes upon its beautiful green trees. He waited there by the fence for his two comrades to arrive, hoping they would be there soon.

[WC: 669/1600]

A sigh escaped his lips as he sat down the hammer and looked out into the silent lobby of the forge. Not a soul in sight but that could be because they were currently closed due to inventory and clean up. Ryouma had honestly been bored since his father had retreated into the inner sanctum of the forge, and his sister had simply been working her hardest to fill the shoes of the business from another standpoint. In his mind this was a test for them to grow on their own and to become their own people. Their father had seen potential in both of them, enough to where he had believed that their growth would go into new heights exponentially if they found their own way. Whether that was the case or not Ryouma would not know because he honestly would not ask Morio, but he however would find out in time as the days went by. Since business was not going to be conducted today he figured he would go out and do one of those missions the other shinobi of the village did. Donning his white Kimono the Blue Wyrm would strap to his back his "Uncles" sword Hiramekairi and on his side, Cassian as he tied his hair up and left out of the shop. Remembering one key thing he would turn on his heels and yell into the shop," Reimei i'm heading out for a bit. Make sure Niddy doesn't throw a fit and burn the shop down," to which a loud roar from the elden dragon. A laugh escaped the white haired male's mouth before closing the door and heading over to gather a mission for the day. He knew that he needed to go to the university? That was what he had overheard from his father, but not knowing exactly what that meant he wandered around for a bit asking some of the on duty shinobi before finally being directed to the right area.

Walking into the building he would begin to look around for a few missions that would fit his particular skills and fortunately he did. There had been one that had required a medic. He was a "medic". Taking the mission scroll he would head over to the Tachibana Reserve to meet up with the rest of the mission takers, though he knew there would be no one that he would recognize. He didn't know anyone after all. He would take his time to arrive to the massive forest entrance and once he did he would see two others already there. Someone with a hat and a red head. Interesting combination for sure. He would approach them until he had been 2 meters from them and cross his arms," I assume you two are the ones waiting for a medic to join the mission to subdue and mend the beast within the forest. Well that will be me. Ryouma. Let's get this over with shall we?," he'd wait for them to respond with any questions before going in.

508 WC

Otoko had gotten lost in his thoughts, as he gazed upon the forest, thinking of how they could go about this mission and try to ensure the animals safety. A familiar voice broke Otoko from his trance, he turned to greet his comrade, "Howdy Hiroshi, good to see you again and that is correct, sake bonds are of the utmost importance!" Otoko returned the red haired man's grin and offered up his hand for a shake and to complete the greeting. "I am glad there will be someone I know on this mission, it tends to make things easier." As Otoko was about to begin talking to Hiroshi about the mission an unfamiliar presence approached them and introduced themselves, Otoko turned his attention to Ryouma and greeted him with a smile and a tip of his hat. "Howdy Ryouma, thanks for joining us today we will really be in need of your services."

With the whole team here Otoko thought it was the perfect time to devise a strategy before embarking on this mission. Otoko positioned himself to be equidistant from his two teammates and kneeled down to the ground. "So here is what I was thinking, when we arrive at the beast's location I can create a circle of trees around him with my wood release to keep him contained in a particular area. After that if he proves to be difficult to deal with I can attempt to pin him down in the hope that it makes it easier to heal him properly. Hiroshi, I was thinking you could provide a distraction for me while I attempt to contain him and then pin him down if necessary while Ryouma does the healing for us. Any thoughts or concerns regarding my idea?"

Otoko would wait and listen for either his teammates to raise a concern with his plan, as he wasn't usually one to make the plans. He decided to try something different since he was finally working on a team as he tended to just go with the flow and make a plan on the go when it was necessary. That type of thinking usually did not help in mission situations with more than himself though as he wanted this mission to go well due to its importance. If anyone did have any objections, he would hear them out and agree with whatever the team wanted to do. Once a decision was made Otoko would head out with his team, entering the Tachibana Forest Preserve and heading to the last known location of the beast. When they arrive there he will begin searching the area for any animal sign and then prints in the ground as for what direction they might need to head.

[WC: 1125/1600]

So the two did know each other in some way and that made this either awkward or easier on him. He would not have to worry about everyone being new to another. Even better that they had a semblance of each others abilities which meant that this would at least be a little more streamlined. As the trio walked, Ryouma would be silent as usual observing the two as they spoke, Mannerisms, ticks, voice patterns. Anything that would define them as a person he would take notice of and mentally remember them in the event that he had to use the information for later. He distinctly remember one of them speaking of the ability to create and bring forth large forests which meant they had been a Senju. Hiroshi was correct in saying that the ability itself was definitely well known through out the shinobi world. Come to think of it he was pretty sure he had read that the very reserve had been made by a Senju," Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't this very reserve made by a Senju not long ago? It was not or is not native to the topography of Hoshi," though the knowledge was learned second hand from his father in passing as he went over some of the history and landmarks of the village that he had known himself. Either way it was, to him at least, useless knowledge that he had swirling around his head. Not to say it was not useful in fact it was, but it simply was not pertinent to what he had did in his day to day. When he was asked about the plan and if he was alright with it, he would give a subtle nod and continue onward. He was here of course to only administer aid to the denizen of the reserve itself. If these two were the ones who would be subduing his patient he would make sure that the animal would be in good hands.

The group would finally reach their destination and there would be faced with their target. He was not fazed by the size or demeanor of the creature. Many things did not phase the male, as a medic and a combat one at that he resolved himself to not allow anything that he would incur in the field to truly offset him. Whether it was a body or fighting for his own life, he would remain with the same stoic face that others would crumble under. This being said when the order was given for trees to be made, he would wait for a moment. He would watch and wait as Hiroshi moved into position and once Otoko had made the hand seals for his jutsu and it began to manifest only then would he move. As the trees began to grow, Ryouma would move with haste jumping a few meters into the air as one of the trees would sprout from the ground, becoming obscured by its growth path and continued upward as he moved. He would move through the trees with his eyes on the beast just in case it tried to swipe at the trees or destroy them.

535 WC
TWC: 1,043

As they arrived at the clearing where the lion was last reported to have been, Otoko began searching for any animal sign in the area. It wasn’t hard to find as the lion had been dragging one of its paws. “Something must be wrong with one of its legs and based on these tracks it appears to be its right back leg.” He turned and looked at the group, “it headed this way, let’s go!” Otoko took off and followed the tracks, he noticed that the paw prints were starting to get closer together which told him the lion was slowing down. He went a little further and started to hear a deep moaning cry coming from just over a hill up ahead. Otoko motioned to the group to slow down and he dropped to all fours as he neared the top of the hill. He peered over the crest of the hill and saw the lion down below clearly in agonizing pain. "Alright y’all let’s help this poor beast out and end his pain.” Otoko jumped up from his low position and began moving toward the lion.

When the moment arrived, Otoko was ready to go and he began weaving the necessary hand signs and encircled the beast and his comrades in a forest so dense that even an ant may find it difficult to traverse. There was no way the lion was going to make it out of Otoko's newly grown forest, unless he started taking trees out. As Otoko finished up making his forest and while the others were getting into their positions he got himself into position to lock the lion down. As Otoko arrived at the lion’s flank he hoped that Hiroshi was in place keeping the lion distracted so Otoko could weave some hand signs.

After getting within ten feet of the lion and weaving the necessary hand signs three branches shot out from Otoko’s arm and raced towards the lion wrapping around the beast. From the three branches that sprouted from Otoko’s arm four more branches shot out from each. The three main branches each took a portion of the lion; one wrapping around the upper portion of the lion’s back legs, one wrapping around its midsection, and one wrapping around the lion's front legs. The smaller branches enveloped the lion’s back leg that was not injured, the rest of his torso, and the lion’s head. The branches that wrapped around the lion’s head covered his mouth to ensure he couldn’t bite anyone.

When Otoko felt the branches had done their job and would be sufficient to keep the lion detained he turned to Ryouma. “You’re up medic! I don't know how long this will keep him detained, so please do your best as quickly as possible.” Otoko would focus on keeping his branches strong and making sure the lion wouldn’t be able to wriggle free. He then turned to Hiroshi. “If you have anything that can help keep him detained it would be greatly appreciated.” Otoko would turn his attention back to the lion and keep all his focus on the beast before him.

[WC: 1657/1600]

And so the plan was underway. As he went up into the trees and obscured by the beasts vision at least, he would take notice of the battlefield and where the pieces were in terms of the beast itself and his teammates. Hiroshi had made his move in order to distract the beast from seeing the true plan while the cowboy began to spawn trees left and right. It was a good idea to blind its vision and then take away its movements so that the others could complete their goal. Ryouma would wait until the beast was fully subjugated before zipping through the trees from left to right carefully to make sure he did not slip nor fall. That would be embarrassing for someone with shinobi training to fall victim of a simple slip up. As he traveled towards the beast it would be fully subdued by the combined efforts of both Otoko and Hiroshi. Now it was his turn to perform the role he was given. After jumping into the last tree the albino could be seen jumping through the foliage and onto the beast. Since it was a tad bigger than he was the simple weight of the medic would not do much to it, but probably rattle it a bit. To calm the beast further he would soothe it by softly stroking it and whispering into its ear that he was only here to ease the pain. Nothing more , nothing less. The more he did this the more the beast would slowly calm but just in case, Ryouma would bring his hands together in order to perform a small "scan" of sorts with his chakra. As the green ebbs of chakra would flow over the beast he would be able to slowly identify the issue before hopping off of it and performing the hand seals for the chakra scalpel. He could see something had been lodged into it and with a simple steady hand and a simple application of movements he would cut out the foreign object before sighing.

"Part one done."

Now came the healing. Performing a secondary set of seals he would begin to perform the Mystical Palm technique to heal the infected area and to also soothe the beast even further. With its injury taken care of it should begin to calm down more, but just in case he would be on alert. Just because he had been a medic did not mean that these blades were for show. After successfully healing the beast he would stand up and back away to see what the others would do.

436 WC

Otoko breathed a sight of relief as Ryouma finished healing the lion and took a  step back from the beast. The lion seemed calm but it was always better to be safe as opposed to sorry and Otoko was definitely one to take precautions. He motioned for his mission mates to move away from the lion and once they reached the other end of the clearing Otoko would release his techniques and allow the lion to go free. The lion would look to the trio and seemingly nod to them in approval as a show of what Otoko could only construe as some form of thank you. The lion then took off to the forest with what appeared to be a new lease on life and potentially a new found appreciation for humans.

Otoko would head back with the group, discussing the mission and talking about life in general. Once they arrived back at the gate Otoko would thank his comrades for their tremendous work and then head off his own way to get back home and get a well deserved night rest. on his way home he would reflect on the mission and his new found friendship with HIroshi and what he hoped would be another friend gained in Ryouma.

EXIT
[WC: 212]
[TWC: 1869]

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