A Growing Flower

[C-Rank] Liberation

Total Ryo Reward: 4,000 Ryo
Total AP Reward: 20 AP
Total WC Requirement: 2,000 WC

Marabelle's day became suddenly packed as her exploits had received some recognition within the village hidden by sound, Otogakure. Her tenure there had taken a bit longer than she anticipated and thus she became more familiar with the Land of Sky along with Otogakuran practices and tendencies for the population. The people here were like any others she had already encountered and were equally plagued with similar problems as those in lands near and far. Her journey at this point was not something unheard of for those with a profession within the scope of being a Vagabond shinobi, a hired hand in most cases, and for the average individual, a bandit with a badge in some ways. Looking to see about raising the status of those of similar professions she decided it was time to take up the mantle a bit more actively and lean into it. Thus was time to take on a few more missions to allow for her progression toward her newly acquired dream and objective.

Her mission list within the Land of Sky and Otogakure consisted of a few important but potentially dangerous tasks. The first was to help handle a bandit group nearby that was beginning to hold villagers and natives to the land as leverage. Not unfamiliar with these scenarios at this point, Marabelle offered to take the task along with a few others that involved precarious situations. The other two tasks pledged by the Vagabond were to help escort a wealthy couple on a shopping spree and then undertake to remedy a mishap that occurred in a nearby settlement tied to the village. It was a precarious situation to handle and thus a neutral party would likely be a good sign of faith and a more easily accepted mediator should concerns be brought up further. With her 'To-Do' list set for the day, Marabelle began with the first task, Liberation.

From her temporary place of residence, she equipped herself with her variety of tools and took it upon herself to adjust and change her attire to a more stealthy black and tighter outfit to avoid bringing further attention to herself. Considering the objective here was to help remove the problem, her standard pink uniform she had taken a liking to would likely be not what she was going to be seeking to help the situation. There was plenty to be thinking about and to prep for the mission at hand as the sun began to set, signaling to the kunoichi it was time to depart soon if she wished to catch the group out of any sort. While the information provided was not a lot, she would need to do some scouting at minimum before locking what was going to likely be a long-drawn-out procedure to resolve the issue for the village. Not only was the mission to save those captured by the bandits but also to remove them.

As one who wished to find a peaceful solution, it was unlikely going to come from simply asking them to lay down their arms. A show of force would likely solve the issue immediately and ease the problem for a brief stint of time but planning-wise, it would be a short-term gain for a long-term problem that Marabelle sought to start solving in the world if she could help it. As a medic first and shinobi second at this point, her goals were unconventional to most but he desire to improve the quality of life of others would not simply be abated by directions and orders as long as the problem should not reoccur under her own solution. With that in mind, she decided to scope out the village's landscape and community before arriving officially and looking to help them out further. As such her pack became a bit heavier to accommodate her normal attire as she would soon need to be willing to do much with her own face in the forefront and this would be the first step towards that goal.

Once packed and ready to depart, the Everbloom made her way forward into the dark of night to begin her exploration of the situation involving the need to liberate some regular folk from bandits. There was much to be worried and concerned about but not as much as the long-term problem that Otogakure would need to solve once this was finished. In thought and retrospect, Marabelle saw this as an opportunity to establish herself as a reliable source for the villages she planned on visiting and offering help. She knew she would need to find others who were at minimum willing and wanting to help and others who would be workable towards a common goal. With an understanding that some of the issues of the world had a root cause that was able to be remedied, she believed that information was truly the name of the game to fix the issues. Not everyone starting out as a bandit would have been born into banditry nor would people simply opt to get into that lifestyle should the chances of a proper life be present.

Arriving later that evening, the small community consisted of a handful of farmhouses with large families occupying them alongside supporting homes nearby them, likely workers for the main families. From there, Marabelle would look into the location of the proclaimed bandits as it turned out to be a bit away from the village itself and was composed of a main compound half into a hill. It was likely half submerged to hide resources or make it more difficult to approach from a tactical standpoint. This information led her to believe the individual who settled the building was either a business entrepreneur or from a military background of some kind. It was not long before the lights of the lanterns that painted the landscape began to fade as people went to bed. Her own yawning began to echo amongst the trees she found herself hidden by. This was a good start but her day of resolving this issue would likely need to begin tomorrow.

That was until she noticed an older individual, someone roughly 40 summers old, had their head peaking out a window on the third floor of the compound looking up towards the night sky and stars. Seeing a chance to learn more, Marabelle formed handseals to cloak herself in invisibility to be able to get closer to possibly hear or be given a chance to converse with the man. Many conversations in the dead of night were not ones to typically be have in daylight but being the woman she was, anything was possible if she put herself into the action and did it with conviction. Once closer, she could hear the crackle of a fire with some more labored breathing by the gentleman. It was at this point, that she took in more of her surroundings, extending her sensory capabilities further. The group she was looking for was indeed held in this location but other families were, to what Marabelle could tell at this time, taking refuge within the structure. This confirmed her suspicions that there was more to the situation at hand that could possibly be used to leverage a more peaceful solution.

Approaching the open window, Marabelle gave a light tap on the frame of the window nearby before whispering loud enough for the man to hear a little over a few meters away from her. "It's late this night but much chance to improve the situation. I hope to speak more formally with you in the future, should you entertain the thought." She stated her intention plainly though she remained hidden. The man alert now scowled outwardly, cautiously poking his head out towards the surrounding ledge of the window to see if he could spot whose voice reached his ears in the dead of night. A low growl and grumble returned her words, "Words upon a wind are not often friendly. Consider this voice in the void, we do what we must and no more. Entertaining thoughts ends when we get what we need." With the conversation cut at that point due to him closing the window, Marabelle left the compound's premises as quickly as she infiltrated it and made her way to the small village. It was time to gather more information as she looked back at the structure, a level of sadness that she could not quite place from where it came from.

Finally making it to the small farm town that sought the village of Otogakure's assistance, Marabelle made it clear she was doing some preliminary work for the village before formalizing the need for further help. Sorting through the chief issues of the families where people were taken or held up for ransom. In this scenario she was not really expecting upon arrival, there was some general dissent amongst the population. There were groups that were indifferent to the loss of their family but seemed hesitant about the discussion that was taking place. It was obvious that the situation reeked of fish and other not-so-pleasant smells. With Marabelle digging and investigating it became frightfully obvious there were beginnings of ill-tempers and others becoming more hesitant and less forthcoming with information. This shift seemed indicative of something else stirring below as asking many questions would soon start to unravel the actual truth of the matter. When approaching the main house that the farmlands seemed to be localized around, the revelation was plain and easy to see to Marabelle as she activated her sensory techniques once more and found a plethora of issues, of which there were people tied up below from what she could sense, bruised and hurt.

These were the actual bandits and she was stumbling into the nest of the buzzards willingly. The Everbloom cursed her observation skills as she missed the mark and the information of the situation was likely mixed up at some point or just not descriptive enough to avoid this scenario. The revelation was a problematic one at this point since these bandits appeared to have some sense of the shinobi arts and the leader finally exposed themselves to the Vagabond in their midst. "I see a fool has stumbled alone into our little refuge. Pretty nice setup these villagers had that they so willingly gave up to us." He lauded as a few others of his likely trusted circle had taken home here as well. Marabelle was aware of all their presence but now it was going to be a very precarious situation to handle. Being inside a building with 5 men slowly circling her, there needed to be some action taken to remedy the problem. From what she could tell the people she questioned earlier were more aligned to be present and feed off the strong rather than put up a fight. Taking out these 5 men was more than enough to help remedy the immediate issue and then find a solution to accommodate those left behind and the people who lived here originally.

As he spoke about offering her a job and that they knew she was not fully affiliated with the village they could easily make it not an issue if they would take out those who abandoned the fight and fled. While he was rambling, a few quick handseals underneath her sleeves would release a poison mist into the room as she followed it up with her invisibility technique, escaping their vision fully. Escaping the building, she simply let the gas take care of them or handle any stragglers as they came out. With the problem solved and fixed now, it was time to help the people get back to their regular lives here. As the group of men came to later it was apparent they were outmatched heavily by the kunoichi they failed to see as a threat to their full operation. With the original leader of the farmlands back now in his home, he appreciated the lack of damage to the structure and then critiqued her for lack of resolve to remove the issue. She would give a bow in apology before speaking. "As much as removing an issue can be seen as simple as removing a bad organ. There are issues if we don't resolve or attack the cause of the bad organ. We all need to find avenues to work and should the organ be unable to be fixed or helped back to being healthy, then removal is necessary at that point. We can always find solutions when we have time to do so." The men quaked in their boots at the cold medical analogy that Marabelle presented to the group and elder. An recognizing nod was given back to her as she sat and helped mediate the problems that the small community was facing and plagued with.

Once that was resolved it was time for Marabelle to head back to Otogakure to help remedy a bodyguard situation with a shopping spree and another issue that involved some precarious situations.

[Exit]

WC: 2,176, TWC: 2,176 | TMWC: 2,176/2,000

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Mission Rewards wrote:+ 4,000 Ryo
+ 20 AP

WC Claims wrote:2,176 WC
+84 AP (4 X 2,100)
76 WC Leftover and Discarded

Approved