What's wrong with the merchants in this village

The Mission:

Anastasia was in incredibly high spirits this morning. She had dreamed last night, so vividly did she remember this dream that she felt that it was more vision than anything. She had dreamed of standing in a field, surrounded by enemies. Normally this would not faze the Akari Genin, the life of a shinobi was always one of advantages and disadvantages, and she fought with all her heart to defeat the foes that beset her. Despite her best efforts though, the enemy seemed limitless, and she felt despair creep into her soul. She felt her weapons fall from her hands and hit the ground as she fell to her knees. As she felt the enemies closing in on her, she looked up at the sky in resigned defeat, tears in her eyes. To her shock, she saw something gold and glinting falling from the sky. A katana of exquisite workmanship, worked in gold, slowly revolving through the air towards her. She stood up and reached for the blade, the handle falling perfectly into her hands. Immediately she felt a sense of surety and confidence that she had not felt before. Her previous weapons felt like extensions of her arms, the way a weapon was supposed to be, but this blade was different. It felt like it was just as much a part of her as any other part of her was. As she breathed a sigh of relief and confidence, she felt something else was different. Her breathing was also different. Not wrong, but not what she was used to. It also felt like she had become more than she was before, and a newfound strength overtook her. Wielding her new weapon, she unleashed a barrage of attacks at the encroaching foes, and they were dispatched as if so much chaff to the wind, disappearing in a furious assault of light.

She woke up after that feeling more refreshed than she had in some time. It gave her life a new direction after having sat stagnated for too long. It also left her with unanswered questions that she would need to get answers to. Her family would be the best source of information to help her interpret what this dream meant. Unfortunately for her, none appeared to be around this morning. On the table for her was a note from the village’s mission center assigning her to investigate the disappearance of a fairly well-known member of Hoshigakure’s merchant guild. ‘Oh well…’ she thought to herself as she got ready for the day, ‘I guess the answers will have to wait until I get home from this mission…’ The mission document stated that she was to make her way over to the Merchant’s home and begin searching for leads as to their whereabouts so she would quickly make her way there. The mission note stated that there may be others assigned to assist, so she would wait by the front door of the merchant’s home to see if anyone else would be joining her before continuing inside.

WC: 506

Marabelle once given the green light to proceed and partake in missions for the village, decided the best method to show her value was to help recover a missing merchant. After going to the stalls of the village of Hoshigakure herself, she had gotten her kimono adjusted and tailored to put her clan's insignia proudly and large on the back. This created a bit of a firming back to her outfit that before but that was not a huge issue to be concerned about at this time. The mission she was supposed to help with would benefit from a medic-sensory type such as herself and thus she made her way to the merchant's home. She was unsure about the presentation or the situation that she was going to step into but she knew that someone else was already supposed to be there.

Upon arrival, Marabelle called out to the woman who was standing outside the door. Equipped with her tanto and a new outfit, the wandering medic would bow politely to the shinobi. "Hello, my name is Marabelle Blossom. I've been granted the ability to undertake missions while I enjoy my stay here in Hoshigakure." She began before lifting herself to extend a warm smile and wave. "It will be a pleasure to meet you. I'm a medical and sensory shinobi by trade. I hope to be of help and service on this mission." She said as she looked towards the house. "As a guest here, I will wait for you to proceed so as not to be rude," Marabelle added knowing how much Hoshigakure prided itself on formalities and status. As a vagabond shinobi, unaffiliated at best, it was for the best that she let the Hoshigakuran Shinobi be the one to open the door and start the investigation.

WC 300, TWC: 300, | TMWC: 806 / 3,000

It wasn’t long after Ana arrived that someone else walked over. It was not someone that the Akari Genin was familiar with; she looked to be around the same age as her, with pale skin and long pink hair that was tied in a single braid. She appeared to be a fair bit shorter with a similar build, with the only real difference being chest size, but that wasn’t really important. She walked over to Ana, and then bowed once she had entered respectful speaking distance, introducing herself as Marabelle Blossom, and that she had been authorized to help on missions for the village while she stayed here. She also mentioned that she was skilled in medical and sensory techniques, which would undoubtedly come in handy. Anastasia would bow in return to Marabelle. “It’s nice to meet you Marabelle, I am Anastasia Akari. I am a skilled weapons specialist.” Marabelle said she would wait for her to enter first, as a gesture of courtesy, which Ana accepted with a nod, “the mission document I received stated that more shinobi may be assigned, so I’ll wait a few more minutes before heading inside, just in case.”

The wait itself though was pointless as no one else seemed to show up, so Anastasia would simply shrug and open the door, heading inside to take a look at the state of the home. Inside, the home appeared to have been thoroughly ransacked; there was damage to the interior, as well as items strewn about all over the place. There was definite signs of a struggle as well, with a small amount of blood here and there. It was clear that there was intention to steal here as the home had a safe in the floor that had been left uncovered and open with nothing remaining inside. A quick search upstairs also revealed that some of the merchant’s jewelry was missing. “Could be a robbery gone wrong…” she mused out loud, not so much to Marabelle as to simply voice out the theory. She returned back to the main floor and continued searching the rubble for clues.

Back in the room with the safe, Anastasia noticed the light glint off something half-hidden under papers and books. She pulled out a holy symbol on a gold chain. It belonged to a religious order that was still vehemently anti-shinobi, though their numbers have decreased as of late. ‘Ah…so not a normal robbery gone wrong…’ Anastasia thought to herself. ‘The merchant had been assisting the village’s shinobi by transporting goods and likely this faction had taken exception and were trying to hurt the shinobi by kidnapping him…’

Anastasia would bring the symbol over to Marabelle and offer it to her. “Are you able to pick up anything on this? This was likely dropped by one of the assailants. It’s very likely that they’re not in the area anymore so we’ll need to work fast to find out where they’ve taken off to.” She would wait for Marabelle’s analysis and plan her next moves from there.

WC: 508
TWC: 1008

The vagabond nodded in recognition of what Anastasia voiced. It was plain to see that they focused on weaponry. As she assessed and looked down towards her tanto, she knew that a new blade was in order. Perhaps Anastasia was an option for her to be able to acquire a new weapon. That thought could be investigated later down the road with the mission at hand being the more important of today's affairs. Hearing that others might be joining them, they awaited to no avail as it appeared it was just the two of them for the discovery and mystery of the missing merchant. Nothing that was not a surprise to what she had encountered before in most situations. The world was rife with woes and issues and many had to approach with scrutiny on which they would help and aid with.

As Anastasia opened the door into the merchant's house there was a scene unlike many that Marabelle had seen before. The place was trashed from the floorboard to the ceiling. Seeing any furniture still upright with the disarray the house had been thrown into was amazing. Marabelle focused herself on the blood splatters and other skirmishes that could be seen on the main floor of the house. Hearing the initial thought of a robbery gone wrong, the Everbloom brought her hands together to focus on her surroundings using her sensory capacity and some insight into what may have occurred. There was not much to bring up from initial glances, but she could make out a few different bloods from her more in-depth abilities. "Looks like it wasn't without a fight." She said out loud for Anastasia's sake of knowledge. She looked to find more of an entry point as the door was still in good shape but it looked like it may have started amicable and then turned sour. "Things started fine and then went south." She said before looking towards a broken window towards the south and shook her head. It was a coincidence and less likely something of note.

It was then that Anastasia brought up the holy symbol. It was an odd thing for her to see as religion was not much of a normal facet of her day to day. She knew that people of faith existed but she did not see many who advocated towards it. Hearing of a faction that was anti-shinobi was something to be considerate of as combatants were scarce and it was likely they would encounter those who were hired on from banditry to be mercenaries or even ex-shinobi who wished to fight against the system that shunned or disassociated with them. A sigh escaped the kunoichi's mouth as she moved to look toward the broken window to make sure there was not something important thrown outside which thankfully there was not. Anastasia was right on the matter of tracking down the missing merchant's assailants as quickly as possible. Seeing that the holy symbol was left behind it would stand it was not on purpose. "Perhaps one might come back to find their lost symbol. I would imagine if zealotry is something of this group then it would be shameful for them to leave it behind." Marabelle suggested as she heard something towards the front door.

Almost as if on cue a man in his mid to late thirties strolled through the door grumbling. "Now where did I put..." He began to say and then turned to look to see the two of them standing with Marabelle holding the symbol in her hand. She simply smiled as the man witnessed a flower of gardens originate from the pink kunoichi before he found himself stuck in place. Marabelle stood still as the man also stood still. "I would recommend surrendering and coming quietly. Anastasia-san if you could do the honors of restraining the man properly, I do not want him to run once this wears off." She added in knowing there was limited time for her genjutsu to operate and keep itself in use. It was a small fickle thing to have to use but considering options, Marabelle felt it was best to use it with a level of immediacy.

WC: 700, TWC: 1,000 | TMWC: 2,008

Her companion must be some form of psychic. It was almost immediately after she commented that they would likely be back for their trinket when sure enough, he walked through the door and froze. Ana was in the process of drawing her weapons when Marabelle smiled and advised that he come quietly and that the Akari Genin should restrain him properly before something wore off. The only thing Ana could assume was some form of jutsu was keeping the assailant in check. She would nod at her teammate and grabbed some rope to secure and hobble the robber. After checking to make sure the restraints were in good order she would motion to her ally so that she could end whatever it was she was doing.

“I strongly suggest that you lead us to where you’ve taken the merchant, or we’ll haul you off to the interrogation team for them to simply break your mind and leave you with nothing but insanity,” she said to the man. The threat was real enough; she didn’t know exactly what they would do, but from what she’d heard, it was not a pleasant situation to be handed over to the interrogation team. They do what they need to in order to retrieve the information they’re after. He gulped and nodded quickly, shuffling out of the house with Anastasia behind him. She would motion for Marabelle to follow her as well, since it seemed there would be nothing else for them to do at the house. “That was a quick takedown,” she would say to her companion as they were led to the location of the missing merchant. “I didn’t even notice until after it was already done.”

The man led them to a church, belonging to the faction whose symbol she carried. “He’s in a room in the back,” he told them. Anastasia would tie the man to a nearby post and would draw her weapons. “They don’t take kindly to shinobi, so I doubt they will react favourably when we enter,” she would say to Marabelle. “I’m going to knock in the door, incapacitate any that get in my way, and see if we can find the merchant in the room that he mentioned.” She would hold her shield in front of her and charge at the door, using her shoulder, now reinforced with her shield, to knock the doors inward. It was not barred so it offered little resistance. There were a pair of men inside. One wearing a priest’s robes and the other dressed similarly to the man they had restrained outside. The two stared at her, then both went for weapons in their clothing. Anastasia didn’t give them the chance to use them. Both were on the ground stunned moments later, one shield-bashed into the ground, the other smacked with the flat of her blade. She strode passed the two men towards the back where there were a couple locked rooms. She kicked the doors down to discover the missing merchant in one room, and a missing Genin in the other. Both were relatively unharmed thankfully, so Ana helped them outside while a message was sent to the Nova Corps to round up the three that had been taken out.

As soon as the Nova Corps had shown up, they arrested the three involved in the kidnapping and had them taken away to be interrogated. The Merchant and the Genin were escorted to the hospital to be examined and treated. “Good work today,” She would say to Marabelle. “Hopefully we’ll end up being assigned to more missions together while you’re here.”

If Marabelle didn’t have anything else she wanted to do, Ana would head home to write up a report to send in and unwind after the mission.

[EXIT]

WC: 629
TWC: 1637

Will edit in claims later.

With Anastasia following up without many questions it was a relief off of Marabelle's shoulders. She simply smiled as she was to be, a look of an innocent young girl though it was becoming obvious there was power behind that smile that let her be kind and open about herself. The threat that was given by the Hoshigakuran shinobi was simple and effective as the man gave up the information readily for his own safety. With all that was said and done from there, it was just a small trip and journey back to where they were truly needed. It was when Anastasia commented on the takedown that Marabelle's smile widened a bit before she scratched the back of her head. "I have a small genjutsu trick that I picked up in situations where I might be caught off guard or I am able to catch someone else off guard. As much as it does not happen often it makes it really simple and easy if someone else is present to help with the individual once they are immobilized as I am immobilized at the same time." She explained to her companion as they made it to the safe house of the captors.

Anastasia with her shield took point with her shield and Marabelle simply let the genin do her job. It was fine by her and with the idea present of what was at stake, she felt it was more than acceptable to allow the Hoshigakure no Sato shinobi the lead on such a matter. Following up right behind her, quick swift motions by the sword and board style woman cleared the captors relatively quickly in surprise to Marabelle. It looks like both of them had tricks up their sleeves for the matter of getting some of the business taken care of. With Anastasia taking care of the majority of the efforts once they arrived, Marabelle expanded and focused on her chakra sensory skill once more to assess the two they recovered and found no health issues between the two though the merchant could probably decrease his sugar intake from what she could determine. With the Nova Corps arriving to take care of the rest of the affair, Marabelle gave a thumbs up in response to Anastasia's commentary. "I hope we see each other soon enough. You were a pleasure to work with Anastasia-san." She chimed before also departing.

WC: 400, TWC: 1,400 | TMWC: 3,037 / 3,000

[Exit]

Mission Rewards wrote:Total Ryo Reward: 6,000 + 2,000 Ryo = 8,000 Ryo
Total AP Reward: 30 AP, New total AP from 934 is 964 / 1,000

WC Claims: 1,400 wrote:Using 900 WC for 36 AP (4 AP Rate per 100, 9 x 4 = 36) resulting in Max AP once more.
using 500 WC towards Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing
0 WC Leftover

Claims:
Mission Rewards:
6,000 Ryo
30 AP

1637 WC towards Mastering Temporary Paralysis Technique x2 (1125/1125, 512/1125, both handseal reduction)