A meal at last! Destiny leads the way!

Missions:

Jin awoke from his peaceful dream as the sunlight filtered through the leafy canopy of the tree that had served as his roof for the night. Jin stretched out like a cat on the y shaped bough he had settled down to sleep on the night before. He couldn’t remember falling asleep and had been entranced by the field of moonflowers that surrounded him. Even as the son of a professional florists their beauty in the moonlight took his breath away and he had been tempted to simply collect a bundle of them and begin his journey back to the land of Honey. He was certain that if he could cultivate them his family would make a fortune yet even his great dreams for fame, wealth, women and drink could not move him to ruin the field as he watched it that night. It held a ghostly serenity that made Jin reluctant to disturb them. Jin was not particularly superstitious but he had seen many wondrous and unexplainable things on his journey since he was a boy and he could not deny he had felt a similar feeling ever since setting foot on the Land of Moon. Even the ferryman had warned him of ghosts and monsters, haunting a ruined city and a magical jungle that bewitched the senses.

Jin looked around at the field of white flowers around the tree he sat in and smiled. He was completely lost and had no idea how to get to Tsukigakure. Where others might have considered this a major roadblock in their journey Jin saw it as an opportunity, trusting that fate would show him a sign and lead him back to his path. For now he simply had to ignore the grumbling and pains in his stomach as he chewed on leaves of the tree for moisture and simply hoped it was not poisonous. Jin remained in the trees shade and enjoyed the scent of the flowers and rustle of the wind of the rolling fields and was mulling over his plans for the day. He was uncertain if he wanted to stay where he was for another day or so or whether to throw a branch in the air and walk where it landed. Jin reasoned that if he created some kind of sign then that would be sufficient and easier for destiny to direct him than waiting for something else to miraculously place itself in his path.

Just as Jin considered this philosophical conundrum, he happened to spot a colourful object as it hit him square in the face as he turned towards the sound of fluttering cloth. The object cause no harm but mild confusion as it appeared to be a child’s kite. Jin held the kite out and its colourful tassels on the string pointed in an almost straight line just as the wind dropped for several moments. Jin smiled and climbed down the tree, careful not to disturb the flowers beneath before coiling up the string and running with the kite to set it aloft in the air again. He then tied the string around his wrist and struck a dynamic pose with one hand forming a fist under his chin as he pointed in the direction the kite seemingly came from with his other hand. As he struck the pose he shouted loudly, projecting his voice as if speaking to the world itself. “My destiny is that way!” He held the pose for several beats then nodded in satisfaction before heading off with a relaxed pace.

After a few hours he spotted a small village and what appeared to be the beginning of a rather large jungle beyond. “Magical jungle huh? Looks like I am heading in the right direction.” He made a thumbs up gesture to the sky before continuing. “Thanks destiny!” As he approached the village a group of adults and children gathered by the entrance, watching him closely as he approached with the kite flying high in the air behind him. Jin noticed a few of the villagers held tools in a passive manner but had no doubt they would be willing to use them if required. He called out as he approached in an attempt to soothe any fears or worries the villagers may have. “Good day. My Name is Jin, a wanderer who has travelled far looking to find Tsukigakure. On my journey I happened to be fated to be struck by this lost kite and it led me to your village. Does it belong to anyone here? I do not mean to cause any trouble and will be happy to move on at your request but I am willing to help out if you have any jobs that need completing?”

An elderly man with a particular wicked looking scythe stepped forward and spoke out, his tone was calm and Jin noticed he was missing several teeth yet he smiled broadly as he spoke. “Kiro, doesn’t your boy have a kite like that? I think I saw him running off with it earlier.” Another Man stepped forward, he was taller than Jin himself and generally larger. Jin vaguely wondered how far the man named Kiro could actually throw him if he wanted to and decided he would not like to find out personally. “Yes my boy said he lost it this morning, that is was carried off by the wind. Keep telling him to hold it tightly or tie it to something but he never listens. Thank you for returning it Jin.” Another voice, feminine this time shouted up from the slowly enlarging crowd. “Well he clearly takes after his old man!”. The retort brought a series of chuckles and laughter form the crowd and the old man banged the butt of his scythe into the ground to quieten down the chatter. “Well we have money, food and shelter if you are willing to work but we don’t take kindly to thieves or banditry round here so be warned! What’s everyone looking at! You all got things to be doing and we can’t stop work every time some strangely dressed visitor wanders by!”

The crowd began to disperse and Jin handed over the kite to Kiro who was even more imposing up close. The man nodded his thanks and headed back as he reeled the kite in and went about his day. Finally it was just the old man and Jin left standing opposite each other though Jin spotted many of the villagers watching, some with suspicion and some with what he believed to be curiosity. “So what jobs do you need doing? I do not know the area very well but will do what I can and I am sure destiny will point me in the right direction, it led me here after all.” The old man stroked his beard in contemplation.
“Well I know Mamoru got a hole in his grain storehouse roof he has been complaining about for a while, My daughter Ami runs a small restaurant and needs help cleaning it for some kind of inspection, she says its sabotage but I don’t know who would bother round these parts, she doesn’t have much competition really. What was I saying? Oh yes. Rei wanted some flowers picked from her garden and sorted or arranged to be shipped off somewhere so maybe you could lend a hand there, shouldn’t be too difficult for a young un like yourself and I know Rei has a spare room and more like as note to feed you and offer you a roof over your head if you want it. If there nothing else I’ll be off, need to make sure no ones slacking off, we got rains storms coming in soon, I feel it in my bones!. Haven’t never been wrong in 40 years about the storms.”

“Thanks old man, I wouldn’t say no to a hot meal and a dry roof overhead, besides, I don’t have anywhere else to be right now so the least I can do is lend a hand. I will get those jobs completed in no time.” Jion raised his arm high in the air dramatically before bringing it down into a thumbs up pose with both hands as though drawing a bow. “That’s  a Jin promise!” Jin felt particularly proud with that pose and was sure the old man would be swelling with awe and renewed confidence in the vagabonds promise. Jin wandered through the village asking for directions to Mamoru’s shelter and eventually found his there way with some dubiously provided directions and a quick detour to talk to a beautiful young lady who as it happened had a very angry and unreasonable father standing nearby. Clearly Jin’s destiny lay elsewhere. When Jin arrived a man was on the roof stringing together a series of curse words that was almost inspiring in of itself, like a unique form of poetry. “Good afternoon, are you Mamoru, the old man said you would need my help to fix the roof so lets block up that whole before the storm rains hit!” the string of cursing stopped as the middle aged man looked at Jin with surprise and confusion before throwing his arms in the air in a mixture of exasperation and surrender. “Well if you can think of a way to fix it without more straw there will pay in it for you, I can’t afford to lose the grain to damp I don’t have time to move it all.”

Jin nodded in agreement at Mamoru’s predicament and considered how to fix the fairly sizeable hole, thinking back on his many adventurers and repair work he had carried out in his travels. A sudden thought brought a smile to his face. “I need some spare sheets or bolts of rough cloth, hempen sacks will be better actually. Do you have any tar in the village? Or something sticky and waterproof. We might also need some planks of wood or thin split logs might do the job.”

Mamoru paused and confirmed that he had most of the materials and could certainly gather some pitch from the charcoal burners. “Excellent! Go gather the materials and then we can get too work!” Once the materials were gathered Jin began cutting open the hempen sacks so they formed a single piece of material that was a roughly rectangular and repeated this process until he had a dozen or so pieces. Next Jin began sewing them together roughly with twine, overlapping them several pieces thick but allowing for a small gaps in which he could pour the tar into holes so it could be soaked up well by the sacks. With that task complete he set about gathering the lumber and building a crude hatch frame with the split cut logs that was large enough to cover the whole and created another frame of roughly the same size. Jin stripped of his clothes to the waist once the pitch arrived and set about soaking the cloth in the tar with Mamoru’s assistance until it was soaked through before placing it near a fire they had built to try and dry it in a very tacky and sticky state. Finally Jin and Mamoru covered the frame they had created in the sticky tar cloth, making sure it overlapped the roofing already in place and securing it to the wooden beams via ropes to hold it in place.

Once the work was complete Jin stepped back to admire their handiwork where a black square several sizes larger than the hole now overlapped the straw roof. “That should keep out the worst of the rain and might even work better than the older sections of the straw. Saw a similar technique years ago but they kept the tart hot and spread it directly on top of the roofs and even painted it on the walls. I can’t guarantee how long it will last but it should keep you grain dry for a season or so unless it gets struck by lightning or something. Then again not much would survive that I suppose.” Mamoru thanked Jin and paid him the money for the work quite happily and even offered more but Jin rejected the additional payments, he had accepted the job on the terms provided and even staked his name on the promise to help the village so he would take more than was offered lest people think he was greedy.

The next few hours were spent laying traps and carefully cleaning the restaurant and kitchen of the old mans daughter Ami. She had a sharp tongue and was not afraid to wave a rather vicious looking ladle at her staff who were similarly engaged in preparation for a health inspectors visit. Jin kept his head down and followed the direction provided without complaint, at least not vocally. He was glad to see the back fo the restaurant once the cleaning had been completed. Once the job was completed the money had been almost thrown at him as he was practically kicked out the door by Ami who stated that she was far too busy to deal with shamelessly dressed strangers. Jin could not see what the problem was, he had bee forced to wipe the tar from his early job on his t shirt and so it was certainly better to wear nothing beneath his open jacket that further have tar smudges in the restaurant. Jin found it brought him a pleasing amount of attention, but it seemed Ami did not seem to fully agree that this was a good thing.

Jin’s final task for the day was to assist Rei at her flower shop and he smiled as he smelled the scent of sunflowers lingering on the breeze. They were his favourite kind of flower and the best seller at their shop whose scent was more powerful than regular kinds of sunflower and really accentuated the rich honey scent from the flowers. H entered the shop and dinged the little bell on the counter top to announce his presence. A brown haired girl popped her head from behind a large bundle of azaleas as it chimed. “Hello? Be right there. Oh, I haven’t seen you before, new in town? Are you here about the room and board? If so, you best get some clothes on and help out. I Don’t suppose you know much about flowers picking, do you?” The flurry of questions caught Jin a little of guard, but he managed to quickly recover his stride. “As it happens I am. I grew up in a  florists shop so I doubt it should be difficult though I am not completely familiar with all the flowers in this region, like those white ones that glow at night. Never seen anything like them before and it lit the whole field up." “Oh yes moon flowers very pretty, now hurry up, need this delivery completed by the end of the day!”

Jin threw himself into the work and found it easy to slip into old habits, picking flowers and arranging them came easily to him as di the careful packaging. After a flurry of productive activity, the order had been completed and the deliveryman had collected the flowers for further transportation. Rei led Jin to the house proper and introduced him to her family. Jin introduced himself and ate with them, telling them incredible stories of his travels and comedically and obvious embellishing his own parts in the stories. The food was delicious and Jin found himself with a full belly for the first time in weeks. The atmosphere reminded him of home and he wondered what his family were up to right now? Last time he had returned he had discovered two new younger brothers and perhaps he had even more siblings in the last three years he had been away.

Before he went to sleep Rei asked if Jin would be willing to walk Eldest, the family pet and Jin agreed to do so as the meal provided had been exceptional and they were more than willing to pay for the simple task and have some time alone. Jin understood the sentiment and that was how he ended up walking a very large tortoise that he alter had discovered was a child hood pet of Rei’s grandfather then father before her. Jin plodded around the village and studied Eldest with interest, wondering how much it had seen and experienced throughout its very long life span. It was almost dark by the time he returned but he felt he had formed a kind of wanderers bond with Eldest, they were both travellers experiencing the world one ponderous step at a time with no real hurry or place to be other than where they currently were.

[Exit]

WC: 2,802  TWC: 2,802 TMWC: 2,802/2500

Claiming Mission rewards:
- 5,000 ryo
- Ap: 25

Claiming 2802 WC
Claiming Stats:
+ 28 vigor

Claiming skill: Beloved Presence - 2000/2000 - 2500/2802
Claiming jutsu: Genjutsu Release - 250/250 - 2750/2802
552 WC towards learning Water Release: Soap Bubble Ninjutsu [Incomplete] - 552/2500 - 2802/2802