War. The image of Sero's fresco came to mind. The depiction of war's brutality reigning over the troops, fate held tight with an iron fist. Dark, aggressive colours created by a setting sun and the uniform colours of weapons and armours. Swords, spears, blood and bones. A carnage between humans, a gruesome aftermath. Scars would remain within their body and souls - and that of the land they had fought on. The spider-nin remembered the artistic creation in Sero's library vividly. Was this what they were about to experience?

Standing under the large tent which harboured a temporary war room, Haka gazed over the citizen and soldiers alike as they moved about like ants, they didn't stop working for a single second. Observing the workings of a large gathering of humans and how they cooperated in the slow but steady preparation of a war front. The shipyard was heavily occupied with the construction of new ships of all sorts. Wooden constructs meant to float on water and carry a load no man would ever be able to bear on his own. Wood and iron were being brought in by carts to replenish the continuously dwindling resources that were used up as the construction of these sea monsters progressed.

Haka had seen ships before, small boats meant for fishermen to haul in fresh food, but these ships were monstrous in size compared to that. The wooden constructions were meant as a form of transport so that boarding parties of foot soldiers could board the shores of potential enemies. They had to hold the cargo of weapons and food stock that was currently being amassed by the antsy humans all around them. They were much like the spider hoard of the Spider Clan. They were not as rich in amount, but what they lacked on that aspect was made up by their size and creativity. Needless to say that the spider-nin wasn't in her element here.

As a man cleared his throat, Haka turned around to see the gathering of the people slowly come to a completion. Strategies had to be discussed, and thus Haka moved to take her place around the table. With the special jounin ranked shinobi nearby it wasn't such that Haka would have to make decisions concerning the strategies, but the chain of command dictated she had to be there to understand what decisions would be made and what tasks would be delegated to those lower in rank - such as her. She hated the idea of being commanded, considering Sero and Momma just about the only ones with the right to tell her what to do, but this shinobi held a power far higher than hers - though lower than Sero's still - and as such she was inclined to abide by his wishes until she knew of a way to surpass him.

The table was large and wide, filled with reports and scrolls from different teams explaining the current state of affairs and the progress they were making. Numbers noting the expected amount of resources, weapons, food and troops were slowly being matched, maps indicating patrol routes, infiltration goals and meeting points were spread open to discuss strategies. As the last one of the expected members entered the tent with a flicker, the gathering was about to begin.

---

557

Verdandi watches all the people running around. It felt just like home. Heidel used to look this way during the coronation of their new queen. Verd had no idea if anyone in Kiri actually knew what was happening in the land of snow. Then again, in a nation with around five million people they probably didn't care much about the few hundred survivors giving a tiny roar into the lost echoes of the north. Henceforth, it would remain a secret to most and that was very important. The less people that knew, the less likely it'd be for someone to come and stoop around in her home. It could stay as it is. Just like that. Silent and forgotten. But seeing as what they were going to do with the broken shell of Suna she started to doubt her own ideas.

Verd passed various traders she knew. She even saw that one of the cargo ships was the very same that had taken her to Heidel. Captain Bardock could be seen from afar. She'd make her way to him to say hello later. But for now, she was invited along with her companions of equal rank in their division. Seeing how the harbour was at large with work. Verdandi could tell there were hundreds of shinobi beneath them. A spectacle she had yet not seen before if she was honest to herself. Resources that were usually spread over Mizu no Kuni would suddenly find a reason to be amassed at one spot. There was certainly quite a number of materials and men power that were allotted to the project at hand. It seemed yet, compared to Kiri's full capabilities, they didn't go all out as if war had really been declared on them and they needed every last able man to fight it. No, it seemed to be under certain control, under certain regulations.

Within the briefing the intel Master declared the situation at hand being in a sort of both competitive but joined alliance between the nations. Each caring to their own task. It was yet to the bright smile of many Kiri-nin as he explained that Kiri's primary objective was to slay the bandits and clean the unworthy trouble makers from suna. They certainly welcomed that approach rather than going there for supplies or government rebuilding. Verd knew that, despite this all being weird to Haka, she could at least appreciate that her nation would take on the part she at least could find some sense within.

The intel that was given was limited. Verdandi's empathy allowed her to feel that the spec. Jounin had more information he wanted to tell but it seemed like he wasn't allowed to do so. Verd would leave it at that and concentrate on the task at hand. Scribbling down the important notes in her own mission scroll as they were all slowly sorted into groups for specific tasks. The list of to dos was long and it was clear that people would probably have to come back to get multiple assignments over time and it wasn’t finished until…. Well all of it was finished.

Verd moved up to her companion spider. She had the same facial expression as usual. But Verd could clearly feel she was distressed by the prospect of such humane things that all escaped her. As they took the first scroll that was easily labelled as ‘Weapon cargo movement’ Verd would lead Haka on in an attempt to lessen her burden on the organization part. Making their way towards the docks where the civilian workers were already closing up shipments of weapons into big wooden boxes. It was probably their task to see that those boxes would find their way onto the cargo ships in question.

“Hmm ready for some physical labour?”



640

The explanation about the tasks was brief and short. A list of tasks were given, Verdandi taking one with the title being, "Weapon Cargo Movement". How ironic, that the creature with a general dislike for weapons had to be the one ending up with tasks concerning exactly that. Haka brushed her hair out of her eyes, as if to distract herself from her own annoyance, and followed Verdandi to the dock workers that were closing wooden boxes containing mass-produced weapons. Such menials tasks. She had seen those before being performed by the very human workers they had protected before. The memory of having fought with and against Chigetsu as well as the defence of the fort hanging in her mind like the drained husks of prey stilling clinging in a web.

"What a bore.", she proclaimed in her typical cold and quiet voice, preferring the hunt and observations above anything else. To now be forced to bother with such dull burdens as the lifting and movement of boxes... She was no ant. She was a spider. There was no need for weapons in her mind. Seeing how much time the forging of weapons, the gathering, the transport and the loading of all these boxed 'claws' took, the rate of efficiency for this preparation of war was dropping fast. If no human would bother with such nonsense, instead bothering to improve upon their fist and feet, it would take so far less time to be done with this.

Still, a mission was a mission. At least this large-scale preparation harboured the promise of an all out carnage in the cleansing of 'bandits' in strange lands. Discovering a new place and being able to hunt new targets seemed like an interesting prospect enough as it were, so the spider-nin grabbed onto one of the ship's hooks coming down and directed it to one of the boxes that it was supposed to lift. To think such things could be achieved with chakra webbing... At least she couldn't blame humans for not having any access to the marvels of the Spider Clan. And perhaps that wasn't a bad thing at all.

"What is Sunagakure like?"

As she continued her 'work', Haka decided to test Verdandi's knowledge on this new place she had heard about. Sunagakure, a hidden village in the Land of Winds. As the spider had only recently started to leave Spider Island in search of new challenges, and rarely if ever had left Kirigakure, almost everything outside of the Land of Mist was unknown to her despite that Sero had an extensive library she could delve in. She had been so occupied observing human's nature and habits, hunting to sustain herself and figuring out the new abilities that came with chakra molding she had barely bothered delving into Sero's personal treasures.

Perhaps that wasn't entirely true. She did learn about Fuinjutsu, and she had bothered to read upon an open book she had found to figure out how to get into the Spider Sage world where she had fought her way to lay claim upon a Summoning Contract. But aside from that single book, she hadn't bothered even once to take the time to delve into the library. Life as a spider was a short one, and she had still too much to do.

---

563
Total: 1120

Verdandi watched Haka’s expression. The way she behaved amused Verd as usual. She was so simple and yet… interesting to depths unequal to any other of her friends she had made so far. But the task at hand was boring indeed. Verd would watch as with different ninja around, different techniques would be utilized to their tasks. Some of the shinobi had powerful pets that would transport the goods for them. Others had jutsu that allowed them to interact with their target objects. Some were simply so powerful they could lift the cargo container and drop it like some sort of toy onto the ships. Verd and Haka had yet to rely on more basic ways. They either hoisted the cargo up with the simple rope-based crane system or moved to one of the lifting machines with a windmill that could be powered by suiton chakra movement inside the ocean water.

It didn’t matter if it was the pure physical work or the chakra-based work to power the simple machines that would load their ships. It was both exhausting and would leave them not much power for the next task to come if it would continue like this. While they worked Haka seemed to go into a small talk of sorts. Verd being surprised. Rarely seeing the spider speak at all first. But probably the boredom of these tasks was slowly getting to her. “Well I’ve never been there myself but it’s supposed to be a wasteland of sand with huge landmass but only few spots where life seems to be encouraged to flourish. Hence most of the population is located in the big cities. Some villages are spread throughout the desert but the need grounds to survive on. I guess water is a very important resource for the civilians. Something we have almost too much of here….”

Ver would go on and chit chat. Or mainly she would talk and Haka would listen. About sand dunes, storms, quicksand. About the bandits that have claimed the lands. About the few things that are publicly known about the fall of their ninja village. About the strange glass that remained in it’s destruction and at the nasty impact this genocide has left upon the ninja world and its politics. While she spoke of Suna she couldn’t help but think that Yuki had experienced a similar fate of sorts. And yet here they are, preparing themselves for an effort to change fate in this doomed land. To save the many people still living in the land of sand and dirt and give them back the balance that was taken from them? What an idealistic idea. It did sound good but it’s execution would probably be less easy.

Verd sighed but saw that all weapon cargos on their side of the bay were loaded. Moving back to the task manager, she picked up a new letter on it that said. “Control cargo ships and allow them to leave Kiri’s harbour”. Hence making sure the next batch of ships would probably sail off to their destination soon enough.


520 / 1160

There were things the spider would probably never get used to. Like those moments where a seemingly simple question resulted in a waterfall of words that knew no end. She had met such a verbal terror once before when meeting Fuyuko, and now she had to deal with it again. The question of what Sunagakure was like urged Verdandi to tell just about every detail about that came into mind, whereas Haka would have kept it to a short description of 'sand everywhere, wind everywhere, no water'.

The explanation about its environment was important. To know there would be no mist to hide in meant the spider would have to find a way to remain hidden from sight when hunting. A bleak spider in yellow sand would compromise her camouflage unless she was able to change the colours of her hair. She could probably do so for her human form since that was just a disguise, but she couldn't do so for her natural form.

The lack of water was troublesome but not the worst to live through. Spiders didn't need all that much, most of their sustenance provided by the prey they hunted. It was nonetheless a thing to keep in mind, as she wondered how that would affect Verdandi's ice formations. Even if they had suiton at their disposal to refresh themselves, it would most likely not be as easy to use water and ice as it was in Kirigakure.

When Verdandi mentioned the storms that teased the Land of Winds, Haka could probably never have been as unimpressed as now. Of all the elements a spider had to face, the wind was barely worth mentioning. Even if it could bring a climbing spider off course, it's silken strands allowed it to hang on tight just fine. No, the wind was of no concern in the eyes of the spider-nin as even fuuton jutsu was something she had yet to hear anything interesting about. Shaping the earth, the quicksand traps, things like that  sounded like a greater danger than a hard wind trying to blow her away then.

The topic of Sunagakure's destruction eventually followed, and with it the differences in philosophy between the two kunoichi would be tested. It was no secret to Verdandi that Haka would remain unfazed by the complete destruction of a Village as she considered it the right of the strong to take down the weak. Though she didn't quite see the use in such a grotesque display of power, the very idea to move a nation worth of military power just to help in its restoration was just as much ridiculous. Those who had a strong sense of survival would find a way to live on, no matter the power that would come their way.

As Verdandi returned to pick up a new task, Haka finished loading the last crate onto the ship. With the first of many menial tasks out of the way, she took a moment to look around. The hive of humans had been working all this time and yet it looked like nothing had come closer to being finished. Confusing. When Verdandi returned and mentioned the new task was to verify the cargo ships before departure, Haka took out an eye patch with a little cat on it and placed in front of her eye before forming the spider and bird hand seals. Throwing up an eye ball of chakra, the 360 degree vision it would offer her would drastically improve her ability to spot anomalies and what-not as she would cover more ground at once.

"What are we looking for?", she would ask Verdandi before jumping on the first cargo ship. After all, the weapon cargo had already been checked before they had been loaded up, so what then did they need to verify?

---

645
Total: 1765

145/150:

Verdandi watched Haka do her weird eye technique and was yet quite impressed by how she executed that. Verd was obviously still amazed by the many techs the young monster had in store. Eventually they came around to get on board of the first ship. She had specific control papers that would go along. The civilians would be notified of the appearance of the shinobi. Making them crawl to deck and slowly get in formation. Some more enthusiastic some others were clearly just cargo or ship workers and not soldiers.

"Every cargo liner needs five guards appointed. Check"
"... needs to have twenty soldiers. Check"
"... needs to have ensured the stability and safety of the ship..."

She said as she walked past them, inspecting the soldiers gear and then slowly lifting her foot. Stomping once down onto the ship as the power in her stomp let out a resonating echo. Testing the structure. If the vibration would cause any potential leaks or loud cracking noises to appear the ship would obviously be in need of repairs. Content with the situation she walked on and past the people standing on standby. Letting Haka inspect them closer. Probably to determine if she would think the soldiers were.... military proof.

While spider girl was busy Verd would walk off towards the cargo bay. Counting the crates loaded. Checking inside them shortly by halfway opening them. The ship seemed almost fully loaded. It had tons of supplies ranging from weapons to food as well as just clothes, tents, machinery parts for bigger tank-like creations and a lot of basic components like steel, wood, rubber, rope,  concrete, clay and so on.

It was clear the components were here to not only support the troops but also create a steady basis for any kind of military outpost they would be willing to build up. She went back to count the builders, workers and the captain. Eventually everything seemed to check out and during the walk through the ship no leaks or failures in construction would show up. Content with this one Verdandi gave clearance to the captain and move off board to let the ship join the fleet of the departed ones.

It seemed like dawn was drawing closer. Verd and Haka would go ship by ship. Once Haka seemed to have grasped the concept of the checklist her scouting technique would make quick work of some of the ships ahead, leaving them to simply do the ship hull check and peek into the cargo bay. Since they weren’t the only ones doing this job. A lot of ships would depart one by one. Even her friend captain Bardock eventually got the chance to sail off and would wave after Verdandi as he took into the sea.

For a moment there she was worried for him. Thinking he’d eventually be targeted by someone? From all the ships that left the coast to sail off towards suna. This was the one she hoped would not get into a storm. The soldiers were equipped and ready to be shipped as manpower. The materials were there. Supplies. Water. Verd could see how aside from the large cargo liners even little battleships would sail off to escort the materials. Loaded with what looked like high-ranking shinobi. They seemed to be very interested that no harm would come to all the supplies and troops that were being sent out.

Many of the shinobi forces were yet to be deployed though Verd wondered why the civilian soldiers would mainly go first. It made her think that they were potentially used as…. Expendable meat shields? That was a cruel thought but she knew that when it came down to business, aunt would probably be very calculative and see war rather as a chess board than as individuals that might lose their life’s.

Soon the day would be over and the preparation work would be done. Not many hours left. Not many tasks to fulfil anymore. Since everyone helped as a team.


670 / 1830

The cargo was in need of an escort and a quality ship. Verdandi counted the first group of guards and soldiers, stomped on the floor to check the ship's durability as if she could potentially stomp through it with her feet. This task too was a bore as much as the others, but it would prove to have an interesting side effect when the spider-nin passed by. Haka, used to her own aura, noticed the uncomfortable expressions on a couple of soldiers as her monstrous aura brushed over them, its non-existing breathing felt in the back of their necks, hair rising involuntarily.

Halting in her tracks as her 360° vision allowed her to spot the rising fear of a man in the second row, she turned her head to watch him, pulling his attention to her rather than to his subconscious search for the predator in the vicinity. Even with one eye hidden behind an eye patch, the red amber eye didn't fail to betray her natural predatory instinct. The man's eyes widened as he realised the source of the aura, a mixture of confusion as to why this girl was terrifying her, fear from an unexpected assault to his mind and manly pride as he attempted to suppress the ridiculous feeling he was experiencing.

"You're pathetic.", she said, her voice cold and distant. Her aura would flicker, her murderous intent even more pressuring upon the man even though she looked as apathetic as any other moment of the day. He took a step back, his rational mind still not grasping what was happening, and so Haka stepped in between the men at the first row, one step closer to the man. He took another step back, and she took another step forward. Until he had been driven out of the ranks, standing all by himself. His fear used against him, he was easily isolated.

"Leave."

She had not continued her sentence, but he subconsciously knew he would not live to tell the tale if he refused to understand the situation he was in. He reluctantly walked away, his hand running through his hair as he tried to figure out how he would have to explain this to his superiors. As Haka watched him go, she felt the desire to end his life here and now rising but her rationale dictated now was not the place nor the moment. This missions was merely to bring the cattle together, not slaughtering them just yet. Unfortunately...

Turning around, she would then follow Verdandi again as they moved through the rest of the cargo on board, and then moved through the other ships. It was a boring repetitive task, and yet the spider took out several soldiers with shaking knees as she passed by. Men who had enrolled, their idea of battle and war romanticised by fantasies, believing nothing bad would ever cross their path as a soldier. How wrong they were.

By the end of the day, a small dozen of men were sent to the main tent. All of them trying to explain why a fifteen year old brat succeeded at isolating them just by her presence. All of them transferred to a new position in the preparations for war. Eventually, Verdandi and Haka would return to the tent as well to finish their little mission and deliver their report.

An uneventful day, indeed.

---

[EXIT]

569
Total: 2334

140/150:

Verd would watch Haka go at her very own unique task within this. She didn't expect her to actually get involved at all. Seeing her scaring the kids away that were obviously unfit for this war made sense. So despite the rather harsh attitude behind it, Verd didn't necessarily think it was a bad thing. If they weren't able to stand within her aura without almost soiling themselves, they would probably do worse on the actual battlefield.

Verd watched how the last of the cargo ships would slowly sail off. The harbour was cleared. As they walked back towards the mission tent, they could see some of the teachers that were tasked to train the troops. Some of the civilians on those ships seemed to indeed have gone through some training. Some very elder, seasoned fighters. Fitting the name of soldiers of the bloody mist. Verd was sure that they got rid of the weak and made the platoons stronger. All thanks to Haka in the end. You wouldn’t sometimes see ahead that the one who feels most uncomfortable in a situation ends up contributing to it in the best ways.

Verd smiled, it was indeed an uneventful day. More exciting tasks would be ahead of them. Giving in the report at the mission tent and being dismissed meant they could go back to their normal daily routine. It would probably take a few until the next phase would be introduced. So, for now. Time to go home and relax.

[EXIT]

250 / Total wc: 2080