The mission:

Solstice awoke on a grim morning, there was the sound of panic in the distance with the amount of damage that had already been done to the village, the weakness in the structure of Kirigakure had made the social infrastructure of the ninja within the village weak, and prone to crumbling. There were an increasing number of dangerous missing nin leaving Kiri, and it was the job of the hunters, Anbu, as well as anyone who can spare their skills to band together and re-create the firm infrastructure that the nation of Kiri used to take so much pride in.

Solstice stood, looking out of her window as she saw something occur that she probably should not have. A hunter nin ran past, at breakneck speeds, faster than even she could manage, but her reflexes could actually keep a bearing on the ninja shadow now. She saw two more, spreading out and charging in separate directions. Something was going wrong, it wasn't until she saw a building which was once standing tall in the distance crushed into the ground that she realised quite how bad things were wrong... There was a scuffle downstairs and Solstice found herself running down stairs getting dressed and making her run for the kitchen.

Down stairs was her mother, panting and panicking, looking through medical supplies for something. Solstice searched her eyes and posture for a response, there were probably a lot of people looking around for the means to help, her mother was one of them, and one of those who was more likely than not able to lend a hand. But there still begged the question of what exactly was going on. Solstice waited until her mother began talking. "I'm heading out, a rogue ninja escaped and dropped the building down for the chance to leave... There are a few people trapped, and a couple more probably dead."

Solstice thought so, moving to kill her mother lightly on the cheek she smiled. "Go, help, I'm going to help the hunters track this guy down... Be careful mum" She spoke lightly holding her mother by the arms, before giving her a hug. Moving to the door, she opened it, looking backward to her mother. She gave her a final word of care before making a half rabbit hand-sign and exploding into movement, she thought of where a ninja on foot would be running so quickly, there was only one option really, north, to the land of lightning.

It's where she would go...

She charged north, her feet moving too fast for even her to see, running was mechanical, all she could do is speed it up. The village disappeared from around her as she ran, running to a side and kicking off a trailer to land on top of a house. From darting and jumping from rooftop to rooftop she gathered more and more speed before making a jump to the powerlines, finally from this height she made the jump over the city wall. Landing she grunted, and sped up. Keeping her breathing up and focusing on her chakra. She needed to be ready for this fight. There were a couple of tracks which led in this direction, perhaps they were of the Anbu, or perhaps it was the person she was chasing, there were two sets of footprints... She was sure that by their spacing they were not moving as fast as she was... so they could not be Anbu...

She wondered who...

The forest around her was disappearing around her, moving past her at such a speed she barely had time to dodge the incoming wood, though darting from side to side the area began to thicken into a dense bush, restricting her movement, and speed, though there were many clearings in this part of the forest, some closer than others... The tracks led this way however. They were miles and miles from the village by now. Too far to be in range of the Anbu's net as it extended further and further outward, going through everything like a fine toothed comb.

The tracks were fresh, the soil having barely been disturbed. Whoever was here, she was close... Very close.

(mission: 705/1500)

Hisae had heard what occurred, screams mixed with the sounds of parting flesh, the sounds of death it was a melody Hisae knew all too well. Her reaction was instant, her Short Yumi slung over her shoulder she leapt off towards the sounds of agony, the symphony of death. Internally she prayed that she would arrive in time, that she could aide in some way; however those hopes, her desires were quickly smashed into oblivion. She landed near the center of the city and found nothing but carnage; ninja and civilians alike were maimed, mortally wounded, or worse. Hisae’s stomach twisted at the horror in front of her, who could cause such senseless devastation, such cruelty and malice? Her answer came in the form of a man shouting with an outstretched finger.

“She is over there, she ran over there!” He cried with tears streaming down his face as he clenched his rapidly expiring wife.

Hisae’s shock quickly turned to anger, her confusion to hate, however Hisae was no fool, she knew this Ninja far exceeded her own abilities as her trial sewn in death had shown. Hisae darted through the Kirigakura, trying to keep eyes on her target without giving away her position, Hisae knew this task was impossible to complete alone. As she ran nine tiny Spyders emerged from her tank top and quickly moved to the roof tops where they moved at the same pace as Hisae and were able to continuously watch this murderers every movement.

In her left eye Hisae tracked her prey, her Spyders watching this monster’s every move and sending the information directly to Hisae. This allowed Hisae to take a few short cuts to keep up with her target; she cut through alleyways and shops to keep pace with whoever this was. While she did this Hisae began to use her Kekkei Genkai to create six arrows of Hardened Silk Webbing from her mouth and gingerly placed them in her quiver, if she was smart she wouldn’t need many more than that.

Hisae’s heart stopped when through her left eye she witnessed the target leap over the wall to the north and into the mists that surrounded the Village. Hisae felt a sudden turn in her stomach, had she failed to keep up? Had her short cuts cost her this chase? What could she have done differently? That is when she saw it, one of her Spyders jerked forward with as if something were tugging it, it had attached a webbing strand to this Ninja at some point allowing it to keep up with its prey no matter what occurred.

What a smart little Arachnid… Hisae thought to herself.

Hisae immediately gave chase once more, diving over the wall and into the mists below, completely ignoring the cries from the guards behind her. Hisae no longer relied on all of her Spyders to watch her target, she no longer relied on her sight rather she tracked the Chakra of her own Spyder as it rode the Missing Ninja through the mists. This however did not mean Hisae was careless with her movements, although the mists shrouded her physical form, her bare feet slapping wet mud could give away her position rather easily and judging by the strength of her Spyders chakra she wasn’t too far off from her target.

The sudden sound of feet leaving the earth was heard by Hisae’s sensitive ears, she grimaced, that meant they were at the edge of the mists; Hisae would have to allow her target to gain more ground before pursuing again just to be safe. The upside of this however was her eight other Spyders would once again be useful to her, eight angles of sight restored to her on the target at all times. The Spyder nestled in the hair of this ninja began excreting a silk trial for Hisae to follow in case she lost track of the target. The combination of these two factors allowed Hisae to rapidly pick up the trail again after a few short moments of allowing the target to regain a lead on her.

Hisae leapt into the trees to provide cover as she tracked her opponent, her top left hand grasped her Short Yumi and pulled it free. She imagined her target would grow weary soon, it would need a break a chance to catch her breath, and Hisae was fairly sure she hadn’t been noticed yet. Sure enough a few moments later, Hisae stood on the thickened branch of a tree on the edge of a small marsh. Roughly twenty five meters in front of her sat her target, unaware of Hisae’s eyes peering onto her as she was concealed by the thick leaves and vegetation of the tree.

Hisae’s hand slowly drew an arrow from her quiver; her hand slightly trembled as she silently drew the projectile from its home. Hisae notched the deadly projectile onto her Short Yumi’s waxed string, she held the Yumi at a horizontal angle as her other three arms slowly drew the string back. The Yumi creaked slightly as its string reached its full draw, Hisae’s heart stopped as the target suddenly stood up. Had she heard the Yumi? Were these to be Hisae’s final moments on this world? The answer came in the form of a slight rustle coming from the brush directly underneath Hisae’s position. Relief swept over Hisae, she wasn’t alone anymore, she had an ally to deal with this Missing Ninja.

Jutsu used:

[Word Count: 916/1500]

[Chakra points: 110/150]

Iroh Kozukki thought her plan had worked, she had escaped her captors by dropping one of the larger buildings on a scattered group of civilians as well as her captors before making her escape to the wall. She left the screams and cries of the people behind her as the dead and the wounded began to pile up behind her as the Anbu would be drawn to the commotion. Which would allow her the gap to pierce through their spider web, which would cause them to have to weave through all the area they were called away from. She'd broken through the hole, and it seemed for a moment that she was alone, and that she had finally gotten away.

Running out into the clearing before her she pulled off the summoning scroll from her back, rolling it out on the ground before her and reading over the symbols, she smiled, her summon was something rather grand, and once she was upon its mighty wings she was as good as gone... Muttering would be able to be heard from her at this distance though neither of them would be able to hear her recite her own plan of escape aloud. Looking up she heard something, a slight rustle from the area around her identifying that everything was not as right as it was meant to be.

She could hear something, but as she stood the area fell silent, looking through the trees from where she came from, she reacted and and thrusting both of her hands to the summoning scroll she implanted her chakra into the paper, what came out was something almost mythical in nature, with the power of flight. The intense looking fantastical bird exploded into the light of the day. The black and red feathered almost demonic looking bird appeared feet in front of the ninja who was about to use it to escape her grisly fate.

---

Solstice watched as one set of the footprints disappeared off to one side. This person was defiantly the one who followed the criminal, hopefully an ally, but now her eyes followed out to the clearing, and she decided to step forward into the unknown. As she stepped out she saw the giant bird before her, clawing at the earth and the woman behind it. Solstice's fists clenched, in anger, her power welling up in her body, though she withheld herself for a moment, looking to her side, and then the other, she could sense the presence of the other ninja nearby, Solstice standing in the open was part of her plan.

Standing out in the open like this meant something, and one thing in particular. It meant that she would be able to be seen by the other person whom was here. It meant that they would be able to coordinate with each other by whatever signal that Solstice was able to perform. Though she had no idea of the skill level of the genin who was sitting in the trees behind her, she also had little idea of the person who was ahead of her. Only that the summoning which had been used seemed powerful, and at least of a B-A rank capability, though that would entirely depend on what the bird was capable of.

I'm sorry, I can't let you run any further... I don't care what Kiri has done to you, I don't care what kind of life you've had, you killed innocent people and for that you are not allowed to escape from here alive. So, if need be I will crush you're pet, and then you. Bot if I have to... It's just a shame you chose this path instead of becoming something more, you are a talented ninja, that summoning skill seems more than fantastic for what i imagine your actual rank was amongst the ninja... But now you get to watch me rip it to pieces.

Solstice performed a horse hand symbol followed by an ox. Hyoton chakra began to flow through her body as she then used the snake and the mouse. Her eyes opened, and with them came the activation of the demon ice corruption skill. The ground beneath her feet began to freeze, into two small circles which began to expand slowly outwards from herself. Her opponent would now instantaniously know what clan of person she was fighting. She would know, being a kiri user that the girl wearing the long black tattered cloak, hiding behind the black solid steel mask was a member of clan Aisu.

At that moment she knew and foresaw that her water jutsu would be useless. Leaving only her wind speciality. The massive demonic eagle cawed loudly at this uprising of chakra from their opponent. But Solstice, in her little speech had attempted to do a little more than confront the girl, she had attempted to commune with the other person in the area, the the quick thinker Solstice relayed that she was going to take the summon head on, in a potentially rather flashy display, which would leave the caster open to attack by whatever means they intended to use.

Reaching back and behind her Solstice gripped the Fuuma Shuriken on her back as the weapon began to take on a blue ice like glow. The weapon being imparted with the effects of the C rank chakra flow technique. Solstice knew that the skill combined with a B rank weapon would be enough to wound the bird if she used enough techniques on the creature consecutively. But it would not be easy. It was an A rank Ninja, VS an A rank summon. And without more advanced jutsu, the odds were beginning to stack against Solstice's favour. At this poing however, little mattered. Facing down the giant Demonic Eagle the time for pleasantries came to an end. With another resounding caw, and the spanning of its wings a huge wave of wind was cast into Solstice's direction.

Solstice rose her guard and crossed her arms over her chest, tucking her head in as the impact crashed into her chest. Sending her reeling back into the forests where the bird, walking almost like a dinosaur gave immediate chase. Though the ice under Solstice's feet was strategically placed, the lack of traction soaked some of the blow as she used this as her chance to later be able to outmanoeuvre the creature in the midst of the bush, giving the supposed other ninja the chance to fight the lone nin in the open plane.

Chakra 275:

post = 1105 words
mission 1500/1500

Hisae sat silently on her perch, she watched in awe of the scene that unveiled itself before her, the Aisu ninja stepped from the brush to challenge her prey only to be greeted by a winged beast. Hisae doubted she would have been able to down the creature on her own, she felt relief for the presence of a ninja several times her senior lending her support. Hisae understood the woman’s silent communication with her; she was ensuring Hisae still had her element of surprise, an opportunity that wouldn’t be squandered.

Hisae slowly allowed the strain on the bow’s string to ease, she lowered her aim, the summoned bird placed a new obstacle between Hisae and her target, Hisae was not willing to risk her only chance at an ambush on a maybe or an if. Hisae suddenly leapt to the left and began to dart through the trees deep inside their cover of foliage, she would be the hand of vengeance, her arrow it’s sword, and together they would carve a symphony of pain in this monster’s agony.

Once Hisae was confident in her positioning she would redraw her Short Yumi, take a deep breath through her mouth, and slowly exhale as she aimed. As Hisae focused on her shot all the surrounding noises began to fade, she heard her heart beating at a rapid pace, she drew in another breath and repeated the process she had earlier; she felt and heard it slow slightly, everything would be perfect when she fired.

The only good Rogue Ninja… Hisae thought

Instantly her mind was filled with the images of her parents being slaughtered by Rogue Ninja, she heard their cries for mercy being met with sadistic laughter. She heard her own childish whimpers as she was forced to watch her family, her loved ones being butchered by those heartless animals. She remembered feeling so helpless, so weak…never again; Hisae now held the power of life and death over another, over a monster. She would end this miserable excuse for a life, she would snuff out her opponents life as lack of oxygen does to a flame, but not quickly. Oh no, this Rogue Ninja would feel the agony she had inflicted on dozens of lives, she would feel the terror she had caused, she would die in fear begging vainly for her life.

…Is a dead one

The next moment happened almost in slow motion for Hisae, her fingers slipped from her Yumi’s string, the arrow was loosed. The deadly projectile flew true towards its prey, like a hawk towards its prey; it would collide with the Missing Ninja’s left flank just above her hip, a mortal wound but not immediately lethal. This wound would cripple the Rogue Ninja, slowing her to Hisae’s level of movement while causing blood loss and internal damage if she attempted to remove it. On top of this, dodging the arrow would be a feat even for the Rogue Ninja, as it would arrive to its target in a fraction of a second and the Ninja had little to no way of knowing what would be occurring to her. Hisae notched her next arrow and leapt backwards in the tree line, soon her enemy would come to her, she had to be ready for anything.

Come little fly, come into the Asamorih web, for my Yumi thirsts for the warmth of your blood, and my arrow hungers for the flesh. Hisae thought as she set a new vantage point for a second ambush; a small chillingly cold smile forming on her lips.

[Post Count: 590 words]
[Word Count: 1500/1500]
[Chakra Points: 110/150]

The missing nin smiled as the Jounin was smashed back into the over-brush before her, her A rank summon VS the A rank ninja would probably be a match to behold. The wind swept her hair as she leant down to place her hands on the summoning scroll once again, chakra flowing through her fingers as she would attempt to perform yet another summoning from the A rank scroll, though, it was at that very moment something bulleted out of the bush toward her, the angle of the object was in her peripheral vision, the electrical impulses in her brain warned her of the danger, shock and confusion were over in less than a heartbeat. Her legs tensed as she began to propel herself in a single direction, to leap, to roll, to anything. But it was too late.

The arrow pierced through her side, and she found herself crumpling to the ground before rolling up. Cursing and gnashing her teeth at the pain. There was another opponent here, one that she was going to have to destroy, but the speed and accuracy of that arrow relayed that the one who shot the bolt was at least a B rank Ninja, hiding in the area. B rank, like her... Drawing her blades she cut off the head and end of the arrow so all she had was a rod piercing through her body, which, as much as it was painful, and as much as it was restrictive, was handleable and would stem most of the bleeding in the meantime. Her eyes searched the direction of the arrow ans saw a glint of movement. Moving to her summoning scroll she placed her hands to it.

Bloody Murder

She spoke heavily. And a plume of sharp, near bladed beaked crows exploded out from the summon scroll around her. All of them flying for the direction of the ninja. The Jutsu was C rank. Able to deal a vicious sum of exterior damage to a target as they hunted her down. But now she was maintaining two summons. Her chakra pools were decreasing steadily. Finally, she picked herself up, and made her way to the location of the bush before her, running quickly, her mid range weapon in her grip as she looked forward to this fight.

---

Meanwhile The giant bird malphas was having a grand time. Bringing its giant bladed beak and claws down for solstice to literally rip her apart should one of the hits manage to meet its fatal mark on her. Though the bird was large, and powerful, it now felt slightly restricted by the branches around it, occasionally letting out blasts of wind to literally uproot them and clear a path for itself so it would much more easily be able to penetrate the difficult terrain. Its flaming red eyes searched for solstice after its strikes, hoping her to be dead. But with another of its skills, it flapped its wings, and with a massive rush of wind, bought up a whirlwind cyclone foe the Jounin ninja.

Solstice somersaulted backward as the beak crashed into the ground, and with a bout of extreeme speed to the side manage to dodge and weave behind several trees to get to the flank of the giant bird as its gusts of near lethal wind had already knocked the wind from her. Blood was leaking down from cuts around her neck and other areas of exposed skin, some even from her mouth which drizzled down her neck.The Gust of wind uprooted and literally threw trees from where they once stood causing terrific damage to the landscape. Though with the Fuuma shuriken in her hand, she saw a chance for her to deal the creature a little bit of damage.

Charging from the flank, she was however cut off by the creature's cyclone. the influx of air pulled Solstice into the bone grinding pressure and she found her focus on her chakra flow slipping a little. To the point that on her left arm a black spot of frost bite began to appear as she reconstituted her efforts. Kicking off the floor and leaping up high into the cyclone she was launched seemingly dozens of meters into the air. With a force of which seemed to please the massive bird. But at high altitude the Jutsu or power seemed to lose its potency. Solstice was above the creature as it was about to take off. Looking down at it. Solstice was rather thoroughly hurt. Raising a hand, and focusing on her chakra flow, she hurled down the B rank Fuma blade coated in her chakra flow.

The weapon in a single blow tore through the wing of the creature who was below her, the freezing effect ripping deeper and deeper into the being. The bird recoiled and faltered. Its panic and wild flapping at the sudden pain causing the wound to become further aggravated, the wing literally almost ripping from its socket. Though the creature stopped its struggling after the further pain, the weakened wing seemed to be out of the game for now. Solstice careened down toward the creature in mid-air. Looking at the fuuma blade that was lodged into the ground below it and smiling as another plan came to mind. Though her eardrums as well as multiple locations in her body were damaged, and even a couple of muscles in one of her arms were torn, rendering it unusable for some time. (3 turns) She had a way to hopefully bring and end to this. Forming a half monkey hand sign, she waited for the opportune moment.

Using the handsign she used the flash steps jutsu, a C rank Jutsu of her own creation, wind swept over her and with it came a sensation of power. The power and speed sent her rocketing on impact toward the beast and her fuuma shuriken at such a rate that within the blink of an eye she already had her arm stretched out and her fingers wrapped around the weapon, her chakra flow still maintained re-invigorated in the Fuuma shuriken as she span to wind up and throw it at the beast again. But her speed did not alter her reaction times. In fact it dimmed them, she did not see the wall of wind coming her way which lifted her off her feet and cast her backwards against a tree. Routing herself in mid-air as she flew back, she hit the tree feet first, her knees bending as she landed like a cat against the vertical surface.

Her chest was sore, the wind attacks were making the air choppy and hard to breathe. This wasn't good, she was receiving more damage than she was dealing... she needed to change her strategy. Which was easier said than done. Facing off with the beast... she wondered just how possible this was for her.

Chakra 255:

(post length 1160
Flash steps training 1000/1000)

From her perch high in the tree Hisae witnessed the fruits of her efforts, her arrow struck true and ripped through the torso of her adversary. A small smile appeared on the younger Archers face as she watched her prey slice the tip of her arrow and winch in intense agony. Hisae readied herself for her next assault; however the target’s next move would throw her off guard. A series of hand signs were done before the target threw her palm down on the piece of parchment, another Summoning Jutsu.

She is spreading herself too thin, good. Hisae thought as she watch the woman’s crow’s form and dart towards her.

Hisae immediately counted the flocks of angry, bladed, flying host; it was a small flock of five. Even with the flock being as small as it was Hisae knew she could not possibly bring them all to their knees, it would be too costly. Hisae formed a focusing hand sign and waited for the crows to quickly close the distance and fall into a clever trap. Hisae would allow the host to approach her to the point where they could not escape and then when the flock was too close to dodge anything; they would be snared in the Asmorih Web Shot.

Hisae’s eyes stayed focused on the flock, carefully tracking their movements, her ears listened to the sounds of their noisy squawking and wings flapping in desperate need to obey their master’s will. The sounds of life grew closer, their physical forms ever more clear, soon they would be beyond the ability to escape; like flies soon snared by the patient predator. Hisae channeled the chakra into the small webbing glands in her mouth, forming what would be the instrument of their demise.

The branch where Hisae once sat exploded with life as the crows blindly flailed in and attempt to destroy what was no longer there, Hisae smiled. In a single bound she leapt over the unintelligent animals, her mouth opened as she passed directly over the wild flock and her web fell downwards, snaring the flock and pinning them to the branch. Hisae landed in the branch slightly askew from the crow’s current and ensnared position, she wouldn’t stay there long, she couldn’t afford to, mobility would be key in this hunt.

Hisae bounded off towards the left, a position in which she could clearly witness her opponent’s movements and plan for her next strike. However, upon reaching her new vantage point Hisae found nothing where her enemy once stood, had the fly escaped the spider’s web? Had she foolishly allowed her prey to fly away? Hisae wouldn’t allow for her mark to escape her grasps so easily, she focused on the single Chakra signature of the tiny Spyder that rested in her marks hair. The mark was close, very close; Hisae grew uncomfortable with this fact. However, this sensation of being uncomfortable soon turned into terror as the hunter noticed a previously overlooked detail.

On the branch she now sat in there were several tiny drops of blood, fresh blood and the chakra signature of her Spyder rested a few meters behind her. Hisae heard the brush break as her opponent left her cover; Hisae reacted out of pure instinct and leapt forward into the clearing. As Hisae fell she would turn to face the tree line, if her opponent was any sort of true ninja she would take this chance to attempt to end her; little did she know the clever Asmorih had a single trick left up her sleeve.

Webbing rapidly filled Hisae’s mouth in the shape of a single massive arrow; it forced Hisae to open her mouth due to its colossal size. As Hisae felt her back touch the ground she allowed the missile to slip from her maw, it tore through the sky towards her last position and her opponent’s last known one. Should her prey attempt to move out of the way of the arrow she would learn why this Jutsu was feared by all ninja, a single strand of webbing connected from the arrow to her mouth and allowed Hisae to control its flight path; her prey would not escape.

And so the fly falls to the spider once again. Hisae thought.

Jutsu used:

[Chakra: 80/150]
[Word count: 713]
[Total count: 2213/1500]

Solstice stared down the bird, as its wind attacks were faltering, and now seemed impossible, the cawing and recoiling summon was ready for its final assault, Solstice took in a deep breath, and prepared the for eventuality of defeat. But it would not be this day, her chakra flow still maintained, she took off at a running pace. Rolling up her fists and performing a single hand symbol, substituting and leaving a branch in her place which was hanging by a thread above the head of the bird. Coming down for it, solstice landed a blow followed with a surge straight into the brain of the giant wind bird. The ice flowed over its head, then skull, as the bird got the biggest case of brain freeze ever recorded. Dropping to the ground and beginning to shake uncontrollably.

Solstice collapsed backward off the bird huffing and puffing looking at her wounds almost literally covering her body. Standing up and looking around she noticed that the person they were hunting was no longer there... moving quickly and running toward the clearing as the giant beast suddenly exploded into ivory white smoke, solstice saw only the genin ranked ninja fall from the tree she was perched in. Solstice looked like she was about to dart after them, she saw the other ninja drawing her blade and coming down for her, but this pursuit was suddenly cut short by an arrow deeply penetrating her chest. Launching backwards, completely reversing her momentum and hitting the ground several feet away.

Solstice took this chance to begin to limp in their direction, coughing occasionally, having literally just fist fought a giant bird. But such was the life of a ninja. Hey there...! She called out to the mysterious archer which probably had just saved her life. Are you okay? Or do i need to get a medical ninja out here? Solstice called out once again across the clearing, loud enough to hear, not knowing the inaudible nature of the one she was presenting to. But it seemed, as the other ninja took shallow breaths, that the fight was over.

Hisae watched as the Web Arrow punctured her adversary, easily ripping through her chest before reappearing out of the woman’s back. The sheer force from the velocity the arrow was launched at caused the female’s ninja to be propelled backwards from her free-fall; Hisae knew it was a mortal blow. Suddenly, pain would arch through her body as her back slammed into the ground ending the split second of ecstasy Hisae was experiencing. However, no scream escaped Hisae’s lips, her inability to speak robbed her of that ability instead her eyes screamed for her as irises expanded in shock and her body quivered from the initial surges of agony. Hisae would lay there for a few moments, allowing the pain to slowly fade due to the adrenaline still surging through her veins, soon the sharp pangs faded to a mere throb, allowing Hisae to return to her feet with ease.

Hey there...! Are you okay? Or do I need to get a medical ninja out here? A ragged female voice called out.

Hisae half way opened her mouth to reply, almost forgetting that she was incapable of speaking to another human. Until that moment Hisae had never given much thought to that fact she couldn’t speak, however this sudden reminder caused Hisae to feel a sensation she was all too accustomed to, loneliness. Hisae slowly closed her mouth, instead of speaking she simply replied with a slow shaking of her head from left to right, a clear “No”. Hisae’s red eyes then returned to her target, her quarry, her prey; she watched as the woman’s chest slowly rose and fell, she listened to her ragged breathing, and Hisae hated it.

Slowly Hisae approached her mark, almost deliberately attempting to stir fear in the woman’s last moments. Hisae would cause this woman to experience the same fear she had instilled on the villagers that had been ruthlessly cut down, her death wouldn’t be short. As she approached the dying woman Hisae drew another arrow from her quiver, notched it on her bow string, and then slowly drew the string back allowing the wood to creak as she did so. It wouldn’t be long before Hisae was at the woman’s side; her left foot would be brought savagely down on the woman’s chest as Hisae took aim at the woman’s throat. Hisae’s red eyes met with the woman’s terror stricken rapid fading pools of life, to Hisae she was nothing more than a rabid dog, one that should be put down. Hisae would allow the pair’s eyes to meet for a few more seconds, it would give the woman plenty of time to realize what was about to occur, and then the single arrow would have a short flight into the dying woman’s throat.

A slight gurgle would escape the Rogue ninja’s lips as her life blood began to fill her lungs; it was a swift yet painful death for a horrendous monster. Hisae would then turn her attention to the woman who had likely saved her life, a slight smile appeared on her face, and this was the only way Hisae could show her gratitude to the stranger. The hatred and malice that once swirled in the young girls eyes vanished rapidly as she approached the other ninja. Hisae slung her bow back over her shoulder in a single movement, as she approached the woman relief swept over her, The Hidden Mist’s symbol clearly sitting on her headband, an ally. Hisae grinned a bit once she got closer and quickly spoke the only way she knew how, with her hands.

Thank you, I doubt I would have been able to slay this beast on my own; I now owe you a favor in return I suppose? Hisae signed to the woman slowly with a smile on her face.

As Hisae signed her short message she lipped the words, being sure to over exaggerate each syllable to clearly communicate with her ally. Hisae silently hoped the woman would clearly receive her message, and not misunderstand anything she had just said, as people often did with her.