It was an odd transition of weather patterns, the snowing seemed to snap off as though someone flicked a switch. The terrain shifted from a white winter tundra to a mountainous, red-rocked expanse of cliffs and valleys. Montu could feel the weakness in his muscles, though he couldn't feel the pain and ache of them that one should have been able to after such a tremendous journey. He had no idea whether or not he was even close to his destination. Or if he even had a destination. Such a large number of possibilities spun through his mind. It was only as he eyes stuck suddenly to the image of a rising smoke stack in the distance. It was that of a chimney, nothing else could have made such a perfectly familiar smoke formation.

Montu picked up his pace, taking around thirty minutes to finally locate what resembles to be a beaten in trail toward the smokestack. Civilization was on the brink. A new land to one day plunder, but first it would provide him comfort and rest. Nothing much was different save for the absence of expansive white, snow coated everything. This place was much warmer than his homeland. The sun has began to descend, dragging with it the light from the sky as the husky warrior trudged along the mountainside.

The warlord arrived at a crossroads finally. On all sides of him, mountains shaped the landscape, effectively determining which way a traveler had permission to travel. It wouldn't have been wise to argue with a mountain range, either. A painted wooden sign read "Iwakagure No Sato" and a directional sign gave context to it. What the hell kind of name was that for a place? Montu could only hope as he began to trek along again.

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Iwagakure was an interesting place. The warmth reminded him of his home, which was something that Doctor Alistair Drake always appreciated, and the rocky terrain was somewhat comforting. He believed that it would be unlikely for him to be snuck up on in such an area, not that he was particularly worried about such a thing happening. He watched out as the wind picked up and a dust cloud formed, his travelling gear being equipped with a mask that filtered the air around him, because you could never be too careful when it came to airborne pathogens. He was looking for something, someone, anyone who he could attempt to help out, as he had something new that he wanted to test out. It was a new cocktail of diseases, something that wouldn't normally make sense together, but he wanted to be able to test the effects of all of these diseases attacking the body at once and what it would do. Ideally he would insert them into a broken bone to see how it would spread when inserted into an infection already, but he would take almost any opportunity he could get his scalpel into.

He realized that his travelling clothes probably weren't the most approachable things, and he removed the mask, keeping his coat but putting the mask into his pack. He was very careful to keep it separate from his hidden compartment in his bag. He pulled the package of cigarettes out from one of the pouches on his coat, his zippo lighter in his other hand. As he took a smoke from the pack he held it to his lips, using one hand to shield the flame from the wind as he struck the lighter with the thumb of the other hand, inhaling deeply and keeping the smoke in his lungs for a few seconds before exhaling the smoke out of his nose. Ah how he loved the light headed feeling he gained off of that first deep drag and keeping the smoke trapped. Longer gave better results and it gave Alistair just the release he needed to take the edge off of his stressful life if only for the five minutes it would take him to finish his cigarette. He knew it was a bad habit but with medical jutsu as advanced as they were he would never have to suffer the ill effects of smoking and was free to enjoy each cigarette as much as he wanted too. He took another drag and smiled softly, holding the smoke a little bit longer as he flicked the ash into a trey on top of the table that he was sitting at before exhaling the smoke through his nose once more, seeing the girl approach him. There was something liberating to know that he was ingesting himself with a toxin that he could control.

As he watched the road he saw a traveler who looked a little out of place. He seemed as though he was dressed for much cooler weather than the climate here, and judging by where he had just come from he probably wasn't someone from the lands of the shinobi. As he watched the man approach from down the road he approached him, a grin stretching over his face. "Greetings traffeler, you look ein little pit out of place in zis area, nein? I zink it is guite opffious zat you aren't from here zince you are clearly drezed for ein blisard and ve are in the middle of ein heat vaffe. I vould zuggest for your health you pegin to loze ein fev layers, lest you vish to zuffer from ein feffer. Ach ! You don't vant your body offerheating too much, it does terriple zings to your orkans and your prain. Ach ! Fortunadely for you, hoveffer, I'm ein doctor and knov hov to get around zeze zings." He reached to his side and pulled out a canteen full of cool drinking water, took a sip of it himself first to show the man that he could trust him, swallowed and offered it to him. Running into another person who wasn't from here was the most interesting thing that had happened to Doctor Drake in a while and he was looking forward to finding out why the man was here.

(724)

Montu reflected upon the goals he sought to achieve. He would be written in his land's history books as the first to come over the mountain, and return. That was a feat on its own. The thing of utmost importance once he shook his ego, though, was finding someone who could save his dying sister. Her fever was unwavering, and higher than what anyone had ever witnessed in his families specialized line of personal medics. That's what they said, anyhow. Montu couldn't have felt it for himself, much like he had no way of realizing his heavy armor and multiple layers of clothing were causing him to sweat as if he had been rained upon. The only saving grace was the fact that his garments were stuffed with aromatic flowers and plants. To combat his stench when he arrived to a place and needed to speak with someone. This was the sort of thinking his mother was responsible for. The most diplomatic of the warring family tree. Often times Montu and his father would laugh at her suggestions of diplomatic solutions. Montu was certainly most like his father in that respect. Mercy in this life was pointless, as there will always be something more cruel than you. Bestowing mercy upon someone or something is leaving it to die later. One could argue that was a bigger cruelty in a world that could care less about its habitants.

By the time Montu escaped his thoughts he was standing face to face with a man. The man wore glasses, a long coat, had sharp facial features and a thick accent as he spoke to Montu. The man referenced that Montu was overdressed and that he bore the risk of overheating if he didn't lose some of his layers. The man spoke with great knowledge of what would happen to the body under such conditions. Then the words left his mouth. A doctor. Montu had not even reached a city within this new land and a doctor had been seemingly dropped before him. It was only when the man took out a large cantine and took a drink of water than Montu felt his throat crack from dryness. He took the cantine when offered and poured it into his mouth, careful not to touch his lips to the lid out of courtesy. He also made sure not to drink it beyond the halfway point.

After quenching his thirst, he handed back the container to the doctor and whilst dropping his outer layer of armor, he introduced himself.

"Thank thee f'r the water, valorous leech. mine own name is Montu. I am from a land far to the west. i has't travel'd f'r what doth feel like an eternity to arrive hither.

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Doctor Drake took another drag from the cigarette as he looked towards the curious individual before him. There was sweat that was pouring down his face, which he hadn't seemed to notice. He was a little bit discoloured as well, looking like the possibility of fainting was very real. He considered taking out a scalpel and nicking his skin to see if his theory was correct, but if Doctor Alistair Drake had to guess, he would say that the man, like himself, could not feel external phenomena. His curiosity got the best of him, however, and as the man raised the canteen to his lips, Alistair quickly pulled out a scalpel and cut into his forearm. The man didn't even flinch as the sharp blade cleanly sliced into his skin and began to draw blood, a small half smile forming on the doctor's lips. He had confirmed his suspicion and could now move forward with his life, no longer having to seek the answer to that question. He would remember this in the future, as he could test different diseases on this man to see how the spread would effect him as opposed to a normal person.

When he would finish the drink, Alistair would point to his forearm and speak; "Oh freund, it abears you haffe cut your arm on your traffels. Ach ! I'm zurprized you didn't nodice it, as it zeems to pe pleeting and vould likely haffe hurt guite ein pit. Don't vorry zough, I'll take care of zat for you." Assuming the man would let him, he would cover his right hand with green medicinal chakra, the way that he had been shown by the old Guanyin man on the side of the road, and hold it about an inch above the cut, the chakra quickly healing the wound right before his very eyes. It absolutely amazed the plague doctor as he had been been having to use such barbaric tools for years, and now he could simply place his hand over a wound and it would heal. Oh how far the world had come. The look on his face as he healed the wound would mostly be a comforting one, though the undertones of his face would also clearly be surprise as he had never actually witnessed this being done by his own hand and it was truly quite amazing.

He had gained a lot of knowledge during his time in these lands, having picked the brain of the Guanyin man for as much as he would give him, learning about different kinds of elemental chakra and ways it could be applied, as well as different clans and their abilities and the dojutsu of certain clans as well. He had been simply amazed at all of the information that he was presented with, and while he hadn't expected any of it to be true, he was loving the confirmation. Once the healing was complete he would remove the medical chakra from his hand and smile. "Zere you are mein freund, kood as nev. Are the abilidies of zis land not fascinating? Vere I am from zere is nein zuch healing magic, ve had to uze needles and thread if ve vanted to cloze ein cut like zis one. I vould conzider it lucky zat you ran into me today."

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Jutsu Used 140/150 Chakra:

It hadn't occured to Montu at all the dangers of traveling alone when one had no feeling at all. The doctor pointed out to him that he was bleeding, and not exactly lightly. It was a small river of crimson plummeting from his forearm down to the ground, the doctor assured him that all was well, however, as he was able to handle such an injury with ease. Montu used what little knowledge he had of bleeding wounds, and grabbed his forearm tightly to staunch the bleeding whilst the doctor seemed to prepare some sort of sorcery. The green glow of his hand only glimmered brightly, glowing against Montu's face as his eyes widened in amazement, the wound mostly vanished in no time at all. Completely healed as if time itself had been reversed in just that particular spot. This was an earth-shattering discovery. This was the answer to his most pressing problem, and it had been placed directly before him. Montu contained himself as he flexed his fingers and examined the wounds previous location carefully. Yes, this was precisely what he needed.

The doctor spoke of being a traveler from elsewhere as well. This news was only slightly troubling, as that meant this man may not have had any idea of where to go from here either. Nevertheless, that took nothing away from how desperately he needed this man's assistance. He would present his case to the man upfront.

"leech, i needeth to knoweth thy name. i has't cometh hither in search of a medical professional who is't couldst heal mine own sister. that lady life is apace fading. i has't riches beyond thy wildest imagination to giveth if 't be true thee'd returneth with me to mine own land and save that lady life."

There was no bluff or deception there. His family truly did have all to offer anyone who might be able to save Freiya. It was no journey Montu could make straight away, however. He could already tell that his body was weak and weary from his travels thus far. They would both need to find a place to rest before the possibility of setting back out could even be had. This would also give Montu an opportunity to scout this land out. Who knew what other mysteries it held. What power could he gain here? Perhaps he could return to his people as a God among men.

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Ah, fascinating. Doctor Drake pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose into place so that he could see properly. This man had come to the lands of the shinobo seeking a healer, likely not knowing what this area had to offer. His manner of speech was even more foreign than what he had encountered here so far, and wasn't a dialogue that Alistair had ever heard before. If he was looking for a healer, Alistair would be more than happy to play the part, as he wanted to see what it was that afflicted her, and potentially if it was something that he hadn't seen before. He wondered what types of infections and diseases they had where this man came from. He was clearly from somewhere that was cold due to the extremely warm clothing that he was wearing, so perhaps they would be more resistant to the types of disease that he was used to dealing with. He would have a prime opportunity to test this if he went along with the man, so it wasn't really a question as to wether or not he was going to accept the man's offer.

"Of courze you may knov mein name. I am Doctor Alisdair Drake, and I haffe stutied in the meticinal arts for mein endire life. I haffe recently come to zeze lands to zeek out nev cures for zat vich blagues the mazes, and I vould pe haby to azist you in vadeffer vay I am. Ach ! It vould zeem zat fate has brought us together on zis fine day. And vat, bray tell, is your name?" His smile was genuine enough as he looked the man in the eyes. He could feel a dormant power in the man, perhaps something he didn't even know he had. He was looking forward to getting to know him better, and to seeing what his people were like. Hopefully they were resiliant so that he could perform more of his experiments on them, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it...

1637

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Alistair Drake. I am called Montu. I am less of a scholar in terms of sciences, but my speciality lies in the art of war. where I come from, I am heralded the most powerful general in the lands. My family holds dominion over any place we wish. All that my elders Mu do is point me in a direction. That is the life I live."

Montu would've felt the sting of the wind whipping against his face if he could feel, but he stood unflinching in the midst of that chance encounter with the powerful doctor. Of what was he capable? Montu would maintain his guard, as much as possible. Ultimately, he was at the mercy of this man though. His sister's life was held hostage by death itself. Only this sort of divine healing prowess could save her. Perhaps if the doctor failed Montu would take his head for the troubles. Either way, this was all thought for the future, there was absolutely no way Montu was going to turn back and head all the way back to his homeland now. That might just kill him from the exhaustion alone. He had made better time than expected, and so he would offer his newfound partner the opportunity to travel at his side and discover the lands before they turned back.

"I have traveled for what seems like an eternity. My body itself wouldn't be capable of handling a return journey so soon. If it is that you accept my offer, Mr. Drake, what say you we venture to the closest township and rest first. We are both travelers who know the open road too well. The value of a good rest is unable to be expressed by tongue."

What would actually happen, is that Montu would be scouting out the border areas for opportunity. He was certain his parents would want this land taken in time, and Montu wanted to know the landscape and what they would be dealing with when the time came to pillage.

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