Kirigakure no Sato always had its dreadful days... cold and dark, it was later in winter but it hadn't snowed yet. A bit odd, worrying for some and those superstitious souls, but for Maigo.. it meant nothing. He sat on a bench outside the administration building, legs crossed, his katana at his waste, ninja pouch with all his tools and a kunai strapped to his leg. In his backpack were a few days supplies and some extra cloth in case he'd need it, along with his windmill shuriken in case he'd need them.

Still, his mission today would be simple, to investigate a distress call that had come up in the south. Unknown in origin and request, his job would be to take a young Chuunin with him, and help guide them while investigating the situation and doing reconnaissance on the area. Reports of fighting and ruins of a once great town were there, but it was thought by the village to mostly abandoned and left to rot, with few others on other surrounding islands. The distress call came in the form of a small and nearly illegible note via carrier pigeon right to the cipher corps office. It wasn't placed on urgent priority, but the mission would be handed to Maigo, a more perceptive individual and one of the only ones who hadn't rushed off into Kumogakure with the rest of the Kirigakure forces. He didn't have time to wonder about when they might return or what would happen, they were all the way in the north in Kumo, he'd have no support from any garrisons that far south.

Maigo read through the report on the area beforehand, a long lost land from many years ago, it read as such,

The island was home to a small town compromised of a single clan and many visitors. The clan's prowess in ninjutsu was mostly unchallenged and as such they began to challenge Kirigakure shinobi in task and policed the smaller islands in their area. We allowed it as a reserve of manpower but eventually their enemies grew and destroyed them. Since then, none have appeared or popped up in the time passing.

And that was it, a classified document Maigo had to return back in immediately. If it weren't for the fact that he was a jounin, he'd probably have never been allowed to see it and he felt... lied to. As if there were more to the story but his suspicions didn't matter. He only needed the bare minimum amount of information as far as the mission was concerned. Still, before hand he'd received a note from the administration building detailing his need beforehand simple enough, delivered by bird like always, he was told to prepare for several days and arrange to be out of the village for a short time. That wasn't the hard part, there wasn't really much tethering him in once place for too long, not that he'd be overly concerned about anyways, things had been extraordinarily quiet lately, and he had been enjoying the peace of it all, his mind clear and his focus strong, for once...

Still, he sat there musing to himself, knowing the village was sending one other person along with him whom he'd get to mentor, he only hoped they weren't annoying. The note they would receive would read as such,

You've been selected for a mission, time frame upwards of one week potential. You'll be briefed in route by your squad leader, Maigo Mugetsu. Please meet him at the administration with your gear and all else ready to go at 1200.

So, it was 1158 now, and Maigo was waiting and relaxing, musing about the mission and its inherent lack of detail. He didn't know himself whom he'd be leading, but the surprise was all part of the fun of waiting.


[662 words]

Yaaaawwwwn

With a stretch, the girl sat up, hopping to her feet. The day before, she had received a note informing her of her first mission as a Chuunin. Furthermore, it wasn’t a small mission either; a minimum of a week. So, she spent the entire day getting ready, both in the sense of preparing supplies to take, but also making sure everything was set up so that her mother would be able to survive, requesting a fellow Sangotatsu to look after her while she was gone. Rations, ninja tools, sleeping arrangements, and a few other basic generic tools. Oh, this was so exciting! She even got her preparation done early, before she would go to sleep, ensuring she was well rested for the mission ahead of her. And well rested she was. Having now hopped to her feet, the girl quickly got changed, grabbed her things, and left out the door, making sure to take the piece of paper with her, just to refresh where she had to go and who she was meeting with.

So, on that very topic, as the door swung shut behind her and she stepped out into the grey of the outskirts of Kirigakure, pulling out the note she had received. Maigo Mugetsu. She hummed quietly to herself, walking forwards towards the village proper as she thought. The name sounded familiar, although the reason was something she couldn’t quite remember. Regardless, bags of supplies on her back, she was off! Alwen was excited, with this being her first long term mission. It was something she could get out of the house for, something she could prove herself with. So, with a cheer to herself, she walked off, having left the house in the early morning to ensure she got to the administration building on time. Her attire was simple; basic grey and blues in more practical than wondrous patterns, training tights, and combat boots. Her hair was loose and messy, horns shown prominent as usual, and her forehead protector found itself wrapped around her right arm’s shoulder, metal plate facing up.

After a couple hours of slow walking, the girl found herself in the main part of Kirigakure, walking towards the looming structure that is the administration building. It was a tall structure, easy to pinpoint within the village. Yet it was sturdy, fortress like in design. Very distinct from the administration offices of other villages, a stoic reminder of the will of the mist. Brutal and efficient. The dragon child ducked in and out, weaving between people going about their day. Alwen was half tempted to search through her bags for the hat which she’d packed, in case she had to pretend to be normal. But, there was no need. The Sangotatsu were a part of Kiri after all, so, despite the odd looks, nobody would think to mock her for it. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she made her way more diligently towards the meeting place.

At 1159, the girl arrived, bearing a grin of pride as she stepped towards the building, amber eyes scanning for anyone that looked like they might perchance be the person that’d take them on the mission. There were a couple of people, some less interesting than others, yet when those amber eyes fell upon a particular person lazing about, her shoulders slumped in disbelief as realisation dawned on her. Rather crudely, the girl pointed a finger at the lazing individual before exclaiming one simple thing out loud…

“YOU AGAIN?!”

585

Maigo saw her approaching from some distance off, the same girl as before... in all her eccentric color and style. A sigh came over him, eyes rolled back in his head as they forced his head to thud against a wall, keeping his eyes closed for a second as he prayed to himself, Don't make it her, don't make it her, don't make it her... Well, there was no one to answer this prayer as the next thing to break his musing and bring him back to life was the quickly shouted words, “YOU AGAIN?!” they rang out in a semi-obnoxious manner, his head pounded as he rolled his body to sitting up straight and blinked at the girl.

She was certainly making an entrance, though, unluckily or her the Maigo she was dealing with today was already set into his missions mindset. He didn't have much want for games or anything of the sort, though he would be far more relaxed here than anywhere else on their mission. "You're the chuunin I'm supposed to be instructing on this mission?" Great... he thought to himself. But another thought also crossed his mind, wasn't she a genin when he met her last?? That meant she was brand new to the world of a chuunin, but he figured that was why he would focus a bit on mentoring here, rather than just giving mission protocol too. Regardless of how she would answer, Maigo would tack on to his statement, "Just... keep it down a bit, it's too early for all that yelling." he would ramble on as he would move to stand up and grab his backpack from beside him and slide it on one shoulder at a time.

When the time would come a long and his backpack was on, ninja tools accounted for... again. He would speak up, "Yes though, I'm the one in charge of this mission, we're investigating a distress call that came from the south of the land of water. It should be two to three days travel to the general location depending on the pace we keep. I can brief you on the rest of the mission en route, but before we go, have any questions and are you ready to go?" he would look calm and composed, breathing normally and exhaling at the end, feeling the decompression of his chest as he felt a non-existent weight lift off of him for no particular reason.

If Alwen were ready, he would nod and begin casually walking towards the south gate of the village, about an hours walk at a leisurely pace. They could begin running and really covering some ground once they were out of the village. Still, something nagged Maigo, wondering if he should try to talk or bring something up, they were about to spend several days out in the wilderness on a mission. Perhaps having started off bragging about being the Sage of Genjutsu with bravado and perviness was not the best way to make an introduction but there was nothing he could do to fix that. So he would keep his mouth shut, unless Alwen decided to chime in with anything, questions, comments, the rest. It was certainly going to set the bar for a very quiet and standard trip across the country.


[563 words, 1225 words total]

To Alwen’s surprise, rather than being interested in spying on women, the man before her was frustrated, and in a literal sense rather than an over exaggerated portrayal over being caught peeping on strangers. Was this the right person? Even more curiously, was this the person that she’d caught being perverted by the beach? Well, regardless, the response to her exclamation was enough to cause hesitation in the young Chuunin, who found herself pausing in behaviour at the reaction given. Her arm found its way back to her side as she sort of looked at him with an eyebrow raised. So, he was serious about something? That wasn’t something she saw coming. Still, as his almost stinging rhetoric left his lips, Alwen sort of felt any humour or jeer in her fade away. The tone for this was set; her first mission as a Chuunin was going to be work, nothing more, nothing less.

Still, there were some positives of this. While the sort of personality to pester or just generally be weird, so long as she kept her head up and didn’t allow the atmosphere to grow tense, she could instead use the time as calming. Perhaps that’d be a good way to approach this, so, her quickly tensed up shoulders soon drooped once more to the casual, loopy-posture that Alwen usually held herself with. As he announced for her to keep it down a bit, she shrugged a bit. So, she watched as he got up, picking up his bag and putting it on, waiting in silence and simply listening. It seemed this was going to be a very long mission, or at least, a mission that was a long distance away. But, it also sounded incredibly important – no wonder the pervert was so serious and dreary. She waited for him to finish speaking, amber eyes staring intently at him, before shaking her head at his question on if she had questions. “I have questions, but, only on the mission, so, I’ll ask them when we’re out of the village and on the way. So! Lead on I guess?” She said blatantly, shrugging slightly. Judging from his attitude, and the fact he was leading the mission, this guy was actually a jounin, a strong ninja. So, she didn’t want to give off a bad impression like she did with bragging in parody of him prior. Perhaps taking the piss out of him upon first meeting him was a bit far?

So, the two walked towards the gates of Kirigakure, Alwen realising this would be the furthest she’d been from Kirigakure. It was almost exciting. Almost. Nah, who was she kidding, it was very exciting. Still, after the half an hour walk, the duo arrived at the gate with relative ease, the streets of Kiri no more busy than usual. From there, the pace was picked up, Alwen allowing thoughts on the mission ahead of her to fill her mind. A distress signal was a serious thing. Even more so, this was the least information she’d ever received about a mission. It struck her as odd, although perhaps the reason why would become apparent once she got the information from Maigo. She would wait until they had left the village proper and made significant headway, allowing a further half an hour to pass, before speaking up to break the awkward silence that had arisen. “So, about the mission… Before you tell me anything about it, can you say why you haven’t said anything about it yet? Both the paper saying I was signed up for a mission, and the brief you gave when I arrived, had well, the least information I’ve received on a mission. If we’re still too close to the village, or, there’s some other reason you can’t say, that’s fine. I just, well, want to know what’s going on with this mission, you know?” she admitted, the oddness of it filling her mind with temporary doubt; doubt she would no doubt forget in about 10 minutes.

670 + 585 = 1255

“I have questions, but, only on the mission, so, I’ll ask them when we’re out of the village and on the way. So! Lead on I guess?” she shrugged along with it. Maigo understood, but didn't have any real response to it so he nodded along and grabbed the straps of his backpack and began to lead the pair on to the gate. The village itself was as busy and chaotic as usual but in a familiar and controlled way. No one was wandering around freely, they all seemed to have a place to go, some loitered about but all doing something. It was a busy morning filled with noise, and yet it was calm all the same.

Once they arrived at the gates and walked past them, a few hundred meters, Maigo would pick up the pace. First a light sprint, gradually increasing to a comfortable spot for the both of them, he had no idea how quick Alwen was but he didn't want to tire her out too quickly or anything. He was also used to training, his stamina was a lot better than most other people's so he'd have to play it carefully until he got a feel for her abilities and where her respective comfort zone ended at. It was once they set their pace, that Alwen spoke up, Maigo having declined to really say much up to this point, “So, about the mission… Before you tell me anything about it, can you say why you haven’t said anything about it yet? Both the paper saying I was signed up for a mission, and the brief you gave when I arrived, had well, the least information I’ve received on a mission. If we’re still too close to the village, or, there’s some other reason you can’t say, that’s fine. I just, well, want to know what’s going on with this mission, you know?”

Maigo mused to himself for a brief moment, inhaling heavily as he thought about the sentiment, there was... a lot on his mind about nothing really? He started out with the basics, "Well, I'll say this much, I haven't said much because I don't know much either. And on top of it, I have a sort of... queasy feeling about everything. Just a hunch really..." he would speak looking forward at their path, quickly being surrounded by trees on the small path, forest and thick brush closed in to keep them somewhat covered and vulnerable in the roadway. He was on high alert for anything happening, travelers, bandits, and the like wouldn't be anything more than a threat to him, but that didn't matter as everything was clear for the moment. They had a very long journey ahead of them, he might as well start explaining.

"The mission, in its basic form, is to investigate a distress call to the south of the land of water. The call had little to no other information in it, and at the same time, the location it gave was of some... historic significance? Back to when we were the Blood Mist village, as a psuedo-name at least." he paused for a moment, turning his head and looking towards Alwen to make sure she was following along with him, but he wouldn't pause long enough for her to interject. Jumping up to a branch overheading the path, a little bit of a quicker movement and letting them take small breaths in the jump, save some stamina. Maigo would continue on,

"I'm a bit worried about the mission... the potential paranoia of it. You see... I'm a jounin, but I haven't earned much of the village's trust? Paranoia at best. But sending me on a mission like this, with an inexperienced Chuunin... no offense..." he tilted his a bit shamefully and smiled, he didn't mean to insult, he was only working about the situation from his point of view. "But, it's a lot of unknowns, and if it's some dark past that the village wants to cover up, some mess that could leak. They know nothing about, they send a recon team in, we'll get some information out, and potentially die in the mess of it. I'm skilled enough to handle recon work and all, but if the size of the mess is too great, well you'll have to look out for yourself some." he frowned a bit and looked at Alwen for her expression, he knew that she knew the trials and tribulations of their work, and his explanation wasn't incredibly thought out, but still there was an implication to all of this here.

"All I'm saying is, if the village wants to cover up their dirty secrets, sending highly skilled and expendable people undermanned and uninformed into the situation is a good way. If we discover something they don't want us to, we die along with it and they send more qualified individuals afterwards to handle it, more trusted persons? Still, it may all be paranoia but we were the blood mist village, and as much as the village has changed... we all have our demons in our minds and skeletons in the closet. I just think we should both be very much on our guard, I mean always on guard but doubly so when we get close..." his expression and tone a little grave. But he was serious, and a bit worried, heading into the unknown, he didn't want things to be too serious. They would have a long journey and lots of getting to know each other, maybe he should try starting a conversation and relaxing for a bit? Maybe...


[970 words, 2195 words total]

Alwen fell quiet as Maigo began to answer her question, focusing on the area around them as they kept the pace consistent, running along the pathway out of Kirigakure. This was a lot more serious than she was expecting for a mission alongside the pervy guy, the tone quite tense. After a pause, his reply came. It seemed he was… Unsure. Both about the mission, and perhaps doubting himself as well. She glanced to her side, looking to see his expression as he spoke. To her, it appeared he was more on guard than fearful, but perhaps the two went hand in hand. Still, it was best to keep quiet, and wait for him to answer, since, this could merely be because what he knew about the mission had him on alert, or perhaps wishing to conceal answers. And with that thought in mind, Alwen resumed looking ahead of her, paying attention to every detail of the route out of Kirigakure.

He resumed his speech, words sounding heavy with doubt and thought. It at the very least gave a bit more information regarding the mission; that they were heading to a location of importance, and Alwen’s expression remained flat, empty as she simply allowed his words to sink in. He spoke of the bloody mist, and while Alwen had heard the term before, she was not entirely familiar with her village’s history. It seemed serious, and after a brief pause, the Jounin leapt up to the branches, Alwen following suit, the two now traversing among the trees at a slightly improved pace. Shortly after this, he would continue speaking, Alwen once more continuing to listen, making mental note of the details. “I'm a bit worried about the mission... the potential paranoia of it. You see... I'm a jounin, but I haven't earned much of the village's trust? Paranoia at best. But sending me on a mission like this, with an inexperienced Chuunin... no offense... But, it's a lot of unknowns, and if it's some dark past that the village wants to cover up, some mess that could leak. They know nothing about, they send a recon team in, we'll get some information out, and potentially die in the mess of it. I'm skilled enough to handle recon work and all, but if the size of the mess is too great, well you'll have to look out for yourself some.”

It was a lot of speaking, and despite his pause to apologize for slightly insulting the girl, there was a lot of just silent listening on Alwen’s part. The first thing Alwen made note of was the lack of surety in the mind of the mission leader. He seemed to be ruling it as being a chance of paranoia. Doubt was contagious. Alwen did her best to think it through positively, or to believe the best out of her village, but the words of Maigo made it hard. She would die, because the village wanted to cover up information. She shook her head, attempting to force the worry out of her mind. She kept looking ahead of her, paying more attention to their surroundings than his words in an attempt to allow herself to think on it later. Which is exactly what she did, take in the information, but think on it later. Without intending it, Alwen’s expression showed her concern, the concept of her village betraying her being something she’d never had to think about before. Another pause, Alwen remaining quiet, before once again, Maigo spoke up, finishing his speech. He admitted once more that it could be simply paranoia, and at this, Alwen felt a breath of relief, her shoulders growing less tense. That isn’t to say the worry had left her, but for now at least, Alwen could allow herself to focus more on the mission. She’d remember the words Maigo said, as well as his warning to keep alert and be prepared to defend herself, but from her minimal experience, she was used to this regardless.

Alwen remained quiet, allowing the information to sink in. The potential seriousness of the mission was finally becoming a realization to her, thoughts running through the mind of the dragon child at a quick pace. The sound of leaves rustling and sticks snapping as the two leapt from tree to tree occasionally breaking her train of thought, the amber eyes of the Chuunin simply continued to stare ahead. Allowing herself to keep paused, the words of the Mugetsu sinking in ever deeper into her mind, Alwen sighed. Voice void of emotion, she finally spoke. “Okay… So, you think that there’s a chance we come under attack from those we call ally? In that case, I think we should first know a bit more about each other. And I don’t mean in the sense of being friendly and learning likes, dislikes, and hobbies. If we’re going to end up in a fight, it’s best that we know what the other is capable of. I know you use genjutsu, but beyond that, your capabilities are beyond me. For example, in a fight, should I be the one up close, or should I keep back and act as a rear guard? If we end up under attack without knowing what we can do, that would be bad… I think.” She shrugged slightly, pausing her thought process before continuing. “To give you an idea of what sort of information I mean, here’s a bit about me. As I joked about before, I’m a Suiton specialist. I also have the ability to use Raiton, however, the majority of my repertoire is Suiton based. Additionally, as you could guess, I focus primarily on ninjutsu. I have very basic medical training, but not enough to do any proper jutsu, and have basic knowledge in Bukijutsu. Don’t expect my medical training to be of use, since, the most I can really do is tell you how to slow bleeding, and make a makeshift bandage. I’m a primarily mid-range fighter, and most of my techniques revolve around synergy and slowing the enemy. That make sense?” she finished at last, sighing as she waited for a response. It was going to be a long mission.

1034 + 1255 = 2289

A small quiet filled the air in the brief moments afterward, Alwen went ahead and detailed a concern of hers, wanting to know about Maigo in a less intimate way. It was fine with him, and a rather good idea at the same time, figuring out what they would do in each situation and how to respond and with what resources. Alwen shrugged and continued on, “To give you an idea of what sort of information I mean, here’s a bit about me. As I joked about before, I’m a Suiton specialist. I also have the ability to use Raiton, however, the majority of my repertoire is Suiton based. Additionally, as you could guess, I focus primarily on ninjutsu. I have very basic medical training, but not enough to do any proper jutsu, and have basic knowledge in Bukijutsu. Don’t expect my medical training to be of use, since, the most I can really do is tell you how to slow bleeding, and make a makeshift bandage. I’m a primarily mid-range fighter, and most of my techniques revolve around synergy and slowing the enemy. That make sense?” Maigo nodded in response, she was showing some promise. Thinking ahead, keeping her head clear, far more than Maigo was, perhaps it was her that should be leading this mission, he was never much of a leader himself anyways.

Maigo exhaled a second and cleared his throat, "Well, you know my proficiency for genjutsu, but I also specialize in Kenjutsu, and Raiton Ninjutsu. If you're a mid-range specialist then I'll keep that to you, I myself specialize in confusing the enemy and moving in for close range strikes, but have some utility at every range." he paused for a moment to let her soak that in, truly his skills were far more broad and encompassing and aside from genjutsu, he never really specialized in anything else to say the least. "I'm more a person to improvise but for the sake of our mission, we can keep some semblance of a plan together. Our mission is investigation and recon so we'll avoid combat where we can, we should keep three formations aside our base. The base, I lead and you keep an eye out on the rear, it'll lead nicely into Formation A, I let you lead off with your ranged attacks and close the distance immediately afterwards to strike." he continued on, truly it was simple and didn't lead to much, but with Alwen in the lead, he could easily improvise in the gap of her attack.

"Formation B, will be my lead, if we're caught off guard, I'll use genjutsu to obfuscate them and then we can divide them up after the fact, the goal is to kill quickly from this formation, so don't waste anytime from the instant I attack."

"The final formation, Formation C, will be one of subterfuge..." Maigo grabbed his headband and pulled it off, tucking it away into his ninja tools pouch and leaving it there, his forehead bare now. "In this instance, we turn ourselves in to whatever force we come up against, obviously it won't work against mindless beasts, but we can't let any of it get back to the village. That will be our weapon, to hide our abilities. If they can't pinpoint our talents as ninja then we gain a huge leg up. This also leaves room for you or I to take each other prisoner as a show of good faith, or turn against each other if need be, whatever convinces our enemy and saves our skin..." he led on. Realistically, this formation wouldn't come up reasonably but would be their wildcard formation, aimed for Alwen to play it by ear of their situation and play it by ear of Maigo as he did the same for her.

"Any others you would like to add to our repetoire?" he would glance with a raised eyebrow and wait for her response. She could add in her own ideas and hopes, covering any other angles and worries she might be worried about, otherwise they would have a long journey, and plenty chance for small talk and all else en route.


[715 words, 2910 words total]

Alwen wasn’t looking in his direction when he nodded, too busy paying attention to where she was jumping. But that wasn’t important. The girl knew it made sense upon hearing his reply. A rather varied selection of skills, and then his suggestions. Formation A seemed simple enough, Alwen led off with the alpha strike, and Maigo finished the deal in close quarters. Formation B also seemed easy enough to follow, a way of dealing with an ambush. It was when he reached formation C that Alwen had doubts. “The final formation, Formation C, will be one of subterfuge… In this instance, we turn ourselves in to whatever force we come up against, obviously it won’t work against mindless beasts, but we can’t let any of it get back to the village. That will be our weapon, to hide our abilities. If they can’t pinpoint our abilities as ninja then we gain a huge leg up. This also leaves room for you or I to take each other prisoner as a show of good faith, or turn against each other if need be, whatever convinces our enemy and saves our skin…” As he finished, Alwen looked to her side, taking a glance at Maigo. He had removed his forehead protector at some point during his suggestions. She turned her head once more ahead of her, before glancing to her right shoulder, where her forehead protector found its place. A quiet hum escaped her lips as she waited for Maigo to finish speaking entirely.

Letting her expression turn to a slight frown, the Chuunin decided to speak up. “Before I offer any suggestions, I’d like to… Elaborate on plan C. There are a couple things that could be flaws with that plan. Firstly, while I’m sure you can hide your identity quite effectively, there’s a… Anatomical difference between us that might make that harder for me. Horns aren’t exactly a feature you find on common civilians, nor are amber eyes. Heck, even my fashion choice, with the dye in my hair, could be a giveaway. So there’s the first flaw. Of course, I could work around this with the transformation technique, but, that leads to the second flaw. If I use the transformation technique, and whatever enemy we encounter has a sensory, I’ll be outed. I know it’s a small chance, but, since we’re planning different formations, it’s probably a good idea to prepare for the flaws of the formations… I only point that out since, trust me when I say, I’m aware horns aren’t normal.” At this, she moved a hand to her head, touching her horns as if to remind herself of her abnormality. In many ways, Alwen was fine with herself. Yet there were times when having horns wasn’t exactly treated respectfully, or perhaps, a hindrance. Choosing clothes was one such example, as horns had a habit of getting in the way. Not that any of it mattered right now.

“That aside, I agree with the plans. They sound good to me, and splitting up the enemy like in formation B is something I can do. The only thing I can suggest is a formation to be used in escape. It’s quite a dark, dodgy one, but it might be able to save our skin, and is sort of like your formation C suggestion. We take a hostile hostage, and use them as a method of escape. It’s a crude idea, and if you have any retorts against it, or ways to improve it, feel free. You’re the mission leader, and also the one who’s been on more missions. But, say we’re outnumbered and out powered, but the enemy already knows we’re ninja, we can’t exactly just surrender, or turn tail and flee, if we’re discovered and can’t fight back. That’s my thought anyways, there’s probably better ways of going about it, so, if you have a better way, please correct me!” she giggled slightly at this, shaking her head before allowing herself to properly take a look at the tree’s they were travelling through, and the sky. Time was certainly passing, but if Alwen had to take a guess, there was still a long ways to go.

699 + 2289 = 2988

Maigo’s logic was sound, and Alwen continued to listen quietly as he answered to her concerns. He seemed very not worried about the concept of being outnumbered, although in hindsight, perhaps worrying about that was foolish; they were almost guaranteed to be outnumbered, since, there was only two of them going into potentially hostile territory. It was likely she just revealed her inexperience, but, that was good in a way; it was better to get the learning done before it caused harm. As he finished the sentiment with a chuckle, Alwen stayed quiet, watching as he removed something, gesturing for her to catch before throwing it ahead, just enough for her to make it in time to catch. Not being a Chuunin for nothing, the scroll ended up in her hands, as Alwen opened it, looking through the contents in-between jumps so as to not falter in her footing.

As her eyes scanned the contents, which were soon revealed to be a map of the shinobi world, Alwen found her attention drifting to the bottom right section, their current part of the world; Mizu no Kuni. It was then that, as tended to happen when he had a point, not that Alwen could blame him, Maigo spoke up. “Not sure how far you've been out of the village, but there are two locations marked there. The first black square is a medium sized port at the tip of our island, we'll be grabbing a boat there and heading south to where that black star is... where the report is supposed to have originated from. There are some other ruins and historical markers but nothing incredibly notable and nothing much about its past. It shouldn't be long until we reach the port, but the trip by boat will take a more considerable amount of time since we'll be moving slow and rowing by hand...”

Alwen found her mind wandering at the idea of such a distant travel, having not been far from the village before; the manor of the Osada was the furthest if she had to guess. Although directional estimation was not her strong suit. She was entirely up for a boat trip, in fact, looking forward to it since she loved the water, and even more so, big boats always seemed like such fun! However, as Maigo finished what he was saying, her grin dropped in an instant. “Rowing?!” she exclaimed in a childish manner, facial expression as that of complete dismay. She sighed slowly, shaking her head. “Shame, a big boat would have been fun… But I’m guessing incognito stuff, right?” What a drag… Still, she had to look up! At least this meant the trip would guarantee be near the water. And no matter how unpleasant it would be, that would be great for her. And so, she looked at the map for a little bit more time, before continuing to look ahead, closing the scroll and simply holding it for now. The dragon child fell silent, simply looking ahead of her now. She knew next to nothing about the man she was adventuring with, but the mission was still early in its machinations, and Alwen knew she had plenty of time ahead of her to get to know him, or at the very least, know enough about him to not make the entire journey full of awkward silence.

And on that note, she fell into awkward silence.

571 + 2988 = 3559

“Rowing?!” any excitement she had faded almost immediately as the reality of the effort needed began to set in, “Shame, a big boat would have been fun… But I’m guessing incognito stuff, right?” Maigo tilted his head at her and chuckled a bit. It would certainly save them a bit of effort, and maybe some time at that, but would they even have a boat taking them to that southern most island? Well... they could figure that out, it wouldn't be the plan just yet.

Maigo spoke up again, "Well, if you're buying we can charter a boat or something there, but that's one you... the village is pretty frugal about our expenses on missions..." he continued on, but that was a matter to worry about later on. It was quiet.. for the time ahead, they would make their way through the land of water, the trees and scenery would open and close before them.

A single stop about two-thirds of the way to the fishing village and dock, making a small campsite and setting up a watch shift between the two of them. The night would be over quickly, arriving at the fishing village the next day just before the sun reached its peak. Tired, a bit worn out, Maigo was happy to find his way there and take a seat, going to a small shop, he decided on a whim, to save their energy to charter a boat themselves, grabbing two tickets for each of them and making their way. A final warning from the old sailor with an eye-patch who ran the service, "Careful now, the boat leaves at 8 tonight, but make sure you don't end up on the one to Kumogakure, only one that leaves for a while given the recent problems..." he left off with an odd and creepy chuckle.

Maigo shook his head and continued out, the tickets themselves were small sheets of paper that had the docks symbol on them, now, they had time to kill. In a fishing village they could find lots of things to do, but Maigo, he found a small restaurant and took a table. Taking out a book and ordering a drink, he gave Alwen freedom to explore or relax or whatever, they had at least six hours to kill before they should board the ship. For Maigo, that was a bit of relaxing a decent nap at some point, then to board their ship and get on with the mission.


[421 words, 3915 words total]
[Exit Thread]

Training:

“Well, if you’re buying we can charter a boat or something there, but that’s on you… the village is pretty frugal about our expenses on missions…”

The girl’s heart sank as the news of being unable to take such a big boat unless she paid for it was spoke aloud. The thought of how much money she had, or realistically, lack thereof, caused pain to enter her mind as she realised; she was broke. The realisation that Maigo was probably the sort to sit back and let the other person do the rowing didn’t help this idea… She would be knackered before they even got there, and then even worse when they did arrive. On a mission where death could happen? Maybe not the most pleasant thought process to go through.

As hours passed, the duo stopped, setting a brief camp up, and taking shifts. During her shifts, Alwen would simply pace back and forth, her amber eyes keeping alert to the surroundings and keeping on edge. Not on edge in the sense of being tense, but more so as in she did not wish for anything terrible to occur during the mission. She was responsible right now, and if there was one thing Alwen didn’t want, it was to die, or let someone die, on her watch. Especially not a comrade of the mist, her only companion for this mission. She sighed, looking up to the moon, veiled by a screen of clouds. It would be a long shift.

The next morning, the duo resumed their journey, progressing slowly but surely towards their first destination; a fishing village from which they could take a trip to the location – albeit via rowing, so, not full of respite. The village was quiet, quaint, and looked pleasant in the light of the rising sun, buildings silhouetted by the horizon’s orange glow. Still, she couldn’t enjoy it; she was too freaking tired from such a long, strenuous journey. It surprised her though, as, following Maigo around, it seemed he too was too tired; as the duo got 2 tickets for a boat this evening. Given that it was an early start that they had arrived at, Alwen was excited to have the day to respite before they travelled; she’d be able to get some energy back.

So how did the horned chuunin spend her time?

Unlike what someone would perhaps expect, the Suiton specialist did not go shopping, or swimming, or eating, or anything extravagant like that. Instead, the girl walked to the nearby shore, near to where the ships were docked, and simply sat. Eyes closed, it was here that she took in the damp, dreary atmosphere, and allowed herself to meditate in peace, filling her mind with thoughts of tranquillity. In and out, the girl breathed, allowing peaceful thoughts to consume her, lost in a trance, unaware of the natural progression of time as she timed her breaths with the shifting of the tides. In. And out. In. And out. There was nothing wrong with the world anymore to the Suiton specialist. For to Alwen, at this period of time, she wasn’t Alwen of the Sangotatsu. She was just another civilian, and life was allowed to not be terrible or dangerous.

It was pleasant, and nice.

545 + 3559 = 4104
[EXIT]

Training: