Midori sighed as she woke up, stretching out with a grin as she began moving to get on with the day. Smiling, the puppet maniac grabbed her arm off her nearby desk, putting it on before getting dressed in her usual, practical attire. Dressed in her beige and brown attire, puppet arm spinning around once to check its efficiency, Midori went to grab her weapons pouch, attaching it to her side. Now properly armed, both literally and metaphorically, she picked up some rolled up parchment, and some scribing tools, packing them up alongside some camping equipment, some rations, and a large amount of water. Content she got what she needed, Midori then walked off to get on with her task for the day.

Smiling as she headed out of the gates, the wide expanse of sand ahead of her, and the crazy girl began walking… And walking… And walking, the shifting sands the only inconsistency aside from the sun, which trailed across the sky as the passage of time went onwards. As the sun began to show its last, and set beyond the horizon, the puppet girl began setting up her tent, laying out a bedroll and tying down some weights which sank into the sand enough to keep the tent supported upright. Laying out a piece of paper, and flattening out her wooden arm, the puppet girl set to writing in the dimming light, setting a map out alongside her. Red ink touched the paper of the map, tracing a line to show the path and route the girl had taken to get to her current position. Then, the girl began, to the best of her memory, tracing out rough shapes showing it in relation to the rest of the land of wind, and the main locations that were notable and renowned. The meeting cactus was the closest location to the village, perhaps for most obvious reasons. It was used as a meeting location, and to have it be far away would be incredibly inconvenient for others – that was probably where the name came from to be honest.

Next, and also close to the village, are the dunes of the Sand’s Domain. A dangerous place, often littered and tormented by sandstorms and dust tornadoes that make it inhospitable. It makes a good training place, as well as a good hiding place for bandits, and the rumoured location of an ancient ruin filled with treasure unimaginable. She charted that location as well, a large patch to the west of the village.

The next was the remains of the site that used to be called the Yoku mines. Once upon a time, the area was used to harvest coal, and iron. However, after an incident that occurred, one that Midori was not personally alive for, the entire mine is set in a constant state of fire, the methane constantly igniting and burning the mines. Little more than a collapsed and ruined crater. Still, it was full of precious gases and minerals, and people risked their lives to mine there for the sake of the village. That alone made it like one would expect, a location worthy of taking note of. Besides, Midori was personally under the hope that one day she would live to see the mines recovered, and the fire doused. That the village could once more reclaim the resources, and help to remove the danger posed to the workers there.

The scorpion’s lair… There wasn’t much to be said about that one, so, without hesitation, Midori wrote that one down and traced its rough location. She hadn’t visited it before, although she had been told roughly where it was, as well as making reference to the map at her side. Lastly, and perhaps the largest thing. The endless dunes. A large expanse of sand that stretched for seemingly limitless length, the horizon a simply golden field of the fine powder. Midori wasn’t even sure if it counted as something noteworthy, or something to make a note with. It was just a large empty void of anything, where one could walk for ages at a time. She shook her head, getting the thought out of her head. It wasn’t important enough, at least in her mind.

Then there was the borders. To the south of Kaze no Kuni was the Nanmen Ocean, a large stretch of water, and perhaps the most unblemished due to its void of islands. To the east, the land of Tea, the land of River, and the land of Pain lay between Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni, acting as both political and natural borders. Were either of the two to try invade, they would have to first send their forces through one of said lands, thus provoking potential hostilities with uninvolved nations. To the north, the land of Fang, the land of Mountain, and the land of Claw stood in-between the land of Tsuchi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni. Midori didn’t really have any personal concerns about invasion from any of these nations, but, the same point about Hi and Mizu applied to Tsuchi as well – from these great nations, Suna was perhaps the safest of all. And Kumo was perhaps the least worry, having to not only go through all of those bordering nations, but also some of the great nations.

This information mattered little at the moment in her cartography adventure however. She had to find out any significant landmarks that Sunagakure no Sato could use, as a village, for the sake of better understanding the vast land around them. She sighed, shaking her head and allowing the ink to dry before rolling up the parchment once more, and setting it away, wiping her brow with her flesh hand before taking one of her water bottles and taking a sip, just a small enough one to keep herself going, before heading into her tent. Lying down slowly and carefully, Midori set herself down onto the bedroll she had laid out earlier, stretching out with a yawn. She extended her puppet arm lazily, using its stretching feature to reach to the tent entrance without moving, and closing the entrance. Allowing the weight of the desert to take her, Midori shut her eyes, falling into sleep as she sighed quietly to herself. It was time for her to have a good night’s sleep.

Maybe.

There was a few horses. Three in total. The first horse was white, its body pure and unblemished, and its mane of hair flowing behind it as the animal ran. Yet something was off about this creature. Its eyes were soulless, empty, and it seemed to run in reverse… As if science itself and logic were only for the creature to defy. For it to never follow. The second was a steed of mottled black. Its hair was a mess, strewn out in a way that made its texture look like dead and burnt grass. Yet it ran with majesty, one that seemed akin to whatever true grace could perhaps be called. Finally, the third horse. Was it truly a horse? It was made of wood, clanking with each step, and smelling of a fresh varnish. Its head was less like a horse’s head, and more akin to a horse skull. And furthermore, at the back of the horse was a human torso joined to the wooden spine, two long arms trailing down to the ground and a head that cocked to the side. The creatures two maws opened wide, and a loud scream erupted.

It was at this point that Midori woke up, blinking as the sun shone through her tent. With a shrug, the girl got up, going over to her things to begin packing up once more, making sure to look at her water with a curiosity that befitted herself. She didn’t put some drugs in there by mistake, right? Sighing, Midori finished packing up, setting off to begin walking, counting her paces and continuing to head away from the village. The entire time she kept a smile on her face, and by using a clipboard and the parchment from before, Midori continued to map out her route in red ink, making sure it was noticeable enough to read and be eligible so as to be useful when she handed it in along with her report of the mission. Midori smiled, continuing for a few hours and keeping her eyes out. There was a small village, and she made her note of the area on her parchment, doing a slow circuit around the village to get an idea for how large it is.

Midori had no intentions of visiting the village, simply making a note of it. If she was sent back there for a later scouting, or escort mission, then she’d go back. Otherwise, she was just mapping locations of note. In fact, in hindsight, it was certainly worth visiting while she was on patrol and on a cartography mission. The village were likely aware of this places existence, but it would be useful to have it on the official maps alongside a route to get there. She sighed, preparing to set up her camp once more. She could visit the village in the morning of the next day. For now, she took some of her food pill rations, taking one of them to help her keep going, and drinking from her water. She didn’t need too much, used to the desert heat after living there for so long. Not to mention, she’d taken her tap with her, so that if she somehow ran out of water, she could find a cactus to safely harvest some from. However, perhaps she could refill her water at the village, so that was of no concern.

Sighing to herself, Midori laid down in her bed roll, and once more, fell asleep.

Once more, the girl had a strange dream. Unlike before, it was only one horse: The wooden one. Could it even be called a horse? Something about it seemed… Familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on where or what made it seem so. The details grew more obvious. One of its arms was akin to a shield. Was it something that was protective? Yet the other arm was sharp. Like a scythe for farming, curved backwards in such a way that it further emphasised the unnatural nature of the creature. The creature stepped forwards, its legs leaving imprints in the earth as it moved. With a sudden ferocity, the scythe slashed forwards, the fields of gold before it collapsing… Wheat quite literally before the scythe. The body on top, the humanoid part, seemed more defined now. And, for such an inhuman form, it seemed… Soft, gentle, and kind. The wood was curved softly, and covered in a rather familiar softwood that made it seem almost tempting to just… Touch. The creature seemed majestic in the way it just walked, not seeming to move in a rushed way. The shield arm, the left one, seemed to come apart, revealing what appeared to be a nozzle. Water shot out, seeming to help tend to the crops. Was it a farming creature? No, was it even a creature? She couldn’t help but see… Something more from it. A puppet! Of course!

At that, Midori awoke once more, smiling wider than one could imagine a dog upon being told it was a good doggy. She clapped her hands together, finding a newfound inspiration from the wild and imaginative dream of which she had just had within her slumber. She grinned wildly, hopping up to her feet with a spring to her footwork as she once more set to work at packing up, visiting the nearby village that she had camped just outside of. Her adventure was getting quite exciting, at least in her mind, and she couldn’t help but feel exhilarated! Carrying her camping and cartography equipment on her back, with her ninja tools, food pills, and water at her side, Midori entered the village through the main gate, which she had made a note to camp near in case she had to get access to the village quickly, such as if the village were under attack.

The building style was rather akin to Sunagakure. Round, dome like buildings made of a thick and sturdy sandstone, designed to whether the inevitable storms and sand tornadoes that ravaged the desert so consistently. People walked around, draped in various coloured silks and cloths to conceal themselves from the wrath of the sun, conversing with one another and getting to work either buying or selling at wooden carts that protected their goods through the use of fabric rooves. Some of these merchants sold things such as food, or drinks, things that people would either need to survive, or just luxury for their taste buds. Midori couldn’t personally understand, due to not having a sense of the thing herself, but that mattered little.

She continued walking around, looking back and forth for the place she was looking for… There! Suddenly taking off into a run, which gathered the attention of those nearby who simply looked at the clearly sand shinobi like she was an idiot, Midori ran to a building with a large sign that revealed the building to be an information centre. Slowing down as she got there, Midori read the sign carefully, learning that the village was a small little trading outpost named Akeyama village. Without hesitating, she pulled out her parchment once more, jotting down the name of the location, before nodding to herself, smiling as she went to go do exactly what her mission truly was. The endless dunes. She deemed them unimportant earlier, but in reality, that was because it wasn’t important to note where it was: It was where she was meant to be going. So, why did she take the detour that led her here instead? Because it meant that she could get an even more idea of where what she was investigating was in relation to locations of note.

Taking another food pill, and another swig of her water which she topped up in a well while there, Midori set off once more. It took roughly a day to get to the endless dunes, her objective location, but she made sure to set up camp once more. Unlike the previous night’s sleep, there was little that occurred in her sleep, although the image of that puppet still stuck in her head. She couldn’t get it out of her head, nor did she want to. A puppet that could be used for farming could be useful for collecting herbs and other plants for the sake of making medicine. But not just that. She could make use of such a thing in combat, for a scythe was a large and deterring weapon. Not to mention, if she made sure there were two nozzles for the water, she could make it a pressurised water cannon. That seemed like a fun idea.

As the next day dawned, and Midori set off once more, she soon arrived at the sand dunes. A seemingly endless expanse of sand that just went on into the horizon, which blurred with the lines of heat that seemed to ever distort and mess with her perception. She kept trudging on, the footprints behind her fading as the ever shifting sands collapsed with her climb up the nearest hill of sand, something akin to a large hill. As she got to the top, she couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from her brow, having a sip of her water and sitting down for a moment as she gazed out over the expanse from her high vantage point.

There was a large amount of sand. As one could perhaps expect from the desert. She took out her map, making sure to keep track of the route she had taken from the village, and just generally the route she had taken so as to make sure her time was not wasted. She looked to the sun, watching for a moment as it ever so slowly streaked towards the horizons edge. A few days had already been passing, and she had yet to complete her mission. Hopefully they expected this, due to the simple size and overwhelming time it would take to explore the endless dunes enough to find something of important note, or even just interest.

Yet as she wasted time staring at the suns general travel, not a cloud in the sky as usual, Midori caught a glimpse of something. She wasn’t too sure what it was, but there was an area that seemed more… Secure of footing. In the dip between the dunes and mountains of sand. Midori nodded to herself, deciding her goal before the sun set was to make a rough note of her goal, and to make it down the dune on the other side to begin her investigation. She had things to discover, and wanted to be sure it was worth truly something before properly noting it down. So, with that, she prepared her stuff once more, and began the descent, being careful to not allow herself to slip and get injured. As she got to the bottom, making sure to be a safe distance from the dune in case of a sand slide, Midori set up camp once more.

The night was less easy to sleep with than the previous ones, the howling of desert wolves in the distance causing a slight disturbance in her sleep. She wasn’t scared, nor did she feel she was in any danger, yet the noise itself caused her to struggle to get restful sleep, tossing and turning on her bed roll at the consistent howling, before it eventually faded away, the wolves no doubt moving on to better and easier to traverse places.

Getting up with a stretch, and rubbing her eyes with her actual arm, Midori packed up as had become a scheduled system for her, before heading in the direction she had planned. To the north of the village, and heading north through the dunes, there was something she saw that caught her eye. At a distance, it was hard to properly identify it due to the heat, but Midori was certain that if she got a closer inspection, she could discover its origin.

As she approached, Midori simply smiled. There it was, and it was indeed a sturdier place to stand. However, this didn’t mean Midori had intentions of standing on it. Sandstone had breached through the sand, lying scattered in piles, along with what appeared to be mining tools, and even a cart. She stepped carefully, making her way to the cart before peering inside. The girl grinned as she recognised the substance, taking out her cartography parchment and writing down what she found. This was a surface mining area, and judging from the state of the equipment, it had long been abandoned, sand over the edges of the cart and covering its contents as well. But, that did not mean it had no value, as Midori made note of what exactly was mined here. Saltpetre. By using and collecting saltpetre the village could better have access to trading supplies, as well as just generally having uses for the mineral. She grinned, before turning with a nod, making note of the precise directions before heading off. She had to get back to the village, and had a report to fill in because of it.

After another two days of travelling, making sure to take breaks to eat, drink, and sleep for some much needed respite, she found herself at the gate to Sunagakure no Sato. Heading into the village, feeling pride in herself, Midori went off to the administration building. She went to the desk, filling in her report and handing it, before making several copies of her cartography work and the maps she had used, handing them in while keeping a copy of each for herself. It never hurt to have spares, plus she quite fancied using information herself. Content that the mission was completed, Midori smiled, saying goodbye to the receptionists of the administration building before heading home to the Ningyou clan grounds. She hummed, looking through what she had at the supplies section of her workshop, shaking her head. No, no that wouldn’t do at all. She had to do some blacksmithing, just enough to make a scythe good enough to both harvest and harm. Mostly the former, but, the latter didn’t hurt. Well, it did, but, not to add. Unless she pricked a finger, which would be hard considering her prosthetic arm. But, that was a tangent. Midori took a piece of paper, noting down the materials she had to order for her next big project of puppetry.

3470 MISSION DONE

[EXIT]

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