His index and thumb finger were rubbing against his forehead. A few people, giving a concerned glance while doing so, passed by him. Arthir sighed, scratching at the abdomen area of his red long sleeved shirt. He was standing in the middle of the stone bridge.

"Alright, how about-...?" he said.

He scratched his left calf with his right, the black jean pants rubbing together as he did. Held up to his head was a rectangular cellphone. Someone on the other side was talking very loudly, enough for the red-haired man to hold the phone away from his ear slightly. The yelling stopped, and so did the red-haired man's foot tapping, his black sneakers going back to walking in place.

"Alright, so...if I give you about...five, maybe ten, would that-...?" Arthir said, raising his eyebrows. He was hunched over as he spoke, his free hand gesturing.

The yelling came back, the young man flinching.

"Okay! Bad deal! Got it! Uh, how about...?" he continued speaking.

Meanwhile, above the stone bridge the man was on, the air itself began to ripple. The rippling then changed to an indentation forming, like someone taking a finger and pushing it against wet paper. Instead, it was the air that was being 'pushed' against. Cracks started to form, as if the air itself was hardening.

Back on the ground, Arthir groaned.

"So then, it's decided," he cleared his throat, "I'll give you two bananas, one pizza with pineapples on it, and about two-fifty ryo. Sounds good?"

The yelling had calmed down, Arthir nodding.

"Okay! Sweet! So then, where's the-?"

The person on the other side of the phone hung up. Arthir lowered the phone, nodding.

"Alright then."

With the matter being dealt with, Arthir was about to head back to Iwagakure. The only reason he came all the way out here was because he didn't want to seem like an idiot in public. He had asked multiple people of a secluded area where he could conduct business. Everyone...pointed him to here. While not exactly devoid of people like how he'd want it to be, it was at least not as populated as the main city, which he was thankful for.

The afternoon was warm and humid, most likely due to the combined forces of the water beneath the stone bridge, and the sun hanging in the cloudless sky. Arthir took a deep breath, smelling the fresh scent of the river below. It was an equally welcomed change from the mountainous city that was Kumogakure. Even though he, or maybe the driver of the travel wagon, made a mistake and ended up here, Arthir took it as a small vacation. Hell, this whole adventure basically is a vacation to him!

With business being settled, he decided to head back to Iwagakure. He slid the phone into his jean pocket, and started walking. As he did, he noticed something in the sky. A cloud, and a dark one at that.

"Could be rain," he said to himself.

His head turned, spotting...another dark cloud. And then, he saw one more to his right. Before he knew it, the sky was littered with dark clouds. Wasn't the sky just clear?

"That's...a thing," Arthir said, watching the clouds above rapidly grow in number. "Is this-...? Is this normal in Iwaga-?"

The sound of glass shattering echoed from above,  shards of...something falling. It wasn't glass, but it did resemble it greatly. Maybe a better term would be 'fragments of the sky'? But that just didn't make any sense. Arthir, naturally wanting to see the source of the 'glass', looked up. Above at two hundred, maybe three, feet into the air was a large black opening which faced horizontally with pink and purple wisps of smoke swirling inside. The edges of the hole was jagged, as if someone through a rock through a window. Then, something sluggishly flew out of the hole, covered in a black goo. Said black goo 'dried' up, revealing a layer of white feathers over another layer of blue ones. What left the opening was a large bird with glowing white eyes, its chest and belly as blue as the sky once was, and its wings, tail feathers, back, and legs being almost blindingly white. Its species seemed to be a cross between a swan and something else. It resembled a swan in the way it's neck and overall body was shaped. The head, however, most likely was that of a falcon with frilled feathers on the back of it.

This bird dove down to the river, its purple beak parting to release a screech as it did. Arthir and other villagers running to the right side of the bridge to see where it was off to. They...saw nothing but the running water below.

"There!" one villager, a man, shouted.

Arthir looked to the source of the voice, and then to where they were pointing. The bird must have swooped underneath the stone bridge, rising and perching itself onto the railing on the other side of the bridge. Its purple feet clung tightly, evident by the small cracks within the stone railing formed by them. The humans stared at the bird, which was big enough to fit inside an average home's room. It stared down the small humans as something slid off the wings of the avian. Was that...snow? But it was in the middle of summer, there can't be snow here. Arthir snapped out of his thoughts, hearing the bird screech.

Its head was raised as a blinding light formed inside of its mouth. And then, a beam just as bright was fired, rising vertically to freeze a few unfortunate villagers. Arthir watched this, the other members of Iwagakure taking this opportunity to flee. Arthir could have sworn it had only been five seconds that he stared at the frozen humans, but perhaps he was mistaken. The villagers had evacuated, leaving only him there with the swan-like bird.

For once, Arthir didn't have a witty remark to make, and there was no way for him to talk his way out of this. The bird, most likely, didn't understand the human language.

The swan-like bird opened its wings, lose clumps of snow flying off of them. It revealed its blue feathers underneath the white on top. The avian screeched again. Arthir glanced to the way home, taking this screeching as an intimidation act. He'd gladly fall for it if it meant getting out alive. Eventually, he took note of the very ground itself changing hues. The ground shifted from the regular stone color to a dark purple tone. Also, interestingly enough, the temperature in both the air and ground below was...dropping. Having had endured the summer sun rays, the stone below should be a little warm. Yet, all the heat had been sapped from the bridge, and so quickly too. The clouds above had gained a purple-like hue as well, and the river below...flowed as usual. The sides of the river, however, was starting to freeze, chunks of ice forming as it did.

"That's-..." He stopped himself, taking note of the cloud of mist leaving his mouth. Was it really that cold? His pink eyes spotted something falling quickly from the sky, splattering as it hit the ground. "Sn-...snow?"

The avian roared again, stretching its wings out even further. As if on cue, the wind blew. It caused Arthir to shiver and rub his arms while hunching over. It stung to breathe through his nose, so he inhaled and exhaled through his mouth. He was even more astonished as steam left his mouth with every breath...in the middle of summer. Despite the wind blowing a bit strongly, large clumps of wet snow falling around him, and a massive bird being in front of him that seemed to be orchestrating the whole thing, Arthir...was getting a bit sleepy. As such, he failed to notice...a pulsating purple glow coming from the right side of the bird's belly.

Weakened White Phoenix of the North (Uncontracted Summon):

1365

Oh my god, my eyes hurt...

“Fukai.. Are you really not going?”
“Don’t be so concerned with me” Fukai sat under a bridge much like how you would encounter a troll.
“Stop shirking your responsibilities! The civilians don’t even know that you’re still alive! It would do you good to get out in the sun.” A young woman squeaked at him from over the lip of the bridge, looking to all those passing on the street above like some crazy lady yelling into the darkness. Jena seemed even more assertive and annoying than usual today.
“-the real question is, what are you gonna do?” Fukai said, planting his face back into the chicken roll that he was inelegantly chomping on.
“I’m waiting for my commanding officer, you know, the captain of the bloody Crimson Elite to get off his lazy arse and do something for once!”
Fukai turned to the homeless man who sat next to him, ravishing a bun in a similar fashion to the jounin. The freshly baked bread was something Fukai picked up on his quest to find a place of solace away from Jena’s relentlessly thrashing tongue and seemingly omnipotent judgement filled gaze.

He then turned back to Jena, giving her a blank stare. “We’re on our lunch break.” which was followed up on by some muffled noise from the smelly bum which Fukai interpreted as agreement. Jena replied with her own guttural moan of frustration. “Want a bite?” The captain offered his subordinate innocently. And then she was gone without so much as a puff of smoke, as was fitting of the Iwa ANBU. Fukai put his head back against the cool stone. “So, what do you think?” Fukai asked his new friend. The hobo just smiled in response, his teeth covered in half chewed chicken. “Oof” Fukai got to his feet, activating ANBU sensory, taking in all of his surroundings and zeroing in on the scene that unfolded in the distance. “Well, I guess… Having a look wouldn’t hurt.”
_____

When Fukai arrived on the scene, the area was already in a frantic chaos. People who had been walking the streets were now running away, screaming. Stalls were tipped over, various debris flew from the rooftops as a great blue beast soared into the air. Fukai heard it screech, long before he came into line of sight. A chill ran straight through him, causing him to involuntarily shiver.

When Jena broke out onto the street, she had to double take. She had received the report from the forward scout, but still seeing something so surreal made her falter for a second. Then an overly vicious growl came from a woman a few years her elder. Looking toward the rooftop nearest to the beast, Kabu Denshu charged forward with his younger sister in tow, both of them clad in the crimson and black ANBU uniform, just like her own. Jena shouted out to them. “Don’t be so hasty! Contain the threat and protect civilians for evacuation! We need to stall for backup!”

Fukai stepped forward out of the shadows and into the scene. He observed something he thought he never would. The Denshu dogs halted begrudgingly in their tracks at the call of Jena. It was a nice surprise for him, to see that she was becoming so capable. Fukai felt surer than ever. Everything was better off without him. He tracked the movements of his agents, watching them rally into position, moving people from the area and slowly surrounding the beast.

And then the bird lifted its head, a white orb of something gathering at it’s beak. Fukai’s hair stood on end and he felt the air temperature drop another few degrees. And then with a flash, a bolt erupted towards a young man with a shock of dyed red hair. Being only a few metres away from Fukai, the captain stepped forward, easily clearing the distance and drawing Wraith’s Fang from his back. The point of the black obsidian staff between the incoming beam and the redhead. Just before it’s collision, a malicious purple and red chakra exploded from inside the weapon, the Wraith’s Fang howled. Using one of his exorcism jutsu, the power from the beam was devoured in swirling tendrils.

Fukai would then let out a little half sigh, half exhale. His figure mostly hidden inside a large grey cloak, but from the red head’s position, he would be able to easily make out Fukai’s features. Purple eyes with a black vertical line, ringed in red marks and scarring. Silver stubble that bordered on becoming a beard. The ever present red scarf ringed his neck.

[782]

The bird was taken aback by the appearance of humans willing to do something other than run away. Thus, its attention was gained. It, ironic to what it had done to villagers before, was frozen in place. Its eyes were fixated on the one that had thrown the item in its direction, ignoring the others nearby. Arthir shivered still from the rapidly dropping temperature. The wet clumps of snow that had hit him definitely weren’t helping either in this windy scene. It was strange. Just a moment ago, he was wide awake and fine. Now, he was here having trouble keeping his eyes open.

The ground began to tremble, which caused Arthir to snap out of his drowsy state for a moment, his heavy eyes widening. The bird which was on the railing across from where he stood had begun moving. One claw after another, it moved further down the bridge, towards the way back to town. Where was it going? Arthir turned his head to see. From where he was, he was able to make out the details of at least one person. It was someone with purple eyes with a red scarf. Arthir…really didn’t think much of it at first.

Then, a thought entered his mind. What if these are Iwagakure’s authorities? Well, he wouldn’t know, not having much experience with any ninja authorities of any kind. However, on the off chance that they were, it’d be a welcomed turn of events. Though, what if these were just brave civilians trying to fend off their home? Maybe they aren’t aware of the bird’s freezing abilities? Arthir needed to warn them.

“H-hey!” he cried out to the man with purple eyes. Or rather, he tried to. What was supposed to be ‘Hey!’ turned out to be ‘Huh!’, the temperature dropping too much for the Senju. While it was true, he was a fan of winter, this-… Arthir had never experienced cold like this back in Konoha. He tried to repeat the ‘Hey!’, but again, they sounded like some exhausted old man gasping for air. Eventually, Arthir gave up, watching the bird now.

The bird, coming closer to the start of the bridge, spread its wings outwards. Its body rose with a screech. Small bits of ice and snow slid off the wings as they parted, and the pulsating scar on the bird’s belly was revealed. The bird then leaned forward, allowing its head to shoot towards anyone that happened to be nearby. It was hoping to pierce the abdomen area of all with its beak. If the beak landed, a stab wound 3 inches deep would be created. Afterwards, hit or miss, it’d do what came naturally to its kind. It would wait to stare at the damage it caused to its prey. Perhaps it was an interest in what said prey would do, but almost every bird of this species would…watch for a possible reaction.

When it was through watching whatever prey it may have gotten, its eyes locked onto a man with purple eyes. After a moment of staring, the avian-esque creature suddenly flew, but not incredibly  high. The flapping of the wings was just to propel it towards the purple-eyed man's position, its beak being used to 'peck' at their abdomen as well.

Arthir, meanwhile, slowly walked towards the bird's direction. Of course, this would include a chance of being in danger, but-… Arthir felt like he needed to warn them about what this thing could possibly do.  They…weren’t around for when it landed, were they? He was pretty sure they weren’t. Or were they? He couldn’t think straight, or recall who was or wasn't, his arms still folded to keep himself warm. His body ached every time he moved, and his head was throbbing. His red hair flowed in the cold howling wind, and the snow-… Oh, the snow…

Below the stone bridge was the river, once flowing free of any debris. Now, it had ice chunks forming at the edges, slowly inching to meet its sibling on the other side of the river. Some random spots on the surface of the bridge was now coated in a fourth of an inch of snow.

Right when Arthir was about to give up, his body needing to become warmer, the blizzard…stopped. The wind was still, but the air was still cold. Still being summer, Arthir thought he could feel a bit of heat starting to build from the sun above. However, it was all biological. To compare, it was like he had been sitting in front of a fan blowing cold air, and someone just turned it off. Warmth, naturally, started to build in his body again.

Weakened White Phoenix of the North (Uncontracted Summon):

2168

"Bloody 'ell!" An inelegant boom came from the hulking figure of Kabu, having witnessed the white bolt crash into the earth below him. This was soon followed by a hearty giggle as he saw the chakra from the cloaked figure swallow the attack. Those two would be able to recognise the chakra of the person they had pledged themselves to those years back. Unlike Jena, they had a little more respect for Fukai's space and continued to work without him present. But the large agent did not have much time to sit still as the massive bird went for him. His little sister, Tabi Denshu whipped in front of him, spreading her hands apart and blowing a gust of fuuton at the beast, enough to push it a few metres away from the pair without doing any sort of harm. Kabu roared in response, running towards the end of the rooftop he was on and jumping off onto the street below, weaving earth hand signs before hitting the ground. The cobbles buckled and cracked under his impact, before being thrusted up with the brute force of his doton jutsu. Half a dozen pillars of earth would rise up around the bird attempting to smash it and inhibit it from moving around so freely.

Jena shouted at them, still attempting to mico manage the situation. "Get ready, once reinforcements arrive, we are going to weaken it and trap it with the violet flames formation!" A couple from the medical division arrived, and she directed them over to the civilians that had managed to be caught in the bird's icy attacks. They then began attempts at saving them, their hands glowing green to heal wounds before chipping them out of ice and moving them away from danger. Fukai watched from afar, pleased with how his team were coping with things. Amidst the chaos, the bird began to dive at the captain. Fukai casually lowered his staff, so that the stranger that he had just saved would be barred from moving past. He turned to the young man. "I think you had better clear out of this area." He still had his ANBU sensory active, even if he wasnt facing the monster. He was confident that his team would be able to stop the attack though. "This place isn't safe." Why this man was walking towards such an obvious danger was unknown to him, but Fukai wouldn't let him carry on freely. If he continued to ignore the danger then Fukai was prepared to use force. The calm character did seem to be a bit out of place amidst the chaos. Maybe there was more to him than meets the eye.

The avian, halting its rampage, turned to face a person who was shouting. This human was female, and was currently stating what their next plan was. There was the mention of reinforcements, which didn't generate a reaction from the bird. Then, there was also the mention of 'trapping'. At first, there was no reaction, the bird just staring at her. Then-...

Arthir was prevented from going any further by someone lower their staff. It was a man who was much taller than he was. They turned towards him, basically suggesting that he doesn't go any further and leave.

"Well-..." Arthir tried to speak, but found himself lacking...air. Was it the temperature change, or was it just him? Arthir tried the sentence again. "Well, believe me, I would, but-..."

It then hit him, Arthir lowering his head as he thought. What if these people really were the authorities? If that's the case, then surely they possessed higher skills than your average ninja. Otherwise, a kid could outdo the so called 'authorities'. So, if they possessed such skill, then surely...they've already seen what the bird could do.

Arthir looked back to the taller man, a new question entering his mind. "What is it? Th-the bird I mean,
what is-?"

Before he could finish his question completely, a screech came from the large animal. In response to the plan being stated by the female, the wings of the creature began to flap slow but forcefully. Anyone who happened to be around within five meters of its radius would be knocked back at least three meters from the gusts.

The blue-feathered monstrosity screeched again before flying off in a direction. It looked like...the bird was leaving. Arthir, still on the bridge, watched.

"I-..." he continued staring at the 'fleeing' bird. "I guess...that's it then?"

As if to contradict what the red-haired man just said, the avian turned back after having had traveled twenty meters, now flying back towards the bridge. Specifically, it had its eyes set on the female that was shouting earlier. Its wings flapped for a while before remaining steady, the bird diving right for her at a speed of thirty-five meters per second. It aimed to pick her up with its purple claw, its scarred belly fully exposed while doing so.

Arthir, naturally, would fall to the ground in surprise. His wide pink eyes would still be fixated on the bird.

Either having had been successful or having had failed, it would regardless then fly another twenty meters, preparing to turn back and try again if able.

Weakened White Phoenix of the North (Uncontracted Summon):

2607

Fukai watched at a pair of huge white wings beat once, throwing Tabi off the roof. She flew back, with only enough self control to ball herself and get their feet in front of her before she collided with a rock wall. Quickly utilising supernatural walking, she stuck there, but she went down on one knee. It looked like she may have damaged ligaments in the impact.

Turning back to glance at the fight once more, Fukai raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what that thing is. Haven't seen anything of that nature up in these mountains before. It would be best if they could capture it for study, but I am sure that she already knows that." Turning back to the red haired bystander, Fukai decided that it was time that he moved to a safer location. "Let's let the ANBU deal with this, shall we?" Fukai would place a firm hand on Arthir's shoulder, intending to guide him back through the alleyway where he had just come. There they would still have a view of the battle but at least they would have some cover. Should he resist, Fukai would grab him by the scruff oh his shirt and take him there himself with as much care as he could. "Do you by any chance have any information as to what is going on here? You seem to be awfully interested, and not too worried about getting hurt." For the first time, Fukai's eyes would pour over the young man, as if he could pick up clues from any little detail. "What's your name?"

Back near the bridge, the massive frosty bird had taken to they skies, away from the situation. Jena would curse, before taking off after it. She didn't want to let it go, especially after it had caused this much trouble. However, she realised she had been too hasty when the target tirned mid air and was now hurtling at her, dive bombing her location. Biting back the urge to curse again. She sprung up and to the side, trying to get some height, managing to clear 10 metres. She shouted down to Kabu to give her some cover, but seeing the situation, he was already on the job. Smashing his knuckles together, he wove doton chakra once more, letting the earth from the stone bridge weave upwards into a cylinder that would intercept the bird, swallowing it in its trajectory. However, strength was forgone for speed in Kabu's jutsu, the earth would not be strong enough to stop the bird, just hopefully enough to slow it down and maybe confuse it.

While doing so, Jena pulled a roll of wire from her backpack, weaving a couple of signs and using a variant of the shuriken shadow clone jutsu to multipy the amount of wire she had in her hands until it was about twenty times its original weight. Then she would pour chakra into it, charging it for the substitution technique and also enough for an A rank raiton jutsu, the ball of metal buzzing quietly. "Form up!" She would shout, drawing the four other ANBU agents together beneath her, ready and knowing what was coming next. Tabi would run towards her brother who would be standing below Jena, their teamwork so polished that they would know what to do next.

Arthir was guided to the alleyway by the other male. There, he was questioned as to what was going on. That was what Arthir himself wanted to know. The comment made by the taller man about Arthir being interested and unafraid of being damaged were...pretty accurate. It wouldn't be the first time his wandering lead to such an event. As a matter of fact-... Arthir figured him being silent, tossing over his mental thoughts, would paint him to be suspicious. So, he started to talk.

"I uh-..." Arthir unconsciously scratched the side of his face with his index finger. "I don't know what's going on either."

He would have said more, but a certain comment made by this man stuck with him. The comment in questiion was,

'Let's let the ANBU deal with this, shall we'.

It was a small comment, but something that sparked a bit of...distrust. If the ANBU, if that's what the authorities were called, were to handle it, then...why wasn't this guy with them? Was he not a part of the group? If that's the case, then what kind of village would be calm like this? For all Arthir knew, this guy probably brought the bird here. The red-haired man decided to play it safe.

"I don't know," Arthir repeated his earlier statement, his voice sounding more sure this time. "And, to answer your other questions, I-..." He paused. "I obviously was worried...about getting hurt. Maybe-... Maybe it's just adrenaline? I...also thought this was normal, so-..." With a deep breath, Arthir's relaxed pink eyes looked directly into the other man's. "I'm not too keen about giving strangers my name, but-... Maruki, from Konohagakure." Breaking eye contact, Arthir looked towards the entrance of the alleyway, concerned about the bird. "I was traveling to all of the major cities just for the sites, that's all," Arthir finished, remaining silent now.

He felt that he said all he needed to. Now, it was up to the other man on what he'd do with that information.

Meanwhile, the once diving bird was taken by surprise as the rising of the earth below.  The technique was well timed, entrapping the avian creature within. The stone trap had caught it in midflight. To slow down, the bird had to crash its feet against the side of the cylinder. There it was, in the center of said cylinder, flapping its wings to maintain its altitude. It thought to itself for a moment, its head moving from side to side as it did. The woman it was meant to snatch up had moved, this was true, but where? It was distracted by the rising cylinder.

Another thought entered the bird's mind. Within, it felt itself nearing its recovery from the usage of techniques used earlier. It just needed a little bit of a rest to finally recover. Thus, the flapping slowed and eased in strength, the large animal descending to the ground. As its purple feet landed, the creature...was still. Its glowing eyes were staring off somewhere ahead, looking at nothing specific. Rather, most of its attention had gone to its hearing and instincts. Its chest ballooned and then deflated as it breathed slowly. Thick cold mist was pouring from its beak as it cracked open slightly. It...seemed to be waiting for something, ignoring the shouted command to 'form up'. As it was waiting, the head of the animal moved from side to side sluggishly still. Just what was it...listening for?

Weakened White Phoenix of the North (Uncontracted Summon):

3208

Fukai's eyes poured over the mystery man, taking in not only what he said, but his body language as well. Apparently he didn't know what was happening either. Well, Fukai had expected as much, although he didn't seem to be too sure of his own answer. Maybe it would be best to keep this man in line of sight for now. Apparently he was a tourist from Konoha that didn't like giving out his name. Fukai would raise an eyebrow when he had said as much. As if the emergency wasn't enough of a cause to participate fully with the local response crew. Fukai would nod, turning away from Makuri and back to watch the events on the bridge unfold. "Very well. If it is not too much bother, I'll have you stick by me fo a while. You'll probably be asked to come in for questioning and a checkup when this is over. Don't feel too worried, just standard procedure for things like this. Of course, as a foreigner, you're likely to receive a little more attention than everyone else. But hopefully it won't impede your travel plans too much." He spoke straight faced as he watched his squad take on the frozen threat. "Now... What will happen next I wonder?"

Jena noticed the bird's movement to the ground. Its behaviour had changed, it was no longer flying around and attacking, but had come down to land. She was watching the bird with an intense concentration, however, the plan of attack would not change. If it decided it needed a rest, then it would make it easier to capture. Tabi sprinted at her brother who was situated directly below Jena. Kabu cupped his hands, making a platform for the small woman to step onto. He would then fling her straight up into the air, on a trajectory to hit Jena. Midair, Tabi would flip and connect the bottom of her feet to Jena's. With the temporary access to resultant force, Jena would kick off, sending herself hurtling towards the bird from above. As she drew within five metres, the mass of cloned wire would shoot forward in an animation jutsu, much like the one Fukai used for his scarf. The wire would dig into the ground on all sides of the bird and then constrict it, pinning it to the ground while shocking it with the previously charged raiton jutsu. As the plan went, hopefully this would give the other four shinobi to surround the bird and activate the four violet flames barrier in the following seconds, while Jena fell back.

Not much was running through Arthir’s, or rather ‘Maruki’s, mind while he waited with this…person. His arms stayed folded, a hand occasionally raising or lowering to scratch at some part of his body. All he did was listen for the bird’s sounds, hoping it wouldn’t somehow magically know where they are. For some reason, and he wasn’t sure why this was, he figured it would be able to ‘hear’ their scent.

This other man spoke, gaining the red-haired man’s attention. He was okay with the ‘stick by me’ part of his sentence, but then he started talking about being questioned and a…’checkup’. Was this guy a doctor too, or-…? I mean, Arthir wouldn’t mind a doctor. They seem like nice people, and somehow always have lollipops on hand! Heck, he could go for a strawberry-lemonade lollipop right now. Though, perhaps now wasn’t the best time to ponder on such things as some sort of ringing filled the air. Was there a bell nearby? Maybe there was some sort of church in Iwa, and their bells were scheduled to ring now? Well that didn’t seem right since Arthir doesn’t recall seeing such a thing on his way to the bridge earlier. The ringing itself wasn’t that loud, but more so mind numbing as it continued to echo, the soundwaves bouncing off of surrounding buildings. Thinking it was the avian creating this sound, Arthir looked to see.

The white bird raised its head sluggishly, looking in the direction of…the hole that remained in the sky. It had never ‘patched’ itself up, remaining there during the conflict between the shinobi and the creature. As the ringing kept on, the bird’s body began to glow brightly. It paid no mind to what the ninjas were doing now, knowing full well what this sound from the hole meant. The ringing belonged to a prey it had its eyes on for so long. They were calling to it from within the hole by way of some sort of bell.

The ringing of the bell basically ended the battle then and there, against the bird’s wishes. The effect of the soundwaves, once heard by the ‘phoenix’, would force it into a glowing translucent state. There is only one item in the world that could do such a thing to it, and the avian knew full well who had it. In this state, nothing could interact with the creature, and vice versa. Because of the random bell, the wire the ninjas planned to use went through its body, and the bird fell through the earth below shortly after. It then flapped its wings to rise back up to the hole in the sky, and entered like it was a hole on the side of a tree. Once the last of its tail feathers had entered, pieces of what could only be called ‘the sky’ started reassembling from where they fell. When a piece had fit, it made a sound of glass shattering in reverse. Eventually, the ‘sky’ was fixed.

Arthir stared at where the hole was, but then was distracted by the sound of cracking and dripping. The snow that had accumulated began to melt rapidly, water dripping onto the ground. The ‘cracking’ came from the river below the bridge. The chunks of ice that had formed from the bird’s use of ice techniques were melting also. In about twenty minutes, the area would resume its natural summer temperatures, the purple clouded sky returning to a clear blue. All the red-haired man could do was shake his head, and wait for the other shinobi to come up with a plan. If there wasn’t one that involved him, he’d be on his way to get some pizza for someone.

3850

A perfectly executed play that had been assembled in the moment. Fukai was legitimately impressed with how things were going at the moment that Jena launched her attack. The captain would have never considered that he would be able to assemble such a force capable of working together to such effectiveness. Especially from his own background of being a lone wolf, being surrounded with such helpful talent was a pleasant occurrence. Of course, this hadn’t happened for no reason. This was all thanks to the trials that he had overcome in the past, the opposition that he had dealt with and the grind that he had put up with. Maybe that is why his current flavour of hands off management had come around in the first place. He was the captain of an ANBU force that could take care of itself. It was both powerful enough to deal with any new threat that appeared, as today proved, as well as being flexible enough to live through the dynamic shinobi environment. He could afford to be lackadaisical but he wondered if the situation was different, if he would be any different himself.

Wire buzzing with electricity snaked its way to the chilly bird, the metal tendrils extending from Jena’s hand as she descended on it from above. The four other agents had scrambled to box in the bird, and had begun to slam their palms down onto the ground to begin the barrier jutsu. As the bell sound began to reverberate through the area, all of the shinobi’s attention was drawn away from their task for just a second. What exactly this sound signified was anyones guess. There was not any time to ponder this however, as the plan of attack had already been set in motion. The metal wire snaked out and around the bird, digging into the earth around it, attempting to pin it down. At the same time, the purple walls of the four violet flames formation began to rise up. Just as the ANBU team thought that their plan was coming together, the winged beast seemed to turn some sort of ethereal form, phasing straight through the wire. Not bothering any more with the puny humans that wished to contain it, it rose up into the sky and slipped back into the crack in the sky. The squad could not do anything but watch in awe as the crack sewed itself back up, repairing itself until it was like nothing had ever been there.

Well now… What were they to do now? There weren’t any procedures to deal with interdimensional birds, or not any that Fukai had seen at least. But nevertheless, Jena tackled the task with the same assertive leadership. After a few minutes checking to see if there were any more surprises that felt the need to eventuate, she switched to cleanup mode. Police showed up, and she had them lock down the area. Once everyone was safe and had medical attention, some elders showed up to investigate the event. It would be important that they find out what exactly went on here so that they would be prepared for anything similar in the future.

“Well, that took an interesting turn, didn’t it.” Fukai looked at the Konoha visitor. “I’m sure we can leave the rest to them. I’m kinda hungry after all of that excitement, wanna grab something to eat?” Fukai started walking off, away from the bridge. His biggest motivation right now was escaping from the area before being tracked down and scolded by his subordinate.

His pink eyes finally broke away from where the hole in the sky once was, curious as to what the surrounding people were to do next. From the way things looked, a foreigner of Iwagakure visiting at the same time this happened, it...did paint him to be slightly suspicious. He just hoped no one would assume he had anything to do with this. The age old case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time is what this was.

When his mind glossed over the thought of the pizza he talked about on the phone earlier with someone else, the nearby man mentioned that he was hungry. It must be true that, like a yawn, saying that you're hungry is contagious. Arthir realized that he could go for something.

"Er-... S-sure," he said in response to the suggestion of food.

That being said, Arthir had at least five things he was still worried about. The first was obviously the bird. The expression of 'popping out of thin air' had taken new meaning to him, thanks to it. What if something similar happened later on? He figured now he'd be at least prepared to run. The second is the frozen villagers. Sure, everything seemed to be thawing out, but the villagers caught in the ice beam of the bird from earlier still seemed to be as solid as ever. Arthir worried for them.

The third and fourth things involved this stranger and the group of ninjas from before. Would he still be brought in for questioning? Would they even believe that he was there to make a simple call? I mean, Arthir probably wouldn't, but still. Finally, the fifth thing, it being the pizza he was meant to pick up for someone. He wasn't sure why, but it wouldn't leave his mind that it was something he was supposed to do.

As he was thinking about the worries he had, he didn't realize the other man had started walking off. Arthir jogged over to him to catch up, now walking with him. He didn't say anything at first, but then asked a harmless question while rubbing his nose.

"So, what did you have in mind? You know, for...food?"

Arthir would listen and follow them, willing to take just about anything that resembled food to him.

[Exit]

4,246

Fukai began slinking away, thinking he could get away from the tongue lashing that he knew was coming his way. Little did he know, Jena had been planning on hunting him down as soon as official business had ended. Fukai would suddenly stop mid stride as he felt a sinister spirit on his heels. A great glowing eyed monstrosity of a young woman  jumped in front of him. Fukai was sure he would have fainted had he not had his ANBU sensory. Her mouth contorted into such a large shape, he thought he would need a watermelon to plug it. In a last ditch attempt to stop the incoming verbal onslaught, Fukai changed tack, instead advancing, and going to place his hand on her head. It was a quick blurred motion that would swat away his hand. But Fukai continued on, unwavering. He was determined to get the first word in, to upset her attack. “You did good.” He smiled, his purple eyes flashing. “You guys are looking really impressive these days. Don’t doubt yourself, you’re not a kid anymore. You’re a jounin.” He walked past her, not looking back. “It’s time you started taking responsibility!” he couldn’t help but end with the little line, not at all oblivious to the irony of calling her out for lack of responsibility.

“Hmm I hear there’s some decent flat bread bakery around here, they cook it on the sun baked stone. Then they put cheese and tomato and a bunch of other toppings on. Apparently it’s a specialty around these parts.” He said, turning back to the redhead as they walked away.

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~exit~
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