Mission name: A Call for help (Repeatable)
Mission rank: C-Rank
Objective: help the smaller village
Location: anywhere
Reward: 300
Mission description: A raven arrived early in the morning from a small village within our boarders requesting some help with a group of bandits raiding their village, you are charged with finding these bandits and dealing with them however you see fit.
Mission details: The Village is located near to the border of the country and is raided almost every other day by a group of 5 bandits all are low level to where a genin can handle them in a fight and only wield a kunai. mission is repeatable due to multiple bandit groups being able to raid the small village and the small village can be different. when confronted the leader will send in the first to fight when he loses he will send in the second, after which the last two will jump in and the leader will try to escape while you're distracted, do not let him get away for he will go get another group of bandits and come back resulting in a failure. if he is captured the leader will attempt to cut you in on a deal, whether they are all caught or all killed mission will be complete, if one gets away mission failure.

• 
  Name: Bandits
  Age: N/A
  General Appearance: they all wear tan colored clothing with a bandana wrapped around their face hiding what they look like, the leader's bandana is red as opposed to the black the others wear
  Personality: self interested
  Motivations: gold and all things shiny
  Fears: not having shinies
  Abilities: basic Taijutsu D-Rank Boxing, and 2 kunai each. The four bandits all have D-Rank Stats while the leader of the bandits have C-Rank stats
  Other: only the leader of the bandits actually talks all the others only make noises like whooping and hollering.
  

1500 WC needed

Weakness. Humans were filled with it. Like cattle, they walked through the streets predestined to bring them to the next place in their pitiful cycle of existence. So many of them just lived on with one goal in mind - death. So many left their home with but one goal - enslavement. So many of them had never hunted, never faced the wildlife, never faced any dangers. So many were like the very cattle they bred and fed. A small amount of that mass of weaklings were the ones calling upon two shinobi of Kirigakure to deal with the select few humans that had taken fate in their own hands, plundering what they could take, beating what they could hit. Haka couldn't understand this humane system where the weak were protected but failed to bring forth a strong species, whereas the strong were destroyed while they held the genes that could provide the human future with a strong and resilient kind.

As the shinobi neared the village to meet up with their equally pathetic village 'leader', Haka briefly glanced at the shinobi near her. Verdandi. A human she was free to play games with, fight with, but of which her Creator had said not to kill her. She was a human too despite the frigid aura she emitted, wielding the claws of man in a way Haka had not seen before. A way she could define as 'correct', for as far as her understanding of weapons allowed her to judge weapon mastery. It had a very different approach from Chigetsu's crude en-masse application of blades or her own pragmatic use of the kunai. An approach that allowed the spider to learn the refined use of weapons, even if only to figure out a way to counter them properly.

What annoyed Haka most of all about this human was not that she was a human, but that she had to admit the kunoichi was worth more alive. Even to her, who generally considered humans as nothing more but an unevolved species, this girl's knowledge on humane things, on weapons, on the most refined details of the weakest species to populate this world and breed worse than rabbits, was so much as invaluable to the personal brooding plans of the spider-nin. Haka would not ever admit this, however, as it went against all the spider stood for. It went against the Spider clan's Ways. No, all she could do was endure this weakness until she had come to learn all about humans, upon which then she could dispose of the Yuki - she was a 'rival', or whatever the human term was for her weakness.

Eventually reaching the village, the leader was already waiting for them, pathetically bowing and grovelling like a worm in the dirt upon their arrival. Suppressing the urge to stab her kunai straight through his heart, rip of his head or execute another cruel form to end his weak display of leadership, Haka would look to the other side as she brushed her white hair out of the way. She would let Verdandi do the talking, and so turned her back on the elderly man so that her amber eyes could take a good look around at the ramshackle gathering of houses that made up this remote village so as to find the best spots to deal with these raiding bandits. Vantage points, bottlenecks, potential traps. She would register everything to plan her strategy.

---

579

Verdandi enjoyed the way she and Haka conversed on their motion out towards the missions. Or to say it bluntly. The way they did not talk at all for what felt like days’ worth of travel and preparations. The usual setup had already taken place in the morning. Meeting the Jounin, getting through the briefing, exchanging crucial information and so on and so on. It was interesting to say at least, that despite the low amount of missions she had taken yet. Verdandi was already bored of their repetitive nature. Looking forward to finally become promoted as she'd end up getting more.... interesting contracts after all. But before that could be envisioned she had to finish up her training properly. Her plans to hike into the mountains of her forefathers would sure become a fun journey.

Having more than enough time to think and worry about random things, again thanks to the fact that Haka disliked any type of casual conversation, left her to brood over random things all the time. Eventually they would reach the village. But something odd was crawling up her spine. Haka had been in a bad mood. They didn't need to talk about it for Verdandi to feel it. Maybe it was due to meeting her 'Dad' again as his influence on her seemed to severely affect her aura and bloodlust. But it wasn't just that. It seemed more like she was having a hard time coming to terms with the layout of the mission. Verdandi wouldn't go so far as to completely understand her train of thoughts but certainly knew that she was generally disgusted by the weak. As they arrived in the village she could barely hide her lust to slaughter them. Verdandi would casually tap her by the shoulder and whisper in the few words she picked up in spider tongue. "Calm down Haka" before she moved on to face the... well admitting it, pathetic looking leader of the village.

Maybe it was that Haka's presence had defiled Verdandi's paragon sense a bit already. But Verd was as usually in an upbeat mood and enjoyed herself greatly so far. She couldn't help but look at the man with a questionable expression to her face. She yet knew the customs and did her bow. Introduced herself accordingly. Exchanged the necessities to obtain the intel on the bandit’s latest position. But maybe a bit out of.... spoiled reasons Verdandi leaned in and gently asked the man to prepare a room for her and Haka by dawn. She didn't imply anything impolite. But it was kind of clear that she didn't just ask for it politely. It was a command. He would have to obey and follow.

Maybe this was Verdandi's way to deal with the weak. While Haka would prefer to eradicate them, Verd would prefer to peacefully dominate them in a way to give even their existence some sort of use. But they already had a use. They were farmers. Providing for the village of Kiri. Now they just had to provide for the two of them as well for once. Not much asked basically. Verdandi knew Haka wanted to get over with this as soon as possible. But she'd have to show patience.

On the note of laying out traps, Verd insisted that the farmers would prepare some buckets filled with water all around the surrounding entries of the village and they should do it casually. It couldn't look like the farmers were plotting for something.

Some time passed and Verd had found herself being shown to a beautiful room even for the low standards of the farmers. Sitting on a table, eating fine meat and sipping delicious tea. Knowing Haka didn't have much taste for the wonders of dining in aesthetically pleasing ways, she might find pleasure in the way Verd had made this moment come to pass or at least enjoy the steak they were offered.

"We don't have to hunt the bandits down. They are supposed to show up tonight or tomorrow. Make sure that you use the transformation technique to disguise yourself as a farmer if you go outside. We don't have to invite the people coming for us to realize that they walked into our.... web until the very moment we want to catch them"

Verd couldn't help but be utterly overjoyed by the way she could do this kind of analogy to spider ways. Stuffing herself but not too much with the meat and salad offered at the plate. Keeping a keen ear onto whats going on outside in case the visitors would come to disturb them during the meal. If not, they would probably have to take shifts on who's staying wake during the night. So either of the two could take a nap before the big moment.


820

Verdandi having finished her diplomatic bargaining with the village leader, the two were eventually shown to a properly kept room with accommodations for two, including a table upon which a good meal and tea was being served. While Verdandi enjoyed herself with what she would call the 'aesthetically pleasing' aspect of the room and the meal in front of her, Haka took a seat quietly and eyed the dish and cutlery in front of her. It wasn't quite what she usually took as her sustenance, but since there was some meat on the platter she picked up the cutlery and started to eat what had been served, even if it was only to keep up the image of being a human.

Verdandi would inform Haka of the bandits that would raid the village, making it easy for them to deal with them since there would be no need to hunt them down or chase them all the way. Both were fine to Haka, but after the spider speech and now hearing Verdandi making use of spider analogy, she raised her amber eyes up to look at the kunoichi. The girl truly enjoyed herself with this. The humour and joy behind it eluded the spider, of course, but Haka was slowly understanding that Verdandi loved to indulge herself with that sort of... humane bonding. Such were the ways of humanity, a collection of incomprehensible rituals and reasons driven by an equally unpredictable thing called emotion.

"Haka will remain Haka", she replied to the suggestion of changing herself in a peasant. Considering it already a horrible thing having to take on this human form due to Sero's expectations, she was not about to change into yet another shape that represented a despicable weak sort of humans when she was fine looking like a mini-version of her Creator. He, at least, held power, and power was to be respected. No, if she really was to change shapes, she would change into her natural form and make short work of the bandits once they appeared. Remembering the humans all around her, she decided that basic shinobi stealth would have to suffice. In worse case, she still had a technique up her sleeves that muted all sounds in her immediate vicinity.

Finishing her plate in proper human etiquette, not especially having enjoyed the unusual diet she was experiencing, Haka placed the cutlery in the plate and stood up to take a peek outside from a window that was certainly cleaner than what she was used to at the manor. Lacking any cobwebs here, the place felt almost sterile in comparison to the dark and brooding atmosphere of the Osada manor, not to mention the obvious clarity thanks to the welcomed sunlight and present candles. Haka couldn't fault them for needing this much light. Humans only had two eyes, after all. Observing the movement of the peasants who were still at work outside, she noticed the strange anomaly in their routine. The illogical pattern of actions they performed were quickly taken out by the most rigid thinking spider in the whole Sagaverse, almost instantly spotting the newly added reoccurring pattern of them placing buckets of water at seemingly random places, only to forget them after a brief time working the field. "Peasants make bad shinobi.", she commented, loud enough for Verdandi to hear her as she further observed the general back-and-forth of the peasants and wondered why the buckets of water were left behind like this.

---

586
Total: 1165

Verdandi couldn't help herself but smirk almost constantly at each and every reaction given by the spider. Watching her eat this made Verd wonder what she would actually eat if hungry. A human? She did mention once before that spiders only had to nutrient themselves very rarely to be satisfied for a long time. An odd concept to be devoid of the pleasures food would bring to one. Verdandi loved to taste the different variations of food. The soft meat between her teeth was juicy and combined with the salad and the sweet sauce it was just uhmmm... perfect.

Verdandi would spend her time enjoying her tea. Haka would seem to be ignorant towards them changing into peasants. Her pride would get the better of her, someday. Improvising enough, Verd would get a simple, yet not necessarily dirty rug. Using it as a makeshift cloak for haka to hide her unusual clean attire. Having admitted to it being the probably easier solution, Verd produced a second rug for herself from the piles of fabrics and clothes laying about.

"It is time" she would say. Peeking past Haka through the window as two figures would appear at the horizon. Followed by another three. The two ahead would make their way quickly towards the village, while the three behind set up camp outside the village. Staying in a safe distance. "They are not all coming willingly into our web Haka." Verdandi noticed that the original plan had its flaws and wouldn't be executed as easily as expected. Sometime would pass as they could watch the 'messengers' approach the village. Verdandi went ahead downstairs. Joining the peasants and trying to stay within the crowd to a point she wouldn't draw any attention. Hoping Haka would be following suit after her.

Standing at the brink of the crowd she could see how the weak peasant leader made it's way to the bandits. "How can I help you today my dear gentlemen?" he'd ask sheepishly and almost crawling to their feet already.

"Cut the crap old fart, we are here for the weekly tax. You know it, I hope our gold is well prepared." The older of the two bandits seemed to try and be bossy about it. It seemed an easy thing to do. Verd felt like an adult watching two you kids trying to bully each other. It was heart breaking and annoying. When Verdandi yet turned around to ask Haka if she could probably get any closer to the bandits that were not here. Verd would have to face the fact that her spider friend had already departed. As she was not seen anymore. Expecting something to happen any second now. Verd would remain close to the leader and the bandits while they, of course to delay things, slooowly produced their box of gold.

Haka had about 15 minutes to act. More than enough to start a little.... game of tag. Verd would chuckle in hopes that the spidergirl would hopefully at least enjoy herself out there.


510 / 1330

When a couple of figures appeared in the distance, forming a group of two and three respectively, Verdandi hinted it was time to get into action. Making her way to the outside, she heard the kunoichi mention that not all of them were about to walk into their trap. Of course they wouldn't. Much like animals, there were always a couple of prey that had a higher awareness or were an inkling bit smarter so as to remain alive. Hunting had never been a hundred percent success at the time she had yet to master chakra molding the way she did now, and she doubted strongly that would change when dealing with humans.

Amusing Verdandi with the dirty cloak she had placed upon her, the spider-nin moved outside but unlike Verdandi she didn't mingle with the people for one distinct reason - her aura. Considering them already lost to their weakness, wading through them would only cause them to panic before the messengers had arrived. The humans would stay out of her vicinity, making her stand out in a way that would instantly have her fail her stealth actions. So as Verdandi moved into the crowd to mingle, Haka flickered away, leaving a shroud of mist and the makeshift cloak behind.

Watching the whole ordeal from a vantage point quite out of sight from the general perception of the gathered crowd, one would be obliged to actively search for the spider-nin before they'd stood a chance to spot her. Crouched and hidden, she watched how the village leader was already worming up to the bandits. Shifting her gaze to the 'visitors', she noticed only two of them being there, of which one did the talking, meaning the three others were on their own somewhere. Not knowing which one exactly was the leader, Haka decided that she was better off dealing with the group of three setting up a camp rather than with the two within the crowd. With Ameya at her side, she could mostly even the odds if there was a need to do this.

Spotting the construction of the camp at quite a distance, the spider's first thought was that of being free to do as she pleased. Seeing the human leader grovel the way he did had raised the spider's annoyance to a point where she felt a need to vent the Unmei's superiority over the unevolved humans. Besides the benefit of marking her dominance in the area to make it understood to humans a monster had decided to roam the vicinity, she would be able to feast at her leisure on whatever target unlucky enough to be chosen to still her arachnid hunger as at the distance the camp stood compared to the village, even a scream could be disregarded as the howling of the wind.

Sliding off the roof on the side hidden from the crowd, Haka would start running in the direction of the makeshift camp while they were still occupied setting it up. Without a guard actively watching for intruders, sneaking up to them would be a much easier task. All she had to do is work out a plan on how she would deal with them. Certainly, her intended food would end up webbed for good measure, meaning she'd have to deal with only two of them at once. Even if she couldn't say what their combat prowess was, she doubted she'd need Ameya to deal with them considering the small size of the camp and the low amount of targets. No, she'd deal with them herself, relying on her taijutsu, suiton and spider form to take them out one by one, prioritising those with a weapon first.

Approaching the camp, she spotted three men. One of them disappeared into a tent they had set up while another was preparing a small camp for the night. The third one stood idly with the others, talking and laughing with them rather than paying attention to his environment, a mistake that had seeped in due to arrogance having grown out of a false belief that no one would ever deal with them at such a remote place. Haka found it fine as it was, summoning the blob of water out of the lingering mists that were commonly shrouding the lands of water before making use of the land's natural camouflage herself to get a couple of meters behind the tent. Now completely out of sight, she finished her preparations with the Quietus technique and allowed her monstrous aura to do the rest. Soon... Very soon, the obvious silence combined with her predatory instinct would force them to the attention.

Then the hunt would begin.

---

792
Total: 1957

125/150:

Verdandi could vaguely feel the aura of Haka slowly subsiding from the village. She must have, indeed made her way off towards the camp. Considering that they had dealt with way worse enemies at the fort, Verd was content her spider friend would be doing all right on her own. The situation here was yet about to get out of hand. The bandits had opened the treasure chest only to find it filled with stones instead of gold and ryo.

The elder of the two bandits held his sword against the village leaders throat. Verd didn't hear exactly what he was cussing about but it must have involved something around the size of the mayor’s mother. Verd would use her chance to slowly direct the remaining civilians to step away from the scene. They did so slowly. Which was luckily only interpreted by the bandits as the civilians being scared of them. They patrolled around the village square, Verdandi making sure that she was about to end up at the peak of the crowd and the civilians safely stuck behind her.

One of the peasants had hidden himself in the barn next to the entrance of the village. He'd come in handy. Verd signalled for him to do the promised deed and push over one of the water crates they had prepared. But the guy basically pissed his pants in view of the sword the bandit was wielding. Verdandi rolled her eyes. With as much expressions as possible she would imply that Verd would be going to kill him all by herself if he didn't get his fat ugly peasant butt towards that crate. The longer it would take, the more she would get annoyed. Eventually drawing the attention of the elder bandit.

"You, what’s your problem, you want to be next little skank?" Verdandi swallowed once empty. She wasn't easily triggered. But stuff like that made her frozen blood boil pretty quickly. The grimace on her face would ultimately convince the guy in the stable to get up and push the water filled crate over. The noise would distract the elder bandit from Verdandi's matter and see the water slowly following towards his feet. He yelled at his younger partner who was supposed to fetch the fat peasant for him. Verdandi was content that the diversion was enough for her to step her foot forward and meld her seals beneath her coat.

Exhaling a little bit of hyouton chakra as well as starting to prepare the frozen ice she could form and find beneath the ground. Starting to slowly freeze the wet surface without the bandits noticing it just yet. Verdandi wondered how Haka was doing and if the fat guy would survive his deed. She hoped so, sacrificing one civilian for another was not really her goal. Once he had fetched the peasant her started to beg for his life. Claiming that he had not done anything bad. That he didn’t want to do this that the sole person who was responsible for his actions was that filthy woman. Pointing at Verdandi as he spoke. Making things a little bit…. complicated.

530 / 1860

Like in a horror film, the deadening silence and the encroaching presence of a hidden predator made the hairs on the men's arms rise. While the one in the tent was too occupied to care, the two others had fallen silent in their conversation, discomfort apparent in both. Something was clearly amiss in the wisps of mist that lingered but there was no saying what it was or where it came from. Waiting patiently as she observed the situation, the wolf spider was a natural at abiding her time and letting her monstrous aura drive her prey into a maddening terror. This time it would not be different.

As one took out his two kunai, the other eyed his surroundings frantically in hopes to find what was causing this hostile aura. The first steps towards a fatal mistake followed quickly as each of them picked a different side to search, occasionally looking back to see if they could still spot their friend. The man with the kunai would the first one Haka would kill as she knew the danger weapons posed to her species, but before she moved to action she observed how the other would move further away from the camp, searching through the low-clinging mist.

But Haka had evolved beyond the linear hunting of the wolf spider she was. She would no longer take down the one that was closest or most dangerous. No, the evolution in her intellect caused by the activation of the chakra had turned the Unmei in a far superior huntress than she could have possibly dreamed. The strategies she had used in previous missions along with the observations done on human nature had slowly improved even further upon her hunting skills as a spider. Rigid logic and proper analysis dictated that the first thing she should be doing was cease the opportunity of having the two men leaving the camp unguarded. Meaning, she would infiltrate into the makeshift camp without a sound and web the man that was unaware of the current events.

As the two men were almost out of sight, circling around their base to find an unknown source, Haka slipped inside under the muting effects of her Quietus seal, cloaking the entire camp in complete silence. Suddenly brought to the attention by the quietude and her killing intent, the last man turned around to catch a brief glimpse of Haka's posture before her web stuck him tightly within the tent. Now defenceless, she moved closer and knocked him out cold with one well aimed strike on his temple. Bound and silenced, she was now free to take down the others one by one, starting with the man that wielded the kunai.

---

454
Total: 2411

100/150:

Verd would crunch her teeth, she didn't like it to be pointed out and made witch of. But maybe the poor peasant just acted in such lunacy because he was scared to the bone. Which was kind of successful as the younger bandit punched him in the face and kicked his fat ass before obviously letting go of him. Verdandi checking the state of the ice on the ground. The bandits had not yet noticed what was happening. Observing her surroundings allowed her to properly see around seven more water barrels within the vicinity of the town square. Verd was happy that at least this task has been carried out to her full satisfaction. Her technique slowly began to manifest itself over the ever-growing ice platform.

Verdandi made sure to not freeze the floor too quickly, rather tapping on the water that was already here. She forced little tiny spiked to raise against the bottom of the remaining caskets of water, tossing them over until they would break. All together would pour enough fluid into the area to overfeed her technique properly. Before the bandits could really complain about it all. Verdandi would finally act. Ice spikes would raise behind her to shield the remaining civilians from the battle ground. Slowly the spikes would start to rise all around the town square in order to create some kind of cage for the bandits within. But most importantly. Verdandi had jumped forth at full speed. Her blade pulled from her sheath. Moving against the elder bandit and before he could slice the village leaders throat, his palm was cut off from his hand including the weapon it was holding.

As soon as he was busy screaming and watching his own blood gush forth into the freezing water below. Verd would use her elbow a shoulder to punch him straight into his guts. Making him cough his soul out, but it was mainly just to push him away from the village elder. As of the very moment he was free in the open field and clearly surrounded by water and ice, Verd’s ice pillars rose once more, directly impaling the poor man from behind, burying themselves into his skin all over. A total of three would suffice to wound him enough and lift him off the ground so he couldn't do anything else but bleed out eventually.

Once he was dealt with, Verdandi would turn in order to face the younger bandit. He must have soiled himself at the display of how his senior had died in front of him. Verdandi tried to make use of this by letting her final pillars of ice spear from below towards him, but he could evade the incoming frost weapons. Jumping off and, probably in an act of utter despair, charge forward with his blade in hand, in aims to pierce through Verdandi's stomach and heart. She was ready to receive his blade with her own. Bracing for his impact.

135/150 Chakra:

500 / 2360

Venturing through the mist to find the bandit with the kunai, Haka moved like a ghost through the shrouded lands with the slightest of worry. She was used to this. Spider Island was always covered in mist, so she had always been hunting while dealing with the weather against her. It had never stopped her then and there, and now it wouldn't stop her either. Like a phantom, she surreptitiously approached the bandit whom was now scratching his head in loss. There had been a brief moment where her aura had not been oppressing his humane instinct, leaving him with the impression the monster had left the vicinity, but as he shrugged his shoulders in self-belief that he was safe, Haka's aura reached out again, the hairs on his arms raising once more. Turning around slowly, he suddenly saw a 13 year old girl run up to him with a faster than expected speed for a kid of her age, launching herself in his direction. Catching him off guard, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and sunk her partially grown spider fangs deep into his neck before viciously tearing its flesh away.

As the man lost his balance, Haka let go off him. He stumbled on the floor, eyes wide in terror, his hand trying to stop the blood that was gushing out from his open wound. His terror expressed itself in an inaudible scream as the Quietus seal didn't allow any sound to exist. His silent symphony went on for a couple of seconds as he stumbled to crawl away from the slowly approaching girl with her cold, apathetic gaze, deaf for his pleas for mercy. He had not understood yet that no cry for help would ever get answered. Turning his back to the spider-nin, he tried to stand up and run, upon which Haka dashed forward to stab her kunai in his back. He coughed up blood. Lifting him up in a brief moment of frenzy, he helplessly bungled in the air, pain shooting through his body as the kunai slowly but steadily tore through its body as it was pulled down by gravity. Blood ran down from his neck, poured out of his back, colouring the ground and her arm red. Seconds ticked away slowly as the man felt his life slip away.




The the whole world came crashing down on him as Haka could no longer maintain his weight. Without a sound, the man hit the floor, rolling on his back with the last of his life force, and would forever remain so as Haka finally slit his throat to end his suffering. As blood pooled under his lifeless body, the secret of his death hidden by the mists of Kirigakure, Haka slipped away once more to find the last of the three men before she would be able to eat.

---

483
Total: 2894

OOC: Probably not quite possible considering her actual strength, but the pic's just too cool not to use here x3

95/150:

The spikes of ice had stopped to raise from the ground. A lot of them had rendered the town square in dangerously sharp pillars. Some of the peasants had fled the scene for good at the very display of blood. The elder bandit had by now lost his last ounce of life energy. Impaled on the blood soaked frost pillar that buried into his body. Verdandi disliked the filthy display of dead, yet it seemed to be of usual nature to intimidate her remaining enemy. The younger bandit sliced his blade forth against Verdandi, with an almost complete lack of emotion she parried his attacks. She had fought enemies far above this guys strength.

His attacks were basic, but Verdandi's skill in Kenjutsu was about to be feared by now even on her still rather low ranking. At least to the peasants she'd look like a goddess that could avoid any slice the steel of the bandit tried to wreck over her body. Sparring the guy for quite some time. His slices always aimed at her in a speed she could easily react towards. Punching his got, kicking his knee, pushing him back until he seemed to have made his final mistake. He didn't take the proper care of his surroundings. So Verdandi used one of her favourite tactics. She simply used the environment against her opponent. She formed the handseals quickly. Stepped forward, parried his blade one more time and exhaled a huge gust of air that would him backwards, unfortunately straight into one of the spiked pillars.

As it would stab itself into his back, supported by the heavy force of the airflow. Verdandi would come closer and in an act of both heartless cruelty and mercy, she pushed her leg against his chest and kicked him onto the spike impaling him even further, then shoving her blade forth to pierce through his heart and instantly end his suffering.

As it was common in Kenjutsu, Verdandi moved back, swinging her blade aside to make the blood spill off and away, sheathing her weapon and then bowing towards her defeated opponent in recognition of his battle with her and yet paying him his last respect. Watching his both lifeless corpses were now properly impaled on their respective spikes. Verd would allow the other pillars to slowly melt and return to water. Taking a look of how the elder of the village was doing.

He had a slight little cut at his throat. There wasn’t more than a drop of blood but Verd would still plant her finger on it and freeze the wound shut. “You got lucky old man, I didn’t expect you to try and fool the bandit with fake payment. You know you should have told us about this. Then maybe you wouldn’t have had to face the bandits blade like this. It should be a lesson for you, as to never mess with the shinobi you request to help you with your sorry existence.” After pushing him back and basically telling him to grow up and grow a new pair she’d make her way slowly towards the guy that had called her a witch. She wasn’t going to kill him. But he still deserved a little ‘spanking’ for this!


550 / 2910

One more, one more. Then all would end. The measly humans would be protected again. Protected from the ones that were stronger than them. The human perception was unjust. The strong get punished for being better, the weak live to work another day. Like cattle. Enslaved to serve the ones that consider themselves 'noble' enough to save them from being bullied. Haka couldn't understand the human workings. Spiders weren't like that. They fended for themselves, they lived on. The strong lived, the weak died out. Natural selection allowed the Spider Clan to remain strong. For some reasons unknown, the humans preferred to remain weak.

The last man had returned to base. He had not found the source of his discomfort, his mind no longer alert. Humans were so easy to be tricked, bound by arrogance, ignorance, comfort as they were. If only the spider-nin knew the mind of these two-legged creatures, oh how she would toy with them. Haka returned to the makeshift camp as well. She knew the web would hold, but she could not be as certain of the human. Humans had this unpredictable tendencies, so she had learned by now. She could not trust him to stay away, to not free his ally. The plan would be to wait for him.

Upon arrival to the camp, she could hear the shuffling of feet and the muffled conversation taking place within the tent. The last man had returned and was now trying to free his ally. A task that proved to be far more difficult than he had expected as the spider's webbing, infused with chakra, didn't tear as easily as he had wanted. Haka's aura flared, though her face remained as stoic as ever. Then, it covered the area, making its return known. As he turned about to prepare himself, silence followed in its wake. And a few seconds later, the bandit and the spider stood eye to eye.

Surprise and confusion were apparent in his eyes as he couldn't grasp why a kid was sending of this aura, but the killing intent visible in her eyes left no mistakes. He was in her way and she would eradicate him for that. The man didn't wait. Regaining his composure he dashed towards Haka, fists at the ready. Blow for blow, she dodged and parried but his speed didn't allow her to retaliate just yet. They were even in skill and power, much to her disdain. Every blow dealt was quickly endured in favour for a counter. If the bandit punched, she kneed him. When she imbalanced him, he swiped her legs. When he kicked, she rammed his stomach. When she formed hand seals for a jutsu, his fist didn't fail to find her cheek.

It was all but a ruse.

Haka could easily have overpowered him by simply commanding the tiny suiton bullets orbiting around her, but she was enjoying this fight. She was enjoying the fact that she held the upper hand no matter how. She loved to see how his eyes reflected his fear in one moment, and his arrogance in another. Human emotions were such a fickle thing, and she intended to extract every and all information out of them just to deal with humans in the most efficient way. The pain she suffered for this was barely worth to be called a cost. Eventually, the game would come to an end. For a first time, the spider-nin copied the expression of humans when they felt glad - she smiled.

After all this time of showing no expressions, it distracted the bandit. One sign was all it took for her to command the blob into parrying any and every of his attacks with a speed his eyes could not possibly follow. His punch diverted, his kick blocked. All together, she added insult to injury by imbalancing him. It was only a brief moment he was delivered to her mercy, but it was enough to drive her kunai in his throat and end the life he cherished. His fate entwined with the Unmei - the Weave of Fate - since the first moment she had decided to become part of it. Before the eyes of her webbed prey, the second bandit dropped dead.

---

717
Total: 3611

70/150:

Verd would grab the fatty butt by his ear like an ole grandma would when lecturing her younglings. "What did you say I am?" she said with a creepy little smile on her face. She was but joking in her actions. Yet the guy who had probably soiled himself more than once already was just staring the the bleeding corpses in the town square, impaled on thick large spikes of ice that were slowly turning red from it. He basically fell to his knees and started to beg for her forgiveness, mentioning that it was all but part of the plot and diversion.

Verdandi knew this wasn't the case but she didn't care enough to actually linger about it. With a quick motion she told the disgraceful guy to crawl off and away. Verd could feel that Haka had seemingly everything under control at the camp above them. Her energy certainly remained strong whilst the life essence of the others disappeared. Having seen her fighting C-Ranked enemies already, Verd didn't feel the need to disturb her spider friend during play time. The civilians gawked at her like sheep Verd motioned at them, telling them to go home until the ninja's work was done.

The villagers would finally get into their respective houses and disappear from the street. She disliked having to deal with a large mass of incapable people. The village leader remained. Staring at the impaled bandits shock still. Verd used her chance to grow herself some sort of throne out of the ice below. She enjoyed messing with her element without application towards an actual technique. Just focusing on drawing water and cooling it mid-air to produce ice as her bloodline allowed her to. In her frosty furniture she'd sit and wait for Haka's final targets life source to end. Scanning the area within meditation to make sure they didn't miss out on another bandit.

Maybe she'd have wished for more to be around. She was bored and sleepy. The village elder kept watching the bleeding corpses and asking annoying questions. Like how long she'd keep them like this and such. Verd didn't want to answer, she put her chin onto her palm and closed her eyes, taking some sort of half-asleep nap right here and now. She was soon dreaming of her home and of her warm shower. Maybe it’d be hot spring time. She loved Onsen. They were a specialty of Heidel and Kiri. So as she faded in to a somewhat aware type of dreamworld, she could see herself relaxing as her body would sink into the super-hot warmth of the natural phenomenon.


450 / 3360

Turning her head, she eyed the last remaining bandit still webbed within the tent. His friend had tried to rip the web open by the looks of it, but the chakra infused strands had been too tough to tear apart. Good. She disliked it when someone was trying to steal her meal. Brushing her white hair so it would fall back over her back rather than her shoulders, the Unmei dropped her techniques, listening in to the soft whimpering and sobbing of the trapped man. He had soiled himself, unable to see what was about to happen and unable to do anything against the creeping terrors darkening his mind and extinguishing what little hope he tried to keep up. Soon enough, all of that would come to pass.

Dropping the human masquerade, Haka morphed into her original form - that of the wolf spider. Smaller in height but still taking up the space of a car, the eight legged misty grey terror watched her prey just a little longer before walking over to bite an exposed part of his skin. The bite alone was painful considering the size but not the worst to experience. The venom that would now course through his veins, now that was something worth to scream over. The venom of a wolf spider was generally too weak to take down a human, but if they had the size of Haka, then perspectives changed. A human would suffer much like an insect would. The venom slowly seeping into his body, his raised heartbeat would allow the venom to swiftly overtake his entire being, burning internally while numbing his senses externally. A couple of minutes later, the venom would have affected his entire internal welfare as his organs would have turned to mush, his skin soft and humid as if he had soaked too long in a bath. The man would physically be dead by then, eyes still open but glazed by the lack of a distinct conscious. His soul lived on, however, his presence trapped within the body. Present, but not quite. He'd feel the pain as Haka would devour him, but he'd be too numbed to scream. Or even to care.

After having taken her jolly good time to eat, leaving behind nothing but a fleshy husk of what the man used to be, Haka returned to the village to see how Verdandi had dealt with the two bandits that had come to visit. Though the village was supposedly at an advantage in numbers, the spider-nin was fairly certain Verdandi would be the only one to deal with them. It was good of her to prepare her own web in anticipation, improving the odds for her to win the fight even against superior numbers. So it was not surprising when Haka returned, in human form again, that she saw the remainder of the ice thaw, both bandits defeated, the bleeding corpses impaled in a fashion she had seen before.

Verd Tepes.

For all her humanity she could be pretty cruel in her execution, making Haka halt in her tracks to take a good look at the dead men much like she was criticizing a painting. Hm, yes. Such theatrical display of prey was sure to leave an impression on those that would visit at a later time. A simple show to state her dominance, her presence and the fact she would not be joking around if a fool decided to think otherwise. The spider could only approve of such monstrous display of power, and moved on to meet up with Verdandi.

Just as Haka was about to spot Verdandi, the village leader appeared from behind the corner of the street. Within the grip of her aura and seeing the blood that stained her entire left arm, he would stutter and fall on his back, uttering a mixture of apologies, begs and complaints about the terror Verdandi had caused within the Village, somewhere in between there requesting about her own arm with a hint of skepticism as he wasn't sure if it was her own blood or that of her victims. Suffice to say, his pathetic grovelling for safety while he wasn't supposed to be in danger to begin with was getting the better of Haka. Not bothering to reply, not even showing a sign of disgust, she grabbed her kunai and ended his life then and there with a well aimed stab, her patience with the worm having come to an end.

As his lifeless body dropped to the floor, she moved on without a care, believing that she had proven the village a service by getting rid of what was possibly the weakest leader to exist so that another one, hopefully with more spine, could step up and improve upon this equally weak village. She may not expect the humans to be willing to build a fortress or pick up some decent combat training, but she did expect the new leader to be less of a doormat and hold more strength of personality. This was still Kirigakure territory, after all.

Finally reaching Verdandi, she would quietly gaze at her, and ask her if she had some fun in here.

---

868
Total: 4479

70/150:

Verdandi woke from her nap in her makeshift ice throne as she realized, as much as her body was attuned to the frost, her clothes were not. They had frozen slightly against the throne during her nap. She crunched her teeth together in a slightly annoyed reaction to this slight embarrassment. While she forced her seat to thaw so it'd release her from its sticky clutches, she watched Haka with her arm deeply stained in blood, entering the village.

Her deadly aura was the reason Verd woke in the first place. She was an attentive one and wouldn't dare to fall into a way too deep slumber on the battlefield. Still, the display of Haka and the monstrous aura she gave off was sort of scaring her. The village elder yet made his seemingly last mistake by crossing the spider girl instead of hurrying off to his hut like the rest of the villagers. Verd saw how Haka quickly dealt with the situation in a rather heartless act. Verd had no emotional ties to this man and certainly despised him for being as pathetic as he acted ever since they arrived. But still, her natural way of dealing with Karma would slightly upset her over Haka's choice to end the lowlife.

Giving away a deep sigh she raised from her by now completely fluid throne before it dissolved into the ground. Stepping forward she moved her palms in circles as to slowly motion the fluid forth. Looking at her she would mutter calmly. "Stand still, I'll take care of your arm." before the fluids would cling up Haka's arms and slowly suck the blood off her skin and clothing, it would leave part of her dress wet but it would at least remove the horrid view of all the stains coating her. As the cleaning deed was done the water would disperse into the remains of the already blood-stained dirt beneath them.

"Did you really _have_ to kill him? You know I dislike it when you do stuff like that. Civilians are off limits for us. As much as we despise them, we have orders to follow. Don't forget that." Verd would comment her own view on the situation without implying that Haka's actions needed to be condemned. One of the villagers returned to the scene from his hut. Seeing the two ninja and the slain elder. Not aware as to what had killed him. Verd moved on to try and explain as to how he had probably fallen victim to the bandits. Giving Haka a display of diplomacy and as well an answer as to why killing civilians could be troublesome for them.

The villagers would spend the coming hours raiding the camp that Haka had infiltrated. Collecting all the fabrics, goods, weapons and food they had on their supply packs. The horrid display of Haka's work left a few of the boys helping with the cleaning to puke on the floor. Some of the eventually less pathetic ones yet showed some stomach and carried the dead to a pile next to the village. Verd would do her part and slowly slide her victims from their spikes. Moving their dead bodies on towards the pile. Once the four bandits and the village elder were piled against each other. Verdandi would wonder as the fifth bandits remains that were brought back were barely to mention from. His shell was almost empty. Once more she would give Haka a worried look.

As the civilians lit the pile of corpses on fire she'd return to her partner. "Did you.... eat him?" she asked. Not really showing any signs of judging Haka for her deed. But simply implying a certain interest as to what might have happened at the camp. As of yet, Verd had not seen her unusual friend feast on her prey yet. To imagine it and to see the result of her deed made her shudder slightly.


666 / 4026

Verdandi, being a human, naturally disliked the culling of the overly weak civilian Haka had performed. She felt a need to ask if she really had to do so. A redundant question, of course, as the spider would never do something she didn't feel was necessary. The man had been old, the man showed a clear lack of a spine. His reign was over since long. Haka simply had helped in making that understood. As Verdandi would bother to drain the blood clinging to her arm, Haka gave her a short nod at her answer.

"Now a stronger human can lead."

The whole train of thought behind her words remained unspoken, but Verdandi would probably be familiar with Haka's ways by now to know. Haka might not understand the human's need to rely on the weak and protect them against the strong, but by killing the man she gave the village the opportunity to take on a new course, hopefully one that would allow them a stronger spine in time.

Verdandi would eventually walk off to talk with the humans that had questioned the sudden death of her village elder. It involved too many words to Haka's liking to explain the whole deal, making it feel long-winded in the eyes of the spider-nin who would have made her intention clear with an explanation as short as the one she had given Verdandi. No matter. Their incertitude was their weakness, the pampering of their insecurity being the reason why these civilians would never learn to fend for themselves.

And again, like drones, they followed a newfound human leader. This one, much younger, looked more promising. Taking the initiative, he started to delegate the expedition towards the destruction of the base camp in the distance, the reclamation of provisions and goods, and the disposal of the corpses. All went fairly well until they stumbled upon the corpses Haka had left behind in the mist, the blood having pooled under them grown as dark and cold as their lives. Enough to make some of them double over in sickness. Enough for Verdandi to realise one of them was nothing more but a husk of his former self, the victim of what could only be a spider's feasting.

"Did you.... eat him?"

Yes. Yes, she had. Haka nodded, leaving once again the details away. She guessed the realisation that Haka was a monster no matter the disguise she took on would be enough already for her. She had once hinted at 'not being hungry' and therefore not having felt the need to hunt her like prey, but more having chased her because she found it fun to see a human run away in terror. Verdandi would most likely be remembered to that as well, perhaps understand it had not been a joke. After all, did the spider ever joke? Verdandi's shudder seemed to answer that.

With the bandits taken care off, the base camp having been broken down, the village leader having been replaced, it looked like their mission had come to an end. After brushing her hand through her long, white hair, Haka decided it was time to return. The road home was still long and she had to think about how she could make use of human emotions in a proper way to infiltrate in a more efficient way. There was still so much to be learned and done in life, and hers flew by so fast. How long did an Unmei live anyway?

---

[EXIT]

590
Total: 5069
-1500 mission (300 ryo)
Remaining: 3569

Training:

Verdandi stared back into the camp. The pile of corpses was burning. As the remains of the she had eaten were not noticeable she took the confirmation picture. “5 corpses” nodding as to it wouldn’t raise questions this way, since they were tasked to end a group of 5 bandits that had been pestering the village. Verd would walk up to the new leader of the pack. He was young and strong. Somewhat handsome even. Giving her regards and hinting towards, that he should request a proper guards troop to patrol here if he wished to stay secure. The young man promised to look into it but if he ever would tend to it was none of Verd’s concern anymore.

The blood that soaked the ground was slowly turning clogged and sank into the soil. She could see how this kind of things would amuse the spider. Or not amuse but rather… it would make her feel… good? Verd wondered what the actual peak of the spider’s emotion bar was. She seemed to be physically capable to experience all emotions, but she seemed extremely clueless towards most of them and their use to humans, or well, herself.

Verd would walk towards the supplied and pick up some food from the pile. She was hungry for a snack and no one would dare to stop her from taking whatever she wanted from the bandit’s goods. There was some silver too, probably exploits from another village. Making Verd wonder how many others had been bullied like this. But again. She wasn’t here to shoulder the worries of Kiri. She was selfish to a certain extent. She had long since accepted that her power alone would never, even by reaching her aunts strength, be able to protect every last soul in her country. Maybe one reason why Verd would never aspire to follow in her aunt’s footsteps. The title of Mizukage was not within her desires. She wanted power. Not to rule. She already was of royalty and the ability to rule others had no specific value to her. She wanted power because she wanted to prove that the spoiled little brat was more then just a child of the north.

If anything, she’d want to make people see and fear the frost that she could conjure. So they would never dare to oppose her homeland again. Her little safe heaven in the north. The one thing she really cared for. Her family. If her power could keep her family safe from the terrors of this wretched world. She’d be happy. But one step at a time it’d go. She had no hurries. Especially while aya still roamed these planes she’d feel somewhat safe, knowing someone would have the ability to safeguard the snow. The major countries had no interest and desire of her home. Most of them had no idea that something was rising again in the north. Good. Winter would be coming. Coming to claim whoever wished to hurt them.

Staring back at Haka, she did seem different today. Verdandi didn’t know if this was due to the fact that she had eaten. Another shiver ran down her spine as the image of the empty shell she had seen got back into her head. Her friend was a scary creature and yet Verdandi knew, as long as she could prove to be of considerable strength, this spider would respect her. Which aligned itself well with the goals of the princess. She wanted to become strong. Considerably strong and she knew Haka wouldn’t wait either. The only thing important now was that the princess had to make sure as to not falling behind their progress.

Maybe it was one of the reasons why she would stay motivated to stick around her. Just to make sure the spider didn’t suddenly eclipse Verd’s skills. A disappointed spider in Verd’s abilities was a frightening idea. But Verd was sure she wouldn’t give her companion a reason to feel this way. After all she could feel how the powers of frost and snow were growing inside her. She could feel it burning in her veins. She could feel how her body was aching to explore the depths of this. But she’d have to see home. Have to face the glaciers of her ancestors to find her way to this strength. And she was certainly ready to go on this quest. Knowing that her next visit home was not far away anymore.

The villagers had returned to their business. The fire was burning the corpses away. The new leader made sure his lower workers would get their lazy asses back on the field to work on the farms produce. She was certain Haka would approve of this. A stronger leader had replaced a weak one. Survival of the fittest. For a moment Verd would doubt herself in her own quest to preserve life the way she intended to. Then again. So many had already died by her hand or within her vicinity. Kin of her race, helpless civilians, evil men. It seemed to come down more and more to chance as who was allowed to remain.

Her thoughts lingered. She would have to make herself clear as to what kind of path she wanted to take. But she certainly would not become the cruel monster others had tried to form her into. She wasn’t to be shaped by them. It was her decision as to what she wanted to become. It was her path. Her future. No one else would be allowed to mess with that.

Verd stepped forth. Her things packed, food in her palm. Haka looked at her as they nodded to each other and vanished in the mist. Heading back home.

[EXIT]

974 / Total wc: 5000

Training: