1 Nightmares and New Acquaintances [Private/Mission] Wed Jul 04, 2018 10:26 am
Ayame
D-rank
- Scouting Assignment:
- Mission name: Scouting Assignment.
Mission rank: D-rank.
Objective: Search for refugees and mark their locations on maps.
Location: Any.
Reward: 150 ryo + 1EP
Mission Description: Iwagakure military personnel are requesting scouting reports to locate refugees for evacuation efforts, find them and report back.
Development References: What Lies Beneath Event.
Mission Details: A relatively simple mission, scouting assignments involve venturing out into the wilderness or locating groups of civilians and refugees for Iwa to evacuate and help organize between the visiting nations to best divide the crisis. The desert is filled with rogue thieves and native wildlife which may or may not interfere with these assignments.
The smell of blood and smoke filled the air around her. The world seemed to be spinning around Ayame, it was changing right before her, as the sounds of screams, battle, and fire surrounded her. She was searching. Trying to find something amongst the chaos. Amongst the screaming mothers holding their lifeless children, amongst the cloud of smoke and dust that hung over the air. Amongst the bodies and the fire and the glass. People where running everywhere, as if unsure where to run. The walls of the village serving to herd the people of Suna in like lambs for a slaughter instead of keep them safe. Still Ayame searched, her legs not moving how she wanted them too, and aside from the screaming pain on her forehead, and the ringing in her ears, she was numb. Numb with adrenaline. The only thought being "I have to find her." She wasn't worried about the fireball that had torn through her home, sending her flying in a mass of debris. She wasn't worried about the aftermath of this all, or even what was going on. She just wanted to find her mother. Ayame would push her way through the sand. The blood trickling down her head making it difficult to see as she cried out "Mom!" A woman who'd been crying in the street next to her, looked up, hopeful, but it wasn't her child.
Ayame would continue to trudge through the street, her legs weak struggling to carry her. Another fireball rained from the sky and crashed into the building next to her, sending debris everywhere. Ayame continued to march forwards, the debris flying around her, but not hitting her. At least not big enough chunks to slow her down any. She could feel blood running down her shoulder and arm now, but that didn't matter to her. Just before she'd call out again, she'd hear a voice call out to her. "AYAME!" Ayame would look up from the ground relief filling her body, but suddenly filled with her as a blade stabbed straight through her mother, the look of horror and pain on her mother's face, as eye reached out, tears flooding her face screaming "MOM!"
Ayame gasped awake. cold sweat drenched her body. She had been having these nightmares about the attack on Suna for a few days, as she was told that she and most of Iwagakure would be heading there for help rebuild and gather some of the refugees from some of the village. She knew that wasn't how the attack had gone down exactly. Some details were there, like she had been hit by debris, but her mother had carried her out and not been cut down in front of her. But that's what she feared had happened, and she knew it was entirely too like that her mom had died protecting her village. She just hoped it hadn't been the case. Regardless, Iwagakure's plane to help rebuild Sunagakure and help some of the refugees was a noble goal, and one that made her glad she had decided to flee to Iwagakure instead of any other village. She was even glad to be a part of the rescue operation, it was just that she dreaded returning. there was a large part of her that didn't want to return to Sunagakure. She didn't want to see what had become of her childhood home. What destruction had been wrought in it, and the faces of the horrified and lost, the people she used to see everyday. Better yet, she was scared of what she would find. Dead Bodies and Destroyed homes. But she desperately didn't want to find one body in particular. The last memory she had of her mother, was her telling her to run. She had brought Ayame outside the walls, and told her to run, to run as fast as she could to the land of Iwagakure. Her mother stating she had an obligation to protect the Village hidden in the sand, but that Ayame had no such obligation and should get to safety. That was the last time she had ever seen her. She was hoping that maybe one day she'd turn up in Iwagakure and she'd be reunited with her mother, but that day hasn't come yet, and Ayame fears the worst. Still, the girl is still rather hopefully. Their's a possibility that maybe her mother stayed back to help the refugees that still needed assistance, and that maybe this expedition into the land of wind would be where she would be reunited, or at the very least, she'd get to help more people who had suffered exactly what she had gone too, and showed them the great land of Iwagakure. A place she was more than proud of to call home, even if it hadn't been her original one.
As Ayame sat up from her nightmare, she took a few breathes to calm herself down for the moment. taking the time to re-familiarize herself with her surroundings as she remembered where she was. The sound of the small tent city they had set up for the night was quiet, but it appeared that a few people were already up, and beginning to pack up their camp, as well as some were beginning to make morning meals for the small caravan that Ayame was traveling with. Though she supposed 'small' was relative here. They had about 50 or so people in this group, and by most accounts that'd be a rather large group of travelers, however Ayame knew that there were much larger groups that had traveled before them, and some that would be traveling after them. Like the one in which the Tsuchikage was travelling was sure to number up to a few hundred, or at the very least three times her current party. Still she couldn't complain, she had been paired with a good number of people, and she felt safe with them, despite her being one of about 15 or so ninja in the actual group. Most of the other people were the supporting type, Cooks, Medical Staff, Clothiers and Blacksmiths, those types. Specifically the cooks. Ayame wasn't sure this was a testament to the cooks that resided within the village hidden in the stone, or whether she'd just gotten lucky with her group placements and managed to get stuck with some great cooks. Either way, she didn't care, it made every morning and evening a treat. So much so, that Ayame in't mind getting up this early in the morning, if it meant she'd get some of the first pick at some the grub. With that in mind, and her stomach growling, Ayame fully got up out of her tent and began to pack up her stuff, before heading over to the mess tent that they had set up. She'd greet some of the cooks and people she'd gotten acquainted with over the travel before sitting down and getting herself a bite to eat.
"So any clue how much longer?" Ayame would ask the special jounin who sat a crossed from her. he had been the one directing most of their group as he was the highest rank in the traveling group. Well, him and another special jounin, but the other one appeared to prefer differing to the one she was talking too, and silently taking orders. It appeared he was more of the silent type, not too fond of people. He'd probably make a decent ANBU, as Ayame had a hard time keeping track of him through-out the day, until he showed up to make reports, and even then he'd catch Ayame by surprise most of the time. The words "Yeah, Probably about another day or so. We're going to take today's travel rather careful, as we're passing right through the area it's suspected the Tsuchikage Karumo and his squad disappeared." He'd say before pausing a bit. It was clear the subject troubled him some. "We uhh... aren't too sure what's capable of taking on Karumo, and his squad with him, but we do know he never made it to Sunagakure, so we're just taking extra caution today." he'd say, before returning to his stew. Ayame would add an "mmm" as she finished swallowing the food in her mouth "Is it possible he got caught up in the destruction of Suna? not even our kage and anbu combined could handle that." She'd say. He would finish off the bite he had taken before replying "our?..." he'd say confused, pausing in thought before it seemed the lights kicked on. "Oh right, forgot you were one of the Suna Refugees... You sure you're alright with heading back?" Ayame would simply give him a nod, as she stuffed a biscuit into her mouth. She almost melted under it's taste, it was so good. So buttery and flaky, and perfectly cooked to not be over or under cooked. She'd swear that she'd travel for the rest of her life every day if it meant she just got to eat these biscuits every morning and night. "If you're sure, I won't question it." He'd reply before continuing on with the previous conversation. "Anyways, to answer your question, It's not likely no." Ayame would cock an eyebrow at this, waiting for him to further extrapolate. "You see, Karumo and his squad left a few months or so before the attack on Sunagakure, but what's odd about it is that the Kage had requested ANBU not follow him and his squad while they were travelling into Sunagakure. An odd request, and one that the council warned him about, but something that wasn't unusual for him. They had ANBU waiting for him once he got to Sunagakure to meet up with him and make sure he made it there safe." He'd say before taking a bite of a biscuit for himself. "And even if he and his squad of Genin somehow managed to slip past the keen eye of ANBU, he was supposed to send a carrier pigeon back to Iwa saying he'd made it." Ayame would nod. It seemed Karumo wasn't the brightest Kage to grace the land, though she wouldn't say that in front of a ninja who had clearly served under him, and held a lot of respect for him. "The story after, is pretty simple. Once the ANBU realized Karumo hadn't made it, they sent one of their own back to Iwa to report him missing, and then the ANBU and several search parties were sent out to find him, but never did. They found the scene where he might have been captured, a huge explosion crater in the ground, a lot of blood, but never the tsuchikage himself." Ayame would nod. It would make sense that someone as strong as a Kage had been ambushed or caught off guard in some way. Had to have been, otherwise he likely would have wiped the floor with them. Which means the large explosion was either the Kage himself, or had been used to catch him off guard, something like a landmine, or a tripwire lined with paper bombs. And if they were capable of not only setting up the ambush but knowing the tsuchikage would be travelling, which she was sure had been kept for the most part under wraps, whatever had fought him would be no joke. They'd need to set up their trap just before he arrived, as to make sure not to catch any other civilians in it, as well as during a time the ANBU would be away, which meant intimate details of his travel schedule. That or they had been very very lucky. Whichever the case, Ayame could understand why they'd be take extra precautions today.
With her morning discussion cleared out of the way, as well as she'd get her assignment for the day, Ayame would finish up her breakfast, before returning to the rest of the camp. She'd set about, waking up those who hadn't woken themselves yet, and begin helping pack up the rest of the camp. With most of everyone helping out in some way, it didn't take long for the stragglers to finish their breakfast, everyone to get into formation, and the caravan continuing. Despite what it seemed like the special jounin thought, they actually made really good time that day. As they made there way fully into the land of wind, and managed to reach the Iwagakure camp by nightfall. Granted they had to do a bit of travelling during the night, something that wasn't entirely recommended, but they felt worth it because they were already so close to the camp, it didn't quite make sense to set up camp, just to pack everything up in the morning, and be there before it reached noon. Though it did mean that when Ayame got to the camp, she was tired and hungry. Thankfully there hadn't been many threats to the caravan during the day, which was partially why the caravan had moved as quickly as it did. In fact, there hadn't been any threats at all. The only hold ups had been when a horse had been spooked, someone dropped something large enough that the other people behind them couldn't move forwards, or the one instance a cart wheel had come off and needed to be repaired before they could move on. Something that thankfully didn't take more than a few minutes. Even still, a full day on watch had left Ayame exhausted, and she'd want nothing more than to lay down in her tent that she was currently setting up and sleep the night away, if it hadn't been for the mass amount of hunger that laid siege to her stomach at the moment. Thankfully, she finished up her tent quickly, managed to grab a bite to eat, which was also thankfully from the cooks she had been dealing with up until this point, and then crashed.
Darkness surrounded the girl. the world around her was black and empty, for as far as the girl could see. Ayame would turn, and look around her, trying to find anything but nothing would show up. That was until she heard the words behind her. "Ayame..." Ayame would spin around, relief and joy filling her "mom!" however that feeling would quickly be cut away, and stripping down as she'd turn around to face the gruesome figure of her mother. Flesh burned, and decaying. Bits of bone sticking out in several places, and a large wound in the center of her chest that was bleeding intensely. "mom...." Ayame would mutter, as she took a step back in terror. Grief and Fear filling her. what had happened? why was her mother like this? who had done this? Almost as if to answer her inner monologue her mother looked up, her face half skeleton, but the sharingan with all three of it's tomoe glared at her, with a cold hard stare and simple "You did..." came out of her mother's lips. "You left me to die Ayame" Her mother would say, as Ayame stepped back. a soft "no...." was all she could mutter. However as she stepped back she ran into something else, she immediately turn around to find her grandmother similarly a mix of decomposed and burned who seemed to then say in the same cold hard tone in unison with her mother "You left me to die Ayame." Ayame would back up quickly, almost falling over this time, with tears beginning to form in her eyes, "No... No I didn't me-" She was cut off, as another skeletal figure appeared, who seemed to be wearing a sunagakure headband and had the Uchiha Symbol on a sort of flag on his waist. "You left me to die Ayame." Ayame would slowly call backwards, as more and more people showed up, all people she'd recognize from Sunagakure, all horribly disfigured, all chanting the the same line over and over again. "You left me to die Ayame." as Ayame placed her hands over her ears, tears streaming down her face "No.. No please, I didn't want too, I didn't mean too" she'd say as she began to curl herself up, as the skeletal figures slowly began to move forwards, hundreds of thousands of bodies surrounding her, slowly moving in on her until they were basically huddled over her, then they all began to laugh. A chorus cackle that roared do to the sheer number of people around her, they then shouted "SUFFER!" as they lurched forwards.
Ayame shoot upwards, grabbing her sheets. More cold sweats. More Nightmares.The girl would breathe heavily, her hands shaking as she went over what happened. She had to tell her over and over again. "It's not real." She's say on repeat, gripping her sheets, until managed to find her breathe and calm down a little bit. The girl would proceed to get dressed, changing out of her night clothes and into something a bit more fitting. She wouldn't wear her usual outfit today, but instead she'd put on her white tank top, and then a black zip-up vest over it. She'd then put on black shorts, with a sort of skirt front, and a long black coat tail. Her Hitai-ate would go around her neck, as per usual, but she'd do something likely to confuse the officials of Iwagakure, not that she really cared, but she'd tie a red ribbon around left bicep, marking her as one of the Sunagakure Refugees. Granted she wasn't one that needed to be tended to at the moment, and had long been a member of Iwagakure, but she still wanted to stand with her fellow people, and let those that would see her, know Iwagakure was a safe place for her kind. She'd then put on black gloves, and black boots, as well as her usual kunai pouch which would be placed on her left and right thigh. The girl would then make her way out of the tent. It was still relatively early morning. The sun hadn't even gotten up yet, but thankfully there were some who had, and those some were making food. Ayame immediately walked along the line of tents, taking note of all the people peacefully sleeping, and wishing she was as fortune as them. She envied them, and almost envied herself not but a few days ago when she had been given the chance to peacefully rest, but now all she dream about was the horrors of what had happened. Still, she had work to do, and couldn't think about that at the moment. Ayame would sit down and get her food, taking her time to eat most of it, listening in and even joining in on some of the conversation, mostly hanging around the squad of people she'd met on her travels, as they discussed things they might be doing for the day, and how surprisingly good the food was. It wasn't long however before Ayame was called away. It seemed that she'd be assigned a mission almost immediately.
Ayame would trot over to a tent where she would receive her debriefing. It was a relatively large tent, near the entrance to the compound, and not too far off from the large mess tent. Ayame would enter into the tent to find two desk, with people busily working through paper work, and a few people coming in the back side of the tent to grab reports, as well as deliver some. There was a single man going over documents at the a table in the center of the tent however, who looked up to Ayame as she wandered in. He looked puzzled at first and said "The refugee admittance tent is-" he'd cut himself off, as he'd notice the Iwagakure headband around her neck. "Ah... You must be Uchiha, Ayame. Please be patient for a moment, the other two will be here in a moment." Ayame would look at the man, partially confused "The other two?" she'd ask, as she heard the tent rustle behind her, and another figure stepped through.
WC: 3452
Total WC: 3542