A soft whisper rolled across the ground like a billowing fog, hazy sounds murmured by the surrounding shoppes. "Please pardon the intrusion," it spoke, as several arrows plummeted from the heavens above, to the enemies below. No other advanced warning, but the simple, silent murder of the current folks. The sleek shafts slid easily into the skulls of those underlings here, a feat of near impossibilities. A transition, perhaps this was, to make way for a new person or group's entrance. Slump, splat, thud, they fell to the ground, twitched once, and then were gone, yet from where did these arrows arrive? The angle of attack indicated from somewhere very far away, out at the distance of the World Crossroads. There was also the matter of the voice that was temporarily present, as if not near the group of shinobi, but within them.
Sniper Shot (twice, once for each baddie) Rank: X :: Complex
Genjutsu: Unknown. Currently known effect (if perceived as genjutsu) is the projection of voice
Hearing a very unfamiliar voice in her head, two arrows, one for each enemy, flew from the skies and pierced the skulls of the two men Hikari faced. The arrows made a sharp *THUNK!* sound followed by the collapsing of corpses. Whoever shot those arrows, it must have not been an enemy.
Her clones dissipating and the transformation reverting, Hikari walked up to the one Kaori and Nova had apprehended. The medic sighs walks over to the corpses to make sure they were dead. Taking her dagger in hand she stabbed each of them in the back of the head, creating little mess and ensuring their deaths. Returning to Kaori, Hikari sighed. "Well there goes my promotion. Unless you have someway else to test me, Sensei?"
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.
Chakra: 805 Stamina: 420
Kaori growled when the deaths were taken from them. She was not happy about that. She sighed and rubbed at her temples as Nova walked up, just as unhappy as her partner,
"That should have been OUR kill!" Nova snarled. Kaori nodded, but motioned for Nova to stand down. She looked at Hikari, eyes narrowed in anger, but not at the other girl, "We need to return and report to the Kazekage. This is an unsettling development, and we need more orders before we do anything else."
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
Kaori's eyes would pierce through Hikari as if a fire had been set with her gaze. Hikari looked at her for a moment then proceeded to sigh. "I suppose there's nothing we can really do now. So much for shopping a little afterwards too." Hikari then bought the dress she had pointed out before and slung it over her shoulder. Luckily it was in her size so no fitting and crafting was necessary. Looking at the one man that remained she made a duo of earth clones and held him down with one. Hikari walked up to and looked down on the last man. The second clone walked out the door of the shop. "The clone will help find Koneko. How should we interrogate this one?" Hikari pulls out her dagger, which was covered in very little blood. Hikari smiled at her Sensei and posed a question. "Should I take out some of my frustration?" Meanwhile the clone looking for Koneko would find her sitting in a pool of blood. While people were running away, she was walking towards. Entering the building she would find Koneko laying there with a dead man on top of her. "You certainly made a mess. Come on, it's almost time to go. I'll be waiting outside." And with that she exited the building and leaned up against the wall next to the door outside.
[Techniques Used]
Doton Bunshin no Jutsu [ Earth Clone Skill ] - E Rank
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.
Chakra: 805 Stamina: 420
Kaori huffed and turned to the one remaining individual and motioned Nova forward. Nova nodded and smirked before she made the needed hand signs and a pocket of air formed in her hands. Because the last target was restrained, it was no issue at all for Nova to place the pocket of air on his head and learn everything he had to give her.
“Once Nova has everything, we can potentially kill him to vent frustrations, and prevent leaks. No survivors, not witnesses.” Kaori said with a shrug.
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
'Well, I've waited long enough. It doesnt look like she's coming out of that bloodbath any time soon.' Hikari's clone thought this and poofed. Meanwhile, Hikari enjoyed a nice breather while Kaori probed the man's thoughts. As her clone poofed, Hikari would then get Kaori's attention. "It seems my clone couldnt get a hold of her. What is our next course of action?"
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
"I see. I really do hope she catches up. She was....interesting." Hikari took her new dress in hand and left for the gates. She was unsatisfied by the way things went, but didn't have much choice in the matter.
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.
Chakra: 805 Stamina: 420
Kaori sighed again and nodded slightly before she turned on her heel and left for the gates of Takumi. Their job was done here, as unsatisfying as it had been. Nova grumbled to herself and followed her partner and the cub they were responsible for.
'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:55 pm
The storefront was much the same as it had always been, albeit with better product than the woman remembered: clothing of all kinds sat on display mannequins and bins of cheap cloth and armor filled the floorspace. There were few in-person customers, but Bast could feel the frenzied workers in the back and taste the burnt carbon in the air. It seemed like armor was in high demand these days, but that wasn't why she was there.
"Yes, I'm here to see if you could use an apprentice tailor," she stated plainly when addressed by an employee.
It seemed that her guess had been correct: the shop was focusing primarily on a large order of armor and was lacking hands to help out the resident tailors. She was led up to a room full of workbenches, reams of fabric, dyes, and many similar objects. A gruff woman greeted her--or rather, the person she was with--and seemed pleasantly surprised to find that there would be help for the day.
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 3/3 for "Assistance"
"Put your stuff in the closet, ladies; you're on cleanup duty for now," the head seamstress told both Bast and Mononoke.
After clarifying the situation by presenting Mononoke as a bodyguard, the former told the latter to stand in the corner for now. The two summarily dropped their things in the closet and set about picking the place up. The amount of dust and loose threads on some of the unused workbenches was absolutely phenomenal, but was cleared away with relative ease. Dust clouds burst out of some of the rolls of fabric when the woman smacked them, but righting them and placing the different colors and patterns on the racks was almost as simple a task as dusting. The great Community-Minded Woman would not be swayed by such a trifle!
This was not good. Bast could feel the presence of Community-Minded Woman growing inside of her, threatening to overwhelm her with pure, unadulterated, and--worst of all--good intentions. It was in this moment that the head seamstress called out for her again and ordered her to bring over a few yards of the fabric known as "Gray (Light, 15)". Having just shelved that very color, the woman immediately knew which spool to grab. The scissors were a bit large for her hands, but she snipped off the required amount of fabric quickly and skillfully in one movement. It was a skill she had honed to help in Variable Marble creation many years ago. The cloth in hand, she walked over and delivered it quickly, then returned the bolt to its home. Next, sensing a lull in the action and spotting a rack of clothing waiting to be folded and boxed for sale, she busied herself with the glorious task of performing menial tasks to help improve the local state of things. With magnificent purpose and a fantastic zeal for work found only in the clinically obsessed (or those pretending to be so), she ironed the clothes, folded them, and placed them in crates to be carried downstairs. The rest of the day passed by in a blur of apprenticed enthusiasm and refined efficacy, and before she realized it, Community-Minded Woman found herself cleaning off the last of the workbenches and replacing the spools of thread for the night. It was a good day's worth of work, but now it was time for Bast to retire for the evening. After gathering Mononoke and bidding her employer adieu, she headed to a patch of land near the shore to sleep for the night.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:10 pm
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 3/3 for "Assistance"
The next morning, after rising early and eating some rabbit that Mononoke had killed in the night, Bast headed in to the head seamstress's domain once more. It seemed this day was going to be more of the first day, whether she liked it or not. Once more--with zeal that crept upward in intensity ever so slowly--the woman cleared off the workbenches and dusted display pieces.
It was around noon when things really began to pick up. The forge out back roared away as Community-Minded Woman flew into action, this time working on the sales floor to more effectively mind the community. The heartbeat of the city would always be found between the sales racks, she decided, and that was where she wandered the most. Those with disposable income--those unaware of the plight of the common man--would never stoop to shopping in that dusty corner where only the real people lurked. Community-Minded Woman made it her mission to gauge the temperament of the proletariat through whatever means necessary. Even if she had to use her training as a Shinobi to eavesdrop or pick out a specific shirt from halfway across the store, she would stop at nothing to increase her knowledge of the local area.
At about a quarter to noon, a tall fellow with a curious wart on one side of his nose strolled in off the streets. He looked like he was worth about 500 Ryou, but not the dirty old change found in someone's back pockets, no; he was a handful of the shiniest 10 Ryou coins to ever roll off the press. His trashy appearance was clearly just for show, from his baggy, ill-fitting shirt that looked like it had been beaten to remove any creases, to his new flip-flops that had been painstakingly antiqued by hand. He was money, alright, dressed to look cheap, and sure enough he made a beeline for the sales rack. Community-Minded Woman strolled over as casually as she could after letting him stew for a few minutes and asked him if he needed help. It was then that his true motives were revealed: he wanted socks. Without breaking her smile, she told him a few prices on socks, at which point he pretended to check his pockets for change--the scoundrel--before wandering out the door with a half-hearted promise to return for some woolen foot coverings.
The rest of the day was uneventful. After closing up the shop in the evening, Bast headed back to her campsite, thoughts full of doubt over the man's story. It just didn't seem to hold up, but she would see just what kind of scum he was in the coming day.
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:59 pm
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 3/3 for "Assistance"
"Young lady, you're a very dedicated worker and you're very good at what you do," the head seamstress complimented Bast as the Shinobi scrubbed down a few of the workbenches the next morning. "An apprentice, eh? I'd like to see you at one of these benches someday. Don't get any funny ideas; you're working the floor again today."
Bast thanked her employer for the compliment and then slipped downstairs to sell some clothes and make sure the goods were handled with care. She remained her normal self up until lunch time, when she heard the same dull, bored flip and flop of the socks-with-sandals man from the day before. Immediately the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she felt the righteous power of Community-Minded Woman flow through her veins.
Like a moth to an open flame, the man made a beeline for the sales rack. He was looking for socks once again, that much Community-Minded Woman knew; she had hidden some clearance socks from view just that morning, just so that they wouldn't be purchased as an impulse buy by someone else. If he was the man she thought he was, he would reveal his motives as soon as he took the bait. Sure enough, he found the socks as planned and an evil glint came into his eyes. With her special eyes, Bast saw him slip one of the socks out of the package and stuff it into his pocket before he went up to the counter to make his purchase. Just as he started to complain that there was a sock missing and that he should get a discount for having to buy an odd number of socks, the woman sprung into action; she grabbed the end of the "hidden" sock that was sticking out, removed it from the man's pocket, and tapped him on the shoulder with a grin on her face.
That day would go down as the day when Community-Minded Woman vanquished the evil Sandal-Socks Shoplifter with the power of justice. He was arrested shortly after she pointed out his scandal--she ended up holding him in place forcibly until the cops came--and he was set to go on trial sometime in the next week. She closed up shop that day with a feeling of smug satisfaction, and that night she slept soundly.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:53 pm
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 4/4 for "Actual Smithing! I"
The next day, upon entering the tailor's offices, the head seamstress sat Bast down at a workbench and gave her the measurements for a few special orders.
"My girl," the seamstress told her, "you've worked so hard these past few days and proven yourself. This workbench will be yours for as long as you stay here, starting after you clean up this morning and fix the sign out front; some drunk pulled it a bit loose."
Bast nodded and swept up the shop, then headed outside with a ladder, hammer, and some nails. She lifted up the sign with one hand, pulled out the bent nails with the other and drove the new ones home with a few quick strikes. When the sign was more level than even the wisest man's head, she packed up the equipment and went to what was now her workbench.
The bench was as worn as it had always been, but now it was temporarily hers, and that just made it ten times as beautiful as it had ever been. There was no time to admire it, though, not while on the clock. The woman pinned the specifications for her assignments to the board on the wall behind her bench, then went and fetched a mannequin, several yards of fabric, and a thimble in her size.
The first pattern was for a fairly simple yukata--one without any fancy adornments and using a subdued fabric color. After marking down the correct measurements on the fabric using a piece of sharp chalk, she began folding and cutting the fabric. The shears she had found in one of the drawers of her workbench were fantastic, far better than the dull pair she had used so many years ago.
As she worked, though, the woman could not help but feel a slight sense of curiosity about the events of the prior night. Drunk people were typically rather loud--she folded and cut, cut and folded--and she had not heard any from her campsite nearby. It would not surprise her if a compatriot of the Sandal-Socks Shoplifter had tried to do some damage to the store as payback for the villain's capture. The sewing needle plunged through the fabric as she pondered, following a chalk line with almost mechanical precision. The sleeves of the yukata were almost done now with nary an error she could notice. She was, of course, only an apprentice training to be a journeyman, and she was certain this creation was full of mistakes that the head seamstress would catch. Bast tied off the final stitch just as her boss told her to clear out for the day--how the time had flown!--and it was with a head full of suspicion that she returned to her campsite.
There was one bit of levity, however: the woman's pay for the day included a very fine set of new shears, proudly emblazoned with the symbol of the tailor's shop.
Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:13 pm
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 4/4 for "Actual Smithing! I"
The next morning was a very early one. Bast headed into the tailor's offices before the morning mist had subsided and her campfire had fully died down. She started her day by cleaning the place as she always had: wiping down the empty workbenches of her fellow disciples who had not yet arrived and rearranging the displays of clothes on the ground floor. One thing felt off, though: nothing was strange about the scene. Even the sign was on just as she had left it, betraying her suspicions of a connection between the Sandal-Socks Shoplifter and the supposed drunk who had assaulted the business's sign. It was a very curious non-occurrence.
By the time the other apprentices and the journeymen arrived, Bast had been hard at work for an hour or two already. The yukata from the day before hung on the roof, drying on a laundry line after she had finished pressing the creases and washed it. The gentle breeze would be sure to dry it well.
The next project on her to-do list was an embroidered cloak in a child's size. It was the sort of thing a noble would commission for their child, but despite the apparent worth of the project, it had been entrusted to a mere apprentice. The pattern was a large, but highly regular, square wave along the hems. In its finished form, the cloak would be white with what looked like red crenelations on its hems. While time-consuming and intensive, the job was hardly the kind of work that would keep her full attention for the entire day, and she found her mind wandering toward her theories of conspiracy. Her needle plunged in and out of the soft white fabric, dragging a crimson thread behind it.
Mononoke had kept an eye on the tailor's shop the previous night, but had reported that nothing of note had occurred in that time other than a couple strolling past two or three times in the dead of night. Unless the couple had been the ones to wreck the sign, it seemed Bast's suspicions were at a dead end. The day finished out with her washing the cloak and boxing the yukata for delivery.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 10:34 pm
Post 2/2 for "Preparation" Post 4/4 for "Actual Smithing! I" Post 4/4 for "Actual Smithing! I"
Bast woke up at a much more reasonable hour the morning following the completion of the cloak, ate a breakfast of roasted duck, and checked to make sure the items she had gotten as compensation for her work the day before were still present. The needle set had been tucked safely in with the rest of her stuff by Mononoke, who was playing the role of silent sentry quite well. After bidding adieu to her golem, the woman straightened out her hair, washed up a bit, and headed into work.
Dust bunnies, stray fibers, and chalk dust came to rest in a dustpan as the woman swept up the shop as she had for the past few days. As she was going outside to dump out the unwanted particulates, however, she noticed a man and woman at the counter, leaning fairly far over it and whispering something to the startled-looking shopkeep. Bast paused to investigate on her way back upstairs, only to notice the man had a knife.
It was, as some of the kids said, "on" at that point. The woman unceremoniously knocked out the man's female accomplice by smacking her over the head with the broom, then used the bristles to disarm him when he jerked around to attack her. Without wasting any time, she hooked the broom block around the back of his head and yanked hard enough to send him tumbling out into the street, where she pinned him with an incredibly simple C-Rank barrier. His accomplice soon joined him, and when the police dragged the two of them off, Bast checked on the clerk and the went back to work, confident that the shop was rid of all the filth it needed to be rid of.
For the rest of the morning, Bast worked on her last commission: dyeing a scarf multiple colors. That was hardly enough work to last her the whole day, though, and at lunch she wondered if they were going to send her home early for causing a commotion. She sipped her tea and ate a dish of rice, okonomiyaki, and peeled oranges that the clerk had gotten for her as thanks. It was quite good, by all accounts, and she made sure to thank him thoroughly for it when she saw the quality. While she ate, the head seamstress came down and sat with her, also eating at first, but eventually stopping to talk:
"Miyamoto-san," the seamstress began, addressing Bast by name for the first time, "I'd like to thank you for your services back there personally. You may be a big-shot in the Sand--yes, I know about that; it was fairly obvious--but I'm grateful you've not mentioned it to the others. Now, on to business: I'm not letting you leave until you complete this next job, since you were specifically requested for it. That kid's cloak you made? His pops wants a full outfit from you. You don't need to clean up tomorrow, so hop to it and make it good."
If there was one thing she had learned from being a Shinobi, Bast knew that it was best to follow orders meticulously in these cases. With her reputation and the shop's on her shoulders with this request, she had to make sure to impress this nobleman. For the rest of the day, she was mentally in her own little world, working until the sun had fallen low on the horizon and her stomach was growling. Everyone else had long since gone home, so she locked up the building from the inside and left via the roof, simply jumping to her campsite.
The next day, she strolled into the tailor's offices, went straight to her workbench, and got to work immediately. It was odd not cleaning up in the morning, odd enough that she worried it would disturb her concentration, so she cleaned her own tools for a bit and did some stretches to mimic the usual routine. When she finally sat down to work on her last job, it struck her that her chalk markings from the previous day were all about a centimeter off from what they should have been. She wiped them off of the clothes in frustration and redid them, then double-checked her work. Once again, she had somehow managed to mess up the measurements, but this time she was determined to get them right at any cost. She spent the rest of her morning painstakingly checking and re-checking her markings until they were as perfect as possible.
The afternoon was a blur of shears, stitches, and presses. The commission was a full suit of clothing, consisting of a pointed straw hat, a bright blue cloak held fast by a brown scarf, a softer blue tunic with a white undershirt, and a pair of light blue-and-white striped pants. The lack of any extensive embroidery--just a coat of arms on each of the lower corners of the cloak--helped speed up the project, and she was very grateful to the nobleman for that much. Every ounce of her energy went into sewing, coloring, washing, and ironing the outfit, so much so that the head seamstress once brought her a cup of water and told her to drink. There was no doubt that she was working in peak form. The head seamstress had expected this work to take several days, but--as though tapping into the motivation and skill of the tailors around her--Bast managed to finish just as the moon was rising on the horizon.
The ex-Kazekage descended the stairs into the storefront gingerly, only to find her boss and a few of her coworkers waiting for her with a boxed dinner consisting of braised beef and pasta. She thanked them profusely and downed the food in record time, having forgotten her hunger while she worked. Then, as the meal drew to a close, her coworkers produced a wooden box emblazoned with the shop's insignia. Inside, she found an exquisite measuring tape and an optical visor.
"Those serve as payment for services rendered, as well as a personal thanks from all of us for your assistance, particularly with those ne'er-do-wells. You're always welcome to stop by, but consider this your graduation from our workshop, Miyamoto-san."
The head seamstress and all of Bast's coworkers bowed, then shook her hand in turn until the whole commotion spilled out onto the streets.
The next morning, Bast went to the shop only to see the assessment of her work by the customer. He was flabbergasted at her work and immediately headed to a changing room to try it on. A few minutes later, he and his cloaked kid left the building in high spirits, both of them looking thoroughly snazzy.
