Welcome to Gaia! ::

(ooc: sorry guys, I want to make something spiffy and creative but stress sickness has settled in again, so when I am not spending my time losing whatever food I put into my stomach, I am spending it curled into a little ball. But that only lasts so long since I still have to go to work.. Yay for 11 hour days.)

~*~at the academy~*~

::buki gave a dismissive wave of her hand, a slight twitch the only hint at her real annoyance::

Everyone is late these days. Quickly, introduce yourself to the others so that we may get on with this.

::shizu walked up, nuding her large head underneath Buki's hand. Buki patted the large wolf's head and waited::

~*~at the wolf riders camp~*~

::another woman emerged from the tent, holding open the flap and motioning for the young students to enter::

This is where we leave you

::the soldiers gave the boys a nod and then mounted to ride back to their own camp::

~*~in the building~*~

::the tunnel smelled musty, as if it had been far too long since any fresh airflow had actually made its way down here. Oddly, there were no cobwebs and only the slightest layer of dust coated the walls and floor. The tunnel, now thrown into blackness beyond the light leaking through the opening seemed well constructed and they would think that they would have no trouble navigating it::

(I can explain why Arcanus isn't posting enuf, I can tell you because I know his true identity, and he's a friend of mine from school. From what he's told me in the past his parents are somewhat strict about the computer, so he made most of his posts at school................. that and his computer has a tendancy to break down)

Kinoru walks in and bows to the women inside the tent.

Both Kasushi and Nakaji walked into the room at the same time. Seeing a group of people, Nakaji bowed slightly to each, grinning under his mask. "Pleasure to meet you all. Name's Nakaji. Mist Village." He cocked his head to one side, still smiling. Kasushi closed the door behind him, and although he did not bow, he ran his eyes over each person in the room, pausing for an extra second on the wolf. "Hello. My name is Kasushi. Also of the Mist."

(OOC: Just letting everyone else know, I have two characters, so don't be surprised. I'll try to differentiate between the two. Thanks Hinata-sama.)

arrow Academy Classroom

Rei didn't look Shigen in the eye while he was ranting at him. Infact, before he could even get four words out, he placed his glasses back firmly on his nose and begun walking to the back of the classroom, taking an empty seat on the back row.

By the looks of it the kid was easily distracted, as he was now concerned with the wolf, "That kid'll be the end of me..." Rei thought to himself, before giving the other newcomers an acknowledging nod of the head.

arrow Ruins, Bench Tunnel

Areno reached the darker recesses of the tunnel, and looked about. His senses were somewhat mollified by the encroaching walls and masonry. The Kaguya looked back to where he heard Edge breathing and nodded. "How about we get some light?"

Areno ripped off a length of bandage from his "shirt" and held it in the palm of his left hand, fingers as spread and open as possible. "Kurokongouseki Ayatsuri Inshou, Kai!" The seal on his palm grew warm as it broke down the bandage into its individual carbon particles, and then gathered them around his fist.

The Sunagakure student shielded his eyes momentarily, just as he snapped his fingers. The free carbon particles clashed instantly and flared up, creating a glove of fire around his hand. It should have been burning him... but sand from the weights around his wrist had hurriedly interposed between the flame and his flesh, almost by itself.

For a few more seconds, he fed the flame more and more carbon, until he was ascertained that it could survive on its own. He held up his fist and observed their current area, throwing hair out of his eye with digits from his free hand.

Kaji looked around and leapt up on a desk and bowed saying, "This is so I don't have to talk to you all seperatly. I am Kaji Subeta. Nice to meet you all." He leapt down from the desk and walked over to the window to watch the clouds.

[[ I know, I talked to ... him/her about it on AIM. -hugs tight- You rest up and get better, 'kay? Your health is more important. =P ]]

~*~at the academy~*~

::any thrill that Buki might have felt that everyone was going to work together on this one disappeared as the students once again fell into chaoticness::

If you'll all have a seat now...and I do mean towards the front as it is useless to sit in the back row, as you all tend to want to do, when there are so few of you here. I will now explain what it is that you will be doing. This mission will be about diplomacy. Not all that ninjas do is death and violence, often times it is also protection. Shizu will lead you on the first leg, to get you used to it, but after that, you are on your own. Is this clear to all of you?

(ooc: hehe I just think its funny that everyone always "takes a seat in the back row" when there are like 2 people in the room, so there ends up being a row of people all in the back hehe. Sorry, its amusing in my medicated state ^.^ )

~*~In the tunnel~*~

::after traveling for awhile, the light from the open hatch would fade, leaving the tunnel in darkness. After what felt to be about 15 minutes, the dynamics of the tunnel changed. The floor would become uneven, some places filled will jutting rocks or others with deep holes. The ceiling would dip down close, making them almost crawl on their hands and knees and others times it would raise high enough to be completely out of sight::

~*~At the camp~*~

::Kyra was resting on a pile of furs, her messy hair twined with feathers and different claws. Two stripes of blue paint marked her face below her eyes, apparently some sort of symbol of leadership. Like the others of her tribe, she wore clothing made of skins, sewn expertly together::

What is it that brings your strangers here, under Argon's guard?

(ooc: Happy Holidays everyone. This was about all I had in me, so I'm going to go back to bed now. I have limited computer access for about he next week and a half because I am house and dog sitting again for my neighbor and I can't get on gaia at work anymore. Anyway, I'll be on as often as I can, just be patient with me ^.^)