Welcome to Gaia! ::

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

"I'm not concerned about time sensitive missions." Segare dismissed the notion with a lazy wave of his hand. "If it's necessary for the village, or just an average mission, I really couldn't care less. I'm more concerned with the more... Ethical missions." Sitting up a bit, Segare leaned forward, shifting both hands to sit in front of him. "Assassinations, wars, burglary. The last thing we want is to be taking missions from both sides so we have two of our own teams fighting each other because we didn't keep up communication. Anything with a major social, economic, or ethical impact should go through all of us, or at least two of us, before the mission is approved. Rin sets up an assassination while Luo is arranging an alliance, with the target of Rin's assassination. There are countless ways that lack of communication could go wrong."

Segare sighed, leaning back again and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not saying we should all be looking over each other's shoulders. Just that we all need to be on the same side, and know where we stand on any outside conflict in order to moderate our actions towards it." Having said his piece, Segare's hands lowered into his lap, absently rubbing his bracelet. He may not have been on good terms with his father when they last spoke, but the last thing he wanted was for the man to become a target for assassination by the village. And in his position, the man really was a prime target. He needed to get at least that concession from the other two just for his own peace of mind.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

❖ Chakra: [72/72]

Kinda hard to get back into this scene after so long...

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Segare sighed as the so called debate was turned back on him again. Why was it so hard to just agree on something so simple? These council meetings were going to become a major pain if everyone just kept disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing with something. "Exactly what I said." he spoke, standing up, having finally grown sick of the pillow and pacing for a few steps. "Any mission entailing actions with a significant impact on the village as a whole, such as assassinations, alliances, or outright attacks on a city, must be reviewed by multiple council members before the mission is approved."

Ceasing his pacing, Segare stood behind his pillow, facing the other two, hands in his pockets. "It's a fairly simple policy. It wouldn't interfere with everyday operations, and really, if anyone felt the need to hide such a mission from the rest of the council, it probably shouldn't be happening in the first place." A frown, nearly a glare, graced his features as he completed that statement. He wasn't usually one for manipulation of words to achieve his ends, but that sentence qualified as that as much as any he'd ever said before. If someone felt the need to hide a mission from the rest of the council, they obviously felt the others wouldn't agree with the mission, and if the full council wasn't in agreement, the mission shouldn't be allowed to happen at all.

Groaning with frustration at the whole thing, Segare shook his head, raising his arms in a display of futility. "All this debate is useless if we're not achieving anything. I'm the treasurer, I'll figure out the department budgets once I have the rest of my figures done. Now, I'm tired of this, so I think we should call it done for today, since we should have students arriving soon." Not waiting for a reply or confirmation from the others, Segare turned and headed in the direction of his office. "I'm gonna stash this stuff and then go for a walk." he said his last piece, holding up the scroll and abacus he'd brought to the meeting with him, before disappearing into his office.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

❖ Chakra: [72/72]

Cutting the meeting there. You two should make some exit posts too, tying into your actions from the RP after this. Then we can move the other scene here, to the proper thread.

Luo Ushio
๑Ushio Clanxxxx
XXX⊗Weapon Masterxxxx



๑๑๑๑ [Enter from Tent Clearing]

As Luo finished up sorting through everything, he sighed after the boy gave a name and posed a question in the same breath. Luo had irritated him apparently, pinching a nerve with the boy as he sifted through the weapons. Picking up a shuriken in one hand, and a shuriken from a separate pile, Luo stared at them for a moment, turning them in the light. For a moment, his gaze averted upwards at the sound of tearing after catching a pair of hanging feet swinging forward. Looking back down at the two projectiles however, Luo didn't bother to do anything about the maneuver. Heck, if anything he enjoyed observing how resourceful the kid was. Sighing a bit as the boy snatched a pouch that jingled as if full of coins, Luo at last looked back up at the boy, holding each shuriken between his left and right index finger and thumb.

Twisting them in the light, Luo spoke again. "As you can see, the pile of shuriken to my right is clearly smaller than the pile of shuriken to my left. Same for those kunai over there. The shuriken in my right hand is still sharp on all edges. No dents or scratches on either of the flat sides as you can see. This one in my left hand however, has three dull points of the eight, and some minor bruises to the iron on this side." Standing, Luo dropped the shuriken in his left hand back in its pile. "Since I had a hand in picking out our supply of weapons personally, I find myself believing these few provisions to belong to us. You can go ahead and take back all of your stuff, you need it more than any of us do. However, leave those two piles as they are the only items I can say with enough certainty belong to us."

Stepping back three steps, he allowed the boy a moment to collect his things and leave the others on the ground, giving him enough space to collect everything without feeling too vulnerable. Luo hoped by this point he felt somewhat okay to stand at ease. As Luo watched him pick up the things, he became curious as to just how well the boy could use all those weapons. He certainly had enough for two people, perhaps him and Timmy as well, so the question that of course arose in Luo's head was just how good was he? He'd certainly had the skill to keep himself hidden from all council members in one area, which in itself was something Luo found to be quite a feat. And despite most of Luo's advancements, the boy knew how to withhold information, even turning Luo's own question against him. And now, Luo found him to not only have his own shinobi tools, but somehow have gotten to some of there own. Resourceful. Luo grew more and more curious of the boy by the second, now sizing him up and down with his eyes as he moved to collect his belongings. Then, he spoke as he saw the boy was nearing the end of the task.

"This place is a forest, this camp is the beginning of a shinobi village, and this room is one of a few within our councilor's quarters. Judging by the weapons you have with you, you know something about ninja, yes?" His tone having calmed down after having a moment to examine the weapons on the ground, Luo spoke casually to the boy, giving him time to respond. As he did, he pondered Timmy's role in the duo. While this kid seemed to be to an extent naturally talented, Timmy had portrayed none of that. Was it a ruse? Or perhaps, was Timmy simply able to compose himself when the time was necessary. Something Luo decided he'd have to see for himself soon.



▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Segare found himself relieved, relaxed, and even a bit amused by the events as they unfolded. Luo had calmed down enough to more calmly ask questions that the boy was apparently, at least grudgingly, willing to answer. What was amusing though, was that the boy seemed to be trying to dig for information himself, countering every question he was asked with one of his own. Eventually it seemed Timmy also relaxed into things, as the boy responded immediately to Luo's latest question. The question itself seemed odd to Segare, as if Luo thought this kid already had some ninja training, or at least upbringing. It was possible, but Segare doubted it. Then again, Luo did have more experience in that area.

Timmy's answer was an obvious response to the question posed, and caused Segare to sigh. "A problem we'll be correcting very soon." was his own answer to the statement, as he too approached the scene. However instead of sticking around, he laid his hand gently on the boy's back and continued walking, steering the two towards his office. "Come with me kid. Seems Luo doesn't intend to turn your buddy into stew after all." he spoke, sending Luo a wave and cheeky grin as they passed through the flap separating his office from the main room. "Have a seat." Segare waved towards the guest chair in front of his desk, before tapping a seal beside the entrance, and making his way to his own chair. The seal would activate the simple array woven into the room, keeping all sound inside.

It seemed best to Segare to separate the two if they wanted to have a chance at getting the proper true story from them. They'd both already shown some inclination towards making up stories on the spot, or just misleading. Separating them would at least have the advantage of knowing if one or both were lying should to stories come out differently.

Of course, Segare had a different approach to questioning than Luo did anyways. Settling into his seat, the man reached into his pocket and withdrew a deck of cards, spreading them out on the table and beginning to shuffle them aimlessly. "You had a bit of time to get to know everyone before I came along, so I don't really know much about you. Then again, you probably know nothing about me." he said with a shrug. "So I think we should get to know each other for a bit. And I find one of the best ways to get to know someone, is to play a game with them. A nice card game can tell you a lot about what sort of person someone is. Do they lie and cheat? Give up when things get hard? Or push on through whatever comes their way? A play style can tell you all those things over a few games. So, Timmy, do you know any card games?" he finished with a smile, easily sliding all the cards back together into a full deck and waiting for the answer.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

❖ Chakra: [72/72]

Shikaku post in a few hours. Probably.

Shikaku found himself in equal parts relieved, and annoyed, as Luo seemingly ignored his escape and snatching of the purse, but also ignored his question, instead the man held up a pair of the strange disk weapons ninja favored and started in on some sort of lecture about them, pointing out random details about the weapons that Shikaku couldn't see even after he started looking, curious despite himself. And then the lecture ended in a rather surprising offer of permission to take the gear. All except the little piles the man had made of what was apparently property of their band of ninja.

Shikaku paused at that, watching the man suspiciously. Was this some new sort of trap? Would he pounce as soon as Shikaku approached the pile? Did he really think most of the stuff left was his, or was he trying to see what Shikaku would do? But rather than giving any indication that would tell Shikaku any of that, the man simply stepped away from the piles, another sign of permission. Shikaku waited a moment, unsure, before advancing slowly, keeping an eye on the man as he crouched down to examine the pile himself. He hadn't had a chance to see what the ninja had actually had on him earlier.

He grabbed the pouch first. It was fairly nondescript, and he'd seen a lot of people wearing similar ones in town before they'd been dragged off, so it was unlikely to get him caught. And he'd need something to keep the things in anyways. Next he grabbed his stiletto, watching carefully for any negative reaction from Luo as he tucked the weapon into his belt. He'd worked far too hard to get that weapon to give it up now. It had originally been for defense against other thieves and the occasional creep in the city, but now he'd likely need it to defend against the wild animals on his way home.

Next he grabbed Timmy's knife, tucking it into the pouch. Timmy would want that back later when they had the chance to divide the loot. That was the extent of what actually belonged to them in the pile, but it seemed that the man didn't know, or possibly just didn't believe that, considering the way he'd been looking at him, so Shikaku started sifting through the rest of the things Luo hadn't claimed, still watching for a negative reaction. Not seeing one, he grabbed a couple of the kunai the man hadn't separated out, stashing them away. There wasn't really much else of interest in the pile. A few more of the, shuriken, but he expected those required some special training to actually use, so he passed them by, pushing them out of the way. There was a bundle of wire as well, likely the remainder from what the ninja had tied them up with, and Shikaku grabbed it, along with a smaller bit. Wire could be useful, especially wire as flexible and strong as this stuff was. Better yet, there was no way it had any markings on it to make it stand out if this really wasn't a trap.

Tucking the wires away, Shikaku continued sifting through the pile slowly, just to see if there was anything else of interest, when the man finally spoke again, finally answering the question Shikaku had asked earlier. He was tempted to roll his eyes at the obvious statement of them being in a forest, but the statement of a shinobi village sounded a bit, worrying. Ninja were dangerous. They came and went without a trace, killing whoever they liked. Sometimes they even got into battles with the samurai and made a massive mess of the terrain with some sort of elemental magic. Ninja in large numbers could only be a bad thing, and a village certainly indicated large numbers. More even than the clans that claimed their own settlements occasionally.

The statement was followed though by a question. Not really a question actually, more a statement made to sound like one. Before he could think of how he wanted to respond though, Timmy walked over and answered for him. Shikaku frowned a bit though as the other boy continued on with an explanation of their, status. He'd been hoping to keep at least that bit hidden, at least until he knew for sure what was going on. Kids with families who got kidnapped would have people out searching for them. Entire villages occasionally turned out to hunt for one missing child. An orphan though? If one of them disappeared the orphanage managers just celebrated one less mouth to feed and kept the disappearance quiet. The city paid a stipend for each orphan in the place. The less actual orphans there, the more silver the managers could pocket for themselves. Which all came down to orphans not having the same security kids with families might. They were worthless, and could be gotten rid of and no one would ever look for them.

"Some." Shikaku responded for himself as he watched Timmy being led away, irritation crawling into his tone. Now that they knew they were orphans, he needed to find a new angle, make the ninjas want to keep them alive. Something they could provide this, village, that would keep them safe until he could work out a clean escape... "Why are we here?" he asked, choosing his next question. That was the best place to work from, as well as being an answer he wanted to know anyways.



✦ Chakra: [17/17]
✦ Kunai: [2]
✦ Ninja Wire: [20ft]
✦ Razor Wire: [2ft]
✦ Stiletto: [1]

Long Shikaku post. o.o

Timmy took his cards quietly and glanced at them before placing them on the desk. He then proceeded to pick them back up and look once more before returning them to the desk. He had a joker and an eight of hearts. He tapped the desk in the traditional 'hit me' gesture, having learned from experience that saying it aloud tended to end poorly. Especially when playing cards with Timmy the quirk. "Fish. Seriously, a ninja fish? can you imagine? that would be- oh right my turn. ummmmm..... Orphan." They were clearly starting out with the obvious self descriptors, and Timmy didnt mind the chance to determine how useful his assumed role was. He did, after all, have a job to do.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

Fish? Segare's eyebrows rose at the strange answer, looking somewhat doubtfully at the boy. But, he obligingly passed him a new card, taking a moment to check his and, after a moment of consideration, drawing one for himself as well, before sighing and dropping the cards to the desk, face up. "Bust." he muttered, sliding the cards aside to start a discard pile before focusing back on Timmy. "The game doesn't work if you make things up." he commented, before looking aside a moment to think about his own reply. He'd never thought much about orphans in order to have an actual instant response. Growing up with basically everything you could want had that effect. But then his expression darkened as he thought of the orphans he had seen.

"War." was his reply. In the cities it wasn't so bad, orphans ran the street during the day, but they had a home to return to and plenty to eat. But as a ninja he'd seen the rest of the world too, where the wars between lords devastated the land, and the people. Orphans of the wars were often left to their own ends, starving, half dead... Not something he wanted to think much about.

Shifting his thoughts away from that depressing topic, Segare considered what to ask next, deciding to ignore the fish statement in favor of continuing. After a moment, it came to him. The two boys seemed close, and certainly seemed to care about each other, but how close were they? "Nayama." he decided, choosing the name the other boy had given as his question.

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

❖ Chakra: [72/72]



Edit: Timmy: 3 of Spades. Segare: 6 of Hearts.