Welcome to Gaia! ::

As you start out along the road with the much smaller group, you see the countryside pass by for a good distance on either side of the road, the sea just fringing the horizon to your right. Wolfgang seems to be rather at ease with the road, his practiced feet walking ahead of the rest, while Gil seems to be to far from in a hurry. He's walking alongside you with an approachable smile in a place, and seems more than content to be exactly where he is in life, mercenary or otherwise. The other students along with you, Yokijo and Mido, seem to be a little annoyed still that they didn't get to go with the girls, but they seem to be keeping busy by bugging the ever loving heck out of one another... all in all it's a peaceful setting... the journey to the capital of Yuu looks to be an easy one...

((5 travel posts till the capital.))

Mido rubbed the back of his head raising a brow at Alucard. "Hey Skull kid, what was that for? And why did you only hit me? He was saying he wanted to go with the girls too!"



Yokijo merely thrust a hand into the air. "HA! Obviously because I'm way better than you!! AHAHAHA!"

"The only thing you're better than is a slug!"

"Take that back you lazy womanizer!!"

"Oh whoa! A multi-syllable word?! Careful there Yo, you might make your head explode!!"

"Oh bring it on you panzy little-"



"Whoa whoa," Gil parted the two effortlessly, clearly strong enough to keep them separated with minimal effort. "Take it easy huh? Geez... and I thought Little Sis was a handful." he continued walking along as Mido and Yokijo kept giving one another hard looks, Gil looking over to Alucard and speaking in his language, both Gil and Wolfgang from the west as well. "So, you're from the west too huh kid? I guess we haven't really gotten to know one another yet. Name's Gil." he gave a brief to fingered salute to his brow. "Grandzenstraum Mercenaries 1st company." the mercenaries who had taken back the borders of rice, and those who served directly under the Otobe clan. "And by the way, if your worried about those friends of yours, don't be, their safe so long as there with Little Sis." he seemed to recall. "Ah," he laughed. "Sorry, that's what we in the company call Tsuni. I think you met her back at the port...?"

Gil gave a laugh. "Ah, I guess you arrived after the reclamation then. How do you think the Otobe took control of the village and became it's lords in the first place?" he pointed to himself. "We're actually more the Otobe's army than Oto's, but Lord Orion doesn't really like us saying it like that. The Otobe and Oto are one now, so we serve Oto." he peered ahead of them, "So what's your story anyway kid? How'd you end up over here in the land of elements? I mean we were brought over here to serve the Otobe, but it's not exactly a hop skip and jump, ya know? What brought you?" he gave a smile "Nah let me guess. Was it fame? Fortune? The Promise of adventure? No wait, don't tell me!" he seemed to think about it, a friendly smile on his face. "You want to be hero!" he laughed. "Friend of mine took an actual correspondence course for that once, wonder whatever happened to him..."

Gil gave a nod at the boy's goal of freedom. He supposed that was as good as any other reason to seek out new lands. "As for the reclamation...you mean to say that you haven't already heard?" Gil put his hands behind his head carelessly as they continued to walk along. "Basically, the old regime in Oto was growing...we'll say, less than effective. The Village was growing weaker and while it had a few strong shinobi, most of the population was becoming more focused on economy, what with the recent rise of the federation in place of a Daimyo in Rice.They're we plenty of strong shinobi, but their leader was too weak to lead things properly. Because of his inability, the borders of rice were taken over by bandits and deserters from the Fire Daimyo's army. Lord Orion's father, the former clan head, chose this time as the Otobe clan's moment to take back the village they saw as theirs...but...apparently Lord Orion disagreed with his methods... the former clan head intended to have things a bit more...blood bathy, if you get my meaning. But his father died in the attack and even though the Otobe did assume Lordship of Oto, Lord Orion was the one in charge now, and rather than try to use their position to Oppress Oto, he wanted to use it to unite the village. To inspire his clan to protect the people they would claim to be the lords of. The village accepted his rule, and everyone pretty much loves him, apart from the rebels who turned Missing Nin...but...well I hear they're not much to worry about."



"Hmph..." Wolfgang didn't say anything at this immediately, but he finally cut in. "You're wrong."

Gil looked ahead at his boss a little surprised. "Huh?"

Wolfgang merely shook his head. "Any man or woman that "The Last Laugh" considers a worthy opponent...is not someone I ever want to come up against..."

Gil seemed taken aback slightly. His Boss wasn't normally the type to back down from a fight... "Well...anyway..." Gil looked back to Alucard. "That's pretty much the whole story."

Gil peered over at the tattoo, only to shrug. "Nope, can't say that I do. Looks like a symbol of somekind though, I wouldn't say that it was just some random design...in fact, come to think of it..." he blinked starting to ponder it over. "Yeah, I take it back, I HAVE seen that mark before." he nodded. "But...well, nah, the world ain't THAT small." He seemed decide it wouldn't hurt to ask however. "What I mean is, that the last time I saw a mark like that it was on a guy named Alexei. You wouldn't happen to know him would you? He's pretty much a mercenary for hire like us, but more freelance. Takes odd jobs for the pay, ya know? I don't know who he's working for now of course. Ran into him down by ways of a border a few months ago." he gave another careless shrug. "He was kind of a cold guy, to tell ya the truth, but he definitely was the type to get the job done. A village had hired him to keep them protected while the deserters from the Land of Fire were still in control down in that region."


The day was wearing on, their journey carrying them closer and closer towards the capital...time flew when you in pleasant company, they said. On the horizon, the vast and bustling capital of the Land of Yuu was becoming visible...

Up ahead, the capital of the land of Yuu comes into sight, the high walls and oriental style pagoda rooftops covering the horizon now as you approaching the massive emerald colored gates. There are a few armored civilian guards standing on either side, guards bearing the crest for the land of Yuu, and above in the massive open entrance to the city hangs the banner of the nation, casting it's shadow over you as you join the rest of the in-flowing traffic into the bustling city. The capital of the land of Yuu is a lively place, filled with the sound of voices and the glow of soft paper lanterns strung through the streets. The surging crowds filling in around you and your group, Wolfgang at the head of you looks back behind to you all.



"Alright...welcome to the seat of power here in the land of Yuu...the Jade city herself." he continued to guide through the crowds, their path carrying them down the main thoroughfare, towards the massive many stepped palace that loomed before them. "Be on guard. The land of Yuu is going through some turbulent times. Stick close to either myself or Gil while your here..." he gave a slight smile. "Don't sweat it too much though. Believe it or not, as members of the Hidden sound, we have a few rather powerful allies here...still...it doesn't hurt to be careful." he pointed up ahead. "Gil will stick with you guys for the time being. Take a moment to explore around a bit as you like, Gil will let you know when it's time to meet me up in front of the palace. I have to make some preparations. Try and keep your noses clean."



Wolfgang headed off into the crowd, Gil folding his arms with a cheerful smile as he looked to the trio. "Heh, so, welcome to big city, I suppose. Anywhere you kids are rarin to go?"

*Entering mapped area*

Get a feel for the city?

You are currently standing in what seems to be the center square of the massive oriental capital. The hustle and bustle of the crowds in fringed with several stalls selling various wears, but unless you've interest in trinkets and tourist merchandise, you doubt there much you'd take interest in. From the square, you can go back a ways to the city gates, to the south, further on towards the palace to the north, or east towards what appears to be a more lively tourist district. The west doesn't really seem to have a clear mark on it, merely more of the same paper lantern lit city...


< Back towards the gates.

< East towards the Tourist district

< West

< North towards the palace

Slayn gave a nod. "Sure, they should mostly be down that way." he pointed to the east, and towards the bright lights and the more lavishly decorated streets ahead. If you keep heading down in this direction, we should be able to find quite a few shops that a Ninja might find useful." he'd been throughly briefed on the entire cities layout for this assignment, it was crucial after all, that he be able to know his way around ANY site of a mission...particularly one as prospective pivotal as this one...even if he wasn't going to be the one going through the hard parts of it.

((Reaction: You head down a side street in the tourist district, and find yourself facing what appear to be a row of spa and tea houses. You may choose ot investigate these more closely, continue on, or turn back.))