Birds of a Feather [Team Mission]

[Okibi]

Lifting the face plate of her helmet, Okibi knelt close to the ground and sniffed the rocks and sand. The hard packed earth was hot from the desert sun, the sky devoid of the clouds and diamond sand that moved along with the maelstrom. The storm itself was some few miles ahead of them, and they were hot on the trail of a small flock of Sandrunner's who were known to follow in its wake to avoid it's wrath. One of Sand's lead Zoologist's gave her a glossy green feather as a scent sample, something for her to track, claiming that it had actually come off of the flocks patriarch. In the end, she didnt necessarily need to added aid; she already knew what they smelled like. She'd run into a few during her life on the surace, after all.

"You keeping a look out for any dangers Kid?" Okibi asked, still with her nose to the dirt. She was starting to get a little warm in the improved protectective suit Sousuke had supplied her and Maji with. She was going to have to make a note and give it to him: Make suits insulated! And maybe change the color too; she didnt know how much she liked the pink he'd made hers in.

"All clear to north." Seven said, some distance off to the side. Like her, he was wearing a protective suit, though much smaller and dog shaped. His high pitched child like voice came out with an echo because of the plates covering his maw. Over the course of the last few weeks his ability to manipulate his canine vocal chords to use and pronounce human words had improved, but it still wasnt quite what it used to be.

On this mission, he was the only canine companion accompanying them. Okibi hadnt had much time to train the other two, but Seven already had the knowledge stored away in his head. Though his body wasnt anywhere are strong as his old one was, he could still execute their combo moves just fine.

Getting to her feet, Okibi stretched a little and cracked her neck. "Ah man, it was never so hard finding these guys before. When I was a brat seemed like they were all over the place."

 

[Suika]

'Pant pant'

Maji waved his hand in front of his face with sweat pouring from his brow.

'Pant pant'

It was so hot! The desert was no joke. Maji didn't realize how intense the heat was above the surface of Sunagakure. The last time he was up here, he was before the gates half-dead, so he didn't really notice the heat. This time, he was in some fancy protective suit embarking on a mission with his new friends. It was a drastic difference, but it was an awesome one. He smiled cheesily and glanced sideways to the lizard butterfly on his shoulder. “How you holding out, Ippin?”

Ippin was wearing a tiny suit, too, that was shaped perfectly against her miniature body. She made a noise as if she was fine and appeared totally unaffected by the lack of insulation within the suit and the blistering rays of the sun. Lizards, cold-blooded creatures that thrived off these type of environments; the pink-eyed boy was slightly jealous. She was so lucky.

The scorching heat aside, Maji was out here for a purpose. He, Okibi, and Seven were assigned to go find a flock of endangered Sandrunners and protect them from any outer threats. He wasn't sure why he was chosen alongside the white-haired woman to complete this mission, but it seemed easy enough; the boy had just learned how to punch and kick properly at the Academy. He'd use this to his advantage.

“You betcha', Oki-chan!”<i></i> he responded out loud as he shifted his eyes from the ground to his surrounding area. He was keeping an eye out for prints of some sort or any abandoned feathers; he also attempted, at the best of his ability, to remain aware of all that was around him just in case he spotted something unusual. He had just learned in the academy that paying attention to your environment was key in any mission; every slight abnormality within your surrounding could hint to something vital and could even save your life in some circumstances. He was putting this concept into practice, or trying to, at least.

The group continued to scan and scout. Seven cleared up the north, which led open to three other possible areas. Which direction would they examine next?

As Maji kept playing detective with Ippin at his side, he stopped, turned towards Okibi with a look of curiosity, and responded to her statement. “Was there a lot of them before, Oki-chan? What happened to them?”<i></i> It was strange for a vast population of creatures to dwindle to the numbers they had now within the time-frame given; were there any outer forces that affected this? “How are Sandrunners like, anyway? Hopefully they're nothing like some Komodo Turkey Dragons I've seen before. Those are scary.”<i></i> Maji shuddered at the thought. Although he couldn't remember the exact time or moment he encountered the creature, he at least remembered that he ran into a couple before and that it wasn't pretty. Sandrunners were probably nothing like that. They were fortunate.

[Actions:
-Maji & Ippin observing environment and trying to find clues
-Idle chit-chat]

 

[Okibi]

"They can be dangerous if you mess with them and their flocks, but theyre not quite as bad as komodo turkey dragons." She'd run into one of those when she was younger too, and like Maji, she shuddered at the memory. Then she realized that the boy was talking like he could actually remember something about them, and that made her turn to look at his with a questioning raised eyebrow. " . . . A lot of things can change in ten years." She turned away and looked to the west, where she could see the maelstrom ripping across the land. "I'm sure a lot of them died in that thing. Most were probably hunted down for their feathers and meat. It's kinda sad actually." Her eyes took on a reminiscent sheen as she looked into the distance. "I'd befriended one family; played with their chicks, slept with their mother and hunted food with their father. Then Seven and split with them and went our own way. A few days later we found them dead and stripped of their feathers and some body parts on the side of a merchants trail. The chicks were nowhere to be found. Probably taken by the poachers that killed their parents."

She came back to herself and shook her head, growling quietly as her mouth twisted into a frown. She turned to look a Maji, her face grim and serious. "Sometimes, I cant help thinking that humans are way more savage than any animals I've ever met. And I've met a lot."

Her eyes trailed sideways, landing on the Butterfly-Lizard Sousuke gifted Maji with when they were first introduced. It really was a cute little thing, and the tiny suit of armor was just too adorable. Smiling, she walked over and scratched the lizard under her chin; she didnt know what that would feel like through the suit, but hey, she wanted to pet it. "You wont grow up to be a human like that will you Kid? Cause if you do . . . I might have to trounce you." She said, half joking half serious. She grinned at him out of the side of her eye before turning away again and putting her hands on her hips, surveying the land.

"Seven, why dont you go search that area over there? I'll sniff around some more around here. If nothing turns up soon we'll move on. We need to keep up with that storm." Then she turned to Maji once more. "You and Ipp go look over there. I know you cant smell like we do, but comb the ground for any kinds of tracks or trails. Holler if you find anything." Then she went off to smell more dirt.

(You can RP Maji finding some tracks like these. Two large sets and two little sets.)

 

[Suika]

Maji grinned slightly when Okibi mentioned an encounter with a komodo turkey dragon. While komodo dragons weren't too dangerous in themselves, their turkey counterparts made them sassy and vicious. He didn't blame Okibi for shuddering like he did.

His expression then shifted into a frown. The white-haired kunoichi began to reminisce about a time where there were plenty of Sandrunners outside of Sunagakure. She shared her experience with them and informed the pink-eyed boy of possible reasons as to why they were now endangered. It was a sad thing. Life was to be treasured, yet man was too greedy to recognize that. It kind of angered him, but it made him fearful, too. Was he susceptible to gaining such cruelty? He stared off thoughtfully into the maelstorm that haunted the western parts of the desert. The funny thing was, mankind seemed a lot more vicious than that violent storm did. It saddened him.

Okibi pat Ippin, which she responded with a delighted pur, and snapped Maji out of his daze. “Never, Oki-chan!”</B><i></i> he responded as if caught guard as he shook his head convincingly. “If I ever do, you have my permission to do whatever you need to do. Seven and Ippin do, too.”<i></i> He smiled humorously as if half-kidding, but it was mostly true. He doubted he had the capacity to reach that level of evil, but you never know. Though, he definitely loved life too much to abuse it. Despite man's potential to reach great evils, he was sure it'd never happen to him.

The white-haired boy gave Okibi a nod as she sent out her next direction. He put back on his metaphorical inspector hat and got back to work. Surveying the grounds to the southwest, he didn't find anything for at least ten minutes. However, right before he attained the feeling of giving up, he found something quite peculiar. “What's this?” he thought out loud as he bent down towards the sand. Within the sand was a set of tracks – two large ones, and two litte ones. They kind of resembled bird claws... were these from Sandrunners?

“Oki-chan! Seven!” he shouted excitedly as he flailed his arms. “A clue! A clue!” He found the first birdprints, and that's the first clue, so he'd put it into his notebook and-

Yeah. Not going there.

<B>“I found two sets of prints.”<i></i> he announced with a sense of pride and uncertainty. While his tone seemed proud, he also looked a bit unsure. Hopefully this was what they were looking for and that he wasn't wasting their time or efforts with any misinterpreted leads. “What do you think? Are these Sandrunner prints?”<i></i>

Maji, at that point, examined the tracks more carefully. The larger set was huge – were these creatures that big? It was kind of intimidating, but then he got distracted by the smaller set. That must have belonged to the kin of the adult Sandrunner. “Aww, so cute...”<i></i> he thought with a dreamy smile on his face. It's a good thing he didn't think out loud; Okibi would have judged him at this point.

[Actions:
-Discovered prints!]

 

[Okibi]

The sound of Maji's young voice had Okibi and Seven swiveling their heads in unison to look at him. He was flailing his arms like a wild man; what, was the heat driving him mad? Oh, no wait, he found something. Hurray!

Okibi and Seven hurried over and hunkered down next to the prints that Maji was pointing to. They sniffed around them, and quickly lit up when their noses affirmed that they were indeed the tracks of the Sandrunner flock they were supposed to find. Okibi looked up; they were headed southwest, just behind the storm - like she'd thought. Good thing she had a few extra sets of eyes to help her find such clues. "Good job Kid!" She said with a grin, ruffeling the boys hair.

Starting forward, Okibi nodded her head and waved everyone on. "Lets get going then! The scent isnt that old, so they cant be too far ahead of us! We should be able to catch up with them by nightfall if we move fast!" And then she broke into a run, though made sure she didnt go so fast as to leave Maji and Ippin behind. Sands only knew what kind of predators would pick them off if her stronger presence wasnt in the vicinity.

---- A few hour later ----

The sun was just a sliver on the horizon behind them, casting their long shadows over the rocks and sand around them. Okibi creeped up a small incline of boulders, holding her hand up to lips and making very faint shushing noises. She peeked over the largest rock, and cheered on the inside when she saw the small huddle of birds.

The mother Sandrunner was sitting in a small hole that the father probably dug for her. Okibi could see the chicks, so she assumed that they were sound asleep beneath her, protected from the chilly desert night by her body heat. Her feathers were a brilliant array of blues that shimmered slightly in the fading light of day. Even though it was getting darker, you could still see the dazzling hues.

The patriarch of the flock was pacing some five feet away, twisting his head this way and that, probably keeping a look out. His feathers were a little longer than the matriarchs, and colored in beautiful multihues of red and orange, like a blazing flame. He and the mother would take turns keeping the chicks warm throughout the night, switching shifts every couple hours or so. Okibi knew this because that was just how the flock she'd befriended as a child worked. Like a well oiled machine.

Until the poachers found them anyway.

Okibi shook off the memories and inched back down the boulder. She landed on the ground beside Maji and Seven without a sound and whispered to them. "Theyre just on the other side of these rocks. Seven, I want you to take Maji and circle around to the other side and keep watch from there. I'll take this side. If anything happens, dont hesitate."

Seven nodded silently and nudge Maji, trying to get him to move along.

However, they wouldnt have been walking for very long before the sounds of one of the Sandrunners in distress sounded like an alarm in the night. Okibi cursed and jumped up the rocks, scanning the small ravine the birds had nested down in for the night. The patriarch was struggling where he'd been pacing, on the ground with his feet tied together by a rope with rocks tied to the ends. Seeing this, Okibi cursed again. "Poachers!" She hissed into her helmets built in radio. "Kid, you and Seven get down there and protect the mother and the chicks! I'll get the father!"

As she relayed the orders Okibi launched herself down the slight incline, stirring up rocks and dust in her wake. She reached the bottom and darted across the stone clearing, racing for the patriarch. He squawked and screeched, and the sound was like nails on a chalkboard to her ears. "Stay away wretched human! If you know what's good for you!" He threatened, struggling with his claws, trying to get out of the rope. Okibi ignored his idle threat, knowing there wasnt much he could do to hurt her while he was tied up.

Reaching his side, Okibi slid to her knees and started clawing at the ropes. They were made of something thick, and didnt completely snap with her first slash. Suddenly, something hit her like a train in the side, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying back across the ravine. She slid a short distance before slamming her hand down and vaulting back to her feet. Okibi wobbled for a moment, then shook her head to clear of it dizziness. Did someone get the number of the mountain that ran her over?

A large man stood beside the Sandrunner now, staring her down with hard eyes. He was at least six and a half feet tall, and at least twice as wide as she was. Not that his size intimidated her. He caught her by surprise, that was all. Growling, Okibi spread her legs and readied herself for a charge, but halted when she heard another squawk behind her. The matriarch was being attacked now! Seven and Maji had to contend with two men who were decidedly smaller than the first guy, but were both wielding knives. Seven dodged a slash from one as the other lunged at Maji, trying to stab him in the gut.

Growling again, Okibi looked back at her adversary. She wanted to protect the Kid, but she had to deal with this guy, who was probably the leader. And there was the patriarch Sandrunner to worry about too. Dammit all. Why couldnt there be more of her?

Oh wait.

She decided to call herself stupid later as she worked through a few handseals and summoned up a clone made her earth beside her. They both charged the leader, but as the real Okibi dove in, dodged a punch, and landed one of her own in his gut, the clone zipped past and made a beeline for the Sandrunner.

"Dont worry. We're going to help you." She said to the bird, who was still struggling. He didnt seem to hear her, or didnt care for her words, as he continued to kick and squawk and snap his beak at her. Clone Okibi dodged the attacks as she worked her claws through the final twists of rope. The Patriarch broke away from her and launched to his feet, dashing across the ravine to the scuffle that was happening by his family. He launched himself into the air, aiming his sharp talons at the poacher who was squaring off with Seven.

The human saw him coming, and was ready.

"No!" Seven barked as he jumped and latched onto the mans shoulder with his jaws. But it was too late, the poacher had already lashed out with his blade, sinking it into the great birds chest.

The sound the patriarch made as he fell off the man's sword and onto the ground was horrible, a wet sort of gurgle that would sear and stay in their minds for weeks to come.

 

[Suika]

Maji chuckled as Okibi had ruffled his hair and gave him praise. It turned out that he did find what they were looking for; he was pleased. Not too much time after, the white-haired master tracker took the scent and led them onward. Off they went!

As time passed, the tan-skinned student grew kind of weary. It was hard for his little legs to keep up with Okibi, plus his stamina wasn't as great as hers. He felt like he was slowing her down a bit, but he tried his best to strive forward. Although at times he felt like collapsing or stopping for long breaks, he decided against it. He pushed himself to a limit; Okibi had inspired him to be his best. Hopefully it was good enough.

The sun started to descend and a mixture of oranges and reds flooded the sky. The finally reached a large boulder that Okibi had positioned herself behind. Maji mirrored her and did the same; though, he was secretly relieved that they had stopped. He needed to catch his breath. “You okay, Ippin?”</B><i></i> he whispered to and nudged the lizard butterfly on his shoulder tenderly. She made a pleasant noise as if to say 'yes'. Maji nodded and turned himself towards Okibi and Seven. He complied with her gesture to remain silent, and also attempted to peek over the rock. There sat a flock of splendid looking birds. They walked on two legs and had a visually-pleasing color scheme to their feathers. They appeared powerful and huge. Well, the adults did, anyway. The bigger bird stood on patrol while the smaller adult bird sat in a hole with baby chicks. It was a little family of Sanrunners – Maji thought it was cute. He wanted to befriend them.

Okibi directed her pup to guide Maji around the rocks to keep watch of the birds from a different angle and viewpoint. “Let's go, Seven.”<i></i> he uttered softly with a tinge of enthusiasm in his voice. Maji's body language and tone, at this point, appeared as if he was a little too excited participating in this mission. He acted more stealthy and smooth than he actually was as if he was roleplaying; however, he took himself seriously. Him, Seven, and Ippin made their way around the rocks until they heard an alarming sound. Maji jumped and flinched in surprise; he almost peed himself! The birds made noise as if in danger – what was going on? Immediately after, he heard Okibi shout an order through his headset. Protect the mother and her kin?

...poachers!

Maji gulped and clenched his fists tightly. While he was training in the academy to be fearless, he was kind of scared right now. Was he capable of defending anything? He still felt very weak... “Not a sissy...”<i></i> he said aloud to himself. Instantly, an idealism hit him. It didn't matter if he was weak; no, a lot of people were. What mattered was what he directed the little strength he had towards. Besides, being a coward and chickening out would be more shameful than getting shanked to death by hunters. He thought so, anyway.

With slight trembling, he dashed to the side of the mother and chicks. He overestimated his speed and steps for he lost momentum and slid forward. Luckily, he was able to recover, but he didn't feel as smooth as he'd like to. As soon as he reached the tiny family of sandrunners, the mother squawked and snapped her beak at him. Maji dodged and tumbled backward. He waved his hands in front of him and spoke out. “It's okay, Sandy-chan! We're here to help yo-”

Two large shadows hovered over him.

Maji snapped his head back and saw two menacing poachers approach them. They wore evil smirks and were pretty ugly, yanno, all your stereotypical traits to typical villains. The boy shuddered, put up his fists with a protective instinct, and called out. “Stand back! I'm training to be a ninja and I just learned how to throw a killer right hook!”<i></i> He meant to sound threatening, but he was completely unaware that it'd probably play the opposite effect. The villains would probably laugh it off and Seven would probably shake his head; he didn't care, though. Maji was determined to protect the sandrunners!

Then he noticed the pointedness of their knives. “Tartersauce...”

One of the men shamelessly slashed at the pup. They had serious issues for, without conscious, attacking a puppy and a child. Luckily, Seven managed to dodge. Maji grinned victoriously - well, until he got stabbed by the other man's blade. The boy's eyes widened as his mouth fell agape. Was this the end for our miniature hero?!

With a poof, the knife had got stuck into a random log. Where that log came from exactly? Who knew! It was a shinobi secret. At this point, the wicked poacher was probably bewildered. While he was, a smiling Maji flew down head-first towards him from above. “I learned this at the academy!”<i></i> he shouted before the second of collision. His tone sounded celebratory and proud, but he spoke too soon. Maji ended up crashing his skull against the poachers. He literally came in like a wrecking ball. The pink-eyed student fell back and was dazed. His cranium pounded as if got hit by a boulder, but the criminal looked like he received more out of the bad end of the stick. Was Maji's head that hard?

With wobbly legs and slight dizziness, Maji made his way towards the log he used to escape the stab and yanked out the blade. With clenched teeth, he turned towards the crooks with an aggravated expression. “That hurt.”

Before further action could be taken, the big sandrunner Okibi freed darted towards the group. It aimed to jam its talons into Seven's attacker, but something else happened instead. The poacher stabbed its chest in an area that looked pretty vital. “No!” Maji yelled out! Tears burst from his eyes and his lips trembled as he watched the bird fall onto the ground dying. It was a horrible sound to hear and an equally horrible sight to see. This set a wire off in Maji's head.

Without any word, he lunged forward to the man who tried to gut him and attempted to sink his dagger into him. If he could incapacitate him, Okibi could attack the poacher who stabbed the bigger bird and the rest of the family could be saved. Even though he wanted to ram the blade into the other hunter, he thought this made more sense. Plus, the other man was closest to him and he was emotional! He had to let out his anger and he was impatient.

<B>“Take this, jerkface!”<i></i> he cried out as he jabbed the knife forward. Hopefully it'd make contact.

[Actions:
-Protect sandrunners.
-Kawarimi out of stab/headtackle poacher #3
-Attempt to stab poacher #3]

 

[Okibi]

Maji's headbutt struck sure and true, sending Poacher #3 stumbling backwards, holding his head. The man rumbled with anger and gripped his knife tighter. When Maji came at him with his own knife out, the poacher dodged to the side (though not without taking a nick on his waist) grabbed the boys weapon arm and twisted it, making him drop the knife. The poacher viciously yanked the boys arm around, behind his back, and brought his own knife up; it glinted dangerously in the fading light of day. He brought the knife up to Maji's throat, intent obvious.

"NO!" Okibi yelled from across the ravine, seeing the plight that Maji was in. But she couldnt do anything to help him (again) because she was still fighting the huge leader poacher. She was already sporting some bruises on her face and arms from where he'd landed some heavy blows, and a few shallow slices where his sword got her, but he wasnt faring any better. In fact, he seemed to be getting a little winded while Okibi was still spry. Nonetheless, the big brute stood between her and Maji; leaving her frustratingly unable to help the boy.

But she had to remember that she wasnt fighting alone anymore. No; she had a little furry partner she could count on.

Seven barreled into the side of poacher #3's head, using a modified form of their Gatsuuga. It didnt have the same destructive power that it usually did; but he had to be in his human form to utilize its true strength. It did, however, still pack enough of a punch to trip the poacher up. Instead of slashing Maji's throat, like he'd wanted, he only ended up creating a shallow gash across the boys shoulder; deep enough to sting and bleed, but not enough to be lethal.

Poacher #2 yowled with outrage when he saw his partner go down, hitting his head on a rock and going unconscious. He charged at Maji and Seven, sheathing his knife and pulling out a strange looking weapon. It was round and he had to hold it with two hands. He came to a stop and pointed the opened end at them and did something with his fingers. There was a loud pop! and suddenly Maji and Seven were being tangled up in a net. Seven growled and barked, trying to bite his way out of the net, but it was no use. It was made of the same high grade material at the rope used on the Sandrunner.

The poacher came at them with a slow swagger and a cocky grin. He stopped next to them and cocked his head at Maji. Then, without saying a word, he lifted one of his heavy booted foots into the air and brought it down with bone crunching force on one of Maji's legs. There was an audible snap as something broke, and Seven went into a barking frenzy, trying to get at the villain. The poacher danced back with a laugh and looked like he was about to say some snarky when a loud screech made him jump. The mother Sandrunner sprung up from out of nowhere and slashed at the poacher with her long claws. The poacher reared back, yelling as his forearms were rendered into bloody messes. He glared at the bird from a short distance away, and she glared back, ruffling her brilliant blue feathers. She was obviously outraged that he'd killed her mate.

With another war screech she charged at the man, but this time, he saw her coming. He pulled back one of his bloodied arms and flung his knife end over end at the bird. The Sandrunner didn't realize the danger the knife posed to her, and thus didnt dodge before it sank deep into her head. She made no sound as she fell to the ground, skidding over the rocks and dirts, before coming to a motionless stop at the poachers feet. He grinned cockily down at the bird, and nudged its head with a boot. Yep, she was dead.

He looked up at Maji and Seven, his smile the slimiest thing the pup had ever seen. "Two down." he declared as he stooped down to pull his knife from the Sandrunner's head.

Suddenly, he was flying forward, over the dead Sandrunner and landing face first in the dirt. His face was imbedded with rocks and covered with bloodied scratched when he rose up, sneering behind him. Okibi stood there with her leg in the air; she'd just given him a very firm kick in the ass. She had her metal arm bent at the elbow, her hand resting on her shoulder with her claws fisted around the neck of the lead poachers shirt. She was dragging him around the Sandrunner's body and tossed the large unconscious man at the last remaining poacher. Poacher #2 scrambled and tried to get away, but was too slow and ended up with some two hundred and forty pounds and fat and muscle pinning him down.

Okibi walked around the human pile and squatted down in front of the poacher, glaring into his eyes. "You want some of what he had?" She asked, pointing to the leader's bruised and battered face which dangled right next to the conscious pokers own face. It was swollen everywhere, his eyes sealed shut, and his lips bat and cut. He also seemed to be missing some teeth. "Or are you going to cooperate and turn yourself in for the crime of poaching an endangered species on Wind Country territory?"

The poacher shook in the face of Okibi's barely contained anger, and all he could do was nod yes. Okibi grinned at him then, and patted him on the cheek. "Good boy." She said. Then she pulled her arm back, fisted her metal hand, and cannoned it forward. It hit home in Poacher #2's face, snapping his head to the side and rendering him unconscious.

With that handled, Okibi got back to her feet and dusted her hands. She looked over at Maji and Seven, who were still tangled up in the net. She walked over and hunkered down, shredding the net with her claws. "Still alive Kid?" She asked, a somber note in her voice.

"We failed." Seven whined, his head low and his ears flattened back as he slunk out of the net. He looked at the dead body of the patriarch Sandrunner; it was probably turning cold by now.

Okibi pulled the rest of the net off of Maji and sighed. Then a sound tickled her sensitive ears and she looked over her shoulder. The two chicks were wandering around their mother's body, chirping pitifully. Okibi's face fell; their mother wouldnt be answering them now. "We didnt fail completely." She said as she stood up and started gathering the three unconscious poachers together by a large rock. She pulled out a long length of rope and tied them up, making sure their arms and legs were bound tightly. "We saved the chicks and captured the bad guys. I'll send request a team of Anbu to come out here and retrieve them. If the storm doesnt claim them first, anyway."

With one more job done, Okibi turned around and rolled her shoulders, working out some kinks. "Can you stand at all Kid?"

(Sorry I basically stole the show xD. But I figured this didnt have to be dragged out like so many other missions tend to be.)

 

[Suika]

Everything happened fast. Too fast.

The man managed to dodge Maji's attempted stab and unarmed him. He grabbed the boy's arm and forcefully bounded him. The tan-skinned student clenched his teeth and moved violently. “Let go!”</B><i></i> he cried out from his teeth. The poacher then held up a knife towards Maji's throat. He froze. There was nothing he could do to escape the hunter's hold. He was too weak to fight him off and not flexible enough to escape his hold. He felt helpless.

The pink-eyed boy felt the edge of the blade on his throat. It was so close that a slight movement would cut him indefinitely. He gulped. Wait, where was Ippin? The lizard butterfly popped from no where and landed on the man's eyes. The man yelled and grunted – what was she doing? Was she distracting him or trying to blind him? Suddenly, what looked like a miniature tornado appeared from no where and nailed the man on the side of the head. Ippin flung off him and landed on the opposite shoulder that got slashed. Maji winced as a tear was forced out of his eye. That hurt like a mothapumpkin!

Instant relief hit him. He was saved, and it was none other than Seven who rescued him. Even Seven, who was all but a tiny pup, was more useful than him. Maji didn't pay too much mind to it because he was grateful, but he felt slightly more useless. The white-haired boy didn't have much time to get comfortable, though, because the other poacher was now furious. He approached them with intensity and pointed some weird object at them. Without even a chance to blink, it let off a loud pop that sent forth a net. It entangled Maji, Ippin, and Seven. Maji growled and barked as Seven did, and even tried to bite the net. It hurt his teeth.

The villainous poacher came before them with an eerie stride. With what most would call a shameless and evil act, he stomped Maji's leg. A large snap was heard and a surge of pain engulfed the stuent's body. “OWWWWAHHH!!” he screamed out in agony. His left leg was completely immobile as if he was paralyzed. The pain was intense, too. It was so extreme that he bit his lip and made himself bleed. Ippin emitted a noise that resembled a shriek and Seven looked ticked. Even though he was distracted by his pain, Maji kept an eye out to the events that transpired around him. The mother sandrunner charged at the man, but met the same fat as the father bird. The poacher stabbed her while wearing some type of demonic grin.

“Noooo!”<i></i> Maji yelled out with a cracked voice. His shout was so forceful that it actually hurt him; plus, his throat was dry, too, so that didn't help. Tears burst from his eyes and he started weeping uncontrollably. Not only did his body ache, but his mind was tormented by the murders of the birds. They were innocent creatures – these men were monsters! But what was worst of all was the fact that he was too powerless to protect them... he was to weak to prevent all this from happening!

Maji was filled with sorrow, but he was also filled with anger. So much so that his eyes widened and he started barking out rabidly. He lost it.

“I'm going to kill you!”<i></i> he cursed with a murderous tone. His expression, too, appeared as if he sought to obliterate the poachers. “I swear to you, I'll kill you!”<i></i> He meant it, too. Peace-loving and friendly Maji snapped. He lost control of his emotions and his moral compass slipped from his consciousness; the thought of torturing the poachers to death became a satisfying fantasy. It was as if something were possessing him. Ippin cried and started to rub his neck with her head as if to calm him down. It didn't really work.

BOOM!

The poacher flew like a rocket and landed on his face. Okibi beat him up, threatened him, and tied him up with the rest of the no-do-gooders. She then freed Maji, Ippin, and Seven. The pup whined at Okibi that they failed, but the white-haired woman took his negativity and displayed a glass half-full. The white-haired boy, though, stared blankly at the chicks as they surrounded their deceased mother. He didn't know what to feel...

“Oki-chan...” he muttered with tears falling from his empty expression, “...let me kill them.” His lips trembled and his face scrunched up with sadness. “How can people be so evil?”<i></i> He cried out like a baby. Maji's world was rocked. Death didn't feel like a foreign concept to him for some reason, but he was still impacted by it. He was a sensitive soul who hated the cruelties of this world; however, what he disliked most was the fact he couldn't do anything about it.

Maji tried to lift himself, but fell back on his butt. His leg looked cripple. The pain started to subside due to adrenaline, but he was sure it'd come rushing back before no time. After taking some time to compose himself, he sniffled and wipes his booger'd nose. “I think my leg is broken.” he stated plainly. He then glanced at the chicks as if more concerned about their well-being than his shattered limb. “Are they going to be okay? We have to help them, Oki-chan.” His voice sounded as if he was pleading.

Ippin continued to rub herself on him. Maji pat her and grinned sympathetically. It was a bit forced for her sake. <B>“Don't worry, Ippin. It's all going to get better now. Sorry for scaring you.”

 

[Okibi]

Okibi sighed when she saw that Maji couldnt even stand up on his own. Definitely a broken leg by the looks of it; she was going to have to carry him back to the village. Not that that bothered her; no, what bothered her was that he got hurt at all. Some leader she was.

Ignoring the things he said and asked for the moment, Okibi slowly walked over to the chicks, being careful not to startle them. They looked up at her when she got close; two identical little birdies that were a pale yellow. She knelt down and quietly chortled at them. "You're parents wont be waking up. Come with us." She told them. They tilted their heads, their big dark eyes clearly confused.

Quickly, before they could dart away, Okibi snatched the baby birds up into her hands. Immediately they started struggling against her, but their little bodies were so slight, it was like mice fighting a wall.

Walking back over to Maji, Okibi held the two chicks out to him. When he took them, she would then scoop his slight form up into her arms and start making their way off into the desert, back home. Seven followed along silently.

A few minutes later, after a rather stifling silence, Okibi finally spoke again, her voice rather serious. "Taking a life is serious business Kid. It weighs heavy on the hearts of people who arent . . . " The word she was looking for escaped it. After a few moments of trying to explain herself, Okibi just sighed and looked down at Maji with a furrowed brow. "You're too young to be talking about killing anybody. You arent ready Kid. You probably will, one day, if you stay on this path, but right now . . . just stay a kid, okay?"

Then she looked away, her face still grim. After a few moments, she glanced back down again without moving her head . . . and then grinned. "You're too much of a sissy to be a killer anyway. What would you have done? Pat them with you little fists?" She said with a laugh.

[Topic left after Maji's post]

 

[Suika]

Maji sniffled and then sniffled some more. He grabbed onto the baby chicks that Okibi had passed to him and stared at them curiously. They were so cute and small... poor baby chicks! They looked confused and scared, much like the pink-eyed boy did when he first found himself in the city of Sunagakure. He felt like he could relate to them – he firmly held onto them.

The atmosphere seemed serious and sorrowful, but Okibi was quick to turn that around. Sissy? Dangit, he knew she'd think so. He blushed with a bright red and released a small, nervous chuckle. “I won't be a sissy for long, Oki-chan! Soon I'll be a hero like you!”<i></i> He then smiled cheesily and laughed aloud as if he wasn't just weeping or threatening to kill criminals. Children... so impressionable.

With Ippin on his shoulder and the chicks wrapped in his arms, he was lifted up by Okibi. It was time for them to go home! Or to a hospital, at least. That'd probably be a better idea considering the condition of his leg. “By the way, thanks, Seven. You had my back, pup, so remember I'll always have yours!”<i></i> Maji shot him a grin and attempted a thumb's up with the birds in his arms. With that, they were off.

Mission success!

[Topic Left w/ Okibi]