Boars Are Scary [Self Mod|Solo Mission|A]

[Senju Shizuka]

Mission description

The weather was awful. Wind howled like a dying wolf while the rain was pouring down from the sky like a waterfall. She hated being outside right now. While, in theory, she really didn’t mind this type of weather and was quite used to it being a mess in the Cloud, being beaten down by waves of flying water while you were supposed to be going home wasn’t something she was pleased with. Judging by the faces those around her made neither were they. Unfortunately, this was the reality and there was very little any of them could do anything about it. All that was left for them to do was wait and figure out what the hell was going on.

What type of emergency had them standing outside of the Academy main building with instructors running up and down? There were only a handful of them, the students that is, so she wasn’t sure what she had done to be called here. They certainly hadn’t done anything wrong together because she couldn’t recognize the others. Perhaps that guy on the right.. they might have had a class together, but she wasn’t too sure about it. His hair was familiar.

‘Guy-’

“Alright! Listen up!” Only one instructor remained to address the six students standing in the rain, waiting. He had their attention just like he wanted to.

“Hara Toshiro, a first year student has gone missing during the evacuation of his class. Wild animals have been sighted and with the incoming storm he might not be able to survive on his own. We are to comb through the area. If you find him, you are to bring him back here. Be aware that he can be injured or dead.”

Huh?

Shizuka’s thoughts got shook even more as she realized that this was serious. Suddenly the rain running through her hair wasn’t all that important. One of their own was lost. He was probably scared and rather helpless if it was his first year at the Academy. ‘Per-’, her train of thoughts got cut off again.

“Follow me! Keep up. The moment I give you the sign, you split up!” The instructor leading the group of four shouted as to be heard over the wind. The team rushed across the basic training ground and into the forest; that’s where the sign was given.

They split up in a classic way. Shizuka got to take the second right, so she still had to run a bit further over the soggy grass to get to the assigned area. From there on it was going to be a lot of running and looking around. The thundering above the forest was becoming intenser with every passing minute. Lightning guided her way as she jumped over branches and called out now and then to see if the boy she was looking for would reply. He didn’t.

It was odd to be looking for someone you didn’t know. A bit more abstract than if it were a friend or a family member, she imagined. While she felt a certain amount of worry she somehow didn’t panic. She just did what she had to do.

Stopping near a tree to take a deep breath she realized with a deep frown that this would take too long if she was doing it on her own. The area assigned was too big - her vision on it too narrow. So, with a couple of seals she got herself three clones and a crystal eye to oversee the whole mission. This would work way better. It had to.


**
[597/1,800]

 

[Senju Shizuka]

The eye sailed through the sky. It spun around as it was trying to find anything that might be important. The dark weather, the thick roof of twigs and leaves, and the ongoing rain weren’t really helping it to do its job, though. Meanwhile the clones were spread across the area. They weren’t too far from each other - a small sight would be enough for the others to know that they had to head into its direction - still it helped to cover more ground.

Soaked and slightly tired from maintaining the multiple jutsu, Shizuka tried not to slip when landing on a thick branch. She failed, fell forward and only magically didn’t break anything when the branch gave out behind her. It hit the ground next to here, inches away from her head.

The mud beneath her nails was annoying. She tried to get it out with the tip of her kunai but figured that washing her hands would be a better option - one that would have to wait, because she could see the signal given by one of her clones. They had to gather. So, without waiting, she dashed in its direction with the others doing the same. That’s when the clone giving the sign was taken out by a hard collision with the angry boar. Shizuka grinned. This sure as hell brought back some memories. The confusion and light panic on the boy’s face was familiar to her, but she had no time right now to deal with that. First the boar had to be chased away or killed.

Distracting the animal with one of her clones she prepared the necessary seals to attack it. From where she was standing a strong ray of water came crashing down into the animal. The rapid spin of the water forced it to shape into a tendril which actually made a deep cut in the boar’s chest. The fang then split into two, going for the front legs and making the beast crash into a nearby trunk. It angrily growled and spit, there was blood seeping down its front but Shizuka paid it no mind. Her eyes were fixed on the target she was supposed to retrieve.

“Hara Toshiro?” She yelled above the incoming rain and the roaring thunder. Its eyes were wide blue dots. He nodded. The boars screeching forced her attention away from her fellow student.

Somehow the boar had found the strength to get up. Its beady eyes were full of rage. She understood its hurt and anger, but that didn’t change her mind. Saving the boy was what she was here for and what she would do. The animal, well, it would have to go. That’s why the moment it came down storming toward the two of them, she raised up a wall of mud. It should have been earth, really, but the rain turned most of it into mud. The boar didn’t stop and she watched a bit of debris fall from the side turned to them when the animal hit her defense. It was time to finish it before things got out of hand. Besides, she wasn’t sure if Toshiro was hurt or not, so she had to act fast just in case that he was.

That’s where Shizuka turned to wood. Thick bark grew around her arms when she moved forward. Jumping onto the wall her eyes met the sight of a furious and hysterical boar. With no desire to see it suffer any longer she jumped down with her hands turned into two mallets. They slammed into the target, crushing its bones and organs alike where they hit. She could hear the cracking of ribs over the showering rain. Then, only nature sang. The boar was dead. The wood pulled back. She returned to the first year.

“Are you injured?” was the second thing she wanted to know. He nodded, but didn’t seem to be panicking any longer. When she moved closer he didn’t look too terrified either. “Where?”

He pointed toward his leg and she crouched to get a better look at it. From what she could see it was broken. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t talk much, he was trying to keep silent while being in pain. She understood him, nodded and wondered if it would be best to try to heal him here or move him. Healing would take a while - she wasn’t a medic and only had her clan’s ability to regenerate which took a while if it wasn’t done on her own body. Moving him.. well, it would hurt. She felt a little bad for him already. The leg looked crooked.

“What happened?” Trying to distract him a little from the sleeve she had torn off from her jacket, Shizuka carefully put it around the bleeding wound. How the hell had he managed to break his leg like that?

“I fell, I wanted to get away from the boar.. the bark was slippery.” He stopped talking when she tightened the knot. Geeze, they really had to make the tree walking thing a priority..

“Alright, this isn’t going to be easy, but you’ll have to hold on a bit longer. I’ll carry you back to the Academy, you’ll have to stay on my back. We’ll try not to move or touch your leg too much, but it will hurt during the walking regardless.” Letting him know what he was up against, she hoped that he would prepare himself mentally for the trip back home. Not that it was that far away to the gate. Perhaps they would come across one of the instructors who would take it over or call in help to heal his leg right there. She doubted that they would - only emergency cases were sometimes treated that way, most had to go to the hospital before they were treated. In a way she understood that logic. Nobody would die from a broken bone even if it hurt like a bitch.

“Can we go slowly?” he sounded afraid. “Yes, but that won’t help your leg much, it will only increase the amount of time before we get you real help. That’s why I think that going slowly is a bad idea. It’s up to you, though.” She was already soaked and not exactly in a hurry anymore. If he wanted to try to be extra careful she would indulge him.

In the end the kid manned up, held on tightly to her and only growled when she had to jump over large puddles or fallen trunks. The small shakes coming from the landing weren’t pleasant to his wrecked bone. She tried to land as softly as she could.

“So, how did you end up here all alone?” Shizuka wanted to know when the gate came into sight. They were almost there. Hopefully the nurse wasn’t absent or someone was waiting for one of the kids to come back.

“There were bears, we dashed.. I, I guess I ran into the wrong direction. Because of the storm I couldn’t hear them or they couldn’t hear me. I thought to wait until everything settled, went looking for a hideout, you know, because of the storm. Shhhhhh ouch-” she grimaced, he continued. “there were a couple of spots that looked good but too close to the ground. Then the boar came, so I ran. At first I thought that I had lost it, but then it came back. So the best decision was to climb a tree.. you know how that worked out.”

Yes, that she did. Something else she knew, or rather someone, was the instructor landing near the gate. His eyes were directed at them, so she called out. “Sir! I’ve found him. His leg’s broken, though.” At least he was alive, remembering the instructions they had been given she suddenly felt like the leg wasn’t anything important. It would heal and in a week or so he would already be back to going to class.


**
[1.930/1.800]
Finished