[Marsh Country] 공황 [Shizuka, Siu & Shieo]

[Shieo]

Tribulations of the Students -Chronicles of the Dragon

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"Well... They've certainly done their homework." I somberly muttered, taking in the illusive darkness that wrapped around my eyes. I twisted my wrists at my back, feeling the metallic bindings that crossed them over one another. This too, I felt on my ankles-- And I think my waist.
Well, they didn't hold any punches-- I'm surprised I'm in the shape I am; raising the question of what they plan on doing to me then... Hostage? Informant? Or something more devious. Curious; no matter. As long as I bide my time. Either I can use Bahamut to aid me. Or the girls will come be my knights in shining armor... Yeah, that sounds weird in my head too... Maybe I should stick to poems...

---

A few days prior...

The skirmishes that Shizuka and Shieo partook in were what most call an early warning. While they were cautious, neither had immediately expected what was to come. The brooches as they were, we an insignia and identifier for a group later discovered to be known as "악마 송곳니" a group of mixed militia men and chakra-sensitives. Effectively, an experimental group formed by the Marsh Political Regime in efforts to bolster defenses against foreigners, and effectively work towards a developed military force that can out-stretch beyond their borders. Ultimately, this was their founding steps. How they came to be was still illusive to the captor, and the two youth of Kumogakure; however it didn't matter terribly much, as they were in a bit of a predicament.

How? Well sometime after their trainings, and various experiences throughout their travels. One night they had all gone to rest and had Shieo on watch duty; needless to say. Coffee isn't a supplement that was readily found out in the wilderness, and he had been careful to conserve what he had in-case of emergencies. Furthering the unfortunate situation, he had found himself becoming drowsy; an opportune moment for assailants to target what to them, appeared to be the leader of the group. And thus they did, having utilized poisons that expedited the state of sleep and the rest was history.

The next morning, the duo awoke soundly; too soundly. Normally there would be the bustling of fire and potentially food. And neither had occurred. As they explored they discovered a few abnormalities; first being that Shieo was plainly missing. But that there were a number of smaller, rarer artifacts and documents also inconveniently not there. While the question as to why neither of them was harmed, kidnapped or otherwise was yet unanswered. They had a few things they clearly had to situate and get control over...

But how?

As the two continued their explorations, they were fortunate enough with their skills of observation and perhaps a bit of luck of the dice. To come to notice faint, and relatively well covered tracks-- Unfortunate for them, they were scattered a bit. A tricky tactic that eluded trackers as to which path was the correct one, often broken into groups of three to four in equal numbers... Quite the predicament indeed; just how will they overcome this tribulation?

---

Notes

• Yeah I figured I'd actually start this, since we'd been talking about it for awhile. There's no posting deadline, it's more just for story and goofing around
• Yup, you guessed it. Your friendly neighborhood(Heh) Shieo has been kidnapped, along with some of your precious goods!
• I'm leaving a lot up to you two to scene-craft. This is after-all, a story befit for the three of us. And I certainly don't want to be the only one inserting twists, bops and boops. Where I am, I'll slowly figure out by my own role-play; and by your role-plays as well. A castle? A dungeon? And underground facility? Who knows. But first, you two need to figure out and craft your way to finding your loot, and maybe your friend- Since he was kidnapped too.
• I tried to do a make-shift of the brooch found. Sorry if it's terrible, I can't say I'm terribly good at translation and my gimp skills are sub-par.

Spoiler

 

[Siu]

Though the slumber of the following morning had been wholly undisturbed, the youth still felt as if she could do with much more sleep. The young girl drowsily opened her eyes to the unpleasant light intruding upon the solitude of her tent. A few defiant groans and repositionings desperately struggled to avoid the bitter reality--morning was here, and it was time to get up.Having no other choice but to consent, the youth grudgingly sat up, rubbing her eyes. Staring listlessly at the other end of the tent, her mind drifted into a deep state of thought, contemplating...absolutely nothing.

This wholly absentminded staring continued for some time until the youth was finally able to gain some form of cognitive awareness within her sleepy mind, which would eventually bring her to a rather disturbing realization--the smell of breakfast was nowhere to be found. The youth groaned again; Would she really have to go out, hunt, and cook her own breakfast today?

Staggering to her feet, the young Genin groggily stumbled her way towards the tent entrance. Peeking through the makeshift shelter, another odd phenomenon could be observed--"No campfire? 'This' late?" The youth inwardly inquired, a curious eyebrow arching above her sleepy eyelids.
Furthermore, Instructor Shieo who was to be on guard duty for the night, was nowhere to be found. In such cases, she would have immediately assumed him and Shizuka had gone off somewhere without her again, as had been the case quite often recently. Turning her attention towards the younger girl's sleeping mat, however, revealed otherwise.
"Where'd he go off too?" The kunoichi muttered as she released a long, uninhibited yawn; Hopefully, he was off to get breakfast, if they were lucky. Moving the tent curtain aside, and routinely reaching for her bag hanging outside the entrance, the youth began rummaging through her belongs in order to search for her daily hygienic material, only to suddenly come to a peculiar discovery....there barely were any belongs 'in' her bag to even rummage through.

"Ehhh...?" The girl sleepily mused, her thoughts still rather foggy as she rose the bag in order to more thoroughly examine its contents. After some drowsy, absentminded staring, the youth's eyes slowly widened. "....EHHHHHH?!" The young girl suddenly exclaimed so loudly in great surprise, that it startled the nearby birds of the camp to fly away.

"Shizuka!" Siu anxiously called out as flipped the tent curtain back again, "Have you seen our artifacts and documents?!" She hastily inquired, before going back and forth throughout the camp in order to search for any of the bag's contents.

"I don't understand..."

"...Where are they?"

"I don't see them!"

As time continued to pass without any sign whatsoever of the duo's documents, artifacts, or even their instructor, the young girl's mind couldn't help but come to one conclusion.

"He..."

"No...he couldn't have.." She mumbled, nervously biting her nails and placing her hands on her cheeks.

"...Did Instructor Shieo steal our missions artifacts and documents?!" She exclaimed, placing her hands atop of her head in panic.

Anxiety and distress raced through the young girl's mind. The duo had traveled months and risked their very lives in order to obtain the necessary documents and artifacts for their mission. Yet, somehow, all their months of hard work and perseverance had suddenly mysteriously disappeared in one night--ONE night!
There was no possible way she'd be able to explain such a situation to her superiors. Even if she told the truth, who would believe her? Having been absent for such an extended amount of time, only to return completely empty-handed, would either bring the assumption that the two had either completely neglected their duties and went on some sort of vacation for months instead of actually completing their mission, or even worse, kept or sold the precious artifacts and historical documents for their own profit.

"....This can't be happening."
"This can't be happening..."
"..This can't be happening!"
"This can't be happening!!"

The youth panicked as she continued to run back and forth throughout the camp looking for 'something', 'anything' to possibly solve this bizarre mystery. Fortunately, her frantic efforts would eventually reward her with some form of success. The youth suddenly stopped dead in her tracks as she came across the potential lead. "..Footprints?" She inquired, before kneeling down to feel one of the prints, deep concentration in her eyes.
Remaining crouched in order to better follow the trail, the youth would eventually come to another pause where the tracks suddenly split. "Ehhh?" She noised again, her face revealing blatant disappoint; Things just couldn't be simple and straightforward, could they? With a faint grumble, the youth's eyes continued to study the trail, before narrowing somewhat suspiciously at yet another odd discovery; The majority of these footprints were far too noticeably small to be her instructor's at all. The youth remained silent for quite a time, going into deep meditative though concerning the possible cause, and most importantly, solution to this bizarre mess.

"A pursuit..?" The youth mused aloud. If that were the case, however, the next question would have been: Why hadn't the two been awoken in order to assist? Attempting to pursue so many individuals alone just didn't seem to make much sense at all, when two younger shinobi were only a shout away from assistance.
"Furthermore..." The youth continually pondered aloud, looking up towards the sky. If the pursuit had taken place in the night, then why would their instructor have pursued so long and far without at least sending the two word by now? Especially considering he had Bahamut to easily send and alert them.

"Hrrrm...." The girl continued in deep contemplation, noticeable mental strain now appearing on her face as she gripped a handful of hair and strongly rubbed against her head in an agitated gesture. All of this was far too much to wake up to and deal with first thing in the morning without breakfast; And given the present circumstances, it appeared she wouldn't be having enough time to eat anything for a very long time.

Standing upright, the Genin gazed at the trail for a couple more additional seconds before a few swift, audible handsigns could be witnessed. A temporary cloud of smoke suddenly appeared, which would eventually fade to reveal a second copy of the Genin. Turning towards the younger academy student, a resolved expression on her face, the young girl revealed her plan. "Two tracks each--Two clones each." She solemnly informed.

Walking herself and her clone to their designated tracks, Siu then turned back to the young Senju once again, her expression softening as she tilting her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. "You..'can' do clones well, right?" They taught that sort of thing in The Academy, right? It had been such a long time since Siu last attended as a student.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Something softly floated through the tent and caused a light breeze to touch Shizuka’s skin. She turned a little, hiding her face under the blanket that was her protection. As long as neither Siu nor Shieo would come in and poke her awake she would continue sleeping. Mostly because yesterday had been a little bit late. So, in her curled up kitten position, she nuzzled the softness and- Ehhhhhh, the piercing sound had the little Senju jumping from her sleeping spot with sleepy eyes looking for any type of threats.

“Siu?!” She loudly gasped when the older girl returned to the tent. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she shook her head ‘no’. Unsure what Siu was truly on about, she decided to put on her jacket and follow her superior outside into the cold morning air. Before she did she realized that her shoes weren’t on, so doing that first she lost a couple of moments.

By the time she was actually out in the middle of their camp Siu was already busy looking for things. Something about the way she kept on repeating things formed a tight knot of dread in Shizuka’s empty stomach. Something was wrong, really wrong. The absence of Shieo only made it that much worse.

Unable to grasp what was going on, she followed Siu to the side of the camp with eyes still stinging from the rude awakening. “Why would he take our stuff? I don’t see.. I don’t understand why he would do that!” Violently shaking her head from side to side she refused to believe that he would betray them this way. If he had taken their things then surely he was just trying to teach them something. Perhaps the older Shinobi had grown tired of being up first every morning and was trying to make a point by giving them a scare. Yeah, that had to be it.

“He’ll be back, he’s probably just- huh? Pursuit?” Tilting her head to the side she didn’t think that to make much sense. Everything had been so quiet… she hadn’t woken up once through the night. If there had been a fight of sorts why hadn’t Shieo given a sign to wake them up? Had he been caught of guard? .. What was going on?

Having caught up with Siu she was staring at the footprints left in the soft forest soil. There were obviously too many for one person, and aside from that they were splitting up too. Damn.., she frowned, staring at them until Siu demanded her attention. Or rather, Siu’s. Two, identical ones. Three, she realized when one moved. By the time the instructions had reached her, and she had processed them, Siu was already moving away.

“Eh..?” Shizuka’s voice gently echoed across the space between them. Then Siu turned. Something about her expression had Shizuka feel both cared for and ruffled. So, she straightened up, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am!” The answer was loud and clear. It seemed that they were about to fall back into a more military-like approach to things.

Forming the necessary hand-seals she picked the lightning clone in hopes of stunning whoever they were about to deal with if it would come to that. The documents really needed to be returned. All of their work that had gone into assembling them would otherwise have been for nothing. Not to mention that if someone stole them from a pair of shinobi then it had more value to it than she had given it at first sight. Coming back to the village empty handed really didn’t sound like a nice trial to go through. Besides, she didn’t want for Siu to be in trouble for this. Hence, they had to follow the track and get their property back!

As the second clone formed she let them go. Holding her breath she wondered what they would find. Broken twigs and dirt on stones from steps left in the mud. Well, hopefully their potential opponents hadn’t actually split up. Because that would become troublesome.


**

 

[Shieo]

Tribulations of the Students -Chronicles of the Dragon

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As far as I could keep track two days have past. Every six hours an attendant arrives and feeds me, with a variant of two to five and a half hours another arrives and provides me water. Neither talks, nor do they touch me to the best of their ability. I allowed my mouth to purse and exhale a breath of stale air. I admittedly was getting quite sore and strained from being locked down like this, with little ability to be able to move it's locking my joints and straining my muscles constantly- Sleep, if I could consider it that; is far and few between. Unfortunately, these folks know how to restrain us shinobi. I'd wager they themselves have like-skilled individuals to help advise. Or perhaps that's who's leading them. I curled each of my fingers, toes and any part of my body I could every so often. Ensuring that there was movement and blood was coursing through them given a moments notice if I needed them.

I felt the air brush against my neck, it was an incredibly silent door. I believe it was an aim to prevent the prisoner knowing where their captors come from, leave them disorientated. But after the number of entries it was the same every-time. They come from the rear, with the gentle air displacement-- No windows, pressure varies between here and the entry. Likely a level or two underneath the ground, content of which this place is built I'm not sure. I'll just have to wait and see, whether I gotta' break out or otherwise. Despite my eyes being blindfolded I allowed them to blink and keep them moving still.

"놈." A woman spoke, her tone was shallow and controlled- the sort of crassness you expect when you're cursed. I wagered that was the cause of the voice too, they hadn't spoken to me until now- I wonder why I bode such ill-will to them? Curious, they captured me. Neither of us speaks the other language.. Hm, I haven't any idea if its the same woman or not that keeps attending me. Perhaps this food is something they can't readily spare? Yet they are? We'll see I suppose- Listening as her shuffling feet came to my front-side, I hadn't made any effort to show hunger or otherwise. Reluctant to make any expectations of food, water or otherwise I would simply remain motionless until they forced my mouth open; this way, I could get a feel for strengths, their hesitations, and it prevented my own surprise if I got something other than sustenance. No later did she encourage my mouth open and the slop of food shoved in, paired with her own verbalized irritations, it seemed. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying mind you- it was all foreign and rough. Perhaps that was bias, but my comparative wasn't helping justify it otherwise.
Some minutes passed as I was careful to eat, without choking or showing any shift in my expression. Besides, this one seemed eager to voice her issues; something I could use I wagered. I'm no linguist by any stretch, but patterns could be recognized, tones can provide clarity as to what they wished to convey. I listened, sharply and with it in mind to recall the specific sounds, pacing of spacing of sounds that could define words. Implanting them in my head, to the best of my ability.

Up until she left. The food was gross, and smelled awful I reminded myself. But something hooked my curiosity. "Perhaps, I could make out my capture if I can start figuring them out... Just need to start practicing, not like I have anything better to do." I quietly mused to myself. Allowing my restraints to rattle as I wiggled my body slightly, ensuring blood continued to flow.

---

As the two youth decided to create clones to help cover more ground. They set off; each with fairly clear tracks to follow for their trained eyes. Perhaps a level of surrealism for both to have the assurance that despite their age, such tasks that would typically require a highly trained practitioner was being completed with relatively simple effort from themselves.

Given how far the tracks when, each path brought them to a different type of biome after some time-- If they were capable of maintaining the clones due to how far apart they started getting. Approximately two hours into their search it closed in closer to midday, neither of which had encountered anyone- or anything for that matter. Yet each set of tracks remained consistent and none of which died off in numbers or otherwise.
They had to figure that whoever they were trailing on each of their paths had kept their paces going for quite sometime, and likely had quite a head-start. Though, if they're not shinobi trained; the two girls should be closing in on them soon.

What will they do? Where did they end up?

---

[WC 826]
[MFT]

Notes

• I did a few rolls to see if anything attacked, or you hit a dead-end on any of the paths and neither triggered for me. Not to say you can't start a fight, or a dead-end yourself. Leading to my next note.
• Remember, you two have complete freedom to running into trouble/finding the place Shieo is held captive, etc. This is as long and as difficult as we want to make it.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Remaining fairly silent she let the clones do their work. The information came in and left her buzzing with nervosity. The tracks seemed to go on endlessly. After about ten minutes she had sat down on an empty spot in the middle of the camp. Sometime later it was becoming a bit harder to maintain the clones. The distance between them was growing, but the traces didn’t stop. Whether or not she had been showing the distress she felt she didn’t know, but in the Siu did make a decision that made keeping the clones under control easier. They left the spot they had been sitting in; split between the clones they were slowly catching up on their own. While that wouldn’t entirely eliminate the distance and the concentration problem, it would certainly give them some more time to investigate various directions. It didn’t help with the nervosity.

On her own, basically. In a foreign country. A hostile country. Shizuka had never before felt so vulnerable. While she knew that she could deal a punch when necessary she had always been certain to get help if the situation she was in would become life-threatening. Right now, however, she would not get any help. If she was to encounter someone, she would have to deal with them on her own. It was a frightening thought, she had to admit it to herself. And while that was easy, accepting the thought of getting hurt, or worse, killed, was not.

Fear rushed through her like a tsunami. She slid to a stop, hid behind an old tree and pressed against it with her back. Closing her eyes quite tightly she let the clones wait until the panic vanished. Her heart was beating fast, she felt as if it would rip a hole in her chest sometime soon. Every breath she took was hot. Her throat was dry.

Clinging to the trunk the young Senju tried to reason with herself. One day, everyone was going to die. Death was inevitable. There was no way around it. Everything that lived had to go in the end. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be alive. Shinobi had the ‘pleasure’ of going faster than most ‘normal’ people. On the other side, that wasn’t certain. Some grew old and wrinkled. All of it depended on the luck they had. That luck, however, grew in line with skills they possessed. Strength meant a lot to them. So, if she wanted to make it out alive, she had to be strong.

If she were to stay here, latched onto a tree, then she would surely die. Perhaps not now, but cowards always died fast. No, she was not a coward. She was a Senju!

Biting her tongue to stop the shaking with the help of a little pain, she found the warmth coming from the little wound to have a pleasant aftermath on her brain. As long as she felt any pain she was alive. It was only temporarily. And by the time she did not feel a thing, it would already be too late, because she would be dead. There was nothing to be afraid of long-term.

And so, with a firm nod to herself, she took off to explore further, and so did the clones.


**
More than 100/100: unlocking Fearless

 

[Shieo]

Tribulations of the Students -Chronicles of the Dragon

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Several days have past; I think? The woman who originally spoke to me had continued. Her tone was slowly loosening from the crass aggression- But it was clear each time she spoke that she held some ill-will towards me. In this time, I've yet to be interrogated, tortured too much or otherwise; it was ultimately arousing some suspicion from me. The purpose my of presence was becoming that of a test subject- or perhaps a means of hostage. Did they expect people of my country to come try and save me? My mind was constantly barraged with these meaningless questions- After-all, none of them had any grounds of validity. All hypothetical. Until I could understand what she was rambling about, I simply only had the benefit of my own imagination.

I let my mind slowly ease into calmness, I felt the air buffet again as the woman had entered with my daily rationed food. Opening my mouth, I continued the regular process of simply letting them feed me in my bindings. It was equally as disgusting as the first day, as it is now; one of those flavors you simply can't get used to. Yet she begrudgingly fed me like always; in the silence of after swallowing the glob of nutrient food. I awkwardly, tested the waters of communication. "My name is Shieo... Your's?" Truth be told, I didn't expect anything; she couldn't speak my tongue, and I was only slowly beginning to understand theirs. To my surprise; she had pressed what I figure was her index finger to my torso and repeated. "Shieo." I wasn't entirely sure how to reply to that acknowledgement. But merely dipped my head ever so slightly after a stunned second. While she didn't reply to my question, it seemed to have left and impression at the very least. And she cleaned up the belongings of the room and departed.

Settling me in the silent abyss of my thoughts once more. Interesting. If I continue, I may be able to develop more information of this place. They didn't seem to hold much hostility to my attempt of communication... In time I guess.

---

As Shizuka had continued her journey in efforts to seek out and retrieve their lost-- stolen goods from the Marshlanders. She had eventually taken it upon herself to recover some energy before she resumed the arduous trek.

In time, she was confident that she had covered a great deal of ground. And something was awry; the air was dense and muggy; which contradicted a great deal with the relatively open plains. While there was some thickets of trees in the distance; mountains far off in the horizon and patches of long grass that strew about all over the expanse of the fields.
As she continued in the efforts of travel. A tingle of warning struck down her spine; instinct kicked in as she felt the air stress as a bullet like object propelled itself throughout the air in aim towards Shizuka.
Given her aptitude for combat, it was far enough where she was capable of evading or blocking the attack. However, she wasn't quite capable of discerning the origin of the attackers projectile. -- She knew however, that she was presently not alone. And whoever was with her, was no ally.

What will she do?

---

[WC 551]
[MFT]

Notes

• I did a few rolls to what would happen. So some background: You're being ambushed by an A-Rank Kaguya (w/out Kinjutsu). I'll leave the details of the attacker up to you, and how the fight plays out (I won't play an active role as to the fight).
• Again you're free to decide when and where you find the compound. And what it looks like/what you're up against etc. And continuing on is entirely in your power.

"Marshlander."
Separate Narrative
Shieo Narrative

 

[Senju Shizuka]

From here there was no turning back. She was on her own. Siu would have to deal with her side and Shizuka would have to survive without her superior’s guidance. Processing that took a while, so she tried to concentrate on the task at hand instead of worrying. There was nothing she could do about the situation now. It was entirely out of her control so the best she do was use everything she knew and hope that it would be enough.

Planning to set up a sort of camp sometime soon, probably near those bushes in the distance or the trees behind them, she instinctively tensed up when the air changed. All of her thoughts went to analysing the smothering sensation instead of planning how to stay hidden for a few hours while have a comfortable sleep. It turned out that there was no sleep coming her way any time soon unless one two feet under the ground.

Luckily her senses hadn’t betrayed her. The bullet was met with one of the shuriken she had taken out of her pocket. Sliding back she let her eyes scan the area, narrowing when looking at the direction the hard object had come from, but being unsure whether the opponent was actually there. She couldn’t see anyone. It was distressing. It also had her becoming a little bit mad about having been so careless. If it hadn’t been for the feeling that had warned her about the incoming impact she might have been dead. In that case they wouldn’t be reunited with Siu and potentially fail at the mission entirely. All because she wasn’t being stealthy enough.

Knowing this now she called upon something she had in mind to potentially reveal her future opponent. Unsure if it would work, she hoped that they were close enough but simply hidden. Ash penetrated well. It went with air and everyone needed to breathe. Hence, without delaying the inevitable, she released a scalding cloud that rushed across the area in what seemed to be every direction. Across the ground, into the smallest cracks, toward the trees, the sky above - a thick, hot, grayness swallowed the area just to leave the grass slightly scorched.

And while no scream or yelp out of pain came, a cough did. Then, before the cloud had settled entirely, her opponent came out of its hiding spot. Shizuka was still unsure where it had been, but they were out now, so she assumed either the ground or a nearby tree. Perhaps this one was very skilled at camouflage - it would make sense.

Short hair - white, shinobi clothes, a feminine face - no mask. Shizuka tensed, hands sliding toward the little pouch that held some of her shuriken. Before she drew it her eyes widened when bones came into her direction. Like skeleton fingers they reached out with the intention to pierce. Bullets from bone! Again!

She rushed to the side, dodging some and deflecting others with the shuriken already in her hands. The sharp bits landed on the ground. From a quick look over it she thought them to still be intact; some strong bones. The sight tickled her memory but she couldn’t pinpoint what this reminded her of, or rather who. This was an ability from another clan, it wasn’t a jutsu, well, not really. This was just like her wood, but she couldn’t remember the fine lines of what made up the bloodline. Nor did she have the time to truly think about it.

Her enemy was on the move again. Those blue eyes were cold as steel. Obvioulsy there would be no talking. Whatever reason she had to attack Shizuka, it was good enough to kill. Which ruffled Shizuka’s in a way she hadn’t expected. Instead of fear, she felt anger. Perhaps not the worst emotion to have in battle, but she had to reign it in to make sure that she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

With spear like bones sticking from her arms the woman stabbed. Shizuka’s defense was a layer of wood and thorns that partly broke but mostly held against the spear’s razor sharp point. The woman twisted, slammed her foot into Shizuka’s side and had the student jump back. From the bit of information she had on this one, she appeared to prefer stealth and hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps ninjutsu was were she lacked. Then that could be the ace up Shizuka’s sleeve.

Some of the wooden armor crumbled beneath the next kick. Those attacks were bad to take, she realized when one of the next ones sent her flying again. Perhaps they left very little damage, but on the right time and against a weaker spot they might shatter her ribs. That’s why Shizuka pulled back, tried to create some space with a couple of shuriken flying for the woman’s head, and eventually brought forth a small forest. With moss and leaves covering the various trunks, the visibility went down, but Shizuka felt the plants’ movements. This would be her domain. And the pollen coming from the moss that slowly started to glow once the forest was up, well, it wouldn’t be something the Kaguya liked.

Kaguya! That was the name of the bone people!

Before her thought had taken any real roots bones came flying up from the ground. Like an elephant’s or even a dinosaur’s ribcage, they stuck toward the sky. Shizuka was lucky enough to have gotten up the branches above. Dangling on one, she frowned. It seemed that the enemy had already found her, even in these disadvantageous circumstances.

Quietly disappearing between the twigs and leaves, she let the pollen do their work. Little flowers had opened up to bloom and poison. That’s when the young Senju remembered how Kaguya were extremely tough. Not only their bones were special, they too had regeneration like the Senju. This would be a pain in the ass to survive, but there was no choice. She could not die here. There were too many things she still wanted to see and try.

Letting a wooden clone slide from the tree, she listened closely. It was entirely possible that the woman had sunk into the ground once again. It would make sense. Luckily if that were the case then she would be warned the moment moss got torn - the chakra flow would get disturbed - and so there would be time to prepare a block or dodge. However, just in case that, she let multiple shuriken to form a barrier of sorts. This way should an attack come through from an unexpected corner or Shizuka’s seals be too slow, well, then she would still have something to soften the blow.


**

 

[Siu]

The unknown trail continued on for rather unexpectedly long; 'Too' long. What Siu had previously assumed would be a short pursuit for clues had ended up extending from the early morning into mid afternoon. The young shinobi's usual surroundings gradually began to change into completely new terrain altogether, and it was at this point that Siu began to realize that a revised strategy may have been due. For it dawned on the youth that her initial zeal for finding an answer to this bizarre mystery had been so great, that she had not thoroughly enough considered the great risk at which she had potentially been putting the younger and less experienced academy student in.
The longer the two continued pursuit of their designated trails, the farther they also strayed away from one another, and the amount of time they continually invested in their individual pursuits would equal the amount of time required to return back to the camp. Daylight didn't last forever, and given that it was already mid afternoon, Siu understood that if she wanted to have any hope of catching back up with Shizuka before dark, she would have to leave now.

In her heart, Siu still fervently desired to continually pursue her trail to the end regardless of how far it extended or how much time it demanded, yet logically, she knew this would not be the wisest decision given that she was not alone in the pursuit. Indeed, the immediate opportunity for further evidence regarding the mysterious disappearance of her Instructor and the mission artifacts and documents was extremely valuable, yet it was not worth trading the safety and even potential life of her companion for. Siu could not imagine being able to still live with herself if the young academy student whom she'd personally requested to attend her herself had suddenly become stranded alone without hope in this foreign country or in the worst case scenario, even died, all while supposedly under her responsibility and care. Even the very thought alone of such a scenario terrified her.
Therefore, in the end, with a heavy, resigned sigh, the girl made the rather painful decision of ceasing her own pursuit in order to make her way back to the camp, search for the young academy student from there, and inquire her findings before it became too dark in addition to formulating a new, more efficient and safer strategy.

Maintaining the clones for such an extended period of time hadn't been of too difficult of a strain for the Genin, for the very first lesson by her missing Instructor had been concerning chakra control. From there, the youth had taken painstaking efforts in order to specialize in that field throughout her shinobi career; Mainly because, it was really 'all' she had. Her Taijutsu was subpar, and her Genjutsu was so negligible that it could basically have been considered nonexistent. Therefore, using her specialization to her advantage, she allowed the clones to continue the pursuit while she ceased her own. Better to at least cover two of the three trails, rather than none at all. Hopefully, Shizuka herself hadn't strayed out too far beyond the older shinobi's reach, or gotten into serious trouble.

 

[Shieo]

Tribulations of the Students -Chronicles of the Dragon

[thead]

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Time was an aloft mess to me, I lived in the darkness that drifted in my eyesight; or lack there of. The echoing of footsteps became like a clock to me, they became less erratic; or perhaps I was simply becoming more accustomed to the habits of those who inhabited this place. While my hypothesis cycles continued, and my mind drifted forever more into devising my purpose here, what paths could go and what was to come, or could come- Or what has yet to come. It didn't change my situation, bound and their attempts to subtly break me or use me in my solidarity were becoming more of a nuisance.

While I made continued efforts to move my body and keep myself from growing too stiff or weakened from the everlasting limbo that I was mostly unwillingly partaking in. The thoughts of escape didn't stop from haunting my thoughts; I knew that there was a means to escape now, if I truly had the capacity to bring myself to doing so. But such rash actions lead to many dangerous routes. Without knowledge, I risk myself and anyone; or anything else that was also caught up in this web of the Marshlanders.

It was then, that I heard the clockwork clack of steps enter the room. Followed with a stifled huff from the woman. "Sounds like you're happy." While perhaps not the best choice of words, my nature was hard-pressed to simply be brushed aside. This was met with an untimely flick to my forehead, and then a tug on my hair to lift my head up and begin the process of feeding.
Perhaps not a good day, after-all. Another time I think.

---

With her newfound tactics coating the landscape, Shizuka was developing a sound strategy and plan for the hidden combatant. While silence filled the air in a stifling suffocation; she held fast and through patience felt a stirring in the earth and in the fraction of a moment; the Kaguya erupted from the earth and was skybourne for some moments. Perhaps to her expectation; a flurry of bone projectiles were shotgunned across the surrounding region- While taxing as the attack looked, it was an effective strategy with the loss of clear direction the opponent, being Shizuka.

During her descent, the Kaguya had prepared their body with some bone-like armors to cover their form in preparation for retaliation. With the unknowing of the lingering poison that lofted in the air it would be a matter of time before the poison started to take effect, but Shizuka could be confident that it should have some effect on the enemy.

---

Siu through her extended efforts had continued through the surrounding landscape to return to the otherwise square-one with the branching efforts of clones. Upon reaching the location; he had to no surprise perhaps- Discovered that Shizuka was in-fact not present at the campsite. Though she did have a clear indication of which direction Shizuka had originally departed on from their original start of the hunt.
The question was now, what would the two of them do? Continue the offense? And hunt for the younger Genin?

---

[WC 524]
[MFT]

Notes

• I did a few rolls to what would happen. So some background: You're being ambushed by an A-Rank Kaguya (w/out Kinjutsu). I'll leave the details of the attacker up to you, and how the fight plays out (I won't play an active role as to the fight).
• Again you're free to decide when and where you find the compound. And what it looks like/what you're up against etc. And continuing on is entirely in your power.

"Marshlander."
Separate Narrative
Shieo Narrative

 

[Siu]

The return back to the camp was for the most part, uneventful. Nothing too important seemed to occur on the returning shinobi's end, neither had the girl's ongoing clones seemed to find anything of significant value. Indeed, it was no surprise to find Shizuka having not yet returned back to camp. Siu had displayed an initial zeal at the time which she now somewhat feared may have possibly rubbed off too greatly upon the younger girl's search.
Now, once again standing over the split paths, the young shinobi rose a hand to her chin and hummed an audible, "Hmmm.." As she took the moment to contemplate. Not long after, she could be observed rummaging through her pack, eventually coming across her desired objects; A notepad and pencil. Quickly opening the pad and flipping towards an empty page, she jotted down her messages; One paper she place near the location of the split paths with a rock atop of it, its weight keeping the sheet in place. The other sheet she latched close to the tent curtain; Both read the same contents:

"I am searching for you, so please do not leave this camp."

Not the most eloquently written of contents for the previously aspiring author, however, it communicated the point well enough. And with that, the youth darted off towards the same path she'd witnessed Shizuka pursue, anxiety increasing with each passing minute as daylight continued to gradually dwindle away. She direly hoped that the two would still not be caught separated from one another by the time darkness fell.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Of course it was eating at her, nibbling at her confidence with every passing second - she wasn’t strong enough to deal with the enemy, but she had to. Oh how she wished for Siu to be here now, or Shieo. Damn, where was that man?! There was no fiber in her body that believed him to be a traitor. No, no way that he had willingly taken the scrolls and abandoned them. Something was up here, and the Kaguya could have something to do with it.

Then, the Kaguya shifted. A split of a second later she came bursting out of the ground. Shizuka watched her rise higher and felt a wave of panic when the lethal bone-shards came flying everywhere. Surely there would be those hitting her square in the face, because they went through tree and leaves like a hot knife through butter. So, as fast as she could, she reflexively used wood to protect her from the incoming storm. A wall of it came rushing from out of the ground, sliding forth like a giant snake and curling over the girl. Bones crashed through that wood as well, but the majority was blocked. That, however unfortunate, didn’t stop two of them to find their way into Shizuka’s flesh.

Left side, somewhere between the last rib and her hip, she wasn’t sure where, but the blood was quickly soaking her clothes. Then, a smaller piece, in her foot. It stuck out of it, proudly. She managed to bend a little, pull it out of her foot to make sure that she was no longer pinned to the ground. It hurt. Both burned, but she managed to not make a noise. Surely giving away her position now would be her death. She had to get away. Fighting was no longer an option, fleeing was the only way out. That’s why she moved. Ignoring the wound in her foot she gritted her teeth, pressed her hand against the wound in her lower belly and disappeared between the trees.

Trying to catch her breath, she pressed against a rock. Hopefully it would protect her a bit more than a tree would. At this point she was quickly running through the jutsu she knew. Many were too weak, others might be too slow. Still, she had to give it a chance. It might be enough to keep the enemy busy - so she worked on the seals. One after the other her fingers sticky with blood were weaving the necessary signs for the dragon. When, after long frightful moments, the being finally came into existence, she felt a little bit relieved. Powerful and shiny, the Obsidian Dragon stood by her side, ready to shred the enemy should she appear.

No, not for that, Shizuka figured, pushed off and jumped onto the dragon’s back. They had to get out of here. Even if this was the worst escape in a shinobi’s history - flying away on a dragon’s back while your enemy was out there, she had to try it. An attack might hit the dragon first, it would probably give her the advantage of launching one from higher ground. In any case, she did it. The dragon rose, took a leap, and started to rise up toward the sky. Curling on its back, Shizuka was preparing another ninjutsu to counter whatever would come in next. Or at least try to.

* * *​

 

[Siu]

As the day continued its gradual shift into evening, Siu found herself growing impatient--Just how far down the path had Shizuka actually pursued? As the older girl's own abandoned path, this one also appeared to be nothing more than much terrain without any clues; A wild goose chase that refused to end. It felt as meaningless as chasing the very winds of the sky.
Frustration emerged, and yet the young kunoichi could in no way cease the pursuit upon her partner. It would be in this moment that an odd shadow would manifest its appearance in the sky ahead, its gigantic figure obscuring some sunlight. The youth's baffled and surprised expression narrowed into a concentrated squint as she made attempts to examine the bizarre sight, her run coming to a sudden halt in the process.

"Bahamut?!" Shouted a hopeful exclaim from afar.

"....Wait." Suddenly mused the youth to herself, as she took greater notice of its form and color--This was not the same creature she'd grown accustomed to seeing and training against.

Further observation would also reveal a form riding atop the massive beast--yet whom or even what exactly the soon-to-be Chuunin could not make out. The whole ordeal was baffling for her, yet she was extremely desperate for answers to this unfortunate mess, and this was the best occurrence akin to something moderately close to a lead she'd received the entire day; When a huge dragon was soaring through the skies, even an idiot could recognize it meant something, right?

However, inquiries and the obvious doubts did indeed dance around the young girl's racing mind; Did dragons exist in Marshlands, or was this simply another created illusion like Instructor Shieo's? Furthermore, whom or what was its rider--friend or foe?

"Oi!" Shouted a somewhat demanding exclaim as the girl waved her hands back and forth and began to chase after the large abnormality in the sky, attempting to grasp the object or its rider's attention. While such an open calling and presentation may have appeared rather naive, the kunoichi in her antics still mentally exercised caution, aware that this occurrence could literally lead to anything--whether for better or for worse. Yet, aside from this, she had nothing else to go on--And so what was the youth to really do?

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Trying to stay close to the shiny surface that was the dragon’s back, she was happy that her hands had been tightly clinging to a couple of obsidian scales when the beast shook like a volcano on the verge of eruption. If it hadn’t been for her cautiousness she might have fallen off when her design was roughly pulled to the side. After a close look through peering eyes she found the cause of her decline. Apparently the right wing had been pierced, and not only that. From the middle of the stony dragon’s wing appeared a bone white spear. This damn Kaguya had managed to get a grip on it. And while it was impossible for the hostile kunoichi to actually stop Shizuka’s summon mid-air, she somehow managed to force it to circle down slowly. Well, technically it was slowly because it was slower than crashing, but the ground was still coming her way too fast to Shizuka’s liking.

Unsure if it would work, she left behind a basic clone to crash into the ground together with the dragon. Surely the woman might see two others flee from the beast’s back, but she wouldn’t know which one was real. Besides, perhaps her eyes would still be on the clone rolling down the unharmed wing of the dragon as the latter collided with the ground. Debris and dust - a cloud rose up to covered the area where obsidian was littering the forest soil like the stars littered the night sky. Then, after getting on its feet, the clone dissolved.

On the other side a paper clone hid, ready to take any possible damage and return the favor. The real Shizuka, however, had managed to sink into the ground. Of course it wouldn’t be easy to attack like this, but with the paper being her eyes for now, well, she hoped that the clash between her clone and the enemy would be a clear sign for her as where to land. Stealth was all she had right now.

Meanwhile the Kaguya turned her attention to the voice coming from behind the trees. There was a difference between this one and the one who’s tried to talk to her at the beginning. Not wanting to take any risks she let the sharp bones slide from beneath her skin. The dust was still settling when she found herself facing another kunoichi. Who - judging by the glimpse she got from the metal on her sire - was an enemy. Getting ready to strike she almost missed the moment when Shizuka’s paper decided to take the first shot.

Don, a fairly small and elegant warhammer, was seemingly heading into the woman’s head’s direction. However, it never hit its target. As the bones ribbed through Shizuka’s side, the paper exploded and rushed to leave its bloody marks on the Kaguya’s body.

* * *​

 

[Shieo]

Leaving threads to officialize any open slots.