“Come one, come all! Come test your skills against a haunted ninja training dummy!” a short, grinning girl boomed from atop a soapbox right outside the Colosseum. A small crowd of academy students and genin had gathered around her, peering in awe and skepticism at the object she stood next to: a cloth straw-stuffed torso mounted on a tall wooden pole, with two small nubs for shoulders from which dangled a pair of thin rods as arms. The girl flicked a finger, pulling on a barely visible thread of chakra, and the figure twirled slowly on its post before the empty hole where its head would be produced a thin column of reddish flame. Gasps of shock and amazement rose from the gaggle of younger ninja; the puppeteer’s dry, self-assured smile did not change.
Saki continued, trying to hold her audience rapt, “I stole this from one of the haunted warehouses near the hospital- I was exploring them one night when I heard an unearthly scream coming from the corner of the room. When I investigated, there was nothing but this headless dummy and a tattered, bloody cloth… I reported the incident, of course, and to this day no killer has been found.” Some of the students looked genuinely terrified to remain in the presence of the cursed training dummy, but a few of the headband-sporting genin began laughing.
“Well? Anyone want to give it a try? Reward is 3,000 Yen if you can break this thing without it haunting you,” the girl offered. A tall red-haired genin sauntered forward, looking back to the crowd to flash his friends a thumbs-up. Saki crossed her arms and smiled. “Go ahead.”
There was a brief ‘click’ sound, and the dummy rocketed off the pole with its head ablaze, making a grating screeching noise as it danced erratically towards the boy. The students and genin all scattered out of the way of the mad puppet, leaving the brave volunteer to dive for cover, scrambling to find his friends as he tossed expletives behind him for the young puppeteer. Saki cackled, crashing the burning dummy into the ground a few times to put out the flames. She hadn’t gotten any money from her audience this time, oh well- the reactions were almost as good.
WC: 378
[MFT]
Saki continued, trying to hold her audience rapt, “I stole this from one of the haunted warehouses near the hospital- I was exploring them one night when I heard an unearthly scream coming from the corner of the room. When I investigated, there was nothing but this headless dummy and a tattered, bloody cloth… I reported the incident, of course, and to this day no killer has been found.” Some of the students looked genuinely terrified to remain in the presence of the cursed training dummy, but a few of the headband-sporting genin began laughing.
“Well? Anyone want to give it a try? Reward is 3,000 Yen if you can break this thing without it haunting you,” the girl offered. A tall red-haired genin sauntered forward, looking back to the crowd to flash his friends a thumbs-up. Saki crossed her arms and smiled. “Go ahead.”
There was a brief ‘click’ sound, and the dummy rocketed off the pole with its head ablaze, making a grating screeching noise as it danced erratically towards the boy. The students and genin all scattered out of the way of the mad puppet, leaving the brave volunteer to dive for cover, scrambling to find his friends as he tossed expletives behind him for the young puppeteer. Saki cackled, crashing the burning dummy into the ground a few times to put out the flames. She hadn’t gotten any money from her audience this time, oh well- the reactions were almost as good.
WC: 378
[MFT]
