Premonition [C-Rank ANBU Mission - Event Start]

[Senka]

​

Under the glaring sun the loud buzzing of flies could be heard, to the backdrop of the exceptionally noisy cicada that had come earlier than anticipated this year, due to the unprecedented heat spring had brought along after a long and cold winter. Up in the village hidden in the clouds, in which the climate was all but normal, this kind of phenomenon was a rare sight and largely enjoyed by the populace. However, it also stirred the world of insects, as they took the opportunity to reproduce as fervently as possible.

Within the most rancid streets of the Cronopolis slums, foul smells of human reject and decaying half-eaten food lingered in the even dirtier alleyways. However, the permanent residents of this cesspool found an unfamiliar stench wafting into their noses. Deterred by the unknown, none dared to check on the reason for the smell, when finally an old man who had lived in the streets for his entire life, as far as he could remember, finally took heart and peeked into the alleyway that appeared to be the origin of the busy buzzing of blowflies.

What he saw caused him to stumble backwards and fall on his behind, as he was even unable to scream at the terrifying sight.

A woman and a man were sitting next to each other, their lifeless eyes half-opened, with flies crawling over them unperturbed. They were completely naked, showing off the fact that all the joints in their bodies had been removed and replaced with what appeared to be wooden balls, including their necks and even their abdomens. They would have resembled dolls, if it had not been for all the blood splattered on and around their bodies. However, as if out of cruel courtesy to the pair, their fingers were entwined with each others', whether that was done for a sinister and perverted sense of amusement or meant as a serious nod of respect towards the two would remain a mystery to be solved.

However, the flies appeared to be more interested in a third corpse, if it could still be called that, as it was decomposed beyond recognition, and the putrefied flesh was turned into a nesting place for the maggots that would soon hatch. In fact, various cavities of the cadaver was already crawling with maggots that had begun burrowing into the remains that could barely be considered flesh. Soon the other two corpses would fall victim to the flies as well, when their skin and flesh was more accessible due to autolysis and putrefaction.

The buzzing of the flies and the crying of the cicada appeared to intensify with each heartbeat that the old man felt shaking his entire body up to the tips of his fingers. His eyes wanted to jump out of their sockets as sweat formed all over his body, even though he was freezing. He felt himself unconsciously sliding back and away from the corpses, when his hand touched something soft; it was only a piece of rotting fruit, but the sensation was the last straw.

Finally, the old man's voice burst from his lungs in an unintelligible scream.

_______


When the report came in, another half an hour had passed.

 

[Fuu]

Re: Premonition [ANBU Mission - Event Start]

Fuu rose a sweaty finger to his ear as his headset crackled to life, listening intently to the report. At first it was almost routine, fresh cadavers in the Cronopolis, hardly seemed like an ANBU concern. However he quickly deduced from the tone, and the obvious omission of important detail, that this was no ordinary incident. Of course, it was common practice for the short conversations held through the headsets to be somewhat vague, but something just seemed… off to the young man. So, with a slightly labored breath he pushed himself off from his perch and into the hot, dry air.

The heat, welcome and celebrated by most in the village, came as a bane to Fuu. Out of necessity, he wore a heavy cloak at all time, concealing the form of his extra arms in its bulk. Normally this was not a problem, as the climate of Kumogakure facilitated and even encouraged such measures. However, with the sudden wave of heat, the ANBU had been faced with a decision. Perform his duties without the cover his heavy, ANBU issued cloak and receive uncomfortable stares from everyone he passed, or go about his work as normal, but with the added threat of heatstroke. Being the private man he was, Fuu of course decided on the latter.

Sweaty and slightly out of breath, he landed heavily on the street a few blocks from where the report was generated. Tilting his arachnid ANBU mask slightly to the side, he inhaled deeply through his nose, taking in the scents around him. It was unmistakable, the smell of death hung heavy in the air. It was odoriferous and overpowering, completely dominating all other smells in the area. As alarming as this was, what was more so was the ambience of the that hung as heavy as the stench of decay. Fuu had patrolled these streets a thousand times previously and could count on one of his six hands how many times it had been this quiet. It was as if the whole area was dead, though he could see shutters and curtains rustle as he strode past, assuring him that there was still life in the area.
The smell reached its peak as the ANBU arrived at the scene, and what a scene it was. In all his years of service, he had investigated his share of gruesome incidents. This however, eclipsed all of his past experiences and was almost too much for him to take in. It would take more than this to break Fuu’s composure though, and so he approached the rancid scene and began to take note, taking advantage of the Snapshot technique he had learned in his early days as a trainee. He would wait before continuing the investigation, in order to make sure nothing went awry. Even a disciplined man such as he was uncomfortable with the whole situation, and this was enough to make him actually wish for the company of his fellow ANBU.

So he stood tall in the hot street, on alert for any threats to himself or the preservation of the crime scene, and waited for backup to arrive. As the flies buzzed around him, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The amount of gore suggested that the incident had occurred here, but either nobody had seen it happen or were too frightened to report it. What’s more were the odd wooden transplants on two of the corpses, the sad duo equal parts mortifying and fascinating. Fuu couldn’t even tell if the transplants were post-mortem or not, which raised even further questions. And of course there was the third ‘body’, though to Fuu it looked more a decayed pile of insect fodder.
As hard is was for him to admit, he had no options here. He would have to simply watch and wait, assailed by stench and heat, until his comrades arrived.
‘Pray they arrive soon.’
[Let me know if I screwed anything up, I feel terribly rusty.
Oh and MFT: 645 words]

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

It had been quite a while since Shashu last visited the Cronopolis. It brought back memories every time...broken memories of the day the first person she had befriended in Kumo disappeared. It was strange: She could remember only bits and pieces of that day, and even in those Tensai was discolored and washed out, barely there, as if some great hand had endeavored to wipe that day from the world. They had gone in search of antiques at the behest of a wealthy man, but her memories (such as they were) only extended to their arrival at the destination. She remembered something about the possibility of bandits, but no more. She didn't remember returning home either, and when she had gone to see the man who had given them the mission she had found the house empty, bare of all the decorations that had once filled the rooms, and not a soul to see. Since then she hadn't heard a single whisper of Tensai, as if had vanished from the face of the earth.

She shook her head. This is no time to be reminiscing about bygone friends Shashu. Three deaths...this is about as serious as it gets. The call had come in a little over half an hour ago, requesting her to report to the scene. It was doubtful that more than a few ANBU would be out here in this part of the city, so they had dispatched her and one other so far.

The charnel stench assaulted her nose as she approached the scene, noting the lone ANBU standing at the entry to the alley. His mask was styled to resemble an arachnid, unlike her still blank mask, and he wore the long cloak issued to Kumo ANBU for severe weather. How can he stand to wear that thing in this heat? I'd be dying inside, personally...must be hiding something. Nobody likes the heat that much. Shashu, like most Kumo natives, was used to the extreme cold that typically accompanied life here, and thus was doubly affected by the heat. Fortunately for her, the lightly armored form-fitting tunic and loose pants she wore as ANBU gear was just as good at shedding heat as it was at allowing freedom of movement. Even so she was tempted to simply sink beneath the earth and hide in the cool embrace of stone. The man had to be sweating up a storm under there.

Shashu nodded to the older ANBU as she walked up and stood next to him, surveying the scene. She triggered the Snapshot Jutsu to record what she saw, allowing for far better information than pen and paper or the latest in image capturing technology could manage. Some things simply weren't the same viewed through a lens, and she could imagine this scene was one of them. Two bodies, joints replaced with wood, locked together in a macabre embrace, and another being devoured by an infestation of flies and maggots. This is...something, alright. I'm suddenly glad I didn't stop for takoyaki earlier...

Her initial assessment done, she turned and looked up to the tall ANBU and offered a hand. "Bikou, if you will. This is pretty messy...any idea what happened here?"

 

[Fuu]

It was barely a minute before the next person arrived, but to Fuu it had felt much longer. Something about standing in a godforsaken pit of an alleyway, his only company three corpses and the droves of scavenging insects, had caused time to creep to a standstill. In this time, the man had entered into a sort of meditation, taking in the scene in front of him. He could feel each individual bead of sweat, hear the flap of every fly and finally the soft landing and approaching footsteps of his backup.

As much as he disliked dealing with people, he felt relieved as he turned to face his comrade. Another, perhaps more experienced perspective would be extremely welcome in this situation. That relief quickly turned to disappointment, as what appeared to be a trainee strode up to greet him. ‘A trainee? For a triple homicide in the slums?’ It was above his pay grade to question such things however, so he shrugged it off and observed the new arrival. She, at least, seemed comfortable enough with the weather and was dressed appropriately for it. ‘Must be nice,’ he mused absent mindedly ‘not being an eight legged oddity.’ For a moment neither spoke, Fuu allowing his apparent backup to take in the scene before getting on with the formalities. "Bikou, if you will. This is pretty messy...any idea what happened here?" Judging from her voice and size, the trainee couldn’t have been more than 15 years old. This only raised his level of concern about the whole situation, but as always he would fulfill his obligations as ANBU, without questioning the decisions of his superiors. Besides, maybe there was more to this kid than met the eye?

After reaching a gloved hand out to return the social protocol, he turned back to scene before speaking. “Doku. To be frank, I’m not sure. These two,” he said, pointing to the macabre duo “appear to have died around, if not at, the same time. They also seem to have undergone extensive surgery, though whether this was pre or post mortem I haven’t the slightest. Judging by the amount of gore, they were either killed here or opened up here.” Pausing for a moment, he took a few shallow breaths before stepping carefully over to the third corpse. Quietly, almost to himself, he continued. “Now this one has obviously been dead for some time, but what I don’t understand is how somebody could have covertly transported it here, considering its… condition.”
After retreating back slightly, Fuu looked up and around, checking to see if the decomposing corpse had possibly been dropped from the roof, dragged through the alley or deposited gently from a container of some sort. He was no forensic expert, but he had a logical, analytical mind and that had always been enough if in the past.

One thing was for certain though, he was in dire need of an excuse to leave this alley. The heat and stench hung in this unventilated alley, and Fuu felt as though he could be skewered and served at any time.
‘Best figure this out quickly, so you can escape this cursed oven.’
[Sorry, got a lil impatient. Senka if you need to me to remove this post, let me know.]

 

[Senka]

[OOC: No problem, there wasn't really anything to say yet.]


People from the surrounding sorry excuses for human dwellings were watching the person in the heavy coat and the mask intently, and some gasps were audible when another figure approached, also masked, but smaller in stature and physique - at least compared to what was visible from the initial first person. While few people were aware of the fact that those two were members - or one member and one would-be member - of the elite of the village hidden in the clouds, there was little doubt to their line of work. And Cronopolis, for all intents and purposes a place to house the citizens of the village, barely had anybody from the Ninja side of the world living in it. Those could usually afford better places, and even if they could not, the Shinobi barracks were certainly more inviting.

However, while interest in those newcomers was big, none dared to step out onto the streets in their presence. The person who had called in and reported the corpses was nowhere to be found and that would so within this part of the city, unless witnesses were to tell the Ninja about his identity.

Thus, the situation was very clear: Three corpses, found in an alleyway, with no signs as to how they had been moved there, and no witnesses to the act. It appeared that all that remained would be up to the coroners, but even then, there was something the ANBU on the scene could do.

They could try and make sure that there were truly no signs of finger- or footprints, as well as foreign objects, other than the wooden doll joints, embedded into the corpses. Although how the two ANBU went about this, or whether they would at all, was entirely up to them.

 

[Tsuirakuya Shashu]

Shashu nodded at Doku's assessment. Essentially just a quick once-over, the same as her, with a bit more detail. There wasn't much else for them to discern from sight and smell alone, so it was time to try a new tactic. She made sure to thoroughly document the scene with the Snapshot jutsu before she made her next move, as the scene would be thoroughly compromised after she was done.

"Doku, I'm about to sweep the scene clean for evidence and clear up all this...nastiness. Would you make sure you have everything backed up on your end?" She was fairly certain the older ANBU had used Snapshot before her, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. While she waited for Fuu to do his sweep Shashu cleared a small area at the entrance to the alleyway and, after slicing her tongue with her belt knife, spat a gob of blood and spider mucus into the palm of her hand, which she in turn used to draw a small symbol on the ground. Should anyone look at it in the brief moments before it disappeared, it would appear to be a spider web interspersed with runic markings that those knowledgeable in such things would recognize as a form of contract summon.
[spoilername="Honeyoroi"]

[/spoilername]

The creature that slowly dropped down on a strand of drag line silk (seemingly out of thin air a few feet above the ground) was not the type of beast that most people would imagine when they pictured a contract summon. For that matter he wasn't the sort of thing people would imagine at all, unless they were possessed of a rather macabre mindset. Honeyoroi was a golden orb weaver, extremely large for his kind, and easily as big as a dinner plate. As if that weren't enough, his entire body was covered in an actual human skull, anchored in place by silken threads stronger than steel.

Upon reaching the ground, the spider dipped it's body in what could only be considered a nod in Shashu's direction. "You called?" He rasped through fangs unsuited to human speech.

Shashu nodded in turn. "Yes Shuchou, thank you for responding so quickly. We have a crime scene here that needs canvassed, and a body that needs...cleaning." She nodded to the infested corpse as she spoke. "We need the bodies themselves intact and any foreign objects scoped out, particularly anything unusual or newly brought to the area."

The red glow in the spider's left eye socket swiveled and darted around, taking in the scene as she gave the request. "Aye, right mess you've got here. I'll muster some troops."

With that the armored spider tapped a staccato rhythm on the ground, then waited. In less than a minute a veritable carpet of smaller garden variety spiders came pouring out of of the woodwork and clustered around him, after which he tapped out another pattern, longer this time, and the spiders swarmed over the scene. No surface went unexamined, no crevice unexplored. Anything they could fit their tiny bodies into they would check, and when they got to the maggot infested body they began carting away the larvae for later consumption. Anything they found they would bring to Honeyoroi, and by extension Shashu, for inspection.

As the spiders worked the boss arachnid eyed Fuu with his single red orb, but whatever he sensed he kept to himself while he continued to tap out orders with his forelegs. Without breaking his pattern he addressed the younger ANBU. "I doubt you'll get much use out of that one after the maggots have been at it. I'd like the bones when you're done." It wasn't phrased as an order or a request, but Shashu knew it to be a bit of both.

"I'll see what I can do Shuchou, but I can't make any promises. I'll find something suitable if they deny the request." The golden weaver simply looked back at her with it's red stare before blinking and rasping agreement. Shortly the little ones would be done with their search and she could see what all they found.

[MFT: WC-683]​

 

[Senka]

When the spiders started to sweep the area, all windows were thrown shut in an instant, and the inhabitants of the street disappeared from view as they sought shelter from the multi-legged army they feared would be invading their habitat. They army of many-colored arachnids cleaned out the corpses and all foreign objects that might be embedded within them, but ultimately, they would find nothing noteworthy.

However, as they left the corpses, surely in disappointment, the one that was nothing more than a pile of rotten flesh and bones fell apart under its own weight, as if the maggots had been its last line of support before self-destruction. From the neck area, unnoticed by any spider before, an elongated black bolt, made of an unknown material, emerged as the remaining putrid meat gave way. It was approximately the same length as the neck had been strong, and appeared to have been embedded in the neck bones.

If the two ANBU representatives present knew of the Rikudo Sennin phenomenon, they would realize that it was one of the strange Chakra bolts they employed to control the bodies they possessed. They would have to realize the implication that they were either dealing with a Rikudo Sennin or somebody who was strong enough to kill one.

For now, all that was apparent was that the bodies required the attention of a coroner, before they were compromised even more.

 

[Fuu]

"Doku, I'm about to sweep the scene clean for evidence and clear up all this...nastiness. Would you make sure you have everything backed up on your end?" Without a word Fuu stepped back, nodding his approval to the young girl. Everything was sufficiently backed up, each victim from multiple angles, and the ANBU was confident that he had done all he could. Once the girl was through with whatever she had up her sleeve, he would begin the bagging process immediately. It wouldn’t do to have the other two corpses get infested with scavengers, and the young man was eager to get out of this damned alley. Quickly however, the heat and maggots were expelled from his mind, replaced with curiosity.

A large spider had manifested itself in front of the trainee, and was speaking to her in a scratchy tone. Fuu eyeballed the creature, intrigued and marveling at it's impressive stature. He wanted nothing more then to sit and speak with the beast, but there were more pressing matters. After a word from the girl, the arachnid had begun to tap on the ground, the noise resonating throughout the alley and probably the whole neighborhood. The whole area seemed to go into a panic, doors and windows slamming to ward away the swarm of spiders that followed shortly after. While most people would likely feel uneasy in the presence of such a gathering, Fuu felt an odd sort of fascination, even an affinity, to the host of critters. So, lifting his mask up to the top of his head, he watched quietly as the spider host worked at the crime scene, scouring every inch, inside and out.

As they began to disperse, carrying off maggots and other small parasitic insects, something caught Fuu’s eye. The third corpse had collapsed upon itself, revealing a small black rod protruding from where it’s neck would have been. Slowly and carefully, the ANBU approached the mass of rotten flesh, watching in silent awe as the spiders swarmed away from where his feet were landing. He would hate to step on even one, so the few steps took slightly longer than it normally would have.

Squatting down the young man pushed a lock of blonde hair, dark with sweat, away from his eyes. The rod woke something deep in his mind, and for a moment he struggled to grasp the memory. When he realized what he was looking at however, his demeanor changed noticeably. In a snap he was standing straight again, his mask pulled back down over his face and his finger pushing the small button in his earpiece. “Doku reporting, requesting bags for three and crime scene analysts in sector 5.” The tone in his voice implied a certain urgency, and his body was straight and tense. If his suspicions were correct, things were about to get much more interesting.


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[Continued: http://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=254&t=34831]