Side Quest: What Lies Ahead and Behind (Hakuren and Riyota)

[Raizo]

Continued from here

The three of them, two mobile and one being carried, would begin their quest forward. The speed at which they traveled would need to be balanced. The full speed Riyota could cover would be the fastest of all three, even if Ataru was healthy, but traveling at such a speed would surely disrupt the minor triage work of Hakuren and send the blood once more flowing out of the wounded Chuunin. Riyota's full speed would also, over a quick amount of time, cause him to pull rather far ahead of Hakuren, a young shinobi still developing. However, the roles would almost be reversed if Riyota slowed himself down to move fast but not fast enough to cause further damage to Ataru; in that scenario, a full sprinting Hakuren would easily be able to put up a quick distance between himself and the Jounin. Their path forward and their speed ultimately would be dependent upon their chosen strategy--was the goal to get Ataru back to the village as a duo, to split up even further and have one race to the village first, or another method the two concoct.

While they would begin their trek forward, regardless of speed, they would notice the sound off in the distance would continue to grow louder and louder each passing minute forward. Clearly, whatever was out there, was heading in the same direction. There was also the rumbling from earlier, whatever that was, also lied ahead.

---

OOC: Riyota and Hakuren, for this next post you only need to roleplay your actions upon leaving the group and traveling forward. I am sorry you find yourself in another setup post, but following you next posts a roll will be made to see if you are blessed with early fortune or misfortune.

 

[Ryu Hime]

Hakuren always carries his mother’s grimoire. It was a black book with words of silver. Leabhar na Geasa was written on the cover, which translated to Book of Spells. In the book were lists of small incantations written in a runic language; three words or less. His mother writes these spells in a certain way on paper talismans and use them as trap. Much spells filled this book to the point that it was comparable to a dictionary. The book was big enough for him to sit on comfortably and he had to strap it to his back when going places.

Hearing the sounds coming behind him, Hakuren was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. “I do not like the sounds of that.” A confrontation was likely inevitable, but fortunately Hakuren is skilled at preparing traps before the battle starts. (Yep I got strategist) Hakuren pulls out three talismans from his book: Hidden Launcher, Acid Trap and Oil Trap. Hakuren has the three of them set to go off when destroyed. Hakuren also prepares a couple of free hits with his book should these animals get too close. With the three talismans he applies the man’s blood and then sends them into the air towards the howling. Hopefully whatever is tracking down the man as their prey will be attracted to these talismans.

Hakuren then turn to his traveling companion. “Hopefully that will buy us some time, but I do believe we should continue with haste.” Looking at Riyota Hakuren finds him to be quite the strong individual. Hakuren would not be able to keep up with this guy very long. “How much weight do you think you can carry?” Placing the spell book on the ground and sitting on it, Hakuren activates its wired augment. Ninja wired shoot out from the book and wrap around Riyota’s waist. Being that they were on sand, it should be like pulling a sled across snow. “Normally I would not be able to keep up with you, but this way I can.” Hakuren thought himself very clever, however he forgot that traveling at such a speed might disrupt the minor triage. However time is of the essence. Do they really want to waste it fighting whatever is chasing them?

 

[Miroku Riyota]

It seemed the student deemed it necessary to lay a few traps. The move was not unwise considering the howling in the wind that seemed to be gaining volume. Riyota watched as the papers scattered in the wind to wherever they were going. He just hoped it wasn't some poor desert wanderer who stumbled upon it. It was then that Hakuren asked him a question. "Quite a bit, why?" Riyota responded shortly before Hakuren decided to tether ropes to him. Apparently his consent was not a factor. Seemingly the plan was for Riyota to drag Hakuren along so that the student would not be struggling to keep up. The plan made sense but had one major flaw, a flaw that the young student would likely notice as the ropes barely gained any tension for a long while and he was pulled along at a slow pace quite a distance behind his elder.

"Ataru's barely holding together as is. I can't move any faster than walking because any sort of movement could knock all the broken bits inside him around and we could lose him to all sorts of nasty stuff." He paused for a moment as he continued walking. "I'm aware time is of the essence, but I'd rather take the chance of taking a little longer and hoping he holds out than rushing and basically murdering him." He explained.

"So, that said..." Pearly white bones protruded slowly out of the tops of his shoulders, cutting the rope like a pair of scissors. As it slackly fell to the ground Hakuren would find himself stopped. "You'll surely be able to keep up with my walking pace! Don't be lazy now!" He called back to the student before looking down at the weak body in his arms. "We're doing our best to get you to safety, if you could hold up your end of this deal by just struggling on a bit longer I would appreciate it."

 

[Raizo]

The coughing of blood would begin. It wasn't the carelessness of his carrier or the actions of the boy, it was just the dire situation he was in. Time was of the essence, and yet their speed could only cause more damage. Our would-be heroes were in an unfortunate spot; their very rescue attempt may ultimately lead to the death of the one they were attempting to save. Worse yet, there were potentially forces at work against them.

Yet, the quick thinking of one would seemingly, whether actuality or not, would work in their favor. The sounds howling behind them, upon the release of the bloody talisman, would seem to decrease slightly in numbers (-3 to total animals). While the sound would decrease in some regards, it would also begin to sound much closer. Whatever was there was gaining.

Not to help matters, there was also the road ahead. The quake from earlier was foreboding, but what did it mean. Well, maybe some of the answers would come to light as the continued forward, and upon the path ahead would be a sand dune. This dune seemed out of place, something that was not originally there and had just rose from the earth like a wrinkle in the vast desert. It might have been the harkening of something more, but they could not worry about that. This dune would delay them if not negotiated carefully (without any form of roleplay attempt to overtake the dune, you will be delayed by 1 post crossing over it naturally... I look forward to creative solutions!).

What would they do? What could they do? How much longer did Ataru have left? So many questions remained...

---

OOC: A roll was made to see how much damage occurs to Ataru this post. Actions you perform may result in health regen, health loss, death, etc. so choose your actions carefully. LIke this post, your choice to go slow gave you a damage debuff in your favor, grats! At the current pace you will need to keep moving through 5 more rounds without stopping. If you speed up you have the following choices;
Run Level 1 (make it in -1 post but damage will only be reduced by 40).
Run Level 2 (make it in -2 posts but damage will only be reduced by 10).
Run Level 3 (make it in -3 posts but damage will be increased by 10).
You can change your pace at any time, just indicate it, and this system is only for the one carrying Ataru. The individual not carrying Ataru doesn't worry about the damage piece of the mod and only would be impacted by their arrival post count. Splitting up does come with risks of a barrier appearing that would stop the carrier of Ataru should they be the only one around at that time.

Ataru's Health:

Spoiler

damage this post:
t!dice 1d100
TatsumakiBOTToday at 12:59 PM
:game_die: Rolling Dice!
[d100 : 98]
In the end, the result was: 98
----You gained a -60 damage mod due to going slow!

 

[Ryu Hime]

It sounds like her first round of traps were a success as less wolves seems to answer the call of the howl. Hakuren would assume that they were being followed by basic wolves. Sand wolves are a danger here in these parts, but they do not hunt in packs. Hykal are pack animals, but he believes they make more of a laughing sound then a howl. They were tracking them with their sense of smell and would go after things that smell of blood. Reaching into his pouch of poisons, Hakuren pulls out a vial of fury gas. Nearly invisible, fury gas is known to incite an unfathomable rage within it's targets, causing them to attack the next thing they see with all of their strength. “If they are so keen on using their noses, let's give them something to smell.” Once again Hakuren goes for some blood and covers the vial in it. Carefully he places in on the ground and with any luck the gas would cause them to attack each other.


“You’re an official shinobi right?” THis was a rhetorical question considering the answer is completely obvious. “Could you cast a clone jutsu and have it run ahead. It would be nice if we could contact the village and have them meet us part way.” Hakuren thought up this idea after hearing how the headset only seem to give feedback. True Hakuren did not use the headset himself but the look on Haru’s face said it all, not to mention is was a little loud. It was then they came across the mysterious dune. “Hold on that was not there before. Considering Araru here was hunting a legendary sandworm, I’m a little hesitant walking across strange dunes.”

 

[Miroku Riyota]

As of now there wasn't a whole lot Riyota could do, anything he had that was capable of warding of wild animals would require him to put Ataru down and whether he did it gently or not it would cost all of them time and possibly cause further injury. It was then that the boy under their protection would cough up viscous drops of blood. Riyota placed a hand under his neck to prevent injury from the spastic movements even while his clothes were being stained with blood. "Just hang in there, we're almost home." He reassured the chuunin, trying to keep his spirits up.

Both Riyota and Hakuren would come across a large, out of place dune ahead of them. Riyota did not answer the students question about being a senior ninja as he was too busy trying to think of a way past the sand dune. Only when Hakuren suggested using a clone did the Jonin cast a glance his way. "I think that's a good idea, alright, I'm about to set you down. Brace yourself, but not to hard." He warned the struggling Chuunin. Slowly, he bent a knee and lowered the body down, gently laying him on the warm Sand. As he rose he began forming handseals that were similar to an ordinary clone jutsu with some slight variations. Once the seals were completed Riyota would place one hand on his chest and one out in front of himself. Liquid metal would emerge from the ground and slowly meld into an identical copy of himself. "Run ahead to Suna and tell them to dispatch a medical team, zero in on the chakra of Miroku Riyota." The clone received its orders with a nod, sprinting off towards Suna. Riyota turned to glance at Hakuren. "That clone's made of steel, it should be able to take
a few hard knocks from whatever's out here. He explained.

Whilst not having enough time to do something complex like prepare a minefield for any tracking animals he certainly could do something about the dune ahead of them. With a brief pause for thought he drew one of his twin blades from his left arm, the one sealed in bone. He extracted the blade from the bone of his arm and tucked it tightly under Ataru's clothing, making sure it wouldn't come loose unexpectedly. The black blade pulsated with a very slight red glow. "This should keep you stable-ish." He assured, gently tucking his hands under Ataru again he slowly lifted him back up.

Looking towards the dune again, he didn't take his eyes off it. Pondering for another moment, he began walking towards it. "Hakuren! Stay very close to me. I'm not wasting more time going around this thing." Whether Hakuren did so or not Riyota's curse seal would begin to grow up his neck. The colours of his right eye would invert and tendrils of flesh would extend out of his back. A fleshy orb would begin forming around himself and Hakuren if the student was close enough. It would provide ample protection for the pair in case there was anything unexpected within the dune. The final step, a large, cannon-like, orifice would protrude out of the front of the orb. A beam of Malevolent energy would begin charging before firing forth like a drill through the sand.

The three of them would be able to make steady progress straight through the dune this way.

[Riyota's weapons have the Recovery augment. Hopefully this provides a notch of healing for the poor lad.]
Jutsu used:
- Steel Clone
- Chrysalis
- Malevolent Annihilation

Chakra Remaining: 19'810/30'000
Health Points Remaining: 42'000/42'000

 

[Raizo]

The powerful blast of Riyota would go ripping through the darkness, slamming into the dune, and tearing through the wave of sand like a drill. The intention of the high-level shinobi would pay off as when the dust settled, a path would appear before them. The blast also served a different purpose, aside from making a direct pathway, it also knocked around the loose sand. This unearthing would expose, even though in the night sky, what the dune actually was; a portion of it was indeed a compilation of sand and earth, some pushed up from the surface, but the vast majority of the dune appeared to be what Hakuren had just said; Sandworm. This worm was not an adult, by any stretch of the imagination. The full length would be hard to tell as the ends of the worm were still buried under sand. So aside from seeing portions of the worms exterior around the edges of Riyota's blasting path, they would also probably notice the smell of the chard entrails as they moved forward. If they looked around while passing through the worm, aside from the damage that was caused by Riyota's blast, they would also notice that one side of the entrails seemed to have borrowing marks within it, as if something had already dug through to one side of this worm. Without being able to see what the worm half still buried in the sand looked like, they wouldn't be able to discern more. One last look, if they happened to let their eyes linger, would notice that the height of their passage, mostly created by the height of the dead worm, would be lowering over time. Was the worm shrinking?

Another thing of note would be that the worm did not respond to being pierced by the Malevolent Blast. There was no dying howl, no thrashing about, no response at all. Was this worm already dead? Did the attack pierce it quickly enough that it died instantly? If it was already dead, what killed it?

Riyota, following the suggestion of his younger accomplice, would create a clone and send it off forward (I am assuming this clone is traveling at full speed? He will reach the village after your next post).

Hakuren's clever planning would work once more, whether they knew it or not, as the sound moving towards them would once again lower in size, this time however by not as much. While this was a tactic that seemed to be working, one had to worry that the young trapper might be dumping to much of their inventory without concern of any potential future conflict.

Speaking of their growing concerns, there was now the strain of their primary fighter; Riyota. The use of a clone and a malevolent blast, did this young Jounin have the chakra reserves to handle what might ensue if a combat situation arose?

Lastly, young Ataru. Whether by luck, quick thinking of Riyota or a mixture of both, the young Chuunin would find himself not worsening, maybe even looking slightly less dire than before.

There were plenty of things happening around them, but with their mission being a race against time could either adventurer stop and observe or would they need to continue to press on? Would the clone of Riyota be able to make it back to the village in time for assistance? More questions, some answers, what would be uncovered in the next round!?

---

OOC: Choices needed for this next round of posting:
1. Will you (each answer individually) stopping to investigate the worm carcass?
2. Will you each continue at your current pace?

Not a lot of choices but things will start coming to a head shortly, so please...

Riyota Chakra: 19,810 *Appreciate you keeping up with it, just making a note for myself for ease in next round of posting!*

Spoiler

At the current pace you will need to keep moving through 5 more rounds without stopping. If you speed up you have the following choices;
Run Level 1 (make it in -1 post but damage will only be reduced by 40).
Run Level 2 (make it in -2 posts but damage will only be reduced by 10).
Run Level 3 (make it in -3 posts but damage will be increased by 10).
You can change your pace at any time, just indicate it, and this system is only for the one carrying Ataru. The individual not carrying Ataru doesn't worry about the damage piece of the mod and only would be impacted by their arrival post count. Splitting up does come with risks of a barrier appearing that would stop the carrier of Ataru should they be the only one around at that time.

Ataru's Health:

Spoiler

Wrathful RokuToday at 8:34 AM
Animals subverted attempt (6 remaining)
t!roll 1d6
TatsumakiBOTToday at 8:35 AM
:game_die: Rolling Dice!
[d6 : 1]
In the end, the result was: 1
Wrathful RokuToday at 8:35 AM
5 remaining, 1 diverted
Wrathful RokuToday at 1:29 PM
Ataru's health lost (+60 health buffer)
t!roll 1d62
TatsumakiBOTToday at 1:29 PM
:game_die: Rolling Dice!
[d62 : 7]
In the end, the result was: 7

 

[Ryu Hime]

Seems Riyota liked his ideas and creates a clone to start running towards the village. Hakuren still wonders what in the world could be affecting their headsets. Possibly it was something with the village. Hakuren would like to be able to contact the other team. Taking the headset off of Ataru, Hakuren attempts to radio the main quest team. “Hello Hura-sensei, can you hear me. Please respond.” Though he might not get anything from them even if the headsets did work. Hakuren was unsure how well these things work underground. Perhaps the feedback had to do with the area Ataru was found. When the man did send an SoS, it was a little broken up. If this did not work he would turn to a different frequency. In both Suna and Sora there are radio stations that send out music. He wanted to see if all radio signals were being blocked across the band.

While Riyota was giving Ataru some equipment, Hakuren was looking through the man’s. Right now Ataru was in no shape to use any tools, traps or poisons. Hakuren might be able to use them. The first item Hakuren found was a flare gun with a single flare left. While it is not meant to be used as a weapon, it can do some damage if shoot at an individual. Would go well with an oil trap. He would have to make another one when he has the time but for now he was looking for what else Ataru had on his person.

When Riyota says to stay very close, Hakuren hugs him and thankfully he did. Soon Hakuren would find himself in a protective bubble as the shinobi fires an incredible blast. That blast solved many problems. It seemingly killed the monster hiding within, made a shortcut for them to travel and most importantly took care of the wolf problem coming from behind. The wolves are hunting them for food and now there was a feast before them. Why would the wild wolves pass up an easy meal to hunt them. Thankfully Hakuren has a Respirator, otherwise the smell of this thing would be enough to knock him out. “We should keep moving.” Hakuren vote was to keep moving as there situation did not really allow them the time to investigate.

 

[Miroku Riyota]

The few things, both objects and people, whom had been on the receiving end of Riyota's annihilating beam had never come out looking pretty afterwards. This dune was no exception. The sand and earth that was no obliterated was noticeably displaced, leaving pieces of smouldering sandworm corpse in their wake. Whilst suspicious indeed, it was many times better than having non-smouldering alive sandworm in their wake. Riyota cast a confused glance over the scene as the stench of burning carapace filled his nostrils. "I'll need to come back to check on that..." He murmured to himself. "Hakuren, we're gonna keep walking forward. Tread carefully and make sure you don't step on any loose sand. I don't want to have to come help you if you fall in." He warned the young student before continuing to trek forward, making doubly sure he wasn't going to stand on loose sand, especially with the extra weight.

Speaking of the extra weight the Jounin did another quick check of the wounded Chuunin to ensure he was holding together. It seemed like they had managed to stem the flow of damage somewhat through their efforts but that didn't mean they could stop to sit down and have a quick picnic before reaching the village. Riyota could only hope that the efforts of his clone bore any fruit.

"Are you having any luck?" Riyota asked, turning his head to look back at Hakuren. "With the headset, I mean?" Assuming the student responded truthfully regarding the situation Riyota would grunt and look forward again, eyes scanning the empty air above as he considered what could possibly be causing such massive radio interference.

Things were starting to piece together in his head, considering the current situation back in Suna and the recent declaration of war. The fact that a Shinobi team was attacked and coincidentally the signals are being blocked. Its true that it is entirely possible that the squad was taken out by some kind of creature but at the same time it all seemed a little too perfect for that. This could've been a strike to prove that this war was real.

The only way to truly answer that question would be to get Ataru back safe so he could give a debriefing about everything he saw. Only this Chuunin could prove Riyota's feeling right or wrong.

MFT

[Ultimate Decision time below:]
- I will not be stopping to investigate the carcass until Ataru is in safe hands.
- I am going to continue at my current pace.

 

[Raizo]

Their decision to keep onward was not wrong in the slightest, especially if their goal was to save Ataru. Sure, sticking around they would have noticed some things that were lost in the fallout of Riyota's blast. The rapidly dissolving sand worm, the face of said worm being that of what looked like a baby but at a considerably much larger size, and the strange pawprints and drag marks that had been pacing around the scene of the carcass. There was still a chance that they encounter said things, or at least portion of said mysteries, later anyways.

Hakuren would try once more to send out communication, this time trying to reach back to his teacher, Harupia. The static interference would be present, and while it was clear his words were not going through this time he would get some feedback, and not just static.

"More shinobi... *zzzttt* prepare.....guards....beast......*zzztt* ....subject #1....*zzztt* #3.... what do you mean.... 3 is...side...commence base fu--....*zzzttt* liquidation...ediately..."

The static would then begin to hissy loudly once more.

They, however, did need to necessarily worry about the noise on the headset. No, what they needed to worry about would be the three different noises that were about to occur, with one happening out in front of them, while the other happened behind them, and the third one happening next to them.

The one behind them would be the most noticeable. The sound had seemingly gone quiet for the past couple of seconds, and maybe it was thought that they had eluded whatever it was behind them, but it would instead seem like the beasts decided to remain quiet as they approached their prey. That would change as the sound of a piercing howl would ring out as five...no, four and a half... set of glowing eyes, or at least what appeared to be eyes, would be seen clearly in the dark if either adventurer turned around. Upon them was an odd-looking beast, one that from a distance might have sounded like multiple but in actuality...was a bit more complicated. They could continue to move forward, but their current pace would not put any separation between them and the beast, meaning they would be dodging and hoping for luck to make it further. They were so close to the village, what more could they ask for?!

The second noise would only be heard by the Steel Clone as a figure would appear before the clone, stopping him dead in his tracks. What would the clone do? Who was standing before the clone?

The third noise would be the one happening right next to them, and it would be very simply this; a violent cough. Following the cough would be a strong smell of blood and a faint moan as the eyes of Ataru rolled into the back of his head. Whatever his condition was, it had suddenly and violently taken a turn for the worst. What was going to happen to poor Ataru!?

---

OOC:
The choice here is the following:
Hakuren and Riyota -
1. Fight and delay your progression
2. Continue fleeing at same pace; you will be attacked during this
3. Speed up; Ataru will take excellarated damage

Riyota's Clone -
1. Fight
2. Talk
3. Keep standing there

Ataru's Health:

Spoiler

damage this post:
t!dice 1d100
TatsumakiBOTToday at 12:59 PM
:game_die: Rolling Dice!
[d100 : 98]
In the end, the result was: 98
----You gained a -60 damage mod due to going slow!

 

[Ryu Hime]

Upon hearing the howl Hakuren turns around to see quite the beast. “Keep moving, I will take care of this guy.” If Riyota disagrees Hakuren would argue his case, “You cannot fight while carry Ataru and he is getting worse by the minute. There is no time. NOW GO!” Hakuren had an idea just how to take care of this guy. It was a little trick he devised within Hurapia’s class. It was an interesting maneuver only people of his bloodline could pull off.

His mother writes spells on paper talismans and use them as traps. Hakuren could not use the full array of spells like his mother, but that is not to say he doesn’t know any. Mostly at the moment he can only make traps, but there are a couple of jutsu he can do though talismans. Talismans are interesting as they can be used as traps, which sometimes allows jutsu to behave in ways that normally do not. For example there are barrier jutsu that cannot be used reflexively, however if one were to use it as a trap it could act similar to being reflexive. These are the things Hakuren thinks up in his spare time. Hakuren pulls out a talisman and activates it as a trap which would trigger upon him being attacked. The talisman reads the word athrú, which means change. In other words it was a transformation jutsu, which with the talisman set as it is would transform the attacker. If the Cerberus attacks Hakuren they would find themselves in the form of a fish. Unfortunately this setting will not trigger the round it is set. So to protect himself for this round Hakuren cast a body switch jutsu and would use the Kawarimi Target within his tools pouch.

[OOC]
Transformation [rank1]: 99 CP to initiate and maintain
Ritual Casting special action: (1% Max Cp) 24 cp
Current Chakra: 2350 - 123 = 2227

 

[Miroku Riyota]

It seemed that fate was not on their side, as quite the hairy obstacle was put in the path. The student claimed they could fight the beast alone whilst Riyota kept on going with Ataru in his arms. The plan was flawed in a few ways. Firstly, the beast would likely attack the origin point of the strongest scent of blood, that being Ataru. A tiny morsel like Hakuren would probably not keep it distracted long. Furthermore Ataru's condition was worsening and even if Riyota kept going the chuunin would likely be dead. The healing properties of his blade can only do so much. "As much as we need to get this guy back to the village I can't leave a student out here to get devoured either." Riyota responded, gently laying Ataru down. "Give him as much medical attention as you can manage whilst I set something up, with any luck we won't have to fight this thing at all and we can both keep going."

During this conversation his clone had met with someone on the path to the village. Considering their current luck it was probably not a friendly face. The clone would still search for any kinda of Sunan identification on the stranger. If they found some they would begin leading the person back to the original and his companion. If not it would receive a mental command to return anyway as fast as possible. If this did brew up to conflict the clone would either be needed to carry or fight. Hopefully if this was the circumstance the stranger would not try anything.

"Do what you can Hakuren, we need him fit enough to go these last few miles and that's not him right now." Riyota explained, his hands now free to engage in conflict with the beast. "Well hello there fluffy. I have no idea if you're just hungry or someone's attack dog but I'm gonna hope this at least gets you to back off." With that said he quickly formed a few handseals, flowing unstable, fiery chakra into his hands. Pressing his palms together before slowly pressing them against the sand he allowed his energy to flow into the ground between him and the creature, creating an unstable minefield in the space.

With that set he would hope the creature would be smart enough to back off. Hoping Hakuren had done a bit to salvage Ataru he would scoop him back up and continue their steady pace. IF the creature attempted to follow the Jounin would turn and attempt to blast him away with another surge of malevolent force.

OOC:
1. Technically fighting but trying to continue to flee simultaneously. I understand if this forces a delay.
2. Clone will talk if it can find any sort of Sunan identification, if not it will attempt to return to us.
3. Using Minefield Master rank
4. Current Chakra 18'900/30'000
5. If Minefield proves ineffective will be using Malevolent Annihilation to hopefully obliterate it.
6. If Malevolent Annihilation is used it will drop Chakra to 16'480/30'000
7. Sorry for the delay

 

[Raizo]

The duo seemed to finally hit an impasse, a rather impressive feat for how long they had been together before finally managing to step on one another's toes. While unfortunately, it was not surprising. The high stress of any situation tested the mettle of a team, and in a situation where two people were paired together by chance and not a choice, well their lack of interaction would easily show through.

Hakuren, the rambunctious youth, would turn and snarl. They prepared themselves for a heroic stall, with no certainty of victory fighting the beast head-on, yet without hesitation to aid the wounded young man in their possession. Riyota, wished to split the situation by being offensive through a defense and attempting to continue their fleeing. It was a tactic that came with its own risks, and choosing something from the Explosion Element always came with increases risks.

Hakuren's talismans would begin to glow as they were prepping, while Riyota sent a charge of chakra into the ground. A glow would scatter about the field in all directions before quickly fading out. The minefield was set, each hero seemed to be facing a different direction and Ataru would merely let out another blood ladened cough.

Their pursuer, the beast, would merely look on bearing its three sets of fangs. The beast was an oddity for sure. It seemed to be a fusion of three wolves into one three-headed monstrosity, but with an odd addition; it had nine eyes. Upon each head were two purple-ish eyes and one blood red eye, it was truly a curious thing indeed.

Seeing its prey continue to move, the beast would begin taking steps forward but would quickly come to a stop as the red eye upon each head would begin to glow brightly. The heads would raise up, as if listening to something, before stopping. It seemed, which would be another oddity, that this wild animal had stopped to reason something. Did it understand the minefield before it? Did someone else talk to it?

The beast would let out a howl as yet another odd occurrence would happen before them; the left wolf head would begin to flail about wildly as its head began to jerk to the side as if trying to pull away from the other two heads. The half of the body on the left side would begin to act in a similar fashion while the right side and the center head would remain focused on the three humans before them. After a brief moment of struggling, the wolf would amazingly free itself from the rest of the wolf cluster. From the half of its body that should not have been there, a new body seemed to be forming. The same astonishing instance was occurring for the now two-headed beast that once housed the other body. A new leg, a filling in of the missing center mass and a correction to the tail. Now standing there would be a one headed, three-eyed wolf and a two-headed six-eyed wolf.

The now liberated creature would let out a howl before letting loose on a mad dash at a speed comparable to a full speed Riyota. It would easily cover a good distance, causing different points about the ground to begin to glow. It might not have seemed like it at first, but it would quickly become apparent this wolf was attempting something a wild animal should not have been able to figure out like this; it was trying to trip the landmines.

With its self-sacrificing actions, a series of explosions would begin to rattle off within the battlefield as all would be caught in the aftermath. It was uncertain what would come off the three shinobi, but the singular wolf would find itself unable to dodge the number of explosions it had triggered and would be engulfed in the blast. Meanwhile, the two-headed wolf would watch on as a faint, yet close, set of howls in the distance could be heard.

Meanwhile, the Steel Clone would turn around and begin heading towards his creator. Accompanying him would be the cloaked figure.

---

OOC:
The choice here is the following:
Hakuren and Riyota -
Fight, Run, Stall, Dodge... there are a couple of choices but y'all are seemingly caught in the thick of it!

Riyota's Clone -
Returning to Riyota with ???

Explosion Attempts: You all (including Ataru) avoided the explosions!

Ataru's Health:

Spoiler

RokuToday at 3:23 PM
t!dice 1d45
TatsumakiBOTToday at 3:23 PM
:game_die: Rolling Dice!
[d45 : 12]
In the end, the result was: 12

 

[Ryu Hime]

I do what I Must. Forgive me

Things were not looking good; Ataru was getting worse by the minute, the beast attacking them was far more frightening than originally thought, Riyota set up a minefield around them and despite Riyota’s orders Hakuren could do nothing to help Ataru. Hakuren already exhausted his medical triage. Hakuren wishes he could radio for help but some seems to be jamming the signal or something. Hakuren could only think of one thing he could do. Opening his spell book he recites an mantra.

Those that hold to light, those that cling to dark,
All are Kindred within the Realms.
I do what I Must to maintain Balance;
And that Balance keeps me strong.
There is no Good without Evil, yet Evil shall not flourish.
As my limbs balance my body, so does my path balance my mind.
Through Passion, I gain Serenity;
Through Victory, I gain Harmony;
Through Knowledge, I gain Strength.
I am the soldier who marches the narrow path,
I am the bridge between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.
As I guard the the Realms,
so too does the Realms guard me.​

Hakuren eyes that once were a bright sapphire blue is quickly cover to a whitish tint. He eyes did not go completely white like a Hyuuga’s, but more like eyes of that of a blind man. The blue of his eyes is still there but quite fade. In this state he could the spirits of the dead both animal and human alike. If he could sees a human soul, he would call it over. If not, well he would have to make one.

If human spirit found

Spoiler

”Spirit I need you to travel to the Sunagakure and find a woman with a clock in her eye and guide her here.” The person he described is his mother, which also possesses the abilities of the Tsuchimikado among other things.

If no spirit found or spirit was not helpful

Spoiler

Hakuren would whisper into his ear unsure if Atura would even hear him. “I am sorry my dear shinobi, but there is nothing more I can do for you, but your mission is not over.” Taking Atura, Hakuren quickly snaps his neck and ends his suffering. Upon seeing Atura’s spirit he would commune with it. “Tell me what happened to your team and why we are being pursued.”