The Mutt and the Snowflake... (Group Mission)

Ryojin had thought it would be a great idea to return his new friend's kindness and visit the sun. He was wrong. What horrid, hellish, absolutely bright, and obnoxious place was this? There was sand in places Ryojin had no idea sand could slip in to. The sun was beating down on him and for the first time in his clearly pampered life he was sweating. Sweating. Disgusting. He used the back of his hand to wipe sweat from his forehead and he dragged himself forward huffing hard. He felt like he had been in the desert for a week even though realistically it had been a grand total of less than twenty four hours. He had left two trenches in the sand where foot prints should be. On the plus side, he was an ice user. He could fix his problem. He formed his hand signs, but no snow. In fact, it barely even began to rain. Ryojin groaned so loud that it could've been heard from the upper atmosphere.

He continued his path forward. The air was blurred slightly and he was nearly gasping by the time he noticed Sojiro up ahead. Was this finally it? Had he finally arrived? Though the last time he thought he had arrived at water it was definitely still just the infinite expanse of coarse tiny evil. "Is it... really... you sojiro..?" Ryojin was in his flak jacket and maybe if he had just taken it off half this problem would've been solved. His hair was a matted black disaster. It was let down and wildly everywhere. "It can't be." Ryojin resumed his trek, continuing to god knows where. Vaguely in the back of his mind he was remotely aware that he had been sent for something. He huffed and puffed. "I.. just need.. a moment.." With that, Ryojin's entrance was finalized by him just falling face first into the sand and accepting his clear fate. He was going to die here surrounded by nothing but evil and hot. "Oh My friends from the sun.." His hand rose up gripping slightly at the ground ahead. "I have tried to make it but.. it's .. just so... hoooooooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttttttttt" He groaned again and laid there for a moment, still not even sure sojiro was real.

Ryojin was already exhausted. It was terrible. He absolutely did not have any kind of taste for the desert weather. He listened intently to Sojiro. He also sat still as Sojiro insisted in making sure he would stay alive through the remainder of his time in the desert. "Okay. Sorry. I'm used to the cold.. I'm kinda surprised I haven't melted either." He continued to sit still as Sojiro pulled his hair back. He felt oddly comforted having someone else helping him in this case. As Sojiro had wrapped up fixing Ryojin, he bowed slightly and kept his head a bit down. "Thank you for helping me Sojiro. Yeah, I did decide to return the favor of a visit. I forgot to tell my father though... so I'm sure I'll be getting an irritated hawk here sooner or later."

He stretched and after a moment decided to ditch his flak jacket all together. It was just too much. It did feel a lot more tolerable at this point and he sighed deeply. "You might literally be a life saver." He used his shirt to dry his face off a bit.

Ryojin thought about it. "Actually, no. I got so busy talking with.. well no. Just fill me in." His face had turned a bit red and he had folded his arms over his chest after applying the special medicine so as not to get turned into a lobster. "If I remember right though, father told me you all also have some interesting rogue creatures around this area. I vaguely remember him mentioning something about a reptile of some sort?"

Ryojin rubbed at his chin. His father didn't go into a lot of specifics. He vaguely recalled him saying the creature was moderately dangerous. Was it capable of something odd? Something special? He tapped his foot softly on the sand to a specific rhythm. It was the same rhythm he had tapped his foot to when his father had spoke to him. It was capable of using jutsu, but he couldn't recall what type.

"..." Ryojin stared at the massive beast. His eyes widened. "Desert Puppy." He stared at the beast intently. Though as Sojiro spoke and mentioned his voodoo magic, he frowned. It was too late however, as Sojiro was running at their opponent. Truth be told, he was not capable of using his ice right now. He didn't really want to admit it out loud, but this was a bad situation.

He instead, brought out his bo in one hand. He extended both ends, and now, he was running toward the Komodo Dragon. "Sorry, but, we're gonna have to kinda work with this. My ice kinda.. doesn't appreciate the desert." I sighed softly.

"Sojiro!" Ryojin had taken his eyes off the crazy lizard just long enough to be the next one. The lizard stomped a foot and Ryojin was sent flying by a sand first that hit him from underneath. He rolled backward and huffed as he was put on his back. "Jeeze.. This thing sure isn't nice." He jumped up quick just to nearly be pelted by acid, but he was far enough away now that he had the time to make hand seals for a flash step. He ended up above the beast, and swung himself full circle to bring his bo crashing down on it's back.

"Take this you damn chicken!" As Ryojin's staff connected, the lizard suddenly just melted to the ground. It had been a.. sand clone?! Ryojin gulped slightly looking around. He saw the ground beginning to rise below beast. "Sojiro! Jump!" With a quick flick of his arm, a kunai was sent flying to the rising sand mound unsure if he was going to actually manage a hit this time.

Ryojin watched as the other fought within close quarters of the psycho lizard on steroids. He noticed that it's flesh was able to be pierced. Good. He ran back toward the lizard, and as he watched sojiro get pelted with acid, he quickly jumped up over him. This time three shuriken launched toward the beast. He managed a hit with two of them, the third being swatted away. As he fell toward the beast he drew out his kunai sword. The beast opened it's mouth in an attempt to spit more acid, but it was met by the kunai sword being thrown into it.

The best flailed about slightly but, Ryojin formed a quick hand seal and inside the best, the exploding note stuck to the kunai sword was ignited. It looked like this was going to be the end of round one, but a second lizard was approaching now, burrowing through the sand. Ryojin was out of breath and his kunai sword had been damaged in the acid of the lizard.

He pulled out his bo and prepped to defend himself properly, but the beast managed to launch itself and collide with Ryojin sending him rolling back. He coughed out some blood and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth before getting back up. "No rest for the weary? Jeeze."

Ryojin ran forward and with a quick plant of his heel and rotation of his body, he didn't hesitate to collide his bo into the lizard at full force. With a load thud, his bo would collide into it, but Ryojin didn't stop there. He pulled in the side that collided first and spun once more to whip the beast with the other side as well.

His eyes didn't leave the lizard for over a couple moments. He had to make sure it didn't get him directly with that acid. He was standing practically on the balls of his feet, ready to move the moment the need would arise. It was true, he couldn't use his ice jutsu, but he had begun to become a bit accustomed to the bo finally.

Ryojin huffed hard. He didn't bother waiting to get comfortable. After a moment, Ryojin's foot threw some sand up and he was on his back on the ground, drenched in sweat and the results of effort. "No.. I.. Don't think so." Ryojin was huffing pretty hard. His short black hair had matted. His bandages were coated in a mixture of lizard blood and sand. His blade was partially melted. He stared up at the evening sky and gave forth a long yawn.

He then turned to look at his compatriot and gave a cheesy grin. "Not bad doggo." He gave himself a few moments of well deserved rest. Finally, he would get himself back up dusting of his coat and clothes. "We should do it again soon!"