Animals are all we Kill [Group | Travel]

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Ami made her way out of the village gates of Nikkousato, a mission scroll in hand. She had taken yet another mission, one that was a little bit different from the other ones. She had been so used to doing missions for the sun village that it felt a little refreshing to do one for her own village. Just a moment before, she had been intercepted by a messenger from the Gekkousato, bringing her a scroll. "Ami, please take this." the young girl would raise her brow a little at a man approached her, calling her by her first name instead of an honorific. It was one of her friends from the academy, and so he knew her on a personal level. She hadn't seen him in a long time though, and was surprised that he knew she had come here. She nodded her head and smiled, taking the scroll from him, her eyes taking in the words written on the scroll. The bears must be wreaking a lot of havoc for the village to be sending out a messenger for her to return for just this mission.

"Thanks, Rei" she had taken the scroll from him and watched as he made his way back to the Moon village. She would follow his tracks slowly, taking the time to read through the scroll more carefully along the way. Apparently there were bears somewhere, destroying shops and breaking buildings, and injuring people all at once. This made her think of the time she had done this mission with Ryojin, remembering how they had lightheartedly taken out three bears that looked quite cute. She hoped that she would be paired with good people, or at least competent people, as she was not one to take the lead on missions like these. The young Hyuuga would return the scroll to her pocket, making her way down Kataki Road. She had no idea where these bears were, but she was asked to meet her team somewhere along this road.

The girl sat on a boulder, her green hair blowing lightly in the wind. The wind was soft and quite hot, which she didn't enjoy as she waited for her team to arrive. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was burning. She hoped that whoever was joining her would come quickly because she was not about to get a tan for the sake of a mission. Her eyes traveled down the busy streets, looking at the people coming and going, minding their own business. She enjoyed people watching, and wondered where these people were headed. What is taking so long...although she had only waited a few minutes, the heat was messing with her patience, tapping her foot, slightly agitated.

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Ami would hear a familiar voice and turn her attention to its origin, knowing that it was Karite made her smile. The young Hyuuga had been worried just moments before that she would be paired with someone she didn't know, since that required a lot of mental effort to make conversation and try to be social. Unfortunately today was not a social day for her, and she had feared that she'd scare away whoever she was to be teamed up with. "It's hot and...dry but the people are okay." she would respond to Karite's question about the Sun village. Although she had enjoyed most of her time there and most of the people she had gone on missions with were quite nice, she often felt out of place when she was there. She longed to go back to Gekkousato.

She was just about to stand up when she heard someone call out to them. She recognized his vooce and her smile faltered just a little. As Jayy drew near, she noticed his change in attire, something a little more sophisticated than what she was used to seeing on him. She would give him a wave back, smiling at him a little wider as she heard him apologize to her. It hadn't been his fault to be fair. They sparred and got hurt, the norms of shinobi life. "No worries, Jayy. I'm just glad you recovered alright. And the new clothes is definitely a go!" she would flash him a wink and smile before finally jumping off of the rock she was sitting on, her expression a little serious as she spoke to them both. "So, we have to go kill some bears...." she started, "I feel like that's all we ever do...kill wild animals." she would finish with a rather defeated comment.

Ami would take out the mission scroll and read it again carefully. The bears were tormenting a small area between the two main villages, injuring and killing people who crossed their path. They would destroy any merchandise that merchants would be bringing down the path. They usually attacked after sun set too, which judging from the time of day would require them to scout for them for another few hours. There were merchants from Gekkousato expected to pass through the area after sun down with some expensive silk cloths and other trinkets. They would have to wait most likely in the bushes for the carriage to come through and fend off the bears if they chose to come out. A relatively easy mission but one that would take time nonetheless. Ami hoped her friends had eaten something before coming, as the wait would be almost three to four hours long.

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The young woman would see a tear escape from Jayy's eyes, a sight that was shocking and slightly unbelievable. But she would leave it alone, not wanting to draw attention to it in case he had not wanted Karite to notice. Instead she would turn her attention back to the woman, giving her a nod as she suggested they set up camp somewhere. "It seems we got a good few hours of waiting," she looked up at the sky before continuing, "at least until the sun goes down." The Hyuuga would motion for the two of them to follow her, venturing off to the side road where they were pretty much unseen by any of the merchants who were traveling to and from. She hadn't brought a tent and from their belongings neither did Jayy nor Karite.

Ami would take out some cookies from her pocket, having decided to bake some for her teammates in case they were hungry or got bored of waiting. It was even better that her teammates were actually her real teammates since it meant that they knew each other well and could have a good conversation while they waited. She sat down on the ground, looking off to the main road. "We could wait for these bears or we could go find them. Which do you guys prefer?" She had meant it like a genuine question even though deep down she was simply losing patience. The girl wasn't sure she could wait for hours on end for the animals to come to them, so she imagined them going to find their targets instead. It would mean a little of exploring and walking, but it was definitely better than sitting.

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And Ami would smile warmly at Jayy and Karite when they took a cookie each. It was always nice when people accepted her food, though the idea of wrapping cookies in a silk handkerchief and put in a coat pocket was not exactly the most usual way of bringing food. She would follow her teammates, glad that Karite had chosen to give Jayy the map instead of her. If Ami was responsible for finding the location they'd be here for a month if not a year. That was how bad her sense of direction was. She saw Jayy move on ahead, knowing that she could count on him to get to the bottom of this. Ami was never much of a leader and was glad that the Kaguya was willing to take charge. And then she would hear the scream radiating from deep within the forest, a piercing high pitch scream. The girl would follow its origin, jumping from tree branch to tree branch following Jayy's footsteps.

Her feet lightly tapped the branches as she moved, her hand lightly on the hilt of her sword and her eyes peeled on the grounds below. She hoped that Karite would be following close behind, although the idea of her friend jumping from tree branch to tree branch was rather amusing. She would see the bear at a distance, with Jayy in front of her. She had thought there would only be one, when she saw another. They were trying to attack a poor merchant who was literally screaming for his life, crouched in a corner and whimpering. Ami saw Jayy jump in just as one of the bears was trying to land a blow at the merchant, stopping it mid-attack. But the Hyuuga could sense other enemies, as she landed on the ground, around two meters away from the two bears. She glanced around, closing her eyes as she tried to decipher just how many of the creatures there were.

There were at least another three...or four even, waiting to attack.

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Ami watched as Karite sent a wolf skeleton to help Jayy which was good as she could turn her attention to the other bears that were beginning to attack them. She only nodded her head when she heard Jayy say that he was going to take the merchant and his merchandise, which was probably for the best. Ami would activate her Byakugan, her vision transitioning so that the bears' chakra points were visible to the young Hyuuga. She would run forward to the bear that was chasing after the Kaguya and the merchant, obvious of its intentions. She would catch up to the bear and jump up, pointing her blade and slashing it in the back. Her blade would connect to the bear but not be enough to make any serious damage. But that didn't matter because she would follow up with her tenketsu strike technique, aiming for its arms. She wanted to stall its movements.

The girl would fumble into her weapon pouch and pulled out three shuriken. She would turn her attention briefly to the other bears and throw the three shuriken to the other bears. Although she wasn't able to really divert her entire attention to the other bears while she was still fighting the one chasing after Jayy, Ami hoped to try and help Karite, knowing that she would probably be having some difficulties fending off the creatures. "Karite, just hold on!" she would call to her friend, hoping that the woman would be okay for the moment. The young Hyuuga would follow her attack on the animal by delivering her sixty four palm technique, disabling the movement of sixty four points on its giant body. That should be able to stop it for the moment...hoping that Jayy would take the chance to take the merchant out of the forest.

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As Ami delivered the final blow to the bear that was chasing Jayy, she would see that Karite was more than struggling with the remaining three. Her eyes darting left and right between her teammates, she would make sure that Jayy and the merchant were a safe distance away before turning to the three over-sized animals, her eyes narrowing as she braced herself for a drawn out fight. By then she had noticed that one of the bears would knock Karite unconscious, a rare sight. It was usually Ami getting beaten up or knocked unconscious. She would run towards her friend, sending her remaining shuriken to the bear which had attacked her. Kneeling beside her, she would look worriedly at the limp figure of the woman. "Karite! Are you alright?" she knew that Karite wouldn't be able to hear her as she half dragged the unconscious woman's body to lean against a tree and safe from the creatures.

I won't forgive you...Ami's eyes shifted from one bear to another, the unknown and hidden blood thirst once again returning as she ran forward. She would try to take down the bear that had attacked Karite first. She didn't even bother using Taijutsu at this point, wanting to feel its blood against her blade and on her hands. She twisted her katana horizontally as she drew near, her sword digging into its torso. Being a large animal, she only managed to scrape its surface. But she had wanted that to happen, as she jumped up, using her Byakugan to pinpoint its vital chakra points. She would disable its legs and arms first, piercing with her sword. As the bear let out a horrendous roar, it crashed to the ground. She would sit on its head, digging her sword for the fatal attack directly to its head. She watched as the blood poured, as the animal withered in pain. A smirk appeared on her face. How satisfying it felt...She would then turn to the remaining two bears, which were around five feet away. She hoped Karite would regain consciousness soon as she started to worry whether she could finish them off by herself.

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Ami was just about to stand up and run towards the two remaining bears when she saw Jayy return. A smile on her lips she knew that he would be handle the creatures just fine, having first handed the nonexistence of fear in their spar not too long ago. Although whatever had possessed him was terrifying, she understood that he gave Jayy the ability to stand and fight for himself without any fear or hesitation. If that was to be considered a good thing then perhaps the demon wasn't that bad. She had unlocked her inner darkness after that fight, awakened her mind and heart to bloodshed. Though not as strong as Jayy's, she secretly knew that it would only continue to brew, the more she killed.

The Hyuuga would sit next to the still unconscious Karite, her eyes watching Jayy fight. Of course sje could have gone and helped but she believed in him. And her belief would not be betrayed as she heard the roars and screams of the creature as they uttered their last breaths. She would turn her attention briefly to Karite, who looked so peaceful while lying there, very different from when she was awake. Ami would thank Jayy for coming back to help them and together they would carry Karite back to the village. it was nice to have teammates who cared and were by her side no matter what, a new light on their bond bringing them closer as a team.