The Salt Workers Pt 2

Mission Info:

The rumors that had been passed on about the missing salt workers out at the encampment called Whiteshire were at least consistent between those who were still employed by the brothers who ran the salt industry. Between the dead lake, the dessicator machines, and several small caves among the reeds of Usawoti Lake, Banko and Akira hadn't missed much that Kannagi and her masked partner, the Black Spider couldn't pick up on their own. There were small tracks and trails suggesting recent movement out on the eastern side of the water, but no blood, no bodies, and no evidence of either cooking fires or sleeping mats. She left Cirilla beside the Salt Workers' tents, assured that nobody would go near the gray mare who was not tethered to a tree or post. "Why would the workers come out here anyway? Less observation from the bosses?" Kannagi broached, asking the masked man with her what he thought of the situation.

The blue haired female grew annoyed as she trekked through the grasses and reeds. "There's nothing here!" She waved an arm once, "Nothing but the lake, the bugs, and the smell of salt!" She sniffled and then sneezed once to the side. The dry salt air was filling her with an uncomfortable and dusty sensation in her airways. She walked and walked, looking around as she went. Kannagi approached the lake through the whispering dry grasses and then let out a short cry when her foot fell half a foot into a hole in the ground. With a huff, she started to pick herself up off the ground. She pulled up her ankle and rubbed it warily, remembering when she had broken it on one of her first missions. Kannagi drew herself back and nearly growled agitatedly, peering into the hole and discovering it was only one of several. When she knelt on the ground she could see two or three holes were present beneath the thick dead grass. Hidden by the water, some sort of trap door made of dry wood and the reeds bound together. "Well, I could say I meant to do that, but I would be lying," Kannagi looked up to the masked male and offered a weak grin. "Maybe you should lead the way from here. I don't want to risk our discovery if it could lead to endangering those missing workers." She tried to reason with him, not to get out of showing him what she was capable of but because she was a reasonable woman who tried to think with her head and not her fists. It got her in much less trouble this way.

WC: 441

He followed behind her and watched her diligently as she flitted about the lake grounds. There dealings with brothers would end violently on the spiders end if this took any more time to solve their problems. It was beneath him to waste so much of his energy on little people like them. As they maneuvered towards where the two workers had told them was forbidden grounds she spoke to him her voice piercing the silence like an angelic spear. Responding to her with an indifferent tone, "Most stray from the path when unobserved yes?", it was a common saying in the shinto faith and usually referenced that humans could not be trusted at their core.

She was like a thrashing child and even began to throw a small tantrum in front of him. Why did he feel so threatened by her? He could easily attack her from behind and kill her right here and now! Why did he hesitate? This became even more apparent to him as she stepped into some type of hole or piss poor trap. What was wrong with him? He could have snapped her neck and made it look like an accident leaving her body there to desiccate from the salty air and lack of foot traffic here. He hated her didn't he? Why couldn't he bring himself to harm her when she was at her most vulnerable? Inhaling and Exhaling deeply he offered his hand to help her out of her predicament as she grinned up at him.

In that moment he noticed that she was undeniably beautiful and that scared him. It was an unnecessary thought to have towards his enemy. If she took his hand she would find him to be far stronger then he seemed as he would be like a sturdy rock for her to pick her self up with as if he was the anchor of a trade vessel. Once that moment was cleared up one way or another he would lean over and grip the trap door, lifting it up with ease and tossing it like a stray leaf into the distance. Peering down and into the opening below, it would seem that it was a carved tunnel system leading under the dunes.

Adjusting his eyes, hidden by the mask he wore he could make out the details of the tunnel below. It seemed that torch holders were installed every now and again into the walls, but had been unused for some time. Lowering himself down, he would begin to walk into the tunnel system guiding them with his eyes as it was more then likely pitch dark after a stretch for Kannagi. Speaking his voice had a certain amount of matter of fact quality to it that he hadn't used previously, "This tunnel seems to go down a ways and end in a wide room up ahead. If you feel around there are some torches you could light.", taking his gloves off he let his claws elongate and grow out whilst it was still dark, keeping them in front of himself in case she did light a torch.

WC: 520/1600

Normally she would have refused the hand of a man who wanted to help her up in order to ensure that no man saw her as weak. This time, Kannagi didn't even think, taking the Spider's hand almost by default and letting him pull her up to her feet. He examined the trap door momentarily before jerking it away from the ground and hurling it away entirely. She supposed that he didn't intend to put it back then, her blue eyes peering into the darkness he had revealed. Underground tunnels could be seen in the light of day, but she couldn't make out much farther than that. Wordlessly, the masked man entered the dark tunnels and Kannagi decided to follow in behind him. It would be too dangerous for any shinobi to enter by themselves even if she couldn't see, the kunoichi might at least help protect or defend him in pursuit of their mission. As he informed her if the torches, Kannagi gave a silent nod which at second thought she realized he never would have seen.

Kannagi's fingers felt alongside the walls, the bumps and curves of the rock leading to an eventual metal hook of some sort and a lantern upon the wall. He had thought they were torches but as she felt around the item, she definitely could tell that they were rudimentary lanterns. They were too be used multiple times then, this secret tunnel an apparently well traversed place for someone. She lit the lantern after a minute of trying in the dark and failing, before the light encased the area around the pair in the glowing light. In the light her blue eyes could see patches of darkened fluid along the floor ahead before the tunnel gave way to a much larger room as the Spider had pointed out. When she listened carefully, she thought she could hear a whisper or an echo of a groan. "I hear something," She said to her masked partner. "And I think that's blood. Watch your step, just in case."

The kunoichi stayed behind her partner, as she had said before, she was letting him take the lead this time. It was her hope that they would find the missing salt workers alive, but the blood didn't bode well for any of them. And to make it worse, she still couldn't figure out what the secret tunnels were for. Did the salt workers build it for a place to take refuge during the intense afternoon heat? Were there really natives or nomads in the area who lived underground and beside the lake? Could some sort of animal built these tunnels and the people just discovered them? Her eyes flitted around the walls carefully inspecting them and wondering next just how stable the place was.

WC:466

He would lead this time it seemed. He didn't need any light sources to see perfectly down here, and so the scene was played out like a beautiful play of human ineptitude in front of him. There was indeed blood and a good lot of it on the floor in the wide twenty meter across room they had come into. It seemed like at one point in time this was probably a store room of sorts that was used to hold items for some long ago forgotten mining or bootlegging operation. Whoever had made it it was well mined out of the stone. The scene in front of them though spelled a night of debauchery and fun away from the prying eyes of the brothers. It seemed that alcohol and playing cards, food and drugs littered the area they were now in. Spider would seem non bothered as he stepped on the blood directly without care, as if it was typical for him. To his right was an arched door frame that was caved in by rubble with half of an arm trapped in it, no doubt clasped to another on the other side. From the cave in was a trial of blood that led to a man, crumpled against the far wall, his right arm detached from himself as he clearly died from blood loss.

Breathing in the sanguine scent fully his features would twist under the mask as his eyes became completely devoid of pupils and his fangs were elongated. He was intoxicated by and living through the smell of blood, the last moments of this man. Approaching the corpse he would crouch beside him and jab his left hands pointer and index finger inside the chest cavity of the man, feeling the temperature of the bodies liver for himself. It was clear that he had been long dead, and judging by the smell of the blood, it had been at least three days. It was mighty unfortunate that this man had died so insignificantly but alas he was just an ant like the rest of them. Rising slowly he would investigate the room further, finding another descending hallway behind a lump of barrels and bedrolls it seemed.

Finally speaking to Kannagi, Spider would have a completely emotionless tone, "It seems that they were partying here and something happened, he was more then likely trying to pull someone through the door way there when a cave in happened and it took his arm. He has been dead for at least three days. We can venture further in through that hole over there, but I think they are all probably lost at this point.", he would wait for her to take the lead this time as he motioned towards the hallway now his claws retracted as to not alarm her, however his gloves were still not being worn and his pale skin would show to her now, blood staining the two fingers on his left hand as well as bile.

WC: 1021/1600

Kannagi wrinkled her nose as she saw the masked man step right through the pool of blood, almost purposefully ignoring her warnings. She supposed it didn't really hurt anything as long as they kept track of his prints as opposed to any others that they located down here. When they rounded the corner and entered the larger room and found a corpse without an arm, all of the blood made sense then. Actually, the woman turned to look back from where she came at the thin pool of blood and frowned. That much blood loss with the body in the room over there; it seemed more than strange to her. She couldn't fathom a way for someone to lose that much blood by the entry and then turn back and go into the room once more. Kannagi approached the corpse as the Black Spider stood back up, his pale hand wet with blood. She scowled at him, "There isn't a better way? You understand that blood is a biohazard, do you not? You could make yourself ill."

He suggested that the workers had been down here playing around during a cave in and he had lost his arm and died three days prior. If anyone did survive a collapsed section of these tunnels, it was likely that they were dead by now; breathing in the stale air without food or water for days, not accounting for if any were injured in addition to basic needs. She relaxed her jaw and headed over to the hole that the Spider indicated. "Those people still ought to be recovered. Our mission is to find the missing workers and we have not yet completed it. You can stay or follow me, but I am finishing this." Kannagi walked over to the hole and looked around. She grabbed a nearby tool, some sort of hoe used for chopping dried sand or mineral salt from the rocks. She pushed it into the hole and then dragged it back towards herself a few times. She cleared the area of webs, dust, and made the little crawl space several inches bigger. Kannagi then got on her hands and knees and lowered her chest to the ground before creeping into the hole. She held the lantern carefully in front of her and coughed on the dust that she stirred up. This tunnel and the old abandoned mine they had found together was extremely unsafe. If this hole experienced any sudden force she had no doubt it would crush her to pieces. Still, the woman had to go on until she was free.

It took about a minute or two to get to the other side and she had to use the tool to push a large rock from the thin opening in order to get a space free to go through. Assuming nothing else took place, she entered into a small room near to the size of a closet, filled with dust and webs. "I don't like this," She muttered to herself, using the light of the lantern to send shadows of insects and arachnids running for cover. She wasn't ordinarily afraid of spiders and bugs, but in such a small space, with so many of them, and including the ever present danger of a continued cave in... she was filled with unease as she waited for the masked man to pull himself through and join her.


WC: 907+568= 1475

A secret tunnel into a tiny room with a secret button that led into another tunnel. Kannagi stared distrusting at the opening, feeling the masked shinobi pressed against her back and side just before he revealed the opening in the wall. She coughed on the dust and dirt and stood very still for a moment as she listened. There were no cracks or rumbles to suggest further instability and with enough hope and fortune on their side, the pair might make it to the main room of the ancient tunnels and mine. If the workers lived, they would have likely gathered together in a large and safe place with as much air as they could manage. Suffocation could be a real danger, especially in the dusty depths of this salt heavy mine and the cave in a few days ago. Kannagi had heard the Spider's question but did not reply immediately. Neither was it her indecision of being a shinobi that delayed her response. The kunoichi wanted to focus on this mission and all the while it only seemed more and more like her partner was interested in her. It was as if this really was some sort of test but she couldn't think of something more inappropriate with the workers in here in a lief or death situation. Finally, she let out a little sigh and held up the lantern, bending her head and walking in a near crouch through the revealed tunnel.

"Why am I a shinobi? Why do I follow the rules of the shinobi?" She repeated the questions, almost confused. Tradition in her family led to roles, tradition and those roles supported their laws, and such truths had led her people to survive in one of the harshest environments known to humankind. A community only worked if every person took their role seriously, served the code and met their individual goals. The safety and well being of others was protected by shinobi so that the entire village might thrive and survive. What kind of a shinobi would question those laws and goals? "Unless it is an inquisition of morality, I don't suppose I understand your question. Though I have met plenty of ninja who perform lazily, who don't follow the orders exactly, often those shinobi find themselves in trouble and risk lives to do so. The most effective and talented ninja are those who do complete the orders, who follow the code of the shinobi accurately."

Kannagi made her way through the tunnel and tilted a head back to look at him, presuming he was following her lead. "I intend to be the best shinobi that I can be and fulfill by duties to the people around me. It is the only right thing to do." Her voice was unwavering but the truth was that there had been times where she had questioned her actions and the choices of the village. She did not believe that the village was perfect. Occasionally, that meant skirting around less reliable shinobi and misinterpreted versions of the laws to best represent the true interests of a real ninja. She had power and the responsibility to use it to protect the village and the people living in it. "Do you not also strive to become the best version of yourself? Have you no vision for a perfect world as well?" She asked him in return these personal questions, not really expecting an answer because he was the superior here. They seemed like ideals that all shinobi should hold dear to them. The tunnel finally ended at a large pile of rocks and debris. It was probably a few feet thick to say the least and there was no guarantee moving them wouldn't just cause more to fall. Still, there had been no other routes along this path. It just stopped here.


WC: 1475+640= 2115 / 1600

He would listen to and follow after her like a dutiful dog, it was disgusting but he needed to know what actually drove her. She was his enemy and he would learn everything there was to learn about her even if she hadn't been the open book he hoped for. As she spoke he reflected on his own nindo as the ninja in the village called it. He supposed that the only thing that drove him and made him want to keep going before his defeat at the hands of Kannagi was a need to see this world be reformed into something new, regardless if that was good or not. He strove for the governments and laws of the land to be turned upside down and re-forged into something different and potentially weaker, but also potentially better and stronger then before.

The thing that actually drove him was a deep seated need to make sure that no one else would be forced into the permanent survival mode he had been forced into since he was a child to exist within the shadow of the government his family and by extension himself were forced to live in. When he killed that man all those years ago deep in the bowels of the crimson tower, that was the death of his innocence and what started him own this path of hatred and abundant need to seek the downfall of the world around him. He stopped blaming his father a long time ago and simply blamed the world for how it had structured itself and allowed the Ketsueki to exist as they are with a blind eye turned due to their usefulness to the world as merchants and info brokers.

Over the years this had twisted him into the revenant of destruction he had become, all semblance of good and resilience gone in him. He did whatever it took to survive and reach his goal of reforming this world, and nothing was an extreme, as everything was permitted if it got him closer to his goals. listening to Kannagi go on about needing to be the best because it was the right thing to do was disgusting and more of that honor bullshit he had heard over the years. Honor had nothing to do with being a ninja and if she didn't know that by know she never would. Shinobi were a means to an end and allowed one to grow themselves faster then operating outside of the system, the very notion of them was counter to his beliefs but it was necessary to maintain his persona as a clan head and a merchant prince of the world essentially. All to eventually lead to the destruction of this world as it was known.

As she asked him if he strove to be the best version of himself he would scoff internally as he already was perfect and simply choosing to become so was ignorant and useless. One cannot change their station or ability as everyone was born with a fate and she would soon meet her end. Controlling himself and answering her as a Blaze member would most likely he spoke carefully and with a kind tone that felt disgusting on his lips and made his rage ever increasing from the events of the day so far, "Kanangi, I strive to be a tool that is useful to the village and does as is needed to protect it. In that end we are similar I suppose. Its honorable to want to do the right thing... But remember that sometimes what's right is not what will be asked of you whilst you grow as a Shinobi.", he let his normal word emphasis slip for but a moment at the end of his speech to which he would close his eyes briefly regretting it immediately.

Moving past her he continued down the tunnel and towards the rubble with a glare in his eye at the rubble blocking there way. He tired of being stopped by mere earth. He was the Lord of the Long Night, and the Ketsueki Ichizoku! How dare the ground believe it was greater then him? Raising his mask up past his mouth he would begin making some hand seals before he would inhale deeply as water filled inside from the swelling of chakra and a large pressurized wave emanated from his maw towards the rubble and cleared a path in the center of it through to the other side. He would use the powerful technique in such a way that it crunched the stone into itself on the sides causing the very earth to give way and form into a stone arch from the pressure exertion of the water and the cavern above. Because of the enclosed space this would result in about two feet of water residing on the ground now when he was done bending the earth to his will with the massively pressurized burst of water he used.

Moving his mask back down he motioned ahead of them and spoke with a callousness he couldn't hide as his true self would show through in his voice in that moment, "That is what a shinobi of the village is capable of once they are a full fledged tool.", disgusted with how this conversation made him think and feel he would move past her and continue down the tunnel a ways before it opened up into a semi large cavern with several exits. inhaling deeply he searched for the scent of blood as he was on the hunt now.

[Modified use of the Bursting Collison wave jutsu to pressure form the cavern.]

Kannagi lifted one foot unhappily as water filled up to just over her knees. The dust, bugs, dirt and everything else in this tunnel was now mixed in the water in a grey cloudy mass. She contested with speaking by herself, hearing the note of despisement in the Spider's voice. To be thought of as just a tool and to be used as just a tool of the village was to make a mockery of the people who gave their lives to serve and save the innocent lives, the same way that she was risking her neck for the people trapped down here. Tools had feelings, thoughts, emotions. She was sure the kage would agree. Still, somewhere in her she was uncertain about one thing: being asked to do something that was not morally right. Hadn't that led to plenty of fighting in the past? Hikari vanishing and being forced to choose to kill him or set him free was a good example of what in the future might become a challenging moral choice as indeed a tool in the hand of the Sun Village.

Changing the mind of a hardened shinobi as this one was not going to happen and she let him be as he seemed to almost snarl out his words while using his power. Kannagi followed the Spider through the gaping hole and into the broad room that she had suspected was back here. When they entered, she saw nobody and for a moment it discouraged her. The blue haired kunoichi saw multiple exits from the cavern and nodded her head slowly. "They might have hid when they heard you breaking down that wall, or looked for a more sturdy place if any survivors thought the ceiling might collapse. " As she entered the room, she shook her legs and water flecked off her skin and onto the floor. She turned to the masked man and then let out a soft sigh before calling out into the room, "Hello? We have come to rescue you, to help you. Come on out!" Her voice echoed within the chamber and she waited for a response to come.

Kannagi listened inside of the cave and only heard the echo of her own voice. There was nothing, not a single other sound to show that anyone in here was alive or that if they were, they had heard her calling out. Her legs chafed from the dirty water which had clung to her lower half and she stopped, using her hands to squeeze some of the water from her clothing out onto the rocky cave floor. When she looked up again, the Black Spider was heading down a tunnel and gestured for her to follow. "Did you hear something?" She had asked him before taking his lead and going into the passage. It stretched for a long time, or what had felt like a long time, rough stone under her feet and the smell of nitrogenous waste getting stronger as they went. Something living had taken up refuge in this tube, or at least something that had been living. She continued until they finally got to the place where the cave in had happened and three people rested against the wall, their breathing labored.

"They aren't going to last very long. We could risk carrying them back, but that would mean risking that they suffocate before we manage to get them out," said Kannagi. She touched her chin thoughtfully and looked around. She spotted a dark stain in the corner of the room and assumed that was where they had been crawling in order to relieve themselves. In the same corner, the scent of rotten fruit could be subtly detected as a handful of fruit cores lay there. "I don't think they have the energy to get into that tight squeeze from before. It might be dangerous, but you should use your water to bust up the wall again. Let me see if I can help them and protect them, give me just a moment." The kunoichi performed her hand seals and created several water resistant items from the paper of her arms and legs. A basic sled and several canes were enough to help the people to get to one place. Once the hole was created, the three would have something to rest on as she and the Spider took them out. "Help me with the deceased," Kannagi said to the Spider.

The three people took several minutes to move, but eventually off to the side, the survivors were seated upon the paper sled, joined also by the dead crushed body they had found if the Spider had actually helped out. Kannagi sat with them, her hands poised for a hand sign. She didn't have much in the way to stop a cave in from killing them, but she would do anything to try. "All right, we are all ready. Get us out of here!"