It was a day at the sea... (Group Mission)

Mission Info:

It had been a while now since they had started living at the Shukaisho and had truly made the vacant space a home. It was a good thing, maybe not what he thought it would be as far as living with others that chose to live there instead of being forced too, like at the orphanage, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless. Kannagi, Kokoro, Gen and Sojiro all had their own lives going on and didn't get to see each other much unless they were on mission with each other, which was fine if not the most abundantly tolerable. He hadn't had time for any of his friends either! It was truly turning out to be a hard time all around for Gen and his social life. Yet he had been saved as a new mission order had been given to him from the village to hunt down a large raging beast that had been seen in the silk sand coast lately, some reports suggesting it might be a giant Newt or Salamander of some kind! It didn't matter as the most enjoyable part of it was that he was going to be seeing his old friend Ryojin for the first time in a long time. Ryojin was to meet him at his large estate this time so they could start from here and work their way out to the coast line now.

As he shifted in his bed he breathed deeply for a bit just trying to get used to his new form. Some of his muscle mass was returning to him but he still looked like a skinny malnourished giant. As he got up from the comfort of his mattress he would sling the blankets to the left and stretch some, keeping himself nimble as Kannagi had suggested ages ago. Folding his blanket over the mattress and making the bed slowly he careened towards his closet, his steps lighter and more viable then before. He would put on a fundoshi followed by a navy hakama and kimono, with a white wave patterned haori. Finally putting on his geta he would grab the satchel he had begun to wear that carried the massively calorie dense yet tasteless food he was getting used to consuming by the satchel load. With that he walk downstairs and into the kitchen area to make him and Ryojin breakfast consisting of fried rice, egg, vegetables, seared duck breast and a mirin and soy chicken stock broth that was lightly drizzled on for flavoring. Serving them both a bowl of it he would place a steam lid on Ryojin's bowl of food as he waited for him, eating his as is.

When Ryojin would arrive at the prescribed address he was sent, the estate would be fairly massive and held a sign above its front gate that read Shukaisho. The estate itself was fairly traditional and sprawling on the grounds it was built upon. There were not a ton of attendants but those that were there would guide him towards the main house and the kitchen to which they know that Gen was waiting for him. Perhaps gens gaunt and malnourished appearance would be shocking to Ryojin when he saw him like most people? As he did look like a shadow of his former self and was definitely not at all what he used to be as far as his size was concerned, but he was still just as capable as before if not more!

WC: 579/2400
PC: 1/6

In truth, Ryojin hadn't been worse for ware in quite some time. After everything with the massive monster, observing everyone in the fight, Ryojin had come to a solid conclusion, he just simply wasn't the strongest around and would need to obtain even more power yet. The way Ryojin saw it, at this point he had two real options. Option one was to align himself with others who were even stronger than he was and option two was to push forward beyond what he thought possible of himself. The time would come soon where he and his brother would be pushed to their breaking points and would have no choice but to clash. The real question on his mind was if he could win as things were against Kaijin which he knew the answer to more than anyone else. In his current state, at his current power, in this moment in time, he would lose. That meant he needed to push forward. One day, it was as his brother had sworn to him in the past, the wolf and the dragon would collide and the winner would set the pace for the personal fate they both seemed to be so deeply tied together in.

A history.. that as Ryojin approached the address he was given, haunted him. Maybe so much to the point that as he walked forward and continued, he had been so consumed in his own thought that he and the gate to the massive establishment met one another quite suddenly. He looked at one of the many attendants who had managed to see his small incident, and they both laughed gently. She opened the gate and offered him a hand up. A strong hand that honestly caught him aback for a moment before she led him from where they were and to the kitchen. "He is right this way awaiting your arrival. Welcome. It is a pleasure to accept company from the other village. Pardon appearances currently. You may be shocked if it has been even but a short time since you've seen him." She finally hushed herself, and bowed slightly as she introduced Ryojin into the massive kitchen space and Ryojin himself bowed to Gen as well. "Hello! It's good to see you again old friend! You are looking... Well never mind that. Are you feeling alright?" Ryojin shot forth a usual toothy grin having buried the past back where it belonged behind him.

Ryojin himself was speaking to Gen, but he was rather rude and nosey coming into someone else's home. It probably couldn't be helped, after all he had been brought into his father's home which wasn't his to start with from the beginning. He found himself marveling at the interior design, and the view out of any prominent windows. He tilted his head slightly running a finger over a counter top. There were no houses like this where he was from, and his father's home was quite a far bit simpler than this. If anything, Ryojin was admiring in awe looking about the room and rest of the house that was immediately visible, trying his best not to simply ignore his friend's existence.

"That's right... Father did mention.." Ryojin reflected at the idea of the bunny boy being a rogue. On top of that, he was almost one hundred percent sure at this point the rabbit boy was even in the bingo book. He was curious if Gen had encountered eclipse. That was the name his father had let slip. It was curious because normally his father was quite careful with his spoken word, but in this case his father had indeed said too much. There was no need for Ryojin to worry about eclipse he had said. That was why his father was so strict with him, to keep them out of his life apparently. It somewhat bothered Ryojin because if his father had been hiding something like that, his father could be hiding virtually anything. In truth, Ryojin found himself silently mulling over the idea of approaching eclipse to come closer to the truth of this world he sought after. There was luckily more than one avenue when pursuing the truth. It leaked out from more than one faucet so to speak. "Yeah.. Ever since that giant monster.. my father has been trying to keep a stricter eye on me, but it is coming to the point that I myself may slip away from home soon and seek my own space. I am tired of this thin air of half truths to be quite honest with you. It has come to make me question who I can really rely on recently and I fear that both villages have a heavy hand in contributing to that." For a moment, it seemed as though Ryojin had completely left his own body and ended up elsewhere. His thoughts were clearly consuming him far more than usual, but not to a point where he still couldn't function as a proper shinobi. He quickly shook his head a bit and slapped his own cheeks with either hand. "Nevermind all that. It's good to hear that you're recovering well enough."

Ryojin sat down where there was an open seat close to Gen, and folded his hands gently on his lap. His usual attire had been forgone for something tan instead. He was wearing no light coat. It was odd perhaps to see him in something different, but this was strictly to keep him cooler in the weather here. He had been neglecting his body and it had somewhat decided to let him know during his brief return home and slightly frustration between he and his father. He stretched a bit before speaking once more. "I didn't get the full details this time around, but seeing as I have been paired with you, I'm not too worried about it. I have a feeling you and I will manage just fine. I know all too well you can handle yourself." Ryojin grinned trying to imitate something more of his usual happy-go-lucky air about him, but in truth it was difficult right now for him to just wear the mask. It was an unrealistic expectation for himself perhaps to be able to simply look past the happenings as of late. Ryojin tapped his own fingers against his arm softly as if trying to keep himself out of the deep thoughts currently haunting him. "How have things been in your village? Are you all still holding everything together well?"

"I spoke with Sojiro.. albeit briefly." He let out a bit of a sigh and then quickly chowed down on his own food. He was starving and hadn't even thought about food until it had been offered to him. He stared out the window once more thoughts seeming to be continually trying to pull him in, and continually failing. He wasn't in the mood to be trapped in himself today or to think about the bigger problems at hand, like how he would handle Kaijin and if the other members of the wolf group would also be an issue. What was their purpose? Was Kaijin just with them for a means to an end? Such questions for now were irrelevant. He shook the thoughts away once more before turning to Gen as he continued to speak about how he was ready to play defense and let Ryojin be the all out offense this time around. Ryojin rapped his fingers against the counter gently, beginning with his pinkey and ending with his middle, as that hand had no pointer finger. "I can definitely well handle the offense, but remember middle range is ideal for me so we'll still have to stay kind of close."

He thought about it. With his new ice jutsu, he had already proved he could now be offensive if need be and the way it worked allowed him to easily deal with multiple enemies when necessary. This would turn out to be quite the mission and perhaps he could show case his new ninjutsu even for his friend. The thought made him a bit excited. He wasn't a show off, but he definitely thought that this jutsu of his was quite one to behold. He stood up and stretched before taking his own dishes over and washing them. He wouldn't allow any protest of him cleaning up after himself. He simply did what needed to be done and moved on. Finally, he turned back to Gen before asking rather rudely, "If you don't mind me asking, I know it's rude sorry, but how much did a place like this go for? I have saved up a bit you see and honestly, lately, I can't even trust my father. I've been looking to spread my wings and get a place myself in the moon village. I want a house on the cliffside I think that overlooks the jungle."

Ryojin was blushing slightly. He hoped he hadn't offended the man by asking, but he was genuinely curious. He was sure prices were at least somewhat comparable. He was sure he had saved up enough for a place of his own, maybe a little smaller than this for now, but he really had no idea how to live on his own. He was so used to company that the idea of living on his own in the village almost felt foreign. That was the result of him feeling like he had needed to rely on his father to continue to grow he supposed, but as of recently he had realized even more than usual that he was more than capable of growth on his own. Maybe he had known before, but he had finally come to the actual realization. This conclusion sounded much more sound. He didn't talk about his father very often he realized, only that he would be worried and that he existed, this idea actually caused Ryojin to tilt his head slightly. He found himself now wondering if he was older than most still living with their parents and the thought maybe lit even more of a fire to find a place of his own.

"I see." Ryojin listened intently. In truth, he wasn't all that interested in owning an entire estate. He was much more interested in just owning a space of his own away from the clutches of his father. The clutches of his father. When had he started seeing his father in this light? Maybe it was the fact that he knew his father knew more about what was going on than what he let on, and that truthfully agitated Ryojin. He couldn't stand being kept in the dark especially by someone he thought up until now he could trust and count on. It was only just recently that he was having much more difficulty in that department. So, Genkumaru had help. He didn't truly have anyone in the moon village he could just openly rely on with something like this. A soft sigh broke past his lips, but he knew in the end everything would be fine either way. He picked up quickly after Gen, though his strides were quite a bit smaller than the friendly giant's, so keeping up was a task and a half.

"I believe you're right! it will be quite a day!" Ryojin grinned more of his genuine toothy grin than he had in some time and bound down the road doing his best to stay by Gen. Though as they walked Ryojin had perhaps subconsciously started humming a rather eerie tune. The key in itself was much darker and more foreboding. The melody was slow and drawn out. He had begun spinning his bo to the melody slightly, and the whishing sound almost added to how eerie the melody in itself was. He perhaps realized what he was doing after a few moments while lost in his thoughts because he stopped and blushed a bit uttering a quiet, "Oop sorry. Damn thing is stuck in my head." He kicked the ground slightly sending dust scattering about. Memories of when he was a child lingering and not letting go even despite how far he had come since then.

"So, how're we going about this? Are we going all in without hesitation? Did you want to take it slow and careful?" Ryojin tilted his head slightly.