One Flew Over the Viper's Nest

Mission Info:

Kannagi Irezumi needed to get to the mountains by sunrise. She had left while the sky was still dark in order to get to the meeting place on time. She had been contracted as a shinobi to deal with a dangerous viper. From what she knew as a pretty avid survivalist, Kannagi had to reach the area when the area was still cool and dimly lit in order to find the creature at his weakest. Moving around all night in search for warmth, shelter, and prey, the viper out here was going to be ready to find a warm hidden spot during the day to rest and digest. That was assuming the viper had eaten its fill and was fat with the weight of rodents in the area. If it hadn't eaten it might have been weak and tired which made sun rise still the prime time to locate and put an end to it. She hadn't been told much about this viper except for that it was capable of delivering a serious venom. Perhaps if she defeated it then she could collect some of the venom for Sojiro to experiment with in the clinic. He would do well to develop an antidote for the viper's killing dosage of antivenom. Apparently the viper was one of many which had made their way into local towns and had done serious damage to the people there. Travelers had spread the word and had even placed up warning signs near the Kataki road as antidotes were not usually carried around and nor were they as effective against this species.

The mission had read that the vipers had struck down buildings as well as individuals. She was sure there had been some missing information as Kannagi had heard of snakes creating nests near buildings for their safety but never had snakes brought down real buildings. The idea was laughable. And so the blue haired kunoichi had set out on her own to handle the viper, leaving a note for Sojiro in the clinic in the chance he tried to look for her in the coming morning hours and she had not yet returned. Her blue hair hung loosely around her ears. She wore her black shorts, a grey tank top, and an extremely light weight overcoat. The coat was practically see through, the sheer blue fabric more to protect from heat and the whipping sand in the wind upon the road. Kannagi had ridden and left Cirilla near the base of the mountain to roam around as she would while the kunoichi explored. The area carried the morning scent she had missed about waking up with her family in the tents during travel: crisped vegetation, crackling wind over the dried cacti, and the smell of the sparse desert flowers from the mountains. It was a smell so empty and vague that few people even noticed but a lifetime of living out in the hot wilds brought the aroma to Kannagi like a tender mother's embrace and she let a smile fill out across her face.

Once within the shade of the mountain, the dark started to lift and she could see plenty of boulders over the mountain's side that would have been perfect refuges for snakes. Once the sun was out, the rays would beat down and heat up those rocks while hiding the vipers from any other predators. It was the perfect place to begin searching for the venomous viper. Kannagi turned over many of the rocks along the way, finding spiders, snakes, and blank rocky spaces beneath them. Nothing looked like what she was after and with caution, she had left all the other desert mountain creatures to their lives in peace. A particularly large tree bent crookedly over a boulder and Kannagi rose her hand over her eyes to gaze at it. It was the last suspect spot in the area before she would need to move on. When she reached the tree, Kannagi bent over and examined the area near to the boulder. She could hear the loud hiss of a snake and the hair stood up on the nape of her neck. "Where are you?" She uttered softly, looking all around her for motion. What Kannagi had expected was a snake, perhaps even a large snake, but there were no signs of movement on the ground. She jerked to the side at the precise and necessary moment to face the situation without a bite from the venomous viper.

As she moved, just inches behind her left arm something smooth bumped against her skin. When the blue eyed kunoichi glanced quickly to observe it, she was sent into surprise, gasping loudly even as she took another step backwards, reaching for her kunai. The viper was here and was much larger than she had assumed. Vipers rarely took on a large size but this twelve foot snake defied all odds. It had dark scales around its top, parallel yellow lines sliding lengthwise down the reptile while its head, the size of one of her feet, was decorated with speckles and flecks of gold around its eyes and lips. A long tongue flicked out before its mouth closed and Kannagi took a quick step backward again, hearing another hiss emerge, but not from above where the viper in the tree looped down and glowered at her, but from below. A small hidden hole in a patch of dessicated grass at the foundation of the crooked tree caused Kannagi to trip and nearly fall upon the boulder as a second and third viper made themselves known from the hole in front of her. She had no chance at outrunning these reptiles but facing off with three aggressive and venomous vipers wasn't exactly how she had planned this excursion going.

WC: 966 / 2400

Kannagi jerked her head back, filled with tension in a motion like a piece of snapping rubber. A man with bright green hair, a guitar and an inappropriate suit was singing and striding himself over to her. He paused his singing to hurl a scythe and kill one of the large vipers, a gout of blood spurting just to the side of Kannagi and landing upon the very boulder that she had used to establish herself. She rolled a bit and stood up straight as the man put his guitar upon his back, each of them now facing a viper. Given his musical charm, the vipers had been taken off guard for a second and it was enough time for her to turn to strike the huge reptile head in front of her. Better now when it was distracted than when it got its bearings once more. As curious and distracted as she wanted to be by the green haired singer, Kannagi wasn't going to balk at her sudden advantage in this fight.

She lifted up her arm and fired senbon from her wrist launcher. Five needles shot towards the head of the viper and each one landed as she had desired it to, the last one piercing the entire head through the space in the center of its head where she presumed its brain would be. It hadn't even gotten the chance to coil up, to look up at her, to draw open its fangs or hiss. Smooth and efficient was how she had planned this mission and she was happily back on track. The viper might have been strong but it wasn't stronger than her intelligence would allow. The blue haired kunoichi called to the male, uncertain if she could trust him. "They have a serious venom within. Do you need my assistance?" Her mission was to set out and kill a single viper, a voracious snake which had menaced towns, travelers and outposts. She turned to observe the newcomer finish off the final snake, puzzling over the issue in her mind. These snakes certainly were larger than she had ever seen. No doubt they could cause serious dangers to people who were unwary of them. However, they died so easily that Kannagi had to wonder why such a high rank mission had sent her to this place to face off with these three behemoths?

As she thought about it longer, her body became even more tense, like an arrow pulled back and ready to fly from an archer's bow. There's no way even a dozen of these creatures could take down an entire building. It didn't hurt to mention that she was sure vipers were more solitary animals and there was no conceivable notion that just one of these might ravage an outpost. Was this whole mission a farce then? Had the higher ups or someone else sent her out here to meet her end by an assassin or something? Could it have been the Odotai? She sent a single short glower at the man and frowned to herself, trusting him even less.


WC: 966+516= 1482 / 2400
Post: 2/6

"I admit, I had been caught unawares. It seems you have dealt with these new vipers before though. Thank you for your assistance. I am Kannagi, please may I have your name?" The woman asked him looking at him suspiciously. Her blue eyes didn't leave his form, watching alertly as he became more relaxed with his weapon and offered a bit of a smirk and a jest at her expense. He didn't seem evil like the Odotai but he also didn't seem to be anyone in Nikkousato's ranks that she was familiar with. Perhaps a moon shinobi then? With a small click his weapon folded and shrank into the size of a rod and he returned it to his pocket. Kannagi was slightly less cautious of the man now, given that his weapon was away and he was looking the vipers over. It was much more likely that he was not here to harm her, if saving her hadn't already given that away. Kannagi bent over and drew a small bag from her own pouch and scooped up the head and upper third of one of the snakes. She sealed the bag into a thin piece of paper that she slipped into her own pocket: Sojiro might be able to create an effective antivenom if she got the body to his clinic in time.

As the blue haired woman got back to her feet, she sent a puzzled look out at the green haired man. "Killed the babies? Before its mother?" She glanced about and saw nothing, shaking her head. "I don't understand. I was sent to kill a viper and together we have killed three of these things." The ground shook hard and she stretched out her hands in astonishment. Her blue eyes flicked around and she caught the falling of trees in her periphery, a cloud of dust as something plowed from the mountains down towards the place where she and the man in the suit stood. As the male beside her asked what her plan was her face stretched from an expression of shock into a grimace. "That thing can't be... a s-single viper! Why would they send me to fight such a thing by myself! Heavens above," She cursed a few times and took a step back, her blank mind searching out for ideas. She shook her head and tried to clear the fog and come up with something, anything, before it reached their location. "The most dangerous part will be its head," Kannagi decided, "Which is also the most effective place to strike a killing blow. Do you have a means for holding it still?" The dust cloud got closer and the woman knew it was tracking them by tasting the air, a smell like sense used by all snakes. It wouldn't be long until it was in striking range and Kannagi could already see its gleaming scales.


WC: 1482+483= 1965 / 2400
Posts: 3 / 6