Let loose... (Carnival Event Mission)

Mission Info:

Lately Keiji had been spending quite a lot of time with Senkou a prospect of his clan and the village proper, as well as someone who proving to be quite the friend and ally, having a viewpoint and nindo that was worth respecting and sharing in. They had both shown promise and aptitude for hunter-Nin work and excelled at clandestine maneuvers as well as combat when required. Lately a traveling circus of some renown and standing had been parading through the villages and the kataki roads brining joy and relaxation to the inhabitants of their world. However, during one of their stops it seems that someone had caused havoc and released some of the beasts from their cages causing a panic and minor kerfuffle for the circus. All but some of the young offspring had been gathered and put back in their cage it seemed meaning that luckily they had contained anything too troublesome before it could happen. However, they refused to move on without first getting the young animals back to their rightful places.

The clan and village had decided who better to gather up the animals safely and return them to their owners then two young would be Hunter-Nin? As it would be practical experience for tracking down and apprehending contracts safely and timely. Waiting near the beast cages facing the forestry, Keiji was waiting for Senkou to appear before he would head off into the forest after theses beasts. He wore his normal attire for the most part, except it seemed he was not wearing his shawl or threading spool apparatus under it, and his blade was not seen either, in fact the only thing that even could possibly be holding weapons on him were his hip pouches. Standing there in his crop top and seemingly covered in more bandages then normal on what would have been exposed flesh, it looked like he had purposefully packed light today so that they could move through the forest uninhibited.

WC: 330/800
PC: 1/3

Along the Kataki road a massive circus had set itself up. For such a size, Senkou figured there would be a lot more people than there were, but he supposed due to the nature of such entertainments that people have simply moved on to something more modern. In any case, Senkou was sent to take care of any issues that would arise along with a familiar face in Keiji. Their work in Baulder created a natural partnership between them and the village administration had no problems with assigning them missions together that would require certain their particular skill set. Minimal fuss, thoroughness, and discreteness were their speciality.

Such was the situation here, with as big of a place this was multiple teams would have been sent out by both villages to cover security for the events occurring within the carnival. Senkou and Keiji were assigned to cover this particular section where the animals were kept after notification was received about broken cages. The cages had special seals attached to them to prevent this incident from occurring, seal removal required a specific set of skills so Senkou was curious about the reasoning behind the unleashing of these animals.

He arrived at the edge of the forest where Keiji would be waiting for him, dressed as he always. White cloak, white bandaged hands and feet, and a white mask covering his entire face. Senkou always carried his equipment within the cloak so that it wasn’t visible to casual observers and securely attached to the harness that he wore so that they wouldn’t make any sound as he moved. Senkou always had a clear purpose in mind when gearing himself for his missions, it came from his obsession with his theory on warfare that he was developing during his off time.

With Keiji now visible to the approaching Senkou, he would wave his hand as a greeting and ask the most pertinent question for this mission.

“What type of animal are we trying to catch within the forest?”

Senkou began scanning the immediate area that he could see within the forest, afternoon light scattered across the ground by the branches of the taller trees creating dark spots of shade which could easily hide smaller animals.

372/800 words

Waving to Senkou he would close the distance between them with an odd swiftness before cracking his neck he would look over to Senkou and exhale deeply before speaking, an odd childlike tone to his voice, "It's baby owl bears. They are sooooo cute!", smiling he would begin to cross the remainder of the fair grounds, beelining for the forest as he did so. Fumbling through his pockets he would procure some chicken breasts that were wrapped in cloth to keep one from making direct contact with it, but allowing for any animals to smell it as they went nearby. Turning to Senkou he would speak again, "The handler said they love chicken breast and should pop right out to come and get some if they can smell it! Hopefully this doesn't attract anything else though...", his voice trailing off as the horrible images of fantastical wood beasts emerging and assailing them or the baby owl bears began to cross his mind. Keiji was through and strong, a capable shinobi indeed but after meeting Ami and the way their relationship has progressed, he has become more relaxed and able to express emotion now, however most would be wise to still not get in between him and his objective. Acting soft and thinking soft are two very different things after all!

Continuing down the way some he would stop and crouch low behind a large oak tree as he peered around the corner and locked eyes on a large Brute bear with her cubs, meandering a good distance down the untrodden path. Keeping low and quiet he would cover up the meat and hid it in his pouch again to hopefully not tip off the mother bear any, not wanting that to hamper their search. Looking over towards Senkou he would shake his head and close his eyes breathing in deeply to try and calm himself. Nothing was more terrifying then walking into a Brute bear, even more so a momma brute bear! Centering himself as the troupe went further into the distance and were no longer a threat he would speak softly, "That was close... We should be on the lookout for chirps...", he had suddenly realized that by taking limited gear he may have set them up for a harder time, even though he was thinking about ease of travel.

WC: 729/800
PC: 2/3

Baby owlbears? Owl...Bears? Do they fly or are they like chickens? Is their face an owl or bear? Do they have beaks? Do they move on all fours or are they bipedal? There were too many questions that popped up from that statement from Keiji. If it weren’t for his mask already being blank, Senkou’s face would be showing a strange combination of questioning, blankness, and confusion. There was enough to learn about regular animals let alone odd evolutionary branches that led to combinations such as owlbears. Might as well break out some mythology texts just in case cyclops, harpies, and other such creatures happen to show up. Through the minute that his brain worked through the revelation of what he was hunting, Senkou came to accept his situation and resolved to keep an open mind.

Apparently Keiji had some vague understanding of what he was up to. Raw chicken breast wrapped up to prevent its scent from attracting other predators for bait. Though it seemed that was far ahead as he had planned as Senkou didn’t see anything they were going to put the animals in once they had captured them. He could daze them with one of his flash bangs which would make them docile for a period of time, but transportation was still the issue. The only solution he had come up with was to string them all together with wire and just kind of carry them back to their home.

They had taken cover behind a large tree, their peaceful passing through the forest took a surprise turn when they almost ran directly into a mother bear and her cubs. That would have been a little ugly of an encounter though a pepper bomb would have dissuaded the mother bear from giving too much chase. Senkou didn’t want to waste any of his munitions at this point in case that the owlbears were kidnapped by the individual or individuals who had opened their cages and had need of them to engage a potentially hostile group.

Senkou responded to Keiji in the same tone of voice, “Are we sure that the owlbears aren’t currently being held by people with hostile intentions to any would be rescuers? Not just anyone could have broken through those seals that were placed on the cages.”

757/800 words

He would listen and ponder over what Senkou had said about the owl bear cubs for a moment before responding, "That's a good point Sen... hmm. Let's proceed with open eyes just in case. I still have my hair and kunai on me if we get in to a mix up so I can hold up my end.", he would slowly and quietly rise to a half crouched position as he crept out from behind the tree and further down the path now moving north westward through the forest now as he had begun to hear the sound of rushing water.

Heading closer to the stream that had come in to view he would unveil the chicken breast again to try and see what he could catch with it, as hopefully the small ones had gathered near water if they could, if they had been captured this was the logical direction their captors might have gone in as well, as one could hide their tracks by going through the stream. Observing the area he would wait and listen for a good moment until he finally heard the tell tale chirping off into the distance deeper in the forest past the stream itself.

Looking towards Sen he would speak softly, "I think we are on their trail now. Let's proceed under the assumption you are correct just to be safe.", and with that he would draw out a single kunai and hold it aloft in his left hand before moving to cross the stream and towards the faint chirping deeper in the woods. After a long moment of slowly creeping a camp would be insight with a handful of men guarding a cage that was covered by a tarp of sorts.