Temple in Ruins: Mission Topic - Closed

Posts : 730

The Forest of Fog has always been the home of a million hostile creatures, but seldom is it the home of hostile ninja. The shinobi who patrol the few settlements brave enough to risk predation here live only by the protection of the Kiri shinobi forces. Saya was dispatched with a mission of great importance because of this fact, and rushed to the forest to fulfill her sworn duty. Protection of the Civilians and Clergy of Kirigakure ranked highest on Saya’s list of duties, and reports of a possible attack was urgent news indeed.

Reports had surfaced that there was the possibility of assault on a Kiri temple. An outer wall of one of the shrines had been destroyed, along with the surrounding landscape. The trees around the area had been burnt with fire, and fire was an uncommon sight in the ever damp, always dripping, forest of fog. Enough suspicion had been raised that the complaint was sent to the ninjas, and Saya was dispatched to investigate.

As a loyal Chuunin, Saya was more than enough to handle such a mission on her own. Dressed in her armor she was a one woman army, and carried enough weapons to slay a small village. She wouldn’t need them today, but she carries them with her regardless. It would take Saya only an hour to race from the center of town to the depths of the forest. By traveling through the treetops Saya was able hasten her journey, and avoid most of the vile creatures lurking in the shadowy forest below.

The Shiyounin Temple was an old building, and a small one. The shrine wasn’t important, but not all attacks were meant to cripple an enemy. Who knows what hidden secrets might have been here before. A small break in the trees is all that would mark the temple’s location from the canopy, and also show the extent of the damage done. Approaching the sight Saya got her first look at an odd sight. A cluster of monks were surrounding the scar on the landscape, busying themselves with picking up sticks and smaller debris. Several smaller trees had fallen, and it looked like one of them had caused the breach in the temples outer walls.

Saya lands amongst the Monks, asking questions before they even settle down from her sudden appearance. “Who is in charge here?” she asks plainly, looking at each monk in turn. Her mask reflects little back towards each monk other than their own reflection, warped by the curves of the mask. The head monk steps up easily enough and announces himself. Brother Patron.

“I am in charge here.” says the monk in a quiet and steady voice. “This is how we found it. The tree was right there, sticking through the wall like someone threw it there.”

Saya’s eyes follow his gesture, but she looks to more than just the one tree. While it indeed looked capable of felling a small stone wall, it was different from the others. Even a cusory glance showed that it, unlike the other logs, had no ash, soot, or signs of flames. Though the monk continued, Saya was paying little attention, and silenced him with one lifted finger when she was ready to speak again. “I need you all to fetch shovels and wagons. We need to be rid of this debris before we can make this place safe again. All of you, bring back axes and carts, and some rope. And hurry, there is much work to be done.” She says, looking to them all in turn.

Obediently, the monks quickly scurry off. The Shiyounin temple was just a smaller shrine, and the tools were a ways from there. Once they had gone Saya set to a quick inspection. The ash truly made no sense. Saya retrieves a small evidence bag from a pocket in her cloak, and scrapes off some of the soot covering the fallen logs. She gathers up some leaves and some dirt, and repeats the same on other trees before she’s pleased with her collection.

With evidence accounted for, she move on to the next stage of her plan. With the quick motions for Kuchiyosi completed, Saya places her hand against the nearest tree to complete her summons. After the smoke cleared, Kouga, Saya’s loyal dinosaur companion, was perched on the tree in front of her. “Good, thank you for coming. We have a mystery here. These trees were burnt, but this is no land of fire.” She says, glad the monks were long gone. Kouga’s predatory frame was often enough to unnerve those not endowed with warrior’s bravery.

The Dinosaur lifts it’s narrow snout and sniffs at the air lightly. “A lot of people have been here.. and there was defiantly a few small fires. Fire didn’t break that wall though.” The dinosaur says in a slow, hissing voice. It lifts a finger and points at the breached wall, showing off the long claw on his finger as he does. The dinosaur hops over towards the building and sets to sniffing about. After just a few seconds the dinosaur speaks again. “There’s at least twenty scents to sort through here, not including yours..”

“If you’d like me to summo..” Saya blinks a little as her partner cuts her short, and speaks over her.

“That will not be necessary.. “ says the dinosaur, it’s red coat of feathers ruffling just slightly. The demonbird continues. “I can handle this well enough on my own. Just give a moment. We needn’t bring Shikaze out each time there’s a crowd. More to the point, this temple had a large crowd, for such a small building. However.. some of these scents are much more present than the others.. And there are a few that are.. well, down right rare. Some fresh.. some old.. some..”

It was Saya’s turn to interrupt this time. She smirks as the bird begins to harp about his oh so difficult job, and cuts into his speech at its halfway point. “Yes yes.. I’m sure it’s a complex tapestry of subtle an varied scents. Get on with it before the monks return.” She says, in a non-scolding voice. They were friend, and Saya knew better than to push her luck.

The dinosaur complies, and not a moment too soon. Catching a few interesting scents, Kouga looks back at Saya. “I will return soon..” he says, then makes himself scares. In the blink of an eye he retreats into the forest and is gone. The monks can be heard in the distance, returning with their supplies. They brought back two small hand carts, two axes, and a shovel. Good thing they had all the right tools.

Posts : 730

The return of the monks meant the real work could begin. The monks parked the two carts near Saya, and before they could try to leave, their fears were realized. Yes, she intended on putting them to work. The clergy was always better than the peasantry. They were devoted folks, who often times cared passionately about their temple. “Alright, lets clean up your temple.” She says calmly, approaching the group. To become slightly more personable, she removes her mask. She smiles sweetly, somehow managing to be quite pretty, in spite of her soldier’s disposition.

“You two with the axes need to start breaking these trees down into smaller pieces so we can transport them. Cut them into three foot lengths, and I’ll handle the rest. Use that Shovel..” she says, turning her attention to the monk holding the crude tool. “Clear off the path. A great deal of earth has been moved. Refill the hole made from the tree uprooting. Those coming to pay their respects at this shrine deserve a clean path.”

“That’s all, get to work.” She says and waves the monk’s off. After only a moment of hesitation, they all set to work. If anything, Saya could get a job done. She stands up tall, smiling as the monks set to work on her orders. Beneath her cloak she crosses her arms over her chest and sighs. Is this what it was like to be a general, she wondered. The two with the axes put them to use in easily cutting through the heavy trees blocking their way.

Saya moves in behind the man with the shovel, watching curiously as he refills the hole left from the tree. It was strange that something had simply uprooted the tree. It was as though a tornado had landed right there, and picked that single tree up out of the ground, and hurled it at the wall. It was just uncanny, and it simply couldn’t have been a coincidence. Why anyone would have chosen this small temple was certainly beyond her. She leaves the man to shovel as she looks back towards the temple for a moment.

Of course, Saya was only a chuunin. She wasn’t super important so it would make sense there was things she did not know. Perhaps the temple was used to store some great information, weapon, or treasure. If that was the case then that could mean another nation is trying to undermine Kiri. If such was the case she would have to trust in Kouga to pick up a trail somewhere. The dinosaur was a skilled tracker. Hell, without his tracking skills, and the natural tracking skills of his whole family, none of them would ever eat dinner.

Out in the middle of the woods, Kouga was doing his job well. He’d selected a single scent, one that only seemed present twice. The monks that frequented the shrine left their scent everywhere, but this trail led far away from the temple. Out in the middle of the forest of fog, the shinobi who had left the trail was still on the run. Kouga is a noble creature, one who’s power Saya respects. Though he’s small, he’s fast, strong, and above all, smart. Kouga has proven a match for many opponents in the past.

“No, you are cutting those too long. Cut them in half now. Think fire wood. The citizens of Kiri will benefit from this unfortunate strike of chance.” She says, disguising what she fears may be oncoming war and implying it an accident. The clergy needn’t worry about such things. “In fact, just let him finish, he is doing well. Follow behind him and remove the branches from the logs he cuts. We’ll stack those and leave them here. The larger logs we can bring to the smithy and leave them for the forge.”

Indeed, the monks were a dedicated and hard working lot. Saya pushed them onwards, and they preformed admirably. In short order the logs were taking shape, and Saya would have to do some work of her own. She pulls her cloak off her shoulders and lets it fall to the ground where she was standing. With as solidly as it was made, careful was the last thing she needed to be with it. She approaches the large sections of tree they were leaving behind were heavy and thick, easily four or five hundred pounds each. Still, the monks can’t help but gawk and pause their work as she picks them up on their own.

She doesn’t exactly make it look easy, but it’s obvious it’s not hard. With both hands she grips the bark coating of the log, then pulls. The three foot long sections of previous tree leave the ground, then land heavily in a cart a moment later. The cart was full of a previously twelve foot high tree in just four simple sections.. but then Saya was left with one heavy cart. Amazingly, this was not her first rodeo. Heavy loads were something she was an expert at carrying, and such weight was little, when attached to a sturdy wheel.

“I am going to bring this cart into town. I will return in about two hours. By then, you should have the rest of this finished. We’ll load the rest of the logs into the carts, and bring them to town. After that, we’re finished. You’ve all been such a help, that I will gladly buy you all dinner. I know of the perfect place.” She says, then brings her hands up in front of her. She weaves through three easy hand seals, Rabbit, Monkey, and Dog, them touches her fingertips on the silk scroll wrapped around her forearm. That same moment the training weights she was wearing vanish in small puffs of smoke.

Free from their load she seizes the handles of the cart, and lifts. She pushes forward with great force, and soon the cart is on its way towards town. The moist dirt path offered a great resistance, but Saya is a truly powerful girl. After a few moments getting to feel for the balance of the cart, she begins pushing it at a slow jog. The logs rattle and shake as she wheels the cart over small rocks and protruding roots, but she never looses control of it. It only takes her about an hour to get to town, leaving her with a huge amount of time to get back.

The few blacksmiths Kirigakure kept were mostly situated on the outer fringes of town. The heat, smoke, smell and noise of the forge often kept normal citizens from wanting to live near it. They preferred to only reap its numerous benefits, but that’s alright. The huge logs could fuel the forge’s fire for almost a whole day, so they were a welcome donation. Without notifying to smith, or waiting for a thank you, Saya dumps the large and weighty logs onto the ground in a graceless and disorderly pile.

Getting back to the temple was a simple matter, even with the cart. The simple wooden box on wheels only weights a couple hundred pounds, and that was next to nothing for Saya. Her training weights weighed more than that. She picks the cart up off the ground and holds it over head, holding it as though it were some wooden, wheeled, umbrella, and sets for the trees once more. Cart in hand she could still run fast, and jump far. While Saya was making her way back through the trees, she ran into a friend unexpectedly.

‘Comfortable..” says the demonbird as he lands on the bottom of the cart, sitting between the wheels as though it were some recliner. The extra weight didn’t seem to slow Saya down much. “I found what you were looking for. There are two of them out there, ninjas from somewhere. I didn’t get a very good look, but I can point out their location. I also got a big sniff of the big, mean looking one.”

“Fantastic. Well done, Kouga, I couldn’t be more pleased. Return to the Seahorse, I’ll find you there in a couple hours. I still have to get more of these logs out of the way. If you can find it on the map, then I will bring that information back to the council. They can do what they wish with it. Our mission is completed.” She replies without looking up.

“Right. See you.” replied the reptile, his voice lingering on the S a little too long. A moment later the creature hops up, and leaps off of the cart Saya was carrying. Her partner was a fantastic ally, she had to admit. While he couldn’t compete against most ninjas in combat, he was brilliant, and could function autonomously. Saya could trust him for days on his own, without needing constant orders.

Only 90 minutes had passed when she left, but Saya was pleased when she returned. There were seven pieces of log left to move, and all the branches had been removed. A pile of leaf litter could be left to compost quickly in the forest, while most of the fallen trees had been salvaged for fire wood, and the branches had been broken down and piled along a still standing wall of the temple. “Well done. Great job, all of you.” She said, after dropping down from the canopy of the trees. She sets the cart down beside her. “We will be done with this in no time. Lets get those last few loaded up, and we’re done!”

Of course, this was a lie. Saya did most of the work loading the huge logs into the cart, and when it was over, one more task remained. Saya could move the heavier cart herself, but the three monks took shifts on the second carts. The path back to town would take much longer than was expected while waiting for the monks, and the sun would set long before she was done. Kouga would likely be sleeping when she dropped the logs noisily outside of the blacksmiths shop. In the wee hours of the morning Saya completed her simple mission. The only problem left was she had promised three monks a good dinner.