[S-rank Mission] Seeking Your Roots

[Zaulyl]

Zau almost laughed out loud as their employer returned with carts almost immediately after Rin pointed out that they would be easy to follow. With the smile that was impossible to contain, Zau turned to his wife. "I daresay the decision was made for us."

He piled onto the cart, taking the rear position to provide cover fire should they come under attack from behind. Zau had toyed with bows before-however, as with everything else, he never found the long ranged aspect of physical combat to be very appealing. His Naval Seal could assist with his accuracy, at least-if he ended up needing it.

Zau eyed the strange figure who seemed to burn like the sun as the cart sped away, never once taking his eyes off of him. The heat he generated was tremendous, far more intense than Zau had ever dealt with-and Zau handled molten metal and molten glass on a nearly daily basis.

Zau himself was seated on on the back of the cart, with his new bow in hand. He glanced over his shoulder as he answered the man shortly and curtly. "Treasure hunting. We're searching Horizon's ruins for treasures."

His gaze returned to the strange man in the distance, until they were far enough that Zau could no longer feel his presence. Zau shivered as his heat sense returned to normal. Kemuri? It wasn't like anything we've ever seen before. He generated far more heat than you ever could. Well...we seem to be on the right track, at least.

[Kagemaru]

Jashinru looked at Rin, then Zau, then Rin again. I'm unopinionated at the moment. My minds elsewhere. Jash would say, feeling as though he and his past self needed to have a talk about somethings. Jash sat next to the door, he'd actually be of more use if they were ambushed seeing as he mostly does direct attacking anyways, or at least those were his thoughts and feelings on the matter.

Jash Zeusian would call out, as the old mans image appeared from beyond the reaches of Jashinrus inner subconscious. Well well, hey Zeus. At this time the man had asked what they were doing there, and Zau had spoken up already. I'm actually looking for specimen to collect from the the ruined horizon, I hear tell of strange mutation...I'm a scientist. Jash would say.

He couldn't help but notice Zaus attention diverted elsewhere, he kept staring off. Zau you alright? he'd ask, he wanted to make sure his friend and superiors head was in the game, and something was keeping Zaus attention off. Which was weird, because as far as Jash knew Zau his attention was never off. None the less, I'm going to look into somethings, if anyone needs me I'll be in my head.

Jash I felt your heart calling out for me, is everything okay? And where are you? Zeusian would ask, he felt questions that needed to be answered to Jashinru, things that he left unsaid. Question, I know the clan of water, and the Kagemaru and clan of wind were wiped out. You however never said anything about the clans of Fire, and Earth. Who were they?

Zeusian started smiling a bit and then a chuckle would be heard through the telepathy seal, to Rin and Zau Hey watch it! Jash would say. Sorry, sorry. Well your actually quite familiar with both of the clans. One of them is sitting right next to you. Jash would then look next to him to see Zau. So, the kemuri is one of the four clans. Figures. Whos the Earth clan?

For now, lets just focus on the Kemuri clan. What you find here in horizon, could brauden your knowledge, and help you to understand to what you learn, about who you are. Jash sighed, he hated waiting, but it was important. He still needed to train a bunch of techniques, not to mention get a grip on the third gate itself. However it could wait a while.

[AleenaGrey]

Rin glanced at the cart and thought, 'Well, peachy.' She shrugged. "I guess so." She tied the horse onto the back of the cart, saddled up and all. She thought about riding the animal along side, she missed horses, but she'd rather be where any potential discussion would be. Rin eyed the new fellows with vague curiosity before she climbed into the wagon. Sitting next to Zau and Jash.

"I'm just along for the ride and shiny pretties." Rin would reply to the man. Which was partially true. Her husband and Jash were really leading this escapade. Treasure wouldn't be a bad thing. She liked jewels and such.

She would lean her back up against one of the crates that seemed comfortable and would cross her arms. Her hood hiding most of her face as she somewhat rested and conserved energy. Her senses were on high alert though, but mostly she was relaxed and ready.

Rin would glance up briefly with a single raised eyebrow directed Jash's way. An unfamiliar flash of amusement flitting through the seal was likely from his direction. Since she was very familiar with the other entity sharing Zau's body and doubted it could fit anymore.

[iceshadow40]

The man would nod to them all when they gave their answers, he himself not giving one. A few minutes would pass before the man let go of the reigns his hands patting his lap causing the tracks of the cart and horses to disappear into nothingness. His movements were cautious as they should be when traveling in the company of strangers, since the sun was a rare sight in silence it would be hard to judge what time it was but the sound of the horses moving on their last legs of energy would cause the man to turn the cart to the right ever so slightly.

"We are heading to a small pond for the horses to rest, we can take a break also and have something to eat." The man would turn back away from them and the cart would travel for about another hour on top of the 12 they had already traveled at top speed. The area around them was barren as per usual but the small pond was a sign of life that not many saw in Silence.

Stopping a few feet from the pond the man would unhook all the horses allowing them to walk over to the water so they could drink and regain their strength. The man his self would begin walking around the entire area examining the it and even scribbling in the dirt a few times, he was far enough out that they couldn't see what he was drawing into the dirt.

Coming back to the group he would sit down near the water, before pointing at the cart. "There be firewood in the cart, the crate near the divers seat, just pop that bad boy open and bring it to me." With that he would begin drawing in the dirt awaiting them to come to him with the firewood before starting a fire and setting up some drinks and food for them to eat. "Treasure hunting eh...why hunt for treasure in such a dangerous part of the world, never heard of deep sea diving?"

[Zaulyl]

OOC: Sorry for the late post, I have job-related things going on right now.

IC: Zau would help bring some firewood over, but would not eat the food the other man prepared. He ate his own rations, and did so relatively quietly. When asked for the reason for their dangerous destination, Zau would reply, sweet and short that:

"With more danger comes a better find."

And that would be all he'd say on the subject. Zau had too much on his mind at the moment-his actual mission, the threat of simply walking through Silence, the strange heated man from before, the fact that he was leaving Rikuhi in the care of a clone-he didn't need to have anyone prying too deeply into his reasons for being here.

[Kagemaru]

Once the Caravan stopped Jash hopped out after having sometime with himself inside of his head. Apparently it was time to take a break from the ride. Which was fine with him. He'd come out and sit out with everyone else, also denying the food because well, he couldn't eat it, that and he wasn't feeling very hungry at the moment, apparently the Sage of life needed to learn not to rely on food for energy but the energy of his mind, it was quite a challenge. Jash sat down with the group and silently kept to himself just ignoring the mans questions. Zaus word was going to be the last, he just wanted some silence as well.

Jash would close his eyes and begin meditating, trying to get some peace of mind. He couldn't completely keep his third gate open like he could the others, and he was wondering if his body was rejecting it. With that he went into a tranquil state, knowing that his teammates would watch his back if need be while he was 'outside' of himself at the moment. Deep breaths in and out, he tried to focus on anything inside of himself that would keep him from using the power of the third gate. Was it hate? Was it the pain that the gate could inflict? He wasn't quite sure.

Jashinru kept his eyes shut as he tried to figure out the problem, going through his thoughts carefully as he did so. The only thing that kept appearing in his mind was his family. His ex-wife Miyuki, his son Vash, and his daughter Lazuli. He missed them so much, after a little while it became clear to him, that it was guilt that was rattling his brain. The guilt of letting his family slip right out of his grip even when they were so close, yet now they are farther then ever. The statement 'you don't know what you have till its gone' made so much more sense to the ninja now.

Just let go, you can't bare grief, it clouds the mind, and the judgement of ones body. You must let the emotion flow like a river in a stream, through your bodies energies, and release it into the wind. he kept repeating to himself in his head, he was told that emotions can block the flow of energies to the gates, especially inside of him. He needed to keep himself calm. Its okay to admit you messed up Jashinru, in time anything can be fixed, you just can't let the grief block your chakra. Just know that you can fix any mistake you make. Zeusian said.

What Zeusian said was true, grief can wear down on the physical ability of the person in which its inside of, and Jash knew that. He had to let go, a few breaths in, and a few breaths out. His thoughts became less crowded, less worrisome. He thought about all that he's done since then, he can fix it. His muscles began to relax, and he felt his body at its peak. He felt hole again.

Jash sighed, and remembered that thought, a smile would crept upon his face. It was a look of relief. Hopefully when the time came to open the gate, he'd be able to. For now, he'd sit back with the rest of the group and enjoy the rest and relaxsation while it lasted.

[AleenaGrey]

Once they were out of the cart, Rin would stretch and grumble silently to herself. She hated cart travel, as much as she loved horses. It was just tough on the bones and back. She wandered after the horses, petting them absently and playing idol with the one she'd gotten's mane. Big bad missin-nin company or not, she could indulge in a little enjoyment of the horses. She would glance curiously at the man as he drew in the dirt, vaguely wondering what he was drawing. If she'd get the chance later, she'd able over to see.

She'd leave the horse a little while later to join Zau and Jash in food. She pried out some of her own rations to nibble. "What sort of things are you seeking?" She would ask their guide of sorts. He hadn't spoken much, actualy less than the little they had.

[iceshadow40]

The man cooking the food would shrug as they all rejected it and ate their own supplies or didn't eat at all. Shrugging a bit he would just fix his self a bowl of the food he had made and ate in peace until Rin asked him what he was seeking. Putting his spoon down in his bowl he would look up at the woman his eyes the prime example of passion in the fires light before he spoke. "Freedom...true freedom, not much else besides treasure and glory in this barren wasteland we've been driven too."

He would make a gesture with his hand out towards Zaulyl's left giving them a nice look at how barren the land was making the Rikuhian desert look like a spa. "At least everything isn't lifeless..." This time his hand would pat the dirt closest to the pond they had stopped at.

Going quiet now the man would grumble as he finished his bowl of food and helped his self to seconds and thirds. The group wasn't very talkative so it was hard to spark up a good conversation with anyone of them, but the leader of them was obvious. Though he might of spoken the least of them all Zaulyl was obviously a superior among the three.

While observing this the man would be staring intently at Zaulyl, then Rin, then Jashinru...from their perspectives he was sizing them up, assessing their abilities in a matter of minutes with the same passionate eyes he had shown Rin, only this time with a piercing gaze that seemed to be looking through their souls.

Anyway the day had been long and the horses had joined the group and laid down near the cart to sleep for the night. The man his self even finished off all the food he had cooked and laid back placing a blade of grass in his mouth before his hands went behind his head and his eyes focused on the sky before slowly drifting close.

If Rin still wanted to go look at the drawings in the ground, she would simply find kangi for the word 'Capture' written there each one being exactly the same as they totaled around 30 in count as they circled the entire campsite.

[AleenaGrey]

Rin studied the look he gave her intently with peeked curiosity. Evidently this man treasured his freedom more than any true treasure. It wasn't a bad desire, or so she thought. Free to do as one pleased. No orders, no moody husbands, no hyperactive-though lovable daughters. Rin smiled briefly as she found the thought likeable. "Not a bad thing to seek, no." She agreed. She liked her life, for the most part, but sometimes she wondered how else things might have gone.

The wasteland was quite depressing looking, even from their small oasis they'd stopped at. Rin's gold eyes gazed out into the land with thoughts of what may have once been. Perhaps that place had been a grassland or even dare say a forest. "Wonder if it could be revived." She thought absently. "For all that most ninja tout themselves, It may not be too much of a stretch of imagination." If so many ninja could destroy... why can't they also create?

She brushed that thought aside and nibbled more at her food. She felt a little sorry that the man had made so much, but strangers were strangers and especially in Silence you couldn't trust them. Her eyes drifted back to the man as he seemed to be sizing them up. She raised an eyebrow of curiosity. Really it didn't bother her or make her squirm. It was far from the first time of someone doing just was he was.

Once the man had drifted off and she'd glace at the horses and wash her arms and face in the water, she'd peek at the drawings. She crouched a couple feet away and studied them intently. She had a distinct feeling it'd be a bad idea to step on one of those. "Stay off the man's sand drawings." She sent to Zaulyl and Jash. "I think their Trap Jutsu." She'd wander back to Zau and settle into her place beside him.

[Zaulyl]

Zau sat by himself, eating his rations in silence. His heat sense was working overtime, in an effort to detect any unknowns in the area. Ninja hid their images all the time, and could move silently; but something very few ninja bothered to hide was their heat signature. Zau could rely on that-not many outside of the clan would have known to hide their heat signatures around a Kemuri, after all-it wasn't an obvious facet of the bloodline.

It was with this heat sense that Zau had also managed to paint a mental picture of the words drawn into the dirt; his heat sense was even more acute than his eyesight at his level, after all. That, or they're messages. Or, perhaps even worse, we're already trapped.

Zau absentmindedly picked up a small bit of meat from his rations and tossed it over his shoulder-hard over his shoulder. His aim was for the bit of meat to land a little bit past the markings; he needed to know if they had been trapped within a barrier, because if they hadn't, then Zau could still reliably escape.

[Kagemaru]

Jash continued his silent meditation, while the others were doing their own thing as well. He was mostly concentrating on himself while keeping his hearing sharp and alert. It was all that could be done right now, to rest up ones own mental mind frame for the unexpected. Then...some news came in from telepathy HQ. Rins message to both he and Zau about sand drawings, Yep. Really can't trust anyone in the land of silence... Jash would say to them.

So either were already trapped? or its a trap or a signal? What do they say? Jash would ask, he would get up and see for himself, but he didn't want to alarm the enemy if their indeed their was one, which was more than likely, because who honestly writes 'capture' in the sand for no reason what so ever? Once he was told by Rin what it said, he'd reply. That sounds like a signal, I agree Zau we very well have been in the trap since we agreed to go with this guy... Jash would say to them.

Jashinru would reach for his Hell scroll and unseal 10 butterflies from it, the little dark critters wouldn't be easily noticed in this setting. Guys see if you can find a scent other than the ones already present. the little guys would go out and do just that.

I sent out a few butterflies, now we play the waiting game.

[iceshadow40]

The meat that went soaring over the markings would cause them to activate and turning the meat to stone. The guy would groan and turn in his sleep, the butterflies would meet a similar fate as the meat if they went out past the markings and would just fall to the ground in heaps of stone.

The man would wake up holding his head, "What the fuck are you three doing?" He would ask calmly but visibly in pain as his right eye was closed. Pushing his self to his feet he would walk over to the different areas where the stone creatures and meat were located before sighing. "If your that paranoid you could of asked..."

Now fully awake the man would go back to his previous location taking a seat again before looking at the three of them. "Well I'm awake now, any of you got a cigarette?"

[AleenaGrey]

Rin watched as her two companions tested the seals. Since they did appear to be traps in the end. Rather interesting ones at that. Turning things to stone wasn't exactly a common ability as she recalled. However, the angry waking man did have something of a point. Paranoia tended to fallow ninjas who lived long enough to get that way.

Rin shrugged apologetically for her companions. "Sorry." She would say. "Course you coulda told us in the first place." She pointed out in a somewhat amused voice.

Then Rin wondered vaguely. "What is it you want to be called by, anyway?" She asked after she realized no forms of names had even been given. Though she highly doubted that any real name would be given. Real names could get you killed.

[Zaulyl]

"You trapped us inside a barrier that turns us to stone if we try to exit, in a land notorious for criminals. What, you expected us to be understanding? Had you created the barrier around only yourself, that would have been understandable as a shield. Around all of us, it's a trap. I suggest you start talking-and if I don't like what I hear, there won't be enough of you left to identify."

Of course, Zau was just playing a part-mostly. He really was very upset with their guide-trapping him, his friend, and his wife inside a barrier that could have potentially killed them had Rin been less observant was unacceptable.

"Do you realize how easily we could have died as a result of your little trap? A simple walk to take a bathroom break could have been fatal."

Even so, Zau pulled out a cigarette and tossed it at the man. "Smoke fast. I don't take kindly to things that threaten our lives."

[iceshadow40]

OCC: Sorry for the wait.

The man would catch the cigarette and would light it by the campfire his hand shaking fairly bad by this point in time. He would take a small drag on the cigarette before looking at Zau seeming to calm down a bit more after the first initial drag of the cigarette. "That barrier only works on a wide area...and I put them far enough out so you three wouldn't accidentally go for a bath room break and stumble into them, besides anything bigger than that ham you threw would of taken longer to turn to stone and I could of reversed it if I had waken up before the stone covered your heads."

The man would take another drag of the cigarette before looking at it then back to Zau before looking at Rin and would simply shrug at her comment asking for his name. He would look at Jashinru next before taking a deep sigh and looking at the sky. "Freedom comes at a price I assume..." He would look back down at Zaulyl this time locking eyes with the angry Kemuri any trace of fear removed now. "You can simply call me Master."

As the first letter of 'Master' was leaving his mouth he would flick the cigarette into the camp fire causing a series of sparks to burst upward. The man's hand would come down on the seal he had written under his self before he went to sleep. The sparks from the camp fire would forms collar like rings while shooting at each of the shinobi, their intention was not to harm but to wrap around their targets neck effectively weighing them down greatly and sucking away their energy so they would pass out from exhaustion.

The man wasn't down there for his hands would come together quickly forming a long series of seals as a counter measure for the group avoiding the collars, which he was positive they would do.

[Zaulyl]

Unfortunately for "Master", Zau was a very difficult person to outmanuever-his heat sense was faster than his eyes were, and so, his body was already ready as soon as the cigarette left the man's mouth. Zau's legs pushed off from the ground, and he would seemingly vanish from view as he used Dangan Panchi. This Taijutsu would allow Zau to cross the distance between Zau and "Master" in the blink of an eye; Zau was an Elite Jounin-he was already fast. A taijutsu that enhanced that further...it would be difficult to anticipate that action.

Zau would be in front of the man before the cigarette landed; worse yet, his palm would be outstretched, aimed at the man's throat, who would now have been coming down to slap that seal-right into the Wristblade Zau had deployed during his taijutsu.

And finally, Zau released a blast of Kasaijutsu from the tip of the blade. If the blade had managed to puncture the man's throat-which, given the speed with which the strike would have been performed in, absolutely should have happened-the flames would incinerate the inside of the man's throat, undoubtedly killing him. And if the man dodged backwards...well, then he would be burned by A-ranked flames. It was a dangerous situation for the "Master".

[iceshadow40]

The man would barely have anytime to react as his opponent reacted first to his hand moving as he threw the cigarette, even if it was nothing of seriousness it seemed Zaulyl was being extra careful around this Mn, his movement would alert the man causing him to throw his self back to lay flat down stopping his previous actions. The mn was of high standing as well and would bring his legs up as Zaulyl was over him bringing his feet outward to push the EJ away from him as his hand reached to tap the seal. This in turn would active the sparks of the fire to perform the collar jutsu, and if Zaulyl continued the burst of flames he would close his eyes as the sudden light from fire so close was blaring to the man.

Hopefully however the man was safe from catching fire with the heat so close to him and with the three hopefully distracted they would be caught by the fire collar which would quickly immobilize the trio as it drained their chakra, so the man could stand freely dusting his self off before speaking once more. "You three are quiet the hassle to handle...you'll go well on the black market...you might even meet your cow of a friend there as well."

The man would chuckle as he clapped his hands twice and all the seals surrounding the camp would glow like a dieing candle before vanishing from sight. With that done he would do a few hand seals creating a conveyer belt of earth moving the team towards the cart before lifting them up and putting them into the cart. He would whistle at the horses as they moved to hook up to the cart and move the group back to the previous town they entered.

[Zaulyl]

Unfortunately, Zau was of some pretty high caliber as well-you didn't get to Kage by being able to fall for some cheap Taijutsu tricks. As the man's feet came up to catch Zau in the chest, Zau would use the ninjutsu Stop to completely put an end to his forward momentum. With Zau and the man in such close range, the next array of attacks would have been nearly unavoidable.

Zau's hands simply shifted downward, ejecting streams of flames onto the missing nin below him. And, due to his heat sense, he could feel the collar coming towards him from behind-a foot launched itself up, releasing another blast of Kasaijutsu (A-rank) to catch it. Kasaijutsu was an interesting jutsu-it opposed other flames. All but the most powerful of Katon techniques would give way to this level of Kasaijutsu.

[AleenaGrey]

At the word Master, Rin's alertness spiked. Anyone who called themselves master had issues or would cause issues. Apparently this one caused issues. At the sight of the flame Rin's hands flipped through the seals for her Waterwall jutsu. Since The natural though is water beats fire. The wall rose between herself and the flaming Rin, and she tried to position it between Jash and the ring destined for him. Since he seemed somewhat out of it.

Rin's hands flippped again as the earth began rolling underfoot. 'You know... I reeeealy hate earth users. Such a pain in the ass.' She thought to herself as she unleashed her Thunder Fang right into the earth bellow their feet. Attempting to blast apart or cancel the odd rolling earth. She also figured the lightning and clap of thunder would probably spook the horses to run. To get them out of the way and to just mess up Mr. Delusions of Grandure's day.

[iceshadow40]

Thanks to Zaulyl, the earth wouldn't try moving the group and the man would burn to death thanks to the flames the EJ used for his attacks. Rin saved herself and Jashinru from falling prey to the seemingly simple flame collars, the horses would not move an inch but would be watching the transaction between the group silently.

The man dead now the seals would sink into the sand vanishing from sight and existence... the group was free to rest for the night and would for the sake of time be time skipped 7 days into the future where they would find their selves in a city they had heard was close to the ruins. Their supplies they had brought would be lost during their travels...for what ever reasons they were gone now.

The town was not that well built and looked to have been ravaged thanks to the wasteland of Silence and what ever creatures had been through the area.

The horses bringing the expedition into the town would begin moving their selves to a specific location in the center of town...a stable of sorts. The woman they had meet in the beginning of the quest was there talking to the shop owner and would lock eyes with the group as they came into view.