The Vagabond Bride

Mission Specs:

Her dark hair swayed back and forth with her steps, brushing lightly against her nape and cheeks. "Might have to cut it soon", she pondered. The day was a sunny one, with few clouds dotting the sky, which meant the air was about ready to toast her lungs with every breath, and if not for the hood of her tan cloak, the light would beat off her black hair highlighting the blue-ish hues, which when combined with her dark eyes, gave away the Uchiha lineage to the initiated. Still, travelling the desert without a cover would've been foolish, and considering her village was hidden among the leaves, she felt her best option was out here in the sands.

She could see strings of smoke in the distance now, just over a sleepy dune, and soon as she saw it she travelled to meet the crest of the dune to facilitate her trekking; once atop the crest, the vista revealed the small town. "Time to go get my payday." She lumbered her way down the dune, almost getting tired at the thought of finally resting. Once there, she received the same dirty looks she would receive everywhere; outsiders were not welcome in small towns, as they usually spelled trouble. While her clothing was mostly revealing, since few clothes meant few restrictions, she did have the cloak over it, brown and dusty and worn, and she hugged it close to her body to enforce the idea that she was tiny and harmless, maybe even worthy of pity and patience.

She sat at a tavern and asked for some soup; while she tried to figure out how she would swindle the tavern owner, someone entered hurriedly in the tavern. "You there", the fat man approached and sat down in front of her. "I have a proposition for you. You're a va… nomad, right?" Vagabond. Maybe vagrant. That's where he was going. She didn't mind it, she was a vagabond after all, however the term nomad had a nice ring to it. She might even adapt it. "I need a service from you. Southwest from here there's a small village, and my daughter is betrothed to a nice boy from there. I need you to deliver the dowry so this family as a means to seal this deal. Once you get there, you will be paid 200 Ryo. It's a short trip so it should be worth your time. I'll even pay you for this soup."

Hayami leaned back in her chair, eyeing the fat man with calculating eyes, pouting her lip to turn the cold look into a bored one. "Pay for this soup and buy me another soup and a loaf of bread, and I'll do it for you." "Fantastic", the fat man muttered exasperated; as he went to the counter to make the order, Hayami innocently went back to eating her soup. She figured the fat man might need this done with some urgency, and if he was willing to use someone who just stumbled into town, it meant the preparations for the wedding were reaching their deadline, dowry being the biggest priority to get the nice boy from the other town. It was easy money.

After paying for the soup and bread, the fat man came back; "I'll be back soon with the dowry, please stay here." He looked back at the bartender nervously, nodded, then back at her smiling, and went out. He didn't want her to run away after paying for her meal, even though he was willing to give her a dowry for the groom's family. Once the soup and bread came, she carved the bread and hollowed it, dumped the soup into the bread, drank the soup and ate the soggy soupy bread. She was almost ready to blow up by the time the fat man came back with the wooden meticulously carved box, painted white and waxed carefully. The box itself was almost beautiful enough to steal on its own. "Please", he begged her. She smiled warmly at the man. "Don't worry. It'll be delivered."

She made her way out of the tavern, her body almost entirely ready to slump over and fall asleep. She felt eyes on her back, as though people from the town were making sure she followed the road southwest. "Sheesh, talk about paranoia." She even traced a single falcon fly past her in the sky, which could very well mean the townsfolk alerted the neighbouring village that she should be arriving soon. Instead, she took a hard turn southbound, across a magnificent canyon; she took the first few steps into the edge, to leave effective footprints that might still permeate the grounds if someone was sent to find her; at the very edge, she leaned into the canyon with chakra harnessing the sole of her tai chi slippers and allowed her to carefully walk the edge. She accounted for gravity and calculated the opening angle for the box, opened it. Few trinkets, a ring that looked like fake silver with a piece of glass on it. Meh. She might make some money out of this. At least she got free lunch.

***
WC: 873
Exit
Mission Rewards: 500Ryo + 1AP
Claiming 2 Chakra
873 Words towards Sharingan (1 Tomoe)