When the Season Calls

After dealing with pirates and sharks, Dracoso decided it was time to just settle back and enjoy some more peaceful parts of his vacation at Mikadzuki beach. He had spent several days recovering and communicating with the staff to help clean up the aftermath while he had spent time with Heroshi. He had set up a lagoon to relax in and a teaching space for others, but he saw some requests for help setting up booths for fun and entertainment. The strip of beach that he was directed to set up on was already active with many staff and ninjas building structures and setting up different games to try out.

Many were familiar, such as the ring toss or bottle topple games for kids and parents. There were even kissing booths and photo booths set up. The prices people offered ranged from candies and treats all the way up to large stuffed animals or extravagant toys. He had a feeling that the competition for the attention of attending individuals would be a quite challenging. Dracoso decided that he would try to step up his game with what he had to offer. Both for the games people would play, and the prizes they would get. The first step was to build the stall and make sure it stood out. 

He started by working on the main frame of the building. He put up tall walls to either side to make it so you could only see it from the direct front of the stand and make people need to crowd in if there was interest. He made the front wall low, only up to his knees, to make sure people could easily see what was going on within. From there, he set up a sign and crafted large ice letters to wedge into the wooden sign reading "Are You Ready?" before placing a chair inside. He draped a tarp over the top and set a few wooden poles standing in the back to stretch the tent a bit further. He then set up a small wall in front of where he sat to help keep from distracting those who came up to play.

Once the play area was in order, Dracoso went about writing up a few pieces of paper with the name of each of the three games he had in mind, the rules to each, and the prize values they would receive. He took the documents and laid them out in front of him, looking over the details. They read:

Guess The Pup
Difficulties: Easy (E), Moderate (M), Hard (H)
Rules: Several (E:3, M:5, H:8 ) wolf pups and clones will be transformed to look like one of the wolf pups in front of you. They will then be mixed up through means of rough housing and sensory means. You will be allowed to make guesses (E:1, M:2, H:2) to figure out who the original pup is. If you guess correctly, you will win a prize!
Prize Values: E - 1, M - 3, H - 6

Changes, Changes, Everywhere
Difficulties: Easy (E), Moderate (M), Hard (H)

Rules: A large scene will be displayed in front of you with several individuals/objects presented. A mist will spread out over the stage and, once it has cleared, you will need to spot a number of differences in the scene. The number of differences depends on the difficulty (E:3, M:6, H:10). For this game, you may team up with one other person to find all the changes. You have up to 2(E)/3(M)/4(H) wrong guesses before your attempt ends. If you can find the majority of changes, you will win the smaller prize. If you find all the changes, you will win a large prize!
Prize Values: Small: E - 1, M - 3, H - 5. Large: E - 2, M - 5, H - 8

Skating on Thin Ice
Difficulties: Easy (E), Hard (H)
Rules: The floor of this stage will be frozen using several squares of different liquids. Of these liquids, only 3(E)/2(H) are safe to travel on. The challenge is to cross the ice without slipping, getting stuck, or touching the wrong ice. You will need to figure out which ice is the right ice, and which is the wrong ice to touch while crossing. You must touch at least one square in each row to safely reach the other side.
Prize Values: E - 4, H - 7

Key Rule:
No using jutsu to enhance or bypass the odds to win. All efforts will be monitored and those using jutsu, such as sensory jutsu, will be disqualified. You must be 18 or have parental approval to play the Skating on Thin Ice game.

Once the signs were up, He went about flattening the ground the best he could and then storing several different kinds of water and liquids from his water sealing scrolls and the resort nearby. These included basic water, salt water, watermelon juice, a mixture of basic kitchen items to make slime, several food color dyes, vinegar, and some of the thicker sauces used for cooking. Once these were set back behind the area he would sit, he set up smaller containers so he could use a single casting to draw the liquids out in specific patterns and then instantly freeze them. The wolf pups he would simply summon from his contract scroll and have them enjoy some attention, as he planned to bring out the younger okamis. For the changes games, he gathered up a few different pieces of clothing, some random prop items from the recent events he took part in, and even a few items taken off the pirate ship. 

Once everything was gathered together, he left a clone in charge of watching the stall and went off to grab up some food and drink. He mentioned his ideas and his stall to the staff and some of the other beachgoers and some were interested. They asked for advice and tips on it, which he simply shrugged and said that there were many tactics people could use. Some were better than others, but it all came down to patience and focus. A couple of the ninja nearby bragged that they could handle the challenges without issue and would be there to prove it. Dracoso simply nodded and told them to let their friends know if they felt they were so confident.

The day passed into night and Dracoso set up his spot in the stall with his supplies in place. Onlookers had already started to wander amongst the stalls and were asking questions about each game and when they would be ready to play. Most had planned to set up in the afternoon and ended up with small crowds that had gathered to watch others play and interact. Some stalls were selling food while others would offer services, such as tarot or palm reading. As Dracoso started to make a bit of noise moving his props around, a couple of children at the front were calling out to him. "Hey mister! can we play the pups game?!" one of the younger ones asked. Dracoso chuckled, projecting his voice out for show, "Oh?! You wish to see if your eyes can find the right furball of a wolf pup?!" 

A few individuals at other stalls glanced over but went back to what they were doing. Dracoso gave himself a mental shrug and rolled his hands as he nodded and asked the child, "How difficult do you want it to be?" The children seemed to get a bit excited and said, "Hard! Make it really hard!" Dracoso nodded and grinned as he stealthily took out his spare senbon and poked the side of his leg behind the wood desk and slipped some blood onto the palm of his hand. "Hard it is! But be warned. These pups are well trained to confuse and confuddle your senses!" He slapped his hand on the floor as he rapidly threw up seals with his other hand. A large cloud of thin smoke exploded out from the stall, enveloping the crowd for a short time. A few moments later, six wolf pups and two shadow clones stood in two rows of four within the stall.

The crowd was amazing at the sudden appearance and some of the kids even clapped and commented on the ones they thought looked the coolest or the cutest. The younger wolf pups looked irritated with the kids and even Hike puffed up and said at the kids, "We are trained fighters! We are not pets!" The kids all stood stunned at the talking wolf, as did their parents. The silence slowly spread and Dracoso leaned towards the child who had chosen the difficulty. "Next choice to make, now that we have a bit of silence. Which pup shall you be choosing for the game to track?" He asked. The child looked out at the group and pointed at Chimai, "That one! I want them all to look like the little black wolf!" Dracoso nodded and looked back over to the group of individuals to say, "Alright, let's get eight little Chimais out there!" He reached behind his dividing wall and hit a drum twice which he had hidden there. The two clones and remaining 5 wolves all disappeared in poofs of smoke.

As the smoke cleared, eight little wolf pups with black fur and piercing yellow eyes stood looking at one another. The real Chimai looked pretty confused for a minute, unsure as to why she was the one chosen, but only had a moment to pause for this. Dracoso hit the drum once more and said, "let the game begin!" As he finished, one of the Chimai immediately pounced on the original and was followed by a cascade of Chimais that began to bark and roll and tackle one another. The sound slowly increased as the roughhousing grew to include all eight pups. Individuals from other stalls came over to see what was going on until a fairly large crowd had gathered around the stall. The children squealed with delight as many of the pups tried to circle one another or try to use strategy, right before being tackled by two others that caught the first off guard.

After a minute, Dracoso hit his drum twice and the eight Chimais rolled off of one another and slowly arranged themselves in a single line of eight. Dracoso leaned back over to the child, the crowd looking on in curiosity. "So, which is the original little black wolf?" The child peered intensely as the Chimais as many of her friends tried to yell out which they thought was the real pup. The girl shook her head at them and looked back and guessed, "Is it number four?" Dracoso raised a hand and said, "Number four, step forward and, if you are not the original wolf pup, show us now!" The fourth Chimai in the row stepped forward and gave a short bow before disappearing in a cloud of smoke to reveal themselves as Bosura. He grinned at the child and simply said, "good try, but I am not the little wolf pup" before sitting back in line. 

Many of the new onlookers were surprised by the transformation and seemed to give more attention now to the show. "You get one more guess," Dracoso explained to the child, "Think really hard on where you think the wolf pup is." This time, the girl listened to her friends as they seemed to be describing how the wolves play had gone. As they finished, the little girl chose number seven. "Number seven, step forward and let's see who you are!" The seventh Chimai walked out from the row and bowed, holding the position. A few moments passed as the crowd held their breath. The Chimai they were all staring at opened one eye and said just loud enough for people to hear, "You got me."

As if a spell was broken, the children all cheered as one and the crowd around them clapped and chuckled. The remaining six Chimais all returned to their original forms and chuckled or clapped to the crowd. As they all got on well, Dracoso leaned over to the child and said, "so you won six points by guessing the right wolf pup. What would you like as a prize?" The girl tapped a finger to her lips and asked, "well, what prizes are there?" Dracoso smiled and pulled out a little chart that he read off from, "well, for one point, you can get some small prizes, like candies or treats I can make for you. For a larger prize, I do have some stuffed animals you could ask for or I could teach some fun ninja things, if your parents say it is ok." The other children became aware that the girl was choosing prizes and started to yell out for her to get the stuffed animals or learn ninja things and teach it to them too.

"I want candies for me and all my friends who helped me" she said with a nod. The other kids seemed a bit disappointed at first, then perked up at the thought of treats. "Ok, shall we do frozen treats, or straight up candy?" he asked. The girl responded, "Frozen treats? Like popsicles?" He nodded and said, "if that is what you want." The girl nodded and Dracoso pulled out a few popsicle sticks along with a small, covered bucket of syrup. He dipped the stick in and used his ice jutsu to shape a flavored popsicle out of it. He asked each child the flavor they wanted and used his knowledge of ingredients to quickly craft a separate treat for each child until all of the children had sweet frozen treats. They all thanked him and walked off with their parents. 

Now that a small group had formed around his stall, Dracoso ended up rather busy for the remainder of the night. Several individuals engaged in the changes game along with the pup guessing game. Most who took on the easy or intermediate difficulties ended up winning more often than not, yet no one could guess the pup for the hard difficult after the first girl had taken her shot. When he got to a request for the thin ice game, Dracoso again played up the game and, with a flick of the wrist, created a multicolored floor that surprised the crowd. The floor shimmered softly, and each square was identical to those around it. A few individuals tried to cross the floor, yet most either ended up stuck to the starch squares or slipping on soapy squares. Any injuries were tended to immediately by Dracoso and were helped off the floor. 

Treats and gifts were handed out to those who won and consolation prizes, aside from the first aid, was given to those who tried out the games. The crowd seemed to quite enjoy cheering on individuals who tried to cross the ice and took part in making their own predictions for the wolf pup games. After a long night of many challengers, Dracoso smiled to the slowly departing crowd and said, "thank you all for coming! Tonight has been a wonderful night of perception, dexterity, and confusion. I hope you have all enjoyed and have a wonderful rest of your evening!" Some of the children whined softly as they wanted to see more, but the parents began to usher them off as it was getting rather late.

The rest of the onlookers down the stall pathway were making their way back up towards the resort and many of the stall owners were chatting and chuckling at the events. A few walked over to Dracoso's stall and complimented him on the creativity and engagement he gave to those he entertained. "I just figured it might be fun to have some of my wolf pups come out and meet people. When I first met them, they said that they wanted more interaction with humans. So, I figured it would be fun for both to get to see one another." The other owners nodded and, after a bit more chatting, headed back off. Dracoso broke down his stall and returned the construction materials to the resort for future events. The staff also thanked him for his hard work, and he got some rest that night.

The time at the beach was coming to a close, but he felt this would be a good way to finish up his experience here. In the morning, he would head back to Kirigakure and catch up with his family. He had received quite a bit of a sunburn for his time at the beach, but the cool night air and the burn ointment he had used were both softly lulling him to sleep. After a time, the night took him, and he and Sutsui slipped off into a comfortable sleep. Many of his dreams were filled with wolves and popsicles and memories of the smiles of all who he had entertained.

{WC = 2853)
Claiming Mission Rewards:
Mission: Festival Season: Set up Shop
1000 Ryo + 5 AP (given to Sutsui, total will be 430)
Event: 5 Beachside tickets

Learning:
Element: Lightning - 3900/6000 (originally 8000. 2850 added to 1050/6000 from: The Lazy Lagoon: Cool and Clean)