Gimme That Sweet Sweet Candy

Spoiler:

Rin strode through the town streets, the moon sitting high in the sky, loomed over the small village she had come to reside in, it's light illuminating the snow caked footpath. The old wood and stone apartments looked gorgeous, the town leaning into its festival. Wreaths of holly hung from doors, mistletoe and foliage decorated windowsills, and a vast array of decorations dotted every street corner. It was beautiful, but Rin couldn't help but feel their joy was misplaced. She sighed, shaking her head as she walked past a stall selling honey glazed nuts and mulled wine. Shaking her head sadly she pulled up the blue and pink scarf she had picked up from the village's market the day before, a wonderfully hand woven woolen infinity scarf that the kindly old woman who sold it had insisted would bring her luck. Rin wasn't too sure about that last part but she had to admit it did look good on her, and the pink matched the colour of her hair wonderfully.

The young shinobi walked down the main road, passing by a number of stalls. She stopped outside one of them, looking at the various wares for sale on display. All rather pedestrian items such as pottery, jewellery, sweets, and other trinkets were displayed against wooden stands, all brightly coloured in the moonlight. A bell rang out, making Rin jump slightly, startled she turned her head to see a young child running away, the sound of bells chiming behind him. Rin smiled, watching him go with a soft chuckle. He was probably trying to get away from his mother, after being caught stealing something. But then again, maybe he just wanted some sweets and got caught.

Turning back to the stall Rin examined its wears. There was nothing particularly exciting, but she liked browsing the stalls anyway. "Hello there." The woman behind the counter said, smiling at her. "Can I help you?"

"Yes please," Rin replied with a smile. "I'm looking for a present for my friend." she said, browsing the goods for something that might suit Emi's style.

"Oh! You're not here to buy anything for yourself are you?" The woman asked, laughing a little and Rin couldn't help but smile in turn, the woman's joy infectious, even if it was only a front to help draw in customers

"No, no... I'm not one for jewlery myself" she admitted. "But I thought I'd find a nice necklace or bracelet for my friend." She explained further, finding an item that looked perfect and held it up for the shopkeeper to see.

The woman laughed eying the piece. "Well, this is lovely. I'm sure It'll really suit her." She said, handing the object to Rin. "That will be a hundred ryo."

"That's seems rather steep!" Rin exclaimed, feeling her cheeks flush red, she wasn't strapped for funds anymore but she still felt the need to try not to waste her funds.

"It's handmade and made using the finest materials. It's worth it." The woman told her, placing a hand on her arm. "And besides, I know your friend. If you don't mind me saying, she looks like she could do with a bit more kindness in her life" the woman said, her words drawing something of a surprised look from Rin. It did make sense in an odd sort of way, that the woman would know her and Emi. Whilst foreigners were not entirely uncommon within the town it was certainly enough of a rarity that the pair of them staying here would have spread at least a few rumors.

"Sorry?" Rin said, not quite sure what to say to the woman's comment.

"You know, someone kind. Someone who needs a little more love and happiness in their lives. This should go some small way towards helping her." The woman continued, giving Rin a warm smile. Rin sighed, perhaps the woman was right, Emi had seemed rather down lately, and she wasn't really so strapped for coin that this would put a dent in her purse; and if the woman was just trying to get a sale out of her... well then the woman deserved a reward for playing her part so well.

Reluctantly pulling payment out of her pouch, Rin handed over the money. "Thank you." She said, taking the necklace from the woman and tucking it into her pouch before continuing on through the festival. Wading through the crowd of people dressed in a whole assortment of colours, Rin looked around curiously, eyes alighting upon the various stalls. Most of which she passed without paying much attention to, they all seemed to sell the same things and Rin had little interest in any of them. However there was one booth that drew her eye, its window decorated with a large sign proclaiming 'Bath Bombs!' in bold letters.

At first glance it didn't seem like anything special, but Rin couldn't help but wonder what such a thing actually was, her mind of course immediately jumped to the idea of a bomb designed to be hidden directly in someone's bath... but that was an absurd concept surely. As she approached the stall she saw a man standing behind a counter, most likely the owner of the business. He was dressed in a simple brown jacket and green pants, wearing a white shirt beneath. He had short dark hair, and a small beard, and wore glasses.

"Ah another young customer! Welcome!" The man said happily. "I'm glad you decided to visit our humble stall." He continued, gesturing at the various balls of what looked like soap. Rin noted the variety of different kinds with interest. Some were scented, some had glitter, some had sprinkles, and some even had little bits of fruit inside them.

"Are these bath bombs?" Rin asked, trying to keep her voice casual as she wondered why he would call them such a name.
"Yes! And as you can see they're filled with everything from strawberries to peppermint to chocolate. They're very popular, especially during the winter months." The man explained enthusiastically.

Rin tilted her head, eying the man curiously. "Why call them a bomb? I'm assuming from the fact that your selling them out here in the open they aren't actually explosive."

The man nodded, his expression becoming a little serious. "They're not intended to explode. Indeed, it would be extremely difficult to make them that way. They are, however, perfectly safe, and we've never had any issues with them going off accidentally." he said, letting out a laugh as the serious look disappeared again. Rin couldn't help but feel like she's missed a joke there but frankly the man was odd enough she wouldn't be surprised if that would have been true of anyone listening to him ramble on.

She was just about to make an excuse to leave when something caught her eye; behind the man's stall sat a dark alley and within it a pair of individual's stood exchanging... something, but hidden in the shadow's of the alleyway as they were she couldn't quite see what, noticing her look the man turned for a moment before looking back at her, his face souring slightly.
"Oh, your one of those sort" he said, clear disappointment in his voice. "Well go on then, go get your fix" he said, stepping aside and gesturing her into the alleyway. Rin frowned, unsure what the man meant by that but knowing from experience that it was best to avoid getting into fights when possible, and guessing that despite his otherwise casual demeanor the brute of the man would at least be enough of a fight to cause a scene, she slipped inside the alleyway, striding towards the shadowed pair.
As she drew closer she caught a glimpse of something exchanging hands between the pair, a bag of what looked like... crushed up candy cane mixed with glitter?

WC: 1316

Before arriving to the north, the madkat ventured off to a village for rest. His time spent on the road grew to be more taxing then he thought. The horses that pulled the open wooden carriage would agree too. Plus the carriage itself wasn’t insulated, so the cold weather wasnt that agreeable; next time Katauragi would pay a bit more for the fully covered wagon model instead of the open wagon with cloth roofing. He signs upon coming up to the village, the snow claiming nearly everything from man. “It’s like a gawd damn snowglobe…, motherfucka!!! HaYAH!!!!!!”, he yelled as he whipped the two horses with a mighty grip. It sent the two steeds into a frenzy, each running faster and harder than ever as they pulled the carriage up the snowy hill and into the village.

While slowly pulling up, Katsuragi’s form was revealed. By the moonlight, nearly as bright as the sun it was. Yet, the harshness of the cold air took away from it’s awe. He wasn’t really too big on the cold, due to him being raises in a much warmer climate.

Katsuragi's attire consisted of a Yakuta black leather jacket, which underneath he wears a hanley blood red hoodie. His belt is black leather, designer's choice, with an overlapping LV emblem as a buckle. The pants he wears is a fresh pair of black stretch jeans with ankle zippers located on the lower inside section of the pants. His boots on his feet also being solid black of a leather material with an emblem labeled "EU", it's made of metal stitched to the tongue of the boots. His hair, still vivid, was a solid dark purple. His hair in contrast with his pale skin, however, his arms torso and hands bore a mural of mostly assorted prison tattoos; all black ink in color. He himself stood at a height of 6'2 feet with a thin frame. His tools and such were all assorted evenly along his attire, given no hint to their whereabouts yet allowed him easy access with a little bit of technique.

Hopping off of the wagon once it came to a stop, he takes in the scene while the horse handlers tend to the wagon and the horses. “What…da fuck?!”, he yelled. He witness two strangers tending to his ride. “Yo, who da fuck are you?”, he demanded to know who and what these two wanna be jack boys were doing.

“There’s a toll asshole, we run this place now. And when we take over house Shin-“, the other bandit cut in, “hush man! You tell’in him way too much dawg. We don’t know this guy, the fuck are you doin?”, he continues yelling while the other scratches his head in confusion.

Amongst the chaos, katsuragi launches towards the two now armed with brass knuckles in both hands. Reaching within striking distance, he delivers a swift yet powerful right hook to the bandit on the left, knocking him out instantly with a shot to the left side of his jaw. The other bandit, now registering what had happened, he reaches for his hilt along his waist. But, as he did, Katsuragi rushes towards him and delivers the same strike but towards this bandit’s right side of his jaw. One, two, and both were down for the count.

“Nope! Yall aint getting me for my shit. No sir!!!”

*sound of hand gripping the hilt of a katana* x10

Katsuragi turns to see a whole army of authorities armed to the teeth. They were all calmly waiting for Katsuragi, who was now caught red handed, to do something stupid. He sucks his teeth at the sight of them, “awww maaaaaaan….”

Moments later, at the police station Katsuragi is seen talking to the chief. Apparently he wasnt the only one who got stuck up by these bandits. It was a very long and on going investigation. However, with a little bit of talking, Katsuragi managed to avoid all the charges. Provided that he worked with them to stop the bandits from causing anymore harm. They even offered to pay him. Normally he’d tell the police to go fuck themselves, but since the bandits attaxk him first, it was payback time. After gather all the information, he sets off into town with hopes of getting a lead. Which, he managed to due to him being a criminal. Wanna catch a rat, you gotta think like one. Speaking of rats, katsuragi scurried along the alley. Only to find another member of the gang. He casually strolls up to him, scratching his arms as if he was sick and needed some medicine to make the pains of life go away.

Once he got closer, and saw the bag of drugs revealed to him. He shoves the bandit against the wall, and goes to work on him. He knees the bandit’s abdominal area continuously whole yelling. “Where da gang at punk?! And the money!! Tell me where the money at!! The money!!!”, the beating sort of spoke over the questions since Katsuragi didnt seem to let up at all. The bandit’s let out grunts of pain with each strike, trying to graps for air and a solid minute of pause from the beating.

Then, from the entrance of the alley that led into the market full of vendors, a pink hair girl would pop on Katauragi’s radar. He looks over to witness…. A witness. “Whah! Go home shortcake, this doesn’t concern you! UH! UH! UH!”, he continues the beatings.

—-
Wordcount/ 920

Rin watched the two men exchanging their, no doubt illicit goods, wondering whether it was worth getting herself involved or not, when suddenly she felt a tingle at the back of her neck, her spiritual senses warning her of something... odd. The sensation wasn't that of a threat exactly, there wasn't a lot of overt power to it, rather it was... what could only be described as chaotic, and perhaps a little stupid, chaotic stupid if you would. It wasn't exactly coming from anywhere particular, more as if the universe itself was looking down on the alleyway and classifying the location as exactly that , though Rin had no idea why... that was until a shadow of a figure rushed out from the other corner of the alleyway, attacking the pair of figures in a blazing rush of fists and limbs. Powder flew everywhere as one of the men went down to the whirling black shadow even as the other turned and fled. Rin was left utterly flabbergasted, standing in shock as the newcomer still continued pummeling the... drug dealer?

“Where da gang at punk?! And the money!! Tell me where the money at!! The money!!!" the figure said, continuing to pound the lights out of the poor figure. Now that it wasn't a whirling mess of limbs Rin could look closer at the newcomer, examining them more closely the man, Rin was fairly confident it was a man at least, was clad in a rather atypcial Yukata style leather jacket that gave him what could only be described as a 'tough guy' look. Not an actual tough guy mind you, more like one of the sort who felt the need to show off and act tough; like a puffer fish making itself look bigger and scarier to potential predators.

Underneath the Yukata she could see what looked like a fairly standard combination of urban wear similar to what she had seen worn by the youth in villages between the border of the lands of wind and fire, though she could see the occasional difference that marked the clothing as likely originating from further inside the borders of the fire country. That on it's own would likely have been enough for her to turn around and leave... whatever this was to the strange young man, she had no interest in risking a conflict with the village hidden in the leaf, and she had no real reason to involve herself here anyway. The fact that the man was violent enough to simply attack some random person he'd seen on the street, even if that person was likely some sort of criminal, was just more reason for her not to get involved.

That is until, as she turned around she saw the big burly figure of the stall holder who had 'let' her into the alleyway looming in its entrance, glowering at the two of them. "What in the name of the saint's are you doing? Do you have any idea what the Vipers are going to do to me knowing one of their dealers were attacked in my alleyway?" he said, his voice tinged with both fury and desperation as he pulled out a wicked long spiked looking instrument from under his table, stepping into the alleyway and advancing on her. Rin sighed, caught between the imposing giant on one end of the alleyway and what some might call a burgoning murder hobo, not her of course but others might make that connection in jest, at the other end of the alley. Deciding it was better to take the path of least resistance she began backing up towards the brawling figures at her rear, keeping one eye on the stall holder and his wickedly sharp shovel like instrument, and another on the weakly struggling figure against the wall. Once she was a few meters away from the newcomer she spoke, a hint of reluctance in her voice as she did so. "Hey listen, I dont know why your after this guy but if you can deal with the big guy coming our way I'll get whatever information you want out of this one for you." She said, knowing that it would require far less of her chakra to put the man under a truth telling compulsion than it would to fight the bear of a man now only a few dozen feet from them.

wc: 733

After finally almost getting through to the man Katsuragi’s was seemingly beating to death, he glances over to his right and notices two others slowly approaching him even cooser than before. Was it back up? He wasn’t sure, perhaps just witness to a sanctioned crime? Regardless, he didn’t have to worry about the village authorities. He slowly releases his grip on the now barely conscious victim, sliding down against the wall as Katsuragi turns towards the approaching couple after hearing shortcake offering him a deal. He didn’t quite know who either of them was. But if anyone knew Katsuragi, they’d know that he himself was a gambling man.

And so, with agreeing with the deal, Katsuragi charges his left arm with mochi natured chakra. His whole arm turned pastel in color, but kept the orginal theme. He then steps to the left to gain a clear shot towards the approaching armed stall vendor as he cocked back his left arm. Then, Boom! A strikes his fist towards the vendor, releasing a 10 cm blast of mochi natured chakra in the shape of a fist towards the vendor. Confident in his, he smirks only to have his worked turned upside down.

The strike heading towards the vendor, the vendor cocks back spiked bat looking weapon and strikes it with full force. A shimmering aura incased the weapon just before contact. Katsuragi watches his strike volleyed upwards and over the alley away from the gang and detonate elsewhere. “Whah…the fuck? What is this guy on?”, he glances over to see shortcake. “Yo, you figure out what my man back here knows about the bandits and who they planning to attack next”, after which he continues on.

Katsuragi didn’t like the idea of teaming up with shortcake. He had no idea who she was, it could have been a set up with it ending with Katsuragi got. But, as lucky would have it…, he really didn’t have a choice actually. He needed to deal with the oncoming threat now. But, after that would be all settled and done, katsuragi would then love to give all the time to shortcake. He clenches his fist upon thought. He always manged to screw things up, or be put in hard to choose/avoid situations.

A slight groan could be heard from the barely conscious asshole on the ground. He snaps back to reality from bitch n complainville “Yep, that’s him!”, katsuragi yelled as he charged towards the armed vendor. His arms grew in sized while also surging with even more mochi natured chakra than before. His speed was also enhanced with his charging thunder technique, making it easy to close the gap between the two. He even managed to put quite the distance between the fight and shortcake to allow her to siphon any info she could about the bandit. He was quite confident this time, his next strike involving him bringing his left arm back, only to quickly jab towards him with his right arm once he was in position. However, it suddenly turned into a slug fest. The vendor keeping up with the madkat with his weapon. Katsuragi continued this while giving shortcake some time in getting the information.
—
Twc/1454

Rin watched the man cautiously, still doing her best to keep both the odd stranger and her approaching assailant in view as she waited to see his reply, she could feel that same anxious itch in the back of her head telling her to get the hell out of here, but she also knew that any technique she used to escape would leave her severely weakened, so as much as she was loathe to work with this stranger it was her best bet. Seeing the slight incline of agreement from the man Rin relaxed just a fraction as she stepped behind the man, kneeling down to start examining the barely conscious drug dealer, placing a hand on the man's head and lifting one of his eyelids to look for signs of concussion, impaired vision, and so on. Of course the man was heavily concussed and his eyes indicated he was likely experiencing blurred vision as well. That was to be expected of course but it helped to know the specifics, she could use far less chakra if she tailored her genjutsu to target the sensory organs that weren't so heavily impaired.

Of course focused on her subject as she was, Rin almost didn't notice the strange goings on behind her, almost that is. As the stranger behind her began to charge his arm with chakra Rin felt a shift in the nature chakra around her, just a subtle quiver, though one that was notable more for the oddity of what it entailed. The chakra around the man seemed to almost stretch and warp around the man, without a proper frame of reference the best comparison Rin could make really was just that the chakra felt like tapioca, though even that wasn't quite right. Even as she continued working on the man she couldn't help but divert a portion of her attention to keep an eye on her tentative ally. So it was that she saw as the man's arm turned a pale pastel colour, watched as he stepped to the side and threw a fist well before the oncoming street vendor was in range, and then raised one surprised eyebrow as the man's arm almost seemed to stretch outwards, a giant cream colored fist extending outwards and flying towards the oncomer.

'well thats the end of the vendor i guess, a rather unique way to do it but i guess it gets the job done' she thought, turning back to her own job before she felt a second surge of chakra coming from, of all people, the street vendor. Rin had to resist the urge to exclaim in surprise, she prided herself on being rather good at sensing the abilities of others, and yet she hadn't felt anything more than physical strength from the vendor. Regardless Rin decided to leave the fight to the pair of muscle bound buffoons behind her while she worked. Placing her hand over the man's eyes she activated a tactile genjutsu that would ensure the information she received from the man was true... at least true as far as he could tell. Then she started to reach into his mind, plucking at chords and strings until the man was primed to give her whatever she asked of him... she was just about to open her mouth and ask the man her questions when she heard a voice shout out from behind her.

“Whah…the fuck? What is this guy on? Yo, you figure out what my man back here knows about the bandits and who they planning to attack next” her temporary allies voice grated against her focus and she grunted in irritation, "I'm almost done, just focus on your part" she called back, before once again turning her attention to the barely cognizant man in front of her. "Now then, where is your gang located?" she asked, receiving an immediate albeit slightly slurred reply from her captive. Following up with a number of clarifying questions to get what she figured the stranger would ask as follow ups out of this man she eventually stood, snapping her fingers and putting the man into a deep sleep before turning and watching the strangers fight, waiting for him to wrap things up.


WC: 704
TWC: 2,753

In the midst of it all, the madkat grunted once more while taking a direct hit from the vendor. His elbow smashed against Katsuragi’s left side of his face. It was swift as it was deadly, he shakes it off with frustration. More so because of shortcake’s response.

“Mhmm, yeah ok. Noooo problem…, you just take your time and uhhh”, cut off by response of the vendor. He stands his ground while witnessing the vendor surge with chakra. His form glowed, releasing an enormous amount furiousity from his glare. “He’s glowing…”, he charges forth. Armed with his new weapons, the problem solvers; a pair of brass knuckles capable of solving anything! He equips then just before take off. As he charges, so too does the vendor. Almost immediately, he reaches Katsuragi and slams into him; the force alone was enough send him flying and quite possibly kill him upon impact. However, before contact Katsuragi entered a state of bullet time, his split second speed allowed him to move to left once more. As he did, he crouches slightly to allow his now right fist to slam into the vendor’s upper left portion of his ribcage.

The vendor lets out a yelp, the pain of it was enough halt his movements. “Looks like I’m going to have to up the power, with my 4th gate!!!!!!”, the vendor’s power increased even more as it baffled Katsuragi.

“8, gate? What’s that?”, he honestly asked. He feared the most from things he didnt quite understand. He wished he wasnt here right now.

“It’s this!!!”, he grabs Katsuragi and flings him to the wall. He yells in discomfrot  being manhandled and disconnected from the ground. After hitting the wall, he is met with a flurry of strikes, one after another again and again. It was like the sound of gunshots, rapidly firing from a drum. Katsuragi remained pinned to the wall, using his tank technique to survive the attack. As this happened, he glanced over to shortcake to witness her seemingly done with the jntell extraction

‘Finally! She’s done! Thank gawd!!!!’

The vendor notices katsuragi glance away towards the pink haired girl. He too looks over, locking eyes with her. “You’re nex-“, katsuragi intercepts with an attack. He reaches for tge wall with his right and and grabs a chunck of earth from the stone walls with his jotun grip technique. He then slams the basketball sized rock against the left side of the vendor’s face.

BOOM!!!

Down goes the vendor, he was out like a light once he hit the floor. His meancing aura vaded away along with his life. The unexpected blow to the face was an instant Murder death kill.

“Mhmm, aint movin fast now huh?! Bitch…”, he smiles while towering over the dead vendor.

“Oh my god what happened?”


“He kil- NO!  THEY killed the street vendor”


“Someone call the police!”


“Ayo! Shorty with the pink hair! You single?!”

“What the fuck…”, Katsuragi turns to see a whole mob of witnesses. Each casting the blame on the two of them. “Uh, what do we do shortcake?!”, he asked while witnessing the crowd grow more louder.
—-
Twc/1989

Rin watched as the vendor went down, the force of the blow this other stranger had thrown almost enough to shake the foundations of the buildings around them. Rin couldn't help but let out a low whistle "Damn, you can really dish out a decent chunk of force can't you." She said, genuinely impressed for once. "Whats your name anyway?"
Assuming the man gave his name Rin would do the same before nodding her head in the direction of the rest of the criminal gang's current location. "The rest of the gang's big wigs are currently robbing a house a few blocks over, shall we?" She would ask, waiting for assent from the man before, assuming she got it, starting off towards their next target. Once they got to the building Rin would give it a once over, the door was already wide open having no doubt been forced by the criminal gang. Stepping inside she would, assuming her companion was there, take a step to the side, allowing him to handle most of the close quarters fighting whilst she instead whistled a tune that would distract and disorient the various fighters within.


wc: 193

The madkat looks over to the pink haired girl after she gave him his respect. “Yeah, Katsuragi…”, he said while chiming back to the crowd of witnesse grew. But, fortunately, he received the info he need from the pink haired chick about where the gang. Katsuragi then made a break for it and back towards the alley and a few blocks over to where the gang was. Hopefully his partner was following.

As he arrived to the house, he made quickwork of the thugs, by alerting ghe authorites. Within minutes the cops arrived and made their arrests. “Damn, can’t believe I snitch…”, he said. He was never going to do that again.

Once he was handed his dough from the pigs, he left the crime scene.
—-
Exit twc 2112

Claiming: 8,000 Ryō / 40 AP(2000 ryo) / 2,000 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Crescent Dice (d6)
Plus 4k ryo for being b rank

Katsuragi wrote:
Exit twc 2112

Claiming: 8,000 Ryō / 40 AP(2000 ryo) / 2,000 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Crescent Dice (d6)
Plus 4k ryo for being b rank

Approved!

Rin gave the man a brief smile, nodding at his name as a sign of assent. Watching him bolt off down the alleyway now that he had gotten the information he needed Rin gave a sigh, before following along after him, perhaps she would get a show out of this, and she was right.
[exit]
WC:54
TWC: 3000

Claims with max stat discount:
Rin:
Pathway of the soul 1500/1500 
Embodiment of Purity 1500/1500