A Bit Late in the Year for Ghosts

Missions:

Amikiri woke up that morning, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. He had been training hard in the training grounds over the last few days, trying to put his new skills to the test. With a new speciality and a couple new elements at his disposal, he was starting to feel unstoppable. He raised his arms above his head and, arching his back, took a big long stretch. The dark haired man let out a groan as he felt his sore muscles start to warm up.

Amikiri moved into the kitchen, making a quick breakfast of a few eggs. Slicing a couple slivers of butter into the cast iron pan, he then cranked up the heat. The dark haired Hyuuga cracked his eggs against the side of the pan, before dropping the yolks and goo into the pan quite unceremoniously. Today he was going to be very boring and just make some fried eggs. He stood there over the stove, letting his thoughts drift through his foggy mind, akin to a sailboat moving through a deep, dark cloud. The thoughts would go nowhere and would soon be forgotten, but he was still waking up and his brain had not fully found its way yet. As the eggs were starting to near completion, the dark haired man opened up his salt jar and sprinkled a bit upon the eggs, before grabbing his pepper shaker. He went to turn it, before the grip snapped off, rendering it close to useless. Amikiri had gone through a few of these store bought pepper mills over the last year, and he decided it was time to make his own. His woodworking skills were rough, but he figured that his recent metallurgy practice and work would carry over, at least in the mindset he needed to have. Resolving the problem at hand, he took a few peppercorns out and, grabbing a knife, slammed its butt into the peppercorns. The dark haired Hyuuga tried to contain any debris, but unfortunately some flew across the room anyway. He collected what he could and sprinkled the very coarse pepper onto his eggs. As they finished cooking, he slid them off the pan and onto a plate, setting that on the table. He went over to his titanium icebox and took some ice out, dropping it into a glass of water. As the water cooled, he grabbed a fork, knife, and a cloth napkin. He quickly set upon devouring the food and drink in front of him and afterwards, went to check his mail. He found an envelope addressed to him from the mission department with a letter inside, stating:

Good morning Amikiri Guhin. Several problems have recently arisen throughout Haven Country regarding its many shrines and the practices there. While we have found no behavior that seems indicative of any cult or cult-like activities, we are still tasking you to investigate these problems. First and foremost, many of the shrines and nearby graves have been disturbed and need maintenance. Whether it be cleaning or partial reconstruction, we have provided a map with all shrines that need addressing. There is a possibility of grave robbers, so investigate that. You are to meet up with your team members at the first shrine marked on the map.

Amikiri pulled the map out of the envelope and glanced at the handful of labeled locations, specifically noting the one where he was supposed to meet with his team members. He turned back to reading the letter.

While you are at these shrines, we also want you to be on the lookout. Many residents have complained of strange noises emanating from these shrines and spreading into the surrounding area. We have currently found no hints at an explanation. Current theories include ghosts or something as simple as a group of misbehaving youngsters. Investigate any leads you find and resolve the problem.

-Hoshigakure Mission Department

Amikiri immediately started getting ready for the job ahead of him. Spending a lot of his time in the countryside, he wasn’t as familiar as an urbanite might be with all the many religions and faiths of Haven country. However, his lateness to becoming a shinobi let him hold a very open mind for those who opposed his dealings with chakra. He got dressed into his usual attire for the day, black jeans, black boots, and a dark green long sleeve shirt. The dark haired Hyuuga also threw on a flannel and a black fur cloak to help fight the frigid temperatures that came with this time of year. He didn’t have his Great Spear or Kavacha on his person, as they would not be necessary just yet. However, they were accessible at a moment's notice through his Armory Seals. The rest of his equipment was sealed in sealing bands on his forearms.

He took one last drink of water and headed out the door. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, but none falling from the sky. Clearly leftovers from last night’s small storm. The dark haired man made his way through town, eventually arriving at the first shrine marked on the map. Quickly pulling out the map to double check he was at the right place, he would then put it away deep within his cloak and wait for his teammates to arrive.

WC: 893
TMWC: 893/6000

Active ANTs (1/1):

The sky was clear and the sun was bright when Anastasia woke up. The Akari Genin knew better though; the friendly appearance outside belied how cold it actually was. Not that it really mattered; she didn’t have any need to go outside, so she could just enjoy being warm inside. She didn’t hate the cold she just preferred to be warm over being cold. With a sigh, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs to eat breakfast.

There was a letter addressed to her on the table when she made it downstairs. She opened it up and read it while she ate. It was from the mission department; some of the graves in the village have started showing signs of being vandalized or disturbed. There would be maintenance required, along with investigating the situation to determine the cause and resolve it. A map was provided of the graves that were affected, along with the location where she would be going to meet up with the rest of the team. On the other side of the letter was a warning that there was strange behaviour around the graves as well, not necessarily something related to the vandalisms, and that would need to be investigated as well. ‘Interesting…’ she thought to herself as she ate, re-reading the letter. ‘They feel that the two events are unrelated. It could all be part and parcel of what’s going on, but I guess we’ll find out for sure once we actually investigate…’

Once she’d finished eating, Anastasia got cleaned up and changed, putting on her normal clothing and armour, but layering in some extra protective gear underneath to help keep the cold at bay. She wasn’t worried about her head, as her hair did a good job of insulating but she made sure to wear an extra layer in her boots and gauntlets. She strapped her new katana, Brightblinder, to her hip rather than her sword and shield combo. Once she was ready, she would head outside and make her way in the direction of the mission’s starting point.

While it was cold out, it wasn’t windy at least. That made the walk much more bearable. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground. It could prove helpful to see if there were any tracks nearby, but the opposite could also be said and any tracks or clues would now be hidden by the snow. There were not a lot of people out at the moment either, they likely wanted to spend as little time outside in the cold and snow as possible. Anastasia didn’t blame them; it wasn’t the most pleasant way to spend time, but that couldn’t be helped right now.

She arrived at the mission’s starting point and found another shinobi there. She recognized him from their training a little while back. They’d learned flame breathing together. She didn’t remember him introducing himself so she wasn’t sure what his name was. She would simply move towards him and wave a hand in greeting. “Good afternoon,” she would say to him. “Shame they couldn’t find us a mission indoors, eh?”

WC: 522