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

[OOC Note: Abandoning second mission, purposely failing it, and reducing TMWC from 6000 to 3000]

Amikiri waited patiently and soon he would be rewarded for that by the arrival of Anastasia. Amikiri would chuckle, saying, “Well, long time no see. It’s only been a couple of days since our training session, I guess they assumed we would be a good pair together.”

In regards to her remark, Amikiri would say, “Yeah, it certainly isn’t a fun time of year to have missions about trekking across the country.” With a bit of a smile, Amikiri would joke, “If only I had learned a couple of days ago how to make my breath really hot.” At that point, the dark haired Hyuuga would hold his hands up to his mouth and let out an exhale. He would channel his Fire Breathing into that exhale, creating a small red orange ember that warmed his hands.

The Hyuuga knew that while that was a nice way to curb the rampant cold from getting to him, there was a much more efficient method. He knew that it was hard to warm yourself back up once you started getting cold, so he wanted to be proactive with it. Amikiri said, “Just give me one second, I wanna try something real quick.” The dark haired man took a strong, deep breath in. First he would use his control of Wind Release to try and disperse it, letting it spread out within his body. Then, he would channel the idea of Flame Breathing, attempting to heat and almost ‘light’ the breath within his body. He didn’t intend to actually light it on fire, but simply try and create a source of warmth for his entire body. The dark haired Hyuuga felt a warm sensation spread throughout his body, keeping him warm in this bitterly cold weather.

Even with his new source of warmth, the Hyuuga wanted to get a move on with this mission. “So, we should make a game plan. Let’s tackle these weird hauntings first. While ghosts might not seem too bad, it’s the one that we know the least about, so it definitely has the highest risk. Worst comes to worse, the ghosts take up all our energy but we still solve the problem and let a less skilled group take care of the grave robbers, which personally seems easier to me.” While Amikiri’s approach might’ve been the opposite of the typical ‘do the easy stuff first, hard stuff last’ approach, the Hyuuga was quite nervous about these ghosts, as their danger could be extremely variable, so he wanted to get them out of the way.

Assuming the blond Akari agreed, the dark haired man would pull out the map from earlier and mark several shrines they were directed to go to. Amikiri would now nod to Anastasia and say, “Ready?” If she was ready to go, the Hyuuga would start walking towards the first shrine. This first location would take them quite a ways from Hoshigakure. The shrines were not usually built by the religious groups usually found within the city and surrounding village itself. Those groups focused more on large scale religious buildings. The decrease in quantity and lesser density of wealth in the countryside caused small communal buildings like shrines to be more popular. Especially with the irregularity of schedules due to different people working different jobs, even with great variance from farm to farm, the idea of self led prayer and worship was very popular in the rural areas of Haven Country. This was all compounded upon by the fact that any monks or nuns usually stayed away from the urban center of Hoshigakure.

As they journeyed forward, they would rapidly make their way to a mountainous area. The sights were really spectacular. High mountain peaks rose to meet the sky, their summits entirely covered with snow. As the gravel road turned ahead sharply to the left, Amikiri took out his map of the mountains. He looked around and saw a large, crescent-shaped lake about a half-mile to the south. The Hyuuga also observed an especially tall peak 3 miles to the northwest. He used a pencil to gently trace two circles on his map, each representing his measured distance from his landmark. Once he had determined where the circles intersected, he had to choose between the second location. Using some basic orienteering skills, the dark-haired man easily determined which of the two points he was at and thus his location on the map. Looking at the map, he could plainly see the route he had taken up to this point. Observing its journey, he noticed that it veered significantly for a while, turning sharply into a stretch of meadows. If he took this route, his travel would take up to half a day longer. However, there was a shortcut he could take. It would just take an hour or two, rather than eight to twelve hours, so Amikiri pondered it. Amikiri scanned the mountains in front of him, justifying his decision to choose the second way, the short cut. His journey would take him up the sides a little, then around the borders. Fortunately for the dark-haired man, partially climbing the mountain appeared to provide him with a good vantage position from which to glimpse the meadow below. Now that Hyuuga had considered his options, he understood it was time to make a decision.

He turned off the road and started climbing the mountainside. As he began his climb, his Byakugan informed him that there was a little hunting track nearby. It wasn't well-traveled, but it was utilized enough to make Amikiri's journey a lot simpler. He switched over to this new route, following the already trodden path. With the tree line falling far below him but simultaneously not high enough for the snow, the dark haired man found himself wandering across massive sections of rock. The rock was risky in numerous places because of steep angles and unclear edges. In other parts of the voyage, the Hyuuga discovered damp and slippery rocks caused by snowmelt from the mountains above. Amikiri took extra precautions and time to thoroughly navigate these locations. The Hyuuga eventually came to a sizable cliff. The next land below it consisted of numerous huge, sharp, pointy rocks hundreds of feet below him. It was a severe drop off, definitely not one Amikiri would want to fall victim to. The Hyuuga cast his gaze over the tops of the trees that dotted the landscape in front of him. They appeared to go on forever, almost like never-ending, rolling plains covered in dense shrubs. As he climbed further and further, the altitude started to get to him and it became more and more difficult to breathe. Fortunately all his recent training in the arts of various Breathing Styles allowed him supreme control of his breath. He took a quick stop, calmed himself, and focused his breath. The Hyuuga then continued his hike with no more issues, as his extensive experience allowed him to do this with no difficulty. In addition, he began to foot on snow instead of gravel as the Hyuuga approached the summits of the mountains. The snow steadily got deeper until Amikiri could hardly see where the road was supposed to be. But there were markers poking out of the snow, perhaps made for just this kind of thing. The Hyuuga proceeded down the route, going from marker to marker.

Eventually, Amikiri made it to the first shrine. It was built into a small dent into a rock face, seeking shelter from the harsh weather conditions. It remained strangely untouched by snow, it’s red brick construction serving as a sharp contrast to the gray and white world surrounding it. In a sense of caution, Amikiri would form a couple handseals, summoning his armor, Kavacha, to himself as well as his Great Spear. He didn’t know what would be ahead, so he was careful. The dark haired man walked up to the shrine slowly and upon reaching it, he saw a large blanket of dust covered the shrine. If its location didn’t already make this fact obvious, the dust made it quite clear that this shrine was, at best, frequently used. He cautiously blew away the dust, revealing a set of symbols.

Unknown to him, it seemed Amikiri’s breath was a little too special. All the Breathing Styles he had used today stayed on his breath like a bad stench and the chakra leftover in them activated the symbols. They started to glow a sickly green color and a ghost emerged from them. It was a pale green color and almost completely translucent, with only the edge’s of its form having some sense of opacity to it. Amikiri would step back, but not too far. After all, he was on top of a mountain in a small snowy clearing. The ghost seemed to take a bit to figure out its surroundings, but upon surveying the scene, it would immediately rush at Amikiri. The Hyuuga would let it get close, before quickly side stepping it. He would take a large swing with his Great Spear, attempting to cut the ghost in half. However to Amikiri’s distaste, his sword passed right through the apparition. Clearly that wouldn’t work.

As the ghost came to a stop and hovered in place a few meters behind the Hyuuga, Amikiri rapidly turned around and pulled his sword back. He would then thrust forward with his blade, releasing a thin, bright white blast of Dust Release chakra. The chakra seemingly passed freely through the ghost. This concerned Amikiri. If his chakra and weapons didn’t do any damage, what choice did he have left?

For the time being, Amikiri put himself on the defensive. He would dodge out of the way of the ghost and stop himself from getting hurt. However this was rapidly turning quite exhausting. Eventually, Amikiri came to a realization. He once more thrust his blade forward. However this time, a cone would come forth. It initially started as intangible to the material realm, completely harmless. However, upon reaching the ghost, this proved to be a dangerous effect to the ghost. Initially, it left a hole the size of the cone in the ghost’s body. However, the Dust Release seemed to be more potent, slowly eating away at the ghost’s body until there was nothing left.

The Hyuuga returned to the shrine and saw the symbols now no longer glowing. Feeling secure in his completion of the mission but simultaneously too exhausted to complete the next one, Amikiri started the long trek home.

WC: 1757
TWC: 2650
TMWC: 3172/3000

[Exit]

Claims:

Claims using remaining 2515 WC:
1875 WC to Armor of Resolve (1875/1875, max stats discount)
640 WC to Swift Wind Wall (640/2062, max stats discount)