Old Ladies and Flowers [Mission, Invite Only]

Mission Taken – Plant Collection:

“Jayr, dear?”, a voice called from the nearby doorway. Jayr paused – she had been on her way through the market to find something to make for dinner. She turned towards the elderly female voice to see Niala standing in the doorway of her building. Jayr waited for a cart to pass her by so she didn't get run over and then stepped over; stopping about a few feet away from the elderly woman with a polite smile on her face.

“Good day to you, Niala. Can I help you with something?” Jayr had reason to be polite to this elderly woman: she was kind, sweet, and over-all one of the best people in the village in Jayr's opinion.

“Well, I really don't want to be a bother, but I need some help with something...”, Niala started, hesitantly.

Jayr just grinned. “No worries, Niala. It's my job to help my village. Anything you need I'll do.”

Niala smiled and patted Jayr on the shoulder. “Aren't you a sweetheart. Alright then. I've run out of a flower, and I would get it myself but it grows rather deep in the forest and I don't feel safe going in there – I can't protect myself like I could in my youth. Could you be a dear and get it for me? I have a picture of it here in my apron pocket and a sack for you to collect it in.” The woman looked hopeful and Jayr nodded her head.

“Of course, no problem at all.” With a smile Niala handed over the sack to collect the flower in before reaching into her apron's pocket and pulling out a picture of the flower: it looked small with six petals that were yellow and red.

“Thank you dear. I asked a few other people, but they all seemed far too busy.”

…. They were too busy? The fuck was this? The elder members of any village were supposed to be granted the up most respect unless they gave you a reason not to. To not be willing to help one? Well, Jayr was now pissed – not blackout rage mode pissed, but pissed. Still, she kept her face completely composed as she had been taught and allowed a smile to cross her face once more. “Don't worry about it, Niala. I'll take care of it. I'll be back soon.” God, had that cold not kicked Jayr's ass like it had she probably would have done this earlier...

Jayr took the quickest route out of the market; through back alley ways and other little short cuts that allowed her to avoid as many people as possible that would otherwise slow her up. Soon enough she reached the outskirts of Hanagakure's main village and to the line of the forest. With the sack thrown over her shoulder she took another glance at the picture of the flower, memorizing it to view, before she placed it safely into her pocket. With the image fresh in her mind she entered into the forest: she was cautious as she moved in deeper, breaking twigs and marking her way so that she wouldn't get lost coming back. All the while she moved on alert: not wanting to give anything the chance to sneak up on her and cause her harm and keep her from her task. Besides, she wanted to get this done as quickly as possible.

Word Count: 669 / 100

After another ten minutes of traveling – moving slower now that she was deep enough into the forest to actually find the flower she was looking for – she spotted it. Wanting to be doubly sure that she was correct she pulled the photo out of her pocket and stared at it closely for a moment before doing the same thing with the flowers in front of her. They both matched perfectly: down the most minute detail.

Grinning to herself Jayr put the picture away and removed the sack from her shoulder. She carefully began to fill the sack as she picked the flowers. One by one was added into the sack. As she went it took a while for the sack to begin to even show that it was filled with anything at all. But, as more flowers were gathered up it began to grow in size until it was bursting at the seams.

Jayr looked into the sack and grinned again to herself: perhaps she had gone a little overboard in this. But, it was done, and hopefully this would be enough to keep Niala happy for quite a while. She still hadn't let herself think about how no one else had been willing to help her – Jayr had caught a minor case of the flu and had been in bed for the past four days... yeah, it was lucky she was better today.

Jayr coughed suddenly and closed the sack up: okay, maybe she wasn't completely better but it was whatever. The task was done and that was all that mattered.

With the sack closed and back on her shoulder and the picture put away safely she turned and walked back the way she came: following the obvious trail of broken twigs and turned over objects that marked the way she had just came. It took her roughly half an hour to get out of the forest but she was soon enough back in the village. She took the same path through the back alleys and side streets that she had taken to begin with and found herself in front of Niala's door soon enough.

Just as Jayr lifted her hand to knock on the door it was opened by Niala who was smiling. “Ah, I was hoping you would make it back alright. Did you come across any trouble?” Jayr shook her head no as she handed over the sack. “Thank you, Jayr. I really appreciate this.”

“No problem, Niala. No problem at all.” Niala pulled out some ryo and handed it over to Jayr who knew better than to argue: she had done this before with Niala and there was no point arguing with her when she wasn't going to win. “Thank you.”, Jayr said before she watched Niala walk into her door and close it. Jayr turned and headed back down the street; returning to her task she was doing to begin with – finding something to make for dinner.

Word Count: 498 + 669 = 1,167 / 100