Escorting Who? [Kinzoku, or Invite]

Mission Taken – Protection Mission: Escort the Ninja:

Emiko blinked, slightly surprised and yet slightly shocked, at the mission scroll in her hands. She had just been tasked to escort a rather important leader of a minor Hinowa village back home. The task seemed simple enough, and yet Emiko knew she lacked in the physical fighting department – of course, she did have a wide range of 'tricks' up her sleeves now.

”Hnn..” It wasn't like she could exactly say no to the mission of course: she was pretty sure that wasn't an option. That meant she could either attempt to do it alone and see how well that played out, or pray to god the mission people knew what they were doing and assigned another individual to come along on the mission with her. The latter of those two choices was the preferred one.

”I hope you guys know what you're doing...”, she said with a sigh as she turned and headed out to the indicated meeting point. The scroll said to meet the minor village leader at the gates, and to escort him safely to the gates of his own village. If anyone else had been tasked to go along on this journey she figured she would end up meeting them there as well. While she walked she played with another idea in her head; someone else who she might be able to snag to come along on this mission with her if no one else was at the meeting point already: Kinzoku. She knew he could hold his own very well if it came to a fight, and on top of that he was one of the few people who wouldn't sneer at her the entire time or otherwise torment her.

Emiko began to whistle a catchy little tune as she arrived at the meeting point. She looked around with her golden cat like gaze, wondering who all was there, or if it was simply the leader and her...

Word Count: 335 / 250

Another escort mission, huh? One of the village ninja came to inform Kinzoku that it was Emiko who'd taken the mission. Someone noticed that he'd been looking out for the girl since she they were kids, and thought it would be a good idea for him to go along. Probably just some of the village guard, or the villagers themselves? Or was it Temaki?... He still didn't know how he felt about the Kage. Did she even know about his mother's torture and disappearance? Did she care?

Thoughts that were pushed out of his head for the moment. The leader was at the gate, the same leader as last time. Kinzoku figured the back and fourth between his village and Hinowa was a regular thing. He seemed somewhat relieved to see Kinzoku, looking different than the last time he'd seen him. Kinzoku was bigger; more muscular, made obvious by the definition of his form in his clothes. He had scars and bruises, no doubt from training. A smell hovered about him that was reminiscent of steel and electricity.

Kinzoku was very close to having his gourd back. He'd come quite a way since he started re-training himself, but he was one that felt like he hadn't done much of anything, and that he still had a long way to go, even though the efforts of his training were obvious.

"Kinzoku, you again," said the leader. "It looks like you've been hard at work, you look so different now." Kinzoku, his plain, bored expression on his face, simply shrugged his shoulders.

WC 260/250

Emiko, as she looked around, not only saw the leader by Kinzoku close by. The tension in her shoulders eased as she relaxed: this was going to go over easier then she had thought, then. She nodded a greeting to the leader and then turned her golden gaze onto Kinzoku. ”Hello, Kinzoku. Glad to see you're coming along on this, too. You two know each other already?”, she asked curiously.

She would wait for a reply, if there was one given, before she glanced towards the gates. ”Shall we, then?”, she said with a nod of her head towards the exit – she didn't want to waste too much time because she knew traveling in the dark would only lead to greater dangers then whatever was out there they might have to face. Unless anyone protested Emiko would turn and head through the gates and out of the village. She was hoping this mission would be uneventful – some easy ryo for her pocket and all – but she was also prepared in case that wasn't what fate intended.

She stepped quietly as they went, her senses tuned in to the world around them: listening for anything at all that could be considered out of the ordinary. The birds were still chirping, insects and other small animals were still going about their day, undisturbed. It was a good sign all in all: it was when things went deathly quiet that you had to worry after all.

Word Count: 248 + 335 = 583 / 250

Emiko appeared, and seemed nervous, but she relaxed when she set her eyes onto Kinzoku."Yeah. Escorted this guy home once already... A couple of clowns tried to ambush him when we got near his village, so stay sharp, they may try again."

The 3 of them left Hinowa and started walking through the wilds. He didn't think anything would happen like last time honestly. Those 2 idiots had to have learned their lesson, and wouldn't try the guy again, right? Still, Kinzoku wouldn't have minded either way. He was faster and stronger than he was last time. He'd evolved his Steel in to exactly that - Steel. That mean that whatever unprotected body part that was hit would likely break. He'd also learned a couple of new tricks.

With the small village in the distance, Kinzoku himself wasn't in much of a rush. Yellow eyes look around the distance, looking for any surprises or obvious hidden ambushes.

158 + 260 = 418/250

Emiko kept Kinzoku's warning in the back of her mind. She wanted to think that anyone who had had their asses handed to them by Kinzoku would have learned not to try it again, but the thugs that they had faced off against on their last encounter with each other were proof enough of how stupid people could be. Therefore, she didn't let her guard down and instead remained even more vigilant then originally intended. She kept silent as she walked, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to the group as a whole in case someone was lurking by.

Perhaps it was because of this that she noticed how silent it suddenly became: there were no more birds chirping, no more squirrels and other small creatures frolicking through the trees, even the bugs that all so often made their own noise were deadly still. ”I think we're about to have company...”, she commented softly. She figured that given Kinzoku's level of skill he had likely noticed the changes around them that spoke of the calm before the proverbial 'storm', but she had no idea what sort of skill this leader had and hoped he would understand the warning.

Emiko didn't slow for the moment, and kept walking, wanting to hold up the disguise that they were unaware as long as possible – it would give them the greatest edge after all.

Word Count: 233 + 583 = 816 / 250

Kinzoku too noticed how the noises of the wild life seemed to just stop and silence engulfed the area. Seemed like someone didn't learn their lesson last time; they were determined to make an example of the small village's leader. Kinzoku's plain expression didn't change, nor did he show any visible signs that he knew what was going on. He just kept walking, even with Emiko's warning.

The first attack came from above. His right foot turning into polished steel that glinted in the sunlight, Kinzoku threw himself backwards into a flip. Upside down, with his body completely vertical, he kicked this assailant in the face, causing him to fly out of control and ragdoll directly towards Emiko.

Kinzoku was landing on his feet again when the second attack came, from his right. The leader was yelping and looking scared at this point. Kinzoku dodged the swing of a kunai to grab the arm that swung it and begin kicking his dark dressed opponent in the mid-section. Kinzoku kicked him over and over, with his foot still being coated with steel. He kicked him numerous times until blood spilled from his mouth, and the only way he was still standing was because Kinzoku was holding his arm.

A roundhouse kick to end the combo, sending the broken body of the assailant flying into the trunk of a tree across the path. He fell motionless and didn't move afterward.

238 + 418 = 656

Emiko moved herself out of the way of the flying body; and ensured that the now scared leader was likewise not in the way as Kinzoku quickly and easily dispatched of the two 'problems'. It was quite apparent that these two individuals had no, in fact, learned their lesson the last time that they had been dealt with. Emiko couldn't help but wonder if they would learn the lesson this time around, or if there would be yet more future attacks.

With the two problems taken care of she ushered the elder in through his village gates where he would then be considered no longer her and Kinzoku's problem.

”I wonder if they've learned their lesson this time, or if they'll be a problem for someone else...”, Emiko wondered out loud before turning and heading back the way they came.

Word Count: 142 + 816 = 958

[Exit]