Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Yousuke's wind technique once again proves to be incredibly lethal. All four men caught in it are shredded into pieces by the vicious scythes of air, and they're killed instantly. Houshi's giant metal sword cleaves through one enemy on the opposite side. The remaining two soldiers immediately withdraw, and the genin can hear them running back the way they came. After about six seconds the sounds of their footfalls stop, one of them screams, then nothing but silence comes from the hallway. If the genin follow, then they find both men laying dead on the floor. Their weapons are dropped beside their bodies, and they seem to have been killed by extremely powerful blows to the head by a blunt and heavy object.

Listen DC 18

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You hear a familiar female voice. "Very well then. I will have to deal with you all. Rainbow Windchime!"

Suddenly any further investigation is interrupted by the sound of a howling gale. The structure groans, the windows upstairs shatter, and there's the loud thumping noise of furniture being hurled against the walls violently. Several screams pierce the roaring thrashing windstorm. The entire event lasts for six seconds, then stops and allows the dead silence to prevail once more. It seems to have come from upstairs, and all the movement upstairs stops after the windstorm.

At the end of the hall the group finds a door, and if the genin open it then they discover a stairwell behind it. The stairwell leads upstairs, and is likely mirrored in the other hall. If the group goes upstairs, then they discover another door with another hallway behind it. The hall has a thick red carpet running down its length. Several rips and tears have been lovingly mended in the carpet, and it seems that someone cared for it greatly. However, the carpet's being stained by the blood of two dead men wearing the same uniform as those down below. They're bleeding profusely, and their bodies seem to have been smashed against the walls.

They're guarding a set of double doors that are broken open. The doors lead into a sort of throne room, and if the genin investigate then inside they find a familiar woman in a bright green qipao. Her limbs seem to have recovered from being petrified. Three corpses liter the wide open room, but they all seem to have been pushed violently away from the woman. An intricate pattern has been carved in the carpets and floor of the throne room. It seems to spread outward from the woman in wide sweeping circles. The corpses also seem to have been sliced apart by whatever caused those grooves. Tables, chairs, and other furniture have also been blasted away from the woman.

On the opposite end of the throne room stand two people. One's the man from earlier, but now that you've got a clear look at him you can tell he's only superficially similar to the scroll's portrait. He's got a tall, regal bearing with a set of polished battle armor gracing his heavy shoulders. His thick brown hair has been pulled back into a ponytail, and his bangs are held back by a thin golden circlet. His bow lays broken at his feet, and he wields a katana in a firm grip. Beside him stands a woman in a samurai's kimono and hakama. Her blond hair is tied back into a ponytail matching that of the man at her side, and she wears a headband with no village affiliation to hold her hair in place. She bears two formal katana at her left hip. One housed within a black lacquered sheathe that shines in the light, while the other lies nestled within a dull red case. Neither blade has been drawn. Her left hand grips the black sheathe firmly, while her right hovers over the red-and-silver handle.

Behind both characters lays a young red-headed boy wearing a brown yukata. He's clearly unconscious, and seems to be in some kind of pain. The two samurai seem to be guarding the boy from Meiling, and she takes a step toward them. "If you do not return him, then I'll kill you as well." Neither the woman, nor the two samurai, notice the genin.

Spoiler

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You get 700 XP for finishing this encounter.

[Princess Tracy]

Before heading up
---
Amon raises an eyebrow at the sudden retreat of the soldiers, but upon investigatingand seeing the carnage quickly enough, she pieces things together. Dammit, maybe using myself as bait for them wasn't the best idea, was her only thought as Yousuke mentions the voice of Meiling. "She won't be allowed to rampage under our noses. Cybele, if you're still here, I believe something 'extremely unlikely' has occurred after all." Scooping up her gear, she heals Houshi as best as she can

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2 chakra and 2 rounds for only 3 health. Sorry, the roll got minimised. We'll say it's due to how rushed she is.

She tells Yousuke to run ahead while she prepares with Houshi, though after applying first aid, she uses her technique as they move, though to very little effect as they run.

---
At the door
---
Amon surveys the scene as she quickly concocts a plan.

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Not actually using the Plan class feature, but rather plan as in 'the act of thinking through'. I await a battle map before I take my actions, though all I need to know for my first move is how far away Meiling is (specifically how it compares to the maximum range on my smoke bomb)

[Bad Situation]

"Meiling...!" If the green qipao wearing kunoichi was indeed here their mission was about to become much more complicated. As it was, his allies were wounded and low on chakra, but if they delayed any further their mission would be entirely compromised. Resisting the urge to bite at his nail, Yousuke comes to a decision, "Amon, heal Houshi as best you are able. I will distract our new guest until Houshi is healed to the point that he can assist me."

With that said, Yousuke dashes up the stairwell, ignoring the corpses Meiling has so graciously left behind for him. He crouches by the door and waits for the scene to unfold, sword in hand in case he needs to step in.

[Princess Tracy]

"Sorry it's the best I could do - we didn't want to leave you with that woman," Amon whispers as she and Houshi catch up, looking much the same, save for a few of Houshi's wounds being closed or hastily bandages shut. She looks inside, reading the situation quickly enough. She hands her last smoke bomb to Yousuke as she passes him.

She takes a deep breath before considering if the plan is really any good or not. After all, it relies on her own stealth abilities...

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon and Houshi

The kunoichi makes no appearance, but her soft voice carries through the wind. "I'm not getting involved unless she attacks first. Suzunabu is not part of the mission, and it'd be pointless to attack her." The kunoichi still doesn't make herself known, but answers no further questions. She may, or may not, have followed Yousuke.

Yousuke

Unless Yousuke interrupts, then Meiling advances on the pair. "I'll give you one last chance. Return him." Her fists clench, her stance marred by fury, and her normal technique seems to have given way to rage.

The female samurai gets low to the ground as she prepares to charge. "We would never surrender our lord to you!" She crosses the distance between Meiling and herself near instantly. Her grip tightens, and she tries to use her iaijutsu to draw her sword and slash Meiling all in one movement. But the leaf-nin's reactions are faster, and the woman tries to draw her sword only to find Meiling's palm locking the blade inside the sheathe. The leaf-nins' other hand shoots up as she uppercuts the samurai. Luckily the samurai's prepared, and rolls with the blow rather than absorbing its full force. Nonetheless, Meiling's hand still holds the woman's sword. In the span of a breath Meiling has disarmed her enemy and knocked her backwards. The elegantly crafted blade clatters as it's dropped to the ground.

"Then I'll kill you and take him back."

Spot DC 15

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You can tell Meiling isn't restraining her speed or strength.

OOC

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Table:
Brown: Floor.
Really Dark Brown: Walls.
Slightly Dark Brown: Visual indication of how wide her wind technique is.
Dark Red: Houshi
Gray: Yousuke
Blue: Amon
Dark Green: Meiling.
Pink: Female Samurai.
Red: Male Samurai.
White: Little boy.

The samurai attempts to attack Meiling.
Attack: (1d20+7)[24] - Forgot to include the +2 for charging. 26 is still a whiff though.
Damage: (2d10+4)[23]

Whether that hits or not, Meiling disarms the Samurai. With +27 vs the Samurai's +7, there's simply no way Meiling can lose so I won't bother to roll. Afterward, she punches the samurai.

Attack Roll: (1d20+13)[24] - Power Attacking for 5. - Hit
Damage Roll: (1d8+16)[23]

Damage Dealt to Female Samurai: 23.

[Princess Tracy]

"Bull****, you dragged your broken bleeding carcass across half a mile of woodland just to chase her down the other day, what the hell changed? Tracking her down wasn't part of the mission THEN either, but you took it upon yourself anyway!" Amon shoots back at Cybele quickly before she goes quiet. "Come on, she's a lead to Yusa, haven't you ever heard of redemption?"

As Amon bolts down the corridor, she remembers to bring her remaining clone in tow.

That brings us up to speed with current time (whcih is to say Amon arriving at the door with Houshi and her clone). Maybe a post from zeone will clear our heads.

[zeone3000]

"I have to agree with both parties on this but one holds more weight then other. Our client will be displeased that we didn't bring back them for his own pleasure and only two corpses. Which I completely disagree with after seeing this anyway. So, Meiling has become part of the mission regardless of what you say."

Housh sighs softly, "Since slaying those guards, I've felt something was a miss. There's something deeper here which I'm not sure if the other rebels or our comrades with them are even aware of. Either way, we're paying them a visit. If we let Meiling have her way, ultimately, that's another victory for the bad guys."

His grip tightens until knuckles whiten, "Unfortunately, we can't compare to that no matter what plan or strategy we devise and the only one who stands a chance, believes in following the mission instead of what's right and just. Which gives me yet another reason not to grow up if this how I'm going to turn out. I know you might have your reasons but... Seriously? You're not a mercenary like Sonia. Amon just brought up a good point against that and you're probably just gonna ignore because you're stubborn bitch. That's right I said it! You've already set a chasm between your students and yourself. If you're willing to put the ocean between us, will just runaway and maybe, just maybe live along enough to run away again from problem like this."

He reflected on his own weakness for a moment, wishing this could have happened later in his life when he could stop Meiling in her tracks. More people were going to die because of them but the worst part was, no one would seem to care. He released a hard breath, "Sorry, I know they teach ninjas that shouldn't have emotions but I only have one more thing to say to you, What would Kaeda-san do if he was in our shoes right now?"

He turns to his friends, "The best we could do is throw some smoke bombs to give them some cover to run because we aren't going to come out of this alive if we try anything against her."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon cringes a little for some reason as Houshi calls Cybele a bitch. Early on in his speech, she grips him a little, nudging him to to a whisper before they alert her to their presence sooner than necessary. "...She sets that distance on purpose," Amon states. "Please, this is no time to be mad at her - she's trying to get us out of this alive. This whole mission, we've been duped somehow. She wants to capture that boy... in other words, he is the Lord Mara... We won't need smoke bombs though. She doesn't care that we're here if she's aware of us. We could leave right now if we want to avoid her, while she fights those two, but... There's a kid in there. He couldn't have known the risks or anything"

[zeone3000]

Houshi pulls whatever Amon's nudging away from her, "Thank you Captain Obvious. If you want to help them, you have to remove the kid from the equation. Like it will matter though, we won't be be able to out run her. Also, she's really pissed. I mean, not thinking straight pissed, just thrash and trash what's ever in her way."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele says nothing, and seems to do nothing. Houshi's entire impassioned speech meets nothing but deaf silence. Cybele had already spoken her piece on the issue, and the only recourse she could take would be to physically stop you from continuing onward. If the genin are looking for some kind of moral compass to follow, or some conscience within their sensei, then they may as well be looking for water in the Wind Country. Nonetheless, she makes no overtures to restrain any of the genin. If you wanted to throw yourselves to the wolf pack that is Meiling, then you're absolutely free to do so.

[zeone3000]

Houshi nods, "Yep, just like I said. I have lost faith in ninja humanity. If you're trying to teach us the harsh reality of being of ninja, great job." He turns to Amon, "Give me a smoke bomb or I'm taking one. At least I'll be able to say I kept my humanity til the end."

[Princess Tracy]

"Calm down," Amon says, fidgeting as she hands over her last 'clean' smoke bomb. "I have a clone and some chakra. What should I do? I told you all my abilities when we were travelling a few days ago, so tell me where you want me."

[zeone3000]

"Back home because we were aren't winning. We're going to lose, ungracefully and runaway to fight her another day." He laughs, "How unlucky are we? Seriously? First two missions and we run into her. Fate has it out for us." He prepares to roll the bomb underneath Meiling, "When life gives you lemons..."

[Princess Tracy]

"What the **** are you doing?! You'll be robbing us of a minute's headstart!" Amon screeches as she sees his intentions and gets up. "She doesn't know we were here, you pathetic excuse for a strategist. Now come on, if we're running, let's just run before I come to my senses."

[zeone3000]

Houshi shakes his head, "Never said I was a strategist, I'm a tactician. Huge difference but fine." He gets up and starts walking away, "Another battle lost, another notch on the belt but the war is not lost."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The smoke bomb rolls out under Meiling. The hopping, plinking little orb draws her attention down to it, then toward the genin. She glares at the genin looking around the corner, but does nothing. "You're finally here", she says whilst addressing the sky-nin, "but I'm not interested in waiting anymore. I just want my son. Leave me to this." She turns back just in time to see the samurai's second blade going for her throat. She casually stops the blade with the knuckle-duster on her right hand. The iron surface strikes Meiling's own weapon, and it shatters into fragments with the force of the impact. Meiling's foot rises up in a furious kick to the woman's gut, and she goes down. She raises that same leg up further, then delivers a powerful axe kick to the downed samurai's skull.

The sickening crunch of bone tells the tale of that samurai's righteous death.

Meiling looks toward the last samurai remaining. She raises her right hand and beckons the man forward. Her fingers have turned red from being stained in blood. "Return him." The male samurai makes no overtures toward the boy, or Meiling. He simply raises his sword in preparation to defend himself, and seems rather resigned to the fact that he's going to die soon.

---

Cybele just looks at her genin. "Is good and bad what you really see? Or is your justice more important than the truth?" She shrugs. "Or maybe you just think an enemy today is an enemy tomorrow, without regard for the events around them."

Spoiler

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Samurai's Attack Roll: (1d20+7)[13]
Damage: (1d6+2)[7]

Meiling's Attack Rolls: (1d20+17)[28] - Power Attacking for 5
Damage Roll: (1d8+17)[22]

Attack Rolls: (1d20+12)[23] - Power Attacking for 5
Damage Roll: (1d8+17)[21]

[zeone3000]

Houshi sags his shoulders, "Then why is the truth always wrapped in lies and deception? It's supposed to set you free! Yet, no one ever dares speaks it because they are afraid." Then, he realized what he thought about suna genin after what Sonia said about them being their enemies, "And how do we know she's not lying right now? She says that's her son and... and I don't what to think anymore. Therefore, let them die protecting what they believe in then. I'll just keep living not knowing anything because no one wants to tell us. Maybe we don't need to know but damn it, it would sure help!"

[Princess Tracy]

"Odd that your son should be defended by seemingly the same people we were hired to clear off, isn't it?" Amon can't help herself from asking from her cover, out of her line of sight as she backs away, thankful that at least her anger wasn't directed at her own team.

At Cybele's wisdom, good or bad, she ponders. "Allegiances seem so changeable at your level. Fine, I'm not fast on picking up emotional context, so I'll admit there's a lot I can't know and perhaps should respect. But that woman... You make the oddest friends, Cybele."

We're pathetic, unable and unwilling to fight... we shouldn't even be ninjas...

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The jounin responds plainly. "That's what it means to be a ninja. If the enemy knows the truth about you, then they can find a way to use it against you. As for whether she's lying..." The jounin shrugs, despite having not reappeared. "Well I know he is her son, but maybe I'm lying? After all, if you've taken Sonia's morals to heart, then why stop at Suzunabu being your enemy?" Cybele's right that Sonia would have charged in, killed Meiling for being an enemy in the past, then probably ransomed the lord for extra money. She happily makes the parallel between Houshi's narrow-sighted view of good and evil to Sonia's equally narrow-sighted view of enemies and allies.

When Amon speaks, Cybele responds flatly. "Suzunabu is not my friend. But she also isn't my enemy. We're nothing but professionals now." Cybele finally reveals herself when she places a gloved hand upon Amon's head. "You all wanted to do the right thing, even if it was foolish. Kaede-sama would be proud of you."

[zeone3000]

Houshi sighs, "You mean today right? She's not your enemy today. So why care who she kills or what she does? Is that what you're trying to tell me? Forget that not even a week ago she was about to kill all of us so a dangerous ninja to everyone could go free? And let's not forget that you were willing to risk your life to track her down."

Houshi just sprawls out on the floor, "Why do I feel like a rat in a maze and there's no cheese at the end? I just wanted to do the right thing but it looks like there is no good or evil. There just is..."

[Princess Tracy]

"Houshi..." Amon mutters, Houshi's words a blunt voicing of her thoughts. "We can't fight her though.... We're too weak to do a hunter-nin's job. Though capturing her would have been a nice bonus."

At the judgement of Kaede's pride, Amon can't help but flicker a smile as she places her own hand upon Cybele's (the one on her head, duh). "Nice to know you have a moral compass. Unfortunately, Cybele, for all your boorishness, I trust you." Her concern returns as she casts and eye to the door. She consciously tries to suppress her thoughts of what is transpriing inside the throne room. "What is her son doing here then? Did you know about her presence, possible or definite, here before we did?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon can't help herself as she pokes her head around the door to see the last man there. Cybele seemed casual enough about her presence here, so surely she isn't an immediate threat. "If he's her son, why are you dying to keep them apart?" she asks of the samurai. "Isn't your life worth more than depriving a parent of their child?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

"Those people are not precious to me, so I have no obligation to protect them. They have stolen something from someone quite powerful, and are reaping what they have sown. And yes, at the time I wanted revenge. Kaede-sama reminded me of something, and I will pass that on to you."

She stops, closes her eyes, takes a shallow breath, then perfectly replicates Kaede's voice. "Meiling had a mission, and so did you. Those missions may have intersected, but that was all. She didn't take anything from you, and you took nothing from her. If you let that desire for revenge cloud your judgment, then you'll never find peace."

Cybele shrugs at Amon's statements. "Even the Wind Country has water in it. As for what I knew: It's painfully obvious that Mitsuyo didn't hire us. He didn't have any useful information, and lied in order to use us. Suneko only recognized the woman, and she didn't have any scars. The enemy didn't attack or harass us like bandits should have, and they didn't attack Suneko on sight. Further, they acted like soldiers, and none of them willingly surrendered. I assumed someone was using us as bait to kill them, but I didn't suspect Suzunabu until I heard her during the windstorm earlier."

[zeone3000]

Houshi jumps up with a start, "Wait! Hold on! You're telling me we were actually hired by her?!" He tilts his head to the side, scratching the top of it, "My god, now I've heard everything." He sighs once again, "I guess that's better then being hired by butterball but wow, just wow. At least I shouldn't feel about the soldiers but can you tell me why they took her kid?"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

By the time Amon looks inside Meiling has already knocked the man on his back. She's straddling his chest and punching his head. She seem to be using the full force of her immense strength on his face based on the stomach-churning noise coming out of every blow. Meiling turns wild unrestrained eyes toward Amon when spoken to, but luckily(or unluckily) the kunoichi doesn't have the combat instincts necessary to detect Meiling's killer intent. The red-haired woman breathes out, slumps forward a little, then looks toward the young boy laying near the throne room. Unless bothered, she crawls toward him, picks him up, and cradles the four-or-five year old boy in her arms.

Cybele

Cybele shrugs. "Possibly. It's only conjecture, but it explains why things have been so weird."

[Princess Tracy]

"I concur wholeheartedly; I knew there was another hand at play in Mitsuyo's orders, but I didn't expect them to move so quickly. Throughout the day, we've had 3 conflicting stories, and I was willing to chalk up the first two to stupidity and poor communication, but the last story was the truth of what we have seen," Amon remarks as she watches the scene in the throne room though slightly-covered eyes.

As Houshi finally grasps it was her that hired them, Amon tuts. "Well of course, she has a contact or two. It should have been obvious her or her accomomplice set us up to be here. You didn't think this was a chance meeting, did you?"

[Princess Tracy]

As she sees Meiling scoop up the boy, Amon retreats from the doorway. "She has a kind of similar look that yo do when i ran into your chest, Cybele. Let's go before her mood changes and we have to break up the... touching reunion," she says, trying to ignore all the carnage that fills the fort. "God, this is going to look weird if I have to write a report on this... Incriminating, even, that we were working for her. No I'm not sure why she needed us - she crashed this place pretty well herself." Amom motions to go down the hallway they came from, though waits for Cybele's go-ahead

She chuckles, "Do you think she'd answer if I asked her who her contact was, why she had us back her up, and if we're still getting paid?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The jounin just waves Amon off. "I have something to deal with here. You can go on if you want."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's momentarily listed spirit crashes again as Cybele says she'll stay. "You're not going to fight her again, are you? I told you before, Cybele-chan..."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele just looks down her nose at Amon. Her glasses seem to have magically become opaque, and block out the sight of her crystalline eyes. "Would you see me right now if I intended to kill her?"