Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Princess Tracy]

As Houshi starts to put away his sword, he is interrupted by a shout. "HOUSHI, stupid-head, don't just stand there, help us look before she vanishes for good!" Suzunabu shouts down at him from atop the west-ward building. "Put those big legs to work - you got us into this brawl, now try and do something about resolving it! If she teleports out and kills us all later out of spite, I'm blaming you!"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Thirty seconds pass without anyone finding the wayward summoner. It's not hard to guess that she's gone by now, and wherever she had gone was probably a mile or two away. Suzunabu continues to allow Amon to use her body up to the genin's limit, so long as she does not attempt to touch the boy.

"Pick that up would you, Houshi?" Cybele points to Amon's unconscious body.

Once Amon's collected, then Cybele gathers the genin together. She explains her plan plainly. "I offered a deal to Suzunabu's mistress. Via trade I obtained the information about her contract holder, and made the connection to Suneko. I was planning on leaving you in the rebel camp, changing my appearance, and ambushing her there. But after I found out the camp was empty I accelerated my plan and figured you would be safe in the empty camp."

She sighs. "I don't know how you got here so quick, but I can guess it was some kind of spacetime technique. Either way, Sonia won't believe me or you about this. Suneko was one of her trusted lieutenants in her mercenary organization. Yamada Taro or Kamisaka Kai might be more open to this explanation, so we won't mention this in our report to Sonia."

Cybele seems to be ignoring the presence of the purple-haired, purple-eyed girl who could pass as her daughter... If you all didn't know how old Cybele actually was. Camille hangs around Yousuke as much as possible, and does her best to stay out of the way of the other group members.

[zeone3000]

Houshi shrugs, shaking his head, "Oh yes, because the guy who can't sense chakra, has no training in tracking or searching and is as sneaky as elephant is going to find the ninja that can teleport." He starts to move south before Cybele calls him back.

He slings Amon's limp body over his shoulder, "Wouldn't that be a better reason? It's always the people who were trusted the most that stab everyone in the back in comic books and such. It's always so easy for them."

(1d8)[6]

[Bad Situation]

Unsure of the situation, Yousuke sheathes his sword and quirks an eyebrow at Cybele's outright denial. Looking between Cybele and Camille nervously he raises his hand to speak, "A-ah, Cybele-sensei, I found Camille-san in Mitsuyo's library. W-what do I do with her now? Are we taking her back to the village with us?"

[Princess Tracy]

As Cybele starts gathering the group, Suzunabu sighs and gathers with them, fidgeting in annoyance. As Cybele addresses Amon's body as 'that', Suzuabu looks irritated as she walks up to the special jounin. "What do you mean 'that'? 'That' right there is a person, a peppy, pretty girl and damn fine ninja who just wants someone who appreciates her. You could stand to screw with her less often, Cybele-chan." A wide, menacing smile spreads on the dragon's face. "Or else you'll be the next one she puts under this technique - and let's just say she's a big believer in mutual respect, Cybele-chan, which is why she's only treated me with the most down-to-business application of it. Speaking of which, time's up, and just as well - maybe Suzunabu can shed some some light on this. You may have to ask her directly - I can't remember if targets retain their memories of their time under this jutsu, it's been so long. Oh well." She gives a little wave to say goodbye as her eyes flicker and the technique draws to a close.

As Cybele gets into her strategic analysis, Amon's eyes flicker and she returns to the land of the conscious. Tilting her head over to watch Cybele as she speaks, she takes it all in (and looks a bit annoyed, as if she'd lost something unrelated to the conversation). "Houshi, don't drop me or I'll kill you - I used up the last of my strength saving your ass from Suzunabu's obligation to kick it. That's worth at least a bridal-style carrying in my book." When Cybele is done, and conjectures about spacetime, Amon, her voice a little ragged like she'd run a marathon, explains her encounter with teh Whit Princess. "There was a girl on the road with an otherworldly aura, one of the Princesses Suneko summons. She seemed disobedient, since Suneko told her to kill everyone that came along the road, but instead she decided to offer to transport us back to town so we could get into a fight. We wound up here, Suneko spotted Yousuke when he leapt into Mitsuyo's fort, and she started summoning demons to attack us. How come you knew we were in trouble?" Amon gives a little smile. "You almost looked sad at the though she'd killed me already."

Amon sleepily looks over at Yousuke. "I thought she looked like Cybele... Don't suppose there's any significance to that? Cybele's clan are from another village though, Iwagakure if I understood Kaede right, so I don't know that your girlfriend's location is our business. Though, since Suneko lead the attack that seems to have destroyed teh building she was in, I'd be happy to provide accomodation, if only to spite the summoner... How are you, m'lady?" She shoots the purple-haired girl the best roguish smile she can muster in her state. "What were you doing in hat man's library? From our earlier encounter, I seriously got the impression he couldn't read when I showed him our mission scrolls."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele shrugs at Houshi's question. "Sonia isn't the type of ninja that thinks of betrayal. Things are black-and-white in her world, and that means Suneko is an ally to her."

The jounin just looks at Amon in Suzunabu's body. "No, Amon, that is a soul-less bag of meat. Besides that, do you really want to know what it's like living in this skin?" Cybele raises her hand and removes her glove. "I could show you, you know."

The sky jounin replaces her gloves when Amon returns to her body, then answers Amon's questions. "I saw Houshi on his own, and couldn't see you or Yousuke. I assumed the worst, since Houshi would not leave you on your own."

She then goes on to question the genin's choices. "So some kind of monster offers you a ride, and you just get in? That's reckless to the extreme. You're lucky she didn't decide to teleport you a thousand feet into the air."

DM

Once released, Suzunabu goes back to her son, picks him up, then casually waits for the group to talk amongst themselves. She had no reason to interrupt them unless questioned directly, and thus stood to the wayside.

When Yousuke finally forces the issue of Camille the purple-haired girl just bows to the group. She's quite demure, and does not make eye contact with either Houshi, Amon, Suzunabu, or Cybele. Her shoulder-length purple hair is left to fall where it may, and she seems to shrink back after Yousuke introduced her. "A-ah. H-Hello. My name is C-Camille, but Mitsuyo-sam--san. Mitsuyo-san called me Eurayle."

Cybele just looks dismissively at the girl. But then she looks back to Amon with a stoic mask covering her emotions. "No. My clan is from the Grass Country. My sisters and I were traded to Iwagakure as part of a peace offering between Kusagakure and Iwagakure."

With that said, the sky-jounin looks to the girl. She stalks forward with her whole body tensed. Being under the jounin's scrutinizing gaze and aggressive approach causes the girl to step back, and makes Camille quite visibly nervous. The two of them lock eyes for a moment, and Cybele's aggressive glare forces the girl to look away. "A-ah", Camille gasps, "please take care of me."

With that done, Cybele closes her eyes and takes a less aggressive stance. Her left hand goes to her chin, and her right arm goes under her chest. The thoughtful stance draws out Cybele's inner monologue. "She's not one of us, so she's artificial. Which means Mitsuyo got a hold of a medic and Hinami's body... You did remember to burn Hinami's body, right?" The last part addresses the sky-genin directly.

[zeone3000]

Houshi groans, "I'll give you a piggy back ride and no more. You might as well be a feather as far as my strength is concerned but my arms will get soar stuck in the position for that long."

Houshi scratches his chin, "Okay, how has she not been stabbed in the back then being a mercenary? I thought they just wanted money, not comrades."

Houshi shakes his head, "I would if I was covering her escape."

Finally, Houshi shrugs, "She seemed pretty enthsatic about screwing over Suneko. Call it hunch. Anyway, we wouldn't have made it here otherwise. Maybe you should tell us your plans next time."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele retorts at Houshi's implication. "And maybe you should stay out of business that isn't yours."

[Bad Situation]

Cybele admittedly had a point. Accepting a mysterious demon's offer probably was a terrible idea. Luckily, he already knew and was thus saved from feeling any sort of embarrassment. "Upon meeting the woman Houshi decided to take her offer and knowing him he would have gotten himself killed had he gone in alone. For that reason I chose to accompany him. I apologize for any trouble this has caused you sensei."

Seeing Cybele's aggressive stance, Yousuke whispers to Camille in an attempt to calm her down. "Don't worry too much, sensei tends to act like this sometimes. She means well by the glares, usually." It wasn't a lie so to speak, Cybele did tend to hide behind her glaring and harsh words from what little he knew of her. When Cybele mentions what they did with Hinami, or rather, what they didn't do to her body, Yousuke flinches.

"...were we supposed to burn her body?" he asks shakily.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The sky-jounin sighs. "I suppose it worked out for the best. But be careful in the future."

When Yousuke asks about Hinami's body, she responds plainly. "The body of a shinobi is an important resource, both for the village it originates from and for any village that could capture it. If you can capture an enemy's body, then your village will gain a substantial amount of information about what herbs, drugs, and other training techniques the enemy village uses. But if it's infeasible to capture an enemy's body, then destroying it is the next best thing because it denies any other village access to that body and allows the victim's identity to be used if no one can verify that they've been killed."

Camille

The girl looks a bit confused, but Yousuke's words reassure her all the same. She whispers to the young boy. "I-I was worried she didn't like me."

[Princess Tracy]

"Hey, how'd you know it was me, I never used it on the records," Amon remarks as Cybele recognises her. "For all you know, it was just some screwy genjutsu I placed on poor Suzunabu here." She gives a nod to the dragon. Though at Cybele's removal of her glove, she grows more sombre for a second, biting her lip in remembered pain. "Is that how you always feel, Cybele? To have that thing crawling inside you?" She looks away as Houshi shifts her to a piggy-back. "I think I understand why you're so grouchy sometimes if that's the case. If that state is a taste of what you are I'm surprised you're able to put up with me at all..."

At the accusation of her recklessness with hitching a ride though, Amon opens her mouth as if to scream in offence and stammers. "H-hey, I was going to back out but then these tow here were pretty gung-ho about it. What was I supposed to do, leave them? That Princess scared the crap out of me the more she talked, if it had been just me I'd have found some respectful way to decline. Besides, it's probably for the best; she was under orders to kill us, if we'd declined her little 'game' we'd probably have the fight of our lives on our hands."

"I-I was worried she didn't like me."

"...That probably isn't worth worrying about, kid. Cybele's pretty changeable."

At the last question of burning Hinami, Amon nudges Houshi, but thinks better of letting him talk for her. "Well, the thing is.... we didn't... Suzunabu was.... and we had to get you to safety after finding... and I... I'm not used to working with bloodlines in my medicine, and I'm not a surgeon, so... I didn't think that... It seemed disrespectful to the dead to.... I kind of thought when I reported in that they would have someone more qualified..." She clears her throat, falling back under the cover of Houshi's body to avoid Cybele's glare, knowing she'd earned it this time. "W-was it that important?" Biting her lip, she finally owns up.

"No."

[zeone3000]

"Whoa, hold on, how wasn't it our business? The dragon told all of us the truth, not just you. It sounds like she had plans to attack us anyway. As soon as she saw us, she summoned the onis and I mean, as soon as. She didn't say anything, just did it. If you want us to be careful, you have tell us what you have planned. I'm supposed to be reckless and gung-ho, you're supposed be the responsible one and teach us caution by leading by example." He sighs, "I guess I forget you're not that much older then us and still inexperienced at teaching. As for burning the body... Don't look at me. It makes sense at a military level but wow... The things we have to do."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The sky-jounin just sighs. "It's fine. But now you know for future reference. The dead are dead, but what they've left behind can still be useful to the living." With that said, Cybele looks at the girl again. Camille shrinks back under the jounin's gaze, and freezes up a little. Cybele moves closer to the girl while removing her gloves. She reaches out and touches the top of the girl's head. Neither of them have an adverse reaction to the other, and after a few moments Cybele kneels down to look the girl in the eye. Camille fidgets a little under the older-looking girl's gaze, but ultimately submits to the scrutiny.

Cybele finally stands up, slides her glove back on, and talks to the girl. "You've been infected with... something horrible. If it's allowed to grow, then you'll die. I can kill it, but you might die in the process and you'll never recover what you've lost. Or I can teach you to live with it, and offer you a place among my clan." Camille looks rather confused and worried. Cybele looks toward Suzunabu. "I need to talk to you as well."

Unless stopped, Cybele and Suzunabu back off a bit to talk to one another quietly. Camille has withdrawn even more than normal, and seems to be rather depressed about what she's just been told. Unless spoken to she quietly considers her options, and looks around often.

[Bad Situation]

Shocked by Cybele's somewhat blunt admission, Yousuke turns back to Camille to console her. "You should accept her offer, Camille-san. If you accept her training you can come back to the village with us and away from here." He honestly felt bad for the girl, considering the implication of Cybele's words. Her only options now were to die or throw away her old life to become a shinobi. Not exactly ideal circumstances for a civilian, much less someone who seemed so ill-suited for the life as Camille. As much as girls tended to make him uncomfortable, he didn't want her to die. Patting her on the back he adds, "If you choose to accept I will be able to visit you, so please consider the thought."

[Princess Tracy]

"Suzunabu, before you run off," Amon says a little more strongly. "You should know, I felt the emotions of that body. An extreme protection of the child. Maternal instincts aren't that bad I see - in your case, they were almost intoxicating," she says with a smile as she rubs at her abdomen, distantly aware of her own potential as a mother. "I'm sure you'll take great care of him."

As the two more elite ninja go off to talk, Amon mulls over what Cybele said about disposing of the dead. But what could be on her or about her so important that... she stops as her glance happens to fall upon Camille. Her eyes widen. She looks at Yousuke, shaking her head looking so apologetic she could die, and stoutly refuses to meet the eye of the young girl. She mutters, "Yousuke.... the way that woman died... I didn't think the curse could be used like that... If I'd known...." she shakes her head, burying her gaze into Houshi's back. "I'm unfit to practice medicine."

[zeone3000]

Houshi sighs, switching her to a bridal carry, "But you didn't and no can blame you for that. If they do, they'll have to answer to me. That's like blaming the fact I can't use ninjutsu on me. It's not my fault, I was born this way."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Suzunabu just looks at Amon before leaving. It closes its eyes, and shakes its head. The dragon makes no comment as it follows Cybele into the distance.

Camille responds favorably to Yousuke's touch. She becomes slightly less tense, and talks a little. "I... I... W-when Mitsuyo-sama took me in, he said that... that thing would fix my asthma. He said it would... it would make me stronger." She looks toward Amon with sad eyes. "Y-You practice medicine right? I-Is she right? W-Will this... will it really kill me?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's sad focus breaks like waves upon the rocks for a moment as Houshi switches her carrying style. He was almost romantic. "You're saying you'd protect my honour, Houshi?" she asks, her eyes fluttering and her disdain for his foolhardy actions of the day forgotten

The moment doesn't last long though before the girl casts her sad eyes upon the young medic-nin. Biting her lower lip, she sits up in Houshi's arms. "Camille, was it?" she says slowly, stalling as she tries to think of a kind way to put it. "I don't... know. Only Cybele's clan knows how her curse works and even then Cybele doesn't seem to fully grasp it herself in your case. What was that bastard Mitsuyo hoping to accomplish by using you like this..." She falls silent, thinking. "Camille.... I'll have to ask you not to directly touch or make fluid contact with anyone. The curse that Cybele has and that I think you have as well... it has a way of spreading in lesser amounts and it feels... awful. Houshi, put me down." Once on her feet, Amon barely balances from her fatigue as she approaches Camille. "You didn't always look like this, did you?" she asks as she concntrates. Pulling on rubber gloves from her first aid kit, she grabs Camille lightly as she looks her over, not entirely sure what she was looking for, but making sure to check around the eyes, before concentrating to sense her chakra and compare it to Cybele's.

Spoiler

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Treat Injury. Take 10 for 17. Not sure what I'm looking for, but might as well give her a checkup. Unless he has a ninja in his employ, it probably involved some sort of surgery on Mitsuyo's part so I'll look for surgical scars, stitches, unusual blood vessel activity and what have you.

Amon senses chakra on her until she gets a clear image of her signature.

"This is our fault, I think.... how did he do it to you?" Amon needs to collect all the data she can before answering her question of if she might die, but doesn't like her luck

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke continues rubbing her back, fighting off the nervousness as he does so, and looks at Amon with sad eyes, "Give it to her a straight answer She deserves an honest answer after what she has been through." Cybele had no reason to lie in spite of her cold facade, hopefully Amon would not give the girl hope where there was none.

"But I have grasped her hand several times now," Yousuke points out, "I do not think direct contact is entirely out of the question."

[Princess Tracy]

"But I have grasped her hand several times now," Yousuke points out, "I do not think direct contact is entirely out of the question."

"Perhaps.... but it is not the skin, but the sweat I worry for," Amon says, remembering all that Cybele said of her curse.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Camille looks at Amon when she questions her. "U-um... M-Mitsuyo--Mitsuyo brought this woman to... do something to me. She put me to sleep, then did... did something. My chest hurt a lot after that, but that was two days ago."

She rubs her chest at that, then continues on. "I... My hair changed after that. And my eyes have too. I--I haven't seen my parents since then."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon sneaks a peak at this chest as she tells her story; absolutely rife with surgery marks, clearly indicative of heart surgery. Thus concludes her analysis. "If I heal you, I'll become infected. I can tell that much. Camille, you must never kiss anyone or otherwise allow your fluids to make contact with another." Amon gulps, seeming to lack any good news. "Your condition has worsened recently, hasn't it? They... They've performed major surgery - my best guess says on the heart. In fact, if I was to be wild, i'd say... they'd replaced it in whole or in part. No, that would be the saner of explanations in this situation..." Amon clutches her forehead painfully. "Ninja practitioners terrifying... I wonder if we could convince Cybele to make a detour to capture Mitsuyo before the rebels kill him, get some answers from him. She's the least exhausted among us"

Amon backs off, facing away from the girl. "I'm sorry. I'm a terrible medic and far too uneducated to know enough of the curse to help you. Yours seems to be identical to Cybele's. I think.... I think her curse is your origin; someone took a scrap of what she left behind on our last mission and has used it on you to make you like her, to put it simply. I can't be sure why... perhaps to use you like Cybele? An experiment? Perhaps... perhaps to infiltrate them..." Amon turns her attention back to Camille. "Where would your parents be?" she asks, concerned sounding, but her eyes show her mind is elsewhere.

"Yousuke. If you're well enough, bring him here. Play at being there to defend him and nab him when the opportunity presents itself. Houshi, grab a cart."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The girl looks down as Amon resigns her to a lifetime of solitude. "A-alright, I can do that." When Amon mentions her condition, she nods. "Y-Yes. The asthma wasn't so bad, but lately I've been tired and weak all the time."

The girl doesn't say anything as Amon goes off on a tangent, but speaks up when Amon asks about her parents. "T-They were..." She looks toward Mitsuyo's home. "In there. Mom was a maid. Dad was a gardener. We lived on the compound, but I haven't seen them since that woman visited."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon gives a tug, clearing the bandana off her head, handing her headband to Houshi. "Hold this." She walks up to the girl, resting a hand on her shoulder. Free of her bandanna, her hair cascades down like a mane, giving her a far more regal look as she looks into the girl's eyes, an apologetic flair made obvious by her now less obscured eyebrows. Removing the bandanna seems to add 3 royal generations and 10 years to her alone as she speaks honestly. "You won't be alone. This is our fault, and our burden. That you should suffer solitude and near death is not a fate befitting an innocent. You will live, and life always brings with it opportunity. Go with Cybele, learn the control of this curse and struggle on. Beautiful and random things happen in a life, and I wish not for that to go squandered." She closes her eyes. "There is nothing I can do to make up for what my negligence has cost you, but don't let it waste life simply because it's not what you wanted out of it."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke stays by Camille's side and continues consoling her despite Amon's orders. "She is afraid and surrounded by unfamiliar people, I do not think I will be leaving her side just yet."

At her side, Yousuke tries to cheer her up some. "Do not give up hope just yet. The moment I helped you up in the library I had resolved myself to aiding you in my fullest capacity, this sentiment has not changed since the discovery of your...illness." It was a strange feeling, treating girls as if they were not two-faced harpies but he attributed this to the girl's civilian upbringing. Luckily, Youki's 'training' kicked once again. "In fact, it has only bolstered my commitment to you," he continues, "Please take heart in my words and be brave. For me if not yourself."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The girl tears up when the genin reaffirm their commitment to helping her. But before she can thank either genin or speak up otherwise Cybele returns. Suzunabu remains where she is, but watches the group anyway. Cybele's reappearance causes the girl to freeze up, and the sky-jounin takes that as an opportunity to speak. The purple-haired jounin hides her emotions behind a mask of indifference as she speaks. "Well. Your choices have gotten a bit better. As I said: You can join my clan, and I'll help you control this thing. Or you can go with my friend there", Cybele turns her head slightly to indicate Suzunabu behind her, "and join her Mistress. She can keep your curse dormant. It'll hurt, but it won't kill you." Cybele looks back to the girl.

"Third, I can try to remove the curse from you, but that might kill you. And finally, you could just go back to Mitsuyo. You'll get to live for another month or two there, but it'll hurt a lot right up until the end." Cybele doesn't pull any punches with her words, and tells the girl plainly how things will go. Camille doesn't hesitate to answer.

"I want to go with you." Cybele's unreadable mask doesn't move, and she just nods.

"Very well." The sky-jounin extends a hand to help the girl up. Camille takes it, and stands beside the older-looking jounin like a child beside her mother. Cybele turns to the genin. "Well, this mission seems to be a bust. We should return to Soragakure."

[Princess Tracy]

((Ninja'd. Hang on while I read previous post to see if this fits))

Spoiler

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Seeing Yousuke's kindness to the girl, Amon releases her grip on her shoulder and backs off, returning to Houshi's side, limping a little as she dons her headband once more. "Yousuke, take care of her then. Give me a smoke bomb, I only have one left." She digs around in her bag, finding a cumbersome and crude looking gas mask and pulls it on, strapping the terrifying mask in with a loud click, leaving only her hair jutting out form behind and her face totally obscured. A little muffled, she says "I'm going to try and get some answers. Yousuke, what kind of resistance did you see in there? And Camille, what's your surname? Hopefully if he has a library, the rebels won't go randomly destroying it so there might be some record of what he was up to if we try hard enough to look for it." She stumbles forward, supporting herself on her cane, clearly in no state for a fight, though that was never her forte anyway.

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Amon is fatigued from chakra expenditure.

[Princess Tracy]

With the thought of going home, Amon collapses back into Houshi's arms, lazily slapping her headband onto her forehead and not bothering to tie it on for nearly a full minute, her regal understanding of the girl giving way to her own exhaustion. "Before that, Cybele... How was Mitsuyo doing these things and why? I wanted to beat come answers from him if I could - there's only so much even you can deduce with just this. Though perhaps you can clear it up, Camille. Sorry to disturb you, but taht would be my last question woith any luck.. what did this woman look like that did it to you?"I It's been two days... they must have snagged it from Hinami's body as soon as she died, just about. Our report wouldn't even have been handed in yet, would it? Or if it did, perhaps some instantaneous movement would do the trick....

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Cybele answers some of Amon's questions. "How? There's someone out there with the medical knowledge necessary to create artificial members. But she was banished for her experiments. The Eurayle clan is desperate for a cure, but not the kind that will cost more lives." Cybele nods at that, then looks toward Mitsuyo's estate.

"As for why... I don't know. Our blood is useful, but it doesn't seem like the kind of thing Mitsuyo would do. Setsuna had to put him up to it, and that means this girl is one of her experiments." Cybele looks back toward the genin, then motions toward Soragakure. "I'll go and find him, and hopefully learn about Setsuna. The rest of you will need to make it back to Soragakure on your own."

"I'll be going then", Suzunabu says from her position away from the group, "unless you want me to take one of these children instead." With that joke, she smiles and waves goodbye before exploding into a cloud of smoke as she's summoned back from wherever she came.

[Princess Tracy]

"A medical experimenter, you say..." Amon ponders. "Yeah, it doesn't seem like the sort of thing Mitsuyo would take it upon himself to do normally. What would he stand to gain after all? I was going to drag him out myself, but you're FAR less likely to screw it up, especially the way I am now." Before slinking back into Houshi's arms, she produces two gloves from her bag, her spare welding gloves. They're intact. She hands them to their new purple-haired companion. "These aren't teh most comfortable, but they should suffice until you can get nicer gloves. Then again, they're waterproof due to their material and thickness, so maybe you'll hang onto them." With that, she curls up in Houshi's arms and nudges him to head on out. "I know I don't have to tell you this, but I'll say it anyway. I think someone's pulling your strings, Cybele. A fake member, a fake job, Suzunabu and a traitor ninja all being in the one place.... it's someone close by. Keep on your toes - even in there, you don't know what might happen. Oh yeah, did Suzunabu ever tell who posted our mission?"

With that, she turns to Suzunabu just in time to see her go and get in a parting shot of a comment. She makes the hand sign that projected her mind earlier but doesn't actually perform the technqie as she points out at Suzunabu. "Let's do this again sometime. In all seriousness, thank you for all you did." With that when she leaves, Amon just sighs and curls up in Houshi's arms like a cat.

"I'll go wherever as long as I don't have to walk there..." she informs her companions. "Setsuna, eh...?"