Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Sanagi looks at Yousuke, then shakes her head. "The Garou seem to be leaving. Their camp was empty, and I could not find any clues as to where they were going. As for Kaede: You do not need to worry about him any longer. He cannot control you anymore." Sanagi has nothing more to say on the situation, and allows Yousuke to leave. When Yousuke apologizes Sanagi bows in return. "You reacted in the way you thought would best protect those precious to you. I cannot condemn such an action for it is the true way of the sword."

Koji doesn't stop Amon, and also doesn't follow her anymore. However, Mako does follow the sky-nin to the doorway. The both of them run into Yousuke as he enters, and Mako retrieves the small scroll she had stored his swords in. She shoves the scroll at Yousuke. "Just tear it and you'll get your things back." With that said she turns to leave as well.

Amon's Sense Chakra

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Sanagi's chakra is a tumultuous whirlwind of thunder and lightning. She feels electrically charged, as if every movement held the power of a chained bolt of lightning behind it. Even the casual way she stands seems to radiate overwhelming power, and there's no possible way Sanagi could hide her strength.

Jun's chakra is like a warm bonfire. Her warmth radiates out at a comfortable distance, but getting closer could result in getting burned. Her bonfire is much weaker than the thundercloud that is Sanagi's chakra, and is merely a moderately large power source.

[Princess Tracy]

"And so we are left quite adrift," Amon remarks aloud, though still hesitant to make her appearance as she remains behind the doorway, leaning against the wall. "We are without the skills to track the Garou nor the skill to fight them, and if we blundered after them we would be forced to fight on their terms. Yet our mission and the mystery of their methods and so much more still calls to me..." Amon speaks up, "Sonada-san, would you come here please. The Garou may be outside our grasp already. Tell me how you would care for us to proceed. We could gather a more competent force with which to retrieve your grand daughter, depending on how urgent their sudden retreat is..." Did they get their Red Eyes?

Amon bucks up, breathing deep as she finally steps out from behind the doorway, deciding to just buck up and ignore Houshi's presence as she speaks plainly. Watching Bea for any sort of reaction, she asks "Uchiha was still an operative to Soragakure. Care to suggest what I should report back to his 'superiors' and allies?" If you have a message, now's the time to deliver it.... I hope I wasn't intended to use the Wild Card before now. Care to offer any insight, Kaede? Her knees are a little shaky but her gaze is quite steadfast in the thunder god's presence, determined o observe even with her poor insight for people.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Sonada just looks at Amon. "I... I just want to know if she's gone. I want to know if I need to mourn her, or if she might return one day. That knowledge alone will give me peace of mind."

When questioned about Kaede again Sanagi just shakes her head. She looks at Amon directly, and tells the genin what happened plainly. "He's dead. He chose to resist despite knowing my history, and refused to surrender when given multiple opportunities to do so. But do not concern yourself with his loss. There was nothing you could have done to prevent his death."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon nods to Sonada. "That much, I can handle. I'll observe the situation and see what I can do. I'm sorry if I can't do more." She thinks for a moment. "The Garou hold her in esteem, even refer to her as an important member; if they're leaving, if she intends to go with them, I don't imagine I'll find her unless she wants to be found. If nothing else, I can seek an audience with her. If I cannot find her, she does not intend to return, is my general guide, at least not right now; I shall endeavour to provide clearer answers than that."

Amon falls silent, utterly motionless, not even breathing - or even thinking at her flat statement of his death. When she finishes her report, her body quivers, her mind blurry as she tries to keep her footing. "Dead...? Him...?" H-he has Momo and Cybele to return to, like hell he's allowed to die... This isn't funny, Kaede, not even as a bluff... The image of old sensei, run through on the ronin's blade come's to mind. For a second, that murderer and Bea become one in her mind. Without even meaning to, she glares at the jounin. Cybele would kill herself trying to take her down if that's true, wouldn't she... Why does she have to be so strong, so oppressive. Why can't she just DIE. DIE RIGHT NOW. She tries to sound calm, but all she can manage is a wrathful bark. "Where is the body!?" she demands to know. Cybele said it herself - without the body, a village could never be entirely sure someone was dead.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Sanagi wordlessly accepts Amon's scorn and anger. When questioned about the body the leaf jounin shakes her head. "Nowhere. I destroyed it. It would not have been feasible to recover the body and complete my group's mission." Bea reaches for a pocket on her vest, flicks it open, and retrieves a sky-blue bandanna with a metal plate sewn into it. The headband bears the symbol of Soragakure, but the bandanna has been blackened by some kind of explosion.

Sanagi holds the bandanna loosely as she extends her hand toward Amon. "Will this be proof enough, or do you need to see where he died?"

[Princess Tracy]

You're never going to be strong enough to fight someone like this, who are you kidding... you'll never be able to stop them, so running to gather your strength is pointless. What am I waiting for. What kind of coward am I. Even now, can't I muster it - to do what's right even if I'll die. Why won't my body listen to me? This woman needs to die - where do i make my stand. When do I make my stand if not now. Kill her. Kill everyone. Make them feel that pain.

Amon's tears are not of sadness as she accepts the headband, her touch momentarily soft as she takes the last remnant of Kaede; they are of humiliation, of futile rage. She looks the headband over, trying not to look at Bea, trying not to let anyone see her cry, and some part of her knowing looking into that woman's eye and knowing there was nothing she could do would only make things worse - another realisation of futility, another cycle of rage.

Growling, she orders the jounin through her teeth in response to her offer to lead. "Take me there. Now." That's all she can manage to say that's comprehensible. She didn't care about much of anything but investigating his death, her teammates and her mission be damned at that moment.

How can I kill this woman. It would be my only redemption. Kaede was confronted by her and he wasted time tending to me because he couldn't rely on me. I'm a liability. That will never, ever change. So why can't I at least die causing her pain?

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I take 10 to Investigate the headband, for a result of 15. If I'm going on a trip, I'll take 20 for 25 as Amon creepily mulls the headband over in her hands, over and over again, hoping fate gives her some loophole out of this cruelty.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke nods at the offer, "A Konpaku always makes his peace with the dead." Had she truly killed Kaede? What would they tell Soragakure? What would they tell Cybele? Running his hand through his hair anxiously, he passes his eyes over to Mako as if to say 'Looks like you were wrong' and closes his eyes to even his breath. They were now 2 for 3 in failed missions, with a lost special jounin punctuating their recent failure. What was going to happen now?

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Sanagi looks down at Amon with a somber look on her face. She suffered the genin's directionless anger, and allowed her to pointlessly rage against the leaf-nin. Amon was clearly not in the state of mind necessary to discuss things, so Sanagi looks at Yousuke and nods. She looks to Mako and Jun. "Mako, Jun, go get Koji. We're going with them." Sanagi waits for both the leaf and sky genin to gather their things, then guides the collective group through the woods. Mako's rather downtrodden through the trip, as she's rather upset that Sanagi had killed the other team's teacher. Jun's the same as she's always been: Pleasant and non-confrontational. Koji ignores the sky-nin, and doesn't speak unless spoken to.

After a few minutes of land-hopping the seven ninja arrive in a small clearing beside a pond. The pond's waters are obscured by dirt and mud kicked up from something recent. The dirt seems to be settling down, and whatever caused the problem likely happened some time ago. There are several blackened patches of grass, dead trees, and other environmental damage that accompanies battles between ninja nearby. One location in particular--a large concave bowl of disturbed dirt--has several scraps of clothing laying within. Sanagi points toward this large patch and speaks calmly. "That's where he died."

Amon

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It's a headband. It's been burnt by some kind of lightning technique. It's no longer capable of being tied together as the back end has been burnt beyond use.

[Princess Tracy]

Throughout the trip, Amon clutches the headband eerily, whispering unkept promises to it, holding it close, peering down at it, her excuse not to look anyone in the eye, her eyes seemingly dried up. Amon stumbles over to the bowl of destroyed earth, at last collapsing at its rim, as she looks within it, her beared knees scraping as she sinks within its limits a bit. Her head heaves forard, her neck feeling limp, a single shaky hand reaching down, cluthing the loose rags and stirring the dirt uselessly. "Kaoru, Omki, Sensei.... Kaede. 4 now. Don't make it 6," she tells herself cryptically, her voice quivering and her words meaningless even to her. Everything seemed to silent. Except for the sound of bea. She was so loud. She should go away. Amon sniffs. "Kaede... stupid Kaede, this isn't funny... what would Cybele say if you were screwing around like this? I-if you don't come out now, I'll get really upset. Kaede, I'm scared, I'm really scared, just give me a sign. Kaede... Kaede..." She's sobbing, her pitch breaking as she seems to give up, barely even kneeling as she clutches at her stomach as if wounded. She smiles, as if bargaining even as the tears roll down her cheeks. "Kaede, were you lying? You said you wanted to leave town, right Kaede? You wanted to give Momo a life away from this. That's what this is right - y-you're just faking to slip away from the village, right? Th-that's pretty selfish, you'll give Momo a scare. I-i thought I told you to let me in on your schemes. is it because of Taro, kaede? I was going to make it up to you, I swear, Kaede." She sniffs, trying to look pleasantly annoyed despite her bloodshot eyes and now rocky voice. "You can't leave like this though, Kaede. You knew about me, Kaede, you were the only person that acted like they cared. What's Cybele going to do without you, Kaede? You're her whole world. She won't keep being our sensei without your support, Kaede. Can't you at least do it for Cybele, Kaede? Can't you have a plan up your sleeve like always? Can't you have fooled this dumb bitch? Who's she anyway - who cares, you're Kaede Uchiha, that's what counts. Someone like you wouldn't die so randomly - to have someone come up to me on a nice sunny day and tell me you're dead. Y-you're more dramatic than that, right?"

She keeps clutching the headband close to her heart, holding onto it for him. "W-we're friends, right? Everyone hates me but you're my friend - you can't let me have no friends again, can you Kaede? You're not that selfish? It's cheating is what it is - just once, i wanted to be the one to outsmart you. I'll have to get you doubly back if you're pulling a fast one on me here. Aha ha ha - WAAAHHH, KAAAAEEEDEEE!!!" Finally she just breaks down, falling into the pit facefirst, her arms flailing out within it as she bawls, her tongue scratchy and nose blocked as she cries her eyes out, pounding the earth with her fists. "IT WAS GETTING BETTER! MY LIFE WAS FINALLY GETTING BETTER! KAEDE, YOU LIAR! KKAAAAEDEEE! KAEDE! KA-uwahahaWAAA!!!" That's the last she can manage that isn't a simple gut-wrenching series of screams.

[Bad Situation]

Kneeling down at the site of Kaede's apparent death, Yousuke stares at the scraps of clothing with half-lidded eyes. "You may leave us now," he says to the assembled leaf-nin with his back turned.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The leaf-nin leave quietly, and do not say anything.

[zeone3000]

Houshi kicks a rather large rock, a few feet away in anger, "Damn it! I thought he was stronger then this! I thought he could handle himself! But no! He's dead and we couldn't do damn thing anything about it! God damn it!" He sighs, rubbing his temple, "We should get back home and face the music"

What's the point in being this big and strong if I'm not strong enough to protect anyone?

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's wails grow a little less manic the longer Yousuke is by her side, but persist nonetheless. 2 sensei, dead... i'll never get it together. She seems to show no sign of stopping as the minutes wear on - one feels like she might die crying. At some point in her writhing and crying, she comes to be on her back, her hands to her eyes,sobbing quietly but her voice still cracking, occasionally swallowing. "I... can't... do... anything... right," she says, her chest falling and heaving rapidly as speech seems to bring only hyperventilation. Quivering, she pulls herself forward, sitting up as showing her horribly red, leaking eyes as she reaches at last for the wild card, pulling out all her scrolls and inks and god knows what in her bag along with it. On some healer instinct, she forces her breathing to slow as she holds up the card to her now bleary, unforussed eyes, failing to focus her gaze through the tears but garnering the basic gist of it. She triggers the card as best she can to finally use the tecjnique, viewing it as his last will.

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Tapping reserves as necessary.

I take 10 to identify the tehcnique as I use it (if such a thing is even necessary, which it doesn't seem like it would be but what do I know) getting a Ninjutsu 25 and Genjutsu 10

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The card activates, and immediately Amon realizes she's performing a summoning technique. Unless stopped the card goes through the motions. Summoning seals and ink spill out of the card like mist off a waterfall. The seals coalesce into several snake-like figures that crawl off the card and onto Amon's outstretched hand. The ribbons of ink crawl down the sky-nin's arm, then down her body, and crawls down her right leg. The seals spread out from Amon's right foot in an eight pointed star, and then go completely rigid. An explosion of smoke obscures Amon, and when the smoke dissipates a small black cat with a pair of Sharingan eyes stares up at the sky-nin.

"Meow!"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's eyes are wide as saucers as she watches the little display. A cat. With his eyes? Amon clutches her head. Would this have popped out if I'd done this from the start? Is it possible the cat is... Kaede did say he was a spy, but somehow I doubt it. Or maybe I just don't want to hope. So then why would the cat have his eyes?

Amon removes her own headband, using it to wipe her tears, her hopes resurrecting some. She hoped they wouldn't be betrayed. She croushes by the cat's side, offering her hand to see how it responds. In her other hand, which she semi-consciously presents in tandem with the first, still grips Kaede's scorched headband tightly. Realising its presence, she asks "I don't suppose you know if Kaede Uchiha is safe by some miracle do you, 'perfectly ordinary' kitty?" She leans her ear a little closer in case the thing could talk and cared to whisper. Please be good news.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The black-haired reaches up and casually pats Amon's hand with its paw. The cat's head twists to one side as it watches the sky-nin with curiosity in its red-and-black eyes. It just watches Amon's eyes with its own, and strangely the Sharingan doesn't fade away like it would in a human. The cat's ears twitch as it listens to the sky-nin talk, but it only responds by opening its mouth.

"Meow!"

Amon

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The cat's chakra feels familiar. A warm sea of blood and fire flows out from the cat's paw.

[Princess Tracy]

"This chakra..." I never got a good feel for Kaede's though. He always suppressed it so much I don't think I even felt it at all. But then why does it feel like I know it? Already leaned down to listen to the cat, some part of Amon gives way as she collapses next to the feline, straying up at the sky, her body twisted around as she sniffs, at last remorsefully releasing Kaede's headband where it sloushes with her in the pit. She wasn't very good with animals but the situation spurs some instnct in her as she reaches to pet the cat as she twists around, leaving herself facing up with her off-hand resting on her stomach as she sighs, lost in her thoughts. The occassional thought that goes through her head makes the situation hit her a little harder, twisting the knife in her heart, making her well up a bit more, but as her fingers find the cat's fur she remembers herself, trying to focus on being useful. Don't cry, it's not over yet. You'd think you'd have run dry by now.

She leans up a little, looking the cat in the eyes. "Do you think I'll ever see Kaede again?" she pauses, thinking. "Meow once for 'no', twice for yes, please," she instructs to try and get around the language barrier in case the animal possessed the ability to understand speech, even giving a little demonstration (shaking her head and meowing once and nodding while meowing twice). She didn't know what she was expecting, but the smallest hope was all that was keeping her stable. Why would Kaede give her this cat? What did he intend if it wasn't him in some form - if it couldn't speak, what was it's function? Summoning techniques generally have a limited duration, the cat probably wouldn't even last the trip back to Soragakure. It feels like it has the chakra of a fighter, so maybe he wanted them to complete their mission, like that was really favourable by this point. So many questions, and she felt like the answers were just a little out of he grasp. And, more than ever, this whole thing was her fault...

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The cat doesn't stay still when Amon falls over. It pounces on the young girl's stomach, then climbs up her chest to look her in the eye. It glares downward from its perch atop the sky-nin's collar-bone, and Amon can see her face reflected in its Sharingan. When Amon asks her question the cat unceremoniously whacks her in the face with a paw.

"Meow, mmmmrow, meow!" It says in an angry tone. Almost like it was upset that Amon wasn't understanding it, or that the sky-nin had misunderstood something. The cat's paw pats Amon's nose twice, then the cat breaks eye contact in order to look at Yousuke. Its gaze then turns to Houshi before migrating back to Amon.

"Meow!"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon is left stunned by the sudden violence, it breaking her of her saddened state as she clutches at where the cat struck her. It didn't exactly hurt, it was more the surprise of the thing. "Wh-what? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." she fades out as she observes the cat, trying to figure out what it means. Maybe it's just a regular cat enquiring about its contract. Remembering the odd bit of lore she looked up the other day, she looks the cat over for any sign of the Uchiha clan symbol they are supposed to have.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak cat.." Amon sits up a little more, squinting almost humorously as the cat pats her nose. "Sanagi Bea said she killed Kaede Uchiha in this spot, and since he left the ability to summon you in my possession, I used it without knowing what would happen, sorry." She meets its gaze, finally bucking up the courage to just say the ludicrous hope she was holding out for. "Are you Kaede?" She kind of feared the cat pounding her again as she beams with a small degree of hope into its eyes, paying particular attention to the sharingan, very obviously drawing a parallel between it and Kaede's own, yet can't help but blush, beside herself

Clearing her throat, she additionally asks, if not interrupted by another paw swipe, something to offset what might be her momentary stupidity "Are you trying to tell me something about those two? Or your eyes..."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The cat just watches as Amon stumbles through her thoughts and words. When she looks she finds no clan symbol on the cat, nor is it wearing any identification to mark it as an Uchiha nin-cat. It growls if Amon tries to pick it up or move it, but otherwise the cat allows her to check it out as much as necessary. The cat only jumps down when Amon talks about Sanagi and Kaede, and as if to recognize the course of conversation the cat heads over to the crater Sanagi had pointed out as being Kaede's final resting place. It sniffs around the crater, and only stops when Amon asks if the cat is Kaede. It turns around when Amon asks.

"Meow, meow!"

The cat turns back to the crater, sniffs around a few times, then paws at a place in the dirt. It looks to Yousuke and Houshi, then paws the place in the dirt again.

"Meow!"

[Princess Tracy]

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I envisioned Amon as already being at the crater where Kaede died (it being the most dramatic place to cry like that), but whatevs

The double-meow is somewhat ambiguous - I mean, it slapped me when I tried explaining the system to him, but... Amon gulps, drifting to the cat's side, hoping for the best as she kneels beside it, examining the spot at which it indicates. "Huh...?" she intones dimly before scanning it as best she can. "What did you find?" She concentrates as best she might. Her head feels like it's made of mud - thick and formless, the turn of events with the cat so soon after her breakdown making her feel unsure what to think or feel. "What am I looking for here?"

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I take 10 for Search and Investigate, scoring 15 for each (possibly higher if the cat is aiding another). If we have time, I'll take 20 but I'll probably give Yousuke and Houshi a chance to act before resorting to such a thing.

Amon concentrates on sensing chakra

[Princess Tracy]

"Huh..." Amon seems to find something, thoiugh she isn't sure what. She turns to Houshi and Yousuke, everything else seeming to have melted away as she pleads "Houshi, Yousuke, help me, please. I think..." She can't even finish talking before anxiety gets the better of her and she digs, slaws and tugs away.

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Strength (1d20)[8]

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke stands beside Amon in muted silence, watching the entire conversation with a blank amusement on his face. "What is going on...Why is Amon talking to a cat..." Staring back at the cat when it looks his way, he scratches at his temple on confusion. Did it want them to dig at that specific location? Squinting at the cat skeptically, he stands and begins digging through the dirt with his hands, feeling remarkably silly as a result. Since when did he take orders from a cat?

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I only manage to get a 13. I Aid Another on Houshi's attempt.

[Princess Tracy]

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Post #370
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...2#post14027992

Consider that check succeeded

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Yousuke, Houshi, and Amon find something hard covered up by a small amount of dirt. They pull it out to reveal a thin wooden tube. The tube has a cap on top of it which is easily removed, and inside the tube they find a stoppered vial of some blackish-green liquid. A note is wrapped around the scroll, and the paper is still fresh so it was clearly written recently. The note's written in hastily scribbled script, and reads plainly: Feed to cat in Soragakure. The black-furred cat looks at the vial, nods its head, then begins cleaning itself.

[Bad Situation]

Stunned by the seemingly mundane request of a dead man, Yousuke continues to squint at both the cat and the vial. "I-is it a magic cat?" he says with a confused stutter. Had Kaede really used his final moments to write out a reminder to feed his cat? Or perhaps the Uchiha had actually managed to escape Sanagi Bea and whatever was in the vial would cause the cat spit out Kaede or some equally fantastical notion? Was that even a thing ninja could do?

Feeling very out of his depth, Yousuke slides his equipment back on and looks back toward Soragakure. "I-I suppose we should get going?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon gawks at the cat as everything becomes clear - or rather, what she hopes for seems to be possible. "K-kaede... so this is some sort of technique to drag out your eyes' power or something? And you can't control it yourself?" Amon looks at teh vial pocketing it as she finds something to collapse against, sighing in confused relief. Seeing the cat clean itself, she raises an eyebrow in doubt. "Y-you know being a cat doesn't make doing that hugely more socially acceptable when we still know you're a human. Unless you're not Kaede until you drink this thing of... Damn, I have no idea. Maybe you aren't Kaede in any capacity and the feeding thing is just some odd pet owner thing." One can see her eyes spin dizzily as she overthinks the situation as is her way.

At Yousuke's confusion, she gives a bit of a smile, however dried up it seems. "At least I'm not the only one out of my league here. Thecat has the dojutsu I've seen Kaede use a few times, so I think it wouyld have to be him somehow..." Rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger she recoils, finding them dry and sore from all her crying. "Damn, look what you made me do," she says with what was intended to be a chuckle but just comes out as another exhausted sigh. She looks directly at the cat again, leaning down to pat it on the head, whether it wanted it or not, though stops if bitten. if this was Kaede, he could endure this much at least to make it up to her

"What do you think? Sanagi is still around, and we still had a mission in these woods. It would probably be safer to dash back to Soragakure as quickly as possible - though between the Garou and however many dojutsu users independent of them are in these woods even that wouldn't be necessarily safe, or we could try and find Ueki before we go. Or head back to town, find somewhere quiet to hole up and gather our strength and land hop straight back to Soragakure. Advice, Kaede-kitty? Yousuke-kun?"

As always, talking seems to be her coping mechanism, though she is honetsly discussing their intentions. Her emphasis of voice seems to favour thoughts of going home,but she'd feel bad if she just left taht sweet old man hanging. "...Yousuke, they trust you, why don't you ask the konoha team to help the old man for us if we don't do it?" she suggests.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon leans back, closing her eyes as she strokes the cat (if it lets her). "Houshi, Yousuke... I'm sorry you had to see me cry so much. I mean, neither of you cried and it would have been your first loss on the battlefield. I'm just hoping the tears were over nothing after all. I'm not in my best state of mind, so I'll leave it to you." Her tone's attempt at being flat only illustrates how uneven it is. The promise of the cat was the only thing that brightened her up enough to even make a (patently fake, but well intended) smile at her team mates. "I wouldn't mind attempting the mission and trying to leave on a high note, but quiting while we're ahead, while we have the opportunity to help Kaede, whatever the significance of the vial and the cat, might be best."

[Bad Situation]

"It's fine," he says as he brushes off Amon's concerns. "Girls are meant to cry and men are meant to have broad shoulders for them to cry on. Grandfather says as much." Amon was apparently closer to Kaede than he or Houshi were, which probably explained her sudden outburst. The loss of an ally was always a difficult obstacle but the loss of a loved one was even more so. Tears were inevitable in their line of work so he would be patient. Realizing better what he had just said, he quickly adds, "That is not, however, an invitation to cry on my shoulder. I would rather remain dry in such a scenario."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon looks at Yousuke a little dazed at what she thinks is an offer before he seems to nervously clarify himself. She smiles a little more genuinely. "Maybe girls are meant to cry, but I'm a woman, a kunoichi." She looks rather sadly over at the crater where Kaede supposedly died before dragging her eyes from it, back to Yousuke. "It's not like it would be the first time I'd lost a friend or a sensei, after all... but it's not something you get used to. It's not something you ever want to get used to." That last sentence sounds practiced - she's clearly said it to herself more than once. Her smile for Yousuke flickers in again as she holds up her hand, her prosphetic fingers twitching nervously, her body balling up into a sitting position. Some message is there for him 'I lost more than these that day'. "Don't worry Yousuke. With all the times I've cried in front of you over the silliest of things I assumed you wouldn't make such an offer. You do cherish your grandfather a lot though. That's good. Nothing heals wounds like having a little admirer helping you pull through, a standard to live to."

Amon struggles to her feet, her hand on her hips. "Though if men have broad shoulders to cry on, why do women have broad hips?" She intended that as a joke but even she doesn't laugh. She was forcing her vitality out - she couldn't muster her peppiness but she could stand and smile at least. That was enough for now. "Well, Yousuke, if you ever want to feel like a real man, I'm sure i can find some reason to cry on your shoulder. All you have to do is ask." Amon winks as if in slow-motion before retrieving her own headband and Kaede's, tying the former in its usual formation. "Houshi? Sorry I defied your order not to talk. Some things take precedence." her smile is far brighter a one than she intended to shoot his way for at least a week, but her conflict with him seemed very trifling now