Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Princess Tracy]

"Summoned it from thin air," Amon says honestly, using this small talk to construct more meaningful things in her head, her tone rather disinterested. "Not that it's relevant, I needed something fluffy to comfort me. It doesn't seem to like me much though. I think it belongs to someone else, so i intend to bring it when I return to Soragakure. Probably Kaede's next of kin. Or his maid. They could use something fluffy after I break the news to them... The cat's male? I didn't check."

Amon sighs, tryng to mimic whatever Jun was doing earlier to coax the cat into her own arms, whatever that may be

Spoiler

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Handle Animal (1d20+1)[18] untrained

"I hate today. I wish I hadn't woken up. Maybe then whatever last minute replacement they found for me would be able to keep everyone alive. Possibly a competent medic. You healed Yousuke, right? Hah..." Amon veers out, closing her eyes in concentration. She looks towards where Koji stormed off, then back to Houshi. "They were shouting in argument, how did you not hear them? Houshi provoked some wound on the boy and he stormed off to 'complete his mission' or something. The girl followed to try and talk him into staying and Yousuke followed her. They could be ambushed or at each other's throats by now. Why don't you go tend to them and let me deal with the cat."

Amon wipes her still tear-moistened face. She'd pass out form dehydration at this rate. Nonetheless, her voice seems a little more emotional - that girl had to deal with Jun all the time yet she was this oblivious to what's going on around her? Even her own team mates. "Keep a closer eye on your team mates. It's quite stressful to have someone you work closely with be aloof or distant; cherish them. You never know when you'll lose them in our line of work.." Amon goes back to Houshi's side (though out of kicking range) once she's finished talking AND once the cat is in her possession again

[Bad Situation]

Frowning, Yousuke drops all pretenses and forgoes his own polite speech. Standing up he draws nearer to the girl and deposits his handkerchief on her head. "I can't, in good conscience, leave a crying girl on her own. My grandfather would flay me alive if he ever found out. Which he would." Instead of leaving, he settles down on the ground, in a lazy seated position. According to Youki, when a girl was crying, 'leave me alone' was code for 'don't go'. Or it was warning to run for the hills. Apparently, girls were very complicated in that regard.

"I guess I can't help you, given my own leadership issues but if I ve learned one thing from my grandfather, it's that talking about our problems is a very crucial step in learning to cope or even solve them." How many times had he come running to Youki with a problem? Too many to count, most like. The old man had not always known what to say but he had found that bringing his issues to words with someone to listen always made him feel better. "I'm not my grandfather, obviously, but I'm willing to listen if you have anything you'd like to get off your chest."

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon and Houshi

Jun just picks up the cat and hands him over to Amon. He growls when Jun picks him up, but only looks at inquisitively Amon. "Meow?"

Jun shrugs. "I didn't check either. He told me. His name is Taro, by the way. He wants to know who you are." The cat twists around in Amon's grasp to look at Jun, then meows several times at her imperatively. The leaf-nin nods, then casually translates. "He misses his human, and smells his human on you. Taro's confused, but will help you if you're trying to find his human. I don't know who he's talking about, but cats are real hard to understand anyway."

"Meow."

"Oh, and you're holding him too tightly." Jun looks toward the forest where Koji, Mako, and Yousuke disappeared to. Her eyes soften a bit, but she doesn't move that way. Instead she just casually shrugs, and remarks on the situation. "They'll be fine. After all, if I leave here then you two will be on your own, and then you might get ambushed as well." Jun looks back to the cat, smiles, and wiggles a finger at it. The little guy wriggles around in Amon's grasp as he tries to bat his paws at Jun's finger.

"Besides. They don't need me around bothering them. They get along a lot better than it looks like they do. It's for the best if I just ignore their indiscretions." Jun's dog just walks over to her and nudges the genin's leg with his nose. He seems a bit jealous that the cat is getting all that attention, and Jun reacts by petting the dog's head. "Ya, the only person I need is Houki here."

Yousuke

Mako doesn't react and just lets the handkerchief rest on her head without disturbance. She's clearly absorbed in whatever problem she's wrestling with. But whenever Yousuke begins to speak he seems to draw her out of her shell of self-pity. She raises her head up, but doesn't look at the sky-nin as she speaks. The handkerchief slides off, but she reacts to grab it before it hits the ground. "My name is Hyuuga Mako. My grandmother was the seventh Hokage. I am... I'm expected to take her place. That's why I'm on a team with the Thunder God, even if she doesn't have any skill at tracking. It's my grandmother protecting me." Mako sniffles, and wipes her eyes on the handkerchief. She still doesn't look toward Yousuke.

"My team is composed of a genius Uchiha, a genius medical ninja, and the strongest jounin in Konohagakure. But I don't have any genius-level skill. I'm not as smart as Jun, as capable as Koji, nor do I have any actual skill aside from my taijutsu. But I'm expected to lead them." Mako sighs and tries to shrink herself down. "Please leave me alone. Go after Koji, or go back to your team." She sticks out her hand holding Yousuke's handkerchief. "But please don't stay here."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon hugs the cat close as she's handed it, correcting her grip when it seems to complain via Jun. "Sorry, Taro..." So that's why it seemed to sure before - it was just following Kaede's scent to the vial. But then... Kaede's scent can't possibly extend beyond that crater could it? Otherwise it would have been detected. Then again, the professional tracking dog didn't have THAT good a whiff of it, and the burnt earth probably disrupted a trail somewhere... I want to know if there was anyone here besides Sanagi after she finished with Kaede, but I have no way of checking without risking everything... I'll return with Cybele and hope for the best if the cat thing doesn't pan out. If this cat is really just Kaede's pet, what's the significance of the vial? Amon pulls the cat away from her a little, looking in its odd eyes. "I'll do what I can, Taro... I'll at least try and give you a home, okay?" Remembering Kaede's headband, she tucks it into her bag, not knowing how much of Kaede's scent it would still bear after that thunderous discharge.

Amon raises an eyebrow as Jun finishes her explanations of her team and her dog. "I don't get animals... never mind that though. I don't think this mission is happening and if it is, it won't be here. Houshi, let's go get Yousuke. Whether we're leaving or continuing or mission, we've wasted too much time dealing with this team's drama - at least within unfriendly territory." Her tone is still fairly officious and detached again, until she presses her face a little close to the cat's. "I'm Amon, by the way," she tells it. I can't remember - who in my family was allergic to cats again? Crap, it might be me for all I recall.... I think of the oddest things when I'm trying to distract myself from my stress.

[zeone3000]

Houshi huffs, crossing his arms, "He'll come back when he's good and ready." Maybe he came full circle in his anger but he sees something very clearly. Their presence wasn't going to help his situation.

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon and Houshi

The cat looks at Amon with its blood-red eyes. Its eyes don't narrow or blink like those of a humans, and it makes no effort to look away. After a few moments it wiggles around in Amon's arms, and bats at the sky-nin's face with its paws.

"Mrrrmeow."

Jun snorts as she tries to choke back a laugh. "He says it's an honor to be served by one such as you. You may call him Lord Taro. I think he's just being funny, but you never really know with cats."

"Mrr. Meow. Meow!"

Jun giggles a little as the cat carries on. She translates with a smirk on her face. "He says that you are now his vassal, and are afforded all the protection that comes with being a servant of the Taro family. You may even name your firstborn after him." Jun puts her hands on her hips, and just smiles at the cat. "Cats are crazy."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon raises an eyebrow at the cat's 'speech'. "You're intelligent after all then?" she asks. "It would be an honour to serve, I guess, but you've caught me at a bad time, Taro. I'm not in the best of moods to amuse you." Despite her words to the contrary, she softly rubs his belly as she recalls a friends cat seemed to like once. When Jun remarks that cats are crazy, a non-traumatised part of Amon's soul calls out 'this coming from the girl who thinks she can actually talk to cats'.

"Think of it as a fox-chicken river crossing puzzle, Houshi. Accepting the premise that having less than 3 members is dangerous here, and less than 2 especially, as we have a group of FOUR, it is up to us to go to him. He probably can't return with Uchiha, and may not return with the girl, leaving him vulnerable as he possibly could be; thus for his own protection, WE must take the initiative to go to him as a group. Come, it would be pointless if I left you, Houshi." Amon's talk of strategy does seem to bring her a little more into her element, her pace a litle more sure despite the big ugly bruise Houshi can see he left on her whenever a broad step of hers lifts her skirt enough to show her shins. Amon indicates all of the parties to follow as she starts following the path Yousuke. Wiggling Kaede's headband inside her bag, she invites the cat to sit within it to keep her hands free in case of a fight, but otherwise carries the cat carefully as she follows Yousuke. She doesn't actually leave the clearing until Houshi comes however

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke refuses the handkerchief with a wave of his hand, "Keep it. You need it more than I do, obviously." However, he remains seated through the exchange. "No can do. As I've said, I can't leave a crying girl on her own." Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he speaks to her in a tone that he hopes adequately reflects the gravity of the situation, "Now, you can either tolerate my presence as I sit beside you in companionable silence or you can go after your teammate yourself and ensure that he does not do something that he regrets. I can tell that the both of you care for each other greatly."

[ZeroNumerous]

Amon and Houshi

Taro doesn't allow Amon to scratch his belly, and growls when her hand gets close. Jun doesn't need to translate that he's not happy being touched there. When Amon tries to coerce it into the bag the cat doesn't comply. Taro just looks at the bag, then looks at Amon, and finally bats its paw at Amon's hand. Its Sharingan gazes deeply into the sky-nin's eyes, almost as if it were trying to communicate with its eyes. When that fails, the cat resorts to using its mouth. "Mrrreow." It half-growls in an indignant tone. The cat looks to Jun, then rubs its face with its paws.

Jun shrugs. "He says he won't ride in a bag. He'll allow you to carry him, or he'll walk." Jun looks to Houki, then nods her head toward the two sky-nin. "Come on Houki. We gotta keep them safe." The dog grumbles loudly, and Jun just smiles. "No, we'll have to deal with them a little while longer." The dog grumbles once more, and Jun shakes her head. "Sorry Houki, but you'll have to hold it. Just a little while longer, okay?"

The leaf-nin and her dog follow Amon and Houshi to wherever.

Yousuke

The leaf nin just lets her arm drop then. She shrugs off Yousuke's touch, and stands up. The Hyuuga brushes herself off, closes her eyes, then pops them open just as the veins bulge out around her face. The unsightly appearance marks the use of her bloodline, and the young girl glances around with just the movement of her eyes. "Your friends are coming. There's six Garou five-hundred and fifty feet northwest--two girls, four boys, no adults. Sanagi-sensei is twelve-hundred feet north-by-northwest and moving quickly. Koji's just a hundred feet north of us." She slowly closes her eyes, and the veins around her face quickly go back to normal. The Hyuuga girl looks down at Yousuke.

"I also found where the Garou had moved to. Koji's not in any danger. Lets go." She speaks in a cold tone, as if a switch had gone off inside her brain. She turns toward where the duo had come from, and sets herself on an intercept course with Jun and the sky-nin.

DM

After a few seconds of walking Amon, Houshi, Yousuke, and the two leaf-nin all meet up.

[Bad Situation]

Letting out a breath of relief, Yousuke lets his arm drop. Touching her on the shoulder had been weird enough. "Finally," he thinks as he stands up to follow. Leadership was one thing, combat on the other hand...

When they meet up with the other half of the team, Yousuke is in renewed spirits. Now that they were down to the brass tacks there was less room for any of the team's emotional to rear its ugly head.

[Princess Tracy]

"Sorry, Taro, just trying to help..." Amon mewls quietly as she goes. She sighs as she walks by Jun's side. I don't know how I'll look Cybele in the eye after this. Kaede died and I'm spending all this time accomplishing a MEANINGLESS mission with his murderer's accomplices. They've already started to act like he never existed, they're not even angry at us anymore - how DARE they. **** these guys. I'll be glad to be rid of them. Leaving Amon without anyone she likes to talk to for even a minute has disastrous outcomes as the premise of this situation comes undone in her head. Why am i even here, why shouldn't I just go home right now and tell Cybele everything, to do everything I can to find her quickly, to fulfill Kaede's last will. What kind of busybody scum am I to act like I care so much for this situation I'll subject myself to the whims of these soulless puppets. Why... because Yousuke wants to stay. Because Yousuke wants to complete the misison. Because I can't leave him here alone, nor can I Houshi. I have to get them both home safe, even if they endanger themselves and waste time of their own volition... if I can't talk them into going home while we still can, then I have to at least see this through WITH them. At least... at least this way I might do some good. If I can keep them on their feet, maybe I can do some good.

Amon nods to Yousuke as she sees him approach. You seem in a good mood, Yousuke, what happened? Did another Uchiha die? "...what now...?"

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The Hyuuga girl looks at Amon and Jun when the trio of ninja approaches. She doesn't look at or acknowledge the presence of Houshi. The girl dries her eyes with the sleeve of her baggy jacket, and then steels herself. "There are six Garou several hundred feet northwest of here. They're moving west toward a Garou encampment. We're going to intercept them, eliminate them, then infiltrate the encampment. There were thirteen Garou in the camp, plus one prisoner."

The girl kneels down and draws a square in the dirt. She marks the positions of the thirteen Garou with Xs, and the prisoner with a circle. The Hyuuga girl looks to Amon. "You, me, and the giant guy will draw the Garou out and keep them busy." She then looks to Yousuke and Jun in turn. "Yousuke, Jun. You two will need to exfiltrate the prisoner. He's unconscious, so Houki will need to carry him." Mako stands up dusts her hands off, then turns to the northwest. "We need to move quickly, because if the enemy reaches that camp then they might move the prisoner."

Mako doesn't wait for a confirmation from anyone else and starts walking. Jun shrugs, then motions for Houki to follow her as she starts following Mako.

[Princess Tracy]

"If I might provide tactical data..." Amon suggests dryly as she follows, catching up to Mako's side as she runs. "At the risk of revealing a hijutsu, I know a good technique for infiltration. It will require that we have at least one of them alive, but it is completely foolproof against even the most powerful detecting techniques once it is in effect. If that makes no change to your plans, then..." Amon didn't want to let her decide the pace of this mission. She had no intention to take orders so easily - she had a lot of pent up sadness and rage, and in the case of rage, if she could vent nonharmfully in short bursts of rebellion, she would

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Mako shakes her head. "I've already seen the whole camp. I'll check it again when we get there, but unless something drastic happens then I don't see a need to infiltrate. We have a clear goal, and need to operate with the intentions of achieving that goal."

[Princess Tracy]

"Oh do tell," Amon asks, simultaneously condescending yet genuinely interested. "WHAT is our goal? I seem to have trouble remembering what I cared about at the start of the day for some reason." It wasn't a lie either. She was too emotionally drained to remember why this mission was important. She would do it, but she had no emotional framework to understand WHY anymore. "If we are to have a united front going, then let's be on the same page."

"...what sort of prisoner?" she asks suddenly, her voice softening a bit as she weighs her options, remembering the Red Eyes

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke nods and moves along beside Jun, with an eye out for trouble. The success of their mission was now a feasibility and Mako's decision to split the team would keep him far away from both Amon and Houshi. Win-win, in his book. "It seems that I am now in your care, Jun-san."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Mako just glares at Amon. "Did you forget that you asked us to help with your mission? Either follow my lead or go your own way, but don't give me grief over this right now." Mako just shrugs when questioned about the prisoner. "I don't know. Some kid. Looks like he's wearing a peasant's yukata."

Jun looks at Mako, then back to Yousuke. She nods to the young sky-nin and remarks in a casual manner. "Glad to have ya."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon meets Mako's glare with that practised apathy she'd only seen Alice wear before, currently now feeling it, even if her words didn't reflect as much. "Don't give me that look. I'll tear the eyes from your skull if you give me that look." There's no real threat or intent in her voice beyond 'don't look at me like I'm the scum', yet the melodramatic threat seemed right coming out in her monotone. "I wouldn't mind switching with Yousuke. He's too superior a fighter to be stuck with what seems like the least demanding position. Unless this one can't defend herself in a fight, of course," she indicates to Jun, "in which case I will accept the distraction duty." Amon looks down at the cat in her arms, clearly worried about what to do with it.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Mako doesn't flinch from Amon's threat. "Shut the **** up, or I will break you." Unlike Amon's own threat Mako's carries all the weight of someone willing to carry it out. Her hard eyes say tell anyone looking that the Hyuuga girl was clearly on edge, and another stupid remark from Amon wouldn't be tolerated. "If you don't wanna be useful, then stay here and stay out of the way. Otherwise, fall in line and shut up about your problems." She doesn't even wait for a response from Amon, and just walks away.

[Bad Situation]

"...just go back home, Yamana-san." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Yousuke grumbles and tries to calm himself, "If you insist on being uncooperative just leave now before you get someone killed," and fails.

"You have been nothing but trouble this entire mission. You may cite to your tragic life or previous team's failures as justifications for your anger but please note, that nobody cares. Life is tragic, you cannot hold your own losses on a pedestal because you believe them more pertinent than the losses others face daily. Your personal feelings aside, there is a civilian in danger and your squabbling reflects just how unprepared you are for this lifestyle. I have tried to be patient. I have tried to be reasonable, but against your fatheadedness I have had enough. These leaf nin treat you as enemies because you have designed them as such, not because they are out to push you around. They are not strong. You are weak. On our previous mission, Cybele herself taught us to better our notions of revenge. I said it that day and I will say it again: You have obviously learned nothing from her lesson. If you are too bitter over the loss of an ally to see a mission to its completion then leave. Now. You will find no sympathy in me, not when I have given you more than enough opportunities to reaffirm yourself."

Finished with his explosive rant, Yousuke turns away in a huff and continues to stand by for more orders.

[Princess Tracy]

"You can't walk away from me - you chose me on your division, right?" Amon is unfazed by her threat - honestly, being hurt sounded appealing right now. It would bump loose her thoughts a bit and give her an excuse to hurt the other girl in turn; if they werent' so close to actually threatening enemies, she would go for it, but for now, her tone testifies to the effect of 'let's just get our heads down and get this over with'. She makes to say something to the effect of 'Courtesy on the battlefield is based on the idea that if they offended party were to die, you would feel some shame over poorly choosing the last words they ever heard.'

At Yousuke's explosion though, she stops in her tracks. At the first sentence, she pulls her bandanna over her eyes to cover them, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide her thoughts from even Yousuke. She mumbles throught and afterward. "Yousuke, I know that... I was going to save the kid, Yousuke, I... I... it wasn't supposed to be this way, I didn't mean to... I don't understand...How can you feel nothing... I need to redeem...I can't leave you here, I have to protect...Yousuke, I...This isn't vengeance, this is...that was.. I....I didn't mean to trouble you so much, I...It wasn't about my loss, it was about...I can't do this sort of thing so..."

As Yousuke turns in a huff, Amon falls silent for a moment. She grunts, seemingly in pain, and if he turns he'll find her clutching her headband, now removed from her head as she looks at the plate, trying to fathom it's meaning; from the scratched in her skin and strained pinky, one could be forgiven for thinking she was attempting to crush the steel with her bear hands with how strongly she was gripping it. Once Yousuke acknowledges her, she tosses the bandanna into his hands as she removes Shanghai from her bag, animating it, a creepy little girl doll beaming at everything with lifelike eyes. "Can you hold onto that for me, Konpaku? Someone may want it eventually..." she requests of him. Her face is no longer neutral, but not sad or angry either. Perhaps more... understanding, yet just a little disappointed. "I never wanted pity," she says honesly, sighing as she walks, the girl in her hand as the chakra threads animate the doll. "I just couldn't help feeling the way I did. I'll make do though. Sorry for bothering you." She tries to smile, but it comes across as more than a little for show. And no matter how much she dabs and dries her face, her eyes remain potently bloodshot; a symbol her wounds were still fresh

Amon finally falls in line, Shanghai in tow as she tends to Mako's plan, going with the 'big guy' and their de facto leader, "Come, Houshi." She smiles plastically. "Let us save someone, at least. Try and end on a high note."

Spoiler

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Tap for 2 reserve.
use the full SIX chakra for Shanghai, health (6d8+8)[36] HP
Equipped shield and spear

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Mako shakes her head at Amon and just keeps moving. After a few moments she stops, closes her eyes, then activates her Byakugan. She gazes forward, and motions for Yousuke and Jun to head west. "Don't wait for my signal", Mako whispers to the two breaking off from the group, "just act when you see an opening."

Amon and Houshi

The leaf-nin motions for Houshi and Amon to follow her north. "Remember, we just need to keep them busy."

It takes a few seconds, but the three of you arrive at the outer edge of a clearing. Inside the clearing stand six Garou, three girls and three boys, who seem to be talking to one another around a fire. Some kind of unidentified meat is stuck onto sticks and hung over the fire. Whether Amon or Mako had been successful or not in hiding themselves Houshi reveals their location by just being Houshi. The two boys with bows look toward Houshi's location. They immediately shout and reach for their weapons.

Mako grumbles. "Don't get yourselves killed."

Yousuke and Jun

The two genin and a large dog split off from the main group. The four of them slowly make their way toward the west, but are interrupted by a shout from the north. Jun looks to Yousuke and whispers. "I suppose the others made contact with the enemy. We should hurry up."

Spoiler

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Legend
Green: Grass
Dark Green: Trees, 150ft high, block Line of Sight and Line of Effect. You can hide when within 5ft of one.
Dark Red: Houshi
Blue: Amon
Dark Gray: Yousuke
Pink: Mako
Brown: Jun
Purple: Houki
Yellow: Bad guys. N - Ninjutsu-user; B - Bow-user; S- Sword-user.
White: Prisoner.

Initiative Order:
Mako- 27
Yousuke- 20
Garou- 16
Amon- 14
Jun- 5
Houshi- 2

Leaf-nin initiative: Mako- (1d20+7)[27]; Jun- (1d20+2)[5]
Garou initiative: (1d20+1)[16]

Amon can attempt to hide before the start of the fight, but she'll need to beat a Spot of 22 in order to be actually be hidden.

Yousuke, Houki, and Jun need hide/move silently checks. Jun takes 10 to get 15 in both. Houki takes 10 to get 15 in both as well.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke deftly catches the headband and ties it firmly around his bicep, "And until that day comes, I will serve bear myself with the pride of two Sora-nin."

---
After they split up, Yousuke dons his new cloak and nods in the affirmative when Jun relays her message. Holding low to the ground, Yousuke stalks in closer, using the trees as cover for his advance.

Spoiler

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Move Action:
Take 10 on Move Silently and Hide, taking a -5 penalty for moving past half speed for a result of 23. Head 80ft westward.

[ZeroNumerous]

Mako

Mako assumes a strange stance that Houshi identifies as the Hyuuga Style of Gentle Fist. But it's not the same as normal. Her knees are bent too low, her hands are turned inward, and she doesn't seem to be using the standard two-finger touch of Gentle Fist. The girl's body tenses as she releases the restraints on her muscles. She dashes forward, as if to draw attention to herself, and stops near the northern group of enemies. She goes straight after the nearest bow user with a flurry of strikes, but he proves competent at evading her attacks.

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Actions:
Free Action - Release Speed and Strength Rank 2
Swift Action - Assume Gentle Fist - Second Stance
Move Action - Move 40ft to be within striking distance of B1.
Attack Action - Perform a Gentle Fist strike vs B1.
Attack Roll: (1d20+11)[14] Touch Attack vs B1 [Whiff]
Damage Roll: (1d8+4)[10]

DM

The Garou react to Mako's attack immediately. The bowman she attacked as well as the ninjutsu users fall back, while their sword wielding friends move to attack her. The first one swings, and Mako reacts immediately. Her body becomes a blur as she moves deeper into to the Garou formation. One of the ninjutsu users begins going through hand seals, while the other does a series of hand-seals much faster and breathes out a flaming dragon at Mako. The fire dragon explodes, but the leaf-nin avoids the majority of the flames. She's still a bit singed, but alive. Both bow-wielding Garou shoot arrows at the Hyuuga girl, and she deftly knocks both arrows out of the air with her hands. Mako immediately counter attacks the nearest bowman, and he's unable to properly defend himself.

Spoiler

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Using invisible castle for rolls so I don't have to post more than once. Mako decides she's going to avoid the first attack and try to get close to the ninjutsu users.

S2 attacks Mako. He sets his Dodge target as Mako.
Attack roll: 8+8=16 vs Defense 25. Misses.
Mako's Shundou Check. 25 beats the minimum of 17, so she moves 15ft toward the bowmen.

N1 lacks a targeted ninjutsu, and doesn't wanna hurt her allies so she readies an action. N2 has a targeted ninjutsu, and uses Elemental Beatdown Rank 2 on Mako. She spends 3 chakra to use it, and 3 more to empower it to 6d6.

Mako Ref Save: (1d20+8)[21] vs DC 16. If she succeeds she takes half damage.
Damage: (6d6)[22] Fire. Mako succeeds and takes 11 damage.

Both bow users fire arrows at Mako. Mako does not attempt to Shundou:
B1
Attack: (1d20+7)[13] vs Defense 25 [Whiff]
Damage: (1d10+1)[7]
B2
Attack: (1d20+7)[20] vs Defense 25 [Whiff]
Damage: (1d10+1)[2]

S1 readies an action. He sets his Dodge target as Mako.

Damage Dealt:
B1- 31. -5 HP.
B2- 0
N1- 0
N2- 0
S1- 0
S2- 10

Map:

Legend: same as before
Initiative Order:
Mako
Yousuke
Garou
Amon
Jun
Houshi

[Princess Tracy]

Amon doesn't know what to make of it as Yousuke carries her headband like that. "Pride...? You just reminded me why i deserve none..."

---

Amon, for a lark (and to draw fire from Houshi's bullseye of a face)thinks to ask loudly if anyone there had seen Ueki Tsume but is interrupted as Mako charged forth. She pays the skirmish no heed, sighing as she nudges Shanghai playfully forward. She hadn't gotten to use Shanghai like she wanted. She had a cool reveal planned - Shanghai was going to be a symbol of her growth. Instead at that moment, she felt meaningless again.

Shanghai runs forward faster than such a dress or set of legs would allow on what looked like a toddler, Amon guiding her disinterestedly with one hand (the other clutching Taro) as the girl's poison-tipped spear seeks the tricky looking ninjutsu specialists.

Spoiler

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Shanghai charges to one space south of B1, leaving it northeast of N2
Charge Attack on N1
Attack (1d20+10)[23]
Damage (1d6+2)[3]
In addition, if struck for damage, must succeed at DC 16 Fortitude save or fall unconscious for (1d3)[3] hours

Spoiler

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Shanghai Defence 17 (10+2 shield+3 class+3 dex +1 size -2 sharging)
Shanghai Chakra 6/6
Shanghai HP 36/36

Amon Defence 17
Amon HP 32/32
Chakra Pool 8, Reserve 10

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Shanghai's charge draws the attention of the ninja girl, who attempts to stop her by rapidly finishing her technique and clapping her hands together. Shanghai's assaulted by a blast of wind, but the gust of slicing winds also catches two of the Garou's allies. Shanghai's hit by the wind, but carries on and stabs the girl. The girl succumbs to the poison immediately, and passes out.

One of the Garou falls to the ground as he's sliced up by his allies' wind attack.

Spoiler

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N1's readied action of "If I am attacked" goes off, and she blasts Shanghai with Elemental Beatdown: Rank One. She empowers the technique by 4 chakra(expending 6 total) to deal 6d6(20) wind damage.

S2 and B1 are caught in the cone, and need Ref saves:
S2: (1d20+4)[24] Succeeds. He does not have Evasion, and thus takes 10 damage.
B1: (1d20+5)[7] Fails. He takes 20 damage for a total of 31, and is dropped to -5.

She's hit by Shanghai, fails her Fort save, and falls unconscious.

[zeone3000]

Houshi grunts, "I haven't yet and don't plan to anytime soon." He charges right behind Amon's puppet, going for the other ninjutsu user.

Spoiler

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Hit Points: 38/38
Chakra Pool: 28/30
Chakra Reserve: 8/8
Armour Class: 17 (19)

Free: Unsuppress Speed and Strength
Full: Charge 70' West, (putting me SE of N2) attack N2

Attack: (1d20+12)[19]
Damage: (3d8+14)[22]

[ZeroNumerous]

Houshi

Houshi's swing hits, and the Garou member is knocked back. She survives, but is clearly not happy about being hit.

Jun

Jun and Houki watch Yousuke dash ahead, and they look around to make sure there aren't any enemies nearby before dashing after him.

Mako

Mako launches a barrage of hits at the only bow-using Garou able to fight. Her fists lash out like snakes biting their prey, then withdraw into a defensive stance almost immediately. She hits the Garou bowman once, but misses with her other two attacks. The leaf-nin moves back in order to prevent the sword-using Garou from moving past her and hitting Houshi or Shanghai from behind.

DM

The sword-using Garou move in to pincer Mako, and lash out with their blades. They unleash a pair of coordinated swings hoping to get through Mako's impressive defense. But the leaf-nin meets their blades with the palms of her hands as she bats their attacks away like the annoying flies they were.

The bow-using Garou left on the field uses a powerful Bow Technique on Houshi, and then withdraws. He dashes through the woods, breaks past the treeline, and shouts in Lightning dialect. Amon, Houshi, and Mako do not recognize it, but the leaf-nin shouts toward the sky-nin anyway. "Seems like there will be more coming! Probably around 5 or 6! We might need to withdraw."

The Garou ninjutsu girl attempts to move through Shanghai and Houshi. She's clearly got a dangerous plan. Houshi misses, but Shanghai comes through and stabs the girl straight in the stomach. She falls over, and starts to bleed out.

Spoiler

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Legend: Same as before +
Light Brown: Damaged ground.
Dark Blue: Shanghai

Initiative:
Mako
Yousuke
Garou
Amon
Jun
Houshi

Mako uses Renzuki on B2, making three Jyuuken attacks. She takes a -3 penalty for using Renzuki, and gets a +1 bonus from Speed ranks.

Attack Roll: (1d20+9)[14] - [Whiff]
Damage Roll: (1d8+4)[5]

Attack Roll: (1d20+9)[23] - [Hit]
Damage Roll: (1d8+4)[8]

Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[17] - [Whiff]
Damage Roll: (1d8+4)[5]

---

S1 and S2 move to flank Mako. S2 five-foot steps south. S1 moves five feet west, then five feet southwest. Neither provokes an AoO from Mako.

S1
Attack Roll: (1d20+10)[22] vs Defense 25 - [Whiff]
Damage Roll: (1d10+3)[6]
S2
Attack Roll: (1d20+10)[11] vs Defense 25 - [Whiff]
Damage Roll: (1d10+3)[8]

B2, should survive Mako's attacks, so he'll use Bow Art: Spiral Shot on Houshi as he's the only one not tied up in melee with one of B2's allies. B2 gets +1 to hit and damage due to Point Blank Shot.

B2 spends 3 chakra to use Bow Art: Spiral Shot, then spends another 3 to empower it to 4d6.
Attack Roll: (1d20+8)[28] vs Houshi's Defense of 20(19 + 1 from Speed) - [Hit]
Damage Roll: (1d10+1)[8] + (4d6)[22]

B2 then moves 30ft west. He shouts for help.

B3, B4, and B5 move 30ft east. They'll join battle in 3 rounds.
N5, N6, and N7 move 30ft toward the battle. They'll join battle in 4 rounds.
S5 and S7 move 30ft toward the battle. They'll join battle in 4 rounds as well.
S4, N3 and N4 move to guard the prisoner.

N2 attempts to move away from Houshi, which provokes an AoO from him. She also attempts to move away from Shanghai, which provokes an AoO from her. Both are made against Defense 19.

Houshi auto-whiffs with a 1. Shanghai hits with 19 dead on, and deals 6 damage, which is 1 point more than her 27 HP.

If she survives, then she moves 20ft north and uses Elemental Beatdown: Rank One. She blows all her remaining chakra on it(6) to use and empower it to 6d6. It hits Mako, Shanghai, Houshi, and S2. They all take (6d6)[23] Fire damage, with a DC 15 Reflex Save for half(or none with Evasion).

Mako: (1d20+10)[19]. I didn't count her Speed Rank 2 bonus(+2) last time. She has +6 base, gets +1 from DEX, +1 from Byakugan, and +2 from Speed Rank 2 for a total of +10. EDIT: She saves for half.

S2: (1d20+4)[17]. EDIT: Surprisingly saves for half.

Damage Dealt:
B1- 32. -6 HP. Bleeds out for 1 damage.
B2- 8.
N1- 3 - Unconscious
N2- 20 + ?
S1- 0
S2- 10.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's eyes widen as and arrow seems to tear Houshi in two with a single strike. She grits her teeth, watching as he falls, seemingly lifeless, the batle still going on around him. Did that arrow strike his HEART!? She can barely see him breathe - alive but barely. Before she can breathe a sigh of relief, the one Houshi had struck dashes around, making to finish him off clearly, but is a little too cocky. She tugs Shanghai's strings, making the little puppet smile wickedly as it jabs its spear right through the cocky interloper, dropping them before they can finish off Houshi. At least the areas blasters were out for the count at the moment.

Spoiler

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AoO - does 6 damage, they are OUT of this fight and Houshi lives.

I just realised it's still my turn. More moves to follow

[Princess Tracy]

Amon takes a deep breath. Focus, Amon, don't let it get to you. One wrong move here will mean the end of Houshi. Keep it together for just a little bit and everyone will get to go home alive. She does her best to not think of Kaede. She sets down Taro as she gathers her bag. "Be patient, Taro. Stay put so you don't get hurt, okay?" she asks softly.

Turning to Mako, she shouts but not angrily, more like a commander. Somehow... she felt in control here, even as the world twisted in chaos around her, even as her team mate fell. For a split moment there was some hope there. She could do this. "White-eyes, quickly finish these two! There'll be bowmen in the trees next if their strategies hold true so be ready to engage them - I'll have just enough time to patch Houshi up with luck but we can't wait for another wave to come and go!"

Shanghai deflty steps around, using the superior reach of her spear to keep herself out of the threat range of the swordsmen before moving in and striking, flanking with the Hyuuga. In a quick swirl as she goes, she switches her spear for her sword, dripping this time with something a little more lethally potent. She goes in fast and low for the Garou's legs.

Spoiler

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Shanghai uses her complete movement to circle around 10 feet east of S2 before moving in for the remaining 5 feet, putting her adjacent and to the east of S2, drawing her sword in place of her spear as she goes.

With Amon's plan and Mako's flank

Attack (1d20+11)[28]
Damage (1d6+2)[6]
In addition, on a hit, must make save against Hachidoku (Fort DC 18) or take initial damage (2d8)[6]

Status

Shanghai
Defence 19
HP 26/36
Chakra 6/6
Animated for 2/17 rounds

Amon
HP 32
CP 8/22
Reserve 10/16