Team Cybele: The Hare and the Snake

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke's eyes dart toward the northwest and tightens his grip on the katana. "Surrender or die in obscurity!"

"My ears have alerted me to your presence, you may cease with your deception."

If the ninja had been able to create a bunshin, she was still capable of fighting. Their surprise attack had failed and they were now in the open, with some of their resources wasted on a shadow clone.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Yousuke's shouts get as much of a response as Amon's. Meiling makes no appearance, and neither do the crickets or animals normal to this area of the woods.

[Princess Tracy]

"Yousuke, there's too many trees around here. Could you do something about that?"

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke looks at Amon as if she were crazy. "And what, pray tell, do you expect me to do about them? I am a swordsman, not a feller of trees."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon shrugs. "I have few techniques of mass destruction I could safely use with this affliction, so it falls to you to attempt something - or Shoin, I suppose. Whatever you do, do it fast before she swoops down on us or slip away. Otherwise, we had best withdraw while we can."

[Princess Tracy]

"How far away did you hear the noise?" Amon asks Yousuke.

Spoiler

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Move Action
Moves 30 feet north

"Caution, this is a focus-less physical clone technique. Her clones may be weaker than the real deal, but producing a large number may not task much of her. I theorise the ability may be physically taxing in some way, but we cannot make any assumptions." Amon focuses, hoping to catch the woman. If she was that powerful, perhaps she left some sort of trail or at least her flashy techniques would require her to drop her wards against detection. She hardly seems like that subtle of a woman

Spoiler

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Attack Action
Activate Sense Chakra and concentrae on the area Yousuke heard teh sound from in particular.

"Take a smoke bomb out of my bag if you don't have one. Prepare to throw it at the ground as hard as you can if we're attacked; we;ll draw more use from it than she will, trust me - I paid attention to your abilities."

A horrifying thought occurs. We're not that far from Cybele. Did she go back to finish her off while we were distracted by her clone? "If we can't find her within 10 seconds, this fight will do more turn against us; we will have to cut our losses and run back the way we came, is this understood?" Nah, impossible - why would we pose such a threat to her that us drawing within eyesight would prevent her from simply finishing her off with a single hit? Still though, it doesn't change our immense disadvantage - my strategy of withdrawal still stands.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Amon detects a trail of energy leading north-by-northwest. Wind and heat mix together to create a rainbow trail leading back to the Fire Country. The energy signature left in the wake of the originator's departure seems to be of very little strength, and if not for its colorful nature it'd be nearly impossible to pick out from the background.

Spoiler

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Amon detects a Faint chakra signature leading away from the group.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon points North-Northwest as soon as the presence becomes apparent to her. "There's a trail of faint chakra going that way. I imagine it is our quarry. Gentlemen, your move?"

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke sheathes his sword in response to Amon's question and stares at her impassively. "She was clearly expecting us, as evidenced by the shadow clone. We have forced her retreat and our teacher yet lives. I have no desire to lead the team into a trap lest our 'quarry' become our bait."

Turning to leave the clearing, he adds, "Yusa is slain, the mission is compromised, and our jonin sensei is lying in a pool of her own blood. I would rather return to the village with my team intact, over some fleeting glory of having chased after a missing nin." There was no honor in death, least of all when there were other lives on the line. The further they followed the leaf nin into the woods, the further they would be distancing themselves from Cybele.

[zeone3000]

Houshi sheathes his blade in kind, "I agree. We've done what we could. Time to go home." He followed behind Yousuke with uneasy feeling. He had that deep feeling in his gut that it was far from over.

[Princess Tracy]

"Surprisingly tactically sound. We'll make an intellectual out of you yet." Amon doesn't drop her stance. "Although, with this rain, it might be challenging for even the more experienced ninja to track her after tonight. But there's little we can do; my planning was clearly for not. Although, you seemed fairly certain you heard her. If her body appears as her clones does, she may never be weaker than she is right now, and may not be that far from here. There may still be a lead though. This sort of operation - I suspect there is a ninja among our own ranks who cooperated or who is among them. We shall return to give a full report and trust our elders to make best use of our testimony."

Amon begins pacing back a bit, not turning from the direction she'd sensed the chakra. "If you understand the consequences of backing away now, then come and stay close."

"A thought occurs though. She must have performed hand seals to use such a powerful technique, yet her arm was turned to stone. How would she perform the technique then? Is it possible only her clone was hit by the technique? Or perhaps... the affliction progresses itself over time. If she is unable to use further techniques, that may have just been her final guard she had in place to alert her to Cybele. Yes, if it was meant to fool Cybele, she would have made the clone as Cybele would expect her to be - in other words, Cybele expected her technique to turn that body part to stone and for her to be left in that state. And what that means for her current state is..." Amon cuts off, merely smirking. "But then, as long as you understand the responsibility of retreat."

Seeing her group unanimous, Amon will return to Cybele's side to prepare her for transport, including washing the blood off and cleaning and covering her wounds. As they pull out, she tries to keep her back to her allies to cover all angles, constantly using Sense Chakra to make sure they are alone (within her limit). She draws a smoke bomb, readying it just in case.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The trio of sky-nin plus Shoin head back to pick up Cybele, Hinami's headband, and then head back to town. Light streams down as the thunderclouds break up. Like most summer showers the rain disappears shortly after it had begun, and soon the four genin are traveling under the warm sky with the soft scent of a fresh rain drifting through the air. When the group arrives at town they're greeted by the little girl whose home Sojuro had suborned. She explains that he had left awhile ago, and that she had a note to deliver from him. She hands the note over to whomever offers to take it, then provides a small lunch for the four of you. She waves goodbye before scampering back home.

Sojuro's note reads: We left early. I was worried, but I couldn't risk her life. I hope you're okay. We're going home. The enemy probably expects us to return to Soragakure, and I'm hoping to throw them off. Good luck, and thank you for your help.

Shoin turns to the group, and bows. "Thank you for the help, but we part ways here. I have to make sure they're okay. Take care of yourselves, and try not to die."

Shoin waves goodbye as he heads away from Soragakure and toward the Wind Country in the far west. He's obviously heading toward Sunagakure, and doesn't turn back.

---

Amon

About four hours into the trip Amon feels an intense pain curling around her heart. Whatever was inside her chakra pathways thrashes about. Sharp stabbing pain shoots through Amon's core as the creature's death throes seem poised to rip Amon's body apart. Then it's gone, and the pain subsides. A sick feeling wells up from the pit of Amon's stomach, and the genin feels the imminent and pressing urge to vomit. Whether she fights it or not, the genin empties her stomach. Alongside whatever Amon's bile and partially processed food lies a small black ink-like snake, which breaks apart like smoke once exposed to the open air. It's body breaks apart and the creature is gone soon. Nothing but Amon's vomit is left behind when it disappears.

Spoiler

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Amon loses her bonus reserve chakra and takes (3d6)[9] chakra damage. She's no longer suffering from whatever was inside her.

---

The Trip

All three of you, plus the unconscious Cybele, stop to rest about thirty minutes away from Soragakure four hours after Amon throws up whatever it was she'd contracted from her jounin. The jounin in question stirs as your group stops, and soon rouses herself to full awareness. Her clothes still barely fit her much tinier frame. The young athletic teenager wearing your teacher's face couldn't possibly be older than Amon, but she carries herself in the same distant and somber tone as Cybele. Her glasses are missing, but strangely her eyes are a deep shade of blue rather than their normal crystalline purple. In fact, if you didn't know it was Cybele then you'd likely guess the girl in front of you was Sune. At first she seems rather confused about where she is, but then her training takes over and she speaks plainly.

"Where's Hinami? Did Suzunabu escape? Where are we?"

[Princess Tracy]

Upon retrieving the headband, Amon can't help herself; she tends to the women in the cave and insists her teammates carry them back to town. Dropping the wounded women off at the first house that would have them, she doesn't await recognition and goes about her business. She feels embarassed accepting a lunch, but does so anyway as she waves good bye to Shoin. Good idea that kid had though... perhaps we should head for that village too? No, I hardly know the way, and splitting up would be the most effective way to get the information to our respective villages - at least one group will make it.

---

Amon holds a poison capsule in her hands as they travel, pondering consuming it. It would deplete her chakra and potentially wreck the entities intentions towards her. Yet, if she was depleted, she wasn't sure she would be safe, not from the entity nor outside aggressors. That gambit was what she thought up when she wasn't sure if she would make it back to the hospital, after all. And so far the entity had been still, so maybe she would -

And then she puked her guts up. Wretching and crouching in a way that was itself sickening, she watches in a mixture of curiosity and horror as the dreaded 'entity' reveals itself and dissipates. Wiping her mouth on some bandages from her first aid kit, she spits out the last of it, feeling oddly better already, though empty. "Well, when you consider I thought I was going to die, that actually ended rather well, don't you think?" She laughs as she downs half her lunch on the spot to refill herself. "Tell you what, I'm kicking Cybele's ass as soon as she wakes up. Or at least learning a technique to make HER throw up, then I'll call it even. Although if I made it seem like she might die, she'd probably get all melodramatic about it and get herself killed anyway with her attitude."

---

As Cybele awakens, Amon doesn't seem to make good on her promise to beat her up, instead pushing the remaining half of her lunch box towards her. "Eat up, you'll need your strength. Doctor's orders."

She breathes deep, not speaking a peep until Cybele starts eating. "I have my own questions for you, but I'll wait until you're finished. We are a short ways away from returning to the village. Meiling escaped - we deemed that four genin trying to corner such a ninja even at her weakest might prove to be a fruitless endeavour, especially given we'd lost the element of surprise. Besides, she might well have committed suicide with a technique - to capture her alive as I wanted, one would have had to convince her she would make it out fine, which we couldn't in that position. Which brings me to my next answer..."

Amon considers a tirade detailing her deduction of Hinami's suicide, but spares her as she produces the headband, covered in a fair bit of the blood Hinami splurted from all angles; a particular stain reminds one of her eye in her last moments. Did she intend to capture her alive? She could have fooled me with that spike. "She didn't seem like she would consent to being anyone's prisoner."

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

A lithe hand goes out to refuse Amon's food offer. "Eating on soldier pills make me sick."

Cybele watches as Amon goes through the history of the last few hours. She nods at the group's decision to withdraw. "That was a good decision. Suzunabu is a taijutsu specialist. If she was backed into a corner then she might have killed one of you--or worse, all of you."

Hinami's headband gets a relieved sigh from Cybele. "She's dead. I was worried she wouldn't use any of her chakra."

[Princess Tracy]

"Soldier pills make EVERYONE sick, Cybele-sensei, that's kind of the idea," Amon remarks with a semblance of nurturing patience as she takes the lunch box away and pats her diminutive leader on the head like the child she now resembled, before proceeding with her explanations.

Use any of her chakra? Amon looks quite pondrous for a moment. "Then, she did have the same affliction as me. Tell me, Cybele-sensei. What... WAS that you put in me when I tried to heal you? It fed off of and altered my chakra, and moved around, wriggling, ew... It had me scared for a few hours there, until I ejected it in the most grotesque manner possible." She smiles evilly. "I'll be sure to get you back for that discomfort somehow. Is it related to why your age seems to have regressed? And is that a temporary thing, or...?"

If Cybele inspects herself, she'll find the scroll she handed to Amon before chasing after the two ninja buried in the folds of her clothes. Amon placed it back in her possession when she tended to her wounds. She mimicked the text of the rest of the scroll, using the 'Nanako' cipher to add a footnote 'if you want to die, do it when I'm not around to save you, sensei.'

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele both refuses to eat and to be touched, leaning back to prevent Amon from reaching her. Even when pressed she avoids being touched, and seems rather sensitive about the issue. She does answer the genin's question regardless of Amon's unintentional faux pas.

"Yes. I infected her intentionally, whereas you were infected accidentally. And I assure you that I have no choice in whether to infect someone or not." She brushes off a nearby stump, then sits down to explain.

"What you experienced is, well, a curse. In the ancient past, in the time before the Sage of the Six Paths changed the world, there existed living breathing gods. Deities of all the various kingdoms we call animal pacts today ruled the world--from dragons, to oni, to even snake gods. Well, a snake god kidnapped lots of humans to serve as servants." She pauses for a moment, readjusts herself on the seat, then continues.

"Then the Sage changed the world, and the servants rose up and killed their "god". But he cursed them in his death. That is the curse of my blood." She lets that sink in, then continues on. "Those born without the curse, such as yourself, inherit it via contact with my chakra, blood, or other fluids. It usually takes the form of the snake god, and consumes the afflicted person's chakra and reforms that chakra into a highly volatile form. If left alone, the volatile chakra is eventually expelled from their system through their mouth. If used, it doesn't leave the body and instead 'clogs' the chakra circulatory system, eventually causing a very painful aneurysm." Cybele lets that statement stand on its own, since she clearly assumed you found Hinami's body and likely the condition it was in. Clearly she had staked the former stone ninja and waited for her to kill herself by attempting to escape.

"As for my age: Well, I suppose I should tell you who I am. My name is Cybele of the Eurayle Clan. I am--was--an assassin. From the age of five my chakra, blood, and other fluids have been used to assassinate the Tsuchikage's enemies. I became a genin at the age of 6, a chuunin at the age of 7, and was inducted into the ANBU at age 8. This is my actual age. I'm now 14 years old. I use the aging technique as a cover, because ANBU are supposed to be indistinguishable to outsiders. I suppose I don't actually need it anymore, but six years of using it makes a hard habit to break."

Cybele lets the info dump she's just dropped on her genin settle, then asks another question:

"Any more questions?"

[zeone3000]

Houshi's jaw drops to the ground at the end, "Wha... You're only 14!?" Disbelief, shock and a few other emotions trigger as smoke pours out of ears. In otherwords, mind blown.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Cybele looks a bit surprised. "For now, but I'll be fifteen in a month."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke ***** his head in thought but after a moment of consideration, he nods. There were truly exceptional individuals in the world, and it wasn't too farfetched to imagine their jonin sensei as one of them. His own grandfather had accepted the mantle of clan head at the ripe age of 14, the same same could likely be said for Cybele. If he was being perfectly honest, it even gave him a little hope.

He sits by her side and pushes the lunchbox back at her. "Eat, sensei. Just because you can ignore the effects of starvation does not mean it is healthy for you to avoid eating entirely." He didn't quite understand Houshi's shock, but he attributed the amazement to the boy's likely civilian upbringing.

"A growing girl has to eat, after all," he says with a smirk.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The teenager raises her hand and refuses the food. But she does give Yousuke a darkly somber gaze at his comment. Whether because she resented being called a girl or not was up in the air. "It makes me sick to my stomach to eat. I'm more useful hungry than vomiting. Besides that, I've spent weeks on soldier pills before. A few days without eating is nothing."

[Princess Tracy]

Feeling a little rejected as Cybele backs away, she casually warns her "Careful now, you're utterly exhausted - no chakra left and we found you on the brink of death, best not to strain yourself by moving."

Cursed blood and snake gods. Quite the legacy she's carting around. So if I'd used that filthy chakra, I really would have died? "Believe me, Cybele, I didn't think you intentionally harmed me so badly over such a small thing. But my mind is quite petty, you see, so don't be surprised if I accidentally cause you some inconvenience." She gives a mischief-filled chuckle, full of a joy that offsets the horror of the previous evening's events. Even knowing Hinami may not have intended to die. A question rings out at the back of her mind - 'why did you leave Hinami in such a staet instead of finishing her if you intended her to die', but she doesn't say it out loud, likely out of fear of the answer. Such a wild girl, I'll be sure to tame her violence, somehow, she thinks, likely rather naively.

"It feels odd to call you sensei when you're my age. Actually, I'm turning 15 in a week, so I guess I'm older than you actually. You're lucky I never really bought too much into the idea of elder superiority, or else I'd be sitting here trying to make up a cute nickname." Cybee? No, not cute enough. Something based on her appearance? Hmm... I'l have to think it up before we get back to the village. In the meantime, I guess I'll call her.... "So Cybele-chan, do all ANBU have that sort of figure and hair? Merely changing your age isn't quite enough to blend into the crowd, after all. Especially not with THOSE." She indicates to imaginary space where Cybele's boobs once filled, looking a bit remorseful to see them gone. Amon clearly finds some joy in teasing Cybele; one can see her anxiety peel away as she starts to grasp the dimensions of Cybele. In her mind, at least, she doesn't picture a traitor being vulnerable to any degree of teasing - whether she reacts or not, merely being able to tease is enough to work some odd part of her psyche.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

The jounin blushes lightly, but speaks in a calm and straightforward manner. Clearly she feels that the conversation is more important than her embarrassment at her older body's shape. "They were a cover. The Tsuchikage required me to take that form when going after targets that..." She looks down, as if ashamed of what she's about to say next.

"...weren't interested in children. Since then I have used it out of rote."

Cybele runs a hand through her extremely long hair. The bouncy strands now only reach to her butt, and seems substantially shorter than her adult form's length. Cybele gives a flat, almost defensive, response to Amon's question aimed at her soft purple hair. "I won't talk about my hair."

[zeone3000]

The smoke finally dissipates as Houshi catches up with the conversation, "Would you two stop teasing her already? Haven't she been through enough today?"

Then turns to Cybele, "Okay, just promise us you'll eat this as soon as you can then?" He stretches his arms up to the sky, "I'm sore and I know I'm gonna be hungrier then a horse when the pill wares off. How long is that by the way? I need to be close to food when that happens."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke rolls his eyes and sighs at Houshi's posturing. For whatever reason the large genin seemed to fancy himself some kind of gentleman or another. It would have actually been quite endearing had the transition not been so jarring. "We are but half an hour away from Soragakure Houshi. You should know this by now." He shakes his head in exasperation as he walks away from the group to retrieve his bag and supplies.

"I have no further questions sensei but if you are now awake I think it is best that we return home as soon as possible," he says over his shoulder. It was not as if he wasn't curious of her origins, but it was simply not his place to ask. Despite what they had been through, she was his direct superior and older than him to boot.

"And your hair is very lovely sensei, do not worry about that," he admits blandly.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon is taken aback at Cybele's implications of being forced into seduction at her age. This girl can't even let me have my fun poking fun at her for her boobs. What kind of kage gives specific orders to... that's screwed up, seriously. Wait, so Hinami was serious when she said that about her kiss? She considers saving the questins of Hinami for later. She seems stimulated enough for now without getting into that woman. Although I'm not just dropping that inquiry - what a 14 year old could do to get such animosity is beyond me. I hope I don't have such a grudge-enemy that i just don't know about. But then, who would want to hurt little old me? Until today, I've never involved myself with such people.

Cybele's statement about her hair, that sliver of insecurity, knocks Amon from her thoughts again. Ooh, cataloguing that for later... "Aw, sensei, I like your hair. I just meant, most people don't have purple hair, so it kind of stands out." She pauses, thinking before giving a big smile. "And your'e the prettiest person of my age I know, sensei - just fine the way you are." She's left feeling a bit piggish for oogling Cybele in a way no doubt many others have done before.

Houshi's little outburst and request for food earns him a giggle from Amon. "Ah, Houshi. I haven't even begun to tease Cybele-chan yet. But there'll be time for that back in teh village. And if you're that hungry, you should have been paying atention enough when we were offered lunches. Here." She hands Houshi a full lunch box. "The girl at the inn gave them to us. I picked up yours. Now say please." She smiles evilly but gives him the lunch al the same.

At Yosuke's evaluation, she sighs, getting ready to agree. She would liek to get Cybele tucked up in a hospital bed, after all. And hand in her report. At the last statement though - a compliment. To a girl. BY YOUSUKE. "Hey, how come you never compliment my appearance, Yousu? Does Cybele-chan just have a special place in you heart?" She springs into action, looking him dead in the eye. "You do like girls, right?" she teases.

"Can you stand, Cybele-chan? Until we get you to the hospital? Houshi can still carry you fine," she says with a smile, just expecting Houshi to do as told. "I'l have more to ask you later. For now I don't want you to overexert yourself over our curiosity - excitement is the last thing you need. Bedrest, the first. You were knocked unconscious, so that solider pill should have worn off now."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke twitches with annoyance at the barrage of questions before calming himself with his breathing exercises. "First. Never call me Yousu again, if you at all value your remaining limbs" Was that a low blow? Probably, but he was on a roll, he couldn't just stop now. "Second. Your hair is drab and your choice in clothing is unappealing to my eye. Third...Actually there is no third. Never call me Yousu again and do something, anything, with your hair," he says in short clipped sentences, pointedly ignoring Amon's last question. As far as Yousuke was concerned, there were only two people in the world who he would tolerate nicknames from, and both of them were family.

Finally finished packing, Yousuke slings the bag over his shoulder and waits for the rest of his team to finish.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon takes Yousuke's rebuttal fairly on the nose, pursing her lips as if restraining any number of counter-barrage of insults. When he finishes however, she closes her eyes, smiles widely, mouth open and tilts her head to the side. At the fringe of her bandana, one can see a vein pulse on her head in clear rage. "Remaining limbs, eh?" she asks in a sing-song voice, a rage at that particular statement barely concealed behind her thin facade. Suddenly, she brings her unclothed and mechanical foot to bear - she lashes out with a sudden kick aimed straight at Yousuke's leg, looking to hit hard in the shin, dropping her ambivalent look for one of impotent fury. "Cut them off if you want, I'll find some way to beat the crap out of you!"

Spoiler

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Trip attempt! i think this is my bonus. (1d20+2)[10]
I wouldn't know, i never made a trip attempt with pre-Pathfinder rules. This is mostly just a slapstick thing anyway, so no harm done either way.

"Like you're one to criticise ANYONE's hair. Look at you - white hair at your age, is that a conscious decision or is there some affliction that makes it grow out like that?" she taunts, intent on matching his own aggression, since it seemed to be the only thing he understood. Driving her face fore-head first to almost collide with his, she refused to relent without her own brand of threat. "Next mission I'm adding hair dye to my first aid kit - first time you pass out, we'll see if we can't have you wake up with a more respectable and plausible hair colour, Yousu-chan!"

[zeone3000]

Houshi takes the box and sit next to Cybele, watching the heated exchange. He really didn't care what they did to each other. They forged their comradery through fire and pain, so this exchange was a given. Still, Yousuke had a tendency to take things way too far.

[ZeroNumerous]

Cybele

Houshi's young jounin looks like she wants to stop them, but seems to know that the attempt would be wasted. She turns toward the giant genin and smiles weakly. "This sort of thing is gonna be pretty common, huh?"

[zeone3000]

Houshi nods, finishes swallowing before speaking, "Yep. Might as well get use to it now."