Team Cybele: The Leaf and the Sand

[zeone3000]

Houshi does as he is asked and taste the soup. When he's asked to retrieve the soy sauce, he shrugs and turns to the fairy, "Lead the way."

[ZeroNumerous]

Houshi

The soup tastes a bit too salty compared to something Houshi's mom would cook. The little fairy salutes Houshi, then nods. "Y-Yes sir!" She turns and starts floating toward a small door at the far side of the dining hall. She tries to pull the door open, and struggles with it. She eventually gets it open, but things go much quicker if Houshi helps. The pantry is a very large room lined with several shelves of various dry foods, as well as many bottles. "It's uh, it's in there somewhere sir."

Spoiler

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Houshi needs a Prof(Chef) check or just a DC 10 Wisdom check to find the soy sauce.

Amon

Sune shakes her head. "I don't think anyone would understand them, even if she did leave notes." Sune shrugs. "Well, I suppose you're lucky it didn't reach your heart then."

When Amon talks about what she should have done Sune naturally has no response. Of course she doesn't make a remark, because she isn't Amon.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon makes towards the front door. "Damn. Well, maybe it'll come to me - you ever do that? Where you forget what you're doing until... never mind," Amon quits her ramblings, realising she was boring Sune. Still though, it was bugging her - maybe if I go back to crafting, I'll figure it out, retracing my steps and all that. It'll be a little too rude to do so while I'm in the company of another though, not to mention challenging. It's the difference between shutting your eyes in front of another person and falling asleep in public. Reflecting on her craft, Amon opens the door, inviting Sune forward. "Shall we go get you signed in, Sune-chan? I heard they'll be food. Know any non-elemental techniques you could fill me in on just so I can get some training going before we head back to town?"

[zeone3000]

Houshi helps open the door and smiles to the little fairy, "No worries. It's definitely in here."

I'll just take 10 for 12.

[Bad Situation]

Left alone in the room, Yousuke scratches his head and works the kinks out in his body before setting out in search of Houshi. "I feel as though I may come to regret this decision..." Dashing out from the double doors, Yousuke heads to the pantry to find Suzunabu. If there was someone in the manor who knew where to find his teammates it would have to be her.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke and Amon

Sune just follows Amon. She nods when Amon asks about training. "I got a few tips, but not much else."

Just before Sune gets through the door Yousuke bursts into the hallway on his way to the pantry.

Houshi

The soy sauce is hidden in the back, but it's also up on the highest shelf in the pantry. Houshi could hop up to get it, or let the fairy try and bring it down.

[zeone3000]

Houshi points to the soy sauce, "There it is. Think you can get it?" He turns to the little fairy with raised brows.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke doesn't bother to slow down at the sight of Sune and Amon,simply calling out as he passes by, "Meet Satoko-dono outside. She said that she requires the entire team for what needs to be done next."

[Princess Tracy]

"Hey, Yousu-" Amon is cut off as Yousuke runs by. She rubs her temple, "Oh god, what is it this time, I lok away for 10 minutes and... shall we check on him?" With that that said, whether Sune follows or not, Amon moves towards Yousuke, her leg creaking as she tries to match the faster ninja's pace. "So... where's Satoko? Has she already got you working to your fullest or something?"

---

Spoiler

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Ninja'd

Amon doesn't get far before Yousuke instructs her. She sighs. "Fine, if you're not even stopping to say hello to your old friend here, I guess it's urgent enough. Shall I grab Houshi with you in case he can't find his way out of the house?" she asks playfully even in spite of the just established urgency

[ZeroNumerous]

Houshi

The little fairy salutes Houshi. "Leave it to me sir!" It floats up to the bottle, hugs it around the neck, then tries to lift off. But instead it just flutters its wings uselessly. It looks rather confused at the bottle, then has a bright idea. It disappears behind the bottle, then the bottle starts to shudder and shake as the fairy pushes from behind. The bottle slides over the edge, and starts plummeting downward.

Spoiler

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Houshi needs a DC 15 Ref Save to catch it, or it shatters on the floor.

Regardless of whether Houshi catches the bottle or not, there's only one bottle in the pantry. The fairy heads back to the dining hall, with or without the bottle.

Houshi, Amon, and Yousuke

Sune just shrugs, then follows Amon and Yousuke.

Houshi steps into the dining hall just as Yousuke bursts in.

[Bad Situation]

The second Yousuke sees Houshi he pants out, "Meet Satoko outside the manor. She has something planned," before running away. The rush does not, however, stop him from bowing politely to the little fairy and Suzunabu.

[Princess Tracy]

Shrugging, Amon tugs Houshi's hand. "I guess we're going outside. Yousuke never did learn to keep himself out of trouble, did he?"

With that, she promptly heads back outside with Houshi and Sune. "Always needs to be the centre of attention, that one."

[zeone3000]

Houshi watches as the fairy tries, then fails then tries again anew, Oh not good... He tries to catch it but knows he's never been good with eye-hand coordination. It breaks on the floor, "We'll it didn't need more sodium anyway..."

He exits the pantry, finding the panting Yousuke, "After a bowl soup."

He returns to Suzunabu, "Well, thanks to my lack of coordination... you're out of soy sauce. Speaking of the soup, isn't even ready?"

Spoiler

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We all see where this is going...

(1d20+2)[14]

By a pre-pubescent testicle hair.

[ZeroNumerous]

Houshi

Suzunabu takes a sip of the soup, then shakes her head. "Needs a few more minutes."

DM

After Houshi's soup, which was still a bit too salty, the group heads outside to discover that Satoko has summoned a dragon with bright silver-colored scales. The dragon is as tall as Houshi, but a bit wider than the young man. The thickly corded muscle all across its body tells of its physical strength, and the keen glare in its eye warns the genin that it is no simple lizard. The dragon stretches its wings, then shakes its head from side to side as if to shake off the effects of sleep. Satoko reaches over and pets the young lizard's head as she speaks to the genin. "Alright, the game is simple. Each of you will have one minute to bring this young one to heel. Whether you do so by cunning, strength, or words is up to you. But it must surrender to you. You may not use your weapons, nor may either one of you attack lethally. Questions?"

The dragon rears its head back and unleashes a series of half-roars and half-grunts that sounds vaguely like laughter. It snorts, shakes its head once more, then glares at the genin with its reptilian eyes. Satoko nods. "Well, he has no complaints. So, whenever you are ready you may decide which of you will go first, then you may have at it."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's not sure what to make of any of this. Putting her hand up when asked for questions, she remarks, "Yeah, two things actually. One, are genjutsu allowed? Also, um, what are we doing?"

Spoiler

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Amon senses chakra on the dragon

"Yousuke, you seem to know what this is, why don't you take a crack at it, since you seemed so eager?"

Spoiler

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Amon will probably formulate a plan as she observes Yousuke work

Bed now

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Satoko just laughs at Amon's questions. "It would be terribly unsporting to limit your abilities. But so long as it is non-lethal, then you are a free to do as you wish. As for what you're doing: It's simple. Yousuke here has graciously offered his services as my maid, and will begin work immediately if you fail to defeat this dragon."

Amon's chakra sense detects that it has a Strong chakra signature.

[Princess Tracy]

"M-m-maid?" Amon blushes, leering oddly at Yousuke, an odd giggle to her voice, her breath short. Mostly she just seemed embarrassed for him. And vaguely... 'intrigued'. "Y-Yousuke-k-kun, I didn't know you were that way..."

Smiling and blushing, she sticks out a thumbs-up sign. The worst part of her taunt is one can't be sure if any of it is actually a taunt at all as she caps it all off with "Don't worry, I support you, Yousu-chan." Winking, she adds, "I won't tell Youki-san if you don't."

---
Turning to Satoko, she seems to eye Yousuke one last time briefly, evaluating him. "Hmm... do you have any uniforms that would fit him though?" Satoko could probably tell Amon wasn't even joking; something about uniform got to her, and Yousuke's wager had thrown her off balance too much to consider reality

[zeone3000]

Houshi shrugged, putting his hands up in defeat, "Then I'm out if I can't use my weapon. While it may be fun to wrestle a dragon, I find it funnier to see Yousuke in a maid's outfit. Oh and we will definitely need photographic evidence of this."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke stares right back at the dragon with impunity, resting his hands against his hips defiantly. According to Youki's stories, his grandfather had wrestled the dragon down to the ground with physical strength alone. Having inherited his mother's lithe physique instead, he was at a loss as to what he needed to do. If Strength alone was not enough, he would simply try the unconventional strategy of 'talking'.

Briskly walking up to the dragon, Yousuke crosses his arms looks up at the massive creature and says loudly, "I do not know your name but for the sake of my honor I will supply you with me own. My name is Konpaku Yousuke, heir to the Konpaku Clan of Soragakure. To prove my worth in the eyes of Satoko-dono I have taken it upon myself to accept her challenge. If I were a lesser clansman I would simply implore you to surrender yourself to me. But my honor as a warrior will not permit this. I had initially intended on bringing you to heel with my words but to do so when my grandfather made the dragon before you kneel with his strength alone..."

Clicking his tongue at his moment of weakness, he raises his fist and clenches it tightly. "It is now a matter of pride. The pride between two warriors. I will fight you as an equal. Your claw against my fist. And I will bear your attacks with the quiet dignity of a swordsman! I only ask that you will do the same!"

Yousuke punches the dragons snout to establish dominance.

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The dragon looks at Yousuke incredulously. It's obviously stunned by his vulgar lack of forethought, and takes several moments to collect itself. The dragon says nothing, but simply watches the young man for several seconds. If it were human, then it is plain to anyone watching that the dragon's still recovering from Yousuke's random punch to its nose. The impromptu staring match gradually transitions into a full-on glare off, then the dragon counterattacks. It attempts to smack Yousuke with its head, aiming to knock him unconscious so it doesn't have to deal with the boy any longer.

Spoiler

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Melee touch attack: (1d20+16)[36]
If it hits: Yousuke needs a DC 17 Fort Save or he's rendered unconscious for (1d4+1)[2] minutes.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke flies away and spins around in the air as his consciousness slowly slips into pitch black oblivion. "Univeeeeeeersee!" He lands several feet away from the dragon in a peaceful pose, graceful in death as he was in life.

[Princess Tracy]

"Whaddya mean you won't do it - you're the only one here people would believe actually wrestled a dragon," Amon remarks in disgust at Houshi as he refuses the siren call of battle. "You were good enough without your sword to try punching out Suneko, what gives?" It was at that point Amon realised Houshi was too fussy to be a shonen hero.

Watching Yousuke try to talk to the thing then give up, Amon grunts - "At least stick to a plan, dammit..." a spoken aloud thought followed closely by the one "Wait... is this... a Contract fight?" she asks fearfully. We can't afford for you to wind up here for a year, Yousuke, we've got **** to do. Don't screw this up, since we haven't yet heard of her allowing rematches for such games. Even then, who could do it? ...Didn't something similar happen in the Youki books? Something about physical strength, so forget that.

As Yousuke stares down the thing, drawing all its attention, Amon quickly goes for one of her plans on the fly; a series of clones pop out while she herself slips away from the scene, circling around to the thing's rear, safely tucking herself behind cover while it's distracted.

Spoiler

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Amon uses Bunshin to make... oh, how many clones We'll say 3. She has them stand where she was and adjacent to that, creating the illusion the central clone performed the technique if the dragon's paying THAT close attention when not distracted.

As Yousuke falls, Amon resists the urge to click her tongue in fear that it would expose her. Instead, two of the clones step forward, towards the dragon, the third hanging back as it nods authoratively to the dragon, staring at it, just as the other two do. Meanwhile, Amon begins performing her precious hijutsu. She has no idea if this would even be accepted as a victory, but it was the best plan she could think up while Yousuke was 'fighting' and his failure to stick to his plan is what got his ass kicked. At she might still have the energy after this to try another tactic, if she eventually failed...

[zeone3000]

Houshi rolls his eyes at Amon, "How 'bout she was actively trying to kill us? Is that a good enough reason for you to punch someone in the face?"

[Princess Tracy]

Houshi gets no response from Amon, naturally, as she began performing her plan as soon as Yousuke locked eyes with the dragon; to speak would be to give away her position, after all. No sooner does the dragon swipe Yousuke into unconscious than he finds a small crowd of Amons, clones of course, circling it, or rather remaining stationary; as soon as Yousuke falls, each of them glare at the dragon with equal intensity, trying to mimic Yousuke's method. Their hands, and Amon's go into a flurry of hand seals as she aims the second of her Mind Transfers at a dragon. She hardly stops to consider the accomplishment of it though - mostly she was just worrying this would disqualify her. Still though, she might as well take a stab at it, she figured...

Prep

Spoiler

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Amon taps reserves for 8 chakra

Amon uses bunshin to create 5 clones while Yousuke 'fights' (5 chakra). They effectively surround the dragon in an incomplete circle, and each of the clones, Amon included, a distance of 15 feet from the dragon (so no mater which one, if any, it bothers to attack in melee, it will remain in 30 feet of Amon, so within her technique's range)

Actual 'fight'

Spoiler

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Amon begins performing (and her clones mimic) the Mind Transfer technique (6 chakra), obviously targeting the dragon.

If the technique goes uninterrupted, the Dragon can attempt to identify the technique in order to be allowed a DC19 Reflex save to dodge Amon's soul. Otherwise, if it has 13 or more HD, it is entitled to a DC19 initial will save to resist her will (so if it's level 12 or lower and not trained in ninjutsu, it's screwed, ha).

Each of the clones drop heir guard o provoke an attack of opportunity as they are also performing the technique

If uninterrupted, Amon intends to possess the dragon and make it surrender

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

The dragon stomps through Amon's clones as it moves closer to her. Woe betide the ninja who thinks her petty parlor tricks are enough to deceive that kind of beast. It moves to cover all of Amon's clones with its reach, then whips its head at Amon when she attempts to perform her technique.

[Princess Tracy]

Amon stumbles as she takes the thing's neck in her side, staggering a little but keeping her focus, never breaking her glare with the dragon; unlike Yousuke, she keeps her feet planted when she lands a few feet away, and the dragon is too late for another such gambit; completing the technique, Amon launches her soul into the dragon, overwhelming it's will instantly, taking the body for her own...

---

The dragon's body rears as Amon's falls into a crouch, her eyes half-opened and unfocussed, without a will to direct her gaze. In her new body, Amon gives a bit of a roar as she clears her throat, turning to Satoko, smiling oddly as she mentally remarks that even now she was not as tall as the woman was long. "Milady, your dragon hereby forfeits this fight - for my very will has been subverted by the astounding Shokunin Amon." The dragon gives a guttural growl as it's eyes closed, Amon trying to giggle.

With that, Amon plays at looking more sombre, turning to her own body with teh dragon's neck as she kneels, bowing her head right to the ground in a sign of forfeit. A couple of the Amon clones smile as they pretend to pat the beast on the head, though obviously intangible

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Satoko nods. "Very well! The Craftninja Amon has forfeited!" If Amon protests, then Satoko plainly points out why. "The dragon forfeited, but its will was not its own. Instead, you were using ninjutsu to trade places with the dragon. Therefore, you are the dragon, and thus you have forfeited."

[Princess Tracy]

Amon glares at Satoko. "Come on, Satoko, I never win anything, let me have one." She frowns, but closes her eyes, suddenly looking wiser, more in control as she smiles. "I account for more than you give me credit for. I said 'your' dragon, did I not? Amon is hardly your dragon."

[ZeroNumerous]

DM

Satoko nods. "You're right. However, this dragon does not belong to me. Thus, I accepted that part of your statement as an idiosyncrasy of your personality." Satoko smiles at the dragon. "Or are you saying I'm wrong?"

[Princess Tracy]

Amon's facade of level headedness cracks again as she keeps down the instinct to burn Satoko's face off out of the frustration that comes from arguing with a wall. "Aren't you the Dragon Sage? Don't you, like, own their contracts and stuff?" Frowning in a way she'd seen Alice do, one of resigned contempt, she comments "Having the Judge also be the Prosecution is a bit of an advantage for you here, isn't it? Why did Yousuke agree to these stupid terms..."