The Eternal Frost Village is located at the very center of the Island, the six arms stretching o---utward from it, each with it's own specific purpose. The Tardis had docked itself along the along the Main Docking arm. The arm to the south of the Main Docking arm was used as a secondary dock, along with being used for the gathering of fish. Beneath that is the arm that the Frost Relief Center is located on, it is the southern most tip of the island, furthest from the devastation. To the west of the southern arm lies the arm of the Forest. The Village itself used to be protected on all sides by a nearly impenetrable fortress-style wall. Now however, much of that wall lies in melted, smoldering ruin. Great pillars of smoke rise up all around the once walled village. The Northwestern third of the Island lies in cinder-filled ruins. The rogue ninja group ransacked that third in search of something, an item of power that they had yet to discover.
Tsu paused in the trees, gazing out at the ruined walls with a frown. "My, it looks like that time Kano ate a bad chili." she whispered, eyes scanning the village for any sign of the four ninjas. She had been promised a bear. She liked "bears", they tended to think that power was the only thing that was important. She liked to prove them wrong.
El shivered to a stop beside Kano and looked on the village. He apologized again when she mentioned the chili. It had after all been from the crate of food his mother had sent them last month.
Kano groaned at being reminded of that horrid pepper. He looked at Tsu curiously, "Why do you want to fight the bear, Sensei?"
"Well, I mean the bear and the person who is allied with it. Some ninjas have actual animals as a companion, who fight with the ninjas in battle. Bears, and the people who ally with them, tend to be... oh... slow, powerful, dumb..."
Tsu giggled and shrugged at the others, grinning to herself as she did "I like the big ass trouble makers, I like to show them what a little girl can do."
"Then shouldn't you take on the leader of the rogues?"
Kano asked curiously, but of course none of them had any idea as to whether or not the ninja with the bear was the leader or not...
Hinji stayed silent as they conversed amongst themselves. He had spotted his raven as it rounded a high hill, he kept his eye on it. He tilted his head down as if listening to someone whispering in his ear, "My scouts have completed their rounds and are ready to report when you are ready."
"Well, usually the big ones are the ones in the lead. Lets just take it as it goes, I'm not exactly going to leave you for dead if you have difficulty with the person you're fighting"
Tsu said, wondering why Kano was raising these difficulties. They hadn't even managed to find the ninjas yet. "And yes, Hinji, what did your scouts find?" it was always a good idea to know where the enemies were.
A shadowy apparition appeared next
Hinji and began to speak to him. "They say that the believe they have found the tracks of the rogue ninjas heading away from the village." He stopped as the creature spoke again. "They don't appear to be trying to hide their movements or themselves."
"Why would they?"
Kano replied with a shrug. He gestured towards all the devastation and then back towards the garrison. "Their only opposition has turned tail and ran, right?"
"They came here only to destroy the place. Hit and run kind of tactic"
Tsu said with a small frown, her senses perking up, trying to find anyone who was sneaking up on them. Always be careful. "Shall we move a bit towards them? What direction are they Hinji?" it would be a deathtrap leading inexperience ninjas straight into a battle, but they could get the drop on these people.
Hinji listened again before pointing, "That way."
El could hardly hear anything they were speaking about through the chattering of his teeth.
Tsu looked around when El remained completely silent, seeing the trembling ninja. "Kano, can you do anything about that?" she asked, gazing sadly at El. The ninja was getting completely frozen out here.
"What do you think I've been trying to do?"
Kano told her with a shrug. He had been beside El for the entire trip out here. The only way he could warm him anymore was if they were holding each other....
"What, you come from an entire village of fire ninjas and you can't cast a simple chakra spell to heat up someone slightly?" he'd been boasting to
Tsu that he was always warm, saying that he didn't need warm clothes because he was always warm, and he couldn't do anything to help El in that respect?
If it weren't for the fact that he knew his idea would get rejected,
Hinji would have said El should just return to the Tardis. Instead, he kept his mouth shut.
Kano looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. "We keep cool in the heat, and warm in the cold. It's not something we actually consciously control." He looked at El sadly and thought for a moment. "I mean I could make a fire, but that wouldn't exactly help us stay discreet."
"IiIi'LlLlLlLl beEeEeE oOoOoKkKkaAaAa
YyYyY..." El shivered. Though he was basically lying he knew he needed to get used to this or he would be no good to anyone.
Tsu took a deep breath, frowning as she looked over at El again "We've got to warm you up. But first we need to catch these guys alright. Kano, do you think you could stay near El and keep him warm when we start the fight?"
"IiIiiI CaAaNnNn FiiGhHhTtT-t-t-t..." El insisted. He just needed something... anything to warm him up. "K-k-kKkKaaaNnNnoOooOo..." He said turning to his friend. With his hands shivering he fumbled to unbutton his coat. "C-CaAanNn IiIiIi HhHhuuuug-g-g-g-g youUuUuUuU?" In a perfectly platonic and ungay manner.
Kano couldn't help but grimace and look away from his friend as he held his arms out. He didn't want to think about it anymore than he was sure that El wanted to
El approached, slipped his now ungloved hands slipping under Kano's vest and around to his back. El, being much smaller than Kano, his head rested against Kano's chest and he shuddered from his friend's natural warmth. His ears and fingers were nigh frozen and his chest, still clothed pressed against Kano's. "Thhhank-k youuu." He told Kano. "I h-hope you d-don't think me a f-fruit..." Fruit was what his people called one of those men who... didn't like girls. That wasn't at all El, but it was understandable considering how close this hug was. Still, El took warmth from Kano and sighed again, feeling much better.
"Desperate times, El..." Kano replied, wrapping his warm arms around his friend. He was really uncomfortable with the embrace, but he understood that his friend was in need.
Hinji was mere seconds away from pacing or simply starting off without them. The longer they waited, the further the enemy got and the information his scouts gathered became less accurate.
After a few moments Kano could feel that El had stopped shivering. "You smell nice." El said, lightly chuckling, a little of his humor returning now that his core had begun to warm. His fingers and toes were still cold, but he could move them now.
Kano bristled at that comment and released his hold on El. "Alright, I think you've had enough."
"Before you two start necking" Tsu said, getting a little annoyed at the situation "Maybe we should head off? Just try to make sure you stay close to Kano, El. I'm sure the area around him is going to become very warm while we fight."
El smiled and chuckled at Kano as he let go and snapped his coat closed, trapping in several degrees of warmth. He put his gloves on quickly and finished buckling down. "I was only kidding." He said with a smile and looked to Tsu Sensei. "I will Sensei." He told her. "I feel much better and I believe it will last for several moments." Turning back to Kano he thanked him again. "Thank you Kano, though it may not be the last time I need to partake in your warmth." He bowed to Kano respectively, something his people didn't do, but he'd picked it up from the locals of the INC village.
"Just...don't mention it." Kano told him with a smirk.
"Right. Now, we need to move fast guys," Tsu said as she looked around at the village again "we don't want to give these guys a chance to run away do we? Comeon, we will catch them quickly if they don't expect us. The bear helps as well, since they can't move at the speeds we can achieve." Tsu turned, starting to move off towards the last known location, "If you lose track of me, I'm trying to ambush them. Follow Hinji and don't do anything stupid."
"Yes Tsu Sensei." El said, eager to get moving now that he was warm enough to do so.
Hinji stayed close to Tsu as they moved off. He hoped that there wouldn't be anymore need for stops. He wanted to find out who these ninjas where, especially if they could take out nearly an entire village by themselves.
Kano fell in line with El, keeping close to him to keep him warm, as their sensei had instructed
El was moving much better now, but he could already feel the cold begin to creep into his coat again. He hurried forward, following Tsu Sensei.
It didn't take the squad very long to come upon a fresher scene of violence. There was no smoldering coals on the outskirts of the village as they approached. Here, the fires were still fresh. There was a rumbling and then a shifting in the building before them. Suddenly, the wall collapsed forward and with a roar a large white bear surged forward through the demolished building.
"Well lads" Tsu said as she paused in a tree to watch the bear "we've got a fight." She was scanning the surrounding areas quickly, searching for the other ninjas. a bear was a good distraction after all. "Stay on your guard, they're around here somewhere I'm sure" she said, glaring around at the trees before vanishing in a split second. She appeared a few feet behind the charging bear, holding her hands up to her mouth so she could yell, in the sweetest, girliest voice she could "Over here, silly teddy!"
Hinji watched as Tsu took off to fight the bear. He knew the other ninjas were around somewhere. He backed up further into the trees and vanished into the shadows.
The bear raised up on its haunches and roared at Tsu. In a POOF! a large burly bald man in plaid pants took the place of the polar bear. "Hey now tootsie! You wouldn't be tryin to anger Brutus now wouldja?" He shook his head, scratching at his big bushy beard with a laugh. "Wouldn't recommend that."
Kano watched as Hinji vanished into the darkness. "Man...I wish he'd show us that trick." He mumbled to El with a smirk.
Ignoring Kano El said rather obviously, "That bear just turned into a man..." He'd never seen anything like that before.
"I just like to play with silly teddies" Tsu giggled, scuffing her feet in the snow and blushing as she looked up at the large man that had appeared "But you're not a silly teddy at all are you?"
"I have been called a bear before, but never a teddy." the man replied with a smirk. He set his massive hands on his hips and laughed. It was cold enough on this island that even it's inhabitants had to constantly be fearful of hypothermia, yet this man stood there in pants and a small vest only. He rolled his shoulders until they popped and then grinned devilishly at Tsu. "Want to see my 'teddy' as you so playfully put it?"
"Yes please!" Tsu practically giggled, hopping from foot to foot and clapping her hands loudly; she was being more than playful and off putting, she was distracting the ninja. Hopefully, ALL of the ninjas. Her team should be doing SOMETHING about now. Surely?
It only took Kano a second to pull his spear from his back, holding it at the ready. The guy didn't look all that impressive to him, though the transformation from a bear was pretty cool.
The bald man brought two fingers to his mouth and blew hard. An ear piercing whistle issued forth. It didn't take long for an answer to be heard from across the rubble. A roar identical to that which he used before transforming echoed off the rubble before the crunching lumbering steps of the polar bear were heard. In only a few seconds the polar bear leaped over a mound of snow, landing beside it's partner with a growl. "Meet Brutus, girly."
El brought his guitar around to his front and in these heavy mittens he immediately knew that he could not play with them on. He waited to remove them though. There was no sense in freezing his fingers before he needed to.
"Teddy!" Tsu cried loudly as she clapped her hands together in a blur, grinning at the bear as it appeared and holding her arms out wide; her finger tips were splayed wide, and if you looked very hard at the tips there was a small amount of glittering there. "Come for a cuddle teddy!" she called out towards the bear.
Brutus growled and shook his massive head. He looked at his partner and then at the little girl. The bald man chuckled and shook his head. "If ye're wanting a fight, lass. I really wouldn't recommend the two of us."
"What if I just want a teddy?" Tsu said, her eyes going wide and slightly teary looking, the cat like slits becoming wide and watery as she gazed at Brutus and the bear. He was just making this TOO easy.
"Then ye're looking in the wrong place." The bald ninja replied crossing his arms. "Get her Brutus!" He ordered, stretching his arm out. The polar bear reared up on it's hind legs and roared at Tsu
Tsu remained standing there, completely still, gazing at the bear with the big grin and the open arms... then she vanished... then she was standing on the bear's head, invisible claws digging into it's eyes as she hauled back hard. It looked like she was trying to rip the thing's skull off with her bare hands, but was just blinding it. if the claws didn't reach the brain. They had just made it too easy. she'd been trying to get it upright, they'd even let her use two jutsus without catching on, and now the bear was suffering.
The bear roared as the talons dug into its face. The bald man made a few handsigns, "Man/Beast Mimicry!" With a Poof! he transformed, his arms bulked up and sprouted long white fur. His teeth elongated, claws emerged from his fingertips, and his eyes turned an icy gold. With a roar and a Poof! the bear went through the same transformation, mimicking the man rather than the beast. Reaching up over his head, the bear grabbed Tsu by the waist and pulled her from his face. The man growled and looked at her. "I told ye yah wouldn't want to play with ol' Brutus!"
"Ohhh... I still do," Tsu giggled, raising her bloody hands up to her face and giggling as the blood trailing from her tips. She followed that up by three kicks in a row straight back into the guts of the bear, which felt like someone had just hit it with a cinder block, and a firm slash down across both arms to make the bear drop her.
The bear did more than just drop her, in an outrage he threw her away from him, then bent over to clutch his chest. The man knelt beside his partner and glared at the little girl. "That does it! Nobody kicks Brutus while Ashikuma is around!" He roared and stomped his feet, making the ground itself shake.
There was a small "biff" as Tsu imitated him "You're not even a challenge." She giggled gently and cracked her knuckles as she gazed at the guy, her pupils still wide and all seeing "Bring on what little you've got!"
There was two sudden black streaks that ripped through air and struck the bear and the man in the chest. It spread like goo hitting a surface around the two targets before solidifying into a paralyzing case. Hinji stepped out of the shadows of the wrecked building. "Go ahead and go for the rest. I can handle these two." he didn't say it like a request, more of an order.
El just didn't know what to do. Should one interfere when their sensei is engaging the enemy in battle? He felt so useless, but Hinji answered that question for him and he was glad that Hinji seemed confident in his abilities to subdue these two.
Ashikuma pulled on the blackness that surrounded him. He growled and twisted, the growl turned into a low rumble as he twisted and churned within the confines of Hinji's restraints. The man-beast roared, his counter part the beast-man roared in synchrony, their bodies twisted and spun in the restraints. The blackness tore apart as they burst free of their confinement. They spun upwards and away from Hinji and the others before landing side by side again. Ashikuma crossed his arms and looked at Hinji. "Finally! A challenge!" He licked his lips and barred his teeth at the others. "Ye better git girlie before we change our minds." (continue fight at: Bear vs Shadow)
Tsu growled gently, but nodded to Hinji "You better know what you're doing!" she yelled out to him before darting back to El and Kano. "Looks like Hinji called this one" she said, sounding more than a little upset "But we should go try and catch up to the others before they cause any more damage."
Kano looked back at his team mate and hoped he knew what he was doing after all. He swallowed and turned back to Tsu, giving her a nod. "Shouldn't be too hard to find the others. Just follow the destruction, right?"
"Yeah..." Tsu said with a firm nod, looking down at the bear guy again "Shouldn't be too hard." Shame, she really wanted to take out that bear guy. But he was just disappointingly easy right now.
El didn't like the thought of leaving Hinji to battle the beast man alone, but he knew they should catch up to the rest of the team. "The faster we get on, the faster we may save lives." He said and began to follow the trail, eager to warm up again.
Tsu didn't like leaving him behind either, but she would zap back there in a bit on check on him. He could handle himself against that oaf, she was sure. His sneakiness could defeat that guy's power anytime.
Almost a mile from where the squad was forced to leave Hinji, they came upon the second ninja of the insurgent squad. The man was dressed in thick furs of wild animals. His helmet was adorned by the head of a wolf, his cloak stretched out behind him, from that same animal. He wore a shield upon his left arm and clutched a broadsword with his right. "Hold Ninja!" He shouted from atop the hill where he stood. "One of you three shall face me. The others may go along. Win, and I shall answer any questions you have. But when you lose, know that I shall ask the same of you." He rested his sword against his shoulder and glared at them. The fire in his eyes spoke to the fact that he would not wait forever for them to chose.
Kano stepped forward and pounded his fist to his heart. "Go on ahead, Sensei. I've got this one." He looked at the warrior and bowed his head. "I, Kano Kurosaki of the Village Hidden in the Volcano, accept your challenge!"
"Wait a second, one question first!" Tsu called out from the place where she was standing in the trees. She stuck her head and a bloody hand out of the leaves so she could see the guy "What if we kill you by accident? We won't be getting any answers from you then, will we? How about we get a few answers first, on the general thought that you're going to die." Always a good idea to psyche the enemy out.
El didn't like how this seemed to be going. It looked as if he would be seperated from Kano and as pathetic as it sounded, he didn't want to freeze to death out here.
"You make a very good point. Very well. I shall answer 3 questions before I engage in combat with this boy. After all, he has already accepted the challenge." The armed man replied. He sheathed his sword as a sign of good faith and looked at her. "Ask away."
Three questions.... three questions... "Why are you attacking this village?" Tsu called out, rather glad that this ninja was going by quite a silly set of rules, which seemed malleable to her own strange behavior.
The man grinned beneath his wolf mask. "Because they would not give us what we asked for. We did ask first, also. Before you go and waste a question."
That intrigued Kano a little bit. What in the world could have been so important that they wouldn't just give it to these guys in order to save everyone??
El wanted to ask what it was they had asked for, but he left those sorts of questions to Tsu sensei.
That would have been silly though, considering there was a whole group of people who weren't ninjas to ask that. "Second question: what are your plans next?"
"Well that depends on if you mean me personally or my group. Me? I'm going to fight this redheaded kid and probably kill him. The rest of the team? We're going to find what we came for and then leave this place as a smoldering crater of an island." He replied with a shrug. He yawned and looked at Tsu, "Come along then. Ask your final question already. I grow tired of this game."
Tsu smirked. Might as well. "Do you have any faults or weaknesses that can be abused in a fight?" Might as well ask the question. Give them a little one up over the guy.
El looked at Tsu Sensei... as if this man was going to answer that directly... He'd pretty much yanked their chain on all the other questions.
He looked at her utterly dumbfounded. "I give you 3 questions and you waste it by asking if I have weaknesses?" The man shrugged and waved at the vast amounts of dead bodies laying at his feet. "They would say that is a no. But truthfully, I suppose it is my honor. I have answered your 3 questions as agreed. Now be on your way. You will find the others not far ahead."
"Well you jerked my chain with the other two, what the hell else were we meant to ask?" Tsu said with a shrug, still telling out at the man; he could probably tell that she was someone who did NOT have that honor issue "I mean, seriously, just saying 'you have three questions', you're destroying a whole bloody village because you didn't get paid. What's the honor in that exactly? The honorable way you're terrifying people? The honorable way you've killed people trying to defend their homes, who had no chance? The honorable way that you demanded to fight one thirteen-year-old at a time? Hmm? Is that your honor, you moron? cause after this, honor isn't what you're gonna be remembered for." Enough of this three questions, knight-of-the-round-table crap, if he got mad then he might spill some more actual knowledge.
"I did not jerk your chain. I answered truthfully." He replied with a cold stare in her direction. "It is not my fault that the answers were not to your liking. Perhaps you chose the questions incorrectly."
"And the whole 'killing untrained civilians, wrecking towns, challenging teenagers to a fight, you have no honor' thing is just fiiiiine with you I see. If that's the case then you just lied to us, because you said that your weakness was your honor. But you've got no honor, so that can't be your weakness now can it?" Tsu said, sounding a few seconds away from throwing her shoes at the man, "If you REALLY had honor then you wouldn't be pussy footing around these subjects like a coward."
"You are not my opponent little one. The challenge was accepted by the fiery haired boy." The warrior replied, crossing his arms and glaring at her. "Your taunts will do you no good against me, nor will they assist you at all in the coming battles. The only one of us who can be goaded is Ashikuma. Given the fact that you are here, means you've already gotten past him."
"You're still not proving you've got an ounce of honor" Tsu cat called, before nodding to El "Shall we get out of here? You look cold, and there's others to catch."
El nodded to Tsu, not at all liking how this was going. "Fight well Kano."
Tsu nodded and raced on, following the destruction along and leaving Kano behind, much as she had with Hinji a little while before. Here's hoping that the "honorable" ninja was as foolish in battle as in his own opinions.
About a mile further, the two remaining members of the squad came upon a most gruesome scene. A man stood at the foot of a flight of stairs, holding a long chain in his hand. His face was concealed by a black leather mask. Atop his head was a hat of the rice farmer style. The chain rattled slightly and he gave it a sharp tug. A horrendous stench flooded the air as a great hulking beast of a man came into view at the end of the chain. There was a multitude of shackles and chains racked upon this man. He was covered from head to toe in hair, though it was unclear if it were fur or his own. The hair on his head stuck to his face in a greasy mess. He held what appeared to be a human arm in his hand. Given the amount of blood and gore surrounding his mouth, he must have been eating it when his leash was pulled. "You'll go no farther Coalition Brats! Viktor here is hungry, and it's well past his feeding time." The mask man told them. He released his grip on the leash and turned, leaving the scene. He dashed up the stairs, the beast-man would finish things here while he sought the treasure.
Tsu sniffed slightly and gazed at the large hulking beast "alright... el, usually I would say I'd take that guy down... but my senses are REALLY heightened... and... well... I don't really want to get near him. Then again, I don't want YOU to go near him. How about we just sneak around him, hmmmm?" Cowardly, maybe, but Tsu didn't really want to see a freezing cold el getting chewed on. Not that she didn't think he'd do well, but... the beast was EATING people for goodness sake.
El wanted to agree with Tsu Sensei. He saw this creature and it made him want to run the other direction. Half of him wanted to go back and ask Kano to trade, but that wasn't very honorable... he knew also that there was no way he could take on that Jonin and survive. "No Tsu Sensei." El told her. "You go ahead... I... I will take care of this foul thing."
"You sure?" Tsu asked gently "Couple of smoke bombs, could sneak past." Music was meant to soothe the savage beast, but Tsu wasn't sure how good it would do at killing the bugger outright.
"I am sure." El said, removing his gloves and pulling his guitar around in front of him. Immediately the chill reminded his fingers how difficult this would be. "These people deserve to be avenged." El told her. "And I am the ninja who will do it."
"Good lad... just scream if you need help alright?" Tsu said, placing a gently hand on El's shoulder and giving him a squeeze, then slipping a hand in her pack to pull out a few smoke bombs "I'll sneak past though, catch that guy."
"Good luck Tsu Sensei." El told her.
Tsu tossed down a smoke bomb, hitting the giant... thing between the eyes and making the powder blind him as she ran past at top speed, heading after the ninja that had let this monster go.
Hinji's fight - Bear vs Shadow
Kano's fight - Sword vs Fire
El's fight - Beast vs Music
Tsu's fight - Master vs Teacher
Stumble!