[C-ranked Mission] Hippo Crab (closed) [Archive]

kyubichan

02-08-2009, 03:01

In a small, cramped office somewhere in Sato, a group of researchers were hard at work. The place was nice, neat and orderly- as expected of an office run by men of science, but it was packed tightly due to the sheer number of stacks of documentation and experiments. They were all obviously busy but one waited by the door to give the mission details (http://www.theninja-forum.com/Vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27521) to whomever will accept it:

Name: Hippo Crab

Rank: C

Description:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/kyubichan/random%20pics/02_unbelieveableanimals_55763.jpg

A peculiar new creature has been discovered on the shores of Water Country. A research group from Sato is particularly interested in it, but they have to finish their current project before they can go on another creature-hunting trip. They've sent a mission out for anyone from Sato.

Objectives:

- Retrieve at least ten (10) Hippo Crabs; they live between sharp rocks and seem to be competing with hermit crabs for food
- Keep the Hippo Crabs alive and protect the rest of their population from wicked children

That researcher would go back to work once the mission was taken.

Hironidin

02-08-2009, 05:11

OOC: Thanks for NPC'ing for me, and starting it too o_o

To Draven's delight, the trip from his room at the inn to the offices had only taken an hour or so, and in that entire time he had hardly lost sight of the ocean and it's shores. He was, needless to say, a little troubled by the conclusion he had quickly established that what ever it was he was supposed to do must have had something to do on the water. Now while the Imperial wasn't the worst swimmer around in any regards, he quickly became so when he adorned his heavy arm and the rest of his hefty attire. But threat of inevitable drowning or not, he was hardly going to pass up the opportunity for another mission and the chance to get his hands dirty again, he was just getting the gist of it and actually enjoying himself. What he wasn't enjoying however, was how he was receiving these missions.

It was becoming all too tiresome knowing that his 'official' briefing from the one he received his assignments from would be no more than some dirty napkin with some less than half-assed map drawn over the stains saying 'go here' and nothing else. He had hardly any room to complain though, the special agreement he had bartered was better than the alternative. Yes, as long as he got paid... most of his money, and didn't have to set foot anywhere near those accursed misty walls while still keeping some of the benefits of people thinking he had, then he was happy, or at least somewhat so.

With a sigh, the foreigner halted his mechanical like walking at the sight of a man dawned in white standing at the door, his attention more focused on what was happening behind him instead of his obvious role as the messenger. Surprisingly unnoticed, he approached the man and slid the scroll he was holding in his hand out towards the street so carelessly without even so much as a hello. Yet despite with his task already in hand, and beside his better judgment, he peered over the shorter lad's head, hoping to catch a glance of what inside was so interesting, the strange cries and calls he heard from within being enough to peek anyone's curiosity. Unfortunately, he was denied as the ragged scientist slowly took notice of him peeking over his shoulder and cleared his throat loudly before quickly gliding inside and closing shut the door behind him. What might have been a mumbled 'good luck' was lost under the crash of something like a cage falling to the floor and the confused and panicked shouts that swiftly followed it. Even for a big man, Draven found himself making great time to the beach and away from the animalistic like screams and howling he left behind him.

kyubichan

02-08-2009, 06:25

Soon, Draven would find himself on a rocky coastline (http://i.pbase.com/g6/07/98707/2/85470319.FkHXQMtM.jpg) that was slightly curved; this kept sharks and other large predators out, creating an ideal environment for smaller sea creatures. Hippo crabs would be found between a few of those rocks, hidden in the dark cracks and spaces.

Aside from the young shinobi, there were three other people on that part of the coastline. They were children who seemed to be playing with some driftwood and the foam from the waves.

Hironidin

02-08-2009, 07:11

OOC: Stuff got delayed so I might have an extra day or two to post. And the link doesn't work for me btw

Draven had easily lost himself in the scroll he had been given. Constantly turning it, right, left or just plain upside down, desperately searching for the right way to hold the damn thing so that the picture he had been given of his task would make sense, but it never would. It didn't take long for the young man to realize this was no mission at the coastline, he had just been sent out to find some new freaky type of bait for a couple of scientists. Hardly something worth his time and a horrid waste of his skills. Never the less, going home empty handed just wasn't an option. If nothing else I could always take a few for myself, I haven't had crab in forever...

Of coarse, with the assignment now tucked away under his buttoned up trench coat and deemed useless by the now frustrated foreigner, Draven was allowed to survey the beach through his very helpful squinting. He was just lucky the blurs that he caught moving off in the distance were people. People he could use. With a huff under his mask he shook the salty smell of the water from his overwhelmed nose and trekked over the jagged rock and sand alike towards what seemed like three kids. He was hardly any good with children, and less so with talking to them, but he had been carrying with him a universal language since his last mission and he had more than enough of it for everyone to listen.

Most likely his heavy thudding boots would be heard to all of them in no time, but even with his intimidating appearance, he was sure the early sun reflecting off the gold oval rolling over his fingers would catch at least one of their eyes and hold them long enough for the large genin to propose the deal that would get him out of work all together.

"How would you kids like to make some money?"

kyubichan

02-08-2009, 10:19

One of the children, who was just slightly taller than the other two, walked up to Draven and nodded.

" Tell us what your deal is and I'll consider it, " the boy said as he put his hands in his pockets.

The other two stayed behind their leader; one drew circles on whatever sand managed to get through the rocks, the other stared at Draven with a fairly blank expression.

" C'mon gramps, we don't have all day! " the leader impatiently said as he tapped his foot on solid rock.

Hironidin

02-08-2009, 22:15

Draven simply glared at the boy as he began tapping his foot and voicing his demand. The punk almost reminded Draven of himself, that pride and superiority. But there was just so much himself the imperial could handle. Flipping the coin in his hand over to the boy, he pulled out the scroll from the shade of his coat and revealed the picture of the creature within.

"Ten more of those" His voice was blunt and stern as he nodded towards the coin. "For ten of these... Alive"

His hand fell to his side as a smile came to his lips hidden under the mask. No one was going to refuse all that gold, it was simply too much, but of coarse he wasn't going to pay any of it in the end. In fact, he was already looking forward to recollecting that single piece he had used to catch their attention in the first place, or at least one of their attentions. But why say anything and ruin the surprise...

kyubichan

03-08-2009, 11:12

The boy, who was acting like the leader, looked at the coin and bit it.

" Seems real enough, " he said, then he called over his shoulder, " So what do you think? "

The two kids behind him didn't respond, but a third one emerged sleepily from behind some rocks on the coastline. She seemed to be the smallest of them all.

" Well it looks shiny, " the girl said, "Let's take all of them. "

" Gotcha, boss! " the tallest boy said as he threw the coin to the girl and then, as he turned around, he kicked sand up towards Draven's face.

The little girl caught the coin and she propped herself up on a large rock. The two little boys who had been watching behind the taller one now looked very alert; they ran to both sides of Draven and soon, all three encircled the one who was a stranger to them. The tallest one drew a kunai out of his pants' pocket and the other two were ready, having formed handseals but holding the last one until the tall boy gave the signal.

" So what's your name, mister? So we can thank you properly for those coins, " jeered Yuu, the boy who had been acting like a leader, as he rushed towards Draven to slash his face with the kunai.

Hironidin

13-08-2009, 04:49

Draven stumbled back with a growl as the wave of sand suddenly began making friends with his eyes. In truth he deserved as much, standing there, bent over and fiercely trying to scrape the sand out of the crevices of his skull. He had practically known this would happen yet he had let his guard down like any fool would and allowed it to take him by surprise. As Draven struggled to straighten himself on his sandy footing and blink away the grains infesting his eyes, the large genin barely managed to catch a glimpse of blade swinging at him. Instinct built up over the years taught him that jumping and dodging was simply a waist when it came to people going after his head, all it took was a simple nudge or shift and the strike would either break on his steel face, or harmlessly glance off, leaving Draven with no more injury than the time it would take him to polish and buff out the dents and scratches left over when he was finished.

As planned, the blade scraped over the top of Draven's head with a sprinkle of sparks as his left hand shot out the grab the opposing arm of the fool of a boy who had asked the warning of a taunt at him and immediately followed up with his right rocketing in as a devastating punch to the gut. If the Imperial's strength was anything to be recognised, the blast to his midsection would be enough of a daze for Draven to pick the boy up and quickly begin spinning him around. Realizing he was surrounded was easy enough, and spotting the handseals going into action only hastened his action.

Whether or not the other two would be close enough to be struck by the feet of their swinging partner was hardly important as the large genin instead decided to let his new friend loose and send him hurtling into one his comrades. How he would deal with the other two was hardly important now, getting the sand out of his eyes as he resumed blinking and growling however, was.

Freaking kids

kyubichan

13-08-2009, 06:28

The little girl hopped over to a large rock just as Yuu flew through the air, in significant pain, and landed on one of the smaller boys. She then picked something up from behind the rock and waved it at Draven.

" Were you looking for these, mister? " the girl said as she revealed a Hippo Crab on the palm of her hand. And then, without another word, she smashed it against the rock, " Oops! I slipped. "

She laughed, rather evilly at that, then she vanished into thin air. Wait, what? The little girl was replaced by the boy who was forming handseals earlier, and she drew a peculiar-looking kunai from a holster on her leg then formed her own set of seals:

Raiton: Raikyu [Lightning Release: Lightning Ball]
Rank: C
Requirements: Raiton-tuned weapon.
Description: By gathering chakra and creating electricity, the user creates a ball of electrical energy and launches it at the enemy.

With above average accuracy for her rank, which was Genin, she launched the lightning ball at Draven. Quick on her feet, the little girl dashed to the side to stay out of her opponent's line of sight.

Hironidin

14-08-2009, 22:27

Draven's look of victory after witnessing his attack splendidly do just as intended, was soon replaced by an aghast expression and a highly cocked eyebrow as the small girl, the same one who had nearly made the big man jump out of his skin when she decided to appear out of no where and scare the bajesus out of him, began an equally scary and sinister cackle as she crushed the very thing Draven had come here for in the first place. She... has potential?

It was a strange thought, even to the one who had thought it, but never the less he had a job to do, especially since he was now looking up at a boy upon the rock instead of a girl. With a snarl he spun round on his heels, his steel shoulder almost immediately bracing itself for whatever movement he was catching on the very fringes of his peripheral. Luck was barely on his side as he heard the thud of the odd kunai bouncing of his arm and falling to the ground, but not before it injected the painful lighting it was carrying. The imperial had ittle time to study the weapon thrown at him before he was on one knee, wincing at the shocking agony terrorizing his arm underneath the Crucible. Damn this thing, its as much of a weakness as it is useful!

Thinking quickly, the genin had little time to prepare what to do next, especially so if what he read of the girl's movements were correct. She was fast, faster than he could ever dream of being, something that easily made her all the more dangerous. And now there was one other child still standing and able to fire off God knew what kind of jutsu at him from the high ground. Needless to say, it wasn't a very appealing situation for the shinobi. Then it came to him. Use their strengths against them. Why something so simple had taken so long to organize was irritating the foreigner who was used to plans popping into his head before a bad situation could present itself.

Feigning his crippling pain, Draven began leaning forward as if to fall over while his left arm moved to cradle his right, when in fact he was reading himself for the attack. The sound of his blade locking into place was soon replaced with the roar of chain and blade racing through the air and digging itself deep into he sand, extending itself tightly like a trap. If the girl was circling Draven, as he believed, she would soon find her self flying through the air as the chains caught her feet. But connection or not, Draven was already flowing into his second phase. Slamming his hands together into a single seal, he relished the feel of his chakra falling into place. An instant later he was sending a punch towards to boy, a ball of fire bursting from his knuckles as Katon: Kasai no Kakuchou [Flame Release: Fire Extension] was activated.

The flame was considerably weaker than normal, packing more force than it did actual fire. It would be just enough the launch the boy off his ledge and leave the job of knocking him unconscious to whatever hard surface was waiting for him below.

kyubichan

15-08-2009, 02:46

Surprised by Draven's fire jutsu, the little boy fell over the rock. He hit his head on a sharp protrusion; blood and brain matter quickly poured out of his cracked skull and soon enough, the boy was very dead- all of this would be unseen from beyond the rock since the thing was large enough to hide the child's corpse.

Meanwhile, the little girl was sent flying through the air by the genin's strange contraption. Her AS-level minions were all down now, and she was quite alone against the stranger. She had enough wit about her to use a jutsu, at least:

.Raiton: Kaminari Waia- Shokku.

Raiton: Kaminari Waia- Shokku [Lightning Release: Lightning Wire Shock]
Rank: C
Requirements: Any kind of electricity-conducting wire or chain.
Description: This is a technique where the user attempts to conduct an electrical shock through a wire reaching to his target. Though this could be done at a lower rank, only this class of difficulty allows the user to create enough effect for a harmful electrical current. This jutsu does require the use of handseals.

It would send an electrical shock through the chain that Draven was using.

Hironidin

15-08-2009, 06:07

Draven could only cringe at the sound of something horrendously cracking apart behind the shelter of the boulder. By the nasty sound of it, his patient attempts to avoid killing had failed... horribly. It was one thing to kill a man, but a child? He would just have to stay on the opposite side of the rock until all was done, if not just for the sake of sparing is sleep the nightmares that would ensue had he even a peek. Shuddering at the thought his attention was caught skyward by a popping sound almost like fireworks coming from above. It would be a mistake he would regret.

Ignorantly forgetting he was still in a fight, Draven had let the current slither its way up his chains unhindered and soon the pain had struck him. Like a tidal wave it made its way across his body, muscles screaming and convulsing at its electrical touch. His clenched teeth chattered loudly underneath his mask as his fingers dug themselves deep into his palms. All the genin could hope to do was wait it out and hope he came out of what ever had just struck him with all his mind in tow. But there was something strange about the pain coursing through him, it felt as if ... he was enjoying it?

As quickly as the jolt had hit him, it was gone, and now a smoldering Draven was left slumped over and rasping heavily where he stood. Did I like that? His perplexed mind did nothing to betray his eerie movements as his metal head slowly shifted to glare at the girl, shivering and twitching while the smoke of her attack seemingly flowed out of his eyes and the rest of his face. If the twisted little devil had not fled yet, she might of been able to hear the sound of Draven's hand peeling itself apart from the grip it had put itself in. A second later a flick of his wary fingers brought the limp chains now lying idly on the sand back to life as chakra glided through it freely once more. The heavy serpent would soon hurtle itself at the girl, wrapping around her just tightly enough to bind her hands and give the little monster a little incentive to remain calm as it did, lest she wished to find out what the sound of breaking bones was like.

kyubichan

15-08-2009, 13:08

At the sight of the weapon heading for her once again, the little girl, who was shinobi-like in every way and would take any opportunity to flee with the coin that she had, quickly flipped through another set of handseals and the weird contraption ended up wrapping around the unconscious larger boy. She ran towards some dangling roots on a rocky wall and quickly scaled it.

The two unconscious boys remained unconscious and the dead one remained dead. Soon enough, the little girl vanished from sight which left the genin free to do what he would like with the hippo crabs between the rocks.

Hironidin

15-08-2009, 16:44

Draven let out a sigh as he realized he had once again mistaken the girl for a boy, a troubling trend to say the least. He watched her patiently from the rocks as she climbed the wall, effectively escaping his plans to punish her with the worst spanking of her life. God knew she needed it. He wasn't done with her just yet, but he abruptly decided giving chase was the last thing he wanted to do now, instead he began dragging in his unwanted catch roughly across the sand before hefting the unconscious boy under his arm and turning back towards shoreline. He still had a job to do.

Walking over to the second boy, the genin quickly rummaged through what the miscreant had until he found what he was looking for, a small bag to carry the creatures in. Not bothering to see what he was emptying out of it, he spun around, already searching for something else. I just need some kind of bait... His brown eyes lingered over to the child under his arm, and a smirk took a hold of his face.

Shifting the chain slightly, Draven pulled out a single arm from the bindings with a sound tug and then found a suitable place among the rocks, one so dark and slimy looking it would have to hold host to a variety of undescribable horrors, or at least a few of the crabs Draven was hunting for anyway. Kneeling down, he slipped the unlucky hand into the hole and waited for either a tug or a scream to notify him when something had taken a bite.

While waiting, the muscular young man couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he looked around the rest of the beach, his eyes making sure to stray far away from the poor lad who had taken the nasty fall. He had once thought this would have been the most disgustingly boring assignment, yet here he was with a giant smile on his face, fishing for hippo crabs and using good ol' fashioned irony as the bait.

kyubichan

15-08-2009, 23:52

The boy, who was being used as bait, mumbled in his sleep.

" ... no no, mommy, I don't wanna go to school... " he said between garbled words, " - hehe, that tickles. "

Two small creatures soon climbed over the boy's arm. They seemed to be fighting over a small piece of seaweed. The larger creature, a hermit crab whose shell seemed to have been a snail's, was trying to tug the seaweed away from a hippo crab. The smaller creature wasn't one to back off easily. Unmindful of the humans, the little crabs kept fighting over the seaweed as a few more of their kind emerged from the rock; they watched the fight intently.

Hironidin

16-08-2009, 03:11

The sound of something skittering and the 'bait's' mumbling brought the genin's attention, surprisingly enough, to the child's arm of all places. Where he had thought the boy's fingers would have proven to be an irresistible treat to the little creatures now brawling upon his limb, now seemed like more of an obstacle in their endeavor for a far more favorable delicacy. Seaweed. However, even with his goal in sight, Draven found himself distracted by the small war to two crabs were waging until he forcefully had to shake himself back to the task at hand.

With his two fingers, he plucked up the hippo crab as gently as he could from off the slumbering child before unraveling the chains and tossing the toddler towards his other unconscious accomplice. His attempt at delicateness would soon turn out to be a waste of effort as he was soon forced to shake the thing in order for it to release the clump of seaweed in its grasp, and the hermit crab still clutching onto the other side of it. Hurriedly plooping the critter into the satchel he had burrowed, he turned his sight to the small crowd that had formed to witness the fight.

While thoughts of better ways of capturing the creatures were slowly forming in his head, Draven instead opted for the old fashioned version of getting things done. Without much thought, the large boy dove towards the gathering, his hands held out wide and ready to snatch up any of the strange absurdities that he could catch off guard with his less than majestic aerobatic stunt.

kyubichan

16-08-2009, 04:24

Being the slippery little rascals that they were, the hippo crabs managed to slip through Draven's fingers. Two of them were stuck in the palm of his hand though and in addition to the first unfortunate one, the genin now had three of the peculiar crabs. They began to flail about in their container, getting 'drowned' in empty air. As with most sea creatures, they needed a lot of moisture to survive; the bag should be kept damp, at least. This was quite easy to figure out since the hippo crabs tried their best to put moisture on themselves by blowing bubbles and foam out of their wide mouths.

The rest of the hippo crabs were quick, but no brighter than the ones who were already caught. They wedged themselves into a dead end inside a small crack on the rock. The hermit crabs seemed to be laughing as they scurried away over the crack instead.

Hironidin

16-08-2009, 05:31

"Aha!" Laughing like a mad man, the foreigner let out a victorious cry that easily echoed itself across most of the beach. He quickly plopped his new catches into the light brown satchel now swinging wildly in his hands and just as fast, flew into a second dive, this time, a single hand was sent sliding underneath the rock his unlucky victims had scurried underneath in the wake of his might, and with one fell swoop, he pushed another three into the gaping mouth of his waiting bag along with a fist full of sand to boot.

Draven was hardly sure why he was so entertained, but he was hardly one to give up a good thing. Dusting him self of as he rose from the sand, he gave a small chuckle as he took his gaze off surveying the rest of the beach and to the creatures he had caught. He had hardly considered them crab-like despite their misapply appearance to the things, but he easily recognized the foam building around their mouths as a sign that they were, indeed, very similar. He wasn't sure whether or not he should have let out an 'Awww' or simply gag at the sight.

Taking the time he needed to soak the bag under water, Draven set his hands to work searching the beach for any seaweed he could find. The things seemed to enjoy it thoroughly so when the large genin pulled free a large wad of it from beneath the waves, he was easily sent back into his ecstatic demeanor. He would just have to hope no one was watching as he went about dangling seaweed over every nook and cranny of the beach while trying to lure his prey out with a awkward set of cooing noises and whistling.

kyubichan

16-08-2009, 06:19

Hard at work as they looked for seaweed, two hippo crabs looked up when they noticed a large piece flying overhead. Flying seaweed? That seemed too good to be true, so the little crab creatures raised their crabby little claws above their large heads. They tried their very best to reach that scrumptious piece of seaweed from heaven.

A group of hermit crabs that were busying themselves by bullying two other hippo crabs noticed the commotion and they all headed for the dangled seaweed. Draven would have to pick the hippo crabs out of the group of sea creatures.

Hironidin

16-08-2009, 22:15

Before Draven knew it, he felt something tug on the seaweed, two somethings to be precise. The couple of hopeful seaweed worshipers were soon dumped into the bag along with the others, graciously allowed to keep a chunk of the seaweed to feast on while they waited for their strange ride to come to an end. That or fight over it along with he other six crabs resting impatiently in the soaked satchel. The latter made Draven begin contemplating how much money one could make off a professional crab fighting championship. I could make millions!

The foreigner's elaborate train of thought was unfortunately disrupted as he broken as he noticed a small group of begin forming at his feet, claws pointed skyward as they desperately reached out for the heavenly piece of scrumptious seaweed. After having to flick off some of the more adventures hermit crabs that took it upon themselves to scale the mountain that was Draven's leg to get to their prize, the large teenager carefully picked the last two remaining hippo thingies he required from the crowd and dropped them into the bag, tying it off at the top just in case any decided to make a break for it on the journey back.

With that done, he tossed the remaining seaweed away, its sudden flight luring the rest of the mob away, luckily freeing the big man's feet so he could dip the bag in the water one last time before heading back to dry-er land, and complete his mission.

OOC: I'm gonna take one as a pet, you gotta help me name it ^^

kyubichan

16-08-2009, 22:50

OOC: Pickle, 'coz it smells like one.

------------

The hippo crabs contentedly ate the seaweed, barely noticing that they weren't near the ocean anymore. Back at the researchers' office, the one who gave Draven his mission looked anxious. Time was important to these men of science, even if barely half a day had transpired. All the genin needed to do was to hand over his catch to the researchers, they would give him a good amount of ryo for his troubles, and he could go on his merry way.

Hironidin

17-08-2009, 00:18

The soggy and crawling bag was cheerfully plopped into the unsuspecting hand of the same man who had been waiting Draven's arrival. His head slow swiveled around from the work behind the door to that of whatever horror was now occupying his hand, his grimacing scowl turning to the lumpy sack first, then to the back of the shinobi who was now thoughtlessly walking away with his pay, and then back to the bag with hardly a change in between.

Draven made his way home with a frustrating lack of consent hovering over him. True, he had collected all his samples with half the day to spare. He was even sure he had rid the beach of those menacing children, well at least he figured as much. He didn't know what kind of effect waking up next to one of your friends with his brains splattered all over the place would do the kids, but he was more than sure something that traumatizing would keep them off any beach for a while at least. But there was one loose end he had let run free, a fact that would bug him for a while now, he knew it.

The big man let out a sigh as his hand dipped into a pocket and produced a leaf of seaweed before being hidden again into another one near his chest. The sound of something within joyously devouring it soon mixed with his soggy boot steps along the road. Well at least I got something out of it. tThough, peculiarly enough, his eyes didn't wander to his generous purse of ryo, but to his crunching pocket and the small hippo like head popping out with the seaweed happily tucked into its strange jaws. It seems there had been an eleventh catch spared fate of the other ten.

"I reckon I'm gonna have to give you name, huh little- Wait... Whats that smell?"