Head in the Clouds [mission|o]

[Akihiko]

After fleeing from the gates of Iwagakure, the shinobi made headway towards the eastern coast of the country, where he persuaded a local sailing crew to let him aboard to Kaminari no Kuni. The travel as a stowaway was rigorous, and the rough conditions of the open sea induced a motion sickness that left the shinobi vulnerable for most of his trip to Kaminari. When Mugen embarked from the vessel, he fell to his knees, kissing the ground as thanks to its solidity. After bidding farewell to the crew, who laughed at his illness, the snake boy departed east towards the middle of Kaminari no Kuni. If there were any place to build this village hidden in the clouds, it was most likely to be in the center of the country atop the highest of mountains.

Besides high altitudes, there was no home for clouds to claim their own. And with that in mind, the only remaining option was to submerge himself in the clouds above, trekking high into the mountains to find this village was sure to be more trouble than it was worth. But again, the shinobi reassured himself of the cause, and pressed on eagerly. It was a few hours before he reached the base of the mountain range, pressing through open meadows and winding hills he'd finally found the base; but to decide between the thousands of trails snaking up into the stone terrain was impossible. And so the shinobi resolved to make camp for the night, saving his challenging task for the day ahead of him.

Thunder boomed throughout the night, and rain fell lightly. Mugen had found shelter in the crevices of rock that climbed up the base of the mountain, the night was black save for a bright full moon. While he was able to sleep some, the majority of his night was spent tossing and turning in discomfort. In the early hours of the morning, he woke briefly to relieve pent up hydration, and found the biggest clue in his search for the village. In these twilight hours, a lone, injured shinobi stood at the head of a trail moving quickly up into the mountains. While it wasn't a dead give away, Mugen had at least found the trailhead moving in the direction of Kumogakure, and that was something to go off of.

^{— SEARCHING FOR KUMOGAKURE}

[Akihiko]

That morning the shinobi dined on a fine meal of powdered protein and fiber, a nutritional ration that had lasted him the duration of his trip thus far. Even so, his mind continued to replay the scene he had witnessed the night before, and so many question arose on the topic of the late night shinobi venturing up into the mountains. Who was he, where was he going, and why was he injured? All important questions that came to mind, but this was the only lead he had other than the implied location in the context of their village name. He had to follow up on it, and so he packed up camp, and through on his coat before embarking up into the mountains. He lay unaware of the trials that lay ahead.

After watching the injured shinobi depart, Mugen had followed him to the trail head and marked it's entrance, making it easy to find in daylight. He stood now at the trailhead, gazing up into the clouded mountain tops with an air of adventure. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as he made haste into the mountain range, ascending to high altitudes in several hours time. The trail he moved along curled around one mountain, sinking into the valley between them where the trail forked in the road. Crouching to the ground, Mugen was keen to pick up on the foot prints moving in one direction, and chose to follow those up the left path, as it seemed to lead back up into the mountains.

This was clearly a mistake, for after an hour of trekking, the foot prints stopped. The shinobi leading him to Kumogakures doorstep, was at least wise enough to double back and throw his pursuer off. This lead to another question: was the shinobi aware of Mugen's presence, or was there perhaps another pursuant? Nonetheless, he turned back, continuing back down to the fork in the road. While it was frustrating to have wasted so much time, Mugen showed nothing of it, keeping calm and collected during the course of his mission. This time around, he took the right path at the fork in the road, venturing up into the unmarked territory he'd previously overlooked.

^{— SEARCHING FOR KUMOGAKURE}

[Akihiko]

After taking a right at the fork in the road, Mugen pressed on for an hour before the tracks resumed. The shinobi entering this mountain range was clearly meticulous in his efforts to erase his trail, but the persistant kusa nin had managed to catch on to his plan in enough time to resume his course. The open meadow that graced this valley soon lead between touching mountains, a thin trail zig-zagging up the surface of the mountain. To save him the trouble of unnecessary travel, he decided for a more reasonable approach. Standing at the base of this winding trail, the shinobi successfully focused his chakra into the base of his feet, a trick learned in the academy to walk along vertical surfaces.

Stepping up onto the vertical face of the cliff, Mugen began to bound upwards, quick long strides carrying him quickly up and over the trail. This method exhausted him quickly, but he managed to reached the top of the trail before dissipating the chakra focused to his feet. Falling to the earth, he lay there momentarily, deep breaths allowing him to acclimate to the pressure of this altitude. However, the shinobi was forced to hide once more at the sound of conflict up ahead. Peering around the bend of the mountain, the injured kumo nin struggled to fend against a foreign predator. The man, donning all black garbs, unveiled an onslaught of senbon that pierced the kumo nin all at once.

Falling to the ground, he slipped into an unconscious state, which would likely have turned fatal if it wasn't for Mugen's intervention. Amidst the distraction of their fray, the kusa nin approached the darkly endowed assailant from behind, laying his katana to the man and bringing him to his death. A steel slash through the nape of his neck cast him over the cliff's edge, blood splattering the surface marked by this villain's fall. Rushing to the incapacitate shinobi, Mugen was quick to tear the cloth from his frame. One by one he removed the projectiles, clumping cloth over the injuries and applying pressure with tied linen. His bleeding had stopped for now, but he'd lost too much blood to survive for much longer, it was necessary now for Mugen to find the gates of Kumogakure. This man's life depended on it.

^{— SEARCHING FOR KUMOGAKURE}

SPOILER: Click to show

+Kinobori no Waza (Act of Tree Climbing) - Low

[Akihiko]

After casting a male perpetrator over the cliff, and clotting the wounds of cloud ninja, Mugen found himself in quite the dilemma. It was a race against time to deliver the shinobi to the medics of his village, and since he was currently unconscious , he wouldn't be any help in the process of finding this hidden village. But the kagehebi had to press on, tightly griping the loose body of the injured man, he hoisted it over his shoulder. Securing him to his shoulder with a single arm, he'd press on diligently, following the curve of this mountain path up into the clouds.

In the dense accumulation of moisture, it was impossible to see more than two or three feet in front of you at any given moment. Mugen strained to stay focused on the ground beneath him, but nearly fell once or twice after stumbling over loose rock. Finally he made it above the clouds, breaking through the white mass in a final burst, he let out a sigh of relief. The trail continued above the clouds for around a hundred meters before reaching the tall condescending doors of Kumogakure. His hunch to follow this man had ultimately led him to his destination, and so he was thankful for that. Setting the injured shinobi down in the trail, well out of the village's sight, he decided it was time to take his leave.

Pulling out his map, he'd take a few seconds to etch in the location of the village on the folded colorful parchment before tucking it back into the confines of his coat. Another successfully retrieved location meant pride for Kusagakure, and another step closer to their advantage in the world. Focusing chakra back into his feet, Mugen moved towards the edge of the mountain, turning back to the injured shinobi before leaving. Retrieving a senbon from his pocket, he launched the projectile vertically; allowing the needle to reach a high altitude before detonating the exploding tag attached to its shape. This was to signal shinobi to bring aid to their comrade, but by that time the kagehebi was gone. Having fled down the face of the mountain with the use of a simple trick.

^{— FOUND KUMOGAKURE & EXIT}

SPOILER: Click to show

+Kinobori no Waza (Act of Tree Climbing) - Low

[vegapunk]

32 EXP @ Mugen.