Groaning, he rolled to the side and fished in the mud to find his crutch—a scrap of wooden spar, tied with a filthy rag around one end for padding—and with some effort used it to push himself upwards to a stand. Each step sent a fresh stab of pain shooting up through the stump of his missing leg, but he couldn’t bear to lie there any longer. He needed something, anything, to dull his senses. The miners, he decided quickly. The miners always have a bottle or two hidden away. The trick was convincing them to share it. Perhaps he could trade for one? But for what? Maybe they’d take pity on him again. He put the problem out of his mind; it was enough to focus on one thing at a time. One step at a time.
He hobbled clumsily out of the shelter and into the pelting rain outside. It thrashed at him, finding the last parts of him that were somewhat dry and soaking them through in a moment. If only I had more elixir… That would solve everything. The day he’d found it he’d returned to the village a hero. The bearer of that wonderful ambrosia. It might not restore his leg or his family, but it’d kill the rot, numb the pain, and fill him with happiness. Maybe he could even sell it… He yearned for it, more and more each day since he’d found it. Just thinking about it seemed to give him energy; the memory of its warmth was like the feeling of embracing a lover. But the memory came with a deep-set hunger, a need for it that dominated all other desires.
A fork of lightning suddenly lit the street, illuminating a single figure running in his direction and snapping him back to reality. They were yelling, their voice lost to the rumbling of the storm. That rumbling grew louder and louder. It was more than the roll of thunder, or even the terrible roar of splitting earth that had struck the village weeks earlier. Suddenly a wave of rushing, dirty water cascaded into view out of the storm ahead, surging towards him in the night. He stumbled in shock, dropping his crutch and grasping for a nearby building for support, but without his leg he was too slow. The body of the wave hit, slamming him into a wall with such force to turn the world into a dizzying blur. It tore and pulled at him even as it surged around him, sucking him down and overwhelming him. He thrashed, helpless against the force of the water, until it took him under its surface. He flailed, unable to kick, but just couldn’t overcome the current and the raging, broiling waves. Slowly his spent body slowed its thrashing, his mind fuzzed, and everything faded to blissful, painless darkness…
Many miles away, the village of Iwagkure came alive to a warm spring morning. The kiss of cool mountain sunlight reached across the sea of stone roofs and streets, and made the pale white hair of Hachiya Kotori glow where it touched. The teenager smiled faintly, enjoying the warmth as she waited outside the awning of a street vendor, stomach rumbling at the rich aromas within. In her pocket was a small scroll of crisp white paper bearing the seal of the Tsuchikage and containing her orders; a briefing about the struggles of a distant Earth Country village called Mihara. Though it mentioned a number of concurrent disasters and a request for general support to the locals, the whole situation wouldn’t be clear until her squadmates and she arrived to investigate and see where they could help. It was more than enough to get a girl up in the morning; a real mission!
Already in decline after losing most of its workforce to the great war, Mihara has suffered through an especially long and tough winter. Its food stores are empty and its spring planting delayed due to the lingering frosts, promising even more hard times ahead. A recent earthquake devastated the small village, and now the early spring storms are turning mountain streams into perilous floods. This is an urgent and labour intensive humanitarian relief effort. Only the hardy need apply.
Objectives:
(D) - Bring aid and support to the remaining population. Help to stabilise the dire situation and give the hardy villages a chance to recover.
(C~B) (Optional) - Further investigate the concurrent disasters in the region.