[Graded][Plotboard] Task at Hand

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 8:30 am

[Plotboard] Lady in the Evening Satisfying the boy had been the easy part, he had even fallen asleep rather quickly afterwards. But as Yuri stood and began to get dressed once more, he had awoken, proving he was rather a light sleeper which was simply not ideal for what needed to come next. Yuri hugged him, kissed on him even to get a smile out of him as well as to get him to lower his guard, and from there it had simply taken a grip between the neck and clavicle to knock him unconscious and she fixed him in the bed so he would appear as if sleeping.

The difficult part would come next. There were two guards in the hallway that needed to be incapacitated as well, or at least distracted. She wasn't sure if Aimi had a plan for them, but just in case she neared the doors and gave a low bird's call to let Aimi know it was time, silently hoping he already had something planned for the pair.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:42 am

The guards were not deaf to the call of Yuri. It had come at an oddly convenient point, where one guard finished speaking and the other had just opened his mouth to continue the conversation, that point between people in which silence is momentarily the dominant sound. Thus, Yuri's bird call was not only an alarm to Aimi, but also to the guards. "What was that?" the guard on the left asked.

"That would be my lady," Aimi said to them. "The signal she uses to let me know that her work is finished and it is time for us to depart." Stepping forward, Aimi opened the door between the guards slowly, looking at Yuri from underneath his wicker hat with an expression he hoped would convey she shouldn't try anything rash or sudden. He took a step back from the door and held out his arm for Yuri to take. "My lady," he said, bowing his head to her and waiting for her to take his arm. As they turned to go, he'd turn to the guards and saying, "You'll let General Shin knowing that our work is finished for us? Your shift is over now."

"Yes, of course," said the guard to the right of the open door. Aimi nodded and turned back with Yuri, walking down the stairs. He leaned his head over and whispered to her. "We should leave the grounds, exchange information and come up with a plan."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sat Jun 10, 2017 4:55 pm

As Aimi opened the door, Yuri would appear as well put together as she had when she entered. Aside from the sounds they had likely heard from within, the guards might not have thought anything had actually happened. But the woman didn't miss the look from Aimi as he opened the door and held out an arm, she returned his bow but only with a slight incline of the head before taking him by the arm and walking along with him. She said nothing to the guards of course, a woman of her station, though a prostitute, wouldn't have said a word.

She walked along with Aimi and only nodded as he spoke and she seemed to lean closer against him, feigning a fatigue she did not actually feel if only for the physical impression she needed to give the guards for both their own ruse as well as the reputation of Shinjiro who slept within the room.

She would only speak as they got away from prying ears and began their walk outside of the building. "I learned a little that might help us." she remarked quietly. "Hopefully you had as much luck?"

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sun Jun 11, 2017 11:51 am

Aimi nodded his head as he walked Yuri towards the gate. It was mid-afternoon by that point and they could hear cicadas singing off in the distance. "Yes. Quite a bit, actually. The guards - " he began, but was cut off before he could finish by a booming voice coming from behind them.

"YOU! Stop!"

Aimi stopped and tensed up, recognizing the voice that spoke to them from a couple of hours ago. He had to resist the urge to turn and face the man or to say anything at all, his mouth opening up momentarily so that he could before he bit his lip to silence himself. 'I have to let Yuri handle talking to the general', he told himself. Turning his head, he did look out from under his hat at General Shin and the man he had with him, a short, bald man dressed in ornate clothes who held his arms behind his back. He had no idea who it was, but he recognized him from earlier when he'd seen General Shin talking to him outside.

"Where are you going? Have you finished with Shinjiro?" General Shin asked, only glancing at Aimi before turning his attention fully towards Yuri, the client he'd hired to take care of his son. The bald man, though, kept his eyes on Aimi for some reason. It made the jounin feel a bit uncomfortable, the way he was being stared at...

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:34 pm

Yuri had to resist the urge to sigh heavily as she heard the General shouting for them. Men like him, men with money and power, were a fickle thing. Often when they hired someone for a job they had this strange habit of acting like that person was their slave during their time on their payroll. It was an irritating habit, and one that made Yuri infinitely glad that she had chosen the profession of a shinobi rather than the profession she was now pretending to be a part of. She turned around of course and regarded the General with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Companions were known for their sharp tongues outside the bedroom, setting their own schedules and choosing their bedmates gave them a surprising amount of power over men like the General herself. It was the only real upside.

"Of course, General." She replied, a little too sweetly perhaps. "I must admit, for a virgin the man's stamina was impressive... quite a specimen you've raised." she added, an unnecessary compliment meant to throw the man off and leave him a bit uncomfortable. "He is resting now, and so I am taking my leave to do the same." she said, pausing with a hand in the air as if considering a thought. Something had just occurred to the woman, and while it seemed a risk it also seemed worth planting a seed. In case they could not succeed in their mission tonight they would need a second day...

"You know, it is not uncommon for a single man to occupy my time for more than a day." she mentioned, looking at the General a moment. "Perhaps I should remain nearby? If your son Shinjiro would like my company for another evening I could make myself available." It was a gamble, but one that could serve a good purpose.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:00 pm

As Yuri bantered with the general, Aimi stood as still as he could and remained quiet. He turned his head away and looked around aimlessly, pretending to be vigilant. The truth of the matter, was, that the greatest danger to both himself and Yuri was standing right next to him. That knowledge made his skin itch beneath his clothes, but what was worse was the bald man who kept staring at him. Even with his back turned on him, Aimi could feel his eyes boring into him. Had he made some mistake and given away their cover? What had he done? He had no idea, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were about to be exposed when they were so close to leaving and preparing for the next phase of the mission.

"Another night?" General Shin asked, looking down at the ground for a moment before shaking his head. "No. Absolutely not. My son is a man now, and that's all that matters. You may leave this place at your leisure. I thank you for your services." Bowing his head briefly, the general turned to the shorter man beside him, grunted and turned to walk towards the entrance to the mansion. The bald man hesitated only a moment before following after them.

Aimi didn't move until after they were a good distance away. Keeping Yuri on his arm, he walked towards the front gate. "We'll talk once we're away," he whispered as they crossed the threshold gate. A horse and carriage waited for them just outside of it. Aimi stepped away from Yuri and up to the carriage, opening it up for her and standing by the door while she stepped in. He followed in after her, told the driver to go and they were off, the door shutting behind them. He waited until they were a good distance down the road before talking.

"GAH! Fucking FINALLY! I can take off this stupid hat and these suffocating clothes!" he said, reaching up and practically ripping the hat off of his head before throwing it down on the carriage floor. He reached up afterwards and grabbed a hold of his kimono with both hands, tearing it off of his shoulders and exposing his bare chest, shoulders and upper air to the cool, fresh air for the first time in hours. He took in a breath, his chest rising up visibly, and let it out with a long, heavy sigh, relaxing against his seat across from Yuri and pulling his arms out of the sleeves. "Oooooh, heir fraulein, that's so much better you don't even knoooooooooow!" he whined, his head tilted back and his body sweating as though he'd been the one romping around with the general's son.

Taking a moment to collect himself, Aimi sat up in his seat and looked over at Yuri, now sitting in what looked like a nest of clothes around him. "Alright, so here's what I learned. General Shin runs a tight operation, I can tell you that much. When you've had a chance to look around, it's no wonder that he's preparing a coup. Every entrance to every room except for the doors of the upper floor terrace are guarded by at least one samurai at all times. General Shin's office, on the second floor to the left, is guarded by four. The shifts change every two hours, when new guards come in to replace the ones who were previously on duty at a door. The old guards move to a new location to guard. In total, there's somewhere between fifty and seventy soldiers on the property at all times I'd say. Each one of them is highly trained, battle hardened and experienced. The finest soldiers Shin could get his hands on. If I had to estimate, I'd say that we're looking at B rank minimum for the greenest of soldiers, but in reality it's probably better to guess A rank."

"The two buildings on either side of the main mansion," he continued, "are both store houses and barracks for the samurai. They each have two levels, one on top and one underground. The underground is where supplies are kept while up top is where soldiers sleep. The entire property is essentially a fortress ready for a siege. A well guarded fortress at that. Other than the guards stationed at entryways, there's also two separate details of guards who patrol the inside of the grounds as well as along the outside, day and night, twenty four seven as far as I could tell. Their shifts change just like the rest of the guards do, and there's a brief window between when one guard takes over and the new one starts. If possible, we should use this opening to our advantage."

Reaching up, Aimi ruffled his own hair and closed his eyes a moment, trying to think if there was anymore relevant information that he could think to tell her. When he couldn't think of anything right off the bat, he looked up at Yuri and concluded, "That's about it I think. What did you find?"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Jun 18, 2017 8:03 pm

Yuri bowed respectfully to the General as he turned and left, and the woman smirked at his back as he went. 'Even the richest of men are complete cheapskates.' she thought to herself before sighing and turning to continue on with Aimi. She didn't say a word aloud however, not even as Aimi spoke to her, at least not until they got into the carriage. As he started stripping of course, Yuri couldn't help but to laugh at the spectacle. Despite the fact that their time in the bathhouse had made her incredibly wary of him, the sight in front of her was just too funny.

She fell back into silence of course as Aimi conveyed all he had garnered, and Yuri set to making herself more comfortable. By time Aimi was finished speaking and asked for her input, Yuri was laying on her back on the bench she sat on, looking like she felt exhausted. "I learned that I know at least one virgin with too much stamina for his own good." she said entirely serious, before a smile broke her lips and she started laughing again, turning to look at Aimi. "But no seriously, I don't think you could have tried to pretend you wanted him and done that job, not unless there's something I don't know about you." She added, allowing herself a few moments of laughter before taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"I didn't learn much, but there is a secret passage in the kitchens we can access. Shinjiro thought it was just a doorway but mentioned a hallway he never trespassed, I'd be willing to bet the place is full of passages and we can make our way into his father's offices that way, get the information we require."

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:07 pm

Aimi smiled and chuckled along with Yuri, choosing not to answer her playful comment. Now was neither the time nor the place to get into such matters. They needed to focus on the task at hand, and there were roughly sixty samurai, give or take a few, standing between them and the evidence they needed to prove that general Shin was planning a coup. Even though he wasn't acting in character any more, they were still on a mission together and he needed to stay professional and focused.

"A secret passage in the kitchen?" Aimi mused, going quiet as he puzzled to himself and thought back to his time in the kitchen. He tried to think of anything that seemed like it could be a hidden doorway, but couldn't come up with much. The best that he could think of was a certain spice rack that people tended to avoid. "It makes sense that general Shin would have some sort of secret passage in his dwelling. An escape tunnel of sorts. The kitchen was down on the first floor, and I might have an idea of where this hidden door is at... though, it's just a guess, really. That being said, there might be a way up to the general's office from there. So what do you think? We sneak onto the grounds and into the kitchen, then make our way up to his office?" he asked, looking over at the now laid down Yuri.

"Actually... now's a good time to bring this up. How are we going to sneak onto the property again? I don't usually like to sneak around, it's too dishonest, but I know that it's necessary for this. Do you have some sort of ninjutsu we could use to slip in undetected?" he asked her, trying to think of a proper strategy that they could use together with what she'd tell him.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:29 pm

Yuri smirked at him as he asked about sneaking in. "I mean, I can." she mentioned. "Remember the way we first met?" she added, her way of reminding him of the simple fact that she could transform into a cat. She had done it to play with Aimi's cat when she first met him, and shortly after revealed herself to be more kunoichi than feline. It had certainly been a fun day, and Aimi had gotten to see a side of her so few people did. "But sneaking you in? Well that will be more difficult." She mentioned, moving to roll over on her stomach as she thought their predicament over.

"We could commandeer a delivery. Either you disguise yourself as the driver or hide in the cargo. The latter might be best... just in case one of the guards you met today recognizes you." She thought it over and realized neither of those would probably work. She had to assume that the cargo would be searched. "Actually... think you can hang on underneath a cart? That might be the best bet. I can sit on the back in my feline form, give you a heads up if they come close to finding you.... it's the best thing I can think of really."

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu Jun 22, 2017 8:31 pm

"Hm? The first time we met?" Aimi asked, thinking back on it. He recalled how he and Vodka Mewtini had been playing with a group of children and another cat. It took him a moment to remember that Yuri had been that other cat, and that she had the ability to transform into a cat... somehow. Presumably through some kind of ninjutsu. As he thought on it, he realized that he'd never brought up that particular fact about her before. Then and there wasn't the proper time to discuss the mechanics of her transformation ability though.

"That could work. It'd be an easy matter for me to hang against the underside of a cart. The only problem is how do we know when a cart is supposed to make a delivery in the first place? I didn't get any information about delivery of goods to the compound. For all we know, it could be days or even weeks before a shipment of supplies comes in," Aimi said, leaning his head back and crossing his arms over his chest, trying to think of a way for them to work together in this. It didn't take him too long to think of a solution all his own.

"Scaling the walls of the compound actually wouldn't be much of an issue for me. The issue would come in the patrols on the inside and outside of the compound. Coordinating the precise time for me to make my way over the wall would be tough normally... but not as much with you." He paused and lifted his head up, looking down at Yuri before he continued. "I think we should take advantage of your cat form and use your meows as a signal for me to follow. When the guards on the outside of the wall and those inside turn a blind eye on a spot, you could signal me and I could leap over the wall. With you being a cat, all you'd need to do is to climb up onto the wall and keep watch until the time was right. What do you think?"

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Jun 25, 2017 12:24 am

Yuri sighed as she turned her head to stare at the ceiling of the carriage for several moments, listening as Aimi spoke. She could have pointed out that they could have set up a deliver rather easily. She could have pointed out that she could go in as a feline and set fire to some of their stores, making a new delivery an immediate necessity. But she remained silent. What Aimi had shown her of himself at the bath house still lingered in her mind, it had convinced her that those who thought different than him weren't just misunderstood, the could even be seen as a threat. As such she remained silent, no longer confident that she could correct him in anything without backlash.

"It's a thought." she said simply as he laid out his plan and her mind worked it over. "Perhaps an addendum though." she added, some part of her bracing for a rage, for anything as she turned her head to look at him again. "I could make sure to get you that blindspot. Cats are troublesome critters, there's a reason why guards hate seeing them outside of the barracks." She had seen cats cause a lot of trouble, they could knock things over, accidentally start fires, and some guards would chase them down without a thought in the simple interest of getting them out of the way.

She could prove a distraction.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Mon Jun 26, 2017 8:37 am

Aimi stared almost blankly at Yuri as she spoke, listening to her suggestion and realizing that... yeah, that was better than he'd suggested. Sure, they could wait in their respective places, he out in the forest or something like that and she on the wall, waiting for the exact right moment when the guards on the inside and outside turned the back. Or they could create that opportunity themselves by having Yuri in her feline form run a muck, keeping juuuuuuuust out of reach of the guards and leading them away so that Aimi could get over the wall and into the compound without issue. It was a more proactive suggestion than what he'd originally thought of, and he liked that she'd been the one to think of it.

He smiled. "Huh. I hadn't thought of that. I like it, that's better than I suggested," he told her. Turning his head and looking out of the carriage window, he sat quietly for a few moments, thinking about the various things that they still had to establish. This step of the mission needed to be meticulous as the two of them alone could manage. They had to iron out every detail before they executed it and each had to have it known by heart. Failure would mean getting swarmed by samurai and captured at best, but the most likely outcome for failure would be death. General Shin was planning a coup of the Water country, after all. He couldn't afford to let a couple of ninja from Kirigakure go alive. He, for one, was not ready to die yet.

"We'll need a rendezvous point for when we're both inside the compound. I suggest the upper floor terrace since there are no guards there normally," the white haired jounin said, keeping his gaze out of the window and waiting for Yuri's input. He hoped that, like before, she had some improvement to his thoughts to offer.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:04 pm

As he smiled at her and gave his compliment, Yuri only looked at him a moment and nodded to show she had heard him. She turned her head to stare at the ceiling once more, processing the change in conversation as he moved on to the subject of the randezvous point. He was correct of course, she would have to distract the guards and then slip them, meet him somewhere so they could continue on with their mission from there. "A terrace?" she remarked thoughtfully, wrinkling up her nose.

"I don't know, sounds a bit open. At the least perhaps towards the back of it so those down below don't see us." She added as she thought it over. "You might be waiting a hot minute though, it could take me some time to slip the guards." She turned her head again to look at him a moment. "How's the cover up there? Is there anywhere you can hide and watch for me? I can approach as the feline still to hide my own presence but you'll need some actual cover."

It was a strange way for her to speak really. Normally she was concerned about her partners making it out, but given her connection to Aimi even she had to hold back her own words to keep it from sounding like more. Despite how he had scared her in the bathhouse that day, the woman still cared. She just was working harder to keep from showing it, working to make sure to treat him just as she would any other partner.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 4:51 am

He listened to her words and mulled them over, keeping his line of sight out of the carriage as he tried to visualize how things would go step by step, starting the whole series of events over in his head when a new point was reached. She was right, the balcony didn't provide the best cover in the world. Aside from the shade provided from the roof above, there wasn't anything for either of them to hide behind except for shadow. Normally that might have been enough... for a shinobi less stubborn than Aimi. With his white hair, pale skin, and white cloak around his waist, he was well aware that he stood out at night like a ghost. Which was intentional, but not at all helpful in this situation.

"The cover is bad up there. It's very open for the most part. Fortunately, it's a short distance to the door leading inside, so we'd only need to be up there together for a moment. As soon as you're up there with me, we can make a dash for the door... I... suppose I could bring this with me," he said, turning away from the window and reaching down to pluck at the kimono that he still half wore. "It's dark enough that, in the shadows, I won't be easily noticed. Unfortunately, it might be best that I cover up totally with it - face and all - to hide my hair. I'll have to listen for you and the world around me to make sure that I'm not discovered..."

He trailed off, a far away look in his eyes as he once again imagined the scenario. He'd hide out in the woods, she'd distract the guards. He'd hike up over the wall and get up onto the terrace, then hide beneath the kimono and wait for Yuri to show up. But then... what if he was discovered? His cover might be blown, but hers wouldn't necessarily. What's more, if his cover was blown, it occurred to him that there was an opportunity in this version of events. "If I am discovered while waiting for you," he said, looking up at her, "we can use the confusion to our advantage. Compared to the sudden appearance of an intruder, a cat will mean nothing. I can distract them easily enough and maybe even kill some of them while you get inside and get the information we need from General Shin's office. If I make enough of a rukus, I'm sure even the guards at his door would be summoned away to deal with me. If nothing else, it's a contingency plan."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:39 am

Yuri wrinkled up her nose at the idea of him being caught. Whether she saw him as just a regular mission partner or not, looking at getting caught as any form of backup plan put a bad taste in her mouth. "That's not a plan." she said simply. "If you get caught, they will start looking for me and I cannot hold that form forever." Her words likely came off a little harsher than intended as the woman was trying to keep from snapping at him for thinking getting caught was any form of a plan. "No plan of ours should involve one of us getting caught, that spells mission failure, and I haven't failed one yet."

'And I don't plan to.' The woman sighed as she stared up at the top of the carriage, hands folded on her belly as she thought it over. "If the terrace is the best we got for options, we'll go for it... but lets get some rest so we're ready to start this."

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:03 am

Aimi blinked. Yuri's tone struck him as a stark juxtaposition to how she'd been acting up to this point, and it in fact made him realize all at once that she had indeed been acting differently. He'd been too distracted by his own discomfort to tell, but her tone when speaking to him had almost entirely been neutral, blank, hazy compared to how it had been before their little spat in the bathhouse. Now, suddenly, as he suggested what he felt was the most logical course of action for an eventuality that may or may not occur, her tone was strict, almost reprimanding. The idea of one of them getting caught simply hadn't crossed her mind until he brought it up, it would seem, almost as if she expected the two of them not to fail. Perhaps it was more than that? Was she actually concerned with his well being, despite having acted so distant towards him throughout the duration of this mission?

He could have said many things. He could have told her that, if it did come to him being discovered and them having to use the ensuing chaos as an opportunity, that he could get away Scott-free by flying away, assuming that they had no ways of dealing with his ability to fly or could even keep up with his speeds. He could have told her that, were it to come to pass that he be caught, that he could simply cover his face with a mask of bone and even go as far as to alter his internal skeletal structure so that he could be unrecognizable to the men as he fought his way through. He could have boasted that his speed alone gave him the advantage over any of the samurai there he'd wager... but he did none of these things. He simply marinated over the realization that for a moment, she'd cracked and made him realize how her attitude had been towards him as of late. Something to meditate on.

"Yeah, sure," he said, leaning back in his seat and turning his gaze back out to window, his mind now no longer on the mission but instead on the memories of the past few hours, going over Yuri's behavior and mannerisms around him when they were alone compared to what they'd been before the bathhouse.
*** Hours later, Aimi stood in the trees behind General Shin's mansion, crouched on a branch with his arms resting on his thighs, watching intently as a guard paced back and forth from one wall to the next, another guard on the inside presumably doing the same thing or something similar. He was waiting for the signal from Yuri for him to rush forward. His back ached from sitting in a crouched position for so long, but he had to be ready to act at a moment's notice. His belt had been brought down two notches and the kimono he'd worn early folded and tucked between his back and the belt, ready for him to whip out and cover himself as soon as he was up on the balcony. This, to him, was going to be the worst part of the night. All this waiting. All this uncomfortable sitting. All of this anxiety building up in him as he waited for Yuri to make her move. It didn't help that, despite his best efforts, a shadow of a thought still lingered in his mind about the woman and how she'd been acting. Focused as he was, there still remained a twinge of concern at the wrinkling of her nose and the sudden shift in tone.

Still, he waited.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:20 am

Rest had been fleeting, but that wasn't unusual. The pair were on a mission and Yuri's mind wouldn't allow for full sleep, her mind wouldn't allow her guard down enough. But rest had been enough, and now she trotted around in her feline form. Getting in had been easy, impress the right person who had a soft spot for cats and she was carried right in, even given a snack of some kind of turkey or other fowl. But quickly she ran off like cats are prone to do and now she sat on her haunches on the very wall that Aimi needed to be able to climb over. She was thinking, watching, and a moment later the opportunity came.

It was a roving patrol set to guard the walls, roving across a path on the top of them and there she sat, mewing loudly at them. One man rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath, the other made some cute little coo and reached out to pet her. Of course, Yuri promptly scratched him before turning and running away, tail up and bristled even as the pair chased after her. It would set the patrol off their times and distract the only pair that walked these laps at least for the next hour or so.

But that was Yuri's intent.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:23 pm

When Yuri jumped up onto the wall, Aimi was quick to see her. He shifted position on his branch slightly, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck out. Now that she was there, it was only going to be a matter of time before he needed to move. He waited and watched patiently, looking for his chance. The two guards up on the wall promptly chased after her, one of them letting out a rather loud curse which alerted the guard patrolling the outside wall. Aimi looked down at this guard, watching and waiting for his moment, heart beating fiercely in his chest. It took a heft handful of seconds, but the guard turned his back.

"Here we go," Aimi said to himself quietly, dropping down from the branch he was sat upon and landing on the ground below in a crouched position. An instant later he was off, dashing silently through the trees and under brush, jumping over bushes and between trees as they came to him until he was out of the woods all together and crouched in front of the wall. Tensing the muscles in his legs, he leaped up and over the wall, landing quietly on the other side again in a crouched position. Lifting his head up, he snapped it back and forth quickly, looking around for any guards on patrol on the inside of the compound that might spot him. He was sat in shadows currently, but his pale everything wouldn't go unnoticed for long.

Seeing his chance, Aimi dashed forward between two guards who were passing by one another, waiting until they were a good five meters apart before moving. This was his most vulnerable moment by far. The night was only partly cloudy, the light of the moon shining down on them periodically. In that moment, as he crouched and tensed his muscles to make another leap up onto the balcony, the light from the moon shone down through the parted clouds and illuminated him. He'd done his best in the hours leading up to this to remember how the samurai moved around the compound from the few brief instances that he'd been able to observe them, but his memory and his information were far from perfect. All it would take was one guard to turn his head and see him and it would all be over.

Aimi leaped up into the air and threw his right arm out, grabbing a hold of the terrace railing and hoisting himself up and over the rail, tossing his legs over the railing. With his left hand, he reached back and grabbed onto the kimono. As soon as he was over the rail, he yanked the garment out from his belt and rolled over to the wall, stopping with his back pressed up against it and tossing the kimono over himself to act as a shield in the darkness to any wandering eyes. All of this he did as fast as he possibly could to minimize his chances of being seen.

Once under the garment, he let out a sigh and reached down to readjust his belt, tightening it up before leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. For him, the hard part was over. Now he needed only to wait for Yuri to finish being a pesky feline and come and find him. He could lead her inside from there, and the two of them could sneak down into the kitchen. At least, that was the plan...

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:57 am

Sometimes this was fun, even Yuri enjoyed it. She raced around with the two guards on her heels for awhile, and when she eventually lost them of course she had to make it seem like a real cat was running around. She went to what she could only assume was the barracks and knocked a few things over, even stole a piece of cheese. In fact by time she got to the terrace, she was still carrying a sizeable hunk of cheese in her mouth. When she saw Aimi, she slunk against the wall and inched her way forward in an attempt to keep from being seen at first.

If it went according to plan, he wouldn't see her until she was rubbing up against him in feline form, and dropping the cheese on his lap. Of course he was lucky she wasn't a real cat, if she was, that could have been a dead mouse she was dropping. She perked up, ears twitching as she looked around and her tail twitched as well as she stood alert. "Alright, let's get moving." she remarked, her nose twitching at the small sound of her voice in this form.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 6:04 am

It felt like an eternity passed before Yuri showed up again. While it wasn't an especially warm night out, hid motionless underneath a dark kimono, Aimi's own body heat made the impromptu camouflage a sauna. It wouldn't have been nearly half as bad if he could actually move around some, or pull his head out so he could breath, but both things would risk him being seen by someone so he had to endure. He wasn't sure exactly how much time passed before Yuri came slinking up to him and rubbing up against his thigh. His immediate thought, from underneath the kimono, was that some samurai was kicking him to see if he moved, but that line of thought was quickly discarded when he didn't hear any sort of shouting or calling for more guards and it was all but obliterated when he felt something drop into his lap over the kimono and a tiny voice speak out to him.

Reaching up, he pulled the kimono off of his head and looked over to his left, seeing Yuri standing there in her cat form and no one else. The voice had to have been hers. There was no mistake. "... You sound funny when you talk like that," he whispered, looking down to his lap and seeing... a hunk of cheese? Random. But he wasn't about to question it's existence when they were still in the middle of a mission. He picked up the piece of cheese and stood up slowly, craning his head up and looking over the terrace railing at the ground below as he rose, making sure that he wasn't being watched from outside of the shadows. He slipped the cheese into his butt bag and then looked down at his feline partner.

"Right. Follow me," he said, turning to the right and dashing off. In no time at all he was around the corner and at the door leading to the inside, standing in front of it and waiting for Yuri to catch up to him. He had no idea how fast she was in that form of hers, but comparatively she didn't need to be fast. She was small and blended in with the shadows just fine, not to mention she couldn't even be seen from the ground below where as he still could be. His speed was paramount, while hers wasn't. All the same, he hoped that she'd show haste and get to where he was as quickly as possible so that they could get inside without an issue.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 10:59 am

The feline let out a little hiss as Aimi said she sounded funny. Honestly that was exactly why Yuri normally avoided talking in this form at all costs. She sounded so strange. She still remembered how Kuro had reacted the first time he heard her talk.... and then there was the time her shoulder blades were broken and she went into form and couldn't jump so Kuro had to carry her in a bag. Though the latter was less embarrassing when she remembered she did steal the sashimi he'd had in there. That had been quite delicious and the memory of it made her stomach growl. 'Seriously, I need to get his mother to teach me how to make that.'

But she sighed and chased after Aimi as the man started moving. Of course, she didn't have any trouble keeping up as her ability to run didn't change in this form. If someone were to see her they would wonder how a cat could move so quick, but being a black cat and considered unlucky, more than likely she knew any samurai who saw her moving at a high speed would think she was a hallucination, a dark omen of some kind, and she would be ignored. After all, who wants to think an ill omen is coming their way?

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:06 pm

Thankfully, Yuri kept pace with him as he'd dashed towards the door. Seeing the small black cat right at his feet when he stopped, he opened the door quietly and stepped inside, keeping it held open for Yuri so that she could come in with him. As soon as she was inside, he'd shut the door and turn to look down the hall. It was a very short hall, opening up two ways - one to the right wing of the upper floor where Shinjiro's room resided. There stood only a single samurai now, staring out over the railing in front of him, likely zoned out entirely from presumably (and hopefully) a long stint of standing in the same spot and doing nothing. Seeing him there, Aimi immediately knew that things were about to get complicated. Though they were too far away to be heard at the moment unless they spoke up to get his attention, one errant look their way would tip him off to their presence.

"I think you should stay like that for a moment or so..." he said to Yuri, pointing out the guard in front of them in case she hadn't noticed him yet. "There should be four guards across the way in front of General Shin's office door. We can't just take him out from a distance or they'll notice and come running. There's not enough space in the hall to hide from them if they do... Can't just move on out either or else we'd risk getting seen by him..."

He trailed off, looking down at the black cat near his feet an cocking an eyebrow, asking her silently what she thought they should do. He himself was trying to think of something for them to do, but what he was coming up with wasn't the best of ideas. Sending Yuri out to distract the guard or guards while he made a dash for the kitchen wasn't a plan so much as it was a rehash of what they'd just done. There were too many people inside and they were all stationary for that to work this time around. They couldn't just... attack, either, much as he'd have liked to. Their mission would surely end in failure like that. Yuri's reaction to his suggestion of using himself as a distraction earlier came to mind. Yet, this was the right course of action they needed to take and he knew that. If they'd gone to the opposite wing, they'd be facing 4 samurai instead of one, all of which were likely more experienced and battle-hardened than the one that they faced now.

The Yamai looked back up at the samurai, contemplating what it was they should do... when an idea occurred to him. Yuri had given him a wedge of cheese earlier. A rather sizable wedge at that. At this distance... with his strength... he wagered that it could probably knock him out if he aimed it properly. Of course, that still left the issue of the other guards seeing him being knocked out by a wedge of cheese and rushing over to see what the issue was. Even if he did throw it and they made a dash downstairs, there was still at least four samurai below them that they had to deal with before they could make their way to the kitchen, and who knew how many people were in there?

"We need a distraction of some kind..." he said - and then it hit him! A bell rang in his head and suddenly he had an idea. "Wait here a second, and keep watch. Wait for the signal, you'll know when, and tell me when it's safe to go," he said, reaching behind him while keeping his eyes on the samurai and opening the door back open a crack. He stepped back onside and pressed his back against the door, keeping it open just a crack while he channeled his chakra and created bones in his calf. Within a short matter of seconds, a small, infant-like skeleton emerged from his leg and into the crack in the door, turning to Yuri and waving at her before heading past her down the hall while Aimi shut the door entirely and listened.

The pygmy skeleton shambled its way down the hall almost clumsily, its arms held out in front of it and its head shaking lightly with every step. It walked right up to the samurai and looked up at him, standing still and string blankly with its empty sockets. For a moment or so, the samurai actually didn't notice the little thing standing next to his leg, eerily still and unnatural looking by all accounts. It wasn't until he shifted and the skeleton shifted along with him, its bones creaking as they rubbed against each other did the guard look down, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye around the same time he heard the creaking. His eyes went wide and the pygmy's jaw dropped.

The samurai screamed in fright and jumped back, taken aback by the sudden appearance of this little skeleton. The clone turned away from the guard and started to shamble down the hall as fast as it's little feet could carry it, heading towards the staircase. The guards on the other side of the hall heard the man's screams and looked over concerned, while he looked at them and back at the skeleton, unsure what to do. Aimi heard the scream himself, but stood behind the door and waited for Yuri's signal that it was safe for him to come in.

Jutsu UsedShow

OOC: Feel free to use the little pygmy in your next post if you want/need to!

Death Bone Pulse • Bone Clone (Pygmy)
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
By channeling chakra throughout their body, the user creates an entire skeletal structure at a speed of 5 that is no bigger than twenty one inches tall. The clone lasts for up to 3 posts before falling apart and can move a maximum of 15 meters away from the user. The clones stats are as follows:

Taijutsu: 1
Stamina: 2
Strength: 1
Speed: 2

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Jul 02, 2017 1:42 pm

Yuri didn't seem to respond to Aimi's silent question as he stared down at her. The feline simply sat there, staring down the hall at the samurai. She sat entirely still, save for her tail as it twitched back and forth. But after several moments it seemed Yuri didn't need to respond at all, Aimi seemed to have an idea of his own as he disappeared back behind the door and a moment later one of his small skeleton formations came out. She had seen the thing before, back when he was playing with some kids in the street. Somehow it seemed more creepy now and as it waved at her she couldn't fight the feline reaction as she hissed at it quietly. The sound was barely audible and wouldn't alert the guard as the skeleton shambled down the hall.

Yuri didn't move, sitting in feline form still and simply watching. But her eyes seemed to sparkle as the man shrieked in fear and she stood up, walking slowly down the hall as she watched the man go after the little skeleton. She'd make sure the coast was clear of course before turning back to the doorway and scratching at it lightly, her signal to Aimi that it was okay to come out. The woman was sticking to things that seemed normal to a cat of course, primarily because if by some off chance they were spotted, it still kept them some element of surprise.

4/12

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sun Jul 02, 2017 2:36 pm

As the little skeleton made its way down the hall, the samurai started to shout at one another, asking what was going on and trying to frantically explain. It didn't take too long for the skeleton to round the corner of the hall and start heading down the stairs, hopping down them one at a time. By then, the samurai it had originally scared came running down the hall to follow after it, shouting out for at least one of the guards on the other side to come and see this strange anomaly, his hand already moving to his sword. Now that the initial fright had passed, he was already beginning to think on what to do about this bony apparition in the way he knew best.

Yuri's signal came as a scratch on the door and Aimi opened it up, taking a quick look down to hall himself to make absolutely certain that the coast was clear before dashing down the hall was his back hunched so that he'd be below the railing while he moved. He stopped at the front of Shinjiro's door and knelt down on the floor, channeling a good amount of chakra throughout his body and creating several more clones out of his bones. The sight must have truly been horrific to behold as several limbs suddenly grew up from out of his body and made purchase on the world around him rapidly, grabbing at the floor, the railing, whatever these new limbs could get their skeletal hands on only for the rest of the clones to come out attached to these limbs, emerging from Aimi's back and sides quickly as though his body were some sort of holding chamber for these skeletons.

Once out of his body, the six skeletons stood up while Aimi remained kneeling on the floor, turning their hollow gaze towards the samurai across the way, who, upon seeing them, exclaimed with confused fear at the sudden appearance of six skeletal figures where the guard who had been chasing the small skeleton they couldn't see had been. Four of the skeletal clones hiked themselves over the railing, falling down to the floor below and getting the definitive attention of the guards on the ground floor, who had up until that moment been looking at one another in confusion an anxiety as the guards upstairs yelled in fright. Now they understood, and left their posts to take action, the four skeletons turning from each other and running in opposing directions, one heading for the door, two heading for the stairs and the last running aimlessly, all to distract the guards. The remaining two clones turned and ran down the hall after the first guard.

By now, everything was in chaos. The guards had all left their posts to deal with this sudden threat and the inner manner was a flurry of noise, shouts, creaks, screams and the unsheathing of blades. Aimi stayed knelt down where he was for a moment, waiting for the chaos to ripen before acting. He did turn towards Yuri down the hall though, motioning for her to come to him so that they could act together. The clones he made wouldn't last long against the guards he imagined. They were all too skilled to be actually threatened by these puppets of Aimi's, and once the general confusion and fear passed their training would kick in and they would eliminate them before alerting the other guards more than likely. They had an excessively small window of opportunity between then and now to jump down below and get to the kitchen unnoticed in all of the confusion, and they had to be in the room that no one went into before the rest of the compound was alerted. Otherwise, it would take more than a few skeletons to quell what came next.

Jutsu UsedShow

Pygmy Clone Duration: 1/3 posts

Death Bone Pulse • Bone Clone (Mass)
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Must know Bone Pulse • Bone Clone (Basic)
By channeling chakra throughout their body, the user is able to make a number of complete skeletal structures at a speed of 20. This number is equivalent to 1/3 the user's stamina, rounded up. The clones can utilize any taijutsu the user can within their capabilities. The clones last for 5 posts and can move a maximum of 30 meters away from the user. Each clone's stats are as follows:

Taijutsu: 6
Stamina: 6
Strength: 7
Speed: 8

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Jul 02, 2017 7:24 pm

As Aimi made his way down the hall, Yuri the feline trotted after him almost happily. She stopped a few feet away of course as she noticed him hunch and channel chakra, fur bristling across her back as the other clones began to form. It wasn't that Yuri had an issue with them or that she was even that bothered by the event. In all honesty, it was just because she was a cat. In this form she gained the instincts too, and just as most felines would be wary of little pygmy type skeletons, the feline Yuri was as well. In actuality she was a bit fascinated by them, watching them as they wandered away and a moment later she had to turn her attention back to the task at hand.

When he motioned to her, Yuri came all the way too him and stuck her head between the railing, looking down as she too waited for the right moment. She watched for when everything seemed to be perfect, when the chaos would be at its peak of both noise and activity before she leaped down to the bottom floor. She would briefly check to make sure Aimi was on her heels before she bolted for the kitchen.

Everything seemed generally okay though as Yuri went into the kitchen itself she suddenly skidded to the stop. It seemed the cook was undeterred by the chaos and still cooking, and she turned and immediately saw Yuri. Cursing in what seemed to be another language the cook launched a hunk of bread she had been cutting at the feline and Yuri dashed to the side before hopping up onto the counter. She knew they'd have to deal with the woman quickly... though in the chaos quietly was quite debatable.

In what was likely a strange sight, the feline ran at the cook and swatted one of her hands so hard a couple of the bones broke audibly and the woman shrieked in pain. A moment later the feline launched at the woman head-first and slammed her head into the woman's, knocking her unconscious and to the floor like a sack of potatoes. In what was clearly a look of triumph she turned to look at Yuri briefly with her tail twitching proudly... before turning and bolting for the secret passage they were searching for.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Mon Jul 03, 2017 3:01 pm

Aimi followed Yuri as she slipped through the railing and went down to the floor below, jumping over the rail before landing in a hunched position and dashing towards the kitchen door only a few short meters away, now unprotected as the guards on the ground floor dealt with the skeletons. He opened the door for he and Yuri and slipped inside before they could be noticed, shutting it behind them. Once inside, he looked up and saw the cook, who in turn saw him and Yuri both and started to speak in a strange language that he didn't understand. He'd almost thing it was gibberish like he spouted except it sounded as though she was making actual sentences. Before he could do anything to silence her though, Yuri was off, dashing across the counter and swiping at her hand before head butting her and knocking her out. Did Yuri still posses her full strength in that form, Aimi wondered.

"Well done," Aimi said, stepping into the kitchen and moving over towards the spice rack that he suspected was the entry way to the tunnels under the mansion. "We've got moments, at best. Change out of that form and let's see if this is what we think it is," he said, reaching out and grabbing the elaborate spice cabinet. Pulling the entire thing back, he stepped backwards and pushed it to the side, looking behind it and finding a door, just as Yuri had said there would be.

"So far, so good. Come on, let's get inside before someone finds us," he said, stepping aside and letting Yuri go through first. Once she was inside, he would grab on to the spice rack and pull it back into place as he too stepped in and shut the door, confident that from here on they were more or less in the clear. It seemed that the hardest parts of the mission were over with and had been carried out as well as they could have been. He began to relax, if only a little bit.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:31 pm

Almost as soon as Aimi said it, Yuri transformed back into herself almost as if standing up from a crouched position as she did so. She sighed heavily and shook with her nose wrinkled up in agitation. The transformation was fun in some ways, sure, but in others she kind of hated it and was quite relieved to come out of it. She looked over as Aimi revealed the door and the woman grinned in response. She had been certain Shinjiro was telling the truth, but it always felt better when it was confirmed. After all, there was always that risk.

She simply nodded as he opened the door and went in, and the woman followed after him rather quickly. There was really no way to fully hide the door, after all they both were in here now and as the door closed she knew the spice rack wasn't back in the right place. "We might have forever, we might have never." she muttered as she immediately started making her way down the dark hallway before them. "Let's see if we can find that office."

The halls seemed to twist and wind around here and there, but after a few moments they only found two other doors, both of which lead into other parts of the home. Even Yuri was started to get frustrated... but just ahead was another door.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:08 am

As the pair started to make their way into the dark tunnels in this hidden part of the mansion, Aimi was quick to form a string of hand seals. He gathered chakra into the palm of his left hand and his palm ignited into a dull, cool blue flame. Reaching out and pressing his ignited hand against the wall, he walked along behind Yuri with his hand pressed up against it, leaving behind a clear, luminescent smear of blue flame that not only gave them some light to move by but almost marked where they had been in case these tunnels were terribly long or winding. The thought occurred to them that if they were discovered down there it would also be an arrow pointing directly at them, but he figured the two of them would deal with that possibility as it came to them. He didn't feel like stumbling around blindly in the dark.

The tunnel sloped downwards the further they went in, growing cooler than what it had been inside of the kitchen - a clear indication that they were heading underground. Truth be told, Aimi was excited a bit by this development! He hadn't had many chances to explore caves in his life, and in fact the only cave that he'd thoroughly explored was the one where Worldslayer was currently kept in hiding. He rather liked the aesthetic of caves. So cool and dark and quiet and mysterious! These tunnels were, in a way, like a cave system he thought to himself, and so even as they walked with his flame to give them light, it was exciting and held levity at least for him. Around every twist and turn of these underground tunnels was the potential for something new to happen, and there was, for the moment, a relatively low chance that they would be discovered.

As they went along, aside from imagining that they were spelunking rather than being on a mission, he tried to keep a mental map of where they were in relation to the mansion. If he was right, then they would be on the opposite side of General Shin's manor than the kitchen, the side where his bedroom was. Around this point the hallway split into two intersections, each one leading to a door. He looked back and forth between each door, keeping his hand pressed against the wall while he thought. Taking the initiative, he stepped forward, placing his left hand on this new wall and walking towards the door to his right. He pressed his ear up against it, listening for any sounds coming from the other side and hearing none. He opened the door with his right hand, pulling it back and looking inside to see...

More tunnels, these lit by hanging paper lanterns strung up on the walls by twine and nails. Well lit, and leading away from the manor if his mental map was correct. That discovered, he left the door hanging half open and turned around, placing his left hand on the opposite wall and walking forward towards the other door, repeating the process and opening it up to find behind this door a small, circular room with a ladder leading upwards. 'Where does this lead?' Aimi thought to himself, craning his head upwards to see if he couldn't spot where the ladder lead to. It was no good though, as it was far too dark for him to see properly.

That discovered, he turned around and looked at Yuri, taking his hand off of the wall and waving it around briskly to extinguish the sticky flames from his palm. "So? Where do we go? Up or down?" he asked Yuri.

Jutsu UsedShow

Katon • Foxfire
D-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Katon • Ghost-Light
The user makes the handseals and gathers chakra in their hand, igniting it in a cool, dull flame that lines the palms of their hand. The user can then wipe their hand across a surface, such as stone, wood, or the earth, and leave a smear of fire that burns continuously with the users' chakra acting as an adhesive on the surface. The user could also write messages or draw pictures even – any form of written communication is possible. These flames are cool to the touch, being exactly normal body temperature. The chakra imbued in the flames lasts for up to 5 posts before burning away completely and the flame fading.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:13 am

Yuri followed along in silence, eyeing the flames Aimi let trail behind them a moment. But she had seen them before when they trained and didn't seem all that worried about them as they continued on. She had the same thoughts he did on them, and the same concerns, but the benefit seemed to outweigh the risk in her mind and so she didn't say a word on it. She watched quietly as he checked behind both doors and she couldn't help a sigh as he posed the question to her. She honestly wasn't sure she had an answer, but glancing between the two she eventually came to a conclusion.

"There's no telling how far that tunnel goes." she remarked, turning her eyes back to the ladder. "This might provide more immediate answers." She added, motioning for him to lead the way up the ladder. "If we come to a door or something though, let me know, I can transform into a cat again and step in that way. If we just pop up out of a hole in our normal forms and someone happens to be there, we could wind up blowing this entire thing." She added with a sigh.

Assuming he went with her recommendation, she'd wait until he made his way up, coming up behind him rather closely when she was able.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:26 am

Nodding his head, Aimi took his hand off of the wall and shook it, ceasing the flow of chakra to his palm and extinguishing the cool flames. "Up it is, then," he said, stepping into the room and turning to the ladder. He hopped on and shimmied his way up to the top, a bit annoyed with how cramped the tunnel was now that they were heading upwards. It took him all of a minute to reach the top at the most, and once there he looked up into the darkness and could see cracks of light from up above him. Reaching up with his right hand, he pushed against the apparent ceiling above him and was surprised to find that it gave way, pushing upwards. A trap door it would seem.

Pulling himself up out of the ladder pit, Aimi found himself in a mostly dark room with just a sliver of light from the floor off in front of him providing the light he had seen before. A door, more than likely. To make sure, given their dark surroundings, he performed the jutsu he had done down in the tunnels once more, only this time using his hand like a torch and holding it out in front of him so he could get a better view of the room at large. It could hardly be called a room at all really. There was nothing in it, it was dusty and could fit maybe three people at the most comfortably, making it exceedingly cramped for his tastes. There was a door, though, their obvious way forward.

"Alright..." he whispered, once again shaking his hand and dismissing the flame while Yuri came up the ladder behind him. As per her instruction, he'd step forward towards the door and grasp the handle, opening it up just a crack so that Yuri could slip in in her cat form. If there was something blocking the door, which he imagined there would be given the spice rack down in the kitchen, he didn't think she'd have any problem moving it herself given her enormous strength even in that form. He stood waiting behind the door for Yuri to give him some kind of signal that it was all clear and he could enter himself.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:38 pm

Yuri followed Aimi in silence, biting her tongue, almost literally, as he climbed out of the trap door himself. She was close behind him, despite her annoyance. Trap doors such as this were exactly what she had been talking about, and if it had gone straight into a well lit room, it could have gotten them in trouble. But it seemed luck was on their side and it opened into a small room, perhaps a closet or storage space. By time Aimi was opening the other door, Yuri was already back into her feline form and slipping through the opening he gave her.

His hunch had been right, there was another piece of furniture in front of this one, but there was light coming in underneath it and so Yuri just did what most cats do. She squeezed underneath it, flatting herself to the ground as she did so, until even her tail disappeared. What she had stepped into though was clearly an office of some kind. Once she was in it she looked around, noticing it was a bookcase in front of the secret door, before searching the rest of the office. There didn't seem to be anyone in it and so Yuri transformed back into herself before locking the main entry that led inside and going to move the bookcase.

When she moved it, she looked to Aimi and touched a single finger to her lips to signal silence, after all if this was the General's office as she suspected, there was certain to be guards at the door she had just locked as quietly as she could. Once the bookcase was moved and Aimi had access to the room as well, Yuri went straight to the desk and started digging through papers, smiling as she found a couple that confirmed this was indeed the General's office.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:31 pm

Aimi stepped out into the office after Yuri pulled the bookcase back and looked around himself. It was... about what he expected, really. Everything was neat and orderly with just a touch of that 'lived in' feeling. Exactly the sort of work place he'd expect from an army officer. He could clearly envision General Shin and other such men meeting in this room, discussing the coup, how they would divide the power gap... all that political non sense. He gave the office it's once over and made his way over towards the direction of the door, turning towards it and putting his arms crossed over his chest so he could stand and watch and listen. He figured that since Yuri was already searching through the papers on Shin Yuudai's desk, he'd keep watch in case someone decided to get smart and come in through the door.

Things were quiet on the other side. Not too quiet, though. He could hear men shouting off in the distance and the distance sound of stamping feet, the sounds of a small army on alert. His distraction had worked earlier, sure, but it hadn't been much. He imagined the bones of his clones were lying in heaps somewhere on the other side of the door he now faced and the grounds were being searched for intruders as they stood and waited. General Shin had likely been informed. Every man was probably up in arms, looking for the intruders. How long before they were discovered? How long before someone tried to open the door? He estimated they had minutes at the very least before someone wised up and checked the tunnels under the manor, following them to where they currently were. They needed to get the evidence they needed and get gone quickly. He only hoped that General Shin, in all of his hubris, had left some sort of evidence there in his office for them to find.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:54 pm

Yuri kept digging in the papers on top of the desk, but honestly she didn't expect to find anything there. If the man was smart enough to plan a coup, and keep it under the radar for this long, he wasn't going to just leave it out in plain site on the desk. And so after several moments, Yuri stopped looking, and her eyes started to scan the room as she tried to find the best hiding place. "He has hidden tunnels... a safe is too obvious." she remarked under her breath as her eyes came to a safe in one of the walls. She simply shook her head and kept scanning, pausing at the bookshelf she had moved to let Aimi in the room.

"Of course." she whispered.

She walked straight over to it and her fingers started running over the various books. Naturally every single one was on military tactics, but she knew that a man like the General it would be in one of two things. It was either in something he had never read, or something he had read to the point of memorization. But when she couldn't find something that looked well worn enough to be memorized, she soon found a book that looked almost new.

A damn book on birds.

She grinned as she slipped the fairly large tome from the shelf and took it over to the desk, opening it to find the pages had been cut out and a locked box put in its place. But as she went to lift the box, she heard footsteps outside, and voices. Suddenly she rushed over and pushed the box into Aimi's arms and pointed towards the escape door they had come up. She didn't wait for a response as she went back to the book and closed it up, putting it back on the shelf. She'd wait until Aimi was back in the other room before shoving the shelf back into place.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:17 pm

Aimi tensed up as he also heard the footsteps coming from outside, his body physically preparing for the moment that someone entered the room. He'd kept his eyes focused on the door the entire time, and he was already imagining what he'd do as soon as the door was opening, unwittingly aware that Yuri had locked the door from the inside earlier before letting him into the room. Before any of it could come to pass though, Yuri rushed over to him and shoved a box into his arms unceremoniously. Confused, he looked at her, then to the box, then to where she was pointing and understood after that: This was the evidence that they needed. No time to try and open it up here to verify, it was time that they left the general's office.

Dashing over into the room with the escape tunnel, the box held in his left hand, Aimi dropped down into the tunnel below, his arms held up over his head and his hair flying upwards as he descended. For one glorious, beautifully comic moment like in a bad puppet show, Aimi's nudity was in full display as his cloak, like his hair, billowed upwards as he descended, flashing Yuri with a full moon as he made his way down.

Landing on his feet below, his knees bent to the point where they were held up above his crouched head, Aimi stood and ran his right hand through his hair before stepping out of the small circular room so that Yuri could drop down behind him. As soon as she was back down in the tunnels with him, he'd start a nice, brisk jog towards the door at the other end of the hall, the one that lead further down into the tunnels. He didn't see the need to dash at full speed just yet. If their presence in the office were discovered, it would take them a few moments to get down the ladder unless they dropped down as he had, which he doubted. Samurai weren't ninja after all. They weren't trained for that sort of thing... were they?

Down in the other tunnel, the light of his foxfire left behind them and replaced by the paper lanterns, Aimi lead the way further and further inward, following the escape tunnel to what he could only assume would be it's exit to the world outside. He stopped, though, when he heard something from up ahead. A faint tapping sound, the the clattering of something against wood. He furrowed his brow, looked back at Yuri and mimicked her action earlier, pressing a single finger against his lips before turning back forward and walking down the hall, clothe covered feet padding silently along. The source of the sound came from a divergence in the tunnel itself, an off branch that opened up to the left.

Coming to the edge of this branching path, Aimi crept over to the side and craned his head around, looking down the tunnel and seeing a man, sat at a table facing the wall. There were two paper lanterns at each corner of the ceiling in front of this man, this samurai by the look of his top knot and kimono, illuminating a cluttered work desk and work place. All above his head were small rectangular planks of wood with words written on them - 'East', 'West', 'Entrance', 'Office', etc. These planks of wood hung from the ceiling like wind chimes by strings, strings which went up pipes that, as he looked he could see, snaked around the roof of the tunnels, leading back the way they came and even further down the tunnels. Some sort of information signalling station? The tapping was coming from the man himself, his finger tapping away at a machine that Aimi wasn't familiar with, the rhythm of his tapping seemingly erratic and random to him. The man's back was turned to the two ninja.

Pulling his head back and looking at Yuri, the jounin jutted his head towards the tunnel opening and pushed off of the wall, walking around to the other side of the room and leaning up against the right side wall behind the man, waiting for Yuri to join him. Once she did, he'd smile, reach out and tap the man on the shoulder, mimicking how he was tapping on his machine. The man's tapping would stop and he'd turn around, a confused look on his young face as he looked from Aimi to Yuri and back again. "Hi," he said, smiling widely. "Yuri, if you could," he said, giving her a most unofficial signal to either knock this guy out or... well, something. Hopefully not kill him, though! Aimi had a few questions for this man about the coup, the box he was holding, General Shin and many other things about the mission in general. Hopefully, Yuri would get what he was going for without him having to say a word.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:25 pm

The timing was near perfect. Once the bookshelf was back into place, Yuri transformed into a cat and squeezed underneath it, her tail barely slipping under the shelf and disappearing before the door of the office unlocked and opened. Half the timed luck of course probably came from the man who was entering, as he had stopped to yell at the guards outside for locking it in the first place. Both of course were bewildered, but neither brave enough to deny that they had done it. And so the break in went undetected for now.

Of course, feline Yuri was still making a strange sound under her breath as she jumped down the trap door and landed without a sound, the strange way she was breathing of course was just how she was laughing, after the little show she had accidentally gotten earlier from Aimi when he had made his jump.

But moments later she was herself again, and grinning, as she followed him down the hall. The tapping sound was strange to her too, but Yuri didn't press to look into it as she watched Aimi do so instead, but soon followed him quietly behind the strange little man and the desk. Even she couldn't help her smile as Aimi tapped on his shoulder, and when the man turned to look at her the woman simply made a single swing of her fist and knocked him out cold.
~Fin~

Naruto Saigen Roleplay