Dogs Days in the Desert

[Pokefan137]

The man looked down at Jiigo with a sneer. He was a tall, dark skinned man, firmly built with a strange Pharoah like beard sticking off his chin. The man wore nothing but black even in the hottest part of the day, and his muscles bulged from underneath his garments.

"Listen up, maggot." he said with a sneer. "You've got a very important job ahead of you." The man shoved a scroll up against Jiigo's chest. "These Jackals haven't been seen for fifty years. We thought they were extinct. You're mission, whether you accept it or not, is to go find out everything you can about them, and record it all in that scroll. Failure to return with that scroll, failure to gather enough information, or any discovery that the jackals have been harmed in any way will mean failure for this mission."

The man took out another scroll, and shoved it into Jiigo's chest as well. "There's a record of where the jackals were last seen. We may not know much about them, but from what we do know, they're extremely aggressive. Try not to get ripped to shreds before you get the information."

The man sneered once more before turning on his heels, and going back through the gates of Suna, leaving Jiigo to start his mission alone.

[seiuchiblarg]

Well. That was entirely unpleasant. Jiigo didn't even have time to get in one cocky or snide remark edgewise before he walked off! T'ch. Well, he's no fun. Well... Jiigo took a moment to have a go at the map and see where they were, and began to head in that direction. He'd get to them eventually, and when he did, He'd just do his best to stay upwind. Wouldn't do to have them catching him, thinking he was a source of fresh meat. His job today was to be a scribe... Well. it sure beat the heck out of cleaning toilets. On he would go, until he found the old place dictate don the map, or until he was stopped by some other sort of distracting something.

[Pokefan137]

The map dictated that the place the jackals had been spotted was several miles into the desert. There didn't seem to be any land markers at all, yet somehow the genin would have to make sure he continued to go in the right direction. The noon day sun was right in the middle of the sky, making it impossible to use it for a reference for at least another hour. How the genin would keep track of direction amidst the swirling sands of the desert was up to him.

[seiuchiblarg]

I made an inquiry, and was told we're able to have like, compasses and stuff for things like this. \o/

With no sun to help him, and the direction of the wind being a treacherous mistress at best, Jiigo would pull out the compass given to Suna ninja when they set out on missions which required a touch of travel. Using it to navigate, hopefully, it wouldn't take too long to find the creatures... He'd be careful when he got near the lair, however, to keep the wind blowing in his face and not against him. He didn't want the animals to catch his scent just yet.

[Pokefan137]

The compass worked like a charm! The boy traveled far into the desert, over the rolling dunes as he continued on towards his destination. As the boy went over a sand dune, suddenly growling would fill his ears, which might be strange considering he was only half way there at this point. At the bottom of the sand dunes were two massive jackals tearing into the carcass of a huge beast easily five times their size, lean and trim even though muscles seemed to coil and expand beneath thier sleek black fur with evey movement. Yellow markings surrounded their keen eyes line a line of eyeliner, and a patch of gold fur went from the base of their neck over part of their chest and back. From the sheer look of them one could tell that they were not ones a person would want to mess with.

[seiuchiblarg]

Only two of them... Shouldn't they travel in packs? Well, this was a start, at least. They were a good ways out of where they needed to be... Hunting, maybe? It was possible they'd bring the kill home to the rest of the pack after they'd had their fill, or maybe they had traveled some and were waiting to come out themselves.

Jiigo wrote down everything he could discern, careful to stay upwind of the beasts, even though the scent of blood would likely stain their sense of smell to the point of safety. He made notes of the special coloring -- gorgeous creatures, Jiigo noted -- and the way they ate together, rather than waiting for a dominant one among them to go. He watched the way they carried themselves, strong and proud, neither keeping watch for other predators as they went. The top of the food chain, strong and regal and beautiful... For some reason, Jiigo found himself wondering how Haruna would look riding one.

He observed that their coats were likely not as thick as they appeared: in desert heat, they needed less fur to keep cool. He'd keep watching and following.

[Pokefan137]

The mighty beast stood eating away for another five minutes, neither noticing the hidden Jiigo. All of a sudden both of their heads rose, their ears perking up visibly. The stood stone still for a moment before they hoped down off their prey. Each grabbed a part of the beast, and started dragging the massive carcass away through the sands with a large cloud of dust following in their wake, leaving Jiigo behind. Following the beasts without getting seen might be a challenge for the young shinobi, so he would have to be fairly careful.

[seiuchiblarg]

Jiigo would give them a little time to get a head start before moving out. They were dragging a large beast over the desert sands, and so it would be easy to track them even if he lost them. They may have left his sight a few times, but the trail did not. He wrote as he went, documenting first that the two must have been more than a little strong to be able to drag that massive thing across the sand by themselves. He also mentioned the flawless teamwork they seemed to have, each taking a part at the same time with no apparent communication, both ready and knowing the other was ready as well at the same time.

He was surprised by how quickly they moved, and had to jog to stand a chance at keeping up. Even with such a big thing to carry, they're so fast.... Jiigo was actually sort of glad that he didn't have to fight these beasts. he was content just watching and documenting.

[Pokefan137]

As Jiigo followed the hounds, after a while he might notice other large clouds of dust in the distance. They all seemed to be converging on one location. It would take thirty minutes to get there, but soon Jiigo would see a large, ornate, stone arch, with walls behind it that disappeared below the sand. The pair of jackals Jiigo was following dragged their carcass down through the archway, and soon more pairs of jackals came back dragging large carcasses through the arch way and down into the depths below. After ten minutes all the sand clouds seemed to finally disappear, meaning the pack was now inside.

[seiuchiblarg]

So, the pack was living in some old ruins here in the desert.... If the animals were only recently discovered, it means the ruins themselves probably were as well. He could gather intel on the animals as well as the ruins, and doubly assist the Scribes! That would be fantastic, he could just imagine the praise he'd get for doing so well...

But he had to focus on the mission, first. The beasts were his first priority. When they had entered, Jiigo prepared himself. This was where things would get difficult: being in a more enclosed space, with more of the animals around, his scent would be difficult to hide, as would his body. He had to hope that the scent of the wolves returning, along with the fragrance of a flesh kill, the odor of blood and bounty, would distract them enough that they didn't pick up on his scent.

Jiigo would be watching at this point for tips of a leadership system: if they had Alpha dogs, like a typical wolf packs, or if they would all come at it at once... if the largest ate first, fighting off other dogs as if they were in a pack of rabid hyenas, or if they all worked together and ate with one another to showcase the teamwork they have displayed before to carry it back in the first place. He noted once more that the two who made the kill ate before ever bringing it back to the den, and wondered if that was indicative of their other eating habits. Either way, this would be a fantastic way to see both how they powered those incredible bodies, and also how their leadership broke down, if at all.

[Pokefan137]

As Jiigo entered the ruins, he would probably first notice the markings along the wall. The temple itself seemed to be made of solid black rock, with gold colored symbols all along the wall. The symbols themselves glowed of their own accord, providing a dull light that illuminated everything the further down he would go. He would go down a few coridors of the maze like construction, following the trails of blood along the floor, before he would round a corner only to find two of the jackals, which, though in the canine family, were not walves at all, guarding an entrance into a seperate chamber. If he managed to sense them or somehow become aware of them before rounding the corner, or was just really really fast in ducking back around the corner, he would be safe, as the entire ruins were filled with the strong odor of blood and they were still a distance away. Still, it would be up to him to find a way to either get past the jackals, or distract them, though he could always just wait if he chose that as an option.

[seiuchiblarg]

He followed the trail of blood until finally, making mental notes of the ruin for now (so as not to alert the jackals with the scratching of pen on paper) and comitting as much as he could to memory for such a time as when he could emerge from the ruins and writ e them down. He followed the trail, taking in every sight and detail he could, moving slowly and carefully to best memorize it.

Finally, he'd come around the corner, and see the jackals. Whipping back around it as quick as he could, he even held his breath so as to avoid being noticed. Whether or not it helped, he had no idea. Alright... I need to get these guys out of here... The light was dim, and Jiigo had to think for a while before coming up with a plan. If he could kill the creatures, that would be one thing, but being completely unable to harm the beasts... that posed a problem.

He needed to be able to distract the dogs, but he couldn't cause such a large distraction as would attract the rest of the pack. That meant obvious things like explosive tags were out. Fire was too flashy, and might also draw other parts of the pack.... And anyway, there was no guaranteeing that he could draw them anyway but towards him! He vaguely wondered if he could just knock them out... if he could just get one shot on their heads, they'd sleep, and wake up with no worse than a headache. Surely that wouldn't get him failed, and Jiigo could even take the opportunity to investigate them close-up! He would peek around the corner very carefully, using his headband as a mirror to see rather than putting his entire body out there. Could he do it? Or would he wait until they passed... the genin had time to weigh his options.

[Pokefan137]

Fortunatly, the young shinobi wouldn't have to take such animal abusing courses of action and thusly bring shame upon himself for hurting endangered species, which would definitly bring loads and loads of shame upon his head, disgracing him for years to come for his cruel actions and insensativty towards wildlife preservation. The dogs guarding the entrance were standing, staring attentively down the hallways to guard the inner chamber when suddenly their ears perked up. They turned in unison towards the main chmaber, leaving the hall free for any movement the genin might want to make. Of course, he would have to be careful should he actually choose to enter the chamber.

[seiuchiblarg]

He caught a lucky break and the hounds turned in. Jiigo waited a brief moment to make sure nothing would be coming back, before proceeding into what he didn't know was the main hall until he got there. Jiigo kept close to the wall so as to avoid being seen, if at all possible, trying to stay underneath the glowing symbols on the walls so as not to cast a shadow.

quiet as a shade, Jiigo thought to himself as he continued on, encouraging himself to push on. Stealth would be the name of the game now, just as it had been from the start. It wasn't his best art, but he didn't graduate from the ninja academy with nothing but a winning smile. And besides, his notes were filling paper fast... it shouldn't have been too much longer until he was out, and in an absolutely worst case scenario, he may be able top go from memory and fill in the blanks with just a little bit more contact with the animals.

[Pokefan137]

The hall Jiigo entered into glowed with the same symbols as the rest, however it was quite different from everything else in the temple so far. The room was massive. Several glowing pillars had fallen around the room, casting strange shadows in the golden glow, however several of what looked like shadows seemed to move. Jackals. A large pack of the jackals were positioned around the room, guarding the perimeter of the room as they ate large chunks of food. In the center of the room, closely surrounded by what appeared to be the guard jackals, were several jackals that were larger and much more muscular than the rest. They appeared to be the oldest of the group, the most experienced male and female warriors, covered in the scares of battle. Their massive jaws looked as if they could easily bite straight through any of the stone pillars in the room.

The elder dogs tore ravenously at the carcass, however every now and then they would gingerly place pieces on the ground. Upon closer inspection, one might see that beneath their massive bodies were position nothing less than puppies! Small jackal puppies, ranging from newborns, suckling at their mothers who also rested in the shadows of the elder dogs, to older puppies, looking close to adult hood. Just outside the center where the elder warriors and the puppies and newborns lied appeared to be female jackals with bellies ranging from slightly swollen to extremely large. Fierce looking male dogs lied beside them, bring them food and cuddling close to them. It was a fascinating scene, left for the genin to interpret.

[seiuchiblarg]

He left Insidious outside of the room to watch. Now and again, he would look through the dragonfly's eyes, listen through his ears, checking back every thirty seconds or so to make sure there was no threat of having them come in from behind and close in on his back.

In the time between his checks, however, he was writing furiously. He wasn't much of an artist, but he could take notes like a champ, and so he did, scribbling excitedly in the notebook, taking in as much detail as he could about the puppies, the "elders," the way they ate, and cooperated... it was almost as if a small group of people lived down here, supporting one another! Living off each other's successes! Such cooperation! It was inspiring, to say the least. He wished he could get a better look at the puppies... But perhaps in time the opportunity would come.

In the mean time, jiigo would scribble and check, write and check, jot and check, note and check. He had to be sure he was safe, but he was also more excited than he expected himself to be about these dogs. Every detail he found, he would write, until eventually either the paper ran out to write on, and his mission was therefore complete, or until something happened at his back to change the situation. Either way, he was glad to have this opportunity. The ruins themselves were beautiful and splendid, glowing so oddly in what should have been blackness. The jackals were magnificent and exotic, their puppies adorable and mewling, and their prey large and impressive and terrifying. This was a mission he'd been glad to have been assigned, despite his expectations.

jutsuShow

*[Puppet Senses]
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
Required: *[Intermediate Puppetry Technique]
By connecting a chakra string from a part of a puppet or person, the puppeteer is able to transfer their senses from their body to whichever part the strings are connected to on the puppet or human. This allows the puppeteer from ‘see’ and ‘hear’ from the perspective of what is connected to the string.

[Pokefan137]

Jiigo's super fast writing skills helped him fill his notebook moderatly fast until it was eventually full. His observations went by without insident, which meant he could now return to Suna and report what he had learned! Yay learning!

Mission Passed~!