[Plot Board] A Test of Skill

[Fake]

Sji and Yato were now in Dwarf Country, a peaceful entity that stood vigilantly neutral among the warring states that surrounded it. Known for their strange colored trees that they made products of and exported, Dwarf Country was nothing less than a goldmine of resources, and was known for being rather peaceful. Named after its miniature inhabitants, the country prided itself on their citizen-centric daimyo, and performed strange antics like their annual 'sock festival'.

The two sat atop some branches of trees, above the great Drivver River that stretched through the center of the entire country. In wait, Yato stared up at the sky using his hand as a makeshift visor, as he nearly drifted off to the hypnotizing sun that seeped through the canopy of the forest. He had sent a scout out to find Higashi Junko, the newest addition to The God Hand, only weeks ago. Today was the day that they were slated to meet, but there was no indication that the girl was anywhere in sight. Perhaps it would have just been easier to get rid of the flustered scatter-brained nukenin at the start. Tardiness was forgivable, but ignorance was not.

In an attempt to stay inconspicuous, Yato held a rather quaint appearance, only wearing a black shirt atop black shorts and sandals. If one didn't know who the man was, they wouldn't have guessed he was a shinobi--or a criminal, at that. His devilish black aura was nowhere to be seen, and even that hands that gripped his body were subject to a fuuinjutsu that caused them to be invisible to the naked eye. His feet that hung off of the branch and over the river slowly swung back and forth as he stared into the stream that brought life to the forest.

And then, with a single frame of motion, he knew Junko was near--a small head which likely belonged to a Dwarf Country citizen floated playfully down the rapids of the large river; the weather and vibe of the atmosphere played a rather strange role in this frame, as it would almost appear as if dismembered midget heads floating down the river was an everyday occurrence. Yato pointed at the head, letting his finger follow it as it flowed down, bobbing up and down through the surface of the water every few meters. "Sji, she's here... I... Think?" He raised an eyebrow as his eyes darted around the area. Without his sensory mist, finding people was a lot harder than usual.

[Valentine]

With a raging headache, the woman stood up without much to say for her drunken ventures she simply called out to the people at the bar. "Thanks for the time guys! I'll hit ya up in the morning.. oh wait." she said as her eyes opened widely, looking outside through the damaged, rum-smelling windows her feeble mind started to understand that the fact was, it was morning.

"Awh damn, I guess it's time to say goodbye." the emotional, still a bit drunk, woman said to herself as she turned around and waved to the disbodied portions of body that was still there, the smell of blood engulfing itself in her nose with a distinct side of iron.

"See ya guys! For more happy ventures together!" she said as a tear fell down onto the wooden, creaking boards that made up the no doubt shitty tavern she had found to be situated at for the previous night in waiting for her new mission. With a prompt turn, Junko's hand connected hastily with her gas mask, sitting atop the rack before the door.

With the wonderful weather sitting ontop, and the morning breeze in, her attitude just got better from there on out, now all she needed was to get to that damn river. Using a whole lot of heavy steps and a lot more directions being given to her (as well as the said directioneés death) later, she quickly found herself to it.

Flying from tree to tree to make her venture faster, she started spotting figures next to the river, looking at the head of the person which life she had taken just mere moments before, kind of something that she could find proud in after her mind broke down to a worse state than it had ever been.

Launching herself of off the last branch and into the air, she within moments slammed down before them. "Yo guys, am I late?" she said as she flung her hair back, keeping her mask to the side of the body, clipped in a belt.

[Varian]

Sji was swinging his legs off the tree, he had fallen in love with Dwarf country not only was it beautiful but the people were fun it was one of the few places he had not gone on a murdering spree. Sji enjoyed moments like this more than any of the others, he could pretend that their problems did not exist and they were just relaxing the afternoon away he envied those who could be this carefree all the time. Sji was weaing his usual outfit as it never identified him obviously as a shinobi, he had a fishing rod in hand it's line stretching down to the Drivver River. The sun was not pleasent for Sji, he burned easily due to his pale complexion therefore he had borrowed an ornate paper umbrella white in colour with a gold lotus design on the apex of the umbrella. It gave him just enough shade to avoid the sun burn but still enjoy the warmth that this weather brought, the trees only did so much to break up the sunlight after all.

Sji could only laugh when Yato had told him about the Sock Festival when they were on route to the country, it had taken him almost two days to get over the fits of giggles that were brought to him everytime he saw an occupant of the country. "Yatty! They are all so short, I mean I know it is called Dwarf country but come on!" He wished more places were like this country, he imagined it held problems just like any other but they seemed to be doing something right it had been the first time since he had left Kumo that Sji truly relaxed.

He caught a bite, it was a fiesty one at that yanking against the rod. Sji heaved on the line and the catch was hauled upwards, greeting Sji with an expression of shock the severed head came flying up into full view of the young ninja he patted it on the forehead before releasing the entire rod letting the whole thing fall into the river with a splosh as Yato announced that their newest member had arrived. The time for relaxing was now over and Sji was ready to work, Yato had already warned him that this would likely be out of Sji's league and he was there mostly to observe and provide support should any opportunity present itself. It had seemed Yato had taken a vested interest in grooming Sji to be a more useful member of his organisation likely not for any other reason than making the God Hand on a whole stronger as opposed to any personal preference towards Sji. He still hoped that one day Yato would be able to call him a friend, everyone needed at least one in the world.

"Yo guys, am I late?" It was a very casual greeting one that did not bother Sji in the least bit, he could not speak for Yato however so instead of letting that play out he waved his hand in an excited manner a grin stretched across his face.

"Junko-Chan! Hi!~ Hi!~ Don't worry about being late, you made it here which is better than us having to come track you down personally we can just get straight to business. Right Yatty?" Sji hoped to at least calm a degree of Yato's frustration at the tardiness of Junko, reiterating why they had met up it gave an out for Yato to save face from the entire situation.

"I see you are still having fun! Maybe this time round I will join in." He twirled the umbrella's bamboo pole in his hands playfully spinning it around and around, his grin widened in a cheeky manner.

[Fake]

An all too familiar voice echoed throughout the forest as Junko made her arrival, signalling Yato to stare in her direction with eyes of disdain. He hopped down from the branch that he sat on top of, yawning as he approached the strange bubbly girl. All the while Sji was being his usual talkative self and seeking Yato's approval, to which Yato gave a half-hearted shrug. It hadn't been too long since the two of them had reconnected, but at this point he was more used to Sji than he had ever been before, seeming to treat him like a hyperactive puppy more than an actual asset--only time would tell what Sji would become capable of, but he wasn't counting on anything.

Of course, Sji had asked to join in much like with everything else that involved Yato; this particular mission wasn't a safe one for Sji, but rather then pushing him away, Yato figured it would be a better indication than anything of whether or not the excitable child was capable of assisting him. A B-Rank criminal would be light work for him, but alongside someone who might be considered a burden more than a weapon, it would certainly prove to be a challenge. He glanced back for a short moment at the boy, sighing before he simply said, "Don't get in the way".

"You're not late," he lied, staring Junko in the eyes with a convincing expression. He raised a single finger up towards the girl and pointed at the space between her eyes, only stopping a few centimeters away from making physical contact with her. "What was the last thing I said to you on the night we found you?" His eyes were deeply set from a lack of sleep--something that had developed over the years; this was a detail that gave insight as to who he was as a person: paranoid, distrustful, and most of all: always in the shadow of death. And because of these traits, he had to make sure that the person standing before him was in fact, Higashi Junko.

The answer he was 'looking for' was "stay alive", but he knew better than to trust such an answer. The girl was aloof and excitable, and such a simple statement was likely not to stick in her mind. The best indication as to whether or not the girl was who he was looking for would be rooted in her reaction and expression.

So he watched with eyes of intent.

[Valentine]

"Junko-Chan! Hi!~ Hi!~ Don't worry about being late, you made it here which is better than us having to come track you down personally we can just get straight to business. Right Yatty?"

Shifting her focus onto the young boy as he called out to her about her remark, she quickly tried to find the words on how to greet him. Waving with a sorry attitude as if plastered onto her face towards the young man with her eyes closed in shame, Junko quickly called out to both the boy and the man standing in front of her.

"Heh, yeah sorry about that, I had to attend to some arrends.." Junko said as she scratched the back of her head, eyes closed as she appraised the suns worth on her skin, grazing her with it's divine hymn. Snapping back onto the duo, her eyes quickly opened in a kind and gentle manner.

Her senses focused onto the man before her, his talk about what she had said the day that they had found her made her instantly alert. Was this some sort of a trick question? A way for them to see if she truly was who they thought she was and not some sort of copy?

Her eyes took a confused and worried tone as she continued to scratch her head, thinking about the dialogue that had gone down there in that tavern, so many days ago in the blistering rain. Recapturing the moments of the exchange in her mind, having the pictures fly by her as if they had happened yesterday, the answer slowly came to her. "Stay.. Alive?" she said as she raised one eyebrow, not sure on how to act in case she was wrong.

Hopefully they could get started on their mission after this exchange of words, whatever that mission would be she had either completely forgot or never had it mentioned to her in the first place. The sun caressing her skin, the water of the river flowing next to them with a subtle power, the birds chirping all around them. This truly was a great day to get to work!

[Varian]

Sji had bugged Yato continuously about tagging along on this mission, that usually ended in one of two ways Yato would pummel Sji a few to shut him up or give in to the nagging for the same result it was seemingly random which way it would go although there could have been a method to the madness Sji never saw it. Madness didn't need a reason as far as Sji was concerned, Junko was a great example of someone who clearly had some serious issues in her head. Sji would never understand crazy people, as she half arsed a wave at him he was a tad disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm to see him she had seemed more interested back at the bar when Sji had been explicitly told by Yato to tone it down while in that town.

Yato asked his question, the usual paranoia that Sji guessed was well founded this time around. They had not seen Junko for enough time for her to have been replaced by anyone, the world was full of strong people after all. She gave her answer, he doubted it was the answer that Yato wanted more the delivery of it. "Ding ding, Correct! Haha~" Sji shifted chakra to the bottom of his feet and stepped around the large branch that was holding the three of them, he let momentum carry him most the way around he hung at the bottom.

He found his new perspective entertaining to say the least, his hair hung loose pulled by gravity Sji continued to twirl his brolly as if he was the right way up. He had never realised how for granted Shinobi took even this 'simple' ability, sure many understood it's usefulness but how many had just used it to gain a literal new perspective on the everyday ordinary? Sji had to ponder these things because it was more interesting than what was going on up above, they were too busy trying to figure out who was who. When that seemed to have come to a conclusion Sji spoke once more.

"Yatty~ What is the Job? All you said was that it was dangerous." Sji said dangerous but his brain translated that as fun most the time anyways, Sji made his way back around the branch to orientate himself with the other pair. Sji did not know exactly what kind of mission this would be or if he would be of any use in it, he intended to use the opportunity to learn Junko's fighting style and more tricks that Yato had up his sleeve. If they were to be his comrades now best he learn how to fight alongside them in the future, during the beginning of his time with Yato he had seen it as an unbridgeable gap that had changed somewhat. Sji was not thinking of surpassing Yato or anything that grand, he would suffice with not slowing them down and eventually being of some assistance.

[Fake]

As Sji had indicated, Junko had answered... Satisfactorily. Her response was characteristic of her ditzy, clutz-like nature--at the very least, he knew that she wasn't a spy.

Yato's neck twitched at the sound of 'Yatty', but as always he stayed still while gritting his teeth. Had he been a less patient man, Sji's tongue might have gotten pulled straight out of his mouth and fed to the fish that swam in the river beside them.

"You're mistaken. I never said it was dangerous. I just said it'd be dangerous for you." He turned to Sji and chuckled at the boy's misinterpretation of his own words, before turning to Junko. "We'll be hunting down a B-Rank samurai who's been hiding in this country for quite some time. The goal is to have him join our efforts, but given his... Valiant attitude... We're probably going to have to put him down." With his last sentence he made a sharp movement with his thumb across his neck before smiling at the girl.

Yato then turned back to Sji once more to address him. "If you value your life, you'll sit back and watch. This is the real world." His tone was more serious than usual, marking Yato's own sentiment of taking the mission with an air of diligence. The last time he himself had underestimated someone, it ended up with a blade of lightning through his chest that put him in a coma. The advice wasn't so much of an act of 'care' as it was a simple warning he would give to anybody brave--or dumb--enough to take on a mission past their capacity.

What made things worse was that the target was a samurai. Although the samurai was never formally trained in the arts of the shinobi, what made up for those deficits was his immense dedication to training his body. From Yato's experience, the samurai were no lesser than shinobi, and often times overcame shinobi with ease--speed, strength, coordination, and mastery of armed weapons were some things among many that allowed them to overpower shinobi like Yato and Junko, who had nothing of the sort.

He sighed as he began to walk off in the direction where his informant had told him to go. "Be ready or you'll die without even noticing it."

[Valentine]

Hearing the playful nature of the young boy made her giggle a tiny bit, but just enough for her to recollect herself from the harsh nature that the two men forced onto her. She needed to be serious, this was a mission after all, and if that wasn't enough, this is her first mission.

Gathering herself again to listen to her new leader speak up about the events that was about to unfold, she focused completely on his voice, trying to remember every detail that she could find within his speech. "Alright, so does he possess any skills, jutsu or otherwise problematic sets of abilities that we should be vary of?" the young woman said as she couldn't help but smile towards Yato as he so promptly did towards her.

Hearing the words that almost as if fell out of Yato made her immediately become more tense, waking up every sense in her body that had previously been laying dormant. This was the real world. There was not much else she could do but ready herself about the situation that she was going to be thrown into. She needed to survive, to see the world before her mind falls apart completely. She couldn't die here.

"Be ready or you'll die without even noticing it"

Those words shook her very core, trying not to be affected by the statement that was now being thrown out by her new leader, she grabbed for the back of her head with a scratch and a nervous smile plastered onto her face. This was going to be dangerous, at least to a certain extent. She needed to be ready for real now or else she might actually be laying in the dust in no time at all.

"Sighing on us now are we? Come on, cheer up. It's my first time getting to kill someone being hopefully under your banner y'know!" she said towards the man as they walked towards a direction that he as if set without thinking twice, readying her body for what was going to come.

[Varian]

Sji flashed Junko a grin at the sound of her giggling, he liked people who knew how to take it easy he also respected her decision to pick back up the mantle of harshness in the face of Yato who was less capable of taking things easy these days it seemed. Much of the Yato that Sji had once known was gone now, he wondered what exactly had changed him so Yato would never open up about it even back then he had been paranoid.

"Now, now Yatty you don't have to be so pedantic, I know full well what you meant by dangerous. I will hang back, stay out your way and if I get killed? Oh well, once in a life time experience I am told. Hahaha~" Sji was still not ready to die but he was aware there were things out of his control in this cruel world, people died all the time over the smallest things choking on their food, over consumption of alcohol or being knocked down in the street by a horse just to name a few.

Sji felt that that Junko's questions were perhaps a good line to follow, so he attempted his own also. "Do we know exactly where he is right now? Is he alone?" Due to a lack of information with many previous occasions, Sji had been caught up in an abundance of bad scrapes before it was not something he was eager to repeat even if he was not going to be actively engaged with this Samurai.

Sji watched as they left pausing for a brief moment, looking down into the river below where the severed head began to bob gently away being swept along with the current. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile, it seemed like she had an artistic side to killing people too. He hopped off the tree branch that they had been stationary on for some time, he began leaping between tree branches with minimal effort following after his comrades. While they were both likely to murder Sji at some point out of sheer whim he couldn't help but think himself lucky to not be wandering the world alone any longer, Yato's ultimate goal being very much in line with his own was just a bonus. Whoever their prey was overkill was on it's way for sure, he didn't know minute details of Junko's abilities but Sji had witnessed Yato kill many times first hand.