Just Another Day At Work (NPC/Finished)

[Minor NPC]

The guard gave a more annoyed sigh as he looked around at anyone else nearby. Spotting another one of the junior members of the group, he called him over with an annoyed, "Mikey, get over here."

The figure gave a look of scrutinizing curiosity from where he was seated upon a log. He reached down to pick up a crossbow at his side, before approaching at a slow jog. He started to ask a question, but he needn't have - the first was already telling him the answer. 

"Come on," he grumbled. "The dragon needs to relieve himself."

"The dragon needs to - what?" he returned in confusion. The guard rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Just shut up and target him," he growled out, holding his own weapon against his side, as if shooting it one handed from the hip. With his free hand, he slowly undid the complicated lock system caging the pair in. Metal whined as the guard cautiously opened the door just a crack at first, as if expecting him to try something and ready to slam it shut if necessary.  

If nothing happened, he'd open the door just wide enough for the bound dragon to squeeze through, two weapons aimed at his person.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon squeezed through the door, eyeing the two guards and take a mental note about their weapons. Two person may be a little tough for him, considering the situation, but Shin will just improvise when the moment comes.

The metal chains clinked as he walked between the two soldiers, one of them keep flipping his gaze back at him as he shut the door back up. He wondered that would Konoha have a chance at grabbing the keys if he keep the guard's attention on him longer.

So he pulled his arms back, making the chains clink louder for a sudden. Both soldier jumped back almost immediately and aimed their guns on him, the clicking sound of the safety being clicked off could be heard. The one who's closer to the cage even banged his back on it while turning around to face the dragon.

"Umm?" Shin just moved his turn his head back and forth between the guards, as if completely oblivious of what he had just did. "Something wrong with me stretching?"

"Stop your tricks." The fey warned. "I'll shoot you the next time, I swear." As if to get the point over, he grabbed the collar of his yukata and shove him hard at the cage, ramming his back on it hard.

"Okay, okay...chill man, you're hurting me." The dragon put on a fake smile and try to talk his way out of it.

Though in his mind, he's wondering that if Konoha had managed to grab the keys back when the guard had his back against the cage.

[Minor NPC]

A bumbling dragon made for a good distraction for fey dexterity. Since both pairs of eyes belonging to the guards focused solely on the unboxed reptile, small, nimble fingers slipped in to the guard's pockets when he pressed his back to their cage. The folds of her dress made a good hiding spot, if only temporarily.

She prayed as much as possible that the guard wouldn't notice, for just a few minutes…

And as if her prayers were heard, the startled guard was too fixated on the dragon to notice one pocket weighed slightly less than it did a minute ago. She held back, as she watched the two guards escort the dragon more warily to a bush on the edge of the camp - not fully out of sight, but where whatever he had to release wouldn't end up stinking the camp.

[Makuro Shin]

Now, what should I do with these two amateurs...

He waited until they escort him out of sight. Shin took a deep breath, hold it, and started his move.

A quick headbutt on the soldier at his left to send him back, then a dropkick followed immediately to the guard to the right, right on his face. He then used the fey as a stepping stone to jump backwards, knocking the wind out of the second guard as he soar through the air and land on the first one.

Swiftly, he kneel down on his chest, pressing the chains on his legs against the soldier's neck, trying to suffocate him with it.

"Shush." He cooed. "Sleep tight."

The guards struggled to claw at the dragon, but there's only so many things one could do with his oxygen supply cut off. The soldier made a weird choking sound and fainted.

Shin stands up slowly and walks back to the other soldier, who's already knocked out with the earlier dropkick to his head. Maybe he'd land on his head or something, Shin didn't know.

"You should be glad that you're not the one behind all this..." The dragon said quietly, more to himself than to anyone else. Something deep rumbling in his voice. Something DARK. "If it was the case, you'd be dead by now."

[Minor NPC]

Trying to keep her fey senses on alert, she took the soft sounds of a scuffle in the distance to be the runner's starting shot. She approached the front of her cage again, drawing the keys out of her clothes to nimbly unlock the door with as much quiet and grace as she could manage.

Ever so careful not to let the door squeak, she slipped through the door like a shadow, and darted across the ground just as softly as one. Keeping low, as out of sight as she could hope to be, she padded towards her partner in crime with the keys clutched silently in her grip.

With any luck, one of those keys would hold his freedom.

At her approach, she motioned with her finger for him to keep silent, as she went around behind him to the chains and manacles, and tried the keys as quickly and as quietly as fey delicateness could manage. Several keys and a growing expression of hopelessness found that the guard didn't have such a key on his ring.

[Makuro Shin]

"Have to try." The dragon shrugged, somehow still manage to keep a smile on his face. "Well, on the bright side, at least we got out of the cage."

He wanted to pat Kanoha's head lightly, to offer comfort of some sort, but he gave up as he remember that his hands are still tied up. He sighs as his eyes fell on her head, and the sleeping beauty that resides on it.

"Wait...the flower..." Shin walked up to her to have a closer look. "You can use wood magic, right? Can you somehow manage to twist open the lock with it? Like growing it into the lock or something?"

[Minor NPC]

Her expression softened slightly for the warm light of his smile in the dark.

"Wait...the flower..." Shin said softly, getting closer to her and the named plant. "You can use wood magic, right?"

A small look of confusion was exchanged with her current features, trading out the hopelessness of before. Her brows scrunched, and she nodded an affirmative to his question anyway.

"Can you somehow manage to twist open the lock with it?" he suggested, and her imagination tried to picture it. "Like growing it into the lock or something?"

"I ... I don't know," she whispered so softly as to almost be inaudible. Her left hand rose upward, to draw the perpetually blooming flower forth from her hair. Free from its grasp, several locks fell down at the sides of her face. "I could ... I could try..."

Inserting the stem of the flower into the lock, she flowed a small stream of magic into the plant, toughening it like a hard stick before trying to fiddle with the internal gears. Knowing absolutely nothing about the internal gears of a lock brought her no success, until she steeled her teeth in frustration.

More magic went in, and spontaneous plant growth enlarged from the inside out, pushing aside and breaking the small gears around it. A slight tug was all that it needed then, for the lock to come off. Metal chains, as nosiy as they could be, were somehow removed at whisper level with her grace.

[Makuro Shin]

"Thanks." Shin whispered while rubbing his wrist.

"Now, I know this sounds hard, but can you escape by yourself?" The dragon asked, trying hard to not let it sound harsh. "I need you need to go and get help - There are too many of them."

Actually, the truth is only that she will drag him back if she stays. She's nimble and all, but Shin is not sure that she's strong enough to kill anyone - or much less, harming them - in order to save herself. If he'll have to turn back at every corner to save him, he wouldn't have many time.

And he need to be quick if he want to find out who's behind all this before anyone realize that they're loose.

[Minor NPC]

Her meek face, once brightened with the success of her "lockpocking" method, once more turned serious as the dragon made her quest. Her eyes turned left and down, processing it, thinking of who to call, where to go. It was only a moment or two for her to catch on a few important people.

Determination steeled her features. She nodded silently and intensely, holding onto her single flower like there was an invisible blade extending from it. 

Her free hand reached forward, and she touched it gently to the humanoid dragon's hard chest. 

"Be safe," she asked him as much as told him as much as prayed for him. Her body tensed a silent moment, and she darted like a ghost among the forest, bushes and branches bending quietly out of her way. Just as quickly, she was gone like a passing breeze. 

[Makuro Shin]

"I afraid that I can't promise you that, Konoha." He whispered.

Shin waited until the branches are back in place before he starts to turn and run, back towards the camp.

He lowered his body as he was near the lights, and slide behind boxes of supply before sneaking a peek around camp. Nobody seems to notice that he's loose yet. He then scanned around the camp, looking for the camp that holds the leader of this organization.

And the tent in the middle of the camp site seems like it holds the biggest possibility for that.

I need a diversion, though... Then his eyes falls on the covered box that holds the lightning beasts.

He smiled.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon sneak through the camp, walking silently towards the cage, hiding behind boxes and tents occasionally when pairs of soldiers on patrol walked by.

He manage to reach the cage without raising the army. Just for safety reasons, he scanned around him, making sure there's no one nearby before sliding into the cloth that covered the cage.

The deep growl of the thunder beasts tell him that he's at the right cage.

With a deep growl that cracks like thunder, the almighty beast is a view to behold, even in it's trapped state. This particular magical being had took the shape of a big cat, It's body a few times bigger than Shin himself. Dots like those of leopards covered his body, even though its body shape is obviously more similar to a tiger.

The beast growled again as Shin stepped towards to the door and fiddle with the lock.

"Too bad, kitty, but I dont speak your language. If only you speaks Kusanagian, " He whispered as he examine the structure of the lock. "I'm here to release you, so PLEASE don't bite me."

He resisted the urge to facepalm after realizing he forgot to take the keys from Konoha. Makes no difference, He thought. I can just...

He picked up a particular sharp stone, and started carving the siddham sanskrit of the word "open" at the door.

[Minor NPC]

The word took on a soft purple hue, as magic flowed in and activated.

The command to "open" made simple work of the mundane lock. Enchantments had been made to keep the lightning beasts in, not prevent others from letting them out. The door to their boxed cage swung outward. Light flared bright and alive as the electricity wreathed their body.

The sonic boom blared in stereo as two pairs of lightning bolts blasted out, shaking a whole band of mercenaries awake as fires broke out en masse across their camp. Screams and orders were yelled out, as they hastened to arm themselves and identify the threat. Pairs of mages targeted the blaze before they could get out of hand, even as other magical lights went up to make daylight of the dark.

[Makuro Shin]

Somehow Shin managed to get out of range as the lightning beast rain destruction on the camp. He slide behind the targeted tent for cover, making sure no one notice him while doing so.

"Phew." He sighed in relief. "That went better than I thought."

After double checking the perimeter and making sure that everyone is taking care of the lightning beast rather than looking here, he slide into the tent silently, wondering what awaits him inside.

[Minor NPC]

The tent was illuminated by a small electric light, even as further, brighter light flooded in from the outside enchantments. A better bed than the other's sleeping bags was unoccupied, a small desk holding up the light and a few small odds and ends. A few wooden crates, a foot or two large, remained shut and unopened, their contents tucked away.

A pair of binders and a small computer pad were left out, as if recently in use. The screen was just slightly dimmed, with words running down it in a language other than the common tongue of Kusanagi. In format, it had the appearance of a list, with further details for each major "word," unidentifiable as they were.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon walks up to the computer pad and pick it up. The screen brightens as he runs a finger across it, but the words are just gibberish. Well, at least to him, it is.

He sighed at put the computer away and picked up one of the binders. He sift through the documents, trying to figure out what it is about. Pictures of magical beast are taken, bind with basic information and sighting records. Hell, he even have a stack of papers describing what he'd done recently.

"At least I know what you're after now, you bastards..."

[Minor NPC]

The energy rifle clicked noisily, at the owner's clear intent.

"We prefer 'mercenaries'," the figure said from where he stood at the front of the tent, weapon trained on the dragon pretending to be a humanoid. Light from behind obscured his features, with the smaller one trying its best to cast some kind of contrast to his face. Further notice to the light would show that it wasn't flickering firelight, but something else more solid on the outside.

The firelight was gone.

"You're supposed to be in your cage, dragon," he drawled out, his voice sounding like he was confidently in charge of the situation. "I'm guessing if you're out, so's the fey, and that causes all sorts of trouble for us."

The gun primed further with a buzz.

"Any reason I shouldn't shoot you right now?"

[Makuro Shin]

"We prefer 'mercenaries',"

The sound made Shin turn backwards. Lights shone at him made him narrowed his eyes, and he lift an arm to block the lights, in an attempt to see who's coming in. The entrance are covered moments after, and the one who came in appears to have a gun aimed at him.

"You're supposed to be in your cage, dragon, I'm guessing if you're out, so's the fey, and that causes all sorts of trouble for us."

"Yeah, the living environment is not really satisfactory, so excuse me for coming here to make a complain." The dragon said nonchalantly.

"Any reason I shouldn't shoot you right now?" He asked, the gun buzzing as if to strengthen the point.

"Because I'm charming?" Shin shrugged. "So I'm guessing that you're the leader of this mercenary business, huh?"

[Minor NPC]

The armored gunner's lips pulled up on the right side with something he found so very interesting - to himself. It was nothing the dragon said; just that last question, probing for information. 

"Sure," he replied. "I'm the leader. Let's go with that."

He motioned to the right with his head, taking a step back. The rifle stayed trained on the dragon with years of experience holding it steady. 

"Now walk out of the tent, nice and easy, and I won't have to put a hole through that nice hide of yours. A young male dragon sells so much higher when he's alive and whole. Damaged merchandise doesn't do us any -"

A sudden explosion sounded from above and to the right, closer to the center of the camp. The gunner's head turned, looking to the distraction even as half a dozen fey engaged the entire camp in combat, led by Konoha riding on the back of a giant white wolf.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon took the chance and dive forward, one arm held out to push the gun away from himself, and the other aimed at the soldier's chin, trying to knock him off his balance.

He can only hope that the gunner's reaction won't be quick enough for him to get shot.

[Minor NPC]

The distraction of the sudden war in the camp was just enough time for the dragon to slip in under his guard. The rifle fired off a shot at the sky, lancing upwards through tent and trees, past the barrier that wasn't there anymore. 

The second strike, following just behind, was already making contact with his jaw. He rolled with the punch, blunting some of the dragon's raw force and using the impact to spiral back and away. He struggled to fire off several times in quick succession, shooting from the hip, not the weapon's sight - less focused on killing shots and more just to hit the dragon, somewhere. 

Guns fired off bullets and laser blasts, and enchanted arrows sought to put down the unexpected wave of Fey brought by the Kusanagian tree elf. The white wolf dashed from mercenary to mercenary, attacking with a vicious strength, launching it's enemies back into whatever obstruction was around to break their landing, knocking them out with the impact. Magic-guided water was repelled by blasts of energy, as each side volleyed blows.

One of the fey succeeded in freeing the recently recaptured raiju, and suddenly the camp was alight in electrical explosions. 

[Makuro Shin]

Bullets were shot at the dragon, but he already took the chance and dived behind the desk and knock it over for cover. Good thing he didn't get shot.

"Hey! Seems like you're losing anyway, so why don't you give up now?" he bluffed, trying to think of a way to stay alive. "Save me from having to take you down?"

[Minor NPC]

Blasts of piercing light punched coin sized holes through the desk and kept on going through, missing a reptile only due to user inaccuracy. The gunner growled as if pretending to be an animal, venting frustration as he turned his attention to others in the fight. A flurry of shots cut down a pair of the fey attack force, missing the white wolf and Konoha only because of the beast's speed. An enchanted arrow pierced through another's defenses, stabbing through it's torso into the tree behind it.

He turned again, suppresive fire seeking to keep the dragon back and pinned.

"That's funny, dragon!" he chimed loudly. "I don't see it that way at all!"

[Makuro Shin]

"If you say so!" Shin yelled back after finished tracing the siddham alphabet "earth" on the floor below him with his claw. "Guess I'll just have to take you out then!"

The word glowed in a purple hue as pillars jutted up from the ground, threatening to knock the guard over. A thought of impaling the shooter with a sharped pillar wondered through his mind, but he pushed it aside with force.

It doesn't help that it seemed very tempting at the moment, especially when the soldier was shooting at him.

[Minor NPC]

Suppressive fire, slicing through the other side of the tent, was already starting to set the back of the temporary lodging ablaze. Smoke started to pour up from the back along the roof, and his concern split between the dragon and his belongings.

The gunner's eyes darted down as the earth cracked and pushed up, ground becoming a battering ram at enough speed to smash into the abdomen of his armor and throw him out of the tent. His finger pulled tight on the gun though, and even as he went flying, laser fire spraying across the tent and the forest overhead.

Each blast punched random holes through fabric and bed and leaves, split seconds spotlights through the night sky. Where each bolt passed, fire etched out the edge and licked further around. It wouldn't be long before the whole tent went up, and several trees soon after with it.

One of the fey, paying just enough attention to their surroundings to smell the fire above, gasped out, "They've set fire to the trees!" An arrow to the shoulder spun his body around onto the ground before he could say anything more.

The wood elf upon the wolf's back let her own eyes broaden in even more shock, and she jumped off the white beast, running to the nearest afflicted tree.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon flipped himself over the table, now covered with holes, and rush out the tent, landing on the soldier and pinning him down with his knees on the shooter's arms. Another rune trapped the soldier in the stone restraints after the dragon disarmed him, and only after the imminent threat was dealt with that he realized the burning trees.

"Fuck." he muttered.

Then he remembered that there was a water mage earlier. "Hey, you have a water mage here, right?" He said to the bound gunner. "Mind telling him to put out the fire? You don't want to get burned, do you?"

[Minor NPC]

The gunner grinned, casting his glance over at the ripped open body bent back over a barrel, as only a dead body could be.

"That water mage?" he asked, waiting for the dragon to look that way before a bolt of lightning fired up from the gunner's chest, at point blank range to the dragon's own body. Then gunner's body vanished in a burst of golden lightning, reappearing next to his gun, grabbing it and following up with several more shots at the surrounding area.

Two more of the Fey, distracted by their own combatants, went down with a bolt to the back. Losses on both sides still saw the mercenaries more numerous then the few Fey that had responded on the spot, and those few still around seemed to back off more the more outnumbered they became.

Konoha, high up in one of the trees already, was fearfully coaxing burning leaves to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. They jumped suicidally from their branch perches, floating away and burning to death on the air, but even with that, the fire was spreading far rapidly than her small magical ability could halt.

The great white wolf, howling in anger at two more casualties, suddenly made a mad dash straight toward the gunner. He turned and fired rapidly, only to be deflected by swirls of fire circling the charging wolf.

[Makuro Shin]

The dragon grunted as he's blasted back by the lightning blast, though he gotten up quickly and was already behind cover as he soldier fired more shots around. Man, that hurts...If only I have my weapons... He thought.

Well, first thing first. He traced another Saddam alphabet, this time meaning water, and directed the huge ball of liquid to the burning tent and trees as they appeared. Fire sizzled and dies down before Shin turns his attention back towards the gunner, who's now confronting the raging white wolf.

It sure sucks to be him now. He thought.

[Minor NPC]

Deflected shots scattered about, catching the environment and keeping everyone on edge, forcing some to duck down lest they take a random blast themselves. At the last second, the gunner's hand came off the rifle, overcharged with sparking lightning and aimed to the wolf's neck.

Defensive fire and lightning came into contact, two energies swirling and growing and building with so much light that the inevitable happened: friction exploded. The miniature bomb blasted both wolf and gunner in opposite directions, dust trails in their wake connected to the crater and smoke cloud left behind.

[Makuro Shin]

Shin moved towards the gunman after he's thrown back by the explosion, and almost make him a statue right there by covering body with stone restraints, only leaving his head untouched. For safety reasons, he carved a rune of protection and hid it from the gunner's view, in case he try something funny again.

Then he looked around, looking for the tree sprite who had just helped him by bringing reinforcements. He hoped that she managed to keep herself safe in this chaos. There's more than enough people being injured in one day, and he sure could deal with one less.

[Minor NPC]

The wolf returned to the fray quickly, having shrugged off the explosion that had made it a white meteor through the forest. Demoralized and shocked, the rest of the battle ended in seconds - mercenaries subdued or killed in the small war. Bloodied maw dripping, the beast padded slowly among the rest.

The wide-eyed creature of nature was peeking around a tree as cover, looking to observe whether it truly was safe or not now. The flowers in her hair were stars in the darkness of the trees.

Trees, put out by the dragon's water spell, released their load back down slowly, cascading droplets down upon the rest of the scene. Liquid speckled the camp like a small rain, and small smoke signals still rose up from where fire had eaten away at solid matter.