Gina asks you a few questions about the passage you're on, and you answer them as well as you can. There's no action so far, Gina leads her horse forward and Dani is quiet. You keep to yourself in the meantime, thinking about what your next move is after this small mission, if anything. Your pockets will be more than fine even if you get nothing out of this, but Gina is going to insist on paying and Dani is going to talk her down to a lower price.
The five shinobi powers at the moment are relatively stable. You know that all of them have an interest in talking to you, though you can discern some motives more easily than others. The Leaf and Sand are relatively unknown, though they're assuredly non-hostile in their advances. Cloud wants to see you out of the picture and to find your grandfather's whereabouts. Rock might want to use you as bait for the Cloud and other nations.
The only true unknown is Mist. You have no idea what they're thinking. Nobody does, and that might become a problem down the road for many reasons. You don't really like it, but it's a problem you would have to solve when you got to it. For now, there's not much you can do with zero information to go on. And furthermore, you're not all that sure what you even want to do at this point anyways. It will take some more exploring and understanding of the world and the things going on inside of it before you can make some kind of decision. All of that might be for the best.
Your group eventually leaves the walls of the mountain pass as they shrink down to nothing, the road opening up and leading you into a forest. You still have your bearings up to this point and lead Gina near the eastern edge, where a stream winds through the trees about a hundred feet to your right. Dani sits up and looks around at the forest view as your cart rolls by. Everyone is still keeping to themselves for the most part as night starts to fall.
"Should we stop?" Gina asks you.
"Let's keep going for a while longer and stop at dawn. It's an irregular time and should give us some more safety. That okay, Dani?"
"Perfectly fine. I'll keep watch for us first."
You nod. "Got it. Alright, we'll get some sleep in a few hours."
Gina rolls towards the stream a few times so that her horse can get a drink, then puts you back on your way. The hours pass by freely; you empty your mind and meditate within the quiet of the forest. The trees are already coming back to life as you enter the midpoint of spring. Winter, while not particularly harsh, lasted a bit longer than normal this year in the Cloud. Snow gave way to cold and sometimes freezing rain as the seasons shifted.
Eventually you feel the cart come to a stop, Gina hopping off and stretching her limbs. "I think I've had enough for now. Can we turn in?"
"Zeke?" Dani looks to you for an answer.
"Yeah. Let's have something warm first. I'll start a fire," you say. Dani and Gina nod before setting off to their own tasks, the latter laying a blanket across the floor of her cart and unrolling a sleeping bag.
"You guys have your own stuff? I've got spare blankets if you need any," Gina calls out.
"I should be fine. Zeke, you can share with me if needed~"
"I'm good," you say to Dani with a smile. She has a laugh at that.
"Alright. I'll keep Gina company. Where will you be?"
"Tree. Good vantage point and the branch is sturdy," you reply, pointing up at the spot in question. "Just make some noise if you need me."
"We'll be sure to. I'll get us something light for the tea," Gina mutters as she searches through her things.
"Everything okay?" you ask Dani as she has a sleeping bag pop out of a scroll. "You didn't seem like your overly energetic self."
"You can't be too much of a bother on missions, you know. Time and place."
"Heh. Right, makes sense. Well, I didn't-"
"Mean to make me out as a foolhardy flirt."
You wince. "Wouldn't go that far."
She pats your shoulder gently. "You're too kind for your own good. It's proper form to be blunt sometimes, you realize."
"Yeah, I might."
"Thank you for your concern, my darling. I'm fine," she says with a tender smile. "Make sure to get your rest. I'll wake you when needed. Six hours or when Gina wakes up. Three on, three off."
"That's cool."
"Good. Can you make us the tea this time? I really did like what you mixed for me yesterday..."
---
After tea and a light snack, you put out the fire and head up to your spot in the trees. You shake your head as Dani blows you a kiss goodnight, and drift off into sleep with a blanket on you and a small pillow behind your head. You have shuriken locked in around the fingers of your right hand, and your left rests on the two kunai laying on your lap. The immediate area is mapped out in your head as your eyes close.
Today brings you a formless sort of sleep. Nothing bad, nothing exceedingly good. You do feel refreshed, though, even before you wake up. It's still early morning as you open your eyes and feel someone on your branch. There's a wisp of perfume floating in the air, familiar enough that you know who it is before you can see them.
"Zeke."
"Dani." Your hands are already tensed on reflex, and she's smartly kept her distance, balancing lightly near the edge of the long branch as you stir. "Morning."
"Good morning. How was your sleep?"
"Good. Feeling good." You grab your pillow and blanket before having them disappear in a cloud of smoke, back into the small scroll you had on your belt. "No problems."
"Wonderful. Gina is still asleep, so take care not to disturb her too much. I trust you to keep watch over us both."
"Thanks, I'd hope so," you say with a laugh. You drop down to the ground and she follows suit, heading back to her spot beside Gina and lying down. "See you guys in three hours. Pleasant dreams."
"Thank you." She means to say something else but holds onto it, laying her head down and closing her eyes. Dani already looks...vulnerable, if you have to say. It's a strange contrast from earlier. Her visible hand is clenched tightly, contrasting Gina's who are opened up to the world as she breathes in and out, occasionally smacking her lips and mumbling something before making a slight turn to one side.
"..."
You wonder about Dani. Maybe you've just met, but she seems like she's looking for something, and the flirting is a misdirection. It's well known in these kinds of war economies that women use their charms and bodies as commodities, if that opportunity isn't stripped away from them first. They do have more agency than ever before, but that really isn't saying a whole lot. Even if it was a woman who literally changed the future of warfare, or they've done ridiculous things like sealing giant chakra demons inside of them in the middle of fights. Right now, the 'fairer sex' had yet to really get their due.
Maybe Dani was a victim turned warrior. Maybe she was escaping an oppressive lifestyle where every aspect of her life was controlled by elite, elitist men. Maybe she was just wandering, trying to find a purpose, or a missing-nin. You didn't know, and she probably wouldn't tell you. There were endless possibilities.
But the word 'vulnerable' came to mind first for you, and you have a feeling that it's some kind of sign. Somebody upstairs is giving you a hint.
You've got a couple hours to think on that and everything else.
---
Gina wakes up two hours later, Dani following suit just a minute after. You eat breakfast; Gina has preserved meats on hand that go well with some of her thick and weighty bread. The girls ask you to brew tea again, and you don't object. That skill was something your mom taught you, and she used to bug you to make pots for her in the same way.
"You're a really good baker, Gina," you say to her as she packs up for the road again. Dani is bringing the horse back from a morning drink at the stream.
"Thanks! I've been working really hard these last three months to make everything I do better. I heard the Hidden Cloud was a hot enough market, lots of hungry shinobi and all that. Just didn't work out. I...ah, I might talk to you about it later. That okay?"
"Yeah, no worries."
"Good! We're not too far from the place I want to stop off. A few baked goods, but mostly some raw ingredients and stuff I got while in the Cloud. Couple of weird imports from a place called...Kennedy Port? You heard of it?" Gina asks.
"Yeah," you admit. "Started up a long time ago on account of some foreigner businessmen."
"Wild, eh? I've got blood in me from across the sea, too. Bit removed right now, though. Anyways, let's get ourselves back on the road again. Thanks again for taking this mission on, I've never felt this safe in my life."
"I find that hard to believe," Dani says as she secures the horse again. "I mean, look at you! You're too sweet to abandon."
"You're something else entirely, Dani. But...shockingly enough, not everyone enjoys the company of country midgets."
"That so?" you ask.
"Yeah." She pouts as she gets onto the front of the cart, grabbing her horse's reins. You and Dani settle into the back. "Fun fact, I'm twenty years old and I look like this. Bet you I'm never getting married."
"Did your mom say that?" you ask again.
"Nah. She's always in my corner and tried to hook me up a few times. Handsome guys, even. You just get...negative vibrations from some of 'em. I'm not so desperate to turn myself into a doll and have some idiot pump me full of babies the rest of my life. It's complicated. Women are complicated. Men are too, but they're way easier to bribe."
Dani wiggles her brows at you.
"No comment," you shoot back. She sighs dramatically and returns her attention to the road; you chuckle and tilt your hat upwards as the cart rolls forward.
---
The roads are becoming more and more worn as you move, and soon the rudimentary signs of paving become clear. You're getting close to a developed area, your destination.
It's getting slightly more humid as you move, and your senses are starting to perk up suddenly. There's something saying you might have to go on alert soon.
Now you're looking at mist. Fog, more likely-
"Eyes open."
"Dani?"
"Blood. It's drifting on the air...I can smell it."
You nod. "Gina, keep us moving."
"Aye." She maintains the same speed for a few minutes, guiding you along the edge of the fog while not moving too far off course.
"Yes...there are multiple bodies. I don't want to make any declarations yet, and this fog is strange. It's getting dangerous," Dani says in a serious tone. "Gina, hold."
The horse and cart come to a stop. Dani reaches into the pouch on her side and pulls out a few kunai with tags on them. Her hand then dips into the pouch strapped to her thigh, just underneath her skirt. A few small pills and more tags.
"The first set goes on the horse and cart. The second you hold onto. The kunai are meant to be used one at a time, and the pills are the last thing you use. Those are to preserve your life and allow you to fight for a few minutes on your own. Protect your property, and when you cannot, protect yourself. Make your way to us."
"Alright."
Dani nods and places her hand on Gina's cheek for a few moments. She leaves and turns to you. "Let's hope it doesn't get that far."
"Yeah. We won't." The two of you head deeper into the mist. "I'm usually up front. Close range, taijutsu."
"Noted. I'll hold anything outside of that range, but I can more than assist you if needed. I use kenjutsu primarily, sensing abilities, and if genjutsu is a problem I have countermeasures for that. I'll cover your back for now."
"Got it. Ready?"
"Yes."
With another few steps, you've reached what you could call the eye of this mess. Bodies are scattered around the immediate area, some chopped in two, but all leaking blood. Dani taps her right wrist and out of thin air a sheathed katana appears in the same hand, the scabbard black with all kinds of carvings on it, and the hilt coloured a rich blue.
"Smart play."
There are three figures. The one in the middle, who just spoke, wears a plain-looking grey cloak, and sports an orange mask in a swirl pattern, revealing one open eye-hole. He turns to properly face the two of you.
"Keep yourself alert. He's probably got a visual technique," Dani mutters to you. You nod and shift your feet slightly, keeping your gaze slightly away from the masked man's.
The other two people are a bit flashier, wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them. One has half his face bandaged from the nose down, a really really big sword resting on the ground and dripping with blood. The other weirdo has senbon in their hands and a mask completely covering their face. The hairstyle should inform you that it's a woman partner, but you can never assume anything these days.
"Coming to us is a good move. Saves us any trouble with your little merchant girl back there. We, ah...took care of this possible nuisance here for the sake of everyone involved," the masked man says. His voice is deep, meant to be threatening and mysterious. It feels...not fake, but also not like the real deal. Just a strong facsimile. Not that you know who this guy is imitating, if anyone.
"We'd thank you, but we don't know who you are or what you want," you say.
"It figures. But...as you might have guessed, I know you. Both of you, actually. It's a stroke of luck that you ended in the same place at the same time."
"Both of us?"
"Oh...you don't know."
Dani tenses up slightly.
"You don't know who she is, and she doesn't know who you are. Well...I see we're in for some entertainment," the masked man says, chuckling. "But I feel like you might not be interested in what I have to say."
"It's up to you," Dani says.
"Hey-"
"It's up to you," she repeats.
"Yes, it's up to you. I wonder what your grandfather would do in this situation...Zeke, was it?"
"..." Okay...this isn't getting any more pleasant.
The masked man folds his arms. "You want to tell her? Or should I just spill all the beans at once? What do you think...Zeke?"
He says your name mockingly, like he really does know something. But does he really?
This isn't too good. It seems like a small situation, but nothing is ever that easy in this world.
---
[] Call his bluff. There's no way some masked random actually knows that much about you, and what he allegedly knows could be deflected easily enough.
[] You might as well blow the lid on it yourself. Use it as bait to figure out who this idiot is...it's not like this situation is new to you.
[] Kick it back to Dani. She's obviously a bit wound up, for whatever reason.
- [] She's obviously someone important enough to sort of blackmail. Have her fess up.
- [] Leave the decisions to her for now.
[] Shut him up. You don't need this kind of trouble, and you think you can take him and his two goons. (Pre-battle sequence)
- [] Have Dani go back to check on Gina while you stall.
- [] Keep Dani with you and go ahead with your plan.
[] Write-in.
---
At this point you don't have jutsu set up yet, so the option to fight will be a set-up sequence where you'll get your techniques afterwards. Otherwise, things will go 'normally' for every other option.
Open for questions as usual.
