Jewel of the North [P][Holiday Mission]

Keita noticed that his friend Kizmaru said  that he could not create ice, although he could do a lot of other things, that was not one of them, and thus Keita could only lament that fact as he headed off to the more icy part of the mountains. Luckily for him, when he found the ice, wherever it may be, he could actually store it within his robe so that it would not melt before he got back to the temple that held whatever item that was inside that they had to get. He was much better off than others that would have to do this, as it was something that fuuinjutsu users had a premium of, and this was utility. He hoped that he would find it soon, as he started wandering over there, looking towards the more snow covered caps of the nearby mountains, and although he was fairly close, it would most likely take him at least ten minutes to trek there and back, and he only hoped that when he got there, there would be some sort of stream or something nearby so that he could harvest some ice from the surroundings. Keita rapidly ran over there, as he was not in the mood to do a leisurely stroll towards the area since the main point of the mission was the explore the cave temple thing, and this sparked his curiosity, so for once, he did not feel like taking in the beautiful scenery around him, and focused only on getting the ice that was near these caps. Fortunately, he would find a bit next to a small brook that was completely frozen over after a few minutes of searching when he got there, and he had hoped that during this time, Kizmaru had looked around and found something interesting about the wall. Maybe a way to get in without having ice, considering that was a fairly niche demand for something like this.

WC: 327

Kizmaru continued to look at the mural on the wall, pondering on the meaning of it. It was evident people in a distant past were battling some large strange creature nd seeing as this painting was here, he assume they had bested it and celebrated the event with this piece of work. As he pondered on it, Kizmaru had watched Keita run out and grab some ice somewhere for them to solve the riddle currently impeding their progression. He was wondering he should try and find  way to get through before he came back but then that would defeat the purpose of going out to get the ice in the first place. Sighing, he figured it was best to just wait for his return while he surveyed the are a little more. He already assumed forcing his way in would result in booby traps being let loose in his general direction and all though he was confident in his protection, he still didn't' want to risk it if he didn't have to. Reaching his armored right hand out to touch the picture, Kizmaru began to trace his fingers along the mural in an attempt to further understand it as if he was some kind of researcher. In the end, he figured it was a waste of his time and hoped Keita would return soon.

W.C: 224

As Keita had managed to get a chunk of ice that was near a river bank, he was now rushing back to the temple entrance with the wall that the mural was on, and although he did not need to rush there with his speed, he decided to rush anyway, considering he was very considerate and wondered how bored Kizmaru would be. He was wondering if his friend would just up and leave if he was left to his own devices for too long, as puzzles and riddles were not for him. He also wondered how long it would take before Kizmaru blew a hole into the side of the whole, the riddle be damned, and simply walked into the temple. Keita also wondered if that was a feasible option, but thought against it seeing the very sturdy stone that the wall was made out of. Keita almost face palmed, as he could easily go and scout the inside of the temple before hand with his hiding like a mole technique, and it seemed strange to him that he had forgotten such a simple thing that he used all of the time. Regardless, Keita continued, and after a couple of minutes of swift running, he had gotten back to the entrance to the cave and back to the mural, ready to unseal the ice and place it into the wall to see what was on the other side. He checked the area, making sure everything was alright, before performing some hand seals. He was going to make sure that whatever was inside of the area was not going to harm them, sop he chose to put a seal, a new one that Keita had developed, onto Kizmaru. He informed Kizmaru that the new seal could provide him with a limited time of breathable air and would stop toxins and suffocation, so he would know better how to use it. 

WC: 319

Oxygen Bottle Seal V7 - used, applied to Kizmaru

Finishing up tracing the mural with his fingers, he turned his head to the oncoming Keita as he returned to the part of the cavern they had currently resided in. Giving him a nod, he assumed he went out and got what he came for. It must have been quite hard for him to find ice around these parts considering he was gone for quite a bit. It was definitely cold but not cold enough for their to be snow on the ground just yet. Maybe he had to travel to some far off river in where he got lucky to get a few scraps of ice. Either way, if he was back, he assumed his side quest was done. Before they proceeded however, he witnessed Keita begin to perform the hand signs of Horse,  Dog, Tiger, Hare, Monkey, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Dog and Ox. It was a unique series of hand signs he's never seen him perform before so he was unsure of their effects so he was slightly curious. He wasn't sure why he was doing so but he trusted Keita and allowed him to continue until he was done nd placed it on Kizmaru. After he was done, Keita had informed him it was new seal he had invented that allowed him to breath easier and filter out toxins and poisons due to inhalation. This seemed like quite the useful technique and he wondered why nobody had invented it sooner. 

W.C: 243

Keita had returned, and he noticed that Kizmaru had just finished inspecting the wall of the cave, but unfortunately it seemed like he had found nothing of interest as he suddenly turned and looked at Keita hopefully. Keita had unsurprisingly found something, although it had taken him quite a bit of time to do so, he nevertheless succeeded at his endeavor and returned with ice sealed into his coat armor. Still, taking one last look at the door and applying the seal to Kizmaru, he then swiftly walked up to it, and unsealed the small chunk of ice he had scraped from the side of that river. Holding it in his hand, it looked like it was already started to melt because of the residual heat, and so Keita thought there shouldn't be any time to waste, and immediately put it into the slot below the poem or riddle, whatever it is that it was, and soon, nothing happened. Keita for a moment thought that it was the wrong item, and that somehow his answer was incorrect, but after a couple more moments of the ice melting into the platform that it was on, there was a light rumble, indicating that some sort of mechanism had triggered in the door, and soon, the entire wall started to shift. It was as if the wall was part of a circle, and was slowly turning, revealing that there was a hole about the size of a redwood tree trunk carved out of it, leading to was appeared to be a dimply lit and musty old place. Keita managed to cover his mouth and nose as the stale air rushed out of the temple and hit them. It seemed like there was no activity for a very long while, possibly hundreds of years, but Keita wondered what was in there.

WC: 307

Watching Keita manifest the ice from his person, he placed it in the slot where the riddle was written above. They waited for a little bit but nothing seemed to happen. Kizmaru gave a shrug before he started to think of other ways to get through before the door finally opened for the two of them. Part of the wall had opened, allowing the two to move forward into an old musty looking area. Taking a step forward, Kizmaru entered the area first which seems to resemble an old cathedral. Taking a step inside, he could immediately see what looks like a church podium and two rows of long, wooden benches that served as chairs the masses used to gather on once upon  time. Placing his hands into his sleeves, he turned his to look from left to right, as he continued to walk through the aisle in front of him. This clearly didn't look like a local church or chapel considering they did just come through a cave entrance. Making it to the front of the chapel like room, he had spotted some kid's toys near the podium but it seems they were also here for a very long time. He couldn't tell if the people that used to inhabit this place where some kind of cult or people that had a weird obsession with children.

W.C: 227

The dust from the moving wall cascaded down the ceiling and the other parts of the wall that were not moving, and soon, the opening was perfectly fine for them to enter. It seemed that Kizmaru's patience had completely warn out from simply sitting there, as he was the first one to start walking into the stale and dusty halls, although Keita seemed like he wanted to protest, he trusted Kizmaru, and so he was fine with just letting him do whatever he wished for the time being, while being on the lookout for any other obstacles, such as booby traps or the like that was in this old abandoned place. He was wondering if it was going to be like the story he had seen in the training center back at the village, with random monsters or even the undead guarding this place, but he thought that it might be a bit too farfetched in his mind, and he walked in along side his companion. As he walked in and saw the rows upon rows of pews that were facing some sort of altar or pedestal, he wanted to think that something was going to be on the pedestal and that they could go up and snatch it, and to his surprise, there was. This seemed too simple in Keita's mind, and so he was immediately on high alert. The item on the pedestal gave off a slight green glow, and looked like it was some sort of precious jade sphere. This was what the voice in his head that gave them this mission had said that they were after, so Keita was thinking about ways to get it, and the first thing that came to his mind were his chakra chains, as that seemed like something that would easily solve this problem. However, he was less impulsive than other people, and so he decided that he was going to ask Kizmaru for his input after directing his friend's attention to the small sphere on the pedestal. Keita assumed that Kizmaru would be his normal impatient self and just snatch the gem, so Keita was slightly ready to leave.

WC: 360
Exit

Total WC: 2,635

Claiming Block V7 C rank with 1000 words
Claiming Water Prison V7 with 1500 words
Claiming 52 ap from max stats
Claiming Refined Jade and B ranked Jutsu Ticket from mission
Claiming 500 ryo for jounin rank

Proceeding down the isle, Kizmaru had spotted a glimmer behind the podium as he continued to walk in. Behind it hung somewhere on the back of a wall was a Refined Jade jewel that had been sitting there in another mural. That must have been their objective for the mission they were sent on by the disembodied voice that had been requesting them to do things. This made Kizmaru smile a bit as he made it to the front of the isle, climbed onto the stage where the podium had resided and began to approach the jewel. He didn't care about this one as he just wanted to grab this thing and go back to wherever he needed to be. Nothing happened so far until he tried to pry the jewel from the mural it was fastened on. As he slowly forced the jewel out its socket, the cave had began to rumble for each centimeter he had pulled it out of the slot. Well, he already knew what kind of trap this was gonna be. The classic 'cave is going to collapse and the only exit was about to be sealed off' shtick, he got it already. immediately after pulling it out, Kizmaru began to shunshin towards the closing entrance in a straight line, colliding and pushing Keita out of the collapsing cave as well. With that, they had completed the mission given to them by 'the voice.'

W.C: 239
T.W.C: 2,029

Loot Claims
Claiming Refined Jade and B Rank Ticket

Ability Claims
Using 2,000 words to learn Silent Killing

Approved