[ml1201]

Yasu kneels before her elders and her father, the leader of their ninja clan. Having just returned from her previous mission they were going over the results of how the mission had gone. Standing, her father motions for her to rise, "As always you've done our clan proud Yasu. You may rest for a few days before you're given your next mission, there are matters that the elders and I have to discuss about your next target." Bowing, she turns and leaves having been dismissed from the council. Leaving the elder's meeting hut she takes a look around at her village, the young ninja's training and the mothers and eldest daughters looking after the youngest of the children who are not yet ready to begin their training. Her village is well known for their ability in completing a mission, usually being that of assassinating some sort of lord invading other lands or lords that the people don't like. Not being one for politics she didn't particularly care.

"Yasu!" A swarm of children come running up to her, some trying to climb up her and hang off of her. "Come play with us!" Looking around nervously she's herded by them to one of the places they were playing, a couple of them having mock sword fights with a stick.

"I bet Yasu is just as bad at fighting with a stick as us, they can't really hurt anyone!" One of the children hands her a stick then another one charges her. Swinging the stick quickly she smacks the one from the child's hand, leaving a small welt where she hit them. Suddenly feeling the pain and seeing the mark on their hand, the child begins to cry calling Yasu a meanie before going to one of the other women and telling them what happened. One of Yasu's two younger sisters come over shaking their head.

"Yasu, you should know better than to play with the children! You don't know how to go easy on them." She stares at her sister for a moment before turning and leaving. Looking over her shoulder she makes sure that the kid gets their hand treated before she's out of site. She makes her way out of the village and into the forest, getting away from the people there. Finding a tree that she likes a good distance from the village she jumps up into and makes herself comfortable.

"You'd think they would realize now that I'm not good at dealing with other people, or at least not in a friendly manner. Getting mad at me won't change anything. Since I was little I was trained to kill, they have it easier, they can just get married off and have a happy life with someone that loves them. Who could ever love a cold hearted killer like me anyways? The only thing I'm good at is killing, not taking care of children or tending to a home..."

Character Name: Akira Koga
Clan: Koga
Age: 25
Focus: Fire Ninjutsu
Weapon: Katanas

Can we leave out the personality and history bits? I like to find out about those bits as the RP moves along.

Character Name: Yasu Akiyama (Assertive Child, Autumn Mountian)
Clan: Yukiyama (Snowy Mountain)
Age: 23
Focus: Ice ninjetsu
Weapon: Manriki-gusari Chain

[CycloneKira]

Akira walks across the desert tirelessly, katanas at his side, trying to get to the next city. He is sick and tired of having to kill for no reason. He has taken permission from the Koga elders and taken their leave, saying that he does not wish to fight anymore. Right before his departure, however, his foster father, Hiroki Koga, took him aside and told him to be wary. Even though Akira does not wish to fight anymore, there are others who still do and will harm him if they recognize him. Saying so, he entrusted Akira with the katanas Akira had been given in his childhood, when Hiroki had found him on the street. On that day, Akira had skilfully stolen some money from Hiroki's pocket. Seeing great potential in the boy, Hiroki had adopted him as his own son, for his wife could not bear him any sons of their own. The young boy lived up to his foster father's expectations beautifully. But the boy also had a conscience. Every time he killed an enemy of the family, it left a guilt in his heart that would fade in time but never be truly erased. Thus, it happened that Akira left. Initially there was turmoil in the family, but they finally yielded to his wish. A cousin of his was made new head of the clan.

After an hour of walking, Akira reaches a town. Quiet and sleepy. He decides to rest here and continue on his journey tomorrow.

[ml1201]

Starting to become bored with just sitting in the tree, Yasu decides to do some hunting, one of the nearby villages hasn't had much luck with obtaining fresh meat, so she figured they could use some help. Climbing up higher she scans the forest floor from her perch, spotting a wild boar rummaging in the denser part of the forest where it was darker. Taking out her manriki-gusari, she pulls her arm back and wipes it back up, letting it fly blade first from her hand, hitting the boar in its fat throat. It struggles for a while, knocking the blade loose and then bleeds out. Now that it was finished struggling she leaps down, cleans off her weapon, then hefts the boar onto her shoulder. Since it was about the size of a medium dog it wasn't too heavy for her to carry, any bigger though and she'd have to gut it here, which would attract wolves.

Making her way through the woods she reaches the local village, sneaking in the shadows as best so can while carrying the boar. Near the butcher's hut she drops off the boar, then throws some rocks near the building to get the man to come out and see the boar. Hiding in the shadows she makes sure that at least someone gets it.

[CycloneKira]

Akira walks along the dusty road, trying to look for an inn, so he can spend the night. Along the way, he stops abruptly in front of a butcher shop. There's a dead boar lying right in front of it. Nobody comes to take it. He sees rocks flying towards the building, which startles him. "Hello! There's dead boar out here! Please come out and get it!" he yells. The butcher man comes out and picks up the boar, bowing to him. "Thank you. Did you kill this?" he asks. Akira shakes his head. "No, I did not. It was already out here when I came." The butcher looks puzzled for a moment but thanks him for telling him to come out and get the boar and goes back into his shop and sets about cutting the dead beast.

Akira looks around for the source of the flying stones and spots someone hiding in the shadows. Thinking that it might bother the person if he were to call him/her out, he walks on his way, trying to look for an inn.

[ml1201]

Stiffening when the man wondering that spotted the boar looks in her direction, she slowly inches herself deeper into the shadows. How did he even spot me? Yes I had been throwing rocks, be he still shouldn't have been able to spot me so quickly. Now nervous she waits for the man to get out of view, checking around the corner to make sure he's not watching her before taking off into the forest again.

"I'll have to keep an eye out for that one, but I can't say anything to the elders and father because I'm not even supposed to be there. Urgh, this is kind of annoying, I hope that guy won't become a problem in the future for our clan. I don't mind killing people, but I don't want to be doing that for the rest of my life. I want to learn how to care for a family and have one, but no one would understand if I told them that." Sighing she shakes her head, having finally reached the entrance to the village, heading to her home where her two sisters and father wait for her.

[CycloneKira]

Akira continues walking until he thinks of a way to find a place to stay. He runs back to the butcher man's shop. "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where the village elder lives?" he asks the butcher. Smiling, the butcher replies,"Oh yes, dear boy. Just go straight down and take a right. It's hard to miss the village elder's house. It's the biggest one there is around here!" Akira smiles and thanks the butcher, and goes on his way. As instructed by the butcher, he goes straight down and takes a right.

The village elder's house looks like a palace, he thinks. He walks in, tells the watchman why he's here, follows the watchman inside and sits down on the chair, waiting for the elder.

[ml1201]

When Yasu returns to her village she's immediately stopped by the patrol, "Yasu, the elders and chief want to see you." Sighing mentally she goes to the council house and kneels before them, her eyes lowered to the ground.

"Yasu, I know this is not the norm for our clan but we've just received word that a ninja from another clan has been roaming around. A renegade ninja in this region is problematic. So I want you to go to the local villages and see if you can find this man." Her father tosses a packet that has a drawn portrait of the man in question. Looking at it she sees a man that might be the same one she saw earlier. She didn't know why he was there but she had to do what was best for her village.

The elder shuffles his way into the room where the young man is waiting for him, bowing slightly in greeting. "Sorry for the long wait, as you can see I'm not as young as I used to be. Welcome to our village, dinner will be served shortly, but let me show you to your room." He leads the young man down a side hallway, to a room over looking the back garden. "This is a room with a nice view of the garden. My granddaughter will be by shortly to get you for dinner." Leaving the room and heading back to the main portion of the building, the elder pulls a piece of paper from his robes, looking at the drawing of the man he just took to that room. Sighing, he knew that the ninja clan of this area would soon be sending someone out to look for the man, probably their most skilled killer.

[CycloneKira]

Seeing the elder walk in, Akira bows to him. He follows the old man down the hall into a welcoming room with a beautiful view. He thanks the old man politely as the latter walks away. Akira sighs and puts down his luggage on the floor next to his bed. He does not bother unpacking; he knows he will have to leave soon, probably tomorrow. He sits down on the luxurious bed, taking in his first evening as a free man, away from the violence and blood lust of the Koga clan. He takes a deep breath, as he always does at this time of day. It helps him relax and stay calm.

Akira hears a knock on the door. It is the elder's grand daughter, come to call him for dinner. He follows her down to the dining room, where the elder is already seated. Akira takes a seat opposite the elder. "I have not been able to thank you properly for allowing me to stay with you," he says. The village elder smiles at him. "It is no trouble for me. I always welcome visitors to the village." They eat the rest of their meal in silence.

After dinner, Akira spots a piece of paper on the floor. He picks it up, for there is no one else around, and is shocked when he sees a rough sketch of himself drawn on to it. Why is there a picture of him lying in this place, where he has never set foot before?

[ml1201]

Yasu leaves her village and makes her way to the village she had seen the traveler at, keeping among the trees and hidden from view. Knowing that the only place to stay in this village would be the elder's home she makes her way there and sees the man as he's walking with the elder's daughter to dinner. Looking into the closet room to where they were headed from she spots a room over looking a garden. Stealthily she makes her way over to the room and takes a peak in, the room indeed containing the luggage he had been carrying earlier. She hears servants whispering nervously as they walk past the room but ignores it since they know not to come here if the person is a suspected target.

Looking around the best place to launch a surprise attack to kill him seems to be in the shadows behind his changing screen, which is also the easiest place to spot her as well if he's expecting an attack. And hanging on the ceiling would also be obvious. Instead she checks the door to the closet that keeps the futons and is satisfied to see it doesn't make a sound. Slipping inside she leaves it open a hair in wait for the man to enter.

[CycloneKira]

Knowing for sure now that someone's out to get him, Akira treads carefully around the house. It is obvious that if he so much as walks into his room, he could get killed. He walks up to the terrace and admires the entire landscape, admiring its beauty. A very picturesque place, he thinks. A quiet, sleepy town, with friendly people. I wouldn't really mind dying here, he thinks. He takes a deep breath to calm himself down. He really thought that he would be able to start a new life just because he took leave of the Koga clan. He was disappointed.

Accepting his fate, or rather, to see what fate has planned for him, he walks back down the stairs and walks into his room.

[ml1201]

Waiting until the man closes the door behind him, Yasu lunges out through the closet at him. Drawing her tanto in a quick motion while she's lunging at him so that she can place the blade to his throat and cover his mouth with her free hand to muffle any screams he might make. She barely even makes a noticeable during her movements, having been trained since she was a child in how to kill people. Her eyes held nothing but boredom in them, already getting tired of doing nothing but killing people for her clan.

[CycloneKira]

Akira's eyes are trained enough to see the quick movements of the strange woman as she jumps out of the futon closet. Deciding at the last moment that today is not the day, he carefully, yet in a manner that would seem almost clumsy, trips the woman, causing her to fall on the floor.

Appalled at what he has done, he runs ovr to help the woman up. "I am so sorry," he says. "I hope you are not hurt." He curses himself. Women need to be treated with a certain respect and he just tripped one just now. What's wrong with him? Of course, there's the fact that she was lunging at him with a sword in her hand, all set to kill him. Wearing a seemingly shocked yet curious expression on his face, he adresses the intruder. "Who are you?"

[ml1201]

Unable to stop him from tripping her as she flies towards him all she can do is tumble to prevent herself from getting hurt. She's a bit winded as she lands, though she shouldn't have expected anything less from a man rumored to have gone rogue from his clan. Though whether the tripping was an accident or not she didn't care about, it was more so her target actually staying in the same room without trying to run away or fight back.

Her eyes narrow when he expresses concern about her safety, completely baffled why he would be concerned about someone who was just trying to kill him. Ignoring his concerns since it could be a trick she jumps back away from him. As he asks who she is she reaches into her pouches and pulls out kunai to throw at him, some heading towards him and others covering an area. She hopes that she's able to at least hit his shadow with one of them since she'd be able to hold him with a ninjutsu if so.

[CycloneKira]

Since Akira expected the woman to calm down after he asked her who she was, he is taken completely by surprise when she skips back and throws the kunai in his direction. One of them gets lodged in his right shoulder while the other hits his left arm. Grunting in pain, he takes the kunai out and drops them on the floor, his blood staining the knives as well as the floor.

I cannot lose my resolve, he thinks. I cannot. I am here to start a new life. I will not harm this woman even if she kills me.

He holds his arm to try to stop the bleeding, and then, as though the whole thing was a joke, he says, "Are we done here, ma'am?"

[ml1201]

Yasu, not usually having this happen with her targets, becomes confused as to what to do next. At this point any other target would either be dead or if they were a ninja like her they would try to fight back. Neither of which is man is doing. She could easily continue attacking, but she's getting the feel that if she does continue attacking, or at least with weapons, things will get ugly quick. There's already blood on the floor, something she was trying to avoid. Thinking for a moment she decides maybe its better to try taking him alive and question him. With him being weakened it should be easy to pin him. Though she'd have to bandage up his wounds if she didn't want him to bleed out.

Putting away her blade she cautiously picks up her kunai, saving the one he pulled out for last. Then she makes a move to try and grab his good arm.

[CycloneKira]

Akira watches the woman as she studies him. She seems to be studying him for weaknesses. Or wondering why he isn't dead yet. Either way, he knows that he has to act fast. And get out of this place as soon as possible. He must survive.

He watches her with an air of jovialness, as though he is simply humoring her rather than trying to escape death. It's funny how things work, he thinks. This time, when the woman makes her move, Akira is ready for her. He moves his arm out of the way of her grip and pushes her towards the wall, holding her hands behind her back after taking the kunai off of them. He knows she can't escape, for he's far too strong for her.

"Ma'am," he says, in a pacifying voice. "I really hate to do this. Especially to a woman like you. But I have a life to live and, whatever your reasons, I can't let you take it from me." He sighs. "I'm going to let go now. I can only hope and pray that you won't try to hit me again." Saying this, he lets go of her, waiting for her response.