I smell something burning...[Event/private]

[Draven]

The desert sands were hanging in the air with in a lazy drifting swirl. The merchant Dilbo, the Grand making his way atop a camel and cart. Their destination a place far off. The road to such a place was less used and ill traveled. For they were now Dragon hunters a foot.

The gleam of the merchant's Dragon Scale shield sat on his back as he waddled within the saddle of the camel. He scratched the cheek of the beast as it gurgled its protest to the travel. a shhh calmed it down as the Merchant had his sight ahead of him.

Though the road was sketchy to say the least, it was clear. No warning of threats, nor even a sandstorm in the distance. Clear skies, yet hot as the midday's sun can muster. A turban sat on top of the scalp of Dilbo as he rode. With a quick look he checked to see if his companion was on his trail...

[Takeuchi]

The Uchiha had made his way to the cart after the man and climbed into it, taking his seat. Banryu was set in the cart behind where he sat and his butt bag held three kunai, his map of the known world, an electronic compass, three blood clot pills and three soldier pills. The man sat with his back to the merchant and hopefully the girl had taken the hint and climbed in beside him. "Mind your business and mind the road, fat man, those of us actually doing the work have things to discuss."

[Chiyu]

Unfortunately, Chiyu and the merchant didn't exactly part in terms of agreement. Following after the two wasn't exactly going to bring about any hearty conversation. However, she was still curious about what was on the stolen scroll, and the other customer had gestured for Chiyu to follow along.

Another option had to be taken to keep track of the traveling merchant and the hunter.

When they left the temple and the shop, Chiyu used a little genjutsu on herself. A technique that had an indefinite duration. The permanent invisibility prevented most of the people in this world from seeing Chiyu's physical form, and allowed her around at her leisure.

Chiyu had a bad habit of being lazy, so she didn't bother to run along behind the two. Instead, she also climbed onto the cart, assuming the other two didn't notice and prevent her from doing so. She kept to someplace empty, away from living bodies that could be accidentally bumped against.

The large sword that Chiyu carried along was strapped diagonally across her back. Its handle was just over the lady pirate's left shoulder.

Permanent Invisibility
Rank: "A"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: As Invisibility, except the effect is permanent or until diJutsued.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: Affects anyone who sees the target. The user is able to perform this technique on the target they touch. The duration of this technique lasts until negated or removed. This technique may be negated.
Limit: Must know the Glamour Perception. Must know Invisibility.

[Draven]

The travel would go without any incident. Unless Mukuro had an issue with Chiyu's presences on the cart all would go well. A few grunts and gurgles from the camel and looong hard sighs from Dilbo, the trip would be rather mundane. What do you expect from a desert.

The trip took half a days travel before the top of a peek could be seen. Off in the distance the mountain slowly raised from the ground. The dunes of sand sometimes covered the view but eventually it started towering over them. The sands slowly drifted in the mid day sun and slowly picked up. One this team of Dragon hunters had reached a mile away the sands started to kick up. A light sandstorm.

Visability was reduced down to 100 meters. Dilbo wrapped his face in his turban to cover the annoyance of the sand. The Camel protest but proceeded through. But there was something strange about the sand if someone could detect chakra. It was laced with the miracle substance. The lines of chakra all seemed to be heading toward the mountain itself...

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Vibration Sensor
Rank: "B" Rank (70tp at all times)
Skill: Ninjutsu
Effect: Allows the user to sense moving targets.
Special: Handseals followed by holding "Tiger"
Drawback: User can easily become confused if multiple movements are felt. User must have chakra in the surrounding sand already using Sand control.
Description: Using their extensive knowledge of sand, a master of the Saton release is able to nearly become one with their sand. In the area dictated directly by the user's ability in Sand Controlling, the user is able to pick up the vibrations in their sand, even if the user is invisible by any means, the user can act upon the vibrations and pick out the target after three movements worth of handseal holding. Those who do not actually touch the sand are unable to be sensed by this technique.
Limit: "Sand Controlling" B rank, Saton no Jutsu, 500 TP in Saton Release.

[Takeuchi]

The Uchiha was almost disappointed at first when he arrived at the cart and the girl had not arrived. Yet that changed after he had seated himself in the cart and an unseen force clambered in as well. While he may not have seen what it was, he could tell there was something by movement set off by someone climbing in, yet he said nothing for the time being. Instead, long before they hit the sandstorm, he moved to a corner with he back to the rest of the cart and opened the scroll to read it. A person would have to get up close to him if they wanted to read over his shoulder, and that was the plan. After a few moments of quiet reading, hopefully giving enough time for the girl to approach, the man would speak softly, "What's with the invisibility routine? Are you afraid big fat merchant is going to be mad?" It would be clear by his voice that he had no fear of what the fat man was capable of.

[Chiyu]

Chiyu recognized the opportunity for the scroll. It was pleasantly obvious, and she immediately sat by the man's side to read what was written upon the parchment. Her strangely perfect memory was sure to allow her a firm hold of all the scroll's information.

To make sure that the merchant didn't see the scroll if he turned around, Chiyu took a moment to place a sack upright, so that the scroll was obscured by the cloth.

After a bit of studying, the man posed a question. It seemed he wasn't quite as cautious about the situation. That wasn't unreasonable, it just wasn't Chiyu's style.

The lady pirate smiled and propped her hand up under her chin. Since she was invisible, it wasn't exactly a gesture so much as a habit. "I deal with proxies and deception," she whispered. "The front lines aren't my style. That merchant is a man with a dragon scale. He obtained it somehow, and it's too much of a risk to go into this trusting him to be behind my back."

[Draven]

You open the scroll easily enough. The Merchant was actually trying to hide something from you, not very well though. He was sipping on a flask of some expensive whiskey, trying to cover his face and "cough" as he took a swig. As you open the scroll you would read the following:

There once was a City under the mountains.
Sadojin who carved deep caves.
Gold and gemstones they did seek.
A kingdom under the majestic peak.
They had grown too grand. A Dragon came and glassed the land...
Now the glorious horde, sleep under the mountain lord...

The Cornerstone of the keep,
Spill the blood of the throne,
Else a secret word, must be heard,
Speak sand and proceed.

[Takeuchi]

He made note of the fat merchant's sputtering, but for the moment he did not pay much attention to it, there were more important things to take care of first. "Not a front line specialist, then what can you do aside from make yourself unseen?" It was vital to hear what this girl was capable of if she was going to help, though she may not do that. After reading the scroll he rolled it back up, the thing was useless to him and he pocketed it once again. His arm was raised in the small sandstorm for the Uchiha to shield his eyes to keep at least a small sum of the irritating sand from them. The mountain was approaching and soon the dragon would be falling.

[Chiyu]

"I keep people alive," Chiyu answered. "And I can mess around with an enemy's abilities."

While she spoke, Chiyu studied the passage presented in the scroll. The lines didn't provide any concrete information, but every bit of knowledge was highly valued.

After the scroll was put away, Chiyu ran through the meaning of the words by herself. There was certainly riches to be earned, if the gold and gemstones were being kept by the beast.

Then there was the final line. Was the literal word 'sand' the key to the mountain lair? What kind of enchantment could that be?

Something wasn't adding up, but Chiyu wasn't sure what.

She was growing less willing to follow under the merchant's guidance. She needed to know everything he did.

Chiyu's blood held something of worth, a power linked to lineage. It wasn't something as intense as a bloodlimit, but it was useful. It was an ability that allowed Chiyu to play with humanoid beings like they were puppets. Coincidentally, she was a puppeteer as well.

Unfortunately, the ability was bound to disable Chiyu's invisibility. It wasn't a physical attack, but it still cancelled out her technique's normally indefinite duration. Since she was sitting behind the merchant's back, at least it wouldn't give her away immediately.

At the lady pirate's will, her mind attempted to invade and overwhelm the merchant. It acted like a charming technique, which meant a successful use binds the target creature to Chiyu's desires. It only took a "D" rank technique's worth of time to activate, so Chiyu was able to keep reusing the technique if it registered as a fail.

If the merchant was significantly weaker than Chiyu, it would effectively dominate the merchant's entire mind, making him a slave. If not, then the merchant was significantly stronger than Chiyu first assumed. Something good to know anyway.

<Using trait ability until no uses remain, or a use is successful>
<12 uses total>
<Difficulty of 18>

Dhampir Ancestry
Rank: "C"
Skill: Heritage Trait
Effect: A trait that enables the user to play with a humanoid opponent's will.
Special: ---
Drawback: Cannot gain any other Ancestry Traits.
Description: A rare few human bloodlines trace their linage back to a Dhampir, the offspring born of a vampire claiming the life a pregnant woman. A number of times per day equal to 3 per Class Level these humans can play with a humanoid opponent's will within the amount of time using a "D" Rank Jutsu. Anyone targeted must succeed on a Save (10 + 2 per Class Level plus their Enchantment Focus (Charm)) or fall instantly under the human's influence, as though by a Charm Person Jutsu (Strength of Jutsu is equal to user's Class Level). The ability has a range of 10 Meters. If the human possesses at least 2 Class Levels Lower than the user, this effect functions as the Dominate Person Jutsu. This trait replaces 1 Freebies.
Limit: Must start with Character; replaces 1 Freebies.

[Draven]

Merchant failed his save upon the 5th try

A mile was a short trip. From this point on there would be nothing special, even the winds started to die down. The merchant sighed as he mentioned, "Ya know, I wish that little lady was with us. She had purty lips..." Obviously the charm was a success....

There would be a glare or rather beams of light coming from the mountains direction. As if a portion of the mountain was glowing, which was rather annoying to look at if someone was glancing in that direction. The camel gurgled in protest to this as it was like looking at the sun. There was a reflection from the high sun down to the mountain that was creating this, but the reflection could not be identified.

A good thirty minutes before the cart stopped and the surrounding area was bathed in light. It was easy to see what was creating this. The sand was glassed in an amazing fashion. Medium sized pillars of glass that looked as if the wind had blown them that way. Huge glass spikes where sand duns should have been. Only but a kiss of sand at the base of each structure. Upon closer inspection of some of the smaller pillars one would almost get the feeling that it was life like, or rather glass Golem of some sort. But the position of these figures seemed as if they had frozen in fear or bracing from some terrifying calamity.

But the most notable structure of glass was the large slab leaning against the side of the mountain. Fortunately for the travelers there was a shadow caste at this spot and they could see through this slab. A blurry outline of a door can be seen...

"Ah here we are" The merchant looked back and his eyes went wide. Not noticing Chiyu before, he surly noticed her now. But it wasn't a look of anger, more of a look that said his wish came true... "Looks like we have our first prize, Eh Eh!!!" he was talking to Mukuro, and he had some dirty thoughts...

[Takeuchi]

With a groan the man cupped his face in his palm at the behavior of the merchant, he was acting like a moonstruck puppy. Considering his behavior before, the sudden shift, and what the girl said about her abilities, she likely had something to do with this. One thing was certain, the Uchiha was not planning on becoming like the merchant. "Shut up and give me that for a moment." He said while pulling at the scale shield to remove it from the man's back. It was not entirely necessary, but there was no point in welcoming unnecessary wounds before the fighting even began and smashing through a slab of glass that was a foot thick would likely welcome injury.

[Chiyu]

He was only charmed, as it turned out. That meant the merchant was more powerful than Chiyu previously assumed. It was a good thing that the charming worked, otherwise the young pirate would have to duel against an opponent near her strength. That hidden power within the merchant explained a possibility of how he got the scale. If he had some decent deception abilities, he could sneak into the lair to obtain the scale.

However, maybe that wasn't enough. Perhaps he needed distractions. Was that the reason he asked for the other man's help?

Chiyu stood up in the cart, and gazed into the great slab of glass. A door seemed almost too obvious of an entrance, though it was probably the remnants of the human owners.

The dragon got in somehow, though...

"Hey merchant," Chiyu said, "Why exactly do you need to... ah... hire some help for this little adventure?"

[Draven]

The sudden jolt of the Merchant's shield being taken from him knocked him off the camel. This in turned spooked the camel. That scraping sound that you're hearing about now is that fat tub of lard of a merchant being dragged across the sand floor as he was caught underneath the cart. But fortunately the cart didn't go far because the merchant acted as an anchor.

The Camel calmed down and the Merchant groaned. That was the best response Chiyo was going to get for now as a large boom happened. The glass on the door had shattered to pieces leaving the door in tact. The door being made of what looked like condensed sand reformed any damage that had occurred to it. But there seemed to be an odd keyhole that had been relieved, and writing upon the door around it.

It was in an undercommon language. If someone knew anything about this language they could discover what this door was once used for and how to gain entrance. Perhaps there were other clues around here, other things to look over, things to see.

[Takeuchi]

With a large boom the glass wall shattered, saving the Uchiha the work and the shield was brought up to defend against shard that came his way. Luckily, it was large enough to shield his entire body, yet not overly heavy due to the nature of the scale. He looked back to Chiyu after examining the condensed sand door. "If you have any techniques that can help me for an extended time while I'm out of sight and at a bit of a distance, use them on me now. I'm going through, I'll wait for a short time for you guys and then move on ahead." Mukuro then waited briefly for her to cast any beneficial techniques she may have before facing the door with the shield on his arm.

With the shield in front of him the Kusakage charged forward at the sand door with a technique he had been honing for quite some time. This Shield Basher technique required the running start he had to build up an appropriate amount of power to be unleashed on whatever got in his way. In this case, the power of four S ranked techniques was being transferred directly to that sand door and if the Uchiha pushed through he would stop shortly after and look around to see what was just on the inside of that sandy looking door.

[Chiyu]

"If you insist," Chiyu said as she began to form a set of handseals.

The young pirate didn't want to expend too much chakra, since she wasn't sure what the circumstances could end up being. That in mind, she started off on a technique best suited for unexpected occurrences.

Upon touch, an aura seeped out from Chiyu's hand and surrounded the man. The aura guaranteed a life saving heal if any fatal damage was taken within the next three hours and twenty minutes, which should hopefully be enough for this adventure.

Following the aura of delayed healing, Chiyu applied another touch to link her soul to the man. Since the man was living, the soul link allowed Chiyu to monitor the person's status. If any injuries were taken, it's give her a warning in case she wasn't paying attention or had no visuals.

Healing Hands, Fortunate Fate
Rank: "A"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: User surrounds the subject with an aura that immediately heals them if they suffer an attack that would kill them.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: A touching technique, and it has a duration of 50 minutes per Class level or until discharged. User surrounds the subject with an aura that immediately heals them if they suffer an attack that would kill them. When this event occurs, the Fortunate Fate Jutsu intervenes by immediately triggering a Healing Jutsu upon the target. If the attack is one that causes harm in a way that a Healing Jutsu can repair (Disease, Health Damage, Temporary Ability Damage, or Poison), the target does not actually die, and is saved by the Jutsu. If this Jutsu is performed upon an Undead Creature, it uses a Harm Jutsu instead of Heal and will ultimately kill the Undead creature.
Limit: Must be a Medical Doctor. Must know Healing Hands (Serious).

Link the Soul
Rank: "C"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A technique the preserves a corpse and shows the status of a living person.
Special: ---
Drawback: ---
Description: User is able to tether a soul to its body even after death, or tether a soul to themselves they know of its condition. This technique lasts for 5 days per class level. The user touches a living creature, or a corpse in order to perform the technique. User preserves the remains of a dead creature so that they do not decay by ensuring the soul is attached to the body. Doing so effectively extends the time limit to raise the body from the dead, or to take any and all organs inside fully preserved. Days spent under the influence of this technique don’t count against the time limit. Additionally, this technique makes transporting a slain (and thus decaying) comrade less unpleasant. When the user performs this technique on a living person they are capable of knowing the status of the living person. They'll know how well the person is, what kind of damage they have, and how long they have before passing. The user does not have to continuously touch the corpse.
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster.

[Draven]

The door wouldn't shatter, but it would crater. It was made of sand and the state it was in was that of a form buckling under pressure from a massive force. Dust and sand kicked up as it exploded around the figure of the Kusakage. Though Mukuro found he could make his way through the door after continual effort, the door reformed behind him. He had essentially tunneled his way through the door...

The light would extinguish behind Mukuro as he broke through the other side. It was pitch black with no light around him. The door reformed behind him, and there would be no visuals as to where to go or what to do. If this technique continued, Mukuro would soon find solid rock that was part of the mountain. If smashed against this wall of rock a large thunderous noise would ring through the halls of this place. Damage would be minimal to this wall thankfully as the interior was built into the mountain itself...

The fat ol'merchant flopped there for a second and then started flailing about. "Ahmpf, No, I am fine save your energy for the dragon!" he wailed. The fat portly man was indeed rather well off for the ordeal that he was placed under. Perhaps just a scrap on the cheek and dirtied clothing was all that he received. The camel was calm once again giving him a chance to stand up once again. Dusting himself off he looked around and asked, "OI! Where is my business partner...AND MY SHIELD?!?!"

[Takeuchi]

After pushing through the door he would slow and stop before hitting the far wall, there had been enough light to see where it was. When all light extinguished the man would make an about face and face where the door once was. Moving his hand to one wall the Uchiha moved along until he made his way to the door of sand, pushing on it to try and get it to move away. Provided that this was the kind of door that could be opened by pushing he would hopefully make it budge a bit. If not, he would search along it for a bit with his hands and the area immediately surrounding it. Doors like this were generally meant to be easily opened from the inside and not from outside, and hopefully he would find something.

[Chiyu]

Now that her temporary companion had completed his charge, Chiyu was about to do her own investigation of the area. The merchant was complaining, but Chiyu didn't pay it much mind.

The flowing energy of life essence began to intensity as Chiyu waved her arms about. She allowed the power to converge in her head. Soul focused itself into her eyes, expanding their vision to other realms of existence.

Any changes, structures, and concealment designed by the use of chakra could no longer be hidden, so long as it lay within thirty meters of Chiyu's gaze. If there was anything significant in the area that she could interact with, that was worth a look.

Know All That Is
Rank: "A"
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: You see past all the illusions in life and see the truth in all souls.
Special: ---
Drawback: True seeing, however, does not penetrate solid objects. It in no way confers X-ray vision or its equivalent. It does not negate concealment, including that caused by fog and the like. This technique does not help the viewer see through mundane disguises, spot creatures who are simply hiding, or notice secret doors hidden by mundane means. In addition, the technique effects cannot be further enhanced with known chakra techniques, so 1 cannot use this technique through a crystal ball technique with other eye techniques.
Description: User confers on the subject the ability to see all things as they actually are that deals with Energy and Chakra. User may perform this technique among themselves, or along others by touching over their eyes. The subject sees through normal and chakra educed darkness, notices secret doors hidden by Chakra or energies, sees the exact locations of creatures or objects under Blur GenJutsu or Deception effects, sees invisible creatures or objects normally, and sees the true form of a polymorphic, changed, or transmuted things. The range of true seeing conferred is 30 meters. This technique lasts for 3 minutes per class level.
Limit: Must be a Soulcaster.

[Draven]

Mukuro would find something indeed. It was like a hole with loose sand constantly flowing inside. There was a pressure plate that was found within the hole. Continued pushing revealed that this released the chakra that bound the door. The door then melted as if it was never there...Now bathed in light, a good portion of the hall would be shown. Extending a good 30 meters before cloaking back in darkness.

Chiyu could see how this worked. The words on the door light up and the glowing door melted away. There standing on the other side was Mukuro. The was was open now, as lines of chakra could be seen on the ground. It was the same lines that had reached out into the desert itself and drew into the mountain. "Oh there it is!" Dilbo stated from behind Chiyu, apparently seeing that Mukuro had his shield. He crossed his arms and made a sour face to show his displeasure in this whole situation...

It wasn't had to determine where the party was going to be heading. But surely heading straight into an unknown place without the ability to see what was in front of them wasn't their tactic? Sure Chiyu could at least get some direction from the lines of chakra in the hallway, but that wasn't enough to light up the way for safe viewing....The choice was theirs anyway...

[Takeuchi]

His hands roamed over a difference in the wall and halted. Preparing himself, the man continued to put pressure on it slowly until it gave way and the sand door fell apart. Luckily his eyesight had not properly adjusted so the Uchiha was not blinded by the sudden light. It was time to venture forth and he would take the lead, but before walking into the mountain depths with the borrowed shield ready he spoke. "Anyone got a light?"