Test 2 - Myriam and Aaron {3}

[Captain M]

''I know it's a stretch... But maybe, just maybe...'' Myriam thought to herself as she searched through her pocket and withdrew a pen. She wrote within her palm the message that had be engraved within the floor by her feet. She scribbled upon her skin, trying to make sure she did not miss one word of what was written, successfully copying down what had been written by someone that might have been trying to help her out? Maybe this was part of the actual exam. Kra... As in Chakra...-The medic thought to herself as she ran once more to the flight of stairs making her way towards the third floor, effectively distancing herself even more from her teammate. Now they were both on separate ways, using different strategies to try and find these pieces of scrolls.

''I know it's a stretch, but the rest of the message might be on the other floors.'' Myriam whispered to herself as she arrived upon the third floor and inspected the ground and walls, searching for the missing parts of the message. From what she had gathered, there were at least two other pieces of the written message.

[Chuunin Examiner 3]

Aaron - After having opened and the door and tying a wire to the box, you give it a tug. Amazingly, it does not budge an inch as if it is bolted down.

---

Myriam - Info shall be sent PM. Though as you are inspecting the floor, a pair of eyes watch you intently from a hidden panel in the ceiling.

"Nice view."

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[Aaron: The Bee Master]

Odd. Aaron pulled hard but the box did not budge. So the question became how to move it. There were no openings in the box and no symbols. A solid treasure chest. Bolted down or weighed down, it seemed unlikely to have the scroll piece he sought. Having his bees work on untying the wire, he'd wait for the knot to be undone before yanking the wire once more back toward him. Quickly wrapped up, it would be put in his pack once more.

Crossing off another room for the moment Aaron headed for room 5, the bees following him. The bees had said they'd seen a keyhole and his debate with them had resulted in an agreement saying if room 2 failed, then go to room 5 for the fallen bees. Prodding and poking the door and the floor around it like he did before, Aaron expected it to open the same with pressure from his staff on the handle like a fulcrum. After all his bees had already looked for wires and other items that could be suspicious around it and found nothing. Still it never hurt to be cautious.

From the doorway (assuming door opened easily), Aaron peered inside and saw the corpses of his bees. Consumed by fire, they died quickly but still suffered. A true tragedy, Aaron could do nothing but find the scroll piece they died for. Testing the floor cautiously with the spear as he walked in and would explore the room, bees took up guard positions around him, watching the door, ceiling, floor and every avenue ready to alert him if anything in the room changed. Ready to react at the slightest change, Aaron approached the corpses of his bees and the exploded chest to see if anything worthwhile remained before turning to the wall and seeing a message and the keyhole the bees talked about.

Very strange. If it were a keyhole, there should be something to open....but what? Aaron looked at the message again, which seemed to stand out slightly out from the wall. An idea dawned on him that seemed odd but perhaps could work. Looking the message over carefully, for some clue, his eyes kept drifting the keyhole around the letter "O." Could it be that simple? If a careful inspection revealed nothing suspicious, and with his bees ready to alert him to any change so he could make a quick Shunshin escape, he'd tap the "O" with his spear. Should nothing happen, he'd cover his hands in his robe and carefully try turning the letter "O" like a giant door knob. The "O" could be the trick of the room and if it turned like a door knob, Aaron would try giving a little push, followed by a pull if the push accomplished nothing. Maybe it was a safe built into the wall and the scroll piece would be waiting inside.

The room had already been blasted in a giant explosion so the traps could be over with. At least Aaron hoped so, so he could get the scroll piece and make his way upstairs to show Mimi and prove himself. A bit of an ego, he would try and collect more pieces than her. His ego still bowed to the dangers of the room, the bees proof of why Aaron would need to be cautious in all rooms he entered.

[Captain M]

The kunoichi saw another set of markings, more of the message being revealed each time she got to a new level, hopefully this would continue. Myriam was not stupid, she knew this second message went just behind the first one she had acquired. Though it still did not make any sense to the kunoichi, though the idea present, or at least implied, seemed quite interesting. Puzzle, seriously? The kunoichi thought to herself, thinking about the word that tied both clues that had been left by the person that had made the scratches. But was this a trap in itself? The kunoichi had no choice but to investigate some more. Tying her hair up in a ponytail, only a few strands of fiery hair fell upon her forehead. Myriam wrote on her hand the rest of the message, placing it just behind the writing she had already inscribed within her palm.

The plot thickens...

And with that Myriam ran towards the flight of stairs that would take her to the fourth floor. Once she had ascended onto the next level of the tower, the kunoichi inspected the walls around her, and the floor. She even examined the ceiling, wondering if there were any markings that could point her in the right direction, she had a tingling, an odd feeling, as if she was watched... Myriam shook the feeling off, writing it off as paranoia. It made sense to be paranoid in such a situation, she was alone, her teammate several stories lower, doing his own thing. And she was in the Chuunin Exams, anything could happen, it was quite scary.

[Chuunin Examiner 3]

Aaron - Inspecting the room, no traps are set off as you make your way to the words on the wall. The tapping of the "O" on the wall with your spear would result in nothing happening. However upon turning the "O", the ceiling above the door opens dropping a thin stone wall; effectively blocking your exit. At the same time this is occurring, the walls to your left and right flip to reveal hidden spiked walls. As soon as the walls reveal their deadly weapon, they slowly begin to enclose on you in an attempt to crush and skewer you.

---

M - PM shall be sent.

[Aaron: The Bee Master]

The "O" turned successfully but rather than receive a reward, he received a curse. The thud of a thin wall hitting ground sounded in his ears as the bees gave sudden warnings. Aaron turned to see his way blocked and two walls now filled with spikes slowly advancing. Such a drag.

Fortunately the spiked walls moved slowly allowing him time to move towards the center of the room taking out an exploding tag and shuriken in the process. Just out of range of his planned explosion, Aaron tossed the shuriken with tag towards the wall blocking his escape, activating it to create an explosion that would shatter it into tiny pieces of rubble and create an opening to the main hall. There seemed to be no scroll for him here. Aaron and his bees would dash to safety, thanking the rule creator that he could use tags to escape the death trapped room. As he passed the wall, he noticed how thin it actually was, weak enough that Taijutsu could have been used instead of his weaponry. Useless information now, Aaron turned to stare back at Room 5 willing a scroll piece to appear in the doorway that he could just grab to move on to the second floor.

[Unless there is a scroll piece dropping down or appearing just within the doorway of Room 5, Aaron would move on]

This exam seemed an exercise in futility or his luck had just not improved. He had tried 3 out of 5 rooms on the floor striking out each time. He had two doorways left. Considering he stood on the first floor, perhaps Doorway 1 would be better. Approaching it, Aaron tapped it with his spear and tried to open it the same way as he had been doing. Should he succeed, the bees around him would fly in and using the light from the main room see what is in there.

[- 1 Tag, - 1 Shuriken]

[Captain M]

The situation that Aaron had found himself within had gone completely unnoticed to the kunoichi as she was three floors higher than him and was working on her own. It seemed as if Myriam had found an obstacle that was suited for her. Myriam was not the most powerful of kunoichi, she was a medic, one that was better in support than in actual combat or physical prowess. To compensate she had needed to develop herself into a strategic fighter, one that planned several steps in advance. Alright, so with this bit of information...-The kunoichi thought to herself as she wrote the third piece of the message upon the back of her hand this time, drawing small arrows connecting the pieces of information. I now know that there's at least five pieces to the message, so to fit in with the scroll-concept, there should be a message on every floor. But I only have three pieces of the puzzle, and one floor to explore. Unless we did not notice a message on the first floor, or there might be two messages on the fifth floor.

And with that piece of thought Myriam ran to the stairs and jogged up, each step she took she quickly observed the stairs, wondering if there could be a message written upon them. If nothing had been written on the steps, she would arrive quickly upon the fifth floor and proceed to observe the walls, floor and ceiling, wondering if she could find a fourth or even fifth section of the message that someone had seemed to have been writing for. ''But who could be writting these messages?'' She asked herself outloud, half-hoping that someone would hear her.

[Chuunin Examiner 3]

Aaron - After escaping the room, you make your way to Room #1. Upon opening the door, you find yourself in a long hallway. In the middle of the hallway is a pit of lava which expands only about a few feet. There is just enough room to allow you to jump across and land upon the floor on the other side if you wished. At the end of the hallway is a chest sitting upon a pedestal.

---

Myriam - Info via PM.

[Aaron: The Bee Master]

"Cause this doesn't scream trap," Aaron spoke to the air as he entered the room. Tapping the floor ahead of his steps to trigger traps before he got to them, Aaron saw the pit of lava in the center of the room. How did the examiners get a pit of lava in this tower? They really go all out for these exams. Obviously the expanse of lava was meant to be crossed but where did the trap lie? The lava itself seemed too simple. Perhaps a pressure plate on the other side?

Aaron surveyed his options, mindful of the door, remembering room 5. Yet the scroll piece he needed could be just beyond that pit. Withdrawing a Tremor Stone, Aaron toyed with it in his hand. He had a plan. First several bees would go flying at various heights over the lava to examine the chest and pedestal for traps and openings though told not to touch anything. They could carefully explore a keyhole if they came across one, but anything suspicious they were to retreat immediately. Aaron himself peered inside for odd markings and anything out of place in the hallway. A few more bees would be flying up and down in a zig zag pattern over the lava testing for any sort of motion sensor that could cause the lava to shoot upward when he tried to jump.

When the bees had completed their examination assuming no traps had been set off, and returned to Aaron, he would flick the tremor stone, unique to his village, to the other side of the lava pit. Creating a tremor within a 3 meter radius, it should hopefully set off any pressure plates or traps along the ground or lava. This would only be thrown if the bees had not set off any traps themselves.

With the new information gleaned he would plan his next move, pondering for just a moment what his partner was up too...hopefully she was still alive?

[- 1 Tremor Stone]

[Captain M]

The kunoichi wrote down upon her other hand now the other message that she had discovered. She proceeded to put numbers before each part, trying to make sense of every bit of the puzzle she had been given. It seemed she was missing the first part of the message, yet hopefully it was on the first floor. Yet even without the first part, she could understand what she was to do. The kunoichi ran down the first flight of stairs, making her way to the first floor. She needed to pass the fourth, third and second floor to make her way back to where she had started. It had seemed that all of her travelling had been in vain, maybe they would have discovered the puzzle or whatever by themselves, for all she knew Aaron had come upon it.

After what seemed like an eternity Myriam happened upon the first floor. Four of the doors had been opened, Aaron was exploring his fourth room it seemed. And it seemed he had still not found his scroll or else she would have seen some opened doors on the other floors. The kunoichi walked to Room 4 the only one that had not been opened. She turned the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door forward. Once it swung open she jumped out of the way, wondering if anything would happen. If the door would be locked, she would simply back away and prepare herself for her next move.

[Chuunin Examiner 3]

Aaron - The bee's find no keyhole and no real way to inspect the chest. Your tossing of the tremor stone causes the floor before you and the floor on the other side of the lava pit to collapse; revealing that not only within the pit but beneath the entire floor is lava. The gap created has rendered you the inability to cross by normal means.

---

Myriam - As you make your way down the stairs, on the third floor now stands a woman with shoulder length black hair and red eyes. She seemed to have appeared from seemingly nowhere and before you can attempt to escape to the floor below, a kunai is thrown in front of your path. A voice over the intercom reveals the reason for this woman being here.

"You have discovered the secret but not all of it. Defeat this woman and the next clue shall be revealed."

[ OOC: The Opponent is a B rank Taijutsu Master. ]

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[Aaron: The Bee Master]

Good thing he hadn't jumped. Aaron watched as the tremor caused the hallway's floor to collapse into a lava pit. Probably once he touched the chest it would have triggered. "What to do? What to do..." he muttered watching the boiling lava churn before him. He couldn't simply hop to the pedestal now.

As he watched the fiery ooze, Aaron came up with a plan. He needed a test subject and one of his bees would have to do. Finding the laziest one, Aaron commanded him to fly into the lava to see if it was as it looked. Perhaps a genjutsu, optical illusion or other trick had been played on him and the lava was fake, colored water or something he could cross. Hopefully the bee wouldn't fry up in an instant.

Aaron watched the results of his fated bee closely, hoping it would survive. If it did Aaron would take a closer look at the "lava" and see if he could discern anything from staring at it. A piece of string hanging on his clothes would be pulled off and tossed in to watch the effect.

Should the bee burn up, boil alive or otherwise meet a grisly end, Aaron would improvise. It would be risky, but he did have his main weapon. The many points on his spear, sharpened and strong, should be able to pierce the wooden chest and create a hole. Withdrawing 20 feet of wire on him, he would carefully tie the needed amount to the butt of his spear, making sure it was secure and would not come off. Securing his grip so he would not lose the wire and could wrap it around him to quickly withdraw it, he eyed the chest on the raised pedestal that towered well above the floor and him. He would hurl his concoction with the strength of a Taijutsu specialist toward the center of the chest. The spear, hopefully, would pierce through the chest and create a hole that bees waiting by the chest could fly into. If they should discover a scroll piece inside they were to take it and fly it back to him. Were the spear to bounce off or not go through, Aaron was ready to react in an instant and yank the spear back, careful not to let it or the wire approach the lava. He of course would dodge out of the way if it seemed his spear would come flying back on a collision course with him. Were the spear to lodge deep into the chest and seem to have a solid foothold where it would not fall out and somehow blocked the bees from getting in, Aaron would pull it in like a fishing line in a massive burst of strength both the spear and the light weighted chest. Aaron would dodge the flying projectiles of his own making coming at him. His plan should work, the pedestal high enough that momentum and his brute force should create an arc that safely lands the items back toward him and not into the lava.

Perhaps he would finally find success. Aaron had no time to think of his partner or what she may be up too, the excitement and focus needed to pull off his plan occupying his thoughts.

[Captain M]

Myriam stopped as she was about the take the stairs that would have led her to the second floor, a kunai flying into her way. Even before sizing up her opponent, the medic would plunge her hand within her pouch and remove a kunai herself holding it tightly within her curled up fist. A woman stood before her, her eyes were what grabbed her attention, it seemed as if she was of the Uchiha clan perhaps? Was that truly the Sharingan, or some sort of decoy to confuse the opponent, regardless, the ominous voice that spoke from the speakers revealed that this woman would need to be defeated. ''So be-''

Even before the kunoichi finished her sentence her body flickered ten meters forward. Once she had come to a stop before her opponent, she heaved her arm forward, swinging it in a large fan-like motion. Myriam's plan dealt with surprise mostly, her opponent had probably not expected her to attack while speaking, and the large swing of the arm with a kunai could probably have slashed the woman's neck.

---
Shunshin: 1/6

[Chuunin Examiner 3]

Aaron - Sending a bee into the lava was an unwise decision as it showed he had no care for his own pets. The bee impacting with the lava below would instantly be eviscerated from the face of this earth. A tragic end to such a creature.

Your throwing of a spear is an unwise decision as you could have potentially destroyed one of the scrolls, causing you to fail. Luckily this is not the case, though I guess not that lucky. As the spear pierces into the chest, the trap is set off as an explosion consumes the spear. The force of the blast sends the spear flying into the lava at such intense speeds there is no time to react. You have lost your only weapon and a few feet of wire. Better decisions must be made in the future.

---

Myriam - [ For reason unknown, the woman shall be known as "X". ]

An unwise decision to charge straight into combat without taking any precautionary measures. Such actions will cost you dearly and in more ways than one. This woman did not possess the Sharingan nor did her red eyes attempt to serve any sort of trick. What she did possess however is years of fighting in close quarters combat, a veteran fighter she is. Your voice would not heed her actions in anyway as she did not care for your words in the first place; she is only here to battle and kill you, nothing else. Naturally having greater reflexes than Myriam, her eyes are able to perceive the most linear of attacks and a counter already set into motion.

As you Shunshin forward, X would have already been anticipating an attack and a counter having already been planned. With a single fluent movement, she is placed into position to counter and kill. Body lowered, right arm raised and aligned with your stomach as a single step forward is taken to close the distance of a mere kunai. Due to your sudden burst of speed, you are unable to understand what is going on around you at such high speeds causing you to plow right into X's fist. The sheer amount of force which is only further multiplied by your momentum causes immense damage as well as knocking you into the realm of half consciousness and half not.

Without anytime wasted, her left arm is positioned behind her back around waist height, grasping not a kunai but a dagger. In a single fluid movement, the dagger is brought upwards to slice your neck. As you are still on the verge of fainting, your reaction is delayed greatly and escape looks simply, impossible.