The Palace and its surroundings [POI]

[Ancestor Febrie]

The surroundings:

The Heart is another circle which contains just the palace alone. This area is surrounded by another steel wall which has a height of 100 m and width of 50 m. The wall is set with gold and diamond all over signifying how rich the village in fact is. There is just one massive gate which is always closed and has six guards in blue uniform guarding at all times. Behind this wall is a trench filled with icy water and man eating fish in a size of a human head. There's a land bridge that goes over the trench. When looked on the horizon, one would see a dense forest with no visible roads. The forest is there to confuse enemies that enter The Heart so they can't find where the palace is located at.

The Palace:

The palace is the largest building in the village. It occupies approximately 5,000 m square altogether. It is a place where the Abumi family live and rule over the whole village for centuries. The palace is so large that only the Abumi family know what it all contains, only a few citizens have ever seen/been inside the palace and even if they had, they are forbidden to reveal any information about the family or the palace at all. According to some myths, beneath the palace lies a secret passageway that leads through the whole mountain and ends somewhere near the coats and is used as an escape point for the family.

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Posting rules:

• Everyone has to get permission from the Duchess to enter beyond the walls.
  
• Post asking the guards to enter the Death Jungle and Palace.
  

[Ancestor Febrie]

Finally at home, Chiaki sat at her thrown room looking at pictures of her forefathers up to Dario whose portrait has been well preserved. She wondered what else did she needed to do to catch up with all the paperwork she missed once it came to her, she could just call her double to do it. She set to find her double, Chiaki crossed various rooms to find her and while she was doing that, she was placing her hiraishin seals in every room she stepped into. At last she found the double by the name of Nami who has been playing herself for quite some time now.

Nami was sitting by a fire with a few noble ladies. They all stood up when they saw the Duchess arrive but she waved her hand as a signal to sit down again. "Ladies. Nami, please finish up the paperwork when you get some time please." and with that she left the room again to find the armory, she needed to stock up with weapons. The armory was filled with many weapons and equipment she could use daily. After everything was done she added a hiraishin seal kunai to all of the kunai, hid the scrolls with custom techniques on it and left the palace.

SPOILER: Click to show

10 Large Utility Pouches [150 slots]
2 Huge scrolls with custom techs
200 Kunai [100 slots]
20 Exploding Tag [5 slots]
20 Smoke Grenade [10 slots]
20 Hikari (Light Bombs) [20 slots]
World Map
Tactical Gloves

Hiraishin Placement
Rank: S
Skill: Fuuinjutsu
Effect: Places the Hiraishin Seal on an object or person.
Special: Tiger, Dragon, Monkey, Ox, Dragon, Tiger, Hare, Snake, Bird, Ram, Clap Hands Together, Inscribe Seal.
Drawback: The seal only functions in a one kilometer radius. Requires 150 TP to learn.
Description: The user forms the hand seals, gathering chakra to their hands and then quickly inscribing the incantation and then seal. The seal then begins to transmit a micro chakra signal. This technique, though difficult to learn, only takes up chakra similar to a C rank technique.
Limit: Must learn from Alexander, Kaiser, or Izumi.

[Enter/Exit]

[Ancestor Febrie]

They finally came out of the long underground maze that anyone not knowing the way around would not be able to live through it. Once emerged from there, they would find themselves inside a huge hall with maidens waiting to greet their master. With no ado, she would tell a maiden to lead Rhydas into the guest room at the 4th floor where he could rest, she ordered the other to prepare refreshment to be brought to the study room. She herself would go ahead to the study where she prepared a notebook and a pen to write.

Rhydas would be lead through a maze of rooms through 4 floors. It would be all very puzzling for him if not for the maid. The maid asked him "Will you let me wash those clothes? You'll be given replacement clothes while you wait for yours to dry." she lead him to a spacey room with king size bed and a fireplace. The maid would let him breath for a while and take her leave but before she left Rhydas would get to know that the Duchess was waiting for him and when he was all done they could go there.

[vego]

[Enter]

The young water master paid as much attention to his surroundings as he could but even to his eyes, everything was too new to memorise. The trees, the shrubbery, there were no unique landmarks that told him where he was. Thus, he left the directions up to Lady Abumi. If worst comes to worse, he could always fly out.

Quite a bit of walking lead them straight to the palace owned by the dutchess herself. It was a grand structure that seemed fit for a king. Or one doting of such a position. Once they'd entered the interior of the grand structure, the boy's sapphire eyes traced over every painting, every ornament and every maid. Waiting in the foyer of the palace for their lady.

Rhydas watched as Lady Abumi trekked off in her own direction, obviously having things to sort out and left the kid in the hands of one of the many maiden. The boy could only follow her in silence, hands tracing calm patterns in his shorts pockets as they walked. Every sound made by their footsteps echoed off the walls as if they were within a cave. They ended up at one of the many guest rooms, all very much alike inside and out to one another and the blond walked inside.

The maiden merely watched the kid walk over and sit himself upon the enormous bed set before a magnificent burning fireplace. It was a second later, after Rhydas had relaxed himself that the maid chose to speak.

"Will you let me wash those clothes? You'll be given replacement clothes while you wait for yours to dry." She would say, her voice as fair as her complexion.

The blond boy merely shook his head at the woman, eyes closed as he did so and replied;

"No, that's fine. I'm alright really. Where is Lady Abumi?"

The woman need only nod her head at Rhydas' wish before gesturing her arm out the door once again. Indicating she would take him to where he needed to be. Leaving his goggles upon the bed, Rhydas would leave with the maiden and follow her down to the study room.

The maid simply knocked upon the door twice in a dignified manner before bowing her head to the blond and skulking away. Rhydas watched her leave and turned his eyes forward once she was out of sight.

[OOC: Sorry for the slight control of the NPC. I wasn't sure what I was allowed to do here. I tried to ask about it in the c-bawx but you weren't there D8]

[Ancestor Febrie]

It didn't took him long to settle and the maid would already knock on her doors. The doors opened on its own upon her wishing them be opened, Rhydas would be looking at a large room filled with books by each side and a large table at the back of the room lit by the sunlight from the window nearby it. "Come sit" she gestured towards the chair in front of the desk, a maiden would bring warm tea smelling of roses. With a pen at hand and many sheets of paper on the desk she would sip from the tea and pause for a while. "Shall we begin with some good story of yours?" she asked and a huge tentacle flashed through the window, from afar one would see a large kraken that was nearly as big as the palace walking by on a leash that were connected to four half-naked guards.

"Ah, that must be Julian, one of my guard dogs. He's a kraken brought from snow country. Do you like krakens?" she informed him, a kraken of this size was a rare sight. The tea was getting cold fast and so she sipped from the glass once more waiting for Rhydas to do something, react to the kraken or start with the story.

[vego]

The door to the study opened and Rhydas stepped inside, as requested by the Lady herself. Rows upon rows of books lined the many shelves that adorned the office and the blond let his eyes trail along the literature as as he walked forward. His eyes switching covers with every step.

Rhydas did as he was told by Abumi, sitting in the seat positioned directly before her and stared at her in silence as he waited for her to speak. A maid scuttled into the room, poured the both of them some tea and left the room in under a minute. The boy's sapphire eyes landed upon the cup filled with the hot beverage then went back to Abumi, watching as she took a sip of her own. His fingers reached forward and gently pushed the cup out of his peripheral vision.

She merely asked a general question that would hopefully start him off, but he wasn't exactly sure about what she wanted to hear.

"Erm, what exactly do you want to know?" he asked, a golden brow lifting slightly.

A huge tentacle floated past the only window in the room and Rhydas' eyes followed it as it went past. The boy could see the four half-naked guards on the grounds, leading a huge octopus-like creature by a leash. The first thing that went through his mind was generally the reasoning behind the male suitors clothing. Why were they always half-naked in this place? What was the deal with naked guys in general around this area? His eyes settled on Lady Abumi and his eyes flashed bright blue in understanding. She did control everything within the village walls after-all...

The Lady introduced the octopus-like creature to be a Kraken. And she simply asked him if he liked the look of it. His eyes settled upon the creature again, and he immediately noted the creature to be an ocean dweller. Though the creature was awesome in itself, Rhydas had to wonder how about its endurance, seeing as it had, evidently, been on land for awhile. Though this was nothing but assumption.

To hear that that grand creature was merely one of four guard dogs, Rhydas couldn't help but be amazed. Flicking his eyes back to Abumi to answer her question with a brief "Yeah. He looks impressive." His eyes fell back upon the creature. Again. "Do you know where Snow got it from?"

The young water master tilted his head slightly and waited for the pattern to end under the woodwork. The guards would become confused at the sudden change in atmosphere as rain began to fall. Rhydas turned his eyes to his right, not focusing upon anything in particular and waited for the grin to settle from his face.

[Ancestor Febrie]

The kraken was so big no wonder the boy looked amazed. The guards would hardly handle the beast as it was really heavy and even though on land, it was more than capable of walking on its own. The men lead it towards two pillars at the back of the garden, the kraken would make noises while being dragged there. Once in place, another man appeared, he wasn't dressed like the others, he had a long winter cloak on him and apparently he was making handseals. Suddenly water flew from those pillars sweeping the kraken up in the air. It was now trapped between those pillars inside a water bubble that was expanding and expanding.

Soon, it would expand to cover the whole sky above the palace, the kraken looked happier and began swimming inside the bubble. So Rhydas wanted specifics, she didn't really have any ideas where to start, she could even start at the middle of the story or at the end "I don't really know, tell me any war stories or legends of the past that you've heard of.". Hopefully the boy has seen fighting or heard of some legend from other lands far away. "By the way, I've got Julian as a gift from an old master in snow country. You'd have to ask her where she got him.".

Just as she finished with the sentence they would hear a strong confident roar coming from the doors. In a moments flash they would open and a golden lion would step towards them. It seemed to notice Rhydas right away and kept an eye on him. The lion would walk elegantly towards a corner nearest to the door and lie down on the red carpet. "This is Leon, another guard of this palace." she gestured towards the beast. She hoped Rhydas wasn't scared.

[vego]

The kid would watch intently as the kraken was herded away from the window, and out of sight. Though he couldn't see, not hear what was happening, he could suddenly sense a huge amount of water had been created nearby. A sudden shadow fell over the palace and at that moment, Rhydas knew what was happening.

Lady Abumi was once again being too vague about what she wanted. War stories? Legends? He hadn't been around long enough to be aware of any of those. "Well, I still don't know what you mean. But I do remember something... weird..." As the scenario came to him, Rhydas crossed his legs and furrowed his eyebrows as he began to think back.

"I was on my way out of fire, headed to stone when I saw some guy getting attacked by a plant girl. It looked like the girl was trying to eat the guy. So... we killed her. It was all in self-defence really and I was trying to just get her to leave. But... she wouldn't. So..."

He stayed silent for a moment, wondering what could have been should the girl not have tried to eat the guy, as weird as it was, and left. She would have lived and he wouldn't have to deal with the memory at all. But it was done now. It was the past, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

And he'd also need to remember to visit snow sometime. In regards to snow gifting lady Abumi with a Kraken.

Suddenly, a roar could be heard outside the door to the study and the blond turned his head behind him to see a lion staring critically at him. The boy stared back and watched as the feline skulked it's way over to a corner. Rhydas nodded his head as Abumi explained that it was another of the four guards. He was sure one of the other two was most certainly a bird of some kind.

Rhydas nodded his head before he began to speak once again, "Listen, I have to go somewhere. I'm really sorry for cutting this talk short but I gotta go now. There's something I'm after."

With that said, Rhydas would stand from his chair and bow to the lady before literally, before her eyes, going over to the window, opening it, and jumping through. With a wave of his finger, he finished a quick seal and created a majestic bird of water, which he boarded.

With that, he set off into the sky, past the kraken and headed off.

[OOC: Solus gave me the OK. Sorry Abumz, I did let you know beforehand.]

[Ancestor Febrie]

The kid began to talk after a while of thinking and hesitation. "I was on my way out of fire, headed to stone when I saw some guy getting attacked by a plant girl. It looked like the girl was trying to eat the guy. So... we killed her. It was all in self-defence really and I was trying to just get her to leave. But... she wouldn't. So..." so the boy said. A plant girl huh, she never heard of anything like that at all. "And so what happened next?" she had to ask. The kid stayed silent, it was obvious he was thinking about something, maybe even doubting the decision to kill.

The lion was probably the reason he stopped but then he apologized for he had to leave already. She would stand up to say "Wait. When you are done with the things you need to do, can I summon you?" she made a set of handseals and slapped a summoning seal on the boy before he left for the window. He jumped from it and flew upwards with a water bird. She sighed and pulled out a red piece of paper and crush it. The remainders of that paper she scattered outside the window. This will let the boy fly out of the invisible barrier without getting lost or hurt due to the enchantments present.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Jiin) (Summoning Technique (People))
Rank: “D”, “C”, “A”
Skill: NinJutsu
Effect: A summoning technique that allows the user to summon a person the same rank and one rank above as the rank the user knows in the technique.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: User may summon only a user by Class depending on what rank they know the technique. Person must have same seal as the user performing the technique. Must have a scroll and seal.
Description: Picture 1-A; Picture 1-B, Picture 2-A; Picture 2-B, A technique where the user uses a seal on a Scroll to summon a person they know. The person who is being summoned must have the same seal as well in order to be summoned. User is unable to summon where other seals are located. The Person is the medium and you need that person in order to bring someone in. In order to summon someone “D” Rank, user must learn “D” Rank Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Jiin) (Summoning Technique (People)). In order to summon someone “C” Rank and “B“ Rank, user must learn “C” Rank Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Jiin) (Summoning Technique (People)). In order to summon someone “A” Rank and “S“ Rank, user must learn “A” Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Jiin) (Summoning Technique (People)).
Limit: Universal NinJutsu

[Ancestor Febrie]

The yellow cloaked guard lead them directly to the Heart, this area is surrounded by another steel wall which has a height of 100 m and width of 50 m. The wall is set with gold and diamond all over signifying how rich the village in fact is. Six blue cloaked guards in shiny diamond armor approached the group "Is this the Takikage's group?" he asked the guard who nodded. "Please follow me Takikage and always stay close to me." said the guard. Then the gates opened, when the two shinobi would follow the man, the rest of the guards would come too. The leader on the front, one on the back and two on each side. The shinobi would have to move in the middle for their safety.

The gates closed and in front of the group laid a dense forest with a fog so dense nobody could see through. Suddenly each guards eyes and hands would shine teal and the group would move. As they moved the fog cleared exactly at the place they were walking like they repelled it. They walked slowly but steadily and then they suddenly stopped. Each guards eyes turned yellow and they moved on. If looked down on the ground, the shinobi would notice they were walking on lava like they were walking on normal ground. It didn't take long and they would stop again. This time each guards eyes and hands turned back to normal and the fog began to clear. "We have arrived sirs. Please wait here before an escort comes down to lead you to the Duchess.", with those words all of them just vanished.

In front of them was a large palace and a normal sky as if no fog was ever present. There were no people around just yet, now it was only the two shinobi who stood there in front of the biggest building in the village. It occupies approximately 5,000 m square altogether.

[Deleted]

What a curious journey we went on. After we reached what appeared to be the middle of the village, we went through another enormously thick wall and into some fog. This fog was particularly dense, moreso than any I had witnessed before. As the guards surrounded us I motioned for Rakurai to land on my shoulder, and for Higure to stay close as he continued to carry Makura. Iizuka was right by my side as well, and so we progressed through the fog, mist, or whatever it was. The guards seemed to know the way, but on top of that they had some unknown technique in use to aid them.

Then we progressed into another area, this one full of lava, except the guards were able to walk upon it with no trouble, and us with then, once more with the aid of some technique. Curiously, I found myself thinking of all the ways I could easily circumvent these apparent security measures, but then I stopped myself. We were trying to establish good relations with these people! But on the other hand, it couldn't hurt to have an escape plan, should it be needed.

After the journey had finished, the guards left us standing in front of what could only be the palace. It was a huge building, and lavishly decorated just like everything else had been so far. As we waited for the next phase, I would turn to Iizuka and raise an eyebrow slightly, a bemused expression gracing my face as I spoke. "Thoughts?"

[zuka]

OOC: Time is becoming short for me to post, so I'm going to try and get on but don't expect massive posts for the time being.

IC:

The great defenses imposed by this tiny village were rather impressive. The massive fog, blocking all sight within even inches of my own face, was the first of these. Then a chamber of pure lava, spitting fireballs occasionally into the air and blasting heat from all directions. Yet, even so, we made it through these misleading traps with no problem at all. In fact, we even walked upon the lava itself. It was obvious some kind of technique was in effect, but its origins were unknown. We would soon finish this journey, before a question was imposed to me. I simply turned to face my Kage, giving a slightly disappointed frown as I said, "I think maybe we could use some updates back at home. And get someone to clear the dead bodies out of the caves..."[/font]

[vego]

Soaring through the air high above the ground, Rhydas kept his eyes peeled for the palace. He'd never taken the air route before so finding the palace was proving slightly difficult. More-so than he'd initially expected it to be actually.

His eyes traced the area once again, spotting the palace and its courtyard a good seventy metres, north-east of his location. Seeing the Dutchess again, he had some news to tell her. Some of which she might find even more interesting than his last story. Not to mention, she'd get to meet his new partner as well.

Keeping his altitude until he'd reached the palace grounds, the blond lowered the great harrier of water. Once it had reached the appropriate height, the kid leapt off it's back and landed upon the ground. The glowing blue of his finger disappeared once he'd landed, the bird disappearing to accommodate this.

Rhydas made his way over to the entrance to the palace but stopped once he spotted two unusual individuals. Both of which seemed to be waiting for something.

Approaching the both of them from behind, the kid felt it best to make his presence known before anything.

"Erm, did something happen to the Dutchess?" He'd ask. Why else would they be standing outside the palace if there wasn't something wrong.

[zenoske1ryu]

Yūkimaru had to follow Rhydas which was alright until he took off on some crazy water technique, but this mission was to protect the village. Maybe if he could pull this off he would get to meet the duchess.

Yukimaru noticed that the boy was heading for the palaces direction, thinking the worst he ran off as fast as he could. After a few minates of travelling Yukimaru would see a wall, this clearly ment that he was getting closer as he moved closer to it he saw a gate

Yukimaru saw six guards at the gate, he ran to one of them and grabbed him on his shoulders, [blue]“The duchess maybe in trouble, Im on mission to follow anybody that comes to the village. one kid called Rhydas has just came this way, so you have to let me in”[/blue]

[Ancestor Febrie]

The Duchess was walking towards the entrance of her palace when a man appeared in front of her and knelt down. "My lady, a third has turned up, he was followed by our citizen. The visitor is known as Rhydas and the other is citizen on the special mission. Should we stop them?" the man asked politely. "No, let them in. Place protective barriers around them." and with that the man vanished. This was getting more and more interesting, the number of visitors have certainly increased.

The gates would open in front of Yukimaru and 6 guards would go with him closing the heavy gates behind them "Stay close to us and do try to keep up.". The guards began to run, first they did their things, place protection on the path they walked. The mist was all over them but for some reason the guards could navigate just fine. They led the boy through bubbling lava not paying attention to the boy or his possible questions they would concentrate on keeping the protection.

Meanwhile the Duchess would arrive at the entrance with two of her maidens. "Good day gentlemen. I thank you for your visit." she greeted the two shinobi. "Greetings to you as well Rhydas and my little friend." she looked at the blond and Yukimaru who would have arrived just now. "Shall we go inside? The meal is waiting for us." she invited them all inside and started to walk, both maidens began to walk with her. Once they all entered a warm and roomy hallway greeted them with a nice gallery of famous pictures and sculptures.

The group was taken to the second floor into a huge dining room. There were about 20 tables for 30 people and a nice stage with a classical piano. "Please sit down." she gestured towards the empty seats and sat down herself at the end of the table. She would let the both shinobi sit in front of her on the sides and both Rhydas and Yukimaru were invited to sit two seats further from both shinobi. A man dressed in a smoking and fancy hat came in, he looked like a penguin with that long smoking and walked towards the piano. After a while positioning to sit right, the man began to play softly, he would play the classics of the last century.

"So gentlemen from Waterfall, what brings you here." she started when the chefs were serving tea. "We here in Mo like such rare visits and we could use the help with the Dukedom.". As they spoke cheese would be served, a Mo delicacy.

OOC: BTW this is my NDE. No posting order. Everyone can post then me.

IIC: 2 days

[Deleted]

I nodded briefly at Iizuka's response, remaining silent. Interestingly enough, despite Mo's impressive defense, I still felt that Takigakure was better off with what we had. Rakurai was watching the sky, as birds are apt to do, and so she knew immediately when someone had entered the area. The subtle tightening of her talons on my shoulder was all the communication I needed to be warned of such events. Not expecting trouble, but wary all the same, I turned slowly to regard the boy who was just landing a little bit behind us. With a motion he dispelled the large bird he had ridden in on, and I raised a single eyebrow as it burst into thousands of water droplets spraying all over the ground.

The boy walked up and spoke to us, asking about the Dutchess. Before we even had an opportunity to answer, another person entered (presumably) with the guards, this one an older teen. Before there was any further opportunity for interaction, the Dutchess herself made an appearance. I turned back to her as she greeted Iizuka and I formally, and then spoke to the two behind us as well, showing that she knew them. A moment later we were invited inside, where a meal awaited us. As we walked in, following her and her maidens, I was once again impressed with the architecture and style of the area. It was decorated in a classy manner, without being overbearing. As we proceeded into the palace I indicated that my little companions should remain in the courtyard and wait.

The Dutchess invited us to eat, and I wait politely for her to seat herself before sitting directly on her right side. Presumptuous? Perhaps, but I was the Takikage after all. Even if I personally held very little importance on formality and such in my personal dealings, it would be rude not to act appropriately in the presence of another leader. I would once more wait politely for her to begin eating before touching my own food. A comic character came in at about this time, and began playing skillfully upon a grand piano nearby. Pleasant, and unobtrusive.

I listened carefully as the Dutchess spoke. "So gentlemen from Waterfall, what brings you here. We here in Mo like such rare visits and we could use the help with the Dukedom." I lowered my head at her comments, bowing from the waist as much as possible, sitting at a table as I was. "You have indeed read our intentions like a book. It is our earnest intention to improve Takigakure's relationship with this village of Mo, assisting you in any manner you need or desire. Although some may regard your Dukedom as lesser than a ninja village, we do not share that sentiment, and desire to find an ally in you and your people." I would pause for a moment, catching Iizuka's eye across the table to see if he would like to add anything before I continued. "Please direct us as you will. By the way, although my title is the Yondaime Takikage, please call me Nakamura, or Naka if you wish."

[zenoske1ryu]

[/i]

When Yūkimaru arrived he would be out of breath and tired, he would rush up starts to the second floor looking around madly for the duchess. He would find and enter a dining room, to his shock Rhydas was sitting down it seemed that he had gotten the wrong end of the stick. He was embarrassed and tried to leave but he was invited to sit down, he couldn’t leave now. It would be a insult to the duchess if he did. Yūkimaru would take a seat, and nervously twiddle his hands.

He was undressed for the occasion by a mile he was just a lowly commoner from the outer circle. Everyone must have been mentally laughing at him, or at least that what Yūkimaru thought any way. His white robes, where his best set of clothes but even they were tatted and ragged at the ends. This made Yūkimaru turn bright red. He couldn’t even speak to introduce himself he had frozen up that much.

[/ul][/size]

[vego]

Before his question even had the chance to be answered, the Dutchess herself appeared before them and greeted them appropriately. She was keeping to the same level of formality as the last time they'd met. Rhydas had to wonder if she was always like this. Especially with her friends and family.

Shaking his head clear of such thoughts, the boy managed to catch the invitation to enter the palace itself. Guided by the Dutchess and her two maidens. Once the interior revealed itself to them, the various paintings, ornaments and designs that decorated the inside seemed to blend together in an intricate design that complimented the Dutchess herself. It was beautiful to say the least, and that was putting it mildly.

They were led to an enormous table, one which had the Dutchess sat at one end and the other two strangers nearby. Rhydas simply sat beside the one who seemed to have important business with her. And as the two conversed, blond was able to piece a few things together. For one, Rhydas was sitting besides the current Takikage. Just as Abumi had stated, it was unusual to say the least, but he kept his mouth shut regardless.

Ignoring the tea placed before him, his eyes would fall upon the man that weaved melodies through the air on the grand piano, then upon the white clad male that sat across from him in his own little world. Before Rhydas could say anything to the teen, Helios would chosse that moment to poke his head our from the hood he rested in and leapt onto the floor. Staring at Yukimaru for a second or two before wandering to a window.

Watching the kitten for a second or two, Rhydas would push the tea away from him before focusing on the Takikage. A warm smile plastered upon his face.

"Hey um, you're the Takikage right? I'm Rhydas, I was hoping to eventually meet you." After a second of thought, it then occurred to him how this might have looked to both the kage beside him and the Dutchess herself. "Oops. Sorry, I just thought that since I'm allied with this village, it would make sense that I get on good terms with Takigakure as well. Heh."

[zuka]

"Damn, this is some fancy shit."

Soon enough, we were lead through to a banquet hall, accompanied by two supposed members of this tiny village, as well as the Duchess herself. I couldn't help but feel pressured by these two additions, as if they were the guards to keep us in check. However, the bright red that shone in the cheeks of one ninja, and the others oblivious statements to my Kage made me think otherwise. It was rather strange how trusting they were. Even on terms of peace, I would have set up defenses for myself, or for Naka, more importantly. But, I was to be a good boy here, and so I settled into my seat besides the Duchess at the head of the table, the red-cheeked villager to my other side.

I would allow Naka to speak, and as he finished his terms of our arrival here, he would pause a moment to see if I should add something. I merely nodded, giving a small wave for them to continue. "Spoken perfectly, Takikage-sama." Normally, in complete disrespect to him, I would simply call him Naka. However, in times where we were to represent our nation to these important people, I would show that even I could have dignity and respect. Now, waiting for the directions of the Duchess, I simply leaned back and enjoyed the piano playing behind us.

OOC: Again, shortness, lack of muse, stuff going on. I will be able to post but don't expect blocks of text.[/font]

[Ancestor Febrie]

The Duchess was always the type of person to go straight into what was important. The Takikage was happy for her proposal "You have indeed read our intentions like a book. It is our earnest intention to improve Takigakure's relationship with this village of Mo, assisting you in any manner you need or desire. Although some may regard your Dukedom as lesser than a ninja village, we do not share that sentiment, and desire to find an ally in you and your people.". She liked the Takikage more and more, he was polite and wanted to help. His companion agreed with him and then he continued "Please direct us as you will. By the way, although my title is the Yondaime Takikage, please call me Nakamura, or Naka if you wish.". The Duchess laughed "Well then Naka, call me Chiaki."

More food was brought in by this point. Some sweet & sour soup and chicken was the main course. It seems Rhydas wanted to speak with the Takikage too as he interrupted them. She couldn't not notice her citizen possibly from Iron Circle was kind of off. He seemed not in his own skin and she wouldn't even be surprised. The Duchess looked at Rhydas when he interrupted them "Ah yes, this is Rhydas, he's a traveler and story teller." she told the table. "Alright, now to the missions. I need two things done as soon as possible. First and most important thing is I need someone to investigate a rival village in Whirlpool. We have reason they are arming themselves with new types of weapons and are planning an attack on us." she stopped and waited for the shinobi to think it over.

"Then there is a much less dangerous mission. We believe a certain rare creature has been spotted somewhere within a village. We want that creature to be captured, have you ever heard about a Ziz?" she paused again "It is a legendary bird of big proportions, it could be well tamed and used for scouting missions. Of course the missions are open for anyone in this table." she finished, waiting for the others to volunteer.