Gift of Inari + Training

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 1, 1, 4, 6, 8, 7, 1

The train to find whomever took Ravana's sword, wasn't too hard to look at. But of course, his master was as stublte as a rhino. His rampage that morning covered a good number of clues in debris and rubble. Still he found a big hint-- the scent of the smoke that woman had been smoking, along with an odd musky mix of a perfume something between leaves and metal. What was odd it was a scent that Asura couldn't really identify, as if it was a mix of something else too.

"YOu sure you weren't hallucinating?" Asura asked as he inspected the room.

Ravana had his arms crossed as he glared at his student. "I might of been drunk, but I know a woman when I see one. And she smelled like one too..." he grumbled, "Oh when I get my hands on her...."

"Please, don't..." Asura interrupted, not wanting to hear what sick perversion he would do.

Asura continued his search as he moved a few objects out of the way-- finding the traces of foot prints, but then something odd.

"Huh."

"HM? What?" Ravana asked.

"The tracks seem to dissapear..." Asura said as he inspected the very mild imprints on the floor-- something even regular people wouldn't see. "No... its more like they changed from human to paw prints?"

They looked canine or lupine in some form, but smaller than normal animals. Perhaps the theif transformed into an animal and escaped out of the window of the room. The tracks did end there. "It seems your thief was alot more clever than you anticipated. She left through the window. But looks like she isn't what she appears."

Ravana grunted as he stretched up as Asura reached the window. "Let's go check out the square and surrounding areas. Ill try to find the subtle clues, and you ask around for anyone looking like her, or someone trying to pawn off your sword." he asked.

"WHAT?!" Ravana roared, now gripping his fists once more. "That hussie is gonna pawn the Wailing Dark?! When I find her---"

Asura turned around and gave him a firm stare. "WHat i mean is, while she might be in disguise an object of that size isn't likely easy to hide. Keep an eye out for it and anyone who might have it. Okay?" Asura explained to his master-- and he immediately stopped his rage.

"Oh... that makes sense," he said.

The result of the search didn't turn up much at first. After all, it was Ravana who was the only one who saw her, so it came up to him to identify the target. Besides of a rough description to Asura, along with some 'details' he rather could have done without-- he kept an eye out for it but depended more on the tracks and scent.

Ravana searched on ground level. He was on the edgy side as he searched the streets. He asked people he crossed, often intimidating people and seeking if they saw the woman or his sword. Whenever he saw something close to his sword, he didn't hesitate to jump, grab it and check-- often realizing it was not his.

Asura kept a watch from above. He kept to the rooftops and awnings of the buildings to have a bird's eye view on the situation. He also kept a close alert for that smell. Still, after nearly 2 hours of searching, neither the scent or anything close to the animal that made those prints could be found.

Still, he found something-- disturbances in the path. A flicked piece of rock-- a scruffle of paper. Luckily the weather had not worn the path, but the best he could get to was the end of the city-- near the northern region that led to the mountain path.

Asura soon stopped at the end of the paved path, which soon led to the dirt road of the mountains out of the city. A grunt escaped Asura as he found no sign of the woman, sword or tracks. The trail had had vanished.

"Damnit... " Asura grumbled, folding his arms. He was already tired of running around, and now was out of ideas. "Master is gonna kill me if I can't find his sword."  He looked up to the air, feeling the breeze blow against him.

"Hey!" Asura's eyes widened at the voice and turned around. Behind him was Ravana-- same as before. He still looked upset, but a lot less agitated than before. Perhaps he was able to cool off from his search. Stil, Asura could tell that the man didn't have any luck. Since, of course, he didn't have his sword on him. "Any luck?"

Asura turned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sadly, no." he replied, "I'd ask you but I can tell you don't have your sword back. Where you go?"

"Asked for a while," Ravana said then looked up at the sky. "Then got a drink after i checked at the bars to see if someone had come in with."

"That explains why you are in a better mood," Asura replied with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, we will keep looking and..."

"Hold on, kid," Ravana said, holding up a hand. "I did hear someone that someone saw that woman after all-- she did come in, then said they saw her head to the mountains here."

"R-really?" Asura asked, "That's lucky I suppose. Though I have no clue where she went. The trail ends here, and not even sure she will look the same."

Ravana just smirked. "Well we might as well just start looking in the mountains. I bet she had a hideout somewhere or something." he said.

"I guess so..." Asura agreed. Perhaps they could find a trace of their target amoung the path better. with that, Asura went for the woods-- with Ravana behind him on the trail.

Training rolls: All Dex

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 10, 4, 7, 10, 10, 5, 6

The chirp of forest birds and the wind made the atmosphere a lot easier to deal with oppose to the city. It was after all where Asura felt most at home. Still, it seemed a little too convinent how events were flowing since Ravana lost his sword. He became more calmer and despite the loss of his most precious possession, the realization of his lost cool came a bit too soon. He couldn't be so drunk that he would be this mellow.

The mountain path began to move upward slowly but surely, and soon led to a series of stone steps that reached up the mountainside. Stone lanterns marked the way, showing the start to the path of that shrine Asura had heard about.

As they drew closer, Asura kept an eye out for any further clues or smells related to their target. But there was no further locations of them.

"Hey, Asura," Ravana spoke up, "Something I want to tell you, kid."

"Yeah," Asura asked, the wind subtlly starting to change its direction slightly, putting Asura now from upwind to downwind. He stopped as he listened to Ravana's words.

"YOu really are a good tracker, and I haven't been very appreciative of your growth or effort to help me," the burly man said in a care free tone. "Thanks for that... and I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time with my missing sword."

Asura kept his back turned, paused as he listened to his companion's words. "Is that so...?" Asura said, his tone raised in question. "That's very kind of you..."

WHOOSH!! WHAM!! In a flash of motion-- Asura spun around with a fist raised. He threw it with all his might, attempting to smash Ravana right into the face!

The man's eyes widened as he brought up a fist and caught it-- the resulting impact causing him to skid a few inches back. His feet left grooves in the ground below.

Surprise on Ravana's face slowly melted into a small smirk. "What do you think you're doing, kid?" he asked, "Attacking your master like that?"

Asura's eyes glared daggers at him, angry. "Drop the act," he said deeply, "Who are you?"

Roll for training above ( All Brawn-- 1.10 bonus)

The member 'Enjin' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 5, 8, 3, 3, 10, 7, 10

The two were locked-- Asura's fist meeting the large palm of Ravana, reeling by Asura's words. "Have you lost your mind, boy!" he asked, "Do you know who you are throwing your fist at! I am your Master, Ravana!"

"I said drop the act," Asura snarled now, putting more force into his punch to make his arm move. "You aren't Ravana."

He didn't say anything but glared back at Asura.

"You gave yourself away in three ways," Asura explained, "One, Ravana is so strong such a blow wouldn't even make him flinch.... Two... That smell we traced, was on you more than before-- which either meant you crossed paths with the enemy without even knowing. But if that was the case, why would you stay downwind this whole time." Ravana remained quietly, and soon his expression faded to an annoyed look. Asura glared daggers, ready to strike again. "But what really gave you away... is that Ravana would rather bite off his own tongue before he would apologize for ANYTHING!"

Asura used the momentum of his caught fist and used it to reel his leg up-- and delivered a downward kick upon the imposter!

The man soon pushed Asura away -- and backed up with a flip. The aerial flip was one of far better movement than Ravana could handle with all his muscle mass. He landed to the ground in a crouch, and looked up with a smirk.

"Heh... clever little bastard, aren't you?" Ravana -- or the imposter who looked like him-- said gleefully. A chuckle came from his lips, but now with a different tone. A lighter, tone with almost a cackle like quality. "Safe to say you don't follow your master's follies."

IT was then Ravan's body became a puff of smoke as the imposter released his technique. A transformation jutsu. Asura watched carefully as the smoke moved-- a figure emerging from it at high speed. It jumped up into the nearby trees and landed gracefully onto a thin branch nearby.


Upon the branch was an odd looking humanoid fox. He had orange fur with tuffles of white mixed in to his chest, ears  and at the tip of three tails. Oddly for an animal he wore a pair of loose slacks, a sash and a tribal top that hung around his shoulders.

He stood there calmly with a cunning grin on his face. "Its rare that i meet a human so sharp. But a Shinobi is a Shinobi after all," the fox said looking down at Asura from his perch. "Most of the time I'm dealing with block-head blacksmiths seeking fame and glory. "

"And a what about Shinobi blacksmiths?" Asura retorted softly.

THe smirk showed on the fox's face. "Well that's another matter," he said, " DOn't you dare think you can outfox me, red-head. You'd lose."

The two glared at one another for a moment, a tension in the air between them. "So... guess the legend of a fox spirit in this shrine was true. YOu certainly don't look human." Asura said.

"No, I'm not human," the Fox said, "You can call me Inari the trickster. " He added with a graceful blow.

Asura glared sharper at the fox. "If you are here, where is Ravana?"

"Wandering around the city, for all I knew," the fox replied with a brush of his arm, as if to care less. "I kept an eye on him for a little while, till I saw you with him. You got close to me so I thought I'd have some fun with you."

"Yeah, well play time's over!" Asura shouted, and drew a few Shuriken in a flash. He threw them for the fox, intending to strike him quickly.

The fox grinned as a whirlwind and leaves swished across the view of him-- and he vanished just as the shuriken were about to hit. He became a blur of speed and immediately evaded. The orange flash moved into the trees, attempting to retreat.

"H-hey! Get your fuzzy butt back here!" Asura shouted and gave chase after the fox!

Asura kept his ears and eyes open, tracking the movements of the fox. He could tell the direction but not pin point him as he was an elusive creature. He seemed to jump small distances of space using the trees, as if to slip thorugh the trees themselves. They quickly scaled half way up the mountain side, and soon reached a small clearing in the trees.

The grove was roughly a few meters in radius and enough to see the sky. Asura quickly looked around, trying to find him. "Where is he...?"

"*Whistle* Over here, pup," a voice chirped.

Asura turned around, finding the fox again. THis time he lounged on one of the nearby branches, laid on his side as if he had been waiting. "Take it easy. The last thing from that poor excuse of a master of yours is his temper." The fox said and yawned as he rested there. "Why don't we just chat for a bit. It is clear your smarter than that lughead."

Asura cooled his temper a bit, enough to talk to him. "Trust me, anger wasn't the only thing he taught me. I learned plenty of good things from him, and I won't let you talk ill of him to my face." he said.

"Oh?" THe fox said as he cracked open an eye. He slowly sat up, his legs hanging off tthe branch. "He seems like a real joke to me. I mean no disrespect to you, but come on." he said and reached below the branch--- his arm seeming to disappear. "I mean after all... someone who falls for the older trick of a roofie in their drink , deserves nothing less than him losing... THIS."

It was then the fox pulled out Ravana's sword. The Wailing Dark. THe shimmiering silver sword glistened in the light that passed through the leaves, the fox smirking as he held the valuable ornament nodachi no harder as if it was an overgrown stick.

Asura gritted his teeth to control himself. "Why you... so you did steal it," Asura demanded.

"Yeah. Just deserts I say for someone like him," he said, "I can spot someone as full of it as he is. He got what was coming to him. It is clear to me though, you didn't grow from his tutorage alone. Someone truly honorable taught you before him."

The memory of Roku struck Asura's mind, making him shake his head. "Maybe I did... but I owe Ravana all the same. i'd be dead without him..." Asura said sharply. "But that is beside the point. You still stole from him. I demand you return what you stole, fox."

The eyes of the fox leered at him with a serious intent. "My name is Inari. You will do well to remember that, human." he said, a touch of coldness to the term 'human'. But then he easily rolled his shoulders and proped himself on Ravana's sword, as if it was a stick to lean on. "That Ravana fellow is a piece of work. Hardly worthy of respect-- but you... " the fox smirked, "I like you. I do. And that is why I am going to make you a deal."

Asura resisted the urge to branish his tiger claws. He bet he could slash through space and grab him-- but it took a second maximum for the rifts to form via a slash of his claws. If the fox was as fast as he was clever, he would evade it. He had to be patient. "A deal?" Asura asked, a bit of sweat forming at his brow.

"Yes, a deal," the fox said as he flicked at a tassel from the Wailing Dark Sword. "A fool like him doesn't deserve a sword like this. But I see you are ...honor-bound to retrieve it , or whatever..." he said, sarcastically toning the honor-bound part. He reached with his other arm behind the tree's trunk he was near. "So let me keep this, and I will give you ... this."

The fox soon pulled out a mallet-- a blacksmith's hammer! It was a hammer made of gold with orange accenting. It glowed with a light of its own. The handle was made of a white wood and jewel on top of it. It looked as beautiful as it was regal. Asura's eyes looked at the hammer, and the fox smirked.

"This is what you came here for, right? The Inari Okami Hammer?" the fox said, his three tails swishing in the air below the branch. "Tell you what, you let me keep the sword-- and I will give you the hammer. Your master would never know."

Asura didn't say anything. He just glared at the fox and the hammer. PArt of him wanted it-- and very likely the beast did in fact have dominion who got it or not. Still...

The fox could see the wheels moving in Asura's head. He just waited, wondering what the red-headed shinobi would say next.

"Forget it," Asura replied curtly. "I won't turn my back on him."

The fox sighed, almost disappointed. "Oh come on... Kid, you got you're loyalties screwed up," the fox said with a gesture of his paw to the city. "The man is scum. He is a vile womanizing thug who doesn't even deserve half the respect he earns from you. Tell me I am wrong? " The words of the fox did sting-- but only because of the truth laced in them. "This is exactly what he deserves. Stuck up on his own petard. All I am asking is you let this lesson be learned."

It was then as the words sunk in, Asura smirked. "You're right. He is a jerk at times. I don't condone his habits and he probably deserves this. It is poetic justice," he admitted and even made the fox smile. "But still... no matter how deplorable he is, he is my master. I owe him more than I could ever repay for taking me under his wing when I had literally nowhere else to go. He is my master and a friend..." The fox slowly frowned, seeing that the young shinobi couldn't be swayed. "Because, only the same kind of bastard you just described, would agree to a deal like that, you flea-bitten mutt!"

A growl escaped the fox-- the flea bitten part a distaste to him. "Oh, is that right..."

"Besides, I bet good money that hammer of yours," Asura added, "Isn't even real, right? Cause only someone really stupid would believe the legendary Inari Hammer would be a tool that tacky."

The fox frowned at this. He was speechless.

This time, Asura grew smug , able to tell. "I'm right, aren't I?" Asura said, not even a question. " I know enough about you foxes to know how wily you are. You aren't just shapeshifters but you can make anything look like something else."

Amusement was gone from the fox's face. "Wow... you must think you are smart," the fox said-- and let both sword and hammer go. The hammer disappeared behind the tree-- but the hammer, as it passed behind the branch-- became a mass of stones that plopped in thuds on the soft ground. "I really do like you kid. Wit worthy of any of my kind," the fox replied, and he rose to his feet. "You should of taken the deal when you had the chance. "

"Don't worry, I will honor the deal..." Asura replied, "But I'm taking that sword. I can promise you that!"

The tension in the air began to build as a breeze swept through the clearing. Now both of them were serious, the fox spirit angry for his ruse being seen through-- and Asura determined to beat the fox at his own game. The breeze began to sweep the leaves through the air, passing between them.

It was then that Asura made the first move and inhaled sharply. "Fire style-- Fireball Jutsu!!" He roared and released a blast of fire from his mouth, flying for the fox.

The fire burned up the leaves and eclipsed the view of the fox. While the fireball burned and shot past the branch-- it revealed no sign of the fox.

Asura quickly looked around, trying to find where the furry fiend went. "Missed me, hot head... now what will happen now," the fox echoed in the wind with a mild chuckle. "At least you are entertaining."

Asura grimaced as he looked around the swirling leaves. Was this wind style or some obscure ninjutsu art? "Keep talking, fuzz face. I'll make a throw rug out of you when I'm done."

"OH, how long did it take you to think up that one. Buuuurrn..." he whispered-- sounding right behind him.

Asura branished his tiger claws and swiped -- but there was no one there. He caught movement in the distance-- and quickly followed it.

Training results: all Dex: 1.10 bonus from quick learner