Where Does the Red Fern Grow Again? [Mission/Open]

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Oathblivion

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Along the path running from Iwagakure to the mountains, a man walked. Large shoulders were rounded, and his back slumped as if to minimize his height. The man's head paid careful attention to the placement of his boot covered feet, and occasionally would tilt to the left or right to observe the thickening forest. Upon this oscillating brow rested a metal plate attached to a cloth which marked the man as a servant of the village military. The blue fabric of headband clashed with his odd hair color, a brown and green reminiscent of old moss or a sloth’s fur. Most notably of all, a wicker basket was strapped to his bowed back.

The man stopped and straightened his back, looking at the sun with odd green-flecked brown eyes. From time to time, one of the few clouds in the sky would cover the midmorning sun, but otherwise the weather was as good as anyone could hope for. However, at a second look, it became clear that the man was not nearly as old as his body first suggested. The softer curve of his chin, the sparse presence of facial hair, and even the very look in his downward slanting eyes placed him in the category of a young teenager, fifteen at the absolute most.

Ragan of the Kaen clan fumbled with the clasp on the pouch at his right side and eventually made a piece of paper appear in front of his eyes. Listed on it were the names of six species of plants the medics in the village were short of. Some were rare, some were out of season, and some were little more than weeds of great virtue. Yet, by the gift of the surname Guren, Ragan could grow an adult plant from seed or accelerate an immature one’s growth in little time at all. Indeed, coming from a clan of plant whisperers, he could find the rare ones, make the unavailable ones, and simply look at what was left. Speaking of which-

Common yarrow, milfoil. Feathery leaves, cluster of flowers at the top. Known primarily to stanch blood flow. That was simple enough. Sure enough, the plant many citizens had growing in their gardens was growing happily just a few feet off the wide path upon which Ragan was treading. The gigantic boy took a few strides over to the patch of herbs and smiled a bit at his good fortune; a bit further, just before the first trees, even more of the valuable plant grew. He would not need to tire himself by using his clan’s power this time.

Working with speed born of experience, Ragan took fresh leaves from every plant, leaving many so as not to damage the organism. He knew the flowering tops had virtue as well, so he took a sizeable amount of those as well. A half hour later resulted in a layer of yarrow clippings six inches thick sandwiched between wax paper in the basket. Ragan was no mathematician, but the circumference of the basket and the height of the stack should have given the medical ninja plenty to work with even after the drying process. Besides, harvesting any more from the large patch would inevitably harm it, and he hated seeing harm come to anything, especially given his bloodline.

“Thank you,” he said as if talking to a human crowd. Now: foxglove, ginseng, goldenseal, poppy, and thistle.

Roleplaying Characters:
Guren, Ragan
Nara, Tsumori
No 3rd RPC
No 4th RPC
RPG Stats:
Shinobi Rank: E-Rank Genin | E-Rank Genin
Village: Iwagakure | Konohagakure
Fame: 0
Reputation:
Training Points: 15 | 0
Inventory: Kunai x9, Shuriken x12, Wooden Pole x1 | Kunai x12, Shuriken x15, Smoke Bombs x3, Wire

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Oathblivion · Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:15 pm Post subject:

Ragan looked down the road, searching for other travelers, before standing to his full six-plus height. Not that the folded terrain of his birthplace offered much in the way of visibility, but he was still self conscious of his size regardless of his outward resignation. The next easiest herb to find would probably be the thistle. To his knowledge, the plant was so common that some considered it a weed, and it grew in open areas such as hillsides and, conveniently, beside roadways.

Still, there was clearly none of the species where he was currently standing, nor did the novice ninja spot any from the village to this spot. Ragan’s shoulders slumped yet again, and his head watched the road intently as he headed further up the path to the mountains. The path currently sloped upwards for a good hundred yards. After reaching the pinnacle of the low, long hill, the path turned more steeply downward before rising yet again many yards ahead. It was on the hill in the distance that numerous flecks of purple caught Ragan’s eye.

Ten minutes of uncannily long strides placed him in the midst of the spiky looking plants. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Ragan reached back into his personal canvas bag and took out a folded leather pouch the size of his hand. All parts of the thistle were edible, but only the seeds were of interest for this particular mission. Wielding the pruning snips again, Ragan detached the flowering heads from most of the plants and emptied the seeds hidden within to the rawhide bag. When all was said and done, the seeds had to be pressed down in order to get the mouth of the bag closed. The downside: every plant but two had lost their flower.

Ragan’s brown-green eyes surveyed the patch, and he walked over to one of the remaining plants before taking the seeds and scattering them along the ground. The large boy then sat on one knee, took a deep breath, and focused his chakra on a snake seal. After a few seconds, he placed both hands on the ground, and the scattered seeds – along with a few other plants due to lack of precise control – began to grow at an amazing rate. A few more seconds passed, and the area around the original plant was alive with young, well established thistle. After repeating the process for the next plant, Ragan stood, brushed off his clothes, and set off in search of his next target. Things would probably not be so easy from now on.

Roleplaying Characters:
Guren, Ragan
Nara, Tsumori
No 3rd RPC
No 4th RPC
RPG Stats:
Shinobi Rank: E-Rank Genin | E-Rank Genin
Village: Iwagakure | Konohagakure
Fame: 0
Reputation:
Training Points: 15 | 0
Inventory: Kunai x9, Shuriken x12, Wooden Pole x1 | Kunai x12, Shuriken x15, Smoke Bombs x3, Wire

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Oathblivion · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject:

Heaving a great sigh of resignation, Ragan slumped back to the main path while politely ignoring a group of merchants headed toward the mountains. They would undoubtedly be looking for the pass over the sculpted peaks, as it would be impossible to haul the huge wagon that accompanied them over any old footpath. Ragan sighed again, but this time it was for the condition of the village. Ordinarily, merchants like this only came for festivals, preferring to sell their goods locally. Iwagakure – no, the entire world for that matter – had fallen on hard times. Any extra supplies that could be fetched for a low price would definitely be snatched up.

That was the reason for his current mission. What one person could gather probably would not sustain the medical ninja for a week at best, but harvesting extra medicinal plants instead of buying them freed up valuable resources, however few. The mossy haired youth still had no idea where he was supposed to find mature foxglove growing, aside from in the gardens back in his clan’s area. The other two plants would definitely be somewhere in these foothills, and so Ragan began walking up the path again.

Twenty minutes later, with the sun steadily rising, last year’s fallen leaves crunched under heavy footfalls. There was no need for stealth. Indeed, Ragan had found a northern facing slope of deciduous wood. Both ginseng and goldenseal could be found growing here, but the plants were moderately rare in the wild. Fortunately, once a person found one specimen, others were usually close by. It was a slight dip in the land that held the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

A good number of ginseng plants were growing here, oblivious to the artery leading into the ninja village only a couple hundred yards away. Even better, goldenseal grew in even greater numbers. Ragan was thankful he was born with the ability to ask the trees for directions… Still, this would be tiring work. Only the roots of both plants held great virtue, so to avoid completely destroying the population, he would have to find another patch or push his abilities to levels never had before.

Drawing a kunai and two more leather pouches identical to the first, the abnormally bulky genin set to work digging the roots of the plants and putting them in their respective containers. For the roots that were not mature enough, he accelerated their growth. After every plant, he flexed his bloodline just enough to reestablish a healthy, young root system, murmuring gratitude to each organism. Once the pouches were mostly filled, though not stuffed, Ragan let out an earth shattering yawn and took the basket off his back. A sunny spot just a few meters uphill would provide him with enough sunlight to recharge after a short nap. No sooner did he lie down than his eyelids closed.

Roleplaying Characters:
Guren, Ragan
Nara, Tsumori
No 3rd RPC
No 4th RPC
RPG Stats:
Shinobi Rank: E-Rank Genin | E-Rank Genin
Village: Iwagakure | Konohagakure
Fame: 0
Reputation:
Training Points: 15 | 0
Inventory: Kunai x9, Shuriken x12, Wooden Pole x1 | Kunai x12, Shuriken x15, Smoke Bombs x3, Wire

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Oathblivion · Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:26 pm Post subject:

When Ragan opened his brown-green eyes, the sun had already climbed past its zenith. Tending to plants inside the village was a far cry from repairing an entire patch of them multiple times. He was unsure if he had ever used his power so much up until now. Regardless, a few hours sleeping in the sun had washed away nearly all the fatigue. He climbed back down the small sunny rise he had slept on and fetched his basket full of herbs. He only had one plant left in order to complete the mission, and he had not a clue where to find some of it growing. One thing was sure, however: it would not be growing anywhere around here.

The exceedingly big boned genin crouched a bit, and then leaped up into one of the surrounding trees. The limbs here could support the majority of a four-man cell, so he knew weight would not become an issue. A couple of minutes of imitating squirrels later, Ragan crashed back onto the path, this time heading back towards his village. He had a plan for acquiring some foxglove, but knew that it might make someone quite angry with him if they did not know of his clan’s abilities.

Only a few houses were stationed outside the village walls these days. Most were abandoned, but of course none of the weed infested gardens there had any of the plant he was looking for. Naturally, it was a large house fully inhabited by people that had copious amounts of foxglove growing around it in full bloom. With yet another resigned sigh, Ragan stalked off toward the nearest specimen of the herb. Wielding his snips once more, he made quick work of selecting the best leaves of the oldest plants. Those had the most virtue in them. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before shouts accompanied his harvesting.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” came the cliché response of either the lady of the house or the gardener. Ragan wasn’t sure, but he stared at her, smiled, and pointed to his headband before explaining himself in the most level tone he could muster.

“The village is running low on herbs, ma’am. I am here to collect some, bu-“

“And destroy my garden in the process?? I thought ninja were…” Ragan began to tune the lady out, preferring action to words. He focused a bit of his chakra once again and made new growth sprout from the plant.

“This plant is biennial, and would have died with the first frost. Please be thankful that the village sent a member of my family to complete this mission. We can make plants grow. This one is just like new and will bloom next year where it normally would have not returned. If it pleases you, I will look after this entire garden before I leave.”

Those were probably the most words Ragan had said at one time in a few days, but it was worth it. Once he finished collecting what he needed and kept the peace by tending the garden, he could reap his reward. Finally, his mission was complete.

Roleplaying Characters:
Guren, Ragan
Nara, Tsumori
No 3rd RPC
No 4th RPC
RPG Stats:
Shinobi Rank: E-Rank Genin | E-Rank Genin
Village: Iwagakure | Konohagakure
Fame: 0
Reputation:
Training Points: 15 | 0
Inventory: Kunai x9, Shuriken x12, Wooden Pole x1 | Kunai x12, Shuriken x15, Smoke Bombs x3, Wire

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Oathblivion · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:46 pm Post subject:

For all intents and purposes, Ragan’s mission was at its end. However, one unlucky chuunin on desk duty would hear an earful if he did not manage to keep his end of the bargain with this lady. The large framed boy cracked his neck to each side before removing his mostly full basket full of herbs. Rolling his shoulders, his eyes surveyed the area for any plants that were dying. Fortunately, there were few.

Ragan carefully moved over to an area of forget-me-nots that clearly looked like they had been forgotten. The foliage was droopy, and the flowers dead and dry. The genin’s mouth twitched a bit as he felt the distinct impression of something pitiful begging for help. He wanted to have enough energy to make it the rest of the way back to the village, so he settled with putting the organism back on its feet, so to speak.

Next on the list, ironically, was a patch of yarrow. What was most disturbing to Ragan was the fact that there was a yarrow plant in bad enough condition to need his care. He thought they were almost as indestructible as a rose of Jericho. Regardless, a few minutes later and that plant too was in the prime of health. Five minutes and a lot of wasted energy later, Ragan was finally done. He gave a halfhearted wave to the lady and trudged off toward the village.

Twenty minutes of snail’s pace walking later placed the moss haired boy between the giant stone gates of Iwagakure. The mission briefing stated that he was to report to the medical department with his cargo and receive the staff’s mark of approval. Ragan guessed they kept genin on a tight leash for a reason. Still, the stone streets were crowded, and a few of the younger ninja darted out eagerly on their next mission.

At the understaffed hospital, Ragan met up with the herbalist. Following formal hellos, the towering teenager shed his basket full of herbs and seeds and roots. The herbalist, a woman in her middle years, orange haired but flecked with grey, seemed to stare at his harvest disapprovingly, but eventually turned a strained smile toward Ragan.

“I guess it’s the best one young man can do. Hard times, you know. Much work to be done and too few supplies to do it with. All war ever does is give the world a headache and heartache to boot. No amount of medicine can fix that, right?” The herbalist said.

Ragan merely grunted in response. He was sure this woman was trying to say something important, or maybe not. His thoughts were so scattered that he could only think of finishing the paperwork for the mission and sleeping.

Roleplaying Characters:
Guren, Ragan
Nara, Tsumori
No 3rd RPC
No 4th RPC
RPG Stats:
Shinobi Rank: E-Rank Genin | E-Rank Genin
Village: Iwagakure | Konohagakure
Fame: 0
Reputation:
Training Points: 15 | 0
Inventory: Kunai x9, Shuriken x12, Wooden Pole x1 | Kunai x12, Shuriken x15, Smoke Bombs x3, Wire

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