Shark Hunt [Mission]

"Damn it." Ann would smash her fist against the balcony in frustration. She was standing near the beach, looking out to the ocean. There was sand in front of her, but the girl herself was standing on cement, on top of a large path that separated the sand from the city, elevating itself from the beachy ground and forming a sort of wall that occasionally protected the village against the sea on stormy days. A small barrier prevented people from falling over and that's what Ann brought her fist down upon.

And oh boy, today was a stormy day for Ann Yuki. Her body had once again given in to the properties of the strong Ice Release power within her, and she had been frozen for months at the hospital. The second time hadn't been so bad as the first one where she spent 500 years under an iceberg, but still Ann felt like crying. It was like all the effort she had put in to get stronger and be a proper blade wielder had simply vanished. Perhaps worse than that, she hadn't had a single visit in the hospital during the time she had been there, according to the staff. It seemed like she was all alone in the world after all, and no one would give a damn if she just disappeared. But then...why didn't she? Why did this power keep taking control over her and freezing the girl in time instead of just killing her? If the Tetsudashi Steel Release and the Yuki's Ice Release couldn't get along, why didn't her body just give in completely? What sort of force was keeping her alive whenever this happened and why was it happening? She felt like shit. Waking up and finding a world of strangers was hard enough to do once, but having it happen again after she had made connections in Kirigakure was simply crushing.

The temperature slowly but steadily dropped around her, and the mist that had been flying above the beach began falling in snowflakes, slowly beginning to cover the beach in a thin layer of white. It seemed she had lost the ability to even control this quirk of hers. "What do you want from me?" her blue eyes fell upon her hand, red from the impact. She noticed the white smoke coming out of her mouth as she breathed. It really was getting cold. Her eyes turned to the beach, where people who had been walking by began to leave. "I'm going to get in trouble for this..."

Last time she got too careless with her power she did get in trouble. But she also got to meet Hana, and Kaji. Where were they? Were they even alive still? Ann wasn't even sure of exactly how much time had passed. Would they become colourless memories in her mind like the rest of the warriors she had known?

She sighed. At least an empty beach would make it easier to kill the sharks she was supposed to kill. She had picked a mission in a hurry. "Anything that will let me hit things is fine!" She had told the clerk, menacingly. She didn't even realize she wasn't supposed to do it alone. But alas, alone she was it seemed.

The dropping temperatures would spread across the beach, emanating further than the angst driven Yuki likely had expected in her emotional turmoil. The shift in temperature was immediate, and the warmth of the beach would be replaced with a new cold front that spread in without warning. Before even the first snowflakes fell the change in temperature would condense the air around the beach, and the sea breeze that normally blew in would be displaced and forced upwards. The seagulls that normally swarmed the beaches around this time would be pushed away, both by the change of temperature and also the shifting wind currents.

The snow that began to cover the beach would begin to clear the arena nearly immediately. Early spring was prime vacation time, and so the beaches were packed. The hurry to get away from the water now that it seemed to drop to freezing temperatures would a small stampede in the sudden hurry, but that was the least of some people’s worries.

Chigetsu, who had unknowingly signed up to be a part of this mess, would arrive on the scene. The difference in temperature immediately made her wish she had dressed in something a bit warmer. Her normal outfit exposed her midriff, which felt like a dumb descision now. She would already be huddling her arms around her exposed stomach, trying to keep body heat as she approached the mission meeting spot.

“Are you…?” She would say to the woman that was loitering around the balcony. “Are you… On the mission too? It’s really cold all of the sudden…” Chigetesu was already shivering, clearly uncomfortable and unprepared.

Ann would suddenly lift her chin as she noticed a voice behind her. People were talking to her! Were they on to her already? That was fast. She would turn back and notice a girl shivering. "Oh I'm so-" Ann would interrupt herself as she realized the girl hadn't quite understood she was the one responsible for the sudden drop of temperature. This was good! It meant she had a little more time an- wait, mission? Was she supposed to have a partner? Ann took a small scroll from her pocket and looked at it again. Yep, it seemed like she really was going to have a partner. And her partner was already quite uncomfortable with Ann's predicament. Maan was this going to be a party. She sighed- there was no other way around this. She needed the money to eat and perhaps the battle against sharks would help strengthening her body once again.

She was wearing a full set of samurai armor. Ancient samurai armor, which was in such a poor condition that it barely protected her at all. But it had sentimental value, so she kept wearing it. Strapped to her waist was a much more menacing looking sword tho, a present given to her by the village. She wielded it, but felt guilty about it because she hadn't done much to deserve the present.

"Aye, you're here for the shark hunt too? Great." she lied. "I'm Ann, nice to meet you." She would wave, but also keep her distance. The closer one got to her, the colder things got. "Get your act together Ann!"

“The shark hunt? Yeah, I’m here for that…” Chigetsu kept her arms still close to her body, and the fluff of her hoodie bunched up close for warmth. “Sorry, it’s honestly hard to focus a little bit with the sudden chill… I’m just not really used to it. I wish I had dressed warmer, but I thought it would be a nice and warm beach day. It would have been really nice, since I could have gone for a swim after… Not I bet I’ll just end up covered in frost if I do.” Chigetsu gave an awkward smile after that initial daze left her body. The hood of her hoodie would be pulled up over her head, with the little attached rabbit ears drooping down afterwards.

“I’m Chigetsu, it’s nice to meet you too. I’d have invited you to the beach with me after we finished this, but…” She trailed off, more than just a bit disappointed. “Maybe it’ll clear up by the time we finish? That would be nice.”

It was just about then that Chigetsu noticed Ann’s choice of dress. It was very ‘ninja-y’, unlike Chigetsu’s casual and flashy outfit full of bright colors. At the same time there was something off about it that she just couldn’t really put her fingers on. Ornate looking armor. Her eyes would be focused down on it for a few moments.

“I like your outfit. It looks like you’re a real fancy samurai or something…” Chigetsu would walk a bit closer, only to hesitate and then cringe as she noticed the immediate drop in temperature after just one foot closer. Slight specs of frost would appear on Chigetsu’s uncovered skin, appearing like little flat specs of ice on skin.

Ann couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. She felt sorry for anyone who fell victim to her incompetence in controlling the Yuki Bloodline, but the people at the beach were far away and easily kept out of mind while Chigetsu was right in front of her, trembling. Ann didn't really know what feeling cold was like, but she imagined it must not be pleasant.

She was glad to hear Chigetsu's compliment on her armour. It felt good to know that even after 500 years this armor still left people at the very least curious if not amazed like it used to. Chigetsu seemed like a nice person, which made Ann feel even worse. But if they were going to be working together, she would need to be honest with her. The Yuki shook her head for a bit, before sighing again (she had been sighing a lot lately!) and speaking. "I don't think it'll clear up so soon...It seems you have really poor luck, Chigetsu." She'd glance at the beach, where snowflakes still fell. "You see, I'm the one responsible for the temperature drop, as I'm sure you've noticed by now." Chigetsu's flinch when she tried to approach Ann was very familiar, and something she had seen many times before. "And there isn't much I can do about it, I'm afraid..." The power within her blood simply seemed to do what it wanted. The small amount of control she had gained earlier had now been lost.

She'd give off an awkward but earnest smile. "If it makes you feel better, I like your clothes too. And your pink braid. It's very unique." Ann was being honest. Having been raised around boys all her life, she had never really gotten the opportunity to be girly. Chigetsu seemed to excel at that, and she was almost jealous. But a moment of silence would follow.

"To be honest, I didn't realize this was a two-people job. I'm sorry. I can go away, if it bothers you too mu-Oh, you're getting frostbites!" She'd step away almost immediately.

Chigetsu’s eyes would light up as Ann revealed herself as being the one responsible for the mysterious winter wonderland that swept into the beach. It was like a mystery being revealed, where the gang had captured the monster and then tied them up and took off their mask. Except it was only Ann and Chigetsu, and Ann wasn’t tied up or wearing a monster suit. So basically nothing at all like how Chigetsu had imagined it. The mental image distracted her from the cold though for a few moments, which was nice. She knew of the Yuki Clan though, and so perhaps this shouldn’t have been a surprise. It wasn’t like the Yuki were some hidden mystery or anything, so she probably should have suspected that the sudden snowstorm was the fault of an Ice Release user.

“T-Thank you!” Chi would smile back, even if uncomfortable. Her braid was something she was really proud of, and so the compliment genuinely made her happy. “I try to keep looking nice and pretty even when being a shinobi… Even though it’s hard sometimes. Maybe if we got a big industrial heater I could try to braid your hair too?” Hopefully Chigetsu’s fingers wouldn’t freeze and fall off in the process.

As soon as Ann pointed it out Chigetsu would noticed the little bits of frost forming on her body, and Chigetsu would take a few steps back as well. They would be plucked at, pinched off her skin and thrown to the ground. There would be little wet spots where they had remained, bits of Chigetesu’s hydrification that had a difficult time returning to normal.

“Sorry! I’m from the Hozuki Clan… I’m more sensitive to the cold, I guess… I’ll probably turn into a big ice cube if I got too close to you, which would be bad. Maybe we can do this mission while keeping a distance from each other…?”

Ann had never thought about what it takes to look nice and pretty while being a shinobi. But if Chigetsu said it was hard, she believed her! She did make it look easy tho...Perhaps it was some sort of natural talent that she had? Like Ann's snowfall? Maybe Chigetsu couldn't help but look pretty all the time either. That thought gave her comfort, although she did know Chigetsu's "condition" of prettyness was unlikely to be like hers.

The image of her pony tail braided came to her head. She wasn't sure she would like it, but she was open to the experience. "An industrial heater?" Ann's expression turned curious. You see, Ann was 521 years old. That being said, she wasn't really that good with any sort of technology and things like heaters or tvs, or even radio towers were beyond her imagination. She had grown up with camp fires,samurai castles and little else. This had proved to be an obstacle she had to overcome constantly, and many times she found herself wondering what these mysterious objects did or how they worked. The last one she could remember was the smoothie machine at Hana's place- what a wonderful invention!

"Hozuki Clan? What's that? Do you use bones too?" Being raised as a samurai in the Land of Iron, she didn't know much about Kirigakure no Sato's clans either. She had come here because she knew her mother's side of the family lived somewhere in the village, and the Yuki had accepted her to a degree. So she wasn't entirely oblivious to the concept of a Clan, but she was unaware of what other clans existed in Kirigakure no Sato. The only other clan she knew about were the Kaguya, and their abilities disturbed Ann a bit.

The Yuki would nod. Keeping the distance between them sounded like a very good plan, and perhaps they would be able to cover more ground like that. After Chi answered her questions, Ann would turn back towards the beach. It was empty now, but perhaps that was for the best. She could go all out now...perhaps releasing a bit of her power would get her on the right track to controlling her abilities again. "I'll find a way to control this so you can braid my hair. I promise." Setting goals was important. It kept her mind busy and kept her from feeling sorry for herself. "So, should we find a boat or...?"

“The Hozuki Clan…?” The fact that Ann would ask about it, the Hozuki Clan, was almost a little flabbergasting. They were the clan that formed the village of Kirigakure no Sato, and basically controlled the entirety of the Land of Water before the ninja village system came around. The Hozuki were famous, even in other villages just for being so utterly essential to all understanding of modern history regarding Kirigakure. To be a shinobi in Kirigakure and to have not heard about the Hozuki Clan… It was weird. Chigetsu would blink for a few moments. It was one thing to not know about the Hozuki kekkei genkai, but to not know about the clan at all was insane.

“We can turn out bodies into water. Like… I would show you, but I think it’s a little too cold. I’ll freeze up if I try to get too liquidy. Just uh… Trust me when I say that I can turn my body into water. It’s usually very helpful, but right now it makes us a really bad match up.”

It was hard to explain, and Chigetsu didn’t want to really melt herself right here where it was so cold and nearly freezing. She would end up being as thick as molasses, and that would just be really gross and not cool or impressive at all. Still, it raised some weird questions. That, and the woman’s comment and confusion with industrial heaters.

She would nod her head about braiding Ann’s hair. It would be nice. Maybe one day they could do something like that together. I was hard not to feel bad for Ann, especially after learning it was just the result of something she couldn’t control. It must have been impossible for her to lead a normal life. No hugs, no close friendships, no braiding each other's hair, nothing like that.

“A boat would be nice, although it’ll have to be pretty big.”