*shadow Ninja*

“Ah, shit.” Leo stretched as he got up from the ground. “it smells awful” He pulled his knife up to his pants, and glided the each side to clean the blood off of it. “All in a days work. But damn I wish it didn’t smell so bad.” Squatting, He took the pelt it a freshly hunted deer, and a few chunks of venison and wrapped it up in a pouch. Looking over at his bolt he noticed it had snapped in half when the deer started bucking in pain. Leo stood from his squat. Inhaled quickly, and looked at his pocket watch. “red is gonna kill me! I’m late again.” he sighed and began to sprint towards town.

When the golden tankard was in sight he slowed down his sprint but was far out of breath. When he got to the door what he thought was gently opening them up we more so a crash into the door and a loud boom. Followed by a shout across the bar.

“SORRY... Huh.... IM LATE.” he said in between breaths. “I got caught up in a hunt.” He walked closer into the bar, Not realizing that most customers were holding their nose as the stench of sweat and a freshly carved animal was lingering on him. Finally upon finding a seat next to Red he sat down side by side. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out the venison bits and placed them on the counter. “If you could keeper, please cook these for Red and I. And the payment is the pelt.” He reached towards his belt only to find he had dropped it on the way in. Where it was who knew.

“AAAAAHH” He screamed “This night couldn’t get any worse!” Leo was ready to drink but he had waited for Red to order the first rounds. Mostly because he was poor, and hadn’t been on any missions for the past 2 weeks. Turning his head to Red he asked simply “So what are we drinking tonight?”

 

Haru turns around and nods his head, and begins walking. After being led to the inn, Haru sits down to eat some food. Strangely enough, he does not take off his hood for this, and carefully finishes his meal. After finishing, he heads to his room to get some rest, changing into yet another blue robe, though this one is in pristine condition, with a silky sheen. He drifts off into sleep, his belongings ready to go at a moment's notice, and his staff in easy reach.

 

Aika sat on the edge of the mountain. It was her favorite spot on Cherry Blossom Mountain, everyday she would come to this spot staring at the forests and towns below the mountains. And like every other day a whistling man would be behind her with two ninja's wearing green uniforms. The whistling man would be wearing a takuhatsugasa. " Hello my dear cherry blossom...won't you please marry me? " said the whistling man smiling at Aika's beautiful blue eyes. " I told you before and i'll tell you again....I will never ever....marry you, now go the hell away before I shove a shuriken up your ass " said Aika and The whistling man walked over to her. " Oh baby....don't be like that we can live together in a small house on a mountain...just you and I....and our children. ". He would then sit down next to Aika wrapping his arm around her and she'd glare at him with an angry look.

" The day I marry you is the day I become leader of the clan and lucky for me that'll never happen...now get the hell off me you pervert " said Aika shoving The mans arm off of her. " my my.....Your quite feisty today my little Cherry Blossom.....oh well....i'll try again tomorrow....after all our clans are next to eachother…" said the man smiling at Aika and Aika would roll her eyes as the man got up and walked back to the green lotus leaf clan temple which was on the other side of Cherry Blossom Mountain, the other side of the mountain was green and covered with lotus leaves. " Asshole....i'll never marry that prick! " scoffed Aika. " I certainly hope you don't Aika….afterall no woman should have to marry that pig.." said Lady Chie causing Aika to jump up. " M-master Chie! I didn't know you were here....forgive me my master! " said Aika bowing before Chie. " Your only 25 and that badger is already coming after you....That damn weasel..." muttered Chie and Aika snickered. " Don't worry master...I wouldn't stoop that low! " said Aika confidently.

" I'm glad child....now then let us begin todays training....you've already mastered the uses of your weapons and you've been taught every cherry blossom move there is....except for the ancient arts of course....anyways my child today we'll be sparring one last time..." said Chie and Aika became confused. " Last time? what do you mean master? "
" What I mean my child is that today is the last day I remain a master....tomorrow I retire as you know I just turned 75 years old and that's the age limit for our clan" said Master Chie and Aika bowed her head. " I know master....but if that's the case....then lets make it a good one! " said Aika and she charged at Master Chie starting a long sparring match that would last for 3 whole hours.


Meanwhile...over at the Green Lotus Leaf temple.
The whistling man was standing in front of 5 old men who were each wearing green robes. " Manjuki….I do hope you realize why your here..." said one of the old men and The whistling man nodded. " Of course my masters...todays finally the day I become a true ninja! " said Manjuki with a smile on his face and the old men would just stare at him with blank faces. " No....I am sorry Manjuki….but after much consideration...we think its best that you leave the temple and move to the blado dojo...home to the samurai! We have tested your skills and your ninja skills are not excellent at all....however you have great potential with a katana! Its your destiny to become a Samurai Manjuki! " said the old man and Manjuki became furious. " A SAMURAI!? WHY IN THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO BECOME A DAMN SAMURAI!? IF I BECOME A SAMURAI I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO MARRY AIKA! " screamed Manjuki and the old men all became shocked. " A girl!? You trained all this time....all these years just to marry some girl!? "asked the old man and Manjuki nodded his head. " Of course I did! Aika is the most beautiful woman in the world...and I'LL MAKE HER MINE! " shouted Manjuki and the old man in the middle stood up. " Manjuki….hear my words....you will never...become a ninja! " said the old man and Manjuki squeezed his hand making a fist and he put his hand on his Katanna hilt unsheathing it. " If I can't be a ninja...then i'll make no ninjas are born in this damn temple ever AGAIN! " yelled Manjuki and he ran up to the old man slicing his head off clean causing blood to fill the room and the other 4 old men watched in horror as Manjuki slaughtered all of them.

A man wearing a green uniform ran up to the bell and rang it. He rang the bell 5 times which meant an intruder was inside the temple and this caused hundreds of ninja's to appear before the man. " Listen up! right now...Manjuki is inside the temple slaughtering our own! he has already killed 20 people! and sadly the number keeps rising....so! I want all of you to get in there...and KILL HIM! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!? asked the man. " YES MASTER " screamed all the ninja's in unison and they all ran into the temple charging towards Manjuki and Manjuki would smile at the ninja's lifting up his sword and he'd swing his blade at one of the ninjas slicing them in half and then he would stab two more ninjas in the chest causing them to fall to the floor. He then jumped on the wall and landed on a ninja causing him to fall down and he would spin around twirling his sword slicing off 20 ninja heads at once making blood paint the walls red. He'd then charge at a group of 10 ninja's and he would slice all of them in half with one swipe. Their guts flew all over the place and some landed on a few ninja's causing them to scream and run away. Manjuki would then strike down another 10 ninja's finishing off all of them.

Manjuki would smile and he'd look around the entire room that was now bathed in blood and he'd walk over the dead corpses and he would exit the temple to find a man with a mustache and a long pony tail standing before him with 200 ninja's. " Manjuki….you have killed enough people today...I think its time you put down your sword and surrender son..." said the man. " Cut the bullshit Master taiti! I'm gonna skin your pathetic ass " said Manjuki and the man walked forward facing Manjuki. " Very well then.....let us have a duel...just the two of us! " said Master Taiti and Manjuki would smirk. " Have it your way old man...either way you die..." said Manjuki lifting up his katana and Master Taiti jumped into the air and stood behind Manjuki hitting him in the back with a dragon claw which was a 4 finger thrust into the back that stings and leaves a mark. Manjuki screamed in pain and he turned around swinging his blade at Master Taiti but he dodged it and kicked Manjuki in the leg causing him to almost fall over but he would keep himself up and he'd wave his sword again this time striking it right into the masters neck causing blood to pour out of it and Master Taiti would fall in Manjuki's arms and he would mutter. " Manjuki...you are a disgrace...to us all..." and the master would fall to the ground his body becoming lifeless.

" Alright listen up everyone! starting today i'm your new master! " said Manjuki walking over to the 200 ninja and they all nodded their heads in agreement. " Now my first orders...are to storm the Cherry Blossom temple and to kill everyone except for Aika! Do I make myself clear!? " asked Manjuki and all the ninja yelled out, " YES SIR! "
" Well then.....GET YOUR ASSES OUT THERE AND SLAUGHTER SOME CHERRY BLOSSOMS! " commanded Manjuki and all the ninja's began to run over to the other side of the mountain.


Aika would sit on the ground exhausted. She was tired and sweaty from sparring with master Chie all day and so she laid back on the ground staring at the sky. Moments later Chie would tower over her with a scared look on her face. " Child! this is no time to be resting! The temple is under attack! " said Master Chie and Aika stood up looking at her master. " What!? But who would do such a thing..." asked Aika. " It's The Green Lotus Leaf Clan! They're attacking us! " said Chie and Aika widened her eyes and she ran into the temple. " Aika you foolish child! get back here! " said Chie running after her and they both went inside the temple to find most of the cherry blossom ninjas on the floor dead. " WHO THE HELL DID THIS!? " screamed Aika and before the Green ninja's could answer a man would suddenly begin to whistle. " No....You wouldn't go this far just to get me....please tell me I'm right....please tell me its not you who did this..." said Aika forming tears in her eyes and she'd turn to see Manjuki smiling at her and his katana was dripping blood on the floor. " My Sweet little Cherry Blossom...I'd do anything for you...and that includes destroying two clans..." said Manjuki with a smile and Aika became furious. She charged at Manjuki unsheathing her kama and she'd swing it at Manjuki only for her to block it with his katana.

" Honestly Aika….I knew you'd do this....which is why i'm gonna spare the rest of your clan...and you can all live to see another day...however! for the rest of your life I will be looking for you and I wont stop till you marry me! so my beautiful cherry blossom....i'll give you 5 days to hide till I begin my search....so...have fun! " said Manjuki sheathing his katana and he and the remaining 158 ninja's followed Manjuki out of the temple. Aika got on her knees and began to cry. " DAMN YOU MANJUKI DAMN YOU AND ALL OF YOUR FUCKING NINJA'S DAMN ALL OF YOU I WISH YOU ALL NEVER EXSISTED I WISH YOU WERE DEAD YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD " yelled Aika and Chie wrapped her arms around Aika giving her a big hug. " Shhh….shh....its alright my child....its alright..." whispered Chie and Aika cried into her arms for the rest of the night afraid of what horrors would come next.


OOC: So who's close to the mountains? I wanna interact with some people soon
also @Miss Elegent Serenity if you wanna add the lotus leaf clan you can but im just telling you now its completely destroyed...i'll also make a character sheet for Manjuki in a little bit

 

OOC: Sorry for the post with no RP I just wanna have a question answered. Does this RP have supernatural ninja techniques? I mean like ninjutsu, like say in Naruto or whatever, or is it all realistic abilities without any superpowered stuff? Also, @iknoweverything there's the volcano that the Blue Robes are on, maybe that's nearby??? I would imagine that your clan's location is mostly up to you, though my character is at the Nagasaki village, which is elsewhere. The geography isn't exactly defined yet, as far as I know, unless someone has made a map of the place

 

Red nonchalantly smoked his pipe while Leo was having something of a nervous breakdown.
"Should've figured he'd come barging in here broke as a beggar and smelling like a dead animal. Just another day at the Golden Tankard." He chuckled at the thought. When asked what they were going to drink, Red tapped his pipe with a quiet "Hmm..." until suddenly, inspiration struck him, shown by his wry grin.
"I've got an idea."
He lowered his pipe and leaned forward.
"Let's make our usual drinking contest a little more interesting. Tonight, I'll cover you for all the mead you can handle and if you want some more food, I'll get that too. If you win, you don't owe me anything and I'll even buy you a new belt in the morning since yours seems to be missing. But if you lose..."
He waved his pipe at Leo with a widening grin.
"You have to pay me back for everything we drink and eat tonight, and you're out of luck on the belt. Obviously, that means you'll need to get off your ass and pick up a mission already. I get that everyone needs a break once in a while, but come on, how long has it been now?"
He leaned back in his seat, taking another puff from his pipe.
"So, what do you say? Come on, it'll be a great night!"

 

Leo nodded in agreement to his deal. Though he was quickly filled with feelings of doubt. he thought to himself. "I guess I gotta pace myself a little better tonight. can't be going down and out around the 5th pint. I just hope he doesn't spike my drink with anything." Leo reached his hand out to Red and stated. "Deal, but we have to shake on it." It was obvious that Red was going to shake his hand because he came up with the deal. but he wanted to reassure there was no backing down.

The bartender quickly fulfilled their orders. and Leo nudged red when they grabbed their mugs. "Look, I haven't taken a contract in 2 weeks because I was scarred by my last one, herding sheep into a pit of crocodiles because the contract broker has a sick sense of humor changes a man. those poor lamb, they stood no chance. I just saw wool flying everywhere." He sunk his head into his hands. Feeling the true after effects of how monstrous he was. he eventually collected himself. "But... I am still a hunter, I suppose I shouldn't have too much of an issue with what I did. before I came here I probably killed a deer with a deer family. just so I could eat and well... Get something for the pelt that I got.... But, Y'know. Lost my belt. so Now I have nothing."

Leo pondered for a few minutes, before he finally took a sip of Mead. It tasted terrible, like always. Just bottom of the barrel swill the entire purpose of it was to get you drunk, and fast. "I'll tell ya what, Red. If there is a contract that allows us to go to a party, have fun, and maybe get into some mischief, bring it to me! I will gladly accept that contract with you. cause I'm not doing anymore of those 'MUNDANE' Contracts, they're never as simple as they seem. I'm telling ya man!"

 

OOT: Forgot to say this in the last post, I'm fine either way on the ninja superpowers deal. If everyone wants it, I can work it into my characters easily enough and if not, it's just business as usual.

Wulfred shook Leo's hand to seal the deal and listened to his best friend's tale of woe. As Leo told his rather gruesome tale of the lambs, Red kept a serious face on even though, to be perfectly honest, he found the story kind of funny. Then Leo mentioned "wool flying everywhere" and for a brief moment, Red covered his mouth with his hand, trying but failing to stifle a laugh.
"...Sorry."
He cleared his throat.
"Go on."

About halfway through that statement, Red's eyes lit up and the rest of what Leo said was just white noise.
"Oooh, you'd let me pick out a contract? Now that, I can work with."
He took a swig of his mead, giving himself a few moments to come up with all kinds of ideas.
"You know, I hear that a nearby village has been having some problems with wolves lately. They say there's a huge pack of them, maybe twenty or so of the bastards terrorizing the countryside. Don't get me wrong, they're probably just exaggerating, but...on the other hand, maybe not."
He smiled widely, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of Leo.
"And would you believe that's not the worst of it? In a nearby town, rumors are floating around that there are bears on the loose. Big ones. Some say they can eat a man whole."
He took another swig.
"But hey, you know how the common folk are, they say the craziest things when they're scared. They're probably not all that bad. Probably."
At this point, it was clear that Red was enjoying himself way too much.
"And don't even get me started on that group of cannibals that's supposedly running loose. Can you imagine that? A group of raiders running around eating people? Bunch of damn psychos if you ask me. But of course...those are just rumors."
With one last gulp, he finished his first tankard, set it down, and signaled for the bartender.
"Another one! And keep 'em coming."

The bartender picked up the empty tankard and looked to Red. It was subtle, but for a split second, it almost looked like the two of them gave a knowing nod to each other. "You got it," the bartender said as he walked off.

At this point, Red and Leo had started to attract some attention. Within the halls of the Golden Tankard, their drinking contests had become something of a staple attraction, and the patrons who had seen these two go at it before were starting to take notice. This caught the attention of the other patrons and slowly but surely, the focus of the entire room was starting to turn towards the dueling duo's mead-drinking contest.

 

Leo let out a sigh mid way through Reds Fantasy speech. He knew he heard that he had some power and went on an ego trip. Nothing unpredictable from Red, but none the less enjoyable, However once the words “Bear” and “Cannibals” left Reds mouth instead of shock and fear - Leo had more a look of hope and determination that it was true. Leo let Red wrap up his seemingly mid life crisis like speech and picked up the mead tankard to drink quickly, He knew he would regret everything in the morning but he had every intent to enjoy himself tonight.

“A contract for cannibals and bears, Red you realize I am a walking arsenal? Right? I could take both of these contracts on at once and still be done by the morning. And with your help, we could even do it right after our drinking competition. I mean sure we might be stumbling out of here and slurring our words; but who needs balance and communication when we have skill and understanding. Bears and cannibals are stupid. Wolves however, they walk in a pack. And well after the lambs I wanna leave the poor pack animals alone. None the less I don’t want to hurt any good boys in the making of my riches.”

He gave the rest of his mead a chug slamming the tankard on the counter before just pointing down at it, eventually he got a whiff of himself and damn near vomited up the swill he had just drank. Looking over at Red he shot a glance of horror.

“Why didn’t you tell me I smelled repulsive?! I mean sheesh! I would have bathed myself before coming if I knew I smelled or dead animal and a year of accumulated sweat. “ of course an exaggeration but he wanted to get his point accross. The bartender took no time at all getting the next tankard full of mead, Just as Leo took no time pounding it down. The crowd behind them always in bewilderment at the glorious liver damage display going on in front of them. You could hear idle whispers in the background. “these 2 fools aren’t gonna make it past their twenties.” and “I wish Red or Leo would marry my daughter.”

It was a mixed crowd and who knew that groupies were common for the functioning alcoholics of the golden tankard tavern.

 

Red knew that taking on a job in the state they would be in after a drinking contest would be a terrible idea. Impaired vision, dulled reflexes, a lack of sound judgment, fighting in that condition would be ridiculous no matter how you look at it. Obviously, the logical choice would be to wait until morning, then they could take on all the jobs they wanted to. Red knew this and considered it carefully...

...but damn if anyone might think that Wulfred of Dalfirth could possibly be a coward.

"Hell yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"
Red loudly boasted and soon after downed the rest of his drink, slamming the empty tankard down on the table.
"You bet your ass we've got skill! And that other thing you said!"
It was pretty clear at this point that the alcohol was getting to him just as much as it was getting to Leo.
"We can take some jobs tonight, sure, we'll take a whole bunch of 'em."
He stood up and looked to the crowd with exaggerated gestures.
"How many of you think we can still throw down after a few drinks?!"

The raucous cheers from the crowd brought a wide grin to his face.

"That's what I'm talking about."
He sat back down, slamming his hand on the table.
"But first, we need some more drinks!"

Loud cheers came from the crowd as more people stated gathering around. The bartender kept busy providing the two dueling booze warriors with drinks while also running a betting pool on the side. Bets were being taken on who would win, who would pass out, and the possibility that both of them would pass out covered in mead and their own slobber and/or vomit.

 

Leo, Snickered at the thought of doing jobs tonight while clearly not in the right state of mind. Red egged it on, Which was probably his biggest mistake. Obviously after the next round came, Leo had pounded the mead down quickly, and then a second round. Same thing. They were getting deep in the mugs, just just enough for Leo to stand up and kick the chair back.

“I’m done waiting around!” Shouted Leo. “Barkeep throw an apple in the air.”

The barkeeper did as Leo requested however he threw 2 to make it much harder for Leo, as if one wasn’t going to be difficult enough.

Leo took 2 steps while tumbling around, but he looked up and locked onto the apples. A moment later he treated his daggers like throwing knives and whipper them directly into both apples. Naturally the crowd went absolutely wild their screams only got louder as they saw such a flashy trick.

“So red, about those cannibals and bears, we’re gonna a stop to that tonight!” He said as he fell over onto red. “But we’re gonna get paid twice the money and demand it from the contract broker.” Trying to stand up, Leo eventually did it. “And bar-keep time to go mobile! We’re gonna need drinks for the adventure!”

Some of the rather fascinated and awestruck members of the crowd brought back both of Leo’s daggers. It was 2 rather young and attractive ladies, that or it was mead goggles. They gave him a gentle bow, as he tried to do the same, he quickly sheathed his weapons and reached over to Red to offer him help up. Whether or not they passed out during or before the contracts was questionable, but the night just got much crazier that was for certain.

 

Red took Leo's hand and got to his feet, feeling a little more dizzy than he expected. When it was clear to him that Leo was serious about doing these contracts tonight, Red flashed a confident smirk.
"This is a terrible idea," he said to himself.
"This is a terrific idea," he said to Leo and the crowd through slightly slurred words as he finished off another drink. "Tally ho and all that shit!"
Red "led the charge" out of the tavern and flung the door open, taking in the night air with a deep, exaggerated breath.
"Do you smell that, Leo? It smells like adventure. Or...maybe it's your dead animal stink, I'm not sure."
He took a moment to collect his thoughts. And failed.
"Where was I going again? Right, yeah, contracts. Those are..."
He looked around in a few different directions before settling on the right one and pointing towards it.
"...That way, yeah. Then depending on which job we take, we'll have to go...places. Oh yeah, almost forgot."
He looked over to Leo.
"Which job do you wanna take first? There was the raider...cannibals. Raiderbals. Nasty bitches. And then there's the bears. Big bitches. And there were some other cool jobs too like...uh...you know what, we'll figure it out when we get there. You ready?"
He took another swig of mead as he waited for an answer.


OOT: New characters coming soon, I'm just waiting for the right time to introduce them.

 

“We...” Leo hiccuped. “ we should take on the cannibal bears, or the cannibals and then the bears, or we can ride the bears into the cannibals and have them kill each other.” Leo’s imagination started to run wild, He was deep in his mugs, and well it wasn’t going to end pretty judging by how the night was most definitely going to end. “ You know, Red how can there be tribes or cannibals when they eat other people you’d imagine they would try to eat each other, Why would you ever live like that. Maybe we can try to talk some sense into the cannibals, but I doubt it. Maybe if we ride in on the bears they’ll listen.”

Leo, not understanding how ridiculous he was sounding, decided that he needed more mead, However none of the people cheering these fools on seemed to have followed, maybe out of their own safety or genuine concern for their well beings, but they couldn’t really stop them from taking on any contracts. Once they finally reached the broker, Leo took the floor and began talking to the broker. “Red and I would like to take the cannibal bears contract, please. And we want double pay! We are going to boast to the town that we are doing this drunk. And you are going to pay us double.”

The broker just stared at Leo saying absolutely nothing for a few moments, he glared over at red, and back to Leo, then back to red. He could see that Leo was being serious and that Red had some serious reservations about this. “There is 2 separate contracts one involving bears and 1 involving cannibals. I assume that is what you mean?” Leo nodded yes towards him. Upon confirmation the broker had Leo and Red sign the contracts “I will he sending one witness with you to assure you’re doing it drunk for the double pay. Have fun out there.”

Leo looking determined and confused as ever, was ready to go hunt down the cannibal bears along with Red. “finally like old times! Just you and I Red. We got this.”

 

"Wait, he actually went for that?"
Red's face clearly showed that he was surprised and somewhat amazed that the broker was actually going to give them double the reward for the contracts.
"Kickass! Who says it don't pay to be drunk? We should do this more often...wait, we already do this pretty often. I mean, we should do it like this more often, where we get paid and stuff."
He made his way outside, but not before taking another drink. When the night air touched his nostrils, he had a sudden realization and turned to Leo.
"Wait...wait, hold on."
A moment of silence.
"Damn, it's gone."
Another moment.
"It's back again! Alright, so we need to get to where we're going all fastlike, right? So let's go get ourselves a horse. I got this, follow me."
Naturally, he'd forgotten that he already has a horse in the local stable. After wandering around for a little while in the opposite direction of the stable, he found a horse-drawn carriage. The coachman seemed to recognize him, and hung his head slightly. Red carefully looked over the carriage and turned to Leo with an approving nod.
"That's a big ass horse. Ya know, I think it can fit both of us."
He climbed into the carriage, scooted towards the front and called out in a loud, commanding voice.
"Yah, horsey, yah! We must ride into the night!"
The coachman buried his head in his hands, then he looked up to Red with a clearly annoyed expression.
"Alright, where are you headed?"
Red recoiled with a gasp, looking at the coachman in amazement. He quickly turned and looked to Leo.
"Leo! Did you hear that? This horse can talk!"
He turned back, looking in the general direction of the coachman.
"We will have many grand adventures tonight. isn't that great, talking horse friend?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOT: New characters incoming

Name: Alkelda the Steele
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Weapons: Ninjato; Shurikens; Kunai; Dual Sais
Other Equipment: Kusari Katabira
Ninja clan: White Lion

Name: Warrior-King Theodoric
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Weapons: Zweihander; Kite Shield; Crossbow
Other Equipment: Plate Armor
Ninja clan: White Lion


At the center of the White Lion's seat of power, just outside a hidden meeting area deep within the mountain, Alkelda has just returned from her mission and is about to give a full report. Before doing so, she takes a moment to calm her frayed nerves, taking a deep breath in and letting it out before walking through the door. She enters to find her lord in deep meditation.

Theodoric, a strikingly large and tall figure even while sitting in meditation, soon towers over Alkelda as he rises to his feet. Even so, his serene, thoughtful expression gives off a calming aura that makes him appear less intimidating than one might assume. He motions for Alkelda to come forward.
"Ah, it is good to see that you have returned safely. Come, sit, and tell me all that you have seen."
Alkelda obliges and sits down in a nearby chair, though she hesitates for a moment in giving her report.
"Your lordship...I'm afraid I have only dire news to bring back to you. It is as we feared."
Theodoric sits back down on his throne, his expression turning grim as the weight of those words weighed heavily on him.
"Then they are preparing for an invasion. You are absolutely certain of this? Do you have any evidence to present?"
"I do."
"Then tell me everything, from the beginning."
"Yes, my lord..."

 

"Whoa!!!! A TALKING HORSE?!" Leo couldn't believe his ears and eyes, there was no way that they were still in reality. he thought. Instead of him letting the stagecoach ready the saddles for the horse Leo got over zealous and leaped quickly to mount the horse, he reached his hand out to Red, and waited for him to grab on. "Noble Steed! ride us to battle! we shall conquer all of our enemies."

Before Red could swing onto the horse, Leo dug his heels into the horse to signal to get ready. The only issue was that the stage coach hadn't let the horse out of the stable so the horse just got mad and ended up neighing angrily and throwing Leo off. He let out a loud Ow!
"I don't think the talking horse friend likes me very much red! I might have to walk tonight, but I am afraid I sustained a head injury from what had just happened." It was an exaggeration from a clumsy drunken fool.

"We must hurry! Those cannibal bears aren't gonna rest until they have eaten humans and their own bear bretheren, for we will be known as the defender of the bears and brothers on this night! my dear friend Red!"

 

Haru awakens, and decides to go for a short walk. He finds a short stump, and starts to make sure his equipment is in perfect condition. After doing so, he gets up to go to the meeting. While on the way, however, he stumbles upon an apple orchard. Being that apples are his favorite fruit, he looks around, then grabs a few, pockets all but one, then he proceeds to eat the lone apple. Unfortunately for him, the farmer who owned the orchard happened to walk in at that very moment. Angered by the thief who was stealing his apples, the farmer tried to take him on. Haru uses his staff to defend himself, and, after defusing the situation, he explained that he was unaware that the apples were owned by the farmer. He then paid for the apples, along with a nice tip for his accidental thievery. Mollified, the farmer and Haru left on neutral terms, if not good terms, as Haru bought a few more apples. Finishing his last apple, Haru throws it away, makes himself presentable, then enters the meeting room.
"So, have you made a decision yet? If you have, then let's quickly get the paperwork out of the way so we can begin. If you have any further questions, I can answer them as well."