Day Four - 7154/50k

Destiny jogged through the forest, pointedly ignoring the wingbeats of Kida gliding above her. She still hadn’t forgiven her friend for dropping her, or for her jibes. But thoughts of grudges and annoyance were quickly banished from her head by the smell of smoke that was quickly becoming overpowering. She began to see wisps of smoke drifting through the trees. If she twitched her ears in just the right direction, she could even begin to hear the ominous roar and crackle of the flames. 

“We’re getting close,” she called up to Kida. “Fly up and see if you can spot anything.” 

“Yes ma’am,” Kida replied with joking sarcasm in her voice. Destiny didn’t even acknowledge it with a response until Kida was out of sight above the trees. Then she looked upward and stuck her tongue out vindictively, but kept jogging. After a few minutes, Kida dropped back down, coughing violently. “Well, there’s a lot of smoke up there. I caught sight of flames above the trees just ahead, we should be there soon.”

“Good,” Destiny replied. What neither of them mentioned was that they had no idea what they were going to do about the fire once they got there. It would probably have been a good idea to get more help before setting off, but, well, Destiny wasn’t exactly the best when it came to planning ahead. Ninjas, after all, were not renowned for their wisdom, just their fighting skills. She kept jogging.

Before she realized it, they had broken through the trees into a large clearing. In the center, what had clearly once been a house was now a flaming framework of wood, pouring copious amounts of black smoke into the air. The flames reached nearly twice the height of the house itself, well above the tops of the trees surrounding them. To one side of the house, barely visible through the eddying smoke, two people stood watching the house burn. Motioning to Kida, Destiny pulled the neck of her shirt up over her nose and mouth and ran over to the two.

“What’s going on? Is that your house?” she asked frantically. The man nodded sadly, looking at the woman - presumably his wife - with a resigned expression.

“It was. I figured this would happen sooner or later,” he replied, shaking his head. “He told me I’d be sorry if I crossed him. He was right.”

“What, you mean someone did this?” Kida interjected. “Who? Who would do such a thing?”

The man looked at her. 

“I should think you’d realize I can’t tell you that. He’s already set my house on fire, I don’t want to know what he’ll do if I cross him again. He’s far too powerful of a wizard for that.”

“So he’s a wizard!” Kida exclaimed triumphantly. 

Destiny glared at her. “Of course he must have been a wizard! He set their entire house on fire. I could have told you that.”

Kida ignored her, still talking to the man. “Is there anything we can do to help? Should we try to put the fire out?” 

He sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around his wife’s shoulder, drawing her close as she sobbed quietly. “If you like. Not that it will help much.”

“Well, we’ll do what we can. We can’t let the fire spread to the forest,” Destiny said in her most reassuring voice, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking around the clearing, she spotted a bucket sitting next to a small shed that was just now beginning to catch fire. “Hey Kida, can you check and see if there’s a stream nearby?” she called as she ran to pick it up. By the time she’d ducked around the flaming house and snagged the bucket, Kida was back. Destiny shoved the bucket at her. “Here, you start dumping water on whatever you can, I’m going to run back to the village for help!”

For once, Kida didn’t argue, just mutely took the bucket and launched into the air again. Destiny took off running at full speed, letting instinct guide her through the dense forest. The trees moved past in a blur, time slowing oddly, her heartbeat sounding loud in her ears. She pushed herself as fast as she could, throwing herself around trees and leaping over rocks and fallen logs with the grace that came from being a Cat. It took her barely a third the time it had taken them to reach the house to make it back to the village. By now it was mid-afternoon, and fortunately the main circle of Anaxagoras was actually relatively busy. Scanning the crowd, she picked out a group of ninjas talking nearby, of which one was the village elder, Kakashi. He was not an old Cat, having earned the title of “elder” through his actions, not his age. Surely he would be able to help.

Destiny approached the group, calling out to Kakashi as she did.

“Sensei! There is a house on fire just outside the village. They need help!”

Kakashi looked at her silently for a moment, seeming to judge her words carefully, then pointed first at one of the young students with him, then a second. “You two, with us,” he said simply, then turned and gestured for Destiny to lead them. So once again, she started running. The adrenaline pumping through her enabled her to keep moving, but she could feel her muscles growing tired. She couldn’t keep this pace up much longer, but she could keep it up long enough. She had to. Hearing the footsteps of the other three running behind her gave her the strength to carry on. And the smell of smoke as they grew closer reinstilled in her the sense of urgency that exhaustion had weakened. They were trying to save these people’s livelihood. She didn’t have time to be tired.

The moment they broke through the trees, it was clear Kida’s efforts had not done much good. Although she’d managed to thoroughly soak an entire corner of the house, the water was boiling into steam almost faster than she could ferry it. The two ninja students ran to help her, and quickly created a much more efficient line that ferried the bucket back and forth. Kakashi paused and surveyed the entire scene for a moment, then calmly and silently walked straight forward, into the burning house itself. The flames seemed to part before him, then close behind him until he was completely hidden.

There followed a few agonizing moments of waiting, hearing the hiss of the water being dumped from the bucket as it hit the flames. Then, suddenly and without warning, the entire house burst into a giant cloud of steam, nearly knocking Kida out of the air, and scalding Destiny’s skin and leaving her sopping wet. A gust of wind followed, clearing the steam and revealing the burnt husk of the house, still steaming quietly, but entirely lacking in flame. Kakashi was standing next to it, surveying what was presumably his handiwork. Destiny walked up next to him, looking sideways, not entirely sure what had just happened.

“Um… thank you? I guess that was you. Doesn’t look like there’s much left, though…” Kakashi only nodded silently in response. The couple, the wife holding tightly to her husband’s hand, started picking through the rubble, looking for anything that seemed vaguely salvageable. The two young ninjas joined them, but Kida landed on the other side of Kakashi, for once silent and solemn. The three stood and surveyed the scene for a moment, silent in respect for the couple’s loss. Although no one had been hurt, an entire home had been destroyed. Destiny knew from experience that wasn’t an easy thing to get over. 

Kakashi beckoned for them to follow him a few yards away, out of earshot of the others. He looked each of them square in the eyes for a long moment, and Destiny could tell from the look on his face that now was not the time to joke. He meant business, and it would probably be prudent to be equally businesslike.

“Tell me everything that happened, starting from when you first noticed the smoke,” he said quietly. Destiny exchanged glances with her friend, then began to tell her side of the story. When she finished, Kida filled in with what she had experienced, including what the couple who owned the house had told them. He simply listened, his expression entirely unreadable, until they had finished.

“Very well. Here is what I wish you to do. This is essentially an attack on our village, and cannot simply be ignored. I place the responsibility of discovering the cause behind this fire on you. You chose to become involved, now you must follow through with this. Since the owner of the house stated that it was a wizard, I suggest you start in Blowin, the wizard city. You will have to walk west to Senzo to find an airport, and from there you should be able to find a flight to Lumo Bay, where you can take a ferry to the island Blowin is situated on. I can not help you more than that.” He put one hand on each of their shoulders, the weight of his hand heavy and solemn rather than comforting. “Good luck.”

Destiny nodded slowly and turned to Kida, who was watching Kakashi stride off into the forest. “Looks like we have a quest.”

“Yeah, looks like it. You ready?”

“Are you?”

Kida laughed and flashed Destiny a quick grin. “I may not be a ninja, but burning a house down like this is the height of dishonorable actions. If I meet the man responsible, he will pay for what he’s done by my blades.” She dropped one hand to rest on the hilt of the long sword at her hip. Destiny arched an eyebrow but merely nodded in reply. Kida was a student of the blade, and had already come to be known as one of the best swordswomen in the village. She couldn’t help but pity the wizard responsible for this. With Kida’s swords and Destiny’s shuriken chasing him, he wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Just remember, Kakashi just charged us with gathering information,” she cautioned. 

“I know,” Kida answered with a sigh. “And I do wish to know the truth of the matter. I can tell already that all is not what it seems. But may the gods have mercy on his soul if his intent was malicious.”

“Indeed, my friend - if, that is, the gods have mercy enough for men like that.”

Exchanging a smile of purpose and excitement at the prospect of adventure, the two set off back to the village. Destiny was already making a mental list of what needed to be done and packed to prepare to leave. They would depart that evening, and, if all went well, be in Lumo Bay within twenty four hours.