RD12

[bondsoflove]

Characters: Sasuke and whoever else!
Open? Very.
Where: Somewhere really conspicuous in the middle of Schwanheim.
When: RD12, morning.
What: After getting a bit of sleep and realizing that throwing hissy fits isn't going to get him anywhere, Sasuke is more emotionally regulated and determined to gather as much information as possible on the thorns, the king, getting back home, and anything else anyone will tell him.
Warnings: Sasuke's filthy mouth and jackassness?


His entry into the kingdom had been explosive, and frankly he felt it was justified--extenuating circumstances and totally unfamiliar territory aside, he had enough people after his hide to put him on the perpetual defensive, and that wasn't factoring in his physical state. He'd been on his feet for three days following his brother's trail, and finally the exhaustion had caught up to him. He'd passed out in the room he'd first found himself in, because he knew it better than risking anywhere else, and in the morning things felt...

Better.

Not okay, but better.

Almost on a whim, he'd decided to put the armor on. It took him a few tries to get the pieces fitting together right--back in Konoha, only samurai wore armor and it didn't look anything like this--but once he'd gotten it all settled, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was light and comfortable. It rang when he moved, announcing his presence like a bell. Something else he had to get used to, but he liked the way the light glinted off the pale metal.

And he apparently had a horse, too. He'd been bowed at and ushered to the stables and introduced to her, a gorgeous mare with a coat like brushed copper, and she'd leaned in and nuzzled his neck after one whiff of his fingers.

He named her Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun.

They took to each other like fish and water, and by the time the stablehand had finished showing him how to saddle her up and mount, his spirits were higher than they'd been in a long time.

It took barely a nudge to get her to move at a comfortable trot out of the stable, and another to turn her towards the sound of voices. The more people, the more potential sources for information.

Bonding with the horse and well-fitted armor aside, he still had a mission to finish.

Comments

[bondsoflove]

Sasuke grimaced in return. "Do you even have a leader?" This was even worse than platoon exercises in the academy, where the girls all huddled together and the boys scuffled until someone skinned a knee and needed it kissed better.

He nodded in response to the introduction. "Sasuke."

[thefunsister]

"Not even a figurehead." She sighed, an 'oh well' sort of sigh. Given the time to think things over a bit, she wasn't really terribly invested in any of this. Getting home, yes. Saving this country, or world, or however far this place stretched? Not a part of her job description.

"Welcome to Wherever-the-fuck, Sasuke."

[bondsoflove]

"Pathetic." Sasuke snorted. "They style themselves a prosperous kingdom and they don't even have a functional military."

[thefunsister]

"Someone said something about soldiers at those thorns. Maybe they have a General or something." For all the good that did them here. If the heroes were meant to solve their problems, they would need to have a leader of their own.

[bondsoflove]

"If they had an army worth anything at the thorns, they wouldn't need us," Sasuke pointed out, voice dry. "Either nobody knows what the fuck they're doing, or they're trying to make us think they don't."

[thefunsister]

That gave her pause for a moment, and she glanced back towards the castle thoughtfully.

"Why would they try to make us think that?" It was a serious question, not a naive one. If they weren't all morons, what were they up to?

[bondsoflove]

"They're planning to exterminate us, steal our secrets or identities, keep us from interfering in our home worlds..." Sasuke listed the possibilities with a distinct lack of affectation. "Anything. Bending reality isn't impossible."

[thefunsister]

"If they wanted to kill us they could have done it already." So whatever it was, at least they wanted them alive.

[bondsoflove]

"Unless they want to draw it out, or observe us and steal our power and then kill us," he added. Morbid, sure, but they couldn't afford to discount any possibility, at this point.

[thefunsister]

"If they wanted power there are better people they could have picked," she pointed out, completely self-deprecatingly.

[bondsoflove]

"No shit." Sasuke scoffed, the self-admitted 'useless' woman with the tea and the freakishly tall wizard coming to mind.

[thefunsister]

"Well," she declared with another sigh. "We can speculate all we want. It's not gonna get us anywhere if we don't have any actual solid intel." And getting that intel would be a feat all its own.

[bondsoflove]

"And none of you knows how to get intel, do you."

Pathetic. The lot of them. Sasuke exhaled heavily.

[thefunsister]

"Nope," Rose confirmed. "It was never my job." She had always been just a regular girl. And by the time that was done with, she had moved on to party girl. Organizing the Farm now was the only responsibility she had.

[bondsoflove]

Really?

He waited for a sign she was joking. None came. Sasuke stared at her, equal parts scorn and pity in his head.

"I guess that makes it mine. If you have any skills to offer, find me, I guess."

[thefunsister]

She just raised her eyebrows back at him. Really. She was born a village girl, then brought into the life of a princess, then let loose in New York with a grudge and a stubborn streak.

"What," she asked, "are you some sort of spy?" Because otherwise she wasn't sure how much good he would do.

[bondsoflove]

Sasuke smirked. "Spy, soldier...avenger. I'm a ninja. Gathering intel is the first thing they taught us in the academy."

[thefunsister]

She laughed.

"You're kidding, right?" Oh god, no, he wasn't kidding. She choked a little on her own laughter.

"I mean... cool?"

[bondsoflove]

He was a little disgruntled. She wasn't the only one to laugh at him when he mentioned his occupation, which he thought a little bit rich.

"At least I'm not a 'wizard'," he replied, wiggling his fingers like JW had when introducing his title. "At least I'm not some frilly useless royalty."

[thefunsister]

Rose grew up in a world of Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses, witches and thieves. But not ninjas. It was the wrong part of the world for that and long, long ago.

"We should all be so lucky," she retorted, rolling her eyes.

[bondsoflove]

"You should," Sasuke agreed, flatly. He knew she was mocking him, but he didn't care. He had yet to receive any information that he wasn't leagues ahead of everyone else he'd met here, and would continue to until he was proven wrong.

[thefunsister]

If she had any idea how pompous he was behind that pretty face, she wouldn't have bothered. Men were all the same. Instead she looked toward to tack on the wall.

"Have you ridden any of these others horses?"

[bondsoflove]

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I need to? Mine's the best in the stable."

Of course he sounded arrogant--but he didn't care. He wasn't here to make friends.

[thefunsister]

She snorted.

"Right, sure. And you know that because it's your horse, I bet." She rolled her eyes again, moving to examine the row of horses. She just wanted one that seemed friendly, to help her get back up to speed.