Gaia Arc (ASN Mini Plot) - Journey to the Temple of Gaia.

It'd been a while, they were older now nor did they go by Team 10 but now they were Team Summer and had gone on a couple of missions, most successes due in part to the last mission they had failed. That had taken a lot to recover from, each of them had their own things to go through but Cherish felt that Summer took it the hardest because she was their leader. So Cherish had requested a vacation, well not really it was clan business to be more specific she had decided she would prove her worth to her clan and make a pilgramage to the Temple of Gaia in order to commune with their patron deity and gain insight to the true power of nature. She was going to bring her teammates with her not just because she didn't want to make the journey alone or that the Land of Malice was filled with danger but because all of them needed to work through things.

So it would be a trip that would not only try to revitalize their bond but a training trip as well to get away from the village life and review things on their own. Besides the Temple was a nexus for Gaia's power and her teammates unlike herself had summoning contracts. It would at least put them in their good graces if they took the trip and who knows it might benefit them in more ways than one. "Maybe when we are done we can even see Reiver-sensei and see how his Bachiatari organization is doing." Cherish thought to herself having packed for a long trip storing extra clothes in scrolls and strapping Ko-chan to her back. Her newest addition to her gear was a pain but she had grown on her after sometime, she had prioritized whether getting a new gourd and had settled for flasks. She would work on her seals during the trip hopefully Omito could help as it was too cumbersome to lug around a gourd filled with alcohol.

Once she was fully dressed and everything she would head out walking towards the meet location where she had told her squad members in advance to head to.

A vacation? It was an interesting idea to say the least and Summer had been beating herself up something awful, even she admitted that. Then again she had failed the team and got her mind and body ruined due to the fight. She looked at her hands, opening and closing them a few times before giving a sigh and nodding. It was good to have her knowledge back, she didn't like being without it... And she could remember the odd haze that her mind had been put under. A shudder ran through her and she shook her head, she needed to make sure that sort of thing would never happen to her again, it had come so close to getting her killed, she was thankful that she had survived though. Her eye lifted and she scanned over the surroundings before nodding and getting to her feet. She had to pack a few more things before she left to meet up with Cherish. That wouldn't take too long though.

Sure enough after about five more minutes she had packed everything she'd need into a bag and had pulled it on before grabbing the master scroll for her summoning contract and stashing that away in her pocket. She then strapped on her swords, feeling the familiar, happy pulse of her blades as she touched them and the intricate knowledge of her surroundings due to Vexos... It felt good. She took a deep breath and then left her house after saying goodbye to her parents and jogging towards the meeting point, she liked to keep herself fit and jogging wherever she could helped with that, her hips swinging back and forth. She was starting to get older... What a bother, she was hoping she'd be able to stay young forever.

A thought popped into her head of maybe turning herself to diamond to do that but she immediately pushed it away, shaking her head. Terrible things came from that road of thinking and she didn't want to do anything like that, she already had a dark enough side to herself as was. She then caught sight of Cherish and immediately ran over to jump on her friend, giving her a tight cuddle. "Heeeey!"

"Girlie!!!" Cherish say in response while being hugged her friend, before stepping back to get a good look at her, she was thankful that outwardly Summer was mostly fine, the only stand out things was the glascow scar now adorning the same side of her face as her implanted Kyougan. To many they would be really self concious about it but her best friend didn't really care too much about her appearance other than the fact that it might psyche some people out. Cherish on the other hand preferred it when Summer's face was uncovered it motivated her and reminded her that she needed to quickly become a medical nin so she could find a way to heal her teammates and make sure their bodies didn't get even more mangled than they were already. Speaking of people who covered themselves Omito would sweep in shortly after pulling both of them into another hug though unlike Summer the injuries he sustained from his fight were concealed beneath his clothing. Once more Cherish would be freed from the embrace and would slip her hands into her new Dipugakure Flak Jacket having purchased a new one after the last one had played a part in saving her life.

"Hey boyo, just in time. Everyone got everything we won't be back for at least 2-3 months at the least you know." Cherish said as the wind would pick up a bit and jostle her hair around causing her to reach back and pull it into a tighter ponytail. "I'm hungry Mistress. Feed me." Ko-chan said prompting a sigh from Cherish as she had to literally beg her mother who actually knew some fuinjutsu to seal something inside the annoying living weapon just 4 hours before. "I've fed you once today, don't pester me Kohaku."

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"So, let's head out then?" Omito said a new Tessen on his back, during his recovery time he had been spending more time with Alyssa not only giving the girl back her fan since it meant so much to her but also training with her so he could better master the use of wind release. Sure he had only become capable of it thanks to seals but he was quickly incorporating his own spin to some of the basic wind techniques he picked up and using that to improve himself. HE was dressed in his usual outfit if a bit bulkier than usual due to the additional supplies he was carrying with him namely the scrolls which contained all of them. He too had purchased a new Dipugakure Flak Jacket as just like Cherish he had discovered that added protection was a life saver. He would walk forward initially ahead of the girls though he would fall in step behind Cherish seeing as she was the one who was plotting the course of this vacation. "So what's the plan?" he said while noticing as it was just turning into evening meaning they would be making most of their sea travel at night and would probably get back to land during the morning.

"Another living weapon, how peculiar." A pair of voices chimed out from within Summer's sleeves and she paused for a moment looking rather bashfully at Cherish before pulling her sleeves up, showing the heavy metal gauntlets that sat on her wrists. Summer grinned and showed them off for a few moments, after hugging Omito in return of course. "These are In-Kun and Ui-Chan, together they are Inui as they have told me.. They are a weapon that the weird bird guy I was fighting had... They're pretty nice actually if I'm being honest." The weapons both giggled happily in confirmation to the praise that Summer gave them and she clapped her hands together before pulling her sleeves back. She checked everything she was carrying, made sure that her master scroll was sitting handy and that her bags were sitting firmly before nodding.

"Yep, I've got everything ready. I think the plan is to head out and grab a boat towards Land of the Forsaken? It'll be quicker and a lot less tiring on us. If need be I can always summon one of my Ravens to scout ahead and keep us informed, I'm sure some of them would love to come out and say hi." She said to her friends before jangling each of her swords, making sure that they were sitting alright, although she was of course missing one due to it being destroyed in the fight with Kendall. "I'm looking forward to this, we get to see Reiver-sensei again and see how he is doing rebuilding the Land and getting the Bachiatari sorted. Not to mention I get to visit this Temple of Gaia you keep going on about, Cher. Man, this should be fun... A proper little vacation and Sensei was telling me about a friend of his that might be able to help me with my little head problem as well as teach me some new stuff, which is so cool!" She grinned and then started walking, letting everyone follow along behind her as she headed towards the docks.

Cherish would wave at the gauntlets before turning to Omito and smirking before pointing at him. "You see Boyo, you got your loot too early, if you hadn't lucked out during the chunin exams you probably could of gotten a living weapon too. Though Kohaku is such a pain so I'd be willing to trade you." Cherish said prompting a whine of protest from the gourd on her back, it was phrased as a joke but she actually wasn't joking she missed her old gourds and well Kohaku was more suited towards someone who was well versed in sealing instead of someone like herself. Still she did have the large reserves necessary to trigger it's more useful abilities but if she found another living weapon she liked more she would hand it over to Omito within a heartbeat. "I got this *sigh* honey pot from the girl I fought as well, it's the least she could do after nearly killing me." she would mutter the last part darkly before masking her annoyance at the situation when Summer changed the topic.

"Yes, I've missed Sensei alot and don't get me wrong, the main trip is for the Temple of Gaia. I'll have to spend sometime there communing with nature and it's a really good place for you two to get in touch with your summons due to the high concentration of Gaia's essense within the temple. Hopefully that person can fix you up quickly, if I was a better medic I could of done it but I'm still an intern at the hospital." she said with a shrug as she walked half a step behind Summer.

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Omito would roll his eyes at Cherish's comment though he wouldn't lie and say the proposition didn't interest him, a gourd wouldn't really weigh him down and it wasn't like he couldn't use it in combat, he just needed to know what it could do before he took her up on that offer. "It's fine, the Tessen was worth it especially now that it's lined with seals. The chakra drain is a bit annoying but I'll just have to build my reserves to lessen the strain which I'm okay with." he said putting his hands in his pockets and continuing his walk. "But if what you say is true it'll be a good way to make a first impression with the Foxes, summoning them in an area rich with Gaia's essence? I think, still Reiver-sensei has probably already told them about me, I've just been a bit nervous with summoning one of them." he said admitting his neglect of his newly acquired contract, he had been much more busy getting his seals up to snuff. It was painstaking but worth it in the end, as now he felt more like a chunin than before especially now that he had a Chakra Affinity in his arsenal.

As the three walked, the scenery of the island would float past.  The plants were all wet and droopy, the evening sun hanging low in the sky. There had been a storm or two in the last few days, and there was a wind blowing today as well. Some sailors would be hoping that there wasn't to be another and others were preparing for the worst. A prime example for two different kinds of people in the world. One could only wonder: was a storm going to come sweeping up while some unwary travelers, possibly a pervert, a drunk or a sparkle, were making their way towards their destination? That would probably not happen, Gaia be kind. Though the three's voyage was a bit of a ways off. But now, within the melancholy colors of the island around them, one could see a flicker of bright red amongst the damp foliage on the ground. If a person would care enough to look they would see a rather peculiar bloom. It was a bright red flower, unnaturally red, with a royal purple stem and red trim along the purple leaves. The insects seemed to be avoiding it, and one could only wonder why. If one could care enough to bring a botany book along with them, they would know this flower. It was called the Maiden's Savior. It's petals and leaves can be eaten, and have a sweet taste to it as well. It is rather sought after by some more primitive healers because when chewed thoroughly and mixed with just a bit of saliva, the petals can make a paste that works rather well for binding wounds. It gets it's name because it was used in many a war for saving soldier's lives, thus saving those married to said soldiers much heartbreak. A rather useful find for a young, aspiring medic.

Spoiler:

Summer stepped over and wrapped Cherish in a tight hug, giving her friend a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's some serious mental mojo, I wasn't expecting you to be able to heal it, at least you were able to help me with my burns and whatnot to reduce my hospital bills." She smiled and gave the girl a soft squeeze before stepping away and reaching up to place her hands on the back of her head. "Yeah, you haven't met the Foxes yet, have you Omi? Huh... I wonder what they are like, the Crow Contract is kind of weird, the Elder keeps trying to give me advice but I won't deny that they are useful and they certainly match my aesthetic." She chuckled softly "Can't wait to meet the boss, I don't quite have the recommendation from the Elder to actually summon him for battle but Muninn was saying that he would be fine with reverse summoning me so that I can talk to Yati."

Summer suddenly paused and snapped her solitary pink eye down to see the bright red flower that sat there. "Oh hey... That's cool." She crouched down and picked the flower before handing it over to Cherish. "Hey, I know flowers are your thing, any idea what this is? It doesn't look like any of the other flowers nearby... Is it a parasite or something?" She asked, rubbing the top of her head before skipping off to the side. "Head on guys, I'm summoning a Raven to help us scout too many stories of people being attacked around here." She said to her team before crouching down and making the hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!" She called out, slamming her hand to the ground. Sure enough the sealing array spread out around her and then poofed away with a little cloud of smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, Summer was left with a small Raven sitting on her shoulder. The Raven had odd blue markings on the tips of his feathers and under his eyes and he ruffled his wings. "Ah! Summer! A pleasure to see you again!" He declared.

"And you, Benhart. Hey, I need you to scout ahead for us okay, be our eye in the sky." She told him with a smile.

"Of course, Mistress! I, Benhart, shall not let you down." He declared with a squawk before taking flight, soaring off into the sky at D-Rank speeds to watch over everything and make sure the road was clear, to anyone looking he would appear just like a normal Raven. With that done Summer jogged up to catch up with the two of them again before smiling and heading on.

It wouldn't take too long to grab a boat that was heading towards Forsaken, one that was dropping off equipment for the Bachiatari, after all they were still in construction, and after explaining what was going on it would be easy enough for the three of them to get aboard. Part one of the journey was going nicely.

Spoiler:

Benhart: