Protect the Heart of Dipugakure's People (Kokuo Attack)

Iolana hopped along, a light little spring in her step just enjoying the day air after a good work out that she was still on the adrenaline high from. All this work on mastering her craft was really working for her, and her eagerness to advance up the ranks, to be of use to the Republic, had never been higher. It was another night without Kirai, and by this point she was starting to get suspicious about why she was always pulled away for missions when the two were such a solid pair, but she didn't question it. She always just wished Kirai luck, and to come home safe.

But then the rocking started, the wind rising so strongly before an eerie calm. The atmosphere shifted even before the alarms began to cry. And Iolana stood to attention, for a moment just stunned. Across the air the loud cry of... a monster. She absently reached out, but of course she couldn't find Kirai's hand. She was alone this ti-

She stopped that thought, or more precisely someone else stopped that thought. She met eyes with a boy she recognised, from her earliest attempt in the academy, and one of the boys who had bullied her out of the academy. He was panicked, and unlike her it looked like he already dropped out. Karma. But petiness was for the wrong. She dropped the groceries, dug out the band that bore the Dipugakure sigil, and tied it around her arm. It was time to get to work. Without a voice, without Kirai, this was going to be difficult, but she was a shinobi and future medical specialist. What better time to prove her worth. She raced off towards the border of the island, trying her best to usher people away towards safety and just hoping someone else could come along to help her communicate.

Vicktoria patiently waited outside the store for Alan to show up. With work at the store slow today, the new guy that her father hired offered to take over for her so that meant she was free for the rest of the day and why not spend it with her new friend. She had been waiting quite sometime before decided to just walk over to the training ground since Alan frequented there often and on her way towards the ground chaos ensued. The sound of an explosion would first assault her ears and then the alarm bells began to ring. Instinctively, she would back to the shop to see if everyone there was alright before helping them evacuate before closing up the shop as best as she could during all the chaos. “What the hell is going on?” She muttered to herself before moving towards the direction of where everyone was heading.

What a day! Iolana like many others was having a very productive one. She was training and honing her skills. Hopefully Iolana still has some energy left because she’ll have her work cut out for her today. A beast mentioned only in history books; known to have been compared to a natural disaster knocks at their door step. The five tailed beast Kokuo had arrived and upon its arrival a massive body of steam fogged out the area. The worst of the steam was on the seas surrounding Dipugakure which made leaving the island a lot more challenging.

This meant that if the situation with between Kokuo and the shinobi continued to escalate; they’ll need extra preparation to properly evacuate and ensure the safety of their civilians.  So once the alarms rang, the jonin down to the last rank would mobilize the people. Different squads went out with specific agendas that needed to be filled. Which only meant that poor souls like Vicktoria would not be taking the much needed personal day. It was a matter of life and death and to survive everyone needed to work.  But one can hope that her new friend Alan is doing alright.

Iolana seemed ready to go, which was good because minutes after she tied the Dipugakure Sigil to her arm a Genin would show up beside her.  He was specifically sent to find her and deliver a message. “Iolana, we’re being attacked! We’ve been ordered to evacuate the civilians and the students. I’ll team up with you to help you communicate but you must not lose me ,ok? “

Just as he’d finish passing on the message a loud scream is heard towards the west of them.  The Genin then signaled for Iolana to follow him.  He’d take off at C-rank speeds towards the screaming assuming that Iolana would follow along. She could follow suit if she wanted but there’s just a small problem. The people she was ushering were starting to lead themselves. Some moved towards the general direction she was leading to, and some started to veer off the path to find loved ones, or recover their belongings.

This could maybe not be such a big issue but leaving civilians unattended in a time like this could yield terrible outcomes. Granted they weren’t too far from a few academy students that seemed to know where to go. So Iolana would have to choose either to trust the civilians to make it alone and follow the Genin she was paired with or to let the Genin go without back up and escort the civilians. She was free to chose whatever she thought was right. She could even figure out a solution to satisfy both.

But if Iolana did choose to follow the Genin , he’d be headed towards Vicktoria’s shop.  The area near the shop was in complete chaos. But from the chaos, Vicktoria could hear the screams of a mother standing a few meters to the right of her. She was screaming from the top of her lungs because she couldn’t find her kids. Maybe Vicktoria could help, but quickly because the steam was thickening .

Important Details:

Rule:

Iolana met her gaze to the genin who seemed to have been sent to join her. She also couldn't help the slight grimace she made when the thought occured to her what she would need to do here. <"Trust,"> She signed to him, moving with her own B-rank speed and went to follow along close by. She didn't want to, and two physical forms were preferable for this situation, but she could bond with him if she needed to pass over some skills. Her own increased speed let her veer off slightly when she noticed a Chuunin, or even a Jonin, doing little more than pointing towards the particular villagers who weren't immediately evacuating with again a single sign. <"Returners,"> She hoped the single words would be enough to at least try and tell them that some people were going back in to their homes. she just didn't want to let the other genin get too far. But she wasn't prepared for much more.

She needed to have faith, all students were taught how to deal with emergency situations and the group they saw was just that, a group. And with others rushing to help... she needed to be where her skills were most needed. In her mind as the pair ran, she was going over all the basics. This village was going to need all the healers they could get.

Everything happened so fast. One minute it seemed to be a regular day where nothing of importance was happening and the next it delved into pure chaos. Her first thought was to run back to where she had come from to see if everything was still standing but unfortunately for her everything was reduced to rubble. “What is going on…” She muttered as tears filled her eyes. She was confused, scared, and just wanted to check to see if her parents were okay or better yet just hide. Just as she was about to run away the screams of a woman near her would catch her attention. Instinctively, she would run over to the woman. “Is everything ok? Are you hurt? “

The boy turned to Iolana to read her signs.  “Returners? Where?” After noticing the general direction in which she was pointing, he’d see the civilians breaking away from their groups. He’d deviate from their path for a moment to try and force them back in formation. It was important that they remained on the path towards evacuation.

When the boy went to do this some of the civilians got a bit aggressive with him. One even shoved him to the ground. “I’m finding my little brother and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”  Some of the academy students that were moving within the group had tried to get these civilians back, but were met with the same aggression. So as the students went off, the civilians were left to Iolana and the young man.

The two were left with a decision but the young boy couldn’t make it himself. So he’d sign to Iolana for help. The choices were two, either they help these civilians find their lost families or follow the mission given to them by higher ups. Iolana’s decision would be final, which would she choose?

But while she decides this Vicktoria came to a mother’s call. “Mah baybehs! I can’t find my Baybehs! Help meh, help meh please!  I won’t leave without mah baybehs.” Apart from informing Vicktoria of the missing children, she didn’t provide much more intel. But  as the mother started to throw around some rubble, Vicktoria would notice little foot prints moving away from the rubble. “They have ta be in der rooms! We gotta find der rooms in all dis mess.”

Vicktoria was left with a few choices. She could choose to follow the foot prints and find what those lead to or she could stay with the mother and try to uncover what would’ve been their rooms? What’s the wisest choice to make?

Spoiler:

Having heard the woman’s plight, Vicktoria would first try to get her to calm down as being hysterical wouldn’t help either of them at the moment. Once she was calm, she would assure the woman that she would do everything in her power to help her find her children. With that said she would first look around to see if she could find any clues as to where her children could be. She was initially tempted to check the rooms of the children however, she had a hunch that they had probably escaped and was now roaming the streets during the chaos. With that said she would look to the ground and follow the footprints to the best of her abilities to see if she would be able to find them.