[Sato Rin]

Rin took note of the jugs and after a decent scouting of the room he would move to inspect them, picking each one up he would take a good look over. Three or four, he wasn't sure what correlation they had to what was above, but nothing could be discounted. His eyes narrowed a touch, if there were designs on them or anything of note he would keep that in mind. If not, he might have found them to be useless... But he did take the time to look them over in silence. Hoping to find something useful within or upon them. For now he could only speculate, however, he would take pause as he looked over the fourth jug, having briefly looked at it methodically like the rest of the jugs.

He heard water dripping. This was strange as the rooms before had otherwise been entirely silent to the point that even Rin had been creeped out at his own breathing and had made an exerted effort to limit his breathing. Although this was also obviously so that he did not end up consuming too much oxygen. It was running out, but with the open rooms there was just a little bit more available. Still he could feel the time constraints and seeing as he didn't want to die in a musty old room he took great notice of the dripping water. It was silent otherwise, which meant the water was vitally important.

Rin stood then from the fourth jug he had inspected, and move towards the sound. It was distant, but he was set on making it closer. Once he felt he was as close to the dripping sound as humanely possible, he would inspect the wall. Water went through pipes in buildings, and unless this building was somehow different it would be inside of a wall somewhere... If not, this would at the very least reveal a new room.. Or so he hoped it would reveal something.

Rin would inspect the wall, and begin a more violent excavation and inspection of the wall. Nimble and precise fingers would dance across the structure until he found something to grasp, he would pull hard. He would do so as many times as necessary until something would give and reveal to him what it is that he felt was absolutely vital to his being able to get out of this place. He was in a hurry, but not in such a hurry that he would miss details. No, he needed to do this right the first time each time, or risk making a mistake and ultimately death.

[Aika]

Searchy search! But searchy search did nothing except reveal dead spiders and old cobwebs, some rubble littering the floor like no ones business. But nothing except the tap and the already collected jugs seemed to reveal itself, despite Rin's continued prodding and poking. Time was a wastin'...

 Rummage rummage Rin would and to success too, as he rummaged into the wall with a little force, he'd have to be careful not to smash what he revealed. A faucet in the wall, old and battered but with a metal tap that would beg to be pulled. And if he twisted it?

In this instance the tap would turn and seemingly nothing would happen. For a time. And then, slowly, the stillness of the room - the disquiet of the lack of air - was replaced slowly by the sound of rumbling. From underneath the entire room, something shot underneath the floor. The old walls where Rin had not pulled away shook too, dust and dirt and rocks falling to the floor as the side of a metal pipe revealed itself. Something was building in the metal pipe, the pressure from the tap not being pulled for years by the looks of it.

Water erupted from the pipe, violently at first, as if for the years it had sat dormant - like a volcano - demanded the catch up. It would collide straight into Rin if he didn't jump to the side... hopefully he was waterproof! But after a few seconds, a reasonable few moments for the water pressure, the pressure seemed to lessen until the water flowed steadily but less violently. It poured out healthily, but hardly at an alarming rate as it would have been if the pressure had continued so violently.

But nothing else would happen! No new walls would move and open into a new room, no secret passageway would be revealed! What could Rin do with his jugs and the water pouring onto the floor and making the dust sticky?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[ROUND 9 OF ?]]

Posting time limit: 48 hours

[Sato Rin]

Rin would not waste time staring at the faucet in the wall. It was, a faucet. At first, he thought it would immediately start running water but when nothing happened and the building rattled a little bit he stepped off to the side immediately in fear that he might get blown away. And, blown away he almost did as suddenly out of the faucet came water extremely rapid and violent. Even Rin had to flinch a little bit, he had been and had not been expecting it after all of that deafening silence it was odd to hear the sound of roaring water and the rattling of a wall. So of course he had a bit of a natural reaction to the sudden eruption of sound that hit his ears.

Still it didn't take too long for the water to slow into a steady stream. Instead of being excessively violent as it had been moments ago. It was probably just old, and he had triggered something in the mechanism. But was the point of water here, and now? They wouldn't have made it so that the water dripping was obvious, after all it had been entirely silent and then suddenly the water dripping. This water had to mean something.

Then it clicked, the jugs. The four that he had inspected, surely they were not meant to just sit around in a room that just HAPPENED to have a faucet? Letting out a soft snort to himself, the boy went about to quickly collect the jugs all together and then got water inside of them. One after the other, fortunately they were not too large and were still quite manageable even when full of water, if only a touch precarious due to their shape.

All this time he kept a good hold on his torch, he didn't want it to go out from touching water because then he would be totally left in the dark. This was a very careful endeavor one way or another. After all of that was done, Rin didn't waste time.

Four jugs, four pedestals upstairs. He didn't wait for the water to start filling the room to any great degree, instead he would grab the jugs and move them to the bottom of the hole from where he had jumped down. Then, he would grab a jug get out of the hole using a combination of clambering with his torso and the wall-walking skill, making sure the water did not leave it. He would get down using the same method as before, grabbing the ledge and gently dropping to not put out the light of the torch.

He would do this four times, and once that was all said and done he would move all four jugs into the pedestal room ahead - still careful to not spill water. He had not yet inspected the jugs after they had been filled with water but he figured it would be best to do this once he was OUT of the room that was slowly filling with water that didn't seem to be draining very effectively.

So, upstairs he went and to the center of the room with the jugs where he knew the pedestals to be.

His first plan was to inspect the jugs further - mostly to see if there were any inscriptions inside and of course on the outside - and once he had quite enough of that and filled his brain with knowledge he would do the very next logical thing. One of the pedestals - the one in the middle that was off set from the rest - had an area that appeared perfect for water. So of course, he moved to drop somewhere there before starting to figure out how it was to best place the jugs with the pedestals to get a move on.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kinobori no Waza [Act of Tree Climbing]
RANK: D

CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low

CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]

ELEMENT: None

DESCRIPTION:

An advanced genin level technique, it serves as a means to both enhance chakra control when mastered as well as a means to change one's advantages on the battlefield. By applying chakra to the soles of the feet, the shinobi gains the ability to walk and stand on vertical surfaces or even upside down.

[Aika]

So he filled them. This was good for it was certainly a step in the right direction. And then Rin would move to the wall and begin to expertly climb up it with a jug in one hand splooshing about and the dying torch in the other. Good method, but if he had learned nothing until now, he was about to learn that life was cruelly hilarious. 

The shaking of the walls, which had kicked up dust from the catacomb, had also dislodged the walls around it where the pipes ran through. So up the first jug went without a hitch. Second jug? Rin would get half way before he felt the brick work around his feet coming away, shaking against his weight and use of chakra. Until suddenly, the entire wall would rumble and come away. Jugs left on the floor ready for him to pick up if he came back down for them would get knocked over, water would spill everywhere turning the dusty floor into clay. 

The wall on his feet would give him way too, so the progress he had made would find him suddenly falling backwards with bricks and jug in hand. He'd have to act fast to stop the wall from consuming the jugs, dropping his own torch and only source of light in the process!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[ROUND 10 OF ?]]

Posting time limit: 48 hours
LINK YOUR JUTSU USAGE.

[Sato Rin]

He managed to get one jug out of the four up on the other side, which was a good step in the right direction. He was about to get a second when the walls decided that they were going to collapse. Great. The remaining two jugs got spilled down below, from one side, and the trembling and collapse of the wall he was one threatened to spill and break the third. He decided to do a bit of a tricky move to avoid further damage. Using chakra, he would turn his back against the crumbling wall and use it as a kind of slide grasping onto torch and jug simultaneously, pressing them closer to his body - mindful of the flames and water - so that he would not be set on fire or spill the water. It wasn't a huge drop, so he would drop fairly safely down to the ground. At least the walls were no longer falling, once they were done throwing their tantrum.

A sigh of exasperation, he would be quicker than before, grabbing the two spilled jugs he would fill them again and move back to the hole. Mindful of the constantly flickering and dimming light. He had to solve the puzzle, fast. Now, once there was water in all of the jugs once more he would pull out a metal wire, pull it through the handles of the jugs and tie them together carefully. Maneuvering his jacket over the tops of the jugs to keep the water for splish-splashing out, he would clamber up the wall with all three jugs in careful and close tow to his waist (or hip). This time being more mindful of any loose stone as to not trigger another land fall.

Once he was up, he would drag all four jugs into the next room, once again with the intention to get close to the four pedestals, inspect them closer and inspect the jugs. If there was any logic to this madness he would solve it quickly. Designs and a place he knew could hold water on the pedestals. That's what he was looking for, and what he intended to exploit. It was harder to exploit with his low burning torch, but he had already seen plenty previously when he had entered the room before and he hoped that this knowledge would help him as he inspected his filled jugs carefully.

SPOILER: Click to show

2 ft Ninja Wire - fallenblades.proboards.com/thread/8573/rin-sato-academy-student-sand

NAME: Kinobori no Waza [Act of Tree Climbing]
RANK: D

CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low

CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]

ELEMENT: None

DESCRIPTION:

An advanced genin level technique, it serves as a means to both enhance chakra control when mastered as well as a means to change one's advantages on the battlefield. By applying chakra to the soles of the feet, the shinobi gains the ability to walk and stand on vertical surfaces or even upside down.

[Aika]

Staring at the jugs wouldn't do much. Rin had time but not a lot. The torch was dangerously low, flickering and sputtering as if it were on the last of its dregs of fuel. Which would be a conundrum for Rin since he'd feel his chest beginning to get tight, like breathing through a straw and no matter how much he tried to breathe only a small slither would be given to him.

Pedestals awaited for something. If he looked closely in the dying light there were symbols on the adjacent wall that were matching to the patterns on the jugs he had picked up. Each animal had a line through it, running across: half, full, a third and a quarter. If he didn't act and act fast he was sure to suffocate in the darkness.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[ROUND 11 OF ?]]

Posting time limit: 48 hours
4 Pedestals, 4 Jugs: what to do, what to do.

[Sato Rin]

Time, but not a lot of it. Rin could feel his breathing becoming tighter but he continued on with his lower breathing and oxygen intake as before. He didn't want to overstay his welcome after all. He would inspect the jugs, looking at the animals, and then note that there were patterns of the same animals on the wall from the pedestals. They each had lines. It wasn't exactly the hardest thing to figure out from there. The lines on the animals corresponded with how much water each of the pedestals wanted. So he went to work.

Matching each jug with its prescribed animal to the amount of water that it wanted on the pedestal, before finding a spot for the jug to go and sticking it there. Right about now he was glad he had gone back to refill each jug so he had more than plenty of water to work with to do as he needed.

One half full, one completely full, one only a third full and the other a quarter full.

Once it was all said and done - it didn't take him that long fortunately - he would begin placing the jugs into the pedestals accordingly. Reworking the amount of water carefully if he did fail, but he intended to get it right in one shot. He wanted out of this place, and he didn't have a lot of time to get out.

[Aika]

Jugs were placed in but nothing immediately happened as Rin began to pay attention to the water levels in the jug. Before he went to manipulate the water in them, the clicking sounds of mechanics would ring out across the room as a fifth pedestal began to emerge from the ground. But as he watched it, it would stop only half way as if he hadn't yet completed the puzzle. 

Time was a wasting. The air was beginning to flicker dangerously low, so low in fact that the light was barely more than a glimpse into the darkness encompassing Rin. But the Genin was nothing if not persistent. He began experimenting with the water and as each jug reached the appropriate measurement it would click solidly into place with no way to move it from the pedestal.

And then? Nothing would happen. For the longest of moments when the torch went out and the air began to disappear entirely. Rin would feel his chest grow tight, slowly but surely. Tighter than he had ever felt it. And just when he thought it was all for nothing, the clicking sounds started again and the rest of the fifth pedestal slowly elevated so that it was at Rin's waist height. 

Except in the pitch black he would only be able to hear, not see. If not for the glowing that emerged from the flower seal at the door. And underneath it in kanji a simple line, but likely obvious enough to save his skin:

'Every shinobi must be prepared to sacrifice for their country, life or limb.'

And in the gentle white illumination of the seal's light? The shadow of a sharp spike protruding from the fifth pedestal, waiting for its sacrifice. 

Rin didn't have much time left to decide if he wanted to make that leap of faith.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[ROUND 12 OF ?]]

Posting time limit: 48 hours

[Sato Rin]

Rin almost panicked, almost tried to grab at the jugs when nothing happened and he thought he had done something wrong. But he was quick to discover that as his chest got tighter and the world turned darker that it was not all for nothing. There in the darkness he listened as a pedestal a fifth one rose from the ground. He couldn’t see it very well so he didn’t know what to do... Until the kanji started to glow.

Life or limb. He would sacrifice his life but not here. Doing so here would be no good, useless. This was just an exam. Limb though? He could do. If nothing else he knew he would have some time to recover if he did hurt himself significantly here and now. And he turned desperately as oxygen depleted to the pedestal and without hesitation slammed his palm against the spike. He wanted out, he didn’t care for temporary scars. His life was more important than a deep stab wound. He could overcome anything if he were just able to breathe and remain alive. As he threw his hand against the pedestal he hoped there was a medic or someone on the other side ready to grab and help. If not he would just have to self medicate until he could find a doctor. Any doctor would do, but first he really needed oxygen. That was certainly priority number one.

[Aika]

Hand slammed on the pedestal, offering up the sacrifice Rin thought was demanded of him. For a moment nothing would happen as the spike went through and through his hand. Blood would trickle down the pedestal and disappear into a small seal embedded under the spike. The kanji dimmed, white turning pale and barely luminescent. Maybe it wasn't what the door wanted. Maybe Rin was destined to die down in the dark entirely alone without a single word of wisdom from his elders and peers.

But maybe not. As the light dimmed, Rin wouldn't see the travelling of his blood through the floor and up into the seal, the dim white would crackle with his blood, shooting through the flower pattern until it glowed a blood red. And then the seal would twist around on itself, cracking down the middle of the large stone and opening up the door way, flooding the room with air and light with a whoosh. 

Rin was greeted with the fresh air and sound of chirping birds.

He had succeeded. For now.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[ROUND 13 OF A POSSIBLE 15]]

[Sato Rin]

Rin's lungs would fill with air, and he felt a rush of relief. Although the process was agonizingly slow, he finally could inhale. He would drop the torch entirely and move out of the darkness into the light his eyes painful and squinting. Most of all though, his hand now hurt quite a great deal... With the adrenaline slowly wearing off. It would take a while before he was entirely in pain, but in this moment he felt relief that he could breathe.

He would take his hand, dragging his jacket behind him. He needed some medical attention, and a nap. One way or another he was just happy to be out. The next round was sure to be more difficult, but he hoped it was less agonizingly lonely, and did not have the potential of suffocating him to death. That was probably his least favorite way of death up to this point. Nothing to do with lack of air, no more of that. He would rather be stabbed a million times as he had done with his palm than to suffocate.

"Hello?" He called out, his voice ringing through the area, although no one seemed around. It was time to navigate and find some medical help, and after that...? Take a very long nap.