Casper rolled a mint leaf inbetween his fingers until it was slightly crushed and a strong scent of peppermint wafted around him. The greenhouses were heaven to the fourteen-year-old twin who wandered around amicably within them. He shied away from a few gardeners who were at work, and gave a full thirty meter girth to the female ones. Casper took his time identifying plants he knew and learning about the ones he didn't. His brother was waiting only just inside the greenhouses for him but he knew his twin would stay there until Casper rejoined him.

Cairo rested his head and shoulders against the wall in feigned exauhstion. He had been standing at the entrance of the medical greenhouses for over an hour and the gardeners would be concerned if the pale boy hadn't collapsed at some point. In truth Cairo had just as much energy as when he came in, and although his astounding 'camouflage' energy that diverted attention away from him kept them from kicking him out when they began to notice him through the slight things that set him apart from the living. The second twin watched his brother's head as it disappeared behind plants the reappeared. He let out a fake yawn as he waited for Casper to return.

This place was... extremely strange; in more ways then one. At least, to her it was. She was obviouslly an outsider; no native dressed in as many layers as she did and still shook with cold, nor did they carry quiet as much water around. It wasn't her fault; between the cold, dry air and the lack of access to places to soak her body; she was having to drink an extreme amount of water to keep hydrated. It was just a good think that the rubber gloves she wore beneath the more common mittens seen on the locals where sealed to her skin with water-proof glue, otherwise she would have lost her 'hands' long ago. Her feet where easier to work with; water-tight, fur lined boots that sealed to her skin protected her there, and looked fully normal.

At least it was warm in the greenhouses; and the thick air felt more like home. Still dry, but a nice change. Maybe she could find a pond or something to soak her feet and hands in; splash a little warm water on her face. This cold was going to be the death of her; with her thin, permeable skin and complete lack of tolerance for dryness on the extremes seen in Kori, she was on borrowed time. She'd have to leave fairly soon; head back south to where the water was warmer and she could recooperate some.

Odd, from what she'd seen this time of day there wheren't many locals in the greenhouse outside the garden tenders in this area; everyone else would be in the markets or pubs doing business after the fishing trolleys came in. That, or else getting drunk on warm booze and shivering; like she would be if she could drink the swill they passed here. One solid pint of that crap had nearly killed her; her anemone seemed to reject it horribly and it had taken the better part of 2 days to recover from that insanity. The kids... or where they kids? She could barely see yet; dry eyes did not work well; but they looked like someone fairly young. They seemed very out of place; definately not locals. Too pale; which seemed oxymoronic given how bundled up Kori people tended to be.

Wait. They looked downright sick; compared to most. She was no medic, not really; but she knew sickly when she saw it. Maybe...

"Oi. Pale boy. You okay?"

Cairo looked up at the heavily dressed person in front of him. It was most likely a girl from the slight outline of her coats, but he didn't want to upset her/it so he kept his voice quiet.
"Perfectly fine."
He told the girl two words in response to her question and said no more, keeping his gaze locked on Casper's bobbing head as it left.

Causper was enjoying himself, visiting all the plants in the green house that he could before he had to return to his brother.

Hiromasa stretched lazily outside the greenhouse, bracing himself for the relative warmth inside. Miraculously, all the day's paperwork had been completed even before noon and he had the better part of the day to kill. Time to continue with his latest hobby:poisons. He'd had his assistant bring him a book of the most basic of poisons and today his planned activity was to collect some ingredients and begin working on the deadlier side of medical techniques. Healing people was powerful, and more satisfying than killing them, but he was A Kage and death was part of what he had to be prepared to deliver.

For the rest of the day, however, he would not look the part. Dressed only in his casual black outfit, most villagers would recognize his face but at least he wouldn't be broadcasting the presence of the kage like his robes did. He'd pondered using the Transformation technique, but hiding from his duties wasn't something he felt like doing just yet. Stepping into the building his eyes brushed over an unremarkable youth and set upon the placards naming and describing the various plants, comparing them to the ingredients on a list he'd brought along for a paralytic he wanted to try out. Disabling without killing was, perhaps, the ultimate victory and this was a good way to pursue such a thing.

Turning a leaf over and inspecting it, he made a mental note to get someone to teach him more about herbs in general, then stopped. Not too far away was a significant chakra, definitely not one he was familiar with and nearly kage-level. His eye following his sensory ability, it rested on an adult female covered in so many clothes that her outline reminded him vaguely of a seal, confirming that she was foreign. She did not, however, seem to be hostile, casually speaking to someone. Curious,he walked over to the pair, the air around him several degrees cooler than the rest of the greenhouse. Unsure of whether an outsider would know his face, he leaned on one of the signs, a friendly smile appearing. Glancing at the woman's conversation partner just long enough to signal acknowledgement of his presence, his eye settled back on the female.

"Hey there, stranger. Come in here looking for some refuge from the cold?"

Sweet fucking squid balls why was it getting colder? A blast of wind from the door opening she could understand; but this was maintained cold. This was NOT normal cold. Fuuuuuuck. Had to be the new person; had to be. Native from his dress and accent; joy. She'd thought she'd noticed that some of the natives felt colder then others; maybe a mutation native to the region. It would make sense; her people had long been taking on the characteristics of sea life in general; for a population trapped for so long in the brutal cold of the artic northlands, becoming part of the cold just made sense.

"Refuge is a strong word."

Her voice was starting to crack already? Lovely; she was drying out faster and faster the longer she was outside of the hotel room she'd acquired. Extra heaters and humidifiers had made the room tolerable; but she couldn't well stay in there the entire time. Not while she was looking for information on the beast. Likely would have been smarter to start in the southlands; but with Kori the new hotbed of travel and information, she'd figured it was worth a shot. Reaching inside of her overcoat she retrieved of of the odd, but highly useful, self-heating water canteens the locals sold; taking a very long draw of the salted water and instantly seeming to perk up significantly.

"If you say so, child. You may wish to see someone about that pale complexion; it does not seem healthy, even in these cold lands."

Cairo smiled faintly at the feminine person in front of him, completely ignoring the newcomer who was obviously more interested in the girl. 
"I highly doubt my. . . . . Unhealthy complexion. . . . . Is something treatable with medicine. If there was i would know about it. It's part of my trade, knowing how to heal any illness or injury i've come across. If you want my brother and i could find something to help you adjust to the environment here."
Cairo stood up and brushed past the newcomer, who was obviously a native in his light clothing, to look for his brother over top of the plants. Casper was at the far end of the building and working his way back to the front.
"We're something similar to alchemists i suppose. Our teacher was called a witch or a wise woman but no one knew how the title transfered on to us, we've never met any other males in our trade.l

Hiromasa chuckled as the woman's voice cracked. "If anything, refuge might not be strong enough, you're wearing more clothes than most squads and still shivering like a leaf in one of the warmer places in the country aside from the hot springs. Where you from, friend? Yokuchi, by chance? I must admit I get no end of amusement from people coming here from the desert, not that I have any interest in visiting their home, either. Still. Clearly you are uncomfortable here so you must have good reason to have come all this way."  He avoided directly asking the question, not wanting to seem rude. She'd given him no reason to be as of yet and if she wanted to ignore it he needn't press.

As he waited a moment for an answer, his brain replayed what the guy who'd walked past him had said.Looking back to Mizuko, he plucked a leaf off a nearby bush and rubbed it between his fingers, a pleasant scent filling the air. "Medicine and alchemy, huh? I just so happen to have a modest interest in both of those things;I'm a medic here, so if you were to show me any interesting tricks, recipes, what have you, I could pay well for the knowledge." Looking back to Mizuko, he plucked a leaf off a nearby bush and rubbed it between his fingers, a pleasant scent filling the air. "How about you? You also into medicine?"

Yokuchi? Sweet gods, she would be dead long before she reached a village in a desert, no matter how much water they claimed to have. "Deserts and I are not friends. I am from, well; my people have lived on or near the sea for a very long time; that is all you need to know." A strong shiver raced up her spine, causing pain to radiate all through her body; her anemone where starting to feel the cold through the clothing and it was not a plesant feeling. It would be nice if a medic could help; but explosing her oddities to these people would not be smart.

"Not a medic, no. I have some knowledge of posions and toxins, and a bit of experience with first aid. My specialty is sea life and the like; otherwise I'm the usual fight it until it stops fighting back type."

Cairo grimaced when he heard the girl's declaration. Fight it until it stops indeed. Cairo pulled a small vial from his pocket and tossed it lightly to her.
"That'll help with keeping yourself warm. just shake it and it'll heat up. It's something designed for deep sea diving, it lights up and illuminates the area in front of you somehow. I can't remember where it was we bought those thing but they come in handy when traveling."
Cairo waited for his brother to arrive before finally addressing the man who had a 'modest interest' in their trade.
"What is it you wanted to know about our work? There isn't much we know about the healing arts up here in the cold so perhaps we could exchange information."

"A poisoner and a healer? I suppose it's not too unlikely given our location, but regardless, delightful!" Hiromasa said cheerily. With a nod, he gestured towards the vial Cairo had produced. "Can't remember where you got that, huh? Well, if you remember, lemme know, yeah? Something like that could be useful for the tourist business here. Foreigners always worry so much about the cold and losing track of each other at night, that'd solve both problems. Not sure I know too much about our local herbs or anything of the like, though. Up until recently I was only a casual medic, and I'm still mostly of the notion that there's not a whole lot a little chakra won't solve. Been trying to bone up on all that stuff though, and whatever you know would be a decent enough start. I guess it'd be best to start this way: You're foreign, and you're alchemists. You're likely here either to sell something or find something, and I can likely help you out either way. What can Korigakure do for you?"

As he spoke with one of his new acquaintances, his mind pondered the other. Wasn't from here, not from Yokuchi and, most telling, hailed from the sea. She was also a poisoner unaffiliated with medicine. Puppeteer? The tools of that trade were not clearly visible but could easily be stuck in scrolls in the folds of all that clothing. But where was she from? No village insignia met the eye so wherever it was she wasn't on any official business and had avoided his indirect inquiry as to her purpose here. Whatever. He'd have some folks keep an eye on her and run her description through the bingo book later.

She took the offered vial and inspected it curiously; giving it a quick shake to check if his words where true. It was less that she would feel the warmth the see it; just about anything would create a small bit of steam even in the relatively warm greenhouse. That, and the bit of a glow would help too. He people had some similar items; although they relied on bioluminecent fish and algea more then chemicals and the like. Less of a chance of problems when you're using something from the sea itself, afterall. Seeing that it did do as stated, she slipped it into one of the pouches that would put it close to the anemone on her right arm, without allowing it actual contact; just to be safe. A few shakes of the arms would get it working at full power, as well as focing some warm blood into the limb. Slightly better; yeah.

"Thank you. Anything to get the hands to stop being so icy."

Her attention turned to the elder male, regarding him with a bit of a wary eye now. Offers of help to strangers... she could understand the boy, there was some shared interests and the like there; but for here, there was nothing. The classic stranger in a strange land syndrome, as it where. "I am not the merchant type. I seek... information; although I am likely a ways out of where I should be to find information of things that happened in the southern nations. Would I be correct?"

Casper answered the man who claimed to be a Korigakure, it certainly fit that the mann had a title like that - he didn't seem like a common civilian at all. Thankfully for Cairo his brother was completely oblivious to the fact that among the four one  of them was female, so Casper spoke only with the calm lecturing style he spoke with to all strangers.




"Herbology isn't hard to learn, just hard to memorize. If you want to focus on the healing aspect then hire someone else to gather the herbs for you, but if you'd rather do it all yourself then you'd better have a photographic memory. The herbs and such are all different but they can be hard to find if you're only just starting into the trade. This greenhouse seems to be the main source of all your plants so finding the right herbs shouldn't be hard cause they're all labled. It's Cairo's job that takes more focus to do. He works with the alchemy type stuff."

Cairo nodded as Casper handed the conversation back to him.
"Our main trade is the making of medicine, however we are closer to alchemists then healers because we don't make many medicines before hand for sale in markets, we need information on the illness before we hand out medicines to people so we can give them the right treatments rather than generalized medicines that are pre-made. It costs a person much more to get a personalized medication but we've rarely failed at our job."

"We travel a lot though, so sometimes we'll carry messages or escort people with us on our travels when they want to go somewhere without being noticed. Traveling with us some how is often more efficient then traveling with a ninja escort for the people who don't want to be found. No one really bothers to care who's traveling with wandering twin boys."

 "No one bothers to search a medic's bags, especially if it's only us. We've got a very large assortment of stuff we've collected over our travels but we don't carry many weapons or anything that could be considered a threat. We don't follow many of the main roads either so we've never come across bandits either. We hear a lot more than we're supposed to though so people try to buy us off as spies too, we've never accepted an alliance like that though."

"It's horrid, corrupt."

"Immoral, and completely rude."

"We try to help when we can."

"But we don't work for anyone."

Flick, ker-chik. Shuffle. Flick, ker-chik. Shuffle.

Paperwork does not 'miraculously' disappear. No, every kage in the history of kages is far too aware of this fact, as it just seems to pile up and pile up. The little curse only applied to kages, however; it seemed that the mountains of forms and lines were dealt with like a normal item when it came to secretaries, or anyone who's not considered a kage. Funny how that works. As it turns out, there was an ungodly amount of work that day, and as usual, the Korikage wanted out. The main problem was that ALL the secretaries had 'colds', and the Genin teams or anybody else had a lovely bundle of excuses.

Not one Genin, though. Oh, no. 'You're the Korikage's star pupil!', they said. 'You have to attend to his things while he's on "village businesses"!' THEY SAID. It just looked like a bunch of papers that are to be stamped for later, to her untrained, youthful eye. Oh, how wrong she was. So now, having sat the entire BLOODY morning on her ass, in the Kage's chair, a very, VERY cross Juno Umgekehrtnacht was stuck filling out the paperwork while the Korikage, Hiromasa, went off circle-jerking or diddly-winking or publicly masturbating in the sweet, passionate embraces of the snow in his rosy palms. Whatever. She respected the man, but by god's great, flowing beard, did she hate when she had to deal with his paperwork.

Luckily, she was on the last form. A petition for the simplification of the current paperwork system. The irony was too much for Juno. She opened the window to the village and angrily stepped outside, to the roofs of the Korikage tower. Pulling out her bow, Faust, she whipped out an arrow, strung it back in the most frustrated way possible, and let it go. It quickly went through a window of the medical greenhouse, not harming anybody, but coming close. She then screamed in righteous anger to the village, stomping on the roof panels. "GOD BLOODY DAMN IT! SCREW THIS GREAT WANKING PAPERWOOOOOOOOOORRRK!" Huffing, she stepped back in, stamped the form, and closed the window behind her as she jumped to ground level.

Juno walked angrily to the nearest ninja, who was a Chunin. "Where. Is. Korikage-sama?" The Chunin trembled at the female's anger, having heard her from the rooftops. "T-The medical greenhouse..." The archer twitched and took to the rooftops, briskly making her way to the aforementioned area. She slammed open the door, with a pissed scowl on her cute little face as she spotted Hiromasa. "Your paperwork is done, Korikage-sensei. I better get a good pay..."

[So now it's Casper -> Me -> Hiromasa -> Mizuko. Sorry for entering a bit late.]

Thinking a moment, Hiromasa shrugged at Mizuko. "Anything in particular? I know some things, don't know plenty of others I'm sure. If I don't know I can probably find someone who does."

As for the twins, he simply frowned. "Well, guess I'll just have to do things the hard way then. I've no need of healing myself, not at the moment anyway. No use for freelance spies either, even if you were for hire. Seem to have a good thing set for yourselves though, and like I said, if you remember where you got that glowing heat vial thing I'd make it wo-" Hiromasa paused a moment as an arrow came whistling into the greenhouse, passing him by and burying itself in the sign he'd been leaning on not too long ago. Almost immediately after he heard a declaration of the evils of paperwork. "Words after my own heart," he murmured, grinning sheepishly when he realized no one else had likely heard the yelling at this distance. "Anyway, it seems I've no need of anything from either of you two just now, so if you need anything from me, feel free to speak your mind, otherwise I'm gonna go-" Interrupted again, Hiromasa glanced casually at his new pupil, confirming his suspicions as to the source of the arrow. Casually dismissing her anger with a wave of his hand, he sighed. "Well, so much for being just a normal medic for the day," he said, glancing at the woman and twins. Well, now that that particular cat is out of the bag as they say, I am indeed the newly instated Korikage. Well, kinda new. Still feels like that anyway, though I guess it's been a little while now. Anyway, my offer of assistance still stands, and perhaps this new information as to who I am will give you some ideas." Sighing again, he put a hand up against his eyepatch, expression mild exasperation. "Really Ju-kun, gotta drop the formalities when I'm not all dressed up, yeah?" Reaching out to the arrow embedded in the nearby sign, he gently pulled it out and tossed it to Juno. "And this sign's ruined, someone's gonna have to make a whole new one. Try to keep in mind the civilian discomfort caused by your actions, hm? What takes you a moment to destroy is a craftsman's hours of work carving, shaping and writing. Be mindful."

Hnnn... this was starting to get crowded; and she was becoming more and more glad that her extra bundling of layers left much of her face covered. She really didn't feel like having her face plastered across village alert lists because she was asking questions. "There was an... incident; a beast escaped one of the mountain villages and... well, let's just say the blood of many good poeple is on it's hands. I merely seek information to find it. Nothing more, nothing less. It has apparently fled the village that once protected it, and I've been unable to find more information about it since."

Specialized medicines, eh? This... this could be useful. "Tell me boys, would you have the ability to make a balm or medicine that would increase resistance to frostbite? Thin skin does not handle this bitter cold well."

"Life as a normal medic? Mate, you must be mad to think that'll ever work." She grabbed her arrow and put it away in her chakra quiver. "First off, I'm professional, and right now, I'm on business. It's a personal obligation to call you by formalities, sensei. And what do you bloody mean the sign is ruined?" She looked at the sign, unbelieving of Hiromasa's words. A simple wood board with painted-on safety warnings. Time and effort, her beautifully white behind. "Civvy discomfort is alright, but the silly thing takes five minutes to make and three minutes to craft. I'm spotless." Juno said with quite the distinct British accent. Nobody knows where she got it, she had a normal accent when she was a bully...

She turned to the other female in the room. With a more comfortable, less angry look. "A beast, eh? As far as this little Genin is concerned, I've heard none of it. Never been out of the village, though." Juno blinked and shrugged, her legendary casualness coming into play. "Wish you luck, miss, hate to be the one who has to snipe something like that down."

The half-sniper/half-medic then glanced at the twins, the more quiet of them being pushed into the plants. Her eyes then traced Cairo's body, and noticed a largely dead leaf. 'Strange. From what I know, that plant is supposed to be flourishing right about this time of year...' She dismissed it as unimportant before apologizing to the civilian, who was less pale than before. "Yeah, sorry 'bout the scare, mate. Hope I didn't get too out of hand there."

She then nodded and moved to face the Korikage again. "Well, that's it for my little report. Have fun for today. Meanwhile, I've actually got a bit of business around here. A bit of a 'flu' is breaking out at the tower, and I'll need herbs..." She had a very concerning shade over her face and an even more concerning glint within her eyes, and it was easy to see her sore stamping hand twitching as if she was about to kill someone. "I'll be in the plants if you need me." She moved to the other set of flora, separate from where Casper was.

"A beast, huh?" He said, addressing the woman. "Well, matter of fact something burned a small shanty town out in the wastes a couple days back. Was going to investigate personally but, well... not important why really. My folks seem pretty sure it wasn't a human, though. Left weird little paw prints all over the place, they said one of them just spontaneously burst into flames. Soon as they get a better pinpoint on it I was going to go have a little chat with whatever it is. Welcome to come along if you like, should be in the next day or so."

"As for you, Ju-kun, it sounds to me like someone needs more of my patented Hiromasa's Kage-style Paperwork Humility Training. I'm sure Maya could share some of hers with you if you asked nicely." With a glance over at Mizuko, he shook his head with mock severity. "Kids, no respect these days." With a shrug he began walking out of the greenhouse. "Feel free to join me if you like, lady, and I'll let you beat up on this monster if it is indeed the one you're looking to beat up on. Afterwords I'll slap it in a scroll and have it beat up on my pupils. Speaking of which, Ju-kun, finish this up and come meet me in my office ready to spar with the new guy."

With an offhand wave to everyone, he walked out of the greenhouse and into the snow.

"Little paw prints? Doesn't sound right; the beast I seek is large; extremely so. Thank you, though. If nothing else it is something to look at. As for the medicine, a balm or creme would work best. Something simple to apply; and that won't sit in an uneccessarily thick layer across the skin. I wouldn't need much, just a few ounces will do."

The other females was really starting to get her jumpy; far too much noise and energy in too small of a place. She'd stay long enough for the boys to either create somethng or tell her it was impossible; otherwise she needed to get out of there very soon. The agitation she was feeling had her anemone shifting and moving even in the extreme cold; and that was going to start looking very strange fairly soon; not to mention risk more damage then needed to occurr if tentacles started slipping out of the clothing she wore.

Casper walked back and forth along the rows of herbs, looking over them absentmindedly as he ran over the healing qualities of each one. He couldn't think of a plant that could prevent frostbite - that aspect relied on a person's well being rather than a specific healing quality. The only way he could think to battle it was to use a balm that would keep a person's skin warm, but that was not possible for the twins. A way to cure it however would be simple. Something that would be easily made into an ointment or a balm. . . that ruled out ginger, however getting the foreigner to add ginger into his daily diet wouldn't hurt. Cucumbers would help, but they would make the balm fairly thick and not easily applicable. They might be useful regardless, and some Aloe or Marshmallow couldn't hurt. Casper hurried back the way he'd gone to find the plants.

Cairo nodded to acknowledge both Juno-kun and the Korikage as they left on their separate ways, leaving the still anonymous woman and Cairo at the doors to the green house. Cairo returned to sitting against the wall where he had been when the woman had entered. He pulled out a small notebook and flipped through, looking for something in his notes that would be useful in the creation of the frostbite medicine.

Stepping out of the office with... a bit more poison ivy than what people with expect (new gloves on, of course), she looked to the Korikage as he gave his assignment. "Right, right... new guy. Just give me a sec, I need a bit more plants." She said offhandedly as he walked out, off to get even worse plants for her 'treatment'.

"Bloody paperwork... Maya-san isn't giving me any of it if I have anything to say about it..." Grumble, grumble. She plucked the leaves off a strange red flower, and got some of the nectar from a giant plant that looks way too carnivorous for the nectar to be any type of sweet.  Putting all of them in appropriate containers, she looked to the newly-reunited twins and the woman as she pulled out a summoning scroll and started sealing the containers.

"Well, er, if he hasn't told you yet, welcome to Kumo. Home of the bloody mental..." She muttered the last part under her breath. "To be formal, I'm Juno, Kage's pupil. Good to meet you." She bowed a bit, but with her hands tied in sealing a few plants, she couldn't do too much. Additionally, Juno made sure to leave out her last name, which may reveal a few jutsu she has. Just in case. "Sorry for the scare there. Either way, if you get around the bonkers people like me and Lazy-to-the-point-of-clinical-insanity-sama, it's actually a nice place. Enjoy your stay." And with that, Juno rolled up the scroll, put it in her pocket, and made her way to the Kage Tower.