Legend

Spoiler:

Travel Topic

Mission

Yama no kuni, the Mountain Country. A barren, desolate place, strewn with the ashy crags of tired old mountains and dormant volcanoes, the dry, lifeless, not-quite-desert plains stretching flat and endlessly where the craggy peaks did not dominate. It was into this land that, for whatever reason, Takeshi Hiro and a genin team, jounin sensei included, had disappeared into years ago. Likely, it was in pursuit of some new smithing technique, with the jounin sensei deeming the mountainous land a good test of his genin's skills, confident in his own ability to cover their slack. His confidence had apparently been misplaced, as the entire group was never seen in Kumo again.

Given the nature of Mountain country, one could have expected a roving band of cut-throat bandits, or some hiding nuke-nin, to be the cause of their seeming demise. That was not, however, the case. A lone, towering peak stood at the center of a plain, the other mountains some leagues distant. It was at this peak that the group had disappeared all those years ago, and where a Kumo ninja, stopping over for a nights rest on his way back from another mission, had seen a strange fuin seal. It was not until he'd returned and delivered his report that the connection had been drawn. And now, nine years later, drawing up on this lone peak and the path crawling up it, Takeshi Gouka came, intent to find some sign of what had happened to his father.

The Mountain Country was not a place particularly close to Kumo, as the dusty, ashy-sheen to Gouka's hair and attire, the dust of travel, attested. His deathly white KYOBU mask, normally on public display, was stored for the moment in his pouch. It was useless to try and conceal his identity from his traveling and mission partner, Nibi host Hanzoku Kirima. Gouka risked a glance back as they drew closer to the mountain. The last leg of the journey was a quiet one, but there had been much talking in the early parts of the journey. Missions and village duties had kept the two from meeting as often as they'd liked, so there'd been a fair amount of catching up to do. It'd not taken long for Gouka to explain his placement in the KYOBU was still a fairly new thing, with only one assassination under his belt.

Kirima, bless her heart, while aware of the duties being a KYOBU entailed, was mildly perturbed and less than pleased with Gouka's career path. They had come quickly to the decision that it was best if Gouka did not talk too much of his duties, both for the sake of their peace of mind and village security; he was, after all, technically not supposed to speak of it at all. Still, some of it he could not help... Like the fellow Kumo nin he'd been forced to kill for going rogue. Kageru, the pale waif of a girl who'd called him "Monster." A sentiment Gouka's nightmares did nothing to refute.

Killing rogues was one of the less savory, little spoken of, aspects of KYOBU work. No one liked to think of a ninja forsaking their loyalty to the village. Fewer still liked to think of the grisly work that was made of them by the dedicated Black Ops of the village. All the same, he had Kirima's support and condolences, and she had his. It was how it'd always been, and always would be. Some days, Gouka was not so certain how he'd made it through those recovery years, without that pillar of support to lean upon. He shook his head of the sappy thoughts however, focusing on the task at hand.

"That'd be our destination up ahead, Kitkat." He called out, indicating the mountain before them. "Should be a old abandoned house and forge somewhere up along the path, which is about where the team disappeared nine years ago, and where the fuin has cropped  up." He slowed down his pace, pulling back to hang alongside the vibrant red-head. "Plan's pretty simple; we go in, poke around, see if anything new crops up. Otherwise, we're stucking waiting till they can be bothered to send a Fuin expert to come out and check the seal." He grinned a small grin as he got to the neck part. "And if, while poking around, something pokes back... Well, cats are good at sending mice scurrying back down their holes, ne?" He chuckled quietly.

Legend

Spoiler:

Kirima chuckled at his light-hearted jab, pushing his arm as she did. The joke at least, had brought her out of her silent, solemn reverie, something Gouka had noticed about her the longer their journey progressed. "Fuck a fuin expert, I say we kick that seal's ass and do what we came here to do." Gouka could only shake his head at her unfathomable confidence, but all the same, there was no one he'd rather have had along for this mission. Working as a KYOBU, he'd gotten used to long, lonesome missions, and had come to miss the feeling of true companionship.

Gouka peeled back ahead, taking the lead once again as they approached the mountain. It was a steep, fierce looking crag, dark and blackened with soot and ash from the years of war and destruction that had ravaged the country- or it was simply composed of black granite. Less dramatic certainly, but far more likely. A narrow, winding path had been carved along the face, leading further up it. Of course, the two being ninja, and from the mountainous Kumogakure at that, had little trouble traversing the path, making time to put any civilian to shame, perhaps even outstripping what any flat-lander Konoha or water-drenched Kiri shinobi could hope to accomplish.

Soon enough, the path came to an end, and their destination sat before them. There, nestled into a cavernous crack in the mountain's side, stood a decrepit, worn down looking hut, with slate-gray walls, broken windows, and a sun-bleached, cracked-tiled roof. Attached to it was what was obviously a blacksmith's forge, a little hut with a darkened interior, a round, deep and long-unused fire-pit sitting in front of it. There were bits and pieces here and there, signs of what might once have been a grindstone, an anvil, and a bench- but nothing was left but a few stone bases and some wooden scraps, the rest having clearly been carted off by passing bandits years passed. Both blacksmith hut and hut stood dusty, silent, empty... Or at least, appeared so.

Gouka slipped his mask out of his pouch, bringing the smooth white ceramic up to clasp onto his face. Business was at hand, and business was what Jestre did best. "I'll check out the forge, you give the inside of the hut a once over." He spoke coolly, calmly, no bite of command to his voice, just an expression of his own intentions, followed by a sensible suggestion. "Holler if you find something... Bring down the house, if you find someone. Gouka left Kirima to her own devices as he made his way to the forge, peering over it cautiously. The firepit was a large thing, a good meter and a half in diameter, rising up from the rocky ground in rough hewn, darkened square blocks, obviously of the same stone that composed the mountain. A thick layer of ashy dust coated the bottom of the pit.

Seeing nothing of great import, Gouka made his way towards the hut. Peeking out around the edge of it, Gouka could see an actual smeltery tucked beside it, the large, conical stone structure possessing several vents along the side for shoveling in ore and coal, with a dripping funnel on the front. 'That's odd. If he has a smelter, where's the ore?' As the son of a blacksmith, Gouka knew smelters were unwieldy, time consuming things, which were generally only built directly at the entrance of the mine. Strange to see one so far out, when it'd be easier to have the ore smelted elsewhere and then brought to Yama no kuni, for whatever smith had been crazy enough to call this place home.

Gouka left off on the smelter, turning to the smithing hut. The prevailing sunlight only dimly lit it, but Gouka would be able to manage. Stepping inside, he paused to let his eyes adjust in his mask. A glance was all he needed to confirm it; ignoring the old and worn benches, it was splayed out clearly on the back wall. A large, faded and intricate fuin seal, taking up the entire expanse of wall. Gouka let out a low whistle. He was no Fuin expert, but given the tracker team had included a Hyuuga, he new at the least it had to be a powerful seal; powerful enough to hid from Hyuuga eyes.

Gouka raised his voice, calling out to his friend. "Found it, Kitkat." He felt his hands over the seal, trying to see if he could discern... Something, anything, of use. Alas, all his hands felt was cold, unyielding stone, except for the smoothness of the fuin patterns. 'A seal like this had to have been used to hide SOMEthing.' Turning from the seal, Gouka explored the room around him. Overall, it was dusty and empty, containing little but empty shelves that may have once contained the tools of the trade... Empty, except, for a single, rusted hammer, nestled in a cradle on the wall.

Gouka stared at the hammer. It was odd and out of place, for the tool to be there, when everything else from the place had seemingly been ransacked. He reached out, tugging on the tool. Stuck firmly in place. Scuff marks in the wood around it showed thin, curving lines, as if the hammer had been... Turned? Gouka gave the hammer a twist, turning it to the side. As a thunderous cracked resonated behind him, he whirled around, daggers flashing into his hands. The seal was split down the middle, the sides slowly peeling apart, drawing back seamlessly into the rocky face as the hidden door the seal had been protecting slide open.

Gouka advanced cautiously, eying the dark portal. 'Well, found the mine.' As he crossed the threshold, something crunched under his feet, and he looked down. There, only dimly visible in the darkness, stood a cracked, grinning human skull.

Gouka slowly, carefully clipped his daggers to their wire holders, letting them hand loosely from his hands as he performed the seals for a jutsu. "Kaijūdentō." In the palm of his hand, a little blue-white ball of lightning sprang to life, illuminating the dark space. His other hand, tightly gripping a dagger one again, lead the way, as Gouka advanced cautiously, the light leading the way. As prepared as he was, what Gouka saw next was beyond anything he'd expected.

Gouka stared wide-eyed at the sight, barely breathing, as he slowly dropped down to his knees before the broken, battered skeleton of Takeshi Hiro, just barely identifiable by the ragged shreds of his work clothes and the rusted old smithing hammer, one Gouka had seen and held and known and touched with his very own hands, too many times not to recognize it. The skeletal corpse was surrounded by dozens of smaller bones and skulls, but Gouka paid no mind to them, couldn't pay mind to them, as the hope he hadn't even realized he'd been harboring came crashing down.

"... Tou-san......"

The dim light of the orb flickered, only barely, unconsciously, kept alive by Gouka's chakra.

Legend

Spoiler:

"You be good son, and make me proud."

"I will, Tou-san. I'll be the best I can be."

Gouka could remember the words, clearly as if it'd been yesterday, as if it hadn't been nine years since he'd seen his father alive. Takeshi Hiro had been a big, strong man, as befitted a civilian blacksmith. Dark hair, dark eyes, Gouka had taken those from his father, though he'd always had his mother's face, or so he'd been told. Told by his father. But Takeshi Hiro was dead now, dead for nine years from the looks of it. It had been foolish, childish even, to have expected anything else. To have expected that for once in his life, Gouka could catch a break.

He was broken out of his reverie, however, as a hand clasped upon his shoulder, squeezing. Gouka flinched, nearly lashing out, and was immediately ashamed of the instinct; even with a close friend, it seemed old habits would be hard to die. It was as she broke him out of his reverie that he noticed the skull in her hand. And the multitude littered around them. "Gouka I'm sorry but look at these.  This does not sit right with me at all. We have to keep going and be quick about it, I wish I didn't have to do this but I must urge you to get up and stay with me. Can you do that?" Gouka shook his hand, slowly climbing to his feet,t he little ball of lightning pulsing. "Yeah, yeah... Sorry, Kit... Kirima." Gouka eyed the skull over, gently taking it from her. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like the skull of a wolf, only much smaller. The sharp fangs, and the numerous ones decorating the area around his father's remains... Did not bode well.

"I don't like this one bit.  My skin is crawling in here and my hair is almost standing up on ends." Gouka silently agreed. A closer look of his father's remains showed many a scored mark in the bones- the mark of hungry, biting teeth and ripping claws. Another thing caught his eye- a tattered journal, tucked in the remains of what might have been a knapsack. Gouka reach over, pulling it out and dusting it off, flipping the leather-bound book open. "Damn... Too damaged." Indeed, the pages were old and worn, some of them blackened by smears of what Gouka hoped was only ink, but was more than likely blood. All the same, he pocketed the journal, turning to face deeper into the cave.

The path lead off deeper into the mountain, quickly fading to darkness beyond the dim glow of his electric light. He turned to look at Kirima, noting how her eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, pale blue flames dancing on her fingers. Perks of holding a para-elemental cat demon of fire in your belly, as it were. Gouka spoke in a hushed whisper. "I'll lead, but keep an eye out. Your vision is much better than mine in this place. You see something coming at me, attack first, warn me later." He turned back towards the darkness, take slow, cautious steps forward, leading with his dagger. "This cave has been sealed up for nine years..." Gouka chuckled darkly, sourly. "But I doubt I'd be so lucky for these things to all be dead."

Gouka lead the way, leading deeper and deeper into the mine. The occasional torch sconce line the walls, the wooden sticks still in them too old and rotted to be of any use. Small side-passages occasionally dotted the ever widening main thoroughfare, and it made Gouka's skin crawl to pass by them unchecked- but then, it made his skin crawl just to be in the place, with only Kami knew what else. Creatures, wolfish little things. Trapped. Hungry.

A slow, agonizing quarter hour later, the dim light of his orb revealed their next sign. A broken skeleton, mounds of bones piled before it, a broken bow clutched loosely in its hand. "Yakata Orihime, weapons and fuin specialist." Gouka intoned slowly, recalling aloud the details of the mission briefing, which had included the ninja cards of the disappeared team. He reached down to the bones, kneeling to pick up a dusty, battered and scratched head-band. She had died in a cold, lonely place, but she had died fighting, as the piles of bones before her, some still strewn with worn old arrows, attested.

Gouka shined the light as he moved forward, revealing more and more corpses, more skeletal, grinning remains, some a little larger than the others- "Oh Hellfire."

Gouka stopped dead in his tracks, raising the light up higher as he looked on in stunned disbelief. There, laying splayed back across the ground, as if he'd fallen onto his back rather than tried running, were the remains of Hyuuga Yatsuo, the shinobi they once were clearly identified by the Caged Bird Seal, seared down to the bone, even in death, marking his brow. What shocked Gouka was the size of the skeleton collapsed before it, bony maw resting at the foot of the Hyyuga's skeleton, as if bowed in defeat. The thing was massive, the skull alone nearly as big as Gouka's entire body.

He walked slowly over, pausing to let his dagger hang loose from its clip as he scooped up the heavily scratched, rusted headband of Yatsuo, kneeling down to admire the skull. Reaching out, he gripped on of the massive fangs, careful not to cut himself along the still surprisingly sharp tips, a brief struggle ensuing before he tugged it out of the thing's skull. He stood up, bouncing the thing in his hand as he turned to show it to Kirima. The dusty, bone-grey thing was bigger than his hands, big as his daggers even.

"Soooo, Kitkat... How're you coming along on that tails training?" He said with a mock conversational tone, clearly anything but at ease, as he turned back to face the skeleton, his voice taking on a grim cast. "Because Kami help us if another of those things is in here, still alive, we're going to need it..." He paused, considering his next words. "... Fifteen more minutes. We don't find the remains of the others, we turn right the fuck around and get the hell out of here." Gouka was not normally one for cursing, but the situation certainly merited it.

Legend

Spoiler:

(OOC: 10 Younglings, 2 Omega, each. Link)

Kirima didn't even respond to his ill-timed attempt to lighten the mood, as shocked as she seemed by the size of the skeleton before them. When he made it clear that they still had to probe at least a little further into this hellhole, she had only nodded jerkily, clearly wanting to do anything else other than that. Nonetheless, she wordlessly took the lead, which Gouka relinquished without protest. In all honesty, he should have given her the lead to begin with; thanks to her feline tenant, Kirima had much, much better vision in this dark, foreboding place than Gouka could ever hope to have. If he were honest with himself, there was no logical reason Kirima shouldn't lead.

If he were honest with himself, he'd admit that as weak as it seemed, seeing his father's remains had rattled him more than he'd let on. He hadn't been in front to lead; he'd been in front, because anything that attacked, would have had to go through him first. Hanzoku Kirima was the closest thing Gouka had left to a family, and in his heart of hearts, he'd admit that protecting that superseded anything and everything else, even duty. But of course, Gouka couldn't admit that. Not even to himself. KYOBU did not have the luxury of deeming anything more important than duty. Jestre had no problem with it at all, and it was Jestre who followed behind Kirima, heading deeper into hell.

The next set of remains did not take long to find, though Gouka nearly missed the charred, blackened masses of bone, black and lifeless against equally charred stone. Powerful flames had consumed here, and from the looks of the human skeleton, consumed the user of those flames with equal measure. They passed the grave silently, Kirima only pausing long enough to scoop up a tarnished, charred piece of metal, all that was left of the long dead ninja's headband. Gouka noted uneasily that while the skeletons of the beasts were smaller than the one they'd passed earlier, they were still significantly larger than anything they'd seen at the cavern entrance.

"Oh Hell no... Gouka."

The shocked, fearful gasp broke, the quiet whispering of his name, filled Gouka with a steady, unshakable sense of dread. It was not the kind of blind panic and terror that would send younger, less experienced ninja running, but the kind to make old veterans grip their weapons tighter, to lament all the things they never did. It was the dreadful certainty that bad had just gotten worse. Gouka drew up, shining his light, revealing what Kirima had spotted first with her darkness-suited eyes, and Gouka bit off the vicious curse welling in his mouth. He was only peripherally aware of the what had to be the remains of the jounin, Tsugata Yoshiro, compared to what surrounded the remains.

Dozens of skeletons, all showing clear signs of blunt force trauma from all the shattered pieces. Many were as small as the ones they'd found at the entrance, several were as large as the ones found by what were now clearly Uchiha Garuga, the only other member of the team with a Fire affinity. Hell, there were even one or two skeletons the size of what Yatsuo had taken on. And they were all dwarfed by the tree-trunk thick bones of two creatures that had clearly been much, much larger. Gouka could see one of the skulls, a broken, jagged hole through the snout, wicked fangs as long as his fore-arms. He could have comfortably taken a nap inside the thing's maw, large as it was.

"The last.. victim. ...Gouka what is this?  What the fuck is going on? This can't be right.. what the fuck are those things?"

Gouka shivered slightly. He had no answers, was certain he didn't want to have answers. The signs were all around him that going deeper had been a clear mistake, and under his calm demeanor and concealing mask, his instincts were screaming at him 'Fight is death, take flight! Run!' "I don't know what they were Kirima, but right now they're a tall glass of get the fuck ou-"[/i] Gouka halted, stiffening as a noise reached his ears. It's been so subtle, he'd almost passed it off as mere air passing through the caves. A rumbling noise. A hungry growl.

In the darkness behind her, two glowing orbs materialized within the darkness, reflecting the dim light of his lightning orb. Pure instinct took over as Gouka's prodigious speed carried him past Kirima, all but shoving her out of the way as his dagger lashed out. The snarling, leaping thing yipped in a painful shriek as it split across his dagger, blood splattering across his chest as it fell to the cold, hard ground with a wet thump. Gouka barely took the time to notice the thing, looking like some malformed little, starved mutt, as more and more eyes began to light up in the darkness, the growling, snarling clearly audible now. Gouka stepped back, trusting Kirima to keep her back to his, because from the sounds of the snarls and growls, it was clear they were surrounded.

Gouka spoke calmly, belying the tension running through him, ready to lash out at a moment's notice, knowing his quick reaction would not deter the creatures for very long. "... Got a light, Kitkat? I don't fight too well with just one han-" Gouka was cut off as an electric glow erupted in multiple places in the darkness around them. More of the creatures, bigger, the size of wolves, covered in yellow, electric looking protrusions as they snarled, covered in a glowing, crackling aura of electricity. Gouka wordlessly let the little ball of lightning in his hand die out, quickly palming his second dagger, gripping it tightly.

'For once when I say 'I'm not that lucky,' would it be too much to ask to be proven wrong?' Gouka had no more time for recriminations, as with an almighty shriek, the beasts began to converge.

Clickie:

Holding position would be suicide; they were both close combat fighters, would only get in each other's ways. Further, they'd have no maneuvering room at all to fight. They'd be packed in, and quickly slaughtered. If they wanted to have any chance, they had to take the fight to the creatures. Gouka trusted Kirima with his life, and certainly trusted her to draw the same conclusions, as he launched himself forward into the ring of fang-filled maws, guided by the light of the Omegas, as Gouka would in later times come to call them.

A snarling, lightless hound leaped at Gouka, only to be slashed aside by a whirling dagger. Three more quickly took its place, biting little fangs hungrily seeking Gouka's flesh. He ducked and tumbled, swinging his leg around in a kick, hidden boot-blade flashing out at it lashed into the side of another beast. The creature yelped in as it was knocked aside, sent flying into a pile of bones, jabbed and impaled on broken ribs. A weight slammed into Gouka's back and he dropped a dagger, leaving the weapon to hang from its wire coil as his hand flashed over his back. He cursed as he felt needle-like fangs pierce his palm, but he gripped the thing anyway, wrenching it off his back and slamming it into the ground. 'Too slow. Too damned slow.'

Indeed, despite Gouka's fierce and rapid assault, he'd only taken down three by the time the first Omega leapt at him. A bitter oath fled Gouka's lips as he was knocked onto his back, his arm locked in front of him to keep the snarling hound at bay. The electric aura covering it brushed against Gouka, sending not quite painful, but thoroughly unpleasant tingles of electricity through his body. Glowing fangs, sheathed in electricity, snapped at Gouka's mask, claws raking against his coat. It would not hold long, and further, the smaller beasts were quickly seizing on the opportunity, as Gouka could feel one, then another, biting into his legs. Gouka's free hand grabbed his dagger and slammed it into the hound's face, ripping off the front of its face, spattering his mask with the dying beast's blood.

He jerked up, tossing aside the corpse, kicking his feet just as a third beast latched onto it, knocking the snarling things aside. He moved rapidly to his feet, barely risen from his knees when he had to lash out and slash another leaping youngling out of the air, grimacing at the pain from the numerous claw-marks on his arm, the bites needling his legs. He let his daggers hang loosely as he flashed through the seals, back-pedaling away from the hungry cretins as he grip a single blade again, electric chakra running to coat it as he slashed out. " Engetsu Tachikata!" A crackling crescent of electric energy lashed out, the chakra-cresent lashing across four of the younglings, filling the air with their pain-filled shrieks and they were jolted, splashes of blood littering the ground from their new wounds.

Four younglings and an Omega down, five and one to go, the dim light of the remaining Omega's glow the only assistance in Gouka's fight. He could only hope Kirima was fairing better than him.

Legend

Spoiler:

Flashes of fire and yelping, piercing shrieks of pain were all Gouka need to know that Kirima was certainly giving her own set of opponents reason to fear. He stood with his daggers held out warily, the remaining creatures running in a fast, furious circle around him. Every now and again one would dart out, as if going for an attack, but as soon as Gouka turned to face it, one would dart at his feet, sharp teeth nipping at his heels, forcing him to kick the little mongrel back. Several of the younger ones were bloody from Gouka's lightning crescent, leaving spatters of blood everywhere they went. The Omega was hanging back, still covered in an electric glow, growling and shrieking. All the same, the beasts were cautious. They were not accustomed to prey so fast, so flexible, as Gouka was proving to be.

Suddenly, without warning, the prowling Omega's mouth split open, an electric hiss rushing through the air as it spat a bolt of electrical energy at the encircled Gouka. The masked ninja twisted over backwards, nearly planting his head against the floor, scars sending dangerous twinges along his spine as he ducked under the blow. Continuing his momentum, he let his daggers hand loose from their coils as he planted his hands against the ground, back-flipping and launching himself out of the ring of circling, nipping jaws. As he spun through the air, his hands flew to his pouch, palming a brace of kunai. By the time he landed on his feet, the beasts were coming at him again, But Gouka launched a triple set of the daggers.

One youngling stumbled with a yelp as its paw was taken out from under it, another was pierced directly in the skull. The third dodged the flung blade completely, and the final two continued undeterred. Suddenly however, something changed. The Omega let out a high pitched, keening whine, and the final three younglings stopped, glancing warily into the darkness. Then, as one, they turned from Gouka, clearly intend on joining whatever force was attacking Kirima. 'Oh no you don't, you filthy little sons of bitches.' Gouka's mind hissed angrily, the young ninja taking a step back as he prepared to launch himself after them.

That step may well have saved his life.

It was so fast, so sudden, he didn't even have time to react. A wall of black fur rushed across in front of him and a searing line of raw pain split across his belly. So shocked he was, he stumbled back another step, one hand instinctively going to his belly. He didn't need to look to know what the damp, warm stickyness coating his hand was. 'Blood... my... blood...' Only then did a new light flare into existence, revealing just what had so nearly gutted Gouka like a fish.

It was large. Much larger than the ones they'd been fighting. It's shoulder didn't stand much lower than Gouka's head, and it could have clamped its jaws around his face without tilting its head up. It looked like a massive wolf, but gaunt and thin from starvation, patches of black fur having fallen off. A crackling electric aura covered its body, much brighter, much stronger looking than what the Omega had managed to bring to bare. It snarled, vicious fangs glinting with electricity, claws crackling against the ground as it lowered itself, tensing.

'Shit.'

The beast launched itself forward, howling primal fury and hunger. Gouka's left hand remained clutched helplessly against his split belly as his right desperately brought his dagger to bare for some kind of defense, any kind of defense.

'Shit shit shit shit-' "SHIT!"

Gouka cursed loudly and openly as several hundred pounds of hungry, ravenous beast slammed into him, taking him off his feet. His dagger locked against snapping, snarling fangs as the pair flew through the air. Their momentum was so great, it carried them right into the remains of one of the massive beasts, Gouka howl of pain choked in his throat as both he and beast slammed through a near-decade old rib, leaving the pair trapped in the rib-cage. The ribs of the far side held however, and as Gouka's elbow braced against the sturdier bone, the creature's snarling, fang-filled mouth lunged forward against it. Gouka's teeth clenched shut as he felt the massive mouth ram onto his dagger, heard a metallic twang of what he knew was broken steel.

Just as the burning pain of the electric aura began to singe Gouka's skin, the light suddenly went out, the beast gurgling as its mouth went limp around Gouka's hand, casting him into darkness. He panted heavily, the rush of air moving past his left eye alerting some dimly aware part of him that a portion of his mask had broken off in the struggle. He weakly brought his arm away from his belly, gripping the head of the beast and, with a mighty heave that made him choke on his tongue in pain, pushed it off of him. His dagger clattered against the stone ground as he dropped it to hang from its wire, his hands shakily forming the seals. "K-k-kai... K-kaijūdentō." The little ball of electric light sprung to life in his hand, and it looked just as bad as he'd feared.

One of his daggers, his prized daggers, the last gift of his father, had snapped half off in the beast's mouth, locked against its fangs, leaving him with a broken nub of bloody steel. Gouka would happily have traded both daggers, however, compared to the dire straight he was in. The beast had raked across his belly in its first pass, a single, razor-sharp claw rending across Gouka's belly. He poked tenatively at the bleeding slit, and the wave of nauseous and pain confirmed his suspicions; nothing had been rent, thank Kami for the small blessings, but the fact remained he now had a split in his belly, and if he didn't find a way to close it up, he'd either bleed out long before they reached Kumo, or else he'd forced his own entrails out from any exertion.

Gouka slowly leaned his head back against the rib. It was quiet now. Had Kirima won? Or was she feeding the beasts now, even as Gouka lay there, knowing full well his little light would be a beacon to both friend and foe, knowing that if anything else came after him, he wounds would only lead to his death whether or not he resisted.

There was a word for describing situations such as this. It was "Fucked."

Legend

Spoiler:

Gouka would have sighed in relief when his red-headed companion burst in on him, if he hadn't been so certain the motion would hurt like seven kinds of hell. He did almost chuckle when she asked if he was alright. "Aside from... being curb-checked by a couple hundred pounds of wolf..." He spoke slowly and shakily, his hand rising up to pry the rest of his mask off his face, breathing heavily as he held the broken ceramic loosely in his hand. "... Yeah, not, today has been a shitty  day." His father was dead, he was covered in wounds, his mask and dagger broken... No, today was most certainly not a good day for Takeshi Gouka, and it looked like it hadn't been good for Kirima either. From what he could see in the dim light, she was covered in her own fair share of wounds, and had a deeply worried look in her eye. Her face turned especially grim once she'd pushed the wolf off his legs, and assessed the damage to his belly.

"I'm sorry, this will hurt like fuck." Gouka nodded in silent agreement as she pulled out a kunai, ripping off one of her shirtsleeves and tying it into a knotted bundle. "Bite onto this, it might help and also prevent you from biting your tongue." Gouka wordlessly took the cloth in his mouth, his tongue recoiling slightly from the faint taste of blood, as Kirima lit a flame in her palm, holding the drawn kunai to it. Gouka was a smart lad. He knew what needed to be done, to make sure he didn't bleed out on their egress from this hell hole. Doesn't mean he felt any less trepidation as Kirima straddled in front of him, the kunai she held a red, cherry-hot.

She whispered a few meaningless words of encouragement, staring him in the eye as he took slow, deep breaths, focusing only on his breathing, on keeping the little orb in his hand going so she'd have the light to see by. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, out, in... Though Gouka's eyes betrayed nothing, his jaw clenched into a mass or harsh lines and tightly locked muscles when Kirima began applying the knife, a choked gurgle of pain rising in his throat. As she slowly closed more and more of the wound, the smell of burning flesh made Gouka want to retch, nearly choking on the gag. Finally, mercifully, the deed was done, and Gouka spat out the cloth gag, wretching. "Right, that was fun. Let's never do it again." He spoke tiredly as Kirima looked him over, the lad slowly pushing himself to his feet.

His fingers prodded gently at the burned-shut slit, eliciting a pained hiss from him. He wouldn't bleed out, and it hadn't rent his abdominal cavity, but it was still going to hurt like five different kinds of hell until a proper medic could look at it. He saw Kirima looking over him worriedly, and he reached out, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I'll live, Kitkat, which is damned more than can be said for these uglies, or the team that got trapped in her a near decade ago." He turned from her, slowly crouching down, grabbing the dead wolf's head. Reaching into its mouth, he dug, cursing as he knicked himself pulling the broken shards of his dagger, what he could, out, and pocketing them.

Theme:

He turned back to Kirima, moving carefully so as not to exacerbate his wounds. "I would hope that was all of them. In either case, we should-" Gouka paused, brow furrowing in confusion. It had been subtle, so subtle he almost hadn't noticed it, but had the ground just... Trembled? When the roar, the massive, primal roar of fury and mad hunger ripped through the cavern, rattling the bones around them, sending shivers of fear- for the first time since he'd descended into the cave, actual fear. It was big, it was hungry... And it was coming. For one moment of terror and silence, Gouka looked Kirima in the eyes. "Run."

Gouka made good following his own advice, dragging Kirima along if he had to, setting as close to a blistering pace as his injuries would allow. Even then, he held himself back, keeping his speed in check, because he would be damned if he would live only to have left his best friend behind. The cacophony of yips and howls, punctuated by the occasional roar, was all the motivation they needed. Whatever was coming, it was bigger by far than any of these small fry, and it was most certainly coming with reinforcements. However many of them there might have been, standing and fighting would have been a sure death sentence. They needed to get out, and fast.

Gouka's little light was barely enough, the young shinobi only just avoiding tripping over the various scattered bones as he and his companion made it past one set of bones, then the next, driving for the entrance. Behind them, the wave of primal, hungry noise continued, drawing ever closer. He turned the last corner, Kirima almost certainly in tow, the light shining across his father's bones... And Gouka stopped dead in his tracks. For a few moments, he could only stare. Then he began cursing. He began cursing violently. He began cursing violently, vehemently, and would likely have gone on for a long time if another roar had not cut him off.

The entrance, their shining light to salvation and survival, had closed shut behind them. They were trapped. Gouka took deep, calming breaths, trying to rationalize. To think of a way out. 'Alright, be cool, be cool... There has to be a way out of this.' He ran his hand along where the entrance had been, finding not a crack or seam to betray the door. The stone was cold, hard against his hand, his brow furrowing as he did his best to ignore the growing howl. He considered his supplies, considered his predicament, his resources. How thick the stone door had seemed when it'd opened.

He turned slowly to Kirima, doing his best to keep a calm demeanor as a plan formed to mind. A plan he might not live to see the completion of. "... I've got enough explosives on me to blast a way out, Kitkat... But not enough to seal it back shut behind us and keep these things from escaping." He paused for a moment, letting the gravity of the situation sink in. If they didn't get out, they would die. If those things got out... Who knew what kind of havoc they could wreck on the nations if they had ample space to grow, breed... feed. "So, here's the plan."

He twist his remaining dagger in his hand, knowing Kirima would be none too pleased with it. At all. "You're the Nibi container. You have access to... Fantastic, amounts of power. You control a primal beast of hatred, anger, and fire." He let his dagger hang loosely at his side, staring her in the eyes. Hanzoku Kirima. His best friend. "Tap into that. Bust a hole right through that wall to get us out of this hell hole. I'll set up my tags, and once you get us out, I'll blow them and collapse the entrance behind us. While you work on busting down the wall, I'll work on keeping those things off your back."

Gouka's eyes took on a softer, resigned light as he'd reach out, clasping a hand to her shoulder for a firm, reassuring squeeze. "You're not going to like this part. At all. But..." He leaned in, and one could have been forgiven for mistaking him for having romantic intent. But no, Hanzoku Kirima was like a sister to Gouka, and as he'd done with his sister Tsume so many times before, he'd simply place his forehead against hers, one of the only genuine physical displays of affection Takeshi Gouka had given in six years. "I need you to promise me, Kirima, that whatever happens, that no matter what you hear, you won't stop. You won't turn around." A hint of steel crept into Gouka's voice. "Don't stop for anything. Bust the wall down, get out, and just start running." He gave a small smile, pulling away, a bit of cheek in his voice now. "Slow as you are compared to me, you'll need all the head start you can get to keep out of the blast range when I come tearing behind you, setting the tags off."

Gouka would do his best to reassure and calm her, but he would brook no arguments to the set-up; as soon as she'd stop looking, as soon as she'd start to set herself against the wall, the grin would slip from his face, the light would go out from his eyes, and settle into grim determination as he began to make preparations to face whatever may come from down in the depths of this hellish place. If only one of them made it out of this situation alive... Well, Takeshi Gouka would burn in hell before he became that one. 'You will live, Hanzoku Kirima... Even if it has to be over my broken corpse, you will live.' Was the silent vow Gouka would make. He would not lose his precious person to a monster. Not again. Never again.

Legend

Spoiler:

Gouka took a few deep, steadying breaths as Kirima set herself against the cold, cruel stone that barred their escape. The howls were growing louder and louder, and he knew he wouldn't have much time to prepare. Further, he knew Kirima would not be able to simply draw on his Nibi's power at the drop of a hat; she would need time, ample time. Gouka tossed the little ball of lightning, letting it stick to the sealing. It would hold for a bit, enough to light his way. Swallowing nervously, he performed the seals for a jutsu he had come to dread resorting to; Kage Bunshin. With a burst of smoke and a rush of chakra, the dopple-ganger appeared, looking as grim as Gouka felt. Wordlessly, Gouka dug into his supplies, forking over any explosives he had on hand to the clone. The clone would move about, setting the explosive around the cavern, prepping them so they'd detonate all at once, hopefully collapsing the entrance behind them.

While Kirima meditated and his clone prepared, there was little else for Gouka to do except prepare, and ready himself. He steadied his dagger in his hand, pulling a kunai from his pouch, taking slow breaths. His feet shifted as he spread them into a ready stance. In the back of his mind, he could remember one of the many lectures he'd received from his KYOBU mentor, Shoru. 'I call it the 'Soul of Ice.' It's a state of absolute, objective determination. Nothing matters but the goal. Nothing is relevant if it does not work towards the completion of the goal. A mission objective, protecting someone you care for... with a Soul of Ice, nothing supersedes that goal. Everything you do will be directed towards that goal.' The howling grew louder and louder, drowning out a faint murmur from Kirima. The clone finished setting up the tags, placing the various explosive senbon and kunai, and took a ready stance beside Gouka, drawing its own cloned-blade.

'Soul of Ice. Soul of Ice.' Gouka repeated the mantra over and over, the howling, roaring rising to a deafening cacophony of noise. Deep within his prison of ice, Gouka did not hear it. It did not disturb him. Slowly, his face settled into a cool, expressionless mask, his eyes like frozen chips of obsidian in the dim light of the electric orb. The goal was set, the duty was in sight. '... Hanzoku Kirima... will live.' The first gleam of a hungry eye appear, and a single youngling launched itself through the air at Gouka, reckless in hunger. He did not hesitate, barely twitching aside as he let the beast's own momentum split itself across his upraised dagger, blood splashing across Gouka's face. And then the horde was upon him.

They came in twos and threes, youngling after youngling, reckless in their ravenous hunger, throwing themselves at the Black Reaper one after another. Gouka twisted and turned through the heaving bodies, dashing back and forth as he slashed them down, one after another, coating his arms in gore as kunai and dagger rended creature after creature. Others tried to stay low, trying to attack his feet, but they were too slow, far too slow, as Gouka danced out of their reach, striking down upon them like a mongoose on a striking snake or else kicking them aside, the dagger in his boots splitting their weak bellies. Others tried to bypass him entirely, driving instead for the seemingly weak, vulnerable form of the meditating Kirima. His clone would brook no such interference however, quickly bringing down each one that tried to sneak past.

He killed five. Then eight. Thirteen. Twenty. By the time he'd slain his twenty fifth beast, his clone had slowly moved further and further back behind him, closer and closer to Kirima, needing more time to react to the ones bypassing Gouka and having less with each passing moment. The front of the original was completely coated in gore, and more and more floor space was obstructed by tiny little bodies. His muscles screeched in protest at their continued exertions, each body weighing a little more heavily against his blades, but he relentlessly pressed on, face set in icy resolve.

Still, as busy as he was, the first Omega to leap from the darkness, fangs alight with the promise of an electrified bite, a slower shinobi would have lost their life then and there. Gouka jerked to the side, his kunai hand flying up to nail itself into the side of the passing beast's skull. However, momentum, and Gouka stumbling on one of the smaller corpses, caused the beast to wrench his kunai from his hand. Before he could recover, or reach for another kunai, another Omega had launched itself at him from the dark. Gouka cursed as the beast knocked him over backwards, fangs snapping and snarling at his exposed face. He dropped his dagger, letting it hand from its cord as he grabbed the beast's snout, keeping it back. Quick as he could, he pressed his feet into its belly and kicked, boot blades ripping through its stomach, pouring its entrails onto Gouka. The beast howled, and then fell silent.

It took Gouka a few seconds, as he lay there panting, covered in gore and blood, for him to realize he was not yet under another attack. He jerked upright, looking around wildly, fearing the beasts were simply bypassing him entirely to take on Kirima. But no, he could see them, gathered at the edge of the darkness, crouched low, growling lowly in... Fear? It was then that Gouka noticed it was much brighter in the cave. Far brighter than the light of his Flashlight jutsu could account for. Moving unsteadily, he turned around slowly, facing the bright, flickering blue glow.

Kirima radiate bright blue chakra, letting out a piercing, roaringly angry shriek as the chakra erupted, coating her body in bright blue flames. Gouka could only watch in dumbstruck awe, barely registering that scattered sound of scrabbling feet and terrified yips as the beasts began fleeing back from whence they'd come. 'This... is power.' Gouka thought dimly, watching as Kirima thumped her fist against the stone barrier. He watched as she stepped back, mouth opening wider and wider, first a seemingly angry snarl, then unnaturally wide. Then, a furious eruption of pure, raw energy blasted from her mouth, shattering a hole through the door, glorious daylight seeping in.

Gouka did not have any time to begin to feel relief as the ground rumbled beneath him, chunks of stone dropping from the ceiling. He could only watch helplessly as Kirima unleashed another blast of chakra, digging an even greater hole, great heaps of stone crumbling from the ceiling. Gouka and his clone dodged frantically, rocks clattering all around them, fiery arms of chakra lashing out from Kirima to crush the ones falling near her in mid-air as she slowly made her way through the hole she'd created. Finally, just when Gouka feared the entire mountain would collapse atop of him, the rumbling stop. He didn't see any sign of Kirima. He and his clone shared a look, and both took off running for the hole, hopping over various scattered rocks.

They arrived through the hole to see Kirima taking slow, shaky steps through the forge, swaying on her feet. The clone was quicker and closer, darting forward, quickly taking her arm across his shoulders if she would allow it, helping support the tired kunoichi. Gouka breathed a heavy sigh of relief. 'It's good. It's all good. We're safe. We're-' The thought cut off as a furious roar echoed from the cavern, rattling Gouka's teeth in his skull. Almost immediately, a blinding flash of light ripped through the air, a beam of raw electricity sundering through the mountain side, sending down a shower of rocks. Had it been lower, it full well might have ended both Gouka and Kirima.

The clone continued supporting Kirima as Gouka threw himself back to the hole. Seeing what lay within, he could feel his heart drop into his stomach. The beast was massive, so much so it could only just barely fit in the tunnel, claws raking madly across the floor. Its fur was white, but dirty, large patches fallen off, taut skin and bone visible, clear signs of the beast's starvation. The mad desperation that drove it to try and fit through the hole, to launch the bolt of lighting as it had. Time seemed to slow down as Gouka turned to his clone and Kirima, the gears ticking inside his head.

It was perfectly rational, logical, what he did. There was no other choice. The clone would not have lasted long enough to distract it. Kirima was tired and weakened. The beast's lightning blasts would have allowed it to make short work of any rubble, quickly allowing it escape. They needed time. Kirima, needed time. It was the only option, the only logical course of action, but deep down in the Soul of Ice, Gouka could only hope that one day Kirima would forgive him.

The clone would drag her off, using its greater speed to get them both out of range. Gouka threw himself into the cavern, dashing towards the monstrous beast. Its eyes widened in mad hunger as it snarled, a bolt of lightning beginning to build in its jaws. Gouka clasped his hands into a single seal, sending a tiny burst of chakra out. Amongst the tags set up and deployed, 3 sparked to life, the sound lost in the beast's roar. Almost immediately, they lit the tags near them, and the tags near them. The explosion rapidly expanded, consuming thirty four notes, twenty four pouches, sixteen senbon, and two kunai. In other words, one very big boom.

Gouka coughed as he pushed himself to his feet, groaning in the darkness. The explosion had knocked him clear off his feet, but it'd done its job; he was sealed in with the Raiju, as he'd taken to calling it now. It would have no way out... And he would buy Kirima the time to make sure it couldn't get out. He grunted as he stood up, facing towards where the massive thing lay still wedged inside the passage, the too small passage it had clawed into in sheer, ravenous hunger. The glow of it was dim, and it seemed dizzy. Perhaps a few flying boulders had knocked it a bit. It wouldn't last, Gouka knew.

He slowly reached into his pouch, withdrawing the single Raiju fang he'd taken from the skeleton earlier. It was with casual, almost bored ease that he unspooled his wire, wrapping the fang tightly in his hand. A better, more fitting make-shift weapon could not have been had. Gouka was very, very calm, for a man who was utterly confident he was going to die. 'Kirima will live... Whether because I prevent this thing from digging its way out, or buy her the time to escape...' He closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. 'She will live.'

The Raiju was beginning to recover its barings, growling fury increasing moment by moment. Gouka's boots pushed off the ground, time slowing to a crawl as his daggers came to bare. In those final moments, a poem drifted across the icy, cold calm of his mind. He could not remember where he'd heard it, but for some reason, it brought to mind his short-lived, deceased mentor, Vandheer Lorde. 'Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I'll ever know.'

The Raiju screeched in fury as its eyes locked on the darting target of Gouka, an electric glow beginning to build in its mouth. 'Live and die on this day... Live and die, on this day...' Gouka leaped into the air, twirling twing blades of fury, the dagger of his father's forge and the fang of his revenge.

Steel screamed. Thunder roared. Silence reigned

Mood:

[Exit Takeshi Gouka]