Starring:
Date: March 10, 2014
Summary:
A simple transportation of a sacrifice turns for the worse when Kiri's youth try to take matters into their own hands.
"Clash of the Titans"
Unknown Island Village within the Land of Water
Not all missions are fun missions. Some missions kind of suck from the perspective of a shinobi. These usually consist of a task that goes against the normal beliefs. Things like assassinating children, collecting overly high taxes, or even escorting a human sacrifce to their death for an ancient belief that predates common sense itself.
The sun hangs high in the sky over the salty waves crashing against the hull of the rather large vessel. The crew of the vessel is in constant motion, yelling to one another to ensure that the vessel makes it to the destination on time. Every single crew member seems fairly tense though. Their eyes focus out into the water. No one dares to speak of what it is they all fear.
Tsiro remains below deck. He has called for the entire team to gather on this mission. He was leading a bunch of Genin on a low ranked mission. "Deliver the girl and return home with enough time to hit the bar and get into a fight." he mutters with a grin. His eyes glance around the candle lit table waiting for the rest of the team to arrive.
Kiji came down into the compartment given to them to meet, his pearlescent eyes looking around him but not really focusing on anything at the moment. He bobbed his head to Tsiro as he entered. The boy had allowed his long hair to hang loosely about him and the silken hair and fair face.. he could pass as the sacrifice >.> There was a reason Sarasa had drawn him in a dress….
"It ain't right…"
Words like these having been spilling from the mouth of the hooded youth practically since the mission was first assigned, but always as murmurs. He kept to himself throughout much of the journey out of fear of eventually losing control — sacrificing sordid pride in Kirigakure to release righteous anger. Unfortunately, there was no dodging the others forever. Tsiro saw to that when he passed down word to meet down below deck. He delayed for as long as possible despite knowing the possible consequences, and then grudingly making his way to the meeting point. Kiyoshi spares Tsiro only a brief look from behind his gas mask before making his way as far back in the room as possible without leaving ear or eye shot.
"Is that it? I prefer a nice tea time myself, but I haven't been in a bar brawl in a bit," Isra remarked with a smile. She was glad to be below deck. She didn't have any kind of sea legs so being down here made it easier to bear all the rocking. "In times like these, I like to think there may be alternatives, but I can't think of anything right off hand," she rubbed her neck. She didn't know much about te culture, but she wishes she had enough time to look into it so she could do something about it. Hmm.
"Welcome to the final briefing before the mission takes place." Tsiro states. His eyes focus on Kiyoshi for a moment before moving to the long haired Genin. "This is a mission given to us by our village. Despite not everyone agreeing with it, we are honor bound to deliver the girl. She is to be sacrificed to a large serpent, onced believed to be a god to these people. Are there any questions before we disembark from the ship?" Tsiro asks. He then turns to Isra. "My last bar brawl came close to ending the kaguya uprising before it truly started."
Kiji glanced at Kiyoshi. The younger boy had seemed to be against the mission from the start. Kiji had only seen the girl in question once but she looked not only scared but …. something Kiji couldn't place. He looked to Isra as the swordswoman spoke and found himself pondering. Was there another way? He remained quiet but his eyes had taken on a violet hue as he contemplates the situation…..
As soon as he noted Tsiro's eyes resting upon him, Kiyoshi gritted his teeth at first before inclining his head forward and looking away. The Kaguya was not to blame for the customs of a bunch of fools… Still, the cavelier attitude of the older male irked him nonetheless. "… Once the girl is delivered safely, that would conclude our mission, right?" Once those words slipped from his mouth his mind started to race with possibilities. So long as they completed their contract as stated then they — he would be free to act as he chose. Mostly.
"I'll consider that bar brawl thing again. I just realized I have a chance at dying," Isra chuckled. "But uh, I don't have anything to offer at the moment. I'll just wait until I get on the field and see what comes out of it. Have to do evaluations and all that good stuff," she offers. "I imagine that once we deliver the girl, that'll conclude our mission, yes. Unless anything else happens that should draw our attention."
Tsiro nodded his head. Although he thought it might be a good learning exercise for them to watch the sacrifice, he did not wish to force it. "Yes, the mission ends once we have delivered the girl. Just remember this though. The town paid for us to bring her here. We are obligated to uphold Kiri's end of this bargain. Put your feelings to the side. This will not be the last mission that you disagree with. This is only the start."
Tsiro then moves to the door and opens the hatch. "I will meet you all on the top deck. We should be close to our destination." He motions for them to move out before he follows. He instead goes down to the hold to fetch the girl. She was pretty by most standards. Long red hair, flawless skin and green eyes. Well, bloodshot green eyes. The shackles across her feet and hands prevented her from making it very far. The tape over her mouth prevented her from speaking. It was obvious there were dried tears on her cheek. Though the girl seemed broken as she no longer fought Tsiro in moving her to the upper deck of the ship, it was obvious she had no desire to die as an offering.
Kiji stepped out as if he were to go up to the deck.. then turned and followed Tsiro silently. His eyes were certainly purple by now. He watched the girl's actions, observed how the chains hindered her and the dried blood that showed they had broken the skin in places. The tape at her mouth had been prudent if only to keep thier own sanity… He stood there as Tsiropulled the girl forward. Then, once they had reached the upper deck, with the curiosity of a child Kiji asked Tsiro, "What do they hope to gain by feeding an animal a human?" He did not seem to dislike the mission, rather he seemed to not fully understand the cultural aspect of it.
Kiyoshi merely nods in agreement before averting his attention to nearby wall for the rest of the meeting. They were, as Tsiro said, obligated to uphold Kiri's end of the bargain, and that was to see the girl delivered safetly to the village. But if there was to be some sort of accident…
Jarred from his thoughts by the hatch opening up, one hand immediatly wraps around the hilt o-katana strapped to the kid's back while his gaze locked on the source of the disturbance. Like Kiji, the Moto lingered long enough to catch a good glimpse of the girl before taking his leave, pointedly keeping his gaze focused ahead and all other senses closed after what he just saw.
"Hmmmm," Isra hummed to herself as she heard Tsiro's words. She grinned. She could understand where he was coming from. If anything, everything that was straightforward and to the point was Kiri's way. She went up to the top deck to await Tsiro and before long, he'd arrive with the girl. She figured she'd answer Kiji's question. "It depends from culture to culture, what the significance of the animal holds and what it does. Could be to bring good harvests, rain, that sort of thing," she shrugged. "Keep the gods from getting angry at them or what have you. That sort of thing," she explains while watching the girl.
Soon the ship comes to a stop and it is time for the crew to move on foot to their destination. "Isra is right. Things like this vary from culture to culture. However the crew of that ship was talking about recent attacks in the area. It seems this sea serpent has become hostile towards others entering the area. Almost territorial you could say. I guess the locals consider the serpent a healthy sign though, so they cannot exactly kill it. So they decided to feed it in hopes of solving the issue. I do not claim to understand these people. I just do my job." Tsiro states.
"Alright, we must travel through the forest until we find the temple on the edge of the island. The forest will be dense. We may run into predators, so be on your guard. Understood?" Tsiro asks as he picks the girl up and slings her over his shoulder. He knew by now the Genin were thinking. While this was a mission, this was also a test.
Kiji seemed to think about the answers he was given. They didn'tt exactly explain the logic of feeding a giant creature people, but he could comprehend the concept of a 'belief' in something. He blinked as the girl is slung over Tsiro's shoulder, was it necessary to be rough with the girl? Perhaps if those shackles werent on her feet she could keep up. Ah well. While Kiji saw Kiyoshi's revulsion toward the situation and he had a personal interest in making the younger boy happy, Kiji did not seem overly bothered by the mission. And as had been stated, the mission was to get the girl to the place… not to kill her themselves… Kiji followed behind Tsiro for several moments, making eye contact with the girl. He seemed to be studying her expressions.
Kiyoshi trails after the others once they disembark, following only absently since the plan required perfection. The only thing to disturb his thoughts is the feeling of eyes upon him. As easy as it would be to just chuck the feeling up to paranoia given his goals, the boy still found himself cautiously looking over the others. "… Hai." He emits quietly and belatedly before focusing — Mostly, in anycase — on keeping an eye out for wild animals… or like-minded locals seeking to prevent the sacrifice. Kiyoshi's attention becomes that much more divided with Kiji's apparent attentiveness to the girl. Did he dare to hope?
"Hostile towards outsiders, hm?" Isra considered. "That changes things a bit," she states. "Assuming that an animal is some sort of god is one thing and that's all well with cultures like these, but to us, they're just like any other animal. This one has likely adapted to the people around it. If it's bothered by others with the exception of these people, it means there's another source to this problem that feeding it young girls isn't going to solve," she explained. "It's possible we might be able to solve this mystery if we want to take time out to do so after we deliver the girl…"
Isra continued along with the group towards the temple. She tried to keep on her toes being around here. A forest this dense was bound to have its share of localized problems.
After a while of travel, the team finally reaches their destination. A set of white, stone steps raises upwards from the ground and travels out to a cliff sight over the ocean. At the end, there are two large rocks in which both sets of shackles can be attached to. The area is quiet except for the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.
"This looks like it is it." Tsiro states as he points off to the side. "There are all the inhabitants. They are waiting to see what happens." Tsiro does not put the girl down, but instead turns to Isra. "I am not certain that we will have time to investigate the issue before the girl dies." Tsiro then glances at the girl. He could see the hatred in her eyes. To her, he was scum. Even though he had carried her so she did not have to trek barefoot across and island before her death. "I guess I will go finish this. You all can wait here if you wish…"
Kiji glanced at Kiyoshi then to Tsiro then back to Kiyoshi before he finally regarded the girl…. Hmm… His eyes shifted slightly into a bright purple before he flashed through several hand signs and … HENGE! Suddenly there are two red-haired girls in shackles standing there. Kiji had even kept the bloodied ankles and wrists and the snarls in her hair.. She (he) tilted his head at the girl then looked at Kiyoshi, expecting something from the younger boy, a nod to go ahead, a suggestion, another henge, something. He was following what he thought Kiyoshi wanted. He'd known Kiyoshi for only a short time but he knew that the other boy was not cruel for the sake of it and he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders (even if it was hot now and then) And perhaps this might make up for the other day when he'd angered Kiyoshi with a henge.
Kiyoshi doesn't respond to anything of it after the reach what was to be the end of the line of the sacrifice. After spending the last leg of the trip divided between duty, uncertain alliances, and planning, in the end he found his mind wanton. His shoulders sagged under the weight of all the ifs and whys that flitted about now that judgement was at hand.
Wearily and thoughtlessly, he turns his gaze upon Kiji and… just murmurs a, "Do what you want." before sinking back into his own pool of misery. He may have wondered why Kiji even expected anything of him in the first place. Kiyoshi is only nine — ten years old! He's just a kid… A very desperate, temperamental kid that's going to get punished one way or another when they returned. Without another moment to lose, Kiyoshi runs off in search of another ledge overlooking the sea or some place to at least climb down far enough away from both the villagers and the sacrifice.
"I wonder why they don't feed guys to this thing. I mean, they have more meat by comparison…" Isra remarked offhandedly about the sacrificial offering. "Oh well. Anyhow, I imagine we won't have enough time—" She observes as Kiji takes the form of the girl. "Or we might," she smirks. "It's dangerous, but I think we can probably figure out what's got this thing so rustled and put an end to it. Better to prevent needless deaths, after all, even if it's on a minor scale."
She observed Kiyoshi. "Hey. You ought to be useful in this," she says to him as he runs off. Shoot.
Tsiro shakes his head at Kiji. "I do not want to report to the Mizukage that I lost a genin to a giant serpent." Tsiro states. He then marches up the steps with the girl over his shoulder. She squirms as he sets her down and attaches the shackles to the rocks. As Tsiro turns away from the girl a loud bell is rung. The vibration of the bell shaking the very ground everyone is standing on. It appears the serpent has been called.
Kiyoshi's reaction was enough for Kiji. Something inside him snapped and he turned, stepping in front of Tsiro. He gave a polite bow, still in the guise of the prisoner. He seemed resolute but Tsiro's words draw a miffed expression from the boy. "I don't want to report to Mizukage-dono that I did not help Kiyoshi-kun when he needed it." Still int he guise of the girl he followed Tsiro up the steps, determined like a leech. He goes to the edge of the rock and yells down and back, as he's unsure where Kiyoshi went, "KIYOSHI GET UP HERE OR ITS ON YOUR HEAD!"
Kiyoshi heeds no ones call. There was just not enough time as far as he was concerned, because there was no telling just >when< the serpent — "Who-whoa!" He emits, flailing for a few moments for purchase. By pure dumb luck he manages dig his nails in deep, securing his position on the rock face once more. A sigh of relief escapes his lips. "Alright, just.. *gulp* just a few more feet." He murmurs as he started down once more for the stairways along the cliff face. He would be exposed. There's no hidden tunnel, no winding path, no hope of any sort of instant rescue should his plan severly backfire. Just him, an extreme drop that even he might not survive, and a beast that very well might ignore what he had in mind…
This is not what Isra had in mind when all this took place, but…maybe there's some boon in all of this. Maybe. Just maybe. Frick. She decided to go after Kiyoshi since he would probably be closest to the serpent they'd be coming in contact with. If only she had an idea of what was going on here or…no. Stall for time. Let's see…smoke tag ought to do the trick. A bit of magic to go with this beastie.
She pulled out a few and tossed them up on the cliff to blow up some smoke on the situation.
The idea of two girls seems to upset the natives greatly. The sound of angry yells can be heard from one side. To the other side the sound of water splashing is heard. The giant serpent rises from the water. It curls up and the head rears back as if it is about to strike. Then the smoke gets in it's eyes….
Tsiro rolls his eyes and groans as Kiji runs forward making a scene of himself. "Are you dense child?" he asks. His crimson eyes turn on the boy. "You are a shinobi. You need to figure these things out with stealth. Now you have put everyone in danger." The words are harsh, yet firm. Tsiro places his fingers together to build his chakra. It appeared it was time to fight.
Kiji kept the henge up, but turned, drawing a kunai and going to work on the girl's chains, slowly his eyes start to show a ring of orange around his deep purple eyes. He knew he ws likely to be yelled at by Tsiro, possibly punished in some way for his actions. And he held little hope that he'd get away from Yoichi-sensei and Meruin-dono either. But he'd decided to do what Kiyoshi seemed to want and could not for some reason…. He did not fully understand his own actions, but he did not have the time to ponder it. Once the girl's chains are sheared from the rock, he held her face firmly, speaking. "Stay behind us and keep your head down and you might survive this." Then, once he had any confirmation she had listened to his words, he pulled the tape from her lips and turned to face the villagerrs…. So they were superstitious people… hmmm He could work with that… He gathered his own chakra and readied himself for a fight…
Kiyoshi starts to turn towards the source of the minor explosion, only to stop short and zero in on the rising serpent. For the first few moments fear starts to work its way into his system upon seeing just how huge the creature was. Crippled by fear, Kiyoshi can only stare at it as it reared back, ready to devour its sacrifice (and more if it could perhaps) and be on its way. Seeing it flounder from the smoke however instills courage in the boy once more.
Without further hesitation and cheeks burning from embarrassment, Kiyoshi … unzips his shorts and starts peeing into the ocean. For such a little guy the boy was obviously holding in a lot, though, that's not even the worse part about it. The smell is just so… pungent, horribly so! Even if the serpent can't smell it, the vapors rising up will taint its tongue and eyes. And it's all thanks to a few modifications on his and 'the other's part…
And then, in his most impudent and loud voice possible he calls out, "Oi, ya limp noodle!! Iz piss'n in your water~ And I'm marking my territory all, over, yo, altaaar~" He makes certain to swing to and fro on the last part, spreading out his release. "'nd there ain't nuthin you can do about, so nyah, nenna, nier, nier~"
Isra went to handle the serpent along with Kiyoshi. This thing needed to be held off from eating people, but she still doesn't know what could've upset it in the first place to lead it to eat people. She began to focus her chakra to fight, but ultimately, she wanted to determine the source of the serpent's upset. As she drew close, an odor began to waft into her nose and she had to cough to keep it from proceeding any further into her body. She traced it back to Kiyoshi and although that's probably not a scene she wanted to see, she could approve that he had used something like that to draw the attention of the beast.
Kiyoshi underestimated the creatures intelligence and appetite. He's not going to do that again, so zipped up and prepared to try and tackle/claw the creature as it leaned in to devour the sacrifice. Just as he's prepared to make the leap, Tsiro disrupts his focus, causing the boy to stumble closer to the edge. With the aid of a little tree walking the worst is avoided, though the beast first attack renders it a difficult to stabilize for a few moments longer.
Growling guttural, Kiyoshi whips his head up to try and see just what was going on up top. But nothing is in view. All he can hear roughly is the sound of fighting atop… and the villagers approaching from further down the stairs. He cannot move nor does he budge an inch, only snap his gaze from the serpent and the best position to at least impede the stairs before grudingly acting upon the lesser of two evils. For now.
Digging deep, Kiyoshi enlarges his arms and ossifies his skin, then buries one of the former into the wall. If they wanted up they'd — have to dance around bloody senbons, THEN try to push their way past him!
Well, shoot. Guess attacking this thing is out of the question. She needs to secure the exit route. How fun. With senbon and armsflinging all over the place, this should be a breeze. She didn't want to bring any real harm to these villagers, so she threw her explosives off center so that the blast wouldn't do enough damage to kill them. "Tsiro, don't kill the serpent!" She thought to call back over her shoulder. That thing did exist for a reason, after all, even if its purpose had been changed to consuming sacrifices for the time being.
Well, shoot. Guess attacking this thing is out of the question. She needs to secure the exit route. How fun. With senbon and armsflinging all over the place, this should be a breeze. She didn't want to bring any real harn to these villagers, so she threw her explosives off center so that the blast wouldn't do enough damage to kill them. "Tsiro, don't kill the serpent!" She thought to call back over her shoulder. That thing did exist for a reason, after all, even if its purpose had been changed to consuming sacrifices for the time being.
The serpent blinked as it returned to its starting position with nothing in its mouth, teeth only finding clone smoke. A guttural growl began emanating from the beast's maw as its length began shifting within the waters, annoyance beginning to settle into it as Kiji shot out blood needles. The sanguine senbon hit the animals scales and simply bounced off, hard protection keeping it from harm. But that didn't stop it from lower it's huge head and simply sweeping it across the cliff top, looking to cause a little destruction and send the living animals into the water.
Tsiro dashed over the swipe of the serpent. He had heard the warning. "If you all dont start moving, I'm going to kill everything here!" he yells. A long, blade-like bone protrudes out of his hand. Tsiro then vanishes and appears on the other side of the serpent. If the attack was successful, a gash would appear in the side of the serpent's body. "Come on you overgrown eel! Lets brawl!" His eyes focus on Kiji once more. There is a light growl. The child was starting to upset the Kaguya.
Kiji saw the beast's head coming and though he tried to defend with his ninjutsu, he ultimately failed. He did, however, keep the sacrifice from getting hit, by shoving her hard back against the rock where she just barely was missed by the sweeping head. He, however was not so lucky. He felt something jar in his chest when the head hit him but he grit his teeth and latched onto the thing's snout. He knew it would probably mean death if he landed in the water… So there he was, eye to eye with the creature. His arm was still bleeding luckily and he drew more blood from his arm and a cut on his side and aimed it at the thing's nose and eyes, the first step would be to get the blood into the system… He should have no trouble getting the blood in the thing's nostrils, the eye was a bit trickier, but he was determined to help take the thing down. Assuming he managed to get blood into the soft tissues of the nose and eyes Kiji would clamp down and activate his attack from the inside, hoping to cause it pain or destroy an eye.. Also as a side effect he might manage to get some of the blood into the thing's blood streaam… then he would have the opportunity to destroy it's heart.. if only…. He hung on with all his strength.
Kiyoshi grip on the cliff tightens as the explosives go off. Leave it to the Dynamite Mentor of Kirigakure to cause a little extra havoc. Kiyoshi sighs in exasperation as he pried himself free, then began making his way down to another anchor point. Again, he's nearly thrown off the side thanks to the antics of the others, and again, he bites his lips to resist the urge to handle the matter personally. Their "leader's" order was quite clear. Open an exit rou-rou-wait… Were they already paid for this mission? Because if so, Kiyoshi had no qualms with adding more than a few lumps to the villagers head, even though harming them more meant Kirigakure losing some repeat business. For their sake, he hoped there would not be a next time…
Isra doesn't think they'll have any problem with an exit route now. If the villagers didn't know before, they certainly should know now that this group isn't one to be messed with. That left the serpent to be dealt with and she'd help the process along by turning back and trying to knock the thing out. It didn't have to have a lot of chakra, but it certainly had stamina to last this long and attack the group.
A serrated scream abruptly burst from the serpent's mouth as a rent opened up in its flesh from Tsiro's blade, the creature abruptly pulling back away from the cliff and writhing in pain, its motions sending Kiji's blood needles off target, making them bounce off of scales rather than neatly entering nostrils or eyes. The majority of Isra's draining seals manage to land and attach to its sinuously coiling body, their thrown application well timed. They drain energy from the serpent before abruptly detonating in chakra fueled explosions, sending the beast into another bout of pained squirming and bloody screaming, head lashing hard enough to send Kiji flying off of it and back towards the cliff.
The huge animal puts some distance between itself and the cliff, letting out a bellow towards those that stood on stone, membrane crests rising from its head as it length begins churning in the water, bringing the ocean around it to a froth. Abruptly, it plunges down into it, the whole of its body taking some time to follow.
But it isn't much longer before it streaks out of the depths with yet another bellow, slitted eyes locked on the cliff as a massive amount of water lifted around it, rushing towards its sacrifices. It was more than enough to slam into the cliff and flood it, water rushing with enough speed and force to sweep up any it caught and carry them down it.
Perhaps it was pride. Perhaps it was ego. There was a spot somewhere in Tsiro's body. Maybe it was not even his body, but his soul that had become angry. The genin no longer listened. The mission was a failure. It was simply botched. His orders went unfollowed from the get go. The natives had become restless and everyone seemed to want to take a whack at the giant sea serpent. Surely Tsiro could understand this. He had been there once before. However a Kaguya could only take so much. "You all were warned. Let the massacre begin…
As the wave rushed forward, Tsiro vanished. He returned atop of the steps with his pressed into the ground. "Dance of the Seedling Fern." Almost instantly the ground starts to quake beneath the feet of everyone on the island. First a massive bone spikes out of the ground picking off a single villager. Then another and another. Soon the bones are rising by the hundreds. They are everywhere, creating a maze of havoc and screams of pain as innocents are slaughtered by the dozen. This was no longer a mission. This was the destruction of an entire people. Even the ocean around it began sprouting the massive bones. The entire area around the giant serpent began to bubble and shift like boiling water as the bones shot upwards seeking to impale the creature. In the end, Tsiro is no where to be seen… that is if anyone or anything survived.
Kiji went flying, struck the clifface and fell. He might have gotten back up but for the rushing of water all around him. He wasn't fully aware of what happened next. His body was overcome by the water and in the rush he'd hit his head and just about everything else on the rocks around him. Bones broke, blood issued forth, the cuts and bruises were too numerous to take note of in that split emoment. He was washed out into the water. Unknowingly, Tsiro saved him from drowning. One of the bone spikes that sprung from the ground caught his shirt, lifting him just far enough out of the water for him to be seen and for him to breathe. He floated there, caught between the bones and the current. Blood stained the water and bones around him… Closer inspection would be needed to see all of the damage, some of which was internal.
Kiyoshi collapses to his knees from the screeching monster, covering his ear with the only free hand he had left. The explosions from the tags do little to make it any easier on the poor boy's ears. Thankfully, the explosion are about the last thing Kiyoshi has to worry about hearing before the beast disappears beneath the surf once more. The boy dares — DARES to actually have hope, to believe that its disappearance meant both the success of the mission with a heaping of extra credit for driving the beast away. Opening his eyes and seeing only a giant wall of water headed his way kills any such hope. The most he can manage is to turn his back against it and brace himself against the cliff-face…
Moments later, Kiyoshi turns up a good hundred meters away from the site of destruction all together, well under-water and sinking fast now that the current was no longer on his side. About the only thing keeping him alive now is Kokuo's forced body morphing… though who knows how long that will last.
Isra, upon seeing the wave of water rushing towards her, settled her hands on the ground to spread out a seal which would then summon forth a barrier. The water crashed against it and rumbled before settling into place and sloshing about. It was a disturbing image as some bodies managed to raise up and thump against it having been subject to the wave or lifted from a bone spire after being skewered. She sighed to herself and rubbed her neck as she thought about her next step. Since this forest of ivory has risen up around here, it's likely the serpent is going to be killed. So much for that request. All she had left now was to go and see to it that the genin were okay.
She took advantage of the bone and used her tree walking skills to walk up and use one as a lookout point to case the area. She spots Kiji not too far away and couldn't see Kiyoshi at all. If only she could seal away water, but now is not the time to think about those things.
She seeks out Kiji and retrieves his body to move it away and to safety. Once she found a spot of high ground, she went back out in search of Kiyoshi to go and get him.
The serpentine creature lets loose another, sudden and piercing cry as the ocean begins to roil around it. The waters quickly tinted red, its vast body already being torn into deep beneath the surface of the sea. It tried to move away but was brought up short as though it were being held back, speared by the bone forest growing through it. It wasn't long before the bone that shot upwards eventually found its mark in the creature, stabbing through in a myriad of places to the beast's pained protest. Soon, the struggling animal broke the trees that stabbed through its visible body only to simply fall into the ocean in a gout of bloody spray.
The waters quickly calmed.
