Defeating SwollenMan

Mission Info:

It was too soon to go out looking for SwollenMan after what had happened in the wilderness with Hikari. Still, she had only gotten pieces of the fighting and the story after it all. It seemed everyone involved had memories they weren't completely willing to divulge but judging by the injuries she had observed recovering while she herself was in recovery, plenty of things had happened while she was unconscious. Kannagi was angry: angry at Kenji for being unable to use her sacrifice to finish their mission and stop Hikari, angry with Hikari for injuring her and putting himself in harm's way, angry at the people who had convinced Hikari to go with them, angry at the Blaze members who had also failed their mission, but above everything she was angry with herself for being unable to reach Hikari despite how she revealed her deepest vulnerabilities and had made herself a burden instead of an asset during the mission. Pursuing SwollenMan was a necessary evil, something she needed to complete regardless of the soreness in her body and mind. She might have saved those children with Hikari's help but it was time to go after SwollenMan before he ran away or recovered too much. Kannagi clenched her hands tightly and then relaxed them when pain lanced through her body. Tension was too painful and she focused on her breathing to stay calm.

She had healed well enough, but not without scarring. It seemed every time she thought about that night, about Hikari, the pain would return to her and the sudden fearfulness of both living and dying consumed her. Traumatic though it was, the kunoichi had to finish off SwollenMan even if she hadn't fully recuperated. The woman approached the same collapsed sand dunes and caves that she had been to before and examined the area carefully. It appeared that some of the rubble had been moved or displaced on the half of the underground caves where she knew SwollenMan, or whatever was down here, was still hiding. This would have been easier with the Usagi who could read these tunnels with his ears and feet, silently locating the monster or man for a stealthy attack. The situation was what it was, and Kannagi had to go on. She touched the side of her neck, a small knot of gnarled white flesh could be felt betwixt the new skin, the place where she had almost had her jugular cut apart and then climbed down towards the rubble and entered the darkness of the tunnels.

WC: 424 /1600

---

How ironic of them.

The words were cold but had a soft touch as usual. Tone free of any remorse or possible qualms about him dying if he were to fail. Fingers still and the same eyes that would look so piercing. She still had her hair style as she was one for thinking about beauty even when she would commit to the kill. None of this however mattered. To Hikari, none of this mattered to the eyes of a rabbit who could not see anything. Though, it was simply a name that was uttered by the woman’s lips that had caused him to draw in a deeply dsiturbed breath.

“Swollenman…”

It was a good thing the Kunoichi, Mei Mei, had not dwelled too much on Hikari’s reaction. There was only the concern that the job was done and seen through. As Hikari Usagi, a child of commitment would always do so, he would see the job done. With himself departing to the sands, he would head to the place of origin that he had been before. The importance of the mission and how it was making the Missing Ninja not draw attention was last on his mind. There was only the nostalgia and the feelings from that memory when he would search for this creature in order to alleviate his clan’s worries.

He had arrived at the dunes. The tunnels beneath were still ripe with his doing. The ears of the rabbit would twitch as they would listen about the area. The pockets that formed caverns and coves had seemed to have been shifted ever so slightly like a simple repositioning. It was disturbing as it could only be done by someone who was he: A Usagi, a doton specialist, or someone who had a lot of fury on their side and the strength to make it matter. He would swallow while reaching around to his waist. The white pelts adorning his body would allow for him to grab a simple scroll. He remembered the contract he had made, and thus would savor it as he would walk to the opening of the cavern. A silent approach perhaps the best.

Hikari was without a doubt a different Usagi.

His ears would twitch as he would close his eyes and focus. The reach of the vibrations had gone from a simple thirty meters to sixty. Whenever this creature hid, it would be in vain within a matter of seconds. However, with a moment that he would start, he would find that beneath his feet, something was there but not like that of the creature. The caverns were echoing with steps of someone who had the gall to adventure down where the creature dwelt with the slightest of movements hinting at location but giving no secrets from the dark. Seemingly aware of Hikari’s ability now, it was perhaps ever so careful. The lilac haired rabbit’s attention was focused on another.

That movement. That breathing. That figure.

“I-It...cannot be.”

He whispered as if he was appalled by fate’s transpiring. Hesitant, he would simply stand, stare, and consider leaving this for another day, even if it meant upsetting Mei Mei. Though, his heart had told him he had to know if what he heard was true. Did the shadows deceive him? Was the dead walking beneath the ground?

Questions that carried him to walk into the opening tunnel, proceeding into the caves, and waking fragile steps in the prints of the one he pursued: The kunoichi that he thought was perhaps a phantom.

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Hikari::
[Stamina: 180/180]
[Chakra: 150/150]

Action 1: N/A
Action 2: N/A

Word Count :: 591/1,600

Kannagi made her way through the dark tunnels beneath the dunes of sand. It got dark too fast. There weren't exposed openings in the rock that created the tunnels under all those layers of sand above. Surely, she thought this must have been undersea at one point before the landscape changed the the ocean receded, or something. Kannagi made a few hand seals and created a dense paper torch then drew out a packet of matches to light the end of it and create a glowing source to aid her sight. She wandered deeply for nearly a half an hour until the tunnel became a forked pathway. She didn't see much difference at a quick glance but the tunnels on the right side were shining and wet. Was there an underground pool of water or had some sort of water jutsu been applied here recently? She closed her eyes and listened next, hearing the slow and echoing sounds of a breath. It confirmed to her that whatever or whomever was down here, known only to Kannagi by the name SwollenMan, was indeed a living breathing thing. When she took a deep breath the only thing she noticed was the smell of blood coming from both tunnels.

She looked either way with a frown, her blue eyes open now, and then the kunoichi approached the right tunnel. "Wet side first then," Kannagi uttered to herself. If something was living down here and that something was the cause of the shine on the walls, it would be good to match up the recency with the evidence. Of course, both tunnels smelled like a butcher's vendor and that concerned her as well. Could it have been the children who were uncounted for? Missing people from the area? Or maybe simply the smell of rust from the compounds of the rock and water oxidizing it? Kannagi rotated her wrist and checked her senbon launcher to make sure it wouldn't jam up and followed the wet right side tunnel through the darkness. She had expected lizards or spiders, but there were none. The blue haired woman was glad for the lack of animal pests but without them it made the experience all the more strange. It was as if whatever creature was here was an actual alien from another plane of existence. Or maybe Kannagi thought she knew more than she did about the places she had traveled.

Her eyes skimmed the walls as she walked but the wet shine never stopped. Finally, the blue haired female got the courage to touch the wall with a single finger and draw it away and towards her nose. Kannagi never got the chance to smell the substance as a burning sensation began to tingle and then sizzle upon her skin. She yelped softly, trying not to make a loud sound and disturb SwollenMan. Kannagi wiped her finger off on her shorts and looked at it, seeing a reddened area like a blister forming from where she had touched the wall. "Poison, or perhaps acid." The female considered aloud before lowering her shoulders with a groan. "So don't touch the walls, then," She told herself firmly. Upon the wall the smear where her finger had swiped had turned both dry and dark black in color, but Kannagi had no desire to try touching the wall again even if she was looking for answers. There was always the possibility that the rocks exuded some strange chemical, a fungus or microorganism of some sort excreting an acidic defense; Kannagi believed that whatever it was, the strange wet coating likely came from SwollenMan. She had no reason to think so, but she was willing to take any information that she could get on the mysterious monster down here.

Less than five minutes later, the kunoichi felt a crunch under her foot and discovered a tiny skeleton splintering around her sandal. A chill ran up her spine and she leapt backwards with a gasp. Kannagi peered closer and bent down with her make shift torch in hand to examine the skeleton next. And beside it, there was another, and another. The skeletons were reptilian and mammalian, but very small. Whatever creature was in here, it was surviving on whatever animals happened to wander into its lair. She could only hope that SwollenMan would not see her as its next meal.


WC: 424+728= 1152/1600

---

Light or darkness did not matter. All of it was nothing before misty eyes that would steady their gaze. As usual, it was his ears that guided him bit by bit through the tunnel. His mouth closed tightly as his nostrils would gently flare to life. His breathing was steady as the chakra flow that would go to the drums that would send the piece of metal verbarating. The faux ears would lively make the false ears twitch to represent a creature or prey although, at the moment, he was the one acting in pursuit of something else. Swollenman was perhaps a creature that warranted his attention, but it was nothing compared to the creature that fascinated him that had gone through the tunnels.

Hikari was not a shinobi, but a shadow in his heart told him otherwise. He could not fight the instincts to take note of that horrible smell. Flesh being burned or melted into nothing was like the scent of flowers to him at this point. Death was something that he felt like the wind against his flesh. Mild displeasure upon his face as he started to realize his own stupidity. Never could he escape this sensation that gripped his heart: that he was something next to kin to a shinigami at this point and knew his work like family, Even if blind, Hikari knew he was dozing off in his gentle steps that carried him through the tunnels. He would think about how foolish he had been to think he could escape his fate that brought him back to what he knew, and not to mention here.

“I-I...cannot stay here for long,” Sickeningly he would say. His heart longing to know if his ears were telling him lies or not, but he knew the ultimate truth was that he deserved not to know. “I need to hurry.” Hikari’s hand would lift to his mouth as he would ready to clip a piece of flesh with his teeth. Pausing only when his ears would twitch hearing something grotesque from the walls. Bubbling and oozing it had seemed like something that was gooish and creeping against the surface. His mouth remained open no longer as he would clench his teeth together and simply lower his hand.

“Something is wrong.”

His Usagi instincts crying aloud as he would lift his right foot. The iron geta would slam against the ground as waves of sound would rip through the air with a clang and he would twist his hips to plant his soles firmly in an absolute stance. The seismic waves making the Earth tremble...ever so slightly. He knew he would give his position away with the burst of chakra, but he knew also that there was something that played at his creature-like senses. His ears twitching as the sound would be deterred by this strange terrain that did not give away as easily. Beyond the oozing surface of the walls were remains of flesh that had melted away. Bone was resisting the marrow feebly as the strange texture that was not Earthen was melting away at the forms within.

“This is...not Earth?” He would wince, “If I summon the Sisters here, then they will be melted by this. If I use Earthen Arts, then I shall be reduced to liquid. Is this..perhaps because of myself?” He could not help but to think about that last encounter with the Swollenman. It was not face to face, but he knew its strength well. It would stop the very Earth from crushing it and even survived the very caves betraying it as Hikari had used the Earthen Arts of the Usagi with extreme prejudice. It was in vain to finish off the creature apparently, but it no doubt gave it a headache and a temper to make such measures.

“Now it has made the Earth betray me...” Hikari lips twisted in admiration and horror.

“If she-” Denial causing him to roll his eyes, “Whoever...is down here, they are at a disadvantage. I-I...I am at a disadvantage. If I do not catch up to them soon, warn them, then perhaps they will be in danger.” Caring was not for the life of a Missing Ninja. Mei Mei had told Hikari that many times over so that he may not fall prey to these emotions. His heart raced as he could only think of the form and voice of the figure who was within the tunnels. A mistake he was making! That is what he reasoned. Even if not? Mei Mei was right! Caring would get him killed! A rogue only looked out for one’s self.

Logic that escaped him as he ran into the tunnels quickly with his ears guiding him. With the swiftness of the rabbit and the crunching of the skeleton, he desperately raced forth to try to reach the person proceeding into the tunnels.

“Please be safe!” His misty eyes narrowed. “Please be safe...if you are-”

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Hikari::
[Stamina: 180/180]
[Chakra: 150/150]

Action 1: N/A
Action 2: N/A

Word Count :: 878 + 591 = 1,469/1,600

Kannagi spent a bit more time, slowly now, making her way through the tunnel. It ended in a large oval like room, a chamber so large that her make-shift torch could not highlight every corner nor every depth. The smell was rancid, like sulfur combined with rotten citrus fruit. With such an intense aroma, Kannago could not deny that she had reached the end of the SwollenMan's lair. She saw no movement so far and hoped that whatever or whomever was down here was merely resting in a hibernation like state. There was no way she was going to be so lucky, but the kunoichi hoped that was the case. The alternative was far worse; the idea that it being out of sight did not mean she was not seen by it. It could be watching her, luring her, trapping her, without a sound or a motion. The light glinted off shiny rocks and she nodded as recollected that it was the same as the tunnels. Caution when touching the walls, caution as well as the ceiling seemed to drip occasionally as well.

She took a deep breath and then made a few hand seals, surrounding her body in a jutsu that worked like an armor to protect her. It would take more than a few drops of acid or a clumsy trip and fall to end Kannagi's life. She scratched her head, unable to remember now if she had told anyone that she was coming here. If she fell, would anyone know? If she was injured or killed, would anyone ever find her? She itched her cheek once and then spotted a small pile of sticks in the center of the enormous room. An old fire place, she thought. This place was just an old hideaway then, not a creation of the killer that lived within its walls now. Kannagi leapt down about a meter and landed in the cavern with ease before walking towards the old fire place. If she could set it aflame, the room would show her much more and she would have an advantage with using both hands to attack or defend down here. She approached the stick pile cautiously and without a sound until she stood next to it. Kannagi dipped her torch down as if to light it up and gasped.

These were no sticks: they were bones. Human and usagi bones! The ones she and Hikari had not recovered rested here in the center like a pile of trash, not an abandoned fire pit. She placed the torch on top with a shaking hand and whispered, "By the stars and sun, have mercy." These poor children had met a horrific end and she could not imagine anything human would have so thoroughly cleaned the white bones, nor could she fathom an animal that had the sense to stack the bones in a semi organized pile in the center of the room. What was this place? She listened carefully, squinting her blue eyes around the room before moving her hands into a preemptive seal: if SwollenMan had gone out then it would not be here, but the other tunnel she had seen was dry. There was a chance it was here somewhere and she would need to kill it, as her mission dictated, and even if she were alone. Kannagi did not see the black creature lower itself from the ceiling behind her, moving silently like a spider with an amorphous and fat form of a bipedal humanoid being. It did not appear to have any eyes, its arms reaching on either side of Kannagi as it prepared for a gruesome attack. It's mouth opened wide until nearly the full eight foot height of the creature was a massive open jaw, ready to grab hold of the blue haired kunoichi. Its breath let out a horrific sulfuric smell and its saliva dripped to the floor and created little holes where it corroded the stone away.

Kannagi smelled the creature only, not hearing a sound. When she moved to rotate in a cautious and lethargic manner, the sight stretched her expression wide in horror.



WC: 1152+690= 1842/1600