The ocean tide crashed against the ancient stony wall before drifting back out to sea. The ocean seemed furious at the fact that the wall stood between the once sandy beaches on the other side. It slammed against it with the will to knock it down but to no prevail. I mean sure there were small holes, with maybe enough room for small boats to get through, but it wasn't enough for the ocean. The ocean was one of the hardest things to control and keep at bay…but the wall had stood fast for many…many years, it surrounded the entire island on which it stood, like a foreboding sign of danger for anyone that dared come near it.
As part of the furious ocean seeped through one of the small holes in the gigantic wall, it carried a small yet beautiful girl who clung on the brink of unconsciousness to a wooden plank. It pushed her onto a small patch of sand, before rushing out once more, to join in the smashing of the wall.
Slowly she pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly trying to regain her equilibrium. Her wet black hair clung to her body, and she blinked open her most stunning feature, her eyes. Surrounding the dark pupil was a glittering green color that could put in Emerald to shame, and as the color expanded her eyes turned from green to a blue. She shielded her eyes from the fierce sun and slowly stepped forward. A massive expansive of foliage stretched as far as she could see; Massive waterfalls pummeled the Earth and she took a few more steps forward. A strong gust of wind whipped right through the thin white dress that clung to her skin and she shivered.
She took a deep breath, and started walking into the jungle, hoping to find some kind of life force here. Her bare feet grew sore and tired after hours of searching, for well…anything. She came across a small opening where a crystal blue river snaked it way in between trees. After taking a long drink. She settled with her back against one of the trees and fell asleep quickly.
She blinked open her eyes and using the tree for support, pushed herself back onto her feet. Stretching her sore and tired limbs. With an echoing thump the ground seemed to shake lightly and the small girl's eyes narrowed slightly. A few seconds later the ground shook again, a little bit harder then before. This happened again and again, until she had to wrap her arms around a tree to stop herself from falling.
Out of nowhere a gigantic paw the color of sand slammed into the Earth on the opposite side of the river and the shaking stopped. Purple markings coiled up the leg.
A gigantic head lowered to the ground, with its strange golden eyes staring directly at her. The small girl stared at the gigantic raccoon-like creature as he looked at her curiously. Its gigantic tail swishing behind its enormous body. The small girl let go of the tree and took a step back, her foot landing in a small puddle, and a blood-curdling scream escaped her lips.
Before she could register what happened his tail coiled around her body tightly and hoisted her into the air. She screamed as he carried her through the vast forest, knocking down trees, rocks, boulders, anything that stood in its path.
He jumped up onto the side of a rocky ledge, off of which a luscious waterfall plummeted to the Earth. The girl screamed and the creature disappeared into a cave throwing her against the rocky bottom. She grunted in pain as her body skidded along the rocks and stumbled to her feet her multi-colored eyes stared up at the creature. He roared causing the cave to shake and the girl to fall down. He tilted his head to the side and watched as she stood back up.
"Who are you girl?" he roared into the cave and she fell from the ferocity of his voice. She shielded her eyes and stumbled back and fell on her butt, this time she remained on the ground.
"M-my name is Amelia…" Her multi-colored eyes locked with the creatures and with as much confidence as possible she spoke once more. "W-who are you?" The creature growled and whipped around, making the girl tremble with fright.
"Stupid girl…All you need to know is that I am a monster and you will be dead before the next sunrise."
Amelia Swallowed hard and bit her lip.
Amelia, you stupid girl. What have you gotten yourself into? She thought, looking at the massive sand tanuki in front of her. Then something strange struck her. "What's a sand demon doing on a lush forest island?" She questioned quietly, not thinking about the subject of conversation being right in front of her. She found herself once more slammed against the wall of the cave, held there by the sand tanuki's tail.
She gasped in pain and looked into the demon's eyes. He looked back at her, and his harsh eyes softened ever-so-slightly. He growled and removed his tail, letting Amelia sink to the bottom of the cave, where she remained still, trying not to cry out at the pain of what she suspected to be a broken rib.
"I am Ichibi no Shukaku, the one-tailed raccoon dog of the sand. You need not know how I came to be here." Amelia sat up and nodded, tears streaming down her face from the pain and resisting the urge to cry out because of it.
Shukaku found himself looking at a little girl with tears streaming down her face. His frown grew more pronounced. She was clearly in pain, though no wound was visible. He thought on that for a moment and realized something was probably broken, most likely her rib, or ribs, if humans had more than one.
"Girl, are you injured?" He questioned harshly. She might as well be fit to run before he killed her. He wanted a chase, after so many years of having lured deer into his cave without much trouble, and lack of movement on his part. No, he needed to feel the chase, and only a creature with a mind enough to ignore his charms would do for that. The girl Amelia nodded her head shakily and breathed out painfully.
Shukaku heaved a great sigh and lowered his face to her level. "Where," He ordered, looking at her intently. She pointed to a rib underneath her white dress. He sighed again. "Take it off." He ordered. Amelia looked at the sand tanuki, astonished. "N-Nani?" She asked. "Take. It. Off." He ordered.
Silently and fearfully, Amelia stripped down to her underwear. Shukaku placed one of his blunt claws on her injured rib, making her wince. He used his chakra to heal the girl, and she immediately slipped into her dress once more. She looked up at him and cracked a toothy grin that lit up her eyes.
"A-arigato," She stammered. Shukaku looked her dead in the eye."Of what use would you be to me here?" He said, his gaze boring into the girl and causing the smile to slide into a contemplative look. "I can cook……" She began slowly.
"Useless to me," Shukaku snorted. Amelia bit her lip, causing a trickle of blood to travel down her chin and hit the stone floor of the cave. "I can hunt, I can sew, I can clean…" She rattled off, quicker now. "All useless," the Shukaku said. "Think of something I could use, stupid girl." She scratched her head. "I-never mind," She almost whispered. Shukaku growled. "Let's hear it," He said. She looked down. "I- I can give massages……" She dropped her voice after every word, so 'massages' came out as a low whisper.
"Stupid girl!" Shukaku laughed, "You've finally found something I needed." Amelia looked up at the great sand demon and smiled again. "You just might prove usefull."