A horrible, broken cry shot through the cave, carving it's name into Kakashi's bones. The sound came from no where and every where, at once. Kakashi glanced to his right. Sai was gone. The small sliver of light that came from the mouth of the cave was now gone. Did time somehow pass by so fast that it was already dark? Impossible.
He didn't dare speak, didn't dare call out any of their names. The silence in the cave was the type of silence that needed to remain if you wanted to live. Kakashi knew this silence, from many battles ago. He was familiar with the consequences of breaking this silence, and he wasn't ready to face them again.
The water rippled, his blood turned to ice. In the black pool of darkness, something slithered through the water. His heart broke into a frenzied rate, and he was so sure that that thing could hear it as loud as he could. It pulsed in his ears and neck and arms and defined him clearly to the creature down there. He knew it. He knew how it worked. It's only sense was the ability to hear human heartbeat. And the louder it was, the easier it was to seek you out. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his raging heartbeats. No matter how slow, and how quiet your heartbeats were, it would hear you. That's why encountering the creature only ends one way. Unless you're already dead.
The scream he heard belonged to Sakura. Down in the trench, she battled off against another gruesome creature. It duh it's claws into her back and yanked her out off the wall, and across the trench where she had no where to hold herself on to. She thrashed around, trying to keep afloat but the liquid weighed her down like syrup. Which also made it difficult to move in. Her back stung in the eight points that were touched by the monsters claws, and now burned with the black muck pouring into them, weakening her. Her fingernails were cracked and her arms bled from countless places. The pressure was washing over her. She was going to die soon.
She felt the water tremble, ripples passing through her. It was coming back. Sakura relied on the only thing that could help her detect it. Sound. It circled around her, clockwise and then counterclockwise. As if playing a game, trying to make her lose. She wouldn't lose. She threw out her arms and summoned whatever ancient magic that was untouched by the muck around. It took painful effort since it's been years that she had to use it. A pale green light erupted from her palm, illuminating the trench with its powerful brightness. The face of the monster was now visible to her and she almost wished she hadn't seen it. It's face was a ashy grey, old and withered, almost crumbling away. It's mouth gaped open, starting from the middle top of its head to the bottom. It had pale white gums, and teeth that looked black, jagged nails. It's eyes were no where to be seen but it still hissed hysterically when the light flashed upon it. Perhaps it was sensitive to heat. Sakura has just enough time to wade to one side of the trench and hold on with her now perfect nails and healed skin. That light was nothing more than healing magic. She pulled a long dagger from her baldric and jumped back into the center of the pool, slashing at where she thought the creature was. But as soon as that light had gone off, the creature has gotten back behind her. She swirled around and only managed to lodge her blade into its cracked face before it dragged her down, into the belly of the trench.
.
After lowering down the snake, they all learned one thing. If they were silent, they would live. And that's how Boruto ended up clutching to a rope, a fabric tied around his face to keep his mouth shut, as he was lowered into the darkness. Mitsuki and Yodo had already made it to the bottom, the rest just had no idea if they were alive or not.
Boruto didn't dare breathe too loud. His whole body shook with the fear of being caught, since dying was not an option. He closed his eyes, trusting Shikadai and Inojin to lower him safely. The world seemed to have paused, and everything was floating and waiting for the play button. They lowered Boruto so slow, the movement was undetectable. It had taken ten minutes to get Mitsuki off the rope. Boruto was about a minute away. So close. He continued descending, counting every second on the way.
And then fingers shifted on the rope. A grey whiff circled around him, its presence so horrifying that even Shikadai could feel it. He stopped moving the rope, frozen in fear. He mentally cursed. Boruto going out of his way to ruin everything.
The whiffs of grey stopped on front of his face, constantly shifting forms. It's tendrils reaches out around him, as if searching for fear. Boruto remained still, stoic. He would not let himself jeopardize the mission. Not a chance.
The tendrils caressed his cheeks, his neck, his back. They retreated. He was clear. Boruto almost sighed but held himself together. The dancing clouds of death set off somewhere. Shikadai must've felt the pressure lift away from him. He sighed, continuing to lower the prince.
Boruto closed his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching. The rope snapped. Shikadai fell back with the sudden change of force and hurriedly crawled to the edge of the cliff. Darkness seemed to spread further out the trench.
...
Will be continued soon. Read my latest conversation post to learn more about my hiatus.
