Shikamaru stared wide-eyed into the cavernous expanse that had just swallowed Ayumi whole, standing with his hand still outstretched. His fingertips still tingled with her touch. He just kept replaying the entire scene in his mind, over and over, wondering how he could have done it differently, but he was in too shocked of a state to think clearly. When the reality finally hit him that she had plummeted into the abyss, he felt something shatter inside him and he sank to his knees on the edge of the precipice.
"Ayumi!" he screamed down into the darkness, and he heard his voice bouncing off the rocky walls to echo down into the seemingly bottomless pit. He listened as the voice faded, panicking when he heard no response. As he sat on the edge, a thin bead of sweat running down the side of his face, he trembled at the thought that Ayumi could be-
No! I don't believe it! He thought with a growl, swinging his legs around so that he was sitting on the edge of the rock with his legs dangling into the empty air. I won't believe it, not until I see it for myself, damn it!
"Hang on, Ayumi. I'm coming," he muttered as he dug into the pouch strapped to his thigh and brought out a long coil of thin rope. Feverish with fear, he fumbled to tie it around himself, cursing as the knot continuously slipped free. He was about to abandon the attempt altogether and just leap into the dark chasm until a pair of gloved hands reached out and calmly tied the knot around his middle.
"Jeez, you're a mess. Hold still," Kankuro huffed as he tightened the loop around Shikamaru with a slight frown on his face. He tossed the unsecured end behind them, and a pair of ninjas scrambled to tie the other end around a thick rock. Kankuro tugged on the strung experimentally before pulling out another thick length of rope and tying it around himself.
"What are you doing?" Shikamaru huffed with narrowed eyes. Kankuro ignored his glare as he threw the end of his rope back, where his underlings proceeded to do the same as Shikamaru's rope. Sighing heavily, the black-clad Sand ninja plopped down on the edge of the black expanse beside him.
"You think I'm gonna let you go down there by yourself?" Kankuro snorted and shook his head. "No way. Look at yourself." Shikamaru obeyed, and was alarmed to find that the man spoke truly. His skin was pale, and his hands were trembling violently and his knees shaking so hard they were knocking together. I'm afraid, he realized, and he gasped when he felt something wet roll down his cheeks. He slowly lifted a hand and brushed it away, pulling back to see tears on his fingertips. "We'll find her," Kankuro continued with a small smile, and Shikamaru looked at him with slight incredulity. They had never been friends, really; they had worked together a few times, and Kankuro had come around every so often to visit Temari in the Leaf. He had no reason to show him such compassion.
Still, he was grateful.
"Thank you," he sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hands. Pull yourself together. Now isn't the time to become a wreck. Ayumi is down there, probably hurt, he told himself firmly, steeling his nerve as he gazed down into the yawning black mouth of the cave. She's probably scared. You can't be afraid. For her.
"Ready?" Kankuro asked. Shikamaru braced himself for the fall, and then nodded; together, they slipped off the edge of the precipice. The rope slithered across the sandy ground as they plummeted, then grew taut as the ninja above snatched it up to brace the two Jonin. Shikamaru grunted as he crashed roughly into the wall, then grabbed onto the rope with both hands and planted his feet against the rough rock. He cried out as one foot slipped against the uneven surface. It's wet! "There's probably a lake underneath us!" Kankuro called across the gloom. The sound of his voice bounced across the cave, echoing loudly in his ears as he searched for the other ninja. He found him hovering a few feet below, barely distinguishable in the dark. If there's a lake… Ayumi may have survived the fall! He thought, hope fluttering in his heart. Kankuro nodded to him before he dropped down into the dark, the blackness swallowing him up. Shikamaru followed suit, tugging on the rope to indicate the ninja above to give the rope a little slack, and he bounced off the wall to fall a few yards before connecting with the uneven rocky face again.
On and on they went, descending into the eerie darkness. The circle of light became smaller and smaller as he proceeded further into the abyss. Soon he began to hear the sound of dripping water echoing around him, and in the faint light he could see the stony spears of stalactites off in the distance. It seemed that the cavern below the ornate room was like a tunnel, leading into an even bigger cave below; Shikamaru found that theory to be true when the wall abruptly vanished, and he found himself hanging in empty air. Below him, he could barely see the glitter of light reflecting off the surface of slightly shifting water.
"Shikamaru! You can go ahead and cut your line. The water is only about ten feet down!" Kankuro's voice floated up from the gloom. Shikamaru dug into his pouch to retrieve a kunai, reaching up to slash the rope and plummet down. He landed on the surface of the water with a slight splash, but remained squatting on the surface by pouring the chakra into his feet. Ripples danced across the black water as Kankuro came walking over, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. "Who knew something this massive would be down here?" he murmured, looking around the massive cave with slight awe. The sparse light shining from above did little to illuminate the impressive domed structure, as the cave walls were nowhere in sight in either direction. Alone, he and Kankuro stood in the circle of light on the surface of the lake.
"The first thing Ayumi did, if she survived, is probably swim toward the shore," Shikamaru huffed, digging into his pouch to retrieve his lighter. He flicked it on, the little flame illuminating the darkness around them just a little. He stood up straight and waved it around in the hazy gloom, trying to find some bearings, but the shifting water just proceeded on and on all around them. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the surface of the water, analyzing the pattern of the waves sloshing underneath his feet. "That way," he decided.
"How do you know that?" Kankuro asked doubtfully. Shikamaru pointed down to the water, where the waves were moving in the direction he had originally pointed.
"The wind is to our backs," he told him. It had been hard to detect at first, but after standing still for a moment he had been able to feel the slightest flutter of air from behind them. "The wind is probably coming from the source of the lake, pouring in from the surface. It pushes the water to the shore. Listen. Can't you hear it behind us?" he asked, and Kankuro frowned and squinted as he strained to hear. As they sat in silence, the faint sound of the rushing water of a small stream splashing over rocks could be heard far behind them.
"Okay, yeah, but did Ayumi know that?" he sniffed. Shikamaru doubted that she did, but that was all he had to go on for now. Without answering Kankuro, he began walking across the surface of the lake, holding the lighter high over his head to illuminate their way. The Sand ninja muttered something under his breath about him being a pretentious asshole before quickly following suit, not having much other choice but to trust in the man's instincts. Shikamaru just hoped that they didn't let him down this time.
They walked for about five minutes before the waves began to grow a little rougher, indicating that they were near the shore. It came into view a few seconds later, a thin line of black sand against an even darker sheer rock face with a large crack down the middle, indicating a path. Shikamaru hopped down into the sand and waved the lighter around, looking for any sign that the woman had passed through. He began to feel hopelessness settling in until a flash of color caught his vision. There! He dashed off across the wet sand, giving Kankuro a fright and no explanation. Shikamaru grabbed Ayumi's bag out of the water just as the waves threatened to carry it away, and held the lighter close to the dripping wet accessory.
There's blood on it, he realized with dread, and he glanced down at the small patch of sand illuminated by his lighter to see that blood also spotted the dark grey sand, bright red drops leading away from the shore. She was alive, at least when she got to this point, he thought as he squatted down, running his hand over the bloody sand. It soaked deep into the sand. She was hurt badly, she thought as Kankuro came running up to him, panting with effort. "Hey man, we got a big problem!" he cried when Shikamaru glanced up at him, and pointed into the dark. Shikamaru jerked to his feet when he felt the ground rumble beneath his feet, and a giant, murky shadow shifted in the gloom, advancing toward them with astonishing speed.
"What is it?" he cried as he grabbed a piece of driftwood nearby, praying it wasn't too wet. The strange form continued to lumber forward as he ripped off a section of his cloak and wound it around the slightly damp wood, and he held the lighter to the strip of fabric and prayed it would light. The flame caught hold and spread across the fabric in an instant, and the darkness shied away from the crackling red light. Shikamaru whipped around with the makeshift torch just in time to see the massive scorpion emerging from the shadows, and at the sight of the light it shrieked and sent it's gigantic barbed tail crashing down at them. "Crap! Move!" he shouted and threw himself to the side as the poison-tipped appendage slammed into the beach where he and Kankuro had just been standing, throwing dark sand in all directions. Shikamaru spat the wet sand out of his mouth and scrabbled to his feet, waving the torch threateningly at the scorpion. It shied away, hissing, while Kankuro slipped under its writhing legs to join the Leaf ninja.
"What do we do?" the puppeteer cried, ready to wrench the scrolls holding his puppets free of their holsters.
"No good! We can't fight in the dark," Shikamaru insisted, his eyes searching desperately for the blood trail that the monster had just destroyed. With such little time and not enough light, though, his eyes just couldn't find it. "There! Into that opening! He can't reach us there," He cried when he spotted the gigantic crevice that split the rock side, just beyond the angry scorpion.
"We'll never make it!" Kankuro yelled, but took off after him anyway. The scorpion screamed angrily and snapped at them with its enormous claws, and Shikamaru yelped as one snapped shut just over his head. The rumbling earth made it difficult to run, and he wobbled this way and that over the trembling sand while the scorpion scuttled behind them, gaining ground impossibly fast. With a cry, Shikamaru dove into the small gap in the rock, the torch fluttering wildly as he sailed through the air. Kankuro landed roughly beside him, and the scorpion crashed into the wall with an angry, shrill wail, shoving one of its claws into the crevice to snap at them. They were thankfully just beyond its reach, but it's tantrum sent the entire rock wall rumbling, and pebbles began to rain down above them.
"It's gonna collapse! Move!" Shikamaru cried while scrambling to his feet, jerking Kankuro up by the back of his cat-eared hood. Dodging falling rocks the size of cattle, they weaved through the narrow space and went sailing through the exit just as the crevice gave way and it caved in on itself. Panting as they lie on their backs in the cool sand, they watched their only means of exiting the cave complex become filled with gigantic, immovable boulders.
"Well. That sucks," Kankuro groaned as his head flopped back into the sand. "How the hell are we gonna get out of here now?"
"We follow the blood," Shikamaru answered gravely. Holding the torch aloft, he pointed at the splatter of red blood decorating the rocky path leading into the darkness. Kankuro blinked at him, then snorted and vaulted to his feet, brushing sand of his black clothes. He held out a hand for Shikamaru, who took it and allowed the man to yank him to his feet. The torchlight spilled over the rocky walls and floor as they approached the bloody spatter, where Ayumi had seemingly collapsed before dragging herself onward. Ayumi. I'm coming for you, he thought as he held the torch up, illuminating the blood trail leading through the small stone hall.
"Man. That's one tough girl, to keep going after losing this much blood," Kankuro commented with a grim expression as he regarded the dark red stain.
"You have no idea," Shikamaru snorted before walking forward, careful to walk along the edge of the bloody red splatters so as not to lose the trail. Sometimes he came close, as they faded out before reappearing with a fresh new puddle of thick red blood. It hasn't dried all the way yet. She's close. Unconsciously, his pave quickened, until the torchlight was bobbing furiously with his feverish steps. The blood splatters were growing larger and more intermittent, meaning that Ayumi was beginning to falter. Her bloody handprints were smeared across the walls where she had leaned heavily on it for support. Please don't be dead. I'm so close, Ayumi, just hang on a little longer, he begged silently.
Abruptly the walls widened around them, and they were standing in another domed cave structure, but instead of dark the rock here was all glittering white. The top of the cave was open to the desert above, as sunlight poured in from the ceiling and made it seem like the entire room was alive with light. Stalactites and stalagmites had formed all across the cave from the river running slowly through the center of the stone room, making the air moist as the water evaporated from the heat of the sunlight.
There, on the banks of the river bleeding heavily from a gash in her arm, lay Ayumi.