"Have you heard of the man-fish?" Shigure asked. His question was addressed to the room, in which sat Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Kyo replied.
"The man-fish, clearly" Shigure said, though he knew perfectly well what Kyo had meant.
"Yeah, but what the hell is it?" Kyo replied, getting heated.
"That's what I was going to tell you" Shigure said, "The man-fish is a creature that is rumoured to live deep in a cave. It looks like a giant eel with a human torso and a flat head like a lizard".
"Wouldn't he be lonely in his cave?" Tohru asked.
"He doesn't much care for human company" Shigure answered, "Or, at least I assume that's why he's killed everyone who ever went into his cave".
"What?" Tohru exclaimed.
"If this supposed fish-man kills everyone who visit it, how does any know about it?" Yuki asked. "Well, it doesn't quite kill everyone" Shigure clarified.
"Where exactly is this supposed cave, then?" Yuki asked.
"In the forest" Shigure said, "In fact, it's no more than a minute's walk away". This assertion was interrupted by a thud as Tohru fainted. With this, the discussion was over.
The next day, Tohru and Kyo were walking along the path, until a sudden storm came upon them, forcing them to seek shelter. Kyo saw a rocky outcrop supporting a small cavern that seemed like good protection from the rain. They ran over to the outcrop, and sat down in its shelter. But then Tohru remembered something.
"I-is this the..." Tohru stuttered, consumed in terror.
"Are you talking about that man-fish thing?" Kyo asked.
"Y-yes" Tohru replied.
"It's probably not" Kyo explained, "I don't even think it's real".
"OK" Tohru said, slightly reassured. But this reassurance was short-lived, as the old, injured tree that was providing much of the outcrop's shelter quite suddenly decided to fall into the outcrop. Kyo managed to grab Tohru and dodge away from the falling log, but soon realized that they had ended up trapped in the cave. The log was heavy, and it was cemented in place by soil that had been shook free.
"W-what are we going to do?" Tohru asked.
"Let's just wait here" Kyo suggested. They waited in the darkness, until Kyo received a text from his phone. He looked at it, cursing at his forgetfulness. The text was from Shigure, and read 'There's another exit in the cave. You should be able to reach it'.
'Can't you just get someone to unblock the entrance we're already at?' Kyo texted back.
'Are you scared? You shouldn't be, it's not like there's anything to hurt you' was Shigure's reply. Kyo conceded.
"Shigure says we should go through the cave" Kyo said.
"W-what?" Tohru exclaimed, scared by the idea.
"It'll be fine" Kyo said, "I know Shigure is an asshole, but he wouldn't send us into certain death".
"But it's dark" Tohru said. Kyo responded by turning on his phone's flash-light feature. They got up walked away from the blocked entrance into the cave. The cave was surprisingly easy to travel through, though it was still to low for either person to stand up straight. Then Tohru heard something.
"W-what the!" Tohru screamed, leaping to the wall of the cave. Kyo looked around, and saw a bat flutter by.
"It's a bat" Kyo said.
"Oh" Tohru said. They continued onwards, until Kyo stumbled and fell. He looked down, and saw a wide puddle that swallowed up his leg.
"Are you OK?" Tohru asked.
"I'm fine" Kyo said as he extracted his leg from the hole. Little did they know that he had just awakened something terrible. They walked on, scanning the floor to avoid any other of the puddles or pits. Then the splashing started. It was a quiet sound, echoing out of the dark pits, but it was easily heard.
"W-what's that?" Tohru stuttered, clearly scared.
"It's nothing" Kyo asserted. But he couldn't say that he wasn't scared himself. The splashing continued, increasing the fright, until Kyo decided to look into the splashing hole. He crouched down with his phone, staring down the straight pit.
"What the fuck!" Kyo exclaimed, leaping back from the pit.
"What happened?" Tohru asked.
"I-it was a hand!" Kyo exclaimed, terrified, "A human hand!". But it wasn't truly human.
"L-let's go" Kyo said, gathering himself and walking on. They continued through the cave, until Kyo was struck. He fell back in fright, before realizing that the attacker was a bat. In fact, it seemed to be the same bat that had scared Tohru before.
"Kyo!" Tohru exclaimed, "Are you-".
"I'm fine" Kyo said, "It was just a bat". He stood up, and they walked through the cave. As they were walking, Kyo's hand was struck by a sudden strike. The light of his phone gave out, plunging the cave into impenetrable darkness. Kyo fell back in a panic. But almost immediately, he heard the strike of a match, and the cave was, at least partially, illuminated. Then he realized what happened to his hand. There were two deep, bleeding gashes across his hand, paralysing it. He then fainted. Tohru immediately went over to comfort him and bandage his wounds. Kyo soon came round.
"Let's go" Kyo said shakily. They set off, Tohru clinging onto Kyo's arm, both from fear and not being able to see as well as him. As they walked, Tohru's foot fell into one of the pits. Before she could withdraw her foot, she felt a horrific bite on her heel. She screamed out in pain and terror, and tried to rip herself free. Kyo saw a long, thin stalagmite. He grabbed it and jabbed it into the hole, again and again. He wasn't sure how long he was doing it, but eventually Tohru was free. He pulled her free, and they limped on. Soon, Kyo saw a glint of light ahead, showing the promised exit. However, before they could escape, a horrific monster appeared in the cavern. It was long, like an eel, with a pair of clawed arms, and a long, slimy head with no eyes. Blood was gushing out of of its face, presumably from Kyo's attack. Tohru fainted. Kyo raised the stalagmite shakily, as if to try and fend off the creature. The thing responded by biting hard on his arm. Kyo vainly clawed at the creature's gills, but soon fell and transformed into a cat. This disoriented the monster, giving Kyo a small window of opportunity. Ignoring the burning pain in both forelegs, he leapt up the creature's face, into its gills, and tore them to shreds. The creature slashed at him, but soon fell dead.
"K-kyo?" Tohru said, coming round. She looked over to Kyo, transformed, drenched in blood, and so, so tired.
"Are you OK?" she asked, concerned. She picked him up. He was unconscious, but breathing. She walked along out of the cave.