Tsugi led them further across the valley. Crumbled bones covered the ground, and every time they took a step, their feet crushed down on them, turning them into dust. He wondered if the sand beneath them was made of bone, the remains, being a generational process. Yuko saw flock of birds resting on a giant skull, their heads hunched down as they watched them pass. She felt a sense of gloom as the clouds of steam began to increase. She moved with caution, sweeping her sword left and right.
They passed an extremely long, giant rib cage. Haji and Usagi took point, stepping through the hollow space that once housed a creature's insides. He went towards a dip, the dip beyond remained secluded until they reached the edge. They had seen them from a distance, but close up the giant lizard and ape skulls were even more overwhelming. One ape's skull was three times larger than one of these lizard's skulls. Yuko had to wonder what might be capable of killing such a giant creature.
Beyond them were more skulls, smaller, larger, scarred by cruel claw marks.
Himari looked around carefully, feeling, sensing, searching for what could lay beneath them in silent wait. Her instincts were nudging her more and more, danger was close. Haji could only look around in wonder and dread. There was a low growl. The sound came from all around at once, confused by surrounding land and mist, Mikito turned her focus around in a quick circle, sword held close by her side.
They ran together, crawling inside the largest skull they could find and peeked from a jagged wound in its side. The bone was smooth and clean, and there was no odor. Whatever had been left to decay, had rotted away ages ago.
This is where its brain had to be located… Yuko thought.
Souji gripped her arm, pointing. A shadow moved through the mist, swirling it into wild and jagged shapes, whirlpools of fumes surged and then a monster appeared. It had been a very long time...Too long, in fact. She almost forgot what seeing this creature was like. How it made her skin prickle, and her blood run cold.
It was a horrendous merging. Its scaled skin was scarred from numerous conflicts, damp with slime and grime. Spines protruded from its backbones, some snapped off in old battles. It claws were the length of trees, easily…The creature made them look like ants. Mites. So tiny and insignificant. It was the size of the landscape, if not bigger.
Yuko never felt so small in his lifetime.
Its mouth unhinged, jaw dislocating. Its tongue spat out, long, dark black, and scarred. Its stomach clenched and heaved, sides pressed in one moment, and the next, they were fanning outwards like gills. It gagged, and juices began to squirt from its mouth. Yellow and green, and putrid. A heavy drumming sound accompanied the movement.
Skeletons, bones, ripped apart, but skulls and spines still intact, came oozing out. They hit the ground with a sickening, wet splat. The skulls were stripped clean the flesh melted from the faces and hides by the monster's stomach acids.
Yuko and Himari slapped their hands over their mouths, biting down on their palms.
Souji grimaced, taking a deep breath.
He set a hand on Yuko's back, and kneaded his fingers.
It took thirty seconds, but it no longer appeared she was going to copy this monster.
She nodded her thanks, and Souji got closer to her. The monster shook its head, splattering spit, blood, and bile across the ground and ruins of the ancient graveyard. It slowly stalked away, disappearing into the mist with earth shaking steps. Gone as quickly as it had come.
Himari slid from the skull, sword in hand, and reached for one of the skulls that rolled their way. It was smaller than the rest, which could only mean…
"Himari, what the hell are you doing?" Tsugi hissed.
She waved back at him with some flippancy, reached forward and stabbed her blade through the skull's jawbone. She raised it up, waiting until they looked at it fully before he tossed it away with a quick flick.
"It was..." Yuko muttered, eyes hard as stone.
"It wasn't human, that much I know."
Yuko wasn't sure what she was feeling. Could there be someone trying to probe for information? Probe in general? Had they given out the order already? Was there more than one clan doing the same thing? The only way a human or humanoid could stray close enough to this monster to be devoured, was to...Draw it out, which would mean they had no idea it had been present.
Any Domou would have steered clear from this area, or go around.
"Let's go." Tsugi said quietly, emerging from cover. Yuko moved alongside of him. They moved with caution, arcing their blades around them, forming a small perimeter. Souji stood tall, glaring at everything to ensure that nothing was stalking them. His eyes settled on Himari, and skulls at her feet, and Himari blinked.
Souji's blade was drawn, a piercing glow coming from the blade as light bounced from it. Yuko nodded once, and moved into the mist. Himari kept close to her side, sword remaining drawn. She was confident in her sword-drawing skills, but shinobi didn't focus on battojutsu or iaijutsu, strictly speaking. She tried to catch Himari's eyes, but she was staring ahead.
Her breath caught, vanishing while it was still inside of her. She couldn't gasp, nor could she open her mouth to speak. A shape appeared over them, blotting out the mist and the sweltering heat.
It had got to them, without making a sound.
Yuko traded a glance with Himari, both remaining still.
The monster's wide head tilted sideways, as if to get a good look at them. It moved violently swift for such a giant creature. Flipping itself over a tree, and over its hind legs, end over end twice, scooping a giant piece of earth in its tail, turned onto its back, and crunched into the chunk. The two began to wrestle, the chunk of earth writhing and whipping as it began to constrict the monstrosity.
"Yuko!" Souji shouted, grabbing her and lunging across the bone ridden ground, just as the whole landscape erupted.
It was a shock to their systems, after the deathly silence that had passed over them for the last few dozen minutes.
Tsugi unleashed balls of lightning, switching aim and trajectory as the creature circled them in the mist. It was barely visible in the haze, flashes accompanied its wicked movements. Blasts thumped at the ground as Tsugi and Shin continued their assault on the driving monster. As relentless as their attacks were, they were barely grazing this monster. It was the size of the landscape, and it was no exaggeration either. A mere lightning jutsu wasn't going to be enough-even his most powerful.
He needed more!
"I'm going to back you up!" Usagi slammed her hands together.
Souji shouted, feeling a flurry of movement as mist and debris were swept about forming tornadoes. He unleashed another enormous wall of fire—Tsugi's lightning crashed into it, feeding it, and forced it to disperse into smaller arcs. They ripped through the air and crashed into the skeletons, spreading flames out in a huge perimeter.
Larger projectiles probed the mist, fire and lightning continued to sweep through, causing more than one earth shattering explosion. Souji hissed in rage. Their blasts continued to probe the surrounding area, but he could hear the growls, the lumbering of feet, old bones being crushed, and he knew the monster was still out there.
Now that it was aware they were within its domain, it would not let them leave.
It wouldn't be leaving.
My jutsu are nothing to that monster! Yuko thought, burning with anger.
"Again!" Himari screamed, inhaling as hard and deep as she could.
"I got it!"