As he prepared for that day’s adventure, Zenichi gazed onto the horizon at the dark, cloudy morning sky. He was reminiscing a few days ago when he overheard two chunins talking in the local drink stop. Zenichi had heard them talking about the mountain range across the forest from the village. It was quite a trek over there, about twenty-five miles. You could faintly see them on a clear day if you looked real hard.
I just got back from The Range stated a local chunin to his friend sitting next to him before taking a large swig of the water he had ordered. Apparently he was either broke or a health freak because those were the only people who drank water here. The way he swallowed it caught a hold of Zenichi’s peripheral vision, he seemed tense and there was a bit of fear there. Zenichi went back to drinking his water and thinking about the usual nothing. Today he was pondering why he too was drinking water. Oh yeah, I’m broke he thought with a smirk. Then a simple word caught his attention as the two chunins began to talk in hushed whispers.
Did you see any of THEM? asked the second shinobi.
Them? a very intrigued Zenichi thought.
I told you we shouldn't be talking about this here. The second shinobi quickly interjected to his fellow.
It’s fine, Fucaro replied the first shinobi.
He took that as his queue, What creatures were you guys talking about? Zenichi asked politely.
As a response the first shinobi said, I can tell you about them but not here. Follow me. He then got up and walked outside.
Zenichi had been wary of following strangers, but decided to go along and see what this was all about. With what they were speaking of, he couldn't afford not to. Outside Zenichi found the chunin in a nearby ally where there were no one could over hear him. The shinobi proceeded to tell Zenichi of the creatures that inhabited the large mountain range and of the contracts that they hold. Apparently he had heard from his grandfather that if you could impress one of these entities, you would be awarded a contract of loyalty that could be called upon at any time, bringing the creature to you wherever you were.
The chunin had also told him where the hot spots were in the range and how to get there. Zenichi would have to take his word for it because he didn’t have anything else to go on and also, the mountain range of the lightning country was massive. Before Zenichi left to go home and plan how he would go about the business of finding one of these creatures, the friendly chunin gave one last bit of advice.
Whatever you do, do not go into those areas yet. It is very dangerous and if you aren't prepared when and if you meet one of these entities, you will die.
That wouldn't stop him, not now. But to assure his new friend he replied, Don’t worry, I will be ready.
Doing a quick inventory of his supplies and made his way towards water to refill his water bladders before hiking up the mountains. There was a lake located on the other side of the nearby clearing. It was a pretty decent sized lake really, about a half a mile across at most. Zenichi walked up to it and tested the still lingering ice to see if it would hold his weight. Applying pressure to the surface layer of the ice with one foot, the ice cracked. Good thing he didn’t put all his weight on it. He still needed to get across though, going around would take too long, it was about a mile long that way. This was a simple problem though as he knew how to water walk, this was pretty much the same concept. So, accumulating the chakra to his feet Zenichi took his first step out onto the ice. When his foot touched, he concentrated on molding the chakra to hold the ice in place as he walked over it.
As it turned out, thin ice walking was even easier than water walking. After a few steps, Zenichi took off running across the surface of the lake. About halfway through, his foot slipped through and he had to readjust to water walking relatively quickly so as not to fall in. Pulling his foot back up, he walked until he was within a hundred feet from the other shore at which point he sprinted the rest of the way. Now on the other side of the lake he bent over, smashed a hole in the ice, and refilled his canteens. Zenichi drank his fill and started to jog towards the distant, barely visible mountain peak that he could see over the trees.
After about five more hours of jogging, the trees started to thin out. The whole lightning country was at a high altitude, so with these mountains the trees thin out and disappear while you are still in the foothills. When Zenichi noticed the starting lack of trees, he stopped jogging and took his backpack off. He would be at the mountains in no time and he was hungry. Searching through his backpack, he pulled his lunch out. Looking in the bag, he could see the sandwich he had made.
When he finished his lunch, he packed the garbage back into his pack and got ready to face whatever was in those mountains. Before putting the small pack back onto his back, he reached into it and pulled out his kunai holster. Couldn’t forget this Strapping it to his thigh, he replaced the pack to his back and started to jog towards the peaks of the mountain range as they loomed ever larger.
A sense of fear had been creeping over him slowly over the last ten minutes. Looking upwards towards the cloud hidden peaks of the mountain range, Zenichi knew the source of this dread. It felt like a black ooze, slowly engulfing his heart and strangling it into a depression that had unimaginable depths. He fought to stay above these waves of dread, but faltered and sunk beneath them. At this, he stopped jogging and looked back to the hidden peaks. This is not going to happen! he thought to himself as loudly as he could. Shaking his head violently from side to side, Zenichi managed to shake off the horrible feeling. I will not allow that to control me! I am here and nothing will keep me from my goal. With that, his confidence came flooding back in and he was able to press on towards the ominous giants.
A few minutes later, Zenichi was at the base of a very large mountain. He looked up once more, with a sense of courage that flowed through him. It was time to enter the Range. From the left, he thought he saw something a little higher up on the mountain’s side swiftly disappear to the back of the mountain. He knew it was his best chance. So imbuing his legs with chakra, he yelled out to catch the thing’s attention if it was really there, Hey, who are you! and then sprinted off into the range, chasing the shadows of his dreams...
