Somewhereland [Contract Teaching Thread / Eishi]

[Kiri]

Explaining things so simply would not do. What happened was that Eirin, his sea slug friend, had appeared before him in his room in the Tsuyoshi Estate just as Eishi had also come in refuge. He had first thought that the rain had brought over his friends and he was willing to give them a place to stay till the downpour let up. However, what would happen next was beyond his recognition. Eirin reports to him that a strange phenomenon was happening in Sakuna’s Forest… something that was connected to Moro.

“And so, apparently, all who was given a blessing by Moro before his death were turning into babies,” said Kiri as he picks up the black hoodie jacket given to him by Kotarou. Traveling in his normal clothes was impossible, especially when he had a body of a five-year old’s. Good thing Kotarou was short, and so the latter’s clothe fit him, somehow. A few rolled hems and it was perfect. Now, wearing a black jacket over plain white shirt and black pants, couple with a pair of white sneakers, Kiri looked far from his usual self. His hair was as messy and white as Hogosha, so he supposed it was really true that he was a direct descendant after all.

“Anyway, this is bad because Eirin said that some who were affected had began to lose memories of their adult selves,” with a serious expression, Kiri looked out at the garden. “This can be annoying, though I wouldn’t mind if it was just me, but knowing Moro, he had been an ally to many. A few of the elders have already changed and some were losing their capabilities as a warrior slug. This could very well endanger the entire Sakuna’s Forest if not reversed. As such, I must interfere. However, as much as I’m capable of doing so, there’s a threat of my own capabilities being affected. So, Eishi will have to come along,” he paused and looked at Eishi with a childish smirk, “You’re pretty much a full-fledged mednin anyway. Time to see how much you’ve grown.”

With that said, he went to look at his swords and knew that he wouldn’t be able to bring all with his current size, so he picked out Kunihiro, the red-colored scabbard which was just a wakizashi, suitable for his current height. And with a teasingly dreadful tone, he added, “Besides, you’re connected to me in some way or another, so who knows if you’ll suddenly turn into a infant. Though just thinking of a baby Eishi makes me giggle.”

Uh oh, even his humor and choice of words were strangely changing from his usual self.

“Let’s go. Tomo should be able to open a gateway to Sakuna’s Forest. Kotarou, if we’re not back within a week, please tell Junko. Otherwise, there’s no need for concern.”

At that, Kiri walked out into the garden and held out Tomo who still seemed to be in a trance before the orange slug gathered his chakra and sprayed out a large slime on the ground. It create a puddle that radiated with an orange glow. He then gave Tomo to Kotarou before he signalled Eishi to follow. “This path should be open long enough for the both of us to go through. But take good care of Tomo while we’re away. Otherwise, we might not have any means to return.”

Thus, Kiri, the little chibi Kiri would approach the orange puddle and jump in, easily through like it was some kind of portal.

Past a spectacle of lights, Kiri would come to land on top of a large mushroom. Looking around, they soon come to find themselves in a large forest with large mushrooms and such. And by large, I do mean large enough like a sofa.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Eishi]

"Why? Why is that a thing?" I clarified the second time, the look of confusion, and more than likely disgust, plastered onto my face. I didn't quite understand the point of what Kiri had said. Why send everyone back to zero and effectively killing them by wiping out their memories, what purpose would that serve? Was this Moro thing Kiri keeps talking about some kind of spirit? He said it granted a blessing to the lot of them, but I can only think of it as a curse if this Moro thing was so spiteful in the face of its own death. Then again, maybe it was such an alien mind that the idea of 'selfishness' never in came into consideration. Regardless, this 'illness', if I could call it that, could just some side effect. It was a problem that needed to be looked at objectively, but I still didn't really have any clue as to what we were doing in the garden.

"You know what, nevermind, I don't even want to know," I interjected before he could answer. I assumed it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, anyway. This was the current reality and Kiri was dying, so that's all that mattered. The question of what we doing here didn't take long to be answered as Kiri brought out one of his personal slugs. I honestly didn't know the relationship of the slug to Kiri. The slug seemed sentient and obedient, so 'pet' seemed fitting. I was about to question what he was doing with the thing before becoming momentarily stunned when Kiri had the slug shoot ooze onto the ground and then jumped in, disappearing into the ooze. This was my first time seeing a dimensional rift and while it had been shocking, I was a bit peeved that it had to be slug vomit that we were jumping into. I didn't waste my time grimacing at my fortune as I did a small hop into the portal soon after, only to find myself falling a good two hundred meters into the air. I could see some colorful shroom caps and the familiar head of white hair well below my location, standing on one of the toadstool's heads. At that moment, however, the only thing I could truly notice was that I was two hundred meters in the air falling a pretty rapid acceleration with the ground. It wasn't that I was afraid of heights per se, I was just afraid of the falling aspect. I was not mentally prepared to be this high up and my heart felt like it was going a million miles an hour in response.

Faster than I may have ever been able to in the past, I cast [Magnetic Control] on the shaft of my spear, reaching behind me as I gripped it tightly over my head, my knuckles white as stone as I mary poppin'd down to the ground in a steady glide. My chest was racing as I landed near Kiri, my face red and my eyes a bit manic, I'm sure.

"Coulda warned me we were gonna have a fall, you god damn, milk drinking bastard," I swore at Kiri before catching my breath and calming myself down. The adrenaline in my system lessening as I felt the familiar tinge of exhaustion from post severe fight or flight responses. I sighed as I felt normal again before continuing on like nothing was wrong.

"What's the plan now that we are... 'here', wherever that is?" I asked, jumping down off the mushroom and taking a look at the alien ground.

 

[Kiri]

As Kiri waited for Eishi to come along into this unusual place, he was glancing about to determine their location. It had been years since he stepped foot into Sakuna’s Forest, and even then, he was only at the outskirts. Back then, there weren’t anything about giant mushrooms and so on, as it was simply an ordinary forest with overgrown trees dense enough to cover the forest floor from sunlight. Still, he could feel a sense of nostalgia come over him as he jumped down from the mushroom and examine the forest floor. The dirt on the ground was nothing different from the normal world, but he knew that the lacing chakra all around him was simply stronger than normal. Perhaps that was the secret to the slug’s power, their own connectedness to nature itself.

Without a moment too soon, Kiri would hear Eishi crash down from the sky. It wasn’t a gracious fall and so he snickered. Strangely enough it entertained him, almost as if his sense of humor was changing to that of a child’s. He quickly noted of it and knew that he was on a time limit to solve this case they were in. But as they were about to go, Eishi began to berate him for his lack of warning and there it was… a strange sensation came over Kiri from inside that saw the sides of his eyes tear up. It wasn’t long before he started crying and running away from Eishi, “Eishi you idiot!!!!”

Thus, came to the current predicament of Kiri suddenly loosing his footing along the path and started rolling down that mossy incline in that strange and funky forest before dropping into a colorful mud. As for Eishi, he would soon realize that there were lurking eyes about him but never fully showing themselves.

Should he go after Kiri, he would spot the incline and boy who was still face planted on the mud before. Should he do something else, a misty fog would begin to shroud over him until his mind begins to play tricks on him with the voice of his beloved friends teasing and accusing him from nowhere.

 

[Eishi]

"You done yet?" I said in a much-subdued voice. It was fairly obvious that Kiri's mind had fallen back to that of an actual five-year-old if light berating could cause him to literally lose his damned mind and run away in a potentially hostile land. I could only shake my head at the face-planting chibi Kiri as I followed along right behind him. He was my only way home, thus I wasn't too keen on losing track of him. Besides, he wasn't that fast as a five-year-old compared to his adult counterpart that had been beating me up in training these past couple years. The pace actually ended up being rather peaceful despite the prying eyes all around. I don't know if I felt any hostility from them, but I did feel that their curiosity was that drove them to watch us from the dark. I guess It should have been expected. We were strangers in a strange land, a meal to some and an anomaly to others.

Either way, I was quick to drag Kiri out of his face plant by the scruff of his neck. I turned him around and upright to his feet as I got a look at him. His entire front was caked in mud, dead leaves, and probably no small amount of animal shit. I just sighed once more as I took out a towel. I began rubbing it on his face and hair cleaning it as best I could. I had no water affinity though, so this was only going to go so well.

"I swear Kiri, if I have to be the responsible one here, you're going to be a fetus before too long," I huffed as I jammed another towel into his arms to clean the rest of himself. I found a nice rock to sit on in this mushroom forest as I waited for Kiri to clean himself up, taking out my own water bottle for a sip. I hadn't told Kiri I had swiped some of his booze from the mansion and filled one of my flasks with some high quality peppermint schnapps before we left. I had hoped to wait until we set up camp before being a little naughty, but now that I was a surrogate father to a dying child, might as well be buzzed for this trip.

"Again. What's the plan?" I asked him, my tone turning back into my usual rbf. My breath notably sharper to boot.

 

[Kiri]

It was definitely strange. A part of him was still whimpering though he hid his sobs as Eishi plucked him out from the mud and started to wipe him clean as best as he could. Part of him was observing from within his mind, trying to make sense of this split of command seeing how his body was being childish with such reactions. Of course, he was also surprised with how well Eishi was being as a caretaker. Perhaps he was wrong about the usually temperamental boy.

By the end of it, he would regain his control and wipe himself off of the remaining mud with the given towel. "Well, I don't really know. It's not like Moro gave any instructions on how to reverse this effects. He didn't even anticipate his death to have this kind of circumstance to occur. But it would still be important to head over to their home and get some answers... Preferably before I stop talking with sense."

At those words, the two would hear some movement from behind the bushes. A spike in the chakra pulse would alarm them. It wasn't your normal creature, that was for sure, for the chakra pulse was powerful enough to send chills down one's back. Whatever the two must do now, they would have to be quick as the soundless rush, save for the swaying of leaves and brushing off trees was getting louder and closer to their location.

What is Eishi's decision?

(OOC: You can have up to 3 actions. Continue the story from here.)

 

[Eishi]

"Well, we're in luck then. You didn't have much sense to begin with," I chuckled to myself as I began heading in the direction Kiri had pointed us towards. It would seem I'd have to be the one taking point. I assumed Kiri would correct our course regardless of who went first, so it didn't really bother me. What did bother me was the ever-increasing amount of eyes that seemed to be directed towards us. After about twenty or so minutes of the constant prying eyes, I couldn't take it any longer. I slowed myself down slightly until I was right next to Kiri before grabbing him and dropped a couple smoke bombs beneath our position as I jumped into the treelines, dashing off to hopefully lose whatever was in tow. I knew that it wouldn't do much to stop them from following us, but at least it might have given us some distance. I grunted as I nearly lost my footing on one of the tree branches as it snapped under the weight the two of us were carryings. I was able to recover on a lower hanging branch, but it cost us our lead.

"I don't suppose you know what is trailing us? I could tell more and more were gathering and If I'm being pessimistic, I'd say it was to overwhelm us," I asked Kiri as I carried him ass first over my shoulder. Kiri would probably have a good view of our backside, so that was good. He wasn't that useful in his current form and I didn't trust him to not throw a temper tantrum, anyway, so it didn't bother me. It was at that moment that one of the creatures finally tried to attack us from above. Likely, I did a slight stutter step, dodging the beastie, but it had been closer than I'd like to admit and I was already on edge having to fight an unknown number of combatants. I didn't feel like right now was a good time to dick around.

"Shit. Kiri, reach into my bag. I have plenty of throwable objects in there!" I commanded with no small bit of force as I cast [Static Infusion] on a couple spare throwing stars in my bag. They quickly zipped out as they went about skewering a couple of our nearby pursuers like the little spinning hacksaws they were. I kept them in orbit around the two of us to try and keep a defensible position. I was going to have to focus on the point defense and the running for the two of us. I could only hope Kiri was a better shot than I was with thrown weapons and still had enough of his brain to cast some nasty ninjutsus he still remembered.

"Kill any you see. Don't worry about saving any, I'll be able to fetch them back as long as you don't throw them too far," I commented and true to my word, any stars that Kiri threw would come back to his position after going roughly two hundred meters in any direction. That had been the extent of my range nowadays and it was damn impressive if I do say so myself.

 

[Kiri]

Somehow, Kiri found Eishi’s reply funny as he ended up smiling at it. In any case, they would soon begin to walk as Eishi took it upon himself to lead. It was unusual, but Kiri went on with it. Now that he actually had time to think about the current situation, he watched Eishi from behind. “I didn’t know you had such broad shoulders. That only means you’ll have more responsibilities from now on,” said Kiri, trying to catch up. However, the latter would be the one to slow his pace before grabbing Kiri and doing a quick throw of smoke bombs. At that, Kiri didn’t even notice when he was grabbed by Eishi and swinging from tree to tree…. errr… jumping. It was only when they stopped for a moment, after a branch snapped under their feet and Eishi was able to get to a better one, that Kiri felt the strange churning in his stomach. He was about to answer Eishi when his tummy decided to let out the contents.

A long drawling silence would echo before he gets to look back at Eishi with teary eyes, though holding them back before he gets humiliated even further. But before anything else, some unknown creature would suddenly rush at them from behind and Kiri was in full view of what it was. It was a Tanuki! The brownish fur and seemingly idle and derpy expression was evidence of it, and the straw hat that was wound behind it and the jar of sake was another indication. And seeing how there was not just one but plenty of them surrounding the two of them, it would seem as though he and Eishi had found themselves in Tanuki territory.

Spoiler

As instructed, Kiri would grab one of the throwing stars before he made an aim and threw it. It zapped across and hit the tanuki’s straw hat as the animal would use it to shield it. Kiri cursed and seeing how he was in a child’s body it would seem rather obscene for a child his age to use profanities. But before long, he would soon see something that was beyond the ordinary as more and more Tanuki came into view.

“This is bad. I think they’re…” before he could finish his sentence, however, one of the Tanuki swung his bottle of sake and let out the liquid that became a torrential wave that was about to hit him and Eishi, even going as far as breaking the trees along the way.

(Roll: 60% chance to be separated from the torrential tide)

 

[Eishi]

They'd need to wake up pretty early in the morning to think a wave was enough to impede me. The fact it was a wave of alcohol made me realize just how much this was going to suck, but I didn't have much choice. I was going to have to keep my eyes open for what I was about to do and I could already feel my eyes burning inside their sockets.

"Hold on and don'tcha dare throw up on me, Kiri. I don't care if you are four now, I'll seriously punch you," I spat while stopping on one of the braches, watching the wave come in as I got my feet planted and drew out my spear. I was already focusing on keeping these numbnuts off our back, so trying to visualize what I was about to do wasn't as easy a task as you might think. As soon as the wave was almost upon us, I launched off the branch, twisting my body faster and faster as I held my spear parallel above my head.

I felt the spear puncture the wave first and then I felt my eyeballs begin to burn as we began to pass through the wave of alcohol. My life was now pain. We came through the other side after a few seconds, sure enough, and I was able to slow down my rapid spinning to get my feet under me as we landed on the forest floor. From that point, however, I basically threw Kiri off and began rolling on the ground, rubbing my eyes with my hand trying to get the stinging to go away. It wasn't until I got my water skin and doused my eyeballs in the calming water that I was able to even see again. My eyes were watering and probably as red as the devil's butthole, I'm sure, but I just tried to stare behind us attempting to refocus on sight through the haze and tears, looking for our pursuers as I grabbed Kiri once more and began our run anew.

"Come on Kiri, where the hell are we going?" I mutter to the manboy I was carrying, jumping from tree to tree. I was hungry, being chased by big nutted raccoons, my feet hurt, my eyes were on fire every time the air passed over them, and I was still sticky from going through the slime portal. Today sucked, there was no doubt about that. Having to be a babysitter on top of that was dragging on my morale.

 

[Kiri]

As they recover from being washed by a torrent of alcohol, they were pretty much surrounded by the group of tanukis, until suddenly a large blue slug dropped from the sky and landed just next to Eishi. On it was another blue sea slug who quickly went to spray both Kiri and Eishi with some kind of strange slime. However, no sooner was it done that they would feel lightheaded and almost soothed. It was successfully eliminating the traces and pain from the attack of the tanukis. Then, a voice would echo inside Eishi’s head, resembling that of a woman’s “Hurry, follow the path further ahead. Eirin will guide you to our domain. Bring Kiri along, he doesn’t have much time left.” It was none other than the large blue slug from earlier. It beckoned Eishi, pushing him to a stand before it looked over to the tanukis and released a strange chakra pulse field that covered the entire area. This would allow them some time to flee.

Slugs

Eirin	Piucca

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At that particular time, just as Kiri was so glad to have found Eirin and Piucca, his allied slugs, he suddenly felt a wave of nausea that knocks him unconscious to the ground. With his consciousness falling into the soulscape, Kiri was in nowhere near the physical realm’s domain. Instead, he found a strange comfort in the white void of his soulscape.

Then, he felt the familiar presence of his ancestor approaching, prompting him to turn around and hug him. The large white-haired man embraced him lovingly but Kiri could tell something was not right. He looked up only to realized that there was far too wide a gap between them. He was still in a child’s form even in his own soulscape. “That’s right,” started Hogosha as he knelt next to Kiri to be in eye-level with the boy, placing a hand on Kiri’s cheek, “Right now, something has afflicted you, not just your physical body, but inside as well. Your soul is contracting as the space and time of your life is constantly merging. Some will fade, others will return. But if this goes on, I doubt that you’ll be safe. Even if this was meant to help you, it seems to be doing more harm than good.”

“Wait! Do you know what’s going on, Hogosha?” asked Kiri.

“No. I’m afraid not. All I do know is that this does not have any ill-intent, but the curses within you are constantly molding it, reshaping this grace into something detrimental to your being. You must have find a way to stop its progress at all cost,” he paused as he placed a hand at Kiri’s chest, “You will be filled with so many things that your past will soon take over. If that ever happens, you will never be able to move forward. But if it does, please remember, that no matter what happens, we want you to move on. Even if it means discarding all of us, it is the only way for you to achieve your freedom.” He then taps Kiri on the forehead, “Your mentor's gift is a saving grace, at the very least, focusing your chakra where it can keep you safe. But I would want to see your wings soon. Only then can you truly surpass me and Yakujou and everyone in our clan. That is the greatest gift that our dear friend, Ishikiri, blessed you with. So remember these words…”

As he spoke those words, Hogosha’s image began to vanish and Kiri’s consciousness falls into a long sleeping state.

Meanwhile, in the real world, should Eishi have carried Kiri’s body, he would notice that the boy’s temperature was getting colder by the second. Eirin, the sea slug, kept them on track, leading the way through dense forest paths until they would reach a different part of the forest. Here, the world was a tad fantastical with large mushrooms for trees and beyond them could be seen mountains in the distance and three large moons on the sky. It was very much obvious that they were no longer in their world but in a different place.

Spoiler

Then, in one of the house-like structures, more slugs peered out to look at them. There was no time, however, as Eirin pushed Eishi towards the nearest one. “Quick. Kiri’s not in a good condition. Please, take care of him. This house is the clinic, although full with other the other’s afflicted, but there’s a spare room on the second floor. Take him there and I’ll get some medication.”

 

[Eishi]

Distinctive tree's and other natural markers pathed our way back to the village. I followed along like a good little believer as we entered through the front gates, sighing in indifference to the alien sights and sounds of a mushroom village subjected by a band of slugs. I admit it was entertaining if nothing else, but I couldn't help but feel something wrong with the very air around me. It did bother me, but I let it go. I could only assume it was the same thing that was afflicting Kiri at the moment. It was seriously tweaking out the caveman part of my brain on some level, so I could only imagine what it was doing to these slugs. It put me on edge and I was known to get a little hostile when I was stressed. It was obvious enough that my mood was foul when I snapped at the Lugia slug.

"The hell you want me to do about it? He's getting smaller, a wet towel on the head isn't going to stop his shrinking," I bemoaned as I started to use my own head. I honestly was a bit lost on what was going on, and the only thing I was really sure about in this nonsense wormhole was Kiri had lost consciousness and he was easily hovering around 29 Celcius and dropping fast.

"Ah, fuck it," I muttered as I rushed off into the mushroom town. I didn't bother going to the clinic. Instead, I went to what I could only imagine was an inn in if the cutesy little bedpost on the outside wall was any indication. I strolled into one of the rooms and dragged out a tub too small to ever be comfortable to sit in unless you were an autonomous slug or a five-year-old human child. Regardless, I dumped out an assortment of small metal weapons from my bag onto the floor and did my damnedest to metal bend them into a couple of makeshift buckets for use. Rapidly, I conducted electricity into the buckets to get them nice and hot as I rushed right out the door. I did what I could to speed up the heating process once I found an easy source of water to use. I ended up deciding on the weird mushroom fountain in the center of their village as I sent out my floating metal buckets into the fountain. The steam was nearly instant as I carried the water over and into the tub above my head. As I added weight to my single arm I started to really feel the burn on the biceps. Not going to lie, I find it somewhat pathetic that I always seem to find myself in situations where I regret losing my arm, and then a moment later feeling like 'well duh, of course I do'.

Anyhow, once I was back, I could swear Kiri had gotten smaller in the short time I was away. I couldn't help but think he was doomed, but I could at least try and stabilize him as I submerged him into the hot water. I was hoping this wasn't going to straight up shock his system into working, but I was kinda desperate and this was an easy fix outside of me molesting my mentor through body heat. I really didn't really feel like getting that well along, so let's hope this worked.

 

[Kiri]

Eirin was shocked when she found out that neither Kiri nor Eishi were at the clinic. The blue sea slug was in panic, senses on high alert as she was searching for that familiar aura of her contract partner. The other slugs who were resting in the clinic weren’t doing so well, and it didn’t help when there was a sudden jolting. One of the younger slugs began to convulse and the nursing staff had to restrain it as ooze and goo began flying everywhere. The adolescent acid of the panicking slug was revolting and ate away at the fixtures, almost through the walls. Eirin felt even worse when she imagined Kiri would suddenly come to a violent convulsion. Knowing the man, now turned into a boy, the power of the demon that once resided in him might become a problem. So she hurried to look for them.

Meanwhile, there was nothing to feel. Kiri was oblivious to everything. In his mind, he was walking along the peaceful realm of the Slugs and came to sit down on a mushroom stool. There, he waited. He can’t remember exactly what it was, but he had a feeling he needed to wait. Glancing about him, he could see the moon rising high above, sending a mystical feel that washed around the realm. Lichen on tree sparkled, almost, as they swayed against the breeze and let off a bit of green dust into the air. It really seemed peaceful.

There was a shot of pressure against the inn’s door. Eirin rushes in to find the aura coming from the bath. She hurried only to find Eishi seemingly drowning Kiri underwater. Fury rushed into her head and she sent a hurling amount of water streaming out of nowhere, colliding and hitting Eishi. It would be strong enough like a highly powered jutsu considering they were in the Slug’s own territory, the realm providing Eirin with all the needing chakra without fail or effort. “Let him go, you monster!!!” She screamed as she upped the pressure on the water.

Should Eishi be sent crashing away from the tub and hit against the wall, even the wall would break and he would be sent crashing further outside into the open square. The alarming chakra pulse would have notified the authorities and he would no sooner find a group of larger slugs, at least three times his height, to quickly surround him. Armored, almost uniformly dressed, they would surround him with chakra pulsing out to creating a cage.

And Eirin would be see through the broken wall, holding the unconscious and wet Kiri with her front appendages, eyes in an accusatory glare. “He’s… not… He’s not breathing!” And that would be all that was needing for the group of slugs to surround the vicinity with enormous chakra pulses to apprehend the one-armed boy, the force enough like numerous gravity jutsu that pushes one to the ground.

Should Eishi assume to fight back, the pressure of the gravity would double each time, until he would pass out, with the last glimpse of Eirin carrying Kiri away.

 

[Eishi]

I hadn't expected to get launched out of a room by one of these damned slugs, and this time it happened to be Kiri's own personal slug assuming I was drowning him. I mean, it probably didn't look good that I dunked him in some water, but fuck them for assuming the worst because I look like I might've actually kill him. Bunch of assuming slugs I was dealing with it seemed. It only went from bad to worse as I began to notice some movement around me as the slug who launched me out said something. I didn't have time to think and I didn't waste my time trying to explain myself as I summoned Akane, my weapon spirit to my side. I had convinced her to stay inside the weapon since I had gone to Kiri's place, but it seems I'd be rid of my quiet time quite a bit earlier than I would've wanted. As she appeared, she seemed to have a grasp of what I was dealing with, because she quickly disappeared and my spear began to ignite with power. Good, I didn't even have to listen to her give me shit before getting into a fight.

"Keep me alive," I said just as my spear cast [Polarity Shift] on the two of us only moments before multiple casts of gravity hit me like a brick house, making my knees nearly buckle and almost causing me to lose my lunch. I grunted as I let go of Akane, letting her float there, long enough to allow me to activate [Polarity Storm]. It was enough to disrupt the surrounding slugs long enough for the two of us to slip out of their gravity well. I took a deep breath now that I could before I gave them my warning,

"I came to help you people, but if you'd rather make an enemy of me, so be it. As long as you're alive, I can always heal you up later," I smirked, finishing my cast for [Senbon Coating] as I was done speaking. If someone was looking for a fight with me, I was never one to back down and these slugs would learn their folly for rushing to conclusions. The armor finally finished forming around me like a second skin as I waited for their next move. I kept my arm to the side as my spear idly floated around me, I didn't want them to think I armed myself, despite this being my dangerous stance. Kiri mostly forgotten about at this point as my bloodlust boiled beneath the calm veneer I wore.

 

[Kiri]

The slugs were very much alarmed by the sudden retaliation that Eishi was showing. The summoned weapon becoming a form of threat. Not to mention the sudden burst of chakra pulse that emanating from within the boy. It was a cause for concern and the slug patrol were ready to trample upon the boy and crush his futile attempt to fight back. They would inch closer, a surge of their own chakra pulse creating tremors on the ground that sent nearby house patrons to shut their windows and doors. It was almost as if they knew something bad was about to happen and didn’t want to be a part of it.

A raised appendage was all that was needed for a storm to be summoned overhead, thunder and lightning racing across and echoing with frightening strength that sent static waves across the realm. And that was about to fall down and crush the boy.

Until a certain large slug dropped from the sky and landed just behind the said boy. The giant blue slug with yellow patterns and two large orange horn appendages quickly shot out a string of ooze to cover the entire being of Eishi and much like a spider, would drag him close to her. “Calm down, young one,” said Piucca. “There’s nothing to be alarmed about.”

Spoiler

Then, she (Piucca the large blue slug) would look back at the slug patrol and say, “This boy is under Kiri’s protection. Don’t lay a hand on him. Besides, I believe Umiseishin is already on his way to treat Kiri right now.”

At those words, inside the inn where the troubled and restless Eirin was still holding the boy, another blue slug, one with much more defined almost humanoid appearance had found his way to. This was Umiseishin, Kiri’s other slug contract, and he came just in time to console the panicking Eirin.

Spoiler

“Eirin, don’t worry. He’s only entered a suspended animation state. It means the curse has began its second stage. He’s still alive, but we must act soon to prevent it from reaching the final stage,” said Umiseishin as he reached down to cradle Kiri’s young body. Then, he would look out to through the hole in the wall and give Piucca the signal.

It would appear quite fast, everything seemingly moving beyond Eishi’s pace, but it had to be done. Without so much of a ceremony, he would be slung up on top of Piucca’s back as the large slug would then scurry away. And before he knew it, he was propped on a large chair and facing a long table filled with food. They were now in some kind of a mansion like place (built of soothing scented wood) with small slugs scurrying about carrying more plates of food. Told to take care of himself for the day, and even given a slug attendant to help him wash by the bath and relax for the night in a room filled with nothing but pillows, Eishi was instructed to do anything but enter the room where Kiri was placed. None of the three slugs earlier were to be found… at least, at the moment.

But perhaps the attendant would know?

 

[Eishi]

I pounded my chest with my arm as I grinned maniacally. I had no hope of beating these slugs on their own turf, but I’d make them regret coming after me before I either went down or got away. I’d rather fight to the death than be arrested and I was about to prove that was the case when I saw the sky darken as they were going to try and strike me down with lightning. Bad move on their part, I thought with a grin. I had a giant metal rod floating around me and enough experience with lightning chakra that these slugs were about to get their ass countered in the most satisfying of way and I couldn’t wait.

It was at that moment that I felt a large gust of air crash down behind me and as I was about to direct Akane to slice into whatever it was, it grabbed me in its viscous liquid. Fucking disgusting, but it seemed I was stuck in its arm like a fly to paper. I tried to get Akane to slice into the arms, but she got just as stuck as I was. Struggling seemed pointless when I looked back at it later on, but I was already in fight or flight mode so all I ended up doing was tiring myself out as I continued to struggle and scream. I had heard what it said to me, but I was in no mood to calm down after what I’d just been through between being thrown out a window and then almost losing my lunch from the gravity crush.

After I was fully tuckered out the slug finally let go of me and plopped me into a chair with a bunch of food present in front of me. I hardly wanted food, but thought better of it when my stomach yelled at me before I began digging in. The giant slug had said something about not visiting Kiri right now, so I’d take her word for it. I didn’t say anything as I ate, but when I was finally done and calm enough to form a rational sentence I asked the attendant that they had assigned to monitor me what was what.

“What’s going on, I've been on this wild goose chase with Kiri for quite a while and I have no context on what’s happening or what ya’ll are trying to do,” I asked the attendant slug assuming it knew anything or at the very least knew who to ask. Kiri was dealing with some shit, and I was playing second fiddle without a music sheet. It was getting downright annoying playing in the dark and I was going to get some answers before these slugs inadvertently killed my benefactor by means of inaction.