Survival Of The Fitness? {Class Topic}

[Midori Futotta]

The ancient forest is known as the most wild location of the village. The mysteries and dangers that are rumoured to lurk around this place is where creatures have been known to stalk its depths. Add on top of that the medical experimentation escaping the hospital and fleeing into the darker parts of the forest, you never really know what is there lurking within these woods. This forest was also the home to kumogatures medical sennin– who was just one of the many odd things that you might find wandering this particular forest. Midori is a massive ogre of a woman, standing roughly around 9'2 and weighing almost a half a ton. Despite the noticeable size of the woman she was also extremely pale, looking around her mid early 30s despite her real age being just around 50 and she wore a massive sundress which looked to be custom made to fit around a person her size; though the dress material seems to be cut so thick that it could remind people of a large curtain… A really, really, really, really- really large curtain. Like one of those theater curtains only white.

As the massive vampire moved through the trees, she ducked a couple of branches that hung a bit too low from the smaller trees. Looking down so she doesn't trip over anything, a bird landed on her hat which it mistook for being a tree before it flew away after Midori felt something weird moving around on her hat and used her hand to shoo whatever it was away. The giantess lumbered along the trail until finding a spot where she believed was the entrance of the forest, standing near one of the trees with a deep sigh. Now it was time to do the simple thing, wait for her students to arrive. This class in particular was easy enough, it was just a wilderness survival course which was nothing too special. A little thing to test the children's survival skills, maybe even gather a few herbs if she could find them around which seemed easy enough.

From that long walk it made her a little hungry, so while she waited for the students to arrive; the massive vampire would then removed her hat so she could pull out a gallon of chocolate syrup that she kept stored inside a seal, tucking the hat underneath her armpit then proceed to take a couple of massive gulps of the syrup with her back turned away from the trail for a bit of privacy. After having her fill, the giantess wiped her mouth and closed up the gallon then put it back in her hat. Midori would then put her hat back on her head then go into her large leather purse to pull out her halloween theme make-up mirror to get a look to see if her lipstick was looking alright and it seemed okay enough as she licked away the rest of the chocolate syrup. For now, Midori did a quick touch up to her lipstick so her lips were at a good shade of red for the class and while she was at it– she decided to fix up her mascara too. Looking at herself in the small mirror Midori checked herself out from the right side, then the left side, then she puckered her lips up at herself, then she smiled so she could look to see if there was anything in her teeth and with a shrug the medical sennin snapped the mirror closed once she felt satisfied with her looks.

 

[Maki Sōma]

Everyone has heard the mysterious stories about who or what may be lurking in the darkest corners of the Ancient forest. That alone was enough for most sensible people to avoid the area entirely. Speculation whirled erratically in the head of the young student as he tried to imagine what could be in store for him today. While Sōma wasn't a completely fresh face in the academy, he hadn't been there for long enough to have participated in much more than the run of the mill classroom activities. There had been minimal opportunities for any real sort of practical application. Whatever challenges today had in store for the boy, he knew one thing for certain, he was going to face them head on.

A quick glance at the page outlining the details of the class reaffirmed it's start time for the 4th or 5th time today. Sōma's stride shifted from a casual walk to a slow jog. He had more than enough time to make it without being late, but his eagerness was morphing into impatience and resulted in an almost involuntary change of pace. The young boy pulled at his jacket, closing it across his loose fitting shirt in an attempt to shield himself from the worst of Kumo's cold climate. He was of course used to the weather, having lived in the village for as long as he could remember, but his narrow frame lacked much in the way of natural insulation. Some form of light, hooded outerwear was a staple choice for him.

Slowing back to a walk, Sōma surveyed the immediate area as he approached the entrance to the forest. Not really knowing what to expect, he began to make his way towards the trail while looking around for any signs of his classmates or their instructor. The boy narrowed his eyes, trying to pierce through the veil of darkness beyond the first row of trees. As he continued forward his gaze flitted between the silhouettes, the shadows beginning to evaporate as his vision started to adapt.

Wait...

Sōma found himself instinctively drop to a half crouch as he squinted to make out the giant figure that had formed in the shadow of a large tree. He rubbed his eyes. Whatever it was that thing was huge! The boy felt his heart start pounding. His palms became clammy. The stories were true?! What kind of terrifying creature had he stumbled across. The silhouette appeared animated, but he could not make out what it was doing from this distance. His brain loudly protested at his body's decision to move closer, creeping forward to try and get a better view of whatever this was.

'Is that...' The boy edged closer '...is that a dress?...Oh cra-'

Sōma's inner monologue was cut short as he felt something brittle underneath his foot. His eyes opened wide. It was too late to shift his step to avoid the dry sticks that lined the floor.

~SNAAPP!~

 

[Midori Futotta]

Just as Midori was finishing up her looks, she heard an audible snap coming from behind her that made her turn to look back to see where the sound had come from. There she saw the youth who, she assumed, was trying to sneak up upon her… or was he not trying to draw attention to himself since she did seem to have a habit of intimidating people without really doing anything.. intimidating. Midori chuckled at the little one and then she spoke to the child with her odd accent that made her sound a little forigin from Kumogakure. ”Vhy hello zere little one, I have been exbecting vu.” said the massive vampire in a friendly tone as to not spook the child into running away. Chasing people wasn’t really a talent of hers so if the child did run she’d probably would just stretch her limbs or grow larger so Midori would be able to scoop the child up if the need arises.

Since the child was the first to show up, Midori began lumbering towards the child and let me tell you it was a sight. To put it in greater perspective; it was like being approached by an elephant, her great limbs moving slowly as she ducked a couple of low branches as she approached the child as some of the dred sticks began to snap under her weight. The giantess stopped just about 7 steps away from the child before bending herself over to meet the child at a much better eye level.. Mostly because if Midori stood up straight the whole time she wouldn’t even be able to see the child if she just towered over him so with her hands on her knees - giving the child a warm ruby smile as the sennin looked at the child with her odd golden hues. ”Good day to vu, I am Midori, metical zennin of kumogakure und I bid vu velcome to my vilderness zurviffal courze, dear child." Midori said in a courtly manner, gesturing her hand towards the child to allow him to do a little introduction before she continued the lesson.

"Zee lezzon for today is zimble. Vithin zis forest is a rare kind of muschroom zat ve uze to create a poizon knovn as Vraith's Dream. For zis courze vu vill be exbecded to harvest zeze muschrooms zen make it out of zee forest.” she explained which sounded easy enough but there was a catch to it. “Zough…. In zis forest vu vill many territorial beasts und zince zis fungus can only be found in zee deeper parts of zee forest vu it could be a hazard for vu but don’t vorry! I’ll be zere to provide aid if needed… zough remember zat if I have to help vu zee points zat vu vould receive could drop und vu could actually fail zis courze if I have to help vu too much.” with that she rose up to her full height. While this course was a bit more strict than the classes she would normally run, Midori felt that the point deduction was fair since this class was supposed to test his capability to survive. Afterall, she couldn’t be around all the time and sometimes the power of the individual would matter more than working with a team.. Especially since there was an unfortunate shortage of shinobi due to some odd phenomena where children are bone without the capability of even using chakra. It was a harsh lesson but if it wasn’t harsh then it wouldn’t really be shinobi right. “Zee name of zee muschrooms vu are looking for goes by zee zame name of Vraith's Dream. It's fairly eazy to spot, know zee locazion like zee pack of my hand. Just pick a direczion to valk in und I vill follow. Zen I vill tell vu vhether to go left, right, forvard or back. Don’t vorry vu von’t loze points for zat kind of help, just anyzing zat has me uzing my chakra vill make vu loze points if zat makes zenze.” Midori said before turning around to look around at the all trees around with her hands on her hips. “Vell lead zee vay….”

 

[Maki Sōma]

Well this was it...he hadn't even made it into double digits, and here he was about to become prey to this creature. The boy knew he wouldn't stand a chance in a straight up fight with something of that size, his only hope was the get out of there. He took half a step back, ready to bolt when...

”Vhy hello zere little one, I have been exbecting vu.”

The voice stopped him in his tracks. 'Exbecting me?' he repeated the question internally, even imitating the unfamiliar accent which caught him completely off guard. As he processed the announcement, the figure began to lumber towards him, pushing aside branches far above that the boy hadn't even considered being an obstacle.

”Good day to vu, I am Midori, metical zennin of kumogakure und I bid vu velcome to my vilderness zurviffal courze, dear child."

Sōma stood motionless, mouth slightly agape at what he saw before him. This woman was freaking HUGE! It was only when she bent down to meet his eyes that he could see her pale face was host to a warm reassuring smile. As she introduced herself, Sōma recognized the name from his earlier classes. They'd learned little bits here and there on the zenn-... sennin, but nothing had really done a very good job of painting the portrait that he was faced with now. A full 30 seconds of awkward silence passed before Sōma picked up on the the body language that implied the expectation of a response.

"Oh uh, my name is Maki Sōma" He replied, rising back to a more natural resting position as the immediate feeling of danger melted away. "Pleased to meet you Midori-sensei" A respectful bow followed his introduction, hoping that the giant sennin would look over his initial reaction. The boy listened closely to the details of today's activities. Occasionally he felt the tell tale look of confusion creep onto his face as he attempted to decipher the thick accent, but he quickly shook it off each time. "Understood" Sōma replied optimistically. He was fairly sure he had understood all of the most important parts of the briefing, but it would be a lie to say there wasn't the odd word that was completely lost to him. He waited until she had finished. "Midori-sensei, what do these mushrooms look like? He asked, unsure if that was maybe one of the finer details that he had lost in translation. The boy then started cautiously down the trail into the forest. Somehow the warnings of actual dangerous creatures seemed less scary after the excitement he had already endured.

'So I'm looking for Wraith's Dream... A type of poisonous mushroom...' He repeated to himself 'In the deepest part of the forest...' He strayed off the trail slightly, expecting that such mushrooms are unlikely to be found along a commonly walked path. Midori-sensei had explained that she would provide guidance to the correct location and as the instructions were provided, Sōma would follow along diligently. The boy was doing his best to try to make a mental map of where they'd been so far. In theory, having an idea of which way to walk to get out would be reassuring.

Trees...Trees...More trees. Some map this was...

The various animal calls would sometimes trigger a reaction from the boy, often looking up into the trees or squinting to try and make out any moving shapes in the distance. Most steps would be accompanied by a quick glance to his feet, double checking that he wasn't going to stand on anything lurking in the ground cover. As the pair continued to walk, Sōma would regularly check back at his instructor. Partly to make sure she was still there, but also because he still wasn't completely at ease with the woman. Was she really that size, or was it some kind of illusion? Was he really safe walking through a dark forest alone with her? He shook the questions away. If he was really to become a shinobi he couldn't keep entertaining all these concerns, it was time to focus, and concentrate on completing the task at hand.

 

[Midori Futotta]

First impressions were always everything, naturally people who were intimidated by her height would often come to some strange acceptance after meeting her. Midori honestly never really understood why people were so intimidated of her but she guessed that it was probably the same reason why most cockroaches run when seeing a human since it would be pretty easy for someone of her to actually crush someone if she was to accidentally trip over them… nevermind the fact she could grow much larger since her Akimichi abilities gives her the ability to grow however the minimum she could shrink herself will only be at her normal height which in which she was still freakishly tall but at least at 9’2 she can sort of fit into buildings. Doors are a trouble though…. And fans…. Also these trees seem to be an enemy. Basically everything is try not to trip, hit her head, bump into anything and or get herself stuck inside anywhere when going out into public. Yeah a lot of disadvantages in day-to-day life stuff but Midori learned to live with it at least.

After a while of just awkward silence, complete with crickets chirping in the background, the child introduced himself as Maki when he got over his shock of her size and seemed to be a bit more optimistic now that he seemed a bit more comfortable now. So once Midori briefed Maki on what they would be doing, he asked a simple question in which she answered and the two began to walk down the trail - cautiously. Midori made sure that the child was just a bit of distance between them so she doesn’t trample or trip over the child as they traveled through the woodlands. The child made their way off the trail, Midori followed and she got a quick look around at the place to see a few things that looked familiar. Mainly a few old looking talismans that seemed to be of no use nailed to a tree as she looked down at certain trees as she lumbered forward, ducking a stray branch as she moved to follow the child.“Zis looks like zee proper direczion zo far, I zink ve schould be coming ubon clearing zoon if ve keep going forvard.” she yelled from behind which scared a few crows away that were resting quietly in the trees which made Midori look up to see a nest just in arms reach in which the giantess would then reach up to pluck the nest from the branch then popped a few of the small eggs in her mouth shells and all. ”Mmmn~ could uze more zalt.” she was a bit disappointed since the raw eggs tasted like nothing but when Midori stopped to have a quick snack she saw that Maki was a little too far than she originally intended.

Of course, she was able to close that distance by jogging in order to catch up with the child which caused loud thumping of her feet to cause the trees around her to shake and only got louder as she got closer. THUMP! Thump! Thump! Thump! When she caught up with the child, Midori quickly needed to rest as she laid her hand against the tree to rest which made the tree that the giantess was leaning on tilt just a bit.. The roots made a faint cracking sound as Midori would try to catch her breath then began to walk again. When they finally came upon the clearing they would discover an old campsite located in the small clearing. The tent has been knocked down, and the food and utensils have been scattered everywhere. ”Hmmm… hov schtrange" Midori looked around, at the old campground, embers from a fire still going which meant that this could have happened like really recently.

 

[Maki Sōma]

It seemed that the giant wasn't letting Sōma wander too far ahead as the pair continued moving deeper into the forest, that was reassuring. The frequency of glances over his shoulder started to slow down as he became a little more comfortable with the situation. The boy was trying to think through the most likely places to find mushrooms, he spotted a handful of clusters growing at the base of trees, but on closer inspection nothing seemed to fit the description given by his sensei so far.

A loud noise from the woman behind Sōma caused a flurry of birds to flee the trees above. The boy flinched noticeably at the commotion, raising his arms to protect his head. He looked around once things had quieted down again. "Hehe, stupid birds" He laughed it off while scratching the back of his head, but it was obvious he was a little frustrated with himself at the reaction. Looking up, the boy saw Midori snacking on a handful of eggs, straight from the nest. 'Ok, now that's just nasty' he thought to himself, quickly distracted from the recent freakout.

The ground shook enough to push Sōma slightly off balance as the enormous Sennin broke into a jog to catch up to him. He held onto a nearby branch for stability as she got closer. She seemed to be a bit out of breath as she took advantage of a nearby tree to lean on and rest, much to the tree's distress. Sōma paused for a moment before continuing slowly in the same direction. He was careful to make sure to not get too far from his sensei before she was ready, but eager to keep moving. He didn't really want to hang around in this creepy forest any longer than he had to.

It wasn't much longer before the boy found himself stepping into a clearing. "What happened here..?" Sōma muttered quietly to himself as he saw the reminants of the campsite. The low fire crackling quietly as he continued into the clearing. "Could this have been one of those territorial beasts you mentioned?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. It certainly looked like an animal attack from the way everything was so carelessly scattered around the area. The young student begin looking through the campsite for anything that could give more clues as to what happened, obvious tracks or claw marks from animals, any blood on the collapsed tent that could have belonged to a beast or the unfortunate occupant. While also keeping an eye out for the Wraith's dreams mushrooms they were searching for.

 

[Midori Futotta]

As the giantess looked down at the campsite there were clear signs of a struggle within the campground, she could see little claw marks on what was left on the tent (or at least the claw marks seemed little to her since the scratches were about the size of something about the size of a human.) The sennin also discovered some tiny footprints along with some tracks which could have suggested that the owner was in a fight and they owner must've been dragged by two unknown attackers into the Forest, ”It is guite pozzible, my dearest. Zee clavs zuggest zome kind of animal on zis tent here.” she had just pointed out. Besides the torn tent there were also small splatters of blood on the tent that seemed to be more splattered on to the outside of the ruin tent in which if one were to look closer they would be able to see a small hole which had been stained in the most blood.

On the path there were small droplets of blood on the tracks leading into the woods which could be a sign that whatever it was that got this unhappy camper was at least wounded which could be good for them if the beast who attacked the camper would end up finding them… however the sight of blood did make Midori feel just a little hungry right now and could probably could use a little food right now since the smell was pretty intoxicating… Snapping out of her trance almost instantly, the sennin decided that it would be best to leave the campsite alone for now. ”Hmmmm zis could be a pozzible crime scene und zee perzon could be steel aliffe zince zey zeemingly haffe fought und vounded zee beast.” Midori stated while she looked at the tent, then bent down so she could look at the small red patches on the leaves and twigs. Now what she could do was just ignore this, then move on to find the mushrooms but since she was a medical nin and there could be a possibility for the person who was attacked here to still be alive. The Sennin thought it would be wrong of her to not try to find the person, especially if there was a trail that could lead her to the beast. Raising up to her full height again, which was a mistake given that a branch poked at her upper back in which she responded by ripping said branch from the tree; Midori looked down at Maki who she was also responsible for.

“Parton me, I do zink zat I schould respond to zis mischief. Zis perzon could very much be aliffe, as ein medical nin mein job is mainly to zaffe liffes zo if vu visch to continue vizout me in zee rezource gazering I vill proffide vu vith ein escort zo vu aren’t alone vizin zeze voods. If I can chust….” she went in her bra to whip out a tiny summoning scroll then bit her pinkie with her fangs and then trailed then drew a really bad spider on it with her blood. Once that was over, the scroll poofed into a cloud of pink smoke, something large landed right in front of Midori playing some kind of what sounded like a violin. Standing there was a huge white tarantula about 3'5 ft in size. The sider however wasn’t all white since it did have patches of black and on the tips of her legs, her abdomen, and on her cephalothorax. She has eight eyes with two of her eyes being big hot pink eyes and six smaller red ones which could easily be mistaken for freckles and she also has these weird ear like things on her head too, not really sure what they are but it's safe to assume it's her ears.The spider paused in the middle of her song then Midori instantly began talking to her. “Dearest Bathory, zomeone is in great distress zo I haffe decided taken it upon myzelf to come to zee aid of zee perzon. Zis is Maki, vu are to escort him to find zee poizon knovn as Vraith's Dream fungus within zee path usually take und make zure he doesn’t get into too much in mein abzence. Zat is if it's not any trouble to vu.” Midori asked the spider.

“Nay, Midori. Not a problem at all, common kiddo let's get a move on.” the spider made a quick dash around Midori then raised her front leg to gesture for the child to follow since it knew the way to the mushrooms too but would the child like going to pick mushrooms rather than doing a search and rescue?

Ooc:
[Midori summons Bathory the spider]
[CHOICES: Go with Bathroy the spider or try to talk Midori into tagging along on a search and rescue?]

 

[Maki Sōma]

Rummaging through the destroyed campsite yielded further clues that suggested something bad had happened here. Sōma inspected the collapsed tent which appeared to be splattered with blood. He lifted the material up in front of his face and to see a large concentration of blood and light pouring through a small hole, it seemed like this was likely the point at which a pretty substantial injury had occurred. Was this still part of the class? Something set up as a test or exercise? Or had something really bad happened here. It didn't feel right, and it seemed as though the Sennin was of the same opinion as she began to think aloud.

The boy dropped the stained tent, stood and turned to look towards Midori. He could feel a small surge of adrenaline burst through his body as it became more apparent that this was not a staged exercise, something really had happened and someone really could be in trouble. As he was about to speak, the Sennin announced her intentions. Before he knew it she produced a scroll from her bra and, in a puff of smoke, a huge spider looking creature appeared with a musical accompaniment. Sōma was starting to develop a numbness to the weird spontaneity that was an apparent characteristic of his teacher. The boy heard Midori refer to the spider as Bathory and listened as she explained that she had summoned the creature to accompany the boy while she went looking for the injured person. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. There was potentially someone out there who needed help, and he was going to be picking mushrooms. Sure he was just a kid with a lot to learn, but it felt wrong to him, it wasn't in his nature to ignore something like this.

He took a couple of steps towards the direction indicated by the spider before stopping. "Midori-sensei?" He said, turning to her with a determined expression "I know I need to get these mushrooms for you. And I know that it is probably dangerous to go looking for what happened here. But this is exactly why I wanted to be a shinobi in the first place, to help protect everyone that lives here. If there is someone that is in trouble, I want to help in any way I can." The boy paused for a second as he quickly played through a scenario in his head "Even if I fail for not getting the mushrooms right now, I can stay later and help you with them after class, if you still need them." He knew his parents would probably start to worry if he stayed too late without warning, but they'd understand. This was who he was. If someone needed help he wanted to do all he could, even if it meant needing to retake a class, worrying his parents or putting himself in potential danger.

 

[Midori Futotta]

As the vampire took a quick snapshot of the blood to get a chakra signature of the person in need, Maki however was not that welling to go off with her pet arachnid to go on a resource gathering. Tuning into the chakra signature using a little trick that she learned from some of the Anbu courses that the Sennin took in her youth, she could see a bright aurora-like trail in which looked which seemed to be fresh but fading ever so slightly each second. Once she had at least a hint of where they might've gone, the giantess turned to the young student and gave them a look. Now there were a lot of things that could go wrong with him coming along, one being that he puts himself in danger then she would have to choose between saving his life or saving the other person who is probably gravely injured. Midori honestly can afford to be reckless since she was an immortal, though unfortunately this child didn't have the same insurance as the giantess had.

Unfortunately, she didn't have time to argue that point so with a pout the giantess simply turned to say to her spider. "Change of plans, dearest Bathory. Zee child visches to come vith zo if vu vould pleaze vatch offer zee child to make zure zey don't do Hanyzing foolisch zat vould be a great help to me." Midori told her spider, before looking down at the child again. "Fine vu may come vith but stay behind me zo I can zee your zafety young man. – Vile our country does promote zelf zacrifice, to throw your life avay for a thrill is irresbonzible. Zee goal is to be remempered as zee hero, not as zomeone vho vas trying to be a hero.” Midori simply said still having some reservations about taking the child along but she knew well enough to know that most children would look at this as some thrill and go off to chase trouble alone. At least with having him tag along she could keep an eye on him and the giantess wouldn’t have to worry whether the child just ditched her spider to go rogue so he could prove his worth.

Once that was settled, Midori began to lumber - following the aurora-like chakra trail that only she could see while her spider silently crawled in behind Maki so it could watch the child while keeping an eye out for any dangers around them. Midori looking down she could see the blue aurora-like trail starting to get brighter which meant they weren’t that much further from where the person was: however the forest started to get a bit more dense than usual. The woods started to get darker, shaded more by the trees above in which made the medical sennin have to crouch in order to duck some of the branches that were starting to get in her way. Eventually the giantess, child, and the massive spider was led to another clearing leading to the mouth of a cave. Midori with her head ducked underneath a branch looked at the pitch black mouth of the cave then cringed since she didn’t know just how deep the cave went or how big did the cave even get. “Hmmmmmmmm….. Zis could be a izzue.” Midori said, like sure a normal person could fit inside of the cave but a person her height and body type could easily get stuck within the cave which would waste more time so it would seem that she would have to resort to another way to rescue the patient since her going in would probably be a bad idea. Navigating inside of a building two sizes too small was easy enough but this cave had sharp rocks, pillars that would make the cave collapse if she would bump into them, and really snug pathways. “Vell it looks like I von’t pe able to enter zee caffe directly, zee narrow pathvays und pillars vould put us in quite zee preticament.” she pouted angrily again before realizing something that she could do besides waiting out here. She face palmed herself, then laughed. “Zilly me, I have forkotden zat I can zummon a few of zee living dead through earth grudge fear! I can channel my pover through zem insdead und zend zem vizin zee caffe insdead of mezelf. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!” Midori just realized, a few draugar minions should be enough since using them would allow her to perform jutsu through them since they were just mindless zombies made to do her bidding. She already had it planned in her head that the five draugar’s and Bathory will be the ones going within the cave…. but the child however……. “Uhhh ~I zuppoze vu don’t visch to remain out here vith me vile I control zee draugar’s und zend Bathory inzide to rescue the berzon from zome unholy terror now, do vu?” Well at the very least she did ask so the child did know that there was an easier option…

 

[Maki Sōma]

Oh there was no doubt, Having Sōma tag along was not the woman's favorite idea in the world. He stood, holding firm in his determination as her eye's gave him a look vaguely reminiscent of that one that his mother gave when he wanted to climb that really big tree a few years back. This felt like like one of those 'Who will blink first' moments, he just had hold his nerve for a little bit longer. To Sōma 'the look' seemed to last for at least 5 times longer than it probably really did, but finally his perseverance was rewarded as Midori allowed him to join her in the search.

"I understand. I'm ready to help" He said, looking to both Midori and her arachnid familiar. Sōma was not an overly reckless child, but he was still a child. He understood the comment as an instruction for him to be careful and take this seriously, although perhaps the true gravity of her warnings were lost on him. The whole situation had created a weird combination of emotion, he was still genuinely concerned for the safety of this person, that feeling had never gone away, but now it was mixed in with a feverish excitement. Today was turning out to be a significant departure from the standard training and exercises he had come to expect from lessons.

Following in the footsteps of the giantess made navigating through the forest so much easier. Sōma no longer found himself having to carefully step over roots and fallen branches for fear of tripping. Instead he just aimed for the patches that had already been obliterated by his Sensei's heavy footfall. He was beginning to get a bit more comfortable in the Ancient Forest. It was still a little creepy and probably wouldn't be his first choice of somewhere to go to relax, but he was getting a little less jumpy at the various sounds and rustles that were commonplace here. Even with the enormous spider following close behind.

As they continued Sōma was wondering how the woman was deciding which direction to go. He was looking left and right for any tell-tale signs such as splatters of blood or a trail that the person had followed but he had yet to find anything obvious. However, one thing he did find was himself almost walking into the backside of the woman as she came to an abrupt stop. Peering around her, he could see the entrance to a pitch black cave. It didn't look like it would be too much of a squeeze, certainly not for someone of his size, but his Sensei? Well this might be more of an obstacle for her. Luckily she already had a solution to this problem. With a laugh resembling that of a cheesy comic book villain, she conjured up a handful of shambling figures to join their ever increasing entourage. The boy tried, but couldn't stop himself from succumbing to the contagious laugh for a moment.

Sōma quickly found himself looking back from the mouth of the cave as he heard the woman's question. He had quietly made his way to the front of the group for a better look during the commotion. Laughing nervously as he remembered the her warnings from moments ago and trying to quickly formulate a plausible excuse, "Uhh, I was just thinking maybe it would be good for there to be person there when we find the injured. It might be a surprise to run into just the Drawour and Bathry in a dark cave like this." He said, completely butchering both of the unfamiliar words. Hoping that the Spider hadn't taken offense, he continued "I promise I'll be careful..."

Assuming Midori agreed to let him go into the cave with Bathory and the Draugr, the boy would proceed in the middle of the group or in the order instructed by Midori. Sōma's hand ran along the cold sharp rocks while edging further into the darkness, squinting as his eyes struggled to adjust. He wanted to make sure to stay close enough to see the leader of the group, without going too fast as to risk tripping on something in the pitch dark that shrouded his feet. "Hey, so can those things talk, or are they just like zombies?" He whispered towards the spider, wondering what the injured victim might think when they see this motley band shambling through the dark.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Midori while the child was asking her if he could tag along would then remove one of her gloves so her black tendrils would squirm out from underneath her pale hand which enabled her to construct about five outlines of makeshift humanoid bodies composed entirely of dark writhing threads. The bodies of course were a bit sloppy looking, occasionally looking like humanoids then just a pile of writhing tendrils. Midori would then growl before opening her mouth wide, more black tendrils spewing from her mouth as something seemingly was rising out from her throat and out of her mouth - A MASSIVE WORM! The thing was a black sludge-like creature that with a red glowing human heart pulsating inside of its stomach, the thing shot for the mess of humanoid tentels then began to construct a much more stable but horrible sludge-like being. Spreading its mass from the first tendrils it infected the others so they would build themselves into a similar way that the parasitic heart was building the first mass of tendrils.

While her heart worm worked on building up her monsters, Midori would then pull out some makeup remover to fix up some of the smear that the parasite did before finally giving the child her full attention. Now that she thought about it did make sense to her when she actually put at least a little thought into it. Maybe Maki should assist in the extraction since the child did have a point about sending a few of the living dead and a massive spider inside. Like, most people react to her with fear at first, heck even her first reaction when meeting Bathory was fear at first but Midori was still hesitant in sending the child into the cave. One could imagine what the person would do when seeing their inhuman savors. ”Very vell, zen vu may azzist in zee extraczion if only to azure zat zee patient is stable enough for extraczion” she agreed, looking back at the weird leech like sludge monsters were all. This made her smile, feeling a psychological link to the undead as they stumbled there patiently waiting for Midori’s orders. Once they were ready, Midori sent the creatures inside of the cave following the same blue aurora like trail that began to get stronger the deeper inside of the cave that they gone in while Bathorty crawled on the walls to the rocky ceiling so it can hang upside down and see if there was anything in front of them at a different angle - that was until they had to stop so Midori could answer the child's question.

”Vu may speak vith zee dragur’s if vu visch, but zey cannot speak zemzelves. Honestly, zey are chust more like fancy puppets unter my control zo if vu do talk to zem - at zee very least I can hear vu und even zee vu vhen I keep my eyes clozed. Me und zoze zings have a little pzychic link going on.” Midori explained for a moment before poking her temple. ”Alright, explanazion time is over. Let's get on vith it schall ve?” Once Midori felt like she answered the child's questions, the vampire would then rush the zombie-sludge-things deeper into the cave to follow the trail. Moving a bit fast despite being mostly able to stagger around since Midori used a little strategy of having them lean into the point where they almost would trip but then used the wall to regain balance again. Basically using the drunk man walk to help them move at a faster pace rather than the regular deadmans step drag kind of walk and it was actually working for them. Bathory crawling upside down sped forward as the cave started to get darker… pitch black even as exit got further and further way but thankfully Bathory was able to shine a light within one of her web balls (in which she just made like… on the spot) so she was able to make seeing where they were going a bit easier. Eventually the zombie’s turned in through a corner of the cave… a long narrow pathway that seemed to get tighter but easy enough for an average person to fit through with ease… Bathory crawled down from the ceiling to let one of the zombie’s take the lead, about halfway into this narrow pathway, they could start to hear something that sounds like sobbing coming from the path they were on which made the zombie in front hurry along the path before making their way out of the cave into somewhere that seemed to have whispers in the bouncing off the walls of this channel….

This was a large opening, a massive lava tube type of cave given the smoothness of the stones around them being tunnel-like with a couple of lava pillars that kept this bizarre structure from falling down. The mountain that this cave was on has been inactive for years so there was nothing to worry about when it came to eruptions or anything. Resting next to one of these pillars, crumpled in a fetal position was a wounded man who looked to be in rags and tatters. Blood staining his clothing and though you couldn’t tell for sure; but it looked like they were crying. The zombies let out a high pitched demonic screech, probaby a sign of joy since Midori was happy to find the patient alive. Though the man almost instantly looked back to see five sludge things, a spider, and a boy. In which his tear stained face would twist in anger then he would pick-up a rock ready to crack the heads of anything that got close to him “NO! YOU AREN’T TAKING ME DAMNIT! I FOUGHT THIS LONG AND I AIN’T LETTING ANY OF YOU THINGS GET ME!”

Delusional patient…. Fun.

 

[Maki Sōma]

The group continued on their journey down into the darkness. By this point Sōma's eyes were starting to adjust a little bit, he was no longer completely blind and was just able to make out the shambling shapes from the zombies in front. To an outside observer, the boy would probably be indiscernible from the creatures as he too stumbled forward with each step, catching himself on the wall whenever a foot met the uneven surface in an awkward way. Perhaps sensing the boy was struggling, Bathory decided to pull a pretty good trick, fashioning a web sphere which they then illuminated, like some sort of arachnid disco ball. The new light source revealed the narrowing twists and turns the path was taking in front of them.

At first the boy wasn't sure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but it kind of sounded like someone was crying up ahead. When the lead zombie upped the pace and rounded the next corner it became apparent that he hadn't imagined it, someone was crying up ahead, most likely the person they were looking for. Sōma quickly followed through into a large cavernous opening, supported by impressive tubular pillars of smooth rock unlike anything the boy had seen before. Suddenly, a loud screech of excitement(?) echoed out from the zombies, it appeared they had found something.

"Hey, are you alright?!" Sōma shouted to the figure that he spotted at the base of one of the pillars. The response was...less than ideal. Quite understandably it seemed like the man was pretty terrified with the rescue party that stood before him. The young student quickly tried to push his way through to the front of the group, in an attempt to conceal the assortment of supernatural beings behind a thin veneer of familiarity. "We're here to help you!" Sōma continued, holding his hands up so the man could see he was trying to be as non threatening as possible. "I know you're scared right now, but we found your campsite and came looking for anyone that was injured and needing help." The boy began to edge forward cautiously, very aware that the man was holding a rock and could snap at any moment, attacking out of fear, "My name is Maki Sōma, I'm a student at the academy here in the village. Is it ok if I come a bit closer?" The boy continued forward, slowly and carefully, "My Sensei is outside waiting to help you. These are her...uh...assistants I guess..."

Sōma was hopeful that the man would see him as non-threatening and start to calm down, he definitely didn't look to be in any condition to go through further trauma or stress. Either way, he was still aware that people can act crazy when they're scared, and the group approaching the man was not the sort of thing people were used to seeing every day. He knew that if the man did feel threatened and try to fight back, he would have to be ready to avoid an attack.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Bathory squinted her eyes before starting to spin a new web, crawling around back and forth as though she was lost as the child tried talking to the delusional man. This man unfortunately was not convinced that this child was not an enemy, between the voices echoing things into his head and the weird company that the child had with him– Maki seemed like just another thing that wanted his life. The man without another word would lunge forward about to strike the child with the rock, the man triggered one of the spider's web traps but just as he would've been caught in the tangled mess of silk he would have quickly drawn a Kunai to cut through the web! This was when Bathory panicked… running then lept for the man poised to strike the man with her venom which would've been really bad but luckily the man ducked the spider before it sank it's fangs into him. Just as he was about to swing the rock at Maki, the crazed man was blasted with a beam of chakra from one of the zombie's chest which made the man almost instantly go limp.

The crazed man wasn't dead, just Tranquilize with a higher concentration of soothing chakra to the point where his body was completely paralyzed like all the strength was drained from him. A little trick that medics use. Now that the patient was more calm, Bathory, while still embarrassed about her blunders, did manage to cocoon the man within her web before one of the zombie's grabbed the man's legs then began lifting his lower body up. "Weeeeeeeell that happened, I think we better get outside before whatever made him go Coo-coo gets us" said Bathory while looking deeper into the cave. "Go pick up his upper body while I lead y'all out of here, the only one with a light here and it's hard to shine it carrying an unconscious man. He gives you any problems, let him go and let gravity handle the rest!" Bathory shrugged, that was literally the best she got hence why the spider was allowing the child to carry the crazy guy by the torso because he'll be a lot safer if the guy started fighting again. You could get kicked carrying the lower body but if you are holding the upper body you did have a slight advantage if the person on the other side was able to not drop their end.

[[Ooc: Heads up, probably gonna finish up this topic next post cause this week's rewards is x1]]

 

[Maki Sōma]

Everything felt like it was in slow motion.

Sōma could feel his heart beating in his chest as he continued to edge closer to the injured man, arms held up in front of him. In the background, the boy could hear the fair sound of the giant spider scuttling around, but he didn't want to take his eyes off the man. One wrong move and this whole situation could end in a fight with the person they came here to rescue. There was an unsettling look in his eyes, tortured and lost. "Don't worry, we're here to help you." The young boy repeated, taking another step forward. Just a bit closer...

Everything happened all at once.

Despite his best efforts, the man was in such a state that he could not see the group as anything other than another threat, and Sōma was the closest. Reflexively, he leapt back to avoid the lunging man who burst towards him and straight into a well positioned web. It wasn't going to slow him down for long though as he produced a Kunai to cut himself free. It seemed as tho he was running on pure adrenaline as in spite of his injuries he was able to dodge the jumping attack of Bathory and lunge for the boy once again. He didn't have much time, the man was almost upon him. Sōma quickly began to weave the hand-seals for Electrocution jutsu, this was going to be close but he had to incapacitate the man somehow.

Out of nowhere a strong chakra beam hit the man and his limp body crashed to the ground. "What was that?! Is he ok?" Sōma said, quickly looking over his shoulder to see the source of the blast. He knelt down to check the man and was relieved to see him still breathing. That was a close one. "Ok, I got him" Sōma replied to the spider's instructions, straining as he pulled the man's torso up from the ground. Even with the rigorous training that students went through at the academy, it was still a challenge for a 9 year old to assist in carrying a fully grown man. The sticky cocoon helped, but it was still a struggle as Sōma awkwardly waddled forward, retracing their steps and following Bathory's light toward the entrance of the cave.

"Midori-sensei, we found him!"

As the group emerged from the cave Sōma would gently lower the man to the ground and step back, recognizing that unless given further instructions he'd done all that he could to help. Looking back into the cave, he thought about what on earth could send someone into this state. Whatever it was, they were fortunate not to come across it themselves.

[[ Ooc: That works perfectly for me, I'm moving in a couple of weeks so things are starting to get pretty busy irl ]]

 

[Midori Futotta]

"Bah! Don't worry he'll be alright, we have a medical nin outside to help." Bathory dismissed, clearly not really worried about the man since her summoner did know every medical ninjutsu known in the ninja world. Sure he got both tazed and tranquilized– he'll be alive by the end of it all. Carrying the cocooned body of the man was a little difficult since there were certain times that the undead was trying to keep the man from falling out of its grasp; but eventually the group would find their way out the cave where Midori could finally open her eyes to find that everyone, with the exception of the cocooned man that they were carrying, were okay. The undead began lowering down the man, Maki did the same and Midori would look over the man's physical well being while congratulating the young student for aiding with the extraction of the man.

"Vell done for helping me vith zee extraczion. It vas truly magnificent despite zis man's mental schtate." Midori praised the child all while looking back into the mouth of the cave in which all that was there was darkness but the giantess was curious of what could have been in there that fractured the patient's mind. Just then, the vampire would then notice that around her the daylight was beginning to fade and the night was almost upon them. "Hark, zee night approaches. I grow vary of zee coming night; if zat vill be all, I vill lead vu out of zis curzed land und zee to your zafety myzelf. Come." Midori hiss as the undead would implode on themselves and the parasitic worm heart would begin to squirm over in Midori's direction. The giantess reacted quickly despite her size; scooping the worm from the ground, devouring it whole without chewing before grabbing the patient and slinging him over her shoulder effortlessly. She began to walk a lot faster than before, almost gliding as opposed to her lumbering that the giantess had previously had done earlier on. Even having to slow herself so Maki and Bathory would be able to catch up after feeling a renewed jolt of energy when the night was slowly approaching.

When they made their way back towards the entrance of the forest, the giantess would then pause and glimpse at the sunset over the horizon. "Vell zen, zince vu zurfiffed inzide of zat deffil's den I vill mark vu as pazzing for zis zurfiffal courze; vu are ein brave young man but I really must be going. Arh ! Lots of beople are Hexbecding me zis time of zis glorious night! Farevell und pe vell!"

[Left unless stopped]
[Tutoring completed]