OC: I just got back to the states. I had no computer access while on holiday with Sousuke and Mikaboshi.
IC:
It should be obvious to those gathered here that something was wrong. They were hurled into the wilderness via a seal fixed into their hands, perhaps it was a mistake. Perhaps it was mere happenstance that two exams happened to take place in the same space and that they were in such close proximity to a juvenile sandworm. Yes, that worm was far from an adult, while the biology of a Sandworm is a mystery to most despite the fact that worms have been a subject of academic study for some time there seemed to be more mysteries than answers. The Ancient stood at the edge of the precipice that dropped to unseen depths, a fissure that separated the Earth Ancient from these relative unknowns. It watched as the humans healed each other, it did not intervene. In time it would appear that these humans have learned a vast skill set that they did not have previously. He came from a time before man discovered how to manipulate their chakra coils. It was a fascinating skill not unlike those his kind employs, a manipulation of their actual spiritual essence to manipulate the world around them. It was something that humanity was only first discovering when he was hunted down like and animal and captured, it would appear that they have become more proficient over the years. In his time there was more ceremony attached to their power but in time it would seem that humanity stripped away the unnecessary and tedious ritualism associated with their craft but their proficiency seemed no different.
"So Mr. Golz, how can we help you?
He took a breath, he was not looking for 'help.' He was home and he was free but of course there were things he wanted. Everybody wants something.
"I am here with the pretty human,"</GLOW><i></i> he replied referring to Kurokawa.
"I am here to help her." He looked at the displaced earth, the hard-packed sand and the damaged humans. Sandworms were hardly a novelty, at least in his time. Nests or rather egg-lairs were maintained indefinitely. While there was no corpse to identify the behemoth annelid, there were always signs. He knelt down to the edge of the earth he stood on, something was breaking through the earth. As a bit of earth crumbled away and a strange creature burst through and then plummeted to its conceivable demise.
"...sand tribble," he muttered. It had been a long time since he had seen one but they had a symbiotic relationship with the sandworms, they consumed the refuse left behind by the Sandworms which protected the penultimate predator from the true apex predator of the desert. Not man, not ancient but rather carnasaurs. While their path would fade away with the shifting sands in these arid winds, their excrement was as hard as stone and rather massive. It was something that was hard to miss, even if half-buried. It would seem that the man wearing unseasonably warm attire was telling the truth when he explained their plight, their fight and then their ultimate victory over the beast.
"Sandworms do not eat people unless attacked," Golz mused out loud.
<GLOW glow="darkgoldenrod">"You should know to not antagonize them and to avoid their grounds... it is not like those change,"<i></i> the mildly befuddled ancient continued.
"Human rights of passage are strange,"<i></i> their tribalism should not surprise him at this point considering their nomadic roots however they had long ago been domesticated and became agrarian. In their absence did they truly revert?
"Children are precious, you should not send them to antagonize dangerous creatures."<i></i>
These young people were in the middle of something bigger than themselves. They were simply casulaties that needed to be out of the way. The medics were transported
away. The Genins and Chuunins as well. All that was left in Soons Haven was the ANBU and the Jounins... well, the ANBU, Jouinins and any other high-level shinobi. Their numbers limited in theory and without proficient medics they would be much easier to identify among the droning masses. Was the plan to kill them all -- of course not. That would be too easy and it would not garner the desired outcome. He could have had the seal teleport them to a space hundreds of feet into the air and let them fall to their deaths but then all he would have is a legion of dead shinobis. He did not want that. No, not at all. He wanted them to get home, a bit worse for the wear. A few injuries, a few scars, some traumatic memories and even a missing limb or two. The trip was not meant to be forgotten but more than that, something or someone needed to take the blame and be the focus of their ire. In a society that fosters distrust, elitism, castes and ethnocentrism, it should come as no surprise that men and women are easy to manipulate.
Blame someone.
Blame Sunagakure. Fight over something.
Not everyone is going to believe it - an isolationistic country suddenly attacking participants in an exam. A fool's endeavor that some would realize leading to in-fighting between those who believe and those who do not. Still, getting a few panties in a bunch is hardly a diabolical plan... so what did he really want?
