Can You Survive? [Intervillage Genin/Medic Exam]

[Michi]

Giving this a few more hours, c'mon there is a big sandworm to murderate/flee from.

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

Murata Mina - Sound Academy Student

The sandworm roared into the air behind her and Mina could not help but be disappointed by the wasted opportunity this was. She could have spent some time studying it but instead was now fleeing for her life before it. There just wasn't anything to be gained from battling it... They had enough dead samples back home and she'd learned everything she could from them long ago. Perhaps she would just need to ask permission for her own research expedition when she was promoted.

The very thought turned her sour expression into a sunny one.

Raising her hand as she ran, Mina looked down at the strange scar symbol on the back of her hand-- a tilted cross-shaped symbol within a tall oval and crescents on each side -- and focused on it as she ran.

Okay seal. Take me to the Grand Master.

It seared to life with an angry red glow and flooded her body with the dark chakra of her Master. This was a hidden use of the dark fuuinjutsu that each Otogakure shinboi wore that was known only to those of her Order and of course the Grand Master. It linked them together and made then a family... and most importantly allowed them to find each other no matter what the distance between them.

[Continuing to flee battle. Using link to Kageoni to find way back to Soon's]

 

[Toraono Michino]

Well the attack hit, but that was all he could say of it. Before he could turn to try and yell that they needed to run the creature, miffed by Tama’s attack, began to thrash about like one would. The attack bowled the Ancient over and caused a shield he had meant for someone else to activate on himself in an act of serendipity as the next attack simply bounced him around without harming him. The damage of his shell went unfelt but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sustain such attacks and keep up his disguise.
　　As the ball bounced him into the air his eyes took inventory of the situation. One of the students seemed to be outright trying to escape the entire situation and they seemed to be the most likely to survive if they knew how to traverse the desert. One was impaled by dreaded tentacles, a few others were struggling to keep up and the ball of his shield came inches of landing on the ground. Suddenly something strange occurred to him. He had been here before.. The sand worm, a female student impaled, a bunch of students and a random adult trying to take down an impossible creature with barely enough power to topple a single jounin let alone a terror of the Wind Country. When the golden aura of his shield touched the golden sands he deftly grabbed the bulk of the right side of his coat and pulled it off. The act ‘popped’ the bubble. Tama nodded to his clone.
The two rushed over to the incident as the Ancient loaded memories of his mortal shell’s extensive shinobi training and set the body to begin moving instinctively. The black marks on his arm slid back into his skin to begin forming themselves back into a chakra coil as the training called for him to use hand seals. His new way of using the ninjutsu he had extensive knowledge of was a manner of stealth and keeping his actions as private as possible. Memory on the study of Vermis Arenam said if action needed to be taken during an attack it had to be fast.

Tama dashed towards the sand worm as his clone moved towards the impaled girl to begin working on lowering her bleeding and then healing once the tentacles were removed. The Ancient decided to move towards the mystery man to assist him and, perhaps, come up with a plan to try and extract as many of them out of this as they could.

"Excuse me sir! You! Stranger attacking things! We need to stradergize."

Spoiler

Ugh, I am so underprepared for an actual fight. Thank Kami Umashi is here.

HP: 42,000
CP: 31,430
AP: 10
Profile: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=867
CA: Demonic Ancestry
Actions: ***All jutsu mastered/highest rank unless said otherwise***

Clone - Uses Mystic Hand on Rina

Tama - Cast Mystic Force and then Medical Ward on Umashi. Cast Medical Ward on himself.

 

[Michi]

[col3]Tsuyoshi Takeo
HP: 6423 [-1800] 4623 [+203] 4826
CP: 3800 [-240] 3,560
AP: 2
Buffs: Gains 3% Max HP at the end of each round. All Medical Jutsu are +10% more effective on the user. +10% Bleeding Resistance and Bleeding penalties are treated as one rank lower.|Rina
HP: 4190 [-250] 3940 [+394] 4334
CP: 4132 [-252] 3880
AP: 2 [-2] 0
Buffs: -5% Chakra cost on Unarmed Taijutsu; 6% Auto dodge to all attacks; unarmed attacks only deal 80% Damage, but they gain +1 Accuracy and +1 Critical, and have a 40% chance to cause internal bleeding. Unarmed Called Shots gain a +4% Chance of success; -5% Cp cost, +5% Medical healing.
Debuff: Impaled by a harpoon, can still make actions but the harpoon is retracting and pulling her into its maw. The tendril appears strong, perhaps it can be broken with enough force.|Yutaro(Yu)
Hp: 8,410 [-2500] 5,910
Cp: 7,260
AP: 4 [-4] 0
Buffs: +2 Ranged Accuracy and +10% damage towards a single target. +10% chance to auto-dodge the targets attacks. -2 Dodge/Save to any other opponents targeting the user.[/col3]

---

[col3]Rintaro(Rin)
Hp: 9,125[-2500] 6,625
Cp: 7,875
AP: 4 [-3.5] 0.5
Buffs:|Mina
Hp: ...
Cp: ...
AP: ...
Buffs:|Ryuu Tama
HP: 42000 [-3800] 38,200
CP: 31430 [-3630] 27,800
AP: 11 [-9] 1
Buffs: Medical Clone is active; Pristine Aura is active on self[/col3]

---

[col3]Umashiashikabihikoji
HP: 45,000 [-11560] 33,440 [+3700] 36,140
CP: 30,775 [-5779] 24,996
AP: 10.5 [-9.5] 1
Buffs: User takes 50% of all damage dealt to the bonded ally. Ally receives 50% less damage from all sources; All Bleeding Damage applied to the Chigokai is reduced by -30%. +20% Ninjutsu Damage Human Anatomy, Healing Factor, Hyperactive; -10% Elemental Damage Taken, -10% cost to all Jutsu, -1 Melee Dodge, +10% Physical Damage taken, All Ninjutsu deal +5% more Damage; -15% chakra cost, +20% Ninjutsu Damage, +4 Ninjutsu Accuracy, +16% for all ninjutsu secondary effect chances. In addition the user takes an additional 5% damage from Illusionary and Taijutsu sources.|Umashi's Clone
HP: 6630 [-1000] 5,630
CP: 6630 [-220] 6410
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.|Umashi's Clone #2
HP: 6630 [-1000] 5,630
CP: 6630 [-220] 6410
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.[/col3]

---

[col3]Umashi's Clone #3
HP: 6630 [-3000] 3,630
CP: 6630 [-220] 6410
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.|Tama's Clone
HP: 9240
CP: 9240 [-300] 8,940
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one|Sandworm
(D Rank)
HP: 38,930 [-27998] 10,932
CP: 40,000
Tendril: [-25466] Destroyed!
AP: 10
Buffs: Tendril is pulling Rina into its maw. 2 more rounds until she is consumed. Bleed II[/col3]

---

What Happened?
0.00 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji maintains Destiny Bond,Cyclone Movement, Earth Elemental Clones and Fun House but stops maintaining Solar Curse Seal.
0.48 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji enters Sorcerer Style.
0.48 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji uses Initiative to activate the Lunar Curse Seal [Rank 3]
1.00 Seconds | The Sandworm rears up and then crashes down on Umashiashikabihikoji.
2.00 Seconds | The Sandworm lets out a terrible piercing cry that causes everyone in the battle to have a painful sensation in their head.
2.38 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji via the Handseal Expert affinity move and the Transmit Life ability he scribes a Medical Ward on Rina.

• Success. Rina now has a Medical Ward scribed on her body.

2.73 Seconds | Tama cast Mystic Force on Umashiashikabihikoji.

• HIT!

3.00 Seconds | The Sandworm thrashes about, its massive body crashes into the group and the ground shakes violently beneath the worm.
3.75 Seconds | Tsuyoshi Takeo used Janken [Master Rank] with Scissors special action on Rina’s tendril.

• HIT!

4.00 Seconds | The Sandworm makes a retching noise and vomits on Tama. He is covered in caustic digestive fluid.
4.00 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji Clones 1-3 cast Gravel Shift at sandworm.

• HIT!

5.00 Seconds | The Sandworm attempts to bite Umashiashikabihikoji.

• Hit! Roll for limb loss. Fail.

5.00 Seconds | Rina uses Wind Slice [Mastered] with minor affinity Focus on tendril.

• Hit. Failed to cause the Wind Slice effect.

5.24 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji via the Debilitate Affinity move with special action cast Crimson Stars aimed first at the main Sandworm as well as the tendril that has pierced Rina.

• One of the Crimson Stars was a crit, all others hit tendril. Tendril is destroyed and Rina is free to move.
  Crimson Stars x8 hit Sandworm. The worm let out a terrible sound
  Bleed Level increased to Bleed I.

5.45 Seconds | Tama cast Medical Ward on Umashiashikabihikoji.

• MISS!

5.00 Seconds | The Sandworm attempts to bite Umashiashikabihikoji.

• Hits Clone!

6.00 Seconds | Tama's Medical Clone used Mystic Hand on Rina.
6.00 Seconds | The Sandworm sweeps its massive tail at Takeo.

• HIT - is knocked prone. Failed to cause suppression.

6.67 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji via the Jutsu Expansion ability, along with the Elementalist ability and using the "Combo" affinity move Umashi links together two Pressurized Mist jutsu aimed at the main Sandworm using "Focus" first and then "Debilitate" second for the conjoining affinity moves linked to combo. Umashi has converted his jutsu to the Blood element.

• HIT. Bleed II.
  The sandworm is now enraged

7.00 Seconds | The Sandworm makes a retching noise and vomits on Rin. He is covered in caustic digestive fluid.
7.50 Seconds | Tsuyoshi Takeo used Electroshock [Rank 1] on the Sandworm by grabbing it’s tendril and using it as the surface through which the jutsu is channeled.

• HIT! failed to cause Stun or act as a sneak attack.

8.00 Seconds | The Sandworm attempts to bite Yu.

• Hit! Roll for limb loss. Failed.

8.00 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji Clones 1-3 cast Gravel Shift at sandworm.

• HIT!

8.18 Seconds | Tama cast Medical Ward on himself.

• HIT!

9.00 Seconds | The Sandworm attempts to bite Tama.

• Hit! Roll for limb loss. Success.
  The rules on maiming are as such: you are not stuck with the maiming forever, with ninja magic you can grow it back if need be and it does not permanently effect your character's ability to perform jutsus although you may have to be creative with IC reasoning.
  What Limb? If you want to know it was IC an eye that was rolled but pick whatever you want and this does not effect your ability to attack or dodge in the battle nor is it something you HAVE to keep IC life-long.

10.0 Seconds | The Sandworm attempts to bite Umashiashikabihikoji.

• Hit! Roll for limb loss. Success.
  The rules on maiming are as such: you are not stuck with the maiming forever, with ninja magic you can grow it back if need be and it does not permanently effect your character's ability to perform jutsus although you may have to be creative with IC reasoning.
  What Limb? If you want to know it was IC an arm that was rolled but pick whatever you want and this does not effect your ability to attack or dodge in the battle nor is it something you HAVE to keep IC life-long.

10.0 Seconds | Rina uses Wind Slice [Mastered] on tendril.

• Hit. Failed to cause the Wind Slice effect.

Heals 6% Max Hp + 1000 Hp. This Jutsu has a 21% chance at reducing Bleeding and Called Shot penalties by 1 Level.

 

[Rin]

While the sandworm thrashed, Takeo tried to cut the tendril, with some taijutsu that looked like Janken Scissors, but that wasn’t enough. As the sandworm vomited on the guy from sand, Rina too tried cutting the tendril with her jutsu Wind Slice, but it didn’t seem to work either. The stranger used his blood to attack the sandworm and the tendril. The sandworm was now biting people and swiping its tail, though Rina barely noticed, since she was caught up in her own little world of horror. She still felt the tip of the tendril inside her and this scared her. Somewhere over by the stranger a red mist formed and suddenly the sandworm became horrifyingly mad. It screamed and vomited again, while Takeo used some electric jutsu, channelling through the cut off tendril. The sandworm was biting again, this time with a tooth piercing the sand guy’s eye and the strangers arm was bit off. Rina was not done fighting, she tried hurting the sandworm, by using Wind Slice again on the already cut off, burnt tendril. After that she thought:

How do I best get away from this thing? Maybe some awareness will help me avoid the mouth of it.

Rina activated her Byakugan, looked around with it. She noticed that Mina, the mist girl, was further away walking, as if she didn’t notice their group fighting. Rina also noticed that the stranger, missing an arm, was connected to her somehow, with their chakra. She remembered a healing sensation, while being pulled into the mouth of the sandworm by a tendril, and somehow she was less hurt than she should have been. Rina realized it was him, a complete stranger, for some reason risking his life to save her.

Why would he do this? Maybe he was sent to look over the exam, but that doesn’t make any sense, why would he save us, when we have to survive on our own to pass? And how will I ever repay him?

[MFT WC: 333]
[spoilername="Actions"]Current HP: 4334
Current CP: 3880
Next round AP: 2

Actions:
I allow jutsus from allies targeted on me.
1st action: Activate Byakugan rank 2: 1 AP 600 CP to initiate, 290/round to maintain

Hyuuga Bloodline table: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=130&t=5526[/spoilername]

 

[Seijin]

​

That dude!​

<i></i>

This guy was completely in the zone. So much so that all the fancy stuff that was often written about in the books and seen in the movies was completely normal to him. To be fair it wasn't that Umashi was some sort of shinobi god, no, it was simply the fact that he had a tenacious manner about himself when it came to task and causes that he put his mind to. For better or for worse this was one of them. He'd felt the new found ally trying to cast a medical jutsu on him and shook it off, yelling his own orders back, "Heal the children!" For a guy who's very style relied on him taking a beating in order to get going, he surely was wishing that he had accepted that helping hand when suddenly he had no left arm.

With the sort of abilities that he had, the sheer shock of the experience didn't hit him until he was already losing his balance in the carnage of the attack. His body being cast aside much like a child might had tossed about a toy, he landed awkwardly and tasted the gritty sand before him. Strangely, it didn't hurt as much as he thought that it might. While he could control his chakra enough to manipulate his blood to stay and not bleed out, what he couldn't control were the reactions to the rest of his bodily systems racing to compensate for the lost limb. His pulse was quickening, his mind was racing and for some strange reason, he felt a mental draw towards something else as well.

It wasn't abnormal for him to sense others via their blood. His affinity for using chakra infused blood was one of his many talents. Heck, there was also the young Stone-nin that he was linked to at the time but much like his link with her was the link that he was sharing with someone else, or rather, something else. Righting himself as he moved into a more battle ready position. As his instincts started to take over he looked at the looming creature and smiled. There was power in the blood of mortals, and this sandworm although being great in size and stature was no godlike being. That itching crawling, almost primal like inclination in the back of his mind became all the more real to him the more he gained the mastery over his body. If he could take control of a humans body via their blood then what was one really big rattlesnake?

As he willed his chakra infused blood into a more proficient form, he began to create an arm out of the blood that he had lost and was more than surprised to find that with the blood that quickly began to draw in his direction, there was chakra infused sand as well. Was that simply just a byproduct of his chakra moving the sand or was his chakra drawing on the blood from the sandworm as well? Taking notice of the girl that was dangerously close to losing more than an arm, Umashi stopped worrying about his own glory and went for the more respectable Sennin sacrifice. Slowly at first but gaining momentum with each step, he ran back into the fray of battle and cast off his disguise. Clearly showing his affiliation with Iwa via the village insignia etched into the back of his standard shinobi gi, he more slid than stopped in front of Rina and asked her a peculiar question, "Would you mind giving me a hand?"


OOC: So we decided to do something different...

Spoiler

HP: 45,000
CP: 36,000
AP: 10
Profile: https://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=559&t=41743&p=180785#p180785
BL: Chigokai
Contract: Turtle
Actions: ***All jutsu mastered/highest rank unless said otherwise***
- Maintain all maintains.

***Umashi would now be at Bleed Rank 1 due to Crimson Stars***
- 1.5ap(time)/2ap(actual) = Via the Handseal Expert affinity move and converting to Blood(should give it a -5%cp cost) cast Rain Dance(mastered)
- 2.0ap(time)/2.5ap(actual) = Via the Handseal Expert affinity move cast Red Rain(mastered)
- 2.5ap = Use Advanced Combination Transformation(mastered) with Rina (She'll ICly be my Left Arm and Eyes)
- 1ap = Use the Initiative ability and using both the Control and Debilitate affinity moves (via the Elementalist ability) use Pressurized Mist(mastered) at the sandworm.
- 3ap = Use the Affinity move Control, convert to the Blood element and use Stardust Nova(mastered) aimed at the Sandworm.

~Clones~
- 1ap = Have each clone use Gravel Shift on the Sandworm.

Spoiler

Destiny Bond - Clan Jutsu
By sharing blood with an ally, the user of the bond of destiny can extend life itself for a friend in need. This technique has been long sought after for it's unique ability in a fight to save the life of a friend. It can have disastrous consequences, however. By sharing the bond, you may end up causing your own death.

Rank 1: User takes 20% of all damage dealt to the bonded ally. Ally receives 20% less damage from all sources.
Rank 2: User takes 35% of all damage dealt to the bonded ally. Ally receives 35% less damage from all sources.
Rank 3: User takes 50% of all damage dealt to the bonded ally. Ally receives 50% less damage from all sources.

Costs:
Rank 1: 2 Ap, 300 Cp and Hp to initiate, 140 Cp/Hp/Rnd.
Rank 2: 2 Ap, 450 Cp and Hp to initiate, 215 Cp/Hp/Rnd.
Rank 3: 2 Ap, 650 Cp and Hp to initiate, 310 Cp/Hp/Rnd.

Notes:
- Damage taken by user is not able to be debuffed in any way, and is taken before the ally's damage reduction.
- If the bonded ally is knocked out while still bonded, the user of this jutsu loses 50% of their remaining HP from the shock.

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

((These short posts are tediously boring and for that I apologize. There's only so much to say while retreating.))

Murata Mina - Sound Academy Student

There was nothing else to say. The pulse of the sacred seal on the back of her hand thundered in her heart as surely as it agonized her body giving her a sense of direction that was impossible to describe. She still had no idea where she was in the desert -- the land of Tea Country was wildly different from the oppressive sun and wind of the Wind Country expanses -- but the seal constantly pulled her in the direction that she needed to go to return back to the city or rather to the side of the Grand Master. The distinction was irrelevant, really. Some might have called her selfish for abandoning the others in the exam, especially due to the fact that her survival was mandatory for the passing of the medic hopefuls, but there was little in the desert that was truly a threat to her armed as she was with the teachings of her Master and her Order. Looking back over her shoulder for a moment Mina felt a pang of regret for passing on the battle but quickly reminded herself that she was under no obligation to protect these people. She was not fighting for an arbitrary right to learn medical techniques. Unlike the other less sophisticated shinobi societies such information was not so limited. One's capacity to obtain knowledge was equal to their ambition to acquire it. There was nothing else.

[Continuing to flee battle. Using link to Kageoni to find way back to Soon's]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The Ancient wasn’t sure what to do when his offer to heal the man was turned away but at least now he had a goal. Combat apparently wasn’t something he was as good at when he had a body made of actual flesh and blood. When he was mortal he had the glory of full on instinctual movement and follow through; in this form he was all brain and no brawn.
As Tama raced towards the injured young the creature vomited on him. The feeling was absolutely detestable and the smell made him wonder if programming the sense for smell and taste was a good idea. With a flick of a seal the pristine aura popped off and took the horrible goo with it. He heard a loud crash behind him and quickly turned to avoid being eaten; or at least part of him. The fang of the overly large creature missed the goal of striking the middle of his face but still caught his right eye. Tama felt the gritty bone structure pierce into the goop of his eye and suddenly that side of his vision was black and a little airy as the attack took not just his eye but a chunk of the right side of his head as well. Blood sprayed across the sands as the ex-scientist stumbled back a few steps in his building shock. Tepidly he rose his right hand to feel for the wound, touched it, and nearly went into complete shock. A surge of willpower allowed him to keep from freaking out all the way.

You’re not mortal. This wound is fleeting. If anything you should be more furious that you’ll have to redo the entire shell from scratch to repair it. Writing those glyphs took the entire day!

His left blue eye turned back to the situation as he flipped his hair over the wound to cover the gore and rushed back into the fray. With a motion of his hand he sent his clone out to help keep the young alive while the, now revealed, Stone shinobi took about finishing off the creature. With one arm.

Spoiler

HP: 38,200
CP: 27,800
AP: 10
Profile: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=867
CA: Demonic Ancestry
Actions: ***All jutsu mastered/highest rank unless said otherwise***
Cast Medical Ward on Yu and Rin with Transmit Life
Cast Mystic Force on Takeo

 

[Michi]

Been 6+ days since last mod, will be placing up mod shortly.

 

[Michi]

All Cloudy shinobi wearing headsets would receive the following broadcast:

"Attention all Cloud shinobi. This is Shin'en Shinku, A student currently undertaking the ANBU exams. This is an important announcement that I hope reaches many of you currently undergoing your own exams."

"We have been set up, the exam we were given was interrogate prisoners, but upon learning many things we have discovered that we, the examinees as well as the prisoners have been exposed to and possibly infected by a deadly plague... We are of the belief that we were to kill these prisoners before learning these things, return home and them slowly kill off a large chunk, if not the whole populations of our villages or possibly countries..."

"As it stands, either the Cabal or the leaders of the hidden sand are behind this treachery, more likely to be the former, thusly, as of this moment. All known members of the Cabal are to be engaged on sight, if they cannot be taken alive, don't..."

Mod has been done for 2 days -- was expecting another person to post, giving them 7 hours before the mod goes up.

 

[Michi]

[col3]Tsuyoshi Takeo
HP: 4826 [-7000] -2174 [+905] -1066 *Knocked out*
CP: 3,560
AP: 2
Buffs: Gains 3% Max HP at the end of each round. All Medical Jutsu are +10% more effective on the user. +10% Bleeding Resistance and Bleeding penalties are treated as one rank lower.|Rina
HP: 4334 [-2500] 1834
CP: 3880 [-1350] 2530
AP: 2 [-1] 1
Buffs: -5% Chakra cost on Unarmed Taijutsu; 6% Auto dodge to all attacks; unarmed attacks only deal 80% Damage, but they gain +1 Accuracy and +1 Critical, and have a 40% chance to cause internal bleeding. Unarmed Called Shots gain a +4% Chance of success; -5% Cp cost, +5% Medical healing; +2 Accuracy/Dodge, 1000 meter visual range (290/round); Advanced Combination Transformation with Umashi (455).
Debuff:|Yutaro(Yu)
Hp: 5,910 [-3000] 2,510 [+1624] 4,133
Cp: 7,260
AP: 4 [-4] 0
Buffs: +2 Ranged Accuracy and +10% damage towards a single target. +10% chance to auto-dodge the targets attacks. -2 Dodge/Save to any other opponents targeting the user.[/col3]

---

[col3]Rintaro(Rin)
Hp: 6,625[-4500] 1125 [+1674] 2,799
Cp: 7,875
AP: 4 [-3.5] 0.5
Buffs:|Mina
Hp: ...
Cp: ...
AP: ...
Buffs:|Ryuu Tama
HP: 38,200 [-12700] 25,500
CP: 27,800[-3610] 24,190
AP: 11 [-7.5] 1
Buffs: Medical Clone is active (500/round)[/col3]

---

[col3]Umashiashikabihikoji
HP: 36,140 [-9210] 26,930 [+3700] 30,630
CP: 22,719 [-4437] 18,282 [+1080] 19,362
AP: 10.5 [-9.5] 1
Buffs: User takes 50% of all damage dealt to the bonded ally. Ally receives 50% less damage from all sources; All Bleeding Damage applied to the Chigokai is reduced by -30%. +20% Ninjutsu Damage Human Anatomy, Healing Factor, Hyperactive; -10% Elemental Damage Taken, -10% cost to all Jutsu, -1 Melee Dodge, +10% Physical Damage taken, All Ninjutsu deal +5% more Damage; -15% chakra cost, +20% Ninjutsu Damage, +4 Ninjutsu Accuracy, +16% for all ninjutsu secondary effect chances. In addition the user takes an additional 5% damage from Illusionary and Taijutsu sources. Bleed II; Red Rain: Covers the battle field in a rain of blood. While active, blood jutsu do not require handseals and have a 14% chance of being considered Sneak attacks. Additionally, all Secondary effects from blood jutsu have a +6% chance of activating (550/round); Rain Dance: Creates a downpour in the area, giving all Water-based jutsu -15% chakra cost and +6% chance of activating secondary effects. Fire-based damage have a 18% chance of dealing -15% base damage, and Lightning-based damage have a 24% chance of causing 20% backlash damage to the user. (380/round); Combination Transformation with Rina (455/round).|Umashi's Clone
HP: 5630 [-4500] 1,130
CP: 6410 [-220] 6190
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.|Umashi's Clone #2
HP: 5630 [-4500] 1,130
CP: 6410 [-220] 6190
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.[/col3]

---

[col3]Umashi's Clone #3
HP: 3630 [-4500] *poof*
CP: 6410 [-220] *poof*
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one.|Tama's Clone
HP: 9240 [-2000] 7240
CP: 8,940
AP: 2.5 [-2] 0.5
Buffs: The pic is what you get when you do not give me one|Sandworm
(D Rank)
HP: 10,932 [-13212] *KO*
CP: 40,000
AP: 10
Buffs: Tendril is pulling Rina into its maw. 2 more rounds until she is consumed. Bleed II[/col3]

---

What Happened?
0.00 Seconds | Mina continues to leave the topic.
1.00 Seconds | The enraged Sandworm rears up and crashes down on Takeo.

• Takeo is knocked out.

1.36 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji casts via the Handseal Expert affinity move and converting to Blood: Rain Dance(mastered)
2.00 Seconds | The enraged Sandworm thrashes about on the ground causing the entire environment to shudder and shake.
2.27 Seconds | Ryuu casts Medical Ward on Yu using transmit life. (miss if no conditional to not dodge attacks)
3.00 Seconds | The enraged Sandworm rears up and crashes CRITICALLY down on Ryuu.
3.18 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji casts via the Handseal Expert affinity move Red Rain(mastered)
4.00 Seconds | The enraged Sandworm attempts to bite Rina. The bite failed to cause limb loss.
4.54 Seconds | Ryuu casts Medical Ward on Rin using transmit life. (hit)
4.00 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji Clones 1-3 cast Gravel Shift at sandworm.
5.00 Seconds | The enraged sandworm lets out a piercing cry that hurts everyone's brains.
5.00 Seconds | Rina activates her byakugan.
5.45 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji used Advanced Combination Transformation (mastered) with Rina.

• Rina makes no actions for the duration of the round.

5.45 Seconds | Rinshiashikabihikoki used the initiative ability and using both the Control and Debilitate affinity moves (via the Elementalist ability) use Pressurized Mist(mastered) at the sandworm. (hit)

• Bleed II

6.00 Seconds | The enraged sandworm attempts to bite Yu. The attack caused limb loss (refer to maiming rules: the maiming is something that cannot even if it defies logic prevent you from doing what you could do statistically otherwise; you are not stuck with the maiming injury life-long as ninja magic can heal it.). Injury is a really bad facial scar.

• Tama's medical ward went off.

6.82 Seconds | Ryuu casts Mystical force on Takeo. (hit)

• Takeo was knocked out, healing is done at half proficiency. Takeo remains KO'd.

7.00 Seconds | The enraged sandworm crashes into Rin.

• Tama's medical ward went off.

8.00 Seconds | Umashiashikabihikoji Clones 1-3 cast Gravel Shift at sandworm.
8.00 Seconds | The enraged sandworm attempts to bite Rinshiashikabihikoki. Failed to cause limb loss but increased Umashi's Bleed Level by 1 Rank. Bleed II
9.00 Seconds | The enraged sandworm swiped its tail to strike Umashi Clones 1-3.

• Umashi Clone #3 has been destroyed.

9.54 Seconds | Rinshiashikabihikoki used the Affinity move Control, convert to the Blood element and use Stardust Nova(mastered) aimed at the Sandworm.

• Attack 1: HIT
  Attack 2: HIT
  Attack 3: HIT
  Attack 4: HIT
  Attack 5: HIT
  Attack 6: HIT
  Attack 7: HIT
  Attack 8: HIT
  Attack 9: HIT
  Attack 10: HIT
  • The worm is KO'd

10.0 Seconds | Mina is considered TOPIC LEFT

 

[Rin]

Rina thought of her Byakugan and prepared to use it. The sandworm lifted its body and crashed down on top of Takeo, thrashing around, while something that looked like blood rained down. The beast lifted its body again, this time crashing down on top of the sand guy. Afterwards it bit Rina trying to maim her, but it didn’t get a good grip on her and she escaped with just bruises and cuts. The sandworm started screaming, the noise so loud, Rina’s head started hurting and she could barely think. She activated her byakugan looking around. The stranger came close, revealing his insignia, which was clearly that of the stone village, and he asked:

Would you mind giving me a hand?

How can I help?

Rina answered distressed with a question. He touched her and suddenly she was looking at the area from different place. She tried reaffirming her position, but noticed Takeo on the ground, not moving and thought:

Oh no, Takeo isn’t getting up! I must go save him!

She then felt her body moving in a different direction, regardless of where she wanted to go. Something had happened. She was not in control of her body. The sandworm tried to bite her again, still trying to maim her, but this time it didn’t hurt as much as it did before.

What’s going on?!?

She looked around and realized she was now standing, where the stone shinobi was standing just a minute ago. She looked down on herself using her byakugan and saw that this wasn’t her body. The body was moving towards the sandworm, forming handseals. She freaked out, and forgot about Takeo for a moment. A rift opened and out of it shot many comets at the sandworm. For every comet that hit the beast seemed to squirm and become weaker. As the last comet hit, it luckily started falling backwards away from the group fighting it. The massive body of the sandworm stopped thrashing and squirming. Rina then remembered Takeo.

[MFT WC: 335 ]

 

[Seijin]

Wait . . . what?​

Oh no, Takeo isn’t getting up! I must go save him!

What’s going on?!?​

Umashi . . . in a way felt very weird. No doubt it was because he'd completely decided to combination transform with a pre-pubescent . . . girl. Anatomically this led to something very, very, very wrong and yet in his haste he'd still gone through with the plan. He'd do better next time. His lips moved independently of his thoughts and the girl spoke through him. Yep, he'd have to work on thrusting people into job roles before actually prepping them for it. Gaining control over the body, Umashi ended the fusion and went back to his sad state of affairs. "Thanks for that. You did Iwa proud." The bleeding having been stopped concerning his arm at least, Umashi made his way towards the sandworm.

Wetting his finger with his own sand crusted blood, he began to scribe a complex seal on the beast and spoke aloud as he worked. "Iwa will appreciate your sacrifice great adversary, or at least I will. You'll make a wonderful addition to my collection and perhaps I'll find some use for you other than your tough hide." Taking his time to make sure the seal was done right, he fished out a fresh scroll of chakra paper and slapped it against the beast as the paper began to absorb the creature and reverse summon it into the paper. It was an ancient technique true, but Umashi was a master at inscribing contracts and knew enough to know that one ought to collect what they could at every chance that they could.

No sooner than he had finished the sealing then the normally lightweight paper began heavy due to the attributes of what was sealed within it. It was far more typical that a person might seal a jutsu in the paper as opposed to a living being but Umashi was apt to seal away anything. Infusing more of his chakra into the sand around him, he wrapped the paper around the now hardened blood infused sand and formed a makeshift prosthetic for his left arm. Two parts weight distribution and one part cool factor; Umashi noticed the fact that it was becoming easier to manipulate the sand in general. There was definitely a possibility of him keeping the prosthetic with a few added additions, notably, a better casing. Testing out the new fit, the false arm was a bit slow on the draw but overall, it worked. Remembering not to get too absorbed with himself, he looked back to the kid with that was knocked out, he shook his head as he turned and walked in his direction. “Should have moved kid.”

Spoiler

It was at that moment that the prosthetic began to itch, and just that quickly Umashi seemed to be teleported to another place entirely. While it still looked very much like a desert still, what was strange about the whole ordeal was that there was presence of where the sandworm had been and there were no exam participants. Stranger yet was the fact that where the sandworm had once been, there was now a man about the same earthy tone as Umashi but far larger and size and stature sitting behind a fire with a large scythe at his side. His clothes were almost regal like in their appearance and it was clear by them that the man was definitely a “somebody”. Starting to take a step back, the man seemed to realize that he too was there and as he made eye contact with him, Umashi saw that where his left eye ought to have been there was only an emanating light.

Holding his hand up, the man stood and was instantly before Umashi to which at this point Umashi finished taking his step back. “Are you real . . . are . . . are you human?” the man asked. His face twisting a bit as he tried to understand what was going on, Umashi nodded in agreement while adding his own question. “I am and I should be asking you the same thing. Are you the contract head of the sandworms or something?” The man seemed to calm at the nature of the question as a sigh of relief overcame his entire demeanor. To the former Hokage who’d seen a great deal many a thing, Umashi found this entire scenario confusing. He had his own contract true but normally there was a lot more to these things than what he was being presented.

Wishing to break the silence, Umashi broke up the awkward moment with a half kidding nature. “Ok, let’s start back at the beginning shall we. Hello, the name that I go by is Umashiashikabihikoji but you can call me Umashi. Who might you be good sir?” Extending a hand, Umashi was relieved when the man took it and they shook hands while introducing himself. “You can call me Naoki, and it’s a pleasure to meet you Uma . . . Umashi. You’ll have to forgive me for my lack of tact but I require your services.” This caused Umashi to pause once more and then he tried to take his hand back, but it wasn’t budging. The man continued talking as Umashi began to feel faint and queasy.

“You see, I was once known as the “Tick-Tock Alchemist”, but I got a little ahead of myself and tried to fuse with a sandworm in order to forcefully become the next step in evolution, a Kwisatz Haderach! Only I was a few millennia too early and even these ancient sandworms proved a bit too resilient to my efforts. You on the other hand . . . yes, I can see that you’re well versed in the arts as well, or else you wouldn’t have used such a seal as you had.” As he rambled on and on, he only stopped when Umashi seemed to fight back and right himself. “Heh, you see, the way that my brain is wired . . . I’m just not down for the invasion with the body snatchers thing. You’ll have to take it over my de-“ Naoki put a finger to Umashi’s lips and chuckled. “Ssssshhhhh, relax, I used to be an adventurer like you but then I fell victim to one who was stronger than I. That is simply the way of the world.” With that Naoki became ethereal and attempted to enter into Umashi’s body.

His body growing cold, Umashi flickered in and out of consciousness and from what it seemed like, the memories of Naoki as well. In them he saw all of the brutal experiments and all of the countless sleepless nights spent poring over ancient manuscripts and text. All of this was in efforts to attempt to carve out his legacy in the world. While there had been some successes, of which the elder man’s mastery over the various elemental chakra styles was evident, there were just as many failures. Unfortunately for him, Umashi wasn’t trying to be another notch on his belt. Forcing the man out of his body, the reality that they were in snapped and Umashi was back to where he had begun, standing and looking at the man seated behind the flame. This time however, when the two locked eyes, there was a sense of knowing, and this time Umashi wasn’t going to be surprised.

“So you’re a quick learner and it seems that we’re at an impasse. To obtain what you’re seeking, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange and I’ve already given up my body boy. What have you to lose?” Umashi smirked, it seemed like the memory swap had gone both ways but clearly this guy had missed the memo. “I already gave up an arm. So you I guess you could call us even steve-“ In just as quick a fashion as he’d been transported to the other realm, Umashi was back, hovering over Takeo as he infused chakra into the boy to bring him back. Had he simply just lost too much blood and started hallucinating? Leaning back as he gave the boy room to breathe, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and breathed a sigh of relief. It was then that he saw a rather smug looking Naoki pointing at his arm. The arm felt a little too real, too easy to wield. As if to show a sick sign of good will, Naoki lifted his left arm and scratched his back, to which Umashi did the same albeit against his control. It seemed that he had released the “Tick-Tock Alchemist” to the vicinity of his left arm. Hearing the man’s voice in his head despite no one else clearly hearing him, a much more sinister picture was painted. “Oh boy,oh boy! What a lovely day!”

OOC: Battle portion ought to be over.
Using Angelic Blessing to heal Takeo back.

OOC#2: I’m using what’s in the spoiler for a Chigokai to Sunaku application as well as a Chimera (Temporal Strider) application as well. The gist of what I’m trying to do is basically have Umashi “possessed” (for lack of better word) by this ancient Alchemist who’s bent on becoming the “Kwisatz Haderach” or pinnacle of human evolution. He’s not so much true evil as he is lawful evil (Umashi is very much a lawful neutral). I’ll be RPing Sunaku as more of Umashi’s blood infused sand arm as opposed to this clan that he was born into. I put the application in spoiler tags due to it needing to be approved, etc.

[Marked for Training Stuffz]

 

[Hashigaki Kurokawa]

As Kurokawa arrived the things seemed to have calmed down.She would never have found them if not for the giant thrashing worm and the sound of its last fall to the ground. By now she had arrived at what seemed like another exam. She knew from the early descriptions that the Genin exam was a survival mission so she figured that this would be it. Strange place for ANBU anyway and she knew little about the Jounin exam. The last thing she perceived before interacting with them was a split of one person into two. She would have to follow up on that at some point. As she got closer she empties a bottle of water to make sure her throat was not dry when she talked.

"Oooih! Everything going okay over here?"

She would join the rest of the Ninjas there. She had her Stone forehead protection signalling that she had already reached the rank of Genin. With her was a strangely looking sand elemental, and she was also carrying a rusty and dull sword. She heard a familiar voice speaking about the sacrifice made by a great adversary. The voice came from the man standing next to the giant worm so it was not hard to guess who or what that adversary was. She recognized the voice from the hospital, from back when she got healing up after her sparing with another Shinobi. It was the Mednin Sennin. What would he be doing here at the exam? Apparently cleaning up as whatever he did seemed to remove the sand worm from the battlefield.

One of the other kids here seemed rather hurt but since the mednin Sennin was already walking towards him Kurokawa saw no need to go over there. With him being here there was a chance that this was in fact the medical exam rather than the genin exam. She stood idle as she was waiting for responses from the rest of the crowd. Whilst doing so she would follow Umashi as he walked over to heal Takeo. apparently his back itched as he was suddenly scratching it. It reminded her of Sahqo Golz and she turned around to check if he was still with her.

[Topic entered from the Chunin exam]

 

[Toraono Michino]

The battle was over. Tama couldn’t believe that he survived the experience of actually fighting a sandworm, but here he was standing over the beast while yhe Stone shinobi went about creating a new arm. It was only then that he noticed how wet his shoulder was from the dark blood pouring down from the wound that took his eye and a chunk of face. With a grimace he lifted a hand to his face and began to pulse power towards it.
The energy used wasn’t the chakra that the shinobi around him was so apt at using but instead a black pulsating power darkened his hand and face. He slowly dragged the hand away as if the blackness was like quicksand. When he force rwmoved his hand the energy ‘popped’ away to leave a deep and ugly scar that sealed his right eye shut. He could fix it but to do that it would require to rewrite the seal that created his physical form; something that took quite long enough last time. He also saw the advantages of having such a scar to continue to blend in with humanity.
Once the wound was healed, which took a matter of seconds, the medical shinobi called up the file for medical training and went about the rounds to check and heal the injured.

(Ooc: posting from phone. Sorry for quality. MFT)

 

[Michi]

Papertrails:

Tsuyoshi Takeo -- no post since Jun 10
Tsuyoshi Twins by Junko -- no post since May 30

For reason of inactivity, both of these players are no longer in this thread.

Mina by Kageoni -- left topic as per thread departure rules (3 rounds)

---

Survival of Tama: MEDIC RANK
Survival of Umashi: a hearty handshake
Survival of Rina: Genin? (If you are looking for Medic, learn medical things from the Medic standing near you)
Kurokawa has already gotten her upgrade to Chuunin

---

The felled sandworm was a thing of legend but this was a mere child in comparison to the monolith creatures of lore. Still survival against such a great and terrible beast was nothing to scoff at. In fact it was something to celebrate, that creature would have one day become an S Class monster and would have decimated entire villages. The now motionless Brobdingnagian annelid lay in this upturned earth, a reminder of the fragility of life. There was a time long ago where man would carve the carapace from the beast's back and fashion themselves armor and take from it the sour meat which was more than enough to feed a village for the next several months if it could be adequate preserved. These days the meat was a delicacy [Non-Modded Solo Mission Offer of present OC Rank: bring meat back to Soons to sell], much like their carmot (worm poo) is a valued resource. It is anyone's guess the elemental properties of this sandworm, it was too young to outwardly display its elemental affinities.

The Iwa Sennin was still bleeding, it was especially noticeable when he got the sudden bilateral mastectomy... erm removal of young woman/child. Whichever. His missing limb and the deep gashes he suffered in this fray would leave him tired and sore but stable. Tama had also suffered some battle wounds, his eye lost to him or at least the organ-like orbit that the Ancient had on what one could consider a visage. He was hardly human and while there is a vain streak in us all, the scientist seemed resigned to keep the stark reminder of this peril.

Rina's byakugan scanned the horizon, she would not see Mina anywhere but she would with her keen eyesight see footprints in the sand [Kageoni has given permission to have Mina's trajectory known but that she has left the thread completely as per site rules]. They would lead over the crest of a dune and be seen no more. These footprints would soon erase of course, the dry, hot winds of Kaze no Kuni threatened to wash away this path soon. The sun was still high in the sky, its radiant heat would seemingly burn through their clothes be it thin layers or bare skin exposed. The crows circled overhead, the Suna crows were unlike the crows in other parts of the world, these avian creatures were more like predatory vultures. Dangerous in their own right, they did not like to fight and often preferred an easy meal. The murder of crows cawed overhead. Umashi took out a seal and used it to devour the worm or at the very least what remained of the unfortunate creature.

Sahqo Golz​

A new arrival, another Iwagakurian made her presence known and she was followed by a stranger. A stranger made of earth, the fluctuating current of wind and sand seemed to stagnate since he left what could only be assumed was his prison. The nearly copper hue seemed to resemble more the gilded dunes since his liberation. He walked slowly, his face upturned towards the sky. The heat felt good, it had been a long time since he felt the celestial spaces. He would stop when they drew close to the crowd. "Human... beware!" He warned, referring not to the dead sandworm but to the humans surrounding the worm. The earth would tremble in the space that separated Kurokawa from her fellow villagers and a fissure started to form in the ground. The opening would yawn as Sahgo Golz extended his arm. "...Rangers." While this fact would not be immediately apparent although perhaps the Hashigaki could discern at least in part the Ancient's concern, he feared that these men and women who just killed a sandworm were Rangers, an old Order in Wind Country that hunted Ancients (among other beasts) to near extinction. The Order since Sahgo Golz has dispersed for the most part although there has been a minor resurgence effort in Sunagakure it has not gotten far. Little has been done on the part of their newest leader, a foreigner from Kohona, to broadened their reach, tighten their grip or increase their numbers so the Rangers were at this time an irrelevance to what might one day again be an Ancient threat.

Thunderstep Music - Story Of A Soldier​

<i></i>

I am just the setting person -- RP with each other. I removed for reason of inactivity the inactive members so hopefully this thread will speed up now. I will be playing the Earth Ancient. You have choices now, follow Mina to who knows where, talk and discuss a direction/plan, wander the desert aimlessly, etc.

 

[Rin]

"Thanks for that. You did Iwa proud."

With a confused look on her face, Rina asked:

“Who are you?”

But got distracted when she saw Takeo still not moving, and reacted by running over to him. She made use of her Byakugan, searching for the places with most disturbances in his chakra flow. Assuming those places had broken bones and internal bleedings, Rina tried very carefully to examine those areas.

This is way over my expertise. Is there nothing I can do? Wait, the sand shinobi must be a medically able person, since this is a genin and mednin exam. Maybe he can do something.

She looked around noticing the sand shinobi healing his bleeding eye leaving behind a scar, but something was wrong with the chakra of this man. Rina stood up, but fell on her knees suddenly, due to the now throbbing, piercing pain in her stomach. She had not felt the gravity of her wound until now, but the pain grew stronger every second. She had to examine herself as well. She knew that the tendril had not pierced any vital organs, and since part of it was still in the wound she knew that she could stop the bleeding before it even began. After making the wound coagulate she tried pulling the tendril out in the same direction it went through her. The pain got worse as her body was trying to close the hole somewhat with the flesh surrounding it. By this time the stone shinobi had gotten closer and uttered:

“Should have moved kid.”

Rina was getting dizzy and stopped her Byakugan. This man now in front of her used a medical jutsu on Takeo. She asked the shinobi once again:

“Who are you…?”

The earth started shaking and for a moment Rina thought that a new sandworm would emerge, but soon noticed a cleft forming between her and some people she hadn’t noticed before now. One of the two seemed familiar and Rina used her Byakugan once again to see who it was.

[MFT WC: 340]

 

[Seijin]

Alpha, Rita's escaped! Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!​

<i></i>

Rina asked who he was as he finished healing the boy and thought about those precious few seconds that they had been fused together. True enough it had felt weird but there was so much more to explore about the scenario that he'd most likely want to replicate in a less life threatening situation. For a moment he'd had the Byakugan and it was glorious, much more insightful than his own vision. The things that he could do with that sort of doujutsu and the medical field in Iwa.

It was just as he was standing up and he was about to answer the girl when Kurokawa appeared. This surely was interesting, all of them meeting here like this. Answering Rina with his falsified name of Yagami probably wasn't going to work. There simply was no avoiding the limelight on this one. "My name is Umashi and I'm the Medical Sennin of Iwagakure." No sooner than Kurokawa had appeared though, then something else appeared right behind her. With all the excitement of the day, Umashi was feeling rather jumpy but he stilled his nerves and continued talking calmly to Rina.

"You know, with your tenacity and skill, you'd make a fine Medic . . . but right now, I could really use your intel on whatever that thing is." At that he pointed towards the golem, and then it even spoke. Yeah, Umashi was definitely over surprises. Knowing that the girls Byakugan could see a great deal more than he could, he protectively moved an arm (the only real one that he had left at this point) in front of her and attempted to make some sort of head nodding contact with the other medic of the group. "Hey Kurokawa, who's your friend?" One could always try the honest approach. The creature called them rangers and Umashi chuckled. He couldn't help but to think of that old TV show from back in the day with the colorful shinobi who fought off wave after wave of bad guys in stunning fashion. Now however wasn't the time to focus on the good ol days though. Plus he didn't exactly have a technologically advanced morphing device either.

 

[Hashigaki Kurokawa]

No sooner had she turned to check on her companion, the eath would tremble and a chasm would open between her and the others. Sahqo Golz spoke of rangers and warned her to beware of them.

"Rangers? I only sense the one group and some of them seem without ill intent. Also our medical Sennin is among them so I don't think you will be in danger."

She would search through the vital signs of the people standing to together looking for some from of oddity that would reveal them to be something more. Most were nothing of note but two things stood out. One was that the man here seemingly the strongest had an arm made of something not quite human. The sound of it when it moved was all wrong. Could he be the ranger? Kurokawa placed herself between Golz and any who would try to harm him, with intent to intercept such attempts. What had the Stone Sennin done to himself she wondered

She found one more oddity. One of the others, seemingly hurt, was not at all like the rest. Other than his bloody face being pressed against some pulsing energy wave Kurokawa did not know, his general body structure was off. Is visage would suggest more weight than the sand underneath his feet would reveal, the breathing was altered as if it was not needed, and she could not for the life of her catch the heart rhythm. She had encountered similar beings before in Stone and that one had an abundance of hidden power that she could only pray would not be unleashed upon her at the time. This one seemed a lot weaker, on top of being injured. Grievous had been inflicted upon his, hers, its, eye. The setup reminded her a bit of Golz if he had made an attempt to hide his true form actually. She would need to delve further into that given the opportunity.

Umashi addressed her with

"He is a friend I gained in the exam. He seems weary of some of you, and I can't say that I don't agree on at least one account. Who is with you?"

 

[Michi]

Rina: upgraded banner to Medical Trainee.

---

Sahqo Golz​

The earth quavered where the sandy floor had been breached. What is a Sennin? His voice rumbled. His sandy eyes searched the stranger, his ears listened for a sound others would not hear. The sounds of empty stomachs churning and the innumerable clicks of blood vessels. The sound of cloth gliding over flesh as they moved inconceivably. The world to an Ancient is not seen but rather felt, and these feelings were strange indeed. The young woman stepped in front of him, placing herself between the fissure and the Ancient. Don't trust desert people, he warned. While it was impossible for the foreigner to know about the exodus of his kind after the war, how their Queen and their nature failed them as they took a neutral stance in a war they never thought the other Courts would lose. The humans had cheated somehow although he never learned how they did it, how a single man could have beaten their greatest and their strongest. How can a man fight a force of nature? It was with their strange magics and their lack of limit, their willingness to lie and their shear numbers that overwhelmed them in the end. It was the Rangers who hunted them and it was the Rangers who locked them away for these centuries and then when they faded into obscurity their role of jailer was replaced by another. He had no way of knowing if they had resurfaced or not. He had no way of knowing how greatly mankind had changed over the years with their hierarchical military systems and clan caste systems but he knew humans when he saw them for the most part. These were damaged humans and there was no foe, the remains of the sandworm they defeated were already locked away in a scroll just like they were -- locked away be it in a ring or a blade or a forgotten trinket.


He sniffed the air and stared at Tama, a solar court denizen tainted with the shade. He did not like that putrid scent of such a lowly court. A court that had a choice in the war and chose to abide by the first law: survival of the fittest where he and his kind had no such option. They were simply compelled by their nature. The Deep Court saw mankind as their peers until they were betrayed, their Lord and the denizens of the court either confined or slaughtered if death would be the end of them. Golz never saw these final days, they happened years after the Court's betrayal. Where did you put it... murky brother? What he said to Tama was not a compliment but Tama was not a native of the Court but merely a man with a shared heritage and a gift that exceeded his capacity from a secondary court. Ancients did not find union among those of other Courts, it was a travesty much like it was to lay with a human. Tama was the progeny of more than one offensive act and his made his stomach turn and his blood (if he had such a thing) boil.