Minago Monsters: Part 3 [Private]

[Deleted]

It would become obvious rather quickly that any previous options the trio had thought they had were completely gone. The ball of flame that rocketed through the air revealed their surroundings, its red and orange light reflecting dully off of the metallic roof. The roof was incredibly high up, even a Shinobi couldn't reach if they jumped as high as they could. As said before, the stone walls were of a muddy red hue, showing up brightest. Great shadows along the walls noted the presence of entrances to smaller cave paths, dozens on all sides. There was only the smell of the sand on the ground and the burning scent of the fireball; at least to the senses of the humans. Sir Cuddles however, being a lemur and thus a being with a naturally honed sense of smell, would be able to get a scent of blood in his nose. It was faint to the small primate, but it was certainly there, as well as a chilling scent that Sir Cuddles could only convey as evil...

It was apparent that they had truly been transported from the surface to deep underground. Thinking back the two women might recall a sudden change in the pitch of the winds, a slight vibration of the stone they were in, or perhaps a tiny sense of being watched when they were chatting together in their hideout, but the memories would be hard to grasp. Whether it was Genjutsu that was the culprit or if they had been moved, there was a foreboding series of events beginning to play out.

The sense of being watched continued. The cavern remained silent. Sir Cuddles, if he was being paid attention to, could guide the women to the small cave entrance that held the scent of blood, or to another cavern perhaps. In fact if they were to walk about the main cavern, checking each cave, one would find that they all had a different scent to the young Sir Cuddles. He couldn't recognize the majority of these scents, but they were unique enough that he could easily remember which cave was which. Only one other scent stood out as recognizable to the lemur. One cave entrance, close to the cave with the scent of blood, had the scent of some kind of lizard in it.

One Path that led to Blood. Another to an unknown lizard. Many others that led to places unknown, and a high ceiling made of some kind of metal. What actions would the trio take? They couldn't just stay there in that cavern forever...

[Flower]

It appeared that neither one of them had any skills that would allow them to remove this genjutsu, if that is in fact what it was. The fireball that Yuuka shot off into the dark revealed to the two of them that there were in a sort of cave. Sir Cuddles also noticed something about the same time. Evil... And Blood.

Suddenly Saeko seemed ready to move on. The woman seemed convinced that they needed to find the past corpse. Sir Cuddles would jump on to the ground just then though, and begin chirping. Yuuka's clone stood in front of them by 5 meters, still ready for an attack.

Yuuka looked down to Sir Cuddles and looked him in the eye. The two of them had done various training that allowed them to understand each other, even without words. When Sir Cuddles looked into Yuuka's eyes he began to think about what he should do. He wanted to make Yuuka happy. With this in mind, Sir Cuddles would start heading down the caverns. There were two main scents...blood and the lizard. Sir Cuddles ran right behind the clone.

Yuuka would then turn to Saeko and say, "Well, it looks like we will be moving on."

At the opportunity to choose which cavern to go toward, Sir Cuddles would finally make a decision to go toward the lizard. The lemur knew that Yuuka wouldn't take shit from anyone, and getting into a fight would only cause problems, mostly because Yuuka would never back down and might instead cause an explosion so large this cave would fall in on them. The lizard seemed a much safer alternative.

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[Matsu]

Looking from the darkness to the beast at the womans side, Saeko raised a brow at it. It seemed that something was wrong the beast or perhaps something was wrong with their surrounding enviroment. Being no beastmaster herself though she assumed that Yuuka might tell her should the information be important enough. Shrugging her shoulders, the woman simply pointed to the creature.

"I think it wants to show us something." she said, though before she could fully get it out the beast was off. There was a slight chuckle from the woman as she followed along behind the two of them, unsure of what to make of all of this. It was like some sort of nightmare - one she wished to wake up from. Somehow she had a feeling that heading further into this cavern would lead to them becoming lost. Pulling out her compass while there was still enough light to see, she made a mental note of the direction they were heading.

There was a long silence in which Saeko decided to go through her abilities in her head. There were very few advantages to her abilities in this tight of a space. It was more than likely all she would be doing is healing here. If she was to use her strength then she would definitely bring the entire cave down upon the the three of them and seal their fate here forever. Deciding that the best course of action was her scalpel, she followed waiting for them to come out into a larger room.

[Deleted]

Saeko's idea to use her compass to get a sense of direction was of course a good one, however, it seemed that fortune was against her. The compass needle spun in its case like a top in the fading firelight. A great source of magnetism was nearby, and just a bit of movement down the one tunnel would have the needle stop it's mad rotations and... point the way they came? Yes. The compass definitely pointed back to the main room they had just left. A moment of thought and.... the roof! It was made of metal, and it was apparently magnetized, perhaps from the sandstorm that had been raging?

Either way. The trio now had some kind of point of reference, even if it did only point back to the original safe room. Saeko would get the feeling this information she had learned would be... important. Very important.

Moving forward at last, Sir Cuddles could easily tell that his choice of path was an easy one to follow. As they traveled down the path it winded left, right, up, and down. It curved heavily, but no other paths branched off, they only had one direction to go, and even better the scent of lizard was getting stronger. Much stronger, and... feminine? That was not a scent that normally accompanied the smell of lizards. Their gender differences were such that normally only other lizards could sense them. For a Mammal like Sir Cuddles to be able to sense this lizard was female was... confusing for the poor creature.

A sudden scent of wood burning, and a turned corner revealed an end to the tunnel, a large iron door blocking the path, a single old-style torch placed in a holder in the wall granting a warm yellow light. Closer inspection of either object would reveal the torch could be removed from its holder and that the door had a latch that could be turned to open it.

Obviously the trio had no real choice except to go through the door and keep exploring, but now would be a good time to prepare anything they might want to before they did so...

[Flower]

Sir Cuddles was going crazy. The lemur was running down the hallway, in search of whatever was creating the smell, and the further he came to the scent the more involved he became. At one point Yuuka even felt bad for her companion, a sentiment that the shinobi did not show very often. The other woman, Saeko, had pulled out a compass and was monitoring it. Yuuka was glad that the woman had such gear, as they were probably going to need it.

After running for some time, the trio would make their way to a large iron door. A torch hung on the wall beside it, and Yuuka wondered about how generic this setting looked. Like every villian's castle, Yuuka thought to herself.

Yuuka grabbed the torch with her top, left hand and said, "Stay behind me, Saeko. I'll need you as support if I get hurt." Meanwhile, Sir Cuddles scurried up Yuuka's back, resting on her shoulder. He could sense the evil coming out of the room and he was...scared? Yuuka, however, was not. Her clone stood in front of her by only one meter, preparing for the fights to come. Meanwhile, before entering the room, Yuuka would begin chewing some "special" webbing from inside her jaws. If anything were going to hit her, then it was going to have a rude awakening.

As soon as Saeko would say that she was ready, Yuuka would open the door.

SPOILER: Click to show

Clone still remains.

Unknown tech prepared. (Kats, if you need to know what the tech is then please PM me.)

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Matsu]

Interesting.

It seemed that the stone here had a very strong magnetic pull as her compass only guided her back to the previous room. There was a small sigh under her breath as she closed it, replacing the tool in her pouch. It seemed that for now they had forward and backward as their only two options. What options they were as it was most likely go back there and starve to death or go forward and possibly be mauled to death by giant cave monsters. Saeko cringed at the thought before reminding herself that she was simply being dumb.

After a few minutes of walking the two of them came to a torch in front of an iron bound door. It seemed fairly cliche to her though she supposed it was the only way forward so they would have to pull it. She was more afraid of what would happen when they pulled the switch however than what was beyond the door. She had read enough stories to know that you didn't just pull a switch inside what seemed like a dungeon - you had to inspect your surroundings first. She never got the chance to protest as Yuuka made it clear that she should stay behind and support.

"A-alright then." she replied as the woman opened the door. Once more the medic started to gather her chakra into her hands preparing herself to release it in a powerful punch at a moments notice. Even though she was here as support she couldn't help but feel like her strength was going to be needed somehow. Hopefully the door opened without much of a protest or else she would have to punch the damn thing apart. "If it does not open I have the power to smash the door apart." she added, figuring it would be good for Yuuka to know that she was good for the heavy lifting aspect.

"I'm ready."

[Deleted]

[OOC: NPC's voice is in dark blue, tell me if you would prefer a different color.]

The sturdy wooden door slowly creaked open, a sudden draft threatening to blow out Yuuka's new torch for a moment before it stabilized. Just as the two women had noted how generic the door and torch scene had been they were faced with exactly what they'd expect. A torture chamber.

The room was large, circular, and filled with shadows, a small fire in the center of the room granted the only light besides Yuuka's torch. The whole place was made of roughly hewn stone of a dark grey, and every inch of the walls were lined with torture devices. Metal chains with hooks hung the ceiling, many of them bloody and a couple looking sickeningly... fresh. Across the room from the trio was a single "torture rack", a single slab of wood with wrist and ankle restraints, and on it was a single bloody figure. The shadows hid their form for the most part, but a small glint of firelight on scales said that the creature wasn't mammalian to the humans. For Sir Cuddles, the lighting however was plenty to see by, and he would be able to gaze upon the creature that had been the source of the scent he had tracked.

The creature was very obviously some kind of humanoid lizard to Sir Cuddles, a strange mix of mammalian and lizard features combining together in a human-sized package. Blue and white scales covered the creature from head to toe, a large horn protruded from their forehead, and a double row of razor sharp teeth filled their maw. A small frill on the back of their head broke the scaly monotony of their skull, and a slender four foot tail extended from behind their legs. There the reptilian features ended. Five fingered hands, a slender build, a decided lack of spikes, and an obvious pair of breasts on the creatures torso explained the reason that Sir Cuddles could catch the scent of a mammalian female. The reptile woman was also covered in bloody wounds, and the subtle sense of evil would alert Sir Cuddles.

Yuuka and Saeko would need to approach the torture rack in order to get the same picture that Sir Cuddles had on first view. If they did approach the woman she would weakly raise her head and stare at them, her eyes unfocused, "Dear, is that you? Be gentle, your loving before was so rough I can barely move..."

[Flower]

The clone walked into the room, and quickly took notice of the surroundings. Yuuka followed in close behind that, Sir Cuddles still on her shoulders. Even as she entered the room, Yuuka would continue to chew the webbing, just in case something were to happen suddenly. In the middle of the room was a burning fire, and everywhere around them were torture devices. Such a place definitely seemed wrong, as if they should not be here, but there was something else that was a dead give away that they shouldn't be here.

Someone still strapped to a table.

Sir Cuddles saw the creature first and didn't know what to do, after a couple seconds though he began to coo for Yuuka to look. She did so, and then Sir Cuddles continued to coo, letting her know that the creature did have some sort of evil radiating from it. This was precious information to Yuuka, who took the time to mention to Saeko, "Be on your guard, this thing is not our friend." Just before this, the creature would make a statement about "love", which was clearly just sex.

Yuuka and her clone would move forward, and then she would see the beast in its entirety. From its previous statement, Yuuka was beginning to piece together what went on in this room. Sexual deviancy, that was for sure, although such deviancy seemed to border on masochism. There was something more unsettling though...

Meanwhile, Cryska was getting slightly energetic. Yuuka could feel her alter ego squirming around, loving the idea of someone being locked up and ready to play. Stay back, Yuuka warned, hoping that she'd listen.

For now she did.

Looking the beast in the eyes, the clone would move 1 meter in front of it. Yuuka would stay 2 meters from her clone, right behind and about 2 inches to the right (for protection). Suddenly, Yuuka would put her middle, right hand up and point two fingers at the lizard. From this point I definitely have the advantage, Yuuka thought to herself. She knew that Saeko would be protecting her from behind, and if not, Sir Cuddles was watching that way anyways.

"Tell me, who were you waiting for?" Yuuka asked the lizard-like creature. She wanted intel, and torture could be added to her agenda if necessary.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Matsu]

When the doors opened the first thing that entered Saeko's mind was that there would be some sort of trap. Luckily for the both of them that did not seem to be the case - instead they found something else no one could have bargained for. The room was filled with old torture devies as it seemed like this was someones dungeon rather than a random cave in the desert. Of course they had to walk into the one cave that also seemed to be inhabited by psychopaths. Doing her best to keep it together as she looked at this odd scene, Saeko moved out of the door frame.

It was hard to resist the instinct to rush to the womans side and begin to heal her. Despite what her instincts told her to do she could see that this being was hurting and it wasn't in her nature to allow that. Taking a step forward she was only stalled by the warning that Yuuka issued. Indeed her animal companion seemed to be acting a bit strangely which normally was never a good thing when it came to animals. Something was wrong here and she felt like neither of them should hang around much longer to figure out what it was.

"I am not even sure it knows entirely where it is right now." she replied softly to what Yuuka demanded of the thing. She kept her voice low enough she hoped to not be over heard as she was about to suggest healing it. "If that is the case I may have to repair the damage done so we can get answers." she said, preparing herself for the worst case scenario. If she had to heal it she was potentially putting a strong enemy back into fighting shape where as right now they could defeat her without even expending any chakra. This place was quickly turning into a nightmare and it was definitely one that she wished to wake from.

At least she did not seem to be the only one at a loss in here. It was apparent that Yuuka was trying to piece this together as well in her mind.

[Deleted]

The strange woman slowly tilted her head to the side, her eyes still vague and far away. A sniff, once, twice, and then her eyes sharpened and she looked at the two women. "Wait... you aren't Hrodgar... who are you two? Did that bastard try and get himself more women to torture? That cheating son of a... wait, scratch that. Do either of you have any food? I haven't eaten in days. I could free myself in a moment but I don't have any chakra to fight that sadistic freak. That Lemur there looks really tasty, can I eat him?"

The woman stared hungrily at Sir Cuddles, a predatory look on her face as she watched his every move, her tongue flicking out from time to time in the nature of lizards for pure intimidation factor. This was going to be an interesting conversation...

[Flower]

Yuuka slowly began to comprehend everything that the lizard-creature was saying. The more pressing matter, however, was that Saeko actually wanted to help such a beast. This was a rather annoying aspect, and Yuuka would not allow it, especially after the creature had made a request to eat her companion.

"Don't make a move to help it yet," Yuuka said, "Clearly it knows where it is, after all, it is waiting for a man to return. Also, it has evil radiating from it."

Now turning to focus her attention on the lizard, Yuuka said to it, her fingers still raised and the "special" webbing still being chewed, "Enough talking. I'll make you a deal. You tell me what I want to know, and I'll make sure you get something to eat. Now, first question, where are we?"

This seemed a rather important question considering that they were still in a random building, which had suddenly appeared at the mouth of the cave where they'd hidden from the storm. If this lizard would not make a move to answer Yuuka, then she knew what needed to be done...

If the lizard would answer the first question then Yuuka would go on to her second: "Who are you?"

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Matsu]

There was a quick nod from Saeko that followed Yuuka's statement. There was no true way to figure out this womans rank but if she had to guess she would have never chosen Genin. Yuuka seemed to have things figured out - at least as much as either of them could at the moment. Heeding her advice, Saeko assumed that she might have some sort of experiance with torture and interogation techniques. If it came down to pain however she doubted that they would extract anything through that method.

"Then I will guard the door." she said, moving past Yuuka. Leaning herself against the door, Saeko listened for sounds through it (if any could be heard) so that no one snuck up on them. They had to be sure that they weren't followed up the tunnels because if they had somehow gotten flanked by something in the dark then it would spell trouble for the duo. Now was the time that Saeko was inwardly beating herself up for never undergoing Sensor training. Now was the time where it would have been most helpful but she had never gotten the time.

Opting to let Yuuka answer the questions, Saeko continued to look around the room. Perhaps there was some minor detail that they had overlooked, a secret passage, or maybe just items they could use to get through this. While the two of them spoke she conducted her search but she was ready at a moments notice to intervene should she be needed. The idea of food was laughable - they had none for themselves either most likely but it was a good bait to get her to talk.

[Deleted]

"Where are we? Pfahaha! Oh you know, cute stuff. We're in a lovely secret brothel. Yes, a brothel for the rich and secretive, who love their sexual deviancy so much they built a brothel in the middle of a desert... WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!" the lizardwoman had a cute and bubbly voice to her until she started screaming. Her voice echoed off of the walls of the room, repeating her last words half a dozen times before it faded to quiet. A long moment and the lizardwoman seemed to calm down enough to speak again, but the humans would note that her restraints were red hot, and with a quick tug she ripped herself free of the rack, standing up after she would begin dusting herself off as if it was the most important thing in the world to do.

When next she spoke her voice had assumed that bubbly and seductive tone once more, " We're in the middle of the desert in an underground dungeon, sweety, owned by some freaky... thing who calls himself Hrodgar. I take it he just whisked you into a cavern when you took shelter from a sandstorm, same as me right? I thought he had such good tastes for picking me up to play, but if he's just picking up anyone off the sands and thinking he could get away with it he's got another thing coming! Of course, that isn't to say you're a bad girl, sweety. Maybe you girls would be willing to lick my wounds, and I might give you a licking in return~?" The woman's tongue extended from between her maw of teeth, a long sinuous tongue that reached nearly seven inches long. She grinned invitingly as her tongue receded.

"Oh, and my name's Minego, dears. Care to tell me yours?" Minego spoke, hand on a hip, standing proudly in her nudity. From seductress to jealous ex-girlfriend to predator and back again in a moment, it was more than a little hard to track the thought process of this woman. Still, she didn't seem inclined to attack without real provocation, although she kept eyeing Sir Cuddles, obviously still hungry for something to munch on.

As Saeko would move away and examine the room she would find only torture device after torture device. Hooks, chains, saws and blades, whips, and even some more exotic things like an Iron Maiden and a some things she wouldn't even be able to recognize. The stonework of the room itself were simple and rough, it basically looked like someone scooped out a bunch of stone from the inside of a big boulder to make a room. The only feature to mar the perimeter of the room was the door they had come in through. It seemed the only task they had in this room was to interact with Minego...

[Flower]

As the lizard-like creature began to free itself from its restraints, Yuuka would be quite interested. As it began to stand she considered shooting it with a ball of fire, but decided against it when she saw that the creature was simply going to stand there and talk after being freed. If were able to get out the entire time, Yuuka thought, Then obviously it was enjoying the torture. As I thought…

Sir Cuddles was becoming quite fearful of the creature, especially since it still looked so hungry, and he moved further behind Yuuka’s shoulder.

It was after this that Minego, as the lizard would eventually call herself, explained who had caught the two of them. Yuuka was hesitant to trust the creature, and simply replied by saying, “My name is Yuuka, the White Lightning of Sand, and honestly, I’m a little fed up with this dark, decrypted place. You seem to be pretty pissed off at this Hrothgar guy, or whatever his name is? What say you help us get out of here? Blast a hole through this wall, maybe? Saeko, would you be able to do anything like that and help us out?”

Yuuka didn’t know if the creature would actually help them, but regardless, she wasn’t going to simply let her guard down. The clone was still active and she was still chewing the special webbing. Truthfully, however, Yuuka wasn’t just uneasy about Minego, but this entire situation. They had been trapped in the cavern for quite some time, and it was starting to wear on her.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Matsu]

If this creature was going to do something to harm the two of them then she was rather foolish to surrender the element of surprise. Freeing herself from the restraints as Saeko searched the room, it seemed that she could have done so at any moment in time. Clicking her tongue quietly, she showed her disapproval at being played for a fool, Minego was far from helpless in the situation they found her in. Preparing herself for what was to come, Saeko stood at attention as Yuuka started interogating her.

"You seem fine enough to walk. I'd rather ensure that you help us get out of here. For the time being it seems that the chips are on our side of the table." Saeko commented. Although she did not approve of holding back she also knew that there was no garuntee that this thing wasn't working for the man who had them all stuck down here in this cavern. Being a shinobi long enough you learned to question everything - which was exactly what she was doing right now.

Nodding her head towards Yuuka she smiled and rolled her right shoulder. "I've got more than enough steam to punch through anything." she said proudly. Along side the medical care she could provide her fists and legs were deadly weapons. With precise chakra control she could probably punch hard enough to bring this whole cavern down on top of the three of them. Luckily for them she was not dumb enough to unleash that much power into the walls here. There was a slight smirk on her face as she made known the level of strength she had.

"You may call me Saeko. Now, about getting out of here, know how to go about that?" she asked. It was a bit redundant since Yuuka just did the same, but she was growing impatient with the situation. "Do that and I will tend to the rest of your wounds, you have my word."

---

So sorry ._.

[Deleted]

Minego shrugged at the two women prettily, tilting her head to the side as she looked over Saeko's body as she searched throughout the room. "I was chained to a torture rack. I've told you I was kidnapped by being whisked away during a sandstorm. I've told you I've very little chakra left. Yet you're asking me if there's a way out?

"Sorry sweeties but I think you're either stupid or thinking I'm lying. I mean, sure we could bust out easy enough by simply digging up, but you think Hrodgar would simply let us escape like that? He's all around us in a way that let's him feel any attempt at destroying the place. Believe me I've already tried to just break things, but then he got mad and stuck me in the rack." Shrugging prettily again Minego started to look around, eventually moving to the backside of the rack and bending down to pick something up. It was a mask and a sports bra of sorts, both in not so good condition. Saeko would have spotted them earlier if she had searched closer to the center of the room, but Sir Cuddles and Yuuka wouldn't have been in a position to see the clothing.

"Oh dear. These were my favorite clothes! Well, better than nothing I suppose... Hrodgar'll pay for these." Clutching the bra in one hand she tied the mask into place, hiding much of her facial features, before she hooked the bra. The effect wasn't so much concealing of her assets as it did show them off, pulling them up, making them seem perkier.

"Much better! Now, where to sweeties? As much as it excites me to be in a dungeon with you, I think we should head back the way you came so we can find Hrodgar and escape... " Minego smiled, vicious teeth flashing in the dim light. Seemed like she didn't have any clue on what to do, it'd be up to Yuuka and Saeko to come up with a real plan...

[Flower]

Useless creature, Yuuka thought to herself, Can't do much of anything on its own. The only point in even keeping it around is to glean information. Meanwhile, she said nothing out loud. The creature was going to follow them and Yuuka was just fine with that. Maybe she could be bait if this Hoth - whatever his name was - were going to attack them.

Yuuka turned around immediately, still chewing her special webbing and having her clone in front of her, and made her way back out the entrance. She said as she was leaving, "Saeko, I want you to stay in the very back, behind Minego. From that position please watch for anything wrong." This was an attempt at telling Saeko to watch her back while Minego was behind herself. Sir Cuddles, who was on Yuuka's shoulder, would also be watching, but it always paid to be cautious.

If they were to start walking in this order, clone, Yuuka, Minego, and Saeko, then all would be good and they could head back the way they came. Additionally, now they at least had a torch to shine some light through the tunnel.

And while they walked, Yuuka was given time to consider how it was that this guy could feel everything. Was he part of the walls? Part of the building? How could he know if they tried to escape?

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Matsu]

Entirely confused by the mannerisms of this lizard creature before them, Saeko's brow shot up slowly. She wasn't going to question anything it said as it was most likely a waste of time to do so. Taking one last look around the room she decided that nothing more could be done here and it seemed the conclusion was the same all around the room. There only option was to head back the way they came though this time they had light to do so with. There was only one flaw in their plan that made her nervous at all and that was the monster it's self.

She could just be part of the trap..

Yuuka, however, seemed willing to risk it simply because it was the only option they had now. With a nod she moved into position behind the two women as she tightened her gloves on her hands. Flexing her hands into fists she made sure that she was ready when the time came. It would take her much longer to prepare herself though for what was most likely to come. She just had a feeling deep down that Minego was going to betray them at some point but 'when' was the problem.

"Be careful on the way back. Who knows what this guy knows now or how he has altered the maze." she commented, sighing. That was the true problem right there for the three of them. If he could see all and control all in this hell hole then there was no reason to believe that he couldn't simply shift the mazes structure as they got closer to him. A tunnel system that could endlessly shift was a dangerous thing so she hoped she was only being paranoid. Even a normal cave system could have been dangerous for a shinobi of any level.

Following the two of them back into the tunnel they entered through, Saeko focused on gathering her chakra while they walked.

[Deleted]

As the small group started to make their way to the door that led back to the first cavern, they would be able to suddenly hear small skittering noises coming from behind the door, which was ajar. Had they actually remembered to close that behind them and it was opened, or did they forget? Either way, the skittering noises, of small limbs clacking against stone, were getting louder as whatever was behind the door moved closer to the room. The smell of rotting flesh could be sensed just as the door was suddenly pushed open, a strange creature peeking its head into the room.

It looked somewhat like an ant, although much much larger. It measured somewhere near four foot long, was a dusty reddish hue, and had six spindly limbs like most insects. However the two front limbs ended in three-fingered hand-like appendages instead of simple feet, and the creature held them up as they moved, having used it to open the door. A huge and sticky tongue extended from a pair of vicious looking mandibles, a thick glue-like saliva dripped from its tongue in small dollops. Its body was more squat and powerful looking than a normal ants, and there were dozens of nasty looking wounds on the animal's body, of which it ignored completely despite their severity. Its compound eyes stared at the group for a small moment before it let out a high-pitched screech!

Suddenly skittering could be heard once more, dozens and dozens of limbs clacking against stone in the tunnel behind the a first creature. It was nearly a dozen more of the same creature, all reeking of rotted flesh, each one with horrific damage to their exoskeleton without any apparent effect on their mobility. Just like the vultures above they rushed forward, not at the humans or animals, but at Yuuka's clone. Drawn by the artifical creation of chakra and minerals, all eleven of the strange creatures would run straight at it, screeching in high-pitched voices.

Minego suddenly hissed a snakelike hiss, "Chimney Sneaks! Their saliva's like glue, don't let it touch you or you'll stick!"

[Flower]

Yuuka, using the light from the torch, saw the head of the horrible creature poke through the door. Like with the vultures before, it attacked the clone that she had created earlier. Minego, somehow, knew that these creatures produced glue like saliva, which, in fact, sounded very similar to Yuuka's webbing.

It was then that Yuuka understood something. Both times the animals had gone after the clones, and didn't Minego say earlier that Hro -whatever- was behind this cavern? In other words, he was manipulating the animals most likely. Why else would they only attack the clone? It was starting to make sense.

He wanted them left alive. Like a game. Additionally, he didn't want any foreign players, like clones, getting in the way.

Suddenly, Yuuka began to hear breathing.

How about you let me out? a voice said from inside Yuuka's head. This bastard likes playing games, well, I've got an interesting maneuver I want to try.

[/i] The situation was not a good one. Yuuka knew that if she were to let Chi out then getting her back inside would be horribly difficult. Not only that, but Chi loved to kill. Thought and strategy would, at that point, be meaningless.

Stay back for a while. You'll get your chance, Yuuka replied.

You better hurry,[/i] was the only response.

"We don't have much time," is all Yuuka told Minego and Saeko. "We need to find this Ho-guy quickly. I'm getting pretty fired up."

Yuuka smiled as she said this because her middle, right arm was most certainly heating up. The ant was about five meters away, just leaving Yuuka out of the blast radius. She emitted a powerful range of fire at the creature and would allow it to burst upon impact, making the creature explode. Meanwhile, Sir Cuddles would be keeping a very close eye on Minego. Wouldn't want her to change teams in the middle of the chaos...

SPOILER: Click to show

Hinotebakudan (Fire Bomb)
Rank: "C", "B"
Skill: TaiJutsu
Effect: A more short-range attack, a user can create a flame at the end of a limb, and thrust the flame down in an explosive burst.
Special: ---
Drawback: Depends on the user's knowledge within Hinotebakudan (Fire Bomb) depends on the strength of the technique. Takes an amount of one movement in order to create.
Description: When the user learns this technique they are able to attack within the distance of four meters. The user uses the concept of Hinotama (Fireball) as they launch a ball of fire towards the opponent at a much shorter range. The ball of flame is condensed greatly as it is only the size of the user's fist. When touching an object it expands in an explosive manner with the explosive power of only that of one meter capable of removing rock walls, and rubble. When the user learns the "B" rank version of this technique they are able to expand the distance of ten meters, while the explosion is increased to that of three meters. This technique again is able to force through larger forms of rock and rubble, able to destroy boulders of three meters in size.
Limit: Must learn from a master of Enten Kobushi - 炎天 - Scorching Sun Fist. Must know Hinotama (Fireball)

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