There's Always a Bigger Fish

Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:34 pm

Mission:

The little fishing town had not been welcoming to the behemoth on that fateful sunset. But for a town as small as this one, it was no surprise. You could make from one end of it to the other in under ten minutes: it was barely a village. Yet, the residents would’ve likely defended their right to call their gathering of structures as a town, going as far as to identify themselves as townsfolk, and segregating themselves from others who would just disrupt the peaceful community they had worked so hard to create. It meant nothing to the behemoth, of course. He had first arrived when he walked a cobblestone street, which he assumed had been built to help caravans from coastal cities make their way into and through the country, and he had hoped to intercept one himself: much as he felt very little in the way of emotions, his stomach never let him forget he felt hunger, and it would be quite loud at times, terrible for a ninja whose pride should rely on stealth. Yet, on his venture across the fields in the cobblestone road, he noticed a rather wide beaten path trail that cut straight through the woods, and the smell of salt and the clean crisp air on his face told him there was the sea close by, maybe even a beach. Having followed the beaten path trail, he found himself at the charming little piscatory town, where people would give him sideways glances and scurry to get out of his way, lest he infect them with his outlanderness and morph them into strangers in their own homes.

Hiro was used to being given wide berths; after all, a man of his stature and physical appearance was intimidating to most of the population, with only a few dangerous individuals being immune to the composed yet violent demeanor his mere visage offered. And yet it seemed there were no dangerous individuals left in this village, that is, until he finally chanced upon their tavern. When Hiro ducked under the door’s headboard and move his muscular body through it before arching his body back up to its full height, and what had been a tavern with a multitude of conversations rippling and drowning each other quickly subsided into murmurs and then silence, as the occupants of the tavern turned their heads in unison towards the monstrosity as the sunsetting light draped it in darkness, the only motion from the creature was the removal of the long coat he wore, with two shining golden pads on the shoulders, which he quietly sat upon the coat hanger.

He took a few steps in, calmly, towards the bar, allowing the candles and lamps to illuminate the scarred stoic expression of the Jugo. Once he reached the bar, he motioned for the barkeep who looked at him with both terror and defiance in his eyes. “We don’t serve your kind here. Get out.”

Hiro’s nostrils flared lightly, he pursed his lips in disappointment and his hairless brow ridges dug closer together on his forehead. “My kind, huh? And what kind is that?”

“Get out. Out! Out with you!”

(wc: 527)

Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:44 pm

Few of the sailors and other patrons quietly got up, surrounding the monster. “You heard ‘im. You’re not welcome. Now, I’m not sure how good at math you are, but, we got you outnumbered.”

A grin slashed across his face in the blink of an eye. “Math? My math sucks. So you riddle me this: how many people will you need to deal with a monster?” As he spoke, his skin turned pink, he hunched over as his hair grew a foot in length, and before a guttural growl filled the bar, two protrusions grew on the sides of his forehead, as his eyepatch fell out of place and into the floor of the bar.

Shrieks of horror filled the bar, one might argue not a manly scream even though there were no women around. And yet, it had already been too late: the grotesquely lost arms of the berserker reached forward and with immense ease ripped and tore, indiscriminately, any who were quicker to draw their blades than they had been in running away. Both actions would’ve been useless, and at least them as died with weapon in hand died defending themselves: the ones who ran died tired.

After tearing apart the bar and the occupants, the berserker burst through the wall in a quick leap, hunching over itself in the middle of the street, arms arching downward as it sniffed the setting night’s air for prey: the ones who tried to run and warn others of the monstrosity with alarming shouts, running and scattering in all directions. But there was no escaping. The creature could sense each and everyone of them, a fluttering flame in the midst of darkness waiting to be snuffed out violently. From that fateful sunset until the breaking dawn, the night would be one replete with fear.

Come the morning, a boat was making its way towards the beach. It had been another good night out, their net caught plenty of fish. They awaited for their townsfolk to welcome them on the beach, help reel in the boat onto the sands, empty out and prepare the fish to be salted and carted away into the neighboring cities, after keeping a few priced pieces for themselves. One of the sailors went to the bow of the boat, and with a tiny telescope, tried to peer into the distance, to make sure the beach crew was ready when they made it there. Looking on in confusion and bewilderment, he noticed the red trees with slim trunks, before realizing they were impaled bodies, dozens of them, lining the beach. Except for one bundle of darkness. The bundle moved, as if sensing the presence of the rocking boat, and from the looks of it it reared its head upwards, a horned creature looking towards the boat. “Turn us around, turn us around!” The sailor spoke in terror as he circled the rim of the boat towards the cabin of the captain. “Turn us around!”, he shrieked, horrified at what he had seen and unable to settle himself long enough to explain why he was so agitated. But there was no escaping. Just as he had turned around and made towards the cabin, the sitting demon had lept to its feet and sprinted at full speed towards the boat, running on the water as though it were solid land. By the time the captain tried to calm down his sailor, a loud thud was heard as the demon jumped onto the boat, and after a beastial howl, started ripping and tearing once more, killing all sailors before shredding the hull of the boat to pieces.

When the sun peaked, after a nice beach barbecue with fresh fish and a couple ears of corn, the behemoth took a few sea showers and dried himself before returning to the ruins of the tavern to retrieve his jacket. He looked onto his handiwork on the beach. Today had been a good day. He felt calm and rested. Elated, even. He moved back towards the beaten path and the cobblestone road. Wherever it may lead him, that’s where he’d go.

/exit
(wc: 687)
(twc: 1214)
Claiming 500 Ryo.
Claiming 1AP
Claiming 2 Stamina at 200 a pop, mission rate, and 7 Stamina at 100 a pop.
Claiming 250 to Master Genjutsu Release No handseals
Claiming 500 towards Water Replacement
Claiming 464 towards Moving Earth Core

Sun Apr 12, 2020 2:16 am

Approved for Appropriate rewards

Sun Apr 12, 2020 7:06 pm

There's Always a Bigger Fish

There's Always a Bigger Fish

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Re: There's Always a Bigger Fish