Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A New Challenge ❯ Introductions ( Chapter 1 )

Shin Ryoku darts from tree to tree with amazing speed. After traveling some distance outside the village he stops to survey his surroundings. "Hmm, I guess this will have to do." He comes to an abrupt stop on one of the branches of a nearby tree. Raises a brow, shocked to see a girl out in the forest all by herself. He leaps down, landing almost silently on the ground below and begins to approach her.::: "Hey.."

Izumi turns his way and stays quiet for a while with a little forwn. "hello..."she replies quietly "you are probably from hidden mist...?" (ooc: she is blind)

a solitary girl swims against the current of the nearby inlet furiously trying to beat it. the cold water makes her eyes red so when she gets back to shore the villagers won't be able to tell she's been crying. her body hurts but she keeps going; wanting to stop but not letting herself. suddenly, she gets a cramp in her leg forcing her to stop swiming and is forced underwater

"...do you happen to know whe..." Izumi begins but suddenly stops in mid sentence as she feels someone elses presence... Izumi frowns and shoots herself right to the sea...

Shin shrugs his shoulders and leaves.

Standing on the surface, she pulls the girl along towards the shore all wet because she had to go underwater to get her to the surface. Izumi puts the girl on the shore and places two fingers on the side of her neck. smiling slightly, she melts into a puddle of water (yes it was mizu bunshin)

She hopes that the boy is still around to help her carry this girl into the village, if she keeps on being unconsious. the real Izumi sits under a tree as she watches the girl in distance.

the girl groans quietly and rolls onto her stomach. 'yuck...' she thinks as she grimaces at the way too salty taste in her mouth. "Antreo son kaindra" she mutters out loud. 'dang it! even though I wasn't planing on trying to kill myself today, it still didn't work..." she sits up and immediatly lays back down as her head spins. 'who the heck dragged me out this time?' suddenly tears well up in her eyes and as the tears roll down the sides of her face they solidify into perfect black pearls...

Izumi stands up and walks slowly towards the girl, her wooden sandals making little thud sounds on the wet ground. "are you alright?"asked izumi quietly "are you from this village?".

She feels something touched her shoes; she bends down and picks it up "pearl?" she murmurs

the girl tries to sit up again and back away but can't. "Who wants to know?" she looks up at her current saviour and notices her eyes. "Your eyes look awsome! can I have them? I mean, I don't want to sound presumptuous, but... I owe you a favor right? I can fix your eyes so you can see again or for the first time in your life... Um, can i have whats in your hand?" she holds out her hand as she is finally able to sit up and starts to gather up her tears/ pearls. "I'm sorry, I've been rude to you. My name is Romulae, Nhamot and yes I'm from this village. I normally don't talk this much..." she looks down at the ground. "My regular clothes are just over the hill..." she falls silent, waiting for her saviors reaction to her outburst.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Tsukiko Izumi" replied izumi, her eyes narrow a bit, and she stays silent for a while. "...well i guess if i wanted to see again i would've done it ages ago while i was still training...i dont think i can get seeing things now after staying blind for 16 years...thank you for your offer though but i'd rather not see this...this ugly world..."she said smiling slightly.

"is that a training your sensei made you do? swimming in such bad weather?" Izumi asked with purpose, kneeling down, tucking her feet and kimono neatly under herself, after she sends a Mizu bunshin to get Nhamot's clothes.

"No... I do it to myself willingly... I have no sensei yet, but I've been training by myself since I was seven..." she lapses into silence and then goes on. "I think I've mastered the basics just by watching and approximating the energy output they use when they do something. then I just copy what they do." she notices Izumi's mizu bunshin coming back. "doomo arigato gozaimasu. You shouldn't have... Here, as a small token of my appreciation" she hands her three of her pearls. "these'll fetch a good price." she throws the rest in the sea and watches them being drawn out into the fathomless depths. "I guess I'd better go home now. Maybe we'll see each other again soon?"

Izumi nods in thanks and takes the pearls"you will always be welcomed to visit me in Hidden Rain. I'll keep these pearls so i can remember there was a girl who have a habit of drowning herself..." a pause "you have talent...if only--..................be careful on the way home..." she bows slightly then turned and walk towards the forest to continue her searching...

"home is where you make it..." Nhamot whispers sadly. she takes out a kunai and begins drawing on herself, blood driping down her arm. 'home...' she thinks remembering her first home...

flash back

the seven year old version of Nhamot plays happily in a nearby river her sisters building a sand castle while her mother washes clothes.

"Mom! may I talk to you for a moment?" her older sister, Kohakuhi, calls from inside the house.

"Sure, as long as its only for a moment. I want to get these clothes done before your father gets home." her mother finishes the article of clothing she was washing, walks in the door and then walks back out smiling.

"Mom!!!" Kohakuhi says exasperatedly.

"Ok, ok!" she goes back in. "what's wrong?" she asks as she catches the look on her eldest daughters face. "You look terrible!!"

tears well up in Kohakuhi's eyes, "Mom, I think i need a hug..."

"Oh sweety, what's wrong?" as she hugs her daughter tightly.

Kohakuhi uncovers the kunai she's hidden with her arm "I'm so sorry..." and stabs her in the back. her mothers eyes widen in shock as the kunai is plunged into her again and again as she tries to fight her off. stumbling and bumping into furtniture as she tries to flee. suddenly she loses her footing and falls striking her head against a low table and lays there dazed.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, mother, but it had to be done. our family is cursed with the demons seed, the quadruplits with follow you so you won't be lonely."kohakuhi kneels down and cuts her birth mothers throat, blood spraying with every beat of her mothers weakening heart. "You damned their souls since the night they were concieved. I can send them on their way to hell..." she looks up at the sound of her her younger sister Lavender's voice.

"Haha? Doko desu ka?" she walks in on the scene. "you killed her." her voice is flat and emotionless, her face blank as paper, but her eyes glow with hatred. "you're going to regret what you've done." slowly she turns around and walks out the door, crying out slightly with pain as she reaches behind her and pulls out the kunai in her back. (ooc: shes known to seem emotionless) "You shouldn't have done that... you know we share feelings."

the other three siblings except her brother run in. "what's wrong Lave?" Ferrika asks conserned.

" she's killed our mother. now she's going to kill us..."

end of flashback...

"It's ok guys," she thinks to herselfs as she settles onto a tree branch to watch the sun set. "We're safe for now..."

"i tried my best to save you and thats how you thank me? by harming yourself?"Izumi appears in front of nhamot. she knew that this girl had some issues and just can't seem to leave her alone for now. izumi looks at her and takes the kunai away from her. somehow nhamot just reminds her of someone "do you really have a home around here?" asks izumi

Nhamot blinks in confusion. "Hey! give that back!" she tries to grab the kunai back, but Izumi manages to keep it out of her reach. "Please, the pain makes the hunger go away..." she looks around wildly for something to hurt herself with and finds nothing. "You don't understand! I don't want to hurt the people of this village. I can eat but not feed; live without taking a life. I don't want to be run out of town again..." she stops, coughing as the sun sinks below the horizon and staightens up eyes blazing red, the air gets cold enough to see the vapor of your breath.

"Give me the knife..." her voice is as cold as the air and deadly. "I will kill you if necessary for it. do you want to die?"

"i definitly dont want to die now... because i finally found a reason to live and i'm not giving up on it"said izumi putting the kunai into her little pocket '...and i have promises to keep...' Izumi turns to nhamot and slaps her across the face hard "and if you're so hungry, control it. you'll have to learn to control whatever that is" she said coldly her blind eyes seem to stare right through Nhamot's soul. "and look at that nonsense you're talking about. live without taking a life. you have no idea on how many lives died under you're foot. Humans arent the only creatures who have a life."

She opens her umbrella and glared down (although she's blind) at Nhamot, wondering about her past, about her bloodline. they senses a heavy and dark Aura in the area, growing stronger by the minute

Nhamot glares at Izumi wishing she had mastered the phoenix fire when she had had the chance. she vividly imagines Izumi purty face melting off her body and the tortured screams wrenching themselves from her throat as the fire consumes her. "this isn't alchemy." she mutters. Izumi shivers as the air gets even colder. "I can control it after I feed, I can sleep in peace without the hunger invading my dreams and taking over my body. its times like these when I really my first love... he could keep me from feeding anytime he wanted. he was a master of torture: the only man I know who could control me with that kind of pain... I loved him and he helped me become what i am now. he gave me his hunger, but you'd not understand... you're lucky I found a substance that'll calm it down, but I like to take it alone." she starts walking away to the sea her hand in her pocket fingering the tiny vials filled with silvery fluid.

when she comes face to face with a cliff she begins to think, 'mars... why did we part? we gave each other so much. I was your girl, and your girl stays by your side... I loved you and you turned me away. you broke me and put me back together. you helped me become strong where I was weak...' she sits down just out of the reach of the high tide. 'you tortured me without spilling a drop of blood...' she smiles as she empties a vial into her blood stream and feels the hunger subside enough to know that the village is safe from her this night. a few minutes later, her stomach growls and she reaches into her "carries-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" knapsack for some good old fashioned beef jerky, ramen, carrots, and herbs, especially pepper, which she tosses into a small pot filled with a small amount of salt water and plenty of drinking water to soak while she starts the fire. she takes a tiny fire seed out of her bag and places it inside one of the many peices of drift wood shes found and coaxes it to life with her chakra and soon the water's boiling, while the food cooks she starts her nightly excercise routine: stretching, 100 upside down knuckle pushups, and 50 crunches while holding herself parellel to the cliff (like this l l. ^.^;;) with her chakra. afterwards she tastes the soup and decides to give it another five minutes which she spends trying to balance on her hands on a less than straight piece of wood. 'I have to practice that more often...' she thinks to herself not noticing her persistent visitor steadily making her way to her campsite...

The heavy aura increases to the point inwhich it feels like something is squeezing the genin and jounin's chests with enough force to shorten their breath.

"guess you have lived like this for a long time nhamot..." said Izumi quietly still wondering, sitting down under a tree. feeling the pressure, she took a deep breathe and continued breathing steadily 'an Akuma clan....?' she thought to herself. frowning she became more alarmed.

A near by shadow darkens to complete black, and it rases up in a kind of fluid blanket that falls off the figure raising out of it, and Kitsunes bushin steps out of the shadows he just emmerged from, the shadow returns to normal but the ground that was covered by the complete darkness is now dead and lifeless. The heavy aura fades down to a feling that unsettles one within its presence, like death wer looming over searching for one that escaped his grasp

Izumi turns to the direction the bunshin is in, wondering what is it doing here...

'Mars??' nhamot thinks sprinting to the bushin and stops suddenly when she sees the patch of dead lifeless earth. 'No. Its not big enough... hey, who the heck is this guy?' she bows to the bushin. "greetings friend or foe I challenge thy. what say thou?"

He knocks an eyebrow and blinks a few times in a puzzled manner, then bows back in respect:: "Well I'm no foe, unnless you had made an attempt on some ones life, i am here because i was concerned that somone would be seriously injured. I can observe actions of everyone any where, from any place i want so long as there are shadows present. I can use them as windows or doors, as you can tell by my entrance, i have come from waterfall by use of shadow walk, which unnfourtunately over great distances can cause harm to the environment. i'm just glad no one was standing in that shadow as i came through. and as for your challange, are you sure you wish to fight me? I am Otokage, leader of sound. (a/n: yes we know Orochimaru is the leader of sound but who cares??!!)You are a mere genin, and though i find your proposition amusing, i do not wish to cause you any harm nor himuliation."

"gomenasai Otokage-sama." she bows as she apologises. "I had no idea who you were, but I will challenge you when I deem myself ready, seeing as I have no sensei yet. Please forgive my..." she pauses for a moment thinking of the word, "... youth." She smirks and chuckles softly. 'Must remember not to think of interesting things to say to authoratative people.'

'Just be glad he didn't come any sooner or he would have harmed this body considerably.' a voice in the back of her head pipes.

' And because Izumi was there, I couldn't get my daily supplement... you know that pain is only a passing occurance; just like this body...'

'But we've all gotten quite comfortable in this one, so don't lose it or get it destroyed!'

'No, I'll leave that to Mars...'

(ooc: I am really obsessing over mars from the movie hostage... I just realized that...)

"Otokage-sama, why are you here?"

Kitsune bluches and an embarrased anime style sweat drop runs down the side of his head:: "no need for the formalities, i may be Otokage, but i dont think of myself as a higher rank, and i dont deserve the sama part, as for why i am here, i am here because i noticed the two of you fighting and i heard the threat on somones life so i came here as fast as possible, to prevent any death"*blushes*

"you must be pretty busy then running around like this...otoka....may i ask what can i call you by then, if not Otokage-sama?" Izumi asks quietly.

"Just call me Kitsune"

"pleasure meeting you Kitsune, i am Izumi from Hidden Rain" said izumi smiling slightly

" Pleasure meeting you too Izumi"

::Kitsune looks over at nhamot with a slightly troubled look on his face:: "Nhamot, if you like i can try to help with that problem of yours. We of the akuma are masters of sealing abilities, im sure i can figure out or create a seal that can help. But a word of caution, for some reason seals made by the Akuma have curses on them, minor ones, but curses none the less. The curses are mainly just if the akuma feels like it he can weaken you or kill you, pending on the seal."

"I don't think you understand." she begins looking at the ground. "I've been dealing with my... problem for a while now, and I've even managed to find somthing that will calm it down at night... it's the reason I haven't killed anyone since I was young, Kitsune-san. You know what? I was just thinking, earlier you said you were coming as fast as you could here to prevent death, but if I had had the actual intent to kill Izumi, she would have been dead long before you'd have gotten here. are you ever successful with these attempts to save lives?" she looks up at the darkening sky. "Before you answer, lets go down to my campsite for dinner..." she leads them down to the fire thinking 'Good thing I always cook for six...'

'What about the rest of us??' the voices in her head clamor as Nhamot laddles the soup into three small ceramic bowls.

'You guys can split my portion amongst yourselves. I just won't eat tonight that's all, but I get dibs on breakfast!'

"Well i can try to help so it is less meintanence, and you have more control with less work, unnless you enjoy causing yourself harm, and haveing to drink that syrim all the time. You don't have to deal with it alone, there are thoes like myself that are willing to help, and to answer your question, i have been successful more times than not in my attempts, but i slowed my pace when i saw things were calming down, and i decided to continue my trip to see if you would be willing to be helped."

"why are you so interested in binding me to yourself? with this 'curse' if I get out of line, are you going to yank on my chain just to let me know who's really in charge?" she looks out at the waves as they lap against the shore. "Just watching the waves is really calming. the ocean doesn't care what you look like, who your friends are, what your past was like... its all washed away with the tide. maybe not all at once, but it just takes time. the only thing I'm not going to let it wash away is my feeling for my sister. I used to look up to her until I was seven... that all changed without warning. More soup?" she offers.

Izumi listens quietly at the conversation as the sun start to go down. The cries of the seabirds were like lost souls mourning. Somehow she felt like she knew someone similar to Nhamot "Nhamot...how long have you been living like this?"

"It's not that im in a hurry to curse you, im eager to help while i still have time, and the only time i would ever utelive the curse is if ever you do something against me in a situation that could get you harmed more that the seal will harm you, depending on the level of the seal depends on its drawbacks, for example a seal i would put on naruto would, when activated would cause an irregularity in chacra to the point of making him lose consousness or collapse" Kitsune continues

Nhanot looks at the ground. "... a very long time... ever since my... family died... she killed them you know... my sister. I don't know why she left me of all people alive, but I do know that I'm going to kill her and commit seppuku directly after that. that is my plan and I don't intend to deviate from it. Kitsune-san, as for your offer, I already have a seal but I don't think I'll show it to you until we think that I can trust you." she glances at the pot. "would anyone else like some more soup?"

Kitsune frowns when he hears the word Seppuku:: "I hate that ritual with all the humanity i have left in me, in my eyes it is a waste of life. If you wish to die, do it in a more noble manner. Die protecting one you love, die in battle, anything would be beter than seppuku for somone such as yourself. Suppuku is more appropriate for monsters like me"

"You don't look anymore of a monster than Gaara does..." she smirks. "I can sympathize with him though after my parents' deaths, the people in my village shunned me after a certain incident where vines sprouted from the tips of my fingers to keep the children I had wanted to play with near me. all I wanted to do was play... they ran from me and that hurt me almost as deeply as my sister did. I tried to apoligize but it was too late... their eyes had changed towards me and I became alone in a crowd of people, crying tears in the sea. thats part of a poem I wrote,but hey, no one cares cuz no one knows ya know?

"to die fighting for you loved ones... sounds nice if you actually have someone you care about enough to love... I've been on my own for so long that I've become quite independant enough to be self- sufficient for a very long time. the only time I have to have human contact is when I go to a village for supplies. other than that, I'm on my own with no one else but me. I fight to improve myself to my expectations and no one else. there is no one I love. 'cept one..." she get a far away look in her eyes. "He was the most wonderful person..."

 

nearby in the forest a lone girl shivers in her sleep.she is at the base of a tree and has scant belongings with her.she wears a kimono of fiery red and has her hair done in pig tails and appears to be having a nightmare for she is whimpering softly.

the nightmare: a small girl runs through the forest breathing heavily,she has been running for a long time,from her past,from her present,from everything.she stumbles over a tree root and gasps at the sharp pain.nearby the thud of heavy footsteps fill the night and the word demon is whispered by all who run.they are chasing her. a man spots the small form of the girl curled up on the floor *pity* he thinks "Here she is!I've found the little demon girl!" the girls head whips up and she whispers,"I'm not a demon,I'm just Hikari...." the man looks at the girl in shock," it speaks...."

"My name is Hikari!" she snarls as her eyes turn the color of blood. A feeling of stifling heat resonates through the air as the man suddenly bursts into flames."I'm sorry" Hikari whispers into the night....

There is a difference between me and Gaara, he is posesed by a monster ::he loks at his arm:: this form is mearly a husk hiding the beast within, and i know your pain. I was cast out as an infant because i was diferent, and i have a very similar ambition in life, except mine is to kill my father for making the decision to cast me out ::He looks up then turns his head in the direction of the unknown girl:: some one is near by

Kitsune walks over to where the girl is and shakes he gently:: Wake up, its not wise to be asleep in the forest alone.

Izumi stayed silent listening to Nhamot and Kitsune talking abut her past. The clouds gathered in the sky, the seabirds start to cry more loudly. "nahmot...what do you say about being my student?"asked Izumi suddenly, she thought it'll be good for her to start taking students again, she didnt dare to after the last incident , but now she changed her mind. How could she leave such a talented girl out here "you dont have to live out here anymore, you can live in m--" she stopped in the middle of her sentence as she sensed another person, she turned her head towards her direction as if she could see, and can see through the tree and bushes. "glad we didnt finish all the soup, you're good at cooking" said izumi as rain start to pour from the sky "what an interesting day" she remarked and followed Kitsune.

Izumi held her umbrella over the girl while Kitsune tried to wake her. "is she wounded?" asked izumi. She can feel the cold rain runing down from her face to her neck as she use her umbrella to block the rain from soaking the girl.

Kitsunes eyes go black with whit sharingan markings, he looks over her scaning with his Mangekyou byakugan for any injury, he finds none. He looks up at Izumi:: lets get her somewhere warm and dry. ::he says as he picks the girl up effortlesly:: we all should.

Izumi nodded still holding the umbrella over the girl and follows Kitsune "i think nhamot knows this place more than any of us" she said.

"Hey, I barely know any of you and you expect me to take you home with me??" Kitsune and Izumi just stare at her. "Ok ok! the only thing that I ask is that Kitsune, I have to cover your eyes and ears before we go." he raises an eyebrow. "Its for protection." he nods and she digs through her backpack for a brightly colored scarf to cover his eyes and ears with. before she puts it on him, "Don't worry, I won't let you stumble. I'll take it off when we get there." the thin looking scarf blocks out all light and sound. "Well, lets go." gently, she tugs on Kitsune's sleeve and leads them through the forest; the little girl is still asleep in Kitsune's arms.

After a while, Nhamot leads them deeper into the forest after going around in circles. soon the foliage becomes denser, but as nhamot walks onward the plants pull themselves back to get out of her way.

"Izumi, how did you lose your light?"

"umm...well..." a pause "it happened when i was 6 years old...an accident...a Kunai went pass,..." she sensed her way carefully through the forest, walking beside Kitsune so her umbrella could keep on blocking the rain from soaked the girl"... i managed to dodge so it wouldn't go through my head...but it sliced past my eyes...i got the wounds healed but...the eyes...are gone..." she smiled, but seems like more to herself. "anyways" she said changing the subject "what you say about being my student?"

out of respect for Nhamot's wishes Kitsune doesnt use his ability to use shadows to see and allow her to guide him

"Um..." she hesitates as her internal voices erupt in conflict.

'tell her no! she will encroach upon our way of life and tie us down to one spot, and then kohakuhi will find us and-!' '

shut up, baka kobito.'

'Kuso, I am not short! I'm just not as tall you!!'

'Don't swear, Ame. It's not polite. I think we should cuz then we'd have a new workout program and everything.'

'But-'

'Respective persons, this is Nhamot's call.'

'Hey! we live here too!'

'Yes, but this is her body and it would do well to respect her wishes.

they all await Nhamot's descion.

She takes a deep breath. "yes... Sensei." she whispers.

'Now we're in for it...'

'Shut up.'

Hikari wakes up gasping "no!"she looks around at her unfamiliar surroundings**wasn't I in a tree whe I fell asleep?**she takes in her surroundings.a girl is seemingly arguing with herself.looks up into the eyesof a decent looking male.**rowr,I must still be dreaming.. **she smiles at him but then realizes she is not dreaming and lets out in an earshattering scream.

Nhamot's ears flatten against her head. 'Baka onna... making such a garish noise' she rips off the scarf hampering Kitsunes sences and steps behind a tree and tramsforms her self into black kitten with violent purple eyes. still holding her ears down to help block out the sound. she begins to purrr non-stop as she rubs her head against the little girls scabby, bony knees. slowly, the sound dies as the girl draws in another breath to scream and Nhamot jumps lightly into her lap rubbing her head against the little girls chin.

Hikari let's out a bubbly giggle and hugs the kitty tightly to her chest"pretty kitty!" **I love kitties** as the kitty struggles against her loving embrace,Hikari leans in for a smooch "muchu........."

Kitsune winces, but doesn't drop the girl 'if it wasnt bad enough i just heard that about 30000 times, not only can see through shadows but i can also HEAR!' He sets down the girl and continues to try and get the ringing to stop in his ears.

Izumi stood there awkwardly with water dribbling from her hair and kimono "......."

continues to keep the death grip on the kitty/nhamot **I love kitties!!,I wonder who these nice people are?,hmmmwhen's lunch?I wonder where I am**She smiles at the kitty and politeley says,"hello my name is Hikari umm.........WHERE THE HECK AM I!?!?!?!...................nice to meet you...." ::bows while sitting and manages to crush nhamot even further and then starts on her childish tirade of questions::"where am I?who are you?can i keep the kittty cat?why am I all sopping wet?when's foodtime?what TIME is it anyways?" ::she stops,out of breath and sighs thinking about thedays when no one would help her::

flashback

images flash through her minds eye,villagers running through the forest while the village burns behind them::a young cowering Hikari huddled in an alleyway her tears mixing with the rain shivering as her stomache growls loudly::her mothers sile just before she slipped away from life.

end flash back

Hikari frowns slightly and then lifts Nhamot into the air and gives her a big ole smooch, the sight of the kitty makes her smile

"um...actually you can't keep the...the kitty...she's my student..and its nightime already, so obviously no lunch, but if you want dinner..." said izumi quietly squeezing water out of her kimono as she suddenly sneezes

Kitsune thinks to himself after the bombardment of questions "now i realy feel old........"::

Hikari looks at Izumi sneezing "you must be cold.....here I know"she stares at Izumi and thinks of warm places and dry grass, slowly Izumi's clothes begin to steam as Hikari's eyes go blank and a sad smile crosses her face,after awhile Izumi's clothes are dry. "all better?I learned that from my mother it's pretty nifty........." she looks at Nhamot the kitty. "wait.........student!?"

"thanks" Izumi says as her clothes dried "and yes she is my student now..." She sits down wondering how long she's going to stay here. she sighs a little.

Izumi closes her eyes, and then after taking a breath, she answered the questions. "we dont know where we are ourselves, so i can't answer your first question. And I am Izumi from Rain, This is Kitsune from Sound, you know about the kitty. you're wet because my umbrella is not big enough to cover every part of you. And i told you the time. We're going to Nhamot's house." she says quietly, answering all the questions calmly.

with a quick pat of her paw, Nhamot escapes Hikari's grasp and walks into Izumi's lap and meows. Her hand immeadiatly begins petting her and Nhamot purrs. After a minute, Nhamot gets up and walks a short distance away and looks behind her waiting patiently for them get the point and follow. Once they finally get up, a light appears at the tip of Nhamot's tail and she stays just ahead of them to light the way: Kitsune and Hikari guide Izumi over the obstacles not as easily gone around. Fifteen minutes later, Nhamot stops in front of a tree and waits for them to catch up. as soon as they do, the light on her tail goes out, plunging them in darkness as she walks to another tree and wiggles into the cavity at the base of it. suddenly, the ground drops out from beneath them and they slide underground.