guardian of the storm | ✓

Chapter Thirty-One ~ Kyzyl Desert

~Chapter Thirty-One~

Eien was going to destroy whoever thought this would be a good idea. In a scathing letter of course, not face to face. Because who ever decided to stick what they needed to find was a horrible, horrible person. Being the (non) athletic person he was Eien had already managed to fall down not one but two rather large forested hills. His hair was full of sticks, leaves, and quite possibly, a confused lady bug.

Spitting some sort of vegetation out of his mouth the discouraged teen turned his gaze towards the mountain he'd deduced was most likely going to be his first obstacle. "Ichi no Shi Yama." He murmurs staring up at the desolate mountain, black mist covering the entirety of the rock formation. An eerie feeling emitted from the mountain and he felt a trickle of cold sweat run down his back.

The First Mountain, the Mountain of Death.

Eien prided himself on his intellect and after dissecting the clues he knew that there was rumors of a hidden valley within the mountain. Not to big, but said to have vast planes of desert likeness complete with obsidian sand. Shadows definitely lurked here and he let a shaky breath escaped his lips. He rolled his shoulders back and tried to coach some confidence into himself.

"I am Eien Ookami. If I can brave the wrath of my sadistic twin, I can walk through a stupid mountain."

A twig snapped.

Eien screamed like a little girl chanting under his breath, "It's not Winter, she couldn't have heard my say that." His eyes grew to the size of saucers as a moving shadow flits around the edges of a tree. His knees threatened to buckle and he took out a kunai, pointing it in the direction of the sound.

It was only a squirrel.

***

A loud sneeze made Winter's body rock forward, the black haired girl pause from sharpening her swords. Sniffling and glancing around, her sixth sense tingling. After seeing nothing she shrugs and slides the sharpening stone against the blade of her katana.

"Maybe I should dust in here."

***

Pulsating waves of mist washed over land leeched of color. The mist was a gradient of black, silver, and the barest ghoul white. Infertile dirt and dead trees gave way to oil colored sand, shimmering underneath the shifting pattern of water and air. Simmering heat coiled around the ground like a snake, the deeper Eien descended into the desert the more hellish and hot it became. The air became a wicked mirage, shimmering with any movement. He could taste the grittiness of sand, smell the air tained with the scent of the land. Overseeing it all was the faintest outline of the moon above shrouded in a cloak of white mist.

His clothes stuck to him from the heat, his mouth drying up rather quickly. Still his pushed on, the clue in one hand and his other hand turned palm up, elbow pressed to side, a tiny spark of red lightning in dancing across his slightly calloused hands to provide a better light. The flickering crimson casted shadows across his face and darkened certain parts of the land, the light reflecting off the surface of the sand to create a masterpiece of gentle red threads weaving about the painting that was the land.

If Eien wasn't struggling to not faint he'd most likely enjoy the picturesque, albeit murder worthy, picture.

A breeze played with the mist, the hot gust of air making his black hair stick to his forehead. His cheeks were flushed and his pupils were dilated a bit. He was taking care to not drink his entire supply of water, but it was growing harder to just take tiny sips every half hour or so.

He didn't receive any warning. For this wolf had been brought up in the Kyzyl Desert and knew how to become an ink in a tapestry of calligraphy.

Powerful paws slammed down onto his shoulders, Eien falling onto his back and feeling air rush out of his lungs in one fell swoop. A heavy weight rested on his chest and he could feel the sickeningly hot breath of the wolf as it breath on him, sharpened and starved teeth gleaming in the darkness. It took Eien a moment to grasp just what was going on before the one on one training with Winter kicked in.