Crocodile Kingdom [WIP]

It was something of an unfortunate search, for him to be dropped off outside of Suna at a graveyard only to come up with nothing. It would seem as though even with hints and clues, this myth was nothing more then that; an untrackable legend and nothing more. It would be nice to think that power came in a nice neat package in the form of mythological monsters, however it was a hope that he couldn't so quickly commit to and after spending much of his evening in search and then eventually sleeping in a small tool shed at the corner of the cemetery itself, Vice was no longer interested in spending any more time in Sunagakure chasing legends. But where to now? What exactly had he been doing before his side tracked adventures?

He was travelling through what was otherwise a number of 'minor villages' in comparison to the much larger actual great nations. Here he hoped to find a hidden power, something that he could use to excel and cripple the great nations, but it almost seemed as if every rock was already uncovered. The only glimpse of brilliance was in Amegakure where technology was so much more impressive then anywhere else that it may even enhance ninjutsu to further levels via innovation. The only problem was that his own knowledge of such technology was lacking. He was no scientist or chemist, and he wasn't about to leave such details as his "next greatest weapon" up to another individual's knowledge. It had always been a theme of his to do his work upon his own efforts, and if he was in charge then he didn't have to worry about any mistakes that weren't his own to cause.

Arguably the most powerful of the nations in terms of pure talent was Konohagakure. It was in Fire Country which was to the east of Wind Country and where he just was. For a shinobi, however, he was quite lazy when it came to traveling. He was so adamant about being where he wasn't to be that the process of getting there was something of a hassle that he didn't want to be bothered with. He usually found a way to hitch a ride and was fortunate enough to have found a regional map in the shack that he stayed in. According to it, there was a ferry to the south that traveled along the southern ends of the Fire Gulf. Making his way to the south would be the fastest mode of travel and he could enjoy a nice water bound cruise there; no mater the condition of this ferry. That would be his next destination, and after eating the ration of rice that he had 'borrowed' from the elderly couple (along with the mythological book), he made his way outward to in the general direction according to the sun, and his shadow; not necessarily a short in the dark, but not exactly a compass of directions either.

It was something of a stroll in which he did his best to keep track of his own directions. Thankfully there was a lack of trees and shade that would hide the sun from him, and he ventured out into the sea of sand that quickly became something of a mistake as the effects of over heating and dehydration made themselves apparent in his head in the form of a slight ache and his skin and muscles as they were slightly tighten, as if somehow the trip itself was strenuous. He could only hope and assume that he was traveling in the right direction, however was quickly reassured with the hot breeze that blew in from the south. He continued walking, considering it a point of no return of sorts. Even though the conditions weren't favorable, they were by no means unbearable.

However, to his stead, there was in fact a tree line in the distance where the sand seemed to settle to a more earthy tone and the sea of baked earth would yield to a much more lively and vibrant environment. Upon reaching the tree line, he was embraced by the shade and the well welcome 20 or so degree drop in temperature that came along with it. He was also surprised to see that the ground itself was still composed mainly of sand. This vegetation was somehow thriving off of nutrient in the ground which led him to believe that their roots were deep and the sand itself was thin. This either and oasis in the desert, or a sign that he was in fact near the coast that he was seeking. It would only make sense that a small civilized hub would exist in such a unique climate, and so he carried on.

He tried to walk lightly on the sand. It was surprising that even now you could feel the pull of the small grains upon ones feet. One had to exert ones self harder when walking through sand as many physical factors played themselves into the event itself. Not only did the actual art of walking lose its 'power' as the sand would absorb the impact of each planted foot (with by the by would be more of a bother if only they had to run or even jog then walk) but the more pressure one exerted on the ground, the more his own foot dug into the surface itself. This brought the sand around the feet like a small suction, and forced the act of lifting ones feet from the thigh with ever step. While at first going unnoticed, prolonged exposure to the new element brought a heighten sense of respect for its challenges and difficulty.

But then something a bit unexpected. The ground was still sand, but was much more compact. Upon noticing the change in the step of his stride he bent down to graze his finger over the sand itself. As he scooped up a sample of the dirt and rubbed it back and forth between his thumb and fingers, the first thing he noticed was that the sand itself was moist. The distinguishable feel and grit of the wet grains molding about each other was a feel that mimicked nails on a chalk bored, and left the hands feeling clammy and dehydrated. But he smelled not the ocean, nor the hint of salt in the air. This was a moisture all its own; independent of the ocean. Perhaps he had stumbled upon a nice stretch of oasis, sprouted up from the ground as a result of shifting sands and seeds happening to find a few destined drops of rain. It was a poetic coincidence in his mind, but then again, how many things that exist that shouldn't, could be attributed to the ideals behind 'luck'.

He pondered the many possibilities as he continued walking, now somewhat blindly as the sun was blocked out by the many tropic trees; their leaves hanging high in the air. It was disorienting however he had long sense been trained in this sorts of situations. One usually gets lost in by their natural stride. The left foot moving ever so further then the right or vice- versa and as a result, over space, over time, they are walking themselves in a slight curve. Given a large enough surface, one would even find themselves walking in a complete circle and with Sunagakure's vast desert, that was more then a possibility. For him, however, he was trained to give perfect form to the art of locomotion. His stride was perfect. He could walk at an even and straight pace without the worry for drifting off course.

However, he was struck with a sudden surprise as the ground under him gave in. He found his person sinking rapidly into the ground, as his footing basically crumbled. Quicksand? Though odd, that he surrounding environment wasn't also disturbed. It was deep enough that his form slipped down and continued sinking at a steady pace, though it was an annoyance it wasn't anything he couldn't work his way out of with a little innovation and his Kekkei Genkai ability. There was a tree near by, and he would simply pin himself to it via an extension of bone to halt his decent into the substance. It would seem as though the ground of sand was hyper saturated. The grains were just loose enough to appear as though they were together, yet spaced ever so slightly by water particles; smaller then the eye itself could see. It was a perfect natural trap of sorts.

He turned himself just enough to point his palm toward the base of the tree trunk, opening his fingers in preparation to extend his bone lance from his wrist to snag the tree and secure his rescue... what happened next he wasn't as prepared for...

All of a sudden and seemingly from under him, something well up from the quick sand pit. The volume of the liquid solid mixture was pushed upward and in a burst as if shot from a canon, he was flung into the air. Upon turning in the air, he was not the only one, but a large pair of open jaws as well, moving faster then he was from his launch. From the moment it caught up with him in the air, they slammed shut, and his view of the world around him was instantly lost in the darkness of the inside of somethings mouth. The closing of the mouth had managed to also scoop up a good amount of sand and grime from the pit bellow them.

He felt the shake of pallet as they landed. A crushing force suddenly emerged as a powerful hot wind current; pushing air outward and sifting the sand and excess moisture through the teeth of the beast while keeping him imprisoned. It wasn't a second longer that It seemingly rolled, turning the ground into the ceiling and vice-versa, all while unable to see. It was quite disorienting however the next action was the obvious one, what was now his ground turned steep, and the pallet of a tongue that was once his floor and now his ceiling lifted itself up to scrape at the roof of the mouth. It was quite obvious now, that this beast was attempting to make a meal of him. And where he had failed to take action before he was now immediate to react.

The moment he was hit with the tongue, he impaled the many bone like spike spikes from his arms and back into the flesh of the tongue. The result was almost immediate. The beasts mouth opened and closed in a chomping effect as while he once had his head tilted back he now lurched forward and desperately attempted to dispatch of his meal. Almost as if an attempt to bite his own tongue and at the same time Vice who was clinging to his tongue and being thrashed about within, he moved his tongue to the side of his jaw scraped his teeth along his tongue. Vice was eventually caught and as soon as the beast felt his teeth catch to his prey he slammed down once more, the full force of his jaws collapsing over his body.

This would have killed any normal individual in an instant, snapping the spin, crushing the flesh and leaving little of the mangled remains to be salvaged. However, this was no normal individual, but the body of a Kaguya, and with the exoskeleton like body he could more then survive the strike, though taking considerable damage. What was once a calm inconvenience was now becoming a great annoyance as Vice never planned to take any kind of damage from this endeavor. His body seemingly popped free of the jaws and the tongue and he landed once more on the 'ground' of his mouth once more. He jumped upward to his feet and ran down the pallet of the crocodile, and literally slid down his mouth. The Crocodile at this point was confused though confident that with a swallow or two he would have defeated his meal and could return home to nurse his new found wounds. However...

While sliding down the throat of this beast, he extended the boned blades from his body as if the dance of a larch. However, applying wind element chakra he not only extended the range but also the potential of the bones themselves and after an turn and a spin the Dance of Spades made quick work of dismantling the very innards of the beast. The Crocodiles rolled in pain, turning on its back before its heart was eventually punctured by the blind fury raging inside of him. In a classic sort of way, he burst from the stomach of the dead croc, and clawed himself to the surface, coughing from the smell and the obnoxious fluids that he encountered. The body of the beast was slowly swallowed up into the sand bellow, as if this were a giant quick sand pit; he was curious just how far it extended, however was too disoriented to know right off.

That, and the major distraction that was his own form. Priority was most certainly getting himself clean of the disgusting film of slime that covered him and in desperation jumped from the Crocodile into the quick sand, turning and flailing to rid himself of the mess, though in turn was only making himself sink into the ground faster. He was prepared to deal with that problem later, though furiously scrubbed himself now; thankfully his cloak like jacket took most of the 'damage' and the sand was a good scrubbing agent; especially soaked in the water. He was, however, submerged at this point, and had little in the use of rescue options. It was only in his experimentation that he soon discovered the 'water walking' technique could be used even here, and he seemingly stepped out of the quick sand as if it were a set of stairs. But as he emerged, it seems that there were others waiting for him... many others.

He was at this point surrounded by many eyes, that peaked up from the sand around him, and in some cases, the long upper jaw and snout. While the other, much larger of the species has no doubt been fallen and most likely sank into the sand by now, he was being confronted by countless smaller versions. He turned his head slightly, as if catching an estimated count into his mind of how many their were in case this was a situation in which he would have to fight for his life in this situation. It was by no consequence of his own that he had to kill one of 'theirs', but vengeance was something that didn't need an explanation, and he wasn't about to wait about and ask what they were doing here; he would take their actions as explanation alone. However, it wasn't too much longer until one of these emerged more completely and brought himself to speak, though at a distance.

"Many have taken witness to your crime here! You shale be placed in our custody. You may do so willingly, or by force, however take stead that you will be taken one way or the other and--"

Before he could finish, Vice had answered. "I will go willingly." He announced. The Crocodile in front of him stuttered before halting his original speech and replying. "So be it." It then shrunk into the ground below and disappeared as a moment late the ground once again gave way to a massive scaled creature; a small island formed under him as a Crocodile's back became his transportation. Two smaller ones accompany him on the back of this giant, with their mouths open and 'aimed' at himself. The many smaller that had appeared also moved about with them as if a swarm. Though he assumed that the soonest he could escape he would attempt to do so he found himself suddenly unable to lift his legs.

He looked down, and what was the jagged scales of the Crocodile skin was seemingly now wrapped around his feet like shackles to hold him in place. Was this serious? He considered the idea of fighting them all; however wasn't in any condition to do so. He was short on numbers, as it would be one versus however many where there, and they had the advantage of the area; able to seemingly swim and traverse through this now soupy like sand mixture as though it were normal water. Curiously, trees still existed as though part of the palm tree forest, and these exotic plants were dodged and weaved through as if they were in fact headed somewhere specific...

"Where are we going?" Vice said in something of an announcement to the forum of beasts about him for any one of them to answer. When none of them did say anything, however, he for a second time shouted, "Where are we going!?" His outburst caused the entire company to stop and turn to him aggressively. A voice, though he couldn't turn to see where it was coming from announce to him, "To our village, Kazalgeri." Odd name he thought, though it translated out loud as, "A village crocodiles?"

"Correct." it replied. Vice now decided that this would become much harder to manage as an escape route, but also knew that if he could survive the blow of a larger crocodile, that not one of these smalled ones could easily take him down. He had, however, sustained obvious damage, and was doing his best to keep his composure in spite of the pain. He healed quickly, thanks to the very specific nature of the Kaguya body, but 'instant' and 'quick' was far from the same thing. It was best to just go along for the ride for now, at least it was better then walking himself and oddly enough, but some manner of internal compass he had the feeling that he was still headed in the direction that he needed to be going; both convenient and unsettling...

Some time passed, not more then an hour, but most enough that it was noticeable in the line of shade that peaked out form the trees; that grew more and more similar to that of a swampy condition then a tropical one. He couldn't help but wonder just how long this was going to drag out. However, it wasn't a second longer that they appeared in what appeared to be a village, over grown and over run with these beasts. It was hard to make out what exactly this place was but in it's center was a large algae filled pond of water with many shady figures lurking about near the surface of the water. This must have been the village they were talking about. As they came upon this place one of the crocodiles peaked up from the water, "We apologize for the situation however out boss will see you immediately" It said. The restrains that held him were released and the crocs themselves extended outward to form the edges of what was apparently a path that he was to follow. He walked down the back of the giant croc he was on top of and to the post of the pond itself, having to use the water walking technique in order to actually get to the pond. As he looked up is seemed as if they lead him out into the center of the pond and the one crocodile that was talking to him the entire time was there at the end.

He approached curiously, still wondering where his next escape opportunity would come from as the path of crocs slipping into the water and out of sight. He approached the final croc, who could only say, "wait here" before sinking into the ground. Vice himself blinked a few times, looking about to both his left and right as if to say 'what now' when all of a sudden the ground bellow him seemed to give in; though it made little sense considering he was standing on water. It was something of a current that pulled him under, breaking his hold to the surface and dragging him under as if someone had grabbed his legs and pulled him down by force. He had little time to react and could only close his eyes, though his attempt to hold his breathe was seconds too late. A good wave of water had already shot up his nose and mouth making a very uncomfortable sensation to be forcedly drown and as he flailed against his own will he gained his calm long enough to at least attempt to react against it. Though as he devised a plan to escape the current that could have very well killed him, he was suddenly caught by the force of gravity as he was pushed out like a child down a water slide into normal air; landing on the ground with a thud that would have hurt many times more if his ability to control his bones hadn't long since strengthen his body.

He coughed and rolled against the hard rough ground. There was obvious light in the area that blurred against his eyes; his clothing saturated with the nasty water of the pond. As he coughed up the water that had been forced down his lungs he was once again able to breathe normally and pushed wind element chakra outward to burst into the wind aura that quickly caused enough friction to evaporate the water that dripped from him. Now dry enough to come to his feet and clear his eyes, the first and most obvious thing to bring his eyes to was the enormous Crocodile that was staring at him with the much smaller normal sized on at his right which paled in comparison in size. A single scale of that behemoth was the size of the normal croc. After bringing himself to scale also, it would appear as if they were in a massive underwater cave. Though he had no clue as to where the light was coming from; it should have been dust by now and he could see in here as light as day. He looked behind him to evaluate his entrance.

To speed this process up I am just going to explain this in a much more straight forward way. After looking about he had a conversation with the giant Crocodile. He explained that what he had killed was a member of the Alligator clan and that the two species were currently in a turf war against one another of territory and as a result of killing him he caught their attention. He learned that he was not actually in trouble but in fact, was wanted to be use as a tool in their little war. He explained that the first summoner of Crocodiles was a member of the Kaguya and not only looked similar but had the same abilities. It was something of a generational thing. After considering it, he asked a few more questions that the Croc answered. This place sat on an aquifer shelf from River Country that saturated the sand creating a swamp like condition that led to the ocean. What was once a human ferry village was abandoned and the Crocodile and Alligators took room in this place only to clash. The village they had claimed was thus abandoned human land at one point. Satisfied with the answers Vice agreed, only if he could use the Crocodiles species summons in the future. The Boss agreed an he was soon escorted to where he would stay.

At his new lodge, he soon found that it was once where the first Kaguya stayed. Here he found many artifacts, including an old Hunter-nin mask, and a scroll of his own personal technique findings. Apparently there was a seal with instructions of use. Following these instructions he applied the seal to himself, which was extremely painful. It was apparently a prototype seal that was banded into his palms. By forcing chakra through it he could create a wind pressure effect that could be channeled through jutsu. He stayed in the Crocodile territory training his new wind abilities there before fighting along side the Crocodiles against the Alligator species. After they won the little turf war, they gave him the sealing ability and the summoning jutsu as thanks and he was prepared to leave, considering heading to Konoha to test out his new abilities. Not only that, but his new found partnership with the Crocodiles. Now that he had helped them with their war, it was time for them to repay the favor.

A,B,B,B,S = 2600 (summons)
D,D,C,C,B = 1100 (jutsu)
B = 400 (Seal)

4115/4100

Minimalist? perhaps...

-complete-