In Too Deep

It was just after dawn where Miaka rested upon the rocks of the shore. All around her were stones of every size, from boulders to pebbles, soaked by the rising tide and the flaccid green sea weed upon them. Even the large boulder where she sat with her legs hanging over the edge left her calves open to the passing blue ripples. She looked down with a soft sigh, pensively observing the way the sea anemones flowed back and forth in the current. They weren't bright or fantastic in color, yet that was mostly due to the poor lighting of the early morning sky. Pinks dominated the sky and purple clouds clotted up any openings where light might have poured through. For Miaka, this quiet place had become a ritual meditation point. After several days of hard training, culminating in almost being knocked out by the Lady Kitsuki herself, the jounin was taking today easy.

Of course, easy simply meant that she wasn't pushing herself physically. Her exercises might have been mental, but meditation could still be a challenge for the most practiced of shinobi. A steady light wind caught up her hair and blew it around her neck, like a pink scarf floating from her throat out behind her. She tasted the salty brine on her lips from the breeze and closed her eyes. Miaka needed to focus on her breath, inhale and exhale with the motion of the water as a guide to draw her out of her plethora of thoughts and emotions and into stasis. Instead, the ocean today reminded her of Kaleo and her last moments with him. Any one at her old 24 year old age would consider her short love story a child's folly, but Miaka had not loved anyone since that day. The day she lost her closest friend and lover, the day that led to the clan's excommunication, the day she had tearfully bid her own family farewell and set out for Kirigakure's main capitol. She breathed harder and clenched her eyes, licking her lips again. This time, she blinked her magenta hues open to a horror.

"I'll do it. I will fulfill the duty!" Kaleo declared, his right fist pumping into his chest. Her heart raced faster and she stretched out a hand towards him. She begged him, pleaded for him to stay. Her voice was cracked and choked from the tears and her throat was clenched so tight she couldn't breath. Before anyone could stop him, Kaleo turned towards the sea from the side of the rocking ship. It dipped low and his youthful form dove into the water. The deck tilted back from the churning water and rendered him invisible. Miaka fought the hands of the clan members holding her, breaking free to race to the railing. She grabbed the edge and peered over but there was nothing: no blood, no body, no Kaleo. The demon had accepted his sacrifice... or so everyone thought. Shamed, Miaka had been returned to her village, but even now, all she could see was the churning roiling waves which consumed her love.

"Kaleo," She whispered to herself, faint tears coming to her eyes. She rubbed them away angrily with the back of her hand and leaned over to the water. From the boulder, bent in half, the jounin submerged her head in the chilly morning sea. She opened her mouth and screamed, where none could hear, not even herself, and where any tears were dissolved into the water without a trace of proof that they ever were. The cold shocked her momentarily and cleared her mind for an instant. Miaka Takoyami whipped her head back, her long pink hair slapping like a whip against her back and spraying the other boulders with water. She coughed a little and wiped at her face with her hands, pushing away the salt from her eyes. Meditation wasn't going so well today.

Sayuri had been seeking some solitude of sorts and had made her way to the ocean. Finding a secluded beach before dawn she had waded into the cold salty water without a care in the world. The events of the last few months had left her craving a release and with most of her toys either dead or otherwise occupied she had thought that finding a new outlet was the best course of action. She had Jareth to keep her entertained, though his diversions were less. . . corporeal. She needed danger and fear and pain. And though those could be mimicked within her mind, it was not the same.

Jareth took no offence at the notion and had guided her towards the creatures of the deep. She had explored the vast majority of the Isle itself and all the dangerous creatures that lurked there. And frankly had found them to be less of a challenge than she would prefer. The ocean though, that held promise. She had opted to use her Ice Release to create her clothing that day, seeing as she would need to discard it when swimming anyway. Swimming in a dress was not very effective. And she would know, the last time she’d done it when hunting pirates the wet fabric had made her movements sluggish.

When she arrived at the beach she had waved her hand and the sparkling white gown she wore drifted away in a shower of ice crystals and snow on the wind. The cold didn’t bother her so when the icy water licked at her feet and legs she merely laughed at the faint tickling sensation that the moving water caused against her skin. She couldn’t see perfectly, the darkness of the sky amplifying the darkness of the depths. Somehow that made it more exciting and as she dove under the water she would open her eyes and try to look around.

The cold didn’t bother her, but the salt in her eyes definitely did. It stung like hell and brought a close lipped smile to her face. She swam around like this for quite some time. Occasionally she would feel something bump into her, but mostly she had not discovered living creatures beneath the waves. She could feel her lungs starting to burn after a time, and as much as she would have loved to see what would happen if she held out just a little longer, Jareth was not keen on her dying from drowning.

‘My Queen, please. You know I cannot live without you, you are my world. We can come back down, but please take a breath first.’

‘A breath of water?’

‘. . . ‘

‘I know what you mean, my King. And for you, anything. I wouldn’t dream of robbing you of your world.’

‘Thank you, my Queen. You are too kind to me.’

Sayuri had almost laughed aloud at her own ridiculous joke, but had thankfully remembered she was still underwater. Rising to the surface she would take a deep gasping breath as her head crested the water, swiping the salt water from her eyes and looking around the area. It was now past dawn and she could see much more clearly, and she was surprised to see a person. A pink haired person. Sayuri’s eyes would narrow for a moment as she swam over towards the would-be intruder on her private monster hunting. As she drew closer however she noted the woman cough and tend to her eyes, seemingly unaware of Sayuri’s presence. ‘This could be fun. . .’ she thought as she approached. Calling out to the woman near the rocks Sayuri would stop once she was close enough to stand on the ocean floor without the waves getting into her mouth. “Good morning stranger. What has you out here all alone?” The blonde’s long hair was carefully concealing her naked form as she stood and spoke, the waves against her back making her bob gently in tandem with the tide.

CP 289/290:

Miaka Takoyami hadn't hear or seen anyone approaching, though why would she look for danger from the water itself when the undertow was the only real concern on a rocky coastline with a sharp underwater decline. Hearing the voice first, her magenta eyes sought out the person it belonged to while her body reacted in a practiced response. Miaka had pulled her legs from the water and had gotten up to her feet around the same time her gaze was cast over a female in the ocean waves. For a moment, the pink haired woman just stared, feeling the water from her hair drip down her back. She was beyond shocked, staring in disbelief, wondering for only the smallest second if the blonde was a mermaid from her Nonna's bedtime folk tales. Her body tensed, preparing for the worst, but the woman didn't seem antagonizing at all. It wouldn't be enough to let the jounin's guard down so easily, but Miaka chose to be friendly despite her surprise.

The first thing was that the shinobi had no plans to actually answer any questions or give away too much information about herself until she knew exactly where that information was going. She turned her head to look behind her but she saw no shadows or forms among the trees there. The possibility that this was a genjutsu of some sort was still not rendered an impossibility but at the least Miaka could make sure she didn't take any obvious baits. "Begging your pardon, I didn't know anyone else was here." For thirty seconds, a pause far too long for regular conversation, Miaka couldn't help but just stare. The female in the water was gorgeous yet strange; she wanted to trust the visitor as how could such loveliness betray a deep cruel personality beneath. She was fortunate for those bedtime tales then, lucky that her Nonna had taught her from a young age to not be fooled by her eyes. Nevertheless, Miaka wanted to be fooled. The beautiful woman before her was one she wouldn't mind befriending. Hell, if she was a mermaid, it would have been more than fanciful to dive into the water with her and never return. That thought made her start thinking of Kaleo again and she coughed hard and closed her eyes as a ruse to hide the pain that would have shown in them.

"I just like to watch the sun rise here," the pink haired jounin said as she adjusted her zip up red sweater. She plucked the sleeves which had been stuffed up to her elbows down to her wrists again and started to pull the zipper up as well, as if she were about to leave. And what she said wasn't exactly a lie, so Miaka felt natural letting the words leave her lips. She wore a pair of tight black shorts, the sort of thing one might wear while jogging or doing yoga. Her sneakers rested beside her wet feet on top of the boulder, socks pressed messily into the soles and flopping out over the ties. She hoped she looked ordinary enough, though the backpack even beside her shoes was full of some basic shinobi gear in addition to her usual water and snacks. "I didn't know anyone was swimming... or um bathing here. I should probably go."

Miaka had had a hard few days after her mission with the Commander and her run in with Lady Kitsuki. She was finally giving her body a real rest to recover as she studied how she might better endure standing in Sero's aura for so long. She didn't even wear her shinobi head band openly today, though it too was in her backpack, just poking out the top with a glint of silver in the sun.

Sayuri smiled as the pink haired female reacted to her voice, quickly pulling herself out of the water and onto her feet on the shore. ‘Good. She knows to be scared. Makes it more of a challenge.’ Sayuri had not been attempting to be stealthy in her approach, but she doubted that the woman would have expected her to come from the water. The Yuki had stopped and allowed herself to be noticed, but now that she had the lone woman’s attention she began slowly advancing towards the rocky beach, a sweet smile on her face while she listened to the woman apologize and give excuses before attempting to make a hasty retreat.

“That’s quite alright, little mouse” Sayuri spoke in a low tone as she languidly moved her arms through the cold water. At that moment Sayuri did feel like a giant catlike predator, rising out of the ocean to devour her latest prey; a mousey young woman who had made the grievous error of leaving herself alone in Sayuri’s presence. She watched intently as the girl zipped up her sweater, seemingly intent on leaving in a hurry. As the girl mentioned that she didn’t know anyone was swimming, or rather bathing here, Sayuri would laugh heartily. She was not bathing, though she could see where the misunderstanding had come from. “My dear little mouse, no I am not bathing. I can see how you would think that however. Let me fix that for you, I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Sayuri continued to walk out of the ocean and as she did so she would recreate her long white gown, the Hyoton created fabric sparkling into existence to cover each inch of her newly exposed skin as she strode out of the waves. By the time she stood on dry land again she would be fully dressed, although her feet would remain bare. Not wanting to make the mouse uncomfortable was a bold faced lie, she lived to make others uncomfortable.

As she approached the spot where the woman’s backpack was, she noted the Kirigakure head protector sticking out of the bag, the metal drawing her eye as the lingering soft pink and gold of sunrise reflected off the shiny surface. Sayuri would walk as close to the woman as she would allow, her brilliant blue eyes still white with frost as an after effect of channeling her Hyoton. “A day off then? Since you don’t appear busy, perhaps you can assist me. What with you frequenting this beach for it’s fantastic sunrises, I assume you know this area well.” She made a point of directing her attention to the head protector as she softly padded around the woman and placed herself between the one she had named ‘Mouse’ and the easiest escape route. The Kiri issued piece of armor was a good enough indication to Sayuri that this woman was military, and although she did not yet seem to recognize her, was therefore under Sayuri’s authority. Technically the military and how it was handled was Kitsuki’s purview, but that had never stopped Sayuri before. And in fact made the prospect of messing with the woman all that much more delicious.

Assuming the woman turned to look at her, Sayuri would meet her gaze and hold it, otherwise she would merely wait until the woman did look at her and follow the same course of action. “I am looking for sharks. I have been here for quite some time and have yet to find any. I have heard that sharks are attracted to fresh blood. . .” Sayuri would grin evilly as she let her statement about fresh blood hang in the air. She dearly hoped that it made the woman afraid, and would continue after a few seconds, taking a tiny step towards the prey she was most definitely stalking. “Though, that may just be rumour.”

CP 288/290:

Miaka's nose twisted ever so slightly, something no ordinary person might have noticed. She restrained herself from a greater gesture of annoyance as the woman repeatedly called her 'mouse'. She was brilliant, but it didn't take a mastermind to understand that mice were viewed as pests, rodents that lived off the trash of others, running away in the face of any danger and carriers of several diseases (though Miaka would inwardly note that those carriers usually carried insects that actually caused those illnesses). So that was how she was seen- with scarcely a word or action, this icy super model rose from the deep to call her a pest or a coward. She hadn't needed anyone to care for her. She might have had a weak constitution but Miaka had been fighting for herself and for independence for a long time. Her jounin rank was proof of her success in that fight on most days. Still, this woman was unsettling- her beauty struck fear into Miaka's heart and again Miaka was reminded of her Nonna's fairy tales about evil magical queens.

Do not show weakness. It was her mantra. It was her power. Miaka's spine stiffened even as she moved like a serpent, sliding out of the water in a dress of shimmering, glittery ice... or perhaps even solid sea foam. Miaka started wondering again if this was a genjutsu and she decided to stretch her hands above and behind her head. It was a relaxing and beachy sort of stance but out of site, her fingers weaved into the Tiger seal. She felt her chakra restart like the churning of some machine but still the blonde remained as before. It was no illusion. "I'm not busy, today was my day of rest," Miaka informed the woman lightly. If this woman was asking for help, maybe it would be as simple as that. A lost bracelet among the rocks or perhaps she sought out the remains of a glorious snail or crab. Miaka doubted it deeply based on a growing feeling like a pit in her stomach, but she wanted to remain optimistic in her heart.

The jounin looked up the rocks towards the easiest footing for leaving the beach and noted that this woman put herself directly in the way. It was an intimidating action and an unspoken threat. Miaka's magenta eyes narrowed with her smile still on her rosy lips, "I guess I might have the time to help. Have you lost something?" The answer was more horrifying than Miaka could have guessed: she sought out... sharks? Whatever for? Fishermen might be able to acquire one as a meal if she wanted it, but to try to hunt the majestic predators under the waves was crazy for any other reason. And this blonde didn't look like she was here to buy a fish from Miaka. Then she said she thought sharks were attracted to fresh blood. Their eyes met and a chill coursed through her, reminding her of Sero's own aura. Miaka swallowed and took a half step back, slipping on the slimy boulder. As she went down, her arms splayed out and she tried to grab the nothing that was there to steady herself. She landed hard on the rocks and in the water. Miaka could feel the lumpy bruises already forming on her arms and back. She winced as a small wave went up and over her neck, dousing her thoroughly in the large tide pool.

If that weren't humiliating enough, Miaka was certain that the woman had intended to spook her or had at least enjoyed it. Some people liked saying things for the shock value. The pink haired female wanted to sink into the water, dissolving into it as a Hozuki and just hide until the woman went away. Her face was nearly the same shade as her hair as she finally came to grips with herself and dared to look back up. She tried to clear her throat as if she hadn't faltered at all, "You said sharks? I don't know if they come this close. This is an open-faced sort of beach. The fish they hunt would prefer the other side of the beach, about a mile away. Less of a current there will mean more fish, which means more elasmobranchs by and large." Do not show weakness, she thought grumpily still half laying in the water where she had fallen. She swore, if that woman called her a mouse again she might just disintegrate from embarrassment.

Sayuri appeared to have a dramatic effect on the mouse as she approached her, as Miaka took a step back and fell into the water after slipping on a rock. Sayuri could have helped her up, she could have shown some concern for the woman’s wellbeing, she could have done a good many things that would have displayed that the mouse was not in danger. But she didn’t. Instead the Ice Queen would take another step forward and smile down at the pink haired woman, a smile laced with malice and glee at the woman’s misfortune.

‘Don’t scare her away too quickly, my Queen. You’ll lose out on a day of fun.’

‘Fair point. But she’s just so. . . so. . . ‘

‘Small?’

‘Yes! Small. Like a mouse. An adorable little creature that’s fun to play with.’

‘She does look fun, yes. I would enjoy playing with her.’

‘Well then, let me play.’

Jareth’s comments were not in the least bit innocent, and inside her mind she could feel the heat rising, her gaze hardening as she loomed over the fallen woman. She would stand there for a time before finally extending a hand to offer Miaka help standing. Sayuri was not particularly strong, but she was strong enough to help someone stand. She would hold her hand out for a few moments, assisting Miaka should she reach out, and if she didn’t she would retract her hand and continue speaking of sharks.

“So then we must go to the other side of the beach. Excellent. A short walk would be nice with company. And you seem like the perfect person to assist me, as it appears you know much of the creatures that I seek.” Sayuri didn’t understand half of what Miaka had just spoken of, Sayuri was not the most academically minded person. To put it delicately. But she could appreciate intelligence in others and use it when it suited her. Assuming Miaka had stood, whether with Sayuri’s help or under her own power, Sayuri would stand back and allow Miaka to collect her things. She didn’t want the woman to run away too quickly so she gave her the illusion of space and safety for the time being. She even gave her the courtesy of not drawing too much attention to the woman’s fall into the water. However what she didn’t give her, was a choice. “Once you’ve gathered your things we’ll head towards the other side of the beach. If you say sharks are there, then that’s where we must search.” With a brilliant smile Sayuri would level her gaze to Miaka once more, holding it just long enough to start being inappropriate. “Come along, my little mouse.”

The mystery woman's grin was reminiscent of a viper's before it struck. There was a certainty in the expression that Miaka was weaker, smaller, and scared. While the first two were probably true, Miaka was less scared than she was embarrassed. Her mind had been lost in the taxing thoughts and memories of her family and youth. Tragedies and traumas affected people differently and Miaka was beginning to understand that she needed to give herself some mercy to deal with the events of her past. She had let her guard down, her professional mannerisms on a temporary vacation while a subtle and more subservient individual had taken up residence in her soul. A solid dousing in the tidal pool had snapped her abruptly back into her true self, even as her humiliation still showed itself as a blush in her cheeks. It would take a few moments to reclaim herself and her posture but she had been at least splashed back into her own presence with the fall. And there was that grin above her, predatory in nature as the woman reached out a hand. She felt as uneasy as she had with Sero, but Miaka hoped to recover some of her dignity for at least her own sake.

Miaka took hold of the offered hand with an appropriate thanks and got to her feet. She squeezed the water from her clothing and hair and then proceeded to tie her hair back in a quick military braid. The manner was efficient and practice and someone with a good eye would have picked up on that as well. Miaka considered the woman for an obvious moment, pursing her lips before agreeing to join her. "I don't mind walking you to the beach and giving you some environmental information." Then after a pause, she added, "You're not planning on harming the sharks are you?" The jounin always felt concern when those with power sought to use it by destroying others, especially the defenseless. Normally, a person would not classify a shark as defenseless but compared to a person with such clear power as this woman, Miaka knew the sharks would not pose much of a threat. The pink haired female gathered her bag and reached her arm inside up to her elbow, flashing her headband casually to show the stranger that she too had a strength of her own. Her hand slipped back out with an apple in tow. Miaka held the apple in her mouth while she closed the bag and slung it upon her shoulder.

The jounin gave a final look about the rocky beach and then nodded. "I am ready." To which the blonde answered, 'Come Along, my little mouse.' Thoroughly wet, suspicious, and mentally wary Miaka's emotions rolled over her like a tidal wave. The annoyance had her clench her jaw, snapping her teeth through the apple and dropping the fruit with a firm click of her teeth. Miaka lunged her hand out and caught the apple before it fell, trying to chew the piece she had bitten off like she had done so on purpose. Once the stranger began walking, Miaka silently followed. She didn't know who this woman thought she was but even with doing so little in actuality, Miaka was nervous and on edge, as if this were a mission for the village.

After the mouse stood, she took the time to squeeze the water from her clothing and braid her hair. Sayuri stood and looked on with amusement plain to see on her face. She couldn’t quite tell if the woman’s behaviour was a result of the nervousness she probably felt, or if she was using the time to find some way out of the situation she had been thrust into. Either way, Sayuri found it funny and while she would not outright laugh, there was a sparkle of mischief in her eyes.

When she was asked whether she was planning on harming the sharks, she had to fight to not roll her eyes at the question. Everyone was always so concerned with which of her actions might hurt others. In this case the woman was concerned for the wellbeing of sharks of all things. As if somehow that mattered. If I meet one more bleeding heart, I swear. . . Without any noticeable display of annoyance, Sayuri just offered a reassuring smile and lied. “Of course not, little mouse.”

As she began to move along the beach, Sayuri almost missed the mouse’s apple trick, but managed to catch it out of the corner of her eye. “Quick reflexes.” She mused aloud as they moved, she was assuming that the mouse would walk when she did and after hearing the words ‘I’m ready’ gave no further thought to Miaka’s willingness to participate. Sayuri was looking forward to battling a shark, and the pseudo-hostage she had in tow just made the prospect all the more exciting. Especially now that she knew that said hostage had a soft spot for the creatures she was planning on battling. “While we walk, tell me something about yourself, little mouse.” As enjoyable as it was to keep the woman on edge, she found it easier to torment people when she knew more about them.

[OOC Note* - The person playing Miaka left the site and deleted their account.]

Sayuri continued walking, moderately annoyed that the little mouse didn’t seem keen on speaking - she’d had a fair amount of those interactions lately. She only stopped walking once she heard an audible ‘thump’ noise from behind her, and she would stop to turn around and look at what had caused the noise. She laughed, loudly, as she saw that it was the little mouse falling unconscious that had caused the noise.

Bending down into a crouch, Sayuri would examine Miaka. She wasn’t dead, Sayuri was a reasonably skilled medic and could see straight away that not only was the girl not dead, there was no visible reason for her sudden trip into the realm of the unconscious. Her laughing eventually subsided and a deep sigh escaped her lips. “What am I going to do with you now, little mouse?” Sayuri could think of a good many things she would love to do to the mouse to torment them, but none of them held any appeal with the girl unconscious. Sayuri needed to see the fear in her victim’s eyes, she needed to hear their screams and taste their tears. With one finger she poked at the girl’s shoulder and ordered her to move. “Get up. You’re positively boring like that, I was having fun and now you’re just limp like a dead fish.”

The girl did not move, and Sayuri would have just walked away and left her there but her last verbal complaint had sparked an idea in the unbalanced Yuki. Sayuri knew how to preserve life and she had promised to find a shark for the girl. And both those thoughts led her to a plan that was not in any way morally good or reasonable. But to her, she was fulfilling both tasks she had set for herself; show the girl a shark and keep her in stasis until better medical attention could be gained. Sayuri assumed that Miaka had simply fallen ill due to the plague, and although she thought herself immune, she wasn’t so sure about anyone else. Many had fallen to it over the years, and what little she knew of it made her think that keeping Miaka away from others might stop its spread. Sayuri waited in that spot all day, wondering exactly how she should carry out her plan. Once the sun finally began to dip beneath the horizon she stood, confident that she had everything worked out.

Sayuri was not strong, so she knew she couldn’t carry the girl so with a quick hand gesture, Sayuri summoned two Ice Forged Sentinels; one to carry Miaka and the other to carry her next target. It was a very short walk to the next beach where Miaka had said there would be sharks, and her two Sentinels (Frederick and Frederick), followed along behind her. The Frederick holding Miaka was gentle and did nothing to hurt the unconscious girl. Turning to her Sentinels she gave final instructions before holding her breath and diving into the ocean, allowing her clothing to melt away as the salt water hit the hyoton created fabric. “Guard her from everyone but me, and stay here.”

She didn’t have long, she had decided against making either Sentinel permanent, and she would have just dismissed them but she could not be in two places at once and didn’t want to risk losing track of the unconscious pink haired girl. Once under the water she would dig her nails into her arm, drawing a small amount of blood and begin waving her arms around frantically. She had heard that sharks were drawn to two things from humans; blood and movement. So the Ice Queen employed both tactics in the hopes of drawing a shark sooner rather than later. It seemed Miaka had been right, and within moments a large grey shark swam towards her from the depths. Sayuri had not been expecting the creature to come from beneath and she only barely made it out of the way of it’s giant teeth filled jaws. It swam past her and then looped around for a second attempted attack and this time Sayuri was ready. With a burst of hyoton she reached out towards the shark, ice particles forming on the gigantic creature. It didn’t react the way a human might to the intense cold, as it spent its days in the icy depths of the ocean, but it quickly became languid and instead of swimming it began to slowly sink. Sayuri swam to the unconscious and dying beast and with a firm grasp on its fins began to swim to the shore, the salt water aiding the small kunoichi in a feat that normally would have been beyond her.

Once she had crested the surface of the water and could no longer pull the shark along, she would call out to the Sentinel that was not holding Miaka. “Come here and carry this to shore.” She had not gone far from the two Sentinels, perhaps forty meters at most, and so despite the lumbering gait of the Sentinel it took no time at all for it to come and collect the shark. The retrieval of the shark had been done in near darkness, and now on the beach Sayuri had the benefit of the cover of night and with her Sensory active she knew that no one was around to observe her actions.

Once the shark was safely on the shore, Sayuri released the Ice Chains so that the creature would not die, Miaka had been awfully concerned about the shark not dying after all. She directed the Sentinels to place the two creatures near each other and formed the hand seals necessary to encase them both in an Ice Wall. They would be safe and would not die, but they would be unable to move. She stood like this for a few minutes, watching the ice form around them and hold them in a fascinating and artful tableau. Sayuri had not encased Miaka’s bag, which was still sitting on the shore and once the wall was created she would sling the bag over her shoulder while directing the two Sentinels to carry the block of ice that held her newest art project.

She moved as quickly as she could back to Kirigakure, heading straight for the Aquarium, which as luck would have it was empty for the night. She had not considered how she would install her latest art piece, but saw that there was a large empty tank out back, clearly a new acquisition that had yet to be installed in the Aquarium proper. With some effort the Sentinels carefully lowered the block of ice into the empty tank and stepped away as instructed. With a satisfied sigh, Sayuri admired her handiwork. The ice wasn’t a perfect fit inside the tank, so Sayuri would form more hand seals and fill the empty space with more ice, being careful not to burst the tank. “There. Now, just one thing left to do.” She would dismiss the two Sentinels, sadly watching as they dissipated into piles of snow. The piles would melt with the morning sun and would appear as nothing but some spilled water. The ice in the tank would also have melted, however Sayuri would walk up to the block and form the seal of the Dog then press her hand against the ice, creating a near permanent structure. “Perfect.”

It was not perfect, not from Jareth’s perspective. He could see every flaw in her plan and was not silent about it. Though every time he spoke up, Sayuri would shake her head and reassure him that what she was doing was completely fine.

Taking hold of Miaka’s belongings once more, she would head to the Mizukage’s office, writing out a note for anyone that happened along. She would swipe everything off the top of the desk, scattering pens and pencils and papers across the floor, then place Miaka’s bag in the center of the desk and using it as a paperweight for the note she had written. It had taken her all of five minutes to discover who the ‘little mouse’ was, Sayuri was in charge of Administration. Once that was done she made her way back to the mountains and into her Ice Castle, happy to have had an adventure that she thought even Kitsuki might approve of.

The Note:

[Exit Thread]

Used:
Sensory
The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway
Ice Release: Earthen Consecutive Chains of Ice
Ice Wall
Ice Age
Ice Forged Sentinels