It seemed like Akane was forever wandering beneath the earth these days. Well she couldn’t really complain this was after all entirely her choice. In fact the only reason she was down here at the moment was to settle an old score which was birthed in her more tender and formative years. The target of her ire was of all things - a bear. But not just any bear and freaking huge bear that had the look of some kind of ice age throwback and had the temper to match. The last time Akane had fought the beast she had been starving to death and weary from somewhere around 3 days of constant travel ironically in search for food to regain her energy. This time it would be a little bit different however. She was all in all feeling rather good about both herself and the situation she was in. She had a full belly stuffed to the brim with the meat of a Boar she had caught and Ayabozu had cooked. Her aches from the fight she had a with a few undead a couple of weeks back were starting to fade and the sun was out in full force. These things combined with the fact that she had a few bottles of sake packed away for later put her in the state of mind where she believed she could do anything she set her will to accomplishing. Maybe not the best frame of thought to go up against a strong opponent in but hey at the very least she was not lacking in bravado and sheer grit.

The bear was not difficult to spot – this was not one of those annoying windy tunnel caves but rather the sort that simply looked like a giant worm had burrowed into the rock before pulling out and deciding to go shove it’s big old worm head somewhere else. The smarmy cock sucker animal was just sitting there with a beehive in its hands licking away at the honey while the angry bees swarmed around it head furious that even with their stings they were impotent against such a thick skinned creature as the bear. Akane didn’t even think as the rage began to pool up within her. She simply took off at full speed towards her adversary claws out and ready to shred flesh. She didn’t even have time to remove her clothes as she normally did before a battle instead she just let the transformation shred her outfit and tear off around her. The first move of the battle was a double handed impale/stab directed right for the bears stomach. Somewhat surprised by the sheer ferocity and unexpected nature of the attack the bear simply watched as the insane human girl drove two shards of bone into it’s guts screaming like a demon as she did so.

However after a few seconds the pain registered and before the lunatic human could withdraw her limbs and plunge them in again the bear had thrown her across the cave to smash into the alternate wall. Bears on a whole are MUCH MUCH stronger than humans are. And indeed that was still the case in this particular incident – if Akane and the bear were to simply trade blows then Akane would be rightly fucked up after the first couple of hits. However since she was indeed a member of the Jugo clan who were by no means what one would call average humans by any means it did mean that yes she could take a few hits before it sent her off on a one way visit to the place of King Yama.
Akane’s head ducked as the bear tore into the stone above her with it’s own claws leaving gashes in the rock where it struck. She rolled to the left snapping a quick kick to the bears crotch as she did so. Unfortunately for whatever reason it did not seem to affect the bear nearly as badly as it did to some of the other opponents that she had done it too.
“Goddamn bear – bet your mate chewed your sack off before she left you for a tiger or something”

Akane didn’t think that the bear actually understood a word she said and she was a hell of a lot better at speaking wolf than she was ursine. But the message seemed to come across and the bear swung with a savage backhand (back paw…..?) In hopes of throwing her again. No dice this time through Akane cartwheeled backwards readying the spines that could be grown out of her body at will. The bear took a few seconds to assess the situation and thus was rewarded with the joy of having a now very prickly Akane launched into it’s chest like a cannonball fired from a ships main gun. The bear found this to be a less than optimal arrangement and thus started to struggle and thrash about as Akane took her vengeance however eventually the bear regained it’s senses and decided it was going to fall back on one of the old staples of it’s kind. That was THE DREADED BEAR HUG. Akane knew full well the horror of the bears deadly embrace crushed by what basically amounted to furry tree trunks. Akane wiggled and writhed attempting to get some degree of leverage to move away from the bear. But it seemed hopeless the bear had her as tight as it could and was squishing the life from her at an alarming rate. Akane’s mind reeled as she went over ways to escape the situation. And finally It came to her. One of the Jutsu she had learned at the academy – substitution. In a puff of smoke she had vanished and the bear held within it’s paws a stalactite the point of the geological outcrop angling just towards its throat.
Time seemed to slow in a rush of air. Everything around dimmed until the only things in Akane’s vision were the Bear , the stalactite and herself. She sprang off the floor flying through the air with full momentum. The bear seeing it’s inevitable demise attempted to let go of the sharp cave fixture but to no avail. Akane’s foot impacted with the bottom of the Stalactite and it was driven up through the bears neck and into it’s throat by the power of the kick. The bear followed this by going somewhat predictably xxxxing insane at the prospect of it’s death by rock formation. Akane took a swipe to the shoulder ripping flesh and sending her to the ground.
From the floor Akane was still dazed but something was burning inside her. The enemy was defeated and there was no way in hell she as simply going to sit there and let it have it’s last few moments to itself. No quarter was asked for and none should be given by her. Again she was on her feet and again the bear lashed out for her. This time she darted back quickly before raining down blow after blow on the animal with her fists – knuckles extended into spikes akin to the weapons used by monks.
Her face hit the ground again and she could feel a tooth crack and begin to strain out of her gums. No matter she would grow it back in a few weeks as long as she managed to crunch down a few bones for the nourishment. And her fists were pounding into the bear again and again. Things had become disjointed merely a series of flashing images punctuated by short bouts of darkness where she was tasting the dirt in between the constant assaults. She did not know exactly how long this lasted for nor partially did Akane figure out did she care. In the end the bear gave out with a mighty groan and toppled in the manner of an oak tree felled in the forest long after all the surrounding trees had given out to storms and earthquakes.

The rage begun to subside. Now all she felt was the hunger gnawing at her guts – the battle had been both a highly involved and hectic one and thus she had burned through her previous meal putting all the fats and proteins to good use while changing and shifting her form. She was going to walk back to find Ayabozu but then she cursed herself for not realising. There was a meal right in front of her and a good one too. Just as it had tried to make a snack of her in the past so she would right now feed upon it. It was the law of the wild nothing was to go to waste. What you killed you made use of and Akane decided that she would damn well get all she could from this incident. Reaching to her mouth she grabbed the loose tooth and yanked as hard as she could. She could feel the roots ripping out followed by the steady trickle of blood.

She threw it over shoulder and it clattered to the floor of the cave as she began to tuck into her feast.

Mission Complete.

1527/1500 words