Verdandi had marched towards the area where she had felt the explosions of chakra. The biju bomb had exhaled such raw strength it had echoed over the battlefield. Verd could have sworn to have felt Aya's uttermost technique but from like… half a continent away suddenly. That didn't make sense. Verd couldn't feel that far and Aya couldn't have gone such a distance in such short time. It was as if the echo location of the chakra lingered within Verdandi's senses but slowly faded. But there seemed to be nothing left but a huge, devastated area burnt in chakra and projectiles. The two of them whom she searched for seemed to have been long gone. Only shadows of their massive battle remained. Frost remains and broken rock formations in the sand. Single shinobi were left to battle their own skirmishes, little groups would not give up on their goals. Some of them so evenly matched that they seemingly would never see an end to their battles. But Verdandi moved on top of the mountain dunes. Coated in Ayakashi's ever frost. The enemy forces were on retreat. The few who survived at least. Most of the radical troops, the weird cultists, the militiamen. Their corpses layering the battlefield. Along with the hundreds of dead village soldiers and shinobi. Verd would recognize some of the damage she had created with Bai Hu. Glaring around the area to find the battlefield completely malformed. A multitude of high ranked techniques had changed the face of the surroundings as much as the centre.

Massive S-Ranked flames had glassed a part of the battlefield. Earth chucks had been raised from far below the sand and desert mountain stone would awkwardly reach from below. Muddy sand would tell tales of water having flown through the dunes. Swallowed by the sand now slowly evaporating in the head of the sun. Thunderbolts have left broken pieces and dark black marks upon the ground. But all of it. Was generally overshadowed by the insane amount of death layering the area. Verdandi stared into the distance. She could neither see nor feel any of her companions other than her bear. Avalanche would be soon catching up with her, having chased away the suna boy with the odd umbrella. Scratching the back of Ava's head with her palm as soon as he rubbed his frame to Verdandi's side. She couldn't see a glimpse or feel a shred of Chigetsu's chakra. She had recognized various others when she passed them during her skirmish into the field. But all of them were gone now. Either moving out of the heat of the battle. Or trying to lick their wounds. What remained were a few hundred Kiri that marched through the lines of corpses. Trying to find wounded and injured. It would take many days to clean up the amount of death displayed here. Many body's have been incinerated and killed in such gruesome ways they were beyond recognition anymore. Many would be lost that day.

Their families left to wonder what happened. If they really died or were somewhere out there. The same went for Verdandi, as she desperately tried to get in echolocation with Chigetsu. But to no avail. He was either past her range or… he was gone. The enemy had escaped as well. Her allies returning home to their camps. Med-nin working endless shifts in a row. Civilians and soldiers would swarm from the nearby camps to the forward location. Coming to help with both rescue and clean-up. Piles of bodies would be created. Many would disappear beneath the sand. The winds burying bodies, giving them an unwanted sand grave. Some of them might be found again. Some of them would sink into the depths of the sand dunes, their flesh and bones becoming one with the ashes of this battle. Verdandi slowly moved through the various edges of the field. Trying to help locating some of the wounded ones. Not rarely, she would find one, but see him die before the medic arrived, or even die within medical treatment as their wounds were too severe. Many would be found with missing bod parts. Some re-attachable, some lost, incinerated or chopped to pieces. Some people were deaf or blinded from their battle. The panic within them was great. Cries and pain, agony and hurt. Nothing would ever be the same for them again. Even if their limbs and organs were to be fixed or restored. The had experienced agony in ways that were inhuman.

While the rescue missions and the clean up began. Far in the distance some remnants of the forces that have clashed during Inabayama were still in their own duel. Chakra faintly exhaled in the distance. But they were up to their own battle of honour. Seemingly neither of the village nin seemed to feel the necessity to invade their prideful showdown. The actual enemy.  The sunaan troops were gone. Some of the survivors would be dragged off for interrogation. Either of them would, after they had spilled whatever they could, be reminded how Kiri treats their 'prisoners' and leave them to an either merciful or less merciful death. Depending on how willingly they gave up the intel Kiri was looking for. Verdandi would spend her time helping to search for the survivors. But even as seemingly endless time had passed. She'd feel like there was no end to it. Eventually she'd have to give in to her own fatigue. And see to her own wounds and the cuts on Avalanche's body. He had no open wounds but the ones he had suffered earlier needed to be cleaned and properly disinfected. Verd would eventually, with a heavy heart return once more to the outlook. No sign of Chi. No sign of either of her friends. Everyone had left or died. She could only hope to find him safe and sound in the kiri camp. Maybe he had already been transported back for medical attention. Could just as well be the case. No need to linger between the hills of corpses that were being formed.

Verdandi slowly moved to the next Kiri outpost. She'd make her way to the home camp from there. Caravans of civilians and soldiers were walking back and forth. Medical supplies. Blankets. Water. Many emergency tents would be in need to be set up for those who wouldn't survive the transport back home. The amounts of wounded would oversaturate the amounts of medical tents available anyhow. Verd knew, man more would find their end by sundown. But Verdandi could feel that strength had left her palms. Her legs sore from running around. Running away from the monsters that woke her into this battle. Running back to regain her pride and eventually sooth her humiliation from being confronted with her own weakness. She would have to go on. Step forward. Endure the pain. Endure the self-hatred long enough. Use the frustration to channel her emotions, aim it to turn its negative force into strength. To grow on this battle. To deny the potential terror of a psychological trauma. To deny that any of this would completely shatter her life. To make sure that she realized that all of this would just be one side of life and probably the darkest kind in its purest form. Verdandi stumbled half walking, half hanging against her bear. Avalanche's body suffering under the heat of the sun. Slowly becoming more comfortable as it was about to vanish and call it an end of a very bloody day.

In the end, this would just be one of many battles Verdandi would see in this war. She had experienced smaller ones even during the excursion into the sand. Experienced the nature of war for the first time. Having missed out on it as a child when the wretched Hao caused havoc in the lands of the snow. The little petty squabbles between minor villages and bandit camps that she used to cleanse for the betterment of kiri, they were not comparable to this kind of experience. Verdandi would arrive at her camp. Many people were entering or leaving the gates, either directly towards the Inabayama battlefield or the closest camps. A lot of men power was actively working and would be for quite some time to clean either of this up. Verd would not mind her own wounds too much and simply ask one of her medic friends to shortly take a look at Avalanche. The people waiting in line giving Verd a disgruntled look for trying to walk past them. She didn't care. She watched her buddy slowly move his hovering hands over Avalanche's skin. She could watch the wound slowly patch up. She picked up some ointment for the both of them and then casually made her way to her home tent. She couldn't feel him. His presence wasn't existing here. She would go look for him soon. She would go and seek for the one thing she shouldn't have let go alone on that battlefield.

She barely made it to put some of the ointment on Avalanches remaining bruises. Verd would find herself laying in her tattered clothing on her bed. She had successfully avoided the pain of the battle to haunt her. She had avoided the trauma of corpses, gore, flesh and bones. The trauma of burnt flesh smell in her nose. The trauma of screams and noises that beg for help. All of it would be repelled by her ice-cold heart. But the prospect of having lost whom she would have called her dearest. Even if she wasn't sure yet if it was true or not. The idea alone would slowly sink her into the abyss of dark emotions. Sobs and pained exhales would echo softly in whimpered form from her tent. Avalanche feeling the pain of his master. Worried, he would crawl to the side of her bed and place his head to her belly. Pawing his arm onto her side. Dandi's palms slowly sinking into the fur of her oldest, most loyal companion. Unable to stop herself from whining and whimpering. The exhaled emotional pain feeling like daggers into ones back if anyone would dare to listen to it. It was necessary. All of this was needed. No one with a shred of sanity would walk away from this battle without emotional turmoil. No one that wasn't completely broken and dead inside. Verdandi was very much alive and that night, she would be reminded of that very fact and that a healthy psyche too, can suffer.

By the time Verdandi would wake. She would realize that she almost slept a full day. Her body reclaiming the energy she exhausted on this battle. Especially since she was a natural sleepyhead anyway. For a moment, even thought she had the word 'Chi' still in her mind. She was calm. Maybe she had already shed as many tears as one could, within a day. The sadness inside her having turned into a sweet melancholy of nothingness. The medical camps still overfilled. Obviously many more had been rescued from the battlefield. Verd would eventually go back to see what was left behind. But for now, she would just walk through the camps. With a shred of hope, that eventually she would feel a familiar energy. That one of her friends or siblings who came to Inabayama had survived the battle. That Chi might be still somewhere. She would not give up. Determined to find him. Be it dead or alive. She wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of her nights if she had to always wonder. She needed closure. She needed to know what had happened. Even if it would take days or weeks to find him. Even if she had to return to that damned, cursed battlefield. She'd find him. Verdandi didn't bother on getting new, clean clothes. The bruises of Inabayama would remain on her skin for a while. She had only one thing that mattered to her now.

[EXIT]

Verd Post: 2'000 / Verd TWC: 13'115 / Totals: Link

WC Usage:

5'000 - S-Rank Mission Pay.
8'000 - S-Rank Mission Pay doubled.

Ryo panted as he fought these nameless, faceless, and worthless foes. He was tired, and he needed some medical attention he was sure. He was very grateful that his water stream was ripping through the sands around him. It was about the best he could hope for. The raging stream of water was something that was keeping him safe. He was able to fight opponents one at a time. The man that he closed in with was wielding a sword that was fairly nice compared to what Ryo was used to seeing from these people. However, it was still trash when he compared it to Kuro’s tail blade. The two pieces of steel met and sang out with the intensity of the blades meeting. The foe was fairly unskilled with his blade and it was easy for Ryo to tease him slashing into his arms and legs between clashes of steel. Finally, he brought the man down to his knees with all of the slashes to his legs, and his sides. As soon as he was down on his knees Ryo manipulated his fingers to have Kuro’s tail slice through the man’s neck delivering the killing blow.

He turned scanning the battlefield for the next threat. Yet, what he saw caused him to stop dead. He saw his clan member go down. Rushing towards him Ryo sent Kuro ahead of him. The black wolf puppet slammed into the attacker knocking him to the ground. With some fancy manipulation Ryo made Kuro’s mouth drop open and he sank claws as well as fangs into the man’s body. These attacks by themselves wouldn’t be enough to kill the attacker, but the tail strike to the man’s stomach was enough to drop him into death. Ryo quickly knelt and dismissed Kuro back into the scroll that was his home. He wouldn’t leave his fellow Knetegawa on the battlefield to die like this. He couldn’t see a puppet, but the broken remains of one was littered on the ground around them. This was a very sad thing and Ryo knew that his relative would be heartbroken when he was back in action.

Grabbing his fellow Knetegawa around his arms he quickly started to drag him off of the battlefield. This was the end of his battle. He was very quick managing to drag his comrade away from the field. As soon as he made it near the camp he was glad to see that there was still a camp to be there. He was quick to get under the cover of the medical team. As soon as they took his clan member away to heal him Ryo sank to his knees exhausted and incapable of going out to do anymore fighting. If he did he would die, so instead he rested leaving the rest of the fight to those more capable than himself.
[Exit Thread]


WC: 488
Total:2,387