Burying the Dead

Mica had walked on through the woods, since the open path had proven unlucky, towards the Mist village. She still wasn't sure if they'd go fully in to deliver Shinku to them, or if they were going to bury him nearby or not.

"Eki, ARE we going to go into the village? Aren't you not on good terms with them or something?" She still didn't know what had prompted that attack on the guy in the training grounds back home, but either way the two Cloud nins had been ready to kill him. Then again he had been trespassing, so perhaps it was more for the defense of the village rather than out of spite or anger.

Eki looked at Mica for a moment, Shinku's body laying on his shoulder. It was true, he wasn't on good terms with the village, after his last visit here with Akugo, things had gone very sour.

"No, we're burying near the ocean. Hopefully the tide won't wash him away."

Halberd in one hand, body in the other, Eki kept moving, trying not to let his conscious break him down.

"Okay then, I think I hear it nearby anyways." It'd been a few minutes and there was some noise in the air, but more walking towards the ocean caused the sound of crashing waves to become audible and recognizable. The ocean was becoming visible as the trees began to thin out and she stopped, unsure. "Are we going to bury him here, or more into the beach area?" If they stayed in the more forested area then he would be less likely to be washed away, as Eki had put it. She wasn't sure if she should ask why or why not they weren't taking him to Mist, but decided to keep quiet instead.

"Probably a better idea to bury him here, that tide gets quite a bit higher from the looks of it." Dropping the limp Shinku onto the ground, Eki started making a small clearing, simply by forming a hand seal, and repulsing the trees and foliage in the area, clearing the earth. A hand seal later and Shinku's body was now lying at the bottom of a grave, Eki and Mica standing over it.

Twisting his head, Eki looked at her. Mica, was only a recent acquaintance, but was one of the few nin left that Eki could confide in. Akugo had left for his homeland, and it wasn't clear whether he'd be coming back or not. Sighing, the newly appointed jounin looked out through the gaps in the trees, admiring the ocean briefly, before turning back to the grave.

"You want to say anything, or can I get this over with?"

Since he'd seemed to have everything under control Mica had let her mind wander to the ocean, hypnotized by the constant flow of the water. The scent of blood was soon gone and she knew Shinku was now below the earth, one last thought sent out for him before she would let him and his death leave her mind. Thankfully she didn't jump when Eki spoke, though her head whipped towards his direction and she was mildly confused and surprised.

"Um, no go ahead, I don't really have anything to say, but if there is something you'd like to then go ahead," she quickly offered. He sounded troubled, and if nothing else she would at least listen to what he wanted to say.

Eki shook his head, and his hands glided into the next hand seals. Slowly, earth cascaded into the crevasse filling it to the brim. Yet another hand seal followed and a small ornate tree grew from the grave's head, twisting to be the perfect place to hold his head band.

"I believe you still have his headband, don't you?"

As soon as it was in place, the bark would wrap around it, preserving it in wood and crafting a shell for it's protection. It was the least Eki could do.

"Oh, right." Since they wouldn't be going into the village, then it would serve as his grave marker, and she smiled a bit since Eki seemed to hold respect for the dead even if he didn't like the village the person had originated from. She placed the headband by the base of the tree, and watched in fascination as it wrapped around it. Well he would rest easy now, and he had a nice view of the ocean, so she fantasized in her mind. Straightening up she looked at Eki and smiled, "Thanks for giving him a nice grave, I'm sure he appreciates it." In the back of her mind she wanted to carve something into the tree or write in the dirt...something about fangirls and yaoi, but that would be very unkind to the dead so she kept it in her head. "I suppose I need to be getting back to Cloud though, in case my team has finished their mission yet or not."

Eki nodded, looking down at the grave still. After a few moments, he turned and picked up his halberd, walking away.

"It's a long way back home, crossing those oceans. I'll see you there. Besides, you're pretty close to the village, how much more trouble can you get into?"

With that Eki's formed drifted into the distance, the tip of his halberd finally disappearing into the trees.

'Right, trouble,' that caused some of her cheeriness to recede but she sucked it up and started walking. For now she had to concentrate on finding her team mates and sensei or else she'd be traveling alone tonight and that didn't hold any appeal.

She headed off, hoping to find her team along the way


(gone)