Board Thread:Mount Myōboku Logs/@comment-27079171-20161102210816/@comment-24937485-20161108194839

At the base of the tree Gumpta would be left standing alone for close to fifteen minutes before something happened. Up until then he only caught a few shifty looks from Panda mothers in aprons who all told their children to not look and keep on walking. But now one of the children actually managed to break free from his mother’s arms and, while laughing hysterically, huffed and puffed as he tried to run, but was limited to a jog by a bouncing belly that flopped up and down. With the mother growling in the background and shrouded by a vile crimson aura, for comedic reasons, like she was a mini-Kyubi, her other children slowly backed away from her. The one little panda, with chubby cheeks, big curious eyes, and a baseball cap, looked up at Gumpta in surprise; jaw dropping to the floor.

“Whoahhhh, I‘ve never seen one of the Toad warriors pops and Z-man talk about! You are so cool! And so green! Where’s your fur? Why and you have a tail?”.

The little guy walked around Gumpta, and clambered up and down the toad carelessly while inspecting carefully; but a ‘tad’ over enthusiastically.

“My name is Brodi! My pops is super big and strong! He just left doing some important stuff. I think mom’s grumpy cause she always has to cook a---.” Before he could say another word he was punted by an angry mother that now stood behind him that then grabbed Brodi by the back of his neck while saying “Enough already.” As she walked off. Brodi who was still smiling big was waving happily at Gumpta, while being dragged away, and shouted “When you see pops, tell him mom is making smelly spagh“. –Violence censored.- 

Meanwhile, Shuzaya, who balanced the stick on his shoulder to relieve himself from some of the weight hanging down on the outer end, reached about halfway up the staircase. What, or rather who, he was carrying seemed to be in immense pain and unable to move a muscle. The panda felt really bad for the Uzumaki and sighed under his breath. “Just hang in there a little longer.”.

Rain started to fall down so by the time they reached the top they would be completely drenched. So when they stepped inside what seemed to be a hollowed out circular room, within the gigantic bamboo tree, they be met with a welcoming warmth and herbal scents that originated from the many candles in the room; each of which was a different color.

Inside there was only one panda, a female, with many creases showing the age in her skinny face and a gray bun of hair on her head. Dressed in a simple yellow Kimono she walked over to Kano and Shuzaya, moving at a slow pace so that the rhythmic tapping of her cane against the wooden floor would almost be hypnotizing.

Standing before Kano she looked down at his eyes, and then his red hair, before humming something to herself about Zeshin’s former love who had tragically died a few years ago; also an Uzumaki who also used those chains.

“I’ve seen them before. Very pesky.”. She said, in a nasal and nagging tone while raising her cane above Kano. “But like all jutsu, they have a weakness.”. Her staff began to glow up before ‘sucking in’ the chains, absorbing the chakra they were made of. She then walked past them, standing just outside the entrance of her domain, and pointed the staff up at the sky above before shooting out a cackling, golden beam that dispersed when coming into contact with the mist-like dome surrounding the panda realm. “Never let energy go to waste. This will sustain our shroud for a good two months.”. She sounded more friendly while saying that, before becoming more tantalizing as she leaned over Kano in a freakish manner while the candle lights dimmed around them, and “Not as good as hers though.”, while a thin smile crept onto her lips.

With a smack of her cane she sent Shuzaya, and Kano, tumbling into the large room before closing the door behind her and walking up beside them. Raising her staff to the roof, she illuminated a map unlike any other of great beauty but drawn in simplistic charcoal of many colors. Most unusual was the fact that there were countless animals moving across the map, most notable a large group of snakes heading to an area noted to be the realm of the Toads.

“I know why you’re here. I sent Odi out to ensure you would make it back here. I could sense that Toad envoys were being killed by snakes and their ‘masters’, but none of the wimpy pandas here were man enough to go out and help. Except for that big lump.”. She crossed her arms and frowned before smacking Kano upside the head with her cane for no reason, for which she had to jump seeing as she was only 4ft7” tall.

“Ever since Zeshin went AWOL our supposed ‘warriors’ grew scared and stayed home in our save haven. Fighting alongside the Blitz made them spoiled, and now they are scared to fight without him. Simply put, they need inspiration.”

Muttering to the said she said “And exercise….”

Before continuing “If I force them to fight they’ll be nothing but ripe for slaughter. They need their fire. So if you’re here for reinforcements then either find Zeshin, or show these lazy fatsos that they have to get up off their ass to help the Toads who are the only reason we live in safety today. My people have become detached from the world, like many other animal races, even when the Toads are in need. We need to stand up like we did in the past.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Pressing her staff against the cursed seal on Kano’s neck, the finally, but slowly, removed it and over the following minutes the pain would lessen and finally diminish.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Luckily this was a weak cursed seal, the stronger masters of snakes know higher levels of cursed seals some of which I can’t cure you off without putting your life at risk.”.

<p class="MsoNormal">At this point she waited to answer further questions or replies while frowning at the map up above. Thinking that when the toads die, all other animal realms were surely to follow. She shook her head at the folly of her people who did not heed her words as they used to. But somewhere in her eyes held a glimmer of hope that Kano would think of a way.