The Village of Fallen Rains

Syndryl picked Mekko up as she took his hand, looking at her with a smile. So she still believed he was her father. That was good. "I need you to close your eyes, Mekko. I'm going to use a magic trick to get us over there real fast, but it won't work if you're looking. Okay?" he told her softly. When her eyes were closed, Syndryl closed his and a moment later, he let out a small breath as his wings sprouted out of his back. He'd never tried such a thing before, and to be honest, it wasn't a comfortable feeling. Never the less, Syndryl rose the two into the air silently before starting off to the ship.

Serenity kept her gaze ahead as Felix spoke, silent for a moment. "Sometimes treasure just isn't worth the pain it causes," she said solemnly. She stopped and looked back towards where Syndryl was, and her eyes widened when she saw the faint outline of wings on a human body. "Is that...? I didn't know he could do that," she said quietly. Was it just her, or was something glowing on that ship?

Mekko didn't want to close her eyes, but she did. She did enjoy magic tricks. Hanging onto Syndryl, she tried not to peek. It was very hard not to see what Syndryl was doing, but she didn't want to spoil the surprise. Felix nodded in agreement when Serenity said it wasn't worth it. It had already caused enough pain, might as well go deeper, but Felix knew better. "Not everything is meant to be found." When Serenity said something about Syndryl not being able to do something, Felix turned to see for himself. "Doesn't he just look like a bat out of hell," Felix mumbled. "Funny because that's exactly what this place is."

It was only a few moments later that Syndryl touched down lightly on the ship. Turning his gaze down upon the small girl, he spoke softly "You can open your eyes now." When she did, the dragon set her down lightly. Nothing about this sat right with him. This ship had an ominous feeling to it, and he wasn't sure he sensed the girl's hat around anywhere. He could keep looking of course, but how long until the child got tired of waiting? After all, Syndryl wasn't sure if he could bring the girl out of this realm if she didn't possess everything she came in with.

Serenity nodded lightly at Felix's statement. "I don't feel right about leaving him though," she said quietly. "Not in a place like this." She paused when she remembered something. "Hey...when we first entered here, I never got an answer. How old was that girl when she went missing?" she asked, standing in place while casting a glance towards the possibly glowing ship. She was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her. Then again, the past few times Syndryl had been in danger, she remembered seeing a faint glow around him those times too....

Mekko opened her eyes and giggled. They were on the ship. "How'd you do that?" She asked. Her brown eyes shinning brightly in the dark. She ran over to the side of the ship and looked over the edge. "Look at all the water," she mused. "It's so dark and calm." She smiled happily and began to spin in circles as if she had forgotten all about her hat.

Felix looked at Serenity when she said she didn't think it was right of them to leave Syndryl. "He said leave, so apparently he doesn't care," Felix said lowly. When Serenity asked her question, he peered at her closely with the same suspicion as before. "She was four," he said. "Again, why does it matter what age she is?"

(Forgot to mention that his wings had disappeared.)

Syndryl smiled at the girl when she asked how he did that. "I can't tell you, or else it would take away the fun," he said, looking around. He paused when he felt the small outline of something on the other side of the ship. Walking over to the other side, Syndryl knelt down to what he assumed was the little girls hat. Actually, now that he thought about it...how did the hat get onto the ship? And on the other side of it, no less. A shiver seemed to run down the dragons spine as he remained kneeling down with the hat in hand. "Mekko," he called softly. "I found your hat." As if he hadn't a bad feeling about this before, it was nothing compared to now. Every fiber of his being told him that he had to get out of there. So...why wasn't he moving?

Serenity nearly sighed when Felix said obviously Syndryl didn't care. "I don't think he told us to leave because he doesn't care. It's just...I don't understand what he's doing. He can't defend himself very well in his human form, but he refuses to turn into a dragon in order to keep from scaring that kid." She shook her head lightly. "It's just that, if she hadn't aged at all since she'd gone missing, I'd have assumed that it was simple her spirit stuck to this place, and that she'd died a long time ago. But since it appears she has aged, it might still be possible to save her...but even knowing that...jeez, it's still far too dangerous," she said, her eyes on the direction of the ship. She seemed to freeze when she noticed that the glowing was no longer faint, but now she could see it very visibly. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her, right? Because if they weren't, that meant Syndryl was in danger...

Mekko looked at Syndryl when he said he'd found her hat. A smile crossed the little girl's face as she skipped over to him. "Yay," she cheered. Right before she made it to Syndryl, the ground slip open and the small girl fell threw, an ear piercing screamed echoed throughout the ship and then a splash.

Felix shrugged as Serenity spoke. He didn't really care. His blue eyes darted in the direction of the ship when he heard a scream. "Was...that Mekko?" Why would she be screaming if she was under the spell of Madness? Felix looked to Serenity. What if it were a trap. Every fiber of his being told him to go back to the ship, but a small fear overtook him, telling him to turn the other way and ignore what he'd just heard.

Syndryl's eyes widened when he felt something stir a moment before the ship cracked underneath Mekko's feet. In an instant Syndryl was up, and had dived to grab the girl's hand before she hit the water. He was only a moment too late. "Dammit," he cursed. Under some sort of control other than his own, he jumped down in the hole the girl had just fell through, and into the water. "Mekko? Mekko, where are you?" he called out into the darkness.

Serenity's head also turned to the ship at the sound of the scream. That sounded like the little girl's. A moment later Felix mirrored her thoughts aloud. "If the girl's in trouble, then chances are Syndryl will be too," she said, starting back towards the water. "I don't know about you, but I'm going. I won't leave him there," she said. She wasn't sure how she was going to get to the ship fast enough though. What if she ended up being too late? She didn't want to think about it...

Felix knew he couldn't let Serenity go alone, so he quickly followed after. He knew that he would be able to get across the water faster than she could because he could use chakra control. Stopping at the water's edge, Felix saw the ship caving in on itself, almost as if something was crushing it, but the odd thing was, nothing was there. "Do you see that," Felix asked breathlessly. The young shinobi looked into the murky water, and then ahead. "This isn't possible."

Mekko was underwater, searching for a way out from underneath the wreckage of the ship. Her tiny arms flailed as she tried making her way to the surface. When she did, her tiny voice was no more than a wail. "Paaapaaa!" And then she was back under the water which seemed to be forming a small whirlpool around her.

Syndryl looked around for where Mekko's voice was coming from. Only, it was no longer him. It was as if he'd no control over his own actions anymore. He was positive that he hadn't allowed Madness to overtake him, so what was this? Making his way towards the girl, he felt that the water was starting to move of it's own accord. Even though he knew it would be dangerous, he couldn't stop himself from swimming to where the girl was. "Mekko! Hold on, I'll save you!" Though he'd said it too late, for he already felt that the girl had been pulled back under.

Serenity's breath caught in her throat when she saw what was happening to the ship. She shook her head in disbelief. "This can't be happening, it can't be..." She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Syndryl! Get out of there, it's not worth it! Forget about staying in your human form!" While she wasn't sure if he could hear her or not, it was worth a try. Serenity wasn't sure what they would be swimming out to, since the ship was collapsing, but she didn't just want to stand here idly while Syndryl was getting pulled under! She looked at Felix. "Kid, do you have a technique or something, anything, a summoning, I don't care what, that can get us out there fast?"

Syndryl paused for a moment when he heard Serenity's voice. His consciousness wanted to abandon this ridiculous quest, but his body wouldn't allow him to. He'd figured out what was happening. The human consciousness, the one he'd allowed to stay inside him when he'd devoured the human, had somehow gained control and was going to try and save the girl, no matter what the cost. Despite his dislike of the situation, Syndryl allowed the human conscious control, and dived into the forming whirlpool after Mekko.

Felix shook his head. His only summoning was Zane, and the badger had disappeared, and without the scroll, Felix couldn't call for his help. His shoulders slumped in defeat. Looking away from the ship, the young shinobi looked around. What was there to save Syndryl and Mekko. How could they get across the water and how in the world would they fight something they couldn't see? "Are you not a shinobi of the Fallen Rains? Have you forgotten that you are drawn to the water like no other. The water does not control you, you control the water." Felix shook his head. That was getting really annoying. "This is not going to work," Felix mumbled. He looked at Serenity and reached his hand out to her. "We'd better hurry." Felix was planning on walking across the water by using chakra control. His plan was to spread his chakra to Serenity and hopefully keep her afloat at the same time. Slowly he started on to the water.

Mekko could have sworn something had a hold of her leg. The little girl had never learned to swim to begin with, so she couldn't make her way back to the surface despite her constant fighting and kicking of whatever had her leg. Someone save me, she pleaded mentally as she tried to preserve all the oxygen that she could.

Serenity looked nearly distraught when Felix shook his head. She was about ready to just swim over there! She looked to him when he mumbled about something not working, then reached his hand to her. Figuring he had a plan, she took it without much hesitation. She only wished he wouldn't have said that first part aloud. Regardless, she followed his lead and started towards the water. Anything was better than nothing at all.

Syndryl could've sworn that Mekko was starting to sink faster into the water. So he hurried and swam towards her, wrapping one arm around her as soon as he got close enough and started back up towards the surface as fast as he could. This little girl would not die on his watch. And as long as Serenity and Felix weren't coming over, he wouldn't have to divide his attention.

Mekko was relieved when someone took her into their arms. The small girl wrapped her arms tightly around the person's neck and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see what was below them, but caught a glimpse of teeth, lots and lots of teeth. Cowering in fear, Mekko prayed that they would make it to the top.

Felix extended his chakra to Serenity. He'd never done this before, so the first few steps onto the water were very bumpy. He nearly sank knee deep into the water, but managed to pull himself up. I can do this, Felix told himself. His confidence barely moved an inch, but it was worth a try. The more stable they were, the quicker Felix moved until he was practically running across the water with Serenity.

Syndryl got to the surface and swam as quickly as he could until they got to what pieces remained of the ship. Draping his free arm over a large piece of wood, he took a breath and brought Mekko closer to it so that she could grab on if she needed. In fact, the slab was big enough for the child to crawl onto, even. "A-are you okay Mekko?" he asked, looking at the child who was clinging onto him.

Serenity walked steadily, a bit surprised by the fact that Felix hadn't even used a jutsu to walk onto the water. And he was actually helping her to walk on it as well! But she had no time to think about it, for as Felix started getting more comfortable with what he was doing, she found that the two of them were nearly running towards the ship. A good thing too, because in the next moment, she heard Syndryl's voice. It was quiet, but there.

Mekko was wary of letting go of Syndryl, but after a moment of hesitation, she grabbed onto the piece of wood and stayed there, fearful of falling off and sinking to the bottom of the sea. When Syndryl asked if she was alright, the small girl turned on him with fear in her eyes. "No," she wailed miserably. "There's something down there." Her voice quivered, indicating that she was getting cold in the seemingly icy water.

Felix made it onto the ship, or what remained of it. It had seemed to stop crumbling, but he wouldn't wait to see if it had permanently stopped. Leaning against the side of the wall, he looked around the ship. Something felt horribly wrong on this thing. Felix wondered if he should have brought Serenity along, she wasn't a ninja and despite her capabilities of fending off the Sirens earlier, Felix knew this was a great force.

Serenity looked around as they got to the ship. She felt that something was wrong too, but she couldn't tell what. So instead she focused on something else. "Syndryl! Syndryl, where are you?" she called out. A moment later she was answered with "Over here!" Hurrying over to where she'd heard him, she gave a light sigh when she saw them. "Are you okay, what happened? Can you get over here?" The wood that Mekko was on wasn't too far from the ship. "Yeah," he said, swimming while pushing the wood towards the boat. "Get her first," he told Serenity, who obliged. After Mekko was on the boat, Serenity knelt down and reached for Syndryl.

Syndryl reached up after Mekko was on the ship, but right before he touched Serenity's hand, something caught his leg and dragged him down in an instant. Serenity's eyes widened. "S-Syndryl!" She looked behind her towards Felix, then to Mekko. "Wh-what was under there?" She then looked towards where Syndryl had disappeared. What had happened??

Mekko was startled when she heard Serenity's voice. The little girl kept her eyes on the water as Syndryl pushed her to the ship. Climbing up with the help of Serenity, Mekko was greeted by Felix who took his jacket off and handed it to the small child. When the ordeal between Serenity and Syndryl occurred, Felix was too shocked to even move. Serenity mimicked his thoughts and he ever so slowly turned to Mekko for an answer. The six year old spoke in pure fear. "The God of the Sea."

Felix blinked. "God of the Sea?" Felix knew it was pointless to further question her, for Mekko had started mumbling about how her 'Papa' was gone forever. Felix stood up and looked Serenity. "I'm going after him, stay with Mekko and get away from the edge of the water. Whatever is down there is not like the Sirens." With the Felix dove into the water and started downwards. He wished that the water wasn't so murky. Hang in there Syndryl.

Serenity's wide eyes turned back to the water when Mekko said it was the God of the Sea. Was this her fault? For calling upon Syndryl to begin with? Shaking the idea from her head, Serenity gently pulled Mekko back as Felix told them to stay away from the water. "Be careful," she told him before he dove in. "It's okay. He's going to be fine," she told Mekko quietly. In reality, it may have been that Serenity was trying to reassure herself.

Despite being pulled down, Syndryl didn't allow himself to give up. He was tired, but not willing to die just yet. Instead of turning into his full dragon form, he turned his hands into his claws, which he used to cut at the thing pulling him down. There was something that sounded like a screech, and the next thing Syndryl knew, his leg had been crushed between rows of razor sharp teeth, the bones very likely broken. Any breath that Syndryl had been holding in escaped him and rushed to the surface in many wobbling bubbles of air. The water around the area started holding a red tint to it, and Syndryl began feeling as if he were going to pass out. So instead of allowing himself to pass out, even from the pain, he turned into his dragon form and fired as much fire at the creature as possible. Though thanks to the water, it was more like he was shooting out a powerful jet of scolding water. And while Syndryl's leg was released that very same moment, he found that it was damn near impossible to swim up quickly with his leg in the condition it was in. And he was running out of what little breath he had left...

Mekko didn't agree with Serenity, though the little girl said nothing about it. Felix swam down towards Syndryl as fast as he could. When he saw teeth, he nearly gasped in horror. The thing was huge! Felix blinked when he saw air bubbles and knew that meant Syndryl was no longer had oxygen. The young shinobi pushed forward despite the fear of whatever lay at the bottom of the sea. Felix immediately knew that they were in a predicament when he saw that Syndryl was in his dragon form. There was no way that he could get the dragon above water. Felix had to think quickly. His blue eyes focused on what was below him, Felix started a jutsu. He had to get Syndryl to the top before it was too late. Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu. A water dragon formed in the murky water and began to push Syndryl forward towards the surface, Felix on the other hand stayed put, making sure whatever had attacked Syndryl, would not try and attack again.

Syndryl cringed when he felt something pushing him to the surface. Surely the creature wasn't pushing him up, so what was it? Since he was running out of breath, and his dragon form was far heavier than his human form, Syndryl turned back into his human form. When he was pushed through the surface of the water, the first thing he did was take a gasp of air before he started coughing. He grabbed onto the closest piece of floating wood, breathing heavily. The piece of wood wasn't all that big, so it only barely held him up. He 'looked' around, and saw Mekko and Serenity on the ship. "Where's Felix?" When Serenity didn't answer, it was then that he felt through the waves of the water, just who it was that saved him. He swallowed. He couldn't move his leg, so if the kid ended up needing help...he wouldn't be of all that much use. If he were on that boat, though, he could turn into his dragon form...

(I played the Sirens, so you get to play the Kraken)

Mekko gasped with joy when she saw Syndryl. "Papa," the little girl cheered as she ran past Serenity and to the edge of the ship. She was careful to stop at the edge. "Hurry up before it comes back," she urged him. She looked at Serenity. "Help him, please."

Felix turned and started for the surface after he was sure the thing would not attack. To be safe, he held a kunai in his hand in case he was wrong. He was just glad Syndryl had made it to the surface. They had to get out of this water, and grab Mekko's hat along the way. Felix did not want the girl going all crazy after this. He'd had enough of crazy for one day. He would never come back to this place, ever.

(Hehe, okay)

Serenity looked at the child as the girl called Syndryl her father. She'd heard it before, too. What had Syndryl been trying to do? There wasn't much time to think about it though, because she had to help Syndryl out of the water. Serenity went to the edge of the boat, but didn't stop there. She slid into the water quickly, swimming over to Syndryl and pulling the wood he was holding towards the boat. She had no idea that he'd gotten injured. When they got to the boat, Serenity climbed up and pulled Syndryl up. He hadn't complained about something being wrong, but when she'd pulled him, he made a light noise of pain. It was only when he was on the boat did she realize why, and the mere sight made a gasp escape her. "Y-your leg..." she breathed. When Syndryl said nothing, Serenity pulled him a little further onto the boat and started healing his leg immediately.

The beast roared as it's prey fired boiling water at it and got away. The water shook with the sound. It's tentacles waved around, trying to find it's next victim. And it found it. It wrapped around a small leg, and instead of dragging it down to the depths of it's home, it pulled Felix above water, so the kid was dangling upside down. A moment later, the tentacle swung, and threw Felix hard into the half of the ship that was opposite Serenity, Syndryl and Mekko.

Mekko wrapped her arms around Syndryl's neck when he was completely on the boat. When something roared, the child squealed in fear and looked at the tentacle that came from the water. "Oh no!" Mekko let go of Syndryl and cowered in fear. "You made it angry," she cried.

Felix felt like time had suddenly stopped when something grabbed onto his leg. Felix gave a small gasp as he was pulled into the air. Looking downwards, he immediately became sick. He was way too high up. Shaking his head, he went to cut himself loose when he was suddenly thrown into the other side of the ship. The impact left the young shinobi barely conscious. Groaning in pain, he tried to get up but couldn't move. This is bad.

Serenity's eyes widened and her mouth gaped a bit when she saw what looked like a tentacle come out of the water, holding Felix. Suddenly she felt very, very small. She couldn't do anything against something of that size. And Syndryl was injured. And just like that, there was a crash, and Felix was gone from sight. A moment later, Serenity caught a glimpse of him on the other half of the ship.

Syndryl felt what was going on with heavy breaths. Taking a deep breath, the dragon in human form pushed himself up, holding onto Serenity as he did. "Make sure the girl stays safe. But be careful about it. Stay out of the open." And just as Serenity had gone to speak, Syndryl once more sprouted wings from his back with a light grunt of pain. That body he was in just wasn't meant to handle the limbs of a dragon. Flapping once, Syndryl took off towards Felix, dodging the tentacle that seemed hell-bent on knocking him out of the sky. When he got to Felix, Syndryl landed lightly on one foot, before kneeling down and picking the silver haired boy up. With his leg the way it was, it wasn't easy, but he did his best to keep it off the ground. Taking off into the air again, Syndryl tried to keep the pain from his face as he dodged through what appeared to be six different tentacles. But then Syndryl noticed something. And in the moment he did, he was smashed into by a tentacle, sending him crashing to the ship that Serenity was on, while holding onto Felix. Syndryl was starting to get a bit dizzy from this.

Placing Felix down on the deck, he looked to Serenity, who had ushered Mekko into a far corner of the boat, away from the monster. "Come take him," Syndryl said, his voice fairly strained. It took him a moment before he stood up again, and once more, before Serenity could protest, took off into the air. Flying to the other half again, Syndryl was trying to lure the creature away from the other three. He'd noticed while flying, that the monster would only focus on one target at a time. Deciding to try something out, Syndryl focused energy to his hand, which created a white fire ball. Just as soon as it had formed, the dragon whipped it at one of the tentacles, extracting a large, reverberating roar throughout the place. Syndryl's hand shook lightly. His human form was too fragile. His hand had gotten burned from that last attack. But at least he knew that he wasn't completely useless anymore.

Mekko stayed in the corner, cowering in fear. It seemed as though Madness had left her, but she had not fully realized the extent of the situation. Felix on the other hand lay in the wreckage as the tentacles seemed to be going for Syndryl. When the dragon picked him up, Felix didn't bother protesting. His blue eyes half closed, he noticed the damaged leg of Syndryl. That thing had done a number on him. Felix stayed still as they became airborne. It was only when they were knocked from the air did he give a low groan. Felix watched as Syndryl once again flew into the sky. "He's going to get himself killed," Felix mumbled.

Serenity couldn't help but be worried about Syndryl. Felix was right, what he was doing was sheer suicide. But there was nothing she could do. Instead of focusing on worrying, she focused on healing Felix. This was a ridiculous battle to be fought. She wasn't sure they'd all get away from this ordeal...

Syndryl flew until he saw the remains of a human adventurer on half two of the ship. He flew down and snatched up the sword the adventurer had next to him. It was slightly rusted, but better than nothing, he supposed. Syndryl wondered if he could trap the beast somehow. He wondered if it moved underwater when he moved further away from it. Forcing his wings to flap, the dragon flew back into the air. He needed to test the reach of the thing before anything else.

When that was done, Syndryl's eyes widened as the creature's teeth and head began to emerge from the water. "Well...crap," he mumbled. He wasn't sure what to do. He looked down to Serenity, Felix, and Mekko. "You three have to get to the other side, I'll meet you all there! Hurry!" he called to them. With that being said, Syndryl flew further away from the first half of the ship.