Day 1 Evening

[Sasuke Uchiha]

Locate guardians, relieve them of their relic, free Teucer, and return to the Deathchew hunt; seemed simple enough. In fact, the shinobi felt confident, as he strolled through a serene meadow full of furry critters. The gnarly fire and brimstone now behind him by several miles. There really wasn’t any doubt in his mind that he would ever actually be imprisoned here. To the contrary, his only ever gripe with the spirit had been the time it would take to free him. It never even dawned on the shinobi that he might, or could, fail. The Chunin Exams were more than enough preparation for something like this, let alone his experiences in Dante’s Abyss. Not to mention the prizes he won and carried from the Abyss. They weren’t too shabby either. No, Teucer, in his infinite wisdom, had done one thing right. He had chosen Sasuke Uchiha to champion for his freedom.

The ninja took in a deep breath, appreciating the cool air pass through his lungs, a far cry from the hot smolder from before and began advancing his search. At the end of the meadow, a sprawling landscape of slopes, forest, and rivers entangled themselves to the island’s design.

Guardians, the ninja thought, that’s something new. However, before Sasuke could give it much thought, his eyes caught the sight of a movement against the brush.

Poised, the ninja immediately crouched low to conceal himself among the foliage. Able to investigate without revealing himself, Sasuke began to peer through the shrubbery to see what it was. Before he found out, however, his eyes came alive with crimson and gifted him vision of his forthcoming demise. Depicted in his psyche, he felt the salivating, predatory fangs of a wolf, pierce the soft flesh of his throat.

With reflexes that failed to disappoint, Sasuke met the canine head on, removed the spirit ‘s weapon, and lodged it into the maw that sought to take his life. Once, twice, three times the beast’s jaws attempted to crush the obstacle and devour its meal, but to no avail. Fur, dirt, and saliva flew everywhere as the shinobi shifted his weight, cross armed his forearm against the beast’s face, and with the beast's own momentum, transitioned to an elbow guided slam into the dirt.

Freeing his weapon, the ninja wasted little time leaping away from the discombobulated wolf. Though he didn’t create nearly as much distance between them as he had intended, My chakra must be restrained. Lovely. the ninja scoffed.

Appearing to have gained its bearings, the wolf lunged at Sasuke again, but, this time, was met with the blunt…artistic… end of the weapon. Upon collision, the weapon surprised everyone and discharged a single luminescent blast of… Star power? Did it really just shoot stars?

Whatever it was, it clobbered into the wolf and sent it careening across the forest, all the same. This weapon may be of use, after all. the shinobi mused as he gave it a second inspection. His appraisal, however, was cut short by a scene of four or more, just as vicious, just as hungry wolves surrounding him.

“Whoa,” the ninja said with his free hand, palm open, moving very slowly, “easy now.” The ninja gripped his new found weapon tightly in his other hand, anticipating any sudden movement as he continued to retreat, inch by inch.

The alpha in the group barked a thunderous command and Sasuke obeyed, halting his retreat. “Now, listen,” the ninja began, not making any sudden movements, “I do not want to kill you. You just let me go, and find a meal that isn’t so much trouble.”

Behind the pack, whines of the wolf Sasuke had tangled with could be heard, and when the ninja began to slowly recoil again, the pack allowed it. Step by step, the ninja took his leave, grateful to be out of the pack’s territory.

“Wow,” came a familiar voice, “funny running into you here. Making friends already, I see.” Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk when he heard the voice.

“Are you surprised?” the ninja grinned, flashing his famous Uchiha smile, “If you were imprisoned for all of eternity, who would you call on for help?”

“Point taken. I’ll admit it,” the new prime replied with his own confident grin, “I am glad to see you here. Hunting these guardians with you around will be much easier.”

“Good.” Sasuke stated as he placed his palm upon the shoulder of his ally,
“Now, let’s be quick about it. We both have more pressing matters to attend to.”

“Lead the way.” Sasuke’s comrade offered, waving him on with his arm. Taking the lead, the ninja moved at a quick, steady pace.

“Along the way,” the ninja hollered over his shoulder, “You can tell me what happened back at—“

“Aaahhhhhahhh!” a blood-curdling scream, coming from just around the bend interrupted the ninja.

“What was that?” his comrade asked as they both came to a halt to access the sound.

Again the horrid sound shrieked, “AaAAahhhhhgahh!”

“It’s coming from over there.” the shinobi pointed the direction out and headed that way. Whatever it was, it sounded like hell. Like some sort of banshee, or evil creature.

“Are those…” Sasuke’s partner stammered, “Are those goats?”