Deep Desert Travel: Into the Heart of the Ressa

It was early, even here outside the massive walls of the village there was no sun in sight. I was traveling light, carrying nothing but my research materials and my insect guide in case anything about these sand worms could be documented should we encounter them again. However I would have to wait for now until my partners arrived so I leaned again the wall and waited.

Takeru rubbed the last of the night's sleep from his eye as he walked out of the village gate, he had been up to late reading the 'Essays' again. The book was a treasure trove of information and it was safely tucked within his coat, he wouldn't risk leaving it around where it could be found. He had informed his son he would be absent for some time, but his son hadn't minded. He was a good boy and understood that as a jonin his father would sometimes have tasks that took him away. He gave Shitai a brief smile, he was grateful the younger man had invited him along, he would think it was for the story he told him a few days ago, the truth was Takeru hoped to find more information on the bijuu hidden away in this place where the 'Ancient Ones' were. "Morning Shitai, are we expecting others?"

As night's hold on the realm would soon be broken and morning would soon begin to arise Neo would stretch and yawn, he had been up all night making sure everything was in check with the expedition suits that he manage just enough sleep but Neo didn't really mind. Throwing on his battle outfit, and throwing his kage hat on his back he would begin to set off. He would grab one of suits, and as he soon found out even 'light' expedition suits were rather heavy, he called in two shinobi to pick up the other two and they would be off. Neo had no trouble maneuvering around with the suit on his back the other two he wasn't too sure about. He would reach the gate and land on top of them, looking around he could see that Shitai was already here and that his other companion, Takeru had just arrived as well. Neo would smile and jump down behind Shitai and land causing a small puff of smoke to appear, he would stand and face the two. His two couriers would arrive slightly later looking quite exhausted in fact, after putting down the equipment Neo would dismiss them and told them to get some rest. "So, are we all here?" he would ask to the two, more Shitai then Takeru though seeing how Shi was the one probably leading this whole thing while he waited he would nod to Takeru as his greeting.

Both of my travel partners would arrive soon enough, Takeru first to whom I replied that one other would be joining the team shortly and soon enough Neo was here. He was only carrying one heavy suit though but before I was able to say anything two others came with he rest of the equipment before being dismissed. I simply nodded and replied, "This is it, our team has assembled and as far as I can tell we have everything we need. No need to wear the suits until we actually get to the storm so lets strap them to our backs and get on with this." I would lift my suit up with a bit of difficulty due to my lacking on physical strength but I could manage with help from the kikaichu. I would take one last look at the team and nod before turning and heading off in the direction of the Ressa desert's storm several dozen miles away.

Takeru gathered the belongings he had brought and strode off after Shitai, the man and the newcomer, the Kage himself, seemed both a little preoccupied and a little tired from the early hour. Takeru stifled a yawn himself, he wasn't as young as he used to be and early morning ventures like this made him tied if he hadn't had enough preparation. He pulled 'Essays' out of his pocket, he had replaced the cover to keep it hidden, and read a few pages as he walked. The heavy gear he had brought was slung over his shoulder, but he didn't really notice it. He had carried many burdens before, both physical and mental, and this was the least of both of those.

And with the arrival of Neo and the equipment the trio would set off toward the Ressa desert and its endless mysteries. Neo would be following second in line to Shitai at this point for he wasn't the leader this time, it actually wasn't that big of deal switching out of the leader roll, this would probably do him some good. He eyed the storm off in the distance and chuckled softly to himself as if the sight of the sand flying everywhere amused him.

Due to the weight of the gear it would take nearly an hour to get to the edge of the storm, it was a hard concept to think about that should any of them move only a few yards forward their flesh wold be flayed open in some of the worst paper cuts imaginable complete with sand in the wounds and it would only get worse the deep in they went. I would drop my suit on the ground and turn to the team, "From this point on as we all know the desert is to dangerous to move through exposed. We will put on our suits now but use the filters rather than the tanks to breathe. We are going to want to save those for when the sand is to thick for the filters to be of any use. Lets suit up and move out." I would take my suit from its open front and step in backwards. Zipping up the front followed by the three overlapping layers of cloths that completely sealed up the front, to most people we would look like we were wearing bulky cloth armor which in a sense we were but it would do much against weapons. As I finished I looked to the others to see if they were ready, giving a thumbs up to show I was good to go and waiting for them to return the gesture when they were as well.

we are wearing the middle one:

Takeru followed Shitai's lead in getting into the suit, it had seemed straightforward at first but he had to puzzle out how one or two clasps went together, and he wasn't about to go into that storm exposed in any way. He had worn similar suits earlier on in life, though they were much less sophisticated than these. He finally finished up the last of the seals and noted this particular suits previous inhabitant had not been a very hygienic person, the suit stank of unwashed bodies. Wrinkling his nose a bit Takeru mirrored Shitai's gesture, giving him a thumbs up. He had been looking forward to the trip since his invitation, but being stuck in this suit was less than pleasant.

They had already been walking for a couple of minutes, and carrying these suits made it seem like ages, before Shitai would stop the group and explain that they would putting on the suits now. Neo would watch Shitai put his on first before putting his on. In truth it wasn't really as complicated as Neo would have thought. Zipping up the front part of the suit Neo would throw up his thumbs up as he was now ready to continue on.

Everyone gave the signal which let me know it was go time. I opened a small slot in my sleeve to allow a few dozen kikai out that would fly down to the ground and start burrowing. I would reseal my suit and start walking into the sandstorm. The scenery wouldnt change much for a while though if we kept at a normal pace for about 20 minutes the storm would get to thick to see and we would have to rely on my insects for sight but that was in the near future not now.

Takeru kept close to the others as they made their way through the unrelenting storm. Even with the heavy environment suit he could feel the sheer power of nature as it thrashed against his body. He could barely see ahead of him and it was a struggle to keep everyone in eyesight at the same time. This was one of the many times he cursed that he had lost an eye in his earlier days. The air coming through the filter had a musty taste, and the smell in his nose reminded him of the dust collected after disturbing a room which no one had been in in years.

As the group proceeded to move forward, into the sandstorm, Neo would bring up the rear being the last to enter. At first it wasn't that bad but continuing on it just got worse and worse, not only was it hard to see but the winds themselves would probably be able to knock Neo over if he lost focus. Even still for the time being Neo would keep up with the group to the best of his ability trying to make sure he let no one out of his sight.

We progressed deeper into the storm, almost to the point of blindness. It was at this time I knew that the next safety precaution to ensure all of our safety. I took the rope from my hip and unrolled it, tying one end to a loop at my waist and then tossing it to Takeru and with the use of hand signals instructed him to do the same. This would at least make sure we didnt get separated from each other.

Takeru caught the rope as it sailed through the air to him, if not for the extra length of it bundled up, it would have flailed in the win and been an absolute pain to grab hold of. Following Shitai's gestured instructions he tied the rope around his waist, double knotting it to make sure it was secure. Turning, he tossed the rest of the bundled rope to the Sakyukage, and mimicked the gestures Shitai had given him. Turning back to face the other man he held his thumb up, signalling he was good to go.

The robe flew through the air toward Neo, he would catch it and look to Takeru whom made hand gestures that showed Neo what to do. He would tie the last bit of the rope around his waist and continue to trudge forward, the rope giving him direction as his sight seemed to fail him due to all of the sand he could only hope that nothing lead Shitai astray and lead them all to there dooms, although that was probably unlikely.

From the given signal everyone was ready to go again and now we were connected and secure. My kikai started drilling through the sand and sending me back messages in the form of safe directions. Our pace would now be just above half what it had been before but at least we wouldn't tumble to our doom. The storm was terrible but at least now that we would be breathing through our masks and tanks it would be fresh rather than tasting of foul sand particles.

Takeru followed Shitai's lead and activated the air tanks on the heavy environment suit. The fresh air rushing into the suit was glorious, the fresh hair was a nice change from the musty air that had been filtered from the endless storm raging around him. They moved slower now, the storm had intensified and the whipping winds swept sand around as if the ground itself was alive. He had no idea how Shitai was retaining a sense of direction in here, but it was an impressive feat.

As Neo continued to bring up the rear he noticed with all that was going on it might have been a safe bet to turn on his air tank, which he proceeded to do. Moving on he relied on the rope to guide him for he could just barely see 2 feet in front of him due to the storm. He could only guess that the group was making good progress sense they hadn't made any abrupt stops or changes in course.

We continued on like this for nearly an hour until suddenly I spotted something off in the distance, an opening in the storm which could possibly be the other side. I would point this out to Takeru and signal him to do the same for Neo. Twenty minutes later after safe travel speed we had made it, for the first time in decades someone from the hidden dunes village had crossed this damned desert and made it through to the territory of the nomadic tribes. In generations past these tribes and the hidden dune were friendly but information concerning the last few years of their relationship before the storm started up in its current fearsome state was mostly unknown so they would have to remain cautious. Slowly, I removed my headgear and took a deep breath and called out. "Looks like we made it guys." Off a quarter mile to the west I saw several sand gliders coming this way, the trademark vessel of the tribes though I was unsure as to how to react , or how they would react for that matter. I removed one of my gloves and within a minute had sent both my basic and poison breeds of kikaichu into the sands to wait just in case this got ugly. I stood back up as the visitors were mere minutes away from us and waited to see what would happen.

Takeru sighed with relief as they left the edge of the storm, he had not liked being in this suit breathing stale air from a tank. He motioned to Neo as Shitai directed and stood up straight to catch his breath. It certainly was a momentous moment.

Neo spotted Takeru motioning something before him and as he looked the storm appeared to be letting up, they had made it through. He would be the last step out of the storm and once he did he removed his head gear as well, rolling his neck as it was pretty stiff. He would smile to his companions and nod as Shitai stated that they had made it "Ha were there any doubts?". Neo would look around and spot the gliders as well it was unknown how this confrontation would turn out so Neo thought it best to stay on guard.

The ground seemed to shift a bit as the tribal men came closer, soon they were within speaking distance, saying something about how this was their land and seemed to threaten us with a technique similar to Neo's jiton nature but with sand instead. My insects signal was slightly jammed meaning something was happening under the sands but even so I had partial communication and they started rising near the surface, not yet showing themselves to the enemy but ready to get swept up into someone's face as they prepared a sand attack. I just stood there with my hands in my pockets and looked at them. "Your land or not we are just here for study, men of science as it were. Should you want to fight though we are more than willing to defeat you." I just stood there and watched as they grinned with mouth's of missing teeth save for a handful still attached to their sickly gums. One of them started as a sand plume rose up from the ground that all of us would easily roll out of the way of and got ready for what was to come.

Takeru removed his helmet and stood ready, these tribesmen seemed to be trying to threaten them, and he had to be amused, these savages barely posed a threat to the combined might of a kage, jounin and special jounin. Their bravery was commendable, and it seemed they had an intriguing control of the sands of the desert, but they were fools. They had not come to fight, merely to study in the library. Crossing his arms Takeru stood silent and watched, he would let the younger generation take the lead this time.

Neo would laugh at the tribesmen as they stated how these were their lands and that they weere trespassing or some ridiculous nonse , such foolishness "as my friend said we are only here for research". He stared at all there ugly faces and just smiled, truly this world could have done better then that, this would be over quickly. Neo would roll out of the plume of sand that came at them. Standing up he waited for someone to make a move, normally it would have been him but something held him back but that wouldn't last long if no one made a move otherwise.

As the sand plume came two of us moved but Takeru stayed still, while his faith in our abilities was respectable it was just luck that I was able to raise a wall of kikai to circle him in a dome that would deflect it before they flew out of formation and started to scurry away. I was confused and asked them mentally what was going on, they all responded with one word in unison which I then repeated out loud to the others. "Move!" As I said this I started following my insects and the ground exploded so that more sand went everywhere but this was not the doing of the sandbenders, no, something else was rising. No one moved for a while as it happened, a tower was coming out of the ground and seemed to be an ancient architecture unseen for generations. As the tower rose one of the tribesmen's gliders was destroyed and flung most of the far off. Those that remained retreated quickly leaving us alone with this new place to explore. I just stood there awe struck, "What the hell just happened?"