AsteriskWriter

A drowsy groan escaped Sakura as her eyes fluttered open, memories of the previous night a blur. With muddled thoughts and a body heavy as lead, she struggled to lift her head and take in her surroundings. This...This wasn't her home. This wasn't her bed. It was a desert. A desolate wasteland. A vista of tan that went on as far as the eye could see. What the…? An attack? Some kind of enemy Genjutsu? Had she been kidnapped? Such thoughts assailed the woman as she continued to pick herself up. This desert was…Wait…It wasn’t a desert at all. She frowned, testing the ground with her palms. Much too firm and soft to be sand or rock. In fact, it almost felt like… “Finally awake? Took you long enough.” It was a voice. A female’s voice. That much Sakura understood; but it rattled throughout the heavens like roaring thunder. It vibrated across the air, rattling the kunoichi’s bones as her head immediately turned towards the source of such an almighty sound. Once she had, she understood at

“......Tch…..Mnnngh…” Kintoki’s eyes slowly fluttered open, just barely peeking out past a disheveled set of sunglasses. His thoughts were a fog, murky and unclear as he strained to collect himself. It felt as though a sort of demonic presence danced around him. Something unseen and intangible, and yet elating in the fact he now stirred. He felt a familiar grin in that presence. One leering at him from seemingly all angles. Quickly fighting off his fatigue, Kintoki rose to his feet and took in his surroundings. That of a pristine, beautiful beach at the edge of a multicolored and otherworldly sea. An awe-inspiring sight were it not for the fact that he recognized this shoreline. A survey of the land itself confirmed what he expected. Opposite the beach stood the beginnings of a long and winding mountain pass. One that led up towards a mountainous peak in the shape of a horned skull. A bone-chilling sight at the best times, but one woefully familiar to any who considered themselves a