The lab echoed in chaos, fear radiating in the pulsing of red lights and piercing sirens. While they had prepared drills in the past for lock downs and security measures, there was a huge difference between a planned drill and an actual emergency. The scientists were not privy to the exact reason for the lockdown and were unable to hypothesize the potential threats they may face. They rushed to protect what needed to be protected, the lab containing information and technology that was priceless and directly affected national safety. Despite the havoc on the surface, there was organization amongst the discord. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they should protect… except Riki.
Riki hadn’t been working at the lab for more than a matter of days… and while science was his strong suit… emergencies and critical thinking were not. His brain was more like a computer and he had not been programmed how to handle the lock down. Instead, he focused his efforts on staying out of more knowledgeable people’s ways. He was graced with agility and fluidity in his movements that allowed him to easily maneuver around the chaos. Unfortunately, it was not maintainable and he did not go unnoticed for long.
“Hey, Hey you.” A box of random canisters and jars were thrust into Riki’s hands by a more seasoned lab tech.
“Get these out of here now, they are too volatile to be here in an emergency.”
Before Riki could explain he had no idea where a safe place might be, the lab tech had already darted off, forgetting Riki’s existence as soon as he had finished his sentence. With his box of dangerous treasures, Riki left the room he was in and made his way through the hallways. People rushed here and there, focused on their own tasks and leaving no room for Riki to interrupt them to ask for assistance. The hallways were a maze he hadn’t mastered yet and as he trusted his gut to decide when to turn left and when to turn right, the people became sparser and the lights became dimmer.
It had seemed that Riki had made his way to a much older, less used part of the building. He peeked his head into the doors that didn’t require any sort of security to enter, looking for a suitable home for the box. Finally, he reached a dead end with nowhere else to go but a lone door. Behind it were shelves and tables, cluttered with items time had forgotten. It seemed like the best place for his little box. Unceremoniously, he dropped the box onto a table and headed for the door, passing a shelf that contained countless scrolls.
Curiosity got the best of Riki as the smell of ancient parchment hit him. Most of the scrolls looked like they would crumble if you touched them, some of them already had. They clearly had reached a level that would be considered ancient. As a scientist, he had to know what secrets they possessed. What harm would it be to just take a quick look? He plucked one of the scrolls out of a box and began examining it. It was easy enough to decipher that something had been sealed in the scroll… his mind wondered at all the possibilities. Surely, it couldn’t be anything too dangerous or it wouldn’t be just lying in a box in an unlocked room. He could just check really quickly then reseal it back into the scroll after he confirmed what it was.
He cast a glance towards the door, checking for privacy as his hands began forming the seals to unlock the mystery. The movements with crisp as his slender fingers worked to release the seal. With a little bit of chakra and a soft pop, Riki was no longer alone in the room.
“Well, fuck.” he muttered under his breath as a small girl and a massive dog appeared at his feet with a little pop and a puff of a cloud. He didn’t need to hypothesize about her clan, clearly marked on her cheeks were the red fangs of the Inuzuka. She was so petite that her curls almost consumed her.
She couldn’t possibly be part of the shinobi that had been frozen in time. They had been thawed out for generations. Her leather and fur shinobi garb clearly screamed she very well could, being from an era long past. Riki stood on the cusp of a moral dilemma… how much trouble would he be in for messing around with things he shouldn’t? How much work would it take to deal with this? He briefly considered just resealing her, but guilt held him back.
As soon as Shippo had been exposed to air, thawing had started. While her body was still stiffly contorted, her senses had begun to function long before her ability to move. Much like a comatose patient trapped in their own body, she was like a helpless audience privy to the world around her but unable to interact with it.
The very first sensation to breach her consciousness was a coldness so fierce that it burned throughout her in agonizing pain, losing all characteristics of the cold and tricking the mind into believing one was consumed by the fiery pits of hell. As the iciness receded like the tide being pulled back into the ocean, a hollow emptiness was left behind. It was the kind of void that was so raw and all consuming that if it lingered, it could plunge one into mental disparity and madness. She tried to fill it and her lungs with a gasp of air, but her body still wasn’t following commands.
Instead, the emptiness dissipated on its own as her senses came alive. Her mind had gone from complete and utter silence to an entire village worth of noise brutally battering her ear drums, an onslaught that hijacked her mind and blurred the lines between her own consciousness and the siren infused symphony. If the noise alone was not overwhelming enough, her sense of smell was her greatest enemy in those moments of rebirth.
Being of the Inuzuka clan, her physiology was far superior when it came to senses. She was able to smell things for miles and construct images and build stories from the layers of scent. The new world she had awoken in was bursting with scents that she was unable to place. It was like waking up in a country where you didn’t know the language. Other than Kokeiromaru, she didn’t recognize any of the scents of the shinobi she heard around her. Even the smells of grass, trees and flowers had shifted. While she could at least name them, they were alien to the fragrances she remembered. It was all too much and moisture welled behind and escaped her eyelids, trickling from her lashes and tracing over the red marks on her cheeks.
The massive frame of Kokeiromaru twitched as he regained the ability to move. After a few uncontrolled spasms, he exploded into a protective stance. He positioned himself between his shinobi and the random stranger who stood over them. Every muscle tensed and his eyes were filled with a menacing threat. Confusion had fogged the ninken’s mind. However, it was evident that there were tears on Shippo’s face and she was suffering and unable to defend herself. A growl poured out of him and filled the room with his warning.
Ri-ki put his hands up and slowly backed away, trying to prove he wasn’t a threat. Fighting a massive ninja dog was not something on his bucket list and he highly doubted he had any sort of chance in surviving a scuffle without at least some injuries. Pain wasn’t exactly something he enjoyed. In the most soothing tone he could summon he cooed
“It’s okay boy. It’s okay.”
