Tsunami of Dead Tears: Part 1

Chapter 6

The next morning, the three slayers looked out at the fort from a distance. It was three layers of walls with one giant keep in the middle. Guards protected every single corner of the fort, with the exterior guards wearing straw hats to shield them from the sun. However, there was a steep cliff directly behind the keep, unguarded.

"That slope would be impossible to climb by hand." Urokodaki said." Hiking tools can't dent a surface that smooth, and anything that can will be loud enough for everyone to hear. Guards don't need to protect an impenetrable place."

"So what do we suggest we do?" Shinobu asked.

"Achieve the impossible." Urokodaki answered. He then pulled out a tool from behind him. It looked like a gun, but with a giant wheel of rope, and a hook-like tip.

"This is a grappling hook." Urokodaki said. "Unlike hiking spikes, this doesn't connect to stone. It connects to soil. Shoot it straight over the side and into the dirt ground on the top, and you're good to go."

Shinobu took the hook and inspected it. It was heavy, but not heavy enough to require two hands to lift. The wood was smooth, the handle fit perfectly in her fingers, and the hook was tough and sturdy.

"Thank you." Shinobu said.

Urokodaki nodded. "Once you get over the cliff, find the floor that Douma is in. Once you find him, give me a signal, and I'll rescue the people trapped in there."

The slayers revised and looked at everything they planned.

"This looks good." Shinobu said. "We go once Douma arrives."

. . .

It was late in the afternoon, and Shinobu and Giyuu both look up at the giant cliff standing before them. Urokodaki was right, it was too steep to climb by hand.

Shinobu took out the grappling hook and pulled the trigger, silently praying it would work. The hook tip shot out like a bullet and clipped perfectly on the ground above.

"It's ready!" Shinobu said.

"Ok..." Giyuu muttered. "but how do we climb it?"

"Well going at the same time would probably pull the hook out, and one-by-one isn't exactly ideal..."

The two Hashiras stood there for a moment, thinking of a way to climb up the rope.

"What if you cling on my back? Or I carry you?" Giyuu recommended.

"What?!" Shinobu's face flared red, embarassed from such an idea. "Why would I want to go anywhere near a pervert like you?"

"You're small." Giyuu muttered out casually.

Shinobu paused. "...what did you say?"

In an instant, Giyuu lifted Shinobu off the ground and hugged her close to his chest. Shinobu was so shocked by this action that she couldn't say anything. Her face just filled red.

"T-Tom-mioka-s-san..." Shinobu muttered.

"Alright, let's go." Giyuu said.

As Giyuu walked along the side of the cliff with the rope in one hand, his other hand hugging Shinobu tightly, he could hear a high-pitched, squeaky sound.

"B-baAa..."

Giyuu realized the squeaky sound was coming from Shinobu. He looked down to see her completely red, head to toe.

"Are you sick or something?" Giyuu asked.

"BaAaAaAkaaa..." Shinobu struggled to squeeze out that word from her lungs, not because Giyuu's grip was too tight, but because she was too embarrassed to breathe.