Rikunai: Genesis

Chapter Three: Dig to China

Kiki looked down to the ground below as she calmly flew through the air, trying to identify where her team was at. She noticed an empty, rocky clearing several dozen meters wide with Tiomoyo standing in the center. He was pacing back and forth as he spoke to two of the team members. Kiki dropped out of the sky and shattered the ground as she landed behind Tiomoyo, scaring the living daylights out of him.

"How's it going, vice prez?"

"Help." Tiomoyo shakily whispered to Kiki as he spun around, his hands grabbing at his hair.

"That bad, huh?" Kiki patted him on the shoulder. "Well, I think we may be behind a bit, as we don't have a base, and they do... I... Wait." Kiki looked out to the clearing to see that only a handful of the team members were present. "Where is everyone? More importantly, where are our supplies?!"

Tiomoyo nervously chuckled as a piece of the ground underneath them lifted into the air, levitating with a motion of his hand. He didn't specialize in Earth-form, but he could still use it relatively well, as most Li-Nin could. As someone improved their skills with a specific Seidou, the motions required to use and direct it could be reduced to a simple thought, like in Guy's case. Tiomoyo, on the other hand, had to move his entire arm to accurately direct his Reiki to the ground, or create a new mass of Earth-form out of the condensed atoms in Reiki.

Kiki looked down and saw a light inside the new hole. There was something inside. Noises could be heard, noises including human speech and the sound of moving objects.

"Tiomoyo..."

"I present, the mole nation." Tiomoyo chuckled as he dropped down into the hole, motioning for the team members above ground and Kiki to follow. Kiki dropped down as her jaw dropped. A circular tunnel system extending for a quarter of a kilometer was lined with holes for skylights that couldn't be easily noticed above ground, as the skylights were several feet long, matching the depth of the tunnel system.

"Is this... The base?"

"It's a work in progress." Tiomoyo turned a corner and entered a large chamber further into the ground. The team members behind him continued without him, but Kiki quickly moved with him.

Kiki sighed. "Well, vice-captain, why... Why are we moles."

"Just follow me, I'll explain in a moment."

Tiomoyo dropped down another hole with a makeshift ladder made out of hardened clay. The room inside was lit with lanterns provided in the supplies cache the team was granted. The room continued to expand until it reached another doorway with steps leading back up to the tunnel system. On both sides of the chamber were rooms, supposedly for the team members to sleep in.

"How stable is this place?" Kiki asked as a small rock fell from the ceiling.

"Guy says it's stable enough for a night, as that's all we get."

"All of this for some shelter? I mean, it is warm down here, but-" Kiki paused as Tiomoyo darted into one of the rooms. She followed her second-in-command inside to find Guy flipping through a magazine he had brought with him, something about martial arts.

"Oh, hey Tiomoyo-" Guy shot up out of his sleeping bag on an earthen slab as he saw Kiki behind her. He practically jumped out of bed and pushed past him, furiously shaking Kiki's hand.

"It's wonderful to see you, Ms. Akimicha!"

"Uh... You too, Guy. You know we've met before, right?"

"I'm a sucker for formalities."

"...Sure." Kiki stepped past Tiomoyo and examined the room. "How'd you all build this so quickly?! I've been flying for maybe half an hour!"

Guy snickered and swept his eyes to the left as a hand made of hardened earth reached out to give Kiki a high-five. "I'm an artist, and I've got lackeys to do the heavy lifting. Chisel and hammer, miss."