"Well, I have to ask. What was your purpose in coming here? And when do you plan on leaving?"
The Chieftess' golden eyes fell onto us, her chakra leaking as she looked at us with a cold gaze.
Shivering, I took a breath before saying "The place we come from wanted to know what was over here; we are on an... exploration mission, I guess. We'll leave soon enough, unless you have something you wish us to do?"
Sighing, the Chieftess leaned back into her throne, looking over at Hailyte.
"Well, you believe me now when I said they weren't here with bad intentions? I am a good reader of people, Hailyte."
The older woman just nodded, her own golden eyes looking towards her leader.
"Good! Well, we don't have much for an outsider to do; if it's something you wish to physically take with you, hunt to your hearts content. Our metal workers are open to you, if you want new blades. However, we deal only in flesh, hide, and bone. The better the quality, the more you get. So unless you offer yourselves to someone, you need to hunt well to get anything."
"Chieftess, if I may ask, what are your weapons made from? I've never seen a metal like that before."
Chuckling, she drew the axe on her hip, revealing the blue metal axhead. I watched in amazement as the blade was coated in chakra, looking like it was producing the chakra on its own, that's how palpable it was.
"This is something we call Chakra Metal. Surely you've seen something similar? It is abundant in some areas in the forest."
I nodded slightly, my eyes glued to the axe.
"We have something similar, same name and all, but the conductivity of the metal isn't that strong. Besides that, is the handle made from bone? Why is your chakra traveling across the entire axe?"
The Chieftess shrugged, placing the axe on her hip before saying "I'm no smith, so I have no idea. As for the handle, yes, it is bone. In fact, that was the leg bone of the first animal I ever hunted!"
As she finished, I saw her take a breath, her eyes glowing as she smiled wide.
Sadly for her, the other Priestess' and one of her mates, Eecrya, stepped forwards and shook their heads at her, making her slump into the throne as she muttered to herself.
Hailyte stepped forwards, giving a warm smile as she said "Well, if you wish to earn your keep here, we do have something that you could help us with."
Cameia, the Priestess of Darkness, looked at Hailyte, speaking coldly.
"Hailyte, you would ask that of the Outsiders?"
Chuckling, the older woman nodded, looking back at us and saying "There is... a creature deeper in the forest, called a Basan. It is a large bird that has immense control over chakra. We've been meaning to organize a hunt for it, but..."
Trailing off, she looked back towards Rekyses, before sighing.
"Well, some of us preferred to leave it be; to not incur its wrath. However, knowing that a creature like that roams so close to the village is... worrying. We would need to either send a large party, which would cripple the village until they returned, or we, the Priestess', would go. If you all accept, two Priestess' and Beldia will join you. Succeed, and we shall have the best smith make each of you a weapon, as well as something else that we decide on as a reward."
Turning her gold eyes to us again, Hailyte remained quiet, watching us.
Looking back at Anko and Kurenai, they returned my glance and remained still, leaving it to me. We needed something to bring back, and I still wanted to... 'spread my wings' a bit, I guess. An open forest like this? Filled with bountiful game, ready to be hunted?
Besides, the Hawk was still here, and that in and of itself was a bountiful reward.
Pursing my lips, I said "Let me think about it, and discuss it more with them."
Hailyte nodded, before turning back to the Chieftess.
"Well, take this. Show it to the guards when you leave and enter; without it, they will attack you. We've had too many Bakemono, or shapeshifters, in recent times. The damn beasts around here are getting stronger every year, and yet..."
Sighing, the Chieftess looked up, towards the three statues that surrounded us, before tossing a small medallion our way.
Looking at it, we noticed that it was made from bone, and had a seal inscribed on it. The medallion was tied to a cord, and I made sure it was on properly when I tied it to my vest.
Nodding at us, the Chieftess made a shooing gesture, looking back towards her mates. Seeing that, the Priestess' shook their heads before exiting, us following behind them.
All the Priestess' walked in separate directions, Sacoybe and Yunache, the sisters, being the only ones to travel together.
They were all instantly swarmed, and we chuckled when they all reacted differently.
The sisters smiled kindly at their people, eventually reaching a building and entering alone.
Rekyses and Vaolses both carefully observed their women, before picking one and walking into their houses.
Celete simply took three, throwing them into her house with a grin before slamming the door.
As for Hailyte and Cameia, both ignored the various women, entering their buildings and disappearing from sight.
Looking at Anko and Kurenai, I led them back to our temporary house, sitting at the table.
Sighing, I looked between them, asking "So, should we leave? Go home and tell the Hokage that this place is utterly insane, and to not worry, since they don't trust anyone from the villages? Or stay, hunt, and potentially manage to get some great resources and the like? I mean, we still have a Tempest Wolf corpse."
Kurenia pursed her lips, pinching the bridge of her nose as she said "I think... it'd be better to stay. The resources are to compelling... I mean, we all felt the chakra radiating from the animals, right? Anything made from those will be strong..."
Anko nodded, adding "Besides, it seems fun right? A whole forest untouched by humans for Sage knows how long... What could we find? Maybe there's something insane here... besides, I think we should see if Koko can get her contract with the Hawks. That would be a boon to the whole village, not just us. Besides that, I really, really don't feel like traveling back through those mountains yet..."
I chuckled, saying "Well, I guess we stay. I have to admit, the idea of getting a new Chokuto made from Chakra Metal is quite enticing..."
Anko and Kurenai nodded, and we fell into discussion, deciding what and where we should go while we were here, in the untouched Land of Demons.
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Sorry its short, but my family wants to watch something and I already had half this done, so...
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