Kirigakure Academy: A-maze-ing Tuition

Spoiler:

The field was about 100 yards across, lined with trees, with a large, ornate fountain in the middle. There were thick clouds in the sky, blocking out the sun, and raining a light mist down on the group of students. The long grass blew slightly in the gentle breeze, shaking built up droplets from the blades. The students made their way from the line of trees towards the center of the field. As they grew closer to the statue they could see that it was a giant koi fish. It was carved out of granite with dark black marbling throwing streaks through the bright white. The fish was spitting water out of its mouth in a steady stream landing with a burble in the basin below it. Their teacher, who was leading the group, pointed out a plaque fixed just below the lip of the basin, telling the students to come take a look. Kirigo approached with the rest of his classmates to see what it said. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt with the Kirigakure village symbol printed on the front, and a pair of cargo shorts he’d pulled out of a suspicious pile of clothes on his floor that morning. Kirigo was towards the back of the group of students but he wasn't paying attention as closely as he should've been. He never noticed their teacher slip away, until the first students started to turn back from the plaque. “What's this supposed to mean? Is this some kind of trick?” One of the students asked, his voice irritated. That's when Kirigo finally noticed, it was just them, just the kids. He squeezed through the crowd to get to the plaque finally managing to read the manage that had confused and upset his classmate


As he turned back to face his class the ground began to rumble, like a train was approaching them, then out of nowhere a large circular wall sprung from the ground about 10 yards out from them. There were 8 exits on the wall, each spaced evenly apart, one in each of the cardinal directions and one set directly between each of those. Kirigo could hear the sound of more rumbling and figured there must be more walls past this one, probably all the way out to the treeline. He approached the wall and placed his hand against it, pushing to get a feel for how hard it was, it was definitely solid rock. He wasn't gonna be strong enough to just bust out by any means.

“Ok, maybe we can work together to get out of here guys. It seems like we have plenty of time so let's just keep our cool.” Though he wasn't exactly keen on making friends, he’d seen how some of them performed in front of the class on their first day when they all thought he was sleeping. He didn't need them losing their cool and just running around the maze. For all he knew this could be a team assignment and he wouldn't be passed even if he did make it out alone. Plus he hadn't really learned anything he thought would help him out right this second, choosing to learn techniques he’d found interesting before more practical ones, regardless of how useless they might turn out. If one of his classmates happened to know something useful to them he couldn't turn them down now. Kirigo turned back to face his classmates. They were all looking at him, waiting for him to finish talking. He lowered his gaze ground for a moment before speaking, “Is there anyone who can make it to the top of the wall to take a look around? Or someone he thinks they have-.” The words caught in his throat as brought he gaze back to his classmates, and the fountain. The fish had stopped spitting water and there was now a thick mist spilling over the edge of the basin. Rather than spreading out in coiling tendrils like a regular mist it seemed to form a layer about 2 inches thick as it crept across the ground. Kirigo’s eyes widened as he realized something wasn't right. The rest of the class turned to follow his gaze to the fountain, and just then it happened. The mist reached the feet of the first couple students and immediately climbed, coiling around their bodies until they couldn't be seen before dissipating leaving nothing but a bloodcurdling scream in their wake.

Everyone began to panic pushing and shoving, trying to get to one of the exits as quickly as possible. Kirigo spotted an opening in the crowd and took it, dashing towards the only clear exit he saw, not having time to check his direction. He could hear screams behind him as more of his classmates fell victim to the mist. He didn't know what it was doing to them but he didn't want to find out. He looked back over his shoulder and he could see that the mist was just making it out of their starting room, chasing behind him at a steady pace. He wished he’d spent more time training, or even thinking, about becoming a ninja before he just up and started the academy. Since coming he’d realized exactly how ill-prepared he was. Most of his classmates had been training for the academy their whole lives, born from clans that had spent generations honing their techniques. And here he was the child of some small-time shop owners who had just up and decided he wanted to be a ninja one day. He stuck out his right hand, trailing the tips of his fingers against the wall. If he followed it all the way it should lead him to the exit. Now he just had to hope that he didn't run into a dead end. It didn't seem like the mist was gaining on him so he should be good as long as he could avoid that.

Kirigo could still hear the screams of his classmates every now and then. He was beginning to wonder if this maze even had a way out. He’d been running forever it seemed like, his fingers trailing the right wall. He had stopped making as many turns, so he’d figured he might be getting closer to the outside, but the passages just kept going. He was starting to run out of energy and the mist was steady trailing behind him. If he didnt get out soon he was gonna be caught. Kirigo put the last of his strength into one last burst of speed as he saw another turn approaching ahead of him. He was definitely going to work more on his speed and stamina after today, if he passed  today. He thought he could hear tree leaves rustling to his right which gave him a renewed sense of energy. He pumped his legs as quickly as he could and swung himself around the turn. Finally breaking free of the maze he ran face-first into another student, both of them crashing to the ground with a grunt.

He sat there catching his breath and waving his hand at the kid in a dismissive apology. He didn't have the energy to care about knocking him down right now. It looked like his whole class was here, though some of them had their heads hanging low, as if disappointed in themselves. Kirigo figured they must be the ones who didn't make it out of the maze before the mist reached them. He looked behind him at the opening he had just come shooting out of. The thick mist had formed a solid wall against the other side of the entrance but wasn't spilling out, almost like it was being blocked by a pane of glass. Suddenly the rumbling sound returned and the ground shook as the walls of the maze began to descend back into the depths they'd risen from. Once they'd sunk there was nothing left but the fish statue standing in the middle, once again spitting out water into its little basin.

[EXIT]

WC-1360

Claims:

Kirigo Hanade wrote:
[EXIT]

WC-1360

Claims:

Approved!

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