The Temple of 1000 Scurrying Feet (Part I)

Nestled deep, deep within the Shadowlands, laid the remnants of an ancient civilization now cast in eternal darkness.

Akira and company walked between the decrepit, antiquated stone buildings overgrown with coiling thorns and ivies, that looked like some kind of a time-forgotten ancient ruin. Kanna and Ai were walking at either side of Akira to lead the charge, each smiling coquettishly as they held the [Big Business Tie] out in front of her for guidance.

Vash was trailing behind, with his head down low, moping in despair.

'GREAAAT...' He thought to himself bitterly. 'I guess everything's just back to normal now..'

Glancing up briefly, Vash saw Akira's hands cupped around the buttocks of each of her darling concubines.

"Big Sis...has such a gentle touch." Ai said quietly, as she looked across at the smiling Kanna.

In response to this, Akira's posterior grip on both of them visibly tightened, prompting both to break out in vapid giggles.

Vash grimaced in disgust, the burgeoning urge to puke rise up in his gut.

Upon glancing around at his surroundings, in a bid to ease his troubled mind, he was the first to take note of a spectacular sight, on the horizon...

Set high and away from the ruins they were traversing—upon a distant, overlooking hill—there sat a large structure with an enormous, wide beam of light pulsing upward from its towering spire—puncturing through a dense cover of black fog overhead, as it basked the ruins in the valley below in its pulsing luminescence.

"The Tie is pointing toward that weird structure!" Kanna noted in alarm. "It looks like...a temple? I've seen others like it, elsewhere."

Akira turned to her, grinning. "A temple is probably not the place for a HOT bunch like us."

Kanna laughed for a bit at the joke, while Vash secretly wished for nothing more than to hang himself.

Ai...was curiously silent. In fact, Akira noticed she'd been uncommonly sullen, as of late.

'Strange, but whatever it is I'm sure she'll be break out of it soon.'

The party proceeded, up a set of crumbling steps, toward the temple. Past the outer walls, they arrived at a lush, surprisingly well-maintained courtyard—rife with lively fruit- and nut-bearing trees and bushes, as well as a small population of [Level 1] [Squirrels], that could be seen skittering among them.

"So...regular squirrels exist in this world too?" Akira asked inquisitively, with her Squell tail gently bobbing in suit.

Kanna issued a grunt in affirmation. "They're considered as sacred, in the holy texts."

"Holy...texts?" Akira said, raising an eyebrow. "I never took you to be particularly religious."

Kanna smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"I swear, I'm really not. Actually, uhhh...I used to work for a temple."

"Basically, I served as their extra muscle. Whether it be a menial chore, or if any of the monks were in want of an escort through town, I was on call."

"Though, I've never seen a temple this...DEAD, before. Usually they're bustling, full of people."

The entrance to the temple was a set of wooden doors, decorated with engravings of squirrels and blossoming flowers, situated at the very end of the courtyard. As the group came nearer to it, a cacophony of strange "chirping" noises, of unknown origin, could be heard coming from within...

Akira set her ear close to the door, half-glancing back at the others.

"It sounds like...an ANIMAL, of some kind?" She murmured. "A whole bunch of them."

Ai brought out her knives. Kanna, her hammer. Vash...merely shrugged.

Seeing that everyone was ready, more or less, Akira set her hand upon the door handle, and pulled it open, to reveal...

"S-squirrels!" Vash exclaimed, sharing precisely the same reaction as the other three.

Indeed, there WERE Squirrels—squirrels EVERYWHERE—crawling along walls decorated by ornate candlelit shrines and statuettes, the dirt-stained and chipped tiled floors, and partially crumbling high ceiling of what appeared to be a vast foyer. The party had to step carefully, across a ground that was made treacherous by the squirrel's slippery droppings and discarded nutshells, whilst simultaneously having to constantly duck to avoid their aggressive lunges.

The hundreds of small mammals were busily eating, fighting, mating—in a nonstop, undeterred orgy—that Akira and company were forced to wade through.

"I think we should head back!" Vash yelled, to be heard above the ruckus.

"No!" Akira shot back. "Wherever the tie points us, we'll go!"

A squirrel accidentally landed itself on the wide brim of Vash's [Wizard Hat], where it clawed and writhed about angrily.

Wearing a scowl—dreading his life decisions—Vash promptly grabbed it, by its tail, and threw it off.

"Be realistic, 69!" He pleaded. "What business could we possibly have, in a place like this!?"

"There's business to be had EVERYWHERE!" Was Akira's brisk retort.

Just then, the same squirrel Vash had just flung abruptly latched back unto him—painfully digging its claws and teeth into his shoulder in revenge.

Vash broke out in frantic shrieks and yells, as scrambled about trying to shake it off.

The girls seemed not to notice, as they proceeded down a corridor leading out of the foyer, that was curiously devoid of any sign of the furry inhabitants. They walked along it for some time, as the sounds of Vash and the squirrels gradually faded away in the background.

It was growing dark, with seemingly no end in sight, as only shadows marked the way forward.

Ai clung to Akira's hip tightly—seeking comfort. "I don't like it here." She whimpered.

Akira patted her on the back, only thinking she looked so adorable when she was scared. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark!"

Ai shook her head—whipping the sides of her head with her dangling set of black pigtails.

Akira laughed. "So long as the three of us are together, we can handle anything that comes our way!"—she half-turned to Kanna—"Isn't that right, Kan—"

At once she froze, with a horrified look on her face, as it had just dawned on her...

"K-k-kannagi?" She called out nervously, but received no answer.

It occured to Ai at the same time as well—prompting the two to gawk at each other in stunned silence.

Kannagi...had VANISHED.

Just then, they felt the floor and walls start to rumble.

Looking back down the corridor, in the direction from whence they'd come, a huge object was approaching at a fast rate.

Its consistency was an ocean of small parts, constantly undulating. Shrinking and expanding. ALIVE.

Ai stuttered, "A-a-are th-those...the squirrels!?"

Akira gasped when she could finally see it too—that the 'object,' coming toward them, was actually a mass of squirrels!

The sisters took off screaming down the dark corridor, thinking only to escape the frenzied beasts.

At first the mass was catching up to them, but as the duo's [Scurry] abilities kicked in they managed to gain a slight lead.

'This is my fault!' Akira thought, as they continued their desperate run. 'Kanna...Vash...they're—'

They didn't stop until the arrived at a point where the floor ahead gave way to a pitfall.

Akira saw it coming just in time, and leapt from all fours to BARELY make it across.

Glancing back, she saw Ai was still standing, wide-eyed, on the opposite edge of the pitfall.

For a moment, their eyes met...right before the tide of squirrels washed over Ai—flushing her downward, into the pit, as she screamed.

Akira fell flat unto her enormous breasts, peering over the edge, but seeing nothing.

A creeping chill crept up her spine.

'Are there spikes at the bottom, like in the movies?'

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" She yelled, at the top of her lungs into the depths, hearing it echo off the walls but receiving no answer.

'Have I...lost Ai as well?' She pondered, with a seething glare. 'All because...of my greed!?'

It was at that point she turned her attention to the chamber that lay at the end of the corridor, just ahead: wherein four carved stone pillars stood, surrounding a raised pedestal on a dais.

Upon this pedestal, was a golden longbow...that gave off a faint, glimmering glow.

If not for the price Akira had paid to arrive at this discovery, she might have stood in awe. Rather, she quickly snatched up the thing and stashed it in her inventory—not even bothering to check the name—and dashed back toward the pit down which her beloved Ai had fallen.

'All the money and nice things in the world couldn't replace my girls!'

It was the least CEO-like thought she'd ever had, but it was truly how she felt in that moment.

And, it was the reason why—without a SECOND of hesitation—that Akira dove, headfirst, into the pitch blackness.