[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/c16b2d3b-b31a-4721-87b5-a13b829c4c37.png[/img]

[color=9f85ab](Be honest, it doesn’t look that good, does it?)[/color]

[color=888888]— Kurosame[/color][/center]

Without its treasure, the Gashadokuro started to seize up. While it died safely out of reach, Kurosame took a moment to admire the mask. It was far too big for her, but before she could consider strapping it to her oversized hat it shrank down to a more manageable size. And not a moment too late as her foe had one last surprise for her. The shelf beneath her started to move, and the toys were all sliding at her. A perfect test bed for her new trinket. 

Before she totally lost her footing, Kurosame raced along the length of the shelf. With the mask on, the world seemed to move slower. She found she could time her jump perfectly, and glided over the top of a sliding box. By this point, the shelf had fallen against the opposing side, preventing it from falling to the floor. Though the structure was unstable. The shelves were designed so that they could lock into place, but could be removed if lifted up from the front. With the shelf falling forward, many of the upper retail shelves had unlatched when they fell against the opposing shelf. 

By the time everything had come to rest, Kurosame had pulled herself up on the back of the fallen shelf, which was presenting itself as a ramp to the very top of the opposite shelf. She took a moment to survey her surroundings, and became aware of what had transpired.

At least it was truly dead now. 

With this small victory, Kurosame felt a rush of excitement. She had acquired some useful treasure, and proved that she was no less potent in her new form. Her lacquer body was up for the challenges ahead.

Though she had to wonder why she had been selected to receive information about this strange artifact. Perhaps it was a plot by someone else to kill her, or maybe everyone had been told about it. But if it was the latter, then why was she the only one to go after it? Surely more toys would have jumped at the chance to grab something so remarkable. Unless, had they been told about other treasures? Were there more treasures like this?

There were more treasures like this. 

KThe water spreading across the floor let her know something was up. It was raining like it did in a typhoon, so it was hardly a suprise. A window had given out, and now the place was slowly flooding. She hadn't heard the fireworks on account of the shelving collapse. Maybe it would keep flooding, maybe it wouldn’t. The water wasn’t a concern for Kurosame; a fact that didn’t even need to be stated. 

Her next move [i]was[/i] going to be to rush off and find more treasure, but she noticed something on the top shelf. Normally she would write it off as merely a lacquer fragment from one of the toys running around, but its placement was strange. It was on the top shelf and seemed to be overlooking the area. It also lacked any signs of damage, and appeared to be deliberately placed there. The improvised ramp lead straight to it anyway. 

Though as Kurosame neared the part, it became evident that it wasn’t [i]just[/i] a fragment. As she anticipated, it appeared to have detached from something. Then there were the eyes and tentacle-like engravings on the front of it. Yes, this had to be a fragment of [i]Akkorokamui[/i]. An octopus’s tentacles could notably be detached from their body and still possessed something of a will. It was not uncommon for severed tentacles to continue to hunt for prey and feed them into a mouth that wasn’t there. Though a god octopus like [i]Akkorokamui[/i] surely had very formidable tentacles, and likely had even greater control over the severed parts of himself. Though she would have expected such a creature to be far larger and not merely spy on her like a coward. Perhaps it was a [i]Koromodako[/i], or merely a [i]Tako nyūdō[/i]? A punished [i]Gaki[/i] was not out of the question either. 

[color=9f85ab]「この醜い猿、その大きな馬鹿げた目を私に見せて、そこに唾を吐きかけてやるからな?」[/color]

[sup]Translator’s note: Kurosame, while being Japanese in many ways, is still from an alternate world. She does not speak the same Japanese as they do in your world. We will make an effort to translate her words for you and explain any nuances that her elegant language may hold. We will display her original language with her translation so that you can marvel at its beauty while still understanding her.[/sup]

[color=9f85ab](Do you fear me, creature? Is that why you hide?)[/color]

When she didn’t get a response (because she didn’t wait) she continued talking.

[color=9f85ab]「きっと仲間はいないだろうな…」[/color]

[color=9f85ab](cowards aren’t capable of having Nakama…)[/color]

[sup]Translator’s note: Nakama is a word that is used to refer to a non-familial companion that might as well be family. But the word is so strong that there is no English equivalent to it so we have decided to leave it untranslated.

Also Kurosame using the word like this is very shameful. [/sup]

[color=9f85ab]「遠回しに言っても、私はお前の尻を叩くよ。」[/color]

[color=9f85ab](Do not eavesdrop on me again, or I’ll be taking [i]your[/i] face as a trophy.)[/color]

That was something she was eventually going to have to do if she was going to survive, but details, details...

With the flat of her sword, she put the strange device towards the commotion on the other side of the shelf. That was enough wasted time. There was more  treasure to be found. It was time to use her newly acquired speed and see if she could locate anything. Her gut told her there might be something interesting in a corner, so she ran to the closest one she could find, water serpent in tow.