Enter The Swamplands: The Crocodilian Alliance

Training after training, Elias’ mind still can find no peace. No matter how strong he gets, the price of it all weighs on him. Without a doubt if he had one wish, it’d be to go back and save his parents. Maybe he’d even save himself. He could’ve been happy with Jielko and Kaili but it all would’ve been a lie.

The longer he’s out here in the wilderness, the more he learns the truth about the world outside. The truth that his parents died for him to live. So though he might miss them dearly, until his time comes to meet them again, he must live. He must make it count in a big way. Still this rage lives on inside of him.

Byamba had said to keep it locked inside until the appropriate time to let it go. This doesn’t seem to be working for him as well, he’s agitated most of the time and other times he’s off alone. He’s tried counseling with Syn whose introduced him to prayer. He’s tried the whole thing, praying to Gaia for peace, but nothing can silence this anger.

So, today with the permission of the inner circle, Elias has planned a little trip. One of his gifts from the chuunin exams was a summoning scroll. In the midst of all this he hasn’t had the time to actually go and greet his summons. He’d leave a note explaining his absence to the others and upon reaching his training grounds he’d attempt it for the first time.

He’d make a small cut onto his thumb followed by hand seals. “Summoning Jutsu!” And with that he’d summon a large Alligator.

Spoiler:

As a result of Elias' actions, a large plume of smoke would engulf the area. The smoke cloud moved as if it were blown by a strong gust of wind with force enough to knock over a person, if caught unawares. As the cloud began to clear, the already swampy air seemed to intensify in smell while the ground of the immediate area would be washed over by a decent amount of water. The silhouette of a towering figure would come into view before Elias as a loud noise began to boom. The final wisps of smoke would clear completely to reveal the giant gator as he lay on the ground Elias only a couple of feet in front of his massive snout. The booming noise and gusts behind the smoke would turn out to be just his breathing.

Large, jungle green eyes would stare down at the boy who summoned him like that of an animal staring down another of his kind before a fight for dominance. The stare would go on for a good minute, before the gator's maw would open slightly. "...What is this, boy?"

With a large puff of smoke covering the swamplands a strange scent followed. Elias stood there confused by the whole event. This was his first time even seeing anyone use a summon from a contract. When the smoke finally cleared from the sudden gusts of wind, he’d find himself in total shock from what laid in front of him.

Instantly, fear and thoughts of self preservation overcame him. Elias stood there silent and still as if he would become invisible if he did not move. He wasn’t sure if this monster could actually see him since it too remained perfectly still. It was as if the two were having a stare down before the gator would speak! It spoke! At that moment, Elias would all but die.

This was the biggest living creature that the young boy has seen in his life thus far. He wasn’t ready to speak to the summon just yet. Unfortunately, his fear nearly left him with no choice.  It’s been teased before that some summons can eat their masters if they deem them unworthy. So, Elias figured that if this rumor is true then it’d have to be the crocs. They’re villainous even in appearance, definitely not the cuddly types.

“I.. My name.. I need your help Mr. Crocodile. Wait is it Dile for short? No I just met you so formal is good yes? Ehh, sorry, I mean I’m not sorry because I’m dominant and firm! “ Elias stops rambling for a while and takes a deep breath in. He’d then release it and then cover his face with his hands thinking one last thought. “He is a crocodile isn't he?What if these summons are made to be loyal to Nazogakure”. He’d then look at the snout of this massive beast, since that’s all he could see from up close. “I’m going to die aren’t I?”

A large grin would appear on its face as it moved closer to Elias. It was obvious that the boy was terrified and who wouldn’t be in truth? He was a massive crocodile who stood on two legs so he understood that humans would find the sight terrifying and though he had an idea as to the reason why he was here he decided to capitalize on the terror and fuck with the kid. Cornering the boy his rough tongue would lick his cheek savoring his taste. “Dominant and firm? More like scrumptious and delectable. I haven’t had a human in a while and since you interrupted my dinner maybe I should have you instead.” He said with a smile as his eyes stared into Elias’ hoping to get a reaction out of him, then again he did just lick his face so of course, he’d get a reaction hopefully it would be an amusing one.

Yup, Elias was staring into the eyes of his ultimate demise. What he thought would be a step towards great power seems to be a trap set out for him by the republic. Well  at least this is how he’d perceive it in the moment. He just stood there stunned, knowing that there wasn’t much that he could do against such a massive creature.

Elias had only one option at the moment. He needed to persuader his beast that working with him would be the better route to take. But that in itself would require ,Elias to figure out what a monster like this could possibly want that it couldn’t have. So, when the mention of missing out on a meal came to be, Elias had an idea.

A gambit that could possibly save his life and win favor with this alligator. ”Wait,wait,wait a minute!  You... you don’t want to eat me fam. Just look at me , I’m tiny compared to you and I don’t even weigh a full 200 pounds. It’d be such a waste of opportunity..... I have many enemies and I require the support of every crocodilian in this contract.  Many enemies means many more meals to be had, and ultimately a formidable alliance between your species and Exodus. “

Elias would hold his stare knowing full well that he can’t out pace this creature either. He’d have to wait for his response. ”What do you say? Allies? “

It was true that the boy didn’t seem like much but he did eat much smaller prey before so if the boy didn’t hit the spot he could always find another to eat after all the world was filled with those who wouldn’t stand a chance against him if he did want to eat them. “Exodus? What’s that?” He found himself asking since it was something that stood out to him, well that and the fact that he had offered him a bunch of sacrifices just to save himself from being eaten, humans were such a sorry bunch but he would be lying if he didn’t say he was intrigued. “Are you one of those high-ranking missing ninja?”

Elias had brought himself a few seconds it seemed by catching the interest of this alligator. He knew that in the grand scale of missing ninja that Exodus lacked in notoriety. No one was really out looking for them because the worst they did was kill three shinobi and escape. Maybe that was to his advantage though. Maybe if this crocodilian found out that he was affiliated with “bad people” that he’d be quicker to eat him.

Maybe the opposite was true, but either way , Elias didn’t want to stay silent for too long . ” Ugh, Exodus  we don’t consider ourselves missing nin cuz..well we don’t belong to ninja. Not anymore atleast. We can't be missing if we never truly belonged. As our name implies we are liberators and plan to liberate the world from the current governments and unite them under one banner. If anyone refuses, well they can go in peace and live like I’m living now, in the wilderness. That’s no proper way to live fam.  If they comply we will lead them and liberate other nations. Rinse and repeat until we’ve freed all of Gaia .  But for us, it all starts with makin sure the republic reaps what they’ve sown.”

He’d look the massive creature in the eye, not knowing what else to say. The “Eat my enemies  and I’ll help you fight your battles” pitch was the best he had. All that was left was to hope not to be eaten and if he was eaten to hope that he tasted as bad as possible.

The crocodile listened with interest as the boy spoke he had been saying some pretty ballsy stuff which he liked but instead of going along with the kid he would mess with him some more. “So let me get this straight. You want to dismantle the current governments and unite them under one banner? Is that what exactly the Republic is now? The unification of all the villages? You do know that you the villages were at war with each other once so what you want to accomplish seems to be… already done?” The crocodile said reminding about the days when he was just a little hatchling during the village wars, good times those back when his pops was still active. “Besides, what has the Republic even done to you?” He said having been actually curious about this.

Elias seemed to have caught the interest of the massive gator before him. Now he must try to hold its attention long enough to explain a bit further. “Correct. Things must be broken before it can be fixed. Many people make the same mistake of comparing the warring states era with the current era we are in, the republic. Often we forget that the previous era was the allied shinobi era, where all shinobi villages were united as well. During this era, the government that later became the Republic of Five committed heinous crimes against every other world government including the entity that paid a great price to prevent them from possible annihilation. “

Elias would give it a moment to sink in before making things a bit more clear. “The Bachiatari was formed to keep the peace between the Allied Shinobi Nations and the Shogunate. It was initiated by the assassination of a war monger in the shinobi council. The Bachiatari had brought peace to the neutral lands creating a safe haven for all who were weary.  At this time 4/5ths of the world had some resemblance of peace.

This faction also brought rise to the Medjay culture which was fathered by my own bloodline. Since then the ASN had manipulated the Medjay’s forces to further their own military power, infiltrated Bachiatari’s ranks, and attempted to even seize Medjay lands all under the guise of peace. In the very end, it was the same Bachiatari which prevented them from being wiped out by Shogunate and Pandoran forces. After winning the great battle they then called themselves the Republic of Five.”

Elias’ temper begins to flare as he goes deeper into his revelation. “All that, yet my purpose isn’t to avenge the Bachiatari for the injustice done to them. They were fools in the end, who couldn’t sever their personal ties with the ASN. Their ranks consisted mostly of former shinobi, so their hearts couldn’t fully turn away. It was that same heart that lead them towards the ASN's manipulative hands and ultimately to destruction. The republic you speak of is a lie. It’s a mass appropriation of superior bloodlines and cultures that do not belong to them, under the guise that there isn’t anything else. I’ve spent the better part of three months out here in this wilderness and I’ve discovered that there is no shinobi presence out here. Tell me, if you were the only government left in the world then wouldn’t you be everywhere that isn’t inhabitable?  There are people and there are lives out here, why would you confine yourself in a small corner of the world, behind walls? You see, I believe that the shinobi did win the war, but I don’t believe they’re all that’s left. Why else would they still have a military consisting of adults and children? Why still hunt those that leave? The Republic is the same corrupted Allied Shinobi Nation with a name change. Until they fall, the world will remain enslaved by their lie. No one is free until we are all free.”

Elias would think back to his parents and choke up a bit. “As to what they did to me, I rather not speak on it. Some people would rather die than to live one more day in bondage.” He’d nervously put his hand out with his palms facing the gator’s massive snout.” Leaving the lie was the best thing to ever happen to me, but I remain forever scorned by how i left it. I’m not free, I'm shackled by purpose to give the world their exodus. Until that day comes, I will set this world on fire, see the earth alight in truth and blood. Lend me your strength?”