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HWE Kani Bozou, HWE Hiekegani and HWE Amekiri

About ten minutes had passed since Ruki and Amaro went behind separate rocks to change out of each other’s sight. However when they finally met back up again on the beach… Ruki’s hopes were dashed…

Her eye twitched… where in the Den…

Did Amaro get those?

Instead of the embarrassment of a fundoshi (see: loincloth) Amaro instead had a pair of brown shorts.

“Miko-san is everything alright?” Amaro asked, naively embarrassed still not understanding a single think.

“Amaro-kun… where did you get those?” Ruki replied with a smile on her face that seemed tranquil enough, but was used to hide another emotion…

“What? These swimming leggings? They were leftover outfits donated to the Orphanage a few years ago by Tankenhime-san’s band from the outside world. Why do you ask?” Amaro responded honestly, looking rather sheepish.

An eye twitch. Ruki didn’t know what she was angrier at: the fact that the ‘plan of glorious vengeance for seeing me in wet loincloths through righteous turnabout’ had failed, or the fact that modest swimwear that isn’t a Fundoshi actually *exists* in the Den of Predation and she was unaware of its existence. Needless to say, though Ruki had her eyes closed and smiling… a visible vein was throbbing on her forehead.

“Amaro-kun~” Ruki replied in an almost sing-song voice. “You might want to reconsider your choice of attire~” Ruki then

“Why would I do that, Miko-san—Wah?!!” Amaro replied as Ruki grabbed his shorts and dropped them, revealing the Fundoshi beneath.

“M-Miko-san?!” Amaro balked, his entire face exploding red as now he too was in nothing but Loincloth.

“Better! Now you know how I feel in this outfit. Turnabout is fair play, am I right, Bodyguard san~?” Ruki replied, Amaro proceeded to feel a distinct chill run down his legs, and he was sure it wasn’t the removal of the modest shorts.

It was on this day Amaro received a grim reminder… even without a giant Dinosaur Kaiju, Hoshoku Miko are scary when angry.

A short time later, Amaro having accepted his fate and his embarrassment of such exposure stood on top the rocks looking for something.

“Miko-san, are you sure it is safe to swim within these waters?”

“Positive! Ruki’s head emerged from the water, come on, you’re missing out on something amazing!”

Amaro looked around nervously, one thing that children are told from the beginning in the Den is that swimming in large bodies of water is something that should not ever be done due to the danger of the countless large aquatic predators that could be unseen within the depths. Only fisherman, pearl divers, and other needed professions risk their lives on such matters. So even after being told it was fine by both the Hoshoku-Miko AND the Hoshoku-no-Okami, Amaro still felt numerous reservations of getting into the water. He had no idea what sort of horrors that could haunt here, what sort of primordial spawn that crawled from the chaos of creation dwelled within? Everything he knew about Myth said that creation was a chaotic place where unknown monsters of immense sizes crawled forth from non-existence… and now he is being asked to partake in swimming, undefended with nothing but loincloth, in a lagoon that remained untouched since that very time?

Ruki called again. And against his better judgement he steeled himself. This was a test, he cannot be a coward over something silly like this.

Suddenly without warning, he took the plunge, jumping feet first from the rock into the water. It was deeper than he expected being so close to shore, allowing himself to be submerged completely.

His eyes opened before his head popped back up on the surface and what Amaro saw blew his mind… was this really the same world he was in? Did he suddenly get spirited away the moment he hit the water? The Image of Ruki on the surface away from him shook those immediate thoughts away as he just as quickly shot back up to the surface of the water.

He gasped for air instinctively as he surfaced, he was met with the smug expression of Ruki a short distance away.

“See~ it’s not so bad is it?”

“Uh- Miko-san what did I just---“

“See? We told you Amaro-kun! This Reef is the where the oldest creatures in the Den live. What you saw there were the first types of animals to ever live in the entire world! Amazing isn’t it?” Ruki exclaimed excitedly.

Amaro dove back down to get another look, Ruki’s voice chastising voice telling him to go grab one of the diving masks was muffled by the waves as he went deeper.

Along the bottom was a strange, strange world. Along the rocks of the shore, green mats of what Amaro presumed to be algae mats its face as well as along the sea shore. However out in the deeper water the green mats died out completely. They were replaced with strange stalk or sponge like structures were seen sporadically placed along a relatively barren sandy sea floor. Some of them resembled the sponges he observed from other types of Shallow Reefs, but they seemed different somehow. Most of them were weird vertical cylindrical tops with a flat surface while yet others resembled the pipe like sponges he was familiar with from seeing the outside reefs and waters. Strange sea-weed like structures with multiple holes running down its leaves can could likewise be seen. However along rock faces on the sea floor the barren sandy desert or savannah gave way to a veritable forest of such strange structures.

However what really astonished Amaro was the… things that were swimming around. Out of all of the animals present, Amaro only recognized the Trilobites that were scuttling along the bottom scattering out of his view alongside were conical shells as well as creatures that looked like Trilobites but were soft in body, like a slug and another that looked like a slug covered in leaf-like plates. Other weird creatures could be see as well like something that looked like a Trilobite but with four branches or antennae stemming from its face and around its body freely swimming around him they seemed to have completely replaced fish as there were tons of these creatures swimming around in schools.

Then the creatures started getting weirder: small squid with only two tentacles and… a swimming multi-eyed elephant shrimp? Amaro was at a complete loss of words as the small trunked creature swam past his head. A worm on the sea floor that was covered in and walked on its various spines like stilts, strange large mandible shrimp with their maws permanently outstretched at least, Amaro THOUGHT they were mandibles, a naked “meat weasel” worm that emerged from the sand to devour some creature that swam by, shrimp with ‘two arms’ complete with three fingers each that grabbed a trilobite with frightening speed and began to eat it, swimming worms, fluffy worms, strange blind antennae eels, swimming shield shrimp… the list of bizarre creatures went on and on…

He surfaced again.

“Amaro-kun are you alright? You’ve been under there for three minutes!” Ruki exclaimed shocked, a little worried and closer to him than before as if she got panicked and swam closer.

“Sorry to worry you Miko-san! I got lost looking at everything… its… its so strange down there!”

“I know right? Isn’t it cool? Seriously though, don’t worry me like that, okay? How long CAN you hold your breath for anyways?” Ruki asked, still baffled.

“Umm… I’m not sure? My sensei taught me to hold my breath underwater while under pressure to train me how to survive if I got caught by a water creature or something.” Amaro answered back sheepishly.

“Huh. Makes sense I suppose.” Ruki trailed off.

“Miko-san… um, this might seem weird to ask but…”

“But what, Amaro-kun?”

“Where is the fish? Shouldn’t even a place this old have fish? All I see is swimming crabs and worms and what look like squid.”

“Oh, you must have missed them silly!” Ruki replied while floating on her back. “That’s why you needed diving googles, your eyes aren’t that great underwater, so you tend to miss things.”

“That right? I thought I saw just fine?” Amaro balked right back.

“You did? Huh, must be used to it then, I know a few of traditional pearl divers still prefer to dive without them.” Ruki pondered. “Anyways” Ruki replied as she swam over to Amaro and grabbed his wrist. “Let us go see our oldest ancestors… hold your breath.” Ruki winked and tugged him under.

He was brought back down to the strange alien world. Large shrimp like creatures with a single armored trunked yet only with one eye were seen, the biggest he’s seen so far, being around half the length of his arm. But then his companion beckoned him somewhere else as she tugged him towards a school of what seemed to be tiny swimming worms.

Except they were not worms, instead on closer inspection… the shock of his life, they were very, very tiny fish, albeit resembling the Lamprey or Hagfish that was a delicacy in coastal villages. They were small, but had equally tiny mouths. Before he knew it, Ruki surfaced again and he reluctantly followed.

“Bwah-uh-huh…” Amaro spat as he resurfaced. “Those--- are the only fish here?” Amaro asked baffledly.

“Yep! Well, there are other types, but they don’t look much different to that school we saw.” Ruki explained, while floating on her back, clearly enjoying he heat and the water.

“I see--- Miko-san… care to explain what you meant by our… earliest ancestors?” Amaro asked, still hung up and confused by the previous statement.

“Oh, that. You know how animals and lifeforms change over time into something else?”

“Yes, Miko-san. That is common knowledge to any school child in Yamatai.”

“Well, you know how most big creatures alive today have a skeleton on the inside of their body?”

“Yes Miko-san, but I don’t see the poi--- it was in that moment Amaro realized something. Out of all the animals he had seen in this reef, only one so far had any sort of skeleton. Everything else was either boneless or had a carapace shell.

“So wait Miko-san… you mean those tiny fish are the first animals with a skeleton?”

“Biingou!” Ruki replied with a word in broken English.

“So all animals of the land… all started with those creatures?” Amaro asked looking back under him.

“Well, not ALL of them. Bugs and Worms and Slugs no. But Birds and Lizards and Mammals and Frogs and Fish, absolutely!”

“I see…Uwaah!?” Amaro replied. It was then he felt something BIG bump against him causing him to let out a yelp. It wasn’t as smooth or scaly as he would expect something that size to be, but instead hard like a rock.

“Miko-san! What was what that?”

“Doh~ho, ho, ho.” Ruki chuckled in a faux noblewoman’s laughter. “You see Amaro-kun~ you have just been acquainted with the top predator of the Reef~” Ruki chuckled.

“W-Wait! I thought you said---“ Amaro panicked, surely something that big would be aggressive or at least be curious for a bite of human flesh.

“I said what~? Every location has its top predator, this is of no exception~” Ruki chuckled more as she drifted away.

Amaro’s heart was in his throat. How could she betray him like this? Unless she was--- Amaro steeled himself once more and dove back underwater. It was then he saw the suspect which brushed up against him. The creature was large, by reef standards. About five to six feet long, roughly the same size as Ruki. It was like a giant shrimp, but with a two stalk like eyes and two long raptoran like arms dangled under its body. Between that and the multi-eyed elephant shrimp he saw earlier, these were the two weirdest creatures he’s probably ever laid eyes on that was of natural origin. However, all caution and fear soon left its body as he saw its small mouth, from his experience he knew that such a mouth would not be suited for eating or predating upon creatures its own size… rather it was a akin to a crustacean eater, its mouth designed to crunch small animals after scooping them up with its large arms. While for its time, it may have been the dominant predator and for tiny Trilobites it’s a floating nightmare, but for Amaro, it is a large, harmless giant shrimp.

He resurfaced, Ruki’s giggling being immediately audible to his ears.

“Oh, you should have seen the look on your face~ I haven’t seen you so shocked ever!” Ruki’s giggling continued.

Amaro’s face looked deadpan as he lowered his mouth and nose underwater. Hell hath no fury, like a Miko scorned.

Soon the Sun had moved further along down the sky as a few hours had passed.

Both Ruki and Amaro were resting along rocks, as they let themselves dry in the late-afternoon sun. Amaro trying not to look at Ruki as he feared that he may catch an unfortunate glimpse that make Ruki more likely to catch a ‘glimpse’ at him as well. Wet, loincloth wearing and with a certain facial item he could explain why he found made her beguiling already making those matters difficult as it stands.

Unbeknownst to Amaro, Ruki was likewise trying to not maintain eye contact for similar reasons.

“I… Can’t believe such a place existed.” Amaro cautiously stated, trying to make any sort of conversation happen.

Ruki sighed. Unbeknownst to Amaro a sigh of relief for similar reasons.

“Wonderful isn’t it? A shame that more people can’t experience this place. Thero-kun is worried of this place, and has even gone so far to forbid to most people.”

“Wha-why is that?’

“Because. Humans are a new thing on the world. Very, very young. And the things in the Reef are hundreds of millions years older, from a time where the only thing on land was moss. This is the same reason the old lizard had isolated it from the rest of the Den. Such things come from a time where the dominant predator was a big crab-eating tenta-shrimp, most of things could not survive in the wild waters outside, and thus mingling them or any single invasive creature that comes in may well cause irreparable damage to the reef. And they especially have no defense against people.” Ruki explained.

“I see. So in a way, it is an Ark, within an Ark?” Amaro asked.

“Pfft. I guess you’re right there, Amaro-kun. Thero-kun may be the big, bad, Yokai killing Lord of all Predators, but he also cares for the preserving of all life, even when their environments cannot coexist with the modern world.”

“One would think his ideal of Survival of the Fittest would exclude such things?” Amaro asked.

Ruki’s brow furrowed. “One would think… I don’t know why, but even with Yokai, he doesn’t desire mass extermination until they are extinct, like every species deserves continued existence even though time, catastrophe or being outcompeted by new predators has otherwise erased them… it is he does not want thing to be forgotten, if that makes sense.” Ruki attempted to explain. Distant images of shared dreams between her Kaitheros flashed back in her head: the dripping void that corrupted all it touched, that distant hellfire, the decimation of millions--- that hellish draconic abomination… though Ruki wondered, she knew the reason, but would not even dare broach the subject with even Amaro.

“I guess that all makes sense. Being as something as old as he is, he must have seen countless creatures and things go by through the ages, being the only one to remember them. It must be a great burden to live that long.” Amaro himself pondered.

“Heh, I guess you’re right. Man, I’d hate to be an old lizard too. Wrinkles AND scales? No thank you.” Ruki moaned. Amaro got a chuckle out of that.

“Speaking of which… didn’t those weird creatures remind you of being in a spirit world?”

“Sort of.” Ruki responded. “Some of them did look as though they could be a crab-yokai of some description.” Ruki put her hand to her chin.

“Crab Yokai? Those exist?”

“Oh yeah, several.” Ruki replied. “You know how certain coastal communities put little ofuda on their nets and screen doors at night?”

“Now that you mention it, I do.” Amaro responded, bewildered as to the why, “I never could figure out why though.”

“That’s because of a certain little jerk of a Yokai called an Amikiri.”

“Net cutter? Oh, I see. Makes sense now.”

“Yep. It’s a small flying shrimp-crab thing with what is often a birds beak instead of a crustacean snout, though they are known to have both. Anyways, it flies in at net and *snip* *snip*! Cuts apart your nets! Doesn’t matter if it’s a fishing net, screen door or even a kaya.”

“Wow, that’s fairly malicious. Doing that to a fisherman can ruin their entire livelihoods.”

“Hence why fisherman put up ofuda. Putting up wards drives them away. That said they are easy to exterminate if you catch you one and are otherwise harmless, but since they fly in at random times in the dead of the night, that’s hard in of itself, so best remedy is preemptive warding.”

“I see. Any others I should be wary of?”

“Well there are Hiekegani.”

“Wait, those crabs we collected earlier were Yokai?” Amaro balked.

“Not those ones no. The Yokai in question was created because people thought the shell designs looked like human faces.” Ruki explained adjusting her glasses.

“…you lost me.”

“Let me explain. Those crabs naturally have shells that look like human faces, right? So due to the influence of the Toho plane, when people first saw them, they thought they were the ghosts of samurai possessing the crabs to give them that look one things lead to another and…”

“…and a Crab Yokai is born?”

“Precisely Amaro-kun. Hiekegani Yokai are like Imori in that they are animal that is possessed by the soul of a dead Samurai warrior, albeit they are smaller in number and can vastly vary in size and shape from a variety of crab types, all distinct with their prominent human face upon their shell.”

“They can vary in size?”

“Yes. From regular crab size to human size. They sentient like Imori and know how to use their martial training in accordance with their crab limbs, that said, I don’t think they rebirth after death so we’re safe on that front at least.”

“Okay, less worrying than the Samurai Gecko I guess… so Hiekegani are the worst crab Yokai I should be wary of.”

“No, the worst crab Yokai you should be wary of are some Ushi-Oni variations with a crab body instead of a spider body. But you’re already well versed in that one from our late night study sessions, but there is one other that is a deadly trickster.”

“And what would that be, Miko-san.”

“The Kani-Bozou.”

“A monk that is a crab?”

“Correct. Well, Kani-Bozou are shapeshifters that often take the form of traveling monks and what they do is use their disguises to seep into human society like in a pilgrim hostel or an inn, and then they murder the other patrons in the night. Devouring their remains.”

“Sounds like a typical Yokai alright.” Amaro sighed.

“They do so by clobbering their hapless victims over the head with their claws, which is so hard it snaps their necks or crushes their skulls.” Ruki cringed even mentioning it.

“Eesh, one would think they would use their claws to cut the throat of their victims, that’d be the quick predatory thing to do.” Amaro winced at the gruesome detail.

“Anyways, Kani-Bozou’s true form is that of a giant crab, either man size or bigger. Its shapeshifting is limited to just certain types of people, so its prone to similar tells that plague other shapeshifters, but one glaring flaw is that it likes to tell riddles ot its victims before it kills them.”

“Riddles?” Amaro balked.

“And not even ordinary riddles, but a riddle that specifically gives away its identity. I think the riddle went… What being has eight legs, moves side to side, and eyes looking at the sky?”

“A crab, obviously.”

“Yes, but the correct answer in that situation is to quickly say ‘You’re a crab aren’t you!’ and in doing so, the creatures true form will be revealed, and in shame it will scuttle away never to be seen in that area again.”

“I see. Kind of an obvious giveaway for a monk disguise.”

“Indeed, especially since Buddhist tools like tossing a Vajra at the creature will likely dispel its disguise and ward it off.” Ruki concluded.

“So that’s the worst crab Yokai I would I have to deal with, huh?”

“Essentially. Barring an Ushi-Oni anyways.”

"Speaking of which, supposing I don't have any Buddhist charms on me and I reveal its crab form... but it doesn't run away... how would I kill it?"

"Oh thats simple. You simply try to roll it on its back and attack its weak spot, which is its vulnerable and soft underbelly, for a massive, damaging injury which should do the trick! I mean when revealed its just a giant enemy crab." Ruki concluded.

“Attack Weakspot... Massive Damage... go it. Speaking of which Miko-san… you seemed to know an awful lot about Crab Yokai in particular is there a reason?”

A sudden intruding voice.

“That’s because one of her ancestors decided it was a good idea to hunt down, eat, and then compose a myriad of recipes for any Ayakashi she caught which she then wrote down.”

In doing so, both Ruki and Amaro jolted in shock.

“Oh, Thero-kun, its you.” Ruki panted, relieved.

“Are you finished with your hunt, Kaitheros-sama?” Amaro asked.

“For now at least. Herd is thinned down now and I probably won’t have to eat for a few days, so win-win. Anyways, Ruki, how went your exploration.”

“It went fine. I found no invasive species of note, Thero-Kun.”

“Excellent that is a load off my mind.”

“Umm, Kaitheros-sama if you don’t mind me inquiring--- what did Miko-san’s ancestor do again?”

“Ah yes. That one wasn’t very adept at spiritual arts. Too much of a wild-child, almost feral. But she made up for it by being one of the best hunters the Den had ever had. Though she could do a lot of chants or blessings, what she could do is use her Gohei rod to enchant a weapon, like say, a Naginata and use it for Yokai Hunting. Her adeptness at hunting made her feared amongst Yokai, even more so when she decided to EAT some of the Yokai she slain.”

“Especially Ayakashi.” Ruki added on. “My ancestor was an adept Ayakashi slayer, hunting down sea monsters with a harpoon and rowboat, the only major Ayakashi she hadn’t slain was an Umibozu, but nobody has done that feat, so no loss. Om regards to Amikiri, Hiekegani and KaniBozou… well…”

“I distinctly recall her saying that they “Taste like Crab, Talked like People.” Kaitheros responded, deadpan.

“So she was a real nightmare to Yokai, huh?” Amaro asked, a sweat drop pouring from his head.

“She did create some legend for herself amongst Yokai. Not every day when a YOKAI is the one being hunted and eaten, so she had netted some amount of infamy amongst them there… Anyways, it’s a bit too late to make it back to nearest village, but that shrine is there to accommodate you two.”

With that said, the two’s day was over and they both made their way back to the Shrine to change. In the distance Kaitheros sighed. He had full knowledge of their earlier conversation. Those children were very observant and insightful… if only they knew…

---
Sorry this is late! School Work sucks. Also, HWE stats later. They are just crabs.

Description
HWE Kani Bozou, HWE Hiekegani and HWE Amekiri

About ten minutes had passed since Ruki and Amaro went behind separate rocks to change out of each other’s sight. However when they finally met back up again on the beach… Ruki’s hopes were dashed…

Her eye twitched… where in the Den…

Did Amaro get those?

Instead of the embarrassment of a fundoshi (see: loincloth) Amaro instead had a pair of brown shorts.

“Miko-san is everything alright?” Amaro asked, naively embarrassed still not understanding a single think.

“Amaro-kun… where did you get those?” Ruki replied with a smile on her face that seemed tranquil enough, but was used to hide another emotion…

“What? These swimming leggings? They were leftover outfits donated to the Orphanage a few years ago by Tankenhime-san’s band from the outside world. Why do you ask?” Amaro responded honestly, looking rather sheepish.

An eye twitch. Ruki didn’t know what she was angrier at: the fact that the ‘plan of glorious vengeance for seeing me in wet loincloths through righteous turnabout’ had failed, or the fact that modest swimwear that isn’t a Fundoshi actually *exists* in the Den of Predation and she was unaware of its existence. Needless to say, though Ruki had her eyes closed and smiling… a visible vein was throbbing on her forehead.

“Amaro-kun~” Ruki replied in an almost sing-song voice. “You might want to reconsider your choice of attire~” Ruki then

“Why would I do that, Miko-san—Wah?!!” Amaro replied as Ruki grabbed his shorts and dropped them, revealing the Fundoshi beneath.

“M-Miko-san?!” Amaro balked, his entire face exploding red as now he too was in nothing but Loincloth.

“Better! Now you know how I feel in this outfit. Turnabout is fair play, am I right, Bodyguard san~?” Ruki replied, Amaro proceeded to feel a distinct chill run down his legs, and he was sure it wasn’t the removal of the modest shorts.

It was on this day Amaro received a grim reminder… even without a giant Dinosaur Kaiju, Hoshoku Miko are scary when angry.

A short time later, Amaro having accepted his fate and his embarrassment of such exposure stood on top the rocks looking for something.

“Miko-san, are you sure it is safe to swim within these waters?”

“Positive! Ruki’s head emerged from the water, come on, you’re missing out on something amazing!”

Amaro looked around nervously, one thing that children are told from the beginning in the Den is that swimming in large bodies of water is something that should not ever be done due to the danger of the countless large aquatic predators that could be unseen within the depths. Only fisherman, pearl divers, and other needed professions risk their lives on such matters. So even after being told it was fine by both the Hoshoku-Miko AND the Hoshoku-no-Okami, Amaro still felt numerous reservations of getting into the water. He had no idea what sort of horrors that could haunt here, what sort of primordial spawn that crawled from the chaos of creation dwelled within? Everything he knew about Myth said that creation was a chaotic place where unknown monsters of immense sizes crawled forth from non-existence… and now he is being asked to partake in swimming, undefended with nothing but loincloth, in a lagoon that remained untouched since that very time?

Ruki called again. And against his better judgement he steeled himself. This was a test, he cannot be a coward over something silly like this.

Suddenly without warning, he took the plunge, jumping feet first from the rock into the water. It was deeper than he expected being so close to shore, allowing himself to be submerged completely.

His eyes opened before his head popped back up on the surface and what Amaro saw blew his mind… was this really the same world he was in? Did he suddenly get spirited away the moment he hit the water? The Image of Ruki on the surface away from him shook those immediate thoughts away as he just as quickly shot back up to the surface of the water.

He gasped for air instinctively as he surfaced, he was met with the smug expression of Ruki a short distance away.

“See~ it’s not so bad is it?”

“Uh- Miko-san what did I just---“

“See? We told you Amaro-kun! This Reef is the where the oldest creatures in the Den live. What you saw there were the first types of animals to ever live in the entire world! Amazing isn’t it?” Ruki exclaimed excitedly.

Amaro dove back down to get another look, Ruki’s voice chastising voice telling him to go grab one of the diving masks was muffled by the waves as he went deeper.

Along the bottom was a strange, strange world. Along the rocks of the shore, green mats of what Amaro presumed to be algae mats its face as well as along the sea shore. However out in the deeper water the green mats died out completely. They were replaced with strange stalk or sponge like structures were seen sporadically placed along a relatively barren sandy sea floor. Some of them resembled the sponges he observed from other types of Shallow Reefs, but they seemed different somehow. Most of them were weird vertical cylindrical tops with a flat surface while yet others resembled the pipe like sponges he was familiar with from seeing the outside reefs and waters. Strange sea-weed like structures with multiple holes running down its leaves can could likewise be seen. However along rock faces on the sea floor the barren sandy desert or savannah gave way to a veritable forest of such strange structures.

However what really astonished Amaro was the… things that were swimming around. Out of all of the animals present, Amaro only recognized the Trilobites that were scuttling along the bottom scattering out of his view alongside were conical shells as well as creatures that looked like Trilobites but were soft in body, like a slug and another that looked like a slug covered in leaf-like plates. Other weird creatures could be see as well like something that looked like a Trilobite but with four branches or antennae stemming from its face and around its body freely swimming around him they seemed to have completely replaced fish as there were tons of these creatures swimming around in schools.

Then the creatures started getting weirder: small squid with only two tentacles and… a swimming multi-eyed elephant shrimp? Amaro was at a complete loss of words as the small trunked creature swam past his head. A worm on the sea floor that was covered in and walked on its various spines like stilts, strange large mandible shrimp with their maws permanently outstretched at least, Amaro THOUGHT they were mandibles, a naked “meat weasel” worm that emerged from the sand to devour some creature that swam by, shrimp with ‘two arms’ complete with three fingers each that grabbed a trilobite with frightening speed and began to eat it, swimming worms, fluffy worms, strange blind antennae eels, swimming shield shrimp… the list of bizarre creatures went on and on…

He surfaced again.

“Amaro-kun are you alright? You’ve been under there for three minutes!” Ruki exclaimed shocked, a little worried and closer to him than before as if she got panicked and swam closer.

“Sorry to worry you Miko-san! I got lost looking at everything… its… its so strange down there!”

“I know right? Isn’t it cool? Seriously though, don’t worry me like that, okay? How long CAN you hold your breath for anyways?” Ruki asked, still baffled.

“Umm… I’m not sure? My sensei taught me to hold my breath underwater while under pressure to train me how to survive if I got caught by a water creature or something.” Amaro answered back sheepishly.

“Huh. Makes sense I suppose.” Ruki trailed off.

“Miko-san… um, this might seem weird to ask but…”

“But what, Amaro-kun?”

“Where is the fish? Shouldn’t even a place this old have fish? All I see is swimming crabs and worms and what look like squid.”

“Oh, you must have missed them silly!” Ruki replied while floating on her back. “That’s why you needed diving googles, your eyes aren’t that great underwater, so you tend to miss things.”

“That right? I thought I saw just fine?” Amaro balked right back.

“You did? Huh, must be used to it then, I know a few of traditional pearl divers still prefer to dive without them.” Ruki pondered. “Anyways” Ruki replied as she swam over to Amaro and grabbed his wrist. “Let us go see our oldest ancestors… hold your breath.” Ruki winked and tugged him under.

He was brought back down to the strange alien world. Large shrimp like creatures with a single armored trunked yet only with one eye were seen, the biggest he’s seen so far, being around half the length of his arm. But then his companion beckoned him somewhere else as she tugged him towards a school of what seemed to be tiny swimming worms.

Except they were not worms, instead on closer inspection… the shock of his life, they were very, very tiny fish, albeit resembling the Lamprey or Hagfish that was a delicacy in coastal villages. They were small, but had equally tiny mouths. Before he knew it, Ruki surfaced again and he reluctantly followed.

“Bwah-uh-huh…” Amaro spat as he resurfaced. “Those--- are the only fish here?” Amaro asked baffledly.

“Yep! Well, there are other types, but they don’t look much different to that school we saw.” Ruki explained, while floating on her back, clearly enjoying he heat and the water.

“I see--- Miko-san… care to explain what you meant by our… earliest ancestors?” Amaro asked, still hung up and confused by the previous statement.

“Oh, that. You know how animals and lifeforms change over time into something else?”

“Yes, Miko-san. That is common knowledge to any school child in Yamatai.”

“Well, you know how most big creatures alive today have a skeleton on the inside of their body?”

“Yes Miko-san, but I don’t see the poi--- it was in that moment Amaro realized something. Out of all the animals he had seen in this reef, only one so far had any sort of skeleton. Everything else was either boneless or had a carapace shell.

“So wait Miko-san… you mean those tiny fish are the first animals with a skeleton?”

“Biingou!” Ruki replied with a word in broken English.

“So all animals of the land… all started with those creatures?” Amaro asked looking back under him.

“Well, not ALL of them. Bugs and Worms and Slugs no. But Birds and Lizards and Mammals and Frogs and Fish, absolutely!”

“I see…Uwaah!?” Amaro replied. It was then he felt something BIG bump against him causing him to let out a yelp. It wasn’t as smooth or scaly as he would expect something that size to be, but instead hard like a rock.

“Miko-san! What was what that?”

“Doh~ho, ho, ho.” Ruki chuckled in a faux noblewoman’s laughter. “You see Amaro-kun~ you have just been acquainted with the top predator of the Reef~” Ruki chuckled.

“W-Wait! I thought you said---“ Amaro panicked, surely something that big would be aggressive or at least be curious for a bite of human flesh.

“I said what~? Every location has its top predator, this is of no exception~” Ruki chuckled more as she drifted away.

Amaro’s heart was in his throat. How could she betray him like this? Unless she was--- Amaro steeled himself once more and dove back underwater. It was then he saw the suspect which brushed up against him. The creature was large, by reef standards. About five to six feet long, roughly the same size as Ruki. It was like a giant shrimp, but with a two stalk like eyes and two long raptoran like arms dangled under its body. Between that and the multi-eyed elephant shrimp he saw earlier, these were the two weirdest creatures he’s probably ever laid eyes on that was of natural origin. However, all caution and fear soon left its body as he saw its small mouth, from his experience he knew that such a mouth would not be suited for eating or predating upon creatures its own size… rather it was a akin to a crustacean eater, its mouth designed to crunch small animals after scooping them up with its large arms. While for its time, it may have been the dominant predator and for tiny Trilobites it’s a floating nightmare, but for Amaro, it is a large, harmless giant shrimp.

He resurfaced, Ruki’s giggling being immediately audible to his ears.

“Oh, you should have seen the look on your face~ I haven’t seen you so shocked ever!” Ruki’s giggling continued.

Amaro’s face looked deadpan as he lowered his mouth and nose underwater. Hell hath no fury, like a Miko scorned.

Soon the Sun had moved further along down the sky as a few hours had passed.

Both Ruki and Amaro were resting along rocks, as they let themselves dry in the late-afternoon sun. Amaro trying not to look at Ruki as he feared that he may catch an unfortunate glimpse that make Ruki more likely to catch a ‘glimpse’ at him as well. Wet, loincloth wearing and with a certain facial item he could explain why he found made her beguiling already making those matters difficult as it stands.

Unbeknownst to Amaro, Ruki was likewise trying to not maintain eye contact for similar reasons.

“I… Can’t believe such a place existed.” Amaro cautiously stated, trying to make any sort of conversation happen.

Ruki sighed. Unbeknownst to Amaro a sigh of relief for similar reasons.

“Wonderful isn’t it? A shame that more people can’t experience this place. Thero-kun is worried of this place, and has even gone so far to forbid to most people.”

“Wha-why is that?’

“Because. Humans are a new thing on the world. Very, very young. And the things in the Reef are hundreds of millions years older, from a time where the only thing on land was moss. This is the same reason the old lizard had isolated it from the rest of the Den. Such things come from a time where the dominant predator was a big crab-eating tenta-shrimp, most of things could not survive in the wild waters outside, and thus mingling them or any single invasive creature that comes in may well cause irreparable damage to the reef. And they especially have no defense against people.” Ruki explained.

“I see. So in a way, it is an Ark, within an Ark?” Amaro asked.

“Pfft. I guess you’re right there, Amaro-kun. Thero-kun may be the big, bad, Yokai killing Lord of all Predators, but he also cares for the preserving of all life, even when their environments cannot coexist with the modern world.”

“One would think his ideal of Survival of the Fittest would exclude such things?” Amaro asked.

Ruki’s brow furrowed. “One would think… I don’t know why, but even with Yokai, he doesn’t desire mass extermination until they are extinct, like every species deserves continued existence even though time, catastrophe or being outcompeted by new predators has otherwise erased them… it is he does not want thing to be forgotten, if that makes sense.” Ruki attempted to explain. Distant images of shared dreams between her Kaitheros flashed back in her head: the dripping void that corrupted all it touched, that distant hellfire, the decimation of millions--- that hellish draconic abomination… though Ruki wondered, she knew the reason, but would not even dare broach the subject with even Amaro.

“I guess that all makes sense. Being as something as old as he is, he must have seen countless creatures and things go by through the ages, being the only one to remember them. It must be a great burden to live that long.” Amaro himself pondered.

“Heh, I guess you’re right. Man, I’d hate to be an old lizard too. Wrinkles AND scales? No thank you.” Ruki moaned. Amaro got a chuckle out of that.

“Speaking of which… didn’t those weird creatures remind you of being in a spirit world?”

“Sort of.” Ruki responded. “Some of them did look as though they could be a crab-yokai of some description.” Ruki put her hand to her chin.

“Crab Yokai? Those exist?”

“Oh yeah, several.” Ruki replied. “You know how certain coastal communities put little ofuda on their nets and screen doors at night?”

“Now that you mention it, I do.” Amaro responded, bewildered as to the why, “I never could figure out why though.”

“That’s because of a certain little jerk of a Yokai called an Amikiri.”

“Net cutter? Oh, I see. Makes sense now.”

“Yep. It’s a small flying shrimp-crab thing with what is often a birds beak instead of a crustacean snout, though they are known to have both. Anyways, it flies in at net and *snip* *snip*! Cuts apart your nets! Doesn’t matter if it’s a fishing net, screen door or even a kaya.”

“Wow, that’s fairly malicious. Doing that to a fisherman can ruin their entire livelihoods.”

“Hence why fisherman put up ofuda. Putting up wards drives them away. That said they are easy to exterminate if you catch you one and are otherwise harmless, but since they fly in at random times in the dead of the night, that’s hard in of itself, so best remedy is preemptive warding.”

“I see. Any others I should be wary of?”

“Well there are Hiekegani.”

“Wait, those crabs we collected earlier were Yokai?” Amaro balked.

“Not those ones no. The Yokai in question was created because people thought the shell designs looked like human faces.” Ruki explained adjusting her glasses.

“…you lost me.”

“Let me explain. Those crabs naturally have shells that look like human faces, right? So due to the influence of the Toho plane, when people first saw them, they thought they were the ghosts of samurai possessing the crabs to give them that look one things lead to another and…”

“…and a Crab Yokai is born?”

“Precisely Amaro-kun. Hiekegani Yokai are like Imori in that they are animal that is possessed by the soul of a dead Samurai warrior, albeit they are smaller in number and can vastly vary in size and shape from a variety of crab types, all distinct with their prominent human face upon their shell.”

“They can vary in size?”

“Yes. From regular crab size to human size. They sentient like Imori and know how to use their martial training in accordance with their crab limbs, that said, I don’t think they rebirth after death so we’re safe on that front at least.”

“Okay, less worrying than the Samurai Gecko I guess… so Hiekegani are the worst crab Yokai I should be wary of.”

“No, the worst crab Yokai you should be wary of are some Ushi-Oni variations with a crab body instead of a spider body. But you’re already well versed in that one from our late night study sessions, but there is one other that is a deadly trickster.”

“And what would that be, Miko-san.”

“The Kani-Bozou.”

“A monk that is a crab?”

“Correct. Well, Kani-Bozou are shapeshifters that often take the form of traveling monks and what they do is use their disguises to seep into human society like in a pilgrim hostel or an inn, and then they murder the other patrons in the night. Devouring their remains.”

“Sounds like a typical Yokai alright.” Amaro sighed.

“They do so by clobbering their hapless victims over the head with their claws, which is so hard it snaps their necks or crushes their skulls.” Ruki cringed even mentioning it.

“Eesh, one would think they would use their claws to cut the throat of their victims, that’d be the quick predatory thing to do.” Amaro winced at the gruesome detail.

“Anyways, Kani-Bozou’s true form is that of a giant crab, either man size or bigger. Its shapeshifting is limited to just certain types of people, so its prone to similar tells that plague other shapeshifters, but one glaring flaw is that it likes to tell riddles ot its victims before it kills them.”

“Riddles?” Amaro balked.

“And not even ordinary riddles, but a riddle that specifically gives away its identity. I think the riddle went… What being has eight legs, moves side to side, and eyes looking at the sky?”

“A crab, obviously.”

“Yes, but the correct answer in that situation is to quickly say ‘You’re a crab aren’t you!’ and in doing so, the creatures true form will be revealed, and in shame it will scuttle away never to be seen in that area again.”

“I see. Kind of an obvious giveaway for a monk disguise.”

“Indeed, especially since Buddhist tools like tossing a Vajra at the creature will likely dispel its disguise and ward it off.” Ruki concluded.

“So that’s the worst crab Yokai I would I have to deal with, huh?”

“Essentially. Barring an Ushi-Oni anyways.”

"Speaking of which, supposing I don't have any Buddhist charms on me and I reveal its crab form... but it doesn't run away... how would I kill it?"

"Oh thats simple. You simply try to roll it on its back and attack its weak spot, which is its vulnerable and soft underbelly, for a massive, damaging injury which should do the trick! I mean when revealed its just a giant enemy crab." Ruki concluded.

“Attack Weakspot... Massive Damage... go it. Speaking of which Miko-san… you seemed to know an awful lot about Crab Yokai in particular is there a reason?”

A sudden intruding voice.

“That’s because one of her ancestors decided it was a good idea to hunt down, eat, and then compose a myriad of recipes for any Ayakashi she caught which she then wrote down.”

In doing so, both Ruki and Amaro jolted in shock.

“Oh, Thero-kun, its you.” Ruki panted, relieved.

“Are you finished with your hunt, Kaitheros-sama?” Amaro asked.

“For now at least. Herd is thinned down now and I probably won’t have to eat for a few days, so win-win. Anyways, Ruki, how went your exploration.”

“It went fine. I found no invasive species of note, Thero-Kun.”

“Excellent that is a load off my mind.”

“Umm, Kaitheros-sama if you don’t mind me inquiring--- what did Miko-san’s ancestor do again?”

“Ah yes. That one wasn’t very adept at spiritual arts. Too much of a wild-child, almost feral. But she made up for it by being one of the best hunters the Den had ever had. Though she could do a lot of chants or blessings, what she could do is use her Gohei rod to enchant a weapon, like say, a Naginata and use it for Yokai Hunting. Her adeptness at hunting made her feared amongst Yokai, even more so when she decided to EAT some of the Yokai she slain.”

“Especially Ayakashi.” Ruki added on. “My ancestor was an adept Ayakashi slayer, hunting down sea monsters with a harpoon and rowboat, the only major Ayakashi she hadn’t slain was an Umibozu, but nobody has done that feat, so no loss. Om regards to Amikiri, Hiekegani and KaniBozou… well…”

“I distinctly recall her saying that they “Taste like Crab, Talked like People.” Kaitheros responded, deadpan.

“So she was a real nightmare to Yokai, huh?” Amaro asked, a sweat drop pouring from his head.

“She did create some legend for herself amongst Yokai. Not every day when a YOKAI is the one being hunted and eaten, so she had netted some amount of infamy amongst them there… Anyways, it’s a bit too late to make it back to nearest village, but that shrine is there to accommodate you two.”

With that said, the two’s day was over and they both made their way back to the Shrine to change. In the distance Kaitheros sighed. He had full knowledge of their earlier conversation. Those children were very observant and insightful… if only they knew…

---
Sorry this is late! School Work sucks. Also, HWE stats later. They are just crabs.