And on the third day... (P, nk, IO)

Altar leapt down from the treetops, landing as silently as possible behind Meki. He decided against talking to the boy, thinking of how he might be at a disadvantage due to the head wound. However, as the boy walked off, he noticed him walking at a slight limp. Altar was about to go after the boy, but as he took a step, suddenly a heavy mist surrounded him. It seemed to spread out the lower it got, meaning it came from above. It also made his Meigan useless, seeing as the mist was pure chakra itself. Altar stood, trying to watch from all angles for an attacker. The mist may have come from above, but it was just cover for another angle of attack.

In the mist, a form started appearing. Altar took a fighting stance, his hands close in case he needed handsigns for something. Unexpectedly, Youta walked out of the mist, in the same condition Haru had been in. It was barely even recognizeable as Youta, in the decaying form it took. Altar took note of the sword, being drug by her side. Upon seeing this, Altar leaned slightly back, moving his arms to a cross, preparing for a swipe. Suddenly, Youta had dashed at him, the sword swinging faster than he could react, but just as suddenly, Youta seemed to...dissapear. No, there was something wrong about this. This wasn't right, there had to be a trick.

The scary part was...all of this should be scaring him. He should be frightened. But he was...calm. There was nothing about this scary to him, it was all just interesting. It seemed less like a life and death situation and more like a puzzle. The things, creatures, whatever in here had plenty of opportunities to kill him, yet they passed every one up. Suddenly, realization dawned on Altar.

"None of this is real. Whoever's plan this is, they just want to toy with me, not kill me. I need to find them and stop this. Besides, they can't scare me. It's impossible"  Altar thought, determined now. This was all just a prank. Altar decided he'd had enough of this prank, though it was cool, he had to admit that much. Whoever orchestrated this put a lot of effort into it. Altar decided that he'd need find the ringleader, and convince them to: A) Teach him how to do this stuff and B) Let him out. He was getting tired.

Meki was confused, something that seemed like a zombie had just rushed at him, attempting to rip his throat out, but then vanished as if it were a ghost. All that Meki could think was "I should be dead, why am I alive?". It was then that Meki realized there was trickery at hand, however he didn't know whether the boy was in on it or not. He figured the boy was innocent but he didn't know for sure, should he trust anyone that he's encountered tonight to be friendly? Meki doubted it, However decided to go look for the boy, he wanted answers, and he was going to get them.

Meki walked further, trying to keep his wits about him. Previous events however, had led Meki to believe he was going crazy. He thought perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him, not a person,but Meki realized that it was real. Meki thought of what might happen to him if he attempted to confront anyone in this forest he had no  idea what they were capable of. He was not properly trained to take on opponents like this, who clearly had much skill. Meki sat for a few minutes, pondering possible outcomes of the situation, he said to himself "This could be it for me"

Haru was disappointed with Altar’s lack of fear in the situation. He couldn’t possibly think this was all a joke? The other boy at least reacted as a normal human being should. Perhaps it was the lack of blood drawn that led him to that assumption. He could fix that. The pollen wafted inwards more, moving in to cover almost the entire forest, save for the canopy level, threatening to knock out both of the boys at any moment. Haru climbed upwards a few branches, careful not to give himself away to the two of them.
 
Once more, he prepared to activate Nativity of a World of Trees, to showcase just how much danger the two of them were in. For the two boy’s own sakes, he would slow down the growth of the trees so that they were still rapid, but slow enough for both of them to actually perceive.
 
First, a cage of roots would be grown underground by Haru, pushing out the dirt that filled its center. From the ground, the tree would sprout, weaving in and out of the dirt towards Mekishiko. (Speed is 50) Haru would attempt to make the tree grab the boy by the ankles, gripping him tightly and pulling him to the ground. Once captured, the roots would sprout from the ground, pulling him down, through the dirt, and into the cage, forming a gap in the wood to permit entry, before locking him inside.
 

This gave Haru an idea for a technique… similar to what he was doing here… A hole at the top of the cage permitted entry into the cage, which would hopefully prompt Altar to save the other boy. Spikes would begin to form from the roots, moving in through the openings in the bars, in every opening of the cave. The bars of the cage would flex backwards, as if about to snap shut on the boy, impaling him with spikes in the process. It would be made clear that if something was not done quickly, the other boy would not survive the next few seconds.

Altar stood, looking for a way out of here. It seemed the mist didn't reach the canopy of the trees, perhaps he could use that to get out, at least out of this mist and away from the pollen. As he was about to do so, he looked to the ground. As he did, he noticed what looked like a tree snaking through the dirt in an attempt to grab the boy he had seen earlier. Altar looked on, careful not to alert anyone, hoping that this was just going to be another scare attempt. He realized it may not be so as the tree grabbed the boy's ankle, dragging him down under the ground.

As this happened, Altar would dash forward, sliding into the hole in the ground, finding himself in a cage. Altar would then heave the boy over his shoulders, and attempt to climb and wall walk out of the cage, seeing as they boy had twisted his ankle earlier. Hopefully, they'd make it over the top before the cage snapped. As Altar would near the top, he'd roll over, drop the boy, and say "I saved your life. You owe me, big time."

After saying such, Altar would give the boy a warning about the pollen, then tell him to try to reach the top of the forest. He would then climb a tree, jumping up to find himself on the canopy.

Mekishiko was walking, dazed he noticed roots moving towards his feet. He had no idea how to react, he attempted to run up the tree on his right. Meki got about half way up and fell flat on his back. As he stood up, the roots grabbed his ankle, pulling him underground, Meki closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was in what looked to be a cage that was made out of wood. The bars were bent backwards, looking as though there was a large amount of stress on them. Meki was going to attempt to squeeze between the bars when he realized the openings were to narrowly spaced for him to squeeze through, plus in between bars, were small barbs. Meki noticed a hole above the cage, unfortunately, the hole was not close enough for Meki to get out.

It was as Meki was about to give up, that the mysterious boy dropped in, grabbing Meki and lifting him over his shoulder. The boy then proceeded to jump, and run up the wall. Meki wondered how the boy was doing this so easily, as he had just tried and failed. The boy landed, dropping Meki who rolled. Still on the ground, the boy turned to Meki say that he owed the boy for risking his life trying to save Meki. The boy added that Meki should watch out for the pollen, then proceeded to climb up a tree, trying to reach what seemed to be the canopy.

Haru smirked as Altar jumped into the cage to save Mekishiko. He seemed unaware of the fact that the wood could be freely manipulated. So, with the seal still being held, Haru manipulated the wood at the top of the cage to close, forming a grate so that air could still get in, and effectively sealing the two boys inside the cage. Thinking up a name for the technique on the spot, Haru spoke aloud, naming the attack he had just used.
”Wood Style: Fly Trap”
It was perfect. The cage was the predatory plant, with jaws ready to clamp shut on its prey. The other boy was the bait that drew in the target, Altar. And the pollen was the water to “Drown” his prey.
 

To further prevent escape, he closed the gaps between the bars of the cage and thickened the wood that held them captive, effectively changing the cage into a prison. Then, he would watch and wait. The pollen drifted in quickly, ever closer, until it finally loomed at the bars of the cage. It floated in, slowly moving downwards towards them, until finally, it reached them. The effects would be almost instant. The pollen would cause the two of them to pass out, falling into a state of deep sleep.

Altar dropped the boy, looking in slight dismay as the cage closed overtop of them. Yeah, in retrospect he had saw that coming. It's not like he would've looked forward to being the hero, anyway, he was more so looking forward to someone owing him. Well, now they were trapped in this cage together, and the pollen would soon knock them out. Ah well, it's not like any harm would come to them. This boy was, with all intent, crippled, and Altar was just too damn good looking for anyone to wanna truly hurt him. Of course, his smug attitude had gotten him lashed at before. Well, he thought as the pollen closed in on him, if he was gonna die then he was gonna die. Death wasn't exactly anything he feared.

As the pollen almost touched him, Altar decided to lay down and make himself comfortable. Since he sure wasn't gonna see a damned thing, with all this pollen and mist everywhere, then he'd try to hear something. After a small bit of waiting, focusing his ears, and concentrating, he heard a voice. Far away and indefinite, but it was there. Altar thanked god that he had always had somewhat exceptional hearing. The voice said something about wood and a fly trap, and that he couldn't decipher. However, the tone and way the voice spoke sounded just like...Haru? That was the closest match he could come up with. Well, it appeared that if he didn't die or anything, he'd have some questions for Haru. With that, and the pollen almost laying on his skin, Altar decided to go to sleep. He was going to anyway, and he was feeling a bit tired.

As Meki sat in his wood prison with the mysterious boy, he thought to himself about things like life, death and survival. Honestly, what else does one trapped in a cage have to do? Nothing, As he looked up, he noticed the mysterious boy had not a look of fear, but of confusion upon his face. Meki noticed him starting to get comfortable on the ground.

Meki thought to himself "It's as though the boy is admitting defeat", Meki would do nothing, just sit and watch as the pollen drifted onto his skin. He was in all honesty, a little scared of what might become of him during his pollen induced slumber, but realized that whatever happens happens, there was nothing he could do to change that now. It was at this moment, that Meki felt his eyelids becoming heavier, he let them close and not long after that, Meki was out.

”Dissapointing…” Muttered Haru as his capture plan went off without a hitch. It seemed Altar’s chidori wasn’t effective in this situation, or he simply forgot to use it… The other boy didn’t seem to have any tricks up his sleeve either, Haru almost thought he wasn’t a ninja, but he had seen him at least attempt the wall walking technique before he had been caught. Haru could watched Altar focusing, realizing too late that through total bs he had heard him speak. No matter.
 
He dispersed the pollen by fanning it away with the leaves of the trees, before sending roots down into the cage, opening the grate and lifting the two of them out of the cage. It lifted them to the canopy, where the highest tree sprouted above the rest. The branches of the tree took hold of the boys, wrapping them several times over in vines and wood, imprisoning them once again, leaving them hanging upside down in a sort of cocoon. Haru scaled the side of the tree himself, walking down the side of the branch upside down, and forming one additional pre constructed cocoon prison like the ones Meki and Altar were trapped in.
 
Then, he released the snake seal and tried using the clone seal again, this time creating two clones. Said clones quickly used the hand seals necessary to transform into the bloodied, decaying version of Youta seen earlier, and an unharmed version of Sayuri Senju, the third member of Haru’s ninja team. Finally, Haru preformed the transformation technique himself, turning back into the zombified version of himself he had turned into earlier. The two clones and the original Haru made their way to the forest below to set the scene.
 
The stage was set, and the hour struck midnight. They should be waking up around now. If either of them found a way to see through the dense forest that Haru had created, they would see the clone of Sayuri being chased from above by Haru, who moved on all fours and leaped across the tree branches like a wild animal. From below, the clone of Youta limply dragged her sword behind her and trailed after Sayuri, closing in for the kill. She finally cornered the girl, and swung her sword at her, before disappearing in a poof, using the taijutsu shunshin once again to disappear. The clone impersonating Sayuri stared into the empty space, confused, before Haru leaped down from above, grabbing the girl and binding her hands.
 
They carried the prisoner up the tree, who was unconscious, just as the others were, up into the tree. Haru climbed up the side of the tree the other two boys were trapped in, and placed the girl in the empty cocoon, tightly wrapping her with vines. He then climbed back down the side of the tree to where the clone of Youta stood.
”Your genjutsu is very effective. They never saw it coming.” Haru would say to her. The clone of Youta simply nodded. Haru’s byakugan could be seen activating as he looked around the forest.

”Another one. We’ll have a full army soon enough.” He said, leading the girl downwards to the forest floor again.

Altar awoke, hanging upside down, surrounded in what seemed to be a wooden cocoon, secured by vines. The first thing he noticed was the lack of pollen and mist, so he instinctively activated his Meigan. As he looked around, he saw a faint chakra beside him, he assumed it was the boy who had been trapped in the cage with him. After craning his head forward, he took notice of the twisted leg and god awful white polo, now stained with dirt and debris, and knew it was indeed him. Altar then looked downwards, noticing he was in a canopy high above the rest of the trees. He squinted as much as he could, and managed to see two figures, one running after the other, and a third bounding across the treetops like a wild animal. He shifted his attention momentarily away from the three people, and more towards his current situation.

He found himself, currently, bound in a wooden and vine cocoon. To strong to norally break out of, but not too tough to cut. After what seemed like an eternity, Altar had managed to squirm his arms free of the wood and vines. It was then that he heard footsteps of people approaching. He quickly straightened his arms as they had been before, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep. Altar heard the sound of vines and wood moving, as if forming another cocoon around someone. As the footsteps moved away, he could faintly hear more talking, again sounding a bit like Haru, but he was too far away to really hear anything being said.

Altar would open his eyes, keeping an eye on the pair as he pulled out a kunai, hoping to cut the vines. As he did, he'd whisper to the boy next to him "Hey, you need to cut yourself out as much as possible. Once I do what i'm going to, we'll only have a small amount of time." Altar hoped he didn't need to worry about Sayuri, as he took note of her presence then. She was a seemingly able ninja, and besides, he wasn't sure he'd have long enough to get her out, then help the boy out as well, and he couldn't risk talking to her, as he'd need his voice to be audible.

Feeling the vines snap, Altar would toss the kunai to the boy next to him, forming the handsigns for the chidori. Given that he'd be able to make it, he'd then swing his arms up, cutting through the wood. Then, he would launch himself off his cocoon, grab onto the boy's, and cut through his, doing the same to Sayuri's. Luckily, he managed to make it just in time, cutting the last of Sayuri's open before the lightning diminished. He'd then flip back, landing in the canopy of the forest, and dashing to get across the top and out of the forest. Hopefully, if all went according to plan, he'd escape, as well as save the boy and Sayuri. He hadn't given them warning to get out, but he hoped they'd be smart enough to escape when given the chance.