A Big Fish in a Small Pond [Closed Training]

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~ 1920: 90 Years Ago ~

To survive over the years he had needed to feast upon many souls; as he had caught his prey they often struggled or attempted to elude him. Thus he had come to fight many times and in many different ways. His experiences over the years had taught him much; however what stood out most clearly to Loki was his increased awareness of their own grievous – even unforgiveable, limitations.

Many of the souls within Verlassen disagreed, for they had managed to kill their prey on almost every occasion and the few who managed to elude them had quickly been replaced by other morsels. However Loki was not convinced, We have been lucky thus far, he argued, our enemies were far weaker than we. Had our opponents be of our own standing then things may have been very different. Among the Nameless there was instantaneous acceptance, for He Who Had Named Them had spoken. Indeed even among the Named; who were more likely to argue their own beliefs, there were none who could deny this.

So it was that Loki of the Verlassen begun his efforts to bring their skills in line with their strength; for what use was brawn without the brains to use it?

~Cero Training~

Ironically, their greatest failing was that of their most powerful weapon. Their Cero was like a sword, deadly indeed; yet the sheath that held the blade was too tight and rusted. The time it took to fire their cero made it useless against all but the slowest or most damaged of foes; but against such an enemy there was no need to use such a powerful attack in the first place.

Tilting back their head, Loki opened their jaws revealing a terrifying array of razor sharp incisors with two large snake fangs jutting from the top lip. Gathering his reiatsu he began to concentrate on collecting it all up towards the single spot between his open jaws. The faint reddish brown haze solidifying into a small ball no larger than a walnut; as the increasingly powerful ball was formed, the colour darkened slightly, until with a roar – it was unleashed at a dune nearly forty feet away. The dense ball of energy all but disintegrated as the force within was freed, blasting forwards. It tore through the air, shaking slightly under its own force as it streaked across the ground, slamming into a sandy dune and blasting a huge spray of sand and smoke into the air surrounding the site.

As their vision cleared Loki looked critically at the damage he had dealt. The crater had already begun leaking in sand from the sides which surrounded the depression; this was the reason Loki had chosen this site – no matter how he threw about their reiatsu, it would cause no permanent damage to this place. As he looked at the crater he was happy with the size, indeed it was nearly twice his own size and nearly half as deep. But the time it had taken him to charge the cero was so long, that; had they themselves had stood but forty feet away, he could have ensured they not only dodged the blast, but managed to close the distance and strike down their would be assailant, before it was finished. Though the potency of their attack was satisfactory, the speed with which they could use such a devestating weapon was not. Rather than it's speed in flight, what they needed was to be able to more quickly prepare the cero for use.

Again he readied himself, opening his jaws slightly he began gathering towards the slightly glowing point the reiatsu he was already releasing; yet this time he went one stage further, tapping into his reiryoku he began converting it to reiatsu, this too he was sending directly to the glowing sphere. The increasing intensity of the reddish brown orb quickened slightly; rather than the gradual increase it had experienced before the cero this time formed slightly more quickly as it took on a darker tinge. Once more a beam of dark reddish brown light blasted into one of the sand dunes. Though the crater it had left was no larger, Loki's hopes were buoyed; while no more powerful than previously, the attack had been completed more quickly than before. There was still work to be done though, for the slight increase would have little effect in most battles, they needed to further hone this approach.

Over the next three hours he continued his efforts, working on gathering both the reiatsu that they were constantly emitting, as well as newly coverted reiatsu at the same time. Little by little the results began to show; the limitations of using only the reiatsu he usually emmitted slowly began to fall away as he focused on being able to convert their reiryoku into the technique's reiatsu more readily. Perhaps the same concept could be used for other techniques, yet his efforts had focused solely on the Cero itself; the reiryoku had been converted to reiatsu within the mouth, ready to be transferred almost instantly to the growing Cero. On the other hand, the reiatsu that they emitted normally, came from their entire body; it meant the gathering of energy was far more time consuming - yet the amount of energy used was the same with either approach and so too was the damage.

That, however caused Loki to wonder what would happen if he continued to gather energy for the same amount of time as he previously had; curious, he determined that he should find out. Opening their jaws Loki bagan to gather the reiatsu from all across Verlassen's body, collecting the energy that would otherwise have seeped away and been lost; at the same time within their mouth and tongue he began concentrating their reiryoku, releasing it towards the mouth's opening as he converted it into reiatsu. Rapidly the darkish red brown orb of energy appeared just before their mouth, far more quickly than he had been able to do so at first; yet he did not stop there. Instead Loki continued to pour forth his energies into his creation, sweat began to bead at his brow at the strain of it, the pain growing with every passing moment past the time that the orb had readied itself. As the energy increased the cero began to grow imperceptably larger, yet as he struggled under the efforts to continue, the sphere began to shake in response.

'No Good!' Realising they were at their limit, Loki unleashed the cero. With a rumbling roar it charged forth, a beam of light equally as thick across as they themselves stood tall; slamming into a sand dune fifty feet from their current location the cero exploded into a plume of reddish brown energy. As tiny grains of sand dropped around them Loki shook their head slightly, 'If we charge the energy so quickly, then we cannot charge it for as long as we previosly could.' The strain of holding the energy stable would simply become too large, the result would be... Loki looked at the crater their energies had formed, nearly half again as large as the original one and just as deep. Had the cero detonated earlier... 'We will not charge it longer than it takes to form, unless we absolutely must!' Loki swore vehemently. Had his stupid little stunt there gone wrong, what had started as simple training would have killed them due to his own stupidity. As the one who controlled their body and their energies he owed them better than that.

~Hand-to-Hand Training~

After training their energy in such a brutal fashion Loki had little desire to continue in a similar vein; instead, he suggested that training their own phyisical capabilities was something that they should concern themselves with. Less dangerous than their previous training, it would also allow their energies time to recuperate and help them survive in times when they had little energy to spare or no opportunity to use it. But what would be the best way to train their energy? Looking down at their human like hands Loki realised the difficulties they faced were unlike those of other hollows. They were a cobra, that was without question for no matter how they shaped the gel around them the fifteen feet core was undeniably a serpant.

'Should we train without having used our Gel at all; a snake as we are in our natural form?' Loki mused to the other souls within Verlassen. He allowed the gel to dissolve then sunk down onto their belly; a moment passed motionlessly before he suddenly reared upwards, their cobra hood expanding as they loomed near twelve feet in the air; like a flash he suddenly darted their head downwards, mouth agape as if to bite an invisible foe. That done he pressed their belly against the floor once more, then slithered forwards as quickly as they could; as he reached their imaginary opponent he lunged to the side, rising slightly as he did so he contracted the muscles along their undersides sharply, turning him in a circle as they wrapped around their non-existant prey, crushing it'sbones.

That done he uncoiled; Loki concentrated for a moment, from between his scales the Gel began to seep, encasing his hood in a moatter of moments it began to resolve into a shape. After nearly ten seconds more had passed, Loki lowered their body lightly, returned them to their new made feet as the veneer of human form was completed; his movements were slow and deliberate as he stretched slightly - though it was not something that a creation of Gel required. 'Or do we train as a human, with which we can best demonstrate our skill?' Cocking their head to one side, Loki concentrated on the hand before their face, throwing a jab he quickly opened their fist slightly and closed it with a snap as if grabbing something, pulling it towards them; as he pulled backwards, he lowered their stance throwing forwards their elbow in time with the returning punch, it was a move that required skill and coordination, the ability to move their human like joints in a way that the Gorilla's could not easily copy.

So thinking, he focused on their shape once more; around the human form a new shape was beginning to emerge. Bloated, the emerging 'costume' was the one that bore the strongest resemblance to Loki's own form as he had appeared as a newly born Hollow. 'Or do we rely on brute power and speed?' So saying, Loki bound forwards over the dunes, the hulking figures speed was not to be underestimated as he slammed both palms into the dune before them, creating a one foot deep depression in the dune's base and caused the top of the dune above to shift, sending small trails of sand to scatter downwards. Yet Loki paid it no need as he shifted his weight, swinging one immense arm donwards through the sand as if through water - the massive muscles unperturbed by the feeble resistance the sand offered - and upwards in a massive uppercut. He used the momentum to lift their torso, so that their weight rested on the Gorilla's inhumanly developed back legs; instead the Gorilla's arms dangled from their vast shoulders, before speeding forth as Loki took a step forwards - the two arms caught an imaginary figure in their clasp; hands the size of a dinner plate closing on it's throat.

Sinking back to the ground, Loki allowed much of their weight to settle on their tail. 'What should we do? How should we train?' Loki mused, 'Do we focus on learning one style, like a martial artist in the human realm? Do we concentrate on a single form?' In truth there were hundreds, maybe thousands of possible answers - many of these were suggested by the souls within Verlassen, some suggested that they should pursue Karate a form of self defence one of the souls had grown up with, another suggested that they should focus their efforts on their snake form, because their gel might be ineffective against some opponents. Yet other souls suggested that they train each form they could use, that they should study every style of martial arts, that they should heighten their strong points and redevelop their weak ones. There were so many suggestions it was hard to tell which came from what soul; were they to attempt to implement them all then they would need to live for a hundred life times.

It was Gertrude, the old farmer's wife that suggested a reasonable compromise, 'Perhaps we should train in a different style for each form,' she reasoned. A powerful and influential mind she was often silent, save for when the other souls in Verlassen could not determine how to procede, she was also a strong supporter of Loki; it was like the relationship between a kindly grandmother and her grandson, though she let him do as he pleased, she was not afraid to advise him or even tell him off should the situation warrant it. In this occasion it seemed the old woman had decided the constant arguing of the souls was not being helpful, 'In each form train with a style that best suits it's strengths and minimises it's weaknesses.'

It was a sensible argument, though it might be difficult to select a good style for each form it would doubtless be easier that trying to use one poorly suited for their body, 'Yet which would suit....' The combat style for their snake form was easy enough to work out, all they needed to do was to copy that of other snakes and reptiles; yet for the other forms it would be more difficult. Determined to find a good match for each form they could assume, Verlassen snuck into the human world, scouring for an appropriate insight. It prooved surprisingly difficult, yet as time progressed he began to see a pattern.

For the snake he could focus on striking with speed like a cobra, using his length to crush opponents like a python or even use his tail itself as a weapon, though he had seen few snakes doing so; instead his best example of that was from one of their close reptilian relations, the crocodile. Given the snake's natural abilities it was likely the best they could manage, the most notable feature of the snake was it's ability to strike once very quickly or to exert great pressure using their body, yet the attacks were simple - a dubious condition to rely on in battle.

Given time to train them sufficiently, his human form would be able to copy almost any of the different styles he had seen; that was a given - if a human being without any spiritual abilities could manage it then so too could he in a body that provided the very same functionality. The human like creation of Gel was able to move just as freely as the humans themselves, and the tail could perhaps even be used to assist in some of the jumping maneuvers they used, the human form would take the longest to master for it was almost limitless in its possibilities.

However, it was the Gorilla that proved the most challenging to find a good suit for; it was too bulky for many of the eastern styles of martial arts, with their focus on fine and exacting movement; instead the body was more suited to larger movements. After a great deal of searching those that Loki found that seemed to suit their nature were the Russian Sambo as well as Greco-Roman wrestling. The two styles often featured much larger movements which could be adapted more easily to their large frame. In addition they could be used to more easily cope with the lack of agility, instead relying on the larger form's natural power and speed to make up for any shortcomings.

Loki spent several years watching and parroting the practitioners, all the while doing his best to stay out of the watchful eye of the Shinigami by supressing his reiatsu and moving from one location to another, never staying at a single site for any long time.

~ 1926: Hunting ~

It was nearly six years later when he made his way back to the desert. Though he thought he was in a similar position as he had once trained so long ago; it was difficult to tell in the constantly shifting desert, which spread into the distance, as far as the eye could see. Standing there without his gel protection made him feel vulnerable and weak, it was a truly unpleasant sensation and so he resolved to get this over with as quickly as possible - but first he would require a suitable target. In his Gorilla like form he scanned the area carefully in case there were any true predators about, it would not do to attract small fry if there was a dangerous foe nearby. He found nothing that seemed out of place, instead he began suppressing his reiatsu level; this had become his preferred style of hunting these days - by making himself seem weaker it helped bring his meals to him, he didn't need to chase them at all, instead they emerged confident of the kill. It was a hunting method that ensured even the most passive among the souls within Verlassen were satisfied; by suppressing their energies they attracted only those souls that were violent anyway, should a non-violent soul be attracted then it would not attack them and therefore was not their enemy.

An aggressive creature appeared quickly enough, within just twenty minutes; their would be attacker was a four feet tall red frog like fellow, with four legs, two human like arms and a thick golden brown mane like a lion. Sure that it would soon feast upon Verlassen's bones the creature attacked without hesitation. 'Foolishness,' Jun, the Shinto priest mused sadly to the other souls amongst Verlassen, 'such is the nature of both ourselves and our fellow hollows.'

'Perhaps,' Loki conceded, 'but we should be thankful that there are those who would come to us, else we would run out of 'enemies' upon which to survive.' There was an agreeing murmur from the souls within. Though they might be saddened by the plight of their fellow hollows it was also an opportunity - because they too required souls to survive it was an easy means by which to sate their own hunger, yet at the same time those hollows that would otherwise do violence were pacified, unable to harm anyone from within Verlassen's own belly.

As the frog gathered its legs underneath its bloated torso, it shot forwards rather than upwards; the hips of the strange frog legs propelling it parallel with the ground at high speed. Behind their mask Verlassen's face tightened in concentration, there was no time to consider philosophy or the nature of the universe when their lives were on the line. Pushing their tail against the ground, Loki lifted their weight using the thick muscular length as he pushed downwards with his highly developed Gel back legs; as he did so he shifted his weight to the side, pulling him sharply to the left then released the tension in his tail - the result was a shallow crescent shaped path which kept their weight close to the ground as it quickly repositioning his mass to one side of the charging hollow's heading. Sweeping out their right arm Loki unleashed a tight hook, the Gorilla form's natural arm position lending itself to the sideways movements of Hooks and haymakers as well as the upwards motion of uppercuts. The powerful blow grazed the frog as it struck both right legs into the ground, turning its headlong flight into a sudden flanking move; after regaining a little distance the Frog like hollow carefully measured its steps as it kept the distance between them of three feet constant despite Loki's attempts to alter it. Tilting back its head, the frog sent its tongue darting forwards at great speed, over and over; unable to dodge the attacks, Loki snarled in rage. Their experience with Russian Fist Fighting had taught them rather quickly that while this form might have very hard knuckles from walking on them all the time, while on all fours their forwards punches like jabs and straights lacked distance and were clumsy; should they rise up to their hind legs it might be a different story though.

With a rumbling roar Verlassen stood up on their hind legs, looming over the creature before them at nearly twice its size; that too was a problem - for the top heavy form of the ear would easily overbalance with the forwards punches it required to make the distance - and that was before trying to punch DOWNWARDS, which would cause them even more problems. Without even attempting to engage, Loki grimaced; the Gorilla's likelihood of beating the frog with hands alone seemed doubtful with its speed and agility. While in the human realm Verlassen had looked for a style of kicking that suited this large frame, yet the search had been fruitless, the Gorilla's cumbersome structure generated great force, but as a result the shoulder and hip joints were unsuited to such manoeuvres. Were the frog to come into their range, the training they had undertaken with grappling might bear fruit, but as it was... Chunks of Gel began to fall off of Verlassen's form as it stood there on their hind legs, shielding their head from the countless blows of the Frog's nimble tongue; tipped with a black barb it darted forwards, carving furrows in the Gel carapace. After a few attempts to grab the swift tongue - Loki realised that such an attempt would merely allow their face to be exposed yet gain them little benefit, for the sharp tongue was too fast for their thick, powerful fingers to grasp.

More and more gel fell to the sands below, now it fell at a rate faster than the tongue alone could account for. As Verlassen shifted to their Human form the very first thing they reshaped was their arms; thinner now, the slightly shorter limb whipped up like the beak of a crane, as Wuzuquan's (the Five Ancestors style) Fujian White Crane crisp movements came to the fore, helping Loki catch the frog's tongue as tried to continue its relentless assault. Caught off guard by the sudden shift in speed, the frog's reflexes failed it, and soon the black tipped pink tongue was held firmly between the clear gel fingers. As the rest of their form finished changing Verlassen stood before the amphibian as a snake, wrapped in the trappings of a man. Their cold, merciless emerald eyes promised revenge.

Their lighter form was more agile and allowed them to demonstrate their skill more fully. Pulling sharply on the tongue, Loki kicked off the ground ever so lightly, as he used Their tail to provide the forwards momentum. Rotating in the air as he pulled; the move turned into a swift but graceful, sideways somersault through the air, as he finished it by twisting his hips as he began to rotate, slashing a vertical kick downwards at the frog's head with the heel of his left foot in a beautiful show of the Chángqúan or Long Fist movements within Wuzuquan. The top of the frog's head depressed slightly and there was a cracking sound from the mask as small chips broke off from near the forehead, the tongue in his hand dangled limply, crimson droplets staining the white sand beneath his feet. With his tongue ripped off the frog screamed in rage, two more tongues appearing in its place they snapped forwards as the frog screamed, causing a wave of force like a stiff wind to push into Loki, slowing Their movements as it kicked backwards to gain yet more space between them. The two tongues spat forwards like twin lashes, whipping backwards and forwards with enough force to create a sharp cracking sound. Yet now Loki was prepared for it, crouching lower he assumed the form of Lost Monkey, for a moment he looked to the right hand tongue as if confused, then dropped lower still, falling over like a Drunk as it incorporated the strange almost unreadable movements of the Drunken Monkey.

No longer seeing an easy meal, it had long since decided to seek easier prey, yet the opportunity to run away would not be forthcoming. The frog seemed perturbed by the unusual stances and moves, the tongues aiming at spaces they thought Verlassen would be in; as the Monkey and Chángqúan movements seemed to compliment each other Loki was able to begin closing the gap, despite the Frog's frantic attempts to maintain distance. Yet as the frog attacked so many times, even the Monkey and Chángqúan would be hard pressed to evade them all with their larger yet unpredictable movements, so as they moved, Loki began to incorporate another of the Wuzuquan; the Fujian White Crane's dodging movements, allowed Loki to slip gracefully aside where necessary.

By now the frog was shaken, two black tipped tongues had become six as the creature scrambled away, no longer did it kick the ground so smoothly, there was a clumsy, panicked edge to the movements as Loki took a deep breath, relaxing his body as he began to incorporate some of the breathing aspects of Da mo – Wuzuquan used the breathing to help regulate the body, now he soothed his form, something Loki had found useful, even though his ‘body’ was one of Gel. As they closed to within four feet, Loki’s movements changed once more, this time Wuzuquan’s Luohan quan was used to suddenly step forward; the sudden direct move was a change of pace now that the tongue’s range advantage had been neutralised. Steeling his gel as he hardened the broad flats of his chest and abdomen with more reiatsu, Loki administered Da Mo’s tiě shān or iron shirt by inhaling slightly and tensing. The point blank blows of the tongue scored thin cuts across the gel and exposed segments of the scales of his tail, his face protected as his hands fended off the blows that targeted the thinner defences of his head, the movements were like a crane grooming its feathers.

As Loki close within striking distance however, it was with Wuzuquan’s (the Five Ancestors style) sixth style, the Dim Mak that truly shone through. Striking with a fist folded at the first knuckle like a chisel, Loki thrust sharply, favouring speed and precision over raw power. His target was one of the pressure points on the meridian line, the centremost line running from the middle of the top of the head all the way down to the groin, at various points along its length there were clusters of nerves or joins between bones – places were a small amount of force could deal a disproportionate amount of damage. The place he struck was the celiac (or solar) plexus –the sharp blow driving the wind out of the frog’s lungs as its diaphragm spasms uncontrollably. The frog huddled over in pain as it tried in vain to fill its lungs, yet Loki was not to be denied this opportunity. Striking again, this time they he struck with a single knuckle downwards, just above the frog’s collarbone causing the frog’s body to drop downwards.

With Their opponent floored Loki grabbed one of the creature’s arms by the wrist, using their Gel like hands to secure the limb, twisting it as they straddled the shoulder of the downwards facing hollow, resting their weight on the downed foe while using the arm bar to immobilise it. The Sambo techniques might have been better suited to the strength and longer limbs of the Gorilla, yet the human form could easily match the skills if not the raw power.

~Turning the Tables~
(OOC: This NPC hollow can use the standard Crecer, but is VERY proficient with it)

Though he intended to use their position in straddling the shoulder of the Frog; to gain superior leverage, so that they could break the opponent's arm - things didn't seem to be going as easy as he had thought they would be. Though only the width of a standard human arm, the limb on the squat body of the frog seemed thick by comparison - indeed even as he gripped the limb it seemed to thicker still, the veins pumping as the limb became engorged, swelling as the muscles doubled then tripled in size. Beneath the base of Verlassen's tail the change was in the Frog's torso more dramatic still, the bloated body of the frog expanded so quickly that it upset Loki's balance, pushing his weight forwards as the heavily musceled arm beneath him rose, flicking Verlassen's body off it as if the fifteen foot long snake with it's six foot tall human carapace weighed next to nothing. Yet as Loki landed and looked back in disbelief at the frog ten foot behind them he noted the marked change in their opponent. 'Holy cow!' George the sneak theif whispered in amazement; Loki wordlessly agreed.

No longer a mere four feet in height, the Frog now easily loomed over their own, not inconsiderable height; at eight feet, the previously outmatched Frog was an imposing sight indeed, as it looked down at the chargined mask of Verlassen. There was a strange coughing sound from the creature and Loki realised in irritation that the creature was laughing at the sudden reversal in their fortunes, no longer the smaller less powerful hollow, the frog's muscular bulk was a much more imposing figure than the dwarfed Verlassen. 'It's not just the size either,' Loki thought silently within the Verlassen, 'The increase in strength is just as exceptional.' Though Loki's balance had been upset by the sudden growth of the Frog's torso underneath them, their grip had been broken with mere arm strength - something that Loki found difficult to relate to the previously scrawny frog. The mass of bulging muscles before them now seemed a completely different opponent than the one that they had finally managed to outclass. With a sudden forwards step Loki kicked their back foot off the ground, their next step was smooth and direct - an efficient forwards move as they attempted to guage the still growing creature's defences. Punch after punch landed ineffectually as their kick's made little impact other than to ripple the muscle of the now foot and a half thick frog legs. Even a flick of their own heavily muscled tail up to the floating ribs produced nothing but the wobbling of the frog's lard. No longer standing eight feet it now measured a full sixteen feet, the improbable creature like something out of a horror story; rolls of fat covered bulging muscles as the previously small but squat creature took on mind boggling proportions.

Yet the answering blows were clumsy and slow, the giant like arm's reached ponderously for Loki's illusive form, it's tongues flickering out with noticeably less speed - easily evaded and with room to spare. Since it had grown, the frog remained stationary, sitting down where it had pushed itself to its upright position - even that had been done with much shaking of it's far thicker legs. 'Still,' As Loki controlled their movements Gertrude made the observation, 'While we cannot harm it as easily and getting hit will be a much greater problem-' She cut off momentarily as one of the flailing tongues streamed past, nearly one foot thick now the tongues would not just cut scratches in their gel and scales - the force of the much slower tongues would be enough to impale them completely. '-It seems that the increase in size is not without it's cost.'

Darting forwards between the Frog's clumsy attacks, Loki hammered in quick blows in succession - yet even directly attacking the weak points of the body as dictated by Wuzuquan's Dim Mak gave little result. 'We just aren't strong enough!' Samanatha cried in frustration, though they could now evade the creature's attacks with ease, once they did attack there was no benefit - sooner or later they would slip up and that would be the end. 'Before we couldn't get close and NOW we can't do anything even if we DO get close.' Had she a foot, she would likely have stamped it in anger.

Yet that very frustration was the key to Loki's inspiration, as they moved Loki put more distance between them and their opponent, beginning to gather more and more gel into their form, the Gorilla like limbs and torso formed as the extra gel surrounded the human costume they wore. Their movements began to dull slightly, yet while the difference between their speed and the Frog's diminished, it did not dissapear altogether and they still managed to elude the clumsy grasps of the frog. Pushing forwards once more - striking the outside of the creature's front right knee as he did so. There was a satisfying crunching sound and the frog threw back it's head, roaring with pain - yet even before the sound began, Loki dropped to all fours and spun his tail, using the four powerful Gorrilla limbs to lift his entire weight off the ground and smash the full force of his tail into the inside of the Frog's right rear knee. Even as the joint shattered under the force Loki wrapped Verlassen's tail around the creature's wrist and pulled downwards. The creature's bulk momentarily resting on Verlassen's back as they used their much lower position to lever the vast weight of their opponent, throwing the frog in a move vaguely reminiscent of a sambo hip throw. As the frog met the ground there was a sickening crash as the immense weight suddenly impacted the sand headfirst; the ground below them opened up and they fell into the Menos forests below.