It was pointless to try his daily salamander count in this weather and Kenzo knew it, especially after the prior night's stakeout but he made a pledge and it was a great excuse to do something stupid. The Surf was up and the currents were wild but he still found himself atop the cliff the salamanders lived under.

It's been a while since I offered myself to you Suitengu-kami. Will you be the one to take me? Is this the day? Life on this island is so nice, it's almost too perfect, except for the promise of danger being constantly denied to me. I may not be allowed to go into the forest but no one said anything about entering your realm. So I bid you test me, kill me if you desire but I pray you make it interesting; I cannot manage much more pleasant conversation before I say something REALLY stupid and the ladies have to be tiring of me.

"WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kenzo threw himself from the top of the cliff, he had meant to do a flip but the wind was strong and he had to abandon it halfway through to fight against it lest he be thrown into the rocks. He went in head first, a sin when cliff diving, but luckily he avoided any rocks and found himself in silence.

The currents were strong and swirling, he had to work hard not to get dragged deeper and all around him seaweed and other debris churned around him like he was in a tornado. He turned and started to swim his way towards the cove's beach, the surge and roll of the waters lowed his pace greatly and it felt like he was swimming through tar. He had wanted to swim all the way to the main beach but the extra work he was having to do meant hi muscles were burning already and he had to surface for a breath.

Working to keep his head above the waves proved harder than the swimming and after only a handful of breathes he dove down below again and stopped fighting, giving his arms and legs a chance to relax. The water pushed him around but thankfully he did not drift far for if he had what happened next would have meant his end.

He hadn't seen it right away, coming at him from his blind side but as he turned he spotted it coming straight at him. Kenzo didn't know much about sharks but he knew they way dangerous. Armed with nothing but his old battered knife he knew he wouldn't win a fight against it but he was unlikely to out run it. He wasn't far from the beach but he didn't want to turn his back on the thing that slowly drifted towards him. Drawing his knife he surged upwards to get more air.

Well I asked for a challenge.

Three quick breathes was all he allowed himself before slipping back under the water. His sudden movement had made the shark curious and it grew closer to him and faster. it wasn't the largest shark he could imagine but, about the same size as him if you didn't take into account it's massive tail. It began to circle him, keeping it's distance for now but close enough to be on him in a heartbeat.

If we fight you cannot win deep one, either you you die or we both die and I do not want to have to explain why I am returning to the village bleeding and carrying a dead shark no matter how delicious you may be.

As he spun to keep the shark in front of him he made sure that they slowly worked their way towards the cove's beach and the tide was with him. Suddenly, once Kenzo was within 10 meters of the beach and was starting to imagine what the sand would feel like under his feet again the shark stopped circling and revered it's direction. Kenzo though that this must mean that an attack was coming and braced himself, but the shark simply left, it's curiosity waned and it glided away in the darkness just as Kenzo's foot found purchase. Kenzo turned and swam-sprinted up the beach and onto land before stopping and dropping to his knees completely out of breath.