A short time after the Chief's announcement, the aforementioned group of elders along with the two guides and Cha'Kwe'Tza were gathering for the trek to the base of the mountain. There was a large amount of chatter amongst the natives, but Cha'Kwe'Tza kept mostly to himself amongst the elders. There were ceremonies and rites of passage from his homeland where speaking out of turn brought great dishonour. With this in mind, Cha'Kwe'Tza felt it best to err on the side of caution and remain silent until someone spoke directly to him. He also thought that speaking too much would also draw unnecessary attention to him, and in turn raise more questions about the mysterious disappearance of Natsumi.

Once all of the elders were grouped together, they all started to create a line that looked like a shallow bowl. Reaching out to nudge Martin, the guide quickly and silently positioned Cha'Kwe'Tza to stand between himself and Dennis. As the line was formed, it seemed to Cha'Kwe'Tza that the order was a mix of age and position within the village. The chief headed the line followed by the elders, each a little younger the further down the line. Dennis stood ahead of Cha'Kwe'Tza while Martin and a handful of others finished the line. As time passed standing in the line, Cha'Kwe'Tza thought about asking one of the two guides what was happening when two of the village women stepped from the rear of the chief's house.

Once carried a large bowl and some sort of rough spoon shaped object made from wood. The other held an ornately carved wooden stick a few feet in length that tapered from a round point to about the size of a closed fist. The pair slowly made their way down the line of men that were heading up the mountain. The woman with the carved stick stopped in front of each man in the line, first pointing it towards the summit of the volcano before bringing it down to touch each shoulder and then carry on to the next in line. Following her, the woman with the bowl was dipping the spoon she held into the bowl. The substance that she dug out seemed to have a thick body to it, as some would ooze back into the bowl. As she moved down the line, the man in front of her would bow slightly, and she would spoon out a small dab of the dark goo, and make a few lines on the exposed face of whoever stood in front of her. When she got to Cha'Kwe'Tza, she dabbed the few lines onto his face and the bridge of his snout, and in addition added more along his chest, arms, and even his belly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      


At the base of the mountain, the procession stopped. It seemed that they were to await the arrival of the sacrifice. A few of the elders exchanged words with each other, but it was done quietly. Along either side of the path, a small scattering of villagers stood to observe the arrival of the sacrifice from the side. As figures came into view further down the path, Cha'Kwe'Tza saw that a small group of men escorted a small figure. It walked with it's head down, and covered with a veil. This group stopped about ten feet short of the village chief. Staff held up, the aged man stated that glory awaited the girl, and that she would save the village. This was followed by the applause of those that had come out to watch this part of the ceremony.

The cheering was cut off when a disembodied voice spoke from near the chief. Some of the elders looked about with fear on their faces, but most kept straight faces. The voice seemed to be coming from the very staff that the chief held, and it was admonishing the wielder for his choices on the yearly sacrifices. Amongst the people lining the pathways, whispers broke out. With an annoyed look on his face, the chief watched as his staff stuck a wooden tongue at him before going inanimate again. Looking back to his people, the chief raised his arms and called to them, "People of Apoy! Calm yourselves, please. This is just mere trickery from the girl. You know that she has displayed some talents at magical ability before. Do not fret." This seemed to settle the crowd's whispers at the least if it didn't calm any of their fears.

Joining the group of escorts and the sacrifice with the elders, the chief led them all on the path towards the summit. One of the elders near the head of the group started to struggle a bit on a steeper part of the trail sending a small shower of stones bouncing off into the bushes. This prompted two of the men that came with the sacrifice to move up and help support their elder so that he could continue all the way. Up and up the path the group walked while off in the far distance, the sun sunk ever lower towards the horizon casting an orange glow on everything in sight. It was around this time that Cha'Kwe'Tza felt the pathway underfoot change from stone and dirt, to a sharper edged stone that gave off some of the heat from within the volcano itself.

[OOC: Meh. I figured I'll just do this now and take a break tomorrow instead.]
 
For most ordinary folk, the kind that do not perform well under pressure, the chief's revelation would have come as an unwelcome surprise. Natsumi had not sensed any magical capabilities in Sayen when they first met, and so the leader's accusation of magical talent came as a shock to her. It was not the most helpful of things to discover at the last minute, seeing as a great majority of the rescue plan revolved around using magic to mimic a curse. If the village girl Natsumi was trying to save actually possessed magical talent already, it would be far more difficult for her to pass off the false curse as something of the volcano god's making instead of her own.
 
Thankfully, the woman was anything but ordinary. While still partially unfortunate, the truth nugget of Sayen's past revealed to her by the chief said much about the local culture. For example, it told her that the education level for the commoner in the area, especially on matters of magic, was especially low. Even if Sayen was truly talented on a genius level, no seven year old mage would be capable of animating a staff as expertly as Natsumi had, let alone at such distance. The fact that the villagers didn't know this spoke to their gullible nature; that they believed so unquestioningly in their leadership that a few honeyed words were all that was required to instantly pacify them. They would be easy to trick, even if their elders were not. That was Natsumi's saving grace, and one she would exploit as best she could in the moments to come.
 
In the meantime, however, the ceremonial march continued. The disguised woman spotted a lumbering Cha'Kwe'Tza in the mix as she went, and decided to warn him via secret correspondence. Whilst the climb escalated in slope, she invoked a miniscule amount of luminance; and wove it through the air to form completely benign writing, close enough to the lizardman's eye so that only he could read it.
 
'Cha'Kwe'Tza, be prepared for everyone on this island to suddenly harbor lots of ill will toward me. Let it never be said that I'm without compassion, or that it doesn't sometimes screw me over. -Natsumi' Dismissing the light, Natsumi ended that hidden memo with a minute portion of her will. A lone elder stumbled ahead of her just as she did so, presenting a perfect opportunity for mischief. She wasted no time in exploiting that chance, loosening the ground underneath the old man with earth weaving magic as soon as the two guards in front of her departed to assist. That terrain would continue appear stable, at first, supporting the trio long enough for the oldest to be helped to his feet. Nevertheless, once that task was accomplished, all three lost their footing. The dirt gave way to a small scale rockslide, and sent the three men tumbling down.
 
"Protect the sacrifice," shouted the captain as his remaining men hurried the veiled Natsumi over to the side of the path! The captain held out his spear to try and save some of his allies, but the combined weight was too much for the implement to handle. The torque of the impact snapped the spear in two, and, while it served to slow the two guardsmen enough to prevent them from falling further, the elder slipped from their grasp. He continued to roll violently downhill until his neck broke upon the mountainside.
 
Staring in disbelief at this development, the captain was clearly enraged. He suspected his ward of treachery – thanks to the chief's words – of being a murderer; but he could only watch in annoyance as that same girl continued to climb the mountain in silence. As angry as he was, there was no evidence that the disguised Natsumi was responsible for such a sudden death. Even if there had been, he couldn't harm a religious sacrifice outside of the chief's direct orders; and those orders had yet to come.
 
For now, only the ascent could exist in the absence of revenge. The humbled guardsmen reluctantly resumed their positions, and left the elder's corpse for later. They would return after the ceremony to pay their proper respects, but, until then, they were drawing too near to the summit to allow for distractions.