This sort of work was beneath him. Beneath everyone who called Tojo home as far as he was concerned, but it had to be done, they could hardly leave rotting corpses scattered around the maze- the bodies of those who hadn't been fortunate enough to flee when the tides turned last night. Naturally, he did not intend to let them just scurry back home unscathed, but he saw this as a more pressing matter one that had to be dealt with here and now. He grimaced as he followed his nose, the scent of decay already settling in amongst the leaf litter. It wasn't even simply a matter of collecting the bodies, but of disposing of them too.  

Disgusting. Perhaps he ought to have kept one alive, made them do the dirty work before burying them with their kin.

Áskell woke to pain flowing down his back and hind legs. The hellish night before had left him busted and bleeding and of particular concern was the feeling of pins and needles up and down his hind legs. Despite Ari's attempts the sensation still plagued him. Ari spread a cream on his back where he'd been bitten, something the monkey said would sooth the inflammation and ease his pain. He'd then been ordered to rest but he simply could not bear it just yet. He needed to see these creatures in the daylight, see what destruction the night had wrought. He went out to the source of the battle and saw Hattori there, eyeing the bodies. His nose wrinkled. There were already signs of scavengers having picked at the corpses. "Shall we give them to the sea when the tide goes out?"

Trauma was not something Nami was entirely unfamiliar with, but she'd never experienced death up close and personal like this. She wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to feel about it all though and the feelings she did have felt misplaced somehow. Like she somehow wasn't entitled to them. She was fatigued when she finally awoke and only when she started moving did all those emotions flood her, like a dam that had abruptly failed. Though she was sore and bruised, she wouldn't complain because she was fine, she was alive.

The same couldn't be said for some of the intruders.

The scent of death and decay was already heavy on the air long before she entered the maze. That was not all she noticed, though - a few wolves had already arrived, no doubt to begin cleaning up the mess left behind. This was there home, after all. Even if it was hard they couldn't leave bodies here to waste away and attract more unwanted visitors. Her nose wrinkled as she found her way to Hanzo and Askell, her expression solemn, if not a little perturbed. "How can I help?" She was not a healer who could tend to the injured, nor someone who could begin to unpack the reasons why this had happened - she could, however, do grunt work if it was needed.

Everyone in Tojo-kai had taken a toll from the invasion. Other than a spare few, none had gotten away without a scratch or bite. The youngster was still nursing a few wounds himself when he figured he should get some exercise. It would help his muscles from tightening and getting sore. Making sure to lengthen his stride and keep his body relaxed, Akito seemed to be paying more attention to his movements than his direction.

When the tinge of copper mixed with pack mates hits his nose, he pulls up, head lifting, monochrome eyes shifting about. He had made his way to the bloodied scene of disaster. Hattori, Askell, and Nami stood, looking rather dour and he couldn't blame them. There were many bodies to take care of.

Akito lets out a huff at Askell's suggestion. "Undeserving. Should leave them for the predators outside of Tojo," he grumbles, the agitated note obvious in his tone.

"speech"

Hattori exhaled as he listened to his pack mates speak, he was not particularly bothered by any of them. His bad mood wasn't anything they ought to take personally, as if he did not wish to speak to them right now, he would have said as much. It was an issue, what remained of those who had tried and failed to tear down everything they had built together. His ear flicked, throwing them out to sea was an option but he was concerned about the stench of death drawing predators into the bay, something he wished to avoid if possible. It was a hassle to get them out once they'd settled, sharks and seals were suited to the water far better than wolves were, after all.

He glanced at Akito, again it wasn't a bad idea but he didn't want the local scavenger population to get the wrong idea and hang around more often than they already did. Of course, they could drag the bodies further away, but that was a lot of work, grim work, and not entirely something he wanted to subject his people to. The stink was already starting to get intolerable, and the corpses were still relatively fresh.

"What else?" He prompted, hoping for more brainstorming.

The youngest of the group spoke up not long after she arrived, expressing disinterest in the idea that they give the bodies to the sea. Undeserving, he expressed. Her brow furrowed tightly as she considered, both what Tojo-Kai might think as well as what she personally felt was a deserving resting place for said intruders. "I agree. They do not deserve to be brought out to sea. Even if we do choose that option, I worry their bodies might wash ashore and draw predators toward us," she confessed, carefully considering. Though Nami often appeared to be outwardly chipper and easygoing, her mood was quite dour now.

"Another option is to tie something heavy to them - their paws, maybe - and bring their bodies further out. Would be a hard job for us, maybe take a few wolves for each corpse, but we wouldn't have to go out as far as if we tried dragging them far from our borders. Let them be food for their sharks." A possibility that hit a little too close to home for her. Nami grimaced. A sea burial was a resting place far too kind for these intruders, but the wolves of Tojo-Kai did not have the same beliefs as she'd been raised with, so she tried to put that thought to the side. At least the sea creatures could feast on their corpses, letting them grow stronger instead of drawing predators all around the borders…

Áskell glanced at Akito. "If we leave them for the predators it must be very far from Tojo. We don't want to attract more to our borders. What can be done to minimize any following a blood trail back to us?"[b] They needed time to rest and recover. Even as he sat there he could feel the pain in his low back growing, his left leg beginning to tremor. He felt a hand on his shoulders and glanced at Ari, his macaque. "Áskell, your wound?" He nodded. [b]"See what you can do with it.".

He tried not to think about the chance of paralysis, that he could in any way be affected permanently by the attack. Instead he shifted his focus back to the bodies as his companion started working on a covering for the wound. "There's always burning. It does not need to be in a respectful way. We can disassemble and rearrange the bodies in… uniquely disrespectful ways." He grinned and chuckled at what he would do if such a thing were allowed but the smile faded swiftly at a flash of pain.

Áskell cleared his throat. "If there was an island nearby, we could swim the bodies there, the water would minimize a trail and the bodies could be left for the seagulls with little risk of them floating back to us. Are there any such island nearby? The closest place to Tojo I can think of is the Swallet Ring. It is not an island but we could dump them in the ring itself.

Akito is silent as the others speak their opinions. Weighing them rocks would work and so would swimming them to a nearby island, but all of that sounded like a lot of effort for mongrels that attempted to kill them all. Askell's morbid suggestion of burning piqued Akito's interest. Not that he was a cruel boy, but it sounded easy, efficient, and would keep predators away. Letting out a quiet hum of agreement, he turns to Hattori.

"Burning them sounds the most efficient. It'll clear their scents and we won't have to use as much energy," his words are straight forward as they usually are. No beating around the bush, no sense of humor, just... Akito. "Plus, they don't deserve anything nice. Whatever is best for us," he nods his head, gritting his teeth together to help push down the feelings of rage he still had leftover from the attack.

"speech"

The conversation continued, and Nami listened thoughtfully. She'd given her own thoughts on the matter and she wasn't torn either way on what they did. At the end of the day, she was happy to contribute what she felt and thought, but Tojo-Kai was bigger than just her - whatever the group decided she would not complain about. Áskell seemed to take their ideas into consideration, seeming to linger more closely on the thought of burning them. Despite what they had done to their own, Nami wasn't sure she herself could bear to disrespect their corpses, but she wouldn't blame the others for feeling so inclined. But such things just weren't in her nature.

Despite what she'd offered, it seemed burning was the best option, at least the one the few of them had leaned toward. Where were the others, anyway? She supposed some would want to avoid the carnage, and she didn't blame them for that, while the others were tending to their wounds and making sure everything else was in order. Surely there were wolves on strict patrol around their borders now as well. "Burning sounds good to me, then. Should we bring them just outside the bamboo?" She'd get to work on moving the bodies she could drag on her own, or team up with the others to get the larger corpses moved, so long as that was what Hanzō agreed to as well.

Akito knew he probably should have waited for Askell and Hattori to weigh in on what Nami has to say, but he has something to say too. His grey gaze turns back to Nami, a soft shake of his head. "Just outside is too close," he says, though his monotone speech may sound flat, he's thoughtful and serious. "It would make more sense to take them out to Dragon's Blood Grove. Not too far for us to take them, but far enough away that anyone interested won't be redirected back to us," Akito pauses, his gaze drawing away from Nami to Askell and Hattori. "Especially if we cover up any blood trail, it'll keep the bamboo safe," that last part was important and why he let his eyes linger on their Kaicho. After the harrowing night of the invasion, his own nights had been filled with tremors and nightmares.

"speech"

Hattori was quiet in his consideration, the callous part of him just wanted them gone. To make their bodies someone else's issue, but he knew reasonably that if not disposed of properly then disease could spread, or scavengers would swarm to pick away at the remains. His territory was well marked and defended, but he had no interest in giving predators a reason to come this far south. They all brought forth reasonable points and though he would not say as much, he appreciated their efforts to help him with this burden, it was not a topic he wished to spare headspace for- and understandably so.

"Mmm, I agree. Burn them." An added insult was that in Nihon it was seen as disrespectful to burn someone's remains. A fitting end for those who committed a grievous crime against Tojo and its kin."My companions are at your disposal should you need them."