They could have just gone on their way. Keep going to their predetermined destination. Play it safe. Go somewhere and reliably get food, water, and shelter. Everything a living thing could ask for. Yet, they did not.

Curiosity got the better of them and overwhelmed their desire to survive. A new path was carved into the land, literally as the boats dug up the earth and left a new trench in their wake. This new path was even more turbulent than the previous as the bumps actually made the box go into the air a bit. Only a few ropes kept the box and other luggage on the boat.

In these conditions, the tortoise continued to dig at the hole. While the bouncing around made it harder to tear away at it. Conversely, the bouncing actually helped widen the hole as cracks spread out like a spider's web every time the box slammed down onto the boat. The ride was both impeding and helping the tortoise with its escape while the humans were focused wholeheartedly on the path of destruction before them.

With how much air the boats were getting from every bump, they could be considered flying. Soaring ahead, leaving behind a rough trench that would only be smoothed over after dozens of more times going through it. Or perhaps, going down the path slower so it didn't take flight and leave gaps every few seconds. Not that the humans cared about leaving behind a proper trail; they just wanted to find out the root of this as fast as possible before returning back to their old ways.

While they were distracted, the tortoise was finally freed from its cage. The box's wall collapsed and it was thrown out of the box, but not the boat. Around the top of the boat were curved walls that helped keep its contents onboard. They could not be scaled easily and the only way the tortoise could leave is if it hung out around the sides and hoped the turbulent ride would throw it off. At these speeds, a fall like that could be fatal and the demon within wanted some revenge.

Not immediately, the shaking of the boat provided no opportunities. It laid towards the back of the boat, relying on its shell to anchor itself somewhat and protect it. Still, it was shaken and tossed around considerably. All of the humans stood at the front of the boat with heavy wind currents blasting them head on. While the tortoise could only place itself directly in front of some luggage to prevent hurricane force winds from sweeping it clean off. An opportunity would come soon thought the demon as it stood its ground.

Night fell and the boat continued its journey without rest. Occasionally, water would splash into the air and coat the deck, a beautiful sight as moonlight reflected off its surface. At the same time, it made the spot the tortoise was in a cold site. Water would runoff towards the back of the boat from the wind and the wind made it rapidly evaporate on whatever surface it happened to be on, lowering the temperature considerably and occasionally solidifying to frost instead of evaporating. At least it wasn't turning into weird creatures and assaulting the tortoise.

When midnight struck, the boat finally came to a rocky stop as the humans shut everything down and bowed to the skies. They stared at the skies where the moon that was almost full with just a sliver of darkness tainting its outer reaches graced the skies. Suddenly, the darkness expanded across the entire moon, swallowing it completely before receding slowly. As if the moon was an eye and the Celestials blinked. When it fully receded, the darkness had expanded slightly, barely discernable to the eye.

The tortoise had observed this moment with the humans, missing any opportunities it may have presented as it had not seen this before. Noon would bring great harm to it and was impossible to notice for a demon, but who would think to look up during the night. Even if one were to continue on instead of rest, would they look to the dark skies or keep to the earth where the reason they stayed up existed, looking forward. Of course, since this event did not harm it, the demon soon forgot this event and got back on track to its plan of vengeance.

Unfortunately, the humans' inattention did not last forever. Affording them a chance to take a look, the boat was already stopped and the humans simply had to look back once. No obstacles were in sight. The tortoise was positioned directly in front of the luggage to keep itself from flying away. Half a meter away was the box that formerly held it with a gaping hole in it. Two and two were put together and one of the humans rushed the tortoise.

The demon did not back down from this offensive and counterattacked, lifting its claws to meet the charge. Hitting naught but air as the human was not even aiming for the tortoise but the luggage behind. With a leap, it suddenly had the high ground and two other humans closed in from the other sides, surrounding it. The weak point of a tortoise was maneuverability and these humans knew this well. Why attack a tortoise head on when you can get behind it and render it harmless. A shield needs a sword with it to effectively fight and a shield alone is bulky and a burden in a fight.

A survival method relying on making it less convenient to kill did not work on beings who used wit and intelligence. For them, figuring out how to make inconvenient things convenient was how they thrived. A tortoise was a sitting duck ready to be butchered to any human worth their salt. As for a demon? It depended on the kind of demon. And a demon tortoise held no difference to a human unless they found out it was a demon.

The human on top of the luggage stepped down, onto the back of the tortoise where it couldn't reach, and sat down. Then the boat resumed its journey. With a human on its back, the tortoise had added weight that kept it from bouncing but was unable to move as well. Also, it was under constant surveillance and couldn't execute any plans. If only it could reach its claws or mouth towards its back, it could do some serious damage. Instead, it was left helpless as an observer as the humans closed in on the cloud.

The very fact that water would splash onto the boat was proof the storm was close. Water filled up the craters from the storm and created ponds that the boat cut through. The wait wasn't that long as dark clouds could be seen in the distance as soon as dawn broke. If only dawn wasn't the only that broke at this moment.