Post by Zaru on Feb 16, 2020 12:14:51 GMT -8
Zaru sighed, sitting in his table at the meeting place. It was a little complex that lay just inside the territory that the Turtle School had been able to lay claim to, so it wasn't serving anyone's interests in particular. At least, not with the group he was being stuck with. The first to arrive was Fuyun. He was from the Crane Academy up in the northern mountains, who had apparently trained in their style and had some kind of freaky psychic powers. The man was tall and kind of pale looking, even thinner than Zaru was. He didn't seem to have much interest in speaking, to Zaru or anyone. The young martial artist had agreed that he'd wear robes with a Turtle School sigil on them, and he was, but he didn't like the orange. It was gaudy, so he'd at least managed to get a black and white colour scheme out of the whole thing. Apparently it was similar to what the old man and his training buddies used to wear, back in the day. They were still waiting on some guy named Dompil from out West, some kind of guy related to a Duke out in the Pig Demon Lands. Then, he'd been told they were to expect a 'Captain Mostahd' from Capsule Corp. Since when did Capsule Corp even have Captains, and why were they bringing this guy along?
The young martial artist got a better idea of his other two traveling companions when they arrived. Dompil was the next to turn up, and he looked every part the rough and tumble type of guy you'd find out in the West. He was covered in the armour that traditional samurai and ronin wore out that way, the kind of guys who'd claim descent from Yajirobe, or at the very least bully a village into becoming their vassals. The Pig Demon Duchies were nuts, as far as Zaru had heard it. It was the law of the jungle out there, and this guy, with dark, sunkissed skin and hair to match it, covered in scars on his face alone only made that more clear. Dompil had two swords resting on his side, and carried his helmet under his arm; the mask on it had been designed to look like a snarling boar, no doubt to make him seem even more dangerous. Zaru could feel the Ki pouring from this guy, just as he had with Fuyun. They were clearly high-level martial artists; people on his level at least, which he'd smugly say was a rare thing. Not that he thought they'd stand up to much if a fight actually happened. Dompil was probably pretty useless once you snapped his swords, and Fuyun looked like a slight breeze would send him into the sky. Finally, the door opened again. Two figures came through; the first was an officer of some kind from the Orange Star Alliance, if the insignia on his uniform was anything to go off. He went and retrived a projector as the final man entered.
Mostahd looked like he was ready to take on a pack of demons himself; the guy was covered head to toe in some kind of fancy-looking armour, but Zaru didn't see any Capsule Corp logos on it. In fact, taking a closer look, it seemed like he was actually wearing logos from Wheelo Enterprises, who were a subsidiary of the big C, something like that. Wasn't many, though. Nobody else spoke up, but he saw Dompil sneering in the man's direction. Fine, that meant he was going to have to. "Hey, no offense, but is there any reason you brought three actual martial artists in for this expedition, but you've got a token guy in a tin can tagging along?" The officer glanced back towards him as the projector started up, Mostahd letting out a scoff from a filtered voice. "I'm the only one who's going to get you there and back in one piece, kid. Unless you're gonna punch boards to try and find the relics we're looking for." There was a slight twitch in Zaru's face at that remark, and he was tempted to try and punch right through Mostahd's boards here and now. Dompil just seemed to give a bit of a chuckle at the idea of a fight starting already; Fuyun was still annoyingly serene. Didn't he have any thoughts about anything? "Captain Mostahd is an external contractor of ours, Mister Zaru. He's right, he'll be handling most of the navigation for your exploration of the Southern Demonlands. It might be crude, but the best way to describe the rest of you would be as the 'muscle' of this group." Zaru's face only twitched more at hearing the explanation. "...Muscle, huh?" Finally, Fuyun's voice sounded out. He was younger than he looked, at least from the sound of his voice. "Well, you certainly aren't the brains." Dompil began to laugh much louder at that, and Zaru decided to sit in silence for the rest of the meeting, hoping to maintain his huff until they at least were out of this stupid bunker.
Actually setting out was the easiest part. Zaru at least had Dompil to pass the time with; the guy was more interesting and fun to talk to than the stiff that was Fuyun, and he figured he was going to use a can opener on Mostahd eventually. Before they reached what was generally assumed to be the 'border' of where the islands in the east began, past the well-known Papaya Island and even where the old Kame House was. They were being actually chauffeured there. It was an odd-looking and pretty large armoured vehicle they had been shoved into, and the journey of a few days meant that it was relatively comfortable too, with places to sleep and even stretch your legs. Zaru couldn't even imagine how much money the thing must have cost. Mostahd and some other guy from the Orange Star Alliance were up at the front, driving the big behemoth of a boat and trying to figure out the best (and least noticeable) route into the eastern islands. Fuyun was meditating in one section, and even though Zaru had tried speaking with him, the Crane Student clearly wasn't interested at all. Zaru and Dompil spent most of the journey asking about each other and playing different games of chance; Zaru wasn't very good at cards, and admittedly he did start to warm up to this Mostahd guy once he started joining the games. Still, it was a weird group to be stuck with. They all seemed to come from totally different worlds, and clearly weren't alike. Still, better this than his cousins. Their actual job was about finding old magical relics in the uncharted islands, and there was supposedly one in particular that lay in the heart of a jungle-like climate on an island near the border with the Western Lands, as odd as that was. Mostahd suspected it was artificial, whether brought about by science or ritual. It seemed to make sense, but Zaru didn't understand how dangerous any artifact would be to justify sending a crew like this, unknown regions or no. If anything, you'd want a quieter group, to avoid setting off anything that could lead to even more conflict than there already was.
Besides, who was even out there? Zaru had to assume Demons had made some kind of encroachment, if anyone; the Duchies usually mapped out their territories pretty extensively to make sure everyone knew where they laid claim to, and having an island not that far from the Eastern Lands would be a good staging area to launch an attack from. Though he wasn't any kind of expert on history, he knew that some of the Demon's greatest enemies had originated from the Eastern Lands, and if they wanted revenge, it was an excellent place to strike from - nobody would be expecting it. Maybe this whole mission was more important than he thought, after all. Sure, there was this strange artifact they were looking for, but to Zaru it seemed like more of a cover or an excuse to try and uncover demon activity, while having something of a reason to be there if they took it personal. There was this tense ceasefire going on at the moment, with the demons not wanting to risk attacking in force if everyone came at them at once. If they could divide and conquer though, coming from the East and reinforcing in the west, they'd be difficult to overcome, especially with the element of surprise if they attacked from this artificial island. Zaru had decided he was going to trust Mostahd's judgement on that, for now, anyway. This island, if it was where it was, apparently wasn't charted on any maps and nobody had heard of it before - he hadn't, either. It had been spotted by a pilot ferrying a duke to his visit with Ox-Corp, who had decided to travel west so his passenger could look at the ocean. Zaru was positive that someone in his family would have known about this island, even with it being this far out of the way. They'd always lived out in the Southern Islands and had taken a big part in investigating and charting the nearby waters themselves. He'd heard that even Uncle Amon was a sailor, back in his day - whenever that was. The only real explanation that Zaru had was that the island hadn't been there back when they checked. Even if most people wouldn't stray too far towards the coasts of the Western Lands for fear of demon attack or upsetting some duke with a temper problem, they'd have been able to find it or spot it from a distance.
Eventually, something came into view. Mostahd yelled out about reaching land, and Zaru immediately headed up to look out a window, as did Dompil. Outside the ship, the island was there. It was much larger than what they'd initially thought; it was covered in jungle as they expected, though there was only a sign of one large structure in the middle, some kind of elaborate, almost temple-looking building in the middle. It was massive, covering a good amount of the island and still leaving so much jungle to trek through. As Zaru looked through, with Dompil next to him, the both of them turned at hearing Mostahd's voice. "I know at least Zaru and Fuyun can fly, but we can't afford going in there with your energy levels shooting out everywhere like party lights. I'm gonna need you guys to suppress your power as much as possible from now, and we're going to make landfall at the southern end of the island. From there, we're moving through the island, towards that central structure. If the artifact is anywhere, it's there." Mostahd turned around and began walking back towards where the craft was piloted. Zaru considered just letting him walk off at first, but thought better of it - the other two wouldn't be as knowledgable, and the other guy piloting wouldn't be going in there with them. He didn't really need to trust him. "Mostahd." The man stopped and turned back, looking towards Zaru expectantly, wondering what he could want. "This artifact. Is it really what we're here about?" There was an awkward pause for a moment, as though the Captain wasn't really anticipating a question like that. "Well yes, of course. Didn't you hear the officer who briefed us?" Zaru's emotionless expression didn't seem like he was particularly convinced; probably because on the inside, he was as skeptical about this as anyone could be. He'd already been unsure about this before he even saw the island, and now looking at this weird temple and seeing how the Captain reacted made him even more so. "Just that? There isn't anything else that we're here for?" Dompil raised an eyebrow as he walked a couple of steps forward to stand alongside Zaru, indicating he was curious as well, now that his fellow had brought it up. Mostahd left another uncomfortable silence hanging in the air before pursing his lips, seeming to think hard about what his answer should be. "Well, we'll see, won't we?" With that, he walked back to the pilot's area, and Zaru stared in his direction for a few more seconds before he turned back to the window - and to the foreboding island ahead.
Landing at the edge of the island, the jungle itself seemed to almost hang over them. The trees leaned forward like they were watching, and Zaru already felt like something was off about this place; something was wrong. He kept his power as suppressed as possible, and soon all four of them were virtually undetectable. Mostahd continued his scans, holding up a device to monitor readings from inside the jungle, and he seemed confused by the results. Zaru carefully sensed for energy further within, but he couldn't feel anything. There were no other ki users at least, that he could detect on this whole island. Dompil moved over to Mostahd, seeming confused. "Seems like there isn't anything here. Why bother with suppressing our power?" The captain checked over his scans once again before turning to Dompil, having a similarly confused expression on his face through his clear, though blue-tinted visor. "Look here." He showed the device so that Dompil could look, and Zaru also came over to lean his head in. Fuyun seemed disinterested still, which only irritated Zaru more. "Nothing, at all. Not just ki users, but not animals, no plant life. No island. This scanner's perfectly fine, which tells me that there's something on this island, or something that's been done to it that's making it undetectable, but I don't understand why. Anyone can look out a window and notice it, so who's it hiding from? I'm beginning to think it's not technology that's doing this, which is what you guys are here for."
The actual jungle itself was already difficult to trek through, but suppressing their power made it hard to even reach out and sense anything, so it was going to be hard to tell where this odd 'field' blocking off detection stopped. Mostahd led from the front, being the one who held the map and any other navigational equipment. Even with how large the temple was, it was best not to get lost or find yourself walking foot-first into a ravine , forcing you to fly and reveal the entire team's position to whatever was out there. Zaru moved behind Mostahd, with Fuyun behind him and Dompil at the back, guarding the rear of the team with one of his swords already drawn. They had agreed that Dompil would move to the front if vines needed cutting on their way in; though Mostahd had his own means of doing it, he didn't want to risk overheating his lasers, and the flashing light from them could give them away, especially now as it was sunset and rapidly approaching nightfall. Above all else, Zaru noticed that this jungle seemed...dead. He had obviously not seen a single person or demon, and if anyone was here they wanted to lay low. More than that, he hadn't seen a single animal since they got here. There were no reptilians, hunting predators, mammals or even birds. The streams they passed barely moved and around the coast, he had seen no fish swimming in the waters at all. The entire thing was odd. It gave the appearance of a jungle, yet had none of its life, none of the things that made a place like that be filled with all kinds of creatures and wildlife, teeming with unusual habitats. Suddenly, the group were thrown off as Dompil, not paying attention and offset by what he thought was rustling nearby, lost his footing at the edge of the raised cliff they were walking on. Fuyun rushed back to try and grab him, but the samurai slipped off, and the man from the Crane school was forced to fly down and grab him, pulling him back up as Mostahd let out a sigh. "Damn it. That really wasn't what we-" Suddenly, a deep and guttural roar echoed through the jungle, though it was hard to tell where. The group froze up, and Zaru looked to Mostahd. "Doesn't look like it matters. Look, the temple's not far. If whatever that is, can smell him-" He pointed a thumb towards Fuyun. "-Then maybe you and me should go for the temple, find a way in that isn't the front door. Dompil and Fuyun can wait till they're sure they've lost that thing and then join us inside. It's probably empty, anyway."
Surprisingly, Zaru found that the others went along with his plan. They had been mostly hostile to each other (except for Dompil, who had kept quiet ever since they got off the boat) but seemed to have wised up once they were in a jungle that didn't let them detect anything, with what sounded like strange, hostile creatures somewhere within. Himself and Mostahd approached the temple through the overgrowth of the jungle, with the Captain setting up holographic hand and footholds on a wall on the side of the temple, leading all the way up. The two of them climbed up to the temple's roof proper before scaling once again, this time to the top of the tower that extended from the roof and clambering in through the windows. The top of the tower seemed to be some kind of study chamber, filled with books and tomes of all kinds. The two examined the area, and Zaru could tell that these weren't just reading material for a rainy night. They all seemed to be predisposed with different kinds of magic and rituals, with books mentioning something about the darkness of the heart or the wicked soul in their titles, things like that. The place was already giving him the heebie jeebies, and they hadn't even gotten out of the tower yet. Eventually, the two began moving down the spiral staircase that the tower had to offer, with Zaru going ahead, being the more durable of the two and more prepared for straightforward combat. The staircase continued for much longer than expected, before they found themselves in a corridor. There were two exits out of it, one to the right that led into a large foyer, probably for where people used to come in for worship if this place really was what it seemed. The second, on the left, led into an antechamber and then another corridor, continuing all the way to a final chamber at the end. Mostahd motioned to the left, and Zaru found himself in agreement. Finishing the dead ends would make this easier. The two travelled through the antechamber, itself seeming like a waiting room for someone to prepare in. All that was left was the corridor, and the final chamber. The pair stepped through and into the room, which was pitch black for a few moments before suddenly turning brightly lit, instead.
In front of them sat a large...Namekian it looked like, but clearly not one from the islands. He was a dark reddish-brown and with hateful eyes, his sharp teeth showing as he spoke. "Just two humans? That's what I get for getting my hopes up." He slowly stood from the ornate chair and it was made clear how far he dwarfed the two of them in his prodigious height and size, his incredibly muscular build only making him look larger in his opulent robes, which he began taking off the outer garments of. "I am Lord Mollos, and the two of you are dead." He said it with a grin, his sharp fangs almost seeming to reflect in the lights around them. He immediately dived for Mostahd, forcing Zaru to use his body to shove the captain aside and bring his arms up, his block barely holding back the straight punch that Mollos had thrown. They held that position for a while as the Demon Clan Namekian attempted to push him back with sheer force, before Zaru released pressure and diverted his head to dodge, letting the attack soar harmlessly through the air and strike nothing. He immediately kicked low to knock out one of Mollos' knees and followed up on the other before he could retaliate, bringing him down to the same level as Zaru. The martial artist struck him twice across the face with a punch and and elbow before striking him with a powerful push kick. The Namekian was sent flying back and skidded across the floor, landing at the foot of his throne. There was a tense pause before the Namekian laughed, sitting up and then beginning to stand, showing very little damage apart from what looked like a small scratch on his face. "That wasn't bad, actually. For your effort, I'll stand here and let you come to me on your terms, as you like. Just don't take too long. I would really delight in tearing open your friend's suit of steel before I began on him." Zaru grit his teeth, certainly not prepared to leave the captain's life on his conscience, too. He charged forward, trying to stay low as he approached, keeping eye contact with Mollos. Before he could move in and strike though, the Namekian's antennae twitched, and what looked like some kind of odd lightning shot out of them, straight towards him.
Zaru's body was wracked in pain and froze up, entirely unable to move. What was this? Before he could do anything more, Mollos' fist came up and struck him beneath the chin, the uppercut knocking him loopy as he flew through the air. He was, at least, grateful that it seemed to have knocked him out of whatever state that odd attack had put him in. He didn't even know Namekians could use their antennae like that, but he tried to make a note of it. Making an obvious approach like that would just get him caught again, and with more serious consequences this time. Mollos was playing aroudn right now, it seemed like, but that wouldn't last long. Zaru turned over backwards in the air and landed his feet onto the wall. Using the moment and his landing as a sort of springboard, he shot off the wall towards Mollos, flipping forward in the air before unfurling with his feet first, aiming to land both boots in the side of the Demon Lord's face and hoepfully knock him silly, if not knock him out entirely. Zaru stayed true to his attack as he approached, even as he saw the glint of Mollos' grin. He could see through it; it wasn't that he'd made a bad move, but he had underestimated the speed of the giant man. Mollos had let him get superficial hits in on his leg and face to make it look as though he was a dumb brute, or that he had a weak sphere of defense. In reality, he was being baited to make a reckless move like this one, the kind that an accomplished and veteran combatant could certainly explot. Yet, he couldn't stop himself as he travelled through the air, his momentum still carrying him towards his target. Rather than back off, Mollos moved forward, far before Zaru would hit his target. His momentary confusion was overrun with alarm when he realised Mollos was moving past him, and had caught and gripped him from underneath his arms. Before Zaru had time to correct himself or counter, he was carried over Mollos' shoulders and head and spiked straight down into the floor, head-first. He didn't feel himself stopping dead there, mostly because his opponent let go at the apex of the throw, and he was now rocketing downwards, his head and body smashing through every floor on the way down, unable to stop as he slipped in and out of consciousness from the sheer force of it.
Zaru's eyes slowly began to open as his vision blurred. He was in some other chamber, and he could feel rubble around him as he lay there on his front. Well, at least that meant he probably wasn't dead. He was however, at the bottom of the temple. He struggled to try and move, and even now he couldn't. He was too worn out, too tired. How? He had only done a few moments of fighting, it felt like, and he was already in a state like this. He wasn't strong enough to take Mollos alone - Mostahd's equipment wouldn't have kept him safe for very long. With his vision slowly becoming clearer, he could hear the sounds of more fighting. Old rock walls and pillars being destroyed and torn apart, people shouting or grunting in pain. He should've just backed off, and not tired to take on the Namekian alone. What was he thinking? Idiot. Suddenly, he heard a particular yell over the others. "Dodonpa!" There was the noise of an explosion, and the building shaking. Fuyun and Dompil were here, after all. Then they lost that thing in the jungle; if it had ever existed and wasn't just a means of separating or confusing them. Zaru still struggled, and only stopped as he widened his eyes, staring when one of the walls smashed in nearby, where out of the corner of his eye there was some altar. Dompil flew past him and cracked against the opposite wall, slipping down into a sitting position as he tried to recover, groaning in pain. As he'd flown through the room, Zaru had heard some rattle onto the floor, but he didn't know what. All he heard was something hissing, or seeping - gas. It had to be gas. Dompil was out, he couldn't yell out to him. Zaru grit his teeth, beginning to force his body up as he took a deep breath, perhaps of the last fresh air he'd get for a while if this gas filled the temple. As he stood, he looked over and realised what was flowing out of some urn looked similar to...mist, but a deep and dark colour. He tried his hardest, but the mist had already flowed over him and to Dompil by the time he was standing up. He quickly tried to get over to the Samurai, but as he did - the man looked up and opened his eyes. They were glowing an odd pink, almost red colour. He had a sinister grin on his face, and the same sharp fangs Mollos did.
Zaru was forced to jump back as Dompil swung the sword in his hand at his abdomen. The man rushed towards him, drawing his second sword and beginning to swing both of them wildly as soon as he was close enough. Zaru rapidly dodged, swaying his body in the motions that he'd taught himself from learning the teachings of the Viper Style. He continued to move, his body becoming heavy. He needed to breath. He had to. He kicked his leg out as Dompil swung from the side, knocking one of his swords out of his hand. While the other reared back and was raised upwards, Zaru felt himself reach the limit. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, unable to hold it anymore with all the effort of dodging those strikes. He felt...something flowing through him, but it wasn't odd. It didn't feel like an invader, or as though he was out of control. He just felt...good. He felt strong, so strong. Like he could do anything! Zaru almost seemed in a trance for a moment, and his appearance did not change, except for his eyes. Though they remained the same blue colour as always, they brightened up, incredibly so, almost to the point that they were glowing. His eyes stared into Dompil's and they were not those of a tired man; he felt invigorated, and charging Ki through his arm, he thrust it up with enough force to not only block the sword, but break it in half on impact. The samurai stared in shock, his grin momentarily broken as even in this state, he seemed to realise how much that limited him. Before he could retaliate, Zaru's other hand came up, his fist crushing into the samurai's gut. His eyes widened and his face twisted in pain for a moment before he collapsed onto the ground. Zaru felt just as shocked; he knew that this guy was no pushover, and even if he had just been fighting for his life, there would never be a normal way to drop him in one punch. Why did he feel so good? Zaru glanced back at the urn, which was still leaking the odd mist. Rushing over, he closed it and sealed it shut. He could still hear the fighting upstairs, and rushed towards the near-dozen holes he'd made, one after another. He flew up through the lot of them before rushing through the antechamber and corridor, towards the foyer where he still heard the struggle going on.
Zaru could see him - Mollos was standing over Fuyun, ready to strike a lethal blow on the downed martial artist while Mostahd stood on one of the higher walkways, pulling himself up with the handrail to try and help. Zaru rushed through the air, with Mollos only realising and glancing over at the last minute as Zaru punched him hard across the face, sending him skidding across the tiles much farther than before. The Namekian looked somewhat shocked as he was already out of breath and banged up from the earlier fighting, but now had purple blood dribbling from the side of his mouth. The automated voice in Captain Mostahd's suit began speaking loudly, the armour itself scanning over Zaru as it did so. "Warning. Compound GBW particles detected within unsafe perimeter. Respirators or distance is recommended." Mostahd didn't move though, and neither did Fuyun, with clearly none of the mist in the room with them, only Zaru. His eyes glowed obviously, and he simply walked towards Mollos as the Namekian spat his blood off to the side and did the same. Almost the moment the two were in range of each other, they began swinging. Zaru was first, punching Mollos across the face as the Namekian returned with an overhand across the martial artist's temple. Zaru threw a stomach punch, and Mollos a hook. The two of them continued slugging at one another for a number of minutes, while most importantly, Mostahd and Fuyun had the chance to recover. Eventually though, a particuarly strong punch hit Zaru's solarplexus, and he couldn't just ignore it this time. He fell to one knee, with both him and Mollos looking far worse for wear, both panting for breath. The Demon Lord seemed sastisfied with his victory in their contest and raise his hand for a chop, a small blade of ki enveloping his hand as he grinned down towards Zaru. "I told you, human! You're dea-" He was cut off as the high-pitched whine of a laser cut through the room, the red beam of light enveloping Mollos' arm all the from the bicep to his hand - though it only flashed for a moment, the Namekian's arm was vaporised as he stumbled back, immediately yowling in pain. He stared angrily down at his wound, preparing to regenerate and darting his eyes up. Before he could turn his eye to the Captain, who had fired with all the energy his armour had left, he saw Fuyun, standing behind the kneeling Zaru with one finger raised and pointed at him.
"Dodonpa." It was said almost quietly, but the beam suddenly shot from his finger, exploding on impact with Mollos' chest. The Namekian was sent flying back once more, and Zaru focused all the ki in his body. He rushed forward towards the wounded Lord, whose torso was exposed and already bleeding heavily; he had no time to regenerate as Zaru yelled out with all his strength, his Ki focusing into one of his arms to send it rushing towards the Namekian like a great hammer. His fist struck Mollos' abdomen and went straight through, perforating him and driving all the life out of his body in an instant. He was sent flying back through the wall of the temple, smashing through it as his body twisted in the air, falling from the great height all the way down before it disappeared into the treeline below. Zaru breathed heavily as he stumbled towards the hole left in the wall, looking down towards where Mollos had fallen. He was silent for a moment as he heard Mostahd hop down from the walkway towards Fuyun, then turned back, staring towards him. "You knew what was here." The Captain was quiet for a moment as he checked Fuyun's wounds, then sighed. "Yes, I knew about Mollos. He was our mission. I-I wasn't expecting his power to have improved this much. I think it's the same thing you've been exposed to. Compound GBW."
Zaru turned fully and walked towards the Captain, not replying as he assumed he was going to get a full explanation. "Namekians are usually immune, but he was a mutant. He might've been trying to use it to empower himself. It's an ancient substance, the Black Water Mist. It's contained in an urn, and overwhelms you with the evil in your own heart, even the nicest person. That's what I don't understand - you have it in you right now. You ought to be rabid, trying to bite us and infect us, too, but as far as I can tell, you're the same as always." Zaru snarled his lip a bit. So, the whole thing was just to get rid of Mollos; to prevent the staging area, like he thought. No wonder they brought in some kind of intel officer from the Orange Star to brief them. Nobody else probably knew what was going on - he would say there was no artifact, but that mist downstairs couldn't be left in anyone's hands, especially not the people who just proved unworthy of trust. "I'm taking it. It doesn't affect me, and I don't trust you people not to use it. Dompil's been exposed - if you can cure him, get him to someone who can do it fast. I'll stay with the boat until you get him under control, but the urn stays sealed, and with me." Mostahd seemed a bit hesitant, understably still shaken from their fight and the fact that Zaru appeared immune to the mist's effects. Zaru himself wasn't sure why; he certainly had evil parts of his nature, and he dealt with them all the time, so why didin't it affect him? He travelled back to the hole, hopping down to where Dompil had been left. Scooping up the urn with one hand and Dompil in the other arm, he stared down at the urn still. Maybe this was something he could do, something to right. Nobody was getting their hands on this ever again, not without going through him first.
WC: 5,893
The young martial artist got a better idea of his other two traveling companions when they arrived. Dompil was the next to turn up, and he looked every part the rough and tumble type of guy you'd find out in the West. He was covered in the armour that traditional samurai and ronin wore out that way, the kind of guys who'd claim descent from Yajirobe, or at the very least bully a village into becoming their vassals. The Pig Demon Duchies were nuts, as far as Zaru had heard it. It was the law of the jungle out there, and this guy, with dark, sunkissed skin and hair to match it, covered in scars on his face alone only made that more clear. Dompil had two swords resting on his side, and carried his helmet under his arm; the mask on it had been designed to look like a snarling boar, no doubt to make him seem even more dangerous. Zaru could feel the Ki pouring from this guy, just as he had with Fuyun. They were clearly high-level martial artists; people on his level at least, which he'd smugly say was a rare thing. Not that he thought they'd stand up to much if a fight actually happened. Dompil was probably pretty useless once you snapped his swords, and Fuyun looked like a slight breeze would send him into the sky. Finally, the door opened again. Two figures came through; the first was an officer of some kind from the Orange Star Alliance, if the insignia on his uniform was anything to go off. He went and retrived a projector as the final man entered.
Mostahd looked like he was ready to take on a pack of demons himself; the guy was covered head to toe in some kind of fancy-looking armour, but Zaru didn't see any Capsule Corp logos on it. In fact, taking a closer look, it seemed like he was actually wearing logos from Wheelo Enterprises, who were a subsidiary of the big C, something like that. Wasn't many, though. Nobody else spoke up, but he saw Dompil sneering in the man's direction. Fine, that meant he was going to have to. "Hey, no offense, but is there any reason you brought three actual martial artists in for this expedition, but you've got a token guy in a tin can tagging along?" The officer glanced back towards him as the projector started up, Mostahd letting out a scoff from a filtered voice. "I'm the only one who's going to get you there and back in one piece, kid. Unless you're gonna punch boards to try and find the relics we're looking for." There was a slight twitch in Zaru's face at that remark, and he was tempted to try and punch right through Mostahd's boards here and now. Dompil just seemed to give a bit of a chuckle at the idea of a fight starting already; Fuyun was still annoyingly serene. Didn't he have any thoughts about anything? "Captain Mostahd is an external contractor of ours, Mister Zaru. He's right, he'll be handling most of the navigation for your exploration of the Southern Demonlands. It might be crude, but the best way to describe the rest of you would be as the 'muscle' of this group." Zaru's face only twitched more at hearing the explanation. "...Muscle, huh?" Finally, Fuyun's voice sounded out. He was younger than he looked, at least from the sound of his voice. "Well, you certainly aren't the brains." Dompil began to laugh much louder at that, and Zaru decided to sit in silence for the rest of the meeting, hoping to maintain his huff until they at least were out of this stupid bunker.
Actually setting out was the easiest part. Zaru at least had Dompil to pass the time with; the guy was more interesting and fun to talk to than the stiff that was Fuyun, and he figured he was going to use a can opener on Mostahd eventually. Before they reached what was generally assumed to be the 'border' of where the islands in the east began, past the well-known Papaya Island and even where the old Kame House was. They were being actually chauffeured there. It was an odd-looking and pretty large armoured vehicle they had been shoved into, and the journey of a few days meant that it was relatively comfortable too, with places to sleep and even stretch your legs. Zaru couldn't even imagine how much money the thing must have cost. Mostahd and some other guy from the Orange Star Alliance were up at the front, driving the big behemoth of a boat and trying to figure out the best (and least noticeable) route into the eastern islands. Fuyun was meditating in one section, and even though Zaru had tried speaking with him, the Crane Student clearly wasn't interested at all. Zaru and Dompil spent most of the journey asking about each other and playing different games of chance; Zaru wasn't very good at cards, and admittedly he did start to warm up to this Mostahd guy once he started joining the games. Still, it was a weird group to be stuck with. They all seemed to come from totally different worlds, and clearly weren't alike. Still, better this than his cousins. Their actual job was about finding old magical relics in the uncharted islands, and there was supposedly one in particular that lay in the heart of a jungle-like climate on an island near the border with the Western Lands, as odd as that was. Mostahd suspected it was artificial, whether brought about by science or ritual. It seemed to make sense, but Zaru didn't understand how dangerous any artifact would be to justify sending a crew like this, unknown regions or no. If anything, you'd want a quieter group, to avoid setting off anything that could lead to even more conflict than there already was.
Besides, who was even out there? Zaru had to assume Demons had made some kind of encroachment, if anyone; the Duchies usually mapped out their territories pretty extensively to make sure everyone knew where they laid claim to, and having an island not that far from the Eastern Lands would be a good staging area to launch an attack from. Though he wasn't any kind of expert on history, he knew that some of the Demon's greatest enemies had originated from the Eastern Lands, and if they wanted revenge, it was an excellent place to strike from - nobody would be expecting it. Maybe this whole mission was more important than he thought, after all. Sure, there was this strange artifact they were looking for, but to Zaru it seemed like more of a cover or an excuse to try and uncover demon activity, while having something of a reason to be there if they took it personal. There was this tense ceasefire going on at the moment, with the demons not wanting to risk attacking in force if everyone came at them at once. If they could divide and conquer though, coming from the East and reinforcing in the west, they'd be difficult to overcome, especially with the element of surprise if they attacked from this artificial island. Zaru had decided he was going to trust Mostahd's judgement on that, for now, anyway. This island, if it was where it was, apparently wasn't charted on any maps and nobody had heard of it before - he hadn't, either. It had been spotted by a pilot ferrying a duke to his visit with Ox-Corp, who had decided to travel west so his passenger could look at the ocean. Zaru was positive that someone in his family would have known about this island, even with it being this far out of the way. They'd always lived out in the Southern Islands and had taken a big part in investigating and charting the nearby waters themselves. He'd heard that even Uncle Amon was a sailor, back in his day - whenever that was. The only real explanation that Zaru had was that the island hadn't been there back when they checked. Even if most people wouldn't stray too far towards the coasts of the Western Lands for fear of demon attack or upsetting some duke with a temper problem, they'd have been able to find it or spot it from a distance.
Eventually, something came into view. Mostahd yelled out about reaching land, and Zaru immediately headed up to look out a window, as did Dompil. Outside the ship, the island was there. It was much larger than what they'd initially thought; it was covered in jungle as they expected, though there was only a sign of one large structure in the middle, some kind of elaborate, almost temple-looking building in the middle. It was massive, covering a good amount of the island and still leaving so much jungle to trek through. As Zaru looked through, with Dompil next to him, the both of them turned at hearing Mostahd's voice. "I know at least Zaru and Fuyun can fly, but we can't afford going in there with your energy levels shooting out everywhere like party lights. I'm gonna need you guys to suppress your power as much as possible from now, and we're going to make landfall at the southern end of the island. From there, we're moving through the island, towards that central structure. If the artifact is anywhere, it's there." Mostahd turned around and began walking back towards where the craft was piloted. Zaru considered just letting him walk off at first, but thought better of it - the other two wouldn't be as knowledgable, and the other guy piloting wouldn't be going in there with them. He didn't really need to trust him. "Mostahd." The man stopped and turned back, looking towards Zaru expectantly, wondering what he could want. "This artifact. Is it really what we're here about?" There was an awkward pause for a moment, as though the Captain wasn't really anticipating a question like that. "Well yes, of course. Didn't you hear the officer who briefed us?" Zaru's emotionless expression didn't seem like he was particularly convinced; probably because on the inside, he was as skeptical about this as anyone could be. He'd already been unsure about this before he even saw the island, and now looking at this weird temple and seeing how the Captain reacted made him even more so. "Just that? There isn't anything else that we're here for?" Dompil raised an eyebrow as he walked a couple of steps forward to stand alongside Zaru, indicating he was curious as well, now that his fellow had brought it up. Mostahd left another uncomfortable silence hanging in the air before pursing his lips, seeming to think hard about what his answer should be. "Well, we'll see, won't we?" With that, he walked back to the pilot's area, and Zaru stared in his direction for a few more seconds before he turned back to the window - and to the foreboding island ahead.
Landing at the edge of the island, the jungle itself seemed to almost hang over them. The trees leaned forward like they were watching, and Zaru already felt like something was off about this place; something was wrong. He kept his power as suppressed as possible, and soon all four of them were virtually undetectable. Mostahd continued his scans, holding up a device to monitor readings from inside the jungle, and he seemed confused by the results. Zaru carefully sensed for energy further within, but he couldn't feel anything. There were no other ki users at least, that he could detect on this whole island. Dompil moved over to Mostahd, seeming confused. "Seems like there isn't anything here. Why bother with suppressing our power?" The captain checked over his scans once again before turning to Dompil, having a similarly confused expression on his face through his clear, though blue-tinted visor. "Look here." He showed the device so that Dompil could look, and Zaru also came over to lean his head in. Fuyun seemed disinterested still, which only irritated Zaru more. "Nothing, at all. Not just ki users, but not animals, no plant life. No island. This scanner's perfectly fine, which tells me that there's something on this island, or something that's been done to it that's making it undetectable, but I don't understand why. Anyone can look out a window and notice it, so who's it hiding from? I'm beginning to think it's not technology that's doing this, which is what you guys are here for."
The actual jungle itself was already difficult to trek through, but suppressing their power made it hard to even reach out and sense anything, so it was going to be hard to tell where this odd 'field' blocking off detection stopped. Mostahd led from the front, being the one who held the map and any other navigational equipment. Even with how large the temple was, it was best not to get lost or find yourself walking foot-first into a ravine , forcing you to fly and reveal the entire team's position to whatever was out there. Zaru moved behind Mostahd, with Fuyun behind him and Dompil at the back, guarding the rear of the team with one of his swords already drawn. They had agreed that Dompil would move to the front if vines needed cutting on their way in; though Mostahd had his own means of doing it, he didn't want to risk overheating his lasers, and the flashing light from them could give them away, especially now as it was sunset and rapidly approaching nightfall. Above all else, Zaru noticed that this jungle seemed...dead. He had obviously not seen a single person or demon, and if anyone was here they wanted to lay low. More than that, he hadn't seen a single animal since they got here. There were no reptilians, hunting predators, mammals or even birds. The streams they passed barely moved and around the coast, he had seen no fish swimming in the waters at all. The entire thing was odd. It gave the appearance of a jungle, yet had none of its life, none of the things that made a place like that be filled with all kinds of creatures and wildlife, teeming with unusual habitats. Suddenly, the group were thrown off as Dompil, not paying attention and offset by what he thought was rustling nearby, lost his footing at the edge of the raised cliff they were walking on. Fuyun rushed back to try and grab him, but the samurai slipped off, and the man from the Crane school was forced to fly down and grab him, pulling him back up as Mostahd let out a sigh. "Damn it. That really wasn't what we-" Suddenly, a deep and guttural roar echoed through the jungle, though it was hard to tell where. The group froze up, and Zaru looked to Mostahd. "Doesn't look like it matters. Look, the temple's not far. If whatever that is, can smell him-" He pointed a thumb towards Fuyun. "-Then maybe you and me should go for the temple, find a way in that isn't the front door. Dompil and Fuyun can wait till they're sure they've lost that thing and then join us inside. It's probably empty, anyway."
Surprisingly, Zaru found that the others went along with his plan. They had been mostly hostile to each other (except for Dompil, who had kept quiet ever since they got off the boat) but seemed to have wised up once they were in a jungle that didn't let them detect anything, with what sounded like strange, hostile creatures somewhere within. Himself and Mostahd approached the temple through the overgrowth of the jungle, with the Captain setting up holographic hand and footholds on a wall on the side of the temple, leading all the way up. The two of them climbed up to the temple's roof proper before scaling once again, this time to the top of the tower that extended from the roof and clambering in through the windows. The top of the tower seemed to be some kind of study chamber, filled with books and tomes of all kinds. The two examined the area, and Zaru could tell that these weren't just reading material for a rainy night. They all seemed to be predisposed with different kinds of magic and rituals, with books mentioning something about the darkness of the heart or the wicked soul in their titles, things like that. The place was already giving him the heebie jeebies, and they hadn't even gotten out of the tower yet. Eventually, the two began moving down the spiral staircase that the tower had to offer, with Zaru going ahead, being the more durable of the two and more prepared for straightforward combat. The staircase continued for much longer than expected, before they found themselves in a corridor. There were two exits out of it, one to the right that led into a large foyer, probably for where people used to come in for worship if this place really was what it seemed. The second, on the left, led into an antechamber and then another corridor, continuing all the way to a final chamber at the end. Mostahd motioned to the left, and Zaru found himself in agreement. Finishing the dead ends would make this easier. The two travelled through the antechamber, itself seeming like a waiting room for someone to prepare in. All that was left was the corridor, and the final chamber. The pair stepped through and into the room, which was pitch black for a few moments before suddenly turning brightly lit, instead.
In front of them sat a large...Namekian it looked like, but clearly not one from the islands. He was a dark reddish-brown and with hateful eyes, his sharp teeth showing as he spoke. "Just two humans? That's what I get for getting my hopes up." He slowly stood from the ornate chair and it was made clear how far he dwarfed the two of them in his prodigious height and size, his incredibly muscular build only making him look larger in his opulent robes, which he began taking off the outer garments of. "I am Lord Mollos, and the two of you are dead." He said it with a grin, his sharp fangs almost seeming to reflect in the lights around them. He immediately dived for Mostahd, forcing Zaru to use his body to shove the captain aside and bring his arms up, his block barely holding back the straight punch that Mollos had thrown. They held that position for a while as the Demon Clan Namekian attempted to push him back with sheer force, before Zaru released pressure and diverted his head to dodge, letting the attack soar harmlessly through the air and strike nothing. He immediately kicked low to knock out one of Mollos' knees and followed up on the other before he could retaliate, bringing him down to the same level as Zaru. The martial artist struck him twice across the face with a punch and and elbow before striking him with a powerful push kick. The Namekian was sent flying back and skidded across the floor, landing at the foot of his throne. There was a tense pause before the Namekian laughed, sitting up and then beginning to stand, showing very little damage apart from what looked like a small scratch on his face. "That wasn't bad, actually. For your effort, I'll stand here and let you come to me on your terms, as you like. Just don't take too long. I would really delight in tearing open your friend's suit of steel before I began on him." Zaru grit his teeth, certainly not prepared to leave the captain's life on his conscience, too. He charged forward, trying to stay low as he approached, keeping eye contact with Mollos. Before he could move in and strike though, the Namekian's antennae twitched, and what looked like some kind of odd lightning shot out of them, straight towards him.
Zaru's body was wracked in pain and froze up, entirely unable to move. What was this? Before he could do anything more, Mollos' fist came up and struck him beneath the chin, the uppercut knocking him loopy as he flew through the air. He was, at least, grateful that it seemed to have knocked him out of whatever state that odd attack had put him in. He didn't even know Namekians could use their antennae like that, but he tried to make a note of it. Making an obvious approach like that would just get him caught again, and with more serious consequences this time. Mollos was playing aroudn right now, it seemed like, but that wouldn't last long. Zaru turned over backwards in the air and landed his feet onto the wall. Using the moment and his landing as a sort of springboard, he shot off the wall towards Mollos, flipping forward in the air before unfurling with his feet first, aiming to land both boots in the side of the Demon Lord's face and hoepfully knock him silly, if not knock him out entirely. Zaru stayed true to his attack as he approached, even as he saw the glint of Mollos' grin. He could see through it; it wasn't that he'd made a bad move, but he had underestimated the speed of the giant man. Mollos had let him get superficial hits in on his leg and face to make it look as though he was a dumb brute, or that he had a weak sphere of defense. In reality, he was being baited to make a reckless move like this one, the kind that an accomplished and veteran combatant could certainly explot. Yet, he couldn't stop himself as he travelled through the air, his momentum still carrying him towards his target. Rather than back off, Mollos moved forward, far before Zaru would hit his target. His momentary confusion was overrun with alarm when he realised Mollos was moving past him, and had caught and gripped him from underneath his arms. Before Zaru had time to correct himself or counter, he was carried over Mollos' shoulders and head and spiked straight down into the floor, head-first. He didn't feel himself stopping dead there, mostly because his opponent let go at the apex of the throw, and he was now rocketing downwards, his head and body smashing through every floor on the way down, unable to stop as he slipped in and out of consciousness from the sheer force of it.
Zaru's eyes slowly began to open as his vision blurred. He was in some other chamber, and he could feel rubble around him as he lay there on his front. Well, at least that meant he probably wasn't dead. He was however, at the bottom of the temple. He struggled to try and move, and even now he couldn't. He was too worn out, too tired. How? He had only done a few moments of fighting, it felt like, and he was already in a state like this. He wasn't strong enough to take Mollos alone - Mostahd's equipment wouldn't have kept him safe for very long. With his vision slowly becoming clearer, he could hear the sounds of more fighting. Old rock walls and pillars being destroyed and torn apart, people shouting or grunting in pain. He should've just backed off, and not tired to take on the Namekian alone. What was he thinking? Idiot. Suddenly, he heard a particular yell over the others. "Dodonpa!" There was the noise of an explosion, and the building shaking. Fuyun and Dompil were here, after all. Then they lost that thing in the jungle; if it had ever existed and wasn't just a means of separating or confusing them. Zaru still struggled, and only stopped as he widened his eyes, staring when one of the walls smashed in nearby, where out of the corner of his eye there was some altar. Dompil flew past him and cracked against the opposite wall, slipping down into a sitting position as he tried to recover, groaning in pain. As he'd flown through the room, Zaru had heard some rattle onto the floor, but he didn't know what. All he heard was something hissing, or seeping - gas. It had to be gas. Dompil was out, he couldn't yell out to him. Zaru grit his teeth, beginning to force his body up as he took a deep breath, perhaps of the last fresh air he'd get for a while if this gas filled the temple. As he stood, he looked over and realised what was flowing out of some urn looked similar to...mist, but a deep and dark colour. He tried his hardest, but the mist had already flowed over him and to Dompil by the time he was standing up. He quickly tried to get over to the Samurai, but as he did - the man looked up and opened his eyes. They were glowing an odd pink, almost red colour. He had a sinister grin on his face, and the same sharp fangs Mollos did.
Zaru was forced to jump back as Dompil swung the sword in his hand at his abdomen. The man rushed towards him, drawing his second sword and beginning to swing both of them wildly as soon as he was close enough. Zaru rapidly dodged, swaying his body in the motions that he'd taught himself from learning the teachings of the Viper Style. He continued to move, his body becoming heavy. He needed to breath. He had to. He kicked his leg out as Dompil swung from the side, knocking one of his swords out of his hand. While the other reared back and was raised upwards, Zaru felt himself reach the limit. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, unable to hold it anymore with all the effort of dodging those strikes. He felt...something flowing through him, but it wasn't odd. It didn't feel like an invader, or as though he was out of control. He just felt...good. He felt strong, so strong. Like he could do anything! Zaru almost seemed in a trance for a moment, and his appearance did not change, except for his eyes. Though they remained the same blue colour as always, they brightened up, incredibly so, almost to the point that they were glowing. His eyes stared into Dompil's and they were not those of a tired man; he felt invigorated, and charging Ki through his arm, he thrust it up with enough force to not only block the sword, but break it in half on impact. The samurai stared in shock, his grin momentarily broken as even in this state, he seemed to realise how much that limited him. Before he could retaliate, Zaru's other hand came up, his fist crushing into the samurai's gut. His eyes widened and his face twisted in pain for a moment before he collapsed onto the ground. Zaru felt just as shocked; he knew that this guy was no pushover, and even if he had just been fighting for his life, there would never be a normal way to drop him in one punch. Why did he feel so good? Zaru glanced back at the urn, which was still leaking the odd mist. Rushing over, he closed it and sealed it shut. He could still hear the fighting upstairs, and rushed towards the near-dozen holes he'd made, one after another. He flew up through the lot of them before rushing through the antechamber and corridor, towards the foyer where he still heard the struggle going on.
Zaru could see him - Mollos was standing over Fuyun, ready to strike a lethal blow on the downed martial artist while Mostahd stood on one of the higher walkways, pulling himself up with the handrail to try and help. Zaru rushed through the air, with Mollos only realising and glancing over at the last minute as Zaru punched him hard across the face, sending him skidding across the tiles much farther than before. The Namekian looked somewhat shocked as he was already out of breath and banged up from the earlier fighting, but now had purple blood dribbling from the side of his mouth. The automated voice in Captain Mostahd's suit began speaking loudly, the armour itself scanning over Zaru as it did so. "Warning. Compound GBW particles detected within unsafe perimeter. Respirators or distance is recommended." Mostahd didn't move though, and neither did Fuyun, with clearly none of the mist in the room with them, only Zaru. His eyes glowed obviously, and he simply walked towards Mollos as the Namekian spat his blood off to the side and did the same. Almost the moment the two were in range of each other, they began swinging. Zaru was first, punching Mollos across the face as the Namekian returned with an overhand across the martial artist's temple. Zaru threw a stomach punch, and Mollos a hook. The two of them continued slugging at one another for a number of minutes, while most importantly, Mostahd and Fuyun had the chance to recover. Eventually though, a particuarly strong punch hit Zaru's solarplexus, and he couldn't just ignore it this time. He fell to one knee, with both him and Mollos looking far worse for wear, both panting for breath. The Demon Lord seemed sastisfied with his victory in their contest and raise his hand for a chop, a small blade of ki enveloping his hand as he grinned down towards Zaru. "I told you, human! You're dea-" He was cut off as the high-pitched whine of a laser cut through the room, the red beam of light enveloping Mollos' arm all the from the bicep to his hand - though it only flashed for a moment, the Namekian's arm was vaporised as he stumbled back, immediately yowling in pain. He stared angrily down at his wound, preparing to regenerate and darting his eyes up. Before he could turn his eye to the Captain, who had fired with all the energy his armour had left, he saw Fuyun, standing behind the kneeling Zaru with one finger raised and pointed at him.
"Dodonpa." It was said almost quietly, but the beam suddenly shot from his finger, exploding on impact with Mollos' chest. The Namekian was sent flying back once more, and Zaru focused all the ki in his body. He rushed forward towards the wounded Lord, whose torso was exposed and already bleeding heavily; he had no time to regenerate as Zaru yelled out with all his strength, his Ki focusing into one of his arms to send it rushing towards the Namekian like a great hammer. His fist struck Mollos' abdomen and went straight through, perforating him and driving all the life out of his body in an instant. He was sent flying back through the wall of the temple, smashing through it as his body twisted in the air, falling from the great height all the way down before it disappeared into the treeline below. Zaru breathed heavily as he stumbled towards the hole left in the wall, looking down towards where Mollos had fallen. He was silent for a moment as he heard Mostahd hop down from the walkway towards Fuyun, then turned back, staring towards him. "You knew what was here." The Captain was quiet for a moment as he checked Fuyun's wounds, then sighed. "Yes, I knew about Mollos. He was our mission. I-I wasn't expecting his power to have improved this much. I think it's the same thing you've been exposed to. Compound GBW."
Zaru turned fully and walked towards the Captain, not replying as he assumed he was going to get a full explanation. "Namekians are usually immune, but he was a mutant. He might've been trying to use it to empower himself. It's an ancient substance, the Black Water Mist. It's contained in an urn, and overwhelms you with the evil in your own heart, even the nicest person. That's what I don't understand - you have it in you right now. You ought to be rabid, trying to bite us and infect us, too, but as far as I can tell, you're the same as always." Zaru snarled his lip a bit. So, the whole thing was just to get rid of Mollos; to prevent the staging area, like he thought. No wonder they brought in some kind of intel officer from the Orange Star to brief them. Nobody else probably knew what was going on - he would say there was no artifact, but that mist downstairs couldn't be left in anyone's hands, especially not the people who just proved unworthy of trust. "I'm taking it. It doesn't affect me, and I don't trust you people not to use it. Dompil's been exposed - if you can cure him, get him to someone who can do it fast. I'll stay with the boat until you get him under control, but the urn stays sealed, and with me." Mostahd seemed a bit hesitant, understably still shaken from their fight and the fact that Zaru appeared immune to the mist's effects. Zaru himself wasn't sure why; he certainly had evil parts of his nature, and he dealt with them all the time, so why didin't it affect him? He travelled back to the hole, hopping down to where Dompil had been left. Scooping up the urn with one hand and Dompil in the other arm, he stared down at the urn still. Maybe this was something he could do, something to right. Nobody was getting their hands on this ever again, not without going through him first.
WC: 5,893