An Amity Revived
Chapter Twelve
The wind had died down earlier, but now it returned more violently than ever. This time, bones, flesh, rocks, and even boulders ascended into the sky and traveled alongside the wind. A tornado, no. Nothing moved in a circular motion. Tornadoes hadn't even been seen on the surface of Meatsei since dawn, and had disappeared once the sun was fully in the sky. It wasn't a hurricane either. Wind was accompanied only by flying objects. It was just a bad case of a blistery day.
A very bad case of a blistery day. It was the worst that Panboukin had ever experience. He hated it. Mix that up with the tremendous heat, and it was even worse. Dodging boulders wasn't too difficult after having at least some experience at dodging energy attacks, but then again, one of the blows that had weakened him during the fight with the assassins was an energy attack right to his gut.
He tried not to think about it. He didn't want to think about it. It lowered his confidence and it distracted him too much. When the second realization hit him, he decided to not think about anything at all. Just concentrate on the unnecessary objects in the sky. That was the most important thing at the moment.
But Panboukin's reason out here was not the same as the others. All he had to do was follow the direction that one of them went --he didn't care who-- and go as fast as he could until he caught up with them. What he wanted to do was not to aide either of them in the search. He didn't want to talk to either of them. He was tired, yes, but he was also bored. So he couldn't get any sleep like Toma instructed him to do. But after the disagreement they had, of course he would disregard the order and do whatever he pleased. After all, that's just how he was with his comrades.
A small breath of air escaped from his mouth, quickly followed by a loud curse as Panboukin barely managed to duck from a flying pelvis of a Meatsei-jin. Would he have to deal with this for entire three or more hours during the search? He knew he would have to. He had no choice. The wind was just natural and there's nothing he could do to prevent it from coming. But it was just too much! Especially with a thought creeping to his mind involuntarily.
Panboukin didn't want to think about it, either. All he wanted to concentrate on --well, not exactly wanted to, but he had to pay attention so he wouldn't make himself bleed even more-- was the obstacle in front of him. A controversial topic could blind him to the extreme so that his fate will be no different than the female's. Whatever Celipa's fate was. No one knew where she was. And it was all...
He immediately ceased that thought once he saw a figure in front of him. Not a dead figure, luckily. The attire was awfully familiar. And the hairstyle was one of a kind among the Saiya-jin. He smirked as he started to speed up, trying to get side by side with him.
"Been looking for you," Panboukin told the other smugly as he snuck up next to him.
"I thought I told you to stay back at the landing site," Toma scowled, but he actually seemed relieved. It was well read in his eyes. The rest of his body showed no signs of his elation though, and none of his actions backed up the gleam in his eyes. Toma let out an exasperated sigh and looked back to the ground, continuing his quest. "What do you want?"
"I was wondering if-" Panboukin was cut short as both quickly moved out of the way of a extremely large piece of building. Then he had to dodge another boulder before he was able to reunite with Toma. Instead of continuing the previous sentence, Panboukin started an entirely new one. "You go back and get rest. I don't need it that much. You do. You're the one who's crabby."
"Okay," Toma grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "So now I'm crabby. Funny. You can look for her too, you know. No one really has to stay at the landing site."
"So why did you tell me too?" Panboukin retorted hotly. He glanced to the ground himself with a hopeful aura rising from his body as he started to do what he came here to do. "The quicker this is done, the better. Damn it, I'm starved."
"That came out of nowhere," the sub-leader pointed out, letting out a vague chuckle. All of a sudden he stopped and floated quickly to the ground. He made no movements for Panboukin to follow, but he knew that he should go after Toma anyway. Once they both have landed and were clear from the flying debris, the conversation continued. "You were the first to come back during the search for Bardock's pod. Why are you now asking to help?"
"Boredom," Panboukin answered simply with a tiny shrug. "You told me to stay before. I'm sick of the same scenery. Besides, I've had plenty of rest already. You had none. You go back. I'd hate for you to find Celipa in the mood you're in."
Toma was silent for a while, giving his companion a skeptical look. He seemed to be in deep thought, probably wondering what exactly Panboukin was thinking. Or planning. After a minute or so, he exhaled, as if he had been holding his breath for the longest time. "All right," Toma murmured. "Be back at the landing site in three hours."
Panboukin smirked as a confirmation. He took off without a second thought, without a second glance behind him. Only one thought was in his mind, the same one as the night before: "It's about time!"
Death may have weakened him greatly, but determination never failed him. Whenever there was a job he set himself out to do, he completed it. A long time ago Totepo concentrated on actually getting it done the right way. There was no time limit. He had help from his comrades. It was fun. Now, he had to get it done as quickly as possible carefully with no help whatsoever. It certainly was not fun at all. But he had to do it. No matter how hard it was, he knew he had to.
Perhaps if he was more used to lifting boulders and throwing them around, this wouldn't be such gruesome work. In fact, if Totepo had even lifted many boulders at once away from a pile, maybe then this wouldn't be as sweat breaking as it was now. He had never been forced to be a crane, and the time never came for him to be one. The thought of him doing something like this never entered his mind. Well, here he was now, digging for another's life.
He didn't have to do this. But he wanted to. He felt the need to. Sure, it wasn't fun, but there was something behind those hands that kept tossing the rocks aside. Onlookers may think of it as concern. But it wasn't that. It wasn't that.
It couldn't be possible. It had to be a dream. Some sort of a really bad dream! With the pain he felt, however, he knew that could not be so. He wished it was a dream. Two have died. No more needed to. No more.
Totepo's scouter was gone now as was everyone else's, except for one lying on the ground some distance away from these assassins. Their last hope for help, for an alert. For something. Clarification, maybe? But he couldn't get to it. He was too far away and those four assassins would notice him. They'd probably destroy the scouter, too.
He quickly stole a glance to his companion, who still held the dead Saiya-jin in his arms. It was obvious he refused to believe that she was dead and was clearly doing anything he could to get her to respond to his actions. Totepo had already accepted the fact as much as he hated to believe it. She was just as dead as the other who had died not so long ago just before she arrived.
Just in case, he shifted his eyes over to view the assassins. They were still sneering. Was this some sort of sick joke? Some play they decided to do out of sheer boredom? The confusion only angered him more and more. He couldn't stand it. This triggered another bomb as he prepared to attack them once more, but before he could do anything or even move a step, he took notice of the assassin's next attack. One that could surely kill.
He was about to shout out to his companion --a warning-- but it was too late. The assassin fired. Luckily the beam of light didn't travel fast enough for him not to notice it in time. He glanced up from the limp figure that he held up in his forearms and did not hesitate to dodge the attack. He threw the young female on the rocks in front of him and tried to jump out of the way, but in mid-leap his leg got caught in the middle of the energy beam. It seemed to have caused no harm, though.
Totepo could do nothing but watch as Toma rolled on the ground. He flipped and rolled on the ground until all momentum was lost and he lied on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Two seconds later, the Saiya-jin was climbing back to his feet, ready to face off against the assassins with all the rage he carried in his body.
Before a move could be made by either of them, before a sound could be made, another attack came. One assassin --the horned one-- flew and landed his heel into the Saiya-jin's chest. He also released his fists to a massive attack on him. Toma had no time to defend himself. Totepo was about to interfere, but the assassin sped back to the others, seeming quite satisfied.
The Saiya-jin the assassin had been beating up on was in a very bad condition now. All because of an extremely low move by the assassin. Toma had been knocked out cold and now any chances of defeating the other workers of Freeza vanished. But revenge was revenge. He enjoyed it and he will get it. Now Totepo will get his chance at a fight. It was time to avenge his comrades.
He lifted off and charged, ready to show no mercy. If they didn't, he wouldn't. Simple as that. But fury killed him. His own fury. Before he could get two feet away from his four new enemies, a hard force pushed against his face. He was thrown back into a piece of a building. No time to think of anything. He died right then and there.
"Don't. I can... do this."
To show that he was correct, Totepo momentarily let her go. Celipa staggered and almost fell on her face, but he managed to catch her before she did. Small drops of red liquid met the ground, almost like sweat being splattered against a waxed floor. She grabbed hold of his shoulder to steady her, and then let go to show that she could stand, walk, run, and fly without any help. She fell again, but this time he moved in front of her so that she could have a place to crash.
"I'm... fine. You don't-"
"Shush. Just relax. You'll be fine."
Before an argument could be made, he took off to the sky, leaving behind a mess of blood and crumbled rock. Well, it's not like anyone was coming back to this place anyway.