Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2015 3:07:13 GMT
((Earth's Gravity x100))
I’ve a little more to teach you, but what if I could show you... what it was like to see what that dark power looked like? Zerori almost wanted her to repeat herself; lost in what exactly this woman was implying. Did she mean that Zerori could tap into dark energy safely or not? The woman looked at the Zerori with an expectant expression on hr face she dropped from the tree with practiced elegance. I believe you heard me correctly, in case it was hard to comprehend. I shall explain in more detail, but… let’s leave that after I’ve finished teaching you! The smiled sweetly and walked a little closer to the tailed warrior.
Getting up from the ground, though a struggle, Zerori was about to open her mouth to ask a question when Terra held up a hand and presented a finger. Pointing it towards Zerori, she slowly moved the tip towards the saiyaness’ chest before she was just a few inches from the armor that rest there. Try not to die, okay? The woman asked in an unnatural air of innocence that threw Zerori off before she poked her armor in the middle of her chest.
All at once, the air rushed out of her and the world was thrown backwards and into reverse. That was what she saw before her back hit the ground like a bomb from the air and she immediately rolled into a lethal and violent spin along the ground. From her back to her head, across her shoulders and rolling along her sides – she was tossed and turned in nearly every direction before her rag-dolling finally stopped at a tree that made her feel like she nearly broke her back upon impact. Blood rushed from her injured organs up her throat and exited her mouth and nose in spurt of liquid across the ground.
Thinking didn’t start happening until a few seconds after she’d started to feel her legs once more, and then her arms with her hand following suit. Once breathing was reestablished, coughing was the next order of business. Then thinking happened, What the fuck just happened?! Looking up from her place under the tree, the ground beneath her side making her groan and growl in pain; she must have broken… four… five ribs just then? And a very good distance away from her, about 300 or so feet, was the bitch that had attacked her.
Coughing again, Zerori tried to speak but it came out hoarse, “I thought you said… You weren’t going to attack?!” Her anger palpable and she could nearly be seen sparking with rage. It was amazed her, however, that even from this distance she could see the Earth elemental make a gesture and soon she was joined with friends. At both sides of her, enshrouded in their own elements, were her mentors (or what could be considered as such), Pyrus and Ilaxia. The flighty wind sprite that was small and fleet was wholly dwarfed by the larger, more ominous and intimidating fire spirit. And between them was her current teacher, Terra of the Earth.
She spoke in a mocking manner, I said no such thing, Little Saiyan, for it was you who asked me if I was training you. In speaking the truth, I will only guide you – was my answer. Holding true to that, I will bring your previous mentors into this circle, She leered at each of them, delighting in their respectfully stoic and nervous responses to her presence, For so rich in wisdom and strength, are they, that the next lesson will be your final and most treacherous. Fail this, Saiyan known as Zerori, and you will die knowing the power of your weakness.
At the end of her little tirade, Zerori couldn’t stop herself from jumping down the Earth elemental’s throat, “And if I die, how will I learn about this power, huh?! This is a real shitty way to kill someone who need your fucking help!” A vein throbbed by her temple, sweat and blood mixing in with it to bring a stinging sensation – it only fueled her ire more. The elemental, however, didn’t seem phased in the least by her anger.
You will die, if you’re not strong enough to utilize their teachings. Rest assured, however, that I have the MOST confidence in your abilities. Pyrus and Ilaxia, however…
The fire sprite frowned deeply, I will make certain this is a most painful lesson for you, and your last if you’re not worth my time, Saiyan…[/i] However, Ilaxia said nothing, obviously and visibly uncomfortable about attack her student when she needed help. Out of all three, she was weakest and most accommodating – but she was the fastest of all the winds on the plains on earth. All except for one; she looked to Pyrus and wondered if he would ever admit or tell his student about the one fire he could never compete with…
Back with Zerori, she was getting to her feet in a vicious motion of anger, feeling the fresh burn of betrayal like water to a flame that had burned brightly. Steam rolled off of her in droves as the fire that ignited along her body would occasionally pop and crackle from the over-use of energy. This was more than her using the manipulation of element, and in the neighborhood of being used by the element itself. If these two were anything like Terra… and Zerori had her suspicions that they were not, she was going to have a difficult time fighting against these two.
Her saiyan blood sang, anyway, however. Ice-cold eyes bore down on the two like prey, switching from blood red now and again before she clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath, “I’ll see to it that you never leave this realm that same!” And with that promise made, loud enough for them to hear, she leaned forward into a step to close the distance between them. It only took her two steps to get close enough to allow the heat that filled her mouth to escape with confidence.
She reappeared at their flank on the left side, her boots grinding into the soil and dirt and a hand used as ballast on the ground before she released a swift and terrifying flurry of fire from her lips. It rushed towards the group, closing in quickly, before Pyrus was in its way and holding a hand up in a simple gesture. Like waves crashing into a larger one, her fire smashed against his being and crashed, breaking apart into its components and flickering off in the grasses around them before igniting the ground. He was not finished, however, and her widened when he sucked in a deep breath and returned the same attack back at her, more fierce than her own!
Move! She told herself and was in mid-step to avoid the damage before she found that the wind around her twisted awkwardly. She tried again, pushing against it in an attempt to cut it wide open – but once again, without an explanation, it resisted! Unable to think of a reason or a solution, Zerori held her arms across her midsection and face before the fire scorched her and impacted her body like a brick going a million miles per hour. She was blown back by the power Pyrus possessed, and could feel herself losing the grounding she had underneath her boots when a quick – almost pain gust of wind – rushed against her back and nearly bowled her over in the opposite direction.
It slowed her push-back and allowed her to bring back some precious air. When she looked back at the three, farther than they were before, she could hear that there was some sort of argument happening between them. That was when it hit her. “Ilaxia…” She must have slowed her impact and provided her some much needed air, at the cost of refusing her access to the wind-cutting she needed to use to escape.
That meant that she at least one sprite on her side that didn’t want her dead… Even if that wasn’t good odd, it gave her some moral support she needed to find her center and work on an attack plan. That was a good question, though… Did she need to attack them or fatally wound them? Could she do such a thing? Was it even possible?
So engrossed in thinking, she wasn’t paying enough attention to what was going on around her until she felt a very deep, penetrating heat near her back before she looked over her shoulder. Eyes widened in fear as what towered above her, looming overhead like a god ready to smite its sinner. It was a literal wall of lava, molten rock and earth that moved so fluidly like it was a wave from a tsunami that was just waiting to fall on top of her. Breathing escalated and her heartbeat felt like it was going out of control as she stared on at it; her mind was blank and she needed to think right now! When it started to move, slow motion but quite clearly moving faster than her eyes could comprehend, she clenched her fist and thought defensively.
Can’t move. It’s too powerful. Stand my ground. Can I take it? No. But I can try it another way! Fractured thought came together in a fit of quick-thinking and she looked down at the ground with a plan in mind. Throwing both arms into the air, she roared a battle cry before throwing them both down and smashing to one knee. Swirling around her like a tornado, earth and rock and dirt encased her in a two by four by two space; she had to force every ounce of magical reserve she had left into the protection of the dome. Her difficulties became visible when she could see the red of the lava ripping apart and melting her dome like it was nothing more than the material it was made out of.
She needed to escape, somehow. Using the earth? How? She only knew one technique?
Her mind very quickly glanced back at what happened with Pyrus when she threw her attack at them. He just took it and dissipated it like the fire was merely apart of himself. Did that mean that she could apply the same principle? When the lava was seeping into the dome now, sizzling and spreading at her boots – she realized that the time for thinking had come to end. Just go fast! She told herself and dropped the barrier. The moment it lost stability, the lava completely overran the dirt and made it hardened rock and igneous.
The three elementals watched on; one gaze expressionless, one tinged with deep disappointment and the other was sorrowful and filled with regret. Pyrus growled lowly, It seemed she was destined to fail like all the rest…[/b] He scoffed in disgust, eliciting a sound of disapproval from the wind sprite.
You’re just a bully and mean one, while this one wanted to see that one become more than what she was destined! You’re a foul, brute of a creature! Terra, help her![/i] Ilaxia cried, looking beseechingly at their patron for assistance in all her wisdom. Terra of Earth looked back at the sprite with a calculating gaze before she turned it back to the remains of the lava and rock that had began to settle along the trees and dirt.
I think you underestimate her… both of you, She informed them, seeing something that they could not see in her experience. Why, it’s as if you can’t feel your own elements at work… She noted, a small smile coming to her face.
Both Pyrus and Ilaxia looked visibly confused at her words, before the ground beneath them started to shake. Ilaxia looked beneath her for only a second before she cut the wind and stepped away. Terra of Earth had already bridged a great distance from where she was – now fifty feet in the opposite direction. It was only Pyrus, the fire sprite that was lost in the calamity around him. What could make both of them both leave him? Did his student not fail and become one with the molten rock?
When a grinding vibration could be felt beneath him, he realized another tactic Zerori had tried and gnashed his teeth together, baring them. You won’t best me with such a trick! He snarled and placed a hand on the ground beneath him. Pushing his element into the ground and releasing it just inches below his hand his goal was to flush her out. As more and more fire poured into the Earth, cracks and steam could be seen releasing from the ground and then, in a massive explosion, he was surrounded by his own fire. However, satisfied as he was by his accomplishment, it was just as Terra had said.
The fire he cast and mingled into the rock below him, wasn’t just his own. For every second that the fire raged above him, it would intermingle with Zerori’s own until finally…
It came crashing down. In a bid to make certain that Zerori was attacked by his fire, he’d forced it through the earth around him in a 180 degree angle. That angle would be his down fall and it soon fell around him like a crash of water onto the crags. No sounds were made from the spirit as he was enveloped in the fire, but it was certain that he had returned to the ether. His element was overpowered by Zerori’s – a feat she was sure to be chastised about later should she survive the other two.
When the waves of inferno and rock eased and settled, she pulled herself from the hole that she hid inside and held a hand over her arm. Burns scorched her body but her arm was the worst – nearly being burned straight to the bone. She’d heal just fine as long as she made certain to keep it protected. However, being without her medical pack, that meant ending this quickly. Sweat, blackened skin and blood marred her body as she walked toward the group but not too close that she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on them. How would she take Ilaxia out? Her chest tightened at the idea of harming an ally when she was merely doing what her own patron told her to do – but them the breaks.
Stopping just shy of their position, Zerori swished around some blood in her mouth and spat it out on the ground, “Alright, so who’s next? The odds are evened a bit and I want to get this done and over with!” It wasn’t hard to tell that the injuries, emotional rawness and exhaustion were influencing her decisions. Her temperament was quite literally non-existent, if not blowing a gasket.
The wind sprite held her hands to her chest and shook her head, Nay, this one has spoken with Earth Patron. This one will not fight you any loner. I have no power over you with Pyrus, you see… Ilaxia reasoned, receiving a nod from the Earth elemental as approval for her decision. Zerori, however, was riding high of the thrill of battle and pain of victory. Her reaction quite clearly shook the sprite to her core.
“You think I’m gonna be fine with that…?” The saiyaness hissed, her eyes no longer cool with crystal blues but raging a rubelite red that shone like blood. “No… No, I’m going to make you understand… understand that I won’t be thrown to the way side to be betrayed all for a fucking LESSON!” Crying the last word out like a battle song, she dashed toward the sprite in a swift motion. Closing the distance between the two, Zerori could almost feel the wench in her hands when a sudden darkness overcame her.
On the outside, besides the two figures, stood a dome of pure rock; after a few seconds, an agonized scream of rage was heard inside of it before the sound of fists against what sounded like echoed metal smashed against the walls. Terra of the Earth stared on, unimpressed by the saiyans lack of control but this moment – ever since she brought the sprites with her – was defined for a reason. She turned her lime green, luminescent gaze to Ilaxia. You are dismissed… And the wind sprite, ever revering her patrol nodded with a trembling body before she too dispersed into the ether.
Now, it was just her… and the saiyan Halfling. They would share words and… and they she would tell her the news that this would have led up to. A bit of news that she wasn’t sure this one could handle…
..
.
((12:25PM, Outskirts of North City – blizzard in the Descent))
When the elemental had let down the done of encased rock around the saiyaness, it was well after she had calmed and enough to listen to what she had to say. Zerori, for her part, had learned about the desperation and anxiety that saiyans typically went through to attain more power. It wasn’t news to Zerori in the least, but the fast that Terra said there was an important connection Zerori herself would have to make between the demonic power – and the saiyan. They were one in the same but powered (and wired) completely different.
The talk didn’t last as long as Terra would have liked, missing out on important tidbits that would have made Zerori understand her background better, but the saiyaness needed rest.
Now, hours later, after the Halfling had time to rest and recuperate in the medical bay Zerori was waking up to see Ari crying in a chair across from the best she slept in. EMR had been deactivated due to the news that Zerori didn’t care to answer or explain about. His line of questions would make the child before her cry even more. However, it was not because the announcement was as dire as many of the new stations claimed it to be.
One leg propped on the bed while the other hung over the side, Zerori draped an arm across her knee as she looked at the child crying next to her. She was trying to wipe away the tears as they came from her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to catch them fast enough… With a soft growl, Zerori tried to reach out and touch her back in a comforting gesture. Like last time, however, Ari flinched away and tried to swat at Zerori’s hand pathetically, “NO!” She sobbed and the saiyaness’ eyes only soften more – like she was in agony.
“Ari, you’ve got to stop this…” She told her softly, trying to reign in her impatience and allow the child to sort out her own feelings. However, it was becoming difficult since she had already heard the voice over her scouter, the ships’ system and the radio she’d patched up.
It was obvious what were intentions were… and Ari was mad at her.
“You said we wouldn’t… wouldn’t be s-separated!” The girl cried, loud and angry but also heart broken. Zerori opened her mouth, closed it again, before she tried to open it once more – only to growl and looked away at the ground. She did promise… This wasn’t what she was expecting to happen. Trying to look Ari in the eye, she frowned sadly.
“…I know. I don’t want to go-”
“-Then don’t go!” Ari yelled as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Zerori sucked in a breath and let it out before snarling in response, her face back on the ground.
“I don’t have a choice, Ari! If he wins - and this machine never lies to me about power, kid - then that means that everyone is going to belong to him. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this guy and now… now, somehow he’s just gone bat shit insane and wants everything to be destroyed or enslaved or-! I don’t know! I’m a saiyan! Obviously, he’s gonna come after me if this tail is any indication and through me he will get to you!” The more she spoke, the angrier she got and she couldn’t stop the emotion to rush through her.
Tears didn’t come, but something much more agonizing… hopelessness. Her… Her charge was going to die or worse if there were enough fighters on the planet to protect it. Her scouter picked up great powers now and then, but they never stayed consistent. She didn’t even know if they were even on the planet anymore. However, she knew this guy was and she wasn’t going to let Ari get hurt because of him.
After a good few minutes of crying and waiting her out, Zerori nudged the girl again. “Trust me, kid?” She asked softly. For a few moments, Ari said nothing. Just when she was sure that the little young girl would never speak to her again, her face falling into shame, the little girl reached out and grabbed the material of Zerori’s glove. Looking back over at her, the saiyaness waited before Ari nodded.
“Mhm…”
It took a bit, but Zerori smiled and grasped Ari’s hand in her own, “Good. I’ll be back, alright…? And this time, you won’t be alone… Okay?” She told her. Ari looked up, blinking with tears still in her eyes before she swallowed and nodded again, not trusting her voice. Satisfied with her answer, Zerori stood up from the table and started stretching and pulling her muscles in different directions to see if any were ripped to badly for her to fight. Ari tilted her head to the side before jumping off too and walking toward a table.
“Computer, activate EMR please!” The young lass called and, with a familiar chime, the holographic projection appeared. “We’re gonna go into space, EMR!”
Caught off guard, Zerori looked over at Ari with a surprised expression, “H-How did you-?” She was going to tell the brat after she had left and have EMR keep her locked up in a room until she was ready. With a growl, she scratched the back of her head, “Okay, who fucking fibbed?”
Ari shook her head, smiling as she did, “No one, I just figured that if you want me safe and protected – you’d shoot the ship into orbit and call it back down later. And when you said… I wouldn’t alone…” Her voice faded off, not uncertain. Zerori got the hint.
Giving a sigh, she waved a hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve already sent out the beacon to North City, so… if anyone is left after the evacuations they should come right over here. EMR,” She called and spoke firmly, “There will be many people here. If you find your programming too strong to deny, deactivate yourself before you kill them. When I come back, I better see everyone alive and bodies better not be spaced!”
Tilting his head to the side, he ‘hm’ed, “I take it you wish for me to pilot the shit into orbit. Is that correct?” He asked, and Zerori nodded.
“If the radioactivity levels increase suddenly, throw the ship immediately into warp toward Planet Vegeta. I’ll meet you guys there somehow…” Her voice trailed off, leaving behind an almost awkward insecurity. For a few moments, there was only silence. Unwilling to let it overtake her, Zerori clapped her hands in a gesture of finality and walked to the door out of the room. She stopped when she felt Ari grab her hand and looked down, knowing what she would find.
Tears back in her eyes, fresh and fierce as before, the young girl sniffled and held her hand tightly. “P-Please come back, okay?!” She begged, before pressing her head to Zerori’s hand and then hugging her around her hips. Zerori stared down at her for a few seconds in shock before it melted into a crooked smile and she placed a hand against the girls’ back gently, rubbing it in comforting circles.
“You got it…”
((Learned 'Rock-Solid Protection' when approved))
I’ve a little more to teach you, but what if I could show you... what it was like to see what that dark power looked like? Zerori almost wanted her to repeat herself; lost in what exactly this woman was implying. Did she mean that Zerori could tap into dark energy safely or not? The woman looked at the Zerori with an expectant expression on hr face she dropped from the tree with practiced elegance. I believe you heard me correctly, in case it was hard to comprehend. I shall explain in more detail, but… let’s leave that after I’ve finished teaching you! The smiled sweetly and walked a little closer to the tailed warrior.
Getting up from the ground, though a struggle, Zerori was about to open her mouth to ask a question when Terra held up a hand and presented a finger. Pointing it towards Zerori, she slowly moved the tip towards the saiyaness’ chest before she was just a few inches from the armor that rest there. Try not to die, okay? The woman asked in an unnatural air of innocence that threw Zerori off before she poked her armor in the middle of her chest.
All at once, the air rushed out of her and the world was thrown backwards and into reverse. That was what she saw before her back hit the ground like a bomb from the air and she immediately rolled into a lethal and violent spin along the ground. From her back to her head, across her shoulders and rolling along her sides – she was tossed and turned in nearly every direction before her rag-dolling finally stopped at a tree that made her feel like she nearly broke her back upon impact. Blood rushed from her injured organs up her throat and exited her mouth and nose in spurt of liquid across the ground.
Thinking didn’t start happening until a few seconds after she’d started to feel her legs once more, and then her arms with her hand following suit. Once breathing was reestablished, coughing was the next order of business. Then thinking happened, What the fuck just happened?! Looking up from her place under the tree, the ground beneath her side making her groan and growl in pain; she must have broken… four… five ribs just then? And a very good distance away from her, about 300 or so feet, was the bitch that had attacked her.
Coughing again, Zerori tried to speak but it came out hoarse, “I thought you said… You weren’t going to attack?!” Her anger palpable and she could nearly be seen sparking with rage. It was amazed her, however, that even from this distance she could see the Earth elemental make a gesture and soon she was joined with friends. At both sides of her, enshrouded in their own elements, were her mentors (or what could be considered as such), Pyrus and Ilaxia. The flighty wind sprite that was small and fleet was wholly dwarfed by the larger, more ominous and intimidating fire spirit. And between them was her current teacher, Terra of the Earth.
She spoke in a mocking manner, I said no such thing, Little Saiyan, for it was you who asked me if I was training you. In speaking the truth, I will only guide you – was my answer. Holding true to that, I will bring your previous mentors into this circle, She leered at each of them, delighting in their respectfully stoic and nervous responses to her presence, For so rich in wisdom and strength, are they, that the next lesson will be your final and most treacherous. Fail this, Saiyan known as Zerori, and you will die knowing the power of your weakness.
At the end of her little tirade, Zerori couldn’t stop herself from jumping down the Earth elemental’s throat, “And if I die, how will I learn about this power, huh?! This is a real shitty way to kill someone who need your fucking help!” A vein throbbed by her temple, sweat and blood mixing in with it to bring a stinging sensation – it only fueled her ire more. The elemental, however, didn’t seem phased in the least by her anger.
You will die, if you’re not strong enough to utilize their teachings. Rest assured, however, that I have the MOST confidence in your abilities. Pyrus and Ilaxia, however…
The fire sprite frowned deeply, I will make certain this is a most painful lesson for you, and your last if you’re not worth my time, Saiyan…[/i] However, Ilaxia said nothing, obviously and visibly uncomfortable about attack her student when she needed help. Out of all three, she was weakest and most accommodating – but she was the fastest of all the winds on the plains on earth. All except for one; she looked to Pyrus and wondered if he would ever admit or tell his student about the one fire he could never compete with…
Back with Zerori, she was getting to her feet in a vicious motion of anger, feeling the fresh burn of betrayal like water to a flame that had burned brightly. Steam rolled off of her in droves as the fire that ignited along her body would occasionally pop and crackle from the over-use of energy. This was more than her using the manipulation of element, and in the neighborhood of being used by the element itself. If these two were anything like Terra… and Zerori had her suspicions that they were not, she was going to have a difficult time fighting against these two.
Her saiyan blood sang, anyway, however. Ice-cold eyes bore down on the two like prey, switching from blood red now and again before she clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath, “I’ll see to it that you never leave this realm that same!” And with that promise made, loud enough for them to hear, she leaned forward into a step to close the distance between them. It only took her two steps to get close enough to allow the heat that filled her mouth to escape with confidence.
She reappeared at their flank on the left side, her boots grinding into the soil and dirt and a hand used as ballast on the ground before she released a swift and terrifying flurry of fire from her lips. It rushed towards the group, closing in quickly, before Pyrus was in its way and holding a hand up in a simple gesture. Like waves crashing into a larger one, her fire smashed against his being and crashed, breaking apart into its components and flickering off in the grasses around them before igniting the ground. He was not finished, however, and her widened when he sucked in a deep breath and returned the same attack back at her, more fierce than her own!
Move! She told herself and was in mid-step to avoid the damage before she found that the wind around her twisted awkwardly. She tried again, pushing against it in an attempt to cut it wide open – but once again, without an explanation, it resisted! Unable to think of a reason or a solution, Zerori held her arms across her midsection and face before the fire scorched her and impacted her body like a brick going a million miles per hour. She was blown back by the power Pyrus possessed, and could feel herself losing the grounding she had underneath her boots when a quick – almost pain gust of wind – rushed against her back and nearly bowled her over in the opposite direction.
It slowed her push-back and allowed her to bring back some precious air. When she looked back at the three, farther than they were before, she could hear that there was some sort of argument happening between them. That was when it hit her. “Ilaxia…” She must have slowed her impact and provided her some much needed air, at the cost of refusing her access to the wind-cutting she needed to use to escape.
That meant that she at least one sprite on her side that didn’t want her dead… Even if that wasn’t good odd, it gave her some moral support she needed to find her center and work on an attack plan. That was a good question, though… Did she need to attack them or fatally wound them? Could she do such a thing? Was it even possible?
So engrossed in thinking, she wasn’t paying enough attention to what was going on around her until she felt a very deep, penetrating heat near her back before she looked over her shoulder. Eyes widened in fear as what towered above her, looming overhead like a god ready to smite its sinner. It was a literal wall of lava, molten rock and earth that moved so fluidly like it was a wave from a tsunami that was just waiting to fall on top of her. Breathing escalated and her heartbeat felt like it was going out of control as she stared on at it; her mind was blank and she needed to think right now! When it started to move, slow motion but quite clearly moving faster than her eyes could comprehend, she clenched her fist and thought defensively.
Can’t move. It’s too powerful. Stand my ground. Can I take it? No. But I can try it another way! Fractured thought came together in a fit of quick-thinking and she looked down at the ground with a plan in mind. Throwing both arms into the air, she roared a battle cry before throwing them both down and smashing to one knee. Swirling around her like a tornado, earth and rock and dirt encased her in a two by four by two space; she had to force every ounce of magical reserve she had left into the protection of the dome. Her difficulties became visible when she could see the red of the lava ripping apart and melting her dome like it was nothing more than the material it was made out of.
She needed to escape, somehow. Using the earth? How? She only knew one technique?
Her mind very quickly glanced back at what happened with Pyrus when she threw her attack at them. He just took it and dissipated it like the fire was merely apart of himself. Did that mean that she could apply the same principle? When the lava was seeping into the dome now, sizzling and spreading at her boots – she realized that the time for thinking had come to end. Just go fast! She told herself and dropped the barrier. The moment it lost stability, the lava completely overran the dirt and made it hardened rock and igneous.
The three elementals watched on; one gaze expressionless, one tinged with deep disappointment and the other was sorrowful and filled with regret. Pyrus growled lowly, It seemed she was destined to fail like all the rest…[/b] He scoffed in disgust, eliciting a sound of disapproval from the wind sprite.
You’re just a bully and mean one, while this one wanted to see that one become more than what she was destined! You’re a foul, brute of a creature! Terra, help her![/i] Ilaxia cried, looking beseechingly at their patron for assistance in all her wisdom. Terra of Earth looked back at the sprite with a calculating gaze before she turned it back to the remains of the lava and rock that had began to settle along the trees and dirt.
I think you underestimate her… both of you, She informed them, seeing something that they could not see in her experience. Why, it’s as if you can’t feel your own elements at work… She noted, a small smile coming to her face.
Both Pyrus and Ilaxia looked visibly confused at her words, before the ground beneath them started to shake. Ilaxia looked beneath her for only a second before she cut the wind and stepped away. Terra of Earth had already bridged a great distance from where she was – now fifty feet in the opposite direction. It was only Pyrus, the fire sprite that was lost in the calamity around him. What could make both of them both leave him? Did his student not fail and become one with the molten rock?
When a grinding vibration could be felt beneath him, he realized another tactic Zerori had tried and gnashed his teeth together, baring them. You won’t best me with such a trick! He snarled and placed a hand on the ground beneath him. Pushing his element into the ground and releasing it just inches below his hand his goal was to flush her out. As more and more fire poured into the Earth, cracks and steam could be seen releasing from the ground and then, in a massive explosion, he was surrounded by his own fire. However, satisfied as he was by his accomplishment, it was just as Terra had said.
The fire he cast and mingled into the rock below him, wasn’t just his own. For every second that the fire raged above him, it would intermingle with Zerori’s own until finally…
It came crashing down. In a bid to make certain that Zerori was attacked by his fire, he’d forced it through the earth around him in a 180 degree angle. That angle would be his down fall and it soon fell around him like a crash of water onto the crags. No sounds were made from the spirit as he was enveloped in the fire, but it was certain that he had returned to the ether. His element was overpowered by Zerori’s – a feat she was sure to be chastised about later should she survive the other two.
When the waves of inferno and rock eased and settled, she pulled herself from the hole that she hid inside and held a hand over her arm. Burns scorched her body but her arm was the worst – nearly being burned straight to the bone. She’d heal just fine as long as she made certain to keep it protected. However, being without her medical pack, that meant ending this quickly. Sweat, blackened skin and blood marred her body as she walked toward the group but not too close that she wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on them. How would she take Ilaxia out? Her chest tightened at the idea of harming an ally when she was merely doing what her own patron told her to do – but them the breaks.
Stopping just shy of their position, Zerori swished around some blood in her mouth and spat it out on the ground, “Alright, so who’s next? The odds are evened a bit and I want to get this done and over with!” It wasn’t hard to tell that the injuries, emotional rawness and exhaustion were influencing her decisions. Her temperament was quite literally non-existent, if not blowing a gasket.
The wind sprite held her hands to her chest and shook her head, Nay, this one has spoken with Earth Patron. This one will not fight you any loner. I have no power over you with Pyrus, you see… Ilaxia reasoned, receiving a nod from the Earth elemental as approval for her decision. Zerori, however, was riding high of the thrill of battle and pain of victory. Her reaction quite clearly shook the sprite to her core.
“You think I’m gonna be fine with that…?” The saiyaness hissed, her eyes no longer cool with crystal blues but raging a rubelite red that shone like blood. “No… No, I’m going to make you understand… understand that I won’t be thrown to the way side to be betrayed all for a fucking LESSON!” Crying the last word out like a battle song, she dashed toward the sprite in a swift motion. Closing the distance between the two, Zerori could almost feel the wench in her hands when a sudden darkness overcame her.
On the outside, besides the two figures, stood a dome of pure rock; after a few seconds, an agonized scream of rage was heard inside of it before the sound of fists against what sounded like echoed metal smashed against the walls. Terra of the Earth stared on, unimpressed by the saiyans lack of control but this moment – ever since she brought the sprites with her – was defined for a reason. She turned her lime green, luminescent gaze to Ilaxia. You are dismissed… And the wind sprite, ever revering her patrol nodded with a trembling body before she too dispersed into the ether.
Now, it was just her… and the saiyan Halfling. They would share words and… and they she would tell her the news that this would have led up to. A bit of news that she wasn’t sure this one could handle…
..
.
((12:25PM, Outskirts of North City – blizzard in the Descent))
When the elemental had let down the done of encased rock around the saiyaness, it was well after she had calmed and enough to listen to what she had to say. Zerori, for her part, had learned about the desperation and anxiety that saiyans typically went through to attain more power. It wasn’t news to Zerori in the least, but the fast that Terra said there was an important connection Zerori herself would have to make between the demonic power – and the saiyan. They were one in the same but powered (and wired) completely different.
The talk didn’t last as long as Terra would have liked, missing out on important tidbits that would have made Zerori understand her background better, but the saiyaness needed rest.
Now, hours later, after the Halfling had time to rest and recuperate in the medical bay Zerori was waking up to see Ari crying in a chair across from the best she slept in. EMR had been deactivated due to the news that Zerori didn’t care to answer or explain about. His line of questions would make the child before her cry even more. However, it was not because the announcement was as dire as many of the new stations claimed it to be.
One leg propped on the bed while the other hung over the side, Zerori draped an arm across her knee as she looked at the child crying next to her. She was trying to wipe away the tears as they came from her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to catch them fast enough… With a soft growl, Zerori tried to reach out and touch her back in a comforting gesture. Like last time, however, Ari flinched away and tried to swat at Zerori’s hand pathetically, “NO!” She sobbed and the saiyaness’ eyes only soften more – like she was in agony.
“Ari, you’ve got to stop this…” She told her softly, trying to reign in her impatience and allow the child to sort out her own feelings. However, it was becoming difficult since she had already heard the voice over her scouter, the ships’ system and the radio she’d patched up.
It was obvious what were intentions were… and Ari was mad at her.
“You said we wouldn’t… wouldn’t be s-separated!” The girl cried, loud and angry but also heart broken. Zerori opened her mouth, closed it again, before she tried to open it once more – only to growl and looked away at the ground. She did promise… This wasn’t what she was expecting to happen. Trying to look Ari in the eye, she frowned sadly.
“…I know. I don’t want to go-”
“-Then don’t go!” Ari yelled as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Zerori sucked in a breath and let it out before snarling in response, her face back on the ground.
“I don’t have a choice, Ari! If he wins - and this machine never lies to me about power, kid - then that means that everyone is going to belong to him. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this guy and now… now, somehow he’s just gone bat shit insane and wants everything to be destroyed or enslaved or-! I don’t know! I’m a saiyan! Obviously, he’s gonna come after me if this tail is any indication and through me he will get to you!” The more she spoke, the angrier she got and she couldn’t stop the emotion to rush through her.
Tears didn’t come, but something much more agonizing… hopelessness. Her… Her charge was going to die or worse if there were enough fighters on the planet to protect it. Her scouter picked up great powers now and then, but they never stayed consistent. She didn’t even know if they were even on the planet anymore. However, she knew this guy was and she wasn’t going to let Ari get hurt because of him.
After a good few minutes of crying and waiting her out, Zerori nudged the girl again. “Trust me, kid?” She asked softly. For a few moments, Ari said nothing. Just when she was sure that the little young girl would never speak to her again, her face falling into shame, the little girl reached out and grabbed the material of Zerori’s glove. Looking back over at her, the saiyaness waited before Ari nodded.
“Mhm…”
It took a bit, but Zerori smiled and grasped Ari’s hand in her own, “Good. I’ll be back, alright…? And this time, you won’t be alone… Okay?” She told her. Ari looked up, blinking with tears still in her eyes before she swallowed and nodded again, not trusting her voice. Satisfied with her answer, Zerori stood up from the table and started stretching and pulling her muscles in different directions to see if any were ripped to badly for her to fight. Ari tilted her head to the side before jumping off too and walking toward a table.
“Computer, activate EMR please!” The young lass called and, with a familiar chime, the holographic projection appeared. “We’re gonna go into space, EMR!”
Caught off guard, Zerori looked over at Ari with a surprised expression, “H-How did you-?” She was going to tell the brat after she had left and have EMR keep her locked up in a room until she was ready. With a growl, she scratched the back of her head, “Okay, who fucking fibbed?”
Ari shook her head, smiling as she did, “No one, I just figured that if you want me safe and protected – you’d shoot the ship into orbit and call it back down later. And when you said… I wouldn’t alone…” Her voice faded off, not uncertain. Zerori got the hint.
Giving a sigh, she waved a hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve already sent out the beacon to North City, so… if anyone is left after the evacuations they should come right over here. EMR,” She called and spoke firmly, “There will be many people here. If you find your programming too strong to deny, deactivate yourself before you kill them. When I come back, I better see everyone alive and bodies better not be spaced!”
Tilting his head to the side, he ‘hm’ed, “I take it you wish for me to pilot the shit into orbit. Is that correct?” He asked, and Zerori nodded.
“If the radioactivity levels increase suddenly, throw the ship immediately into warp toward Planet Vegeta. I’ll meet you guys there somehow…” Her voice trailed off, leaving behind an almost awkward insecurity. For a few moments, there was only silence. Unwilling to let it overtake her, Zerori clapped her hands in a gesture of finality and walked to the door out of the room. She stopped when she felt Ari grab her hand and looked down, knowing what she would find.
Tears back in her eyes, fresh and fierce as before, the young girl sniffled and held her hand tightly. “P-Please come back, okay?!” She begged, before pressing her head to Zerori’s hand and then hugging her around her hips. Zerori stared down at her for a few seconds in shock before it melted into a crooked smile and she placed a hand against the girls’ back gently, rubbing it in comforting circles.
“You got it…”
((Learned 'Rock-Solid Protection' when approved))
