Trace the Predators (Ki Sense)

(To the next post... ALSO, WORK IN PROGRESS!)

Somewhere in the Forest, hours before

Waputhi had been searching the woods for his younger sibling. The dense forest had been making it difficult, as well as the animals. However, his appearance and the power backing him kept them off him. As he moved through the forest like a jaguar, though, his senses picked up the power of several individuals. The ki of pouring from them spoke to Waputhi by reflecting their emotions. They were hunting something and, whatever it was they were hunting, it was exciting them. Waputhi brought his power down and sped towards their direction on foot. Eventually, he arrived just outside of a encampment. Waputhi hid in the trees and observed from his hiding spot.

A camp large enough for a group of ten people had been set up. These people were moving about, carrying strange devices around and giving them to each other. Some of these things were being used to prepare very hi-tech guns. A couple of others were grouped a table with a map of the area, from what the wild man could tell. Their voices were quiet, but not silent enough for this giant.

"...'ve been searching this forest long enough. At this point, we need to start searching at the base of the mountain. That saiyan's most likely gone to their so he'd not have to worry about making a shelter," one man, a Namekian, explained to a cat-person.

"True," the feline replied, "Alright then. We'll extend our search for the prey to the mountain's base. Ricol, take Agatha with you and search the area. We'll wait here and prepare the devices. When you've found Wolfbane, get back here ASAP. He's a strong individual and probably is a lot stronger than before, so you won't be able to fight him safely."

Waputhi said not a word in response, but his body was roiling with anger! He wasn't about to let his brother be hunted unfairly like this! Waputhi stomped and shattered the branch beneath him as he sped towards Pieter. The sound attracted the attention of the mercenaries. 4 of them immediately stopped what they were doing, including the Namekian. The four of them immediately sped off into the direction of the noise. The rest began to rush preparing their devices to capture Pieter. For the next couple of hours, the four would scour the forest, figuring it to be the half-saiyan hunter.

Present time

Pieter found himself speeding away, the sound of quick steps following him. A voice had been talking, possibly radioing in Pieter's position. This wasn't good! He had to get to a safe spot and figure out how to trace these people! His mind was swarmed with concerns, preventing him from concentrating on what was important. Waputhi couldn't impart anymore wisdom to him before having to leave!

"Grr! What did he mean," Pieter growled frivolously! He hadn't noticed it yet because of his thinking, but the sound of people following him had stopped. He was too focused on trying to hide, when he got hit in the shoulder from his left side by a dart! It stung him, as it injected something into him. He yanked it out, and looked at the inner contents. There was a purple liquid inside of it. Whatever it was, it didn't have enough time to inject everything. However, it's effects were still quick and potent.

Pieter felt his senses going out of whack. His body began to feel numb, his sight becoming black, his ears becoming blocked by an invisible force, his taste fading away, and his smell wiping away. All this was happening quick, but the hunter started to power up, to try and recover these senses long enough. Drool and snot dripped uncontrollably from his face. He had, maybe, two minutes before his senses became lost. He had to find shelter quick!

He looked around at the now hazy environment, the shapes becoming distorted from the tranquilizer. The hunter observed the trees, their faces forming twisted smiles and eyes peering down at him. He shook his head, as he made towards what he believed was a large oak tree. He hovered up as high as he could, before collapsing on the strongest looking branch there. His breathing was rampant, as he couldn't tell if air entered his lungs or not. This tranquilizer, whatever it was, was really potent! It was probably enough to take down an dinosaur almost x100 his size in one shot!

Eventually, he found himself entering that dark space, where only his thoughts existed. His sense of time and space felt nonexistent. Pieter's thoughts bounced across invisible walls, not ceasing in an echoing rapture of worry. He felt like he was going mad! Where was he gonna go? What was he gonna do? What could he do? Where was that monster, Tsumuri? Who could help him?! Why did he do what he did? Why, why why?! These thoughts were maddening him!

Among the chaotic thoughts, though, he found himself able to search his memories. He found himself going back, way back, to when he was a young child learning to become a hunter. His grandfather, one of the chief's council of elders, had the boys of the village gathered to learn the tricks to hunting.

"..me of you... hunters," his grandfather's voice echoed, fragmented by the chaos of his own worries, "But some......ers that wi.......rriors that will make us proud. Make the Great proud. However, you must learn this: trace and feel emotion and will power. Whether in darkness's void or light's white shroud, emotion and will power will always find their mark. Trace this and you will..."

The memory began to fade away, as Pieter moved away. He had to clear himself of this drug... He had to burn it out. However, he had to trace the will power, not the emotion. He figured that the emotion portion was something more advanced that the elder acquired. It could not be reasoned, explained... It just had to be done. He crossed his legs and hands. Pieter thought to himself, the thought echoing through his mind, "Focus... Focus, Wolf... Where are they... Where is their Will?"

Something rippled out from him. Pieter opened his eyes, the haze seemingly there. However... It was odd. While he saw nothing but blackness, due the drug, it seemed like he knew where everything was. He could feel out what was around him, the individuals about him. The trees, the insects... At least, that was how he could describe it as. Each bit of power seemed to have some sort of focus. However, as this essence rippled out from him, over the forest, he could feel many things... Strong things. Pieter couldn't tell exactly what was what, but some of those things were moving fast and they were close.

"Did you find him? I marked him with CC-903 round. He shouldn't have gotten far, even if he is a saiyan," one voice called out. Boots shifting through the undergrowth attracted to Pieter's recovering ears. The saiyan blood in him was adapting to the tranquilizer and was probably why he was still conscious.

"I found his tracks, but then they seemed to have vanished about thirty yards from here. Didn't the report say he was able to levitate and use some weird magic stuff to form weapons," Another voice asked. This one sounded like it was raspy and foreign. Pieter's eye sight wasn't recovered as of yet, so he couldn't tell. However, his sense of touch was coming back to him. From what Pieter could tell, they were right underneath him and each were relatively strong. If he had to guess, they felt close to Yuken's power.

"What you're talking about, Xaximan, is Ki. It's not magic. Fighters of his caliber are easily able to send out their punches and kicks through those explosive attacks. The weapon portion, though, seems to be a unique ability this Pieter Wolfbane has developed on his own," the deep voice explained, "I found traces of a battle not far from here as I was searching around. He seemed to have gotten into a fight with a known murderer around these parts. Remember that Magic Tony piece of work Ival told us about?"

"Yeah. You saying that our target got in a scuffle with him and came out on top, right," a female voice asked. Pieter's sight seemed to be recovering, as his body recovered its sense of touch.

The Namekian nodded. He told them, "The target's a lot stronger than what was previously recorded. Use caution a-"

Pieter's sense of touch hit him like a brick, catching the hunter off guard as he fell to the ground in between the four. His sense of balance had been lost because of the sudden return, ironically, which caused this fall. He fell on his head and rolled belly up in between the four.

"Gah! Damn it," he bellowed out. He looked around, seeing the shape of the four come into focus. A Namekian, a weird bug thing, a human woman armed up to her shoulders in armor and guns, and a black clothed man with a tail wrapped around his waist had been around him. Without hesitation, he charge a ki blast and punched it into the ground beneath him. This caused the four to fall backwards, brandishing claw, fist, and weapon. The Namekian charged first, bellowing out the command to attack!

Pieter rolled out of the dust cloud towards the bug-person (a cicada looking person), and shot a quick fist into its chest. The level of power behind the attack wouldn't kill it, but it'd hurt like hell for the next couple of days! The gunner whirled towards Pieter and proceeded to fire her assault rifle at her. The bullets glowed like ki blasts and exploded like them as well! The hunter found himself dancing on all fours trying to dodge them in a ridiculous, but some how effective manner.

"Go get Xaximan and get back to base camp, Opal! Agatha and I do our best to keep him in check," Ricol ordered. Opal moved rapidly and picked up the cicada man, trying to get away. Pieter shot a ki blast at Opal's backside, the attack missing. The black clothed individual seemed faster than he appeared! He vanished out of the hunter's sight.

"Damn it, I don't want anyone else getting hurt! You have to let me go," Pieter barked. He was hoping these people were going to be reasonable, but it seemed it wasn't going to happen. Ricol shot his arm out at Pieter, the limb stretching quickly at the hunter. Pieter moved to the side and grabbed the green limb. He bent the arm enough to get traction and hurled the Namekian into the mountainside. He knew that his kind was just as resilient as saiyans, so he could put a little more in his attacks. However, Pieter was vastly stronger than this Namekian and he didn't wanna kill him with the sheer force. Ricol flew through the air, his arm retracting back to his body in the process. He forced himself to stop just before the mountain wall, irregular breathing meeting him.

Pieter dashed towards Agatha, sending a quick jab at her gut with a quick blow to the back of her neck. The bullets stung, but they weren't enough to weaken the hunter's blows. She fell like a rock on the ground and sped off, before the Namekian could return. He ran across the forest floor, hoping to get some distance from the mercenaries.

(DONE!)