Abandonment Issues [Open]

There was no denying the disgruntled manner her acquaintance had suddenly taken with her inquiry, enough so she would begin to wonder what the big deal was. Should she have mentioned it earlier? Celeste didn’t think to ask at the time, she paid this irritation little mind in turn. Though it would seem her new friend was already beginning to misunderstand the circumstances behind the question. She had to stop him before he got ahead of himself, lest this turn to an argument that could spurn that unruly temper. The blond placed a hand on her hip, raising the other index to shake at him, humming with disapproval over the choice of title he had given her missing companion.

”Now, I never said he was a mercenary,” she would interject wryly, pausing to let him finish. Celeste had to frown at the implied suggestion to leave Haddock to his own devices, which she most certainly was already doing! Just...not by her own volition. The blond straightened, offering a sigh at the heran’s words, wishing to some extent they held some remote truth in them. The undeniable bitterness of reality was that there was a good chance he very well couldn’t take care of himself, at least not in his condition. The blond thought for a moment of what might happen, should another spike of that malignant energy rear its ugly maw under rather unsavory circumstances.

Who would be there to watch out for him, should the worst happen? What would become of that power which ravaged him to the very core? It was too much not to find some concern over it, regardless of her own intentions behind the why she continued in this fruitless search.

”The truth of the matter, Mr. Heran – is that he isn’t himself. My friend is sick, delusional, in need of dire care for which I am presently unable to provide.”

The witch would step forward, and press that same finger into Fukushu’s muscled chest to stare up at him, all prior splendor devoid in her tone.

”Now. Where do we find these contracts?”

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Fukushu

Celeste had to think on Fukushu’s question when he brought to light just exactly what her friend might be after, given most mercenaries were usually in it for the money, or the fame. Recalling what she knew of the hapless bartender, their conversation that night in the restaurant, he didn’t seem the type to so eagerly chase after either. Reckless abandon for the sake of a helpless cause worth protecting though, was quite possibly a different story. Certainly, one that Celeste didn’t leave out of consideration, given her inquiry to where the likelihood of this area’s greatest danger probably was.

Celeste would become a little disgruntled at how stumped the heran seemed to be for ideas on where to look, but then he would mention the missing hero possibly venturing out for help. She considered the notion of the tent when her finger was directed to point at it, doing her best to overlook the blind assessment of her capabilities. If this were the case, maybe he was lying in one of those cots? There was a brief stillness that overtook the girl as she observed the body bag in passing, lowering her hand to shoot Fukushu a concerned glance before stomping off to the ivory sails.

The makeshift infirmary was filled with unruly patients, filthy mouths and bedpans, bloodied bandages and one saiyan complaining far too excessively over a sore big toe. Celeste made her way slowly among the more battered, worse looking patients with tails, trying her best to picture that unlucky face back on Papaya’s sands for any familiarity among the wounded. One solider with bandages over his right arm and half his face would stop her abruptly, the grip on her arm rather unexpected, a look a surprise given down in turn.

”S-Stay out of the 'Skirts. N-Not safe. Still there, he’s still...”

The soldier went silent, nodding off into a fatigue driven slumber as Celeste made to wrench her arm free of his grip. She rubbed the skin where the coil almost made to bruise, before eyeing the sleeping patient once over with a silent intrigue. Who was still out there? She watched with mild interest as the doctor led a patient to a freshly recovered cot. How dreadful. Celeste felt her interest waning, despite something to go on. Yet another hovel of the sick, another cramped and sour den for the dying. She didn’t belong here, certainly not where she was to find the source to this untimely abandonment.

The witch offered the sleeper a final glance, before turning to again meet the glare of the afternoon sun.

”I think I’ll try there. Come along if you’d like.”

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Fukushu

There wasn’t any certainty that this clue might’ve held any answers to her search, but Celeste worried that if she didn’t at least try to find him, there was a good chance she’d never see Dion again. The specifics to this entire trip had been rather hushed from the beginning, in fact, Celeste still failed to see what was so impertinent this visit couldn’t have waited another month. Was he really in a condition to be traveling world to world, so carelessly wandering about with his ki spiking unnaturally the way it was? The blond didn’t forget how she felt all those hours ago, standing there alone without so much as an answer to any of this.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, no equal were that same woman a witch. Someone was going to suffer over her misfortune today, she didn’t rightly care who. Her help in this tiring search regarded the notion to a potential trap, not one to mistake the injuries that saiyan had fallen victim to. They had not escaped her notice either, but her concerns to such omens were nothing when she focused on the bigger picture. ”Surely, its possibly nothing to fear,” None of this would have happened had Haddock bothered to heed her advice, stay home after the little bout with Fark at the movies.

When did anyone ever listen though?

Lia. Astor. Cassius. Even her own grandfather.

All souls that had never bothered to heed her warnings, bend an ear to the voice of reason and caution. Now where were any of them? All dead, victims to their own undoing. She could have very well saved every one of them if a chance had ever been granted, if there was only a reason to have returned in time. The witch made to suppress the self-loathing, having long decided anyone else unfortunate to win her sympathies wouldn’t be allowed to suffer similar fates. It was all she could do to risk becoming the monster that the real betrayers and zealots that Selene made her out to be. If there wasn’t anything left to hang onto in this life, what was there to fight for?

The blond led a march to a nearby overweight Tuffle enjoying his after-lunch smoke break. He sat in a creaking aluminum folding chair, babysitting what would appear to be a collection of three-seater hover buggies for rent. Celeste approached to a drawn-out whistle, frowning as the shorter native sought to pick his belly button, eyeing her over like a piece of candy. The blond shot a nod to the vehicles, placing a hand on her hip with disinterest to the salesman’s behavior.

”How much?”

”Oh, I wouldn’t charge nothin’.”

”The buggy. How. Much.”

A long, drawn out drag of a cigarette, the soft crackle of tobacco against prolonged silence. The Tuffle eyed her Heran companion warily, then gave her another thorough once over.

”Six hundred.”

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Fukushu

The witch would give a frown when she forked over the amount for the rental, finding it rather steep compared to what she expected back on Earth. Though she failed to take into consideration the conditions of how things were operating around here as of late. War never changed, it was both good and bad for business depending which side of it one saw. Celeste would admit the entire concept of it was still a bit foreign. Though after the fight at King’s Castle, then witnessing what the natives had done to this place from the short amount of time spent here, the witch had an inkling of an idea what it might have been like for these people.

If only she could be bothered to care enough, maybe then she’d sympathize with the absurd gouging on the price for the condition of their carriage. The blond shared Fukushu’s skepticism over the rusted bucket of bolts, taking in the heran’s observations of its sturdiness with an incredulous light. She wasn’t impressed, and quite frankly didn’t know how it was going to get them to wherever it was they were headed. A glimpse of scarlet narrowed at the coined term “battle tested” as if it warranted a special guarantee from the salesman, but she recognized a con when she smelled one. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips.

”Yes, I’m sure they’re all up to par on safety. Where might one find the “’Skirts” as it were?” Another long drag of the cancerous habit, before the gruff Tuffle would make to give the witch a vague set of directions in which to head. She made to join her companion in the buggy, but not before being tossed a pair of wide-eyed goggles with an abrupt whistle. The blond sat down in the driver’s seat cautiously, taking a moment to place her goggles over eyes, then giving the passenger an obnoxious grin from behind them. It faltered when he addressed the topic of Haddock and the danger they may be presented with, prompting Celeste to stare at her hands coiled loosely around the steering.

”I won’t deny he may pose a danger to anyone right now,” began the driver softly, turning her focus back to him with a renewed determination. ”But if there’s a chance that I can try to talk him down, we need to take it. I don’t believe he’s been dealt a right hand in anything of what’s happened to him recently. I think he deserves a change if I could possibly give it to him.”

The buggy would churn to life, taking off beyond the fringes of the outpost after a few concerning hiccups. It wasn’t often, if ever, that Celeste had an opportunity to sit behind the wheel of so primitive a vehicle. Maybe it really would have been easier to fly instead, as she made to wonder if this would be worth a conservation of energy or not. It probably didn’t matter much to her impromptu guardian, but she wasn’t fond of the idea to gliding against a potential heatwave.

”Celeste.” After minutes of silent cruising at inconsistent speeds, the blond had blurted out the name from seemingly nowhere. She eyed him in her periphery, before focusing again on the sanded plateaus that spanned the horizon.

”I never told you my name. It’s Celeste.”

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Fukushu

Celeste’s nameless passenger continued to provide valid points to their trip, doing nothing to dissuade the anxiety that persisted with the paranoia of a potential beast attack. Hopefully nothing would turn up, that this would all turn out to be one rather disappointing, uneventful excursion out into the wilds. ”He said about half a mile from the funny looking mesa,” she replied, doing her best to swerve away from something akin to a bright green armadillo with antennae.

The drive continued until the air grew rancid and foul, visibility more distorted by the growing sand on the rising winds. The sun cast against the clouds in the sky in a way that gave a very dreary light to the valley they came upon. A high plateau rose where the remains of the road wrapped around and between, to a dead end of a gorge where a double story building sat nestled in the shadows. The buggy came to a slow, before puttering to an involuntary stop.

The witch would widen her sights with this development, a defeated sigh soon after as she counted the engine a lost cause to their assets. ”That bodes well.” She pulled her forehead away from the steering, taking a moment in silence to try and ascertain the situation they unwittingly wandered into. A few Tuffle designed bikes out front of the building in question told of some life around here, but from what she could tell there wasn’t anyone around. It almost looked similar to an old Earth saloon from the wild west, batwing doors in the frame, wide open paned windows that looked out on the makings of an abandoned mine.

The hell was going on here?

Celeste had to admit, she had never stumbled upon such a place in all her travels, but she supposed there was always a first time for anything. The witch gave a curious hum as she made to slowly exit the vehicle, glancing about warily for any signs of this gang rumored to be staying out here.

”Why is it so quiet!?” asked the witch with a heated whisper, pacing about one of the Tuffle bikes with casual observation. There was movement in the upstairs windows, and high on the ridge, but Celeste had become too interested in what sat in a nearby cart to have noticed. ”Hey, rubies. How pretty!” The girl would make to hold one up to the orange tinge of the shrouded star, waving at Fukushu for him to take notice of the rather neat find.

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Fukushu

Celeste had to admit she was a bit surprised when the guardian mentioned he had past dealings with such brilliant gems, further piquing her curiosity behind what they could possibly be used toward. The comment that it was possibly real at that sparked an equal interest, not solely for the price a cartful may be worth, but the sole use these unusual minerals might provide. They were clearly being mined and brought to the surface for a reason, she just wished there was an inkling of an idea as to what. The blond peered casually into the cart, scarlet widening as they met a vast collection of glinting ruby.

”There’s so many...” she half-whispered in disbelief, stalking slowly from the first to a second, third, and eventually fourth wheeled box filled almost to the brim with raw, uncut gems. It was certainly suspicious, but not unheard of for jewelry to become far more lucrative during times of war. At least, study into the history of her own world’s history with the perpetuating affair told her enough. Thieves would be thieves, no matter what befell the planet. It would seem no different in this case, but Celeste doubted these were all being rounded up to be sold in bay windows back in the Tuffle capital.

The witch paused her examinations to look around for Fukushu, finding him gone from the scene in his own surveying of the area. It would seem in her loss of focus she would have failed to hear him. A nonchalant shrug was offered to his absence, Celeste leaving the man to his work to do whatever it was he did best. She wasn’t sure of his skillset, nor his capability, but he had thus far proven his worth in company for the sheer length of this search. Perhaps he would find something before she did. That ungrateful bartender would owe the heran a few rounds on Diono’s house after this was all said and done – Celeste would make damned sure she at least got a meal for her efforts.

The blond let loose a sigh through her nose, grumbling under her breath over all the trouble she was going to simply find a runaway experiment. In her growing agitation, idle focus, and sheer boredom in having failed to find a crowd in charge of this place, the witch began a lazy saunter along the lengths of the rails that wound about the property. Her guided wandering would lead her around the expanse of the empty saloon, directly into a rock wall with no apparent traces of traffic. The path just...stopped.

”Why hello. And where do we lead, hm?”

Celeste had to furrow her brow at this development, finding it all too odd that the rails would just abruptly end here. She leaned forward, rapped her knuckles against what she thought was stone, only to receive an almost hollow, muffled thud like plaster. A curious hum, the sorceress blinked several times with a step back to gauge the expanse. Forty, fifty feet easily give or take, possibly plenty enough for a secret entrance if her guess proved correct. Though how was she going to open it without making a huge commotion with her spells? A thoughtful tap to her chin in consideration, wondering if Fukushu was having any better luck with his findings.

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Fukushu

”What if we tried moving it the old fashioned way?”

With your hands?

”No, silly. The other way.”

The witch would throw out her palms, paying no mind to the fact she had been talking to herself, but rather reaching out for anything beyond the rock that she could possibly manipulate. It was rather difficult, even given her own strength and aptitude for a skill that she had long since used and mastered. The darned thing felt rather heavy if it was indeed plaster, but there was clearly something else attached to whatever it was. Maybe it was the weight of the rest of the door? The girl would grit her teeth, heels digging deeper where they stood, before the secret door would give the slightest of nudges.

A jettison of air exuded from the faint crack her efforts had managed on the impossibly sealed entrance. It wasn’t much in hindsight when the sand cleared, but still, it was progress worth celebrating over. The blond gave an enthusiastic cheer to her guess proving a tad correct, if only by a few inches. In her excitement she would stumble backward over something amidst the boards between the rails, the blond hitting the earth onto her back with a prominent, and comedic thud. A small cloud of dust filled the air, the lone cry of a passing abnormal looking buzzard wretched the sky.

Celeste would blink several times up at the unusual colors, the cirrus-like clouds, and silently question just what she was really doing here.

He’s probably long gone by now, Celeste. You’re wasting time again

A defeated sigh as she made to shut her eyes, doing her best to focus on the dry breeze across such arid terrain – it was all she could hear against a hurricane of silent memories which played back again. Eleven months on this journey, and here she was lying in the sand after it all. Katsu would have had a week's worth of quips to her situation by now.

The sound of approaching footsteps would lead the blond to presume the heran had returned, possibly found something worth looking into. There wasn’t any chance he needed her help with anything, given he barely knew anything of her own talents as is. Worst case scenario they were possibly stuck out at this hideout until evening, then it might be bearable enough to warrant a trip in the night sky. Though when the crunching of soil would finally cease, Celeste had to wink open a peek when her guardian failed to mention anything whatsoever.

That was when the witch was greeted by an unfamiliar trio, none of whom seemed too happy to see her either.

”Hello there!”

A crack against her forehead, and then everything went black.

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Fukushu