Abandonment Issues [Open]

The carnage and death which ensued at the hands of a desperate man, would go on as a symphony of indiscernible noise, Celeste tuned into her own world of grief as it all played out. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, the sound drawn out, like a great drum keeping in time to the moments between the seconds. She remained as she was, shaking, unable to remove herself from where she had become glued. The tears persisted, the pain as she continued to sob over the loss of the creature, now a symbolic and metaphorical outlet for everything taken away. It wasn’t just the people important to her, or the friend they failed to find, it was the loss of everything attached to them.

No more hopes, no more dreams, no future.

For any of them.

Was this the fate of anyone she would choose to help?

It was all so much to absorb, it had happened so fast, she barely had time to register what was going on around them. The rage, the fury, the visceral violence – it was all muffled, distorted against the own little world of silence that she had fallen into. Fukushu had gone mad with rage, tearing into as many fools as he could – Celeste could barely register it. That was until he called out her name, when something decided to snap. Realization and awareness once more came over the witch, who blinked several times as she made to question what to look out for. The answer came quickly enough with the pattering of footsteps in the sand.

The girl was quick to her feet, the saiyan was faster. The first punch came across the jaw with a hard crack, causing Celeste to stumble and unfortunately trip over their fallen friend. A mouthful of sand, a cloud filled the air, a grunt of protest with an unceremonious thud against the earth. The soldier advanced, a step poised over the Saiba before he would freeze in place by what would meet his eyes. A palm held up in the thinning dirt through the air, an amethyst glow about the skin, seething off of it like some eldritch fire. The saiyan had never seen anything like it in all his days in the field. A scowl was offered in turn to the girl struggling to her feet, the soldier’s own boot put down in a soft pat to the earth.

”So, got some fight left in ya?” The saiyan would spit onto the corpse, the witch’s gaze would narrow with contempt. He beckoned with a wave of the fingertips. ”Come on then girl, let’s see what you got.” The retort was given as soon as the sentence finished on his lips – a burst of mana fired forth to hit him square in the chest. There was no scream, just a disturbing sound of an entire living man being reduced to particles in a black mist, before it would settle to become black soot upon the sands. The blond stood there almost frozen, seething through gritted teeth before she made to regain some of her composure. A glance down to the hand used to cast away her attacker, and Celeste once more wished to question if she was truly capable of saving anyone.

All she brought was destruction.

TWC(+550)15,957
Fukushu

The air began to thin and settle from the commotion, with her accomplice from the lengthy two days slowly coming into view midst the haze off the heat. There was a silence, until Fukushu decided to break it with words that Celeste wished she had more appreciation for, if only she could see the silver lining in them. She had set the beast free, true - but at what cost? Perhaps it knew another day, of a world beyond that cave and the misery of protecting that wretched treasure. Though was it worth it? Celeste wondered what could be said about her friend, if there wasn’t a proper way to draw out that power – if it wound up consuming him in the end. Would her efforts amount to naught once more? The further time went on the more she wondered if any of it was all deserving of the penance paid.

The girl lowered her hand, turning her attention from the corpse to the shack, the whistle of another dry breeze swept through the vicinity. Without a word she stepped around the heran, making a silent march back towards the medic’s hut, heels digging into the sand with crunches like a western dirge. She stopped out front of the door, hands at the side, fingers flared and primed to cast off more orbs.

The witch would tilt her chin to the sky, a sly grin would creep across her lips.

”Do come out! I believe we have words to share!”

The girl’s voice echoed through the small ranch; the makings of a tumbleweed sought to blow through before the door saw any signs of motion. It creaked open slowly, wavering against the wind and the trembling hand which sought to pry it open. The girl’s impatience would see it ripped violently from the hinges, cast out across the earth to shatter into splinters – a yelp from the doctor out of surprise. The missing pair of soldiers had found refuge in the midst of Fukushu’s rampage – using the chirurgeon’s home as a haven, peering out the door and window with evident fear of the heran.

”Oh good. There you are,” continued the witch casually, sauntering forward in nonchalance. ”See there was so much going on, I feared you may have gone and run out for the day.” A close of her fist would pull several pieces of furniture out of the small building, tackling the trio from behind through the front wall. Splinters, sweat, tea, and blood would splay across the earth with several violent crunches; the saiyans cried out in pain while the doctor tried to scramble away. Celeste stalked her prey like some bored housecat, while leaving the riff raff to her accomplice if he desired another tear at the enemy.

”I had questions! You had my hat!”

TWC(+469)16,426
Fukushu

It was possibly the first time in over the roughly two days they had spent together, that the girl would turn to look upon the heran with any ounce of indignancy. Given all the trials and tribulations they had possibly been through, what they had witnessed and endured, there were still some lines that weren’t meant to be crossed. He had possibly saved her life, this was true, but that still didn’t make him a friend in her eye. It was nothing more than a debt to be repaid, and Celeste believed she had done so in full. The blond would sneer at Fukushu as she made to recoil away, batting away the hand dismissively with her own to give off a flippant wave over the shoulder.

Celeste made to stomp after the fool, who had managed to get a good distance away into a limping sprint. The girl would frown after him and his grunts of pain, raising her hand once more to fire off another orb at the hapless betrayer. It would intentionally miss a yard to his left, throwing up enough sand and earth to throw him down a nearby slope from the surprise. There came a crash, possibly from a corral or pen of some variety – the chirps of livestock soon followed. The witch would give a disappointed scoff through her nose, eyes narrowing in contempt before she rounded on her heel, before engaging in a thorough examination of the shack’s remains.

”I’d wager there was more to this than met the eye,” she began out loud to Fukushu; the sound of debris and belongings being tossed aside in earnest. The blond would spot her robes, waving a hand about in a flourish in order to give them life on the air. They would snake through the wind, cycle around her form before ultimately redressing their owner. ”Rather curious they’d want you alive,” she would tilt her chin again, offering a curious hum to the notion. Her sights turned to train on the heran once more, the girl taking a few steps through the debris.

”Even more so, that they knew where to find you after my little...magic trick.” A shrug in nonchalance before she would lean down, sweep up her hat from its lofty perch atop a ruined windowsill, before gingerly returning it atop her crown. Celeste would offer Fukushu another glint of pearly whites, before gesturing with a nod across the desert, presumably to where the Outpost possibly lay in wait.

”Shall we be going?”

TWC(+421)16,847
Fukushu

It would be anyone’s guess how they were to find their destination, with Celeste having picked a direction on a passing whim rather than actually estimating where to go. There was no denying the excursion to find her missing travel companion was beginning to take its toll on her patience, as well as her durability. She did her best to hide it behind a seeming unwavering resolve, though underneath it there were definite cracks where the fatigue had taken its price. All she wanted to do was sleep, to let her own troubles to simply drift and be carried away. The pursuit of these infatuations already fleeting saw no end. So long as they would continue, so too would the misery attached to them.

Though who could deny what she was?

A creature of habit, a rather curious one at that.

It was some time before anything decided to break on the horizon. Surely though with time, the bleak little structures of the outpost would creep into view. It was enough of a relief to the blond, that she failed to notice the pain when she hit the ground minutes after. Her efforts in doing her best to keep time with the heran had taken its toll, as with the linger effects of the doctor’s special remedy at that. Sand stuck to the sweat on her face when it took to the air on the impact, the sounds of nearby traders also bound for the same destination could be heard on the wind. The clattering of pots, something akin to the grunt of an Earth camel and an over concerned merchant was all Celeste managed to glean before everything would go black once more.

The sound of water, like lapsing drops onto the surface of a still lake.

A low thump of her heartbeat echoing somewhere in the abyss.

Where had she fallen now?

Celeste didn’t care, she felt weightless. She felt good for the first time in a long while. There was no pain, no suffering beneath a complacent mask, no worries or concerns to greet her weary heart. Just pure, utter contentment – a deep breath was offered to enjoy this momentary bliss. The air was unusually cleaner than what she recalled, but there wasn’t enough of a care to question it. Voices murmured beyond the veil of this peaceful darkness; she didn’t give a damn to listen to what they might have been saying. None of it mattered in this moment, and all Celeste wished for was rest.

-Celeste exits the thread
TWC(+420)17,267
Fukushu