Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2021 21:53:27 GMT -5
“Wake up.” A sharp slap crossed the face of Shakuhachi, forcing him up and out of his day dream. When he looked up he saw the face of an old friend, but times had changed. The room had not however; as Shakuhachi found himself in the same room he was brought to on his first day in the prison camp. Biwa approached the window and pulled the shades down to give himself a view onto the field. Apparently the operations of this place were for some reason a concern of his know, and at this moment he was very concerned of what was going on. “I don’t know if you had something to do with this, because if you did I need to know now.”
Shakuhachi was not in the talking mood, instead he put his head back down and kept whatever he had to say to himself. “Let’s not play this damn game. We aren’t kids anymore; I need to know what the hell you did so I can put it back together.” Shakuhachi still refused to say anything, so Biwa had to take things up a notch. He approached Shakuhachi and grabbed his chin, pulling it up and forcing their eyes to meet. “I’m not playing around, you understand? There’s a lot at stake here, a lot you don’t know about. I’ve got people I have to answer to and that answer needs to come soon. If I don’t have an explanation they’ll take my head instead.”
“Answer to? Just what the hell is going on right now? Who do you work with? What happened to you?” Biwa’s gaze turned away. He walked over to his desk and took a seat. “You want to know what happened to me. What happened is I got stuck in this damn mess all because of you. You’ve grown a surprising amount in that time, but back then I was bigger. They didn’t bother trying to get anything out of me. Instead they just put me to work where I would give them the most production. At first it was the mines, but tight tunnels with low visibility combined with my tendency to try and escape was a bad mixture for them.”
“So, after a few weeks of punishment in solitary confinement they eventually put me to work on the farms. They had a much better control of the environment, and better sight lines on the outside. I didn’t have any chance of escaping now, so I stopped trying. Somewhere along the way… things changed. It’s something they do to you; I can’t explain it. I worked my way up, I guess you could say. In the start they didn’t trust me, but they don’t trust anyone. I did things for them though; things I don’t want to remember. Those things earned their respect and eventually they put more responsibility in my hands. From that point on things spiraled.”
Shakuhachi could not believe what he was hearing. “Are you kidding me? You’re enslaving your own people for profit. These bastards kidnapped you and worked you to near death; have you forgotten all of that?” Biwa stood up and got right into Shakuhachi’s face. “Don’t you try and feed me your crap. Wasn’t it you who gave the speech about how we have to adapt or we get left behind? Well guess what!? I adapted. Well you were in that damn cage too afraid to save yourself I was out here, surviving. Don’t pretend like if the shoe were on the other foot you would have done anything differently. Truth is I have what you’ve always wanted: power.”
“Power? Is that all think of me? It’s not about the power; it’s about what you do with it! My goal was to bring the Namekian people to the starts and beyond; to take our people and ascend the galactic ladder. All you’ve done is put our people in chains and you dare compare my ideals to yours? Shame on you. I can’t believe that I once called you friend. If you want to sit here and throw your rhetoric at me and pretend like you can somehow convince me what you’re doing is somehow right or even the same as what I want then go right ahead. But just know that I’m not having it; there’s nothing you can say to convince me so just do what you’ll do and get it over with.”
Biwa paced around the room and thought to himself for a moment. “You sit there and you judge me like you’re so much better than me. You’ve always been so full of yourself; you’re nothing but a wannabe tyrant in the making. Don’t think I don’t know what you were planning to do. It may have not been so obvious to the elders or to Guru, but they didn’t see it because they didn’t want to. To me I always saw it. You wanted to enlist the Mazoku tribes to help you conquer. You were going to bring them straight back to us and you were going to kill all those who tried to get in your way. That’s why I followed you. To try and turn you away.”
“But I failed. I failed myself, I failed you and I failed my people. That’s why when I left I had decided I would come back, and I would have to deal with things later.” Shakuhachi could not believe what he was hearing. “So you were going to kill me? All this time? I thought you had come to wish me goodbye and instead you were contemplating my execution?” Biwa picked up his glass and threw it at the feet of his captive. “You had it coming! You threatened us all and I had to do what was best for all of us. You had lost your mind; you thought you were going to bring the Namekian people to a new age but all you were going to bring was destruction.”
“I was young and naïve. I was frustrated that they rejected me. I can see the foolishness in my plan now. I understand how I was wrong. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on my cause, but I see now there is another way.” Biwa laughed. “You think I’m even going to let you out of here? Whatever delusions of grandeur you have you can go ahead and give them up now, because when this conversation is over you’re going straight back into your cell and you’re never coming out again. I wish my processor would have made this job easier for me and killed you so I didn’t have to worry about your getting in my way again.”
“So why don’t you do it then? Why haven’t you killed me before, and why won’t you now? It’s because you’re too weak, isn’t it? All this time you’ve had me locked up here and you never made a decision. Don’t even try and play ignorant about my situation.” Biwa looked away; his expression revealing all that Shakuhachi needed to know. “It’s why you didn’t kill me when we were sparring. You went easy on me. You already knew then that I wasn’t going to give up my mission, but you couldn’t go through with it. So what was your plan; to come back when I was asleep and kill me like some sort of animal? You’re a coward.”
“You think you know better than me? You think you know what it’s like to have to make decisions that affect people’s lives? This isn’t just a factory or a farm; it’s a tribe. There are elderly and children who we protect; we just profits to pay for the things they need. Whatever crap you pulled down in the mines which started this mess is going to affect them more than anyone. You claim to care about the plight of Namekian people above anything else. If that’s true then help me fix whatever mess you’ve caused. Because if you don’t I’ll suffer, but the others will get the worst of it. If we don’t salvage what we have here then they lose everything.”
Shakuhachi was taken aback by this revelation, but he was unsure of how to respond. “If I could help those people then I could, but I’m afraid I don’t know what to tell you. As far as I know I didn’t do anything to cause any sort of problem.” Biwa wasn’t satisfied. “You’re sticking to your guns then? You really think you can just back out of all of this? Just skulk away into the night and let other people fix your problems? Not this time.” Biwa walked behind the seat Shakuhachi was in and grabbed his wrist restraints, pulling him to the ground. Shakuhachi was powerless to resist as Biwa pulled him out the front door and down into the mines.
“Maybe you really don’t know what caused all of this, but I don’t give a damn. You and I are going down to where it started, and we’re going to figure out what the hell caused all of this. If you can help me with this, then just maybe I’ll consider actually letting you live. As for letting you go I’m afraid that’s off the table.” Biwa threw Shakuhachi out in front of him and onto the ground. “You’re going to lead the way, in case we have to deal with any trouble. Don’t even try anything stupid either, it’s been a while since we’ve sparred but I’m willing to bet after all that time you spent suck in a cell I doubt you’re even close to where I am right now.”
Shakuhachi had little choice but to do what Biwa said, so he started walking down the now abandoned mine shaft and tried to keep his eyes open for any possible caused to the catastrophe which occurred here. He honestly wasn’t sure what the cause of all of this was, and he had no idea what to even look for. But he did know that there was a very angry Namekian standing right behind him who would not hesitate to kill him if he tried to get away. While they were travelling further and further into the pits his mind began to wonder about what happened to his little friend Koto. He doesn’t remember seeing anyone grab him, so there was a chance he was able to get away.
“You know, Namek barely has any natural resources at all. Most people think we have none, but if you go deep enough you can find a small few pockets. When I took over this place the drunk before me had no idea of the potential that he had control of. There were efficiency leaks everywhere and this place was never running close to the output I have it running on. Or at least I had it running on. Of course something or someone like the guard standing here in front of me had to go and ruin that. But we’ll rebuild. It’s not the first time we’ve had something bad happen to us before. We came back stronger before and we can do so again.”
Despite the circumstances, the things Biwa said were resonating with Shakuhachi. He in some ways may have lost his mind but he is trying to do right by the people who call him leader. As they continued further down into the pits of Namek the heat began to pick up. At the entrance there were still strong signs of infrastructure and equipment used by the miners, but now as they continue on all Shakuhachi can see is rock and ashes. There were barely signs of any life at all, and Biwa blamed him for that. “So what happens if we go all the way to wherever the hell we’re going and we still don’t find what it is you’re looking for? Then what?”
“That’s not going to happen. We’re going to find a solution. I don’t run from my problems.” Shakuhachi started to feel like the environment was looking a little familiar. It was just up ahead; a clearing which lead to the cave where he and Koto busted out from. “We think that the disturbance may have come from around here?” Suddenly Shakuhachi began to feel a little nervous. Was it possible that something he did may have actually caused all of this? He didn’t think it was. What could it have possibly been? “What exactly makes you think that it came from here? How could you know that?” Biwa walked up ahead of Shakuhachi and pulled out some sort of radar.
“This device monitors the core and out plates of Namek. Using advanced technology we purchased from foreign settlers with having been able to tune the devices to suit Namek and use it to predict certain movements of the earth. When working in these environments it’s important to understand the future as best as possible. The Northern Scar is already hectic as it is. Mining and delving deep into the crust is of course going to upset things even further, however so far using these devices we have been able to accurately predict where pockets of lava were being stored and when the pressure was nearing a breaking point.”
“From then it was just a matter of correctly blocking the section off from the rest of the facility. We do this in two ways. The first is to slowly drain the lava in order to reduce the pressure. This was of course quite a dangerous act but necessary in order to stop these sorts of incidents from happening. While a man was left to drill we would build up a wall behind him in order to block off any potential flow which we weren’t not in direct control of.” Shakuhachi was left a little confused. “But what about the man who drilled the holes which let the lava out? How were you able to get him out?” Biwa didn’t hold anything back. “We didn’t.”
“So you really just let him die.” Initially Shakuhachi was disgusted, but parts of him understood. “Like I said, you don’t know what it’s like to make decisions that will affect so many people. It’s true that in doing this I am sending a man to his death, and most of the time it’s not willingly. But in the end it worked. Because of my decision and because of their sacrifice the tribe lived on. We prospered and they are remembered.” Shakuhachi and Biwa continued up forward until they stopped at the spot of the tunnel that Shakuhachi and Biwa used to crawl out of the prison. “I think we may have found the cause of our issues.”
Shakuhachi was really beginning to feel the heat now, figuratively and literally. “So what do you think it is?” Biwa got down on his knees and examined the wall. “There was some sort of unnatural cave in.” Biwa began to dig out some of the smaller rocks and place his arm into the wall, know being able to feel it’s full depth. Now Shakuhachi was beginning to understand. When he and Koto crawled out of the hole he tried to permanently shut it off so that others could not follow them through. In order to do this he repeatedly hit the wall until the wall crumbled and the tunnel was sealed off. This must have been what caused the cave in which let the pockets of lava each break through at once.
Just as Shakuhachi was coming to this realization, so was Biwa. “Wait a min-AHH.” Shakuhachi quickly got behind Biwa and drove his knees into the back of his head, smashing it into the face of the wall. Shakuhachi didn’t wait around to see if he was stunned or unconscious, and instead he just ran as far as he could. He knew that if he ran back out the front he would just be caught and likely killed right away and so he had little choice but to run instead in the opposite direction. This would take him directly back into the caves where had had escape from last time, with the waves of lava coming at him from every direction. It wasn’t ideal but it was the only option.
Biwa had awoke and was falling closely along. As Shakuhachi had come to his decision he had finally caught up. “You bitch! I should have known not to trust you. All that made up crap having nothing to do with this. You ruined it all. Everything I put so much time and effort into making is gone because of you. As soon as I walk out of this cave I’m as much a dead man as you are, so I may as well take you out with me.” Biwa grabbed ahold of the rags Shakuhachi was wearing and tried to pull him over the edge. Both of them were feeling weak at this point but both would muster all that they could for one more fight.
“You ever win a fight fair? What am I saying of course not!” Shakuhachi, still on his back, brought his legs up and kicked Biwa in the chest. With his feet still making contact he elongated his legs as much as possible and pushed Biwa into the nearest wall. Then he brought his legs back, got onto his feet and charged head first, aimed at the chest. Biwa could not see his enemy coming but he could hear the footsteps. He quickly hopped out of the way which left Shakuhachi running head first not into a fleshly wound but instead a wall of solid rock. After the hit the wall was not so solid, with further earthquake like symptoms showing themselves.
Biwa struggled to keep his footing as now the cave was shaking once more. Shakuhachi was already on the ground seeing stars after making contact with the wall, but now Biwa joined too. Even though the room itself was collapsing around them the fight was not over, not in either of their eyes. Biwa quickly took the initiative, jumping on top of the still dazed foe and pinning him to the ground. “You brought this on yourself.” With that, he rained down a flurry of head-butts of which all connected against a defenseless Shakuhachi. “Now let’s end this.” Biwa got back to his feet and dragged Shakuhachi near the edge of the cliff, and prepared to throw him in.
But as he did another revealed himself. It was Koto, who had hidden away after Shakuhachi was kidnapped. He watched from afar as he was once against dragged away and was undecided on what to do. Of course if it wasn’t for Shakuhachi he never would have achieved freedom once more, and yet now that freedom was here he was contemplating whether or not he should risk giving it all up for someone whom he did not even really know. All he knew at this point was that Shakuhachi was once a part of the Dragon Clan, and then for some reason he must have left. For all he knew he could have been some sort of outlaw banished.
But did that really matter? In his time of need, Shakuhachi was there for him. Sure Koto did help in the bust out plan, and it would have been possible without him. But still Shakuhachi could have grabbed the key off the guard’s body and not let Koto into his cage, which would have never given him access to the escape tunnel. But he risked the time it took to let him in, and he risked having to carry along what was essentially dead weight in fighting terms for save him. Even if he was a bad guy at one point, in the eyes of Koto he had done enough to earn his help. So when the coast was clear he snuck back into the cave and followed them to where they lay now.
Koto was of course not much use in a fight. Shakuhachi was a few moments away from certain death and while Biwa was hurt himself it did not take even ten percent of his strength to stop Koto. So what was Koto going to do? It would probably be better to keep the element of surprise; it was one of the few advantages he would actually have in this fight. Koto was raised a part of the Dragon Clan, and with that he was taught the art of healing others. While he may have been young, with powers undeveloped he could still bring Shakuhachi back to consciousness as long as he could get a hold of him for just a few seconds; that’s all he needed.
Just as Biwa had about rolled Shakuhachi off the edge, Koto grabbed a lose rock and drove it in the back of Biwa’s head. The hit caused more pain than it did damage, but it was enough to get Biwa away from the body. Koto placed his hands on the chest Shakuhachi and channeled as much healing energy as he could into the few seconds he had. “What in the hell was that? Damn it all I will kill the both of you!” Biwa got back to his feet and grabbed a hold of Koto. He picked him up in the air and looked him in the yes. “Wait… I recognize you. You’re the boy we picked up earlier today. I guess bringing you back here was a mistake huh?”
Biwa was prepared to throw him over the edge and into the lava, but then he looked down and noticed the body of Shakuhachi was mysteriously missing. “Huh… oh n-.” Thump. A two handed tomahawk spike right to the cranium brought Biwa down to his knees. “Never take your eyes of the prize. I think that’s something you taught me.” Shakuhachi quickly reached out and grabbed Koto from the air, then threw him out of harm’s way. The healing had done enough to get Shakuhachi back to his feet and in decent shape, but he was by no means back to full fighting capacity. With the damage that Biwa had taken though this thing should be over.
Shakuhachi rolled Biwa over to see if he was still conscious. He looked out from Shakuhachi’s perspective, but he was playing possum. He stretched his arm out and grabbed at the exposed throat of Shakuhachi. The grasp was weak though, and he couldn’t cut off the air flow no matter how hard he squeezed. “I wished it didn’t have to be this way, but I need to end things now.” With Biwa’s arm still extended out, Shakuhachi placed his foot down on his outstretched elbow and slammed it into the ground. Finally Biwa’s grip relented, and his arm returned to normal length. He rolled onto his side to protect broken arm and mask his broken ego.
Shakuhachi turned back to Koto and thought about leaving, but he knew he couldn’t. Not for the reasons of before, but for the opposite. Right now, he couldn’t afford Biwa the opportunity of living. If he let him go now he’d only have revenge on his mind. Though it was not an easy thing to go through with, he knew that there was really only once choice. “You have to make things difficult, didn’t you? All you had to do was let me leave. We could have gone our separate ways and everything would have been fine. Except we end up here. Look at what you made me do. This is your fault.” Shakuhachi placed his foot onto Biwa’s side and kicked him off the edge.
With a feeling of relief washing over him, he felt that things were finally going to get better for him. He walked over to Koto with happy thoughts in his mind, but the horror wasn’t over yet. As Biwa was falling to his death his realized he still had one working up and one more card to play. He reached up as far as his arm could stretch and grabbed a hold of Koto’s leg, pulling him over the edge. Shakuhachi moved as fast as he could to grab a hold of him, and at the last second he managed to take his hand. Shakuhachi looked over the edge and saw Biwa close to being engulfed in the flames. Neither of the senior Nameks had any intention of letting go.
“It’s over; there’s no need to hurt anyone else. Let go and leave us be!” Biwa had no response. He had no interested in talking any more. He didn’t have the energy to fly away and knew that his time was up. All he could do now was take someone with him. Shakuhachi could feel his own energy fading trying to pull Koto up. He knew that the only chance of freeing Koto had to be done right away. He tried to pull one of his arms away, so that he could strike at the arm of Biwa and tried to free Koto from his grip, but as he did his own grip slipped away, and now he could feel the sweat building up in his hand as the heat picked up.
“Damn it all, are you really going to be this petty? You don’t have to do this!” Still nothing, nothing but time and the life of a young Namekian slipping away. And then it was over. Shakuhachi couldn’t hold on any longer. Biwa was at this point slowly being engulfed by the rising lava, which was finally enough to get some sort of noise out of him, but only screams. Even still he didn’t relinquish his grip, which proved to be too strong for Shakuhachi to outlast. The now lone Dragon looked over the edge as he saw the one who had come back for him fall over the edge and to his death. He rolled over onto his front and his mind went blank.
For a few seconds, before a fierce stalactite fell from the ceiling and narrowly avoided dissecting Shakuhachi. His mourning for his fallen comrade was going to be put on hold as the close call reminded him that surroundings were still falling apart and he was going to join his friend if he didn’t do anything about it. Now that Biwa was going he could better chance going out the front door, and with the whole place collapsing he’d doubt anyone would care to stick around to follow the rules, right? He forced himself back onto his feet with help from the wall nearest him and began his dash to the exit. He didn’t have the energy to fly but he could still run after all.
As he did several move stalactite fell from the ceiling. As Shakuhachi ran he was forced to bob and weave through the hazards befalling him. After a few minutes of this madness he finally began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and put everything he had into bursting for the exit. He leaped through the cave entrance with whatever he had left and landed hard on his stomach with no one to greet him. As he had predicted no one had stuck around to guard the entrance as all those had had worked here could see what sticking around would lead to. He took a walk around the place and double checked just to be sure, but he was alone.
The feeling of losing a friend was something he was forced to go through twice today, but in two very different ways. Both of their deaths he felt were avoidable, and both he felt were his own to blame. But what was he going to do now? Wallow in pity for a while? In the present that didn’t seem like too much of a bad idea, but it wasn’t going to get anyway. For the first time in years he had freedom, and this time he truly had it. And unlike in his youth he had the power and agency to actually do something with it. This was not an opportunity he was going to waste. He dug a small grave for Koto and said a few words before heading off.
“I didn’t know you very long, and if I’m being honest you had a habit of getting on my nerves, but you came back for me. Apparently no one else ever did, except you. That counts for a lot. I wasn’t strong enough to save you; I failed a lot of people it seems. But times have changed now. No more sitting around in a cage waiting for a beating. No more hoping someone else will come and save you. If there’s anything I’ve learnt being locked in there is that no one is coming to save you, it’s just something you have to do yourself. That’s what I have to do, and it’s what I’m going to do whether others like it or not.”