A Race Against Time (Open)

The telltale creaking and rupturing of metal was soon upon them, the larger ships barely moved whereas smaller ones were torn from where they were like tissue paper from a box. Now with properly witnessing this part of the phenomenon, it was quite hazardous. Nervan was more fascinated by what was going on than he was focused on keeping an eye on that Jarred fellow, who seemed to have slipped away.

Turning around to yet another sound, Nervan saw the cruiser they had been in moments ago begin to careen towards them, and began to lean back, though perhaps too slow. Thankfully, Gandigan was able to assist, yanking Nervan out of the way. Nervan hit the dusty dry rocky ground with an out of place wooden bonk sort of sound. Eventually the roaring subsided, and it seemed safe to stand up again.

So, Nervan suddenly shot up to a standing position in the blink of an eye, as if they were instantly rotated like in an image editing program. “... Hm.” The movement of so many metallic things seemed to have changed the landscape quite dramatically. “It didn’t change this much before. We think we are closer to the source. Why else would there be such a dramatic change?” Nervan mused, looking at the grooves in the ground. Everything seemed to have been pulled east.

Gandigan spoke up, asking what Nervan had in mind regarding how to progress. “We would like to think that Jarred is used to the dangers of this place by now. You can sense life, correct? Does Jarred still live? If he is alive and uninjured, we think he can take care of himself for a while longer... If he has perished, we can retrieve his remains later. In all cases, we believe that seeking the source is of more importance.” Nervan’s gaze snapped eastward, into the forest. “The legend of a sound that the people fear... We must know what it means.”

Nervan’s ears tilted upwards and downwards independently of each other a few times, as if they were considering what Gandigan had said regarding the current situation. It was true, Nervan supposed, that there were people that could hide their energy to a greater degree than most— though this was usually an observation that Illuma would have made since she was the one who could sense energy among Nervan’s group. “Animals are different in many ways. What is intelligence to us is perhaps instinct to them.” Nervan sounded as though they spoke from experience in handling animals, so maybe that could be helpful if what the two sought was indeed also some sort of animal.

“He is stable? Good. That will do.” Nervan’s concern lessened, and it seemed that Jarred knew how to handle himself around here for the most part. Treating the cause of a problem was often better than treating the symptoms if possible, the symptoms just often lead to the cause if one was to correctly look.

Moving towards the forest, Nervan noted the various bodies littered all over the place— all in varied states of decay, some even near fossilised, perhaps unintentionally brought up from underground in wake of some trace metals. One of Nervan’s earrings suddenly appeared in one of their hands and they held it out as if to check for something. “... Long dead. None linger.” Nervan said in a sombre tone, and all of a sudden that earring was back on their ear.

Looking in the same direction as Gandigan, Nervan tried their best to discern what they were seeing. It was no tree, that much was certain. The Namekian wondered if it was a tooth, and given its shape even at such a size, it did seem like one. “It looks like one. Hang on, we will get a observe from further away for a wider perspective.” Nervan backed away a bit to check if there were more— or if it was still attached to the gums of what would be its owner.

From their different perspective, Nervan confirmed their suspicions; what they had seen was indeed a tooth, but it was not just a single tooth. There were more, a long row of gargantuan teeth as far as the eyes could see in either direction, in varied states of decay. Originally the trees, as sparse as they were, happened to be just enough visual noise to be a distraction given somewhat similar colourations due to tooth decay.

Now, however, Nervan knew what they were looking for. “We are remembering... It is coming to us. The answer is here.” Moving sideways, following the teeth, Nervan had thoughts emerge, the memories not entirely their own housed within them began to surface. At first they were dull, yet they became sharper as long as Nervan was looking at this... Thing. Nervan understood it was more than just teeth, yet this understanding was someone else’s understanding, and the louder the memory and knowledge became, the faster Nervan moved. They were closer to the answer that they needed, the chance to complete the story left behind by the memories.

“The people. The legend. The sound.” Nervan repeated, slowing down as they did so, arriving at a different vantage point altogether, seeing what Gandigan saw at a different angle, one that the people that were once here would have had. “The cave.” Nervan slowly craned their head, looking for something, guided by one of the clearest memories, one that wanted Nervan to find something— eyes, the memory depicted eyes could be seen from this spot. “The monster.” Nervan stared towards where they thought eyes would be in the distance, and stood there in silence for a moment. “The planet..?” The pieces would soon begin to click into place. Any moment now, Nervan hoped that they would find the answer.

Everything was here. Every piece of the puzzle. Nervan’s eternal stare locked on the eyes that could be seen in the distance, somewhat camouflaged under some rocky outcroppings. It was unmistakable even from this angle, this was an unfathomably gigantic creature.

Gandigan eventually called out, which broke Nervan’s gaze into the eyes of the beast as their head snapped immediately towards where the Namekian was in the air. Unfortunately, before Gandigan could even say much of anything, the ground rumbled and reverberated under the force of the roaring sound. Nervan was sent backwards, flat onto a nearby wall as other pieces of discarded ships and metal flew into the gargantuan maw while whatever was already in there tumbled into the depths below, consumed by the flames, to be digested by the creature.

Everything fell into place now. According to the memories that Nervan was following the people that once lived here had a legend, that the ground below them was alive, and that there were sounds heralding a time where the people would offer things— metals— to a cave where they said a monster lived, and if the monster was well fed and cared for, they would be safe... However something had gone wrong here.

After the roaring subsided, Nervan looked for where Gandigan had gone. “Gandigan? We know what this is now. We remember. The people, their legend, the sounds, the cave, the monster. It is the planet. It is a creature far bigger than any other. It is a form of Kaiju.” The exact name of this particular Kaiju was just beyond Nervan’s reach, but at least they had more context and details now. “The people that were once here, and this creature had a mutually beneficial relationship. It seems as though something terrible happened to the people, and now that they are gone, it must fend for itself and feed on what passes by.” Who knows just how long this had been happening for? A sad end for all involved, in Nervan’s opinion.

It was a truly grim situation as far as Nervan could tell. From what they remembered on behalf of others alongside what they were seeing in front of themselves ever since they had arrived, there was only one logical conclusion.

This had to end. That was all that could be said.

Noticing that Gandigan was charging an attack, no doubt meant for the planetary sized beast, Nervan had a moment to contemplate what the Namekian said. Killing it directly would stop the madness, it would indeed be an end. The problem in doing it that way was that whoever or whatever was still here would likely go down with it, maybe even Nervan and Gandigan as well.

Part of what Gandigan had said did give Nervan an idea though. “Sleep... Yes, put it to sleep.” Now knowing that the planet was simply a singular large being, Nervan understood that it had a soul, an essence of sorts... To that end, Nervan once again was suddenly holding out one of their earrings. “We have an idea. There is a way we can put it into a state similar to that of sleep. Doing so will eventually cause it to die, but it shall allow anyone still here to leave freely, or rebuild something, should they choose.” The earring that Nervan was holding out began to glow, at first it was a deep purple, then a searing white and suddenly a cavernous and eternal void... Nervan was attempting to absorb the soul of the Kaiju.

“You have lived through loneliness and pain for long enough. Now it is time for you to rest.” Several specfic voices could be heard slightly more clearly within the chaos of Nervan’s vocalizations, some may have even been familiar to the Kaiju, perhaps these voices once belonged to friends? It was hard to say. Ultimately, they beckoned to the Kaiju, letting it know that it was finally time to find peace. “We thank you, for this closure.”

In time, the very soul of the Kaiju diminished and subsided, siphoned from its colossal body and into the earring that Nervan held out. Eventually the glistening void that radiated from the earring subsided into a small blip of white light, a deep purple glow, and finally nothing. “It is done. Now, it sleeps forever.” Nervan’s earring was once again suddenly back on the ear it came from. The odd individual looked around at their surroundings as the grinding of the teeth eventually stopped. Sand began to fall into the depths of the Kaiju’s maw, which eventually closed in an uneven way.

For a moment, Nervan stood in silence, with their hands held together, seemingly in prayer. Gandigan eventually made his way on over and spoke up, which caught Nervan’s attention. Most other times when Nervan had absorbed a soul in front of someone, they were bombarded with questions— but in this case Gandigan was either entirely unbothered by it, or simply didn’t want to ask and was just happy to not be stuck here. Whatever the case, Nervan figured it was for the best. “Yes. All that are here should now be able to leave. A simple craft would work well enough, and there are plenty of parts here as is.”

It was pretty likely however that Gandigan’s initial craft was not where the Namekian had last seen it... “Feel free to use ours. It should be good for one trip before dissipating.” From within one of Nervan’s earrings, their magical spacecraft would appear— it was quite similar to a standard space-pod, it just looked wooden rather than metallic. “Our friends will seek us out, so do not worry about us. Besides, we want to be here for a while longer. To pay our respects.”