Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[IGee]

Charco jabbed his thumb behind, gesturing to the wooden sign at the entrance of town before summing it up by saying, "Dusk City."

The situation was getting more and more confusing by the minute, and Charco was far from behind a detective.

"So, any ideas of what's up with this place, anyone?"

Following the gesture with his eyes Ajna found the sign. Which told him.. really, well nothing. Guess that made it a bad question, then? It did answer his dumb question though. Taking a long sip and feeling revitalized as warmth coursed through him, Ajna finally remembered his journey here from the port town of Pottsville. Being so out of the way, it made sense that it'd be a cool place to lay low while Ajna figured out what was next.

Glancing over at the other two who occupied the street with him at the moment, Ajna began to grow suspicious, but forcibly reigned it in. When he spoke, he was merely wondering aloud, and not responding to the inquiry of the unnamed young man.

"I feel like I got here after some great cataclysm. Where are the people?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Charco jabbed his thumb behind, gesturing to the wooden sign at the entrance of town before summing it up by saying, "Dusk City."

The situation was getting more and more confusing by the minute, and Charco was far from behind a detective.

"So, any ideas of what's up with this place, anyone?"

"Too many possible timelines." The woman said, simply.

"I feel like I got here after some great cataclysm. Where are the people?"

"Somewhere that isn't here." The Oni replied. "How long the have been there, seems more important." After a moment's consideration, stood slowly, and glanced at each of them.

"More important still, who are you? Not from here, that is sure now, but where does that leave us?"

[Yun Lao]

Following the gesture with his eyes Ajna found the sign. Which told him.. really, well nothing. Guess that made it a bad question, then? It did answer his dumb question though. Taking a long sip and feeling revitalized as warmth coursed through him, Ajna finally remembered his journey here from the port town of Pottsville. Being so out of the way, it made sense that it'd be a cool place to lay low while Ajna figured out what was next.

Glancing over at the other two who occupied the street with him at the moment, Ajna began to grow suspicious, but forcibly reigned it in. When he spoke, he was merely wondering aloud, and not responding to the inquiry of the unnamed young man.

"I feel like I got here after some great cataclysm. Where are the people?"

The teenager crossed his arms over his chest in thought. Just as he, his newfound companions were equally useless in knowledge when it came to the happenings of this town. Pointing the blame would do nothing but create useless conflict and ultimately be pointless, he imagined.

"I'm Ogatan Charco from Brick City. My gran-I mean master, sent me to try and figure out why her friend won't reply to her texts...or something." Charco wasn't exactly sure what method of communication Tyranno-sensei used. To emphasize his point, he held up the note with said person's name and address.

[KingofPie]

Start Point 3:


The explosion that rips through Capital City rocks the surrounding place. First Bank, near the outskirts of the city, has just been robbed! At least two dozens armed men came in, blew the vault, and emptied the place out in record time before starting to get into their getaway vehicles. Those that start here were either in the bank when it happened, or near by on the streets as they saw what happened. Law enforcement has yet to arrive at the scene, and the robbers do seem hostile as they have wounded several civilians.

As the explosion rocked through Capital City's streets, a balding mana with a bushy graying mustache stood nearby, looking at the unfolding events in shock and horror. The man was a street vendor, his stand was right around the corner from the bank, which specialized in dumplings and other assorted savory snacks. If you were lucky enough to be several blocks away, you might find yourself drawn in once you caught a whiff of savory brown sauce and steamed chicken and pork.

Unfortunately any such odorous wonders were now drowned out completely by the smells of smoke and rubble emitting from the First Bank. The vendor looked on in horror turning to one other person minding his food stand, a young man with green hair and red shoes, seemingly ignorant of the chaos unfolding around him as he sat behind the stand, his hands behind his head and a pair of headphones on his ears. His large red sneakers that were kicked up on the cart were dangerously close to the tray of free samples.

The older man sighed exasperated, and pulled the younger man's headphones off, explaining quickly, "Nephew! I'm going to find put what's going on! Mind the store while I'm gone...Offer anyone who passes by some of our samples! I'm sure people are scared...." the uncle stated, glancing around, noticing more people around him panicking.....and a couple people HEADING into the bank where all this commotion started.

"And get your shoes off the stand!" The uncle reprimanded, looking back at his nephew who appeared to have barely registered anything he had said. "And more importantly....do not...I repeat do NOT eat any of the samples. They're for our customers!"

"Uh-huh, right. Sure thing, uncle..." the teen replied, disinterested, though he managed to hear enough to plant his feet back down on the ground. The uncle, completely certain that any and all responsibility would be shrugged off by his nephew, merely shook his head and ran off, his mind shifting to mpre pressing matters.

His uncle now out of sight, the nephew immediately began to kick his feet back up and indulged himself in some of the dumplings and roasted chicken left out on the free sample tray. Grabbing a pair of each he began to eat the entire leftmost row of 'em, enjoying being free of his uncle's instructions. As he reached over to grab the next two dumplings in the row, he would find them missing. Along with half the samples in the tray...

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed, glancing over and looking down to see where the hell they went, only to see an odd blue hand quickly grab more food off the tray. "H-huh?!" The nephew gasped startled by the sudden monstrous looking hand, sitting up to notice a blue and yellow almost catfish-like humanoid creature now greedily devouring the missing snacks.

His fears subsiding once he saw how small the creature was the nephew's fear quickly turned to agitation, "Look here, ya littlw....whatever ya are! That's my meal you're eating there!" he shouted, causing the creature to glance back up at him, slightly. He appeared more invested in the food he 'stole'. "Unless you can pay me back for it, I'll have to...to...Wait, is that...?" the nephew paused just as he was rolling his sleeves up, having now just noticed the strangest thing about this already strange creature. It appeared to be stuck in a....toilet?!

"A toilet?!" the nephew snickered in laughter. "Man, just whay the hell are you, dude?! Y'know, I was mad, but now I just feel sorry!" The teen chuckled, slapping the back of the creature, causing him to drop remainder of the food he was holding, as well as some of them he was was already chewing to spiral onto the geound below. "Look, I'll save you the beating just this once, but ya gotta lay off my food!" The nephew continued to laugh as the creature shot him a venomous look.

"Then again, maybe I should kick your ass! A good kick pr two might be jist whay you need to get unclogged! Ahahahah!" The teen continued to guffaw.

"Grrrrrr...." the creature began to snarl, before his growling face began to contort into a wide toothy smile. "Heh...heh...heh..."

"Ahaha....aha...ha?" The teen slowed down his laughter, now glancing at the creature below him nervously. "Uh...wh-what are YOU laughing at...?"

5 minutes later...

The vendor was returning to his food stand in a hirry, still appearing visibly worried or the events occuring. "Robbers...a lot of them it seems..." he muttered to himself. "Maybe it'll be safer to leave. Head to my sister-in-law's..." he stated as he finally reached his stand to find it completely deserted...at least by his nephew. The food tray was completely empty and there appeared to be a small creature happily eating in front of the stand. "Why that good for nothing...argh, why would he run off at a time like this?" He asked, looking upon the creature below. "I don't suppose you ate the rest of my dumplongs, did you?" He asked, before noticing...the creature was eating a cookie. Gingerbread by the look of it. Well, he certainly didn't sell any pastries at his stand so that ruled the beast out. His nephew must've ate his fill of the he snacks he'd left out and run off.

"Uh, you there..." the vendor began, speaking to the creature and feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the red colored 'shoes' the gingerbread was shaped in. "I don't know who or what you are but a there's been a robbery nearby! An armed robbery! With that much firepower who knows what destruction they might unleash! I'm going to find my wife and my good for nothing nephew and find somewhere safe for us to bunker up. You should do the same!" He stated as he ran off.

The creature, known as Sasheem, not that anyone in Capital City knew of it, curiously finished the rest of his cookie as the old man left in a hurry. He then glanced over towards the direction of the bank, having ignored the obvious chaos over there initially, now eyed the sight filled with noise, panic, and the sounds of a fight with nostalgia. "De...struc....tion..." he muttered, remembering one of the words the vendor had relayed to him earlier. Interested in seeing what the cause of it all was, he hopped his toilet over towards the commotion.

[grampagen]

The tavern appreciates the kill, and your room and board should you stay the night is free because of it. As you eat your meal, you hear talk of the missing persons. Apparently, a child went missing today, only hours ago.

Ochazuke picked clean the very weapon that just hours earlier had driven towards his doom. Brusquely, he popped the digits one-by-one into his mouth and slurped rich morsels of flesh and fat from the bones, dropping them in a dull pile upon the cheap dishware.

It was strange. A town of hardy people and yet it seemed like none of them had eaten for some time. Though his stomach growled, silently returned his bowl and sought the company of a hot cup of tea, sipping silently as he took the local gossip in.

The barkeep pauses, then regretfully nods.

“Aye, been a few hunters and the likendiaplearing recently. But now poor Rose is gone just this day. Seems like a curse on our village.”

Another man snorts.

“Ain’t that, ya fool. They just got taken in the cold. It happens, even if it has been a few more than usual.”

"Taken in the cold?" Meagan looked at them puzzled, "Is the cold here sentient? Is it some kind of beast or spirit that it takes people away?"

The chill cut through the warmth of the tavern every time the door opened. It must be a strange day, for he found he was not the only out-of-towner to wander in.

More's the pity, he thought, I'd hoped to find some solitude up here.

Still, they were generous hosts. They hadn't demanded a fleck of payment, and what had become their meal hadn't been the deepest testing ground.

"These are indeed hard times if you're dependent on the labour of children and strangers," he said, "but it's clear you people know what to do with woolly ice-bears."

He paused to sip from his tea. It was a really good stew but he'd already had his fair share and tried to keep his vagabond's appetite down, by filler or chatter.

"No, this must be something worse that'd bring fear to hard folks that prey on beasts. Where did the child go?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As he overheard the rumor of Pantaloons arrival, he bolted upright in his chair, nearly tipping over his table, only managing to catch his drink with a desperate grasp at the final second.

"Pantaloon? I thought that shut in would die rather than show up at a place like this." He mused absently to himself, as he rose to his feet, drink in hand. "Then again, I guess even recluses need some sunshine now and then...."

Standing up, he straightened his shorts, light blue with sharks and fishes adorning them.

"And I guess I need someones money to take....Who knows, if I get lucky, I might be able to get something worthwhile from him..."

Stroking his chin, Held began to ponder the chain of events needed to tilt the scales of fortune in his favor.

Taking a swig of his stein, he emptied it entirely of his contents.

"Excuse me, miss?" He said, turning to the nearest hostess, "Can I get a refill?"

He smilled slightly as he made his request.

"Also, did you hear that Pantaloon guys on the ship? I can't believe that kind of nonsense. He almost never goes out? Where would he even hide on a ship like this?"

She refills his drink and smiles dazzlingly at him.

“I know, right? But it’s true, he flew in just a few minutes ago in a new stealth hover. He’s in the second mess hall now. Wild, right?”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Chou smiles, bows and does the zeni from the ear trick. Before he levitates the last bit of steak into his mouth. “ Have fun in ya trip little ones and thank ya kindly.” He loves doing these things. Saw the other getting to talk to owner of boat. He steps forward. “ Ahh so this be your boat? Thank ya. It’s very comfortable so far.”

“I’m glad to hear it, young man. Impressive display earlier, by-the-way.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Jack Knave was walking the Cask mainstreet slowly, a few hundred pounds of pelts hung over his shoulder as he headed off to the local trader to sell his catch. He took a brief stop to stick a hand-rolled cigarette in his mouth, and light it with a touch of his finger and a small focus of ki. He took a few drags before continuing.

"I declare, this town gets more and more empty with each passing day," he said to nobody in particular. Of course, a few months ago I do believe I helped empty the purses of quite a few of these town's folk....a good thing I was wearing a mask at the time.

As Jack continued on his way to the local trader, a flood of guilt washed over him. I suppose I should do something to help...after all, I do find myself more than a little in debt to the fine folks of this town, considering my....past indiscretions. Jack blew the smoke a small smoke ring through a slightly larger one.

When he had first arrived into town a few weeks ago, Jack had tried to something about the disappearances, but there had been no clues as to what had happened...at least none that he had been able to recognize. In time he had given up, and settled for selling furs from some of the local wild life that he had been hunting, originally just to have something to eat.

"I suppose I shall ask yon merchant once I reach his establishment," Jack said to himself as he picked up the pace.

As he enters the tavern, he hears the barkeep taking about Rose, and Jack freezes. Young Rose has been one of the few townspeople who had been quite kind to him from the beginning, even giving him some berries and nuts from her own supply when he had been low on food. She, too, was gone now.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Zaofan maintained his strictly formal posture, bowed slightly towards Jinzi with his head down and his hands together. "Yes, sir! It has! I've not been on this vessel for more than a half hour and I am astounded by all it has to offer! I am most fortunate to have found that lucky ticket at the dock!"

Zaofan then caught himself, slowly realizing what he had just said. He slowly rose his head to Jinzi. "Well. I mean."

Jinzi laughs and pats him on the shoulder.

“However you made it here, I am glad. Enjoy yourself, have fun, and remember to spread the word when you get back. Repayment enough for all of this as I see it.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Midori runs toward the man with the cylindrical grenade as he throws it, quickly catching it and throwing it high up into the air so it can explode relatively harmlessly. Shiro meanwhile moves toward the wounded guards and the grenade thrown their way. Reaching them, she throws up a quick barrier around herself and the guards, eyes closed as she concentrated on making the barrier strong enough to keep them safe.

With the grenades taken care of, Midori scowls and charges toward the grenade-thrower, drawing her left fist back. Stopping just before him, she threw the punch, channeling all her strength behind it as she swung it into his stomach.

"BIONIKKU SUMASSHU!"

The man side steps her punch at the last minute and instead clubs her over the head with his gun. As he does so, he gestures and the three other thieves hop in the armoured hover and start powering its guns up.

Meanwhile, Shiro’s barrier is just powerful enough, but the grenade does cause some minor damage around her and
leaves a loud ringing in her ears.

[Miburo]

She refills his drink and smiles dazzlingly at him.

“I know, right? But it’s true, he flew in just a few minutes ago in a new stealth hover. He’s in the second mess hall now. Wild, right?”

"I guess wonders never cease, huh?" He said, nodding his head in affirmation. "Looks like this trip really was worth the effort."

Taking his refill, he raised it slightly towards her in thanks, before placing a few zeni in her palm with his left.

It was always bad luck not to tip the help when it came to information. And service, especially so early before the game came afoot.

Turning away, he headed towards the mess hall, the gears turning in his head.

Think, Held....Think. This is clearly a sign from the gods...Somehow. Maybe...

Entering the mess hall, he peered around intently, looking for his would be prey.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

“You failed.”

On the planet Vacado, home of some of the strongest saiyans – in their own minds – in the universe, strength was everything. Quite literally, it was everything. Every walk of life – from romance, to employment, to position in society – was determined by how strong one was. The strong lived comfortable, care-free lives; the weak were trampled on, stomped on, stepped over, and overlooked. The strong were glamorous, the weak were shabby. The strong were the pinnacle of society; the weak would have been lucky to have enough food to last them a few hours. The strong were the pride and joy of Vacado; the weak were considered slaves.

On Vacado, where strength was everything, the lessons and classes taken by the young saiyan warriors of tomorrow were tailored to draw out what strength they had inside. Some had more than others. The children of Saiyan Elites and the master-class Super Elites were ahead of the pack. Usually. Every so often, a child of an Elite fell behind her lineage. Every so often, a daughter of not one, but two Elites failed to measure up to the understandably lofty standards her parents set before her.

Sarada, daughter of Saiyan Elites Lettise and Guar, only had a power level of 50. After six entire years of training, she was barely stronger than she was when she first started. Granted, it was well known throughout the galaxy that strength was grown in a kind, nurturing environment, where harsh requirements and horrific consequences didn't compel the student to force herself to become stronger. Saiyan society on Vacado was extremely self-defeating.

Not that anyone on the planet actually realized that. Sarada certainly didn't. Opposed to questioning the teaching methods and the rewards for passing her final exam – freedom as opposed to a life as a slave – she questioned herself. I'm just a disgrace.

“After six long years,” the Combat Training Center overseer, Okra, continued, “you're only a little stronger than you were when you started.” She shook her head in disgust. “Six years of my life, wasted.” She glared angrily at the young saiyan, who, in turn, glared at the ground. “I should kill you where you stand for wasting my time. Go home, pack your belongings, and prepare for your new life.” She turned to walk away, her tail unwrapping itself from her waist and letting itself dangle freely from her black trunks. “If you're lucky, you may be allowed to clean your sisters toilet one day. Hahaha!”

When Sarada returned home, she wasn't expecting to be coddled and told it was going to be okay. Which was good, because otherwise, the sharp backhand she received from her mother would have shattered that expectation with thunderous force. She fell to the ground, a red mark already forming on her left cheek.

“Absolutely disgraceful,” she snarled. “To think that I birthed such a sorry excuse for a saiyan makes me want to throw up. I should kill you where you stand, but I don't want to waste energy on garbage.”

Her words stung, even if she never gave her the satisfaction of seeing her crumble under their immense weight. She had disappointed her mother. That hurt worse than anything else.

Her eyes cut to her father. His back was turned. He hadn't said a word since they received the report from the CTC. That was to be expected. He never really showed much care about anything.

Her mother left without another word, her father shortly after her. Sarada was left alone to contemplate her future.

She was to be a slave, a servant grovel at the feet of others. It was so... infuriating and humiliating. No! She would die before she would bend at the knee before anyone – the King and Queen notwithstanding.
While it was normal for a saiyan sentenced to the Meat Market to commit suicide rather than have their pride trampled on like chaff, Sarada didn't want to stoop to that level of cowardice. At the same time, however, she didn't want to just accept this fate, not while she knew in her heart that she had the strength of an elite coursing through her veins.

There was only one recourse left. In order to get stronger, she needed to leave this place. They would never allow her the time she needed to prove herself. The only way to reach the level she knew she was capable of was to try and reach it on her own, on her own time. Then, once she fulfilled her destiny and rose to the ranks of super elite, she would return to Vacado and take her rightful place near the top of the social ladder.

Yes, this was brilliant idea, if she said so herself. She would leave in the middle of the night, once most everyone went to sleep.

Night fell without any further incident. Her parents didn't say a word to her. She soon found out that they had been called away to different assignments. Slaves were needed to fill in the shanties in the Meat Market, plus competition for the Arena had been scarce as of late. That was just fine with her; one less obstacle in her way.

To that point, there were only two obstacles in her way. Parsley and Pinach, her two siblings. Parsley was her older sister by four years. Her skin was the same dark tone as hers, but her hair was much darker. She was also much thinner, as far as curvature went. If Sarada was being honest – as much as she had been in the past – she would say that Parsley was actually a boy disguised as a girl for one reason or another. Of course, she said this to get under her sisters skin; it worked every time.

As far as Pinach, he was of the same skin tone, but his hair was much shorter than his sisters. He was only 10, so he was still slight in stature and build.

“So, you're leaving,” Parsley commented.

“What do you care?” Sarada replied snappishly.

She sneered haughtily. “I don't. I just wanted to see whether you would accept your fate or not. You didn't disappoint me. You're planning on running away, aren't you?”

Sarada didn't answer.

“Thought so. This is a waste of time, you know. You'll never get stronger on your own if you couldn't with the very best tutors elite money can buy.” She shook her head, words dripping with the manipulative emotion that she had become famous for. “I can't imagine how hurt our mother will be once she finds out you left.”

“Our mother wouldn't give a damn and you know it,” she spoke before Parsley could even finish. “She doesn't care about anyone. Not you, not me, not him,” she continued, cocking her head at their brother. “If you think your horseshit will stop me from leaving, think again. You're going to get the hell out of my way, and I'm leaving this place so I can train and become the strongest saiyan the universe has every known.”

Parsley snickered, then outright laughed in her face. “You're delusional!” she choked. “Fine, by all means. Die in outer space for all I care. More food for me, anyway.”

Sadara stared her down, her white hot rage evident behind her striking amber eyes. She turned her gaze to Pinach, who had been standing silently for the duration of the conversation. They locked eyes for a long time, but he said nothing.

She expected nothing less. He was becoming just like their father.

Sadara brushed past her sister, who was still giggling, and left the place where their “family” met every once in a while for the last time.



Days passed and the pod ship Sarada stole was nearing its destination. When she left, she quickly realized that she had very little experience navigating a pod, and resorted to inputting a random set of coordinates in a bid to leave as soon as possible. Those random set of coordinates took her a lot further away than she anticipated.

"Arrival imminent. Prepare for landing."

Alright, Sarada. Your journey to absolute, unrivaled greatness if about to begin. Let's see that bitch Parsley laugh when she sees how strong I've become!

The pod penetrated the planet's atmosphere as it made its descent. Sarada's heart was racing with anticipation. She could hardly wait to land and get started with her training. This planet was sure to have many strong fighters that could possibly help her reach her full potential. Even if it was just fighting her with their full power; if she played her cards right, they may have even shared a few of their techniques. She wasn't so far up Vacado's ass that she refused to acknowledge that the universe was just filled to the brim with powerful people who knew how to channel their ki in ways the saiyans had likely never thought possible.

It was so exciting!

The pod landed with a tremendous crash, leaving in its wake a massive crater. However, thanks to the cutting edge collision-absorption technology equipped within the pod's outer shell, Sarada didn't feel so much as a jostle. "Alright! Here we go!" She clipped her scouter to her ear and opened the pod door. A burst of freezing cold air slapped her in the face, but she paid it no mind.

"Let's see where all the strong people are." She tapped the scouter to scan the area. Almost immediately, a large cluster of blips flashed across the screen, as well as an arrow directing her in their direction. Nodding, she started sprinting in that direction.

Not too terribly far away, a lone town lay where she had seen the blips on her scouter. Within a few minutes, she makes it to town and sees the power levels are gathered toward a bar of some sort.

She also acknowledges the cold, finally. It’s bitterly cold and she is not dressed for this kind of weather.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Taken in the cold?" Meagan looked at them puzzled, "Is the cold here sentient? Is it some kind of beast or spirit that it takes people away?"

“Nah, legends.”, the barman spits out.

“Legends of something living in the snow and cold that takes people. It’s nonsense.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As the explosion rocked through Capital City's streets, a balding mana with a bushy graying mustache stood nearby, looking at the unfolding events in shock and horror. The man was a street vendor, his stand was right around the corner from the bank, which specialized in dumplings and other assorted savory snacks. If you were lucky enough to be several blocks away, you might find yourself drawn in once you caught a whiff of savory brown sauce and steamed chicken and pork.

Unfortunately any such odorous wonders were now drowned out completely by the smells of smoke and rubble emitting from the First Bank. The vendor looked on in horror turning to one other person minding his food stand, a young man with green hair and red shoes, seemingly ignorant of the chaos unfolding around him as he sat behind the stand, his hands behind his head and a pair of headphones on his ears. His large red sneakers that were kicked up on the cart were dangerously close to the tray of free samples.

The older man sighed exasperated, and pulled the younger man's headphones off, explaining quickly, "Nephew! I'm going to find put what's going on! Mind the store while I'm gone...Offer anyone who passes by some of our samples! I'm sure people are scared...." the uncle stated, glancing around, noticing more people around him panicking.....and a couple people HEADING into the bank where all this commotion started.

"And get your shoes off the stand!" The uncle reprimanded, looking back at his nephew who appeared to have barely registered anything he had said. "And more importantly....do not...I repeat do NOT eat any of the samples. They're for our customers!"

"Uh-huh, right. Sure thing, uncle..." the teen replied, disinterested, though he managed to hear enough to plant his feet back down on the ground. The uncle, completely certain that any and all responsibility would be shrugged off by his nephew, merely shook his head and ran off, his mind shifting to mpre pressing matters.

His uncle now out of sight, the nephew immediately began to kick his feet back up and indulged himself in some of the dumplings and roasted chicken left out on the free sample tray. Grabbing a pair of each he began to eat the entire leftmost row of 'em, enjoying being free of his uncle's instructions. As he reached over to grab the next two dumplings in the row, he would find them missing. Along with half the samples in the tray...

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed, glancing over and looking down to see where the hell they went, only to see an odd blue hand quickly grab more food off the tray. "H-huh?!" The nephew gasped startled by the sudden monstrous looking hand, sitting up to notice a blue and yellow almost catfish-like humanoid creature now greedily devouring the missing snacks.

His fears subsiding once he saw how small the creature was the nephew's fear quickly turned to agitation, "Look here, ya littlw....whatever ya are! That's my meal you're eating there!" he shouted, causing the creature to glance back up at him, slightly. He appeared more invested in the food he 'stole'. "Unless you can pay me back for it, I'll have to...to...Wait, is that...?" the nephew paused just as he was rolling his sleeves up, having now just noticed the strangest thing about this already strange creature. It appeared to be stuck in a....toilet?!

"A toilet?!" the nephew snickered in laughter. "Man, just whay the hell are you, dude?! Y'know, I was mad, but now I just feel sorry!" The teen chuckled, slapping the back of the creature, causing him to drop remainder of the food he was holding, as well as some of them he was was already chewing to spiral onto the geound below. "Look, I'll save you the beating just this once, but ya gotta lay off my food!" The nephew continued to laugh as the creature shot him a venomous look.

"Then again, maybe I should kick your ass! A good kick pr two might be jist whay you need to get unclogged! Ahahahah!" The teen continued to guffaw.

"Grrrrrr...." the creature began to snarl, before his growling face began to contort into a wide toothy smile. "Heh...heh...heh..."

"Ahaha....aha...ha?" The teen slowed down his laughter, now glancing at the creature below him nervously. "Uh...wh-what are YOU laughing at...?"

5 minutes later...

The vendor was returning to his food stand in a hirry, still appearing visibly worried or the events occuring. "Robbers...a lot of them it seems..." he muttered to himself. "Maybe it'll be safer to leave. Head to my sister-in-law's..." he stated as he finally reached his stand to find it completely deserted...at least by his nephew. The food tray was completely empty and there appeared to be a small creature happily eating in front of the stand. "Why that good for nothing...argh, why would he run off at a time like this?" He asked, looking upon the creature below. "I don't suppose you ate the rest of my dumplongs, did you?" He asked, before noticing...the creature was eating a cookie. Gingerbread by the look of it. Well, he certainly didn't sell any pastries at his stand so that ruled the beast out. His nephew must've ate his fill of the he snacks he'd left out and run off.

"Uh, you there..." the vendor began, speaking to the creature and feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the red colored 'shoes' the gingerbread was shaped in. "I don't know who or what you are but a there's been a robbery nearby! An armed robbery! With that much firepower who knows what destruction they might unleash! I'm going to find my wife and my good for nothing nephew and find somewhere safe for us to bunker up. You should do the same!" He stated as he ran off.

The creature, known as Sasheem, not that anyone in Capital City knew of it, curiously finished the rest of his cookie as the old man left in a hurry. He then glanced over towards the direction of the bank, having ignored the obvious chaos over there initially, now eyed the sight filled with noise, panic, and the sounds of a fight with nostalgia. "De...struc....tion..." he muttered, remembering one of the words the vendor had relayed to him earlier. Interested in seeing what the cause of it all was, he hopped his toilet over towards the commotion.

He sees two women fighting some armed men with guns. One of the men seems pretty tough as he dodges a punch from one of the women.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Ochazuke picked clean the very weapon that just hours earlier had driven towards his doom. Brusquely, he popped the digits one-by-one into his mouth and slurped rich morsels of flesh and fat from the bones, dropping them in a dull pile upon the cheap dishware.

It was strange. A town of hardy people and yet it seemed like none of them had eaten for some time. Though his stomach growled, silently returned his bowl and sought the company of a hot cup of tea, sipping silently as he took the local gossip in.





The chill cut through the warmth of the tavern every time the door opened. It must be a strange day, for he found he was not the only out-of-towner to wander in.

More's the pity, he thought, I'd hoped to find some solitude up here.

Still, they were generous hosts. They hadn't demanded a fleck of payment, and what had become their meal hadn't been the deepest testing ground.

"These are indeed hard times if you're dependent on the labour of children and strangers," he said, "but it's clear you people know what to do with woolly ice-bears."

He paused to sip from his tea. It was a really good stew but he'd already had his fair share and tried to keep his vagabond's appetite down, by filler or chatter.

"No, this must be something worse that'd bring fear to hard folks that prey on beasts. Where did the child go?"

The men look at each other before the patron slowly responds.

“Down past the frozen river to the north of here. Her berry basket was found. No sign of her anywhere other than that. Why I said the cold took her.”