Dragonball M, Chapter 3: In Blood, Bone, and Ash! The Way Forward Unlocked!

[KingofPie]

"He has been a problem for quite some time," Ishtar explained.

"We first encountered him quite some time ago; against Jagam and Anula if you recall. He made his aims clear as well. 'To make the Universe love him', though it was not the kind of love many would wish to offer." That being the kind that was forced against their will. "... the sooner I speak with both you, and Nevanlinna, the better I suspect." The golden-eyed Oni said then, before chuckling.

"I suppose it can wait until we have recovered though."



"No, you are not nearly as stupid," Ishtar replied, patting the Majin on the back. "I think some of us are even beginning to appreciate your help." Deadpan as it was, there was no ignoring that the Oni was sincere.

"Well, it's about damn time that you all....NEARLY?" The Majin leaped forward. at the Oni, pointing accusingly. "Ya just can't even let a compliment go by without adding an insult, can ya?!"

"...." Sasheem stopped his shouting for a moment. "That Auroc guy really is an idiot, though. What kinda Majin is he?! He wants everyone to 'love him'?! Sounds like he's beggin' to get wiped off the face of Threshville or whatever name of that planet is..."

[MrSandman]

"Well, it's about damn time that you all....NEARLY?" The Majin leaped forward. at the Oni, pointing accusingly. "Ya just can't even let a compliment go by without adding an insult, can ya?!"

"...." Sasheem stopped his shouting for a moment. "That Auroc guy really is an idiot, though. What kinda Majin is he?! He wants everyone to 'love him'?! Sounds like he's beggin' to get wiped off the face of Threshville or whatever name of that planet is..."

"It is not uncommon for beings which believe themselves above the sphereian system of moral duality to substitute words in an effort to manipulate their lessers. His subjects may believe it, and he may come to believe it himself....should he wish.....but love and devotion bare similar qualities, and it is their devotion he wishes." Cthylla commented from off to the side of the bridge, her attention split between her observation of the machinery and the conversation.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"To be honest, I don't understand it, myself!" P-Sta pondered, as he quickly acclimated to the ship's controls. "One minute, he's attacking HQ, then the next I feel like I've woken up from a very long nap, one of those ill timed uncomfortable naps at that, and woke up in an ancient asteroid!"

"I could ask him, he does seem vastly more comprehensible if not just as ornery, but..." P-Sta shrugged. "Far more important things ahead of us, such as making it out of this, alive!"




"Quite a lot, I'd imagine..." Blizzar commented, after being silent for quite some time. He had been encrypting and scanning the data taken from Midori's computers since he reached the Coldlight. "If you're in need of design specs, Pantaloon you might be in luck," the Arcosianwent on. "After I get everything in order, I might have a plethora of information on hand.You'll get the bill later."

Jinzi nods.

“....sure.”

He looks at the nearby jar and bows slightly.

“....a pleasure as well.....Azura.”

He looks around, clears his throat, and looks at them all.

“So, Auroc somehow triggered the base to blow. He wasn’t in league with......Midori......as far as we know. That means he knew about the place before hand then.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Jinzi nods.

“....sure.”

He looks at the nearby jar and bows slightly.

“....a pleasure as well.....Azura.”

He looks around, clears his throat, and looks at them all.

“So, Auroc somehow triggered the base to blow. He wasn’t in league with......Midori......as far as we know. That means he knew about the place before hand then.”

"He was the very first Majin, no?" Parsley inquired. "If so, then he very likely was around when the First Race passed over into this universe. It stands to reason that he would know of the station from back then."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Well, it's about damn time that you all....NEARLY?" The Majin leaped forward. at the Oni, pointing accusingly. "Ya just can't even let a compliment go by without adding an insult, can ya?!"

"...." Sasheem stopped his shouting for a moment. "That Auroc guy really is an idiot, though. What kinda Majin is he?! He wants everyone to 'love him'?! Sounds like he's beggin' to get wiped off the face of Threshville or whatever name of that planet is..."

"It was not an insult, Sasheem." Ishtar said with a shrug. "I cannot lie, and I have not forgotten that you were a babbling gremlin stuck in a human toilet, not three years ago." The Oni clarified. "Though ... even then, you were still smarter than Auroc I should think."

[KingofPie]

"It is not uncommon for beings which believe themselves above the sphereian system of moral duality to substitute words in an effort to manipulate their lessers. His subjects may believe it, and he may come to believe it himself....should he wish.....but love and devotion bare similar qualities, and it is their devotion he wishes." Cthylla commented from off to the side of the bridge, her attention split between her observation of the machinery and the conversation.

"Yeah, but he's a Majin!" Sasheem explained, before realizing that he didn't remember speaking to Cthylla once though he's certainly seen her around....he thinks. "Who...ever you are, but listen...Majin live to blow **** up and kill things! ...and eat delicious food. Parading arpund, tricking everyone into loving you is fun the first few minutes but only if you're gonna shoot 'em all in the back afterwards when they least expect it!"

"Maybe something happened to him at some point..." The Majin scratched his chin, remembering the image clearly. "If he's speaking a language those magical yards understand then maybe he absorbed someone at some point..." Sasheem shrugged. "Either way, Sasheem wants to be the only Majin left alive in this univerze, so he can blow up however many bases he wants, he's just living on borrowed time anyway!"

"It was not an insult, Sasheem." Ishtar said with a shrug. "I cannot lie, and I have not forgotten that you were a babbling gremlin stuck in a human toilet, not three years ago." The Oni clarified.

Sasheem's eye twitched.

"Though ... even then, you were still smarter than Auroc I should think."

"Ha! Of course Sasheem was!" Sasheem guffawed, his mood shifting quickly. "If Sasheem was really that dumb, he would been killed a millenia ago!" he noted, folding his arms and nodding smugly.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Once at the scanner console, she was able to use it to see that Praxat was doing do good. Checking the ships systems, she noticed a nearby water shower. contacting Althena over the ship's com, "Hey, Althena. Ah figgure she might need some water. If so, there's a water shower in the room just behind you. Can you carry her in there?"

" Yes, I can do that," Althena said. Althena picks up Praxat with her right arm and carries her to the water shower in the room behind her.

[Sion Reaver]

'Charco's... gone. I don't know half the story, but I'm pretty sure that... thing is joyriding around in his body.' There was a slight pause, and then he continued. "I... encountered this thing back when Charco and I had an adventure in the Gris-Gris Bayou, but I just thought it was an awesome new power-up and didn't even think to ask. Maybe if I had..."

Guilt. That was what Karine could feel over the Kizuna. Guilt at being so ignorant and self-absorbed that a friend had suffered and died right in front of him and yet the so-called hero had done jack ****.

He knew his mate could feel what he was feeling, and he knew she'd eventually talk to him about it, but for now, he simply stood guard over Karine and Ochazuke while the latter was being attended to.

Karine had heard the gist of the unpleasant news from Aleka, she didn't know Charco as well as she would of liked but it saddened her all the same. She did feel foolish she had't known some evil entity had been latching onto them for a ride, even if realistically there probably wasn't much, if anything she could of done. Besides that it was likely something he didn't just go spouting off to everyone within reach which is why this was news to her.

As for Totoma...

He was obviously broken up about it, and she hated that feeling. She may have been his mate and best friend but she couldn't nor should she shield him for all of life's hurdles, she was just there to be help them support through the tough times and visa versa. '...well talk about this later...'

For now she had a patient.

[Tami]

" Yes, I can do that," Althena said. Althena picks up Praxat with her right arm and carries her to the water shower in the room behind her.

Dash called back to Althena, "You'd best hurry. There may be others injured an Praxat skills can help fix this ship."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

The planet of Bethesda was in turmoil. The normal peaceful denizens of the resource plentiful planet had been embroiled in a costly civil war for the last five years. The two sides each lost tens of thousands of soldiers. The particularly damning thing about civil war was that the sides were related in some way. Brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers; they all knew each other in some way. The wage a bitter war against each other for something as easily solved as territory rights kept all involved up at night. That so many died only added to the guilt and nightmares.

The religious sect of Bethesda prayed to their gods every day for the five year duration, beseeching them for the wisdom and insight to end the war that threatened to rip their planet apart at the seams. For years, they received no answer and the war raged on.

Tens of thousand of innocent people were killed as the war intensified. The world's leaders were at their wits end, and reached outward beyond their planet's borders to plead for help. They were looking for a peace-keeper, an arbitrator who could bring an outsider's point of view to the negotiations so that a truce could be reached without further bloodshed.

They took this matter to prayer in their temple, spending weeks begging their gods for help.

It took a few weeks, but the prayer was answered. A ship descended from the heavens above, slowly lowering itself until it landed in a clearing near the President's home. A group of men in stylized red and orange armor stepped in unison down the gangplank. Behind them was a mysterious elvish man in gaudy white garbs and a black mask. The oddest thing about him wasn't the spiky gold sleeve on his arm, but rather the fact that he had no legs. Instead, the cloth around his waste unraveled and swirled around where his legs should have been.

“The gods have answered our prayers at last!” exclaimed the High Priest as he and the President stepped out to meet them. “Please, come. We will bring you abreast of the situation threatening to tear out planet apart at the seam.”

“But, of course. But, first, allow me to introduce myself.” The man bowed sweepingly, the gold hoops around his waist jingling slightly. “I am Letchee, humble servant of Lord Tundra. He, not I, is the one to whom you should offer your most heartfelt thanks, for he is the only one among us capable of bringing peace to the war-torn world.”

“Of course, of course. Tell your master that he has our most gracious thanks.”

Letchee nodded. “Now then, shall we?”

The meeting between Letchee and the world leaders was productive. Once he was briefed on the situation, they began to toss ideas and possible solutions back and forth. The solution that was most appreciated was one of compromise. Since both sides wanted a particularly valuable piece of land, the obvious solution was the share. They were all of the same race, the same people, so sharing would only benefit everyone and put an end to the senseless and pointless bloodshed.

“Well, that seems to be the most popular choice,” the President said. “I shall relay this to the leaders of both sides and see what they say.”

It was a day before each side received the message, thought it over, and sent a reply. It was... overwhelmingly negative. Each side knew that they had ancestral rights to that ten square mile patch of land, and were wholly unwilling to share even an inch of it with the opposition. The President and High Priest were livid, and yet, Nararre was not.

In fact, if he was surprised or disappointed, he didn't bother to show either. “A pity,” he stated.

“Damn them all!” The High Priest slammed his fists into the table in front of him. “Don't they see? Can't they see what this war is doing to our people? So many innocents lives have been lost, and for what? Land?”

“They are in too deep, now,” the President remarked. “Anything less than victory is seen as nothing but surrender. That, I'm afraid, is the Stygian cost of war.”

“Indeed.”

“Allow me, if you will, the chance to speak with my master. Surely someone of his vast wisdom can come to solution that will satisfy... all parties involved.” With that, he stood from his seat and left.

When he re-entered the ship, he strode quietly through the sterilized metal halls. There was a soldier around each corner, though they were there purely for aesthetics. He knew that he certainly didn't need their support, and neither did Lord Tundra. The diminutive Arcosian didn't appear to be much; then again, none of them did.

He stopped walking when he reached an innocuous metal door at the end of a winding maze of hallways and corridors. With a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately, he bent at the knee at the lone figure inside. “Lord Tundra, it seems these people are unwilling to work with us.”

Tundra was a small creature, as were all Frost Demons when reduced to their weakest forms. Yet, despite his small stature, his power was anything but. An yawning, unending chasm was the only way to describe the immense strength kept hidden away. Even this, his first form – which Frost Demons engaged to withhold the vast majority of their power until it was needed – was more powerful than any other Icer in their final forms.

“So it would seem,” Tundra replied. “I expected nothing less from this of gibbering buffoons.”

“So, what shall you do now?”

“Show them the error of their ways.” Tundra placed the glass of red wine he had been holding on a nearby table as he turned around and started to move for the door. “We'll be leaving shortly. Prepare for takeoff.”

A chill shot up his spine as Tundra moved past him. It wasn't fear, not completely. In all the time he had known Tundra, he could never quite pinpoint what it was that made him tremble and shiver like a newborn every time he moved past him. Perhaps it was his power, perhaps it was the nature of his shadowy shroud that concealed his true nature. He didn't know for sure.

And he likely never would. Tundra was incredibly secretive about what he was capable of.

His Lord was gone, so Letchee could finally stand upright. “Prepare the ship for takeoff,” he told a nearby subordinate.

“Yes sir!”

This was a tale that had played itself out time and again. Tundra didn't flaunt his power very often; but when he did, it ended the same way every time. He emerged from a skywindow on the top of the ship and floated innocuously into the air. From his high vantage point, he could easily see the people of this ignorant planet gawking up at him, like some god who finally deigned to answer their pointless prayers.

His men, as Letchee had been negotiating with the leaders, had been busy doing a thorough search of the planet to determine its worth. Unfortunately – for Bethesda – anything of value had long been ravaged and destroyed during the war. Even the resources had been dried up – the planet looked like a barren wasteland in many places. While he was sure some fool would buy it, it just wasn't worth the effort and time needed to terraform the land into something worth selling.

And without a monetary value, it wasn't worth keeping.

Tundra smiled a wicked smile as his finger raised above his head. His shoulders shook as he let out a cackle, crackling energy coalescing into a small orange orb just above his finger. That orb instantly grew into a massive sphere of energy. “Here is your peace, you filthy primitives!!” he shouted with glee as he dropped the death ball onto the planet. As it sunk into the planet's surface and into the core, he laughed with absolute joy.

Very soon, large bubbles of molten magma broke through the surface of the ground. Massive crackles of energy, like inverted lightning, shot from the planet's ruptured core and careened ominously into the sky. The people down below screamed and bellowed with absolute, unmitigated terror. Some stopped and curse him, others pleaded with him to stop and reconsider. Even some tried to bargain with him.

It only added to his enjoyment. The most pleasurable aspect of genocide was taking the time to study how the people responded right before their demise. He often found that a person's true character was revealed in the moments just prior to death. The facade erected to fool their fellows dropped like a mist in the afternoon sun, and who they were on the inside came to the fore. Most time, they were pathetic, whimpering little worms, as he always suspected.

The people of Bethesda were no different.

His ship was in orbit, so he quickly ascended into space so he could view the fireworks in full. Ohohoho! Look at it go! he thought happily to himself. The planet was chaos personified. Enormous molten bubbles bulged from the core; more energy crackled across the sky, a dance of pending destruction.

Then,



Tundra returned to the ship and floated inside, the sky-window closing behind him. “Ah, it never gets old,” he stated as he walked through the halls. Letchee stepped – well, hovered – beside him.

“My Lord, we've received word from Blizz and Cooled. They've reached Galaxy 275. It will be another week or so before they reached Vocado.”

Tundra nodded his approval. “Excellent. Without the Child Queen, they'll be with nary a defender. Those two should make quick work of those monkeys.” There had been news about Queen Sarada's condition since she was successfully attacked by Sword a week and a half ago. By all rights – and the nature of the neurotoxin she was injected with – she was very likely dead. If not completely, then on the brink. “Once they're finished, tell Doroga I wish to speak with him before they head to the next Saiyan world.”

“At once, my Lord.”

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Dash called back to Althena, "You'd best hurry. There may be others injured an Praxat skills can help fix this ship."

Althena places Praxat in the shower and takes off Praxat's goggles. She then turns on the water shower and sets it to lukewarm. Althena resumes healing Praxat. Althena's healing power, along with water from the shower begins to restore the moisture in Praxat's body at a rapid pace.

Praxat soon opens up her third eyelids as her body's natural moist, and slimy texture is restored.

[Tami]

Within the Temple, Meagan was walking a family down the corridor towards the front entrance. There were more pressing issues on her mind, but for the sake of her duty as Guardian, she pushed those thoughts towards the background for now.

She had last spoken to the young girl, Crystal, before leaving for Earth. There had been talk among the people that the Guardian of Chroma should be Chromakai, and Dash, while respected, did not fit in well.

The Sisterhood took it upon themselves to scout out for possible Apprentice Candidates. Over time, they had presented several possibilities to Meagan, none of whom met with her approval. Recently, they came across the White Family and their youngest child, Crystal. After screening her, they arranged to bring the young teenager to the Temple to meet the Guardian.

Crystal showed great promise, and seemed to understand the gravitas of the position presented to her. After discussing it with Dash, Meagan made her decision and offered the Junior Apprentice Position to Crystal.

However, there was one final hurdle to overcome, Crystal’s parents. In the past hour, Meagan managed to shift their reluctance to a more positive attitude. She knew that once they realized the opportunities that this position made available to their daughter; they would come around. However, their approval came with a price. Meagan had to promise that Crystal would remain on Chroma, focusing on her studies and training, until age 18. There was no way that Meagan could hide from them the potential dangers, so this was a compromise she was willing to make.

Before they left Meagan let them know that they would be contacted once the date of the induction ceremony was set. Giving Crystal a hug, she then opened the portal between the Temple and Chroma where their transportation was waiting.

Finally, alone again, she walked back to her office and sat down behind her desk.

After a moment, she looked down at her work. To one side was a desktop computer turned on though sleeping, to the other a stack of papers sitting in a metal tray. In the center of her desk was an open ledger with an intergalactic phone resting on top of it.

Within the Ledger was carefully recorded information about as many Guardians as Meagan was able to identify. Before the White’s arrived, she had been in the process of reaching out to each one. There were some that could only be contacted directly, for those she had to use the Portal in the caverns below. Those that she could contact by phone, she did so, filling them in on the current situation, and warning them to stay alert. If the situation improved, she had a way to contact each one much more quickly, however she was limited to just one sentence.

The last page she was on was for the Guardian of Vocado, Maiz. Unlike the reports she had made of the other Guardians, Maiz’s page was only partially complete. As she picked up the phone and used it to contact Vocado, to contact Maiz, she had high hopes of one day visiting her on Vocado, or perhaps she should extend an invitation to her to come to Chroma.

As the phone rang, she waited patiently for a response.

[grampagen]

There was a slight pause, but there was worry behind the tone. '..I'll be right there.'

She knew something was wrong earlier but she hadn't known exactly what it was and the news of Ochazuke's health status didn't do any favors. However, now wasn't the time to focus on that since he needed her help.

When she came around, she noticed others. Totoma glaring, Ochazuke hurt and a strange lizard creature? She hadn't seen them before so she was confused. And from the energy they gave off and their body langauge they were obviously a enemy of some kind. They couldn't properly fight without everyone dying or being stuck in space forever, which would explain why even Totoma who could still be impulsive wasn't attacking.

Karine crouched down,gently using her shadow needles to get their work done. 'So what happened? Is..or was that thing Charco?'

'Charco's... gone. I don't know half the story, but I'm pretty sure that... thing is joyriding around in his body.' There was a slight pause, and then he continued. "I... encountered this thing back when Charco and I had an adventure in the Gris-Gris Bayou, but I just thought it was an awesome new power-up and didn't even think to ask. Maybe if I had..."

Guilt. That was what Karine could feel over the Kizuna. Guilt at being so ignorant and self-absorbed that a friend had suffered and died right in front of him and yet the so-called hero had done jack ****.

He knew his mate could feel what he was feeling, and he knew she'd eventually talk to him about it, but for now, he simply stood guard over Karine and Ochazuke while the latter was being attended to.

As Karine worked the heterodoxical healing method, Ochazuke remained where she and Totoma had placed him. Listless and unresponsive even as the shadow needles pierced his flesh, his head lolled and his lips quivered wordlessly. Lost in the darkness of his mind, memories trickled through and brought with it the scent of hot rain.

It was monsoon season then. The winds that traced along the coast broke the length of their lashes deep into the outskirts. The howling gales were just a fixture of this place, and like all things, sooner or later this strife would pass over Ori City.
floating, and yet Unable to move. A rhythmic pain radiated from the burning hole in his chest. Despite the heat haze, everything was cold and slick in the aftermath. There was nothing else they could do but try to hold the moment, together, until the end came. Her remaining hand grasped close, weakly. Her thin fingers slick, dyed in the red of his betrayal.

The haze from the rain mingled with the blood and ash that night. His actions had taken everything from her, and when the shadow of the Crane fell behind him, the ancestral house of the Tiger King fell. All he could do is reach out to Kaibyo.

Funny how he could not say what he had meant to. Yet she could always read him. Even when hollow eyes were all that remained.

He remembered it clearly. She knew who he truly was. So why did she smile then? Tens of thousands of raindrops brushed through the wreckage around them and wicked through the shattered roof.

"Do this for me."

"Arjan?"

His limbs were heavy as his strength left them. She had only her right hand. Even reduced to this, she still found a way to pass his guard.

"Find her, Zosui. Complete your training-"

Every time he closed his eyes he remembered. The single tiger's stripe drawn upon his chest.

"-you and sis. And then together-"

The lustre of her eyes faded with the last ember of her life. Every time he closed his eyes behind the veil of sleep it burned.

Rebuild.

The moment the ship lurched under the tide of energy, Ochazuke seized reflexively where he lay unconscious. The dream ended when that image flashed through his mind, and Ochazuke began to stir.

“Okay okay, Praxat is out for now, Athena is taking care of her. Neva, take a tool kit and go and see about patches our two hull breaches, please.”

He taps a data-pad and throws up a video. The facility, as the Coldlight pulled away, suddenly erupts in a massive shattering explosion. Then the next asteroid, and the next, and a chain reaction destroys each asteroid in the upside down U shape. In total some fifteen or so massive explosions strike, and the Coldlight was rocked by each.

Jinzi just stares in horror.

“Do....do any of you understand how much power that must have generated to destroy katchin like that?” He asks quietly, still watching as no chunks bigger than a small car is left of the entire First Race hidden shipyard and Forge.

‘It was mysterious figure. While fleeing I searched the remaining security systems mother had in place and caught a single image of an unknown intruder.’

A psychic voice speaks in all their minds, a female child like voice. Along with that an image pops up before them, sent from a small jar near Parsley.

*snip*

‘Oh. I am Azura. A pleasure to meet you all. Especially you, Grandfather Jinzi.’

Jinzi just stops, eye twitching.

“What....? What?”

A twisted countenance, a face he did not recognize, but for its familiar burning eyes. The magical ties that bound the Threshling race so long ago in the shattered mountain had brought with their view a command. The red rings of those dark eyes, snares of dominion and madness.

"...Auroc..." His lips parted, exposing a twisted grimace, and when the image brought with it the energy signature of the Doctor, a whisper of the First Ones, Ochazuke's eyes parted sharply. "...auRO--!"

Then as suddenly as he started, his body thrashed and seized. His voice fell short; No matter how he struggled to gasp he could not find the air, as if cold knives burrowed from that hollow within. Kicking violently off the floor, he thrus his back to the passenger seat, tossing himself to draw more of a breath, but it was as if his lungs would neither fill not empty. Cradling his shattered wrist over to his right side, Ochazuke spasmed, racked in the throes of excruciating pain from where his body impacted the ship.

His chest rose and fell in shallow gasps, flooded with panic, and his ki flaring up wildly as he yet struggled to move.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Maiz had been feeling a foreboding sense of... something the last few hours. As if Sarada and Parsley were in some kind of danger. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly, but it was clear as she was breathing. She paced back and forth through the her mountain temple. Anxiety coursed through her like an agitated river, unable to calm itself until the winds of doubt died down. She tried meditating, but couldn't calm her mind enough. She drank a pot of fresh herbal tea, but it down like water and was just as ineffective.

She sighed tersely and decided to fly to the palace in hopes of finding out something, anything. Sarada had been gone that entire week, and hadn't bothered to contact her once. She was unsure if she was alive or dead, captured or embroiled in some matter on Earth. She knew that Ishtar had been in some kind of trouble, enough to draw Sarada away almost as soon as she was healed of the neurotoxin that very nearly ended her life. From that moment on, Maiz had barely had any time to calm her nerves. Between that, the people of Turrip suddenly popping up out of nowhere, and the foreboding sense of attack she had been feeling in the back of her mind the last day or so, she had been on edge.

The sooner her daughters returned to her, the better.

As the phone rang, she waited patiently for a response.

Maiz was flying slowly, and would take a few minutes to reach the palace. Within the communications room, one of the lights connected to the temple on Chroma lit up. The man in charge for that day sighed and pressed the button. "This is the royal palace. Who do you want to talk to?" he asked with barely restrained annoyance at having his day interrupted.

[Sion Reaver]

"...Auroc..." His lips parted, exposing a twisted grimace, and when the image brought with it the energy signature of the Doctor, a whisper of the First Ones, Ochazuke's eyes parted sharply. "...auRO--!"

Then as suddenly as he started, his body thrashed and seized. His voice fell short; No matter how he struggled to gasp he could not find the air, as if cold knives burrowed from that hollow within. Kicking violently off the floor, he thrus his back to the passenger seat, tossing himself to draw more of a breath, but it was as if his lungs would neither fill not empty. Cradling his shattered wrist over to his right side, Ochazuke spasmed, racked in the throes of excruciating pain from where his body impacted the ship.

His chest rose and fell in shallow gasps, flooded with panic, and his ki flaring up wildly as he yet struggled to move.

Karine hadn't expected them to wake up so suddenly but seeing his state..she wished he hadn't. She had healing powers but she had no way to dampen the pain they were obviously in. The comment he made confused her a bit, she could only guess they had some sort of nightmare while he was out. Ochazuke was always so strong and sure of himself that seeing them like this was a strong reminder that despite all that, he too, like everyone else was mortal. "There is no Auroc here, please calm down

But if she couldn't help, she did know someone who could. She sent a quick plea to her friend. 'Aleka, if you're awake please come by me. Ochazuke needs something for the pain and he's in a bad way. Quickly.'

There was a pause, and for a beat Karine didn't think she'd get a reply and then there was a quick. 'I'll be there.'

Relief flooded the young woman even as she felt semi helpless to do more for them then what she was doing at the moment besides make sure he survived through the ordeal. Aleka, true to her word came in mere moments later glancing at the creature that used to be Charco with a hard to read expression before making her way to the downed martial artist to do her own thing. Their methods of healing were different, but another perk of hers was drastically numbing the pain.

He'd still feel it, he'd still be sore, but at the very least he could function. And with the two women tending to them focused, his chances increased that much more.