Day 20: 38506 Words.
Ezikiah coughed up yet more blood - the ki blast that caught him in the back had nearly burned a hole in his back two inches around. More than likely, he had a punctured lung. He grimaced as he struggled to get the words out, the shouts of the Elite drawing closer and closer.
“The King...was all a...trap...for Akuma...spent so much...time...” His body began to shake violently as he felt icy coldness surrounding him. “...scouter...pocket...” Nashi reached into his pocket and pulled out an older model scouter - it had to be at least 15 years old but it still seemed to be in good working order. Nashi put it on and looked at Ezikiah.
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 45,000]...[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 27,000]...
He was fading and fast.
“Pass protected...file...my last...wish...look...no honor...in nobility...” Ezikiah's eyes were closing slowly. Nashi shook him gently, that familiar rising fear making her way up her chest.
“Amaku...lives...I promise...”
“Ezikiah, hang in there...I can get some herbs, I know there's still some around here, I can heal you...”
He shook his head, but it was ever so slight.
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 9,000]
“I...am done...told you...truth...” With his last ounce of strength, he reached for her hand and held it - his hands were so cold now. “Always...loved...you...farewell...”
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 1,500]
Ezikiah's hand slipped out of Nashi's, and a moment later he only half-opened is eyes as he took his last breath and shakily exhaled. Nashi put her head down, almost ready to give in to the profound sense of loss as something else precious to her was taken away, but this time was different. With Akuma's loss, there wasn't anything right away she could do to avenge it or fix it or make it better. This time, with the Elite still at her doorstep, there might be hope to at least avenge Ezikiah. And if what he had said was right, maybe there was a chance that Akuma's death would not be in vain either. Before Nashi had the chance to get up, there was a relentless pounding at the door.
“Lady Nashi, please forgive our intrusion, but we have reason to believe a fugitive wanted by the King...”
It was at that moment the door to the cabin on Lake Shingo exploded outward, breaking against the body of the Lower Class Elite that had the misfortune of standing there in the first place. The door and just about every bone in the first Elite's body shattered on impact. The woman standing in the doorway, eyes wild with passion-borne anger, clenched her fists in barely controlled rage as a low rumbling growl was heard coming from her. She was surrounded by a deep red aura. The second Elite peered over her aura and mentally confirmed to himself that behind her on the floor indeed was their fugitive.
“Ahh, you have taken the liberty of catching him for us. Now if you will...”
He never finished the sentence.
Nashi crouched quickly and sprung low, her right foot leading the way to take the legs out from under the second Elite soldier. He [knew] who she was, and he had heard from a good many of her colleagues that she had even taken Bardock down once or twice, but he was in no way prepared for her level of skill nor her anger. He agilely dodged out of the way as she landed close by to him in a three-point stance. She again charged him, and he had no choice but to charge her in order to try to throw her off. He lead off with a charged right punch but she dodged underneath of him with the tiniest hint of a sneer and drove her red ki-charged fist into his stomach. His eyes nearly popped out of his head at the moment of impact of Nashi's fist, but the second the ki began to burn through his armor, then the undershirt, then his skin, he realized that he had grossly underestimated his opponent, even in light of everything he had heard about her. Nashi felt his skin give way as her fist continued its journey through his body.
It was at that moment the Elite stopped moving, as if he was frozen-framed. The life drained out of his eyes as Nashi twisted her fist and quickly removed it, her hand drenched in blood. The Elite fell to the ground, face-first, eyes open. It was only then that Nashi realized what she had done, but in light of what had happened, nothing had been more crystal clear in her life. The whispering urgency of Vengeance filled her thoughts, her blood. And it was in that name that mentally, she took up her husband's flag, and vowed from that moment on to carry it to whatever end it would find, be it justice for the fallen or death.
She took a few minutes to quickly get the fallen Elite soldiers into the house. She let them lay there in her living room while she raced upstairs to get Akuma's old armor and his cape. She carried them both with a bit of struggle, but once she got herself airborne, she had the power of her ki helping her. She held out her hand and fired a single shot of ki towards the house, much the way Akuma had done on their wedding day. The house on Lake Shingo, erupted into flames, a dually symbolic token of the way her life had so drastically changed the first time when she married Akuma, and now of the ways her life had changed now that he was gone. Like bookends. She took one last look at the funeral pyre that was her old life, and her old loves, and her old self and took off for the lower reaches of the City.
“The King...was all a...trap...for Akuma...spent so much...time...” His body began to shake violently as he felt icy coldness surrounding him. “...scouter...pocket...” Nashi reached into his pocket and pulled out an older model scouter - it had to be at least 15 years old but it still seemed to be in good working order. Nashi put it on and looked at Ezikiah.
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 45,000]...[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 27,000]...
He was fading and fast.
“Pass protected...file...my last...wish...look...no honor...in nobility...” Ezikiah's eyes were closing slowly. Nashi shook him gently, that familiar rising fear making her way up her chest.
“Amaku...lives...I promise...”
“Ezikiah, hang in there...I can get some herbs, I know there's still some around here, I can heal you...”
He shook his head, but it was ever so slight.
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 9,000]
“I...am done...told you...truth...” With his last ounce of strength, he reached for her hand and held it - his hands were so cold now. “Always...loved...you...farewell...”
[*beep!*] [Ezikiah - 1,500]
Ezikiah's hand slipped out of Nashi's, and a moment later he only half-opened is eyes as he took his last breath and shakily exhaled. Nashi put her head down, almost ready to give in to the profound sense of loss as something else precious to her was taken away, but this time was different. With Akuma's loss, there wasn't anything right away she could do to avenge it or fix it or make it better. This time, with the Elite still at her doorstep, there might be hope to at least avenge Ezikiah. And if what he had said was right, maybe there was a chance that Akuma's death would not be in vain either. Before Nashi had the chance to get up, there was a relentless pounding at the door.
“Lady Nashi, please forgive our intrusion, but we have reason to believe a fugitive wanted by the King...”
It was at that moment the door to the cabin on Lake Shingo exploded outward, breaking against the body of the Lower Class Elite that had the misfortune of standing there in the first place. The door and just about every bone in the first Elite's body shattered on impact. The woman standing in the doorway, eyes wild with passion-borne anger, clenched her fists in barely controlled rage as a low rumbling growl was heard coming from her. She was surrounded by a deep red aura. The second Elite peered over her aura and mentally confirmed to himself that behind her on the floor indeed was their fugitive.
“Ahh, you have taken the liberty of catching him for us. Now if you will...”
He never finished the sentence.
Nashi crouched quickly and sprung low, her right foot leading the way to take the legs out from under the second Elite soldier. He [knew] who she was, and he had heard from a good many of her colleagues that she had even taken Bardock down once or twice, but he was in no way prepared for her level of skill nor her anger. He agilely dodged out of the way as she landed close by to him in a three-point stance. She again charged him, and he had no choice but to charge her in order to try to throw her off. He lead off with a charged right punch but she dodged underneath of him with the tiniest hint of a sneer and drove her red ki-charged fist into his stomach. His eyes nearly popped out of his head at the moment of impact of Nashi's fist, but the second the ki began to burn through his armor, then the undershirt, then his skin, he realized that he had grossly underestimated his opponent, even in light of everything he had heard about her. Nashi felt his skin give way as her fist continued its journey through his body.
It was at that moment the Elite stopped moving, as if he was frozen-framed. The life drained out of his eyes as Nashi twisted her fist and quickly removed it, her hand drenched in blood. The Elite fell to the ground, face-first, eyes open. It was only then that Nashi realized what she had done, but in light of what had happened, nothing had been more crystal clear in her life. The whispering urgency of Vengeance filled her thoughts, her blood. And it was in that name that mentally, she took up her husband's flag, and vowed from that moment on to carry it to whatever end it would find, be it justice for the fallen or death.
She took a few minutes to quickly get the fallen Elite soldiers into the house. She let them lay there in her living room while she raced upstairs to get Akuma's old armor and his cape. She carried them both with a bit of struggle, but once she got herself airborne, she had the power of her ki helping her. She held out her hand and fired a single shot of ki towards the house, much the way Akuma had done on their wedding day. The house on Lake Shingo, erupted into flames, a dually symbolic token of the way her life had so drastically changed the first time when she married Akuma, and now of the ways her life had changed now that he was gone. Like bookends. She took one last look at the funeral pyre that was her old life, and her old loves, and her old self and took off for the lower reaches of the City.