Post by Bardock on Feb 19, 2012 22:54:15 GMT -5
A single droplet of sweat hit the sand, yes, he finally knew it. Bardock stood in one place as he stared at the small town. What a feat for these Saiyans, able to handle such heat on a daily basis, being so far from any sort of source of water. It was astonishing that they were able to function as a society in the middle of a god damn desert. Though, pushing his awe-struck feelings aside, he needed some society to speak to right now. The supplies that his grandson, Gohan, had provided him with a few days ago had stayed its welcome, and now it was time to get some food and water back into his body. He slowly paced himself as he walked forward into the city, trying his best not to attract any attention to himself. Though, it did not take long for him to fall to one knee, putting one hand to the sand to keep his balance. He could not afford to fall down at this moment; he needed to show that he was one of the strongest of their kind.
His upper body slowly rose to look around, expecting some looks of humor, as if they wanted to point and laugh at any moment at Bardock’s weak body. Maybe they would jump at him for an easy kill, just for the hell of it. Bardock was always one of the paranoid warriors, thinking that everyone could be against him because of his past experiences with society. No, this wasn’t the case on this one. One man, one of a decent build and a scar over his eye, approached the renegade with a smile spread over his face. He wore simple brown rags, one of a primal Saiyan warrior. They may have not been much, but his build and scar told a different story of this man’s past. ”Hello, weary traveler. Tis have been such a long time since we had such a powerful visitor. We can sense the energy within your body and your potential, yes; you have come a long way from the Volcanic Region. Please, you are welcome to come and rest with us.” Bardock lightly smiled at the scarred man, happy to take his offer. The both of them entered a hut made of pure wood.
Bardock took a look around to see that he was met with two mattresses, a small kitchen with a kettle on the stove, and a weight set in the corner. Maybe that was how he was able to get so strong in the first place, given Vegeta’s intensified gravity. The crimson warrior leaned forward with his body, but his feet would not listen to him. About a week’s worth of exhaustion, sweating, and walking caught up with him all in one rush, slamming into his body with all it had. His limp body hit the ground, and his consciousness soon followed. Now that he was inside, his brain didn’t care about looking macho anymore. It just wanted a good rest.
Hours passed, maybe even days went by as the Saiyan warrior rested up in the man’s hut, unknown to the large population of the planet Vegeta. Slowly, his energy returned to him. His eyelids crept open, revealing a wooden roof in his way. His upper body rose up as he gave a good look around. Yes, it was the area where he first rested, but now he was lying on the mattress that he spotted. He saw the man was lifting some weights as the warrior rested up. The man noticed that Bardock was now awake, so he put his weight back onto its stand and he got up from the bench to approach the side of the bed. ”So, you have finally awoken from your slumber.” How dramatic he made it sound, like Bardock was the chosen warrior for some great task. Maybe he was, maybe it happened in his past. In either scenario, the man went on with talking. ”Now that you are awake, maybe you can tell me what brings you to our village? It’s very rare that we get a visitor, what with the great amounts of heat that surround us and the unbearable conditions that we go through.” While he spoke, he brought over a small wooden chair and set it beside the mattress, sitting upon it so he could listen to Bardock’s explanation.
Bardock took in a small amount of air and got ready to speak. ”Well, I came here because one of my fellow Saiyan warriors, Gohan, had told me about this event called the Great Hunt. He pointed me in this direction and told me that I should participate in it to raise my strength up. I understand that there are many strong warriors out there nowadays, so I need to make sure that I surpass them all so I can make sure that I can keep my place as the strongest Saiyan in the universe!” The proclamation itself caused Bardock to jump out of the bed and pump his fists in the air, surprising the man to a new extent. Bardock sat down on the bed a little more casually this time around so he could hear the man’s reaction to this news.
”Well, it turns out that we are going to have the Great Hunt today as well! We had one yesterday as well, and your little friend Gohan won out that one! It must be quite an honor to know such a warrior, his was about five times larger than any other animal we saw!” This caused Bardock to be surprised, that his very own grandson had passed through the town without his knowing. It led him to another question, one that would be crucial to his understanding.
”Exactly how long have I been out?” The warrior knew that he was exhausted from all the waling, all the energy he had to use up on the other planet he visited, Dragonia, but he didn’t know exactly how long he could have passed out to regenerate all the energy he lost.
”I’d say about two entire days from when you passed out. You were in a bad state, you. Dehydrated, muscle tears, hyperthermia. But luckily for you, we have an assortment of medicines to take care of these ailments. Now, I’d say you should get outside. The announcements for the Great Hunt are about to start for the day. You need all the information you can get if you expect to win.” Bardock agreed with this statement with a light nod and his body arose from the bed. He ran over to the door of the hut, but he looked back to give the man a salute, a sign of thanks for the accommodations he provided. He walked outside to be greeted by a large group of people that surrounded a wooden stage. There was a short, plump Saiyan on the top of it with a microphone yelling his ass off, so Bardock approached the stage to see what he was screaming like a banshee about.
”… and today is the day! I believe that Gohan just made it a little too hard for anyone to win fairly, so I will be holding, for the first time in twenty years, back to back Great Hunts! As for today, I encourage everyone to find the largest and most ferocious beast and slay it! Bring it back with yourself in one piece, and you will win the hunt and respect planet wide!” This reminded the Saiyan warrior of what Gohan had said while they had their conversation. It was something about gaining respect among the members of his race. It was because of the Great Hunt that he said that in the first place. Maybe that is what Bardock needed to do as well, gain respect among not only the Saiyans, but any other race that would dare hear the name ‘Bardock’. ”Now, go forth! And may the best hunter win!”
With those final words thrown into the heated air of the Desert Wastelands, a portion of the crowd ran off into the sandy wilderness. Another returned to their homes, just wanting to hear this idiot ramble on about the Great Hunt. Bardock was about to fly into the air, but he forgot that Gumi had taken away that ability. All he could do now was go on foot until he found something. On that note, he ran in a different direction from everybody else. He took a good look around and he found that a palm tree broke the view of all the sand dunes around the area. He ran over to the palm tree and saw a few more palm trees. The warrior’s curiosity overwhelmed him as he ran over to the other palm trees.
Something made him stop dead in his tracks, a growl that sounded very hostile. His feet were dug into the sand with power as he saw this wildcat crawl from behind one of the palm trees, its paws slowly circling Bardock. The renegade mentally beat himself up over this. Why should he be so afraid of a simple animal? Then again, whenever he was met with a beast of such size, he would fly into the air and fire energy blasts at it. There was no such scenario this time around, with his feet planted firmly on the ground and a large animal circling him as he thought it over. No, he wasn’t sure anymore.
The wildcat decided to make the first move in this silent showdown, the growl and the claws being lashed out at him caught him off guard. One claw hit his scar, a sensitive spot for the warrior. He held his right hand to his cheek and brought it to his side, only seeing the red liquid that was oozing out of the side of his face. In the warrior’s shock to the attack, he could not register what the liquid is until a few moments after his gaze was set upon it. It was in fact, his own blood.
This threw the warrior into a rage as he tackled the beast down into the sand, growls from both of them being thrown into the air as they wrestled on the ground. First Bardock was on top, and then it was the wildcat. For the both of them, it was a harsh struggle to see who would live. The wildcat got its tail around Bardock’s neck and contracted the muscles within its tail, beginning to choke out the warrior. Many thoughts were racing through the Saiyan’s mind in this moment. How could this one beast have so much power!? Of course, Bardock did know the answer. It had to know how to fend for itself on a planet full of people with such power. This had to be one of the internal mechanisms that told it what to do in a situation such as this. It did not stop the crimson renegade from putting his hands on the tail to try and get it off of his throat. After a few seconds of struggling, no, it felt like minutes of struggling, Bardock could not make the tail budge. It seemed like everything was all over. But then his energy burst into a crimson aura that surrounded his body. With one hand on the tail, he outstretched his free hand at the wildcat and began to send energy into his hand. Now was the time to give it everything he had! And then…
The wooden stage was stood on once more by the short, plump Saiyan that announced the start of the Great Hunt in the first place. ”Hello, citizens! I am happy to announce that we are ready to close yet another Great Hunt for this year!” Cheers were thrown throughout the small village as he announced such news. ”The many of you have worked very hard to get your kills, but there can only be one winner. And that person would be…” Right before the name was announced, a lone man threw the seven foot long corpse onto the stage with a great thump, surprising everyone in sight. The man jumped onto the stage, and the hairstyle was enough to recognize who it was. ”Bardock everyone! Give it up for the man known as Bardock!” The warrior simply raised his fist into the air as the crowd was thrown into a chant of Bardock’s name. Respect was earned, and it was on to the next day.
WC - 2,091
