The Trek (quest)

[Gray Callahan]

After several days of automated walking, the legendary saiyan reached the edge of the rainforest. It was truly magnificent, perhaps even larger and more crowded than those Boliko was used to. He chuckled; it would perhaps be the first challenge he would have to face. Or not; certainly he was more used to this type of environment than your average saiyan. Time would tell, in any case.

After a brief moment of looking at the dense canopy, the warrior descended into the undergrowth. He trod lightly and progressed swiftly, making much progress. However, the journey would take several days. He wasn't sure why he didn't just fly... it wouldn't feel proper was the closest thing he could come to. This was a part of his journey, a ritual of almost sacred important. A small smile crosses his dirt-covered face. He wasn't tired, despite the lack of sleep. His spirit was a fierce thing, and he had had a long time to rest in the pod. He hopped over the massive, gnarled roots of a monstrously large tree, similar to the evergreen types on planet Earth - but with lethal, poisonous barbs sticking from the sides. The legendary saiyan carefully sidesteps these with ease, being used to a similar sort of thing. He remembers having to suck out a wound on his jungle moon... not pretty.

He realises that the trek will take days, but he no longer minds. The environment around him is deafeningly loud, with all types of animals, some normal looking - others hideous and deformed, victims of what Saiyans called 'the happening' when they managed to overthrow the Tsufuru-jin race. He saw a creature that looked like a deer, but with a deformed, stocky fifth leg sticking out from the left side, dangling helplessly in the air. A small white blast from the saiyan silenced the monstrosities' bleating and dinner for the day was served.

Sitting down on a felled tree and ripping meat from the bone, Boliko could feel the night falling as his skin began to cool. Good thing about the rainforest, it would never get very cold, unlike the plains - at night there was no shelter, or naturally generated heat source. He was pleased, and the feeling was new to him, like a warm glow at the back of his head. After finishing his deer meat he rested for half an hour. He had to stay at least somewhat alert; this was the jungle, after all - and he of all people knew what could lurk therein; horrid things that should crawl that have learned to walk, scurry and slither in their adjacent abnormalities - and this was much more likely on Vegeta due to the previous 'happening'.

Then he was up again, his boots pounding against the floor. The rainforest was louder in the day than the night, filled with various chirps and shrieks, some of them of initially unfathomable origin, best forgotten after making his way out. He may be among the hardest warriors in the galaxy, but he was still a man, and some things were above him in the spectrum of existence; and others were just a little to the side, pushed to the wall and hidden for the sanity of the rest - but sometimes they slipped back.

Boliko was making good progress, much faster than even the most veteran saiyans normally should - if only because it was natural. He pushed mercilessly past the foliage, not feeling the inhumane yellow eyes watching hungrily at his back, now knowing of the presence of the horrid thing until the growls were audible. He continued to walk, but his guard was raised; the muscles around his waist tense and for the first time he feels a form of fear. None of the predator on the jungle world had dared approach him, and why would one on this planet unless it felt it had a chance? The likelihood was it had met weaker Saiyans and not one of Boliko's strength; the initial confidence would still work in its favour.
(knockknockknock can you hear the undertaker?)

Boliko shook his head of this thought, a seemingly random mix of words - then the thing pounced and everything went into shades of red and black.

The being was a hideous amalgamation of several creatures, on first appearance - it's main body was that of a wild cat, but instead of fur it was scaly. Instead of paws, however, the being had four bone appendages, each with four curled claws for grip which dug into the earth. The tail splits off into four tentacle appendages, with some sort of sucker attached to the tip. And the face, that horrid sensory organ, is akin to a spiders - a leathery lion arachnid, in short. The sight makes Boliko feel ill. His latent sensory perception gives him a brief warning, as the animal's power was gigantic - a scouter would have registered it at ten thousand - before one of the bone appendages slams into his back. It breaks through the armour and pierces the legendary saiyan's flesh, actually catching on his muscular back.

The man roars and swings back with his right hand, and it collides with the monster; but it does little to shake off the arachno-cat, which raises its suckers and slams them into the saiyan's head. Boliko yelled and blasted out with his ki, releasing a kiai; however, the being didn't budge. The suckers released some form of stinger that jabbed into the saiyan's forehead; his vision fades to white as his mind becomes a thing of primitive lore, pure instinct. The pain was the final straw; he would survive this journey. He raises his arms and grabbed the suckers, and one by one does he rip them from his head.

He then throws the being forwards, the bone claw ripping from his back as he does so; blood spurts out of the wound, rolling almost neatly down the dark armour. The monster hisses as it bounces off of the ground, turning in mid-air and landing on the claws. It begins to prowl, circling the saiyan.
(why do you fight me monkey)

Well, that explained a lot, the saiyan mused. How could such a mutant evolve a degree of intelligence to speak his language? Some explanations rose to mind, but he would never know for sure (the truth was, the being had a form of telepathy that filtered its intent through when sending a message).

The scaly cat mewed slightly, a growl building in it's throat; several of its eyes narrow, others go on unblinking. Most of them didn't work at all, just dead weight. Then the being lurches forwards with insane speed, but Boliko follows its movements with the trained eye. He crouches and his body tenses, before he jumps up to meet the wild cat in full swing. His fist connects with its face, impacting hard on the weird leather.

Howling as it jumps back, but Boliko goes in for another attack. He brings his fists together above his own head and brings them down in a brute jackhammer; it slams the side of the cat's body. He feels one of the animal's ribs break in response to the blowGotta love that delicious, bone-breaking sound... the saiyan thinks to himself.

The yellow eyes are now receding further, with a slight jolt with every other pace - the creature now had a limp. Boliko lets out a roar, his vocal cords straining. It rebounds through the forest canopy, the power phenomenal - a variant of the kiai. Trees start to shake and various birds caw, raised from their roosts. The legendary saiyan raises his hands to the right side of his body, leaping into the air - drawing his hands together into a cup, a natural stance to the saiyan; he had learned how to manipulate ki in such a way by himself.

A white orb appears in the palms of his hand, and surrounding his body is a solid white aura, orbular. Blue electricity surrounds him as his energy rises, his temper finally lost - his heart drums in his ears and his vision seems to pulse to the beat. He would erase this monstrosity from the universe! He cackles before pushing his hands forwards, and the resulting energy wave was massive - it engulfed 75 yards width and height-wise, demolishing much of the forest. The creature was engulfed, exploding - then that was also erased. Many other creatures and plants were also destroyed in the blast, and the ground was churned into a solid, carved line.

To Boliko, it felt like his trial was over. He had completed the ritual the forest had meant for him, perhaps in a more violent manner than they had intended. He levitates off of the floor, feeling woozy; he would rush to the city now. He had to do what was necessary; erase the royal family.

And what then?

coda

"By the gods... that power is immense! Alert the treasury!"

[Gray Callahan]

sadly no-one else can award it, so I'm going to try and mark it fairly.. :L

1650.