A Warrior's Trial

Vegeta's brisk pace made it hard for most to keep up with him, though he had a feeling that the boy was trailing just behind. The boy was fast enough as it was, without needing a prod or poke from the prickled Prince. His mood was reflected in his speed; he was pleased, excited. He was ready to finally get to the bottom of this mystery and get off of this godforsaken rock. All he had to do was wade through the darkness of this room, and enter the Pendulum Room.

In order to escape this strange world of semi-darkness however, he would have to light the four torches. The only thing that seemed to illuminate the path before them was the glow of violet energy which seemed to readily encompass his gloved hand, allowing them a visual on their pathway. The torches on his back were as of yet unlit, waiting to replace their predecessors in their sconces. According to the words spoken by Popo, the way to the Pendulum Room would reveal itself once all four torches were lit and placed.

While he was somewhat relieved to be so close to achieving his goal, he was equally put off; why was he being forced to wade through such tedium in order to reach his prize? It was irritating, truly, and yet the hair on the back of his neck still stood on end. He was excited, beneath that bored expression. He could feel the pressure mounting on his back and the heat rising in his heart. After he retrieved that low class bastard, he'd be able to go home.

Perhaps he'd even bring the boy who carried the second pair of torches along. Gaza had proven himself strong enough so far, and he seemed full of potential. Vegeta had not yet accepted an apprentice on his home world, but he truly believed Gaza would take as quickly to Saiyan life as he did following in Vegeta's wake. He had picked the art of deception up quickly, that was true enough. He seemed to be a natural born warrior, with all the stubbornness of a bull and the craft of a diplomat.

It was as if he were born to be a liar, a thief in hiding and a fighter. While the first two qualities would have been unsettling by human standards, Vegeta found them almost endearing. The child was powerful enough to warrant his attention, and intelligent enough to keep it. While the Prince doubted the boy knew the truth behind Vegeta's attachment, he was still wary enough to keep an eye out for any dangerous behavior or attitudes.

Just because he would cast the boy aside in a heart beat did not mean he was willing to be so easily cast aside himself.

”Boy, I can see the end of the path up ahead, ready your torches,” and indeed, he was telling the truth. Up ahead lay four torch slots, which carried doused sticks. Clearly, those were the items they were supposed to replace.

WC: 517

After they had outplayed Popo, the next task would have to be substantially more difficult to challenge Gaza and Vegeta. They had easily taken Popo by storm, but the numbers were on their side, perhaps it was not his best idea to challenge them to simply strike him. It wasn't a challenge in the least, simply grappling the man so that Vegeta could cripple Popo's... pride and glory. It was not on purpose, the low blow, but it wasn't something that the prince was shamed by. A blow is a blow, regardless of where it lands. Now for Popo, that seemed to be a very unlucky turn of events, but it couldn't have gone better for the Saiyans.

Gaza still walked with a false grin, a disguise to masquerade his blood thirst and his true plan. They were entirely unsuspecting, almost to a point that it was sad, but not quite that severe. Gaza didn't much care for the two, they were wasting precious time with these trials and simply delaying the inevitable. Could these so called spirits, four dead creatures, stand up against two living, breathing Saiyans? Of course not, Gaza thought. It was not going to be anything but a mere formality. These Earthlings would talk about what was going to happen for centuries, how Gaza and Vegeta obliterated these four spirits to gain access to the Pendulum Room. Like a train hitting a cow on the tracks, so would be this next trial.

Gaza followed closely behind Vegeta as the darkness seemed to get thick as they went in. He couldn't tell if their torches were getting dimmer, or if the blackness was simply swallowing them. It was an unsettling thought, but not a scary one. Gaza was actually a bit excited by this. Walking into the 'belly of the beast' was a saying he often regarded for children's books about puppets that come to life but are swallowed by a whale, childish things of that nature. The blackness seemed tumultuous from the light, like it was unsure whether it should swallow the small light produced by the two who carried a pair of torches each. It wasn't long before they reached the area Kami described.

”Boy, I can see the end of the path up ahead, ready your torches,” Vegeta said in a low tone, like if he spoke to loudly he would alert their challenge and it could make preparations. Gaza was cautious of this too. It wasn't clear what magic lie down in these caverns, but it was ancient and dangerous. Gaza would not allow a few ghosts stop him from completing their objective! No way, no how. Gaza followed Vegeta till the path ended. The sticks that were once torches were old and clearly burnt out, he didn't find this to be good planning, but he found himself wondering what happened to the last people who were in these ruins.

"I'm ready when you are, Vegeta." Gaza said, as he stepped to his first torch holder. Waiting only a short moment before pulling out the charred torch handle and replacing it with a lit torch, then stepping further into the cavern, to the second holder, and doing the same. So was the ritual Kami described.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 542

Energy swirled around his body while the world melted away. They had finally managed to place the torches, but now everything seemed to be vanishing from around him. The darkness was giving way to an unyielding bright flash, which seemed to expand and grow the more he stood there, still. He hadn't ever seen such a transformation, but it did bother him. He hadn't quite imagined that placing a few torches would shift the place so damn radically.

For several seconds, there was nothing but an eerie stillness, which seemed to fill his ears. Vegeta's eyes slowly flickered back and forth, dancing from side to side as he struggled to get his bearings. He had never been trapped in such a place before; he hadn't exactly figured it as a problem he would be forced to deal with. Then again, a majority of the things on this planet weren't things he had expected he'd be forced to deal with.

His energy slowly vanished, giving way to the unyielding light that seemed to decorate his surrounding s. As the moment lingered, he struggled with the temptation to press forward through the bright abyss that seemed to encase him. However, before long, a mass of energy slowly began forming in the open space in front of him. He could only imagine the type of things it would spawn to do battle with him; he had never exactly been in this situation.

His arms crossed as the creature began to took shape, formed out of what appeared to be some variation of ki energy. As it's paws began to form, the torch he had just place slowly came into view, hanging from what he could only imagine to be the creature's neck, which rose majestically into the air. It's hind legs forced it backward as it's front legs reared up, kicking at the sky in some form of strange, aggressive gesture. Did this thing think Vegeta was going to display fear for it?

As it entered what he could only assume to be a material plane, it's shape conformed to that of a raging bull. Smoke drifted freely from it's nostrils as it's power became prevalent, rising to peak somewhere below the Saiyan Prince's. He didn't care much about the strength it possessed; he knew he would be able to dominate this thing without much trouble. It wasn't as if the creature was the most powerful thing in existence.

As it huffed and puffed, the flames danced below it's thick neck. It clearly was not bothered by the heat. Vegeta's eyes narrowed as the creature watched him, apparently waiting for something. Was it expecting him to attack it? Was he expecting him to merely let the creature go? Curiously, the Saiyan cocked a hand at his waist, flooding the air with what looked like a purple strobe light. Briefly, the Prince considered blasting the thing out existence with more prejudice than planned.

The ball conformed to the shape of his palm as it raised directly at the bull, whose eyes seemed to narrow in some form of primal rage. Was it going to charge him? Did it have the speed to reach him before his blast decimated it and shredded the damn thing? Grinning darkly, the Prince's voice rose over the piercing sound of silence. ”Speak, creature. I've no qualms with destroying something that can't defend itself.”

For a second, the creature remained silent. However, a dull drone quickly took prevalence. It rose quickly above all else, storming through the abyss, before refining itself to a sharp roar. He could feel the power packed in behind the creature's strange, corporeal voice, though he was not concerned. He was not afraid of anything the Earth had to throw at him. It was, after all, the home of the pathetic and downtrodden.

Hell, the boy seemed to be the only competent warrior on the planet. Though, he was a Saiyan and not of Earthly origins. Even Kami, the supposed “Guardian of Earth” was truly a Namekian. He wondered, very briefly, what the humans would have done if they had ever discovered that their guardian was secretly an extra terrestrial. He imagined they'd panic and scream, or call him some form of heretic. Then again, he didn't honestly care much for the opinions of the denizens of the Earth.

”So, boy. You dare level your energy in my direction?”, the bull spoke out with a voice which reminded him very much of his father's. The tone and commanding nature sounded almost too similar. Was it possible that this creature had invaded his memories? Scowling in it's direction, the Prince's hand slowly lowered. If so, he would not allow it much further. The energy that had gathered in his palm suddenly spread, widening and growing as he powered up.

”That's the voice of my father, creature. He would destroy you without breaking a sweat; I am no different, in that regard.”, Vegeta spoke tentatively. In reality, he was speaking through tightly gritted teeth. He could only imagine the gall that this thing seemed to possess within it; he had never seen anything quite so mocking in his life. Was it so foolish that it had failed to pick up on the pride that seemed to constantly swell within him?

The energy from his aura expanded once more, releasing a loud crack, which sent echoes dancing along the imaginary walls of his container. He didn't know if he was in a room anymore; he didn't know if he was simply in some large, overly lit pit. He had no idea where he was. However, something within him told him that by killing this guardian spirit, he would be able to free himself from this strange prison.

He cocked the now large ball of ki at his hip, keeping his eyes locked on the creature in front of him as small bouts of electricity broke out on the surface of the ball. He feared no bull, whether it was corporeal or physical, even metaphysical. It would be destroyed just like anything else he had ever come up against on this shit hole.

A single bead of sweat raced down his brow as the Bull stepped backward. He had never seen a bull retreat before, but there was a first time for everything. For example, he hadn't ever seen a Bull before this day either. He'd only heard of them via description, and basic universal education. Some creatures evolved along common paths; as it so happened, bulls were similar to many creatures in the universe, much in the same manner that humans were.

For several seconds, he held the ball, tensed at his waist. Ever so slowly, that devil-may-care grin crept over his features as shadow was cast throughout the abyss. His energy was quickly dispersing darkness through the area, as it congealed and amassed at his side. He was going to blast the be-damned bull out of the water, and then let it rest somewhere in the other world. Or, if it was already dead, he'd let it wallow in whatever came from non-existence.

Finally, he pushed forward and released a massive wave of power, which ripped forward through the air. It ripped and tore at the sky around it, roaring as it dashed forward and consumed Vegeta's target, which released an ethereal scream as it vanished. While the creature was wiped from existence, the Prince slowly leaned backwards, glancing toward the wall he had placed the torch on as it slowly returned to view.

Apparently, dispersing the spirit had done all he needed it to do. Taking in a steadying breath, he placed his second torch in the sconce and waited for the boy to return. He too, had been whisked away by whatever spirit had taken command of the chamber they presently found themselves in. However, there was at least one up-side to the entire thing. He now had a fair area that was illuminated by torch-light.

WC: 1,331
TWC: 1,848/2,390

Gaza watched as Vegeta replaced the second two torches, just like Kami had said to do. Suddenly, he felt very strange, out of place in a way. At first it felt like the torches were going out, but he realized it was the room getting brighter! Or what was the room, they seemed to be transferred somewhere else all together. It was amazing, Gaza had just pictured some spirit's coming from the path walls, but not to be transported to some entirely different realm. This was truly unexpected.

It all went quite, the whole area. The air just seemed silent, no breeze, no noise. The path they were standing on was no more, now just a white eternity of nothing. It seemed to go on forever, farther than Gaza could see. Farther than he likely wanted to see. There wouldn't be much distraction for their trial. That brought things back to reality, remembering the trial. Gaza watched as a ghastly visage collected in front of him. It's neck wasn't very pronounced, and it's paws were massive, likely the size of his head. The animal spirit stood back on it's hind legs, roaring as it raised it's claws. It was at that time, this bear came into form, fully formed and no longer transparent. This seemed like one of those dreams Gaza had when he was particularly exhausted. He often had strange dreams like this, for he worked harder than he should very often, but such was the Saiyan way.

The bear was fully aware of Gaza's presence, but did it feel Gaza's power? He was half tempted to roar back at the bear mockingly and, had Vegeta not been there, he would have done so sparingly. Vegeta was surely handling himself, for over his shoulder, Gaza heard, "Speak, creature. I've no qualms with destroying something that can't defend itself."

This made Gaza want to laugh, knowing that Vegeta was likely going to be able to do just as he promised the bull, and maybe more. He tried to focus more on the task at hand, or more so the Bear. "Now, what is it we have here? A bear? Strange, Kami mentioned Guardian spirits, I didn't picture a bunch of mangy animals at the time." Gaza smirked, taunting the bear. "Oh, and now is the part where you mimic the voice of my father. Go ahead, please. It's been so long since I've heard him, I don't recall what he sounds like." Gaza said, all with a smirk on his face.

The bear spirit did nothing, just looked at him awkwardly. Gaza didn't mind the silence, but he hoped it fought better than it spoke. He was in no mood for a one sided slaughter of some dumb bear. "I assume that because I've no recollection of either of my Parent's voices, you are without the fuel to attempt to torture me." Gaza smirked, realizing that he had just won a small victory. The young Saiyan drew back one palm, then extended it forth, releasing a fiery red blast of Ki. If it were really animal like, then the fire would not only harm it, but scare it. But this creature seemed bent on fighting. It winced as the torrent hit, but took it nonetheless. Gaza didn't take that very lightly. He would not be made a fool of, not while Vegeta, a man he respected very much, standing just opposite of him.

Gaza cocked back both hands, pulsing all the energy he could muster into each palm. He'd never tried this, Vegeta had taught him a technique called Galick Gun, now Gaza was going to attempt a Double Galick Gun. Hopefully it would both eliminate this bear, and impress Vegeta. "Chew on this!" Gaza shouted, pushing forth with both hands, sparking a beam to shoot from each hand. The blasts grew quite large and nearly combined to make on stream of energy. Gaza winced, closing his eyes tighter and tighter as he funneled more energy into the blast. When he opened his eyes, he was strangely enough, laying on the path floor, apparently having passed the trial. Gaza felt embarrassed because Vegeta was already standing in the room.

"Well, looks like you beat me here." Gaza said with a shot chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WC 712
TWC 1,254/3,644