The Scorching Sun [ Open ]

The third part of his trainings and the last one guided by the scrolls. Nasu couldn’t even wait for it to be finished; he had already learned to have some sort of mental discipline, he had learned how to be a little humble – but just a little – without sacrificing his pride, and now the final lesson: physical and mental endurance. For that task, he had chosen the most arid environment on the Blue Marble: the Fortuneteller’s Desert. Unlike the wastelands, that had dirt and stone all over the place, this desert was made of sand and dunes. The wind was almost razor sharp and the constant gusts of wind annoyed the shit out of him, irritating his right eye, as the left was protected by his scouter, leading him to close his right eye and sacrifice his sense of depth.

Nasu had been walking around the desert for about two days, wandering without a certain direction while wearing his weighted battle suit, which only made things even harder. He was thirsty and only had about a half canteen of water left, and he knew he had to save it for the next day. Three days on the desert, that was his challenge! No food and nothing but a single canteen of water to make it through. It should be easy enough if he hadn’t found those giant scorpion monsters the other day. They were easy to dispatch but to his surprise, the use of his ki energy while starving and barely hydrated took a lot of tools on his body, and now he was looking to avoid further trouble.

While he walked, his scouter beeped, making him sigh in frustration. ”Another scorpion?! For damn sake!” he muttered to himself, staring at the red screen. The scouter detected a power level of about three thousand, way too strong for any earthling beast, and that made him arch one of his eyebrows, with a serious expression on his face.

– That’s no beast… I’ve better check it out. I can’t be caught by surprise by anything at this state… - he spoke to himself and slowly walked towards the direction of the energy signature. After about a couple minutes, he sighted the source of that power level: it was a kid. ”A brat… That strong?! What the heck is going on with those earh… Wait a second! Is that a…” while he was thinking, Nasu noticed that the kid had a weird belt on his waist. It didn’t take him long to recognize that it was a tail! A saiyan’s tail! ”A saiyan! He must not be part of the Empire… Is he one of those earthbound saiyans my father told me about?!” he wondered. Curiosity drove him to walk at a faster pace, approaching the kid.

– Hey, kid! – he said. His voice sounded like his throat hadn’t seen water in a while and, by the looks of him, he looked like an average saiyan warrior, with his own tail wrapped around his waist in a belt-like fashion.

”Hello, mister!”. That was a hell of a weird choice of words for a saiyan, and it was followed by an offer of assistance that was halted when the kid stared at Nasu’s tail, making him arch one of his eyebrows in curiosity. Nasu was puzzled by the kids reaction and, although he was definitely of saiyan blood, he seemed to be like those earthling saiyans the Alliance was formed of. Somehow it struck him deeply, making him sigh as he stared at the confused youngling before him. ”He looks clueless…” he noticed and made a brief nod to himself. Shortly after that, the young boy offered him some water, to which Nasu responded by shaking his head a little bit, denying his offer.

– You know I could be an enemy, and you treat me this kind. Be careful, kid, or you can get in trouble… - he said with his raspy voice, but there was no ill intention on his tone. He was sort of thoughtful, if there was something to be noticed from his tone, and he gazed away from the kid, to stare at the dunes of the fortunetelle’s desert for a short second before staring back at him. Nasu was trying to decide on what to do and, finally shrugged. ”So be it…” he thought to himself. Nasu’s tail unwrapped itself from his waist and started swaying from one side to the other, behind his back. With that, the saiyan warrior cracked a subtle grin on his face.

– That’s what you were looking at, right? My tail? – he said, chuckling a little bit. – You shouldn’t be so impressed, you have one yourself! – he said, pointing to Taro’s tail with his index finger. He was curious on how the youngling would react to his statement. ”Maybe I’m the first saiyan he meets… I could bet on that due to the look on his face!” Nasu thought.

”Way too soft… Wouldn’t last a day in war. I feel bad for this brat, though. To be raised here, depleted of pride and battle sense… I guess I’m getting soft myself due to my dad’s words about my brother!” he sighed deeply and then frowned his eyebrows when the kid said that if he was an enemy he would have already attacked him. That annoyed Nasu to no end! He was just taking the situation for granted and keeping his guard low. Nasu grits his teeth and stared the kid dead in the eye with the anger building up inside of him.

– Of course not, fool! I would’ve waited for you to lower your guard with your easy-going behavior, and once you turned your back on me I would rip your spine out of your body and leave you to rot! – he roared in a raspy and angered voice, but, still, he didn’t move nor showed any body language leaning towards violence. – For crying out loud… - but everything was explained soon, when the kid mentioned that he had never seen another tailed man before and thought that he was the only one. Nasu sighed deeply and scratched the back of his head, getting back to a more serious expression.

– Really?... Damn! You are really clueless, aren’t you?! Let me guess, you think you are an earthling… I mean, you think you are a human, right? A human that happened to be born with an odd, furry tail, that hurts like a bitch when someone squeezes it, right? – he asked in a sort of tired tone. In truth, Nasu was frustrated. He had indeed heard the stories about the earthling saiyans that sometimes didn’t even know their heritage. Most of the Alliance was built by such fellows, but he had never ever imagined that he would meet one himself, and one this clueless. He felt sorry for the kid, in part, but the other side of him wanted to beat the kid to the pulp for being incapable of sorting out his heritage, as unfair as it was to have such expectations; people just don’t go miraculously finding out where they come from if they are abandoned somewhere.

Finally the kid was getting his point, but still he was slow to get what Nasu was implying; he couldn’t be blamed, though. If you had lived your while life thinking you are something, it’s kind of hard to swallow. But Nasu had proofs of his claim right there, attached to his body: the tail, and Taro knew it. The saiyan warrior sighed and scratched the back of his head, before folding his arms once again. - This ois going to be a pain, but okay! Let me enlighten you, kid! – he said in a sort of annoyed tone, like he was already tired before even starting his explanation. – You are a saiyan! Member of a race of fierce warriors, born for battle! – he said, pausing for a very brief second to allow the kid to swallow that initial shocking information.

– We are not native to this small weak planet! We came from Planet Vegeta originally, but since about thirty years, our race has too home planets, but this will only make you confused right now, so let’s focus on our previous home: Vegeta. – to explain about the two Saiyan factions that existed in the universe was still pointless at this moment. – Planet Vegeta is located on this Northern Galaxy, but really far away from here. The environment is much harsher, filled with wastelands and the gravity is ten times the gravity of Earth, which allows the saiyans to develop their strength since birth! The saiyans are natural conquerors. The Empire sends young saiyan babies, of about three years old to conquer planets on the galaxy, wiping their population and adding estate to the Empire. This is what you are, kid, a saiyan! – he said in a serious and harsh tone, unfolding his arms and pointing his right index finger at Taro’s tail. – And that tail is the proof, like it or not! – he said, waiting for the kid’s reaction to that initial portion of information.