Duskus

A desk job. That’s what this young man’s life had amounted to at some point in time. Something to steer him from the shadow of the man who shared his name; who’d been his elder incarnate from a time far into the young man’s future. He’d started going by Veji Akurei, rather than Vegeshin Kanahashi so as to differentiate himself from his elder doppelganger, and in the process had somehow seemingly veered his identity far off course; to a point in time he became miserable. The irony lay in the fact he’d done everything he could to prevent making himself miserable; to prevent himself from fulfilling the events that would lead to becoming that older iteration of himself. That man had grown into an empty husk and young Veji wanted no part of that. And yet, one day he found himself just as dreary and mentally debilitated; afflicted with an emptiness so vast it threatened to swallow him whole.

He made a decision that day that he’d kick that desk job off to the wayside. And he’d return to what had made him happy, or at least close enough to it. Sure, he didn’t run around beating up bad guys like his doppelganger did. He didn’t soar through the skies punching Gods and Dragons in the face. And he surely didn’t skip around slicing tanks in two with his fancy sword, because that’s totally a trope thing to do; he’s not about that life. Instead, he took up something a bit more interesting. Something that somehow hearkened back to his single digit days, and something that had managed to get him in all of the wrong types of trouble from the start. Adventuring. Only in this case, it came in a more professional sort of light.

An expeditionist, he acted as a guide for individuals seeking travels to dangerous, foreign, places. Be it Terra, or any other planet. Of course, the planets that weren’t Terra, he asked for arranged passage to. It net him a good pay, satiated his appetite for adventure and danger, and seemed to rebuild some meaning to his life. He could go without the climactic, decisive, battles that held the fate of the macroverse in hand, but he did need some sort of stimulation to feel as if he held some sort of purpose, and a purpose all his own and not something mirroring that of his elder iteration. A sense of self-identity, and not the identity of someone else; himself. Call it convoluted, one couldn’t argue the fact.

And so with that pursuit becoming a reality, he now found himself in the midst of the continent of Duskus upon the planet Origin. But he found himself alone on this venture. He hadn’t been a guide for too long, perhaps a few years, give or take, but with it came tales from all abound. Duskus had proven to be a very prime topic in recent time, with many tales speaking of woe and loss. Rather than lead an expedition into uncharted territory, that seemingly changed on whim, he decided to venture out on his own to experience it firsthand and make an educated decision as to whether or not he’d put innocent lives in danger in such a manner. If he couldn’t handle it alone, then a band of mundane folk would only make matters worse. He’d not have any deaths weighing on his conscience.

A dense fog lingered all around, seemingly pitched obsidian, and he couldn’t tell if it were day or night, but keen senses seemed to help him. Unparalleled eyesight and acute sense of smell proved great assets to the double-blood. Partially Saiyan, and partially Youkai, of the Tanuki variety, he had access to a phenomenal assortment of abilities and advantages others didn’t. It worked out well, most times.

“Ugh. The things I do for lunkheads who’ve never been on an odyssey before.” He murmured. “I can’t believe the impression I got from them.” He continued, talking to himself if only to help calm his nerves. “Like...as if they’d only been on one or two before trying to tackle something as ridiculous as this. Of all things!” He grumbled aloud, managing to hook his foot in a rogue tree root. As he stumbled forward, he tried to scramble to catch something but amidst the fog, despite all the help his senses offered, there could be no cure for his clumsy nature. Instead he tumbled over and managed to slide off of the edge of an outcropping. Nigh instantly he vaulted down into a boulder, before richochetting to the side. Somersaulting down the remaining embankment, he came to a halt only at the bottom by way of a tree. With his forehead, respectively.

“Ack! For the love of all things sane!” He cried out, only to fall silent. Wails and rabid cries then echoed within the distance, some nearer than others, and he couldn’t help but mentally curse his, still very present, immature streaks. Instinctively, he made his way up into the tree with a rather adept leap upward. Grasping at one branch, he hefted himself up to the next, and then the next, until he managed to put a great distance betwixt himself and the ground below. Roughly two thirds of the way up the tree should suffice, or so he thought. Enough distance to put distance betwixt his scent and whatever creatures could be below, but also just enough distance to avoid being snatched by any flying critters that could skim the canopy of the forest.

“Fine mess you put yourself in, pal. All your might and prowess, and even some of these abominations can give you a run for your money…” He murmured, taking a moment to glance down at a clean tear through the side of his attire. A laceration from the previous evening seemed to have been nearly finished knitting itself shut, but the fact that he’d even garnered such proved the volatile, high risk, nature of the situation he’d put himself in.

Truly only a fool would wander into such a place unprepared, especially if a Saiyan-Youkai found himself bruised and battered at the hands of the creatures present.