DBNE Ch. 5
The once bustling city nestled in the hills of the southern district now lay vacant and burning. Those lucky enough to escape Zenko's initial bombardment had fled to the countryside surrounding the city. Now all that was left were the crumbling shells of buildings, destroyed road ways and the bodies of those Zenko had slain. Had there still been people left, they would have heard the sound of the empty wind as it whistled through the broken structures, the sound occasionally punctuated by the tinkling sound of broken glass finally letting go and falling to the ground.
The only movement that could be discerned, besides the wind, was a trail of dust rising along the trail that led from the forest to the city. The dust trailed behind a very fast moving object, and upon closer observation, the object was a man. Running inhumanly fast towards the smoldering city, the man tore through brush and foliage.
"Damn!" he shouted, skidding to a halt as he entered the outskirts of the city, "Someone really did a number here."
The man's name was Heinz Katsume. He had short blonde hair, forest green eyes, and a slightly rounded face. His body tone was testament to a life of hard physical exertion and exercise, and the brown gi he wore with the red sash tied around his waist told that he had trained in the martial arts.
Heinz slowly walked through the streets, staring at the increasing destruction as he neared the center of town. In some of the fallen buildings he looked for signs of life, but he either found nothing -or if he did, it was a crushed body or parts of said body.
"Damn." was all he could say. By the time he reached downtown he was certain that there was no one left alive in this forsaken place. "What the hell could have happened here?" he wondered aloud, "From the sound of it (and the look of it) someone must have dropped bombs here." Musing this, he turned the next corner, he spotted the bruised, beaten and bloody body of Nikka lying in the middle of the cracked pavement. Heinz was going to move on, assuming she was dead, but paused when he thought he heard a sound. He crept closer, and could soon distinguish the unmistakable, though ragged, sound of breathing.
"Hey, are you alive?" he asked the body. Getting no response other than the continued sound of labored breathing, Heinz figured he should at least attempt to do something for the woman. Carefully picking her up in his arms, he took a look at her.
"Whoever did this to such a pretty gal deserves a good punch in the face," he murmured. He felt something brush against his leg and spotted a monkey-like tail hanging down. "What the? Now that's odd," he said. Shrugging, he took off back towards the forest, hoping he wasn't leaving any other survivors behind, and, if he was, hoping they would be found.
Heinz ran through the forest with speed that made him a blur, though he moved more carefully now that he carried his delicate cargo with him. It was about a half an hour run to the cabin which served as his home in the forest. Entering this humble abode, he softly set Nikka down on his bed in the far room. He waited for a few minutes, just to make sure she'd be ok and dismally noted how her wounds soaked the sheets with blood.
"I could always buy a new set," he thought. He went into the kitchen area, grabbed a pair of buckets, and jogged out back to the river, which flowed nearby. Heinz filled both pails with the cool, clean water and hurried back inside his cabin. He grabbed some cloths from a shelf, returned to Nikka's bedside and began to carefully clean her wounds with the water and rags. The next thing to do was to patch her up, and so he checked in his cupboards and found a roll of bandages (which he sometimes used himself when he got too banged up during training).
Heinz did his best to bandage Nikka, though he had to lift her up to wrap the bandages around her waist and chest. He also bandaged her forehead, arms and one of her thighs that had been badly cut. When he finished, his roll of bandages was depleted and Nikka looked something like a mummy. Heinz looked at her for awhile, and then realized her sheets were still bloody from when he first set her down. Not wanting to leave her on bloody sheets, he carefully lifter her up, took the sheets off as best he could, and set her back down. He tossed the dirty sheets in a trash can as he walked out of the room to find a new set. Lacking actual sheets, Heinz returned with a white table cloth that he figured would make do. He draped the cloth across the bed and wrapped Nikka in the excess. It was an odd looking setup, but it would do. Cleaning up the rest of his medical supplies, and feeling thankful that he had learned some basic first aid during the course of his training, Heinz sat down at the kitchen table to rest.
Night had fallen by the time Heinz heard Nikka stir in bed. He crept quietly to the door, hoping he wouldn't startle the woman. In the dim moonlight coming in from the window, he could see her outline sitting up in bed, looking around in a daze. He thought he saw her spot him, and he fidgeted a bit.
"Hey." Nikka said weakly, "Who're you?"
"Oh, you're awake," Heinz said as he stepped into the room, "My name's Heinz Katsume. I found you in Commute City this afternoon and you were hurt pretty bad." He paused, "Which I guess you'd know about." Nikka stared blankly for a moment before remembering.
"Zenko!" she spat and quickly leapt out of bed. Heinz stepped in front of the door trying to block her way.
"Hey, hold on!" he shouted, "You're still injured, you can't go anywhere!" After a minute of struggling, Nikka finally gave in, feeling too weak to really force her way out. She lay down again with a bitter expression and stared at the ceiling.
"So," Heinz said, dragging a chair into the room and sitting down backwards, crossing his arms on the backrest, "I didn't catch your name."
"Nikka," she said.
"Oh."
Heinz sat in silence. About fifteen minutes passed before Nikka looked over at Heinz irritably. "Are you going to sit there all night, or do you have anything for me to eat?"
"Oh. Right, food. I guess you'd be hungry," Heinz sputtered. He checked his cabinets. He didn't have anything besides dried, preserved or canned foods. Out in the woods there weren't any electric lines so he couldn't store any thing that needed refrigeration or preparation in a microwave. He started to look around franticly, having no idea what this woman would eat, so he just grabbed a bag of beef jerky and took it to her.
"This is pretty much all I got. Hope it's alright with you," he said, tossing her the bag. Nikka took a look, sniffed the contents, and then began to savagely consume the jerky. Heinz watched with wide eyes. This woman ate with a ferocity like no other he had ever seen. He shrugged, figuring it was just because she hadn't eaten for awhile. Meanwhile, Nikka had finished off the dried beef and tossed the bag off to the side and lay back in bed to rest again.
"I should be ready to leave in a few days. I'll go then," she said.
"Are you sure that's enough time? It looks like you could be in bed for weeks."
"I'll be fine!" she growled. She turned her back to Heinz, facing the wall. "I'm going to sleep now. You don't have to hover, either." He got the drift, and left the room. Other than his sister's bed (which he really didn't want to sleep in) he rummaged around his home's closets and found the spare camping mattress and set it up on the floor in the main room. As he lay down and began to drift off to sleep, he couldn't help wonder who this strange woman was, where she came from, how she could eat so voraciously and why did she have a tail?
-End chapter 5-
The once bustling city nestled in the hills of the southern district now lay vacant and burning. Those lucky enough to escape Zenko's initial bombardment had fled to the countryside surrounding the city. Now all that was left were the crumbling shells of buildings, destroyed road ways and the bodies of those Zenko had slain. Had there still been people left, they would have heard the sound of the empty wind as it whistled through the broken structures, the sound occasionally punctuated by the tinkling sound of broken glass finally letting go and falling to the ground.
The only movement that could be discerned, besides the wind, was a trail of dust rising along the trail that led from the forest to the city. The dust trailed behind a very fast moving object, and upon closer observation, the object was a man. Running inhumanly fast towards the smoldering city, the man tore through brush and foliage.
"Damn!" he shouted, skidding to a halt as he entered the outskirts of the city, "Someone really did a number here."
The man's name was Heinz Katsume. He had short blonde hair, forest green eyes, and a slightly rounded face. His body tone was testament to a life of hard physical exertion and exercise, and the brown gi he wore with the red sash tied around his waist told that he had trained in the martial arts.
Heinz slowly walked through the streets, staring at the increasing destruction as he neared the center of town. In some of the fallen buildings he looked for signs of life, but he either found nothing -or if he did, it was a crushed body or parts of said body.
"Damn." was all he could say. By the time he reached downtown he was certain that there was no one left alive in this forsaken place. "What the hell could have happened here?" he wondered aloud, "From the sound of it (and the look of it) someone must have dropped bombs here." Musing this, he turned the next corner, he spotted the bruised, beaten and bloody body of Nikka lying in the middle of the cracked pavement. Heinz was going to move on, assuming she was dead, but paused when he thought he heard a sound. He crept closer, and could soon distinguish the unmistakable, though ragged, sound of breathing.
"Hey, are you alive?" he asked the body. Getting no response other than the continued sound of labored breathing, Heinz figured he should at least attempt to do something for the woman. Carefully picking her up in his arms, he took a look at her.
"Whoever did this to such a pretty gal deserves a good punch in the face," he murmured. He felt something brush against his leg and spotted a monkey-like tail hanging down. "What the? Now that's odd," he said. Shrugging, he took off back towards the forest, hoping he wasn't leaving any other survivors behind, and, if he was, hoping they would be found.
Heinz ran through the forest with speed that made him a blur, though he moved more carefully now that he carried his delicate cargo with him. It was about a half an hour run to the cabin which served as his home in the forest. Entering this humble abode, he softly set Nikka down on his bed in the far room. He waited for a few minutes, just to make sure she'd be ok and dismally noted how her wounds soaked the sheets with blood.
"I could always buy a new set," he thought. He went into the kitchen area, grabbed a pair of buckets, and jogged out back to the river, which flowed nearby. Heinz filled both pails with the cool, clean water and hurried back inside his cabin. He grabbed some cloths from a shelf, returned to Nikka's bedside and began to carefully clean her wounds with the water and rags. The next thing to do was to patch her up, and so he checked in his cupboards and found a roll of bandages (which he sometimes used himself when he got too banged up during training).
Heinz did his best to bandage Nikka, though he had to lift her up to wrap the bandages around her waist and chest. He also bandaged her forehead, arms and one of her thighs that had been badly cut. When he finished, his roll of bandages was depleted and Nikka looked something like a mummy. Heinz looked at her for awhile, and then realized her sheets were still bloody from when he first set her down. Not wanting to leave her on bloody sheets, he carefully lifter her up, took the sheets off as best he could, and set her back down. He tossed the dirty sheets in a trash can as he walked out of the room to find a new set. Lacking actual sheets, Heinz returned with a white table cloth that he figured would make do. He draped the cloth across the bed and wrapped Nikka in the excess. It was an odd looking setup, but it would do. Cleaning up the rest of his medical supplies, and feeling thankful that he had learned some basic first aid during the course of his training, Heinz sat down at the kitchen table to rest.
Night had fallen by the time Heinz heard Nikka stir in bed. He crept quietly to the door, hoping he wouldn't startle the woman. In the dim moonlight coming in from the window, he could see her outline sitting up in bed, looking around in a daze. He thought he saw her spot him, and he fidgeted a bit.
"Hey." Nikka said weakly, "Who're you?"
"Oh, you're awake," Heinz said as he stepped into the room, "My name's Heinz Katsume. I found you in Commute City this afternoon and you were hurt pretty bad." He paused, "Which I guess you'd know about." Nikka stared blankly for a moment before remembering.
"Zenko!" she spat and quickly leapt out of bed. Heinz stepped in front of the door trying to block her way.
"Hey, hold on!" he shouted, "You're still injured, you can't go anywhere!" After a minute of struggling, Nikka finally gave in, feeling too weak to really force her way out. She lay down again with a bitter expression and stared at the ceiling.
"So," Heinz said, dragging a chair into the room and sitting down backwards, crossing his arms on the backrest, "I didn't catch your name."
"Nikka," she said.
"Oh."
Heinz sat in silence. About fifteen minutes passed before Nikka looked over at Heinz irritably. "Are you going to sit there all night, or do you have anything for me to eat?"
"Oh. Right, food. I guess you'd be hungry," Heinz sputtered. He checked his cabinets. He didn't have anything besides dried, preserved or canned foods. Out in the woods there weren't any electric lines so he couldn't store any thing that needed refrigeration or preparation in a microwave. He started to look around franticly, having no idea what this woman would eat, so he just grabbed a bag of beef jerky and took it to her.
"This is pretty much all I got. Hope it's alright with you," he said, tossing her the bag. Nikka took a look, sniffed the contents, and then began to savagely consume the jerky. Heinz watched with wide eyes. This woman ate with a ferocity like no other he had ever seen. He shrugged, figuring it was just because she hadn't eaten for awhile. Meanwhile, Nikka had finished off the dried beef and tossed the bag off to the side and lay back in bed to rest again.
"I should be ready to leave in a few days. I'll go then," she said.
"Are you sure that's enough time? It looks like you could be in bed for weeks."
"I'll be fine!" she growled. She turned her back to Heinz, facing the wall. "I'm going to sleep now. You don't have to hover, either." He got the drift, and left the room. Other than his sister's bed (which he really didn't want to sleep in) he rummaged around his home's closets and found the spare camping mattress and set it up on the floor in the main room. As he lay down and began to drift off to sleep, he couldn't help wonder who this strange woman was, where she came from, how she could eat so voraciously and why did she have a tail?
-End chapter 5-