Resting Elements [Kabocha]

Kabocha's own travels had led her to this point, trying to find the Lookout, and certainly doing her best to find her own sister- but... well, the problem was [WHY ARE THE WOODS SO CONFUSING TO NAVIGATE?!] The young saiyan pushed past more, and more brush, trying not to klutz her effort in getting her way through here. The Mountain before here, this absolutely has to be the lookout! It's huge! Or- well even if it's not, her sister would totally go here! ...Right? The thoughts that she might be going the wrong way had to pause though, and so she pushed them into the furthest corners of her mind. In the distance, she saw a distant light. [Camp? Oh cool is someone here too?!] She was about to sprint when she remembered Garruks words that her journey was going to be dangerous. [R-right...] Then Hazel's words repeating the same thing with the added point that she was a lot weaker [R...Right...!] Then again with Draf- [OKAY I GET IT BRAIN!] She got low to the ground and slowed her breathing. She had to be careful, if she tried to just jump out and say hi, there was a chance even if it was a friend that she'd get shot in the chest.

Pulling herself to the ground completely and starting to crawl on the ground, she was met by two thoughts. A.) [Wow this is super cold!] and B.) [WHY DO I HAVE MY WEIGHTED GEAR ON FOR THIS?!] Thankfully the woven soft fabric was a really good sound proofing material in this case, but the weight on her back and chest was enormous! She crawled and crawled towards where the camp was, and as she managed to breach the underbrush that concealed the contents of the camp for her, she was highly disappointed to see that there was nobody there. "Awh... dang it..." Then she cupped her mouth in surprise as she realized she spoke and didn't think that! [Muffle pls.] She kneel'd down and thought of her next directions, getting lost in thought and not paying attention to her surroundings.

Kabocha was still lost in thought when whisker had approached, her thoughts bouncing one way, and another- again and again. [Well... I could head towards Ginger Town... Or, well maybe I should work to get... hmm i'm not sure...] Her mind was nowhere near where she actually was, so when she suddenly heard a voice near her, she jumped near out of her own skin to the new presence, her senses screamed [STRONG!] and she whirled towards the person that was near her to immediately apologize, however she didn't see anyone. She looked left, right, far, close... then her eyes trailed down onto the CUTEST cat she ever did see. Heart melting cuteness is sort of an understatement. She damn near squee'd at the sight of him, embarrassingly enough. [They're so cute!!! Oh my god is that Heterochromia?! OH MY GOD IS THIS A CHIMERA CAT?!] Her mind raced with all of the facts she new about cats, completely unaware that the person in front of her probably wasn't directly Felis Catus. 

The realization that she was stalking this smol bean's campsite was a little uh... what's the word for it? Heartbreaking? Yup, yup yup she felt bad, and when that's said, it means terribly bad. She didn't want to spook anyone! "O-oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to just sneak around like this- I was just, there was worries that like- Oh heck I'm sorry I thought I needed to sneak in case the person was jumpy, and I didn't want to get shot- i'm so sorry..." She bowed her head to the Hakaijin "M-My name's Kabocha, a lot of my friends call me gourd though- Sorry again!" She apologized. Though... in the back of her mind, she kept hearing [_{STRONG! VERY STRONG! HOLY G ODS STRONG!}]

Kabocha looked to the smol cat before her as he spoke. She was focused on what he was saying, but... [Oh my gosh, he's so adorable!/_{HES STRONG}] She shook her head and wrote the weird sensation she was feeling off. There's no way she'd be scared of him! In fact, honestly meeting someone so far out here kinda made her feel much more comfortable. She nodded to him when he admitted he wasn't great with names "No problem! It's why some friends called me Gourd! And I don't mind Kabo at all, Whisker" She smiled warmly to him and sat down on the stools that he offered her. He was such a polite guy! and when he smiled, she couldn't help but for her smile to grow a little bit seeing the adorable display [_{SHARP. SHARP TEETH}] She pushed those thoughts further, and further back into her mind. Even if he was ridiculously strong, she felt safe right now, everything was alright! Honestly it was incredibly relieving, she was used to everything wanting to eat her, or her heart failing mid trek. This was honestly just wholesome to her. "I'm not too lost, but yeah! I'm trying to trek further up, I heard there's a lookout to the west, and I think this might be it? Even if it isn't I have a feeling like someone i'm looking for is here" She said. The fawning saiyan showing a more resolute side of herself as her tail swayed against the ground calmly, showing she was fairly comfortable.

She looked to her company when he concentrated and cocked her head to the side slightly, not entirely sure what he was doing at the moment. "Oh! Oh wow, I guess that makes sense! The person i'm looking for- my sister, she's probably here then, she's probably still the girl that likes being strong! and heck yeah, you can definitely beat the heck out of bad guys. You're a strong guy I can tell!" She said the last bit without exactly running it through her head, a bit of the warning thoughts slipping out. Memories surfacing of her sister lifting large boulders in the back yard, impressing both kabocha and yamu when they were little. She couldn't remember a whole lot of her sister, but small bits and pieces were slowly filling in the more of this journey she undertook. Even if she wasn't able to find this 'Kami' The memories surfacing put her more and more at ease at the possible meeting with her sister. And the friends she's made have been wonderful! She wondered for a moment if he'd seen her. "Oh! Actually, since you're strong too, do you know if you've seen someone that looks a little bit like me pass by your camp? or am I the only one you've seen out here?" She asked, her tail curling anxiously at the thought that this lil ball of kindness may have seen her sister.

Kabocha was disappointed when whisker let her know that he hadn't seen anyone pass by, though the cheering of whisker was infectious. She couldn't help but smile and determinedly nod to his cheering "I'm sure I will! Thank's for the encouragement whisker!" At the question of power levels, she chuckled a bit and shook her head "It's not as direct as my scouter, but my mind's telling me you're wicked strong!" She then retrieved her orange scouter and took a second to affix it to her left ear, the mechanism holding in place as she began to tap the side of it for different settings. "I haven't actually used the power level scanner part of this, I've mainly used it to communicate with my friend Garruk! Thoooough if I can... get to iiiit..." She listed on as she finally reached the Power level reader. She recognized the base power level of a nearby rabbit [PL:1] then looking to her new friend it started beeping rapidly at her for going well over a comparison threshold. She blinked and gasped "Holy crud! Whisker, you're power level is like 48,000! That's incredible! The rabbit over by the tree there is only 1 PL!" She explained and took off the scouter, and let it rest on her lap as she applauded the young cat for his impressive power shortly, so it shows her genuine encouragement and not trying to be condescending "Seriously, I'm pretty sure you're even stronger than my friend Garruk!" 

On the topic of his journey though, she though about his offer and thought for a moment. She realized she wasn't gonna be much backup, and she wasn't a warrior... but... at the same time [_{TRAIN, TRAIN!} TRAIN!] The same voice that warned her about the young Hakaijin was also now compelling her to train! It was so confusing, and as her heart rate got faster and faster at the prospect of training, there was a light squeezing at her chest that nagged her. She shook her head from the adrenaline trying to addle her mind, and she nodded "Sure! I'd love any help I can get! Plus, with how strong you are I know we'd love to train with you!" She smiled and raised a fist into the air modestly in a small cheer to the Hakaijin. She stood up abruptly and smiled to the smaller one "Ready to go? I can lead the way, or you can if you want!"

This was new! Someone was saying that she was strong! The super kind bean may be wrong, but good kami if it didn't lift Kabocha's Spirits in the moment. She was getting far too used to being referred to as fragile, so hear about a strength she had been minutely working towards? Well that just dabbled a sprinkle of sugar on that part of her brain that was always pushed to the back. It was nice to be recognized for your work, and even propped up for just a moment. "Thank you Whisker!"

When mentioning her friend she took a second to sum up her thoughts with a "well...!" She smiled and looked to him "Well, Garruk's a BIG Arcosian! He's even taller than I am! by a large factor, HE's really tough lookin', but he's a pretty big softie! Honestly he's why i've come so far on my journey, it only takes a little bit of encouragement and help to get someone like me started. He even gave me this scouter!" She had the biggest grin on her face as she described her friend to Whisker, hoping that they'd probably meet one day. [It'd be good for Garruk to meet someone as positive as Whisker, he seems so focused on his goals, I hope he could have one good day] "And yup! I am a saiyan, Full blooded too! I don't believe i've met a Belle, but i'd love to meet her, truth be told it's always better when I meet new friends. Keeps me grounded, not stuck in my own head" That last part was fairly important. With whatever was in her mind that kept trying to drag her into an adrenaline addled mindset, it was important that she kept having people to think of to pull her back together. 

She watched him put on his backpack and felt a pang hit her heart, not a usual pang from heart problems, but the pang you get when you have just seen something so cute you could have a heart attack then and there. "Alright, I'll make sure to ask if we get lost! Let's go!" She began marching towards the canopy of trees that led further, and further up into the mountain as the Hakaijin jumped up.

---

Venturing further into the mountains and kabocha could see why Whisker was worried about coming up here. Her body was being nipped with cold, her steps were in threat of slowing from heat exhaustion, and the winds threatened to blow her away at a moment's notice. She had no clue how she'd be able to hold on, and they were barely at the base of the Mountain! "Wow, I haven't been somewhere like here before" she chuckled, a sense of nervousness chipping away at her spirit. Without her even knowing her PL, she knew this was way out of her league. but she couldn't stop here. "Speakin' of places, where do you come from? I'm from the Sleepy East! Lived with my Mom, Dad, two of my sisters, and my brother most of my whole life!" She admitted, she was curious what the smol M4 Sherman Tank of a cat's history was!

Kabocha wanted to keep it hidden as much as she could that she was faring far poorer than even the feline alien that was much smaller than her. The gusts smashed into her ribs when it decided to be needlessly cruel. The heat would get close to making her pass out when the cold would smash into her like a sack of bricks, immediately robbing her of the heat that the mountain had imbued into her. She had no defense when it came to the harsh conditions like some would use magic or ki. Thankfully due to her training and movement around the world, her body had learned how to handle some of these issues naturally. In a way it was incredibly impressive that someone so technically weak could withstand such conditions. She happily accepted the blanket without a moment's notice and wrapped it around herself in it. "Thanks Whisker! This'll help a whole heck of a lot!" She also appreciated the promise of help greatly. [I'm glad Whisker's got my back, even though my body's not strong enough to handle this normally!]

"Yeah! It's really bonkers, i'm surprised there's any foliage nearby!" She called out to the Hakaijin. "I've heard about Konats from a friend named Hazel! It sounds really pretty! I should hop over sometime! And the east's pretty nice! Much less straining than the west!" Her voice would strain whenever the wind would pick up and nearly suffocate her with wind gusts slamming into her mouth while she spoke. "I've been traveling for about 6 days I think now?!" When they got to an area to take a break when he got out the rope she continued "I'm sorry to hear you don't have a family to go back to!" she calls to Whisker, somewhat hard to hear cause she wasn't being as loud as she should. She leans forward and puts a hand on his shoulder "but it's good to hear you've got friends and villagers!" She accepted the rope from Whisker, and wrapped her tail around her waist, then tied the rope around her ankle, making sure he had slack to follow, but making damn sure the winds would have to rip off her leg if it wanted to take the feline. When they got closer towards the top, needing to climb now, and she noticed Whisker was really having a rough time she tried reaching back to help him out, but her hands shook and trembled like a fragile leaf. it was getting harder for her to breathe, and the squeezing in her chest let her know that if she took too much time, she'd be falling down the mountain like a ragdoll. She didn't have many options, but she wasn't about to abandon her new friend. She called out as loud as she could to him, the winds threatening to take her voice out. "WHISKER! tug the rope when it seems like you've hit your limit! I've got an idea!" She thought about how that feeling of adrenaline had helped propel her around the planet, and while it wore her out, forced her to collapse and pass out, it would always allow her to make a good distance. She kept climbing with him, hoping he didn't have to tug, but mentally prepared in case he needed to. Ki, Magic, Or natural power this mountain was rough to everyone ill-prepared. [I'm so lucky Whisker came with me, I'd probably be at the bottom of the mountain without his cheering!]

As she struggled with the climb, there was a split second where she felt like her body was going to give out. her muscles begged for more air that she couldn't provide, a soft blue tint to her face grew as the tightening in her chest grew. Thankfully the mention of a way out gave her a pause to take the deepest breath she could, not feeling as much that the buck stopped with her, she took a second to let whisker catch up as she clung carefully to the stone. Kabocha's lungs filled slightly and while the squeezing in her chest grew nigh unbearable, it gave her muscles the last bits of oxygen they needed to get to the cave. She collapsed onto the cave floor, and gasped for air, pulling off her weighted shirt, and letting her normal lavender turtleneck show. She wheezed and tried her best to just keep from passing out. In fact, as her body relaxed it almost seemed like her body was deflating in a way. The moment she found a full breath of air fill her lungs, she lurched forward and coughed as she noticed her heart was finally pumping right. "We did it!!!" She called out as she sat up, hands in the air, so full on jubilation that when she collapsed back on the ground, finally breathing right she outright started chuckling at how lucky she felt to have such a helpful climbing buddy! "Yup! I ah... Could use a break, water would be nice if you had some" she requested, not wanting to be rude- but her body would have screamed at her for not taking the generosity of her friend

When she collected herself completely, she leaned to the side, and rest her head on her hand looking to her explorer pal "So ah... Question... can you fly like the other friends i've met?" She asks frankly, remembering that he'd mentioned that he had a way through it entirely. [How many people could fly, this is getting ridiculous! Is everyone just a secret bird?! Garruks a buff bird, Hazel's a Magic bird, Draft's a shiny bird, now we have Feline bird!] she pulled herself up to sitting and she relaxed against the wall, looking at the dead campfire near them both. There was a pang of excitement that ran through her as she was starting to feel like Whisker was onto something at the beginning. There's a used fire here, it has to have been her sister! "Also- Thanks for your help Whisker, I really appreciate it" She says smiling to the hakaijin