Hoku gripped Dustblade, struggling to keep it still in his shaking hand.
"So", Baldervich groaned, "which one of you morons forgot to tie him up?"
A wave of nervousness hit the other scavengers, aside from Bones, who kept smiling throughout. The wooden sled bumped up every now and then, adding to the uneasiness.
One of the scavengers stepped forward. "I'll tie him up, boss."
Baldervich scoffed, then said, "You better."
The scavenger turned to Hoku and started to move forward. "Do us all a favour and lie down" he snickered.
Hoku smiled. "Isn't this brilliant! What a lovely sunny day it is."
"What are you on about?" The scavenger scoffed.
"Come one, come all! Welcome to Hoku's special stage!"
Hoku motioned with Dustblade for the scavenger to move forward. Then he jumped forward. Then he jumped back again, staying light on his feet as he skipped back and forth.
"I think he's gone mad," the scavenger said, shrugging to his crowd.
Without warning, Hoku threw Dustblade at the man. Shock spilled onto the scavenger's face. The blade hit him just off the side of his shoulder. The scavenger recoiled. Then felt the cut on his shoulder and looked at the drops of blood on his hand. "Was that the best you got?"
Sweat dripped down Hoku's head. He curled his hands to once again beckon him forward.
The scavenger started moving with a little more haste; meanwhile, Hoku moved his arm back.
The sled was moving quickly as the scavenger started to take his first step over the wooden block
'Now!'
"System, return Dustblade back into my hand," Hoku exclaimed.
Dustblade disappeared from the spot it had hit, and immediately manifested as a blade of white light in Hoku's hand. Before its skin could shed off, Hoku threw the blade with all his might.
Once the scavenger looked up from the block he was stepping over, he thought he was imagining the white blur moving towards him.
That was when a spinning blade emerged from the remnants of white light. Yelping in surprise, he put up his arms in defence, except the blade was suddenly moving towards the floor.
"Been a while since I practised my throw", Hoku smiled. "How do you like my curveball?"
The hilt dinked against the floor as its blade drew a speck of blood from the scavenger's foot. The same foot that he was using to support himself on the wooden block.
The scavenger briefly left the floor. And though it was brief, it was enough, as the speed of the sled sent him tumbling further than even Hoku had expected. His body flew towards him. Hoku was forced to duck to the side as the scavenger crashed into the crates just behind him.
The scavenger was laid out over broken wood. He groaned from the impact and before he could recover, Hoku scurried and picked him up.
Even with the chain limiting his movement, Hoku was still able to push him over the edge of the sled. He gave a defiant smile at the onlookers as the scavenger fell into the sand. His body disappeared into the orange distance.
Hoku breathed out. Beads of sweat dripped down his face. He turned back to the others, preparing for round two.
A silence took over the onlooking scavengers as they exchanged disbelieving looks. One scavenger with a Mohawk broke the silence with his footsteps as he ran to the front, where the rider was.
"H-hey, turn us around, damn it!" He cried.
"No", Baldervich interjected.
"What?" the scavenger with the Mohawk squeaked.
Baldervich turned his head.
"I can tolerate weaklings to a point."
"What I can't tolerate is stupidity. The fact that he fell for something like that just goes to show that he's not one of us."
"But boss, he'll die out there," the smaller scavenger gulped.
"If you want to bring him back, then you're free to jump after him yourself."
The scavenger's eyes wavered as he looked at the endless stretch of sand.
Baldervich turned back to look at Hoku "I'm starting to get tired of this eyesore," he said, cracking his knuckles.
Hoku breathed raggedly, carefully eyeing the large scavenger and his hammer. Baldervich started to move towards him.
Suddenly, the rider of the sled cried out.
Baldervich looked up. He didn't like being shouted at, but when he looked in the direction the rider was looking, he couldn't help but share the emotion. Hoku was still trying to recover his breath. But he too looked to the side. Once he did, a comforting warmth filled his chest.
Something was approaching in the distance.