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"Bottoms up for a job well done!" the crew clinked their glasses and cups together, some drinking alcohol and others settling for a beverage more suitable for their age or preferance.
After two long weeks of persistent searching, fighting unique trash beasts, and dry skin from the bad air quality in the No Man's Land, the cleaners have officially closed the case and obtained what they were looking for, all without running into the raiders once!
Well, Zanka is the only one who seems to know that they did, indeed, have a run in with a raider. When they had just begun their search in the unfamiliar area, an unexpected storm had caught them off guard. They were fighting trash beasts and while defending himself, Zanka was caught off guard by a fast decending whirlwind.
It touched down close to Zanka and in a panic, he had attempted to steady himself by jamming his vital instrument into the ground. The area they were fighting in however, was incredibly unstable, made up of pulverized waste and sand which was swiftly blown away with the strong wind current, resulting in the giver losing his footing and falling onto the ground. His grip on Lovely Assistaff waned for just a moment too long and the vital instrument was swept up into the tall, rotating funnel. With no other option, Zanka ducked down, shielding his masked face from the flying waste and dust.
Holding the drink in his hand a bit tighter, Zanka thought back on the wave of dread that washed over him when he felt Assistaff slipping from his fingers. Time seemed to slow and in an instant, a cold sweat coated his body. He couldn't even hear the roaring wind of the raging storm before him as he watched the last glimbse of his vital instrument dissapear into the towering dust monster.
After the storm was over, him and all the other cleaners tried to look for the vital instrument, but to no avail. Zanka had tried to put on a brave face, but ultimately his composure crumbled and he stopped his self soothing sentence half way and walked to the car in silence, his body shaking. No one could blame him, everyone knows how much a vital instrument truly means to a giver. His assistaff is not just a regular stick u can replace by walking up to the nearest tree and breaking off a branch.
With their search now focused on trying to locate Zanka's missing jinki, the crew barely covered any ground in their original objective. No one complained. How could they, with a gloom hanging over Zanka so densely even Riyo doubted she could slice it with her scissors. He looked worse for wear with each passing minute and the cleaners weren't quite sure how long it would take until Zanka shut down completely.
Enjin was especially direct with their switch in priority. They had to get that jinki back and before they did, everything else would be second priority.
Their search lead them to an area with a bit more stable ground, a cliffside for possible shelter from the winds, and piles upon mountains of trash covering the land.
Just when they thought they could catch a breather, another whirlwind had intercepted them. Except Zanka knew that was no whirlwind at all. Not one produced by the unstable environment of the No Man's Land anyway.
Jabber Wonger. That asshole and his stupid "Stormy Weather" or whatever he yelled out back then. As if his day couldn't get any worse.
While Zanka was lamenting his extraoridinarily bad luck and thinking of how to fight the newfound danger off, the thought of having to uselessly sit back twiddling his thumbs while everyone else took on the enemy making him shudder, an item suddenly flung out of the suspiciously purple-ish funnel.
At first everyone assumed it was just more trash like typical, ducking down and shielding themselves in preparation for an onslaught of garbage rain. But the moment Zanka saw it, his eyes cleared and his body sprung into action.
Moving faster than ever before, Zanka caught his precious jinki and held it tightly in his arms, fearing that the wind would swipe it from him once more.
Was that bastard so insistent on a bloody fight he felt the need to return Zanka's weapon for him just to get some action?
How did he even find it?
Prepared for the worst, Zanka quickly looked back at the "whirlwind", assuming it would quickly accelerate towards the cleaners, or maybe that crazy raider would suddenly jump out with his claws drawn, aimed straight for Zanka's throat.
To his utter confusion however, the funnel started to back off, weaving throught the mountains of waste before it dissapeared from the cleaners' sight completely. They could hear it throw some items around for a moment longer until it ultimately seemed to dissipate like all the other whirlwinds they saw before.
The crew was glad Zanka had his vital instrument back and that the storm passed them without any problems caused. They theorized that Lovely Assistaff was probably thrown nearby by a bigger storm and instead of being buried, it managed to stay out of the waste piles. Then a smaller storm managed to pick it back up alongside other stray items and the cleaners were lucky enough to catch it's path.
The odd colour didn't raise suspicions either, considering that certain garbage could sometimes colour these storms based on where they landed or formed. It would be easy for the colours to show especially on such a small funnel as opposed to a big one, where all pigment may be overshadowed by the massive amount of dust and sand that the whirlwind gathers around itself.
Zanka knew he should have said something, to alert the others to the presence of the raider. But he was in too much of a shock from the sudden change in his emotions from ultimate misery to happiness indescribable with words that he couldn't speak.
Nothing mattered anymore, he had his dear Assistaff back in his arms, safe and sound. He felt like a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders and all the stress crumbled away, leaving him feeling light as a feather. In the car he sat silently, holding his jinki close and focusing on not making any further fool of himself, gathering whatever dignity he felt he could salvage in front of his fellow cleaners.
"You good Zanka?" the voice of Follo suddenly brought him back to the present. The cleaners had driven to a nearby town to celebrate before heading back to HQ, believing that a hearty meal was exactly what they'd need after such an eventful mission. The road back was a long one after all, and no one was excited at the idea of leaving without a proper pause to gather their strength.
"Yeah, I was just recapping the mission, that's all. Pretty interesting trash beasts we found, huh?" Zanka answered, hoping that his answer would be satisfactory enough to not warrant any further questioning.
Follo simply assumed that Zanka almost losing his vital instrument in what could only be described as a needle-in-a-haystack situation was messing with his mind a bit and left it at that, giving him a smile and a nod before focusing on his own meal.
After finishing their meals and packing up, the crew loaded themselves into the car to begin their long jurney back to HQ.
........................................
Sweat dripped down Jabber's face, adrenaline coursing through him like an unescapable storm.
"Shit, shit, shit-"
He ran around the area, again and again, hoping for nothing short of a miracle.
"When did I lose it?"
His eyes scanned the ground, hoping his eyes would leech onto the familiar sight of his precious ring.
"Where is it!?"
Jabber had been looking around for the items Zodyl had sent some of the raiders out to find. Boredom had started to claw at his mood, dampening his workflow, when a sudden rumble had sounded from around a few tall piles of waste.
Excitement filled Jabber's heart, the prospect of fighting something feeling like a nice change in pace to his otherwise nearly uneventful trip.
To his dismay however, the mix of a completely foreign threat that wasn't affected by his poisons, an unfamiliar battle ground, as well as unexpected weather conditions had caused him to lose one of his rings. A part of his Mankira.
He had managed to destroy the trash beasts bothering him, but somewhere in the process his ring had slipped from his ring finger. Either one of the trash beasts or the raging wind funnels around him had flung the ring somewhere out of Jabber's sight. Maybe it was a mix of both. Jabber didn't care. All he wanted was to see his ring again.
"This can't be happening!" frustration rang through Jabbers body like a fever. The longer it took to find Mankira, the further into the wasteland it would be buried. Something as small as that would be impossible to find if it was lost in these conditions.
With anxiety coursing through him, his eyes blown open wide, Jabber continued to run.
........................................
"What the-" Zanka stared at the object on the ground like it had personally offended him. And maybe it technically had.
The drive back to HQ would take multiple days and the crew had decided to take a break to stretch their legs a bit. Follo and Riyo were stretching out every possible limb in their bodies, Enjin and Gris were discussing driving turns and Rudo was exploring the area, rummaging through the piles of waste with such enthusiasm that Zanka could almost see bams of light surrounding him.
Gripping assistaff tightly, Zanka decided to take a walk around the area to stretch his legs a little. The air was calm and the only sound around was the conversations of his teammates. There was no need to be on edge, and Zanka wanted to show off how not-affected he was by the past two weeks.
Around a couple piles of trash something to his side had caught his eye. One of Jabber's rings, Mankira, Zanka remembered. It was laying there, awfully lonely without the completing set around it for company. Such an unassuming little thing, but Zanka knew better, and was immediately on edge.
But why would Jabber's ring be here? What would be the odds of that? How does one even lose something wrapped around their own body so tightly?
Whatever the reason for the offending ring's presence, Zanka glanced around himself, half expecting Jabber to lunge at him from some hidey hole. But nothing ever came. Just the eerie stillness around him and the echoing laughter of his friends around the corner greeted him.
With hatred in his mind towards the owner of the ring, Zanka sighed. The ring didn't technically do anything wrong. Why should he abandon it here just because it's owner is a crazy weirdo?
With sympathy towards the tiny object, Zanka kneeled down to grab it before pocketing it, nice and safe.
A part of him couldn't help but feel a small bang of empathy towards Jabber for his predicament not unlike what Zanka had gone through not longer than about a week ago, but this feeling was quickly shaken off. Zanka wasn't sure what he would do if he ran into Jabber again with a part of Mankira hidden on himself. It felt more than just a bit wrong to hold onto it, and in all honesty he didn't really want to either. He has had more than enough of this little jinki and it's abilities.
But leaving it behind made him shudder in an uncomfortable way. He imagined Jabber crossing paths with Assistaff and giving it nothing but a passing glance before moving on, leaving it to be buried deep within the No Man's Land.
With a heavy mind, Zanka gave the area one last glance before returning to his crew.
"Everybody finished with their business? Ready to get back on the road?" Gris yelled out from his spot next to the car, leaning to the driver's side door. Seems that it was his turn to drive.
Zanka felt a little bad about taking the ring with him. What if Jabber came around trying to find it only to leave empty handed? He could imagine the amount of turmoil currently rippling through the raider quite easily.
........................................
Jabber was of no use right now. Cthoni was looking at him, head held low, posture so hunched over she imagined he would start rolling down one of the hills like a wheel if he were to trip. But orders were orders, they were to keep searching around a new mapped out area.
Letting out a sigh, Cthoni scouted out a place to leave Jabber to sulk in until it was time to move on. She decided to drag him into a nearby cliffside cave and sit him down againt the wall.
She did feel bad for him, and thought about taking him around their route again once the mission was done to try and look for his missing ring, but she had no choise but to follow Zodyl's instructions for now.
"Wait here. I'll come back in a bit." Cthoni said, looking back from the cave entrance at the man slumped over in complete and utter defeat. Jabber was quiet. It was ironically more off putting to see him like that than what Cthoni was used to.
Jabber wasn't sure how long he sat there for. His mind was racing with empty thoughts, all energy and will drained from him, leaving behind nothing but a silent empty husk.
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"Take a break everyone! We got a good 3 days more to go." Enjin said with a slight groan to the end of his sentence. The crew was stepping out of the car to take another moment to walk around and regain their energy from the boring ride. Everyone took the chance to sleep through Gris' turn behind the wheel, the gentle sound of the engine and the slight sway of the car knocking them out in record time.
Zanka decided to walk around, clearing his head. He felt much better after such deep sleep but sleeping while sitting down will take it's toll no matter how relaxing. The popping of everyone's joints, backs, arms, fingers and legs rang out around the area, each prisoner of a long drive stretching out the knots that had ample time to form along the way.
The air was a bit clearer around this area, which was good in it's own way, but it also allowed for scorching heat to pass through to the ground, leaving Zanka fanning his face through his walk. Eventually he spotted a sizeable cave on the side of a cliff and decided to take shelter there, searching for the sweet relief of shade.
The moment he stepped into the cave however, he stepped back and readied his Assistaff. Jabber! He was here! But no matter how many moments passed between them, Jabber didn't move. Zanka felt a bit awkward just standing there, so he yelled out to the raider sitting against the wall, his hair falling over his face, touching the ground, his legs sprawled out.
"Hey! Uh.. Whatcha doing?" Zanka's tone turned from imposing and intimidating to confused. He expected Jabber to be out of it, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. Sure he lost a part of his jinki, but he still had the other 9 rings. Zanka imagined he'd at least have some fighting spirit left, or maybe he'd fight twice as fiercely, fueled by the loss of one of his rings. But the man before him was still as a rock. Was he even alive?
Zanka hesitantly walked over to the raider, Assistaff firmly held at the ready, unactivated, but no less menacing. Once he reached the raider, he took a moment before standing straight awkwardly at the lack of a reaction. He crouched down to take a look at the raiders face, slowly showing aside his hair to take a look at him. Jabber's face was completely blank, and he was staring at the ground with red eyes. Zanka wasn't sure if it was due to some substance the raider may have injected himself with or because he hadn't been blinking all this time, but the sight left him deeply disturbed. Was this even Jabber?
A sudden movement caused Zanka to flinch flightly, not necessarily out of fear. He kept holding Jabber's hair to the side, looking at his face. Jabber slowly moved his eyes upwards to look at Zanka, his head lifting a little in the process.
A tiny smile that didn't reach his eyes painted Jabber's face at the sight of the cleaner in front of him.
"Hey there, Zanka. You really here or am I hallucinating some crazy shit again?"
"Ya stab yourself with something? You're lookin' kinda.."
"Nah. But I feel like shit." Jabber sighed, the smile on his face falling as fast as it had appeared.
"I can see that." Zanka said, letting Jabbers hair fall back onto his face. Well, seems like he wasn't much of a threat in this state. He should be good to go. Zanka was pretty proud of himself for finding Jabber's lost ring, and he'd be a dirty liar if he said he wasn't looking forward to the raider's reaction to getting his jinki back.
With less hesitation than he thought possible, Zanka shuffled around in his pocket, grabbing onto the ring.
"I know you were the one to return Assistaff back to me like a week ago. That whirlwind move of yours? Kinda hard to forget." Zanka thought back with a slight scowl.
"I don't know why you did it, all without starting a fight at all. Gonna be honest, I thought it was kinda off brand for you, but.." he pulled his hand out of his pocket, holding the ring in his fist.
"I'd feel like I'm indebted to you or something if I didn't pay it forward."
He offered his hand to Jabber, opening his palm to reveal the raider's missing ring.
Zanka could see Jabbers head lift slightly to take a look at what Zanka was handing him. For a moment there was silence. Then Jabber whipped his head up, eyes widening with clear disbelief painting his entire face. The sudden movement startled Zanka, but he held firm.
Jabber gently took the ring from Zanka, staring at it for a moment before placing it tightly onto his finger, completing the set. He flexed his hand a couple times, seemingly in a trance of some kind. Zanka waited with bated breath for Jabber's next move.
Jabber looked up at Zanka, visibly revigorated. The contrast between this Jabber and the Jabber of about a minute ago was so stark they may have as well been different people altogether.
"Zanka, my man! Where'd ya find her!?" Jabber yelled out before lunging at Zanka, his arms trapping Zanka against himself tightly. Zanka tried to pull him away, but Jabber seemed to leech onto him so tightly he may need to use his Lovely Assistaff to pry him off.
"Does it matter? Let me go! Ya got your ring back!" Zanka yelled while attempting to wriggle out of the raider's grasp. He was so stupid, what if Jabber activated his vital instrument now and stabbed him in the back, literally!?
But no pain ever came. Just a quiet sound Zanka may have missed if he wasn't extra focused on the man hanging off of him at the moment.
"Thanks man."
Zanka wasn't sure what to make of the situation. His instincts were telling him to kick the raider off of him and activate Assistaff in preparation for a fight, but the situation was so unexpected that his body felt like it was malfunctioning.
Zanka stopped struggling, opting to let his hands hang loosely at his sides instead. Feeling awkward, he chose to ignore what Jabber had said and decided to satiate his own curiosity instead.
"Where'd ya find Assistaff from? I lost her in a storm but we couldn't find her no matter where we looked."
At this, Jabber pulled off a bit, still keeping his hands at Zanka's back.
"Found it sticking off the side of one of those waste mountains. Guess a storm flung it pretty hard, it was real deep in there." Jabber let out a little chuckle.
"And why'd you return it?" Zanka asked, deciding to ignore the raider's hands for now. He still wanted some clarifying answers and moving now might snap the raider back to what Zanka was used to dealing with, was what he told himself. But the feeling of being held close, being appreciated so much, got Zanka's pride to swell a bit, which was the bigger reason he chose to let it slide. He'd never admit it to himself however.
"Ya pack a nice punch, would be a shame if that's how it all ended." Jabber said with a smile.
Zanka groaned, pushing the raider off of him and standing up, patting his pants down to remove some dust they gathered from the ground while he was kneeling.
Jabber also stood up, spreading his fingers apart while smiling down at his once more completed set of rings.
Zanka could barely breathe, the atmosphere quickly turning awkward. Better to take his leave now. Jabber was still in a bit of a haze it seemed and Zanka would rather get out before he came down from it. He was exhausted from the jurney and didn't feel like fighting an avoidable battle.
He turned to walk away, heading back towards the opening in the cliffside, leaving Jabber to sort himself out. He kept walking until he heard the distinct sound of a vital instrument activating.
Zanka whipped around, expecting the worst, only to be met with an incredibly relaxed looking Jabber, who was still standing exactly where Zanka had left him, admiring the smaller claws now protruding from his rings.
The raider turned to look at Zanka with a smile before speaking again. "Thanks, really. Ya didn't have to, but ya did."
Zanka felt his heart bang in his chest, and this time he wasn't sure if it was because of the sudden scare he got or because of his pride. He turned to walk away once more.
"Put on yer damn mask!"