Jack and Taro just sat in silence as they waited in Dr. Pol En’s lobby. Well, Jack did. Taro went to sleep in his chair once all of the excitement went away. They had managed to bring Tea from the forest to here in about half an hour. Right now, she was treating their teacher for his bloodloss and injured shoulder. They were simply waiting for what the resulting rest time Tea would need. That time would be how long the town would be without a dedicated hunter filling up the meat supplies.
Time ticked by as they sat there. Finally, the door leading to where Dr. Pol En had taken Tea to do some surgery opened and the doctor entered the room sweating a little. Jack stood up and whispered to her, “Is he going to be fine?” Pol looked at him in confusion. She spoke in a normal level of volume, “Wha-?” Then Jack put his entire hand over her mouth. Her eyes looked at him with anger at what he did, but followed Jack’s eyes as they looked to his side. She saw Taro’s sleeping form and understood why he did it.
Still, that didn’t stop her from licking his hand covering her mouth. Jack almost yelped, but managed to keep it inside long enough to just glare at her. He angrily whispered, “Why’d you do that?” She got up to his face and pointed at him. “Don’t put your dirty hand on my face. I just got my make up and lipstick on.”
Jack’s angry face softened in realization. “Oh.” He said softly. Then his brows furrowed as he realized one other thing. “Wait, if my hand is dirty, why did you-?” Pol backed up and looked away while she waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about that. Anyways.”
She went back into ‘serious mode’. “You guys managed to get him here just in time for me to get his internals back to where they need to be. His foot will possibly be just a little infected with that long and shallow cut, but we have enough antibiotics to treat it. The real problem will be that shoulder of his.” She put her hand up to her chin, holding it like “The Thinker”. Her eyes were no longer in the moment, but instead on what the big problem was.
“His shoulder was mauled into something that I could barely put together. His ligaments and tendons have been massively reduced, meaning he’ll probably feel a lot of pain there for the rest of his life. Comparable to arthritis. Unfortunately, I had to wash out all of the dirt and gunk in there, and take out even more that were just hanging on by a thread. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be infected, with how long all of that dirt and bacteria was stuck in there for.”
She shook her head, and came back into the moment. She continued. “I’m going to need him to stay here for the next week for observation and treatment. Until then, I can only say that it might take two months before he is capable of trying to shoot again. Emphasis on the ‘might’ and ‘trying’. There’s no guarantee that he’ll be capable of shooting again.”
Jack grimaced at this news. “Are you sure?” Pol sighed and just shook her head while shrugging. “Like I said, there’s no guarantee. He might be able to shoot again, he might not. Until then, this town’s best hunter is out of commission.”
Jack looked down in despair for Tea, before taking a glance at the door Pol came out of. “Does Tea know?” Pol once more shook her head in negative. “I’ve had to put him under general anesthesia, he’ll come back to us tomorrow. Until then, he’s extremely loopy and sleepy.” Jack stood still as he couldn’t think of what else to do.
The town was coming into harvest time for their nearby farms. That meant a lot of grain and veggies would come into the town and need to be rationed until the World Army could create a substitute route for the train. No, wait. He also remembered the mayor saying that they would share the food with the three or four other villages that were cut off from the train. That meant what food that they would keep would be rationed even harder. The only kind of food that could be steady would be the meat they brought in.
Jack came back into focus. He licked his lips as he looked over Pol, glanced back at Taro, and then turned back to Pol. “Hey, uh, do you mind if we go outside for a second?” Pol raised a brow at him, but still nodded and followed him outside.
Once they were outside and on the side walk, Jack turned back to Pol and took a big inhale. He braced himself for the question about to come out of his mouth. “Do you want to, uh, go out with me? On a date?” He saw her face go flat and further clarified himself. “I mean, not today. Or tomorrow. Or until Tea no longer needs someone watching over him. I just, uh, wanted to, uh,”
He was interrupted as Pol sighed while rubbing her eyes. “Jack, I just got done doing a four hour surgery and am going to need to sleep here for the next week to make sure Tea doesn’t die in the night. Why would you think now is the best time to ask me out?” Jack Williams decided to open his dumb mouth. “Because I told Taro that I would yesterday.”
Pol just stared at Jack. “... You’re a dumbass. You know that, right?” Jack thought about every choice he ever made in his life. That time he accidentally burned toast so bad that he caused the smoke alarm to go off. It was four in the morning, he was eleven, and the incident woke up his parents. He got his ass beat for that.
That one time where he was messing around with a pallet jack like a skateboard and accidentally fell off and hit his head on the concrete. It was his first job and he got fired because the jack hit a carefully stacked tower of pallets that then fell and broke into splinters and boards.
That other time where he was 19 and almost burned down his apartment because he left the oven on and caught his fries on fire. Later on that year he caused a small flood in his apartment building because he stopped up a sink that didn’t have that emergency drain at the lip so it didn’t go over the bowl. He then used the restroom and came back to find out he made a small flood.
That time when he was 21 and totally didn’t realize a coworker of his was flirting hard with him for over a month, even though he was told by other coworkers about her attraction. He just didn’t believe them until it was too late. He really beat himself up about that one.
Just one week before he fell into the river and ended up in this world, he almost put himself into debt paying for microtransactions in ‘Naruto Online’. Those ingots were so worth it until he realized what he did in the morning. Then he fell into the river, and now he doesn’t worry about that anymore.
… Except he still hasn’t used up all of his ingots before he fell. That was going to bug him…
All of these memories, and many more, rushed through his head. Then he answered Pol’s question. “... Probably.” Pol stared again, this time in disbelief. “... Did you just take time to think about if you were a dumbass or not?” Jack did so once more. “... Yes.”
She sighed and slumped. “No, Jack. I won’t go on a date with you.” Jack sucked his lips in. “I get it.” And he did. He just doesn't think a lot before he does stuff. The decision to ask her now is one of them. She turned around and walked back to the doors of her clinic. She waved behind her and told him, “Anyways, I gotta go back and make sure Tea’s vitals haven’t changed in the last ten minutes. You can tell Taro and Long to go home and-” She stopped. She spun back around, and gave him a look.
That look only described one thing. It asked Jack, “I hope I’m remembering wrong, or you’re actually a dumbass.” Her mouth, however, asked something else. “Y-You did tell Long Sleave-Shirtz about her husband’s injuries, right? I-I don’t remember her being in the lobby, but you told her and she just went home to tend to her children, right?”
Jack didn’t say anything. His entire face was stone-cold stoic as he tried to not show how he really felt inside once he heard her say Long’s name. His face was sweating and his eyes were subtly shaking as he knew the answer to her question.
Pol’s mouth started to hang open very slowly as Jack’s silence answered for her. “H-Holy shit, you are a dumbass.” She then burst forward and got up into his face. She yelled, “Your muscle-headed ass better get over to her house and bring her and her kids here right now or so help me-!”
Jack snapped his hand up in a salute. “Yes, Ma’am! Right away, Ma’am!” He then turned to the sidewalk, ‘inhaled’ his Chakra with Body Enhancement at maximum power, and ran down the sidewalk so fast that Pol’s doctor jacket and skirt blew in the wind. She squealed as she held down the front of her skirt.
Jack flew down street after street, trying to get to the Shirtz residence as fast as he could. At one point, he ran past one of those speed limit signs that also had that speed reader thing built into it to see how fast you were going. It flashed the speed of 34 Kilometers an hour. Jack translated it to somewhere around 20 miles an hour, almost the speed of Usain Bolt. Still, he had no time to think on it as he could see the house in the distance.
He ran up to the door, stopped dead at the welcome mat, and pushed the doorbell. He looked down at his cheap wristwatch to see the time. 3:34 PM. They managed to leave the forest around 10:30 AM and made it to Pol’s clinic around 11:15. From then til now, Jack completely forgot about Tea’s entire family.
At least now he can bring them there fast enough that they don’t think to ask about why he didn’t tell them before.
No one came to the door in 30 seconds, so he pushed it again. In the house he could hear, “I’m coming! I’m coming.” Then, another 20 seconds later, the door opened to show an almost Chinese looking short woman. He said almost Chinese because she also had the complexion of an Indian with that dot thing some Indians had on their foreheads. He didn’t really know much about the country of India or its culture, but he did know that Chinese people and Indian people were very racist against each other in Asia.
Kinda funny to see that kind of image in front of him…
But that was not what he was here for! “Oh, you’re… Jack, right? Has my husband have you come to get something? Where is he anyway? He usually comes back by now.” She looked past Jack’s tall stature to try and find her husband. Not seeing her husband anywhere, she looked Jack in the eyes and noticed the sweat and panting he was doing.
Jack spoke up before she could try and fret over his health. “I’m sorry to tell you this, ma’am, but we had a bit of an incident in the forest.” Long put her hand over her mouth. Jack continued, “We have him in the clinic with Dr. Pol, and she determined that he’ll be fine. However, he’ll have to be in the clinic for the next week for observation. I’m here to take you there.”
Long stuttered for a second before she turned back into the house and yelled, “Dres! Jerz! Get out here and bring your homework! We’re going to the clinic!” She turned to Jack, “Thank you for telling me this. We’ll get there right away.” She then turned back and headed into the house, screaming once more for her children to get ready.
Jack stood there, his panting and sweating starting to lessen. He was here to get them all to the clinic as fast as possible, and he’ll do it no matter the obstacle.
Soon, the three Shertz family members were all outside and had everything on them. Long looked at Jack and told him, “We’re ready to go. Lead us on.” Jack nodded, but knew that wouldn’t be the fastest way.
So he bent down, picked all of them up, ignored their yelps, and ‘inhaled’. He ran down the sidewalk and got them to the clinic just in time for his Body Enhancement technique to strain his Chakra out.
He was chewed out by both Long and Pol for what he did, but the kids just wanted to go again.
Line Break Here
The time was 8:03 PM, and Jack was heading back home to just sleep off the whole day he had. His late return was met with no one up at this time. At least, no one in the living room or kitchen. Jack knew why.
Tomorrow was Tate’s birthday, and everyone went to bed early so they could get up early and celebrate early.
Jack understood, because he did the same thing back when he was a kid.
Anyways, Jack trudged back into his room, flopped on the bed, and used his Nurturing River Technique to feed himself since he didn’t want to heat whatever portion the Munchkinz left out for him for missing dinner.
He soon fell into a deep sleep, feeling his body lightly tingle from his technique.
Line Break Here
As Jack slept, multiple events happened throughout the region. Ralph Wrecking had managed to get to the next village and warned everyone there. They were skeptical since Ralph was someone they knew about for his many misdeeds in both his town and in theirs, but they still decided to arm up the local hunters and designated militia as quietly as possible.
Ralph stayed at a nearby inn, ready to wake up and continue his ride to East City.
Moon Shine feasted on the food of the town, rapidly diminishing their supplies and leaving the townsfolk hungry. However, Moon Shine has already declared his solution to the problem. They were going to march into the next town and take it over for the food and riches they had. His men all cheered at what he said, while the townsfolk could feel despair eat away at their stomachs.
Up north, near a neverending burning mountain, a man by the name of Ox Demon King (yes, really, check the wiki) was sitting with a World Army General who had bad news for him.
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Ox.” A dog person in an army uniform and helmet said to the absolute behemoth that was Ox Demon King. “I don’t know if we can put out this fire. We throw as much water as we can at it, but it never seems to abate.” The dog general adjusted his helmet in nervousness as he saw Ox’s face. “If… If this fire keeps going for another week without progress, I’m afraid we’ll have to stop and move onto the villages without protection down south.”
Ox’s face was set in stone. Like watching the top of a mountain get covered in snow, and wondering if any people were buried underneath it all. His eyes just stared at nothing, incapable of seeing the man in front of him.
The dog general could feel some sweat start to form on his snout, staring at what used to be a distraught and depressed man who had lost his wife and village. Now he was just despondent. Alongside that, Ox King was massive, easily bigger than most doorways the general has seen in his life. He only ever saw one other person as big as Ox, and he had died in a skirmish with the Red Ribbon Army.
“...So…” Ox’s deep baritone voice let out, “... You won’t save my home?” The general adjusted his collar and cleared his throat. “We’re saying that if the situation doesn’t improve, we’ll have to focus on the villages that are currently unprotected. We can’t focus everything on a location that has already been destroyed and its people already in the process of rebuilding.”
The general looked at a certain group of tents far away, far enough that it wasn’t affected by the blazing fire. It was near a patch of forest that was currently in the process of being cleared and used for material for new homes. Already, there are plots of land using string and stakes to designate where the homes will be built.
He looked back to Ox, whose face hasn’t changed at all. The general gave a small bow. “I’m sorry for your wife, Ox King.” His comforting apology did nothing for the man. “I must go, now. My men need me to lead them.” He left.
Ox could only sit and think about his daughter, who had cried in despair when she finally realized that her mother was never coming home. He thought about how she quieted down when she was then told that they would never go back home. He thought about how she was still just drifting amongst the other surviving children, trying to do anything to forget about how their home was gone.
He thought about how she was starting to go back to normal. About how her mother’s death and her home’s dissapearance was no longer affecting her or the other young children. She still remembered her, but she was starting to move on. He and the other adults were not nearly so ready.
He had been thinking heavily on what his next action should be, about how he was going to need some other way of making money and food and roads and everything needed to give his daughter a good home.
He did think about banditry, but he threw it away and just thought about how to progress.
He scoffed. Him? A bandit? It would go against what his master, his fellow student, Gohan, and his wife’s morals about strength. There was no world where he was going to be a bandit.
He got up, his heart feeling just a bit lighter as he walked back to his tent. He saw his little girl, Chi-Chi, waving at him from the flap before running straight towards him.
Yes, he couldn’t become a bandit. Especially with his daughter here. His wife would come back from the dead and kill him if he did so.
Line Break Here
Jack woke up groggy. His face felt like sandpaper or like a bunch of needles were sticking into his face. His drool was running down his chin, and soaking into his pillow. He smacked his numb face until he could feel the pain, and rolled over and out of his bed.
He stood and stretched his body, hearing his jaw and joints start cracking from it and yawning. As he relaxed back into a regular pose, he could hear the muffled sounds of the tv in the living room through his walls. He could tell that it was some kind of kids or cartoon thing. That meant that Tate was already up and using his special privilege of being the birthday boy to do whatever he wanted.
He smiled as he thought about how he did the same thing at the same age. He then stopped and turned to his nightstand. He went and grasped his nightstand with his hand, Tree Walking activated, and lifted it up. On the underneath of it, he saw what he built into it. A small panel of wood that was stuck in its cut tightly. He used his hand and another activation of Tree Walking to ‘grip’ it and pull it out with a quick use of Nurturing River.
There, in a small cubby he made in the bottom of the nightstand, was the recorder and camera he was using to get evidence of Merci’s evilness. They were taped into it so the kids wouldn’t be able to see it even if they somehow managed to get the panel off.
He took out the recorder and made sure the recording of the evil monologue was still there. Once he did so, he nodded and headed out to find Larry and Disi. He had something to tell them before the party.
AN: I couldn’t think of anything else to write that wouldn’t just cause the chapter to bloat to 8k words. Sorry for being gone for so long, but I had multiple things happening in my life.
First is the fact that my grandpa is now getting bad. Not sick, just so tired and clumsy that he sleeps all day and barely eats 500 calories a day. He also fell over just trying to get up off of my uncle’s couch and was bleeding from the head. He isn’t going to the hospital, but it's easy to tell that he’s on his last legs of his life. He is almost 90 years old. He’s lived a long life, but he also had some aggressive dogs at his property that was for the sake of protecting it.
My mother decided to have me help her clear an area to create a new dog pen for them so she doesn’t have to be forced to put them in the animal shelter. Its been a very tiring few week.
Secondly, I’ve been having a writer’s block with Ox’s section, in case you couldn’t tell. I’ve been having this new idea itching in the back of my mind and I couldn’t figure out how to write out Ox’s character. I posted my idea on Spacebattles Quests, which is just a Projection quest with different starting points you can choose.
Thirdly, I’ve been tired after work and couldn’t get any motivation to just put my nose to the grindstone. I only have Friday and Sunday off for the week and I spend my Sundays with Dad. You can guess about how I really don’t want to try and force myself to work on my day off.
Finally, I’ve also been sucked back into Naruto Online, so I’ve been playing that after work. It’s so addicting to make different teams that can do almost infinite combos.
I’m sorry once again, and thank you for being patient and understanding.