The group almost lost sight of Eto due to the storm and Veronica hurried to follow him while the rest stayed behind.
Djon was looking around, not recognizing Green point as the planet he once visited, long ago. He also noticed Hawk who was looking nervous and for some reason started sweating.
'You alright?' Djon asked him.
In front of them, in the midst of the sandstorm, Veronica caught Eto who again yelled for his grandpa.
'Eto, easy. We have to think of a plan instead of shouting.'
Veronica wanted to grab his arm to have his attention but he kept walking, wandering with his own thoughts.
Eto did not pay attention to her. Instead the fear that he had lost his home got the better of him and the tears began to appear. He kept looking around, desperate to find something he recognised but he saw nothing.
Nothing but barren wastelands and sand.
He landed on his knees and punched his fists into the ground.
Veronica could feel his power create shockwaves through the ground.
The sandstorm covered most of the surface and nothing could be seen through. Veronica looked back and luckily she still could see the rest who slowly started walking their way.
‘You guys alright?’ Djon asked, covering his face from the sand and with a nervous Hawk behind him.
‘Yes,’ Veronica said and she slowly grabbed Eto, who didn’t yell anymore.
‘I thought Green point would be a little more lively,’ Veronica said as Djon and Hawk came standing next to them. TYO also moved next to them but his tiny wheel was moving heavy with the dirt that got stuck in between.
‘It’s not like I remember,’ Djon said and he looked around. ‘Not this part at least.’
They all started to look at Eto who still kept looking around, ignoring the rest as he sat on the ground.
‘Eto. Maybe we should fly the ship and look around,’ Veronica slowly said so she wouldn’t startle him. She hoped to bring him some reason, instead of staying here.
‘No,’ Eto mumbled. ‘This is the place. Here is where grandpa trained me.’
‘Is it really?’ Veronica asked, thinking that the place would look a little different and slowly Eto shook his head.
‘It’s different. My home is gone. I need to find my grandpa,’ he said so softly that only Veronica could hear him.
Eto felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest as more and more it became clear that his home was gone and turned into a desert.
He looked up and saw the clouds of darkness moving over the surface.
A feeling of anger came to him but he didn’t let it consume him.
Veronica looked back at Djon and Hawk with a face that asked what they should do. She noticed that Hawk was looking nervous and that his face was full of sweat. When she wanted to ask what was wrong, Eto started to say something.
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‘Do you guys hear that?’ Eto asked and he looked up. His tears were gone but his face was a little red as he looked around for something.
‘What did you hear?’ Veronica asked and Djon, Hawk and TYO came closer to him.
‘What’s wrong Eto?’ TYO asked but Eto didn’t look at him. He kept staring in front of him, through the sand.
‘Don’t you guys hear that?’ he asked again and everybody started to focus if they could hear anything.
After a while it came clear that they didn’t hear anything and Eto finally looked at them with a surprised face.
‘How could you guys not hear that?’ Eto asked as he clearly heard something. They all looked at him with surprise as they indeed didn’t hear anything.
Eto accepted the fact that he was the only one hearing something and he decided to focus on the sound. He turned back towards the storm to focus on the sound.
The sound came from a distance and Eto couldn’t quite understand what he heard.
At first it sounded like a voice mumbling but soon it turned into words.
‘Eto……...Eto…...´
Eto his eyes widened as he heard his name.
Slowly he stood up and the rest looked at him as to what he was doing.
‘Eto……..Eto……’ he heard again.
‘Don’t you guys hear it?’ he asked again while staring into the storm.
When he got no response, he slowly turned around and saw that everybody had disappeared.
‘Guys?’ he slowly asked, looking around but the only thing that answered was the voice.
‘Eto……...Eto……..’
Eto turned around, searching the storm and after a while, something appeared a few meters in front of him.
It almost looked like a ghost, or a mirage of something.
Even though he wasn’t sure what it was, he slowly took one step in the direction of the mirage.
‘Eto……...Eto………’ he heard again.
The voice sounded like it was searching for him.
‘Yes?’ he answered with a stutter and suddenly the mirage moved, as if it was looking in his direction.
Now Eto could see what the mirage was.
It seemed like someone in a large gray robe that moved like smoke in the wind. On top of it was a rhombus shaped mask of wood that almost seemed like it was floating on top of the robe. The edges of the mask were marked with pink paint. The mask had looked into Eto’s direction since he had reacted to it.
‘Eto……...Eto……..’ the figure said again, slowly.
‘Yes? Who are you?’ Eto asked and slowly he moved closer to the mirage.
The mirage was shocked again and the mask took his attention to Eto.
It floated above the smoke-like robe, as if it was not attached to it. Still, the movement looked natural as if someone was wearing it.
‘You…...can…...see…..me?’ the voice of the mirage asked and after that it slowly faded.
‘Wait!’ Eto yelled and he jumped in front of him where the mirage stood but it was already gone. Nothing but wind and sand was left on the spot Eto jumped to.
‘Eto, what happened?’ he heard Veronica say from behind him and he turned around.
Everybody stood there like they were before, looking at him with surprise.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked and it made them look more surprised.
‘You started mumbling and out of the nothing you moved to the front,’ Veronica said and Eto took it that not only didn’t they hear the voice but also they didn’t see the mirage.
‘I was,’ but his words were interrupted by the sound of Hawk who was breathing heavily. So much that it grabbed everyone's attention.
‘Hawk, are you alright?’ Veronica asked and she turned around to grab him.
He pushed her arms away and it almost seemed like he was about to cry.
He stared at the ground, with eyes that showed desperation.
‘I’m sorry Eto,’ he said slowly and he looked up and directly at him.
‘What do you mean?’ Eto asked, confused about how Hawk suddenly was reacting and the rest were looking at him with the same face.
Hawk kept looking at Eto and it almost looked like he was going to break down. His eyes were wild and it started to creep Eto out.
‘I missed you and I am so sorry that I didn’t tell you anything but I couldn’t. I promised,’ Hawk said.
‘Promised what?’ Eto asked and he started to get scared of how Hawk was reacting.
‘I’m sorry Eto. I want to tell you but I hope you don’t look at me any differently after you know who I am or what I did’ Hawk said and with a heavy breath, he started telling a story.