Threats and surprises
Countless days had passed since Gine got assigned to her new team and they found themselves at the training grounds, for what seemed like the millionth time that month. Not one mission had been given to them eversince Gine had joined.
And although no one said it out loud in her presence, she was almost certain it was because of her.
As usual when the rest was taking a break ath the bar, Gine kept training. Alone.
In the past weeks she had been able to build up her strength a bit. She was able to keep up with her teammates now, eventhough it took her a lot more effort than them. She had to train day in and out but she wasn't ready to give up.
Never before had she been so determined to stay on a team and the thought of being an actual part of them kept her going. There was no way in hell that she was ever gonna settle for a life as an outcast. "I'd rather die !" she groaned as she finished her routine of punches and kicks.
Catching her breath, she now grasped her painful stomach. "T-ten minute break..." she gasped. and sat down against a rock.
In the distance three of her comrades returned to resume their training. "Hey Gine," Tora called as soon as they were in hearing distance. "Come over here...We need to have a little talk..."
A little hesitant, Gine did as she was told. Her comrades had never been all that friendly to her, so she couldn't help but feel that they were up to something.
Borgos and Shugesh looked at her as she walked over. "You needed me ?" she asked as she turned to Tora.
"You could say that..." Tora said as he put an arm around her. "Gine, there's been a little problem lately, and the guys wanna ask for your...cooperation...You must have noticed the lack of missions..."
"Uhm...Yes, But I don't see how I can help with that ?"
"Oh much more than you realise," Tora continued "You see...They've come to the conclusion that we haven't been assigned eversince you came in the picture. And you know what we're all like. We're Saiyans, we want action. And it's about time we got some."
Gine frowned. "And you...want me to leave ? You can't kick me out, you know. The captain 's the one who's got to do that."
"Oh Bardock doesn't know about it." Tora laughed a bit. "He's got this idea that the team has got some point to prove about being able to take anything they throw at us. And he'll wait, even if it takes months before they give us a new assignment. You know how stubborn he is." Tora stopped for a second to let the message sink in. "My point is Gine, that we want you to quit. Resign from the job. It would make everything a lot easier for us. Otherwise we'll be forced to take matters into our own hands...And you dont want that to happen."
As he said that last part, he looked over his shoulder to Shugesh and Borgos, who both cracked their knuckles.
"You...You can't make me !" To avoid any further conflict, Gine turned around and walked away towards the showers. She was sure she could hear the guys calling stuff to her but her thoughts were louder. Still, the scolding quickened her pace and before she knew it she was running off. What was she gonna do now ? She didn't want to quit ofcourse, but on the other side she didn't want to risk a fight. The little Saiyan was so sunk in her own thoughts she had undressed and gotten into the shower without even realising it. She didn't even hear when someone came in the room.
"You okay in there little fish ?"
With a quick reflex Gine turned around and covered herself when Fasha walked into the shower. "Geez, nervous one aren't ya ?"
"Oh," Gine sighed. "It's you..."
"Come on...cheer up kid, you're not gonna let those idiots get to ya that fast, are ya ?"
A little confused, Gine looked at her. "How did you -"
"I guess you could say I overheard your little conversation by scouter...I overheard them talking about you in the bar and I listened through my scouter once they left to get you."
"So why are you telling me this ? You know they're right..." Gine closed her eyes and faced upwards, letting the warm water flow over her face. Secretly, she also did it so Fasha wouldn't notice she was close to tears.
"Are you kidding me ? They're wrong ! Sure, you're not the toughest cookie in the jar but look how far you've come in the past few weeks ! Why would you let your progress go to waste ? They've tried to do that to me to. Back when I got assigned, there weren't any missions for us either. The reason ? The gods know why, but back than they blamed it on the fact that I was a woman. That alone made them think I was weaker."
This confession surprised Gine. First of all, she wasn't used to Fasha talking to her as a friend, and second was the fact that she couldn't believe Fasha would entrust her with this information. It was quite shocking to learn that the otherwise tough as nails persona had a hard time fitting in as well.
"So what did you do ?" Gine asked.
"What I did is the same thing as you're gonna do. Just ignore them and don't give up. Eventually a new mission will come up and that will be your real chance to proove them wrong. I don't know what you're capable of fish, but as far as I can tell my first opinion on you was wrong too. I've come to realise that appearance isnt everything. You're fast as hell, and very agile."
This surprised Gine even more. "R-really ? You mean you think I'm good ?" she said as she walked out the shower to go dry herself. She hid her smiling face in her towel. Fasha soon followed. "I wouldn't say that, but you're not entirely worthless, not just yet. I've noticed your hair gets in your way sometimes..."
"Yeah it does, but I like it so much I just can't get myself to cut it...I'm afraid I'l regret it..."
In a split second, Fasha got behind her and held Gine's hair in a long, thick ponytail. "You want me to cut it for ya ? You seriously need to control that mane girl, it's crazy. I did the same to mine years ago." She gave Gine a little nudge towards the sink. "Look in the mirror. You should show your face a little more. You're not that bad looking."
Fasha was right. Cutting her hair short would bring out her face more... "I...I guess we could...try..."
That was all the confirmation Fasha needed. Immediately she formed a small, blade-like energy around her right hand. "Now stand still so I can do it real quick. I can't keep my energy formed like that for too long."
"I'm impressed you can even do that," Gine said as she stood perfectly still. "I've heard it's a really difficult technique"
Fasha acknowledged that with a short "uh-huh" and started cutting away large strands of hair. In a matter of minutes it went from wild and out of control to less than shoulder length.
"There you go"
Gine looked at her reflection with surprise. She would have thought it was someone else staring back at her, if she hadn't been so sure it was a mirror she was looking into.
"Wow...You were right Fasha...Gosh I don't know what to say...Thank you !"
Fasha put a supporting hand on her shoulder. "No need to thank me fish, just proove those idiots wrong on the very next mission we get. Now let's go check out their reaction." And with that said, Fasha gently pushed Gine towards the door. Three heads immediately turned when the two women emerged.
Shugesh immediately expressed his surprise. "Now who's THIS new chick, Fasha ? What did you do with Gine ?"
"Wait..." Tora said as he walked over to take a closer look. "It IS Gine. Well I must say, you do look different." He spoke with an admiring tone, looking her over from head to toe.
Fasha noticed the interest in Tora's eyes. "What's your deal Tora ? Cutting her hair makes her more interesting all of a sudden ? You threatened the poor thing an hour ago."
"Jealous, are we ?" Tora responded with a amused smirk on his lips. Seeing Fasha roll her eyes, Tora went even further. "Don't deny it, you liked it yester- "
Before Tora could finish that sentence, Fasha had jumped at him. Gine and the others watched in shock as they fought.
"HEY ! BREAK IT UP YOU TWO !"
Everyone, including the two fighters, looked to where the voice had suddenly come from. In all the commotion, Bardock had arrived unnoticed. As he walked over to the group, Tora whiped the dust of his armour and threw Fasha a taunting smile. She in her turn mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'Fucking idiot'.
"Good news..." Bardock went on. "We got ourselves a new assignement..."
With that, Gine's heart immediately dropped to the bottom of her stomach. This was it.