Kal'teek put her hands together, small fingers intertwining, and nodded. "Yes, after repairing Goku's ship we already had some experience with it, although you boys' ships were in much rougher shape after deteriorating in space. But we did what we could. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough. We could get them to turn on… but we had to dismantle one of them for the parts to repair the other.
"Wh… what do you mean?" Cale asked again, looking into Rek's eyes, trying to hope that he could get some glimmer of a better understanding somehow.
"What I mean is that only one of our pods is capable of taking off and escaping orbit again," he said after a moment, grimacing as he looked back at Cale's pained expression. "The elders have been working on a ship big enough for the both of us for some time now by recreating the materials that made our ships, but it's not quite ready yet. I'm going to take the one working pod and leave on my ow-"
"You're doing WHAT?!" Cale asked again, standing up from the table quickly. "You… You can't! We were supposed to leave /together!/ We have to find the rest of the Saiyans if there are any out there, and show them that there's another way to live!"
"I know, Cale," Rek said quietly, looking up at his brother. He wasn't angry, only understanding. "I know what we agreed on, but I can't pass this opportunity up. Right now, I'm strong enough to handle anything the galaxy has, but yo-"
"I'm just a weakling, right?" the younger brother demanded, balling his fists up. "Just because you've ascended and I haven't, you're going to leave me behind? "
Kal'teek sensed the worst coming, and did her best to try and calm Cale. "Your brother isn't saying you're weak, Cale," she tried to assure him, hopping up and dashing over to put a hand on his arm, patting it gently. "He just feels that now is his opportunity."
"Cale, if it weren't for what happened during your test, I wouldn't have ascended at all," Rek explained, shaking his head. "And without some form of massive trauma, you won't be able to either. It's not something that can be forced. You aren't weak, but you just aren't as strong as I am now that I've unlocked Super Saiyan."
A few of the plates on the low dining area cracked and splintered as Cale made a frustrated gesture; a burst of telekinesis due to his heightened emotions. "So I almost DIE, and you have to save me and everyone else, then you disappear for months off training with the elders only to come back for a few weeks to tell me you're going to leave the planet entirely?!" Tears of anger and pain began forming in the young fighter's eyes as he felt the promise he and Rek had made breaking. "You said it was going to be us, the two of us, always with each other. Because we were all that was left now!"
Kal'teek paled a bit, and Rek caught her glancing away with a pained look. He stood now as well, growing angry at Cale's insensitivity. The Yardratian woman had been as much of a mother to the two of them as she'd been able to, and Cale was spouting out something Rek had said twelve years before when it HAD been just the two of them. "Cale, you're my brother," he said, half a growl. "You know I would do anything for you-"
"Then stay for me! Help me get stronge-"
"BUT, there's no way for me to simply train you into a Super Saiyan. Not when you can't even remember all of what happened on Planet Vegeta. That's the only thing I could possibly use from your life to cause a rise in your blood of the level needed to ascend," he said, not stopping as Cale interjected. Rek walked around the small table, putting his shoulders on Cale as the younger of the two looked down, hot tears falling. "You need to stay here, and train," he said, eliciting a cringe from Cale. "Not because you're weak, but because the galaxy is strong. Stronger than either of us can prepare for. At least as a Super Saiyan, I can escape from something that would otherwise kill me. You can't just rely on Instant Transmission to get you out of every tight position you're in, Cale."
The younger Reigo moved his arms up, smacking Rek's hands away from his shoulders, and looked up into his brother's eyes with an almost unmitigated desperation and fury. "No, but it can get me out of this," he said, putting his fingers up to his forehead and shutting his eyes for a moment.
"No, Cale, wait!" Kal'teek did her best to stop him, trying to grab hold of his arm but her hands passed through air as Cale phased out of view, having locked onto some miniscule power level far away. "You don't have… I'm sorry…" The elderly Yardratian fell to her knees, still grasping at the air, tears beginning to well in her eyes now.
Rek's anger bided immediately when Kal'teek dropped and he walked over to her, prioritizing her assurance over Cale's moodiness. His brother had a right to be mad, he would be in the same situation, but he would be fine for a time. In fact, knowing Cale it would probably be best to leave him be for a few hours. But Kal'teek needed tending now. He crouched, putting a hand on her shoulder and drawing her attention. "He doesn't mean that you know," Rek told her, his lips thin as he took in the Yardratian's tear-streaked face. "Cale loves you dearly, he's just…"
"I know," she said, rubbing at her face to dry it off. "I've watched that boy grow more frustrated each time he hit a stumbling block in spite of his progresses throughout the years. I just wish there was a way that we could get through to him."
Rek gave half a grin, his eyebrows sagging a bit. "We do, even if he doesn't show it immediately," he shrugged a bit, pulling her into a quick embrace. "But after we lost everything, Cale put a load on himself that he shouldn't have: the duty to reunite a race that honestly deserves to die for its sins. He's just too young to fully understand, and without that he's got nothing more than my promise to him and his own dreams."
Kal'teek gave a small shiver as she managed to regain control of herself, standing shakily. Her years showed through her normally composed, warm, motherly mindset for a moment. "I wasn't able to have children of my own, to help the village grow," she said, busying herself with the dishes Cale had broken in his outburst. "But when you two arrived, I saw an opportunity to. And you both have helped so much, stopped natural disasters, given new knowledge to our clan, acted as ambassadors to others."
"And we appreciate everything you, and the others here, have given us," Rek reassured her, helping her clean up. "But Cale's got it in his head that he needs to leave someday. I just don't think he has it in his head how much there is to handle. I've seen some of the things that exist in this galaxy." Rek's eyes grew distant for a moment, his actions stopping. "… I've seen entire platoons of fighters be swallowed up, or burst into cinders. Vaporized like they were nothing more than air to begin with. I can't let Cale go out there with me when he's still so idealistic."
Kal'teek turned back to Rek, her beaky mouth spread in a grin. "You're a good brother, Rek Reigo. And if you ever find yourself a nice Saiyanness out there, you'll make an excellent father."
Rek grinned back, shaking his head. "I'm nothing compared to our father. He understood that the Saiyans would rise up some day, even if we were simply too stupid to know when we should have. He shamed himself, joining the Science Corps, just to ensure that we Saiyans had what we needed to survive on our own as a race. Not to need to steal technology from other races ever again."
The Yardratian moved over to Rek, her diminutive stature made all the more apparent as she drew closer to the tall warrior. "Yes, and one day you and Cale will find more Saiyans, I'm sure of it. You'll both become great leaders," she said, her eyes shining a bit. "But right now, I think you should go and take care of your younger brother. Perhaps it would be best, at least this time, not to give him the chance to mull all this over too much."
Rek nodded in return, turning to put his fingers up to his forehead. "Yes, I suppose you're rig-" he froze, midword, as a slight tremor shook the area, followed by another larger rumbling through the air itself. His eyes widened, and he spun on the spot to face Kal'teek, her face a mirror of Rek's shock.
"He isn't," she said, shaking her head slightly.
Rek's face became grim, and he put his fingers up to his forehead again. "He is, and I have to stop him."
"W-wait, I can help you!" she said, putting her own fingers up to her forehead and trying to lock onto Cale's rising power in the distance.
"No you won't," Rek shot back, barking out his command. Kal'teek looked like she'd been struck for a moment before she nodded reluctantly, dropping her own fingers. "I'm the only one who can survive being near him right now." The eldest Reigo put his fingers back up to his forehead, shutting his eyes and trying to lock onto Cale, who's power was rising erratically far off in the desert. But as the moments passed, the tremors getting stronger, he began gritting his teeth. "Damnit… his power is all over the place, he can't control it!" he burst out after a few more moments, blinking a few times before putting his fingers back up against his head. "I can't get a good lock, but maybe I can just… just get close enough…" A few tense moments later, Rek's head beginning to split in pain from the weight of his concentration, and he vanished from Kal'teek's kitchen.
Only to arrive in the midst of a maelstrom. Just as Rek, Kal'teek, and most likely the majority of the planet had felt, Cale was pushing his power to the absolute limit. Rek's clothes immediately began to flail around, ripping as the vicious winds shot past him, and he tossed his arms up in a cross in front of him as a few large rocks were sent flying at him. Amidst all the chaos, Cale was hunched over in the center of the disturbance, his teeth bared, his fists clenched, muscles tight while his silver aura ripped through the air, extending far out past his body. Cale was trying to ascend, focusing on his anger at being left behind, and his power was spiking sharply. And it didn't look like it was going to work.
"CALE!" Rek shouted, taking a shaky step forwards, a wave of dust blinding his vision for a moment. "CAAALE, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!"
Cale finally recognized Rek's presence, casting a glance over from his planted position for a moment, and shut his eyes as he pushed his power higher, letting out a harsh scream. "N-NO!" he rejected, hunching over and contracting his limbs a bit before he stretched his body out, chest rising, and forced his power past its limit. "I WON'T LET YOU LEAVE ME! I… I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO!" Flashes of brilliant gold began filtering in with Cale's expanded silver aura, his hair rising slowly and beginning to flash lighter intermittently as he grunted, his teeth grit hard enough to crush diamond.
For a few moments, Rek began to think Cale was going to achieve it. Perhaps his younger brother's desperation to prove himself would be enough to grant his ascension. Cale was a powerfully willful young fighter… the thought of being abandoned due to a perceived weakness might be enough. Rek watched, being pushed back slightly in the wake of Cale's emitting force. But after a few more moments, his pupils stopped flashing to green and disappeared entirely, his body beginning to bulge outwards as it began overloading with power. Cale's strength spiraled out of his control, and as his body began to crackle, steam rising in place of the sweat that had been coating him. Rek was knocked over in a sudden, extreme burst of rising power and he quickly realized that Cale's ascension was going wrong.
His power was rising dangerously high, and his body wasn't adapting to the change. Cale was losing control of his own energy, and if he didn't snap out of it, he would simply self destruct. And with his power surpassing what Rek could remember of Frieza's first form, he would likely take a large portion of Yardrat with him when he did. Rek brought himself to his feet, trying to walk forwards, closer to his brother, but was buffeted by the whipping gales centered from Cale, pushed back farther than he progressed forwards. Desperate to reach Cale, Rek centered his ki for a moment before his ascension lit the area, his body glowing golden as his power skyrocketed. More firmly grounded now, he began pushing forwards again, making a slow and steady progress towards Cale.
It took a few more moments before he got closer, but Rek found himself staring into the face of his desperate younger brother, and for a brief second couldn't bring himself to act. Bared plain in front of him, Cale was doing everything in his power just to prove his worth. Rek felt no small pang of guilt; in a way this was his fault. He had chosen to leave Cale behind and to strike out on his own, partly from protection and partly from arrogance. He knew the galaxy better than Cale did, and he WAS a Super Saiyan. There was no guarantee he could survive out there, it was impossible to know what could be waiting, and yet he was willing to throw himself out and leave his brother behind. Maybe he hadn't been quite as successful at leaving behind his Saiyan upbringing as Cale had been.
Rek reached out slowly, putting his hands on Cale's face, and tried to shake him out of his power induced trance. "Cale, I know that it hurts," he said, trying to calm the far-gone boy. "But you have to stop this! Think of what you're doing, this isn't the way to prove how strong you are!"
Cale's response was a gurgled grunt, and another massive burst of wind that nearly shot Rek away in spite of his ascension. The eldest Reigo held his ground, putting his forehead against Cale's and shutting his eyes. "Cale, this isn't how you can prove your power!" he tried again, gripping Cale tighter. "And if you don't get some control over yourself, all you'll do is kill everyone we care about! Do you really want to do to this planet what Frieza did to hours?!"
Rek watched as Cale's face changed, relaxing slightly, his hair returning to it's normally, slightly drooped spikes, his black pupils returning as Cale fought to regain control of himself. Rek had gotten through somehow, and he didn't quite care what had done it. Cale's power was dropping, his body beginning to cool off, but a fresh flow of hot tears began dripping down his cheeks again when Cale saw his brother so close, fighting to save him from himself.
"Rek, I… I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, his rage finally subsiding, the winds around him dying down quickly as Cale dropped to his knees.
Rek dropped with Cale, changing his hold to wrap Cale's shoulders with his arms, pulling his brother in closer. Cale's body was radiating heat like a furnace, and Rek could feel how close he'd been to losing everything he had left. "No, I'm sorry Cale. I pushed you to this… but you have to understand."
Cale grasped onto his brother harder, shaking his head as his body was wracked with desperate sobs. "I d-do, Rek," he gasped out, pulling back and casting his gaze downwards, ashamed to look at Rek directly. "You… You're a Super Saiyan and I'm… I'm only a Saiyan. And Saiyans have already shown they couldn't handle the galaxy."
Rek smirked, giving Cale a knock on the shoulder. "Cale, don't every say that again," he denied. "It's got nothing to do with being a Saiyan. All that matters is that you're willing to die for what you believe in. Bardock was, and so were our parents. But there's no reason to put yourself at risk for no reason." He waited for a moment, letting it sink in. "12 months. Give me one year, and stay here on Yardrat training. I'll be back before then, just give me long enough to see what I can find, what all it is out there, and if it's safe then I'll come back for you. By then, the elders will have our ship ready and we'll be able to leave."
Cale looked up at Rek slowly, processing what he was being told. "Together?" he asked, starting to smile.
Rek nodded back, grinning and giving him another knock on the shoulder. "But only if you can hold the kind of power you were just throwing around WITHOUT damn near blowing yourself up," he chided, standing and pulling Cale up with him. "Plus, with me gone you'll be the only Saiyan on this planet for the warriors to fight. You'll have plenty of sparring partners."
The younger Reigo dusted himself off, adjusting his torn up clothes, and punched Rek square in the chest, knocking his older brother over as he came out of his transformation and returned to normal. "If you keep making it so easy to tell when you're going to change forms, I might even win our next fight," Cale teased back, turning to take off. But he was jolted to a stop after only a few feet, his ankle gripped tight.
"I think you spoke to soon, little brother," Rek warned, a vicious glint in his eyes. "Our next fight is now."
