This chapter has been edited.
Chapter 13
Naya
Gohan made sure to introduce her to Bulma. How could he not, the woman was pushy and noisy and overall just really annoying. Needless to say, Naya instantly disliked her. Combined with worrying over why Riku had not found her yet, she was not in the best of moods. As a result she sat outside the cave with her legs crossed and her arms folded, staring out at what she might've considered a beautiful and peaceful scene if not her current mood.
Everyone was inside, talking and otherwise getting to know each other. She could hear bits and pieces of conversation coming from within. So far the only voice she hadn't heard was Jepu, he had gone back to Shinpa soon after arriving at the cave. Seph was in there talking up a storm and worrying about how Kin and Hiyori were doing like they were his kids or something.
Naya sighed. She would be more relaxed if she knew what Riku was doing. How he was doing… He wasn't what he used to be. He made her worry. He made her worry about a lot of things.
She was worried he would sink back into his old ways. She was worried he would simply fall apart one day and never realize. She worried that one day in ignoring his limitations he would go too far and hurt himself irreparably. She worried that one day he would stop struggling to improve himself. She worried that one day he would actually accept this new weakness as part of him. Accept that he would never be as great as he once was and give up. Oh how she worried.
He was staring at his hands like they belonged to a stranger.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He just kept staring.
"Riku what's wrong?"
"I… don't know…"
The confusion. It was something else when the very body you relied on could no longer do the things you wanted it to. It must be so frustrating to run knowing that you could run faster and yet never be able to do so. To lift weight, knowing that you could lift heavier and yet failing time and again. To think knowing that you could easily figure out a solution and yet finding yourself drawing a blank. To once have been and to no longer be… and in your heart and mind never noticing the change, until one day you call on the skills, you call on the gifts you thought you possessed only to find they were no longer there. She could only imagine the frustration.
It was supposed to be a matter of simple reconditioning. Simple re-training should have been enough. But he never improved. He never got better. Now it was sporadic, on and off. There a moment, gone the next. Sometimes you would see it for a minute, the old glory shining through. And then… gone. Just like that. And no one was more upset about it than Riku. If you couldn't trust your own body and mind to do their jobs what could you trust? He was stumbling in the worst way. All because he decided one day to help someone who couldn't help themselves for the first time in his life.
It's so unfair!
What even determined how well you could do something anyway? Talent? Luck? Skill? Experience? Mindset? Upbringing? WHAT! Why does one person do something better than another person? Aren't they both people in the end? And come to think of it, why did anyone have to be better at anything compared to everyone else?
And then what would the alternative be? Her thoughts reminded her, almost mocking. A world where everyone is a carbon copy of each other? A world that simply is? A world like that is worth cardboard.
Cardboard would at least be fair, but she knew, even as she considered this, that it was the anger talking. A hot fury flooded her body and she knew that she couldn't stay. She needed to burn some of it away. She needed to hit things. Burn things. Explode things. She was worried and she was angry that all she could do was worry.
One day, her thoughts always reminded her. One day, he's going to be in a situation he's going to need those skills to come out of.
Because you of all people know…, they always nagged. People aren't always evil because they don't know better. You know that people aren't always saints driven to the edge. You know that the majority are evil because they can be and sometimes choose to be. And you know that evil people don't always know that they're evil… that they accept evil… not because they say yes but because they don't say no…
A great rolling sea of sin with the odd genuinely good soul lost and drowning within it with every passing day, until even they couldn't save themselves… didn't even realize they needed saving…
She gritted her teeth in fury. It's not fair.
Her chest tightened. It was like watching a dear friend come to your rescue only to fall victim to the sharks and be ripped apart before your eyes after saving you.
Except it wasn't quite so blessed as a quick death. It was a slow consumption of the mind, a bowing of the soul that you could see behind their eyes every single day. And with every day, it was a little worse… every day a little more beaten… a little more weary…
Movement in her peripheral vision drew her attention. It was Gohan stepping out of the cave with some kind of device in his hand.
"Ummm… Naya-san. Are you okay?"
He looked worried. Concerned. And what was that "san" thing anyway? He'd been saying that for a while now.
The anger made it hard to speak. "I'm… I'm alright."
Gohan looked like he didn't know what to say. It was clearly obvious to him that she was not okay. He looked very much aware of the fact that she was upset about something and for a moment Naya wondered what it was until she realized.
"You can sense ki?"
Gohan nodded the hesitated. "Uhmm… you're also… uhmmm…"
Naya stared at him.
"You're… crying…" he said finally, looking at the ground.
"Just a bit," he added hastily. Nervously.
No wonder. Hell…
She suppressed a curse word, wiped her face clean and glared at the blue grass. "No, I'm not ok."
"Why aren't you ok? What's wrong?"
She didn't want to talk to him. "Weren't you doing something?"
Unfortunately, Gohan was much too young to know when he was being subtly dismissed. He took the question literally.
"Not really," he answered. "Just we found a Dragon Ball and I'm going out to get it. But I felt your energy just now and I thought maybe I could help…"
It was hard to be angry, when Gohan was so genuinely concerned. It was touching in a way. She felt the rage falling away, replaced by a feeling she was not used to. She was almost happy… even though the situation hadn't really changed. She decided just a few words would be ok.
"I don't know if you can help me," Naya said. "My problem is… complicated."
Gohan frowned in genuine confusion. "Complicated how?"
"You know how you're here looking out for your friends because they fought for you? Defended you?"
Gohan nodded earnestly. From what he said and how he related with the others she knew that it was definitely a feeling he could relate to. It was the entire reason he was here. The reason he left his own planet even at his young age.
"That's what I'm doing now," she said, making sure not to let the words choke her. "Words cannot describe what I… well…"
Even now… it was hard. So hard…
"The point is," she continued. "I care about this person and I'm trying to help him. But every time I try he grows distant. Reclusive even, sometimes. And sometimes he outright ignores the fact that he's struggling."
"You're not the one I should be hurting. Don't do this again."
Gohan gave her a thoughtful look, his mind clearly working over what she'd just said.
"I don't really understand the difficult bits," he said honestly, his expression open and easily readable. "But it sounds like your friend doesn't want to be helped."
She sighed.
He was probably right. Gohan had the straightforward mindset reinforced by naivety to reach and accept that conclusion. Denial was not a thing for him at his current age. He was open to anything and everything. If she told him the sky was pink and could back it up with enough half-truths he would believe her. This was what made his judgment so much more accurate than hers. There was no such thing as impossible in Gohan's mind. Open to everything, denying nothing.
"But if it bothers you this much why not just help him anyway?" Gohan suggested.
Because it's the kind of problem that means you have to let me in first, Naya silently rebuked him.
Outside her thoughts, she smiled and said, "Sure Gohan why not. Help him anyway. Right."
She stood up. "You know what. I'll start practicing by helping you. Let's go and get that Dragon Ball."
Gohan grinned. "Sure."
He was a nice boy really. Kind. Compassionate. Nothing at all like the one she was trying to reach out to.
"Thanks Gohan…"
He laughed and rubbed his head nervously, obviously uncomfortable. Despite herself, Naya smiled. He really was such a good boy.
Raditz kidnapped him.
Naya resisted the urge to flinch.
They took off and all the while Naya went over it in her head. Even after they retrieved the Dragon Ball, it dwelled on her mind.
Doesn't want to be helped huh… if only it were so simple…
Seph
Seph knew a few things during his time in the cave. One female in it did not like him and the other female in it annoyed him, so he disliked her. Eventually Naya had gone to sit outside and after a few minutes of talking with Bulma, Gohan had been sent out to retrieve a Dragon Ball. Jepu sat by himself quietly.
Seph was currently debating his chances of getting a wish of his own. They wouldn't let him. It was something he knew. He simply knew from experience. It happened all the time, he was always excluded, always the one left out. Always the one lagging behind.
Bored and slightly depressed, he began to rap to himself, out loud.
Music, he found, was a good way to express his feelings. The words always just came to him, and he knew exactly how he wanted to sing them. He didn't remember every song he'd ever done but he remembered many, especially those that resonated with him. And besides, any time the words didn't come to you, you could just fill in with gibberish. The point was to get it out. To put thoughts and emotion into a substance.
He sighed. Sadly his one friend in the force did not put much stock in emotion or seem to care much about his musical talents. If anything he got even more cynical and even more critical about the music than he was about his fighting skills. The second he showed interest in anything Riku would keep saying how it wasn't good enough. More than once he'd wanted to shout at him. To rage and tell him outright not to be such a prick.
But he was the only friend. Not the first time he wondered if he would put up with any of that if he had more friends. Better friends. Friends who actually cared. Friends who appreciated him the way he was. People he could be with and not have to pretend to be anything other than what he was, that would love the same things he did.
Music and writing with some Martial Arts thrown in maybe. That's all he wanted to do. He loved reading too, all kinds of books. He remembered things, interesting things. People, places… no matter how trivial. He liked reading and using new words, new ways to say things. Saying the same things all the time was boring. Some words just sounded good too… like salacious… herculean… arbitrary…
He made sure to mix those into his rap as he cogitated. Cogitated… nice!
He used that one in a line about how senseless people could be.
He kept going until he ran out of things to say, then he picked a new theme and continued rapping and singing under his breath.
About an hour in the muttering annoyed Bulma enough for her to tell him to shut up. He did, keeping the flare in his temper to himself. No one would side with him anyway. He proceeded to make up lyrics in his head.
Eventually Naya and Gohan came back, with a Dragon Ball tucked under the former's arm. She looked contemplative and somewhat sad. She passed Gohan the Dragon Ball to give to Bulma. She watched him deliver it to the blue haired woman and explain how they found it without any hitches. Seph had to admit, the slender Saiyan didn't look well.
He stood up with some difficulty and shuffled over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.
He did not expect the glare that came his way. He almost staggered backwards. She held the glare for several seconds and then wordlessly, she turned and walked outside the cave.
What was that for? Seph thought in righteous indignation.
He was going to follow her when Gohan's voice rang out. "Krillin's back!"
Everyone rushed outside to welcome whoever it was. Seph followed out of curiousity.
Two specks on the horizon quickly became humanoid figures and soon, in a blaze of energy the two people landed in front of the group.
"Krillin, Dende, you're back!" Gohan said excitedly.
"Yeah and we got a Dragon Ball too," the short bald man said, indicating the massive ball in his grip.
Seph had heard the Nameks in Jepu's town describe it but this was his first time seeing one. The thing was huge and gold with red stars on. Seven of them to be exact. Seph liked counting things for no reason too.
A small Namekian, clearly a child, smiled when Gohan broke out in a big grin. "Grand Elder Guru was kind enough to assist us. But you should go too Gohan."
Gohan frowned. "I should?"
"Yeah," Krillin said, nodding. "The Elder Guru can unlock your potential for you. He did it for me and I'm way stronger now."
Seph hear Naya snort as Gohan made sounds of admiration. Probably found some reason to think Krillin's strength was worthless.
"So who are all the extra people?" Krillin asked.
Before Gohan could answer, Bulma cut in, "First of all let's get the Dragon ball out of the open."
"Ah right," Krillin said sheepishly.
Everyone settled back inside the cave in a circle and Krillin and the Namekian Seph came to know as Dende gave an account of their visit with Grand Elder Guru. Gohan told Krillin about how he retrieved a Dragon Ball with Naya and how he had met her and Seph. Then everyone got to discussing the next move.
"So Frieza has five Dragon Balls and we have two," Krillin was saying. "That means Vegeta doesn't have any at all. He's going to come after us at some point."
"Isn't that what we're here for?" Seph asked.
"You are here to defeat Frieza and save Namek," Jepu said flatly, his gaze rock steady. He was obviously not going to allow a change in the agenda.
Seph could not sense energy so he'd asked Riku… he knew Jepu had the power to back up that statement.
If he's so strong why doesn't he take on Frieza himself?
"Yeah we're just helping," Naya said. "Although, Vegeta was part of the deal. If he's coming after you, staying here is also a good option."
"Well, Son-kun will arrive tomorrow if everything goes according to plan," Bulma volunteered. "He can protect us from Vegeta."
Krillin and Gohan grinned, Bulma smiled. Clearly, Son was special to them.
"Seems you're the ones with a problem then," Seph said.
Everybody looked at him.
"What?" he said, his brain fumbling to figure out why he'd said that. Then it came to him. "How are you going to get the other five from Frieza?"
Naya gave him a dry look. "You know usually it's think first, talk second."
Seph gave everyone a sheepish look.
Krillin laughed. "Well, he's right anyway. How are we going to get the rest from Frieza?"
"I can help you bust in," Naya offered. "I need to check on Kin and Hiyori anyway. It's odd that they're not back yet. If all went according to plan, Frieza should be down."
"Doubtful," Jepu said, "considering they're not here yet."
"This has been bothering me for a while," Seph added. "But where's Riku?"
The dark expression Naya had been wearing for most of the day returned. "I don't know."
"It's still late afternoon," Dende spoke up. "We can search for them."
Seph had not seen her smile the entire day but with that simple phrase she was smiling. "You don't mind?"
Bulma smiled. "Not at all. Besides we need to know what's going on."
"She says it like she's the one actually going to search…" Krillin said, tracing a circle in the dirt.
Seph agreed. Bulma was so controlling it was annoying, especially when she kept deciding things for people and never once pitching in. And she would give silly reasons too, like "I'm too beautiful for that".
Krillin flinched when she glared at him.
"A-anyway Gohan," he continued nervously. "The Grand Elder Guru can power you up too. You've got amazing potential within you. I'm sure if he brings out your full potential you'll be crazy strong. Maybe enough to match Vegeta. It's a chance we can't miss."
Gohan nodded, then frowned. "But what about the search?"
"We'll handle it," Naya said. "Go."
Gohan reluctantly stood up and walked to the cave entrance. Krillin followed him to give him directions.
Seph heard some part of it… "Don't worry, they'll know you're coming. I told them I'd send you."
Naya stood up too. "Let's go. I'll check the space ship."
"I know the wastelands," Jepu volunteered.
"I'll stay here," Dende said. "I'm no good at these things."
Seph nodded. "Same."
Krillin rejoined them. "Everyone ready to go?"
Naya nodded. "Yeah. Let's move out."
Riku
I slept in bursts. I was never quite comfortable enough to sleep in one fell swoop, I hadn't been for a long time… long before even now. When I did sleep for a good amount of time it's because I was too tired for anything else. Thoughts… they tended to keep me busy, naturally I had so many of them.
Why couldn't I fight back when Kin pinned me? That was pathetic! You used to be better than this…
I woke up again and found him hanging opposite me, still out cold. Zithis lay in the corner with his arms folded, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Hiyori too was unconscious.
Must be night time…
I stared through the hole in the side of the ship at bright daylight and thought wryly, What passes for night time here anyway…
My thoughts drifted once again. They tended to do that. They would consider one thing, branch to another thing. Consider it from multiple perspectives, argue each perspective against each other all the while leaping from subject to subject.
It's how you organize yourself. You make sure that at all times you have at least three different thought processes working on the same subject under consideration. One is purely your subjective view, one is your empathic view- that is viewing yourself with the eyes of another or others- and lastly your objective view. It's usually pretty silent that one.
Let's not forget your imaginative thought process too. Intuition is one of your strong points.
I am conversing with myself in my head. I have officially gone mad.
No.
Yes.
Ok yes. But also no. Most of this is hunger to be honest.
Great. Just great.
I breathed in and out, slowing the onslaught of thoughts. Consider…
Problem: The gap between my enemies and I is increasing. It will increase for the foreseeable future. This is the worst case scenario. I need a way to fight back.
That's what you made your Crush Cannon for. In fact that's what you designed all your skills for Maximum damage, minimum effort.
There's no point in a bullet that is easily dodged.
There is a point, you just need to set it up right…
Fair enough. But with an enemy faster and stronger than you, your setup will most likely have you killed before you get to the bit where you fire.
Distract them then.
Mental games only last so long and work so often. Especially when your opponent is smart.
Doesn't need to last long.
If you want to build up enough power to do damage, yes it does. Especially since you need to focus that power. Let's not forget that in the worst case scenario, mind games won't work- at all.
I sighed and wiggled in my restraints to get more comfortable, then retreated back into my thoughts.
Is this about damaging your enemy or fighting him evenly? What is the goal?
I aim to fight on the same level as any opponent, regardless of power level.
You can already do that.
I'd hardly call it fighting on the same level.
Correction: could.
Or should the correction be "would"?
….I don't know. And even if the question is not " Can I?" but "Will I?" I still don't even know how I did it. I just did it.
….
The key is opportunity…
Well would you look at that the big man finally speaks…
Please don't tell jokes. Joking with yourself is beyond weird.
You just called yourself weird you know that don't you?
Of course I do. Silence, you. Me.
Skills and one's familiarity with them, accuracy, speed, physical strength, striking speed, kinetic vision.. anything at all that one has learned, trained, been born with or gifted with from weapons, techniques and styles to physical and mental attributes. All these are tools. Simply tools. But the tools available are what define the opportunities one can utilize. Seeking to control the battle is pointless. There are only ever the opportunities. In anything, there are only ever the opportunities.
I see… My opponent has opportunities they can use as do I. With every move we make new opportunities appear, old opportunities disappear and reappear. Opportunities to attack, to defend, to counter and so much more. No matter how strong you are, without the opportunity to use it your strength is meaningless. The key is opportunity and the key to opportunities boil down to the tools you possess. If a tool proves ineffective, use another one. This is why no matter how strong you get no fight is guaranteed victory.
Got it in one big boss. No matter how powerful you may be a whole lot of cheese and bad luck will put you down quick enough.
Wait… cheese?
I frowned. There was thinking contradictory thoughts from different perspectives and there was this.
I'm not going crazy am I?
Oh we could totally follow that line of thought.
Actually, let's finish this one first.
K. Suggestions people.
People? It's all me though.
You get the idea. Don't be a nitpick.
You could also try to anticipate and negate your opponent's opportunities.
In moving to negate an opportunity you create an opportunity.
That's fine so long as it's an opportunity your opponent can't use.
Oh and what would these opportunities be?
It's subjective. Differs by opponent and by the tools they possess.
There is still the problem of damage. There is no point in smacking around someone you're not even hurting.
Well that's the point isn't it? No matter how strong your opponent is, if they don't ground themselves in the air or on the ground they can be pushed back. As long as they can be pushed back, they can be fought. So long as they can be fought, they can be beaten. How will depend on the tools you possess.
The question is not can I fight. The question is not even can I win. There is no such thing as a truly controlled fight. But I have an answer now.
But really cheese?
I could fight and have few opportunities to attack for any number of reasons. I could fight and have several more opportunities to attack also for any number of reasons. Environment. My tools. What matters isn't winning. It's making the most of every opportunity I can find and use.
And now, you have grown wiser. The job is done.
-no seriously cheese?
Shut up, I'm hungry ok.
I opened my eyes. Everyone was still asleep, the suns had not moved much. I estimated that not much time had passed. An hour… maybe more.
I sighed, tired but unable to rest. Still I had reached a solid conclusion and I had learned more about fighting simply through reflection and analysis. Putting it into practice would be something else entirely, but I was imprisoned. I had nothing but time.
I breathed in held it… then out. Then I closed my eyes once more. Not debating but this time visualizing.
Kin in his monster ape form, Zithis and Frieza stood before me in a line. I leaned forward onto my toes and kept my senses focused on them. Kin stepped forward first with a grin.
"I remember you…"
Zithis
He sat against the wall for goodness knows how long, in a corner where the sunlight would not reach him. The prisoners had remained docile. The boy and the girl remained firmly unconscious and Riku remained true to his word. Zithis had watched him fall asleep and wake up several times… the sleeplessness of a troubled person. A sleep he was well familiar with.
And then Zithis himself fell asleep, making sure to maintain his cuffs even within his mentally withdrawn state. He long ago began substituting sleep for meditation. It was a poor substitute but considering the alternative, the suffering was worth it.
That was until Zarbon called for him from the entrance to the torture chamber. Now here he was facing the blue skinned alien in the medical bay while Vegeta floated in the tank next to them.
"What do you want Zarbon?" Zithis said flatly.
Zarbon was clearly displeased but kept his temper well. "You're the only one who can make those constructs of yours. Chains and weapons and such. Obviously I need you to detain Vegeta once he's done here."
Zithis frowned. "And I look like your lackey do I? That one's your problem."
"You just love being superior don't you?" Zarbon hissed, leaning in close, fury twisting his handsome features.
"I could care less," Zithis replied. "What I can tell you is I'm not taking on any excess baggage. I'm not handling your responsibilities. You guard the Prince."
"Too much of a challenge for you is that it," Zarbon said acidly, a taunting smirk on his face.
Zithis remained impassive. "Posturing is worth nothing to me. Whatever you think, you're going to guard him yourself."
Zarbon glared. Zithis stared back, without any malice, without any dismissal, not even defiance or denial, just the flat gaze of someone who had no reason to be moved and therefore would not move. Period.
It was pride, Zithis knew. Zarbon's pride would not let him ask like any sensible person would. Unfortunately, Zithis was very big on sensible.
"If he escapes Frieza will have both our hides!"
"No, just yours."
More silence, penetrated only by the bubbling of the healing liquid in Vegeta's medical station.
Zithis already forgot the name of the thing. It didn't matter. If Riku could tell him what he hoped he could tell him, he would be with the Force no longer. The balancing act of protecting Frieza while simultaneously fighting enemies with whom the mere after shock of the battle could wipe Frieza out was wearing him down.
He had run into them several times during the course of his career in the force and even before that. Always they got away. Once he was given the burden of Frieza, the mission became all but impossible. It was like they wanted him to fail.
His meeting with her only confirmed it. This was punishment… for losing Void Sethra. Failure was highly unwelcome. They tended to make a point of cutting it short at the door, usually with fatal permanence in mind.
"If we're done here…" Zithis said, turning around.
"I know you're not one of us."
Zithis didn't pause.
"What do you call yourselves? The Chii?"
Now he paused. Turned.
Zarbon was smirking now. "All this time you wrote me off as another arrogant idiot in the force didn't you? Didn't realize I was researching you, checking your background. I knew finding someone as powerful and loyal as you was too good to be true."
"You say that like you weren't doing it out of jealousy," Zithis said, the beginnings of amusement toying with the idea of a smile on his lips.
The way Zarbon's look darkened was indeed most amusing. Zithis allowed the smile to show completely.
"I should report this to Frieza," Zarbon said. "And if you don't obey me now, I will."
"Really Zarbon," Zithis said. "You're telling me this now, alone. If your research was truly complete you would know how little that threat means to me. But of course you couldn't resist blackmail could you? The chance to have my strength under your command. Your beck and call. Perhaps you could even oust Frieza. That's what you're thinking isn't it?"
Vegeta and Riku in the same room was not a good idea. On the other hand Zarbon was clearly aware of too much. Far too much. He needed to be silenced, perhaps with extreme prejudice.
I could kill him.
The thought bounced around in Zithis head, a thought that he had grown ashamedly used to… a thought that went against all his training.
It's just a pair of shackles… I could do it easily. More importantly, Zarbon is going to think he has a hold on me. Then… then will be the moment to strike.
Zithis sighed. "I will not guard him but I can shackle him for you."
The sickening grin that spread on Zarbon's face, almost made him change his mind.
Just you wait Zarbon. You have no idea the enemy you've just made.
Hiyori
She woke up in shackles that she could not snap. Bright daylight did nothing to tell her what time of day it was. Her Namekian gi was dirty and slightly frayed at the edges. Her injuries had faded. Hiyori registered all this, but one detail stood out to her above all. She remembered Kin's harsh words and she felt her heart clench.
He'd never said anything like that before. Ever. For a statement said so simply in the moment it was surprisingly hurtful. Truly, words had power…
A tear fell down one cheek…
"Something bothering you?"
Hiyori jerked in surprise and looked at the opposite wall to find Riku hanging by a pair of shackles of his own. They were made of golden ki and suspended themselves in the air, like keeping him close to the wall was simply a way of measuring his height off the ground. Upon closer inspection, Hiyori found that the same went for her and Kin.
Riku's eyes were glazed over, almost like he was asleep with his eyes open and a certain flicker behind them was proving very unnerving. The look in his eye wasn't very encouraging. But he was clearly one who had spoken despite the fact that he kept his gaze pointed downward and did not break his concentration. Hiyori didn't know how to respond, so she said nothing. Another tear…
"As much as I'd like to respect your privacy, your sniveling is distracting," Riku's voice spoke again, as if disembodied. "Speak or forever hold your peace. I could be more direct and just say shut up too."
"I don't know…"
"Speak up now, what was that?"
"I don't know what to do…"
"About what?"
"Kin… just… I don't know…"
For the first time since she woke up, Riku looked at her directly, his eyes losing their glassy look.
"What happened?" he said, not unkindly.
That was the thing about him, Hiyori had come to realize. He came off rude and mean but that was simply because he was straightforward. Brutally so. He was the kind of person who would say to you, "If I didn't care, I wouldn't be listening to you" and it would actually be true. Making inferences into his behavior was pointless because there was nothing to infer, what you saw was what you got.
In his own, strange, simplistic way, he was trustworthy… kind of.
"When we were fighting Frieza, we were winning at first," Hiyori said. "But then he got even stronger."
Riku's expression remained blank. Unsurprised.
Hiyori stared. "You knew?"
Riku moved his shackles. "Found out today."
"Ah…"
That was right, she'd never asked how he'd got here.
"How did you get here?" Hiyori asked.
"I got beat and brought here by one of Frieza's men," Riku answered. "I saw the aftermath of your fight."
Hiyori stiffened briefly.
"I carried you here," Riku said. He was so calm. So matter of fact. "Did you see Frieza's new form?"
Surprise caused Hiyori's body to seize. "He- what?"
"You must have been knocked out pretty early on then," Riku concluded, undisturbed by her reaction. "We were way off the mark. The guy who chained us up might actually be even stronger than that too."
"So it's a failure…"
Riku raised an eyebrow. "What is a failure?"
"Killing Frieza," Hiyori answered. "We never stood a chance…"
She felt very foolish. All of that work for nothing. And now there was this thing, ravaging her body from the inside because she was too much of a coward to say what she really wanted-
Hiyori grunted as green sparks flared throughout her entire body, shocking her repeatedly before disappearing.
It took her a few seconds of ragged breathing to recover and even so her fatigue was evident.
Riku's expression was blank once more but Hiyori knew there was no way he had not seen or sensed it.
Hiyori was resigned. Now he was going to ask questions that she couldn't answer and then he would hate her too…
Just like Kin does.
"I know what that is."
Hiyori blinked. What?
She looked up to see Riku's blank expression still intact.
"I know that energy," the older Saiyan repeated. "It's hurting you isn't it?"
Hiyori was stunned. "How?"
Riku nodded in the unconscious Kin's direction. "He used something similar."
Hiyori was surprised. So you wanted to win that badly, Kin? I was just in the way wasn't I?
Her eyes stung.
"No offense but we don't exactly have all the time in the world here," Riku informed her. "We have a guard who might be back anytime soon. It's now or never."
"Sorry…"
She got a look of impatience in return.
"He hates me," Hiyori said eventually. "Kin hates me. I tried to convince him to run away from Frieza. He was too strong for us. I wanted to cut our losses. I told him we could try again later."
Riku remained silent.
"He got angry. He told me to run away… He's never done or said anything like that to me before. He's always been kind to me. My brother doesn't… he's never…"
"First time for everything," Riku said flatly.
Hiyori stared in stunned disbelief and a bit of anger. He was trivializing the issue! Did he not know who Kin was? Of course he didn't. He was just a stranger when all was said and done wasn't he. It didn't matter how many things he'd helped them to learn or how high they had raised their power levels together. They were strangers.
Riku looked amused. "You're upset…"
Hiyori did not answer that and he smirked.
"Tell me… is it false?"
No but Kin had never…
"Is it?"
Hiyori was reluctant to answer, but answer she did. "No."
Riku nodded. "Good. With that in mind how easily can you conclude that he hates you?"
Not every easily at all Hiyori realized. It was all vague. The only thing she could say is that Kin got angry with her. That was it.
"Do you know what anger is, Hiyori?" Riku asked suddenly.
Hiyori was surprised by the absurdity of the question. "Of course I do."
Riku nodded. "Can you define it for me?"
She opened her mouth to answer and realized she had no idea what to say. It was one thing to acknowledge you were angry. There was that hot feeling in your chest. The heavy breathing. The fact that you simply could not let the issue go. But none of those things by themselves was anger. When you said that you were angry, what did you even mean?
She knew what anger felt like. She did not know what anger was.
Riku seemed aware of this.
"Anger is an emotion caused by a breach of our sense of justice," Riku said. "When we believe something is unfair or wrong, we get angry. Even when you think you're angry about nothing in particular.
"You got angry with me just now because you felt I was making light of your troubles."
Hiyori blushed at that.
"Naya got angry with me on Veridia because she felt I was taking the lazy way out. Seph got angry with me because he felt I was not treating everyone with respect due them and so on and so forth."
It made sense. It really did, and as Hiyori looked back on all the times she had ever been angry, or even seen her brother angry, she could see that pattern. There was always a challenge to something they believed to be true, however vaguely.
"Your brother could indeed hate you, don't get me wrong," Riku admitted. "But considering the number of things he could've been angry about saying he hates you is kind of jumping the gun. Anger by itself isn't wrong either."
"What did he actually do to hurt you, Hiyori?" Riku asked.
Nothing? Maybe?
With this new context, Hiyori was fumbling. She felt like an idiot, truth be told. It sounded so simple, so straightforward…
"Allow me to rephrase that question," Riku said eventually. "Where does your fear of his hating you come from?"
Hiyori froze.
She sat listlessly on a nearby piece of wood watching Kin.
"What are you doing?" she asked, voice hoarse from crying.
Kin, face tear stained and form scruffy, dug through the bleached pieces of splintered wood that had once been a home.
"I'm going to find them," he answered. "I'm going to find them and make them pay!"
Was she afraid?
Fresh tears fell from Hiyori's cheeks as she listened.
Her brother pulled something from the wreckage. His father's special gear. A silver key attached to a dark blue chain.
Kin put it round his neck and there was sudden pulse of blue light from the key. Energy surged throughout his body, pouring out of him in a powerful pale blue aura that promptly faded away.
How could she be? What was there to be afraid of?
Hiyori stared as Kin grinned for the first time.
"It's making me stronger," he said.
He began to dig, faster than before. His hands blurred and wood flew like into the air like so much chafe. Then he stood up, holding her mother's pendant. A black key attached to a dark green chain.
Kin turned. "Hiyori…"
Hiyori stared at the pendant. It offered a means of retribution. But who even cared about that? What would it mean if Frieza died now? What did make them pay even mean?
There was something to be afraid of most definitely.
The energy surged around her when she took the pendant and with it a volatile nature she never knew could exist within her. She felt like she was about to explode, every part of her body ached as if swelling up with the sheer mass of power within her. Power she could not control.
She had looked into his eyes then. Saw his pain, saw his grief and saw that in the few hours they had spent crying Kin had had enough. So she had taken the pendant. She had taken up her brother's offer knowing full she had no drive to defeat Frieza. Hiyori was not done crying, was not done grieving. She was useless to her brother. She did not want to be useless.
So every day she struggled and hid her struggles, remembering always the dark eyes of her brother that had looked upon her asking her if she would fight with him. The power was consuming her, slowly but surely… but she always lied and said she was fine. She always told herself… when Frieza is dead it'll stop. You can take it off, put it aside. Until then, endure.
Except she was at her limit, and it was starting to show. Seeing Frieza's true strength, realizing that even at the point where she felt like her very being was slowly being microwaved whenever she had an episode, Frieza was still stronger…
It crushed her spirit and she had no idea how Kin would react to that. But when she remembered that night and the look on his face… she knew… and had seen for herself: He didn't take it well.
"Run then!"
Hiyori began to cry for real, tears flowing freely down her fair cheeks.
"I can't maintain it anymore," she said. "Every time I just can't…"
Opposite her, Riku remained calm. "Tell me."
She told him how they lived on the desert planet of Ka'az far away from any civilization, relying only on their father's frequent visits to trading outposts for supplies. Their mother who managed the two fickle children that she and Kin were at the time. Kin in particular had a penchant for building fighting machines for his father to defeat.
She told him how Frieza came with his men and vaporized her parents, leaving not even ash behind. How she and Kin hid from them and weren't found despite being unable to run away.
She told him how Kin found the pendants and how she took one and what happened afterward. How they trained as Kin researched the Frieza Force with every resource at his disposal, often building tech from scratch to aid him. How they learned of a planet Frieza had taken particular interest in, going so far as to send two soldiers from one of the toughest groups in his army.
How they met on Veridia.
And through all that, the energy that ravaged her on the inside that she never revealed.
Riku looked well and truly surprised. "Oh… wow…"
Hiyori fell silent quietly watching him. She no longer had the energy for much else.
"That's a lot to take in," Riku admitted. "Give me a second."
Hiyori was too spent to reply. When the next shock came she didn't resist it, slumping quietly against the wall.
"I'm trying to think of a nice way to say this but I can't," Riku said after a few moments, levelling his gaze on her.
"You made a pretty dumb decision for a pretty dumb reason," the Saiyan said.
Hiyori could not even muster the energy to glare at him.
"Don't get me wrong, wanting to help your brother is all well and good," Riku said. "Except that's not what you wanted is it? You were just afraid of being left alone and it shows. At no point were you ever forced into the position you're in."
She had been… but just being afraid wasn't a reason to leave her brother on his own.
"No one needs that half-assed kind of help Hiyori," Riku added, as if reading her mind. "Your brother has learned to rely on you for things you're not in any position to deliver. In some cases, don't even want to deliver. In his mind you're an asset, but in yours you know you're a liability. You only help so much."
Hiyori knew what he meant. If the energy within ever struck at an inopportune moment she was done for. Although Riku had no idea what the true implications would be. Or maybe he did, he had seen Kin after all. Then again Kin did not seem to suffer as she did. She was barely hanging on and when the pressure got raised she crumbled.
Pathetic…
Surely she could've informed Kin that the pendant wasn't working. She could've voiced her concerns at any point. Riku had noticed that at no point in her story had she been forced into silence. She took it upon herself.
Why?
Because she didn't want to disappoint Kin. That and she missed her parents. She hoped, vaguely, that avenging them would make the pain less. Seeing the way it gave Kin drive and purpose again… she had thought maybe it was the right idea. Framed as Riku had done now, it felt very very stupid. In a pinch she was just as likely to make things worse as better.
Riku looked thoughtful. "I guess it's not that dumb after all if he at least has a chance of succeeding with your help."
The curly haired Saiyan sighed. "The relationship between the two of you is yours to fix though. I suggest you talk to him. Speak to him honestly the way you just spoke to me. He's your brother. He'll listen. If he doesn't want to you'll probably need to reassess your relationship."
He said it so casually but to Hiyori the statement raised a cold feeling on her insides that made her want to shiver.
"Note I'm not saying he'll understand or agree," Riku said with emphasis. "I'm saying he'll listen. That counts for more than you think."
Riku glanced at the insensate silver haired boy hanging a short distance from her. "You might want to give him some time to absorb things though, considering how things went down…"
Completely defeated by the being who killed the parents he had sworn to avenge and spent the better part of his life training to defeat, pulling out his trump card and losing despite even that and now hanging completely at the mercy of said enemy. When Kin woke up, he was unlikely to be reasonable.
He would try even harder. Hiyori had seen it enough times.
"There is a problem that I can address and that's your attitude toward this battle."
Hiyori stared at Riku, confusion in her gaze. What battle could he possibly be-
"So you're far from home, in enemy territory and at your limit," Riku said. "Your body hurts, your energy turns against you regularly and your ability to support the one you promised is hindered. Your goals don't align."
Riku moved in his chains, adjusting for greater comfort.
"There are some decisions you need to make," he said. "What do you want, Hiyori?"
What did she want? Such a loaded question, despite its simplicity. She had no overarching goals of her own. No dreams. Hiyori was content simply to live, something she knew her brother would balk at.
"I don't know…"
"Then decide. What is most important right now?"
Hiyori blinked. Simplified that way…
"Leaving this planet alive. With Kin."
"Then nothing else matters, regardless of what brought you to this point," Riku said flatly. "Are you going to let him kill Frieza?"
Was she? Could they even kill Frieza? Considering her current weaknesses and the fact that Frieza was stronger than they imagined it would be unwise.
Except Kin might not give in. Won't give in.
Hiyori knew just how deep it went. Just how much Kin hurt. She had seen and heard.
"As long as we're safe Frieza is secondary," Hiyori replied. "But he won't like that."
"This is a battlefield," Riku retorted. "Will you let him or not?"
A callous dismissal of her brother's feelings.
"You don't understand!" Hiyori answered. "Even if I don't want to kill Frieza Kin does! He needs it! He doesn't sleep! He-"
"That has nothing to do with my question," Riku answered. "Will you let him?"
Anger rose once again in Hiyori and along with it the energy began to burn her from the inside. She fell back once again, spent.
A more kindly if impatient look crossed Riku's face.
"If it's any help to you, what you said didn't answer the question," he explained. "You just gave me reasons why one decision may be better than the other."
Hiyori sighed. "I don't know."
Riku nodded. "Decide. You're aimless on a battlefield. That's the same as dead."
Hiyori looked down as she moved in her chains, sloppy and erratic. "I can't choose…"
A moment of silence.
"Correction, you don't want to choose. You're hoping he can be convinced not to kill Frieza."
Hiyori's eyes snapped up to look at Riku. "It's just not that simple."
"I'm aware it's not," Riku replied. "But where you are now doesn't allow that luxury."
Hiyori looked back down. She was too tired for this.
Riku nodded. "If Kin decides he wants to kill Frieza you aren't powerful enough to stop him so we'll go with Kin being allowed to kill Frieza. Will you leave him on his own?"
That she was certain about. "No."
Riku nodded once again, visibly pleased.
"That drive you responded with just then…" he said, smirking. "That's what you need."
Hiyori froze, completely caught off guard.
"You kept telling me, Kin this, Kin that and how you don't want anything," Riku said. "In battle, people like you go down first. You've got some serious handicaps and none of this guarantees that you'll win but your fundamental problem is drive.
"You didn't know what victory was. You were just going along with your brother."
Hiyori stared. That was true. She had no real aims of her own. If you asked her she could tell you what she would do sure, but none of it had any real purpose behind it. That reply was the first truly certain statement that had not arisen out of circumstance but her own real decision. Something she could fight for with certainty.
"Now you know victory," Riku said. "Obtain it."
"H-how?" she stammered.
"That's up to you," Riku answered. "For example, in your situation I would completely bully Kin and drag him home. Call me heartless, I don't mind."
Hiyori couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her.
"But that's not your style is it?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hiyori shook her head. It wasn't. It was funny actually, how all that talk led her right back to square one.
"I'll give him the best of my strength so we make it back home alive," Hiyori said. "Even if I don't feel exactly the same way, I do understand. I can't deny him that."
"What if you fail?" Riku asked suddenly.
Hiyori's newfound confidence promptly shattered. There was no guarantee after all, she could just be sentencing them all to a stupid death. If-
She noticed the disapproving look Riku was giving her.
"Know victory," he said.
If not victory, then any other situation was a loss. Any scenario where they died here was a loss. All her energy should be trained on the victory. The win. The losses were irrelevant to what needed to be done.
"If I fail then that's that," Hiyori replied.
He smirked. "Now… you understand what it means to fight for something."
"It feels like tunnel vision," Hiyori admitted.
"It is," Riku agreed. "It's really only good for when there's no other alternative."
"We fight all the time though," Hiyori pointed out.
"That we do," Riku said. "But as martial artists, the battle is against ourselves and our own weaknesses. This isn't that kind of fight. You're affecting the world around you. Your actions need to be more measured, intentional. Being a soldier is very different from being a martial artist."
They fell into silence.
He had given her a lot to think about. About herself, why she was here, how she related with her brother and others and even how she thought of combat as a whole. Riku was surprisingly wise, or at least wise as Hiyori understood it. She couldn't quite put her finger on how that quality worked.
"Riku…"
He raised a bemused eyebrow. "You're not about to thank me are you?"
She paused. "I am… you've been a big help."
He snorted in amusement. "Go to sleep, Hiyori."
She was rather tired.
She closed her eyes, letting her head bend forward. Her energy calmed as she relaxed and let herself truly rest.
"Keep the gratitude for people who deserve it…"
But she was already asleep.
Zithis
Zithis walked back to the torture chamber, calm and collected despite his situation. It seemed his time in the Frieza Force was coming to an end. Now that Zarbon knew, it was only a matter of time before Frieza knew, not because Zarbon would snitch him –he wouldn't do that yet- but because if Zarbon could find out then Frieza definitely could know. Might even already know.
As far as Zithis was concerned, his cover was blown. He'd milk it for all it was worth so he could interrogate Riku then he was going to blow up this planet and vaporize everything on it, including Frieza.
"None must know of the Chii, you understand this don't you, new boy?"
He'd passed by Zarbon's room just to see if the man had let his guard down. It was to gauge how far he had underestimated the termite hill he was only beginning to overturn. To his credit, Zarbon had been awake and sitting on his bed directly opposite the door with a knowing smirk on his face. There would be no assassinations this evening. The ensuing mocking had eaten up quite a bit of time.
Zithis finally found himself at the door to the chamber and stepped through into bright daylight, what with half of the ship being destroyed. He was about to resume his meditations when he saw that Riku was finally asleep and the girl opposite him had a slightly more peaceful expression on her face. Something had happened while he was away, that much was clear, only he had no idea what.
Zithis sighed. Whatever it was, it was not his problem, tomorrow after questioning Riku he would leave the Force, never to return again. It was rather unfortunate that yet again people had to die.
Outside, Frieza's Spaceship, later that night
Naya stood on a cliff overlooking the space ship, high enough that she could see right down into the massive hole blown into its side. She could see him, hung up in the torture chamber. She could also see Kin and Hiyori and Zithis, clearly on guard duty. She was well aware of what Frieza did to people in there. Everyone in the Force had received their fair share of it.
Next to her Krillin gulped. "That guy with the red skin has unbelievable ki… and I thought Frieza was scary…"
"Yeah…" Naya said absentmindedly. "It's not like they have any scouters to sense him right now. The only people who can snitch him have no way to out him to Frieza without dying."
Krillin shivered. "Maybe even Goku might not be enough…"
"No need."
Krillin turned. "What?"
"I've decided just now…" Naya said, calmly.
She turned toward him and Krillin saw her face and Krillin was suddenly very glad that he was not the focus of her attention. Here was someone who scared him more than Vegeta did. More than Frieza did even. Here was someone who meant business and did not understand the concept of 'limitations'. The type of person in bars that took five guys to hold and yet never even noticed the weight because of how angry they were.
If hate had a face, Krillin was looking at it.
"Wh-wh-what did you decide, Naya-cha-" the lights of heaven revealed to Krillin his mistake before he opened the gates of hell upon his soul. "I mean Naya-sama."
They stood in broad daylight but a shadow crossed her face somehow. A face darkened with simmering rage.
"…I'm going to take apart the entire Force tomorrow."
Space, Nearing Namek
In the darkness of space, there was glittering. If observed from a nearby planet one would see several comets flash across the sky, and one that was perhaps a bit too big for that. But if one was prone to stargazing and ran inside to get a telescope only to find you'd lent it to old Jim again, one would find yet another comet in the sky quite some distance behind the first six and oddly quivering in its flight path.
But of course there was no such person to observe any such thing.
A man stopped in the middle of his crunches when the ship's computer announced, "ETA is now less than 24 hours. For exact numbers, please observe the screen."
He went back to his crunches.
The renowned Ginyu Force sat silently in their vessels, not even bothering to share jokes as they usually did. This time they had a rather unnerving guest along with them.
And all the while in another space going vessel, a horned figure moved. "Soon…"