Chapter 3

Training Days

Bulma Briefs had spent the last few days pondering on how to bring an important matter up with their newest guest, it was something she was worried about how the younger woman would take such news. The possible impending doom of their world at the hands of a pair of man-made monsters, she wasn't sure if the addition of their new arrival would make a difference in their fates but it was worth taking a chance on her.

She knew that the warrior was outside, she never seemed to linger indoors unless she really needed to. Bulma had guessed it was a Saiyan thing since Vegeta was rarely inside either, she knew he had flown off to the wastelands to train as she'd seen him leave this morning. Riki on the other hand was just out by the newly constructed spaceship, in a handstand doing push-ups like she had for the past few hours doing various exercises.

It was a sweltering day, the air conditioning had been on since this morning – not that many people had noticed thanks to the heat. While Bulma wore a light summer dress, she couldn't help but notice that Riki on the other hand was dressed in a black sports bra and yoga pants of the same colour. The heat must have been almost unbearable, even for a saiyan.

After grabbing a towel and a cold bottle of water from the refrigerator, she left the Capsule Corps building and headed towards the ships. She was trying to find the right words in her mind to bring up the conversation of androids and the possible impending doom, she hated being the one to break the news but knew that it was the best thing to do...

...she hoped.

"Sorry to break this to ya – but this planet is about to be annihilated by a pair of psychotic toasters..." – just wasn't going to cut it in her opinion, she shook her head at how ridiculous it even sounded as she began her eventual approach of the saiyaness who was still absorbed in her training. She still didn't know the girl's temperament fully since they'd not interacted much other than when in the same room, she had a feeling that she wasn't as bad as Vegeta but she still didn't want to find out how bad her temper was.

She hoped that in a way, the girl could be a valuable asset to the group since she'd noticed how Vegeta had taken an interest in the girl's power level.

Well, at least she hoped that was all he was interested in...

-_-_-_-RIKI-_-_-_-

"Nine Hundred and... ninety-five..."

"Nine Hundred... and ninety-six..."

The count echoed though her mind as she continued her insane amount of inverted push-ups, it was the first time since she arrived that she could start her training once more. So with that being said she began with what she considered to be the 'baby-steps', that began with a thousand reps each of: push-ups, sit-ups and cross-crunches for starters before she worked on the cardio side of things.

Despite almost being done with her exercises for the day, she'd began feeling the dull ache of her body trying to keep up with her driven mind.

"Nine Hundred... and ninety...seven..."

Riki grit her teeth as droplets of sweat continued to drip from her forehead and the tip of her nose onto the dry-ish dirt below, it was a hot day and she could have sworn she'd lost a quarter of her own body weight in sweat. She smirked as she counted down the last few reps aloud.

"Nine Hundred... and ninety...eight..." she uttered as she tried to put her aching muscles to the back of her mind, the sound of footsteps almost put her off the count but with two left she kept it going.

"Nine Hundred...and...ninety...nine..." she continued feeling the overwhelming rush of blood to her head, she began lowering herself for the last rep as the tip of her nose almost touched the dirt. She could feel someone watching her as she began pushing off the ground one last time, she could feel the strain in her arms and shoulders as she uttered the last words "One...thousand...!"

It was only then that the voice spoke up, not really startling her.

"You don't waste much time do you?" the blue haired woman asked her as she watched the warrior effortlessly tip forwards and land on her feet, she was amazed that considering the damage she had patched up – the girl was in near perfect health. "A couple of weeks ago, we didn't think you would survive the night..." she told her "...now you're working out for hours, like nothing ever happened!" she added with slight surprise in her tone as she offered the saiyan a towel that she'd brought with her while holding a bottle of water in the other hand.

"What can I say? I have plenty of spare time on my hands..." the girl responded as she accepted the towel and nodded in thanks, it was a hot day and she knew that a shower would definitely be on the to-do list. She patted herself down with the towel, drying herself off as she watched Bulma hold out a bottle of water "Are you sure?" she asked a little surprised.

"It's a hot day, you need to drink..." she told her while a pensive look lingered in her eyes. After a moment the saiyan noticed the look as she took the bottle, she considered asking but she still felt like a stranger despite owing Bulma her life.

"Are you alright?" she asked the human woman while she undone the bottle with the smallest twist of her wrist, taking a couple of mouthfuls of the water before sealing it up once more. The look in Bulma's eyes seemed to put her on slight edge, it was all to familiar from her childhood whenever her mother deemed their time on a planet was coming to an end.

"Huh?" Bulma asked almost absentmindedly as she glanced to the saiyaness, she soon snapped to present and offered a small smile "Oh, yeah...I'm all good..." she rubbed the back of her neck with a tad awkwardness.

Riki looked at her for a moment, her dark eyes looked slightly intimidating when compared to the light blue of the Earthling Woman's own. She thought about pointing out how she wasn't fooled but she was raised with particular manners, she matched the smile before speaking with a respectful tone.

"Alright, though if you ever want to talk..." she offered with a small shrug, the saiyan hung the towel around the back of her neck before tousling her shaggy spiked hair "...a wise woman once said 'A problem shared, is a problem halved'..." she added.

"Who was she...?" Bulma asked slightly curious at the quote.

"My mother..." Riki replied quietly.

"A wise woman, indeed..." the scientist's daughter responded with small smile, just hearing this seemed to bring a small lump of emotion to the saiyan's throat.

"She was..." Riki said quietly as she looked down for a moment, trying to rid herself of the tears threatening her eyes once more. She cleared her throat a little trying to disguise the lump, a moment later she was able to speak and looked at Bulma once more "...but, yeah...I'm free if you ever want someone to talk to – who isn't Vegeta..." she added with a small smirk having noticed that the Prince wasn't exactly the best conversationalist.

Bulma offered a small chuckle at this as she didn't want to press the previous subject any further, she could see the pain in the girl's eyes at the mention of her mother. The scientist didn't know exactly what'd happened before Riki came to them but it sure left its mark on her both physically and emotionally. She paused for a moment wondering whether she should tell the girl or wait until later.

The saiyan in the meantime was working on her own shoulder, there was a slight pain in the muscle surrounding the joint leading to her clavicle. Maybe she had overdone it on the first day of training, she would have been better off with a lighter workout but she never did like to take the easy-road. It just wasn't in her nature, she thrived by challenging herself.

Bulma sighed as she looked at her, she needed to know and now was as good a time as any...

"There...is one thing..."

Riki looked up at her.

"I'm listening..."

TO BE CONTINUED...