A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in updates, I have had my hands full with finals and graduation so I have been unable to get this chapter out on time like I wanted. Regular bi-weekly updates should resume now unless something else happens. Hope you all are enjoying this story.
Haku was woken up by a red flashing light and someone shaking him awake, as well as someone saying. "Wake up! We got an army to kill!" Malroth's voice pulled Haku out of his slumber and he sat up from the bed and looked around groggily.
"What…? What's going on…?" He questioned. The red flashing light filled the whole room, it was like a silent alarm, so it was most likely all over the ship.
"I just told you! We tracked down another army of Cold soldiers, so we get to kill em all!" Malroth seemed a little too excited to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of enemy soldiers, but Haku couldn't get any more information out of him as he had already rushed out the door.
Haku grew nervous when he thought of what was to come, but he grabbed his clothes, got dressed, and left the room to chase after Malroth, which brought him to the cargo room. He had been with this group for a few days now and was somewhat familiar with the rest of the group, aside from Phoenix and Paragus. He knew full well what they were about and what their goals were, but the fact a battle was actually approaching was nerve-wracking. When he got to the cargo room, he found everyone else was already there and getting ready to leave. When he looked out the window, however, he could see they were still flying through the air.
"Well, someone is late! Gonna have to work on that newbie!" Inu giggled when Haku arrived. How she managed to be so light-hearted before a battle he would never know.
"Um, sorry, but are we actually going to fight?" Haku questioned, his trembling voice giving away his fear of what was to come.
"Hm?" Everyone stared at him for a good couple of seconds, as if unsure if they heard him right. "Uh, yeah. This is what we do, remember? You were there when we fought the last army off." Malroth pointed out.
"I-I know, but…is it really a good idea to go after them…?" Haku questioned again, obviously having second thoughts about his decision to join.
"Oh, come on…" Inu groaned, her shoulders, ears, and tail drooping.
"You can't seriously be trying to back out now, are you? You literally begged us to take you with us!" Malroth told him, heaving his executioner's axe over his shoulder.
"I know…but…"
"You made a mistake joining us." Phoenix spoke up, cutting off the stammering Haku and drawing everyone's attention. Haku fell silent at the comment, unsure how to respond, but he was sure she was right.
"L-look, you can stay here with Paragus, Lobo, and Natsu if you want, but this is what we do." Inu cut in, trying to defuse this situation before something bad happened. She also didn't want to lose a new member of their small group.
"You should've stayed back on your planet if you're too scared to fight." Phoenix added before anyone else said anything else. She then turned to Saji and Broly to discuss something with them.
Haku felt dejected at her statements, hanging his head as his shoulders drooped. At the time he wanted to fight, he wanted to help make a difference and save innocents, but when it came down to it, he was really just a coward. However, he was brought out of his thoughts when a hand, or in this case a paw, was placed on his shoulder. His head perked up and he turned to see who it was to see Lobo standing behind him.
"Don't beat yourself up, kid. This is not for everyone. You can help me on the ship until we can take you back to your planet if you like." Lobo reassured Haku. It made Haku feel a little better, the idea of home and his family, but he was conflicted. He wanted to help stop the Colds and save people, but he couldn't even do that.
"But…I want to help…" Haku murmured softly.
Lobo heaved a sigh, dropping his paw from Haku's shoulder. "Come with me, you can help me in the ship." With that, he headed back down the hallway. Haku paused, glancing back at the group who were preparing to leave, but did drag himself after Lobo.
"Lobo?" Haku called out after a few seconds, making one of the wolf's ear swerve back towards him. "I was just wondering…what do you think of all this fighting and killing?"
"Hmph…" Lobo grunted in response at first before falling quiet. The silence last long enough that Haku thought he wouldn't get an answer as they walked to another part of the ship where several large plots of soil were, a variety of plant occupied the soil, some had vibrant flowers, others looked like herbs of some kind, and more strange looking plants to Haku. Haku did notice there were small weeds growing around the plants. "Looks like these need weeding and some new soil, you'll be helping me with that, got it?"
"Oh…yeah, no problem…" Haku nodded, hanging his head again.
"As for your question…start pulling them up already, and don't pull the plants out." Lobo started, cutting himself off with an instruction to Haku. Haku perked up again when he heard the first part and started to tug on what looked like weeds to him, hoping he wouldn't pull a plant up on accident. Haku wanted to hear what Lobo had to say and figured he would learn more faster if he complied with any instructions given to him, which he did. "I'm completely against what Phoenix is doing. I think what she's doing is suicidal and she's going to get herself and the rest of us killed, especially if she isn't careful." Lobo placed a handful of weeds in a nearby bucket before picking more from the soil.
"But if you don't condone it why are you here helping her and the others?" Haku pointed out.
Lobo sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a heavy sigh. "Because I understand what it means to her to kill the Cold family. And don't start asking me how and why I know. I can't say anything without Phoenix's permission. Not just because she's my captain, but because I know she would rather it not told."
"So…you know a lot about her?" Haku questioned, trying to be careful with the words he picked.
His question got a chuckle out of Lobo. "You aren't clever, kid, I'm not saying anything about her aside from what I already told you. Besides, it doesn't matter anyways as we'll be taking you back to your planet eventually. You'll go back to your old peaceful life and enjoy it, like the rest of us should instead of risking it all for people who wouldn't give us another glance."
Haku was silent at first, pondering his options. He wanted to go home so badly, it would be so easy if he could go home and just forget about this. He could go back and continue living his life peacefully and forget about this whole thing and everyone here…but would it be the right thing to do? What about all the other planets that weren't as lucky as his planet was? Were the inhabitants there all slaughtered? Or were they forced to work under the Cold family as slaves? He shook his head and set his weeds down in the bucket, looking up at Lobo.
"I'm sorry, but I have to help them out. I came here to help, so that's what I'm gonna do!" He announced before turning and running out of the room.
Lobo watched him run out of the room before shaking his head slowly. "That kid is going to get himself killed…" He whispered under his breath. "What a shame…"
Haku came into the cargo room just in time it seemed as they had broken the atmosphere and looked like they were ready to leave the ship, even though it was still flying. The others looked towards him when he came into the room, silent at first to see what he rushed in for. Haku looked at them all, none of them had any fear or doubt in their eyes, faces, or even body language, they knew what they were getting into, they knew how dangerous it was, but they still wanted to fight. It was evident they all had their motives for fighting, some may not be as noble as others, and some might just be a mystery, but he knew he had to help.
"I want to help! I won't run away or anything! I promise I'll help or die trying!" Haku announced loudly, hoping they would accept his words and request to help them.
At first it was just an awkward silence as they all stared at him, as if waiting to see who would speak up first, and that was none other than their leader. "If you want to join, then no more whining. Stay out of the way of us, and kill without hesitation." Phoenix told Haku, which lifted his spirits a bit. It wasn't much of a compliment, but her accepting his request to help meant something to him as she was the leader of their group.
"Alright! Let's fuck them up!" Inu cheered excitedly.
"Inu please…" Phoenix muttered. "Not in front of Broly and Saji."
"Oh, sorry! Pretend you didn't hear that!" Inu requested, turning to Saji and Broly who just looked at her perplexed.
Phoenix and Malroth both sighed heavily before Natsume's voice echoed on what seemed to be an intercom on the ship. "I'm about to open the doors, get ready to drop!" He said.
"D-drop…?!" Haku questioned, caught off guard by that. "I thought we were going to land!"
"Nope! Not safe enough to land here! It's practically crawling with Cold soldiers! Don't worry though, you'll be fine!" Inu encouraged Haku with a toothy grin, which surprisingly didn't help his uneasiness.
Haku couldn't even say anything back though as the floor in front of them opened up, revealing the fast moving ground far below, which was actually covered up by clouds, so they were still pretty high up. Haku felt like he was going to be sick from his nerves, his heart racing as he realized what he signed up for, again. He was snapped back into reality by Phoenix and her words.
"Wherever you land, starting killing them all, leave none alive. We'll meet up whenever possible, If you find one another, stick together until we all meet up. Understood?" She commanded.
"Yes!" "You got it!" Was the mixture of responses to her words.
Phoenix nodded before jumping out of the ship and plummeting down through the clouds. Thanks to the clouds they lost sight of her quickly, but that didn't stop any of her group, jumping out of the ship one by one. When it came to Haku and Inu, he was trembling as he stared out at the clouds rushing by underneath them.
"Hey, we'll be fine! Just follow my lead, come on!" Inu, seeing that he wouldn't move on his own, grabbed his wrist and jumped right out of the ship. Haku was dragged after her, the fear gripping him and causing him to scream as he plummeted towards the planet through the fog the clouds created.