"Cooler. Cooler. Paging Lord Cooler."
Nosa groaned as he sat atop the tallest tower of the Cold palace. He looked down on the imperial city, noting how small everything and everyone looked from so high. It was calming for him to sit there, almost peaceful. Sitting so high above the chaos that was the PTO's home base made Nosa feel like he wasn't necessarily a part of the most feared and hated organizations in the galaxy, just a spectator to the madness.
"How about the next time you demand that I keep you informed of the happenings on this planet, you actually bother to respond to my calls?" Nosa griped before pressing a button at the side of his scouter to end the fifth attempt at transmission to Cooler. He hadn't spoken a word to the tyrannical lizard in the past month, and while that wasn't all together a bad thing, it didn't make it any less frustrating - especially considering the fact that Cooler would surely find someway to blame Nosa for the lack of communication.
With a sigh, he leaned back and reclined atop the roof, his gaze focused on the dome that protected the city from the howling icy winds of Arcos.
It had taken the Yadratian a while to get used to living on Arcos, specifically the ever remaining frigid temperature of the planet. Even now, after all of these months of residing on the planet, he dreamt of the days of youth back on his home planet, where tyrannical space lizards were lightyears away. Alas, Yadrat was a place that he could never return to. The childish antics of youth really could have long-lasting effects.
Still, it didn't make him any less homesick. It was funny really. In the twelve years that he'd been banished from the planet, he never once longed to go back as much as he did lately. Maybe something about residing around an organization of people that could care less if you were to vaporize on the spot brought back the feeling of home. And then again, maybe it was just better than thinking about the current predicament Nosa had found himself in.
"Stop joking around, Nosa!" the velvety tone of an angry woman demanded, but just hearing her voice made Nosa smile. "Wake up! They're coming; we have to go! We have to go, Nosa! NOSA!"
"Nosa! I know you can hear me!" Nosa's eyes sparked open as he sat up immediately, not realizing that he'd fallen asleep. "I will keep calling your name if I have to," the voice spoke again and Nosa's head whipped around in confusion.
"Talia?" the confused warrior spoke.
"Nosa. Nosa. Nosa. Nosa. Nosa." The Yadratian blinked away his confusion as the voice finally registered with him, and he scowled at who had woken him up.
With a sigh, Nosa stamped the button to his scouter and said, "What do you want, Onen?"
Now that Cooler was off the planet, Onen had decided to take the tyrant's place as the bane of Nosa's existence. The Saiyan was awfully bothersome and had begged the Yadratian to go out on two missions thus far, and those were two too many for Nosa's taste. Killing innocents and laying waste to a planet might've been the PTO's main business, but Nosa wanted nothing to do with it.
"And before you ask, I am not going out on another mission," Nosa growled before Onen could reply.
"I know that," Onen replied, almost bitingly. "The last team I sent you out with reported that you did virtually nothing to help them subdue the rebellion."
"I might work with Cooler, but I am not a member of the PTO. As far as I'm concerned, those people hadn't done a thing to me to deserve to die by my hand." Nosa vividly recalled the terror that Cooler's Troops R, E, and L had brought to the latest 'cleansed' planet. He had done just enough to keep Cooler's troops from getting utterly decimated, but that was it.
"Yes, well, I've learned my lesson," Onen said and then took a long pause, to which Nosa was ready to cut the transmission off, but the Saiyan spoke again. "Which is why I don't want you to go on another mission. Still, I need your assistance with something."
"No." The Yadratian didn't even leave room for argument.
"But, I –" Before Nosa could hear more than that from Onen, he ripped off his scouter and tossed it off the roof. On a second thought, he pointed a finger at the device and shot it out of the sky, vaporizing it in the event that Cooler ever bothered to try and contact him.
The Yadratian sighed again as he looked skyward, his ears barely noting the shifting of machinery. He looked up just as a spacecraft was allowed through the dome to embark on whatever horrid mission the PTO had set for it. He decided not to dwell on what mission could possibly be lying in wait for the soldiers aboard that departing ship, but instead focused on the person the ship's departure reminded him of.
"Hm? I suppose it has been awhile since I last saw the princess," Nosa mused to himself before closing his eyes and allowed his mind to reach out over the planet of Arcos. The Yadratian might've been significantly weaker than Cooler, but the tyrant couldn't hold a candle to the mental prowess of his subordinate. At best, Cooler could sense out his immediate surroundings and pick apart the individuals that might've been in his vicinity. Nosa, on the other hand, could do a scan of an entire planet in a matter of seconds. On a good day, he could even cast his senses out into space to nearby planets if there was a power source powerful enough to pick up on. This made Nosa's proficiency with the Instant Transmission several times greater than Cooler, but the tyrant still had physical strength and speed on his side that made him the much more powerful opponent. Still, if locating a person around the planet was needed, Nosa was the best man for the job.
"Surprise, surprise; she's nowhere to be found." Nosa sighed as he open his eyes and decided to move for the next target. "I guess I'll take the next best thing then," he said before pressing his fingers to his forehead and teleporting away.
Sheer kept his eyes low as he trudged through the halls of the palace. He made no move to make eye contact with the several soldiers that passed by him, none of which so much as looking the prince's way. It wasn't uncommon behavior though; which is why Sheer made no thought of the men and women he passed. Frost always told him to try asserting himself more, but he just couldn't.
Suddenly, a nearby crash stole Sheer's attention as well as most of the other people in the hallway, all eyes turning to where a soldier had dropped a crate of new weaponry. While the incident was harmless enough, Sheer didn't miss a step as he turned to investigate, but upon turning forward once more, he found himself walking face first into the chest of a large, burly soldier.
Sheer let out a small "oomf" before taking a step back and looking up at the man that he'd unintentionally stepped into. "My apologies," Sheer offered pleasantly and made a move to step around the hulking figure, but the man took one step over to block Sheer's path once more.
"Is that all you have to say, pipsqueak?" the brooding man growled out as just about everyone else in the corridor stopped what they were doing to observe what was happening.
Sheer quirked a brow in mild confusion and took a second glance up at the figure in front of him. The man was at least half as tall as Sheer and twice as big. He was a walking sack of muscle and his tone of voice was reminiscent of a grizzly bear. If all of that wasn't intimidating enough, the long scar down the side of the man's face was enough to make anyone question a brawl with him.
Needless to say, Sheer's mouth ran dry of words as he marveled at the creature in front of him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a confrontation with anyone. Sheer's appearance in the palace alone was typically enough to keep people from wandering too close to him - perks of Cold bloodline perhaps - but even in the extremely rare occurrence that someone did actually attempt to accost Sheer, he usually had Frost nearby to ward the threat off.
The soldier smirked at Sheer's silence and casually popped his knuckles as he said, "Nothing else, huh? Maybe I'll just beat it out of ya."
"And maybe you won't," Nosa snapped from over Sheer's shoulder. The soldier, Sheer, and everyone else in the hallway looked to the Yadratian in shock, more so the onlookers who were all stupefied to watch the warrior materialize out of thin air. However, the soldier's shock in Nosa's appearance quickly turned to irritation at being bothered. Nosa registered the shift and added, "Do yourself a favor, soldier, and get lost. You're facing overwhelming odds right now."
The man scoffed. "As if puny little weaklings like you two can challenge me! I was the fiercest warrior on my planet! No man or monster could challenge my might!"
"Now, you've been reduced to a third string soldier in an organization/army that could care less if you croaked over and died at this very moment." The brutal truth of Nosa's words nearly sent the soldier over the edge and the way Sheer looked back at the Yadratian said more than words, but Nosa was undeterred. "Get with the program if you want to continue living. I'm guessing the PTO 'cleansed' your home world, which means you are awfully lucky to still be alive. Don't throw away your blessing because of stupidity and a short temper."
"Nosa!" Sheer griped in a shushed tone, but it was too late.
The man roared in a defiant yell as he suddenly bolted past Sheer to lay into Nosa. The lack of concern on the Yadratian's face was obvious as he lifted one hand at the incoming soldier. Before the man could get within an arm's reach of Nosa, the warrior released a minor kiai that slammed into the disgruntled soldier and sent him flying down the hallway until violently slamming into the wall of a corner with enough force to severely dent the wall.
The ease with which Nosa dealt with the soldier made the rest of the onlookers cautious of what was sure to happen next, considering what they'd seen happen at the hands of the rest of the outrageously strong warriors of the PTO. However, instead of Nosa dealing a final and deadly blow to the wounded soldier, he merely sighed and dropped his hand.
"Now then, get lost. All of you!" Nosa demanded aloud and he hardly had to wait five seconds for the corridor to clear. Even the disgruntled soldier had enough wherewithal to drag himself up from the floor and high-tail it out of there, leaving Sheer and Nosa alone.
An awkward pause fell between the two as the remaining sound of retreating footsteps tapered out. Sheer broke the silence.
"I...um, thank you, Nosa. That was rather crazy, huh?" the Arcosian spoke.
"Yeah, pretty crazy if I say so myself," Nosa said as he addressed the timid Frost Demon. "You're like what, 1000x stronger than that soldier? For someone with well over a five million power level, you're very soft spoken, Sheer."
Sheer's scarlet eyes fell to the floor in a brief moment of shame as he nodded his head solemnly. "I know. Father has chastised me many times for that. I...wish to get better with it, but I don't quite have the tongue for confrontation like the rest of my family."
Nosa took in the man's words and nodded his head as well. If there was anyone in the entire Cold clan that Nosa could actually consider befriending, it would be Sheer. Frost had a conniving nature to her that rubbed Nosa the wrong way. King Cold was a fool-hearty, self-centered despot. Cooler was...his father's son, and Frieza was probably dead by then or well on the way. Sheer was Nosa's best bet at a shred of humanity within that frigid bloodline. It was too bad Nosa had pretty much already signed his soul over to Cooler.
"Lover not a fighter, huh? I can respect that," Nosa spoke, his words making Sheer lift his eyes. "I'm not much of a fighter myself, so I get where you're coming from."
Sheer smirked and scoffed in response. "As if. I've seen you and Cooler spar. You're as good a fighter as anyone else on this planet."
"Been sneaking around, have we?" Nosa said playfully. Sheer's smirk was erased in a second as a sudden thought dawned on him. Nosa was able to read the Arcosian's thoughts readily. "Don't worry. I know how Cooler can be. I won't tell him. Heck, I've forgotten about it already." Nosa offered a brief chuckle to ease Sheer's obvious alarm. The youngest of Cold's children relaxed and even smiled alongside the Yadratian, and Nosa knew he had him right where he wanted him. "No, Sheer, I may have fighting skill, but I'm certainly no fighter. I'd much rather use words to get what I want. If not words, then intimidation is my next best option."
"Really," the prince replied.
"Yes, really," Nosa parroted as he slid over to Sheer's side and tossed an arm over the man's shoulder. "We're friends, right Sheer?"
"Um...well, I wouldn't say that," Sheer said, his words shaky as he cautioned a glance to Nosa and then quickly looked away. "I mean, I certainly don't dislike you, but you're more Cooler's friend and my...acquaintance?"
Nosa frowned. "C'mon now!" he cheered, squeezing Sheer's shoulder. "Would an acquaintance really stand up for you like I just did? Would an acquaintance really not tell Cooler that you've been sneakily observing him? I mean, I'm pretty sure that we've crossed the line into friendship today, Sheer." The Arcosian looked uneasy, but Nosa pressed on. "Look, I'm not asking for much; I just need a little bit of information."
"Like what?" Sheer groaned, almost bitingly...almost.
Nosa shrugged casually. "I'm just looking for Frost. I haven't seen her around in awhile, and considering how close you two are, I figured you'd be the first to know if she slipped off."
Sheer's eyes came alive then as he gingerly pulled himself out of Nosa's grip. "Frost is nowhere! She's probably out in the ice biomes. That's a place that she likes to go to be alone sometimes."
The fact that Sheer couldn't even look in Nosa's direction while saying that was all the proof Nosa needed to know he was lying. That and the fact that Nosa knew that the girl was absolutely nowhere to be found on that planet. "Why do I feel like you're lying, friend?"
"I don't know because I'm not!" Sheer demanded.
Good grief, he's a horrible liar. Nosa sighed. "She's not on this planet, Sheer. I know that for a fact. Good friends don't keep secrets from one another." Sheer still looked undeterred, making Nosa groan. "If you're not going to cooperate with me, then I guess I'll just have tell Cooler what you've been doing. I mean, we both know how things can get when he gets angry."
"No, please don't," Sheer hurriedly replied. "Cooler already doesn't like me. He'll kill me if he thinks I was spying on him."
You have no idea. "Then just tell me where she went. It's not like I'm going to fly out and chase her down. I'm just curious."
Sheer troubled his lower lip as he looked aside to consider the thought. He cautioned another glance to Nosa, who happily smiled at the prince. Sheer sighed. "Okay, look, I don't actually know where she's gone to." Nosa looked ready to argue, but Sheer actually asserted himself. "I'm telling the truth! Every couple of weeks, she borrows one of the older space cruisers and sets out into space on her own. No backup, no support, just herself. She said that she wants to experience the galaxy instead of being cooped up on this planet all the time. I try to warn her against it because Father would be enraged heavily, but she never listens and leaves me to cover her tracks."
"How long does she stay gone usually?" Nosa prosed.
"At least three days; usually no more than a week." Sheer watched Nosa as the Yadratian considered the information and when he offered no immediate response, Sheer continued with, "Please don't tell anyone, especially father. He'll have my hide and hers."
"And you have absolutely no idea what she runs out there to do?" Nosa asked as he analyzed every inch of Sheer's demeanor for a chance that he was lying.
"No," Sheer answered plainly and without hesitation.
Another pause passed between the two, in which Nosa studied the Frost Demon, but when he could find no trace of falsehood, he smiled. "Great! Thanks a lot, friend!"
"Yeah...right," Sheer groaned casting his glance aside as Nosa spun on a heel and prepared to walk off. "Wait!" Sheer demanded before Nosa could move out of earshot. The Yadratian turned back to the prince with a quirked brow questioningly while Sheer worked up the nerve to speak again. "D-did Cooler have anything to do with what happened to Frieza, you know, back on Namek?"
An eerie silence fell down then, the first true glimpse of the Cold family passed over Sheer as he locked eyes with Nosa. It was the first time the youngest prince actually reminded Nosa of Cooler.
"No," Nosa replied blankly.
Sheer didn't look convinced. "Friends don't lie to each other, right?"
Nosa smirked. It's buried pretty deep, but I can tell that you are your father's son as well. He pressed his fingers to his forehead as he coyly said, "Good friends don't." And before Sheer could consider the reply, Nosa was already gone.
"Let's see here," Nosa spoke as he walked through a lone hallway of the compound. "We have King Cold brooding about the palace, angry because he has yet to hear back from Cooler or Frieza. We have Sheer moping around as he always does without big sister covering his flank. And then we have Frost somewhere out in cosmos doing the gods know what." He teetered his head as he checked off his duties of the day. Too bad he still didn't have Cooler to correspond with.
"Suppose its time to punch out for the day," he said just before stopping at a door and stamping the keypad to let him through.
Upon crossing the threshold, Nosa was greeted by an array of beautiful foliage and the lovely scent of a garden. The Yadratian offered a rare, genuine smile at the sight of Chilla's Garden. This place had to be Nosa's second favorite area on the planet of Arcos. It offered a calm, warming atmosphere on a chaotic, ice planet. The garden defied its very environment and Nosa sometimes thought the symbolism of its existence was one of the reasons he enjoyed the area so much.
The greenhouse garden had been constructed on the demand of the late queen, Chilla. For a woman that had never known more than ice and snow, she'd apparently been infatuated with greenery and even envied the lush foliage of other planets that the PTO had conquered. It was her envy that drove her to construct her own area of botanical life. At least, that's how Cooler had explained it to Nosa once before.
Truth be told, he could've cared less why the area was there. He was just happy to escape the cold for a moment.
On top of the fact that the garden was significantly warmer than any other place on the planet, the amount of foot-traffic through the area was sparse at best. Aside from Frieza and Cooler, the garden was all that remained of Chilla's legacy and the royal family did their part to maintain the late queen's favorite area of the palace. Chilla's Garden wasn't meant to be a place of lounge. Aside from the gardeners, anyone found to have been in the garden for longer than five minutes were severely punished, and if someone so much as plucked a leaf from a bush, they were to be executed. Personally, Nosa felt that the punishments in no way fitted the crimes, but justice and equality was the last thing one could expect to find within the PTO.
Besides, rules or no rules, Nosa wasn't going to let anyone tell him that he couldn't take a nap in the garden, especially considering that he'd already done so at least ten times in the past. With that in mind, Nosa strolled over to the thickest patch of bushes that he could spot and happily jumped into the shrubbery. He wasted no time tossing and turning in the vines and branches that nestled and covered his body until he found a nice, comfy spot while also being good and out of sight. While he cared very little for the rules and regulations of the palace, he saw no sense in needlessly being caught. Even while sleep, he was never so out of it that his brain didn't take note of his surroundings.
If all those years on the run hadn't taught him anything else, it was how to remain vigilant of those around him.
"A few winks and I suppose I'll get back at it," Nosa spoke to himself as he lifted his arms and rested his hands behind his head, eyes slowly drifting shut. "Maybe Cooler will actually take the time to respond back to someone by then."
In mere moments, Nosa could feel the soothing arms of sleep begin to embrace him. However, just before he could fall into a comfortable slumber, he heard one of the several doors leading to Chilla's Garden open and the soft padding of footsteps trace across the grassy floor of the room.
"Your brigade is already heading out on another mission?!" he heard a soldier call out in shock. "Dude, you guys just got back from the last one a few days ago!"
"Yeah, we've been really busy since Lord Cooler and Lord Frieza left. The commander thinks that King Cold is just being antsy about being trapped on the planet until the lords return." The guy gave a brief chuckle before adding, "I've hardly had time to rest, but hey, I'd rather be on Cold's good side than his bad, and all of these successful missions will definitely keep me and the entire brigade in his good graces."
The first soldier scoffed. "Maybe until you mess up; then Cold will turn on you like a rattlesnake."
"No doubt about that."
Nosa gave a soft hum of unconcern as the soldiers trekked on through the garden, moving to another of the doorways. Their conversation was about as interesting as any other mid-level soldiers was, so the Yadratian made a point to turn his ears off and drift back to sleep. However, just before he could focus back on his sleeping, the next words of the soldiers sparked Nosa's interest.
"This will be a long trip, though," the second soldier began just before the sound of someone tapping a keypad sounded and a door opened.
"Oh yeah? Where's the next great conquest?"
"It's a planet somewhere out in the space boonies. Planet is called Yadrat, I think. We leave at 1700 and the entire mission is expected to take 10 months."
"Good luck with that, buddy!"
Nosa's eavesdropping was cut short as the door leading out of the garden closed shut and the soldiers went on, but he'd heard enough. "Yadrat at 1700," he groaned to himself before nestling deeper into the brush. He offered a lazy yawn before closing his eyes. "I've got time."
Elsewhere on a distant planet, the beginnings of a sandstorm swept through a small town. The town was third-world at best; all of its buildings built from lumber and not the first sign of modern technology in sight. Even so, the population of the little town looked as care free as possible as they milled about in the dirt paved streets. A few children had huddled up and had begun playing with a red, rubber ball, kicking it back and forth and having a jolly time.
Nothing was out of place and the town didn't look to have it's first shred of conflict.
Out of a nearby shop, stepped one long pink leg before the next joined it and carried Frost out into view. The PTO princess made sure to cover herself in a large robe that shrouded her face. She'd learned long ago that her family and race didn't carry the best name in the galaxy, and more often than not, people chose to accost her for appearing in public so brazenly. So, to avoid all of that, she decided to shroud herself when visiting other planets and interacting with people. The shroud didn't always work, but it was better than nothing.
Frost's amber eyes slid across the environment as if scanning for something or someone amongst the congregation of people milling about the street. She scowled when nothing stood out to her and made a move to turn and leave, but just before doing so, an earthquake suddenly struck the planet. The quake was so violent that it threw some of the citizens to the ground. Even Frost had to take a hold of something to keep from losing her footing. Some of the wood buildings ripped and tore from the violent shaking, and even crevices were carved into the ground as the very planet seemed to shutter. But then, as quickly as the quake had come on, it stopped abruptly.
Some children cried and the citizens certainly voiced their concerns about what had transpired, but before things could even remotely begin to get back to normal, a chorus of shrieks and screams sounded out from nearby. All eyes turned in the direction as a large structure suddenly tore out of the ground nearby and ripped the environment apart as it continued growing and elongating, stretching out until it had finally settled. The...thing was massive, gargantuan even, sitting several times higher than the little buildings found within the town. It looked like the root of a tree, but was several times larger than any tree they'd ever seen.
While the townsfolk stepped back in fear and awe of what was transpiring, Frost smiled at the event.
"About time you showed yourself," she crooned before darting into the sky, much to the trepidation of the people standing near her. The princess wasted no time shooting across the sky as her eyes locked on a massive structure in distance that looked eerie similar to a gargantuan tree. "Here I come, my lovely fruit."