Hey guys! Sorry for the delay with this one – I accidentally deleted my previous file and couldn't get it back, so I ended up having to write the chapter again. Although to make up for it, you have a slightly longer one!

Massive thank you to Varjotin for your review on the previous chapter – this chapter somewhat builds on something you said!

Anyway, enough from me, enjoy!

Chapter 11

Over the next few days Hana and Cooler had trained and coexisted along side each other without too much incident. Hana had managed to get herself into a routine of waking up first and making her way back towards the kitchen area and sleeping quarters before Cooler emerged from his room. Now that she was finally able to get a reasonable nights rest not only were her training sessions going a lot better, but she was far less snappy as well.

Cooler seemed to be still trying to be as patient as possible with her, which, coupled with the reasonable amount of sleep Hana was finally getting seemed to be working out well for both of them. That being said, as much as they weren't bickering, she was still very much in the habit of returning to her room after they had completed their days training and spending most of the evenings alone. Emerging for their evening meal, only to hide away again until she was sure Cooler had gone to bed, at which point she would sneak back out to claim her usual spot on the sofa.

They were almost at their destination now, and Cooler had given Hana a set of files to read. Apparently one for the escapee and another for whoever had assisted him in his get away from the transport shuttle. Hana had barely bothered to read either, briefly skimming over the file of the rock like creature, apparently named Granite, and she had got as far as looking over the image of his female companion before completely losing interest and giving up.

Considering she had thrown Granite through a wall with zero difficulty during their last encounter, there hardly seemed any point in reading up about him. The female he was assumed to be with didn't look like she would be any particular problem either. She was a race that Hana had never come across or seen before, and despite the fact that Hana knew next to nothing about... whatever this female was, she was pretty sure that this one wouldn't prove to be much of an issue either.

Hana had quickly learned that Cooler and his family had access to a large database full of various races, that seemed to also link into whatever information was held on the individual files of those serving under the Planet Trade Organisation. Cooler made a regular habit of reading these reports in the evenings, telling her previously that knowing as much about an enemy as possible, was simply part of good preparation to facing an opponent.

The idea behind it did make sense, but of course, when Cooler had asked if she'd read the files Hana had immediately lied, assuring him that she had indeed read the files in their entirety and knew everything she needed to know to be fully prepared. She was fairly certain by the doubt he radiated that he didn't believe her, but as they were just entering the atmosphere of their destination planet he didn't have the chance to press her with any more questions to confirm if her claim was true or not.

As Cooler manoeuvred the ship and it touched down gently on the soggy ground Hana unstrapped herself from the high backed chair positioned towards the front of the ship as Cooler did the same. Cooler turned his head to look at her expectantly as he made his way towards her as Hana in turn moved towards the door that was opening into a ramp down to the ground outside.

"Well, the purpose of bringing you was to see how acute your detection skills are... do you think you can track them both down?"

"I think so," Hana shrugged, "certainly him. It's easier for me to find a presence that I've felt before. And I'm guessing that, errr, the other one is probably with him."

Cooler rolled his eyes at the fact that Hana didn't even know the name of the other being they were searching for. If it hadn't been obvious before that she hadn't read the files, it certainly was now.

"You mean Laverna. If you'd actually read her file like you were supposed to, you'd know that. How can you expect to know what to look out for when you don't know a thing about your opponent?" It was clear that Cooler was annoyed, but Hana ignored him as she made her way down the open ramp and splashed down onto the boggy ground.

"Ew," she mumbled as she shook mud off her her white boot only to set it back into the same muddy puddle she had pulled it from. Of course it wouldn't have shown so much is she were allowed to wear her own black ones...

"I'm serious Hana," Cooler carried on as he strode down the ramp after her, tail swishing behind him. "How can you expect to take on an opponent you know absolutely nothing about?"

Hana scoffed sarcastically as she turned on her heel to face him. "Cooler, I haven't known anything about any opponent I've faced, ever. Including you. And I'm still here. It'll be fine," she turned and went to walk forward, away from the ship when Cooler gripped her elbow.

"Fighting an opponent that you've caught by surprise, who doesn't intend to kill you is not the same as an opponent that knows you're coming and will more than likely be actively trying to kill you."

Starting to rip her arm away Hana was about to say something offensive, when she paused as felt the genuine concern radiating from Cooler through his contact on her arm and turned to look at him properly, her brows knitted together in a small frown of confusion. Was he genuinely worried about her well-being or was it just a case of not wanting her to screw up on the job they'd been sent to do by King Cold? Pulling her arm slowly and gently away from him she continued to survey him carefully.

As much as she couldn't work out the motivation behind it, the emotion itself was unmistakable. Her features softened slightly as she took a step back towards him so that she was directly in front of him.

"No... maybe its not the same," she started carefully, "but I'll be alight, I always am." she smiled softly and turned back away from him before he could answer she lifted a hand to silence him and closed her eyes, allowing her Ki to fan out around her, getting wider and wider as she searched for her two targets.

"That way" she mumbled as she lifted an arm to point somewhere off the their right. Her eyes suddenly snapped open as she whipped her head in the direction she had felt their presence, a look of confusion and concern evident on her face.

"What's wrong?" Cooler asked as he stepped around and alongside her.

"The other one, I think... I think she knows we're here."

"What makes you say that?" Cooler asked as he looked off in the direction she had pointed in.

"I... I don't know. I just felt like... it felt like she knew I had sensed them..."

"Well, Laverna does seem to have some rather strange abilities... although of course you'd know that if you'd-"

"If I'd read her file, yeah, I get it"

.-.

Page break

.-.

The pair had been flying for an hour or so when Hana's head suddenly snapped to the side, looking downward. "That way," she confirmed as she began to descend with Cooler following not far behind her.

"They know we're here, so keep an eye out," Hana warned as her eyes scanned the landscape below. She could feel them, both of them, but not with the same clarity she normally could. This Laverna must be interfering with her Ki detection somehow.

Eyes widening Hana shifted sideways as a blast of Ki came up from ground level, shooting past them as Cooler upped his pace towards the enemy on the ground. Following close behind him Hana continued to glance around. She could feel exactly where Granite was, directly below her and now battling with Cooler, but Laverna was proving to be far more difficult to keep track of. She kept disappearing and reappearing. As if she could mask her Ki, but only for a few moments.

Hana slowed her pace while Cooler dealt with Granite, and hovered where she was, glancing around on the planet surface for and sign of Laverna, who had once again disappeared from her senses. A moment too late Hana widened her eyes as felt her presence again, just as she was tackled from the side and knocked out of the air.

The two spiralled and tumbled to the ground, Laverna disengaging quickly and rolling away, moving swiftly up to her feet. Hana pulled herself up out of the boggy ground, her entire front half muddy and soaked. As she glared up at Laverna from her position on the ground she was annoyed to see that she didn't have a speck of mud on her.

She looked exactly like the photo in her file. Her pale skin contrasted by long wavy black hair, black eyes and strange black markings on her face, two lines starting up in her hairline, moving down her forehead and ending in a sharp point below her eyes. Her black lips were curled up in a snarl as she surveyed Hana coolly.

"You rely on that detection ability of yours far too much" she observed snidely.

Hana pushed herself to her feet wiping some of the mud off of her legs chest and flinging it to the floor, glaring back at the dark haired female.

"Go fuck yourself" she snarled as she pulled a stick out of her now tangled hair and threw it to the boggy ground as she got back up to her feet.

To her surprise Laverna didn't seem to take offence at all and laughed instead, striding forwards a few paces before she paused as Hana picked her gaze back up to the other female. She was clearly being very cautious, and had kept a reasonable distance between them.

"I had heard about that mouth of yours," she said, stepping sideways as she started to circle Hana, who turned with her to maintain a view of the other woman. "I also heard, how it is you came to be 'working'" she made a gesture with her fingers to show her sarcasm, "with the Colds."

"Why the fuck does it matter to you why I'm working with them?" Hana snarled as she continued to turn to keep pace with Laverna's slow and careful movements.

Laverna smiled coyly as she shifted her dark eyes back to Hana's own ruby ones, "it matters, because you are no more than a prisoner to them. A hostage. Just like every other slave of Cold army, you haven't chosen to be there and are completely expendable to them." She paused to look over Hana who gazed stoically back at her.

"It doesn't fucking matter to you why I'm here. And besides, I am no ones slave" Hana spat as she ignited a flame of Ki in one fist and launched herself at the other female, drawing her fist back ready for a punch. Just as she was about to land her blow, Laverna dodged to the side at a pace far faster than Hana had seen before. Her movement looked completely effortless, and as the dark haired female swiped a hand upward Hana felt a burning sensation scratch up the back of her upper arm.

Hana turned and pressed a hand to the back of her arm, drawing it away and seeing blood staining her fingertips. Shifting her gaze back to Laverna, she saw a small blade hiding away in the females slim fingers.

"You'll need to do a little better than a tiny little scratch you bitch" Hana stated aggressively as she took an aggressive step back towards the dark haired female before she suddenly faltered in her step. Her head had started to feel fuzzy and hazy, and as she tried to fan her Ki out around her she found that not only could she no longer sense Laverna, but she couldn't sense Cooler or Granite either. She tried again, but when nothing happened she glanced to her arm and then back to Laverna, her concerned expression poorly concealed.

"I told you, you rely on your Ki detection too much" Laverna smirked as she toyed with the small blade in her hands, twirling it deftly between her fingers.

"What the fuck did you just do to me?" Hana asked as she pressed a hand back to the small cut her arm, making Laverna smile even more.

"Just a little neurotoxin to block your Ki receptors," she shrugged "it'll wear off in an hour or so, maybe less given your level of sensitivity and Ki levels, but for the time being at least that little sensory trick of yours won't work."

Hana felt fear flood her as she stared back at the dark haired female. Such a quick little cut in her arm was all it had taken to disable the one skill Hana relied on the most. If she could do something like that so easily, Kami knows what other tricks this woman had up her sleeve. Hana had never thought she'd ever admit that Cooler was right about anything, but he had perhaps been right when he'd said she should have read the file on Laverna. At the very least she'd have probably known to keep her distance from the female.

She turned her head to look to where she had last felt Coolers presence only to see that he wasn't there. Without the ability to sense him, she had absolutely no idea where he was. Any chance of back up was pretty much non-existent unless Cooler happened to notice what was going on. She was on her own on this one.

"You don't need to look so worried," Laverna said softly as she edged a little close towards Hana, "I don't really have any intention of killing you"

"No?" Hana scoffed in return, "you just carry that thing around for fun do you?" she gestured towards the small blade, still held firmly in her opponents grasp.

Laverna smiled sweetly but didn't press any closer as she continued to twirl the blade in her fingers. "I find the best defence is to remove your enemy's primary offence. Now, I believe we were talking about how you came to be working with the Cold's?" She took another step forward, but her dark, calculating eyes continued to watch Hana closely.

"You can't trust them Hana, none of them. No one can. They'll keep you as long as its convenient and get rid of you as soon as it isn't."

Hana frowned at her, "and why the fuck do you care how long they do or don't keep me around? You don't even know me."

Laverna took another small step forward. "I care, because you are far too skilled to be left the whatever fate they have in store for you. Your abilities could be hugely valuable to the rebellion."

"Oh?" Hana raised an eyebrow "so that's what this is? Some kind of weird fucking recruitment drive?" she took a step back, uncomfortable with how close the other female was now, but Laverna took another step forward to maintain the distance between them.

"Look Hana, you know you can't trust them. Everyone in that family is a monster. The moment you stop being useful to them, they'll get rid of you. If you join us, you can make a real difference, you can help free so many people."

Shaking her head slowly Hana backed up again, "I'll be the first to admit that he'd a dick head sometimes, but I don't think Cooler is like that. He hasn't given me a reason so far not to trust him, and even if he had, I don't have a choice while King Cold has my friend." she glanced around again, hoping to see Cooler, or at the very least Granite, but neither were anywhere to be seen.

"Of course," Laverna smiled, "the four armed friend you were recruited with. If you think Cooler is so trustworthy, you should really ask how your friend is, I think you'll be surprised where he's ended up."

Hana felt her blood run cold at the statement as her face turned sour, "what the fuck are you talking about? What the hell has happened to Zee?"

"Nothing has happened to him, yet. But you really should have a chat with Cooler about him and his whereabouts. If you trust him so much, you should be confident he'll tell you the truth, right?"

"If you know so much why don't you just fucking tell me now?" Hana snapped as her fists clenched at her sides. Just because she couldn't sense Ki at the moment didn't mean she couldn't fight and that was exactly what she intended to do if Laverna carried on with her stupid little mind games.

Laverna glanced at Hana's clenched fists as she begun to pool her Ki into them, ready to flare up a powerful fire fist, but if she was concerned in any way she didn't show it. In fact, her lips curled into a smirk as she reached a hand toward a small bag at her hip that Hana eyes cautiously. This woman clearly had some tricks up her sleeve and Hana had a feeling that she wasn't going to like whatever was in that bag.

Not wanting to waste any time, or give Laverna the chance to reach into that bag of hers, Hana ignited both fists and launched herself forwards. As she had done before Laverna dodged the double blow with ease and slipped behind Hana who turned, swiping a hand behind her in an attempt to still land some kind of hit on her opponent. If she could just touch her, it should cause enough injury to at least slow her down.

With impressive speed and agility Laverna leapt backwards, avoiding the blow with ease before flipping up and into the air, over Hana and landing in a crouch directly behind her. Hana turned to strike but before she could move an inch Laverna threw a handful of pale powder directly into her face.

Hana coughed and stumbled backwards, rubbing her hands and forearms furiously over her face as she tried to remove any powder residue, but having already taken in a lungful, she had the horrible feeling that she was too late.

"What the fuck.." she stumbled to the side as her legs begun to feel weak and her vision blurred. Shaking her head furiously to clear the fog, Hana focused her blurred gaze on the female directly in front of her. This was bad.

"Clearly you need some time to think on what I've said," Laverna's voice drifted into Hana's ears, muffled as if she was underwater. "Just be careful how much trust you place in them Hana. For your sake, and your friends."

"What have you done to me!?" Hana croaked as she fell to her knees, feeling her body slowly going numb as her eye sight faded more and more. She flinched when she she felt slim fingers lift her chin up towards a face she could no longer see.

"Nothing major," Laverna said softly, "your sight will come back in a few hours, and the paralysis will wear off in about the same time. It would seem that Cooler has apprehended dear Granite already, so you shouldn't have long to wait before he comes to find you." Laverna released her grip as Hana felt her body fall forward to the ground as footsteps moved slowly away from her.

"If you change you mind about where your loyalties lie, come find me." Laverna shouted from somewhere in the distance before she went silent.

With the world black, and her sensory powers in disarray, all she could do was listen out for the smallest of sounds she could pick up on as she lay on the wet and muddy ground for what felt like an eternity.

Hana would have flinched if she could when she heard someone land heavily next to her on the boggy ground. A hand fell gently on her shoulder, turning her from her side to her back. She felt a surge of relief when it was Coolers voice she heard above her as he gripped her chin, moving her face from side to side as if he was inspecting her.

"Let's get you back to the ship" she heard him say before she felt an arm slide under her knees as the other gripped behind her back, lifting her off the ground. Her head lulled to the side to rest on Coolers hard chest as she allowed her sightless eyes to flutter closed.

As much as she was relieved to be rescued by Cooler she knew one thing for certain; the second she was up and moving, she had some serious questions to ask him about Zee.