X Chapter 16 X
Warning: Language, Underage Drinking, Sexual Themes, Violence
A/N: Sorry for the wait. Had major writer's block deciding where I wanted to take this story. Hopefully it was worth the wait. :)
Celle shoved her way past Komatsuna and stormed out of the dining hall. Komatsuna watched her leave. She couldn't believe how soft this girl was. "You have to understand!" The saiyan girl stomped down the ship's ramp and over to the boys, who were just finishing loading the palette with the supplies. "That's enough! Stop!" They looked at her, confused why she was suddenly so furious. "Stop? What do you mean 'stop'?" asked one of them. She turned back to the ship and pointed accusingly at the saiyaness, who was standing in the entrance. "We can't trust her!"
The boys all looked at her, their yellow shoulder pads gleaming in the sun. She said nothing. Celle barked orders at the boys. "Come on! Let's leave!" They glanced at her, then back at Komatsuna. The saiyan woman lifted up and floated over to them, landing a few feet away. Celle got between her and the boys and took a fighting stance. But Komatsuna did something that surprised everyone; she sat in the dirt, cross-legged. "Kid, there's a lot of people out there that you can't trust. But me? I'm not one of them."
The saiyan girl retorted, completely enraged. "It's your fault Ginge's dead! Did you think we had completely forgotten?!..." She was breathing heavily. "...You helped us get away, and I'm grateful. But what you've done... to Ginge... and to those people... Some things just can't be forgiven!" The boys had been looking at her during her tirade. Now they looked to Komatsuna with cold expressions, awaiting her response. One of them asked "What does she mean 'those people'?"
The woman sighed and flicked her tail annoyedly. "I came back after the battle and wiped out what remained of Cooler's crew, my former shipmates... If I hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to get all this stuff!" Silence followed. Soon, an older boy, about ten, walked to Komatsuna's side and faced his packmates. Celle was mortified. "What are you doing?!" The boy, who had spiky swept hair replied. "I'm looking out for our people. She might have made mistakes in the past, but she saved our ass. And now she's saving our ass again with food and supplies."
Celle became furious again, hissing at him. "She murdered those people! Go inside and look! There's hundreds of them!" He didn't falter. "Those 'people' came here to kill us, Celle! So what if she killed them?!" Komatsuna observed them arguing with a slight sense of satisfaction. At least he has some sense! Celle snarled at the boy. "It's wrong! They couldn't even defend themselves!" The boy cooly responded. "Maybe so. But so was coming here to murder and enslave us." The girl threw her hands in the air. "Did Ginge mean absolutely nothing to you?! Are you really gonna throw away everything she taught us?!"
Unwittingly, she had sealed the deal in the hearts of the others. They all walked over to Komatsuna's side and faced Celle. She was speechless. The boy she had argued with, spoke. "That's not fair, and you know it... Ginge meant everything to me. She did for a lot of us... And as for what she taught us: She also taught us to survive. Do you think Ginge would want us to go hungry just to honor her?" Celle was still speechless, having no answer. He continued. "You can refuse to help us, but we're taking this stuff back to camp. Now get out of the way."
Celle stammered, hesitating. "Y-you guys c-can't be serious!" They were. Finally, she solemnly shuffled out of their path. The boys walked up to the palette loaded tall with supplies and took the sides, lifting it above their heads. They lifted off and began gently floating away while Celle and Komatsuna watched. The saiyaness stood up and walked to her side. "Kid. For what it's worth: I'm sorry about Ginge." Celle didn't acknowledge her. Komatsuna reached out to touch her, but held back. Knowing she wanted to be alone, the saiyaness walked ahead. Dust was kicked up as she took flight.
On a certain destroyer's world, far far away… The 'sun' shone above the twisted tree, illuminating it, its base, and the many moons orbiting high…
Pinach awoke in a simple, wood-frame bed. He ached all over. "Uhhhhh." he groaned as he rubbed his shoulder. The giant saiyan made many sore attempts to sit up before succeeding. His eyes scanned the room. It had many beds like one of the bedrooms in the camp shelters. Yet, he clearly wasn't back in camp. Unlike camp, the walls were made of a strange kind of stone, and there was only one, giant window.
He struggled onto his feet. Using the beds as a crutch, he hobbled over to the tall window and looked out at the spectacular view. From his vantage point, many moons were visible overhead. Below, the teal-leaved forest stretched on until stopping abruptly at the edge of the world. Where the hell am I?! A big wooden door opened behind him. Whis walked through it, his white hair barely passing under the doorframe. "You're finally awake... I didn't think you would be up and around for quite a while."
Pinach turned and faced him. "You…" The angel smiled. "Yes, me. Did you rest well?" The saiyan winced from his soreness. "Yes, but…" Memories of the battle flooded back to him. He stood up straight, his tail tensed and bristled. "Where is Cooler?! What happened to everyone?!" The angel shook his head. "The foe you faced is no more, there is no need to worry. Everyone seemed well enough when I was there."
Whis walked up to Pinach and touched his staff to his head. The saiyan behemoth felt his soreness and injuries disappear rapidly. "Wow! That feels great!" The attendant smiled as Pinach punched the air in a blur. The giant stopped suddenly, turning his head and squinting at Whis. "Say... Why didn't you heal me when you brought me here?" Whis' face became stoic. "I couldn't risk you running off before I had a chance to speak with you."
Pinach's demeanor became much more guarded. "Ok, I'm listening..." The angel wasted no time. "By now I'm sure you're aware that you possess a special power, am I correct?" The saiyan nodded. "And I'm sure that I don't have to tell you how dangerous it is to use it?" Once more, Pinach nodded. "Then what I have to say shouldn't come as a surprise... I think it would be best if you did not return to that world."
The saiyan's heart skipped a beat. "Never return?... But what about everyone else?! They need me! Ginge and Iseber are dead! There's no one left to look out for them!" Since visiting the planet for the second time, Whis knew of Conch and his abilities. "Your namekian friend will take care of that. He's a good character as far as I have witnessed." Pinach half-heartedly objected. "Yeah, but…" The angel cut him off. "Your power has far exceeded Conch's control already, and you're not even sixteen. You're still a child, and yet you have become one of the mightiest warriors in the universe, surpassing even Freeza and his family."
Pinach dropped his gaze to the floor. Whis continued. "If I had not come, you would have destroyed everything. Frankly, as you are, you're a danger to everyone around you…" The angel's words echoed in his mind. "As I am? You say that like there's a way to fix it." The attendant followed up. "There is. But it's not guaranteed to work." Pinach became desperate. "I'll try anything! ...I'm tired of living this way." Whis suddenly spun around and began walking towards the door. He signaled for Pinach to follow. "Splendid! Come. We'll get started right away."
Minutes later...
Outside, Whis and Pinach hovered over the lake surrounded by purple tree stumps. Pinach was sitting cross-legged midair while Whis stood, observing him. The water was stirring turbulently below Pinach, while it was perfectly calm under Whis. "Your control is already far greater than most mortals, but you still have a long way." The saiyan huffed. "I'm trying…" His tail was writhing. The divine attendant was quick to instruct. "Keep your tail still and stop trying to do anything. The point of this exercise is to let go and focus on ki control. Focus on ki, not the water."
Time passed, and the water had only calmed slightly. "Relax, your frustration isn't helping. This is nothing like that training you did on the ice. Focus inward." said the angel. Pinach unclenched his jaw and inhaled a deep breath. When he exhaled, the water stopped swirling. He looked down in surprise. "Woah…" Brimming with a sense of achievement, he shouted at the top of his lungs. "I did it!" The water bulged and erupted in a huge wave, soaking the giant saiyan. Whis held out his staff, creating a green ki shield that protected him.
When everything settled, he let the shield down and eyeballed the sopping wet saiyan. He put his hand over his mouth and laughed at Pinach, who glared with rosy cheeks at his mentor. Without a word, Whis stopped laughing and suddenly began floating to the shore. The saiyan followed and shook the water off on shore. "So am I good to go or what?" The attendant didn't respond with words. Instead, he waved his staff over one of the purple tree stumps, on which materialized two cups of piping hot tea. He picked one up and began sipping it.
Pinach stared at him, completely lost. Hesitantly, he picked up one of the cups. Everything looked alright; the tea smelled delicious. He started bringing it up to his lips. Before the brown liquid touched them, the tip of Whis' staff came crashing down on his messy cropped hair. "Owwww! What the heck was that for?!" The angel ignored his anger. "It's not for drinking. Place the cup back on the stump." Pinach did so, but eyed Whis with a good deal of animosity. "Now levitate above it." At this point, Pinach had had enough of Whis' shit. "What the hell for? Am I supposed to avoid disturbing the tea?"
The angel replied quickly and dryly. "No. You will levitate without disturbing the vapor." His reply left the saiyan speechless. "Y-you're full of shit!" Whis shook his head. Pinach still couldn't believe it. "There's no way! That's impossible!" Silently, the angel placed his cup on the stump and levitated above it. The vapor wrapped around his shoe, swirling and twisting without a trace of disturbance.
Pinach couldn't believe his eyes. The attendant graciously floated down and stepped onto the floor. "When you can levitate over this cup of tea without disturbing the vapor, we may begin training." He gestured for the saiyan to try. Pinach started questioning his own sanity. Begin training?! ...Begin?! He took to the air and hovered over the steaming tea cup. The vapor was repelled forcefully from his feet, forming a visible 'shell' around them.
Ok... Focus on ki... Focus on ki... Focus on ki... Despite his internal chanting, his performance wasn't improving. In fact, it seemed to get worse. The cup violently shook and cracked. Tea seeped through the cracks, drenching the stump. "Fuck!" With that f-bomb, the cup exploded into tiny shards. Pinach was more pissed off than embarrassed. He looks at Whis, who is holding out a closed fist, and starts to shout his frustrations. "This is horseshit! There has to be some kind of tri-"
The saiyan closed his mouth when he saw the angel open his hand. In his hand were all the shards created by the exploding tea cup. Pinach stood there dumbstruck as Whis closed his fist and opened it again to reveal a repaired cup, complete with piping hot tea. "Again." said Whis. How the fuck?! Hesitantly, Pinach took the cup into his burly hands and set it on the stump. He lifted off the ground and over the cup, trying for a second shot. The results were less catastrophic this time; the cup rattled and sloshed its contents. Come on... Don't you break...
Whis' voice pierced through his concentration like a spear. "Again, stop worrying about the cup. You should be concentrating solely on your ki. This exercise is exactly the same as the one before, but requiring greater control." Pinach did his best to push the cup from his thoughts, with limited success. The cup stopped rattling, but the vapor was still pushed from his white-gold boots. Damn it…
The angel sighed and started walking off. "This is clearly going to take some time." While still hovering over his tea cup, Pinach called after him. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Whis stopped and turned. "I just have some errands to run, and it looks like I'll have plenty of time before you're ready for training." He turned back and continued walking. The saiyan lad growled to himself. "Yeah, right! Bullshit!"
The sun had set on the saiyan camp... Like any other night, a roaring bonfire raged while saiyan boys and girls sat around it...
Though it appeared to be a normal night in the camp, the mood was considerably darker in light of everything that transpired. Celle and Veeda elected to stay in for the night. The sisters rested together in Ginge's bed. Veeda was already out, sprawled across her sister and snoring. One could honestly mistaken her for a young Gine from afar.
Celle was beyond sleep. She stared at the sod ceiling, worrying about what Komatsuna told her. Would Freeza really come here? His brother did after all... If he did, Pinach wasn't there to save them. After a torrent of bothersome, inward questions and nagging thoughts, the dark-headed girl climbs out of bed, carefully lifting her sister's limp body off of her own and rolling her to the side. Celle marched out of the house, leaving a snoring Veeda to toss and turn in peace.
On her quest to find the shifty saiyaness, Celle looked through dwelling after dwelling. Noticing how she was harshly strutting about, one of the boys around the fire calls to her. "Celle! What are you looking for?" She turns to him and asks "Where's the murderer at?" The boy suspiciously squints, as do a few others sitting at the fire. Finally, he points to the shelter Iseber had been staying. "She's at Iseber's... This better not be about what I think it is." She immediately marched toward the house, shrugging him off.
Her foot crossed the threshold into the house. The open air kitchen was a mess, with pots and utensils strewn about. Ugh! Did an animal find its way in here? The girl continued further into the house. Everything was dark; neither the furnace nor the fireplace was lit. As she traversed the living room and started into the bedroom, a small, quiet sound made her sharp, saiyan ears perk up. It sounded like... sobbing?
Celle peaked her messy-haired head around the corner. It was too dark to see, even for a saiyan. She could just make out a silhouette on one of the beds; Iseber's. It trembled like a leaf. "Hello?" she sounded. The silhouette lurched off the bed, landing with a big thud. Feminine groaning came from the floor. Celle pointed two fingers at the furnace in the corner and lit it with a small blast. The dancing light revealed Komatsuna in place of the silhouette, staggering to her feet from the floor. Her eyes were wet, and her face was brilliant pink. A glass bottle was firmly in her grasp; its contents honey-brown. Her hair was wilder than usual.
Celle stood silently, having no idea how to process what she was seeing. The saiyaness lazily brought the bottle to her mouth and took a big swig, then wiped her mouth. "What the hell do you want from me? *hick* Go away." Celle eyed her up and down, trying to figure out what happened to her. "Are...you ok?" The girl's eyes landed on the bottle, which came up to Komatsuna's lips once more. Then they spotted an identical, empty bottle sitting next to a skull on a nearby table. She began to feel mildly concerned for the woman. "What are you drinking?"
Changing her demeanor on a dime, and in merry fashion, Komatsuna held out the see-through bottle for her to take. "*hick* Here, have some!" There was a drinking culture on Vegeta, though Celle was too young to remember. And on such a world, there certainly wasn't an age restriction.
Curious, the saiyan girl walked deeper into the bedroom and up to Komatsuna. She took the bottle and sniffed the rim. Her nose wrinkled on contact with the invisible vapors. "Blegh! What the hell is it?!" The drunken saiyaness snort-laughed at the young girl's revulsion. "It's fine brandy, from the ship. Just try it!" Celle looked over the bottle with disgust. If it tastes as bad as it smells... She nervously pressed the bottle to her lips. ...Down the hatch, I suppose... The brown stuff jumped down her esophagus, lighting it ablaze. She choked on the liquid fire, almost dropping the bottle. Komatsuna howled in laughter.
When Celle got over her brandy-induced coughing fit, she pointed her finger and snarled. "Fuck you! I knew better than to worry about you, you piece of shit!" The saiyaness snagged the bottle from her and took another drink. "*Gulp* *Gulp* *Gulp* Ahh... Who asked you to worry about me? Beat it, brat." Celle stamped her foot and clenched her fist. Her tail flicked furiously. "No one! But it's hard not to when you're bawling your eyes out in the dark, drinking strange fire water!"
Komatsuna's face became dark. The messy-haired girl continued. "And what the hell is your problem anyway? A 'tough', saiyan warrior like yourself should be stone-hearted! What could you possibly be crying about?!" She flinched as Komatsuna's white gloved hand approached her head. Perhaps it had originally meant to strike the girl. Instead, it caressed her alabaster cheek. The woman's normally wolfish face became unusually soft.
Wetness returned to Komatsuna's eyes. Celle's widened. For the first time, a soul was visible to her in this hardened raider. For a time, they studied each other's faces. Abruptly, a thought popped into Celle's head. She remembered why she had come looking for Komatsuna in the first place. "What are we gonna do... when Freeza comes?" The dark-headed saiyaness wiped her eyes and grinned. "Don't worry, I overreacted." Celle nervously returned the grin. "A-are you sure?" Komatsuna sipped on her brandy and nodded. "Yeah. I took care of it."
On a far away and rocky world covered in tall mountain peaks…
Ginyu and his team walked the sci-fi halls of Cooler's ship. Jeice and Burter gagged at all the corpses strewn about, posed in odd, mocking, and... inappropriate positions. Messages were written in blood on the walls. "Fuck Freeza!" "This is what happens when you mess with the mightiest race in the universe!" "Freeza is a pipsqueak!" As they approached the bridge, Recoome remarked "Gee, captain. I wonder what kind of sick bastards could have done this…" Ginyu replied "Saiyans, Recoome, saiyans. And when we find them... they're gonna pay!"
The doors to the bridge opened. The Ginyus walked in; Burter and Recoome had to duck through. A sight greeted them which made their jaws drop. As before, more corpses were posed about, but the masterpiece painted (in blood, naturally) on the ship's main window caught everyone's attention. The painting on said window: a crude likeness of Freeza with a phallus in his mouth. Recoome just grinned like an idiot while Burter, Jeice, and Guldo blushed. Ginyu was about to pop a blood vessel. He growled at Jeice to pull up the travel logs. "Men! When we finally find these animals, I want you to make sure their deaths are as slow and brutal as possible! No one makes a fool of Lord Freeza!"
While Jeice ferociously typed on one of the command terminals, he encountered an issue. "Error retrieving travel data... No history to report." The red man smashed the terminal and cursed. "Son of a bitch! Capt'n! Someone's deleted the bloomin data!" The horned captain stroked his chin. "It's as Lord Freeza said... The assassin has to be one of those nobody lackeys of Lord Cooler's. Only they would have known the ship's pass codes."He turned to the others. "Wait for me outside. I need to make a call."
When everyone cleared out, Ginyu pressed a button on his green scouter. The device rang a few times before the sound of someone on the other end came through. The emperor himself spoke. "Ah, Ginyu. Do you have news regarding your current assignment?" The loyal captain replied "Yes, my lord. We found your brother's ship. It's on an uncharted G-class planetoid in a system designated gyre-4598-73. It appears to be abandoned, Lord Freeza. We scoured the planet for 'rats' and came up empty-handed."
An audible sigh could be heard from Freeza. "That's very well and good, Ginyu. But I was hoping you would tell me something more substantial, such as the status of the traitors." Ginyu choked a little, sensing Freeza's irritation. "A-apologies Lord Freeza. We also discovered that the ship's logs have been erased! It appears that your theory was correct, sir." A long pause followed with Freeza saying nothing. "...Shall we investigate the source of the original signal?"
Freeza answered Ginyu with a hefty deal of annoyance in his voice. "No. I find it likely that the casualty hail was part of an elaborate scheme to throw us off the trail." On his end, Freeza tapped his finger repeatedly on his hoverchair. "I won't risk our dear prince catching wind of this... Return to headquarters at once. Your team will act as my personal bodyguard for my next outing." Ginyu answered his lord. "As you command, Lord Freeza. We're on our way!"
The transmission terminated and Freeza removed the scouter from his head, placing it in the hoverchair. His finger resumed tapping on the arm rest. Whoever the killer is, they are clearly a master of cunning...
Back in Iseber's house…
Komatsuna was well past her limit. She sang old war songs... or at least tried. She slurred all the words. Celle did her best to guide the drunken saiyaness to bed. Even as wasted as she was, it was hard for the girl, who was dwarfed by comparison, to budge her even an inch. After a long and pathetic struggle, Celle finally managed to get Komatsuna on the bed. The woman stopped fighting the moment her back hit the soft blankets. She started giggling like a schoolgirl; something that made Celle aghast.
It wasn't long before the dark-haired woman was K. , with a slight smile. For a few moments, Celle towered at the side of the bed, marveling at how peaceful she looked compared to her rowdy, drunk persona. The messy-haired girl took a blanket from another bed and draped it over Komatsuna. Good night... Extinguishing the furnace, she left the room.