--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 02 - Hello, and Goodbye

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Footsteps, he could hear them coming closer, but their source was lost to the darkness around him. "Who is it? Show yourself!" His voice rang hollow, and echoed in the shadows surrounding him, the only light coming from somewhere above him, and he questioned not its source for fear even it too would disappear. He could hear voices now, voices from his childhood, calling out to him, pleading for help, and mercy from someone, he know not whom.

He started running, trying to find them, calling their names to the blackness, and receiving nothing but more whimpering in return. Suddenly, the voices stopped, and he found out why all too soon. He saw their battered, burned, and lifeless bodies; faces forever frozen into a rictus of fear, and an inch-wide hole clean through their bodies, piercing the heart. Then he saw her, and he felt his chest constrict. He fell to his knees, pulling her to him, his eyes burning with tears he refused to shed.

Then he heard it. Laughter. Laughter at his pain. And not just any laughter. It was the laughter of the one he despised most, the one who took everything from him. He rose to his feet with an all-mighty scream, and the darkness receded, seemingly in fear of his ire, and the face that haunted his nightmares was revealed once more. He glared at it, his face showing nothing but white-hot rage, his body surrounded in yellow flame, and his blood boiling with the want, no, the need for revenge.

His demon showed no fear, no remorse, nothing but sadistic glee at his show of turmoil. His body surged with power unlike any he'd ever felt before, his rage fuelling his strength, and being fuelled by it in turn. He bared his fangs and snarled, his tail lashing behind him like a whip, and the faces of all those taken from him, all those this demon cost him, flashed before his glazed eyes. And with a final cry, the demon's name, the world vanished in a blinding white flash.

"FRIEZA!"

o-o-o

He awoke sharply, his blood still boiling, his heart still racing, but like a true Saiyan warrior, he gave no outside sign he'd awoken. Such actions, however involuntary, were bred and trained out of them, as doing so meant you showed weakness to those around you, and to show weakness was a fate on par with death. He calmed himself, the nightmare fresh in his mind, as it had been on and off for no less than twelve months, but never as frequently as in the past one, and turned his mind, and his senses, to discovering where he was.

He lay on something hard, and the area around him was eerily quiet, leading him to believe that maybe he'd finally been caught, but the feel of grass behind his back soon calmed those initial fears. The air was cool against his skin, suggesting that it may be night, but the wetness around him showed him it was nigh-on morning. Opening his eyes, he saw the sky above him, the light starting to show from the south. It was the same sky he'd seen the morning before, so he hadn't left the planet, and the crackle of a fire told him that, not only was he no longer anywhere near the city, he wasn't alone.

He remembered now, his mind slow from being freshly awoken, and still clouded by his nightmares. He'd been in a fight, his opponent a fair match for him, something he rarely experienced. He remembered the final blast, the one that surely should've killed him, and he remembered the blast of his own, that may have just made his loss into a draw. His mind still racing with questions as to how he survived, let alone got away, he sat up and looks around.

On one side of the fire is the green man, his opponent. He thought to himself, 'Ok, maybe I didn't get away...' and his gaze shifted to the person on the other side of the fire, mostly hidden from his sight by the shadows, but clearly female, and his mind struggled, as if in recognition, but fell short. '...Who... who is that? I feel... I feel I should know her, but I don't remember the face...'

He groaned out "Ugh... how long was I out?" and drew their attention to himself at last.

The female spoke, "Through most of the night Kaen, this nice Namek brought you here and healed you."

'Well, that explains how I survived...' he thought to himself grimly, and he strained to place her voice, which sounded as familiar as her face looks, but his memories were still buried under the haze.

"Nice?" he snorted, "that sounds nothing like the guy I ran into..." He sat fully upright, his gaze returning to the young woman's face, his thoughts churning wildly, and he asked with a voice laced in suspicion and mild curiosity, "And how do you know my name?"

The young woman appears hurt by this statement, and places a hand over her heart as she replied, with a question of her own, "Don't you remember me Kaen...?"

His face took on a slightly confused look, his mind still flailing, and he voiced as such, "Um... I think I should, but I can't place your name..."

Her face fell at this, her gaze now down at the grass, as she responded in a whisper even to his ears. "Pi."

With this single syllable, his eyes shot open and took her in, and the image of her swam in his vision. Pi, the girl from his past, whose memory soothed, saddened, and scared him all at once, flashed across his mind's eye, only to be replaced with the sight he saw before him. It seems the past twelve months had matured her figure nicely, to a point that even he couldn't see they were the same person until now. He slapped his forehead, upset and embarrassed with himself for not spotting it on his own, sporting a slightly sheepish expression, one that was, and is, rarely seen by anyone but her.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, "Sorry, but it has been a while now." 'Twelve months... twelve months... just look at her... I've missed so much...' His thoughts filled with regret, although his heart knew he had no say in the matter, and his face hid both of these facts from the world around.

Her face lit up, pleased in the knowledge that he now recognized her, and she replied, "I'm glad you remember me Kaen, I've spent a lot of time looking for you." A quick glance at the Namek out of the corner of his eye showed him to be meditating, either oblivious to their conversation, or merely keeping out of it.

Kaen looked surprised by this, and voiced this surprise. "Huh, and here I thought I was dead as far as Vegeta-Sei knew..."

Pi nodded her head slightly, her face becoming saddened, "A lot of people think you are, but I didn't want to believe it."

He looked away from her, not wanting her to see his face, as the scenes from his nightmares, those of her especially, flood his mind's eye again, and his voice dropped to a whisper, but one that still reaches her ears, "Perhaps you should have..."

She blinked a little at this, seemingly unsure as to how to react, and, in true Saiyan fashion when dealing with an uncomfortable subject, changed it to a more pleasant one, possibly the most pleasant for many Saiyans. "... I made breakfast..." she said quietly, indicating the vast amount of food in front of her, and you could almost hear the switch click as Kaen's expression changed from one of remorse to that of any Saiyan when presented the opportunity to eat.

He breathed it in, the smell making his mouth water. "Now that smells good!"

Her face brightened, clearly pleased by his praise, "I knew you'd be feeling hungry when you woke up, I already ate, so this is all for you."

If it were possible, his face lit up even more at this statement, "Really? Thanks!" Without wasting so much as another breath, he began eating like many of his species, like a man who hasn't eaten in a month.

The Namek opened his eyes slightly, taking in the sight of a feasting Saiyan, and closed them again without a word. 'Pig...'

In near-record time, Kaen finished his meal and leaned back, showing his enjoyment of the meal with a fairly loud belch, but voiced it anyway. "Wow, you've gotten very good."

Pi beamed back at him, "I'm glad you liked it Kaen."

He smiled back at her before looking over at the stoic Namek, still in his meditation pose, and calling out, "Never caught your name..."

The only part of the Namek to move as he replied was his mouth, "My name is Flute."

Pi busied herself cleaning, leaving the two to their discussion, as Kaen chuckled a bit, "Flute? Your name is Flute?"

Flute's eyes opened, his face filled with mild annoyance, "You find something amusing?"

Kaen just smirked at him, "Maybe."

Flute's gaze never wavered, as he responded, "Well whatever it is, it can't be more amusing than seeing your sorry carcass on the ground after I knocked you out cold."

Kaen just shrugs his shoulders, and snorted, "Pfft, lucky shot. I bet you feel proud you beat an already tired Saiyan. Believe me, I've been in worse shape than that and I'm not dead yet."

Flute responded simply before returning to his meditation, "How unfortunate."

Kaen smirked at this, the look lost on the Namek, "That almost sounded like a joke."

Flute response is swift, "And you almost pass as sentient, who knew?"

Kaen chuckled a little at this, clearly amused with this banter, "Well isn't this fun, a Namek with somewhat of a sense of humour."

Flute's eyes opened again as he asked, "You've met others?" but he is met with a shrug and a half-hearted, "I've been around, seen a fair bit, but no more Nameks than I could count on one hand."

"I see," Flute replied somewhat grimly.

"And even then," Kaen continued, "not many are willing to converse with someone like me."

Flute looked rather bitter as he responded, "I can see why. But then I have known few of your kind to travel alone, or without bearing the marking of King Cold."

Kaen paused, looking slightly pensive, retorted, "And with good reason, not many have had the, shall we say, experiences that I have with the Cold empire."

Pi stopped what she was doing upon hearing this, and even Flute, seemed to be genuinely interested in what Kaen's thoughts are on the matter, "Care to share any of those? I myself haven't had the most favourable time with King Cold's men."

Kaen sighed before sitting down, and beginning his tale. "Alright, where to begin... I guess it started on my first mission, and, ironically, my last. Turns out I was set up. We walked right into an ambush, 5-on-1 odds in their favour, and the bastards killed all 9 of my men..."

Kaen paused in his tale, as if letting this sink in, or maybe to gauge their reactions, and he allowed his head to fall, and his mind to wander to that fateful battle. Flute's reaction was a simple "Interesting..." while Pi's, like her, is more animated, as she gasped a little and muttered, "Cowards."

Kaen raised his head again, this time donning a smirk, as he continued, "But not without casualties of their own. As far as I know, there's only one left, assuming he survived. Not many do survive a brush with my disks, but it wasn't a clean shot, so who knows."

Flute nodded his head, and merely said "An interesting story."

Kaen shook his head a little, ending his tale, "I still don't know who ordered the hit. Could've been Vegeta, could've been Frieza, hell, could've been anyone. Just so long as they think I'm dead I'm happy."

At this, Pi shook her head. "King Vegeta wouldn't do that to his own kind."

Kaen directed a serious, and grim, expression at her, and countered with, "I wouldn't be so sure of that Pi. I've heard of Vegeta ordering the deaths of anyone who might become stronger than his son. Of course, it's just hearsay and rumour, but all rumour has some fact behind it."

Pi fell silent, seemingly lost for words. Flute, however, had no such problem, as he nodded and said, "Sounds like someone was afraid of your strength."

Kaen's smirk returned full force, "Well, I always have been told I was strong for my age."

Flute grinned, or at least grinned as much as a Namek ever does, and added, "I'm sure it's to make up for what you lack in intelligence."

Kaen's smirk faltered, only to be replaced with a glare directed at the green man as he barked out, "Don't make me blast you!"

Flute's grin didn't change an iota, "That didn't work too well last time if I recall."

Kaen's face adopted a smug and prideful look as he replied, "Hey, a Saiyan never backs out of a fight. You really think you were the only thing I fought yesterday? Please! I'm a mercenary, I kill things for a living."

Pi nodded her head firmly, obviously in total agreement, "That's right, and this time Kaen won't go so easy on you."

Flute raised a single, hairless eyebrow, and muttered, "Now I remember why your race annoyed me so..."

Kaen looked back at him with interest, asking, "Oh, you've met our kind before? Or was that purely from the Cold army?"

Flute shrugged, "One or two in the Cold armies, they got in my way."

Kaen allowed himself a chuckle, missed by his comrades, thinking to himself, 'Yeah, they'll do that...' before asking aloud "Don't 'spose you caught any names? I might have known some of them."

Flute just shook his head, but did respond with, "After I had beaten them, Cold's men referred to them as low class Saiyans."

Kaen let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding, and said, "Ah, then no. I was born first class, so I never had much contact with third class Saiyans."

"I see, and I suppose your friend was the same too," Flute said, more of a statement than a question, but Pi answered with a nod anyway, and a serious look on her face.

"There was one though," Kaen recalled, "Bardock was his name, and he's a brilliant man. From what I heard he was born third class and raised to first because of his skills."

Pi nodded her head in agreement, "He was the one who invented the artificial light ability."

Flute, as he seemed to do often, responded simply with "Interesting," before slipping back into his meditation, and continuing searching the planet with his mind, his quest weighing heavily on his mind.

The two Saiyans, realising that Flute was obviously out of their conversation, got themselves comfortable and slipped back into their native tongue to catch up. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Kaen asked the question, "So, anything exciting happen in my absence?"

Pi went a little quiet at this, and looked down, before responding, "After I heard you were killed, but they couldn't find your body... I left Vegeta-Sei."

The many months apart from her seems to have dulled his ability to deduce her emotions, and he fails to realise that she's embarrassed, instead thinking her sad, and his look softens, his voice becoming soothing, even in the rough dialect, "Why so sad, as you can see I'm fine."

Pi looked up, a shy smile on her face, "I know, I'm glad you're okay."

Kaen smiled back, and in an effort to lighten the moment, came back with "You should have faith. It'll take more than five to one odds to take me out," and stuck his chest out in a mocking show of bravado.

It has the desired effect, as Pi giggled softly, and said, "I know, I never doubted you for a second."

Kaen looked back at her, a slight smile still on his face, and asked, "So, do you know how everyone else took it?"

She shook her head, saying, "Most people were sad, but they knew you died in battle, the true Saiyan way. There were some who didn't believe it, like me. I know your family, especially Oran and Lime, didn't believe it for a second."

A brief look flashed across his face, a look full of sadness and regret, but it was quickly hidden again, so quickly that Pi has trouble believing it was even there. He laughed again, a short, forced laugh, obviously trying to get the conversation back onto happier subjects by saying "Heh, I bet they'd get a laugh outta my last words to the survivor."

Her face perked up, and with a curious expression asked "What was that?" Kaen looked distant for a second, seeming to search through his memories, and begins his little anecdote.

"Well, I'd just diced his last two men with one of my disks, not to mention severing his right arm and using almost all of my energy reserves in the process, when he prepared a blast to finish me off, and said "Any last words?" Well, I just looked up at him, face full of pride and defiance, spat on him and jeered "Yeah, shoot straight ya bastard!"" Pi held a serious, and almost disbelieving, face for all of 10 seconds until it sank in, and she burst out into a fit of giggles. Kaen's look held for about 5 seconds longer, before he joined her in laughter.

The two spent the rest of the day talking, whether it be talking about the past 12 months, or reminiscing about their time together on Vegeta-Sei, only stopping for meals, before retiring for the night. And in all that time, Flute never, not so much as once, even flinched.

o-o-o

Kaen awakened with the first rays of the sun, and after allowing himself a yawn, cast his gaze around the field. Flute was still where he was the night, and day, before, levitating partially off the ground, obviously in deep meditation. Kaen himself was lying against a fairly large rock, where he fell asleep the night before, and Pi had, sometime during the night, wound up fast asleep with her head on his shoulder. Kaen looked down upon her fondly, seeing a small smile on her face, and the slight wriggling of her tail indicating she was still dreaming, and obviously having a nice dream.

Kaen carefully got up, making sure not to wake her up, and begins his morning exercise/training, letting his mind wander as he went through his kata. For the first time in twelve months, the nightmares that haunted him were gone, and he couldn't help but attribute that to her presence. However, he can't help feeling like having her around him will bring those nightmares to life...

Unbeknownst to Kaen, Flute began watching him when he started training, and when he began practicing his ki attacks, Flute, who had stood quietly moments before, broke the silence by saying, "You'll draw attention to our area."

Kaen reabsorbed the ki, stopping his attack almost before it began, looked over at him and scoffed, "Pfft, they seem to find me anyway, I'd just speed up the process. 'Sides, nothing like a good fight of a morning."

Flute gained a thoughtful look. "You seem to like a challenge," he commented.

Kaen grinned, punching the air a couple of times before saying, "That's an understatement. It's in my blood, and I grasp it with both hands."

The thoughtful look strengthened. "I see. Very well then, I have a proposal."

An intrigued look crossed Kaen's features, and he raised an eyebrow, responding simply with, "Oh?"

It was then that Flute told him of his quest. "I am searching for various artefacts that are important to my people, called 'dragon balls'. However, they have been scattered around the galaxy, and I could use the help of someone like you."

Kaen seemed to mull this over before replying, "Hmm...sounds interesting, but besides some fun busting heads, what's in it for me?"

"Well," Flute began, "Other than 'busting heads', you will most likely be busting the heads of Cold's men in many cases, and I can offer you asylum on Namek from anyone who would hunt you after this, as well as a large reward."

Kaen grinned ferally, obviously taken with this idea, and answered as such; "You had me at 'Cold's men.'"

Flute grinned a little bit himself, saying, "Yes, I assumed that much. But we do have one minor detail to work out."

Kaen sighed a little and looked over at the still-sleeping Pi, various emotions playing across his face as he asked, "You mean her?"

Flute nodded an affirmative, expressing his concerns. "I don't know of her skills, whether or not we take her with us will be up to you... she seems quite attached to you however."

Kaen sighed again, his voice dropping to a near whisper as he looked down at her, "That's the problem, as much as I'd love to have her around, I'm not sure if I could fight to my fullest if I had to worry about her as well as myself."

"You said yourself, she is a high-born, like you, wouldn't she be able to look after herself?" Flute reasoned.

"She might, certainly," Kaen agreed, "but it's been four years since I last saw how she faired in combat."

Flute answered his question himself, "So, she shall remain here then?"

Kaen nodded, a slight grin on his face as he said, "I'm not sure she'll like that, but it might be for the best."

Flute nodded his head in understanding. "Then let us be off, my ship is nearby... do you wish to leave her a note or message of some sort?"

He nodded his head, closing his eyes, "I should leave something...hmm...I know!"

He pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his coat, and after sprawling something down, he removed a smallish pouch from an internal pocket and uses it to weigh the note down on the rock. He kissed her on the forehead, whispering "Goodbye," before standing upright, looking over at Flute, and saying, "Let's go, before she wakes up." Flute nodded, taking off in the direction of his ship, and, after one last look at the still sleeping girl, and a slight shake of his head, Kaen followed after him.

Flute arrived at his ship, fairly similar to most Namek ships in its beast-like structure, the difference being this one's size, being rather larger than normal. When Kaen touched down moments later, Flute, who already has his ship nearly ready to go, stated, "I imagine you have a ship yourself."

Kaen just nodded, brushing off the statement with, "Yeah, I do, but you needn't worry about it," before producing a remote control from another pocket in his coat, of which there seem to be no end, and pressing a couple of buttons.

Flute raised a single eyebrow at this odd behaviour, but Kaen just grinned back knowingly, as a rather loud noise could be heard approaching, which soon turned out to be a smallish spherical ship, more of an escape capsule in appearance, stopping in a hover not 50 feet away. Flutes other eyebrow rose, and he remarked, "Interesting. I do believe that I have room for that in my cargo hold."

Kaen's grin became a little more relieved at that, commenting, "Good, those things aren't all that comfortable on long trips."

Flute nodded once, saying, "There is ample room on my ship to practise your katas and stances, but please refrain from using ki attacks while on board."

Kaen, faking disappointment, pouted and said, "Aww, you're no fun."

Flute, obviously not getting the joke, said offhandedly, "Well if you wish to be sucked into the void of space, be my guest. Now, please load your pod onto my ship and we can be off."

Kaen raised an eyebrow, muttering, "Obviously not one for sarcasm..." before pressing a couple more buttons and loading the ship up.

o-o-o

Back at the camp, Pi woke up, yawning and stretching out her joints, her tail extending fully then wrapping around her waist again, before she noticed that she's alone. Looking around, she found the bag, and the note which read: "I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye in person, but I have work to do, and I knew you'd never let me go. When I think it's safe, I'll meet you at the planet at the co-ord's above. I'm sorry, but I can't bring you into my world just yet," as well as having grid co-ordinates at the top of the page.

Too shocked to do much else, she scrambled to her pack, getting her scouter out after a little trouble and putting it on, scanning the horizon in the hope Kaen was still on the planet. In an almost sobbing voice, she squeaked out "Baka..." The scouter detected him somewhere to the west, and wasting no time she grabbed her pack and took to the sky, heading to, hopefully, catch up before it's too late...

o-o-o

Flute, noting her movement, commented, "If you want to keep her safe, we had better move now."

Kaen, who had also spotted it, nodded his head, "I agree, let's move."

They both hurry aboard, Kaen muttering "I should really work out how to hide myself better..." and leaving an after image of himself on the ground outside. The entry ramp closed, and the ship shot off the planet with a sonic boom.

By the time Pi arrived at the sight, all that remains to even indicate they were there is the image of Kaen, which Pi appeared to assault with a large hammer after finding it false, shouting "Baka!"

Kaen jumped a bit, and looks around frantically, muttering, "What the... I could've sworn I just heard her..."

Flute laughed a little, saying, "I heard something like 'Baka.' Mean anything to you?"

Kaen paled a little, and sighs. "Hmm... Guess that means she's not going to be quite as happy when we meet up again..."

From his position at the controls, Flute remarked, "Perhaps. We are in for a long trip, make yourself comfortable." Kaen leaned up against one of the walls, arms crossed, and attempted to meditate, but his attempts are for naught when Flute piped up again with, "There's no food on board. I felt I should warn you."

Kaen's eyes shot open for a moment, before he groaned and said bitterly, "I figured as much. Oh well, I can last a while. Just because we like to eat doesn't mean we need to."

Flute nodded, saying, "So I don't need to offer that we will stop on a planet when you feel the need to feed? Very good."

Kaen growled, already regretting his earlier remarks, before adding to them with, "I can last until we get there, but when we get where we're going I am going to need food, and lot's of it, even if I need to kill, gut and cook it myself. One of the perks of being on the run is you learn to make do with what you've got on hand instead of pining for what you don't."

Flute nodded again. "Very good. I need to meditate in order to find the exact location of the artefact, so far we are only heading in its general direction, and so silence is appreciated." At this, he fell silent, and begins to meditate.

Kaen nodded, mostly to himself given Flute's lack of attention at this point, and resumed his rest position, letting his mind wander back to the dark-haired girl he left behind for a second time...

End Chapter 02

To be continued...