--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---
Chapter 16 - Treasure Trove
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A new day dawned on the prototype Icebreaker, and the heavy emotion that had hung thick in the air like a fog, unbeknownst to all but three of it's occupants, had disappeared as quickly as it had settled in place. In its place was a mild buzz of excitement. Today, the Icebreaker held an orbit over what appeared to be an ordinary looking world of plains and forests; the location of the fifth dragon ball.
But, for two of the ships occupants, that was but one reason for their excitement. One, the young Neko Kat, sat at her console with a bright, cheery smile on her face, and that was after placing harsh restraints on her emotions. After the events of the day before, the Saiyan couple had more or less 'officially' adopted Kat as their mutual sister, and she had never felt more accepted, not even when her own family was still alive; in some ways, she felt bad for feeling this good at having a 'new' family, but she also knew her 'old' family wouldn't want her to grieve them all her life. They had wanted her to live, giving their lives to ensure she did, and she was going to make the most of their final gift to her.
The other, the Saiyan woman Pi, was in a similar state of excitement as she hurried out of their room, pinning her hair back as she did so, and finding Kaen waiting for her outside. But her reason for such excitement was different; her mate had seemingly changed overnight. No longer was he the would-be loner who spurned all affection; now he was someone she had never seen before. He was more open with his feelings, and more accepting of hers, and, better still in her eyes, more accepting of her.
Even back home he had trouble accepting her, although that may have been because they were still too young to fully comprehend just how deep they loved each other, and also too young to admit it; that, and the pair of them were constantly being teased about it, which didn't make accepting it easier. Now, even though he still wouldn't say 'I love you' out loud except under extreme duress, the feelings she felt through their bond spoke louder than words ever could, and she could tell he was no longer hiding his emotions from her; what you saw was what you got.
He had been right yesterday; he wasn't the boy she had known back home, the boy she'd met three years ago (or fifteen in the standard calendar) when he accidentally blasted her during his training. Now, he was better, and she was finding herself falling more in love with him every passing second. It was all she could do to refrain from dancing in glee, but, somehow, she managed.
Kaen grinned cheekily at her as she finished with her hair, joking, "Took ya long enough."
"Well, if a certain someone wasn't in such a hurry last night to toss my clothes around the room, I would have been done quicker," She replied with a little irritation in her voice, but the embarrassment and amusement were plain as day through the bond.
Still bearing that cheeky grin he quipped back, "I didn't hear you complaining at the time." His amusement was just as obvious as hers, but he felt no embarrassment. In fact, ever since the two had bonded, he felt nothing even close to embarrassment about anything the two of them did; now that they were officially life mates, anything was fair game, and nothing was to be ashamed of, at least in his eyes.
Not being able to think of a reply that wouldn't make her feel more embarrassed, she fell silent, keeping up her guise of irritation as she headed to the hangar bay, and he joined her in silence, but that grin was still on his face.
o-o-o
The Namek couple waited in the hangar bay near Flute's ship. There was an air of silence, but it was a comfortable silence. Flute, while quiet, was clearly impatient, as the look on his face attested to, but Viola, while more calm on the outside, was more irritated on the inside. She was actually telepathically bristling with so much irritation that Flute asked mentally, "What's wrong?"
Despite her irritation, it was all she could do to refrain from smiling as she heard his voice in her mind. Ever since the two of them had decided to 'make things up as they go along' this was one of the few changes they'd actually made; they now spoke telepathically more than out loud. If asked, either probably would have claimed it was so they could hold private conversations, but both of them knew they could just as easily speak Namekian if that's what they wanted. Truth be told, the reason they did it was two-fold: one, neither wanted to break the comfortable silence they often fell into (having sharper hearing wasn't always a good thing); and two, there was something more intimate about speaking directly to each other's minds.
Not allowing any of this to show, either physically or mentally, she replied, without changing her look one iota, "Nothing much, really... I'm just a little sick of waiting..."
"The Saiyans do this often enough, I would have thought you'd be used to it by now." His face didn't change any either; unlike the Saiyans, they were so used to using telepathy that there were no outward signs.
"You'd think so wouldn't you? Then again, you'd think you'd get used how they eat as well..."
"Nothing could get used to that." His reply was swift, and with a hint of humour. He only really showed such emotional displays (by his standards anyway) in his telepathic conversations with her; he was stoic by nature, and quite happy to remain that way.
She couldn't help but laugh a little out loud, and he smiled a little himself. When silence fell again, she was much calmer, inside and out; despite technically being the same species, she wasn't as good as reining her emotions in as he was, but talking with him always managed to help.
Flute opened the ships hatch in anticipation of the Saiyan couples arrival, thinking to himself, "If they ever manage to drag themselves out of bed..."
He didn't realise he'd actually made that thought telepathical until Viola responded, "I'm almost tempted to leave them behind. Being left out of a possible fight would be punishment enough."
Despite himself, he had to fight down the urge to grin. "Not a bad idea actually, though, they have their uses, such as being enough of a distraction for us to retrieve the dragon balls without too much difficulty."
Now she had to fight back a grin. "I don't think they'd like to hear you calling them a 'distraction'."
"Compared to what the dragon balls can do, that's all that they really are." His reply was more serious than she thought it would be; she had meant her previous comment as a joke, but it seemed the importance of the dragon balls was too serious a topic.
She nodded slightly, replying, "Oh I agree completely, but still, I wouldn't tell them that."
This time he seemed to see her comment for what it was, smiling slightly. "Indeed."
Her newfound patience almost gone again, Viola fought back the urge to growl. "Dammit, what's taking them so long..."
As if her words summoned them, the couple walked through the doors to the hangar, Kaen still wearing that cheeky grin as he called out, "Sorry we're late." Flute just gave them a very flat stare and boarded his ship without a word, Viola following shortly after him, so Kaen just turned to his mate and drawled sarcastically, "Think he's mad at us?"
Pi just grinned, "With a face like that, how could you tell?"
He grinned a bit himself, "Good point. Well, I think we've kept them waiting long enough, shall we?" She nodded, and the two boarded the ship without incident, although, as the ship began planet fall, he did pull her into his lap, and she had to resist the urge to giggle giddily; she loved sitting in his lap, and she didn't even need to 'impose' herself on him to do it, he'd done it himself.
o-o-o
The trip was relatively short, and the landing easy, as they set down in a grassy clearing in the middle of a large expanse of forest, much like any other, except for the fact that the plants were purple instead of green. As per usual, Kaen was the first one off the ship, raising an eyebrow at the purple plants and muttering to himself, "Just when you think you've seen everything..."
Pi, exiting after him, just giggled a little, "I wonder what the flowers are like here."
Without looking at her, he muttered again, "Knowing my luck they'd be the type to try eating us..."
Viola exited the ship quietly as Pi giggled again, "Vegetables that eat you. Ironic."
He just shrugged, "I've seen weirder things."
Also as per usual, Flute was the last one to leave the ship, closing the hatch as he shook his head silently at the pair's banter, before beginning to lead the way into the forest, the rest of them following shortly after. Looking about, the Namek commented, "This place... feels strange..."
Raising an eyebrow, Kaen asked, "What do you define as strange green man?"
"I don't know... yet."
He rolled his eyes, muttering to himself sarcastically, "Oh yeah, that helps..."
He'd forgotten about how good Namek hearing was though, but he was quickly reminded as Flute shot back, with a level tone, "And you can tell any better?"
For his part, Kaen just grinned cheekily again and replied, "Didn't say I could, but I'm not the one worried."
Flute just let the conversation drop as they continued on; he wasn't sure he liked this new Kaen.
Without warning the tree line ended with a cliff, and a rocky outcrop was apparent below. "Down there I think." Flute said, motioning to the outcrop, and flying down moments later, Viola following after him.
Looking at his mate, Kaen just motioned with his head and said, "After you."
She grinned at him, "Willing to let me go into possible danger ahead of you hmm? How very kind." She jumped down and levitated to the outcrop with the Nameks.
Kaen just grinned himself, following as he replied, "What can I say? I like the view from here."
Pi didn't bother to reply; she was too busy looking into the cavern that was being covered by the outcrop. "It looks almost like a giant ear."
Landing beside her, Kaen muttered, "Why don't I like the sound of that..."
Flute just punched the wall, "It's rock. Nothing to worry about." With this, he entered the cavern, Viola following after him. Pi tested it herself before following, while Kaen, bringing up the rear, just sighed, "If you'd seen half the things I had you wouldn't be so sure..."
The cave was remarkably large, and jagged, moss-covered rocks spiked out of the ground and ceiling as they moved deeper. Deep within the cave a sudden glow could be seen, shining an eerie yellow, and as they got closer a shrine could be seen, filled with a great deal of jewels, gold, and other precious gems and ornaments.
Grinning a little, Kaen thought to himself, unknowingly telling PI through their bond, "Score!"
"This could belong to someone." She replied back. Her reply didn't shock him as much as it used to; he was used to accidentally saying things, and getting replies for idle thoughts.
"Well they're not here now, that's good enough for me." Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't sense any ki's worth noting, but as Pi giggled at his reply, he just put it down to the life forms on this planet having next to no ki to speak of, and left it at that.
Looking about, Flute commented, "The dragon ball is in this room. Spread out."
The group did just that, each taking different corners of the room to begin searching for the ball, Kaen taking a few choice items as he did so; he'd seen enough jewels and the like now to tell at sight what was valuable and what was worthless, and thus only grabbed the best of what he could find. Trying a different tactic, Flute withdrew one of the balls from his cloak, holding it out as he searched, while Viola chose to do her searching telekinetically.
Rummaging through a pile of her own, Pi commented, "There's so much stuff here..." Finding a necklace with a green gem hanging from it, she murmured awedly, "How pretty..."
After a few minutes of searching, the ball in Flute's hand began to glow, and, after rummaging through a nearby pile, he found the dragon ball amongst the other loot, it's four stars seeming to stand out in the yellow glow of the area.
Pausing in his searching/pillaging, Kaen called out, "Found it yet?"
Flute picked the ball up, tucking it, and the other, into his cloak. "I have it." Kaen just nodded, grabbing a few more items before heading over to Pi as Flute muttered mostly to himself, "Only two more, then..." It could have been directed at Viola, who had walked over to him the second he'd announced he'd found it, but more than likely he was just thinking out loud.
As he got close, Kaen could see his mate admiring the necklace she'd found, gazing at the green gem; green was, after all, her favourite colour. Appraising it for a moment, Kaen just nodded, "Not bad. It suits you." Saying this, he helped her put it on.
She turned to smile at him, "Maybe I should find something for Kat, she likes shiny things."
He just shrugged, "I'm sure she's like anything you gave her."
Flute looked at them both for a moment, saying, "Whatever you wish to do, hurry. We're leaving." before doing just that, Viola leaving with him.
Kaen just raised an eyebrow at the green man, muttering softly to Pi, "Geez, he's in a rush today..."
"This place does give me the creeps..." Saying this, she bent over and picked up a necklace similar to her own, but with a shiny black crystal in place of the green of her own, and with this in hand, left after Flute.
Looking around for a moment, he muttered to himself, "Doesn't seem so bad to me..." before realising the others had all left, and following them out. Suddenly, the cavern began shaking, and deciding he didn't really want to find out why the hard way, he took flight and sped out. No sooner had he done so than the cave collapsed behind him.
"So that's what's wrong with this place," Flute said mostly to himself, "There are no animals. Through the entire forest there wasn't a single sound. The noise of the collapse would have sent birds into the sky in every direction."
"A planet without life... can't say it's the first I've seen, and I doubt it'll be the last..." Kaen replied disinterestedly.
"There might be something more to it," the Namek mused, "The cave looked sound, so why did it collapse so suddenly?"
Kaen just shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine..." His statement was interrupted as Pi gave a short yelp and started to levitate. Fighting down a worried look as soon as it started to come - Pi would probably get annoyed if she thought he was worrying about her safety - he looked to her for an explanation.
"The ground..." She muttered, "It was trying to grab me."
Not taking any chances, Kaen started floating himself, hovering over to her side, and the Namek couple taking to the air moments after. The earth began to tremor slightly, and Kaen readied a ki blast, just in case. No sooner had he done so, a large chunk of earth shot up towards him, and was instantly reduced to dust by said blast. He couldn't help but notice the chuck of earth had looked eerily similar to a hand...
"We should get back to the ship," Flute called as he and Viola began to head off. Nodding, Kaen instinctively wrapped an arm protectively around Pi's waist, seeming to not notice what he'd done, as the two began to follow the others back to the ship.
o-o-o
As they reached the ship, they found it half submerged in the ground. Raising an eyebrow, Kaen muttered more to himself than anyone, "Wonderful... I think I've worked out why there's no life on this planet..."
Flute called the command to open the hatch to the ship, but due to ships current predicament, the hatch could open halfway. It was, however, enough for him to squeeze himself inside. As the two Saiyans stand guard outside, Viola followed him in, although somewhat less gracefully than she would have liked. Once inside, Flute quickly made his way to the controls, when, with a sudden shudder, the ship began to sink further into the ground. Thinking quickly, he activated the engines in an effort to push free, but the pull of the ground is too strong, and the best he can do is halt the sinking, for now.
Noticing the struggling ship, Kaen began to quickly use small, controlled bursts of ki to blast the earth around the ship, and after a few moments of this the ship lurched free, the hatch still open. "We have to go now!" Pi called, quickly racing onto the ship, and not so much as sparing one final glance to the planet Kaen flew onboard after her, closing the hatch behind him as the ship began to speed into, and through, the planet's atmosphere.
Looking out the window, Kaen remarked to no one in particular, "Not that I want to jinx us or anything, but is it just me, or was that too simple?"
Without turning from the controls, Flute called back, "Do you want to stick around to find out?"
"I didn't say that," Kaen replied with a shake of his head, "It's just that I'm used to having to do more to get a job done, that's all. Having a simple job seems... odd... to me."
Shaking her head, Pi muttered to herself, "That doesn't feel right..."
Kaen just sighed, "I guess, with all that's happened recently, we were due..."
She shook her head again, seemingly having not heard him, as she added, "It can't be following us..."
Finally turning to look at her, a look half shock and half disbelief on his face, he replied, "Following us? What do you mean?"
Before she could reply a voice broke through across the comm. system from the Icebreaker, the voice belonging to one Lieutenant Frost, "I don't know about you guys, but does it look like that planet is moving to you?"
Kaen just looked out the window, seeing that, as they'd said, the planet wasn't getting smaller, as it should if they were leaving it behind; well, it was a bit smaller, but not as much smaller as it should have been. Seeing this, Kaen summed up his disbelief with a single word, "Shit..."
His voice was loud enough for the comm. system to pick up, which became obvious as Frost replied, "I thought as much. Get back to the Icebreaker now, and we'll be gone as fast as possible. You can explain the details later." With this, the transmission ended with a short crackle.
Kaen just kept looking out the window, muttering, "Sentient planets... this day just keeps getting weirder."
Again without turning from the controls, Flute muttered back, "Maybe if someone didn't start taking what didn't belong to them we might not have angered it."
He just shrugged, replying, "That's entirely possible, but I could say the same of you. There's nothing that says it didn't consider the dragon ball part of its collection, or that we could have taken everything bar said dragon ball without issue.
Flute considered pointing out that the planet had only attacked the pair of Saiyans, but decided against it; plain and simple, it just wasn't worth the hassle, what's done was done. Instead, he just remained silent as he piloted the ship into the hangar of the Icebreaker, which began moving the second the ship set down, and, shutting his ship down, he left without another word, Viola following him.
Turning to his mate, Kaen muttered, "He's edgy today..."
Pi looked thoughtful for a minute, musing, "He said there were two left, so there's seven dragon balls... I wonder why he wants them."
He just shrugged, "I dunno, but we really should get around to asking one of these days."
"You can, since you're the one he hired; I'm just the tag-along," She jibed, poking her tongue out at him.
He just shrugged in return, "I'll do it later; doesn't seem like a good time now."
o-o-o
Flute entered the bridge at a brisk walk and looked out over the view screen, "Is it still following us?"
Frost just nodded, "Seems like it. So tell me, who did you piss off to make an entire planet chase you?" Kat giggled at his comment despite herself, but otherwise remained silent, and Avery just grunted.
With a sour look, Flute replied, "The planet seems alive. We found some treasure where the ball was kept, and the two Saiyans decided to help themselves. As we were leaving there was some blasting to be done, so there's your answer." Kat's eyes lit up at the word 'treasure', and without a word she was off like a shot.
Frost paused in thought, "The planet is alive? No people?" When Flute shook his head, Frost continued, "Well, that makes things easier. We can't be about with this thing following us, and I doubt it's going to go away on it's own, so I think it's time to use the cannon.
This comment got Avery's attention, and he raised en eyebrow in question, "Are you sure you want to use that? I may not know much about this ship, but I know that thing's never been tested; it's even more of a prototype than this ship, which says a lot."
"Any other suggestions on how to stop a planet?" Frost replied dryly, "I'd go down myself, but who knows how I'd survive in an explosion like that."
Avery just shrugged his shoulders, saying disinterestedly, "Your survival is the least of my concerns; my survival, however, is a prime concern of mine. Fine, use the cannon, but if it's all the same with you I think I'll wait by the escape pods until you're done, just in case."
Go right ahead," Frost jibed, "I knew you were a Torian, but I didn't think you were chicken."
Ignoring the barb, Avery just replied as he walked out, "I'm not; I'm just not suicidal." For a man who supposedly feared an early death, he made no hurry to leave.
Frost merely shrugged the birdman's departure off, calling commands to the bridge crew, "Bring the ship around, and charge the cannon to full power. I want that ball of rock turned into dust."
o-o-o
Noticing the ship seemed to be turning around, Kaen muttered more to himself than anything, "What the hell's he doing?"
He got his answer soon enough, as a warning blared over the ship's speakers, "All hands alert. Main cannon being readied to fire. Please enter bracing positions."
A confused look on his face, he just looked at his mate, one eyebrow raised, and said, "Cannon? Did you know this thing had weapons?" She had a similar look on her face, but before she could process the question, let alone answer, he answered himself, "No, I 'spose you didn't."
The speakers blared again, "T-minus 10 minutes until Hyperspace Cannon firing."
Kaen's jaw dropped at this announcement, "'Hyperspace' Cannon?"
Looking about, Pi remarked, "Perhaps we should be somewhere else." The pair were still in the hangar bay.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, again without seeming to realise he'd done so, he replied, "That sounds like a good idea." before starting out of the hangar at a fairly fast paced walk. Later, when she had more time to think, she'd revel in just how instinctively he held her, as if that simple action could make everything better; truth be told, for her it did make everything better, but that was beside the point. For now, they had bigger worries.
o-o-o
Back on the bridge, Frost looked out as the planet drew every closer; the ship had to be stationary to fire the cannon, but they couldn't have flown backwards anyway. Rubbing his hands in an effort to hide his nervousness, he commented, "Well, looks like we can't miss this way."
Flute raised an eyebrow, "Miss?"
The Aisu just grinned a little, again trying to hide his nervousness; if this didn't work, that planet would run right through them before they could turn around or fire again, and that was the best case scenario if the cannon failed. "Who knows, I haven't really had a chance to make a calibrating shot." He replied, "This thing was made to take out planets when Frieza felt too bored to do it himself. Plus, it's the first weapon to ever use hyperspace as an energy source, so it's experimental at the best of times."
Viola, who'd only just arrived in the control room, remarked, "Why don't I like the sound of that?"
Flute wore his usual bored, yet irate, expression, "This seems far too unreliable."
"Got any better ideas?" Frost shot back.
Viola just sighed, "I guess an unreliable weapon is better than no weapon, but we don't have to like it."
"Better take a seat. I've heard this thing has a massive kick to it," Frost mentioned, as if the thought had just occurred to him; knowing Frost, it probably had.
"T-minus 2 minutes until firing." The warning suddenly blared over the speakers. Viola quickly sat down, taking Kat's recently vacated seat, and Flute followed suit with Avery's. Kat had, by this point, taken refuge inside one of the rooms along the way to the hangar, and Avery was inside his pod, just in case.
Frost just remarked grandly, "Watch for the pretty fireworks."
o-o-o
"T-minus 30 second until firing."
The warning rang loud through the speaker system, and Kaen quickly pulled Pi into the nearest room, making sure to brace the both of them against backlash; they both knew she could just as easily protect herself, but he felt better protecting her himself, and she, despite protests to the contrary, quite liked his protective streak.
With a sudden loud roar, and a massive lurch that sent the ship backwards even in the emptiness of space, the Hyperspace Cannon was fired, the multi-coloured pulsing blast crashing directly into the planet. The planet shuddered and rumbled, and within moments cracks could be seen forming in its crust and the planet began to fall apart.
Looking out a nearby window, Kaen just muttered, "Hey, that's pretty cool." Pi just shook her head with a smile, elbowing him lovingly in pure Saiyan fashion. He just smiled himself and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as his tail snaked around her leg unbeknownst to him, and hers around his waist as she turned to kiss him on the cheek. Before long that turned into a proper kiss, and things only escalated from there as the two of them got caught up in the moment. After all, there's nothing more romantic than a fireworks show, and nothing more arousing to a Saiyan than the destruction of a planet.
o-o-o
After Frost recovered from the firing he smiled broadly, "Hey, it worked... excellent."
Viola just raised an eyebrow, "You seem surprised."
He shrugged, "Well, when you try something previously untested for the first time, you tend to have a few doubts about whether it'll work or not, but it worked, so that's neither here nor there." Flute was less than impressed, but he didn't say anything; just like his argument with Kaen earlier, it just wasn't worth the effort.
Before too long, Avery waltzed back in, saying, "So it worked huh? I guess that goes to show that not even you can screw everything up."
Frost wore a bland look, "Well, it's not like I missed..." He put a strange emphasis on the word, that he was sure only Avery would have known the significance of.
Sure enough, Avery glared at him for it, replying, "You are dancing on a very thin blade, you know that right?"
"If you want me dead, take a number and get in line." Frost replied as he waved him off dismissively.
Flute rose from Avery's seat and, without a word, made his way over to Viola, who was straightening her cloak, having newly risen from Kat's chair, and offering her his arm. She accepted the gesture with a slight smile, and, as Avery dropped into his seat and fell back to his normal brooding, the pair walked off silently.
And thus life returned to normal on the Icebreaker. Another dragon ball had been recovered, and only two remained, but there were plenty more adventures and misfortunes in store in the days to come; of that, no one doubted.
End Chapter 16
To be continued...
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Author's Notes:
I've decided that doing flashback intros to every chapter is no longer necessary. Personally, I couldn't be bothered creating more backstory for Kaen, now that all the important parts have been shown.