Chapter 5: Fire, Ice, and Food
As soon as they entered the portal the villains had almost wished they had not. First they had begun to fall, before catching themselves with their ki and floating in the fiery realm. The Ice-Jinn's seemed to be unbothered by the lack of oxygen, as did Cell. However, Burter and Recoome were having trouble breathing and their hands instantly went to their throats to communicate this.
Cell still held the dragon captive as he took the lead, noticing that Ices held her breath easily in this dimension of pure fire. The creation took the opportunity to get a good look at what she called a 'Rift.' On the other side of the portal it seemed an endless labyrinth of flaming corridors. Though there seemed to be a floor of fire, one could dip right through it, and he could only assume the same could be said for the roof.
The three most powerful males paid no mind to the changing of Burter and Recoome's color as they became dangerously deprived of oxygen in this strange realm, however cell did notice when Ices' normally dark wings began to turn a pale blue and so focused on finding an 'out' portal. Ices began to thrash ruthlessly to gain Cell's attention and motioned towards an almost hidden turn in the tunnel. Cell took her towards it and a flaming door opened.
They emerged from the steaming belly of the Rift and into the sub-arctic temperatures of the world in which they were spit. Burter and Recoome hit the snow gasping for breath like fish starved of water. Ices was doing the same, only still held like a captured monitor lizard in cells grasp. She wished now that she could have stayed behind in hell with Guldo and jaice, instead of traversing the universe with these assholes.
If she had been leading the party she could have spit them out in temperate and livable conditions, but instead she was forced into this frozen wasteland. All because she had to open an emergency exit so that two of her males did not suffocate. Also because these same males had recently kidnapped her using her own Rifts!
"You can let me go." Growled the female thrusting her body back and into the chest of Cell for good measure. The android smirked and dropped her roughly on her rear. Ices glared up at the android as her finally free tail lashed behind her. She wished now that she was powerful enough to land a punch on his stupid face...and get away with it.
The female immediately drew her wings close to her body to conserve as much heat as possible. The early morning sun shone deceptively bright over the powdery dunes of the strange forest they had arrived in. Her nose twitched, was that fire she smelt? Her eyes wandered to the barbarian who had finally recovered his wind and now stood with a quizzical and slightly pained look upon his features.
"Is it hot or what?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.
Oh kami, please tell me your joking. She sighed within the confines of her mind. Trapped in a frozen wasteland with a group of imbeciles?
"Recoome…your hair is on fire." Burter pointed out a bit awkwardly.
"Nah, you're just saying that to make me feel better." Blushed the barbarian as he dug the toe of his boot into the snow.
"No, seriously, Recoome, I think you should dunk your head into a-" Burter was cut off.
"Oh first my hair is raging hot and now you're insulting me?! I can't believe this! And just when I thought we'd sorted our differences out." He sniffled.
"Oh for the love of—Recoome you oaf, your hair is on fire." Frieza nearly knocked the lot of them down with the outburst, but the giant seemed to get it through his head this time.
"Wha? Oh!" He dove into a nearby snow-drift, and reveled in the cool snow. "Burter why didn't you tell me my hair was on fire!" He shouted, voice slightly muffled, from the sanctity of the snow. The blue male merely massaged his temples.
Snorting disdainfully, but secretly happy because now nobody was thinking of how she had just been manhandled onto this planet, the female relaxed into her wings and began to survey her surroundings.
The trees in this forest were the color of newly cooled lava, ashen gray. The woods were silent enough that one could almost feel the frantic search of the tree's roots for nourishment. But what surprised the female was that, unlike most seasonal worlds she had paid visitor to, the leaves of these ashen trees did not fall during the cold weather. Instead the obsidian appendages rustled in full bloom, as if it were spring. The black leaves swayed gently, though there was no wind, and the female had to query to herself whether or not they were actually animate creatures.
Strange… Purred the wish granter to herself, but not unpleasantly so. At any rate the scent's were clear and clean and the air filled her with a vigor she had not previously known, despite the chill surrounding her.
"Well? What now?" Burter barked, impatient, and shattering her momentary contentedness.
"We camp here." With her words the female leaped into the undergrowth of the 'trees', she could have sworn she felt the branch jerk as if in surprise once she landed but did not pay it or the idiot Recoome any heed. Though his sobs over the charred remnants of his scalp were most distracting.
"Since when do you order us around!" Frieza cut in, ready to fight once again. Ices growled audibly, a distinctly feral sound. The scales on her wings rose like hackles and she fed her ire through their connections to emphasize her upcoming points.
"Since I hold your lives in my soul. Since I have the only means of escape from this planet, and since I said so." Explained the female an even but far from calm voice. Frieza looked about to argue before King Cold stuck an enormous hand in front of his tiny offspring.
"Son." He paused dramatically as he gazed down at the lord. "Do you remember the talk we had about females?" Frieza scoffed, folding his arms and gazing into the distance.
"Yes, father, I remember." He grudgingly admitted.
"This is one of those moments where you let them think they have you beat." The King grinned at his son and his son glared at the thicket of leaves the female had taken refuge within. Abruptly the anger through their connection doubled before she calmed herself and closed off the connection once again.
Really her temper was so short because she was a bit worried for herself. She was surrounded by enemies and feeling a weakness within her body that she was not used to. Usually she could easily go another day without rest, but at this moment a strange weariness had crept up on her and she felt as if she must sleep. Ices wished she could talk to her father and ask the mighty dragon what was happening. She wanted to know if this was normal for an immortality wish. Ices leaned against the strange bark of the tree's trunk, which twitched beneath her tickling hair.
Idiots… Thought the wish granter to herself as she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
A few hours later…
"I'm hungry." Whined Recoome. The sudden loud voice dragged the dragoness from slumber and into the waking world though she had not yet bothered to open her eyes.
"Then find something to eat." Shot Burter as he glared at nothing as he had been doing since they arrived. There was no point to this, where were they going to go? Frieza's dominion was likely nothing by now and they hardly had enough force to take over the universe. Maybe he'd be better off back in hell with Jaice...
"Like what?" The barbarian fell silent as if deep in thought. His brow furrowed and sweat began to bead upon his brow. Ices chanced a glance at him and decided to help him out before the oaf hurt himself and kept her awake even longer.
"Why don't you hunt?" She suggested mildly.
"What could there possibly be to hunt in this forsaken land?" Shot Frieza, earning him a warning glare from the female. Though the connection between them was closed she could feel the ire surrounding the small male, and she had to secretly wonder why he was always so angry. His father, leaned up against a large 'tree' not far away always seemed to be so calm and regal.
Ices was still too wary to indulge Frieza's temper and she merely lounged upon her perch as the barbarian finally perked up.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that!" His eyes held excitement as he tromped off into the forest. The leaves obsidian leaves hissed in a light breeze as an uneasy peace settled over the group once more.
Though the female was weary she was now alert and unable to reclaim her interrupted rest. Instead she watched the group that had imposed themselves on her life. Burter seemed in deep, forlorn thought where he leaned against a rock and drew a vaguely humanoid face in the snow. King Cold had not moved from where he reclined peacefully against a tree. Cell stood motionless facing the west with his eyes closed, though Ices very much doubted he was sleeping, and Frieza...was busily ripping the bark from one of the trees and enjoying it's agonized writhing.
There was a loud shout and Recoome returned holding in his hand the mangled remains of some unfortunate creature.
"I caught one!" He exclaimed with an enthusiastic, if bloodstained, smile. Ices coughed lightly to cover a laugh and sat up straighter on her branch.
"Where's the meat?" Burter glowered from his seat. "All I see is fur and blood."
"Oh...well, it tried to run. So i grabbed it and it-ah- exploded." He dropped the wasted hunt onto the once pristine snow and Ices snorted to clear the smoldering blood scent from her nostrils. "I guess I don't know how to hunt." Recoome admitted sadly.
Frieza turned towards the barbarian but so far said nothing. He had not anticipated the needs he would have when he was alive, he had just assumed alive would be better than dead, and out of hell would be better than stuck in hell. However he was quickly learning that being alive was a lot more responsibility than he remembered it being. Then again, he had always been warm and well-fed with a purpose in the universe. Not wandering aimlessly without a coin to his name.
The frustration built within him again and he punched the tortured tree once, infusing it with energy and vaporizing it on the spot.
Ices flinched at the small ice-jinns agression but nobody else seemed to bat a lash and she supposed she should consider herself lucky it was not her being disintegrated. Immortal or not, she was unsure if she would survive a full body blow.