Chapter 6.
First Contact.

In times of peril for the Geyser folk, the guardian of the tribe would stand alone to protect the village.
So after Palete told her trusted friends about the sky man's warning, it was decided that the guardian Kaburd should be informed.
The mist was thick that morning as the pair climbed into a rowboat to cross the steamy water.

A small island growing an ancient tree resided in the centre of the boiling spring, hidden amongst the thick mist.
The boat came to a sudden stop when it reached the shores, and the two aboard hopped off.

"How strong is your grandfather?" Palete asked.

"I don't know. But that's the first thing he killed as guardian."
Tracking her friend's nod, Palete peered towards the roots of the large tree and spied an elderly figure, cross-legged and hunched over as he sat upon a giant skull, almost the size of her house.

Seeing how awestruck Palete was, Cuppa decided to advance on her own.
"Grampa! My friend was visited last night. A man from the sky."

His muscles were toned, but his figure was very lean. Small dark spots marking his old age covered his head, shoulders and halfway down his open arms.
Hearing his granddaughter's voice, he opened his eyes and gazed upon the two women.

"Is this true?" He asked in a crooked tone. "I am no stranger to the abnormal, but you must be certain this is real and not some hallucination from the mist."

"It's not, Master Kaburd. He spoke to me. Warning that he'll return today."

"And what does he want?"

"He said…" Is passing this message on even worth the breath to say it? "He said he wanted to live peacefully, with us."

"Hmm," Kaburd leant forward before rising swiftly to his feet. "That you have come to me says you have little faith he is telling the truth."

"Trust the word of a stranger with the lives of our people?" Palete shook her head, stating she'd rather be cautious than regretful.

"Very wise of you." He wandered to the shore of his island. "You have nothing to worry about, dear."

Palete cringed, watching him dip his bare hand into the boiling water, and with her eyes looking away from the Guardian, she was now looking at the ground.
Because of the fog, at a distance it looked like there were two rows of white rocks leading up to the massive skull Kaburd was meditating on.
But on closer inspection, they were something else entirely.

Kaburd raised his hand the water, holding within his grasp a skull with all the flesh and blood boiled away leaving nothing but clean bone.
"If this stranger is a problem, I'll simply add his to the others."

Rhuba nearly jumped from her skin after hearing Garagus's thundering sneeze. "What the hell was that?"

"I dunno, this planet's a frost ball. I might have caught a cold yesterday."

Rhuba sighed to herself as she sat with him for their morning meal. "If you're not feeling well, maybe you shouldn't go today." After all, it's just to introduce themselves. Rhuba didn't see any point in putting himself out if he can't make a good first impression. "Did you get a good look at these people? What are they like?"

Garagus tried to remember specifics about the woman he found. It was dark already and the mist was blocking most light from the sky. "Well they're shaped like us. Heads and arms'n that."

Rhuba nodded while rolling her eyes. This was pretty basic, but she'd bet somewhere these descriptions don't apply to the people there.

"Her face was, different." He described that her face was 'flatter', as in she didn't have a nose, ears or much of a chin.

"Did she get a good look at you?"

"Not sure. But I must have scared her. She had a weapon, stick, thing."

"Well, maybe I should go too." Rhuba wasn't feeling a hundred precent yet, but Garagus agreed that being outside and standing on an actual surface will make her feel better.

After eating, the pair got dressed into more casual wear. Their armour is more versatile when it comes to withstanding weather and climates, but it could send the wrong message to appear in their town dressed as such.
Luckily, their old captain had a wardrobe filled with clothing to deal with the cold. Lucky for Rhuba at least. She was snug wearing a fleece, matching trousers and boots while Garagus had to layer up on clothes his size.

"Here's a stupid idea. Why don't we take the ship? Just this one time."

"It's one mile, Rhuba."

"okay. But, if this world is meant to be where we start a fresh, don't you want to be nearer the neighbours?"

"Is that what you want?"

Rhuba nodded. So much of their life was spent was isolation, and what's the point of finding the locals if they were just going to keep a distance?

"You won't need that coat then. Getting there would have been cold, but the town is actually very warm."

"Right." Rhuba unzipped her top and slid off the trousers.

Although their armour might be seen as intimidating, the black leggings and shirt worn underneath are pretty uninspiring. Surely no one will feel threatened by someone wearing those. With those on, Rhuba just threw a loss fitting light blue vest to add just a little colour and hopefully make them less scary looking.

Garagus just wore a brown T-shirt along with the dark grey trousers he was already wearing.

"Garagus…"

"Hmm?" He looked up from bucking on his boots. Rhuba was staring outside through the airlock. Despite still being visibly weaker even after eating today, her skin was glowing in the sun's rays.

"This world is beautiful."

Garagus had only seen it in the dark of night, but when he looked outside from the pilot seat, the frost-covered mountains and valleys were sparkling like diamonds.
"Can you see a pillar of cloud? That's where we're headed." Garagus ignited the engines and the ship started to rise.

Intending to keep her promise of helping, Rhuba moved into the copilot seat to start planning their landing. "There's a flat space large enough to land just outside of the village. Terrain is offset by thirteen degrees."

"… good to know."

It was a smooth glide to the town front. Being daytime, it was much busier than Garagus's last visit.

As the ship soared around to find a landing, Palete, Cuppa and Kaburd were making their way through the town.
Nerves were high in the town seeing the unusual vessel descend, but seeing their Guardian calmed them down.
"Be about your day everyone," Cuppa instructed the people she passed.

"We'll handle this." Palete added, sounding less sure than her friend.

Kaburd was silent. Shoulders square, head high and eyes fixed on the target.

"I thought you said this man could fly? What's the floating house?"
"I don't know, he was flying yesterday- oh."

Kaburd had came to an abrupt stop just outside the town. "I need to know what this one looks like."

"I didn't get a good look, but he's tall. Slightly darker scales than us, I think. He's got a black mane on his head and some fur over his eyes."

"Sounds, itchy…" Cuppa muttered to herself. "That didn't tip you off he was a weirdo?"
"I thought it was a hat!"

"Ladies please!" Kaburd insisted, whipping his right hand down to catch their attention.

"sorry master." "sorry granddad." The pair mutter together.

The three waited. The noise coming from the strangers' flying house was intriguing yet unsettling, as was watching the mist of frost and rocks spray from where it was preparing to land.

Once landed, Rhuba moved to the airlock while Garagus began the power down sequence. "Seems three of them have come to greet us. One of them your friend?"

"You're in a very good mood today," Garagus wasn't complaining. He just wanted to make sure this wasn't a front to hide how she's actually feeling.

Rhuba does often laugh to mask pain. But between now and yesterday it's like the last few weeks never happened. "I'm just trying to stay positive for you." She sighed while maintaining her smile. "I had a dream where you were depressed and gloomy. I came this close to leaving you on some planet and going off on my own."

"Thanks Rhuba." Garagus gave her a hard pat on the shoulders as he passed by. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure we didn't leave the stove on."

Rhuba hissed playfully at him as he walked by. Once he was out of sight, she took a deep breath.
Ground. Solid ground. It felt like an eternity had passed since she last walked on it.
As the airlock slid open, she stepped foot onto the hard rocky surface. The warm, wet air dampened her face within seconds, and the breeze cut like glass in icy contrast.

While waiting for Garagus to return, the three Natives actually approached.
"I am Kaburd of this village. This is my granddaughter Cuppa, and you know Palete."

Rhuba observed the three of them. Their faces closely resembled round-headed reptiles. Even their light yellow skin has the texture of scales.
"I actually haven't met any of you," Rhuba stated, explaining that it was actually her partner that must have met Palete. As agreed over breakfast, she used a false name to address both herself and Garagus to help hide their Saiyan identity. "My name is Sorpper. My husband, Yagon will be out shortly."

As if on cue, 'Yagon' arrived out on the ramp and walked down to stand at her side. After another quick introduction, the village guardian asked where they are from and more importantly, why they have come.

"Our home was destroyed," Garagus answered. "As far as we know, we're the only survivors."

Their kind has never been seen before in the tribe's history, and they are conveniently the only two of their kind? Cuppa looked to her grandfather, hoping he felt as she did that this story was very suspicious.

"Palete tells me when she met you last night, it appeared that you were snooping. May I ask what for?"

Yagon nodded, saying he had not meant to find the village but was curious about the pillar of cloud rising from the ground.

Cuppa and Palete looked back at their village. They'd lived in the steam their whole life, but to an outsider, they could imagine it would be a point of interest.
"If you want to see, I can take you to the springs." Palete offered, but after getting a disapproving look from Cuppa, she added, "With Kaburd's permission of course."

Kaburd looked the pair of outsiders over.
Yagon stood taller than all of them, with very broad shoulders and wide muscular arms. Even his skinny wife seemed to have a confidant look in the way she carried herself.
But the monsters that come from the wilds are fierce and as Guardian, Kaburd had slain many of them. If these two cause trouble for his tribe, their skulls will decorate his island.

"You have my blessing to enter the village and bathe in the springs. But I will be watching to make sure of no trouble."

Garagus and Rhuba nodded, but inside they were thinking about how any other Saiyan would have reacted. In particular, Garagus's brother could have wiped the village out with a single swish of his hand.
"Bathe in the springs?" Rhuba asked him, only getting a shrug in response.

When walking through the village. Rhuba and Garagus were, of course, the subject of everyone's attention and no one was trying to be subtle of their curiosity. Dozens of eyes were on them at all times as Palete led them across the walkways over the boiling water.

"It's very creative of you to build your homes here." Rhuba was freezing after leaving the ship, but here she was sweating with all the steam.

"It can get bothersome at times. Often you can only see this far out because of all the fog." Palete held her arms out to show the guests what she was talking about.

But what caught Garagus's attention was her fingers. "You only have four fingers." He said with some intrigue.

"yes?" Palete looked behind at him and Rhuba, and almost jumped out of her shoes when she saw their hands.

Rhuba laughed watching the woman shiver in a grossed out display and found amusement in wiggling her hand out to her. "Want to see?"

Garagus thought Rhuba was being rather juvenile in offering her hand to Palete, but at least having fun and forming a bond with the natives was just such a nice change from the last few weeks of hopeless negativity.
Rhuba just smiled while Palete started trying to figure which of the five would be the extra. Rhuba was watching Palete's hand too, and her best guess was the one between her middle and pinky the native people lacked.

"your skin is so soft," Palete gasped while feeling Rhuba's hand. "like a hatchling… Eh!- This doesn't hurt you does it?" New hatchlings of the tribe are very soft, but touching them too much can leave them with scarred tissue.

"No no, I'm fine." Rhuba could feel the rougher scales of Palete's hand. Not quite as hard as Granate's skin, but very different from Saiyans none the less.

"We don't let young ones in the spring because it burns them, so I'm not sure,"

Garagus curled the toes in his right boot as they got most of the pain from when he stepped in a puddle last night.

Rhuba took a look over the rail herself and could see the waves sloshing forward on the hot stones.

"Why is your town built here?" She asked. "Is it not dangerous?" As Saiyans, both she and Garagus are used being thrown to the wolfs and expected to adapt and overcome. However, falling into boiling water isn't exactly something a child can fail against and expect to toughen up or getting stronger.
One slip would mean certain death.

"It's too cold to build anywhere else. The thing is, Kaburd offered you a bath in the spring, I'm afraid it might hurt you."

"We're already clean." Rhuba pointed out. But Palete said it's how they greet outsiders.

"We're a small tribe. But bigger ones exist out there, and sometimes we fight for the springs. We're letting you sit in the water to welcome you in good faith."

"I see."
In many ways, this felt like when Rhuba took Garagus home. Although he was born to an Alpha troop, he respected Cressin's laws while living in her den. He didn't want to offend Rhuba's mum anymore than he wants to offend these people.

Palete led them down a ramp. It led to the white rocky surface that incased an isolated pool of calmer water. It's not as deep or as hot as the rest of the boiling lake, but enough for several dozen to easily relax in at the same time.
Near the middle of the pool was a boulder the stuck four feet from the water. There was a battle taking place in the water for control over the rock.
"No!" Someone yelled before her ankle was grabbed and she was pulled into the water. Within seconds someone else had claimed dominion over the pool, only for her to be dethroned immediately after.

Watching the game made Palete nostalgic of when she was younger. "Ignore them if you can." She advised.

"Everyone!" A voice called from above. Palete, Rhuba and Garagus turned to see Kaburd standing on the walkway watching over them. "These are guests of mine. Do not be alarmed by them."

Most people in the pool hadn't even noticed their visitors. But now most of them were somewhere between frightened and curious of them, though with their Guardian nearby they felt secure at least.
Garagus and Rhuba introduced themselves by their fake names, but everyone proved to be warier than the welcoming party.
Rhuba looked at the nervous faces of everyone, admitting to Garagus that maybe they should come again tomorrow once the idea of meeting a new race of people has settled more.

"Don't worry." Palete pulled off her tunic and walked towards the pool's edge, suggesting that they should do the same.

"What do you think?" Garagus asked.

"She said I have skin like a hatchling," Rhuba answered, observing the young girls at the edge of the pull with their feet soaking in. "If they can handle the heat, so will I."

Garagus had already been burned by a puddle. He told himself it was the shock of going from cold to hot that quickly that hurt him more than the heat.
"time to prove it." He sighed as he pulled off his shirt. When he saw Rhuba about to pull down her leggings, he dashed forward to stop her. "tails." He urgently told her.

Rhuba pulled her leggings up again. The pair looked around. All eyes were on them, and this will not go unnoticed.
"they don't know what we are." She whispered back, but she had a gut feeling that this could be the careless act that begins their downfall. "I've got an idea." She widened out the waistline of her pants, making way for her tail to wrap around her hips.

She hoped everyone assumed she was just shy and not deathly terrified of being discovered that prompted this behaviour. But she pulled her leggings off all the way and set them next to her top and shoes.

Garagus looked around at everyone before having a proper look at her. Her pant-line had a visible bulge all the way around where her tail is concealed.
"there's a knife on the ship, we can remove our tails-"

"no!" Rhuba gave him an appalled look. "we'll hide them, but I'm not mutilating myself."

"Are you alright?" Palete asked from the edge. From behind Rhuba's body just seemed consistent with what she'd seen already, so the concerns Rhuba and Garagus were having was so far unwarranted.

"Yeah I'm good." Rhuba laughed to hide the fear. Garagus watched her step into the water. Hotter than the shower on the ship, but not unbearable after a few attempts at keeping her foot in. Rhuba was a little nervous about how deep it was since her foot has disappeared below the green soup as soon as she was knee-deep.
It took time to get over the heat, but once she did she felt amazing.

"fine." Garagus hid his tail in his underwear like Rhuba had but he still felt cutting them off would be the better solution. After all, it's not like removing the tail is permanent anyway.

Like Rhuba, Garagus hissed and endured getting into the hot water.
"Why are we doing this?" He asked, struggling to adjust.

Palete told him that strangers on their feet are more likely to fight, whereas bathing together opens more peaceful exchanges.
"Nooo!" Screamed one of the girls after being pushed from the centre rock. The irony was not lost on Palete. "They're just playing a game. Not the same."

After some time, Rhuba and Garagus were absorbed by the water and had completely forgotten that they walked across ice and snow when they left the ship just half an hour ago.
They were still getting looks of course and some kids would walk by more than once to see them up closer.
Rhuba even caught Palete staring at them a few times. But it seemed like she was drawing comparisons, particularly with the shape of their chests.

Darn reptiles. Rhuba thought while crossing her arms over, realising she her's were the only set of tits at the pool. And going by everyone else, possibly the only set on the planet.

"Say, Palete." Garagus asked, leaning forward. "Where are the men of your village?" Garagus noticed that he was the only male at the pool.

"It's just Kaburd," Palete answered. "Do you have more where you're from?" She asked with a sudden intrigue that quickly vanished when she realized. "oh, sorry…"

"It's okay." Rhuba sighed. Thinking of home got her through the night. Talking about it in general terms might make her feel better still. "On our world, there were just as many men as women."

Palete was taken back, blinking to herself as she tried to process that. "So, how do you know who to mate with?"

While Rhuba tried to engage stone face mode, Garagus blurted out a half chuckled answer.
"You wait until dark and throw a rock randomly at a crowd and whoever the unconscious twit with the fresh lump is, that's your man." Garagus loved the stare Rhuba was giving him. It was an obvious joke, but Palete didn't look like she understood that.

"We just choose who we like," Rhuba confirmed after dismissing Garagus's first impression. "But how does it work here? If Kaburd dies, how will your people continue?"

Palate sink into the water slightly. She was looking away like this topic was embracing. "My friend Cuppa wants to take his place. She's desperate." Palete finally said.

Rhuba and Garagus gave each other a look, but before they could ask further into the mater, a shadow followed by a loud gust of wind swept over everyone in the pool.
"What the hell was that?" Rhuba asked staring into the twirling whips parted steam above.

"oh no…" Palete rose out the water staring at the central rock where the kids were playing. The girl who was just standing on top had vanished.

"What just happened?" Garagus demanded.

After two seconds of deafening silence, Kaburd, armed with a spear on his back, leapt across the pool, hopped off the centre rock to land on the opposing the cliff edge then started climbing up like a spider.

"he'll get her back…" Palete muttered in a teary preyer.

Garagus looked at everyone. No one with giving him information. Just sitting and hoping for the best.
He stood out the water and shook himself off. After a deep breath, the shockwave of him blasting through the air took everyone at the pool by surprise.

Once out of the steam pillar, he saw what looked like a large feathered bat flying over the frozen valley. It was bigger than Granate's ship, with a wingspan of four times the length.
Garagus soared over immediately but looking at the ground, he could see Kaburd running after the bird too. Somehow he was actually keeping up as he dashed barefoot through the tundra.

Garagus didn't feel like waiting to see how the rest of his rescue would go though. After all, he was already within grabbing distance of the missing kid caught in the bird's grip.
Up close, bird's talons were big enough to pick up Garagus, and possibly sharp enough to cut him in half. But he'd eaten larger animals than this.
He wrapped his arm around the bird's left ankle, and started pulling to the ground.

The bird screeched, feeling like it had started carrying twice its own wight. Flapping wildly trying to get airborne, the bird dropped the girl.
Garagus let go of the bird to pursue her. He flew below with his arms out to take her well before she hit the ground.
She was ice cold and shaking with fear thinking her life had ended from the moment she was plucked from that stone.

Garagus landed down in front of Kaburd, who couldn't believe what he had seen. "When Palete told me you could fly, I did not believe it. Then I saw your flying house. I thought that was what she meant…"

Garagus shrugged as he handed the girl over to him. He understood that not everyone could fly, but to him it really is no different than walking, so nothing worth bragging about.

"The bird must die."

Garagus let out a sigh of agreement. It failed to get its prey this time, but it may try again. "Take her home. I'll be back."

Kaburd was at a loss. He was willing to chase that bird to the end of the world to protect one of his own. To fail would mean he's no longer fit to care for his tribe, and so falling on his spear would be the only noble act he could redeem himself with.
Yet this stranger made it look so easy with his unnatural gift.

Still. Kaburd brought the girl back home and delivered her to her mother.
Cuppa was overjoyed at her grandfather's safe return, ran over with Palete at her heel. "You were so fast this time." She said with a smile as she took the spear for him.

"I didn't save her… Yagon did…" He was still in disbelief over that fact.

"Where is Yagon?" Palete asked.

"He went to…" Kaburd could see Yagon's mate still sitting in the pool. She looked relieved the girl was back but wasn't interested to hear of Yagon. Instead, she was just laying there, watching the sky and soaking up the warm water. Does she not care?
Kaburd was about to speak again, but the sound of scraping and falling rocks called his attention.

Rolling and bouncing its way down the cliff face, was the decapitated head of the giant bird.
"It broke off as I was bringing it back!" Yagon yelled as he descended through the steam and landed next to Sorpper.

"So it was a bird?" Rhuba ducked her shoulders into the water. "Shame, I would have eaten it. such a waste."

"Nothing stopping us. Although we should ask them first."

"Yagon!" Kaburd announced as he approached the pair of Saiyans. "You're a skilled warrior. That's obvious. But I'm interested, how strong are you exactly?"

Rhuba put a hand out to stop Garagus from answering. "He's stronger than me," She stated while lifting a palm-sized rock out from the water. "That's all you need to know."
The rock popped once her fingers closed in, dropping small shards plopping back into the water.

Kaburd was strong enough to crush rocks too but not with such ease, and to know that she was the weaker of the two, it was disheartening to say the least. The skull of the first creature he protected his people from was a prized monument to his strength and yet Garagus pulled a similar act within minutes while soaking wet, naked and without a weapon.

"Neither of us are going to undermine you." Garagus assured him. He could see Kaburd was uncertain of what to make of him and Rhuba. "We'll probably keep to ourselves. Coming here today, was just to give you a chance to recognise us as friends."

Rhuba took a final second to soak up a heat before climbing out from the water. Listening to the men discuss boundaries she could hear a hint of fear in Kaburd's tone, so Rhuba decided to get dressed and prepare for her and Garagus to return to the ship for the night once the chat was over.

They met, they talked, and Garagus saved one of them from being eaten.
A better first impression is hard to imagine.