The summer's heat hung in the air like a man hung by a noose. Dying, but slowly. Its noose the changing season, its hangman the oncoming winter months. And like a man condemned to die, it struggled. It gasped and clawed its nails into the changing season, digging its nails in- refusing to let it go. Clammy hands pulled at taught rope as sweat-soaked flesh thrashed about, desperate to be free. It would die, but it wasn't going quietly.
Frieza grimaced as he took another long swig of water with one hand, using the other to brush sweat off his forehead. How he missed climate-controlled environments. How he missed cold worlds. How he even missed things as primitive as air conditioning.
He wished he could shut his eyes and feel the cold breath of ancient technology against his face-
But every time he shut them, all he felt was the stuffy, uncaring air of the Mess Hall.
And the heat.
"Alright," Bendez, who stood at the front of the room in front of everyone else, spoke with such volume that his voice echoed. He wasn't really trying to, of course. The combination of rock walls and a silent populace was more than enough to cause his voice to bounce around the room. "Well, now that we've settled the issue of education, is there anything else that we want to cover before I move on to the main issue?"
Quiet murmurs followed his voice as people glanced between each other, chattering amongst their friends, fathers, mothers, or sisters as they tried to think of anything worthy of being shared. Frieza remained silent, sitting near the back of the room and simply sipping his water.
He hated these meetings.
"Democracy," Bendez had said when Frieza had first arrived, "It's the way we do things around here. Every month we hold a vote on what needs to get done that month, what needs to go where- that sort of thing. On occasion, we'll hold an impromptu meeting, like this one here," And of course when Frieza politely declined to join in on their frivolous little meetings, "Everyone joins, even you. You live here now too, it's important that your voice is heard, Frieza," And then when he outright refused to actually come to the first one, they dispatched Hoda and Merce to drag him there.
And from that moment on, Frieza had been dragged to every single meeting. Whether or not it was one of the monthly ones or one of the spurious ones, he would come or he would be dragged. Eventually, he just gave in and allowed himself to be dragged. It wasn't worth the effort of fighting, especially during the summer months. It'd been six months in total since he'd arrived, and Frieza had lost track of how many meetings he'd been dragged to, though that didn't matter.
Because each and every single one of them was completely and utterly pointless.
It was always the same, every month.
"We need to get food this month! We need water this month! The children need something new to learn! What inane thing shall we have Frieza do this month?" Over and over again. The few times there was something different, such as when the people were starving or when it came time to decide on if the Men should do work on the ship or when Bendez told them they were all moving here... That was no better.
It took an eternity to get anywhere. Vividly, Frieza recalls his first month there, when it had been announced that the men would begin construction on his ship. There had been hours of deliberation. Of arguing, of refusal, of nothing short of pure insubordination on behalf of everyone here. Back and forth they argued with Bendez and Ford. It was like watching animals squabble over a bit of meat, or watching primitive civilizations engage in warfare. Back and forth, back and forth- endlessly. That time, it had taken hours of deliberation before the men finally gave in and agreed.
Honestly, Frieza didn't understand why Bendez put up with it any of it. At the end of the day, he was their leader. Even though his decisions were unpopular, the people still followed his commands. Hell, at times Bendez made decisions unilaterally anyway, without bothering to check with anyone. Such as sending Frieza out with Merce to go hunting or deciding on the Plateau being their new home.
Which brought Frieza to a final question- what was the point of any of this? These meetings, these inane arguments, these slow decisions, this democracy that he preached- why bother? He could simply skip over it and do as he wished. It wasn't like he was averse to doing as he wished, wasn't like the people ever really challenged him when he made choices for them... So why? It had been a question that had boggled his mind since the first meeting he'd been forced into, and one that he'd yet to come to an answer for. No matter how hard he thought about it, or from what direction he came at it from, it didn't make any sense...
After a moment, the voices quieted down and Bendez cleared his throat, "Well, if no one else has anything to say, I suppose we can move on to the matters of dividing the labor up for this month. As usual, Frieza and Merce are to handle procuring food, Ford-" Stopping midsentence, Bendez glanced up, noticing a raised hand in the back of the room. Following his gaze, Frieza- and everyone else in the room for that matter- turned to face Hoda, who stood near the entrance, cradling a baby in her off hand.
"I didn't want to shout," She said, stepping forward while motioning with her head towards the infant, which peacefully slumbered in her arms, "I didn't want to disturb him, but I've got something I wanted to talk about. Both me and Ford, actually." She says softly, passing by one of the other women, who held her arms out for the child. As she handed it to her, Frieza was reminded of the communal way children were looked after here. Here, the adage came true. The village raised this child. The mother and father took on the most active role, of course, but everyone pitched in. It was, perhaps, one of the few things he found tolerable about this place, even if it was primitive. Hoda turned back to face the older man once free from the child, looking with an oddly intense expression, "If you don't mind, I mean..."
He shoved his thoughts out of his mind as Bendez spoke up again, "Of course not! Come up." The older man stepped away from the podium while Ford, who had been sitting a bit away from Bendez, stood up next to it.
Hoda smiled as she passed the older men, taking her spot at the front of the room. She sighed, then opened her eyes, lighting up the room with an easygoing expression. She was nervous. That much was obvious, at least to Frieza, but she managed to keep composed. Frieza was almost impressed. The woman wore her emotions like a neon sign most of the time... A very violent neon sign.
"Me and Ford have been talking..." She begins, then clears her throat and repeats herself, a bit louder, before continuing on, "We think it's time to revisit an old project." Hoda motions Ford forward and the old man complied while activating something in his eyes, causing a holographic projection to emit from them. It was a strange thing, Frieza didn't know what it was at first, but it came to him after a moment-
A map.
But of where?
"Decades ago, our fathers and grandfathers set out to the Underground Lake and attempted to create a system of pipes that would connect the ship to the lake directly, completely removing the need for water collection as a job. I'm sure some of you remember."
Murmurs passed through the Mess Hall again, but Frieza paid them no mind as he sat forward a bit, cocking his head to the side a tad as he smirks just a bit at the thought. 'Running water?' His smirk died so that his grin could live, growing more enthused by the idea the more he thought about it. 'Well... That wouldn't be so bad. I don't imagine they'd be able to warm it, but a cold shower had its uses in this kind of heat...'
Hoda waited for the mumbles to die down before speaking again, "Well... They quit working on it because it was too much effort, right? Mining all that way and then figuring out the piping on top of that, it was a huge sink on our resources then..." She smirked, glancing around the room as she spoke up. "But now..." She went quiet, looking at Frieza. Her gaze dragged everyone else with it, and suddenly a wall of eyes had turned onto the former Emperor, who sat back in his seat, glancing around at the gathered group. "Now we have someone who can do what would have taken our ancestors months in the span of a day."
He glared at them all as if to ask what they wanted, but the answer dawned on him well before Hoda opened her mouth, "No..." He shook his head, preemptively cutting the woman off.
"Frieza..." She makes a face at him, trying to play his emotions. He smirked at her with a sickeningly sweet look, snidely pulling his lips up in a false smile.
"What?"
"Its not a lot to ask a man of your talents..." The woman begins, now trying to play his pride, "You could have it done and finished in less than a day, I'd argue."
"Well yes..." Frieza admitted, he could do it easily. But the mere fact that it was more menial labor being pushed onto him- that was something he could not abide, "But the problem is, I don't particularly want to do it. Its not necessary, is it? If it is, I'll gladly live up to my side of the deal, but if its not, well..." He shrugs with a self-satisfied grin, "It doesn't fall under my obligations, does it?"
Despite his attempts to get her to lose her cool, Hoda shuts her eyes and forces a grin as she leans forward on the podium, clutching the stone hard enough that Frieza could swear it was cracking, "I guess not... But I saw that look earlier," Relaxing her face now, the woman reopens her eyes, confidently looking at him now, "You want this just as much as the rest of us. And if you want it, I don't see a reason why we can't work together on it."
Caught in his lie and aware of it, Frieza offers a final defense, "And how do you know?" He asks, relaxing his own facial muscles. She was right, of course. He did want running water. And as much as he loathed the idea of being forced into such a task... His heart really wasn't in this debate. It was a trivial matter after all- he just didn't want to give these fools the wrong impression. His skills weren't to be used so wantonly. They already used him for so much, he couldn't bear the thought of being coerced into more labor. He had to give the right impression to keep that from happening, "My expressions are one thing, but I nor anyone else have casted any votes. For all you know, I was thinking of home."
"Well alright, lets vote on it," Turning her gaze back to the gathered people in the room, the woman smiled cheerfully and gestured her hands to the rest of the room, "Who wants clean, running, water piped directly to our homes?"
What must have been dozens of hands went up, surrounding the small Arcosian with a wall of limbs, enough to provide him some shade. There, in the center of the crowd, Frieza rolled his eyes at first...
But then, a small, fragmentary smile managed to worm its way into his lips and the Emperor scoffed at himself, slowly lifting his own hand up.
Cheers followed him, but the Arcosian rolled his eyes at them all as he stood up, "To be entirely clear." He says, speaking over the cheering voices and now awake- and crying- infant. "I'm doing this for me. A nice, cold shower is in my future." Despite his words, his smile was real.
The sun weighed heavily against the quartet as they piled into the Sand Strider. This one was a newer model. It had been finished only a few weeks ago, and the hum of its engine was soft, like the gentle purr of a cat- nothing like the gas-guzzling monstrosity that had been the older Strider. Sadly, it was designed to look just like that model, made from metal and shaped like a cage- barely providing any defense against the sun's scalding gaze. There was something new present in this model though- a pane of glass had been set within the front bars of the cage, providing a bit of protection against the sand as the occupants drove. Frieza had advocated for this addition after he and Merce's last excursion to the desert three months ago- the amount of dust that they'd come back covered in was inexcusable- he must have been scrubbing off his torso for weeks after.
Frieza would gladly trade what little help the wind was against the heat for defense against dust... But that didn't mean it was ideal. Taking a seat in the front passenger's side, Frieza clamped shut the metal bar that kept passengers inside and sat back in his seat, pulling out his waterskin and taking a long sip from it. The journey to the Underground Lake wouldn't take more than a day thanks to the Sand Strider, and once he was there he'd be free to refill his waterskin, so he wouldn't bother with conserving his water for the trip. The window pane kept him safe from dust, but heat was his enemy and water his only recourse.
He considers simply flying there himself for a moment but brushed that thought away as soon as it came. He hadn't the faintest idea where he would be going, and while he could carry Hoda as he had done with Bendez all that time ago, he didn't nearly feel like dealing with the woman in the air. Quick to anger as she was, he'd probably end up dropping her by accident after she hit him. Whether or not it would be an accident, even Frieza wasn't sure...
Suddenly feeling a prickle on his neck, the Arcosian's eyes glanced over, catching a glimpse of a child in the seat behind him, her small- organic- hands holding onto the top of his headrest and pulling her up so that she might get a good look at his Bio-Gem and horns. Rolling his eyes, he turns towards Hoda as she enters the car on the driver's seat, "Why is she coming along?"
"She likes to join me when we go out for water collection," Slamming her door, the woman turns to face him, "What? I thought you liked it when she came with me~" The woman teases, giving Frieza a grin that made him want to punch her.
"Yes when I'm at home!" He refrains from punching her, despite his desires, and instead gives the woman his most irritated growl. He's gotten used to putting up with Hoda's particular brand of being annoying. Unlike someone like Merce who he could get away with hurling into a wall if he got on his nerves too much, Hoda was a special case. Not only a woman, but also Bendez's own daughter. Or something of that nature- either way, it meant he had to be exceptionally careful with her, these people wouldn't take well to having a woman harmed and Bendez wouldn't either. Still, it didn't stop him from getting snippy, "It gives me a reprieve from her irritating questions and antics!" At the moment he says this, the Arcosian snaps his gaze back up to Yota, who quickly retracts both hands away from his horns. The little mitts being only a few inches away before he caught her.
"I'm not gonna be irriting!" She complains, looking down at him with wide eyes, feigning innocence. The girl's tactics were good against others in the village, but she knew better than to think giving him "cute" eyes was going to do much, so she quickly adds, "'Sides, I'm not here to bug you... I just like seeing the caves..." She pouts.
"First, its irritating." Frieza corrects. "Second, if you're not here to bother me, then why are you up there?"
"Er..." She glances away. "I..." The girl falls silent as Frieza rolls his eyes. For a moment, he decides to let it be. She'll get bored of being there soon enough, and its simply not worth the effort of getting rid of her. But as he decides to do that, the girl speaks up again, "Alright you got me," She admits, a little upset that she'd been figured out if her tone was any indication, "I wanted to see your sticks up close!"
"Sticks?" He whirls his head around to look up at her, crinkling his whole face in confusion for a moment before what she meant dawned on him, "These aren't sticks," He says as though it was evident, "They're horns."
The girl stares blankly at him for a moment, then her eyes twinkle with an excitement that Frieza knows all too well and her mouth opens wide as she sucks in a breath, preparing to unleash the dreaded words-
"Ohhh!" Realizing his mistake too late, the Arcosian slaps his hands to his face and drags them down at the same moment as Yota says-
"What are horns?" And she doesn't stop there, even as Frieza spins around and crosses his arms, trying to block the girl's voice out, she continues- "Why do you have them? Are they for defense? Do you stab things with them or do they just look pretty? Why don't you have them in your real form? (a gasp) Where do they go when you're in your real form-"
He sighed. Loudly.
It was going to be a long trip.
Water dripped around the girl as she took a seat at the far edge of the lake, causing soft droop sounds to echo through the cavern as the droplets hit the water. She rolled up her dress as she sat and dipped her legs into the lake, sighing as she let the cool liquid wash away the dust and grime that had accumulated over her body. At first, the girl hadn't been sure if it was okay to do this kind of thing in the lake, but her mother assured her- it was fine, "When we get home," She'd said, "We make sure to run the water I bring back through purifiers before people drink from it, so go ahead! Have fun... just stay near the edge and near me so I can watch you." Yota smiles at the memory, tilting her head up towards the ceiling, where long rock formations hung. They were also covered in water just like her legs, she didn't know how water had gotten up there, or why it had for that matter, but she guessed that wasn't important- she liked that they were like that. The gentle sound of dripping water was like a blanket for her ears. Warm in a way that the sun wasn't. Warm like her mother's tight arms around her small frame was for her body, or warm like her head felt when she sat alone in her room, smothered in the darkness of the cave.
Yota liked those times, and this place reminded her of them. When she was safe and all alone, peace came easy to her. It was nice, she didn't really understand why. Maybe it was because of the darkness, maybe it was the warmth, maybe it was the safety. Maybe it was the sound of the water as it dripped down onto the lake. Whatever the reason, Yota loved these kinds of places.
The child leaned forward, running her hands through the water now, sighing as cold liquid ran through her fingers. Her mother would sometimes tell her how lucky she was to still have organic hands. Once she became an adult, she'd end up with cybernetics like everyone else, trading the ability to touch for tools to do whatever chore she decided to take up... Or whatever chore was expected of her. Being a girl, she didn't have too many options. Even her mother's job as water collector was a fluke... Probably they'd make her raise kids, or if she was lucky she'd take her mom's job or maybe her grampa would let her be a hunter, if she asked hard enough. But even if she managed that... She didn't know how much she liked those futures. Any of them, even the last one, they all sounded... sad. Living here for the rest of her life, being trapped in this desert, never really seeing new things and then dying when she was old... It was sad.
Lots of things about being an adult sounded sad. Sure, as a kid there wasn't much expected of her. She had to learn, she had to treat the adults with respect, she had to be nice to other kids, no matter how mean or rotten they turned out to be...She smiles at that, she wasn't ever really nice to them. It was like pretending. She pretended to be nice, and they believed her. But it wasn't really being nice. She just didn't want them to bother her or pick on her like they did to other people who were different.
She wished that not acting that way was something that happened when people turned into adults. She wished the adults were more like her mom, or more like herself. It didn't take much to be nice to people, or even just to pretend to be nice. But that was one of the things she found the most sad about adults; they wouldn't even pretend.
Or... They pretended, but not in the way Yota did. She pretended to be nice to bad people, but they... They pretended to be nice to everyone. But they weren't, not really. There were some really nice people- her mom, Mr. Merce, her grampa... Her dad...
But so many other people pretended.
That's why she liked Frieza. He didn't pretend to be nice at all. He was mean and nasty to everyone he met, and he didn't hide it behind fake smiles or big words, but that was fine because everyone else was mean and nasty to him first!
At least he was honest about who he was.
But... That wasn't the only reason she liked him.
He was interesting. There was a whole universe out there that he had come from. Dozens of whole other planets! Other types of people and other ways of living and new things to see! Through him, Yota had heard so many stories. Through him, she could live in those other worlds, even if just for a bit. From stars to planets, to spaceships and transformations- even things as normal to him as horns were as amazing to her as the idea of galaxies! He was new, and every day brought something new. And even more than that, even though he was so mean and everyone treated him so horribly...
He helped.
He helped move everyone to their new home, he helped keep them safe whenever an animal attacked, he made sure they were all fed and he helped her mom bring water in and he kept watch over everyone whenever Mr. Merce was out. He even went out to save her when she went too far from their home. And you know what? When he started helping, the people who didn't pretend, the people who really were who they said they were, who hated those mean other kids and those pretending mean adults just like she did- they started to treat him better. He didn't really seem to notice, or when he did, he'd shoo them away- he liked to be alone most of the time, she could relate a little, she liked her space too- but they kept trying to treat him better anyway. Her mom was first, then her grampa, then Mr. Ford, and even some of the other kids- the ones who weren't rotten... And even some of the ones who were. But maybe they were just learning how to pretend like adults do...
Or maybe not... Maybe they were being honest. After all, the pretenders didn't stop treating him badly, "An outsider," They'd growl to her in a low voice sometimes, trying to keep her away from him, "A monster," Sometimes they'd mutter, when they thought he couldn't hear them. But he did, he always did. Even if it didn't bother him, it wasn't right. But that was hardly the worst of it. No, they'd call him something worse than either of those. Something too mean. Something awful.
"Different."
She splashed the water angrily, throwing a wave so large into the air that it disturbed the whole lake and echoed throughout the whole cavern.
She hated the way they used that word, "Different," they'd jeer at dinner time, using the voices of everyone else to drown themselves out, hoping he wouldn't notice, "He's different. He doesn't belong here," Memories played in her mind. People she'd heard as she passed through the hallways of her new and old home, but their voices all blended together. They were all the same, they all said the same thing about people who they called that word, "He doesn't fit in. Why can't she be like the other kids? Why is he so rude to us? Why does she play with the boys? Why does he need to talk like that? Why does she need to be so different?"
Well, that didn't matter. What they thought about her, or what they thought about him... It didn't matter.
She liked being different.
She didn't like being like them.
She hated pretending.
Her dad didn't pretend. He was who he was, and he taught her to do the same. He was different too. Not like Frieza was. He was nice, and kind, and loving, and everything to her. But was like Frieza in one way.
He helped, and the same people who pretended... They couldn't stand it.
"Tradition..." She grumbled, standing up and away from the water. What was so important about tradition? She didn't want to lose her hands. She didn't want to jam metal into her arms and look like they did. She wanted to look like Frieza did when he came, or like the other kids did now. She wanted her hands. She wanted to feel. She wanted...
To stay different.
And maybe she still could...
As much as they were terrible... As much as they hated them for being different...
She looked over. Her mom, Mr. Ford and Frieza all stood by a wall, talking about something- adult stuff probably. She couldn't hear them from here. But as she watched, she noticed their smiles. Ford's was excited, gentle, Hoda's was warm and loving, and Frieza's was barely there, but she could tell when he was in a good mood. He had this tiny look on his lips when he was.
As much as the people who pretended hated them for being different, the people like her mom, like Mr. Ford, like her grampa and like her- and even people like Mr. Merce...
They embraced what made them different. And there were more of them then there were pretenders. So maybe... Maybe...
Maybe things could be different.
Ting, ting.
Metal hands reverberated against the stone wall, casting a grating sound over the immediate area. Ford winced. In his old age, hearing apparatuses had been affixed within his ears, they were useful for the day to day, but they made tinny sounds- such as the sound of scraping metal- feel like they were right in his ear canal, almost like they were grating up against his brain. Still, he pushed his discomfort aside, shaking his head. A slightly irritated huff escaped the man's lips, followed by another ting as Frieza's fingers knocked against the wall, a little more to the left this time.
"Here?" Scornful, the man twisted his head back to look at Ford. They were like pinpricks of blood, his eyes. Small, almost predatory- though not as much as they had been in his True Form- and filled with such malevolence that at times it seemed that he was set to destroy him with just his gaze alone.
Or that was what they had been, when first he had met the man.
"Not quite," Ford blinked his own eyes, causing them to glimmer with a holographic blue. He focused a moment, constructing a map of the area, which zoomed out, constructing an almost perfect 3D scale of the entire desert, "We need it to be perfect, or as near as it can get," He knew that was impossible- even the map of the area with riddled with imperfections. Some of the data he was drawing on to create these models were more than a few hundred years old, half of these dunes weren't even present, not to mention anything else that might have shifted.
Then again, age had never really been a factor when it came to technology for them. Most of their tech was hitting a thousand years old at this point. Built to last by their forefathers, sure, but still, Ford couldn't count the number of times he'd had to fix the unfixable or work with tech that had more dust than it had data. They made do with what they had, even if what they had was hardly more than a few pieces of scrap metal and wires. It probably didn't matter, the rock itself hadn't shifted much in all that time, all he needed to do was make sure the line Frieza shot was a straight one right to the Plateau- or as near to it as they could get. They'd have to come out another day, hollow out a space to make a junction so the water would flow towards the right area. More work, more time spent. Ford didn't mind it though, kept his old hands busy. Kept him from rusting, turning out like the other men and women of his generation. At one point, they had been well oiled machines, keeping the village afloat, fighting to maintain this place, but now things had changed. But before he could ruminate on this much more, Ford was pulled back to reality by a voice.
"What is even the point of this?" Flippantly turning back to the rock, the man nearly shouted in exasperation, "How will a small hole in the wall allow you to pump water from there into here? We're not even in the lake!" Frieza's other hand motioned, first at the water's edge and then back to the rock wall.
Ford smirked, "Not much of an engineer I take it," Frieza shot him another glare, but Ford brushed it aside with a placating hand, "I ain't trying to be insulting." Frieza's glare softened, then vanished altogether. That was about what he had expected. Ever since he and Merce had come back with all that food a few months ago, Frieza had started to lighten up around others. Seemingly in response to everyone else lightening up around him.
"No. I'm not. My role was to ensure the engineers did their jobs, if you don't recall." He rolls his eyes. Venom seeped through his words, but he wasn't as angry as he might have been a few months ago. Ford offers him a small smile, Frieza didn't return it, but he seemed to loosen up a bit more.
"Well, I can explain it to you, if you'd like," Ford offers, then as he sees Frieza's hand position, adding, "Also, right there should be fine, its about as close as we can get it."
Nodding, Frieza's fingers slid up the rock and planted his palm in the center, "Well, I suppose we'll be here for some time. Feel free to explain it to me," He said it, but Ford could tell he didn't really mean it. Frieza wasn't a curious kind of man, he was just being courteous.
Courteous.
That word suited him well, especially when he first arrived. He'd act courteous, carry himself with an air of dignity that no one else in the village had. Wasn't anything special, Ford supposed, just the way he was brought up. He'd treat people with... Well, not respect. The way he acted, the way he spoke, the way he moved- he thought lesser of everyone in the village and made it no secret. But his words were never harsh, always laden with honey, albeit of a poisoned variety. If he insulted you, you might have never known it, if you didn't already know him that was.
Now though, "courteous" no longer suited him. It implied something disingenuous to the way he acted and, as much as Frieza still believed he was better than everyone around him... Ford felt a genuineness to his actions. Something had started to change in the man... Or maybe it had been them who had started the change. When Frieza first arrived, he was an outcast, a danger. Now? Now that the spectacle and uncertainty of someone like him existing had faded, he'd become just another part of the village. Maybe one a bit angrier than most...
But... People liked him.
He saved their kids, saved them, kept them safe and now he was about to bring them fresh water whenever they needed it. He was about to make their lives even easier, something that hadn't happened in generations.
And so, Ford shook his head, "Nah, you wouldn't be interested in it. Its all techno-garble," He smiles at him again before he continues, "'Sides, just talkin' about the pumps'd be a whole day's worth of discussion in itself. Now... Fire when ready."
And as purple light swelled through the darkened cave, illuminating the entire place with a vibrant, gloriously bright purple light, something changed in the Arcosian.
A tiny, insignificant, smile.
Author's note: I hope you all enjoyed this one! It was meant to be more of a character-building experience instead of a plot driven one, hence why the focus wasn't really on the central "idea" of the "episode" this time around. Frieza actually drilling the hole to the Underground Lake was really just an excuse to spend time with certain characters. I hope that doesn't disappoint anyone, but if it does... I can at least assure you that chapter 12 will be much more focused on the plot as well as expanding on the characters...
And it may or may not be the conclusion of our "slice of life" type chapters. That's right folks, this whole arc has purely been me laying the groundwork for what's to come in terms of character development and themes, at least for Part 1.
After this arc is over, and it will be ending very soon, get ready for something much more high-octane much more often. With a bit of the well-crafted characterization thrown in as well.
We've got places to be friends, and I'm very excited for how it will all turn out, so if you've stuck with me this far, I'm happy to announce that things are about to really pick back up. In addition, I now have a beta reader present! So with his feedback, we'll probably start seeing an uptick in overall quality, which is something I've been struggling with for a bit now- there's a little behind the scenes trivia for you.
But with that all said, there's nothing more to do other than answer reviews!
(Taken from Fanfiction)
XxExtremeSamX: Why are all the chapter titles lyrics from Metal Gear Rising?
Me: All of the chapter titles are going to be song lyrics in general. It just happens that the desert theme reminded me primarily of Red Sun over Paradise (especially since the sun on this planet is red), in the future, titles will be from different bands, games, etc.
LongLiveTheAncientKing: Really good story, so far I appreciate the pacing and the slow Frieza character development. Your fight scenes are engaging like Goku & Cooler vs Cold. As for the chapters I'd say split them as for me it's personally easier to read two moderately sized chapters rather than a single massive chapter and it's also easier to keep track of the last few words I read whenever I change apps quickly.
Me: I'm really glad you're enjoying the slower pace! I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to retain people's attention at times due to the pacing, but comments like this are really helping to reinforce my confidence in myself about the pacing. His character development in particular is planned to be extremely slow burn, even though Frieza's starting to warm up to the people of this planet don't expect that to carry over to other people immediately... As for my fight scenes, thank you for those kind words as well! I was particularly proud of Goku vs Cooler in general, everything from their base fight to Fifth Form vs Super Saiyan was really fun to put together, especially since I don't really get to write for Goku all that often! Lastly, your feedback about the chapter length is appreciated, I've started reducing them dramatically now so I hope that helps you keep track in the future!
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: I'm honestly surprised Frieza has manges to control himself so relatively well.
Me: He's surprisingly pretty chill when it comes to making deals. I'm not sure if this is an anime-only thing, a dub-only thing or something that happened in the manga, but Frieza did at one time agree to complete several challenges posed by a Namekian Elder in order to collect his Dragon Ball, it was only after the Elder went back on his word and refused the Ball that Frieza decided to kill him. While he could be lying, there wasn't really much point to lie at that time so I choose to believe him.
Either way, in this case... Frieza doesn't have a lot of options here. Believe me, if he could he would have killed a lot of these people months ago, but he needs their trust to build his ship, and therefore he holds himself back. And as a result of that...
(Taken from Ao3)
knowAll: Remarkable Chapter!
And in that day, Freeza's cold, cold heart, grew 1.1x times it's size.
but hey! it seems like both Mercer and Freeza had some growth as people here!
and also! the comeback of 1st form(Reduction) Freeza!
Thanks a ton for the chapter! you did a wonderful job making me care about those folks!
Me: That's a perfectly apt way to put it, friend. A very tiny growth, but growth nonetheless. Merce too definitely had some changes, how will that effect him as time goes on? We'll have to see when we meet back up with him in the next chapter since we didn't get a chance to explore him in this one.
Also yeah, I meant to put Frieza back in his First Form a while ago, but I, and he, forgot haha. So now he's back, and possibly here to stay.
Lastly, I'm glad I was able to get you to care about them.
Because now comes the fun part.
Aaaaand that's all of them! Here's the part where I say my goodbyes, dear readers, but before I go I have a special announcement...
At the end of next chapter! So if you're not someone who reads these bottom notes, I hope this part at least manages to get seen by you but if not then I'll have a special top and bottom Author's note/chapter note in the next chapter to alert you guys. Its a pretty big announcement so please, stay tuned.
You won't have to wait long though, I'm betting we'll see each other again very soon...
Heheh, alright alright...
Well
Until Next Time, True Readers!