Val enjoyed her time in the small village, hiding out, but it was doomed to not last long. She was in the main house with Moori, Dende, Cargo, and two other elders learning about the hydrangea gardens when they heard a beeping sound coming from the loft. They all looked up at the loft, not sure what to make of the noise, but the sound was familiar to Val, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She went up to the loft reluctantly, snatching up the her stolen scouter, and staring down at it as it kept beeping. She wished Hull, Freight, and Loader had not left the village on this day of all days.
"What is it?" she heard Cargo call from below.
She came back down from the loft, scouter in hand, heavy with no words. She held up the scouter wordlessly to Moori, who seemed to understand what was about to happen. "The three of you hide, right now-" he started. The sound of an explosion rang out outside. Val folded and shoved the scouter into her pocket, barely able to conceal it in the folds of her baggy clothing. She looked at Moori, not sure what to do or say. He was looking at the door, which had the shadow of a man standing in front of it. The scouter beeped mutedly in her pocket. He looked back at her. "The moment you get, take them and run. Protect them. Flee to Guru's, the Great Elder. You'll be safest there," he told her, nodding at her and the two children. She nodded up at him, swallowing thickly.
The door opened, and she winced internally to see the sight of two of Frieza's men standing there, one with a phaser raised. "Outside! Now- if you don't want to die!" he barked the order, grabbing Dende first and tugging him outside.
Moori followed close behind and to the side of him, gently guiding Cargo in front of him. Val brought herself up next to Cargo. She saw Frieza there with his men around him. He smiled poisonously at her, making her feel sick to her stomach. She saw next to him Dodoria and Zarbon flanking him, holding large, golden-orange spheres under their arms. She heard Moori and the others gasp at the sight of them. Those must have been the dragon balls she had heard tell about. Moori had said he guarded one in this village, but that only he alone knew where it was hidden.
"I am called Frieza, as you can see, I am collecting your dragon balls," Frieza called out to the six of them. "Where are the others, by the way? We had noted that there eleven of you, but on the technicality that one of you is a run away child from mine own ranks." He looked right at her when he said it, looking more amused than anything else. The elder behind her placed a shaking hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer back to him. "Are you planning to remain silent? We will have to kill you... all but one of you." Moori to her right began speaking, but in an odd, garbled, guttural tongue that sounded more like cursing than anything else. Frieza shifted the amused look to him. "Please speak in a tongue that we understand, not Namekian. We know you can speak our language."
Moori grunted, switching languages, "the others went out to work in the fields and the only ones here are the elderly, the children, and the sister that wishes to have nothing to do with you."
Frieza looked amused, "the sister?" He laughed to himself at that. "That child has probably filled your heads with nonsense, claiming herself an Anthromorph and an adult in need of your protection. In reality, she is still one of mine, very much still a child. I sent her out as a ploy to make you drop your guard. She can't even fight. Isn't that right, Val?" he lied.
Moori looked down at her, meeting her eyes. She shook her head slightly, and opened her mouth to protest. He shook his head slightly right back, silencing her words with a trusting look. The elder behind her tightened his grip on her shoulder. She felt bittersweet relief.
"She'll return to me in time. There's no way for her off this planet otherwise." Frieza hummed, continuing, "there now, as long as you cause no trouble and answer us, you will be fine. Now, onto other questions. Where is the dragon ball? There is one here, I'm quite sure of that."
Moori stood up straighter, answering, "I don't know... I mean... we don't have anything like that..." His lie came out stiltedly.
Frieza laughed to himself at it, looking giddy at the words. He turned his head back, saying, "my dear Dodoria... If I recall the second Namekian we killed said something quite interesting."
Dodoria responded, "yes. Something to the effect that these people will only hand over the dragon balls to great heroes."
Frieza continued, "ah, yes. He was very stubborn, and would not cooperate with us. So we killed another as a lesson... He told us many things. The maker of the dragon balls was the Great Elder of this planet, who delegated to seven other elders, dispersed over the planet, the guardianship of each of the seven balls. To obtain one, you must have a contest of wits or strength... or explain the reason for the wish you desire... And only after you have been deemed worthy by each of the seven elders can you possess them all. I tried to do as he said, but he said he would never give the ball to me... So I killed him. Which made it quite troublesome locating the first ball. The other three we obtained easily. Everyone was happy to oblige."
"Happy to... liar!" Moori accused. He pushed Dende and Cargo behind him. The elder behind her brought her arm around her, pressing her back against him protectively. He angled himself back, pulling her slowly to slip behind him.
The third elder spat, "the other elders would never give the dragon balls to you!"
Frieza shook his head, amused. "No, really. They quickly obliged when we did this. Mr. Zarbon, please demonstrate."
"Yes, sir," Zarbon said before launching himself into the air. He moved so fast, almost too fast for Val to see. The elder in front of her shoved her back in an instant. Zarbon kicked the elder guarding her in the neck, killing him and sending him skidding away from the lot of them.
"Monster!" the elder on the other side of Moori shouted, shooting an energy blast at Zarbon, deaf to Moori's protests. He missed Zarbon, but struck another one of Frieza's men. Zarbon was quick to shoot his own blast and took out the elder in turn.
"What do you think?" Frieza asked. "Do you feel inclined to oblige a little more now?"
Moori pulled Dende and Cargo closer. "Why do you want the dragon balls? What will you wish for?"
"Oh, a simple wish. Merely for eternal life for myself," Frieza answered honestly.
"I cannot give the dragon balls to a creature like you. Even if it means my life," Moori stood up straighter, albeit nervously.
Frieza gave a quick laugh at that. "So you would choose death rather than make me happy," he said amused. "People on this planet really are stubborn. But would you be able to remain so stubborn when faced with the death of those children?"
Val gasped at the threat, moving over closer to stand next to Cargo, the closest one to her. A weak plan in her head forming to just grab him and run the second they needed to, or the second Moori told her to.
"What?!" Moori countered. "Surely not even you would murder children!" Moori looked up into the air, loosing an excited gasp. Val looked up in turn, seeing Freight, Hull, and Loader flying back towards the village in a rush. "You've come!" Moori cheered, relieved.
"It is as we feared," Freight growled out.
Frieza looked a bit more amused. "This is so annoying," he complained. "Just when we persuaded them to give us that dragon ball, you had to come along and make us waste our time killing you."
Loader shook his head, "indeed, the rumors of the dragon ball thieves raiding the villagers are true."
Hull nodded, "just as our sister forewarned us."
Freight clenched his fist. "They will regret disrupting the hard won peace of Namek!"
"Be careful my brethren," Moori warned. "Their power is considerable, just as Val also warned."
"Good luck!" Dende braved from his spot cowering next to Moori.
"Oh, so you plan to fight!" Frieza said excitedly. "What sort of power do they have, Mr. Dodoria?"
"I'll check, sir!" Dodoria said, bringing his hand to his scouter. He chuckled. "You'll be disappointed, sir. All three rate at approximately 1,000."
Moori shot a looked at Dodoria and down to her. She placed her hand on the hip that helped her scouter. He looked back at Dodoria, thinking hard. Val moved to step up and help fight, but Moori raised his hand up. She met his eyes. He gave a quick glance down to Dende and Cargo. She was still the plan for them to escape if it came to that. She reached a hand down, taking a tight grip on Cargo's hand.
"You're really going to face us with powers of wa-ha-ha, 1,000?" one of Frieza's men teased. "Kill them!"
Val watched as five lower ranking members of Frieza's men charged towards Freight, Hull, and Loader. The three Namekians surged forward, taking out the five with ease. Val felt a thrill at watching it. She wondered if it was the same thrill her father would talk about when he recounted history and battles of old.
Zarbon looked less amused than she did. "What is this?! That's no 1,000 power!" he griped.
Dodoria checked his scouter again. "I... I don't understand! They've all increased to 3,000!"
Frieza looked slightly annoyed now. "My, my. Look at this fight."
Dodoria looked more annoyed. " The Namekians must be able to control their combat power at will! I've heard of such races!"
Moori looked down at Val, nodding once. "Children, stand back from me. Hurry!"
"Huh?" Dende hummed, but listened as Moori pushed him behind him nevertheless.
Val pulled Cargo along, standing behind them behind Moori, ready to grabbed them both and run. She felt tense and ready, but knew the moment had no yet quite come, if it would even come. She was uncertain if Freight, Hull, and Loader could stand a chance against Dodoria or Zarbon, but was certain they could not stand a chance at all if Frieza entered the fray.
"May I destroy all three, sir?" Dodoria asked, setting the dragon balls he held down.
"As you like," Frieza permitted.
Unexpectedly, Moori shot at Dodoria first. He destroyed his scouter.
Dodoria laughed at that. "Did you think that move could defeat me?! Fool!" he teased.
Moori launched himself up in the air, showing that he once had a penchant for fighting back in the day. He shot a few more energy blasts, destroying all the scouters in the area, save the one buried deep in Val's pocket.
"Elder..." Freight called out.
"No! He was after the scouters!" Zarbon gasped.
"Now they will die!" Dodoria raged.
"The scouters! He destroyed them!" Zarbon groaned.
Val bit back a smile at that. No scouters meant no way to track her or the two children with her if they ran, nor any of the other villages.
"Curse them!" Dodoria shouted. "I'll kill them all! I'll wipe out every single one of them!" He charged up at the sky after Moori.
"Elder!" Freight called in warning.
"Mr. Dodoria, wait!" Frieza ordered. "Kill the three young ones first!"
Dodoria halted midair. "No!" Moori shouted.
Dodoria landed before Freight, Hull, and Loader, laughing. "I'll take care of all three of you in ten seconds," he boasted.
Freight stood taller, saying confidently, "You alone? A match for the three of us?!"
Dodoria shook his head. "Not a 'match!' A forest fire!" He killed Freight so quickly, so sickeningly with a hand through his chest.
Val watched him move so fast. She pulled Dende and Cargo against her, not sure if Moori would want them to run now or not. "Don't look," she told them, pulling them both to lean their head against her so they could not look.
She watched though, seeing him kill Hull with an energy blast from his mouth. Loader lasted longer, weaving and dodging, determined to survive. He threw two energy blasts at him, creating a crater of smoke and rubble right where Dodoria had been standing. Loader looked relieved for one second, and then horrified when Dodoria launched himself from the crater, ramming him in the chest with the spikes on the top of his head.
"Ow," Val heard Cargo whine against her, pulling his hand away from hers. She looked down at him, seeing her hands glowing in golden light, not unlike the colors of the dragon balls Frieza and his men now possessed. She shook them out, resisting the heat.
She looked up at Moori in the air, floating up there still. So did Frieza, laughing at him. "Now you see that it is useless to resist or flee, so why don't you come down, sir?" Moori landed himself between Frieza and her and the two children. His hands were at his sides. He slightly raised one palm up to her, telling to wait still instead of run like she wished they had during Dodoria's fight. "Yes, yes. Much better. That is the way I like it." Frieza looked bemused to have Moori so humbled before him. "You destroyed what remains of our expensive scouters. The runaway behind you destroyed all the other ones. I suggest you give us your dragon ball as an apology. You've seen how we do things. If you continue to be stubborn, those children will die next."
Val redoubled her grip on the two, staring straight ahead. She waited for any hint at what Moori wanted her to do next.
Moori stood up straighter, offering, "first, promise me you won't do anything to the children. And leave us the sister."
"All right," Frieza sighed, "you should have done that in the beginning."
Moori walked away from them, into the building Val had been staying. She watched him go on bated breath, having never realized the dragon ball that was so coveted had been so close to her this whole time.
Moori carried it over to Frieza. "Take this and go! Leave the four of us in peace!" he said disgruntledly.
"Thank you," Frieza said. "While you're at it, could also tell me where I might find the other two dragon balls?"
Moori reared back, offended. "Never!" he reacted. "I will never betray a fellow Namekian- not even if you kill us all! Now do as you promised!"
Frieza looked like he enjoyed Moori's outburst. "Dear me. Everyone on this planet is so terribly stubborn. You and the two children will have to die after all."
"What?! No!" Moori shouted. Dodoria struck him, sending him skidding towards the three of them. Moori groaned, sitting up. "You gave your word...! I gave you the dragon ball! Now leave us in peace!"
Frieza shook his head. "But the dragon balls are worthless unless we have all seven of them, yes? You destroyed the scouters we used to find them, so you must tell us where the others are."
Moori struggled to his feet. "I told you, I will never betray a fellow elder of Namek, even if it means my death!" he grunted out.
"Oh, it will. It will," Frieza promised.
Zarbon griped next to him. "Master, will we be able to find the dragon balls without the scouters?"
Frieza hummed. "There are only two left. We'll find them eventually if we search for the other villages. Kill all three of them. Spare the enchantress. Bring her back to me."
Moori turned back, looking straight at Val. "Take them and run! You know where!" She nodded, grabbing both by the hand, turned and started running. She hoped they could keep up with her. Moori yelled at Frieza. "I will show you the honor of the Namekians!"
Val kept running, suddenly feeling a sharp jerk on her arm. Cargo had dropped dead next to her.
"Cargo!" she heard Dende shout next to her.
She halted, looking back to see Frieza with his finger raised up. He gave her a poisonous smirk. Dodoria killed Moori, snapping his neck before her eyes. She felt her hands flame up, this time not resisting it. Dodoria charged over to them. Frieza might have wanted Dende killed, but he did not want her killed. She would use that to her advantage.
"Run," she told Dende, letting him go.
She launched herself up at Dodoria, aiming a kick to his chest. He batted her away like she was nothing. She hit the ground hard near where Zarbon was. "Take her," Frieza ordered, not bothering to try to do it himself.
Zarbon sat the dragon balls he had in hand down and reached down to snag her up by the hair. She batted his hands away, burning him with her hands. He flinched back and then struck her in the jaw. She hit the ground hard, dazed. He brought his boot up, stomping on her back to hold her down. She winced as she felt the scouter in her pocket dig into her hip. She grunted, looking up over at Dende. Dodoria was standing right before him, hand raised up and ready to strike him down.
"N-" she started.
"No!" a louder shout rang out from nowhere, talking the word right from her mouth.
She watched as a black haired child launched himself from out of nowhere, striking down Dodoria, standing protectively in front of Dende.
"That idiot!" another voice rang out. A bald man, not much taller than the child flew over from the same nowhere space the two had been hiding.
Dodoria pulled himself up out of the rubble of the house the child struck him into. "What... are you?!" he shouted at the angered child.
"I'm going to beat you!" the child yelled in cold fury.
Dodoria looked amused. "You're going to what?!" he challenged. Then he groaned as the bald man kicked him right back down.
"Krillin!" the angry child exclaimed.
"You idiot!" this Krillin shouted. "Get away! Now!" He landed next to a very confused Dende. "Hurry!"
Wha- what about the girl-" the angry child started, looking over at her.
Val met his eyes, finding them somewhat impossibly familiar. She blurted out without thinking, "just take Dende and go!"
Krillin grabbed Dende at that. "You heard her, hurry!"
The two of them took off with Dende. She watched after them, feeling bitterly jealous yet relieved Dende had been rescued.
"Those are not Namekians!" Frieza griped, likely annoyed Dende got away alive.
Dodoria was pulling himself back up to stand. "C... curse them!" he groaned.
"Go after them, Mr. Dodoria! Bring them back!" Frieza shouted the order, showing how very much displeased he was to lose Dende alive. "Who could they be...?"
Dodoria launched himself into the air after the three of them. Val felt her hands burn, embracing it. "Don't come back," she whispered to herself.
Frieza turned to the remaining men alive and around. "We'll just have to find two more villages," he said, looking livid. He turned his gaze down on her on the ground beneath Zarbon's boot. "You really thought you could escape, could you?" he laughed, goading her. "You don't think I never heard of you and your little caretaker discuss your plan? Get you away from me before you grew. Telling you to escape and surrender yourself to another race and hope they could hide and protect you." He laughed, and so did the other men in the area, bemused at her expense. "Pull her onto her feet," he ordered, face going dark. Zarbon did as he was bid. She did not resist him, figuring she would not be able to go fast enough to give him or any of them the slip with them so close to her. Frieza snagged her up by the collar, pulling her close. "There is nowhere you could go on this insignificant little planet that I would not be able to find you eventually. Could easily have done so after getting all the dragon balls if need be. Even if you did destroy all of our back up scouters before you ran off." His face darkened at the mention of them. She felt the weight of the last working scouter in her pocket, determined not to let him or any of them know she had it. It would be one way for her to protect the two remaining villages. It was the only way she knew she would find the Great Elder now. "The scouters..." he repeated, sounding angry about them more than anything else. "You had, what, ten 'brothers' in this village?" he asked. He tossed her down to the ground. He moved, getting out of his pod and looking down at her on her hands and knees. She heard right before she felt his tail whip down across her back, making her cry out. "You're lucky you're worth so much alive." He struck her again. "And worth nothing to me dead." She brought her hand over the back of her neck to protect her head. He struck her again, making her knees buckle beneath her. "A few more scars though ought to teach you a lesson." He hit her a fourth time, making tears spring from her eyes. "We will find those dragons balls, mark my words." He struck a fifth time. "Mark your words, actually." Sixth time. "I'll kill all your brothers in the process if I have to." Seventh time. "Perhaps I should drag you along with me so you can watch." Eighth time. Ninth time. Tenth time. He flicked his tail to get the blood off of it. She tried to get up, but when she tried her back felt wet and enflamed. It burned worse, differently from how her hands felt minutes earlier. He left her on the ground, getting back into her pod. "Mr. Appule," he said, snapping his fingers over at the man. "Pick her up and bring her back to the ship with us. Take her to the med bay and treat her wounds. This time you are not to allow her to escape. Afterwards, you and Zarbon are to go hunt down the last two dragon balls for me."
She groaned, feeling Appule pick her up under her middle. She wanted to kick and resist, but found it pointless to even try for now.