Childhood.
Chapter 1.6
Like me?

Rhuba observed from the hill over watching her soon to be family home as workmen put the rooms together like it came out of a flatpack, all while Little Celerave quietly fed from her breast.

When the eight-month-old girl started fidgeting, Rhuba let her down on the grass.
It didn't take long for Celerave to find her hands and knees and start crawling off on an adventure.

She loved crawling in the tall wild grass. Only ten feet in and already she'd got turned around and was looking around for her mother.

All Rhuba had to do was look for a white tail sticking straight up.
When Celerave sat down, the tail would drop, but a silver head of spikes would take its place.

Silver wasn't very common in the woods, so Celerave's hair was hard to miss.
It took just a few seconds of Rhuba's attention being pulled away by the sound of a power drill down at the house for Celerave to be attacked.

From playing in the soft grass to the feeling of sharp talons grabbing her by the arm and lifting her into the sky, Celerave watched in disorientation and pain as she was carried away.

Screaming for her mother, Celerave soon found herself cradled against Rhuba's chest.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama just punched that fucking bird…."
As Rhuba slowly descended to the ground, a cloud of black feathers started to rain around, while her eyes locked on the limping flaps of its wings.
"If that bird comes back again, it's gonna know a world of pain… Hush little baby don't you cry, anyone hurts you, They Will DIE."

Celerave smiled brightly at the nest of fledglings. The branch their nest was perched on was 200 feet above the ground inside a hollow of the tree.
"Aren't they cute?" She giggled, offering a hand full of nuts and seeds.

"Yes. They're adorable." Rhuba hadn't glanced at the chicks even once since Celerave led her up the tree.
Her eyes had been focused on the mama bird on the next branch.

Rhuba had eaten larger birds than her, but the Black Phoenix was one of the most cunning and deadly birds in the range.
Despite their heavy and thick bones, they're still strong and large enough to carry twice their weight while flying.
And apparently, smart enough to remember previous encounters when they try to kidnap a baby girl.

"I know where you live…" Rhuba whispered in the bird's direction with fire and venom in her breath.

To the sounds of clapping hands dusting on her trousers, Celerave announced that she'd ran out of seeds.
"When they grow up, will they look like their mums and dads?"

"Yes." With a gentle hand, Rhuba petted Celerave's hair while keeping an eye on the big bird. But Celerave turned on the spot and shifted herself from the branch, dropping down to the one below, then hopped lower and lower before waiting for her mum to follow.

Following behind Rhuba was lounging calmly in mid-air, slowly descending in a way that looked very lazy, but was actually taking a lot of balance and concentration to maintain.

About halfway down, Celerave walked along one of the branches, keeping an eye on the ground below without letting herself get distracted from her next step.
"Wolves will look like their mums and dads?"

"Hmm?" Rhuba looked around for any sign of a wolf below, but Celerave seemed to be speaking rhetorically.

"And the birds will look like their mums and dads…" With her hand combing through her silver hair, Celerave stared at Rhuba.

Feeling a question coming, Rhuba made a quick challenge to the girl. "Do you think you could jump to the next tree?"

"Easy~" Celerave said without looking.
The tree Rhuba was pointing out was just a little further than Celerave would like.
"um…"

"I'll catch you if you fall." Rhuba started hovering over to the next branch. She assumed Celerave would wait, but the girl started running along the branch.

Before Rhuba even knew, Celerave had leaped across the gap and was clinging to the end of the branch she'd aimed for.
Almost like it was instinct, she curled her legs up and quickly climbed along the branch to nearer the tree as it was starting to bend under her weight.
Once closer to the trunk, she was safe to climb up one ankle at a time.

"Can you do this?" While sitting on the branch, Celerave swung backwords until she was upside down.
Letting go with her hands, and then her knees, Celerave hung freely by her tail like a pendulum.

"Sure…"

Rhuba had never tried it before. The only time she was ever up a tree as a girl was to gather nuts or fruit. Playtime usually happened on the ground.

But sitting a little closer to the tree than Celerave, Rhuba curled her tail around and swung back.
Her hands had a tight grip, and they didn't want to let go until her daughter called her out for being afraid.

Biting her lip, Rhuba let go.
Her tail slid a little, but she found her grip in the end.
Everything was fine until she let go with her legs. Her knees pressing the hem of her top against the branch was the only thing keeping it from falling down. With one hand, she was able to stop it from completely slipping off.

"Oh, I'm glad we're alone." Looking to her daughter, Rhuba rolled her eyes at how uncaring Celerave was that her shirt slid down to her ribs. "Wish I could be young again…"

"Memember when you said your mum woz Cwessin?" Rocking her body, Celerave swung over to Rhuba, clinging to her arm before letting go of the branch and putting both their weight on Rhuba's tail.

"Yes?" Hugging while upside down was so much harder than it should be.
No more supporting Celerave's weight with a hand underneath but keeping one hand over her shoulder to stop her slipping away.

"What did your mum look like?"

"I…" If she's careful. There are video messages from the two of them locked away in the safe. She'll need to hand pick a few that don't say too much about who they used to be. "I can let you see her when your dad gets back."

Rhuba loosened her tail and carried Celerave through the air towards the house on the other side of the hill.

Coincidentally, the sound of their ship coming down from the atmosphere got Celerave excited.

At the house, Garagus disembarked from the ship just in time to see Rhuba land with Celerave dropping the last dozen feet to run up and see him.

While Rhuba and Garagus shared a kiss, Celerave ran aboard.
Before yesterday, she hadn't even heard of her grandmother.
Now, she was going to see her.
But first, she was called away to help her father with the cooking.

"Aww…" Celerave hopped off her chair and ran back outside while her mother had the unpleasant task of browsing through old videos she hadn't exposed herself to in years.

Not looking back and focusing on the here and now had been her way of coping with the pain of loss.
But Celerave is curious, and rightfully so.
Of course she should know who her grandmother was.

Rhuba steeled herself for the task of watching over an hour of old footage.
Going back far enough, she even found herself in some of the video calls.
It was like another life.
Remembering their old apartment on Vegeta beyond what the screen was showing her was impossible.

All she could focus on was the conversation between herself, Cressin, and Garagus talking off screen as the recipient of the call.

"Are you okay in here?"

Jolting back to the present, Rhuba turned from the screen to see Garagus at the door.
"I thought you were making lunch?"

"It's ready…" Catching a glimpse of the screen, Garagus made a face at her. "Come when you're ready."

After washing and drying her face, Rhuba favoured four videos she thought would be appropriate for Celerave to watch, then turned off the screen out of habit.

Over a lunch made from the root veggies and grains harvested from the Al'Colics, Garagus was surprised to hear of the heroic exploits Celerave and Rhuba had gotten up to.
In particular, those from Rhuba.

"They know we can fly anyway."

"I suppose." Garagus was unsure, but it was hard to get angry at her for helping someone. Especially when the thank you bounty she got was so delicious.
"I admit, there was a bit of chaos on Kola. One of the fume vents broke and flooded some of the mines."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Some. Nothing serious…" Glancing at Celerave, Garagus saw the silent rage.

"You zed spaces's boring!"

"You don't want to see people get hurt, do you?"

"I wanna help!" Crossing her wrists over, Celerave did the mark of one of the hero shows she watches.

After dinner, Celerave and Rhuba did the dishes since Garagus cooked. But the girl was excused early to go watch tv. In her place, Garagus started drying.

"Attention people of the universe! This is a message from Lord Freeza brought to you by Jeice-!" "Burter-!" "Guldo-!" Recoome-!" "And Captain Ginyu!"

Slowly turning away from the dishes and towards the screen, Rhuba and Garagus saw a staticky glitchy mess of video making its way through.

"Freeza's reach both far and wide!"
"No place to run, no place to hide!"
"Our strength is large and very great!"
"Surrender now, it's not too late."
"Should you meet us as our foes,"
Then all at once, they cheered,
"You shall die! Now strike a pose!"

With the end of their chant, the five diverse aliens on screen took their stances in formation.
"Hail Freeza!" The team cheered out.

In a stunned silence, Rhuba and Garagus wondered if the last thirty seconds was real or if their previous meal had fermented fungi in the mix.

After the transmission ended, another speaker apologised to all who heard it, assuring them that Dapume is safe and Freeza is Not coming.

Glancing at each other, Rhuba and Garagus went to their rooms to discuss what to do.
Rhuba kept her cool right up until the door closed, then she began hyperventilating as Garagus tried to keep it together.

"Rhuba, that broadcast was sent out to make people afraid!"

"It's working!" She hugged a pillow on her lap, pretending it was Celerave she was keeping safe. "If they find us…"

"They won't." Holding Rhuba close, Garagus was already mentally preparing for the day where they have to uproot their home and go off into space again.
Should it come to that, there'll be no regrets.

Exiting the bedroom, Rhuba saw Celerave acting out the Ginyu poses.
She clapped her hands together. Not in an encouraging way of applause, but more as a warning to shock Celerave out of it.
"Why don't we go to the ship?"

As a family, they watched the old footage.
Celerave sat eagerly on her mother's lap while Garagus stood behind the chair. A hand firmly placed on Rhuba's shoulder.
Celerave phased between giggling at the interactions between her pre-parent parents and Cressin, and being awestruck at watching a time long before she was born.

But the one thing on her mind that she couldn't shake, was how much Rhuba and her mother looked alike.
Brown tails, black hair, dark eyes.
Then as the call ended, and the screen went black, she saw her own reflection, and how much she looks like neither of her parents.

"Celerave is outgrowing some of her shirts," Rhuba suddenly remembered. "Might as well order her some new clothes while we're here."

"Maybe some proper combat gear?" Garagus suggested. "What do you think?"

Celerave looked at the options on the onscreen catalogue.
The first thing she wanted was for her armour to look like her parents.

"Should we worry about colour?" Rhuba asked. "That just means rank, doesn't it?"

"We ignored that from the start."

There were nice colours to choose from. The two that stood out were the deep blue that Rhuba sometimes wears, and the faded red that her father wears.
"What colours do red and blue make?"

Her parents glanced at each other.
"Blue and yellow is green… so blue and red is brown." As Garagus reasoned his answer, Rhuba used the onscreen tool to get hers.

"It's purple." She declared as all the uniforms turned to various shades of the desired colour.

"I want purple!" Celerave leaned into her mum as she imagined the three of them in their uniforms. "Blue and red make me~!"

A few days after the broadcast, Rhuba and Garagus were still biting their tongues as Celerave incorporated the "battle poses" she saw into her training.
The only thing they did not tolerate, was any utterance of the words "Hail Freeza."
Celerave still had the taste of soap in her mouth from that little mistake.

Nevertheless, she and Rhuba launched a full-on assault against Garagus.
Ducking and deflecting, he warded off the punches from his wife, and the energy blasts from his daughter.

Rhuba rushed him from behind.
Locked in a grapple, Rhuba tried to suplex him.
But once in the air, Garagus flew down, crushing her between him and the ground.

"How did you think that would work?" He laughed as he rolled away, just in time for Celerave's energy blast shot Rhuba.

"Mum!" Celerave ran forward, pleading her apologies. "I'm sorry, I tried to get dad!"

Garagus hadn't stopped laughing since the ball of light landed square on his wife's chest.
But seeing how both of his foes had forgotten the importance of spacing, he raised his hand at them.
"Oh look, two little birds."

The look of terror as they cuddled together in preparation for the blast filled Garagus with a terrible thrill.
But his enthusiasm would have to wait, since a shadow went over them.

Looking to the sky, they saw an airbus coming in to land at the house.

"Oh, that'll be our delivery then."

Celerave started jumping with excitement. So much so that she ran off without putting her tail away.

"Come here!" Squeezing the tail between two fingers, Garagus neutralised the girl's mobility entirely.

"That's cruel…" Rhuba scolded. "Leave her alone."

"When did I become the responsible one?" Garagus asked as he tucked the tail under Celerave's waistline. "Besides, I'm being gentle."

With her face smooshed against the ground, Celerave grumbled as feeling came back to her arms and legs.
Once on her feet again, she walked with her parents to meet the airbus.
But as she was about to breach the treeline, her mind flashed the memories of last time.
Her eyes scared that boy…

"Are you coming?" Rhuba let Garagus carry on as she tried to understand Celerave's hesitation. The way she was covering her eyes said it all.
"Do you want to stay here with me?" Instead of a verbal answer, Rhuba took the hug as a yes.

As Garagus went alone towards the house, against his expectations, he saw the ship had a different logo on the side. Nothing to do with trade, however it was familiar.

Pulling out his scouter, he grew wearier by the strange readings.
There's weaklings, and there's people who simply don't exist.
The scouter didn't detect them.

It had started as such a nice day. The smell of pine was strong under the warm sun.
But now there was a chilling fear that whoever they are, could it have something to do with that broadcast?
Are they familiar because they're Freeza Force?
The lack of scouter readings is impossible for anyone with a pulse.
So if they're hiding their signals somehow, it could be for an ambush.

With his eyes locked on the woman at the door, Garagus prepared every fibre of his being to kill.

In the meadow, Rhuba and Celerave occupied themselves with some playtime.
It doesn't always have to be battle practice and training. So long as they stayed active, Rhuba considered the time well spent.

"Try this." Rhuba done a simple back flip, then rolled forward on the ground to where she started, then did a front flip before rolling back again.

With her fingers reciting her task, Celerave looked to the sky as she tried to remember beat for beat what she had to do.
"Okay!"

Halfway through the girl's attempt, Rhuba looked towards the house and saw Garagus approach with a stranger.
Her uniform, white and purple, notorious colours.

"Celerave, why don't you play in the woods for now. I'll come and find you in a little bit."

"Why?" As soon as Celerave locked eyes on the stranger, she ran off, not quite with her tail between her legs, but near enough.

By herself, Rhuba caught up to meet with Garagus and the stranger.
She was rather short, but her uniform looked familiar.
And Garagus beside her looked unsure, but did not give off the vibe that they were in danger.

"Do you remember me?" The woman asked.

Rhuba felt her soul leave her body.
Option one, admit she doesn't remember like an adult.
Option two, bluff her way through and hope she remembers the woman's name before getting called out.
Death cannot come fast enough. The conversation ahead was going to be so awkward.

"I'm Terelle? The officer who pointed you towards Dapume a few years ago?"

Panic over.

"Yes, hello." Rhuba approached, shaking hands with her as Garagus recited the explanation as to why a member of the Galactic Patrol had come.

"It's because of the Freeza broadcast."

"Yes. They're trying to intimidate people into announcing their location in hopes of mercy. On behalf of the Galactic Patrol, I want to assure you that just because their signal reached this planet, it does not mean they'll find us."

"You came all the way here just to tell us that?" Rhuba asked. "Wouldn't a televised message of your own have done it faster?"

"It's already been out, didn't you see?"

Rhuba and Garagus shared a glance.
Celerave has been barred from TV since that day, so it's not been on.

Looking back towards the house, Rhuba spotted another person in the GP uniform approach.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, that's Nana. Please excuse her, bluntness." Terelle stood to attention as her superior walked forward.

She was an older woman showing her age a bit, but she had a look about her that didn't suggest she was less capable.
"It shouldn't take this long. We have more places to visit."
The older woman looked over Rhuba and Garagus.
There was something about the two of them that rubbed her wrong.

"You shouldn't be rude. These two are customers~." Terelle reminded her.

"We are?"

"If you use electricity, yes." Nana stated. "Neo Flora is the second largest energy supplier in the Zol system. With the first largest being up there." Glancing at the sky, she smirked at her rival. Although the sun is more of a business partner, given the amount of power they're selling from it.
"But I do apologise. As you've heard, I'm Nana."

"Gus Dweller." "And I'm Rhu." The pair said.

"Nice to meet you both. If you'll excuse me, I must return to the ship." Looking at Terrelle, she advised her not to spend too much time on one family.

As Nana walked her way back through the narrow strip of trees towards the ship, she could feel eyes on her. But she couldn't figure out from where.

"your hair…" Said a young voice.

As Nana looked around, a small girl suddenly dropped from the trees.
The woman's first instinct was to make sure she wasn't hurt, but the girl sprang back up, looking like she'd jumped such heights a million times already.

"your hair is silver… like me!" With a bright smile and consuming eyes, Celerave pointed to her hair with glee as she looked up at the stranger. "Who are you?"

Celerave's delight at finding someone who looks like her was short-lived.
The woman's face was as though she'd seen a ghost.
Or a demon.
Celerave noticed the two of them may share hair colour, but the woman had dark eyes, not red.

But seeing the fear on the girl's face, Nana eased up.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought." Glancing back at the girl's parents, Nana was caught between telling Terrelle about the girl, and getting to the ship.
"What's your name?"

"I'm um… Rave." The girl said, squinting her eyes behind her hands to keep them hidden.

"Don't be afraid." Nana started walking towards the ship, but she noticed the girl following. "Do you need something?"

"Why is your hair silver?"

"Because I'm old." Nana sighed deeply at the girl's giggle.

"Did your mum and dad have silver hair too?"

Gritting her teeth, Nana coldly stated.
"My parents are dead."

Celerave was taken back by this, she slowly walked up and hugged the woman's leg.

"Please let go of me." After shaking the girl off, she forced a smile. "Sorry. I shouldn't be angry at you. Would you like to see something nice?"
Taking one more glance through the woods, Nana led Celerave onto the ship.