Surprisingly, it was possible to feel overly full on a meal fish and vegetables. Val felt contented by it, feeling more relaxed as she settled in to stay in loft of Moori's house with Dende and Cargo. She laid down on the futon and under a blanket, falling asleep quickly, feeling quite exhausted and a little bit funny. Likely both were caused by all the great distance she flew to arrive here.
She fell into a dreamless sleep, but woke up with a start when she heard loud whispering too close to her. She jumped up, hand reaching for the unknown assailant. She held back immediately when she saw it was Cargo closest to her. He looked surprised, sitting back on his hunches. As did Dende behind him.
"Sorry," Cargo breathed, eyes wide.
"It's okay," she said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes. It was dark up in the loft, but she could just barely make out the outline of the two children. She reminded herself they were children. "Did you need something?"
"Um," Cargo hummed, looking back at Dende.
"Ask her, ask her," Dende pressed, still hiding behind him.
Cargo nodded, eyes trained to the ground. "We were wondering... what is that... black fur coming out of your head?" he asked.
She blinked at them, needing a moment from the grogginess to realize what he meant. She raised her hand up to the top of her head. "Oh, my hair," she said with a soft laugh. She ran her finger through it, combing out some knots. She shook her head to bring her hair around to frame her heart shaped face. "You've never seen someone who looks so different before?" she asked.
Cargo shook his head. "No... Guru, our great elder or his bodyguard might have though. They're both quite old, before the cataclysm old."
"But he looked so young last time he visited," Dende commented.
Cargo looked back at him. "Yeah, but remember, Guru used the dragon balls to wish him back to his youth, having foreseen he would need to live longer because of a prophesized threat to the planet." Cargo turned back to her, humming. "Can I touch it?" he asked politely, nodding at the strands of her hair over her shoulder.
She bite her lip, thinking. She had not liked that in the past, especially when someone would do it without asking her permission. She would deny Asa a few times when she would ask to brush out her wavy curls some mornings. She studied the two before her. These were just two curious children and meant no harm. She nodded. "Yeah, sure." Cargo reached his hand out, taking a few strands at the end and stroking them. "You can, too," she said, leaning over to look at the shyer child. Dende shifted from behind Cargo to next to him to touch her hair as well.
"It's so soft," Cargo commented. He looked down at her hand, blurting out, "why is your skin that color?"
She smiled at that, responding, "it's a middle color from my mother's darker color, and my father's paler color." At the thought of the two of them, she felt a pang of grief for them, especially her father who first taught her how to fight.
Cargo reached his hand down to her hand, but paused it. She nodded, so he touched her hand, running his nails over her hand. She flinched her hand away when he accidentally scratched her with one of his nails. "Oh, sorry," he said, pulling his hand back.
She looked at her hand, and shrugged it off. She held it up for him to see that hardly a drop of blood escaped from the wound. "I've had worse," she spoke gently.
Cargo's eyes went wide, and so did Dende's. "Why is it red?" he gasped. Thankfully he did not reach over to touch that.
She smiled, finding the two children and their curiosity refreshing and adorable. Cargo kept asking questions quietly, with Dende listening in carefully. He would not ask her questions directly, but would whisper in Cargo's ear a few times to ask something himself. She began asking them questions as well, with the three of them talking quietly through the night.
The next morning, they woke up late, later than the two children did than usual according to Moori, but he told the three of them it was fine. She opted to help them out to catch up on their morning chores since they had slept in because they were up late talking. After they were finished and she ate something, with them still finding it interesting, Cargo asked her to come outside and play.
She said yes, but found herself not quite interested in playing like a child since she was not a child, looks or no looks. She watched Cargo and Dende run around outside, Dende chasing after Cargo with his hand out, trying to catch him or something. Cargo was too quick for him though, running around one of the trees with long trunks before looping back over to where she stood. She watched Cargo charge right at her and then weave to the left. He ran off with her watching him go.
Then Dende did something unexpected. He stopped chasing Cargo and tapped her on the forearm unexpectedly. She looked down at him, not sure what to make of his actions. He blinked up at her, mumbling, "it's tag. Go get him." He nodded over at Cargo when he said it. She cocked her head, unsure exactly what game he was playing at. She noticed a few of the other adults watching her, including the warriors who had found her the day before, Freight, Hull, and Loader.
She hummed, looking over at Cargo. She ran towards him, confident that she was faster than he was. His eyes went wide and he took off running. She felt a thrill go through her as she caught up to him with ease. She did more than just tap him like Dende had with her, going for it with momentum propelling her forward. She tackled him around the middle, sending both of them rolling on the ground.
She felt bad when she realized he started crying beneath her. She pushed off of him immediately, moving back away from him, hands raised up by her head. Dende and another one of the older adults came over to him, checking on him. She felt sickened at the sight of them leading him away from her, him clutching his forearm.
"I didn't mean too... I'm sorry," she called after them, feeling guilty.
"It's alright," Moori said, coming to stand next to her. "It's probably nothing. He's a bit of a sensitive younger brother. Perhaps just be a bit careful next time, sister."
She looked up at him, not sure what to do or say. "I guess I don't know my own strength," she excused.
"Or just didn't know Cargo's lack there of," Freight said, stepping up right in front of her. She looked up at him, remembering how he carried her to the village yesterday when she was too tired to make it herself. "You've been trained to fight," he commented, looking her up and down.
She nodded up at him. "Yes, by my father," she said proudly.
"Show us," he said, nodding his head up. He jumped back from her, and sinking down into a sparring position.
She looked back at Moori, who nodded his head down to her and then over at Freight. She took a deep breath and charged forward towards Freight. He seemed surprised at her charging over to him. She launched herself into the air, bringing her feet up to kick him square in the chest. It drove him back a few feet. She heard him hiss disgruntledly, making her bring a small, cocky smile to her face. She landed gracefully on her feet, looking up at him expectantly as she sank into a sparring stance. He curled his lips into an almost smile, charging at her, claws out. He swung his hands down towards her over and over again. She danced back fluidly, dodging his hands, hardly blinking as she watched him. She knew one false step and he would have her.
She changed her strategy, remembering how her father and then Asa trained her to use her small stature against a bigger, taller opponent. She slipped under his arms, trying to get close. It allowed him a chance to catch her on the back though with his claws. He caught up under her shirt and scratched her. She winced, but kept moving, kicking at his shins and stomping on the insteps of his feet. She heard him growl at those, propelling her to keep moving, keep fighting. He tried to back away from her, but she kept doggedly close, going for his knees. He kept trying to shake her off, gain some distance, but she would not let him. He grunted, staring down at her, a look a mix of annoyance and impression. He took a quick step back and then brought his knee up to her chest, punting her back and away.
She flew back, achingly sore in chest now. She hit the ground, skidding back to a halt. Determinedly, she rolled from her back to her stomach to rise up on her hands and knees. She splayed her knees wide, standing to watch him cautiously to see what he would do.
He looked her over with a smile. "Stand down, chi-" he started. She gave him a sour look. "Stand down, sister," he corrected. "Call this one a draw," he said, sounding a bit sour to admit it with the others in the village looking on. He looked over at Moori. "A fourth bodyguard for the village?" he suggested. Moori nodded in sentiment. "When can we get her to Guru and his bodyguard?" His tone sounded excited, but subdued. She frowned slightly at it.
Moori thought to himself for a moment. "When the danger has passed on our planet," he ruled. "Until then, keep her hidden, keep her safe."
She looked up at him, lips slightly parted, not quite sure what they meant, but not sure if or how to what the two of them were hinting at. Much less what the others were thinking in like sentiment. She just nodded, trying to pretend she understood what they meant and planned to sort out the mystery later.