A few days later, in which Val debated whether or not to talk to Moori yet about... him... She talked to Moori about other things, but just dodged the subject otherwise. She was not sure about much, including whether or not she should settle down and live a life on Earth, even though Moori did tell her she could join them on New Namek when they went. Bulma told her it would be more fun on Earth than moving to New Namek when the other Namekians wished that planet into existence and went there in about two Namekian years. Earth though, seemed too... wet, too dull, a bit boring outside of the other planets and spaceships she had been dragged along to. It did seem to have a bit more to do than Old Namek had.
Yet one morning when she woke up, she heard a sound she had never heard before, especially on her desert home planet of Aviary. There was a constant, drumming, pitter patter sound coming from outside. She rolled out of bed and got dressed, noticing the sound was still there. She moved forward towards her balcony. She opened the doors and saw it. She loosed a scream at the sight of was certainly going to be the destruction of this planet.
She dropped to the ground, curling up into a ball on the balls of her feet, wishing this planet was not going to be destroyed only a few days after she got here since there was a bit of peace to be found here. She heard the sound of someone running, but her hands were covering her head bent down towards her chest.
"Hey, what's wrong?" she heard Bulma ask, standing next to her and shaking her. Val pushed her away and then pointed shakily over to the window. "What? What is it?" she asked, looking out at the balcony windows. Val shook her head, not sure how to answer, feeling fear sink deep into her stomach. The planet was going to be drowned and then nothing would be left of it beyond a watery wasteland. She wondered if they could get off the planet before that, feeling uncertain considering how unworried Bulma seemed to be. Time would be of the essence. "It's just a little drizzle," Bulma commented, sounding like that was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Val looked at her through her arms disbelievingly. "The world will end when death rains down from the sky and floods the desert," she said, quoting the prophesy she learned as a child.
Bulma gave her an equally confused look. "I think I've heard of that happening on Earth before, but," she shook her head. "But nothing like that has ever happened in like thousands of years, if it ever even happened at all."
Val shook her head right back. "We need to leave this planet before its destroyed," she insisted. "Perhaps in the ship your father redesigned for Vegeta to train?"
Bulma frowned at that comment. "Don't even get me started on that and how rude he was about asking for that," she griped.
Before Val could say anything in response, they both heard laughing behind them. Both of them looked back at the door, seeing Vegeta standing there, laughing. "What? Afraid of a little rain?" he teased.
Val stood up, feeling her temper flair. "The world will end when death rains down from the sky and floods the desert," she quoted at him. Bulma stood up next to her.
He laughed again, finding her reaction too amusing. He walked into her room, going over to the balcony door, and opening them. He held his hand out, catching a few drops of rain. He splashed it over towards her, making her flinch. "This planet has something called a water cycle. Rain is very common here. You better get used to it."
Stubbornly she stepped over to him, trying to shove him into the rain. The attempt failed, turning into him catching a few more drops and tossing them onto her face and neck. She flinched at the cold feeling of drops on her skin, not liking it, but not feeling as frightened by it as she was when she first saw it. She huffed. "I hate this planet," Val grumbled, debating if she should stay here or not after all. She rubbed off the water on her face and neck, feeling a bit chilled to stand so near the rain. She looked outside, passed him at it. No one else in view looked afraid.
"It's not so bad," Vegeta countered, putting his hand up to catch a few more raindrops. He flicked them at her as well. She raised her hand up to block successfully this time. He stepped back into the rain on purpose, letting the drops fall from the sky and onto him. He seemed to be more at home than she was, making her slightly jealous.
She looked back into the room, hearing someone rushing into it. The three of them looked up. Bulma's father came into the room, asking for Bulma, saying the Namekians in the dorm were in a panic over the rain. Bulma rushed out of the room with him. Val looked back at the sky, thinking of her own time on Namek, how the weather had stayed consistently the same, even though water was everywhere. Even while there, she had only experienced one night time.
"It's fine?" Val asked Vegeta, wanting to be certain her fear was unfounded on this planet's case.
"Sometimes the storms are much worse. And flood and destroy small areas," he answered back. His tone made her unsure if he was kidding or not.
She felt herself shake slightly, hands growing warmer slightly. She looked back to her open bedroom door and then back to the balcony. No matter which way she went, she would have to go outside to follow after Bulma to get to the other Namekians. She closed her eyes and pushed herself forward, flinching back when she felt water splash against her front. She opened her eyes, standing just on the edge of where the rain fell. He just stood there, watching her, in the rain, as if it touching him was the most harmless thing in the world. She had to get to the Namekians' dorm one way or another. She pushed herself back into the rain, all the way to the railing on her balcony. She gripped it until her knuckles went white. She closed her eyes at the feeling of the rain falling consistently on her. She squirmed, feeling a chill come over her. She saw her hands steam lightly when she opened her eyes. She let go of the railing, shaking out her hands. She noticed him staring at her hands, a ponderous look in his eyes. She pulled her hands back to her middle, watching him and shaking her head slightly. She looked back over at the dorm, jumped the railing, and flew over there.
She landed just as Bulma came up, standing underneath a plastic circle with a stick coming out of the middle. Val looked at the contraptions confused, but noticed it did block the rain from falling on her.
"I thought you were afraid of the rain?" Bulma asked, closing up her circle into one long stick around the center before she stepped into the building.
"It's not going to flood or damage the area?" Val asked in response, sounding very nervous as she followed her into the building.
Bulma glanced back outside and hummed. "No, it'll probably be sunny later today," she inferred. She sat the long stick-cane like item down by the door and walked off.
They walked down the hallway to the main room on the first floor, all in a bit of a panic, talking in an array with Moori standing on the stage over them, trying to get them to calm down and listen to him. He seemed frightened himself, looking outside at the rain. He noticed the two of them come in first, with a hush going through the area soon after the others did as well. Freight came up next to Val, wiping a bit of water off her arm, and shaking his hand out to get it off of him. Hull and Loader were nearby, watching his actions. They each wrinkled their noses at it.
"It's not as bad as I thought," she said back. She hung back while Bulma went to the stage with Moori. "On my home planet, that was how it was supposed to be destroyed: rain from the sky would flood the desert until it was no more. But I think here it might be different."
He shook his head. "We don't know it either," he answered, but I would not be surprised if it happened during the cataclysm on Old Namek. Not even the last Great Elder fully understood the cause of that."
She nodded, looking up over at Bulma, who was now trying to explain what was rain on this planet and even more oddly, why it was important here, even if it was so destructive on other planets. Val listened, feeling a bit chilled while she talked. Once she had most of them convinced it was safe, Val, included, they all seemed to relax around each other. Moori left the stage area, going over to Val and the other three Namekian warriors by her. She looked around, noticing others were leaving the room, while the younger ones were still standing with Bulma as she was still explaining Earth's weather in general. "Ah, Val. What does the Namekian who grew up on this planet say of the rain?" He looked up at her expectantly. So did the three nearby her.
She blinked down at Moori and shook her head. "I don't know, Great Elder," she answered politely, vaguely.
Moori looked up at her, making Val shift nervously that he might bring up the conversation she was trying to avoid. "You have seen him, recently?" he asked.
She shifted on the balls of her feet, answering, "um, yes, sir."
He looked up at her expectantly. "Next time you see him, tell him to come here and explain things to us as well." She heard Freight growl behind her. She looked up at him briefly, noticing Moori heard the intrusion as well. "It would perhaps be better for the younger brothers to understand the planet since he grew up here, apparently thinking himself a demon for the longest time."
"Thinking?" Hull muttered softly under his breath.
Moori looked over at him. "If you can accept her, you can accept him," he reminded. Hull nodded, but Val was not sure if he agreed quite with the statement. She shifted uncomfortably by his words. Moori turned back to her, continuing to talk. "The Earthling woman, Bulma, has spoken of the Earth's guardian being the other half of him. A strong being together, but unable to to keep together in the conflicting natures of the two clans blended together. Two separate beings, but connected with a life link that makes them one." Val listened carefully, thoughts turning over in her mind. "Bulma has said she could take some of us to meet him one day soon, if you would be interested in that?"
"Yes," Val replied, agreeing before she even gave herself a chance to think about it.
Moori continued, "she says this guardian is the one who made the dragon balls. A strong magic indeed. I plan to ask to learn from him about his magic, beyond just the usage of the dragon balls. The memories the former Great Elder passed onto me before he died are great, but learning from more than one teacher is a wise."
"When do we go?" Val asked, looking down at her own hands and thinking her own thoughts. She noticed a few of her manicured fingernails were already chipped after sparring with Loader the day before.
"Soon," Moori answered. "Bring the brother bonded to you with us. Two insights are better than one even."
"Bonded?" she blurted out the term before she could pull it back.
He nodded, giving her a shrewd look. "Yes, bonded. He would have inherited it when he and Nail became one. That's how it worked before the Cataclysm, according to the former Great Elder's memories. I know it sounds odd, being from a different race, but that was how the demon clan worked. Bonds were inherited, but could be broken if someone was already bonded prior to an assimilation, the two were incompatible, or the bond was unwanted. The later was highly frowned upon though, seen as an insult to the one who gave up their existence irreparably."
Val tried to keep her reaction blank at that, unable to help but to think about her first night on Earth. She merely nodded.
"Is something the matter, sister?" Loader asked her.
She looked at him and away from Moori. "No," she lied, wanting to step away to think. She looked up to Bulma still talking with others. "If you'll excuse me," she muttered. She nodded over to Moori, "Elder."
"Sister," he responded, studying her carefully.
She hurried away from the room, feeling the gaze of the four of them on her as she left. She made it to the front door, looking out and seeing the rain had lessened to an intermittent trickle from the sky. She took a deep breath, stepping out into it, finding that easier to face than the freshly mixed up thoughts in her head.