Childhood.
Chapter 1.9
A Friend?
After a painful but necessary bath, then dried and dressed in fresh clothes, Celerave took her dirty battle suit to the wash alongside her mother and father's.
It was around this time, that the sound of engines starting to land could be heard.
By the time Garagus had entered the utility room, he saw Celerave hold down a yellow button until it started flashing on the small battery, then she flicked two black switches on the larger one.
She usually isn't allowed to touch anything to do with the batteries, but even while caught in the act, she saw her father give only a warm smile.
"Well done." The switches were one thing, but Garagus took charge of disconnecting the two batteries while Celerave opened the back door so the workmen could carry out the old battery and bring in the new one.
As she tucked her tail around her waist under her A-line dress in the same style as her mother's, she saw someone who made her want to retreat.
"Celerave?" Her mum asked before the girl hid back inside. But she stopped her at the door. "you can fly, you can get through this."
"But he thinks a'm scary…" Celerave couldn't get past.
Equally, Clay was giving his son a look.
Although the boy apologized at their last meeting, he'd promised he'd make a better attempt this time.
Flint awkwardly walked towards the house, his eyes staring at the ground every step of the way before arriving.
"h-Hi… Rave."
Celerave held her composure as she turned to face him, but she kept her eyes averted since they were what scared him the last time.
As soon as he looked at her, those ruby-red eyes could only make him think of those undead monsters that never failed to give him nightmares every time they evolved.
But he'd been thinking of how he must have made her feel almost every day since then.
"I'm sorry I made you cry."
"t's okay…" Mumbling her quiet words, Celerave couldn't lift her gaze from the ground. "and I wozn't crying." Celerave saw Flint stare at her for a moment.
Only it wasn't her eyes this time.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
Most of the ouchies Celerave suffered were hidden under her sky-blue stockings and sleeves, but right below her eye was one scrape that really hurt when Rhuba was washing her.
"She fell while climbing a tree."
"No I didn't…" Celerave gave her mother a mean glare, but not as mean as the one she got back.
"Yes you did. And it's alright." Of all the times for Celerave to show her prideful Saiyan side, did it have to be in front of other people?
While the children talked, the fathers were also watching.
"Gus, I'm still torn up about the way Flint spoke about your girl." Clay said with a hardened tone. "This'll sound dumb, but I promised the missis that I'd ask. Would it be alright if I leave Flint here while we do the rest of the drop offs? It'll just be a few hours, but if he causes any problems, I'll be right back to kick his ass over the mountain."
Garagus couldn't hide his hesitation and the concern he had was clear as day even if the reasons weren't.
Clay and his wife both hated the idea of their son growing up to be rude to others, although it was her idea to have him stay with the Dweller family. But he agreed a few hours away from the familiar will be good for him.
"It might be good for Rave too." Clay said with a tenderness in his voice. After all, imposing on how others raise their kids is rarely taken well, but for his clients especially. "Does she have friends away out here?"
Clay could already guess the answer. The nearest house was around forty miles away through dense woodland and hills. Even if the Al'Colics and BúZars do pilgrimages across the continent, there's probably none on same ages with the Dweller family's daughter.
"Maybe you're right," Garagus said much to Clay's pleasant surprise. "I'll just need to talk to her first."
"Of course. And if it's too much of an issue, no problem. I'll take him away."
Garagus could see the young pair chatting.
Celerave's initial shyness was becoming less and less prominent already.
But he still called her inside to talk along with Rhuba, who did seem more worried about it then Celerave did.
"What is he even going to do here?"
"I suspect he'll play with Celerave." Garagus caught a glimpse of Celerave pondering that over. She's never really had someone to play with other than her parents.
"Garagus, when you say play. Do you mean like how we used to play?" Rhuba had fond memories of running around the woods playing chase with each other. There's just one small issue. "Celerave might kill the boy." She whispered so Celerave wouldn't hear.
To prove the girl could be gentle, Garagus tasked her with balancing a metal spoon on the tips of her two index fingers.
Celerave's task was to close her eyes, and raise the spoon as quickly as she could, only to stop at the first hint of resistance.
"This sounds complicated and pointless." Rhuba sighed.
"Just watch." Once the girl had her eyes closed, Garagus held out his hand about six inches above the spoon.
On his mark, Celerave lifted the spoon between her fingers but upon reaching the side of his palm, the spoon bent in half effortlessly.
"What just happened?" Celerave obliviously asked with her eyes still shut.
"You… you need to go easy when playing with Flint." Garagus hoped she'd have a little more restraint than that.
Rhuba rolled her eyes and knelt with Celerave.
"You need to remember that he's not like you. You're both built very differently and if you're not careful, you could seriously hurt him." Rhuba explained with a weak smile.
"Just use sparring rules. He's weaker than you, so let him set the pace for the fight- I mean, game."
"No fighting!" Rhuba boomed. "Celerave, do not hit him. Don't run faster than he can, and no breaking any bones."
"I'm not gonna!" Celerave screamed, rather shockingly for her parents. "I'm not bad."
When Celerave led herself outside, she could see Flint also getting a talking-to from his father.
Only his warning was not to insult anyone, deliberately or otherwise.
"I won't!" Flint begrudgingly stated.
"Good. I'll pick you up after I leave Planton. Behave." With a pat on his son's head, Clay summoned the rest of the crew back towards the ship to make deliveries to the other houses across Colizar.
As soon as Flint sensed someone approaching, he spun around to see the determined but still very shy Celerave standing behind him.
"Hello."
"Hi…"
The children stared at each other for a moment.
A quiet breeze swept over the unkept grass that surrounded the Dweller household. It was a chilly day, despite both of them being covered all over.
Flint noticed over Celerave's shoulder that her parents were peeking from behind the blinds of their front door.
Following the boy's stare, Celerave didn't get a chance to see what he was looking at before Flint broke the silence.
"So…" Flint had nothing to say. "Um…"
Why is talking so hard?
"Do you watch Realmsong?" He regretted asking only when it was too late.
"I've not heard ob it…"
"Ob?" He chuckled, regretting that too as when he saw the embarrassment on the girl's face. "It's really cool. It's about these monster hunters that kill demons from the under realm."
"Do Hero Team Prima help?" Celerave got starry eyed at the idea of her favourite heroes fighting demons.
"Oh, uh… No. You watch Hero team?" Flint liked the show too before he discovered the more violent version, Prima Ops. No cartoons, no phoney super villains, real action, real bad guys. But the Hero version did spark some nostalgia. "Core Magma is going to detonate bombs and set off a chain of volcanos!"
"They are?!"
Flint gave a smile.
"Let's go stop them! Prima Team, let's go!"
"I should get mum and dad…" Celerave had stopped listening already.
"Huh? Why?" Flint saw the terror in her eyes. "We're pretending, I'll be The Warden. Do you want to be one of the other heroes or part of Core Magma?"
"Be a baddy?"
"Your house can be the base." Flint sized up her humble home. The water tank on the roof could be a landing pad for a spaceship. Or a lookout nest. "Can we go up there?"
"There's a ladder around the back…" Celerave mumbled. It was part of the design of the house for checking and maintaining the water tank. But no one used it. Even before practising to fly, Celerave had been able to jump up there since she was three.
But more importantly.
"I don't want to be a baddy…"
"Okay. I'll be The Core Magma leader."
"You're gonna be Deto?"
"Do you want to be Ender?"
Ender was always the shy one of the team, preferring to handle the support role and when the battle was won, she'd always wait in the background while the likes of Warren had the debrief with the law.
But in a fight, Ender carried electric rods that stunned foes trice her size.
In contrast to the open bravado costumes the rest of the team wears, Ender's outfit consists of a lightweight dark blue robe and often keeps her hood up. Although most of the team keeps the faces hidden in one way or another, Ender's eyes are only visible through the green visor she uses to see baddies and bombs through walls, but she can also use it to spot lasers and track signals.
Although not Celerave's first choice, there was an endearing quality to Ender.
But the idea of wanting to be a villain was lost on her. But if that's what Flint wants, she could play along.
From the window, Rhuba watched the children run behind the house.
She was glad Celerave let Flint lead and kept a steady pace with the boy. It wasn't obvious that she was running slow for his sake.
By the time Rhuba had walked through to the kitchen to see through the window, the sound of feet tapping echoed through the house.
Garagus was on the sofa watching a program about changes in planetary traffic regulations to and from Dapume, but even his attention was brought to the startling sound.
"Are they on the roof?"
"They better be careful up there." Rhuba watched the ceiling as she navigated her way to the bedroom. "I'm going to have a lie down for a bit."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah…" With her hand hovering on the handle, Rhuba heard muffled talking above the house, she was sure she heard a boyish voice make threats to take over the world, a sentiment that reminded her very much of her race's ignored history. While a girl's voice promised to oppose him, no matter the cost.
"Because that's what heroes do!" Celerave cheered.
With a calm smile, Rhuba went for a nap on the bed.
Leaving Garagus to ponder what in the world the children were doing. But his attention was diverted back to the screen.
A message had come through from his contractors.
Because of the restrictions regarding interplanetary travel, his work schedule was being changed to accommodate it.
The 11th was already a day off for this month. So circumstance robbed him of one extra day. But it also just so happened to be the next full moon.
Despite her taking very well to all the lessons she's been given, Garagus was still worried that Celerave may be too immature to deal with becoming the Oozaru.
But no one is ready for it. If Rhuba was given a week to prepare her mind, she'd still lose control because that's what the Oozaru is.
The primal, raw, aggressive rage of a Saiyan without restraint.
The only example he'd observed of the contrary is when Celerave was born, but he was on edge that entire time.
Maternal instinct alone isn't something that he was willing to put Celerave's life in.
Rhuba's behaviour after just giving birth might have been luck based on how evident it was that the girl was hers.
A second encounter when Rhuba loses sight of herself could lead her to rip Celerave to shreds in a blind rage.
On the bookshelf between the bedroom and bathroom, Garagus eyed up the screen that allowed them to see the moon without transforming.
It's easy to plan a session where he takes Rhuba and Celerave out and only permits one to transform while the other spectates.
Now that Celerave can fly, with a little more practice she'll be able to escape any danger. But having the forethought while in peril to keep the shield up when standing or flying in direct moonlight is unrealistic.
She needs to be able to keep the glass screen in front of her eyes unconsciously. But how?
While Garagus pondered over a bunch of different apparatuses that could be secured to the girl's head, the weather reporter on the TV was being subject to pranks by his co-stars hiding behind green sheets.
Even while trying to act professional, he started laughing when they ran off-screen with his glasses.
"perfect…" With a new goal, he hit the interweb.
While the parents were living peacefully, they had no idea how soon death awaited them if a villain wasn't stopped.
"Take one more step, and I'll set off every volcano in the world!"
"You're crazy!" Celerave twirled a stick in her hands like it was a baton. "Drop the womote, Deto!"
"Or what?" From his breath of defiance, Celerave lunged forward, tackling Flint.
It all happened so fast.
One minute he was on top of a roof-mounted water tank, next he was falling towards the ground.
The midair tumble ended with him landing on top of Celerave. The thump hurt, but not nearly as much as it must have injured her.
"Aow-Eeee!" Celerave bucked her hips up from the ground, almost throwing Flint away as her hands shot behind her waist.
The shock of what just happened wore off at the girl's cry. Flint climbed to his feet and crawled over to her.
"Stay here, I'll get your mom!" Flint ran around the house to the front door.
"I'm fine!" She whimpered, rubbing where her tail got folded far too close at the base when they landed.
All things considered, it was shocking to her how much a simple tumble off the roof hurt more than everything else she's dealt with.
Standing just at the door, Flint watched in silence as the girl stood back up.
Her attention was on the ground until she found what was most significant.
"Got it!" Holding the stone remote up triumphantly, Celerave held her finger to her tempol.
In the tv show, Ender is able to hack into things with her visor. "Beep! The bombs are off."
On one hand, Flint knew he should tell her parents, on the other, he didn't want to get in trouble.
"That remote was just a decoy!"
"What's a decoy?"
"A fake one!" Reaching into his pocket, Flint pulled out his music player. "And this one is unhackable! So last chance to surrender or the whole world is destroyed!"
Celerave's imagination flooded with images of lava covering everything she could see.
"Okay! I surrender!" Throwing her hands up, Celerave pleaded with him to put the remote down.
"That's better…" Grinning to himself, Flint approached with his thumb gently touching the button, while with his other hand he mimed pulling out a set of handcuffs.
Celerave let herself be led around to the back of the house where she was 'tied' to the ladder.
Just for a moment, the image of that Tuffle woman Nana appeared in her mind. She trusted her, and she turned out to be an enemy who meant harm to her family.
"Just stay there, I have work to do." Flint put his music player back in his pocket and then ran around to the front of the house.
Without him, Celerave brought her wrists out front to feel.
So caught up in the game, she almost forgot it was all just pretend.
She had to remind herself that there was no bomb or detonator.
But Nana presented her trap like a game as well.
"Ender!"
Celerave turned to the opposite corner that Flint ran in. He was no longer talking in the cackle of a crazed supervillain, and now talking with the voice of a champion.
He ran up and pulled her from the ladders, making the sound of metal breaking with his mouth.
"I'm glad you're alright! We have to stop Deto together! Because that's what heroes do!" Flint was puffing his chest out like he was Warren the Warden. "Come with me!"
Celerave grabbed his hand as she was pulled up to her feet.
In a dash, the pair took off into the woods, which for the time being are actually the underground station Deto was planning to destroy everything from.
"Ender, where is his main computer?"
"Streight ahead!" Celerave called out as she skipped behind him.
When they came to the open space that Celerave and her parents often spar in, Flint started boxing the air like he was fighting an opponent.
Celerave did the same, but instead of punching, she cartwheeled away from the attack and threw a handful of grass like it were a smoke bomb.
"That was awesome! Do that again!" Flint ran up and moved to punch her just before she cartwheeled again. "wow… You really are like Ender."
"I am?" Celerave's face shined with bright glee at the idea of being compared to a real hero. "Try to kick me."
"Are you sure?"
Nodding, Celerave waited for her moment before backflipping away.
"Ta-da!"
"How did you learn to do that? I can't even do a proper flip when I'm on a trampoline."
"What's that?"
"It's a thing you can bounce on and jump really high." Taking a moment to look around, the reality that there really was nothing for miles in all directions suddenly hit Flint. "What do you do all day?"
"I train with my parents." Spinning on her toes, Celerave kicked high enough to take Flint's head off if she'd been closer. "And I go to the Al'Colics to pick crops."
"You've been to their country?" Having only seen it on a map or during the boring parts of TV shows where they talk about the natives, Flint was amazed to know someone who'd been to the Al'Colic or the BúZar people. "I heard they can't talk to outsiders."
"They can talk. I speak a bit of their language."
"You do? What's my name in Al'Colic?"
"I don't know…" She'd never thought about it. Anyone she speaks to at the harvest or during temple meals refers to her as Rave, the name she's told to give people outside of the family. "Um… Hazanaé, Flint. Ma natle Rave. Sonal nakenge Colizarin affess."
Flint looked amazed, while Celerave was biting her lip as a blush crept over her face. She was certain if a native speaker had heard her, they'd be wagging their finger right now.
"We still need to stop Deto."
"Right! You scan for the bombs, I'll deal with the robots."
Nodding her head, Celerave ducked and hid behind a rock while Flint punched his way through an army of robots. She regretted not bringing a scouter. It would have been a wonderful prop in place of Ender's visor.
Celerave began to hear the clicking of stone against stone. When she looked out, Flint was throwing small rocks at her cover, pretending it was machine gun fire.
"Stay down!"
Grinning, Celerave ran out.
"Try to hit me."
Flint threw rocks around her. He still didn't want to risk hurting her. But Celerave was dodging like a real hero as she approached him. When one was accidentally dead-on target, she dove over it before rolling back onto her feet.
"Got you now!" Diving at him once more, Flint found himself pinned under her. Despite how light she was, he was completely unable to get out.
"Surender Deto! Or I'll get Warren to put you in the hold!" Depending on which version, on Tv, the hold was a prison that villains were banished to after being shot by the Warden's laser. The other version that Flint was used to, involved being suplexed and pummelled into submission before going to the nearest emergency room.
"I surrender!" Flint yelled out.
"Awesome." Jumping back from him, Celerave spun around and did a pose. But not one from Prima. Flint didn't recognise it. "Ginyu f-…" That was close.
"What's that from?"
Celerave covered her mouth, looking over both shoulders to make sure neither of her parents were standing by with a bar of soap.
It feels bad on open scabs but tastes worse in the open mouth.
"Nothing… Let's return to base."
"Prima team, move out!"
