A few days later, Val felt adjusted back to her life at Capsule Corps, wondering how she should do training now though. She was in her room just after breakfast, debating what to do for her day off. She looked down at her bracelets, which Kami had repaired before she left the Lookout last time. She went through her wardrobe, finding the Namekian style clothes she had worn she was up there. They had been washed earlier. She folded them up, and stuffed them in a bag. She checked her phone, seeing Tien had texted her to ask her what she was doing with her day off. She texted back that she needed to drop the clothes back off at the Lookout and train with Kami before pocketing and heading there.
She flew in that direction, stopping at a curious glance at the ground at the bottom of the Lookout, having never explored that area before. She shifted the bag of clothes in her hand, walking around the wooded area, a few pine trees she found she liked in the area. She sensed around the area, finding a liking to it. She sat the bag down next a nearby tree, leaning against it, and taking a deep breath to enjoy the peaceful air. She closed her eyes, taking her time to relax then and there.
She suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a pulsing in her chest. She stood up taller, eyes flashing open and ears drawn back. She sense the energy blast thrown her way just before she saw it, jumping up, back, and away from it. She jumped away and landed on the balls of her feet, keeping even her breathing quieted so she could strain to listen and sense after whoever that was. She smiled to herself, taking a guess as to who it was.
She sense something to her left, sending a blast of her own towards that direction. She missed, but heard a tell tale grunt that gave away the identity of the person down there. She charged towards the sound, seeing Piccolo standing amongst the trees, almost blending in with them. She risked a small smile up at him. "What are you doing down here?"
She shrugged. "Exploring before I go to the Lookout. I've never been down here before," she answered. She walked over to the bag of clothes she had, holding up them up. "I figured I would return these as well as see about returning to training, now that I have fully recovered," she answered.
"You were meant to keep those clothes," he pointed out. She hummed, not expecting that answer. "Minus accepting the guardianship?" he picked up.
She nodded and shrugged. "Maybe if I could learn the magic that made the dragon balls work, I could manage it. Or something like that, but..." she hummed.
"You don't think you could manage it," he finished, but not in a way that interrupted her train of thought.
She raised her hands up, bracelets in full view. "No," she commented. "This might just be it," she sighed, reaching for her energy to flame up to her hands and shook them out. "At least the burning is manageable now, and did not cause me any more damage or scarring," she reasoned out loud. She looked at her hands, seeing the burn marks there, faded and hardly noticeable. She figured part of how she noticed them now was she knew where to look. She remembered how she flamed all over down in the Shinsenkai, and had no burns or scars to show for it. Yet she still had a few small scars to show from right after that. She turned her forearms out, running her hands over the areas with no burns or scratches to show for them. "But I'll never curse an ally again, like I did like that. It saved my life, but could have killed me right afterwards from running out of chi, could have killed you for trying to save me even." She then she brought one hand to her side at the bottom of her rib cage. "One spot seems likely to leave a few small scars," she confessed, looking at his hand that left the mark. She pulled up her shirt for a few seconds, showing him the marks. She brought her free hand to her chest, feeling a warmth there. "More than worth it to stay alive," she concluded.
The silence that followed her words seemed thick, but she embraced it. If he was just going to hold back she would let him. She flicked her gaze up at him, standing taller. "I thought you were supposed to have thick skin?" he asked her.
She blinked up at him, not sure how to respond that. "I do, you know I do," she said, furrowing her brow at him. She nodded up at him, commenting, "perhaps you should trim your nails if they're sharp enough to draw blood on me, when before they never did."
He hummed at that, with her finding she liked the sound of it. He held his hands out. "Seem fine to me."
She hummed back, a thought crossing her mind. She ditched her phone in the bag of clothes. "Fight for it," she suggested, sinking down into a sparring posture. "First to draw blood wins. I win, you trim them," she offered up in challenge.
"And if I win?" he asked, taking off his cover and cloak, and setting them down on the ground with a heavy thud. She shrugged. His eyes went to the bag she brought. "You have to keep those instead of giving them back," he countered.
She looked back down at the bag of Namekian style clothes and shrugged. "Deal," she answered with an up nod of her head.
She moved first, seeking to get the upper hand. She charged at him, feigning to go low, only to at the last aiming to fight tall. She went for his jaw, thinking to use his own sharp teeth against him. He blocked, shoving her fist away. She grunted, falling back. She rolled underneath him, shifting tactics to fight short then and try for his mouth another time. He shoved her back, nails racking down towards her. She dropped and rolled away, with him pursuing her quickly. She had time to get up, but not much time for anything else. She raised her hands up block her face. He took advantage of that move, nails gliding over her forearms without hesitation.
She gasped and jumped back, looking down at them. The pinkish lines were visible, but there was zero sign of any blood. "No blood," she commented, trying to keep the proud smirk on her face subdued.
She surged forwarded, throwing herself into the thrill of the fight, eager to get at him and win. She tried scratching at him with her own nails, but could hardly get a hand near enough to do so. He meanwhile scratched down at her across the upper part of one arm and even ripped through her shirt and scratched along her lower torso. The wounds were noticeable, but not concerning nor bleeding.
She jumped back. "No blood," she taunted, amused more than anything else.
She circled, trying to figure out a way to get at him. She felt her blood up, adrenaline spiking through her. She tried to keep in control of herself and not let it cloud her judgement. She could not scratch him hard enough and he was not letting her get high enough hits to use his sharp teeth to cut his mouth or lips. She felt her frustration start to chip away at her control. She became more reckless, wanting the victory. She shoved towards him, trying to throw her weight around too high to tackle him. It did not work. It only allowed him to grip her by the forearms, trying to dig his nails down to break her skin. She tried and failed to pull away from him. She kicked at his knee, making him grunt. He dropped his grip on her, kicking in her in the chest away from her.
She heard first, felt second when she slammed into the pine tree that had been behind her. Her back hit first, lessening her speed for when her head hit second. She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees, sliding the back of her head down along the twigs, sap, and needles as she moved. The back of her head felt wet. She reached up to check it, relieved that there was no blood, only sap. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears as she watched him walk closer. She placed her hands on the ground around her, watching him, waiting for him to get closer as her new plan of attack formed in her mind. She tightened her hands into fists, clawing at the ground as she did so.
When he moved to bring a hand down on her, she fought short, ducking under him and bringing both fists up. She tossed the handfuls of dirt and dried pine needles straight into his face. He grunted, bringing both hands up against his face on instinct. It left him open for a split second to attack, and she did not hesitate. She tackled him with all her might at hip level, the way her father had taught her how years ago. They landed in a tangle together with her on top of his lower chest and rib cage. She brought her mouth down, biting the first part of him she could find. She bit the outside of his hand, wincing as she tasted blood and feeling her teeth slid over his skin.
She wretched her mouth off of him, spitting over to the side to get the taste of his blood out of her mouth. "Blood," she huffed out, trying to keep her pride in check at the victory that would have been impossible in an outright brawl.
She wiped at her mouth anew, finding the way she bit him made her chest flame slightly the way it had when she bit and scratched Tien a few days prior. She panted, looking down at him, not sure what to say or do. She rested her hands down on his shoulders, looking down at him, seeing he still had dirt and pine needles on his face. She felt him move his arms, bringing her to take her hands off his shoulders. She pulled herself off of him, slumping down on the ground next to him tiredly. She watched him sit up, bringing his bit hand into the other, cracking it before it healed.
"I need to learn that," she commented, breaking the silence.
"Have to be actually Namekian to do that," he mumbled out. "Not just added into the fold. But with how you bit me, seems like the black water mist got to you after all."
It took her a second to understand what he said was meant to be a joke. It was a weak one, but she laughed at it anyway. She ran her hand threw the tangled mess of her hair, cringing at the feel of sap in it. She looked down at her own ripped up shirt and then glanced over at the bag of clothes. "I guess I'm keeping those after all," she joked herself.