By the time all the members of the flame Squadron left the capital the sun had long since set. Darkness surrounded everyone and it bred careless chaos.
Floating in the sky, a dark silhouette with two sharp points at its top watched over the two flame Squadron members. Its dark eyes witness clear murder without flinching. Letting them leave silently the figure exhales a breath and seems to expose itself to the world again.
A gangly saiyan in a blue body suit, with the typical saiyan armor with brown pauldron combo. The man who wears it chooses to keep the gloves fingerless for sharp reasons.
He flies off to the medical ward of the King's castle like an ominous observer.
***
Along the outer hallway of the medical ward, transparent walls line alternating sections of the curving hall. Careful feet clap the floor as a pale man with black hair strode forward. All others steering clear.
The pale saiyan with his tail in the default position commanded a spine chilling fear with just his eyes alone. The way his body was long and lanky, radiating an awkward yet sharp energy that would stab the wrong on-looker. When he stopped to look out the window, all those traveling the halls would find a detour in the brief time he did.
"Aldera?" A rumbling gruff tone called out to the unsettling man. Even this highly decorated general peered up at the sharp peaks that punctuate Aldera's hairstyle.
Aldera turned his head by a small amount before his eyes rolled to do the rest of the work. He acknowledges the man approaching him as Nappa. Though this meeting was intentional the moment didn't seem so.
"Ahh" his lips part revealing two rows of jagged teeth. "How's training the entitled little prince?"
The dark eyes accustomed to watching notices a bead of sweat dripping down Nappa's temple.
"Gaha" he practically guffaws, his eyes averting knowing that what he speaks here will be reported by Aldera straight to the king. "Just got done settling him into a healing chamber"
Aldera raised an eyebrow before snickering lightly.
"Sounds like it's going well" he approves of the implied method Nappa would be using. His expression returns to a closed lip and quiet neutral one right after.
There was silence, neither cared to make any small talk. Nappa wasn't someone who could trade combat stories with a man who avoided conflicts half the time and Aldera couldn't get along with the dull brute. Though there was an unspoken commonality between them.
"Our gracious King, he's chosen to allow some of us to follow our instincts while rejecting others wholly. I would appreciate the chances you are given" he declared after a long silence, being somewhat vague in the point.
"Uh hmm yeah" Nappa coughs out his response, then suddenly lunges at the man. Swinging his arm around for a right hook. The speed of the attack causes wind that makes the windows tremble.
Woosh! Creak!
Aldera ducked the attack before half heartedly glaring at him. Back in his original position now as Nappa stepped into his attack.
"Go report to our king you lap dog" Nappa scoffs while returning to his own former position.
With that one test they both recognized each other as having similar power. At least while they are both holding back significantly. When the gloves came off neither of them knew each other's secrets.
"I know just as loyal in your own way" Aldera throws over his shoulder while walking away. "Badly" adding one last sharp jab at the end of his forked tongue.
Nappa nearly lost his cool before just slapping the top of his own head instead making a second lunge. "Son of an ape.." he curses under his breath.
Aldera pays it no mind as he cackled down the hallway.
Crack!
A moment later and the window that had been trembling broke. Nappa would be paying out of his pocket for that.
***
In the throne room the King stared off at the doorway. His gaze was pensive as if locked in thoughts rather than what's in front of him. His chin was resting in his fist.
He was growing tired of the slow burn in his scheme. Saiyan's weren't ever really known for their mind games and politically bright tactics after all. King Vegeta could hardly fathom a future cultivated by weak subordinates, nor could he understand a rule in which the saiyan didn't only follow his instincts.
Pushing Zukki to follow her instincts would take time. Now that she has revealed her ability to play around with fire, the chance of her leaving the prison too early rose exponentially. If his own son could be tricked than surely anyone in that prison aside from the guards could be cooked alive.
He hates to admit it, but he sees potential in that feral warrior, enough to fly under the radar much like a certain elite guard member he was giving more and more leeway to.
The door opens slowly, its weight is deliberate in how it drags across the floor.
In the next instant Aldera is kneeling before the king. His head held low, however he was firm in this gesture of absolute fealty.
"Sire, i have news on the Flame Squadron" he uses their official title instead of mocking them. "And my report on Nappa working with the prince."
King Vegeta took his chin off of his fist. Lifting his head up straight to look down fully on the man with twin peaks for hair.
"Raise your head Aldera. Tell me about my son" The king requests information not even shared, but it is clearly in regards to the report with Nappa.
"Is he progressing after getting handed that humiliation?" The king overly emphasizes the fact that the prince was tricked in combat.
Aldera raised his head.
"Sire, Nappa is most definitely the right choice for the job" he opens with praise despite the little interaction he had with the man. "I say, let his track record speak for himself" he adds with a little too much confidence.
The king's eyebrow raises like it was cued off stage. Aldera was expecting some snide comment while looking up at his king, expecting an overbearing yet accepting remark.
"Are you sure it isn't the fact that you two both lost a mate" the words made Aldera's blood run cold. Downplaying an important relationship and comparing it didn't sit well in the pit of the man's stomach.
Their eyes were locked so there wasn't hiding how Aldera trembled wide for a brief second. King Vegeta had a grim smirk on his face, leaning over to take in that brief reaction from one of his most loyal subordinates. Then he leaned back to relax in his seat.
"I suppose that information is irrelevant now" he decided, having lost interest in that side of the topic. "They'll be continuing to broadcast the obituary and at the end we'll announce the assassination of my queen. That we were targeted by some third party."
With that the king waves and is done with that problem for the moment. His plans had already been set in motion and the thought of dwelling on the loss of his queen irritated him to his core.
"Have all those fanatics left yet?" The king questions.
"Yes, however there was an incident"
"Oh?" The king's eyebrow quarks again." Do share what those fire spewing ants were up to"
Aldera then reported the murder of some back up, low class warrior who had been murdered and the evidence burnt. The two of them seemed to not care at all about the incident, just one person relaying a fact to another.
"I'll be sending you to pick up the girl at the end of the week from now on. Make sure she returns to the prison each time" he declared his plan for the elite advisor of his only to see him struggling to speak.
"Sire!?" He speaks finally only to be interrupted.
"No exceptions!" The King exclaimed loudly.
"Sire…you can't mean I still must remain on the planet." He scrambles out the question, there is something important to him other than this service.
"Don't make this about that stupid obsession you have already" King Vegeta mocks what his elite warrior cares casually, nothing is above his opinions. "If I hear you say.."
"Death..I need to bring it to the world, Your Majesty. Sire..who will I fight..who.." he starts to ramble on desperately.
"Rein it in Aldera! We are going to take the universe for ourselves one day and when we do then you'll be able to hunt down whatever insignificant lives you desire" The king makes barely a compromise.
It's not enough. Ending lives for the twisted feeling he gets while seeing their dead expressions is what he lived for. ("Only she understood..Kira…") He mulls over the memory of his lost wife.
The trembling in his eyes spread across his body before he steeled the feeling. Stopping the vibrations abruptly before nodding his head.
"For the sake of the saiyan race, Sire, i will ensure Zukki returns to the prisoners" he said while looking down.
His eyes wanted to bore holes into the floor as his smile became twisted with a deep resigned discontent.
***
The long day had ended with everyone's safe return to the base over between the mountains. Everyone's head spaces were swirling as they tried to perceive the immediate future.
Karada dropped off Zukki. Bringing her to the top of the staircase and to her home's front door.
"Tell your mother and father, Jetto and I are settled" he palms her head rustling her hair. "And don't look so sad. We are home now"
Zukki had been frowning. It was perhaps the most negative she had felt since returning home. She hadn't reclaimed that life before being assigned to the prison. Everyone had begun to treat her differently and it wasn't unwelcome to be taken seriously, but carrying all the energy in a room would soon weigh on her. Not to mention the harsh reality that lies beyond the shelter walls of her life.
She just nods and heads inside while Karada watches. The man with a bald tail around his waist would turn away right after. Taking his aerodynamic hairstyle and leaving to find his way to one of the private training rooms.
The hallways were mostly empty, people were retiring for the night, especially those who hadn't found the motivation to push themselves yet. That is fine by the philosophy they held, there were always those who were willing to help others pull their weight.
There were even those who beat themselves up for not doing enough.
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
The closer Karada got to his destination, the clearer he could hear loud banging noises coming from within. A closed wooden door rests before him, because just about every door in the compound was made of that material.
Karada doesn't even bother to knock before entering. The room was musty, thick with hot air, each room was forced to have some sort of ventilation unit, so the air could be way worse.
Thwack!
The private training room was small and mostly square aside from the natural formations along the wall that weren't perfectly carved out. The floor was partially covered by a yellow safety mat fashioned from an old landing pad. In the middle was a log, it was supposed to have the pads on the sides. Instead were chipped indents on either side.
Thwack!
Jetto just kept abusing her legs, ignoring, or ignorant to the man who just entered.
"Give it a rest, don't tell me you've been at it since you got back" Karada breaks his silence, his tone judgmental at first. "You didn't do anything wrong"
Twack! Twack! Twack!
She hit three consecutive kicks up the log before moving her leg down to a resting state.
"You're right…" Jetto started while exhaling sharply, wiping sweat off her forehead before finally turning to face him. "I didn't do anything"
She bit her lip and averted her gaze.
"And Mizu's daughter..she stood in my place. In our place…in Kappa's place." Jetto's emotions start to spill out. "I..went first" she chokes out as if realizing her own impulsive nature is the reason why she couldn't just jump at the right moment, to be calculated, and not froggy.
Jetto's hands raise up and cover her face, running her hands through her short hair.
"That little girl is already showing us the way" Karada breaks their distance now as well. "But, I'd say she reminded me of you for a moment"
Karada puts his hands on her shoulders to anchor her to the ground. Jetto kept hers at her sides, eyes widened in surprise of the gesture, although she immediately misunderstood it.
"Hey I'm not gonna spar..not in the mood for that." She looks to the side, glancing at his fingers, not gripping like he was going to toss her. Jetto was clueless to his intentions. "I'm done, so just go back to your room."
His look in her eyes was a bit too tender for her taste, it was confusing to her. She was wondering what else was there to say.
"Just keep being you" he says, not trying to sound cheesy, but there were no better words for what he needed to say. Karada was fine covering for her impulsiveness. "Just keep rushing into battle, I'll watch your back."
Before they knew it, the two of them were practically touching the tips of their toes, literally in Jetto's case.. Karada gazed down into her eyes and their bodies inched closer. Dark eyes on dark eyes, bodysuits that leave no muscles to the imagination. His heart rate reached the same speed as hers.
Jetto felt a new type of heat creep up her neck, warmth filled her cheeks as nature seemed to take over her body. Her lips were wet as they parted slightly. Her hand slowly rose to feel his shoulder, the other somewhere on his side. Their tails were stiff at their sides like this energy between them was foreign.
Before their instincts could control them, she was already kneeing him in the gut. The man with the strong body crumbled down to his knees in utter shock. The sheer vulnerability in his state made him the weakest he had ever been–and she rearranged his guts like it meant nothing.
"I- I'm not" she stammers out loudly. "Your mate!" Then she stomps out of the room before he could see her face exploding with red hot heat. It almost made her forget about the failure earlier that day. She just distinctly is against arranged relationships, first it was the idea of her future being set by someone else, and now it's just some of her saiyan pride she couldn't fully shed.
Regardless, for once the impulsive flame conjurer runs away from her problem instead of into it. For now she would start by nursing the badly bruised leg she earned and it was right about twenty steps that her nerves also remember she kicked a solid wood log several hundreds of times.
***
[Mizu]
While I was holding onto my dear Kappa, we waited for our daughter to return. It felt horrible as the minutes ticked by after we made the decision. The choice to let her in on the whole truth, well, as much as I can get her to understand weighed on us as even he clutched at me.
Creeeak!
Then I heard her.
"Mom.." her voice was so soft, that sharp and loud girl, speaking gently for me.
She just comes into the open room and we take her into our arms. The moment I feel her, life comes back to me and when I confide in her it's like I believe we can overthrow this corrupt monarchy.