[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OAr87q4.png[/img][/center] [hr] Velona didn't know what to do. She didn't want to be alone, but she didn't know any of them all that well yet. Not enough to request sharing a room. It didn't help that deep down a part of her [i]did[/i] seek solitude so that she could order her thoughts. She found a slightly mangled tree behind some tall buildings and leaned herself against it. The temperature was comfortable enough, and she'd had worse sleeping arrangements in the past. Sleep didn't come easy though. She could occasionally feel the pink, squishy one flitting in and out of her sensory range, doing... something. Every time she popped into her bubble it startled her. Eventually Velona decided that if anyone wanted to hurt her, they would probably blast her from a distance anyway and so shrank her bubble. Then, before long, her bubble dissipated altogether as sleep claimed her regardless of her will. [b]. . .[/b] "Hi, I'm Velona," she bowed her head slightly. Any other time and she'd have just sprinted away, but... this person was new. No, not just new. There were plenty of people she could have found that were new. This one was [i]unexpected[/i]. Months ago the Freeza force had forcibly occupied her home, leaving a group of people she'd learned were called Saiyans to guard them. She didn't really know what to make of it. Things had been scary for a few days, but now it was over. None of it really affected her as far as she could tell. She'd been told to stay away from them, but... this one was just so small. He(?) was even shorter than her. "I'm... Roman..." He spoke haltingly. "Where'd you come from? I haven't noticed you before." Velona, being the obstinate and precocious child she was, had a bad habit of skirting the edge of the Saiyan territory. There was sector of the city that had been cleared out and taken over by the occupiers, with their ships landed nearby. Not once, on any of her curiosity fueled expeditions had she ever noticed a child. "I..." Roman rubbed his head, as if he was a little bit dazed. "I woke up... recently. Umm... was born? No..." "Silly, you're way too big to have just been born. You must have been asleep for a long time." But... why? She was eventually able to pry the information from him that he'd been in some sort of pod, apparently since he'd been born. Seemingly the pod also slowly imprinted information into his mind, hence him being able to speak, even if it was a bit slowly. Velona found it funny. In a way, he was just a big baby, but he was walking around in a suit of Saiyan armor. Extra funny being that he was at least half-a-head shorter than her. Big for a baby, but really not all that big yet. Of course, her interrogation eventually got turned back on her. It was only fair. He honed in on her blindfold, finding it strange. She of course thought it was strange the Saiyans [i]didn't[/i] wear them. Then again, if none of them did, didn't that make her strange to them in return? "So, um, what do you like to do?" she asked him. ". . . what?" To be fair, she wasn't sure what she'd expected. [b]. . .[/b] It hadn't been entirely true to say that the occupation hadn't affected her. She was only a child, so no one really paid her any mind, no, but as time went on it became apparent how subdued everyone else was. They flinched at the sight of Saiyans and shied away. There was a dreary atmosphere to be found when hanging around her own kind. Thus, she found herself more and more often dragging Roman off to play with. She found more joy with the child of those who had seemingly brought such a stifling atmosphere upon them than she did with her own kind. Roman was curious and willing to follow her lead. She liked the feeling of being in charge, and it was fun to watch him change as he spent more and more time outside with her. He actually sounded almost like a normal person now when he talked. She made the mistake, however, of getting too caught up in the moment. One day she walked with him back to his home. She didn't even make it all the way to his house before they were confronted. It was the one big rule when spending time with him: it had to be [i]just[/i] them. Saiyans wouldn't tolerate her, and her people wouldn't tolerate him. There was a swath of the city between the Saiyan territory and the rest of the city that was largely deserted. Much of it was rubble that no one seemed to have any plans to clean up anytime soon. It was a little strange spending so much time in the destroyed areas of her own home city, but she'd grown used to it. Too used to it. She'd gotten careless. "What do you think you're doing? Is this where you've been running off to?" He was a gruff man. Unlike Roman whose tail tended to swish idly behind him, this Saiyan's tail was wrapped firmly around his waist. His armor was bulky and square, making him look larger than he was, but he was hardly compensating for anything. He probably could have crushed her between his bicep and forearm with a casual flex. "Father. Yes." Roman nodded, not looking nearly as intimidated as Velona felt. Fortunately her blindfold kept her eyes from betraying her fear. "She's been showing me the nearby area." "Don't waste time with such nonsense. You shouldn't be bothering to associate with the locals. We've been stuck on this blasted planet for too long as it is." He scoffed. "What, are you deaf as well as blind, girl? Begone before I turn you into another crater in your city!" Velona flinched. She turned toward Roman briefly, but he'd simply lowered his head submissively, offering no more explanations or resistance. With a slight pout, Velona took off as she'd been commanded to. [b]. . .[/b] He retreat lasted for not even 24 hours. She crept back toward Roman's dwelling to find the boy sitting crouched on a slab of rubble behind the building. Velona decided to mirror him. Once she was close enough that she was sure he'd seen her, she simply plopped herself down at a distance and waited. An hour passed, the two just sitting there. Another began to slowly tick by. Finally, Roman seemed to grow restless, glancing about. He jumped off his perch and strode over to her. "This is borin-" He was cut off as Velona smiled, jumped up, and dragged him off by the wrist. It was a smug little smile, too. He'd chosen her. [b]. . .[/b] She felt her hair get blown back as she leaned back. Her feet danced below her, heart racing as she allowed muscle memory to take over. Lately her family had begun teaching her how to fight. Roman, unsurprisingly really, had training as well. They spent so much time together over the last year that turning to each other for practice had been an obvious development. Roman was astonishingly strong, but Velona was just more agile. He always struggled to even touch her. She caught and redirected an overly telegraphed punch and struck his chest with her palm. His armor no doubt kept it from even stinging, but it wasn't like she was trying to hurt him anyway. He slid back, but then suddenly a shockwave struck her. Energy flared out from him and he let out a frustrated growl before flying at her in a violent burst of speed. She had to leap away as his fist came careening down to crack the ground where she'd been standing. His energy flared again as his eyes honed in on her once more, but she threw a hand out. "STOP!" She commanded. "Wh-what?!" Roman blinked rapidly. "You could have hurt me!" She frowned deeply at him. "So?" Roman narrowed his eyes. "We're fighting. People get hurt when they fight." "No! We're sparring. It's just training. Hurting each other isn't allowed!" She reached out and poked him in the shoulder, earning an annoyed scowl. "You're just afraid." He crossed his arms with a scoff. "Fine then, go ahead and hurt me. Then we wont' be able to play, let alone fight." She somehow stared him down despite being physically unable to meet his eyes. Finally he wilted under the pressure of her disapproval. "Friends don't hurt each other, got it?" She reached out and poked him once more, this time on the tip of his nose, making him go cross-eyed and flinch. "O-OK..." he mumbled, lowering his head submissively before her. [b]. . .[/b] Her footsteps had halted. She couldn't force herself to take another step. Everything had happened so suddenly. Little more than an hour ago she'd been plotting what she and Roman would do next. Now she could hear explosions and screaming in the distance. Why hadn't they warned her this was going to happen sooner? What would she have done had she known? It was two questions that kept bouncing back and forth through her mind. What [i]could[/i] she even do now that this was happening? "Velona!" She heard her name being called before she noticed Roman's presence. She tried to extend her senses farther, but it was all... blurry -- filled with static. Each frantic beat of her heart seemed to distort her vision. "What's going on!? Wh-why is there so much fighting?!" "I-I-" Velona was on the verge of hyperventilating. [i]"We've been under their heel too long. They think of us as lesser."[/i] Their words echoed in her mind. [i]"This is what we've been training you for,"[/i] her parents had told her. [i]"You need to steel your heart."[/i] "What should we do?" he looked to her expectantly. "Velona?" "W-we... I..." She couldn't stop the shaking. Suddenly she felt his hands land on her shoulders. Recently he'd gotten taller, almost taller than her. "Come on, think!" "I-I can't!" Velona hiccupped. Roman flinched away. Velona had always taken the lead; always told him what to do or even how to think. He took a step back. "OK..." He clenched his eyes shut. "Th-then just follow me for now!" He took another step back and then turned to lead the way. Velona's feet wouldn't move, but... slowly... her hand did. [i]KZZZZZZZRT![/i] The area flashed red and Roman fell to the ground, the back of his armor now showing a large scorch mark. He lay there, gasping and struggling for breath. Velona's knees felt weak, even as faint, red sparks still sprung from her fingers. Roman shakily got his arms beneath him, lifting his face from the dirt and turning to look at her. She couldn't see his eyes. Even were her control of her senses not so tenuous, she couldn't see such details. She could, however, see the way his chest was still; the way he held his breath as he just stared in her direction. [i]"You must steel your heart."[/i] With a choked sob, she lunged at him. She saw him let out a breath. She saw his fingers dig into the dirt. She could see the tension enter his body. She cried out as he flew to his feet, hand whipping out to catch her wrist and squeeze. On instinct, she surged her energy, an electric aura overtaking her and forcing him to let go. She saw his fists clench tighter than ever before. He charged her with a wild fury. Her feet did not dance, but frantically retreat. Each swing of his arms seemed to shake her, even though they missed. Her senses became muddled as she felt each strike narrowly graze past her. Suddenly a sunspot seemed to bloom within her senses and then the ground at her feet exploded as energy flew from Roman's hand. Her senses shattered as his fist flew into her gut, sending her crashing into the side of a building, her head snapping back and cracking against it. She was left winded and in agony, gasping for breath that didn't want to come. Her legs wouldn't support her any longer, but before she could fall a fist grabbed her roughly by the collar and pinned her to the wall. "WHY?!" Roman roared at her, but she could only choke pitifully beneath his grip. She didn't need her senses to feel the heat and pressure of another energy blast forming in his other hand. The strength of his grip only seemed to increase as he shoved her harder and harder against the wall. She didn't answer. She physically could not. Even as he demanded an answer, he left her too weak and battered to speak. Time seemed to stop as she awaited her fate, only to suddenly and violently resume as she was tossed aside to collapse into the dirt. "Don't... follow me..." Roman growled and turned his back on her, storming away. [b]. . .[/b] Her blindfold clung to her face, laden with her own tears. She could not say how long she'd lay there, limp and trembling with her sobs. Unbidden, she clawed her way to her feet, a sudden impulse driving her onward. Slowly, her toes dragging through the dirt, she shuffled forth to finish the journey she'd started before. It was strange how only now, when she'd been specifically told not to, that her legs would move. The sound of conflict had faded off. She did not know what to make of that. Deep down, the answer didn't really concern her anymore. There was just one mystery that demanded an answer dragging her along. Weakly, her fingers rose to her face, tugging at the blindfold until it finally gave in and fell away. She blinked, her eyes stinging from the faint haze of acrid smoke that hung in the air. In the distance she saw it, or where [i]it[/i] should have been. Where Roman's home had once stood now only lay a burnt out foundation surrounded by pulverized rubble. She staggered over the crushed cement, coughing as the smoke and dust grew thicker. She stood now, just shy of the center of the blasted out ruin. There she found Roman, sitting, his arms hanging limp at his sides, eyes turned downward and staring at the cracked and scorched floor. Legs that had been driven by some inexplicable burst of will gave way and Velona too dropped, falling to a similar position on the floor. Her parents had been the head of her people, as Roman's had been for his. She'd known they would clash. The mystery, the question on her mind, had come clear. They were alone -- two orphans left kneeling in a pile of ashes. [b]. . .[/b] Everything melted away. Darkness came and fled, Velona's eyes fluttering open to reveal an unfamiliar sky. So that was it then. Everything she repressed while awake now sought to haunt her in her sleep? With a faint groan she pulled herself to her feet, only to suck in a pained breath and clutch at her ribs. With the chaos of the prior day gone and her body cold from sleep, the aches and pains that hadn't troubled her all too much before now screamed for attention. She took a slow, careful breath and managed to straighten up properly. She could deal with that later. She quickly lifted off from the ground and flew off. She made quick stop at a waterfall she'd spotted before, hovering within it toward the top, where the crashing water wasn't too rough, but still enough to wash her off and wake her up. Using a quick burst of energy to mostly dry off, she was once more on the move seeking where she was supposed to meet her new acquaintances. It seemed her fitful dreaming had resulted in her being late. She gingerly alighted on the ground, already smelling the food. Most of the others were already there, including the ones she'd become most acquainted with and thus quickly gravitated toward, coming to a stop by Ovaan who happened to be the closest. She noticed that aside from the food, there seemed to be strange little cases lying about. No doubt she'd know what they were if she'd shown up earlier. "Forgive me. I... overslept," she spoke, folding her arms before her and trying not to let her shame show. "So..." She had to swallow, also not wanting to show just how unbearably hungry she was now realizing she was. Her stomach squirmed and tightened in the presence of food. "Did I, um, miss anything?" On the surface she seemed as serene as always... even as her hand slowly reached out and began grabbing food, as if the limb has just grown a mind of its own.