A test... And a Job? (Vennel)

Vennel’s face seemed to scrunch up in response to Alaistair’s observations. It was like he thought she couldn’t do the job if she couldn’t innately feel the energy of others around her. Her scouter helped her just fine, and she had no doubt she’d figure out how to sense energy if she really needed to. Crossing her arms, she continued the listen to her host’s observations, shaking her head in reply to his question regarding her capability to detect ki.

But his conclusion came shortly after, with the promise of a healthy pay for the job. Quite more than she normally made on odd jobs, for that matter. Which rose some questions as to what sort of job was this? Alistair wasn’t kidding when he said it was important, it seemed.

Reaching for her scouter, she intended to remove it and try to force herself to try and feel Alaistair’s ki- but then a thought crossed her mind. Something she wanted to bring up while she was here with him.

“I’ll learn how to sense energy for you. It wouldn’t be all that difficult. I can already feel and control my own, but I have never had the need to rely on something like that, so it simply wasn’t something I learned. But I have a question for you.”

She took a deep breathe, before she began to speak.


“I won’t mince words here. The throne has put out the call to every able bodied saiyan soldier to report to planet Vegeta. I’m feeling conflicted. On the one hand, I didn’t join the past few campaigns of my people, because I felt they were foolish, ill prepared, and undermanned for Zucceta’s irresponsible ambitions. And on the other hand, I still have a soft spot for my people, I suppose. I wanted to know, what do you think I should do?”

She would ultimately make her own decision, as she always did. But she wanted the sounding board that would be Alaistair. He’d been a hospitable host, and she was not ungrateful for his help thus far. She just hoped she could call upon his generosity once more, for this advice.

[Alaistair]

Vennel shrugged as Alaistair began with his supposition. As far as she knew, Zucceta was still in charge. Though she’d hoped someone would have rested control, or she at least had the where withal to step down after proving to be more huff than puff- so to speak. Still, it was a fair thing to consider. Could she handle working under Zucceta? Would that be too much for her pride? Or even more so, did she even feel like she could be a productive member of the Empire at large?

She wasn’t sure, and listening to the explanation that Alaistair gave about the invasion of Namek, she seemed even more so displeased. It wasn’t the fact that Alaistair had foiled their plans. It meant he and his forces out maneuvered the Empire and proved to be worthy- no, superior, opponents. And that was worth commending. No, what she seemed more displeased by was the fact that Zucceta had broken interplanetary treaties in her quest for… what, her personal glory? It would have been different if she had succeeded. She’d have proved that the Saiyan Empire was ready to institute new law into the galaxy, but she had failed- which brought shame to their people. They were now oath breakers and defeated.

As the sharply dressed man came to a close of his advice to her, story and all, she took a few moments to reflect upon his statements, before continuing. She’d been gone a long time, having lost her bid for the Imperial throne. But she felt something, at the corner of her mind, tugging on her. She wanted the best for her people, but so far they were lead by fools. They were at their strongest when she was in charge. And if she’d had a little more time to train herself, she felt sure that her first battle with Zucceta would have gone differently. Maybe, just maybe, it was time for her to actually try once more for the throne.

“If they merely aim to retake Namek, then they truly are circling the drain. Namek holds little to no strategic value, aside from those stupid wish granting orbs. But, if they have a more worthy cause, I may change my mind.”

She glanced down at her hands, lost in thought. Her eyes traced the creases and patterns in her palms, as if in an almost meditative trance. Her attention snapped back moments later, her eyes focused on Alaistair.

“What if I told you I wanted the Imperial throne? I know I’m far from Zucceta’s strength. But if I were to train again- would you help me?”

[Alaistair ]

The saiyan woman watched as Alaistair seemed to act somewhat dumbfounded by her statement. Perhaps what she said did seem a bit shocking for some. It was even to herself. She had been running from her own woes about not being strong enough, but she’d realized: she couldn’t wallow in self pity forever. She needed to make a change, otherwise her people would be doomed to fail. Her head immediately nodded in response to Alaistair’s incredulity.

As he wrapped up, agreeing to help her she smiled and nodded. She was glad that she could count on at least one ally. Now she just needed to see how best to go about preparing for- wait, what did he say?!

Vennel seemed to have just as odd a reaction as the dandy did to her. He said specifically he’d help her “back,” onto the throne. Which meant- did he know she was once queen? Her brow furrowed as she listened to him finish speaking. A moment of silence, pregnant with the din of the machine enhancing the gravity, filled the room.

“So, how long did you know?”

She wondered, had he just been humoring her this whole time? Or perhaps he’d learned of her status as the former queen only recently. Either way, he knew more about her than she let on, which made her ever more curious.

[Alaistair]

Stopping for a moment, the devil’s reaction made no sense to her. He seemed to be rambling to himself until suddenly coming to a conclusion. Wait- had he not known and merely his turn of phrase had made her paranoid over nothing? Worse yet, he’d pieced it together now and she had basically told him. Her head lowered, and her palm came up to meet her face, the universal sign for disappointment. She’d tried to keep it a secret until now, and had gone and just told someone inadvertently.

Kriffing hell…

Regaining her composure, she listened to Alaistair talk about getting her out of her rut. She couldn’t argue she’d been in one. But he also made note to bring up her title frequently and she let out an exasperated sigh. He wanted to resume their spar, presumably for the combination of her learning how to sense ki, and also for them both to train.

“Very well, we can continue our match, but on one condition: don’t bring up my desire to take the throne. I’m just a low class warrior. Nothing more.”

Her scouter was no longer on her face, so she now was trying to feel Alaistair’s energy, unsure of how exactly one did this. Taking a deep breath, the warrior entered her familiar fighting stance, preparing to face off with the devil, letting him make the first move.

[Alaistair ]

Vennel watched as her adversary shifted into a fighting stance of his own. Being in a battle position like this, she felt almost naked without the scouter over her eye. It was such an odd sensation, but one she quickly stowed to focus on the task at hand. Alistair’s ki seemed to surge, given the visual demonstration of his- she wondered though, by how much? She didn’t have to wonder for long, though, as Alaistair sped toward her faster than she’d seen before. Her eyes, however, were able to track his movements, until he seemed to become like a blur in her vision. This is where having her scouter’s HUD would have come in handy.

She turned her head, but only after Alaistair had fallen short of his attack. She maintained her stance though, merely looking back at him. He’d stopped his attack, when he could have hit her. Perhaps then he merely was trying to prove a point? He began to explain that he wanted her to close her eyes, and reach out using her energy. She decided it best to listen to him, at least for now. She may be stubborn but he wasn’t wrong that she likely needed to learn this ability. Come to think of it, she thought back on how many of the more powerful individuals she’d been around had no scouter, or at least didn’t wear one prominently. Was this technique really so fundamental? Perhaps she had been missing polish on her basic abilities. Perhaps that’s why her power had fallen behind.

The saiyan warrior closed her eyes, her ki bubbling up and then exploding out, to display her aura. It was less about increasing her power level, and more so exerting pressure outwardly, with her own aura. She had fought blind before, keen to use her sense of smell, hearing, and even touch. So she was not unfamiliar with this, and wondered how Al would take away her other senses, as he claimed.

But one thing she happened to notice, was that she could almost feel the area around her? It was weird, less like she felt the area around her, and more that she felt herself being all over the place. Maybe since she’d become more in tune with her own ki and feeling it better, and having thrown up her aura, she was feeling something akin to sonar with her ki? An interesting idea, and worth noting for later.

“Alright, I’m ready when you are…”

[Alaistair]

Her senses reached out, trying to hear, smell the devil near her. But she couldn’t hear him, for he was making no soun. She couldn’t smell him, it seemed like perhaps he was using olfactory blockers? Or maybe the smell of her own sweat was what masked his unfamiliar scent. Her eyes were closed, and her head turned about. Her own ki was radiating not far from her body, but it alone gave her the ability to sense fluctuations in the area around her. And when Alaistair came close to her, she could indeed feel him, or more accurately, she could sense where she couldn’t feel her own energy.

His mind echoed through her head, or rather, words from it. He was curious if she knew where or what he was doing. He was near her, that much was certain, and it felt like he was doing something? It was like trying to see an image in the negative space of another image, only trying to feel gaps in your own presence. But as she tried to think it over, she noticed his arm was lifted? At least that’s what it felt like. Her arm darted up to try and snag his outstretched hand. If she succeeded, that’d be one thing taken care of. But of course, he could always move it, and she doubted she’d be able to track his movements so well and so soon if he did.

Yes, I can.

Her mind responded in thought to him, wondering if his thoughts were still transmitting to her. But still, she was making marked progress, and that was something to be proud of in it’s own way. But it wasn’t good enough, not if she wanted to use this ki sense reliably.

[Alaistair ]