Post by Zerori on Feb 6, 2016 3:15:35 GMT
“You’ve let a child and a teenager on the ship for, may I ask, what reason… Captain?” Came a soft voice from Zerori’s left. It was meek and subdued but the boldness was still there. The figure was a short young woman, pale but Zerori knew she was not what she appeared to be. Her blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, blue striking eyes that didn’t belong to such a weak-minded girl and her garb was similar to all of the outfits the bed-ridden captain demanded of them.
It was by this point that Zerori had finished advising the two boys of their quarters and the ship in greater detail. She’d checked on the captain to see if he’d eaten the bean she provided but… was unfortunate to learn that he had refused. ‘Angry with her’, is what some of his crewmen reported and the saiyaness fought to keep her rage in control. Against her better judgment, she’d allowed him to tag along but on the condition that he recover. What, did he think she only had one of those strange beans? He wouldn’t be wrong but it’s not his damn business. So she’d left, leaving him to wallow in his pain with the basic medical care that was provided in the room.
However, following her against what Zerori considered NOT her best judgment, was the level-headed Aria. She followed her all the way to her quarters where Zerori had looked at her expectantly before learning that she wanted an audience with Zerori.
Against her better judgment, she’d accepted…
They were face to face, the inferno saiyan reclined behind a desk while Aria stood at attention. Stiff as a damn board, Zerori noted as she looked the woman up and down before responding to her question.
“They’re here to learn about space and go to a planet in a farther sector known as ‘Namek’. I have so graciously provided that means of travel-”
“-But to what end?” Aria had dared to interrupt, her voice piquing in slight panic. Closing her eyes briefly before she blew up on her, Zerori counted to three before responding – attempting to ignore the interruption.
“Education as far as I’m concerned. They have business on a planet they’ve never heard of? That’s not my problem. They’re children, yes but they are weak.” Opening her eyes, she glared at the woman. “You are aware that these ‘children’ are both of saiyan blood, correct?”
At the question, Aria gave a strong nod. She had a feeling where this was going.
“And you’re also aware that they have potential that, being saiyans, remains untapped – right?”
Another nod, this time accompanied by a verbal answer. “However, that does not changed that they are children.” Defiant but logical. Zerori liked that about Aria, out of all of Kringe’s crew.
With a defeated sigh, Zerori looked off to the side and gave a weak shrug, “I’m not blind. Deaf, neither. I hear you but I have to disagree with how you propose to go about this.” She glanced at her briefly, jaw tightening. “-If you’re thinking what I think you are thinking…”
Aria stared, her passive but gentle gaze centered on her captain, before she licked her lips and gave a brief nod. “You would have the correct assumption, Ms. Zerori. My proposal to keep them out of danger is merely for their benefit. We have no idea what kind of planet ‘Namek’ will turn out to be. As a saiyan, you may be considered an enemy.”
Zerori rolled her shoulder, enjoying the pops that followed as she allowed the proposal to dance in her consciousness. Ichiba, the similarly demonic boy was like her but also… not. She could not justify leaving him in danger during his stay. However Articho… She shook her head. “The older teenager isn’t what you believe him to be, either. He is a fighter that has saved his planet before. I’ve seen first hand his fighting skill and abilities that I do not possess. I, nor you, should not be worried about him,” Zerori then looked at Aria with a very cool expression.
The young woman was very uncomfortable under the gaze, shifting when it seemed Zerori was waiting too long to speak what was on her mind. “Y-Yes?”
“I’m surprised that you don’t have much confidence in yourself, actually…”
“Sorry, I-” Aria was about to retort, confused by the sudden change of pace.
“You, Aria. You are not what you appear to be and, frankly, I don’t understand you. Now, don’t get me wrong,” Zerori stood up, walking around the desk to stand over the pale beauty. “I have nothing against your kind,” She felt like spitting out the word. “Once, there was a friend whom was…’like’ you. However, he was a bit different in one way.”
Aria could feel very slight sweats gather at her temple, a very unique feature in her design to function as coolant and prevent overheating. She knew where this was going, “Captain, please…”
Ignoring her please, Zerori loomed over the woman as she spoke deathly silently. “You are a completely mechanized android. A machine that at the slightest scramble of your code or personality matrix – you become something you not.” The cruel words didn’t stop there, the saiyan speaking venomously. “You are an imperfect being and I don’t trust you. I won’t turn my back on you because I don’t trust you won’t shoot me.”
Staring at Zerori in terror and abject hurt, Aria could do nothing but take the verbal punishment. She didn’t ask for her existence, provided only by her Captain, Kringe. She was… created to help people. To assist in healing those that could not help themselves. It… hurt and confused the android that this powerful demon saiyaness didn’t trust her – feared her even.
Zerori was reveling in the emotion that she didn’t understand the machine having. How did she even know what emotions to use when? Was she always lying to Kringe? So wrapped up in her distrust, Zerori could not see beyond the perceived fact that Aria was a droid that could be reprogrammed to hurt rather than help like she so claimed she enjoyed doing. Was it hurt fault – Zerori was rational enough to know it wasn’t.
But did it matter? So what if she didn’t know she was doing something wrong with control over herself? Machine with minds and personalities of their own couldn’t be trusted. Blue Banner Vi-Poi proved that to her. E.M.R proved that to her…
I don’t trust what I can’t make bleed…
“Please, you must believe me! I have never harmed anyone and truly desire for those boys to just be safe! If you just-” Aria begged with Zerori, her eyes starting to tear up.
Zerori didn’t give a damn, “You’re dismissed.” She demanded firmly, blue eyes burning into Aria’s own.
Still helpless to her own emotions, Aria could only feel her lip quiver under Zerori’s hateful gaze before she folded in on herself, looking down and away before taking a step back, “Y-Yes, Captain…” Turning away from her, she moved away from the saiyaness and out the door. Her arms were around her, hands fisting into the uniform at her arms as her face was about to nearly break into sobs.
Watching her leave, still very much enflamed by her own prejudice, Zerori tensed her jaw before she looked down at the ground and turned to pace towards to the window of her quarters. She watched the stars passed, stopping just before the glass before placing her hand against the cold surface. Heat pooled in her belly, not unlike similar situations, but she was certain that this was closer to feeling nausea…
Suddenly, her other hand came to her mouth and she gagged violently. Hunched over leaning against the glass, Zerori coughed violently. So violently that when her coughing subsided and she looked to her hand, there was blood plainly there. What the fuck…? She knew she wasn’t the healthiest thing out there, but to be so sick? She breathed heavily, her limbs starting to get weak gradually and she started to almost tremble. “Damn it!” She yelled, throwing her fist into the wall nearby – denting it deeply.
When she next looked up at the window, she audibly gasped and reached towards her face, scratching at it viciously. Blackness. Dark, and thick against her face and as her fingers nails dug into the darkness – it resisted. It was like clay or some other malleable material and it felt like she could just not get it off her face, not matter how deep she dug. “W-What’s happening to ME?! Ge-Get off! J-Just!” She reached towards her face with both hands now, trying to rip it from her face.
This wasn’t her. She didn’t lose control. What happened to her? What was this feeling in the pit of her stomach?
You should just kill her, Zerori…
It was that seductive voice – No, it was… her.
“You fucking bitch,” Zerori snarled, the mouth in the reflection moving just as she spoke. So it was her… She was doing this to her. “ZINATHRA!”
The voice, so soft and gentle and yet nothing like that in reality, chuckled in bubbly amusement. So you’re much more clever than I give you credit for. Very good, Daughter.
“Don’t speak to me, you Witch,” Zerori snarled softly, still distracted by the face she didn’t understand. Her eyes… were not her own. A deep rouge with just ‘blackness’ as dark as she could imagine. Was she… crying? No, that was a stripe down her eyes – she didn’t cry.
Unknowingly, Zerori ran a tongue over her canines – much larger than they were before and she bared them at the window without apparent intent to do so. What was she doing?
You’re so close, my little phoenix…
Staring at the face, something felt increasingly wrong. Changing, but what the hell was she-? Phoenix. Did she even have control over this?
Phoenix.
The world wasn’t there anymore, spinning and making her sick again. Her hand came up to her mouth, valiantly holding back the vomit that threatened to escape her lips. Her eyes had closed briefly, concentrating. A she opened them her gaze came to her hands and she looked at her gloves with appreciation. They didn’t change, maintaining the flaming design she’d intended for it. As she looked at it closer, her gaze would focus on something that didn’t fit. No…
Taking her hand away from her mouth, shaking unnaturally, her fingers came down to run through the glove. Fur… Fur? On her? It didn’t make sense – she couldn’t just… could she be shifting her clothing?
You’ve made me so proud.
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
Phoenix.
~-~-~-~
”I’m not being loud!” Came the sudden yell of a man’s voice, startling Zerori. Eyes snapped open, she looked around her in shock as she tried to gather her wits about her. She was… in a bed, in the medical room. Why was she here? Beside her was the grumpy doctor that she’d argued with before, looking down at her with a annoyed expression before he turned to someone else.
“You stupid bastard…”
Looking away from the doctor, Zerori spotted the blue-faced Kringe as he fearfully had a hand around his mouth. He yelled, then? “Shit, I didn’t mean to wake you. I thought I was being quiet until,” Kringe narrowed his eyes on the doctor. “-HE insisted I was being loud.”
Zerori raised a brow and she brought a hand up to her face, feeling if the darkness was still there. Smooth skin, a bit rough but… still her own. She closed her eyes briefly, letting out a sigh of relief before she opened them back up to glare at him, “You ARE loud. What happened? Why am I in here?” Her head was actually in pain and she could feel the sheen of sweat on her body.
The doctor took it upon himself to speak first, “I can explain that. About ten hours ago, the computer recorded that you were in the gravity chamber – no doubt destroying your body once again. It’s recorded that you actually put the chamber up to over time 140 the gravity of Earth, which I must INFORM YOU is insane!”
Zerori rolled her eyes, “Yeah, whatever…”
Undeterred, the doctor continued, “Sometime during hour eight and ten, you lost consciousness. Again. It took deactivating the entire gravity grid to get access to you and I’m sorry to report that it will not function until we get back to a port and repair it.”
“WHAT?! What the hell we’re you thinking?! There’s not going to BE a port where we’re going and this training is fuckin’ important!” Zerori shrieked, pointing at the doctor angrily.
“It can’t be that important if you nearly died and to be quite frank with you, Zerori,” He leaned towards her, a gesture that made Zerori nervous. He moved her finger away from him without fear of retaliation, “-I’m getting pretty tired of patching you back together from your suicide attempts.”
Her face darkened, “I’m not suicidal-”
“I don’t care what you think you are. The facts are as follows; your body is a mess, the chamber is broken, the planet we’re traveling to will be upon us in about 14 hours and you… are going to be bed ridden for the rest of the trip. Doctor’s orders and that’s final, Captain.”
For a moment, all was silent and tense with suspense. Zerori glaring at the pale-faced doctor with contempt and the Doctor returning a passive aggressive face. It wasn’t until Kringe looked between the two that he placed a hand over his mouth and uttered, “Ohhhh…”
Effectively breaking the entire mood and deflating both upset individuals. “Gods damn it, Kringe…”
Moment completely killed, Zerori just turned and threw her legs over the side of the bed. “Fine, but I expect that when we get back from Namek, it’s GOING to be repaired! I mean, shit! What the hell are your crew worth, Kringe, that they can destroy my shit but not fix it?!” Ranting as she got to her feet, she ignored the previous captain as he crossed his arms with a sour expression.
“They’re doing their best.”
“Well, I’m arguing that they’re not! They need more proficiencies and better qualifications if they’re going to be working on my ship.” When her feet touched the ground, a sharp pain shot up her legs into her spine and she winced. “Whatever, just keep them away from anything else they might decide to ‘dismantle’ for my sake. Next time… just leave me to die.”
Stepping up to her, the irate doctor grabbed her shoulder while hissing in her face, “THIS is suicidal behavior, Captain! By continuing this display of bravado, you’re only going to make your injuries worse and our life that much harder!”
She snapped at the doctor holding her, “I didn’t ask for your FUCKING help!”
His eye twitched and the doctor pulled her arm to lead her away from the bed before letting go completely. Zerori, not used to the pins and needle sensation, nearly buckled under the pressure before throwing herself at Kringe to latch on before she fell.
She whirled on him, “Damn you!”
“From here on, unless you ask for it,” The doctor would begin to say, his voice venomous as he made a promise, “You will not receive any medical assistance from my division unless you demand it from us. If you’re going to push against us – we’ll stop pushing back.”
Zerori, hardly able to feel her legs and draped over Kringe, would look at him in shock. “Wait, you just can’t-”
“You are our captain.”
“Yeah, sure – I don’t really care about that, but-!”
“Listen. Carefully.” The partially bald captain insisted, his voice rose over hers. “You are our captain. Leave. Abandon us if you so choose,” He dared to look down upon her, a foreboding figure that the saiyaness never would have expected to see. “But this ship functions with a crew and a capable leader. Kringe somehow suspected that of you and, like many concerns this crew has had, none of us believed in you.”
Above her, looking at the doctor with a tense but nervous expression, the brenchian swallowed.
Zerori pulled herself up, feeling her legs start to tingle with sensation. They were responding. The doctor continued, “As a crew put together by piracy and survival, we preyed on those whom had too much and not enough wits about them to know how to appreciate what they had. We’re thieves, but we’re not going to abandon each other to our greed or ambition. These are the tenets of our, once, proud camaraderie.”
“-The hell are you saying?” Zerori whispered, never heard about thing like this from any of Kringe’s crew. They stayed farther than arm’s length, keeping to themselves and amongst each other. Despite her curiosity, she didn’t really care to force information about them aside from what they could offer her.
“Zerori,” Kringe started, but was intercepted by the doctor once more.
“Our KnightingGale has always been for the benefit of the camaraderie. So, tell me, Zerori,” He crossed his arms, an impudent expression on his face, “Are you a part of this, or not?”
Staring at the partially bald doctor, the saiyaness was truly at a loss for what to say. Kringe was in charge of a group that pretty much functioned like a glorified scavenger. With… with morals! Uncomfortable with the spotlight on her, Zerori could only push away from Kringe to stand on her own before she looked to the doctor with a serious expression. “I’ll… think about it.”
When she turned away from the doctor, feeling the drain of her apparent training in the gravity hours ago, he spoke once more. “My stipulation still stands. You either demand our help or we continue to keep our distance.”
“That’s… fine, Doctor.” Zerori caved, her mind and body far too tired to keep up in the ongoing struggle. Moral dilemmas could wait until after restored Ari or at the very least…
Until she slept.
It was by this point that Zerori had finished advising the two boys of their quarters and the ship in greater detail. She’d checked on the captain to see if he’d eaten the bean she provided but… was unfortunate to learn that he had refused. ‘Angry with her’, is what some of his crewmen reported and the saiyaness fought to keep her rage in control. Against her better judgment, she’d allowed him to tag along but on the condition that he recover. What, did he think she only had one of those strange beans? He wouldn’t be wrong but it’s not his damn business. So she’d left, leaving him to wallow in his pain with the basic medical care that was provided in the room.
However, following her against what Zerori considered NOT her best judgment, was the level-headed Aria. She followed her all the way to her quarters where Zerori had looked at her expectantly before learning that she wanted an audience with Zerori.
Against her better judgment, she’d accepted…
They were face to face, the inferno saiyan reclined behind a desk while Aria stood at attention. Stiff as a damn board, Zerori noted as she looked the woman up and down before responding to her question.
“They’re here to learn about space and go to a planet in a farther sector known as ‘Namek’. I have so graciously provided that means of travel-”
“-But to what end?” Aria had dared to interrupt, her voice piquing in slight panic. Closing her eyes briefly before she blew up on her, Zerori counted to three before responding – attempting to ignore the interruption.
“Education as far as I’m concerned. They have business on a planet they’ve never heard of? That’s not my problem. They’re children, yes but they are weak.” Opening her eyes, she glared at the woman. “You are aware that these ‘children’ are both of saiyan blood, correct?”
At the question, Aria gave a strong nod. She had a feeling where this was going.
“And you’re also aware that they have potential that, being saiyans, remains untapped – right?”
Another nod, this time accompanied by a verbal answer. “However, that does not changed that they are children.” Defiant but logical. Zerori liked that about Aria, out of all of Kringe’s crew.
With a defeated sigh, Zerori looked off to the side and gave a weak shrug, “I’m not blind. Deaf, neither. I hear you but I have to disagree with how you propose to go about this.” She glanced at her briefly, jaw tightening. “-If you’re thinking what I think you are thinking…”
Aria stared, her passive but gentle gaze centered on her captain, before she licked her lips and gave a brief nod. “You would have the correct assumption, Ms. Zerori. My proposal to keep them out of danger is merely for their benefit. We have no idea what kind of planet ‘Namek’ will turn out to be. As a saiyan, you may be considered an enemy.”
Zerori rolled her shoulder, enjoying the pops that followed as she allowed the proposal to dance in her consciousness. Ichiba, the similarly demonic boy was like her but also… not. She could not justify leaving him in danger during his stay. However Articho… She shook her head. “The older teenager isn’t what you believe him to be, either. He is a fighter that has saved his planet before. I’ve seen first hand his fighting skill and abilities that I do not possess. I, nor you, should not be worried about him,” Zerori then looked at Aria with a very cool expression.
The young woman was very uncomfortable under the gaze, shifting when it seemed Zerori was waiting too long to speak what was on her mind. “Y-Yes?”
“I’m surprised that you don’t have much confidence in yourself, actually…”
“Sorry, I-” Aria was about to retort, confused by the sudden change of pace.
“You, Aria. You are not what you appear to be and, frankly, I don’t understand you. Now, don’t get me wrong,” Zerori stood up, walking around the desk to stand over the pale beauty. “I have nothing against your kind,” She felt like spitting out the word. “Once, there was a friend whom was…’like’ you. However, he was a bit different in one way.”
Aria could feel very slight sweats gather at her temple, a very unique feature in her design to function as coolant and prevent overheating. She knew where this was going, “Captain, please…”
Ignoring her please, Zerori loomed over the woman as she spoke deathly silently. “You are a completely mechanized android. A machine that at the slightest scramble of your code or personality matrix – you become something you not.” The cruel words didn’t stop there, the saiyan speaking venomously. “You are an imperfect being and I don’t trust you. I won’t turn my back on you because I don’t trust you won’t shoot me.”
Staring at Zerori in terror and abject hurt, Aria could do nothing but take the verbal punishment. She didn’t ask for her existence, provided only by her Captain, Kringe. She was… created to help people. To assist in healing those that could not help themselves. It… hurt and confused the android that this powerful demon saiyaness didn’t trust her – feared her even.
Zerori was reveling in the emotion that she didn’t understand the machine having. How did she even know what emotions to use when? Was she always lying to Kringe? So wrapped up in her distrust, Zerori could not see beyond the perceived fact that Aria was a droid that could be reprogrammed to hurt rather than help like she so claimed she enjoyed doing. Was it hurt fault – Zerori was rational enough to know it wasn’t.
But did it matter? So what if she didn’t know she was doing something wrong with control over herself? Machine with minds and personalities of their own couldn’t be trusted. Blue Banner Vi-Poi proved that to her. E.M.R proved that to her…
I don’t trust what I can’t make bleed…
“Please, you must believe me! I have never harmed anyone and truly desire for those boys to just be safe! If you just-” Aria begged with Zerori, her eyes starting to tear up.
Zerori didn’t give a damn, “You’re dismissed.” She demanded firmly, blue eyes burning into Aria’s own.
Still helpless to her own emotions, Aria could only feel her lip quiver under Zerori’s hateful gaze before she folded in on herself, looking down and away before taking a step back, “Y-Yes, Captain…” Turning away from her, she moved away from the saiyaness and out the door. Her arms were around her, hands fisting into the uniform at her arms as her face was about to nearly break into sobs.
Watching her leave, still very much enflamed by her own prejudice, Zerori tensed her jaw before she looked down at the ground and turned to pace towards to the window of her quarters. She watched the stars passed, stopping just before the glass before placing her hand against the cold surface. Heat pooled in her belly, not unlike similar situations, but she was certain that this was closer to feeling nausea…
Suddenly, her other hand came to her mouth and she gagged violently. Hunched over leaning against the glass, Zerori coughed violently. So violently that when her coughing subsided and she looked to her hand, there was blood plainly there. What the fuck…? She knew she wasn’t the healthiest thing out there, but to be so sick? She breathed heavily, her limbs starting to get weak gradually and she started to almost tremble. “Damn it!” She yelled, throwing her fist into the wall nearby – denting it deeply.
When she next looked up at the window, she audibly gasped and reached towards her face, scratching at it viciously. Blackness. Dark, and thick against her face and as her fingers nails dug into the darkness – it resisted. It was like clay or some other malleable material and it felt like she could just not get it off her face, not matter how deep she dug. “W-What’s happening to ME?! Ge-Get off! J-Just!” She reached towards her face with both hands now, trying to rip it from her face.
This wasn’t her. She didn’t lose control. What happened to her? What was this feeling in the pit of her stomach?
You should just kill her, Zerori…
It was that seductive voice – No, it was… her.
“You fucking bitch,” Zerori snarled, the mouth in the reflection moving just as she spoke. So it was her… She was doing this to her. “ZINATHRA!”
The voice, so soft and gentle and yet nothing like that in reality, chuckled in bubbly amusement. So you’re much more clever than I give you credit for. Very good, Daughter.
“Don’t speak to me, you Witch,” Zerori snarled softly, still distracted by the face she didn’t understand. Her eyes… were not her own. A deep rouge with just ‘blackness’ as dark as she could imagine. Was she… crying? No, that was a stripe down her eyes – she didn’t cry.
Unknowingly, Zerori ran a tongue over her canines – much larger than they were before and she bared them at the window without apparent intent to do so. What was she doing?
You’re so close, my little phoenix…
Staring at the face, something felt increasingly wrong. Changing, but what the hell was she-? Phoenix. Did she even have control over this?
Phoenix.
The world wasn’t there anymore, spinning and making her sick again. Her hand came up to her mouth, valiantly holding back the vomit that threatened to escape her lips. Her eyes had closed briefly, concentrating. A she opened them her gaze came to her hands and she looked at her gloves with appreciation. They didn’t change, maintaining the flaming design she’d intended for it. As she looked at it closer, her gaze would focus on something that didn’t fit. No…
Taking her hand away from her mouth, shaking unnaturally, her fingers came down to run through the glove. Fur… Fur? On her? It didn’t make sense – she couldn’t just… could she be shifting her clothing?
You’ve made me so proud.
“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
Phoenix.
~-~-~-~
”I’m not being loud!” Came the sudden yell of a man’s voice, startling Zerori. Eyes snapped open, she looked around her in shock as she tried to gather her wits about her. She was… in a bed, in the medical room. Why was she here? Beside her was the grumpy doctor that she’d argued with before, looking down at her with a annoyed expression before he turned to someone else.
“You stupid bastard…”
Looking away from the doctor, Zerori spotted the blue-faced Kringe as he fearfully had a hand around his mouth. He yelled, then? “Shit, I didn’t mean to wake you. I thought I was being quiet until,” Kringe narrowed his eyes on the doctor. “-HE insisted I was being loud.”
Zerori raised a brow and she brought a hand up to her face, feeling if the darkness was still there. Smooth skin, a bit rough but… still her own. She closed her eyes briefly, letting out a sigh of relief before she opened them back up to glare at him, “You ARE loud. What happened? Why am I in here?” Her head was actually in pain and she could feel the sheen of sweat on her body.
The doctor took it upon himself to speak first, “I can explain that. About ten hours ago, the computer recorded that you were in the gravity chamber – no doubt destroying your body once again. It’s recorded that you actually put the chamber up to over time 140 the gravity of Earth, which I must INFORM YOU is insane!”
Zerori rolled her eyes, “Yeah, whatever…”
Undeterred, the doctor continued, “Sometime during hour eight and ten, you lost consciousness. Again. It took deactivating the entire gravity grid to get access to you and I’m sorry to report that it will not function until we get back to a port and repair it.”
“WHAT?! What the hell we’re you thinking?! There’s not going to BE a port where we’re going and this training is fuckin’ important!” Zerori shrieked, pointing at the doctor angrily.
“It can’t be that important if you nearly died and to be quite frank with you, Zerori,” He leaned towards her, a gesture that made Zerori nervous. He moved her finger away from him without fear of retaliation, “-I’m getting pretty tired of patching you back together from your suicide attempts.”
Her face darkened, “I’m not suicidal-”
“I don’t care what you think you are. The facts are as follows; your body is a mess, the chamber is broken, the planet we’re traveling to will be upon us in about 14 hours and you… are going to be bed ridden for the rest of the trip. Doctor’s orders and that’s final, Captain.”
For a moment, all was silent and tense with suspense. Zerori glaring at the pale-faced doctor with contempt and the Doctor returning a passive aggressive face. It wasn’t until Kringe looked between the two that he placed a hand over his mouth and uttered, “Ohhhh…”
Effectively breaking the entire mood and deflating both upset individuals. “Gods damn it, Kringe…”
Moment completely killed, Zerori just turned and threw her legs over the side of the bed. “Fine, but I expect that when we get back from Namek, it’s GOING to be repaired! I mean, shit! What the hell are your crew worth, Kringe, that they can destroy my shit but not fix it?!” Ranting as she got to her feet, she ignored the previous captain as he crossed his arms with a sour expression.
“They’re doing their best.”
“Well, I’m arguing that they’re not! They need more proficiencies and better qualifications if they’re going to be working on my ship.” When her feet touched the ground, a sharp pain shot up her legs into her spine and she winced. “Whatever, just keep them away from anything else they might decide to ‘dismantle’ for my sake. Next time… just leave me to die.”
Stepping up to her, the irate doctor grabbed her shoulder while hissing in her face, “THIS is suicidal behavior, Captain! By continuing this display of bravado, you’re only going to make your injuries worse and our life that much harder!”
She snapped at the doctor holding her, “I didn’t ask for your FUCKING help!”
His eye twitched and the doctor pulled her arm to lead her away from the bed before letting go completely. Zerori, not used to the pins and needle sensation, nearly buckled under the pressure before throwing herself at Kringe to latch on before she fell.
She whirled on him, “Damn you!”
“From here on, unless you ask for it,” The doctor would begin to say, his voice venomous as he made a promise, “You will not receive any medical assistance from my division unless you demand it from us. If you’re going to push against us – we’ll stop pushing back.”
Zerori, hardly able to feel her legs and draped over Kringe, would look at him in shock. “Wait, you just can’t-”
“You are our captain.”
“Yeah, sure – I don’t really care about that, but-!”
“Listen. Carefully.” The partially bald captain insisted, his voice rose over hers. “You are our captain. Leave. Abandon us if you so choose,” He dared to look down upon her, a foreboding figure that the saiyaness never would have expected to see. “But this ship functions with a crew and a capable leader. Kringe somehow suspected that of you and, like many concerns this crew has had, none of us believed in you.”
Above her, looking at the doctor with a tense but nervous expression, the brenchian swallowed.
Zerori pulled herself up, feeling her legs start to tingle with sensation. They were responding. The doctor continued, “As a crew put together by piracy and survival, we preyed on those whom had too much and not enough wits about them to know how to appreciate what they had. We’re thieves, but we’re not going to abandon each other to our greed or ambition. These are the tenets of our, once, proud camaraderie.”
“-The hell are you saying?” Zerori whispered, never heard about thing like this from any of Kringe’s crew. They stayed farther than arm’s length, keeping to themselves and amongst each other. Despite her curiosity, she didn’t really care to force information about them aside from what they could offer her.
“Zerori,” Kringe started, but was intercepted by the doctor once more.
“Our KnightingGale has always been for the benefit of the camaraderie. So, tell me, Zerori,” He crossed his arms, an impudent expression on his face, “Are you a part of this, or not?”
Staring at the partially bald doctor, the saiyaness was truly at a loss for what to say. Kringe was in charge of a group that pretty much functioned like a glorified scavenger. With… with morals! Uncomfortable with the spotlight on her, Zerori could only push away from Kringe to stand on her own before she looked to the doctor with a serious expression. “I’ll… think about it.”
When she turned away from the doctor, feeling the drain of her apparent training in the gravity hours ago, he spoke once more. “My stipulation still stands. You either demand our help or we continue to keep our distance.”
“That’s… fine, Doctor.” Zerori caved, her mind and body far too tired to keep up in the ongoing struggle. Moral dilemmas could wait until after restored Ari or at the very least…
Until she slept.