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Post by Vegia on Feb 17, 2018 11:39:26 GMT -6
The lodge was a warm and inviting space, filled with the scent of cooking food and a roaring fire to chase back the chill. There was still darkness outside, but in here, it was easy to get warm and push away the feeling that the world was falling apart all around them.
After the initial meeting on the mountain, even if it had ended with her cold, Vegia was starting to feel like things were starting to look up. They had a long way to go before they were in a solid position, but there were more survivors than she’d been expecting – and she’d only just started looking. Perhaps she really would be able to forge some sort of decent fighting force for when the World Trade Fleet inevitably made their second attack.
She sat by the fire with her cape drying next to it, stripped out of her armour and wearing only the tight black bodysuit she wore beneath. Even her boots were wet, and needed to be dried out. It felt as though it were the first time in years that she had been able to take off the heavy ceremonial gear, and it felt amazing to finally peel all that off.
At the same time, taking it off had her feeling vulnerable. She hadn’t slowed down for even a second since she arrived on this planet; not since she could walk, anyway, and now she was forcing herself to try and slow down. Recklessly charging forwards and refusing to recharge would only get her killed. She knew that logically. Emotionally, the girl was still a bag of nerves and stress. Her tail remained coiled tight about her waist, and she stared over the mug of cocoa she had ordered at the other Saiyan.
Nashua had joined her. Vegia’s universal card was still good for money – though she had no idea how long that would really stay the case. A few weeks ago, she would never have dreamed of talking to an Ambassador; such people were for protecting, not for fraternising. A few weeks ago, though, the world made sense.
“So.” She said, “You were an ambassador, huh?” The girl’s hands continued to turn the cup, as though rotating it was somehow going to help her ease away the nervous energy bubbling under the surface. “You know that at least one of the alien species we were dealing with probably betrayed us, right? The World Trade Fleet had to have inside knowledge to be able to pick our defences apart so easily.”
She didn’t want to talk about what had happened, not really. She wanted to try and make a new friend, meet someone and connect on an emotional level. But she couldn’t help herself. The devastation of their planet hung over them both like a cloud, blotting out anything else. She couldn’t break herself out of the cycle. Every thought she had just kept circling back to what they’d lost, no matter how much she tried to reach out and focus on what they’d gained.
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Nashua
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Post by Nashua on Feb 17, 2018 14:44:52 GMT -6
| IT'S COLD OUTSIDE |
The Saiyan royal guard named Vegia was surprisingly hospitable, as she led Nashua into a nice, warm place to rest their feet and warm up from the harsh cold on the mountain. Once they'd arrived, Nashua got to work drying herself and her clothes off. Unfortunately, the battle skirt and tanktop she'd come in were the only clothes she had left. Everything else was back on Vegeta, and had likely either been burned or would collect dust in a wardrobe for quite some time. There was at least a bathroom available where she had some privacy, and once she'd managed to get both her and her clothes as dry as she could, she slipped her clothes back on, though left behind the boots, tights and wrist cuffs to dry further. Once she got back outside the lavatory, she found Vegia sitting near the fireplace with a cup of cocoa.
"That looks nice and hot," Nashua commented as she sat down in the chair across the fireplace from the black-haired warrior. There was a blanket laid across the soft, inviting chair with two cushioned armrests, and Nashua eagerly wrapped the wool sheet around herself and hugged her knees up to her chest, with her toes poking out from underneath only slightly. The fire gave off a nice, warm glow that made Nashua feel more welcome in this foreign place than anything else had so far. The blanket felt a bit itchy, but other than that it was soft and felt great around her jittery legs and tired arms. And then, finally, Vegia spoke.
Nashua had sort of been hoping for a more casual conversation after the complete hell they had all just been through, though as a Saiyan royal guard, it did seem to make sense that even in a moment of respite, Vegia's mind was on the coming threat. "I suppose that must be true," Nashua replied. "Though I wouldn't have the faintest idea who those traitors would, unfortunately. As much as I'd like to be able to help, none of the foreign powers I dealt with had any visible connection to them. I might have..." She paused for a moment, reluctant to entertain the thought, but shortly continued, "...missed something, though. I don't know." Nashua's head lowered and she gazed with her golden orbs down at her toes, wiggling them a bit as she wrapped the blanket around herself tighter.
"How did it go for you out there?" Nashua asked, trying to take her mind off the possibility she may have inadvertently allowed this to happen. "I tried to help, but a single attack nearly killed me. But you're a royal guard, so I imagine you must have been fighting off Arcosians by the dozen! They must have had to completely overwhelm you all to have been able to defeat you, and you didn't even die!" Nashua was, obviously, impressed with the royal guards and their feats, and she'd never really been able to sit down and speak with one before, since they were still so much higher than her in the Saiyan hierarchy. "So, what did it take for you to finally be forced to flee with the rest of us? Was it that Tundra guy in his most powerful form?" Nashua couldn't wait to hear about Vegia's exploits, and the Saiyan eagerly awaited a response.
TAGS: @vegia
OOC NOTES:
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Post by Vegia on Feb 17, 2018 15:03:40 GMT -6
The question was exactly what Vegia didn’t want to talk about. The girl’s gaze drifted back towards the fire, and she found herself staring into it. The flames were small and contained, but she was never far away from the wild inferno which had consumed her childhood home. The screams of the dying. The terrible silence of the dead.
Every word that followed was like another punch to the gut. Was that how people saw her? What they had assumed about her? That she was some incredible warrior who had gone toe to toe with the best the World Trade Fleet could throw at them and only been driven off at terrible cost? She wished that was true.
But no. She remembered that fight. How quickly they had been cut off and overwhelmed. Outnumbered dozens to one, pinned, forced to fight back, to retreat, and even then, not all of them could make it.
The Line of Karo had been broken that day.
Vegia was quiet for a long time in the aftermath of the questions. She was looking in the direction of the fire, but she obviously wasn’t seeing it. She had the thousand-yard stare unique to soldiers who had seen too much fighting. That, wasn’t common to Saiyans. Their fighting spirit yearned for combat, it was in their blood. But sometimes, just sometimes, there was a trauma deep enough that it cut at their core.
“It wasn’t my fight.”
The girl’s voice sounded very small and far away when she spoke up. Those last words from her father had hurt more than everything else. They had wounded her deeper than the sights; they still burned in her now. She was doing a good job pretending, rallying the forces, getting everyone to work together. She could do that. She could play the part of a Royal Guard.
But in her father’s eyes, the only eyes that mattered to her, she was no Royal Guard. She was not worthy to stand with them. She was just the Least Elite.
“My Father, he… insisted, that I retreated as soon as the outer defences were breached.” She said, “I, didn’t want to go. I argued. He knocked me out. I woke up here.”
She left out the part where she had woken up here half-dead due to the damage her pod had sustained; the part where the majority of the power she now enjoyed was down to the legendary zenkai of their people.
“I shamed him, by disobeying.” She admitted, talking, now, to her cocoa. “And I shamed our people by being forced to abandon my post when I could have done more to try and save the Royal Family. All I can do now is try to redeem myself. When we take back Vegeta, I’ll… I’ll hand in my uniform, then…”
She felt numb. She hadn’t admitted the full story to anyone, not even Prince Vocado. She didn’t know why she did now. Maybe she was just tired, and she needed someone to know the truth; that she was unworthy.
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Nashua
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Post by Nashua on Feb 17, 2018 15:55:28 GMT -6
| IT'S COLD OUTSIDE |
Nashua sat huddled in her chair with the blanket wrapped tightly around herself, her brows furrowed as her golden eyes stared over at Vegia with pity. What else could she do but pity the woman? The Saiyan warrior had opened up to her truthfully, and Nashua was grateful that the truth had been put out in the open, but she wasn't really sure how to feel about what she'd heard. Her impression of Vegia back on the mountain's peak had been that of a strong, fearless Saiyan warrior who looked death in the eye and gave him a wink. What Nashua saw, though, was someone who seemed defeated and dejected, someone who had tried their best only for it to all amount to nothing, and someone who had all they believed in thrown back in their face and ruined.
What Nashua saw in Vegia was herself.
Whether she liked to admit it or not, Nashua had begun to have doubts on her own way of thinking. Despite growing up in a race known for their proud warrior mentality and skill in combat, the pacifistic Saiyan that was Nashua was, well, quite pacifistic in her beliefs. Her parents might not have liked it much, but she truly enjoyed it whenever she was able to resolve things with her words rather than her fists. And she was good at it, too! She couldn't count how many successful conflicts she's resolved just by talking things out. But in the face of the World Trade Federation, all those words she'd used offered no defense at all to a swift ki blast to her chest that had left her sprawled across the ground.
"I know how you're feeling," Nashua slowly said after several moments of reflective silence. "But you shouldn't give up like that. How do you think your father would feel if he knew his only remaining legacy was going to throw in the towel? He forced you to survive for a reason, I believe. I'm sure he saw something in you that told him you were going to do great things. Heck, you've already started doing more than any of the rest of us, taking action and gathering that group up on the mountain!" While Vegia seemed scared and small now, on the mountain, Vegia had seemed like one of the most powerful and wise Saiyans Nashua had encountered in a long time, even if she was a few years older than the woman.
"And you even gave me your coat, so you clearly have a kind heart behind all that serious stuff you have going on. It's a really nice coat, by the way," she added with a smile, glancing over at the red cloak as it dried by the fire. She recalled its smooth and soft interior that had so effectively driven away the cold of the blizzard. "Did you make it? Because if you did, I think you'd really make a killer seamstress. I should definitely splurge on some new clothes, cause this purple battle skirt is all I've got left!"
TAGS: Vegia
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Post by Vegia on Feb 17, 2018 16:14:36 GMT -6
“I’m not giving up.”
There was some of that steel back in Vegia’s voice when she spoke, and she turned her gaze back towards Nashua. The girl was still quieter than she had been, but there’s determination there. She just, ignores, what her father’s plan had been. She knew that. Her father just wanted her to carry on the family name; to find a man and have a son who could be the next Karo.
She might be disappointing him. She didn’t care.
“We can’t afford to wallow in self-pity.” She said, “Not, right now. It’d be indulgent. I have a duty, to, make up for my failings back home. That’s what I’m doing now. Together, we’re going to pull through this. We’ll take our home back. But, when we’ve done all that…”
She didn’t see a place for herself there, not any more. She couldn’t go back to being a Royal Guard after the previous royal family were all dead. She was a failure in that regard, and whoever wound up being King or Queen when the dust finally settled, they’d need better people than her around them if they were going to be kept safe. But, at the same time, she couldn’t hand back her duty. She had a responsibility to uphold those standards as best she could; to take on that burden, and uphold the oaths she had sworn to the best of her ability.
Besides. If she was lucky, she’d die in the fighting, preferably taking some of the Arcosians down with her. That would solve all of her problems.
The question about her cape managed to bring a fragile smile back to her features.
“A Royal Guard of the Line of Karo must be responsible for the care and maintenance of their uniform at all times. Even in the most hostile environment, a member of the Line of Karo must blaze like the full moon, striking fear in the hearts of their enemies and lending strength and courage to their allies.”
She made the smile stronger, after reciting the little quote. Her hand rubbed across her eyes, and she cleared her throat.
“I'm sorry. I guess that talk earlier wasn’t very, fitting. But, yes, I did make the cloak. And everything else in the uniform as well. The boots would be the hardest to replace if something happened to them.”
She hesitated, then, and added, “Are you… asking me to make you something to wear? I’ve never made any clothes for anyone else before.”
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Nashua
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Post by Nashua on Feb 17, 2018 16:43:38 GMT -6
| IT'S COLD OUTSIDE |
As Vegia proudly declared she was not giving up Nashua was a bit relieved. She seriously doubted that she, or even most of the other Saiyans would be able to lead the remnants of the Saiyan Kingdom the way that Vegia had already proven herself able to, so without the black-haired royal guard they'd certainly have a bit harder of a time coming together and repelling the World Trade Federation. Nashua was a bit disappointed that she'd been unable to convince the woman not to throw in the towel after they'd managed to take Vegeta back from the foul Arcosians, but there was plenty of time left for Vegia to redeem herself and feel more up to the task. Who knew how the woman would be feeling once the time actually came for the kingdom to reconvene back on their home planet? Even if Vegia hadn't been able to help defend the royal family, the pacifistic Saiyan felt she would do a phenomenal job guarding any future royalty with her life.
Then they got to the matter of Vegia's clothes, and Nashua smiled at how the other Saiyan's face lit up when praised about the work she'd done on the cape. Nashua herself hadn't ever been good at making clothes, or anything, really. Her current outfit was just bought at a store because she thought it looked cute and felt comfortable. The red outfit Vegia had made for herself really did seem to suit her, and it was extremely warm and comfortable to boot. Speaking of boots, Nashua hadn't the slightest idea how to make boots by hand, so the fact that Vegia had even made those was almost spookily impressive.
"Oh, uh, I don't want to put you out or anything," the Saiyan curled up in the blanket flusteredly responded as Vegia inquired about whether she wanted something made for her. "We've got a war to fight and all, so I certainly wouldn't make you do something like that, I was just impressed, is all! I'm actually quite comfortable with the clothes I wear, when they're, um, not soaking wet with snow and water." While she'd been having some issues warming herself up, the room suddenly became around thirty degrees hotter for Nashua, and she was forced to unwrap herself a bit from the blanket she'd been coddled up in like a coccoon.
"If you did end up giving up the royal guard position, though," Nashua added after her red cheeks had whitened themselves back up, "Then maybe you could start up some sort of clothing place. You'd certainly have more then just a few happy customers if you did!" Nashua luaghed a little awkwardly after she spoke, and couldn't help but worry that Vegia felt like she was only buttering her up for free clothes. "Um, well, if you were to uh, give up that position under the next rulers of the kingdom, what would you want to do instead?" she asked, changing the subject. "You don't have to become a seamstress if you don't want, of course, that was just my suggestion."
TAGS: Vegia
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Post by Vegia on Feb 18, 2018 2:17:30 GMT -6
It felt strange, thinking about the future. The past was so heavy on her right now that thinking too far ahead felt like a betrayal. What would she do when all of this was over? She knew she couldn’t keep her position, but she hadn’t really put things together beyond that.
She tried to picture herself living a normal life. There were Saiyans who did that; running her own clothing store was certainly something she could manage. She doubted there were any challenges in the world of retail which could possibly exceed the challenges she had already faced as a Royal Guard. That was the sort of thing that her father had likely envisioned when he’d sent her hurtling through space.
Find a man. Settle down. Raise a family.
She realised after a moment that she’d cracked the cup of cocoa, hot liquid dribbling down onto the floor. Hurriedly, she rushed up to her feet. “Ah! Just, just a second!” She exclaimed, running over to the bar and bowing deep with embarrassment as she handed over the broken cup. G-geez, that was embarrassing, what was getting into her?
She returned a few moments later with a fresh cup and bright red cheeks. She settled herself back down into the seat, and made herself look at Nashua head on – she had, at least, considered the question properly whilst waiting for a new cocoa.
“I’ll probably chase the Arcosians to the end of the galaxy.” She said, firmly. “We went too easy on them last time. If they’re going to keep coming back every few hundred years to try and kill us all, then we need to make sure that this time we get every single one. I imagine there’ll be a lot of us looking to go and do that.”
So, there it was. What was she going to do after handing in her uniform? She was going to go off and commit genocide.
“How about you?” She asked, “I mean, you’re an ambassador. That’s a pretty important position, and we’ll need people to reach out to our allies and help us rebuild Vegeta, I imagine.” She smiled wanly, “I mean, it might wind up being that the best way you can help us is to stay on Earth… if you think you wouldn’t be driven crazy.”
She leant forwards, lowering her voice so as not to offend their gracious hosts, who really were doing everything they could to make them feel welcome.
“I don’t think I could stand it.” She whispered, conspiratorially. “These Humans are weird.”
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Nashua
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Post by Nashua on Feb 19, 2018 11:07:13 GMT -6
| IT'S COLD OUTSIDE |
Nashua had to stop herself from laughing when Vegia's cup of cocoa cracked open into in her hand and all the hot, dark liquid began pouring out onto the floor. Something about seeing stoic, figures of authority make very common and humbling mistakes like that was always amusing to Nashua, like when her commander had accidentally tripped over his own foot and fell down the stairs that one time, or when that same commander had sneezed so hard he fell back on his own rear end. The memories brought a smile to Nashua's face as Vegia went away to retrieve a replacement cup of hot cocoa, though it saddened her to think that he had more likely than not been killed in the attack by the World Trade Federation. Last she could remember, hed thrown her into a pod and told her to "get the hell out" and then turned around to go and help more people escape. She hoped he'd made it. He had to have, right?"
Before Nashua even noticed her return, Vegia was already back in her seat with a fresh cup and was beginning to detail her plan of hunting down every last Arcosian. Nashua could relate to that feeling, of course. All throughout history, it was made quite clear that no amount of reasoning with that race seemed to do the Saiyans any good. They were, it seemed, destined to be at each other's throats until one of them had finally wiped the other out completely. The young woman wrapped herself back up into her blanket coccoon more tightly and nodded her head in reluctant agreement while Vegia continued to speak. She seemed to have zoned out slightly, because once she'd finally tuned back in, Nashua was being inquired about what she herself was going to do.
"Oh, I'm not sure I'd want to stay here," Nashua replied, chuckling a bit as Vegia detailed her distaste for humans. She didn't really mind them, of course, but Nashua did still prefer being friends Saiyans over most other races. She just felt more at ease around them. "I don't dislike humans, of course, but I grew up on Vegeta. It's my home as much as any of ours, so I'd want to do my best to make sure we can get it back. After all, even if we deflect the World Trade Federation here, I imagine we may have to continue to fight them on Vegeta." She didn't like the thought, but it would make sense that just because they'd been defeated on Earth, they wouldn't simply surrender Vegeta back to the Saiyans.
"Of course, if requested of me, I'd set up shop on any planet in the universe if it would benefit the kingdom," the young Saiyan woman quickly added once she'd realized it may sound a bit selfish to insist herself back onto Vegeta. "But what do you think? Might they surrender if we end up destroying most of the fleet in the coming battles? After we fight them off Earth, I mean. Is it so unreasonable to think they would never consider surrender, or even negotiation?"
TAGS: Vegia
OOC NOTES: Sorry for the delay!
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Post by Vegia on Feb 19, 2018 13:05:10 GMT -6
“They’re monsters.”
The words were spoken with utter conviction. It was quite the change given how uncertain and tired Vegia had seemed before. The questions, though, were ones that were easy to answer. Would they surrender? Would they try to negotiate?
“Even if they did, it’d only be a ploy to get us to lower our guards again. They could have had all the fringe planets in the galaxy if they wanted. We weren’t chasing them anymore. We didn’t care about them anymore. If they wanted peace, they could have stayed the hell out of our way.”
There was genuine venom in her voice. The girl’s anger was, palpable, practically radiating off her in waves as she glared into her cup of cocoa. If only things had been different. Peace was a strange thing for a Saiyan to yearn for, but she hadn’t known any truly major conflicts in her lifetime. She knew fighting from training, and sparring, and discussions with her father about her ancestor’s roles in the old days. She had heard about war, and the age of Saiyan conquest which had presaged their current dynasty…
But she yearned for peace. Their people had settled and flourished in ways that would have been undreamed of even a few short generations ago. They were learning more about the universe from their Namekian friends, and there was a great age of stability where they didn’t need to conquer and destroy.
All of that had been taken away, because of the World Trade Fleet’s determination to take revenge against people who had nothing to do with the ancient slights against them other than bearing the same blood.
It was stupid, and the fact that it seemed to have worked only made things worse. She had to speak in absolutes, she couldn’t let any doubt show, but the truth was? She fully expected that they were all doomed. None of them were like the legendary Super Saiyans of old. Who amongst them could be the next Zuccetta?
“When we fight them off here, it’ll be because we worked together with the locals. It won’t just be Saiyans, and we’ll have to take that unity out into the stars. When we defeat the World Trade Fleet, we’ll have allies from every world we can muster at our back. It's the only way it'll work.”
Her eyes focused on Nashua again, then. Her voice was very cold, despite the warmth in the room. “And this time.” She said, “We can’t listen to anything they have to say. There can’t be a middle ground. If we let them get away with this, in another five or six generations, they’ll come back and try again. This is what they do. They lie, they wait for an opportunity, and then they try to take everything.”
Vegia sighed, heavily, and leaned back in her chair, head turned towards the fire.
“I wish we didn’t have to, but you can’t surrender to people who want you in chains… and you can’t negotiate with someone who is willing to attack the moment that your back is turned. We’re going to need to take what is ours.”
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Nashua
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Tag: @nashua
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Post by Nashua on Feb 20, 2018 0:19:12 GMT -6
| IT'S COLD OUTSIDE |
Nashua was quiet for a bit after Vegia had very seriously made her stance on how the Arcosians were simply not to be negotiated with. In the back of her mind, Nashua had to admit she felt Vegia was right. But in the front of her mind, some stupid part of her just refused to accept that there was absolutely no way to bring things to a resolution without either the Saiyans or Arcosians being wiped out completely. She'd resolved plenty of "unsolvable" conflicts before, maybe if she could just get the leaders of the World Trade Fleet to sit down and talk, they could work something out? Though she thought of suggesting this to Vegia, Nashua already sort of knew the response she'd get from suggesting such an outlandish idea. Especially after the Fleet had murdered their people and destroyed their home so recently.
Maybe she could bring it back up after things had cooled down a bit more. For now, the hopelessly pacifistic Saiyan nodded her head slowly. "I suppose you're right," she quietly said, shifting slightly in her chair and gazing over at the fire. She had only just noticed how bright and warm the flame was, the scorching embers dancing around wickedly and ferociously as they illuminated the otherwise dark room. Her eyes then turned over to one of the windows on the wooden walls, and she could faintly make out the snow still coming down with its own, different kind of intensity. "It's cold outside," she absentmindedly muttered to herself, dropping the blanket from around her shoulders and stretching out her pale, tired arms.
"I suppose I'll be heading to bed soon, if that's alright with you," Nashua said as she rubbed her tired eyes. "We, uh, have separate beds, right?" she asked the black-haired Saiyan with a furrowed brow. "I mean, not that I would mind sharing a bed with you, of course, I just tend to move around a lot and snore really loudly, according to people I've bunked with, so I don't think I'd be, uh, fun to sleep next to." Nashua stood up and let the blanket drop down onto the chair off of her back, stretching out her legs this time. The hardwood floor was cold and bracing against her bare feet, but it still felt oddly comfortable. She didn't pay it much mind regardless, as she was too busy letting out a monstrous yawn. "Do you think you'll be staying up much later?" she asked through the yawn, her words likely barely even intelligible.
TAGS: Vegia
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Post by Vegia on Feb 20, 2018 7:51:16 GMT -6
“Yeah, it is.”
Vegia sighed softly, and brushed her hand through her hair. It was a strange world she’d fallen into. The talk with Nashua had mostly underscored one thing to the girl: she couldn’t afford to look disheartened to her fellows. Nashua was clearly looking to her for leadership. As a Royal Guard, she was used to responsibility, duty, and even a basic level of enhanced respect from her fellow Saiyans…
But amongst the Line of Karo, she had been the bottom rung. The Least Elite. She was a joke, and she hadn’t ever really appreciated how much of a joke until the moment that her father had knocked the wind out of her and stolen her chance of glory.
Nobody on Vegeta would ever have dreamed of looking to her for leadership. But here? She’d clearly had a far greater impact on her fellows than she’d anticipated. All she’d wanted to do was get them fired up and bring them together so that she could pass them on to Vocado. The Prince would know what to do with them; he was a leader, she was just a glorified bodyguard, and one who had failed at doing even that simple job of dying before her charges.
“Huh?” She asked, suddenly realising that Nashua was asking her questions, and she’d just been staring into the fire again. There was something almost hypnotic about the way the fire danced.
“Oh, yeah.” She said, nodding her head. “I, got us both separate beds. Same room. Don’t worry about it. The person behind the bar should give you a key.”
She knocked back her cocoa, then, and stood up, rolling her shoulders back as she walked over to the armour. It was dry, now.
It was a heavy weight, but one that was comforting for the fact that she’d worn it her whole life. These other burdens she was now having to shoulder, those were a far heavier weight. She only hoped that she could prove everyone in her family wrong, and show them that she could be strong enough to take on the mantle thrust upon her.
A small, sad smile pulled onto her lips as she slung the cloak back around her shoulders. Of course, she wouldn’t be showing them anything, ever again. They were all dead. They’d got the last word in, there. They’d gone to their graves thinking her a weakling, and she’d never truly be able to prove otherwise to them. Funny.
“I think I’m going to take a walk before I go to bed.” Vegia said, “You get a good night’s rest. You can join me for morning training if you like, but otherwise, we’re going to have to start making more contacts, and working on the mountain.”
Focus on the things you can do something about. Concentrate on concrete goals. More people. Somewhere to stay. Allies in the local populace.
Everything else would take care of itself.
That was what she was thinking as she shouldered open the door and headed back out into that cold, unforgiving landscape.
When she woke up in the morning, Nashua would find that Vegia’s bed hadn’t been slept in at all…
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