the prince & the pancake [pankaa]

Throughout all his exploring of Plant the young Avali kept finding himself coming back to Berri Forest no matter how far he ventured from it he somehow always made his way back within a day or two! Perhaps the growing familiarity kept bringing him back-- That coupled with it hiding his crashed, but slowly being patched up ship of course. Over the time he'd been here for he'd been slowly collecting pieces for replacements parts for the bits of the ship that had been too damaged in his crash to simply patch up. Alongside regular fixing though he'd also been adding to his vessel some more important parts! Plant's selection of materials and technology to choose from wasn't really as good as the stuff he had access to back home on Namek, but he could make it work using his Avali initiative he was sure!

He'd been out and about again today on the lookout for food and more scrap pieces to work through but today was a little different-- Most days had gone that way to be honest though! He kept running into all sorts of people through this forest. Today though he'd been swinging and leaping about through the tree branches when his big ol' ears picked up the sound of metal pieces being dumped and then... Crunched? That couldn't be right, surely! What could possibly be crunching on metal? -- Then again, he drank ammonia like it was his water which was weird to most...

Curiosity getting the better of him Pankaa would head over towards the source of the noise, stopping his swinging to grab onto a branch just a few metres from the metal trash pile. From his stance in the tree he could see that someone who looked to be little was sitting amongst the trash heap-- And THEY seemed to be the source of the metal crunching! He was literally munching on pieces of metal and shoving scrap into his mouth! The Avali looked horrified thinking this kid was just that hungry that he was resorting to stuffing his face with scrap bits of metal.

Wasting no time he'd give a swing around the branch to himself enough momentum to launch forwards and land atop the pile in front of the kid, landing on all fours with his tails' finned fan flaring out behind him like a peacock-- But one who's feathers had been corrupted into fishy webbing. "Hey hey spit that out you don't gotta eat that stuff! Here- uh- Have one of these instead" Pankaa would put a paw into a pouch he'd made up to hang around his waist for fruit collecting, pulling out one of the nice yellowy-orange ones he'd been enjoying yesterday before offering it to the kid before him. Truth be told he also didn't want this child to eat a potential scrap heap he could collect some useful pieces from either, but the kids hunger came first much to his corruptions dismay.

It took a few moments after the initial surprise for the little creature to take up the Avali's offering for food which he hungrily started to gobble up! Pankaa figured he must've been incredibly hungry to have been willingly eating metal and scraps like that-- Though he wasn't one to question other races diets either as an Avali his 'water' was ammonia after all. Still, if the kid was able to eat something nicer then he'd feel bad to at least not offer the chance to!

Tilting his head slightly he squinted at seeing the kid become a little less bug-ish and more humanoid in appearance. Had that actually happened or had he imagined it? He shook his head to get his focus back as the kid started to speak voicing his thanks to Pankaa for the food, he'd smile back and give a light nod. "You're welcome! I've got a couple more if you're hungry" The way the kid strained when talking as if he was still working out how talking worked still reminded him a lot of... Well himself really, especially prior to the corruption.

Speaking of, the kid seemed interested in the blue finned fan of his tail extended out behind him, despite the corruption the tail being fanned out did seem to have the same-- or at least similar effects as it would have if they were still feathers. He'd have to pocket the compliment though as he folded the fin of his tail back up too returning it to its usual look for now. He didn't want to distract the kid with it after all!

A closer look of the kid showed he seemed to be a bit of a humanoid bug? He looked like a bit of a mix match of things really but Pankaa didn't think twice when one of the more insect-looking arms was extended, not thinking it all that really odd until the kid retracted it and instead offered one of his human hands instead. If it was what the kid preferred though then so be it! Either way the Avali would take up the extended hand with one of his paw-like hands and giving it a gentle shake in greeting. "Nice to meet ya Kay Bee! I'm Pankaa" He'd say pointing the thumb of his spare hand back at himself. The way Kay Bee spoke was so much like the struggles Pankaa had growing up and learning to speak too, it was nice to see he didn't struggle alone with it.

Letting go after the hand shake Pankaa would fish out another fruit to give over to the other kid since he was no doubt still hungry! With a second fruit offered he'd then start to rummage around the pile Kay Bee had been eating from before too, keeping a keen eye out for parts he could use for his ship or other handy things. During his search though he'd still keep an eye on the bug-ish kid as well. "What's Kay Bee doing out here all alone? Do you have family looking for you?" He'd ask as he ran a claw along a bit of scrap metal to listen for it's effectiveness.

Pankaa continued his scrap searching through the pile the two stood atop of as their little conversation continued, pocketing a few small things here and there into his little waist pouches that hung along his little leather belt. The small bits would help here and there with getting his ship back up and running, they'd work as good replacements for some of the inside tech and controls that broke during the crash. But he needed some bigger parts too to patch up the real ugly part of the crash, the exterior that practically crumbled apart upon his not-so-gentle landing.

After pocketing a useful small part though he'd look back to the other kid who seemed to be scrunching up his face, confused about something the Avali had said to him. He soon did provide an answer to one of the questions though before asking one of his own. Pankaa took a moment to process what the answer Kay-Bee gave him had meant before smiling nervously when thinking on how to answer his own given question. "Why's Pankaa here? Good question um" He'd scratch at the feathers on his chin for a moment before speaking up again. "Well, Pankaa's looking for parts for his ship! Like from this pile? That's also why Kay Bee can't eat it! Bad for Kay Bee, helpful for Pankaa, you know?"

The kid had mentioned that he was indeed hungry and that he was trying to find something to eat, though Pankaa was still trying to understand what he'd meant by leaving a floaty glass machine? "Here" He'd slip out another fruit from his food pouch and just like the others handed it on over to the bug-boy seeing as he'd already finished off the other offered fruit-- Though he'd at least eaten this one more slowly. Pankaa wasn't quite sure how much food the kid would need to no longer be hungry considering he wasn't fully aware of what species the boy was-- If he was saiyan adjacent then the Avali was going to run out of fruit in his little food pouch quite quickly. Maybe he could find some more edible things around the area for the kid once the fruit did run out?

Either way again he noticed that the kids features changed upon having eaten more actual food, overall he was starting to look much more humanoid rather then bug-like. Pankaa hadn't just imagined it! How intriguing... He was easily as fascinated about this as Kay Bee had been of his bright blue fins, but he also wasn't sure he'd get the answer he was looking for in asking the kid about why his features changed the more he ate either. Maybe Kay Bee didn't even notice it was happening to him? He didn't seem bothered by it at least. Pankaa kinda wished he could do that with the features the corruption had given him.

No point in dwelling on it though! Kay Bee soon gave more questions Pankaa's way, ones that made the Avali tilt his head to the side in a look of confusion. "You... You don't know what family is?" Well this complicated things. He also didn't know what alone meant either. How young was this guy? Pankaa wasn't exactly the most equipped to teach words as he was still learning lots himself, but he had to try his best! "Um, 'Alone' is when it's just you here and nobody else! Family is uh..." He'd rustle through the pile some more while working his head gears for a good explanation. "Family is people that're really close and important to you, you know? Like they look out for you, you look out for them. Your brothers, parents, so on... They help make sure you get good eats too, and nice place to sleeps"

The Avali would nod in encouragement as Kay Bee repeated the word 'family' after he'd said it and had managed pretty well at saying it for himself again! Hopefully he understood what the word meant now too at least a little bit anyways. "Yeah! You got it! You get it now?" It was of course a very brief way to describe what a family was and rather non-specific too but hopefully it'd suffice for now, he was sure the kid would learn more about it from others beyond just Pankaa overtime who could probably explain it much better too.

He was grateful the kid had decided to stop munching on all the parts from the scrap pile they were on now too, deciding that the fruit he'd been having handed to him was much more tasty! This meant Pankaa could actually use the bits-- That hadn't been chomped on already at least-- To try and patch up his ship! "Family usually have the really good foods too, more then just the fruits Pankaa give Kay Bee, like meats and other things! Big meals, you know?" The kid did seem to like to eat so maybe he knew that one already.

Pankaa smiled lightly at being thanked "You're welcome!" If Kay Bee let him he'd give the other younger kid a little pat on the head, ruffling his hair lightly in the process. For all of that he didn't seem to know he did at least seem to know of manners which made Pankaa wonder where he'd picked that up from. "I'm sure there out there somewhere looking for Kay Bee right now even!" The Avali said to try and reassure the kid on his hopes to find his family-- Or a family to call his own, much like Pankaa had done at a young age himself.

When asked on his own family and where they were the boy would scratch at the fuzz on the side of his face a little anxiously, his recently formed whiskers from having been corrupted getting in the way of this though causing him to snap back out of his thoughts. "Pankaa have a family yeah-- They're not my birth family but they're still mine" He of course had never met his birth family as he'd hatched from his egg on Namek where Nero had found him but he had a feeling they were still out there somewhere too.

"They're um... Back home, on Namek! Pankaa is away on trip that how he here on this planet with Kay Bee" He wasn't too sure if that was maybe something that would be more difficult for the younger kid to understand but he supposed he could just explain further where it was needed. "They're safe, Pankaa knows where they are!-- But what about Kay Bee? You've just been out here all alone? The whole time?" The Avali would look around the area for signs of other people just in case, keeping his four large ears up and at the ready for listening out for anyone close enough to be heard by any of them.

Kay Bee of course had a lot more questions which Pankaa had half-expected given all the words the Avali had been shooting out his way in his answers and questions back to the other kid. Though what Pankaa hadn't been expecting was how hard some questions would be to answer-- He found complex design making, advanced technology developing and fixing all sorts of machinery very easy, but conversations with other people? Now that was difficult! Sure it was easy enough as a little kid that older people found cute but even then he'd struggled to talk and keep conversations.

"Yeah, that's what alone is, you're gettin' the hang of it already see?" He'd tilt his own head though at the mention of a "float-tee masheen" a... Floaty machine??? Like a machine to help you fly or glide or something? He wasn't quite sure what the kid meant by that one. He wouldn't have too much time to think on it though as Kay Bee soon sent his own barrage of questions Pankaa's way. "Uhm... Uh" He'd need more thought on how to answer these ones and would place a finger to the scruff of his chin for extra thinking power.

"Well the first one, birth? Is like, how you were made? Whoever was involved in making Kay Bee they'd be his birth parents! Same for Pankaa, whoever created you basically, does that make sense? Is different cause you can have family who take you in but didn't create you" It still didn't really to Pankaa either but that was the best he could think of on how to explain it. "Maybe someone else more better for that question..." As for Namek that one was a little easier!

"Oh Namek? Is planet! Like the one we're on right now, but is more green and um... Elsewhere in space! Has different trees and people, that where Pankaa lives!" He'd smile thinking that was a much more clearer and easier to understand explanation then his last one at least. "Trip is like when you go from one place to another! Pankaa coming from Namek to here is a trip! If Kay Bee walked from here to another part of planet? That's a trip!" Though he supposed trip could also mean to fall over too but explaining how some words have multiple meanings might confuse the poor kid further.

"What Kay Bee mean by uhm, floaty machine? Is it a machine that make Kay Bee fly or something? What's it look like? Can you take Pankaa to it?"

Pankaa tried to manage an uncertain smile when Kay Bee gave a clap of excitement as though he'd come to realize something, hopefully this meant he'd explained well enough on something then? He wasn't so sure himself but the kid seemed happy so he couldn't of done too bad on the explanations, right? He'd of course do better though if he had a bit more knowledge himself on how to explain the things Kay Bee was asking on, Pankaa himself was still learning lots! So teaching someone else was much more difficult for him.

Bee then seemed puzzled again though and muttered about the floaty 'masheen' more, something about it having a big glass and water that tasted funny which Bee floated inside. The young boy didn't think he'd be able to find what he was talking about again but he had other ideas on how to show Pankaa it without having to go anywhere at all! As the Avali placed a claw to his chin in thought at Kay Bee's words trying to work out exactly what he meant by a floaty machine with bubbles and funny water, the kid himself changed before his very eyes!

Pankaa would let out a surprised squawk sort of a sound as he jumped backwards-- Having to quickly use his raptor feet claws to latch onto something again before he stumbled down the junk pile from his reaction, his feathers on his wings, tail and head all puffing up in surprise as well before slowly settling back down as he tried to regain his composure. Pankaa knew a few things when it came to magic but shapeshifting himself or others was not yet one of those things, so seeing the young boy before him somehow turn himself into what looked to be some sort of tube? Machine thing just as he had been trying to describe before came as quite the shock!

The young Avali would lean in a little to get a better look after he had his composure back and squinted slightly to try and read the little line of text on the front of the tube. At a closer look it seemed to say something about a 'Project KB-223' which had at least two letters from Kay Bee's name in it so must've been something to do with him! Pankaa would look all over and even waddle around the now glass cylinder Kay Bee to make sure he took in all of its details that he could take in-- Though the kid startled him lightly when he spoke up whilst still shapeshifted into this floaty machine he'd been talking about!

"H-how Kay Bee do that...? Is that painful?" He'd ask sheepishly as he'd give the 'glass' of Kay Bee a light tap with one claw. "Pankaa... Thinks he understands now though, have seen some machines like this before though is strange Kay Bee was in one, hmmm" Looking at the cylinder version of Kay Bee was making him feel a little queasy-- He didn't want to think of how his body was managing to function while in that form and given the groan the kid made when transforming into it he was sure it couldn't of been completely painless! "Kay Bee can change back now! Is okay!"

The glass cylinder machine did open up a lot more questions though but he was sure Kay Bee himself likely didn't know the answer to them either. Was the kid created and made in the machine? Pankaa was sure he and his brothers had seen and met some people who'd been brought to life that way during their visits to other planets like Earth before. Some were made just so people could have a child they otherwise wouldn't be able to have, others though were created with other reasons in mind and some of those reasons weren't always good ones. The Avali would place his fists to his waist and look at the other kid in front of him for a few moments, trying to think of an answer he couldn't possibly get without further questions to people outside of Kay Bee that he had no idea how to find. If the kid had of been made for the first reason though why was he out here in the forest all on his lonesome eating through metal scrap piles?

"When Kay Bee came out of bubbly machine, was there anyone Kay Bee remembers around? Kay Bee have any friends outside of Pankaa? You know friends right?"

As requested Kay Bee would soon morph himself back out of being a glass tube machine and back into the oddly buggy saiyan kid he was before! Though not before turning into a insect creature first which was rather off putting as well but Pankaa chalked it up to being just the kid morphing into something else before returning back to normal once more. The Avali near covered his eyes with his hands when Kay Bee started this transforming of his body but managed to stomach it long enough for Kay Bee to return back to normal. Maybe he should not learn that shape shifting thing after all... If that was what it looked like!

"Oh uhm, not Kay Bee's machine but Pankaa has seen some kinda like it! For other things" He'd point out with a small smile, "Like um, medical machine! Is very similar" He'd nod and put a paw to his chin in thought for a few moments to picture it in his noggin before looking back to Kay Bee, "You go floaty in a machine with funny liquid water inside and it heals you up! Pankaa's never been in one though, only seen them on some planets"

Concerningly Kay Bee would point out that there were no friends at the machine he was born from and that he'd been alone, the place his machine was in sounding as though it was old and broken even? This only spurred more questions for Pankaa, was the kid abandoned in the tube? Had something happened to everyone there? How did Kay Bee get out of the machine to begin with? "How did Kay Bee wakey from the machine? Nobody let you out?" He'd frown looking puzzled by it all, this kid sure was intriguing but even more importantly he needed someone to help look after him! Pankaa was hardly equipped for such a task but he also didn't really know people on Plant who could take care of him in his stead.

The kid seemed excited though hearing the Avali refer to him as a friend to which Pankaa would smile at his overjoyed response and happy hopping on the spot. "Yeah of course! Kay Bee nice to Pankaa, answers all silly questions and doesn't bite!" That last part was especially important of course! The Avali would soon seem satisfied with his scrounging of the scrap heap the two had been talking on top of for the most part and would gesture for Kay Bee to follow after him before sliding down it to the grass below. "Kay Bee wanna see what Pankaa's been working on? Built it all by myself!" Pankaa would of course want to bring the new parts found from the scrap pile back to his ship so he could start working on patching it back up enough for another take off as soon as possible, but there was no harm in showing Kay Bee his work either! He supposed for now the kid could come along with him so he could at least make sure he was safe until they could find a better caretaker for him.

"I'll race you if you want! Make it game!"