Drowning in Drink

"Is he?" Cato frowned, recalling her experience with Vocado. He had seemed rather talkative, but she had assumed he was on the violent side of Saiyans. Then again, she might have taken too much away from the name Shredder Corps and not enough from his mild demeanour.

She shrugged her shoulders all the same.

"It sounded like he was in tight with some people pretty far up, but you're probably right. Being friends with an absentee King probably won't count for much if someone else decides they like sitting on that uncomfortable throne..." she found herself gazing back towards the palace again. "The ease with which leadership is transferred does seem to be a sort of weakness, um, in that it seems unstable. But I guess anyone could be King or Queen, right? Anyone strong enough to punch their way into the palace and not have anyone stop them?"

For the briefest of moments, Cato caught herself imagining what she might do if she had that much power. But while that momentary wonder or ambition might have been read through a glint in her eye, it dimmed almost as soon as it appeared. She knew she would never have the kind of strength that the last King had, and whoever replaced him would probably be even more formidable.

She shook her head, as if rattling the thought out of her brain. "--No, I can show you my pod now. If nothing else, you might notice something that I haven't since it's become so familiar to me over the years. And if we're going to the palace in a couple days, I mean, maybe you'll have figured out something in the meantime."

This time, it was Cato's turn to launch herself into the air and race off, not bothering to check if Lottus was following -- she just assumed he would be. She wasted no time in flying high into the sky, an aura of bright purple ki sparking around her as she crested into cloud cover. From there, it was a short flight, though one that involved a lot of back-tracking and circling around, until she finally found what she was looking for.

She went into a sudden dive, letting her momentum help push her to even greater speeds until she rocketed right into the ground, in a crag between a series of bluffs just outside of the Capital. It appeared to be some kind of temporary residence, as seemingly Cato wasn't a fan of the lodgings in the Radditsu District. There was a fairly cheap capsule house, a firepit that had long since gone cold, and the space-pod she had mentioned. At a glance, it was clear that it was intended to display wealth: the pod itself had a deep purple and gold trim, with a blackened viewport and a luxurious interior with seats that could have been taken out of a high-end resort. 

On the very top of the pod was the icon Cato noted: the hint of something red and gold was just visible under the moonlight, scorched beyond all recognition. Whatever it used to depict, it was long gone.

"There's not much to see, unfortunately."

---

Cato frowned as she watched Lottus looking over the marking. For a moment, she thought it might have been a gamble set to pay off -- but she was wrong. He was just as in the dark as she was. She offered a weak smile to him, stepping up near the pod herself to take a cursory glance at the symbol, though she'd look at it so many times before there was no hope of anything stirring in her memory.

"I tried to find similar markings at one of the military archives, but there are so many different crests and icons that it could have been so many things, it was a bit of a dead end. Between family crests, personal sigils, and all the different insignia different families use to mark their soldiers..." she gave her head a shake. She supposed that difficulty in recalling small details like this was just one of the many prices the Saiyans paid for their rejection of uniformity.

"Most of the systems were wiped clean before I was sent off, and the rest had to be replaced over the years. There were launch codes, but they belonged to a trading company that sometimes ran routes to Plant..." she wrinkled her nose. "Well, trading company is being generous about it. It was a smuggling company."

She stepped away from the pod and tried to spark a flame in the fire pit with a jet of ki sparks. She managed to to strike up a weak fire, though it looked like it might burn itself out in a matter of moments. It wouldn't provide warmth, but at the least it cast a dim light over the otherwise foreboding network of crags she had chosen to nestle her home in.

"--That isn't to say that the pod is related to smugglers," she added. "I think whoever sent me away used dummy launch codes. They just had to get me off-planet, I don't think they had any intention of me being able to get back. I've since updated to using proper military codes, but the older security information should still be inside the main computer."

---

Cato regarded the space pod for a moment longer, before reaching down to push the open door shut. Lottus had spoken what she had tended to try to ignore: it really didn't make sense that she would be left with such luxury when she was abandoned. She remained silent for a long moment, trying to collect her own thoughts and uncertainties, before finally her attention back to the other Saiyan.

"I was abandoned," she said, flatly. This was the absolute truth, at least how she saw it. "Maybe they sent me away in comfort, but they went out of their way to make sure I couldn't get back. They never tried to contact me, never reached out--I mean, isn't that the definition of being abandoned? Even if they weren't as careless about it as some people..."

Her gaze lifted back to the pod, but it didn't hold her attention for more than a moment. It was like looking at a puzzle missing most of the pieces: all of the answers had been stripped away, and what was left behind were questions -- questions that only begged more questions. Cato had trained all her life to be a fighter, not a detective, and if this circumstance was unfamiliar to even someone with Lottus' apparent experience, she couldn't help but feel a biting doubt as to whether she would ever get her answers.

"Let's say you're right," she began, though her tone dripped of thinly veiled skepticism. "Let's say they were trying to protect me, or hide me, or whatever you think it might be. What could it have possibly been about me, or about what was happening here, that would make them fire me off into space like that? They had to know that I would wind up in a violent situation given the strength I was born with, and the -- danger-lust that seems to run through all our veins."

"And if they were in danger," she continued. "Why wouldn't they want me behind to help? I could have been of value in battle even from a young age, under the full moon..."

Cato trailed off, and then grumbled some vague note of discontent. "... There's also the possibility I'm not of noble birth at all, and I was just lobbed into this thing by a ship thief."

---

Cato turned to the side as Lottus lifted his hand, turning her gaze upwards towards the stars. She listened to his words, but her mind was still racing along the same tracks it had run for years before. Old mysteries, old questions, and still no answers. That had, ultimately, been the entire reason she had been driven to drink in the first place -- and though the fight had driven some of the stupor from her, she knew she would be feeling the punishment for her consumption once the sun rose.

"The archives," she agreed, with a soft nod. "But you're right. Bloodlines are a little stupid, aren't they? I've seen a dozen so-called nobles with powers that dwarf mine, and yet you're a so-called low-class, and I find myself doubting whether I would be able to beat you in a sustained fight, even if I had the moon on my side."

Her eyes found the half-moon, almost by accident. Fortunately, that didn't have any effect on her.

"We may not get each-other, but I'm not so sure we don't get each-other, either. You're the first Saiyan who's really spoken truth to me, and put everything--ah, the way it is. As you say, you know who you are, and what your life is, and that's enough for you, and I don't--but I could figure my own problems out, and you could find your life becomes a little more uncertain, no?"

She shrugged a shoulder.

"Whether or not I'm a noble, I think we could be friends. It's not like discovering some lost noble birth would redeem me from being an outcast who grew up amongst pirates and mercenaries, is it?" she managed a weak smile. "The same thing you said to me goes for you. If you have an enemy, then, well--..."

She tapped on her scouter. "You know how to reach me. Otherwise, I'm sure we'll see more of each-other. Perhaps in the training yard, though unless you're hoping to teach me the secrets of that wrathful state you mentioned, we might keep things, ah--beneath our full potential. Elsewise, there might be not much left for the next King or Queen to rule over."

She offered a lazy salute as Lottus flew away. "The old Metropolis, then. Try not to kill any Kings in the meantime. I would rather us be able to enjoy a full battle, free of alcohol on my end -- and free of prison binders on your end."

"...Before or after we raid the palace."

---