Deadly Games (Open)

Nothing had gone as planned after leaving the arena that day.

Slipping out after the battle had concluded hadn't been an issue, she'd suppressed her power so far down she felt as though her limbs were going to collapse under the the strain and fatigue of the fight, her whole body ached and it felt as though someone had loaded her shoulders with the weight of a moon and told her to go for a walk. But she did it and managed to slip away into the vast crowds, the excitement of what had happened and the chanting of Amara and Zuqetta's names in almost equal measure had helped mask any real movements she tried to make. It hadn't taken long for her to be recognised by some over zealous spectator, calling out and pointing, their voice lost with everyone else's. A stolen hood and a thick cloak had helped complete an outfit that made her look no more than the common Saiyan that she was. Jagaimo had made her way out of the palace without fan fare, seeking refuge in the District but even there she couldn't have the peace that she had been seeking. Her face had been shown across all of Plant along with the others and while she had not garnered the same attention as the two powerhouses in the arena, she had still been there and it was enough for people to start to recognise her. For most it had been mumbling's and murmurs, for others it had been shouts and cheers...she had fans in equal measure it seemed but it didn't make for any quiet drinking and many of her former drinking holes had simple refused her entrance. She'd even been chased by one, and not wanting another fight she'd fled, leaving the districts behind her and out into the wastelands, pulling her ability to hide herself completely over herself like a protective clock and vanishing into the wilderness.

She wasn't entirely sure what had drawn her to the crags. She'd seen them before in missions and part of the war, seen their effects on the living but she hadn't consciously sought them out. But now here she was finding she both enjoyed the silence and cursed it. It gave her time to unscramble her thoughts and at the same time gave her to much quiet to think on things that happened over the last few days. It would be so easy to disappear into the fog and never come back...

The pulse of power broke her train of thought, she could feel it fading somewhere in the depths of the crags, it was strong but even the mighty were brought low by the filth that was Destron. The burst of Ki into the sky light up the area like a flare, drawing her sight to it in a moments notice. Whoever was down there was signalling but to who she had no idea...all she knew was that their power was fading quickly...

With a sigh, Jagaimo wrapped the stolen clock round the lower half of her face and pulled the hood tight, her mass of hair billowing out from underneath it. It wasn't going to help much once the gas started to seep through every pore but a second or two could be the difference between death and still drawing breath. The aura of purple Ki flared around her and she used a moment of concentration to warp it around her body like she had to survive in space...if it helped in a vacuum, maybe it would help with a gas. The young Saiyan took one last look into the fog, senses racing out to find the target before she plunged, a deep breath in her lungs, the light of aura quickly smothered by the thick death fog.

Stupid stupid girl...what makes you think your going to be so lucky a second time?

She cursed under her breath and instantly regretted it, retching into the material covering her face, eyes stinging as she fumbled round to find whoever was fading in the depths. The young woman kicked rocks, and stumbled over god knows what, seeking it out in the dark, eyes scrunched shut, stinging and streaming tears...there...whoever it is was there still holding on. She practically fell over the person in the sightless world, hands grabbing hold of whatever she could and dragging, fumbling in the dark, hand clutching under armpits and lifting, feet kicking in desperation at the ground hard enough to crack the stone beneath them. Whoever it was was huge compared to the small woman, not quite Nasu sized but far bigger than she was. She pulled, eyes shut and lungs burning, her skin on fire before she reached for that power she knew was there, spitting curses and half screaming half gasping for air before the two of them exploded out from the fog and careened of the edge of a tall cliff, smashing into the rockface and tumbling across a ledge overlooking the ravine they had just escaped. Whoever she was carrying slipped from her grasp as she torn off the hood and clock in a panic, drawing in great gasping gulps of air that made her chest feel like it was about to explode, hands held out to her sides for balance.

Jagaimo slowly tried to open her eyes as she fumbled for the canteen at her side, pouring some over her face and bare hands, trying to wash out her eyes before staggering towards the body she'd dragged free, trying to check for breath, for a heart beat...anything she could with her hands while her eyesight slowly returned...

Jagaimo heaved great gasping breaths and sucked air into her burning lungs while her hands checked the figures neck as best she could discern, looking for any sign of breathing she could detect. She could sense there was a power still there inside, stable and slowly resurfacing so all was not lost...it just depending on how the creature might react to the effects of the Destron and if there would be any lasting damage. It seemed to be humanoid at least, arms and legs in the same place, her eyes still stung from the gas but it wasn't pink skinned like all the Saiyan's or Tuffles she'd ever met, and there seemed to be what she assumed from its positioning to be bright coloured hair. So maybe an alien of some sort. What the hell would they be doing all the way out here.

The young Saiyan felt the rescued figure stir and then scrambled backwards away from her, shuffling right up to the rockface away from the edge. She was rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to clear the tears, vision returning slowly when her companion coughed and tried to speak up, their throat obviously as painful as her was right now. Colours were starting to come back instead of shades and yup...his hair was definitely bright orange...and his skin was a shade of turquoise, Jagaimo blinked a few times and things began to come back into focus, the features sharpening as the creature she had rescued asked its question...no thanks but just a why? What kind of person asks why did you save me before saying thank you for saving me from a horrible death?

She gave a hoarse coughing laugh that echoed in the crags,

"Want me to push you back in?"

Jagaimo was shaking her head, hacking up what ever had taken lodge in her throat and spat it over the edge of the drop off, pushing herself up onto one knee and splashing more water from the canteen over her face before tossing it at the feet of her new acquaintance. Breathing was getting easier but her throat felt like she'd tried to swallow glass and her skin itched...was that a tingling in her fingers? She shook out her hands a few times and 

The black hair warrior was still on one knee when she finally got her first clear look at the large figure she had dragged clear. He...it looked like a he, was a big guy, dressed strangely to her eyes and seemed to be still suffering the effects of the gas. The involuntary growl escaped her lips and her fists clenched, body reacting to something in her unconscious mind before her brain had time to relay the thought fully to the thinking part of her head that she needed to listen to more often. It was a Heran...or she was a Tuffle. What the hell was one of those filthy pirates doing on Plant? And here in the crags of all places?

Her hand slipped into the folds in her clothes, fist clenched obviously round something inside as she watched him with a wary eye,

"What in all the hells are you doing here Heran? Answer me before I alert every bounty hunter and mercenary in the quadrant to descend on you...I imagine more than a few of them would be happy to collect whatever reward is on your head." 

Jagaimo watched the alien move. He didn't seem in any hurry to stand or leap off to his death again, nor had he made any move against her so far. But that wasn't to say that he wouldn't. In her albeit limited experience with them she knew they were all filthy pirates and everything they had been taught about them in the academy spoke of a race of greedy cutthroats who would sell their own mothers if it meant making a profit or saving their own lives. He seemed to be alone but she knew as well as anybody that being alone and actually being alone were different things entirely.

She could feel his power returning but the young Saiyan was long since done with fearing people stronger than her. All her experiences had taught her that it was ok to be fearful, it was cowardly to let it dictate what her actions might be. And she wasn't a coward, at least not in her own mind.

"That's some boast for a guy all alone on the world of the Saiyan's...I know a few people back in Salada that would love to put that bravado to the test...I hear the new Queen is no pushover herself."

It was a half truth at best. She knew of them, had fought with them...or more been lead around like a sheep by them, but likely couldn't consider them friends...they probably wouldn't even answer a call if she made it. But even they wouldn't be happy with an unknown faction skulking around their kingdom. Jagaimo almost wished she'd had time to learn how to speak the way Zuqetta did, but she'd set fire to that bridge already and who knew if the fire would keep burning or get put out right now. For the moment she kept her hand inside the folds of her shirt, thankfully scouters were pretty small these days.

"Why would you care if there was a cure for the Destron? Its not like anyone else has been able to replicate it off world...out f the goodness of your heart I suppose? Where's all your equipment? You scientist types do love all your toys..."

Her eyes flicked over him again, watching for muscle movements, for the way his eyes shifted, anything that would help if things went sideways. She knew he was strong...not Zuqetta strong but she was a breed apart...but strong enough that he'd likely have no trouble with her if he made a move. It helped she was masked completely from any senses he might be putting out, but if it came down to it she was quite easily outmatched. But he didn't know that...and most sane creatures didn't barrel into a fight blind unless they had no other option. Hopefully he was mostly sane. The comment about being looked down on still brought a smirk to her lips which she made sure he could see, pooling confidence behind her eyes. She could play along, there was only his word on what he was doing here...and without her scouter in place she couldn't check the bounty boards without giving away what her hand was holding inside her clothes. Time was always an alley before a potential battle, any information would help if it came to it.

"One...scientist...with honourable intentions doesn't wash away generations of theft and murder by the rest of your kind Heran. How did someone so knowledgeable in the workings of Destron end up taking a swim in it?"

She had to admit that he had a point when he started to explain about needing power for equipment and a whole lab set up...and well...yeah if you were going to be testing it all out here, but she couldn't see anything that looked remotely like sampling gear...not that she had any real idea what to be looking for. Jagaimo did nod slowly though, at least agreeing with the large Heran that the experimentation couldn't really be done all the way out here in the wastes.

"So how exactly were you collecting the samples?"

She raised an questioning eyebrow as she stood looking him over again now. It was a reasonable thing to ask, she could see anything that might do the job but maybe he'd dropped it in the mists below. Just being a Heran kept her on edge about the man opposite on the ledge but she relaxed a little, letting some of the tension ease out of her shoulders. Her breathing was almost normal again despite the dryness of her throat and at least her vision had cleared enough to need her tears to be wiped away every few seconds. Destron was nasty and even that short exposure was going  to leave its mark for a while. One day she'd have to think before acting and putting herself in dangerous situations. When he spoke about the Destron he was working with the young warrior was paying close attention to his words. That was something new, but maybe it was possible...she'd even heard stories of Saiyan's exposing themselves to small amounts of Destron to try and build up a resistance so maybe there was some truth to what the Heran was saying. She could ask the Saiyan's...they were all dead from the toxic gas exposure.

"Huh...any fool on Plant could have told you how bad things are in the Crags and why no one comes out here..."

When he turned away from her she lost sight of his face but decided against moving any closer or moving round him, keeping her distance for the time being was a good plan around strangers,

"Even in the right hands with the right intentions its a terrible weapon...and a horrible way to die. The Tuffles were desperate enough to bomb their own cities with the stuff..."

Her voice trailed off when her companion spoke again, speaking about assumptions and what they could mean to many,

"Nothing I've seen in my travels has made me change my mind about your kind. Are you not families full of greedy power hungry cutthroats?"

There was a slight smirk on her lips again...in reality she knew very little about the Heran's in general but the academy and the bounty guild had always placed get effort in portraying them as and honourless enemy as likely to stab you in the back as they were to try and buy you off.

"You could and likely have...but first impressions can do a lot...and you haven't tried to kill me yet so that's something in your favour at least. For my part...If I'd wanted you dead I would have left you fog below. But even pirates deserve a chance."

Again plausible.

At least the part them being broken in the fall. There was a truth there that was believable at the least. More believable than the part about her having stolen them off him after saving his life and checking to see if he was still breathing. She'd risked dying in that choking fog along with a complete stranger and he had the gall to practically accuse her of stealing from him! That's what she got for doing what felt right. It was going to get her into a lot of trouble one day...maybe today.

"Mercenaries sure...pirates sometimes, but never thieves. We always earn whatever we take one way or another, through skill and strength of arm...or more commonly blood...but we're not petty criminals sneaking around to take what isn't ours. You'll always see us coming. You'll always see me coming."

His smirk was irritating. Sure they did some bad things in the eyes of others but they didn't just steal and loot because they could. There was always a reason for what they did...at least that's what she believed...but then these days her judgement of who might be honourable and who might not was a little off centre given recent events. His stroll down memory lane brought no smile to her face this time, suffering never brought her any joy and even with an ingrained dislike of the Heran's to almost outright aggression in their presence, nobody deserved to just be discarded and left to fight for themselves. She understood that all to well...she was a product of the Academy...but even that was changing now...could she even call her self a soldier anymore. Loyal to her people perhaps, ready to defend them but outside of the structure of things now.

"And you escaped horrors to study the most dangerous weapon developed in the last few centuries? How noble...surely that will help all those orphans back home you left behind."

She shook her head, eyes downcast for a moment and caught the movement, the hand in her shift still there, fist clenched...and ball of Ki unconsciously forming in her free hand hanging at her side. Jagaimo took a half step back, body tensing when he slowly stepped to her. He didn't appear to be threatening her in anyway with his physical movements but the tone of his voice sounded like someone who was used to getting what they wanted. It didn't remind her of the Tuffle scientists she'd met in the past...but it was still feasible...

"I've seen nothing to change my mind about you people...and I didn't make a decision based on who you were. There was no way to know what was dying down there in the fog. I made a bad decision based on what the right thing to do was. I could have let you die down there and done nothing, just carried on with my journey. But then I think about the end...I think about that a lot lately...and I'm not sure I want to meet my maker with just black marks to my name when the time comes. You were just tool to make me feel better about myself. Don't think your special...that's how people get you."

The Heran's expression changed along with his posture, a ripple of threat passing through him as the glass shards clinked together when they hit the dirt, the delicate sound lost in the expanse of the canyons. So at least part of his story wasn't a lie, there were in fact glass vials for collecting the Destron but as it turned out, not for the benign reasons first given. Part of her was surprised, his story had almost been believable except for a few holes she might have walked away and left it at that...but the threatening manner that crept into his being set her on edge.

Mercenaries were common of course in these parts but for the Tuffles to be plotting something so heinous as once more using the gas against the Saiyans. It was shocking. They deployed it once in the history of their two peoples and the effects were so devastating that it was never deployed again, locked away in labs and silo's buried in secret locations. Buried because no one had ever found a safe way to mass neutralise the gas. To dig it up now...she could understand the feelings the Tuffles must harbour against them after the war had concluded but nothing in the few holo's she'd seen of Cheri led her to believe that that woman would ever consider using such a toxic weapon on a world already crippled by it. But they were just holo's, she didn't know the woman...and if not her then a splinter group, a faction within the Tuffles who could harness the power of Destron again. Thousands would die. If he was telling the truth.

"Koshin huh? Well that speech tells me a lot already...If what your saying is true then there's no way your just going to let me walk away...Your plan would be ruined...and if your lying to me again...then you have something else in mind and me being here to save your life wasn't part of the plan. So I'm a loose end. Don't suppose you'd consider a life debt to me for that bit? No? Worth a shot at least."

Her hand slid slowly out from her shirt again, fingers opening slowly to reveal an empty palm, there was never a scouter or a way to call others but a bluff only works if you can make someone believe it...didn't matter now, Koshin seemed to be through with the bluffs and yarn spinning. Didn't seem much point in keeping a hand hidden anymore. The energy building up in the other hand faded away as the Heran took a menacing step towards her again, her own feet slipping backwards a step, listening to the dirt scrap underfoot, the wind howling through the crags making them seem like the souls of the dead haunted this place.

"The smart play would be to get news to Queen Amara, see if the spies know anything about this..."

Jagaimo, shifted her weight onto her front foot, eyes closing as she pulled something almost tangible around her body and jumped...backwards. Leaping away from the approaching Heran and falling like a stone into the swirling fog. It was like sinking into a different world. Sound was dampened, sight was...well...worthless. Even if she opened her eyes the gas would start to seep in. She hoped her technique would hold for just a little while longer. Jagaimo sought out her target, senses pushing out across this dead part of the land, seeing his power flaring like a star against the lifeless background. He was easy to spot with her senses and impossible to see with her eyes. But she knew where was. While her lungs weren't on fire she could already feel the gas seeping into her skin, starting to burn...a master of good idea's she was not.

"But no ones ever accused me of being smart..."

The slash of purple energy ripped upwards out of the fog, cleaving into the rocky ledge they'd been perched on, the blade like Ki attack splitting the rock like paper as it flickered towards Koshin, its course aimed to cleave him in two and rip through the rocks above him...

He wasn't lying.

Jagaimo could feel his power almost fully returned and compared to what she had felt flickering at the bottom of the gorge he wasn't someone she would have normal trifled with, in fact if she'd known how strong he was before she'd taken the plunge to help him out she probably would have given him a wide berth given the recent events. But hindsight was always amazing and it was to late to change what had happened now. Talking about attacking the Saiyan's with the Destron gas had pushed some of the right buttons, triggering a protective instinct that the girl didn't even know she had. Even as things were for her right now Jagaimo still believed that her people deserved defending, against themselves and against others that would do them harm. And if the Tuffles were planning on bombarding Salada with that noxious gas then she had to do something about it.

The original plan had been to subdue the weakened Heran before he could fully recover and drag him back to Salada and the new Saiyan ruler where answers could be gleaned and the truth could be brought to the surface. Jagaimo couldn't tell if the alien was lying or not, he was just convincing enough to cast doubt on what she thought she knew about the Tuffles and to play on the fear that many of them that still harboured ill feelings towards the Saiyan's had found the will to act upon them. It was a scary thought...and it made more sense now why Amara had tried to rid part of Plant of the deployed Destron...if she could effectively clear one area then maybe everywhere could be rid of the filthy killer smog. It wasn't a cure but it was a step closer to restoring large tracts of the planet where no life could currently survive.

In this moment though the Heran seemed to have other ideas, and being hauled off to the Saiyan capitol didn't seem to be one of them. She could see the attack hit but she felt him move, the grazing of her energy against his and she heard the rumble of the rocks falling, muffled by the deadening effect of the fog. But something had definitely fallen. Even the laugh was muffled but it gave the noise an eerie aspect it likely didn't have if she'd been above the mists. For the moment her technique was keeping her safe but she could already feeling it starting to run its course as the gas tried to find a way to attack her.

Suddenly she felt his energy leave the ledge and float above her, explosions blooming inside the mists, sending pulses of pressure this way and that as he blanketed the area in detonations of Ki. They wern't accurate...but it struck her that they didn't need to be, he wasn't aiming for her he was simply flooding the area with his depth charge like power...

Crap

One blast detonated behind her, throwing the young warrior forwards through the gloom, when another exploded to one side of her, slamming her into the rockface...the force was clearly restrained but it still hurt when you collided with a solid surface that didn't give when you struck it. She groan, sucking in a mouthful of gas and coughing, flaring her power around her as she shot upwards through the air, escaping the fog and driving right up into the Heran from underneath, flying into a whirlwind of punches and kicks, power flaring as she moved but still registering just an empty space where she appeared to be to anyone's senses, i direct contradiction to what his eyes might see.