Saiba Sighting (Open)

From beneath the ground, from within the pools of acid; around every corner and tucked in every nook and cranny, Saiba man, creature, and beast alike would suddenly pounce. Their intellect too low to understand the danger the Namekian before them posed, and their instinct from starvation outweighing any form of self preservation they had. Between the Saiba-wolves and the much larger, lizard looking Saiba raptors, it was clear that generations of evolution had diversified the Saiba's to an incredible extent; unfortunately, unlike Saiba-Ban, these creatures were no more than fodder for either the hungry or those looking to train.

"Wellwellwell-" A voice would chime as several blade fell from the sky, impaling the pouncing Saiba's nearest to Gandigan, "-I wasn't expectin' ta see you again so soon." Zuqetta would call out as she landed from above with a flip, standing straight and raising her arm up to catch one of the falling blades, "Ya capable of turnin' down your power a bit? With all that energy ya got oozin' out, these beasts are just gonna get hungrier and hungrier." Zuqetta would explain, cutting down a pair of wolves that foolishly thought to jump at her; she'd pay no further mind in protecting Gandigan, well aware that the Namekian could protect himself just fine.

Positioning herself with her back to Gandigan, she could feel his power lessen and would give an affirmative nod towards him before turning her attention to the now confused Saiba. "Heh, is that an implication that sometimes you ARE interested in genocide?" she'd say with a snicker at the slight humor she found, "In any case, I agree, I've got a place nearby-" She'd say, slicing down a pair of saiba raptors in her path, "-follow me."

Assuming Gandigan would follow, Zuqetta would use her magic to bar the approach of any bolder saiba-creatures. Summoned blades would fall from above, stabbing into the ground to impede the chase of the saiba's, impaling the less fortunate that managed to draw near. With Gandigan's power lowered and Zuqetta's energy invisible, Gandigan might have been able to take notice of the significant drop in saiba-creatures as the two fled. Dashing through the crags and over the acid pits, it wouldn't take too long before the two would be upon a strange cave sitting slightly elevated in the middle of an acid lake.

"Nice jog, 'kay, watch your step here-" Zuqetta would remark, dissipating her summoned swords as she approached the lake, "-not sure if your kind are acid resistant or not, but if you're not, I doubt you'd want an acid bath here."

As she neared the lake, the surface would become disturbed; within moments, the two would find themselves accosted by even more Saiba-creatures, these ones much smaller than the creatures the two had been facing, "Hey babeh's~!" Zuqetta would call out in an oddly affectionate tone as the small saiba-pups rushed her, immediately receiving pets, "Don't hurt these ones-" she'd say to Gandigan in her original stoic tone, "-they're not hostile." She'd finish, and an incredibly large saiba-wolf emerged from the acid lake, approaching slowly as it smelled the air, keeping a cautious eye on Gandigan.

So long as the saiba-wolves didn't strike, Zuqetta didn't imagine Gandigan would threaten the creatures. With that in mind, Zuqetta would leave the pups and their mama wolf to their curiosity as she approached the lake. Once at its edge, she'd lift her hand and give a small pulse of magical energy, allowing a walkway to materialize on the lakes surface which led to the cave out in the center.

"Okay-!" She'd say with a quick, content breath as she turned back towards Gandigan, "-if you've had your fill of the pups, how 'bout we head inside?" She'd ask with a strangely upbeat attitude; rather than heading straight to the cave however, she'd give Gandigan a chance to interact with the saiba-pups. Having taken notice of his strange attempt to communicate with the saiba's of the wastes earlier, she figured he may have been a bit curious of them.

Surprisingly, despite Gandigan's earlier attempts to interact with the Saiba's, it seemed he held no further interest. Even more surprising was Gandigan's rather terrible short term memory which left Zuqetta with a slightly raised brow. Sure, she may have mentioned it in the heat of the moment as they were beginning their escape, but even still, he seemed to be a rather untrusting guy.

"Do ya... not have homes on your world? Like, houses and stuff?" She'd say in a rather rhetorical manner, cracking a smile as she slightly teased him, "Well, whether ya do or not, I wanna believe ya understand the concept." She'd say with a sigh, standing straight as she addressed Gandigan properly, "No more wolves in the cave, they tore up the sofa so they're not allowed inside." she'd explain jokingly, "The cave has a house inside, not my house, but family's. And ya don't gotta worry about any acid leakin' from the ceiling, I was pretty cautious when I setup the whole thing." she'd say as she took a few steps over towards a large rock beside the walkway, planting her rear firmly atop it as she looked towards Gandigan suspiciously.

"I don't blame ya for yer wariness, if ya'd prefer ta stay out here, then that's fine. So long as ya keep your power down, none of the other saiba-beasts should approach, not with the wolves here." She'd explain as she gave the mama wolf a smile, "Speakin' of which, I've answered tons of your questions, both before and now, so how 'bout ya do the same. What were ya tryin' ta do chattin' it up with mindless Saiba's anyways?" she'd ask, crossing her arms as she began to suspect either Saiba-ban's or Jawbones involvement. Last she checked however, Saiba-ban was very much killed by Dark, and Jawbones seemed a bit too savage to orchestrate the manipulation of another, which made the mystery all the more curious.

Gandigan moved past his reservations and seemed willing to accompany Zuqetta to the cave; his wariness was still quite apparent, but Zuqetta paid it no mind. "Oho, King huh?" Zuqetta would remark as she began to walk with Gandigan across the walkway to the cave, "You've certainly moved up since last we met, heh, wish I could follow through with such ambition." She'd continue with a laugh before addressing the Saiba-Ban issue, "As for Ban, I wouldn't say I know him too well, but I've met him on more than one occasion. Last I saw him though, he wanted to take over a mercenary town, I told him to stop, then he went and had a pretty flashy death against a pretty tough cat-" she'd say, slightly blushing at the end, "-I uh, left after that though. Didn't have time ta confirm the kill as I was carri- err, flew into the su- gaaah, I mean my ship!" she'd explain with a deep breath, trying to ignore her last moments with Dark on Plant, "Big stuff happening in Hatchi at the time, no time ta check on Ban, flew to the ship and left Plant for a bit, 'nuff said."

In trying to push away from what really happened with Dark, Zuqetta began to stumble over her words; she felt more than a bit suspicious with herself, and sought to quickly change the topic just a bit.

"In any case! Sorry ta say, but there ain't no Saiba like Ban." Zuqetta would begin again, clearing her throat as they neared the caves entrance, "You might find some with elevated intelligence or higher survival instinct, and can even tame them, but for the most part they're just wild beast seeking their next energy rich meal."

As the two entered the cave, what would be before them would be a sight most out of place. A wooden house of all things, with a porch and patio in spite of the uselessness of such things. Four pane glass windows were on each side of the door, and altogether the home seemed like something that belong at a lakeside. Directly to the right of the front door seemed to be a wooden bench, though it was broken in the middle and looked like it'd seen better days.

"Welcome, welcome, hope ya don't mind the mess, my sis still doesn't seem to understand how heavy she is." Zuqetta would joke as she walked up the steps and opened the door, gesturing to allow Gandigan inside, "I don't often have guests, so place will probably be a bit homely. I hardly stay here myself after all."

Whether Gandigan chose to enter first or not, Zuqetta would quickly enter either before or after him. Within, the house would be incredibly plain and earthly. There didn't seem to be any facets of modern living like electrical outlets or amenities; to the left upon entering would be the torn up sofa Zuqetta had mentioned, positioned against a wooden wall and facing the window. To the right was a dining table and accompanying chairs, it seemed to be adjacent to a kitchen of sorts, but one that lacked the necessary components that made a modern kitchen. Zuqetta would take a seat over at the dining table, should Gandigan have followed, he'd have easy noticed that further into the house... was no house at all, like the one who made it simply gave up half way through. While enough of the house was made to have a bed behind a wall out of sight, the rest simply stopped and all that remained was the back of the cave.

"So, your Majesty-" she'd say in a slightly teasing tone, "-ya mentioned friends before, interested in makin' one now? I can tell ya all I've learned about Saiba if ya like!" she'd ask with a laugh, though more interested in the potential of Saiba talk rather than whether or not a friend was made.

Sure enough, Gandigan had confirmed that Ban still walked amongst the living; though if the things the self proclaimed demon god had once told her in the past were to be believed, the Saiba could have simply... come back. Whatever Saiba-Ban's reason for clinging to life was, it didn't seem like he'd successfully gotten away with any plan to remove "his people" from Plant, at least not yet. The thought of all the lack of happening brought tears to the corner of Zuqetta's eyes as she unintentionally gave the widest of yawns. No war with Earth, no Saiba excursions, and even despite Lottus' penchant for destruction, nothing had been done on that front yet either; for Zuqetta, it things felt as droll as they always had. The only difference between the she of now and the she of before as far as she could tell, was a rather heavy lack of motivation and ambition.

"Ahhh, no need ta be like that-" Zuqetta would remark as Gandigan subtly spoke of his own potential demise, "-if yer talkin' about what I think yer talkin' about, death is just "takin' a break from life". Not necessarily something one can easily come back from, but not necessarily something one should fret over." She'd explain as she leaned back on her chair, hiking her feet up onto the table to relax, "Heck, I'm not too sure about it all myself, but the worst part is probably the actual "dying" part if I had ta guess. Burned ta death, impaled, dismembered, whatever it is, I don't imagine it feels all too great. But from what my sis has said, ya just go to some "Otherworld", and considering she visits all the time, I'm guessin' comin' back might not be all too bad."

Zuqetta had, had plenty of time to think about death and the otherworld Zerori had mentioned. First there had been Kamae, the self proclaimed demon god that sought some pretty big changes. In the end, he'd vanished as so many others had, but he was the first to bring up the otherworld and the potential return from death. Then there was Zriracha, who's own description of it all seemed to align pretty well with Kamae's; these so-called "demons" seemed to just pop up out of the wood works after that, each with the same story. So it was either a really big, elaborate cult of people that hated each other, or "demons" and "hell" over in the otherworld were actually real; with so many speaking of it, it seemed highly unlikely to just be a coincidence.

"But hey, cleanin' up the mess of the people that let Lottus run amok? You're a pretty upstandin' guy, ain'tcha?" Zuqetta would remark ina slightly joking manner, "S'far as I can tell, ya got a pretty decent shot at it. As a Saiyan myself, lemmie tell ya that we're not all too keen on havin' help in our fights, heh, unless the one fightin' is a coward. So if you go mano-e-mano with him? I wish ya luck!" She'd say with a laugh, feeling nothing one way or the other on the outcome of such a fight.

"Heh, are you kidding?" Zuqetta would remark, "I was nowhere NEAR Hatchi when that went down, my-" she hesitated, thinking of how to explain her te-ya-te with Dark, "-self-preservation instincts are way too high." she'd say, clearing her throat with a slight blush, "And besides, look at me? You're pretty short yourself, but I'm even smaller than you!" She'd say, patting down the spike of her hair that accounted for a few inches, "With these little arms and soft, squishy exterior? How could a delicate flower such as myself ever confront the big-bad Lottus?" she'd explain in a rather haughty manner, clearly teasing the Namekian if only just a bit.

Compared to Gandigan, her statements weren't too far off; she was only an inch shorter, but while her form seemed heavier than Gandigan's, it certainly didn't appear quite as muscular to say the least. She'd disregard telling Gandigan anything regarding her own intention to participate in that battle at some point; with her thoughts as clear as they were nowadays, while she didn't condemn Lottus' slaughterfest, she didn't condone it either.

"Jokes aside, I really have no intention of confronting him if I don't have to. I have no righteousness or valor to dive headlong into THAT mess." She'd explain, tilting in her chair, "Do I approve of all he's been doing? Not at all. Will I mourn his death? Ehh, I don't mourn anyone elses, so why mourn his? All his actions are his idea of the "Saiyan Way", and if that leads to his death, then assuming that death sticks, I'm sure he'll be fine with it too. That's how pretty much all us Saiyans work, we follow our own way and are fine with any outcome so long as we didn't stray from our personal path in the end."

Her throat became dry near the end of her statement, causing her to clear her throat before stepping off her chair in order to get a drink. Too often she'd stray from her own Saiyan Way, clinging to weak ideals she believed were her own, only to realize how much influence the people around her had, had on her. Vennel, Onnio, Azoth, Shakuhatchi, Rensou, Zerori, more and more and more it felt like people were constantly trying to sway her actions, manipulating her into thinking they were her own. Zuqetta's gaze had become dark, her brow furrowed as the thoughts plagued her; she had no intention to play by anothers tune any longer, any action she took from now on was her own choice, and that included popping open a capsule to procure a lemonade set.

"Thirsty?" Zuqetta would ask as she brought the lemonade set to the table, pouring some from the pitcher into two glasses, "Speaking of whether or not death sticks-" She'd begin again after a quick drink from her glass, trying to dissolve her previous thoughts, "-I don't think she's died even a once. From what she, and her mom, and... jeez, just too many weirdos have said, they're "Demons". There are also supposed "gods", also called Shin-jin, but they all apparently live in that "otherworld"." Zuqetta would explain with a more serious tone than usual, "To my understanding, the otherworld, or otherworlds that mortals perceive as heaven and hell aren't conceptual, but are literal, physical places. It just so happens that people like you and I go there after we die, though from that point the details on the experience are iffy at best. Afterall, if it were so easy to return, then we'd see a LOT more people in the universe, wouldn't we?"

Zuqetta enjoyed her glass of lemonade, even partaking in a second as she listened to Gandigan's remarks on everything. Her tail twitched a bit as he spoke negatively of the Saiyan Way, but she felt no hostility for him; whether he knew it or not, he was likely no different. To stay true to his convictions and do something as crazy as try to hunt down Lottus wasn't too different than following his own Saiyan Way after all. She had nothing more to offer however in regards to Demons and Shin-jin; both seemed crazy back when she was younger, when she didn't believe in things like an afterlife. They still did, just in a different way; she didn't consider either to be any form of almighty being, they were just aliens from another dimension, no different than any other alien she'd met.

"Well, ya managed ta become the King of your people, so I imagine you're resourceful enough ta figure it out if it ends up happening." She'd remark as she leaned her elbow against the table, resting her cheek in her palm, "But you should really think about how ya phrase stuff; consider myself lucky there ain't anyone ta put an end to it? Ya ain't gonna win any friend of the year awards with that kinda talk." She'd say as she sipped at her second glass of lemonade, "All this "that species is a plague!" and "they're a race of genocidal maniacs!" blahblahblah-" She'd continue, making a mocking mouth gesture with her hand, "Think about it? Ya go to Sadala and you'll find plenty of Saiyan's just goin' about their day-to-day lives, not fighting, but doin' crap like growin' what our crappy land will let them grow, hunting beasts for meat, selling merch at the markets and all that junk. Ya go to Earth? Same thing. Namek? Don't you go tellin' me you guys don't have boring day to day lives yourselves. While I don't know much about your people, I know I've met some who are fighters, training day to day, and others who spend THEIR day to day tendin' the ajisa fields."

Someone with a bone to pick wasn't likely to listen to her explanation, her own boneheaded people couldn't even do that, but she hoped Gandigan was of the more thoughtful lot than the typical muscle she always dealt with. If not, then her words would just be delegated to yet another excuse as Gandigan seemed on the edge of saying only mere moments ago.

"The Saiyan Way ain't some strict code that every Saiyan follows, its just an expression. It's just following "your own way", we're just such prideful asses that we put our own name in front of it." She'd remark with a snicker, "You've got ambition, yeah? You became King, you're gonna go put a stop ta Lottus? Then you're following your own way, your Namekian Way. It ain't no different-" She'd state firmly, leaning back to chug a third glass of lemonade, "-the maniacs way is to go kill people, your way is to bring and end to his way, my Kings way is to protect his people regardless of how the masses view him, and at the moment, my way is to just sit back and see what happens next. If Lottus comes to blow up my home? Then I'll kick his ass. If he goes to blow up Earth or somethin'? Then I couldn't care less, 'cause I hardly cared in the first place."

Would Gandigan accept that argument? Who was to say; while many considered the entire species of Saiyans to just be battle hungry maniacs out to destroy the universe, it was an undeniable that there was a whole mess of lazy asses just sitting in Sadala twiddling their thumbs while others did real work. Just as Gandigan himself was the type to actually leave his home world, there were plenty of Namekians that stayed on their planet and never even considered leaving. Zuqetta wouldn't argue that there might be more Saiyan's than Lottus out there causing harm, her own dead sister Vennel was certainly one of them, but she could easily imagine a few from plenty of other worlds who might have been just as bad, Lottus was simply the loudest.

"Oh!" Zuqetta would suddenly chime, nearly spitting out her lemonade as she remembered a good example, "Take me for example, when I was younger, my Saiyan Way was some stupid "better the life of my people" nonsense. But like, how do you "better" the life of a Saiyan? Or anyone for that matter? We're not all copy & paste of one another, so what might better one persons life won't better anothers." She'd explain, her tail beating the back legs of her chair as she grew more invested in the conversation, "Then a couple Arcosians betrayed me, they were as close as family to me, but one left me to die when I tried to defend the Tuffles from the Saiyan invasion a few years back, and the other went out and attacked my home with his army, can you believe that!?" She'd exclaim with a scoff, "Like, literally the Emperor and his right hand man, you'd think you could expect some tact from guys of such a high station." she'd continue, rolling her eyes with a sigh before leaning back in her chair again, somewhat deflated by the memories, "Back then I thought, "man, I hate arcosians, I wanna get revenge" or some crap like that. Then time passed, I grew up, got a crew and space fleet, and now I work alongside some Arcosian crewmates of my own... but hey, I'm probably just not too good at stickin' ta my convictions, ya know?" She'd finish with a laugh, knowing Gandigan likely "didn't know", considering how strong his own conviction seemed.