One More Thing!

Planet Plant wasn’t exactly a world that was held in high regard by Nervan and their close friends for various personal reasons respectively. Nervan regarded Plant perhaps the most impartially of them all, mostly seeing it as incomplete and harbouring the same flaws as many other worlds, and very little in the way of charm that those worlds had. Prophos’ opinion was similar to Nervan’s with the addition of disappointment in how mortal potential could be so violently misused and neglected. Budoshi straight up thought the planet was a dump and the Lycheean Tuffles were some of the most annoying people he could ever conceive of— Guara had earned some posthumous respect though regarding Bane, which was probably the sole reason Budoshi even wanted to be here.

Illuma though? Her thoughts were a lot more complex. Unlike the other three who had very little to tie them to the story of this planet, Illuma had so much more. She was born on Sadala, the true homeworld of the Saiyans, she lived through the war and chaos that tore it apart and eventually came to learn what had occurred here on Plant— more of the same thing that drove Sadala to ruin.

It didn’t surprise her, sadly.

Still, she had come along with the others all the same. They were a unit, a team, and they would always stick together and be there for each other. Nervan, Prophos and Budoshi meant more to her than her own woes, so she could at least stomach being anywhere near this planet for their sake quite easily.

Finding her way into ‘Sadala’ Capital, Illuma had brought the freshly dead body of a large semi-aquatic serpentine beast over her shoulders to fulfill a request of a passing interstellar food vendor that had posted up shop here for a brief time. Hoisting the creature over hers shoulder, Illuma deposited it into a coolant box off to the side. “Hey. I gotcha that beastie you were after.” She then took a seat and took a look at the menu. Quite a neat little variety too. “Trying your hand at ramen now, eh? How’re you finding it? I’ll have one bowl please, no rush.” Illuma then glanced off to her side, noticing that someone was barely even having a go at their own bowl, only to realize that this someone in particular was Zuqetta! “Oho, hello Zuqetta!” Illuma looked between the bowl and the young Saiyan. “What’s got you all confused? Y’look like you’ve never seen noodles before.”

It was nice to know that more folks were branching out in their own culinary adventures. This vendor in particular was quite confident in how they were going with the newer ramen dishes, glad to have finally figured out a method that works well for them. A lot about cooking was experimental, after all.

Illuma waited for Zuqetta to finally recognize her, to which the old lady gave a small laugh. “Looks like guts you say? Well what kinda guts have you been seein’ kid?” She snorted, sure, it was possible that someone’s innards could look like ramen but this was food. “Waiting for some ramen while the other three are off doing their thing. We’re going to Earth next.” Maybe Namek or Arcose, then Konats. The group hadn’t fully discussed much about that just yet.

“Anyway, I’ve been here long enough.” Only about a minute, at most. “So, what’s brought you here to Plant?” Illuma asked conversationally. “It isn’t a planet I tend to frequent often, personally.” She added, trying her best to remain neutral on her thoughts about it. She wanted to at least be fair to Zuqetta just in case she was in any way fond of this world.

Illuma tried her best to stifle a little laugh, and offered Zuqetta an apologetic smile. “Oh come on now, innards don’t look like that. Trust me, I’d know what all that sorta thing looks like— I’ve prepared and cooked a lot of meat related dishes.” She’s also beaten her fair share of deserving troublemakers into a bloodied pulp, but the topic at hand was about food.

As expected, Zuqetta saw Plant as something akin to a home, it was likely that she had been born here. The youngster certainly didn’t seem like the typical Vegetan so Illuma felt as though she could be a bit more open with her thoughts. “Ah, no, I’ve never lived on this planet. We’re all from different places.” Unfortunately, the narrow minded masses seemed to often think otherwise.

Zuqetta looked to be struggling with how to put her words together, but Illuma was as patient as ever, letting the young Sayain get to what she needed to say in her own time. Once she managed to do so, it was clear why she had been having a tough time— it was a tough question to ask.

Conversely, it was an easy question for Illuma to answer. “I don’t think Plant itself is a ‘bad’ planet.” The elderly Saiyan shook her head. “No, there is more to it. Tell me, what do you know of Saiyan history? Do you know the true origin of this city’s name?”

Illuma nodded, Zuqetta was correct in recalling how this city got its name. “Mhm. That’s right. Glad to know at least some basic book-keeping took place.” She still didn’t think this city deserved the name, not by a long shot. To her, it was unearned, stolen and misused. Zuqetta didn’t need to be burdened by these thoughts though.

The elderly Saiyan frowned to the point where she was almost scowling and baring teeth. “Of course.” Of course the ‘valuable’ documented history as far as the Vegetans were concerned was related to their battles. Probably only ones that they won too. Illuma wasn’t surprised that this was the case, she was disappointed. For that to be the first thing someone thought of was... She couldn’t describe just how suffocating that felt.

Zuqetta at least, didn’t seem to blindly accept and follow along the path of ruin that the Vegetan’s have made. She saw value in spoken word, in knowledge, and understanding. Why else would she be entertaining any of Illuma’s questions? No, this youngster seemed very different. The type that marched to the beat of their own drum; not so much in defiance of others but through acknowledgement and acceptance of self.

Illuma smirked, it was obvious to her why she had brought up any of this and she kind of envied Zuqetta for her youth in this regard. “Think about it kiddo.” She gestured to her face, in particular to the wrinkles she had. “I’m eighty-nine years old.” All Zuqetta had to do was consider the timeline of events; the true undeniable historical basics, that barely over fifty years would have passed since Sadala, the actual planet was lost.

Not expecting this kind of reaction— Illuma had to stop herself from letting out an uproarious laugh, she stifled it into a heart snort at first. “Mmmhm, e-eighty-nine! Pfft.. Heheh—” Then, however, Zuqetta continued on, truly flabbergasted at the concept. Illuma had to admit that she was quite old for a Saiyan, most don’t get to be as old as her for no reason especially if they were the type to get into trouble. The old Saiyan couldn’t stifle her laughter anymore and she almost doubled over. Evidently she found no reason to be offended. “PFhehffhfhfhfhehfhahhehaheah... Ahh, Grandma of grandmas. That’s pretty good.” She said, wiping a joyous tear from her eyes. “So you know Nasu too then? Armored fellow, wields a comically large sword?” If one could even call it that. It was far too ridiculously proportioned. More akin to a vast mass of refined metal.

Zuqetta was eventually hit by another realization, the fact that Illuma wasn’t from Plant at all. “Yeah, the actual planet, that’s what I’m tellin’ ya.” She frowned, it wasn’t purely as simple as the planet had ‘blown up’, at least the last time Illuma had seen it. It wouldn’t surprise her if it had done so eventually though, unless a miracle had occurred. “More around seventy years, at most.” Illuma infomed.

“It was...” Illuma paused, her expression somewhere between melancholy and fury of all things. “It was beautiful. It was tough, like us, of course, but beautiful. Then, we ruined it.” Illuma went silent for a moment, looking up into the sky. “Lemme ask you somethin’. What is our so-called Saiyan Pride to you, Zuqetta? As much as we may believe that it is capable of wondrous things, miracles even... It’s also capable of... Such unhinged ugliness that you couldn’t possibly hope to imagine.”