A Saiyan Alive

 Chapter Seven: The Journey Begins

and Chapter Seven, Part Two: Meet Starflyte

The planet slowly grew smaller as the two-person pod hovered out of its atmosphere. Raddi's fingers flew across the control panel of the spacecraft in which she and Hawk planned to travel to Earth with.  "Are you ready?" she asked, turning to the other girl's seat.

"Yep," Hawk replied, checking her safety belt. She noticed her counterpart's raised-eyebrow stare and chuckled. "North quadrant, Milky Way galaxy, 3^rd planet in System 8C9," she elaborated.

Raddi nodded, inputting the coordinates and turning on hyperspeed. "We're off," she said as the pod zoomed out into space towards the blue marbled planet.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hawk blinked sleepily, wondering what had woken her. She rolled off her bunk, flipping it up into the wall of the tiny cabin that served as sleeping quarters for the small craft. Slipping into her borrowed uniform, she stuck her head into the main room.

"312… 313… 314… 315…" Raddi glanced up from her 316^th hand-stand-push-up. "Oh, you're awake." She went back to exercising. "317… 318… 319…"

Hawk shrugged. The Saiyan had been training near-constantly for the past 4 days, stopping only to eat, sleep, and other necessities, and Hawk was starting to wonder if she did anything else. The Curos-jin, on the other hand, had been following their course and thinking. A lot. She wondered what had been going on on Earth in the past 8 years; whether the Z senshi had survived whatever threat they'd been training for when she left, if anyone else had gone, what the Earth would be like now. While she didn't pretend to know anything, she had a good feeling since a few days before she met Raddi. It was almost as though a great victory had hailed peace with it.

Hawk shook her head, laughing quietly at such dramatic thoughts. It wasn't in her nature to be serious for long. 'I need to stop thinking so much,' she thought with a crooked smile, 'It's making me begin to sound ridiculously mature; I've gotta discourage that.'

~~~~~~~~~~

"994, 995, 996, 997, 998, 999, 1000." Raddi back-flipped to her feet after her thousandth push-up. Her stomach rumbled, and she turned around to reach the dried, capsulated space rations. Choosing a couple marked "Pod Meal 017," she walked past Hawk—who was meditating by the forward viewport—to reach the bunks, where she uncapsulized her food.

Minutes later, when she finished her meal, Raddi ki-blasted the excess packaging, and then lay back on her bunk. Lazily, she reached up to remove the crimson wrap that kept her ponytail in place, causing her gravity-defying, yet unusually tame for a Saiyan, locks to spring into a fountain-like shape over her left shoulder. She closed her eyes, sighed, and let her thoughts wander.

'The last few Saiyans… strange that they'd stay on one planet so long. I suppose they didn't want to be found… the Milky Way galaxy is pretty out-of-the-way. I wonder what they're like. Are they first class? Second, like me? Third, like Misuu says Tousan was…? Could they even be Elite?! I'd love to meet an Elite… what a challenge… no, no, you know if they were they'd wipe the floor with you. And yet…

'The way Hawk reacted to my Cherry Beam Cannon seemed like she was intimidated, and maybe a little impressed. So, either she's had little contact with the other Saiyans, or they're not too strong. Huh, I guess Frieza wouldn't let too big a fish through his fingers.'

:-: I like her. Hawk, I mean. :-:

Raddi twitched at the mental voice's sudden appearance. Her tail uncoiled from her waist and raised itself up until it was level with her face, and she opened her eyes. "Hey, Starflyte. Haven't heard from you in a while; are you okay?"

:-: You know I hate missions. And you sleep through most of the pod-trips. Yeah, I'm fine, better than usual actually. Hawk's healings work a lot like the regen tank, only without the goop. :-:

Raddi smiled; a real smile. Starflyte always cheered her up, and her tail was the only one she could talk to about her people.

:-: Until now. :-:

"Yes… I suppose that's true."

:-: That copper fire in her ki… I think I can… :-:

"What are you trying?" Raddi asked, curious. Starflyte flicked back and forth, excited and intrigued.

:-: I think I can talk to her. Through the fire. :-:

Raddi sat up abruptly. "What?! But, you've never been able to before. Talk to anyone else, I mean."

:-: I can talk to other Tails, if there were any to talk to. :-:

"That's different." Raddi looked skeptically at Starflyte. "I suppose you could try, though." The Saiyan lay back down, turning on her side for a quick nap. Her tail swayed slowly, trying to establish a telepathic connection.

~~~~~~~~~

Hawk sat, cross-legged, looking for all the world as if she slept beside the wall, but in reality she was focused inward. She was 'spring cleaning.' To her mind's eye, the white core of her life force was surrounded by a strong pool of the copper fire that was her magic. Strands of white and copper intermixed around the edges, and Hawk was doggedly chasing and untangling each one to ensure control over her magic and self.

:-: HAWK!! :-:

"Huh-wha-ack!" Hawk's eyes flew open as she tumbled over backwards, hitting the wall and yelping. "Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith! What was that?" she asked the empty air in front of her.

:-: More like 'who,' actually. I'm Starflyte. Thanks for healing me earlier. :-:

"You're welcome, Starflyte," Hawk said, rubbing her head and sporting a confused expression, "but, er… who are you? *Where* are you?" She looked around the room curiously.

:-: Like I said, I'm Starflyte. I'm Radditzi's tail. :-:

"Tail…?" Hawk asked, cocking her head in confusion. "You have a mind of your own?"

:-: When it suits me. :-:

Hawk smiled, her scientific curiosity piqued. "So, Starflyte… can you tell me about Saiyans…?"

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Again, I apologize for the long wait. Here's a longer chapter instead, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your review, foREVer27!

--Falcon