Just Under the Upper hand (Blaze)

[ammy]

Amaranth poured him a bit in the glass before re-corking the bottle. Walking over, she handed it to him. The wine had a sweet, almost spicy scent to it. Very different from most of Earth's wines.

"It's a wine from my home. You look like you need to relax," she said with a smile. Amaranth took a sip, staring out the large view screen to the frozen landscape that is Kold. Quietly, she spoke to him.

"Blaze, are you apart of the World Trade Organization by any chance?" she asked softly. Amaranth turned her gaze to him. There was nothing hostile about it, nothing that would suggest that she had other motives. Only a gentle curiosity. It was true that she wanted information about whether or not C.Haos and his lackey were apart of it. After all, she could only collect rumors about their involvement. But she was also curious about her friend. Serori being the main concern of course. But there was also Caius. Amaranth knew that he had worked for Touketsuki in the past, but she also knew he stood against him in the fight on Earth. But, she hadn't heard a word from him in the past five years. and though she would never dare to admit it, she was worried about him.

Amaranth turned her gaze down to the crimson liquid in her glass. A tinted reflection of herself stared back at her before she swirled the glass, taking a sip from the liquid.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me. I was just curious to know if you knew a friend of mine," she said, gaze still away from him.

[Blaze]

Blaze took the wine she had poured and put it to his lips. It smelled sweet. He took a sip, and walked over to a table with two chairs and sat down. He could see the computer from there as it scanned.

Amaranth turned her gaze to him. "Blaze, are you apart of the World Trade Organization by any chance?" she asked. Blaze sat there, quiet. He didn't know how to answer right off, and just sorta looked into his glass. He wasn't proud of his WTO affiliation. And this person was an SSE civilian... this may not end well.

Amaranth turned to her glass as well. He heard her take a sip. She spoke again. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me. I was just curious to know if you knew a friend of mine," Blaze sat for a moment, then sat the glass on the table.

He looked up at her with a neutral look on his face. He looked up for a moment, like he was recalling something. "Well... I've met quite a few members of the World Trade. He shrugged. "Gotta say, not all of them are bad people. It would probably surprise you." Blaze looked to the side a little. "Then there are others... who need to be, well... Blaze was going to say something like "Put down" or "Removed". but he didn't finish.

He looked back up at Amaranth with a slight smile. "I might know your friend. Who would it be?."

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

A flashing caught Serori's eye through a window as she was walking through the Kold Palace. It was like a shooting star, except it was much too close. Serori stopped at the opening to the outer world, and stared, trying to figure out what it was. A distant thudding crash sounded, and Serori was on her feet, flying through the halls to her room. She went straight to the closet, grabbing her warmest clothes. It was winter on Kold, or what passed for winter...it was always freezing and snowing, and it just happened to be the turn of the planet at this instant provided for it to be colder and windier and SNOWIER than usual. Serori knew that whoever had crashed their ship would definitely need help.

She had learned hospitality from her Earth parents, whom had taken her in. She'd seen them accept people into their homes when they'd crashed, got lost, or wandered the wrong direction, and fed them, clothed them if they needed it, and sent them off with money, repaired their ship, all sorts of nice things. Serori was trying to return to her old Earth habits, and this would be a good start.

Sufficiently bundled up, she swiftly walked through the Palace to the gates, where two guards were standing. They were the only two seen guards, but Serori knew there were others, hidden away, protecting their emperor and those he allowed in the Palace. She told them she was going into town to shop, and they didn't argue. The emperor's wife was never questioned.

She hurried along the streets, passing by Icers and Aliens alike. Some recognised her and immediately stepped out of the way; they still feared Suki, even though he was implimenting a new regime. However, some didn't recognise her, bundled up as she was, but she payed them no mind. She didn't feel she should be treated too much differently than she had, now she was married to the Emperor Touketsuki Yakedo.

Finally, she found the place that the ship had crashed. There were two people standing by it, a female, and an Icer wearing black armor. She vaguely recognised the Icer, but when her eyes went to look at the female, her heart leapt. It was someone whom she recognised, a woman she had met five years ago, and seen again three years after that. A woman with a brown wolf's tail, easily recognisable.

Serori broke out into a jog, shouting out.

"Ammy! Ammy!!" She ran to meet them and threw her arms around the wolf girl. "Ammy, I missed you so so so much!!" Turning to the Icer, she gave him a huge smile. "And it is very nice to meet you. Ammy, would you please introduce me to this strapping lad?"

[ammy]

"His named is C.Haos. He's an android I met a few years ago on Earth," she said, looking up. Amaranth was a natural-born liar. She knew what it took to make a lie believable, and knew how to look like it was true. Amaranth took another sip of her wine, the red liquid slowly warming her from the inside out. She gazed at Blaze, waiting for an answer. A beep from the central computer distracted her, the scan finally done. Setting her wine glass down, Amaranth smiled and stood.

"Looks like the scan is done," she noted, going over. But before she could even look at the screen, something outside caught her attention. A figure was coming toward the ship, with an energy signature very familiar to Amaranth. A large smile broke out on her face.

"It couldn't be..." she muttered. Turning from the screen, Amaranth grabbed her capelet and pulled it on before exiting the ship. She walked out into the snow. The figure started to yell her name before running up and practically tackling Amaranth with a hug. She laughed, hugging the other girl back.

"Serori!" she cried out with excitement, drawing away from her old friend. She turned to Blaze.

"This is Blaze, he's been kind enough to help me figure out what's wrong with my ship. Blaze, this is Serori Yakedo, and old friend of mine," she said, taking care of introductions.

[Blaze]

"His name is C.Haos. He's an android..." Thats all it took to make Blaze choke on his next sip. Not violently, just a little. He cleared his throught. "Uhh.... C.haos? His face was a mix of surprise and confusion. He could tell she was serious. "Your friends with that thing?" He said in disbelief. He chuckled and stood, setting his glass down. "I... heard of him. He isn't here, though. You sure you don't mean Souka? Cause C.haos is a little... outside your friend pool, so I'd assume."

He heard the computer beep as well, and went over to investigate, Amaranth following. "Scan says the problems your..." He was cut off by the sound of something outside. "Ammy! Ammy!" A female voice yelled in exitement, getting closer. "The hell's that?" blaze mumbled, curious now. "It couldn't be..." Amiranth muttered right after, a smile on her face.

Another woman came into the ship, running and almost taking Ammy down with a hug. They exchanged words. Blaze recognized her right off, she was Suki's wife. Someone Blaze tried to avoid for his three years in the WTO. She married an Icarian, he figured she had a thing for them. And Blaze wanted to avoid her interest. She may not even have that kind of interest in him, but it was just to be on the safe side. Blaze liked being alive.

Blaze tuned in. ...this strapping lad?" Serori asked, looking at him. "Nobody important!" Blaze said, smiling and scratching the back of his head. But Ammy continued to introduce him anyway. Hopefully, Serori didn't hear of him before. He didn't want Amaranth knowing he was WTO for sure. If she did know of him, maybe she'd keep quiet... Blaze had no idea... he was probably screwed!


((Threw in Blaze avoiding Seori as a way of explaining why they didn't appear in eachother's timeskips. One possible reason, anyway lol))

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

Serori beamed at Blaze, holding out her hand.

"I don't think we've actually met before. Thank you greatly for helping out my friend. I'm glad to see that the Icer race is so hospitable." If Blaze didn't take her hand, then Serori would shrug, turning back to Ammy. "I suppose you've heard of my marriage? Otherwise, you would not have called me Yakedo. What kind of news have you heard? I hope its good, as here have been several nasty rumors running around as of late."

Serori was speaking fast, as she always did when she was excited, the same as when she had first met Ammy. She hoped she wasn't putting off Blaze, she didn't want more rumors to spread. After letting Ammy speak, she would then turn to the black clad Icer.

"Mr. Blaze, I would like again to thank you for helping out my friend. It really means a lot. If there's any way I could repay you for taking the time out of your day to do this?

((sorry for the short reply, I couldn't think of things to say))

[ammy]

Amaranth smiled at the two. She was glad Serori was here. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her old friend since they're last meeting years ago. Things had become complicated for her since then, and being the new wife of Touketsuki, Amaranth could only guess that Serori was the same way. She smiled, laying a hand on her shoulder. Serori was going a mile a minute again. It seemed like after all these years, she hadn't changed. That was good to hear.

"I tend not to pay attention to rumors, they have a tendency for being extremely exaggerated," she said with a smile. She had heard many things, and most of them were nasty. but of course, seeing Serori right now, Amaranth was sure they weren't true. At least, the ones involving her weren't. But the rumors of C.Haos joining the WTO was starting to lean toward the truth. Amaranth saw how nervous Blaze looked now, and his reaction when she had claimed to be friends with the android. Apparently he had also stayed the same over these few years. Utterly and completely repulsive.

"Serori, would you like something to drink as well?" Amaranth said, nodding over to her and Blaze's wine glasses, "And Blaze, would you mind checking the scanner? I believe it's completed."

[Blaze]

Serori spoke to him. "If there's any way I could repay you for taking the time out of your day to do this?"Blaze smiled. "Well... I just was happy to help out, really. Can't leave the poor girl stranded... He kinda just shrugged it off. Blaze was one rare Icer that didn't mind going out of his way for someone else.

The two chatted for a moment while Blaze crossed his arms. Women were so different. Kinda weird. Yet he felt compelled to stay around them...

He started paying attention again. "checking the scanner? I believe it's completed. Blaze shot his glance at the computer. "Oh right! Almost forgot..." Hewent over to the computer and looked over the results.

"Well Ammy... you got a shot fuel sensor." Blaze turned around, and looked on the side panel. He didn't find what he was looking for, so he got on all fours and started looking on the floor. "Ah, here we go." he said, flipping up a little ring and pulling up a door.

It was the main electrical section. Blaze had watched the techs back at base quite a bit, and had even helped a little. This was a common problem. Blaze flicked a few clips to move other components around without needing to remove them, and found the sensor. "Kay, this is it. I can take it out and jurry-rig it with a simple bypass, but that can be dangerous after around thirty lightyears of travel. Or you can get the right part.

Blaze looked at Ammy while still kneeling. "Could get... er swipe one from the WTO, or grab one from a scrap yard. The bypass would be faster though, as long as you arrent going far."

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

"Yes, I would please." Serori accepted the proffered drink. She wasn't quite sure what it was, it had a sort of sweet and spicy smell. She sipped it; it tasted very good, so she kept the glass in hand, occasionally taking small sips as she had seen other do to wine. She listened as Ammy explained how she didn't pay attention to rumors, and in her mind Serori was thanking the heavens. She didn't want her friend to be hearing the bad things she never did; she was certain the falsehoods were going around simply because of the WTO's previous mantra.

When Ammy told Blaze the scanner was ready, Serori watched the Icer walk to the computer, taking a look. She was curious herself what had brought Ammy's ship down to the planet. The Icer took a look at the screen, before completing his analysis.

"Well Ammy, you've got a shot fuel sensor." He searched around for a bit, looking for something, before getting on his hands and knees. Serori was about to offer to help, when he said "Ah, here we go." He opened up some sort of hidden door, revealing the main electrical units. He fiddled around, before removing a slightly burnt looking piece of metal.

"Kay, this is it. I can take it out and jurry-rig it with a simple bypass, but that can be dangerous after around thirty lightyears of travel. Or you can get the right part. Could get... er swipe one from the WTO, or grab one from a scrap yard. The bypass would be faster though, as long as you arrent going far."

Serori frowned at this.

"I wouldn't suggest swiping anything from the WTO, Lord Suki has been in the foulest of foul moods lately. Nor would I suggest jurry-rigging anything, if there's the chance it could be potentially dangerous. Not trying to undermine your hard work, Blaze, again, I thank you for what you've done for Ammy." Turning to the alien girl, she continued. "I can get you a new fuel sensor, free of charge. Blaze said it'd take longer, but I'm willing to let you borrow a room at the palace. And you too, Blaze, if you're going to install it." She focused her eyes on Ammy's. "And if you'd like to stay for a few days, maybe we can discuss things, talk, go into town, catch up." She hoped Ammy would get the message. She was referring to something that Ammy had mentioned two or three years ago.

[ammy]

A shot fuel sensor. Amaranth hadn't the slightest clue where that piece was or why it was so important to her ship, but it seemed that way. Neither of Blaze's suggestions seemed too safe, especially since Vegeta was still quite a bit far. And stealing from the WTO was NEVER a good idea, though Amaranth was sure Serori wouldn't tell anyone it was her.

She stood, going over to take her glass again. With a frown, she took a large gulp of it before sighing. Amaranth had a feeling that to get through the next couple of days, she'd need that little boost.

"Thank you Serori... I'd love to stay, but I need to leave as soon as possible," she said, turning to the two with what could almost be called a nervous smile. She was truly in a bind. There was no way that she could live out of her ship until the part came in, it simply wasn't made to handle the frigid temperatures of Kold. And she trusted Serori, so staying with HER wasn't the big dilemma. It was being a guest of Touketsuki and the WTO. Five years ago, Amaranth had promised to go with Boliko to fight his enemy, the man who attacked his home planet and then Earth. If not for the human they encountered, one Amaranth now recognized to be Zach, it was very likely that the two would have arrived there during the fight between Touketsuki and Nam.

Add this to the fact that Nor had been claimed for the SSE, and that she was apart of it did not help. Serori already knew of her status, both as a member of the SSE and Nor's Princess. Walking right into the fortress of Touketsuki wasn't the smartest idea. And if Boliko found out, what would he think?

Amaranth frowned. She shouldn't be concerned with what he thought of her. They were simply friends and she was still incredibly pissed about his departure three years ago. And besides, he knew she was friends with Serori! Amaranth didn't need his, or anyone else's permission on her choice of friends. She gave the two and smile and headed to her small room on the ship.

"I suppose I should pack then, huh?" she called from the room, already grabbing a bag.

[Blaze]

Blaze could tell by the look on both woman's faces that everything was going to have to be done the exact right way. "I wouldn't suggest swiping anything..." Serori continued as Blaze rolled his eyes and shoved the piece in his pocket.

He didn't know if Serori knew he was WTO or not... be kind of odd for the boss' wife not to know her husbands personal advisor, but again, Blaze had been avoiding her. He kind of regretted that now, she seemed like an alright person. Also, as a member of the WTO, Blaze or Serori both could have gotten the part, no questions asked.

But Blaze figured out the real situation soon enough. "...borrow a room at the palace..." He heard Serori say. He got it now. Serori wanted her friend to stay longer! Usually Blaze wouldn't be against the idea of a gorgeous woman sticking around, but an SSE in the WTO palace was just a bad idea. Ooooh, that's going to end wonderfully. Blaze thought, walking over to the table and picking up his glass.

Amaranth responded "...I need to leave as soon as possible." Blaze relaxed. He leaned up against the ship and took a sip from his glass. "I suppose I should pack then, huh?" Blaze froze mid-gulp. Ammy wouldn't need to pack anything if she was leaving on her ship... She had changed her mind! He coughed, probly attracting attention. "I - I'm good." He said, beating his upper chest a couple times with his fist.

Blaze watched Ammy walk into her room and start her packing. He shook his head and tossed back the rest of the wine when Serori wasn't looking. He sat the glass down and walked up to her.

Blaze got close enough beside her and spoke low, so Ammy wouldn't be able to hear, especially over the noise of her packing. "You do realize... this is a horrible idea. I doubt Suki has a problem with you having friends over, but if he finds out shes part of the Empire, well..." Blaze shrugged. "...who knows what'll happen. Just tell everyone shes a friend, and she's in need of a place to stay. People don't need details."

Blaze didn't like the idea. Hopefully Suki wouldn't be around. Or maybe he'll be asleep or training. Possibly wont see Ammy at all.

And Blaze had kept another tidbit of info in the back of his mind. C.haos. There was no way in all hell someone like her was friends with him. And considering the crime Ch.aos was wanted on Nor for, and the fact that she was from nor made him wonder even more.

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

"I suppose I should pack then, huh?" she called from the room, already grabbing a bag.

Serori smiled, proud of her accomplishment. She did in fact have things to discuss with Ammy, and knew that she was in the Saiyan Solar Empire. This posed a problem as, though technically not officially at war, the WTO and SSE were fighting, and at ends. Bringing Ammy in was a risk, but Serori knew how to handle it. Besides, most of the people who'd be seeing Ammy were servants, who knew little, and Suki himself would probably be elsewhere, worrying about how to get through the day. Serori sighed inwardly at the thought of her Lord Husband; there were many things wrong as of late, and try as she might, she could not help him.

In the meantime, Blaze had leaned himself casually against the ship, listening to the two girls talk. He said little himself, and nearly choked when Serori had offered Ammy stay in the Palace, and she'd accepted.

Blaze got close enough beside her and spoke low, so Ammy wouldn't be able to hear, especially over the noise of her packing. "You do realize... this is a horrible idea. I doubt Suki has a problem with you having friends over, but if he finds out shes part of the Empire, well..." Blaze shrugged. "...who knows what'll happen. Just tell everyone shes a friend, and she's in need of a place to stay. People don't need details."

"I'm way ahead of you, Blaze." Serori had already thought all of this through, and she knew that Ammy was smart enough to realise how dangerous this was. But she also knew that she wouldn't have agreed if she hadn't decided to accept the danger.

[ammy]

The fact that they were trying to whisper almost made her laugh. The ship wasn't big, and it wasn't like she was making a ton of noise either. Add her Noran hearing to it and it really was a silly thing. She instead shook her head, grabbing whatever warm clothes she could find and stuffing them into a bag. The only problem was that she hadn't packed many warm clothes. She had expected to go to Vegeta, a planet as warm as Writhos. Not Kold, a place where the name of the planet said it all. So as she packed whatever pants and long sleeve shirts she could find, Amaranth really hoped that Serori's home was warm.

Clothes and toiletries packed, Amaranth hesitated. There wasn't much o the ship that was worth much. Except for one thing. With a sigh, Amaranth went over to the bed, pressing one of the foux tiles beside it. A beep sounded and the tile slid back, revealing a beautiful necklace. The chain of the necklace was a rare type of silver that shone a soft blue in the light. A pendant hung from the necklace. It was in the shape of an amaranth, the flower after which she was named. It was carved out of a beautiful red stone that had purple veins throughout it. It was one of her most precious items, and her mark as part of the royal family. It had been made on the day of her birth, like every royal family member of Writhos, and would stay with her even past death. She was hesitant to bring it, but even more so to leave it here. With a sigh, she slipped it around her neck before tucking the pendant inside her shirt where it rested between her breast.

In the secret compartment lay another item. It was a small, leather bound book no bigger than her hand. The pages were yellowed and the ribbon tied around it was old. It had been Velvet's final gift to her before her passing, a journal kept by the lat know Dream Walker. Amaranth always kept it close, using it to unlock an decode the secrets of the veil where she traveled every night. She tucked it into her bag before throwing the straps over her shoulder and stepping out of the room.

"You know I could hear you both, right? Thank you for worrying Blaze, but I'm tougher than I look. I know what I'm getting into," she said, giving the Icer a smile. It was sweet of him to worry, but Amaranth had a feeling that there was no need.

[Blaze]

Shaking his head, Blaze walked over and tapped the door to the electric pannel closed with his foot. He stepped on it to click it shut, and made his way to grab his coat. "May as well be off then." he said. Blaze pulled the black coat on, his tail slipping up between the slit in the back. He took Ammy's as well, and walked over by the bedroom door.

"I know a guy who can take this into the hangar. Don't need it getting buried in snow out here." He said, handing Ammy her coat.

(OOC: Running out of stuff to post at once lol)

[Serori Yakedo-Satsumaimo]

((OOC: Ammy and I are done here, and I believe Blaze as well. PL))