"Damn it, there's someone here somewhere," he muttered, moving to another window.
A bright flash and a wave of heat behind him announced that someone was having fun destroying buildings. Zarbon gritted his teeth. Depopulating a city was one thing, but destroying the beautiful architecture of the Amons needlessly was something else altogether.
Take this house, for example. It was made of wooden panels, but the pillars in the front and at the corners of the house were intricately carved with fantastic designs of animals and twining plants. The wood used for these houses was extremely hard, but the Amons had found a way to carve wood like butter…
Ah! There was a light…dim enough to be a candle or something similar. Zarbon looked closely at the window frame, then quietly used his ki to burn away the edging around the glass, pulling the pane out and setting it down against the wall.
A sound came to him, a high, melodic voice singing in the odd Amon language. The voice had power somehow, physical power that one would associate with ki, not sound. The song had a mournful quality to it, and as Zarbon silently climbed through the window frame, the voice grew louder in a dramatic crescendo.
The warrior walked quietly towards the sound, ready to fight if need be. This house was maze-like, with thin internal walls of paper screens, often beautifully painted with scenes from nature; Zarbon wondered if the owner of the house had painted them. He felt as if he were getting nowhere, but the hall suddenly opened into a porch that faced a small garden.
He stopped in confusion. Here was a lovely flower garden, surrounded by a delicate porch, all inside of the house! There was no roof over the garden itself, which created a fascinating lighting scheme on the tropical plants, but it was clear that the garden was part of the house and not some superfluous patch of green.
How can all of this be in the house? It's not all that big, the man wondered. Then he realized that the hallways really didn't take up much space; they doubled back on each other. The garden must be in the center of the house…but where are the rooms?
He walked along the porch and returned to the maze of hallways, getting slightly frustrated. He could hear through the walls, but he could not see! After a while, he finally saw a door that opened into a small, cluttered room. There were three long tables and one chair in the sun-lit area, and the various items scattered on the tables and floor defined the room as a workshop or a studio. The singing voice was very close now, close enough that Zarbon could hear the singer's breaths in between phrases. The man looked about and saw two doors, one to the left and one to the right. The singing was coming from the left, so he quietly inched closer to the doorway, trying to remain unheard.
Finally, he saw the girl. She was fairly tall, with the long, graceful limbs characteristic of her race, and shimmery black hair that fell to her waist. She was preparing food, singing absently as she worked.
Zarbon silently stepped into the room, summoning his ki slowly in case she could sense it. He was ready to attack her and render her unconscious when the eyepiece of his scouter flashed, showing other warriors of Freeza approaching the house.
He wanted to curse. Whoever approached would ruin his plan…so who was it? Annoyed, he watched the numbers blink across his scouter. It was those damned Saiyajin, Kariifuuru and Raditz. Zarbon almost swore out loud. He was positive Vejiita had sent them to keep track of his actions while Vejiita was fighting in the city, probably destroying things of beauty…
The Saiyajins’ shadows flitted across the single window in the room, and the girl looked up suddenly, breaking off her song. She whirled to dash out of the room, and finally saw Zarbon standing in the doorway. Before he could attack her, she turned and dove out the window, leaping to her feet outside and looking about for attackers.
"Hey! There's one," Zarbon heard Raditz shout. He climbed through the window quickly and dashed out to see the two Saiyajin shooting random bolts of ki at the Amon, making her stumble and fall.
"Captain Raditz, Commander Kariifuuru! Stop toying with here and capture her, or leave her alone!" Zarbon roared.
"Admiral Zarbon," Kariifuuru growled without even turning to see the man, "we shall pursue and seize the girl in our own fashion. Our orders come from Admiral Vejiita."
"I figured as much," Zarbon drawled. "You're so…dependent...on your younger brother, aren't you?" he smirked. "He has to look out for you often, doesn't he, Kariifuuru?"
The Saiyajin woman bared her teeth in a snarl. "Shut your mouth, you blue-skinned beauty-freak! It doesn't matter that your power is greater than mine—I’m still far smarter, and you're well aware of it…"
Zarbon kept an eye on the Amon as Kariifuuru barked at him. The girl was warily watching the soldiers, edging away from her house and towards a large tree. Faster than his eye could follow, she had scrambled into the tree, crouching on a branch with her back against the broad trunk and trying to stay inconspicuous.
"Your blathering is unnecessary," Zarbon finally snapped at Kariifuuru, cutting her off. "Meanwhile, in case you haven't noticed, the specimen has escaped."
"Escaped, hell," the woman grated, her eyes narrowing. "She's right…there!" she said, pointing at the tree and firing a ki-bolt.
There was a sound of indignation and a rattling of branches, and the two Saiyajin flew up, grinning ferally.
"Just capture her!" Zarbon roared impatiently, flicking his green hair out of his eyes.
"You have no sense of fun," Raditz growled, lashing his tail. "Fine. Come on, Kariifuuru, let's get her."
Zarbon watched the two Saiyajin in annoyance, wondering why Freeza tolerated their foolishness. They were fairly good fighters, but they always contested orders—even from their King and unofficial war-leader Vejiita.
Rear Admiral Vejiita…now there was a thought to rile Zarbon up. The two men held equal rank, and they hated each other. Vejiita was the crown prince (the fool was never formally coronated as King) of his people—the few that were left—and the only son of old King Vejiita; he had all the arrogance that a royal brat should have. Kariifuuru was his older half-sister, cheated of the crown because of her sex, and while the two siblings got along well, they both had hated their father with a passion.
Not that these Saiyajin matter, Zarbon thought. One of these days Freeza will destroy these last few—and good riddance.
Bah, he thought, irritated. I'm getting distracted. He looked back up at the chase of the Amon girl. She was somehow reflecting the attacks of the Saiyajin, much to their frustration. Sighing in resignation, Zarbon fired a warning bolt over the girl's head.
She whirled, baring her teeth in a snarl. Kariifuuru tried to attack from behind, but the girl spun around and delivered a stunning kick to the Saiyajin’s stomach.
"Leave me be!!" the Amon cried, firing a wave of energy about her. Zarbon moved out of the way and checked his scouter for data.
"What in the world?" he muttered. There had been no flare-up of energy recorded on the scouter—as a matter of fact, her energy reading was rapidly decreasing…
Kariifuuru and Raditz swirled up into the air, circling the girl warily now and looking for an opening. They were angry now; they knew they should have easily captured the Amon, who was, after all, little more than a child. Raditz was prepared to attack, but Zarbon had a sudden premonition and warned the Saiyajin off.
"Get back! She's ready for you!" he shouted to them, flying up in the air. "Look at your scouters, damn you!"
The two Saiyajin looked at their scouters in alarm, and suddenly veered away from the girl.
"What's she doing?" Raditz demanded, his tail whipping from side to side.
"She's absorbing energy," Zarbon snapped angrily. "Let me handle this now; you two misbegotten freaks have already had your chance."
Even the bold Kariifuuru knew better than to contradict that kind of order. The two Saiyajin went and perched on the roof of the Amon house, waiting for Zarbon to defeat the girl.
Meanwhile, the Amon was floating serenely in the air, waiting for an attack. She watched Zarbon with incurious eyes as he powered up, loose strands of his silky green hair waving in the air.
"The games are over!" he shouted, firing a broad wave of ki at the girl. That should have done it, he thought. The two Saiyajin couldn't have handled that, let alone this child.
But as the air cleared, the girl was still floating there, holding her hands up in an odd defensive position. She looked completely unharmed. Suddenly, she soared up into the air, curling into a tight ball for a moment, then stretching out completely, crying out in a high, keening wail.
The two Saiyajin covered their ears immediately, their faces distorted in pain. Zarbon realized that the Saiyajins’ ears were much more sensitive than his, and the two little monkeys were effectively disabled by the odd sound.
Well, that suited him fine. He wanted them out of his way anyway. The Amon was still making that strange, double-pitched sound—one high and one low voice, both at once. It reminded Zarbon on the mythical creature called a siren, the woman that sang alluringly to men and then killed them…The sound was sweet, in a strange sort of way, but the power in the voice(s?) was inescapable. It was as if her voice was her ki…
A change in the tone of the cry interrupted Zarbon’s train of thought, and he looked up in alarm. The girl had arched forward, hunching over, and something was coming from her back…
"Turu!" Kariifuuru shouted over the cry, trying to catch Zarbon’s attention. "Watch out! It's a transformation!"
Turu? What did that mean? It sounded like an Amon word, but he was not familiar with the odd, musical language. He felt a spidery tingle of apprehension begin to crawl through his mind, but he pushed it aside. The Amons were a peaceful people; how effectively could this girl fight?
"Nanyatenei!" the girl cried suddenly, stretching outward and upward—and unfurling an enormous pair of birdlike wings. The feathers were iridescent blue-black, and in the light reflected every color in the spectrum. This fragile beauty was marred, however, by the three taloned fingers growing from the wrist joint of each wing. The claws gleamed cruelly, and Zarbon did not wish to get within her wing-range.
The girl began to flap those great wings slowly, holding herself aloft easily and stirring up a strong breeze. She seemed ready to fight, and not at all peaceful, as her people were reputed to be.
"Kariifuuru! What happened?" Zarbon shouted, trying to come up with a strategy.
"She's a high member of their society! She's got power! Watch your tail!" the woman called, still covering her ears ineffectively.
That proved to be unnecessary, as the crying sound suddenly cut off. The Amon stared vacantly at Zarbon. Her eyes seemed to be unnervingly empty of thought or feeling, but they still burned strangely, like starlight…
Bemused, the man was almost knocked out of the sky by an enormous gust of wind. He recovered quickly and looked at the girl in consternation.
"Don't attack her!" Kariifuuru cried, an expression of fear creeping over her face, "not with ki!"
"What?! Why not?!" Zarbon demanded, keeping an eye on the Amon, who was still staring at them sightlessly.
"She'll reflect it! Our best chance is to try to surprise or tire her!"
#Of which you will do neither,# a new voice said.
The three warriors of Freeza turned to look at the Amon girl. Her voice had changed to a dreadful, multi-toned sound, and it made the soldiers’ blood run cold. However, just then, the three of them saw something on their scanners, and they were not concerned about this girl's threats.
"Don't be so cocky!" Raditz snarled, firing a small, sharp ki-bolt at the girl's wings.
"Fool," she snapped, waving her hands in front of her in a coordinated way. The beam approached her—and bounced away!
"Damn it!" Raditz cursed. "She can reflect…" Suddenly he and Kariifuuru grinned, and Zarbon’s eyes widened slightly.
"Ne…?" The Amon turned around to see what everyone was looking at—and received an enormous ki blast full in the face. She let out a high, ear-piercing shriek and fell, her wings folding inwards and shrinking.
"Our orders were to capture an Amon—alive!" Zarbon grated.
"She's alive," the newcomer said, swooping down to catch the girl. "Just in shock—and in exhaustion from the reversed transformation. And when it takes a captain, a commander, and two rear admirals to subdue one little girl, something more than a simple ‘capture’ is automatically in effect…"
"How is she, Vejiita?" Kariifuuru murmured, approaching her brother.
"Unconscious, but fine, I think. Now, Zarbon, what happened before I got here?" the Saiyajin said, looking at the other admiral with a smirk.
"I don't have to give my report to you," Zarbon snapped angrily. Why had those damned Saiyajin interfered? Now they would probably destroy the girl's beautiful house, just for entertainment.
But they did not. Vejiita glanced at Zarbon and rose to flying altitude, then jetted off towards the south, where the spaceship waited. After a moment, Raditz and Kariifuuru followed their prince. Zarbon snarled to himself and finally rose to leave, looking at the Amon house one last time before returning to the ship.
"Vejiita will pay for this…"