Downtime (open)

[Mint]

Once again, Mint was humming absentmindedly to herself while going about her day in the Ghettien Settlement. With an old damp rag in hand, the android was wiping down the outside of the broken down shack in which she lived with her creator. The door was barely on its hinges, the windows were all either cracked or completely shattered out, and the inside of the shack was almost completely bare. Still, she had to start somewhere if she wanted to make the old thing look less depressing. Besides, it was something to keep the android busy.

It had been a long while since she had returned from her escort mission. Grandma had practically had a heart attack when she saw the horrid condition the fight with the Saiyan had left Mint in. She had never seen the old woman in such a state before! It wasn't an easy task, but the android was looking as good as new after Grandma had spent so long fixing her up. Unfortunately, she had been forbidden to leave the Ghettien Settlement, or even using her ability to fly. There was no questioning Grandma about it either. Mint cared deeply for her elderly creator, but she was unbelievably scary when she got mad.

As sad as she was to know that not all of the refugees had made it, the android was still glad that the few that reached the settlement were at least marginally happier than they were as slaves. She even managed to make a few friends on her mission. Mint hadn't seen any of them since returning home. The repairs to her damaged frame weren't quick, and Grandma hadn't been too keen on the idea of her palling around with people who left the settlement on a regular basis. The android girl hoped that they were doing okay.

Back to the present time, Mint continued in her attempt to clear the side of the shack of the grime that had built up on it over the years. The daily rations weren't scheduled to be dropped off at the settlement for a few hours so Mint had plenty of time to work. It was a shame all she could scavenge that was of any use to this project were old rags. If only the mechanical young woman could get her hands on some new hinges for the door, some in-tact windows, or even some paint she would have this place looking just as chipper as she was in no time at all! Surely that would have worked wonders on the gloomy atmosphere of the settlement. Had it not been for the overcrowding of the half-way house, Mint would have preferred to start her little clean up just there instead. Oh well, she would just have to make do with what she could...

[kyfuji]

Kyfuji would be flying towards the brown house slowly, simply taking his time. He had just finished learning to fly a week ago and it was helping him get around faster. The wind was making his clothes fly around wildly as he flew. He was really bored and lonely. He hadn't had contact with anything, nor anyone in about a month and a half. Kyfuji stopped for a moment and looked at the clouds above him, thinking of where he could find some people. He cracked his neck and then would continue to fly through the sky, looking for.... a small ugly, broken down shack was on the ground! That didn't sound too great, but there was a girl outside, cleaning? Kyfuji would sigh in relief and would float down feet first towards the ground and the shack. He landed lightly on his feet and would cross his arms over his chest, "I don't suppose you're a saiyan are you? Because if you are a saiyan, you will have to die right here." Kyfuji would smirk slightly, kind of actually hoping she was a saiyan, so he could fight something.

[Mint]

Mint continued her work with a big smile on her face. She had started interspersing bits of whistling into the tune she was humming, and was starting to sway to her own tune. She wasn’t getting all that much done on the side of the house since the rag she was using wasn’t in that good of shape and the amount of dirt that she was trying to clear wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Still, the vision in her mind of a clean house filled her with a pleasant feeling and drove her to continue.

"I don't suppose you're a saiyan are you? Because if you are a saiyan, you will have to die right here."

”Huh?” Mint piped up before spinning around to face the owner of the voice. There was a young man with a white tank top, white shoes, brown pants, spikey hair, and a scar on his face. The android stared blankly at him for a few moments before mumbling in a confused tone. ”Saiyan? Me?” The last time she had checked, she looked nothing like a Saiyan. Most Saiyans were clad in their traditional armor, were covered from head to toe in scarring, and looked bulky and imposing. Mint was none of these things. She also had no tail to speak of. Furthermore, what would a Saiyan be doing hanging around the Ghettien Settlement? Maybe there would be some sort of suspicion if she were going around picking on people, but all the mechanical young woman was doing was cleaning the side of her home.

Was he playing some type of game with her? Sometimes the children of the settlement would wrestle her pretending that they were the big hero of the rebellion, while she was an icky Saiyan that they were going to beat up. There wasn’t anything playful in his tone though, and he seemed much older than the usual child that challenged her to such wrestling matches. Maybe he was just genuinely confused…

”No silly!” Mint giggled in her usual sing-song voice. ”You’re in the Ghettien Settlement; a community for humans. For the most part, there aren’t any Saiyans here.” She tossed the old rag aside and straightened her clothes out. She wasn’t exactly sure if this young man counted as a guest to their home yet, but on the off chance he was it would be awfully rude to continue cleaning like he wasn’t even there. ”NMy name’s Mint! What’s your name?” Mint asked with an enthusiastic bow.

[kyfuji]

Kyfuji would have a embarrassed face and would look puzzled, "Wait! So uuuuh I'm already here? I guess flying is really faster than walking. Well sorry for disturbin..... My name? I'm Kyfuji. Well it seems you're not a monkey so I guess you're okay." He then looked in the air and smirked. He is a step closer to joining the rebellion and that's what he wanted. [/i]TO ONE DAY BE THE LEADER OF THE REBELLION AND TO RID THE WORLD OF THE EVIL SAIYANS. Kyfuji then looked at mint and remembered how lonely he was earlier and wouldn't mind actually hanging out with this girl for a while. Even though he didn't know her well, she seemed nice. "So.... Mind if I stay here for a while? I have no where else to go, and I.... Uh..." He didn't tell her that he was lonely! That would ruin his cool guy attitude so he just smiled. He unfolded his arms and then looked at the shack. It was in terrible condition. It looked as if it were caught up in a fight between powerful enemies. Kyfuji then turned back to Mint for a moment and then back at the shack, "So, you stay here by yourself?"

[Aice]

Being so far out from the main parts of the ghettin settlement the streets were much larger and with less people, if it hadn't been for the fact that most of the points of interest were further in the city it would be packed with people here. Even so the streets weren't completely devoid of any life, as a few people scampered along the street,carrying pots and other homemade goods they hoped to trade at the markets. Strolling down the street a man held a cigarette from the corner of his mouth leaving a smoke trail behind him, this man was Serge. For those than knew him he was a strong and often violent man but was still able to keep his cool through the most straining circumstances. Also known for the ability to consume dangerous amounts of alcohol with out being subdued to it; insisting he could stop drinking at any time, most have never seen him with out a bottle in his hands. Today was no different as clinched in his large hands was a bottle of what appeared to be some sorta of alcoholic beverage; the label had long worn away leaving behind bits of paper material stuck to it's surface.

Following along the coat tail of his trench coat a few people called out his name, slightly applauding his presence. Though not nearly famous as his good friend Tido, Serge was still quite popular in the city. However unlike Tido, Serge didn't like all the attention that came from just doing what he felt was right; killing Saiyan's. It was as basic as that, he was no leader, just a man that could carry out orders and come back alive for more commands. Shooing the few pestering people off with a glare, Serge continued his lonely walk down the street. His life had never been an easy one, he had been fighting long before most of the now active rebels, every chance he could get Serge would fight any battle as long as it would hurt the Saiyan empire in anyway. Scarred and battered his body told the stories his mouth could not, and all the people he had lost. He felt as though it was almost pointless to care about anyone; they all died in the end anyway.

However one young girl he had met not long ago had quite an effect on the man, for some strange reason he couldn't put his finger on, the girl filled him with new found hope. After the events of there first encounter she had been badly injured, Serge had hopped to visit her earlier but other matters called to him. Fighting the Saiyan's was a never ending battle, but after his last mission he felt as though he deserved a few hours off. At least this way he could check on the young girl to see how she was fairing since last seeing her.

Looking down at his forearm, little words ran the width of his arm; trying to make out the tiny script Serge squinted at it. Anyone watching him from far away it would like as though he was sniffing his arm. However that not being the case as the writing on his arm was that of directions to Mint's house, having so many connections it was easy for Serge to track her down. The fact that she was a android and kept talking about a "grandma" that would fix her up made it even easier to find her. Muttering the directions out loud to himself Serge looked up from his arm and scanned the surrounding area, taking a few second he spotted the sad looking shack.

"Well I wasn't expecting a mansion, but this is a bit sad." Serge spoke as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Seems like the right place though, I followed the directions exactly...useless that's north...?" Serge pointed off in a direction.

Moving forward a bit out of the direct path of another building Serge now had a better view of the shack, off in the yard in front of the shack Serge saw Mint talking too a young boy.

"Making friends already I see? At least see seems fixed up."

Serge was beginning to wonder if he should even bother walking up to her, she looked as though she was already preoccupied with the current person, there no need to overwhelm her.

"Hmm...well I did come all the way out here, no point in wasting a few hours coming out here for nothing." Reaching into his coat pocket Serge pulled out another cigarette, placing the already lit cigarette against the unlit one he was able to light the new one.

Tossing the old smoke onto the ground he crushed it with the heel of his boot, smothering the ember until it was no longer burning. Taking the bottle he placed it against his mouth and drank the sweet beverage, emptying the bottle he flung it against the hard ground shattering it into dust. Strolling across the street he called out to Mint,

"Hey there princess, did you miss me?"

[Mint]

Mint couldn’t help but chuckle at Kyfuji’s response. It looks like he really was just confused. Still, you would think he would have a general idea of what a Saiyan looked like considering how they dominated the planet… ”Nice to meet ’cha Kyfuj! It sounds like nobody else has done this yet, so… welcome to the Ghettien Settlement!” It always seemed to make the day seem that much brighter when Mint met potential new friends. It never took much to make her consider people to be new best buddies with her, either. As far as the android was concerned, Kyfuji was already there. Yay!

The young woman cocked her head to the side and lightly tapped on her chin at the young man’s next question. ”You don’t have anywhere else to go? That’s no good…” she replied. Most humans either made a bee line for the half-way house upon arrival to the settlement or got to work scavenging through the husks of the old buildings in search for one that was at least somewhat suitable to call their home. The half-way house was more than likely packed, and it could be days before Kyfuji found a building that wasn’t falling apart or already occupied. ”We don’t have much, but it might be difficult to find a place of your own in all of this wreckage. I would need to ask Grandma if she’s okay with you staying for a while. To answer your question, she’s the one I live with.”

As Mint was about to turn around, she caught a glimpse of a second figure out of the corner of her eye. Unlike Kyfuji, this was someone she actually recognized. She immediately stopped and waved cheerily to him. ”Hi Serge! How have you been?” Mint asked, her face lit up. Apparently all she had to do was think of her friends and they showed up at her doorstep. She would have to do that more often if it meant visitors. ”Still calling me ‘princess’ I see. How many times are you going to forget my name like that? It’s Mint, silly,” she giggled. ”Serge, this is Kyfuji. He just arrived at the settlement.” Mint the shifted so that she was facing Kyfuji. ”Kyfuji, this is Serge. He helped me a bunch last time I was out and about.”

[kyfuji]

Kyfuji smiled and nodded, "Well thanks for the welcome to the settlement, and I would like to meet your grandma." He laughed as he was so happy he might have a chance to make a friend. It had been so long before he made any friends. After he finished laughing he turned around to hear a voice directed at Mint. Kyfuji stood with his arms crossed at the stranger. He looked him over and could tell this guy was strong, he looked as if he had been in many battles. As Mint introduced Kyfuji to the man Kyfuji smiled and nodded his head in a greeting way. He then smirked as he faced Mint, "So what kind of stuff did he help you with?" He then turned back to the man, still having a smirk. He must of helped her with something rather important. By the way Mint said he helped her and by the man's appearance, he could tell she had got in trouble. His clothes and hair blew in the wind as a strong gust brushed past the 3 individuals. Kyfuji wondered about the thing he helped her with. He then ended his awfully long smirk and went back to his normal face.

[Aice]

Off the bat Serge didn't like the looks of Kyfuji, not that he thought that he was a bad person Serge just wasn't a people person. The less people around him the happier he was, it was just how he had always been, nothing personal towards the young boy. However for Mint's sake he gave Kufuji a weak wave of his arm, as if to say he knowledge him but cared little. Turning his attention back to Mint he looked her over, now being much closer he was clearly able to make out all the repairs that had been done on here. Where as before her arm was broken off, and her leg was damaged to the point was it was no longer functioning she was now walking around with ease. Going toe to toe with a well trained Saiyan was something that few were able to do and live to talk about, especially considering how much training she had before hand.

"Ha ya, I know your name, I just think princess suits you better."

Truth was that Serge was well aware of the girls name but he much preferred calling her princess, it seemed to match her personally very well. When Serge had first met Mint he thought little of her, given her cheerful demeanor in such a harden world, which is why he gave her the nickname. After all that she had gone through Mint had proved herself to Serge, few in the world had ever managed to gain any sort of respect from him. Once Serge had formed a opinion about someone it was near impossible for him to change his mind about them, Mint had been the exception from that. Even after being beating to a pulp and offered a chance to retreat she still stood her ground, wanting to finsih the fight she had started. Lacking a arm and a working leg she still managed to take down her enemy...with a little help from some friends granted.

"And you can say a bunch again, with out me and Tido you would have been a pile of scrap metal... no joke intended there." Serge said taking notice of the bad pun.

Serge sometimes forgot that Mint was not a normal girl but a android and a very strange one if that. Rubbing the back of his head he shrugged off the unintentional bad pun.

"Glad to see you've been repaired back too your normal self, must have been one hell of a repair job. Was your 'grandma' livid when she saw how badly you were bashed around?" Serge asked as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

Now mentioning Mint's "grandma" Serge had been curious about the woman, Mint talked awfully a lot about the her and yet he had not seen her. However as they now stood in the front of her house Serge was certain that if he asked about her she would more than likely to introduce them. Hoping that Mint had not told all of the details of story about how she was damaged, her 'grandma' might not give the most warm full of welcomes towards Serge.

"I hope she not gonna get on my case for the smokes..."

[Mint]

”Princess? Me?” Mint chuckled. She honestly didn’t see the connection between herself and the nickname. Princesses were supposed to be regal figures with the power to command an entire nation, weren’t they? ”I think I would be more suited to be a servant or handmaiden with how I’m always running around, doing one thing or another.”

The young woman continued to giggle at the thought of having such a nickname for a few seconds before turning back to Kyfuji. ”The last time I left the settlement, I was to escort a bunch of refugees back here with Serge. We got attacked by a real jerk of a Saiyan. I got beaten up pretty badly in the fight, and I probably wouldn’t be standing here at all if it weren’t for Serge and Tido,” Mint explained since he seemed to be interested.

”And THAT is exactly why you’re not ready for combat. You’re far too reckless for my liking,” a voice grumbled loudly as the door behind Mint was opened. Mint twisted herself and stepped back so that she faced the door without turning her back on Serge or Kyfuji. An elderly woman stood in the doorway of the pathetic looking shack. Her hands and face were covered in a sea of wrinkles, her gray hair was tied up in a disheveled bun, and she was hunched over while clutching a walking stick. The way she was hunched made her look much shorter than she actually was, which was still pretty short to begin with. There was a mixture between a scowl and a look of indifference on her ancient-looking face.

Mint smiled brightly and slowly shook her head. ”But Grandma, look at me now! I’m perfectly a-ok after you fixed me up. Most people can’t be repaired like I can,” she reasoned with her usual chipperness. ”Don’t start with that!” the old woman snapped. ”I’m not going to be around forever, and I haven’t met a single person left on this planet that I would trust with a basic screwdriver, much less making repairs to an android. Besides, you have to be able to hold your own without relying on whatever friends you think you’ve made to pull your ass out of the fire. If you’re so set on doing good for what’s left of the human race, how will you be of use to anyone if you go off and get yourself reduced to spare parts before you’ve reached your full potential?” Mint gave a defeated sigh. There was absolutely no arguing with Grandma. Maybe it would be best to change the subject.

The mechanical young woman turned back to the two guys and motioned to the old woman. ”This is Grandma, the one who built me. Grandma, these are my friends Serge and Kyfuji,” she introduced. The crotchety old woman simply looked up at them with her same expression. She said nothing, but seemed to be waiting for either of them to speak up.

[Aice]

Serge turned his attention to the old woman that came yelling out from the sad looking shack, the poor thing looked as though a weak gust of wind would send it crashing down into the dirt. At a first glance the woman seemed to be rather old, much old than Serge had been expecting from they way Mint had talked about her. With her aged dried up skin and short stature she looked almost as sturdy as the shack she was standing in, Serge wondered if a gust of wind would knock her down too. However even though she was rather fragile her spit fire words took him back a bit as she began to rant about how Mint was being careless with her body.

"Hehe old girl's still got some kick left in her, good to see. We could use more people like here around."

Even though Serge was a loner for the most part he never forgot his manners around his elder, everyone else could pretty much go fuck off.
Taking off his woolen hat he took a few steps forward towards the woman and bowed slightly to her,

"Hello, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I am Serge, and your...er...um, grand daughter has talked a lot about you; all positive words might I add."

Standing back up to his full height he placed the wollen hat back onto his head covering up his short hair. Not being the one to get nervous about meeting new people, Serge was ready to really jump into the conversation. Coming to see how Mint was doing was just part of the real reason he had arrived here today. Clearing his throat he spoke out to Mint and her grand mother,

"I too share in concern about Mint's well being. I came here today not only too see how well you were doing after we last met, but also for another reason. I'm not sure how much, if any your grand daughter as told you about me. I was with her the last time she left from your company to escort a band of refugees from slavery. She as a long way to go to reach her "full potential" but from what I saw out there she's quite capable for herself. That being said I would be more glad to train you Mint in the skills of martial arts, I'm more than sure you'll be a great fighter one day." Serge took a drag on his cigarette, taking a few seconds to regain his breath.

"This way she can become stronger and eventually fend for herself,maybe one day she wont need repair's anymore.I though it best if I put forth the request before both of you, given that this training will not be the safest, and being that your her guardian."

Serge's words were sincere in the fact that he really did want to train her, not many out there had the gaul to stand up to a Saiyan better yet blast the skin off his skull. If they ever had a chance of pushing the Saiyan's off of earth he was going to need all the help her could get, every man, woman, and child. However Serge was well aware of the few people that could fight back and the one's that would; there weren't many. Hopefully her grandmother would approve of the training but if she did not Serge would sigh heavily with displeasure, Serge followed few rules but he always knew to listen to his elders.

[kyfuji]

Kyfuji nodded as he listened to what happened about Serge helping Mint. He smiled as he got the urge to have a friendly fight with Serge. He must've been strong if he could take on a Saiyan, but then again he did have some help from Mint. As the old lady came out Kyfuji smiled, happy to know something as old as her was stilll around. You could almost mistake her for a witch! Kyfuji knew that he should show manners though, since he wanted to stay at the house for a while anyways. Kyfuji smiled, "Hello Gran-Gran! Is it ok if I call you that? I'm Kyfuji, I just made it here to the settlement. Kyfuji then looked at Serge once he mentioned training Mint how to fight, "Hey Ser-ge was it? If you think you can train someone you must be strong. How about a little test to see how strong you are?" Kyfuji would smile as he hoped Serge would accept the request for a fight.

[Mint]

”That doesn’t surprise me…” the old woman grumbled in response the being told that Mint had spoken of her. ”With how much she chatters about everything, I was sure to come up sooner or later.” Her grip on her walking stick loosened momentarily and she stretched out her fingers. While covered in wrinkles like the rest of her, they actually looked rather dexterous. Then again, when doing such precision work with machinery, keeping your hands and fingers in peak condition was a must.

Grandma looked Serge over suspiciously with her beady green eyes as he proposed to take Mint under his wing and give her some combat training. She furrowed her brow, and then shot a glance at Mint before returning her attention to Serge. The old crone stayed quiet until he finished speaking, her face continuously shifting between looks of disproval, annoyance, and intrigue. ”Well…” she started to speak before looking over to Mint again. ”Girl, what do you think of the idea?”

Mint nodded her head enthusiastically. ”Yeah! It sounds like fun,” she giggled. Spending time with her friends was always a treat, and honing her abilities in combat was definitely a plus. Besides, if she was lucky it might even convince Grandma that she was ready for more missions outside of the Ghettien Settlement quicker. The old woman looked back over to Serge. ”I’ll mull it over. However, if this happens, I have two conditions for these training sessions. Mint is to stay grounded at all times; no flying what-so-ever. Not only that, but she is not to leave the settlement. If either of these rules were to be broken, the training would be called off for good. Do I make myself clear?”

While waiting for a response, Grandma turned to Kyfuji and scowled. ”As a matter of fact, it’s not okay in the slightest. I’m not your Gran-Gran!” the old woman practically barked. She then cleared her throat, the scowl not leaving her face for a millisecond. ”If you’re new here, I’m sure you’ll soon find the the residents often refer to me as ‘Old Bat’ or ‘Old Crone’. Being alive long before all of this Saiyan nonsense started makes those names fitting I suppose. If you’re insistent on being polite I suppose you could always just call me ‘Ma’am’.”

[Aice]

The old woman spoke too Serge after he addressed her, not being surprised that her grand daughter had talked about her. Given Mint's personality she often seemed to talk a lot in a positive up beat demeanor, Serge wondered just how many people she told about her android building grandmother. Out stretching her hands from the cane she held on to Serge would get a better took at the aged woman fingers, even though the rest of her looked be at least 80 her hands seemed to be nimble and sturdy. No doubt that she would have the skills and the physical ability to work on machines given the looks of them. Serge glanced down at his own hands; they were much more rough and larger than the woman's. Not being one to work on the finer, delicate things in life; his were much rougher and dirtier. Serge couldn't remember ever doing a project that required any sorta of finesse, for the most part if it wasn't something that involved snapping necks or breaking bones he wasn't interested in it. It was hard for him to believe that someone with her skill set hadn't been found by the Saiyan's, or kill off, especially with Mint running around and telling almost anyone about it. It worried him but it was something he would have to discuses later with the woman.

While Serge was explaining why he had come here today the old woman gazed over him with her bright green eyes, they seemed to burn into Serge almost like she was challenging his words. It didn't bother him much it wasn't the first time something had glared at his ideas, however the looked changed slightly as he continued his talk. She didn't seem quite sure whether or not to accept the offer giving by the man, turning to Mint she asked her what she thought of the offer. Of course as Serge had expected the young girl smiled and nodded at the idea he had put forth. That said the old woman turned her attention back to Serge and letting him know that she will think the idea over, it wasn't exactly what he had planned for but then again it was a much better answer that he had hopped for.

"Well 'mulling' it over' is about half way there and that's good enough for me."

"Thank you for considered my offer, and I will of course follow any rules that you see fit putting in place." Serge said respectably too the woman.

Suddenly the young boy that Mint had introduced before spoke up to the old woman adressing her as 'Gran-Gran' Serge could already see that it would not go over well with the her. Sure enough she snapped out at the kid, Serge scoffed slightly under his breath as she ripped into him. Taking the ciggrate butt from his mouth his crushed in his palm smothering the ember out, reaching into his coat pocket he pulled another one out and lit it. Not really paying attention to the conversation between the two Serge caught the line when the woman had said she had been around since before the Saiyan's. A curious look over came Serge face with her words,

"Around before the Saiyan's? Just how old is she?" His mind questioned.

However before he could ask the woman exactly what she meant by that the young boy called out to Serge, craning his neck he looked over at the kid. He seemed pretty pumped up asking Serge to fight him, so he could see just how strong he really was. Serge looked at the kid with a blank stare on his face for a few seconds, until he realized the kid was serious.

"Kid trust me, you don't want to go there." Serge laughed.