Chapter 9: Rejuvenation

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Opening the door to his newly built home, Oozak began to stretch as the bright light of his solar system sun hit shone upon him. "The day looks good for working." Oozak smiled to himself as he looked at the clear sky above him. It was a mostly cloudy day for Namek and Oozak's personal favorite day, neither too cold nor hot. 'Not that my body feels temperature that much anymore.' He thought to himself as he walked towards the humongous piece of farming land in front of him.

Wiping the brow beneath his antennae he hummed to himself as he crouched down and examined his plants. 'I'll give them some water before I leave.' He thought before sending a ki blast into the lake near him causing a pretty big splash of water to cover his fields. Not enough to where it would totally drown them but instead shower them.

He himself would have gotten wet if not for the tight barrier of ki reflected water off him. Once again taking time to examine the state of the plants to make sure he didn't drown any of them, he found it to his liking and began to float up into the air. "I'll go check on Namarc and Solace later," Oozak told himself before flying towards the northern end of Namek. On his way, he looked down at remnants of the war left behind. Ship parts embedded into the ground had mostly been cleaned up and used for technological advancements. It would probably take a few more years to clean everything up, but most of the important stuff had been cleared out.

After the battle, all the evaporated water from the lakes poured down rain for a few weeks. This filled up all the craters and empty lakes giving the ground he flew above a pretty glimmer in certain places. Dew was still on the grass that grew on what was once charred earth which became fertile soil. Oozak took this all in with a smile as he began to slow down and lower himself to the ground.

Once on the ground, Oozak walked towards the gates of a newly formed city. Kannasans and Yardratians were seen mingling with the Namekians who were still alive from the prior battles. Houses made from spacecraft metal lined the sides of stone streets. Spaceships landing with imports and ones leaving with exports were seen going in and out of the hangars found in a part of the city. Vendors selling plants and different technology were seen every now and then. Scavenging for the past enemies' technology was very profitable and helped in clearing all the debris.

Looking around for but a bit, Oozak got a few waves from friends he made over the time helping out with the city which he replied with a nod. He didn't have time to make conversation as of now as today was extremely important. Today was the day Oozak was going to figure out what he wanted to do with his life and planet. Over the year after the war, he bitterly thought about if he should lead his race or lead his farmer lifestyle.

A statue in the middle of the city showed the former chief holding 7 balls of stone. Those used to be the dragon balls but lost their power. Oozak would have wished for his race and everyone who suffered to come back.... but couldn't.....

Looking at the items in the other palm, he grew a bitter smile. That bastard of a chief wasted two wishes on that damnable thing called a mini fridge and a pair of pajamas. He always left the third wish for emergency apparently and it really did bite them back really hard in the end. 'But that's just how he always acted.' Oozak thought with a smile as he made his way to the front of a large metal tower. Knocking on the door, a bunch of small namekian children answered to look up at him. 'It was a good thing, someone moved the eggs to somewhere safe underground.' He thought to himself as he picked up one of the little ones and continued inside.

Walking past a series of capsules filled with namekian eggs, he took a glance in interest. Panels of digital information showed the life signatures inside each one. 'Seeing even one egg back then was a rare sight.' Oozak thought to himself.

Their race was extremely close to disappearing that day and reproduction which used to be low spiked up to meet the demand. Namekians who grew interested in parenting a child or two produced an egg and sent them here to grow and hatch safely. Places for already hatched children to be taught and trained were also provided for those who had to scavenge for ship parts or work on maintaining the city and farms.

Once to what looked to be an office, Oozak placed the little namekian in his hands down and gently pushed him to go play with other children before going in. Once inside, a sense of deja vu hit him as a lanky namekian was seen lazily tapping a keyboard with a nightcap on and pajamas. The Elder had decided to have a son as a backup in case his untimely demise were to ever occur. And ironically, he made the right decision for once. Elder Chief Jr. was to be his name if he overtook his father.

"So, have you decided yet Oozak? If you want to lead or not?" The lanky namekian said with a yawn as he laid back in his reclining chair. Oozak with a straight face merely shook his head causing a groan from Elder Chief Junior. Rubbing his hand over his eyes, he turned towards the window in his office and sighed. "Well damn, guess I have a lot of work ahead of me. You may leave now Oozak, I'll send some tools for your farm over sometimes later today."

Sensing the need for privacy, Oozak silently made his way outside the office. Lingering for a bit to entertain some of the namekian children, he taught them a thing or two about fighting. 'They need to be strong after all.' He thought to himself as he left the building. "It's highly likely more will come." He mumbled remembering the now deceased Shuang's words about being the 'chosen race'.

Floating up once more, he flew full speed out of the city ready to meet Namarc and Solace. Flying towards the eastern part of Namek, the water and grassland became less apparent and took a more rocky and mountainous look. Getting closer to the Saiyan's home, giant craters and holes were seen in some of the sides of the mountains indicating battle. "Those two sure do not know when to rest do they." He chuckled as he began to hear the sounds of battle with his super hearing.

Namarc and Solace both held a grudge against Oozak for using them as distractions after the battle. As the year went by and Namarc and Oozak held a couple of sparing sessions to help let off their steam, they did grow closer. Solace was a lot quieter due to last year's incident and Namarc and Oozak tried not to mention the prior years' battle too often. Solace had actually woken up at a point to find himself on top of a bunch of corpses and covered in alien blood and guts. The incident still had a grasp over his psyche that hadn't yet totally blown over.

'I hope those children don't have to go through what he did.' He thought of the namekian children for a bit before landing on one of the mountain peaks. In the air, flashes of light being Namarc and Solace went at it causing some minor shockwaves here and there. Solace when fighting looked extremely angry and wrathful as compared to his usual quiet nature when standing.

Such evidence was the way he tried to scratch at Namarc with ki-infused nails even if it was a spar. The muscular and savage form he had used on that fateful day didn't really show up until memories of the prior year came up. Namarc who was using 'Super Saiyan' as he dubbed it was holding back his power and had his aura completely in control. The wild and uncontrollable aura he originally had when in the form a year ago had disappeared and was replaced with calm.

'He's the same bastard who yelled Big Beam Attack.' Oozak thought while snickering to himself. 'Super Saiyan really does fit his naming sense.' Namarc who was battling had sensed Oozaks arrival and stopped Solace's attempt to claw his eyes out by grabbing his wrists and kneeing him in the stomach lightly causing him to pass out.

Solace had begun his 'growth phase' as Namarc dubbed it. It had apparently slingshotted his body into his teenage years while still being a young age mentally. Oozak was honestly worried about what teenage hormones would do to an already traumatized kid but silently hoped for the best nonetheless. Watching Namarc throw Solace over his shoulder, Oozak sat upon the rock and picked at some grass in boredom.

Slowly floating over, Namarc raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You came to spar again?" Namarc questioned as he gently laid Solace upon the flat surface of the rock. Cracking his neck and other stiff joints, Namarc took a seat next to him and stared into the clear Namek skies. "You finally managed to get a good hit on me last time. Never took a kick like that from you before; knocked the air out of me." He said as he raised his loose Namekian-styled robes revealing a giant purple long bruise across his chest. Because of their long stay on Namek and constant sparing, the battle armor and clothes they brought had long worn out and were no longer usable.

Oozak sighed as he rubbed his arm gently in frustration. "As much as I want to spar again. I don't feel like losing an arm for a couple of your ribs." Oozak went on before shifting to a chuckle and wrapped his arm around Namarc's neck suddenly. Poking his stomach gently, Oozak made fun of Namarc. "All you Saiyans think about is battle and food. Can't you come to visit the village every once in a while friend? Some of the kids miss Solace."

Namarc who was now smirking gently took Oozak's arm off his shoulder. "You and I both know Solace still needs more training to control his mental state. That's why we have been on this side of the planet for so long." He said with a sad smile looking at the now snoring Solace. "His panic episodes almost always lead to that strange form of his and I don't want those kids to see him in that light."

Looking up in the air now, a light of longing gleamed in his eyes, "And you and I both know what I think when I see that village and everyone in it." Memories of Sadala and his life there would bubble up and he would not be able to control it much to his frustration. "I'd also rather not be there, but do realize that I love the people and have nothing against them. I just have some issues I need to fix while also helping Solace along the way."

Staring at the emotions changing on his Saiyan friend's face, Oozak took a deep sigh before standing up and slinging the early teen upon his shoulder. "Well, the least I can do is cook you guys a meal. Some meat from the Kanassan managed to make its way into our market and I know just how much you've complained about not having that 'protein' or whatever in your meals." Namarc at the thought of some meat being on his plate quickly jumped up with fervent energy. With a bump to Oozaks chest using a light tap of his fist, he began to laugh, "I'd be damned to miss out on this chance. For this, I'll give you as many spars as you want for a month!"

Oozak hearing the word spar quickly grew a headache as he began to float up. "Spar this, Spar that," Oozak mumbled to himself before looking back down at Namarc with a smirk. "Race you there?" After saying that line, the still-in-a-good-mood Saiyan nodded his head before suddenly going into shock as Oozak blasted off into the direction of his house at full speed. Protection for Solace was of course provided by Oozak.

Namarc immediately reacted by turning into his Super Saiyan form and blasted catching up to Oozak almost immediately who looked to his right and smirked. Namarc realizing what was about to happen only glared as Oozak began to slowly say some words. "Daaaaaiiiii...." He extended with Namarc yelling for him to stop. With a massive grin, he continued. "keennnn!" He screamed in pleasure as a spike of blue aura surrounded him and he left Namarc in the dust with no hopes of winning.

'That is how he gets our hits in after all.' Namarc thought to himself as he accepted his defeat and quickly moved on. Many losses and wins had been shared between them and it had become good fun. 'I do lead in spars though.' He thought in a justifying manner to save some of his pride.

Once they had arrived at Oozak's home, A meal was cooked by Namarc surprisingly enough. Oozak wasn't familiar with the cooking of meat and had to take notes. Namarc was not that skilled either only knew from his ex-wife's poor attempt to teach him. Solace in the background just silently watched the chaos with a bored expression.

Once done cooking, what was left was some slightly burnt slabs of meat with a side of the planets Oozak grows in his garden. While burnt, Namarc and Solace totally decimated all they could with a smile on their face. Oozak not understanding the hype tried it for himself only to gag a bit. 'How the hell can they consume this stuff.' He thought to himself as he silently slide his plate of meat to Solace. And with a smirk, he began to dig into his cooked vegetables. 'Yet again, I am thankful for the farm life.'

While eating, Oozak and Namarc sensed a faint source of ki enter Namek's surface at a frighteningly high speed. Immediately the table took a serious turn as Solace looked at the two with serious confusion yet concern nonetheless. "Scouts?" Oozak would question Namarc who was much more familiar with the working of the Acrosian Empire's tactics and strengths. "Too faint, A solo scout would have been much more powerful," Namarc mumbled as the two went out the door to Oozaks house. Solace still confused looked between the now-open front door and the plates of meat.

And with zero hesitation, he silently stole some slabs from Namarcs pile of protein. Once outside, the two took a look in the air to see a funny-looking ship crashing down different than the ones they were familiar with. The pressure from entering the atmosphere at such a speed had it bright red. "It's a different kind of ship then their usual and looks primitive." Oozak analyzed as he had become more familiar with acrosian technology over the past year. He wanted to study his enemies thoroughly and crammed their info into his brain.

Watching it drop, Oozak suddenly realized something about the ship's trajectory of descent. "Wait, isn't that awfully close to my fields?" He spoke seriously to a stationary Namarc who merely nodded before speaking. "Yes, the trajectory of the fall sure does look like it's going there," Namarc confirmed as the two paused for a bit watching it fall.

Realization hit Oozak and Namarc at the same time as a collective, "OH SHIT!" escaped their lips. Too late to react and fly to catch it, the ship landed on the ground causing a massive explosion to occur. Oozak in denial flew forward to observe the situation from above. Once fully above it, he saw massive cracks going through the ground, the once fertile soil was also scorched and on fire. The whole entire middle portion of his field was now totally destroyed.

Staring at it all, a tear fell down silently from his eye. Sadness overtook him for but a moment before a sharp change in direction brought nothing but intense rage. Looking up to the air, he could only scream one thing to whatever was behind it all.

"DAMN IT ALL! WHY DID IT HAPPEN AGAIN!"

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