Crono's Story by Traum

Chapter 20 Phoenix

The rays of powerful heat beat down on my body, wave after unending wave, like a tide on the shore of a beach. The light immersed everything; nothing could escape it. My mouth was dry; the air sapped of all moisture, the sea all around me itself was almost boiling. High above me was the cause of all the unease, the bright orb of light that we called the sun. At that point in time, it wasn't the heavy gravity I was under that was my main enemy, it was that sphere, millions of kilometres away from me.

Still, there was no other place I wanted to be. The sun was a good thing; its presence meant that it was daytime, that the darkness of night would not rear its ugly head. The night time was the only thing I feared anymore, it housed nothing but evil and hate.

So I trained hard during the daytime, and during the night, I slept. Sleep was my only refuge from the night, it let me block out the insanity. I didn't even have dreams to remind me of my last night awake on my island. I used to have dreams, long ago, but now that I was Phoenix, I didn't have them any more, probably part of the Saiyan mind.

So being a Saiyan did have perks after all, that much was true, but so far being a member of the species had done little for me, other than cause pain and anguish. After all, I hadn't chosen to be a Saiyan, it kind of chose me. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would've chosen to die on that piece of rock that used to be planet Vegeta.

The powers bestowed upon me so long ago felt like nothing but a burden, a weight upon my shoulders that could break me at will. I was scared of that weight breaking me, of sending me in another rage of source less anger and destruction, like that night with Cris.

I was genuinely scared of my power, of its ability to bend my will to do it's bidding, almost like it had control over me, instead of visa-versa. This was the reason that I wasn't trying my absolute hardest to increase my strength; I was worried my power would eventually exceed my ability to control.

So while all my friends went all out in their bids to become more powerful, I lagged behind, scared of my own power. It was almost funny... I was supposed to be the last remaining Saiyan, the pinnacle of pride and fighting spirit, and here I was, afraid that my power might hurt someone.

I knew I couldn't lag too far behind, or else I'd be the weak link when the Caprians arrived. I mentally knew that Cris would be back eventually, that we'd talk it over, and make up for what I did, but somewhere deeper within me, I couldn't forgive myself for what I'd done to him. In only four months we'd become best friends, just to have me kill him off. I couldn't excuse myself for that, and I'd made a vow never to let that happen to a friend of mine again.

I shook my head. I knew I had to stop thinking about Cris, it would only screw me up in the end, and I didn't have time for that. I looked out over the vast expanse of the island I was beginning to call a home, and restarted my training.

I turned to face a large boulder-like rock off to my right, bent my legs slightly, and then quickly zanzokened. When I reappeared, I was right in front of the rock, with my right hand curled into a tight fist by my side. I struck the rock with all my might, causing it to shatter straight down its axis, before eventually breaking in several directions. Splinters of red-brown rock flew all around my head and body, but I didn't have time to stand idly and watch the destruction. I zanzokened again, this time to a large, bridge like rock behind me and to my left.

I again swung and devastated the rock face, this time causing the small mountain-like rock to crumble to the ground. Before the first pieces were falling though, I had zanzokened to another rock about half the size of me. This time I quickly brought up my right leg and then swept it down at full force into the torso of the rock. It split straight down the middle, sending pieces of rock flying on both sides of my feet.