Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Darker Tides ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

I decided it was time to make another story. Saluna is a young Saiyan, trained by the prince, who was sent away to a foreign planet. In time she meets Goku and his friends, and finds herself face to face with new faces and old, but they girl has a dark past that could rival even her former teacher. How will it all play out?

Story timeline follows Dragon Ball Z, with some twists and turns, and has some slight crossover, but the story is primarily DBZ universe.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ or Final Fantasy 8, or any of its associated characters. Saluna/Starr and her sisters are thought up by me.

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Darker Tides

Prologue

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The Saiyan child slowly opened her eyes, and looked around. She was floating in a blue liquid, her hair floating gently around her. She raised her hand to the glass and tapped, catching the attention of the medical specialist. Seeing the young girl awake, he quickly punched in a few buttons and the liquid began to rapidly drain. Once it was all gone, the glass door opened and the child removed her mask, standing up as she did so. She took her head to remove the access fluid from her hair and stepped out on to the cold floor. The chill of the room made her skin prickle, but she ignored it as any warrior would.

“Saluna, glad to see you are awake and fully healed,” the specialist said with a small bow. “I have a change of clothes for you,” he continued, motioning to a pile to the left of the rejuvenation tank. Saluna stared him down, but said nothing. She gave a curt nod, and the specialist took that as his cue to leave. Once he was gone, the child quickly stripped out of her wet clothing, and pulled on the dry ones. She pulled the armor over her head and turned towards the door. The memory of this recent beating by Frieza was fresh in her mind. She scowled as she walked down the hallway.

`I hate him,' she thought to herself. `Someday I'll be strong enough to beat him. Just wait.' She continued walking, with the intention of locating her eldest sister. She came to the first spot she was to check, the training room, and was about to enter when she heard voices from further up ahead. She turned her head and tuned her ears.

`Sounds like Saruka and Vegeta,' she thought to herself. She moved further down the hallway and was about to interrupt, but stopped dead when she heard her name. The Eight-year-old began to listen intently.

“If he keeps this up, he's going to end up killing her,” Saruka, her sister, said in a hushed tone.

“No doubt about that, but every time he beats her within an inch of her life and sends her to the medical wing, all he's doing is making her stronger.” Vegeta, the Saiyan Prince, responded.

“And how long do you think he'll keep that up once he realizes how strong she's becoming? He already watches both of you like a hawk. He's not going to allow Saluna to keep getting stronger forever. It hasn't escaped notice that she's already a prodigy and strong for her age, even for a Saiyan.”

“You think I don't know that, Saruka?” Vegeta growled, annoyance in his voice. “I've heard the whispers, same as you. Why do you think Frieza killed your parents? He didn't want them to produce any more strong fighters. He doesn't want our numbers to grow for fear of a rebellion.” Saluna leaned closer towards the edge of the hallway to hear more.

“The things he does to her, Vegeta, they're sick. You know this as well as I. We can't keep allowing this to happen.”

“On this, I agree with you, Saruka.”

“Well, what can we do? Neither one of us is strong enough to take him head on at the moment. None of us are.” Vegeta didn't respond right away.

“I'm going to send her away.” Saluna narrowed her eyes as the words left Vegeta's mouth.

“Wha… What?” Saruka said, in disbelief.

“You heard me. It's the only way we can guarantee that this stops.”

“And how do you propose we do this? If she just vanishes, you and I will be the first people suspected in having a hand in it.”

“Which is why we need to make it look like she died on her next mission. Make sure no one suspects anything. Frieza's been sending her on more and more difficult missions, and I don't think it'll be too hard to make it believable.”

“If that's what you think is best,” Saruka replied. Saluna's eyes widened in shock. They were really going to make her go away, to make her disappear? The child couldn't believe it. She quickly turned around and ran back down the hall away from the voices. She entered a second training room further down, and shut the door behind her. A snarled erupted from her throat as she slammed her small fist into a wall, leaving a dent behind.

“They can't be serious,” she growled out loud. “They want me to run away? I'm not a coward! Such a thing would be a dishonor!” Saluna snarled and punched the wall again, leaving a hole behind in place of the dent. She removed her fist as the door was opening.

“Ahhh, I thought I heard someone in here,” a voice from behind her said. Saluna turned around and glared at the soldier who walked in on her.

“Go away Qui,” the child growled, while Qui laughed.

“Who do you think you're talking to, kid,” he said taking a step forward. Saluna held her ground and scowled. “You know I'm stronger than you.” He took another step forward, as a voice came from the doorway.

“What the hell do you think you're doing, Qui?” The soldier spun around and came face to face with a scowling Saiyan Prince.

“Someone needs to put this brat in her place,” Qui hissed at Vegeta.

“Leave, unless you want to end up in the medical wing,” Vegeta snarled back. Qui laughed.

“As if you could, Vegeta.”

“Try me,” the Prince glared at the soldier. Behind Qui, Saluna stood her ground, watching the exchange. Qui laughed again.

“I don't know why the two of you are Frieza's favorites. You're just monkeys. And not worth my time,” Qui shrugged and walked past Vegeta out of the room. Vegeta shifted his eyes to watch him. Once he was out of eye sight, Vegeta stepped in to the room and shut the door.

“You just got of the rejuvenation tank, and you're already starting fights?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. His eyes glanced at the hole the child had made, causing him to smirk. “And destroying things too, I see.” The Saiyan child merely shrugged in response.

“Alright, what is it?” Vegeta said in annoyance, taking a step forward. “What's your problem?”

“Who said I had a problem?” the child retorted. Amusement twinkled in the Prince's eyes for a brief moment. He leaned down to the child's eye level.

“Because I know you, little one. Now speak.” Saluna narrowed her eyes at the Saiyan Prince.

“You tell me,” she said softly. “You're the one wanting to send me away.” Vegeta stood straight up and crossed his arms on his chest.

“You heard that huh? Why am I not surprised? How much did you hear?”

“Enough,” Saluna responded, crossing her arms to mimic the Prince. “You don't want me here.”

“Don't make it something it's not,” Vegeta closed the distance between then and dropped down on one knee. “It's not like I want to send you away, but Frieza is going to kill you before long. He's going to realized how strong you're becoming sooner rather than later.”

“Then come with me, don't make me leave alone,” Saluna said in a small voice, suddenly sounding like the child that she was. Vegeta sighed, and put his hand on her cheek. A small gesture he only made when no one else was around.

“I can't. I'm going to have to stay here to make it convincing. If I disappear the same time you do, it'll send Frieza into a rage, and he'll most certainly send a force after us. Not to mention what he'll do to your sisters. You will be going, alone.” Saluna reluctantly nodded her understanding.

“Good girl,” Vegeta said softly, stroking her cheek. “You're going to be leaving on a mission soon. I know this for a fact, and when you do, you won't be coming back. We're going to make it look like you failed, that you died, and I'm going to make sure no one finds out the truth. Once I finally kill Frieza, I will find you and I will bring you back.” Saluna nuzzled her cheek into Vegeta's hand.

“Promise?”

“Of course, but I expect you to keep training, keep becoming stronger.”

“I will, I promise,” Saluna said, determination in her eyes. Vegeta placed a light kiss on her forehead.

“Good, now go. No one is to know the plan. Myself, you and Saruka are the only ones. Keep it that way,” Vegeta said, standing back up. Saluna looked up at him and nodded, fully intending to make her teacher proud.

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True to what Vegeta said, Saluna was handed a mission to purge a planet of all life. Planet Kiev was home to a strong race of people, so it made it the ideal time to enact Vegeta's plan. Saluna, dressed in her Saiyan battle armor, walked briskly to her waiting space pod. Vegeta leaned against a wall watching, and Saruka soon joined him. She said something briefly, and Vegeta nodded his head in response. Saluna climbed in her pod, and, as she sat down, took one last look at the Prince and her sister. Her face gave away nothing, as the older Saiyan's gave nothing away. With a final look, Saluna pressed the button to close the door, and soon a sleeping gas filled the chamber causing the tiny eight-year-old to feel drowsy. When she awoke she would not know where she was. Vegeta was very specific that no one was to know the final destination, including Saluna. She felt her eyes grow heavy as the pod rumbled, gaining speed, and shooting up in to the sky. As the pod entered space, the Saiyan child has completely fallen asleep and was heading to a new world.

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The tiny pod hit the ground with bone shattering force, but the girl inside remained completely unharmed. The door opened, and Saluna slowly climbed out, observing the surroundings she found herself in. Her tailed flicked the air behind her as she pressed a button on her scouter, trying to gage the power levels on the planet. The pod had told her, before she entered he descent, that she was on Planet Galia, and so far, the young child wasn't impressed. She fully jumped off her pod, wrapped her tail around her waist, and began walking toward a small gathering of ki sources. She walked through a dense forest, and after a time, came upon a clearing, and a building structure. Saluna stuck to the shadow of the forest and observed children running around, engaged in some kind of game. It was curious to the Saiyan child, who grew up only learning how to fight and kill. That curiosity caused the child to creep closer to get a better view. Her sensitive Saiyan hearing picked up the sound of the children's voices as they played.

“Come on Zell!” a small blonde girl called out.

“Too slow!” laughed a brown-haired boy

“I think you're gonna make him cry!” a blonde-haired boy mocked.

“You all suck!” another blonde boy, presumably Zell, yelled at the group. The musical sound of children's laughter filled the air, and Saluna found herself moving closer, feeling drawn to the group. An older girl stepped out of the building, and Saluna heard her chastising Zell for his choice of words, causing more laughter to ring out.

“Hey, who's that?” a small brown haired girl asked, and Saluna realized she was pointed towards herself. The Saiyan stepped back as the group stared directly at her. Saluna saw more movement, and a tall, elegant woman with long black hair stepped out.

“Children, it's time to come in,” she said gently.

“But Matron, there's a girl,” the brown-haired girl pointed towards Saluna again. The woman she called Matron, look in the direction the girl.

“It's ok, Selphie,” Matron said gently. “Ellone, please take the children inside.” The older girl, Ellone, nodded and began ushering the younger children in building. Once they were gone, the woman shifted her attention to the Saiyan Girl, and gave her a smile.

“Come, child,” her voice called out, sounding music to the Saiyan's ears. Saluna stood up, but did not move from her spot. “I won't hurt you, please, come over.” Saluna scoffed.

`As if she could hurt me,' she thought bitterly to herself, but something about the woman was calling to the girl, and against her better judgement, she slowly began to walk towards the woman. Soon, Saluna was standing a few feet from the kindly faced woman, who offered the girl smile. Saluna did not return it, but regarded the woman with slight curiosity.

“You look lost, child. You aren't from here, are you?” Saluna said nothing, but gave a small shake of her head. Matron reached her hand out to the Saiyan, who quickly took a step back. Matron dropped her hand at the motion, the smile never leaving her face.

“What is your name?” Matron asked. Saluna said nothing for a moment. Vegeta had specifically told her to leave her Saiyan name behind, in case Frieza did started trying to track her, but the girl hadn't given any thought to a new name for herself. She bit down on the inside of her cheek, as the woman silently watched her.

“You're not here by choice, are you?” Matron asked, almost as if she was reading Saluna's thoughts. “You're in hiding.” Saluna's eyes snapped up and stared hard at the woman with a mix of curiosity, awe, and a tiny bit of fear.

“Fear not, child,” she said softly, talking a small step forward. “We can give you a new name while you are here. My name is Edea, I run this orphanage.”

“What's an orphanage?” Saluna's finally found her voice, and Edea was slightly taken aback by the maturity in her voice. She smiled in response.

“A place where children who have no parents come to live. I take care of them. Now come, you look hungry. You can stay here as for long as you like,” Edea motioned for the child to come with her. Saluna hesitated for moment, unsure of what to do, but Vegeta's voice spoke clearly in her head.

`Wherever you end up, Saluna, it is imperative that you figure out a way to blend in until I can come for you.'

Saluna took a deep breath and stepped up to Edea, the kind smile still on the Matron's face. The woman turned her back and walked towards the door, Saluna following a few steps behind. Edea stopped just before the door.

“Now we need something to call you by,” she said thoughtfully. “I got it! How about we call you Starr Reku?” Saluna considered it for a moment before nodding her consent. Edea smiled again, and entered the building, preparing to introduce the Saiyan to the other children. Saluna followed her inside, lost in her thoughts.

`Starr Reku. Yeah, I could get used to that.'

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