Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Ball VE: The Keeper Saga ❯ Chapter 5

Dragon Ball Vegeta's Era: The Keeper Saga

 

Chapter Five

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. I do, however, own the plot of DBVE and all of the original characters that might appear.

 

Warning: The first part of this chapter contains non-consensual sex between two adults.

 

Co-written by: Mia Skywalker with some assistance from Lady Macbeth

 

This chapter dedicated to: Lady Lark

 

…

 

Roughly three months after capturing Vegeta and the two half Saiyans, the Keepers changed things. The captives all thought Vegeta was being taken away for the usual experiments with mental torture. They were wrong.

 

The full-blooded Saiyan was stripped naked and tossed into a cavernous room he had never been in before. He grunted as he lost his balance and fell to his knees, feeling the prickle of grass against his skin.

 

The area smelled of wilderness, with just a touch of shipboard scent. An artificial breeze came from behind him, blowing his scent far into the room, but not bringing anything to him, since it was generated from fans in the wall near his back.

 

Damn it, he thought to himself, their created Saiyan is likely in here and can smell me….

 

He slowly got to his feet, holding his hands out slightly to feel around. There was nothing for him to touch. He cautiously moved forward, carefully testing each patch of ground before committing his full weight to it. He strained his remaining senses, trying to detect the scent or sound of the female Saiyan.

 

Vegeta moved through his private world of darkness, his sensitive ears straining to pick up any sounds. Slowly, a sketchy mental image of the area was built in his mind. The earth beneath his feet had the firm, yet somewhat spongy consistency of ground that had been watered enough for grasses to thrive, but not enough to wash away the nutrients in the soil. The feeling of thick, lush grass that came up to the middle of his calf confirmed it.

 

Birds and small animals moved through the area, leaving their own scents and making their own small noises. He was able to ignore them for the most part. Until he heard a sound from his childhood and the scent that went along with it.

 

He gasped softly, suddenly overcome with an intense longing for a home he hadn't known since he was just a small boy. For the first time since their capture, Vegeta bitterly regretted the loss of his sight. He wanted so badly to see the creature he knew flew the skies of this artificial environment.

 

A memory surfaced, one of the last he had of his long-gone home. A child's laugh of delight as pudgy toddler arms reached out towards the furred flying creature. The animal's trilling cry and musky predator scent as it brought prey to its master, the king of the Saiyans. The feel of soft, warm fur against tiny fingers.

 

His preoccupation with the animal from his home planet proved to be his downfall. While he had focused on it and the memory it invoked, the female Saiyan had crept up on him, her tail sweeping up and stroking his cheek.

 

“A true hunter never allows anything to distract him,” she said in a soft, husky voice.

 

Vegeta froze at the feel of the woman's soft tail fur against his skin, fighting the instinctive urge of a male Saiyan to submit to a female. Especially one who smelled fertile, like this one did.

 

“So, you are the pet Saiyan the Keepers created?” His voice was shaky as he spoke. With the ki suppressing collar around his neck and his blindness, he was no match for her, and he knew it.

 

“Pet?” she asked, her voice somewhere between amusement and annoyance. She stroked his neck, lightly running one finger along the top edge of the collar. Then she lashed out with her tail, striking him across the face. “Most animals who wear collars are pets, from what I understand.”

 

She pushed him away from her and watched as he lost his balance, falling backward onto the grassy turf of her created environment. “I am called Kiddae, and you are now my pet.”

 

Vegeta grunted softly as he landed on his rear in the soft grass. He bared his teeth in a snarl aimed in the woman's general direction. “I am no one's pet,” he spat. “I am the prince of the Saiyans, and no genetically engineered abomination has the right to even look at me, much less touch me.”

 

Kiddae narrowed her eyes at the haughty Saiyan. “No right?” she repeated angrily. “Do you not realize where you are? This is my domain. And I always get what I want.”

 

She crouched down over the fallen prince and straddled his waist. The female settled her weight snugly onto him and leaned down close to his face. “And you know what I want, little prince,” she said.

 

“I have a mate already,” he growled. “I will not betray her. If your keepers want to breed you so badly, they should just make a male for you.”

 

He fought to ignore the enticing smell of the Saiyan female by thinking of Bulma, concentrating on the memory of her scent and the sound of her voice.

 

Kiddae growled in response. “Already have a mate?” She laughed harshly and dashed her hand angrily against his face. The sound of cracking bone met her ear, and Vegeta's face twisted to the side. “And what would possibly compete with me? I am the epitome of Saiyan perfection. And none less than the prince of the Saiyans will do for me.”

 

Vegeta let out an involuntary gasp of pain as he felt his cheekbone crack. “An'thing wou be be'er than you,” he mumbled, finding it hard to speak with the injury.

 

He twisted suddenly, trying to get out from under her. All he really managed to accomplish was to rub their nude bodies together, exciting Kiddae even more.

 

She gasped with pleasure at the feeling of a warm, male body gliding against her own. “Now that is more fun,” she said. Her own skin was becoming warm and starting to sweat, leaving a pleasant, sticky feel as she ran her hands down to his hips and took hold of them. Her tail trailed around behind her and slid underneath his thighs. Seconds later, Kiddae moaned softly as the soft fur stroked not only the inside of his thighs, but the back of hers as well.

 

Vegeta shuddered at the feel of her tail moving against his skin, cursing softly as his body started to respond. He dug his nails into his palms, but the sting of pain only made things worse, reminding him of the times when Bulma had taken advantage of the fact that he had quite a masochistic streak when it came to sex.

 

A memory arose unbidden, flooding his mind with images of Bulma holding a scalpel and wearing nothing but a lab coat while he was naked and restrained to a table. Those thoughts were not helping him any, especially not the memory of his blue-haired mate drawing the edge of that scalpel along the inside of his thighs, just hard enough to draw blood.

 

Kiddae grinned excitedly as she felt the prince come to life underneath her. This was what she wanted. This was what she needed - the feel of strong, warm flesh pressed against her own, the smell of sweat on skin, and sweat on grass and earth. She moaned again and rocked back and forth on him, the tip of her tail probing the tender areas around his inner thighs and genitals. She could feel herself warming up between her own legs and rubbed against Vegeta to increase the sensation.

 

“Get off of me,” he managed to gasp out, pushing weakly at her. He cursed his body for betraying him. He didn't want to breed with her. Bulma was his mate, and he would not betray her.

 

He struggled in Kiddae's grasp, not noticing as his tail flailed wildly and uselessly by his side. Unfortunately, the female Saiyan did notice it. She ruthlessly took advantage of it, using the sensitive appendage to control his body with waves of pleasure and pain.

 

He cursed and snarled as she used his body for her own pleasure, but to no avail. Bulma, I'm so sorry…, he thought as he neared the end, biting his lip to keep from crying out.

 

Enraged by his silence, she moved with blinding speed fueled by fury and struck without thinking. In only seconds, her fingers plunged into his left eye socket. They closed around the delicate orb and tore it from his face, trailing snapped nerves and streams of blood. She raked her fingernails down the middle of his cheek as she withdrew her hand.

 

Finally, Vegeta gave her the sound she wanted. He arched his head back, trying to get away from the pain, and screamed, a sound of pure agony that sent shivers of sweet delight down her spine. Then he went limp beneath her as his consciousness retreated from the abuse to his body.

 

Kiddae smiled at the delicious sound of his pain. She licked the newly plucked eye delicately, then popped the entire thing into her mouth and bit down. It tasted as wonderful as his screams had sounded.

 

She gazed down at him and mused about what to do with him as she chewed and swallowed the last of his eye. Perhaps she would ask the Keepers if she could keep him as a plaything until she tired of him. She certainly wanted to try to get more out of this Saiyan.

 

…

 

Gohan and Bra were idly sitting around in their prison, completely unaware of the day's events, when Vegeta's battered and bandaged form was carried into the room by one of the Keepers. A second came in as well, standing guard at the door as the first gently set Vegeta down on one of the beds.

 

His right cheek had already started to swell and bruise where he'd been slapped, and the left side of his face was heavily bandaged, bits of red showing through the white material. He was dressed only from the waist down, more white cloth wrapped around his torso to stop the bleeding from the rents in his sides.

 

Gohan stared in horror at all of the crimson-stained white cloth, horrified at the thought of the concealed injuries. He had seen worse in his life, had experienced worse, but the sheer violence of what he was able to see disturbed him.

 

For a moment, Gohan remembered the tortures the Keepers had put him through and wondered if they had gone against their word and had put Vegeta through something similar. But no, they had healed Gohan of his injuries, some so dreadful he would probably have died otherwise. So why hadn't they done the same for Vegeta?

 

A deep, subconscious part of him realized that the kinds of tortures he had experienced had been very methodical, very scientific in a twisted sort of way. Certainly, none of the technicians had slapped him, no matter how hard he had tried to fight. So what had happened to Vegeta?

 

“What did you do to him?” Gohan snarled, suddenly furious at the deliberate torture of the older man. “Why didn't you heal him like you did me? Or do you just enjoy causing pain and suffering for no purpose?”

 

Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed the Keeper who had placed Vegeta on the bed by the throat, lifting him several inches off the ground. He ignored the painful tingling in his collar. His ki might be suppressed, but he was still a Saiyan, and Saiyans were physically stronger than most other races.

 

The Keeper at the door frowned and pressed a button on a strange device attached to his belt, sending a jolt of electricity through Gohan so intense that the half-breed dropped the other Keeper and fell to his knees in agony.

 

“We do not heal injuries caused by what we assume to be natural behavior,” the Keeper by the door said calmly. The translation devices had gradually gotten better, able to turn the Keeper's clicks and whistles into sentences that flowed better and made more sense. “We have done what we could to make sure he will likely not bleed to death, nor become sick with infection.” Then the two of them left, seeming not at all disturbed by Vegeta's injuries or Gohan's behavior.

 

Bra stared after them for a few seconds before rushing to her father, very worried about him. She was worried about Gohan as well, but he didn't seem to be too badly hurt, just very, very angry. She very gently snuggled close to Vegeta, careful not to touch any of his wounds. She was scared and upset, but she forced herself to be calm, reminding herself that she was a Saiyan princess, and Saiyan princesses did not let fear rule them.

 

Gohan was so furious that he almost couldn't see. What did they mean, natural behavior? Whose natural behavior? Certainly not theirs! He and Bra hadn't even been around Vegeta when he had been hurt, and he doubted that Vegeta had done it to himself.

 

It was several minutes before he felt he could trust himself to be calm around Vegeta. He didn't trust his telepathy at the moment; he suspected he was too angry to focus it properly, and he might inadvertently do damage to Vegeta's psyche as well. Part of him regretted that he hadn't tried using it against their captors; if he had mentally damaged one of them, he wouldn't have felt guilty at all.

 

He crouched down next to the bed Vegeta had been lain on. “Vegeta,” he said roughly. “Who did this to you? I swear to Kami, I'm going to rip every single one of them apart for doing this to you and for everything else they have planned for us.”

 

Instead of answering, Vegeta slowly curled into a ball, pulling his legs, arms, and tail in close to his body, as if trying to protect himself from both Gohan and Bra.

 

“Daddy?” Bra whispered as he moved away from her. She reached out for him, but before she could touch him, the door opened again, a young Keeper that was familiar to her entering their room.

 

The Keeper was clutching a bundle of primitive medical supplies, managing to look both miserable and outraged at the same time. “I have brought things to help with his wounds. I would bring things to heal him completely, but it is not allowed,” he said, seeming genuinely upset by it. He turned his gaze to Bra. “Come with me, please, little one.”

 

She frowned and shook her head. “No. Daddy needs me.”

 

“You must come with me, Bra,” the Keeper said, sounding almost desperate. “Your father was badly hurt. He is a strong man, yes? Sometimes those who are strong do not like for those they care for to see them when they suffer. Please, little on, come with me.”

 

He glanced over at Gohan, a look of pleading in his eyes, as if asking Gohan to help him get the little girl out of the room.

 

Gohan's narrowed, as if trying to determine what this alien had in mind. Was he taking Bra away for torture as well? If so, why didn't he just force Bra to go with him? He slowly stood up, glaring at the Keeper.

 

“You're not taking her anywhere,” he hissed. He was unaware that his eyes were practically glowing red with anger. “I'll rip you apart with my bare hands and damn the pain it causes if you so much as lay a finger on her.”

 

Bra bit her lip, looking from Gohan to the Keeper. She didn't want to leave her father, but she also didn't want Gohan to hurt this alien. He was her friend.

 

“Why do you want me to go with you, Dynin?” she asked softly, hoping that the fact that she wasn't scared of him would get through to Gohan.

 

“It… it will be best for you, and for your father, if you come with me for a bit, little one. Things happened that I can't talk about in front of you. He might need to talk though, and I don't think he can do that with you here. Please, please come with me.”

 

“I… I don't want to leave him,” Bra whispered, very confused and unsure of what to do. She knew that the Keepers were not good people, but Dynin was different. He wasn't much older than her brother and was on the ship to do a study on child development for alien species. He played games with her and told her stories. He wasn't evil.

 

“You heard the lady,” Gohan growled. His fury hadn't abated in the slightest. “She wants to stay here. As long as she wants to stay, she's going to stay. Give me one good reason I shouldn't rip your head off, and maybe I'll let you live.”

 

The Keeper, Dynin, took a deep breath before speaking again. “I have a reason, but I won't say it in front of her or him. Will you go into the bathroom with me, and promise not to harm me until I have finished what I have to say? Also keep in mind that I am the main Keeper in charge of Bra. I like children, and will never harm her. Some of the others on this ship are not as caring as I am. They would wish to study more than just how well she does at games.”

 

Gohan stared at him suspiciously for a long moment before nodding once. He followed the alien into the bathroom and waited with his arms crossed over his chest, preparing to kill the Keeper if he so much as sneezed wrong.

 

“This is my first ever mission as a Keeper, and I am not happy with what happened today,” Dynin began quietly. “Everything has been handled wrong from the beginning. The High Keepers who had Kiddae created listened to all of the rumors that Saiyans were nothing but selfish, vicious, and bloodthirsty. Kiddae was brought up to be that way. She's fertile right now, so Bra's father was taken to her.

 

“Kiddae is the one who did all of that to him, mostly to amuse herself. She ripped out his eye and ate it just because he wouldn't willingly mate with her. Vegeta is the type of person who needs to seem strong and in control of himself. I don't think it's good for him for Bra to see him like this. Please, let me take her away from here.”

 

He held out the bundle of cloth and topical medication like some sort of peace offering, waiting for Gohan to pass judgment on his words.

 

Gohan stared at him, ignoring for the moment the items in his hands. “She tore out his eye? And ate it?” He felt his fury rising again. “And this is considered normal? What sort of animals do you think we are? Do you really think Saiyans would do this to each other as a natural part of mating? Don't you realize our race would have died out eons ago if we had been so needlessly cruel to each other?”

 

Dynin flinched away from his anger, frightened. Saiyans were a predatory species and the Keepers were herbivores. It was hard to rein in his fear. “I had nothing to do with this. I am just a student, on my first field work mission,” he whispered. “I don't think it's normal, but no listens to me. I'm little more than a child myself, still a member of my mother's herd instead of living in a group with other young stallions. Please, accept what I have brought and let me take Bra away from here.”

 

Gohan continued to breathe heavily for several minutes, still enraged enough to want to rip someone apart. The fact that Dynin was the only being within range made him the most obvious target. Gohan's naturally gentle nature, however, asserted itself. He couldn't kill someone who was innocent of any wrongdoing, no matter how angry he might be.

 

He took the medicines, still glaring at the alien. “I will let her go with you on one condition,” he said, his voice soft and deadly.

 

Dynin swallowed hard. “What is the condition?”

 

“You will do anything in your power to help us escape.”

 

The young Keeper hesitated a moment. “I will do what I can. It will not be much though. And you might want to wait a bit before attempting escape. The others believe Kiddae to be pregnant. Do you really want to leave a helpless infant here, to be raised by that thing we created?”

 

Gohan's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure he should care about something that hadn't been born yet, but instinctively he did. He couldn't leave a baby in the clutches of the creature who had hurt Vegeta so badly.

 

He turned and left the bathroom, walking over to Bra and crouching beside her. “Bra, I want you to think very carefully now. Do you trust this alien? Do you truly believe he won't harm you?” He also spoke to her mentally. `Coeya, if you have any doubts, let me know, and I won't let him take you away. I will fight for you, no matter what it costs. Just say the word.'

 

Bra gazed up at him, considering his words, both those spoken and those thought. “I trust him. He's about the same age as Trunks, and he just plays games with me, even though I've heard other Keepers talk about how he should be doing other things to study me. He hasn't hurt me at all. Do you want me to go with him, Gohan? I will, if you think that's what Daddy would want.”

 

“Bra, I want to know what you want. I don't know what your father would want. What I want is….” He didn't want to say it, but what he wanted was for her to stay. And he had the feeling that that wasn't the best thing for her. `Coeya, you have to make this decision yourself. I know you want to take care of your father, but do you think he wants you to see him like this?'

 

As much as it pained him to think it, he thought it would be best for her to be away from them. They wouldn't be able to protect her, but then, he was beginning to suspect that their presence was actually a danger to her. It was drawing the attention of these aliens toward her, and he didn't think that was a good thing.

 

`Coeya… I will protect Vegeta with my life. I promise. And I will protect you as well. It's just that right now I can't really protect both of you together, not with him so badly hurt. So maybe it's best if you go with this alien if you truly believe you can trust him. But if you do not… then do not go with him. I don't want to send you into danger.'

 

Bra carefully considered her options, then leaned toward Gohan, lightly kissing him on the cheek. Then she moved away from him and headed toward the Keeper. “I'll go with you, Dynin.”

 

He nodded, relieved, and gently took her hand. The young girl looked sadly back over her shoulder as she was led from the room.

 

Vegeta is going to kill me if anything happens to her, he thought woefully after Bra was gone. He hoped she would be all right. He had grown rather fond of the spunky little girl.

 

He walked over to Vegeta, kneeling on the floor next to the bed. The older Saiyan was still curled up in the fetal position, which Gohan recognized as a sign of withdrawal from the world.

 

`Ackay ayanni,' he spoke directly into Vegeta's mind, `I swear to Kami that I will avenge you. I will tear Kiddae's heart out of her chest with my bare hands and then hand it to you to feast on.' He had no idea, but he was instinctively swearing an ancient Saiyan oath given from soldiers to their liege-lords, an oath that had not been uttered since the moment their home world had been destroyed.

 

Those words flashed through the Saiyan prince's mind, pulling him a little from the protective cocoon of darkness he had instinctively woven around his thoughts. An odd, soft keening noise escaped him before he flipped over and purposefully rolled off of the bed, moving faster than Gohan would have thought possible, considering all of his injuries.

 

He gave a muffled grunt of pain as he got to his hands and knees, ruthlessly ruffling through Gohan's mind to figure out his exact location. Then he began to slowly crawl toward the bathroom, managing to avoid hitting anything until he got inside.

 

He bit off a scream as he hit his head against the large bathtub, pain flashing through the left side of his face, most of it centered on where his eye had once been. He curled up on the floor, forcing himself to take deep, steady breaths. He wasn't really aware of much. Just that Gohan had said something important, and that he desperately needed to get clean.

 

He could smell her on his skin. Her scent was all over him, marking him as hers. He had to get it off. He grabbed the edge of the tub, pulling himself up and grabbing at the faucets. He felt for the one with the raised symbol that meant hot to the Keepers and turned it, pushing the button that would keep the water from flowing out. Then he forced himself into the tub, half falling into the shallow pool of scalding water. He huddled near the back of the bath, letting the hot water burn his skin and begin to cleanse him of the scent and feel of her. It would burn her away from him, maybe leaving him clean.

 

Concerned, Gohan started to follow Vegeta, but turned away when the injured man went into the bathroom. He felt embarrassed that Vegeta hadn't shut the door, but turned back in surprise when he heard the sounds of the bathtub running. He watched as Vegeta crawled into the bathtub, still wearing the partial clothing he had been brought back into the room in.

 

Gohan hurried over to him and was shocked when his hand encountered the scalding water. He's going to hurt himself even more this way! he thought in alarm. He quickly spun the cold-water knob all the way on, cooling the water slightly. It was still very hot, but no longer dangerously so as the tub filled.

 

“Vegeta?” Gohan questioned uncertainly. “Are you all right?” He didn't like how pale Vegeta was or the blank expression on his face.

 

Vegeta hugged himself, shivering at the addition of the cooler water. He was cold. So very cold. And the water wasn't washing away her scent. He remembered Bra telling him about all of the various types of soap, bubble bath, and bath oils she had set out on the back edge of the tub.

 

He got to his knees and felt around on the back edge, finally encountering several bottles and bars of scented soap. He pushed the bars into the water, cursing softly to himself as he tried to get some of the bottles open and poured into the rapidly filling tub. He was vaguely aware that Gohan had been speaking to him, but he didn't really care just yet. He just wanted to be warm and clean.

 

Gohan continued to watch Vegeta in concern. Part of him felt like he was intruding, but at the same time, he was too worried about Vegeta to leave him alone. The Saiyan prince had, at some point, managed to wiggle out of the pants he had been wearing, making Gohan even more uncomfortable. Nudity wasn't something he had a strong taboo over, but both his mother and Videl had enforced on him constantly that there were some things that should be private.

 

When he noticed Vegeta struggling with Bra's soaps, he reached over and loosened the caps of several of them. He watched worriedly as Vegeta poured the contents into the bathwater, wondering what was going on in the other Saiyan's head.

 

Vegeta sank back into the soapy water, finally starting to feel warm as the various bath products began to erase Kiddae's scent. He ignored the sharp sting as the soap soaked into the bandages around his torso, getting into the deep, savage furrows left by the female Saiyan.

 

It was fading, but he could still smell her. Could still feel the touch of her skin. He slid down farther into the water, letting it cover him completely. The hot soapy water hurt as it got into the ruined socket of his left eye, but he ignored it.

 

He also ignored the blood slowly rising from the wounds on his face and sides, and the tight feeling in his chest as his lungs began to run out of air.

 

When Vegeta began to slide under the water, Gohan wasn't worried at first; he assumed the Saiyan was getting his head wet with the idea of washing his hair. When Vegeta failed to lift his head after about a minute, however, Gohan became alarmed.

 

“Vegeta!” he cried out, reaching into the tub and lifting the older man forcibly out. “What are you trying to do? Drown yourself?”

 

The older man jerked and twisted, trying to get free of Gohan's grasp. Scattered memories flashed through his mind, being accidentally sent to Gohan. Both of them were flooded with a sick array of horrifying images, some of a tyrant with an unnatural fondness for children and some of a woman who only cared about herself.

 

Vegeta finally bit Gohan's arm, using that momentary distraction to get away from him, the barrage of images fading away with the loss of physical contact. He crouched in the corner of the tub, hissing like some kind of large, angry feline as fresh blood dripped down the left side of his face from the waterlogged bandages. His soft brown tail was sticking up out of the water, the wet fur fluffed out.

 

Gohan was too shocked by the images sent to him to fight back when Vegeta pulled away. He stared at him, trying to make sense of it. He finally realized his words weren't getting through; he was going to have to use telepathy.

 

Vegeta, Gohan sent to him, trying to make his thoughts as reassuring as possible. `That's not me. This is Gohan. Remember? Gohan. “Kakarot's” spawn? You're my….' He paused a moment and then, in surprise, realized there was only one word that was true. `You're my friend. I swear I'm going to hurt the ones who did this to you. You have to come back, Vegeta. I need you to come back. That's the only way we're going to get out of here and escape this nightmare.'

 

Awareness slowly seeped back into Vegeta as he stepped back into the icy emotional armor he had long ago set aside, but had never allowed to melt. Blessed coldness filled him, numbing his feelings. The ice inside of him became so cold that it would burn anyone who tried to get to him, mimicking the deadly heat of a fire. Vegeta smiled grimly as a memory surfaced.

 

“Such a delightful mix of fire and ice,” Frieza purred, using one finger to gently stroke the cheek of the naked fourteen-year-old in bed with him. “You go so cold and uncaring, but you burn so brightly when you unleash the fire of your anger. My sweet little prince of fire and ice.”

 

“Vegeta?” Gohan asked uncertainly. He didn't like the expression on the other man's face.

 

“They have made their last mistake,” he answered malevolently. “They have awoken the Prince of Fire and Ice. And now they will have to deal with him.”