Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Eden ❯ Mistakes. ( Chapter 4 )

 

Authors Disclaimer: Akira Toriyama is the creator/owner/supreme lord of the Dragonball/Z/GT franchise/brand/universe, I do not make any profit from writing and I stress that I don't make any claims to own DBZ. Any original characters do belong to me, such as Evana.

 

Fallen Eden

 

Chapter Four

 

 

 

In the days to follow Zarbon could never recall exactly what happened after he had said those words. They had ran through the corridors, eventually coming across Bardock, shell shocked and dazed just like the other Saiyans. He held a scared Bulma in his arms, and words would never be able to express how relieved Zarbon was when he saw her. They may have spoken, but Zarbons memory was blurred and patchy.

 

Bardock had taken them through the Palace grounds, and beckoned them to fly. With Briefs hanging on his back, and Bulma still in Bardocks care, Zarbon took to the sky and followed Bardock as fast as he could. The Saiyan was flying at break neck speed, and Zarbon was finding it hard to keep up with him. They travelled southwards for a long time, perhaps half an hour before they landed at a small pond. “Take a drink, we will continue after.” Bardock had told them, he still held Bulma tightly. His face was stoic and unmoving as he looked up at the sky, back towards the Palace, but Zarbon could practically feel that underneath the mask of calm waged a war of emotion.

 

Bulma lay sleeping in Bardocks arms, apparently flight had lulled her into rest. Zarbon didn't much feel like drinking, his earlier rage now gone, now that he knew Bulma was safe. They stayed in silence for what felt like an eternity of tension, and it was a relief to all when Bardock commanded, “Come, we have to go.”

 

 

~*~

 

 

It took another two hours to reach their destination, a small camp at the mouth of a cave, where a fire lay crackling, and cloaked figures sat around, talking in hushed voices. The sun had now set and it was dark enough to mask their presence. Or so Zarbon thought. All of the cloaked figures rose to fighting stances as they landed some way away in a thicket. Bardock handed Bulma to one of them, it was too dark to see who, but he guessed it to be Briefs. A voice among the cloaked people called out, “Speak your purpose!” It was impossible to see which one of them had spoken.

 

“Quiet Selei! Do you want to broadcast our position to Freeza himself?” Bardock snarled. He walked into the fire light, and the cloaked people eased and visibly relaxed.

 

“Bardock!” A figure with a slighter frame than the others, stood forward and lowered the hood of her cloak. A quite handsome woman was revealed, her hair tied back tightly, she looked quite tired but still very alert in the firelight.

 

“Is he here, safe?” Bardock growled gruffly. The Saiyan called Selei answered without hesitation. “We managed to retrieve him without anyone noticing, yes Sir.” Selei nodded very slightly, looking behind Bardock into the darkness. “Who did you bring with you?”

 

Bardock tilted his head to the side, looking into the darkness also. “Allies.” He waited a second before calling out, “Come on, you can eat and rest without any fear here.” His eyes followed Zarbon and Briefs as they entered the firelight.

 

“Zarbon!” Selei called out, a small almost fierce grin on her face. She laughed quite harshly and sauntered over to him, “Still as green and ugly as always. I should have suspected as much.”

 

His reaction to her however was slightly clipped and he didn't bother to hide his disregard and annoyance. “I will always pride myself, Selei, that I will never be as ugly as you. Only the hideous, mock another's appearance.” His eyes were narrowed and his body tense as he looked at her fiercely.

 

Bardock watched the exchange with little interest; He had seen these far too many times to be bothered by them any more. He turned his attention to the Doctor instead. “Briefs, does your cub need feeding?”

 

Briefs looked at his child a moment, who now looked wide eyed and alert. A tiny rumble echoed from her stomach. “Uh, yeah,... thanks.”

 

~*~

 

 

Shortly after, Bardock left with another of the cloaked soldiers, who turned out to be his young son, named Kakkarot. They didn't return for some days.

 

The Saiyans in the camp had, for the most part, been very calm and subdued, it was such an amazing and radical difference from the insane like Saiyans that they had seen in the Palace, that it left Doctor Briefs incredibly baffled, but in the interest of respect he had not brought up the Royal family, no matter how desperately he wanted to hear news. He didn't want to see these Saiyans, some of whom he quite liked, to change into the screaming and writhing mess that made him feel fear.

 

He could feel the sombre atmosphere pressing in around him when they thought himself and Bulma were asleep, she may have been, but he lay awake, trying to grasp any titbits of information as he could. But every night he was disappointed: they spoke in their native Saiyan. When the break of dawn came, the sombre feeling in the camp had been tamed and the Saiyans were lively and barely containable once more.

 

While they waited for Bardocks return, Zarbon and Briefs lived inside the cave, the only danger being from a fight breaking out between Selei and Zarbon. The tension in the camp was palpable, only broken occasionally by Bulma managing somehow to escape her 'captors' and find the other youngster, whom she had tremendous delight in throwing leaves upon and even once jabbing with a stick, until the black haired child got so angry a surge of Ki singed the blue hair on little Bulma's head. When these sorts of things occurred, she would leave him alone for the rest of the day, until the next day, when she would begin her assault once more.

 

Doctor Briefs was shocked, and also quite delighted when he was informed that the other young child was the Prince. It meant it hadn't been the young Royal who had been killed, and he found himself immensely grateful for that. But mere moments after being pleased at this news, a thought struck him that made him feel fear. If the Prince was here,... then what was Freeza going to do? The whole purpose of his trip was to find the Prince, and if he couldn't find him, then there would be hell to pay wouldn't there? Briefs didn't pretend to understand the workings of somebody such as Freeza, and he preferred it that way. He only wished he knew what his next move was going to be.

 

When Briefs brought up the subject of the Prince and Freeza, all conversation stopped, and he was given no real answers, other than the popular phrase, “It's all in hand, human. We are dealing with it.” He would not try to mask his disappointment at this news, instead he would simply leave the matter, until he found another prime opportunity to catch someone off their guard. Which, unfortunately, was incredibly rare.

 

~*~

 

 

It was four days until Bardock and Kakkarot returned. They were covered in blood and grit clogged their wounds. They landed roughly, Kakarrot stumbled and fell onto his backside, coughing gruffly and it sounded disturbingly liquid filled. Bardock stood massaging a severe gash on his shoulder, his eyes fiercely narrowed as he glared at the ground in front of him as though it had insulted his most honoured ancestor. The group of Saiyans and Briefs were stood at the mouth of the cave when they touched down.

 

“What did you find out?” It was Selei who spoke first, and Briefs couldn't help but admit to himself that he thought it quite rude not to look after the poor man's injuries before starting the questions. But they are Saiyans, he told himself, they have different priorities.

 

Bardock spat bloodily onto the dry soil. “Enough to know that I highly doubt we will live long enough to regret our deception.” He slightly turned to look at his son, who was barely more than twelve years of age. “Freeza's soldiers have moved into the Palace. Untold legions of Saiyans are dead.” Harsh, angry, feral growls and hisses interrupted him. “QUIET!” Spit flew to the ground. “Do you think I am not angry? Do you think I don't want to order the attack on Freeza's army? I want to see him dead and gone more than any of you! You do not see me mewing like a cub. Act like the soldiers you are, Elite or not.” He fixed his gaze onto Selei. She looked away.

 

Several seconds of tense silence descended around them. Zarbon broke through the invisible fog, “So what is our tactical situation?”

 

Bardock laughed harshly and briefly. “At this very second? We are as safe as we're going to be. Freeza has left the planet.” Utter confusion lined every face, and murmuring and questions broke out. “I did not give any of you permission to act like commoners.” He spoke in a quiet, dark tone. But somehow it was heard, all talk ceased and there was silence.

 

He took a second, clenching and unclenching his fist rhythmically, before he began to speak again. “When we left four days ago,” He jerked his head towards Kakkarot, “We flew back to the Capitol. I do not think I have seen a place change so quickly in such a short time...” His eyebrows furrowed. “Our fellow Saiyans were raging, but there was nothing we could do for them. Not then anyway. We went inside the Palace, there was blood everywhere. It lined the walls and bathed the floor.” He paused, the memory bringing a foul taste to his mouth. He swallowed dryly. “It was Saiyan blood, unmistakably. We heard screams coming from the Prince's chambers. As we got closer, we found bodies in the halls.” Another pause. “We've lost so many Elites, it will take a long time to replenish the ranks...” He branched off, almost without thinking.

 

He lapsed into silence. It was a minute or so, before anyone decided to speak to him. Kakkarot still lay on the dusty ground, his blood slowly soaking into the soil, staining it a dark dirty crimson. “Bardock.” It was Selei who spoke. “Tell us what happened in the Prince's chambers.”

 

Bardock broke from his daze with a slight shake of his head. His gaze was focused on the ground in front of him. “Freeza had blown half the room apart, he,” A pause, and a snarl. “Freeza, was stood on the edge, staring out at the city, he was holding the Kan'oirn in his unworthy bloody hands.”

 

In the Doctors opinion, the atmosphere grew dark and black, almost as though the fury and coldness of the words had become visible. His own breath had caught in his throat, and he breathed shallowly as he waited for Bardock to continue. But not daring to prompt him, he simply looked down briefly to look at the young black haired child that was the target of so much vindictiveness and nasty murderous intentions. He had no idea what the Kan'oirn was...

 

“That...soulless..BASTARD!” Kakarrot screamed hoarsely. “He'd killed the High King,... he'd pushed the kan'oirn through the King's chest, and,” His voice caught. “out the other side, bursting his heart...” He was unable to continue.

 

They must mean the Medallions the Royals wear. The Doctor thought sickened. He had known that Freeza was evil and twisted in unimaginable ways, and yet the harsh reality of living in it shocked him.

 

“You let him take the Kan'oirn?” Selei shrieked. All eyes turned to her. Bardock seemed to be using some supreme restraint to stop himself from attacking the female Saiyan staring at him accusingly. It was Zarbon who retorted on Bardock's behalf. “Do you actually think, dimwitted one, that they had a choice?” He flicked some hair out of his eyes. “Freeza had just killed your High King, easily it sounds like, and you think an Elite and a teenager stand a chance of surviving, when the strongest amongst you could not. Gold and jewels can make a new medallion, you can't replace your fallen army or your Monarch with such readiness.” Zarbon drawled nastily at Selei, who glared back defiantly, unwilling to wilt before his stare.

 

“It's not a mere medallion, it embodies everything that is Saiyan. Our unyielding strength and solidarity-” Zarbon scoffed at this.

 

“Please love, your unyielding strength? That's why Freeza took it, he beat down your best with little trouble. And your solidarity? Yes, your Elites all came to him together, and he killed them all the same. He took his trophy, deal with it, we've got more important matters to deal with. And I warn you now, if you are planning on being an annoying hindrance then you should just return to the capital and aid the recovery of your people.” Zarbon hissed. He glared, his amber eyes flashing.

 

Selei snarled and brought her hand upwards in the air, her fingers flew open and sparks of Ki danced along her finger tips collecting in her palm, the energy flashed and burned bright white-gold, like a very dangerous jewel harnessed by anger. “You dare speak to me like that? You are far more foolish than I gave you credit for.” She spat the words, glaring harshly into Zarbon's glinting eyes.

 

Zarbon's dark lips curled with some satisfaction, and his eyes narrowed. “Ha! You think me a fool? I hate to burst your fragile bubble of superiority and arrogance, but that is how it is. And if you don't like hearing it, then please feel free to throw the first blow, because I assure you, I'll be the one to throw the last.” He goaded her, he was aching for the inevitable fight they would have, he had been paitent until now, but the need to release his pent up frustration and energy was getting the better of him.

 

Selei made to throw her charge of energy, but she was interrupted by a shock of red in her chest, forcing her to fall backwards some steps. Her chest was smoking, and her armour was singed. She had a fist full of crackling and golden energy before she had even looked up from the attack. Zarbon wasn't even looking at her, no one was. They were all looking at the young Prince, standing on his chubby short legs, and with an arm outstretched he glared at her. Small shoots of red energy flashed and glinted around his tiny hand.

 

 

~A Week Later~

 

 

 

Bulma cuddled her soft mound of blanket completely oblivious to everything that was going on around her. Loud voices were arguing just outside of her small cave room.

 

“I think you should shut up!” A young male voice shouted.

 

“Speak to me like that again boy, and I'll teach you some respect the old Saiyan way. Beat you unconcious, fly you to the gorge and drop you from the sky. If you survived, you'd thank me.” An assured and strong voice responded quite calmly.

 

“Just try it old man, I'll knock you out in one punch. Come on!” That young voice shouted again, eager.

 

“Kakkarot! Don't make me come out there!” A loud voice echoed in the cave, waking Bulma from her cosy nap. She began to cry. The voice shouted again, angry. “Now look what you've done!”

 

“Father this wasn't my fault!” Kakkarot screamed indignantly. Someone snorted.

 

“Kakkarot stop whinging! And stop trying to blame an Elite! Take responsibility for your actions, or I'll take you to the gorge myself.” Bardock strode out of the cave. The little Bulma in his arms, still crying. The young Prince was sitting some feet away, his little black eyes glaring at the wriggling bundle in the tall Saiyans arms. Bardock walked between Kakkarot and Nappa, breaking them apart. Once he got to a clear space, he threw Bulma high in the air where she twisted and turned like a little rag doll. Loud giggles and squeals replaced the crying, and she landed in Bardocks strong arms safely. The young Prince's glaring had eased slightly.

 

 

~The Next Day~

 

 

“I've received a report from a contact in the Capitol. Freeza's base came under attack by an unknown force, this caused his retreat from our planet. His soldiers are living in our Palace, befouling that ancient fucking ground, with their filth!” Nappa bellowed. His energy flickered around him, his fists clenched, and his eyes blazing.

 

“Calm down before you have a heart attack!” Doctor Briefs tried to do something to calm the Saiyan down, but he had no idea what to do to someone who could kill him if he got too close.

 

“They are an insult to the Saiyan ancestors! I'm going to rip their throats out!” Nappa charged his energy.

 

“NAPPA!” Bardock screamed. “The scouters will pick up your energy! STOP!” Bardock flew at Nappa, punching him in the jaw. The large bald Saiyan was thrown backwards, landing fifteen feet away and skidding along in the dirt. “Bardock, what the fuck?!”

 

“Do you want to reveal our location to Freeza's entire damn army?” Bardock roared with fury.

 

Nappa lay dazed on the ground. Briefs was torn between going to check on him, and staying out of harms way, and it wasn't until screams far away that he made a decision. All gathered there, with the exception of Zarbon and Kakkarot (who were on a food hunt) looked into the distance, where the screams issued. Bardock spoke under his breath, “Ka...kkarot?”

 

Someone flew into the sky, above the trees. “That's Zarbon! What's he doing...?” Briefs said. Suddenly a flock of other people flew after Zarbon, throwing Ki blasts and chasing the changeling. “KAKKAROT!” Bardock screamed, Nappa clambered upright.

 

Bardock snarled at the large Saiyan, as he charged into the sky towards the attackers. “Look what you've done Nappa! They've found us! If my son dies, you'll pay in blood!”

 

Nappa hesitated before he followed in flight.

 

 

 

 

Sorry it's taken so long! Have a nice Christmas everyone!

Neafiir!