Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ If I never see tommorow ❯ Night-time Events ( Chapter 3 )

Diary entry; The main part of the Trades seems to have been completed for now. Of course they aren't held in the palace courtyards rather they are transported out of palace grounds. That much never changes. He however won't be going anywhere, that much was assured, no, that is no longer the problem. Rather, after the incident, now only whispered of, he surprises me. He has no need for any one to worry about him. And he is definitely not as weak as he appears …he can't be human…no human could have stood up to the guard albeit he wasn't the strongest of them, he still couldn't have been beaten by a normal human. But now he is open to a lot of attention and with that I am sure not even he can compete. He's become something so intriguing I find myself worrying about how he's getting on; the only difference is that now he isn't just being watched by me…he's not my personal discovery anymore.

Not all males are safe…It's wrong I know that much.

Juuhachi sighed in almost unconscious delight as she stepped out into the night air feeling it ruffle her hair gently. The days may be warm but the nights were gloriously cool. The grounds were clear with almost all the slaves inside still busy with the feast and any others having been locked away in their respective cells. She would have given anything for that. To have been left in peace. All the guards seemed to be indoors still stuffing her faces only a few speckling the grounds outside where some where keeping the other guards, who had been unfortunate enough to be on duty today, company filling the air every now and then with rancorous laughter. Yet the defence of the grounds never waned even for the slightest minute.

She had to admire their tenacity if nothing else. The night air made a hugely refreshing change from the stuffiness of the hall. It may be huge beyond belief but it was still too enclosed for her liking. Just too much people around…she still wasn't used to being round so many without growing irritated and highly strung. She decided to make this walk to the storehouse a languid one, considering it wasn't far anyway so it would be a challenge to make it longer. She gave a lopsided smile. She wouldn't so much call it the 'store house' as she would rather call it 'store city' everything with the Saiyans seemed to border on big or nothing at all, 'small' wasn't good enough. Then again with the way they ate it wasn't at all surprising.

She didn't sense the persons come up behind her till they were upon her, her thoughts having momentarily dampened her natural reflexes, and she turned quickly just in time to feel the fist crash into her face and send her reeling back before she could react.

Okay, she thought coming to a sharp stop, everyone deserved a chance to draw first blood. She wiped at the liquid running down her nose.

He just wasn't good for her.

Both her patience and restraint snapped this time and not in a nice way. The gaze that looked up at him had a very nasty glint to it and that smile was not right somehow. He actually stepped back a little though he quickly regained control of any more unconscious moves. Her gaze didn't need to leave the face of the man, destined to be lying half dying on the ground any moment now, to be able to see the friend that had tagged along, quite lost amongst the thrall of the wine he was currently holding in a bottle but still conscious enough to be a complete nuisance as he threw his head back and laughed at her.

And fell to the ground inert.

The action, a single flawless move and a painful sound of flesh contacting headlong with flesh, had scarcely been recorded by the victim or even by the man who virtually gaped at her in surprise even as he caught the blow now aimed for his face in repayment for the one he'd dealt out earlier. He celebrated too soon his smug expression quickly reconfiguring itself into a mask of pain at the blow that drove itself into his stomach making him hunch over. She gave him no time what so ever to recover and sent her knee crashing into his face sending his face painfully upwards and right into the perfect position to receive the next blow that slammed into the side of his head with terrible perfection.

He reeled back stumbling and tripping over the prostrate form of his friend still out cold on the ground. She felt he would let it rest there but he didn't and came at her again and she simply moved while he thundered past anger making him careless. "Give this up." She said angrily as she realised they were beginning to draw attention to themselves. He merely fixed her with a gaze that bordered on a crazy desire to rip her to shreds for this humiliation and came at her again.

She was ready for him.

Krillin had to push his way through the small crowd that had formed. Yet even with small crowds he tended to have problems such as alluded to his unfortunate height but he accomplished the move forward more due to strength than luck since people more often than not did not realise his existence as was the case now.

His worst suspicions had been confirmed even as he'd heard the noise upon his arrival most of it from the guards who'd been encouraging their own to land a punch and he did manage to a few times…right before he was knocked out. Then his blonde haired friend just stood there, as if all of a sudden aware of the crowd.

There was a short moment of stunned silence and then like a horrible prediction of doom there was a culmination of angry growls as some of the guards not totally drunk as the two defeated ones had unfortunately been rushed towards the boy their intent to rip him to shreds.

There was a flicker of fear on that face…it was fleeting but Krillin saw it and wouldn't anyone be if about a dozen very angry Saiyans suffused with a need to gut you came hurtling towards you with frenzied looks in their eyes, he was about to react, quite what he was going to do or could be able to do he didn't know yet but he could figure that out at the last minute couldn't he?, there was an angry shout that promptly dissipated the angry guards and they stepped away from the boy who curiously had lifted his hand…whether this was a defensive move Krillin wasn't sure but it reminded him of something, something his mind was just too busy to dwell on right now.

Someone, another of these guards, tall, impressively built and extremely longhaired, longer that he'd seen on a Saiyan so far, but obviously with more rank than those that had rushed out, stepped forward and with a brief, sharply given command had a bunch of guards scuttling to his orders promptly restraining the boy who didn't even struggle as he was carted off and needlessly dragged roughly in a kind of not so subtle payback for not being able to dispense their own form of justice.

Krillin breathed a sigh of relief, having felt for a moment that he would resist and make matters a whole lot worse. He knew with a dreadful feeling what Juuhachi would be in for. Slaves got punished all the time, true, but some actions were ascribed so much more than the normal punishment. He wondered for the umpteenth time since he'd come out looking for Juuhachi why he hadn't followed the boy or better still gone instead. He just hadn't been thinking.

Some friend he was.

Bulma was rudely awoken by the cell door suddenly being opened. She looked over at Chi-Chi who was lying huddled in sleep waist length locks unbound and fanning her back and shoulders acting almost like a dark blanket of sorts. That was till she shook her awake harshly the move one of urgency even as her own gaze widened with the guards' advance on them.

There seemed to be a brief minuscule moment of decision and then they latched onto Chi-chi yanking her to her feet roughly hardly giving her time to react and that was the whole idea. The element of surprise before she could resist.

She realised with a sudden sickening feeling that they were to be separated and she may never see her friend again. She latched onto Chi-chi just as she reached out for her. Even in the dim lighting of this place she could see the terrified look on Chi-chi's face. Her name fell off Chi-chi's lips like somehow she could make everything right again.

She clung to her refusing to let go of the dark haired woman

They'd become friends on one of the slave ships and hadn't been parted since. They knew no one else but themselves and had done everything together, kept low profiles, worked, ate, avoided the female gang leaders that had arisen in some of the slave quarters more by stroke of luck than genius especially when most were sadistically malevolent. Half the leaders gave over girls to the guards, harem, personal use, you wanted the fear of god put into someone, make someone's life even more of a misery, turn their gazes away from a blatant wrong doing, anything really, they didn't really care, it meant they got more food, more privacy, clothes, a whole range of benefits that no other slave could hope to get or even touch unless they were friends with these leaders or part of their collective and more often than not there was so much treachery rife in these gangs that being part of them was not always a good thing…it just made things easier…as long as you remained lucky.

Now they wanted to split them up.

After all they'd been through together.

She wasn't going to have it. Not when Chi-chi was practically bawling her eyes out and crying her name intermingled and mumbled up with strings of 'don't let them take me.' It was heart wrenching. It strengthened her resolve to hold on no matter what, she wasn't willing to give up easily. Not while Chi-chi seemed to really believe 'Bulma the master genius' as she'd teasingly come to call her after having saved both their hides numerous times from their uncountable escapades. She wasn't about to let her down now. Not if she could help it. They'd just have to take them both.

And then she felt it. The awful pain to her stomach.

It took the pain to clear a little before she could think and realise that she'd been dealt a vicious blow to the stomach that left her almost winded. Worse still she no longer had a hold on her friend. "Chi-chi." She expelled as she felt her grip slip from hers.

"Bulma!" it was a cry full of dread. Fear of the unknown and fear for her fiend as she had fallen clutching her stomach, fear that this would be the last time they would set eyes on each other again. What was it that had been said about these night time disappearances? She didn't want to be one of them.

Bulma caught hold of her again but her hold wasn't as strong as it had been before. She was wincing visibly from some sort of injury she must have acquired even as she was practically dragged out of the cell. She braced her feet against the door way hands clinging to Chi-chi's arms pulling back refusing to let go all the while blessing the guards' ears with a litany of profusely unladylike explanatives. She would've kept her hold too if she hadn't been savagely dealt an impatient blow to the side of her head and knocked back into the cell the door being promptly closed behind her.

She flew to the door banging almost madly against its hard unyielding texture. Angry, sad, miserable, lonely and above all scared for what would happen to her friend. She eventually gave up banging her anger frizzling out into unhappy tears of desolation when she finally accepted the fact that no matter how much she banged and shouted they wouldn't bring her back. She sank into a miserable ball and cried till she hadn't the energy to cry any more.

Consciousness was a thing sluggishly found and her environment came into focus slowly as did the remembrance of the events that had led here. She groaned her hand going to her head. Damn those people. Did they have to use those annoying weapons? She'd followed them willingly enough so much so they'd even voiced their disbelief at her ability to have knocked out two guards and attributed it instead to the fact that they had been drunk. Spiteful things that they were she'd supposed they'd try to get their own back but or that alone she would love to wring their neck. That one contraption had to be the bane in her life right now.

It was effective though.

It made her wonder just what else they packed into it besides the obvious. She let her hand flop back down. How long had she been unconscious exactly?

…And suddenly that wasn't the focal issue.

It was slow, just like everything else returning to her. There was someone near and in addition there was the unnerving feeling of being watched intently. It wasn't too near because the darkness that her gaze had at first tricked her into thinking was all round her when it actually wasn't had receded and she'd noticed the faint golden-brown tinged lighting had not been a trick of her eyes either. Wherever she was, and she had a faint idea of where, the need for lighting obviously wasn't a big thing.She suddenly realised she was facing a wall when she tried to rise in the wrong direction and almost ramming up into it. She almost laughed at herself, if she could do that with a raging headache turning as slowly as possible she lay back down giving into the pounding request to be returned to the flat surface of the bed.

That's when she saw it.

Someone watching her.

At least that was right if her senses were functioning properly but when she decided to make sure of what she thought she'd seen there wasn't anyone there. She closed her eyes not trusting them anymore. She was already aware now that she wasn't alone; there were other persons…just not in the same cell as she found herself now. However that didn't explain the figure watching her…if it had actually been there at all.

Sounds of steel against a wet stone filled the air almost rendering Bardock's low growl of something akin to frustration, inaudible as he watched his son training. He pretended not to be watching but he was, his gaze straying every now and then to the dark haired man. His gaze shifted to include the other with him, his own dark hair a much longer length. It struck him how very different they were, starkly so.

Of course they were different being brother's but it was so much more than that. He was proud of Raditz, he thought as the longhaired saiyan smoothly evaded a flying fist, but Kakkarot, now he was a different story entirely.

He'd turned out all… 'wrong'. He even insisted on being called 'Goku'. He didn't know who to blame for that, and he'd be damned if he called him that, but there just hadn't been something right about that boy for along time. He acted nothing like a Saiyan. It wasn't a lack of strength, he thought as the shorter haired man skilfully landed a blow that took the other by surprise. It was more his behaviour when not fighting. He did things that were highly un-saiyan like.

Unlike his elder brother who was an excellent fighter, excelled in strength, was one of the princes close guards, had gone on numerous purging missions, and had received so much praise and commendations.

Kakkarot on the other hand shied away from purging planets, he wasn't even happy about the idea of becoming a royal guard, what other position could a saiya-jn long to excel towards than that, to be at the princes side, to live for the battle and to command dominance and respect, to have people say your name in hushed, reverent voices and say 'yes he is a great warrior'

It was even a miracle that he'd got the boy in to the ranks in the beginning. His acceptance had been more to do with the fact that his family had loyally served the monarchs of this planet for as long as it had been and now after such a long unblemished history, he, Bardock, known well for his loyalty and undaunted strength, he who had purged planets by the side of his prince and king, he out of the whole family lineage had had to go and have the deviant brat, the black sheep that would end up ruining generations of heritage and family honour. Why not just one right? The boy didn't seem to take anything seriously, he was adamantly against everything Saiyan-sin, he at times begun to wonder if he was even his own spawn.

His mate had said he would outgrow it when he'd spotted it in the beginning, then again she would say that, she was the boy's mother…they were typically blind. What he hated most of all was that he knew Kakkarot was strong, a very good fighter with the potential to be so much better than even his sibling but he just refused to fight and do things he considered 'wrong' letting all that potential go to waste.

Wrong, right? Where had all that come from? To be a warrior and an effective one there was no entertaining a 'conscience' it was a disease. That was the first thing learnt.

Matters of the heart were things to be controlled and never have them control you. He thought about his now dead mate. Except in some things. He realised suddenly that he'd stopped sharpening his sword and was watching them though deep in thought.

He grunted as the short haired man got flung half a distance having taken out his brother but moving forward worried that he may be hurt and offering his hand in a placating gesture. Foolish thing to do as Raditz proved having taken advantage of his brother's action.

"See that Seripa…tell me how you expect to get that boy to act more like a Saiyan?" he said not needing to turn to realise the arrival of the short haired woman that had come up behind him and currently seated herself. His friend merely grinned as she looked over at he boy now peeling himself up from his painful position on the ground laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world and not the shameful 'butt whoop' that it was. He'd lost, training or no.

Bardock shook his head. He looked at Seripa who was now watching the boy with an unwitting smile, if she, a female could be a guard, like the few handful there were, what possible excuse did his son have. He was an outright embarrassment.

He'd grown up with this woman, fought along side her and knew her to be one that could carry out her job with as much stamina as a male guard and then she had to go witness the existence of his wayward son. Suddenly feeling Bardock's gaze the grin died quickly "Well, yes of course, I see what you mean…but like I said I think I have a way."

Bardock's brow rose.

"Get him a slave." She announced.

His face dropped "What good will that do!?" Bardock snapped "he is even against owning one, remember what happened with one of the slaves we currently own. He's left me one short!"

"You know as well as I do that you can't be sure he let the slave escape." She said in an almost hushed voice. "Yes I can, they were friends…friends…with a slave…a human no less. He must have given her that chance; he knew what would happen, especially after doing something as fool as to get herself with child. He may act like it but he is not stupid…fully"

"Just be quiet awhile and hear me out will you." She said sharply brows drawing together "Getting him one of his own-"

"Will end up with another slave on the loose." He cut in. She glared at him and he gave a slight grunt as if to say whatever she said he was ultimately right but she could continue anyway. "Having someone jump to your every word is a very attractive thing, he'll soon be ordering her round the place and once he's got a taste for that he'll crave more and soon it will become almost second nature to command such from other's. He'll be acting like you in no time." She said teasingly "…control, fear and respect can be pretty tempting things." She added at his sceptical gaze..

"She?" he pointed out "You mean you've already got a slave?". She nodded.

"Good luck." Bardock said right after mumbling under his breath "this will never work." He had tried everything to make that boy see sense but he had failed. She would too.

She merely grinned her gaze becoming welcoming as Goku having spotted her came over a familiar goofy smile adorning his features joyfully. His greeting was shyly given even as she glanced out of the corner of his eye at the man furiously scraping his weapon against the wet stone. If Seripa didn't know better she would swear he was longing to use the now unbelievably sharpened thing on one happily laughing son of his. She rose steering the boy away from the path of danger for he was in other things oblivious too.

"Are we talking about food" he asked his tone low and conspiratorial upon being informed of a surprise. "No" she said almost laughing at his love for food, which was a constant and given thing.

"Then what?" he asked wondering briefly what could be more of a surprise than that as he followed her into the house and they came to a stop "Her." She said with a brief gesture to the standing girl.

The 'her' in question fixed them with eyes that were red and puffy, hands fidgeting nervously, she was highly strung like she wanted direly to flee. She looked on the verge of adding more tears to the ones already dried to her cheeks. Dark waist length hair sat almost madly on a delicate head, over all she looked terrible and that did not include the crumpled look of fear and apprehension on her face. Overall she looked like she had been dragged through a hedge backward.She stepped back unconsciously, coming up unwittingly against the man standing behind her.

"What-" Goku began confusion etched into his handsome features, warm dark eyes holding totally innocent befuddlement. "Oh don't worry Kakkarot" Seripa began grinning widely mistaking the direction of his confusion, as she glanced briefly at the girl and slapped his back heartily and, being the woman of strength she was, unintentionally hard "It doesn't always look like that."

He stood by the window looking out on the bustling scene his mind far away for a tiny while. The thing occupying his mind were blue eyes, cold and distant yet burning with a barely surprised fire.

Funny.

The same person that had carried sacks like they were nothing. He supposed he should have guessed he would be strong. He wasn't exactly familiar with this race of people but he did know they weren't very strong but he must have been extremely strong to have taken on a guard and not just one and nearly beat them to a pulp albeit one was drunk senseless. A voice now intruded on his thoughts.

"I'm sorry sir but there's nothing I can do." The rather stoutly built Saiyan said with a helpless shrug. "He's already been bought. I would relinquish the sale but its a senior officer, you know I can't cancel it, if he was a lower ranking officer I would do it without a second glance. You're my friend, you know I would."

His worst fears had already been confirmed. He'd already been bought. He'd had a suspicion that that would happen but not so quickly. He'd known he might be bought, he'd just hoped that it wouldn't be so soon. He suspected such a quick sale was more to do with the fact that he was stronger than the normal human. He posed a lot of questions just as he stoked curiosity. That left him open to a great deal of danger. Not many had seen what happened but rumours would fly.

"Who." He asked. The man shook his head moving over to his table and closing the open book that lay on top of it as Zahi moved towards it. "You know I can't tell you that either." He said almost pleadingly.

"You won't be telling me." Zahi said practically yanking the book the man was trying to salvage from him. He flicked through the pages ignoring the hovering uneasy figure of the man behind him pudgy fingers clenching and unclenching at his robes where it came together over his ample stomach, a stomach that told of a life of an over-indulgence in life's many delights.

"I could get into a lot of trouble for this." He muttered but he was ignored. He watched the man flicking through the book the look on his face one of deadly concentration.

It was strange, in all the time he'd known his reddish black haired friend he had never seen him show any interest in buying slaves. Why he was now was a question in its self.

Zahi presently turned to look at him his gaze wide. "You didn't…" now he knew for a fact that the boy was in a whole lot of trouble already.

"What was I supposed to do? Say no? What possible reason could I have to say no? you don't say no to him. Well, maybe you can, you grew up with the man. There was no one else putting in an offer and he practically cornered me and informed me of his decision. He didn't even ask…he just told me and I did it."

"But you know what he's like." Zahi practically snapped.

The man shrugged " I don't know Zahi, I don't pry into the lives of every buyer to see if they are suitable owners, all I do is sign the papers, these are slaves. We are not looking for 'lovely homes' for these people. He's bought the boy and that is that." He said snatching the book back from his friend.

He turned to the man now hurryingly packing away all other documents Zahi might feel an inclination to pry into preferably before he decided to. "Why don't you go take it up with him." He said almost sulkily.

"You know, you're right…"

"Zahi wait!"

He stopped almost halfway out of the doorway. He looked impatient. "Yes?"

"Can I ask why this sudden interest in this particular slave."

"I don't know…but any slave is better off being as far away from 'that man' as possible."

He looked puzzled as Zahi left. "If I'd known the boy would be that popular I would have asked for twice the amount I did…more commission for me…too late now." He mumbled as much to himself as to the now empty room.

She looked up sharply as the door was opened. A red haired man entered…or should she say boy. She marked him at all of nineteen. Shoulder length locks reminiscent of the length of her brother's hair only all of four inches or so longer and not parted instead allowed to fall in its own way. He wasn't sturdily built, not like some of the other slaves she'd seen after having been bundled here. Instead he was rather a little on the small side So far all she'd seen were male slaves though she had seen one female but briefly.

He stared at her awhile as if accessing. Of course to him she was just a blue-eyed boy with a mop of presently ruffled blonde hair staring back at him quite rudely challenging him to say something. Whatever it was that he seemed to want to say that was now hanging so heavily in the air.

He did.

"It won't last so don't get comfortable." He said waspishly as he placed the plate he'd brought with him on the nearby table and left locking the door behind him. If he knew that the door wouldn't hold her in would he still dared to have said what he did to her and in such a tone as well.

Had that been…jealousy? Hatred?

What reason did he have to feel any of that? If anyone should be angry here it should be her considering she had just been brought here and dumped in this room. She stared at the plate of food he'd brought in with him awhile, before reaching for it. She debated for a while if the thing was laced with poison, which wouldn't surprise her in the least with the look he'd given her but then again it would be pretty ineffective wouldn't it.

Besides it looked better than the swill of the past few days and she had to admit she was hungry.

As she ate she looked round the room, hugging her knees to her chest an almost thoughtful expression on her face, she couldn't shake the dreadful feeling that things were just beginning to saunter down a one way street of which things could only get more problematic.

Next chapter; four

Take care of yourselves now & c u in part four…I apologize for any spelling mistakes you may have encountered...I did try to get them all. Sorry.