Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Earth ❯ The Savages ( Chapter 1 )

Author: Marie
e-mail: marie_strom@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13 for violence, mild language, and suggestive situations
Warnings: AU, (Alternate Universe)
Pairings: Pairings are as presented in series DragonBall Z for part 1.
Disclaimer: Akira Toriyama owns DragonBall, DragonBall Z and all that is affiliated. I do not own DragonBall, DragonBall Z, nor I am not making any profit off of this fic.
Author's Notes: This fic is not completed as of yet, however I promised myself I could start posting once I hit a certain point in the story.

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Kingdom Earth

~For Leanne.~

Part 1 : The Saiyan Saga
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Chapter 1
The Savages

Something was wrong. The creature broke out of his meditation and hovered in mid-air, staring at nothing as he tried to place the horrible feeling that burned within his chest. For a long moment he could not, his mind empty in the wake of churning dread, and then the feeling came again. Something was wrong...

The creature blinked. He unfolded his green limbs and lowered himself to the ground. Within moments he was off and running towards the cliff that lay halfway up the mountain's side. He climbed it instantly and quickly, bringing his tall regal form up, and stared down into the valley below.

Then he could see it. Carnage. Billows of smoke bloomed up from what seemed like random points in the valley below... but they were in places where he knew settlements of humans resided. He raised his head and sniffed the air. It carried the slightest scent of blood along with the faintest shouts and cries of battle. He cursed under his breath. The savages had attacked. Gritting his teeth he leapt upwards, his cape catching the wind behind him as he took to the air.

The humans were weak; the vast majority of them had already fallen by the time he got to the out-skirting towns of the valley. All that was left of these towns were the smoking remnants of houses. All that was left of the humans that had once inhabited them were the occasional torn limbs and bits of weapons lying about. Apparently the savages had cut through their defenses like a knife did to butter.

As he continued to fly onward he could see that the battle was still raging in places... some of the humans were still fighting in some of the better constructed houses, with slightly more advanced weaponry. But their fight was futile... he knew that they too would soon fall. He shook his head slightly in disgust and kept on flying.

When he reached the capital's outskirts the battle ran thick in the air. Below him was a moving mass of warring humans and savages alike, the former apparently trying their best to hold their own against the invaders. For no matter how much he hated humans he hated savages even more, and he did not hesitate to blast some of them down with the power he could call up from his hands as he flew by.

The saved humans were shocked... they looked up at him, shielding their eyes against the sun. When they spotted him they began calling out to their companions and pointing. He ignored them and continued on his way. They were none of his concern. There was someone much more important for him to find. He knew Son Goku would not hesitate to be in the most important place of all in this battle... and that would be in front of the castle Capsule Corp its self. He would be their last hope. After all if the castle fell there would be nothing left to fight for… the kingdom would be lost.

He was right... he found the man exactly where he expected to find him… on the very steps of the grand fortress. He was locked in combat with a particularly long haired savage, who appeared to be a forefront general of some sort. And, to make matters worse, he appeared to be loosing the fight.

The creature, who's name was Piccolo to all those who knew him, (and those were admittedly few and far between), gritted his pointed teeth. He considered himself to be truly evil and he also believed that the man below him, Son Goku- the strongest of all the humans- to be truly good. He had wished to challenge him someday and kill him in a fair but deadly fight. Now it appeared that the savages would never give him that chance. This upset him incredibly and he pressed his fingers against his forehead, silently willing the long haired savage below him to be still long enough for him to destroy him with a energy blast. At the last moment Son Goku looked up and saw him. He let out an exclamation, smiling happily despite the blood that ran freely down his face. It took the human only a moment to figure out Piccolo's intentions and he leapt forwards, pinning the long haired savage in place. Piccolo released his attack. The blast tore through the savage and Goku as well, and the human warrior fell to the ground along with his adversary.

Unexpected guilt filled the green creature's eyes as he drifted down to the ground to land beside the fallen man. He did not know why he felt this guilt... he wasn't anything less than complete enemies with Son Goku. Yet he did, and he carefully gathered the mortally wounded warrior up in his arms.

He tried to glare and express his dislike of the smiling warrior but Goku would have none of it. Instead he acted as if they were long lost friends. He reached up, touching the leathery skin of the green creature's cheek. "Piccolo... can you do something for me...?" he asked, wincing in pain as he did so.

Piccolo grunted non-comittally. He gritted his teeth slightly. He should be rejoicing in his enemy's eminent death, not allowing him to make him promise him things. Even so he listened despite his reservations.

"Take care..." Son Goku gasped, the smallest trail of blood running from the side of his mouth. He struggled for breath and then finally continued. "… Of my wife. And my son. Especially my son." He said. "Make sure he's okay..." His brow crinkled and his hand fell away, his wide black eyes closing at last. Frowning, Piccolo lowered the dead man to the ground and climbed to his feet. He hesitated for only a moment before blasting off into the sky.

For a moment he considered setting his course for his home where he resided in the mountains... and then he cursed to himself as Son Goku's dying words came back to him. Grumbling to himself he changed his course and made his way towards where he knew Goku had lived.

Two of the savages watched him go. "Shall I follow him sir?" Asked the larger of the two.

"No." The smaller of the two snapped. He stared after the rapidly retreating form of the green skinned creature. Odd, he thought to himself, he could have sworn that the creature was a Namek... a race that resided in the dessert lands to the far south. To see one so far north as the Kingdom Earth was truly strange. However that was none of his concern right now. Right now his concern lay with securing the castle. He smirked and folded his arms across his chest, looking elsewhere.

"Well it looks like Radditz was obviously unsuccessful." He sneered. He landed on the ground and kicked at the dead savage. "Hmm…" His eyes narrowed as he focused on the man who lay dead next to Radditz. For some reason he looked familiar. He could not place him however and after a moment he turned his attention to the rounded tops and proud spires of the now completely undefended castle. "We have a new home Nappa." He said proudly. With that he strode forwards to claim his prize and the new kingdom that went with it. "Finally... one to call our own after all these years..."

Piccolo could tell that the battle was over and who the victors were immediately. As he flew towards Goku's humble home that resided in the countryside he could see trails of humans below, flanked by savages, being lead towards the capital. Obviously the spoils of war... those humans would now be forced to submit to the new rulers of the land, whether as slaves or as laborers. It was unfortunate... the fact that the humans took less than a day to fall repulsed him. There was nothing honorable left for them now... not even death…

He was too late. Small scattered fires burnt in the clearing outside of Goku's house. The home its self looked more than worse for wear. Piccolo landed in front of it, inspecting the scorch marks that marred it's exterior.

Though he doubted that he would find anyone alive inside, he still pushed past the battered door and stepped into the house. A quick glance about revealed a struggle had taken place... he could tell this in the fact that furniture lay strewn about. He absently righted a chair that lay in his path and preceded to make his way quickly through the rooms. His eyes took in everything as he searched for evidence or the bodies of Goku's wife and his child. After a while it became clear to him that neither were anywhere to be found as he ended up in the last room. It was a bedroom, this one, and with its large four posted bed he infured that it was the master bedroom.

Strangely enough, in comparison to the rest of the house this bedroom appeared to be relatively undisturbed. He merely guessed that the struggle hadn't occurred in this place and turned away towards the door to leave. He stopped when the slightest sound wafted up to his sensitive ears.

Frowning the Namek turned back towards the room. The sound came again... a very soft sniffling noise that could only have been caused by a child or a small dog. Seeing as he was pretty sure Son Goku had had no pets...

The soft noise came again and Piccolo frowned. It sounded like it was coming from *underneath* the bed. Growling very softly he stalked forwards towards and lifted the bed effortlessly. He found no child underneath, but there was a small square cut out in the floor by his feet. Piccolo smirked to himself as yet another sniffling sound issued from beneath it.

He crouched down and lifted up the boards, peering inside the dark hole he had exposed. Twin tear-filled eyes stared back up at him and blinked, wide-eyed. It was a young child, cowering away from him in fear, it's small pudgy arms wrapped about his legs and curled up for protection. Piccolo growled and picked it up, only to have it uncurl and begin to scream and struggle. For a moment Piccolo was sure that he was going to drop him, but then he was finally successful in tightening his grip and righting the screaming child. He held it out at arms' length, shook it ever so slightly and pronounced very loudly--"SHUT. UP."

Amazingly the child did. Once again it stared at Piccolo out of wide black eyes, sniffled once-- and promptly passed out in his hands.

Piccolo stared. Finally he decided that at least the child wasn't screaming any longer and that he should be grateful. He shrugged and carelessly tucked the child under his arm. This wasn't before he noticed a very particular thing about Goku's child...

He had a tail. A brown furry one.

Just like some of the savages had.

Piccolo allowed himself a half smile as he stalked through the ruins that was the rest of the house. That explained a lot. That explained an incredible lot about where the deceased "human" named Goku got his strength.

And to think... all of this time he thought the savages couldn't be cultured. Apparently Goku had proved that wrong.

He nearly made it out of the house again without confrontation... only to be stopped at the door by a little bald monk.

Piccolo stared at him, wondering why a monk would be standing in Son Goku's doorway and thus preventing him from exiting. Then he remembered that the little monk was one of Goku's friends, he had occasionally seen them sparring together in the past. Obviously the monk had made his way down from the Monastery in the north the moment he had gotten word of the attack.

Unfortunately for the monk his trip was much too slow... he was too late to be of any assistance to Goku or his family. "Out of my way," Piccolo growled at him.

"Goku?" The little monk gasped at him. "Chi-chi?" He continued. He did not move.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed. "I do not know where the woman is and Goku is dead." He snapped. "Out of my way." He continued shortly, ordering him aside for the second time.

The monk's eyes flew to the child that Piccolo held tucked under his arm. "Where are you going with Gohan?" He asked. His wide eyes flicked back to the Namek's face and he stared up at him. Piccolo could see the fear that warred with loyalty and determination to protect the remaining member of Goku's family in his eyes. The Namek snorted.

"I'm taking him." He said abruptly. "He'll be fine." Without asking again he stepped forwards threateningly, and this time the monk hastily stepped aside.

"Where are you going to take him?" He asked when Piccolo had emerged from the house and was about to blast away into the sky. Piccolo stopped and shrugged. "To the mountains." His eyes narrowed and he glared down at the little monk. "I'd be more concerned about the savages," He warned finally. "If they have not attacked your home already, they will."

The little monk seemed taken aback for a second. Then he replied; "They won't attack the monastery! It is a holy place."

Piccolo snorted again. "Your holy places won't save you now." He said. And with that he was gone.

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