Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lost in the Darkness ❯ Hope's Tears ( Chapter 1 )

Lost in the Darkness

Part One

Hope's Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ… Yadda Yadda Yadda.

The collar bit into his neck, the shackles on his wrists and ankles were rubbing the skin raw. His father was next to him, holding one of the boy's small hands in one of his large ones. His brother sat on his other side with his head on his shoulder, fast asleep. The boy's mother was in a different part of the ship. The two awake were worried about him and his twin.

His twin was on his father's opposite side, barely conscience and half-dead. He looked better now than he did earlier, but was still in bad shape. He had been beaten as an example, though for what example, none of them could guess.

"Karot-Chan?" His father asked, snapping the ten year old from his daydream of food, sleep, and freedom.

"Hai, Tousan?" Kakarotto replied, leaning tiredly against his father. The ki draining collar around his neck made him feel weak and sleepily.

"When we're sold, I don't want you to worry about us, okay?" Bardock looked at his son with fiery black eyes.

"Honto ne? Tousan, they won't separate us, will they?" Kakarotto asked, suddenly very afraid.

"I don't know." His father replied. "I doubt they'll separate you and Turlis because your identical twins, but they'll probably separate you and him from us. In fact, it's most likely that our whole family be split up."

"Don't say such bad things, Tousan!" Kakarotto admonished. "It'll be okay. I hope." He murmured the last part to mostly himself.

What Kakarotto really wanted, he could not have. He wanted things to be like they were before all this. Vegita-Sei to be dancing in the heavens while all the Saiya-Jins on the planet sang praises to the king of the planet and the gods and goddesses there. It would still be that way except the earthlings had come with their ki draining weapons and collars and their technology. The Saiya-Jins could have beaten them if not for that. Instead they had lost and been made out to be cold-blooded mindless savages that were less than dogs. His father was really smart and that wasn't fair! He wanted to go back to then. When he and his brothers and his parents would dance in the streets for festivals and his best friend, Torona, would call him silly names while he chased after her.

He felt a tear slip down his face, and pretty soon, he couldn't stop crying. Bardock put an arm around his youngest son's shoulders. "Gomen nasi, Tousan. I'm being weak, aren't I? I'll try harder not to be. I shouldn't be crying. Crying is for the weak. Gomen, Tousan."

"It's okay, Kakarotto. You have every right to be scared." He hugged his son tighter. Radditz's head slipped from his shoulder. The fourteen year old jerked awake.

"Tousan? What's going on? Why are you crying Izoto-Chan?" Radditz asked.

"It's nothing, Inoko-Chan." Kakarotto replied. "Nothing but that Tousan said that you were gonna be sold without me an' that I might never see you again. I don't wanna lose you! Your my FAMILY." Kakarotto began to cry harder. Bardock continued to try and calm down his son. Radditz was trying to help and neither was having much success.

Days passed like this, though no one could tell time in the dimly lit cell. Turlis was almost entirely better, and just as scared as his brother. Radditz faired only slightly better. He was fourteen, almost an adult. He was frightened as well, but the adults weren't supposed to show that and he was very good at controlling the emotions he expressed.

Unlike most people thought, though, Saiya-Jins DID feel things, they just didn't SHOW what they felt. Bardock was torn up inside, he knew that he'd loose his children, and it was killing him. Every time he fell asleep he wondered if that was the last time he'd see them. the last time he'd hear Kakarotto talk, hear Radditz laugh. He wondered if it was the last time he'd look upon their faces and see them smile. Once, as he watched the three sleep, Kakarotto and Turlis curled up by his side and Radditz with his head on Kakarotto's shoulder, he felt a tear slip down his face.

~I'll always love you, my sons. Never ever forget that.~ He thought as he watched them, longing for time to stop, to slow, anything that would give him just one more moment with his precious children.

There was a rumble sometime later, Bardock had guessed it to be about two weeks since they had set out, and the ship began to land. Bardock held Kakarotto and Turlis tight, whispering that he loved all three of them and would always be proud of them. Kakarotto and Turlis couldn't hide their tears and Radditz's eyes looked a little bright.

Two men came in and turned on the lights. They began to separate them by age, looks, or strength. When they got to Bardock and his family, they roughly shove Radditz aside into a group of fourteen year olds. "Hey, boss! C'mere and look at this trio!" They looked deadly serious as they examined them. "Whaddaya make of this crew?"

A large man half walked half waddled over. "Keep `em together. They might make more money that way. I don't think I've ever seen a matched set like this." He roared with laughter. Bardock's face set in a scowl. He would have growled if not for the fact it would have endangered his sons. The other men chained them together and threw them with the other matched sets.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The slave auction was crowded with people from every place imaginable. Kakarotto couldn't help but look around in awe and amazement. It was huge. A man stood on a platform auctioning slaves off. The first to be auctioned were the women and the younger children. The oldest a child could be to stay with his or her parents was five years of age.

The man was speaking quickly. Another woman was yanked forward, she was struggling to get away and yelling, "Let me go! Give me back my children! Where is my family? Get away from me!"

Whips cracked across her back and she screamed in pain. Bardock's eyes filled with tears. "Aria! Stop! Please!" He begged. "If you don't, they'll surly kill you! Please!" She continued to struggle wildly, yelling.

One man held up a gun. "ARIA!" Bardock yelled. "ARIA! STOP! I BEG YOU!" She halted. The man kept his gun trained on her.

::You know it will kill me to be away from you.:: She whispered through their bond. ::They just don't understand, humans. They are the barbarians. Not us.::

::I know, but please, Aria. I can't bear to loose you. And The children. They can't see you die. Please, Aria.:: She finally nodded in defeat and allowed the man to show her. There were tears shining on her face.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The next to be shoved up to the auction block was Radditz. He kept his head down, refusing to look up for any reason. His eyes were bright with unshed tears. His ankle-length black hair was pulled when they turned and twisted him to show him off as though he was a cow or a horse.

He was not sold to the same bidder as his mother.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Kakarotto, Turlis, and Bardock were on of the last groups to be auctioned off. Kakarotto and Turlis were shivering in fear as the men yanked on the thick chains that lock them together. Bardock's face was impassive, but inside he was screaming in rage. This wasn't supposed to happen! At least on Vegita-Sei slaves were kept with their families! He couldn't believe it. And here he was, on a slave block, being auctioned off. His thoughts were wild, but the most prominent one was that he was with two of his children.

Kakarotto slipped his hand into his father's, quaking in fear. There were so many people! And the people were all humans. All murdering barbarians that had killed so many Saiya-Jins, that had murdered so many other races. No one ever thought a child could hate so much.

Turlis shrank back, closer to his father and brother, trying not to draw attention to him self. The man continued to talk, forcing Bardock to do numerous things. The auctioneer's attention finally landed on Turlis and Kakarotto.

Bardock was almost thrown out of the way as he went to grab the twins. They fell back a few steps until the chain was taunt. Turlis kept trying to back up. The man reached for Kakarotto. Turlis leapt forward, clamping his jaws on the man's hand. The two brothers were always watching out for one another, and Turlis, being the older of the two by almost twelve hours, felt far more responsible for Kakarotto's well-being than his own.

The man yelled and pried the boy off his hand, throwing him back. The whip descended on his back. Turlis screamed. Kakarotto grabbed his brother and twisted around him. The second time the whip fell, it hit Kakarotto. Kakarotto clung to his brother as the whip slowly shredded his back. Turlis yelled as he collapsed. It had taken over forty lashes of the whip. Turlis held onto his brother's body for dear life, desperately trying to wake him up. Bardock gave a strangled cry and rushed forward to grab both his sons. The audience watched silently.

"Well, folks!" The man cried jovially. "You have witnessed their power for yourself! It may take the whip, but they'll be strong workers!"

The bidding began.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

They were sold to a tall fat man with blonde hair and cold, cruel brown eyes. Bardock stood protectively in front of Turlis while cradling Kakarotto's still form in his arms. The man growled at them. "I am your new master." He said slowly, pronouncing the words as though Bardock was too stupid to understand them. "You will address me only as sir or master. Do you understand?"

"Of course, sir." Bardock replied in the same language the man was speaking in. The man, being made a fool out of, grew angry.

"You will also follow my commands to the letter! Do you understand?!" He shouted.

"Sir, yes sir!" Bardock snapped back in full military style. Turlis snapped to attention at that tone. Young Saiya-Jins are made to recognize that a tone like that means there's someone of higher class nearby and mistakes mean death.

"Teach them what I expect, Yabet." Master snapped to a nearby man. An overseer. The brown skinned man smirked.

Yabet was not quite as cruel as Master, preferring his fists to the whip thus making the beating less painful for the Saiya-Jins, but not that day. The beating began.

Bardock fell forward, shielding Kakarotto with his body. Turlis shrieked in pain as he was beaten. Kakarotto moaned from the impact of his father's body hitting the earth.

(A/N) Mwahahaha! Cliff hanger… sorta. If you want this continued, you gotta review! I really hope you liked this. We were reviewing the civil war in history, and, well, I wasn't paying much attention. But I had this idea before then. I just found time to write it down.

So, R&R, PLEASE!!!! I'll cry if you don't.

~*~ Lady Foeseeker ~*~