Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lost in the Darkness ❯ Hope's Fire ( Chapter 5 )

Lost in the Darkness

Part 5

Hope's Fire

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. Akira Toriyama does.

It had been three years since Kakarotto had seen Riul-papa. It seemed like an eternity. Zarbon was growing quickly. He was now four. Kakarotto and Turlis were now Thirteen. The two boys and Bardock took care of little Zarbon and Alanya.

It was like any other day, Monday on this planet, the fifth day of the Saya-Jin's eight day week called Juanir on Vegita-Sei. It wasn't yet dawn and Kakarotto was currently trying to get a little more sleep before the morning gong roused the slaves. Turlis was snoring slightly on his left, while Zarbon sucked noisily on his thumb on his opposite side. ~Kyria, I just HAD to be nice. Didn't I.~ Kakarotto thought angrily to himself. ~I just had to be like, oh, I don't mind! Grrr…~

It was not going to be a good day. Twenty minuets later when he realized there was no way he was going to get more sleep, he gave up and crawled careful out of the bed. The gong sounded. Kakarotto groaned. ~Just when I think it can't get worse…~

"Mama?" Zarbon asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"She's up at the house this week, remember?" Kakarotto replied with a yawn.

"Wha?" Turlis grumbled getting up. Bardock stumbled to his feet moments later rubbing his aching back. He'd been whipped a few days before and he was definitely feeling it.

"I got run over by a Mizutu. Did ya see who was driving the damn thing? I'm gonna report them to the king." He muttered.

"Tousan, that wasn't a Mizutu." Turlis sighed. "Mizutu's don't cut. Stupid animals, they are."

"Wha? Ah. Damn whip." He grumbled. "How are YOU so cheery in the morning boy?" He inquired, meaning Kakarotto.

"Don't even ask."

"Badoc-papa?" Zarbon crawled into his lap, "What a we doin' today?"

"I don't know, ask my son. He seems to have an idea of what's happening around here." Bardock sighed, thumping his head down on the table. "I only live here."

"Whatever." Turlis mumbled, joining his father.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Well, house beats fields, I suppose." Bardock told his son's some time later. "At least nothing's trying to rip open my back. Again."

He was referring to an incident that occurred some time back. The master had whipped him, them told him to work in the fields. Some moronic bird had tried to eat him, ripping his back open even more. Kakarotto had killed the bird, but Bardock had nearly died.

::It was a stupid move by the bird, though.:: Kakarotto thought with a silent laugh. The Master didn't even want them smiling in the house.

::I curse this man and his family. May either my ancestors or me kill this damn bastard.:: Turlis snarled to Kakarotto.

::No, no, I called it first!:: Kakarotto replied. ::But you could kill off the rest of these assholes.::

::I will! And I'll annihilate whoever designed these damn ki collars to.:: Turlis agreed. ::You've got a deal, brother.::

::What, no Izoko-chan? Turlis, Itoko-chan, I thought that anything that annoyed me was always fair game.:: Kakarotto chided.

::Shut up, Goku.:: Turlis snapped. Goku was the Saiya-Jin word for purity and Kakarotto was often called it because he was far to nice.

::Is that the best you can do today, Imoto?:: Kakarotto howled in his mind, using the Saiya-Jin term for little girl. Turlis glared at his brother and Kakarotto smiled. ::I didn't mean it Yanin.:: He grinned. A yanin is a yin-yang in earth terms. The two Saiya-Jins were often called this because Kakarotto was the good and Turlis was the bad. It was mostly a silly little nick name the two often used because it was twin speak.

"GET IN HERE YOU SNOT NOSED BRATS!!!" Master Sharpener yelled. "AND THE LOOK ALIKE ADULT TOO!" Kakarotto, Turlis, and Bardock looked nervously at each other, Kakarotto picked up Zarbon, and the four walked slowly into the drawing room.

"I have taken the liberty to sell you four." The man snarled. "You are sold to Mistress Williams, the snotty old woman who lives about five miles down the road. She will pick you up in one hour. Now, get out of my sight." The three old enough to understand what had just happened exchanged looks and ran from the room.

"Wait. He said FOUR, right? He didn't sell ZARBON did he?" Turlis asked, wide eyed.

"He certainly did." A female voice replied.

"Alanya!" Bardock cried. "You're kidding!"

"No. I was informed of it today. Well, he'll be much better off away from THIS hell hole, but I was rather hoping I'd be sold with him when the time came. Take care of my baby, please." Alanya asked Bardock softly. "Please. And, when he's a little older, tell him how much I loved him and that I still love him with all my heart."

"I will do so." Bardock replied, touching his middle two fingers and his thumb to his chest. It was an extremely strong oath that translated in something like, `if I fail, you may rip out my beating heart.'

One hour later, Zarbon saw his mother for the final time. Kakarotto, Turlis and Bardock comforted him as he cried.

~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~

"Gah! Die you evil…um…Thing! Die! Gods, I think it moved! Kill it!" Terra yelped, prodding the moving Jell-O like substance on her plate.

"O for the love of Kami-sama!" Radditz cried. "Eat it if it doesn't eat you first! I TOLD you not to let Veggie cook, but no one EVER listens to me!"

"It's not THAT bad!" Vegita protested.

Sira raised an eyebrow. "Compared to WHAT exactly?"

"Um, some of the other things I've cooked, actually." Vegita admitted.

"I'm not even gonna asked what THOSE things looked like!" Jepen exclaimed, trying desperately not to look at the food he was eating.

"Um, I doubt you wanna know."

"Vegita, can you never, ever, EVER cook again, please?" Baata, who was now seven, begged.

"Um, I suppose. I didn't wanna cook in the first place, but Terra wanted to taste my cooking." He admitted.

"How was I supposed to know anything you cook comes back to life?" She snapped in reply.

"I told you that the first time you asked him to cook." Radditz suggested.

"Shut up, Ditz." She growled.

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me." She shot back, then turned bright red. "I can't believe I fell for that."

"I can. You're stupid enough to fall for almost anything." Vegita laughed. Terra stuck out her tongue as the adults and Radditz sighed. Baata found all this rather amusing, and was currently rolling on the floor laughing.

"Ah, time to work! Hope today is better than tomorrow!" Jepen cried, stretching.

"Now THAT'S an interesting motto." Vegita raised an eye brow.

"What else do you expect from my father?" Baata asked. "He hasn't a serious bone in his body."

"He hasn't a sane one either." Sira added in a stage whisper. Jepen made a face and kissed her.

"That's why you love me!" He exclaimed, giving her a huge hug.

"No it's not. That's why I can stand you." She replied, laughing.

"Oh. And here was me thinking it was love at first sight."

"Nah, only laughter. The first time I saw you, someone had thrown you headfirst into a trash bin. Somehow you just seemed to…um, BELONG there." The four children snickered at Sira's remark while Jepen pretended to be hurt. The morning bell sounded through the laughter, and the four slowly left the hut.

~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~ ~~*~~

"Ah! So you're the new slaves!" An old woman cried in delight. "Such strong young men too!" She was sitting in a wheelchair, and smiling brilliantly. "I'm your mistress, Mrs. Williams. I'm glad that nasty old bastard sold you to me. I was scared he'd beat you to death before he sold you." She gestured to the room on her right. "Now, I want you four to get cleaned up. There are four baths in there and some cloths. I'll come get you in about an hour."

"Thank you Mistress." Turlis replied with a cordial bow. The woman laughed and dismissed them with a wave of her hand. The four went and began to wash up. The bath felt very nice and they hadn't been properly clean since they had first been captured.

"I think she's nice, right now. Maybe she won't be nearly as bad." Kakarotto told his brother and father with a sigh. "It's not wrong to hope, right?"

"No, not at all. I hope she is nicer. It can't get much worse, right?" Bardock smiled at his youngest son.

::And she doesn't sound like an egotistical bitch, does she?:: Turlis grinned.

::Not yet.:: Kakarotto smiled. ::Though she might in a few days.::

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"You look -and smell- so much better clean." The lady told them when she met them out side the bathroom. "Now follow me. You two boys are like, um, footmen. What are your names anyway? I can't just call you `boys' till I die now can I?"

"It didn't stop Sharpener." Turlis muttered. Kakarotto elbowed him in the ribs as the lady "coughed" into her handkerchief.

"I'm Kakarotto, mistress." Kakarotto told her with a bow.

"I'm Turlis, milady." His brother added, also bowing.

"All right then. You two will just do errands and things like that. Now, you, I'm guessing you're their father since there's NO family resemblance whatsoever, what am I to call you?"

"I'm Bardock, milady."

"Yes, that's good. You serve me, like help me up stairs and stupid things I can't do because I told my cousin I could ride the damn horse bareback." She muttered to herself for a moment, then laughed. "Don't mind my ramblings. And the last. What's your name, little one?"

"Zarbon, Lady." He whispered shyly.

"You can help those two." She began to talk to the group again. "I suppose I bought you for company. Tried to buy his mama, but the bastard wouldn't sell her. Woulda beat his head in if I could. But I figured I ought to buy the little one. I don't want that thing to brake the little mite." She rambled on.

"Can any of you cook, by chance? I would do it, but I can burn something I'm not even cooking, like salad for instance."

"I can cook, yes." Bardock admitted.

"Oh that's grand! I might make Sharpener eat my cooking, but certainly not you four." The three Saiya-Jins exchanged looks. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

(A/N) Thanks to my lovely reviewers. I love y'all. It's nice to know people like my stories. Please remember that flames are welcome and people that have already reviewed are to.

Special thanks to:

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