Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Ménage ❯ Uncharted Territory ( Chapter 6 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Warning: Graphic content/adult concepts

After a much-needed week away from the collective chaos that seemed to consume her life, Bulma packed up her capsule camper that Chi-Chi allowed her to situate on the lawns of Mt. Paozu, and readied her capsulated air-craft.

Chi-Chi walked outside to send Bulma off; Bulma turned to the black-haired woman and smiled, "Consider what we talked about, alright?" She said with a smile.

"Of course," Chi-Chi replied, smiling back, "And if you ever need anything, just let me know, alright?"

"Absolutely," The older woman embraced the younger; she entered the capsule plane, sat down, and fired the engine. Moments later, she was air-borne.

Chi-Chi watched the craft speed off toward the north-west, where the sky was looming with clouds. Lost in thought, she pondered over what all was discussed over the week that Bulma had stayed.

Bulma came to her angry over the immaturity of men in general. When given further questioning, she went into a full-on rant. Chi-Chi was quite familiar with stories of Vegeta's behavior toward Bulma, but she was genuinely shocked when she was told of the new housemates he was sleeping with.

What made it worse was this tale was followed by an, "And that's not all."

By the end of Bulma's tale of childish, partying, cheating men, the poor radish-farmer felt sick. Of course, she had her share of drama itself. She then went on a whirl about Goku's constant disappearances, and Goten's newfound devil-may-care attitude. She didn't all-out accuse Trunks, but she made clear that Goten and Trunks should be separate for the summer, at least, to keep from distracting each other from their studies. Also, she felt that both boys needed a serious reality-check.

During the women's verbal abuse concerning their less-than-satisfactory husbands (and boyfriends), Bulma brought up Yamcha's theory concerning Goku and Vegeta.

"I can't believe that Yamcha would have brought up something so ludicrous," Bulma laughed.

"I don't know..." Chi-Chi responded slowly, "Goku and Vegeta are around each an awful lot. They go out drinkin' as well, and Goku next to never drinks. I'm wonderin' if somethin' happened while they were drunk..."

Bulma shrugged, "Vegeta likes drinking casually, but I've never seen him belligerent, or have ever known him to get that bad. As for them hanging out, I mean, I guess its odd that they've decided to hang out as much as they do, but I seriously don't see Vegeta or Goku going after each other."

Chi-Chi, who had been listening intently for her husband, who was messing around outside, spotted Goku lurking around the window, pretending to dip down and investigate the garden below the window. She dropped her tone and leaned in closer to Bulma, "I'd say lets keep an eye on him. I'll bet you anythin' there's somethin' fishy going on, and I wanna get to the bottom of it. I am not going to lose my husband to Vegeta." She said the last part firmly, eyes full of determination.

Bulma's eyes widened slightly. Chi-Chi's fierce attitude was a bit intimidating, "W-well, have you considered family therapy for your problems?" She asked quietly.

Chi-Chi's expression softened, and she sat back, looking thoughtful, "Therapy? No, I haven't thought of that. D'you really think that a doctor can help?"

"Maybe," The older woman shrugged, "Didn't work for Vegeta and I, but we pretty much knew our marriage was a failure. You, however, seem like you really wanna work things out with Goku, so give it a shot."

And so Chi-Chi considered Bulma's offer, and also caught herself keeping a closer eye on her husband. She became aware of Goku's hastiness while doing chores. As soon as he deemed himself through, he would quickly try to fly off, but the aggravated woman stopped him and pushed so many chores on her husband, that he would lose the interest in leaving. To her shock, however, he did these chores just as quick, and just as half-assed, and still tried to leave.

When asked why he was leaving, Goku would merely blame it on boredom and follow it with his nervous chuckle. The sneaky saiyan would then distract his wife, and take off as soon as she was turned around.

A week past and neither women had solid evidence of Goku's adultery. Still, however, Chi-Chi wanted to start the therapy. She was well-aware her and Goku had issues, and wanted to resolve them. Then, hopefully, they would be a family again, and not a failure like Bulma and Vegeta.

Chi-Chi walked back across the lawns. Goten was in his bedroom studying, and Goku was, of course, at Vegeta's castle. She knew that Goku had taken to nosing around and listening to her and Bulma's conversations, but after that first day, she didn't care if he heard. He needed to know what everyone thought about him, after all.

Oh yes, he'll have fun for a little while longer; but she was determined to make sure he listened to her when she actually sat him down and talked face-to-face about the family therapy that they so desperately needed.

-0-

At the castle, the sky was depressingly over-cast. It was cool for a summer afternoon, and a strong breeze made the forest beyond sway darkly. The otherwise murky water over the man-made pond rippled, and reflected the steely sky above.

Regardless of the solemn surroundings, it was a good day to train. The weather was not to hot, and not too cold, and the sun was not in sight to serve as a distraction. Today, Goku was training Raditz on how to read ki, and hopefully help boost his extremely low power-level up some. The older Saiyan, however, was proving to be more of a challenge to train than the actual training regime itself.

"You just need to close your eyes," Goku said patiently to his older brother, "Its the easiest way to begin,"

Raditz huffed stubbornly. He didn't feel at all comfortable with closing his eyes, leaving himself completely vulnerable to his epically stronger younger brother. Still, he was getting a free lesson in reading ki, which was an ability that he shamefully did not possess. He was tired of being taunted (by Vegeta, especially) for not possessing an ability as basic as ki-sensing. He also hoped that learning this ability will aid him in becoming stronger, if not to conquer, then at least to be on the same level as his brother.

"You better not do something stupid, Kakarrot, or I'll find a way to fucking kill you," He growled, shutting his eyes.

"Try to relax," Goku insisted, "If you keep on tensing up, you won't be in-tune with your surroundings."

"This is so fucking dumb..." Raditz grumbled. From nearby, a stifled giggle could be heard. Raditz's temper flared and he opened his eyes to glare hatefully at the source of the noise, "Shut the fuck up, Melvin, or I'll bust you in your fucking mouth!" He spat.

Seventeen scoffed, "I'm just watching for entertainment, since I'm incapable of learning how to do this."

"Well, if you weren't doped up so damn much..." Raditz mumbled, then rolled his eyes and closed them once more. He exhaled slowly, ready to get this over with. "Now what?" He demanded.

"Now, without using your other senses, use your own energy to seek out other's energies. Remember to focus, it should just come to you."

A sensation, like being shocked by a spark, shot through his very mind, and Raditz's eyes shot open. Though Goku was at his base power-level, the energy positively radiated off of him. Raditz could not believe that someone could possess such awesome power.

To his surprise, he felt another presence. Sitting by the pond with spell-books strewn out before him was none other than Trunks. He seemed to more focused on his work, and the cell-phone he had held to his ear, than the other three also occupying the same section of the yard. He was particularly amazed that Trunks was as powerful as he was, though he was nowhere near Goku, despite the fact that, from what he had seen, he was a whiny, lazy, brat.

He also felt a powerful ki coming from the castle. This one had to be Vegeta's. This particularly power-level was nearly matched with Goku's.

"I can't feel yours," Raditz said to Seventeen, who merely shrugged as if to say, "I don't know what to tell you."

Goku looked simply delighted, "Now that you can sense ki, maybe we can spar!" He said excitedly, "And I'll fight close to your level, so that the fight is fair."

Raditz's face fell, "My le...? Now fucking see here! I don't need to be baby-sat by you, Kakarrot! I can something in the forest on my own!" It was embarrassing enough for him to realize that he was, indeed, the weakest person in the castle, he didn't need his little brother helping him.

Over by the pond, Trunks looked up from the book he was thumbing through. He had given up studying as a bad job and decided to watch Raditz's training. This also distracted him from his phone conversation with Goten. He wasn't much of a phone-talker, being that he preferred face-to-face conversation, so most of their talk consisted of Goten running his mouth non-stop and Trunks saying "yeah" here and there. He figured Goten was merely talking to hear himself talk, so he didn't feel bad about ignoring him.

"...And mom's trying to get me to do family therapy with her and dad," Goten rattled on, "That's some shit, ain't it?"

"Damn, dude, that's rough..." Trunks responded distractedly, eyes trained on Raditz fussing and Goku trying to calm him down. He was naturally curious about what was upsetting Raditz and wanted to know what was up. He then glanced toward Seventeen. He idly watched the small-framed man shift his weight from one leg to the other, and occasionally toss his hair back out of his face.

He was still a bit upset with Seventeen for sleeping with his father, and he hadn't spoken to the man since he found out. He was quite sure that Seventeen didn't care, being that the carefree man never said anything when he, Trunks, would quickly dart out of sight when they were within each other's line of sight.

Nonetheless, Trunks was quite ready for some sort of association with someone other than Goten. Though things didn't get quite as physical as he would have liked, he still enjoyed the few nights that Goten had snuck over, and didn't mind the phone conversations. However, the desire to talk with someone other than his boyfriend was becoming too hard to ignore. Perhaps he could start over with Seventeen and possibly even be friends with him.

"I gotta go," Trunks said quickly.

"Aw! I was gonna tell you a joke!" Goten whined.

"You can tell me later!" Trunks said hastily. Raditz was now stomping across the yard with Goku following speedily in his wake, imploring him to let him join. "Bye, Go-quit fussing at me! I'll see you later on, goodbye!" He then hung up and collected his books and papers in his arms.

"What's going on?" He asked Seventeen when he caught up with the others.

Seventeen seemed unfazed by Trunks' sudden appearance. "Talking to me now?" He asked blankly.

Trunks felt a small jab of guilt and his face reddened, "Sorry 'bout that," He muttered awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it," The older man responded with a faint smile, "Anyway, Raditz is upset over his feeble power-level and wants to go in the woods for a good cry."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Raditz demanded, quickening his pace around the pond and toward the tree-line.

"Sounds like fun," Trunks said sarcastically, holding the books a bit tighter, "I guess we'll all have to watch his back, won't we?" His arms weren't heavily-laden with books and parchment, but it was still quite a bit to carry, so he couldn't walk quite as fast.

Seventeen nodded silently, then glanced over at the objects in Trunks' arms. "I'm assuming that's your school work you constantly get bitched about?"

"Some of it is," Trunks answered, adjusting the position of a scroll, "But I was really trying to translate this book," He glanced down at the small, battered rune-written book that he found in the extra room, "It seems like someone's journal."

"Do you know what any of it reads?"

"I do not recognize any of these symbols. I cannot find a single one in this book that matches any in Spellman's Syllabary or in Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms. I might have to see if we have a book in the library that can translate it."

"Why not use the internet?"

The teen let out a condescending chuckle that was rather Vegeta-ish, "You Muggles and your dependence on electronics," He said haughtily, "Our society is private, so of course our information wouldn't be easy to access. And since most wizards use magic to get things done, we have no use for electronics."

"You sure do love that phone of yours," The older man teased, mocking Trunks' arrogant manner.

"My mom makes us use phones and computers, since she doesn't want us to rely on just magic. I think she's just offended by the fact that magic gets things done faster than electronics."

Trunks then became quiet at the thought of Bulmas. He had not seen his mother since that day on Mt. Paozu Chi-Chi had a fit, but he knew that she had been staying there. He was quite upset with her for not telling him; more importantly, he was upset with her for not making Chi-Chi take back what she said about him and Goten not being able to see each other.

-0-

Thunder rumbled overhead and the dreary clouds darkened to a more menacing shade of gray. Bulma made it inside the castle before the heavy rains began to fall. She hoped that she wasn't going to run into anyone as she made her way through the winding corridors that led to Vegeta's favored study, where she was somehow sure he was at. She's known him quite long enough to know his favorite haunts of the castle.

She didn't know why she was bothered so much by the fact that there could possibly be something between Goku and Vegeta. Her marriage was pretty much dead, wasn't it? But there was that moment in time when things were decent between the two of them.

Bulma was still working under her father, and Vegeta was nothing more than a quick-witted, smart-mouthed Board of Governors hopeful (its quite difficult to get elected when one is virtually unheard of). Trunks was merely a young boy back then, and was quite the model son as far as Vegeta's opinion of him went.

This particular moment in their married lives was when they were happiest. Vegeta's campaign to get on the Board was going in his favor. Thanks to Bulma's seemingly never-ending bank supply, he had many resources at his disposal. He was winning the approval of Hogwarts teachers and the student's parents, which was quite a shock to his and Bulma's circle of friends, because since when did Vegeta care so much about education in the first place?

Vegeta simply justified his actions by stating that since Trunks was going to that school, he wanted to make sure he was being taught correctly. His actual hunger for political power was masked perfectly by this facade.

Bulma couldn't be any more proud of her husband. He was becoming a model citizen and really adjusting to Earth life very well. They constantly went on vacations and kept a tightly-knit-family image for both of their careers. They did nearly everything together, even though sometimes Bulma had to bully Vegeta into spending time with her (he hadn't given up his training, though his time spent in the GR was whittled down quite a bit).

As she neared the study, she thought about all the times she'd seduce him away from work, and he'd take her right in that room. It didn't matter where they had sex, whether it be the floor, the desk, the wall, it was always full of passion.

Sometimes, she'd find herself longing for those days once more. Those days, all they had to do was give each other that look, and they were tangled together on the spot. Now, he doesn't even look at her.

She stood before the wooden door and exhaled. She heard voices in the room, and she wondered if he had one of his little buddies keeping him company. She felt a sense of unwelcome fall over her. She hell-hated feeling this way in the place she called a home, but Vegeta's blatant disregard for her made it hard not to feel such emotions.

"Enter," Came the business-like tone of Vegeta's voice, which stopped Bulma's retreating movements; He sensed me, She thought. She was taken off-guard; surely if he had company, he would not invite her in. Still, curiosity drove her to accept her husband's invitation.

She opened the door to find Vegeta sitting on the floor before the fireplace, which was alight with bright flames. Anyone who was not used to the magical environment would wonder why Vegeta had a fire going during the summer, and also why he was sitting dangerously close to it and talking to it.

Of course, Bulma was unfazed by this bizarre behavior. She knew that Vegeta was simply talking to a fellow wizard whose visible head was engulfed in flames inside of the fireplace. This, of course, was made possible by the Floo Network.

"I'm sorry," Bulma said sincerely, "I didn't know you were in the middle of something."

"No matter," Vegeta replied, "We were merely wrapping up." He gathered up the small stack of papers that sat to his side, "Mr. Alvarez," He addressed the head "You will be here the second of August for the next meeting?" .

"Of course," The head, Mr. Alvarez, replied smoothly, "Stay out of the rain; I hear its quite rough over there."

Vegeta nodded and handed the papers to the head in the flames, who took them into its mouth and then disappeared. The fire went back to its natural state and Vegeta's attention went to his wife.

"What was that all about?" She asked, "I didn't think you'd be getting called upon this late in the evening."

"He was merely collecting the plans I touched up on concerning the new school program we will put into action at the end of the summer," Vegeta replied coolly, straightening his clothes as he took a standing position, "Nothing of major importance."

"I certainly hope that everything going well for you, as far as your plans go."

"They aren't," The prince replied, gathering more documents from the desk nearby and straightening them into a more uniform position, "The Ministry is interfering, as usual, and they're making a mess of things for us."

Bulma simply nodded her response, then said, "You've all been able to straighten things out before, so I am sure that this time will be nothing..." Her voice then faltered upon realizing that this is the first conversation in a long time that the two of them had together that didn't result in a fight. She found it odd and awkward, but strangely nice. The niceness, however, wasn't going to last long, for she knew that Vegeta was going to inquire about the reason she sought him out.

"And why are you here?" He asked, taking advantage of the woman's silence, "I am quite sure its not to inquire about the affairs of wizards." He leaned on his palm, which was situated on the edge of the desk.

Bulma let out a small sigh. "Where's Goku at? I know he's here,"

"How the hell should I know?" Vegeta's stoic expression formed into a frown, "I am not his owner. Last time I've seen him, he was training his brother, but that was a few hours ago."

"He's been over here an awful lot, hasn't he? His wife and even Yamcha are starting to suspect something."

The prince's features did not falter, "What do I care if those idiots have nothing better to do than to gossip. If Kakarrot being over here is a problem, then his wife ought to confront him about it, rather than spread rumors that could possibly endanger either of us."

"The thing is," Bulma said slowly, trying to watch Vegeta's reactions, "She's already planning on fixing the matter. They're going to family therapy."

Vegeta laughed cruelly, "And does that foolish woman honestly think that Kakarrot will go for that? He'd end up making matters worse just with his inability to sit still."

"But what if it does work?"

"You've known Kakarrot long enough to know that this is all just wishful thinking."

"Well, it sounds to me as if you don't want it to work," Bulma said heatedly, getting annoyed at how the conversation was going just as she had thought.

"Why the fuck should I care whether their marriage is a failure or not?" Vegeta shrugged, pushing himself away from the desk, "That is Kakarrot's albatross to bear."

Bulma stopped, thought a moment, then continued, "And what about our marriage? Do you see it as a burden, as well?"

"I can ask you the same question, Bulma," The prince retorted. He extinguished the fire in the fireplace with a casual wave of his wand, which he had picked up from his desk, "What do you think?"

"Hell must have frozen over," The blue-haired woman laughed, "You never care about what I think." She then turned and left out of the room without looking back.

She should have know that Vegeta would be tough to crack, but she still found no solid evidence that something was happening with Goku and her husband. Still, she wasn't quite ready to give up, either. Vegeta might have deflected her attempts, but one thing she did notice: he didn't deny that something shady was happening.

-0-

Though it was merely late in the afternoon, the forest was nearly pitch-black thanks to the storm clouds and the tree canopy. The rain fell heavily, thunder crashed loudly overhead, and lightning split the sky in a diabolical fashion.

Soaked to the bone from the rain water, Raditz and Goku stopped by a dripping jack pine. Mere moments later the stragglers, Trunks and Seventeen, slumped up behind them on the other side of the tree to lean against it.

"Raditz?" Goku asked tentatively. His older brother had been particularly temperamental, and the rain was not helping at all. Still, Goku had no idea what was going on in the older man's head, and even found himself questioning his mental state.

"Don't you start with me..." Raditz threatened dangerously, "If you're going to complain, you should have just stayed at the castle."

"I just wanna know what you plan on doin'? We've been wanderin' around for what feels like hours, and you won't let me help you out."

"I can't pin-point anything without the ki signature disappearing!" Raditz complained angrily, "All this big-ass forest, and there ain't nothin' in here!"

"You gotta know what you're lookin' for," Goku said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Certain creatures lurk in specific environments, say if you're looking for a dinosaur, then you would look-"

The older saiyan's frown deepened, "Do I look like the kind of person that merrily skips around the forest on a daily basis playing with the cute little animals? NO!"

"I offered my help, won't you-?"

"NO!"

Behind the jack pine, Trunks sighed pathetically. The rain did not seem to be letting up at all, and his books were ruined, except for the journal. The journal seemed to have some sort of impervious charm on it, as if its author didn't want his or her message to be obliterated by things such as the elements, as well as other means of destruction.

"Its cold and wet and we're lost," He complained, mostly to himself, hugging his soggy books closer to him, "I don't know what I was thinking coming out here." The thoughts of being safe and dry inside of his bedroom filled his mind. Unfortunately, they were too far into the forest, and therefore broke through the protective charms placed on the castle.

The protective charms kept unwelcome people and vicious creatures from wandering (or Apparating) onto the castle's grounds. The charms also masked the castle's residents' ki signatures. And thanks to the area in which the castle was built, the castle and the forest was made Unplottable due to the vast amount of Magical creatures inhabiting the area.

Figuring that Raditz and Goku were too busy bickering to continue moving, Trunks laid his books down at his feet to give his arms a break. They were already wet and ruined, so it didn't matter. He didn't realize how sore and stiff his arms had become, and they ached from being relieved of their burdens.

"This is boring," Seventeen said suddenly. He had amused himself, when things got quiet, with looking around at his surroundings while it was still light out, but his interest quickly diminished about as fast as his visibility was once it started storming.

Trunks nodded his agreement, staring glumly at the forest floor. He moved his sopping-wet hair out of his eyes and turned his gaze to Seventeen. The thought never dawned on him until now that they were actually alone together, despite the rain. Goku and Raditz were too busy fussing with each other to notice...anything could happen.

Suddenly, empty pale blue eyes, half-hidden by curtains of black hair, met his own. Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the environment, and making Seventeen look ghastly. "Did you...?" He called over the roar of the rain.

"What?" Trunks asked as thunder cut off Seventeen's sentence. He moved closer, so as to hear better.

Seventeen hooked his fingers in Trunks' shirt collar and tugged him closer, so their faces were barely an inch from each other's, "Did you want something?" He repeated, "That's what I said."

The younger male felt his face warm up a bit. It was very, very clear that the man gripping his shirt had issues with personal space. "I was just thinking and spaced out." He lied, hoping that he sounded convincing.

After releasing his grip on the shirt collar, Seventeen's hand slid up Trunks' chilled, wet neck, "You're cold as a corpse," He said with a caress to his voice. His body pressed against the other's, and his hand other slid along the small of Trunks' back.

"And you might as well be one," Trunks replied, placing one of his hands on his aggressor's waist, "I can't feel any life energy from you at all."

All other thoughts were pushed from the teen's mind as wet lips pressed against his own. There was something about making out in the rain that was particularly pleasurable. The way their slick mouths moved fluidly as their tongues snaked around each other's felt amazing. Both cold, they clung to each other, as if desperate for one another's body heat.

They were unaware, however, that Raditz and Goku had already started moving forward.

"Bloody fucking hell," Raditz ground out as he and Goku trudged along the forest, "I think we lost 'em." He tossed his head to the side and turned his body awkwardly to verify his suspicion.

"Trunks is with Seventeen," Goku said encouragingly, "He's a good fighter."

Raditz huffed, as if Trunks being a great fighter wasn't much of a mind-easer.

"I have to admit something," He said, after a few moments of silent trekking through the forest.

Goku cringed slightly. He was not one for heart-to-hearts, as he found most emotions to be awkward. "What is it?" He asked, still, not wanting to be rude.

"I am actually having a hard time trying to pin-point on a singular ki. There's so many surrounding us, and its throwing me off."

The younger saiyan smiled, "you will get used to it," He said understandingly, "Soon it will be second-nature to target a specific ki."

Raditz snorted, "Yeah I'm quite su-HOLY SHI-" His sentence was quickly cut off as he some how triggered a trap mechanism and fell into an earth-covered manhole. Completely startled, Goku stumbled in after him.

Upon landing roughly on the muddy ground (Raditz landed on his face), their ears were met with the sound of hissing.

Goku powered up and attempted to fly, but he could not get feet off of the ground. "I can't fly!"

"Neither can I!" Raditz panicked, ; he was never one to deal with life-or-death situations well unless he had the upper hand. The hissing got louder as its source drew nearer. "Fuck!" He snapped, feeling something thin and slippery slither up his leg.

Thinking quickly, Goku flared his ki which cast light over their surroundings. Before he could get a good scope of the place, his eyes landed on the source of the hissing. He gave a small gasp upon realizing that the two of them had fallen into a snake pit. He didn't have to look hard to guess that the snakes were more than likely poisonous.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light illuminated the pit even more. It hit the ground, causing the snakes below to burn to nothing. "That should do it," Raditz said smugly.

"You didn't have to kill them!" Goku protested.

"Oh, I didn't mean to ruin you plans of getting eaten alive by poisonous snakes," Raditz said sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "Next time, just warn me so I can get the fuck out of the way." He ended his remark with a smarmy smile.

Goku ignored his brother's smart remark and proceeded to check out the room. The room was circular and seemed to have about a ten-foot diameter. Looking upward, he saw that he and Raditz must have fallen at least twenty feet.

"Hey, there's a door here," Raditz said, indicating a large metal door with cone-shaped spikes jutting out of it about ten inches. There was no doorknob, and the spikes were too smooth to get a grip on. "Damn, how are we going to get out of here? We can't fly, or open the door."

"Try blasting it," Goku suggested.

"You sure you don't want me to save it? Y'know just in case you get the sudden urge to impale yourself?" Raditz then laughed at his own wit.

"Fine, I'll do it," the younger Saiyan said. He was amazed at how boundless Raditz's sarcastic attitude seemed to be; he wondered how Seventeen put up with it. He held his hand out and sent a basic ki blast at the door, being that he could very easily destroy metal even at this base power-level.

His confident smirk quickly dissipated when he saw that the door was still intact.

"Looks like the great and powerful Kakarrot can't even bust down a door," The older saiyan teased.

"At least I'm not the one who fell flat on my face," Goku replied quickly, without even thinking. He studied the door, and found not even a scratch on its surface. He couldn't even feel another ki signature from behind the door.

"I think someone's got some spells cast around here." He said observantly, "We can't fly; the door doesn't even have a dent in it, when it shouldn't even be on its hinges; and I can't feel any other energies around here."

"Well, isn't that just perfect!" Raditz seethed, lashing his soggy tail out as violently as the weight would allow, "So what do we do now, genius, holler for help? Or what? Is there some fucking silencing spell around the place?"

"More than likely," Goku responded, kicking a bit of dead snake off of his shoe, "They probably set this place up so that no one can escape by any means." His years of fighting, and also being around the Magical world made him quite aware that just about anything was possible, so he was definitely not going to rule anything out.

"Hold up," The older Saiyan seemed to be listening carefully for something, "It sounds like there's a bunch of noisy dogs coming this way."

Goku became very still and listened intently, "I can hear it too."

Soon the yapping became more discernable. The sound was more high-pitched than a dog's, and didn't have the growling undertone. It seemed as if it were some sort of sophisticated form of speech, due to the fact that various tones and pauses were used; as if a group of these creatures were conversing with one another.

Goku and Raditz stood back and took on defensive stances, waiting with bated breath as the door easily swung open.

"What the...?" Was the only thing that came from a dumb-struck Raditz's mouth upon getting a good look at his and his brother's captors.

Half a dozen bipedal, lizard-like creatures stood in the doorway. Three held torches that illuminated the creature's odd features. The creatures ranged from about two-and-a-half to three-feet in height; they had brick-colored scaly hides, reptile heads and tails, and miniature ivory horns on the top of their head. Their smell was horrible, like wet dog; and on their tattered tunic-covered chests gleamed menacing-looking necklaces of sharp teeth.

The creatures seemed to be surprised that the snakes didn't kill their prisoners. They took in the two tall, muscular men, and then began speaking in their high-pitched yipping to each other once more. Two of the creatures that didn't hold torches ran off the opposite direction down an earthen tunnel.

"We get stuck in a hole by these things?" Raditz continued to bitch, observing the odd conversation, "I'll stomp the shit out of these little fuckers!"

"Wait, Raditz!" Goku said before his brother could ensue the pounding he was promising, "These creatures may be weak, but they can cast magical spells. There's no telling what they will do to us!"

Raditz groaned, "Well, we can't ruddy well talk to them! I don't speak yip-yak or whatever the shit language they're speaking, and I seriously doubt you do too!"

"Maybe we can offer them something?"

"A swift kick in the face sounds good..."

Goku ignored his brother and shoved his hand in his pocket in an attempt to present an offering to the reptilian creatures. The creatures, however, seemed to increase in numbers, but the generous Saiyan did not notice.

"Kakarrot," Raditz said, fear lacing his voice, "There's more of them...and they have weapons." His eyes lingered on the shiny, sharp double-bladed axe held in a particularly large creature's hands. Other warrior-like reptiles held their spears, knives, and short-swords out at the intruders and slowly started advancing on them.

"The only thing I have to give to them is my phone," The younger Saiyan nearly whined, backing up, along with his brother, toward the wall behind him. He looked at the small device he held in his hand, which surprisingly still worked, as if contemplating whether he should hand it over or not, but then a shriek from above caught his, and Raditz's, attention (the little monsters held their position and seemed to not be bothered by this sudden interruption).

Following the shriek, lightning streaked the sky, illuminating a silvery, wide-spread net, with metal spherical weights attached to the outer perimeter, that was dropped from the top of the man-hole. Before either Saiyan could fully grasp what was going on, as they had never seen a net that seemed to be spun from silver itself, the device draped over them and pinned them to the muddy ground.

Neither Saiyan could move an inch. If it weren't for the fact that the net was obviously cast with a sort of immobility spell, they could have easily just thrown it off of them.

Curious, the creatures swarmed the mud-covered and humiliated adventurers. They yipped and yapped in their strange language, while prodding the Saiyans with their weapons.

"Hey! That's not yours!" Raditz protested as a scaly, clawed hand reached into his jeans pocket and withdrew a knotted sandwich bag that held what looked like bunched-up oregano in its contents. He then made a noise of despair as the bag was torn open and the green substance was dumped onto the muddy ground.

"Uh-oh!" Goku said, unaware of his brother's loss, "Chi-Chi's calling! I just know it!" Sure enough, his phone was lighting up and vibrating in his pocket. He couldn't move to answer it, much less keep one of the creatures from taking it from him.

Somehow the snooping lizard had pressed just the right button, and managed to answer it.

"GOKU! WHERE ARE YOU?" Came the trademark shriek of none other than Chi-Chi, "ANSWER ME!"

The horrid tone of Chi-Chi's voice seemed to startle the reptile, and he tossed the cell phone to its comrade.

"WHY ARE YOU MAKING THAT NOISE, GOKU! ARE YOU DRINKING AGAIN? WHY WON'T YOU-" Her cries were silenced as the phone was thrown to the ground and stomped into the muck.

"She's gonna kill me..." Goku whimpered.

"We have worse things to worry about!" Raditz hissed, "They stole my fucking weed! Well its not mine, its Seventeen's, but still!"

"And what's worse," The younger Saiyan said, "I think they're tryina take us somewhere," .

And just as well, clawed hands worked deftly to tie the magical net together tighter. Moments later, after futile attempts at struggling, Raditz and Goku were being dragged by their feet by four torch-carrying lizards. Behind their heads, and along their sides, the rest of the creatures walked along; the ones carrying weapons kept them pointed at the prisoners.

-8-

"Quit sliding down," Seventeen muttered in Trunks' ear. He had one of his hands braced against the tree bark by Trunks' head. The other hand was shoved down the teen's unbuttoned and unzipped jeans.

"Ah-sorry," Trunks breathed, using his desperate hold around Seventeen's neck to pull himself straighter. He knew that Seventeen was just screwing around with him, because he got some sort of satisfaction from the reactions he was getting, but he could not help that his body was reacting the way it was. He was so sexually frustrated (thanks mostly to Goten's "needing to wait"), that just the simplest touches felt amazing.

He was quite sure that if he asked, he could very well get laid right there next to that tree in the middle of the storm. He, however, wasn't sure that he could ask. Did he really want to full-on cheat on Goten? It was bad enough that he had another guy's mouth on his neck and hand grabbing his length, would it be worth taking then chance and giving into his body's desires?

The answer would have probably come to him quicker if something didn't keep nagging at him in the back of his mind that something was amiss. This mental unease had nothing to do with the physical pleasures he was currently indulging in; he could no longer feel Raditz or Goku's ki.

"Hey," He whispered.

"Hm?"

"I can't-ah-sense Raditz or Goku anymore,"

"Oh, what are we going to do?" Seventeen said sarcastically. He removed his hand from where it was and stepped back to peer around the tree, "Holy shit, they really are gone."

A little disappointed, but still relieved that the two of them had stopped while they were ahead, Trunk adjusted his jeans, pushed himself off of the tree and collected his, until now, forgotten books. They squelched nastily as he hugged the soggy articles in his arms; he really should have left them behind.

"I wonder how we expect to find them without a ki signature," Seventeen said when Trunks stood beside him.

"I dunno," Trunks replied, looking around. The rain had lessened considerably, but the only available light there was, was the occasional lightning flash. He cursed inwardly at the fact that he was mere months from being able to legally cast a simple illumination spell, which was crucial in their escape from the forest.

"I can't feel them," He groaned after a few moments, "Even the faintest bit. Its almost like they were cloaked under some sort of Untraceable spell."

Seventeen reached into his pocket and withdrew a cell phone. "Perhaps if I call him..." He chose the number in his contacts list and held the phone to his ear. He was prepared to hear a low ringing tone, indicating that his call had gotten through, but instead all he got was an extremely loud static-y sound.

"I think the rain damaged it," He said, "But the light's still good." He held the screen out to shine it on Trunks' face.

"Or maybe there's a magical interference," Trunks observed, "Usually electrical devices fail under the presence of extremely powerful magic." He continued at the sight of Seventeen's puzzled look. "And powerful magic usually leaves traces," He bent down to inspect a set of large, squashy footprints he shined his own phone's light on and determined that straight ahead was the direction they needed to be traveling. He then straightened, shifted his books to one arm, and began to travel forward, using his phone's light to see.

"Is this trace physical, or...?" Seventeen asked after a few minutes of walking.

"Its normally like an ambient presence, like you just know," The younger male said distractedly, examining a long, wiry, strand of black hair that he had removed from a bush, "But sometimes physical traces are left like strange scorch marks, or whatever."

Seventeen stooped low beside what looked like a dull metal pressure switch, rusted in places due to element exposure. "This looks like it was already activated,"

"It might have triggered this manhole here," Trunks replied, peering down into the void-like pit that Raditz and Goku had fallen in. "Maybe this is where Raditz and Goku are; I can feel leftover magic here." He leaned over further and called out; no answer, "I don't think anyone's down there." He said, straightening back up, "And I'm not risking going down there, just in case, y'know?"

"Have you ever thought that maybe they were killed?"

Trunks scoffed, "Goku may not be very bright, and a complete social retard, but he's an expert when it comes to survival tactics. I highly doubt that they're dead. Goku wouldn't go down without an epic fight, so there'd definitely be a commotion if they were in any danger."

"So what do you suppose we do, nature boy?" Seventeen replied, standing straight and joining Trunks beside the manhole, "Their prints end here, and there's no telling what's down at the bottom of that hole there."

"Well..." The teen began slowly, ignoring the insult, "There seems to be traces of magic all over this area; I'm thinking there might be some sort of concentrated trail that we can follow."

"We better go quickly, then," Seventeen, who had stooped down upon spotting something shining in the phone light, said, "Whoever trapped them two might be the violent type," He held out a small, metal-pointed arrow that had a blood red feather attached to the end.

Trunks took the arrow and scrutinized the point. "This has the rune symbol for the number seven," He said observantly, looking at the jagged s chiseled into the tiny bit of metal. "Seven is the most magically powerful number, which also explains why there are seven Dragonballs. They probably jinxed this with something, and then they carved the rune symbol in it to enhance the power of the spell." He dropped the arrow, "We need to get the fuck going before whoever owns that arrow comes after us."

Seventeen followed after Trunks. He had no clue what made him think he could trust this boy to lead him through a vast forest, but he did anyway. He had no clue what Trunks was talking about with the whole rune symbol thing, and the sensing magic bullshit, but Trunks seemed to know what he was talking about. Also, he didn't want to risk just dipping out on the teen, who happens to be the only wizard in their group, and getting caught in whatever dangers Raditz and Goku were facing.

They squished and stumbled their way through the mud that covered their shoes with each step. Their clothes and hair snagged on brambles. The ground they walked on sloped upward, causing them to slip and sometimes fall into the muck, and Trunks seemed as if he had no intentions on stopping any time soon.

Soon, a pungent stench , like loads of rotted meat, hit both of their noses. They had finally trekked to the top of the hill, and had barely begun their descent when they were interrupted.

"Holy shit, what is that?" Seventeen choked, holding his soaked shirt over his nose in a vain attempt to shield himself from the horrid smell, "Watch out," He said as Trunks' backward retreating body ran into his.

The teen looked sick as he directed his beam of light and pointed at the source of his erratic behavior: visible from the light of his soon-to-die phone was the decomposing remains of a male centaur. Most of its horse-like half seemed to be desecrated; the rest of it was in an advanced decomposition state. Its innards bubbled and fizzed, emitting the horribly foul stench. Insects, especially maggots, writhed in and out of the centaur's orifices, and the holes they have eaten through the corpse. The insects caused the flesh to ripple slightly.

Because the blue-tinted face was still mostly intact, Trunks was able to observe that the centaur male had to be no older than he was. Lightning slashed the sky, illuminating the downhill slope. Dotted along the grass and trees were small mounds in the ground in the shape of mutilated corpses in various degrees of decomposition.

"I don't think the owner of that small arrow did this," He said once he was quite sure he had the urge to puke under control.

"No shit," Seventeen replied from behind his shirt, "Are we going to keep going forward?"

Another fork of lightning flashed, giving them a better view of what was going on down the hill. At the foot of the hill was an unblocked cave-like entrance. Coming out of it were torch-wielding reptilian creatures. Behind them they were dragging a large mass, but he couldn't tell what; all the ki signatures were masked.

"I think we ought to at least get closer," Trunks answered, watching the little dots of light from the "That way we can see what's going on, and if that's Raditz and Goku down there."

-8-

Neither Goku nor Raditz had ever been this miserable and genuinely pissed off. They were surrounded by creatures neither of them had the ability to conquer; they were miles and miles-deep in and uncharted forest; and they were covered head-to-foot in mud, bruises and cuts of various depths and lengths from being dragged through what seemed like miles of underground tunnels. Also, the evil little creatures cast a Silencing spell on the two of them, as they caused a particular bit of noise passing through what was the Nursery Chamber of the tunnel system.

The cool, wet, grassy ground was a form of relief for the two Saiyans as they were dragged towards a tree-enclosed hollow directly ahead of the cavern exit. The trees seemed to glow softly with orbs of light in many colors. As soon as they broke through the tree-line, the desolate rain stopped falling on them, as if they not only passed through a line of glowing trees, but through a protective barrier.

The, until now, quiet creatures began yipping again; talking to each other in that strange language. Soon, they stopped. To the Saiyan brother's relief, their bonds were removed, and both the Silencing spell and Immobility spell were lifted, but they still could not fly. Two of the creatures went forward toward a wide space in the trees at the distant end of the hollow.

Under the magical glow of the trees, Goku and Raditz stood and took in their surroundings. Careful not to anger their aggressors, they talked quietly to each other.

"What do you s'pose is going on now?" Raditz asked, staring around the enclosure. Oak and magnolia trees surrounded them; above, lightning continued to streak the sky, and the thunder rumbled threateningly, but the rain was never felt. "Maybe they're taking us to meet their potentate."

Goku snickered, "That's a funny word,"

"This ain't the time to be laughing!" The older Saiyan hissed, shutting his brother up, "We could be in even more danger."

As soon as Raditz said this, the two creatures that had dashed off minutes before came back, speaking loudly in their language. And then, after that, Goku and Raditz had to plug their ears from the chorus of screeching and raucous waving of weapons that ensued.

It was mere moments afterward that the Saiyans realized why there was so much commotion, and why the two torch-carriers left in the first place: they were indeed calling forth what seemed to be their leader.

Gargantuan in size with cobalt-blue scales that glimmered in the light, steely claws, and pearly white fangs that hung over its bottom jaw, a powerful dragon stepped proudly into the hollow.

Raditz inhaled sharply upon viewing the magnificent creature, nearly choking on the foul smell in the air, "Are you fucking kidding me?" He whispered excitedly, despite the smell, and nudging his brother sharply with his elbow, "Its a fucking dragon! I love dragons!"

"And maybe we can reason with it!" Goku whispered, the excitement in his own voice mirroring his older brother's. Despite all of the times that he has seen dinosaurs and the Eternal Dragon, it was still jaw-dropping to stand before such a powerful, brilliant beast.

"Dragons are incredibly smart;" Goku continued, "Most species can speak Common. If we can just try to convince it to let us go..."

"Convince?" Raditz lowered his voice, "Have you not noticed the dead bodies stinking up the place? And how much you wanna bet each and every one of them have tried to convince the dragon to let 'em go?"

"Well all of this wouldna happened if you woulda just let me fight you!"

"You shouldn't have followed me!"

A low rumble interrupted their spat. The dragon's jaw seemed to be forming words, but the only sounds coming out were guttural, gravelly, animalistic growls. The underlings, however, seemed to know exactly what the dragon was saying.

Raditz and Goku were forced forward by sharp spears jabbing into their mud-covered backs. The dragon's cat-like, molten gold-colored eyes met with Goku's. The Saiyan gave an involuntary shudder upon feeling the beast's icy contempt pierce right through him.

"I am Nidhogg Ormr," The dragon spoke in its growling voice that chilled the Saiyans to their very bones, "And I rule the North-Eastern quadrant in this forest. I know every single creature in this sector, where they live, where they hunt, everything. You two," The dragon inclined its great head at the Saiyans, "Are strangers to this place, and are therefore trespassers."

Goku seemed to snap back to his senses. "No disrespect, or nothin', but there's been a mistake," He said politely, "We accidentally came across these creatures' encampment 'cause we're lost. We didn't mean to trespass on purpose."

"My slaves, the Kobolds, bring any and all intruders that survive their complex traps to me," The dragon rumbled.

"However, I can sense magical qualities in you; you're both wizards, are you not?"

The younger Saiyan scratched the back of his head. "Vegeta reckons I am, I just ain't learned nothin' in magic."

A distasteful growl erupted from the dragon's great fanged mouth, "I should have known you lot were with Vegeta. I do not wish to waste magical blood, but in this case..."

"Oh, well that's good, then! If you know Vegeta, then you can show us how to get back to his-ow!"

Raditz jabbed Goku with his elbow, "Can it!" He hissed, "Did you not just hear what the fuck he said! Its obvious that dragon don't like Vegeta; you might upset it more if you talk about him!"

"I just don't see why; it's not like Vegeta's been litterin' or nothin'."

"ENOUGH!" The dragon roared mightily, sending out what happened to be an extremely powerful pulse wave strong enough to knock Raditz and Goku backward. The Saiyans were unscathed, though a bit shell-shocked, however, some of the draconic minions that stood in the line of fire were desecrated. Tiny limbs and bodies flew back against the others, who merely cheered and shrieked disturbingly.

"When that jumped-up so-called prince bought and restored that ancient castle," The dragon continued, watching the Saiyans pick themselves up off of the ground, "He ended up purchasing a large portion of my land. Of course, that wretched Ministry of Magic allowed this, since they believe that they have supreme control of all magical areas. Now, thanks to him, I have disgraced myself and my master in the Northern mountains."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Goku said sincerely (Raditz was still star-struck by how awesome the dragon's power was), "But I really don't see how we have somethin' to do with this."

Something that resembled a grin split the dragon's jaw, showing off brilliant white, needle-sharp teeth, "The fact that you are associated with that moron is enough to get you killed. But I have a better idea; I will take you to my master, the great Iron Dragon. I will surely redeem myself when I present him with two whole wizards for him to do as he pleases with."

Goku swallowed nervously; Raditz, however had lost his reasoning skills upon learning that they might go see another dragon.

"Now the question is," Nidhogg continued slowly, baring his teeth more, "Should I deliver you dead or alive?"

Standing nearby, hidden by a magnolia tree's branches and wide, waxy leaves, Trunks and Seventeen witnessed the scene.

"How the fuck are we supposed to save them from that?" Seventeen asked, glaring disbelievingly at the dragon. Ever since he began staying at the castle, he accepted the strangeness that became a part of his life, but seeing a creature he had only seen in movies and read about in fantasies in the flesh left him quite astounded.

"I wish Goten were here; he knows way more about dragons 'n shit than I do," Trunks said, watching Raditz and Goku pick themselves up once more. The dragon seemed so into berating the Saiyans, that it didn't notice neither him nor Seventeen. Instinctively he withdrew his wand, which he stole back from his father's office, from his jeans pocket.

"I hope that this can distract it," He said quietly, mostly to himself. The dragon drew itself up menacingly and reared back for another attack. This time Goku and Raditz braced themselves.

"Thought you couldn't do magic 'cause of your Trace," Seventeen replied, eyes still locked on the dragon, which sent out another attack wave.

"We're cloaked under some powerful enchantments, so I'm hoping that it'll cover-up my measly bit of magic I'm about to cast, and override the Trace placed upon me."

More questions formed in the older man's mind, but he decided its better to just watch than keep Trunks from doing what he had to do to save Raditz and Goku any longer. He had never watched any magic being performed, Vegeta was very careful to keep that to himself, so he was rather eager to see what kind of tricks Trunks had up his sleeve to distract the dragon.

"Expecto Patronum," The teen muttered, giving his wand a complicated sort-of wave; from the end, a silvery, ghost-like fox landed lightly on the patched grass beneath them. Perfect in every detail, the fox glowed brightly and gave its caster a politely puzzled look. "That way," He commanded, "Toward the dragon," He directed the fox toward the dragon, and the Patronus seemed to understand.

Quick like the lightning in the sky, it slunk off through the grass, looking like nothing more than a streak of light.

The both of them watched with bated breath as the fox, unnoticed by the dragon, Saiyans, and dragon-minions, slipped easily through the tall grass. And then, once near the center of the copse, it leapt right in front of the dragon's face.

The double-team fight between the dragon and the Saiyans immediately halted; The minions stopped their riotous chants and weapon-waving; countless pairs of eyes followed the glowing fox, their owners befuddled and speechless.

"Fuck," Trunks swore under his breath as the fox disappeared through the trees on the other side of the hollow. The only thing the patronus managed to achieve was delaying Raditz and Goku's death by a few seconds. Without a second thought, the dragon reared back to attack the Saiyans once more.

He turned from the resumed attacks to face Seventeen, "I don't know what to do," He said hopelessly, "I can't face a fucking dragon, and neither can you or them."

"What about those guys?" Seventeen asked, pointing through the leaves.

Trunks had to do a double-take in order to fully grasp what Seventeen was talking about. Invading the hollow from all sides; charging after the dragon and its minions, were about thirty-five Ministry officials. They swarmed the creatures, stunning them with a barrage of offensive, but not fatal, spells.

In the fray, Goku and Raditz seemed to be ignored. They dodged the multicolored sparks flying around them, and ducked out of the way just in time to keep from being trampled from the furious dragon.

The dragon roared and sent pulse waves in all directions. The specially-trained wizards, however, performed complicated spells that produced nets and rope to stabilize the raging beast.

"Fuck this!" Raditz hollered to his brother over the din of screeches, yells, explosions, and roars, "We needa get the fuck outta this place!" With all speed, he and Goku dipped and dodged the obstructions, and then a hand wrapped firmly around his wide wrist.

"We're this way!" Seventeen said, leading both of the surprised Saiyans toward the massive magnolia tree that he and Trunks were hiding within.

Trunks watched with bated breath, tapping his wand nervously in his palm, as he watched the trio struggle to get back to the hiding spot. Suddenly, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and wheeled his body around roughly. He jumped violently upon facing his father's severely livid expression.

"I hope," The prince growled menacingly. His hand tightened its hold on the teen's shoulder, making him wince in pain, "I hope you realize that you've just severely fucked up this time."

"M-me?" Trunks stammered, unable to shake his father's vice-like grip, "What did I do?"

Vegeta jerked Trunks closer, "You are goddamn lucky that the Ministry registered two magical being invading the dragon's inner territory, and not a Muggle. Do you have any idea what would have-" The prince paused his tirade as the three others ducked under the low-growing leaves.

"Vegeta!" Goku exclaimed in relief, "When did you get here?"

"When the Ministry came banging on my door!" Vegeta responded heatedly, "And you need to do something about your woman, because she's been blowing up my fucking phone for the past two hours!" With another furious scowl, he flared his ki and tore through the tree's limbs and into the darkness.

With a quick glance at one another, paired with a feeling of foreboding, the other four flew off after Vegeta.

-0-

After the severe grilling he received from his father, Trunks was lucky he got off with his just wand being taken from him once more, video games and computer taken, and a drastic allowance cut. Vegeta was pissed off beyond reason with just him, and not the idiot who started the whole thing: Raditz.

The injustice of it all boiled his blood as he entered his bedroom, fresh from his desperately-needed shower. He dropped the towel that was wrapped around his waist onto the floor and began to dress into loose, comfortable clothes.

His anger only intensified when he spotted his thoroughly-abused stack of books. In the middle of his and his father's argument, he forgot to ask him to restore them. He subconsciously grabbed the strange book from the stack, which was still unharmed, and sat on his bed with it.

His whole body ached from the trek, which happened to span across five or more hours. It was a miracle that they even made it out of the forest alive considering how deep within the dark depths they traveled.

Again, he wished he had never went. He thumbed through the tiny journal, mind still reeling from the argument that happened merely half an hour before.

"Why the hell should I be responsible for them?" Trunks complained, watching the last of the Ministry officials leave out of the castle, reassuring Vegeta that everything was alright, "They're grown, and they're your people." He gave a smirk worthy of a back-handed smack to the face.

Vegeta fought the urge to throttle his son to the ground, "Surely, common sense would tell you to merely warn them that this area is heavily-guarded, especially around specific dwellings. If someone, other than a witch or wizard, had entered that area with you or anyone associated with myself, and the Ministry found out about it, we all would have found ourselves in a severe amount of trouble."

"Well, no one found out about Seventeen, Dad, and no one is in trouble, so chill out."

The prince's expression soured, "I want to believe that this will never happen again," He said, still trying to remain calm, "But I have a hard time doing so, knowing just how careless you can be-"

"STOP BLAMING ME!" Trunks hollered, "I tried! I fucking tried to save them, okay! I did the Patronus and-"

"You performed underage magic?"

"Yeah, but it was a life or death situation-"

"That doesn't matter! You're damn sure lucky that you weren't caught!" A calloused finger was brandished, and the prince's eyes narrowed, "You're treading on very thin ice, boy-"

"Well, I don't give a flying fuck! What the hell are you going to do, anyway?"

Trunks let out a low groan. Why does shit always have to happen to him? He had been through hell and back; he was tired, but not sleepy; and he really wanted to jump back on his studies of the journal, since he didn't have electronics to occupy his time.

Still, other distractions plagued his mind. Seventeen, mostly. Despite everything his mind screamed at him, he still gave into the saucy stripper. He had no idea what it was about him, other than his looks, that he found so compelling. The guy certainly was fiery, bold, fun and perhaps a bit enigmatic.

He tried to deny Seventeen. After all, he fucked his father, Vegeta; also, he had Goten to think about. However, he and Goten hadn't gone further than oral, and an embarrassing attempt at phone sex. He was quite certain that he could get laid at that very moment, if he asked. And oh, was he tempted!

Before he made any decision at all, a sharp tap on his window broke him from his reverie. "Holy fuck!" Trunks said, quickly sliding off of the bed to open the window. Soon, Goten, whom Trunks had forgotten he had made plans to hang out with, clambered inside the wildly-decorated bedroom.

"It ain't rainin' no more, but it sure as hell is cold up here!" He said, quickly shutting the window behind him to keep the heat from escaping any further.

"Tell me about it," Trunks agreed whole-heartedly, being that he had had quite enough of being drenched in ice-cold water and mud. He took his place back on the bed, not wanting to do much moving around at all.

"Damn, you're not looking too sharp," Goten observed, sitting on the side of the bed with his feet dangling off of the edge. His eyes roved over Trunks' gray-tinged pale face and darkly-shadowed eyes, "You should have dried your hair completely."

Disbelieving laughter escaped the older half-Saiyan's lips, "What the fuck?" He asked, completely confused.

"Mom said that you get sick when you leave your hair wet."

"You get sick from bacteria, dumb-ass, not wet hair."

Goten shrugged, then let his eyes wander over to the book at Trunks' side, "Still ain't figured that thing out yet?"

"I haven't," Trunks sighed, "There aren't any books 'round here that can translate this writing."

"Have you tried asking your dad?" The younger half-Saiyan grabbed the book and turned it over in his hand, "I'm pretty sure he might know something or whatever about this book."

"Fuck that, and fuck him," Trunks growled.

"Uh-oh, what happened this time?"

And Trunks gave an account of most of what happened in the woods, being careful to leave out the portions where he had gotten lost with Seventeen, and the things that happened therein. He was a little impressed with his ability to amend his story without flinching or wavering; he was confident that Goten wouldn't find out.

Goten could tell, when Trunks was through with his story, that the older teen was pretty shaken up, and quite upset. He wanted to do something to make him feel better, but he had no idea what.

"Is there anything that I can do to help you?" He asked.

"It would be great if you could go and ask Dad about this stupid book for me."

The younger half-Saiyan blinked, "Me?" He asked, placing a broad-palmed hand upon his chest, "I-is he even awake this late? I mean, it's after midnight..."

"Dad normally stays up late doing whatever; but if you don't wanna do it, you don't have to," Trunks gave a tired sigh, "I don't know why I wanna figure this thing out, but I do. I feel like this book's hiding something important."

Goten was silent for a moment, as if contemplating a life or death decision. He honestly did not want to go on an adventure through the castle in search of the ill-tempered prince, but, again, he wanted to do something to make Trunks' night better.

-8-

Goten's eyes locked on his prey walking up the staircase that led to the second floor, which was where he was standing. It was nearly impossible to tell what was going on in the prince's head, as he wore his trademark poker face, but the slight slump to his posture was a tell-tale sign that he had a long, stressful day.

Cold, black eyes met with his; Goten had to say something to break the silence. "I was just lookin' for you, Vegeta." He said, trying to sound polite. Still, this was the first thing he had said to the prince since the day on Mt. Paozu, and frankly, he wasn't sure if he was quite over all the drama that ensued weeks ago. However, he promised Trunks results.

Vegeta's face expressed mild intrigue. "And what could you possibly want with me at this late hour?" He responded, eyes never leaving the younger male's as he continued his ascent.

Goten's face burned under the almost challenging stare he was being given, but his composure never wavered. "Uh, yeah," He started, scratching the back of his head in a very Goku-like manner. He stepped forward automatically, meeting Vegeta at the top stair, "Trunks wanted me to ask you about this," He held the journal out and Vegeta took it into his hands, "He's been trying to figure out how to translate that book for about a week now, and none of the symbols match any in the rune translation books here."

"That's because these aren't ancient runes," Vegeta responded, handing the book back, "This is Saiyan language."

Goten looked as if all of his fan-boy fantasies had come true. He looked down at the strange symbols as if they were written in pure gold, amazed what he had just learned. He looked back up at Vegeta as if he were hit with the purest light. "That's so cool!" He said, voice quivering with excitement.

Vegeta couldn't help but feel a little amusement at the youngest Son. It was insane how much like Goku he could be. "So," He said, smirking, "I suppose I should take you to the library?" His tone was mocking, and his smile broadened at the slightly lost look on Goten's face, "That is, if your comfortable with that."

The tone of Vegeta's voice caused a light blush to form across Goten's nose. He didn't know why he was feeling so shy, but Vegeta was acting strange. "Its all good..." He said quietly, not altogether sure if going into the depths of the castle alone with the prince was such a good idea.

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