Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ New Dawn ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter 8

Kethry stared at the shifting face of the water while her thoughts raced. What should she do now? Leave or stay? The hard truth was she had nowhere to go. These last weeks she had felt calmer and more at ease than she could ever remember in her whole life. True, Vegeta was a pain-in-the-ass sometimes but he accepted her and didn't ask more from her than she could give. The whole thing came down to what she had to lose. Once she came to her decision, Kethry left feeling lighter.

As she neared the cabin, she heard sounds of fighting. Breaking into a short-lived run, she rounded the corner and slid to a halt. Her mouth hung open at the sight before her. Vegeta and Goku were hovering in mid-air, beating the crap out of each other! The thing that shocked her most was they seemed to be enjoying this to no end, taunting and calling insults to each other.

"Scared to let me hit you, Kakarott?"

"Naw, just don't want you to hurt yourself."

They continued to zoom back and forth over her head, fists and feet flying. Kethry just stood there, gaping like a fish out of water. She stood watching them for almost a half-hour before Goku noticed her and waved Vegeta to stop in mid-kick.

"It looks like we have an audience." Vegeta let his leg drop, his eyes locking down on Kethry with burning intensity.

"So I see."

They both floated to the ground, touching down lightly. Goku gave Kethry a questioning look and she managed to nod slightly. Vegeta's eyes bore into the side of her face, willing her to turn her eyes back to his. Goku frowned for a second but it was gone quickly. "Well, I guess I will be going," he said. "The boys are coming over for dinner." That silly grin spilt his face. "And, since I don't have to give anyone time to get ready for my arrival, I will take the quick way." He placed the first two fingers of his right hand, pressing them to his forehead. The air around him shimmered like a sudden heat wave, and then he was gone.

Kethry found herself just staring at empty space where the big man had been standing. Her attention was snapped away because Vegeta was closing the distance between them, gliding across the ground like a panther stalking his prey. She noticed a thin sheen of sweat on his mostly naked body but, despite all of the energy he'd spent fighting with Goku, he was far from out of breath. He circled her.

"So, have you given thought to my offer?" Feeling suddenly robbed of her power of speech she could only nod mutely. He trailed a finger across the back of her neck, making her shiver. It was like being cursed by a fire. The heat from his touch burned, leaving her skin cold when it was gone. She was trembling. "And you have not fled as Kakarott surely told you to do." As he spoke, his finger trailed over her collarbone and across the junction of her neck. She trembled and shook her head no. His eyes were alight with twin cold fires lurking in their piercing blue depths. "So, you will except my proposal?"

Kethry found her voice but it was small and weak. "Yes."

He cupped her chin and lifted her eyes to his. "What was that?"

Kethry gulped a little.

"Yes, I accept." A real grin spilt his face. He took her by the hand and propelled her towards the cabin. When they were inside, he released her.

"Sit."

She sank onto the small bed. On the table beside it were two of the strange devices she recognized from the bottom shelf. He must have taken them down when she was fixing lunch. One was a small plastic box with what looked to be a computer screen on one side. The green screen flashed the words "Serum ready". The other device resembled a kid's toy gun. Vegeta opened a panel on the box, then carefully removed a vial from inside and swiftly loaded it into the gun's chamber. Realization hit her; this was an injector gun. Once it was loaded, he took a few seconds to check the settings on the gun. Finally satisfied that all was to his liking, he drew a chair up beside the bad.

"Lay down," he commanded.

Kethry did as she was bidden, kicking her shoes off before lying back on top of the sheets. "I am ready."

Vegeta's eyes glowed in the dim light of the cabin as he leaned over her. "To rebirth." He pressed the gun into her neck and pulled the trigger. Kethry gasped as the needle plunged deeply into her jugular vein. When the vial was empty, Vegeta sat back, tossing the gun onto the table. "Now, you rest."

Kethry's body shivered slightly and she was suddenly very tired. Curling into a ball, she drifted off.

And she dreamed…

On a rocky plain, people bustled along on their daily duties. Small brick houses made up the village. Children raced by, all with bright blue eyes and dark hair. Every one of them had tails, which were not unlike monkeys' tails and were clearly prehensile in nature. Their voices were a muted mummer. Off in the distance could be seen the outline of a great city.

The scene shifted…

Several loud explosions suddenly filled the air. The air itself was now heavy with dust and smoke. Screams of pain and cries of triumph came from all around. The land had become a never-ending sea of destruction. Buildings crumbled and bodies lay all around. Indistinct shapes flitted in and out of the vision.

Once more the scene shifted…

From the black, vast void of space, a bright red planet floated directly ahead. Tothe right, most of the vision was taken up by a large space ship. Thousands of strange people floated just inside the atmosphere of the planet, many of them tussling with one of the tailed men. A small white craft rose out of an opening from the larger ship and positioned itself in front of the struggling knot of people. Suddenly, a bright red ball of light formed above the smaller craft. The fiery ball was hurled like a shot from a cannon. The people and the planet disappeared in a great flash of light. After a few seconds, there remained only the large ship, the small craft, and the sound of inhuman laughter ringing out into the emptiness of space.

Gasping in horror, Kethry jerked awake.