Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Pleading Truths ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

Bulma nervously watched the words flow by on the screen in front of her. So far all she had gotten were tales of aliens and out-of-body experiences. Well, Vegeta was an alien, so that was laughable, and he hadn't said anything about viewing himself as being out of his body; like a ghost drifting around and following his empty shell of self.

Bulma shuddered and chastised herself for all those late-night thriller movies. Really, with all the monsters and threats already in her life, she didn't need to watch them on TV.

Bleary eyes glanced up at the clock and away, latching back onto the clock with surprised wideness. It was one in the morning? And she'd still found nothing....

She sighed heavily and continued to search, typing in the weirdest things she could think of: vampires, werewolves, fairies...anything that could cause a man to forget whole nights for almost a week. Her eyes flicked on link after link after with seemingly no change in content. Most were so far-fetched that she had to laugh.

'My Life As A Vampire: How one kid survived grade school', 'Werewolves: Demons among us', and 'How the Fairies Charmed Me' were among the titles. She had a feeling that last one had a double connotation and winced when she saw the author's name. Master Roshi. She shrugged. Who would've guessed?

She quickly scanned the rest of the articles and leaned back with a weary sigh. Why couldn't she find anything? Maybe it was something limited to Saiyans or aliens. Seriously though, she doubted that, or Vegeta would've had some hint of what was going on.

She sighed again, took a sip of her coffee, and grimaced at the icy coldness of the liquid. She shrugged again and drained the rest of it, more concerned about the caffeine than the taste. She leaned in toward the computer and typed 'transformation'. Instantly several results came up, all main categories. There were werewolves and vampires again. Let's see; gargoyles, dragons, unicorns, dryads, sorcerers, magic.... She stopped suddenly as her eyes hit the next result and she recalled Vegeta's words.

'I've wakened up at dawn sometimes and-disgorged…fresh meat.'

She grunted and put her mouse pointer on 'shapeshifters', clicking on the link and coming to a page full of other links. There was werewolves again, animals, sorcerers.... She sighed. There was a lot. Well, since it was fresh meat, that meant that it might be animal, although Bulma's eyebrows rose at the very thought of Vegeta turning into an animal every night. She clicked on it and gave a frustrated screech as yet another page of choices came up.

Wolf, cat, bear, dragon, dog, cow, meditation to accomplish, journals.... She glanced at each and decided her safest bet was the journals. At least she might get a myriad of examples there. Perhaps there was some truth to them....

Another page came up listing the various journals of people who all claimed to have shapeshifted into an animal. She chose the first journal, and, as the page loaded, got a fresh cup of coffee. She would need it. She sat back down and started into it.

'…shapeshifting can be divided into three levels…. First is the cellular shapeshift, which is when a shaman actually shapes into a jaguar, or a warrior hunter shapeshifts into a tree or animal of any kind.'

'…taking on the shape of the animal is not particularly dangerous. I had only one glitch, and that was in the form of a panther, where I had to learn to control the beast and not let it run away with my (or its) strength.'

It was things like this that Bulma found, the second one being the only one in which someone said they had physically changed…. She shook her head and looked back up at the clock, gasping as the hands indicated it was nearing dawn. She darted out of her chair and practically ran upstairs.

She paused outside his door. She'd never been in his room; never wanted to be in his room. The way he looked after himself at mealtime, not at all, and demanded immediate service, told her the man would have a pigsty for a room. So it was, when she opened the door, that she was pleasantly surprised.

The room was meticulously neat. Everything seemed to have a place that was just for that item. The armor was lined up in two neat rows two deep along the wall underneath the window, the bodysuits hung in the open closet on hangers, not a wrinkle in sight. There was nothing but a lamp on the nightstand and nothing on the dresser at all. A pair of extra boots was to the side of the dresser, near the door of the closet. Even the bed was tidy, covers tucked in as correctly as she'd ever seen them done by her mother. She herself certainly wasn't this tidy.

She sighed and moved to the closet, pulling out a black bodysuit. Sure he didn't wear that color, even though she had made it for him. He preferred the blue, but she thought he looked better in the black.

She rolled her eyes as she picked up the boots. Here he was, somewhere in the woods, with Kami knew what wrong with him, and she was worried about how good he looked.

She paused before his dresser, blushing as she realized she had to get his underwear. She steadied herself, cursing her timidity, and slid open the drawer, secretly relieved when only gloves greeted her. She picked a pair and closed the drawer, opening the one below it without thinking about it and pulling out what was needed, quickly closing the thing back and stuffing the underwear between the gloves and bodysuit, stifling the need to groan at her own inability to touch a man's underwear. It wasn't like she hadn't touched them before…just, not Vegeta's.

She glanced around, wondering if the man used the drawer in his nightstand or not. She didn't have time to check though, he would be-well, whatever he did, right now.

She hurried out the door, closing it behind her, and flew down the stairs, concentrating on keeping what was in her hands in her hands while not falling at the same time. She rushed through the house, to the kitchen, and ran out the back door, pausing to snatch up the burgundy blanket that was quickly becoming a sign of Vegeta's ailment.

She threw down a capsule, revealing a motorbike once the dust cleared, and putting the items she had collected in its satchel, hopping onto it and revving the thing up to rush off into the mist-filled woods as the early birds chirped their morning song.

~<*>~

A groan issued through the woods, one that was deep and pain-laced. The mist curled around the tree trunks for a moment before the rising sun's rays struck it, causing it to shrink back as if stricken by a dreaded disease. The mist uncovered a form, naked in the merging sun, which twitched on the forest floor in obvious distress.

Vegeta's eyes opened as he gasped in air he hadn't remembered holding. He glanced wildly around, senses not accepting his surroundings with any amount of clarity. He remembered the woman trying to corner him, crashing through the trees, and now he was back in the woods behind Capsule, disoriented and wondering why in world he couldn't seem to catch his breath.

He spent a few more futile moments trying to pull breath into his lungs until he stopped completely, working on easing his panic and racing heart at the same time. He tried to think of something, anything, which would return him to a state of normalcy, and immediately latched onto the image of Bulma as she had been yesterday; sunning on the burgundy blanket, tanned and toned leg kicking up as the red panty-like part of her bikini rode up just a little further.

He grunted as things came into focus and his heart slowed, his anxiety eased, and he finally took a deep, true breath of air, blessing whatever gods there were for the ability. He grunted again from his position on his stomach as he felt a certain body part trying to push its way into the ground underneath him. Oh yes, he was definitely normal.

Slowly, he moved his head, wondering at his immobility. His own body prevented him from seeing much though, so he moved it.

Shooting pain sparked through his leg all the way up his spine and reached his head so fast he gasped aloud, breaking the dawn stillness with the stark sound. He had managed to throw himself to the side a little though, despite the fact that he had bitten his lower lip.

He raised his head, feeling the beginnings of the weariness that always struck him creeping in. As he viewed the source of the pain, he let out a soft yet severe curse.

The steel teeth of a trap were set firmly and deeply into his ankle. The ankle itself looked to have been half severed, probably from the trap springing. The area around the wound was an angry red set off by streaks of blue and purple that were surely bruises. What disturbed him most about the wound as his head lowered and he drifted off to an unsound sleep was the fact that right above the ankle, it looked as if the leg had been gnawed. As if he, or something else, had been trying to free him by taking the whole foot off.

Imagining himself without a foot was, in and of itself, enough to make the blackness consume his entire vision as he relinquished himself to sleep.

~<*>~

Bulma revved up her motorbike, worriedly peering around the forest for even a glimpse or sound of the proud Prince. She had been searching for two hours straight and she had yet to find anything.

"For Kami's sake! By the time I find him, he'll be heading for Capsule already! I should've put some kind of tracking device on him or something!"

She slowed down the motorbike and then stopped completely. She stared down in frustration at the path she was taking. Wait a minute…. If Vegeta were transforming into some kind of animal, would an animal stay on the trails? That one journal had said she'd had to 'control' the animal. So basically, Vegeta was all animal when he was animal. There was no Vegeta unless he could control it. Since he knew nothing of what happened, she doubted he could.

So, he was either prey or predator. Both prey and predator tended to stick to the trails at night, for hunting and to keep everyone in their 'family' in sight. However, daytime would mean people out on the trails. So they would go off of them, taking to the densely wooded areas that closed her in on both sides.

She bit her lip as she looked at the shadowed trees. They created a zigzagging path that was broken by vines holding thorns that promised to scratch skin and catch on clothes. Heaving a ragged sigh, she threw her leg over the bike and climbed down, encapsulating the thing and stuffing it in her belt.

Well, might as well start. With the motorbike not being able to transverse the twisted path the woods weaved, it would take a little longer to find him, but find him she would. After all, she might get to see something that would give her a hint as to what was happening, what he was turning into.

Hours later, she was cursing, swatting bugs, and wincing as thorns and the occasional rebellious branch tore her skin or snagged on her clothes, pulling her back and causing her to maddeningly slow down to a pace that was torturous on her nerves. She stopped and took a deep breath to calm down, wiping off the sweat on her forehead with one grimy and scraped-up arm and grimacing as she imagined the streak she had probably left in its wake.

Her head snapped around as she heard a very faint sound not ten paces to her right. Her blue eyes narrowed as she tried to see past shadows created by a sun and wind that made the branches sway and warped everything around playfully.

Again she heard the sound, soft, almost questioning. Without considering, she moved towards it, and stilled suddenly. What was she thinking? She was in the woods, there were all types of creatures back here! But what if it was Vegeta; too injured or tired to make his way back to Capsule?

Gritting her teeth, Bulma gripped her items and plunged toward the sound, driving through the thick brush that kept her from its source. She plowed out the other side, stumbling as she came upon a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was not at all what she expected or wanted to see. And it saw her too.

The black bear had been scratching its back on the huge pine, and that is what had made the noise, which now sounded more like the creaking it had been. The bear paused upon seeing the flurry of movement that was Bulma push out of the brush and landed with a solid thump onto his four huge paws.

Bulma and the bear shared a look of equal wonder before Bulma's and the bear's attitudes took a turn. The bear thrust out its neck, opened its mouth, head cocked to the side, and roared at the intruder with lips pulled back from white serrated teeth and pink gums. Bulma gave a shriek of terror and bolted back the way she had come, hearing a snort and a galloping that indicated the bear had full intentions on following her and ripping her to shreds. Giving another 'eep' at the mental image, she quickened her pace.

~<*>~

Vegeta groaned, coming awake for no reason that he could fathom. Sleep hung on the fringes of his consciousness like a warm blanket, trying to pull him back into comfortable oblivion, away from the pain that had become his life; not the mention the bile that tickled the back of his throat. Something tugged on his senses though, and he strained to pick it up, warrior instincts whisperings alarm bells in his head.

He stiffened and suddenly jerked, pulling back with a grimace as he yanked the tied-down foot. Somehow, he knew something was wrong; namely with the woman. He could sense her ki in the woods, off to his left somewhere. It looked to be colored with scarlet, bright and distracting, that he identified as fear. She was running from something? Yes, that was it. Something big was chasing her.

He grimaced again as he instinctively tried to move. That's right. As of this moment, he was immobilized by a piece of metal. With a grunt of effort he tried to bend at his waist, or at least twist around so he was on his back. Neither motion worked, leaving him gasping for air, as he had been when he awakened that morning. He pounded a fist into the ground in pure exasperation.

Taking a deep breath to clear his pain and sleep-cluttered mind, he raised the hand he had just hit the earth with and filled it to the brim with ki, his last reserves if he was correct. He carefully directed the hand to his backside, aiming for what he hoped was the chain. If he could get the foot released from the ground, even if not the trap, then he could at least maneuver himself enough to get the trap off.

He grunted with effort as even the simple movement of his hand caused the chain to jerk. He gritted his teeth until they seemed about to crack with the force and let the blast go, feeling it connect and crying out as his skin burned when the ki blast brushed his leg traveling down to the chain, which snapped as soon as the blast made contact.

He stifled a ragged sigh of relief as he tenderly moved his hand down to his leg and brought it above the ground so he could turn around and bring it to his stomach without jostling it.

He grunted as he viewed the damaged appendage, noting that he would not be walking on that leg for quite a while. He couldn't fly either. That minor ki blast had definitely been his last reserve of energy. He could probably pull out more, but the effort would knock him cold for several days, maybe even kill him if he burned himself out.

He ground his teeth and tried once again to think of the blue-haired vixen lying on that cursed blanket as he grabbed both sides of the trap and pulled.

He heard foreign sounds coming from his throat and doggedly held onto the image in his head as the trap suddenly let go of his ankle with a sickening sucking sound, flesh and pieces of bone coming out with it. He heaved the thing to one side and gasped aloud as the full onslaught of pain from his freed leg hit him, almost sending him onto his back.

He could feel himself swaying and reached out a hand blindly to the ground to hold himself up as the scenery swayed and his stomach lurched. Gods, a few days ago an injury like this could never had happened, could never have affected him like this. How had it come to be that a simple piece of metal could keep the Prince of all Saiyans bound like a newborn?

He shook his head from side to side gently, regaining his equilibrium in slow increments. This was taking too long. Whatever was pursuing the woman was stronger and faster than her. He had to get to her now….

A look of distaste crossed his features. So he'd have to resort to something not practiced by his race in millennia. The last person who had accomplished it had been the Saiyan of legend, and he was dead now.

He brought his hand back around and his other joined it in securely holding the burning wound as he leaned in toward his stomach. He closed his eyes, fighting back the drowsiness that tried to suck him downward and focusing on the pain. What was the pain? Nerve-endings; torn, broken, rent apart by steel and sharp edges; nothing more than an illusion. Pain was an illusion. The injuries were an illusion. His hands glowed briefly with ki as it was transferred to his injured ankle in soothing waves.

He breathed a sigh of relief as the pain slowly faded from his awareness, brought down to a soft throbbing that could be controlled by his indomitable will. He opened his black eyes and smirked in triumph. It seemed he had done what not even the Super Saiyan of one thousand years ago had been able to accom-

He let out a scream as the pain flooded past the weak barriers he had made against it and laid him flat on his back, the leg wrenched from his grip with flaming agony. All the time that the pain had spent behind those barricades it now made sure Vegeta felt.

And this was why the Legendary Super Saiyan had failed. He too couldn't keep the pain away as he burned himself out with his own power. And so, in trying to heal himself, he had killed himself.

Vegeta's eyelids fluttered for a second before his body slumped and black orbs rolled to the back of his head, closing with a sigh of defeat.

~<*>~

Bulma again shrieked as she ducked her head, a massive paw swiping the air where her head had been. She let out a loud and vivid curse that did nothing for her situation and rolled to the side instinctively as the bear suddenly picked up pace and barreled forward with a meaty roar.

Her roll carried her to the base of a bush, which grappled with her clothes for quite awhile, allowing the bear the shake his own head from a bash against a tree trunk and turn to her, roaring and charging once again.

Bulma screamed as she struggled with one particularly stubborn branch that continued to stick to her clothing. Finally, with the bear's hot breath hitting her, she threw herself to the side, hearing cloth tear and the bush itself rip as the bear skidded on it to try and catch her spin with a snap of its jaws.

She had barely rolled to a stop when she felt the ground shake as the bear again lumbered toward her, a half-mad roar accompanied by spittle reaching her ears. She darted up, lungs aching with the need for more air than she was able to give them, and dashed through the trees, hearing the bear push his way through behind her.

She saw a clearing ahead of her and tried to force her throbbing legs to move faster in that direction. However, the combination of weariness and the sudden pressure on her back as claws ripped and shredded it were enough to throw her forward uncontrollably. She felt herself spinning wildly and came to land on hard ground, collapsing without a sound into unconsciousness.

A/N: The two quotes are actual quotes from two sources! Cool, eh? The article titles are fake….

The first is from: http://www.ofspirit.com/carolbedrosian9.htm

The second is from: http://www.witchs-brew.com/shadows/animals/shapeshifting.html

So, the writing there is not mine.

Ah, those are the biggest hints you'll be getting…. Let me give you a freebie: Yes, there is a change of form involved. However, all of you who have guessed are wrong. Yes, you may freak-out. However, some of you are partially right. Here's another freebie, since I'm feeling oh-so-generous, take what you've guessed and turn it inside-out and backwards and you've got it. Also, this is a true mythology, not just something my crazed mind made up in a Vanilla Coke/Mint Skittle binge.

Finally, if I can get it uploaded…. Whoever guesses correctly, or guesses as close as one can get, will get-*drum roll*-DBZ episode 141-Bow to the Prince in mpeg format…. Yes, you did hear correctly…. So, guess already! There can be multiple winners!

SMDSP: I've been here, lurking…. Very good guess. Wrong. Heehee This is fun! You are almost correct.

SkittleKicks: Wrong. Almost…. How is it-modified?

Honeybear: Thanks. And your guess is?

Meowythecat: Thank you. I hate run-of-the-mill B/V's, don't you?

JadedBest: Ugh! Get Goten out of here! Dang Kaka-clone! And ChiChi does not make the best! Look at Gohan…. ^_~ No, no, and no. But you are close. What's Vegeta's guess, just so we can get an educated response here…. Ah, more naked Veggie-and a hard-on! *gasp* An ant? Lol Okay…. So, what are you on? Besides your boyfriend…. *sadistic grin* Vegeta, say 'moo' for me. See? He couldn't do it. He can't 'milk' that part! LOL Oh, cheesy!

Bulma: Nope. But that is the coolest answer I've gotten yet. He is indeed obsessed with his training, but he's hardly getting to train now…. You're right on some points.

Aeris is dead: Actually, there is no moon. I didn't even mention it. Piccolo blew it up….

Louie: Thanks! I'll try to make you wait…. School-you know the deal….

Susan: Good job catching the 'cache' thing. I didn't think anybody would. No…. Not actually. I just-like this topic and have studied it a little. *sigh* I think it's running away from me. You know, 'Oh, I'll finish this story in no time…. ACK! No! Don't do-SHOOT! Thirty more chapters?' Killing spree? Wow! Cool! Vegeta on a killing spree? That's-original. (Sorry for the sarcasm…. But 20 years under Frieza is enough of a killing spree for Vegeta, don't you think? Then again, it's enough torture too…. *shrugs* Oh, well) We're never gonna let her live that down…. Raw meat is good. I love medium rare steaks-and worms…. HEY! I got $5 for eating that thing!

Chibi: Okay…. Done.

Hetchi: Insane? Going? He's already there….

Kat: Ah, Wolf. That was an awesome movie!!!! I loved it. Only werewolf movie I like. You're kinda right….