Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Princess WHO of WHERE?!? ❯ Up Up and Away ( Chapter 9 )

Bulma followed Vegeta eagerly out the main doors of the fortress and practically skipped down the steps. Wanting badly to see her first fight between two Kylarians, she did not lag behind. After helping Vegeta into his SECOND set of armor, they left stopping only to let one of his father's men know where he would be training today.

Bulma memorized the way down from Vegeta's rooms because she was sure that he wouldn't give her directions. Once outside he didn't head straight to the gates like she expected, nor the stables. He walked briskly towards a long, low, gray stone building not directly connected to the fortress, but still within its walls. Bulma wondered what it was and more importantly why were they going there? She knew it wasn't some kind of indoor training ring because Vegeta had already said they were going outside the walls. There were a lot of men coming and going, and a few lounging idly outside.

Vegeta was about to enter, but recalled that the female was following behind him. He spun around abruptly almost causing her to run into him. Only her quick reflexes saved her as she jumped to the side of him instead of running into his chest.

"You will wait here," he told her flatly.

She glanced at the stone building before asking, "Why can't I go in?"

"The only women that enter this building are the drudges and those of your previous position," he answered smartly. "So if you want to go in I cannot vouch for your continued chastity.

"Oh...well, I'll just wait out here then," she said, her face slightly flushed.

He laughed at her mockingly, which only served as a fan to the flame of her already hot temper, as he entered the building. She wondered what sort of business he had here?

She walked off a little from the building to stand in the sunshine that it wasn't blocking. She had been standing there for what seemed like forever when she finally heard someone approaching her.

"It's about time! I was sure I was about to become rooted to this spot!" She said turning only to meet a stomach. She looked up the body in total shock to see the tallest man she had ever seen in her life. His bald head shone as if it had been polished in the morning sun. His mouth, outlined by a thin mustache and goatee, was curled up sardonically at its corners. She had to back two or three steps away just so she could look up at him without hurting her neck.

"What have we here? Are you lost little girl?" He asked sarcastically. It took only a moment for Bulma to get her voice back, when she did though, he caught the brunt of her earlier anger at Vegeta.

"For your information I'm waiting for Lord Vegeta, so you can just mind your own business, you great stupid lummox!"

He laughed at the loud mouth of he small female. "And just who's going to make me?"

That was all the invitation Bulma needed. She stomped down on his foot with all her might causing him to howl in pain and bend over in an attempt to cradle the injured limb. He 'attempted', as in, when he was bending down, Bulma's fist came up and favored the man giant with a hit similar to the one Vegeta had received just the other day. What made this different was not only had she connected with his eye, but he actually went down.

A crowd had gathered by the time, the man-giant had regained composure. They yelled and cheered, though for whom they did so, Bulma didn't know. She had already had enough for one day and she considered her next move carefully.

"Why you little b*t*h!! I'll pound you into the ground like a tent peg!" he snarled at her.

Bulma wasn't concerned about his size. He was big and slow, while she was small and fast. Her hits might not hurt as much as his, but they would count. She only wished that she could change to augment her strength a little more.

As she expected, he came at her swinging, but she ducked and dodged every hit. Bulma waited for an opening and quickly dodged under his left arm getting behind him and almost running into the crowd, which was getting bigger by the moment. He turned around his, his eyes bulging out of his head he was so mad. He tried to rush her, much as the human drunks had done in the last town she was in, but it was a stupid move, as he was too big to stop himself when Bulma stepped to the side and let him pass. Pass he did. Right by Bulma, right by the parting crowd and head first into the nearest trough.

This elicited hardy laughs and cheers from the crowd. Bulma smiled to herself, proud that she still had control over some things.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!?!?!"

The crowd dispersed ten times faster than it appeared, leaving Bulma standing alone to face the wrath of....

"Vegeta," she said sheepishly.

"Woman, you are to address me as 'Lord Vegeta' at all times! Now what is the meaning of this?" he gestured to the man-giant partially submerged and gurgling in the water trough.

"Uh, I was waiting like you said and this... person started bothering me."

Vegeta walked to the trough grabbed the man-giant's collar and pulled him out of it. He lay on the ground moaning and coughing up water. Vegeta was obviously displeased at whom he had found.

"Nappa, you fool! Get up! You mean to tell me that you were beaten by a female! I should have you beaten again and then report you to my Father! You are a disgrace to the Kylarian race!

"Hey!" Bulma interjected. "He's too stupid to beat me. I don't care how big he is!"

"Woman, you will be silent until you are spoken to! Now Nappa, get up!"

The man-giant, Nappa, finally got to his feet, still shaking his head to clear, trying to regain what little sense he had.

"Lord Vegeta, I was just checking to make sure she actually belonged here and that she wasn't some sort of spy."

"That's a lie!"

"WOMAN, SHUT UP!" Vegeta shouted at her, losing his patience. He was impressed at ability to take down so large a man and even now a purplish bruise was beginning to form around his eye. He wanted to laugh at Nappa, but he had to maintain his image. He didn't care too much for Nappa. He was his Father's man and there was nothing he could do to get rid of him.

The woman stood seething behind him and he could here the low growls coming from her. "Nappa, this is my personal servant, and as such she is allowed here. Do not bother her again." He grabbed Bulma by the arm and dragged her away from the scene.

"She has fire, that one, my lord. If you ever need any help taming her, I'll be glad to be of assistance," Nappa called out from behind. Vegeta's only response was to tighten his grip on her arm and pull her along faster.

"Owww. That hurts!" she complained, but he didn't let go. He continued his steel like grip even as they were now approaching the gate. Bulma looked to the stable as he pulled them past it. He was heading for the gate as she had earlier assumed, but why were they walking? He had told her that he didn't train near the fortress.

"Aren't we going to ride?" she asked confused.

"Yes, Well, you are anyway. I can't trust you on your own."

They neared the gate and Bulma eyed the sharp spikes of the iron portcullis and then looked down to see the spot where she was so recently dragged down into the mud. Already the ground was drying so the churned up earth would me there for all to see and be reminded of Bulma's embarrassment. At the exact moment that passed under the gate, Bulma felt this tingling feeling inside as if ants were crawling all over her.

Bulma was so caught it the crawly ant feeling that she didn't notice Vegeta had let go of her and was staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest and a most impatient look on his face.

She turned and looked at the gate, which was already a good distance away.

"What was that?" she asked turning back to Vegeta.

"It's a spell of recognition. Let's go I haven't time to explain more," he turned away from her, resuming his earlier rapid pace.

She trotted to keep up with him and soon got as close to even with him as she could manage. "What's a spell of recognition? And why are we walking? I thought you said you like to train far away from the fortress."

"I do, but I want to get as far away as possible before changing." They were now coming upon the forest. He picked up his pace, leaving her a little behind, without another word and soon the dense treetops completely blocked the fortress from sight. He stopped and again Bulma was hard pressed not to run into him.

"You train in the woods? And if that was your idea of a long walk, I see why I beat your Father's man so easily. Your idea of a workout must be terrible!"

"Woman, are you never silent? I told you I wanted to get out of sight of the fortress before I changed, so that I could carry you to the training grounds. I can't trust you to ride a beast on your own 'cause no doubt you would try to escape at the first opportunity."

Bulma silently agreed with that, even though escaping wasn't the top priority on her mind at that moment. 'It should be,' she thought to herself.

"And I would never let anyone see you riding upon my back, so I came here first."

"Oh. Okay, go ahead and change so we can go."

"Hmph," was his only response as he turned his back to her. She watched as his body stretched and grew. His went to all fours as muscles began to bulge larger, fur and feathers began to sprout from all over his body as even his face began to change. The beak of a raptor began to form from his nose and mouth, its hook looked wickedly sharp. From his back, wings had sprouted and grew larger by the minute. The feathers looked slick as they too emerged over the membrane that had already formed. A tail that had previously gone unnoticed swept back and forth as it plumed and also grew a mixture of fur and feathers. Each paw now ended in razor sharp talons that were unconsciously fisted until needed. The dark, dusky fur and feathers that covered the body now began to fill out and fluff. They formed a crest that now laid swept back and a ruff around his neck that also remained flat unless he became agitated. What now stood before Bulma was....

Vegeta the Gryphon

"That's pretty nice, though I could have done it a lot faster."

'Woman, get on and let's go,' he thought at her.

"Hey you can talk mind-to-mind!" she said pleasantly surprised.

He stomped his forepaw impatiently and pivoted closer to her, so she could mount. She knew how it was done and climbed on with ease to sit on his back in front of his wings. He wiggled a little settling her weight and turning around to get used to her being there.

Though Bulma had carried others in this form, she had never been able to ride before and was always a little curious to experience it. This was turning out to be a trip of many firsts. Her only warning was the bunching of his muscles to give a good jump to clear the trees. The trees were sparse enough here that he easily broke through the canopy. Bulma got a little scratched, but she didn't notice as he spread his wings and took the first, strongest wing beats to carry them high into the sky.

Bulma felt the wing brush over her skin and through her fur in a whole new way. She reveled in the way it felt and inhaled deeply of the quickly passing wind. Vegeta reached cloud level far sooner than she would have given him credit for and settled into a consistent pattern of flight. Bulma threw her arms wide enjoying the feeling of flying without actually doing any work. For though she enjoyed flying under her own power, this was definitely something she wished she had been able to try sooner. She had the urge to throw herself from his back and fly beside him, trying to impress him with some aerial aerobatics, but had to restrain herself at the memory of the collar that impeded her.

~*~

Vegeta hadn't been sure if it was a good idea to fly the woman to the practice ground, but there wasn't a faster way there and he wasn't going to leave her at the fortress to get into mischief. The only other time he had carried a female had been years ago, and she had been so completely terrified that he swore he'd never carry another again.

Somehow, he knew this one would be different. She WAS Kylarian just as the last female had been, but she was not some pampered, cosseted miss, that would sooner cut off all her hair than take part in such an ACTIVE pursuit. He could feel her enjoyment of the flight and she weighed nearly nothing while he was carrying her in this form. She was utterly relaxed and he imagined that she would probably rather be flying beside him than upon him.

As they neared the training ground, he felt her stiffen so he turned his head slightly to look at her. She suddenly had this forlorn look on her face and she was unconsciously fingering the collar around her neck. He looked away figuring that he had accurately guessed her thoughts, and she was thinking of why she couldn't do as she pleased. He thought, in his inner most private thoughts, that one day he would be able to remove that collar from her slender throat and she would be able to fly beside him.

He soon spotted the training area and began to slow his speed and descend a goodly distance away, not wanted his men to see him carrying her upon his back. He found a spot this time in a very small clearing to land, so neither of them would get so scratched up this time. He landed gracefully by back winging into a spot and touching down first on one foot then the other. That would really impress her, he thought. He stood waiting for her to get off, which she did somewhat reluctantly and he changed back to his human form.

"You fly very well," Bulma complimented. He only nodded his head at her as a sign of thanks and walked off, leaving her to follow behind. The broke into a true clearing this time. One easily the size of the grounds the entire fortress covered. Waiting there already were twelve of the guard, stretching or performing other forms of calisthenics. When they caught sight of Vegeta, they stopped what they were doing, straightening to attention and saluted him.

"So, are you weaklings ready?"