Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Strange New World (That Has Such Creatures In It) ❯ Jalen ( Chapter 4 )

Part 4

A bundle of ki burst from of the castle, skimming over the desert and sending up plumes of sand. Raditz woke up and turned his head to look out his window. He couldn't see who it was but Vegeta had taught him how to feel ki, and it felt like his prince. He sat up and felt again to be sure. His charge should have been in the room across from his own. But that room was empty, and Vegeta's ki fading into the distance. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Though he didn't want to take off in his sleep wear, a loose shirt and a baggy pair of pants, there was no time to dress properly. He stumbled to the window and flew after him. Vegeta was too close, flying like this too dangerous. He shook his hair back over his shoulders. Perhaps closer than he'd thought. He flew faster.

After a few miles, Vegeta's flight slowed and he dipped closer to the ground. He finally landed and began to walk, his arms wrapped around his stomach. The Jakek caves stood before him, but with the first sun still beneath the horizon, they were more shadows and hints of light. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Raditz," he said.

The bodyguard touched ground behind him, eyes wide. "My prince."

"You said you knew these caves."

"Yes, I do." He glanced at Vegeta's stomach. The prince was farther than any of them had thought. "The top caves are the safest."

Vegeta nodded once. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. Raditz's hands moved around him, picking him up and cradling him. Warm wind enveloped him, and when he looked up again, he found shadows and damp stone lit only by the small entrance several yards away.

"The castle would be easier for you," Raditz said, putting Vegeta down. His voice echoed through the rest of the cave.

"It's warm here," Vegeta said. He sat on a sandy patch and leaned against the smooth rock. "Better than usual."

Raditz sighed and cracked his knuckles, looking as if they'd practiced this maneuver over and over. "Are you ready?"

Vegeta nodded. He pulled his top off and tossed it nearby, then lay his claws over his stomach and breathed deep. He made the cut slowly, slashing the skin with careful precision as the scent of his blood filled the air around him. Raditz put one hand on Vegeta's, steadying the cut. Halfway through, the prince closed his eyes and let his brother guide his hand.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Raditz whispered.

"Yes." Vegeta focused on his voice so that when he spoke, his own voice wasn't so strained. "Jalen."

"I recognize that," Raditz said. "From our old language...change to positive, something like that."

"Yes. Something like that."

*

The king's eyes opened. At first he thought the cold air had roused him like every other morning, or that Bardock had rolled out of the bed again. But his mate slept nearly on top of him, squashing him, and with a grunt he pushed him off. Bardock rolled onto his other side and kept snoring. There were no explosions or screams outside, no black shadow coming closer, but still, something was wrong. He stood up and dressed, fixing the clasps on his cape as he walked out of his chambers.

He stopped.

Vegeta was gone. So was Raditz. He didn't have to check their rooms but he did anyway. Both were empty. The lack of blood was only a passing comfort, and he flew out of Vegeta's window down to the nursery, sitting on the windowsill and peering inside. The oversized bed, the crib, the low tables and cushions and the hot spring with steps built into the sides, all ready for the prince and his child. But empty.

"Where are you?" he whispered. He flew back to the top of the palace and scanned the city. The first sun glimmered on the horizon, its edge a golden sparkle on the white city.

"What's wrong?"

The king whirled and found his son's mate behind him, standing on the roof as if he'd been there the whole night. He narrowed his eyes as him and flipped his cape back over one shoulder. "'Geta's gone. So's Raditz."

"I know. They're over that way somewhere," he said, waving out over the grasslands. "They left a little while ago."

"What? Where'd they go?"

"I dunno. I didn't see them go and..." Goku scratched the back of his head and sighed. His shoulders drooped. "And Vegeta said he didn't want me near him."

"Wait...you didn't see them leave but you know where they are?" He shook his head and wondered if Raditz had been right about brain damage.

"Yeah, I just feel their ki. Vegeta's feels pretty bad..." He sat down crosslegged and slumped slightly. "And I don't even know why he doesn't want me there. It's like he thinks I'll hurt him. I don't know...it's like everything's upside down."

"'Geta always has a reason for his actions." Just not always good ones, he added but not out loud. He rose into the air. "You can sense exactly where he is? Then lead me there."

"Wait," Goku said. "He left so he'd be alone with Raditz."

Though he thought his son foolish for leaving on the cusp of the birth, the king would not allow himself to say so, not even to the boy's mate. He merely bent and grabbed a fistful of Goku's hair, dragging him off the roof.

"Ow!" Goku wrenched free and flew out of arm's reach, his eyes watering.

"Even a prince must obey the king. Lead on." He didn't wait but started flying in the direction Goku had pointed. Swallowing his argument, Goku flew after him.

The first rays of sunlight over the yellow grasses were his first view of the world, a field so thick it looked like a shimmering sea. Were there animals under the surface, he wondered, creatures that might look like field mice from back on earth? A few minutes into their flight the grass thinned and the landscape turned arid. The wind picked up and blew dust trails that seemed to stretch from one horizon to the other. If he squinted he could make out the purple silhouettes of mountains in the distance, wisps of clouds covering their peaks.

"There," the king said, pointing to their right. "They must be in the caves."

Goku followed his look and blinked. How had he missed that? A huge tower of gray and white rock, it sparkled in the sun, dwarfing all other cliffs and plateaus in sight. Thick at the bottom, it tapered up at the top, and numerous holes lined the surface. Only as they went closer did Goku realize how large it was. They floated down and landed on the sand, and even when Goku leaned back, he still couldn't see the top.

"Can you tell what cave they're in?" the king asked.

"I can tell they're near the top," Goku said. "But there are so many caves--"

A scream erupted from inside the tower, clearly Vegeta's. Before he knew where he was going, Goku rose into the air, but the king grabbed his arm and forced him back to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked. "My mate's in there, he needs me--"

"If he needed you, he wouldn't have chosen Raditz. Stay put." The king crossed his arms and looked up. "It's already started. We'll have to wait."

"Wait? For what?"

No answer. A minute passed by. Another scream came from the tower, a pause, and then...

A child's cry.

"For that." The king smiled and slowly flew towards the cave, Goku right behind him. "Kakarrot, I know something's passed between you and your mate, and your brother too I think, but you must not upset either of them right now. If you can't do that, you'd be better off waiting back at the palace."

"No," Goku said, never taking his eyes from the top coming into view. "I have to see him. I...I have to make sure he's okay. That they're okay."

The king had to turn his head to hide his satisfied grin.

*

Blood puddled beneath Vegeta, soaking the sand around him, but he didn't notice. He didn't feel any pain anymore, only exhaustion, and that faded into the background as he focused entirely on the child he held. Its hair looked just like his, complete with long bangs over his eyes. Or maybe they just looked long, he thought, still damp as they were. He smoothed them back with his thumb. Warm and snuggled in his father's discarded shirt, Jalen stopped crying and half-closed his eyes, drowsing in the rising desert heat. His tail curled around his father's wrist.

"Wish we had a stream or a cavern pool nearby," Raditz said, wringing blood from his own shirt. He went back to cleaning both father and child with it. "At least the bleeding's stopped."

"Was it always so much?" Vegeta whispered, allowing Raditz to wipe off the excess blood from the boy's face and body. "It never seemed like it before."

"We...usually had our minds elsewhere. I'll carry you back to the palace when you're ready. You'll feel much more comfortable in the nursery." He fished a white bundle from a pocket hidden somewhere in his pants. He stretched out a strip of gauze and began wrapping it around Vegeta's waist, staunching what little bleeding was left.

"You always carry that?"

The gauze went several times around the gash until the blood didn't seep through, and Raditz tucked the end in. "With you so close, seemed like a good idea. Ready to go home?"

"In a moment," Vegeta said. "He looks like them, doesn't he?"

Raditz took another look at the child now that he was cleaned up somewhat. "He does. Like you and your father. There doesn't seem to be a trace of my brother in him."

"There is, around his eyes." He sighed and shifted Jalen to one arm, slowly sitting up. "Hopefully no one else noticed our absence--" He winced, squeezing his eyes shut, and fell back against the cave wall.

"Don't move," Raditz said, putting one hand on his prince's chest to hold him still. "You need to rest."

"Maybe..." Vegeta relaxed and lay his hand over Raditz's. "Maybe we could just stay here awhile."

Soft footsteps came from the mouth of the cave. "That would be a bad idea."

The king fought down an urge to laugh as the pair looked at him with wide eyes, as if he'd caught them breaking a mate bond. Half dressed as they were, they seemed to mesh together. His son, pale and breathing hard, clutched the child closer and pressed against his bodyguard, trying to disappear in the larger man's arms.

"Are they all right?" he asked.

Raditz nodded once. "Both are well, but the prince should be in the nursery."

"Agreed. Was it a hard birth?" the king asked.

"As always," Vegeta said. He closed his eyes. "Why did you bring him here?"

The king glanced at Goku standing at his side. "He knew where to find you, though I had to drag him along at first."

"Vegeta? Please, I..." Hesitant, Goku took a step towards Vegeta. Raditz raised one hand and shook his head, about to speak, but the prince opened his eyes and glared at his mate, hissing and showing his fangs. Goku froze, blinking away tears.

Obviously a reconciliation would have to wait. "Raditz," the king said, "take your prince to the palace and don't leave his side."

"Yes, your majesty." Raditz bent and scooped Vegeta into his arms. Once he saw that Vegeta had a firm grip on the child, he rushed by his brother and ignored the growl Vegeta gave for good measure. He jumped from the cave's entrance and floated down, pulling up gently and flying a few feet from the ground.

Dust turned to grass as he skimmed over the fields towards the palace, telling himself that he wasn't running from the king and Goku. A birth always made his heart race and he hurried to bring his prince to a secluded spot. A few Saiyans were waking up and getting an early morning surprise over on their drowsier partners, but the palace was relatively quiet as he flew his charges in through the nursery first floor window. He carried Vegeta to the oversized bed, but as he bent to set him down, the prince touched his arm.

"I don't think I can lay flat," he whispered, his face tinged red.

"You don't have to." Raditz lay him on the bed and smiled at Vegeta's startled gasp as he found the bed angled to allow him to sit up halfway. "You're tilted sideways a little, too, so you can lay him on your arm without holding him all the time."

"Oh..." Vegeta propped his son against his chest and watched him sleep. "Are there any--"

A blanket unfurled above him and settled on his legs, and Raditz drew the edge up to his shoulders. "Blankets? Plenty. And a hot spring when you've healed some."

"I didn't think it would take so much out of me," he said. "It never did before."

"...it did," Raditz said. He sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed Vegeta's bangs from his face. "You may not remember clearly, but each time it seemed you were running on anger alone."

"Maybe I was."

"You want me to tell your purple-haired kid?"

"No, he won't wake up for awhile yet. And...maybe I do need some rest."

"Ah, you finally admit it." Raditz grinned and stood up. "I'll watch over you while you sleep."

"No..." Vegeta tilted his head to see the window. "My father's already coming. Kakarrot's with him. I think I've pushed them as far as I can. They'll want answers."

"You're too tired for that," Raditz said. "I'll--"

"No." He sounded tired even to his own ears, and he lay his head back, feeling as if he'd forfeited a battle he knew he couldn't win. "Better now, so I can sleep after. But...don't let Kakarrot come close."

"I don't think he means the boy any harm," he said.

Vegeta just shook his head and hugged Jalen a little closer. They waited, the only sound Jalen's soft breathing and the drip of water along the hot spring.

A light tap at the window told Vegeta that his father was there, and no matter how Goku tried to dampen his ki, it still hummed in the back of his mind, the constant presence of his mate. The only reason he didn't hiss was that Goku didn't come towards him. The king stepped forward and sat on the low table in front of the bed.

"Vegeta."

"Father."

A good look at his grandson, out of the dim cave and in the warm morning light, made him sigh in relief. Despite his reckless son and his idiot bodyguard, they'd managed to bring the boy into the world, perhaps faster and safer than they might have in the palace. "He's healthy?"

Vegeta nodded. The king noticed how pale he really was now, almost ashen. His eyes drooped as he struggled to stay awake, but his grip never left the child.

"What's his name?" Goku whispered. He hadn't moved from the window but he stared at his son as if transfixed.

As Goku kept his distance, Vegeta kept his temper and answered softly. "Jalen. Vegeta Jalen."

"Ah...redemption." The king stared into his son's eyes. "Why did you run?"

Goku expected his mate to say he wasn't running, to argue, to snap even. Vegeta didn't even raise his voice.

"I needed a safe place."

"The palace isn't safe?"

Vegeta's eyes flickered towards his mate.

"He won't hurt him," the king said. "You know that. Even I can feel it. His two children seem fine enough."

"Fine for being abandoned," he said. "Ignored."

"What?" Both Raditz and the king stared at Goku. He stepped back and held his hands up, his surprised look on his face.

"Hey, I was dead," he said. "I was only allowed out for tournaments."

"Dead?" the king asked.

Goku briefly glanced at the king. "First time I died fighting Raditz. Later I died killing Cell after Gohan fought him. I was only allowed out for the tournament before then."

"And you never thought to ask to see your second son?" Vegeta said.

"I didn't even know about him then."

"But you knew when the tournament was? Convenient."

Whatever Goku was about to say, the king cut him off with a wave of his hand. "This is beside the point. You're not afraid of him abandoning you," he said to his son. "If anything, you don't want him too close. Answer my question, why did you run?"

"Father, I don't--"

"Tell me."

Vegeta wished he could transmit somewhere else like his mate, fly, sit up even. He had to settle for turning his face away. "Because I can't bear to lose another one."

His voice echoed a few seconds in the nursery, but even as it faded it seemed to linger with them. The silence made him look back up. He'd expected shouts, screaming, maybe even a flare up in one of their ki. Instead none of them moved. The king was glad he was sitting. His legs felt so weak he might have fallen otherwise. A quick glance at Raditz told him the same. The bodyguard looked nauseous, his eyes squeezed shut. There was a seat next to Goku, and he slid into it. His familiar smile was long gone, replaced by a look Vegeta had never seen there before.

"Another?" he whispered.

The king winced as he figured it out. "Frieza."

Vegeta nodded.

"Yes, he wouldn't have allowed anything potentially stronger than him to live," the king said. "How many? You were so young it couldn't be more than handful."

"Thirty."

A strangled noise came from the monarch as his voice failed. He found he didn't have to ask further, Vegeta began speaking in a flat voice that made him wonder if his son was emotionally unbalanced.

"Yes, I was young, but his attacks forced my cycle to come early. I was always pregnant. I had eleven miscarriages. Seven stillborns. Of the rest, only twelve survived the first few minutes."

"And those twelve?" the king asked, finding his voice. "Smuggled to other worlds, hidden away--?"

"I killed them."

For a moment, the king stopped breathing. Goku's jaw dropped. He stared at his mate, trying to remember what he'd looked like when he first arrived on earth, trying to imagine how that small warrior had borne so many children.

"...what?"

Before Vegeta could start again, Raditz cut in. "Your majesty, you have to understand what Frieza's ship was like. Vegeta wasn't the only one he...there were other children, other warriors who bore that monster children. We saw what he did to them."

"But..." The king ran one hand through his hair, trying to catch his breath. His skin felt like ice. "There must have been a way...you weren't always on his ship..."

"True," Vegeta said. His voice came as little more than a whisper, and his eyes lost his focus as he drifted backwards in time. "I tried to hold back each birth until I was on a planet. If I'd let him get his claws on one of them..."

"But they were his children as well," Goku said. "How could he hurt them?"

"Ice-jins...don't regard interbreeding as we do," Raditz said. "To have a half-breed child was a mockery to them. Frieza was so damn rampant there were soldiers giving birth nearly every day. And each night we had to listen to the dying screams of children as he tortured them to death."

"He nearly got his hands on my first," Vegeta said. "I had to have it onboard, I couldn't get away. And he was perfect...pure Saiyan, a fine tail, but his skin was completely white."

"He was only eleven," Raditz said. "The child was nearly as big as he was."

"I had him for about an hour before Frieza came. When I heard him coming down the hall...those metal hallways made everything sound louder...I pressed against the artery in his throat here--" He ran one finger down Jalen's throat and the light blue vein. The three of them shuddered, and the king wanted to grab his son's hand, but Vegeta's distant stare told him his son was too enrapt by old memories to touch. "--and just as Lord Frieza came in, he died."

A low laugh came out of him, making the rest of them fidget in their seats. "Oh, he was enraged. I'd cheated him of something he loved. I don't remember much beyond the pain of the rest of that night, but I remember I laughed. I couldn't stop laughing."

No one said anything. The king had to force himself to watch his son hold Jalen and keep him warm to convince himself that the boy wouldn't hurt the baby. Suddenly his own words seemed so cheap and empty. He'd known he was sending Vegeta into hell, but he hadn't known what a hell that ship would be. Then when he said he looked different, he thought, he must've been stunted. God, I've known Saiyans to go insane with the loss of one brat. To lose so many...to kill them out of mercy...

In the silent room, Jalen's sudden whimper startled all of them. Before any of them could stop him, Vegeta brought his hand to his teeth and made a small gash in the flat of his palm. As blood began to flow, he held it to Jalen's mouth and let the boy drink freely.

Reminded of his son's pale skin, the king leaned forward. "Vegeta, you've lost too much already. Let your mate--"

Before he could finish, Vegeta hissed at him, glaring at Goku and warning him off in case he thought of acting on that. Raditz waved the two out of the room, squeezing his prince's shoulder once before following them out. Relieved to be alone at last, Vegeta settled his head back and let the sound of his child eating lull him into a half-drowsing state.

Outside the nursery, the king and Goku both started firing questions at Raditz, who backed up a step and waved his hands. "Lower your voices. He's not going to hurt the child. You have my word."

"Was all that true?" the king asked. "Everything? All those children..."

Raditz nodded once. "The rest he had on different planets. He'd have them, usually with my help, and then he'd incinerate the bodies. I was always relieved when the child was already dead. He was so happy each time, for an hour..."

"But why's he acting like this now?" Goku asked. "He's acting so strange."

"Of course he's acting strange," Raditz snapped. "Every instinct of his is screaming to be with his mate, for warmth, for protection. And instead he's learned to run from the father of his children." He softened his voice when he saw his brother's look. Kakarrot had never seemed all that bright, and now he looked as if he might drown in all the information. "He needs you, yes. He loves you. But he's scared for his child, and if you go in there demanding answers or to touch the brat...I don't want to think about what he might do."

"You mean he might kill Jalen?"

"More likely you." He stared his brother square in the eye. "He meant what he said. He's not going to lose another one. He'll move heaven and hell before he lets that happen."

"My poor child," the king whispered. "All those years with that monster. What he must think of himself..."

"Why didn't he just kill himself," Goku said. "Then he wouldn't have had to kill anymore."

The room fell silent, and the Saiyans stared at the floor and each took a breath, clenching and unclenching their fists. Finally the king looked up. "Suicide is forbidden. It is our greatest taboo."

"Only self-sacrifice is allowed," Raditz said. "Otherwise...you must live your life, no matter how painful."

The palace halls began to echo more and more with the footsteps and voices of other Saiyans, slowly increasing as the sunlight streamed in through the eastern windows. The king sighed and glanced down the hall to make sure they were alone.

"Not a word of this to anyone," he said. "Royal births must be announced, but this one'll have to be delayed a bit. If Vegeta's going to feed the brat himself, he'll need to regain all the blood he's lost. You have permission to hunt down a tezra and bring it back."

"What's a tezra?" Goku asked.

"So soon?" Raditz asked, ignoring his sibling. "They may not have bred yet."

"Have faith in Kigeta. He must've known this would happen and provided." He turned and walked away, leaving the two brothers to themselves.

"Um...what's a tezra?"

Raditz looked at Goku, sighed and shook his head. "Come on, let's go before it's midday."

*

Up in his room, tucked in under Piccolo's arm, Gohan woke up with the same nausea he'd felt on the Raider Six. He groaned and pushed his face into the pillow, hoping his stomach would settle, but after a few minutes the pain wouldn't go away. He slid out from under Piccolo's arm and stood up, stumbling towards the bathroom. The night before he'd found what passed for a Saiyan toilet and now he fell to his knees before it, bracing his hands on either side of the wall as he threw up. Nothing more than stomach acid came up, and he was glad he hadn't eaten yet. As his stomach relaxed again, he pressed his forehead on the cool stone wall and sighed.

"Damn asteroids," he whispered. Maybe it would take longer to get over the trip than he'd thought. His stomach clenched and he threw up again. After the second heave it stopped and he panted for breath. So far the only good thing about the trip was the design of Saiyan toilets, almost the same as at home but with a constant stream of water flowing through them. Perhaps when he wasn't sick he'd wonder how they managed to pipe water so high up, but for now he settled for spitting and standing up. The feeling had passed. Now he rinsed his mouth out at the sink and took several breaths. There was no mirror to reflect how disheveled he knew he must look.

"You okay, kid?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Gohan spotted Piccolo standing by the door. "Yeah, I'm okay. The trip just caught up to me, is all."

"It caught up to you the first day," Piccolo said. "Feel up to breakfast?"

"As long as it's not too much."

"There's something I never thought I'd hear a Son say," Piccolo said. He stepped behind Gohan and put his hands on his shoulders. "You sure you're okay?"

"I will be."

"Come back to bed, then. It's still pretty early." He let one hand trail down Gohan's chest to the hem of his pants. "You'll feel better afterwards."

"Y'know, for an asexual plant man who says he doesn't need to sleep," he tilted his head back on Piccolo's chest. "You sure do like sleeping with me."

"Pervert," Piccolo said. "I want you to rest. Besides, if we did anything right now, you'd probably throw up on me."

"Eww, mood-killer!" He pressed gently on his sore stomach. "Probably not too far off, though."

"Come on." The Namek guided him out of the bathroom and back to bed. "I won't even complain about how you hog the covers."

Not dignifying that with a response, Gohan slid back onto the soft stone bed and lay on his side facing the window. Two streaks flew into view, hovered a moment, then took off towards the east. Gohan sat up and looked after them.

"Hey, that was dad and Raditz." He narrowed his eyes, feeling for lingering traces of ki to make sure. "What are they doing together?"

"Don't worry, kid, Goku can take anything he throws at him. Maybe they're gonna go hash things out between 'em." Piccolo yanked him backwards and lay down behind him.

"Dad shouldn't be out alone," Gohan said, trying to wriggle away. "He might get confused. I'll bet Raditz is up to something--"

"You can kick your uncle's ass later," Piccolo said. He clamped one arm down on Gohan's chest and held him still. "If you go now, you'll only hurl on him."

"..."

"What?"

"You've been listening to the terrible two too much."

*

And inside the terrible two's chambers, Goten woke up wondering why he was asleep up to his neck in water. He blinked hard and looked around. He was wrapped in Trunks' arms, seated firmly in his lap, and Trunks seemed to be nestled in the corner of the bathtub, half beneath the steady pour of hot water. His head lay tilted back as he slept, his hair soaked and stuck to his shoulders, the tips trailing under the surface.

Wondering why they hadn't drowned, Goten was about to wake Trunks up when there was a loud knock at the door. Trunks sat bolt upright, screaming "I'm up, I'm up" while dumping Goten in the pool with a splash. "What...what happened?"

A low chuckle came from behind the door, and Trunks heard two voices behind the door as whoever had been sent to wake them left.

"Leave them be," one said. "They're obviously busy."

"But all night? Don't they ever sleep?"

"At that age, they can probably put the rest of us to shame."

"Must've gotten tired of the bed and decided to break the tub in."

Certain he was blushing from his head to his chest, Trunks ducked under the surface to cool himself off only to be caught by Goten, who decided to take care of an early morning problem right then. After a moment, Trunks shrugged. What was so wrong about proving them right?

~*~*~*~