Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend Of the Bond ❯ The Legend... ( Chapter 3 )

A couple of days after he returned home from Freeza and his beatings, Prince Vegeta stepped out of the rejuvenation tank. He was in his own private medical bay inside the palace. He emerged from the tank damp and not very pleased, but he did feel strong. That, of course, was only natural since Saiya-jins only tended to get stronger after each fight and the physical damage they received. The medical staff quickly dressed the prince and stepped back to give him his space. Vegeta looked disdainfully at them, seeing their faces marked with fear. He “hmphed” in displeasure and strolled out of the room.

Vegeta was in a particularly foul mood today. He wanted to get his hands on the report on the Chikyuu-jins, especially any information regarding the females. Inwardly, he wanted to dismiss any thoughts about the bond legend, but he also needed more knowledge and detail about it. Was everything he just went through with Freeza part of the legend? Or was it only to learn more about Freeza’s plans? While he was being beaten shitless, he overheard about how Freeza had already gained complete control of both the south and east quadrants of the galaxy. There were about five galaxies charted of which he already knew, so if Freeza could take over one meant that he could take over the rest that much quicker. Time was running out. At 13 years old, Vegeta had seen Freeza conquer those systems within 5 years’ time. And he didn’t like it.

As he walked, his rage grew with each step. He needed a plan, a way to win against Freeza. He would be damned if he asked for help! He paused for a moment and forced his angry frustration down a bit. Would asking for outside help damage his pride as much as watching Freeza take his place as the strongest warrior in the universe? Not just that, but wouldn’t watching as Freeza killed his people, destroyed his planet and took away his right to kingship, then killed him as well be worth not lossing a small amount of pride? And also take that Chikyuu-jin’s bond away from me? He paused again. Did he just think that or was it some mad demon plaguing his soul? He roughly brushed the thought away. He needed an ally to rely upon, someone who he could trust. He thought hard for a moment and a plan began to form.

Vegeta remembered that 2nd-class idiot Radditz from the Chikyuu mission. He recalled that Radditz’ father was a 3rd-class weakling but knew that Bardock had hated Freeza for sometime now, ever since the tyrant ordered him and his troop to Kanassa. Rumors about that ill-fated assignment spread throughout the ranks, but after he returned from that planet, people whispered about his ability to see the future. And Bardock was loyal like no other. Vegeta smirked, pleased by his foresight in choosing the 3rd-class warrior. Bardock would assist him, lest Vegeta decided to execute his two sons for stupidity. With Bardock’s help, he could set up underground alliances with different systems outside this galaxy, farther from even Freeza’s greedy reach. Thus he could gain more time and set up an empire of his own outside of Vegeta-sei. Of course, it might turn into a twisted sort of civil war, but as long as Freeza was killed in the end, it didn’t matter. Vegeta knew he alone was destined to become the Legendary! In the middle of his musings, Vegeta suddenly got the urge to bite his nails. What the hell? Never before had he the inkling to do something so…so vulgar and stupid! The conflict made him stop dead in his tracks. Shaking off the strange urge to nibble his fingernails, his mind returned to the lingering question of the bond. But now he had to brief his father, as he was supposed to after receiving any beatings from Freeza. Damn his father for needing to speak with him! What he really needed to do was to find out more about this damned bond legend before he did anything else! Vegeta turned on his heel and headed toward the Scholar Wing of the palace.

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“Your highness, we did not expect you here so soon! We apolo ―” Prince Vegeta quickly cut the old Saiya-jin scholar’s words with an impatient raise of his hand. The man was lucky he did not kill him outright.

“Save your breath. I come for information,” the prince said coolly.

The robed and armored scholar bowed, then went to his knee while his fisted right arm crossed his chest. The man would anything for his prince, but he didn’t want to lose his life by doing anything to displease him. Then he stood, careful to keep his gaze lowered, focused on the prince’s boots.

“I am at your service, my prince.”

Vegeta looked around. The main Scholar’s Chamber was filled books, scrolls, and maps. Most were about Saiya-jin war tactics, fighting styles and techniques, but some of them were about culture, history, myths, and legends. Certainly, there were other rooms filled with information on other cultures, but the biggest and best room was about, of course, Vegeta-sei and Saiya-jins. With a bored sigh, the prince began to speak.

“No one is to know I was here, Scholar.” Vegeta glared at the man, leaving the rest unspoken. When the scholar nodded, Vegeta continued. “I want to learn more about the legend of the first bond.”

The old scholar’s eyes widened, surprised by the request. The legend was, of course, laughed at, scoffed at, ridiculed, and most of all hated. Most did not want to believe it existed or even accept it as part of Saiya-jin legends or history. It was viewed as weak and unnecessary. The scholar also viewed it as dangerous because he was the only one to know about the legend fully.

“What do you wish to know, your highness?”

“Everything! Do not leave anything out!” The prince glared at the scholar intensely.

“Yes, your highness. Then I shall begin at the beginning. Many discount this, but the legend of the first bond and the legend of the Legendary go hand-in-hand.”

“WHAT?” The prince could not hide his surprise. If these bothersome whispers did indeed signify that he had the bond, then he would indeed become the Legendary!

“Well, your highness, the first Legendary was said to have achieved his form by intense rage and gifted power. Many, if not all, Saiya-jins believe it was because this elevated level of rage had come solely from his fervent determination to never lose a battle no matter what or who the opponent he faced. And that is true, but not the complete truth. However, what very few knew is that before the death of the Legendary, he taken a mate…an alien mate, a very taboo thing during that time and even now. It was said that his love for her was so intense that planets fell when anyone dared to look at her wrong. She was no phenomenal beauty, but she was very far from being considered as ugly. As it happened one day, she was killed by the hand of her mate’s greatest opponent. The grief and rage he felt up on losing his bonded mate drove him over the brink of madness and thus he became the Legendary. He turned his anger upon his mate’s killer and killed him in revenge, but during the battle, he sustained a mortal wound in the fight as well.

“He staggered to where his mate lay and, to his amazement, realized that she still held the tiniest spark of life within her. Right before he died, he transferred the last of his power to bond himself to her, so that their souls would be joined forever in the afterlife. The story continued to say that, upon witnessing this powerful and unselfish act, the gods themselves were moved. They then declared that, when a new Legendary arose in three thousand years, the fabled bond between the Legendary and his destined love would also return. Oddly though, a Legendary did surface in recent times, as predicted, but he proclaimed loudly, as it was written, that there was no bond, that he had become the Legendary without the need for such a weakness. But those who remembered him, also recalled that he died very young as a result of incurable madness.”

“How could one recognize this bond? What are the traits and side effects?” The prince was growing impatient. He did not want to believe this old crippled man, but his heart kept silent, hoping for this to be truth, and not simply because of those strange whispers running around his damned head, but because of the possibility of the connection between that legend and the legend of the Legendary Super Saiya-jin.

“I can not be sure, your highness. The only account of the bond was from what I just told you. But there are some other things about it that are not common knowledge. Persons who have the bond would have the power to feel the other’s emotions, thoughts and could affect the other’s personality, such as taking on unconscious and foreign habits. However, they are also able to lend each other strength when necessary. This last trait is a very dangerous one, especially for a warrior. Whenever such a bond exists between two individuals, neither soul is ever whole without the other. For example, when one is born, the other would be born no later than a year afterwards in order to complement each other’s existence, just like the first Legendary and his lover. But because of that their destinies ―”

The scholar’s lecture was cut off by a loud alarm coming from the prince’s scouter. The prince cursed. No doubt it was his father summoning him to the throne room. Veegta could no longer afford to wait another minute, plus he had heard enough. He did not need to hear about the rest. The prince clicked on his scouter, thus allowing his irate father to bark orders into his ear. He sighed and turned to leave, but then stopped for a moment and turned his head slightly.

“That will be all, scholar. Your information has served me well, thus I will not kill you for boring me.”

As the prince retreated into the darkness of the hallways, the scholar paled. Unfortunately, the prince left before hearing the most important part of the legend, which was very simple and deadly. If Prince Vegeta, who was destined to be the Legendary, attained the bond, it would become a great weakness and something that could be used against him. But only the scholar knew this, that those who held this powerful bond were linked not only in life but also in death. When one died, the other would follow very soon. He hoped that the prince would return of his own accord so that he could inform him of this crucial fact. But the scholar would be damned to hell if he’d be the one to call Vegeta back, for he would definitely lose his life, and his loyalty to the temperamental prince only went as far as his own skin.

Vegeta cursed under his breath as he made his way to his father, his thoughts haunted by the words the scholar told him. So the first Legendary had taken an alien woman as his mate and bonded with her?! He had always been under the impression that the legendary bond could only occur between Saiya-jin’s. He cursed again, even louder, knowing he might damn well be bonded to a Chikyuu-jin alien female. Disgusting! This female could turn out to be hideous, weak or worse…emotional. He shuddered at the thought. Though he hated his fiancé, at least she was Saiya-jin and strong…in fact, she was the strongest female Saiya-jin on Vegeta-sei. The damned arranged marriage was scheduled to take place when he was crowned king. Once they were wed, he would be obligated to sire an heir with her. After that, he could banish her from his presence. At least, he did not have to tolerate her now. He met her once for two minutes and that was enough. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she held no attraction for him. All Yasai needed to do was give him an heir then she could burn in hell for all he cared. Damn this bond! Damn Freeza! Damn his father!….DAMN EVERYTHING!

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Bulma was in the garden that was assigned to her care. She was absently biting at her nails as she worked when she heard the whispers again, but this time they were loud and full of frustrated rage…DAMN EVERYTHING! She was startled for a moment by the intensity of the whispers, but immediately went back to work. The garden was beginning to look better and better and she silently thanked her mother for the lessons she gave Bulma on how to have a green thumb.

The first time she saw it, it was in a horrible state of neglect. Snakes and spiders crawling everywhere, along with choking weeds that looked like they could devour her were spread out almost everywhere. Those nasty things were the first to go. Bulma didn’t know how she managed it, but now the garden looked just slightly overgrown. The garden was in a very secluded part of the compound, quiet and unused and though no one but her cared to come here, it was still her duty to keep it clean and nice. She was going to do what it took to make it perfect. Bulma’s eyes widened at the thought. As she labored on, she knew she was getting stronger and faster after being here only three weeks. She was also learning to manage her time and tasks more wisely.

Luckily, she was able to hide the things Seripa had given her from her slave master and everyone else’s prying eyes. She wore the body suit under her robes and, using a belt she had trash-picked from the disposing area, she kept the precious book tied to her body at all times. After a couple days, she thought to make a capsule box from a few of the things she was supposed to dispose during her duties at the engineering department. Before she could do that, she would have to fashion some tools, which she did by using more discards. Then she had to be really careful and hide them under her bed so that she might work on her project at night when everyone else was sleeping. It wasn’t the safest place, but it would do for now. Since there was so little light to clearly see what she was doing, naturally it took her a very long time. Working as she was on getting that done, she didn’t get the chance to look at the old, decomposing book.

As she worked in the garden, she paused and looked around. Now would be a great opportunity to take a short break and look at the book. Looking around again, she sat down on a clear patch of grass and pulled the book out from underneath her robe. Her curious blue eyes grew even wider when she saw what was written on its pages. The first half of the book was filled with pictures and diagrams outlining fighting techniques. She could only guess what the other half was about, for the pages were filled with words that were obviously written in the foreign Saiya-jin language. But in the very back of the book were some references about the written language, something she could use to learn how to read the book. Her eyes were full of delight. She had already picked up some Saiyan words and a couple of short phrases, but was careful to never let on to anyone that she understood what little she did know about the language. And now, thanks to this book, she would be able to incorporate it into written and recognizable words. It would be tough, but she knew she could do it. After all, she was the smartest girl in the universe! She smirked at the thought.

She went back to the beginning of the book and was amazed yet again at the images of the fighting techniques. The basics. I could learn from this to get stronger…to survive longer! But where could she train? She couldn’t use the slave chamber, not even at night. There was no room and too many people around. And she would probably get punished or worse if she got caught training…

Suddenly, an alien bird landed on a nearby rock and chirped, startling Bulma from her troubled thoughts. Annoyed, she jumped up and cursed the bird for frightening her like it had, but when she looked in its direction she saw an old path, covered by forgotten shrubs and bushes. She closed the book and tucked it back under her robe. Her natural curiosity got the better of her and she followed the overgrown trail to where it ended, right up to the main building and a window. And it wasn’t just any window, for she recognized it as an old, rusted window that never closed, and that it was very near the slaves’ chamber. She smiled, feeling very much like she just won a prize. Someday, very soon, she would show Seripa just how strong she was going to become!