Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unconditional Bonds (revamped) ❯ A Friend in Need ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three: A Friend In Need

They had all gathered at Capsule Corporation for brunch: Goku, Chi-chi, Gohan, Videl, Yamcha, Krillen, 18, and Piccolo. Vegeta had been missing for nearly a week now; apparently he was hiding or dead. His ki was undetectable so it was anyone's guess as to his fate. Bulma was extremely distraught over the matter; luckily Billy was there to comfort her.

"Poor Bulma," Chi-Chi sympathized, "this has all been so hard on her." She said this to her hopeful future daughter-in-law, Videl. The girl made a noise in agreement, although she really didn't know who the prince was. So she settled on nodding whenever Chi-Chi went on about how much of a brute Vegeta was or how Bulma should have kicked him out years ago.

The rest of the gang bent over backwards for the frazzled blue-haired woman. All but one, and he stayed in the background with a look on of disgust on his face.

`What a fucking whore,' Piccolo thought to himself. He had just received the news and wanted to backhand Bulma for her treachery. And that's what he considered it: treachery, pure and simple. True, Vegeta wasn't lovey dovey like this spineless fop who was hanging all over Bulma, but he was a good man.

The green warrior studied the skinny outsider, whom currently had his noodle of an arm draped around the harlot, with a critical eye. ``Billy', what kind of name is that? Look at him. He's a pansy if ever I saw.' He was tall, not as tall as himself, but a healthy eight inches taller than Vegeta. Which isn't saying much, without the hair, Vegeta stands about 5 foot 7. But this Billy character looked as if he could be knocked over by a strong breeze. There seemed to be nothing to him, as if his clothes stood up on their own accord. And that mug of his; the Namek cringed. A round face and jovial features were all framed by neatly cut auburn hair. Yet he had an unusually large cleft chin and a pronounced Roman nose that looked as if it had been broken a few times. His hands too, were unnaturally big, as were his feet that were lodged in shoes that could have doubled for pontoon boats.

Piccolo smirked despite himself. The man looked like a walking Picasso painting; mismatched and ugly. But apparently Bulma either found this attractive, or looked past it. In fact, the warrior's initial response upon meeting him was "Wow, you must have one hell of a personality." Billy just laughed; it was an unpleasant braying sound that hurt his ears. He then overheard Chi-Chi commenting on how handsome the newbie was. He shrugged, humans were strange; he never could understand them.

But enough was enough. Vegeta was gone, hiding, hurt, dead, who knows. And no one seemed to care all that much. True, Goku had gone to look for him but he gave up after a couple of days to come back and console Bulma.

`Asshole,' Piccolo couldn't help but think. And not for the first time he wondered why he considered this group his so-called friends. Well he did consider Vegeta a friend, and a true one at that. Other than Gohan, probably the best one he'd ever had.

Needless to say, the ill-tempered prince and he had a lot in common and occasionally they would spar together. Though, he had to admit, it wasn't much of a sparring session as Vegeta could mop the floor with him. So they usually settled on throwing ki blasts at inanimate objects, or simply sitting silently back to back in a contemplative state. They didn't talk much, which was somewhat of a comfort. Gohan was talkative and Piccolo was not. While he was content to listen to the boy's chatter, it was usually over trivial nothings. When Vegeta spoke it was with purpose and brutal truth. The green warrior admired and respected that. Of course there were the good-natured taunts when sparring, but that went both ways, and Vegeta was more than amused with Piccolo's sharp wit.

It was a solid friendship that had developed slowly over the years. And now his friend was in trouble, and no one was doing a damn thing about it.

He shook his head at the group in disgust, and without warning blasted off towards the sky. Every one looked up in shock, but after a few moments went back to eating their food and talking with their unfortunate, troubled hostess.

He flew…and he flew...and he flew some more. Hours passed. He had first checked out Vegeta's usual training places. Since the prince was trying to hide himself, he knew it was the least likely, but he couldn't afford to take any chances.

After nearly three hours had passed he was becoming antsy, "Damn it, man, where are you?"

He then stopped in mid-flight. "Okay," he reasoned, "if I was wanting to hide from the world were would I go?" He thought about it, keeping in mind that Vegeta's thoughts were probably erratic at the time. If the Saiyan were pushing his ki down he would have to travel on foot, which meant he wouldn't be crossing any oceans. Logically, he had to be within 500 kilometers of Capsule Corp.

Piccolo narrowed his search, and within the hour he could feel a faint ki, but just barely. If he weren't searching as intensely as he had been he never would have picked it up. Yes, there it was but it was much too weak for his liking.

His black eyes searched the heavily forested terrain below. He abruptly dropped from the sky and landed lightly on his feet, his cape billowing out behind him. He fanned his senses out as far as he could and within a couple of minutes he felt the exact location of the dying signature. He moved hurriedly through the forest, seeing along the way several broken branches where something had barreled through without regard or care. And there, in the mud, his eyes focused on a small boot print that could only belong to the Saiyan Prince.

The Namek picked up the pace, moving like liquid across the forest floor. He didn't call out his friend's name, that could have startled him and set him running again or maybe even attack. And Piccolo didn't have any desire to fight Vegeta, especially in the state the prince was in. The Namek's best bet was to sneak up on the distraught warrior. He stopped dead in his tracks and repressed a gasp.

There he was, strewn out face down in a tiny pool, his gloved hand draped over a fallen log. Piccolo wasted no time and ran to his side. He lifted his face from the mire that was slowly drowning him, and turned him gently, cradling him. He was still breathing, but it was shallow and erratic- obstructed. His complexion was deathly pale and he looked gaunt and it was then that the mighty prince's ki began to flicker.

Piccolo's eyes widened in alarm, gently he shook the smaller man's shoulders in an attempt to rouse him.

"Vegeta?"

Nothing.

"Stubborn bastard," he muttered, jostling him more roughly this time. "Wake up."

Nothing.

Piccolo's concern escalated, his shaking becoming more violent.

"Vegeta, this isn't funny. Now wake the fuck up!"

Nothing.

Panic settled on the Namek, he laid the prince down and crossed his hands over the Saiyan's chest in an attempt to pump out any fluid. When this didn't work, he slapped him across the cheek out of desperation.

"Fucking asshole!" he swore loudly, a note of panic in his voice. " I didn't come all the way out here looking for your worthless ass just for you to die! Come on!" Another slap. "WAKE UP!" More pumping, but this time he added some of his ki, which was a gamble as the force could kill him if he wasn't careful. "Damn you!" he cried raising his hand.

With that last forceful smack, the Prince's head jerked sideways and he coughed up a mixture of mud, water, and blood. Piccolo quickly set him upright, and pounded on his back while he hacked up the rest of the liquid that had settled in his lungs. The Prince was on his knees gasping and gagging and finally dry heaving when there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up.

Piccolo crouched behind him, supporting his small frame as it racked with convulsions. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Vegeta took a deep breath and settled back, his body finally relaxing. His dulled black eyes rolled backwards as he leaned against the Namek.

Several minutes past before he realized he was leaning against someone and not something. With a great effort he slowly turned his head to look up at his rescuer. His vision was terribly blurry and all he could really make out was a green blob wearing a white blob.

"Pic..Piccolo?" he gasped.

"Yeah, you stupid ape." He smirked down at him, relieved to hear his voice. "You picked a fine place to pass out; face down in mud puddle. You're not too bright, are you?"

Vegeta blinked up at him dazedly.

Either not realizing he was completely leaning against the Namek or not caring, he settled his head against the other warrior's chest.

"Go away," there was deep breath in between his words. "Leave me be…I'm going back to sleep," his eyes closed.

"Oh the hell you are." Piccolo shook him gently, splashing water on his face from a nearby puddle.

Vegeta moaned and thrashed, coming back to more or less alertness, anger apparent on his face.

"DAMN YOU! FUCKING NAMEK! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Afraid not."

"I didn't ask you to help me! Now go away, leave me in peace!"

Piccolo chuckled.

"Since when did I ever listen to you, hmm?"

Vegeta grunted and shut his eyes, again he was shaken but this time his head was swiftly dunked in the small pool that had nearly claimed his life.

"ARGH!!! I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed as he was brought back up for air. He thrashed, but he had no energy and went limp in the Namek's grasp. He silently seethed at the taller man who regarded him with amusement.

"You're in no position to argue with me." His eyes narrowed and his voice went cold. "I know what you've done, Vegeta, and I will not allow you to check out like a coward."

Vegeta's mouth set in a tight line and he looked away to the ground.

Piccolo sighed.

He stood up with the Prince in his arms.

"Put me down!" he commanded. "I can stand on my own two feet."

"You're not going to try to go to sleep are you?" Full well knowing that `sleep' meant lying down and letting death claim him.

After a moment of silence…

"No."

Piccolo eyed him, "Do I have your word?"

Vegeta shot a nasty look at him, well tried to, his vision was still fuzzy. "Yes."

The Namek nodded and placed the warrior on his feet. Piccolo had to give him credit; he stood there a whole 15 seconds before slumping to his knees. Vegeta frowned at himself and tried to stand back up. After about the fifth try he gave up and sat on his rear in the mud, staring angrily up at the Namek.

"Do you need-

"NO!" Vegeta shouted, insulted.

"Stubborn ass."

"Go away!"

"Now what kind of friend would I be if I did that?"

Vegeta growled at him.

Piccolo grinned, well at least he still had spunk. He studied Vegeta a moment. He looked terrible and he told him so. "Vegeta, you look like shit, and you don't smell much better."

Vegeta glared at him but made no reply; instead he tried once again to get to his feet. By this time, Piccolo had had enough. He scooped the protesting Saiyan up in his arms and took to the air. At first Vegeta struggled and called him every name in the book, but finally he grew too weary and settled back.

"When's the last time you've eaten?" the Namek asked not looking down.

He felt more than saw the smaller stature man shrug. Piccolo grew worried, Saiyans had to consume large amounts of food to keep up their strength. Vegeta had been missing for nearly a week and if he hadn't eaten in all that time the situation was direr than he first thought. He wasn't going to last long if he didn't get some food in his system.

The prince was like a rag doll in his arms, his head lolling around with each shift of movement. Piccolo felt an odd pang in his chest and tightened his hold. He couldn't let this man die; he simply wouldn't allow it. He willed Vegeta the strength to keep breathing while he flew as fast as possible to Kami's Lookout.

"We're nearly there, just hold on. I'll have Dende patch you up, but first things first, dinner."

There was silence, save for deep ragged breathing. A few minutes had passed when the prince finally made a noise.

"Piccolo?"

The voice was feeble, nearly child-like. Unknowingly, Piccolo increased his speed at the sound of it.

"What?"

Deep breathing.

"I'm tired."

The Namek felt his chest clench.

"I know you are. I promise once we get you fed and cleaned up you can go take a nap."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, but right now you have to stay awake for me. You got that?"

"Okay" the Prince said, so quietly that Piccolo nearly didn't hear it.