Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Variations of Fate ❯ Friendship ( Chapter 4 )

When Bulma awoke the next morning, she was obviously not in a nice mood; a frown marred what was usually a cute childish face. She tossed the sheets aside, flipped on the light and changed into the clothes her mother had left her. While brushing her hair, she glanced at the clock -- ten-thirty. Her mother should have woken her at eight-thirty -- she had people to help with!

She slammed down the brush, pulled on a pair of sandals … and then she raised her eyebrows in amazement, remembering the dragonball and her father's dragonball radar. With a bitter smile, she grabbed the bag and dumped its contents on the heap of sheets on her cot, carefully catching the dragonball radar before it fell. She turned it on; instead of one circle on the radar, there were two. One was obviously the one she had, while the other was somewhere else within the caves.

I wonder if it could be in one of the places we don't use …there's a lot of that area. These caves are huge! Bulma turned the radar off and slipped it into the kangaroo pocket of her clean overalls. Well, I'm going to go find it!

"Bulma?"

Oh no!

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Your father's brought in another group of refugees. This group really needs some help ... and there are some people your age in the group!"

"Really?"

"I hope you aren't angry that I didn't wake you up earlier."

"Oh, that's no problem, mom. I needed the sleep," she pushed the canvas covering her alcove aside and smiled at her mom.

Mrs. Briefs smiled weakly, "I'm glad you did, because I didn't want you to see what some of them looked like."

"Oh."

"Well come on, I'd like you to meet the children your age. They're really quite nice, dear, if a little frightened."

"Okay!" Bulma's reply was cheerful rather than sarcastic.

Mrs. Briefs looked into the room where the children were being tended and then ushered Bulma in; all eyes were immediately on her. Bulma looked down and pushed her toe through the pebbles on the floor.

"This is Bulma, her father rescued you from the Saiyans," Mrs. Briefs backed out of the door and motioned for the nurses to leave, too.

"Why didn't he help us sooner?" a boy with brown hair -- who was maybe two years older than Bulma -- asked, "Those bastards broke my arm and they killed my parents."

"Yeah! They killed my dad! And I bet that girl doesn't even know what a Saiyan looks like..."

"...and she probably don't even know what they do to people!" another boy chimed in.

"I do too!" Bulma glared at the children.

"How? You've lived here all your life, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then you can't know!"

"I may have lived here my entire life," Bulma yelled, "but I've seen a Saiyan! My dad lets me help with the rescues sometimes! And I saw a Saiyan kill someone!"

"Yeah right!"

"Sheltered bitch," someone muttered.

"Well I have! He tried to blast our plane!"

"I remember that!" said a redheaded girl who looked somewhat younger than Bulma, although that was probably the result of malnutrition.

"Really?" Bulma asked, her eyes wide with surprise; the angry flush left her cheeks. She looked down at her toes again, and kicked a large pebble a few inches away from her. "We -- we couldn't get all the slaves. We got maybe twenty of the most injured and two or three who weren't injured. After three years, you're the only actual group of kids my age we've saved. The Saiyans always beat kids first."

"She's right," it was the boy who had spoken first. After a long, silenced pause he continued, "but that don't mean she can understand what we've been through!"

"Yes, it does! She's seen it! Why can't you believe her! She's helping us!" the redhead stood up and reached out a thin arm to Bulma, "I'm Ava, I'm six, and I never knew my parents--"

"Figures," several children snickered at hearing that.

Ava chose to ignore them, "How old are you?"

Bulma smiled, "I'm six, too! You're going to like living here! You can be my best friend!"

Ava giggled.

"Awh, how cute," someone remarked sarcastically.

"Shut up," Bulma said, then turned to her new friend, "Ava, I'm gonna show you everything in this place! I'm sure my mom won't mind. Would you like to go?"

She nodded, her blue eyes looking trustingly into Bulma's, "But I'm kinda hungry..."

Bulma grinned, "Sure! We'll go to the cafeteria first thing!"

"Ew! It looks like pooey!" Bulma wrinkled her nose and eyed her plate suspiciously as a large blob of grayish-brown colored food was plopped down onto it. She looked over at Ava, but her new friend had eyes only for the food. She grimaced, "Don't tell me you think that stuff looks good!"

Ava laughed, "It looks a lot better than the stuff the Saiyans served us! Smells better too!"

"Oh. I guess that's true. It's just I've eaten this since I can remember -- basic food groups though, so it's healthy at least."

"Basic food whats?"

"Basic food groups, you know, you get your carbs, and your protein and your fruits and your meats and your veggies and your sugars and fats and stuff," Bulma said.

"Wow! You're smart!"

"Yep!" Bulma grinned and giggled. Ava giggled too and didn't seem to take offense.

"The Saiyans don't know a lot. They're fighters, or soldiers...or something, and they're really gross and nasty. They look like people, 'cept they have these long furry tails. And they turn into monkeys if they look at the full moon," she shuddered, "ah well, do we learn anything here? I really wanna know how to..."

She stopped when she saw a horrified expression cross Bulma's face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Yep! We have schools here and some great teachers!" she paused, "They turn into monkeys!?"

"Yep!" she giggled.

"Did you ever see it?"

Ava nodded as she and Bulma grabbed drinks for themselves.

"Were you scared?"

"Well, yeah, it's a big monkey! I thought I was gonna die!"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she smiled and sat down at a table, "I'm alive today."

Bulma took a bite of her food, and pinched her face in with disgust. She sipped on her drink, grimaced, and then smiled, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"I don't know. I've never been told a secret before, and you're my first real friend. As a slave, everyone's stealing something or trying to survive, so you don't think of friends or helping people."

"Oh. Then why did you help me in there?"

"Cause I knew you wouldn't steal from me and cause you've lived here since the Saiyans came."

Bulma made her decision right then, "Do you want to hear the secret?"

"Okay," Ava flashed her a grin.

"Okay well, I'm looking for these things called dragonballs," Bulma whispered and leaned over the table toward her new friend, "they're seven of 'em, and when you get all seven, you can make a wish!"

"You actually believe that?" Ava asked, wide-eyed.

"Yep! And when I get all seven I'm gonna wish the Saiyans would be gone!"

"WOW!"

"Sssssh!"

"Sorry."

"It's ok. It's just that people here are really nosey."

Ava laughed, "Kinda like with the other slaves. Everyone was all nosey and wanted to know what you were doing and where you'd been. They wanted to make sure you weren't gonna sneak off without 'em."

Bulma smiled, "Well … I've got an idea of where one of the dragonballs is!"

"Really?" Ava remembered to whisper that time.

"Yep, but we gotta hurry eating so we can go find it," Bulma dug into the blob on her plate, and Ava followed her example, though she didn't eat half as much as Bulma did.

"Hey, Ava, eat more than that," she said with concern.

"I can't remember eating this much at a meal in my life."

"Oh … well, as the saying goes, 'waste not, want not.' That's pretty much the way it is here, so go ahead and eat all of it."

Ava ate did as she was told, then Bulma took both their plates and set them on the middle of the table.

"Don't you have somewhere you have to put them?"

"Nope! The cleaning bots'll get 'em."

"The cleaning whats?"

"Robots!"

"Oh!"

Both girls ran from the cafeteria, and Bulma pulled Ava onto a corridor that was less used than the main ones. She pulled out the dragonball radar.

"What's that?"

"A dragonball radar; my dad made it. He's smart. Here, press there and turn it on," she passed it to Ava who did as instructed, "see. Easy as one-two-three!"

"Huh?"

"Easy as one-two-three! They're the first three numbers," Bulma explained patiently, and realized she would have a lot of explaining to do, "Do you know your numbers?"

Ava nodded, "Up until ten at least. If we didn't know, we could get beaten for it ... I just didn't understand what you meant by that ... saying."

"Oh."

Ava looked at the radar, "Hey there are two on here!"

"Yep, that's because I have one," she pointed to the closest ball, "that's the one in my room. The other one is the one we're gonna get today. So let's go!"

"Uh, Bulma … it's darker," Ava shuddered, "and I bet it's gonna be cold down there."

"I know," Bulma said, walking towards one of the walls, "but I know where my dad keeps supplies for people going down there," she frowned and then found the hidden area, where she pulled out two lanterns that had recently been charged, "Here!"

The light shone on a path that was more pebbly than sandy, and both girls slipped several times. Ava was less hurt as she was exceptionally nimble, whereas Bulma was nimble, but had scraped both her hands and stubbed her toes because she wore sandals. She had cried out because of the pain, and the pain still bothered her, but she gritted her teeth and continued.

Bulma gave her lantern to Ava, who shuddered while looking up at the vaulted ceiling of the cavern. Bulma pulled out the radar, "Hey! Not too far! Keep checking the walls! I'll tell you if we're closer or not!"

There were no openings in the walls, however.

"Are we getting warmer?" Ava asked shakily.

"Yep," Bulma was still checking the radar, "there should be an opening soon, or I hope there is."

Ava went ahead of Bulma, and suddenly started jumping up and down. It echoed in the cavern, "Bulma! Over here!"

She slipped the dragonball radar back into the kangaroo pocket of her overalls and ran towards Ava, nearly slipping on a few very loose stones. Bulma looked into the opening of a cavern and took out the radar. She squinted at it, then jumped up and down, "Ava! It says it's right here!"

Ava headed in first, holding up the lanterns, Bulma close behind her. Simultaneously they screamed: the blue-green light of the lanterns shone eerily on a very old skeleton -- and nestled against it was the dragonball. Ava turned away, and Bulma, as though in a horrified trance, stepped forward and nudged the dragonball away from the corpse.

One of the bones of the arm fell, and Bulma screamed, grabbed the dragonball and took hold of Ava's hand, pulling her out of the cavern. Ava was shaking, and Bulma was having trouble breathing. They ran back towards the inhabited cave area. Short of breath, and shaking in fear, Bulma slipped the dragonball and the dragonball radar into her pockets. Ava turned off the lanterns and handed them to Bulma, who put them away.

Then she burst into tears and sunk to the cave floor. Ava instantly knelt beside her and shook her shoulders, "Bulma don't cry! Please don't cry!"

It only managed to make her cry harder.

"If you cry, you'll make me cry!" she gave Bulma a huge hug.

Bulma stopped crying, and sniffled a little before wiping her eyes and nose on the back of her sleeves. Her eyes were wide with awe, "You mean you don't hate me?"

"No! Why would I? You're my first friend!"

"But it's my fault you saw that dead person!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Is not!"

"Yes, it is! Because, because … I told you the secret and asked if you wanted to come with me! And, and…"

"And I decided to come with you! So I saw it and it's my fault, too. So don't worry about it, k?"

Bulma smiled, sniffling, "Okay."

"Good! Let's go back just in case someone's looking for us. And we should tell someone there's a skeleton down there."

"But…"

"Do you want someone else to find it?"

"No."

"You need that place down there for people to live in."

Ava stood up, and held out her hand to Bulma, who sniffled, took the hand and was pulled up to her feet. Ava had surprising strength for someone who looked like a light summer breeze could blow her across a room.

Meanwhile, on Frieza's ship, young Prince Vegeta was busy getting his ass kicked by Zarbon, who was taking immense pleasure in finally being able to slap him around. Zarbon swung at Vegeta, who instantly hit the floor, writhing in pain.

"Get up, you worthless monkey!" Zarbon spat, and when the Prince tried to get up, he kicked him in the side, not once, but three times. Vegeta groaned, glaring up at his assailant. The fight was hardly fair, and had nearly made the Prince humble, though by any standards he was still arrogant.

"Maybe you should leave me alone, you green pretty boy!" Vegeta growled, and launched a blazing ki attack at the alien. Zarbon metamorphosed into his more powerful form, catching Vegeta by surprise. The young Saiyan stared; he had known, offhandedly, that Zarbon and Freiza could do that, but he hadn't expected Zarbon to.

"I don't appreciate being called a pretty boy, brat," Zarbon snarled, and nearly rendered Vegeta unconscious with one of his own attacks, "Is that enough for today, brat?"

"No!"

"Oh? So you think you can take more?"

"More of what?" he mustered the strength to make one last attack, which left Zarbon gasping for breath.

When he recovered, Zarbon looked through his scouter and began to laugh dangerously, "And what was that, brat? Your final attack? Your strength and power level have dropped significantly."

He kicked Vegeta sharply, sending him flying backward into the wall. He chuckled softly, his mouth twitching and turning, bowed mockingly to Vegeta's guards. Then he left, and Nappa instantly rushed to Vegeta's side, "Prince Vegeta are you --"

Vegeta cut him off while wiping the blood off his face with the back of his hand, "I do not need your concern! Call someone who knows what they are doing!"

"The regeneration tank isn't far, Prince Vegeta."

"To hell with the regeneration tank!"

"You're going in it!" Nappa's tone indicated that Vegeta better not argue, and then Nappa hit the prince with his fist and knocked him out. Nappa turned to the other horrified guards and in perhaps one of Nappa's most brilliant moments, he said, "I want everyone working in shifts, five at a time, protecting the Prince from Freiza or one of his henchmen."

"My lord Freiza," Zarbon said, kneeling in respect.

"Yes, Zarbon? Have you come to report Prince Vegeta's training?"

"Yes," Zarbon smirked, "He is a weakling, and although he had relatively good final attacks, it wouldn't be enough against any one of consequence. Nappa knocked the brat out and put him in a regeneration tank with five Saiyan guards posted every three hours. They guard him like an infant."

"He is," Freiza smirked.

Zarbon continued, "The weakest guards are posted now."

Freiza began to chuckle softly, "Then let us go now."

The five Saiyan guards immediately stood at attention as Freiza and Zarbon entered the room. They looked between each other worriedly, and then scowled as both aliens came a little too close. They had been ordered not to do anything about Freiza or Zarbon.

"Zarbon, if you will, please unravel this misunderstanding," Freiza said calmly, his head tilted to point at the uneasy Saiyans, "I believe things may be a little heated for a time to come."

Zarbon bowed to Freiza. Then he turned to the guards, "Step away from the tank."

They looked between one another.

"I said, step away from the tank."

Again, they looked between one another, and then one of them spoke up, "We cannot. We are under strict orders by Nappa, who in turn is under strict orders by King Vegeta, not to let anyone go near him."

Zarbon smothered a laugh as Freiza began to speak.

"Step away for we will kill you and your worthless Prince."

"Uh," "Huh?" and "What the --" were emitted by the guards.

"Then so be it, you have sentenced your Prince to death! You have one last chance, step away from the tank or else Prince Vegeta dies," Zarbon barked out sharply. The Saiyan stepped away from Prince Vegeta, and immediately Freiza blasted them into nothingness.

"You there! Come place the chemicals we had prepared into the tank!" Freiza shouted, pointing at a technician. They immediately hurried off, and Freiza turned to Zarbon, "We will see if our little Saiyan experiment will work!"