Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Where do I belong? ❯ Chapter 17 ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT, it characters, or anything in it; nor do I own any other licensed product/item that may appear throughout this fan fiction piece.

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SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 15 AND 16:

Cassandra went out in the middle of the night to practice flying, hoping to prove to herself and her brother that she could do it, leaving Gohan ignorant and asleep. During her flight, a gun sounds off, breaking her concentration in flight. Thus, she falls, and is captured by four men. Three men are lackeys to their leader, Sen, an ebony haired, green eyed man. After being captured, she is taken to their secluded cabin in the woods and tied down to a table.

In teasing his captured prize, Sen slowly cuts her with a large knife, the gash extending from the joint of her shoulder and neck, following the curve of her collar bone, ending at the center of the neck. Cassandra found herself unable to fight the man off, so, in a moment of clear headed thought, began to raise and lower her energy repeatedly in order to gain Gohan's attention.

Her plan succeeded as Gohan burst through the door, intent on finding who had hurt his sister. Just when Cassandra believes she has been saved, a twist of fate occurs. One of the lackeys discovers his weakness, his tail. Thus, Gohan is forced to submit and watch as Sen forced Cass to submit and rapes her. Then, he is followed by one of the lackeys as Cassandra is raped by the second man who derives sadistic pleasure from slapping her around.

All the while, Gohan is forced to watch this; unable to find the strength to save her as his only weakness is exploited. Right before the second rape, Gohan's tail is broken, pushing Gohan that much closer to unconsciousness. After a heavy fight with his anger and frustration, Gohan submits himself to his darker half (unknown to him, his Saiyan side).

Meanwhile, Vegeta is told the exploits of young Gohan Son. In this, he discovers the truth of how the child prodigy died inside of the spaceship. Bothered by the fact that one of his own race had participated in the death of the child, he leaves Capsule Corps for a night flight.

Inside of the cabin, excitement runs high in the crowd. This excitement is what causes the man holding Gohan's tail to let go, freeing him of the debilitating pressure. Once his strength returns, he is free to save his sister. He pulls the man from his sister, ending her second rape. Going `golden' (or Super Saiyan), he decapitates the man who had helped hold his sister down then punches through the midsection of the man who had held onto his tail and incidentally freed him. After a ruthless pounding on the second rapist, Gohan finishes him off with a ki blast before moving on to Sen.

Slamming Sen through the floorboards and moving to crush his throat with his foot, strangling the man who had lead in the attack. It was this time that Cassandra moved to interrupt them, stopping Sen's death. Gohan suddenly returns to himself, moving out of his `golden' state, haunted by the destruction he had reeked. Both Cassandra and Gohan then leave the cabin. In midair, Gohan looks back at the cabin where he sees Sen threaten them. In response, Gohan is able to launch a steady stream of energy, destroying the cabin as well as the four men inside.

Carrying his sister, Gohan returns to their camp, gathering their things, and relocating them to another area, far away from the cabin. All this is done while he fights to remain conscious. Once in the new area, Gohan must perform first aid on Cassandra in order to insure that Cass's cut does not become infected. The depth and danger of the wound forced Gohan to sew it up. Midway through the process, Cassandra passes out from the pain and trauma of the day. After dressing his sister and putting her inside of her tent, he collapses on his sleeping bag outside of the tent, falling into unconsciousness.

During his morning flight, Vegeta finds an unknown feeling tugging on his consciousness. Expanding his senses, he scans the energy signals of those around him, feeling as a weakened ki and another ki are suddenly extinguished from existence. At this same moment, he is knocked from the air by a rush of wind. Moving to discover what had happened, Vegeta finds himself at what had previously been a mountain home. Now, it was just a pile of ash and debris. Finding trace amounts of an unrecognizable ki, Vegeta feels an absence, something unexplainable missing. Intent on discovering just what was missing; Vegeta decides that it will come to him. And that one day, he would know just what it was, and it would change the course of their lives as they knew them.

~*~

AN: Okay, so it's not exactly short, but I tried. It is kind of hard to transform about 18 pages of work into a short summary. I believe I covered all of the points. Mind you, dialogue (which may come up later, I'm not sure) was excluded from this. I've been told what I wrote wasn't too bad, but I'm trying to accommodate anyone and everyone. Now, here is chapter 17.

PLEASE NOTE: In the last chapter, Gohan did NOT ascend to Super Saiyan II, nor did he even go Ultra. He just transformed to a normal Super Saiyan. I promise you, any ascension he may have will be much more detailed.

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Chapter 17

The three-quarter moon had risen high into the night's sky, the stars twinkling against the midnight blue background. Slowly, Gohan's eyes opened but the blinding pain coursing down the length of his body caused him to immediately shut his eyes once more. Painfully, he rolled slightly, slightly opening his obsidian eyes to find a form behind him. There, in the silvery moonlight, he was able to see his sister realigning the bones of his tail and wrapping it in a bandage. Once she was done, she turned to him, a small smile playing on her lips.

"I guess that hurt a bit more than me pulling it eh?"

"Just a little bit Cass . . . just a little bit." Sighing, Gohan moved to stand up, the pain slowly ebbing away. To Gohan, it was nothing anymore. He had been in much more pain then that just the day before. Stretching his muscles, he stood, surveying their new camp. They were in a small clearing in relatively flat land, trees on one side and lake on the other. "Looks like I won't be throwing you off any cliffs here . . . but maybe the lake."

Cassandra gave a small half smile as she limped towards the lake's crystal waters. A steady sound filtered through the trees. Looking towards one end, she found herself looking at a large waterfall. Delighted, Cassandra pointed it out to her brother. Then, suddenly, her demeanor changed. Looking shamefully down at the ground, she slumped back to camp. Gohan was rather disturbed by her behavior.

"Cass, maybe you should go for a swim, clean up and all." He said gently, knowing that his words would bring up a very delicate subject. He had no clue how to handle a victim to what she had gone through. He may have been there, but he was pushing back the images of violence inflicted upon his sister as well as the violence he had caused. He knew that his sister's well being was the most important thing right now. Noticing she hadn't answered, he glanced over towards her, only to find her sitting at the edge of the lake, staring at nothing.

"Hey," he said quietly as he moved to sit next to her. "I'm sorry Cass . . . if only I had been there sooner. I could have saved you. I'm sorry."

Cassandra merely continued to look out at the water. Glancing at her brother, she sighed. "It's alright Gohan. I'm okay. Don't worry about me and don't blame yourself. I'm going to go lay down." With that, she stalked off, shutting the tent flap behind her.

Shocked, Gohan merely stared at the water, unknowing of what to do. The cool night air played with his spiky locks as he lowered himself to the shore. It was almost like a night, years before, when he had lain upon their lake's shore at home. Yet it had been with his sister, the two of them talking and just enjoying the night. Those dark days seemed so far away, the memories untouchable. His dark eyes flickered to the closed off tent, beckoning his sister silently to come and talk to him. Perhaps it was too soon, but he just wanted his sister to be okay. So, with the horrors they had faced, Gohan decided to wait. He would wait and see, hoping for the best.

~*~

Days passed as the two youths applied themselves to healing. The days soon grew into a week and continued to move on. With each passing day Gohan grew more and more worried. His tail had healed, only a slight knot at the site of the break was left. The speed at which he was able to heal had always startled him. He had noticed that many of Cassandra's cuts had healed, her long wound doing so nicely. But he had also noticed other things in his sister.

With the passing days she refused to look him in the eye. At meals she merely picked at the food before her. Gohan had tried to get her to talk to him, but each time she merely replied with `I'm fine.' Yet, Gohan knew she was not. Granted, with them being secluded from humanity, neither had anyone else to talk to, but Cassandra barely spoke. If she were to respond to Gohan, it was generally a one word answer. It was rare that she left the tent, and Gohan had never seen her clean up, though he knew that she had to be because every time he returned from hunting or fishing or the light training he was doing, she would be dressed differently and her hair would be wet. As for her clothes, she would generally dress in layers, shorts under training pants, tshirts under large bulky sweaters or long coats. No matter the heat of the weather, she was constantly dressed for artic weather, despite the fact that it was the middle of the summer.

Drawing his conclusions from her actions, he knew she was not alright. The fact that she flinched from his touch so much was haunting him, knowing that the trust between the two of them had been broken. And then, it happened.

Gohan, as usual, had asked his sister if she was okay. Her response, as always, was a simple `I'm fine.' By this time, Gohan's patience had worn thin and this was the last shred he had. Instead of the calm conversation he wished to have with her, he exploded.

"Will you quit lying to me? I can damn well tell that you are not fine! If you were fine, you wouldn't be avoiding me. If you were fine, you would be eating right. If you were fine, you wouldn't be flinching from me every time I try to come near you or even look at you. So will you stop it and just tell me!" Panting with rage, the fire reflecting in his obsidian eyes, Gohan stared at his sister who was merely gaping at him.

As she got over her shock, Cassandra glared at her brother. "Don't you dare yell at me like that Gohan! You have no idea what I've been through. You don't know what its like to be torn open like that; to have a man take pleasure from your pain and suffering. Don't stand there and tell me what I am and what I'm not. If you want to act like you can understand, then you might as well go throw yourself into that lake and drown for all I care." With that, she moved to head back to her tent for the solitude that she sought for.

Gohan, however, would not allow this. As he grabbed her arm, a small cry escaped from Cassandra's lips as she moved away from him. Gohan's dark eyes began to take on a wild appearance, exaggerated by the glow of the fire. "See! This is what I mean. I can't come near you without you running away. I'm supposed to be the one you trust, the one that you come to when you need me. I'm your brother Cassandra! I need you to trust me and tell me things. We need to get through this or maybe I'm not the one you need. Do you want to go home? I've been thinking that we should . . . mom and dad could do a lot more for you. There is a lot of shit that we can't understand and you should see a doctor. Please . . . Cass . . ."

Horror was plainly written on her face at the mention of her parents. With a quivering voice, she spoke. "No . . . no Gohan. Mom and Dad can not know what happened, they can never know."

"But . . ."

"I said no! You want me to talk with you but you won't even listen to that simple thing. I will not let them know and I will not be poked and prodded by a doctor who doesn't give a shit what happened."

"Fine." Gohan growled out, frustrated with his sister.

"Now that this is settled, I'm going to my tent and lay down. Don't bother me." Turning on her heel, she moved to leave once more. But once again, Gohan was not going to let her.

"No. You are going to talk to me."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm your brother."

At his words, Cassandra's face darkened with anger. Desperate to gain her freedom, she lashed out at the boy in front of her. "Brother? No. That is what you are not. You are something my parents decided to take in, some freak that we can't get rid of. You are far more trouble than you are worth Gohan. If you were my brother, you would have saved me from those men. If you were my brother, I wouldn't have been raped. If you were my brother, we never would have been having this discussion. No Gohan. You are not my brother and never will be. You are nothing to me; never was and never will be." At her words, Cassandra watched as Gohan's face fell, hurt plainly written upon him. For once, guilt stabbed her heart.

Inside, Gohan was falling apart. Each of her words had struck him hard, each like a blow of a knife, cutting deep within his soul. He made no move to stop his sister from leaving the camp. Instead, he merely stared at the fire, oblivious to her presence which lingered at the edge of camp. Beneath the dull presence, hurt and confusion raged. To parts of him, what she said had been so true. He was taken in by her parents, his own parents . . . unknown. He should have stopped it all, but he hadn't. It was his fault, all his fault.

"Gohan . . . I-I'm sorry. I-"

Cassandra's words were quickly cut off with his voice. "Shut up. I am nothing to you, so let's keep it that way." With that, Gohan blasted into the night air, only his trail of energy left behind.

Gohan landed miles away from camp, deep into the mountains of an unknown area. Throwing himself to the ground, he allowed her hurtful words to run through his head again and again. Staring up at the night's sky, Gohan attempted to regain control over his thoughts and emotions. He refused to allow himself to cry or wallow in self pity. He was unfit for such things; after all, he couldn't even save his own sister. His dark eyes gazed at the tiny stars that dotted the sky, following them to the full moon. For the first time in his life, he stared at the glowing orb.

It was rather odd that he had never seen it, but something told him never to look at it. Now, gazing at the large solar mass, he became transfixed. A buzz of energy ran through his tail and up his spine as he gazed at the satellite. Soon, energy was zipping through his body, his bones slowly shifting and reshaping themselves. All the while, he found himself unable to tear his eyes from the full moon. Moments later, a large, dark and hairy form stood and a loud, bone-chilling roar echoed over the land.

~*~

A pair of dark eyes, illuminated by the silvery glow of the moon, stared at the monstrous beast upon the hillside. Safe on the top of a near by cliff, he watched as the large ape began tearing at the trees and pounding at the Earth. Only a few times before had he ever seen such a transformation, each time had ended at a relatively destructive end. It was now that he understood the feelings deep within him. He had always felt as if something was missing, and since the merge, he knew just what it had been. He had known the truth.

There before him stood one of three demi-saiyans on the planet Earth. He had found the boy just days before, unable to understand the turmoil that the boy seemed to be in. He had also found himself unable to gain a ki reading from the boy, startling the usually unshakeable figure. Unsure of just what was going on, he had decided to keep an eye on the boy, looking out for one of Earth's most powerful warriors.

With loud crashes, the figure upon the cliff watched as the out of control ape destroyed miles of surrounding landscape. With a slight sigh of annoyance and a few curses, the figure took to the air, finally deciding to put an end to the Saiyan's transformation. Charging up a large blast, he hurled the glistening energy towards the moon above them. Within moments, the natural satellite exploded, pieces of the moon spreading throughout the galaxy. The world plunged into darkness, the thick blanket of night covering the planet.

The large beast's head turned in multiple directions, confused as to what had happened. Its crimson eyes narrowed as it caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure that stood, unmoving, in the dark sky. Before it could advance towards the figure, the beast began to shrink, once again returning to the form of a young boy, who collapsed, naked, to the ground.

Shrouded in the shadows of the dark night, the figure moved towards the boy. Kicking him roughly over onto his stomach, he lifted the boy's golden tail. Gently, his hand's brushed the soft fur as he held it upright and taunt. The figures hand became illuminated with a golden glow with sharpening energy as he moved to remove the tail. Just seconds before he could cut off the troublesome appendage, a voice broke through the silence of the night.

"Gohan!" it cried. "Gohan, where are you?" The rustling in the brush soon joined in the sounds as a small figure fought her way through the tree branches, coming upon the destruction, as well as the two figures in the middle of it all. A gasp escaped her pale lips as she recognized the nude form that lay limp upon the ground. After all, who else did she know that had a tail?

"Leave him alone!" she cried out, attempting to cover up the fear that radiated from her form. "My brother didn't do anything to you; j-just leave him a-alone." Cautiously, she watched as the figure, draped in shadows, let go of the slender appendage and moved away from Gohan's nude form.

As the figure vanished from sight, she ran, falling to her knees beside her brother's prone form. Gathering him into her arms, tears rained down her face as sobs broke from her lips. "I'm so sorry Gohan. I'm so sorry." This was all that could be heard between her all consuming sobs as she rocked the unconscious form within her arms. Her trembling fingers slowly pulled off her long outer coat, covering him, protecting him from what she could. Ignoring the rain that had begun to fall heavily upon them, she merely cradled her brother's form, unknowing of just why he was in such a state. Just what had that man done to her brother?

~*~

As the sun rose, its golden rays landed upon a pair of crumpled figures in the center of destruction. Rubbing her eyes, Cassandra slowly sat up from her place, collapsed over the half covered form of her brother. Immediately, she jumped from the ground, her brother falling roughly from her lap onto the unforgiving earth. Shocked, she backed away from him. Slowly, the memory of the events of the day before hit her. A sorrowful look appeared on her eyes as she once again approached him tentatively.

Kneeling beside him, she rolled him onto his back, gently slapping his face, trying to awaken him. Slowly, sleepy onyx eyes opened to meet concerned dark blue ones. Upon seeing those dark and familiar eyes, Cassandra threw herself at him, sobbing into his chest. Startled, Gohan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as she poured out her tear of pain, fear, confusion, and weeks of torment.

As she slowly stopped, pulling out of her brother's embrace, her tear filled blue eyes searched his face for any sign of emotion. Gohan studied her back, wondering just what had brought that on. As Cassandra's face reddened and her eyes moved very intently to the ground, Gohan realized that he was only half covered by one of her overcoats.

Blushing, Gohan's eyes searched for his clothes. Only able to find the ripped remains of his gi, Gohan was left confused. "What happened?" he asked, his confusion lacing his words. "I know I came out here dressed . . . I was so angry and . . . hurt." His dark eyes focused on her, the true pain and torment that he was going showing itself to her for the first time. "I was just looking at the stars thinking . . . and I don't know. That's all I remember."

Cassandra's quiet voice rang through the damaged land. "I . . ." Her face crumbled, tears leaking from her eyes. "I'm sorry Gohan. I didn't mean what I said. I was just so mad and . . . and . . ." A hiccup escaped her lips as she worked to gain hold of herself once more. "As for what happened," her eyes glancing around at the destroyed scenery "I don't know. When I found you . . . how about we go back to camp and talk about it."

One dark eyebrow rose at her words. Pushing off the dread that he had felt at her words, Gohan stood, wrapping the jacket around his waist. Taking one last glance, one full of curiosity and befuddlement, around the land, the two teens headed back to the normality of camp, each of them filled with questions, some would be answered, and others left to remain a mystery.

~*~

SNEAK PEEK: None.

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