This is another filler chapter for Dissension and Punishment. It is supposed to happen more at the beginning of the story, when Trunks and Goten were still exploring planet Vegeta, although I made them a little closer to each other than they were in the real deal. I made this filler because there will be a mention of the so called prison planet in the next chapter of Dissension and Punishment (which I will update later on today) and I just wanted to write a little about it.
Not yaoi, but fluff. Enjoy :)
Trunks turned his head on a side for the twentieth time that night. He wasn't sure if it was 'the middle of the night' or not, because these damned Saiyans didn't seem to have the same concept of time as the people on his planet. They didn't even have clocks…
He decided to get up anyway. There was no use lying in bed. He went to the window and leaned his forehead against it. He was too excited to go to sleep. Heck, he didn't even change into his sleeping clothes. Why should he? He would leave very soon anyway…
The city lights seemed to be in competition with the stars above. Trunks sketched a smile. If only they were sneaking in the city… He straightened his back and carefully opened the window. He hoped that Tanap was in his damned room sleeping and not snooping around at his door. He concentrated a little. No, there was no one outside hid door. He took a deep breath. The cold air filled his lungs and that instantly shrugged off any speck of tiredness from his system. It was a little chilly though.
He went over to his wardrobe and took out his long red cape. Not that it kept him warm, but he thought that it might come in handy. He clipped it on to the straps of his armor and went back to the window. He had to wait for him…He better not have fallen asleep and forgotten all about it!
Goten was staring at the darkened ceiling. It was almost time to go. He turned his head on a side and tried to make out Gohan's face, see if he was sleeping. But as usual, his brother was buried under the covers, an arm hanging over the edge of the bed. Goten carefully sat up in bed. He knew Goahn was a light sleeper so he had to be quiet.
With extreme care, he took his armor and pants from the chair where he had let them on and tiptoed outside of the room, startling as Gohan growled something in his sleep. He was probably arguing with someone again. Goten closed the door to their room and dashed to the bathroom. In there he quickly got dressed and for some reason, he examined himself in the mirror before he left. It's not like he would even see his face properly, why did he bother…
Turning off the light to the bathroom, Goten had to fumble in the dark careful not to bump into something. He truly hoped that his father would not wake up in that exact moment and see him all dressed up and ready to leave. Although Gohan used to sneak out when he was in his late teens and no one scolded him. But these days everyone seemed really interested in his private affairs.
As he headed towards the hallway, he bumped into the armchair and almost fell over it. He tried hard not to curse and hastened his pace. Really careful not to shut the door too loud, Goten finally breathed in relief once he was out. He took in the cold night's breeze and already the hairs on his arms stood on end. Maybe he should've taken his long-sleeved undershirt, but hell! He won't go back in there just for that. He took off towards the city…towards the court to be more precise.
Trunks was standing squat down on the windowsill, watching over the city. He smiled as he felt like a fictional superhero from his home planet in that moment. Just as he was wondering if Goten would ever show up, his senses picked up that familiar energy. And there he was. A small speck on the dark sky. Trunks plunged out of the window and then soared upwards to Goten.
"Thought you'd never show up." Trunsk greeted.
" I had to be careful," Goten replied as he examined the prince's outfit. Yes, he was more prepared for this expedition that he was. " Shall we go?"
"Yeah…" Trunks said and they took off away from the city. The prince however looked longingly at the illuminated streets and at the small dots that were Saiyans swarming around. He wished he were able to mingle with them…
They flew in silence for a few long minutes. Trunks had no idea where Goten was taking him, or how the low-class could still see anything in that darkness. Everything looked the same to him.
"Over here," Goten announced after a few more minutes. He plunged downwards, the prince following him. They landed on what seemed to be a cliff covered in moss and short soft herbs.
"We can still see the city," he noted happily when he saw the tiny glimmering lights of the city in the distance. "So, this is it, right?"
"Yes," Goten said and sat down. The prince followed. They examined their whereabouts for a moment or two, enough time for their eyes to get completely accustomed to the darkness. The prince dangled his feet over the cliff's edge.
"Aren't you afraid that the big bad wolves will come and eat us?" he asked cunningly.
"There are no wolves here. And even if there were…I'm not afraid of wolves," Goten said bravely and lay on his back.
"Well, aren't you the nature boy…" the prince commented and slowly lay on his back too. He sighed. "Oh, wow…!"
His eyes were mesmerized by the amount of shiny stars! There must have been billions…trillions of them! So many! He had never seen so many clusters of large bright stars before. And they all seemed so close!
"I have to hand it to you, Goten, you were right." He said and Goten smiled as he sensed the excitement and amazement from his voice. "They're far brighter than in the city…but this is insane!"
"I thought you'd like it," Goten said proud of himself. He turned his head to his left and couldn't hold back his smile when he distinguished the prince's thrilled features. He looked like an overjoyed kid again.
They spent a few moment in silence, scanning out the enormity of the universe that was displayed before them. Trunks didn't know where to look first. The stars were fascinating with their small twinkles of light. It looked like they were dancing…or pulsating…like little cold hearts lost in the darkness of the universe. But he also couldn't help feeling like he was hanging on the verge of a cliff –he actually was on the verge of a cliff-, but he felt like if he moved a little he might fall into that mass of stars and be lost forever.
He gripped the grass under his fingers as if to keep himself steady. He then chuckled at his own insecurity.
"What?" Goten asked.
"It's kinda freaky, don't you think? It's like you risk getting sucked in there any minute…"
"Yeah, I get that sometimes too…when I stare too much…then I get dizzy," Goten said.
"Do you usually come here?"
"No, but I did discover this place on my own. And sometimes I and my brother came here…when we were in better terms…"
"You don't sound like you like him too much. Why is that?"
"He's…well, the fact that he's smarter than your average low-class turned him into an arrogant dick, but we've always had a tensed relationship. He never liked me…although sometimes he could actually be decent. I don't know, lately he's just messed up. Can we not talk about Gohan?"
"Okay," the prince chuckled. He never had a brother, but he had many close friends in his gangs whom he considered to be like his brothers. He never felt alone with them.
Had…
This was the first time he thought about them in years. What great times he had with them. Sure, living on the streets wasn't at all fun, but being surrounded by people like him made this problem less disturbing. They would get into all sorts of troubles…all the time! But they always managed to escape, mostly because of him. He was the strongest person on that planet, although he never actually trained too much (unless you counted running away from the police as training). It seems like he was simply born strong. And he used that in his advantage many times. They venerated him! And he had to say that loved it!
He missed them. He even missed hearing their voices…making jokes, and simply sticking together…being around people who really knew him and understood him…
"Your Highness?"
A cold sense of reality smacked him in the face as Goten broke his chain of thought. This was his reality now. He was here, on this god forsaken planet, surrounded by barbaric and down right scary people. And he was alone. Alone and far away from everything that he called home or something similar to that. He turned his head at Goten.
"You turned awfully quiet," the low-class explained in a small voice.
"I got…lost in my thoughts," Trunks said trying to hide his regret for coming back from his nostalgic thoughts. But Goten was his friend now. Sure, he was one of them, and he was very different from him, but at least he was not alone. He had someone, and that was something. He smiled as he looked at how the stars got mirrored in Goten's large black eyes. There was something about Goten that he liked more than about his old (dead) friends. Maybe they were more alike than he actually thought, maybe they shared something that none of them was actually aware of, that something that drew them closer together, that something that couldn't be explained.
"You know," the prince said after a while. "I've been meaning to ask, what is that planet over there. Who inhabits it?" He pointed his index finger at a relatively close by planet that Trunks had mistaken for a moon for a couple of times. Then he saw that the planet's actual moon was somewhere in the east and it was barely a crescent. It would take another two years for it to be full and then the Saiyans had to be really careful what they did not to look at it, unless they wanted to destroy their own planet, or be killed by their king if any accident happened.
"That, your Highness," Goten began, enjoying having the role of the narrator for the prince. It made him feel useful for someone for the first time in his life. "That is our prison planet. It doesn't actually have a na-"
"Prison planet?"
"Yes. As I was saying, it doesn't have a name. There, as you can guess, is where the king sends the so called 'undesirables'."
"Meaning?"
"Those whom the king doesn't execute on the spot, but sends to be rehabilitated…although-"
"Does anyone even come back?"
Goten pursed his lips and turned his head at the prince. If only he would stop interrupting him all the time. The prince looked at him too. Then he chuckled.
"Sorry. I have this annoying habit of never letting people finish their sentences. Go on. I'll keep my comments for the end."
"…as I was saying, it's where the king sends those that committed high treason. Sometimes the offence is really big and he just executes them, other times he considers that maybe the offender might be reformed, so he sends them there. But…I never heard of anyone coming back. I head that the regime there is horrible…down right horrible…"
Goten's voice faded away as he remembered the horror stories his grandfather used to tell him and Gohan about that place. He didn't know from where Bardock knew all those gruesome details, but the thing was that they left a great mark on him as a child and they gave him nightmares for a long time.
"So, no one actually lives there…" the prince said to fill the silence that got between them. Goten cleared his voice.
"There's actually an interesting story about that planet. No one really knows if it's for real, but-"
"So, it's a legend? Oh, sorry. Go on."
"Yeah, it's some sort of legend. So, the story goes that back in the day…when the Saiyans just began conquering, that planet was the first one they landed on, because it was the closest. It is said that that planet was inhabited only by beautiful treacherous females."
"Only females?! How is that even possible…?"
"Gohan told me that they were supposed to actually be hermaf… hermna… hermaf…"
"Hermaphrodites?"
"Yes. But the thing was that they were stunningly beautiful. The first Saiyans that landed there are thought to have been ensnared by their enchanting songs and appearances. But they never came back on the planet Vegeta. So, another pair of Saiyans was sent there. What they saw was their predecessors' carcasses nicely displayed at the gates of the city. The bitches had eaten them."
Goten turned his head to see if the prince still seemed interested. Trunks had his eyebrows raised, waiting to find out more. " These Saiyans were also greeted by these kind and fragile looking creatures, who begged them not to kill them, but these Saiyans didn't seem to fall for that crap and they threatened them. Then, the females showed their true form. They were vile monsters…with big sharp fangs and long sharp claws ready to kill them like they killed the previous visitors. But the Saiyans managed to exterminate them and clean up the planet."
Trunks remained silent for a few more seconds, thinking that there might be more to the story, but seeing that Goten didn't say anything anymore, he started chuckling. Goten frowned.
"What's so funny?"
"What a nice piece of Saiyan folklore you got there. Vile women ready tear men apart. Sounds more like a symbol of men's fear of women."
"I have no idea what you just said, your Highness. But it's for real! Everyone knows this story!"
"Yeah…whatever. But it's actually interesting…they sounds like the mermaids from my home planet. They were mythological creatures too."
"Mermaids? Mythological? These were for real!"
"You just said that no one knows if it's for real!" Trunks laughed. Goten seemed to be pouting his lip. "But it was interesting nevertheless. A prison planet…I wonder if my dad will ever allow me to visit it." He slapped his own forehead. "My father! Damn, I keep calling him my 'dad', even though he hates that."
"Why does his Majesty hate you calling him 'dad' ?"
"I really don't know…it's probably too intimate of a term for him. He's…really not how I imagined having a father would be…"
Goten hesitated. "How was it on your planet, your Highness? Do you miss it?"
"What do you think?" Trunks sneered. "Actually, I only miss it because it was my home. I was more like them than I am like you Saiyans." He laughed nervously. "I guess this is the down side of being a half-breed. You're a freak on either planet."
A gust of wind blew from their left. Goten shivered and patted his arms.
"We can go if you're too cold," Trunks said.
"Didn't we say that we want to catch the sunrise?" Goten said with an awkward smile, because he was actually really cold. Trunks sat up. Goten thought that he was going to leave, but he saw that the prince was actually unclipping his cape from his armor. He turned to Goten and covered him with the material.
"Wh…your Highness? What are you-"
"Shut up. This is what happens when you're too hardcore for long sleeve."
"I'm not too hardcore for…ah, for fuck's sake," Goten muttered as the prince lay on his back again. He knew why he had taken his cape with him. He smiled and looked at Goten, who was still pouting at him.
"Don't get me that look, we're going to be here all night." Trunks said half laughing.
"Please never do that again, your Highness," Goten said. "It's humiliating for me…"
"Yeah yeah, Saiyans pride, blah blah," Trunks said and brushed his arm against Goten's. He noticed how his senses suddenly woke up. He tried to be subtle and just press his shoulder against the low-class' as he got a tad closer to him. Goten didn't move away, although he also noticed how his body seemed to like this physical contact.
"Are you sure you don't want to share?" Goten asked and covered the prince's right arm with the cape too. Trunks didn't say anything, but he didn't push the cloth away either. Their fingers were brushing against each other. Trunks smiled. He was glad he didn't put on his gloves that night. It was like small electric shocks spread up his arm and to the pit of his stomach whenever he felt the contact with Goten's skin. But the low-class wasn't pulling away either. He was either totally oblivious to all this, or he enjoyed it too.
"Don't fall asleep there!" Trunks whispered and slightly turned his head at Goten.
"Mhm," Goten murmured, but he had closed his eyes. The prince's hair smelled so nice next to him, and so did his cape. It was as if he was bathing in his scent and he loved it. Plus, he was pretty sure the prince's fingers were voluntarily rubbing against his now. But he liked that too. His body had strange reactions whenever he was around this guy.
Trunks looked up at the skies again. So many galaxies before him…he wondered in what direction his home planet had been. Or where that darned Frost Planet was. Probably somewhere at the edge of the universe. He didn't understand why his father wanted to conquer that planet anyway…
Suddenly, there was a movement in the sky.
"Oh, Goten, look! A shooting star!" he said excitedly.
"It's probably an alien ship…" Goten mumbled and didn't even open his eyes.
"We usually made wishes when we saw shooting stars. What did you…" he said, but he noticed that Goten wasn't paying attention to him. He was dozing off. Trunks smiled. So much for their staying up all night. What a kid…
"I'm still going to make a wish," he whispered and closed his eyes. A few moments later, he opened them again. He was determined to examine each and every star on that sky. They all looked different. He carefully put his hand over Goten's and squeezed it gently. Goten was now his anchor. He would not fall into that mass of stars. He was free to wonder through them and never get sucked in.
11-12.07.2013