Chapter 1: The Blue Planet
***
It was dawn. The sun was bursting over the horizon, its golden rays shining through the cracks in the stone walls of the castle. A young boy with deep onyx eyes walked swiftly down a winding corridor. He hardly noticed the advancing sunlight , keeping two steps ahead of its rays as they wound and curled behind him, trying desperately to catch up. But he was too quick; he soon disappeared into a section of the castle where the sunlight could not reach.
The boy let out a quiet sigh of relief when he arrived at his intended destination and heard movement within. He peeked inside. It was a bedroom chamber upon first glance, though if one took the time to examine it properly, one might take into account the gold and purple draperies, the marble statues, and the glorious portraits of epic, bloody battles hung around the room. A royal chamber.
The boy pushed the door slowly open as if he expected an unpleasant sight on the other side. "Father?" he called, his voice cracking unexpectedly.
The person who answered was not who he expected.
"His Majesty has not been in all night." It was the voice of a woman, though not the husky, come-hither drone of a harem girl; it was the haggard voice of a servant.
"What are you talking about? I have searched the castle twice over, where else could he be but here?" the young boy hissed in reply.
"I am sorry, My Lord," the servant replied, her eyes trained on her feet obediently.
"Have you any idea where he could be, then? Or, are you completely useless?"
There was a short pause, as if the servant girl was mulling over her reply. Too much time passed, and the boy stamped his foot impatiently, baring his fists towards her.
"Answer me, wench!"
"S-sir, I believe he was going to meet with Lord Frieza to… negotiate a treaty. I know nothing more. Only that…" She trailed off without finishing.
The boy's fists lowered to his sides. "Only that he never came back," he finished for her.
***
"We're here!"
Kakkarot's elated announcement drew Vegeta out of an otherwise deep slumber. He was immediately in a bad mood.
"Kakkarot, you idiot! How many times do I have to tell you to keep that loud mouth of yours on mute!" The elder Saiyan hissed as he sat upright in his chair and turned to look out of the window. His bad mood vanished when he saw the distant outline of a tiny blue planet approaching. He smirked. "Earth. Finally."
"Yeah, finally!" said a third party—Nappa. "If I have to spend one more second in here with you guys I'm gonna rip my hair out!"
Laughter burst from the pilot's seat, where Radditz was steering the ship. "Where is this hair you speak of?" he asked between chuckles.
Nappa growled. "Shut up, Radditz! If you weren't driving this junky space ship I would come over there and teach you some manners!"
Radditz laughed again, this time more heartily than before. "Oh dear, how very lucky I am to be immune to the wrath of Nappa!"
"Would both of you shut the fuck up? I'm going to rip my hair out if I have to endure even another second of your pathetic bickering," Vegeta said, seriously regretting the decision to bring along his three comrades. Normally they would have taken separate space pods, but if everything went according to plan, they would be returning with a fifth body. A space ship to fit them all was a necessity.
Vegeta shot a discerning glance at his companions. The four of them were the last Saiyans in the universe: Vegeta, the prince of a fallen race; Nappa, son of the late King Vegeta's most trusted advisor; and brothers Radditz and Kakkarot, two third-class soldiers lucky enough to have been off-planet when Vegetasei exploded. Until very recently, Vegeta had believed there were no other Saiyans left. But then Kakkarot made a very convenient discovery…
"Hey guys, check this out! It's the space pod they sent me to Planet Darkaan in when I was a baby!" Kakkarot said, smiling from ear to ear as if it were the most pleasing discovery imaginable.
Frieza had sent the four of them below deck in search of a rebel foot solider, and during their search they came across the storage unit.
"Yes, you're lucky they sent you on that mission, brother," Radditz observed. "Or else you would have been blown to bits with the rest of 'em."
"Ha! Some mission it was! Planet Darkaan was full of weaklings. That's why they sent you there, Kakkarot, because you couldn't handle much else on your own," Vegeta said with a smirk.
Kakkarot hung his head. "I was barely a year old, cut me some slack," he muttered, kicking the side of his old space pod. He was about to abandon his exciting discovery when he noticed a piece of paper neatly folded and tucked away in a side compartment. Curiosity got the best of him, and he reached inside the pod, unfolded the paper, and read it quickly
"Woah… hey, Vegeta, you should read this!" he said, holding it up for the elder Saiyan to see. Vegeta rolled his eyes and snatched the paper from Kakkarot's hands.
"What did I tell you about addressing me so casually? It's Prince Vegeta to a low-class imbecile like you," he said before scanning the piece of paper. It was a document typed on official-looking parchment with a royal letter head and large, bold-faced font. The document simply read:
SCHEDULED MISSIONS
MISSION #19837
Name: Kakkarot
Gender: Male
Status: Third Class
Mission: Darkaan
MISSION #19838
Name: Kalia
Gender: Female
Status: Middle Class
Mission: Earth
It was dated on the same day Vegetasei had been destroyed. Vegeta felt a surge of adrenaline as he began pondering a course of action. Nappa appeared behind Vegeta, trying to get a look at what his prince was reading so intently. "What does that mean?" he asked lamely.
Radditz, Kakkarot, and Nappa watched for Vegeta's reaction. His eyes were running up and down the paper as if he couldn't fully grasp its meaning, though he knew what it meant with absolute certainty.
"There's a female Saiyan still alive," he said. "And she's on Earth."
The existence of a Saiyan female meant one thing, and one thing only to Prince Vegeta: the continuation of his race. The fact that she was from a middle-class background did not matter to him, though on Vegetasei he would have never mated below his rank. Everything was different now; Saiyans were going extinct. He was willing to do what was necessary to keep his heritage alive. Finding Kalia was the key.
And so, as the blue planet grew larger and larger, Vegeta felt his anticipation grow with it.
***
A/N: Look at me, writing yet another B/V fic. You can thank omnipotent Porunga for putting the idea of writing an AU B/V story in my head, haha. Once I read the suggestion the wheels in my head started turning and they just wouldn't stop! I think I'm really gonna enjoy writing this. The chapters are not all going to be this short… this one is kind of an introduction. Chapter two is already half-written.
By the way, Kalia = Bulma, if you hadn't guessed. I got the name "Kalia" from kale, which is a kind of lettuce. I figured I'd stick with the vegetable theme. It makes sense to me that Bulma would have a human name and a Saiyan name, just like Goku did when he was sent to Earth.
Just to be clear regarding what to expect in this story--Bulma is a Saiyan and was sent to Earth instead of Goku when she was born. She and Goku are the same age. Goku (who will be known as Kakkarot throughout this story), Radditz, Nappa, and Vegeta all serve under Frieza. They do NOT know that Frieza destroyed Vegetasei. They do NOT know about the dragon balls. That is the basic premise… More to come. I'm excited about this one, guys! Please shoot me a review if you like what you're reading! :P