Title: Breaking Free: Blade's Point of View

Rating: PG-13, may change in later chapters

Notes (IMPORTANT): The Blade in this fic is not me. PLEASE remember that. This is one of my friend's fanfics from the point-of-view of a character I created. Go read Celeb Ryu's "Breaking Free" before ya read this, or ya might not get the full effect. I ask forgiveness in advance for any errors I make regarding established DBZ characters: I don't watch the show, and all my knowledge comes from Celeb. Enjoy!

Wires.

They were everywhere.

Wires ran up under her skin. Wires behind her eyes. Wires through her throat, her brain… like a thousand burning blades digging deeper, deeper. Blade… that was familiar. Who was Blade? She knew she'd heard the name before, but the burning wires had robbed her of everything but the capacity for pain. She had no memories of anything but the pain, the pain and the wires…

"Readings are stable, sir. Shall we put in the cardio monitor and take a white-cell count?"

She'd heard that voice before, too. It was soft, a would-be kind noise that might have soothed her under different circumstances. Now, though, that voice meant pain. Mentally, she cringed.

"Yes, and if she doesn't crash, go ahead and take neurochemical readings. I want another stimulus wire in her hippocampus."

That voice she knew, as well. It was cold, cruel, heartless. The image of steel and knives flashed through her mind when she heard that voice.

"Yes, sir."

She couldn't see anything. She couldn't remember what sight was like, and when she tried to remember, agony sank its saber fangs into her brain and red-hot pain replaced the blackness. The agony lasted only moments, for soon the blackness returned, and with it came the bliss of unconsciousness. She enjoyed those brief moments of complete numbness. There was no pain, then…

"I don't know if you can hear, but if you can, please listen," the soft voice said. "I'm going to attach some monitors to you. This will hurt a little, but if you move, it will hurt much more."

Hurt. She was used to that. She lay still, for she had no other option. Motion had been robbed from her along with her memories and sanity. She lay still and did not move as heat and pain cut across her chest. She felt something warm and wet trickle down her concave abdomen, across the corrugated pattern of her ribcage against her skin. She had enough snatches of memory to know blood when she felt and smelled it. Burning flesh… severed bone… lightning, rain, silver fur, fangs, bleeding, falling…

She didn't wake up for a long time. Weeks, perhaps, passed until her wire-riddled brain shuddered back into consciousness. She had no way of knowing. All she remembered were the eyes, the scarlet eyes, and then a great beast with fangs bellowing in the night… and the fact that both of her parents were dead.

"Mother," she croaked, coughing as her long-unused vocal cords creaked back to life. "Mother… father… save…"

"What?"

That voice was new… but again, she remembered it. Tantalizing tendrils of recognition flitted about her shattered mind, but still she could not catch them. "Who are you?" she whispered. Some familiar scent hung on the air…

"Keno, your sister," the voice replied. "Come on, Blade, remember. They said you'd remember."

"I… I do." The mists ran together and solidified, and the image of her sister rose to Blade's mind. The young woman flinched involuntarily, waiting for the memory to bring pain… but there was none.

"Do you remember your name? What happened to us? How long have we been here?"

And instantly, as if by magic, the answers came. "Blade… I am Blade Celebare, Nekojin apprentice, daughter of the Lady Saberre. We were taken captive, all of us, by the assassins of Ryuten… but mum and dad didn't make it." Blade's face set, emotionless, but inwardly she mourned. "I have no knowledge of how long we've been here."

"Oh, you remember, Blade!" Keno's overjoyed voice exclaimed. Blade felt her sister's arms around her, and she slowly, painfully raised her arm to return the embrace.

"I do… but I don't know if I want to," Blade muttered, her voice chaoked.

"Open your eyes," Keno said, touching her sister's swollen eyelids.

"I can't see."

"Open them."

Blade carefully, fearfully lifted her heavy lids, and painful light flooded her sensitive eyes. She blinked them shut again as red spots danced before her. "It's too bright," she whimpered shakily.

"I'll dim the lights for you."

There was that gentle voice again, but Blade didn't trust it. It meant pain. "Who are you?" she asked, reaching out to touch the owner of the voice, but her fingers met only cold steel bars.

"He's a murderer," Keno hissed. Blade felt her sister's presence change, felt a furred tail swish across her leg, and heard the screech of steel-like claws on stone.

"Calm down," the voice said quietly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"I don't believe you," Keno snarled. Blade felt the anger waves radiating from the girl and edged away slightly. Stone scraped her bare arms and legs.

"Look, you're upsetting her. Here, the lights are dim. You'll be all right now."

Blade felt confidant in that voice for some reason. She blinked her emerald eyes open and, to her surprise, the pain from the light was much less severe. She took a moment to take in her surroundings: stone walls, an empty bunk, steel bars. Her bare arms and legs were covered in tiny scars, and she felt the stubble of shaved patches on her scalp. The wires were gone, but the pinprick holes remained. They would never quite heal up all the way.

After examining her immediate surroundings the young woman cast her eyes upward and finally saw the owner of the voice. He was tall, scrawny-looking, and young, not much older than Blade's own 23 years. He had a thin, hungry look about him, but his flat, wiry muscles and upright posture spoke of his good health. A long, white, standard-issue lab coat hung loosely across his narrow shoulders, several pens protruding from the pockets. Under the lab coat he wore simple scrubs in a nondescript teal. His eyes were a bright, piercing blue behind thick-rimmed glasses, and his jet-black mane of hair stood up in unkempt spikes. A pair of massive, fiery phoenix wings expanded from his back, bringing a glowing light to the room.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"My name is Dr. Alexander Flare… Alec to my friends and associates." He gave a weak smile. "I've been assigned to monitor you two."

Keno scowled and swiped her dagger claws through the bars at the young man. "You almost killed my sister," she snarled. "Look at her! Daughter of Nekojin warriors, reduced to this!"

"She'll return to full health in time," Alec said soothingly.

Blade turned to face her sister, and her eyes widened briefly. A massive, tawney feline with glittering saber fangs stood there, a snarl boiling up from her white-furred chest. Blade felt a sudden, brief surge of recognition and power, but she didn't understand why.

"Get out! Get out before I kill you!" Keno cried. Alec gave them one last glance, and Blade detected guilt and compassion in his eyes. Then the young man left, dropping the two into darkness again.