Title: The Lost Saiyan Warrior
Disclaimer: I don't own the DragonBall Z characters or the Ranma characters. I'm only borrowing them. However the character 'Zukira' is mine.
Far across the universe in the far reaches of the galaxy, there existed a planet called Vegetta where powerful warriors are born everyday. Planetary space pirates with unspeakable power, powerful fighters known as… saiyans.
Powerful, ruthless, fearless, cruel, destructive, and fearful, these mercenary fighters destroy everything that stands in their way, to quench their thirst for destruction and battle, all for the soul purpose of purchasing every planet they destroy for the evil tyrant, Frieza. This heartless mercenary has kept the saiyans under his control for countless years, ordering them to destroy homes, countries, cities, and even planets for his own amusement. Anyone who stood up or against him, ended up dead.
The saiyans had been forced to serve the evil Frieza and his men for years, until one fateful day after conquering planet Kanassa, a planet believing to have special powers, a low-level saiyan named Bardock was unexpectedly given the gift of foreseeing and telepathy and told of the destruction of his planet. Bardock is soon haunted by the horrific visions of the destruction of his planet and all the saiyans. After loosing his crew by Frieza's men and narrowly escaping with his life, Bardock realizes that the visions are very real and that Frieza plans to kill them all. When he returns to his home planet, he tries to warn everyone about Frieza's plan but because he was ranked as a low-level soldier no one would listen, except only one saiyan, his student and the daughter his teammate Torah, Zukira, who was no older then six years of age. Bardock was also her Godfather.
When Zukira had heard that Bardock had returned from the planet Meat, she quickly rushed out of her quarters and hurried to greet her master and his crew, "Father! Uncle Bardock!" But she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her respected teacher covered head to toe with injuries and blood, limping down the hallways alone without his crew.
"Uncle Bardock!" She cried rushing to her teachers side, "Uncle Bardock, what happened?"
Bardock grunted painfully while trying to maintain his balance to stand and looked down at the daughter of his deceased crewmate, a strong wave of guilt hit him like a tidal wave, "It was an ambush… when I had recovered from my injuries from our last fight, I went to the planet Meat after hearing that the others went on without me, when I arrived on the planet, I found out from Torah that it was a set up by Frieza and that he ordered his men to kill us."
The small saiyan's eyes widened with shock at what she heard but there was something else that was bothering her, "Uncle Bardock, where's my father and Aunt Fasha and… the others?"
Bardock remained silent, a cold stabbing pain filled his chest as he gazed down at his student, he gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "Zukira… they're dead. Frieza's men killed all of them, they were already dead when I arrived on the planet Meat. Your father was barely alive when I found him. He told me about the attack before… he… he died in my arms." He said in a hushed voice, "I'm sorry."
Zukira didn't hear Bardock's apology, the news of her father's death and the death of the others put her in a state of shock. Zukira had grown attached to the people that were always with her father and auntie on their missions, she viewed them as her family. Bardock not only was her teacher and her father's best friend but she loved him like an uncle. Fasha was her mothers younger sister but she was like a mother to her, ever since her mother died when she was two. Thinking of them made her violet colored eyes fill with tears while her body began to tremble, she shook her head hoping that it was all a dream, her mind was screaming in denial, telling her over and over again that it wasn't true.
"No… no it's not true! It can't be! Why would Frieza do this to us!" She cried, but Bardock didn't answer because he himself still couldn't believe it, "Father… Auntie Fasha… no please…"
Bardock knelt down infront of his student and gently embraced her, hoping to comfort her the best way that he could. The young saiyan wrapped her small arms around his neck and cried into her teachers shoulder, her tears mixing with his sweat and blood. Her pain was almost too much for Bardock to take and he began to wonder if this is how the people he killed in Frieza's name felt as they watched their loved ones die by his hands and every other saiyan. Realizing how wrong his people were and how wrong he was, the wounded warrior began to feel remorse for everything he'd done in the name of that monstorous tyrant. He wished that he could undo his and his crews mistakes, he wished that he could've seen his eldest son Raditz one more time and spent more time with him, and he wished that he could've held his new infant son in his arms when he had the chance, but he didn't. But he couldn't just sit here and dwell on the past and think about the what-if's, he had to think about the here and now, right now.
The injured saiyan pulled the crying child away and looked into her dark violet eyes, "Zukira, listen to me. Frieza is on his way here to destroy the planet and everyone on it. I know it sounds crazy but I've been given the ability to see the future and I now know that Frieza intends to kill everyone of us because we're getting too strong and he's scared of us. I want you to take my spare space pod and get out of here before it's too late! Understand?"
Zukira wiped the flowing tears from her face, "But… but what about you Bardock? Aren't you coming with me?"
The elder saiyan shook his head as he stood up, "I can't. I'm the only one who knows about Frieza's plan to destroy the planet. I have to try and stop him."
Zukira's eyes widened in shock, "No, you can't! You'll die!" She stated, then she grabbed Bardock's blood coated hand and tugged on it, "Please uncle come with me! I don't want to lose you to that monster the same way I lost my father and the others!" She begged her Godfather, more tears streaming down her face.
Bardock gently pulled his arm away from her grasp and gazed down at her, "I can't leave knowing that Frieza is going to blow up the planet without at least doing all I can to stop him. None of those arrogant fools even believe me!" He said pointing down the hall behind him, "So the only other thing I can do is make sure that you get off the planet safely while you still can Zukira. I owe that much to Torah and the rest of my crew."
Zukira shook her head, once again she grabbed Bardock's hand, "No, please come with me Uncle Bardock! You'll die if you face Frieza alone! Please, I want you to be with me…"
Thwack!
Before she knew it, Bardock pulled her in close and then swiftly smacked her on the back of the head, knocking her completely unconscious, he quickly caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
He looked down at his unconscious Godchild, his dark eyes filled with sadness, "Forgive me Zukira, but I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to you, and neither would my crew." He picks her up in his arms and makes his way to the launch room using all the strength his injured body could muster.
After loading her securely into his spare space pod, Bardock gently placed a kiss on her forehead then punched in a coordinate location he knew would be safe for her and then launched her into space, to a planet far away from Vegetta. Once she was airborn Bardock gazed into the sky at the little sparkling light that he knew was his Godchild's and he silently prayed for her survival.
'Good-bye Zukira, it was an honor having you as my student and Goddaughter and having your father and aunt on my crew and as my best friends. Maybe someday you and my sons will cross paths and who knows what the future has in store for you three. Take good care of yourself and good luck my child… and good luck to you too, my sons, Raditz and Kakarrot.'
When Frieza's ship arrived outside the borders of the planet Vegetta to fulfill his plan to destroy the saiyans and the planet, Bardock flew up to meet Frieza head on and try to stop him, even though he knew in his heart and soul that he wouldn't survive, he didn't care. Frieza proved to be much too powerful for the saiyan when he gathered his energy into a massive death ball attack and unleashed it upon Bardock and the saiyan planet. Before the attack hits, Bardock sees his adult son Kakarrot facing Frieza on a strange planet, then a vision of a young ebony-haired woman, looking very familiar, with her arms around a familiar looking man with long spiky black hair, both are locked in a kiss. Then he sees the same young woman again only this time she's holding a small infant child in her arms. He then sees a teenage boy with long black hair standing next to his grown-up sons and the young woman. He gives a small smile before he was swallowed in a blinding ray of light.
To this day only five Saiyans escaped from the planet Vegetta before its explosion.
(Fifteen years later)
In the far depths of space, a round looking space pod jets its way through the dark emptiness of the ongoing outer space. Inside the space pod is a young looking woman, unconscious inside of the space pod. She was dressed in some bizarre looking black armor with gold shoulder straps, the armor was broken in certain areas and covered in blood, she also wore white gloves and matching knee-high boots and her long midnight colored hair was tousled in the low ponytail it was in, yet despite her injuries, she was still fairly attractive.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
-Now approaching planet Earth.-
The woman stirred in her sleep then she slowly opened her purplish-blue eyes, "So… this is the planet Earth?" She groaned as she peered through the small bubble window of her space pod, gazing at the beautiful planet before her, a small smile found its way on her face, "We made it." She gasped while she placed a hand on her small round stomach.
She was already three months along and already her abdomen was starting to swell with child, when she had learned that she was going to be a mother she was both thrilled and frightened for herself and that of her baby because if Frieza or anybody knew of her pregnancy, then there was no question that her life and the life of her unborn baby would be the price she would have to pay. So when she and the others left for a mission ordered by Frieza, she forged her own death scene and blasted off into the far reaches of the galaxy, in hopes to find a safe enough planet away from Frieza for her to have her child and raise it on her own.
As her space pod slowly approached the outer edge of the Earth's gravitational pull, she gazed down at her extended abdomen and smiled, 'Don't worry my little one, I won't let those bastards take you from me or anyone for that matter nor will I let that monster Frieza get has greedy little hands on you.' She told her developing child before bracing herself for impact on the planet's earthy surface.
(Almost seventeen years later)
A lone figure makes his way through the forest and stopped to observe his surroundings. The traveler was a sixteen or seventeen year old teenage boy wearing a yellow Chinese style traveling tunic and dark green pants with yellow laces tied around his shins and carried and huge backpack with a bamboo umbrella resting on top of it. He also had short thick black hair, which was tied back by a yellow and black bandanna.
"Where in the world am I now?" Ryoga asked himself, but sighs knowing that no matter how hard he tries to find his way the answer will always be the same as usual. He's lost. Tired from walking he strolls over to a nearby rock and plops himself down with a tired sigh. He straps off his backpack and begins searching through the pockets until he finds what he's looking for, a thermos of water. He screws off the cap and takes a long drink, feeling the cold water make its way down his throat.
"Ah that hit the spot." Ryoga said while whipping his mouth with his sleeve.
Suddenly a burst of thunder roared over his head, Ryoga jumped at the unexpected sound and looked up at the sky. He could see clearly that a storm was starting to form, growling and grimacing at the sky Ryoga jumps up from the rock he was sitting on and straps on his pack back onto his back.
"Man, just when I start to take a break from all of my traveling, a storm has to go and follow me. Is it because I'm a Jusenkyo victim or what?" Ryoga shouts up into the gray sky as though expecting someone or something to answer him, then he sighs, "Hope there's an empty cabin or cave around here." He prayed as he began sprinting as fast as he can through the forest looking for shelter until he spots a large open cave, big enough for him to set up camp, "That'll work."
After pitching up his tent, Ryoga built a little campfire just big enough to heat up some water for his dinner and to keep him from freezing to death. Luckily he found some dry wood in the cave otherwise he'd have to risk getting wet and changing into his cursed-form while fetching some or freeze to death. The rain poured heavily from outside the cave, he felt relieved that he'd found shelter before the storm hit and he got drenched. He checked the water in his kettle and found that it was warm enough to use, he used half for his ramen and half to make tea while watching the storm outside.
"Man it looks like Niagara falls out there." Ryoga commented. When he finished his tea and ramen, he crawled into his tent and crawled into his sleeping bag, "I guess I better get some sleep, cause I don't think I'll be going anywhere tonight." He yawns, his eyes slowly close and he drifted off into a cozy sleep.
The next morning the sun shined down on everything with its light and warmth. Ryoga awoke to the sound of birds sighing their morning song, as soon as he was fully awake he packed up his gear, doused the fire, and left, hoping to find his way back to Nerima. Ryoga walked along the trail hoping to find a village or even someone to help him find out where he was or at least give him some directions, but he let loose an aggravated growl.
"Ahh, who am I kidding? Even if I do find someone to help me I'm just gonna get lost again, like I always do!" He balled his hands into fists, "Man, I hate having no sense of direction and I hate getting lost all the time! Just 'once' I'd like to get to where I'm going without ever getting lost! Or better yet I'd like to get to where I'm going without ever worrying about getting lost!" Ryoga shouted angrily, punching a large nearby tree with all his strength.
Bang!
"OW!" Ryoga exclaimed clutching the top of his head in pain, "What the…" He looked around the area to find what it was that just hit him or if there was somebody in the area that was planning a sneak attack on him when a strange orange sparkle caught his attention just a few steps away from where he stood, "Huh, what's that?"
The bandanna wearing boy walked over and found an orange looking crystal ball that was about the size of a softball, "What's this?" He asked no one in particular as he bent down to pick up the strange crystal ball.
It was shiny and perfectly round in shape, there were no scratches or scuff marks anywhere, and it was as smooth as glass, Ryoga also noticed that inside of the ball were little red stars. Four stars to be exact.
"What is this thing? It's not a pearl… at least I don't think it is." Ryoga thought aloud, he looked up at the tree he had stood under when this ball had hit him on the head, 'What the hell was this thing doing in up in a tree?' He wondered then shrugged, "Oh well, no sense leaving it, might as well take it with me." With that he wrapped a cloth around the star-baring crystal ball and carefully placed it in his backpack, "Well, better get moving." He said strapping his pack on and continued down the path through the forest, completely missing the sign pointing down the same path that read:
Nerima: Ten miles this way