This is a challenge one-shot of a story centered on the concept of the Saiyans and Tuffles working together in the Galactic Patrol side by side, instead of the former wiping out the latter before joining the Frieza Force until they met their own genocide event. If their home world does still get attacked, and Goku/Kakarot gets separated from the other survivors, I'd like the idea of the story to be that while "Goku" in canon was immediately disgusted by planet sharking ancestry, "Kakarot" would feel immense pride for being part of a strong race and a family of heroes, and takes it upon himself to live up to his parents' memory as well as the honorable standards of his people, regardless of whether or not he takes up the "Goku" name. Kind of the inverse of what the usual Kakarot stories are like, you see. Not necessarily a mirror universe sort of effect, though, since I intend to use that in a different challenge.
Because I'd like to read this more than I'd like to write, I'll be using canonical names for places (Planet Plant) and people (King Vegeta) in this example, excluding some things for the sake of convenience. You can still do things differently from what I imagined, if you want, but please consider these guidelines.
No unnecessary bashing: seeing characters grow up and show hidden strengths is all good until it looks like the writer is purposefully making the character in question look like an unlikable nuisance at best and a complete villain at worst. Trust me, it's best to show both the positives and negatives of those in a story. I know it might not be easy for those that yelled more than they fought in canon (Bulma and Chi-Chi), but giving them the benefit of the doubt would be a fair sign.
No slash: I try not to judge people who have different "bonding" preferences compared to mine, but I really don't think that characters that weren't listed as canonically yaoi in nature should be depicted as such. Not that I like gender bending much either.
Keep the content at a controlled level: meaning that it's probably best to be mindful of which direction the story/stories will go. I like straight lemons as much as the next fellow, but given how things all are iffy on certain websites like FFN, it would probably be wise to just walk first before jumping.
Don't shy away from asking me for advice or beta reading: however, I won't dictate your execution as it should ultimately be your decision. I'm doing fine with it so far with digemsmack over his Fairy Tail story which I gave my patronage for, Ascension of the Second Apocalypse.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Dragon Ball franchise or it's related concepts and characters, but Akira Toriyama and his affiliates do.
[DBEH]
Dragon Ball: Eternal Honor
[DBEH]
Larger and denser than most worlds in the universe such as Earth, Planet Plant had a mixed environment of desolate deserts, life-bearing seas, and fertile farmlands with technologically advanced cities in between that all basked in the light of the planet's two suns during the day and its singular moon at night. For one hundred and eighty-seven years, the planet was home to two Humanlike species that, in spite of occasional disputes, ultimately balanced one another to reach great heights.
The native children of Plant were the Tuffles. Shorter than the average sizes of most sentient races, the Tuffles shared a similar physical appearance to Humanity as well as architectural design comparable to Earth's inhabitants, but where they lacked in Ki proficiency, they made up for it with their advanced aptitude in science. Under their monarchical government, the Tuffle race had long prospered and kept to themselves peacefully until Age 550 when Plant's second largest inhabited sapient species came to the planet for a new home. They were known as the Saiyans.
More similar to Humans, but with monkeylike tails, the original Saiyan homeworld of Sadla was destroyed in the far past due to infighting among its warrior populace which forced the Saiyans to traverse the galaxy by spaceship before eventually landing on Planet Plant. Although naturally prideful and aggressive creatures, upon making contact with the Tuffles and coming to a deal that would grant them a fair share of territory on the planet, the Saiyan leaders, recognizing the value of their new neighbors' technology, disclosed the knowledge of their people's more feral transformation and how it was triggered by a full moon. Luckily, a full moon over Plant wasn't a frequent occurrence and the Tuffle scientists were well-experienced with previous exploits in genetic engineering and force fields, thus, by Age 737, a Great Ape had not been seen in over a century. The Saiyans kept their warrior culture and tails, but with the former being used productively in the intergalactic community and the latter lacking the ancestral weaknesses.
Despite the easy start, the relationship between the Saiyans and the Tuffles entailed much moments of conflict as well as genuine coexistence; a consequence of two, culturally different peoples sharing the same world. Nonetheless, upon the completion of the Saiyan capital of New Sadla's modernization, Plant and its inhabitants were scouted by a cosmic police force known as the Galactic Patrol.
By that time, due to the Patrol's attempts to separate the strong Galactic Patroller candidates from the weaker denizens of the Universal North Area that includes the Milky Way Galaxy with their crippling physical and intelligence tests, the number of Patrollers was under forty. However, upon seeing the high combat efficiency of the Saiyans backed by the technological advancements of the Tuffles, the Galactic Patrol sent an invitation to the royal families of both races to participate in the police organization. With the united efforts of both races, Planet Plant entered the intergalactic community with a progressive stir for both its native and adoptive species, and the Galactic Patrol was able to expand its roster to the point it was able to successfully rival the Arcosian-controlled Frieza Force that, by the Age 700s, existed to wipeout entire civilizations and sell their planets to the highest bidder. In Age 735, the Saiyan ruler, King Vegeta himself, boldly stated by broadcast that so long as one Saiyan was left alive in the universe, the tyrannical Arcosian Frieza could never conquer all worlds.
Although, even he never foresaw how much Frieza would take that message to heart.
[DBEH]
New Sadla, Planet Plant, June, Age 737
Although New Sadla, named in honor of the original mother planet, was where the Saiyan royal family resided, the technological and architectural design of the city was hardly different from numerous urban settings on Plant primarily populated by the Tuffles. While it did annoy numerous Saiyans, from the common workers to the prideful King Vegeta himself, that their people apparently lacked a widely-spread vison of science and construction, especially one that was more noticeable to the other sapient races they shared the universe with, others took their failings in stride with the knowledge that all sentient beings ultimately were good at the very least in one area, but needed another's aid in a different area. Just as the Saiyans were respected and envied as a powerful race of warriors with few genuine scientists, the Tuffles lacked Ki abilities at large to hold out against powerful opponents, but were superb in science. In the end, to reach their goals, both races relied on each other to surpass any challenge one couldn't endure without the other.
Regardless of the similar physical appearance, the citizens of New Sadla, as well it's fellow Saiyan cities, were able to mark themselves as different from their Tuffle counterparts by engraving their buildings with Saiyan letters and symbols, placing statues of well-defined figures in Saiyan history at certain locations within each city, and, in the case of the Saiyan capital, being the military headquarters of Planet Plant as a whole since first aiding the Galactic Patrol. While numerous spectators to Plantian politics had speculated that both of the involved species were mature enough to engage in a more personal alliance through marriage between their leaders, by Age 737, it was a moot point as both royal families lacked heirs of opposing sexes to be wed. Nonetheless, society on Plant in Age 737, was remarked to have been stable and productive. One of the clearer signs of such progress was a popular establishment in New Sadla that catered to all beings and was said to have a limitless supply of food to satisfy the Saiyans and other patrons with high metabolisms.
It was called Gine's Eatery.
One night in June of that year, the double-floored building which served as a restaurant on the first floor was closed after working hours for a private event on the second floor which served as an apartment for the owner and her family. On that floor, much decorations were laid out, fresh foodstuffs suited for both dinner and desert were lined up on most of the tables, and there was another area in the living room where wrapped gifts were stocked. It was meant to be a small party due to the size of the place and how young its main focus was, but that didn't mean Gine didn't want to make it special. Her two sons and husband each only had one birthday a year, after all.
"Oh, it's all looking good, darling." Gine energetically told her husband, Bardock, over the home/restaurant's interstellar communication device. Of average height and slender build, the shaggy black haired Saiyan with onyx eyes wore a dark indigo shirt and black pants, and unlike most Saiyans in that day and age, she allowed her brown tail sway freely instead of securing it around her waist. More outwardly caring than most, Gine was once a Galactic Patroller in the same team Bardock commanded, and was, to even her own surprise, much successful at her job then. Although her power level wasn't as high as her comrades, she made up for it with her social skills that allowed her to work with those within and outside the Patrol proper, her determination to protect her teammates and those they were tasked to defend, and, for long distance journeys, her cooking talents that were stated by many to be without equal.
However, upon her first pregnancy, Gine retired, and using her saved earnings as well as contacts she made during her days of enforcing order in the galaxy, opened a new source of income that suited a Saiyan who knew her way around the kitchen. And not even a decade into her establishment's service, she was able to keep up with much of the franchises on her planet, and by that time, even considered having more than one place. Although her family life felt half-full, considering Bardock was still a Patroller constantly on the move, she was nonetheless happy with her lot in life. But on that day, her attention was on giving a great third birthday to her youngest child.
"Raditz should be here with the birthday boy in only a few minutes." She went on before showing a more teasing smile into the receiver. "We might even save enough dessert for you, Fasha, and those knuckleheads when you all comeback."
"Please do!" Four voices shouted simultaneously over the device before Bardock could respond which elicited a laugh from Gine.
Bardock sighed in only a mildly annoyed way. "Don't mind us, Gine. The Kanassans can only defend themselves from that paranoid freak Frieza for so long, after all. Just send Kakarot our regards and let both he and Raditz know that they should keep that good behavior they've been displaying for so long going." An expectant pause later. "And let them know that no matter how far away from them I am, that I've got their best interests at heart. They're our legacy after all."
Gine swore she could just see his proud smile at that moment. "They sure are." Hearing the downstairs door opening, Gine decided to wrap up the call. "We'll I think it should be about time. Please come home soon, love. Goodbye."
"Bye, beautiful." Replied Bardock before the communication turned off on both ends.
Putting the receiver away, Gine did a last minute look around the place before being satisfied with what she saw. The door opened and out came her two boys.
Raditz was seven years old, had long, spikey black hair, and wore a black shirt that matched his shorts. As used his right hand to keep Kakarot from peaking, he exchanged a knowing smile with his mother.
Kakarot, four years younger than Raditz, yet artificially incubated for physical and mental development that most beings from other races could've mistaken him for someone slightly older, wore similar clothing to his brother and appeared to have been anxious about what Raditz wanted to surprise him with.
"Can I have my sight back, now, brother?" Kakarot asked with a bit of impatience.
Humming for a moment, as if in contemplation, Raditz then removed his hand from Kakarot's eyes. "You got it."
After blinking for a minute, Kakarot saw all the changes that had happened since he was last in the apartment. His confusion eventually gave way to a bright smile as his brother and mother summed up the moment together.
"Happy birthday, Kakarot!"
"Oh, thanks, Mom!" Cheered Kakarot as he enveloped Gine's legs into a hug before moving to Raditz. "You, too, Raditz!"
"Okay, okay, you, big baby, now get off!" Raditz said in a voice that sounded annoyed but didn't remove his smile.
"I hope you've got a good birthday wish, Kakarot." Gine said as she went down to her knees to hug both her sons.
After thinking for a bit, Kakarot replied. "I wish that I'll always remember all the times I've spent with the both of you and Dad. I don't care how low-class we may be, you're the best family ever!"
[DBEH]
This has been in my mind for some time and I hope I did good in presenting it.
For the clothing of the Saiyan characters in this, I pictured it would be similar to the attire worn by the Tuffles as shown in their brief anime appearances, given their different relationship, but I'm not much of clothes expert, so I kept it simple. As for Gine's "success story", I figured that a large part of the reason she didn't last long as a soldier was because of the general lack of ethics in wiping out other races, even for self-defense, bothered her. But in this setting, by focusing her efforts to protect, she was on a good course until she decided to put aside her armor and raise a family. The whole restaurant thing also sounded like a good upgrade from her job as a meat distribution employee in her canonical last days.
If anyone is wondering why Raditz and maybe even Kakarot aren't on the front lines as well, allow me to point out that is how the Saiyans under Frieza did things. Under the Galactic Patrol, I believed kids like them would be allowed to be educated and trained first before they are ready and willing. The incubators are still around, though, considering they make things easier in Saiyan child rearing. Finally, while it may be possible that the Saiyans didn't celebrate their birthdays, for the sake of making a good calm before any possible storms, I decided to roll with it.
Please be sure to review constructively on this and my other works, and if anyone decides to take this up, let me know.