CHAPTER ONE
Ruins.
I was surrounded by ruins all my childhood. Most of the people around me only had the capacity to see the physical debris. They saw the caved in homes and destroyed vendor stalls well enough, but they only saw that. I, however, saw another kind in addition to those. I saw ruins in my people's eyes. A mere three years ago, they had been crushed in their attempt to revolt against the monarchy. I, being only ten then, was spared the sight of their leader's brutal demise which none would speak of.
Little did those shattered souls know that a new day was about to dawn, and the ones to lead the way would be the low class youth of Vegeta- sai.
"Ji! You shouldn't wander far off!" I shot a glare over my shoulder at the thin woman who had called after me. Her gaunt cheeks and tired eyes screamed of malnutrition. That was hardly uncommon in my world.
"You have no right to tell me what to do, woman, until you can tell me, without a doubt, who my father is." The challenge was barked and left unanswered. I stalked away from her ten, making a quick turn onto a deserted side street, heading for the former marketplace where I often met with friends to merely have company if not discussions about the turmoil and level of despair here.
I passed by a piece of level ground where wood strewn about carelessly kept alive coals and burning embers as smoke steadily roes from the debris. Mere weeks ago, the family who lived here had been nursing a rebel back to health. An Imperial Soldier showed up, and this was all that remained the next day.
A few feet more, and a building was only half standing. Most of the walls on one side had collapsed, leaving a mountain of rubble that continued slightly into the cool shade under the part of the remaining rood that was supported by rotting pillars of wood. Three children ran under there, laughing and playing. They thought nothing of the impending danger of the pillars collapsing and crushing them under the roof.
I continued my walk without a word. The little brats would have just jeered that I was worried for nothing. I wasn't about to waste my breath trying to warn ingrates. If they were killed, it'd be their own damn faults, little idiots.
The dusty path held few reminders of the battles it had seen years ago. When I was nine, I saw this place all but covered with dead bodies nearly rotting from the hot sun. The smell was sickening, and I watched as our men were buried with honor within the ground upon which I now walked. The dead of the Imperial Army, however, and those too close to death that they could not stand, were thrown together in a heap, the dying most often beneath the dead to keep them from fleeing. Then the bodies had been set on fire, and the rebels had watched them burn.
I was forced to pause a moment as the sight and sound of that night threatened to make me faint. Now I was old enough to realize the torture we put those left alive through. They, however, did just as bad to us. My faltering composure and constitution were refreshed by this, and I was able to pull myself to my feet and resume my walk to the former marketplace.
As I drew closer, something struck me as odd. Loud sounds reached my ears, and I first thought it was a typical battle. However, I then realized that the sound was cheering.
"Power! That is the backbone of our race, and yet we suffer this oppression. I commend you who try to fight, but I beg of you to yield. Trust in me, and we will turn the tide on them!"
The male was overpowering even among the ones assembled and their chatter. All of them, I noticed, were under nineteen. Former playmates of mine were being entranced by this speech. Even my heart raced as his eyes lit up with a half-mad, half-divine gleam. They twinkled delightedly at seeing his admirers listening with rapt attention. His raven hair hung just to the side of the auburn orbs, not daring to mar his vision. I drew in a silent breath as he began to once again speak to those gathered.
"I have fought," he declared, "in the name of Freiza and the Royal Family of our own planet. I have paved their conquests with my sweat and blood. And I am one of the lucky ones. I have survived to tell of the trials I have been forced to endure."
He paused to let this sink in. That was when I saw a young one sitting near him. She was, it appeared, a few years his junior, too young to be his daughter. The adoration in her eyes declared that she had to be kin, though. I had heard of her family though. I knew her to be one of them due to her strange features. Only the daughters of that blood had the golden hair that hung to her waist even pulled up, and her odd turquoise eyes shone with an almost unnatural sort of innocence.
"Sotei," she then asked mildly, the crowd hushing to hear the gentle tone, "what can we do?" Her sweet eyes seemed to protect against anyone who would dare think this rehearsed, but I had my doubts about the sincerity of that expression.
"I propose revolution!" the young man, he could not have been older than twenty, shouted. For a moment, we all fell still. Did he not know what had happened before when such action had been attempted? In our silence, he helped his sister to her feet and draped an arm over her shoulders. Proudly, his zeal not crushed by our hesitation, he boldly cried out into the mass, "My sister and I will lead the way into a new age!"
He seemed slowly discouraged as we remained silent. The people were not rallying to his call as he had hoped they would. However, the young blonde now was tugging on her brother's sleeve, and he cleared his throat to get out attention. Soon, he motioned to her, and we turned our full attention to that small, blonde one.
For a moment, the girl froze up. Her mouth opened once, and then it closed soundlessly. My heart went out to the poor creature as some started sniggering. For one so young, having all those eyes on her must have been terrifying beyond all belief. After a few more useless attempts, her voice finally granted her permission to use it as she desired.
"I was not trained to be a warrior," she said quietly, making some of us groan at the idea of her leading us, "but I can't stand this. My mother, like many of yours probably, recently bore another child. The small shack I call home does not even provide enough room for my mother, brother and I. It cannot hold another." Yet one more of us who only knew for sure one parent. "We all know the pain of going to bed hungry and cold. The Royal Family has turned their backs to us. There is only one way now to get what we need." Her meek voice was now a passionate plea. There was not one among us who was not moved by her words.
"Revolution!" our new commander cried out as he clapped a hand on his sister's shoulder. Every one of us answered his call with our own shout. He threw his sister a glance, silently thanking her and her emotional nature that had stirred our souls and convinced us to join in this battle behind him.
"Ji, give me a report on the Imperial Army!"
"Approaching from the west, moderate place, outnumber us two to one- at least."
My reply was swift as I jumped down from the roof of a tavern that the rebellion was using as a temporary headquarters. Sotei looked at me once I was on the ground. His light brown eyes were as alive as the day I had first heard him speak and had enlisted in his collection of ragtag forces. A mere two months ago, I had been no more than a new recruit. Now I was his third in command.
"Damn," Sotei hissed under his breath. He and I were thinking along the same lines. The Imperial Army would easily outmatch us in strength. They were the King's elites while we were street urchins. If they outnumbered us, too, this would be the first and final fight of the majority present. It would be, in addition, the end of this revolution.
"They're counting on us to doubt ourselves," a docile tone muttered behind us. "Trust your troops, Sotei. They are ready for this." Standing there, when I turned to look, was the sweet blonde, Tatianna. However, I, like most of the troops, had taken to calling her the nickname her brother had bestowed upon her- Tai.
"Man your posts," a little boy no older than seven called to us as he passed, crying his news to all our rabble, "they're nearly here!" I tried to watch where Tai slipped away to, but she was lost from the prospective field of war. No one was ever able to keep up with where she fought, but when she resurfaced she always had as many wounds as anyone, so no one dared accuse her of hiding while we risked out lives for her brother's dreams.
Moments later, the army was upon us. Their scouters were the first things we were told to aim at to destroy. Without those, they could not read our ki and know how much they overpowered us. I must confess, though, that I often put my own life in a higher priority than those devices' destruction.
The Imperial soldier I found myself facing looked at me, a wicked grin on his face. My eyes met his and narrowed in disgust. A well-charged ki blast was hurled at me, but I threw myself to the ground, so it soared over me. The tavern's outside wall took the blow I had dodged. Then I attempted to punch him, but he caught my hand and squeezed until he heard the bones themselves snap. It was all I could do not to start screaming in pain. He kneed me in the stomach, and my elbow found his breastbone. I managed to give it a fairly hard jolt despite his tough armor.
"You'll pay for that," he snarled as his had shot up and pushed me into the slightly cracked wall of the tavern. "Let's see what you have, you little whore," he snapped with that same wicked grin. Before he could carry out whatever whim that sick mind had contrived, a ki blast hit his back. The moron looked over his shoulder, and I was able to slam my good hand up and snap his windpipe. I saw only a flash of gold hair as I tried to see who it was that had come to my aid.
For hours, the battle raged on, and I found myself relying, more often than was to my liking, on the others due to my lack of one hand. I did my share, mind you, but I often required assistance if I was backed into a corner. After nearly five hours, judging by the sun, both sides had suffered enough. The elites withdrew, and we were left with the dead to dispose of.
"Separate our warriors from theirs, and pile all those left by the royal army," Sotei commanded. He smirked slowly as he surveyed one corpse before him. "Flesh will roast toni--"
"No, Sotei!"
The plea had issued from the lips of our fair-haired second in command. She stepped forward then, a hand slightly raised towards her brother. She limped along, and we could all see the blood flowing from a wound on her leg, no doubt caused by one of the Imperial soldiers.
"Tatianna," Sotei only called her that when he was on the border or past it of anger at her, "they would do the same to any of us." There was a collective murmur of agreement from the majority, though not a soul moved. None of us were sure which sibling would prevail in this argument, and not one of us was willing to risk either's anger for having obeyed the other.
"Are we going to be like them, Sotei?" Tai questioned, that innocent look resurfacing in her eyes as she peered right at her brother, never blinking. "You promised me a new world. You swore that things would be different if we won. I refuse to fight, though, if it means I must act like them." Her voice had not risen as it had when she had spoken to us months ago. Instead, it had remained quiet and pleading. Tai's eyes held Sotei's, seeking his final decision.
We spent the night burying the bodies of warriors from both sides.
"You children do not know what you are up against," an aged female voice whispered as my mother dabbed Tai's cut face with a cool cloth. Delicately, she cleaned the wound, nursing it as if Tai was her own child. Of course, all these damned whores looked out for each other's kids.
"We've won several battles against them already," our fearless commander pointed out as he busily wrapped a gash on my arm. Why did my heart always flutter when he touched me?
"You've yet to see their true might," my mother cooed gently. Tai gave a shout of protest against the thick lotion my mother then applied. I nearly laughed. Just ten minutes ago, she'd been snickering at me as I had begged Sotei not to put that stuff on my arm. It stung like hell. "That little brawl three months ago was nothing compared to what they can do. Please, stop while you can still live to tell. Perhaps you could be of help in future uprisings, but, please, listen to me- You cannot win this war."
"You underestimate us," Tai replied mildly. Sotei and I could not grasp how she could be so calm. My mother was not only telling us to give up, but she had also just called out battle against the Imperial Army where Tai had first shown her signature compassion to the dead a mere brawl!
"I worry about you," my mother whispered tenderly as she ran two fingers through Tai's hair. "All of you," she added as she looked at Sotei and I. For a moment, this was not the woman I so often quarreled with. This was not the whore who slept with any man for a price and ignored her children so she could keep them fed, even with a meager meal. She was, at this instant, only my mother, nothing more.
We all fell silent under that gaze, and Sotei finished his task with my arm. He then shifted silently, wrapping an arm around me as he drew me close to his chest, almost protectively. My heart was beating wildly, and I felt a blush rise in my cheeks. My mother saw the color in my face. I shot her a glare when she gave me a look that was full of warning that Sotei may only want one thing. I knew though, as anyone my age would have claimed to, that Sotei would never dare to try such a thing, nor would he ever so much as attempt to harm me.
Perhaps I was right in that assumption. I could well have been wrong too. I only wish I'd gotten the chance to ever find out.
"Be on your guard," came a soft whisper from behind me.
I could only not. The hour was well past midnight, but everyone near me was wide awake. Each one of us could hear the soft sounds of approaching movement. Out campfire was doused, so the Imperial Army believe us to be asleep. The fools thought they would have the element of surprise. We had the tables turned, though, before they ever attacked.
We had set up camp in the barren ground a little ways from our homes so that no one would get involved in this battle other than those of us who were fighters. It had been Tai's idea, actually. In our last battle about a week ago, three small children had been killed, and Tai had wept so bitterly over their deaths. Like a mother who had lost those three children of her own. She would be, I knew well enough, a wonderful mother one day. Though I had to wonder if her children, since they would be Saiyans, would appreciate her compassion.
Slowly, I rose to my feet. Even in the dim light that the quarter moon provided, I could see my allies. Sotei was about three yards away, his eyes narrowed. He was the one who was most nervous about this battle. It was said, after all, that we had become enough of a "problem" that the Crowned Prince himself was leading the unit coming after us this time. If we killed him, then this war would be on the downhill slide. This could well be a decisive battle.
"They're coming," he hissed in our direction, and then his hand rose. A single ki blast left it, and I heard a slight shout of surprise from the brush. That was the attack that launched us into combat. Before we knew it, the army had shown itself, and we were all fighting what we thought would be the hardest battle of our lives.
Another rebel, a young man by the name of Rian, and myself were pitted against three soldiers from the Imperial Army. They had the upper hand, but Rian and I held our own. Two fell after about twenty minutes, but the third wasn't going down easily. I could hear other battles raging around me, but they didn't matter to me. Not right now. Their results would matter, but at present, I needed to focus on my own battle.
The Imperial soldier then raised his hand, and he fired a ki wave at both Rian and I. For a second, I froze. Then I threw myself to the ground, ducking the attack. I saw Rian fall back, blood streaming out of his mouth. Honestly, it didn't matter to me. For the most part, he was just another rebel. No one I knew, no one I cared about. Besides, I was safe. My own skin mattered more to me than that of someone who could well not have appreciated any act from me to save him. My hand shot up then, and I fired a ki blast at the one from the royal army. It found his throat, and I was sprayed with blood as he fell to the ground.
Then my eyes wandered. A fire had broken out on the dry grass, though it was raging in the direction opposite the way our homes were. The rest of the ground was getting too trampled to burn, really. The grass was being watered by the blood that was flowing everywhere. By the light of the fire, I saw a scene that would stay with me forever.
Tai was on the ground. Well, more like rolling with someone else. Both seemed to be trying to pin the other. The firelight caught the one she was fighting, and I gave a slight gasp. His hair stood straight up, in a flame like formation, and he was clearly taller than Tai. His hair was mostly a dark, dark brown, but reddish highlights were seen all too clearly in the dancing light. Tai raised a hand and put it right against his chest, shooting a ki blast through his armor. He rolled off, and a hand went to clutch that wound as Tai scurried away from him. I saw that one of her legs was badly wounded, but she still managed to get a good distance between them. Then the soldiers noticed the injured male, his red cape fluttering behind him slightly as he staggered to his feet.
"Sire!" one shouted, and all those alive pulled out to go to the male.
"Let them go," Tai ordered, earning a glare from Sotei that she ignored. She looked right at the wounded male, and she smirked. "Remember this day, Prince Vegeta. You were bested not only by a rebel who is years younger than you, but that rebel was a woman."
"Mark my words, you little whore," that male growled fiercely, making several of us back away nervously, but Tai held her ground. "You'll pay. One of these days, you'll pay by my hand."
They led him off then, and not one of us dared follow to try and eliminate the prince before he could get out of harm's way. Rather, we spent the rest of the night dousing the blaze we had helped cause, since no one could say for sure which side had fired the ki blast, or perhaps blasts, that had started it. We also, by Tai's orders, buried the dead using the ground softened by the fire. Sotei, I don't believe, ever figured out why Tai had let the prince go. He didn't seem to understand that Tai had done the worst thing she could to him by letting him live. She had not only thrashed his pride by defeating him, but she was now allowing him to live with that defeat.
Three months, and too many battles to count, later, we were once again readying for battle. However, this time we were all but forced to fight in the market square. We had been sitting there, discussing plans, when the Imperial Army had found us. They had snuck up on us, and they blocked every exit. We had no choice, really, but to stand and fight as we had done so many times before.
Tai, now about fourteen, was one of the first to jump straight into the fray, and we soon lost sight of her as we always did. Sotei, also, found his battle soon afterward. I recognized the one he fought as the same soldier that had been the first to the Prince's aide when he'd been wounded by Tai months ago. The King's general, I soon identified him as being.
My own challenger soon stepped up as well, and I fell into a fighting position. I began the same dance of death I had come to nearly perfect in this long while of fighting. Almost a year had passed since I'd first rallied behind Sotei and his sister.
As we fought, my attention kept drifting away, so I tried to focus in long enough to kill my opponent. I managed to knock him back, but I never quite got the chance to go in for the kill. A shout distracted me, and I couldn't help but stare.
"Sotei!"
It was Tai who had cried out, and nearly every battle stopped. All eyes turned to her at first, but then they found a new point of interest. In the center of all that was going on, Sotei was falling. He fell back, blood streaming out of a gaping hole in his chest, and there was blood gushing out of his mouth. He was dead before he hit the ground, and a cheer rose from the troops of the royal army. They were sure they'd won by killing our leader. Little did they know that the fight was only half over.
Ruins.
I was surrounded by ruins all my childhood. Most of the people around me only had the capacity to see the physical debris. They saw the caved in homes and destroyed vendor stalls well enough, but they only saw that. I, however, saw another kind in addition to those. I saw ruins in my people's eyes. A mere three years ago, they had been crushed in their attempt to revolt against the monarchy. I, being only ten then, was spared the sight of their leader's brutal demise which none would speak of.
Little did those shattered souls know that a new day was about to dawn, and the ones to lead the way would be the low class youth of Vegeta- sai.
"Ji! You shouldn't wander far off!" I shot a glare over my shoulder at the thin woman who had called after me. Her gaunt cheeks and tired eyes screamed of malnutrition. That was hardly uncommon in my world.
"You have no right to tell me what to do, woman, until you can tell me, without a doubt, who my father is." The challenge was barked and left unanswered. I stalked away from her ten, making a quick turn onto a deserted side street, heading for the former marketplace where I often met with friends to merely have company if not discussions about the turmoil and level of despair here.
I passed by a piece of level ground where wood strewn about carelessly kept alive coals and burning embers as smoke steadily roes from the debris. Mere weeks ago, the family who lived here had been nursing a rebel back to health. An Imperial Soldier showed up, and this was all that remained the next day.
A few feet more, and a building was only half standing. Most of the walls on one side had collapsed, leaving a mountain of rubble that continued slightly into the cool shade under the part of the remaining rood that was supported by rotting pillars of wood. Three children ran under there, laughing and playing. They thought nothing of the impending danger of the pillars collapsing and crushing them under the roof.
I continued my walk without a word. The little brats would have just jeered that I was worried for nothing. I wasn't about to waste my breath trying to warn ingrates. If they were killed, it'd be their own damn faults, little idiots.
The dusty path held few reminders of the battles it had seen years ago. When I was nine, I saw this place all but covered with dead bodies nearly rotting from the hot sun. The smell was sickening, and I watched as our men were buried with honor within the ground upon which I now walked. The dead of the Imperial Army, however, and those too close to death that they could not stand, were thrown together in a heap, the dying most often beneath the dead to keep them from fleeing. Then the bodies had been set on fire, and the rebels had watched them burn.
I was forced to pause a moment as the sight and sound of that night threatened to make me faint. Now I was old enough to realize the torture we put those left alive through. They, however, did just as bad to us. My faltering composure and constitution were refreshed by this, and I was able to pull myself to my feet and resume my walk to the former marketplace.
As I drew closer, something struck me as odd. Loud sounds reached my ears, and I first thought it was a typical battle. However, I then realized that the sound was cheering.
"Power! That is the backbone of our race, and yet we suffer this oppression. I commend you who try to fight, but I beg of you to yield. Trust in me, and we will turn the tide on them!"
The male was overpowering even among the ones assembled and their chatter. All of them, I noticed, were under nineteen. Former playmates of mine were being entranced by this speech. Even my heart raced as his eyes lit up with a half-mad, half-divine gleam. They twinkled delightedly at seeing his admirers listening with rapt attention. His raven hair hung just to the side of the auburn orbs, not daring to mar his vision. I drew in a silent breath as he began to once again speak to those gathered.
"I have fought," he declared, "in the name of Freiza and the Royal Family of our own planet. I have paved their conquests with my sweat and blood. And I am one of the lucky ones. I have survived to tell of the trials I have been forced to endure."
He paused to let this sink in. That was when I saw a young one sitting near him. She was, it appeared, a few years his junior, too young to be his daughter. The adoration in her eyes declared that she had to be kin, though. I had heard of her family though. I knew her to be one of them due to her strange features. Only the daughters of that blood had the golden hair that hung to her waist even pulled up, and her odd turquoise eyes shone with an almost unnatural sort of innocence.
"Sotei," she then asked mildly, the crowd hushing to hear the gentle tone, "what can we do?" Her sweet eyes seemed to protect against anyone who would dare think this rehearsed, but I had my doubts about the sincerity of that expression.
"I propose revolution!" the young man, he could not have been older than twenty, shouted. For a moment, we all fell still. Did he not know what had happened before when such action had been attempted? In our silence, he helped his sister to her feet and draped an arm over her shoulders. Proudly, his zeal not crushed by our hesitation, he boldly cried out into the mass, "My sister and I will lead the way into a new age!"
He seemed slowly discouraged as we remained silent. The people were not rallying to his call as he had hoped they would. However, the young blonde now was tugging on her brother's sleeve, and he cleared his throat to get out attention. Soon, he motioned to her, and we turned our full attention to that small, blonde one.
For a moment, the girl froze up. Her mouth opened once, and then it closed soundlessly. My heart went out to the poor creature as some started sniggering. For one so young, having all those eyes on her must have been terrifying beyond all belief. After a few more useless attempts, her voice finally granted her permission to use it as she desired.
"I was not trained to be a warrior," she said quietly, making some of us groan at the idea of her leading us, "but I can't stand this. My mother, like many of yours probably, recently bore another child. The small shack I call home does not even provide enough room for my mother, brother and I. It cannot hold another." Yet one more of us who only knew for sure one parent. "We all know the pain of going to bed hungry and cold. The Royal Family has turned their backs to us. There is only one way now to get what we need." Her meek voice was now a passionate plea. There was not one among us who was not moved by her words.
"Revolution!" our new commander cried out as he clapped a hand on his sister's shoulder. Every one of us answered his call with our own shout. He threw his sister a glance, silently thanking her and her emotional nature that had stirred our souls and convinced us to join in this battle behind him.
"Ji, give me a report on the Imperial Army!"
"Approaching from the west, moderate place, outnumber us two to one- at least."
My reply was swift as I jumped down from the roof of a tavern that the rebellion was using as a temporary headquarters. Sotei looked at me once I was on the ground. His light brown eyes were as alive as the day I had first heard him speak and had enlisted in his collection of ragtag forces. A mere two months ago, I had been no more than a new recruit. Now I was his third in command.
"Damn," Sotei hissed under his breath. He and I were thinking along the same lines. The Imperial Army would easily outmatch us in strength. They were the King's elites while we were street urchins. If they outnumbered us, too, this would be the first and final fight of the majority present. It would be, in addition, the end of this revolution.
"They're counting on us to doubt ourselves," a docile tone muttered behind us. "Trust your troops, Sotei. They are ready for this." Standing there, when I turned to look, was the sweet blonde, Tatianna. However, I, like most of the troops, had taken to calling her the nickname her brother had bestowed upon her- Tai.
"Man your posts," a little boy no older than seven called to us as he passed, crying his news to all our rabble, "they're nearly here!" I tried to watch where Tai slipped away to, but she was lost from the prospective field of war. No one was ever able to keep up with where she fought, but when she resurfaced she always had as many wounds as anyone, so no one dared accuse her of hiding while we risked out lives for her brother's dreams.
Moments later, the army was upon us. Their scouters were the first things we were told to aim at to destroy. Without those, they could not read our ki and know how much they overpowered us. I must confess, though, that I often put my own life in a higher priority than those devices' destruction.
The Imperial soldier I found myself facing looked at me, a wicked grin on his face. My eyes met his and narrowed in disgust. A well-charged ki blast was hurled at me, but I threw myself to the ground, so it soared over me. The tavern's outside wall took the blow I had dodged. Then I attempted to punch him, but he caught my hand and squeezed until he heard the bones themselves snap. It was all I could do not to start screaming in pain. He kneed me in the stomach, and my elbow found his breastbone. I managed to give it a fairly hard jolt despite his tough armor.
"You'll pay for that," he snarled as his had shot up and pushed me into the slightly cracked wall of the tavern. "Let's see what you have, you little whore," he snapped with that same wicked grin. Before he could carry out whatever whim that sick mind had contrived, a ki blast hit his back. The moron looked over his shoulder, and I was able to slam my good hand up and snap his windpipe. I saw only a flash of gold hair as I tried to see who it was that had come to my aid.
For hours, the battle raged on, and I found myself relying, more often than was to my liking, on the others due to my lack of one hand. I did my share, mind you, but I often required assistance if I was backed into a corner. After nearly five hours, judging by the sun, both sides had suffered enough. The elites withdrew, and we were left with the dead to dispose of.
"Separate our warriors from theirs, and pile all those left by the royal army," Sotei commanded. He smirked slowly as he surveyed one corpse before him. "Flesh will roast toni--"
"No, Sotei!"
The plea had issued from the lips of our fair-haired second in command. She stepped forward then, a hand slightly raised towards her brother. She limped along, and we could all see the blood flowing from a wound on her leg, no doubt caused by one of the Imperial soldiers.
"Tatianna," Sotei only called her that when he was on the border or past it of anger at her, "they would do the same to any of us." There was a collective murmur of agreement from the majority, though not a soul moved. None of us were sure which sibling would prevail in this argument, and not one of us was willing to risk either's anger for having obeyed the other.
"Are we going to be like them, Sotei?" Tai questioned, that innocent look resurfacing in her eyes as she peered right at her brother, never blinking. "You promised me a new world. You swore that things would be different if we won. I refuse to fight, though, if it means I must act like them." Her voice had not risen as it had when she had spoken to us months ago. Instead, it had remained quiet and pleading. Tai's eyes held Sotei's, seeking his final decision.
We spent the night burying the bodies of warriors from both sides.
"You children do not know what you are up against," an aged female voice whispered as my mother dabbed Tai's cut face with a cool cloth. Delicately, she cleaned the wound, nursing it as if Tai was her own child. Of course, all these damned whores looked out for each other's kids.
"We've won several battles against them already," our fearless commander pointed out as he busily wrapped a gash on my arm. Why did my heart always flutter when he touched me?
"You've yet to see their true might," my mother cooed gently. Tai gave a shout of protest against the thick lotion my mother then applied. I nearly laughed. Just ten minutes ago, she'd been snickering at me as I had begged Sotei not to put that stuff on my arm. It stung like hell. "That little brawl three months ago was nothing compared to what they can do. Please, stop while you can still live to tell. Perhaps you could be of help in future uprisings, but, please, listen to me- You cannot win this war."
"You underestimate us," Tai replied mildly. Sotei and I could not grasp how she could be so calm. My mother was not only telling us to give up, but she had also just called out battle against the Imperial Army where Tai had first shown her signature compassion to the dead a mere brawl!
"I worry about you," my mother whispered tenderly as she ran two fingers through Tai's hair. "All of you," she added as she looked at Sotei and I. For a moment, this was not the woman I so often quarreled with. This was not the whore who slept with any man for a price and ignored her children so she could keep them fed, even with a meager meal. She was, at this instant, only my mother, nothing more.
We all fell silent under that gaze, and Sotei finished his task with my arm. He then shifted silently, wrapping an arm around me as he drew me close to his chest, almost protectively. My heart was beating wildly, and I felt a blush rise in my cheeks. My mother saw the color in my face. I shot her a glare when she gave me a look that was full of warning that Sotei may only want one thing. I knew though, as anyone my age would have claimed to, that Sotei would never dare to try such a thing, nor would he ever so much as attempt to harm me.
Perhaps I was right in that assumption. I could well have been wrong too. I only wish I'd gotten the chance to ever find out.
"Be on your guard," came a soft whisper from behind me.
I could only not. The hour was well past midnight, but everyone near me was wide awake. Each one of us could hear the soft sounds of approaching movement. Out campfire was doused, so the Imperial Army believe us to be asleep. The fools thought they would have the element of surprise. We had the tables turned, though, before they ever attacked.
We had set up camp in the barren ground a little ways from our homes so that no one would get involved in this battle other than those of us who were fighters. It had been Tai's idea, actually. In our last battle about a week ago, three small children had been killed, and Tai had wept so bitterly over their deaths. Like a mother who had lost those three children of her own. She would be, I knew well enough, a wonderful mother one day. Though I had to wonder if her children, since they would be Saiyans, would appreciate her compassion.
Slowly, I rose to my feet. Even in the dim light that the quarter moon provided, I could see my allies. Sotei was about three yards away, his eyes narrowed. He was the one who was most nervous about this battle. It was said, after all, that we had become enough of a "problem" that the Crowned Prince himself was leading the unit coming after us this time. If we killed him, then this war would be on the downhill slide. This could well be a decisive battle.
"They're coming," he hissed in our direction, and then his hand rose. A single ki blast left it, and I heard a slight shout of surprise from the brush. That was the attack that launched us into combat. Before we knew it, the army had shown itself, and we were all fighting what we thought would be the hardest battle of our lives.
Another rebel, a young man by the name of Rian, and myself were pitted against three soldiers from the Imperial Army. They had the upper hand, but Rian and I held our own. Two fell after about twenty minutes, but the third wasn't going down easily. I could hear other battles raging around me, but they didn't matter to me. Not right now. Their results would matter, but at present, I needed to focus on my own battle.
The Imperial soldier then raised his hand, and he fired a ki wave at both Rian and I. For a second, I froze. Then I threw myself to the ground, ducking the attack. I saw Rian fall back, blood streaming out of his mouth. Honestly, it didn't matter to me. For the most part, he was just another rebel. No one I knew, no one I cared about. Besides, I was safe. My own skin mattered more to me than that of someone who could well not have appreciated any act from me to save him. My hand shot up then, and I fired a ki blast at the one from the royal army. It found his throat, and I was sprayed with blood as he fell to the ground.
Then my eyes wandered. A fire had broken out on the dry grass, though it was raging in the direction opposite the way our homes were. The rest of the ground was getting too trampled to burn, really. The grass was being watered by the blood that was flowing everywhere. By the light of the fire, I saw a scene that would stay with me forever.
Tai was on the ground. Well, more like rolling with someone else. Both seemed to be trying to pin the other. The firelight caught the one she was fighting, and I gave a slight gasp. His hair stood straight up, in a flame like formation, and he was clearly taller than Tai. His hair was mostly a dark, dark brown, but reddish highlights were seen all too clearly in the dancing light. Tai raised a hand and put it right against his chest, shooting a ki blast through his armor. He rolled off, and a hand went to clutch that wound as Tai scurried away from him. I saw that one of her legs was badly wounded, but she still managed to get a good distance between them. Then the soldiers noticed the injured male, his red cape fluttering behind him slightly as he staggered to his feet.
"Sire!" one shouted, and all those alive pulled out to go to the male.
"Let them go," Tai ordered, earning a glare from Sotei that she ignored. She looked right at the wounded male, and she smirked. "Remember this day, Prince Vegeta. You were bested not only by a rebel who is years younger than you, but that rebel was a woman."
"Mark my words, you little whore," that male growled fiercely, making several of us back away nervously, but Tai held her ground. "You'll pay. One of these days, you'll pay by my hand."
They led him off then, and not one of us dared follow to try and eliminate the prince before he could get out of harm's way. Rather, we spent the rest of the night dousing the blaze we had helped cause, since no one could say for sure which side had fired the ki blast, or perhaps blasts, that had started it. We also, by Tai's orders, buried the dead using the ground softened by the fire. Sotei, I don't believe, ever figured out why Tai had let the prince go. He didn't seem to understand that Tai had done the worst thing she could to him by letting him live. She had not only thrashed his pride by defeating him, but she was now allowing him to live with that defeat.
Three months, and too many battles to count, later, we were once again readying for battle. However, this time we were all but forced to fight in the market square. We had been sitting there, discussing plans, when the Imperial Army had found us. They had snuck up on us, and they blocked every exit. We had no choice, really, but to stand and fight as we had done so many times before.
Tai, now about fourteen, was one of the first to jump straight into the fray, and we soon lost sight of her as we always did. Sotei, also, found his battle soon afterward. I recognized the one he fought as the same soldier that had been the first to the Prince's aide when he'd been wounded by Tai months ago. The King's general, I soon identified him as being.
My own challenger soon stepped up as well, and I fell into a fighting position. I began the same dance of death I had come to nearly perfect in this long while of fighting. Almost a year had passed since I'd first rallied behind Sotei and his sister.
As we fought, my attention kept drifting away, so I tried to focus in long enough to kill my opponent. I managed to knock him back, but I never quite got the chance to go in for the kill. A shout distracted me, and I couldn't help but stare.
"Sotei!"
It was Tai who had cried out, and nearly every battle stopped. All eyes turned to her at first, but then they found a new point of interest. In the center of all that was going on, Sotei was falling. He fell back, blood streaming out of a gaping hole in his chest, and there was blood gushing out of his mouth. He was dead before he hit the ground, and a cheer rose from the troops of the royal army. They were sure they'd won by killing our leader. Little did they know that the fight was only half over.