Vegeta looked forlorn at the green planet below him. Sighing he turned and checked his bag one last time. He pushed past the spare clothes and medical kit to be sure that his scouter was still there. No food or water. Not even a simple pot could to accompany him on his journey. He checked the hunting knife over before placing it back in its sheath with a frown.
"Don't look so glum, son. This is an adventure!" The King boasted as he entered Vegeta's room unannounced.
"Blasted tent takes up too much room." Vegeta complained.
"Trust me, you'll need it. There are no civilizations down there. No sentient beings at all. This will be your only shelter while you're there. That is, until you build one." The king proclaimed.
"This is ridiculous. I should be training." Vegeta countered.
"This is your right of passage. You will turn eighteen soon. You have to prove your ability to. . ." the King began but was cut short by Vegeta.
"This is a complete waste of my time. I am already stronger than any elite soldier. None would dare challenge me." Vegeta said proudly.
"You will come back a changed man, my son. Then we can look for a proper mate for the heir to the throne." King Vegeta said as he slapped his son heartily on his back. Vegeta glared at his father. "This is tradition. You will do this, voluntarily or otherwise." The King threatened.
The King placed his arm around the Prince as he shouldered his bag. They began walking to the loading bay. They came to stop outside a small shuttlecraft. As Vegeta went to enter his father stopped him.
"Remember, this is not only about survival but about finding yourself. You have experienced much but never solitude, not like this. A proper King must make decisions without anyone's advice. If you must you can use your scouter to call for assistance but I doubt you will need to. If we do not hear from you we will be back in six months. Think of it as six months of uninterrupted training." The King offered as Vegeta scowled at him. "And remember – no flying!" The King called.
Vegeta said nothing but entered the space shuttle. The door closed with a hiss and the shuttle lifted off. The King turned to his trusted friend and advisor, "Are you sure this is the right thing for him, Bardock?" he asked.
"Yes, he will return a changed man. I have seen it." Bardock said.
"I only hope it's for the better. Solitude is not a friend to everyone. I personally detested my time on that planet." The King said solemnly.
"The young prince has seen too much of war, too much blood-shed at his own hands. That tyrant has damaged him. In the silence of this ritual he will fight his demons. He will learn to listen to his heart. He will become the King he was meant to be." Bardock said.
oOo
Vegeta remained silent during the space shuttle ride to the planet's surface. His body guard, Nappa, had tried to engage him in conversation but if had failed. Truth-be-told he was not the same since his service under Lord Frieza. He had become hardened and his heart had become cold, not even his little brother could move him. Most people avoided him. As stories of his exploits under Frieza reached Vegetasai he had earned the nickname of The Dark Prince and he intended to live up to that name.
As he stepped out onto the grassy hills he didn't offer a look back at his old mentor. He just began walking, ignoring the warnings be shouted to him as he entered the forest. Where there was vegetation there was water and where there was water there was bound to be game to hunt. Thusly he would find his way in the dense forest.
A rare rodent ran in the trees overhead but Vegeta could find no tracks of larger game. Vegeta did not find a water source either. Growing impatient with the setting sun he stopped and rummaged through his bag. Retrieving his scouter he placed it on his head and scanned the area life forms. Multiple weak signatures popped up all over but nothing of significance.
With a growl of frustration he returned the scouter to his bag and dredged on. When he came to a small clearing in the woods he decided to make camp. He took out his tent and pitched it. He gathered some stones to form a fire pit. Thirty minutes later he had some fallen trees cut into logs and ready to burn, the rest stacked away for later.
The darkness blanketed the forest floor. The tree tops narrowly allowing the moon light to seep through. As Vegeta formed a ki ball in his hands to light the fire he heard a twig 'snap' and he turned in that direction to look, but saw nothing. He leaned in to the pit and let his ki light the fire. As he stood and looked proudly at his camp he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"Ridiculous." Vegeta proclaimed to the night.
oOo
Vegeta wasn't sure when he finally dozed off but he awoke with a startle. For the first time in his life there was no one to answer to, no one to tell him when to wake up. He was disorientated without knowing what time it was. He searched his bag until he found his scouter. 9:45 AM the digital display read.
"At least I know what time it is back there. That doesn't help me here." Vegeta said with a scowl. He left his shelter and looked around. Based on the shadows, the sun was nearly overhead.
"Wonderful. Just freaking wonderful." He spat as he kicked a stone. Just then is stomach grumbled in protest as he skipped supper last night and breakfast today so he set out to rectify the situation. Unfortunately for Vegeta there were no large game to be had and he had to settle for the furry rodents from the trees.
The smell of the meat cooking over the fire drew the attention of some small animal Vegeta determined as something was definitely circling his camp. Whatever it was, it was small enough Vegeta was not able to make it out from the shadows.
That night Vegeta dreamt of his service to Lord Frieza and woke up in an even fouler mood than he had gone to sleep in. His body protested sleeping on the hard ground but he ventured out through the forest and found a grassy hill. Here he performed his katas with strict precision. He moved on to strengthening exercises but found it hard to concentrate when once again the feeling that he was being watched over take him.
"By the Great Oozaroo! I cannot stand this place!" Vegeta shouted in frustration. He had been here barely two days and already felt like he was losing his mind. He made the short trek back to his campsite and immediately could sense something wasn't right.
"Something went through my stuff!" Vegeta said incredulously.
He checked his bag but nothing was missing. That's when he noticed the bowl carved from a fallen tree filled with clear water. He sat it down and looked around. Off in the distance he see the slightest bit if what looks like blue fur running off in the distance. When he reaches down to grab the bowl he sees a plastic pouch with alien writing on it. He tears it open to reveal what looks like soldier's rations inside. After smelling the water and testing it with his finger he determined that it was fresh and he greedily accepted the offerings from wherever they came.
The following day he repeats his routine. He lets his anger out while fighting unseen foes. When he returns to the camp there is nothing. Nor has he felt those watchful eyes upon him this day.
"I must be losing my mind!" Vegeta groans. "How does one find oneself without their mind intact?" Vegeta complains. Disappointed he finds sleep come difficultly.
On the fourth day of his quest he returns to the clearing to find some of the grass has been cut away. "This is definitely odd." Vegeta murmurs as he goes to inspect. He crouches down near the clearing and finds a trap near a rabbit hole. He stands quickly and looks around. There are no animal tracks or foot prints, but he is certain he is not alone. He returns to his camp warily. He feels the eyes upon him once more and once more he finds the wooden bowl with water.
As if waking from a dream he makes the stark realization of how dry his throat is and drinks the water without even testing it this time. Something, no someone is out there watching him. They must not know who I am or they would not dare enter my camp he reasons to himself. This being avoids me during the daylight but watches me. Are they afraid? He wonders in silence. Deciding it would be prudent to befriend this person in order to find the source of their water and food supply he decided to change up his routine. He kicks dirt onto the sparse flames at his camp, sits, and begins to meditate on how to accomplish his goal.
As the sun begins to set on the distant horizon he feels the tingle of someone's presence. Their ki is so low that he had mistaken it for an animal many times he realizes. This being had been following him, watching him from the beginning. He willed his heart rate to slow and his respirations to even out. As the presence draws near he senses another presence but cannot place it. He wills himself to stay still, wanting to earn this man's trust. It must be a male warrior of some sort to survive out here he reasons.
He is drawn from his thoughts as warning bells begin to go off in his head. He opens his eyes in time to see a graceful figure drop from the trees above him. In a moment of confusion he falls back slightly and looks past the figure in front of him to the charging wild boar. The figure in front of him has their back to him, growling and is arched towards the boar which has stopped. Grunting the boar turns to leave.
Vegeta, realizing that his supper was running away stands and faces his palm in the direction of the boar with every intent of blasting the animal when a slender hand grasps his outstretched one, halting his attack. His eyes trace the form of the slender hand down to a pair of tone arms and eventually to the pleading eyes of the little female in front of him.
His confusion was evident on his face as he took in the slender form of the female in front of him. All anger vanquished at his lost meal as he stared into the blue eyes of the beautiful creature before him. He gently reached out and touched a tendril of her blue hair.
"Who are you?" He asks in a whisper as he releases her hair.
She stops and looks at him, her head cocked to the side in confusion.
A thought crosses his mind as he tells her, "Wait here, don't run away." He walks several paces back to his bags and grabs a scouter. Sliding it on his head he returns to find her poking at the dead fire pit with a stick, her eyes carefully observing.
Vegeta sits next to her and carefully creates a small ki ball appear in his hand as he watches her for her reaction. Her eyes grow wide but she doesn't run. "So, you have seen me do this before have you?" He asks quietly. Her eyes dart from his hand to the fire pit, expectantly. Seeing that she understands what he is doing he leans down and sets the logs aflame as she watches. Once again she giggles as she puts her hands out to feel the warmth.
"You like the fire?" He asks.
Now that the campfire is burning he can see that she is relatively clean. She smells of the forest trees and soil. She has no shoes and what remains of her clothes are torn and tattered rags but likewise are similarly clean.
"You know where fresh water is. You must, in order to survive out here. Will you show me?" He asks, again careful to keep his voice low for fear of scaring her off.
She does not answer but looks at him, her brows furrowed in concentration. She reaches out and takes his hand carefully in her little one and turns it over. She points from the fire to his hand and back again, her eyes wide and her movements exited. He looks as her for a moment with confusion before realizing what she is asking him.
"You want to know how I did that, make the fire?" He asks and is rewarded with a smile.
"Can you not talk? It would make it so much easier to calibrate this thing." He says jokingly as he taps the scouter on the side of his head.
She reaches out and takes the scouter from his head and puts it on her own and studies the display. "Give that back! You little. . ." Vegeta says is frustration but as he reaches out to take it she jumps from her seat and just out of reach. She sticks out a finger and waves it at him.
"No?" He asks, incredulously.
"N-nnn-oo" she mimics back at him in his own tongue.
"So you can talk!" He says boisterously. "Good, give it here. I need that to find water." He tells her.
"W-at-er?" She asks again speaking in Saiyan.
"Yes, water." Feeling himself beginning to lose his patience he sits and grabs a stick and draws three squiggly lines and a water drop in the dirt. "Water" he says, pointing to the symbols.
She studies the image before her face brightened with understanding. She walks up to him and takes him by the hand before he allows her to lead him into the forest. He remains quiet as he carefully watches her for signs of subversion but he can find none. She is graceful and beautiful as she carefully walks in front of him. Suddenly she stops, releasing his hand, and hold her hand out in warning.
"What is it?" He asks.
"SSHHT" She sounds in reply.
"Silly female. There is nothing I cannot defend myself from." He boasts as he steps in front of her.
His eyes search the darkness for threat as he hears her climb a nearby tree. Suddenly a large pack of wolves enter the small clearing and lunge at him. He throws the first one off without a hesitation when a second one bites into his left arm. He rolls and blasts the wolf, it releases him as it howls in pain and runs off. A third wolf jumps past him and he sees that there are two others circling the little female up in the tree. He blasts each one and the pack runs off.
He walks up to the tree and motions for her to come down, "Its safe now, little female. You can come down" he urges.
As she climbs down the tree he takes a moment to survey the damage the wolf did to his arm and he peels back the sleeve of his shirt. She looks sadly at his arm before beginning to walk off. She stops several paces away and clicks her tongue at him to make sure he is still following her.
"Yes, alright. I'm coming." He calls to her.
A short while later they come to a large clearing where the trees give way to a rocky embankment and a river flowing serenely through. He stands and watches in awe as she dances at the water's edge. "Water!" She shouts with a smile.
He walks up to join her as she tears part of her garment off and dips it in the cool water and places the makeshift bandage on his arm. He resists the urge to hiss as the cold water comes in contact with the open flesh of his wounds. He sits on the shore as she repeats the process until no more blood comes from the bites. She takes one last rinse of the scrap of fabric and ties it over his arm. So far he has been quietly watching her tend his wounds, something his mother had only done for him as a child, not knowing what else to do. Her innocent and quiet nature is soothing and he finds himself relaxed in her company.
As she tied the knot on the bandage she looked up and smiled at him and he grinned back at her. She turned to get up and he stopped her by placing his hand on her arm. "Thank you." He said, nearly having to force the foreign words from his mouth.
"Tha-a-nk y-oo" she mimicked in return before dashing back into the water only to return a few minutes later carrying a fish. "Water!" She said excitedly as she ran back to the river, still carrying the fish. As he came to stand next to her she threw the fish back in and pointed to the river. "Water." She repeated as she looks proudly at the river.
"And there goes dinner." Vegeta said with a groan as his stomach echoed a growl in frustration.
She turns to look at him and giggles. "No" she tells him as she takes his hand and he again allows her to lead him across the river to the other side. As they cross the brush into a thinly wooded area a metallic glint hits hit eye. She releases her hold of his hand and twirls around.
"Water." She says in a more serious tone.
"No, not water." He tells her as he walks passed her and runs his hands on the smooth metal exterior of a spaceship. Realization dawns on him that the crude drawing on the water and the water droplet were reminiscent of a map of the river and the craft in front of them. He turns and looks at her inquisitively, "Is this were you sleep? Is this how you stay safe?" He asks when a troubling thought occurs to him. "Are there others like you?" He asks but he can tell by her expression that she does not understand him. He walks around the exterior until he finds the opening, the door permanently stuck ajar. He forms a ki ball in his hand for light as he carefully enters the ship. He tenses momentarily as he hears her bare foot steps padding on the cold metal floor.
She giggles as she pushes past him into the next room which is partially lit by the moonlight. "Silly female" he grumbles as she reaches out and flips a switch on the wall and the room is suddenly illuminated by several lights attached to the walls.
"No si-ll-ee, Bulma." She says as she stands with her hands behind her back, her head held proudly. The scouter left discarded on the table.
Vegeta stands in awe at the vision of the space craft in front of him. It was obviously built to be luxorious and top of line in its day. Question was, by whom. He picks up the scouter and turns it on. No life signals, other than that of animals, the little female and himself. She is all alone. Faced with more questions than answers he began to wander around the room and look at the books and pictures on the walls. That's when he saw it, a picture of a blue haired little girl with what Vegeta presumed where her parents. The male wore a white coat and glasses and the yellow haired woman was holding the little girl who could not have been more than three summers old. He was pulled from his thoughts when the little female came to stand next to him and handed him a bag of rations. He watched in amusement as she used her teeth to open her own and daintily used her fingers to eat.
She smiled at him and then looked at the picture. She put her finger over the little girl's face in the photo, "Bulma" she said sadly.
He cupped her face with his hand, "Bulma" he repeated and she smiled, pushing her face slightly into his caress before walking off and sitting on one of the couches in the common area. He followed her and sat next to her. Taking her hand in his he placed her hand on his face, "Vegeta" he said. He watched as her mind quickly connected the dots.
"Va-gi-ta." She repeated as he shook his head in confirmation.
"That's the first words you have said on your own. I'm starting to think that it's not a matter of you can't speak, you just never learned how." He teased. Although she may not have understood the words she understood their intent as evidenced by her pouting. "At this rate you will learn my language before we decipher any of this" he said motioning to the room around them.
Bulma stood, stretched, and yawned. She crossed the room into the hall and Vegeta followed. He now could see that there was a kitchen and dining area across the hall and to the left a ladder that the little female was climbing. He stood at the base of the ladder, not sure if he was supposed to follow her or not for a moment as she disappeared to the second floor. A minute later her head peaked out from the opening and she began clicking her tongue at him and waving her hand that he should follow.
"You want me to follow you again?" He asked, once again teasing her. She looked at him with confusion and frustration. He pointed to himself and then the ladder "Vegeta follow Bulma?" he asked.
She seemed to ponder his words before smiling and shaking her head, "Vegeta fall-o Bulma" she repeated. Vegeta could only grin, "You're a quick study." He commented as he followed her up the ladder to the second floor. The area was a dome with a clear view of the night sky and the stars twinkling over head. In the middle of the room were blankets and pillows in a messy pile on top of which Bulma sat looking up at the stars. Vegeta tentatively sat down next to her. He gazed into the stars until he felt his eyelids become heavy. He turned to find Bulma snuggled in next to him fast asleep. Deciding there were worse places to be sleeping he let sleep pull him under with the little female secured at his side.
oOo
Vegeta woke to the sun shining brilliantly over head. The morning had not yet passed. As he stretched out his body did not protest the sleeping arrangements from last night. He looked around and to his disappointment the little female was nowhere in sight. He climbed down the ladder and decided to explore the space craft in her absence. The kitchen area had a functioning refrigerator and to his surprise, running water. He found a bathroom with a shower and toilet. He crossed the hall back in to the common area. He had not noticed earlier but there was a door on the far end of the room. When he crossed the room and was about to open the door, Bulma appeared.
"No." She called and halted his advancement.
"Why? What's in there?" He asked as he turned to face her. What he saw chilled him to the bone. This creature that had stood up to a wild boar was . . . afraid. He fear was so palpable he could almost taste it. So, instead of satiating his curiosity, he once again allowed her to lead him outside. She released his hand and tied her skirt up before wading into the water. He sat on the rocky shore and watched as she caught a fish and brought it back to him. She waded back into the water and returned with another fish, but instead of handing it to him she walked back up the slope towards the ship.
Once up the hill Vegeta saw what she was waiting for. She had built her own fire pit and put fallen logs and twigs into it. She even fashioned a spit to sit over the flames. As he sat down next to her she took his hand and held it out towards the fire pit.
"You do not know how to make your own fire?" He asked with a grin before forming a ki ball in his hand. He watches as her eyes grow round.
"F-f-i-re!" She says gleefully and claps.
He smirks and lights the logs on fire. She takes the fish and puts them on her makeshift spit over the fire. He leans back and watches as she stares at the fish cooking. They pass the time in a comfortable silence until Vegeta sits up and turns the fish so they can finish cooking evenly. She turns her head slightly to look at him and smiles brightly at him.
He sees a leaf sticking out of her hair and pulls it out before running his hands through her tangle hair. "Too bad people back home are not this agreeable" he says softly as he gazes into her eyes. She smiles at him and he can tell by the look in her eyes she is thinking about something. "I wish I knew what you were thinking, woman" he grumbles.
Her smile falters and the look of concern passes over her features. The distant sound of thunder answers his question before it could form on his lips. He turns to face the western sky and the looming threat of a storm follows on the wind. He grabs the fish and kicks the fire out. "Time to go inside" he instructs but she is already gone. As he makes his way into the shuttle he forces the door closed with some effort. He turns and finds her in the kitchen placing two glasses on the table with two plates. She reaches into the refridgerator and pulls out a water pitcher. The pair sit in silence as the storm rages on outside.
When they finished eating they move to the common area. He sits across from her and watches her movements, each time she jumps with the lightning but not the thunder. "You understand, don't you? The lightning creates the thunder. There is no surprise that the thunder is coming." He states. She doesn't answer but looks at him with confusion.
"Alright. We have to do something about this language barrier." He says as he stands. He walks across the room and picks up a book and holds it out for her to see. "Book" he states and he waits.
"Bo-o-k." She replies.
"Good. Now let's try this one. Light." He says, pointing to the light.
"L-li-ght." She calls.
"Very good." He responds and is greeted with a smile.
And so they spend the remainder of the day with Vegeta pointing things out and naming them with Bulma repeating them. They stop to eat on occasion but before long the day is spent and Vegeta turns to see Bulma yawning. He takes her upstairs to her room and covers her up. He turns to leave and her hand reaches out and grabs his arm.
"No. Vegeta follow Bulma" she says sleepily.
With a tired sigh he lies down next to her and allows her to pull his arm over her. "Okay. Vegeta follow Bulma" he says as he closes his eyes.