Several weeks had passed since the Cell Games. Life was slowly beginning to return to some semblance of normal for everyone on Earth; more slowly, of course, for the Z-senshi. Trunks had returned to his own time, leaving Bulma to be ignored by Vegeta as he trained tirelessly in his gravity chamber. She busied herself with her work and helping her mother see to baby Trunks' every need, and then some. She wished Vegeta was more involved with his son, but she also reasoned that Trunks was better off not having the Saiya-jin prince to model his behavior after.
Chi-Chi busied herself with her pregnancy and watching over Gohan. She was silently thankful for Piccolo being there for him, though she would never admit it. Gohan mourned the loss of his father but kept a stiff upper lip as he continued his training only slightly as his mother kept after his studies. For his part, Piccolo kept a close eye on Gohan and Chi-Chi, knowing the woman would need watched over with soon to be two demi-Saiya-jin running around her home. He also kept a close eye on Dende, not that he had much choice, spending much time with him at the lookout. Also being watched by Piccolo, Krillin was slowly starting to grow closer to Eighteen as all the rest moved on with their lives.
It was a beautiful warm day when their lives, namely the Nameks', had a sudden interruption. Dende and Piccolo were gazing down from the lookout watching Earth in silence. Piccolo preferred the silence when he got it as he spent so much of the rest of his time using Kami's memories and knowledge to train Dende in being a proper guardian for Earth. Dende, knowing this, kept quiet so as not to disturb the older Namek. Both of them, however, were startled from their separate musings as something large came crashing through the atmosphere and straight into the earth far below.
Dende looked up at Piccolo in concern. The object had moved too fast for him to see what it really was, the atmosphere having been burning around it. He could also sense nothing from it, which upset him. He had so much to learn and feared he may never grasp all he needed to know. "What..." He started to ask the much larger man.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Before Dende could utter a sound of any kind, Piccolo dove over the edge of the lookout and raced for whatever it was that had fallen from space. He was shocked to find a space pod so very similar to those the Saiya-jins had used to get to Earth nearly seven years before. 'Had it really been such a short time?' He shook himself from his musing and slowly approached the pod.
He felt no ki coming from within but there would be no reason for the pod to be there if there was no one inside. Empty space pods did not travel through space. Just as he got a short distance from the pod, the door hissed as it automatically opened just enough for the occupant to shove it the rest of the way or someone to pull it open from the outside. Piccolo waited just incase it was the occupant and not himself that had triggered the door's actions.
After several moments no one had made a sound or moved to open the door further. He could only surmise it had reacted to his presence or a preprogramed command. Curiosity got the better of him and he reached forward and wrenched the door off the pod violently. Inside, bloody and unconscious, lay what appeared to be a humanoid. He had no doubts by the smell the alien was at least part Saiya-jin but the smell was not quite right. 'But where did it come from and why now? Why here?' He reached inside and grasped the figure's arm, perhaps a bit roughly, to shake it awake. He received no response.
Slowly, and against his better judgement, he picked the alien up and headed back to the lookout. He silently cursed Nail or Kami, or both as he figured was the case, for making him soft enough to be seeing to the almost dead alien when he had no way of knowing it was not a threat to them all. 'Look at the condition. Would you really expect any danger from someone in that condition?' But he also knew that Saiya-jins and those partial Saiya-jins grew stronger after being beat near to death.
Dende was shocked to see Piccolo arrive with the figure in his arms. "What happened?" He moved forward to help, everything in his being calling him to do so. He could tell that whoever, whatever, the figure was, they were in serious need of healing. "Follow me." The small Namek said, taking some of the control he so rarely displayed. He missed the proud look on Piccolo's face as he rushed off, summoning Mr. Popo to aide them.
Piccolo grunted glad to be having the problem off his hands as much as he was to see Dende taking over. The young one had hope yet at being a grand guardian. He followed along behind the young guardian with a small, proud smirk.
"Any idea who he is?" Dende asked as Piccolo laid the figure down. He looked over the alien. The figure had dirty, tangled, bloody hair that was matted around the face, neck, and shoulders giving the honey locks a nasty, dingy look. The body was in the typical armor plating worn by Saiya-jins and followers of Frieza and his 'esteemed' family. The armor was cracked and highly damaged. The suit underneath seemed unusually thin and sheer, not covering much of the body within. Also unusual was a green choker like collar around the neck.
"No." The large Namek eyed the prone form. "Smells like a Saiya-jin half-breed of some sort. The smell is similar to Gohan and Trunks but there's nothing human about this creature."
"Half-Saiya-jin?" Dende asked as his eyes traveled over the form again. He and Popo began cleaning the diminutive alien once the genie arrived. "Who did this to him?" He asked more to himself than the others.
"Yes," Piccolo answered the first question. "But, I can't identify what else. I'm getting his royal pain-in-the-ass. If anyone would know it would have to be him." Piccolo did not look thrilled with the idea of getting Vegeta. In truth, he was not. He could only imagine how difficult Vegeta was going to make things.
Dende smirked at Popo as Piccolo turned and left. Popo smiled back, working on disrobing and washing their guest. The worse of the wounds he took extra care with. As he removed the armor Dende saw they were not working with quite the alien he thought. "Oh!" Dende exclaimed as they worked. "I had thought..."
"The armor hid her gender well," Popo agreed. He carried away the dirty tattered armor and clothes. He returned with additional rags and water as well as a robe. "I will see if Master Korin has any beans. The collar refuses to come off. I saw no means to remove it."
"Thank you, Mr. Popo." Dende nodded to the genie. He listened to him patter off as his small hands worked on cleaning the wounds further. Once she was completely clean, he began to heal the more minor of her wounds before starting on the worse ones. He hoped Korin had some senzu beans. While he could heal her, he knew it would take a great deal of his own energy as well as her will. Something told him that she did not wish to live.
Vegeta felt Piccolo coming long before the demanding pounding on the door of his gravity chamber. At first, he figured on ignoring it but it soon drove him mad. He could not let anything distract him from his training. One day he knew he would still have the chance to best Kakarrot. Growling loudly, he shut down the machine and stormed out. "What the hell do you want, Namek?" He roared at the tall green alien.
Piccolo snarled at him before answering. "A pod crashed with some Saiya-jin half-breed about half an hour ago. I though the great prince might be interested in knowing," he sneered. Vegeta irritated him greatly at times. His current petulance made this time one of those.
"What the hell are you going on about, baka?" Vegeta growled irritably. The damn Namek was making no sense. Surely he would have felt something if what he said was true. 'Besides, where would a half-breed have come from?' "I have felt noth..."
"Dammit, Vegeta, I would not be here wasting my breath on you if I wasn't sure about this," Piccolo cut him off with a snarl through his teeth.
"This I must see." Taking off before he realized he had no idea where he was going. "Come on, baka!" He roared in irritation.
Piccolo growled and caught up to the irate prince. He swiftly led the way back to the lookout wishing he had someone else to ask about this than the overly irritating Saiya-jin.
After healing a handful of her wounds, Dende was startled back as she stirred and sat up. Her eyes, which he discovered to be a dead golden brown, widened as she took in her surroundings and state of undress, though she made no move to cover herself. "Where am I?" She asked in a language Dende did not understand, her foreign tongue.
Before he could answer, Piccolo walked in. Her eyes watched him, took him all in as she had Dende and everything around them. However, when Vegeta walked in with his foul mood apparent, she literally fell over herself to get on her knees, face to the floor.
Vegeta froze, eyes on her. The rich green collar was a sharp contrast to her paleness. He sneered at the huddled, cowed form. "Toss it back where you found it. Better yet, toss it in the ocean and let it drown."
"Vegeta?" Piccolo questioned. He knew Vegeta was a bastard, had always known it, but this surprised him.
"She needs help. No one is harming her more!" Dende informed them with more strength and confidence than he felt. He tentatively moved to stand before her, between she and Vegeta. Vegeta scared the hell out of him but he would not let him harm her.
Mr. Popo walked in just then. He took in the scene in shock. "What's going on?" He looked amongst them. He then moved to Dende when no one answered, handing over a senzu bean.
"Thank you, Mr. Popo." He turned to the young woman on the floor. "You need to..." Before he could complete his statement, Vegeta had moved to his side and snatched the bean away. Dende gasped and backed away quickly.
"Stay away from him, Vegeta," Piccolo warned in a low, cold hiss. The prince could threaten the half-breed all he wanted, but he would be damned if he harmed Dende.
Vegeta sneered at Piccolo before hauling the female up by the back of the collar, choking her. She made no move to stop him or sound of protest. Her eyes remained fixed on the floor.
"Stop!" Dende cried making to move forward again. Mr. Popo stopped him. Dende turned pleading eyes on Piccolo. "Piccolo..."
"Put her down, Saiya-jin." Piccolo moved toward Vegeta. He could not take the look in Dende's eyes. They reminded him of Gohan's when the boy had been younger.
The female was confused and the lack of proper oxygen was not helping her mind. Why were these people, whom she did not know the races of, standing up to Prince Vegeta? Why was he allowing them insolence? Where was she anyhow? Vegeta was suppose to be dead.
"This trash does not concern you." Vegeta hefted her a little higher, cutting off more air. She felt the world spin and watched it go black from the edges in.
"Put her down!" Piccolo roared as he knocked bodily into Vegeta causing him to lose grim on the female alien.
Vegeta shoved back, sending Piccolo flying back. He ignored the Namek's glare. "See this?" He grabbed the young woman's collar again but did not lift her all the way off the ground. "She's a slave. The daughter of a whore and one herself. Her only purpose in life is to serve her superiors in whatever sick way they want." He sneered down at her. "First, it was just our race that subjected the few remaining of her mother's people. We killed all the males that survived and kept the women as slaves. Eventually, once we worked for Frieza, the slaves served his officers as well."
"Sex slaves?" Piccolo asked. He was looking at Vegeta like the prince had grown an extra head. 'She's a sex slave?' The whole thing was outrageous!
Vegeta ignored the Namek warrior. "Who was your master? Why are you here?" He snarled at her. 'More important is how she got away and who's following her.'
She did not look up from the floor as she answered, again speaking in her native language, "First Master Zarbon, heinous. Then I was for Lord Kooler." She tried to shrink on herself. "I... I ran, heinous." She waited for the striking blow. She knew the penalty for running.
He regarded her, calculating. "Explain," he barked. Slaves rarely fled because they knew the punishment.
"Lord Kooler wished... was going to make me... He was going to force me to incubate an heir." The disdain and abhorrence lacing her voice was not lost on Vegeta though it was barely noticeable. She had tried to mask it. He could also hear the fear. What of her blood that was Saiya-jin screamed at the affront to her pride. Not only at being chosen to help further Kooler's line but also at being a slave.
Vegeta hummed in thought. 'How unusual. They usually do not exhibit any traits of their fathers.' "You will be followed." Of that he had no doubt. At least one warrior would be sent after her. They would not want her back, perhaps, unless there was some bigger reason Kooler had chosen her. She would more than likely be killed.
"Yes," she agreed. Something in her eyes flashed. She had already fought to get this far. She was not going to give in just yet. Not to them, at least.
Vegeta tossed her down at Dende's feet. "You want her to live. You protect her." He turned and left. He had no reason to get involved unless whomever came to get her would be a problem. He would up his training, just in case, but he doubted anyone out there could be a proper challenge for him. 'Except Kakarrot and his brat.'
"Mr. Popo, could you get another..." Dende started to ask the genie.
"I'll go," Piccolo offered knowing he could do so quicker than the genie. He left them to retrieve another bean. He also wanted to think on the conversation he had not fully understood. He needed to learn this language or start reading her one.
"Let me help you," Dende spoke softly to the female alien. He took her arm in his small hands and helped her to stand as best he could. She was about the same size as Vegeta, only a bit smaller, but he was still smaller than she was, slightly.
She looked at him in shock at his actions, at his voice. "Why?" Why was he acting so nice, caring for her in such a way? What were his motives?
"I'm afraid I don't understand you," he apologized. With Popo's help, he moved her back to the bed. "Let me help you into this." He held up the robe. "No need for you to be unclothed. I'll ask Piccolo to see about you some clothes of your own. I'm afraid the ones you came in were ruined beyond repair." He chattered away as he saw to her. Happy to see her relax some under his care.