Like Never Before
Chapter I: Journey of a Lifetime
By Shadowed Replica
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Trunks Breifs or any other character in the DBZ series. So I no claim and you no sue!
I do, however, own Rikku Li and her father who I have not given a name to.
A tiny, fragile-looking girl walked along the forest path with a smile on her face. She loved to waltz around the forest and discover all its secrets and hide-a-ways. She mostly enjoyed the way the breeze ruffled her long chestnut-brown hair that she had high-lighted with blond and red herself. Her silver eyes reflected back at her from the small pond as she peered into it. In her reflection she could see the small black rabbit-looking creature. It had tiny black wings and flat black ears that were oddly pointed with silver tips. Its eyes were silver with a matching silver mark shaped like a crescent moon upon its forehead.
"Come now Rin, look at the sky. I think it's time we go back home before dad gets angry again." She patted the little fur ball lightly on the head as it cooed lightly in her ear. A fat rain drop fell from the sky and landed on her cheek. She wiped it off and blinked lightly before staring up into the sky at something. A pair of icy blue eyes were staring down at her from the dark sky and she became transfixed.
Rin made a little noise and nudged her tanned neck with his cold pink nose to startle her back into reality. She turned and looked at her little friend for a moment before glancing back up to the sky to see the eyes gone. She shook her head and then took off down the path. "Oh no Rin, if I'm late again Dad's going to be furious!" She picked up her feet and began to run as the sky opened up and let the rain pour down.
The path through the woods turned into mud and she slipped a couple times on her way back home. She saw the tip of her home through the trees and began to sprint to the house. She reached it just as the door was beginning to close.
She zipped in through the door jam just as it slammed shut. Little Rin hid in her shoulder-length hair. She smiled up at a large man with dark, beady eyes and a cruel face.
"Rikku, you're late, again." He snarls fiercely.
Rikku gulps slightly and takes a step back. "B-but I was in before you shut the door!"
A yelp sounded from her mouth as her father grabbed her arm in a brutal grasp and threw her bodily across the room. She crashed into the wall and groaned as she tried to stand. A kick to her abdomen knocked her down once more. "You should have been in before I started to close the door!" He growled as he grabbed Rikku by the hair and yanked her up.
A cry of pain was wrenched from her throat as her head snapped back. "I'm sorry; it won't happen again I promise!" She cried as he threw her to the floor once more.
"Sorry? I'll give you sorry you ungrateful little brat!" He kicked her once more and sent her sprawling to the ground. She didn't utter a sound for fear of a worse punishment. "You'll rue the day you defied me."
"I haven't defied you yet you asshole!" Rikku screamed suddenly. She jumped up and threw a hard punch to his gut. She turned quickly and tried to escape up the stairs.
But he was too quick for her and caught her ankle and hurled her down the stairs. With a swift kick to her shoulder he sent her rolling into another wall. "You'll learn your place whelp or you'll disappear just like all the others did!" He laughed before grabbing her but her throat. He began to choke her as he backed her to the edge of the basement stairs. "Perhaps a few days in the dark without food or water will do you a bit of good." He laughed and chucked her limp form into the darkness of the basement.
Rikku cried out in pain with each step she hit until she hit the bottom with a sickening thud. The basement door slammed shut and a loud click resounded as he locked and bolted the door shut.
Little Rin darted out from Rikku's bloodied and dirt-filled hair and rubbed his nose. He them scrambled over to an unconscious Rikku and began to lick at her face earnestly. But she wouldn't wake so he just sat guard upon her chest and whined softly until he fell asleep.
The next morning, light poured in from the window and cast a shadow over the stationary form of Rikku's body. Rin was awake and once more began to lick at her face. After an hour or so, Rikku stirred and groaned as she awoke. She coughed up some blood and spat it onto the grimy floor.
"Good morning to you too Rin," she muttered with a dry and hoarse voice. "Is it that bad?" She asked the tiny creature.
Rin purred and nuzzled her neck before scurrying over to the window and rubbing his body against the warm window. Rikku blinked at the bright sunlight and tried to move her aching limbs. After what seemed like hours, she could finally rise into a sitting position. The little black ball of fur was by her side again and nudged her arm as if urging her to move.
Rikku looked at Rin and watched him scamper towards the window once more. He looked out the window and then to her before nudging the window with his nose. She blinked and tried her luck at standing. On the second try she managed to not fall to the ground and stumbled slightly as she moved towards the window. She looked at Rin and ruffled his fur, "Rin you're brilliant." She laughed as she pressed with all her might against the window.
After a couple of times pushing against the window it creaked open. Rikku froze and listened to hear if her dad was around. When she didn't hear a sound she pushed once more and took in a deep breath of fresh air.
She looked around for something she could use to hoist herself up some when she heard the creaking of the floor boards above her. Her eyes widened and she darted to the steps where she had previously been lying. She resumed her prostrate position and closed her eyes just as the basement door opened and light flickered in on her form.
Her father sneered and tossed down a moldy piece of bread and a half-empty bottle of water. The door then slammed shut and the bolt resumed its rest in the holder. Rikku waited until she could hear his footsteps leaving.
When she was sure it was safe, she cracked an eye open and looked at the bread and water. She broke off a small piece that didn't have any mold and fed it to Rin. She opened the water and drank most of it before letting Rin drink the rest. "I think we're going to have to wait until its dark and he's sleeping to make our great escape."
(Somewhere in a different place in a different time)
A young, muscular man stands on the edge of a cliff; his arms crossed across his chest. Even as a storm rages around him and tosses his lavender hair about wildly, he stands motionless and stares into the distance. His icy blue eyes burned with an unknown emotion.
He finally turned from his spot and flew off back towards the city. He made one last sweep across the city, searching for survivors, before he flew off back towards home. When he finally reached the crumbling white building he called home he set down right in front of the door and opened it.
As he stepped in he was greeted by a kind-looking older woman in a dirty gray uniform with the words Capsule Corp. printed on the side. Dirt and grime covered her pretty face and she wiped the sweat from her brow with her hand which held a wrench. "Trunks, you're back late. I was getting worried about you." She said as she enveloped him in an embrace.
"Sorry mom," He said returning the hug and then turning away from her. He looked out the window and sighed as he watched the rain pelt the ground furiously.
"Find anyone?" The woman asked hopefully though she knew the answer.
Trunks shook his head sadly and then walked into the kitchen. "Not a single person. No sign of 17 or 18 either; though I suppose that's a good thing." He crossed his arms and glared angrily out the window in the kitchen.
The blue-haired woman with bright blue eyes put a hand on his broad shoulder. "Don't worry Trunks, they're out there. If anyone survived you'll find them." She said reassuringly.
He nodded and turned towards the hallway and began to walk to his room. "I don't know mom, I really don't know."
As her son disappeared, she sighed and shook her head. As she wiped the grime from her hands with a dish rag she looked at a picture on the counter. It was of a younger version of herself, a baby with a tuft of lavender hair, and a man with a scowl upon his face. She smiled as remembered those days fondly. "Oh Vegeta, why did you have to die? Why couldn't you let go of your pride?" She asked softly as a single tear drop leaked from her eyes and fell upon the man's face. It had been almost seventeen years since he and the rest of the Z fighters had died in battle against the androids 17, 18, and Cell.
With a sigh she set the picture back in its place and walked to her own room to take a shower and go to bed. She only wished her son could have met his father and seen what a truly great man he was.
(During the night of our first setting)
Rikku listened intently as the creaking of the stairs finally dissipated and the sound of a door slamming echoed throughout the house. She waited a few more moments before quietly stealing over to the window. She stacked a table and a footstool atop each other and stood on them to reach the window easier.
She eased it open and slid her body through the small opening. It was a good thing she was so thin. She was finally able to pull herself free of the window and looked around for Rin. He nipped her neck affectionately to alert her to his presence. She smirked at him and took off into the woods without looking back at the eerie house.
She stumbled about for an hour until she tripped over a root in the darkness and landed face first in a pit of mud. She spit it out and coughed. "That's so not cool," she grumbled and plucked little Rin from the mud. She wiped him off on her overly-large, raggedy, torn, and worn-out hoodie.
He sneezed and she kissed his head before allowing him to scamper up her arm and onto her shoulder once more. "Now, where to genius?" She asked her little friend. A thick rain drop hit her square in the face and she shook her head. "Great, it's raining," sure enough the sky opened up and it began to pour.
Suddenly the bushes behind her rustled violently and Rikku stopped in her tracks. She kept still and listened for a moment to discern what exactly was there. When no more movement sounded from the shrubbery, she made a move to walk forward.
Before she could take one step she was hit from behind by something that sent her sprawling into the underbrush. She looked up quickly to see what hit her; her blood ran cold.
Her father was looming over her body with a sneer on his face, "What's the matter my dear? You actually thought you could escape me?-how wonderfully pathetic." He sneered at her as he reached for her.
Rikku moved out of his grasp quickly, grabbed Rin and plopped him upon her shoulder once more, and took off into the darkness. "Okay Rin, now where do we go?" She huffed as she jumped over a snapped tree trunk. She could her father's footsteps closing in close behind her.
"You can run as far as you want wench but you cannot hide from me." He laughed as he chased her, "Come back to me now and I'll make sure you're not awake to feel your punishment."
She scoffed, "Screw you, I'll take my chances!" She continued to run as fast as she could and turned quickly to try and throw him off her trail; it didn't work.
He snarled loud enough for her to hear and picked up the speed. She turned once more and he followed easily, "You're making this way too easy girl. You'll tire eventually and then I'll make you rue the day you were born."
"Sorry, somebody beat you to it," She called over her shoulder when suddenly she had to stop because she reached a cliff, "Shit!" She turned right and just barely missed his grasp as she began to run along the edge of the cliff towards the waterfall.
Rin nudged her neck and jumped off her shoulder and took off in front of her. Rikku put on a burst of speed when his laughter echoed close behind her and followed the little black creature. "C'mon Rin, help me out here." She whispered as it continued to run towards the waterfall.
Her father hissed in anger and continued his pace after Rikku, "You can run but you can't hide from me bitch."
Suddenly Rin dove off the cliff and Rikku came to a sudden stop. She saw her father smirk evilly and then looked down to a plummeting Rin. She took a breath and jumped after the creature just as he reached out to grab her.
His fingers closed brutally around her forearm and he tried to yank her back. But her weight was already free-falling down to the water and it pulled him with her. He yelled as they fell.
When they hit the water he lost his grasp as he disappeared beneath the surface. Rikku's head came up a moment later gasping for air as she looked wildly about. Rin made a noise and she saw him standing on a ledge behind the waterfall.
Just as Rikku tried to swim to the ledge something grabbed her foot and pulled her under. Her eyes opened and she saw her father glaring as he swam up with her ankle in his iron grip. She kicked at his hand and crushed his fingers against her ankle with her foot. He let go and she kicked as fast as she could to reach the surface and Rin at the same time.
They both broke surface at the same time but he was a ways away from her. He began to swim after her and snarled when she reached the ledge and pulled herself from the water.
Rin then darted into a well-hidden cave behind the waterfall and waited for Rikku to follow. When she did he continued to run into the darkness. Rikku could hear her father's footsteps and didn't hesitate to chase after Rin.
It seemed she was running forever and growing tired when suddenly there was a light at the end of the tunnel-like cave. She paused a moment and gazed up at the large hole in the cave in awe.
The hole was more like a vertical shimmering pool of a white liquid substance. It glimmered and glittered prettily. Rin keened at her and ran towards it.
Suddenly loud footsteps echoed behind them and snapped Rikku out of her reverie. She walked over to the pool. Rin touched his nose to it and looked up at Rikku. She placed a hand into the substance and yelped in surprise; it was freezing!
Her father's heaving breathing sounded behind her and she looked over with a gasp. He smirked and began to walk slowly, menacingly towards her.
Rikku looked down at Rin who wasn't there anymore; he was gone! She looked to the pool and then back at her father. She took one step back and then dove head first into the glowing substance.
(Back to that far distant time and place)
Rikku landed in a heap on the ground and groaned, "Okay, that really hurt." She said as she moved to stand and fell to the ground in pain. "Damn," she cried as her hands automatically went to her swollen ankle. There was a large bruise forming around the ankle bone and she couldn't put any weight on it.
Rin was beside her once again and licked her neck apologetically. Then he nipped her and began to growl and hiss. "What is it?" She asked as she turned to look behind her. Her eyes went wide and she struggled to her feet and began to hop away.
A dark chuckle sounded behind her, "You really thought you could get away from me you little whore?" He hissed in joy as she hobbled towards the open field, "I told you, you couldn't hide from me; and now look, you can't even run."
Rikku tried desperately to get away but she put weight upon her hurt ankle and cried out in pain as she fell to the ground. Tears blurred her vision and she wiped at them angrily.
A hand reached out and grabbed her bruised and swollen ankle in a brutal grip; she screamed bloody murder and cried out in pain. His hand clenched harder until she was crying from the pain.
Her uninjured foot connected painfully with his jaw as she kicked out at him. He was sent reeling backwards and she tried to move away. Slowly but surely she gained distance until he was up again and rush at her.
His foot connected with her stomach as he kicked her into the open field. Her face landed in the mud and she rolled out of it and coughed. The rain mingled with the tears on her face and cleaned her face from the dirt and grime.
"This time, no one can help you. You're a sad pathetic little girl and you're going to die that way." He snarled as he stomped on her bad ankle.
She bit her lip and right through to keep from screaming while tears leaked out of her closed eyes. He grabbed her hair and lifted her up painfully though she made no sound. He glared at her and gave a solid punch to the stomach. She tried to catch herself and landed on her good foot but she lost her balance and fell on her butt.
He came at her again and back-handed her face so that she was sent sprawling to the ground. When he came close for another hit, her foot swept out and knocked his feet from him and then she tried to kick him away from her. But he grabbed her ankle and tugged her towards him. Her fingers dug into the ground to find purchase but it was all mud and she was pulled easily towards him.
His fist connected with her jaw a couple times before she kicked him off again and sat up. She began to scoot away from him; ignoring the pain in her good ankle. "Help, somebody, please help me!" She screamed as she tried to get away from him.
(Hovering somewhere high above)
Trunks glanced down at the dragon radar once again and gave a frustrated sigh. He knew there was a dragon ball around here somewhere but he couldn't figure out where. Suddenly he heard somebody scream. He stuffed the radar into his pocket and flew towards the noise while looking down at the trees. Had the androids found another victim? If so, why were they all the way out in the forest?
He paused over the trees and waited to hear for another cry before he was to continue.
(Down below in the clearing)
"I warned you to behave but you just couldn't listen to me. Now you're going to be punished severely." Her father snarled in madness.
Rikku screamed as his hand snatched her swollen ankle and pulled her to him. He grabbed her collar and yanked her up to his face and punched her in the stomach. She coughed violently as she weakly tried to pry his hands from her shirt. "Where is your tongue my dear? Surely you'd love to give me a lashing and tell me how cruel I am? No? Well then let me finish this then while you try to think of something."
His fist came back and launched at her face. Her eyes closed in defeat and she turned her face from the blow. She waited for a moment but the hit never came. She was suddenly dropped painfully to the ground and a cry of pain erupted in front of her.
Her eyes snapped open and her head jerked up to see her father cradling a gnarled hand in his other hand. She blinked as the rain drops obscured her vision and wiped her face.
"Why don't you learn to pick on someone your own size?" A new and unfamiliar voice growled. Rikku's eyes roamed over to the other man. He was fairly tall and very muscular. He had lavender hair that hung a little past his ears and icy blue eyes that were narrowed at her father.
Her father snarled angrily at the guy, "Why don't you mind your own business boy and run along home." He growled and began to walk towards Rikku once again. She rolled away from him and tried to get on her knees to get away when she heard her father cry out in pain once more.
"I said leave her alone, or don't you understand me?" The guy was now standing in between Rikku and her father. His fist was clenched and she could tell he just punched her father.
He staggered slightly and glared at Rikku. "Get up bitch and come here right now or I swear this time I'll make sure to kill you."
Out of ritual Rikku moved to get up and stood on one wobbly ankle. She used the tree to steady herself and glared at her father. "Go to hell you bastard."
Rikku limped towards him and then jumped at him. Her fist connected with the side of his face. She didn't stop there; her right fist caught him in the stomache as she brought her bad leg up and gave him a round house kick to the face. "I'm not weak, you are!" She screamed.
She watched as his body flew backwards; lifeless. He hit the ground and rolled a few times before stopping at the edge of a cliff.
He finally pushed himself up to his elbows and glared at her. "You're weak, you can't even finish me off." He taunted her and chuckled.
She screamed in anger as she ran towards him. The pain in her ankle was gone momentarily as she charged him down. He was beginning to stand up again and smirked at her. "I'll kill you!"
Her father blinked in surprise as her body began to glow a bright white. "Die!"
A bright white enveloped her body and the surrounding area. Suddenly the light vanished and only two people were left in the clearing; a man with lavender hair and a young woman lying in a field.
Trunks walks over to the young woman and picks her up in his arms bridal style and then flying off.
I hope you enjoyed this little fanfiction I created. It was hard to decide what kind of plot would work best.
Please be kind and review my story! I appreciate constructive criticism and words of praise; I ignore flames.
Thank you for reading, I hope you continue to read and review my story.