Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any affiliate characters. However I do own
Jaunie and Nate. And the idea of the Eliokon ( even though I never really
describe who they are or what they look like =)
A/N: It is AU. This story isn't meant to be romance per se but it sort of
twists in that direction without any real romantic things being brought to
light. It has a blunt ending that could lead to later chapters but I liked
the way it closed leaving it to the imagination.
"." spoken words
_._ are thoughts or otherwise emphasized words
~*~ are shifts in perspective. Only a couple three that switch from place
to place the main story takes place aboard the Eliokon Ship.
"And what did you have to do for that?" The guard sneered, making suggestive movements with his hands. The woman he ogled frowned deeply before burying her fist to the wrist in the man's soft stomach. Gurgling, the guard held his bruising gut and slowly unlocked the cell door.
She stepped in, grimacing at the stench of rot that fed through the ventilation grate. Clutched in her hand was a bottle of scented oil. She had told the lead guardsman it was a gift for her fifth year in this hole and he only looked at her queerly before shoving her through the heavy gates. Now after hearing the squealing protest of her locks' tumblers falling into place did she carefully open the bottle and dip her finder to the first knuckle into the warm liquid. Her fingertip tingled as she spread a thin layer of it around the cuff on her right wrist. There was no possible way for it to slide over her hand, but she could feel some of her old energy slipping back into her body like a trickle of cold water.
Satisfied, she capped the bottle and hid it behind a loose stone along the base of the wall. Inside the small space also sat a pack of half empty matches, a small carving knife and a dog-eared photograph. Slipping the stone back in to the hole she stretched her tired muscles and lay across a hard bunk.
Morning came too early and she was thrown into the corner of her cell for a surprise inspection. Standing with her hands out, a guard slid a retracting cord across them and tightened it until her skin nearly split. Three of them in all spread the menial contents of the cell across its four foot by eight-foot entirety. As a grand finally the largest of them tore the shapeless mattress neatly in two and shook the contents out until he held two rumpled and tattered looking sacks in each fist.
A skinny man with rows of yellowed teeth and black gums grabbed her by the throat and shook her until her head spun. "Where is it?" He growled next to her ear, sending the stench of his hot breath across her face. When she didn't answer he raised his arm and sent a stumbling blow to her jaw. They pulled her onto her feet by the wrists. "I know you stole it you bitch. Now what did you do with it?" He raised his arms for another blow when a wad of phlegm splattered his face. Shaking with rage he wiped his face with the back of his arm before a maniacal grin spread across his scarred face. "Take this down," he threw a clipboard at the nearest guard, "Negative 00359, refusal to aid an officer, assault on said officer, and thievery against the Eliokon Empire." He pinned her by the neck against the wall, their faces so close she could see the blackheads that burrowed in his face. "Hear that? You're going to beg me beat you once you get your punishment for this. And once I find out where or who you gave that bottle too I guarantee you'll wish you were never spawned."
With a jerk he heaved the guards from his path and stormed from the room. The door slammed shut with a hollow bang and # -00359 slid to the floor with a strangled sigh as she rubbed at the puffy bruise that was growing steadily along her jaw. Sliding the stone to the left far enough for her fingers to close on the picture held inside she brought it to her lips and set it back inside, quietly replacing the stone again. She began to stuff the wads of cloth and padding back into her mattress, feeling the heat of anger burn on her cheeks and tears pick at her eyes.
~*~Elsewhere~*~
Piccolo roamed across New Namek at his leisure. He had only been here once to defeat Meta Cooler but left again just as quickly as he had come. He had sorely missed being among his people, though he never real knew his remorse was of homesickness. Though he had never grown up on Namek had a strong desire to be with his own kind and gotten him a granted wish from the dragonballs (much to Dende's surprise) and the second asked was that none of the others realized he was gone for no less than a year or unless he had decided to return. He loved them all in his own way, but now felt like a time to be with himself and reconnect with home.
Now walking across the blue-green grass he breathed deeply of the clean air and could nearly taste the water he could hear three miles away. Serenity he had to work to gain on earth surrounded him here on Namek and he would have wept in joy and rapture were he not so proud.
Piccolo flew to the body of water and floated above its surface. He looked up at the sky laden with stars in constellations that were so different from Earth's but eerily the same. Earth itself winked at him from its massive distance and he felt a bite of regret at not telling the others where he was going. How would he know if something attacked earth? He supposed it wouldn't make a grand difference with the two sayajin and their brood of half lings. His strength had increased steadily for years and he could still feel it grow with the passage of time and training but not the exponential way that the sayajin did.
Closing his eyes and breathing deeply of the rich air he smiled lightly, it seemed there was nothing that could ruin the beauty he was enveloped in.but then again even the best laid plans get ruined.
"And what did you have to do for that?" The guard sneered, making suggestive movements with his hands. The woman he ogled frowned deeply before burying her fist to the wrist in the man's soft stomach. Gurgling, the guard held his bruising gut and slowly unlocked the cell door.
She stepped in, grimacing at the stench of rot that fed through the ventilation grate. Clutched in her hand was a bottle of scented oil. She had told the lead guardsman it was a gift for her fifth year in this hole and he only looked at her queerly before shoving her through the heavy gates. Now after hearing the squealing protest of her locks' tumblers falling into place did she carefully open the bottle and dip her finder to the first knuckle into the warm liquid. Her fingertip tingled as she spread a thin layer of it around the cuff on her right wrist. There was no possible way for it to slide over her hand, but she could feel some of her old energy slipping back into her body like a trickle of cold water.
Satisfied, she capped the bottle and hid it behind a loose stone along the base of the wall. Inside the small space also sat a pack of half empty matches, a small carving knife and a dog-eared photograph. Slipping the stone back in to the hole she stretched her tired muscles and lay across a hard bunk.
Morning came too early and she was thrown into the corner of her cell for a surprise inspection. Standing with her hands out, a guard slid a retracting cord across them and tightened it until her skin nearly split. Three of them in all spread the menial contents of the cell across its four foot by eight-foot entirety. As a grand finally the largest of them tore the shapeless mattress neatly in two and shook the contents out until he held two rumpled and tattered looking sacks in each fist.
A skinny man with rows of yellowed teeth and black gums grabbed her by the throat and shook her until her head spun. "Where is it?" He growled next to her ear, sending the stench of his hot breath across her face. When she didn't answer he raised his arm and sent a stumbling blow to her jaw. They pulled her onto her feet by the wrists. "I know you stole it you bitch. Now what did you do with it?" He raised his arms for another blow when a wad of phlegm splattered his face. Shaking with rage he wiped his face with the back of his arm before a maniacal grin spread across his scarred face. "Take this down," he threw a clipboard at the nearest guard, "Negative 00359, refusal to aid an officer, assault on said officer, and thievery against the Eliokon Empire." He pinned her by the neck against the wall, their faces so close she could see the blackheads that burrowed in his face. "Hear that? You're going to beg me beat you once you get your punishment for this. And once I find out where or who you gave that bottle too I guarantee you'll wish you were never spawned."
With a jerk he heaved the guards from his path and stormed from the room. The door slammed shut with a hollow bang and # -00359 slid to the floor with a strangled sigh as she rubbed at the puffy bruise that was growing steadily along her jaw. Sliding the stone to the left far enough for her fingers to close on the picture held inside she brought it to her lips and set it back inside, quietly replacing the stone again. She began to stuff the wads of cloth and padding back into her mattress, feeling the heat of anger burn on her cheeks and tears pick at her eyes.
~*~Elsewhere~*~
Piccolo roamed across New Namek at his leisure. He had only been here once to defeat Meta Cooler but left again just as quickly as he had come. He had sorely missed being among his people, though he never real knew his remorse was of homesickness. Though he had never grown up on Namek had a strong desire to be with his own kind and gotten him a granted wish from the dragonballs (much to Dende's surprise) and the second asked was that none of the others realized he was gone for no less than a year or unless he had decided to return. He loved them all in his own way, but now felt like a time to be with himself and reconnect with home.
Now walking across the blue-green grass he breathed deeply of the clean air and could nearly taste the water he could hear three miles away. Serenity he had to work to gain on earth surrounded him here on Namek and he would have wept in joy and rapture were he not so proud.
Piccolo flew to the body of water and floated above its surface. He looked up at the sky laden with stars in constellations that were so different from Earth's but eerily the same. Earth itself winked at him from its massive distance and he felt a bite of regret at not telling the others where he was going. How would he know if something attacked earth? He supposed it wouldn't make a grand difference with the two sayajin and their brood of half lings. His strength had increased steadily for years and he could still feel it grow with the passage of time and training but not the exponential way that the sayajin did.
Closing his eyes and breathing deeply of the rich air he smiled lightly, it seemed there was nothing that could ruin the beauty he was enveloped in.but then again even the best laid plans get ruined.