A/N: Finally, I post something and prove I'm alive! Whoo! Yay for General…alright, anyway, had this in the works for a while…thought I'd write something from an adult perspective. No, not THAT way…
Hnn…let me know what you think of this. Lil bit of Latin here and there.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z, created by Akira Toriyama. However, I do own any ideas not presented with in the show that can be found in this one-shot.
Onward!! Reviews are coveted :-P
Roux's Foreward: 35 years of Age
I didn't know two years ago. Two long years, I languished in the guilt that I have not avenged him.
Kakarot may have believed he had done the right thing in eradicating him. The two of them were a paradox, really. He, the epitome of loyalty. Kakarot, the disgusting traitor. But now, as I look back upon the moment I found him, I realize he murdered the only friend I truly had. Thus, the chaotic train of thought to eliminate this disgraceful man, one who would stoop to slaughtering his own kin, is explained.
Vegeta wants to kill Kakarot because he destroyed his honor.
I want to kill him because he destroyed Raditz, and everything he stood for.
It's only a matter of which of us gets to him first.
A rex rgis admirerers es plures , tamen a rex rgis amicitia es pauci.
(A king's admirers are many, but a king's friends are few. )
-Vegetan Proverb
It's him. I did not believe my senses at first, but it is in fact him, I confirm through a sense of dazed horror. No one in the universe has hair like he does. Unruly as ever, it's sprawled out beneath him, refusing to let even death tame it. The sun is high in the air, casting an unearthly glow to his olive skin, reflecting off of his bronze armor. Blood soaks the parched ground, and the signs of battle run rampant throughout the scenic valley. My chest tightens as I close the distance between myself and his body. Shuddering, I look away.
I have seen many corpses in my life, most of them slain at my own hand, yet few have disturbed me as much as his does. I think a naïve part of me still believed I would see him once more, alive, despite the lifestyle we had been thrust into. Once a mercenary, always a mercenary, no one can change that, no matter how drastically life changes. I never dreamed I would lose my home, my family, or my dignity. Nor did I ever imagine that Earth would become my new home planet.
I too once ran around the universe, hurtling amongst the stars with the most sickening apathy set within my soul by that tyrant. We all did. We all laughed at our victims cries' for mercy. Howling at the hilarity of their hopelessness, we somehow managed to forget our own plight, our own misery and helplessness. No one's laughing now, I think dryly as I swallow. It unnerves me to think of him this way, defeated and dead, and not even at Frieza's hand.
My curiosity as a warrior finally gets the better of me, and I turn my head to take in the scene. I cringe, noting the cracked window of his pod, the charred ground, and his own entrails slowly escaping the confines of his body. This was no honorable death for a Saiyan of our likes. He would have been infuriated if he had known he was going to go like this. Hnn. A large ki puncture to the abdomen. Fatal, most likely, but it would not be instant. No, he died a slow, painful death…most likely alone.
I frown, the gesture pulling at my stone-faced features. I have always been a loyal person, and it singes my soul deeply to know that one of our squad has died. It makes me fear for Vegeta and Nappa…for if there are beings on this planet that can murder a warrior like Raditz, perhaps there is a slim chance that…just maybe…no, that could never happen. Raditz was far below us in power.
Still, a sense of paranoia lingers at the back of my mind as I kneel down beside him and close his eyes gently. It's such a pity. His foe did not even have the decency to bury him. What kind of honor do these humans have? Wait…don't answer that. I already know. Being a victim of xenology for two years straight has taught me well: humans have no sense of honor or compassion whatsoever. Those who do are far and few between, and from the looks of it, this warrior did not meet one of them.
"Raditz…" I murmur quietly, lifting his cracked scouter off of his face. His sharp jaw line and angular features are still blatantly apparent upon his face, though the years have roughened them slightly. A sigh escapes my lips, and I bow my head.
"I'm sorry."
I don't remember the exact moment I met Raditz. He just seemed…there, as much a part of Frieza's base as the other hellions that tormented my brother and I daily. I was the first of our group that he approached. I'll never know why: perhaps Thrice seemed too distant, Vegeta too childish, Nappa, as an adult, too untrustworthy. But I…oh I, a boy his age, not even grown into my boots yet…yes, I was quite reachable, and he acted upon that. For once in my life, someone acted on my vulnerability and did not mean to hurt me through doing so.
As I cast about both angrily and fearfully for the next enemy to challenge me, I found this long-haired boy at my shoulder, shouting at our tormentors in a language I did not know. Without much of an argument, the other recruits left. Wary, and scornful as the prince I was, I dismissed him as a cockroach at first. But gods, he was persistent, always inserting himself into our group, at mealtimes, and recreation times as well.
But then, on Frieza's bases, you had to be persistent. Most of us were the remnants of extinct races, so it was either band together with the other survivors, or be crushed into a bloody pulp. So, eventually, we accepted this third-class straggler into a tight-knit elite clique.
I can safely say he was my first real friend, one not distorted by royal politics, or his own psychosis. He was my age, you see, and even though we came from two completely different worlds, we had the choice to become friends…or kill each other. Frieza's head officer made us purging partners, so we saw a lot more of each other than we initially liked. But over our younger years, we grew close, camped out on those wild planets in jungles we could barely survive in, much the less pronounce the names of. While I was prone to sulking and cursing Frieza like the spoiled brat I had been brought up to be, he would make light of the situation, somehow getting me to laugh in some bizarre way. Even as we grew to the age where it was no longer necessary for us to purge in pairs, we still did. I kept him around as much as I could. Why? Because he made our twisted reality seem normal. He continued to do so through our adolescence, and even through our adulthood. Yes, in a funny way, he was my court jester, one of the greatest assets in retaining my sanity as the world spun out of control.
Suddenly, the world spun off its axis for us. It happened abruptly, without warning, and left all four of us reeling, barely breathing. Literally.
And then we all split. I'll admit it, reluctantly, mind you, that it was him I worried most about. At that point, I could've given a rat's ass about my brother because he had pissed me off so badly. Nappa was Vegeta's man through and through, so there was no questioning the fact that he would leave with him. So that left Raditz, a Vegetan by birth, but a Garthian Knight by my ruling, as the last man standing.
He had the balls to apologize to me as he stepped over to join my brother.
"I'm sorry, Roux-sama. I'm not worthy to follow you…"
That statement still twists itself around in my mind occasionally. Frankly, I have no idea what he meant, and I'm still trying to unlock what the soldier truly said. He had a knack for interjecting sarcasm into the flattest tone, so you could never tell when he was being sincere. So, his last words to me could have been an insult. But then, they could've been a true apology, wrapped up in the enigma of his statement, whimpering, trying to tell me he was not man enough to refuse his true lord and fellow kinsmen and follow me. Or gods, maybe he was putting himself down again, saying that he would only fail me further down the line, so why bother?
Gods, what did he mean? I only wish I could have asked him….puzzling son of a bitch!
He wasn't the strongest of us, hell, everyone knew that. However, he was smart, even though it wasn't always apparent. Granted, he wasn't genius smart…not like my General, Thrice, but still….
And there was something I always liked about Raditz…he was the epitome of what a loyal soldier should be. He never questioned Vegeta or me. No, he had a boundless faith in royals…in our strength, in our cunning…in our souls in general. Growing up in a third-class society could do that to you, I realized a long time ago. The royals were either cursed as bastards who sat like fat hens upon the throne, or idealized as the perfect warriors who had earned their high status.
As a child, Raditz needed a goal to work for…so I believe he chose the latter belief. If he could become just as elite…just as powerful as a royal…maybe…just maybe, he could become a royal, and forget the third-class life of planet purging.
He almost did. I did not let his loyalty to me go unrewarded. Once we triumphed, I made it so that Raditz would never have to fight again unless he wished it. But that was before everything crumbled. Even at the end…he still believed that Vegeta and I could save the Empire…that we could save him and all the others.
But I'm afraid that faith was misplaced. Unless I'm very mistaken, he was probably sent here on Vegeta's orders, for Raditz rarely went anywhere without being told to do so. I place my fingers at his temple half-heartedly, knowing there will be no pulse, but feeling it necessary to check anyway. I have seen some of my comrades claw their way back from the very bowels of death, so why should Raditz be any exception? He has always been a fighter…so why not now?
God, I'm deluding myself again. Nappa always did say I had a bad habit of that when it came to death. Raditz is dead, end of story.
Dead.
I growl heavily under my breath as it sinks in. Dead. The only way Raditz could be DEAD is if someone KILLED him. This means that the longer I stand idle, the more time his killer has to breathe, to enjoy the life he so willingly ripped from own of my most loyal men! My anger finally bubbles to the surface, and I throw my head back and scream at the heavens in rage.
Breathing heavily, I look at him once more, this time with a feeling of anxiety stealthily creeping into my heart.
I do not know who killed him. Therefore…I can never avenge him. My shoulders slump with this realization, and my aura recedes, leaving me drained and somber. It is then that that the red band of cloth around his right arm catches my eye.
It cannot be…a gasp strikes my baritone voice.
Feeling choked, I gently rip it from his arm, cradling the worn fabric in my hands. This strip of carmine cloth…its well over fifteen years old.
He was still loyal all along. This proves it.
After our greatest triumph, as we lay bleeding and broken, waiting for the respite of unconsciousness to take us and let our bodies heal, he looked over at me and smiled. I was only a prince then…barely that, for the life of a royal was far at the back of my mind.
"You'll make a great king, Roux-sama."
I barely had the strength to reply, so I chuckled for a minute instead.
"Arigatou, mon amicus," I chortled in Vegetan, making him laugh as well. I was no master at the language: no, I was far better at my own tongue, Arbodaych. When I did speak Saiyago, usually in attempt to lighten the mood, he said I sounded vaguely like a goat throwing up. Either way, it got the point across. I sat up, and reaching behind me, tore a length of cloth from my crimson cape, handing it to him.
He glanced at it for a minute, eyebrows contorted in a weird way, thinking I was half out of my mind. A strange understanding dawned between us, and he finally realized I was trying to emulate Vegetan culture, a culture I despised, on his behalf. I have been told that squad members often wear some sort of bandana…headband, any sort of cloth they can get their hands on, as a symbol of their loyalty to each other as a unit.
He had gotten what he'd wanted all along….and I had just proved it. He was part of my pack, or as the Vegetans call it, my squad. I had finally accepted him in full.
And I still do now.
Over the years, I've heard thousands of beings address him as countless types of demons: monster, murderer, devil, cold-hearted bastard, blood-hungry ruffian, unfeeling cut-throat, and fiend. Raditz was not a saint; that much is true. I don't know what he did once he foot on Earth, but I do now that he was one of the most loyal men I have ever encountered. His killer will suffer dearly if we ever come face to face. He was not a monster. He was my friend.
I stand, expression somber, armband clenched tightly to my heart. Sighing, and fiercely repressing my tears I extend my left arm and allow my frustration to surface once more, aura licking at my form in rage. I let the ki go, watching out of the corner of my eye in satisfaction as it carves its way into the earth.
I will not let my friend go unburied. He will not be carrion, left for the vultures to feast upon! No, Raditz was a knight! He was MY knight, a captain representing one of the most feared empires in the universe! He was a soldier! He was a warrior! He was.. ……my friend….
Gingerly, I lean down and heft his frame up into my arms, a difficult feat, concerning the fact that he and I are roughly the same size. His unruly hair does not make the challenge any easier. As I finally lift him into my arms and walk over to the freshly dug grave, I glance at his face one last time.
I can only wonder what life would have held for him, if I had encountered him before his killer…the bastard….did. Maybe he would have assimilated as I have. Maybe he would've continued onward into the stars again, as saiyans are normally destined to do.
I lower him tentatively into the moderately sized hole, sighing with remorse, regret, and a thousand other things racing through my mind. Hopefully, he's the last one I'll have to bury. Honestly, I hope I never see Vegeta and Nappa again…especially like this. Slowly, but surely, I fill in the grave, not caring that my royal hands have been reduced to the work of a low class man. Perhaps that was the last thing Raditz taught me. Class does not matter. Power does not matter. In the end, we were all the same bloody warriors, composed of the same flesh and bone with the same hopes and desires.
Another bitter sigh escapes my lips, and I look down at him one last time, this poor man, barely thirty-two years old, who never truly had a life of his own. I only hope that now that he has in fact died that he will be able to follow his own path for once.
"Your duty is over, soldier," I whisper as I fill in the grave, covering his face forever. Standing back, I wipe a smudge of dirt from my face, allowing only one hot tear to escape my right eye.
"Requiescat in pace, mon amicus," I whisper throatily. "Rest in peace, my friend."
A/N: Oh, it only took me, what…three months to finish this? -.- First, there was "Vegeta's Lament." Now, there's this, aka "Roux's Lament" under a differnet title.
Yeah, lil adult Rouxie one-shot here. A few months ago, when I first bought the DVD with the first three episodes of DBZ on it, I could NOT get the idea for this out of my head. I imagined that it would hurt Roo deeply to find his friend like this…
And in case you didn't notice, Roux put emphasis on the friend part. They don't seem all that close in my series, but believe me, they are. Raditz is the only friend Roux made on his own, besides Vanessa. The rest of his pack are all nobles, including Thrice.
Ugh, I'm tired, and I feel like I'm getting sick. No fic art this time…I don't have time (but I do have a digital sketch/scrap of Raditz lying dead. No Roux though. :-(..)Let me know what you think readers…thanks for reading, and reviews are much appreciated!
NOTE!!: Okay, umm...since Musette and another reviewer mentioned it, I might as well address it now. I intended for this to be a one-shot...but in my early-morning posting, forgot to check "complete" instead of "in-progress." But, if enough people wanna see him take on Piccolo and Goku, I guess I could make this like a four-shot, part of my AU. Obviously, he won't defeat them...but I need something new to work on. :-P Let me know guys...worth it?