Frontline
Chapter One: In the Beginning
How dare they! The prince of saiyans thought indignantly. They threw him in a random room – which was dark and dirty to begin with – and left him there for at least an hour! The impertinence of it all! The young saiyan growled to himself in agitation. However, he knew that they were just trying to get a rise out of him. So in order to get back at Frieza and his henchmen, he had to act as though this did not faze him.
It was at that particular moment that the door flew open and one of the said henchmen threw another someone in the room. He smirked slightly at the prince before shutting the door and locking it once more. The child sighed. Who was the unfortunate soul to be imprisoned with the angry prince?
The boy stood from his perch and walked over to the small body on the floor. He knelt down next to the body and swept the bangs from the other child's face. She was definitely unconscious and she couldn't be much more than five years old! A black braid trailed from the bottom of her skull down to her lower back. She was wearing traditional saiyan armor, but hers was black, a symbol of a lower class. A hole in the spandex allowed for her tail to be free, like his was. She was another saiyan child.
The prince sat back on his haunches and folded his arms, pondering. He knew he couldn't kill her, because she was one of his people, but he really did not want to share his prison. Did Frieza expect him to lose his temper and destroy the girl? If that was the case, then he would definitely not do it. Ugh, he hated these games they were playing!
With a final hmph!, the prince stood and walked back to his previous seat. He had not been sitting long when the girl began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open and her fists balled slightly. She slowly pushed her body into a sitting position, grimacing as she did. She tried to stand once she gathered her bearings but lost her balance immediately and fell to the ground.
"Take it easy, girl, or you'll hurt yourself more than you already are." The prince growled, annoyed at the noise the girl was making.
Her head snapped toward him, surprised at the voice. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and she was able to take him in. She narrowed her eyes slightly in suspicion. "Who are you?" She asked.
The prince ground his teeth. He supposed she was too young to recognize her prince, but still, didn't her parents teach her any manners?! "Try asking again in a more polite tone and I might deem you worthy of an answer." He growled. The girl frowned, cocking her head slightly to the right.
"My bad. Who are you, please?" She growled back, arms folded like his were.
The nerve!! If he had not been so determined to do exactly not what Frieza expected him to, he would have blasted the girl that very second! "I swear to kami, girl, if you continue with the insolent behavior, you will be in much more pain than you are now!" He hissed, and then smirked slightly when she seemed to cower. His smugness was short lived.
"Insolent? What kind of nancy boy uses the word insolent?!" She laughed, looking back up at him, smirking. That. Was. It.
The next thing the prince knew, he had tackled the girl and pinned her to the ground. "How dare you!" He growled at her, glaring menacingly. Her eyes slit in anger and she scowled, obviously not liking being over powered. "How dare you talk to me like that!"
"Well, maybe if I knew who the heck you are, I might speak to you differently!" She growled back, not backing down from his challenge.
"I don't deem you worthy of an answer." He replied, earning a glare.
"Get off me you jerk!" The girl growled, fighting to get free. The prince frowned again and held her down harder.
"And don't call me names." He ordered.
"Yes your majesty!" The girl said sarcastically, still trying to slip her wrists out of his grasp.
The prince smirked at the title before correcting her. "It's your highness, actually." The girl ceased her struggles to look at him confused. "Your majesty is the king, your highness is the prince."
"Wait, are you trying to tell me you're a prince?" The girl scoffed. He frowned slightly.
How could him being a prince be a surprise? He was wearing the crest of the royal family on his armor and the royal stone hung on a chain around his neck. "What do you mean?" He ordered.
"Princes aren't mean. They're nice and have manners." The girl explained. "You are very mean."
"I skipped those lessons." He replied. "Besides, you didn't show me any of that either, why should I show it to you?!"
"Same goes for you." The girl responded challengingly. The prince ground his teeth together.
"Who are you?" He growled. The girl huffed indignantly.
"I don't deem you worthy of an answer." She mimicked. The prince narrowed his eyes, angry that she would dare mock him. He pressed her wrists harder into the ground, her bones rubbing together disgustingly. She hissed in pain, but otherwise only let anger show on her face. It did not take long for her to retaliate. Swiftly, she lifted her knee and caught him between the legs. His mind blanked out because of the sudden intense pain and he could not keep the girl from shoving him off.
When he recovered, he glared up at the girl, snarling. "You're gonna wish you never did that." He lifted his hand and sent a ki blast at her. She got out of the way just in time, rolling to the floor where he took his chance and pinned her down again. He clutched her wrists tightly, knowing they'd bruise. She gasped in pain, her hands unable to move because of the pressure on her small wrists. "Answer my question!"
"I'm Siyaka! Daughter of… Lanya and Burlis!" She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping he'd stop hurting her wrists. The prince nodded and loosened his hold on her wrists. He'd met Burlis once during a meeting with his father. He was a very talented weapons developer. He grunted and stood, letting the girl go.
Siyaka backed away a few inches and sat up, rubbing her throbbing wrists. She looked up at him with an angry expression. "Now answer my question."
The prince glowered at her. If she had a proper mind behind her angry eyes, she would have guessed by now. "You should already know. I'm Prince Vegeta." He loosened his tail from around his waist to let her see that he was a saiyan as well. Her incredulous look disappeared upon seeing the tail. "I like the quiet, so just sit and shut up for the rest of the time." He growled rudely, wrapping his tail back around his waist and taking a seat on his usual perch.
Siyaka nodded. She obviously had not realized who she had been dealing with and decided to obey rather than argue. Vegeta allowed himself a small smirk. He glanced over at the girl. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor hunched over slightly. He sighed.
"Look, when Frieza or his henchmen show up later, don't talk unless he says something to you and most of all don't let your feelings show, ever. He's playing some kind of game by keeping us locked up like this." Vegeta said. Siyaka looked up at him surprised.
"I know… My mom and dad told me. They were brought before him just after I was thrown in here. I'm just a little worried about them." She admitted, looking back down at the ground.
"How old are you?" Vegeta asked. Siyaka looked up at him again surprised.
"I just turned five. What about you?" She asked, a smile lighting her face.
"Seven." He answered shortly, looking away. Siyaka nodded slightly and looked back at the ground.
It was quiet for a while after that. Maybe an hour later, Siyaka's head turned at the sound of a key scraping in the lock. Vegeta did not look up, but instead huffed in agitation. It took them long enough. The door scraped along the floor and squeaked on its hinges. In peered a blue lizard-like creature with sharp features. His green hair was pulled back into a single braid. He raised an eyebrow at the two young saiyans, sitting quietly and still. Vegeta smirked slightly. This guy obviously did not believe that the two would behave like this.
"You both have been requested in Frieza's presence." He said shortly and left. Vegeta sprang from his seat and toward the door, Siyaka following behind. They caught up to the man with swinging green braid. They briskly walked along the quiet and winding hallways, Vegeta's and Siyaka's legs too small to keep pace with the taller man's without having to run, which quickly irritated the young prince.
By the time they made it to their destination, Vegeta was grinding his teeth in agitation, trying his hardest not to growl. Once he realized exactly where he was, he took a quiet breath to calm his angered mind, then put on a relatively blank face and followed the blue man inside, Siyaka right behind him.
The minute he entered the room, his sensitive nose picked up the scent of blood. Swiftly, his head snapped to the origin of the smell, and had to suppress a frown. Two very bloody and bruised bodies lay in the corner. A quick intake of breath over his left shoulder told him that the bodies in the corner were Lanya and Burlis, Siyaka's parents. Clenching his teeth in agitation, he hoped Siyaka wouldn't react. He was almost relieved when she quickly recovered and became emotionless. When Vegeta glanced up at the small white and pink alien sitting in a floating chair with a slight frown on his face, the prince had to suppress small smirk. Obviously, the lizard had not expected the short tempered prince and the saiyan girl to behave like they were.
The alien nodded to two henchmen, who proceeded to drag the grown saiyan bodies out of the room. The blue lizard led the two saiyan children toward the small horned alien.
"Here are the saiyan children, Lord Frieza." The blue guy said, hand over his chest and bowing slightly. He had an accent that Vegeta couldn't place.
"Thank you, Zarbon." The small alien said, still frowning slightly. His voice was kind of gravelly but high pitched at the same time, and very, very cold. The blue skinned alien nodded and walked to a side wall, leaving the young saiyans alone in the center of the room. The small alien turned to Vegeta and Siyaka, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sure both of you already know who I am, and I most assuredly know who you are, so introductions are not necessary. I have asked you two here to notify you of your examinations. They will be held tomorrow at 0900 hours in the ship's training facilities. Make sure you are not late." He said the last part almost threateningly.
Vegeta nodded slightly, showing that he understood. Frieza then turned away from the two, obviously satisfied. "Zarbon, make sure they have better accommodations." And with that, they were dismissed. The blue guy, Zarbon, led both Siyaka and Vegeta to a room that they were, obviously, to share. Before he left, he said, "Now you two behave yourselves." And then he shut the door.
Immediately after Zarbon had shut the door, Siyaka's eyes glazed over with tears. Vegeta clenched his fists, not liking the situation. He had no idea how to comfort the girl. An awkward silence fell in the room as Siyaka's tears quietly fell down her cheeks. He frowned, folding his arms.
To diffuse the situation, Vegeta looked around the room. It was much nicer than the room they stayed in before, but in no way compared to his royal chambers on Vegeta-sei. There were two beds on opposite sides of the room and a door between them, obviously leading to some sort of bathroom. There was a couch by the door and another door at the foot of one of the beds. That must be the closet. He walked over to the bed with the door at the foot of it, purposefully not choosing the one with the window beside it. "This one is mine."
Siyaka looked up, a little confused at first, and then a smile lit her features. Obviously she noticed his very small gesture of kindness. "Thanks." Vegeta grunted in response, arms still folded. He was uncomfortable being so nice people. She walked over to the bed by the window and flopped onto it. It was quiet for another few minutes, before Siyaka broke the silence. "You know…. They didn't tell us when dinner is." Just after she said that, her stomach growled, loudly. Vegeta allowed himself a small smirk, and then he frowned.
"No, they did not." He replied, realizing he was a little hungry as well. They lay in silence for a few minutes, pondering what to do about food, when there was a knock at the door. "Enter." Vegeta automatically replied, and the door opened. It was Nappa, the prince's body guard and commander of the saiyan military. He entered the room, bowed to the prince and stood tall, his bald head gleaming in the fluorescent lights.
"Your highness, I have come to bring you and Siyaka to dinner." Nappa's voice was rough and low, matching his very muscular build and large frame. He was wearing his traditional saiyan armor, with a small symbol over his left breastplate that only the commander could wear.
Vegeta nodded to the massive saiyan and slid off the bed. Siyaka approached the burly Nappa apprehensively, before looking up. "Um… do you know where they put my parents?"
Nappa's jaw clenched, maybe a little peeved as to not being addressed by his station properly. "They were probably put in the medical quarters." He answered, a little agitated. Vegeta glared shortly at the man, but was unnoticed as the larger saiyan led the two out of the room and down the hall.
While walking, Siyaka leaned a little closer to Vegeta. "What's with that guy?" She whispered to him, quietly enough so that Nappa probably had to really strain his ears to hear correctly. Vegeta smirked slightly.
"He's probably a little annoyed that you did not address him correctly as the saiyan military forces' commander." Vegeta answered back just as quietly. "But don't worry about it too much." He rather enjoyed annoying the older saiyan. It had been one of his many favored pastimes while not training, eating, or sleeping.
There was a growl above them, causing the young prince to smile. "You two better not be talking about me." Nappa growled, clenching his fists.
"Now, why would we talk about you? You are not remotely interesting." Vegeta responded with a smirk. He walked right into that one. Beside him, Siyaka did her very best to suppress her giggles, just as Nappa did his very best not to grind his teeth too loudly. "So Nappa, about these examinations tomorrow morning, do you know what is expected of us?"
Nappa looked down, a quizzical look on his face. "What examinations, your highness?"
That statement surprised Vegeta. Did that mean that none of the other saiyans knew about the examinations that he and Siyaka had to undergo tomorrow morning? His brow furrowed as he thought about the implications. He had assumed that all the other saiyans had to be tested before they joined the ranks of Frieza's army. He folded his arms in deeper thought. He remained detached from his comrades and holed up in his mind throughout dinner, thinking about the coming events that may or may not bode ill for him and the young saiyan girl.
