chapter 9
The glass of the healing tank was warm against his hand as Raditz pressed his palm to the observation window.
Inside, Arrah was recovering from the impact of Vegeta's slap. When he'd first taken her to the medical bay, Raditz was sure she was just knocked out. It was only when he'd laid her on one of the beds in the bay that he saw the blood running from her ear.
Vegeta had clearly lost his restraint, along with his temper.
The doctors had loaded her into a tank immediately, Raditz anxiously hovering around them.
She'd been in there about twenty minutes. Raditz scowled as he watched her through the window. She'd learnt first hand what happened when Vegeta felt backed into a corner.
She'd been right though. Vegeta's title, hell, all their talk of classes, all of it was pointless. The three men were wasting their time trying to maintain things that no longer mattered. Or, at least Raditz liked to think it didn't. Truth was Nappa, Vegeta and Raditz were well aware at just how non-important ranks were now there were only three of them. But they found it simply too hard to forget.
All three were still stuck in the past like that.
His eyes became totally unfocused as he thought and Raditz missed the door opening behind him.
Soft foot falls sounded and went completely unnoticed, right until Vegeta appeared at the lower level saiyan's side. The sudden entrance of the smaller prince caused Raditz to jump and nearly spin on his heel to face him.
The prince was staring into the tank silently. He'd changed back into full armour and had crossed his arms over his armoured chest. A deep frown tugged at his lips while his eyes rolled over the girl in the tank before him.
"I didn't realise I'd hit her that hard..." He said finally in a hushed tone.
Around them, doctors and nursing staff shuffled about, watching them out of the corners of their eyes as they tried to pretend to be busy.
"The...The doctor's think she had whiplash and maybe some trauma to her inner ear." Raditz replied quietly.
Vegeta was silent again then and his face was stern. Raditz didn't even want to try and work out what the younger man was thinking. Vegeta was always thinking and usually it was way too complicated to try and follow.
"You can head back to the room now." Vegeta said suddenly. Raditz stared at the prince in question.
"But I have to..."
"I said..." Vegeta's eyes darted to Raditz and narrowed. "You can go back to the room...NOW."
Nothing else needed to be said. With his stomach churning Raditz turned and began to walk for the door. He wanted to stay. He wanted to make sure Arrah was ok... But Vegeta was up to something and he wasn't sure what.
Vegeta closed his eyes and waited for the hydraulic hiss of the door as Raditz left.
The door opened and then slid closed again. Vegeta glanced over his shoulder for the second time to make sure the older man had indeed left.
Many of the nursing staff had evacuated to a side room in the medical bay. It was bad enough having to treat one, but having a couple of other saiyans floating about was enough to make anyone in the galaxy with sense nervous.
Vegeta stared emotionless into the tank, watching Arrah's face twitch every now and then. It wouldn't be long before she'd come round and when she did, he wished to speak with her, quietly and away from Nappa and Raditz.
Inside the tank, Arrah felt so... strange. Her whole body felt like it was weightless and so warm. Her eyes began to crack open, but water stung her eyeballs and she squeezed them shut again against the irritation. where was she?
Weakly, she reached up, feeling the breathing mask over her nose and mouth and realised she must have been in the medical bay. That was the only place on the ship with healing tanks, though only the soldiers were allowed to use them.
Beginning to fret, the saiyan girl reached to pull at the mask out of instinct. The action was stopped by sudden banging, coming from in front of her. Cracking an eye open again, Arrah barely made out the shadowy figure wagging a finger at her sternly through the blue tinted water.
Her hand dropped and before she knew what was happening, the water began to drain away around her.
When the water had gone and she could fully open her eyes without pain, Arrah saw Vegeta standing at the glass of the tank, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowling expression painting his face.
The glass began to lift and Arrah shakily began to push herself up. Vegeta, much to her surprise, leaned into the tank and took her arm. He helped ease her out and onto her feet, still holding her tightly as she stood.
Silently, he handed her a towel and stepped back to allow her to dry herself without hindrance. He did his very best to try and ignore her soaked clothing. The nursing staff had stripped her of her armour and she'd been placed into the tank in just her skin tight pants and tank top, the latter of which, clung to her chest and clearly exaggerated her erect nipples.
Arrah refused to look at the prince. She refused to acknowledge him at all if that was how he'd react to being told the truth. Why, he was nothing more then a silly, spoiled little brat!
"I think, perhaps..." Vegeta began quietly, watching as the young woman began to dry her dreadlocks in mild interest. "We should start to consider our options and future plans."
"I thought you were the man with all the plans..." Arrah muttered sharply as she tossed her towel to the floor and reached for her boots. "Why do I need to help you consider things?"
Vegeta's jaw clenched against his rising anger while he fought to push it down. He chose to ignore her snapping and try and continue as best he could. No doubt she still held a grudge against him for that last slap.
"I am, usually. But in this instance I'm wondering around blindly, having not been in this sort of situation before." He told her with an even voice.
Once her boots were on, Arrah stood at her full height, though she wasn't much taller then the prince. Glancing back at him angrily, she cut her eyes at him.
"Why did you hit me?"
Vegeta stared back at her for a long time, his mouth twitching, but not opening as he thought. It took him a couple of visible gulps to finally speak to her.
"I'm not apologising." He said firmly.
"I'm not asking you to." She shot back, just as firm. "I'm asking why? Don't you like hearing the truth, prince? Because that's what it is."
Vegeta advanced on her quickly then, his fist clenched tightly as he came to stand in front of her, his chest bumping hers defiantly.
"Listen here..." He hissed, glaring into her eyes...But nothing else followed. Vegeta had puffed up with rage, but found himself unable to reply with a valid reason. He didn't like hearing the truth. At that moment in time, it was blatantly obvious he didn't. He had nothing to defend himself with...
Arrah held his gaze for as long as she could before finally turning away. "Thought not."
Her arm was suddenly grabbed and Arrah found herself being spun on the spot back to face Vegeta. He was still glaring angrily, but there was something heated in his eyes, a heat that was only confirmed when his lips crushed against hers.
The impact shocked Arrah, causing her to gasp against the prince's kiss. Her hands went to his shoulders and groped at them tightly, as if to balance herself.
A low growl escaped Vegeta's throat as he began to violently bite at her warm lips. Ok, so the talk hadn't gone the way he wanted it to, but he may as well make up for it in another way.
His lips still on hers, Vegeta backed the younger saiyan up against the healing tanks control panel. His hands gripped her hips hard as he deepened the kiss. Arrah put up no fight, which surprised him a little, but he wasn't going to worry about that.
He felt her fingers tracing up the backs of his thighs, her finger nails tugging at the blue cloth that covered them. Her teeth gnarled at his bottom lip, worrying the flesh until it was deliciously reddened.
He'd just closed his eyes, revelling in her attentions when the girl pulled back abruptly and her hand followed up, striking him straight across his face.
"Now we're even." She spat venomously as she slipped away from the prince, leaving him standing, holding his face in a mixture of pain and astonishment.
-oOo-
Nappa sat sprawled out on the large arm chair back in the room, sharing his time between picking his tail and watching the younger Raditz pace back and forth anxiously.
"I think we should go get something to eat..." He said casually, trying to break the tense silence that had descended on the two saiyans.
"Why is your stomach the only thing you ever think of?!" Raditz snapped back irately. He growled and continued to pace, his hand raking through his hair every now and then.
Nappa glared at the younger man, his lips peeling back into a snarl. "Hey!" He yelled and forced himself out of his arm chair. "Who the hell do you think your talking to, low class scum!"
"You, that's who!" Raditz shot back curtly.
Before he could move, Nappa was on him and a large fist slammed into his cheek. Raditz gave a grunt and kicked out, catching Nappa's side.
"What's your problem?!" Nappa snarled, grabbing Raditz's ankle and pulling him off his feet. The other man hit the floor with a yelp, but continued to thrash and strike out at Nappa.
"You hit me in the face!" Raditz growled.
"You were running that mouth of yours!" Nappa hissed, twisting Raditz's ankle to an awkward angle. To try and ease the sudden pressure on his ankle, Raditz arched on the floor, his body twisting to follow his ankle.
Eventually managing to jerk his leg away from the bigger man, the long haired saiyan grumbled to himself and pushed himself up off the floor. Nappa released his leg without a fuss, but remained stood over the smaller man.
"So?"
"So what?" Raditz spat while brushing himself off.
"So why are you acting so ate up?!" Nappa raged, his teeth grinding together.
Raditz studied him closely for a few moments, his hand absently toying with his wrist guard. "No reason." He said lowly before looking away.
"Don't play fucking games!" Nappa snarled and grabbed him by his shoulder guard, spinning him on the spot in one swift movement. "Its the chick isn't it? You've been twitchy since you came back from the medical bay..." Nappa's eyes narrowed. "She ain't dead is she? He didn't hit her that hard..."
"No...No. She's not dead." Raditz frowned. "Vegeta's with her though..."
Nappa's blank look was enough to make the younger saiyan want to slap him.
"I don't get it."
"He came into the medical bay when I was there with Arrah. He kicked me out and now...Now he's there with her alone." Raditz huffed in frustration.
Nappa's nose wrinkled and the taller man reached to scratch his bald head as he thought. "So...what? You're scared he's gonna...hurt her?"
Raditz bit the inside of his cheek sheepishly and gave a shrug. "I'm not sure. But you saw the way he was when we left the training room!"
Just then, the door opened and the two men turned to look who it was. Arrah entered first, glancing over at them with a small smile while holding the door for the prince. Vegeta entered without a word and stalked over to the stone steps. There, he sat down and, as usual, crossed his arms and legs.
"See!" Nappa chuckled and slapped Raditz's back, nearly knocking the younger man off his feet. "She's ok!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Arrah closed the door and padded over to them. She looked a little flustered, but Raditz tried not to think too far into that.
"Rad was worried you'd met a grizzly end!" Nappa leered down at her.
Raditz's mouth tightened into a thin line and he glared over at Nappa. "Don't call me that. My name's Raditz."
"That's what I said!" Nappa hissed between his teeth and punched the other man in the arm, as if trying to appear playful...and failing.
Raditz rubbed his arm and threw the older man a dirty look. He continued to watch as Nappa walked off across the room toward Vegeta. It was then he felt a feather light touch on the hand rubbing his quickly bruising arm. Turning his head, Arrah caught his attention as she gently moved his hand away to look at his arm.
Raditz silently watched her fingers skate over the red mark Nappa's fist had left, as if examining it. He was a little shocked when she leant in and carefully pressed her lips to the mark before looking up at him and smiling.
"All better." She said sweetly and released his arm.
Raditz, needless to say, was stunned. He watched in awe as she walked around him and went over to a neatly laid out bowl of fruit.
"Can we eat now?!" Nappa whined. He stood in front of the prince, who was looking irritable as ever.
"If you insist Nappa..." Vegeta ground out.
"Sounds good to me." Arrah mumbled quietly while turning a piece of fruit between her hands. "I think I'm sick of fruit now."
-oOo-
Vegeta chewed his food slowly as he rested his elbow on the arm of his seat. Casually, he formed a gun shape with his index finger and thumb and squinted to look straight down his index finger.
In front of him, was a older serving girl, with dark red locks and reddish skin to match. She spoke with a twang and Arrah was very familiar with the girl. She'd been on board the ship longest and had taken up the mothering role to the younger girls. She'd been the first girl to greet Arrah warmly all those years ago when she'd first arrived and had become somewhat of a mother figure to the young saiyan.
Vegeta's intent toward her made Arrah choke up on the dumpling like food she'd been eating and watch him with bated breath.
The woman was holding a silver tray of drinks, all of which were full and ready to be presented to the saiyans at the table.
Nappa chuckled lowly as he too watched the young prince in between shovelling food into his mouth. Raditz sat quietly, his legs propped up on the table again across from Arrah. He'd glance up at her every now and then, not really interested in Vegeta.
"..Bang..." Vegeta whispered. a split second later a bullet of energy shot from the tip of his finger, directed at the older servant.
Arrah nearly screamed, her hair spiking as she reeled and her tail fluffing up.
The energy whizzed through the air, striking the central cup on the tray before the girl could react and squeal in shock.
"Bulls-eye!" Nappa yelled and slapped his hand down on the table, making the plates and cups around them jump.
"You seemed...worried...Arrah." Vegeta purred over to the paled girl further down the table. Arrah didn't answer, much to his amusement. She'd practically swallowed her tongue in fright that he might hit the older girl.
"My turn!" Nappa grinned. He turned and caught sight of the girl trying to escape the room in a hurry. "HEY!" He roared. "GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE AND HOLD THAT FUCKING TRAY STILL!"
The woman froze mid step and slowly turned on her heels. She clutched the tray with quivering hands and Arrah could see the tears in her green eyes as she looked at her, begging for help without outwardly saying it. Arrah clutched the table in anticipation. She could only hope Nappa was a good shot like the prince.
"Right." The bald man beside her grunted with a sick smirk as he straightened up in his seat. He cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms in readiness before grabbing a hold of Arrah's seat beside his and forcing it backward and out of his line of fire.
"You like fire works kid?" He asked her as he did so.
Fire works? Arrah swallowed and nodded weakly.
"Oh you'll love this then!" He chuckled. "This used to be Vegeta's favourite as a kid. Can get a little messy though." He added with a dark laugh.
Leaning back in his seat once Arrah was out of the way, his huge hand began to crackle with energy as he powered up for an attack.
The serving girl's desperate eyes darted from Nappa to the former serving girl to his left. Arrah was looking back at her with a harrowed expression. There was clearly nothing the little girl could do, but boy, did she wish there was.
Squinting his eyes, just as Vegeta had done and his tongue lolling from one side of his mouth, Nappa lined up his shot. "Hey girl!" He called to his intended target. "Turn side on. 'Less you want a hole in your chest."
The red girl obeyed without question and turned side on, holding the tray of drinks out straight in front of her.
"Now don't get pissy with me if you lose a couple fingers." Nappa barked and flung the ball of energy at her.
Arrah held the arms of the chair that hard, she began to feel the wood start to crack as the ball of deadly energy flew past her with great force, heading for the red haired girl. She felt a bolt of power as it passed, showing just how much energy was in the attack. It was surely going to kill her. Arrah could feel it. It wasn't clean and precise like Vegeta's had been. It was way too powerful.
Everything in the room slowed as the energy collided with something and Arrah couldn't take her eyes off the scene unfolding in front of her. Something horrific was about to happen and all she could do was stare.
A spurt of blood and a shrill scream shattered the hazy veil that had fallen over the young saiyan girl and her eyes refocused on her former friend. The older girl was screaming hysterically, her arms from the elbow down...gone.
"Fingers. Arms PAH! They're all the same to me... Hit the tray though." Nappa snorted and slumped back in his seat with a wave of his hand.
The girl dropped to her knees, still screaming as her blood gushed from the stumps that used to be her arms. Arrah sat open mouthed as she watched the girl's normally deep red skin start to pale with blood loss.
"H-help me..." The girl begged, tears streaming down her face.
"That doesn't count..." Vegeta frowned bitterly from further down the table, ignoring the girls pleas outright.
"How doesn't it?" Nappa snapped back. "I hit the damn tray!"
"Yea but you took off her arms. That means it doesn't count." Raditz teased him across the table.
The three men continued to bark at each other as the girl they were arguing over collapsed to the floor. Arrah slid off her chair while the three others fought over the rules of their sick game and crawled over to the girl, who was quickly losing consciousness.
"H-Help...M-m-me..." She weakly begged Arrah as the little saiyan knelt beside her and cradled her head carefully. Blood was everywhere. Arrah had never seen anything like it.
"Oh Gods...I'm so sorry..." She whispered to the dying woman. Gently, she stroked a few stray strands out of her face. "I'm sorry."
"Hey!" Vegeta suddenly snarled. "Where's the girl?!" The three men were immediately on their feet searching around and under the table.
"Found her..." Raditz went to shout, but only managed a mumble when he saw Arrah cradling the girl.
"What she doin'?" Nappa frowned in confusion and scratched his bald head.
The girl in her arms took one final breath, her chest weakly raising and then falling again for the final time. She slumped gently in Arrah's grasp and her head lolled away from the younger girl, her eyes closed.
Arrah found herself staring at the dead girl. She'd never seen someone dead up close before...well...She had... But those images were pushed deep, deep down in her memory.
Her shaky hand moved slowly over the girls face to gently tilt her chin back toward her. She looked over the girls now pain-free expression, wondering what bliss it must have been. nervously, she reached for the girl's eye, carefully pushing up the lid. Her normally green eyes were now white and cold, even when her body was not.
No matter what she tried, she couldn't, or wouldn't, drag her eyes away from the corpse in her arms. A numbness overcame her quickly then and Arrah felt a single tear roll down her face. She hadn't even noticed she'd been that upset... She figured it was shock.
"Hey kid? Whatcha doing?"
Nappa's voice echoed through her, sparking every nerve in her body. Immediately, she tensed, clutching the dead girl tighter.
Behind her, Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz watched curiously as the female saiyan began to tremble. Her hair spiked with anger and her tail bristled up.
"Ya think we upset her?" Nappa asked dumbly, causing Vegeta and Raditz to roll their eyes.
Sluggishly, Arrah lowered the girl's body to the floor ,once more closing her eye with care once she'd placed her down. Taking a good couple of deep breaths, she got to her feet. She was covered in the girls blood and it ran down her hands, fingers and into the puddle already at her feet.
She watched another droplet of blood hit the crimson floor under her and something inside her snapped. How DARE he be so callous... She felt her fist clench with her boiling rage and Arrah quickly began to shake.
"Looks like you're in trouble Nappa..." Vegeta snickered and returned to his seat without a second glance at Arrah still stood over the dead girl.
"Oh yea?" Nappa laughed, dropping back down in his own chair. "Well I ain't sorry!"
"You should be..."
The three male saiyans looked back in Arrah's direction. Her back was still to them, her fist balled tightly at her sides.
"What was that?" Nappa smirked, cupping his ear to hear her better.
"I said..." Her legs crossed, one behind the other and Arrah spun on the spot. Once facing him, her knees bent and with all her might, she launched herself at the bald saiyan. "YOU SHOULD BE SORRY!"
Her fist collided with his temple with enough force to make the bigger man go cross eyed and pain to shoot through his head. That fist was then followed by another, which hit him in the throat.
Arrah barrelled into him with enough strength to nearly topple the chair and send them both flying sidewards, toward Vegeta.
Coming to his senses quickly, Nappa grabbed one of her hands but was not prepared when she grabbed a plate with her free hand and slammed it into his face, shattering it and sending shards of porcelain whizzing through the air. The shards cut Nappa's face, neck and ears as well as Arrah's hands and fingers.
With the sudden flash of pain, Nappa's grip on the girl's wrist tightened to almost bone crushing force. This made Arrah yelp, but she refused to let up her attack as she stabbed at Nappa's arms with a large piece of porcelain she'd been left with after hitting him.
"Told you you were in trouble..." Vegeta smirked. The prince made no effort to try and calm the situation. Neither did Raditz, who was silently hoping she gave the bigger man a good thrashing.
Roaring with the pain, Nappa threw her from his lap, his saiyan rage exploding. Arrah hadn't even hit the floor when his fist shot out and hit her square in the chest.
Arrah felt the impact stop her heart momentarily and panicked. Her hand came up, her palm facing directly at Nappa and the other hand holding the wrist tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut and ducked her head before a scream ripped free of her throat and the room lit up.
The huge, uncontrolled energy blast hit Nappa at close range and disintegrated the table and chairs near the pair. Raditz barely had time to throw himself clear of the blast, his hair still getting singed. As for power, the strength of the raw energy cracked Vegeta's scouter, much to the prince's irritation.
Arrah lay on the floor, tears collecting in her closed eyes and her hand smoking as the blast died away. She didn't want to look at the carnage she'd just caused. She was scared. Scared at what she'd just unleashed without meaning to.
"Woo!" Came a cry from above her. "That was spicy!" Nappa laughed. The big saiyan was burned and a little crispy in places. His armour had been destroyed outright and his skin was smoking, but it was nothing to the battle hardened man.
"She has got it in her then! I was worried Vegeta." He grinned, his anger now replaced by some strange sense of pride.
"That was ok for a first try I suppose..." The prince huffed, examining his cracked scouter. "It had no control what so ever though."
"Oh come on!" Raditz called over from the floor. "That was her first time. I thought it was pretty good. She destroyed his armour for God's sake!"
"Yes well..." Vegeta drawled. "That's why I'm the elite and your lower class... All power and no skill." He sneered.
Still grinning, Nappa grabbed Arrah's still trembling wrist and pulled her up. "Nice first try pipsqueak. Think before you blast though next time."
"You don't!" She spat back shakily.
"I'm too old for that kinda shit." Nappa leered and much to her surprise, dusted her off before pushing her toward the burnt table.
Still angry and now bewildered too Arrah stumbled and turned. She grabbed at Nappa's arm and began trying to break his wrist, her face turning red as she pulled and pushed at the man's thick wrist.
"Gotta give it to her, she's a fighter..." The older man murmured as he watched her in amusement and allowed her to continue her feeble attempts at hurting him.
"She tried that with me too..." Raditz muttered when he was standing again.
"Tell you what..." Nappa chuckled down at her. "You let me go and I'll show you how to break a wrist properly."
When she ignored him, Nappa rolled his eyes and flicked her off with ease. Arrah stumbled backward and fell onto her ass with no grace what so ever. Nappa sat back in his seat, scowling down at the lack of armrest on one side thanks to Arrah's attack.
"well that's a bitch." He sighed and slumped back, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You Bastard!"
Arrah scrambled to her feet and hurled herself at his chair, her scrawny arms hooking around his neck in an attempt to strangle him.
"She's still at it..." Nappa groaned, quickly growing bored with her raging need to kill him or cause him serious harm.
"I'll fucking kill you!" She snarled, twisting and pulling on his head and neck furiously.
"Yea yea, sure you will." He snorted and waved his hand casually again, as if nothing was happening. "Here. Lemme show you how its done."
Nappa's arm snaked up and around Arrah's neck. From there, he pulled her around the chair and down onto his lap, where he proceeded to hold her in a tight grip.
"Now." He started with a dark smirk. "When you wanna strangle someone, all you gotta remember is, ya need to cut off their air supply. Ya do this by applying pressure..." Gradually, his forearm began to clamp down on her throat and Arrah began to feel her throat closing. "To the windpipe. Now, you can do this bit by bit, make 'em panic..." Just like Arrah was starting to do... "Or ya can do it in one, quick, sharp movement and end it quick. 'course, there isn't any fun in that." He chuckled.
By then, Arrah was turning blue in the face and she'd begun to struggle against him. Every time she exhaled, the next lung full of air became less and less. Helplessly, she slapped her hand against his bare thigh, while the other hand tried to claw at his arm, trying to get him to release her.
"That's enough now Nappa." Vegeta unexpectedly called over before standing from the table. "Let her go now. She's learnt her lesson..."
-oOo-
Arrah sat away from the others while they explored the beautiful indoor garden they'd stumbled upon while wondering the ship.
Artificial light allowed for all sorts of alien plants to grow and flourish in Gi's garden. Arrah knew it as the place the servant girls picked the warlord's fruit for his meals. The place was littered with large purple trees, all bearing the strange red and blue fruits that had been fed to the saiyans while they were on the ship.
There was a loud thudding sound from across the garden as Nappa uprooted a tree and began stamping on the little reptile like creatures that scattered from the ground in panic.
To Arrah, it appeared that no matter where they went, the Saiyans caused trouble and destruction...
Staring down at her cut and bloody hands, she frowned against the burn of her tears and began to furiously rub them against the mossy ground beneath her.
She still couldn't believe what she'd seen. It made her question whether they were expecting the same from her or not. And Nappa's strength... He'd just shrugged off her attacks like they were nothing. How could she avenge someone when she wasn't strong enough to do so?
A rustling from the trees above her caught Arrah's attention and she nearly screamed when an arm appeared from the leaves, holding out a purple fruit. She was still quivering when Raditz's hair, followed by his actual face poked through the bluish leaves.
"There you are." He said quietly and gracefully dropped from the tree, landing a short distance away on all fours. His tail had unwrapped itself from around his waist and swished calmly behind him as he crept toward her. "I've been looking for you. I thought you'd run off."
Much to his confusion, Arrah turned her back on him, her gaze angry as she stared at the mossy ground. Undeterred though, the long haired saiyan crouched beside her, holding out the fruit.
Arrah glanced at it, but turned her nose up and refused to look at it again. Sighing in defeat, Raditz sat back in the moss and rolled the fruit in his hands.
"Y'know, that Ki blast wasn't bad earlier." He said, trying to coax some sort of conversation out of her. "A little bit of training and you'll have quite the attack there..."
Still nothing.
Raditz shifted awkwardly on the ground and tossed the fruit up in the air before catching it again. He did this a few times as he talked. "Are you mad at me? " He asked. "I don't control Nappa y'know. He does what he wants...Besides, it was just a serving girl."
"It wasn't though!" Arrah suddenly snapped. "It wasn't just some serving girl!" She twisted her upper body to snarl at him. "That woman has always been here, as far back as I can remember. She looked after me when I first got here. Hell, she looked after all the girls. Nappa just...He just...killed her! He took her life as if she were nothing!"
Raditz sprang forward, pushing his hand over her mouth to muffle her voice as it began to gain volume. "Shssss!" He hissed, trying to calm her.
"No!" She slapped his hand away quickly. "I hate you all. I'll never be like you! I-!"
Raditz's lips cut off her overwrought words and took the air from her lungs at the same time. Every sane brain cell screamed at her not to react. Not to give in, but it was far too late as she melted into his kiss.
What started off as an attempt to shut her up quickly softened and Raditz's eyes fell closed at the feel of her lips moving against his own. He was quite pleased when her tongue began to gingerly prod and poke against his bottom lip curiously, seeking entrance into his mouth.
However, it couldn't last and Raditz broke the kiss, leaving Arrah disappointed and red faced. His hand rose to gently cradle her cheek, his warm but rough fingers caressing the soft skin of her cheek.
"I don't want any of this..." Arrah slumped against his hand, her face turning into his touch to nuzzle his palm. "I don't want to kill people."
"You haven't got a choice..." Raditz's hushed voice replied. "None of us had any choice." The frown that appeared on her lips made Raditz's heart sink. She had to understand. "You either come with us and kill, or stay here and...well, live like you have been."
She gave a weak nod of defeat against his hand and Raditz pulled her onto his lap. His arms wrapped tightly around her and he held her close, his nose burying itself in her hair.
"I'm sorry about your friend... There was nothing I could have done."
"Yes there was..." Arrah huffed. She knew he was right, but she was still in the mood for an argument
"No, there wasn't. Nappa's stronger then I am. What could I have possibly done?" Raditz asked her with a gentle poke to her ribs.
"I...I dunno..." Arrah's arms locked around his neck as she clung to him. His hand rubbed gentle circles on her back while he held her, his manipulations both exciting and easing her.
"If you two can pry yourselves apart for more then five minutes, we're heading back to the room..." Vegeta appeared from the brushes in front of the pair. He glared hard at Raditz, the older saiyan tensing under the gaze.
"Yes Vegeta..."
The prince gave a snarl and turned, heading back to Nappa.
