While Vegeta slept, the four gems met together at the warp pad for discussion. "I've never heard anything about a Lord Freiza," Rose admitted, "but I know he's most likely not related to Vegeta or another Saiyan for that matter."
"Why's that?" Amethyst asked.
"Because it's not a Saiyan name," Garnet explained, "Saiyan names have a particular pattern to them. I don't know where it started, but it certainly makes it easier to figure out who is one and who isn't."
"The question is, why isn't he?" Pearl asked as she paced back and forth, "Saiyans have always been warlords and mercenaries for higher, but I doubt they'd ever let the crown prince join a military group or work under someone that wasn't Saiyan, let alone at such a tender age."
"Maybe they're some kind of space pirates who kidnapped him," Amethyst offered.
Garnet shrugged, "It is possible. Especially because I think he was lying when we asked him whether his father had sent out a search party."
Rose raised an eyebrow. "So his father has sent one out? Why would someone lie about that? Wouldn't it make it easier for himself if he just said yes?" she asked.
Garnet shook her head. "I don't think that's entirely the truth either," she said, "Something's not right here…we're missing something important."
"We could try interrogating him," Pearl suggested, "Amethyst managed to get something out of him just by striking up conversation with him, and if we hadn't barged in, he might have given more."
"Yeah, but that was really basic information, and I really have no way to tell if he's lying or not," Amethyst grumbled.
"Amethyst's right," Rose said, "If he thinks the lie he's telling us is keeping him safe, then he's going to keep it up no matter what." "He needs to feel safe around us before he'll tell us anything," she said, a thought coming to mind, "And I think I know just how to do that."
…
"I'm sorry...but what did you say?" Vegeta asked, dumbfounded.
"We'll be taking you outside today" Rose repeated, "You need some fresh air and sunshine. Besides, we can't just keep you kooped up in a small room all day."
Vegeta blinked slowly as he processed that sentence. "YES YOU CAN!" he shot back, flailing his arms, "THAT'S THE POINT OF IMPRISONMENT!"
Rose ignored that comment. "Go ahead and start getting dressed, Garnet will come back for you in a little bit," she said with a smile as she exited the room, "I got some swim wear for you. You should find it in the blue bag."
Vegeta growled as she left. He knew he should be happy, but this woman continued to confuse him and he was getting fed up with it! Why was she doing this?! She knew he was a Saiyan and could just fly away, so why did she think this was a good idea? What kind of a general was she if she allowed all these risks? Even the dumbest soldier wouldn't have allowed for this. Was it some kind of trick? Was she actually taking him outside or was she trying to coax him out so she could take him into some kind of torture chamber? The Saiyan prince shuddered at a memory of one of Frieza's "interrogation" rooms. He was lucky enough to never have to set foot inside one, but that didn't mean he hadn't taken a peek inside, or heard the screams from down the hall.
If they really did want to torture him, there wasn't much he could do at this point. He couldn't exactly break out of the room...or could he? An idea came to mind as a smirk formed on his face.
A few minutes later Garnet stepped opened the door. As she stepped inside, she quickly noticed that she couldn't see the young Saiyan. She stood firmly in front of the door and folded her arms. "Vegeta," she said, "I know you're here. You have five seconds to show yourself."
Vegeta held his breath as he watched her carefully. "Five…" she started, "four…three….two…" With that he took his chance and dropped down on her, leg extended. Just as his foot was about to connect with her head, her hand grabbed his leg. Vegeta's eyes grew wide and he mentally cursed.
She dropped him and stared down at him. Vegeta scrambled to his feet and into a fighting stance as fast as he could. He eyed her nervously and waited for her to strike back. "Nice try, but you're going to have to do better than that," she said in her usual monotone, "Now get dressed. The others are already outside." With that she took a step back into the hall and slid the door shut again.
Vegeta blinked in confusion. Why hadn't she punished him? She didn't even lay a hand on him! Even if he was a comrade of hers, she should have at least landed a blow to his stomach for what he had done. And yet they had done nothing! They weren't even revoking his privilege to go outside. None of this made any sense!
"You've got five minutes or I'll come back in there and dress you myself," Garnet warned from just outside the door. That snapped Vegeta out of his train of thought. He quickly got dressed before announcing that he was ready. Garnet entered the room again before taking him by the wrist and leading him into the hallway. He would have complained about being treated like a child, except for the fact that he honestly had no idea how to get out of this place.
They eventually came to an unfamiliar door. As they got close to it, it slid open to reveal the cave leading into the temple with the beach just a little ways beyond. Vegeta glanced back at the door and knit his brows together for the umpteenth time that day. "How did we get out here?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Garnet responded.
"We didn't pass through the cloud filled room," he continued, "I distinctly remember passing through a cloud filled room when I came to this place."
"That's because it's Rose's room," she said, "We can't enter that area without her."
Vegeta growled in agitation. "Yes but that doesn't explain-" he started before giving up. There was no point in trying to question things anymore.
As they walked out onto the beach, they saw the three other gems waiting there for them. Rose and Amethyst looked excited, but Pearl looked like she wanted to be there about as much as Vegeta did. "Yo, 'Geta," Amethyst called, "Ready for some fun in the sun?"
Vegeta glared at her. "Whatever…" he muttered. He stalked out onto the beach towards the others, Garnet followed not far behind.
"I think you'll enjoy yourself a lot more than you think you will," Rose said as they got closer, "It's a beautiful day after all. Birds are chirping. Flowers are blooming. On days like this, It's hard to stay upset. Feel free to explore the area, just don't go past the fence or too far out to sea."
Vegeta nodded and rolled his eyes at her. As he walked away, Rose leaned in closer to Garnet. "Keep a close eye on him," she whispered, "Make sure he sticks to that rule and let me know what to expect if you see anything." Garnet nodded before strolling away.
…
Vegeta did as he was commanded and didn't go beyond the fence nor into the ocean. Something told him there would be actual consequences if he disobeyed this time. That didn't mean he was going to stick around them. After eating a breakfast consisting of more strange earth fruit and fish, he wandered off saying he was going to look for debris from the ocean that had washed ashore. He had found himself a little nook in the rock wall and sat down on the white sand. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there, but it obviously wasn't long enough that they felt they needed to go after him. As he watched the waves, he felt his agitation decreased a little bit. As much as he hated to admit it, Rose was right. It was fairly nice out. He couldn't remember the last time he got to just enjoy his surroundings. It was all so peaceful.
However, peace wasn't exactly what he needed right now. He had plenty of that inside. Right now he needed something to get rid of his pent up ki energy with. He hadn't really been able to do any kind of training or outlet for that matter since he got here.
Vegeta heard a squawk and turned to see a seagull pecking at the ground. He smirked slightly as he raised his hand. A ball of light appeared in his palm as he continued to gaze at the bird.
"Ya know, when I said 'fun in the sun', this is not what I meant," Amethyst said, causing the bird to fly away.
The ball of ki dissipated as Vegeta turned to see the purple gem standing behind him with crossed arms. "What do you care?" he grumbled, "It's just a bird."
"Me? Well to be honest, I couldn't care less," she continued, "But Rose would be pretty pissed if she found out what you were about to do. She's not to fond of the idea of hunting for sport."
"She hasn't really given me a reason to fear her, so that doesn't worry me," he stated looking towards where the bird had been moments before.
"Trust me, you haven't seen her when she's angry," Amethyst said, "She can be pretty scary if she needs to."
"Hmn…" he responded.
There was a moment of silence between them before Amethyst broke it again. "Hey, wanna go do something fun that doesn't involve roasting things?" she asked.
Vegeta tilted his at her. "What do you have in mind?" he asked. Amethyst smirked as she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away.
Sorry this took a lithe while. Hope you guys like it!
