Another One

Her hands grew blisters within the next two days from the worn axe she held and shovel from digging the caves. What would the people in the palace be foing now. She needed to get back before anything bad took place there as well. Yiu was beat, but saying so would only be admitting her defeat. Enzo came around just to watch her; and every time with a cunning smile. She was given clothes to change into, but she refused them as well. It was better to wear her torn attire than to become a prisoner.

"Long live Boss Enzo!" everybody cheered in the festive hall as he made his empowering speech.

"Thank you." He stood on the platform with his sly grin. "People of Shen… No! People of Mound Utopia, we are doing the right thing. We are building a foundation for the rest of this forsaken planet. That wench locked up in her palace; ignoring the rest of her kind. But I will not do the same! With the Birthing tree dead dawns a new age of perfection! We are our own and free from the clutch of that malevolent beast. The Kami Kai! Never again shall we lower our heads away from her face and cower in fear."

"Long live Boss Enzo!" they shouted and cheered again. Yiu looked at them disheartened. She already lost the battle. With this many people up against her, there was no way she could save them all. Would they even let me?

"Dahlia!" Hiro called after her. "Grandpa Jin he's been confined into his cell! He tried to escape."

"Escape?" Tetsuya turned around. "But why would he want to leave Mound Utopia?"

Akira sighed. "And I thought last night he was just blabbering again. He was telling me about how he wanted to live in the sun before he leaves this world."

It's all because of me! Yiu clenched her fists and stomped out of the hall.

"Where are you going?" the bandit guards forced her back.

"Take me to the cells." She told them once.

.

.

"Pierre!" Yiu dropped to her knees at the little boy and his family who too were locked up. "Why are you here and not at the hall?"

"Miss Yiu!" the little boy cried. His mother and sister stayed hovering in the corner of the cage. "My mom is sick! Is she going to be okay?" She took the thin cloth from her bead and gave it to him while biting her lips. "Dad is waiting for us at home. We want to go home."

"Lin. Pierre…" she looked at them miserably feeling defeated and useless. If she blew her cover now and took them home; she would leave the rest. And then the next time they'd be ready for her attack. She couldn't blow this out of proportion and make it a war. Both sides didn't have the provisions and it would surely mean death.

"Move it!" the guards grabbed her by the hair and dragged her along. "We don't have all day."

Yiu yanked her hair back as she closed the gates angrily. "Grandpa Jin!" Yiu tugged on his shirt across cells. "How can you leave like that? I thought—" He fell over onto his side with smoke rising from his body. His eyes were rolled up so far there was only white and his mouth hung open. "Grandpa Jin….." she covered her mouth and backed up with a churning in her stomach. In his old wrinkled skin on his barren chest encased blue pebbles, still burning holes.

"Eel stones!" her breath was hitched as she removed them away with the tips of her fingers carefully. "How can they do this to you?!"

"Beautiful isn't it?" Enzo walked by opening her cell with his tail wagging behind. "It was your idea wasn't it? Poor old fart, he never had a chance and yet you gave him the motivation." Yiu grit her teeth that some of it may have chipped off, but she knew it was true. He wouldn't have died if she just kept her mouth shut. Enzo clapped sarcastically. "So before you can kill any of my slaves, I'm going to lock you up in my room."

.

He threw her aside and sat at the dining table filled with Shen delicacies. These were things she had only seen once when she came back from Earth. The palace had a commemoration for her return. Yiu watched him devour the food hungrily making her think about Vegeta. Though there were things at stake now she often thought about him each moment she had the chance to. Would he be angry, sad, or lonely? After all, she did leave him alone in the palace on some planet he didn't even know about. But the difference was he was strong even without her so for her, missing him was far worse.

"What's up with that look on your face?" Enzo finished clearing his fiftieth plate. "Instead of a smile, you should have a look of terror upon your face." He sighed and placed the silverware down.

Her smile grew bigger still; ignoring whatever the bandit boss had to say. In the moment now, her heart was caught up in the memories of the Prince again. For she longed to embrace him and see his expressions from when she provoked him.

He started up again. "Really. Do you not realize—"

"Wouldn't you rather be at a table full of people?" Yiu asked without switching her gaze away from the wooden piece. "People come to watch you. People stand by your side and do what you want them to. Sometimes you even lose yourself in the crowd, and perhaps it is for the better. But in the end all that's left to return to is the silence of your own breath in a cold room. Nobody would like to admit it, but it's lonesome isn't it?" She turned to him with a pained smile. "All we can hope for is that somebody will find us, and choose to stay."

He gazed at her somewhat dumbfounded, and then a laugh came from deep within. "Perfect." He walked over to her: spirits high and toothy grin on his face to wrap his arms at her waist. "And I think I've just found the person who should find me." He pressed his lips onto hers but she zipped up tight. "Hmm." He shrugged. "It does seem a bit rash doesn't it? But in the long run, I might not kill you just yet." He pushed her up against the wall with his hands sliding along her legs. "You know about the impure breeding right? It should be no surprise to you now. It's your lucky day you might be able to conceive my child."

"I don't think so!" a power blast blew the doors aside. "The line for this woman has already been filled by me."

"Vegeta!" Yiu turned over to the entrance. "How did you get here?!"

He peeled off some vines and leaves from his ripped armor. "You didn't think house plants could keep me away did you? As soon as I look away you disappear." He flew over, stripping her from Enzo and sweeping her into his arms. "The wait has been long, but it'll be fine now. I knew you were here, but I didn't think you'd be underground. Seems people are always underground where ever you—" she kissed him without a moment further and buried her face into his concrete chest.

"My my." Enzo shook his head. "What a heart breaker really Dahlia was it?" Then he glanced to the intruder. "You're definitely not Shenlonian. Who are you?!"

"Glad you asked." He smirked. "I am Vegeta, prince of all Saiyans; and the one who will end your life."

"Bold move. But I should be saying the same to you!" he shot a power blast at them, but they dodged. "Not bad."

"Watch out." Yiu gripped his hands. "Enzo is Shenlonian…but…."

"But what?" he gripped his white gloves.

"He's also Saiyan…."

Vegeta set her aside. "What?! That's impossible! There are only four Saiyans left and that includes half-breeds. He can't be."

"Oh but I am." Enzo ascended with his tail wagging behind. "You're quite the keen one on things aren't you Dahlia? That is why I will give you the honor of having children with my blood. How is it that you hold so much information?"

Vegeta shot a ki blast irritated. "Lip service is all you'll be giving pretty boy. Tell me have you heard of a Super Saiyan seeing as you are of my kind." Hs arms tucked at both sides he inhaled and then powered up.

Enzo brought his hands up. "Super Saiyan? Enlighten me oh great one. Then after I defeat you and your useless excuses; I will make Dahlia mine." He turned to her with a smirk. "Right?"

A flick of her hand brought him onto his knees again. "That should tell you everything, but just in case you don't get it let me spell that out for you. My real name is Yiu; Kami Kai Yiu. The one whom you've made out to seem like a wild beast. I suppose I couldn't put it more perfectly."

He kissed the air playfully and chuckled. "Never thought I'd be meeting you in person. Looks like I've been caught. Oh no. Whatever shall I do?"

"I'll make it easy and quick." Vegeta fixed his gloves and put his hand to his head.

"Go ahead." he punked Vegeta. "If you're the Kami Kai then you must know about the Saiyans on Shen. I've lived far beyond my father's lifespan because of my mother's blood. Me; a chameleon to both sides and yet I was far too wretched to stay on either. So I wanted to ruin the people who looked down on me. I contaminated your little pond with impure breeding. How does it feel being a part of this wretched place now? Can you imagine what a walking irony I was?!"

"No." she pulled Vegeta's hand down. "I'm not going to give you salvation. You will repay for those innocent lives you took for all eternity!" She sliced two slabs of marble from the floor and locked his hands together. "Try pulling it out and you'll rip your arms off."

"On your feet!" Vegeta kicked him up.

Even with the leading card in the bag, there was an even bigger one to capture; her strayed people. Bandits lay around in the entrance of the door passed out. "Fatality." She laughed to herself.

"Well, I wanted to get here as fast as I could." He looked away embarrassed while dragging Enzo.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling from within making dirt fall off. "How exactly did you get inside Vegeta?" she looked back and forth between the hall of confused people and his silence.

"I blew the ground up of course. What other way would the—"

"That was the one thing you weren't supposed to do!" she groaned. "We have to evacuate the people quickly before huge fungi eat us alive. They hate light, and if they get any sense of it, they turn into a feeding frenzy." Yiu ran inside and hastily climbed the platform. "Everybody get out! The walls are concaving!"

"Don't you think you could have mentioned that earlier?" he ran his hand through his hair.

Nobody listened. They all looked at her like she was crazy until somebody pointed out her identity. "Look that's the Kami Kai!"

"Where?!"

"Save us. She'll kill us all!"

Her words merely started a frenzy of its own. "Listen up you maggots!" Vegeta shouted frustrated. "In a few moments you'll all be Dragon sandwiches if you don't keep moving!" They only screamed more as a fungi penetrate through the roof. "Stupid nature." He spat and blasted a few away.

"Stop!" she deflected the last one with a flick of her hands. "You'll only awaken more of them. Take as many people as you can into safety."

"How?!" he looked at the broken crowd. "They're not even listening to you."

"So be it!" a gust of wind came forth from her body encasing the room in a barrier. "People of Mound Utopia…" she held the fungi back with her arms in the air and spoke with a calm voice but one of commandment. "No...people of Shen. I am not speaking to you as Kami Kai but just as another Shenlonian. If you want to live, then you will leave this place immediately. And I promise you your days on Shen will not be over ruled by me. Leave or die!" Sweat trickled down her cheeks with her back up against the barrier as the people slowly calmed down and made rational thoughts. She peeked through one eye and looked back to Vegeta. "Leave. Take Enzo and throw him into the palace dungeons."

"And leave you here?" he called back. "Never."

"Leave now! I'll be fine." she let brought down a hand and flung him out the exit with their prisoner until she sensed that they got to safety.

.

.

They all watched from inside the town's barrier. Rain, Wind, Snow, and hail all falling around. Far in the forest a large cloud of dust kicked up and blew over the fungi tops. The blast echoed as it ran along the rims of the sky, and finally it was silent. He couldn't feel her power level; it was far too weak. The uncomfortable twist in his chest turned, and he began to feel as he had on Earth when she wasn't there.

"How sad." Enzo laughed. "She's dead. Boom. Gone, forever!"

Without hesitation, he turned around and punched him right in the jaw. "Shut the hell up!" He point his hands to the weakened man and shot repeatedly. "Gallick Gun!"

"Hehehe." The half-breed wiped his mouth with his shoulder. "That Kami Kai. I'm sure she liked my gun!" he laughed harder now. "I enjoyed her yelping voice. How about you?" The prince scrunched his brows up with an ashen face. "By your expression, it seems you haven't yet done so. She must have been intent on the Birthing Tree. Poor you."

"Your exaggerations sicken me." Yiu heaved heavily as she descend. She glared at the injured man and slowly frowned.

"What?" he tried to laugh but coughed up some blood. "Kill me now. I'll only cause you trouble later." She shook her head silently and wiped his dripping chin. "Don't look at me like that…Don't! This isn't the last you'll see me."

"Shut up!" Vegeta pulled her back. "You're lucky she's here. If she weren't I would have killed you." He hurriedly dragged the prisoner along the dirt road as they made way into town. Many people scattered back to wherever they once came from; some still mumbling about how Yiu was still too dangerous but they were giving her the benefit of the doubt.

.

.

She sat on her bed after a clean change of clothes exasperated. "I'm sleeping here." Vegeta walked in after changing clothes too and sat beside her. She simply looked at her fingers rolling in circles around the other with her mind on the problem she left behind. "You idiot." He caressed her in his arms. "Why would you go out on your own? Have you no brains? There are reasons why I'm here."

"Sorry." She gripped onto his crisp turquoise shirt. "I didn't mean to leave you here. It just happened."

"Well, yeah 'just happened' isn't enough." He pulled back to look at her. "I don't know what that crazy prisoner of yours was talking about, but I believe he is definitely Saiyan. His tail proves it all. But I can't stand the fact that you didn't even consult me before leaving. Do you think you're the only one who strives on us?"

She cupped his face and smiled for reassurance. "I would have if I knew what was going to happen. They kidnapped me. But what really matters now is that we still have each other. Right?" That though she said such words, she couldn't confirm that little whimper in her heart. She had known too much.

"Whatever." He bit his inner cheek while looking at her ripped dress on a desk nearby. Those cuts didn't look like they came from the blow, and if he recalled, they were there before anything blew up. He knew that Enzo was bluffing when he spoke about Yiu in such a way. She was too strong to let that happen to her; but like a ghost it reappeared thought after thought harshening the dose of jealousy each time.

She wanted so badly to change subjects again. "Hey you know—" His lips went over and over hers roughly, softly, gently, and then passionately. He only stopped to breathe, but soon after he went in for more; pressing himself onto her and into the sheets. "Hey…" she pushed him up a little just to break the connection. "What's the matter with you?" She was breathing hard too with reddened cheeks.

"I..I can't take it." He let out in a perturbed tone. "I want to rip his entrails and leave his carcass out to dry."

She pulled him back down into an embrace. "He was just pushing your buttons silly. Besides, I'd rather kill myself than let him kill me."

"You don't understand." He sat up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He's a man and part Saiyan."

"So what?" she shrugged.

"See you don't get it." He shook his head. "Saiyans have fighting intelligence as you already know. But the second thing in their natural instinct is to find a mate. And I can clearly tell he thought of you as a mate. And…"

"Gah!" she rolled over with her face in the pillow steaming not being able to look at him anymore. She felt like she'd blow over any moment. "And what?"

He covered his mouth with his arm and kept his gaze low. "If he's anything like a Saiyan then I'll know he has needs...Really bad."

Yiu grabbed her hair and combed through it softly. "A need? Like fighting?"

"Ugh…Forget about it." He pounced on her again and brought his hand underneath her collar bone in a smooth sweep. "I'm Saiyan too, and you know what that means right?" She nodded still unsure really with her hands tucked at her sides awkwardly. "I know about impure breeding and that it's looked down upon, but… Can I have all of you?"

He was nervous and she could tell. A man so sure of himself who always walked on the path of confidence; she'd never seen him with so much doubt. And instead of doing whatever he pleased, he asked her in a husky yet meek tone. Me and Vegeta…impure? He was afraid. "Yes…." She spoke once and pulled him down to her; locking lips as fervently as he did earlier. "But in return can I have all of you?"

"What else?" he laughed and lined his fingers down her zipper without taking his eyes away from hers. "This impure—"

"And impure it should stay!" the Master Chamberlain tried to stab him, but instead got only the bed.

"What are you doing?" Yiu held him up to the wall and then dropped him. Black veins ran along his neck as he smiled with silver ivory orbs. "Were you trying to kill him?"

"It's not dishonor to want to kill the enemy!" he charged but failed again. "How can you let this foul creature close to you? What about your mother and father? What about your people? Have you given up on the Birthing Tree?"

"So what he's not a Shen?" she threw her arms out. "Just, stay out of this."

"It saddens me." He threw off his shawl and brought the knife to his chest. "The future of Shen will surely end here."

"No!" she screamed and jumped after him but it was too late. The sound of the knife piercing his chest made her cringe. She brought her hands over to him carefully with a knot in her throat. "No no…Not you too."

"Yiu." Vegeta grasped her shoulder lightly. Her voice sounded as if she would break down at any given moment.

And she did want to break down, but if she did then who would be strong for Shen? The Master Chamberlain warned her over about what kind of ruler she should be. He was there for her when she returned, and now he was gone because of her too. "First… Sylvia, Grandpa Jin and now this… I'm sorry Vegeta." She took his hand off and trudged tiredly away. From the beginning he always felt like a stolen item, and now she wondered if she could love such a man. It wasn't his fault, none of it was, but she kept in mind that everything she did was also for Shen. I don't know what I should do anymore.

What is the future for the both of them now?! Tune in again to find out more.

Till next time.-HB123