Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ
Chapter 10: Savages Part 2
17 smirked as he sized up his opponent. Sure the guy was bigger than him but there was no way that this green freak was anywhere near his level of fighting skill. After all, what could someone know while being stuck in a village his whole life? Not to mention that he was the top assassin from the Red Ribbon Clan. His sister was a close second. She could be on his level, but she hesitated too much when she had to kill. Whenever he would yell at her she would always say something foolish like,
"Stealing and kidnapping is different because people can always get those things back."
He sighed as he thought of his sister's moral mind. It was their only flaw. Their team broken up and it was all her fault. She should be there with him right now. She panicked over absolutely nothing. He wasn't going to kill the Princess. Only wound her so that she wouldn't be able to get away from them or try to run. Double fail. And it was all 18's fault.
All the other Namekians stood back to give Piccolo some room as he stretched a little to prepare for battle. He saw how cocky the stranger was and knew that he could take him. He could tell that the stranger underestimated him like everyone else did. Everywhere he went people always assumed he was a crazy freak that was probably strong but didn't have any fighting techniques. He couldn't even count how many times people would pick fights with him because they wanted to seem like big shot that took down some green giant. Well they were all wrong...most were dead wrong.
"Whenever you are ready. I do have a schedule that I would like to keep." 17 Said as he yawned in boredom.
Piccolo cracked his neck and stared him down for a moment before he charged him and started to attack. 17 instantly became surprised as he found out that the Namekian was actually keeping up with him. He would throw a punch and Piccolo would block and retaliate.
Piccolo used the strangers shocked moment to his advantage and kneed him in his gut and before 17 could even register the pain Piccolo dropped his knee and elbowed him in the back sending him crashing to the ground with a powerful thud. Piccolo was about to hit him again but 17 rolled away and turned to kick Piccolo in the chin. He then elbowed him in his jaw. Piccolo stumbled backward but was able to block 17's next attack. The two of them started to trade blows and seemed evenly matched. That is until Piccolo decided to take things up a notch and head butted 17. 17 stumbled backwards and Piccolo decided to make him go back further and kicked him hard in the gut sending him almost flying in the air. The people that were in his way stepped away from him and allowed him to crash into a nearby tree. 17's wind was completely knocked out of him and Piccolo didn't waste any time to walk over and grab him by the throat. 17 grabbed his wrist trying to pry it off from around his neck as Piccolo began to squeeze harder.
17 couldn't believe it. There was no way that this man should be this skilled and deadly. Who was this guy?
Piccolo grinned, causing 17's eyes to become red and panicked as he thought he was about to die.
Kame had seen enough. His people were one of his peace and his son was not displaying any form of mercy. "Piccolo!" he yelled.
Piccolo only squeezed even harder and began lifting a now frightened 17 higher against the tree.
"Piccolo you must stop!"
Piccolo growled and squeezed more determined to finish the job. He saw 17 eyes roll to the back of his head and reveled in the moment of his victory.
"Piccolo I said that is enough!" Kame said this time as he placed a hand on son's shoulder. Piccolo glanced at his father then dropped 17 to the ground and steeped away.
17 immediately began to rub his neck as he began to cough violently. Piccolo glared at him then walked away. Kame motioned to a couple Namekians and they grabbed 17 and carried him away to their holding cell. Piccolo could tell that there were some that were proud of his actions but most were not pleased. He turned his back on them knowing that they were judging him. He didn't care that much though. Most of them lived in a cage and had no idea what dangers were out there in the world. They believed mercy should be something for everyone. Piccolo disagreed.
Bulma stepped forward after the Namekians blocking her from the fight felt it was now safe for her to be seen once more. She was annoyed that she couldn't see most of it, but at least the threat was taken care of. She was glad that Piccolo won but she was still a bit frightened about being attacked and was worried about more people coming after her. "What are you guys going to do with him?"
"We will keep guard over him and ask him questions. We need to know if others are coming." Kame said.
Bulma felt a shiver of fear run up her spine. She wrapped her arms around her midsection to get some comfort but what she really wanted was the arms of her loved one to hold her. She knew that she would not feel safe until she did.
Meanwhile...
Krillian blinked away the blurriness in his eyes but then shut them again as he felt the sudden harsh pain that consumed his head and instantly wished he was still asleep especially since the searing hot pain from his side joined in on the fun. He tried to sit up but felt hands push him back.
"Don't move. You're hurt and I'm still dressing your wounds."
He opened his eyes once more and was surprised to see the female tracker above him. His fingers instantly reached for his sword and grasped nothing.
18 smirked at his movement. "I moved it. I didn't want you to harm me while I was helping you."
"And why would you help me? Don't you want to finish me off or were you saving that job for your partner?" He said trying to sound as angry as possible. It wasn't easy seeing as he was a bit afraid since he was completely at her mercy.
18 saw the fear on his face and was a bit amused then she recalled what he said and the amusement left her. "He is not my partner anymore. He had other plans for the princess."
"What and you didn't?"
"No. I had every intention of taking her back to Yamcha. My brother disagreed." She said sadly. She had known that she and her brother had different ideas about how they should spend the rest of their lives but she had no idea that they would part ways so early on.
Krillian shifted once more and winced at the pain on his side.
"I told you not to move." 18 said.
Krillian glared at her. "Why was I attacked?" Krillian could see the hesitation on her face. "Look, I can see that you and your brother are going separate ways but there is a young woman's life in danger. All I want to do is keep her safe."
18 didn't want to betray her brother, but she knew that he needed to be stopped. They had gone too far...he had gone too far. Dealing with the Northern tyrant was always dirty work and her brother didn't seem fazed by it at all. She had to stop him before it was too late. She looked at Krillian and said, "He is going to take Bulma to the Northern tyrant."
Krillian's eyes grew large with confusion and mostly fear. "You are working for him? I heard he drinks the blood of babes!"
"It doesn't matter what he does, what matters is that my brother must be stopped." She didn't trust the tyrant. It worried her to her very core how easily her brother was willing to kill Krillian and shoot Bulma. It made her wonder if he had taken any jobs behind her back from his lack of hesitation. Killing wasn't their thing...at least is shouldn't have been. And kidnapping the daughter of Brief Kingdom did nothing but place an outlaw's fee on both their heads. So why the risk?
The only thing that made sense was that her brother's deal with the tyrant was even deeper than he had explained to her. And if he was keeping all these things from her, then that meant that he was already in too deep. So if he had to spend the rest of his life in a prison instead of having his life taken away from him then so be it. At least she would be able to see him again.
Krillian didn't trust this woman. Beautiful women could never really be trusted, and this one was very pretty. "Alright then let's go find him." He said sitting up once more.
18 rolled her eyes and pushed him back. "You are in no condition to move at the moment. Just rest while I build a fire."
18 stood up and Krillian watched her carefully. "I still don't understand why you are taking care of me. It would be so easy for you to just finish me off and go about your way."
18 paused at his words and hung her head low. "Let's just say, I don't want any part of my old life and this is the first step to me starting over." She said as she walked out of sight.
By the time she returned Krillian had fallen asleep. She sighed and sat down next to him as she built a small fire to keep them both warm from the chilly air that kissed their skin. She wasn't sure of what to do next. All she knew was that she didn't want to be an outlaw so first thing first was to keep Yamcha's man alive. Then she would have to get help. If her brother was contracted to get Bulma then that would mean others would come. And if anything terrible happened it would be blamed on her and her brother. This needed to stop.
Not Too Far Away...
Vegeta rode like the wind. His new comrades were both impressed and surprised at how well he maneuvered his horse through the woods as he urged it on forward as if he knew were every turn and fallen branch was in the woods.
Raditz turned his head to glance at Nappa as they did their best to try and keep up with their new and at the same time old Prince. Raditz was a bit annoyed because he had so many questions burning inside of him. Questions he has had for years and questions that Vegeta would know the answers to. Unfortunately those questions would have to wait seeing as his Prince was now on a mission and no one could slow him down.
Vegeta pushed his horse as hard as he could. He kept his eyes as far down the road as he could see so that he would know when to slow down, speed up, or make the horse jump when necessary. At the same time he knew that he had to keep his eyes opened for clues as he got closer and closer to Yamcha's domain.
He grit his teeth in anger at that. He didn't trust Yamcha or his men to keep Bulma safe. He thought leaving her behind would keep his enemies away from her. But he was wrong. She was right. She should have stayed with him. Yamcha being the idiot that he is would more than likely invite the assassins into his kingdom.
Vegeta growled out loud. 'If anything happens to her...' He couldn't even complete the thought. He had grown up with the sole job to protect her. And if he failed...if something happened to her...he didn't want to think about the possibilities. All he would know is that he would live a life of regret of not giving into her kisses and ignoring her glances. She was the only thing he wanted in his past life and he intended on keeping her.
Vegeta was brought out of his thoughts as a light caught his eye in the distance. He held his horse and raised a hand for his comrades to stop behind him. He didn't know who was up ahead, but he was going to find out.
...
18 rose up quickly. She was a very sensitive sleeper and she knew that the distant sound of horses that abruptly stopped was not a part of the dream that she had fallen into. She glanced at Krillian and saw that he was still knocked out. Her first reaction was to hide so that she could see who could be coming but her instincts were telling her that it was too late and that there was already someone out there in the darkness of the night watching her.
Fear was not an option.
When you are the deadliest woman in the world you don't cower in fear in the face of your enemies you stand up to it and force it on others. So she stood her ground, arms crossed and with a bored expression plastered on her face she said,
"You can come out now. You don't have to be afraid."
She smirked as a man emerged from the darkness with a scowl on his face as he drew his sword pointed it right at her.
'Men and their egos.' She found humor in the fact that the trick never failed. One thing a man can't stand is a woman calling them some type of form of a coward.
"I am not afraid, but you should be."
"Oh?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
Vegeta didn't like her arrogance. "Why do you have Yamcha's guard?"
18 looked at her nails as if they were more important than her present enemy. For all she knew he could be another assassin sent from Frieza. There's no telling what kind of vermin the Northern tyrant was willing to employ to get what he wanted. "Who are you?" She asked ignoring his question.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes. He had watched her only for a moment and knew immediately that she was not the average woman. For one she wore pants like a man, and her calmness in this situation told him that she had been in this type of position before. Which meant she was some type of threat. Not to him, but some form indeed.
The only thing that didn't fit into the puzzle was the guard. Why was he still alive? He had been wounded not tortured. He even seemed peaceful as he slept. So either she had been innocently helping out one of Yamcha's guards or the
both of them had been working together.
"Are the two of you working together?" Vegeta asked as he stepped closer, eyeing her up and down to see if she had any tricks up her sleeve.
18 rolled her eyes. "Not even close. Are you an assassin?"
Vegeta blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting that question. He thought she was the assassin. Why would she be expecting more unless...unless they failed and didn't report back to their master in time so he sent out more. If that was true then that would mean that Bulma is in even more danger than before. This game of theirs was over. He had to find Bulma now. He quickly raised his blade to her throat daring her with her eyes to make a move against him.
"I am Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. I am looking for Princess Bulma and I know that you know something. So it would be in your best interest to tell me what you know."
18 paused. She wasn't expecting the Prince. Even if she could kill him that would be a mistake. Frieza wanted him and he would hunt her down for the rest of her life if she interrupted his plans. But she wasn't in the mood to die by the Prince's hands either. "I can help you find her, but you have to-"
"I don't have to do anything. You are not in a position to negotiate." He said smirking. Just then two other men that were way bigger than the prince emerged from the darkness. She had a feeling she was still being watched. But she still wasn't afraid.
"Look, I can find your princess before the sun comes up. I'm the best tracker on the whole planet. But you have to let me go and spare my brother once this is all over with."
"And who is your brother?"
"It doesn't matter. Do we have a deal or not?"
Vegeta did want to find Bulma and this woman seemed like she knew exactly where she would be. He glanced back down at Krillian then looked back to her. "And the guard?"
"I saved him. I was paid by Yamcha to find Bulma. We were intercepted by an Assassin from my own clan. Krillian got hurt."
There were still many questions that Vegeta had and parts of her story were missing a lot of information, but if there was already an assassin after Bulma then he didn't have enough time to find out everything. "Fine. Let's go."
Author's Note:
So sorry it took so long to update. Life...what can I say. Thanks for all the concerned messages I received. But everything is fine I just have 2 careers and
a full time job. I'm already working on the next chapter and I'll have it up in a few days. I'm also working on the One shot to Cosmic Love, but I don't know if I should do a really long chapter or a few. The more I write the more ideas I get. So with this story, if you haven't figured it out already, it involves a lot of characters from DBZ. But don't worry, Bulma and Vegeta are and will always be the main couple in anything I write. Next chapter, Bulma and Vegeta reunite.