Trunks huffed as he waited by the door to Lady Tarro's Shrine for Goten to finish up his studies. The pair received different lessons now, and they hadn't spent as much time together as they would have liked. Especially after Goten got his mark from Lady Tarro.

Now, the younger half saiyan needed to learn more about the old ways before Frieza took over so he could be a proper Saibai-sha. While Trunks was happy for Goten, he really missed his companion.

Dokueki chirped at his feet as one paw stepped on one of Trunks' boots, and the lavender haired boy gave his pet a small smile. He lowered himself so he was sitting against the wall and rubbed a hand over smooth black scales while he pulled a scouter and his multitool from his pocket and began to fiddle with it. The silver haired cub found it in his father's rooms collecting dust and decided to see how it worked. It couldn't be that hard to program since his mom managed to reprogram one without any knowledge of alien tech if he could believe her stories.

As he looked over the inner workings of the scouter, his mind started to whirl with different ideas on how to improve the gadget. From what his mother told him, the tech had a hard time with reading power levels above a certain point; and the circuits would fry. He also wondered if he could improve the communication abilities the scouter had.

A small smile started to grow on Trunks' face as he tried to work out what he would need to test his theory. Besides, at least he would have something to do while Goten had to take his other lessons.

A soft whine drew his attention to Dokueki, or Kiki as Goten liked to call him. The little panzaon was sniffing around with its tail tucked under his legs. Quickly putting everything away, he stood up.

"Come here, boy, time for a bathroom break." Trunks said scooping the pup into his arms. Lucky for Trunks the shrine was close enough to some stairs that eventually would take him to a courtyard near his Tama's garden. Hopefully they could go play with him there after Goten's lesson. He was helping the boys teach the pups some fun tricks. And while he would never say so to anyone outside the family, Trunks loved to curl up together under the tree and nap in the sun and just be with Goku, Vegeta, Vegito and Goten.

Turning the corner into the courtyard, the little alpha tried to side step an older male that was on the path. He wasn't prepared for the male to bump into him and just keep moving. Trunks stumbled and ended up dropping Dokueki in order to keep his balance. He quickly checked his little friend who chirped at him before darting off to start sniffing around.

"Hey! Most people say they're sorry when they run into someone."

The man that bumped him stopped and turned to face the lavender haired cub with a sneer on his face. The expression made the boy tense as sharp, black eyes seemed to see through him. Now that he got a better look at the man, he realized he was dressed in one of the Council's robes.

The purple colored fabric covered his arms and hung on the man's from like an open jacket exposing the solid navy blue armor the saiyan had that covered his torso and sides of his legs. He had boots like Nappa, but his arms were free of any gloves or gauntlets. His hair was fairly tame for a saiyan's, and it just touched the nape of his neck and covered his forehead in small, chunky spikes.

Trunks finally caught the alpha's scent, and he was drawn back to the other's face. The cub noticed a scar that went over the man's left eye, but other than that, this saiyan was unmarked like others he had seen in the palace.

"If I had bumped someone other than a darah kotor, I would have."

The cub bristled at the insult. He had no idea what darah kotor meant, but he wanted to snarl at the words all the same.

"Looks like you're pretty stupid and rude then." Trunks smirked. "You can't really insult someone if they don't understand you, bata." The cub growled out the insult their older playmates taught him. "And you shouldn't be saying things like that to me anyways, or did your tiny brain forget that I'm a prince and you're beneath me?"

Surprisingly his words didn't make the older man growl or anything, despite the cub knowing he struck a nerve.

"You're wasting my time zakur, I have better things to do that listen to your mindless-" He frowned and looked down at his feet, Trunks following his gaze. The cub's hands covered his mouth as he stifled a laugh. Dokueki was squatting and had his leg hiked up as he peed all over the alpha's leg. He really should be yelling at his pet for that, but the silver haired cub was willing to make an exception. The alpha on the other hand was absolutely livid.

"You little pest, how dare you!" he snapped before savagely kicking the pup away from him. The little pup yelped and whined when he hit the ground a few feet away.

"Don't touch Dokueki you bastard!" Trunks snarled already moving to check on his friend. He didn't see the blast forming in the other's hand as he aimed for the downed pup. The cub turned to shout at the nobleman some more and froze seeing the blast pointed at his face as he looked up.

+++VK+++

Goku was walking down the corridor on his way to his garden. Vegeta had offered to take Gito for a few hours so the beta could relax in the sunlight. He let out a soft sigh at the thought of being outside for a little while. His smile grew as he felt his tail sway happily at the thought.

Being in the healing tank last week helped Goku out more than he thought. His tail was fully healed with no kinks or any deformation, his back was still covered in scars but he was able to move around a lot better, and he was able to growl and purr again. He still couldn't speak, but he could do more than before.

A spike in ki brought Kakarot's mind to the present as he got closer to the courtyard, and he stiffened a little when he recognized Trunks' energy close to the spike. Feeling fear settle in his stomach, the beta hurried towards the energy.

As he turned the corner, he saw the lavender haired cub kneeling beside his panzaon pup with a ki blast almost aimed right at his face. Fear was on Trunks' face, and that made the beta's instincts rear up. The shock of the situation was quickly replaced by rage as a red haze clouded Goku's vision.

A bloodthirsty snarl ripped through the air, and the adult turned to look for the source just as a hand grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into one of the courtyard pillars. His eyes came up to meet those of a livid Kakarot before the beta began to beat him soundly. The cub was watching in shock as his tama brutally attacked the nobleman and punched him through the pillar before pinning him to the ground and assaulting him.

"What the hell?!" Bardock said rounding the corner from the garden with Nappa at his side. He immediately went to the cub. Trunks realized at that moment he was trembling and he pulled Kiki closer to his chest. "Trunks, are you ok?" The boy nodded confused and unsure what was happening.

"Bardock, help me get your son off Retaso before he kills him!" Nappa shouted. Kakarot growled and slammed his elbow into Nappa's gut between punching Retaso as the larger man tried to grab him. Bardock managed to loop his arm under his son's and across his chest while Nappa caught Kakarot's other arm before the submissive could hit him in retaliation while they pulled the beta back a few feet. The beta snarled and bared his fangs at the now bloody alpha as his tail flared and lashed behind him, all the while pulling against them as he tried to finish what he started.

"Kakarot, you can't kill him! That's enough!" Bardock sternly said trying to calm his son. "Kakarot, you're scaring Trunks. He needs you right now." The beta turned and saw his son shaking as he watched them. Bardock and Nappa shared a silent look of relief as the bloodlust in Kakarot's eyes was replaced by concern before they released him so he could go to the cub.

Trunks latched onto his tama's shirt with one hand and buried his face in his neck when Goku scooped him into his arms. The little alpha gave a soft whine when Goku's hand came up and ran through his hair, a soft purr coming from his chest as he worked to soothe the cub. All the while his tail wrapped firmly around the boy's waist to keep him close. While the beta was distracted, Nappa quickly gathered the now bloody and unconscious saiyan and quickly took him to the medical bay.

Eventually, the remaining trio settled in the grass out in the garden under the large tree. Bardock was the first to break the silence after he made sure his son was as calm as he could get.

"What happened, Trunks? I thought you were waiting for Goten to get finished."

"I was, but Dokueki, he needed to go outside so we came down the stairs to the courtyard. You told me not to let him use the bathroom inside." He said leaning back from Goku's chest so he could both speak and check on his friend. The pup chirped up at him with a small whine causing him to smile a bit as he butted his head under Trunks' hands.

"Ok, what next?" It was true they had told both boys to take their pets outside so he wasn't particularly angry.

"Well, I tried to avoid running into that guy, but he bumped into me as he passed and almost knocked me down. He didn't even say he was sorry or avoid me, so I called him on it because Mom always said you don't let people be rude to you. He called me something after that, I'm not sure what it meant. It was something like dara koto, I think." Bardock growled as his tail flared behind him.

"Darah kotor." He snapped angrily as his grandson nodded. "Don't you go repeating that, Trunks." He said placing a hand on his grandson's head. "Its something said to insult saiyans that aren't fully saiyans. Loosely translated it means dirty blood."

"Like me." The cub said in a small voice. Goku nuzzled him, giving the little alpha a light squeeze with his arms. Trunks moved closer to the submissive as he looked down.

"True or not he damn well should have never said that to you as a prince, and you do not have dirty blood." The cub flushed.

"I kinda mentioned that when he insulted me, and I called him a bastard. He called me something else and was about to leave when Dokueki peed on him." He didn't expect his tama to pat the lizard on the head approvingly. The pup rubbed his head against the hand with a little purr.

"Serves him right." Bardock chuckled a bit.

"He kicked Kiki after that, hard enough he yelped." Trunks said petting his friend. "I went to yell at him and turned around to see him pointing a blast at my face. Then Tama showed up and…."

"And proceeded to go batshit crazy on that chitsira," Bardock said with a smirk directed to the blushing beta, but Goku huffed and tightened his arms around the boy held to his chest. The older alpha narrowed his eyes as a disapproving look grew on his face. "You didn't have to go that far, Kakarot." Goku growled back at his father softly while the tips of his fangs appeared. He didn't give a damn, as far as the beta was concerned the alpha should be dead and buried for trying to hurt one of his cubs. Bardock just sighed and gave up knowing Kakarot wasn't going to change his mind or feel the slightest remorse for nearly killing someone that threatened his cub.

"I'll be back later, son." He said rising to his feet. "I need to go tell Vegeta and his father what happened before the council finds out." Goku just continued to purr as he wound his tail around Trunks' own pale limb.

"Why is it so wrong to be half saiyan, tama?" Trunks asked a little while later and broke the silence. The little alpha was trembling as he tried to control his temper. "It's not fair. I can't help that. Why does that make people angry? I thought it was just Chichi, that she was just mean and crazy. But there's people here like that too and I just don't understand! They both said we have 'dirty blood', tama. Why does being half of something mean the other half is dirty?" The little cub ranted so frustrated he was on the verge of tears. Goku gave him a sad smile and hugged him close before looking his cub in the eyes and pointing to Trunks chest.

"Huh?" He tilted his head to the side confused. "I don't understand." Goku smiled softly and tapped his chest again. "Me?" His tama nodded with a soft questioning whine.

"Does being half saiyan bother me? Is that it?" The beta nodded. "No, it didn't anyways. I liked being both, Mom said it made me special." Goku just smiled and gave him a look of absolute agreement as he purred and nuzzled the boy.

"So I should ignore people who say that stuff?" he asked before Goku ruffled his hair with a nod. The half saiyan looked off to the side to watch Dokueki chase a bright green butterfly as he thought about what his tama told him.

"He's right, Trunks, and so is your mother." Gohan's voice got their attention as the teen came into the garden with Vegeta right behind him. They walked over to sit beside the pair. "Never let what others say get to you. Their opinions don't matter."

"How did you deal with it, Gohan?" The boy asked his elder brother.

"Well, no one really knew back on Earth other than our group. We didn't have any other saiyans other than your dad at the time, so I didn't have to worry about it. After Cell, I was able to live as a human for the most part. I'm not as in touch with my saiyan half as you are." Gohan admit with a bit of embarrassment.

"Because your mom said it was bad, right?" Trunks asked confused.

"No, that's not why." Gohan tried to explain. "Chichi never told me it was bad, Trunks. She pushed me into being "normal" or "human" I guess; and after things with Cell, I wanted to be normal too. I was tired of fighting and everything it cost me. My choice to live as a human wasn't because I thought there was something wrong with being half saiyan, Trunks. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda, I was tired of fighting for a while after the fight with Buu. I liked playing games with Goten instead of training after that, especially after all the training and fighting in the hyperbolic time chamber."

"It was exactly like that." Gohan said ruffling his adopted little brother's hair. Vegeta was just glad Trunks wasn't upset and seemed to be taking the older teen's words to heart. This wasn't something he could help his son with. While he knew how it felt to be insulted and degraded he never felt like there was anything wrong with him because of his race.

"Are you alright, Trunks?" The prince asked as he looked over the lavender haired boy again. His sharp eyes trying to find any injury so he could have an excuse to put down the idiot that dared to harm his son. His cubs and mate were still his greatest treasures.

"Yeah. Tama attacked the guy before he could do anything to me." Blue eyes looked up at the beta. "He almost mauled him to death. It was kinda cool."

"Good." Vegeta huffed while Goku preened from Trunks' approval and cuddled the cub, almost smug in the fact that Trunks thought he was "cool". "He's lucky he wasn't killed for his insolence. He would have been if I was the one to see him do that, let alone for saying those words to you." He rubbed the boy's hair as he placed his other arm around his mate's shoulders. He didn't like having everyone out here in the open after not only just getting Kakarot home, but this recent threat to his cubs was driving his instincts crazy in spite of him trying to stay calm and rational.

"Let's get back up to our chambers." He suggested. "We wouldn't want to upset Goten when he comes looking for you after his lesson. Maybe you can help Raditz coral the other pup. It apparently decided to nest in his spare armor and the wimp keeps going on about how it's trying to bite him."

+++VK+++

"You want to train me to be a what?" Trunks asked later that evening as the cub and his parents sat down with Bardock and Tarble.

"Tau-arai." Tarble gently corrected.

"It's the title given to the Saibai-sha's protector." Bardock explained. "It was mostly to defend the Saibai-sha from outside threats, such as attacks by other races or when they are in a trance."

"Like what Goten did in the temple." Trunks said. Tarble nodded.

"Exactly." Bardock continued.

"This is an important decision for you, Trunks." Vegeta said. "You will have to train very hard in a lot of areas, including the way of the blade. You won't have as much free time anymore or see Goten as often. Both of you will be learning everything needed for your new roles." The prince explained.

"What if I don't want to do it?" the cub asked hesitantly. The adults shared a glance not wanting to push the boy but reluctant to lie to him. They didn't want to tell him these pairings ended up mated and force him to accept.

"Then we will have to ask someone else, son." Vegeta explained. "Once it comes out that Goten is a saibai-sha, he will have to have someone already training to be his tau-arai or the council could appoint someone of their choosing." Trunks nodded knowing that was a bad thing.

"Does Goten even want me to be his tau-arai? Why didn't he ask me himself?" The little cub had some traces of hurt in his voice.

"We haven't told Goten." Vegeta explained calmly. "The idea was to let you have a choice in the matter, if he asked you himself you'd say yes whether you truly wanted the position or not."

"While he doesn't know yet, Goten has made it clear you are his choice of alpha." Tarble continued, knowing more about this that the others. "You know saibai-sha have a mark right? Well tau-arai don't have marks, but the saibai-sha…they are drawn to the alpha that can best protect them." The little cub blushed realizing where this was going.

"Wait, this is because we said we'd be mates!"

"That's usually how it works, Trunks," Tarble said with an amused expression on his face. It amazed him that the young alpha was so very perceptive at his age considering he picked up on the one thing they were trying to avoid. "Who better to protect a saibai-sha than their own mate? Since the two of you are so adamant on staying together, this will allow you to do so."

The boy looked down at his hands in thought as he fought his blush back. While he wouldn't be able to spend as much time with Goten for now, becoming a tau-arai would allow the pair to remain unseparated when they got older. Plus, it would give Trunks something to do while Goten had his lessons.

"If I agree to do this, then Goten and I will be mates for sure?" He looked at each of the older saiyans with a very sharp eyes. "And no one will be able to separate us no matter what?"

"That's right, Trunks." Bardock crossed his arms with a smirk growing on his face. "It would be considered a violation of Lady Tarro's will if another tried to come between the two of you if you agree to do this. Not to mention that your tama would absolutely destroy anyone foolish enough to try something like that."

Goku let a huff of air escape his mouth as he crossed his arms and looked away from his father at the teasing jab. Although, he couldn't deny that he probably would do something like that if anyone threatened his cubs or their happiness.

"So, when do I start training?" He asked the adults with determination burning bright in his eyes.

Vegeta smirked at his son feeling a rush of pride at his son's decision. While he passed some of his bad habits to the boy, Trunks also inherited some of the prince's better qualities. Seeing the look in the small alpha's eyes made the older dominant believe that his boy will go far in life.