46
Chapter Forty Six
" Honor is simply the morality of superior men."
H.L Mencken
"Adalina, you can't try and change everyone's mind. This isn't your decision to make." Hannelore was crouched down, staring her daughter directly in the eye, "I don't like it either, but there's really nothing we can do." she hated what was going on, as she was never one to bow to authority, but there was simply nothing to be done.
"He's not bad..he's just misunderstood!" her young mind rationalized, tears gathering in her eyes, "He didn't mean it, I know he didn't! He was scared, he lashed out because those kids cornered him." she was angry once more as she recalled the scene of local bullies terrorizing her poor Pekki, and then running off to their mother's when one of them got bit.
"Adalina sweaty, the world is bigger than you are. The majority rules, and the majority wants this animal to be put down. That's just how it works, and there's really no changing it. I'm sorry, but you're just too young to do anything." Avicus explained slowly as he approached the two, "You're one person against many. There are too many odds against you."
The stubborn girl turned away from her parents and stomped off to her room, not wanting to hear about how useless she was to change anything. She could, and she would, no matter what. But first, she needed a plan.
She gently closed her door, so as to not insight her parent's anger. No sense in having them become suspicious of her.
Adalina sat upon her bed, her arms and legs crossed as she began formulating her rescue mission. She knew they had to be keeping him at the shelter, more than likely muzzled and locked away from any interaction. That thought nearly made her begin crying once more. He had been all alone before she had found him wandering the streets, and even though her parents had not wanted her to bring him home, she still played with him every day out in the plaza. She made sure he had food and water, and a warm bed to sleep on when the nights became chilly.
She took care of him even though he stubbornly refused her at times.
The young girl sighed, she was getting off track. She needed to figure out how to sneak away, and get into the shelter, without being caught. Course' there was always that chance that he was being kept somewhere else. No way, there wasn't anywhere else in town.
She would have to wait for her parents to fall asleep.
With her plan set in stone, she found something to occupy her time, and when it was time for her to go to bed, she pretended, until her sensitive ears were able to make out the sound of her parent's steady breathing. Her brother was out of town visiting a few military friends, there was no way he would be home.
She wouldn't dare try and recruit Mayrista, the poor girl fell in and out of health too frequently for her to risk getting her into any trouble. She would go at it alone.
Adalina pulled a black sweater over her head. She had always been told she was mischievous, and perhaps that stemmed from her intelligence. She was twelve, and already ahead of her classmates. She slipped on black pants as well, if she was able to slip within the darkness, she would be good to go.
She pulled her thick hair into a bun and shoved it underneath a black winter cap.
Her eyes were filled with determination as she opened her bedroom window, looking critically at the long drop. Good thing her brother taught her to fly, well, levitate more like it. She wasn't any good, but it was enough to prevent her from breaking an ankle.
She lightly landed on the golden grass, wincing as she snapped a twig. There was no way that was enough to wake her parents up, animals broke things in the night constantly.
She marched on into the night, heading straight for the imprisonment that condemned her innocent Pekki.
Frieza placed his second's unconscious body at the feet of those she had tried so hard to protect. Their eyes were wide with fright, and disbelief. She was strong, and yet she too had fallen at the hands of the tyrant, and that did not bode well for any of their chances.
If only Goku was healed.
"Tell me, how well do you think you'll fair now?" he questioned sinisterly, "Because I think that your chances of survival just dropped." he sneered as he finished his sentence, "Such insolent fools, the lot of you, including her. My mind was made up the second I saw those spheres turn to stone. You'll pay for what you've done."
Vegeta smirked,
"Perhaps it was this entire ordeal, but I've long since forgotten my dreams of immortality, so why are you so hung up on it? Afraid of a little demon?" he knew he shouldn't have said it the moment the words left his mouth, but it was too late to retract them.
Frieza's face instantly went dark, his brows furrowing, eyes narrowing. He had tolerated such comments for far too long, and he was at his breaking point, plus, there was no longer anyone to tell him what was he was doing was wrong,
"Vegeta, do you not know how to keep that mouth of yours closed? Or are you a fan of hastening your death?" he growled, not answering the prince's taunt.
"Seems I struck a nerve. You are afraid of that woman, just as much as you are afraid of the Super Saiyan legend, no doubt." he continued, feebly attempting to buy that idiot Kakarot a few more minutes to show.
Frieza suddenly whipped an arm out, firing a death beam straight through the Prince's chest, his teeth clenched as he held back a barely contained yell.
"That was the last mistake you'll ever make, Vegeta." he spat, "There's no one who can save you now." he pointedly looked at the unconscious woman at his feet.
The Saiyan fell to his knees, clutching the wound, it wasn't enough to kill him instantly, but it was precise enough to cause him suffering until he finally bled out.
"Dende!" Piccolo called to the small child as he gently crawled from his hiding spot, towards the fallen prince. He shouldn't feel the need to even breath in Vegeta's direction, not after what he had done to his brethren, but something said that this man was the only thing standing between his friends and the tyrant.
Frieza caught site of the little Namekian, the one who was capable of healing...
He pointed his finger towards the young child, preparing to strike.
The blast fired.
But was batted away as a wash of orange stood in his view.
Adalina sat on her stomach, surveying the shelter from afar. She had her ears tuned in to every little movement inside and outside of the building. She was listening for patterns, and so far, she had been able to make out a critical one. She could hear two separate sets of footsteps, who she assumed to be guards. There was only one time when both of them were away from the entrance, on opposite sides of the building, her best chance.
But the whole building was set with an alarm system, Fortunately for her, the power box to the system was stationed outside and labeled quite openly. It could have been a trap though.
She didn't think they were smart enough to think that far ahead.
The young girl moved quickly when she heard the familiar sounds of footstops stopping at their posts, heading for the power box. She arrived within no time and gently opened the door to the box, and was pleasently surprised.
"It's just an on/off lever? How is that smart." she commented out loud, obviously pulled the lever, holding her breath just in case it sounded the alarm.
When nothing happened she breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the door.
Adalina crouched low and tip-toed over to the front entrance where she proceeded to tug on the door-handle...and to her surprise it opened. She guessed it had something to do with the new electronic locking mechanisms that had gained popularity. They were useless if their power source was cut, which was probably part of the alarm system box.
Unbeknownst to the young girl sneaking into the shelter, the guards knew exactly what was going on. Alarms didn't need to be loud to alert those in the vicinity. They were watching and waiting, weapons drawn. They weren't aware that it was nothing more than a little girl.
Though they were probably right to be on guard.
Adalina was instantly set off when she caught sight of the small, blinking red lights along the building's interior. The alarm was silent. Great.
She ducked into a room as she heard running footsteps,
"Come out right now! We know you're in here!" a distinct male voice shouted.
The young girl backed further into the room, and was startled by growling.
Her wide eyes turned to catch the glimpse of blazing red eyes, ones that would have instilled fear in anyone else fumbling around in the dark. But not her.
"Pekki!" she whispered.
Goku stood tall, his form dwarfing the tyrant's. He cast a quick glance to the purple-skinned woman lying unconscious at his feet, almost like a barrier between himself and the alien before him. She wasn't nearly as scuffed up as he thought, but the man before him was covered in small scratches, burns, and bruises. She had done quite the number on him, and yet, he hadn't done the same to her.
Frieza growled, every time his anger seemed to still, a new irritant reared its head. This had to be the infamous Kakarot,
"Is this your savior? Pathetic." he smirked, hiding his temper. No matter, he would deal with this new threat with ease, he wouldn't have it any other way. He had had enough of this trip.
They were all entranced by Goku's obvious power increase. If anyone could go toe to toe with the tyrant, it was him. The Earth raised Saiyan always came out on top, and would defend his friends and family with everything he had.
"Pathetic? Ha, of course you would say that, you can't sense ki." Vegeta spluttered from his position on the ground, "And you'll need time to recover after that little power up earlier, because your ki has dropped."
"Please stay still." Dende admonished.
"He's become what you truly fear."
Frieza's eyes widened. There was no way the man before him could be..?
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I do know that I can't let you hurt my friends. This ends now, Frieza." Goku stated calmly, his brows furrowed as he stared down the alien.
"Let's fight elsewhere, I'd rather not lose my second in command as well." he blandly replied.
The statement was simple, but it gave the Saiyan a sense of hope, that perhaps Frieza wasn't a lost cause. He did genuinely care for the woman, and anyone who was capable of that, couldn't be completely bad. He had seen many of his former enemies walk along a path of light, and the tyrant was no different.
The two began powering up, the beginning of a fight that would change everything.
"How lucky am I?" she smiled as she stared into the locked cage, the feline-like animal muzzled like some beast, "I'm going to get you out of there!"
The animal seemed scared, and was still growling at her, but she chalked that up to how he had probably been treated. Everyone in town treated him like a monster, but he really wasn't. He was the nicest Kret she had ever met.
She quietly took the pad-lock in her hands, testing its limit. She could probably pull it off, but it would creak, and would bring attention to her. She'd have to break it off and make a run for it.
Adalina set her plan in motion, pulling on the lock with all her might, the metal groaning and hissing under the pressure. The unexpected happened as the entire cage door broke away from its hinges, the weak metal not holding up. She fell on her bottom, the door falling on top of her.
She quickly pushed it off and crawled over to Pekki, coaxing the animal,
"Come on we've got to go." she whispered urgently, the sound of hurried footsteps causing panic to rise.
The animal seemed to realize who she was as he jumped from the cage, standing by her side.
Adalina took off in a brisk run, heading straight for the exit, Pekki keeping up without trouble.
"Hey! Get back here!" frenzied voices called after her, but she was long gone.
She ran until she couldn't anymore, finding herself in the middle of the thick woods, her breathing heavy, but a large smile was plastered on her face, even as she place her hands on her knees and heaved air into her aching lungs.
"They told me I couldn't do it." she smiled, "But I did." ,Adalina reached for the muzzle on the animals face, and undid it, "You won't be able to stay in town anymore, but if you stay in the woods, I'll come see you every day."
The animal seemed to scoff at her, his eyes calculating.
She placed a hand on his head to pat the distressed animal, but was caught off guard as sharp teeth dug into her wrist. The animal released her just as quickly before it ran off into the darkness.
Adalina fell on her bottom, clutching her wrist, blood seeping from the wound. Why?
She had done everything she could for the animal, and yet one measly mishap, and he hurt her. He was no longer trusting of her kind.
And he hurt her.
Tears stained the woman's face in her unconscious state, those around her not privy to the parallels she had made in her mind.
He had hurt her.
A/N: And bam! Sorry if this was boring for anyone, but it was an idea I had always wanted to implement, but never had the chance until now.
Anyway, we have a Twitter, in case you missed it last chapter, the handle is moralcompassfic.
Until next week!
