I looked out the window of my room and sighed, birds went by, but I wasn't paying attention to that. The crowds of people on the streets, walking through the marketplace. They all looked like ants from up here, it was mesmerizing, I have books I can read or places I can go, but somehow, this sight right here is the most fascinating to me.
I should introduce myself- I'm Caire Minamoto… and I'm a princess, the Saiyan princess of the Eastern Saiyan Kingdom, specifically. You could I'm a nobody- I don't do much of anything interesting, but I hold such an important role. So I suppose in the history books, I'd be a somebody, but not the way I want to be - I want to be a somebody on my own terms.
Then, there was a knock at my door. I looked over my shoulder. "Who is it?" I asked.
"It's Okeno, your majesty." The voice said. Okeno is my royal retainer. He's nice, and I think the only thing keeping me from going actually insane.
"Come in," I said.
He promptly walked in and closed the door behind him, nodding as he did so. His figure stuck out as ever, at least next to me. He was taller than me, although not by a lot, and he had a muscular build, white skin, short and mildly spikey brown hair… although not my type, I can see why he has a girlfriend. He also has two swords, which I never got. I've never seen him use his second one.
"Also, how many times have I told you? You don't have to call me 'your majesty'." I said, sitting up from the window and turning around.
He chuckled. "Sorry, it's a force of habit, Caire."
I can't blame him, he probably deals with dozens of nobles every day.
"So!" I jumped to the ground and to my feet. I dusted off my skirt and looked at him. "What are we doing today? Shopping, maybe we can train, or-" He cut me off.
"Erm… about that, Caire," he paused. "I spoke to the king, he doesn't really want you… leaving the castle, at the moment."
I tilted my head, confused. "Why's that?"
"Bandits renegades have been… causing the Kingdom a lot of trouble. It's just not safe."
I sighed, and walked over to my bed and collapsed on it. I groaned towards the ceiling.
"Caire I-" Okeno tried to say something, to make me feel better, but it wasn't working.
"But it's so booooooooring here!" I borderline yelled. I wanted to go do something with my life, being holed up in the castle is just… soul-sucking
"We can train in the courtyard if you'd like? It's not the mountains, but it's something." He offered. It's a fair request. Maybe on a different day, I'd accept that.
"That's boring though," I paused. "All the sweaty knights and loud noises…" I sighed. I looked back up towards Okeno, noticing a bag he was carrying, strapped around his shoulder and dangling at his side. "What's in the bag?" I asked.
"Oh, this?" He took it off his shoulder and threw it on the bed. "One of the maids told me to bring it up to you, I don't really know what's in it."
I crawled over and peeked inside the bag, it was filled with various books. "Oh, new books." I had read my entire shelf at this point, so this was refreshing. I sighed, again. "You can go now if you want, Okeno."
He laughed. "If you say so, Caire." He waved and turned around, opening the door behind him. As he did this, the strap attaching a sword and sheath to his back slowly came loose and fell to the ground as he exited through the door.
"Wait for your sword-" He was already gone. I sighed. "He'll realize soon enough." I smirked and grabbed one of my new books and started reading.
Time passed, the moon was in the sky now, I swung my feet as they hung in the air. I yawned. Would I fall asleep? Hopefully. At this rate, I'll just sneak out of the castle.
I heard frantic footsteps outside of my door, and then heavier than usual knocks on my door. "Caire, can I come in?" It was Okeno again.
"Sure." I replied.
He borderline barged into the room. "Do you have my sword?" He asked.
I used my thumb to point to the table next to my bed where I had placed the sword. He sighed in relief. "Gods, I thought it got stolen." He walked over and picked it up, and strapped it to his back again.
I turned over on my side. "What's with the rush? What's going on?"
He hesitated for a second. "Bandits are attacking a nearby village… they're sending a few of us to go stop it." He went to turn around but stopped as I spoke up.
"Let me come!" I said, jumping up from my bed.
Okeno winced. "Caire, your father doesn't-"
"Who cares what he thinks?" I cut him off. "Come on! Let's go!"
He sighed. "Fine, do you have a sword at least?" He questioned. We were going to be fighting, after all.
"Oh! Right." There was a sword on my wall over my bed, I could use that. I crawled onto my bed and slowly lifted it off of the wall. It was a katana with a blue sheath, it was pretty, but I've never used it properly before.
Okeno pinched his nose. "Come on, let's go then." He walked out and left the door open for me.
I followed after him and walked slowly behind him. "So, why can't we just jump out the window and fly there?" I asked.
Okeno took a second to answer. "Because we need to meet up with the other people we're going with. Also, can you even fly?" He asked me. In truth, I didn't know how the fly.
"Well… no, but-" Okeno cut me off.
"...Of course you don't. Well just… stick behind me, okay? I know you've had some rudimentary training, but this is the real deal. This is life or death."
I could tell he was serious. I nodded in agreement.
We stopped in front of the front gate to the castle, the guards posted at it opened it. On the other side, there was a figure. Tall, probably a little over 6 foot, brown skin and long gray-hair that almost looked silver. However, the most… noticeable aspect about them was the large sword strapped to their back, a great-sword would be an understatement.
"Okeno," they spoke, their voice was deep. "Why is the princess with you?" They said.
Okeno laughed for a second, scratching his cheek. "She wanted to come. Not one to object, she would have followed us anyway."
"It's true! I would have. It wasn't a choice." I said, putting my hands on my hips.
The person sighed. "Well, your majesty." They bowed towards me. "I'm known simply as Angel, I'll do my best to keep you safe." They held the position for a second, before rising. "And where is three-swords?" Angel said.
I wasn't aware of who they were talking about.
"That's right, he was supposed to be here wasn't he…" Okeno thought, rubbing his chin. "Well," he sighed. "We don't have time to stand around, we should go."
Angel nodded. "Can she fly?" They asked, looking at me.
"Erm… no, I can't." I replied.
Both of them sighed simultaneously. They looked at each other simultaneously and seemed to come to a silent agreement.
"Alright Caire, come here." Okeno approached me and grabbed me by the waist, and carried me like a bride.
I was flustered for a moment, and barely had a moment to speak. "Wait what are you-" My cheeks were red, they were having fun with this.
"Let's go." Angel said, doing a hand motion before they flew off. Okeno, and by extension, I followed.
"I hate both of you." I exclaimed.
Okeno smirked but didn't say anything to me. "About how far away is this?" He asked Angel.
"Not too far, in fact…" They squinted and then pointed forward. "You can see the fire from here."
I and Okeno looked forward, and indeed, there were multiple smoke pillars faintly in the distance.
"What are we dealing with exactly?" Okeno asked.
"Seven Primals and two Nameks were reported." Angel replied.
"Primals…?" I asked. I hadn't heard that terminology before.
Angel was visibly annoyed. "She's clueless, Okeno."
He sighed. "Yeah yeah I know…" He paused. "You know how when Saiyans are born, they have a tail, correct?"
I nodded.
"Well, a Primal Saiyan is when one slips through the cracks, so to speak. When a Saiyan, illegally, still has their tail. We have to… dispose of them, due to their high threat-level." He explained.
"Oh." I said. That explanation makes sense, I suppose I never considered the possibility that a Saiyan could still have their tail after birth, I was always told it was cut-off, always.
"We're approaching the village," Angel said. "They probably already suspect us, we just have to rush in and try and minimize damages, and princess? Stay behind us." Angel expanded upon what they said.
"Yeah, yeah, I will." I replied.
We slowly started to descend until we were in the outskirts of the village. We could spot… ten, eleven, twelve and figures.
"So there were more than reported…" Angel muttered under their breath.
Angel looked at Okeno and nodded. "We have one chance to get a sneak attack on them, just open fire." Okeno nodded in agreement.
"Caire, step out when we do, and have your sword ready." Okeno whispered to me.
Angel used her hand to count down from 5, then to 4, 3, 2, 1, and in an incredibly fast motion they both sprinted out of the bushes raised their hands to the figures, opening fire with dozens of ki blasts. These killed the figures directly in front of us, but more came from behind the building and rushed at us. More then came from behind.
"Damnit! It's an ambush!" Okeno unsheathed his sword and started slashing at the crowd. Angel did the same with their large sword.
I unsheathed mine… but fear overtook me.
Explosions went off, there were dozens upon dozens of them, and it's clear they were coming for me- not the other two. They clearly recognized me.
One enemy with a sword dashed at me, sword outstretched. I blocked with my sword, but the friction pushed me away from Okeno and Angel. I parried this person's strike, but from behind a Namekian grabbed me by the neck. I had never been choked in my life, the pain was excruciating.
Luckily, he didn't hold me for long. The Namekian threw me into a building, a burning one, through the wall. It hurt, a lot. More than being choked.
The force and the flames combined ripped the bottom half of my shirt and all but took off my right sleeve. I laid on the ground, gripping my sword, in pain. If that wasn't obvious.
"Y-you're an idiot, Caire, why did you do this to yourself? Stand up… come on… stand up…" I spoke to myself, unable to stand, I just backed into the wall as the building burned around me.
But the Namekian wasn't finished. He jumped through the hole I made in the wall and walked towards me. "Ah, little miss princess thinks she can play hero?" He kicked me in the gut, I yelled. He kicked me again, I yelled again. That definitely… cracked something, a rib, probably. "You're weak." He grabbed my left arm and snapped it. He squeezed it. It felt like every bone in my arm was broken. The pain? Maybe I am just weak, but I couldn't quite describe it.
"S-stop… why...are you… doing t-this?" I asked, in desperation.
"Why?" He laughed. "We're fucking outcasts. The Kingdom hates us, most of everyone hates us, we have to revolt against all of it. That's how it is." He said. I understood what he meant.
"This… i-isn't the way… please…-" I tried to plea more, but he brought his leg down on my right ankle, breaking it as well. I yelled again.
The Namekian laughed. "We've tried it every way we can- this is the only way. Don't you understand?" He grabbed me by the hair and brought my head forward. "This is how it has to be if we want change. I'm sorry- blame your dad for this." He said.
I was going to die, there was no getting around it. I had to fight… do something… in my desperation, I forgot I was still holding my sword so when I went to push him off… I skewered his heart. It killed him instantly.
I pushed the body off of me and just started to cry. I'm an idiot, somehow I thought going with Okeno was a good idea… I tried to move my left arm, but it… yeah, it definitely wasn't moving at all. My ankle was broken… but I think I can stand just barely. I slowly made my way to my feet. It was painful alright, but all I wanted to do was to get a running start and get out of this burning hell hole.
"Come on Caire… come on… run…" I ran. It hurt like a bitch, but I jumped through the hole in the wall and onto the grass. The impact almost knocked me out, my vision went all fuzzy.
"Caire!" Okeno made his way to me, fighting enemies as he did. Angel followed closely. "There's not too many left, we just need to keep her safe!" Angel said, and they were right. There only seemed to be a few left, it seemed most of them were retreating. Eventually, they were all gone. Just the ash-filled village stood, stained by the blood and weapons of everyone.
They took me back to the castle.
I stared at the ceiling of my room, a cast of my left arm and right ankle. The ceiling fan and it's ever-spinning motion was calming somehow. I regretted my decision. If I didn't know better, I'd be physically punching myself due to how stupid I am.
There was a knock at my door. "It's me." It was Okeno. Of course it was.
"Come in." I said just loud enough to be heard.
He walked with two teacups and a pot of tea. "I brought something to drink, Caire." He took a seat beside my bed. He was dressed more formally, instead of the knight's tunic he wore before, he wore a formal suit this time.
"Thankyou" I said in a quick, muffled and quiet tone as I took one of the teacups and quickly took a drink.
He laughed. "You don't have to be like that, I'm not upset with you. You wanted to see action, I get it." He said.
I sighed. "I'm sorry… I probably just caused you more stress." I said.
"Well… you're not wrong, but as I said, I get it. You're young and want to see the world. I've been there, Caire." He said to me.
"What were they all even saying? Something about a revolt? What's up with that?" I asked.
Okeno got silent for a second, closing his eyes. "It seems the Primal Saiyans, the Namekians, and the Frost Demons are all starting to revolt against the kingdom for their banishment."
"I thought we allowed Namekians?" I asked.
"Under certain restrictions, yes. Frost Demons were exiled to the mountains decades ago, and Primal Saiyans I already explained.
"I see." I said. "By the way, I never quite asked you this, but why do you have two swords? And who is this 'three-swords' Angel mentioned?" I asked. Despite my state, I wanted to know more about everything.
Okeno chuckled. "Oh? The one I wear on my back? It's what I use for my Hoshi-Dai." He explained.
"Hoshi-what now?" I had never heard of that in my life.
He laughed. "I'll… explain it another time, okay? As for 'three-swords'? He's another common knight for the kingdom. His actual name is Tanken. He was supposed to be there for the village mission, but I guess he was busy."
"Oh." I had already finished my tea.
"Well, anything else, Caire?" Okeno asked while standing up.
"Yeah, actually." I paused. "Can you teach me how to fly?"
He tilted his head. "Oh, because of your ankle? Sure. Won't take long." He sat back down. "Alright, let's start."