Chapter One: Hunted
-Age: 756
-Location: Planet Jell
"GO! GET OUT OF HERE! TAKE SANORI AND GET OUT OF HERE!" A white-haired woman yelled at her daughter as she dragged her unconscious friend to a nearby spaceship as the screams of thousands of civilians surrounded her.
"Please be okay mom, please be okay mom, please be okay mom..." the daughter of the fallen woman whispered to herself as she arrived at her destination, laying the injured boy into a modified space pod. Turning her head towards the direction of her mother she screamed for her to get into the pod as fast as possible, only the pod door to be shut in her face. "M-Mom? What...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the girl screamed as the pod began to take the two children away from the planet, saving the two from damnation.
"Please..take...care of each other you two." the mother said as she let out her last dying breath. Before a blast targeted towards her incinerated her remains.
"Think we should go for the small ship too boss?" an orange-skinned alien asked a fat pink alien, looking towards the pod now in orbit.
"Nah, the only things on that ship are a half-dead Saiyan and a puny little tuffle, they're not gonna make it in this universe. Let's just torch this rock to smithereens and call it a day, alright?"
"As you wish Captain Dodoria..." the alien responded as thousands of Frieza force soldiers raised towards the sky and aimed towards the planet...
-Meanwhile-
Wiping the blood off her friend's face, Koko tried her best to keep herself from breaking down, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. She had lost a lot in the last few hours, and she would be damned if she was going to lose her friend as well.
"C-C'mon Sanori, wake up! You've got to wake up!" the girl said as she shook the heavily injured Saiyan. Who started to groan in pain after finally regaining his consciousness.
"K-Koko? What...what happened? Did...we win?" Sanori asked before the two noticed a large flash of light behind them. As the two stared in shock at the sight, Koko finally broke down. "Koko..." the young Saiyan said as he continued to look at the light. "I-I'm so sorry...".
-Three years ago-
"Koko! Do you mind handing me that screwdriver on the top shelf?" Musa asked her twelve-year-old daughter, who was busy looking at the night sky with a telescope.
"Sure thing mom! Just lemme look at these shooting stars for just a few more seconds!" she said as she noticed one particular rock heading toward her spot.
"Koko, I asked you to get me a screwdriver! It shouldn't have to take...so...long..." Looking up at the sky she noticed the familiar shape of a Frieza force space pod heading right towards her front lawn. "KOKO GET INSIDE THE HOUSE AND GRAB MY HAND BLASTER! NOW!" Snapping out of her awed state. Koko ran into the house to retrieve the blaster, right as she got into the house the ground began to shake. Rushing into her mother's room, she lunged under the bed, grabbing the blaster before running back outside.
Meanwhile, Musa looked on at the pod as it opened, revealing a small child stumbling out of it, one with jet black hair a tail. "A tail...that can only mean..." Musa's hands began to shake in both rage and fear, one of the members of the very same race that destroyed her people were right in front of her. She couldn't let him escape! He had to die! But as she got a better look at him, the tuffle realized something. 'He's still a child...no older than my daughter.' She thought before she tried to get those thoughts out of her head.
'He's just a kid!'
'A Saiyan kid!'
'I can't just kill them!'
'Would it hesitate to kill you?
'Maybe if they were nurtured correctly...'
'YOU CAN'T CHANGE ITS NATURE!'
'I CAN TRY!'
"Mom?" Musa turned her head towards her daughter, blaster in hand and waiting patiently for further instruction. She then turned her head towards the Saiyan, then back at her daughter, and then back at the Saiyan and in that moment. She saw no difference between the two children and sighed. She didn't know if she would regret what she was going to do next or the best decision of her life, but at that moment she didn't care either way.
"Koko, put that blaster down and help me carry this kid into the house, okay?" Musa, she said as she walked toward the passed-out Saiyan.
"Ok, Mom!" Koko said excitedly as she followed her mother, without any clue of what she had just gone through.
After bringing The Saiyan back into the house, Musa was fast at work, treating any wounds on the young boy while her daughter asked her a barrage of questions, curious about their new guest.
"So what you're telling me is that this kid is from a group of ruthless warriors known as the Saiyans, am I right? she asked, to which her mother simply nodded in response. "And from what you told me, The Saiyans were responsible for the near-extinction of our entire race back on planet salad, Am I right?"
"You are right," Musa responded.
"Then why are we helping him?" Koko asked, not understanding her mother's goals.
"The Genocide of our people happened a long time ago Koko, and from what I know, the Saiyans were destroyed by a meteor a long time ago." Turning her head towards her daughter, she continued, "If what I know is true, then the Saiyans have already paid for their actions, but this kid..." Musa said as she wrapped the last bandaid on him, "He isn't part of that generation. So maybe...maybe he's the first step in ending all these years of hatred." Musa told her daughter. Who nodded in understanding. "We should let him rest. Why don't you go back to stargazing while I make some calls, alright?"
"Okay, Mom!" Koko said as she ran back outside. While she was busy looking up at the stars, Pulled a scouter and proceeded to start a call.
"Hello, My name is Musa Bana. I need to make an appointment with King Aspic..."
A few hours had passed after the Saiyan arrived on Planet Jell, Musa had left to meet with the King of Planet Jell to discuss what they should do with the child, She was originally going to take Koko with her, but unfortunately, her own daughter's curiosity got the better of her. "C'mon, mom! I can handle myself!" Koko said as she looked up at her mother with puppy eyes, much to Musa's annoyance.
"Koko, We don't know if the Saiyan is violent or not! For all, we know he could be working for the Frieza force!"
"Mom, If he wakes up in a place he doesn't recognize he could freak out! I wanna help him!"
"You're only saying that because you wanna ask him a bunch of questions!"
"That may be true but I also wanna help you, mom!" Koko said ever steadfastly, with Musa sighing in defeat.
"Alright, I'll let you have this," Musa said while shaking her head before continuing. "But I want you to use my blaster in case the kid is banana's Alright?" Musa said to which her daughter nodded in response. "A bit of advice, from what I can tell the kids tail is still intact," Musa said as she pointed towards the kids back, "If you can grab it, You should be able to paralyze them for just as long as it takes for me to come back. Got it?" Musa asked her daughter.
"Sure thing mom, I'll be careful!" Koko said, ready to calm down the Saiyan if things went awry. Soon after, Musa left to attend her appointment, so in the meantime, Koko went back outside to stargaze. But it wasn't long before things indeed went awry.
*CRASH*
The sound of broken dishes grabbed the girl's attention, giving herself some words of encouragement, she put the blaster onto her hand and rushed back into the house.
"Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out," Entering the kitchen, Koko pointed the blaster in front of her, ready to blast the Saiyan if they proved to be aggressive. Turning around to look for the Saiyan, she suddenly bumped into something fairly sturdy. She then turned her head, only to meet the Saiyan face to face. "Um...hi?" The Saiyan looked at her for a split second before he shoved her aside to run away. Unfortunately for him, the Tuffle was a fast thinker and managed to grab the Saiyans tail before he escaped.
"DARN IT LEMMIE GO!" The Saiyan said as they tried to crawl away.
"No! I need to ask you some questions!" Koko said as she held her grip. After a couple of minutes of struggling between the two children, the Saiyan decided to give in and answer her questions.
"Fine! I'll answer your questions. But when I'm done will you let go of my tail?
"Sure! Now first things first! What's your name?
"Sanori"
"How old are you?"
"I think I'm 9?"
"Where are your parents?"
"..." Sanori didn't respond to this question, much to Koko's confusion. "Um...you alright?" the confused Tuffle asked,
"I don't know..." the Saiyan said in a hushed tone, a complete opposite of his rowdy tone from a couple of minutes ago. "Every time I think about them, my mind just goes blank, I can't even remember their faces." Suddenly, Sanori felt his tail being freed from his captor's hands.
"It's okay, you don't gotta answer that one if you don't wanna. Koko said as she patted the Sanori on the back. "Can I um, ask you one more question if you don't mind?"
"Sure..."
"What do you think of the Tuffles?" Koko asked,
"Whats a Tuffle?" Sanori asked, but before Koko was able to respond, an adult voice interrupted the two children.
"It's what my little girl and I are," Musa said, causing Sanori to get into a defensive stance. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, I'm Koko's mother, great to see you're up kid," Musa said, walking towards Sanori and Koko, the latter of which flinched when she put her hand on his hand. "Listen, I'm gonna be frank with you, your ship was completely totaled when you landed here," She said as she pointed towards the crater in her front lawn. One thing led to another and now the king of this planet knows you're here." Musa said nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, Sanori was freaking out on the inside. His ship was destroyed, he didn't know where he was, the planet's government knew he was here. All of this caused the Saiyan to freak out, He had to get out of here, He didn't know if he could truly trust the mother and daughter, what if they sent him back to-
"Hey," Snapping out of their panicked state of mind, Sanori looked up at the mother. "It'll be alright kid, King Aspic is a goodman who is willing to work with his citizens." She said as she bent down to his level. "He and I agreed that as long as I keep you in check you are free to stay as long as you like kid," Musa said as she reached out her hand. "So what do you say?"
Sanori looked at her hand, his head filled with multiple thoughts, he had spent most of his life running from...well he couldn't remember, all he could remember was a continuous feeling of urgency, the idea of running away always on his mind. But at that moment. He didn't feel any of that. No, at that moment, he felt a new emotion, He didn't know what he was feeling, but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed not having to feel like a runaway, and so despite his mind telling him that by all accounts that this would be a trap, he listened to his guts and shook Musa's hand, with a small smile on his face.
"Okay,"
"Okay..."
"Okay..."
"It's...okay..."
"It'll be okay...Koko" Sanori said as he held onto his friend, after spending a couple of minutes just being still Koko looked on at her now torched home, which was all but a speck due to how far they were from the planet.
"Sanori, what are we gonna do? We...we don't have anywhere else to go..." Koko said with a sniffle. Sanori looked towards the control module and let out a sigh before typing in some coordinates.
"There isn't a lot of planets out there that are out of Frieza's territory, and we both know we'd probably run out of fuel before we manage to leave this quadrant of the galaxy, Best chance of surviving is finding a primitive planet and hoping we can make some fuel or something." He said.
"Maybe *Sniff* if we find a planet with the right resources, I could *Sniff* build a generator that runs on illos energy?" Koko said as she began to stop crying.
"Yeah, W-Well make it Koko! We will survive!" Sanori said as they blasted off towards who knows where, they didn't know where they would end up or how long it would have taken, those two little survivors were going to make the best of their situation.
A/N
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've always enjoyed reading Dbz fics here and there and was kinda surprised at how little Tuffle related stuff there was out there. So I decided to bite the bullet and write one myself! Stay tuned to see where in the north galaxy these two end up!