Chapter 8.
First Time For Everything, Part 1.
It had been so long, Garagus almost forgot what the field looked like. A vast lake away in the distance just before a short mountain range. The deep and lush woodland just a half-mile run left of the den, and a crescent-shaped gorge away behind.
Before the moon and the months of training leading up to it, a seasonal gathering would take place just at the gorge.
A big fire would be lit. Food was passed about, a fancy word for stolen mind you.
Children and adults alike were encouraged to fight each other to get stronger and establish their place in the Saiyan hierarchy.
But some positions were determined at birth, the Alphas and Dwellers are a prime example.
Being born to two Alpha parents, Garagus is fated to be stronger than the ones who are not. Should someone like Rhuba surpass him
in strength, he'd be considered a disgrace to his troop, while Rhuba would still be considered weak.
It was at one of these gatherings that the two met and became friends. Quite often the two would sneak away from the commotion and entertain themselves in the woods.
Sometimes they'd play chase, sometimes they'd hunt. They liked to fight on occasion too, and he'd fly around with her on his back. But there was also many a time where Rhuba and Garagus would sit out at night to look up at the stars.
But when the moon was full both of them would be instructed by Cressin to stay inside.
"Go away, Garagus," Rhuba demanded when the boy kept annoying her. "Mum! He keeps touching me."
"What do you want me to do about it?" Cressin shut her eyes and pretended to be literally anywhere else in the world. She was sick of telling them to stop annoying each other.
Part of the frustration came from the boredom and hunger everyone felt.
Since Cressin couldn't trust the pair of them to stay inside while in her absence, she has to wait until she knows they're both asleep before she goes out to hunt and forage.
However, before the full moon, she did manage to store away a few hundred shelled fruit out in the woods. She'd bring them all to the den if they didn't need to be rationed. Too many times Cressin has been woken up by the sounds of shells cracking at night when they're supposed to be sleeping.
The next outburst from Rhuba that caught Cressin's attention was when Garagus had her pinned to the floor. The two were grunting and shoving each other. No punches or kicks were being exchanged, but Rhuba was getting her arm twisted by the far stronger Alpha born.
"that's it…" Cressin reached forward hand grabbed both of them by the tails.
Rhuba's body twitched and spasmed while Garagus just fell limp on top of her.
"s-stop…" Garagus wheezed as he and Rhuba were dragged into the bedding area.
Cressin didn't let go, not until she was sure both of them had fallen unconscious.
"Finally," She sighed, hearing peace in the den at last. But with this, she saw an opportunity to make a quick forage run. It wouldn't take longer than thirty minutes round trip to grab some nuts and return. Hopefully, with some food in the belly, they'll be less irritant.
After Cressin doused the fire, Garagus waited a few more minutes before peeking up to see if she had in fact left the den.
Despite being trained to overcome the paralysis brought on by his tail being pulled, it still hurt like hell.
Staying under the pelt in case Cressin returned and learned he was pretending to pass out, Garagus tried to rouse Rhuba from her sleep.
She wasn't responding to him shoogling her, so he batted away the pelt covering them and carried her through to the sitting space to try using water on her. Even after pouring a few drops over her closed lids, Rhuba was still out cold.
"Rhuba…?" Garagus placed a hand on her chest. Her heart was still beating, just very faint. It scared him to know that he'd be in the same state if not for those months of abuse he suffered with all the other Alphas and their kids.
"c'mon, Rhuba, wake up." They hoped Cressin would get annoyed and leave. Getting knocked out wasn't part of the plan, and right now it's mucking it up.
They were so tired of being stuck inside they were willing to try anything to get out. Garagus thought about letting Rhuba sleep and going for a fly himself, but part of the joy he gets is from how much fun flying is for her.
He didn't want to leave her behind.
"up you come." He grunted, lifting her onto his back with her arms drooping over his shoulders.
Climbing through the exit was hellish due to having to crawl on all fours so low the ground so she'd fit under too. Seeing the field made Garagus chill with excitement. Or maybe it was just him feeling a breeze for the first time in absolute ages.
He was sure Rhuba would wake faster in the cool air and hard ground than inside where it's still warm and soft.
"Hey!" He said giving her face another slap. "wake up or I'm leaving you behind." Rhuba's face twitched like she was tired and refusing to wake up.
"up you get!" Garagus chimed pulling her eyelids apart.
Rhuba's eyes were out of focus for a moment while Garagus tried to get her attention. But then her eyes snapped into focus on something behind Garagus.
Fearing the worst, Garagus looked over his shoulder half expecting to see an angry Cressin standing behind him.
But it was far worse than that.
"NO!" Garagus turned away as quickly as he could. But it was too late for him and he knew it. What's more, Rhuba's pupils had changed. They were beady, and a dark shade of pink.
Rhuba then focused on Garagus, bared her teeth and gave an aggressive bark before delivering an open-palmed punch to his face.
It was sore. Sore enough to sap all of his concentration, and leave Garagus subject to the whim of the descending red mist blurring his vision and sanity before he and Rhuba were clawing and tearing at each other like wild animals.
Rhuba woke up with a pounding headache. By her side was Garagus, still asleep and sharing a fur cover with her. "Hey, wake up." Rhuba was about to nudge him, but the moment she moved her arm she felt alarmed.
Looking under the cover, she saw both he and her were naked, covered in scratches and bruises, dirt, and even a little blood. Seeing this made her aware of how sore her body was. But more than that, when she rolled over she felt something else.
Or rather, didn't feel something.
"My Tail!?" She desperately felt around where it should be. Instead of her tail, she only felt a gelatinous stinging wound trying to heal itself over.
Her screams of panic even woke Garagus, who after seeing her, quickly realised he too was without a tail. "What happened?" He demanded in fright.
Cressin popped her head into the sleeping den to check on the startled children.
"Want them back?" She asked before tossing a pair severed tails at them.
Rhuba evaded her's like she'd just been tossed a live snake but then burst out crying when she realised the truth. "I need my tail! I Need IT!" Rhuba sniffed and sobbed as she rubbed at her wet eyes.
Comparing the tail she was holding to Garagus', she wasn't even sure if she had the right one. She even tried to see if she could reattach it but gave up after a sharp pain shot up her spine from the first attempt.
This was her reality now, but she couldn't accept it any more than Garagus, who just held his in silent grief.
His arm was trembling as he held it close. But rage soon engulfed him as he set his eyes on Cressin. "You… Bitch!" He yelled, pouncing at her ready to punch.
Cressin wasn't an Alpha nor did she have as much training as he, but she had a longer reach than he did, so her fist connected first. Cressin punched him without reserve before tossing him back in beside her daughter.
"Swing at me again, I'll break your arm." She threatened before staring at her daughter. "If either of you go outside without my say so again, it'll be the last you see each other, understand?" She warned both of them.
Garagus said nothing as he held his face. Being away from his own troop for so long, he forgot what it felt like to take a real punch. Rhuba was too distraught to argue. All she could bring herself to do was find her favourite quilt and bury herself under it.
"Good." Cressin tossed a couple of shelled fruit into them. "you'll be starving now, so eat something." She ordered before sitting herself down by the newly lit fire, where she planned to relax and finish off the nuts she'd begun eating herself.
Depending on how long this silence from the brats last, she might be kind enough to let them both know that their tails will, in fact, grow back in just a few months.
"Are you insane?" Rhuba demanded, reaching behind protectively as her tail curled up at her back. "Why the hell would I ever, Ever look at the moon again after last time?"
"Things are different now. Last time we were stupid kids and the moon got us by surprise." Garagus always regretted his idiocy that day. Trying to wake a sleeping girl while the full moon rests high above where her face is pointing. There was only one way that could have ended.
"I was trained to control the Oozaru." Garagus reminded her. "If I'm in the right mind, and I don't let the rage get to me, I can control myself."
"But you haven't been one since last time, and that didn't go well did it?" Rhuba can't even remember anything of her first time as an Oozaru beast, but she remembered how it felt.
It was sore, exhausting, and her mind was just burning with hatred and rage. Nothing about it was good. "Why the hell do you want to be an Oozaru anyway? You hated your training."
"We're the last of our kind. I'd like it if the last thing the Oozaru ever did was an act of self-control."
"Then do it yourself and leave me out of it."
"Come on Rhuba. You won't let me teach you to fly, you won't come see the moon with me."
Rhuba found his attempts to guilt-trip her both pointless and self-defeating. He may as well be trying to convince her to jump off a cliff for all the appeal any of these options had. And yet, there was one thing that caught her fancy.
"Make me the Super Saiyan." She challenged him.
Garagus's face fell.
At every gathering they attended, legends of the Saiyans would be shared. And without fail, the legendary Super Saiyan would be brought up. Only to happen once in a millennia, a Saiyan with unrivalled strength will be born and live as a testament to the unfathomable power of the glorious warrior race that the Saiyans are.
"Thought so." Rhuba said giving him a dismissive wave as she walked away. He knew as well as she did that somethings in life are not meant for everyone. She cannot fly, They will not be Super Saiyans.
Garagus looked back at her. Why she's so stubborn about this, he'll never know. It's annoying because he knows for a fact that once her feet come off the ground, she'll love it.
"Rhuba. I'm not asking anymore." He called through to her. "As soon as the moon goes away, I'm teaching you."
Rhuba was halfway to the canteen when she heard him. Normally she'd dismiss such a 'warning', but part of her was scared of what he had in mind.
It doesn't make sense.
Rhuba couldn't fly even back when she wanted to learn, so how exactly was he going to make her now that she doesn't?