Elizabeth Knight
Chapter 17
Goten pointed down to the ground, "There. There's probably a cave, or a least an overhang in that out-cropping over there."
Trunks nodded and they both headed back down to the ground for it. At least here on the ground the trees blocked some of the rain where flying they got it all.
"Up here, Trunks. It looks like there's an opening." Goten disappeared inside, and Trunks followed. He didn't get two steps in before he ran into Goten's back. Quickly looking around he spotted the red head and the young lion cub in a corner.
Trunks sighed in relief and started forward. "Zantha....."
Goten grabbed his arm and shook his head. "That's not Zantha, Trunks."
"How do you know?" Trunks watched Goten shrug his shoulders.
"I know the difference." he answered as the look-alike stretched and sat up winking at Goten. Trunks eyebrows shot up at the display of affection. It was strange seeing Zantha flirting with Goten. He was almost jealous. "Where's Zantha, Sarah?"
"She's not here. We split up to make better time. How did you find me?"
"Purely by accident I can assure you. However since I have found you, I might as well finish the job I messed up the last time." Goten reached down and pulled two nasty daggers from his boots.
"So that's how it is between us now?" She ask not running.
"Put them up, Goten. We don't have time for this." Trunks reasoned.
"You go find Zantha and stay out of this, Trunks." he growled.
"Goten, your father didn't tell you to do this. I won't let you kill her."
"Why not? She helped destroy our home! We were lucky the whole city didn't burn to the ground."
"And what of our cities? You've burnt plenty of our homes to the ground. What of the prisoners you take of my people? We've never taken saiyans prisoner." Sarah charged.
"What of Bra?"
"She was an accident. She happened to be in the cell with Kyle when we busted him out. Would you rather we left her to burn? Besides, Kyle's already claimed her as his mate. No one would dare hurt her."
"None of that matters. I let you go and you betrayed me and my family." Goten hissed.
"I had no choice. I had orders and it was time to rescue my people from your vile prison." her voice betrayed her courage as it shook slightly. She closed her eyes as Goten raised both daggers and threw them. Sarah's form shifted to the human form he was so used to, but she didn't move.
Trunks was so shocked he could say nothing as he watched both daggers sail through the air and come a bare inch from hitting her. They hit the rock wall behind her and fell harmlessly to the floor, and Trunks gave a sigh of relief. He watched Sarah open her eyes and tears streak down here cheeks.
"Why didn't you finish the job. I would have." her voice was trembling and her face pale, but she was still taunting Goten. Trunks had never seen a woman with so much courage and he admired her for it. She was also fiercely loyal, and if she could be tamed, she would make an excellent mate for Goten.
"I guess that's the difference between our kinds. I won't kill in cold blood." Goten sneered.
"I've never killed in cold blood, only in defense. I hate this war as much as he does." she said, glancing at Trunks. "Until someone show's these stubborn people how to make peace, I have to defend my own. It would be in both sides best interest if Trunks and Zantha overcame their differences and united, the same as Bra and Kyle. It sets a good example for the majority to follow."
"You go after Zantha, and see if you can't track her. I want to stay just incase Sarah lied and she returns."
"No! Don't leave."
"I think it would be in my best interest to leave quickly and quietly, Sarah." he told her as he backed out of the cave and took off.
Several days later Trunks sat in ChiChi's livingroom, talking to Goku, when the front door slammed in. Both men jumped to their feet and watched Goten storm into the house. He looked haggard and pissed. He slammed the door shut with his boot and came into the room to drop into a chair.
"Where have you been?" Goku ask his son.
"To hell and back." he answered sarcastically.
"We were going to get a search party together to look for you when Trunks came home without you."
"That would have been nice."
"What happened?"
"She lied to me again is what happened. They were right outside the entrance, and when you left they came in. I turned to see them and ......The BITCH BIT ME AGAIN!!! One of these days I'll work up an immunity to her venom and it won't work on me. What will she do then?" he ask. Trunks shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
"I suppose I'll have to wait for her to find me." Trunks sighed. "If she wants to." he added after a moment.
"Women! They never can make up their minds." Goten grouched.
"At least you made it home in time. The triple moons will be full soon." Goku told both of them as he looked out the window.
Zantha sat on a stone bench next to RepSarah and Kyle at the table of councilors. She hadn't been allowed to speak but she listened intently to the argument that raged around her. Kyle and RepSarah, along with a few others, argued that if Kyle and Zantha were allowed to choose and keep saiyan mates it could help bring about a peace treaty between the two warring factors. White Fang led the others in the debate against it. He didn't want peace, he wanted their planet back, and wouldn't' stop till they were all gone.
"What about those insiders put into the cities that have saiyan and human mates and children already?" ask one councilor. "Those children are half of us and half of them. Eventually they'll be our future. What then? Will you shun them?"
"We're not asking that everyone do the same, we're only asking for the right to choose our mates ourselves weather they're saiyans or anything else. Clan law at the moment prohibits interracial coupling, but look at our clans now. We're united in peace and working together as one. Look at all we've accomplished and learned working as one. This can be done with the humans as well. This war can't go on forever, but peace has to start somewhere. It will come about somehow, why not let it start here. We can begin rebuilding and raising our children in peace, but you have to make the effort to bring it about first." RepSarah fell silent and looked around the council table. Zantha held her breath and waited for their comments. She saw Isaru reach over to cover RepSarah's hand and give her a smile of encouragement.
"Lets take a Vote." said one councilor. The bag bearer came forward to retrieve their votes. Each councilor had two stones, one white and one black. White was for and Black was against. If no stone was put in then that councilor remained undecided. Out of 21 stones 12 were dropped in and dumped out of the bag. Eight white and four black. Zantha gave a sigh of relief.
"It is here by decided that until a unanimous decision can be made, those wanting and willing to take mates of a different race are granted the permission on the basis of a majority vote." the bearer announced.
Trunks tossed and turned in the bed. He was restless. He couldn't sleep, and couldn't eat. He hadn't seen Zantha in weeks. Not since the jail break. He reached under his pillow to pull out the small forget-me-not from Zantha. It had dried and was almost unrecognizable but he kept it anyway. He wanted to throw it away and to get away from everything that reminded him of her, but he couldn't bare to part with them yet. He still wanted her after she'd proven she didn't have what it took to come back and be his mate. She had run away from him. Bra had said that she had known he'd come after her and decided to run. It still hurt though. He hurt and he hoped she was in just as much pain as he was. It was worse than that this evening though. There were fool moons tonight and the planets natural three moons were all up high in the night making it impossible to keep out of its light. He had stood at his balcony window for several hours this evening and he felt an immense energy emanating throughout his body. It was almost unbearable to stay put in his bed. His newly grown tail was wrapped tightly around his waist. It was almost a heightened senses experience. He could hear the slight breeze outside his window and the brush of leaves as they swayed.
There was a swooshing sound and then the scrape of the balcony doors opening. Trunks lay completely still his back to the window. He had a feeling he knew who it was, but he didn't trust himself.
"Trunks?" she whispered to his back. "I know you're awake."
"Why did you come back?" he whispered to her.
"I had to." she answered haltingly.
"What took you so long?" he demanded.
"I was scared." her voice was very quiet and Trunks could barely hear her. Scared? Of him? She'd better have a better excuse for putting him through so much agony.
"Do I scare you?"
"No."
"Then why did you run from me?" he never did particularly get that. She had no reason to run from her. He'd covered for her enough that she knew she didn't have anything to fear from him. Except his lust maybe, but he knew she wanted him too.
"I was afraid of what would happen to me if I came back. What would things be like between us? How would we be able to be together?"
"You don't trust me to take care of you?"
"I needed time to make up my own mind about us. I didn't want you to just carry me off. I needed the time to figure things out for myself."
"Well I guess all this time had done me good as well. I've sorted out a few things for myself. You shouldn't be here." he told her, slightly looking over his shoulder. "I won't be able to keep them from you."he lied. Did she believe him? The moon light was streaking in behind her and all he could see was her silhouette. Trunks closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What a mistake. He could smell her scent on the breeze blowing in the doorway. What had taken her so long to decide she wanted him? "You should really leave now, Zantha."
Zantha nodded to his back and turned to go. She crouched on the railing turning to look back one last time and then jumped. Her wings spread wide catching the breeze and she glided higher over the house tops. She was about to land when a heavy weight crashed down upon her. She struggled for a few minutes, then heard his voice.
"Surrender to me, Zantha." Trunks whispered in her ear. When she quit fighting he stopped and turning her around pulled her up against his bare chest. His hair was swaying in the breeze across his face and then she felt his tail curl about her waist, holding her captive. Trunks glanced at her and took off again. When he landed he walked forward a few feet then dropped her into the pool of water. Warm water rushed over her head for a moment before she found her footing and came up stuttering.
"I've dreamed of seeing you like this again for months." he told her sliding into the water with her. Zantha started to back away, but Trunks grabbed her shoulders and pulled her forward. "It's too late for that, Zantha. I won't let you run away this time. You're mine." he growled.
"What about our people? Can you trust me?" Zantha was tiered of fighting her feelings for this proud saiyan, but there was no other choice. Their people were still enemies.
"It doesn't have to be that way Zantha. We can show them peace can be between our people. We just have to show them how to do it first. The first steps are always the hardest, but it can get better. You'll have to learn to trust me as well." he said running his fingers through her mane of red-gold hair. Zantha leaned back her head, craving his touch.
"There's no such thing as peace between our people." a snarl came from behind him a second before three sets of paws hauled him away from Zantha.
"No!" Zantha screamed at White Fang. "You said you wouldn't harm him. You said it was my choice!"
"I lied! I can't believe you still want him after he turned you over to those monsters in the first place. "Did you learn nothing? If you went others would soon follow too. Like your brother. I refuse to let this happen! You're all traitors to your people. You're a weakling Zantha. I have to have an example, and I'm starting with him." In the distance she heard a terrible roar and looked up in shock. Surely they wouldn't kill him, couldn't kill him. Kyle slackened his hold on her, and the moment he did she ripped her body from his grasp and ran for the sound.
Trunks didn't fight them at first. He was too intent on the conversation going on behind him, but when they got too far away for him to hear, Trunks fought loose. He only got to the middle of a clearing before they'd caught up. They wrestled him to the ground and turned him on his back. They hit him several times not noticing he wasn't fighting back. Trunks stared right at the largest of the full moons, feeling it's effects already. He leaned his head back and roared as the change began taking place. They quickly let him go and stepped back in awe as he shifted into a huge ware monkey right in front of them. Trunks fought for control, knowing it would be easy to lose his mind in this form. He lashed out at the animals around him, severely injuring one. The small body crumpled to the ground. He was losing it, he could feel the animal instinct beginning to take over and cloud his mind.
"Trunks!" he could hear someone calling his name from far away. He glanced around him, and coming through the far side of trees was Zantha. Trunks began to fight back harder, and knew he'd won when the fire died down and a calm took its place. His fur lightened to a bright gold and then he could feel the transformation into his ss4 form begin. The minute he shrank in size the remaining two attacked but were no match for him. He threw a ki ball in the chest of one. When he threw it back it exploded at Trunks' feet and threw him.
Zantha stared at the huge golden monkey in the clearing. It looked absolutely ferocious. She didn't understand why her people would attack an animal. And where was Trunks? There was no sign of him anywhere. He must have escaped. Then all of a sudden the golden ape started changing again. Zantha's mouth fell open as she caught a glance at the now ware monkey's lavender hair blowing in the breeze. Trunks? But he was covered in thick light brown fur everywhere except his muscled chest remained bare. Zantha watched him throw a ki ball at one of his attackers. It crashed into the man's chest, and threw him to the ground. A moment later he got back up and sent it back. It crashed near Trunks, and she screamed as she watched him flying through the air. He hit the ground hard and didn't get back up.
Zantha ran for his body across the clearing. She didn't notice the ki fast approaching them in the sky. She knelt by his side, grabbing his shoulders and turning him over. She gasp as she saw the animalistic canines in his mouth and the slightly strange shape of his eyes. She ran her hands through his lavender hair, looking for any bloody places. Her fingers brushed the high pointy ears, and she stared at them as she pushed his hair back behind them. She was bewildered with what she saw. Her mind screamed that this wasn't, couldn't be Trunks, but her heart said it was. If she'd thought he was something to behold before, it was nothing like how he looked now. He was breathtaking to her. He didn't look so much like a human now, but more like herself, tail and all. Tail? That's right! She hadn't noticed it before, but he'd had one earlier, before he changed, this evening.
She reached out to caress it now, and his eyes flew open. Zantha stared at him a moment, her breath catching in her throat. Those beautiful blue eyes hadn't changed any. They may have become a little more hypnotic if that was possible, but other than that they were the same. Zantha reached up to touch his face and gasped when he licked the palm of her hand. Hands suddenly grasp Zantha and wenched her away. She was tossed to Goku as Vegeta knelt down to his son. She watched him nod his head in satisfaction and helped him up. Goku smiled and told the two, "Ss4, impressive! Nice to know you've joined the group, Trunks. I think he looks good in a tail don't you Zantha?"
Trunks grinned and came toward them, his tail whipping back and forth. His eyes were intent upon her, and when he reached her, he grabbed her chin and brought it up so her face was a scant inch away and told her, "We have unfinished business you and I." Then he took her lips in a possessive kiss right there in front of Vegeta with Goku, who was still holding her. Goku released her and Trunks' tail whipped around her to pull her body closer. He didn't stay like that for long though. When he brought his head up to look around, he gave a brief nod as if what he saw was acceptable, then took off in the air.
Goku and Vegeta watched the pair disappear. Vegeta gave a weary sigh. "A fathers work is never done, Goku."
"I know. Do you think we should have told him Bra was missing again?"
"I don't think it would matter at the moment. He has some business that needs to be tended to first. Something he's put off for too long."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go get my daughter. I'll accept her choice of mate, I suppose, but I'll be damned if he's going to sneak her out of the house to make me. I suppose you had best get back to your family now."
"That would probably be wise. If Sarah hadn't warned us about the attack we would have been totally unprepared."
"I know. Too bad Goten going to let her walk away. She would have fit into your family perfectly, I believe, Kakarrott."
"I think your just angry because you have two native in-laws and I don't."
"I think your jealous I have two native in-laws for relatives."
"Give him time to come around, Vegeta. I haven't counted Sarah out of the picture just yet. My son will reason sooner or later."
"Let's hope it's sooner rather than later. Tell my wife I will endeavor to be back by sunrise if that's possible with our daughter."
"See you then my friend." Goku called after Vegeta's departing form. "See you then."