The Soul and The Flesh~Frieza Saga Part V "Man, I can't believe this! Where the heck is Bulma anyway?" Kurilin said. He was getting tired and hungry. He had almost no idea of where to find Bulma, or Raimi, and was worried that Frieza or Vegeta would find them soon.
"I think it's this way, Kurilin... She was in a cave, right? We may need to look in a few... um, what is that?" Gohan said, his calm little voice rising to a squeal. Their new Namek friend Dende looked around nervously as Kurilin concentrated on feeling what Gohan had sensed. He gulped and grabbed Dende by the arm.

"Oh no, it's Vegeta!!!" He yelled as he raced to the ground. They only found a tiny space to hide in, and nothing else seemed to look promising in this area.
"This isn't the best hiding place, Kurilin!" Gohan said as he squashed himself against Dende in the tiny hole. They were still plainly visible from above, but they weren't in the line of sight from where Vegeta was coming from. It would have to do though.

"I know, but we can't hold our breath long enough to hide under water! Just keep your Ki down, and he won't even know we are here, he needs to use his scouter, remember?" Dende shivered between them, and Kurilin patted his back soothingly. "Don't worry, it's not that monster again, ok?"
"No, Vegeta is worse." Gohan said flatly, making Kurilin grimace.

"Great, scare him some more, Gohan!" They fell silent, waiting. Both Gohan and Kurilin chanted "Please don't see us, please don't see us!" under their breath. Then Kurilin dared to peek out.
Almost straight up, Vegeta hovered in the sky, his head turning back and forth slowly. He was looking for them all right, but he wasn't wearing his scouter!

"Kami! He doesn't have his scouter, but he still seems to know we are here! Has he learned to sense Ki?!" He gasped. Gohan groaned as he heard this news.
"Ok, I can tell they are down there, but not exactly where... And just who is it that is down there anyway? It's not Kakarrot... " Vegeta mumbled. He frowned, pushing his new power to its limits, trying to decipher the information he was picking up. Then he felt a small surge, straight below him. He peered down, almost directly at the hiding place.

"Man, this is it! He found us!" Kurilin said. He squared his shoulders and turned to Gohan. "Ok, well, we can't hide here anymore. We have to face him. We may die, but we will die like warriors! Ready Gohan?" Gohan stared at him, and then nodded, his face grim. Kurilin turned to Dende.
"Dende, you go and try to find our friend Bulma. She is in a cave close by, and she will help you to hide until Raimi finds you two. Tell them what happened to us, Ok?" Tears began to drip down Dende's face. He shook his head.

"I won't go, I'll die with you!"
"No, Raimi has to know what happened, she will be getting help soon from Goku, and they will be able to wish us back too... Now be ready to go, ok?" Kurilin was adamant, and the child gave in reluctantly, missing the reference to Dragonballs. The pair of warriors got ready to face the Saiyan above them.
"Yes, it must be them!" Vegeta said, pleased with himself. He tilted down and got ready to fire...

Suddenly, someone shot past him at incredible speed. Whoever it was banked to the left, and came back around to stop a short distance away. Kurilin looked up and gasped.
"It's Raimi!" She hovered, smiling at the shocked Prince's face. He looked real funny with his jaw hanging like that!
"Why, hello! Fancy meeting you here! What's up, Vegeta?" she said cheerfully.

"Well, well. Dodoria was right. There are Earthlings here! And just who is with you?" He said, recovering from his shock. "What do you mean? I'm alone, silly. I knew Frieza was here, and that no one from Earth was strong enough to fight him, so I came alone to try to stop him... and you too, if I could." She said, voice full of laughter. She was hiding her nervousness well. No one could tell that she wanted to throw up, she was so scared. There was no Goku around to save her if he tried to kill her here, and nowhere to run to either.

"Save it for another baka, I know there are at least two others, who are they? Is it that baldy, um, Kurilin? Yeah that's his name... and maybe another of your friends?" he said. She chuckled.

"Tell you what. You catch me, and I might tell you!" she turned, and sent a glance down to Kurilin, who saw her wink at him. He wasn't fooled; she was taking a terrible risk for them. He shouted, hoping to get Vegeta's attention, but they had taken off at such speed that he was unable to even imagine catching up. He growled, knowing that he couldn't help her, and hating his own crippling fear of Vegeta. But, he had to think of the big picture; Bulma and Gohan weren't safe until Goku came. He hoped Raimi would be ok, and that she would forgive him for not helping her in this situation...
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Raimi was pushing herself hard to stay ahead of Vegeta, but knew she'd never stay ahead of him forever. He was closing in already, so she went to the right, and was rewarded by his snarl of anger as he over shot her and had to turn back in her direction. She looked for a good place to land and saw a broad plateau. She let herself suddenly drop like a stone and turned to watch him as he came in for his own landing. He surprised her though, and tried to catch her instead, but she dropped onto her face in the dirt. He raced by, and she jumped to her feet once more. He did land this time and they stood, panting slightly from the effort of such a fast flight.

"Not bad! You're fast, I'm impressed!" he said. Raimi dipped her head in acknowledgement of his compliment. "However, I did catch up, so it's time to talk."
"Nope. I told you all I am going to tell you. So, go ahead and kill me if you want." She crossed her arms, and waited, her face hard. He eyed her for a moment and then laughed. She sighed as he slapped his thigh.

"I guess I was wrong, you aren't all that smart after all!" He suddenly fell silent in that disquieting way he had. She eyed him warily, but still wasn't expecting it when he leapt forward and grabbed her by the neck. She pulled on his wrists as he squeezed her throat, cutting off her air. She gave up that strategy quickly, and unwound her tail instead. She kicked out with one foot, catching his ankle while stabbing her tail into his face. Vegeta toppled backwards, and yowled as the fur on her tail scratched his eyes. One of his hands let go of her throat, and Raimi slammed one fist into his ribs as she landed on top of him, her knees on either side of his waist. He grunted in pain and she punched him again, and whipped his eyes with her tail again. This time he tried to cover his eyes with his free hand, and she was able to get away while he was distracted. She stood over him and panted.

"You were saying?" She panted, rubbing her neck. He glared at her with one eye. She stepped away from him and stood with her back to him, an obvious sign of scorn. "Typical male, thinking like a chauvinist pig! I was trained by the very best Sensei, I'll have you know!" She snapped. He stood and wiped his eyes.

"Everyone thinks his Sensei is the best. Why was yours so special?" He said. He shook some grass out of his hair, acting cool and unconcerned by her presence while Raimi opened her mouth and then closed it, not wanting to explain her time travels for training on the Vegeta-sei of the past to him.
"I guess you're right, but he did have good credentials, though you wouldn't know about them. Now, you wanna try to kill me again?" She said. She was wondering if the boys had gotten far enough away yet. Then she wondered if she was going to be able to get away herself.

"I did try, you even gave me permission, but see what happened?" He said with what sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, and when she turned to look at him, she was startled to see that he was wearing a small smile.
Vegeta was very impressed with her performance. She was quick and clever, she hadn't panicked when he'd attacked her; she'd even used her tail as a weapon, which he'd never have done. But then, he had a feeling that she wouldn't care too much if she couldn't turn into an Ozura; she probably never had done it before anyway. He had valued his tail too much to be willing to risk losing it in a fight. He walked over to her, still laughing. She stepped back warily, not trusting him to not try and hurt her again.

"Now really, I know that you aren't alone. But, I don't care. The only "Earthling" I care about is Kakarrot, and I know he's not here. So, since I'm very busy, I'm going to leave to find my Dragonballs. Give my regards to Baldy!" He abruptly turned his back and took off, leaving Raimi in shock.
"What the heck is with that? He just left!" Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she set out for the cave. Maybe the guys were there now, and she couldn't wait to tell them about this!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She found them quite quickly, and was enjoying a huge plate of Thai noodles from her capsule stock as they all told their tales. Bulma was horrified and jealous by turns. But they all were amazed by Raimi's story.

"So, after Vegeta attacks you, he just flies away? Just like that? He sounds weird." Bulma said. Raimi smiled at that. Her neck had a fine set of bruises from Vegeta's fingers, but she acted like they didn't hurt her; in actually it hurt a lot, and made it kind of hard to swallow her noodles. Bulma shuddered at the thought of being strangled by the Saiyan; it certainly would have killed her if he'd done that!
"Yeah, he's an odd one alright, he is full of surprises. I really expected to die out there, and instead... I don't know how to say it, but it felt more like he was testing me. I guess I passed!" Kurilin shook his head.

"Wow, I can't believe that Vegeta would just let you go. I would have thought he'd still be mad at you for how you helped Goku on Earth." Gohan nodded.
"Yeah, you're real lucky!"

"Maybe. And maybe he'll get me next time. I'll just have to wait and see... " Raimi sighed and took the last bite of noodles. Dende was watching them warily, not touching his food. Gohan should have known that Nameks didn't eat food; after all he did live with Piccolo for a whole year. But, he and Kurilin tried to get him to eat, and then tried to pep him up. But the little Namek just stared at his food sadly.

"I know it's not very good, but you really should eat!" Kurilin said.
"I can't blame him for being upset. Most of the people of his villigae were killed weren't they?" Bulma said softly. Dende stared down at the food, and nodded.
"We don't eat such food anyway. We live on water." The little Namek said. Kurilin grilled him about the Hydrangea trees all over Namek, the ones that they had been cultivating around the villages. Dende told them of the beauty Namek once jad, before a terrible storm tore the planets foliage away. The remaining Nameks were trying to help cover the planet with trees again.

"Hey, we will be able to help your family soon, we just gotta wait for Goku to come, and then, Frieza watch out!" Kurilin said. Dende shook his head.
"How can anyone defeat that evil being? Everyone is dead now... and he will find me too... " Dende said softly. Gohan reached over to take his small hand, but they all felt something wrong right then. Well Bulma didn't, but Raimi and Kurilin and Gohan did. Dende looked at them, eyes wide, as he felt something strange too. They all leapt up and went outside.

To the west, just over the horizon, a strange blue glow was shining, and they could feel great turmoil as well.
"Shimatta! It's Vegeta! Damn, I forgot about this! Ok, rest stop is over. Guys, I have to go and try to help whatever Nameks are left. Bulma, stay inside the cave ok? Don't sit outside, you have a capsule house to stay in, so do it!" Raimi ordered, and took off to the southwest before anyone could say anything, shocking her friends.

"Man, she's quick! Do really think she knows what's going on?" Bulma said. Kurilin nodded.
"Yes. She's brave too. I wouldn't want to rush off and face Frieza's men, and risk running into Vegeta again like that! But she took off, no problem! Now then, what are we going to do about the Dragonballs?"
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Raimi stopped a short distance away, and pondered just what she was going to do. She peeked into her scouter, and saw some weak powers to the south. She headed off that way, braced for the unpleasant, self-appointed task of assassin.

She found the men quickly, and realized that she really had to fight these guys. They didn't actually last long, but they got in a few punches that shook her up a little. She felt better about seeking them so she could kill them because of it, and finally finished them off. Then she flew up in the air, intending to look for new targets, when she felt a huge Ki coming her way. She quickly hid the scouter and took off in another direction. Unfortunately, whoever it was had good eyesight, and came after her. Cursing, she stopped and waited. To her dismay, she recognized the man as he came closer.

He was very pretty though not truly feminine, with light blue skin and long, fine, dark green hair pulled back into a braid. He was very muscular, and wore leggings and long arm covers, trunks and the typical Cold armor, with the addition of a full cape. His almond shaped amber eyes widened as he saw her. He pulled up short and looked her over, his earrings swinging in the breeze. Raimi didn't move or speak, but waited, her heart thudding in her chest.

She'd rather face three Vegeta's than one Zarbon. He was too strong for her, her last little fight with Vegeta aside. She hadn't felt that power up reaction anyway while she and Vegeta had fought, and so wasn't sure if she'd gotten that much stronger. He crossed his arms and smiled. Raimi decided to play dumb; it was all she had, and maybe she could learn something from him.

"And just who do we have here? What is a pretty little girl like you doing here on Namek?" Raimi looked puzzled, and asked him who he was in Saiyago. He recognized the language from hearing Saiyans speak it, but couldn't speak it himself. He shook his head and asked her who she was again in Standard, and again, she acted like she didn't understand. He growled in frustration.

"Look, girl, I know you can speak Standard, even these damned Nameks can, so forget it! Now who are you and why are you here?!" She winced and babbled at him about how she didn't like his tone of voice, and just who was he to talk like that? He didn't understand her exact words, but he understood her meaning, and just got angrier. Raimi began to back away from him; her instinct told her that he was bad news, and she should get as far away as she could.

Zarbon however decided he'd had enough, and blurred out. Raimi could barely even feel his Ki as he moved around her quickly, reappearing behind her and kicking her in the back. She yelped in pain and was shoved forward by the blow. She reached back, and glared at him, calling him every name in the Saiyan language (And since Saiyans loved to curse, there were many names to choose from.) He didn't even reply, but punched her in the belly. Raimi's ribs weren't fully healed yet, and she screamed in pain, which seemed to encourage him to punch her again.

She felt two ribs crack this time, and hit back, but only landed a glancing blow on his shoulder. He laughed at her, and grabbing one arm, tossed her to the ground hard. Raimi's body made a nice crater when she landed, and she was stunned, hardly able to breathe because of her ribs, many of which were cracked now, if not broken. She slowly stood, and panted as she looked up at him; her neck hurt terribly too. She couldn't believe how strong he was. He shouldn't be that much stronger than herself, but he sure seemed to have her at a disadvantage.

She was also surprised by the strength of the hatred she felt for him. She'd always felt a little sorry for Zarbon when she'd read the Manga all those years ago, but now, she wished she had the power to kill him slowly, painfully, and worst of all, in a very gruesome fashion. It was her Saiyan part coming out again, but she didn't want to allow it to dominate her. She held her side and stepped out of the crater, glaring at him. His laugh made her grind her teeth together.

"Now, see what happens to bad little girls who ignore their superiors?" He blurred out again, and Raimi leapt upwards, trying to escape the attack she sensed coming, but he caught her anyway. Zarbon held her left arm, and leaned close into her face.

"I don't see why you are speaking that dead language! You aren't even really a Saiyan, not with that hair!" He grabbed her tail, which he thought was a belt, and squeezed it viciously as he yanked it away from her waist. Raimi's scream of pain stunned him, and he pulled it away from her waist where she'd had it wrapped safely out of the way, like Nappa and Vegeta had done. He stared at her, rubbing his fingers through the silky fur while Raimi tried to clear her pain fogged mind. Zarbon had never seen a Saiyan with red hair and a red tail...

Raimi's Sensei Kakarrot had worked on her tail, with the enthusiastic assistance of the Brat, trying to help her get over the weakness and pain handling it roughly could cause; Zarbon was just too strong though, and his grip too tight. It hurt worse than anything she'd ever felt in either of her two lives, and seemed to sap her strength. She remembered that Goku had suffered weakness as well as a child when his tail was grabbed, but she was Elite status, not third class. Elites were supposed to have tougher tails...

"I can't believe it, you are a Saiyan! A female Saiyan at that! Wait, do you know where Vegeta is?" he snapped, surprise warring with eagerness to find the Prince on his face. She gasped and shook her head.

"Saiya...Saiyajin no Oji Begita-sama? Iie... " She panted, and then screamed again when he squeezed her tail once more. Raimi kicked out with one foot, catching him hard in the thigh. He grunted and let her go; she drifted down towards the water, and then gathered up some power, sending a nice Chi blast at him. He only batted it away, but Raimi had recovered from the weakness he'd caused her now.

She waited and when he came at her swung around with one foot in a roundhouse type kick that caught him in the ribs. Raimi was pleased to see that it seemed to hurt him too. She backed off and then came at him, slamming his head with clubbed fists. Zarbon growled in fury, righting himself quickly and sending a small sokidan at her. Raimi batted it aside, but he'd moved around behind her again, and punched her side, making her ribs flash into white-hot pain.

Raimi hunched over, her breath coming in shallow gasps as she held her throbbing sides. She felt Zarbon grab her left arm and turn her violently to face him. She forced her eyes open, only to nearly black out when he slammed his free hand into her other side. They both heard the bones crack under his hand. Raimi felt her throat fill and spat out a mouthful of blood, which Zarbon avoided deftly.

Zarbon smirked at her as she struggled to breath, hanging in his grip helplessly. He took her other arm and shook her, making her breath leave her again; she passed out for a few seconds as a result. Zarbon didn't want that; he released her arm and backhanded her again, waking her from her stupor.
"Listen bitch, I'm not going to ask again! Where is Vegeta?!"