So that was how Raimi's training started. She was led to an old Temple, almost as huge as the palace itself. It seemed that this monster of a building was the residence of her Sensei and now herself as well. It wasn't far from the palace, so the Prince stayed with his father. Kakarrot told her since Raimi apparently had no family, she could sleep in a corner; he was in a generous mood, despite having one more student foisted on him. Raimi was just happy to not have to stay near the Royal Highnesses. She didn't want to be near anyone of these Saiyans, they all made her nervous to the point of nausea.BR
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Her first task was somewhat demeaning, but harder than it sounded. She was ordered to Isweep the floor/I of Kakarrot's Temple. Since the the floor in question was something like 200 meters across in either direction, this was not funny. And he told her to wear her armor the entire time. Oh, yeah, and be done in 90 minutes, or else. Ha ha.BR
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After 80 minutes, Raimi was nearly finished, when Kakarrot magically appeared next to her. She was to find that he LOVED to do this to both her and the Prince, especially if he could make them jump. Any way, there he was, peering over her shoulder and nodding.BR
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"I thought so. You missed a lot of spots. Well, now I have to make you do the laps. Ready?"BR
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"Spots? What spots? You could eat off that floor, if you cared about cleanliness, which most Saiyans don't. And what do you mean "Laps"?" She said, then found herself sliding across the floor, her jaw throbbing. She hadn't even seen him swing much less hit her! He was over her, pulling her up by her collar.BR
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"Never, ever back talk me about my orders to you. It's very VERY simple. Now then, if I may continue?" He said, without a trace of threat or malice in his voice. Raimi blinked and nodded, and he set her on her feet, as if her armored weight meant nothing to him. He turned and motioned for her to follow as he went outside. The suns were now high in the sky, which was bleached golden by their light. The air was very hot as well, understandably. Kakarrot turned and smiled a sweet smile at her with his ugly face. Raimi knew instantly that this smile was a sign of bad news, and always would be. She was right...BR
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"Now then, you are new here, so...lets say you do twenty laps this time, what do you think?" He asked cheerfully. Raimi looked at him blankly.BR
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"Your pardon, Sensei, but what exactly am I going to run around?" She asked. He pointed to the Temple behind them, and she went pale with shock. This humongous gigantic building, the one she had just swept like a frantic drudge? And in this heat? She smiled weakly at him and he turned her to face the left.BR
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"Now then, my bothersome female, get going. I want to see you move too. On your way, I'll keep count." She took off. Ten minutes later, she reappeared, still running, but struggling in the heat and gravity. He stopped her; frowning at the obvious difficultly she was having just running.BR
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"Where in the seven hells have you been all your life?" He snapped. She took a deep breath and shook her head.BR
"Some...backwater planet with...one tenth the...gravity of Vegeta-sei...that's where. Sensei." She gasped. His eyes widened at this information.BR
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"I see. Well then, get going. I will lower your laps to only ten, soooo you only have nine more to go. Get to it." She grimaced, and then took off again. By the time she was done with her laps, cheerfully counted by her sadistic Sensei, she was exhausted, and very thirsty. To add insult to injury, the grumpy Prince returned, and laughed at her, as she stood bent at the waist, panting and shaking. Kakarrot smiled and took a deep swallow of the water the Prince had fetched. Raimi felt her eyes go big and puppy-like at the sight of the container of water. She could smell it with her sensitive Saiyan nose, and thought she would die without it. The old warrior took pity on her and lifted her chin so he could pour some water down her parched throat. She sighed, and thanked him, then attempted to stand straight. The Prince stared at her, his face a mask of irritation. As they stood in silence, she noticed that the young Vegeta's light brown hair had strong red highlights in the light of the twin suns. After a moment, she realized that both men were staring at her intently.BR
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"What now? Did I grow horns?" Raimi asked sarcastically. "One would think you've never seen a woman before..."BR
"It's your hair. So very red. We should dye it black, so you don't get unwanted attention. The lesser Princes would love to claim an Elite female for a mate, or challenge you to a fight that you are in no way ready for." Kakarrot said thoughtfully. The Prince snorted.BR
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"I can't believe she is so small and weak. And just how old are you anyway?" He sneered. Raimi didn't rise to the bait, but shrugged to indicate that she didn't know.BR
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"The med report says that she is sixteen, one year older than you, Vegeta. Now then, be nice. It's time for more training. Ready, girl?" All Raimi felt ready for was a nap, but she nodded gamely and waited for instruction. It was simple enough. She was to climb the outside of the Temple and when she reached the top, turn so she was facing out over the city, and climb back down, backwards, as it were. Raimi gulped in fear at this new terror. She hated heights, and even if she could fly, she didn't want to see the world from that high up. Still, she bravely went to it.BR
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She found that it wasn't as hard as she expected, and on her way down, she discovered that her body would move almost on its own, finding or even making its own hand and foot holds in the walls. This left her free to watch the sparring match between Kakarrot and young Vegeta. The Sensei was yelling instructions to his student, who nodded and yelled back, though Raimi couldn't make out what he was saying. She froze as a large bolt of Chi suddenly flew straight at her. She growled angrily, knowing that this was no accident. She unwrapped her tail, poking it painfully through a hole in the wall and used it to brace herself. She then raised her arms, holding her hands out, palms forward.BR
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"You little Bakayaro! Try this one on, Brat!" She hissed, and a ball of Chi formed in her hands, and then shot out at the bolt. They met, combined, and arched off to the side, landing near the Princes feet. Both men jumped up and flew up to her.BR
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"What the..." Kakarrot started, but the angry young Prince jumped in and let out a furious and near unintelligible stream of obscenity. Raimi crossed her arms, ignoring the terrible pain in her tail and glared at him as he hurled every curse word he could think of at her. He finally ran out of air, and she sighed.BR
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"Are you finished? I have one thing to say. Kakarrot is right. You, Oji-sama, are a Brat, a Royal Brat, but a Brat nonetheless. Why don't go back to sparring with the Sensei now, and leave me out of it, Ok?" She sniffed and rubbed her nose, then resumed her downward climb, her tail hurting so bad that she could barely stand it. Above her, she heard a long silence, then a laugh from Kakarrot. Vegeta growled and started to shout again. She then heard a barked command, and he shot by her at mach 20. The two men resumed sparring, with Vegeta showing a lot of energy in his attacks.BR
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Fifteen minutes later, Raimi made it to the ground. She shook her hands out then pulled her tail in front of her as she sat on the ground. There were some raw spots and some scrapes, which were bleeding quite nicely. She clenched her teeth as she inspected the wounds, noticing that the tail was bruised where she had used it to support her weight. She couldn't believe how much such little wounds hurt. She looked up as a shadow fell over her. It was the Brat (as she had named him in the privacy of her mind), and she wondered if he was going to kill her now. She was so tired and depressed, that she almost wished he would.BR
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"I can't believe that you didn't fall. You hurt your self, rather than fall; Why?" He waved at her injured tail as he spoke. Raimi raised an eyebrow at him.BR
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"Because, I'm tired, and I didn't want to climb this pile of rocks again. One thing I think I can guess is, our Sensei would make me climb it again if I cheated and flew, or let myself fall. So, I had no other choice." She said simply. He stared at her, his face unreadable. After a moment, he nodded and told her to follow him. He took her into the Temple and led her to a small room with some simple medical supplies on shelves and a table in the corner.BR
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"Sit down, and I'll bind that up for you." He turned and got what he needed, while Raimi sat and wondered at this turn of events. He wasn't very gentle, but he was thorough, and she was glad when he bound her tail with flexible strips of some material that seemed to have pain killing properties. She wondered at the oddity of the Prince of all Saiyans dressing wounds on a lowly soldier. Of course he could do what he wanted, when he wanted.BR
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"May I ask you a question, Oji-sama?" She said. He stiffened, and looked nervous, but nodded. "Why are our tails so sensitive? I mean if these scrapes were on my hands or something, I wouldn't bother to even dress them..." He looked relieved, and almost smiled at her. Suddenly his sullen face showed the promise of how handsome he would one day be. She almost blushed.BR
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"Tails...Saiyan tails have something like eight glands and one minor but nonessential organ in them. These glands secrete steroids, endorphins and other such chemicals, which affect us in more ways than most Saiyans realize. The one effect that everyone understands is the reaction to moonlight. Without your tail, you can't change into an Ozura. However, some say that other things are affected as well. I slept through those theory lessons, so you need to find out those things for yourself." He led her back out of the room, and to her intense surprise, slammed his elbow into her belly. Raimi gasped, and dropped to one knee, one hand on her abdomen, the other gripping the wall. Her breath hissed through her teeth, and she looked up at him from under her bangs, puzzled by his change of mood. Vegeta leaned over her and now he did smile.BR
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"That's for showing me up in front of Kakarrot. Hope you have a nice day!"BR