Yosei: Chapter Seven
by Gie: (phowah@cs.com)
disclaimer: They're not mine.
Unless they are. Then they're mine. Simple as that.
Last time:
"Why is
there a tree in the middle of your lab, Mama?" Everyone turned
and saw a wide-eyed
Bura, her gaze glued to the misplaced object next
to her mother.
She stepped closer, and ran her hands over the knobby
bark. An unknown
breeze ruffled the growing leaves, as Bura wrapped
her arms around the
thick trunk of the tree. "Mama, why does this tree
feel like Papa?"
"B-chan..." Bulma was flabbergasted.
How did she know? How
could she tell?
Trunks closed his eyes, both hands
resting on one of Vejiita's
'branches.' "Hmm...it sort of does
feel like Tousan--I can sense his ki, but
it's different." He opened his eyes,
blinking a few times.
"Niichan, where's Papa? I thought
I heard him yell before." Bra
rubbed her cheek against the rough bark.
She closed her eyes and
sighed softly. "Papa..."
"Uhm...Bra-chan," Trunks glanced
at his mother, who was just
staring at the tree-hugging Bura in open-mouthed
astonishment. She
wasn't going to be any help in the near
future. "Bra, the tree is Papa."
"Hmm?" She blinked at her brother,
doubt clear on her small
face. "This tree is Papa?" She
glanced up into the foliage, which had
become quite leafy and dense. "Papa's
not a tree. Stop teasing, Oniichan.
Papa can't be a tree. He has to be
Papa." She gave Trunks a glare
worthy of her precious 'Papa.'
"Musouka..."
"Nani?" Bura whipped her head
around, recognizing that voice and
word immediately. "Gallifrey-san?"
The change in attitude was
instantaneous. "Gallifrey-san!"
Bura ran and latched herself onto the
tall fae's legs. "I've missed you!"
"And I you, little dreamer."
His fingers brushed her bangs off
her forehead gently. He ran his hands
through her thick purple locks
fondly.
"I'm so glad I could see you again,
Gallifrey-san. Mama said that
you were the one that came out of the pod
that opened up last night."
She glanced up into his face. "Are
you the one?" He nodded silently.
"Good! That means you found your friends."
Bulma flinched at her daughter's heartfelt
words. She saw a
wave of pain flood the yosei's features,
washing the once tanned skin into
a sickly pale. She truly felt bad
for him; finding out over two dozen of
his family members were killed was devastating
to anyone. She knew how
crushed she felt when she found out Vejiita
had died against Majiin Buu.
Gallifrey lost his mate, as well.
"Bura..."
Gallifrey shook his head at Bulma,
silencing her. "Yes, I found
them, Bura. And I'm glad I found you,
too." He knelt down, becoming eye
level with the young female, her cerulean
eyes gazing back into his own
green ones. He started slightly when
Bura touched his face, and showed
him her finger: a crystal teardrop
rested on the tip.
"Why are you crying, Gallifrey-san?
You should be happy, ne?"
She gave him a reassuring smile, while wiping
away another tear.
"I am happy, musouka, I am."
Trunks cleared his throat. He
threw a glance to the 'tree' that
stood in the middle of the lab. "Are
you going to explain the tree,
'Gallifrey-san?'"
"But Trunks-niichan, you said that
the tree was Papa." She
glanced between the two males. She
was confused. "How can he explain
that?" Her Papa was a lot of things,
but he never was a tree before...
"Well, hehe," the fae felt a
ball of sweat run down his temple.
"That's true, Bura. That tree is your
Papa."
"But how?"
"Well, Bura, you remember when I lent
you some of my magicks,
and you changed forms?" Bura nodded
slowly. "Well, I lent your Papa
some, as well."
"But shouldn't he have got wings, like I did?"
"I can use my magicks for different
things. I chose to make your
Papa into a tree."
Bura was beginning to understand.
"Papa got mad at you, didn't
he, Gallifrey-san? He was yelling
at you." The fae didn't say anything,
but Bura took his silence for a positive
answer. "And you chose to
change him into a tree, because he can't
hurt you that way."
The four others in the room were astounded
that Bura was able
to deduct the situation from just a few
clues. "That's pretty much it,
B-chan," Trunks agreed, nodding his
head at his smart sister. "Good
job."
Bura just smiled. "Well, I know
my Papa." She looked up into the
tree, and started to levitate higher, so
she was level with the first
juncture in the branches. She settled
herself into the crook, and
wrapped her arms around the trunk, her tail
wound around the branch
she rested upon. "Can you change him
back now, Gallifrey-san?"
He hesitated. "I..." A flash of fear crossed his features.
She leaned her cheek against the knobby
wood, a small smile
curling at her lips. "It's okay, Gallifrey-san.
I won't let him hurt you. He
won't hurt my friends." Her eyes were
bright, trusting in the love she
had for her father--and his love for her.
Gallifrey sighed. If he was to
die today, he had no real regrets.
Maybe a little for more time with his youngest
and newest friend, but he
would treasure and remember her for as long
as he could. It took a lot to
kill a fae--but he had a feeling that the
male whose form he had altered,
had more than enough to send him into his
mate's arms. Oh Goddess, I
hope you're right, Briefs Bura Vejiita.
He nodded once, and closed his
eyes, concentrating to weave the return
spell:
"Angry mortal, under spell of
wood
Return to form you once had stood.
As sure as the sun sets, so it shall
rise--
Be free, once more in mortal guise!"
Everyone was silent as they watched the
air around Bura and the
tree she put so much faith in shimmered
and sparkled. The leaves began
to shrivel and recede into the thin branches
that seemed to shrink
before their very eyes. The bark slowly
descended to the ground, and
revealed the Saiya-jiin Prince as he once
stood before the spell was
placed, now with Bura perched on his shoulder,
her tail curled tightly
around an upraised arm. She had her
own arms wrapped around his head,
and her face buried in his enormous hair.
His eyes remained closed, and
he said nothing.
"Papa! You're you again!"
Her voice sounded relieved and excited.
She gave his head and arm a healthy squeeze.
She backed up a little, so
she could look him over. She let out
a squeal when a foreign object came
up to tickle her cheek. "Papa, you
got your tail back! Gallifrey-san gave
you your tail back, too!"
"Che," Vejiita snorted, and wrapped
the newly restored
appendage around Bura, pulling her to rest
on both of his shoulders
completely, her legs surrounding his neck
in a better protective stance.
He opened his black eyes, and murder shined
from them. He lowered one
hand, and let the other point at the fae
in front of him, alit with deadly
ki. "Now you die."
"Papa, no!" Bura clutched at
her mount, her voice sounding
panicky. "You can't kill him!
He's my friend, and you said you'd never
kill my friends!"
"Shut up, brat!" He growled deep
in his throat. "No one places
any spell on Saiya-jiin Ouzoku!" His
hand grew brighter as he charged
up his ki.
"Papa! You can't!" She
wailed, tears coursing down her cheeks.
"If you hurt Gallifrey-san, I won't be your
little girl anymore!"
Vejiita's eye twitched, but he did
not hesitate. "Fine." He let go
of the ki in his hand, and hurled it toward
the stone-faced fae.
"NOOOOOO!!!!" Bura launched herself
off Vejiita's shoulders,
and putting herself in-between Gallifrey
and the incoming blast.
Things seemed to move in slow motion
to the spectators. Vejiita
let out a gasp when he realized what transpired,
throwing his hands down
to the ground. Bulma screamed, fearing
for her little girl. Trunks and
Goten were frozen in place, unable to move
until the outcome had come
to pass.
Gallifrey stood still, his eyes closed
in a silent prayer. I'm coming
Mochrie. You and I will be together
once more. He heard Bura's scream,
and inside he said goodbye to her. Fare
the well, my musouka. You would
have made a beautiful fae. I only
wish I could have seen that day come
about.
He opened his eyes when he felt something
small and soft bump
into his legs. "Bura!" He knelt
next to the small Saiya-jiin, and saw that
her back was burnt and bleeding. "Why
did you do that, Bura?"
She opened her eyes, the blue pools
unwavering from his green
ones. Large tears spilled from their
crystalline depths as she gave him a
small smile. "You are my friend, Gallifrey-san.
I couldn't let you get
hurt." She sighed and her eyelids
slid shut, her small frame relaxing in
the fae's hold.
Pandemonium broke loose. Bulma
started screaming at the top of
her lungs. "Bura! Oh Dende,
Bura! Someone help her!"
Trunks and Goten finally broke their
shocked trance and the
purple-haired senshi picked up his sister,
ripping her from the fae's
hands. "B-chan? Are you okay?"
When he got no response, he turned to
his best friend. "Goten, senzu!"
"Hai, Trunks!" Goten bolted out of the room.
Gallifrey stood up, laying a hand on
Trunks' arm. "Wait, Trunks. I
can heal her."
"Don't you think you've done enough
damage for today, yosei?"
The demi Saiya-jiin sneered, pulling Bura
closer to him. "You just stay
away, and this time, both Tousan and I won't
miss."
"Please, Trunks, I can heal her."
He turned desperate
forest-green orbs toward the uncompassionate
ice-blue ones of his
beseecher.
"Let him, Trunks." Bulma stood
next to him. She stared into
Gallifrey's eyes, searching for the truth
and trustworthiness of the fae
in front of them. She saw the pain
he was feeling--he knew that he was
supposed to have taken that killing blast--and
felt devastated that Bura
had protected him from his fate. She
smiled at the fae. "I trust him,
Trunks. Let him heal Bura."
Gallifrey smiled thankfully at the
older woman. "Thank you for
your trust, Bulma-san. I won't let
anything happen to her." He held out
his hands. "Please, Trunks!
Onegai!"
The young senshi stared at the small
female in his arms, debating
on if he should trust the fae with the delicate
cargo. He sighed and
handed her over to Gallifrey. "All
right. If she threw herself in front
of one of Papa's ki blasts, then there must
be something worth her
friendship."
Gallifrey nodded solemnly, and he cradled
the smallest Saiya-jiin
in his large embrace, pressing her forehead
into the crook of his neck
and wrapping her legs around his waist.
He drew his wings forward,
encasing the injured female in their colorful
membranes, forming a
protective cocoon. He closed his eyes
and began a healing spell,
mumbling words to himself.
But something wasn't working.
He couldn't summon enough of his
magicks to help her completely. A
thought flashed across his mind, and
he resisted the last-attempt. If
I do this spell, it will wipe me clean for
a long time. But what affect will
it have on musouka? This is usually
used only in dire situations and with..
If I must, I must. She risked her
life for me, and I will do the same!
He spoke aloud, a bright aura
forming around the pair.
"Listen close to my song
and the pain will soon be gone.
I give to you a piece of soul
so you will be made completely whole."
The white light around the pair grew stronger
as Gallifrey
chanted his spell. At the peak of
the brightness, Gallifrey threw his
head back, letting out a sharp gasp of pain,
his eyes wide open in shock.
I didn't know soul spells could be so
painful... He let out another
gasp when
he felt something rip deep inside him, and
his eyes flashed a purple color.
His head rolled forward, and rested upon
Bura's unmoving head.
The others just watched, spell-bound,
at the display in front of
them. Every once in a while you could
see inside the protective cocoon of
the fae's wings, and the only thing visible
was a mass of multicolored
flashing lights.
"Here's the senzu!" Goten burst
into the room. "What's going
on?"
"The...the yosei is healing B-chan."
Trunks muttered, his eyes
riveted on the mass of light in front of
him.
"What a light show!"
Bulma blinked her eyes rapidly, trying
in vain to adjust to the
bright light in front of her. "What's
going on?" Soon, she was able to
focus halfway decent, and she locked her
gaze on the bent-over
Gallifrey. The light had begun
to die down, and she could hear the rapid
panting of the fae. But something
seemed odd about them... "Is she
okay?" She moved closer, wanting to
see the results. "Did it work,
Gallifrey?"
She received no answer from the fae. "Gallifrey-san?"
Bulma only received a small groan. "Owie..."
"Bura? Are you all right?"
Bulma felt the built-up tension drain
immediately when she heard her daughter's
voice. "Are you okay?"
"Hai, Mama, but Gallifrey-san is squishing
me. He has his arms
around me too tight." Her voice sounded
okay, but muffled--like a rag
was tied around her mouth. "Gallifrey-san,
let me go!"
"Ugh..." The fae stirred slightly,
his wings shifting under the
motion. "Are you okay, Bura?"
"Hai, but you're squishing me to death!"
"Sorry." He slowly unfurled his
wings, everyone let out a startled
gasp. In the fae's lap, where the
injured Bura had rested, was a young
female--an young, adult female with
a mane of purple hair coursing down
her back. Curled on the floor was
a long, brown-furred tail, the tip
twitching slightly in agitation. The
unidentified female drew her head
up, and she glanced over her shoulder, her
deep blue eyes blinking
rapidly.
"Bura?" Bulma questioned.
She stared at the girl, her own blue
eyes unblinkingly wide. "Is that you?"
"Hai, Mama." Her head tilted
to the side. "Why are you looking at
me so funny?" She untangled herself
from Gallifrey's grip, and stood up.
She promptly fell on her bottom, squishing
her tail in the process.
"Owie! My tail!" A few large
tears slid down her cheeks.
Trunks slowly moved forward, offering
his hand. "Here, B-chan,
let me help you up. You're probably
dizzy from your injury."
"Arigato, Oniichan." She gave
him a grateful smile, and hauled
herself up to a standing position.
She blinked a few times.
"Trunks-niichan, did you shrink?"
She stared into Trunks' face, eye level
with him.
The purple-haired senshi shook his
head rapidly back and forth,
his eyes wide. "No--not me!
You, B-chan, you grew. Lots!"
Bura looked down at herself, and let
out a squeak. "I'm big again!"
She turned around and saw Gallifrey staring
at her through half-closed
eyes, still panting hard. "You gave
me your magic again, Gallifrey-san?"
Numbly, he nodded. "I didn't
mean to change your form, Bura. My
normal magicks were at an all-time low level,
because I used up a lot from
my earlier spells." He glanced at
Vejiita, who had an unreadable look on
his face. His black eyes were not
on him, though. They were glued to
the female in front of him. "I...I
had to dig deep inside me to heal you,
and I used a spell that is only supposed
to be used in life or death situations."
He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
He opened them and gave
Bura a glance before turning his eyes away
from her form. "I'm afraid
my soul magicks affected you more than just
healing you. Definitely
more than I had planned." He turned
back to her and gave her a sad
smile. The same place where he felt
the rip inside him throbbed once,
turning his smile into a grimace.
"You make a beautiful fae, musouka."
He closed his eyes once again, and sagged
to the floor.
"Gallifrey-san!" Bura knelt next
to him, her hands on his face.
"Gallifrey-san!" She glanced over
her shoulder, turning a pleading look at
the male on the opposite side of the room.
"Papa! Help him, please!"
The Prince had not said one word since
his daughter threatened
disowning him; since he had hit one of his
reasons for living with his own
deadly ki. He tried to dissipate the
sphere before it hit her--but he had
not been able to disperse it all.
He watched emotionlessly as Trunks,
Bulma and the yosei quibbled about healing
his little princess, and said
nothing in protest when the yosei picked
Bura up and began to heal her.
What was he supposed to say? Don't
heal her? Let her die from his
inflicted wounds? But when the bright
light receded, his sharp sight
immediately picked up something amiss from
behind the blue and yellow
wings, but what it was, he didn't exactly
know. The air was thick from
the yosei's residual magic, the heavy perfume
of spellcasting was familiar
to him. He had encountered creatures
similar to the yosei in his service
to Friezer, and knew when magic had been
used. It was similar to being
in a room filled with the weeds that Bulma's
mother fussed over in the
gardens. He smelled the same scent
on Bura in the kitchen, when he
first discovered her tail. Speaking
of tails, the yosei must have restored
his when he changed him back. The
wording of his spell must have been
the trigger of his returned appendage.
He curled the welcome addition
around his waist.
Bura's cry brought him out of his daze.
He took in his daughter's
altered appearance. She looked almost
exactly like Bulma when he first
saw her on Namek-sei. That first image
of his mate was burned in his mind.
His black gaze wandered down her body, taking
in the new curves that
were poorly hidden by the shreds of clothing
that remained from her
growth spurt. His eyes caught her
tail, it was weaving in and out of her
shapely legs. "Papa! Help him,
please!"
"Give the yosei the senzu, spawn."
He directed his glare to Goten,
who was staring at Bura. "Spawn!
Get your low-classed eyes off my
seven year-old child!"
Goten tore his black gaze from the
scantily-clad Bura, wiping away
the trickle of blood that flowed from his
nose. "Ah...hai, Vejiita-san."
He blushed deeply and moved quickly to hand
Bura the senzu. She gave
him a big smile, and Goten blushed even
deeper, turning his head away
quickly. He retreated to a safe position
behind Trunks.
"Arigato, Goten-niichan," Bura
immediately turned to the fae, and
placed the healing legume in his mouth,
forcing him to swallow. She
turned her blue eyes to her father, who
had an unreadable gaze. Her
vision started to tear up and blur.
"Papa..."
Vejiita continued to stare at his daughter,
wondering what was
going through her mind. She hates
me now--how could I injure by own
spawn in such a cruel manner? She
didn't even have her defenses
powered up. How could I lose control
so easily? He grunted and glanced
away from his daughter, only to catch the
same eyes of his mate. The
mother of his spawn--his heirs--his children.
Bulma was trying to gauge his feelings,
staring into the black
depths that she could read so well over
the years. He could feel her
presence in his mind, trying to find a clue
to what he was thinking. Not
now, Onna. I don't know what I'm
thinking. You certainly will not. She
blinked, nodded and turned away.
Gallifrey groaned, getting everyone's
attention once again. "What
happened? Is this Avalon?"
Bura placed a small hand on his cheek.
"No, not there. You're at
Capsule Corp., Gallifrey-san. Are
you okay?" She stood, and held out a
hand to help him stand. "I think you
worked too hard today,
Gallifrey-san."
He mentally checked himself over, and
felt that rip inside him
throb slightly, but it didn't hurt as much
as before. "I'm fine, I guess.
Although my magicks are completely spent."
He blushed slightly, and
ducked his head. "I won't be able
to do any magick for awhile, Bura."
She shrugged her shoulders. "That's okay."
"I won't be able to change you back."
"That's..." she glanced down
at herself. She was silent for a
couple moments, taking in everything.
"That's okay, Gallifrey-san. I
think this body in neat!" A thought
occurred to her, and she closed her
eyes, concentrating. Slowly, from
behind her mane of hair, a pair of
purple and green-blotched wings unfurled
from the center of her back.
She slowly made them move, airing out the
colorful membranes, causing
her hair to stir off her back. "Sugoi!
You're going to have to give me
flying lessons, Gallifrey-san!"
"Wings...B-chan has wings..."
Bulma put a shaking hand to her chest,
the delicate features washing out.
"Vejiita, your daughter has wings."
"I am well aware of that, Onna."
Vejiita frowned at the obvious
observation. They were hard to miss--large,
purple-colored membranes
with several green splotches. The
green color reminded him of the same shade
of a Super Saiya-jiin's eyes. He grunted
and spoke to his mate. "Go find
her something decent to wear, Onna.
Kakarotto's spawn is about to die
from blood loss--and the wound won't just
be from his nose." Goten
gulped at Vejiita's thinly-veiled threat,
and his gaze dropped quickly to
his feet in embarrassment.
Bulma jerked her head around, and glared
at the red-faced Son.
"Come on, B-chan. Let's see if I have
something that'll fit you." She held
out a hand, and Bura immediately took it.
Bulma glanced at her now
full-grown daughter, amazed at the resemblance
to her. "You look
exactly like I did when I went on my first
Dragonball hunt." She grinned
and gave her daughter a wink. "Now,
if you're in the woods and come
across some wild, untamed boy with a tail,"
Trunks snickered and Vejiita
let out a grunt. Goten just blinked.
"Make sure you hit him harder than
I hit Son-kun."
"Okay, Mama." Bura giggled. The two walked out of the room.
"Hey! That's my Otousan you're
talking about!" Goten finally
caught the joke.
"No duh, Goten-kun." Trunks rolled
his eyes and cuffed the
black-haired Son. "Are you with us
today?" Goten just sulked.
Vejiita rolled his eyes as well.
He glanced at the yosei, who was
just blinking in confusion. A stray
thought crossed his mind, and he
turned to Trunks. "Brat, if you and
the spawn are in here, then who is
watching the other pods?"
Trunks and Goten sucked in their breath,
remembering their first
assignment. "We were, until we heard
Kaasan scream for us." He gave
Goten a glance, and both nodded, leading
the other two males to the
other lab where the pods rested.
Gallifrey slowly trailed after the
three males, who seemed to
forget that he existed. I wonder
who it is--if this is the pod from
earlier, I know it is female, and she
isn't Mochrie. He paused in the
hallway for a moment, trying to collect
his thoughts while the other
three went into the room ahead of him.
"If it's female, then it's more
than likely going to be a nymph of some
type. I hope it's not a water
nymph--she won't be able to survive without
water for very long." He
sighed and moved to the door frame, and
watched as Trunks and Goten
talked to Vejiita, but he didn't really
pay attention to what they were
saying. He was still trying to think
of what he was going to do when the
pod in front of him opened up. Gallifrey
could tell that it would open
really soon. A visible seam was forming
down the center of the pod,
where it would open up and let out the fae
that was sleeping within.
A small hand on his arm startled him
out of his thoughts. He
turned to Bura, who was now dressed in a
pair of jeans and a tank top
with an open back, making room for her wings.
A double 'c' was shown on
the front. He returned her smile.
"Better?"
She nodded. "Lots. I was
getting cold before. Mama says we
get to go shopping for new clothes for me,
since all of mine won't fit me.
Some of hers will, but I want my own."
She cocked her head slightly,
studying him. "Are you okay, Gallifrey-san?"
He shrugged his shoulders a little. "I'm fine, Bura. Just tired."
"Well, you'll feel better when your
friend wakes up, ne?" She
gave him another bright smile, and pulled
him into the room. She let out
a gasp when she saw the light around the
pod. "It's going to open now,
ne, Papa?"
Vejiita just grunted, giving the pair
a glance. "More than likely."
He flicked his eyes to Bulma, who stepped
close to him. He wrapped his
tail around her leg, startling her.
"Vejiita! You have a tail!"
He rolled his eyes. "Baka."
Bura giggled. "I think Papa got
it back when Gallifrey turned him
back from the tree."
"Back? Didn't he always have
one? That's where I thought you
got yours from, Bura." Gallifrey was
confused. He didn't know how that
happened.
She shook her head. "Well, Papa was
supposed to have one, but it
got cut off when he first came to Chikyuu
to fight with
Kakarotto-ojisan." She waved her own
around excitedly. "Papa missed
his a lot."
Gallifrey frowned. "The spell
to change back had the phrase 'Be
once more in mortal guise.'
Since your original form is supposed to have
a tail, it must have been regenerated then."
He gave Vejiita a glance. "I
didn't mean to bring it back."
Vejiita just grunted and stared at
the pod, not wanting to
acknowledge the existence of the fae.
Bulma rolled her eyes and gave
Gallifrey a smile. "That meant 'Thank
you.' in Vejiita."
"Can you give all the Saiya-jiin back
their tails, Gallifrey-san?"
Goten stared at the fae, his eyes wide with
hope.
"Er..."
"Don't be such a dork, Goten-kun,"
Trunks scoffed. "With the
moon back, one Saiya-jiin with a tail is
one too many. Do you want to be a
bloodthirsty Oozaru?"
"But Trunks-kun, I want to have my
tail back!" Goten whined. "I
have wanted it back for a long time.
I think it would be cool to have
one."
"Well, when I get my magick restored,
I can try, Goten-san."
Gallifrey spoke quietly. "But it will
be awhile before that happens."
Goten just nodded excitedly. "Arigato, Gallifrey-san!"
A flash of light brought their attention
back to the pod in front
of them. Everyone watched with baited
breath as a thin strip of light
started to form, crawling slowly down the
middle of the pod. The light
got brighter as the crack got wider.
Soon, the room was engulfed in the
blinding light.
Once it faded, and everyone cleared
their vision, they saw that
the pod had completely split in two, and
there was a space about a foot
in width that allowed them to see inside.
Gallifrey stepped forward,
and pulled the halves open more, ripping
the sides open. "Let me help you,
sister."
A small hand reached out, and Gallifrey
grasped it, pulling the figure into a
sitting position. Everyone was silent
as the newest fae entered the world and looked
around. "Hello."
*****************
So there! The next fae has arrived.
Next time, we find out who she actually is! Let me know what you
think so far. I know the spells Gallifrey-kun casts are rather cheesy,
but they work, ne? Oh well. Ja matta ne!
Gie-chan
