BUTTERFLIES
Refugees retrieved
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Dragonball Z. I'm in love with them though.
Today's quote is called 'cold': "When I kissed him, I froze onto his piercing" (Anyone who is interested, this was a Loesje-quote. They are from a Dutch site, which has been made international. You can visit it at: http://www.loesje.org Try it sometime. It is fun.)
This chapter is late. Horribly late. Terribly late. Unforgivably late. Why don't you people all sue my school. I hate them too, so it would come in very handy.
***
"Milanco, I know how to work this ship, but I can't read the stupid computer. Get over here and help me for a sec!" Milanco turned away from the doors after he'd made sure they were securely locked. "What is it, Bra?" A frustrated princess turned around to face him. "I told you. I can't read the stupid comp." He looked quite surprised. "You can speak our language, but you can't read it?" She made an annoyed groan. "No-ho!! I told you. Now help me here. I wanna find an empty or thinly populated planet, with lots of nature and resources." Milanco bowed over the comp and his hands flew over the keyboard. "Hm.. let me see….. Ah, here we are. There's a planet only half a day away from here, just purged a few months ago, the few people living there are under slavery of a number of 100 Saiyan warriors. You want to go there, princess?" She thought for a moment. "Bet they know that I'm the princess, right? I think we'll be able to keep those baka's quiet. Set the coordinates." With confident swiftness Milanco did just that, and the ship went into sixth gear. He then made sure the other ships had the exact same coordinates, by contacting the other main board computers and transmitting the route files, programming them so that the ships would follow theirs to the planet, and stay near at all times. Bra started walking through the crowd of people. There must've been at least 3 million people on this ship. But then again, her ship was the biggest. All the babies, an enormous number of half a million were in her ship. Some of the women were walking slowly through the group of infants, searching for their own child. Suddenly the effects of the event seized her. She had just stolen her fathers ships and had taken 10 million, TEN MILLION people with her!! This was more people than she'd ever seen in her life. What had she done!! The ship began spinning around her, and she felt very nauseous. Milanco caught her just before she hit the ground. As he held her, Bra threw up all over the floor. Milanco made a face, but lifted her and put her on a couch in a more quiet place of the ship. "Bra-chan? Bra? Are you okay?" Her eyes fluttered open. "D-dizzy…" He smiled. "Yah, I noticed. I'll just get you something to eat, kay?" A shaky hand grabbed his. "N-no, Milanco. I want you to stay." He sat down again, and squeezed her hand. "That's okay. I'll stay right here." She sighed softly, and fell asleep.
***
Sanae made a roundhouse kick, and was surprised to find it blocked by a very cute guy. "What are you doing here?" She asked him in the usual indifferent way that was characteristic for Saiyans. "I am the new training partner of the Prince. During the Tournament yesterday I was so fortunate as to be granted the honor to become one of the Princes training partners." Sanae raised an eyebrow. "You find that an honor? I was terribly mad about it. That stupid Prince, ordering everyone around… But then I discovered that he was really quite a good fighter, and… I found this baby." She smirked, patting the huge gravity machine in the middle of the room. "What is it?" The Saiyan asked with suprise. "It's a…." Sanae waited a few seconds to add extra emphasis "… Gravity Machine." His eyes widened. "No! Really? Wow! I never thought I'd see that!! I thought they were just made up. It was said that the King married a genius alien woman who could build such things, but I thought it was made up. Besides, I was born after she left." "Well," Sanae answered. "It appears that that was true. The Prince said that this was built by his mother, but that he can build them too. I really don't know much more about them. The exact same thing that happened to you, happened to me. The Prince saw me fight in the Tournament and thought that I fought so good that he wanted me to be his training partner. Well, more like ordered me." She added angrily. The Saiyan frowned. "But I thought it was an only male tournament." Sanae smirked. "It was." He chuckeled as he understood, and kicked in the air. "Wow, a Gravity Machine. Imagine the posibilities!!" Sanae shot a small blast against the ki-shielded wall. "Wanna try it out? I promise it'll be great." He nodded. "Sure."
***
"What have I done, Milanco!! What was I thinking?" Bra grabbed hold of the spandex of his bodysuit and shook him. "Hey, Bra!! Relax!! What you did was good. You proved to be much and much more sensitive than all of us Saiyans!! You saved millions of lives, where Saiyans only destroy them. You are great, princess!!" She calmed a bit, as he put his arms around her, and hugged her for comfort. "I just don't think I can do it…" "Of course you can!! You got half the slaves on the planet in four ships in the shortest time ever!! You have more organisatoric talents than Cambras!!" She giggled. "I guess that's a compliment?" He kissed her. "So is this." Bra gasped, then smirked. "You do realize that we need a long shower after this if you don't want my father to kill you when he smells it." He smirked back. "Make me." With an evil chuckle, Bra pulled him to his feet. "Now don't give me any ideas." He smiled innocently. "Me? I'd never."
***
Vegeta growled angrily, and all his men scurried out of the room, not wanting to be the one the King would cool his frustrations on. Life was still too good to be blasted to Hell. Trunks cast a sideways glance at them as he passed them. Funny how he always could tell by the behavior of the Guards what mood his father was in. At that moment the mood was very bad. But who'd be surprised at that. He mindlessly blocked the ki-blast as he entered the room. "Come on, Otoussan. You know you can't do anything about it right now. Just be glad we intercepted that message to the other ships. Now we at least know where she's going. And it's not even far. We'll be there by tomorrow. And besides, Bra can perfectly well take care of herself. And she has this Milanco guy with her. He'd do anything for her." Vegeta gritted his teeth. "That asshole!! I bet this is all his fault!!! I'm gonna kill that bastard!! Now get out of my room, brat!! Or do I have to blast you out?" Trunks sighed as he walked out the room backwards (he knew better than to turn his back right now), and closed the door behind him. "I just hope he won't kill that Milanco right away. For Bra's sake. She's gonna flip if he does…"
***
With a soft thump the four ships landed on planet Cahbive. Bra pressed the button, and the doors opened with a soft hissing sound. She gasped at the beauty of the planet. It was a lush green planet, and looked like a giant copy of the royal gardens. Then again, maybe the Royal gardens are a miniature copy of this. The entire planet was beautiful. No exceptions. Lush green grass, deep blue lakes, Bright colored flowers. She sighed in admirance. Of course they had not gone unnoticed, and all of the Saiyans were standing there waiting for what the ship would bring. With a deep breath, Bra pulled herself together and stepped out of the ship, her arrogance giving her a selfconfident appearence that made up for her inward insecureness. She smirked smugly as she heard the men gasp. "Princess Bra!! What are you doing here!!" Bra rolled her eyes. I feel like I'm having a deja vu. Aren't Princesses supposed to go anywhere? "That is none of your business, soldier!!" She barked. "Now, I want all of you to listen very, very carefully, if your lives are dear to you, understood?" An agreeing 'hum' rumbled to the rows of men. "I have brought half of Vegeta-sei's slaves with me, and want them to live on this planet, IN FREEDOM!!! So you go and release all, and I mean all of the slaves on this planet, and help them build houses and farms and all they need. Did you soldiers understand this?" All the Saiyans started talking and grumbling at the same time. Bra was just opening her mouth to yell at them, when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and the crowd grew silent. "T-t-toussan… I didn't hear you land." Vegeta snorted, and then lifted his head to his men and thundered his orders. "I ORDER ALL SOLDIERS STATIONED ON THIS PLANET TO GO TO MY SHIP AND BE REGISTERED. ALL THE SOLDIERS THAT CAME WITH ME ON MY SHIP, BE SURE TO KEEP THE SLAVES IN THE SHIPS, BUT NOT HARM THEM. YOU ARE ALL DISMISSED." Then he turned back to Bra. "And you come with me young lady!! Oh, and where is that no good second class? I still have to kill him." Bra, who had let herself be pulled towards her fathers ship until then, suddenly pulled loose and stopped. "No Toussan!! You can't kill him!! Daddy, please!!!" Vegeta looked at his daughter who was currently hanging on his arm. "Hn. Just come with me." She let go and followed him back. And indeed, back at the Royal Ship, Milanco was already captured. Now he had escaped his two guards, and ran towards the exit. Just then, Trunks materialized in front of him. "I don't think so! You wouldn't walk out on the King, now would you?" Milanco growled and wresteled in Trunks' grip, only to find his power outmatched big time. "Damn you!!" Trunks chuckled. "That's no way to talk to the Prince, Milanco. Just be calm. My sis will be here in a minute." Milanco snarled, but calmed down. He sat down on the couch, and Trunks sat across of him. Then Bra and Vegeta came in, and Milanco immediately dropped to the ground in front of Vegeta, nose leveled with the Kings boots. "Forgive me my King." Vegeta growled. "You insolent baka!!! How dare you even dream of doing such a thing to my daughter!! This is treachery!!! I will have my men take you away to be tortured before I kill you. No.. let me make a start myself." Milanco, who had gotten up during this speech, was now backed against a wall. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the glowing finger pointing at his ear, and held his breath. Trunks tried to stop her, but it was no use. Bra screamed loudly, and jumped in front of Milanco, her arm being hit by a blast that would've shot Milanco's ear clean off. But of course, this did not much damage to her, since it was a weak blast. She had been wondering about that, but her teacher told her that no one was allowed to power up, or even try to block a blast shot by the Royal Family. So Vegeta had only sent a very weak blast, just strong enough to injure a totally powered down Saiyan. Bra fell to the ground, but her brother caught her. "You okay, sis?" Vegeta had went from white to red. "Curse you, you no class asshole!!! This is all your fault!!" His finger was once again glowing red with ki, as he now prepared a blast strong enough to finish Milanco off. But Bra jumped out of Trunks' hold and in front of Milanco, spreading her arms wide as to protect him. "If you kill him, Otoussan, you kill me." Vegeta checked her ki, and found his fear come true. Bra was totally powered down. Even a ki-blast from the earth weaklings would kill her now. If he shot at the traitor, he'd kill her too. "Bra, get out of my way!!!" he yelled, getting angrier every second. "No toussan!! You kill him, then you kill me." Vegeta snarled when Trunks softly pushed his arm down. "Don't do it Toussan!" "DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO, BRAT!! NOW GET AWAY BEFORE I BLAST YOU TOO!!" Trunks pulled back his hand, but glared at Vegeta with anger. Of course, eventually the King pulled back, and stalked into the hall, killing everyone he saw. Bra collapsed, and both guys hurried over to her to check on her. "Bra-chan!! Come on!! Get up!!!" Bra opened her eyes and smiled at Trunks. "You don't have to scream bro. I'm fine." He got up and grabbed her hand to pull her back up. "Hn. Just realize that you're on very thin ice right now. Both of you. Now Toussan is out rampaging the entire ship. All those poor men killed for nothing." He shook his head and walked out of the room.
***
With a smile Sanae accepted the hand that Cropa offered her and let him pull her off the floor. "I think we're done for today, Sanae." She panted slightly. "Yeah. That was one big workout! Care to fight again tomorrow?" He smiled back at her. "Not at all. If you want to have your ass kicked again, then go right ahead." She grinned. "Well, look who's talking. I believe that you are the one that got his ass kicked today!" "But that's only because I wasn't even trying!!" "Yeah right… Bullshit." He laughed. "We'll see tomorrow. Hey, I was thinking. You have plans for dinner yet? We could go eat somewhere." Sanae wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Ok, great. Let's go."
***
Bra sighed and didn't know what to do. She was very tired, it had been a long day, and she wanted to sleep. But she knew that she could not avoid talking to her father. She had to make it up to him, and also she really wanted to try make things better for all the slaves. She really wanted to let them live on this beautiful planet in peace and freedom. Either that, or let them work on Vegeta-sei, but pay them, give them homes and food, and allow them to leave whenever they wanted to. But she was soooo tired… Forgetting her plans Bra dropped down on the bed to rest for a second, and fell in a deep sleep.
The next morning Bra woke up by a hand gently brushing her hair out of her eyes. She opened her eyes and stared at him smiling, still drowsy from sleeping so deeply. Vegeta's face was strangely soft, considering how mad he'd been last night. "Promise me never to run off like that again brat. Slaves never like their masters, the masters of these slaves are Saiyans, and you are a Saiyan. You and that one soldier would never have stood a chance against that big a crowd. I am still amazed that they didn't lynch you and take off for themselves." Bra sat up. "That is not true Toussan. If you treat these people well, give them normal lives and give them freedom, most of them would happily be your servant. These people were desperate, and I just acted as their leader to get them out of the horrible lives they were forced to live." Her father frowned. "No, Bra. It was very stupid of you to do this. Saiyans destroyed their planet, Saiyans made them slaves…" "…and now it was a Saiyan girl that tried to save them." She added softly. A painful silence followed. "Brat, you cannot change things. They have been this way for thousands of years, and cannot change that easily. It would turn the entire Saiyans society upside-down. And the matter that you're not even a full-blooded Saiyan would make things even worse. People would think that not only alien blood, but also alien ideas have invaded our royal house, and would loose faith in the monarchy. You must understand that the Saiyan society is a very old, very ancient society." Bra snorted. "A very oldfashioned society, is what you mean." Vegeta growled and got up. He just couldn't talk any sense into his daughter. "Then don't understand. Either way, we go back in two hours, and we're taking all the slaves back with us." "Toussan!!! You can't do that!!!" He turned around on his way to the door. "You have no power to take those desicions. Remember that you are only a very small, very insignificant part of the system. For as long as I am the ruler of my planet, I will take the desicions. Now go get ready for take-off." Bra fumed, but, as her father had said, couldn't do anything against his will. Still she really wanted to talk to Milanco about it, and she just knew that there had to be another way to change the poor circumstances that these people had to live in. All she had to do was manipulate her father a bit… But first she wanted to talk to Milanco. She got up and turned around to feel two arms around her. "Milanco! How long have you been standing here?" "One second. I just got in when I saw your father leave. How'd it go?" she sighed. "Not so good. He won't change anything, just take everyone and everything home and leave things as they were. And the stupid thing is that his only reason for that is that it's how things have always been. All shit." His fingers played with her hair. "Now don't just say that Bra-chan. You don't know enough of the Saiyan history and culture to judge about it. You should learn and read about it first." "Hn. Then I'll just judge about this one aspect of it: The Saiyan Slave Policy sucks!!" Now it was his turn to sigh. "Bra, you cannot expect everyone to agree with your ideas. Everything you find acceptable and normal, may not be seen that way by other people. You cannot force them to think the same way as you do. Just accept that races are different. In the way they think, and in the way they are. I know that I agree with you, that it is wrong to treat people as bad as we do with slaves, you made me see that, but you have to know that not everyone agrees with you. You may find it very wrong to purge planets, but we always learned that it was the right thing to do, and that Saiyans are superior to all races. No one ever doubts that. And further more…" Bra silenced him by kissing him. "..and further more you need to stop rambling, Milanco. We have to go get ready for take-off." He grunted at her interception, but got up, and helped her get up. She was right. They had to go.
***
Far away, on a long forgotten, cold and dry planet, where aging ruins where the only trace of the blooming civilazation that had reigned upon it's grounds, seven figures sat in a cave, gathered around a big grey rock, humming lyrics of long forgotten hymns. Suddenly, a bright light flashed, and the rock started to burn, raging flames shooting of of it, even though this was technically impossible. The humming stopped and the figures backed off a bit. A voice sounded from within the heat of the flames, and spoke in an ancient tongue, known to a very small number of people. But the seven gathered in the cave had never forgotten it's words. "The one you search for is a young woman, and lives on the planet of the Saiyan race, planet Vegeta. Her powers are strong enough to use in your battle against the Egheru, the mindstealers. She has not quite understood her potential yet, so it will take long to train her and that might be too late." A dissapointed sound was heard in the group. Then the leader spoke up. She had a pleasantly soft, melodious voice in comparision to the growling thundering voice of the spirit that had posessed the rock. "Still, we have no other choice, she is our only chance. Show us this woman, so that we can work on a way of transporting her to this planet." It was silent for a second. Then the thundering voice spoke again. "As you wish." All closed their eyes and joined hands. After they'd seen her, the leader grabbed some dark blue sand. "Thank you." She whispered, and threw it onto the rock, making the flames subside. Then darkness once again envellopped the figures in the cave.
***
Good enough a place to end? The next chapter will be ready asap, which will be somewhere this week, since I'm having fall-break right now. So this week I have (some) time off from school. But first I have to go make an assignment and read french articles for school. Only Kami knows how I'm gonna be able to do that… Wait a sec… Maybe that translation program of altavista will do the trick!! Hmm….. Bye!! - Marlyne
