Unknown Realms
Chapter 8
"Sir, we have a bit of a situation," a technician on board the ship cautiously approached the commander.
"What is it? Is the guardian's re-training program malfunctioning?" he asked. He walked towards the small dome room that held a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. She was kicking repeatedly at a punching bag. It had been repaired countless times, patched up in the places she had created holes in. As it swung back and forth from her forceful blows, the technician stood beside the commander as he watched.
"No, sir. Her progress is excellent, much faster than any other species." he replied.
"That's because she's a guardian," he replied smugly. She gave one last roundhouse kick, and covered her head with her glove-covered hands as it exploded, sending sand flying everywhere. She put her hands on her hips, giving the technicians glare, demanding a new program. "So what's the problem?" he turned to the technician, giving him a threatening glare.
He swallowed hard, and said, "S-s-sir, the files we had g-given you, they-they were umm," he stuttered.
"Well? I haven't got all day!" he shouted.
"Sir, they were... out of date," he backed away.
The commander's face paled, "how much out of date were they?" Before he had a chance to answer he interrupted him. "No, just give me the new files." As if on cue, the new statistics appeared on the screen. The commander paled even more, looking back at the girl in the chamber as she raised a powerful ki blast above her head. "Their power levels.... they're twenty times higher......Casaretta, eight-hundred thousand.... Eclipse, seventy-four hundred thousand....... Kalista, six hundred thousand.... wait, what about Saige? Where're his statistics?" he looked down at the technician.
"Sir, he disappeared after those other statistics were taken, sir?" he looked up at him.
"What is it?"
"Sir, he was captured by Rain.... and.. on his way to Earth."
"WHAT?!?" the commander shouted, shaking the entire room. "Send out a message to as many of the guardians as possible. Alert them of this, and send them all to Earth."
"Yes, sir," the technician ran off to give the orders. While he was doing this, the commander found something interesting in the statistics.
"They're a year older...... their power increased twenty times in one year......" he mumbled.
~*~*~
Laughing, the three teens burst into Capsule Corp., their arms full of bags. They set them down and rested against the wall.
"Goten, I can't believe you actually said that to that poor girl!" Taylor placed her hand on her chest to try and steady her breathing.
"I know! What kind of pick-up line is that!?" Trunks started to walk into the kitchen, with Goten and Taylor following him.
"It's not my fault!!" he whined, causing them both to snicker. Taylor popped a soda can open and sat on top of the counter, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Oh yeah, she just asked to have that said to her!" She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up already! It's not funny!" said Goten.
"Then why are we laughing?" asked Trunks.
"He's gotta point," Taylor defended Trunks.
"What is this?! Pick on Goten day?!" he put on his best 'hurt' face. Taylor jumped off the counter and walked over to him.
"Oh, we still love you!" she said sarcastically and pecked him on the cheek, causing his eyes to grow wide. She laughed and rustled his hair before walking into the living area and jumping on the couch. Trunks looked at Goten with disbelief.
"What did I do?!" he whined.
"Are you guys coming or what?!" they heard Taylor yell from the living area. Trunks shook his head and followed Goten into the room. Taylor turned on the television when they saw something that scared them half to death.
"A soap opera!!!! Change it!! For the love of Kami change it!!!" Goten jumped up. Trunks started to panic as Taylor stood on the couch and looked at the remote with horror.
"I can't!! It's stuck!!" she cried.
"That's it!! I can't take it anymore!!" Trunks shot up out of his seat and shot a ki blast at it. Goten looked at him with worry.
"What the hell was that?!" Taylor looked at Trunks.
"Good going! You blew our cover!!" Goten yelled at him.
"What cover?!" Taylor yelled.
"Real smooth, Goten! Now she knows something!!" Trunks barked.
"Hello!?! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, scaring both the boys.
"Yes, what the hell is going on?" They heard a voice behind them. They all turned around to see Vegita standing there, his arms crossed and that cocky smirk on his face. He glared at Taylor, and she returned it. "Time to train, she's seen what you can do, no point in keeping anything from her now because of your stupid actions," he turned around and headed outside.
"Keep what from me?!" she asked, still confused as Trunks led her to the backyard. "What's going on?" she asked Goten as Trunks left them and stood a few feet away from his father.
"Just watch," he whispered. Taylor switched her gaze from Goten to the two on the field who sunk into fighting stances. She watched in awe as they exchanged kicks and punches, they were mere blurs moving back and forth. Just then, one of the blurs appeared in front of them. Trunks motioned for Goten to go and spar. He nodded and approached Vegita. Taylor looked at Trunks with worry.
"So what'd you think?" he asked her.
"Um, I-I don't know…" she stuttered. "How were you moving so fast?" she asked.
"Well, it's in our blood, sorta," he replied, receiving yet another confused look from her, "I'm saiyan."
"You're saying what?" she lifted an eyebrow. Trunks shook his head.
"No, I am saiyan," he said again.
"Saying what?" she said slowly.
"Say it right, brat." They looked up to see Vegita standing there with his arms crossed.
Trunks sighed, "I'm saiya-jin," he said. He noticed that she had gotten a shocked look on her face. It was only there for a split second and then it changed to a confused expression, but it was still there.
"What's that?" she asked.
"We're a different race, with superior strength," he said, then went on and explained about them and everything they had gone through.
"That's amazing," she said, "so what exactly ca—" she started but was stopped as she got a distant look in her eyes. She closed her eyes, and he could see them moving back and forth as if reading something.
"Tay, are you okay?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her. She gasped and looked at him.
"No, I'm not," her eyes darted around, "I-I have to go…" she stood up abruptly. As she turned around, Trunks grabbed her arm from behind her.
"Where are you going?" he asked her, worried that she might disillusion.
"Trunks, let me go, I have to leave," she tugged her arm. He could feel her ki rising immensely; as if she was worried something was going to happen.
"Taylor, what's going on?" Goten came up behind them.
"Nothing!!" she yelled, "just leave me alone!" she jerked her arm one last time, pulling out of his grip, leaving them all shocked.
"She shouldn't have been able to do that… there's something odd about this girl…" Vegita thought. Before she could run out, he punched out at her. She ducked and kicked at his head. He caught her foot and glared at her.
"Let go," she said in a low dangerous tone, but he only tightened his grip.
"Girl, you have a lot of explaining to do, my hand is stinging." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you, now let go," she returned the stare.
"Dad," Trunks looked at him, silently telling him to leave her be. After slight hesitation, he let go of her leg and left. Trunks turned to Taylor, who only glared in the direction of the disappearing figure.
"Taylor, what's going on?" he asked her, but received no reply. Goten noticed that her hands were balled into fists and her knuckles were white. He looked up at her, and reached over to put a hand on her shoulder, only to have her pull back in defense.
"Taylor…" he started.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything…" she looked away from them. Before they could do anything, she flinched and spun around with murderous eyes. There stood Vegita with Bulma at his side. She held a sort of device to administer a drug. Taylor took a few steps back, her vision blurring. She shook her head to try and shake it off, shutting her eyes. She snapped open her eyes and looked at them. "What did you do to me?" she said barely above a whisper. Trunks and Goten looked at Vegita who was smirking.
"We injected her with a drug, it acts like alcohol, she'll tell us everything…" he said as if reading their minds. Trunks walked over and picked up Taylor in his arms, she gasped not expecting it to happen. They led them into an observation room. It was strangely familiar to Taylor, as if she had been there before, but she couldn't remember from where. Suddenly, she started laughing for no apparent reason. Trunks set her down on a chair and sat across from her. Goten, Vegita and Bulma all watched behind the two-way mirror.
"How long is this thing going to last?" Goten asked, watching how Taylor was acting.
"Depends, we gave her enough to knock out a saiya-jin in an hour," Bulma replied. Goten looked over at them.
"It could kill her," said Vegita, "but if what we think is true, she'll tell us whatever she's keeping from us." Goten paled, then looked over at Taylor. Trunks was desperately trying to ask her questions, but she was just bouncing off the walls.
"Look!" she called for his attention, "I can do a cartwheel… see?" she tried to do one, but was crooked and ended up in a heap on the floor, laughing. Suddenly, she jumped up and sat in the chair.
"Taylor? Can you—"
"Be a stork? Sure no prob.!!" She laughed, rocking back and falling out of her chair. "But I don't know where to get all those babies… maybe that big guy from Austin Powers ate them all," she stood up, stumbling side to side a bit, and called Trunks over. For her own safety, he walked over to her, as she held up her hands defensively.
"What are you doing?" Trunks asked her.
"Come on, I ain't afraid to take on nobody anytime!" She swung a fist at him, but it only resulted in her momentum spinning her around and nearly falling on the floor. She would have if Trunks hadn't caught her. She laughed as he led her back to her chair.
"Now listen," she motioned with a finger for him to come closer as she whispered in his ear. "I know everything, about everything…" she said.
Trunks looked at her with shock. "Taylor, what are you ta—" She stopped him by putting a hand on his mouth.
"Shh," she put a finger to her lips, "my name isn't Taylor… it's Hotiku… and there are others like me, some superior, some inferior, but we are all destined to protect her no matter what…"
Her? Trunks thought as she continued.
"I am one of the top militia guardians, we are a superior species and very forceful," she smirked.
"What are you saying?"
"There is a great evil coming… here… he won't stop until he gets what he's coming for, so be ready," she removed her hand from his mouth, and leaned back into her chair, a smile playing on her lips.
"Tayl—Hotiku…" he looked at her as she pointed to him.
"I'm not telling you anything," she squinted at him.
"You already told me everything," he raised an eyebrow at her. She crawled across the table and put her hands on his shoulders.
"And now… I'm going to kiss you," she leaned in, just as they were inches away, she fell on his chest, asleep. Trunks sighed, and picked her up, taking her to the medical wing.
~*~*~
"Do you think she was telling the truth?" Goten asked Vegita as he stood there, glaring at her unconscious body.
"Of course she was telling the truth, that drug acted as a truth serum along with the delusional components," he snapped. Goten turned his gaze back to Hotiku, wondering what was to come of her.
Hotiku groaned as she lifted a hand to her head, wincing at the immense pain emitting from her head. She suddenly snapped her eyes open realizing what had happened. She sensed that there were people in the room and she flipped onto her feet, standing on the steel bed she was on. She snarled at them.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, more like demanded.
"We're asking the questions, Hotiku," Vegita crossed his arms.
"Maintain your position," her commanding side took over as she sunk into a fighting stance. Trunks, as if challenging her, stepped forward. "Oh, I wouldn't have done that if I was you."
"Why not?" he raised his chin, in pride as if in a higher authority than her.
"Because," she smirked, "now I have to kick your ass," as she said this she grabbed the light fixture above and swung her legs forward, contacting with his chest, sending him a few feet back. Just as she landed, Goten and Vegita stepped forward only to have Hotiku jump up and extend both her legs to either side of her and kick them in their jaws. She quickly snapped her body around and ran towards the window.
"She's gonna jump it!" Trunks shouted, rising to his feet.
"We're on the top floor, she won't survive the fall even if she is a superior race, she can't fly," Vegita winced. Just as he said this, she shattered the window, jumping through it. They all ran out onto the balcony parallel to the window and looked down to see her landing safely. She looked up at them, a blank expression on her face before she ran off into the forest.
"She's not the usual alien," Goten mumbled.
~*~*~
Hotiku had stopped running a while ago, she was leaning against a tree, soaking from head to toe. It was storming, lightning flashing and thunder roaring. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath and walked up to one of the biggest and most beautiful trees she had ever seen. It was completely covered with cherry blossoms. She sniffled and climbed the tree, still weakened from the drug, she nearly fell to the bottom, already several feet above the ground. When she had jumped from Capsule Corp. she nearly snapped her bones in her weakened state, she was lucky that time, but she wouldn't survive another fall. As she finally reached the top, she sat in the middle. It seemed to be a platform, but the branches orbed around it. She looked around as they were painted like crystals by the rain. Sighing, she lay down and began to think of what was going to happen to her now.
~*~*~
"What are we gonna do?" Trunks asked.
"I don't know," Vegita said, extremely aggravated. Just then, Goten stood up and started walking towards the window.
"Goten, where are you going?" Trunks stood up abruptly.
"Brat, sit down, you are not going after that girl," Vegita growled.
"Yes, I am," he threatened. Vegita stood up and walked over to him, grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down in his chair.
"IF we go looking for her, we're going to think of a PLAN first," he growled. Goten rose to his feet and dared a look at him.
"I don't give a damn what she's acting like or what she's doing!! She's been nothing but a friend to me and I've gotten a hell of a lot closer to her, she's like a sister to me and I'm going to take care of her no matter what," he spun around and was about to jump out the window.
"But Goten," Trunks started to walk towards him.
"No matter what," he said barely above a whisper and jumped out, taking off into flight and towards her erratically jumping ki.
~*~*~
Hotiku wiped her wet face and stood up. She subconsciously shivered at the cold that was creeping up on her. Her hair was matted to her face, and the light from the lightning was bouncing off her skin. Several close bolts rustled her hair and clothes, but didn't seem to bother her.
"You shouldn't sit in a tree during a thunderstorm, you know," Goten said behind her. She turned her head slightly to the side, acknowledging his presence.
"What are you doing here?" she said coldly.
"I came to see if you were okay," he replied, not bothered by her tone. She slowly turned around and looked up at him.
"No, you're just going to take me back, back to them and force me to answer all your questions. You've already done it, and you know everything that was supposed to be a secret," her voice soft and calm.
"That was Vegita, Hotiku, I'm sorry," he said.
"There's a reason people keep secrets, it's cause they don't want people to find out about their past, who they are or what they've done or are going to do. I thought you were different from all the other people I've known, Goten," said Hotiku, her eyes full of tears. Goten stood there, unmoving, not knowing how to respond.
"Hotiku, I care about you, you've been nothing but a sister to me, I would never do anything to hurt you," he took a step towards her. She let out a relieved sigh before her legs gave way and she collapsed. Goten blurred behind her and caught her. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired," she winced. He put her on his back and held on to her tightly. He took off into flight back towards Capsule Corp. She started to fall asleep as she rested her head on his shoulder, her arm slumping off it. He smiled at her weakly as she dozed off.
"You'll be fine."
Chapter 8
"Sir, we have a bit of a situation," a technician on board the ship cautiously approached the commander.
"What is it? Is the guardian's re-training program malfunctioning?" he asked. He walked towards the small dome room that held a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. She was kicking repeatedly at a punching bag. It had been repaired countless times, patched up in the places she had created holes in. As it swung back and forth from her forceful blows, the technician stood beside the commander as he watched.
"No, sir. Her progress is excellent, much faster than any other species." he replied.
"That's because she's a guardian," he replied smugly. She gave one last roundhouse kick, and covered her head with her glove-covered hands as it exploded, sending sand flying everywhere. She put her hands on her hips, giving the technicians glare, demanding a new program. "So what's the problem?" he turned to the technician, giving him a threatening glare.
He swallowed hard, and said, "S-s-sir, the files we had g-given you, they-they were umm," he stuttered.
"Well? I haven't got all day!" he shouted.
"Sir, they were... out of date," he backed away.
The commander's face paled, "how much out of date were they?" Before he had a chance to answer he interrupted him. "No, just give me the new files." As if on cue, the new statistics appeared on the screen. The commander paled even more, looking back at the girl in the chamber as she raised a powerful ki blast above her head. "Their power levels.... they're twenty times higher......Casaretta, eight-hundred thousand.... Eclipse, seventy-four hundred thousand....... Kalista, six hundred thousand.... wait, what about Saige? Where're his statistics?" he looked down at the technician.
"Sir, he disappeared after those other statistics were taken, sir?" he looked up at him.
"What is it?"
"Sir, he was captured by Rain.... and.. on his way to Earth."
"WHAT?!?" the commander shouted, shaking the entire room. "Send out a message to as many of the guardians as possible. Alert them of this, and send them all to Earth."
"Yes, sir," the technician ran off to give the orders. While he was doing this, the commander found something interesting in the statistics.
"They're a year older...... their power increased twenty times in one year......" he mumbled.
~*~*~
Laughing, the three teens burst into Capsule Corp., their arms full of bags. They set them down and rested against the wall.
"Goten, I can't believe you actually said that to that poor girl!" Taylor placed her hand on her chest to try and steady her breathing.
"I know! What kind of pick-up line is that!?" Trunks started to walk into the kitchen, with Goten and Taylor following him.
"It's not my fault!!" he whined, causing them both to snicker. Taylor popped a soda can open and sat on top of the counter, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Oh yeah, she just asked to have that said to her!" She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up already! It's not funny!" said Goten.
"Then why are we laughing?" asked Trunks.
"He's gotta point," Taylor defended Trunks.
"What is this?! Pick on Goten day?!" he put on his best 'hurt' face. Taylor jumped off the counter and walked over to him.
"Oh, we still love you!" she said sarcastically and pecked him on the cheek, causing his eyes to grow wide. She laughed and rustled his hair before walking into the living area and jumping on the couch. Trunks looked at Goten with disbelief.
"What did I do?!" he whined.
"Are you guys coming or what?!" they heard Taylor yell from the living area. Trunks shook his head and followed Goten into the room. Taylor turned on the television when they saw something that scared them half to death.
"A soap opera!!!! Change it!! For the love of Kami change it!!!" Goten jumped up. Trunks started to panic as Taylor stood on the couch and looked at the remote with horror.
"I can't!! It's stuck!!" she cried.
"That's it!! I can't take it anymore!!" Trunks shot up out of his seat and shot a ki blast at it. Goten looked at him with worry.
"What the hell was that?!" Taylor looked at Trunks.
"Good going! You blew our cover!!" Goten yelled at him.
"What cover?!" Taylor yelled.
"Real smooth, Goten! Now she knows something!!" Trunks barked.
"Hello!?! Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, scaring both the boys.
"Yes, what the hell is going on?" They heard a voice behind them. They all turned around to see Vegita standing there, his arms crossed and that cocky smirk on his face. He glared at Taylor, and she returned it. "Time to train, she's seen what you can do, no point in keeping anything from her now because of your stupid actions," he turned around and headed outside.
"Keep what from me?!" she asked, still confused as Trunks led her to the backyard. "What's going on?" she asked Goten as Trunks left them and stood a few feet away from his father.
"Just watch," he whispered. Taylor switched her gaze from Goten to the two on the field who sunk into fighting stances. She watched in awe as they exchanged kicks and punches, they were mere blurs moving back and forth. Just then, one of the blurs appeared in front of them. Trunks motioned for Goten to go and spar. He nodded and approached Vegita. Taylor looked at Trunks with worry.
"So what'd you think?" he asked her.
"Um, I-I don't know…" she stuttered. "How were you moving so fast?" she asked.
"Well, it's in our blood, sorta," he replied, receiving yet another confused look from her, "I'm saiyan."
"You're saying what?" she lifted an eyebrow. Trunks shook his head.
"No, I am saiyan," he said again.
"Saying what?" she said slowly.
"Say it right, brat." They looked up to see Vegita standing there with his arms crossed.
Trunks sighed, "I'm saiya-jin," he said. He noticed that she had gotten a shocked look on her face. It was only there for a split second and then it changed to a confused expression, but it was still there.
"What's that?" she asked.
"We're a different race, with superior strength," he said, then went on and explained about them and everything they had gone through.
"That's amazing," she said, "so what exactly ca—" she started but was stopped as she got a distant look in her eyes. She closed her eyes, and he could see them moving back and forth as if reading something.
"Tay, are you okay?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her. She gasped and looked at him.
"No, I'm not," her eyes darted around, "I-I have to go…" she stood up abruptly. As she turned around, Trunks grabbed her arm from behind her.
"Where are you going?" he asked her, worried that she might disillusion.
"Trunks, let me go, I have to leave," she tugged her arm. He could feel her ki rising immensely; as if she was worried something was going to happen.
"Taylor, what's going on?" Goten came up behind them.
"Nothing!!" she yelled, "just leave me alone!" she jerked her arm one last time, pulling out of his grip, leaving them all shocked.
"She shouldn't have been able to do that… there's something odd about this girl…" Vegita thought. Before she could run out, he punched out at her. She ducked and kicked at his head. He caught her foot and glared at her.
"Let go," she said in a low dangerous tone, but he only tightened his grip.
"Girl, you have a lot of explaining to do, my hand is stinging." He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you, now let go," she returned the stare.
"Dad," Trunks looked at him, silently telling him to leave her be. After slight hesitation, he let go of her leg and left. Trunks turned to Taylor, who only glared in the direction of the disappearing figure.
"Taylor, what's going on?" he asked her, but received no reply. Goten noticed that her hands were balled into fists and her knuckles were white. He looked up at her, and reached over to put a hand on her shoulder, only to have her pull back in defense.
"Taylor…" he started.
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything…" she looked away from them. Before they could do anything, she flinched and spun around with murderous eyes. There stood Vegita with Bulma at his side. She held a sort of device to administer a drug. Taylor took a few steps back, her vision blurring. She shook her head to try and shake it off, shutting her eyes. She snapped open her eyes and looked at them. "What did you do to me?" she said barely above a whisper. Trunks and Goten looked at Vegita who was smirking.
"We injected her with a drug, it acts like alcohol, she'll tell us everything…" he said as if reading their minds. Trunks walked over and picked up Taylor in his arms, she gasped not expecting it to happen. They led them into an observation room. It was strangely familiar to Taylor, as if she had been there before, but she couldn't remember from where. Suddenly, she started laughing for no apparent reason. Trunks set her down on a chair and sat across from her. Goten, Vegita and Bulma all watched behind the two-way mirror.
"How long is this thing going to last?" Goten asked, watching how Taylor was acting.
"Depends, we gave her enough to knock out a saiya-jin in an hour," Bulma replied. Goten looked over at them.
"It could kill her," said Vegita, "but if what we think is true, she'll tell us whatever she's keeping from us." Goten paled, then looked over at Taylor. Trunks was desperately trying to ask her questions, but she was just bouncing off the walls.
"Look!" she called for his attention, "I can do a cartwheel… see?" she tried to do one, but was crooked and ended up in a heap on the floor, laughing. Suddenly, she jumped up and sat in the chair.
"Taylor? Can you—"
"Be a stork? Sure no prob.!!" She laughed, rocking back and falling out of her chair. "But I don't know where to get all those babies… maybe that big guy from Austin Powers ate them all," she stood up, stumbling side to side a bit, and called Trunks over. For her own safety, he walked over to her, as she held up her hands defensively.
"What are you doing?" Trunks asked her.
"Come on, I ain't afraid to take on nobody anytime!" She swung a fist at him, but it only resulted in her momentum spinning her around and nearly falling on the floor. She would have if Trunks hadn't caught her. She laughed as he led her back to her chair.
"Now listen," she motioned with a finger for him to come closer as she whispered in his ear. "I know everything, about everything…" she said.
Trunks looked at her with shock. "Taylor, what are you ta—" She stopped him by putting a hand on his mouth.
"Shh," she put a finger to her lips, "my name isn't Taylor… it's Hotiku… and there are others like me, some superior, some inferior, but we are all destined to protect her no matter what…"
Her? Trunks thought as she continued.
"I am one of the top militia guardians, we are a superior species and very forceful," she smirked.
"What are you saying?"
"There is a great evil coming… here… he won't stop until he gets what he's coming for, so be ready," she removed her hand from his mouth, and leaned back into her chair, a smile playing on her lips.
"Tayl—Hotiku…" he looked at her as she pointed to him.
"I'm not telling you anything," she squinted at him.
"You already told me everything," he raised an eyebrow at her. She crawled across the table and put her hands on his shoulders.
"And now… I'm going to kiss you," she leaned in, just as they were inches away, she fell on his chest, asleep. Trunks sighed, and picked her up, taking her to the medical wing.
~*~*~
"Do you think she was telling the truth?" Goten asked Vegita as he stood there, glaring at her unconscious body.
"Of course she was telling the truth, that drug acted as a truth serum along with the delusional components," he snapped. Goten turned his gaze back to Hotiku, wondering what was to come of her.
Hotiku groaned as she lifted a hand to her head, wincing at the immense pain emitting from her head. She suddenly snapped her eyes open realizing what had happened. She sensed that there were people in the room and she flipped onto her feet, standing on the steel bed she was on. She snarled at them.
"What did you do to me?" she asked, more like demanded.
"We're asking the questions, Hotiku," Vegita crossed his arms.
"Maintain your position," her commanding side took over as she sunk into a fighting stance. Trunks, as if challenging her, stepped forward. "Oh, I wouldn't have done that if I was you."
"Why not?" he raised his chin, in pride as if in a higher authority than her.
"Because," she smirked, "now I have to kick your ass," as she said this she grabbed the light fixture above and swung her legs forward, contacting with his chest, sending him a few feet back. Just as she landed, Goten and Vegita stepped forward only to have Hotiku jump up and extend both her legs to either side of her and kick them in their jaws. She quickly snapped her body around and ran towards the window.
"She's gonna jump it!" Trunks shouted, rising to his feet.
"We're on the top floor, she won't survive the fall even if she is a superior race, she can't fly," Vegita winced. Just as he said this, she shattered the window, jumping through it. They all ran out onto the balcony parallel to the window and looked down to see her landing safely. She looked up at them, a blank expression on her face before she ran off into the forest.
"She's not the usual alien," Goten mumbled.
~*~*~
Hotiku had stopped running a while ago, she was leaning against a tree, soaking from head to toe. It was storming, lightning flashing and thunder roaring. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath and walked up to one of the biggest and most beautiful trees she had ever seen. It was completely covered with cherry blossoms. She sniffled and climbed the tree, still weakened from the drug, she nearly fell to the bottom, already several feet above the ground. When she had jumped from Capsule Corp. she nearly snapped her bones in her weakened state, she was lucky that time, but she wouldn't survive another fall. As she finally reached the top, she sat in the middle. It seemed to be a platform, but the branches orbed around it. She looked around as they were painted like crystals by the rain. Sighing, she lay down and began to think of what was going to happen to her now.
~*~*~
"What are we gonna do?" Trunks asked.
"I don't know," Vegita said, extremely aggravated. Just then, Goten stood up and started walking towards the window.
"Goten, where are you going?" Trunks stood up abruptly.
"Brat, sit down, you are not going after that girl," Vegita growled.
"Yes, I am," he threatened. Vegita stood up and walked over to him, grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down in his chair.
"IF we go looking for her, we're going to think of a PLAN first," he growled. Goten rose to his feet and dared a look at him.
"I don't give a damn what she's acting like or what she's doing!! She's been nothing but a friend to me and I've gotten a hell of a lot closer to her, she's like a sister to me and I'm going to take care of her no matter what," he spun around and was about to jump out the window.
"But Goten," Trunks started to walk towards him.
"No matter what," he said barely above a whisper and jumped out, taking off into flight and towards her erratically jumping ki.
~*~*~
Hotiku wiped her wet face and stood up. She subconsciously shivered at the cold that was creeping up on her. Her hair was matted to her face, and the light from the lightning was bouncing off her skin. Several close bolts rustled her hair and clothes, but didn't seem to bother her.
"You shouldn't sit in a tree during a thunderstorm, you know," Goten said behind her. She turned her head slightly to the side, acknowledging his presence.
"What are you doing here?" she said coldly.
"I came to see if you were okay," he replied, not bothered by her tone. She slowly turned around and looked up at him.
"No, you're just going to take me back, back to them and force me to answer all your questions. You've already done it, and you know everything that was supposed to be a secret," her voice soft and calm.
"That was Vegita, Hotiku, I'm sorry," he said.
"There's a reason people keep secrets, it's cause they don't want people to find out about their past, who they are or what they've done or are going to do. I thought you were different from all the other people I've known, Goten," said Hotiku, her eyes full of tears. Goten stood there, unmoving, not knowing how to respond.
"Hotiku, I care about you, you've been nothing but a sister to me, I would never do anything to hurt you," he took a step towards her. She let out a relieved sigh before her legs gave way and she collapsed. Goten blurred behind her and caught her. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired," she winced. He put her on his back and held on to her tightly. He took off into flight back towards Capsule Corp. She started to fall asleep as she rested her head on his shoulder, her arm slumping off it. He smiled at her weakly as she dozed off.
"You'll be fine."
