CHAPTER FOUR: Let's Make A Deal
Videl pulled and jerked at the collar. From the moment gohan left for his next mission she started to look for a way to escape. Lucky for her, he had locked the door leaving her trapped in his quaint appartment.
She reached for another knife and sawed vigerously at the collar. The knife snapped and she tossed it aside with the others. So far she had only dulled or broken two dozen knives and nicked herself a few times. She graoned and pulled at the cursed peice of metal.
All of the knives and utinsels were made out of a stronger metal then the type at Earth. So Videl thought thearoreticly they might break the collar. No such luck.
She grabbed a long metal spike she only assumed was used for food, and jammed it in the clasp trying to pry it open. A slight shock went through her again. It was pick proof.
Videl sighed and turned on the sayjjin equivalent to TV. Becuase all sayjins faught there were no soap operas or sidcoms. Only fighting and news telling what purging missions were available and what new treaties were being made. Some red skinned guy with horns talked about the latest attempt on destroying the planet H#L^SA and she got bord fast. She turned it off and clawed at her collar again. Gohan was to arrive tomorrow and she wanted to be gone by then.
As soon as she got the collar off she planned to go to the same launching station she landed at and steal one of those round pods they all traveled in. Where she'd go after that was left undecided.
Suddenly the sound of the door lock clicking made her jump. The door swung open and Gohan walked in dress fullly on his black pants and silver- blue armor. He closed the door and locked it behind him.
He glanced up at Videl and walked up to her. He lifted her chin and stared at her neck. It was covered in small scratches and bruises from trying to get it off. He let go of her and walked into the bathroom and came back with a small jar.
"Sit down." Gohan ordered. She frowned dtubornly but sat. He walked over to her and unscrewed the lid. He lifted up some paste the resembled ground up leaves. Gohan softly rose her collar and spread the green paste over her neck. He gently rubbed it in and she closed her eyes and sighed. She hadn't bothered putting anything on them before because she wasn't sure what was safe, but now it felt like bliss.
He ran his hands down her arms and massaged the cream onto the already fading bruises on her wrists from the cuffs. He looked up at her face.
"Is your head wound any better?" he asked softly.
"Yes it's-" She stopped and looked up at him. "How did you know about that?"
He shrugged. "I asked Ceder if you were as much trouble as Sassafras said you were. He told me how he killed your friends and knocked you out. Called you quite a few other things too." He wipped his hands off on a nearby towel and put the lid back on. "That was pretty amazing what you did to Elm back there."
"What? The me getting shocked or my failed attempt to escape?" she asked.
"No, the masking of your ki." he said. "I never seen anything like it before."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that." she said scooting closer. "Those things you wear. Scounters? Why do you have them? I expected a race so strong to at least know how to sence ki. I mean, it was one of the first things Master Roshi taught me."
"Master Roshi? Was he your teacher?"
She swallowed and nodded. "He's dead."
"Well how do you do it?" he asked trying to change the subject. "Sence power levels?"
"How do you not? It's like looking." she said trying to explain. "Like that feeling you get when someone is watching you."
Gohan listened, hanging on to her every word.
"Have you ever just known someone was behind you?" she continued. "Bad example. Like feeling the heat from a flame before you touch it. Let me show you." She stood up. "Take off you Scounter and close your eyes." He did so and stood up. "Now try to find me."
She floated up to trick him. That way he wouldn't hear her footsteps. She floated to the side of him and away a few feet. Gohan stood perfectly still the lunged out and grabed her. Videl gasped in suprise and writhed in his arms.
"H-how did you find me?" she asked as he held her in mid-air.
He leaned forward and sniffed at her. "I could smell you. Sayjins have very sencitive noses and ears." He flashed a grin at her showing his sharp teeth.
"But that's cheating." she said.
"Oh." he said. "I didn't know this was a game."
"It's not!" she yelled getting angery. "This is the same was my sensei taught me. I got so used to my friends ki that I could feel them halfway across the world!"
"Interesting." a voice called.
Gohan turned and saw Toma standing there. He blushed red and dropped Videl.
"Toma, this is not what it looks like." he said quickly.
Toma smiled and did his best not to laugh at his student. "Looks to me you had your hands full." He peered down at Videl. "Did she say what I think she just said?" Gohan groaned and burried his face in his hands. Toma grabed him by the ear and dragged him into the next room.
"Are you nuts of just in heat?" he asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Neither." Gohan said. "That is the girl that decked Remon. he was at the auction last night. What was I to do? Let him have her and do who knows what to her?"
"What were you doing at the auction, hmmm?" Toma asked.
Gohan didn't answer but looked down at his feet. Toma sighed.
"Look Gohan," he said. "I know she is strong and even I was impressed by her use of hiding her power level, but girls like that are only trouble. With a capital T."
"Calm down Toma." Gohan said raising his hands. He turned and walked into the living room. "I've made it to Saru rank at 22 so I think I can handel a slave girl." He stepped into the living room and stopped. "Did you leave the door open?"
Toma walked up behind him and saw the door wide open and no sign of Videl.
"Trouble, trouble, trouble." Gohan mummbled as he flew over the city trying to spot Videl. "With a capital T." He cursed for the millionth time over her ability to mask her power level. He could be out here all night looking for her.
Below him, unaware of his presents, Videl hid in an allyway. Her plan was to wait untill night fall then move discretely to the launching pad. Damn! She hit herself with the heel of her palm. She forgot she gave the Tamshii to Lou! No way she could leave without it. Or her.
She leaned her back against the cool rock walls of the dark alley. How was she to find her? She had no idea who she was sold to, or where to start looking.
Some talking and the sounds of foot steps were heard right outside the end of the alley so Videl pressed her ki as low as she could. Two large sayjin men passed by talking.
"Man that girl was all over you." the long haired one said.
"Nah," the shorter one replied. "She was too skinny."
The long haired one stopped and Videl slid into the shadows. He pressed the side of his scounter.
"What is it, Gong?" one asked.
"I'm not sure, Hura." Gong said. "I thought my scounter went off a second ago."
The one named Hura pressed his scounter as well and faced the alley. Videl backed up more and bumped an empty crate. She closed her eyes and prayed they didn't hear it. Too late.
Slowly the two men walked nearer and nearer to her.
"Who's in there?" Gong shouted. He formed a small ball of blue energy in his hand. "Come on out or I will blast you."
Videl knew with her power level supressed like this then that blast would do alot of damage to her. But if she powered up the would know she was there.
Hura formed a simmilar ball blast and aimed it into the alley. Videl swallowed and started to power up as fast as she could. The sayjins scounters beeped and they jumped a little.
"What the-"
Videl didn't allow him to finish. She rushed forward and punched them both in the jaw. Gong recovered first and tossed a mild blast at her back and she was blew into the wall. Hura started to punch her vigerously in her back and she cried out in pain. Gong pulled her back by her hair and looked at her collar.
"Looky here Hura." he sneered. "Seems we found a runway slave." He leaned in closer to her and she could smell his rancid breath. "you know what the penalty is for runways?" He grabed the front of her top and ripped it down exposing here breasts. She felt tears sting her eyes and she struggled to free herself from their grasp. Hura held her arms behind her back and Gong reched for her. Suddenly Gong was thrown through a wall.
Hura looked up and he was lifted up by Gohan and kicked out of the alley. Videl collapsed in tears and Gohan knelt down to see if she was okey. Gong crawled out of the wall and wrapped his arms around Gohans neck in a strangle hold. Gohan rammed his elbow into the sayjins stomache and tossed him as well out of the alley.
Gong and Hura picked themselves up and ran off. Gohan slowly kneeled down next to where Videl laid crying ina ball. He tenderly picked her up and flew her home. As soon as he was there he sat her on the sofa and wrapped a large banket around her.
"Would you like some water?" he asked. She nodded weekly and he went into the kitchen to get it.
Videl sniffled and wipped away her tears. She hadn't cried like that since her mom died when she was a child. But it was all too much now. Her father was dead, her friends were dead, her sensei was gone forever and her she was nearly raped by two men who were a hundred times stonger than her. Nothing good was comming her way.
Gohan walked back in with a glass and sat down next to her. She accepted the water and drank it down quickly.
"Do you want some more?" he asked rubbing her back the way a concerned parent would.
She shook her head and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. She couldn't stop shaking for some reason. Gohan pulled her close to him and held her in his arms.
"I warned you not to go out alone." he said as she rested her head on his cheast. "This place is very dangerous. If you are not a warrior then you are sure to be picked on by the stronger and bigger. Slaves are to act a certian way or the penalty can be death. I can't promise I will help you if you don't listen to me."
"I-I want to go home." she said shakely. "But my home is gone. What can you do to help me?"
Gohan paused and thought. "Every seven years there is a festival celebrating the full moon. Tournoments are held to show who is the strongest. And,well, slaves can enter to earn their freedom."
Videl lifted her head up and looked at him. "You mean I can be free? Of this collar? Of this planet?"
"Forever." Gohan said smileing. Then her frowned. "But you will need my permission to enter."
"Will you let me?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Gohan stroked his chin as if he was in deep thought. "Well I suppose I could . . . if I were to gain something else in return."
"What?"
"I know!" he said. "Show me how to mask power levels and I will give you permission to enter the turnoment."
"But learning to do that might take awhile. When is the festival?" Videl asked.
"In three Earth months." Gohan said. "That is plenty of time for me to get you in shape for the turnoment."
"Get me in shape?" she asked. "I'm already in shape! I was the strongest woman on Earth!"
"Yes but you are not on Earth anymore as I said. The women here can be even more powerful then those men in the alleys." he said. "They were just second class punks. Think of what some of the elite will do to you."
Videl gulped. "So if I help you learn how to hide ki then you will help me earn my freedom?"
Gohan nodded.
"It's a deal!"
More soon! Review please!
Videl pulled and jerked at the collar. From the moment gohan left for his next mission she started to look for a way to escape. Lucky for her, he had locked the door leaving her trapped in his quaint appartment.
She reached for another knife and sawed vigerously at the collar. The knife snapped and she tossed it aside with the others. So far she had only dulled or broken two dozen knives and nicked herself a few times. She graoned and pulled at the cursed peice of metal.
All of the knives and utinsels were made out of a stronger metal then the type at Earth. So Videl thought thearoreticly they might break the collar. No such luck.
She grabbed a long metal spike she only assumed was used for food, and jammed it in the clasp trying to pry it open. A slight shock went through her again. It was pick proof.
Videl sighed and turned on the sayjjin equivalent to TV. Becuase all sayjins faught there were no soap operas or sidcoms. Only fighting and news telling what purging missions were available and what new treaties were being made. Some red skinned guy with horns talked about the latest attempt on destroying the planet H#L^SA and she got bord fast. She turned it off and clawed at her collar again. Gohan was to arrive tomorrow and she wanted to be gone by then.
As soon as she got the collar off she planned to go to the same launching station she landed at and steal one of those round pods they all traveled in. Where she'd go after that was left undecided.
Suddenly the sound of the door lock clicking made her jump. The door swung open and Gohan walked in dress fullly on his black pants and silver- blue armor. He closed the door and locked it behind him.
He glanced up at Videl and walked up to her. He lifted her chin and stared at her neck. It was covered in small scratches and bruises from trying to get it off. He let go of her and walked into the bathroom and came back with a small jar.
"Sit down." Gohan ordered. She frowned dtubornly but sat. He walked over to her and unscrewed the lid. He lifted up some paste the resembled ground up leaves. Gohan softly rose her collar and spread the green paste over her neck. He gently rubbed it in and she closed her eyes and sighed. She hadn't bothered putting anything on them before because she wasn't sure what was safe, but now it felt like bliss.
He ran his hands down her arms and massaged the cream onto the already fading bruises on her wrists from the cuffs. He looked up at her face.
"Is your head wound any better?" he asked softly.
"Yes it's-" She stopped and looked up at him. "How did you know about that?"
He shrugged. "I asked Ceder if you were as much trouble as Sassafras said you were. He told me how he killed your friends and knocked you out. Called you quite a few other things too." He wipped his hands off on a nearby towel and put the lid back on. "That was pretty amazing what you did to Elm back there."
"What? The me getting shocked or my failed attempt to escape?" she asked.
"No, the masking of your ki." he said. "I never seen anything like it before."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that." she said scooting closer. "Those things you wear. Scounters? Why do you have them? I expected a race so strong to at least know how to sence ki. I mean, it was one of the first things Master Roshi taught me."
"Master Roshi? Was he your teacher?"
She swallowed and nodded. "He's dead."
"Well how do you do it?" he asked trying to change the subject. "Sence power levels?"
"How do you not? It's like looking." she said trying to explain. "Like that feeling you get when someone is watching you."
Gohan listened, hanging on to her every word.
"Have you ever just known someone was behind you?" she continued. "Bad example. Like feeling the heat from a flame before you touch it. Let me show you." She stood up. "Take off you Scounter and close your eyes." He did so and stood up. "Now try to find me."
She floated up to trick him. That way he wouldn't hear her footsteps. She floated to the side of him and away a few feet. Gohan stood perfectly still the lunged out and grabed her. Videl gasped in suprise and writhed in his arms.
"H-how did you find me?" she asked as he held her in mid-air.
He leaned forward and sniffed at her. "I could smell you. Sayjins have very sencitive noses and ears." He flashed a grin at her showing his sharp teeth.
"But that's cheating." she said.
"Oh." he said. "I didn't know this was a game."
"It's not!" she yelled getting angery. "This is the same was my sensei taught me. I got so used to my friends ki that I could feel them halfway across the world!"
"Interesting." a voice called.
Gohan turned and saw Toma standing there. He blushed red and dropped Videl.
"Toma, this is not what it looks like." he said quickly.
Toma smiled and did his best not to laugh at his student. "Looks to me you had your hands full." He peered down at Videl. "Did she say what I think she just said?" Gohan groaned and burried his face in his hands. Toma grabed him by the ear and dragged him into the next room.
"Are you nuts of just in heat?" he asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Neither." Gohan said. "That is the girl that decked Remon. he was at the auction last night. What was I to do? Let him have her and do who knows what to her?"
"What were you doing at the auction, hmmm?" Toma asked.
Gohan didn't answer but looked down at his feet. Toma sighed.
"Look Gohan," he said. "I know she is strong and even I was impressed by her use of hiding her power level, but girls like that are only trouble. With a capital T."
"Calm down Toma." Gohan said raising his hands. He turned and walked into the living room. "I've made it to Saru rank at 22 so I think I can handel a slave girl." He stepped into the living room and stopped. "Did you leave the door open?"
Toma walked up behind him and saw the door wide open and no sign of Videl.
"Trouble, trouble, trouble." Gohan mummbled as he flew over the city trying to spot Videl. "With a capital T." He cursed for the millionth time over her ability to mask her power level. He could be out here all night looking for her.
Below him, unaware of his presents, Videl hid in an allyway. Her plan was to wait untill night fall then move discretely to the launching pad. Damn! She hit herself with the heel of her palm. She forgot she gave the Tamshii to Lou! No way she could leave without it. Or her.
She leaned her back against the cool rock walls of the dark alley. How was she to find her? She had no idea who she was sold to, or where to start looking.
Some talking and the sounds of foot steps were heard right outside the end of the alley so Videl pressed her ki as low as she could. Two large sayjin men passed by talking.
"Man that girl was all over you." the long haired one said.
"Nah," the shorter one replied. "She was too skinny."
The long haired one stopped and Videl slid into the shadows. He pressed the side of his scounter.
"What is it, Gong?" one asked.
"I'm not sure, Hura." Gong said. "I thought my scounter went off a second ago."
The one named Hura pressed his scounter as well and faced the alley. Videl backed up more and bumped an empty crate. She closed her eyes and prayed they didn't hear it. Too late.
Slowly the two men walked nearer and nearer to her.
"Who's in there?" Gong shouted. He formed a small ball of blue energy in his hand. "Come on out or I will blast you."
Videl knew with her power level supressed like this then that blast would do alot of damage to her. But if she powered up the would know she was there.
Hura formed a simmilar ball blast and aimed it into the alley. Videl swallowed and started to power up as fast as she could. The sayjins scounters beeped and they jumped a little.
"What the-"
Videl didn't allow him to finish. She rushed forward and punched them both in the jaw. Gong recovered first and tossed a mild blast at her back and she was blew into the wall. Hura started to punch her vigerously in her back and she cried out in pain. Gong pulled her back by her hair and looked at her collar.
"Looky here Hura." he sneered. "Seems we found a runway slave." He leaned in closer to her and she could smell his rancid breath. "you know what the penalty is for runways?" He grabed the front of her top and ripped it down exposing here breasts. She felt tears sting her eyes and she struggled to free herself from their grasp. Hura held her arms behind her back and Gong reched for her. Suddenly Gong was thrown through a wall.
Hura looked up and he was lifted up by Gohan and kicked out of the alley. Videl collapsed in tears and Gohan knelt down to see if she was okey. Gong crawled out of the wall and wrapped his arms around Gohans neck in a strangle hold. Gohan rammed his elbow into the sayjins stomache and tossed him as well out of the alley.
Gong and Hura picked themselves up and ran off. Gohan slowly kneeled down next to where Videl laid crying ina ball. He tenderly picked her up and flew her home. As soon as he was there he sat her on the sofa and wrapped a large banket around her.
"Would you like some water?" he asked. She nodded weekly and he went into the kitchen to get it.
Videl sniffled and wipped away her tears. She hadn't cried like that since her mom died when she was a child. But it was all too much now. Her father was dead, her friends were dead, her sensei was gone forever and her she was nearly raped by two men who were a hundred times stonger than her. Nothing good was comming her way.
Gohan walked back in with a glass and sat down next to her. She accepted the water and drank it down quickly.
"Do you want some more?" he asked rubbing her back the way a concerned parent would.
She shook her head and wrapped the blanket tighter around her. She couldn't stop shaking for some reason. Gohan pulled her close to him and held her in his arms.
"I warned you not to go out alone." he said as she rested her head on his cheast. "This place is very dangerous. If you are not a warrior then you are sure to be picked on by the stronger and bigger. Slaves are to act a certian way or the penalty can be death. I can't promise I will help you if you don't listen to me."
"I-I want to go home." she said shakely. "But my home is gone. What can you do to help me?"
Gohan paused and thought. "Every seven years there is a festival celebrating the full moon. Tournoments are held to show who is the strongest. And,well, slaves can enter to earn their freedom."
Videl lifted her head up and looked at him. "You mean I can be free? Of this collar? Of this planet?"
"Forever." Gohan said smileing. Then her frowned. "But you will need my permission to enter."
"Will you let me?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Gohan stroked his chin as if he was in deep thought. "Well I suppose I could . . . if I were to gain something else in return."
"What?"
"I know!" he said. "Show me how to mask power levels and I will give you permission to enter the turnoment."
"But learning to do that might take awhile. When is the festival?" Videl asked.
"In three Earth months." Gohan said. "That is plenty of time for me to get you in shape for the turnoment."
"Get me in shape?" she asked. "I'm already in shape! I was the strongest woman on Earth!"
"Yes but you are not on Earth anymore as I said. The women here can be even more powerful then those men in the alleys." he said. "They were just second class punks. Think of what some of the elite will do to you."
Videl gulped. "So if I help you learn how to hide ki then you will help me earn my freedom?"
Gohan nodded.
"It's a deal!"
More soon! Review please!
