WARNING BEFORE READING: This chapter contains scenes of severe child abuse and extreme violence. Nothing with a sexual contents though, if you were worrying about that, but still, it is not written for the faint hearted.



2.5: AMBUSHED

The two pale moons of Vegetasei ruled high above a diamond sky when the young fugitive reached the portals of the castle. The massive wolf's head carved in stone that towered above him as he entered trough its mouth over the bridge, cast ghostly shadows on the glistering waters beneath. There was the soft chirping of crickets and the frog's nightly serenade lulling the good inhabitants of the castle to sleep. The courtyard was unattended, except for a couple of dozing guards, and the young boy's lips pulled into a sarcastic smirk as he considered how easy it was for anyone, whether it was a harmless beggar or a deviant rebel, to enter this fort, which was mend to be the most impenetrable castles on whole of Vegetasei. The lazy guards didn't even bother to raise the bridge after nightfall.

He sneaked under the shadows of the ancient walls towards the main buildings. The castle kitchens towards which he heading, were located 7 floors under the tower of the east wing. The only way to reach them, was to descend the 777 steps of long and winding stairs, something which the servants, who had to carry the meals from the cellar to the dining areas on the 2nd floor, had accursed ever since the palace was raised from the ground. However, the entrance to these stairways were locked at night by Dodoria, who feared that some of the kitchenboys would steal from the supplies and sneak out to sell them while he was asleep. Luckily, Vegeta knew of another passageway that led directly to the storage rooms near the kitchens. It was a small and narrow shaft shut off by a wooden flap located at an ivy-covered wall at the west side, which was used by the merchants to deliver goods. It was barely large enough to allow a child's body to fit through. As he pushed it open and peered inside, he could clearly distinguish a long metal slide that ran beneath him and disappeared into the darkness. He managed to position himself on top of the structure, his legs resting on its smooth metal surface and his arms crossed over his chest, and let himself glide down into the narrow pipe.

He tumbled down the long winding structure, till at the end of the tunnel, he finally saw a faint light. The boy fell out of the shaft, and landed on a mount of solid bags.

He was inside the royal storage room. The light of two small candles dimly illuminated it. He looked around, he noticed that the place was filled to the coping with provisions; baskets and crates filled with fresh fruit, vegetables, dried meat and bread were piled up or stored on shelves of heavy sideboards, while thick legs of smoked ham and strings of sausages dangled down from the low ceiling. The boy brushed the dust from his clothes and shook the fine silvery lines of cobwebs out of his hair and tail. His longing eyes kept fixed upon the delicious but forbidden abundance that was displayed before him. He knew how Dodoria kept a strict administration of the supplies, and even the lack of one piece of fruit or a handful of grain may already arouse his suspicion. Still, the very sight of all this delicacies, just laying there all unprotected by the paranoia of his obsessive master, caused the cold hungry knot in his stomach to turn and stir. Finally, the starved boy could no longer control himself and cut a leg of ham lose from its string, holding it in his shivering hands like a thirsty traveler in the desert cherishing his precious water, and crawled behind a couple of large baskets to devour it.

When he had finished the meal and licked the grease from his fingers, his stomach blissfully filled, a draft entered the storage room through the opened shaft and he curled up his body into a tight ball instinctively to shield himself from the cold. For a moment, the faint light in the cellar shimmered fiercely before a second cold wind put out both the candles. Lost in sudden darkness, the young boy panicked and rose to his feet, rushing towards the dark void where once the doors had been. He stumbled over logs of firewood that were all scattered over the floor, and knocked down one of the heavy baskets, filled tot the rim with apples. The dull thumping of the firm fruits resonated against the ancient walls, caused enough tumult to make his heart leap up like a frightened little rabbit.

He remained still for a while, and listened with his sharp hearing if there was somebody coming to inspect the disturbance. Mice and rats, both flourishing in the bounties of the royal storage chamber, scuttled underneath him and he could pick up the dripping of water along the walls, but no one was approaching.

He then moved his small but supple frame across the dark room, his eyes finally adapted to the scarcity of light like those of an night dwelling creature, and he managed to reach the heavy oaken door without causing anymore commotion.

As he carefully pushed the door to a chink, and took a glimpse outside into the passageway, he was relieved to see that there was no one there. The only movements in the desolated corridor came from the shadows that the fiercely burning torches created as they glimmer in the draft. The dark niches in the walls which contained strange, carved out figures of ferocious wolf headed monsters, contrasted sharply against the shimmering light, as their frightful shades seemed to perform a lively but macabre dance.

Vegeta sighed softly and slipped his body through the gap, cautious not to make the heavy door crack in its hinges. He locked the chamber behind him and stepped anxiously into the corridor.

Out of the darkness that enveloped a nearby niche, a hand, pink and revoltingly swollen, grabbed the boy by his arm. Vegeta panicked and his flee instincts compelled his legs to run, just as a vicious blow exploded on the back of his head. The painful impact made his head spin and for a moment, he could see nothing but darkness before his eyes while a nauseas sensation grab hold of his stomach. The boy was forced to turn around, and when his sight finally recovered from the attack, he was scared to death to see the malicious grin of his master hovering above him like the mad smile of a wrathful pagan God.

Dodoria looked at the quivering boy with an almost sick sense of satisfaction written all over his greasy face. His chinky eyes were sparkling of triumph.

"Now I got you, you filthy little kitchen rat!!! I waited all day for this!!"

As the massive cook respired his words into the child's direction, the boy could clearly distinguish the revolting smell of booze lingering in the man's hot breath. His master was drunk, and the grip on his arm was although firm, not steady as the large man had even difficulty to stay on his feet. His nose was red and his pink chubby cheeks were flushed a dark crimson. In his free hand, he held a large bottle of red liquor, that he put on his moist lips once and a while to allow himself to take a sip.

"You thought you could just ran off after what you've done to my beautiful kitchen? Hey? You mongrel bastard! You brat of a disgusting whore!!"

"Let go of me!!! Let go!!"

The drunk grabbed the boy by his ragged clothes and lifted him up. Vegeta struggled to get away, his legs kicked in the air, trying to reach the horrible man in his stomach, in his arms, in his repulsive fat face, anywhere, but his master kept him dangling on an arm's length away from him, while the boy's revolt only augmented his anger. He let go of a terrifying roar and smashed the bottle that he held in his other hand in pieces against one of the carved stone ogres. Then he slowly bent forwards, and picked up the broken bottleneck, its shiny surface caught the flickering light of the burning torches. The boy yelped desperately, as his master ripped open his filthy shirt and pushed the sharp edges of the shattered piece deep into his flesh.

"Shut up you impudent child!! I will show you to be disrespectful towards your master!!!

A soft, frightened whimper came from the poor boy, as the devilish man carved a fine crimson line across his chest. Vibrant blood trickled down his pale flesh, and ran like drops of salted tears down his shivering body.

"P-please sir, p-please don't hurt m-me."

"Who do you think you are to beg me for mercy?! You're nothing but a stealing kitchen rodent!! I'm gonna cut you into pieces and feed you to the luppers!! That will teach you to steal from me!!"

A revolting smell of rotten eggs engulfed Vegeta's sensitive nose as the large man farted loudly, after which he laughed pompously about his vulgar achievement. Dodoria suffered from a very bad case of intestinal gas almost continuously, and he had adopted the disgusting habit of relieving himself in front of all types of companies. It was something that added to the vile man's natural talent to repulse and to sicken his bystanders. However, at the moment, the poor kitchen boy could have cared less if his cruel master was disgusting or not. The frightening words of the sadistic man had almost made him mad with fear.

"N-no! No!! P-please don't hurt me sir! Don't! I didn't. I didn't steal a- anything from you! I swear!"

"You filthy little lying bastard!! How dare you to deny your crimes?!!"

"I swear sir!! I c-could never steal from you! I wouldn't dare!! Please don't cut me! Don't c-cut me!!"

"How many!?"

"H-How m-many of what sir?"

"How many chickens did you grab with your greedy claws you pile of steaming monkey shit!!"

"I didn't s-steal - "

He could not finish the sentence, or he was smashed against the wall brutally. As his back hit the sharp edges of the stones, a sharp pang of agony crept up his spine and exploded in his frail body. The deranged cook pulled his face near his, and as the kitchen boy looked into his master's eyes, he could see the man's revulsion towards him reflecting in the mirrors of his deep foul soul.

"Stop lying you rat!! I know how many we had ordered last week. There were fifteen chickens. We served five of them last Monday to the king and two of them yesterday to the queen. But, this morning, as I counted them, I discovered that there were only four left!! Now, have they just miraculously disappeared into thin air, or did a certain, devious little rodent get its filthy claws on them!!? You tell me, kitchen rat!!!

" No sir! I really did not take them!! I mean, I-it could have been everybody!! It could have been one of the other boys, but I was not me sir! I swear!!"

"Nobody else had the keys to the henhouse where they were kept!! It was your duty this week to take care of them boy, don't treat me like an idiot! You're insulting me with your sorry excuses!!"

"B-But someone might have stolen the k-keys and sneaked into the henhouse while I was sleeping! P-please! You have to believe me! Don't punish me! I didn't take them!"

A numbing pain overcame him as his master slapped him brutally on one side of his temple. The strength with which the blow was administrated caused his head to sweep right back to one side of his shoulders.

"Enough of your traitorous serpent tongue!! Tell me how many you've stolen! Admit to me that you took them you in-breed pest!!!"

He grabbed Vegeta's tail, and crushed it in his large hand. The boy cried out in insufferable agony, as he was sure that his cruel master was bound to break it off, snapping the fragile bones like dry firewood. However, Dodoria loosened his violent grip and rolled the furry appendix around his hand, wheeling it in like a fisherman rolling his line. The master let go of his ragged clothes, and the boy plunged with his head down towards the stone floor till he was held back with a violent yank by his tail. His master's action left him dangling upside down in the air, with his full body weight pulling on a Saiyan's most sensitive organ, making the boy literally mad with pain.

With his eyes blinded by tears of fear, agony and humiliation, the poor boy tried to persuade his master of his innocence, but his soft pitiful pleading was of no use towards the stone hearted man.

"Please sir!! I d-didn't steal from you! Stop hurting me - please - p- please."

The foul man came near him, and sniffed the boy's breath while he still was choking on his tears. A dark shadow cast over the chef's face, as he recognized the odor of spiced ham, lingering around the boy like a lamb's blood tainting the corners of a wolf's mouth. His ravaging anger subsided from his features, and was replaced by an even more sinister mask of deceptive calmness, underneath which his fury boiled and raged.

"You took a piece of Vallerian ham from the storage room, didn't you boy?" he whispered with a low, dangerous voice.

"I can smell it! I can smell it in your breath! You little, ungrateful, stinking piece of lowlife robbed the storage chambers!! Don't even try to deny it or I will pull off your worthless tail this instant!!"

Vegeta eyes showed white with fear, and he could not give answer to his inquisitor for his tongue was paralyzed. His master had caught him red handed, and there were no ways left for him to elude an eminent punishment. He didn't know what the cruel man would do to him, but from the stories his fellow peers had told him about the unfortunate boys who were caught for such a severe offence, he knew he could expect the worst.

The enraged cook dropped the yelping child on the floor. After that boy landed badly and bruised his knees, the large man grabbed him by the unruly bush of hair and yanked on it painfully, pulling the boy back on his feet.

"I'm going to teach you a good lesson kitchen rat! This is never going to happen again, I will make sure of that!"

He kicked the numbed child in his back, and little Vegeta's light body was launched forwards, sending him tumbling to the floor.

"Now start walking boy, I don't have all night to discipline you! Get up and march! NOW!!"

The poor boy could do little but obey his cruel master, and he managed to get up on his shaking legs after which he was pushed, kicked and dragged trough the empty corridors and up the narrow stairs towards Dodoria's quarters.



2.6: THE CRUELTY OF A FAIR JUDGEMENT

The room where Vegeta was led in to was dark, with only one small barred window letting in the pale light of the moons. The boy was literally tossed aside into a corner, as the anxious man closed the door and locked it immediately with several strings of heavy chains. Vegeta knew that his master was mistrusting, but to the degree in which it manifested itself in his private quarters, the young boy could have hardly believed if it was not that he witnessed it now with his own eyes. This large, foul mouthed man with his vile manners and malicious nature, was scared to death to be robbed or harmed by others and locked himself in at night, making himself prisoner of his own disturbed mind. However, at the moment, the locks on the door were also to prevent his frightened prisoner form escaping.

The shivering boy glimpsed around warily. The room was scarily furnished, with no more but a rusty metal bed, pushed against the wall, a small table and old crooked chair. His heart sank as he spotted a small wall-cabinet, which displayed a range of butcher and kitchen knives. Their smooth blades reflected the faint glow of moonlight penetrating the depressing room. Dangling from a hook next to this gruesome collection, hung the slack leather strap that he knew so well from his former castigations. The old hide was tainted and marked by numerous dark spots, silent witnesses of the suffering of all the wretched victims before him. He observed with hollow eyes and small heart how his master walked towards to the torture device. Although the man's massive back was turned on him, the little boy could imagine vividly how the notorious strap would be taken off the hook and was caressed over its corrupted surface in his tormentor's hands. He breathed in deeply, trying to stop himself from crying so indignantly. So he was going to receive the flogging of his life, big deal. He had been beaten many times before, and had survived every one of them. Even if this time, his master was going to whip him till his back was bleeding and rare, he would able to endure this ordeal. There was no reason to provide the big ugly lump even more satisfaction for his fiendish deeds by weeping and cowering like this. He wiped his tears from his flushed cheeks and stared back at the large man, his dark eyes filled with a bit more confident then just before. However, his brave attempt to control his fear crumbled down immediately as soon as his master turned around and his eyes caught a glimpse of what he really held in his hands. Dodoria had not taken the strap from the wall, but had picked out a broad butchers knife. The boy's breath halted for a moment, and his master's former threats emerged in his mind, filling his already trembling heart with death throes.

Dodoria approached the young boy, who was now crawling back from his threatening figure while he was whimpering continuously. As the drunk executioner looked down, he noticed a dark stain appearing on the fabric of the boy's trousers. He raised a brow, and looked his little victim into his glistering eyes. A smirk adorned his grotesque face.

"Are you pissing I your in pants boy? Why are you so afraid? You don't think I'm going to harm you? Do you? ANSWER ME!!"

"D-don't kill m-me sir! P-please let me live! I will do everything you say from now on! Really! D-Don't c-cut me up and f-feed me to the street luppers, p-please I beg you!!"

Vegeta squirmed as the mad cook threw his head back into his thick neck and burst into a loud bellowing laughter.

"You Stupid, stupid boy!! Why do you think I will finish you off? Hey?"

"T-The k-knife."

"You though I was going to slash your thin little neck with this, and let you bleed to death, did you? You cowering little prick!"

The boy nodded sheepishly.

"HA! What do you think I am? A cold-blooded murderer? A child butcher? You stupid monkey! I'm none of that! Killing runts is against the law. Unfortunately that is, and I don't want to find myself dangling next to some stinking robber just because I gave a no good punk like you what he deserved! No, Dodoria is going to play it smart! I won't let the bastards get me for rightfully punishing scum, for protecting the royal kitchen's property. MY property!"

The gigantic man fell silent for a while as his intoxication ambushed him and send him swirling on his feet. He rubbed his eyes with his fat fingers, and pinched his nose bridge to straighten his blurry vision. Vegeta shivered as he considered the possibility that the man may be too far-gone to know what he was doing. He might promise not to kill him now, and then get a sudden change of heart within the next few minutes. The thought of launching an attack on him while he was still standing there off guard crossed his young mind. He could rush over and grab a sharp knife from the cabinet. He knew he was fast enough to arm himself without getting caught by the sluggish man, and he could plunge the cold steel right into his repulsive fat guts. One slash of the shiny blade, a twist of the handle and perhaps a short howl of pain, and the terrible monster who had caused him so much suffering will be gone for good. He could kill him. He hated his master with such a conviction that he wished that he died a most horrific death. However, such a bloody act would be murder, and although he was cherishing the wicked thought, he could not compel his physical body to actually carry out the task. Not only was he too scared to move even an inch from his place, but it was also the word murder itself that caused his tender conscience to stir. Vegeta was still young, and the prospect of taking a life had yet never tainted his unspoiled mind before. To fight and to survive may be in his nature, but to kill without remorse was certainly not. This however, was going to change in the near future, as cruel fate was going to shape and form his character, like the ruthless winds shaping a tender shoot into a scarred and crooked tree.

Dodoria took a few drunken steps closer towards the cornered boy, swinging the knife dangerously in front him while his bloodshot eyes gazed into his victim's pale, tear stained face.

"Stupid monkey! There are more ways to punish a disobedient mongrel! You don't go wreck up a good dish just because you forgot to put in the salt. You try to correct it, to make it right in such a way that will allow you to serve it. You see boy, I have already invested a lot in you. It takes time to train a new apprentice and those stupid bitches from the orphanage won't allow me to adopt any more boys. So I'm forced to take good care of those I already have."

He snorted and grabbed the boy's hands, dragging his young body towards the small table in the middle of the room. There he pinned them down on the table top, holding them in his tight and painful grip just under the wrists.

"I know that there are some rotten apples amid my boys, and some of them are indeed so bad that they seem to be beyond salvation. But I'm considerate man, and I can grasp how hard it is for stealing motherless scum with the likings like you to obey the rules. So I will be lenient. I just have to make sure that the young crooks will never be able to do it again, but keep them alive to suffer for their crimes while they are still fully able to fulfill their purposes. "

He held the butchers knife close to the shivering boy's face. With his thumb, he rubbed over the sharp edge of the blade, and instantly, a fine red line appeared. Dodoria lifted his hand, and observed the fresh cut while a content smile dawned on his repulsive face.

"Ah, clean and razor-sharp, that's how I like it! This one will cut straight trough the bone."

Vegeta was overwhelmed by distress. His heart pounded with fear, while his eyes shot from his executioner's face to the blade and back again. His master leaned over to him, casting a dark shadow over the boy's frightened features. His words were no more but a venomous hiss, but the terrifying message it carried was still apparent.

"Tell me boy, which hand do you prefer to lose, the right or the left one?"

"NOOO, P-please sir! PLEASE! Don't cut my hands off! I'll do every thing you ask! JUST DON'T CUT MY HANDS OFF!!"

"Silence you fool! You should have known better before you got your greasy little fingers on royal property!!"

The poor boy snapped out of his traumatized state and begged his master for mercy hysterically. His wretched tears rolled down his cheeks in endless streams and he curled his shivering body around his master's leg, doing anything to evoke some pity in the heartless man. But it seemed all to be in vain. Whimpering and choking on his tears, the boy tried fruitlessly to pull his vulnerable hands free from the iron grip, evoking even more anger and cruelty from his vicious master. Eventually, his efforts died, and the pitiful cries of his plead changed into an endless but useless lament as his frail mind went blank by the prospect of the horrific penalty.

He had almost accepted the lost of one of his hands when the sadistic butcher raised his knife high above his head and was bound to let the heavy blade cleave trough the young boy's wrist.