Disclaimer: I still don't own anything worth taking… so don't sue me!!!!
Author Notes: Now that Vegeta's back at school, is he going to start doing his homework? Who's the new kid, and why's Shani so nice to him? Will Vegeta *gasp * get jealous? Is Yamcha going to stay unconscious?? Am I going to stop it with these rhetorical questions of mind-blowing stupidity??? And the answers to all of these questions and more will be yours… *giggle * maybe… hehe
Shadows of the Past: Chapter 16
It had been a long day. Shani yawned as she slid her minicomputer on the table in her room and collapsed on her bed. The little elf was almost asleep when the front door to the chamber next door slammed loudly. In spite of how tired she was, Shani smirked. Vegeta was back from his meeting with Frieza early. That sounded like a bad thing at the moment though. The sinister pink lizard had returned that afternoon and had summoned Vegeta out of class several hours ago. Shani had left the secret door between their rooms open and it wasn't long before Vegeta came in, wearing a dark scowl. She rolled over onto her stomach and giggled, her silver eyes flashed mischievously.
" Hi. " She giggled.
He snorted and growled. " Hi. "
" So, what did he say this time? "
" That he isn't going to send me out again for a while, but I still have to keep training. "
" Why is he so hard on you and not any of the others? " The question had been on her mind for a while, but she had never asked it before.
" My whole planet believed I will be the next Super Saiyan, and he wants to prove that I'm not. "
" Why does it matter? We are still just kids. "
" It matters to Frieza. " Blaze said quietly, her emerald eyes shone as a luminous lime green in the shadows above the vanity mirror. " He is the youngest member of his royal family and the least powerful at the moment. Like you though, for his age, Frieza is unbelievably strong. He sees a lot of himself in you, that's why he likes you and why he likes to hurt you. "
" Blaze, that's not making any sense. " Shani said, sitting up to look at her tiny companion. " If Frieza likes Vegeta he shouldn't want to hurt him. "
" Perhaps not, but Frieza is typical of his race. Not all Ice-Jin are bad, but they enjoy using their power to cause fear. Most of them simply crave a challenge… but at their power levels… they never find it, so they turn to cruelty to amuse themselves. Frieza is one of those. His father and his brother are as well; they are the strongest of their race and the most dangerous. " Blaze said quietly, but before she could say more, there was a yelp of pain from someone in the hallway.
Shani got up to investigate immediately and Vegeta followed more out of curiosity than any desire to help. " That better not be Brogan and Craven picking on that new kid again. "
" New kid? " Vegeta asked mildly interested now. The hallway was quiet enough now, but Shani went over toward a shadowed alcove housing a large statue of Frieza and crept around behind it. With grace and stealth worthy of a Saiyan, Shani slipped through the shadows almost melding with them as she paused to listen. Vegeta watched her face, and saw her silver eyes narrow and darken to pewter as she stepped out and demanded that the two overgrown bullies release wires.
Vegeta laughed and decided he had better go see that she was talking about a bunch of wires for. Brogan and Craven were massive specimens of the Citana Warrior race, their thick leathery hide and enormous size made them intimidating, even if they hadn't started growing the razor claws on their hands and arms yet. They were holding a cowering boy to the ground, on his back. He had reddish skin, tall wiry orange hair and bright green eyes. He was a lot taller than Vegeta, but he was spindly and an obvious weakling. The two bullies hadn't noticed Vegeta still in the shadows, but they glared darkly at Shani, who boldly stood her ground and glared back.
" You again? You know, little pest you are really starting to get on my nerves. "
" I don't care about your nerves. " Shani snapped. " You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves. He's new here and you're constantly picking on him. "
" Would you rather we pick on you? "
" No I'd rather you grow up and stop stealing other kid's stuff. "
" Hey, I've heard in your room you've got a lot of pretty rocks, like diamonds and sapphires?? I think you ought to let us see them. "
" No way. I need them. " Shani growled as they started to come toward her.
" So do we. " The larger one laughed cruelly as Shani backed away a few steps she bumped into someone else. " Hmmm, little one, cornered at last? "
Shani was almost afraid to turn around but seeing the cold, calm look in Vegeta's dark eyes made her suppress a grin. It was hard to explain, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her. " Oh great. " She growled, trying to keep the giggle out of her voice. " You too? The stubborn monkey wants to play too? "
" I just wanted to see what sort of prey took two Citana Warriors to hunt it down and corner it. I thought it must be awfully fierce or cunning to elude you individually, but if this weakling tree hugger is your idea of a challenge, you're truly pathetic. I thought Frieza was training us to be great warriors and hunters, not mindless thugs. " Vegeta's tone was mocking and the two older boys stiffened at the insult. Shani, meanwhile, had slipped behind them and dropped to her knees next to the kid who had been their original victim. She flashed him a smile and Vegeta turned his full attention to the two bullies.
" You know, Prince Vegeta, you may be a Saiyan and one of Frieza's favorites, but there isn't a full moon tonight and we are still stronger than you are. "
" You're still pathetic, picking on a girl and a weakling like that? I have an idea, why don't we find out who is stronger? I'll take the blame if we get caught. "
" What's going on over here? Some of us are studying… Vegeta? " Gunnar looked between him and the bullies and shook his head and grinned mischievously. " It'd be just like you to get into another fight and not let us have any fun. "
" Didn't you learn your lesson last time we sparred? " Vegeta smirked at him.
" Yeah, I want to be on your side this time. You can't fight both of them alone. "
" Sure I could… but if you're volunteering. "
" Damn right. " The dwarf grinned, and then he felt Shani's hand on his arm.
" You can't do this! " She hissed, trying to keep her voice low.
" A couple of third graders want to fight us?? " Brogan laughed, his brother mirrored it and they started to leave, only to find Vegeta in front of them, smirking devilishly.
" A Saiyan is always ready to test his power. I thought the same was said of the Citana. " Vegeta purred, his tail flickering back and forth in the shadows.
" Vegeta! " Shani growled, in his ear. " They're stronger than you are!! You don't have to do this! "
" Tomorrow then, Saiyan on the square at midnight. You want a piece of us too shorty? Fine but don't say we didn't warn you. " The two Citana warriors couldn't resist the temptation to trip the weakling one last time as they left and Shani went over and picked him up again.
" Tomorrow at midnight? " Gunnar and Vegeta just laughed, and followed Shani into her room as she brought the new kid in and sat him in a chair. Blaze sailed over from her perch, landing on Shani's shoulder and studied the kid's cuts and bruises. " I almost hope you two get your tails kicked tomorrow. "
" Why Shani? " Vegeta smirked.
" She's a tree hugger, they're just weird. " Gunnar chuckled.
" I'm sorry if I caused any trouble. " The new kid whispered, looking ashamed.
" It's ok, Wires, those two are always looking for an excuse to fight. " Shani grunted, dabbing some sweet smelling green gel on his cuts. "And you can't help it that Brogan and Craven are bullies, with brains the size of peas. "
" Your name is Wires? No wonder you were getting picked on. "
" My real name's Wayne, but Shannelle calls me Wires. I can fix almost anything and I'm a Zarovian, I guess I just haven't grown into my power yet. "
" You are a Zarovian?? " Vegeta snorted and tried not to laugh.
" Yes, he is, now if you don't mind I'm busy and you two aren't helping so please leave and try to stay out of trouble. " Shani growled.
Vegeta and Gunnar let her push them out the door and then just looked at each other for a moment then laughed. " Uh… Gunnar? Do you know what she's mad about? "
" On my world, the mind of a female tree hugger is considered one of the great mysteries of the universe. Even the greatest of scholars are unable to figure out what sort of thought processes they have. They're so emotional and everything… I don't think I even want to know. "
" Same here. " Vegeta sighed, nodding and smirked at Gunnar. " Wanna spar? "
" I was hoping you'd ask. I wasn't getting anywhere on my language assignment. "
" Which one? "
" The Kritanian one… Talk about boring they don't even have a word for war. "
" Tell me about it. " Vegeta nodded and rolled his eyes. " I thought I was going to fall asleep working on that one in study period. "
" How cute! " Bra squealed delightedly, interrupting the story yet again, it was her turn to see Shani's picture in the Dragon Tear. "Oh, she's so pretty. She really looks like a princess, Daddy. "
" I thought you were supposed to be listening now. "
Bra bit back a smile and looked down. " I'm sorry daddy. So did you beat up those two bullies? "
" Gunnar and I held our own, but Zarbon caught us and separated us. Brogan and Craven got in more trouble because they were older, but we got stuck with kitchen duties for two weeks. "
Bulma laughed so hard she fell over. " What? Did I just hear you say you had to do something in a kitchen besides being a pain in the ass? "
" Throwing food on the plates at meals was actually rather enjoyable. " Vegeta sneered evilly. " But after that two weeks Elda forbade us to ever actually go in her kitchen again. "
" Why do I get the feeling there were some titanic food fights with you serving in the kitchen? " Trunks laughed.
" I said we threw it at their plates. We never missed… but those who didn't like what we were serving and didn't offer their plates learned to avoid our part of the line. "
" So then what happened, Daddy? Was Shani still mad at you? "
" No, she never could stay mad about anything. But after she helped me get caught up on my homework, I started searching through the stuff on the Eternal Star. It wasn't long before we found one of their outposts, and Napa and Radditz and I were sent to destroy it, and see if we could find the Star there. "