Chapter 3: The Slave
Gohan slowly opened his eyes and looked out into the world through a haze. It took a few minutes for his hazy mind to realize that he was in a regeneration tank. The doctors outside the tank fiddled with the computers a bit, read the analysis read out that was displayed on the screen and began draining the liquid from the regeneration tank.
Chichi waited anxiously just outside it, waiting for her son to come out. Kakkarot was also anxious for his son to come out, but for a different reason. A massive rumble shook the room, "Chichi, can I eat now? I'm STARVING! Gohans ok, see, he's coming out now." Kakkarot rubbed his left hand across his belly trying to soothe it.
"How can you be so callous Kakkarot? I swear, your son was just beaten to an inch of his life and all YOU can think about IS FOOD!" Chchi yells at Kakkarot. Gohan who just stepped out of the regeneration chamber winces and holds his ears.
"Uh… would it be too much to ask for some clothes?" Gohan sheepishly asks, trying to cover his bare parts. Another rumble shook the room, "Some food would be appreciated as well." Gohan gives a little smile and pats his stomach.
Chichi looks at Gohan and smiles, "Sure honey. DOCTORS GET HIM SOME CLOTHES NOW!"
One of the doctors, who had already perceived the need of Gohan requiring clothes approached him and gave him a blue spandex suit with body armor, "Here you go, put it on please." continues on in a low voice, "Before that women pops a vein."
"I HEARD THAT!" WWHHOOMMPP! The doctor holds the back of his head in pain with Chichi standing nearby with her ki pan in her hand and her arms crossed in front of her, "Never underestimate a women's hearing. Now, let's go home. I know you're just starving Gohan; I'm going cook you up a BIG meal. Your father can have the scraps. I might forgive him by tonight."
Gohan winces and feels sorry for his father as a loud NOOOOOO! echo's throughout the room.
Chichi took the lead and headed out of the palace followed by Gohan, while Kakkarot trailed at the back holding his stomach with his head bowed down, mourning the loss of food. As they exited the palace the guard looks at Gohan and shakes his head. I can't believe that kid is still alive. There is something strange about that one. "I see your kid is alright Kakkarot, he might take your place in the elite guard someday." The guard wiped a hand across his head. "Got any idea what King Vegeta plans to do about the attack?"
Kakkarot looks at the guard and smiles, "That's for the king to reveal, not me. I don't want to get my head bitten off by him if I where to reveal his plans before he wanted them revealed." With that Kakkarot, his mate, and Gohan took off heading towards the southern gate of the city. The city seemed different now. With possibility of an offensive in the air, the atmosphere of the city had changed. Eager saiyans flew every which way preparing for the offensive should their king decide that is what must be done in response to the attack. Someone seemed to follow them as they flew, but they were all to preoccupied to notice
The trio flew quickly through the city, not wanting to stay here any longer then necessary. But at the slave market Gohan stops as he notices the female slave he saw earlier. She was covered in blood and bruises and sat alone in the middle of the cage. The few other slaves were at the bars pleading with people passing by to buy them. Being a slave was bad, but being in the slave pens was a lot worse. The cage itself wasn't much. The four walls and the ceiling where made up of iron bars spaced too close together for even a hope of squeezing out. The floor of the cage was just hard packed dirt. Nothing else was inside the cage.
Chichi and Kakkarot noticed that their son had stopped following them and flew back to him, "What's wrong Gohan? Interested in a slave? You're going to need one anyways, unless you learned how to cook. I'm heading off to fight in the offensive with your father. It'll be just you and Goten at home, and neither of you know how to cook." Chichi said, looking down at the cage and then back up at Gohan. "I'll give you the money required for a slave when we get home. Just make sure you get one that can cook."
Gohan tears his eyes away from the human female and looks up at Chichi, "Uh… right mother." Gohan laughs nervously and begins flying towards the gate, "I need food first before I can think about buying a slave." I hope she didn't notice me staring at that one particular girl.
The three of them slowed down as they reach the gate and walked through it. Security is tighter since the attack on the saiyan outpost. The guard at the gate had almost doubled since the attack and more thorough checks were being conducted. King Vegeta didn't want anyone entering the capital that didn't have a place there.
The trip home was uneventful, except for the incident when Goten barreled into Gohan and sat on his back and rode him the rest of the way home (A/N get those sick thoughts out of your head :p)
When they got home Chichi immediately went to the kitchen and began preparing lunch for Gohan and Goten. Kakkarot was getting leftovers. Gohan went and sat down in one of the chairs in the living room and Goten ran out to play with the wild animals until lunch was ready.
"So who's the girl Gohan?" Kakkarot asked his son with a slight smile on his face.
"What girl?" Gohan looked up at his father, panicking slightly.
"The one that followed me to palace when I brought you in and the one that followed us all the way to the city gates. I must give her credit; she is good at remaining undetected. But I saw her, if she hadn't followed us the second time I wouldn't have thought anything of it." Kakkarot walks over and rest on the couch. The panicked look on Gohan's face disappears, relief painted all over it, "On the way back I got a good glimpse of her. She had shoulder length black hair, black eyes and oval face with a bud like mouth. She wore pink spandex (A/N picture a 1 piece pink bathing suit) with blue battle armor that had the hip and shoulder plates. And she had one thing of interest on her, a metal bracer on her right arm with a chain connecting it to a ring on her index finger." Kakkarot looks up at the now much panicked look on Gohan's face, "What's wrong?"
Gohan groans and mutters to himself, "Not Alysa, I can't believe her. Why won't she just leave me alone?"
Kakkarot heard every word, his saiyan ears picking it up, "A GIRL has been chasing YOU around? Better keep that information away from Chichi, she'd have you matched up with her faster then you can say food and judging by the look on your face, you don't really like her. What's wrong with her anyways? She seemed fit enough to carry your children and if she's capable enough to follow me with me only being able to catch a glimpse of her once, she definitely has some skills."
"It's nothing physically wrong with her. She's attractive, but she's not for me. I just get this gut feeling when I'm around her that being with her is just wrong. That if I do, my life, and everyone I care about is forfeited." Gohan sighs and looks out one of the windows. "I really don't want to spend the rest of my life with her, but she seems to want to spend hers with mine. She chased every other girl away from me and is becoming more and more aggressive towards me each time I see her."
"GOTEN, GOHAN, LUNCH TIME!" In a flash Gohan zipped through the living room and sat at the table, leaving his father behind to digest his words, because he wasn't going to be digesting much of anything else. A few seconds after Gohan appeared, Goten flashed into the kitchen and jumped into his chair rubbing his hands together eagerly. "Alright, dig in, and eat as much as you like. I'd like it if there weren't any leftovers. Maybe it'll teach Kakkarot not to let my baby boy get hurt." Once the magic words were said, food began disappearing at an alarming rate as Gohan and Goten dug into the food on the table. Kakkarot stood at the door to the kitchen watching mournfully as the mounds of food quickly disappeared.
After a short time, the three of them, Chichi, Gohan and Goten sat back in their chairs and patted their stomachs. "That was good mother. Nothing beats one of your meals." Gohan said patting his stomach a second time.
"Why thank you Gohan. Kakkarot, you can have what's left. Enjoy." With that, Chichi started cleaning up the dirty dishes and Goten ran outside and headed towards the city looking for some friends to play with. Gohan got up and was about to leave when Chichi stopped him, "He's some money Gohan, 200 zigots. Go buy yourself a slave that can cook. It'll take at least a week for the slave to settle in and get used to the change of surroundings."
"Alright mother." Gohan takes the money, leaves the house and blasts off towards the city while Chichi resumes her cleaning.
Kakkarot looks at the table and the single dish of rice left. "Oh well, I suppose its better then nothing." Kakkarot jumps at the table and chows down the bowl of rice, afraid that Chichi would take it away.
Gohan lands at the city gates and gives the guard his card. "My name is Gohan and I'm here to pick up a slave, my parents going to be leaving in two weeks, and I need someone to cook for me while they are gone." The guard swipes the card through the machine, looks at the screen and beckons him through.
Gohan flew towards the slave market. Gohan already had in mind which slave he wanted. I just hope she can cook or my mother would flip if I can home with a slave that couldn't cook. As Gohan entered the slave market he slowed down, and landed. He headed over to the cage where he saw the female before. She was still there and still sitting in the center of the cage.
Gohan walked over to table where the slave mastered sat at. "I would like to look at your slaves; I need one that can cook." Gohan stated firmly. If you wanted to be taken seriously, you had to act seriously.
The slave master looked at Gohan and nodded, "Alright, come this way, we're kind of low on slaves at the moment. Most of the ones we have left are pathetic earthlings. They're so weak they can't even put up a decent fight for our low class fighters."
When they reached the cage the slave master banged on the bars. "Alright you pathetic shits, get over here now. I have a buyer that's interested in a slave." All of the slaves except the female bolted to the side of the cage where the slave master and Gohan stood. "Alright, which one of you can cook? Remember what lying gets you. The last slave that lied was brought back… in various pieces. I'm sure you all want to… avoid a similar fate, don't you?" The slave master grinned at them evilly and ran his thumb across the blade of a serrated dagger he had just pulled from his belt.
Every single slave at the bars turned and walked away with their heads down. None of them could cook, they were all males. On Earth, females did the cooking. It was rare to find a male he could cook from there. Gohan looked at the female slave in the center of the cage and pointed at her. "What about her? She never came forward like the rest."
The slave master looked at Gohan and then back at the slave and then to Gohan again. "Got more on your mind then just cooking eh? I like how you think. I wouldn't mind taking her myself, but slaves that are not violated are worth more." The slave master turned to the female. "Hey you, slave in the middle, get over here now. Unless you'd like another… lesson on disobedience." The female slowly stood up and walked to the edge of the cage, her head bowed.
"We want one answer, can you cook? None of those other pathetic losers can. I want a single answer." The female looked up, and seeing Gohan, recognition flashed through her eyes for a brief instant.
"Yes, I can." She said in a near whisper.
Gohan sighed in relief. The guard looked at him odd, and then grinned, "I know what your mother is like; she's renown for her ki pan. Not much can stand up to that. You're probably just glad you could get a slave that could cook food and supply entertainment." The slave master laughed loudly. "Alright, since she's been untouched, well aside from a few lessons which you can't deny my right to, she'll cost you 213 zigots."
"WHAT! No way, look at her, she's only worth 130." Gohan catching onto the game quickly began haggling with the slave master. The price ended up being 174 zigots.
"Well kid, enjoy your new slave. You play the game pretty well, better then most. You got a good head on those shoulders." The slave master unlocked the door and led the female slave out. He pulled out an iron ring and connected it to her neck and gave Gohan a bracelet with several buttons on it. "Alright, those buttons are how you control her. The range on that thing is nearly unlimited. If she's on the same planet as you are, you can control her. Just give her commands and if she doesn't do them to your satisfaction, those buttons will convey your disapproval through various forms of pain. The yellow button will make her feel as if she's been electrocuted, the red as if she was on fire, the blue as if she is being frozen and those other grey buttons can be used to combine 1 or 2 of the colored buttons or when used by themselves cause their own affects to her. If you ever need another slave, just come back here, and recommend me to anyone you want. I'm the best slave dealer here on Vegeta." The slave master leaves to go deal with some paper work.
Gohan beckons the female forward in the direction of the gate. Damn it, I should have devised some other means of transportation. Now I have to walk home. Carrying a slave is frowned upon and I would lose any chance of advancement. Gohan and the slave left the slave market and headed towards the southern gate of the city. As they left the slave market Gohan stopped and turned to the slave and said in a soft voice, "Alright, I don't want to call you slave, it's to degrading. Do you have a name I can call you by?"
The female looked up at Gohan, surprise evident on her face. I didn't expect a saiyan to… actually speak nicely to me. "My nam…" the female coughs and clears her throat. "My name is Videl." Concern crossed Videl's face and she becomes quiet as she remembers all the lewd comments made by the slave master.
Gohan understood the concern written across Videl's face, "Don't worry, I really only need a cook. I'm not going to thrust myself upon you without your consent. Now, we better head out. I live outside the city, so it's a pretty far walk and I want to be home by supper." With that Gohan starts walking towards the gate, confident that Videl would follow. After all, she had no where else to go.
Gohan and Videl walked across the city in silence. No words were needed, and speaking more then necessary would only damn Gohan. Slaves were supposed to be commanded, not chatted with. Videl didn't see any of the city, her head down, putting one foot in front of the other. She couldn't accept the fact that Gohan was nice, refused to accept the fact, so she resigned herself to the worst torture any female can experience. (A/N in my opinion, nothing is worse then rape)
As they reached the outer section of the city, where most of the citizens of the capital were situated, a very, unwelcome saiyan decided to drop by and meet Gohan.
"Hello Gohan, nice to meet you again. And who is this you have behind you?" Alysa sneered at Videl. "A human? Why the hell do you need a pathetic human?"
Oh god, oh all the bad luck. Why does SHE have to be here? And here I was thinking my day was finally looking up. Gohan gives a little laugh, "Oh her? She's just my cook. My parents are leaving in two weeks; they're going along with King Vegeta to aid with his retaliation against the rebels. I can't cook all that well, and neither can Goten, so my mother gave me the money to buy a slave that could cook. She's the only one that could, so I bought her." Gohan started walking forward again, "It's nice to see you again," not "but I really need to get home, my mother is expecting me home soon."
Alysa stepped in front of Gohan and grabbed his arm. "So that's the reason is it? Why didn't you tell me your parents were going away and you can't cook? I can cook; all you had to do was ask me. I don't see what you need her for. I can cook, and probably better then her; I am stronger, smarter, and much more beautiful." Alysa caressed Gohan's face and glared at Videl. "Just get rid of the pathetic human, you have me, you don't need anyone else."
Gohan glanced nervously around him, "Uh… I'll think… about it, but I really do have to go, my mother is expecting me home with the new slave soon, and I can't fly home." Gohan pried himself from Alysa's grip. "Slave, come with me, w… I need to get home soon, and I don't want to be held up by you." Alysa smiles a little at the rough treatment Gohan is giving the slave. Videl looks at Gohan weirdly and complies by bowing her head and walking towards the gate.
As Videl walks by Gohan, Alysa kicks Videl in the back of the legs sending her down. Videl looks up glaring at Alysa but she just laughs. "Oops, I'm sorry; I should watch where I'm swinging my legs. Hahaha. Oh, by the way Gohan, I'll be dropping by in about three weeks. Your parents will be gone by then am I right? Maybe you'll… reconsider me by then." Alysa caresses Gohan's face once more and flies off towards her house.
Videl picked herself off the ground and the two of them resume their journey to the gates. During the rest of the time it took to reach the gates, nothing eventful happened.
When they arrived at the gates the guard looked at Videl, and seeing the collar, gives her a plain gray card and takes a sample of her blood for the machine. When everything was organized the two of them were allowed through the gates.
Gohan and Videl walked south for a few miles and entered the massive forest to the south of the capital. Once they were a safe distance inside Gohan lets out a sigh of relief and sits down on a log and sighs. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I really am, especially about Alysa. She has it in her head that if she works at me often enough I'll give in and let her mate me." Gohan sighs again, "I really don't want that. She's not for me."
Videl looks at Gohan curiously and cautiously asks a question, "What's mating?"
"Mating? Oh, its when two saiyans bond. They… mark each other on their shoulders, which form a telepathic bond between them, and they seal it completely by… the male entering the female. Sometimes the mating is violent, sometimes gentle. It really depends on the personality of the two people joining. No difference has been found doing it violently over gently." Gohan looked up through the leaves. "Damn, it's getting late, we better fly home."
Videl gives Gohan another weird look. "I'm a human; I can't fly like you saiyans. How am I supposed to fly home?" she demanded.
Gohan snickered. "I'll carry you. Now that we're out of the city, there is a very low chance of me being caught." With that said Gohan walked over to her, picked her up and flew through the forest. "Flying through the air might go faster, but I don't want to risk the chance of being seen. You see, saiyans are never supposed to carry slaves. A normal saiyan would stubbornly walk all the way to his house with the slave, or find some other means of transportation. He/she wouldn't stoop low enough to carry a slave, even though it's generally the fastest way." Gohan carefully flew through the forest with Videl in his arms. Her arms where wrapped around his neck as she held on to him, for fear of falling off. Gohan looked down and smiled. This feels… right for some reason. But that can't be right; she's not even a saiyan. Don't think like that Gohan, you can't form any feelings with her. It will only end in misery.
Videl was having trouble holding her mental image of the saiyans. Every saiyan she had ever met were evil, and treated her as a potential piece of income at best. Who are you Gohan, why are you so different from all the rest? Why couldn't you be normal, at least then I wouldn't be scared and confused, just scared. Videl looked up at Gohan and saw his little smile. For some reason the smile didn't scare her, there wasn't any hint malice or a smirk in it, just a little smile of happiness.
Videl leaned her head against Gohan's chest and closed her eyes. If I am to spend the rest of my life with him, I might as well make the best of it and enjoy the little things.
To be continued…
Isn't that just cute… I'm just kinda worried I'm moving the relationship to fast. Oh well, it's gotta be in full bloom quickly anyways. So no one flame me about the relationship moving to quickly to be normal. :P
Whew, 3 chapters in 2 days. I think I'm going to slow down a bit, and give people some time to read and review :) I just wanted to hit 10k words before I slowed down at all. I find most stories beneath 10k are not worth reading because there isn't enough stuff to read about. Oh well, I hope you people like these first 3 chapters :) I'm NOT sure if there's gonna be sex in this, I know people call it lemons but I really don't care, its sex to me, and always will be. Lemon is just putting a different word on it :). Anyways, if there is sex, you'll know, because the rating will hit NC-17.
I probably should also mention here that this is my first fanfiction ever. Heck its my first story I've ever written of any sort. A better spot for this would be in the prologue, but I forgot so oh well.