Chapter Three: The hunt is on-but who's hunting whom?
Miko sat on the edge of the bath, wiping at the wound with a clean rag, the water was running in the bath already, she pulled off her shirt and slipped into the water, the last of the reddish blue blood rising off her skin as the water covered it, Betha knocked on the door
"You alright dear?"
"Yes" Miko called
"I put out some clean clothes, I took in some of my things for you, you won't need Abe's belts to hols them up now" Miko smiled
"Thank you" Betha laughed
"You're a skinny thing aren't you" Miko laughed
"Thanks Betha" she heard the woman walking away, she turned off the water and closed her eyes
Goku landed outside a small farmhouse, a stout man came out to meet him
"Hello stranger, what can I do for you?" Goku grinned at the strange accent all the people in these parts shared
"I'm Goku, I'm looking for a girl about yay high," he indicated about his chin level
"Darkish green hair, pale skin, thin, strong build" the man's face had changed
"So you're the varmit, whadiyou want with Shema"
"Shema, her name is Miko"
"Get off my property"
"But I just need to talk to her"
"Get off my property!" the man produced a shot gun and pointed it at Goku
"Did you not hear me?" he said threateningly
"Can you just tell her it's Goku?" a stout woman appeared
"Abe?"
"Get Shema, tell her to take the car and go" the woman nodded and disappeared, Goku placed a hand on the gun and squeezed, it bent
"Oops, hey listen I mean her no harm I just need to speak to her"
Miko stepped onto the porch, Goku was standing in front of the house with Abe pointing a gun at him, the gun was bent, she cursed, thanking every god in existence her face was dirty and her hair was hidden under a large brimmed hat
"What's going on pa?" she said copying his accent, he seemed to get the idea, she pretending to stare quizzically
"What do you want?" she said convincingly
"Get back in the house Bathen" Abe told her, Miko nodded and retreated, Goku placed his hands in the air
Miko closed the door, she tore off the hat and ran to the bathroom, she rubbed her face cleaned and sprinted to the guest room, she slipped into the loosest clothes she could find, Betha entered as she was buttoning her shirt
"Oh there you are, Abe said to take the car" Miko shook her head
' I haven't been honest with you, I'm sorry the less you know the better, there are people who want me dead, he is with them, I have to go now he won't harm you if he thinks I'm not here" she half lied, Betha nodded, not flinching once
"Here" she handed Miko a packet of hair die
"It's blonde, shouldn't look too out of place with your skin" Miko hugged her quickly
"Thank you" Betha indicated the door
"It'll take a few minutes to die it, come on" Miko followed her, in the bathroom she took a pair of scissors and sheared her hair so it sat a few inches out from her head, Betha smiled and gathered up the long strands
"I'll keep it to remember you by"
"Ok" Miko sat on a bath stool as Betha poured the liquid over her head rubbing it in
Tien landed next to Goku who was speaking to a stout ma wielding a gun, this was no problem, but Goku seemed to be trying to talk sense into the man
"Get of my property, now!" Goku nodded
"Alright, but tell her I came, I need to speak to her" the man nodded and Goku turned
"Tien come on" Tien nodded they shot into the air, leaving a flabbergasted man on the ground below them
Piccolo looked up as Goku and Tien landed
"We found her, she's staying on a farm, we didn't see her but the farmer told his daughter to take her away, we didn't want to start a fight, so we left" Piccolo nodded, Tien spoke up
"She'll be heading away soon, we stand a chance of finding her now
Miko stared at her short blonde hair, it didn't look half bad, she rubbed her head dry and hugged Betha
"Say thank you to Abe for me" she reached deep into a pocket and pulled out one of her three most prized possessions, a strange silver earring with a yellowy gold pearl hanging from it
"Take this, it's worth a lot of money, to say thank you" she shot out the door before Betha could protest, she waved to Abe as she sprinted with eye blurring speed over the ground, all the farm work had increased her speed by leaps and bounds half an hour later the gleaming white of Satan city came into view, she sighed and slowed to a walk as she approached it, she entered the city at a leisurely pace, a few people stared at her, she guessed she looked strange with her roughly cropped hair and huge clothes, she smiled at a few, as falsely as she could, turning into the first mall she saw. Her first stop, the bank. She pushed open the doors, her life savings in her front pocket, she strolled down the streets until she found a clothing store, the sale woman glared at her as she entered, she pulled out a few large bills
"Dress me, I want to look rich and completely different" she told the saleswoman, her eyes widened as the Miko slapped it into her hand
"And quickly" Miko added, the woman jumped into action
"Ok, business or casual?"
As long as I am unrecognisable" the woman led her to a rack of brightly coloured clothes
"What size are you?"
"14 to 12"
"And you're wearing that?"
"I didn't have a choice, now hurry" the woman began pulling clothes off the rack, leading her all over the store, pulling every type of clothing under the sun out of the corners
Twenty minutes later Miko stepped out of the store, dressed in tight black pants, a white tank top and a hip length sky blue vest, the saleswoman directed her to a personal stylist's and waved good bye as Miko lugged the single bag stuffed with clothes, she turned into the boutique and ordered the same, emerging with her hair in a stylish cut, streaks of blue to match her vest sprinkled over her head, next was a beauty parlour, she dragged another bag of hair products. She hated shopping but it was a necessity, the make up artist had a field day with her, and gave her the number of a well known photographer, telling she had serious potential, Miko grinned, she had found a place to stay, her face was thick with make up but it was better than being recognized, she had spent time on a sun bed as well to darken her pale skin, it had only just reach a golden colour, she headed for the optometrist's next, for green contacts.
Tien scanned the ground, they were all out scanning the area, heading for Satan city, it would be a logical choice to head there, but it made finding her a lot harder, Goku indicated to land
"She could be anywhere by now" Goku said as they landed in a small group, many of them nodded
"Let's split up, take a partner and head in any direction, the city is huge but her hair will be easy to spot" Piccolo frowned
"She will have dyed it if she's smart"
"Would she have had time?"
"Yes"
"How would you know namek" Vegeta cut in
"I'm not stupid, think about it, if she made it to the city she could have gone anywhere" Piccolo growled, Vegeta sneered and jumped into the air, Goku followed him. Tien grinned as Gohan took off with Piccolo, Yamcha and Krillin took off with 18, she had come along for the fun of it she said, but he guessed she had come to keep an eye on Krillin, Tien felt sorry for Krillin, 18 was a real ice princess when she wanted. He nodded to Chou zu and they headed up wards and over the upbeat parts of the city.
Miko knocked on the door, a short man in French style clothing opened the door. He looked her up and down, annoying her greatly
"Yes" he asked with a heavy accent, she decided to make one of her own, putting on a sultry voice and expression
"Hi" she purred, hating the degrading way with which she was acting
"I am a friend of Rona's, she said to speak to you about modelling, she told me I had potential, really I have no idea of such things" she said taking a sensual pose, the man stepped back, making that strange square shape with both hands
"Hmmm, yes" he stalled, she could see the cogs working in his head, and she barely knew what she looked like
"Yes I think we could do something with you" he said, trying to hide the enthusiasm in his voice, Miko fought the urge to tell him to "cut the crap and sign me already" she settled for leaning forward just a little, smiling demurely at him, she mentally shivered, ignoring how degrading this was
"Tell you what we'll do a trial run ok?" he said, she smiled provocatively and stepped inside. It was a large studio inside, the fluorescent lights giving a dull day light effect
"This way please" he led her to a side room, inside was all manner of makeup and clothing, he strode over to the rack
"I trust you know how to pose"
"No, I've never done this before, but maybe you could instruct me" she let her hand rest on her hip limply, implying... the man grinned
"Why not, SALLY!" Miko winced, she hated loud noises, but she would have to get used to them until she could find herself somewhere to stay
"Listen, do you know, anywhere with apartments for rent, I just came to town" a tall blonde woman entered through another door hidden by curtain Miko had supposed covered a window
"Oh a new recruit, my she has potential, who referred her?"
"Rona" the man said absently, flicking through clothes, pulling out the occasional garment
"By the way, I am Robert, and this is Sally and you are?" he asked as he turned to face her, Miko thought fast, she needed a new name, then she smiled
"Nokia"
"Well if Rona did her up then no wonder, but where did you get those clothes, Nokia?"
"A local store, I came with pretty much nothing, family problems," she said quietly, lying through her teeth
"Oh I see, well they're fine for street wear but we'll dress you here ok?"
"Sure" Nokia lifted her head to smile dazzlingly, she hoped
"Well we'll do a few test shots and see if there's any interest" Nokia nodded and found herself seated in a chair while Sally handed her a damp cloth
"Wipe your face off and we'll se what we can do" Robert with drew from the room, Nokia complied and Sally attacked her, make up in hand
Gohan swooped down to investigate a green head, it wasn't her, the young man nearly fainted at the sight if him, Gohan's identity was already out so he was unbothered about showing his face when he flew. Miko was nowhere in sight, he was really starting to regret not sticking closer to her, he may have been able to stop her, at least they knew she was alive, she must have had a plan from the start, little to nothing was known about her past, Krillin said he found her held against a wall, a knife to her throat, a man with his hands pulling at her shirt, another two holding her brother, she had been perfectly still, completely focused on her brother, not caring about what happened to her, Gohan guessed she could have dispatched them without a second thought and would have had her brother not been in danger, he and Tien had freed her brother, seeing this she had kicked the man in the groin, but he had struck her, Tien caught her as she fell unconscious, a small bruise on her cheek, it disappeared within a few minutes. He wondered how aware she actually was at the time, her speed said she could have ducked and grabbed both knives before they could have reacted, but then again anything could have happened before.
Nokia allowed Robert to adjust her position, she had the expression perfect, her acting skills made it much easier, and she could take instructions and understand them. She shifted slightly
"Perfect, now a little more seductive...perfect" Robert began circling her, snapping photographs ten to the dozen she saw Sally making the thumbs up out of the corner of her eye, she was squeezed into an altered and altogether more revealing version of ancient roman armour, she swung the short fake sword over he r shoulder, changing her position every few seconds while Robert called encouragement
"Perfect!" he put down his camera, completely full, Nokia grinned and stepped down from the raised platform, she stretched her arms
"You look perfect in the whole warrior style Nokia" Sally told her
"You have just the right build, do you fight or something?"
"No, but I used to do martial arts"
"Which style"
"Umm, it was a while back, I did tai chi, twe (authors note: sorry if I spelt that wrong) kwon do, karate, kung fu as well, and I kick boxed as well"
"Cool, so what do you do now?"
"Just basic training and weights and stuff just to stay toned"
"Cool, keep it up" Robert was ecstatic
"I have another model in a few minutes but well done, come back tomorrow at three, and we'll find you an agent"
"Great" Nokia smiled just as she had been on the platform, she saw Robert shift a little, she smirked inwardly, things were going better than she thought, but she was still worried about Sheme, she just didn't know whether she could count on Bulma to keep him safe, half of them wanted her dead, so how could she be sure they wouldn't hurt him to get her back
"Earth to Nokia" Sally called, she jumped
"Sorry, I was thinking about where I'm going to stay tonight" Sally grinned
"Tell you what I have a friend who's got a room to rent, she'll be glad to take if you agree to a few rules"
"How can I contact her?" it was getting dark outside, she had been in here for three hours, the high windows letting in only dark now
"I'll give you a ride if you want, I take it you don't have a car?"
"Nope, I walked like six blocks to get here, in heels" Nokia winced fully enjoying her fakery, she had found it easy
"You poor thing, I'm not leaving until eight but you're welcome to stay and wait"
"Great, I'll go get changed" Nokia indicated her apparel
"Yeah well, no one's gonna mess with you in that, now are they" Sally joked. She was quite pretty really, though her frame was a little heavily boned. Nokia note. Nokia too was not fine boned but her fitness and face made up for this.
"Cool, hey do you want some food, I'll order in" she offered, pulling her new phone out of one of the three bags she had lugged to the studio
"Sure, why not"
"How's Chinese sound?"
"Great" Nokia liked Sally, she was so friendly and never gave you the look that said she thought she was better than you, Nokia felt she could find a place here, however degrading the work was, she took her phone and dialled as she headed for the second changing room, knowing the next model would be in the first
"Yeah hi, I need the number of a good Chinese restaurant, thanks" she slipped inside and slipped out of the fake armour, pulling on the black pants and the white top and a sweatshirt of golden colouring, she wrinkled her nose, but it was warm, she washed her face and reapplied the make up she had on before and strolled back out to wait.
Goku landed outside his house, another fruitless day, he waved to Tien and followed Gohan inside
"Gohan, you better get onto your homework or your mother will kill the both of us with her bare hands" Gohan nodded and disappeared upstairs, Dende had had no luck finding her, they had spent three weeks finding her last time, Bulma said Sheme was doing fine, he supposed she was afraid of Vegeta and Piccolo or something like that Dende said even if they trained non-stop they wouldn't stand a chance against this queen, she had control of all Freiza's resources. Not a good thing, they had almost a year but it wasn't exactly comforting. He sighed and opened the refrigerator; it was stocked high as usual, full of his favourite foods. He pulled out an armload for a snack and set it down on the table, devouring the many eatables within minutes, Chichi came in dressed in a nightgown with a robe over the top
"Where have you been?"
"Looking for Miko," he told her
"I wonder where she's gotten to, so irresponsible to leave Sheme like that"
"I don't think she felt she had a choice, she jumped off the lookout Chichi, I don't know how she got down but she did, and to be that desperate I'd say she's afraid for his safety if she goes near him" Chichi nodded and yawned
"Gohan studying?"
"Yup, as soon as we got home"
"Don't stay out so late, or you'll get no food at all"
"Ok Chichi" he curled his arm around her waist and walked from the room with her, leaving the empty containers that only minutes ago had been full t bursting with food
Chou zu opened his eyes groggily, some one had thrown a pillow at him, Tien was talking quietly with Master Roshi and Yamcha was standing over him
"Finally, come on it's morning" Chou zu groaned, this was getting impossible, he felt sure if Miko was thinking about the earth and even her own safety she would have made an effort to find them, he supposed she was absolutely terrified of Piccolo though, he wasn't surprised, Dende said she was most likely still in shock, after all discovering you weren't human and then finding you were the only hope for the earth would tend to pull you out of your comfort zone, he had tried to locate her by using telepathy and he had determined she was indeed in Satan city, but there were too many other minds around and her tiny ki made it impossible to locate her any further than that
As the small ship crawled it's way through the second solar system from earth pale fingers twisted dark emerald hair into a high bun, pinning it with a shining clip of something like gold. A tall woman with purple skin and red hair of slender proportions entered, dropping to one knee
"Your majesty"
"What have they discovered?"
"The planets gave way easily, we have just received word from the soldiers you so wisely left behind, the fighters on earth are indeed the ones who killed Freiza and Zarbon, the others with are waiting to oppose you"
"And my twin"
"It has been surmised that she is indeed on the planet, but as to her exact location they are unsure"
"Is her fighting power satisfactory"
"She has displayed great potential at times, but as to what she can really do they as completely in the dark, she has little to no ki at her disposal, I believe she has been trained in earth's fighting styles but nothing else, though they have discovered her to be highly ingenuitive, and extremely fast for one who cannot harness ki"
"Good, how long now"
"Just over seven months your majesty"
"Good, can you not increase speed?"
"Not without lowering the scanners and if you wish to find her quickly...then no, they will also be aware of our approach if we increase speed"
"They already are, but very well, maintain speed"
"Yes your majesty"
"You may go, and Karva"
"Yes your majesty"
"Well done"
"Thank you your majesty" the woman left the room. From the throne, still shrouded in darkness a sultry feminine laugh could be heard
"Oh sister, you know I am near" the pale finger touched the invisible scar on the vaguely visible thigh
"We will be together again soon, how I miss you" the laugh again and then thoughtful silence
Nokia grinned as she and Sally made their way down a corridor, a door at the end flew open, Robert danced out
"You have an agent Nokia! And we have signed you for three weeks, I found a gallery that wants your image!" he clapped his hands, Nokia grinned wider, Sally patted her back
"Well done, if a magazine sights you then you're set, but try and remember us little people, we work privately, most bigger companies have their own photographers"
"Cool, when do we start?" Robert grinned
"My schedule is rather full at the moment so we'll be working every other day, for the next three weeks, it should be great, I was thinking some shots at a beach and outside and things like that"
"Sounds fine to me, so long as the clothes don't show more skin than I'd like"
"They won't, it's winter remember"
"Oh yeah" Sally laughed
"Come on, you deserve a coffee"
"Coffee?"
"Geez, you must be a long way from town"
"I am, trust me, I am"
Dende smiled, he had spotted her at last. He sent a message to King Kai
"King Kai?"
"Dende?"
"Yes it's me, I've found her"
"Great!! Well what are we waiting for? Get the Z fighters! Get the National Guard! We have to get to her before anything else does"
"Hold on, hold on. Listen, I need you to send a message to Goku, tell him to come up, and not to bring too many of the others"
"Great ok, let me just find him, ah! Hang on, I'll just patch you through"
"Thanks"
"Hey King Kai? Is that you?"
"Yup, listen Dende has some news"
"Ok, put him on the line"
"Hey Goku, listen I found her, can you come up"
"Not right away, how about in twenty minutes, Chichi has lunch ready, she'd be really mad if I just disappeared after all the trouble she went to"
"Ok, I don't think I'll lose her now that I can see her"
"Hey why don't you send Piccolo or some one else?" Goku suggested innocently
"I don't think she'd be too pleased with Piccolo's methods, she's already lost faith in us, she hasn't had much of a life, so I doubt she's very good at trusting people, especially one's who've already treated her the way he did, come up when you can, bring a few of the others if you want but not to many, we wouldn't want her to think we're hunting her or anything"
"Ok, see you in half an hour" the connection went dead
"Thank you King Kai"
"Don't mention it" Dende smiled with relief, next time he would have to be more careful with what he said next time, she was extremely perceptive, but he supposed the life she had lived gave her a sense of people. He sighed, collecting his thoughts, Piccolo was down on earth, he was grateful, he could guess how Piccolo would handle this, but scaring her out of her wits would not help the situation, nor make her more willing to help them, he checked on Sheme, Bulma had found out his school and made sure he got there, he was in a class below Trunks, and rather bright, she had sacrificed everything to make sure he got a good life, Dende sighed, she could have given him up to others but he had asked to stay with her so she gave up own life for her little brother. He knew she would be worried about him but trusted Bulma enough to leave him with her, he still marvelled at her method of getting away though, she had one well indeed at disguising herself, blonde hair and a tan, with thick makeup to change her features, he grinned, modelling, thinking of her reaction to work she would consider so degrading, but he had surmised she had an acute survival instinct.
Nokia grinned into the strong cappuccino, it tasted good; she had never lived the high life before
"Good?" Sally asked over her own cup of brown liquid
"Yeah" Nokia breathed in the steam
"Great" she corrected
"Now I must introduce you to some friends and find you a man" Sally grinned, Nokia almost winced
"Why not" she said after the tiniest of pauses, it had been three days since they had started the outdoor shots and a week into the actual shoot, she took another sip and felt the warmth run down her throat
"I got invited to a party by one of Robert's business friends, she said it was for models and people in the "business", I need help finding clothes, for god's sake, I still don't know how to dress" Sally grinned
"That makes it all the more fun to dress you up" Nokia grinned ruefully
"Great, now I'm your personal Barbie doll"
"You know it girl" Nokia like Sally, she was like her old friends before a triclops and a bald man swooped in and destroyed her whole world
"Come one, after lunch I'll show you round the shops, you've got to make the most of your days off" Nokia shrugged
"Why not?"
Dende searched frantically, he had lost her again, he frowned in frustration, some outside force was blocking his search, slowing him down, he suspected it was this mystery queen, he sighed and took a break, feeling a growing sense of desperation, they had been looking for two weeks now, Goku appeared behind him, he turned
"I lost her, darn! Something's blocking me, it's not her. I'd say our queen herself is looking too" Goku nodded
"Well I'll wait, tell me if you pick her up again ok?" Dende nodded and went back to watching the earth
Tien shuffled restlessly, he didn't like the idea of Miko being missing, it was just now starting to get to him, anything could have happened to her, his thoughts drifted back to the way he had found her
Tien yelled to Krillin
"THERE!" he pointed to five specs in the empty street, Krillin nodded and swooped downwards with him, they pulled up and hid behind a building, not wanting to scare her. Tien's eyes widened then narrowed, she was pressed up against a wall a man had a knife at her throat, his other hand ripping at the stubborn material of her shirt, the button came free as he grinned, she was watching a pair of men who were holding a small boy, one also wielding a knife, had it pressed against his throat, she was cursing softly, fear in her golden eyes, she was wearing what was left of a loose long sleeve shirt of movey colouring, and dark camouflage combat pants, underneath the looser top she wore a similar singlet, her chocolate coloured boots bore high heels, Tien nodded to Krillin and they waited for an opening, there was a thin line of blue blood travelling down her neck, she winced but kept her eyes on the boy, scowling every time the grinning man pulled at another button
"What's the matter sweetie, you know we won't hurt you if you cooperate, come on we didn't dope you up that much" Tien saw her eyes glaze over, he shook her roughly as she started to go limp against the knife
"Come on sweetie don't toy with me" he growled, Tien charged, he and Krillin grabbing each of the men holding onto the boy, Tien whirled to deck the man holding her but he was already double over, she was sliding down the wall a bruise appearing on her cheekbone, her eyes glazed over, he jumped forward and caught her, the boy too was out for the count, he shook her. No response, she was breathing. He took off after Krillin, arranging her in his arms as he went. Ten minutes later the bruise had all but faded, she opened her eyes groggily, he smiled at her
"Hi, don't panic, you're safe" she stared at him groggily for a second and then her eyes widened, she half sat up, her fingers clawing at him wildly, she was struggling like anything, he was afraid he'd hurt her if he held on too hard, she was squirming crazily, he slung her over his shoulder, this did not have the desired result, she screamed and cursed, realising she was in the air, he was amazed at her vocabulary, recognising her creative choice of words only as filthy, she suddenly pulled from his grasp and plummeted downwards, screaming all the way. He swooped after her, she seemed even angrier after he saved he life for the second time, cursing louder and clawing at his face and neck like a wild animal, he dropped her twice before landing and dropping her again, succeeding in making her hysterical. He sighed as she screamed at him; he just couldn't win
Nokia grinned at the camera, the sea was cold against her skin but it didn't bother her as she leapt through the waves, fake laughing and splashing two other models, she was shivering by the time Robert signalled the end
"Great job ladies" he told them as they jumped out of the water breathless
"Nokia, try to move a little slower next, when I said run I didn't mean too fast for the camera" Nokia grinned sheepishly
"Sorry, I'm used to running a whole lot faster than that" Robert grinned
"Well blurred isn't half bad anyway, the gallery got back to me, they want more of you guys" Sona and Malan grinned and turned to Nokia
"Hey, you wanna come for dinner, we're going out to a good restaurant" Nokia nodded, glad to now have at least have half a social life
"Great, but I think we'd better get changed first, I don't think swimsuits count as tidy"
"Great, see you in ten then" they turned to leave, Nokia looked out at the sky, the sea crashed on the sandy beach, she smiled and licked her lips, tasting the salty spray. She wrapped a towel that an assistant handed her around her waist, leaving her top half exposed to the open air, the thin bikini top showing a little more skin that she would have liked but the money was good, she squinted at the sky, sure she had seen a spec approaching, she turned to follow the others but heard a thud behind her, she whirled to face Tien, the towel falling away
Authors Note: So this was a little cliché, but you gotta love the irony. Anyways, I am running out of ideas as to how she spends the next eight months. Running or fighting them or does she just give in or does she cut a deal or simply kill herself?) For this I need your help, have fun.
Chou!
The Raven Queen
By the way :D
Me likes reviews ye knows. :D. De more reviews me gets de more me be writing bout dish leeetel green haired girly heer. Me gotsa some idea for some sidesa storwies and me wants to know if I should bofver. Hee hee. I need to learn how to spell.
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Miko sat on the edge of the bath, wiping at the wound with a clean rag, the water was running in the bath already, she pulled off her shirt and slipped into the water, the last of the reddish blue blood rising off her skin as the water covered it, Betha knocked on the door
"You alright dear?"
"Yes" Miko called
"I put out some clean clothes, I took in some of my things for you, you won't need Abe's belts to hols them up now" Miko smiled
"Thank you" Betha laughed
"You're a skinny thing aren't you" Miko laughed
"Thanks Betha" she heard the woman walking away, she turned off the water and closed her eyes
Goku landed outside a small farmhouse, a stout man came out to meet him
"Hello stranger, what can I do for you?" Goku grinned at the strange accent all the people in these parts shared
"I'm Goku, I'm looking for a girl about yay high," he indicated about his chin level
"Darkish green hair, pale skin, thin, strong build" the man's face had changed
"So you're the varmit, whadiyou want with Shema"
"Shema, her name is Miko"
"Get off my property"
"But I just need to talk to her"
"Get off my property!" the man produced a shot gun and pointed it at Goku
"Did you not hear me?" he said threateningly
"Can you just tell her it's Goku?" a stout woman appeared
"Abe?"
"Get Shema, tell her to take the car and go" the woman nodded and disappeared, Goku placed a hand on the gun and squeezed, it bent
"Oops, hey listen I mean her no harm I just need to speak to her"
Miko stepped onto the porch, Goku was standing in front of the house with Abe pointing a gun at him, the gun was bent, she cursed, thanking every god in existence her face was dirty and her hair was hidden under a large brimmed hat
"What's going on pa?" she said copying his accent, he seemed to get the idea, she pretending to stare quizzically
"What do you want?" she said convincingly
"Get back in the house Bathen" Abe told her, Miko nodded and retreated, Goku placed his hands in the air
Miko closed the door, she tore off the hat and ran to the bathroom, she rubbed her face cleaned and sprinted to the guest room, she slipped into the loosest clothes she could find, Betha entered as she was buttoning her shirt
"Oh there you are, Abe said to take the car" Miko shook her head
' I haven't been honest with you, I'm sorry the less you know the better, there are people who want me dead, he is with them, I have to go now he won't harm you if he thinks I'm not here" she half lied, Betha nodded, not flinching once
"Here" she handed Miko a packet of hair die
"It's blonde, shouldn't look too out of place with your skin" Miko hugged her quickly
"Thank you" Betha indicated the door
"It'll take a few minutes to die it, come on" Miko followed her, in the bathroom she took a pair of scissors and sheared her hair so it sat a few inches out from her head, Betha smiled and gathered up the long strands
"I'll keep it to remember you by"
"Ok" Miko sat on a bath stool as Betha poured the liquid over her head rubbing it in
Tien landed next to Goku who was speaking to a stout ma wielding a gun, this was no problem, but Goku seemed to be trying to talk sense into the man
"Get of my property, now!" Goku nodded
"Alright, but tell her I came, I need to speak to her" the man nodded and Goku turned
"Tien come on" Tien nodded they shot into the air, leaving a flabbergasted man on the ground below them
Piccolo looked up as Goku and Tien landed
"We found her, she's staying on a farm, we didn't see her but the farmer told his daughter to take her away, we didn't want to start a fight, so we left" Piccolo nodded, Tien spoke up
"She'll be heading away soon, we stand a chance of finding her now
Miko stared at her short blonde hair, it didn't look half bad, she rubbed her head dry and hugged Betha
"Say thank you to Abe for me" she reached deep into a pocket and pulled out one of her three most prized possessions, a strange silver earring with a yellowy gold pearl hanging from it
"Take this, it's worth a lot of money, to say thank you" she shot out the door before Betha could protest, she waved to Abe as she sprinted with eye blurring speed over the ground, all the farm work had increased her speed by leaps and bounds half an hour later the gleaming white of Satan city came into view, she sighed and slowed to a walk as she approached it, she entered the city at a leisurely pace, a few people stared at her, she guessed she looked strange with her roughly cropped hair and huge clothes, she smiled at a few, as falsely as she could, turning into the first mall she saw. Her first stop, the bank. She pushed open the doors, her life savings in her front pocket, she strolled down the streets until she found a clothing store, the sale woman glared at her as she entered, she pulled out a few large bills
"Dress me, I want to look rich and completely different" she told the saleswoman, her eyes widened as the Miko slapped it into her hand
"And quickly" Miko added, the woman jumped into action
"Ok, business or casual?"
As long as I am unrecognisable" the woman led her to a rack of brightly coloured clothes
"What size are you?"
"14 to 12"
"And you're wearing that?"
"I didn't have a choice, now hurry" the woman began pulling clothes off the rack, leading her all over the store, pulling every type of clothing under the sun out of the corners
Twenty minutes later Miko stepped out of the store, dressed in tight black pants, a white tank top and a hip length sky blue vest, the saleswoman directed her to a personal stylist's and waved good bye as Miko lugged the single bag stuffed with clothes, she turned into the boutique and ordered the same, emerging with her hair in a stylish cut, streaks of blue to match her vest sprinkled over her head, next was a beauty parlour, she dragged another bag of hair products. She hated shopping but it was a necessity, the make up artist had a field day with her, and gave her the number of a well known photographer, telling she had serious potential, Miko grinned, she had found a place to stay, her face was thick with make up but it was better than being recognized, she had spent time on a sun bed as well to darken her pale skin, it had only just reach a golden colour, she headed for the optometrist's next, for green contacts.
Tien scanned the ground, they were all out scanning the area, heading for Satan city, it would be a logical choice to head there, but it made finding her a lot harder, Goku indicated to land
"She could be anywhere by now" Goku said as they landed in a small group, many of them nodded
"Let's split up, take a partner and head in any direction, the city is huge but her hair will be easy to spot" Piccolo frowned
"She will have dyed it if she's smart"
"Would she have had time?"
"Yes"
"How would you know namek" Vegeta cut in
"I'm not stupid, think about it, if she made it to the city she could have gone anywhere" Piccolo growled, Vegeta sneered and jumped into the air, Goku followed him. Tien grinned as Gohan took off with Piccolo, Yamcha and Krillin took off with 18, she had come along for the fun of it she said, but he guessed she had come to keep an eye on Krillin, Tien felt sorry for Krillin, 18 was a real ice princess when she wanted. He nodded to Chou zu and they headed up wards and over the upbeat parts of the city.
Miko knocked on the door, a short man in French style clothing opened the door. He looked her up and down, annoying her greatly
"Yes" he asked with a heavy accent, she decided to make one of her own, putting on a sultry voice and expression
"Hi" she purred, hating the degrading way with which she was acting
"I am a friend of Rona's, she said to speak to you about modelling, she told me I had potential, really I have no idea of such things" she said taking a sensual pose, the man stepped back, making that strange square shape with both hands
"Hmmm, yes" he stalled, she could see the cogs working in his head, and she barely knew what she looked like
"Yes I think we could do something with you" he said, trying to hide the enthusiasm in his voice, Miko fought the urge to tell him to "cut the crap and sign me already" she settled for leaning forward just a little, smiling demurely at him, she mentally shivered, ignoring how degrading this was
"Tell you what we'll do a trial run ok?" he said, she smiled provocatively and stepped inside. It was a large studio inside, the fluorescent lights giving a dull day light effect
"This way please" he led her to a side room, inside was all manner of makeup and clothing, he strode over to the rack
"I trust you know how to pose"
"No, I've never done this before, but maybe you could instruct me" she let her hand rest on her hip limply, implying... the man grinned
"Why not, SALLY!" Miko winced, she hated loud noises, but she would have to get used to them until she could find herself somewhere to stay
"Listen, do you know, anywhere with apartments for rent, I just came to town" a tall blonde woman entered through another door hidden by curtain Miko had supposed covered a window
"Oh a new recruit, my she has potential, who referred her?"
"Rona" the man said absently, flicking through clothes, pulling out the occasional garment
"By the way, I am Robert, and this is Sally and you are?" he asked as he turned to face her, Miko thought fast, she needed a new name, then she smiled
"Nokia"
"Well if Rona did her up then no wonder, but where did you get those clothes, Nokia?"
"A local store, I came with pretty much nothing, family problems," she said quietly, lying through her teeth
"Oh I see, well they're fine for street wear but we'll dress you here ok?"
"Sure" Nokia lifted her head to smile dazzlingly, she hoped
"Well we'll do a few test shots and see if there's any interest" Nokia nodded and found herself seated in a chair while Sally handed her a damp cloth
"Wipe your face off and we'll se what we can do" Robert with drew from the room, Nokia complied and Sally attacked her, make up in hand
Gohan swooped down to investigate a green head, it wasn't her, the young man nearly fainted at the sight if him, Gohan's identity was already out so he was unbothered about showing his face when he flew. Miko was nowhere in sight, he was really starting to regret not sticking closer to her, he may have been able to stop her, at least they knew she was alive, she must have had a plan from the start, little to nothing was known about her past, Krillin said he found her held against a wall, a knife to her throat, a man with his hands pulling at her shirt, another two holding her brother, she had been perfectly still, completely focused on her brother, not caring about what happened to her, Gohan guessed she could have dispatched them without a second thought and would have had her brother not been in danger, he and Tien had freed her brother, seeing this she had kicked the man in the groin, but he had struck her, Tien caught her as she fell unconscious, a small bruise on her cheek, it disappeared within a few minutes. He wondered how aware she actually was at the time, her speed said she could have ducked and grabbed both knives before they could have reacted, but then again anything could have happened before.
Nokia allowed Robert to adjust her position, she had the expression perfect, her acting skills made it much easier, and she could take instructions and understand them. She shifted slightly
"Perfect, now a little more seductive...perfect" Robert began circling her, snapping photographs ten to the dozen she saw Sally making the thumbs up out of the corner of her eye, she was squeezed into an altered and altogether more revealing version of ancient roman armour, she swung the short fake sword over he r shoulder, changing her position every few seconds while Robert called encouragement
"Perfect!" he put down his camera, completely full, Nokia grinned and stepped down from the raised platform, she stretched her arms
"You look perfect in the whole warrior style Nokia" Sally told her
"You have just the right build, do you fight or something?"
"No, but I used to do martial arts"
"Which style"
"Umm, it was a while back, I did tai chi, twe (authors note: sorry if I spelt that wrong) kwon do, karate, kung fu as well, and I kick boxed as well"
"Cool, so what do you do now?"
"Just basic training and weights and stuff just to stay toned"
"Cool, keep it up" Robert was ecstatic
"I have another model in a few minutes but well done, come back tomorrow at three, and we'll find you an agent"
"Great" Nokia smiled just as she had been on the platform, she saw Robert shift a little, she smirked inwardly, things were going better than she thought, but she was still worried about Sheme, she just didn't know whether she could count on Bulma to keep him safe, half of them wanted her dead, so how could she be sure they wouldn't hurt him to get her back
"Earth to Nokia" Sally called, she jumped
"Sorry, I was thinking about where I'm going to stay tonight" Sally grinned
"Tell you what I have a friend who's got a room to rent, she'll be glad to take if you agree to a few rules"
"How can I contact her?" it was getting dark outside, she had been in here for three hours, the high windows letting in only dark now
"I'll give you a ride if you want, I take it you don't have a car?"
"Nope, I walked like six blocks to get here, in heels" Nokia winced fully enjoying her fakery, she had found it easy
"You poor thing, I'm not leaving until eight but you're welcome to stay and wait"
"Great, I'll go get changed" Nokia indicated her apparel
"Yeah well, no one's gonna mess with you in that, now are they" Sally joked. She was quite pretty really, though her frame was a little heavily boned. Nokia note. Nokia too was not fine boned but her fitness and face made up for this.
"Cool, hey do you want some food, I'll order in" she offered, pulling her new phone out of one of the three bags she had lugged to the studio
"Sure, why not"
"How's Chinese sound?"
"Great" Nokia liked Sally, she was so friendly and never gave you the look that said she thought she was better than you, Nokia felt she could find a place here, however degrading the work was, she took her phone and dialled as she headed for the second changing room, knowing the next model would be in the first
"Yeah hi, I need the number of a good Chinese restaurant, thanks" she slipped inside and slipped out of the fake armour, pulling on the black pants and the white top and a sweatshirt of golden colouring, she wrinkled her nose, but it was warm, she washed her face and reapplied the make up she had on before and strolled back out to wait.
Goku landed outside his house, another fruitless day, he waved to Tien and followed Gohan inside
"Gohan, you better get onto your homework or your mother will kill the both of us with her bare hands" Gohan nodded and disappeared upstairs, Dende had had no luck finding her, they had spent three weeks finding her last time, Bulma said Sheme was doing fine, he supposed she was afraid of Vegeta and Piccolo or something like that Dende said even if they trained non-stop they wouldn't stand a chance against this queen, she had control of all Freiza's resources. Not a good thing, they had almost a year but it wasn't exactly comforting. He sighed and opened the refrigerator; it was stocked high as usual, full of his favourite foods. He pulled out an armload for a snack and set it down on the table, devouring the many eatables within minutes, Chichi came in dressed in a nightgown with a robe over the top
"Where have you been?"
"Looking for Miko," he told her
"I wonder where she's gotten to, so irresponsible to leave Sheme like that"
"I don't think she felt she had a choice, she jumped off the lookout Chichi, I don't know how she got down but she did, and to be that desperate I'd say she's afraid for his safety if she goes near him" Chichi nodded and yawned
"Gohan studying?"
"Yup, as soon as we got home"
"Don't stay out so late, or you'll get no food at all"
"Ok Chichi" he curled his arm around her waist and walked from the room with her, leaving the empty containers that only minutes ago had been full t bursting with food
Chou zu opened his eyes groggily, some one had thrown a pillow at him, Tien was talking quietly with Master Roshi and Yamcha was standing over him
"Finally, come on it's morning" Chou zu groaned, this was getting impossible, he felt sure if Miko was thinking about the earth and even her own safety she would have made an effort to find them, he supposed she was absolutely terrified of Piccolo though, he wasn't surprised, Dende said she was most likely still in shock, after all discovering you weren't human and then finding you were the only hope for the earth would tend to pull you out of your comfort zone, he had tried to locate her by using telepathy and he had determined she was indeed in Satan city, but there were too many other minds around and her tiny ki made it impossible to locate her any further than that
As the small ship crawled it's way through the second solar system from earth pale fingers twisted dark emerald hair into a high bun, pinning it with a shining clip of something like gold. A tall woman with purple skin and red hair of slender proportions entered, dropping to one knee
"Your majesty"
"What have they discovered?"
"The planets gave way easily, we have just received word from the soldiers you so wisely left behind, the fighters on earth are indeed the ones who killed Freiza and Zarbon, the others with are waiting to oppose you"
"And my twin"
"It has been surmised that she is indeed on the planet, but as to her exact location they are unsure"
"Is her fighting power satisfactory"
"She has displayed great potential at times, but as to what she can really do they as completely in the dark, she has little to no ki at her disposal, I believe she has been trained in earth's fighting styles but nothing else, though they have discovered her to be highly ingenuitive, and extremely fast for one who cannot harness ki"
"Good, how long now"
"Just over seven months your majesty"
"Good, can you not increase speed?"
"Not without lowering the scanners and if you wish to find her quickly...then no, they will also be aware of our approach if we increase speed"
"They already are, but very well, maintain speed"
"Yes your majesty"
"You may go, and Karva"
"Yes your majesty"
"Well done"
"Thank you your majesty" the woman left the room. From the throne, still shrouded in darkness a sultry feminine laugh could be heard
"Oh sister, you know I am near" the pale finger touched the invisible scar on the vaguely visible thigh
"We will be together again soon, how I miss you" the laugh again and then thoughtful silence
Nokia grinned as she and Sally made their way down a corridor, a door at the end flew open, Robert danced out
"You have an agent Nokia! And we have signed you for three weeks, I found a gallery that wants your image!" he clapped his hands, Nokia grinned wider, Sally patted her back
"Well done, if a magazine sights you then you're set, but try and remember us little people, we work privately, most bigger companies have their own photographers"
"Cool, when do we start?" Robert grinned
"My schedule is rather full at the moment so we'll be working every other day, for the next three weeks, it should be great, I was thinking some shots at a beach and outside and things like that"
"Sounds fine to me, so long as the clothes don't show more skin than I'd like"
"They won't, it's winter remember"
"Oh yeah" Sally laughed
"Come on, you deserve a coffee"
"Coffee?"
"Geez, you must be a long way from town"
"I am, trust me, I am"
Dende smiled, he had spotted her at last. He sent a message to King Kai
"King Kai?"
"Dende?"
"Yes it's me, I've found her"
"Great!! Well what are we waiting for? Get the Z fighters! Get the National Guard! We have to get to her before anything else does"
"Hold on, hold on. Listen, I need you to send a message to Goku, tell him to come up, and not to bring too many of the others"
"Great ok, let me just find him, ah! Hang on, I'll just patch you through"
"Thanks"
"Hey King Kai? Is that you?"
"Yup, listen Dende has some news"
"Ok, put him on the line"
"Hey Goku, listen I found her, can you come up"
"Not right away, how about in twenty minutes, Chichi has lunch ready, she'd be really mad if I just disappeared after all the trouble she went to"
"Ok, I don't think I'll lose her now that I can see her"
"Hey why don't you send Piccolo or some one else?" Goku suggested innocently
"I don't think she'd be too pleased with Piccolo's methods, she's already lost faith in us, she hasn't had much of a life, so I doubt she's very good at trusting people, especially one's who've already treated her the way he did, come up when you can, bring a few of the others if you want but not to many, we wouldn't want her to think we're hunting her or anything"
"Ok, see you in half an hour" the connection went dead
"Thank you King Kai"
"Don't mention it" Dende smiled with relief, next time he would have to be more careful with what he said next time, she was extremely perceptive, but he supposed the life she had lived gave her a sense of people. He sighed, collecting his thoughts, Piccolo was down on earth, he was grateful, he could guess how Piccolo would handle this, but scaring her out of her wits would not help the situation, nor make her more willing to help them, he checked on Sheme, Bulma had found out his school and made sure he got there, he was in a class below Trunks, and rather bright, she had sacrificed everything to make sure he got a good life, Dende sighed, she could have given him up to others but he had asked to stay with her so she gave up own life for her little brother. He knew she would be worried about him but trusted Bulma enough to leave him with her, he still marvelled at her method of getting away though, she had one well indeed at disguising herself, blonde hair and a tan, with thick makeup to change her features, he grinned, modelling, thinking of her reaction to work she would consider so degrading, but he had surmised she had an acute survival instinct.
Nokia grinned into the strong cappuccino, it tasted good; she had never lived the high life before
"Good?" Sally asked over her own cup of brown liquid
"Yeah" Nokia breathed in the steam
"Great" she corrected
"Now I must introduce you to some friends and find you a man" Sally grinned, Nokia almost winced
"Why not" she said after the tiniest of pauses, it had been three days since they had started the outdoor shots and a week into the actual shoot, she took another sip and felt the warmth run down her throat
"I got invited to a party by one of Robert's business friends, she said it was for models and people in the "business", I need help finding clothes, for god's sake, I still don't know how to dress" Sally grinned
"That makes it all the more fun to dress you up" Nokia grinned ruefully
"Great, now I'm your personal Barbie doll"
"You know it girl" Nokia like Sally, she was like her old friends before a triclops and a bald man swooped in and destroyed her whole world
"Come one, after lunch I'll show you round the shops, you've got to make the most of your days off" Nokia shrugged
"Why not?"
Dende searched frantically, he had lost her again, he frowned in frustration, some outside force was blocking his search, slowing him down, he suspected it was this mystery queen, he sighed and took a break, feeling a growing sense of desperation, they had been looking for two weeks now, Goku appeared behind him, he turned
"I lost her, darn! Something's blocking me, it's not her. I'd say our queen herself is looking too" Goku nodded
"Well I'll wait, tell me if you pick her up again ok?" Dende nodded and went back to watching the earth
Tien shuffled restlessly, he didn't like the idea of Miko being missing, it was just now starting to get to him, anything could have happened to her, his thoughts drifted back to the way he had found her
Tien yelled to Krillin
"THERE!" he pointed to five specs in the empty street, Krillin nodded and swooped downwards with him, they pulled up and hid behind a building, not wanting to scare her. Tien's eyes widened then narrowed, she was pressed up against a wall a man had a knife at her throat, his other hand ripping at the stubborn material of her shirt, the button came free as he grinned, she was watching a pair of men who were holding a small boy, one also wielding a knife, had it pressed against his throat, she was cursing softly, fear in her golden eyes, she was wearing what was left of a loose long sleeve shirt of movey colouring, and dark camouflage combat pants, underneath the looser top she wore a similar singlet, her chocolate coloured boots bore high heels, Tien nodded to Krillin and they waited for an opening, there was a thin line of blue blood travelling down her neck, she winced but kept her eyes on the boy, scowling every time the grinning man pulled at another button
"What's the matter sweetie, you know we won't hurt you if you cooperate, come on we didn't dope you up that much" Tien saw her eyes glaze over, he shook her roughly as she started to go limp against the knife
"Come on sweetie don't toy with me" he growled, Tien charged, he and Krillin grabbing each of the men holding onto the boy, Tien whirled to deck the man holding her but he was already double over, she was sliding down the wall a bruise appearing on her cheekbone, her eyes glazed over, he jumped forward and caught her, the boy too was out for the count, he shook her. No response, she was breathing. He took off after Krillin, arranging her in his arms as he went. Ten minutes later the bruise had all but faded, she opened her eyes groggily, he smiled at her
"Hi, don't panic, you're safe" she stared at him groggily for a second and then her eyes widened, she half sat up, her fingers clawing at him wildly, she was struggling like anything, he was afraid he'd hurt her if he held on too hard, she was squirming crazily, he slung her over his shoulder, this did not have the desired result, she screamed and cursed, realising she was in the air, he was amazed at her vocabulary, recognising her creative choice of words only as filthy, she suddenly pulled from his grasp and plummeted downwards, screaming all the way. He swooped after her, she seemed even angrier after he saved he life for the second time, cursing louder and clawing at his face and neck like a wild animal, he dropped her twice before landing and dropping her again, succeeding in making her hysterical. He sighed as she screamed at him; he just couldn't win
Nokia grinned at the camera, the sea was cold against her skin but it didn't bother her as she leapt through the waves, fake laughing and splashing two other models, she was shivering by the time Robert signalled the end
"Great job ladies" he told them as they jumped out of the water breathless
"Nokia, try to move a little slower next, when I said run I didn't mean too fast for the camera" Nokia grinned sheepishly
"Sorry, I'm used to running a whole lot faster than that" Robert grinned
"Well blurred isn't half bad anyway, the gallery got back to me, they want more of you guys" Sona and Malan grinned and turned to Nokia
"Hey, you wanna come for dinner, we're going out to a good restaurant" Nokia nodded, glad to now have at least have half a social life
"Great, but I think we'd better get changed first, I don't think swimsuits count as tidy"
"Great, see you in ten then" they turned to leave, Nokia looked out at the sky, the sea crashed on the sandy beach, she smiled and licked her lips, tasting the salty spray. She wrapped a towel that an assistant handed her around her waist, leaving her top half exposed to the open air, the thin bikini top showing a little more skin that she would have liked but the money was good, she squinted at the sky, sure she had seen a spec approaching, she turned to follow the others but heard a thud behind her, she whirled to face Tien, the towel falling away
Authors Note: So this was a little cliché, but you gotta love the irony. Anyways, I am running out of ideas as to how she spends the next eight months. Running or fighting them or does she just give in or does she cut a deal or simply kill herself?) For this I need your help, have fun.
Chou!
The Raven Queen
By the way :D
Me likes reviews ye knows. :D. De more reviews me gets de more me be writing bout dish leeetel green haired girly heer. Me gotsa some idea for some sidesa storwies and me wants to know if I should bofver. Hee hee. I need to learn how to spell.
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