disclaimer: *hums a song and sticks out tongue* figure it out for yourself. Oh, and Rymalye is mine!
ice angel: well, looks like you're all by yourself. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story...as you're apparently the only one, please tell me if it's worth continuing. Thankyou!
~text~ is a flashback scene.
~*
Vegeta growled as he faced a woman with a knife, in his bedroom, who somehow looked like him. She looked surprised at seeing him, like she'd never seen him before. He didn't believe that possible; how could anyone not know what he looked like? Wench. Sneaking into his room with a knife!
He knocked her hand that wavered over him away, and shoved her backwards, feeling his power rise in fury. She scowled at him, and he smirked at her, his eyes like cold black steel. Did she think herself capable of taking him on?
"Y-your father was the high-ranking Saiyan who betrayed my mother?" She squeaked, outrage in her voice, her fists clenching at her side. Something like horror was flickering over her face, as she stared wide-eyed at him.
"Betrayed your mother?" Rage made his voice shake, and he leapt off his sleeping mat, standing threateningly before her. Moving faster than the woman had time to react, he moved forward, grabbing her neck in one hand and powering a ki ball in the other.
"It is not uncommon for males to take captured women, but to let the resulting abomination live..." The ki ball grew bigger, and he smiled grimly, his eyes narrowing with the hunting instincts telling him to kill.
"If I am not mistaken," The woman said coldly, "You were born two years before I, as a concubine's bastard. You didn't become a legitimate prince until your father broke off the alliance with the Hiejeikans, correct? I can't believe I never thought of this before," She muttered the last, staring with triumphant eyes at Vegeta. He scowled, his mind working frantically as he tried to figure out what the bitch was thinking. She didn't seem to be afraid of dying...couldn't be if she was an assassin...so was it something her master had ordered?
"How did you know that, wench?" He snarled, pulling her up to eye level.
"It was with my mother he sealed himself to officially. I am your half-sister, you ass!" She spat at him, her voice soaring with crazed victory. He bared his teeth at her in warning, lowering her in surprise. That would make sense, but then what was she doing as an assassin? It didn't really matter. She was a dead woman. Yes, he thought, his unemotional smile returning to his face. But he could play along.
"Impossible!"
"And then, when she tried to free the slaves your father had cruelly captured, he claimed her a traitor, broke the alliance and enslaved all of my planet. I was sent off-world, but I was traced and forced into becoming an assassin-"
"Enough, woman!" He snapped, his mind whirling as the few facts he knew were cleared in this story that must have been cooked up for the advancement of someone.... She hissed at him, and suddenly his hand holding her went numb, bruises spreading at his wrist. He gave an embarrassing yelp from surprise and dropped her, forcing himself not to stare at it as he powered up. Now he was pissed.
"I may not have the high level Saiyans have, but instead I have micro telekinesis, from the Heijiekans. It can come in handy, as you see." She purred, smug satisfaction oozing in her voice. Life returned slowly to his hand, and he glared at her, determined to kill her slowly but fast enough so she couldn't use her strange powers. He brought his hand up to slap her, when she suddenly tackled him, bringing him down to the floor. Something flashed past where he'd been, and he felt a third power level rise. She sprang off him, striking the third power level that was somewhere behind him.
"I knew it!" She shouted, and he leapt to his feet, just in time to see another Heijiekan slump to the floor, his throat torn out. She glared down at the body for a second, her tail lashing angrily, and she turned back towards him.
"As my blood kin, I cannot kill you." She stated flatly, voice grave. Abruptly she looked away, her face coloring slightly. He could practically smell the lie.
"I advise you not to lie to me." He growled threateningly, folding his arms and giving her his most lethal glare. Of all the things he despised, lies and liars ranked pretty high. She shook her head.
"Fine. I'm not supposed to kill my blood kin, as a Heijiekan code, but I have in the past. Happy? The fact is, I may need you later, and my master is out for your head. The gods know I'd do anything to pay him back for-" She paused, voice shaking, but continued, "Well, I had suspicions he had many assassins, but I've never seen any others."
Vegeta stared at her suspiciously, wanting to kill her but curious about the scheme she had going. "So? I have guards..." He frowned, abruptly realizing that his guards hadn't blundered to his rescue, as they humorously had before. The woman's face paled, as if she too realized this, and swore.
"We need to leave now." She whispered urgently.
"I can handle a few low levels!" He stood up fully, staring down at her in a mixture of arrogance and disgust.
"Not if you can't sense them!" She grabbed his wrist, trying frantically to make him move. He froze, fury sweeping through him in a giant wave as he stared at her. No one touched him. No one.
"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me." He gritted through his teeth, ripping his arm away from her. He slapped her full across the face, ready to kill her just for that one assault.
"We're leaving whether you agree to it or not." She said softly, dangerously. She closed her eyes, and he felt lightheaded, then shakily fell to the floor as his bones turned spongy.
"Wh-what are you doing to me!" He was panicking, shaking as he realized he could do nothing against this type of assault. His eyes closed against his will, and then he was out...
~ "Father! Father! What's wrong?" A young Vegeta whimpered, freshly dragged out of bed by a grim faced king. He was set down in front of a vid screen, a smirking alien currently in the center.
"There. I've brought him. Now show me the woman." The king snarled, his voice booming in the tone Vegeta knew he used when repressing worry. Vegeta trembled, immediately jumping to the only conclusion that this could be about, if a woman was making his father worry. His mother, the bright, cheery somewhat gentle part of his life. Fierce and free, protective and loving, he loved her as much as he respected his father.
"Very well." The alien spoke slyly, smugness echoing in his voice. The image wavered, and was replaced by a bright, sterile place, a few people around a table and...
"Mother!" He shouted.
"Hienta..." The king groaned softly.
Laying naked on the table, the Queen of the Saiyans lay, moaning brokenly. Strips of skin had been cut and peeled back, healed sloppily with the energy-healing some aliens had, and re-cut and peeled. Angry red lines laced her skin, interrupted by large spots of raw red. Her long, lovely tail was broken and sliced lengthwise, ruined beyond repair. Small pocks in her skin were remnants of hot iron, and her beautiful hands...every bone broken. One of her laughing onyx eyes was closed and weeping fluid, her lips desiccated and torn and her cheeks bore bloody holes...
Vegeta sobbed, covering his eyes and turning away. His father caught hold of him in an iron fist, staring at the screen with a blank, unemotional face. The smirking alien returned, at first shock flashing on his face as he realized the king could care less, but then looked at Vegeta. He sneered, realization sweeping over his face in one gloating wave.
"Happy?"
"..." The king simply stared at the alien, raising an eyebrow.
"Mother!" Vegeta cried, the king's hold tightening, fingers digging into Vegeta's skin.
"Surrender and we'll give you the slut." The alien said immediately, victory coloring his tone.
"Try me." The king growled, and Vegeta yelped, staring at the king with disbelieving eyes.
"Surrender or we kill her."
"Go ahead. She means nothing." The king said emotionlessly.
"Father, no!"
"The brat doesn't think so."
"Go right ahead."
The image wavered again, and the Queen started to scream as a machine was hooked up to her four appendages, and slowly started to pull...
The king snarled as the alien came back on a split screen, the queen's screams now muted but still there. He gestured derogatively and motioned to cut the transmission. He turned to Vegeta.
"It is your fault, brat!" He roared, grabbing Vegeta by the throat, "If you hadn't cried then I could've saved her! It is your fault she dies!"
He stared at the king, tears trailing down his face, grief and confusion roiling his stomach.
"Emotion is weakness! No matter what your mother said," The king said, his voice cracking on the word mother, "I thought you knew better than that. Hell, I taught you better." Disgust drenched the king's tone. The king slapped Vegeta as he sobbed, throwing Vegeta away from his royal person.
"Never do that again. Hear me? Never. I don't ever want to see you break down or show love. Pride and anger is all a Saiyan has. If you must keep your weakness, than save it until no one sees. Understand?" He snapped, striding out at Vegeta's trembling nod.
She's dead because of me...because I cried...because I showed emotion. It's my fault. If only I hadn't shown emotion. Nevernevernever. I won't let my guard down. Painful...I will hide my heart. No more. I will never show emotions. I will never let myself grow attached. Not ever. Never again.~
Rymalye grabbed the downed prince, and somehow managed to carry him to the window, kicking out the glass. She hid her power and covered Vegeta's as much as she was able, flying out the window. She unsteadily wound her way to where she knew the prince's ship was parked, hoping no one would notice her.
She pitched forward in a blast of wind, and a second later a knife lodged in her arm where her back had been. More assassins? She plummeted, shock coursing through her, landing a few yards away from the ship. She got up, dragging Vegeta, praying to any gods happening to be listening that she'd make it...
Thump
Another knife, this time in her thigh. Damned assassins taking their time! They knew they had her and were prolonging her death...trying to scare her in revenge for her defection.
Dammitdammit daaaaammit!
She reached the ship, somehow managing to shield herself and Vegeta against the sleek throwing knives that assassins favored. The roar of starting hovercraft reached her ears, and she almost fainted at what that entailed. Big power amplifiers. Very big power amplifiers. She fumbled for Vegeta's hand and stuck it on the palm reader, losing her grip on his arm, she was shaking so badly. The door opened, and she practically leapt inside, closing the door.
She wouldn't have much time against those hovercraft. She had to get the shields up. Then a thump sounded at the helm, shaking the ship, and she nearly fainted again. Not now!
She started up the ship, skipping all the precaution checks, waiting for it to come to full power... Two more thumps. Screw it! She slapped the main control and it hummed to life. She jetted it forward, the shields flickering around 25%. Hopefully they'd make it through the atmosphere.
She flew higher, ignoring danger claxons and beeps from the communication console, trembling as they flew through the atmosphere. Not good going with less than half shields. The ship lurched and shook as if it were going to fall apart, but the small thing held. Her muscles turned watery with relief. Shields had risen to 51%, thank the gods.
The proximity alarm sounded, and she jumped. Oh shit. Her tail wound so tightly around her waist she could feel her blood circulation slowing. She punched in a destination for a safe, tiny planet and entered it, realizing too late that in her panicked rush she'd entered it wrong. She stared at it dumbly, almost losing her balance as the ship entered hyper space. For all she knew they were heading straight for a star. Great. Her hands were shaking so hard that it was quite visible, and she fell to the floor, laughing hysterically.
Then the prince groaned behind her, waking up, and she was too shaken to knock him out again...
~*
A/N: so, good, bad, crappy? please review and tell me how ya like it. It'll be Bulma's turn next time as she decides to gather up the dragon balls to once more wish for a boyfriend...and we'll see if Vegeta is pissed off enough to kill his half-sister.
Tree kat