Honor-Bound
Chapter 1
In the traditional white boots with gold front trim, she padded into the audience chamber as
softly as she could, but still the sound of her footfalls resonated against the walls of the massive
room. At the other end was the royal throne atop many platforms that formed stairs to the floor.
Hovering over it, glaring, was her lord. Prince Vegeta. His onyx eyes glittered with intelligence,
his strong arms crossed in perpetual challenge, and his head was held high by proven pride;
arrogant down to his noble tail, swishing, bored of waiting for this meeting. She stopped ten
paces in front of the base of the throne and in one fluid motion dropped to one knee, her own
rear appendage wrapping around her feet. Lowering her head, she spoke, breaking the relative
silence,
"My Lord, Thank you for meeting with me."
His eyes scanned his subject prostrated in submission as he floated down to stand in front
of the steps, arms still crossed.
"What is the meaning of all the secrecy? Having a royal messenger request audience?
You, warrior, have never been known for formality." he said through a smirk. The words dripped
with sarcasm and he waited for her response.
"My Lord, ... I have come to ask of you something of a most personal nature- "
"Well, ask!" he growled impatiently. Then, the Prince noticed that she wore the most
pained look he'd ever seen on her face outside of battle. Surely, a personal war could not distract
a saiyan warrior of her caliber so easily, he thought, is she becoming a weakling on me? What
tempest rages behind that face?
She looked up and Vegeta could see her soul in her eyes.
"Sire, ... I wish to be destroyed."
Vegeta was taken aback and his arms fell from their place to his sides. His confusion
read plainly on his face and his tail twitched back and forth.
"I want Your Highness to defeat me," she continued. "At least in death I may have a
chance at dignity... " Her chin protruded proudly now, but it was obvious that it took effort to
make it so. He could also see by the clouded look on her face that she had fought the urge to
weep and barely won. A weakling, before his very eyes! Vegeta regained his arrogant stance, his
arms re-folding. He smirked.
"No, warrior. Not unless your reason satisfies me." The smirk faded and a small frown
replaced it on his lips. She dropped her gaze and took a breath. Exhaling, she looked up at her
sovereign again and spoke.
"A breach of honor I committed, grievous and unforgivable. I seek atonement through
battle, and defeat as my penance." (What in the name of all things saiyan could you have done
Seven?, he thought to himself.) With a single gesture of his hand, confirmed her request and bid
her rise.
Gracefully as she could through her shame, she straightened herself up as her Prince
began to walk. Soon, he stood before her.
"Power up to your maximum. It will be necessary if you wish to preserve your life. (I
don't want to do this to you, old friend...)"
"My Lord, I -" she paused, wondering if he knew how badly it hurt to be near him like
this, how much she really did want to die, and that her ascended form would reveal her
non-saiyan ancestry. Her pained look deepened.
"I do not believe that is necessary, my lord prince." To that, Vegeta was almost offended.
He arched an eyebrow at her impertinence.
"It is my will. No saiyan desires to seek help from anyone. However, you come to me,
then it shall be done my way."
" ... As you command."
With her arms at her sides, and her eyes once again to the floor, she concentrated on
letting go. The air between them shimmered with energy as her power rose sharply, light
spreading from her body like dye through a glass of water, throwing shadows that danced on the
walls. The prince just watched, unimpressed. Then she tucked in her arms close to her body and
with a shout, she let her power flare up violently as jags of blue lightning lanced through the air
surrounding her. Even Prince Vegeta had to take a step back.
"Forgive me, my lord, but are you sure you wish to see as far as I can go? It can be
dangerous. (Jared! You don't know what I am. You don't know what I can do. Please don't make
me show you!)" Sarcasm has always been Vegeta's strongest weapon, and he wielded it well.
"What? Concerned for my safety, are you? Well, don't be! Just take it as far as it can go
so I can blast your impertinent ass into the next quadrant!" he bellowed, like he could do less
than yell to be heard now.
She studied the floor once more (I had to lie to you, Jared! You wouldn't have
understood! Better me a liar than you dead at my feet, Jared...) .
"Yes, my Lord." Her hair swirled around her ethereally, but the look of regret made the
picture less pretty somehow. She now thrust her arms skyward, and cried out loudly when for a
third time, her power climbed yet again. This time, her short, warrior-style hair drew itself out of
her head as white light drowned out the scene and she reappeared with a waist-long flowing
mane of silver light. And that wasn't all. Four long black horny projections arc backward from
her forehead, almost touching the nape of her neck. Her ears had drawn upwards and acquired
pointed ends. From behind her, her tail swished into view, but instead of a slender saiyan tail, it
was wide, hairless, and reptilian. However even the horns and tail could not have prepared Jared
Vegeta for what waved in the air from her recently bulked-up shoulders. A large pair of wings
protruded behind her. And the light shone brighter still as her eyes finally changed from saiyan
black to super-saiyan teal.
Vegeta put his arms down from where he'd thrown them up as shield from the energy. He
knew now even if he didn't before that she was not one of them. She was not a saiyan. She'd lied
to him! She'd been lying to him all this time! He stared at her.
She could feel that there was more to the way he was watching her than just the light
show.
"Why didn't you tell me!?" he demanded, scowling behind him raised arm. "I should have
had you destroyed when I first thought there was something odd about you, but you kept one step
ahead of me with your distractions! Were you trying to make a fool of me?"
She looked at him, her gaze filled with regret for the truth. The truth was that this was
not her limit. She had one more transformation to go, technically. But she'd never achieved that
much energy before. She doubted that she was going to get the chance to strive for it now. "Of
course not, Sire." she lied.
"Humph!" he turned his gaze away showing his disdain. "Is that the final form? Are you
ready... for your penance, as you put it?" The waves of energy that radiated from her leveled off
and she put her arms to her sides.
"I think I am." Realistically, she did have one more form to go, but its instability and the
fact that she just couldn't do it yet prevented her. Still, I should be able to give him a good fight
as my last gift to him, she thought.
He began to power up too at that point. Light exploded from his body, making shadows
dance on the walls again. His hair changed to super-saiyan golden, his eyes to teal, and the gusts
of wind/energy made his hair wave like grass in a training field. She caught herself before she
smiled at the thought. He always looked so ... alive... so much like someone he used to be when
he did that.
"Then stand there..." He pointed to a spot in the middle of the room, about fifteen paces
behind her. She turned and walked away to re-position herself, and Vegeta whispered under his
breath, " ... and all will be forgiven."
She heard that, and spun around.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!"
The blast came very powerfully, as she was caught off-guard from what he whispered.
The large wave of energy knocked her off her feet and into the air. She slammed backward into
the wall next to the chamber door, creating a large vertical crater in the masonry. She caught
herself in mid fall by her ki and landed on her feet, tail swishing. As the smoke and dust began to
clear, she aimed the heel of her right hand at her lord. She fired off a volley of three blasts, each
one just as large as the attack she withstood. Vegeta dodged them all, first right, then left, then
right again, without moving from his spot on the floor. Damn him!
"I know that you are capable of more than that pitiful array. Show me what you can do!
Now!" he scowled, but there was something different in his eyes. He almost looked like he was
enjoying himself!
No time to analyze it now, she thought, and clapped her hands in front of her. Bringing
them apart revealed a ball of blue ki, so dense that it was heavy and hot to the touch. She
widened the gap quickly, held the ball aloft and dropped her left hand. With a shout, she hurled
it at Vegeta who launched himself into the air and flew at her, but this attack had homing on it
and turned to chase him. When he noticed this, he was surprised for only a half-moment, and
decided to maintain course. She saw that he was about to turn the tables on her, and bolted
straight up into the air. Vegeta dodged to the side and the dark ball of ki slammed into the wall,
creating another crater right next to the one she had made with her body. Then it all went black.
********************************************************************************
***************
Strong moonlight lit the walls and she realized that it must have been hours that she'd
been out of it. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up slowly and put her feet down. The floor is ice-cold
and her toes cringe as she leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve her boots. She put them on
and studied the room she'd been put in. Just an ordinary room she thought. Getting up, she began
to search for the door, her eyes narrowed as she realized there was none.
Returning to the bed and sitting heavily, she remembered part of what happened before
she arrived here. Her Lord, Prince Vegeta dodged her attacks as if she hadn't thrown any, and
turning another against her. Putting her head in her hands, she tried to remember how she got to
be in this Kami-forsaken door less room. All that came to mind was dodging upward as her own
traitorous ball of ki slams into the stonework below her.
I guess he must have knocked me out while I was occupied with that, she thought aloud.
Clever, Jared. Very clever.
*************************************************************
Seated sideways on his throne and forehead in hand, Prince Jared Vegeta half-watched
the two workers finishing the repairs from the battle he and that coward fool woman had.
Coming to him, she'd asked for a battle and just when it started to be interesting, she
disappeared! Vanished! Cowardly. Not to mention, rude. One of the workers, an almost pudgy
saiyan named Celrin, stood from his labors and walked to the bottom of the royal stairs. Here he
bowed low.
"Speak", Vegeta growled and shifted in the seat to a more normal pose.
"As your Highness can see, it is done." Celrin bowed low again.
"Yes. You may go." He waved them away with a hand. A third bow and Celrin strode out
of the throne room. Pausing, he snatched up his tools and tapped his associate, a wiry skinny
female named Reuta on the shoulder. "Lets go."
Reuta nodded silently and rose to go. She turned back to look at her lord, and then walked
quietly out of the room.
Totally alone, Vegeta thought back to the events of earlier that day. He saw her rise to
avoid the ball of ki he'd re-directed back towards her. Then in a flash, no there was no light
flashing, but she was gone in an instant. No explosion, no residual ki signature, nothing. She'd
just simply vanished. ... but why hadn't she said anything about being from somewhere else?
How did she come to be here, on Vegeta-sei? I've known she was strong ever since we were
young. She fights like a saiyan. She looks like a saiyan. Kami-dammit, she even smells like one!
But still this nagging feeling will not go away! I know there's something more than this that I
don't know. He banged the arm of the throne with his fist creating a small dent. But I will find
out!!
********************************************************************************
Having walked circles around the room, she ran her fingers down one wall and then the
next, looking for some break, some failure in the illusion by which she could tell the exit, but
there was none. Finally, she sat down in the middle of the room, tired, but still determined to
find a way out. Meditation will help me clear my head enough to think through this clearly, she
thought.
********************************************************************************
Hours passed and still she had not returned, in regular form or any other. Vegeta stood
from his throne, shooed away the servants that tended to him, and walked down the steps that led
out of the throne room. No offence, he thought as he stalked the corridors, no offence was great
enough that one would placate someone for - he sneered- help, and from him, of all people! and
then disappear without finishing what one had started... It just didn't make sense!
He strode into the courtyards, down many hallways, into the barracks to the wide eyes of
all around him, and then stopped in front of her quarters. With one look, the two guards he had
stationed at her door bowed low and then quickly left. His hand hovered over the keypanel at the
left of the portal as he pondered the indignity of what he was about to do. He closed his eyes and pressed the button. Stepping inside, he raised a fist and bellowed,
"How dare y- ..." he stopped. The room was empty. He could see that it had been so for at
least the time that she'd been with him and gone. A cold feeling in his spine told him that there was still more going on than he knew. Strutting back through the barracks, he stopped at one of his general's offices.
"Sire!" the general bowed low at sight of his lord entering the small room. "To what do I
owe the hon-"
"Can it, Kale!" The Prince folded his arms at his chest, a sign to General Kale that his
lordship was not in the mood. "I want all the information you have on the warrior called 'Seven'."
Kale's brow furrowed. "I know that one, Highness ... but why on Plant would she interest
you?? She's little more than a third-class warrior, she's never shown her superiors any more than passing respect, and what's worse is that there have been rumors of her being an... um,
extra-vegetus."
"Add coward and liar onto that, and it all seems to fit, I think." Vegeta nodded. "I should
have sensed that kind of thing. When you find her, keep her alive. I want to grant her one last
audience." he growled under his breath as he left the room, tromping back to his royal seat.
********************************************************************************
Later that night, Seven's meditation faded into a sleep very disturbed. In one of the
nightmares, she stood at the foot of the throne, shivering. It had gotten so cold all of a sudden. Then the face of her lord revealed itself within the foggy air that had just appeared around the throne. Without a sound, he leapt from his place and landed behind her. She spun around in time to witness her prince transform into the giant, towering were-ape that their kind was capable of only on full moons. The ape grabbed her as she tried to run, and held her fast as it drew her up to its face, the eyes studying her as if figuring something out. The mouth opened slightly as if something to say, but then widened hugely bellowing at her wordlessly, her body reacted as if being attacked. Her hair tore silently behind her and her outfit fought to stay on. She was being held very close to its face now. She could see that the eyes were moist and
she could start to hear that the roaring which was fading into the dream had a tremulous quality. Behind the now terrible screaming, she could hear her friend, Jared's voice. He was calling to her. Begging her, ... "Please.... Seven ... !!" Then it was black, and she was alone. And still cold. Soon, however, another dream took over her mind ... or maybe it was a memory ...
The two fighters seemed to dance on air as they spun around the sparroom, throwing
hands and feet at each other. The only sounds in the room being the punctuated yells and grunts
when one fighter struck the other. On one such strike, the taller fighter crouched down, holding
his side.
"Nnnnngh!" he gasped. "Th-that will be all for today, highness. I swear, your brother was
not as strong as this at your age!"
The younger of the two stood straight and spoke. "Master, I have been training every day
other than our weekly sparring, and I am glad that you think I've improved."
"Yes," the older man stood up. "I believe you have. Until next week, highness?"
he stumbled out of the sparroom, heading in the direction of the infirmary. The younger man
smirked as he walked towards the towel stand and picked one up.
A small shadowed figure emerged from her spying-corner. The girl walked over to the
young man, waving a hand over her nose and laughing. "You smell worse every time I watch
you!" The boy gave her a quizzical look. "Then why do you watch my matches?" He blotted the
sweat from his brow, and wrapped the towel around his neck.
"But, Jared!" she complained, "You know that they wont let me train... like that!"
"Oh, stop whining, Seven! You could train like this if you really wanted to. I know what
you're thinking, 'what if it happens again?' But, when you actually get in there, you'll see it's
different than that. " Jared took a few steps to the great door of the place and stopped. "You
know, it gets harder every time to sneak you outta here."
Seven shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I could just leave the way I came in, but we
know what happens then, don't we?"
"I remember Father's face when he found out it was my fault the ventilation system was
destroyed. Hah, too bad they're still trying to figure out how it was blown open from the inside.
Thing is, I'm not exactly sure either. But I'm sure you'll tell me eventually. Right, Seven?"
Rolling his eyes at her blank face, Jared nodded. "C'mon, then."
The two young people crouched and sprinted through bushes and beside buildings, stopping
short when Jared suspected they were about to be discovered. He would hurl himself backward
to the wall, grabbing Seven's arm and dragging her back as well. Maybe this time will be like the
others, he thought as a rather large guard swished by where they hid.. Usually it's been no
trouble at all. They've been able to sneak back to her aunt Reuta's quarters for several weeks
now without incident. I hope our lucks holds one more time. The guard stood still for a moment,
breathing hard as if testing the air. Then he moved on. Jared thought for a moment, wondering if
the guard could tell his scent. When he heard nothing, he reached back for Seven's wrist, but it
was not there. He spun back to see that she wasn't alone. The guard had come around the back,
grabbed Seven, and was holding her fast with a large hand over her mouth, preventing her from
calling out.
"Fool!" Jared hissed, "What do you think you're doing? Don't you know who I am??" The
guard's eyes seemed to widen as he made the recollection, but he did not turn the girl loose.
After a second or two of silence, the guard gruffly answered, "I was sent by your father, boy. He
had not given up on finding out who you are with each day and why. Now I see that this" he
shook Seven -hard. "baka's has been the one that's been corrupting you, lordship."
"That's not true! It's not like that!" Jared stamped his foot. "She's not a corruption!"
"That will remain for your father to decide. You will return to your quarters and wait for
the summons." With that, the guard tossed Seven under his arm like a package and stomped off.
Seven could see Jared's face as she was taken away. He was angry, of course, but something
else, too. Afraid.
"Seven! I'll find a way out of this! Be Strong! Hang on!"
She woke again, sweat pouring down her face. She remembered what happened after
that. She had been taken to an audience before Jared's father, the King. King Vegeta had told her
in no uncertain terms that she was no longer to have anything to do with his son. Now as a
young woman, she still missed Jared, her best friend, terribly but she was older and so was he.
He was Prince Vegeta now, and she didn't need to be saiyan to feel that both were
battle-hardened and scarred from the inside out. She pulled her knees to her chin, buried her
face, and for the first time in a while, wept for her friend.
*************************************************************
The next few days were relatively uneventful for the Prince. Fruitless searches for Seven
had been conducted non-stop since General Kale had gotten the order. Every hour, a lower
warrior would come back from royal audience with a rather singed quality about him.
Apparently Vegeta had no qualms about shooting the messenger. And it was getting worse.
Vegeta knew that if they didn't find her soon, the chances of finding her alive would be nil and
none. But, tearing at his thoughts was the warrior in him demanding to know why she had to be
alive? She'd lied to him all his life, abandoned his as a boy and wasn't even a saiyan. He'd be so better off without her. That day concluded the last of the searches for Seven.
************************************************************
Seven was ravenous now! She didn't know how many days she'd been in this room. All
she knew was that she was hungry, and pitied the fool who stood in the way of a saiyan's meal.
But, you know you aren't one of his people, and so does he, doesn't he? Even starving as she was, the thought of having betrayed Jared still had her wrapped in the blankets in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth slowly alternately crying and humming to herself.
She stayed locked within her fearful side for several more minutes, letting the rage that
was bred into her build until she leaped up, let her power overtake her and fired a rather large
beam of energy at the blank wall. As the blast dissipated, small bolts of electricity snaked up
and down the impact area. Seven walked up to the blackened part of the wall and almost
touched it. (Well now, this was promising!) Then she went back to stand at her place on the
floor, powered up a second time, and fired. When it took much longer for the electric bolts to
fade away, she was further encouraged. She continued until she had blasted a fairly large hole in the wall. She let the smoke finally clear and what came to her eyes was a very strange sight.
Stepping out of the newly-created exit, she looked around at what seemed like a hallway.
Instead of clean, cold, and light-colored steel, the walls had a very dark, soft substance on it that made her hand recoil to touch it. It also looked as if it were designed for much taller beings, but the information terminals that lit up a section of corridor here and there were placed at a height that she could reach easily. It was not making any sense. After a few minutes of walking, she began to get the feeling that she was not alone, but being followed.
"It's been far too long, my child."
(What the hell!?) Seven spun around, expecting the owner of the voice to charge and
strike her, and so defended. But the tall person who was there did not strike her, but hugged her and wrapped what seemed to be a cloak around her. It wasn't tight enough for a battle embrace, or a kidnaping. But the strangest thing was the person was... crying? (What is this?)
"Who are you?" Seven asked.
"What? Don't you know- No, I guess you couldn't have." He let her go, stood up straight
so she could see his face more clearly. "I am your father. My name is For." She saw that the person had short dark hair, but nestled in the crazy locks were ... horns? Then the real shock came ... wings waved behind the man. Tall, slender things. That must account for the tall ceilings here, she half-though to herself. All this was too much. She couldn't take
anymore. Her effort from escaping the cell as she knew it to be and her ravening hunger having
drained almost all of her energy, this was more than she was prepared for. She backed up a
couple of steps, and half-whispered as she collapsed slowly to the floor, "You're dead, I saw you die...."
Chapter 1
In the traditional white boots with gold front trim, she padded into the audience chamber as
softly as she could, but still the sound of her footfalls resonated against the walls of the massive
room. At the other end was the royal throne atop many platforms that formed stairs to the floor.
Hovering over it, glaring, was her lord. Prince Vegeta. His onyx eyes glittered with intelligence,
his strong arms crossed in perpetual challenge, and his head was held high by proven pride;
arrogant down to his noble tail, swishing, bored of waiting for this meeting. She stopped ten
paces in front of the base of the throne and in one fluid motion dropped to one knee, her own
rear appendage wrapping around her feet. Lowering her head, she spoke, breaking the relative
silence,
"My Lord, Thank you for meeting with me."
His eyes scanned his subject prostrated in submission as he floated down to stand in front
of the steps, arms still crossed.
"What is the meaning of all the secrecy? Having a royal messenger request audience?
You, warrior, have never been known for formality." he said through a smirk. The words dripped
with sarcasm and he waited for her response.
"My Lord, ... I have come to ask of you something of a most personal nature- "
"Well, ask!" he growled impatiently. Then, the Prince noticed that she wore the most
pained look he'd ever seen on her face outside of battle. Surely, a personal war could not distract
a saiyan warrior of her caliber so easily, he thought, is she becoming a weakling on me? What
tempest rages behind that face?
She looked up and Vegeta could see her soul in her eyes.
"Sire, ... I wish to be destroyed."
Vegeta was taken aback and his arms fell from their place to his sides. His confusion
read plainly on his face and his tail twitched back and forth.
"I want Your Highness to defeat me," she continued. "At least in death I may have a
chance at dignity... " Her chin protruded proudly now, but it was obvious that it took effort to
make it so. He could also see by the clouded look on her face that she had fought the urge to
weep and barely won. A weakling, before his very eyes! Vegeta regained his arrogant stance, his
arms re-folding. He smirked.
"No, warrior. Not unless your reason satisfies me." The smirk faded and a small frown
replaced it on his lips. She dropped her gaze and took a breath. Exhaling, she looked up at her
sovereign again and spoke.
"A breach of honor I committed, grievous and unforgivable. I seek atonement through
battle, and defeat as my penance." (What in the name of all things saiyan could you have done
Seven?, he thought to himself.) With a single gesture of his hand, confirmed her request and bid
her rise.
Gracefully as she could through her shame, she straightened herself up as her Prince
began to walk. Soon, he stood before her.
"Power up to your maximum. It will be necessary if you wish to preserve your life. (I
don't want to do this to you, old friend...)"
"My Lord, I -" she paused, wondering if he knew how badly it hurt to be near him like
this, how much she really did want to die, and that her ascended form would reveal her
non-saiyan ancestry. Her pained look deepened.
"I do not believe that is necessary, my lord prince." To that, Vegeta was almost offended.
He arched an eyebrow at her impertinence.
"It is my will. No saiyan desires to seek help from anyone. However, you come to me,
then it shall be done my way."
" ... As you command."
With her arms at her sides, and her eyes once again to the floor, she concentrated on
letting go. The air between them shimmered with energy as her power rose sharply, light
spreading from her body like dye through a glass of water, throwing shadows that danced on the
walls. The prince just watched, unimpressed. Then she tucked in her arms close to her body and
with a shout, she let her power flare up violently as jags of blue lightning lanced through the air
surrounding her. Even Prince Vegeta had to take a step back.
"Forgive me, my lord, but are you sure you wish to see as far as I can go? It can be
dangerous. (Jared! You don't know what I am. You don't know what I can do. Please don't make
me show you!)" Sarcasm has always been Vegeta's strongest weapon, and he wielded it well.
"What? Concerned for my safety, are you? Well, don't be! Just take it as far as it can go
so I can blast your impertinent ass into the next quadrant!" he bellowed, like he could do less
than yell to be heard now.
She studied the floor once more (I had to lie to you, Jared! You wouldn't have
understood! Better me a liar than you dead at my feet, Jared...) .
"Yes, my Lord." Her hair swirled around her ethereally, but the look of regret made the
picture less pretty somehow. She now thrust her arms skyward, and cried out loudly when for a
third time, her power climbed yet again. This time, her short, warrior-style hair drew itself out of
her head as white light drowned out the scene and she reappeared with a waist-long flowing
mane of silver light. And that wasn't all. Four long black horny projections arc backward from
her forehead, almost touching the nape of her neck. Her ears had drawn upwards and acquired
pointed ends. From behind her, her tail swished into view, but instead of a slender saiyan tail, it
was wide, hairless, and reptilian. However even the horns and tail could not have prepared Jared
Vegeta for what waved in the air from her recently bulked-up shoulders. A large pair of wings
protruded behind her. And the light shone brighter still as her eyes finally changed from saiyan
black to super-saiyan teal.
Vegeta put his arms down from where he'd thrown them up as shield from the energy. He
knew now even if he didn't before that she was not one of them. She was not a saiyan. She'd lied
to him! She'd been lying to him all this time! He stared at her.
She could feel that there was more to the way he was watching her than just the light
show.
"Why didn't you tell me!?" he demanded, scowling behind him raised arm. "I should have
had you destroyed when I first thought there was something odd about you, but you kept one step
ahead of me with your distractions! Were you trying to make a fool of me?"
She looked at him, her gaze filled with regret for the truth. The truth was that this was
not her limit. She had one more transformation to go, technically. But she'd never achieved that
much energy before. She doubted that she was going to get the chance to strive for it now. "Of
course not, Sire." she lied.
"Humph!" he turned his gaze away showing his disdain. "Is that the final form? Are you
ready... for your penance, as you put it?" The waves of energy that radiated from her leveled off
and she put her arms to her sides.
"I think I am." Realistically, she did have one more form to go, but its instability and the
fact that she just couldn't do it yet prevented her. Still, I should be able to give him a good fight
as my last gift to him, she thought.
He began to power up too at that point. Light exploded from his body, making shadows
dance on the walls again. His hair changed to super-saiyan golden, his eyes to teal, and the gusts
of wind/energy made his hair wave like grass in a training field. She caught herself before she
smiled at the thought. He always looked so ... alive... so much like someone he used to be when
he did that.
"Then stand there..." He pointed to a spot in the middle of the room, about fifteen paces
behind her. She turned and walked away to re-position herself, and Vegeta whispered under his
breath, " ... and all will be forgiven."
She heard that, and spun around.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!"
The blast came very powerfully, as she was caught off-guard from what he whispered.
The large wave of energy knocked her off her feet and into the air. She slammed backward into
the wall next to the chamber door, creating a large vertical crater in the masonry. She caught
herself in mid fall by her ki and landed on her feet, tail swishing. As the smoke and dust began to
clear, she aimed the heel of her right hand at her lord. She fired off a volley of three blasts, each
one just as large as the attack she withstood. Vegeta dodged them all, first right, then left, then
right again, without moving from his spot on the floor. Damn him!
"I know that you are capable of more than that pitiful array. Show me what you can do!
Now!" he scowled, but there was something different in his eyes. He almost looked like he was
enjoying himself!
No time to analyze it now, she thought, and clapped her hands in front of her. Bringing
them apart revealed a ball of blue ki, so dense that it was heavy and hot to the touch. She
widened the gap quickly, held the ball aloft and dropped her left hand. With a shout, she hurled
it at Vegeta who launched himself into the air and flew at her, but this attack had homing on it
and turned to chase him. When he noticed this, he was surprised for only a half-moment, and
decided to maintain course. She saw that he was about to turn the tables on her, and bolted
straight up into the air. Vegeta dodged to the side and the dark ball of ki slammed into the wall,
creating another crater right next to the one she had made with her body. Then it all went black.
********************************************************************************
***************
Strong moonlight lit the walls and she realized that it must have been hours that she'd
been out of it. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up slowly and put her feet down. The floor is ice-cold
and her toes cringe as she leaned over the side of the bed to retrieve her boots. She put them on
and studied the room she'd been put in. Just an ordinary room she thought. Getting up, she began
to search for the door, her eyes narrowed as she realized there was none.
Returning to the bed and sitting heavily, she remembered part of what happened before
she arrived here. Her Lord, Prince Vegeta dodged her attacks as if she hadn't thrown any, and
turning another against her. Putting her head in her hands, she tried to remember how she got to
be in this Kami-forsaken door less room. All that came to mind was dodging upward as her own
traitorous ball of ki slams into the stonework below her.
I guess he must have knocked me out while I was occupied with that, she thought aloud.
Clever, Jared. Very clever.
*************************************************************
Seated sideways on his throne and forehead in hand, Prince Jared Vegeta half-watched
the two workers finishing the repairs from the battle he and that coward fool woman had.
Coming to him, she'd asked for a battle and just when it started to be interesting, she
disappeared! Vanished! Cowardly. Not to mention, rude. One of the workers, an almost pudgy
saiyan named Celrin, stood from his labors and walked to the bottom of the royal stairs. Here he
bowed low.
"Speak", Vegeta growled and shifted in the seat to a more normal pose.
"As your Highness can see, it is done." Celrin bowed low again.
"Yes. You may go." He waved them away with a hand. A third bow and Celrin strode out
of the throne room. Pausing, he snatched up his tools and tapped his associate, a wiry skinny
female named Reuta on the shoulder. "Lets go."
Reuta nodded silently and rose to go. She turned back to look at her lord, and then walked
quietly out of the room.
Totally alone, Vegeta thought back to the events of earlier that day. He saw her rise to
avoid the ball of ki he'd re-directed back towards her. Then in a flash, no there was no light
flashing, but she was gone in an instant. No explosion, no residual ki signature, nothing. She'd
just simply vanished. ... but why hadn't she said anything about being from somewhere else?
How did she come to be here, on Vegeta-sei? I've known she was strong ever since we were
young. She fights like a saiyan. She looks like a saiyan. Kami-dammit, she even smells like one!
But still this nagging feeling will not go away! I know there's something more than this that I
don't know. He banged the arm of the throne with his fist creating a small dent. But I will find
out!!
********************************************************************************
Having walked circles around the room, she ran her fingers down one wall and then the
next, looking for some break, some failure in the illusion by which she could tell the exit, but
there was none. Finally, she sat down in the middle of the room, tired, but still determined to
find a way out. Meditation will help me clear my head enough to think through this clearly, she
thought.
********************************************************************************
Hours passed and still she had not returned, in regular form or any other. Vegeta stood
from his throne, shooed away the servants that tended to him, and walked down the steps that led
out of the throne room. No offence, he thought as he stalked the corridors, no offence was great
enough that one would placate someone for - he sneered- help, and from him, of all people! and
then disappear without finishing what one had started... It just didn't make sense!
He strode into the courtyards, down many hallways, into the barracks to the wide eyes of
all around him, and then stopped in front of her quarters. With one look, the two guards he had
stationed at her door bowed low and then quickly left. His hand hovered over the keypanel at the
left of the portal as he pondered the indignity of what he was about to do. He closed his eyes and pressed the button. Stepping inside, he raised a fist and bellowed,
"How dare y- ..." he stopped. The room was empty. He could see that it had been so for at
least the time that she'd been with him and gone. A cold feeling in his spine told him that there was still more going on than he knew. Strutting back through the barracks, he stopped at one of his general's offices.
"Sire!" the general bowed low at sight of his lord entering the small room. "To what do I
owe the hon-"
"Can it, Kale!" The Prince folded his arms at his chest, a sign to General Kale that his
lordship was not in the mood. "I want all the information you have on the warrior called 'Seven'."
Kale's brow furrowed. "I know that one, Highness ... but why on Plant would she interest
you?? She's little more than a third-class warrior, she's never shown her superiors any more than passing respect, and what's worse is that there have been rumors of her being an... um,
extra-vegetus."
"Add coward and liar onto that, and it all seems to fit, I think." Vegeta nodded. "I should
have sensed that kind of thing. When you find her, keep her alive. I want to grant her one last
audience." he growled under his breath as he left the room, tromping back to his royal seat.
********************************************************************************
Later that night, Seven's meditation faded into a sleep very disturbed. In one of the
nightmares, she stood at the foot of the throne, shivering. It had gotten so cold all of a sudden. Then the face of her lord revealed itself within the foggy air that had just appeared around the throne. Without a sound, he leapt from his place and landed behind her. She spun around in time to witness her prince transform into the giant, towering were-ape that their kind was capable of only on full moons. The ape grabbed her as she tried to run, and held her fast as it drew her up to its face, the eyes studying her as if figuring something out. The mouth opened slightly as if something to say, but then widened hugely bellowing at her wordlessly, her body reacted as if being attacked. Her hair tore silently behind her and her outfit fought to stay on. She was being held very close to its face now. She could see that the eyes were moist and
she could start to hear that the roaring which was fading into the dream had a tremulous quality. Behind the now terrible screaming, she could hear her friend, Jared's voice. He was calling to her. Begging her, ... "Please.... Seven ... !!" Then it was black, and she was alone. And still cold. Soon, however, another dream took over her mind ... or maybe it was a memory ...
The two fighters seemed to dance on air as they spun around the sparroom, throwing
hands and feet at each other. The only sounds in the room being the punctuated yells and grunts
when one fighter struck the other. On one such strike, the taller fighter crouched down, holding
his side.
"Nnnnngh!" he gasped. "Th-that will be all for today, highness. I swear, your brother was
not as strong as this at your age!"
The younger of the two stood straight and spoke. "Master, I have been training every day
other than our weekly sparring, and I am glad that you think I've improved."
"Yes," the older man stood up. "I believe you have. Until next week, highness?"
he stumbled out of the sparroom, heading in the direction of the infirmary. The younger man
smirked as he walked towards the towel stand and picked one up.
A small shadowed figure emerged from her spying-corner. The girl walked over to the
young man, waving a hand over her nose and laughing. "You smell worse every time I watch
you!" The boy gave her a quizzical look. "Then why do you watch my matches?" He blotted the
sweat from his brow, and wrapped the towel around his neck.
"But, Jared!" she complained, "You know that they wont let me train... like that!"
"Oh, stop whining, Seven! You could train like this if you really wanted to. I know what
you're thinking, 'what if it happens again?' But, when you actually get in there, you'll see it's
different than that. " Jared took a few steps to the great door of the place and stopped. "You
know, it gets harder every time to sneak you outta here."
Seven shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I could just leave the way I came in, but we
know what happens then, don't we?"
"I remember Father's face when he found out it was my fault the ventilation system was
destroyed. Hah, too bad they're still trying to figure out how it was blown open from the inside.
Thing is, I'm not exactly sure either. But I'm sure you'll tell me eventually. Right, Seven?"
Rolling his eyes at her blank face, Jared nodded. "C'mon, then."
The two young people crouched and sprinted through bushes and beside buildings, stopping
short when Jared suspected they were about to be discovered. He would hurl himself backward
to the wall, grabbing Seven's arm and dragging her back as well. Maybe this time will be like the
others, he thought as a rather large guard swished by where they hid.. Usually it's been no
trouble at all. They've been able to sneak back to her aunt Reuta's quarters for several weeks
now without incident. I hope our lucks holds one more time. The guard stood still for a moment,
breathing hard as if testing the air. Then he moved on. Jared thought for a moment, wondering if
the guard could tell his scent. When he heard nothing, he reached back for Seven's wrist, but it
was not there. He spun back to see that she wasn't alone. The guard had come around the back,
grabbed Seven, and was holding her fast with a large hand over her mouth, preventing her from
calling out.
"Fool!" Jared hissed, "What do you think you're doing? Don't you know who I am??" The
guard's eyes seemed to widen as he made the recollection, but he did not turn the girl loose.
After a second or two of silence, the guard gruffly answered, "I was sent by your father, boy. He
had not given up on finding out who you are with each day and why. Now I see that this" he
shook Seven -hard. "baka's has been the one that's been corrupting you, lordship."
"That's not true! It's not like that!" Jared stamped his foot. "She's not a corruption!"
"That will remain for your father to decide. You will return to your quarters and wait for
the summons." With that, the guard tossed Seven under his arm like a package and stomped off.
Seven could see Jared's face as she was taken away. He was angry, of course, but something
else, too. Afraid.
"Seven! I'll find a way out of this! Be Strong! Hang on!"
She woke again, sweat pouring down her face. She remembered what happened after
that. She had been taken to an audience before Jared's father, the King. King Vegeta had told her
in no uncertain terms that she was no longer to have anything to do with his son. Now as a
young woman, she still missed Jared, her best friend, terribly but she was older and so was he.
He was Prince Vegeta now, and she didn't need to be saiyan to feel that both were
battle-hardened and scarred from the inside out. She pulled her knees to her chin, buried her
face, and for the first time in a while, wept for her friend.
*************************************************************
The next few days were relatively uneventful for the Prince. Fruitless searches for Seven
had been conducted non-stop since General Kale had gotten the order. Every hour, a lower
warrior would come back from royal audience with a rather singed quality about him.
Apparently Vegeta had no qualms about shooting the messenger. And it was getting worse.
Vegeta knew that if they didn't find her soon, the chances of finding her alive would be nil and
none. But, tearing at his thoughts was the warrior in him demanding to know why she had to be
alive? She'd lied to him all his life, abandoned his as a boy and wasn't even a saiyan. He'd be so better off without her. That day concluded the last of the searches for Seven.
************************************************************
Seven was ravenous now! She didn't know how many days she'd been in this room. All
she knew was that she was hungry, and pitied the fool who stood in the way of a saiyan's meal.
But, you know you aren't one of his people, and so does he, doesn't he? Even starving as she was, the thought of having betrayed Jared still had her wrapped in the blankets in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth slowly alternately crying and humming to herself.
She stayed locked within her fearful side for several more minutes, letting the rage that
was bred into her build until she leaped up, let her power overtake her and fired a rather large
beam of energy at the blank wall. As the blast dissipated, small bolts of electricity snaked up
and down the impact area. Seven walked up to the blackened part of the wall and almost
touched it. (Well now, this was promising!) Then she went back to stand at her place on the
floor, powered up a second time, and fired. When it took much longer for the electric bolts to
fade away, she was further encouraged. She continued until she had blasted a fairly large hole in the wall. She let the smoke finally clear and what came to her eyes was a very strange sight.
Stepping out of the newly-created exit, she looked around at what seemed like a hallway.
Instead of clean, cold, and light-colored steel, the walls had a very dark, soft substance on it that made her hand recoil to touch it. It also looked as if it were designed for much taller beings, but the information terminals that lit up a section of corridor here and there were placed at a height that she could reach easily. It was not making any sense. After a few minutes of walking, she began to get the feeling that she was not alone, but being followed.
"It's been far too long, my child."
(What the hell!?) Seven spun around, expecting the owner of the voice to charge and
strike her, and so defended. But the tall person who was there did not strike her, but hugged her and wrapped what seemed to be a cloak around her. It wasn't tight enough for a battle embrace, or a kidnaping. But the strangest thing was the person was... crying? (What is this?)
"Who are you?" Seven asked.
"What? Don't you know- No, I guess you couldn't have." He let her go, stood up straight
so she could see his face more clearly. "I am your father. My name is For." She saw that the person had short dark hair, but nestled in the crazy locks were ... horns? Then the real shock came ... wings waved behind the man. Tall, slender things. That must account for the tall ceilings here, she half-though to herself. All this was too much. She couldn't take
anymore. Her effort from escaping the cell as she knew it to be and her ravening hunger having
drained almost all of her energy, this was more than she was prepared for. She backed up a
couple of steps, and half-whispered as she collapsed slowly to the floor, "You're dead, I saw you die...."