Bardock sat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. He'd sat there all night in a half daze; he couldn't sleep and drove Kakkarot half insane with his mumbling and pacing. He chose to sit and think and let Kakkarot get some sleep, he still had one son's good will to look out for. Scenes of the night's events kept replaying in his mind, he knew it was all true and there was nothing he could have done to change any events but it hurt his heart all the same.
Kakkarot crept into the kitchen, leaning into the archway and rubbed the sleep from one eye as he watched his father staring at the walls. He had thought of ways to help his father, and himself, overcome the loss of Radditz. He thought of blood battle, but those didn't count in times of war, it was strictly forbidden. It was the way of war to lose men, and to fight countless enemies for an uncertain death of a loved one was foolish. The only thing to bring them solace now was to find his body, and then they could bury him properly with the rights and honors of a man of war.
Kakkarot walked to the table and drew a chair to sit in across from his father. He said nothing, only waiting to be acknowledged when his father finally broke of his thoughts. He sat in silence for nearly an hour, watching his father's every twitch and listening to every sigh or grunt when he finally noticed his son sitting across from him.
"How long have you been watching me?" Bardock rubbed his jaw and stretched his neck feeling several satisfying pops.
"Only an hour." Kakkarot's stomach rumbled, "Well due for breakfast I think." He grinned at his father who tried to smile back but faltered and didn't bother to try again. "Come on, lets go hunting. Then you can finally kill something and I can eat." Kakkarot stood and grasped his father by the arm. Bardock looked up into his son's face, a mirror reflection of his own and gave him a weary smile before following him into the forest.
*~*~*~*
As Nappa's family worked in the garden, Radditz had gone to his room and packed what few things he had. All in all it was a pair of clean clothes Nappa had given him, the jar of tar and the bottle of remover, and what was left of his tattered uniform. Lunna had cleaned it the best she could but the ragged clothing wasn't long left for this world as the stitches slowly let go and shreds of cloth fell off without warning. Radditz had decided he would no longer stay here, it had been only a day and a half but he wasn't some homeless bum, he had a father and brother who were probably fuming with bloodlust by now. He grinned as he thought of them, how they looked identical and yet their personalities clashed. He shook his head to clear away the thought and walked out of the small house into bright early noon sunshine.
"Ready to leave are ya?" Lunna stood from a row of peas and wiped her hands on her skirts. Radditz nodded. "Well, ya canno' leave without taking some food." She smiled and turned to face the far end of the garden where Nappa and Bite were wrestling on the ground over the last turnip, Radditz could hear Bite shriek and giggle as he father feigned to lose and started to chase him down the row. Radditz watched in awe of how the big man was so gentle with the wiry young boy, he tried to imagine what he was like with their eldest son but a pang of guilt hurt his heart and he tried not to think about it.
"Bite!" Lunna's soft voice reached the young boys ears and he turned to face her with a big grin on his face. "Go on and git tha' basket for me over there." She pointed to the corner of the field where a medium sized basket overflowed with food. Bite nodded and turned to get it when Nappa put a large hand over his face and smirked saying 'Tha's a man's job…not for you boy.' And began running at the basket with Bite clinging to one leg and beating at his father the entire way.
"They're both jus' chil'ren." Lunna smiled and watched them the love in her eyes made Radditz smile too as he watched Nappa stumble and fall leaving Bite to retrieve the basket. "Now you two stop yer foolin'! Don't you spill nothin' outa tha' basket or I'll whoop ya both!" Lunna called, Nappa grinned huge and replied with a booming 'yes, ma'am' and Bite triumphantly carried the basket down the field and set it at Radditz' feet.
"There, now you take tha' with you and when you finally git home you tell yer father to come fer a visit some time." Radditz nodded and hugged the small fragile woman quickly and grasped Nappa by the forearm and shook it.
"I appreciate what you've done for me, I'll be back one day." Bite grinned and Radditz ruffled his hair with one meaty paw.
As he left the gate outside the house, the little family was watching him go and waved before reluctantly returning back to the work at hand. Radditz sighed as he heard a shriek from Bite and a roar from Nappa as he chased him back up the field. He missed the days when he was young, and he missed his family more than he could ever remember before.
*~*~*~*
Vegeta had wound his way through the forest and came to a roadside that split into two directions. After looking carefully at his options he chose the more traveled path, walking at a steady pace and shaking leaves and twigs from his hair. He felt better about the recent events. He tried not to lie to himself to feel better, but he accepted what he couldn't change and fumed that his father wouldn't let him change it.
The air had grown steadily warmer as the sun rose to noon strength, the smell of flowers, fruits and earth strong and heady. Vegeta took a deep breath and sighed contentedly, _Maybe this was all I needed. _ He snatched a low hanging fruit from a tree as he walked by, slicing open the soft skin with his teeth and sucking on the juices before taking the first bite. Sweet ambrosia ran across his taste buds, the soft fruit was appealing and in two minutes was devoured to the pit. Vegeta licked his lips where light trails of sugar had dried, and snatched another from a nearby tree and looked at its reddish-brown skin before taking a large bite. As he chewed the taste diminished with a bitter aftertaste. As he took a second bite a sour explosion dried his mouth and he coughed, suddenly dizzy he leaned on a tree and looked at the fruit in his hand as his eyes fuzzed over and he collapsed.
~"Vegeta, keep your guard up boy. No, dammit!" King Vegeta cuffed his son in the head sending him sprawling into the far corner of the training arena. As Vegeta stood and grumbled to himself his father walked toward him, a look of disgust on his face. "When will you ever learn? A man needs to take care of himself, you think there will be guards watching out for you all the time? You need to focus." Vegeta looked at his feet, a flush of anger rising in his cheeks as his father's discouraging words rattled him. "This is why you can't be a good king." The last words snapped him to attention and stung as though his father had backhanded him across the face.
King Vegeta turned and walked away. Vegeta watched him leave, slow haggard breaths ripped from his chest as he clenched his fists and clamped his eyes shut. He began to growl, inaudible to even sayajin ears at first but it grew and the bass shook the walls of the arena. King Vegeta turned in the doorway and watched as his son fell to his knees in the silted sand and screamed until just hearing it made his own vocal chords raw. He began to walk toward his son, whether to pummel him or solace him he wasn't sure, when a flicker caught his attention. He shook his head and watched his son again, there it was, a golden flicker. "Father!" King Vegeta's eyes widened as his son looked up, his eyes now cornflower blue with flickering spikes of gold running through his upswept hair. He stood, chest puffed out and a glowing aura pulsating the air, "Nothing is ever good enough for you is it?" His voice dropped an octave as the aura strengthened, sand flying in plumes and hair a rippling gold. "Not even a son who can turn super sayajin?!" King Vegeta's eyes bulged as Vegeta stalked toward him, tail flicking out behind him. "I am the alpha male!"
A quick blur and Vegeta gasped for air, the aura faded and his hair fell forward back to its ebony luster. King Vegeta gave another firm tug on Vegeta's tail, hearing a yelp as the boy collapsed to the sand unconscious. "Impressive...but not quite good enough, ne Vegeta?"~
A strong slap brought Vegeta from his sleep, the harsh glare of noon sun burning into his eyes. He struggled to sit in the ditch where he had fallen, a strong hand clasped his shoulder and helped heave him from the ground. Vegeta spun, intent on berating the person for helping him up when he hadn't needed it, but his head said different as it spun on. He pushed his fingers into his temples trying to stop the reeling when a soft yet strong voice murmured, "Put a hand on the tree behind you and spread your feet apart a bit…it'll bring the earth back into focus." Carefully Vegeta reached for the tree behind him and felt the rough texture of bark under his palm before widening his stance. Within seconds the spinning slowed and the world came back to a stand still.
Vegeta blinked several times, unsure whether to let go of the tree or not when the voice from beside him spoke again with a hint of humor, "It's alright. You can let go now." Vegeta looked toward the voice and was eye level with a broad chest. Looking up he saw sharp features on a roughed up but handsome face a deep cut running across one cheekbone and thick black hair pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. Cautiously he let go of the tree and stepped back onto the roadway, looking back at the sun he knew he had been out for nearly three hours.
"Are you alright to walk or do you need a few more minutes?" Vegeta looked at the large man, the corner of his mouth pulled up into a light smirk.
"Hnnn…" Vegeta stepped forward on the pathway, a small grunt of acceptance from the man behind him before he followed. "Who are you anyway, some sort of savior? Or do you enjoy running around the woods and slapping people while they sleep?"
A low rumble of laughter was suppressed behind him, Vegeta turned and looked at the man, arms across his chest in normal defensive posture. The man shifted a heavy loaded basket from one hand to the other and eyed Vegeta carefully before answering. "I am Radditz and I am certainly no savior."
Squinting up at him, Vegeta grunted in response. "So you just slap around napping people then?"
Radditz small smile fell, pulling his lips tight across his teeth he set his jaw and scowled down at the small man. "No."
Vegeta smirked, he enjoyed getting a rise out of this mammoth. "Then what is your excuse for waking me?"
"I thought you were in trouble." Radditz' scowl deepened and he curled up the corner of his lip into a minute snarl just showing a sharp k-nine.
Vegeta snorted, "You thought I was in trouble…how noble of you." He turned and began to walk the pathway again. The once soft voice grew hard with a steely edge when it called to him.
"At least I know the difference between a mango and a jakata fruit." Vegeta stopped in his tracks and turned again, this time the man had plucked two pieces of fruit from the low bows and tossed them to Vegeta. Catching them with ease he studied the two, both looked very similar only one had a slightly darker skin and a rougher exterior. "The one in your left hand is a mango, the one in your right is a jakata. You had half a jakata in your hand when I woke you, you're lucky to be alive."
Vegeta squeezed the pieces until they split and fell to pulp and then resumed a steady pace on the trail. Several minutes had passed before he noticed that Radditz was following him. "What do you want? Waiting for me to thank you?" Vegeta called over his shoulder without slowing.
"Hardly," Radditz voice again was soft and strong, "I'm going to the city, and this is the only path that leads into it."
Speeding up his pace, Vegeta's tail lashed behind him as he thought of days past, for some odd reason he couldn't seem to stop thinking of that last scene of battle when the faceless man fell to the ground.
Kakkarot crept into the kitchen, leaning into the archway and rubbed the sleep from one eye as he watched his father staring at the walls. He had thought of ways to help his father, and himself, overcome the loss of Radditz. He thought of blood battle, but those didn't count in times of war, it was strictly forbidden. It was the way of war to lose men, and to fight countless enemies for an uncertain death of a loved one was foolish. The only thing to bring them solace now was to find his body, and then they could bury him properly with the rights and honors of a man of war.
Kakkarot walked to the table and drew a chair to sit in across from his father. He said nothing, only waiting to be acknowledged when his father finally broke of his thoughts. He sat in silence for nearly an hour, watching his father's every twitch and listening to every sigh or grunt when he finally noticed his son sitting across from him.
"How long have you been watching me?" Bardock rubbed his jaw and stretched his neck feeling several satisfying pops.
"Only an hour." Kakkarot's stomach rumbled, "Well due for breakfast I think." He grinned at his father who tried to smile back but faltered and didn't bother to try again. "Come on, lets go hunting. Then you can finally kill something and I can eat." Kakkarot stood and grasped his father by the arm. Bardock looked up into his son's face, a mirror reflection of his own and gave him a weary smile before following him into the forest.
*~*~*~*
As Nappa's family worked in the garden, Radditz had gone to his room and packed what few things he had. All in all it was a pair of clean clothes Nappa had given him, the jar of tar and the bottle of remover, and what was left of his tattered uniform. Lunna had cleaned it the best she could but the ragged clothing wasn't long left for this world as the stitches slowly let go and shreds of cloth fell off without warning. Radditz had decided he would no longer stay here, it had been only a day and a half but he wasn't some homeless bum, he had a father and brother who were probably fuming with bloodlust by now. He grinned as he thought of them, how they looked identical and yet their personalities clashed. He shook his head to clear away the thought and walked out of the small house into bright early noon sunshine.
"Ready to leave are ya?" Lunna stood from a row of peas and wiped her hands on her skirts. Radditz nodded. "Well, ya canno' leave without taking some food." She smiled and turned to face the far end of the garden where Nappa and Bite were wrestling on the ground over the last turnip, Radditz could hear Bite shriek and giggle as he father feigned to lose and started to chase him down the row. Radditz watched in awe of how the big man was so gentle with the wiry young boy, he tried to imagine what he was like with their eldest son but a pang of guilt hurt his heart and he tried not to think about it.
"Bite!" Lunna's soft voice reached the young boys ears and he turned to face her with a big grin on his face. "Go on and git tha' basket for me over there." She pointed to the corner of the field where a medium sized basket overflowed with food. Bite nodded and turned to get it when Nappa put a large hand over his face and smirked saying 'Tha's a man's job…not for you boy.' And began running at the basket with Bite clinging to one leg and beating at his father the entire way.
"They're both jus' chil'ren." Lunna smiled and watched them the love in her eyes made Radditz smile too as he watched Nappa stumble and fall leaving Bite to retrieve the basket. "Now you two stop yer foolin'! Don't you spill nothin' outa tha' basket or I'll whoop ya both!" Lunna called, Nappa grinned huge and replied with a booming 'yes, ma'am' and Bite triumphantly carried the basket down the field and set it at Radditz' feet.
"There, now you take tha' with you and when you finally git home you tell yer father to come fer a visit some time." Radditz nodded and hugged the small fragile woman quickly and grasped Nappa by the forearm and shook it.
"I appreciate what you've done for me, I'll be back one day." Bite grinned and Radditz ruffled his hair with one meaty paw.
As he left the gate outside the house, the little family was watching him go and waved before reluctantly returning back to the work at hand. Radditz sighed as he heard a shriek from Bite and a roar from Nappa as he chased him back up the field. He missed the days when he was young, and he missed his family more than he could ever remember before.
*~*~*~*
Vegeta had wound his way through the forest and came to a roadside that split into two directions. After looking carefully at his options he chose the more traveled path, walking at a steady pace and shaking leaves and twigs from his hair. He felt better about the recent events. He tried not to lie to himself to feel better, but he accepted what he couldn't change and fumed that his father wouldn't let him change it.
The air had grown steadily warmer as the sun rose to noon strength, the smell of flowers, fruits and earth strong and heady. Vegeta took a deep breath and sighed contentedly, _Maybe this was all I needed. _ He snatched a low hanging fruit from a tree as he walked by, slicing open the soft skin with his teeth and sucking on the juices before taking the first bite. Sweet ambrosia ran across his taste buds, the soft fruit was appealing and in two minutes was devoured to the pit. Vegeta licked his lips where light trails of sugar had dried, and snatched another from a nearby tree and looked at its reddish-brown skin before taking a large bite. As he chewed the taste diminished with a bitter aftertaste. As he took a second bite a sour explosion dried his mouth and he coughed, suddenly dizzy he leaned on a tree and looked at the fruit in his hand as his eyes fuzzed over and he collapsed.
~"Vegeta, keep your guard up boy. No, dammit!" King Vegeta cuffed his son in the head sending him sprawling into the far corner of the training arena. As Vegeta stood and grumbled to himself his father walked toward him, a look of disgust on his face. "When will you ever learn? A man needs to take care of himself, you think there will be guards watching out for you all the time? You need to focus." Vegeta looked at his feet, a flush of anger rising in his cheeks as his father's discouraging words rattled him. "This is why you can't be a good king." The last words snapped him to attention and stung as though his father had backhanded him across the face.
King Vegeta turned and walked away. Vegeta watched him leave, slow haggard breaths ripped from his chest as he clenched his fists and clamped his eyes shut. He began to growl, inaudible to even sayajin ears at first but it grew and the bass shook the walls of the arena. King Vegeta turned in the doorway and watched as his son fell to his knees in the silted sand and screamed until just hearing it made his own vocal chords raw. He began to walk toward his son, whether to pummel him or solace him he wasn't sure, when a flicker caught his attention. He shook his head and watched his son again, there it was, a golden flicker. "Father!" King Vegeta's eyes widened as his son looked up, his eyes now cornflower blue with flickering spikes of gold running through his upswept hair. He stood, chest puffed out and a glowing aura pulsating the air, "Nothing is ever good enough for you is it?" His voice dropped an octave as the aura strengthened, sand flying in plumes and hair a rippling gold. "Not even a son who can turn super sayajin?!" King Vegeta's eyes bulged as Vegeta stalked toward him, tail flicking out behind him. "I am the alpha male!"
A quick blur and Vegeta gasped for air, the aura faded and his hair fell forward back to its ebony luster. King Vegeta gave another firm tug on Vegeta's tail, hearing a yelp as the boy collapsed to the sand unconscious. "Impressive...but not quite good enough, ne Vegeta?"~
A strong slap brought Vegeta from his sleep, the harsh glare of noon sun burning into his eyes. He struggled to sit in the ditch where he had fallen, a strong hand clasped his shoulder and helped heave him from the ground. Vegeta spun, intent on berating the person for helping him up when he hadn't needed it, but his head said different as it spun on. He pushed his fingers into his temples trying to stop the reeling when a soft yet strong voice murmured, "Put a hand on the tree behind you and spread your feet apart a bit…it'll bring the earth back into focus." Carefully Vegeta reached for the tree behind him and felt the rough texture of bark under his palm before widening his stance. Within seconds the spinning slowed and the world came back to a stand still.
Vegeta blinked several times, unsure whether to let go of the tree or not when the voice from beside him spoke again with a hint of humor, "It's alright. You can let go now." Vegeta looked toward the voice and was eye level with a broad chest. Looking up he saw sharp features on a roughed up but handsome face a deep cut running across one cheekbone and thick black hair pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. Cautiously he let go of the tree and stepped back onto the roadway, looking back at the sun he knew he had been out for nearly three hours.
"Are you alright to walk or do you need a few more minutes?" Vegeta looked at the large man, the corner of his mouth pulled up into a light smirk.
"Hnnn…" Vegeta stepped forward on the pathway, a small grunt of acceptance from the man behind him before he followed. "Who are you anyway, some sort of savior? Or do you enjoy running around the woods and slapping people while they sleep?"
A low rumble of laughter was suppressed behind him, Vegeta turned and looked at the man, arms across his chest in normal defensive posture. The man shifted a heavy loaded basket from one hand to the other and eyed Vegeta carefully before answering. "I am Radditz and I am certainly no savior."
Squinting up at him, Vegeta grunted in response. "So you just slap around napping people then?"
Radditz small smile fell, pulling his lips tight across his teeth he set his jaw and scowled down at the small man. "No."
Vegeta smirked, he enjoyed getting a rise out of this mammoth. "Then what is your excuse for waking me?"
"I thought you were in trouble." Radditz' scowl deepened and he curled up the corner of his lip into a minute snarl just showing a sharp k-nine.
Vegeta snorted, "You thought I was in trouble…how noble of you." He turned and began to walk the pathway again. The once soft voice grew hard with a steely edge when it called to him.
"At least I know the difference between a mango and a jakata fruit." Vegeta stopped in his tracks and turned again, this time the man had plucked two pieces of fruit from the low bows and tossed them to Vegeta. Catching them with ease he studied the two, both looked very similar only one had a slightly darker skin and a rougher exterior. "The one in your left hand is a mango, the one in your right is a jakata. You had half a jakata in your hand when I woke you, you're lucky to be alive."
Vegeta squeezed the pieces until they split and fell to pulp and then resumed a steady pace on the trail. Several minutes had passed before he noticed that Radditz was following him. "What do you want? Waiting for me to thank you?" Vegeta called over his shoulder without slowing.
"Hardly," Radditz voice again was soft and strong, "I'm going to the city, and this is the only path that leads into it."
Speeding up his pace, Vegeta's tail lashed behind him as he thought of days past, for some odd reason he couldn't seem to stop thinking of that last scene of battle when the faceless man fell to the ground.