Rise and Shine
By Duran the Gladiator
Chapter 1: Sticks and stones…
The thug that was named Tora came out of the shadows when he heard the dull thud. Probably some space junk that had entered the planet's atmosphere together with one of the ships, but he needed to investigate it a bit more. It could also be something else, like a bird that had broken its wing – that would present the young thief with food. His exploits always made him hungry, even if he mostly did nothing during the day: anything that was edible was highly welcome, for the man had an appetite no one could rival, even for a Saiyan. He eagerly sought for the fallen object, but was forced to go back to his hiding place when another ship soared over his head, preparing to land where he stood. To Tora's surprise, it was a ship similar to the one that drew his attentions earlier. From it came a few soldiers, dressed in a greenish combat suit, and a man in an attire quite similar to the royal attire of Vegeta, only this one had the colors black and red instead of blue and silver. The one wearing it seemed very young, a few years younger than him, and had the same spiky black hair as the other prince. He talked with the guards escorting him while he went along, and on impulse, Tora decided to follow them from a distance.
"Prince Goten, the King has requested you attend this together with Prince Gohan and Princess Pan. Your brother and niece are no doubt eager to see you…"
"Yeah, whatever. Dad has pretty weird ideas when it comes to things like this. I always have to attend them, but what for? I'm sure as hell not the ideal heir to his position! And…"
"Prince, it's only natural that the King wants to be sure of the continuation of the line."
"Well, I know Dane, but … hey, who's following us?!", shouted the Earth's prince as he turned around to see only trees – Tora had hidden behind one of them. "Ah, nothing… could've sworn we were being followed. C'mon, let's go, or we'll be late!"
"Goten?! Did dad actually find you?"
"Uncle, what a surprise! Did grandfather manage to get a hold of you? Were you chasing that poor Marion again?"
"Pan, not in front of Gohan…", whispered Goten to calm his overly active niece. It didn't really show that she was eighteen sometimes, but he loved her. He had seen her when she was still a child, and he had even been allowed to feed her. The past eighteen years had been very filled with her presence: Chichi and Goku had been very pleased to have a grandchild, and Gohan and Videl (a very strong human that actually chose Gohan, instead of him choosing her, as her mate) were the best parents. Goten was delighted to see his niece grow up, and after the birth of his nephew Terence, she grew into a responsible girl. Goten always kept that in mind whenever she was ranting. "I was caught up in my personal affairs, so to speak. How are you?"
"Fine. It really surprised King Vegeta to see our tails. I can't believe he thought it was just a story! Well, maybe to us it isn't…"
"Yeah. Anyway, why are you just sitting around? Aren't there supposed to be treaties to sign?"
"Yes, but the composing of the treaties has been postponed to tomorrow due to the lateness of our arrival.", stated Gohan as he walked up to his brother. "I really don't see why dad insists on your presence."
"Me neither… but hey, might as well make the most of it…", said the young prince, shrugging.
"Goten, you don't have to, you know… You know what? Stay until tomorrow, and then go back, saying we didn't really need your help.", offered Pan, knowing her uncle could desperately use an excuse. He nodded and turned to Gohan, who was of course taken aback and had no choice but to agree. Silently, he complimented his daughter for her cleverness.
"Now, the extra room is here, and there are rooms for Dane and Aqui as well…"
Goten went outside, back to the ship, to prepare it for the departure the next day. He was about to close it off again after having the launch systems recharge when he tripped and fell down on the charred grass. He turned around to see a medium-sized rock, with writing on it: "Only you can save me now!" Pondering where the rock had come from, he heard bleeps come from the spaceship: an incoming call. He ran back inside, still holding the rock.
"Hello, Goten speaking", he said as the screen lighted and showed Krillin, his fathers personal bodyguard (not that he needed one).
"Goten, I'm afraid I have bad news. Your mother has fallen ill, and needs you to come back."
"What about the treaties?"
"Ask Pan to do it, she is the most conscious one of you three. When will you be back?"
"Me and Gohan will leave tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and by the way, you were lucky I was here by chance."
"Heh, figured you'd come back after a day, so you needed to recharge the launch systems… Well, have a safe and fast trip home!"
Goten sighed. Chichi was always very concerned of her own health but this sounded serious, even more because she had never called them back from a mission before. He shook his head – and noticed the stone he still held.
"Little bugger", he whispered, "without you I'd be gone when Krillin called…"
The next day, even before Gohan and Goten left the castle, Bra had finally found a way to escape her years of confinement. She got her hands on one of the dresses the servant girls wore in their spare time and slipped out of the castle. On the square, people were very busy in their chores, or just walking around, enjoying the calm of the morning. She decided to ask someone about the woods.
"Excuse me, miss, but what is the nearest village? I want to minimalize my journey through the forest as much as possible."
"And right you are, girl. The nearest village is Persom. Say, are you one of the servants? I haven't seen you before…"
"Oh, my name is… Gale. I'm one of the servants the delegates brought with them. It's the dress, isn't it? One of the servants here gave it to me after my own dress was torn."
"Ah, you're probably one of the servants from the delegates from Earth then? Preparing their journey, are you? Well, good luck while crossing the forest – you'll need it!", said the old lady she had asked directions. She bowed, as every servant was supposed to do, and hurried through the gates, onto the road leading into the forest. She was free! Now, to find the village…
She had wandered through the vast woods for two hours when she heard voices.
"Tora, the raid is planned for tomorrow. In, out, don't kill anyone, just plunder the treasure room a bit."
"Yeah, yeah, Fern… any special requests maybe?"
"Hah hah…" Bra then heard footsteps leading her way. Frantically searching for a place to hide, she found one in an opened spaceship. The footsteps passed her, fortunately none of the thugs noticed the spaceship being open. When their footsteps had died out, she sighed and searched the vessel. It had all the possible luxury, and seemed a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. One of the rooms was clearly never used, although it was in fine state. Bra rested herself on the bed after closing the door and fell into a peaceful sleep…
"Goten, you nitwit! Did you forget to close the spaceship after leaving?!"
"Sorry… I had other things on my mind, can you blame me?"
"Hey, I'll miss you guys! You sure I'll be as good a delegate as you, dad?"
"Pretty sure. Don't worry, your diplomatic skills are nigh perfect and your common sense is right most of the times. You'll make all of us proud!"
"Know that. Love you, dad. See you, uncle Goten!", said Pan, seeing the two off. Aqui had stayed behind to be her bodyguard. He escorted her to the palace again, talking the fear of failing her father out of her head on the way.
"Queen Bulma!", said one of the servant supervisors. "I'm afraid one of the maids told me Princess Bra has escaped her confinement."
"What, she got out of her room? Why didn't anyone notice?! Stop all space traffic, maybe she's trying to flee the planet!"
"Okay, Queen…", stammered the poor man, defenceless before her anger. The Princess had been kept in confinement ever since she was born, and nearly no one knew about her except for a few maids and maybe two or three people outside the castle: it was pretty easy for her to go outside without anyone knowing who she was and why she was running away. "But the delegates from Earth have left..."
"What for?", said Bulma, raiding an eyebrow.
"They did not say. However, the princess, Pan, has stayed behind."
"Question her when you see her. Maybe the delegates from Earth have something to do with my daughter's disappearance. Meanwhile, let someone search for her ki. If she's found, let her be brought back here."
The supervisor went outside, and came back half an hour later, when the King was informed as well.
"My King and Queen, she is nowhere to be found! Are you sure she hasn't learnt to mask her ki? I've let all the sensers search for her, but even the most sensitive couldn't pick anything up. Or yes, maybe some faint vibrations in the forest… but she wasn't even 100% sure it was the Princess' ki!"
"Where could she sense those vibrations?"
"At the landing grounds. Are you insinuating…?"
"Yes", said Vegeta, looking very angry.
Pan was laughing softly with her companion's remarks.
"And then she walked over a hot air outlet, and her skirt fluttered merrily into her face! Yes, and that was the last time Princess Videl ever wore a skirt without underwear… Huh?"
Both of them were abruptly stopped in their tracks by a small group of soldiers coming their way. "What's going on?"
"Princess Pan, soldier, you are both to come with us. You are suspected of kidnapping Princess Bra."
AN: Ooh, what a way to end a chapter, isn't it? Don't let this quick update deceive you though, I usually have little time to write and am known to be a very irregular updater. Anyway, I named our very familiar lavender-haired guy "Tora" because it's a short form of Torankusu (or is it Toranksu? Never knew for sure…) and I found out yesterday that it's supposed to mean "tiger". His friend Fern is named after the plant. Any other questions/remarks/praises/random rantings you want to share with me? Drop me a line, and I'll gladly respond! Well, hope to have another chapter ready real soon… sayonara minna!