"Wicked Game" Ch. 16

By Shawna

She was in pain. A lot of pain.

She stumbled through the howling wind, she could not even open her eyes against the stinging dirt that struck her eyelids. That banshee shriek, the one from the amber-eyed, purple-haired demon, filled the air around her. Deep, throaty hiccups rose from her stomach and then she retched, vomiting onto the ground before her, hearing the sickening splatter of it. Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth, she continued, not really knowing where she was going, only that she could not just stand still.

Abruptly, the wind died, everything went deadly calm. She opened her eyes tentatively. Nothing but blackness surrounded her. The pain in her stomach, so bad it caused her to double over, vanished. She was left completely alone. Even the demon that so haunted her had disappeared. She whirled around a few times, calling out to someone, seeing nothing. Calling to Vegeta. And then, calling to herself.

Katsu came awake with a start, sweating, gasping. Blackness pressed in around her and she thought the dream had been real, panic filled her, but then her eyes adjusted, her mind cleared, and she could see and hear the other servants sleeping around her. She was on her cot, in the servants' quarters. Of course.

She collapsed back onto her pillow with a sigh. She had no idea what time it was, but only a trace of light crept in the thin window near the ceiling, and so dawn was not yet even approaching. Tonight was the fourth night she had spent alone. It was bad enough that she had to sleep on this wretched cot after growing accustomed to Vegeta's wonderfully soft bed, but on top of that, she missed him terribly. Even she could not understand this; could not understand what there was to miss about him. All he did was insult her, treat her disrespectfully, make her work for him, and...

Always give me what I want.

This was true; he always did touch her the way she wanted, let her sleep in his bed like she wanted, cuddle up to him just how she wanted. He was far more good to her than she ever gave him credit for.

Good to you? A cold voice spoke in her mind. He's the reason you're still a slave here! He keeps you like a pet; you've even got a collar!

Instinctively, her hands went to the collar, still wrapped around her neck, a beacon of her bondage. Her fingers tightened around it. Cold as this second voice was, it too spoke the truth. Things had been different though, lately; or so she thought. Maybe she was just looking at Vegeta differently now, glossing over his negative qualities as she became more fond of him. That sounded oddly like something she would do, something she wanted to do simply to make her situation here seem more bearable.

She brooded over this for hours, until dawn crept in and the other servants began to move about.

"Katsu," Shiro was beside her, stroking her hair. "Wake up, Katsu," he said. "Prince Vegeta is coming back today. We've got to make his room look nice."

Katsu's stomach jumped into her throat. Vegeta was coming back today. A thrill ran through her; tonight she would see him again.

The day dragged, all she could do was look forward to being with Vegeta again. Her body ached for his touch, and the warmth and comfort of his bed. That night, she stole up the stairs, not even waiting for him to call her, only anxious to see him again.

She opened his door slowly, holding her breath, confused by her excitement at the thought of seeing him again. There he was, standing in the middle of the room, looking at her, smirking; obviously he had known she would come without his calling. She bit her lip, stayed in control long enough to shut the door behind her, and then she broke into a near run, rushing at him, jumping into his arms, wrapping her legs around him. She breathed deeply of his scent, masculine and strangely erotic. She did not kiss him, it did not seem important to do so; she merely pressed herself against him, glad to be in contact with him again. How she had missed the feel of his firm muscles, the gentle heat of his body. Her fingers traced over his face as she ran her lips across his neck, pausing at the prominent vein, feeling the gentle beat of his pulse against her lips. His hands trailed down her back.

"I've missed your body," he said.

Katsu chose to ignore this comment. "I've missed you," she breathed, and this seemed to take him by surprise. For a moment he did not move, and then his arms tightened around her back, and he carried her to the bed. He laid her down on it before collapsing heavily on it himself. She went immediately to him, brushing her lips softly across his throat as she began unbuttoning his shirt. He leaned back on the pillows, his face almost quizzical as he watched her open his shirt and press her lips to his chest.

Katsu trailed her lips across his stomach before lifting her head. Her hands reached out and traced along his arm, before lifting his hand to her lips. She kissed each of his fingertips softly, rubbed his palm against her cheek, and then touched her lips to his wrist. His fingers twitched; he was a bit ticklish at this spot, apparently, and with a grin Katsu blew gently on the white skin before her lips. His arm shook slightly in her grasp. Before the spot bothered him too much, she ran her tongue roughly across it before continuing to trail her lips up his arm. When she reached the top, she let her teeth sink gently into his shoulder. He gasped. Her fingers danced lightly across his chest, moving down to unbuckle his pants and push them down. She traced the line of his hipbone with gently caressing fingertips. A moment later, she shifted position, allowing her to follow the path of her fingers with her tongue; faintly, delicately. Vegeta's breath came in long gasps. His muscles twitched beneath her touch. Her tongue journeyed back upward, back to his neck, along his jawline, and then softly across the line of his bottom lip. For a moment, Katsu stared into his eyes, and then she covered his lips with her own.

Neither of them could be sure how long the kiss lasted, but they both gasped for air when they finally broke apart. A smile crossed Katsu's lips as she stared down at Vegeta with dewy eyes.

"No one has ever touched me like that," he whispered. "So gently... Delicately, as though I were something that could be broken."

"And you've never touched anyone like that, either," Katsu said significantly, seeing by his eyes that he instantly understood what she was saying.

"Is that how you want to be touched?" He asked. "Is that what you like?"

"Not all the time," she replied, her voice dropping. "Most of the time I'm excited by the way you do things, but sometimes it might be nice if..." She laid her head down on his chest, not wanting to look into his eyes when she spoke her next words. "If you would make love to me."

Katsu felt his breath catch in his chest. For a moment, neither of them moved. Vegeta's hand came up slowly after this pause, gripped her shoulder and flipped her over, onto her back beside him. He rolled onto his side, facing her.

"I think you're getting the wrong idea about this relationship," he said, his voice stern and serious, his eyes somewhere between angry and sad.

"I didn't mean we have to be in love," she whispered. "Only that I want you to make love to me sometimes. All that means is I want you to go slow, be sensual. You do know how to be intimate, don't you? I know you never have..."

A flush settled lightly on Vegeta's cheeks. "You don't know that," he said petulantly.

Katsu smiled gently, knowingly. Vegeta gritted his teeth and growled softly.

"Shh," Katsu said through her grin, placing her palm gently on his cheek. "I'm not making fun of you or anything. I know why you aren't intimate with your partners. I can teach you. It will be exciting."

He flipped over, putting his back to her. "I don't need you to teach me anything."

Katsu's grin did not falter. She reached out, took the base of his tail in one of her hands and began stroking it gently with the other. A shudder went through his body and she laughed lightly, leaning forward to run her tongue along the back of his neck.

"This feels good, doesn't it?" She purred into his ear. He did not respond. "You can't tell me it doesn't."

Silence hung in the air, broken only by Vegeta's gasping breaths. Katsu kept one hand on his tail and slid the other up his back, rubbing his shoulder blade as she nibbled on his neck. He stayed still for a few more seconds and then he flipped over quickly, startling her as he pinned her down.

He took a deep breath, not looking her in the eyes. "Alright," he said. "I'll try things your way this once. So show me."

* * *

The next morning, Katsu woke with her head on Vegeta's chest and her body pressed up against his. A smile came over her lips and she snuggled up closer to him. Her muscles were not sore today; she felt no pain at all, only a pleasant sensation low in her body. The two of them had spent hours just touching each other, becoming more intimately acquainted than they could have ever become the way they had been doing things before. Vegeta had let go of his reluctance after a while, and Katsu felt happy about what she felt she had accomplished.

Under her, Vegeta's chest rose sharply as he yawned, coming awake. Katsu grinned and kissed his chest gently.

"I slept well," he said softly. "Apparently you did too, its way after dawn."

Katsu started at this, her eyes going to the window. Sure enough, warm sunlight was pouring in through the crack between the drapes. She bolted out of the bed, tripping and nearly falling over, her hand slapping down on the bedside table to help her catch her balance as she fumbled for her dress.

"Get back in bed," Vegeta said, sounding amused. "You might as well now. I'll think of some excuse for you."

Katsu hesitated, holding her dress in her hands for a moment before letting it slide from her grasp as she climbed back into the bed and curled back up next to Vegeta.

She had just gotten comfortable beside him when there was a knock on his door. Katsu's eyes went wide, her gaze meeting Vegeta's equally startled face. He opened his mouth to call out.

"Don't-"

It was too late, the door was already swinging open. The blankets were on the floor; there was nothing Katsu could do to conceal herself as Shiro entered the room.

"You rang, Prince..." Shiro trailed off, his mouth falling open at the sight of Katsu lying naked next to Vegeta in his bed. "K-Katsu?" He stammered, looking hurt. "What..."

"I didn't ring for you," Vegeta said through gritted teeth.

"But..." Shiro gestured weakly toward his wrist cuff.

"I didn't-" Vegeta started to say again, but then he looked at Katsu and then at the bedside table. The callink he used to call his servants was sitting on it; Katsu had hit when she had put her hand o the table to catch her balance. Vegeta pressed a hand to his eyes.

"Turn around," he said sternly to Shiro. "Get out of here, shut the door and forget what you just saw."

Shiro nodded dumbly but did not move. Katsu moved her head in the direction of the door, her eyes pleading with Shiro to just do as Vegeta had asked. He took a tiny step backwards, his eyes still riveted on the two of them.

Abruptly, Vegeta raised his arm, holding his hand up towards Shiro. A second before it happened, Katsu knew what he was going to do. She raised her hands to grab his arm and stop him, but she was not fast enough. A beam of pure energy shot out of Vegeta's hand and Shiro, caught offguard, had no time to get out of the way. The beam struck him in the gut, doubling him over with a cry.

"Vegeta!" Katsu screamed, grabbing his arm and digging in her nails. "What did you just do to him?"
Vegeta ignored her, raising his hand again. "No!" Katsu screamed, pulling on his arm, trying to bring it down, but he easily overpowered her and shot another bolt at Shiro. Shiro straightened up, trying to move backwards, but the beam hit him squarely in the chest and sent him straight to the floor.

"No!" Katsu screamed, flying out of the bed and rushing towards Shiro. She dropped to her knees beside him, placing her hand on his neck, horrified at the sight of his burned flesh and sickened by the smell of it. Her hand felt clumsily along his neck in her panic.

"He's dead!" She cried, jumping to her feet. "Dead! You killed him!"

Vegeta was staring at Shiro's lightly smoking body. "He shouldn't be dead," he said. "If he is, he was weak."

Katsu stared at Vegeta, aghast, and then looked back at Shiro. Rage began to build in her, white hot and almost painful, a rage more powerful than any she had felt before. Shiro had been her friend, he had helped her get through the shock of first arriving on this planet. Vegeta had killed him in one swift stroke, without a second thought. It was her fault that Shiro had come here, her fault that he was dead now.

She threw back her head and screamed, a high-pitched banshee sound that was familiar to her. She almost placed it, and a shock of memory went through her, but then blinding pain tore her apart and she lost conscious thought as she dropped to the ground, still screaming. Her eyes were wide open but unseeing; she heard a crackle that sounded like all of her bones breaking. She struggled to regain her focus, to see, but her eyes seemed clouded over with amber fog.

Her screams continued, and she did not know what was happening to her. It all seemed vaguely familiar, somewhere in the back of her mind, but she could not sort it out in her brain; especially not know, while fire was running through her and all she could think was pain. The fog cleared suddenly from her eyes, in time for her to see her hand, covered in pale brown fur, sprouting long claws from the ends of her fingers. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see it, still screaming, but the scream did not even sound like her own any more.

The pain stopped, and she collapsed to the ground. She felt very separate from herself, as though she was seeing out of someone else's eyes. Her vision showed the floor, then the walls, that seemed to be moving down before she realized that she was getting up. Her vision shook, she felt the shake in her body and then she shrieked again, an ear-splitting sound. One of her hands came up, gripped the smooth metal around her neck, and ripped it right off, letting it fall to the floor. Her gaze fell on Shiro, lying on the floor, and then it turned to the one who had made him so. Vegeta was sitting in his bed, his hand still outstretched, but it looked somehow defeated. His eyes were wide; he stared at her with a look of stark terror.

Katsu felt her leg muscles tense, bend, and then she leapt, watching the room fly by at an incredible speed, seeing Vegeta's face rush up to meet her. She landed sideways on Vegeta with a force that sent them both flying off the bed and rolling across the floor. She ended up on top, and she saw her hands fly out and slash Vegeta across the face; four diagonal red lines springing up on each of his cheeks. He gritted his teeth and raised his hand, palm flat, the way he had at Shiro, but before he could do anything else, Katsu's hand gripped his, crushing his fingers into a fist, bending his hand back. He gritted his teeth as she pushed back hard. A loud crack tore through the room as Vegeta's wrist broke. He screamed as Katsu saw her hand release his fist, which lolled limpy as his arm fell to the ground. Bright red lines sprung up on his chest, blood spurting from one of the four that appeared on his neck. His other hand came up quickly and a small beam shot out, hitting Katsu in the face and she fell back off of him with a snarl. Vegeta scrambled to his feet, but Katsu had already recovered and she crouched low, tensing again, before launching herself at Vegeta and sending them both back to the ground. He ended up on his stomach, and there was another cracking sound as one or perhaps two of his ribs snapped. More slashes lit up on his back.

"Katsu!"

She heard this, but it sounded very far away. It was Vegeta, who was right under her, but the part of her brain that recognized his voice was not in control right now.

"Katsu! Look up! Look at what you are!"

The voice was strained and choking. Look up, look up. Her mind wrestled briefly with this command, and then her head snapped up. There was a mirror in front of her, and she came back into full consciousness at the sight of what was staring back at her.

Her hair stuck out around her face in long purple spikes. Her nose had flattened, but the area around her mouth jutted out, whiskers sprouting from her cheeks. Her skin was covered with light brown fur, long claws burst from the ends of her fingers. A pair of thin, fur covered triangular ears stuck up from her hair, a thick tail curled over her back. Her eyes. They were amber, with black elliptical pupils. She had become her nightmare.

With a weak cry, she fell sideways onto the floor, off Vegeta. Hot tears stung her cheeks, and pain tore through her again. The amber fog returned, her bones crackled, the claws retreated. When the fog cleared, she could see something pale and smooth in front of her face. It was her hand, and it was the way it had been before.

She rolled over, to face Vegeta. His eyes were glazed from the agony he was undoubtedly in, but he was staring at her with pained recognition.

"Nekoyan," he ground out as he hauled himself to his feet.

"What?" She said, unable to make herself get up to follow him as he limped towards the door.

"Nekoyan," he repeated in a painful voice. "Stay here. Don't go anywhere. I'll be back in a few hours."

He clung to the door and then went out it, shutting it behind him. Katsu lay where she had collapsed, running the word through her mind over and over again. Nekoyan. Memories hit her like a blast of ice water; everything pouring back at once. Her planet, her people, her family, her life. Everything was coming back and she felt as though her mind would burst. She collapsed back onto the floor and let the memories wash over her.

**To Be Continued**