Child of the Storm
Chapter 6: Dead Worlds

Final destination--Planet Vegeta 013405--

Arashiko tapped the familiar coordinates into her ship's navigator. It seemed like an eternity since she had tapped them in, an eternity since she had seen her desolate home. But it was home none the less. She only hoped that Frieza had not killed many in his vengeance against King Vegeta's betrayal. Arashiko could not help but smile. In a matter of hours she would be home, she would find the Prince and keep the spirit of hope alive. They would stand together and fight Frieza to the death. They would free their people of the tyrant who had tormented them all of their lives. Arashiko kept these happy thoughts burning in her heart as the stars streaked by. Within mere hours she would be upon the soil of her own Planet Vegeta.

Finally, the red lights flashed on the panels, indicating that she had arrived. Arashiko peered out of the viewport eagerly. She expected within any second now to see the red atmosphere of her homeworld swirling with feathery white clouds and patches of brown green land peeking through to greet her return. Minutes passed. She saw nothing. Arashiko's brow creased with frustration as she checked the computer.

Maybe my ship's computer was damaged in the crash? It must be inaccurate.

A loud bang made the whole ship shake with the impact.

"Dammit!!" Arashiko cursed loudly as she checked to make sure nothing had been broken by the asteroid that hit the hull. She had flown into some kind of asteroid field. Frustrated, she piloted the ship manually to a small blue-green moon that she sighted on the very edge of the viewport. It was so far away it seemed like a blue star on the horizon. She would ask there where the hell she was. She suspected that her computer was on the fritz from the integration of the more primitive Nameckian technology.

The ship landed harshly on the edge of an ocean of green water, leaving a deep crater. Arashiko wandered around for hours until she finally found an inhabitant. It was in a lonely field of strange black flowers lost in a sea of unusual blue grass. The alien she found was leaning up against a tree, he did not even flinch when he saw her.

"We've already paid Frieza's men, Ginyu. Can't you just leave us in peace?" he said sternly, his crown of horns twisting with the anger apparent on his long, snouted face.

Arashiko recognized the language. It was a dialect of Chershirian. In her training as an Elite, she had learned a multitude of languages in order to be able to communicate with the various races that the Saiyan monarchy dealt with.

"I'm not one of Frieza's men." Arashiko's voice distorted with a thick accent. She had spoken Nameck so long that it had begun to wear down on her natural speaking voice. "Please, can you tell me what sector we're in?"

The oblong alien shrugged and squinted at her, still untrusting of her motives. "We're in sector 7, the Salaido sector."

Arashiko stared at him confused. I'm in the right system. How the hell did I get lost when I'm in the right sector?

"Have you heard of the Planet Vegeta?" she inquired further.

"Vegeta? Who hasn't heard of the Saiyan homeworld?" the alien spat with disgust, "Hah, I'm glad they're gone."

Arashiko's face bent with frustration and a little anger, "What do you mean? What do you mean gone?"

"Boy, you really must have been in a hole somewhere." he snorted, "Frieza wiped their disgusting kind from the universe. There are only three of them left now. The stupid monkeys didn't even know that it was Frieza who destroyed their planet, but it's plain to any fool with eyes to see. Huh? What's wrong with you?" The alien stopped as he saw the frozen look on her face.

Arashiko's heart stopped. She couldn't breathe. Everything froze in its place when her universe collapsed. She didn't hear anything else that the alien said to her. Her heart shattered to pieces in her chest. The blood stopped flowing in her veins. The ice blue of her eyes turned gray and sorrowful. That moment in time seem to last forever, stagnating her soul to a deeper emptiness than she had ever known. At last, her own scream broke the silence of the long moment. She didn't even realize it was coming from her, it just erupted out of deep within herself as the pure, intense anger overflowed. There was no thought or sound or action. She didn't hear herself yelling or see the flash of energy that burst forth from her body. The alien cowered back from her, trying to escape the magnificent streams of power that surrounded her and turned the sky black. He was not quick enough. The energy swallowed him up in its radiance.

The land dissolved under her feet. The fragile black flowers and delicate blue grass were blown awry by the violent typhoon. Clouds gathered overhead in the darkening sky. The torrent began. Arashiko did not know if she still screamed and wailed, or that the tears of hot anger and agony burned down her face. Her mind disconnected with her actions. All was crushed in her deadly wake of pure destructive anger. Her body permeated with golden brilliance, weaving yellow like sunshine. Finally she was able to come back to reality, unfreeze the moment in time. But that only made her angrier, for she could finally feel the realization of all that had happened.

I've come back to this???? Everything is gone!! Everyone is gone!!!

They're dad?!! They're dead...

She screamed again, a roar of deeper anger and sorrow ripping from her as the winds violently rushed. All the sacrifices!! All the pain and the suffering!! Everything!! And they're gone!!!!

AND IT'S ALL FRIEZA'S DOING!!! I should have killed him when I had the chance!! WHY COULDN'T I KILL HIM?!?!?!? WHYYYYYYYY!!!?!?! AAARRH!!!!!!!

Everything turned black as she threw her fists down to the ground, cracking the earth even deeper as she beat it incessantly trying to siphon her rage. In the swirling winds, her hair began to glow gold, the air itself becoming saturated with pure energy. Her power elevated as her anger reached new, profound heights. The sparkling gold of her hair fluttered out into the gale. Arashiko looked down at her hands, feeling the power as it rose within her. She gasped at the realization, at the golden wave of hair that whipped around her face. She had become something else, something only foretold in the legends of her world.

She had become the Saiyan of Legend!! A Super Saiyan!!!

But only the Royal House possesses this right? How can this be true?? Brana was a Super Saiyan too!? I don't understand!!!

She fell to her knees, breathing heavily, body hot, fury finally subsiding. The winds died away, the golden light fading from her. Her hair returned to its normal blue-black shade.

"I don't understand," she whispered weakly to herself, "I don't understand. . ." She couldn't see how the universe could allow such a tragedy to happen, how all the Heavens could conspire to make her life a living Hell. Even the brightest light casts the deepest, darkest shadow.

Arashiko sat alone in the ruin of another planet she had destroyed. The black petals of the delicate, destroyed flowers floated down in the air around her, showering her with their sorrowful softness. The gray mists drifted around her like the wraiths of the dead and dropped tears of dew on her cheeks.

She was one of the few left, the only daughter of the planet Vegeta. Her whole race was lost now. It was up to her to restore it. . .

For the Glory and Honor of a dead Vegeta and a dead people.

* * *

The next few years were spent in searching and mourning. Arashiko desperately sought to find the identities of the three Saiyans who had survived the ruination of their world. Arashiko knew that one of them was the Prince. She had long since felt deep in her heart that he was alive, she knew it long before she heard of his destructive path left throughout the galaxy. It maddened her exceedingly to know that he still lived under the oppression of Frieza. The last remaining Saiyans still worked for him!!!! The thought sickened and enraged her beyond all things. She had to find Vegeta and release him from Frieza's bondage. Arashiko thought that the Prince had no doubt been deceived about the destruction of their planet surely caused by the demonic Frieza. She had to free him from his grasp!!! All her fighting and struggling lead her forward, full-circle to one of Frieza's bases, Moon 24, the same base where she had been a part of the Ginyu, the same place where she killed Brana. Returning to that stark and barren world full of its painful, tormenting memories made Arashiko think of the demented irony of the universe.

Arashiko wrapped herself in a thick crimson cloak that she had acquired in her extensive travels. It concealed all of her somewhat distinct Saiyan features, namely her tail, which she wrapped tightly around her waist in the folds of her clothes. A trail of information had led her here again. She heard that the Prince had been here recently on return from a mission for Frieza. As wide and as vast as the universe is, she was finally close in her search for the Prince. She knew not much more than that and sought to find information somewhere on this lonely, gruesome world. The scarlet cloak enclosed all her features in shadow, all except for her blazing azure eyes that shined like fiery ice. Arashiko had no worries about being recognized, after all, who would recognize her? She was nothing but a lost member of a dead race now, a lonesome ghost walking the trodden paths of the past. She was supposed to have been dead long ago. People now would think that she was just another wayward nomad in the endless sea of travelers that traversed the universe. She left the same familiar docking area of the base without being noticed by anyone. As she left, she cast one final glance back into the still unchanged place where her fateful fight with Brana had taken place. For a split second, she could have sworn to see her lying there still in the pool of her own dark blood, but a second later the apparition faded and she left the room, mind focusing forward on the present and the future.

Much had changed since she had served at the Ginyu base. The Arquisian royal symbol which had been emblazoned upon much of the base's walls was now replaced by the white V of the Ginyu. Much of their royal influence was gone. Arashiko did not even see any Arquisians around like there would normally have been before. It was odd and it set her mind to questioning. All their technology was there, the guards still used their trademark weapons and scouters, but they were not there. Arashiko wondered the hallways unnoticed by anyone. People seemed to pass by her as if she was invisible, just as she had expected. She left the base. There was nothing there now but bad memories and regrets to plague her. Outside of the base was the city that had sprung up to accomodate Frieza's soldiers. It was a seedy city, never too full of criminals and vagabonds. The violet flag of Frieza with his white circular symbol imprinted on it caught her eye as it fluttered atop one of the decrepit buildings. Arashiko averted her eyes angrily from it.

His flag will fly no more once I find the Prince.

Finally, the twisted and damp alleyways led her to a tiny little bar tucked within the bowels of the city. Arashiko remembered it, she and Brana used to crash there after fighting in the training room. If she could find any information on the surviving Saiyans, it would be from the mangy lot who drank their days away at the bar. Arashiko entered through the little door and into the dark room lit only by the soft crimson light of two energy orbs that floated at the ceiling. She gazed around non- chalantly. Most of the packed people in there were low-ranking Ginyu soldiers. The rest were just bums. Aliens of all kinds congregated at the bar, filling it with the noise of countless languages and the pungent odor of many alien bodies. She walked up to the bar, unnoticed and unrecognized by anyone.

"Bartender, one Rising Sun, heavy on the Red, none of that weak shit you guys normally used to serve around here." Her speaking voice, and her manners, were finally returning to normal after living so long with the Namecks.

The bartender winked at her with his one good eye and passed her the drink without a word. Arashiko flipped him a coin and took a deep draught. It had been a very long time since she had tasted good, hard liquor. They still have the best Rising Suns out there. Arashiko flicked two more coins at the bartender, "Maybe you can help me out. You've heard of the Saiyans right? I need to know where they are. You think you can help me?"
The bartender nodded but before he could answer, a loud, gruff voice cut him off from across the room.

"Dammit! Get over here and get me a drink!! You have the gall to make a princess of Arquisia wait!!!"

Arashiko jumped up from her seat, jerking around as she heard the familiar cruel voice.

It couldn't be!!

Yet there she was plain as day. The years had grayed her brick red hair to a dusty brown and her green skin to a pale verdant. A black eye patch covered her right eye where Arashiko had injured her so many years ago. Her remaining, sleek red eye still held its guileful glare.

Arashiko clenched her fists angrily.

It was Kaioden!!

Anger and adrenaline welled up inside of Arashiko saturating her blood with seething power. Yellow light boiled along her cloaked form. All of the aliens in the room backed away from her and cleared her path to Kaioden. Before Kaioden realized what was going on, Arashiko slammed her head against the bar, sending cracks along the black tabletop. Her hand clamped around Kaioden's neck like a vice.

"What the hell?? Who are you???" Kaioden managed to yell out in gurgled gasps.

Arashiko's blue eyes blazed furiously, "You don't remember me? You should!! I never forgot what you taught me about blood and hate!!!" Arashiko threw back the crimson hood on her cloak. "Do you remember me now you murdering bitch!!!"

A spark of surprise and fear lit up in Kaioden's remaining red eye, "You!? But you're dead!!" She choked as Arashiko squeezed her hand ever tighter. Arashiko's cold blue eyes squinted at her as she spoke.

"You made sure of that, didn't you?" Arashiko jerked her arm up and threw Kaioden into the wall with a pounding crash. Her flying body crushed glass and sent cracks radiating forth from her point impact. The cold shadows of the room illuminated with the soft ivory light that danced along Arashiko's body. The crimson orbs of energy which illuminated the room popped from the surge of invisible energy that permeated the air. The energy that bounced off of Arashiko was the only thing that lit the room up with radiance. The other aliens in the room sensed a fight immediately and cleared out quick, leaving Arashiko and Kaioden alone.

Kaioden's long red hair draped over her face preventing Arashiko from seeing her expression. Arashiko lifted her arm up, preparing to deliver the final deathblow, but something stopped her.

Laughter. Cackling, chaotic laughter echoed everywhere, filling Arashiko's ears with its madness. Kaioden's bent face was revealed to her as she sat there, laughing insanely. Finally, she quieted, the most twisted and insane smile plastered upon her sharp features.

"Oh, Kakayun, have you learned nothing? HAhahah...you can't kill me! What would you do about your little Prince? Frieza still has him licking his boots. . . AHAHAHA!!!!"

Arashiko's fist lashed out, smashing into Kaioden's jaw with a dull crack. "You know where he is don't you?!" she screamed at the Arquisian angrily.

Kaioden coughed once, blue Arquisian blood dripping down from her lips. She then turned her wild gaze back to Arashiko, her red eye blazing. Why doesn't she fight back? Arashiko thought, confused by her irrational actions.

"Why don't you do the universe a favor and kill us both, Kakayun, or can I say Arashiko of the Elite?" Kaioden saluted her drunkenly, "Do you see my brother around here anywhere? He and I had our own stand against Frieza. So did our father, the Emperor. HAHAHA....they're both rotting in Hell right about now..AHAHAHAH" Kaioden erupted into deranged laughter once more. Arashiko stepped back away from her, brooding intently. "Think about it, Kakayun, the logic! Just let them all die. Let them all burn!! Let the world burn!!! I'm just like you now, the last outcast of a fallen, pitiful race!!"

"I'm nothing like you!!" Arashiko's hate-filled voice grated.

"Oh, right. There lies the irony of the universe. There it is, burning along with everything else." Kaioden laughed again as she hung her head low.

Arashiko sat there and stared at the fallen princess of Arquisia, a pathetic warrior lost in a haze of liquor and defeat.

Kaioden spoke lowly, the snickering completely gone from her voice, "Vegeta, you'll find him on Deliis. That's the last I heard of him. And Nappa too, that stupid bastard."

Arashiko flinched with surprise. Nappa? He's one of the survivors??? Of all the honorable Saiyans to be saved from destruction, the lowest of us all is saved!!!?? She had known Nappa. He was a commander of the planet-killer forces, a big, bulging brute who thought of nothing but wanton destruction and battle. The thought angered her even further.

She gave Kaioden one last glare of fury and then turned and walked away from her. She would be left to her own ruin.

"Wait!!" Kaioden called out behind her. She grabbed the trail of Arashiko's blood red cloak. "Don't let it end like this."

With a look of total disgust, Arashiko jerked the cloak from her hands and turned away from her towards the exit. "Killing you would be an insult to everyone I have ever loved." In her mind, Arashiko thought of the compassion Nail had taught her, of the pity he had given her, she who had once been a killer.

"Don't let it end like this. Can't let it end like this...not like this..." Kaioden continued on, talking quietly to herself as she sat in the broken glass and the burden of her own defeat.

Arashiko gave one last glance back at the tiny little bar where the past was buried, then turned around and walked away, Vegeta was close and she would find him. The motley lot of aliens watched the strange woman leave. About a half hour later, once sure that the fearful warrior was gone, they inched back towards the bar. They all stopped to gape at the the female Arquisian that lay in a puddle of liquor that had leaked from broken bottles. She mumbled incessantly to herself, her one red eye shifting back and forth. The aliens shook their head in dismay and returned to the sludge that was their life.

The last princess of Arquisia fell under the strain of her own pride and dignity. She stared forward at the empty doorway, contemplating the end.

"It can't end like this."she mumbled once more before closing her eyes.

* * *