Same stuff still aplies from the last chapter

Warnings: dark situaions, mention of death and rape.

Author's Note: As my boyfriend pointed out, not everyone is aware of the story of Piccolo Daimaio, and this makes no sense without it. Piccolo Daimaio (Senior, the original one) was Kami's age (looked it too), he showed up in Dragonball trying to take over the world. Goku, of course, defeated him. However, in that fight Daimaio spit out an egg (Namekian reproduction, remember?) and from that egg hatched Piccolo Daimaio Junior, or, as we know him, simply Piccolo. The Piccolo Daimaio Kuririn refers to here is the original one, the old demon with designs on ruling the earth.



Chapter 2: Meetings

On Earth . . . .

Kuririn was certain that things could not possibly get worse. Earth was enslaved by the Ice-jin Empire, and most of his friends were either dead or taken as slaves.

Mentally he ticked them off. His master, Kame-sen'in, was dead. He had been killed in the final battle for Earth's freedom after using all up all of his power in a last ditch effort. Oolong had been killed, and as far as Kuririn knew, eaten as some soldier's lunch.

Yamcha and Pu'ar were on the missing list, they had been taken but no one knew any more than that. Bulma, ChiChi and Lunch had all been taken as well. They were on planet Vegeta as slaves, assuming they were still alive. Kuririn didn't want to think about what was probably happening to the three girls.

Chaotsu was dead, killed a few months ago as an example to those who still rebelled against Frezia's rule. Tien-shin-han, more commonly called Tien, was still alive, but without his quirky little friend around the warrior had lost a lot of his spirit.

Yajirobi was alive, no surprise there, the guy had more lives than a cat. Speaking of cats, Korin was still around as well but in no condition to fight.

Even worse was that Piccolo Daimaio - one of Earth's ancient evils who had sided with them only because it was the best chance at repelling the invaders - was dead. He had been killed in a fight with the Ginyu Force, there had been no one else there. His death, however, also meant that Kami, too, was dead and without them the Dragonballs ceased to exist.

Kuririn sighed and continued hunting for food. He was in hiding with what was left of the resistence against Frezia. They were a motley crew, fewer and fewer each day with little hope of accomplishing their goal. Mostly they stayed in the wilderness, anyplace that might get overlooked in all but the most discriminating of searches.

At sixteen Kuririn was one of the resistance's best fighters, but he wasn't enough. They needed a miracle. Before Piccolo Daimaio's death that miracle had been the Dragonballs. The amusing little hunt Bulma had been wanting to take her friends on had taken on a whole different meaning in light of the invasion. They hadn't even gotten a chance to start the search before Piccolo Daimaio's death.

"No use thinking about things of the past," Kuririn muttered to himself.

"You shouldn't be so loud out here," a gruff voice informed him.

Kuririn whirled, I didn't even feel anyone's ki! He gasped in shock at what he found. Before him was someone who looked like a young version of Piccolo Daimaio, green skin, antenna and all.

"W-who are you?" he managed to choke out.

The figure grunted, "Piccolo Daimaio Jr."

Hope flicked, "Junior? Do you have Piccolo Daimaio Senior's connection with Kami?"

A nod.

Kuririn's mind jumped to the next conclusion, then Kami is still alive...and...

"And the Dragonballs are still here!!"


On Vegeta . . . .

Radditsu had never been so glad to be off-duty in his life. This guard posting was supposed to be a break from his continuous off-world postings the last ten years. He had a feeling that it was going to be anything but. The human woman had a pair of lungs to screech the ears off of anyone.

The third-class warrior headed in the direction of the general training arenas. After that last shift he need to stretch and run through a few kata's to relieve the ache standing in the one spot created. That and he didn't want to get out of shape.

Not that it really matters, he thought bitterly.

Radditsu was a man who was pretty much going no-where. His entire twenty years of life had been spent in military service, straight from the age of four. And the rest of his life would probably be spent doing the same thing.

A third-class Saiya-jin, orphaned at the age of five, he had no opportunities, no advancement to look forward to. No mate or family in his life. His father had been killed fifteen years ago, the death of a traitor to Frezia. His mother had killed herself from the grief of his loss. And that was all the family Radditsu had ever had.

Wait, he had a kid brother somewhere. In the mess after the former King Vejita died Radditsu had been separated from his brother, Kakarotto. Idly he tossed the idea of searching for his brother around his head and dismissed it. The brat - who would be fifteen by now - was most likely dead. Even if he wasn't, the last thing Radditsu needed was a little brother kicking around bothering him.

Still, some part of him insisted, it might be nice to have some family around.

Cheering, hackling and the general roar of a crowd brought him out of his reverie. Radditsu found himself at the main training arena, at the back of a huge group of excited Saiya-jins.

"What the.." he exclaimed out loud as he was jostled by people old and young. A hand grabbed him and pulled him back from being trampled.

"What dream world are you in Rad?" a bright female voice inquired.

Radditsu stared at his rescuer for a moment before recognizing her.

"Caulif?"

"The one and the only. Who'd you think I was? Old man Turnicu?"

Radditsu laughed at the mention of their former commander. Caulif had been one of his group-mates through early training back when he was six or so.

Casually he took in her appearance. She had grown up. A few inches shorter than himself, and only a couple of months younger, Caulif had turned into a real woman. Short auburn hair spiked in every direction, dark brown eyes sparked with wicked humour, and the corner of her mouth twitched up in laughter.

Very suddenly Radditsu found himself feeling nervous. Surprised at this he turned towards the activity.

"So, I don't suppose you want to tell me what all of this is, do you?" he questioned.

"You don't know?" she replied, genuinely shocked. Then she grinned, "His Majesty descended from on high to grace us lower people with his presence. Vejita-sama is having it out with Nappa, here in the less classy parts of hell." She ignored the glares sent her way from this comment.

"You still don't know how to keep your mouth shut, do you?"

"Nope. Not a clue. C'mon! Let's get closer!" With that Radditsu found himself being dragged towards the crowd.

Oh well, I was bored.


It took only a split second to assess the situation. He may have been only fifteen, but he was more than experienced enough to recognize what was happening here.

A human girl about his age stood in a defensive crouch glaring at the man in front her. Her top was torn at the shoulder, her lip was cracked and bleeding, and a new bruise was starting to swell on her cheek.

The guy was obviously a soldier, third class from his armour. There was a nasty bruise around his eye. Obviously he had tried something and she had caught him by surprise with a punch that had landed there. It wouldn't happen again, and it looked like she was about to pay for it.

The teen moved a second before the soldier did, deflecting his arm before he hit the girl. Surprise registered in the man's eyes as the boy dropped and swept his leg under the soldier's. The man slammed down on the ground with a loud thump.

Okay, there's only one way to do this, the orphan thought in the moment of time allotted to him by the man's fall. Running wasn't an option, neither was a prolonged fight, either would end badly. What he was about to do went against everything he believed in, but there wasn't any other option.

Quicker than could be tracked by either the man or the girl, he hit the man solidly on the head. Not strong enough to kill or hurt him, but enough to knock him out for a good amount of time.

Turning, the boy realized that this human girl was looking at him through narrowed eyes, suspicious. Smart girl.

"We need to get out of here before his friends come by looking," he informed her quietly but in a matter-of-fact voice. Seeing her glance toward the man he added quickly, "He's fine, just knocked out."

Wearily she looked him over, then stared into his eyes for a moment, as if looking for something. Finally she nodded.

"One thing first though," she challenged. "What's your name?"

"Kakarotto."

"ChiChi. Let's go."