Only Words

6: An Offer of Trade

"Something must have happened," Trunks stated in obvious concern. "He's been gone for far too long." An hour had passed since Goten had left to find food.

"You don't suppose they still could have been out there somewhere," Marron asked, timidly. "Waiting for us to come out of hiding."

"It's not something that they'd usually do, but I still wouldn't put it past them."

"This is all my fault, isn't it? They stayed so that they could get me…" Marron looked at her feet, on the verge of tears once again.

"Probably. But we don't know for sure if that's even what happened to Goten. He could have eaten too much and fallen asleep somewhere." Trunks sighed. "Whatever happened to him, we need to find him. Stay here, I'll go look for him."

Marron shook her head. "Please don't leave me here by myself. What if you don't come back either?"

Trunks was silent for several moments. Marron assumed that he was thinking her plea through. She wished that it were lighter so that she could see his face. Finally he replied with, "Fine, but you'd better be able to keep up."

Marron followed Trunks as he squeezed through the tiny opening. Once outside, he sniffed the air before choosing a direction. Though she was curious, Marron didn't dare ask him what he was sniffing for. She knew that a Saiya-jin's sense of smell was as powerful and sensitive as their eyesight.

Trunks' nose led he and Marron to a clearing, a fair distance from where they had started out. Marron wondered why Trunks had taken her here. She assumed he had smelt something that he had seen as a clue to finding Goten, but if that were so, why had Goten wandered so far from their hiding place? When she glanced into the centre of the clearing, she saw why; the roasted carcass of some sort of animal was resting above the smouldering remains of a fire.

"Watch it!" Trunks growled. "It's probably a trap." Seeing something on the ground, he bent down.

"What did you find?" Marron whispered.

"Blood." Trunks dipped his finger into the tiny puddle of red liquid, and brought his finger back up to his mouth. After a short taste, he spat. "It's Goten's."

Marron decided that she didn't want to know how Trunks knew what Goten's blood tasted like. Choking on a sob, she realised that Trunks' theory that Goten had simply fallen asleep somewhere was very wrong.

"He's still alive though…" Trunks seemed to be talking to himself.

Looking at the carcass, Marron wondered how Goten had been so stupid. How had he not realised the obvious set up that meant the roast was bait for a trap? Ass she stared, she saw something that neither of them had noticed before. Words had been inscribed into the side of the beast. At first glance, they appeared to be nothing more than scratches, but soon Marron could read the terrifying message.

"T-trunks…" she stammered, pointing to the carcass with a wavering finger.

Expecting to see the jinzouningen, Trunks quickly stood. Following the line of Marron's finger he saw what she had, and even spoke the words aloud.

"Trade: Goten for the girl. West City Apartments."

*   *   *   *   *   *

Goten's head was throbbing and he felt like he'd been hit by a bus. What happened? Where am I? Without opening his eyes, he tried to bring his hands to his head…and realised that he could not. His arms were firmly bound above his head.

"Good morning, Puppy," a very familiar voice greeted. "How was your sleep?"

Goten's eyes shot open as he realised everything. I can't believe I walked straight into that trap! Bra was sitting in front of him, perched on a backwards-facing chair. She smiled sweetly at him. On her right, Juunanagou was leaning against a wall with a smug look on his face and his arms crossed. Juuhachigou was standing to Bra's left, looking bored and displeased.

Goten struggled within his bounds, but found that it was useless.

Juunanagou laughed. "Struggle all you want, it won't do anything. Those are the same chains we used to tie Bra down before we made her like us." He smirked cruelly. "And Bra and I have tried them out quite a few times…on each other."

Goten squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to block out the mental pictures Juunanagou had practically forced into his mind. He didn't want to see Bra like that. She had always been so pure and innocent when he had been with her. Goten had been terrified of taking that innocence away from her.

But he had never gotten the chance. Juunanagou had taken his princess, and made her his own. Goten fought back the tears.

"Awww," Juunanagou sneered. "Are you gonna cry? Gonna squirt some?"

"Rot in hell, you hunk of junk," Goten managed to hiss.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me, you worthless heap of scrap metal."

Juunanagou snarled angrily. "Nobody insults me like that. You're gonna pay…"

"Cut it out, Juunanagou," Juuhachigou snapped. "We need him alive to trade with his friends."

"We're just gonna kill him anyway," Juunana huffed. "I don't see the point of delaying it."

"You idiot! Don't you remember? They can sense his life-force. If we kill him, they'll know. And then they won't bring my little girl here."

The look on Juunanagou's face looked completely foreign to Goten. He looked like a small child who had just been scolded. Had his situation been less life threatening, Goten might have laughed.

"Come on," Juuhachigou ordered. "I promised Bra some time to play with her puppy." She followed Juunanagou out of the room, leaving Goten alone with Bra.

"Now, Goten," Bra said slowly, "we're going to have some fun."

*   *   *   *   *   *

"Oh, Trunks," Bulma cried, embracing her son. "We were so worried. We had no idea where you were!"

"Where's Goten?" Pan asked, slowly. She was the first to notice that the trio had been reduced to a duo.

"The jinzouningen got him," Trunks answered solemnly.

"No…"

"But we can still sense him," Uub pointed out. "Why haven't they killed him?"

"They're using him for a trade-off," Marron said, her voice very quiet. "While we were out there, we ran into my mother, uncle and Bra. None of them had any idea who I was, even when Trunks told them. Okaasan must be curious about me. She wants you to trade me for Goten…"

"Well, it's settled then," Pan interrupted. "Where do they want to make the trade? Let's get going now."

Marron should have been hurt by what Pan had said, but she had already guessed that no one would have a second thought about giving her to the jinzouningen if it meant getting Goten back. In fact, she thought that they would probably be willing even without the trade.

"No, Pan," Trunks said, surprising everyone.

"My oji-san is your best friend, Trunks," Pan growled, tears forming in her proud eyes. "And you're just going to leave him to save some stupid girl!"

"That has nothing to do with it, Pan," Piccolo stated. "It's a trap. Trunks has already worked that out. The jinzouningen just want to get more of us. They know we won't let Marron go by herself. They know at least one of us will go with her, and then they'll kill Goten, Marron and whoever goes with her."

"I can't believe you're all willing to just let him die!"

"We have to, Pan," Gohan reasoned. He knew how stubborn his daughter could be sometimes. "Goten will understand."

Marron watched as Pan looked to everyone for support of some sort. But all of their faces were solemn and downcast. It was as if Goten was already dead and they were mourning him.

"Fuck the lot of you," Pan hissed.

Before anyone could react, she hooked her arm around Marron's waist and flew out of the cave.

*   *   *   *   *   *

A/N: Sorry about the short chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer!