*peeks out nervously from behind computer chair* Um. Hi guys. No one's gonna bite my head off, are they?

Well, not yet, I hope.

I'm very aware that Ch12 is late. Veeeeery aware. And I'm sorry, reeeeeally! But…. Yeah I don't know what the but was gonna be.  So I'll just say

Hi Assena! Look you told me to go write it last night and I did! I did I did I did!!!

Hi Penchy-chan. I hear you're ganging up on me with Assena. No comment. *mysterious grin* I'll see what I can do ^__^

Alexis: Hey! Haven't given up on me yet??? (well if ur reading this the u obviously came back. Whooho! Yay ch12! I'm just gonna get on with it now…

Chapter 12.

If Trunks had wanted to speak to the Council in the morning, the opportunity never arose. He'd slept in, something completely out of the norm for him; since he'd been sleeping in this bed, on this planet, he'd been woken by the servants (or by a silent figure with a knife) and back home, he woke with the sun. So Trunks had time to catch up on lost sleep, and in doing so dreamed of home and of mothers lost and found, and woke thinking he was not where he was, but where his dreams were.

The sun had risen, and throughout the Palace he could hear noises, bustling, voices, calling. The wide streets in the city below were as full of people as the riot the day before, but their mood was different. Their movement spoke of excitement, as the voices in the halls spoke of busyness, and of making everything ready for the opening ceremony of the Tournament.

Trunks got up and dressed, then watched the people from the window for a while, wondering what their like was like. Breakfast was unusually late, but it and Lunch both passed with only a long training session between, and another after the midafternoon meal. The Council-Trunks had been told by a noble Somebody- was all over the place, and calling them all together at notice of a few hours would be tricky, time wasting and pointless.

"Pointless?" Trunks had demanded. "I must talk with them." He had had his father frown on his face, and his mothers glare in his eyes. That noble Somebody had backed of a step involuntarily at the look, then straitened his back and told the Prince he would see if he could speak to the Council on the morrow, when the Tournament was underway, after the opening ceremony.

It was a very grand opening ceremony. One with years of tradition behind it, and months of planning. The arena was circular, with white and grey large flat stones arranged in some kind of pattern as flooring. Trunks foresaw the stones breaking, it this tournament was anything like those Bulma referred to on Earth.

Trunks was dressed in simple Saiyan armour -by his request, they had wanted far too much gold for his liking, but they had won the question of whether he was wearing the crown or not. There was no getting out of that short of blowing the place up. And where would that get him? Probably under a pile of rubble, but that was beside the point.

At this moment, Trunks was waiting with Parsnal, Lushka and her mother, along with various other rich looking people. Trunks was beginning to recognise nobles by the way they walked. More often than not he could see up their nostrils. He and the others waited behind a red curtain for the signal -Trunks imagined trumpets- to make their presence known to the crowds. The Prince's especially, Trunks couldn't help but be slightly nervous, there were an awful lot of people out there.

The seating around the arena was filling fast, people were crushing in together, others were punching their neighbours -all in good fun- because they had stolen a cushion, or more likely some food item. Trunks pulled back the curtain just a little, so he could peek out at them all.

"This should be incredible." Lushka said from behind him. "The tournaments are talked about for ages, before and after. I can't wait to see who wins. I can't wait to see you pulverise them." She grinned at Trunks, and he remembered what Kumar had mentioned about the winner having to fight the Prince.

"Lushka!" Maroda scolded. "You do not speak with such a common tongue." She glared at her daughter, Lushka yielded, but grinned again at Trunks when her mother wasn't looking.

A voice from the doorway opposite the red curtain made them all turn around, a very dark skinned Saiyan looking important bowed and held out his hand in the direction of the hall. "It brings me great honour to introduce to you, Your Highness, my Lord and Ladies, the Lady Areinla of Marunkre."

A very beautiful, young Saiyan woman swept into the room, smiling happily and almost kindly. Her skin was a shade lighter than her body guards, and her dress was pale blue, contrasting the difference a little too sharply. For a moment it looked at if she had no tail, for it was dyed the same blue as her dress, with three small silver rings shining from just below the tip. She had the same silver rings -larger, of course- on her wrists and bangles, on her ankles, and on her forehead acting as a triple circlet.

"It's an honour to receive you, Lady Marunkre." Parsnal bowed, voice like honey. The young woman -perhaps nineteen years of age- gave a little eye roll to her body guard before Parsnal rose again.

"And it is an honour to be here." She curtsied to Trunks, and he bowed back quickly. "My, what an extraordinary hair colour you have, my Prince." She said. "Is it dyed? No it's natural. Incredible."

Maroda made a little noise, Lushka looked up at her mother. She looked as if about to burst. How dare this foreigner speak to the Prince so informally! Lushka hid a smile. Of course Areinla would have heard of the Prince's common childhood, so of course she would know that he would be more comfortable with common speech. Now Lushka hid a frown. The damn woman was trying to steal her Prince.

There was a loud roar from the seating, Parsnal took a look out of the curtains, then turned back to the small group, apparently satisfied. He told them it was time for the Prince's entrance in just a moment, then turned to Lady Areinla and began talking about where she would sit.

"I don't like her, Trunks." Lushka whispered while no one else was listening.

Trunks looked over at Areinla who smiled at him then went on chatting politely to Parsnal. "Why not? She seems nice enough."

"I don't trust her. Saiyans from Marunkre are tricky. Mother says they should never have been allowed citizenship with us." Lushka looked wary, Maroda had never liked nor trusted those from Marunkre, Planet Vegita's only moon, and had taught her daughter to think the same.

"Give her a chance." Trunks shrugged. "People can surprise you, my mother taught me that."

Below, the gathered people roared, Trunks could feel the power radiating off each and everyone on of them. There was a much stronger group almost directly below the balcony Parsnal was about to announce on which they would sit. Trunks guessed these to be the competitors, and felt slightly nervous. Watching Gohan train was one thing, and his few days of training with Kumar...Trunks wasn't sure it was enough to stop himself getting pulverised.

"Come." Parsnal pulled back the curtain. The crowd erupted into noise. Trunks' stomach flipped, and Lushka gave him a little nudge through the curtains. The crowd erupted again, Trunks waved nervously -how did they fit in so many people!

They all took their seats in the elaborate chairs positioned in a row on the just as elaborate balcony. Trunks was seated in the centre, with Areinla perched delicately on his right, Parsnal, Maroda and Lushka on his left.

Voices began from below in the ring, speeches made first to the Prince and the Nobles on the balcony, second to the audience, mainly about the history of the Tournaments, and third to the contestants, rules and such. Trunks switched off halfway through the first lot, getting fed up with reading the translations flash by on his scouter.

A flash of movement caught his right eye, and he turned his head to see Areinla, who was definitely looking at the crowds. Trunks dismissed it, but a few moments later he saw it again, and turned his head faster to see her turning her head away. She caught his movement and looked back at him.. "I'm sorry. My Prince." She whispered with a smile. "I was just admiring your hair."

"It's just hair." Said Trunks. Areinla raised one eyebrow slightly as if so say 'It's never 'just hair' ' but turned back to the ring where the first two competitors were taking their places. Trunks' attention focused itself on them too. This was bound to be more interesting than the speeches.

There were two Saiyan men now flying at each other in the arena, one of much larger build than the other, and longer hair, which the smaller used against him, pulling out a large chunk from the side of his head only minutes into the match.

"The smaller Saiyan, he calls himself Bruise, and the larger is a newcomer, called Guidar." Parsnal said to the small group, but probably for the Prince he knew had not been listening. "Bruise is a tough character, he's fought his way into Day Five the past two years- round Five of Seven, we're all expecting he does well this year too. Although bets are placed on the newcomer."

"Including mine." Said Areinla, watching the fight intensely, forgetting her company. "He looks tough." 'Tough' wasn't the only thing he looked; Guidar was very handsome.

If the crowd had cheered welcoming it's Prince, it was nothing compared to what it was doing now. Saiyan's male and female were almost climbing over each other in an attempt to cheer and curse the loudest. It simultaneously winced and cheered when Bruise was thrown down against the ground with the force that an elephant on steroids would have to an ordinary human. The ground cracked, as did Bruise's nose, out of which flowed a small river of blood.

Bruise said something nasty in Saiyan that the scouter refused to translate, which Trunks's found very amusing. Guidar picked up Bruise by a foot and tossed him towards the audience, which swarmed together hoping to catch him or one of his teeth, but Guidar appeared quickly in his path of flight and kicked him down into the crowd closest the ring. Who cheered for the victor, as the first looser of the Tournament crawled out from under their feet.

Guidar did a quick victory lap of the arena, then turned his sights towards Trunks and the others.

From the people below came a roar of surprise as the victor left the ring, and disappeared from the view of those on the balcony.

He gained power, drawing all his strength to his hands as he held them above his head and flew straight up towards the overhanging balcony.

Trunks tensed. His ability to sense ki was not anywhere near as honed as Gohan's, but he had some sense of where powerful people were, and right now one was heading towards them very fast. He jumped to his feet, Areinla mirroring his movement a second later. He opened his mouth to shout a warning but the ground erupted beneath him before he could say anything.

The balcony burst into pieces large and small, all flying through the air. Lushka screamed, Parsnal grunted in surprise. Trunks, who had had the most warning, was the first to catch himself in flight and pull away from the rubble that was starting to fall back to earth. He searched among the falling debris for the attacker, eyes confused by the dust kicked up and the speeding pieces of the rock the balcony had been made of.

Lushka had dust in her eyes and had breathed it in, and was now coughing it out. "Lushka! Get out of the way!" Trunks called, but she couldn't see the pieces falling down towards her. One small but painful nonetheless piece hit her on the arm before she realised what exactly was happening.

Her mother gripped her arm. "Don't move." She ordered quietly. "Let him rescue you." Lushka made a very small whine of what could have been fear in her throat, but stayed where she was while Maroda shot out of the dust cloud. "Lushka! Where are you?" She heard her cry. "Lushka!"

Trunks summoned some ki to blow away the dust and some of the falling rubble so he could see, but was kicked forcefully in the small of his back and into the ground before he had a chance.

"Do not worry about the young Lady, Prince Vegita." Areinla - who had been darting about firing ki balls at the rubble, and looking like she was having a great time- called. "See to your own business." She grinned down at him as he stood up, and then she vanished into the dust cloud. No-one saw Maroda's expression, one of clenched teeth and eyes all but glowing with anger.

Trunks shot back into the air, spinning round so no-one had the chance to come up behind him. He sensed the same balcony crunching power in the dust cloud, and faced it. Ready, set. Guidar flew towards him at such a speed Trunks didn't have time to think. He flew upwards, then down, colliding his foot with the back of the big mans head, and sending him down towards the ground.

Guidar caught himself, swept upwards and fired a range of blasts directly at Trunks, who yelled, and sent back an equal amount of his own.

It didn't bother him at all at that moment. But later Trunks was a little worried about the way his body fought by itself, needing little prompting from his mind. He certainly didn't question it, it could have saved his life.

The blast's collided in an impressive explosion of light and a shock wave that sent up more and more dust flew over the arena. Trunks' hair was blown into his eyes, and he tossed his head to get it out, missing Guidar's next move.

Trunks was grabbed by his feet and pulled downwards at such a speed it made his stomach turn, and he only saved himself from crashing into the ground by firing another ki blast at it, sending himself crashing into Guidar, and managing to knock the wind from both of them.

Areinla intervened, giving a very well placed -anatomically wise- kick to Guidar which forced the man to the ground where he lay on his back. Trunks landed on his feet beside him. Areinla on his other side.

"What do you think you're doing? Attacking the Prince like that!" Areinla kicked him, not terribly hard, in the arm. "You deserve to die." She held her arms above her head, drawing power into a ball between her hands.

"Wait." Trunks held out one of his hands, then looked down at Guidar. "Were you acting by yourself? Or are you working for someone?" It was just a hunch, but Trunks needed to know.

Guidar chuckled hoarsely, and quickly flicked his wrist upwards. A very small glass bottle appeared from his tight sleeve, which he tossed into his mouth and crunched down on before neither Trunks or Areinla could move. The Saiyan fighter arched his back and a deep croaking gurgling noise came from deep in his throat before he flails about for a bit before lying still twitching violently. (AN shout out to Assena!)

"Damn." Sighed Areinla, letting her ki ball fade.

Parsnal landed near Guidar's head, sending up a small dust cloud, and looked down at the body. "Krular. I'll bet." He muttered. "It's a very deadly poison." He looked at Areinla suspiciously. "Very rare."

'He killed himself?' Trunks thought, stunned. 'Rather than say anything.' He shivered involuntarily.

Lushka hovered just above the ground near Trunks, looking down at Guidar, disgusted. "What? You can tell by looking at him?"

"No. Not usually." Parsnal said, spitting at Guidar's face. "It has a distinct smell, and was found in the Prince's breakfast this morning. So I've been keeping an eye out for it."

Lushka accepter this, and looked at Areinla, narrow eyed with more than just hate in her eyes.

"What!" Trunks exclaimed. "Someone tried to poison me and you didn't tell me?"

"It wasn't necessary, the food was destroyed and a new breakfast made." Parsnal said.

Trunks frowned. Breakfast was obviously not the point. "Next time someone tries to kill me, tell me, will you." He said, feeling a little ill.

Parsnal nodded a Whatever You say nod. "Guards!" He called. "Clean up this mess. And arrest the Lady Areinla."