Haunting Mists, Chapter Nine
Black Beyond
It's been a long time, I know.
But I made you guys a promise to finish this fic, so I am.
Here's the next chapter!
Lena didn't know why she'd returned to this place. She could smell the dried blood of countless attacks, see the familiar shadows lurk in the darkest alleyways and corners, and hear their whispers-- "Old blood, no good"-- as they realized that she wasn't prey.
Her talk with Vegeta hadn't helped her insomnia in the least. If anything, it had made her even more restless than before, something she hadn't even though possible.
A million things were on her mind-- her pending refusal to Hanukil... could she do it?, her relationship with Trunks, her transformation... could she force herself to do it again?, and how much she wanted to stalk the night again...
Perhaps that was why she was here. She did, ever so much, want to be a mere half vampire again, more than anything. She wanted to go to sleep in her old home and wake up to Nicole's annoyed voice and her mother's worried nagging that she wasn't eating.
She wanted to go back to that night so long ago and stop herself from going into that alley and being attacked.
She wanted to know what she might have been if she were normal. Popular? Maybe. Maybe they-- who were they? Isn't that the mystery of all time-- could have liked her. Maybe she could have been accepted-- oh, damned be human longing... acceptance! She was saiya-jin! Acceptance was nothing! You are what you are and damned be anyone that thinks less of you for it!
Did she want to be accepted?
"Yo. Lena." Familiar voice.
Sake. What's going on? S'quiet." Lena didn't flinch as the tall, handsome vampire fell into step beside her. "Haven't been harassed yet... not that I'm complaining."
Sake grinned at her, but his eyes were troubled.
"Fang's restless. With you gone, he's lost his entertainment. Most of his time went to figuring out new ways to trap you." Sake frowned. "He's claiming land that isn't his. Everyone's afraid to fight him. Lost my corner 'while 'go."
Lena looked at him, her mind freezing.
"My block?" She asked, half expecting the worst.
Sake shook his head. "Ken's got it. He resisting Fang. Fang won't touch him; Vlad protects Ken."
Lena nodded.
"Tell Fang I'm hitting my beat again. Go get your territory back, Sake, I'll come with you in case they want trouble."
Lena, you can't fight off these vamps. Huge things, old, experienced. They'll rip you to pieces."
Lena grinned a very feral grin.
"Come on, Sake. Just show me the way. I'll make sure they don't bother you again."
"But--"
"Sake what to you think I've been doing all this time? Sleeping?"
"When Ken said you moved like a cat, I didn't expect him to be telling the truth."
"Shuddup."
Lena did move like a cat. She kept low, using her hands and gravity to move her body. She could move faster this way, catching window sills and cracks in old brick easily. Sake stuck to the rooftops, trying to keep pace with the saiya-jin, who was going at a pace that felt like she was just skipping along.
To her, anyway.
I coulda been there and back twice. If I didn't have to have some element of surprise. So she kept up her bantering pace. Well, it was an easy pace for her. To a normal human, she was little more than a blur of gold and black. To any but the swiftest of vampires, she was too fast. Sake was a fast vamp, but still, by the time they stopped, his breath was ragged and hard to catch.
"How can you move like that?" He gasped, when he saw that she was staring at him in mild surprise, wondering why he had such trouble breathing when she looked and felt like she walked a few feet.
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." as she as she searched the shadows carefully. She could smell Fang's goons... they were close.
"Look out!" She saw a fast moving blur going for Sake. She flew forward and pushed Sake out the of the way and sent the attacker flying, to land with a final sounding thud against a friendly wall.
Sake stared at Lena, who let herself sing to the ground after disposing of the other two vamps in similar fashions. She stalked over to the first one, the sound of her bootheels against pavement echoing. She reached down and grabbed his shirt and lifted him up, up off the ground, using only one hand effortlessly.
"Tell Fang Lena's back." She spat at him. "And you, you overgrown mosquito, won't come back anywhere near here. Because I'll know. And I'll come after you, and believe me, that's the last thing you want."
"Lena! What are you doing?"
Lena cursed mentally as she realized who the voice belonged to. If it had been Goten or Trunks she might have successfully scared them off, but Piccolo...?
She hadn't had many encounters with the namek-jin. She didn't know much about him either, except to know that he was very strong and that Gohan idolized him. And that he had an abnormal amount of control, but to make him mad was basically like saying, "Oh, sure. Death? Love to meet him."
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asked. "I'm ridding the neighborhood of a few mosquitoes. That's all." To emphasize her point, she threw the trembling vamp to Piccolo's feet. The vamp stood up and ran, followed by his companions.
"Lena, you need to go home before Trunks finds out you're missing. He'd panic. We can't afford that."
"You're being a worry-wart. He's a big boy. He'll take care of himself. Sake, meet Piccolo. Piccolo, meet Sake. Friends of Lena, unite." She grinned at her own joke. "Piccolo's namek, before you ask. Alien. Sake's vampire."
"Alien?"
"Vampire!"
She rolled her eyes. "No, Martians."
Sake felt that Lena would be in some sort of trouble if she didn't go with the Green Man. "S'okay, Lena. I have to go anyway. It's almost sun up anyway, and I haven't fed yet. I think I'll hit easy street before turning in. See you?"
"Tomorrow if I can make it." Lena nodded.
Sake grinned, and was gone.
~'~
Lena stumbled into the school building. She wasn't used to staying up the entire night anymore, and one could tell. The only reason she was standing was because Trunks was practically carrying her. She didn't even feel like retorting to Goten's sarcastic comments.
"Uh-mmm." She muttered, when he asked if it had been Trunks to keep her up all night. Trunks shot her a dirty look and Goten fled, snickering.
"What'd you say that for?" He demanded.
"Uh? Say what?"
"That I kept you up all night?"
"I did not..."
"Did too! Goten's probably telling everyone who'll listen."
Ah. Adrenaline... just the waker-upper she needed.
"Why that no-good son of a bit-- erm, that no good bastard." Wasn't wise to insult Chichi. "That's it! He's toast!" She was a blur down the hall, running after that tell-tale hairstyle.
It took Goten point zero two seconds to recognize the ki that was speeding towards him. With a very high-pitched, girlish squeal, he started running. Teacher just threw up their hands as the two sped by-- this was quickly becoming a common occurrence. Students jumped and dodged, janitors groaned, and the principal just laughed.
Lena was about to catch Goten at the end of the History Wing, when a hand shot out of nowhere and literally grabbed her out of mid-air by the collar of her shirt. Goten whirled around to see his friend, almost as stunned as he was, being held by a creature that looked like it'd had a bad run in with a blender.
He noticed it was wearing that black on black uniform right about the same time Lena did.
"God damn it, what did I tell you things about sneaking up on me?!" She screeched, yanking herself free. "Does Snake Face know you're here, stopping me from kicking his butt?"
"I was sent by Master." It's voice was dull, robotic.
Goten stepped forward, wary, his eyes confused. Lena seemed to have forgotten his presence, and he wondered if It had even noticed him at all.
"Well, then good-ie for him. Tell him to go fuck himself. I'm in school. I didn't get any sleep last night, and I've got a date tonight."
"No you don't. We've got an exam tomorrow and Bulma won't let him out of the house." Goten said helpfully.
"Not with him, you dolt." Lena growled. "With Sake and Ken. So, you can just get out of here, Tall Dark&Ugly." She made a shooing motion with her hands.
"I am not to return without you."
"So hang around for a while." Lena shrugged. Goten's eyes darted from Lena to It. Trunks was coming their way, but he was walking.
Without warning, Goten flared up into SSJ 3. Lena almost fell over as her senses were bombarded, but she took the hint and went into the highest level she had been able to achieve, SSJ2. Trunks caught the hint and was there before the It could assess what was happening.
Wisely, it decided that three young saiya-jin in an upped ki mode was a little more than it wanted to bite off without assistance. It said something in another language that was probably less than polite to the two male saiya-jin and bowed in a reluctantly respectful way to Lena.
"I will inform the master that your daily activities would have been disturbed by my presence, and in doing so would have let the human population of this planet discover you." And then it vanished.
Trunks looked curiously at Lena. "Was he a friend of yours?"
Lena shook her head. "Footsoldier. Mr. Snake's pawn. Doesn't matter now, though."
"What a way to start to the day." Goten joked. "Nothing like the attempted kidnapping of my best buddy's mate--"
He never got to finish his comment. With a screeched curse and a flaming face, Lena dove for Goten and immediately began pounding his head into the linoleum a la Homer Simpson.
"WHY--- CAN'T--- YOU--- ALL--- LEAVE--- ME--- BE---!!!"
~'~
Hanukil sulked in his dark quarters. He had just killed the poor fool who dared tell him his orders had been disobeyed, but really, he wasn't all that angry. In fact, he was delighted. It had been so very, very long since anyone had dared tell him no, and the change was one he welcomed. The saiya-jin female intrigued him. She wasn't suitable for his mate, of course, she would never like that. And for some odd reason, he could not bring himself to force her into anything.
Her spirit, he realized, was what the attraction was about. It was unbreakable. He'd never seen anything like it before. She kept bouncing back, defying those around her as though she didn't care. And maybe she didn't. That would explain the deadened look in her eyes that she hid so well. Perhaps that was her edge, the reason she had sauntered into a death trap and mocked him.
His eyes narrowed in the darkness. If this was so, then she would be very formidable, even more so than Vegeta or Goku even though they outmatched her in strength by a thousand times over. They had the will to live, therefore they would act in way that would preserve their own lives. But one who does not possess such a will does things that will let her win the fight but not necessarily let her live. No, he did not want to fight her, but he also knew that the chances of her betraying her mate were very slim. Taking a hostage would not work, it would only make her strive against him.
There had to be a way…
~'~
Piccolo was meditating. It's not like this wasn't a common occurrence, people, honestly, but the one remarkable detail of this sight: namek-jin, beside waterfall, eyes closed, weird cross-legged position, was that Dende sat on a stone beside him, watching the older namek think. He adjusted the robes on his lap a little. The gravity on earth's surface was strange to his body, just enough to make him aware of it.
"You know how this happened." In the natural silence Piccolo's deep voice was loud and sudden and made Dende start forwards a little. He flushed, embarrassed for some reason.
"Yes." He answered, knowing the question. "I did. It was the first year I was Guardian here. I wanted to consult you about it but I decided that you would not be here always and that if I had to make a decision I should do so. I decided to let her be born here, on this planet. It appears her soul had been wandering around space for some time before arriving at Earth."
Piccolo did not nod, or make any other movement. For a long time there was only the sound of his breathing, heavy and slow. "The saiya-jin planet was destroyed almost forty years ago. Are you saying that her soul wandered the universe for twenty years?"
Dende shrugged. "It's a big universe. Besides, you know, when her parents implored that she be saved, they didn't specify a place. They just said to let her be reborn in a place where she would be happy. Apparently they refused a bunch of planets before coming to this one. And then I think they only chose it because she would be able to find others like herself. I don't understand saiya-jin logic just yet."
Piccolo, once again, made no outward movement. "I think I understand. But why just now? And why does Hanukil have such an interest in her?"
Dende sighed. "I feared you would ask that. I would have thought it would have been her power, but she will never be as strong as Trunks or Goten might become, and besides he has warriors just as strong as her. Some stronger. Maybe it would be because of her status as a super saiya-jin. But then, why not a male, who is stronger? And because of her vampire heritage she is half immortal. That could be part of the answer. But... from what I have seen..." Dende sounded troubled and hesitated.
Piccolo opened one dark eyes and looked at the younger Namek, worried. "What? What have you seen?"
Dende bit his lip. "He likes her. As a consort, as a challenge, as a warrior, I don't know. But he favors her. If she had been any other person he would have killed her by now for her sauciness and insubordination. But... he hasn't. He lets her treat him as though they were equals. And that is very unusual, from what I have read."
Piccolo was effectively shocked. "He likes her?" He repeated, unsure of what to think of it. He was sure it was a bad thing, but was it really? It probably saved Lena's ass more than once.
"Wha... But..." It was the only time in his life, Dende noted, that Piccolo had fumbled for words.
"What should we do about it?" Dende supplied. Piccolo nodded. "Nothing. There is nothing, at the moment, we can do."
"Ain't that peachy."
Both Namek-jin turned to look at the new voice. it was Lena, in her black uniform, hanging upside down over the river, her hair a honey-colored cascade. She looked slightly annoyed, but she appeared to be enjoying herself.
"Piccolo-san, I already knew all that. You could have just asked. You know, I might be the kind of person who gets offended when certain Namek-jin start poking around in MY life." She glared at him pointed, and turned herself right side up. She glared at him pointedly. "And if you want to know why Mr. Snake likes me, I'm not telling. Just because you want to know." She stuck her tongue out at him childishly. She opened her mouth to say more when a shrill voice was heard, far away but growing closer.
"Lena-sama! Lena-sama, where are you? This is not funny!"
Lena sweatdropped. "That's that stupid female soldier Hanukil sent after me. I gotta split, I've been avoiding her ever since school left out. He wants me for something and I don't especially want to see him... I wonder what Trunks is doing..." She grinned a silly smile and took off with a steak of ki.
Piccolo felt a tic going in and out of his forehead, and Dende lowered his head, exasperated.
"Why... why... WHY do we even TRY?" Dende moaned.
~'~
Lena, however, was not so frustrated. She changed her mind about leading the little creature chasing her to Trunks. Instead, she took a sharp turn and headed right for the heart of vamp town, touching down a few moments later on her old turf. She was glad she had shed her school clothing for the inconspicuous uniform. Jeans and an orange t-shirt reading 'monkeys are bad and so am I" wouldn't have done well in keeping her reputation as a spitting, cold, ice-bitch of a vampess.
She could feel the soldier growing closer and smiled. She looked around and found Ken lounging in the shadows of a window ledge, watching her with handsome blue eyes. "Lena?" he asked, so softly only a vampire--or a saiya-jin-- could have heard it.
She was confused. The sun was setting, to be sure, but it had not yet set. What was Ken doing? Trying to kill himself?
"Ken! Ken, what are you doing?" She was worried, now, when he didn't move. She flew up to see him better and nearly fell out of the sky. Her gasp was more than audible, her horror so open on her pretty features. "Oh.. oh. What happened? Who did this?"
Before her, curled up into a little ball, was the scorched and blackened body of the beautiful vampire she had once known to be Ken. he was just barely alive, but only his eyes were recognizable. He was in pain, and deadly silent.
"Fang." He managed to hiss, in answer to her question. She felt her blood boil. This would not be forgiven. This... this was unthinkable. No...
"Ken, what can I do? You're going to die, aren't you? Oh, don't die. Vlad's gonna be pissed anyway... oh, Ken..."
He tried to smile but his face was too stiff and charred to allow it. "Salright. You can't do anything."
She glowered at him. "Don't lie to me, Ken." She scowled. She knew what she had to do. She sighed, and bit her lip. She unbuttoned the over jacket of her uniform and tugged the collar of the shirt beneath it down as low as she could and jumped onto the shadowy windowsill just as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
Ken shifted, and she could see the ravenous hunger beneath his eyes, but yet he hesitated.
"Are you sure, Lena?" He sounded doubtful.
She nodded. "Get it over with. This has never happened to me before, and I'm a bit spooked. Do it before I loose my nerve." She closed her eyes.
His touch was surprisingly soft and gentle. He placed his hands ever so lightly on her shoulders and pulled her to him, and bent his head down to give her his Vampire's Kiss.
She felt a stabbing pain that lasted half a second and then bliss. She was acutely aware of a lessening sensation as she lost contact with the human world and melted into Ken's embrace. His arms tightened around her as they became stronger, and as he drank his flesh became supple and smooth again. It was a soft, warm world he led Lena into, one of burnt reds and oranges, and color of her mind.
And beneath it, he found as he deepened his kiss was a world of harsh reds and blacks and twisted lines and visions so horrible he broke away and threw himself back so sharply that he hit the side of the window with a loud thwack, himself again but purely alarmed. He chanced a glance at Lena and found her on her knees, holding her head and trembling madly.
"Are-- are you okay?" He asked softly, moving towards her. She nodded, and stood up, but she was deadly pale, instead of her usual golden tones. She swayed a little, but managed to smile at him.
"You kidding? I can take more than that." After a second she saw she wasn't fooling him and sighed, leaning back against the stonework. "I'll be alright. I probably needed to get rid of whatever human was left anyway. Big bad guy wants my ass on a platter." She rubbed at the small wound on her neck. It was already healing with the speed of a vampire's blood. Another sigh. "My boyfriend is not going to like this."
He managed to keep the shocked look off his face. "You? The impermeable, indifferent, ice princess Lena ran into a guy who could charm her? God! What is he? Don Juan Concentrated?"
Lena laughed weakly. "Yeah, right. I'm not exactly sure how it happened. One minute I was trying to blow him up, and then next he was kissing me and I was kissing him and when I tried to blow him up again he threw me up against a tree and kissed me some more." She sighed at the memory.
Ken snorted. "Only you would think that's romantic."
She huffed up in indignation. "It was VERY romantic. He's so strong and sweet. It's cute, in a way."
Ken rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything else. If Lena had found a guy with enough balls to stick with her, he certainly wasn't going to ruin it. Although secretly, he was disappointed. He had thought he was friends with the only Lesbian vampire he'd ever heard of.
Never, ever, would he dare to say that in Lena's presence. The girl was weird. Flat out. You'd never know how she'd decide to react.
"Ha! Found you!"
Lena gave the female soldier a superbly disdainful look. "Just in time. Let's go see your boss." She turned back to Ken. "I'll see you as soon as I'm through with this."
He didn't even ask her if she was going to make it out alive.
He already knew she would. She was immortal now.
"Lena, don't get yourself too hurt. And don't stay out after the sky gets light."
Lena gave him an odd smile. "I don't have to worry about that, Ken. I wasn't human anymore, either." She winked at him and grabbed the arm of the soldier who had come to collect her.
"Let's go, baby doll." Lena muttered, and using speed that even made Ken dizzy, she shot up into the sky and off to the South.
Ken watched the streak of ki until it faded and disappeared completely.
Black Beyond
It's been a long time, I know.
But I made you guys a promise to finish this fic, so I am.
Here's the next chapter!
Lena didn't know why she'd returned to this place. She could smell the dried blood of countless attacks, see the familiar shadows lurk in the darkest alleyways and corners, and hear their whispers-- "Old blood, no good"-- as they realized that she wasn't prey.
Her talk with Vegeta hadn't helped her insomnia in the least. If anything, it had made her even more restless than before, something she hadn't even though possible.
A million things were on her mind-- her pending refusal to Hanukil... could she do it?, her relationship with Trunks, her transformation... could she force herself to do it again?, and how much she wanted to stalk the night again...
Perhaps that was why she was here. She did, ever so much, want to be a mere half vampire again, more than anything. She wanted to go to sleep in her old home and wake up to Nicole's annoyed voice and her mother's worried nagging that she wasn't eating.
She wanted to go back to that night so long ago and stop herself from going into that alley and being attacked.
She wanted to know what she might have been if she were normal. Popular? Maybe. Maybe they-- who were they? Isn't that the mystery of all time-- could have liked her. Maybe she could have been accepted-- oh, damned be human longing... acceptance! She was saiya-jin! Acceptance was nothing! You are what you are and damned be anyone that thinks less of you for it!
Did she want to be accepted?
"Yo. Lena." Familiar voice.
Sake. What's going on? S'quiet." Lena didn't flinch as the tall, handsome vampire fell into step beside her. "Haven't been harassed yet... not that I'm complaining."
Sake grinned at her, but his eyes were troubled.
"Fang's restless. With you gone, he's lost his entertainment. Most of his time went to figuring out new ways to trap you." Sake frowned. "He's claiming land that isn't his. Everyone's afraid to fight him. Lost my corner 'while 'go."
Lena looked at him, her mind freezing.
"My block?" She asked, half expecting the worst.
Sake shook his head. "Ken's got it. He resisting Fang. Fang won't touch him; Vlad protects Ken."
Lena nodded.
"Tell Fang I'm hitting my beat again. Go get your territory back, Sake, I'll come with you in case they want trouble."
Lena, you can't fight off these vamps. Huge things, old, experienced. They'll rip you to pieces."
Lena grinned a very feral grin.
"Come on, Sake. Just show me the way. I'll make sure they don't bother you again."
"But--"
"Sake what to you think I've been doing all this time? Sleeping?"
"When Ken said you moved like a cat, I didn't expect him to be telling the truth."
"Shuddup."
Lena did move like a cat. She kept low, using her hands and gravity to move her body. She could move faster this way, catching window sills and cracks in old brick easily. Sake stuck to the rooftops, trying to keep pace with the saiya-jin, who was going at a pace that felt like she was just skipping along.
To her, anyway.
I coulda been there and back twice. If I didn't have to have some element of surprise. So she kept up her bantering pace. Well, it was an easy pace for her. To a normal human, she was little more than a blur of gold and black. To any but the swiftest of vampires, she was too fast. Sake was a fast vamp, but still, by the time they stopped, his breath was ragged and hard to catch.
"How can you move like that?" He gasped, when he saw that she was staring at him in mild surprise, wondering why he had such trouble breathing when she looked and felt like she walked a few feet.
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." as she as she searched the shadows carefully. She could smell Fang's goons... they were close.
"Look out!" She saw a fast moving blur going for Sake. She flew forward and pushed Sake out the of the way and sent the attacker flying, to land with a final sounding thud against a friendly wall.
Sake stared at Lena, who let herself sing to the ground after disposing of the other two vamps in similar fashions. She stalked over to the first one, the sound of her bootheels against pavement echoing. She reached down and grabbed his shirt and lifted him up, up off the ground, using only one hand effortlessly.
"Tell Fang Lena's back." She spat at him. "And you, you overgrown mosquito, won't come back anywhere near here. Because I'll know. And I'll come after you, and believe me, that's the last thing you want."
"Lena! What are you doing?"
Lena cursed mentally as she realized who the voice belonged to. If it had been Goten or Trunks she might have successfully scared them off, but Piccolo...?
She hadn't had many encounters with the namek-jin. She didn't know much about him either, except to know that he was very strong and that Gohan idolized him. And that he had an abnormal amount of control, but to make him mad was basically like saying, "Oh, sure. Death? Love to meet him."
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She asked. "I'm ridding the neighborhood of a few mosquitoes. That's all." To emphasize her point, she threw the trembling vamp to Piccolo's feet. The vamp stood up and ran, followed by his companions.
"Lena, you need to go home before Trunks finds out you're missing. He'd panic. We can't afford that."
"You're being a worry-wart. He's a big boy. He'll take care of himself. Sake, meet Piccolo. Piccolo, meet Sake. Friends of Lena, unite." She grinned at her own joke. "Piccolo's namek, before you ask. Alien. Sake's vampire."
"Alien?"
"Vampire!"
She rolled her eyes. "No, Martians."
Sake felt that Lena would be in some sort of trouble if she didn't go with the Green Man. "S'okay, Lena. I have to go anyway. It's almost sun up anyway, and I haven't fed yet. I think I'll hit easy street before turning in. See you?"
"Tomorrow if I can make it." Lena nodded.
Sake grinned, and was gone.
~'~
Lena stumbled into the school building. She wasn't used to staying up the entire night anymore, and one could tell. The only reason she was standing was because Trunks was practically carrying her. She didn't even feel like retorting to Goten's sarcastic comments.
"Uh-mmm." She muttered, when he asked if it had been Trunks to keep her up all night. Trunks shot her a dirty look and Goten fled, snickering.
"What'd you say that for?" He demanded.
"Uh? Say what?"
"That I kept you up all night?"
"I did not..."
"Did too! Goten's probably telling everyone who'll listen."
Ah. Adrenaline... just the waker-upper she needed.
"Why that no-good son of a bit-- erm, that no good bastard." Wasn't wise to insult Chichi. "That's it! He's toast!" She was a blur down the hall, running after that tell-tale hairstyle.
It took Goten point zero two seconds to recognize the ki that was speeding towards him. With a very high-pitched, girlish squeal, he started running. Teacher just threw up their hands as the two sped by-- this was quickly becoming a common occurrence. Students jumped and dodged, janitors groaned, and the principal just laughed.
Lena was about to catch Goten at the end of the History Wing, when a hand shot out of nowhere and literally grabbed her out of mid-air by the collar of her shirt. Goten whirled around to see his friend, almost as stunned as he was, being held by a creature that looked like it'd had a bad run in with a blender.
He noticed it was wearing that black on black uniform right about the same time Lena did.
"God damn it, what did I tell you things about sneaking up on me?!" She screeched, yanking herself free. "Does Snake Face know you're here, stopping me from kicking his butt?"
"I was sent by Master." It's voice was dull, robotic.
Goten stepped forward, wary, his eyes confused. Lena seemed to have forgotten his presence, and he wondered if It had even noticed him at all.
"Well, then good-ie for him. Tell him to go fuck himself. I'm in school. I didn't get any sleep last night, and I've got a date tonight."
"No you don't. We've got an exam tomorrow and Bulma won't let him out of the house." Goten said helpfully.
"Not with him, you dolt." Lena growled. "With Sake and Ken. So, you can just get out of here, Tall Dark&Ugly." She made a shooing motion with her hands.
"I am not to return without you."
"So hang around for a while." Lena shrugged. Goten's eyes darted from Lena to It. Trunks was coming their way, but he was walking.
Without warning, Goten flared up into SSJ 3. Lena almost fell over as her senses were bombarded, but she took the hint and went into the highest level she had been able to achieve, SSJ2. Trunks caught the hint and was there before the It could assess what was happening.
Wisely, it decided that three young saiya-jin in an upped ki mode was a little more than it wanted to bite off without assistance. It said something in another language that was probably less than polite to the two male saiya-jin and bowed in a reluctantly respectful way to Lena.
"I will inform the master that your daily activities would have been disturbed by my presence, and in doing so would have let the human population of this planet discover you." And then it vanished.
Trunks looked curiously at Lena. "Was he a friend of yours?"
Lena shook her head. "Footsoldier. Mr. Snake's pawn. Doesn't matter now, though."
"What a way to start to the day." Goten joked. "Nothing like the attempted kidnapping of my best buddy's mate--"
He never got to finish his comment. With a screeched curse and a flaming face, Lena dove for Goten and immediately began pounding his head into the linoleum a la Homer Simpson.
"WHY--- CAN'T--- YOU--- ALL--- LEAVE--- ME--- BE---!!!"
~'~
Hanukil sulked in his dark quarters. He had just killed the poor fool who dared tell him his orders had been disobeyed, but really, he wasn't all that angry. In fact, he was delighted. It had been so very, very long since anyone had dared tell him no, and the change was one he welcomed. The saiya-jin female intrigued him. She wasn't suitable for his mate, of course, she would never like that. And for some odd reason, he could not bring himself to force her into anything.
Her spirit, he realized, was what the attraction was about. It was unbreakable. He'd never seen anything like it before. She kept bouncing back, defying those around her as though she didn't care. And maybe she didn't. That would explain the deadened look in her eyes that she hid so well. Perhaps that was her edge, the reason she had sauntered into a death trap and mocked him.
His eyes narrowed in the darkness. If this was so, then she would be very formidable, even more so than Vegeta or Goku even though they outmatched her in strength by a thousand times over. They had the will to live, therefore they would act in way that would preserve their own lives. But one who does not possess such a will does things that will let her win the fight but not necessarily let her live. No, he did not want to fight her, but he also knew that the chances of her betraying her mate were very slim. Taking a hostage would not work, it would only make her strive against him.
There had to be a way…
~'~
Piccolo was meditating. It's not like this wasn't a common occurrence, people, honestly, but the one remarkable detail of this sight: namek-jin, beside waterfall, eyes closed, weird cross-legged position, was that Dende sat on a stone beside him, watching the older namek think. He adjusted the robes on his lap a little. The gravity on earth's surface was strange to his body, just enough to make him aware of it.
"You know how this happened." In the natural silence Piccolo's deep voice was loud and sudden and made Dende start forwards a little. He flushed, embarrassed for some reason.
"Yes." He answered, knowing the question. "I did. It was the first year I was Guardian here. I wanted to consult you about it but I decided that you would not be here always and that if I had to make a decision I should do so. I decided to let her be born here, on this planet. It appears her soul had been wandering around space for some time before arriving at Earth."
Piccolo did not nod, or make any other movement. For a long time there was only the sound of his breathing, heavy and slow. "The saiya-jin planet was destroyed almost forty years ago. Are you saying that her soul wandered the universe for twenty years?"
Dende shrugged. "It's a big universe. Besides, you know, when her parents implored that she be saved, they didn't specify a place. They just said to let her be reborn in a place where she would be happy. Apparently they refused a bunch of planets before coming to this one. And then I think they only chose it because she would be able to find others like herself. I don't understand saiya-jin logic just yet."
Piccolo, once again, made no outward movement. "I think I understand. But why just now? And why does Hanukil have such an interest in her?"
Dende sighed. "I feared you would ask that. I would have thought it would have been her power, but she will never be as strong as Trunks or Goten might become, and besides he has warriors just as strong as her. Some stronger. Maybe it would be because of her status as a super saiya-jin. But then, why not a male, who is stronger? And because of her vampire heritage she is half immortal. That could be part of the answer. But... from what I have seen..." Dende sounded troubled and hesitated.
Piccolo opened one dark eyes and looked at the younger Namek, worried. "What? What have you seen?"
Dende bit his lip. "He likes her. As a consort, as a challenge, as a warrior, I don't know. But he favors her. If she had been any other person he would have killed her by now for her sauciness and insubordination. But... he hasn't. He lets her treat him as though they were equals. And that is very unusual, from what I have read."
Piccolo was effectively shocked. "He likes her?" He repeated, unsure of what to think of it. He was sure it was a bad thing, but was it really? It probably saved Lena's ass more than once.
"Wha... But..." It was the only time in his life, Dende noted, that Piccolo had fumbled for words.
"What should we do about it?" Dende supplied. Piccolo nodded. "Nothing. There is nothing, at the moment, we can do."
"Ain't that peachy."
Both Namek-jin turned to look at the new voice. it was Lena, in her black uniform, hanging upside down over the river, her hair a honey-colored cascade. She looked slightly annoyed, but she appeared to be enjoying herself.
"Piccolo-san, I already knew all that. You could have just asked. You know, I might be the kind of person who gets offended when certain Namek-jin start poking around in MY life." She glared at him pointed, and turned herself right side up. She glared at him pointedly. "And if you want to know why Mr. Snake likes me, I'm not telling. Just because you want to know." She stuck her tongue out at him childishly. She opened her mouth to say more when a shrill voice was heard, far away but growing closer.
"Lena-sama! Lena-sama, where are you? This is not funny!"
Lena sweatdropped. "That's that stupid female soldier Hanukil sent after me. I gotta split, I've been avoiding her ever since school left out. He wants me for something and I don't especially want to see him... I wonder what Trunks is doing..." She grinned a silly smile and took off with a steak of ki.
Piccolo felt a tic going in and out of his forehead, and Dende lowered his head, exasperated.
"Why... why... WHY do we even TRY?" Dende moaned.
~'~
Lena, however, was not so frustrated. She changed her mind about leading the little creature chasing her to Trunks. Instead, she took a sharp turn and headed right for the heart of vamp town, touching down a few moments later on her old turf. She was glad she had shed her school clothing for the inconspicuous uniform. Jeans and an orange t-shirt reading 'monkeys are bad and so am I" wouldn't have done well in keeping her reputation as a spitting, cold, ice-bitch of a vampess.
She could feel the soldier growing closer and smiled. She looked around and found Ken lounging in the shadows of a window ledge, watching her with handsome blue eyes. "Lena?" he asked, so softly only a vampire--or a saiya-jin-- could have heard it.
She was confused. The sun was setting, to be sure, but it had not yet set. What was Ken doing? Trying to kill himself?
"Ken! Ken, what are you doing?" She was worried, now, when he didn't move. She flew up to see him better and nearly fell out of the sky. Her gasp was more than audible, her horror so open on her pretty features. "Oh.. oh. What happened? Who did this?"
Before her, curled up into a little ball, was the scorched and blackened body of the beautiful vampire she had once known to be Ken. he was just barely alive, but only his eyes were recognizable. He was in pain, and deadly silent.
"Fang." He managed to hiss, in answer to her question. She felt her blood boil. This would not be forgiven. This... this was unthinkable. No...
"Ken, what can I do? You're going to die, aren't you? Oh, don't die. Vlad's gonna be pissed anyway... oh, Ken..."
He tried to smile but his face was too stiff and charred to allow it. "Salright. You can't do anything."
She glowered at him. "Don't lie to me, Ken." She scowled. She knew what she had to do. She sighed, and bit her lip. She unbuttoned the over jacket of her uniform and tugged the collar of the shirt beneath it down as low as she could and jumped onto the shadowy windowsill just as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
Ken shifted, and she could see the ravenous hunger beneath his eyes, but yet he hesitated.
"Are you sure, Lena?" He sounded doubtful.
She nodded. "Get it over with. This has never happened to me before, and I'm a bit spooked. Do it before I loose my nerve." She closed her eyes.
His touch was surprisingly soft and gentle. He placed his hands ever so lightly on her shoulders and pulled her to him, and bent his head down to give her his Vampire's Kiss.
She felt a stabbing pain that lasted half a second and then bliss. She was acutely aware of a lessening sensation as she lost contact with the human world and melted into Ken's embrace. His arms tightened around her as they became stronger, and as he drank his flesh became supple and smooth again. It was a soft, warm world he led Lena into, one of burnt reds and oranges, and color of her mind.
And beneath it, he found as he deepened his kiss was a world of harsh reds and blacks and twisted lines and visions so horrible he broke away and threw himself back so sharply that he hit the side of the window with a loud thwack, himself again but purely alarmed. He chanced a glance at Lena and found her on her knees, holding her head and trembling madly.
"Are-- are you okay?" He asked softly, moving towards her. She nodded, and stood up, but she was deadly pale, instead of her usual golden tones. She swayed a little, but managed to smile at him.
"You kidding? I can take more than that." After a second she saw she wasn't fooling him and sighed, leaning back against the stonework. "I'll be alright. I probably needed to get rid of whatever human was left anyway. Big bad guy wants my ass on a platter." She rubbed at the small wound on her neck. It was already healing with the speed of a vampire's blood. Another sigh. "My boyfriend is not going to like this."
He managed to keep the shocked look off his face. "You? The impermeable, indifferent, ice princess Lena ran into a guy who could charm her? God! What is he? Don Juan Concentrated?"
Lena laughed weakly. "Yeah, right. I'm not exactly sure how it happened. One minute I was trying to blow him up, and then next he was kissing me and I was kissing him and when I tried to blow him up again he threw me up against a tree and kissed me some more." She sighed at the memory.
Ken snorted. "Only you would think that's romantic."
She huffed up in indignation. "It was VERY romantic. He's so strong and sweet. It's cute, in a way."
Ken rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything else. If Lena had found a guy with enough balls to stick with her, he certainly wasn't going to ruin it. Although secretly, he was disappointed. He had thought he was friends with the only Lesbian vampire he'd ever heard of.
Never, ever, would he dare to say that in Lena's presence. The girl was weird. Flat out. You'd never know how she'd decide to react.
"Ha! Found you!"
Lena gave the female soldier a superbly disdainful look. "Just in time. Let's go see your boss." She turned back to Ken. "I'll see you as soon as I'm through with this."
He didn't even ask her if she was going to make it out alive.
He already knew she would. She was immortal now.
"Lena, don't get yourself too hurt. And don't stay out after the sky gets light."
Lena gave him an odd smile. "I don't have to worry about that, Ken. I wasn't human anymore, either." She winked at him and grabbed the arm of the soldier who had come to collect her.
"Let's go, baby doll." Lena muttered, and using speed that even made Ken dizzy, she shot up into the sky and off to the South.
Ken watched the streak of ki until it faded and disappeared completely.