CHAPTER 10 – Soul Searching
Someone was running towards Sen but she couldn't make out who it was. Exhausted, she collapsed, getting comfort from the cool stone beneath. She closed her eyes and fell back into the now familiar trance of the past. ----- "Do not worry my little one. You and I will be safe here."
The secret chamber below her father's lab was dimly lit and it smelled of chemicals. Sen had spent a good part of her early childhood in this room. Coming back to this place, made her feel somewhat claustrophobic. "Why do we hide father?"
Her father lowered himself to her eye level and gently held her shoulders. "There are those who wish us dead, Sen. Those monkeys are trying to take everything from our people. Now they hunt for Tsufuru. I'm afraid they will not stop until every last one of us is gone."
"I will protect you father! I do not fear the mindless animals." Sen was half the height as her Tsufuru father but her defiant stance seemed to make her tower over him.
He smiled and stood up, roughing her hair as he did so. "My brave warrior. I'm sure you would, but let's stick to the plan. Remember the special ship I've built for us. We will remain here until the Saiyans leave our sector. Then we will leave our home world. One day when we return, we will take back what belongs to us, and the Saiyans will wish they have never set foot here."
"What about mother? Will she be alright?"
Her father picked her up and hugged his only daughter. "Coraine is Saiyan, Sen. Nothing can change that...nor could she. Please try to understand. What tied the three of us together is not strong enough to overcome our people's differences. I had hoped..." He cleared his throat, returning Sen in front of him and continued, "Well, let's look forward to our new life, shall we?"
With a nod Sen gave her father a weak smile. "Where will we go? Are we to remain in this galaxy?"
"Ahh, excellent question! Why don't you get the solar charts over there and I will get us something to eat and we can explore the possibilities."
"Aye! I'm starving!" Sen ran over to a shelf and grabbed a data viewing device and disks and ran them over to the table near the far wall. She could hear her father chuckling to himself as he pressed some controls on a wall panel.
"We better find a plentiful planet or that appetite of yours will be the death of us." ----- Disturbed from her recall, Sen gave a moan as someone rolled her over on to her back. "Oh dear, oh dear! Sen, are you alright? What in heavens happened to you? Speak to me, Sen!"
Sen blinked a couple of times and then squinted to see where the voice was coming from. "I...I'll be ok...need rest, Reese." She closed her eyes again to try to return to her childhood experience.
"Oh this won't do at all. Sen, SEN! Where's Vegeta?" Reese tried to shake her out of it but froze when the cloud floor below Snake Way started to flash and rumble. "Odd...OH NO! Is that who I think it is?!" He shook Sen harder. "Answer me Sen! Is Vegeta in HFIL?"
Sen could only smile and nod her head before sinking back into her trance.
"This won't do at all! How did this happen?!" But Reese was unable to get anything more out of the warrior. The grunt tried to get Sen to sit, then lifted her up, and draped her over his back. His knees wobbled as he took each step. ----- As Sen took a bite out of her dumpling, she popped in a disk into the DVD. Immediately the stars and planets were projected onto the wall in front of them. She tapped the corner of the device to align the image. "Ok...what about this one?" She pointed to a spot on the wall with her dumpling and touched the pad on top of the DVD with her other hand. The chosen planet was zoomed in and identified.
"Let me guess, you like this one because it reminds you of our planet. Unfortunately, it's sub-class, Sen. Life support is minimal." He touched the pad to expand the view again. "Try this one." Her father zoomed in on a bluish looking planet. "I've had my eye on this one for quite some time. You like to swim don't yo..."
Both father and daughter became motionless when they heard rumbling above followed by a crashing noise. They watched the ceiling nervously. Slowly, Sen's father reached over and turned off the projection. He motioned Sen to hide in one of the cabinets on the adjacent wall. Violently, she shook her head. He grabbed her shoulder forcefully and with pleading eyes, silently formed the word 'now' with his lips. Reluctantly, she complied.
After settling into the cabinet, her father came from behind to shut the door. She stopped him by pulling at his arm and squeezing it. He winced a little but smiled at his brave warrior. He patted her hand then removed it pushing past the door so he could shut it. Sen heard him set the lock and whispered, "Plan B." She knew it wasn't to keep her in, she could easily force her way out...it was to keep others out.
Soon they heard pounding on the trap door. Sen could hear her father rummaging through things and heard him unlock the back exit.
With an explosion, the trapped door crashed to the floor. Sen could hear something dropped onto the fallen metal door three times. "After him, he went that way!" Sen knew that voice. ----- "Sen! SEN! You have to try to walk." Reese couldn't carry her any further. He had dropped her onto her feet and was trying to hold her up.
She only moaned at him. Tired from his effort to bring her back, Reese slid to the ground bringing Sen with him. "I can't do this alone, Sen. I need your help."
"Just leave me...I'll come...soon."
"That won't do, Sen. King Yama has asked for you and Vegeta's presence. I'm not going back empty handed." Frustrated, he let Sen lay down and he did the same. Reese stared at the sky trying to decide to go back for help or wait here for Sen to rest. Suddenly he felt they were not alone and sat up. Fluffy white puffs had surrounded them.
Reese stood up and looked suspiciously down at the souls. "What are you doing here? You should be in line!" The souls started to murmur angrily all at once. Reese looked up to see what had upset them so and realized the line he had mentioned had grown to where they were.
"Oh dear. This is real bad. Are all of you from Earth?" Agreements were heard coming from all the souls within earshot.
"Ok, Ok...Now I know I've got to get back to the palace. But I can't leave her...hey what are you doing?"
Several of the white puffs had surrounded Sen and lifted her off the ground and moved her into line with them. The souls called to the others in front and past the warrior over to them. Soon Sen was body surfing steadily up Snake Way.
Astonished, Reese followed along side. "I've got to hand it to you Earthlings, You are an amazing race."
There were a few souls that stepped aside who were not interested in helping. If Reese had his clipboard with him, he would have noted each one of the dead beats. ----- Sen could feel the blood drain from her face. Her mother had betrayed them. She was the only one who knew of the secret room.
"What way Sergeant? I see no exit."
"You fool! Move aside!" Sen heard the exit unlock. "Now go, don't let the Tsufuru scum get away!" The sound of several footsteps faded down the corridor and then silence.
Sen couldn't take it. She had to help her father. Placing her feet on the door to her hideout, she kicked the door open and hopped out onto the floor. Her eyes adjusted quickly and a mixture of anger and fear came over her. Her mother was standing directly in front of her.
"Hahaha, when will you ever learn patience...always rushing into things. It will get you killed Sen."
"Why, mother? Why have you betrayed us?"
"I cannot betray my people Sen. The Tsufuru see us only as monkeys. They tried enslaving us."
"But father and you...I thought you were trying to change all this."
"Nice idea, huh. Integrate our races...even create a new one. One problem, neither race wants it. The Saiyans and the Tsufuru would rather die fighting than become one. You are a mistake Sen. Nobody wants you."
Sen looked at her mother through tear filled eyes. Defiantly, she took a step towards her mother. "Take a good look at me, mother. I look like you. Am I not your daughter? Am I not Saiyan?"
"You are an abomination, Sen. Accept your fate like a Saiyan and die with honor." Coriane ready herself and went into a fighting stance.
"So you want to kill me, mother? As a Saiyan, this will be no easy task. But as a Tsufuru, I will live!" Sen readied herself for battle.
Coriane smiled. "I'm proud of you Sen. I hope to meet you in the next dimension some day."
"Don't count on it." Sen dashed at her mother. But instead of hitting her, she slid through Coriane's legs and grabbed the end of the metal door they were on. She took to the air and pulled the door out from under causing Coraine to fall to the ground. With all the power she could muster, Sen turned and tried to shove the door into her mother.
Coraine had just enough time to roll over before the edge of the door hit. The Saiyan's chest plate protected her but she was pinned to the ground. She attempted to push the door off her but was surprised of Sen's strength. "Your strong, Sen. But don't forget where you got your strength from." With a cry, the Saiyan pushed up the door with a force that sent Sen and the door crashing up through the opening above. Sen slammed into the upper level's ceiling. It took all her strength to stop the door from slicing her in half. She let go of it and the door fell on top of the opening. Coriane burst through and sent the metal barrier flying. She aimed a punch at Sen only to have it hit where Sen once was. Growling with rage, Coriane jerked her head from side to side looking for her offspring.
"I'm over here, mother!" Sen stood on the floor holding a Tsufuru blasting weapon aimed at Coraine. Her face was streaked with tears. She never killed before and she didn't want her mother to be the first. "Please let me go."
Coriane floated down and stood in front of the opening in the floor. "I can't do that, I have my orders."
"Who orders you to kill your own daughter?"
"Our new leader, King Vegeta...It's you or I, kid." Coriane crossed her arms and frowned at the child. "Understand, Sen, you will die; if not by my hand it will be by another. I'd rather it be me. I want to make it as painless as possible for you but you are just not cooperating."
"You can't do this; you just can't (sob)...I need you."
"Since when? You follow the path of your father."
"There's so much I don't know about myself." Sen looked down for a moment then glanced at her Saiyan mother. "So much I don't understand."
Coriane attempted to move closer but stopped abruptly when Sen fixed her aim. "No mother...don't."
"I only want to hold you child. Maybe there is a way." Taking another step, Coriane continued, "Your heart is Saiyan, Sen. What does it tell you?"
"I...I...don't know."
"Come with me Sen. Pledge your loyalty to King Vegeta and he will spare your life."
"What about father?"
"Dr. Raichi is dead by now."
"No. He still lives. I can feel him."
"What? You feel him? No, Sen. You deceive yourself." Coriane was less than a meter away now. "Put down your weapon." The end of her mother's tail came up and touched Sen's cheek then gently wrapped around Sen's wrist. Sen returned her affection by entwining her tail around her mother's.
This caused Sen's judgment to waver and she started to lower the blaster. Coriane smiled at the child and went to reach for it. She watched the child's face carefully. Suddenly, Sen's eyes went wide and she shouted, "WAIT!"
Coraine pulled the gun from the girl's hands, crushing the barrel but as she did so, something struck her from behind. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forward to the ground, narrowly missing Sen.
Falling to her knees, Sen attempted to protect her mother from further harm. "What did you do?! Don't kill her father! She wanted to help me."
"Use your head Sen, if she didn't want any harm to come to you, she wouldn't have told those monkeys where we were. She could have kept your existence a secret."
"No father. She wanted to help me."
"Have you ever known a Saiyan to willingly help a Tsufuru?"
"She helped you."
"Nothing more than repaying a debt. But I will not talk about this now. There is no time. Here, help me get these off." Raichi worked to remove Coriane's armor and boots but was stopped by Sen's hand.
"She's alright, Sen. She's just knocked out." Trusting her father, Sen released his arm and helped.
Gathering the pieces up, Raichi handed them to Sen. "Here. Put these on. The armor will adjust to your size." Sen pulled off her outer clothing and slipped the chest plate on. Then she sat down and slid off her boots and put her mother's on. Next she slid each hand threw the arm plates. The boots were large for her but the armor fit comfortably well.
Both stood up and regarded one another. With a slight grin her father spoke, "Well my little warrior, you certainly look the part." Then the grin changed to a frown. "Your eyes could give you away. Keep them down if you are confronted by a Saiyan." He removed the tie that held back her hair and let the locks fall over her face. "That's better. Come now let's get going." Raichi turned and headed for the opening in the floor. He looked back to see Sen staring at her mother. "Sen!" She turned and followed him, her tail reluctantly letting go of her mother's.
Tears were in Sen's eyes again but she smiled at her father when she caught up to him. "Thanks for not killing her."
"Her end will come soon enough...as with all Saiyans." ----- King Yama glanced up and did a double take and his writing hand froze. "What the...?" He saw Reese hurrying along side of what look like a body moving above the line of souls to his door. As they came closer, he recognized a battered Sen. "What's the matter with Sen and where is Vegeta?!"
Someone was running towards Sen but she couldn't make out who it was. Exhausted, she collapsed, getting comfort from the cool stone beneath. She closed her eyes and fell back into the now familiar trance of the past. ----- "Do not worry my little one. You and I will be safe here."
The secret chamber below her father's lab was dimly lit and it smelled of chemicals. Sen had spent a good part of her early childhood in this room. Coming back to this place, made her feel somewhat claustrophobic. "Why do we hide father?"
Her father lowered himself to her eye level and gently held her shoulders. "There are those who wish us dead, Sen. Those monkeys are trying to take everything from our people. Now they hunt for Tsufuru. I'm afraid they will not stop until every last one of us is gone."
"I will protect you father! I do not fear the mindless animals." Sen was half the height as her Tsufuru father but her defiant stance seemed to make her tower over him.
He smiled and stood up, roughing her hair as he did so. "My brave warrior. I'm sure you would, but let's stick to the plan. Remember the special ship I've built for us. We will remain here until the Saiyans leave our sector. Then we will leave our home world. One day when we return, we will take back what belongs to us, and the Saiyans will wish they have never set foot here."
"What about mother? Will she be alright?"
Her father picked her up and hugged his only daughter. "Coraine is Saiyan, Sen. Nothing can change that...nor could she. Please try to understand. What tied the three of us together is not strong enough to overcome our people's differences. I had hoped..." He cleared his throat, returning Sen in front of him and continued, "Well, let's look forward to our new life, shall we?"
With a nod Sen gave her father a weak smile. "Where will we go? Are we to remain in this galaxy?"
"Ahh, excellent question! Why don't you get the solar charts over there and I will get us something to eat and we can explore the possibilities."
"Aye! I'm starving!" Sen ran over to a shelf and grabbed a data viewing device and disks and ran them over to the table near the far wall. She could hear her father chuckling to himself as he pressed some controls on a wall panel.
"We better find a plentiful planet or that appetite of yours will be the death of us." ----- Disturbed from her recall, Sen gave a moan as someone rolled her over on to her back. "Oh dear, oh dear! Sen, are you alright? What in heavens happened to you? Speak to me, Sen!"
Sen blinked a couple of times and then squinted to see where the voice was coming from. "I...I'll be ok...need rest, Reese." She closed her eyes again to try to return to her childhood experience.
"Oh this won't do at all. Sen, SEN! Where's Vegeta?" Reese tried to shake her out of it but froze when the cloud floor below Snake Way started to flash and rumble. "Odd...OH NO! Is that who I think it is?!" He shook Sen harder. "Answer me Sen! Is Vegeta in HFIL?"
Sen could only smile and nod her head before sinking back into her trance.
"This won't do at all! How did this happen?!" But Reese was unable to get anything more out of the warrior. The grunt tried to get Sen to sit, then lifted her up, and draped her over his back. His knees wobbled as he took each step. ----- As Sen took a bite out of her dumpling, she popped in a disk into the DVD. Immediately the stars and planets were projected onto the wall in front of them. She tapped the corner of the device to align the image. "Ok...what about this one?" She pointed to a spot on the wall with her dumpling and touched the pad on top of the DVD with her other hand. The chosen planet was zoomed in and identified.
"Let me guess, you like this one because it reminds you of our planet. Unfortunately, it's sub-class, Sen. Life support is minimal." He touched the pad to expand the view again. "Try this one." Her father zoomed in on a bluish looking planet. "I've had my eye on this one for quite some time. You like to swim don't yo..."
Both father and daughter became motionless when they heard rumbling above followed by a crashing noise. They watched the ceiling nervously. Slowly, Sen's father reached over and turned off the projection. He motioned Sen to hide in one of the cabinets on the adjacent wall. Violently, she shook her head. He grabbed her shoulder forcefully and with pleading eyes, silently formed the word 'now' with his lips. Reluctantly, she complied.
After settling into the cabinet, her father came from behind to shut the door. She stopped him by pulling at his arm and squeezing it. He winced a little but smiled at his brave warrior. He patted her hand then removed it pushing past the door so he could shut it. Sen heard him set the lock and whispered, "Plan B." She knew it wasn't to keep her in, she could easily force her way out...it was to keep others out.
Soon they heard pounding on the trap door. Sen could hear her father rummaging through things and heard him unlock the back exit.
With an explosion, the trapped door crashed to the floor. Sen could hear something dropped onto the fallen metal door three times. "After him, he went that way!" Sen knew that voice. ----- "Sen! SEN! You have to try to walk." Reese couldn't carry her any further. He had dropped her onto her feet and was trying to hold her up.
She only moaned at him. Tired from his effort to bring her back, Reese slid to the ground bringing Sen with him. "I can't do this alone, Sen. I need your help."
"Just leave me...I'll come...soon."
"That won't do, Sen. King Yama has asked for you and Vegeta's presence. I'm not going back empty handed." Frustrated, he let Sen lay down and he did the same. Reese stared at the sky trying to decide to go back for help or wait here for Sen to rest. Suddenly he felt they were not alone and sat up. Fluffy white puffs had surrounded them.
Reese stood up and looked suspiciously down at the souls. "What are you doing here? You should be in line!" The souls started to murmur angrily all at once. Reese looked up to see what had upset them so and realized the line he had mentioned had grown to where they were.
"Oh dear. This is real bad. Are all of you from Earth?" Agreements were heard coming from all the souls within earshot.
"Ok, Ok...Now I know I've got to get back to the palace. But I can't leave her...hey what are you doing?"
Several of the white puffs had surrounded Sen and lifted her off the ground and moved her into line with them. The souls called to the others in front and past the warrior over to them. Soon Sen was body surfing steadily up Snake Way.
Astonished, Reese followed along side. "I've got to hand it to you Earthlings, You are an amazing race."
There were a few souls that stepped aside who were not interested in helping. If Reese had his clipboard with him, he would have noted each one of the dead beats. ----- Sen could feel the blood drain from her face. Her mother had betrayed them. She was the only one who knew of the secret room.
"What way Sergeant? I see no exit."
"You fool! Move aside!" Sen heard the exit unlock. "Now go, don't let the Tsufuru scum get away!" The sound of several footsteps faded down the corridor and then silence.
Sen couldn't take it. She had to help her father. Placing her feet on the door to her hideout, she kicked the door open and hopped out onto the floor. Her eyes adjusted quickly and a mixture of anger and fear came over her. Her mother was standing directly in front of her.
"Hahaha, when will you ever learn patience...always rushing into things. It will get you killed Sen."
"Why, mother? Why have you betrayed us?"
"I cannot betray my people Sen. The Tsufuru see us only as monkeys. They tried enslaving us."
"But father and you...I thought you were trying to change all this."
"Nice idea, huh. Integrate our races...even create a new one. One problem, neither race wants it. The Saiyans and the Tsufuru would rather die fighting than become one. You are a mistake Sen. Nobody wants you."
Sen looked at her mother through tear filled eyes. Defiantly, she took a step towards her mother. "Take a good look at me, mother. I look like you. Am I not your daughter? Am I not Saiyan?"
"You are an abomination, Sen. Accept your fate like a Saiyan and die with honor." Coriane ready herself and went into a fighting stance.
"So you want to kill me, mother? As a Saiyan, this will be no easy task. But as a Tsufuru, I will live!" Sen readied herself for battle.
Coriane smiled. "I'm proud of you Sen. I hope to meet you in the next dimension some day."
"Don't count on it." Sen dashed at her mother. But instead of hitting her, she slid through Coriane's legs and grabbed the end of the metal door they were on. She took to the air and pulled the door out from under causing Coraine to fall to the ground. With all the power she could muster, Sen turned and tried to shove the door into her mother.
Coraine had just enough time to roll over before the edge of the door hit. The Saiyan's chest plate protected her but she was pinned to the ground. She attempted to push the door off her but was surprised of Sen's strength. "Your strong, Sen. But don't forget where you got your strength from." With a cry, the Saiyan pushed up the door with a force that sent Sen and the door crashing up through the opening above. Sen slammed into the upper level's ceiling. It took all her strength to stop the door from slicing her in half. She let go of it and the door fell on top of the opening. Coriane burst through and sent the metal barrier flying. She aimed a punch at Sen only to have it hit where Sen once was. Growling with rage, Coriane jerked her head from side to side looking for her offspring.
"I'm over here, mother!" Sen stood on the floor holding a Tsufuru blasting weapon aimed at Coraine. Her face was streaked with tears. She never killed before and she didn't want her mother to be the first. "Please let me go."
Coriane floated down and stood in front of the opening in the floor. "I can't do that, I have my orders."
"Who orders you to kill your own daughter?"
"Our new leader, King Vegeta...It's you or I, kid." Coriane crossed her arms and frowned at the child. "Understand, Sen, you will die; if not by my hand it will be by another. I'd rather it be me. I want to make it as painless as possible for you but you are just not cooperating."
"You can't do this; you just can't (sob)...I need you."
"Since when? You follow the path of your father."
"There's so much I don't know about myself." Sen looked down for a moment then glanced at her Saiyan mother. "So much I don't understand."
Coriane attempted to move closer but stopped abruptly when Sen fixed her aim. "No mother...don't."
"I only want to hold you child. Maybe there is a way." Taking another step, Coriane continued, "Your heart is Saiyan, Sen. What does it tell you?"
"I...I...don't know."
"Come with me Sen. Pledge your loyalty to King Vegeta and he will spare your life."
"What about father?"
"Dr. Raichi is dead by now."
"No. He still lives. I can feel him."
"What? You feel him? No, Sen. You deceive yourself." Coriane was less than a meter away now. "Put down your weapon." The end of her mother's tail came up and touched Sen's cheek then gently wrapped around Sen's wrist. Sen returned her affection by entwining her tail around her mother's.
This caused Sen's judgment to waver and she started to lower the blaster. Coriane smiled at the child and went to reach for it. She watched the child's face carefully. Suddenly, Sen's eyes went wide and she shouted, "WAIT!"
Coraine pulled the gun from the girl's hands, crushing the barrel but as she did so, something struck her from behind. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forward to the ground, narrowly missing Sen.
Falling to her knees, Sen attempted to protect her mother from further harm. "What did you do?! Don't kill her father! She wanted to help me."
"Use your head Sen, if she didn't want any harm to come to you, she wouldn't have told those monkeys where we were. She could have kept your existence a secret."
"No father. She wanted to help me."
"Have you ever known a Saiyan to willingly help a Tsufuru?"
"She helped you."
"Nothing more than repaying a debt. But I will not talk about this now. There is no time. Here, help me get these off." Raichi worked to remove Coriane's armor and boots but was stopped by Sen's hand.
"She's alright, Sen. She's just knocked out." Trusting her father, Sen released his arm and helped.
Gathering the pieces up, Raichi handed them to Sen. "Here. Put these on. The armor will adjust to your size." Sen pulled off her outer clothing and slipped the chest plate on. Then she sat down and slid off her boots and put her mother's on. Next she slid each hand threw the arm plates. The boots were large for her but the armor fit comfortably well.
Both stood up and regarded one another. With a slight grin her father spoke, "Well my little warrior, you certainly look the part." Then the grin changed to a frown. "Your eyes could give you away. Keep them down if you are confronted by a Saiyan." He removed the tie that held back her hair and let the locks fall over her face. "That's better. Come now let's get going." Raichi turned and headed for the opening in the floor. He looked back to see Sen staring at her mother. "Sen!" She turned and followed him, her tail reluctantly letting go of her mother's.
Tears were in Sen's eyes again but she smiled at her father when she caught up to him. "Thanks for not killing her."
"Her end will come soon enough...as with all Saiyans." ----- King Yama glanced up and did a double take and his writing hand froze. "What the...?" He saw Reese hurrying along side of what look like a body moving above the line of souls to his door. As they came closer, he recognized a battered Sen. "What's the matter with Sen and where is Vegeta?!"