by DoraMouse
Part Four: 754 A.D.
Raditz had never expected the cat to take him literally. He still wasn't sure whether it had been a sheer accident or if cat was much more intelligent than he'd realized. He was more careful about what he said to cat now, in case the latter turned out to be the case.
The incident had happened ten years ago, at that fateful Tournament of Chains. Raditz hadn't been picked to fight in the tournament but he'd been allowed to watch. All the soldiers were allowed to watch. The warriors were encouraged to cheer on their peers even though they usually didn't know their peers and could relate to the slaves.
Several ships had landed on the slave planet within a few hours of each other so it was decent sized crowd at the stadium. Raditz had been sitting in the audience with cat, calmly threatening to rearrange someones vital organs.
Other warriors always made insulting remarks when they saw him with cat, Raditz had been used to that by then. A bit of threatening banter and a slight power-up was all it usually took to scare the hecklers off. However, this particular moron hadn't left and also hadn't stopped at insulting cat. The alien soldier had begun to insult saiyans. The alien had gone so far as to claim that the saiyan world didn't even exist anymore, that saiyans were a dead species - which was absolutely ridiculous. More of an insult than Raditz could tolerate. He'd punched the idiot across the stadium and the alien had made a nice dent in the wall before getting up.
Their scuffle had interferred with the main battle so it had been broken up because after all, everyone was on a schedule. It just wouldn't do to delay the tournament. Raditz and his opponent had been seized and dragged aside by numerous other soldiers. The stadium manager had summoned their commanding officers. It had been degrading, the warriors were treated as if they were kids and the school principal was calling their parents to report their misbehavior. Zarbon had arrived promptly. The other commander, a spikey pink humanoid blob called Dodoria, had taken his time.
Once everyone had arrived a bit of arguing had ensued about what exactly had happened and who was at fault. Raditz had mostly stayed out of the debate. He hadn't trusted himself to speak at the time and he didn't care to make whatever punishment was pending worse.
Cat had been content to simply sit out of sight, watching. Apparently though the animal had grown tired of being both ignored and insulted. Zarbon happened to be closest to where the cat was sitting when the animal abruptly decided that it needed a scratching post capable of screaming bloody murder.
Havoc had followed but Raditz had managed to grab the stupid animal in time to prevent it from being killed. Zarbon had been the only one attacking and also the only one that found his own current condition unamusing. Everyone else had been grinning, Dodoria and the stadium manager had started laughing aloud at the sight. The alien soldier that had been insulting cat earlier had withdrawn his previous remarks and even apologized without much in the way of hard feelings.
Zarbon had limped off with one entire leg shredded from the hip down to the ankle. He'd sworn that to get revenge but thankfully, so far, it had been an empty threat. The stadium manager, who was also the commander of Freezia Planet 404s, had decided that Raditz and cat should both stay on the planet and Dodoria had supported the decision.
Raditz had never been so glad of anything in his entire life.
He'd spent the last ten years on a planet instead of aboard a cramped spaceraft. No more induced sleep. No more stunted growth. No more lack of a social life. No more nearly starving to death or conquering planets. He still didn't get paid to be in Freezias Army but that hardly mattered, his quality of life had improved dramatically. Raditz had put on some weight and gotten much stronger due to having plenty of opportunties to spar. He hadn't taken any kind of a medical test in years - he hadn't needed to. He had been given his own room. True, it was a small unfurnished room in a lookout tower but it was all his. Raditz had even begun to recover his sense of time.
Raditz was a guard now, it was his job to help keep the slaves in order. Cat could even come to work with him most of the time. They'd walk around, patrolling. Keeping an eye on things. Cats natural hunter instincts were almost as good as Raditzs own, fugitives and troublemakers very rarely escaped their attention.
In general - life was great, almost perfect. There had only ever been one little snag in Raditzs happiness: the insult. Ridiculous as it seemed, what if it was true? What if the saiyan world didn't exist anymore? What if he was one of the only saiyans left alive? That thought almost constantly nagged at him. It had always been a point of pride for Raditz to remind himself that unlike most of Freezias Army, he hadn't ever technically been a slave - his world hadn't been conquered. He was only a member of Freezias Army because of some political agreement that had been struck between the saiyan King and a handful of Freezias representatives.
Deep down, Raditz had always subconsciously expected to be able to go home someday. He had told cat all about the place and had sometimes daydreamed about being able to bask in the collective pride of saiyan culture again. Just to be around warriors that hadn't had their spirits broken would be such a welcome change. The thought that maybe he could never go home had haunted Raditz for the last ten years. Why would anyone even joke about the saiyan world not existing? What could have happened?
Raditz was currently in his early twenties and sitting in his room. He finally had some answers. Most of the news was not good.
Standing in his room were two visitors that were unusual if only because they'd come to visit Raditz specifically. The older of the two was a tall, bulky saiyan with a fading red mustache and a bald head. He'd had to duck to enter the room. He had introduced himself as Nappa, saiyan elite and general of the combined saiyan army. Nappa had the nervous habit of twirling the ends of his mustache while he spoke.
Raditz was painfully aware that being spoken to at all by a saiyan elite was cause for concern. Traditionally, elite warriors didn't even look directly at lower class soldiers so the sheer act of Nappa speaking to him signaled a drastic change in the saiyan culture.
Understatement of the century.
According to Nappa, the saiyan world was in fact gone. It had been gone for seventeen years now. Apparently a large meteor had struck without warning, instantly obliterating the planet as well as everyone on it. Nappa didn't sound like he really believed that story and the shorter warrior standing next to Nappa had also snorted in disgust.
Throughout the limited conversation, Raditz did his best to respectfully ignore the shorter saiyan. Raditz felt that he wasn't supposed to acknowledge royalty because any acknowledgment he could give would seem like pity. The Prince would probably just be insulted by it. Besides, it was bit intimidating. Warriors generally didn't have planets named after themselves without first establishing some sort of reputation. The name Vegeta had long been associated with powerful saiyan leadership. The dynasty of saiyan Kings who'd gone by the name had been regarded as gods within their own culture.
Which meant of course, that if anyone was affected by the lost of the saiyan home world then it was the Prince Vegeta. Raditz had lost a lot too but he figured that losing an entire kingdom, the right to rule and all the perks of being treated with respect - that had to be a hundred times worse. So Raditz made a point not to complain, not to overreact, ask many questions or display his emotions very much when the bad news was given to him.
Prince Vegeta was silent for the most part. The Prince stood rigidly in the shadow of his trusted general and seemed so absorbed in his own thoughts that at times he gave the impression of being far away, barely aware of his current surroundings. Raditz privately wondered if the Prince could remember the saiyan world as it had once been, in all its glory. Vegeta seemed a tad too young to have clear memories of the planet that had shared his name.
Nappa was now explaining, in a bored tone, that they didn't really know how many saiyans were still alive. Due to the distances between worlds, being busy with their own missions and the general lack of surviving records - it had taken them some time just to learn of Raditzs existance and track him down. This made the logic behind their visit more obvious. Raditz had quickly realized that these elite saiyans didn't care much about his well-being, they were just trying to find out if he knew of any surviving saiyans that they didn't know about. Perhaps they were looking for someone important.
The surprise twist in this otherwise dull explanation came at the end of the short speech.
"Seems you have a brother." Nappa said casually.
It was the first time that Raditz had heard of any such thing. He tensed, sitting up more rigidly but wasn't quite sure what to say.
Nappa continued. "By our records he's younger than you and still a low-class bloodline but pure saiyan nonetheless."
Raditzs mind was racing. A brother. A little brother. Amazing and... This brother, he must be alive somehow. They wouldn't have mentioned him if they didn't think he was alive. But still - maybe this was some sort of trick. Maybe the elites just wanted to get Raditz to volunteer to go look for someone that might not actually exist. Who knew. Cautiously Raditz shrugged and said. "That's the first I've heard about any siblings."
"Not surprising. If my memory serves then your parents were off-planet frequently." Nappa speculated before getting back to the facts. "His name's Kakarott. 'Bout 17 years ago, he was sent off to single-handedly conquer some dinky planet called Earth."
Raditz coughed as a new set of realizations dawned on him, he was seeing some connections. Seventeen years ago... So his brother had left planet Vegeta the same year that the planet had been destroyed. "Are you implying that my little brother betrayed our planet?"
"Would have been hard for a newborn." Nappa said dryly.
Vegeta sighed in impatience but said nothing, staring up at the wooden ceiling beams where cat was perched. Cat seemed most comforable in high places. The animal enjoyed looking down at others.
Raditz blinked. This was getting absurd. "Oh. So you're saying that my brother was an infant and yet they sent him to destroy a world on his own." Raditzs expression and tone of voice protrayed what he was feeling which was along the lines of a bitingly sarcastic: Yea, right. That makes so much more sense. Gee, why didn't I think of that?
Nappa arced an eyebrow, perhaps slightly offended by the tone. "That was just a cover. Obviously. Your little brother was sent away from the planet shortly before your father launched a suicidal solo mission of some sort. There's enough information to imply that your fathers attack may have either delayed or provoked the destruction of planet Vegeta. In either case, we think that your father might have placed a few other items into your brothers spacepod. The Prince would like those items back."
Hearing the information and believing it were two different things. It was a lot of information to digest - too much to really sink in, too much to believe all at once. To suddenly find out that you have a little brother and that your father was some sort of insane criminal that may have contributed to the destruction of your home world. It was all so farfetched. Almost rehearsed.
Raditz was beginning to wonder if Nappa had told this exact same story to every other surviving saiyan they'd tracked down so far. He wondered what sort of item could be so important. And if the item was so important then why didn't the elite warriors just go fetch it themselves? There had to be some special risks involved...
Vegeta finally said something, he sounded a bit surprised and was still gazing upwards. "Where did the reverse ocelot come from? They aren't native to this place are they?"
Raditz glanced up at cat, curious. Since when did royalty know anything about animals? And what was he supposed to do now? It would be impolite to ignore the question but by tradition it was also impolite to address the Prince. Raditz solved this dilemma by facing Nappa as he spoke. "Got it a few years ago on some alien planet. I don't remember which one."
Nappa didn't have much trouble reaching up and lifting cat out of the ceiling beams for closer examination. Cat, as usual, didn't act threatened. The animal was content to give Nappa the same sort of visual head-to-toe inspection that Nappa was giving it. "These are rare you know." Nappa said seriously, "This things hide is probably worth more than all of our lives combined."
"Doubtful. That cat has made some enemies in its lifetime." Raditz scoffed.
Nappas eyes widened slightly and he chuckled, looking at cat with renewed appreciation. "Would this happen to be the accursed furball I've heard so many stories about? Ripped up a certain arrogant blue elf?"
"The very same." Raditz nodded. "Saved my life."
Nappa grinned. "Well, well." He addressed the animal, "Not bad. If you were a saiyan, I'd be tempted to make you an honorary elite."
"Hmph." Even Vegeta seemed mildly impressed.
Now this was real, this was sincere. This much of the conversation couldn't have been planned out in advance. Raditz found himself on a level playing field, so to speak - at a card table where all the cards were down. He felt more able to trust his elite saiyan visitors and he couldn't help but smirk as well. It was good to know that the story of Zarbons humiliation had circulated throughout the universe, made Raditz feel avenged for all the stress he'd been put through growing up.
"Maybe we should just take the cat." Nappa suggested in such a way that it was hard to determine whether he was kidding or not. "I'd love to see if it can give us an encore, on Freezia perhaps."
"If it could, I'd gladly give it the crown." Vegeta muttered.
The crown...
Raditz blinked as the mental puzzle pieces clicked into place. In the name of all that was sacred - the crown! The ceremonial saiyan crown. The saiyan Kings had always been warriors so the ceremonial crown was usually kept around the palace on display most of the time since it wasn't a terribly practical piece of jewelery to wear. Despite being kept in the palace, the crown probably wouldn't have been heavily guarded because only a complete moron would attempt to steal the royal status symbol from a palace full of elite warriors. If stolen, the crown was the sort of item that would be instantly missed.
It was the sort of item that might keep Princes from being Kings.
Raditz mentally cursed. Of course! It was so clear now. His father must have at some point stolen the crown and stuffed it into the spacepod with his little brother. Which meant that his little brother, who was age 17 if he was even still alive, had the ceremonial saiyan crown and might not even be aware of the importance of what he had. So Nappa and Prince Vegeta, saiyan elite, had tracked Raditz down in person because they needed him to go locate his little brother and coax the guy into handing the sacred item over so that a certain Prince could be coronated.
Maybe Nappa and Vegeta hadn't even looked for any other surviving saiyans. Heck, for all Raditz knew, the saiyan world still existed and Prince Vegeta was just staging some complicated political revolt against the King.
Raditz considered. Hoax or not, this story had captured his interest and his curiousity. Logically though, if he did really have a little brother and if his father had added a few things to the spacepod then somewhere... There had to be a note. A little note from his father that explained things, a note written in Common since the infant Kakarott would probably never learn to read saiyan.
What it came down to was that Raditz didn't feel that he had much to lose.
At the most Raditz stood to gain a brother, the saiyan crown, the respect of two saiyan elites, the chance to become an honorary elite himself and perhaps even a short written explanation of what had really been going on as far as politics on planet Vegeta were concerned. At the very least, he'd gain a trip to some place called Earth and find nothing. The worst case scenarios involved dying and getting lost in space - both of which seemed like tired old cliches to Raditz. Death and being lost always posed threats, always had and always would. Raditz had faced that kind of potential danger so often in his life that it didn't even seem dangerous anymore.
"Do you have the coordinates for this planet Earth?" Raditz asked. Simply asking such a question implied that he was accepting this mission and willing to cooperate for now.
"I have to warn you, it will be a very long trip from here." Nappa said, he put the cat down so that he could refocus his attention on the scheming at hand. "Even in the craft we've gotten for you, it could take as much as five years to reach Earth and that's only if you don't stop to take breaks anywhere. Which you will have to. The ships fuel supply is only good for one year, you'll have to make stops to refuel."
So they'd even gone to the trouble of getting him a spacecraft and planning his route. That was a little more than Raditz had expected.
And at least five years of travel... That explained a few things as well. For one thing, it explained why Vegeta and Nappa seemed anxious to have him leave as soon as possible. It also explained why Raditz had to be the one to make the trip. Vegeta and Nappa were saiyan elite so that made them slightly more valuable to Freezias Army, they might be missed if they disappeared for years at a time. Raditz, on the other hand, was still mostly just a face in a crowd - an expendable low-class soldier. Raditz liked to think that staff of Freezia Planet 404s would notice if he up and left for a few years but the truth was that they might not.
Leaving didn't even pose that much of an obstacle. Planetbound soldiers got rotated from time to time too so it wouldn't be all that hard for Raditz to tell his commanders that he'd recieved special orders to go elsewhere. The presence of the spaceship would help that claim.
There was only one worthwhile question left for Raditz to ask.
"This spacecraft... Is there room for cat?"