Alternate Timeline

Book one: The Saga Begins

Chapter 3: Day in the life...

"Why'd you lie to your dad?" I asked. "About you being in debt to me? I thought you said it was against the law."

"It is," Vegeta replied, walking along a wall. "But only if I don't pay you back. And I will, some day. And I didn't really lie to my father, I told him I was in debt to you, right?"

"Yeah, so? You then told him it was all a joke and that there was no debt."

"Well, he knows that I owe you my life, but he doesn't think that I do, so it's okay. And besides, I lied for both of you. "

"What?" I asked.

Vegeta stopped walking and sighed. "I told him the truth first because I didn't want to lie to him; so he knows the truth. Then I twisted the truth so that he couldn't worry about the debt being repaid because he doesn't need things like that to worry about. And I also 'lied' because you didn't want to have to worry about the debt as well. See? Now no one has to worry but me, and I promise to pay you back."

"But what if I leave? Your father said you couldn't keep me here forever; that if I decided to move on, you couldn't tell me not to."

"I know. But I could follow you. I'm a prince, I can go wherever I want."

"When you're being watched."

"And I'll be watched by you."

Wow, Vegeta was good. He had given all of this a lot of thought and he was right about everything. There was just no arguing with what he had to say.

"Teach me that language you were speaking," Vegeta said as he dropped off the wall. "That one I couldn't understand."

"Katkritten?" I said. "The language my mother taught me?"

"Yeah, I wanna speak it too. The scouters, they usually are able to translate languages into the Saiyan tongue, but you were actually speaking it before you started speaking Saiyan."

"Okay," I said leaning against the wall. "I'll try..."

I went on to explain as much of the language as I knew. We started with basic this-word-in-Katkit-means-this-in-Saiyan translations, and Vegeta quickly drilled them into his memory. He asked what certain Saiyan words meant and I gave him answers if I could for some words, like 'father' for example, just weren't in the Katkritten dictionary. And some words in Katkit couldn't be translated into Saiyan either. By the end of the lesson, Vegeta could speak Katkit, but he wouldn't pass for a native.

"Let's make it our secret language!" he said gleefully once he had gracefully talked himself through a couple of sentences. "It'll be just for me and you to speak to each other!"

"But won't the scouters translate it?" I asked.

"Most of the scouters know of it already. But they can't translate anything if they can't hear it so we'll just speak really softly," Vegeta replied.

"We'll look like mates."

"Then we'll look like mates! C'mon Tyme, I wanna secret language." Vegeta put on a pouty face and I got the feeling that because of his ability to shift gears so quickly he usually ended up getting everything he wanted.

"One thing," I said, poking his cheek. "Explain to me why you acted so mean when Nappa and Raditz found us. It wasn't like you."

"Actually it was," Vegeta replied. "People are used to me being commanding and demanding. It's even what my elders expect from me. If I was like this all the time, nothing would get done when I become king because no one would take me seriously."

"So then why act like this at all?"

"Well, I'm not a king yet, am I?"

"And when you become one...?"

Vegeta didn't answer right away. He got up and started walking back toward the palace. "It's getting late," he finally replied. "I think we should head back now, I don't want my father to think something has happened to me." He turned around and grinned. "Or that something is happening between us."

"You're mental," I stated, getting up.

"But I'm right. Look, the sun is almost down completely. Soon it will be dark. And it's predicted that a full moon will appear tonight. It's illegal for lower level Saiyans to be out tonight. All the freaks are going to come out and do rituals and stuff. The Elites will be all over the place, patrolling and everything. It'll be better if we aren't-"

"What do you mean by 'freaks,' Vegeta?"

"You know, the wackos that transform every full moon and all because they want to. The Low Levels that can't control themselves because they are weak an all. Those freaks." He spoke like this was common knowledge, like this was something everyone knew about, no matter where you came from.

"My mother," I said coolly, raising myself up and looking down on him from atop my nose, "Was no Freak, Prince Vegeta. She was a good woman. And she did have control of all her powers, in and out of transformation."

Vegeta just stared back, as though trying to comprehend this, or maybe just filing it all away as some random information about me. "Hmp," He finally replied and turned around to again resume our walk back to the palace. "I didn't know that about your mother," he said lowly so that only I could hear. "I'm sorry."

I didn't say anything back. Just accepted his apology and moved on.

"This will be your room," Nappa said as the door swished open. "Vegeta's is right down the hall. And mine is across from it. If you need anything during the night, you are to come to me, understand? Do not wake the prince while he's sleeping, I will attend to what you need as quickly as possible."

"Thank you," I said. "But I don't think I'll need anything at all."

Nappa smiled and shook his head. "You'll need clothes before you can say that, but Raditz is attending to it. Lights go out at nine." He left then, leaving me to explore the elaborate bedroom.

The room was big, huge in fact, containing more room then I would ever need. In the far corner was a large bed, neatly made with no wrinkles on the beautiful matching silk covers in site. The floor itself was made of fine dark colored plush carpeting. Next to the bed were gracefully hanging drapes and upon investigating them further I found they opened to a large window which in turn opened to a large balcony that overlooked the city surrounding the palace. "No wonder Mama loved it here," I breathed, looking up into the sky to see the brightest full moon ever. "It's gorgeous."

A siren went off right above the palace just then and my scream of surprise was lost underneath it and the curtains that fell around me as I stumbled back into them. I thought I heard Vegeta calling my name, but it wasn't until I felt someone pulling me upright that I became aware someone else had entered the room. The siren suddenly stopped and Vegeta's face popped up in front to mine. "Hey," he said casually.

"What happened, what was that noise?" I asked. Vegeta pushed the curtains off of me and wrapped his arms around my trembling body.

"The alarm," He said, still unshaken by any of the events. "Just leave it Raditz, the maids will get to it later."

I looked around and saw the second older boy who had been with Nappa on the hunt to find Vegeta earlier that day. He stood with the curtains in his hands and had been trying to rehang them when Vegeta told him to stop; the window behind him was now closed. He looked throughly confused. "But sire," he started. "The moon is-"

"I know where the moon is and I know in what shape it's in!" Vegeta snapped. "We'll handle it. But you need to leave. Go now, stand outside the door." Raditz did as he was told, stopping by the bed to lay something on top of it, then bowed out. "Are you okay?"

My tail was ten times the size it had been when I first stepped outside, I couldn't stop myself from trembling, the only one who was supporting my weight was Vegeta as my knees were about to buckle underneath me, and I had a good deal of adrenaline rushing through my veins as my body began the whole Fight-or-Flight check-up routine; I was anything but okay. But I nodded a few times and squeaked out, "Y-yeah, I am f-fine."

Vegeta helped me to the bed where I sat down and began rocking back and forth to try and calm my nerves. "The alarm for what?" I asked when I didn't feel so jittery anymore.

"The moon," Vegeta replied, looking up at me from his seat on the floor with large dark eyes. "What did you think it was an alarm for?"

"My attempted runaway," I replied sarcastically and he giggled.

"I wouldn't have been able to hear it even if that was the case," he said pointing to the window. "Sound proof glass. No sounds get in and no sounds get out. For the exact reason you just learned first hand. Every night, all night for seven nights, every eight years. I guess this is the first time you ever heard the alarm, huh? Mine too. Father said it was really loud, but I didn't think it'd be that loud. I was coming in to say goodnight when it went off. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yes."

The prince got up and hugged me again. "You know my room is right next to yours so if you need anything you'll come and get me, right?"

"Nappa said I wasn't to disturb you."

"Nappa is being possessive because Father got mad at him and Raditz for leaving me unguarded. I'm the higher ranking Saiyan anyways, so if I say it's okay, then it's okay. He'll just have to cope. Goodnight Tyme."

"Goodnight Vegeta," I replied as he slipped out the door. I looked once at the window and the fading sunlight that was slowly being taken over by the silver moonlight pour into the room over the crumpled drapes and sighed. It wasn't home, but it would have to do.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling high above me. I halfway expected to see the walls of my old cave home, the early morning sunlight dancing across it. Instead I found myself wrapped up the the comfortable sheets and pillows from the previous evening, and nearly no natural light what-so-ever in the room. There was something at the foot of the bed that was giving off a low dim light, but that was it. I looked over at the window and saw that the curtains had been rehung. I couldn't place my feelings on relief for being in the palace and none of the events being some wild dream I had made up, or disappointment.

I heard a whispering beside my head and sat up with a start. I thought it was the light whispering at first, but that was impossible. The next scenario would be that there was someone else in the room, but once my eyes had adjusted they told me that no one was there along with my other senses, which were working to their limits to produce a sound or smell or even something wrong with the taste of the air, but there was nothing. I relaxed back into the pillows, scolding myself for getting worked up over nothing my first night away from home.

'....be here........out....don't..........wanna.....me.....out.....'

I sat up again, this time more slowly. There was the whispering again, only this time its was loud enough to make out words. I listened, as hard as I could and tried to put together the sentences that were being whispered. The voice faded in and out of hearing range, and I leaned in the direction I thought it was coming from. After a few moments, I concluded that it must've been a child for it was crying for it's parent. I push the sheets off and went to investigate, following nothing but a feeling in my gut as to where this child may be.

The halls of the palace were all deserted, not a soul in site. Everyone was inside their rooms, sleeping peacefully. I soon found myself at the front doors to the palace, which were being guarded by two large Saiyans.

"Halt, and be known," one chanted as I approached. "Only Elites beyond this point little lady. There's a full moon out, you know."

"I do," I replied innocently. "Just out for a stroll; couldn't sleep and all."

The Saiyan nodded, finding my answer legit. I continued walking down the hall and around a corner. Once outta sight, I leaned against the wall and pondered what to do. The child was through those doors, outside the palace, and if I wanted to find him I was going to have to get the guards away long enough for me to slip past. I knew of at least one way for me to do that, but it wouldn't be the easiest way.

It occurred to me that I could've woken Nappa and asked him to escourt me out of the palace, he was an Elite after all, but I didn't think that he would be to thrilled about going on a wild hunt over a child's voice that was ranting inside my head. So instead, I began to gather my energy and concentration into a feat that I had not become all that usual with and preyed that I wouldn't get anyone killed in the process of my practicing it.

I astro-projected myself down the hall I have just walked through on the other side of the two Saiyan guards.

I shot a ball of energy at the ground which created a loud explosion and a good enough diversion for my two guards to leave their post to check out. My astro-self vanished in the smoke before they could see, and tumbled right into my regular body, knocking it from it's concentrated sleep. It was much like waking up from death.

Wasting no time, I rounded the corner and all but flew to the front doors where I slipped out with the 5 seconds of blaring siren being the only sign that I had passed through. I wasted no time running as far away as I possibly could from the source of that obnoxious noise.

When I finally did stop running, I found myself in a room filled with dome-shaped, pods-like things. From the sound of the crying in one of them, I was pretty sure I had found my crying child too.

End Chapter 3!