Age 733

The sun was just beginning to set when the people heard the news. With the red skies of Planet Vegeta gradually turning a darker shade with the coming of night, and a crowd of thousands waiting outside of the palace, King Vegeta himself stepped onto the balcony to address the people through a small amplifier attached to the collar of his armor. When they saw him, the people at first cheered before silencing themselves, waiting for what he had to say with bated breath. King Vegeta cleared his throat before beginning.

"Greetings, my subjects! I come bearing news of the utmost importance to the kingdom...and, of course, to my own family." He paused for a moment before continuing. "After many months, the day that the queen and I have been waiting for has come. My wife...has given me a second son."

At this, the crowd erupted into cheers, overcome with joy at the good news regarding their royal family. King Vegeta held up a hand to silence them.

"Yes, yes, it is a time of great rejoicing!" King Vegeta concurred, before continuing, "However, per tradition, he will be immediately placed into an artificial incubation unit, so as to ensure proper development over the next three years. Until he is released, I must insist that he not be seen by anyone other than my trusted royal medical personnel. With all that said, however, even though it will still be some time before I can properly introduce him to you all, I would nevertheless ask that you join me...in welcoming Prince Tarble into the world. May he serve his kingdom with distinction for many long years, and serve as an example for all Saiyans!"

King Vegeta raised his arm in a triumphant gesture as the crowd cheered, caught up in the excitement of it all. He gave a stilted smile in response to the public's enthusiasm before turning around and pushing past the curtains of his balcony, evidently not wanting to be there much longer. One of his royal scientists stood in his chamber waiting for him, knowing he expected a report.

"Any signs of rejection?" he asked as he turned off the amplifier. The scientist shook her head.

"No, my lord. Prince Tarble was placed into an incubation unit about...two minutes ago," she said, glancing down at her electronic pad. "No problems reported."

King Vegeta nodded, satisfied. "Make sure it stays that way."

"The report also made sure to mention that the queen is faring well, and should be back on her feet after a day or two."

King Vegeta nodded absentmindedly before looking the scientist in the eyes. "I want that unit monitored by the second, I want guards on two hour shifts all 28 hours of the day, and I want a daily report on my son's condition rolled into my daily briefing. Understood?"

"Of course, my lord. I'll inform the chief of internal security," she replied before exiting the room, leaving him alone as he found himself worrying over just what kind of man his second son would turn out to be. He snorted sardonically to himself.

"Even if he turns into a disobedient brat like his brother...I know that he will be a fine Saiyan, a credit to our bloodlines," he thought to himself, not bothering to consider the possibility of him being proven wrong.


Age 736

"What did you say?!"

King Vegeta barked the question at the scientist, who shrunk slightly when faced with his imposing figure and petrifying glare. His wife sought desperately to pull him away from the poor woman and make him see reason, but at the moment, his anger over what she had just told him overruled his wife's appeals.

"I-I simply stated that, uh, your son's power level is, uh..." the scientist said in a panic, stumbling over her words. King Vegeta grabbed the woman by the scruff of her coat and lifted her up into the air.

"You have told me every! Day! That the incubation unit was functioning properly!"

"A-and it has been!" the scientist replied, scared out of her mind. "Your son is properly developed in every respect! In fact, his psychological profile shows that he is slightly more intelligent than the average Saiyan! T-this isn't a mechanical error! Your son is just-!"

King Vegeta pulled the woman closer until her face was right in front of his own. He clamped down harder on her coat.

"Do not finish that sentence if you value your life," he responded coldly, barely containing his fury. The scientist frantically nodded before King Vegeta angrily threw her to the ground, causing her to get up and flee the lab in a hurry. King Vegeta stood there breathing heavily for a second before firing off a ki blast, tearing apart some of the hospital beds with an angry yell. His wife simply sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, which he swiftly brushed off.

"Really, dear, I think you're overreacting to-"

"Overreacting?!" the king shot back angrily, to which the queen fell silent. He glared at her before pacing around the lab. "55! 55! Fifty! Five! You'd be hard pressed to find a litter of peasants with power levels as low as that!"

"So he won't be a fighter!" the queen shot back, angry herself at her husband's behavior. "He could still play an important role as an advisor, or a military tactician. He doesn't have to execute infiltration missions like Vegeta does."

King Vegeta scoffed. "You obviously didn't pay close enough attention to the psychological evaluation! 'Polite,' 'calm,' 'friendly!'" The king made a sound as if he was about to retch. "I've got one word to sum up all of that rubbish-weak! Our son, the second heir to the throne, is weak, in every sense of the word! And you have the audacity to say that I am overreacting?!"

"Are you seriously suggesting you'd rather have a son who disrespects you as soon as he grows to surpass you, who disrespects his mother simply for existing, as long as he had the battle power to carry out infiltration missions? Do you really want another Vegeta?!"

"Frankly?! Yes!" The king shouted. "Because at least I know Vegeta has the strength and the ruthlessness a proper Saiyan should have! He won't try and talk his way out of conflict, or falter when key decisions need to be made! He'll act decisively and do whatever is necessary for the good of the kingdom!" After a moment of silence, he began anew. "But what if he should die on a mission, or be taken ill? The kingdom would be left in the hands of a...a pacifist!"

"I-I feel like you're jumping to conclusions here-"

"SILENCE!" King Vegeta shouted, promptly shutting up his wife and causing murmurs from various personnel walking through the hall beyond the door. After a few deep breaths, he steadied himself, while his wife watched him with apprehension.

"...How many know of this, would you say?"

The queen's eyes widened, but she gave her answer. "P-probably just Doctor Karot and a few of her aides. Y-you aren't suggesting-?"

"There's no reason that the public needs to know his precise power level. Releasing Vegeta's power level to the public upon his reemergence was, if I recall correctly, at his own request."

"He wanted everyone to know how close he was to surpassing your power," the queen remarked dryly, to which King Vegeta scowled before returning to his point.

"We could easily claim it was sufficient to have him qualify for an infiltration mission," he continued. "In fact...I have the perfect planet in mind." He walked over to a table and pulled up an electronic pad, pulling up the information he required before showing it to his wife.

"'Tech-Tech?'" she asked, before a look of apprehension came over her. "B-but it's in the low C-class range. Average power level of 15, with outliers up to 150. I-if his power level is really only 55, then-"

"Then it will be a valuable test," King Vegeta concluded. "Either he will adapt to his situation and realize that he must fight in order to survive...or he will perish."

The queen gasped at King Vegeta's callousness. "B-but he's your son! How could you make him take such a risk?!"

"If he won't fight, he's no son of mine," King Vegeta remarked angrily. "Besides, one way or another he must prove his worth. A Saiyan as weak as him might be permissible in a peasant line, but among royalty..." King Vegeta shook his head, silently reaffirming his point. The queen tried another tack in desperation.

"S-surely you should at least consider giving him some combat training before-"

"The pod will imprint all he needs to know into his brain prior to arrival. I will also take care to have our scientists implant some knowledge of his people into him. Perhaps that will encourage him to embrace his Saiyan heritage."

His wife fell silent, unsure exactly on how to object, but before she could try and speak up, the king glared at her.

"I've made my decision. You are not to speak a word of any of this to anyone, do you understand?"

His wife nodded slowly, defiance shining dimly in her eyes. "Of course."

King Vegeta nodded slowly. "I will give the order to Dr. Karot." With this, he stormed out of the lab, leaving the queen to look off in the distance worryingly, wondering whether or not her son would be safe. A sudden, mad impulse to take the child was swiftly crushed when she considered the odds of success. Thus, she simply shuddered nervously, feeling completely powerless to prevent what she was sure would be a tragedy in the making.


"Warning! Warning! Solar flare impact in 15 seconds! Warning! Warni-!"

The Attack Ball rocked slightly as the solar flare hit it dead on, causing massive disruption to its onboard computer systems. After a few minutes of silence, the main computer managed to restart itself, taking note of the damage as the Attack Ball cut its engines and engaged its maneuvering thrusters, letting it fall back to a normal coasting speed below the speed of light.

"Warning! Life support systems compromised! Repair protocols compromised! Switching to emergency air supply...switch confirmed. Stasis field secure. Estimated survival time of pod occupant in stasis with emergency oxygen reserves: 5 days, 13 hours, 22 minutes, 17 seconds. Calculating nearest habitable planet based on current star-charts...confirmed. Nearest habitable planet located. ETA: 4 days, 16 hours, 37 minutes, 47 seconds. Pending designation: Frieza Planet 519. Current designation: Earth."

Its course set, the Attack Ball took off at maximum speed in a new direction, hurtling towards the only hope of survival for the young prince resting within, occupied with the mental images the pod continued to project into his mind to prepare him for his task..


Tarble opened his eyes blearily, feeling somewhat famished and very confused as to just where he was supposed to be. With some slight effort, he managed to get out of the pod as it opened its hatch, only to quickly regret it as he was blasted with a wave of cold air. He considered going back into the ship when he heard an audible cracking in the ice his ship had evidently landed in. 'Wasting no time, Tarble put the lessons he'd learned en route to Tech Tech into practice, taking off into the air with a burst of ki as the ice crumbled beneath him, sending his pod sinking to the depths of the icy water below.

When he landed nearby in a safer spot, he looked at the sinking pod with regret. Even if he went to save it, the water would've short-circuited its systems, frying its computer and leaving it completely inoperable. He shivered uncontrollably as he watched his only currently available means of getting back home sink and sink, never to be seen again. He thought of the kind, sad face of his mother, kissing him on the forehead as she gently placed him into his pod, praying for his safety, and found himself shedding a tear, which stung all the more in light of the cold nearly freezing it solid on his face. With a small kiai, he blew off the ice crystals, and endeavored to take off due south of the landing site, hoping against hope that there was a settlement of some kind nearby.

He thought nothing of his task-even if he conquered the planet, which he was loathe to do, what would it matter if he could not engineer his return home? Besides, to have chosen such an inhospitable place for his second son to begin his first infiltration mission...Tarble put the thought out of his mind. Now wasn't the time to dwell on his father, or the disgust he saw in his eyes before being put under. At the moment, his primary concern was staying alive.

Thus, he continued flying through the air, shivering extensively as he went and forced to let out small kiais to counteract the buildup of frost on his skin and armor, further draining his energy. It didn't take long for the complete lack of food and the bitterness of the elements to wear down his stamina, causing him to sputter out of his flight around five hours in. Managing to stabilize himself prior to landing in the snowy ground below, Tarble was left walking south as best as he could, finding himself stymied some time later as a blizzard rolled in. Try as he might to push on, the boy could only manage so much, and eventually he simply collapsed, falling face-first into the snow as the blizzard raged over him.


When Tarble opened his eyes next, he found himself sitting in front of a fire, wrapped up in blankets and his Saiyan armor having been removed. A quick glance told him that it had simply been placed in a corner of the room, which appeared to be constructed primarily of wood, and open out into other adjacent rooms. He had evidently been taken into a native dwelling of some kind, which begged the question of how exactly he had ended up there. From what he had learned from his pod, the homes on Tech Tech were constructed out of synthetic materials, nothing like the simple wood construction he saw in this home. His thoughts would not proceed any further on this point, as he caught sight of a young woman staring at him.

The woman was fairly short, perhaps 5'5", with black hair and brown eyes. Tarble could only guess that the woman was a young adult, having no knowledge of her species. His memories told him that the people of Tech-Tech were supposed to be no taller than a meter, with pure black eyes, two thin nostrils, and no hair at all on their oval-like heads. And yet, this woman looked far more Saiyan than anything else, but at the same time could not possibly be a Saiyan. Thus, Tarble was left very confused. Before he could speak up, the woman had let out a slight gasp, evidently realizing he had awoken.

"Peng! Peng, come quick! He's awake!" she called out to a figure who Tarble guessed was in the adjacent room. Within seconds, a slightly taller man with black hair and a short moustache entered, evidently just as surprised. Tarble, meanwhile, took the time to voice his confusion.

"You don't look like a Techtite," he said frankly, pointing at her face. The woman looked at him as she cocked her head.

"Excuse me?" she asked. "What's a Techtite?" The question seemed to solidify Tarble's suspicions, and he looked around the room quizzically.

"Where am I?" he asked the two of them, who hesitated a second.

"Uh, you're in our house, in Jingle Village," the man, Peng, explained. "My wife Sagi found you yesterday. You were buried in the snow a few miles outside of our village, barely breathing." Tarble nodded, his condition making sense, before Peng asked a question of his own. "I-if I may ask, what exactly were you doing out in the middle of a blizzard?"

Tarble considered how to respond to the question for a moment. Based on the construction of the building and the devices he could see throughout the structure, he could only assume that whoever these people were, they were not at the level of developing space travel. Thus, they likely had no knowledge of alien cultures. Announcing that he was an alien could cause distress which could place him in danger. But, on the other hand, they had saved his life, and did not appear particularly threatening. Thus, he compromised, erring on the side of caution.

"I was walking," he replied simply, to the couple's astonishment.

"Walking? In a blizzard?" Sagi, asked, to which Tarble nodded. She looked to her husband with concern, who attempted to get more information.

"B-but what were you doing out there alone? Where are your parents?"

Tarble started slightly before answering. "Far, far away. I...I don't think my daddy wants me anymore." He sniffled as he considered his circumstances and the cold, dismissive gaze of his father, before rubbing the tears out of his eyes. Although still somewhat apprehensive at the strange boy's behavior, Sagi nevertheless placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey...hey, it's okay. You're safe here. He can't mistreat you anymore."

Tarble nodded, aware of that much. With the pod sunk and having diverted from its course, they wouldn't know anything was amiss until the Saiyan survey craft flew by Tech-Tech again. Almost a year's time before anyone would even consider sending a rescue party...assuming his father even would. Even a child as young as he could tell when he wasn't wanted, and his father clearly did not want him. Before he could dwell on the subject for much longer, Peng decided to broach another awkward subject.

"Say...speaking of your parents...did they have...tails?"

Tarble stopped for a second. Realizing that this species very likely did not have tails, there was thus no way for him to maintain the illusion that he wasn't an alien. Thus, he decided to be honest, and nodded in confirmation.

"Yup. All of us have tails."

Peng nodded slowly, an idea beginning to form in his head. "And where are you from?"

Tarble hesitated for a second before committing. "A planet known as Planet Vegeta."

The two humans' eyes widened as they looked to each other. Tarble took a deep breath and began to explain in full what he knew of his origins, answering any questions they had to the best of his ability and in some cases demonstrating his extraordinary abilities. An hour or so later, Peng and Sagi finally let out a long sigh, utterly confounded by the whole situation.

"You...you have to understand: this is a lot to take in," Sagi said, addressing Tarble, who nodded in understanding.

"Tell you the truth, if it weren't for those weird clothes of yours, your...talents, and the tail, I would've thought you'd just had a really weird dream," Peng added. Tarble again nodded.

"But...even considering everything you've told us-being a 'Saiyan', conquering planets, flying around punching people and firing laser blasts..." Sagi went on before pausing. "It doesn't seem like you're particularly inclined to do any of that." Tarble nodded, confirming that it was a fair assessment. "It seems like what you're really looking for is...food. Safety. A home of your own. With...a family that cares about you and wants you to be you safe. That doesn't let anything diminish your worth, or make you feel less worthy of love." Tarble again nodded, but wasn't quite sure what the couple was getting at. Peng and Sagi glanced at each other, evidently both having the same idea.

"L-look, we know it's sudden," Peng said. "A-and you have every right to refuse, but...provided you're willing...we would like you to become a part of our family."

Tarble was confused, yet the couple could tell he was interested from the brightness in his eyes. "What do you mean, exactly?"

Sagi paused for a second before explaining. "We mean that we would like to adopt you as our son. If you're okay with that, of course."

"'Adopt?'"

Sagi was unsure how to elaborate, but Peng took up the task. "In our culture, when a child is left without their parents for whatever reason-accidental death, being given up, or taken from a family that was bad to them, some people who want to have a child might offer to assume custody of the child, making them their own in every way but blood."

Tarble slowly nodded in understanding. "So...you would be my daddy?"

Sagi and Peng both smiled. "If that's what you want," Peng replied.

Tarble's thoughts turned to his mother. Even as he knew that his father cared little for him, he knew that his mother was different. He could see it in her eyes as he was placed into the pod. He felt the desire to get back to her somehow, or get her a message, letting her know that he was alive. And yet, when he considered it, the idea fell flat for the moment. This 'Earth's' communications technology was not likely to be sufficient to reach Planet Vegeta, assuming he even knew what frequency to use. And as long as there were no other ships he could use, he was stuck on the planet. Thus, although not wishing to push the memory of her smile aside, his vision instead focused on Sagi and Peng, two aliens who, even after only knowing him for a couple of hours and discovering his alien origins, still intended to devote themselves to his welfare. Tarble smiled as he looked at the two of them, Sagi in particular as she moved in for a hug, which he accepted gratefully.

He'd get back to his mommy eventually. But for now...this was enough.


Whew! This took way longer than I thought it would!

Alright, so I was working on Hermit pretty late at night, wee hours of April Fools, when I decided to do something for the day, that wasn't really a prank, but was kind of out of the ordinary, seeing as I'd just published a new chapter. I've been tossing around this other concept for a Dragon Ball story for some time, but hesitated to start it in earnest due to the fact that I've been running Hermit on a strict schedule for so long, not to mention other fics. So, I figured that today would be a good day to get out an intro chapter, a proof-of-concept, if you will, to gauge the people's reaction to my work. So, after much more work than I thought it would take, that introductory chapter is here, in all of its glory.

As far as this fic goes, I probably won't add onto it again until I find time in between Hermit and other projects, along with life stuff, so...might be a while. Like with Hermit, I'll respond to reviews in succeeding chapters. Still debating whether or not I'll come up with power levels that aren't stated in the story somehow, just because of the hassle some of them cause. Anywho, don't hesitate to let me know what you think of this new fic in the reviews below. Hope you all have a fantastic night, and take care.