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CHAPTER SIX

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Rei sighed in a bored way as she listened to Artemis chatter away at her. Goku was still carrying her over his shoulder, and after yelling and fighting for several miles, the princess had eventually exhausted herself and settled down. She gazed down at Artemis through half-lidded eyes.

"Ok, so here's another question. Say there's a girl that digs you, right, but you don't really like her that way. How do you let her down real easy, so her feelings aren't hurt, but you don't get burned to a crisp and eaten. How do you do that?" He asked. Artemis watched earnestly as Rei thought for a few seconds.

The princess waved her hand animatedly in the air as she spoke. "You just tell her she's not your true love. Everyone knowest what happens when you find your--- whoa, ah! Hey!" She yelped as Goku's shoulder jerked, bouncing her roughly.

Rei glared silently at her smirking captor. She tossed her head into the air and remarked in a snide tone. "The sooner we get to A-kon the better."

Artemis grinned at the arrogant, annoyed princess. "Oh yeah, you gonna love it there, princess! It's beautiful!" He said cheerfully.

Rei grinned down at him and tilted her head to the side. "And what of my husband to be, Lord Darien, what's he like?" She asked eagerly.

Goku slowed his pace as they got to a small swamp. He cut in before Artemis could respond to Rei.

"Well, let me put it this way princess," He hid a smirk as he unceremoniously dropped Rei on her butt and walked over to the mire to wash up, splashing some water on his face and continuing. "Men of Darien's stature are in... small demand."

Artemis snickered at Goku's reference to the king's 'certain' part. He grinned and felt the need to add his own comment. "I don't know, Goku, there are those who think little of him." He and the taller saiya-jin chuckled merrily as Rei glared at them.

The princess was idly rubbing her rear as she listened to them berate her future husband. She scowled darkly. "Stop it, stop it both of you! You know, you're just jealous that you could never measure up to a great man like Lord Darien," She sneered.

Artemis made a confused face as he thought about this, but Goku just nodded to the princess. "Yeah well, maybe you're right princess, but I'll let you do the 'measuring', when you see him tomorrow," He said off-handedly as Artemis giggled.

Rei suddenly looked panicky. "Tomorrow? It'll take that long? Shouldn't we stop somewhere to make camp?" She asked in a nervous tone.

Goku raised an eyebrow at her. "No, that'll take longer. We can keep moving," He said calmly and started off again.

Rei glanced frantically at the setting sun. She tried again. "But, there's... robbers in the woods!" She was really fishing for a reason now.

Artemis was concerned at the thought of murderous robbers cutting his throat while he tramped through the dark woods. He grabbed onto Goku's arm and stared at him with wide eyes. "Whoa, time out Goku! Camping is definitely starting to sound good!" He stated.

Goku frowned at him. "Hey, come on! I'm scarier than anything we're gonna see in this forest," He reminded his smaller companion. Artemis was reassured now, but Rei was more upset than ever. She dashed around the trees and cut the two travelers off.

"I need to find a place to camp, NOW!" She roared at them.

Goku and Artemis looked into each other's wide shocked eyes and then down at the seething princess.

Goku had finally found a suitable looking cave for Rei to camp in. He pulled the rock away from the opening and yelled out to Artemis and the princess. "Hey, over here!"

Artemis narrowed his eyes at the small, dark, dismal cave. "Goku, we can do better than that! Now I don't think this is fit for a princess," He hissed.

Rei glanced at the setting sun and felt sweat building up on the back of her neck. "No, no, it's perfect. It just needs a few homey touches," She babbled quickly.

Goku and Artemis gave her an odd look.

"Homey touches?" Goku repeated. He scratched his head and looked inside the cave. "Like what?" He asked.

Rei ran past them and ripped a large piece of bark from a tree. "A door," She said as she walked back to the cave. She smiled politely as she walked backwards into the cave and pulled the door firmly against the opening. "Well gentlemen, I bid thee goodnight," She said as the door locked into place.

Artemis leaned towards the door. "Uh, you want me to come in there and read you a bedtime story?" He asked hopefully.

Rei snarled back at him. "I said goodnight!"

Artemis sighed and stepped back. He glanced in confusion at a smirking Goku that was trying to push the boulder back over the cave entrance.

Artemis's eyes widened. "Goku! What are you doing?!" He hissed in shock.

Goku laughed softly. "I was just... oh you know, I was just kidding!" He huffed that Artemis didn't get the joke and walked away. Artemis shook his head.

Later that evening Goku and Artemis lay on their backs and stared up at the thousands of twinkling stars, the fire behind them popping and crackling in its pit.

Artemis turned his head and glanced over at his friend. "Hey Goku, what we gonna do when we get our swamp back?" He asked.

Goku gave him a quizzical look. "Our swamp?" He questioned.

Artemis waved his paws exaggeratingly like the princess would do. "You know, when we through with rescuing the princess and all that stuff," He explained.

Goku turned over to face his companion. "We? Artemis, there's no 'we', there's no 'our.' it's just me and my swamp. And the first thing I'm gonna do is build a ten-foot wall around my land," He said, ignoring the slightly hurt look Artemis was giving him.

The feline sighed. "Ya cut me deep, Goku, ya cut me real deep just now," He grinned a bit. "You know what I think, I think this whole wall thing is just a way to keep somebody out." He leaned over and smiled down at Goku, who looked irritated.

"No, you think?" Goku said sarcastically as he rolled over.

Artemis popped his head in front of him again. "Are you hiding something?" He asked slyly.

Goku rolled back the other way. "Never mind, Artemis," He warned.

Artemis peeked at him and grinned. "Oh, this is another one of those onion things," He said.

Goku growled softly as he rolled over once more. "No, this is one of those 'drop it and leave it alone things'," He growled out.

Artemis looked him in the eyes. "Well why don't you want to talk about it?" He asked.

Goku sat up and glared at him. "Why do you want to talk about it?" He snapped.

Artemis countered with another question. "Well, why are you blocking?"

Goku replied defensively. "I'm not blocking."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh yes you are," He said matter-of-factly.

Goku snarled at the cat. "Artemis, I'm warning you..."

Artemis gave his friend a suspicious look. "Who you trying to keep out? Just tell me that, Goku, who?" He pressed.

Goku threw his hands into the air and yelled at the feline. "Everyone! Ok?" He glared at Artemis as the white cat blinked widened eyes and then grinned.

"Ooh, NOW we getting somewhere," He said.

Goku wanted to just disappear. "Oh, for the love of Pete!" He complained as he stomped over to the cliff edge and sat down.

Rei heard the commotion outside, and carefully cracked open the door to the cave. She leaned over just enough to see Goku and Artemis, listening quietly.

Artemis narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Hey, what's your problem Goku? What you got against the whole world, anyway?" He asked.

Goku sighed heavily. "I'm not the one with the problem, all right? It's the world that seems to have a problem with me! People take one look at me and go 'Ah! Help! Run! A big, stupid, ugly saiya-jin!' They judge me before they even know me. That's why I'm better off alone," He said sadly.

Rei looked down at the ground. She was suddenly feeling very guilty for her earlier actions towards her two rescuers, Goku in particular. She silently pulled the door closed and retuned to the darkness of the cave.

Artemis sat down next to his taller friend and laid a paw on his shoulder. "You know what? When we met, I didn't think you were just a big, stupid, ugly saiya-jin." He said softly.

Goku nodded. "Yeah, I know," He mumbled.

The two of them went back to watching the stars and talking about the stories that each celestial body told. As they talked, Goku's mood seemed to improve, and the rest of the evening passed in a more cheerful manner.