Under the Burning Sun:
The Beginning of the End

~ Chapter Four ~

Age 714, Winter Season

Bardock had never before experienced such miserable cold. Having lived his entire life in the tropical warmth of the Steridyl plains, he had never truly known what cold felt like. His homeland still experienced a winter every cycle, but even during the coldest season, the climate remained warm enough to have grown crops all cycle long – if not for the elevated saline levels in the soil. Only the hardiest trees could grow in Steridyl lands.

Because he hailed from a land so warm, the ten-cycles-old boy was poorly dressed to endure the brutal cold and snow in the mountain pass, especially during the winter season. He wore only a cloth vest – sleeveless – and a pair of leather trousers. When he had set off on his journey, he had had a pair of leather thongs on his feet. But both of those were gone now. He had lost one, and then the other, in the deep banks of snow, swallowed up by the cruel and merciless crystals of ice. His footwear had offered so little protection to begin with, that he had decided that it wasn't worth the little energy he had to retrieve them once they were lost.

Several fortnights ago, when Bardock had laid his eyes upon snow for the first time ever in his short life, he was wary and uncertain of its presence. With his most recent terrible experiences still fresh in his mind, anything unfamiliar caused him to be cautious... fearful. But he had soon determined that the foreign white powder was harmless. Since then, he had learned that that preemptive assumption was very far from the truth. Now, every step he took through the stuff felt like it was biting into him, sinking its teeth into his flesh, tearing through his muscles, and driving deep into his bones. His feet ached like nothing he had ever felt before – a combination of unyielding pain and all consuming numbness rolled into one.

To make matters worse, a bitter wind was ruthlessly hurling tiny daggers of snow crystals into every inch of the cub's exposed skin. He shivered uncontrollably. He ducked his head so that his face wouldn't be so directly brutalized by nature's wrath. His lips and his nose, his fingers and his toes, all extremities were numb from the cold. Even his tail, wrapped tightly around him, had acquired a thick coat of snow, its icy hold imbedded into his fur.

And he was so tired. Tired from hiking up and down the mountains. Tired from trudging through the knee-deep snow. Tired from the cold. All Bardock wanted to do was to curl up somewhere, anywhere, even here in the middle of this blizzard if he could. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept. It felt like it had been days and days ago. And he had had little to eat too. He filled his stomach with pawfuls of snow whenever hunger pangs became too unbearable. But it did little to sate him. Twice he stopped to pry some bark from a barren tree and tried to swallow some of that down. But it was too difficult to chew, hurt too much to swallow, and left terrible knots in his stomach. It was better to starve.

Despite all of the spiky-haired boy's suffering, there was one very good reason, and dozens of other reasons, to continue his fool-hardy quest. In his arms, swathed in a cloth bundle, was his infant brother Turles. And trailing behind him, following in the steps he carved into the snow, were roughly forty children, all younger than even he. When he had started this journey, there had been almost twice as many cubs following behind him. But so many had fallen; too weak, too hungry, or too cold to continue any further.

The first that had perished were those that were injured at the start of the journey. After that, the cubs that were suffering extreme malnourishment succumbed to death. And then those who could no longer manage the cold began to fall. There were others they had lost for other reasons, not because they were too weak to go on. These were the siblings of those who had fallen and often they were too young or too unwilling to continue on without their kin.

Every child that got left behind deepened the sadness and despair deep in Bardock's soul. He couldn't bear to see their suffering, even though he shared in it. He couldn't bear to watch them collapse, knowing that he could succumb to the same fate. He couldn't bear the fact that he could do nothing to help those that fell, as much as he wanted to, because the bundle in his arms was far more important to him.

But the guilt still drove at the boy. He had been the one to lead these cubs away from their village. He had thought that he could take them away from danger. That he would bring them somewhere safe to wait things out. That their parents would be along in a few days or so to collect them once their lands were secure again. Instead, he had led these fallen ones to their untimely fates. Each small, frozen body along the mountain pass marked yet another failure to save a life. It pained him to know that when one of them fell, he had to leave him or her behind.

Bardock struggled to keep his eyes open. He wouldn't become one of the fallen. He had to stay alive, at least long enough to make sure Turles survived. The infant was the only thing he had left, as far as he knew. His father Daikon, his older brothers Mashu and Tato, his uncles, and many of his cousins had left almost a season and a half ago. Along with most of the other warriors of their great-tribe and a small regimen of warriors from the neighboring Vegetabyl Great-tribe, they had gone off to do battle in the north. The warriors hadn't returned.

Instead, they came.

The monsters came in the midst of the night when most of the tribesmen and women were sound asleep. Bardock slowly rose out of the fog of sleep, barely registering the sound of the warning horn echoing in the distance. He felt the hazy confusion as his mother shook him awake, feeling her panic through their kinship bond as it fueled him into consciousness. He had barely been able to get himself dressed before she pushed Turles's bundled form into his arms and ordered him to run.

"Go east," Sonera's voice instructed him from the dark. "Take your brother and go east through the mountain pass. Do not stop until you reach the village of the Vegetabyl Great-tribe. Keep your brother safe. Promise me that, okay? Do not come back. Do not risk your brother or yourself to come back and help us. When this is over, we will find you."

In that moment, Bardock still wasn't sure what was going on, but his mother's barely controlled emotions and desperate urgency told him that the situation was dire and that he was not to argue. "Yes, maa. I promise."

Bardock, tightly holding onto a fussy Turles, followed his mother out of their diyando. A strange orange glow in the distance lit up the village enough to see that his mother was dressed in war battlements. She had thrown on a hardened leather vest and leggings and had armed herself with a giserne. Through the bond, he felt that her panic had transformed into a fierce determination to protect her cubs. Her dark eyes were hardened. The orange glow of the distant fires reflected in her eyes, making her look deadly.

"Go, Bardock. Now," she ordered him.

Sonera spared her son one long lingering look, and then one more to the infant in his arms. Then she leaped off of their balcony and onto the ground ten feet below, joining the ranks of those who were racing towards the disturbance. She disappeared into the dark. That was the last time he had seen his mother.

Bardock was snapped back to the present by a pair of voices.

"Wake up."

"Please be okay."

Bardock's eyes slowly opened. He didn't remember when or exactly how he had managed to fall asleep. He must have collapsed on himself where he had been standing. He had sunk straight down instead of falling over. His legs had folded beneath him, unable to hold his own weight anymore. The tightly packed snow around him had acted to catch him and cradle him. The snow supported him comfortably despite the cold that consumed him, almost like the icy arms of death holding him as he passed into the Afterlife. Miraculously, he hadn't dropped Turles during his collapse. The infant was still secure in his arms.

The owners of the two voices that had woken him helped him to his feet. Bardock blinked away his blurry vision. Their faces came clearer into view. He recognized them as brothers Karduun and Tichok of the family Sterakas, a clan that was very distantly related to Bardock's own Asterakis Clan. Karduun and Tichok were both younger than Bardock's ten cycles; seven and five cycles respectively. The boys pulled Bardock back up and onto his feet. This act of compassion only riddled the older boy with more guilt for the fact that they had taken the time to stop and help him when he had been unwilling to do the same for so many others.

As the ten-cycles-old boy regained his footing and his balance, he paused to look around and reestablish his bearings, not that he really knew where in the mountain pass they were. But it was in that moment that he had realized that all of his charges, all the cubs who had chosen to follow him and had made it this far, had all stopped while he had been down. Why did they stop? his troubled mind pondered. Why did they not go on without me? Do they not know that they might die if they stay?

The stark reality that every single one of them had stopped for Bardock when he had collapsed while, in return, he continued pushing forward whenever one of them fell made him feel a deep shame and an unmerciful guilt. All those other cubs... I should have tried to help them. They might still be alive if I had helped them like these cubs helped me... This is all my fault. They are dead because of me. His eyes stung with tears that threatened to well up.

"Please, Bardock," Tichok's tiny voice broke through the howl of the wind. "We do not know which way to go. Please help us."

Another lance of guilt speared through the spiky-haired cub's heart. After all the suffering and death that he had led these children through, they continued to look to him for their survival and salvation. They do not know... I know as little as they do. I do not know where I am going! I cannot help them! They are better off without me... Hot tears slipped down his frostbitten cheeks.

A hand weakly tugged at his vest. "Bardock, we need you," a frail-looking girl-cub pleaded.

Her plea was followed up by half of a dozen additional voices, all trembling from the cold, imploring him not to give up on them. Even Turles, who stirred every so slightly and emitted the tiniest coo, seemed to be asking that Bardock not abandon this difficult journey just yet. The boy's heart lurched with the will to go on for his baby brother, but his body had so little strength left to carry out that will.

"I cannot," Bardock whispered into the icy wind. He sunk back down into the snow, unable to stand.

The children became alarmed. "But you must!" a small boy insisted. His sentiments were echoed by many of the other cubs.

"Please get up!"

"We need you!"

Bardock, angry at himself for his failures, took out his frustrations on the cubs. "I cannot," he insisted. "Go without me."

"No! Do not give up!"

"We need your help."

"I cannot help you anymore," Bardock reasoned.

"Then we will stay and help you," said Karduun.

"Do not be stupid!" Bardock growled. "You will die if you stay here with me."

The cubs' arguments ceased with that point. Bardock took note of the sudden fear and wariness in the eyes of the children. But at the same time, they remained stubborn and resolved to stay by his side despite their fear of death. I do not understand, Bardock despaired. They should go. They know they will die if they stay... So why will they not leave?

A dark shape began to emerge from beyond the limited visibility created by the thick blizzard. Bardock wasn't sure if he was actually seeing something approaching them through the blowing snow and ice or if he was just imagining it. But when several of the other cubs took notice, the ten-cycles-old boy knew that he wasn't hallucinating. The children grew still with uncertainty and rekindled fear. The form was too obscure to be identifiable. The only thing they could defer was that the figure was very large. It could be anything; one of the demons or a predator, perhaps.

The shadowy form came from the direction that the cubs had been heading before Bardock's collapse. As it drew closer, the older boy realized that it wasn't one large figure, but three smaller ones. The size and shape of saiyans, Bardock realized. But were they friend or foe? May the Deities help them if the approaching figures were from an enemy great-tribe. In Bardock's weakened and unarmed condition, there was nothing he could do to save the cubs if these saiyans were the latter.

Soon, voices could be heard through the screeching wind.

"...told you I heard something," came a female's voice.

"Jitaba... They are cubs..." gasped an adult male.

The figures hastened their approach. As they closed the distance, Bardock could see that there were two men and a woman. They were dressed heavily in thick furs. The men each wielded a giserne and the woman was armed with an ulak blade. The adults put away their weapons as they neared the children. Once their weapons were away, they appeared friendly enough. Enemy or not, Bardock found himself filled with an overwhelming relief. The appearance of these rescuers lifted a huge weight from the boy's shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to sob his relief.

"Why are you children out here all alone?" the female asked as she knelt down in front of a small grouping of cubs.

"We were running away," a small girl answered.

"Running away?" the taller male repeated. "Whatever for?"

"She means that we were escaping," corrected a boy.

"From the demons," added a slightly older boy.

"The demons?" breathed the stunned woman. "You mean to say that the demons attacked your village?"

"Yes," several small voices confirmed.

"What village do you belong to?" the shorter man asked.

"Steridyl," Bardock answered.

"Jitaba," responded the astonished taller male. "They have infiltrated lands that far to the south?"

"In such little time," the woman noted.

"Your tribe's warriors were unable to prevent their advance?" the shorter man inquired.

"Nikau, do not interrogate them!" the female scolded. "They are terrified, starved, and half frozen! Do not pester them with questions of battle – one that has obviously forced them to evacuate their homes."

"Calm down, Pini. I do not expect a dissertation of their encounters with the invaders," rebutted the one revealed as Nikau. "The question was rhetorical."

"Alright, let us not get our tails in a knot," the as yet to be named male patronized his comrades. To the children, he asked, "Will the lot of you manage a short hike through this weather to our campsite? We have fire, food, and furs to share."

Of course, the cubs eagerly agreed. Even Bardock managed to find enough strength to follow the trio of adults to their camp. Thankfully, the trek wasn't far. It was only a few thousand yards away, in the midst of a copse of conifer trees, just far enough that the small fire had been hidden by nature's blizzard of icy wrath. The cubs quickly filled the space beneath the trees. Mixed expressions of awe and gratitude filled their faces.

The trees protected the camp from most of the elements. They served as obstacles to the wind, breaking it apart. And the branches prevented the accumulation of snow. The fire crackled warmly at the center of the copse; a haunch of meat was roasting above the welcoming flames. Log benches had long ago been arranged around the fire pit. A face-cord of wood was stacked nearby. Between two of the non-coniferous trees, a single, simple diyando had been built. Bardock deduced that this camp was one that had been used repeatedly by different travelers throughout the cycles.

Nikau, Pini, and Nopal – the name of the third saiyan, Bardock soon learned – did their best to get the group of cubs warmed and fed. Each of the adults had packed a fur pelt for bedding, which they shared with some of the children. The diyando above them had a few additional pelts, and those were retrieved for their use as well. These six blankets weren't enough for all the young ones, however, so the adults shared their spare sets of clothing with some of the larger cubs. They were all huddled up close to the fire, which had had several logs added to it after the meat had finished cooking.

The haunch was not much food for nearly forty cubs, but it was divided up as best as possible. Each child had about four or five mouthfuls of the meat. Nopal supplemented the cubs' meager meal with the rations he and his comrades had packed. She handed out small chunks of bread, a few pieces of dried root vegetables, and a small handful of nuts and berries. They passed around a few flasks of water to wash it all down. It wasn't enough to give the children full bellies, but after several days with nothing to eat, they felt sated by comparison.

Bardock did his best to feed Turles. The younger brother had just barely begun to eat solid foods. Only a few of his cub-teeth had cut through thus far, so the available food selection was difficult for the infant to ingest. The ten-cycles-old boy fed his share of berries to his brother since those were the easiest for the baby to eat. Bardock used some of the water to soften the bread and broke down the meat into teeny pieces. The older brother ate all of the nuts, his portion of bread, and only one bite of the meat, giving the rest to Turles. His generosity didn't go unnoticed by Pini.

"You are quite devoted to your brother's needs," she said.

As he continued to feed his brother, Bardock answered, "I promised my mother, before she went into battle, that I would protect him."

Pini was quiet for a moment. Then she replied, "I understand your desire to ensure his survival, but you need your strength as well. You will not be able to protect him if you allow yourself to grow too weak."

Refusing to meet her eyes, Bardock rebutted, "I only need to make sure that he gets to the village of the Vegetabyl Great-tribe. If anything happens to me, I know that someone will take care of him until my family comes to get him." The woman was quiet, prompting the boy to look at her. "You are from the Vegetabyl Great-tribe, right?" he worried.

"Of course," Pini answered.

Bardock felt another wave of relief. For a moment, he had fretted that they had unknowingly been captured by members of the Malvakyl Great-tribe.

"How far are we from your village?" he asked.

Pini took a moment to answer. "Normally, the distance can be covered in approximately four days. But this winter's weather is the worst that has been felt in two generations. Or so the elders say. During normal winters, this camp is far below the frost line. The snow has been brutal and unyielding this cycle. We left our village six days ago. It will likely take us a day or two longer to return with so many cubs in tow."

Bardock nodded despite the grim news. Seven, perhaps eight, days before they would reach the village. Will the rest of us make it that long? How many more will die before then? he wondered. While their chances had greatly improved now that they were under the care of these three Vegetabyl tribe members, Bardock knew that some of these cubs were already too weak to survive the rest of the journey. He, himself, might already be too weak. He had been ready to give up only an hour ago. Will I be able to live long enough to make sure Turles gets there? The only thing he could do was to wait and see what would come at the end of seven days.

Ten days passed before they arrived at the Vegetabyl village.

Several obstacles had caused the journey to take longer than expected. First and foremost was the fact that the group consisted of nearly forty children, all under the age of ten. All of them were still weak from the cold, from injuries, and from malnutrition. Having to stop each day to set up a temporary camp and to scavenge for food added additional time to their trip. Several hours were spent each day to start a fire and to hunt down some game.

This burden of caring for so many cubs was exacerbated by the fact that only two of the adult travelers were escorting them. Nikau and Pini opted to cancel their participation in the quest to travel to the Steridyl village to obtain news of the battle at the Bafalyl-Karofyl border. It was apparent that the battle had not gone well. Nopal, on the other hand, decided to continue onward through the mountain pass and into Steridyl territory where he would learn what outcome had resulted from the demons' invasion.

On top of these issues, the weather had remained uncooperative. The blizzard hadn't let up for several days. The deep banks of snow, the driving wind, and the brutal cold slowed them down considerably. What should have taken two days to emerge from the mountain pass had taken almost five days. On that fifth day, the weather had finally broken and the clouds opened up to reveal a shining sun and beautiful lavender skies. But it remained too cold for the snow to thaw despite the end of the storm. They still had to traverse the forest which had been deeply blanketed in snow for the first time in almost four generations.

Despite Pini's and Nikau's best efforts, three more cubs had perished during the journey. These most recent victims consisted of one girl and two boys, a few of the youngest and frailest of the group. Unlike those who had died earlier in their travels, these children had been given a proper send off. Although they didn't have a shaman with them to perform the Ritual of the Departed for these children, Pini and Nikau still offered a prayer to the Deities on their behalves. They were then burned so that their physical bodies would return to the earth and their spiritual bodies could be released to the Afterlife. In total, only thirty-four out of seventy-nine cubs survived the nigh impossible journey through the mountain pass.

When they finally arrived at the village, Bardock was far too exhausted to remember much. He remembered that the village was seated at the edge of the forest. The trees were so tall here, unlike those from his own home land. The diyandos here were built high in the trees instead of on the stilts that he was used to. And there were a lot of tribesmen and women that greeted them. The rest of the village was a blur.

He and Turles and the rest of the surviving children were rushed into a building where they were given a fresh change of warmer clothes and a hot meal, one that was more than a few morsels of food, for a change. Many of the children fell asleep soon afterward, including Bardock. At one point, the ten-cycles-old boy woke only long enough to realize that the village healer was examining his condition. Knowing instinctively that he was safe, he quickly drifted back to sleep.

Two days later, Bardock woke again, having slept long enough to regain his strength. He sat up, finding that he had been wrapped in thick furs in a makeshift bed on the floor of a large room. At first, he was disoriented, uncertain where he was or how he had gotten there. But he quickly remembered that he had made it to the Vegetabyl village. He inwardly rejoiced with this knowledge, but that joy was quickly replaced with fear. Where is Turles? he panicked while looking around. His eyes quickly landed on the small bundle next to him. The infant was quietly dozing. The older brother breathed a sigh of relief.

A pang of hunger rippled through Bardock's stomach. He decided that he ought to seek out some food for himself and his brother. He found Turles's sling nearby and wrapped the infant in it before tying it to himself. When he rose from his bedding, he found that the large room was only half full. There were several empty beds, but just as many remained occupied. The cubs that were still bedridden were those that were still too frail. Only a few were awake.

Bardock headed towards the exit of the room. A cold draft left a chill on his skin and he pulled his fur clothing tighter around him, preparing himself for whatever cold temperatures waited for him beyond the portal. But just as he reached the door, it swung open, almost catching him off guard. In the doorway, he was met by two females. The first was an adult woman of roughly thirty cycles with long, black hair flowing down her back. The second was a girl-cub, also with black hair, but hers was much shorter and swept backwards. The adult female carried a large pot whose contents emitted a delicious aroma. The girl carried a stack of bowls.

The girl-cub spoke first. "Another one is awake!" she chirruped with wide eyes. To Bardock, she unleashed a barrage of questions. "Are you hungry? Do you like stew? We brought stew! Do you feel okay? Are you hurt anywhere? We can get a healer if you need one. What is your name? Is that baby your brother? He looks like you, so he must be your brother. What is his name?"

Bardock couldn't keep up with the interrogative onslaught. He blinked with perplexity. How does one react to such unbridled enthusiasm? Fortunately, the woman came to the boy's rescue.

"Aleguu," she gently admonished, "This boy has just risen from his rest. He is not yet ready to answer so many questions all at once."

The girl – Aleguu – blushed. "I am sorry, Alaria. I was just happy to see that he is okay." She started again, but much slower this time, to Bardock. "My name is Aleguu. What is yours?"

"Bardock. And this is my brother Turles."

Aleguu's gaze dropped to the infant who was now wide awake as well. "Hi, Turles!" she greeted.

"It is nice to meet you, Bardock," the woman said. "As my little helper has already said, my name is Alaria. I am the peace-maker of the Vegetabyl Great-tribe. And Aleguu here is the daughter to our chieftain Tarve."

As best as Bardock could manage with a toddler strapped to his chest, he bowed to the two women. "Thank you for helping us."

"Your gratitude is not necessary," Alaria assured. "We could never turn our backs when our allies are in need. Now come. Let us get some food in your bellies."

The two females served Bardock a large helping of stew which he shared with his brother. The brothers ate as the women moved around the room and fed each of the cubs, one by one, waking those who were still asleep so that they could get some nourishment. When they had finished their rounds, they returned to where Bardock was seated just as he and Turles polished off their serving. Unexpectedly, Alaria spooned another large helping into his bowl before he could object. The boys began eating their second helping while the females sat down across from him.

"I understand that you were the one who courageously led these children away from danger," Alaria spoke softly.

Bardock paused. A renewed guilt raged through him with the reminder of those who hadn't survived the journey. He hadn't led the cubs away from danger. He felt he had led them from one danger and into another. Turles reached for the spoonful of stew in Bardock's hand, drawing the older boy out of his dark thoughts. The older brother resumed feeding the infant.

Alaria continued. "Word of your bravery has spread throughout our village. These cubs you rescued have shared their praise for you to many of our tribesmen. Even Chieftain Tarve is impressed by your deeds. He has expressed his desire to take you and your brother in as his wards until your parents come to claim you."

Aleguu chimed in, "You get to be my brothers! Just like Vegeta!"

Bardock had remained quiet. Until now. Bitterly, he rebutted, "My parents are not coming."

The two females were alarmed by his sullen outburst. Aleguu tried to comfort him. "Why not? I am sure that they miss you. They will come find you. I know they will!"

Bardock growled his annoyance.

Alaria, however, understood the boy's despondency. "Aleguu, child. Bardock's parents would come if they could, but..."

The eight-cycles-old girl didn't quite understand. "But... what?"

The peace-maker paused a moment, trying to figure out the softest way to explain. Finally, she said, "Aleguu, do you remember when your mother went on her last hunting trip?"

The girl's eyebrows scrunched together as she contemplated. "Sort of. I was very little then... Maa never came back."

"That is right, little one. The tasmati she was hunting had taken her life instead. She would have returned to you and your brother if she was able to. But she had to go to the Afterlife instead."

Aleguu looked very somber. "Bardock... Your parents... Did they go to Viradisia, too?"

Bardock didn't answer. His thoughts had wandered to that of his mother. He had no idea what happened to her after he had last seen her. After she had jumped the short distance from their diyando's balcony to the ground, she had joined the throngs of other Steridyl tribesmen as they headed towards the invading demons at the north end of their village. She had quickly disappeared into the dark of the night.

Bardock hesitated on the balcony of his family's diyando, watching the armed adults and teenagers pass by beneath him. His mother's last words – to protect Turles and to flee to the Vegetabyl Great-tribe to the east – echoed in his head. Despite his promise to obey her, he was too afraid to move.

The boy could see an angry orange glow from the north end of the village where fires ravaged buildings and other structures. From the darkness, he could hear the voices of his fellow villagers. Some called out to each other with orders or warnings. Others were screams of pain. It was the latter that drove the icy chill of fear through Bardock's heart.

Eventually, the ten-cycles-old cub found his courage. Clinging onto Turles in his sling, the older boy carefully descended the ladder of his diyando. When his feet touched the ground, he looked around to decide his best course out of the village. He put the orange glow of the fires to his left hand side and slowly ducked and dodged around those who were still heading towards the battlefront. He navigated around and beneath the legs of the many diyando and other buildings within the village.

Bardock had only gotten halfway through the village when several loud screeching roars sounded from overhead. He looked behind, skyward, towards the source of the disturbance. Against the dark and starry sky, he could see two sets of the fire magic that propelled the sky demons. Their shadowy forms reflected the flames beneath their wings.

A series of explosions rocked the village. Flames billowed into the air. Fire-droppers, Bardock realized, his eyes widening with fright. He was certain that his family's diyando had been where the blast had occurred. He turned back towards the east once again as the screeching roar grew louder again. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him as additional explosions rattled the night.

The boy ran so fast that he stopped paying attention to the other saiyans around him. As he ran beneath a diyando, he stumbled into a trio of small cubs who were huddled beneath the structure. Fortunately, he hadn't fallen on them, nor had he dropped the bawling Turles. But the near collision had halted his mad dash. His eyes quickly glanced over the terrified faces of the three children. In that moment, he made a fateful decision.

"Come with me," Bardock ordered the children.

Too frightened to do anything else, the cubs climbed to their feet. Bardock resumed the direction of his exodus, the three young ones on his heels. Only a few minutes passed by before he discovered another cluster of children. These, too, he added to his charge. Soon enough, the group following him had grown large enough that they were easy to spot in the dark night and other children joined them without having to be told. It was enough for them to know that someone was there to guide them and lead them to safety. So they clung to the hope that the ten-cycles-old boy offered with his leadership.

The fire-droppers continued to bombard the village with their fiery attacks. Many times, Bardock had to redirect the pack of cubs as explosions threatened to cut off their escape route. As the fires grew, the faces of their enemy grew clearer. Whenever he could spare a glance, Bardock stole a glimpse of the ground-demons. They were very large, taller than the diyando. They walked on narrow legs. And they spat fire or light-stones from long narrow snouts. The fire consumed the buildings within the village. The light-stones seared through the flesh of their victims.

As Bardock carried out his desperate escape plan, he feared that the demons were drawing nearer. And he was correct. With so many cubs following him, he was slowed down by the burden they created. And their group had become a large and easy to spot target. Several times, the cubs were driven further south by the barrage of light-stones and fire from the ground-demons that pursued them. Some of the children fell victim to the enemy's attacks. Their cries of pain filled the night. Bardock and the other cubs were too terrified to stop and rescue these unfortunate ones.

Eventually, the ten-cycles-old cub led his charges out of the village and into the surrounding wilds. The woods surrounding the village was thin with vegetation; the saline content of the soil hindered the growth of plant life. The few trees that were hardy enough to prosper here weren't very tall, nor did they have many branches. In short, the forest offered little cover.

Bardock and the cubs moved a little quicker once they had exited the village. Out of the village, they were able to put some distance between themselves and their attackers. Stray light-stones occasionally raced through the woods, however. But with the increasing range, the accuracy became very poor. Once the children were far enough away from the burning village, they were swallowed by the shadows of night. They had managed to escape the attention of the invading demons. The creatures remained focused on the adult members of the village who were still fighting despite having been overrun and overpowered.

Although they had fled from their village, and although they had avoided the demons' wrath, the cubs did not yet feel safe. They continued their flight long after the sounds of battle faded, long after the acrid smell of smoke dissipated, and long after the glow of the fires dimmed. They did not stop running until dawn broke the next day.

A few days later, Bardock was back to full strength. As Alaria had promised, Chieftain Tarve had taken in the Asterakis brothers as his wards. He had given the boys their own diyando near to his own. The two dwellings were closely connected by a short rope bridge. It was in his new – hopefully temporary – home that Bardock had spent the rest of his recovery time. It was a new experience for him, to live in a diyando so high from the ground. Whenever a heavy wind blew, he could feel the diyando sway with the trees. It was a sensation that required some getting used to.

The village was so different from his own. Bardock soaked it all in with eyes full of wonder. For the first time since arriving at the Vegetabyl village, he was strong enough to actually venture around the settlement. The trees here were so tall! And the many diyando in the trees were quite amazing. With the trees barren of their leaves, the number of structures built among the trees was all the more visible. It was incredible. He was especially impressed by the web of bridges and ladders connecting the dwellings to one another. That the only structures at ground level were those for community use was a foreign concept to him.

In his home village, all buildings sat atop ten foot tall stilts that were carved from stone mined from the quarries. The wood used to build their diyando and other facilities was imported since the few trees of his great-tribe's lands were too few in number to be harvested. And since all their buildings were so close to the ground, they had little use for bridges. Some of the diyando in his village were connected by bridge, but only those that were owned by members of the same clans. And because the forests of his home land had tree populations that were so thin, his village was far more exposed than the village was here.

Bardock toured Vegetabyl village with Turles strapped to his back. Tarve's son Vegeta had been charged with showing the younger boy around. Accompanying the chieftain's son was the war-adviser's son Nappa and the girl Aleguu who had been an almost constant presence over the past few days. During the tour, Bardock had learned a lot from his new acquaintances.

Bardock had quickly learned how bubbly and inquisitive Aleguu was. The girl was a chatterbox and her attention seemed to flit from one subject to another. She shared everything she could think of with him, from how old she was... "I am eight cycles old but I will be nine soon 'cause my name day is in the rebirth season." ...to her favorite food... "I like moon berry pies best of all!" ...and where the prettiest flowers grew... "Along the creek at the edge of the forest are where you can find all sorts of flowers! Blue ones, and orange ones, and white ones..."

And if that endless chatter wasn't enough, Aleguu seemed to have a story for almost every place they visited. At the river, she had recalled... "This is where Seltuu fell in the water and she could not swim so Bok had to jump in and save her." In the middle of the old village proper, she had shared... "The deity carvings used to be here, but now they are in the forest with everything else." Between two large boulders at the edge of the new village proper, she had giggled... "At the last Midsummer Feast, this is where Leek and Galan got really drunk on spice wine. They passed out right here and then it rained all night and they slept right through the entire storm! They were completely soaked the next morning!" Those were only a few of many tales she had to tell.

Nappa was almost as much of a talker as Aleguu was, Bardock learned. But where the girl-cub seemed to talk simply for the sake of it, the giant of a boy was more of braggart. He had begun with... "Have you ever gone on any hunting trips? I became an apprentice hunter two cycles ago. On my thirteenth name day this summer, I will become an official huntsman." When they drew near to the hut of the weaponsmiths, he had continued... "I am learning how to make different weapons. Feralo and Opeta are going to help me make a new plumbata." And as they passed by the sparring circles, Nappa had boasted... "The elders say I am growing much faster than other cubs my age so I have to spar with males who are two to four cycles older than I am." Bardock was quickly growing irritated with the taller boy's gloating.

But Nappa also seemed to have a lot of useful information that made listening to his bragging worth while. He had shared... "Food is rationed out, but if you ask Nori if she needs help with any chores, she will sneak an extra fruit or piece of jerky to you." He had also indulged this bit of advice... "The bath houses get really crowded in the winter season because the river is too cold to bathe in. But usually, they are empty just after the midday meal, so if you need to bathe, that would be the best time of day to do it."

Vegeta was a little more difficult to figure out. Bardock noticed right away that the flame-haired boy was rather quiet and reserved, especially when compared to the other two. Where Nappa and Aleguu were both full of energy, Vegeta appeared relaxed and laid back. When he spoke, it was simple and to the point and revealed very little of himself. He had pointed out various parts of the village... "The healers' hut is here." Also... "Our food stores are found here." And... "If you need a warmer set of clothes, the clothier is here." And so on... boring and practical.

It was Vegeta's withdrawn composure that led Bardock to pay more attention to the flame-haired boy. He picked up on little things, such as an annoyed sigh when Aleguu jabbered on about yet another mundane detail or the rolling of his eyes as Nappa gloated about himself once again. Rarely did Vegeta vocally object to his comrades' blabbering. At one point he had scolded his sister... "Alright, Guuber, enough already. We will spend the entire day showing him around if we have to keep listening to your stories." At another time, he had interrupted the taller boy... "Nappa, no one is interested in hearing how many different animals you have hunted." Bardock had grinned at the older boy's resulting deflated ego.

Bardock was able to infer from their mannerisms that Vegeta was the leader of their little pack. Not only did the other two cubs seem to obey Vegeta when he admonished them for their excessive chatter, Vegeta also directed the tour through the village, choosing what places to visit and in what order to visit them. If one of the other two cubs wished to show Bardock something that didn't appear to be on Vegeta's list of sights to see, they would defer their suggestion to the flame-haired boy.

But Vegeta wasn't a bully or a tyrant, Bardock noted. If one of the two cubs objected to Vegeta's scolding or his decisions, they were quick to voice it. Vegeta might argue back, but he wasn't aggressive when he did so. Aleguu and Nappa were free to have their opinions; they just didn't often succeed at changing Vegeta's mind.

Their tour finished up just in time for the midday meal. Vegeta and company escorted Bardock to the center of the new village proper where a light meal of cheese and bread was shared. The cooking pits had small fires going for the gathered saiyans to keep warm. Bardock had learned that the recent temperature they were experiencing was much cooler than normal, even for this time of the cycle. But he conceded that it was not as unbearable as it had been in the mountain pass.

As the spiky-haired boy ate his meal, he could not help but to recognize the faces of many of the Steridyl cubs who had come to this village with him. They had all been taken in as wards to the many family clans of the Vegetabyl Great-tribe. Just like Bardock, they would all be cared for until a parent or older sibling came to collect them. If anyone from our great-tribe survived, that is, Bardock lamented as he fed Turles. He considered the possibility that they could all very well be orphans. And as of yet, they had no way of knowing if they were.

Story Notes:
Daikon – or white radish, a large radish from East-Asia.
Mashu – from mashua, an edible tuber of the Andes.
Tato – from potato. (While proof-reading, I noticed that naming Nappa's older brothers Mashu and Tato was a happy coincidence since their two names put together sound a little like 'mashed potato.')
Karduun – from cardoon, or artichoke thistle, a thistle-like plant native to the Mediterranean.
Tichok – from artichoke.
Sterakas and Asterakis – from asteraceae, a widespread family of flowering plants.
Sonera – from scorzonera, or black salsify, an edible root native to southern Europe.
Nikau – from nikau, a palm tree native to New Zealand, of which the leaves are edible.
Pini – from rapini, a vegetable similar to broccoli and used in many Italian and Roman foods.
Nopal – from nopal, also known as the prickly pear, a vegetable used in many Mexican dishes.
Viradisia – from viridian and paradise. The saiyan version of heaven.
Seltuu – from celtuce, or Chinese lettuce.
Bok – from bok choy, or Chinese cabbage.
Leek – from leek.
Galan – from glangal, a rhizome (subterranean stem) of the ginger family.
Nori – from nori, the Japanese word for edible seaweed.