Chapter eleven
Bulma felt her heart beat a dozen times as she looked in the distance and saw the familiar castle of Vegetaseii. The gold from the gates were clearly glowing above everything else, and the towering turrets could be seen from all those miles away.
It really looked picturesque as it merged into the surrounding of the glistening water, and the funny pointy trees.
To Bulma the water looked like an oasis, it was still so far away and yet after all those hours in the Barron lands she had never felt so exhausted and dehydrated. The Saiyan guards had given her all the remaining water, and still she felt as though she needed more.
At least the gravity felt much lighter in this area, it wasn't far away from where Bulma had been born and lived with both her parents happily…
A stray tear fell to the ground, before the big tall guard Nappa wrapped his tail around her waist. She squealed and fought against this sudden movement of intimacy, it was just the kind of things Shirk had been doing to her… Nappa backed away quickly retreating his tail back around his own waist like a belt.
"I'm sorry missy… you just seemed to be upset." The big bald Saiyan said slowly with a hint of frustration in his voice, maybe he hadn't thought after all. The girl had been attacked out there by the guy his men would very soon be after.
The man whose blood was going to be painted across the dungeon walls… he would pay, the girl was far to beautiful to be attacked so viciously.
Just by wrapping his tail around her tummy she had freaked out, and now as he looked she seemed to be breathing even heavier. Poor kid, all she needed was a little care and attention…
Shaking himself violently Nappa cursed mentally at how stupid he was acting, sure the girl was good looking but she was exactly that… A GIRL! She must have been no older than the prince he was issued to guard.
It had been far too long since Nappa had made a visit to some of his favourite concubines, once they arrived back into the palace it was going to be one of his first stops after updating the King on the training and the mysterious girl.
The small troop of Saiyans had left the luggage-bearing animal behind, and had flown the great distance to the castle.
The one who reminded her so much of Goku, had offered to carry her all the way back and within a couple of long duelling hours they finally reached the picturesque scene of the castle, Bulma took in a breath as she spotted the tall turrets and the large wooden bridge leading over the water. The castle of Vegetaseii was situated on a mound like island slightly higher than the trees that surrounded it, and it could be seen from a great distance.
It looked slightly out of place, all around the castle boundaries was the familiar dry, dusty ground and then all of a sudden it changed to large fluffy trees, and a trickling stream. It truly did look magical and slightly daunting to the young girl.
She knew that the Royal Saiyan family lived a prosperous life, but how could anybody condone living in such a nice place as this, when all around them villages were struck with poverty, and young Saiyan's were being forced to live on the streets selling their bodies for little money.
A feeling overwhelmed Bulma, as they drew even closer and finally touched down onto the land.
"It's a great place don't ya think?" Nappa said proudly, as he looked on to the castle admiringly, and breathed in the humid air around. The trickling water could be heard from as far away as them, and the distinct sound of small birds singing and calling, was the strangest of all.
The castle from this angle looked like something from a fairytale, as they walked closer and the scent of the trees and water grew closer; Bulma could only guess what the inside would look like.
The other guards followed close behind, Nappa leading the way with Bulma close behind.
The virgin white gown fluttering gently in a small soft breeze that seemed to appear from nowhere. It was a warm tropical breeze and only added to the beauty of the place they were coming up to. For a few short moments, the attack from earlier was far from her mind, curiosity was replacing this.
A small oriental looking bridge materialised, and had to be crossed unless they wished to get their feet wet. This seemed to separate off the two lands, on one side it was barren and dusty with the scent of dryness, on the other trees were sprouting and beautiful flowers danced in the warm breeze.
It was almost like two different worlds, how could a few metres separate two different places so much. Quite a way ahead, a tall metal fence, and a large locked set of gates separated the real boundaries of the castle grounds.
Now they were close enough, Bulma could see soldiers standing upon the turrets guarding the palace, and just before the golden fence yet even more guards were standing around.
All were wearing the distinctive Elite Saiyan armour that Nappa and his men were donning, the Elite Saiyan's always looked more presentable and more respectable than the lower class Saiyan's. Their bodies looked more toned and showed their strengths, and obviously they had power levels to match. All supported the Royal Saiyan crest upon their armour, they were the best fighters the planet had to offer anybody with enough strength would go and become an elite fighter and live a prosperous life.
They were the strongest, the proudest and most certainly the most cold-hearted of all the Saiyan's. Perhaps that was why Goku had never even attempted to work for the King and his son, obviously he had the power, and her best friend was one of the strongest people she knew.
Radditz was offered numerous positions at the palace, being good friends with the prince obviously helped this. Instead he opted to work in space, where their was much less rules and he could explore and kill, in Radditz' opinion find more females.
He had turned down many positions, and now he was off in space fighting for the Lord Freeza and had become a space pirate.
Bulma felt her stomach gurgle with anticipation, she was really going into the palace and she was even going to be staying there… few females had ever had the honour unless they were third class workers it was slightly daunting and even a bit strange that she was different than the rest.
It was strange in the way that females were attacked all the time on her planet, the men that carried out the attack were sometimes sought after and attacked by other males in a lynch kind of fashion. However she was almost certain that if she had not of met the big bald leader of the army, then she would undoubtedly not be led into the castle.
Nappa led them over the quaint little bridge, the stream flowing beneath them almost took Bulma's breath away as she felt the cool breeze being given off the water. She was still dehydrated, but she fought off the temptation to wade in the clear water and guzzle it down as did all the hot sweaty Elites.
A large insect fluttered around her head, and then continued to hover off landing on a huge green leaf as she tried to take in the beauty of the place.
This just had to be some kind of wonderful dream, perhaps she really was dead, or maybe she was hallucinating from the killer sun in the barrenlands.
"Nearly there now men." Nappa shouted, as the younger guards followed sweaty, tired and looking mightily exhausted. They were carrying all the luggage the large animal had strapped to its back, from what the guard had told Bulma they had been trekking in the barrenlands for many days.
Bulma found it hard to believe that anybody could survive in conditions like what that land threw, the sand was choking and the sun blistering hot.
That short time she had spent there, had certainly taken its toll she was caked in dirt and sweat her blue hair was now sticking to her skin., she could even feel where the sun had burnt her face and her toes she was still wearing no boots, but the ground under her feet felt cool compared to the roasting sand.
It felt so much cooler now she was standing on the soft springy grass breathing in the indistinguishable scent of the beautiful flowers that were growing on the ground.
She knew that her father had visited this place before; he had been to show the Royalty an experiment, which could help enhance the strength and durability of the battle armour. He brought back with him many stories and tales about the beauty of the palace and the occupants that lived in it.
A stray tear slipped down Bulma's cheek as she reminisced about her dead father.
Her parents had even been denied a proper burial site by her aunt, the moment she had gotten their wealth they had been cast aside and buried in the middle of the wilderness somewhere.
Rightfully they should have both been buried together far away from the poverty and hunger stricken villages. They both deserved to be resting eternally in a place just like this with the sheer natural beauty it had to offer.
Looking up to the sky Bulma caught the glimpse of a spiky haired Saiyan with an enormous powerlevel. She could see the battle armour reflecting in the searing sunlight as the being flew straight over them and headed in the direction of the castle.
Nappa said aloud some curses, as all the other guards continued to drag the horrendously heavy luggage. If she had been wearing more clothing Bulma would have offered to help carry them, however in the presence of such burley Elite guards she felt there was little that she could do.
Back in the desert had the legendary Super Saiyan helped her? It was a mystery and almost a miracle that the dust storm had picked up when it did. If it had happened any later the evil troll Shirk would almost certainly deflowered her.
All the men were oblivious to Bulma as another tear slid down her face. Nappa was now cursing to himself about his duties and shift patterns, the others were all concentrating on making it to the castle in one piece.
Upon reaching the large golden gates and the high fencing. Nappa spoke some private words with the Saiyan's on guard duty, Bulma could tell from his body language and the way he spoke to the lesser guards that he was obviously in charge.
He looked much larger and stronger than the heavily dressed guards, as he spoke he was pointing in the air and then waving his arms frantically as if explaining something.
The guy that had been talking the least on the journey back was the first to break the silence between the men and Bulma.
"Are you okay now missus…" he mumbled incoherently, as his cheeks flushed red. His face, which was orginainally a pasty white, was now a rosy pink tinge. A funny jagged scar across his right cheek symbolised he had been in many battles. Somehow he reminded Bulma of her first love Yamcha. The man was carrying a fur skin bag filled with empty water bottles and additional weapons. Out of all the men he looked the most tired, huge bags under both his eyes and the damp patches of sweat on his training gear showed how hard he had been working.
Bulma was faintly surprised that he was talking to her; his voice was gruff but very deep and sexy. As she sniffed and looked up into his eyes she was met with some beautiful amber pupils. They glistened with the sunlight, and shone like the stars at night.
Bulma was wordless, his eyes were so mesmerising. She could just stare at those eyes all day long.
Pulling herself together, she just nodded and tore herself away from his sexy eyes., focussing down upon his dark leather boots.
A loud chuckle from beyond the fence tore the other guards away from the very short conversation between the two. In a few long seconds the fence suddenly shifted, and the gates opened backwards to reveal a giant causeway into the palace gardens.
The chuckling immediately stopped, and was replaced with a loud bark from Nappa.
A short guard crept from behind a huge tree with a trunk that would make most trees weep. The bark was growing a green moss, and the leaves stretched as far as Bulma could see.
Clearly it was one of the largest trees on the planet and must have been growing for hundreds if not thousands of years. It truly looked beautiful, as did everything else on this side of the stream.
Bulma was awed by the size of the monstrous tree; its green leaves were gently blowing in the breeze causing a rustling effect as if they were singing to her.
Nappa was the only thing that disturbed the tranquillity as he shouted a barrade of insults to the slacker guard.
As it turned out the young lad had been serving a female whilst on duty, the girl was not a true Saiyan but had bright green hair and red eyes. Very beautiful but at the same time she spoke no tongue.
She almost resembled the leaves of the tree as the guards seemed to drool over her petite body, and her olive coloured skin. All that was covering her body was a small cloth, which could have been mistaken for a large leaf.
The guard that had been caught wept, as Nappa commanded one of his new men to drag his lazy carcass inside the castle to confront the king.
Bulma stood on looking as the female was handed over to the guard that had been standing by the gates.
The Saiyan with the gorgeous amber eyes had said no more to her, now he was given the duty of holding the luggage of his colleague whilst he escorted the short male that had been screwing with the girl. Bulma felt faintly disappointed, his eyes were still embedded in her brain she didn't even know his name.
Nappa referred to all the men as 'boys' and 'servants' sometimes the occasional 'brat' and 'tosser' to him none seemed to have names except Bulma.
The short little guard that had been caught, was still weeping, and crying out for some help only to receive a brutal kick in the tail by Nappa who was also the only other person not holding anything.
"You will not be so weak before the king fool." Nappa spat, as he kicked the guard once again who screamed out in pain. The guard holding him dropped him hard upon the floor, and folded his arms grateful of having the burden of the weight gone.
The blood trickling from his tail dripped onto the grass, as he pleaded with the new Elites to spare him.
It was the wrong decision to make.
The guards all gulped as Nappa threw a ki ball and instantly killed the cowardly man.
His body slumped onto the grass, a deep red trickle of blood oozing from the hole, which had just been blasted through his chest. His tail was flopped lifelessly close to his bleeding hand.
"Men heed that fool, never break the rules created by the King."
The men all nodded, and the one that had been carrying the guard paused to pick up his carcass.
"Leave him there, that inbred is not worthy of treading on Royal carpets."
The Elites all obeyed, and the amber eyed one handed back the extra bag to the other Elite.
Nobody said a word; the only sound was of the leaves blowing in the trees and the small birds singing. Bulma realised at that short moment in time how powerful these men really were.
They could easily have overpowered Shirk and killed him without the blink of an eye, if they really wanted they could attack her and force her to do anything they wished.
It wasn't until that moment that she really woke up to where she was, and what she was doing with these strange men.
The man still had his eyes open, this disturbed Bulma slightly; she had certainly seen Saiyan's dead before. It was a normal scene on her planet, after all she was a pure blooded Saiyan and she had been bought up quite close to some very poor villages.
She had witnessed many bloody battles, and she had also seen with her own eyes one take another's life. Thankfully she had never had to battle in this way, but she had trained herself and she certainly knew how to defend herself if the worst did happen.
Little did that training do when Shirk decided to try and have his way with her.
The guard with the adorable amber eyes gently took her hand, and led her to the castle when he noticed her hands shaking. Bulma gratefully tightened her grip and walked hand in hand with the tall sweaty guard.
Not noticing the jealous glances that were being shot from Nappa and the Goku double she breathed in the fresh humid air, and unravelled her shaking tail. This guy really did remind her of Yamcha, and oddly it was comforting to the blue haired female.
Disclaimer: I decided that because its Christmas I perhaps ought to give you a new chapter :-0)
I just finished it yesterday, and decided that I would post it on CHRISTMAS DAY!
So hope that you are all having a lovely festive day, and you are feeling in the nice generous mood to leave a review!
I have been frantically working with Hayles to help me sort out this plot, I kind of know where this is going now. Plus I have many little plot bunnies niggling away at the paper, but its looking to be a long haul! There are certainly many many more chapters to come from this fanfic.
Heck Bulma and Vegeta haven't even met yet! Wow.
Everything should hopefully fall into place, not to worry in the next couple of chapters there will certainly be some Bulma and some vegeta! Its going to also follow the traditional Cinderella storyline, but its going to obviously have many fruity twists…
So who is the guy with the amber eyes? I have left you all in the dark haven't I hehe.
Hope that you all have a very festive and merry Christmas and a really great new year! (hopefully I will be able to update before then!)
Please be merry and leave me a review!