Fulfillment
Not a whole lot to talk about here. Just time to get to the update that you guys have so patiently awaited. Enjoy!
Chapter 12
Krillin stood at the large entrance at the end of the hall. The door, while being a large wooden monster, was simple enough in design. Just a large squared entrance with hinges of some unknown metal. 'Kinda reminds me of the doors at the Red Ribbon castle…'
His eyes widened as Juuhachi flung the door open with no more than a small grunts and stormed inside, bots clacking against the stone floor. "Pick your damn jaw off the floor and keep up!" she called to him. Krillin silently obeyed and followed behind, taking note of the large room.
Ringing the room were several display cases, containing what seemed to be various old relics. Chunks of masonry, crude pottery, the occasional tablet or parchment was seen as well. next to them were what appeared to be small bookcases, each containing a few rows of large books. It almost seemed to be a library, but for one as grand as a palace library, he couldn't help but notice it was... well, pitiably small.
Situated in the center of the back of the room, however, was a large stone table, surrounded by equally large chairs. Krillin's wide eyes found themselves resting upon the table's sole occupant, an elder Saiyan whose dark brown hair had begun to gray, dressed in a formal but not opulent fashion- a blue and gold sash over plain black Saiyan armor. Krillin was taken aback by the clearly obligatory false smile the man wore and mentally chastised himself. He knew there was no reason to distrust this one's intentions, but there was still something unnatural and frightening about seeing these butchers smile...
The man raised a hand in greeting. "Greetings daughter. I see you've brought your new companion with you."
Juuhachi snorted derisively. "Yes. As you asked. Let's not play like it's anything but an ordered appearance."
His smile dropped and he averted his eyes for a moment. "I understand your anger, child. I do. But there is a time and place for this discussion." The smile returned and his dark eyes fixed on Krillin again. "Now then, I suppose introductions are in order. I am Daifu, head of one of the five Families. Welcome to our home."
Krillin nodded his head lightly and waved. "Um.. hello. I'm Krillin." He looked around the room. "So uh... if you don't mind m asking, what is this place?
"Well, Krillin, this happens to be the official records of our people." He gestured to the room around him. "All you see here are the salvaged remains of our people's history. As you can see, it's not much, and it's been quite hard to put together, but it is what we have." He smiled. "It was always a passion of mine, trying to learn of the mysterious past. It's how I met my mate, in fact-"
An abrupt slam echoed through the room causing Krillin to jump and turn to see an angry Juuhachi, fists clenched, foot buried in the remains of a destroyed chair. Her eyes were moist and her face flushed as she spoke. "If there's no reason you need me here, I'm leaving. Now." Daifu sighed softly and dismissed her with a wave as she spun on her heels and stormed from the room, slamming the large doors behind her.
Rubbing his temples, Daifu continued. "You'll have to excuse her. She's been uner much emotional strain as of late. Her brother was lost to us not long ago."
Krillin frowned, looking back toward the doors she'd left through. "Oh my... I had no idea." He looked back to the old Saiyan. "I know how hard you must be taking this."
To his utter shock Diafu looked at him quizzically for a moment, as if trying to discern what he meant before finally dismissing it with a shrug, and in that instant Krillin remembered. These people were a race of barbaric conquerors, death was as common to them as breathing. The cold demeanor sent a chill down his spine as Daifu continued.
"Now is not the time for such talk. I've asked you here because, as mysterious and odd our own past may be, I find myself even more intrigued about your own." He swept his arm wide "Think about it! An entire alien civilization to learn about, to glean from! Endless possibilities of learning and discovery." He pointed at Krillin. "That, human, is where you come in. I've asked you here for a cultural exchange of sorts. Swapping stories if you will. I want to learn as much about your people while there's still things to learn as is possible. And in return," he gestured to the room around him, "I will offer up ours as well."
He laughed as Krillin blinked in confusion. "I'm sure you have many questions," Daifu said, folding his hands on the table in front of him. "Our culture is likely quite different from anything you witnessed on Earth; that's what the texts my people salvaged seem to convey at least."
Krillin ran a hand through his short hair. "I do, actually… but-uh, not quite sure.. I mean, what's off-limits and such?"
"Nothing is off-limits, per se," the elder Saiyan chuckled. "This is really nothing more than a school lesson I'm offering. Information that could prove useful to you, seeing as there are certain people here looking for any and every excuse to use a rod on a sla-," He noticed his daughter's eyes narrow at him. "A CAPTIVE such as yourself. And as much as I dislike the practice, the Law permits them to do so. No one can protect you from the law, not even me." He motioned to the chair in front of him. "You may wish to sit down for this. What I need to tell you may not be too much, but it shall take a bit nonetheless."
Krillin slowly lowered himself onto the seat. As the old Saiyan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Now then, where to begin...?"
Juuhachi slammed the door of her bedroom behind her, eyes red and moist, tears streaking down her face as she slid down to the floor. "Why?" she breathed out. "Why did they have to take you away too? You were my only friends, you were all I had and now..."
She rested her head on her knees and sobbed for the first time in days.
"I'm all alone..."
Well yeah... sadly this isn't as long as I had hoped. I had actually written a far longer chapter, starting in on the Saiyan culture as I'm fleshing it out based on what we do know, and a bit of playful re-imagining in this alternate turn of events... and the dang word processor didn't save. So I had to re-write from scratch, and since I didn't want to make people wait yet another month or so for an update... here's this. The next one will have all the juicy stuff, I promise.
Until then... See ya.