Shavneral

Chapter 7 – Vegeta

That whole escape episode took a lot more effort than I'd thought it would. Kakarot was so hesitant and fearful, and every time he flinched at something that should be as natural as the air around him, I felt a surge of pity that I wasn't accustomed to feeling and a hatred for the humans at that hell of a facility that rivaled my hatred for Frieza.

How long would it take for him to get over the trauma and torture that had been forced on him day in and day out for three years straight? Maybe he never would. In fact, I was almost certain he'd retain the physical and mental scars for life.

Finally Bulma showed up; late as usual. Her wave of greeting as she exited the cockpit of the airship faltered as her eyes immediately landed on Kakarot. I tried to think about what must have been going through her mind as a thousand emotions flashed behind her blue eyes. She'd known Kakarot longer than anyone else, and the changes – so drastic that he didn't even look like the same person anymore – must have been a major shock for her.

Even Kakarot's stance and posture was different than before. He used to stand tall, confident and fearless, tail loose and swishing at his side. Now he kept his tail guarded around his waist and almost crouched when he stood; perhaps from damage to his spine, though I suspected distrust alone could be the culprit. In the light of day, the badly-healed scars and lacerations that lined his face and legs – the worst of the injuries on his chest, back and arms were covered by the black windbreaker I'd given him – showed up stark and clear against his skin. And there were his eyes, of course; soulless black holes that compelled one to stare and yet were painful to look at.

Eventually, Bulma spoke. Her eyes roved over Kakarot's face, but she directed her words at me.

"Looks like you were successful," her voice shook a little, but I paid it no mind.

I nodded, "As successful as I could have been in this situation."

I saw Kakarot's coal black eyes darting between the two of us; wariness heavy in his gaze, though it hadn't switched over to fear yet.

"We need to get out of here," I said abruptly, "It won't be long before the humans gather more resources and catch up to us."

Bulma looked unnerved, but nodded.

I climbed into the airship and turned to face Kakarot; interested to see how he would react to the scenario.

As I expected, he copied exactly what I had done; though much more hesitant, flinching as his hand came in contact with the cold metal of the vehicle. He sat as far in the corner as he could; like a caged animal. I gestured to one of the seats in the ship, inviting him to sit more comfortably; and he shook his head fervently; all the terror from before flooding back into his face as the color drained from it.

Bulma's eyes lingered on him for a long time before turning to the controls and closing the hatch to the cockpit with an audible hiss. I glanced at the woman slowly.

"He's different," Bulma whispered to me as she piloted the airship, "He looks different. He acts different."

"I know." I nodded.

"Why? What did they do to him in there?"

"It's better that you don't know," I said quietly.

She fixed me with her stubborn blue gaze for a moment before turning back to driving.

I sighed; there was no swaying her when she got like this.

"Fine. But it's painful even to say." I gathered what little information I'd gleaned to the forefront of my mind and explained, "As far as I can tell, he was whipped nearly every day. They dehydrated him and gave him maybe one meal a day, judging from the starkness of his ribs. Either that or he refused to eat. I assumed they burned his hands – maybe as a form of punishment – because they are callused and scarred from extreme exposure to heat."

Bulma looked horrified, and rightly so; regardless, I pressed on.

"He was forced to fight. Often. To the death; without mercy or cause. Those nut cases seemed to be along the line of thought that if he got hurt; 'sucks for him'. They might have drugged him at some point – I think I saw track marks on his wrists, it was hard to tell – though why, I have no clue. And, as you may have noticed, they made certain… alterations… to his face."

"Why the fuck would they do that?" Bulma breathed, sounding outraged.

I shrugged. At this, I could only guess, "Appearance maybe, didn't want him to look too human... or maybe it was to make him look fierce. Or perhaps to keep vulnerabilities out of harm's way by removing them. I'm a little surprised they didn't try to cut off his tail; he probably kept it well protected."

I glanced at the huddled form in the corner over my shoulder. He wasn't listening to anything being said; just watching the clouds whip past out the window in apparent trepidation. At least he wasn't hiding his face anymore.

"Speaking of tails, why did they put rings on his?" Bulma asked. My eyes landed on the two golden rings looped close to the end of Kakarot's long, dark tail. I hadn't even noticed them before.

"I have no idea." I muttered, "Idiot humans."

There was a long moment of silence in which not a word was spoken by anyone. Only the whirr of the engine and the beep of the dials could be heard.

"Piccolo got out of there okay, right?" Bulma queried.

"Yes. He was only there to oversee the fight and make sure I got in and out alright."

Another silence.

"I wonder how they even got him to do what they wanted in the first place…" the woman said of Kakarot, "…how they imprisoned him when he could have killed them by flicking a finger."

I'd actually wondered the exact same thing.

"We might never know. He doesn't remember anything," I sighed, "Not you or me or even his sons. Nothing about his life before except his own name."

"That's just… horrible..." Bulma said dejectedly.

I nodded, watching the patchwork of landscape grow larger as the ship descended.

The airship landed in front of the Capsule Corp building, and the cockpit opened with a rush of air.

"Where are we?" Kakarot asked quietly. It was the first time he'd spoken in this entire time; I'd almost forgotten how his voice rasped and growled.

Bulma seemed taken aback by the timbre of his voice too; but she said nothing.

"This is Capsule Corp." I explained, gesturing at the huge dome of a building.

Kakarot took one look at the enormous building and instantly shrank back, "I don't want to go in there."

I walked up to him slowly and knelt to his eye-level, "Nothing here will hurt you. I promise."

One dark, endless eye met mine for the space of a second.

"You can't just stay here," I prompted, resisting the compulsion to offer a hand and help him to his feet; remembering he didn't like people to touch him.

"Why? Why do you keep helping me?" there was so much turmoil in his eyes, in his voice, and I felt something inside me twist with pity; he truly thought that no one in the entire world was on his side.

"Because," I searched for a reason; something he'd understand, "I once knew a man who saved the universe; who stopped at nothing to help the innocent and right the unjust. I believe you are still that man; whether you remember it or not."

Slowly, tentatively, he got to his feet; averting his gaze from mine when I attempted to look at him. I wasn't sure he'd believed me, but maybe something in the gentleness of my voice – which I still wasn't used to – had soothed him a little.

There was no telling how he'd react to Capsule Corp; and by extension the people inside it and the very world around him. I wondered if Bulma would ever actually speak to him directly; whether anyone else would. I wondered if he'd attack them if they did. Maybe I shouldn't have given him his thumb blade back yet.

X

- Kakarot

I followed Vegeta, because I knew he wouldn't lead me to harm. I didn't trust him, or anyone for that matter; but I knew – out of the two people before me – that he was the safer to be around.

I wasn't too sure about the woman "Bulma". Something about her freaked me out, but I wasn't about to say that lest she suddenly become my enemy. She seemed nice enough from a distance, but there was something about her calculating blue eyes that made me wary of her.

I swallowed the initial feeling of being trapped when the door to the huge building closed behind us. And when I say the building was huge, I mean it was huge. Even from the inside, I could tell it was enormous. I added large architecture to the growing list of things in this world that scared me. For some reason, keeping my eyes on Vegeta calmed some of the anxiety; I wondered what it was about him that was soothing to me, but I just felt more at ease when he was there.

"No one's here right now except us." Vegeta said softly. I was about to ask how he knew that, but kept my thoughts to myself; focusing instead on not getting dizzy from all the color around me. That was what unnerved me about Capsule Corp, other than its sheer size… the array of color and shape that made me feel both isolated and claustrophobic at the same time.

I could still barely believe I was free. I didn't feel free in the slightest, and the cuffs still attached to my wrists and neck weren't helping the feeling that I was still a prisoner; just in a different, more colorful prison.

"What now?" Bulma asked Vegeta.

He blinked, "I'm not sure. I didn't think ahead this far; I assumed you did."

"Well, I think we should at least take off those terrible chains first."

Anger flared in Vegeta's eyes, "You don't have to talk about him like he can't understand you! Ask his permission before you do anything, woman!"

I was very confused now. One minute they were having a civil conversation and then Vegeta suddenly exploded in anger out of nowhere. Usually I associated people that talked decently as friends with each other, and people who shouted at each other as enemies…. what did that make these two?

The woman turned to face me and I felt uneasy again.

"Sorry. Um… K-Kakarot…" she seemed to have a hard time saying the name; and I wondered at that. Other people said it easily enough, and it wasn't exactly difficult to pronounce or anything, "Do you… want me to take those shackles off?"

Yes, yes, please get them the hell off of me! Though the thought was earnest, I said no such thing, and swallowed the words; shaking my head.

"Why not?"

I took a step back unconsciously away from her and toward Vegeta.

The man seemed perplexed, "Are you… afraid of Bulma?"

I shook my head again. I wasn't sure if I was lying; but I didn't think "afraid" was the right word. I certainly didn't trust her and something about her still made me nervous.

What I did know was that if anyone was going to take the cuffs off of me; I would much rather Vegeta do it than her.

"Woman," Vegeta commanded of Bulma, "Take the rest of the day off, alright? Visit Trunks and Gohan at the Lookout, get something to eat, see your idiot boyfriend Yamcha; I don't care, I just don't want to see you here."

"And why," Bulma retorted, "may I ask, are you kicking me out of my own house?"

"Because I'll have a hard enough time getting Kakarot calmed down and settled without you here,"

"You don't want my help?"

"No."

"Fine." The woman said exasperatedly, "Have it your way."

With that, she left; and I was glad to see her go.

X

- Vegeta

The heavy pliers clamped down one more time and there came a clanking sound as the last cuff was removed. Kakarot rubbed his wrist once it was free; seeming unable to believe he'd never have to wear those chafing metal shackles again.

I put the pliers aside. Usually I could have just cut the restraints with ki, but I didn't want to hurt Kakarot; so I had to resort to human contraptions to do the job.

I offered him food, water, a change of clothes, a shower; all four times he shook his head. I supposed only time would help; time and sleep.

Disappointed that I couldn't alleviate the burdens weighing on my old friend – yes, I could admit Kakarot was my friend. At least… he was – as easily as I could remove the chains binding him; I showed him to one of the many empty rooms of Capsule Corp and suggested he get some rest – careful not to phrase it as an order in the slightest. I didn't want him to feel forced in anything he did; maybe then he'd start making choices on his own.

I lay in my own bed once that was done; wishing I could have done more. It was certainly unusual for me to want to help someone; but I disregarded that. I couldn't get the look Kakarot had given me as I left him alone from my mind. It was as if he were screaming 'please don't leave me!' with his eyes.

Guilt gripped me as I thought of this. After all he'd gone through today – not to mention in the last three years – how did I expect him to cope on his own? How did I expect him to be able to sleep when he was chased by the demons of his recent nightmare of a past at every turn? I was amazed he could even function as well as he could with that much mental and emotional tumult haunting him. Not to mention the scars and physical damage that no amount of time or senzu could erase.

I made up my mind and decided to go to him. If I could just comfort him for the night – even if all I could offer was my presence – maybe he could rest and… maybe… see that no one here was trying to hurt him.

I opened the door slowly, peering around the edge and looking for Kakarot. For a moment, I panicked when I couldn't find him, and focused instead on his ki signal.

He was literally hiding under the bed. I felt something break inside me; maybe my heart. He was curled in a ball, shivering; his eyes squeezed shut.

"Kakarot," I said tentatively. One jet eye snapped open and he stared at me.

"Why are you hiding under here?" I asked carefully.

"Feels… safer…" he murmured. I noted he said 'safer'; not 'safe'.

"Do you want to stay under there?" I wasn't sure if I should try to convince him to leave a place he felt remotely safe.

He fidgeted with the metal claw thing on his thumb that he still hadn't removed. Something told me he would have lashed out at any threat that appeared without thinking. I was probably lucky to have my face unscathed and have all my fingers if that was the case.

Of course…. that meant he didn't see me as a threat…. Why?

"No," Kakarot sighed eventually, "But… what choice do I have?"

"Are you really that afraid of being alone?"

He hesitated… then nodded slightly, "Pathetic isn't it?"

I ignored the question and instead focused on how I could be of use in this situation. "If I stay here, will you come out?"

He seemed sorely tempted, yet he gave no response.

"I won't do or say anything unless you want me to," I promised.

A lot of the conflict in his eyes seemed to dissipate; or maybe it was just my imagination. He almost seemed relieved.

"Okay…"

Well, I thought, pleased with myself; progress at last.

TBC