Chapter 2: Trouble with a Capitol T
"Uh, why do I feel like I was hit by a bus?" Ebony groaned placing her hand on her head.
"Pretty damn close." Piccolo growled from her right.
'OH SHIT! Angry Namekian!" She cried in her mind. Instantly she tried to sit up. She soon regretted it as pain soared through her body. She carefully laid back down and gave off a weak 'Son' grin.
"Heh, heh, Hi Piccolo. What's up?" She tried. He growled in response. Unfortunately Namekians can be very protective when they grow attached to someone or something, and this one was very attached to the Son Family.
"Have you gone totally insane? Goku is bad enough, now you are out here, nearly unable to protect yourself, and don't even think about at least searching for me or bringing someone with you. If you don't start thinking ahead you're going to wind up dead. Is that what you want? Everyone to be hurt because you don't watch out for yourself?" He demanded harshly. Ebony closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry Piccolo. I don't want to hurt anybody like that. Not you, Grandpa, Goku, dad, mom, or even Trunks. You guys mean everything to me. That's why I don't tell you guys when I'm badly hurt, none of you need to worry like that. Then again, most of the time, Vegeta is the only one who knows how much I get put through. Over ninety percent of my injuries have gone through him. So me being hurt doesn't matter, the wounds still get taken care of and I just get stronger." She confessed quietly.
"He cares about you, you know." Piccolo said gently.
"Who? Vegeta? Now I'm beginning to think you're crazy. Vegeta only cares about Bulma, his kids and defeating Grandpa Goku." Ebony scoffed.
"Now you're just fooling yourself. Name one person on our side who doesn't care the least about you?" He challenged.
"Vegeta, Eighteen, Yumcha…" She started and finally succeeded in sitting up.
"Enough. Vegeta cares, he just refuses to show it. Why else would he waste his time training you or bandaging you up? Eighteen doesn't know how to care about anyone but herself, yet she has slowly allowed herself to care about Krillen and her own daughter. She even watches over Goten and Trunks, though she refuses to admit to it. Yumcha hasn't care about much since Bulma became Vegeta's mate. So stop seeing what you want to see. Everybody you meet cares about you." Piccolo growled. "Now get some more rest. You've used up nearly all your energy today." She shook her head.
"I have to get back to Capsule Corp. How long have I been out?" She asked standing up and testing her legs.
"Nearly half the night. You should lay back down. Get some sleep and in the morning I'll wake you in time to get back before anyone knows you were gone." Piccolo offered. Ebony shook her head.
"Vegeta will know, and he's the one that really matters. It'll be bad enough trying to sneak in this late. Morning will be impossible to deal with him." She sighed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow Piccolo." She said and flew off.
'At least she was able to fly out of here. Maybe she's even stronger than I believed.' He thought as he leaned against the wall carefully. 'I better take care of this wound though. It could cause me real trouble later on.' He said and began cleaning his own wounds. None of which were even close to bad, just a couple of scrapes.
Raven arrived back at capsule corp. and floated to the window exhausted. As she was closing the window to her room the lights turned on. She whirled around and found Vegeta sitting in a chair on the other side of her room by the light switch. "Where the hell have you been?" Vegeta growled. Ebony's face paled.
"Umm, well, uh, you see…" She stuttered not sure what to tell him.
"You've been gone for eight hours! You begin training tomorrow. Unless you are not up to it." Vegeta taunted, upset the girl had been gone so long as injured as she was. Ebony got over her shock and became angry at his words.
"Tomorrow is Saturday. You know for a fact I spend every Saturday with Dad and Grandpa. Sunday my schedule is open. Prince or not, Vegeta, Saturday is mine. You can have Sunday." She told him signaling the end of the conversation. Vegeta nodded.
"Fine, Sunday then. Just be prepared to work you ass off." He said going to the door. "And next time this happens, I won't be so generous. I'll have you in the Gravity Room all night and the next day. Is that understood?" He asked stopping at the door.
"Yes Vegeta. I understand." Ebony sighed and the Saiyan prince walked out closing the door behind him. Once she was alone Ebony smirked and laid back on her bed ignoring her body's protest at the rough movement. Within seconds she was asleep.
*Saturday*
"Come on Ebony. You're not afraid of the water are you?" Goku called. Ebony shook her head. It was a nice warm spring day and she was sitting under a tree watching her grandfather, dad and uncle play in the water. Fortunately for her they all wore their shorts this time. Last time Goku forgot that she was their and jumped in butt naked, embarrassing the hell out of her. She leaned back, watching the clouds through the branches and just listened to her surroundings as she relaxed. She listened to all the sounds going on around her. The birds in the trees, the bees buzzing by, the wind blowing through the grass and leaves, the guys whispering, the water flowing…wait…the guys whispering? Ebony listened closer.
"…and when she least expects it, wham! She's soaked." Came Goku's voice, nearly drowned out by the rushing river.
'So that's their plan is it? Well four can play that game.' She took a couple minutes to work on a plan and pretended to be asleep.
*three minutes later*
"Where'd she go?" Goku asked looking around.
"Knowing her she's got something planned herself." Gohan answered with a smile on his face.
"Too bad, it was gonna be a good one too." Goten laughed. They all turned around to go get back in the water when suddenly all three saiyans yelped and started jumping around.
"Cold, cold, cold!" Goku cried as the three of them tried to get the ice cubes out of their pants. "Ebony!" Goku whined. Ebony was more than a few yards away on the ground laughing. After a second she felt their energy signals coming in her direction. She looked up to see three very mischievous saiyans grinning at her.
"He he, um, bye guys." She said quickly as she took off away from the river.
"Get her." Someone cried behind her as she took off flying at full speed with the guys right behind her.
'Maybe I can lose them if I go through the forest. I can land and hide my Ki that way.' she thought as she dove towards the trees. Lowering her Ki as much as possible she began to jog, making her all but invisible to their senses. She stopped a couple minutes later and ducked in a bush when she felt Goten's energy above her.
"That was close." She sighed as she stood up. She took a couple of cautious steps back and bumped into something.
"I wouldn't say 'close' exactly." Gohan said behind her. Ebony gave off a play yell as he grabbed for her. She slipped through his grasp and took off running. She turned around for just a second to see her father throw a small, almost unnoticeable orb into the sky to signal he found her.
"Great." She groaned and continued to dodge through the trees. As she turned to check behind her once again she was almost thrown onto her backside as she bumped into something definitely solid. Before she saw what it was she felt hands grab her by the shoulders to steady her. Looking up her sapphire eyes met a slightly familiar pair of crimson ones. "You." She breathed and was instantly released once she was stable again and the figure moved back a couple steps. Standing before her were the two of the boys from the previous day. "You're the boys from yesterday."
"We haven't been properly introduced." Said the boy with long red hair and emerald green eyes. "I'm Kurama." He motioned to the boy with the red eyes. "And this is Hiei."
"Ebony Son, nice to meet you. Now I really must be going." She said uneasily just before Goku landed beside her, Goten landed behind her and Gohan landed on the opposite side of Goku. "Um, gotta go." She said and took off into the brush past them.
"After her!" Gohan called with a large grin on his face. The three of them took off after her.
"Grandpa! Let me go! It was just a joke." She yelled as she attempted to get away from the eldest Saiyan there. Her father and uncle following just behind them as they walked past the two boys again.
"Need some help onna?" crimson eyes, now known as Hiei, asked with a smirk. Ebony just glared at him from Goku's shoulder.
"Not from you baka." She growled and Goku turned around to see who she was talking to.
"Hey Ebony, who are your friends? I haven't seen them around here before." Goku asked.
"Kurama, Hiei, this is my Grandpa, Goku, my dad, Gohan, and his brother, Goten. Guys, this is Kurama and Hiei. I just met them yesterday."
"Nice to meet you sir." Kurama said very politely and Hiei just gave a 'Hn' and leaned against the nearest tree.
"Not to ruin the moment, but can we put me down now? This is kind of uncomfortable." Ebony grumbled.
"Nope, you're gonna get wet whether you like it or not." Goku said. "Nice to meet ya, see you later." He said to the boys before walking off. Gohan and Goten said a quick goodbye and took off after their father. Ebony's voice shot through the trees.
"No, grandpa, please!" She shrieked as she was thrown into the cold water. Seconds after her cry their was a loud splash and another shriek.
"Sounds like they threw her in." Kurama chuckled before turning to Hiei. "How's your arm doing?" Hiei just sent him a glare.
"My arm is fine. It was merely a scratch." The koorime replied. "You should worry about yourself more." he said before pulling out his sword as a figure came crashing through the trees and brush.
"Hi guys, I'm back." Ebony said shaking herself off. She waved at three energy signals flying overhead. "Have fun guys!" She called with a laugh.
"Where are they going?" Kurama asked. "And shouldn't you be going with them?" Ebony jumped into a nearby tree and shook her head as she sat down.
"No, I have to Capsule Corp. for a bit, then I'm gonna go check on Piccolo. I'm not sure how hurt he got yesterday." She paused for just a moment longer then tilted her head to the side. "Do you guys mind if I hang out with you later? I don't have anything else to do this afternoon and you guys seem pretty interesting."
Kurama gave her a small smile but before he could say anything Hiei answered her. "And why should we wait around for you to do some errands?" Kurama looked at him and frowned.
"Actually I have a bit of a better idea Hiei. I for one am curious as to why the demons were after you and how you fought them off so easily. Hiei and I were simply out training. How about we cancel that for now and go with you." He suggested receiving a harsh look from Hiei.
"Cool! We should get going. What do you say we check out that new ice cream shop they just opened on the edge of town. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. What do you guys think?" Ebony asked jumping out of the tree and flinching as she hit the ground. Though she thought it went unnoticed, both of the boys knew.
"That sounds like a plan then." Kurama nodded.
"Okay, Capsule Corp. is this way." She said taking off.
"I am only going along with this for the sweet snow just so you know." Hiei said to Kurama before he followed Ebony.
"Of course. I wouldn't have suspected anything less." Kurama smiled and followed after them.
*At Capsule Corp*
"I thought you were spending the day with that pathetic family of yours. What are you doing here?" Vegeta asked coming out of the kitchen just as Kurama closed the door. In one hand he had a carton of milk. "And who the hell are they?" He asked raising the hand with the milk in their direction.
"They are some new friends of mine, and for your information I'm just getting a few things and then I'm out of your hair. Don't worry I haven't forgotten. You can torture the hell out of me tomorrow. Today, though, today is my day of rest and relaxation." She growled and headed up the stairs. After a quick look between the two Hiei and Kurama followed her.
Ebony entered her room with the boys close behind. "Umm, go ahead and find a seat. I'll be out in a few minutes." She told them before grabbing a change of clothes and rushing into her bathroom.
"How bad do you think she's hurt? I can smell the blood but I can't tell how deep any of the wounds are." Kurama commented as he looked at Hiei. He was sitting on the bed while Hiei took her windowsill.
"She'll live. Mostly just some scratches. Someone stitch her up a little and her shoulder is hurt. But what's to be expected from a human? She's lucky that she survived." Hiei answered looking out the window.
"I'm not too sure that she's purely human. She smells like it but her scent and power are just slightly off from normal humans. She may be able too use spirit energy in a similar way that Kuwabara does." Kurama replied thoughtfully. Hiei nodded in reply.
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Ebony was taking a quick shower and dried herself off with a bit of her energy before rewrapping her wounds. She quickly dressed and exited the bathroom. "Sorry I took so long guys." She grabbed as small bag from a cabinet in the room. "So are you ready to go?" She asked grabbing a brush and running it through her hair. Satisfied she threw it in a high ponytail. Even up as high as it was the tips of her black hair reached the back of her thighs.
"We are ready whenever you are." Kurama told her as he notice the change in her posture. 'Her injuries must be feeling better. She's a fast healer I guess.' He thought to himself.
"That man, his name is Vegeta correct?" Hiei questioned. Ebony nodded to him. "He's powerful isn't he?"
"Yes…he's almost as strong as my dad and grandpa. He helped them save the Earth several times." Ebony explained looking down. "He's a bit of a loner, but don't mind him. He likes to talk tough. He really does care about his family though."
"He sounds very impressive. Reminds me of someone else I know." Kurama muttered glancing at Hiei. "Well shall we go?" He asked standing up.
"Of course." Ebony said tossing her brush on the dresser. Hiei slid off of the windowsill and gave a small nod. With a smile to the boys she all but bounced out of the room.
*a few minutes later*
"Where the hell is he? He should still be in the area. I could've sworn I felt his energy here." Ebony muttered as they walked through the forest.
"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Kurama said from behind her keeping a diligent lookout. "You've mentioned energy and things like fighting before. Not to mention, Hiei and I have felt a strange energy coming from you and the others that we've met."
"Sorry Kurama, that's kinda easy and hard to explain at the same time. My family is part of a race of aliens called Saiyans. My Grandpa is full Saiyan as is Vegeta. They are the only true ones left. Dad, Uncle Goten, Trunks and Bra are all half. My sister Pan and I are only a quarter. It's a long story but our planet was destroyed by another alien who Grandpa finally kill when dad was just a little kid. Grandpa grew up here on Earth, but Vegeta came when dad was only about 3 or 4 years old. He thought he was gonna take over the world but after fighting with dad and grandpa he decided to stick around and actually married Bulma. Anyways, I'm getting off track. Saiyans are powerful beings who actually increase in strength and abilities the more we fight. We can even fly by manipulating our energy. I can teach you how if you like later. I guess that's about it. Just think of us as super humans if you will." Ebony explained as they walked.
"That's really interesting. I think we may take you up on your offer at another time." Kurama told her thinking about her story.
"Super humans, aliens, it all sounds very familiar. Give me some time and maybe I will remember the whole story. Right now all I can remember is that they were some kind of boogey man for demons at one time a few decades back. They were all worried that these creatures would come and take over the three worlds and sell it on some black market." Hiei told them as he sensed a strange energy from behind him. He pulled out his sword and turned to face the intruder.
"Are you looking for me?" The intruder said causing Ebony to whirl around with a smile. "I see you decided to take my advice and not travel by yourself when there are monsters out to kill you."
"Piccolo, good to see you are alright." she laughed. "It's alright Hiei, Kurama. Piccolo is my friend. He was the one fighting with me yesterday remember?"
"Yes." Both demons said as Hiei put his sword back in its sheath. She looked the Namekian over and noticed he had a few cuts but nothing more. The arrow wound wasn't even that bad either.
"How are you feeling today? You were barely alive when you left here yesterday. You didn't even noticed that I had followed you home to make sure you got there safe." He glared at her. "And don't you dare go blaming yourself. It isn't your fault, it's the fault of whoever sent those demons after you."
"Whatever, I just thought I'd come out to make sure you were okay. Now that I've seen it we can leave." Ebony growled. "Come on guys."
"Hn, as stubborn as Chi Chi. I tend to forget that, otherwise I would remember not to tick you off. I'm surprised that your father is as calm a person as he is." Piccolo smirked and turned away. "I'll see you later. Have fun training with Vegeta tomorrow." He teased her and left.
"Nice fellow." Kurama muttered. "Well, I believe we've completed your errands what do you say we go get something to eat and get to know each other a little more. I'd like to hear more about these Saiyans and their history you were telling me about. Maybe something will jog our memories. I don't remember as much as Hiei, I was sort of busy at the time."
"Sounds good. On to the ice cream shop." Ebony cried and started to jog through the forest. The demons looked at each other and hurried after her.
Once they reached the street just outside the forest, Hiei spotted the store and took off ahead of them. Ebony laughed to see him sitting outside with a triple scoop ice cream cone. "I have a feeling you and I might get along just fine if you like ice cream that much." she laughed before going inside and ordering herself a mint chocolate chip cone. Kurama ordered a single scoop strawberry and followed them outside. The spent the rest of the afternoon talking. Finally they said their goodbyes and promised to meet Monday after school at her place. Ebony quickly made her way home with a certain fire demon following her making sure she got home safe, interested in her abilities. Ebony reached the house and slipped in, sneaking off to her room and going to bed before anyone even noticed her. She passed out almost instantly once her head hit the pillow.
Wolfie: Wow, that was actually a long one. Well, Ebony and the boys have met once again. They got to know each other and Vegeta didn't kill Ebony…yet. Next chapter, Vegeta trains Ebony. Will she make it through? Will He have a heart and take it easy on her? Will I bring the boys into the next chapter or wait until the one after that? Find out next time!
Hiei: Are you done yet? Your incessant rambling is ruining my mood.
Wolfie: *glares at Hiei* Shut up Hiei, I was just trying to get my readers excited about the next chapter.
Hiei: As if anyone could be interested in this poor excuse for a story.
Wolfie: *Smiles sweetly* Oh Hiei, I believe there is a carton of sweet snow in the fridge.
*Hiei takes off at full speed into the kitchen.*
Wolfie: hehe knew that would get him. Now for you guys. Please read and review! Ja ne!