Out of One Mess And Into Another

Morning...

Vegeta: "Toushiro? Where is he?"

Vegeta was walking up and down all of the hallways looking for Toushiro. The prince asked around but nothing. No one had seen him since last night. An hour went by and still no sign of him. Some of the others ambassadors started assisting in the search too, wondering what had happened to the gutsy kid they've come to respect. Even the king helped and sent some of the servants to assist in the search for the missing Soul Reaper, hoping to please his son. The whole palace was being searched now. Thirty minutes went by and Vegeta was growing increasingly more and more frantic! One of the ambassador's was walking down a hallway when they saw it. A body laying on the floor... And it had white hair.

"I found him!"

Everyone heard the ambassador and ran to them. King Vegeta was one of the first to arrive on the scene and quickly discovered that it was Toushiro. The boy was lying on the floor, out cold and with a bad cut on his head. The bleeding had stopped during the night, but not before he had lost a handful of blood.

King Vegeta: "Stand back! You! Get me the doctor, now!"

Servant: "Yes sir!"

The servant ran off to get the doctor as the rest of the search party came. The king was checking the boy when Vegeta finally arrived. The second he saw the scene, Vegeta misread his father's actions and drove him back with a snarl! The king wisely backed off and gave Vegeta plenty of room. With his father out of the way, Vegeta turned his attention to his captain.

Vegeta: "Toushiro... Toushiro, answer me!"

A few tense seconds went by until...

Toushiro: "... ... *moaning* ... Ve... ge... ta..."

The doctor arrived and quickly went to work examining the boy.

Doctor: "This boy is in shock! We must get him medical attention now!"

The doctor and some of his men took the Soul Reaper to the hospital wing. Vegeta followed behind, but not before giving his father a warning under false accusations.

Vegeta: "Touch him again and I will make you regret it!"

And the prince bolted off towards the hospital wing of the palace. Although he had accused his father of doing this, he was right in his worry about him being around Toushiro. When Vegeta arrived at the medical room, he was told that he couldn't go in until the doctor was finished. So the saiyan prince was forced to wait, and it was a long wait. 15 minutes later and the doctor came out to see the prince.

Vegeta: "Well?"

Doctor: "He'll be fine but he must rest for a day or two. We managed to get him out of the shock state and the wound on his head is minor. But he has suffered a concussion from a blow to the head. So he cannot do anything that would over exert him for a while."

After that, Vegeta was aloud to see him. The prince walked into the room quietly and approached the bed. Toushiro was laying in the bed and was deep asleep. He had a bandage wrapped around his head and had all of the typical hospital gear on him. The saiyan went right up to the the head of the bed and called out to Toushiro.

Vegeta: "Toushiro... Toushiro... It's me."

Almost a minute went by when eyelids slowly opened up to reveal those teal/turquoise orbs. The young captain weakly looked over at Vegeta and tried to smile when he finally saw him.

Toushiro: "Ve... geta..."

Vegeta: "Easy there, Toushiro. Don't over do it."

Toushiro: "What... happened?..."

Vegeta: "You've suffered a concussion so you must rest. I need you to tell me who did this to you. Was it my father?"

Toushiro: "No..."

Vegeta could see that he was telling the truth, even as the young captain was loosing the battle to stay awake.

Vegeta: "If my father didn't do it, then... Who did?"

Who was brave enough to risk evoking the saiyan prince's fury by hurting Toushiro on this planet?

Toushiro: "It... Was..."

Vegeta leaned closer to hear what Toushiro was trying to say. He only got a few syllables before Toushiro fell asleep. But there was no mistaking what he was trying to say, and the prince snarled at the thought.

Vegeta: *So... An ambassador is responsible.*

Vegeta summoned some guards to the room. Although he is here as a bodyguard, he was still the saiyan prince... And he was going to take advantage of that.

Vegeta: "Kill anyone who tries to enter except for me and the head doctor. Understood?"

Guards: "Yes sir!"

The guards stood by the door as they were instructed. If anyone tried to get in except for Vegeta or the head doctor, they were to be killed on sight, ambassador or not. While Toushiro rested, his second lieutenant went to confront the ambassadors and his father. When he found them, he made his rage clear with a roar. All eyes locked onto the prince.

Vegeta: "So... One of you has the guts to lay a hand on Toushiro, huh? When I find out who did... I'll kill you on the spot! And I'll make it painful..."

Many of the ambassadors shivered at how Vegeta had said that. Although he had given his warning, Vegeta had a lot of anger that he needed to release. Not only to release his anger but to show everyone how serious he was with his threat, the prince took it all out of the metal doors! One was crushed beyond repair and the second one had giant gouges on it from one side to the other from just a swipe of Vegeta's hand. After releasing his anger, Vegeta just left. Salmu and Ebebu decided to keep a low profile for a while. While Toushiro recovered in the hospital, the ambassador meetings were postponed. The whole time Vegeta stayed close to his captain. The guards outside were the first line of defense, Vegeta was the last. Finally... After two days of resting, Toushiro was back on his feet.

Toushiro: "I can't really remember who it was that struck me... But I know that it was another ambassador."

Vegeta: "That concussion has given you a mild case of amnesia. But it's short-term so it's only a matter of time before it all comes back to you."

The doctor came in to give Toushiro a good check over. The Soul Reaper was given the a-okay. He could leave now. Needles to say, Toushiro was relieved that he could now get out of bed. He's had enough sleep for a while. He was constantly stretching as he walked back to his room with Vegeta.

Vegeta: "Easy. You don't wanna over do it."

Toushiro: "I'm fine, Vegeta."

When they got to their room, they found Tomack and at least 3 of the ambassadors waiting to greet them. The prince could tell by how they congratulated Toushiro on his recovery that these 3 were not the ones responsible. The next day and the ambassador meeting was back on.

King Vegeta: "Let me be the first to say welcome back to our Earth Ambassador here."

Everyone clapped to welcome the Soul Reaper back. The meeting was short and they all got out in only a few hours. While all of the other ambassador's bodyguards were waiting for them outside, Vegeta wasn't anywhere to be seen. Toushiro figured that it's be best for him to just wait for Vegeta. He didn't want to wander the halls alone. As he waited he noticed a stand against the wall opposite of the doors. The boy walked over to see what it was. It was a stand that had a thick glass case on top. Inside the case was an old piece of parchment with strange writing on it. Toushiro just looked at the strange writing on the parchment. It was in an unknown language to him. But it obviously had some real importance.

Vegeta: "Whatcha lookin' at?"

Toushiro whirled around to see Vegeta standing behind him.

Toushiro: "Vegeta, what is this?"

Vegeta: "That is an ancient saiyan war cry. Although I wouldn't say ancient since the saiyan race still uses it whenever we go to war."

Toushiro: "Why is it in such a weird language?"

Vegeta: "That is the language that saiyans used long ago. It's now a dead language, but I can read it."

Toushiro: "What does it say?"

Vegeta: "Well it doesn't say anything. It's actually a little song. A song that when sung means that we are at war. Although it is as old as the saiyan race itself, all saiyans know it even if they've never been told of it. It's as deeply written within all of us as is our need to survive. It goes like this..."

And Vegeta told the boy the chant. Meanwhile...

Salmu: "It's only a matter of time before that brat remembers everything. You should have let me kill him!"

Ebebu: "You saw how enraged the king's son was. If he was that enraged over a little smack, just think of how furious he would be if the boy had been killed! You must think, Salmu! Don't let your anger get the best of you."

Salmu: "How can I not? This has been going on long enough!"

Ebebu: "Chill Salmu. We're almost ready and the king is clueless to our plan."

Salmu: "God I hate sucking up to King Vegeta! And how are we suppose to get near him?"

Ebebu: "You leave that to me, my friend. Did you notice how the prince snapped at the king when he was examining the boy?"

Salmu: "Yes, so? What's that got to do with getting near the king?"

Ebebu: "Oh my naive friend, let me paint you a picture... The king needs an heir, and his son is here right now. The only thing standing in between them is that boy."

Salmu: "What are you saying, Ebebu?"

Ebebu: "What if the king were to remove that boy, Toushiro, from the picture? Wether he kills him or not, either way, the prince will become furious and most likely attack his own father. When he does, the king will have to fight back to defend himself against his son's wrath."

Salmu: "Ahhh... I get it now. The king will become weak from the fight!"

Ebebu: "And that's when we make our move! I know for a fact that King Vegeta is meeting with the elders to discuss his son's inauguration as king soon."

Salmu: "All we have to do is wait, huh?"

Ebebu: "We'll do much more then that, but it will require some more sucking up to the king. We will offer our assistance in removing the boy from the prince."

Salmu chuckled evilly. The next day and after the meeting, Ebebu talked to the king.

Ebebu: "Your majesty, King Vegeta. It must be hard for you to watch that white haired boy walk off with the prince every day, huh?"

King Vegeta looked towards Toushiro as the boy walked off with Vegeta close behind. Seeing it made him sick.

Ebebu: "He's basically holding Prince Vegeta hostage. Doesn't he deserve to be punished?"

King Vegeta: "... Yes, he does..."

That night, Vegeta had already gone to sleep and Toushiro was getting ready for bed when he heard a knock on his door.

Toushiro: "Who could that be at this hour?"

The boy walked over to the door and opened it. When he did, he was immediately smothered and restrained! He tried to fight back but he was over powered and taken off to the dungeon. When Vegeta woke up in the morning, Toushiro was gone. But he did detect a trace of his fathers energy signal.