Val felt Raditz pick her up, hauling her away from the planet high up in the air. Too high up in the air. She kicked and tried to struggle to get out from his grip, shouting at him to let her go. He go fed up with it, knocking her out. The last thing she remembered was hearing Napa laughing at the two of them.
When she came to, she heard arguing in front of her. She blinked, eyes adjusting to the dim electric light from the spaceship she was in now. She felt near panic, seeing the walls, floor, and ceiling enclosing around her. She wanted to be outside, under the natural light of the suns, to feel a balmy breeze waft over her face. She would have run, but she saw Raditz and a shorter man with spiky, gravity defying hair arguing in front of her. Napa was behind the shorter man. She froze up, watching them.
"What the hell did you take a native for?" the shorter man demanded. "Our orders were to take only the defiant one and slaughter the rest."
Raditz crossed his arms over his chest, but looked a little withdrawn. "This one is more valuable dead than alive," he insisted. "She's an anthromorph. An un-grown one. Beyond valuable. Could use her to restart the Saiyan race."
"You fool, you really think you can take her on your whim and keep her? Besides, who knows how many tainted races are in her bloodline. With the chances of any child from her would just be an Anthromorph and a waste of time," the shorter man argued. "Besides besides that, she's still a child."
Raditz shook his head. "Vegeta, she'll grow. Exposed to us, or exposed to another race, she'll grow."
Vegeta, the shorter man, shook his head impatiently. "Do you really Frieza will approve for you to keep her? A child stuck as a child for who knows how long? Where's she going to live while we're on missions? Whose going to take care of your little pet project? You? You can hardly take care of yourself most days, runt."
Raditz seem to bristle. "I'll figure it out," he excused. "Besides, at her age, I'm sure she knows by now how to take care of herself." He looked back at her, smirking when he noticed she was awake now.
"That's still a child," Vegeta commented disgustedly. "If Frieza hears about this from anyone else, he will not allow you to keep her."
"He won't take her," Raditz said, not sounding very confident.
Vegeta shook his head. "And who's going to stop him? You? He was born stronger than any Saiyan alive." He looked down over at her, studying her. She withdrew shyly, scooting back. Her back hit a wall, which made her remember her fear of being enclosed in this spaceship they were on. She hugged her knees to her chest. He stepped over to her, hauling her up. "We'll take her to Frieza, but don't get your hopes about keeping her."
He was gentler about picking her up and guiding her along with him, but not by much. She had to run to keep up with his pace, stumbling here and there on her annoyingly short legs. Raditz and Napa followed behind her. She studied the space ship as best she could as she followed. The ceilings were too low, the walls too narrow. She could hear her heartbeat pound in her ears. She spotted the blackest void of space outside the windows they passed, making her cringe. Too high. Too encased. Only a few centimeters of metal or glass stood between her and the unforgiving freeze of space.
They came to what seemed like the top of the ship. Vegeta told the guard at the door who they were and to let them in. "Follow my lead," Vegeta said quietly.
Vegeta lead her in, with Raditz and Napa ushering in behind her. "My Lord Frieza," he said, giving a quick and sniff necked bow. Val followed suit, afraid not to. She paled at the sight of the monster in a half floating ball in front of her, not wanting to be in his sights, but too petrified to move to hide behind Vegeta. She could hear Raditz and Napa bow behind her. "It seems like our mission wiping out all but one of the inhabitants of Aviary was a success."
"Almost," the monster spoke. She closed her eyes real quick, scared to look, but even more scared not to look. "Is this the child Raditz thought to spare? I thought my orders were clear. Kill them all once I had my prize."
Raditz went to speak, but Vegeta held his hand back, quieting him. "Raditz felt this one too valuable to spare. She's an un-grown Anthromorph. Their planet was destroyed, but she's a descendant of one of the ones who came from their home planet to help save the Aviarian race."
Frieza perked up at that, looking over at her curiously. "Bring her closer," he requested covetedly.
She shook her head, not wanting to get closer. Vegeta grabbed her anyway, making her come closer and closer to the monster. She looked elsewhere, too scared to look at him. She looked up at the ceiling, where it was higher now, but had a full view of the blackness of space this time mixed with the flaming, rocky remains of her home planet. That was just as, if not more, terrifying. He pushed her in front of Frieza, too close for comfort. When he reached out to take her from Vegeta, she cried out in fear, trying to throw herself away from both of the men. Frieza snagged her up anyway, clawed fingers digging deeply into her forearm, raking her skin until she bled. He pulled her closer, snatching her up by the hair into the air. She kipped, wanting free. He did not let her go, looking her up and down.
After what seemed like minutes, he threw her with a simple flick of the wrist. She flew farther than expected, landing and rolling halfway between Frieza and Raditz. She hit the floor hard, biting back a whimper. Her forearm was bleeding still. She clutched it against her chest, eyes wide and nervous. She panted, finding it hard to breathe deep enough. She accidentally looked up at the glass ceiling, feeling her panic kick into overdrive. She wrapped her hands over her head, cradling it in her lap.
"Keep her if must," Frieza said, sounding half interested in her, but with an undertone of intrigue. "Perhaps she'll grow soon, after being exposed to Saiyans or another alien race at my employ. Hopefully she's strong enough to survive." She looked up at him, swallowing. He smirked maniacally, ruling, "but she stays in care of my prize from Aviary. Probably best to have someone from her home planet raise her until the day she grows up fully. Take her to her."
"Of course," Vegeta said stiffly, barely bending his neck to bow. He stepped over to the Val, hauling her up. "Let's go, child," he grunted out.
Vegeta lead her out, with her feeling grateful to get away from both the monster and the glass domed ceiling. She was not sure which was more terrifying. She found herself shaking nervously still, trying not to cry. She looked back and saw Raditz and Napa following them.
Raditz caught up to Vegeta, asking, "what the hell was that?"
Vegeta kept walking, answering, "you were never going to be able to hide her. The sooner he knew, the more likely he would permit it."
"She's mine," Raditz insisted.
Vegeta stopped in his tracks. "She's still a child. A weak, cowardly child at that." She frowned, feeling tempted to kick him in the shins for that comment. "And if he decides to take her away, do you really think even you will ever be strong enough to stop him?" Raditz grunted at that, but made no verbal reply. "Oh, and give the vial back to the child before the change overtakes her and kills her."
Raditz mumbled something under his breath, but dug the vial out of his boot and passed to Vegeta who passed it to Val. She clung to it, watching as he stomped off in the direction they came from. She watched him go gladly. Napa stayed with them though, which she disliked.
Vegeta halted at a door, touching the panel on the wall to open it. Inside was an older woman sitting on a bed, hunched over and looking forlorn. The older woman looked up at them, frown etched on her face.
"Are you the Aviary?" Vegeta asked bluntly.
Val looked at her, thinking to herself at first that that was no possible because the older woman had no wings. "Yes," she answered quietly.
"This is an Anthromorph born on your planet, an un-grown one. Frieza wants you to look after her until the day she grows," Vegeta told her as he shoved Val into the room.
Val stumbled into the room, hearing the door whoosh shut behind her. The older woman looked over at her, but did not move from the bed. Val stood there, trying to assess the situation like her father taught her. She felt frightful at the sight of space through the window at the other side of the bed.
"Who were your parents, child?" the older woman asked hollowly.
Val flicked her eyes over at the older woman. She remembered her father taught never to lie, among other things. "Lord Hayate and Lady Minha," she answered, trying to stand up a little taller.
The older woman looked slightly impressed in the midst of her melancholy. "A great warrior there..." she said lightly. "They should not have been lost, anyone of them... Did he teach you to fight, even though you are an Anthromorph, not an Aviary, and still physically a child?" she pressed. Val nodded.
Val answered simply, "yes."
"Val nodded again. "Most Anthromorphs are weak in their un-grown state, most can't fight, hard when rendered in a small body for years. He must have pushed you rather hard to do that." She nodded again, and screwed up her eyes at the thought of losing her parents, along with the rest of the planet. "Your mother taught you about Anthromorphs, right? Considering she was a second generation one?" Val kept her eyes closed, not speaking, but nodded. "My own mother was one..." the older woman said. Val blinked her eyes open. The older woman was looking at the vial in her hand. "Don't lose that, but don't let yourself change while here. You mustn't be in Lord Frieza's possession when it happens," she warned.
"Mother said when the change comes, I wouldn't be able to control it," Val answered.
"You can if you are in an unsafe situation, compress it, resist it," the older woman. "And right now we are..." The older woman brought a hand to her face. She confessed, "Lord Frieza is different from King Vegeta. King Vegeta took what he wanted, but was never as aggressive about it. And few and far between... I'm older than most, and not particularly strong for an Aviary. More a healer than a fighter... I never expected him to chose me... I didn't even think when I slapped his hand away and tried to laugh it off that I was too old for him..."
The older woman laid down on the bed at that, curled up and crying softly to herself. Val saw part of her back when she moved, seeing bandages over her back where the woman's wings should have been. Val, who had always wanted a set of wings herself, was jealous of others who had them. She could not imagine having a pair and losing them. Val went over to her, sitting down next to her on the bed. She leaned against the older woman, trying to comfort her. "What's your name?" Val finally managed to ask.
"Asa," the older woman answered. "What is yours again, child?" Asa asked.
"I'm not a child," Val answered. "Val," she answered.
"That's right, technically you would be old to be an adult if you were not un-grown. That's your Aviarian name?" Asa asked.
"Yes," she responded.
"And your Anthromorph name? The familiar name, the secret name your mother gave you?" Asa asked.
"Kiri," she answered. She always thought when she was younger about how she could not have wings, but could have a secret name, which her mother had said counted for something.
"Val Kiri," Asa breathed. "Do not change until you are free. I will help you get free. I'll do that as penance for the loss of our planet..."
"That's not your fault," Val whispered, thinking of the monster whose fault it really was. She looked down at her arm, fearful of the next time she would encounter him.