Chapter
Twenty Eight: I like you
Ghost was lost.
He had been wandering through a series of
holes and tunnels for the last couple of hours. Did his ‘mom’ even know where
he was? He was beginning to doubt that she did. Wouldn’t she have come to
rescue him by now if she were worried?
These were only thoughts he might have thought, had his brain been
big enough. But his was only large enough to understand that he was hungry,
cold, and frightened. Which were all elements that went with being lost.
He plopped his furry bottom down upon the
cold cement and sighed miserably. His tiny paws were soiled with mud and his
ribs hurt from squeezing through the tiny space’s wall after wall. The air was
very thick and cloudy with dust.
He had no idea that in the next hour he
would be dead.
* * *
Onyx growled uncharacteristically as his
father’s house was suddenly overtaken by a horde of Storkrin guards. They threw
open the latch, climbed inside, and thundered down the stairs with professional
intent.
The bulk of them stomped up to
“What isss the meaning of thisss?” they
hissed. The largest of them leaned into
The guards glared. They were obviously very
agitated, after all, something they had worked very hard to preserve was being
uprooted, disrupted, and ultimately screwed over. Understandably, none of the
thickheaded guards could comprehend why
this was happening. It threatened them, and they were reacting with violence.
The big guard jabbed Arden in the chest
with a giant claw. It struck the thick cluster of rock and made a scratching
sound. For the first time, Arden scowled back.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the next room, Bulma and Koru
had froze at the sound of the angry voices. They could hear muffled words but
could not make out any specifics. Whatever was going on, though, it wasn’t
pretty. Bulma turned to Koru and gave her a worried look. Koru was looking at
the floor, a dismayed look on her recently beaming face. Her sharp hearing
picked up what Bulma’s could not.
They were going to retrieve her. They were
going to take her back again. Her freedom was lost…already.
Bulma touched her arm, shaking her out of
her thoughts. “What?” she whispered.
“It’s…Storkrin guards.” She whispered back.
“They’re probably looking for me.”
Bulma looked around the room. Onyx was with
them, a few paces away, stirring something at his fathers stove. The bubbling of
the water prevented him from hearing the faint words in the next room. Bulma
looked him over quickly. She doubted he would be able to do much if a fight
broke out; he wasn’t much larger than she was. Arden could easily be
overpowered by…. She paused.
“How many?” she asked Koru.
Koru paused and listened for a moment. “I
can’t be sure. It sounds like a fairly large group.”
Bulma stood. She had made up her mind.
“Come on.” She motioned to her friend. “We need to get out of here.”
Behind them, Spider whined nervously as he
watched them depart. Try as he might, he couldn’t make himself stand.
* * *
Arden grunted as he was shoved roughly into
the wall. Instinct kicked in and he felt the rush of adrenaline surge through
his body. His senses sharpened, and he rose his heavily muscled arms in front
of his face. He growled softly.
“There isss no need for violence!” he cried
as they moved in on him. Desperately, he weighed his odds. They were heavily
against him; six powerful guards against himself. Unless he had a weapon of
some sort. His eyes widened as he remembered the Storkrin female he and the
Prince had rescued. Koru! She and the earthling female were still in the next
room! He knew he had to do something. They could get killed if he wasn’t
careful. Slowly, he lowered his hands.
“Look, the-“ he was cut off as they snorted
in disgust and pushed past him. He looked worriedly at where they were
heading…. Directly for the room that they two women were in. He ran to catch up
with them and dove in front of the largest guard, blocking the door.
“Lisssten,” he started, but they would hear
none of it. They slammed past him through the doorway, but yelped in surprise
as the two women barreled through their mass and made a break for the stairs
leading outside. Arden blinked a couple of times before he broke into a run.
“CATCH THEM!” the largest guard screamed to
his men. Arden caught up with them seconds before the door opened, and everyone
skidded to a halt, staring at the scowling form of the Prince. Bulma and Koru
squeaked, startled, before regaining their senses and diving ungracefully
behind him. It was a funny sight; a 7’6 Storkrin female cowering behind a man
of 5’3. The expression on Vegeta’s face was enough to prevent anyone from
approaching any further.
Cold black eyes scanned the six angry
Storkrin faces. They rested at last on Arden’s face, who shrugged sheepishly.
“Are we having a problem?” he asked calmly. Arden shook his head while the
others nodded furiously.
“Not anymore.” He grinned at the Prince.
Vegeta smirked back. He stepped down from the landing and walked toward the
guards, who backtracked frantically like a wave from the shoreline.
“It looks to me as though you intended to
hurt these women.” Vegeta said once he had come to a stop. He crossed his arms
and scowled his best ‘I’m going to brutally disembowel you now’ scowl. A loud
swallowing noise could be heard.
“Prince,” The big guard gathered his
courage and stepped forward, “Thessse women need to be dealt with. It isss not
proper to have them running about.” He pointed to Koru, who lowered her eyes to
the floor; “They are infected.”
“I’m well aware of that.” Vegeta replied.
“Why should that make any difference where they live?”
The guard looked appalled. “Why, becaussse
they could contaminate the area!” he cried, incredulous. “Doesss thisss not
make them a threat?”
Vegeta shook his head while he laughed.
“You boy’s really don’t get it, do you? Either you get the fuck out of here
now, or I come over there and kill each one of you slowly and painfully.”
The guards understood. Fear of the Sayajin
Prince who had killed many of their kind so long ago was burned deep into their
memory, and chancing a tangle with him was like playing with fire. It was a
fear that resided in all Storkrins, much as it resided in the minds of the six
guards before him. Keeping careful to avoid being close to him at all costs,
they inched across the room, glaring balefully at Arden, and then made a quick
exit up through the stairs. Once they were gone, Bulma turned to Vegeta and
grinned hugely.
Koru placed a hand on the Prince’s
shoulder. “Thank you, Vegeta.” She said softly. Seeming to catch her
uncharacteristic act she pulled away and instead walked over to Arden, where
she stood very close and smiled up at him. Arden looked away, feeling quite
ashamed with himself. Vegeta and Bulma took their cue and left the room to
check up on Spider.
Once alone, Koru gently took Arden’s hand
in her own and smiled up at him. “Thank you.” She said.
“For what?” Arden cried, feeling ashamed of
himself. “I didn’t do anything. I only acted like a coward.” He sighed
miserably and looked down at his feet. “It wasss the Prince who sssaved you.”
Koru shook her head. “You don’t understand,
Arden.” She smiled. “I don’t care if you didn’t do anything. What I care about
is that I know you would have, if you
would have needed to.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him quickly on the
cheek. Both of them blushed a deep red.
“I like you, Arden.” Koru said, her face a
mask of girlish crushing. “I like you a lot.”
* * *
In the kitchen, Bulma and Vegeta were
surprised (and delighted) to discover that they too were alone. Strifelon and
Onyx were in the living room preparing more herbs and salves for Spider, who
lay a few feet from Bulma and Vegeta. Vegeta walked over and gave the brave
creature a gentle scratch behind the ears. He was apparently doing ok. Vegeta
was relieved; he had been worrying about Spider’s recovery for a while now.
Vegeta stood and turned to Bulma and drew her into his arms. He stared into her
eyes as he held her loosely, still afraid to hold her too hard. Bulma
encouraged him with a gentle kiss.
“Vegeta,” she said when she pulled away,
“I’m alright. You don’t have to be so careful.” She lowered her eyes and felt a
faint redness creeping into her cheeks. “In fact, I’ve been thinking about you
being…rough…with me, for quite some time now.” She paused. “You haven’t
forgotten your promise, have you?”
Feeling the familiar desire creeping into
the crotch of his pants, Vegeta smirked evilly. “No, woman.” He leaned down and
nipped at the bridge of her nose. “I haven’t.” he stopped and seemed to catch
himself. “Bulma…I don’t know….” She lifted her eyes to his. “I don’t want to
hurt you. I won’t believe you if you tell me you’re healed. I know you’re not.”
Bulma shook her head. “Vegeta, I’ve been
driving myself crazy about you for days now. I can’t stop thinking about you,
and about us. I want to be with you, Vegeta. I want…” she drew a breath, “I
want you to screw my brains out.”
Vegeta closed his eyes and laughed, shaking
his head as he leaned his face into Bulma’s hair. “Woman,” he chuckled, “Why do
you tempt me so?”
Bulma pressed herself into him, inhaling
deep the scent of his neck. “Because, my Prince, I want you.”