00/04/25

The smells of twilight and burning wood drifted in the air; trickling water could be heard faintly echoing off the walls. Consciousness had just returned to Bulma. She could feel the heat from a fire on her skin and quite the opposite feeling from cold bandages on various parts of her anatomy. The confused woman turned her head around to study her dank surroundings. The walls had small trickles of water dripping down from the ceiling and pooling on the floor away from Bulma. The fire painted the small room with firelight, creating shadows and sending the woman's mind to thinking about her earlier encounter with the vicious Sayian.

Cautiously testing the extent of the damage, she raised her left arm into her range of vision. Her watch had suffered some damage. The rotating piece around the face had been bent out of place but nothing she couldn't fix. Her arms had dozens of dime-sized bruises and cuts pattering her skin. She flexed her arm, not too serious, nothing that a senzu couldn't heal. Her hand went down to her waist and pulled out a capsule marked with a green x. Half a senzu made her feel entirely better, even though she still felt grimy and dirty from her fall.

Sitting up, she made a mental checklist of what she needed to do. Then it struck her; someone had brought her into the cave, started the fire and bandaged her wounds. "I'm glad to see that you are feeling better." came a feminine voice. The owner advanced in the firelight, revealing herself. She had bronze skin and dark green hair with blue streaks cropped short just above her chin. Green eyes sparkled unnaturally in the dim light.

Bulma studied her saviour closer, "Thank you!" she smiled. There was a long pause before one of them broke the silence. "You’re lucky to have escaped alive. He usually doesn't leave anyone alive, unless he can think of a better method of torture to get his kicks from." the strange woman spoke the words with distaste in her eyes, burning with a luminescent green light. Frightened, Bulma back-pedalled a couple of steps into the damp wall. The woman gasped and she closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, that only happens when I let my feelings get the best of me." Bulma was still frightened of this strange woman, "You’re...you’re not from around her here are you?" she stuttered tripping over half formed words.

"No, you’re right. I came with them. They visited my world once. It was a massacre; only two of us survived. The Prince keeps us as pets, he takes us everywhere with him." she shuttered visibly when she told the other woman the fate of her planet. "How did you get away?" the Chikyuu native questioned. "I tricked one of the royal guards into taking me outside. When the dumb fool turned his back I took off. When I was sure I'd lost him I broke my collar and found this place. I've been here hiding ever since." She pointed to two crescent shaped pieces of glinting metal. Without a second thought, Bulma reached down and scratched her upper thigh. Taking a couple steps towards the discarded collar she stopped as images flashed through her mind. A strange room where hot water rushed down from above. The flash lasted only an instant but it damaged her ability to function normally for a second. She blinked the strange experience away.

"How long have you been here?" The alien woman shrugged, "The moon's been full once and it will be again soon." The scientist made the mental calculation. "That’s almost two months, how is that possible? They should have destroyed the planet by now." The freed captive scratched her head, "They're looking for something, or they were. Something called caps...caps....uls something." The green haired woman struggled to remember. "Was it Capsule Corporation? What do they want with C.C.?" Bulma raised an eyebrow. "They're after the technology it has, they want to use it to make what they already have better. They've put off selling the planet until they get what they want, it’s the King's orders."

Bulma ran her hands through her unbound hair. "This is ridiculous. What are they going to do if they don't get it?" she sighed, "Capsule Corps is destroyed, it no longer exists." When the alien made a confused face Bulma continued. "It was blown up and everything inside of it was destroyed." the earthling elaborated. The alien shook her head, "They believe that the creator escaped with plans and such stuff, they're searching for her right now." Bulma swallowed her surprise and cautiously formed her next sentence; not quite sure if this new woman was friend or foe. "Why do they think that?" The green haired woman shrugged, becoming defensive. "They just do."

With her chipped nails Bulma scratched her left thigh again and continued cautiously, "What are you going to do when they leave?" The woman raised a blue eyebrow. "They aren't going to leave until they have what they want, besides I'll be dead by that time." It was Bulma's turn to be confused; it didn't last long as the alien woman continued. "The Sayians may seem dumb but they are rather cunning. When they captured us their scientists created a virus and injected us with it. The virus eats away at the barrier between our powers and ourselves. We have to be loyal to them or we'll kill ourselves with our own gifts." She cast her eyes downward in defeat.

"If...if I can cure you will you tell me everything you know about the Sayian?" She felt pity for this lonely creature and dispensed with the caution and her own urge for self-survival. The woman's head shot up upwards and her mouth hung open, she stuttered and gasped when the fire went out. The Chikyuu native's eyes failed to adjust to the loss of light, impenetrable blackness closed in around her setting off her claustrophobia.

Something grabbed Bulma around the waist while a hand clamped over her mouth, stifling the growing scream. The woman she met earlier whispered in her ear, "He's here. When I tell you, run straight ahead. When you feel a fork in the road, take the right path. Don't look back, Bulma Briefs. You're the light in darkness. Destroy what they want!"

Sounds of a foreign language drifted down into the room. The alien woman answered back in Bulma's language. "It won't work this time. I'm free from you and I intend to stay this way." There was a pause and the Sayian answered back in the same language. "S'Rys, you know you can't escape me; your mine!"

S'Rys gave Bulma a shove and turned back to the impending fight. Bulma walked blindly with her hands out in front to stop herself from running headfirst into a wall. She found the fork and took the proper path that led out to a precipitous cliff. A thin ledge ran from the cave exit up and around to the top where the cliff melted back into the forest. The blue haired human struggled up the path, skidding on loose rocks and clinging to the rock face precariously.

Her fingers found small handholds to help pull herself along. Her foot slipped a few times sending her heart up to her throat. She stopped, gasping to pull in live-giving air for her lungs. Something brushed the top of her head making her turn her eyes skywards. Screams escaped her mouth as she saw what had disturbed her hair. One of S'Rys' limp hands swung in the breeze, her body over a Sayian's armoured shoulder. Her feet lost their balance and she clawed the air, grabbing frantically for something to break gravity's hold on her body. Her fingers passed through nothing as she began to tumble down towards her inevitable death. She closed her eyes and prayed to Kami.

Her body never contacted the ground. She cracked open a sapphire eye and a girlish giggle escaped her lips when she realised that she'd cheated death once again. Her happiness and emotions had momentarily cut off all the rational thoughts from her brain. When the idea surfaced, that if she'd hadn't died from the fall, her scientific mind wondered how she'd survived. Opening both her eyes she screamed again, a high pitched wail of fright. That dirty sayian had caught her. Her tiny fists pounded ineffectively upon his armour while she screeched "Put me down!" repeatedly in her native language. Her captor glared down at her through dark slanted eyes.

Several thoughts ran into her head flooding it with possible reasons for why this war-obsessed warrior had saved her doomed life. Hormone induced thoughts made a small appearance before being banished with a blush. Her brilliant mind eventually came up with the simple idea to jump from his arms. Needless to say the plan lost its effectiveness when she realised exactly how high up they were.

The wind blew over the Chikyuu native’s face becoming progressively cooler and more violent. She studied the man's face; it was darkly tanned with a chiselled chin, a sharp nose that seemed permanently turned upwards in disgust, high cheekbones accented the shapely face and dark eyes that glared with unjustified anger. His lips were full and soft though pulled back into a perpetual scowl. Bulma's fingers tingled and her leg itched when she studied his profile in the dim outdoor light, her hands formed tight fists clenching and unclenching to rid herself of the foreign feeling.

"What happened to S'Rys?" Bulma’s rising anger flashed in her eyes as she glared upwards at him. No response came. "Well? Tell me already, you overgrown beast!" she whined. Her annoyed pleas fell of deft ears, almost, a muscle just below his left eye twitched. "Tell me, you baka!" she insisted, letting her voice become shriller. The muscle twitched rapidly, she was sure he was on the edge of cracking. "You know..." He cut her off, roaring at her, "S'Rys is dead, are you happy now? Shut the hell up already!" Bulma whimpered and nodded, realising how frightened of this man she really was.

The captured woman remained silent for the remainder of the trip. Feeling rather nostalgic, she didn't even bother to make a move when Satan City came into view on the horizon. No reaction came when her captor flew directly over the city in the direction of the Sayian camp. The scientist's mind barely registered being set down the on the ground and prodded towards one of the ships. Bulma didn't even fight when her captor spoke to two guards then left her in their care. She was too lost in her own self-pity.

The burly guards were the same ones she'd seen on TV destroying the metropolis. One had thick dark brown hair that brushed against the back of his knees with every step. The other was the complete opposite, bald with a well-groomed moustache. They were verbally sparring, it seemed, in another language. The Guards pulled the passive captive along, growling at her slow speed.

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