The Dark Power sensed by Sarro was formidible, if not by ki strength alone, but by skill, determination, and malace. It's intentions were as dark as it's form. Sarro shivered within her space pod as she caught a brief sense of it's coming, were she a believer of such things, she might consider it to be pure evil.
But there was no such thing, was there?
Sarro didn't intend to dwell on it too long, but the workings of the mind often contradict one's intentions. She ended up dwelling on it the entire trip to Earth.
The only time another thought entered her mind was when her stomach
growled. Urgency or no, Sarro had to eat, and altered
course to where the computer had detected a habited planet.
Unfortunately, once this problem was resolved, the Dark Power commanded
her train of thought again, and remained there all
through her meal.
It was odd, having so much information and subtle personality points in your head; your very being. Sarro found herself sifting through all the information in her quest for information about the Dark Power. True, she'd felt something following her, but since her ki sensing ability hadn't yet been developed, she'd dismissed it. It wasn't until years upon years in the future when she finally got a grip on just what she was sensing. Or, so it had been.
There was a bit of a ruckus coming from across the restaurant she was in. Sarro looked up in mild curiousity. There was something she was sensing now about it. She experimented, stretching her senses to try and see just what it was about the commotion that enticed her out of the thoughts that had plagued her even through the strong Saiyan hunger.
Ah, she thought a moment later, the other Saiyan sense, she smiled faintly, the fighting sense.
Sarro, Dende's voice sounded quietly within her mind. Sarro perked up. She looked closely at the cause of the commotion as Dende said, I sense something about that one. I think he might be of some help.
" No worries, Dende, " Sarro said quietly, " I've got it covered. "
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" Coward! "
Sarro sighed. Since parting with her parents, this was the first Saiyajin survivor she'd met, and still he was awfully predictable. She supposed it was due to all the misconceptions about her. By applying all those misconceptions she had drawn the other Saiyajin into a fight and then took off towards Earth. Hopefully, once there, she'd figure out a way to subdue the warrior.
Already she could tell that subduing would take some work...
If only to drive thoughts of the Dark Power and her mission out of her mind, Sarro began reflecting on the differences between she and this other Saiyajin. There was the obvious, of course, Sarro being female and this other being male. Where Sarro was fairly tall, the other Saiyajin was fairly short, no, that was too polite. This other was very short. Sarro wore a pink tunic and pants, the other Saiyajin wore a blue gi and dark gray-purple shoulder armor. Perhaps the most drastic difference was that this Saiyajin was able to travel through space without a space pod. All he had was the flare of his ki around him to protect against the vacuume.
Sarro suddenly wished she had a name to put to this Saiyajin.
Sarro, Dende's voice came as if in answer, I've been mucking around, looking for information about our friend.
" Oh good, " Sarro said pleasantly, " I can see him shouting at me. "
There was an uncomfortable pause from Dende. Finally he said, curiousity thick in his voice, I think you should really be saying 'she' is shouting at you.
" Nani? " Sarro furrowed her brow.
Dende sighed, Her name is Kateraope. Her sentu ryoku looks to be roughly up to and around Vejiita's. From what I can gather she was exiled from Vejiita-sei... but the details are sketchy. It may take some work to figure that out.
But, Sarro, if you can convince her to come over to your side, with Gokuu and the rest, you should be able to stop the Dark Power.
" Speaking of Son Gokuu, " Sarro prompted.
She could almost see Dende grin as he answered, Your extensive space knowledge paid off, Sarro, Gokuu arrived on Earth just a few short days ago, and because of the medication you got, the heart disease will not take effect until... he trailed off.
" Until it's supposed to. " Sarro sat back, a satisfied expression on
her face. She steepled her fingers and smiled slightly wider,
" So far so good, Dende, my friend. "
" Hey! " Sarro had said sharply, drawing the attention of all those in the restaurant. " Why don't you pick on someone who can give you a real fight? "
Katera had grinned. " Is that a challenge? "
In answer to her words, Sarro had smirked and took off running.
Naturally, Katera had pursued her. Afterall, she'd not had a good fight in ages. But now, she was merely annoyed. She wanted a fight, but chasing it halfway across the galaxy was not something she favored.
Katera wasn't an idiot, she knew that shouting did nothing, the little wench that had challenged her and run could not hear her. But there was something comforting about hearing the threats echo through her ki sheild. Besides, it kept her angry.
" You wanted a fight and now you've got one! Stop running! I'll catch you eventually! "
One thing that Katera hoped dearly, though, was that the little wench
wasn't flirting. It wasn't uncommon for the females of any
species to do as such. It was one of the few downsides to her masculine
appearance.
Katera had no compunctions about the way she looked. It had helped her in the past-- until that idiot Nappa... Katera drew a slow, calming breath. No sense in dwelling on the past.
Katera had a thin face that was all angles. She had the narrow, pointed
eyes of the Saiyajin, and the whites of her left eye were
tinted green from a scouter implanted there. Thick eyebrows that added
to her masculine appearance, and a mouth that was almost perpetually in
a frown. The only time it wasn't, was when it was turned up in a grin that
could only be described as reckless. Thick bangs of black hair fell down
to her eyes and the rest of her hair was pulled into a taut ponytail at
the back of her neck. While it was true she was short, her body was all
muscle. Her arms and wrists were strong even for a Saiyajin due to weilding
the heavy sword strapped at her hip that was nearly as long as her. Her
blue gi was drawn at the waist with a brown sash, and her feet were booted
with white calf boots. Katera had no tail, she'd lost it in a battle long
ago.
But that opponent had paid dearly for her loss.
Katera looked ahead and she grinned. Past the space pod she chased was the cerulean sphere of a planet it's inhabitants called Earth.
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The sun was shining brilliantly down upon the Son homestead at the base
of Paozu Mountain. A gentle, warming breeze
rustled the leaves of the surrounding trees. A think column of smoke
rose from the chimney, and a bird twittered from atop the house.
In the midst of all this peace, two figures snuck across the grass, careful not to alert the third member of the family. Son Gokuu and his son Gohan stole furtive glances across the lawn back at the house. Each one praying to Kamisama that Chichi wouldn't discover them.
As it was, Piccolo, the so-called former Demon King and Gohan's mentor, had called for the boy to visit him. Gohan had been excited. Gokuu had been wary of the message from his former enemy. Chichi had not heard a word of it... so far.
Chichi didn't like Piccolo: and this was understating things greatly.
So, the two Son men had snuck out of the house wearing their respective gis. Gohan was in the deep indigo one he'd gotten from Piccolo. Gokuu was in his traditional bright orange one, making it all the harder to sneak out without being seen.
They had just reached the tree line when suddenly...
" Gokuu! Just What Are You Doing?! " rang Chichi's voice through the air.
Gokuu and Gohan froze.
" Go! Go! Go! " Gokuu whispered quickly. He'd have to trust the Daimaoh with his son this time. But then again, it wasn't Gohan Gokuu was worried about, it was the rest of the world.
As Gohan disappeared into the trees, Gokuu turned to face his steaming
wife. " Ah... heheheh... Chichi... "
Gohan ran a short ways into the trees before he deemed it safe to fly. Jumping into the air he zoomed zig-zag fashion through the trunks before bursting up out of the leaves' canopy into the cloud scattered sky.
He laughed as the rush of wind hit him. It had been so long since he'd been able to fly. Since his return from Namekusei, Chichi had kept him studying frantically to catch up.
There's no way I'm letting my son grow up to be a juvinile delinquent!
Chichi had said, sounding close to tears and the very
thought.
So, Gohan had forced himself to settle down to the life he was only now finding boring. Sure, he still liked to study. But his experiences in the past two years had given him a desire for variety, and want for adventure. It had given him the need to fly.
He found Piccolo floating before his waterfall meditating. Without opening his eyes the Daimaoh greeted, " Hey, kid. "
Gohan perched himself on his mentor's knee and looked into the hard, green face expectantly. " Piccolosan? " he chirruped inquiringly.
Piccolo resisted the urge to smile. He was still the demon king no matter what feelings he had for the son of his worst enemy. Opening his eyes he regarded the boy stonily and said, " I sense an evil aproaching. "
" Oh, really? " said Gohan nonchalantly. " Don't worry, Piccolosan, my otousan will handle it. "
Piccolo's expression darkened. " Gohan, you can't always rely on your otousan for everything. "
" I know, but, " Gohan said stubbornly, " it's true. "
Piccolo sadly couldn't argue.
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At the uppermost reaches of Earth's atmosphere Sarro hit upon an idea and turned her space pod around. Without the aid of her computer, Sarro got a full view of Katera. It was still hard to believe, that the warrior hanging in space before her was of the same gender as her.
Katera crossed her arms and sneered, " Are you going to fight me here, little girl? Do you think that pathetic space pod will save you? "
Of course, Sarro couldn't hear across the vacuume, but she got the gist of what Katera was saying.
Sarro knew the plan, she had come up with it afterall. Really, it had been a long time before she'd played the 'helpless little girl' routine. In addition to thus, she did need help with Katera. If what Dende had told her of Son Gokuu was correct, then he could handle this little problem for her.
Sarro extended her senses to Katera. The other warrior was tired from the trip. It seemed to expend quite a bit of energy travelling like that. But it also raised her Sentu ryoku a fraction each time she recovered. How inordinately clever. But, she was only recovering now, and that would make her movements sluggish.
Good.
Sarro powered up her space pod and careened directly towards Katera. Katera moved up and over it, but Sarro was prepared and threw the space pod back. The hull of the ship hit Katera at the back of the knees and she went spiralling down towards the Earth.
Quite pleased with herself, Sarro began her own descent.
Sarro landed in the midst of the forest she'd aimed for. Quickly, before Katera could recover from her own crash landing, Sarro climbed out of the crater she'd caused and ran in the direction Dende pointed her in. After a few short moments, Sarro came across the homestead. She paused briefly to read the kanji above the door. Once confirmed that this was what she was looking for, Sarro ran up and pounded on the door.
Looking over her shoulder, Sarro played up the act and whirled around when Chichi opened the door.
" Can I help you? " Chichi inquired.
" Please! " Sarro said, inputting a slight frantic touch into her voice, You have to help me! " Chichi looked startled. Sarro grabbed the other woman by the shoulders and added, " I'm looking for a man named Son Gokuu, he's the only one who can help me! "
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[So, Sarro's finally found Gokuu. But why? Why all the planning? Why altering Gokuu's return to Earth so that it's earlier. Why acting like a scared little girl when we know she's actually a calm, unafraid, person. I'm afraid I can't guarentee answers, but things do heat up a bit in Chapter Three: Kill Vejiita?! The Revenge Driven Saiyan Warrior.]
[Written by Inseiko, 1999]