Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Slave Tender ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

The slave tender didn't like this Slave Master much, though she would have never said so, nor even thought such a thing. Some Slave Masters were little more than elevated slaves, given responsibility for their fellows. Others were hired for the position. Still others were second or third children, being tested to see how they handled power and responsibility. This Slave Master was of the third type. A disgruntled middle child with a heavy hand and no patience for slaves that did not fit his plans. At once, she handed Sage to his sebba and knelt.

 

“Sir, Slave Master,” she said respectfully. “What may this humble slave provide for you?” She could hear Radditz's soft snort into his son's mane behind her, but her expression registered nothing resembling amusement.

 

“Why have you not returned to your duties?” he demanded brusquely. “I require your services elsewhere, not coddling a fucking monkey and its offspring. Gather your things. We leave at once.”

 

Under normal circumstances, she would have bowed and scurried to obey. But she had orders from Master himself that her duties were to this cub, and its mother. And so she hesitated. Upon her hesitation, the Slave Master whipped out his corrections crop and lashed her back with it. “I said NOW slave!!”

 

She scurried to obey, pleading with Radditz to stay put. The growls in the room were deafening; the baby and his sebba both bore bared teeth towards the Slave Master. Oh, this situation just went from bad to worse. She was used to the occasional lash of the crop, though it tore her top and welted her back; it was less than other slaves got on a regular basis. “Please,” she pleaded to Radditz, but it was too late.

 

“STOP THAT NOISE!!” bellowed the Slave Master, as he approached the sebba and cub, his stance belligerent and self important. “You will show respect to your Master, “he snarled, bringing the crop down on the Saiyajin's shoulder, then across his face. Sage's shriek was earsplitting, and she wished she could hide, or protest or something. “Sir, Slave Master, “she began timidly, “If you please, sir Slave Master, Master has said…” but she never got to finish her sentence. In a fluid movement, Radditz had risen and attached his teeth to the shoulder of his “attacker”.

 

It might have been comical to the old slave tender, had it not been so horrifying. Slaves that attacked the slave master were put to death! And his screams…high pitched and terrified as he lashed out with his crop, ordering and pleading to be released from the monster's jaws struck her as overtly effeminate. “Radditz, PLEASE!! He will kill you and the child!!” Radditz slid his eyes towards her, and gave a little shake of his head. His teeth still lodged in the Slave Master's flesh, it made the man shriek all the more.

 

Distraught, she tried to figure out what to do, when she heard Sage's bubbling laugh turn into an all out belly laugh. He found it so amusing, the dear little one. He had no idea his life was about to end…and badly. The way the Slave Master killed those who attacked him was horrific. She tried not to smile as the little one kicked and chortled, safe for the moment in the coils of his sebba's tail, but she was rapidly approaching panic, something she was not used to in the slightest. She was a good slave, good at her profession and good at dealing with Masters, Slave Masters and other slaves. She enjoyed her work, and accepted the occasional punishments as they came. But this…this was beyond her expertise.

 

“Radditz, for all the gods' sake, PLEASE release him! I am not worth this…I am not worth your death nor the death of your baby, please!! Sir Slave Master, I am so sorry…” But the Slave Master paid her no mind, instead ineffectually shrieking and beating at Radditz with the crop. She was glad that Radditz held the baby out of the way of the crop, but he would not let her take him from his tail.

 

What to do, what to do…she didn't know. The Slave Master was usually her authority figure, even if she didn't like him much, she reported and answered to him. Except…except in this case. Not allowing herself to hesitate now that she'd thought of this, she pressed the button on the com linked directly to Master's. Her idea was to convey to him there was an emergency, but a wild flail caught her off guard and left her bleeding after a sharp outcry into the com. She sat on the floor, cradling her cheek and crying, trying to get back to her feet, but the lash from the crop to her face was too much for the slave tender.

 

She heard, through the blood rushing in her head, Radditz's savage growls and snarls grow even more so, and Sage's shrieks were horrible to hear. This was terrible. They were all going to be put to death…the little one most likely thrown in a furnace or roasted alive on a spit…Radditz put on display and killed slowly after being forced to watch his cub die…and she? She was old (as slaves went) and worthless. Weak. She would be thrown to the hunting beasts for their sport. Torn apart by fang and claw and devoured by horrible smelly beasts.

 

So absorbed was she in the faces of their likely deaths, she did not hear the door open, nor click closed behind the person who entered. She did not notice the power in the room shift subtly. She noticed nothing until gentle hands took her own hands away from her face. Master. His voice was low, but it still carried through the room, echoing with Radditz' growls and Sage's shrieks. “Good girl.” His hand was brief on her head before standing up to face his cowering son.

 

“I should let him take your arm off. He is not exercised nearly enough.”

 

“F..f…father…please!! This slave needs to be put to d…” Whatever he had been about to say, the slave tender knew it for what it was. The Master was in control of this situation now, and she was relieved.

 

“I am disappointed in you, Cheme.” The Master's voice was slow, measured and deep. “I gave you this position in the hopes that it would foster some sense of responsibility into you. I see now that I have failed.”

 

“Father, these SLAVES…”

 

“These slaves are my property. Not yours. That is your first error. Your second is in thinking and treating them as though they have no value. “ Here the master leaned down, putting his face right in his son's face, without even seeming to notice that his son still had Radditz's teeth locked in his jaw. Sage had stopped shrieking, and was playing with his toes.

 

“I paid money for each of the slaves on my properties. They are investments, they are tools and they are also sentient. Far from believing that if I recognize my slave's sentience it makes me weak or soft on them, it firms my belief that you can tell much about a man's character by the way he treats the lowest before him. In this, you have failed me, and I have failed you.” His hands were strong and sure on Radditz' s large head. “Release him. Now.” There was no threat, no rising of his voice or change in his tone, but to the old slave tender's relief, Radditz obeyed. He obeyed, bared his teeth, then retreated as far as his chains would allow him, cuddling his cub into his bulk, sheltering him from the rest of the room. After a few minutes, she could hear faint suckling and purrs, letting her know Radditz was nursing his son. They would both relax then. Good.

 

“Father…” the slave…no…former slave master now was sobbing on the floor and bleeding. “Please, don't…” But he was cut off again.

 

“I should have paid more attention to what you were doing Cheme, but I wanted you to believe I had confidence in your abilities. Instead you used the slaves to take out your frustrations on not being given `a real job'. Don't look so shocked. I have ears everywhere. And you had to have known that these two are my special favorites right now. Why you chose to strike a loyal slave like Erka and try to make her leave her position that I personally had assigned her to is a puzzlement. But I suppose you will explain it to me.” He took a moment to call a doctor down here to see to the slave tender and the two Saiyajin. “Now,” he said quietly as he knelt down before Kani. “Tell me, loyal and brave one. Who would you choose to be Slave Master in my son's place? I am sorry to have burdened you all with his incompetence. Forgive my paternal blindness.”

 

The slave tender's brain whirled both with pain and surprise. But it was in her blood to obey, and so, haltingly she answered her Master. “Peruga. He…he works in the vegetable gardens. He is smart, and fair. He is good at organizing, and people respect his words. He is respectful and loyal Master.” She sobbed, hiccupping, her hand cradling her face still which bled the purple-violet of her people.

 

“Peruga.” The Master mused thoughtfully as the doctor came in and he waved him away from his whimpering son. “No. Attend my slaves first. This one can wait. He deserves every injury, and he will be getting more. Listen to Erka regarding the two Saiyajin. I do not think the babe is injured. I will speak to Peruga, Erka. You may remain here or go to the medical building as you see fit, regarding your injuries.” To the doctor he warns, “As little scaring as possible. She has proven herself to me, and my favorites of course I wish to look good as well.” With that, the Master left, dragging his son along with him.

 

As the doctor began to clean and inspect her injuries, she swore she could see Radditz smirking through his mane at her.

 

 

Tbc….