Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ What Exactly Is Involved In A Saiyan Mating Ritual? ❯ Korosu ( Chapter 8 )

Well you would think by the reviews I received, that I left the last chapter on a bit of a cliff-hanger *grins* so I tell you what… I'll stop my insane ramblings and just let you read, how's that?

Disclaimer: Ember does not own DBZ she is just a 22-year-old wannabe writer with an unhealthy preoccupation for a certain Saiyan prince. Please don't sue. *^_^*

Chapter Eight

A roar went around the stadium as thousands of Saiyan's got to their feet. The whole arena was alive with the bustle of movement, but to Bulma's wonder, they only stood. They had been given direct orders by their god to leave unless specifically invited, and seemed to be willingly defying his words. She was angry on behalf of Kandai, and the normally gentle curves of her eyebrows met dangerously at the bridge of her nose in irritated indignation. How dare they! She huffed.

The guardian looked at her gently and lifted a quizzical eyebrow. His ghostly dark orbs flickered enigmatically in the half-light and Bulma felt her whole body relax under their placid gaze. He truly was an amazing man! He most certainly deserved a better charge than a planet full of destructive Saiyan's. Regretfully she wondered if he had survived the destruction of Vegeta-sei, being a cut above the majority of most humans let alone Saiyan's, seemed to scream immunity from such a horrible fate. If anyone deserved to be spared then it was he. His hallowed frame and haunted eyes denoted a lifetime of worry and innocent reparation. How much had this man been through? How much had he suffered?

The hot burning of tears endangered the corners of her eyes, as she tried, for his sake to crack a smile. She managed to move the corners upwards, but failed miserably at putting any feeling behind it other than pity. It couldn't be helped, even though she hated to betray it in front of her proud prince, she was still a sensitive, feeling, human being, and while she lived and breathed, would have to wear certain emotions without disguise.

Fragilely the old man reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder. The expression in his eyes reminded her of Son-Kun's just before he went into battle, so innocent and yet so troubled at the same time. "There is no need to worry for me!" he said in his haunting duel-voice, "I chose my own lot, and if I had my time again I'd do the same. You judge the Saiyan's too harshly! The majority in this stadium are worshipers, but this is yours and Vegeta's ceremony. They do not disobey my orders to defy me, but rather wait for their prince's corroboration."

Bulma turned her gaze from Kandai to Vegeta. He stood at the very edge of the stone steps a little distance in front from them and was very evidently, by a slight incline of the head, listening to their conversation. Under her stare, he looked over his shoulder, those charcoal eyes burning in to hers, and denoting by a simple drop of the head that the guardian told the truth. On cue he turned back to the assembled and spoke, "Do as Kandai instructs."

The words were barely spoken before the torchlight was outrivaled by a stadium full of ki's, and if Bulma had been in any discomfort from the eerie breeze that hung disconcertingly around the guardians figure, then her present anguish was probably trebled, as fifteen thousand Saiyans took to the sky in one fitful burst of inestimable power. The ki-generated wind blew in every imaginable direction, whipping blue hair into a wild frenzy as it blustered, up, and around her face, all in one moment of blurred out confusion. The energy left a heat haze behind it that made the already stifling air, increase by several degrees, leaving Bulma gagging as she gulped down large mouthfuls of the scorching atmosphere.

Her knees buckled under the lack of oxygen, and closing her eyes as the disobedient air currents blew grit into her face, tried to get a grip on her surroundings. Coughing and heaving, she couldn't help but be relieved when a hand rested on her shoulder, adding a very welcome shroud of blue energy in a dome-like barrier around her. "Baka woman! Do I have to do everything?" her Samaritan cursed, "Why didn't you flare your ki?"

"What? How *cough* the hell was I supposed to know they were going to do that?"

"Common sense." He muttered, "How else would they leave?"

"Hmm? Now let me think? Oh I know! How about like civilized people, and try using the stairs?"

"Walk?" The four-letter word was almost spat out. "Feh, I should of guessed… humans!"

His words stung and she spat "Ugh, Saiyan's!" back at him.

Kandai rolled his eyes, sighed, and deciding that it was probably best to ignore them, walked unnoticed down the stone steps towards the few spectators that still remained, "Ah good, now let me see. Who do we have left? Ah yes a very noble guest list."

He swept ceremoniously among them, "If everyone would please follow me! I'm sure the *ahem* happy couple will join us shortly." He powered up and took to the sky, and one by one the others followed his example.

The sound of the handful of power signatures taking off and speeding into the distance roused Vegeta, from the verbal sparring match with his intended. He was a little disappointed. He loved luring her into an argument and would have preferred to see this one to its end, but in a very unfamiliar defeatist shrug of the shoulders, ended the squabble by simply flying away.

Bulma was fuming, "Bakayarou! Don't just fly off! If you can't take the heat then at least have the decency to admit it! Since when does the Saiyan no Ouji run away?"

"Since he got bored with the sound of a painfully squeaky female voice screaming at him for being a baka, and would choose to get the rest of the ritual over with so that he could hear it screaming his name in a more passionate way!"

Bulma blushed. Damn him! Why did he have to go and say something like that when she was so mad at him?

"Well are you coming Onna?"

"Just try and stop me!"

"Good then hurry it up already, or has the little Chikyu girl forgotten how to manipulate her ki?"

"Ugh, did I ever mention that you are an arrogant, jumped up, egotistical moron?"

Deigning not to reply, Vegeta simply piled on more power, carrying on his original course out of the stadium, and leaving Bulma on her own in the glaring darkness, still fuming as his body disappeared over the edge of the stone walls.

With an absence of anyone to fuel them, the torches fiery light was dwindling fast, allowing all the electricity, excitement and security she had felt earlier to die with them. The small remaining breeze whispered it's gentle intimidation, around the once lively amphitheatre, making her shiver. Closing her eyes, and trying to block out any fear, she sought for the right mindset to create the power that the game held for her. Unconsciously she struggled with the control that was needed, even though she could practically taste its power. Vegeta had been closer to the truth than she had realized. She was having problems. Getting the game to cooperate with her body was so exasperatingly difficult that, for a moment, its powers eluded her.

Then it came, clicking into place just as if it were the simplest of everyday occurrences! The tiny spark of energy ignited its being in the centre of her chest, sending its euphoric presence out in an explosion of unadulterated pleasure, and mind blowing power. Her scientific mind considered the recreated power. From Vegeta's reaction to it she concluded that it was probably the equivalent of 'smash' to his warrior mind, and just the same as the instant meal tasted similar to mashed potato, she figured the power coursing through her veins was probably similar to how the Z warriors experienced ki, only falling short of doing the original justice.

Not losing anymore time, she channelled the power into a downwards action, pushing it against the age-old stone and propelling her small frame into the air to follow in her princes ki trail. The wind lashed angrily around her body as she flew over the relatively sheltered stadium and into the starlit sky. The twin moons threw their (thankfully) crescent-shaped glow over the large town that sprawled out beneath the towering roman-esque stadium walls.

Lights twinkled from the small circular windows and street lamps of the habitation, looking so peaceful and dormant that Bulma could have imagined that she was flying over an undisturbed city on Chikyu, rather than the dominant metropolis of an animalistic warrior race, that she had imagined Vegeta-sei would reflect.

Pausing over the urban sprawl she tried to locate the party that she belonged to, but couldn't see even so much as a vapour trail, to give her body direction. Silently cursing at Vegeta for not waiting, she closed her eyes trying to hone her powers to trace their energy. It didn't help much. Most of the inhabitants on this strangely diverse planet had a significant ki, and she wasn't used to separating the electric noise that each individual created.

To the north was a rocky mountain region, the jagged peaks just a blackened outline on the darkened scenery, and only defined by their sheer magnitude. To the east was the stadium, looming threateningly over the scene, blanketing the vision of anything behind it. To the south was an open expanse of fields dotted with the occasional industrial building, agricultural in the distance and more suggestive of mining the closer you got towards the city. To the west hung the heavy canopies of a stagnantly impenetrable forest, so similar to the woods that boarded western-capital city, that the urge to go in that direction was over-whelming.

For as long as he had stayed at Capsule Corporation, the gnarled woodland had been a place of retreat for Vegeta, and he had spent may nights prowling in its seclusion, trying to tame that fiery nature of his by preying on its unsuspecting inhabitants. It made sense to her as she floated over the green treetops, hoping to find some sort of life in their lush depths, that he would revel in a place so indicative of his childhood homeland.

Almost on cue a small beam of energy escaped from the leafy throngs in the distance, giving Bulma the direction she had hoped for. She could just see the look of annoyance on Vegeta's face when she got there. He would curse at her for taking so long and forcing him to waste some of that precious energy of his, but she didn't care. He was only there because of her, and however much he ranted and stormed, she knew it was just his way of covering up those emotions that were so new to him that they unnerved his usually unforgiving demeanour.

Adding an increased burst of ki she hurled on more power, speeding towards the origin of the blast. As she neared, the treetops fell away to reveal a circular clearing no more than ten meters in diameter. At its very centre was a felled mass of branches that had been very recently set alight, if the stream of acrid smoke, and the slight crackling of flames on fresh timber, were any indication.

The few remaining Saiyan dignitaries crowded around its base, and had seated themselves on the twisted branches and stony outcrops that stole out from the mossy floor beneath. On the prominence of one of these rocks stood the perfectly sculpted blue spandex and armor clad body of a certain Saiyan prince. His arms were crossed in their usual position with the impatience that she had expected very evidently carved onto his brow. Kandai floated at a safe distance behind him, and Bulma couldn't help but feel privileged to be standing before him as he smiled at her with the warm affection of a friend.

"Took your time I see," growled the former, "Women and navigation! I should have remembered that the two don't mix."

Bulma felt the corners of her mouth turn up at the remark. "Miss me Vegeta?"

"Hn, like is miss a boil on the backside." He sneered.

She threw her head back and laughed heartily, "Oh man Vegeta, you're too much sometimes. Now tell me… what are you all sitting around in the middle of a wet, smelly forest for, haven't we got the second part of a certain ritual to perform?"

"The lady is right," piped up a tall, aging Saiyan, seated on a branch to her left. His broad chest filled with a good-natured chuckle similar to that of his futures queen. "Its story-time my prince. Have you got your speakers voice with you tonight?"

"Of course Seikaku, I rise to every challenge, you should know that by now."

Bulma's already smiling face, beamed an extra ray of hilarity, "Aw man is that the next part of the ritual Vegeta? You have to tell us all a story? Ha, this I have got to hear!"

"I am no storyteller!" he shouted defensively, "What I will now narrate to you is my first Korosu. Explain to her Kandai, after all it's the only thing you're good at."

The guardian once again floated forward to try and fill in the blanks. "As I told you earlier. On every Saiyan's thirteenth birthday they are taken on their first hunt or Korosu. This is a very momentous event in a Saiyans life, and is proof of his warrior blood. I forgive those who are seated around me if they take unkindly to this, but having been guardian for longer than I care to remember I hope you will allow me the privilege of having made some general observations on your collective behaviour.

My dear, Not only do Saiyans have a strong inclination for display, but they also have a habit of being supremely protective of anything that they deem as belonging to them. Therefore finding a lifetime mate is symbolic of their overprotective side, and to prove that commitment they have instigated this part of the ritual to try and ward off any rivals. As you may know, Saiyan women are few and far between, and the telling of their Korosu is supposed to warn any other male that would try and claim what is theirs, to think twice. Do you follow me?"

"Err I guess… So what you are trying to say that this part of the ritual was originally designed to allow the male to yet again show off his strength, thus scaring and warning any rivals that they would probably suffer a similar fate to whatever it was that was unfortunate enough to be hunted in the Korosu, if they tried to encroach on their female, right?"

"Precisely! As the battle earlier was a display to earn your respect, so this is served as a warning to everyone else… Now Vegeta if you are ready?"

Vegeta couldn't disguise the sneer of dissatisfaction as he growled, "As I'll ever be."

He was not a storyteller! The man that had sat before them in the festival, telling his fables to a swarm of Saiyan bratlings, was so far beneath his station, that it made him almost sick to the stomach to be lowered to his standing. Public speaking had always been the one draw back to his impressive title, but like a true member of royalty he, well, not quite grinned, but bared it as best as he could, wishing that the ability to speak clearly and concisely had been taught to him with greater fortitude.

Trying to hold his head up as high as possible to hide the dread he felt in the pit of his stomach, he sat down before his privileged public, and started his recitation. "There are two points that need to be clarified before I tell you of my Korosu." He growled, "The first is that as a prince I was forced, out of a fear for my safety, and the future of the Royal bloodline, to have some help in my pursuit. The second is that I was a lot younger than the accustomed thirteen years. The unsettled diplomatic situation was the influencing factor, and although I was only eight years old, it was decided, because of my elite powers, that I was old enough to handle the ritual, securing my proper ascension before it was too late."

He paused, lying back onto the large boulder, letting his forearms take the weight of his upper-torso and looking up at the stars. "The day was just like so many that we experienced in the capital. The sky was it's usual fiery mixture of red-purple, and I awoke to the sound of the centurial warriors beaten drum, as they paraded around the royal courtyards. If I had ever got the chance to rule then those would have been the first to go, but my father found their brash wakeup call reassuring.

It was not often that I was actually alone with him, but that morning, after our attendants had served the normal four-course breakfast, he ordered the waiting staff to leave, giving us some much needed privacy. He told me of the arrangements that had been made for my Korosu. As I told you before I was to be accompanied on the hunt, and it was then that found out that my assistant was son to a member of the first council. I refuse to name his parentage because of those that are assembled, but I will tell you that his first name was Nappa."

Allowing himself a timeout to collect his thoughts he turned to see how Bulma reacted to the news. He smirked, before again turning to look at the stars. Her look of incredulity was precisely what he wanted to see, and encouraged him to carry on with renewed vigour. "We had been associates for awhile. I wouldn't say that we were friends. His grandparents were originally of low blood, but had come into prosperity later on in life. His father had shown a fighting potential that outweighed his years, and was recommended to my father. His strength and well-developed mind captured my father's interest and very quickly he was given a seat on the first council. As a result his son was favoured with a lot of attention, given the run of the entire palace, and permitted to be a playfellow for myself. To our parents it seemed fitting that we should perform the ritual together. Nappa proved to be of a similar strength to his father, and even though his intelligence was somewhat lacking, was intended to grow up to be my personal bodyguard.

The truth of the matter was that I didn't care for him much, he was useful for a sparring partner, but being the intelligent boy that I was, I needed more in a companion than just a portable punching bag. His imbecilic drivel, and profligate behaviour drove me to distraction, and as a result the gap between royalty and servant were kept cleanly apart. He was like a loyal dog. He would do whatever I wanted him to without even a questioning glance. Many a time I got him into trouble with my orders, but still he was faithful in my service.

I had a respect for him, in his loyalty, that much I do admit, but it went no further. Therefore the news that he was to come with me wasn't met with much opposition. It took me a few minutes to get over the indignity of having to share my Korosu with the thirteen-year-old elite, but was resigned to the fact that it was my father's wish. Figuring that having someone to throw in the way of an oncoming boar might just prove to be a useful resource, I remember grunting my approval of the scheme, (not that opposition was really an option,) and walking out into the glaring morning sunshine to wait until I was needed.

My father joined me not long afterwards with Nappa and his family. We took to the sky, and followed our parents blindly. It is customary for the head of the household to choose the location of the Korosu, and in this case it was a combined decision between my father and the first council. We flew out over Vegeta-sei's Capital City and out along the rocky path to this large town community. It soon became apparent that the forest that we now sit in was our designated territory, and we touched down in this very clearing." He stopped and fixed his gaze on Bulma, "Vegeta-sei's climate is different to Chikyu's. Little oases like this one are rare. Our planet is mostly an arid wasteland not too dissimilar to the deserts on your world, and the Korosu rituals are usually performed in the rocky canyons around the Capital. This place was chosen for us, quite simply because it was so unlike anything we were used to. It's lushness was so alien and the climate so much cooler, that it was the perfect place to push our senses to new limits making the hunt all the more difficult for us to perform.

Like the location of the Korosu, the senior members of the first council were to set the rules of the hunt for us. We were to remain in the forest for a total of eight hours, and were each given a list of it's inhabitants. The rules were simple. We both had to return with all the animals that had been written on those lists within those eight hours. This was a slightly modified angle to the usual hunt. Most Saiyan children were given sixteen hours, and a list of only a half dozen different species to collect. Nappa and I, on the other hand, were given practically all the names of the creatures that were supposed to inhabit this area.

As we stood staring open-mouthed at the laminated pieces of paper, with pages so numerous that it would have given an encyclopaedia a run for its money, my father came over to where we stood. His presence was reassuring, but daunting for me all at the same time, and I remember feeling not scared, but apprehensive of failing him. From his vantage point he looked down on me, with a look that could have burnt through the most fearsome warrior, "Give into the feeling of the kill, you will need it." He whispered, before turning away as if nothing had happened.

A member of the council walked forward as my father retreated to set things in motion. He checked that we had no weapons and that our lists were complete before saying, "Good hunting boy's your eight hours start now!"

Mindful of our task we both ran to the edge of the clearing, lighting up our ki and ready to take to the air. To our combined horror though we were stopped mid-flight by my father's dominant voice, "Oh and Vegeta, just one more thing. No flying! We wouldn't want to make this too easy for you now would we?"

The words struck violently, but being of good blood, I obeyed the request without hesitation. Disgruntled I turned to face Nappa, and was shocked when I saw that he was still in the air smiling inanely down at me. Then I realized. The king had made no mention of him, and his laughter could be heard reverberating around the treetops as he continued on his course into the sky, whilst I was reduced to stalking into the woods on foot, looking no better than the animals I was going to hunt."

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(~_~') Well how was it good or bad? I'm kind of nervous about the reviews for this chapter because I've never attempted to do anything in the first person prospective before. So please let me know if it was ok or, if it wasn't, please tell me how to improve on it. Oh and the review of the week goes to Annie "More wordy than Charles Dickens" lmao. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, but it sure as hell made me laugh! Well until next week peeps, bye-bye.