Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ What Exactly Is Involved In A Saiyan Mating Ritual? ❯ The Bonds that Tie Us ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: DBZ is the creation of Akira Toriyama, and not me… I just love it so much that I can't help wanting to use his characters and manipulating them for my own evil purposes mwhahahahah!

Chapter Seventeen

The Bonds that Tie Us.

Pain. That was all there was. Pain. Swirling, compressing, pounding to a degree that only experiencing could possibly enunciate, and Bulma's body was enduring it all. Its debilitation flowed in sickening torture through the tail, scorching along that limb, and climbing its way through her body along with the blood, making opposition practically impossible.

Vegeta had told her that the tail was a very sensitive part of the Saiyan body, and she had witnessed this weakness in Goku many times when he was younger, but as with most things, knowing about it and experiencing it were two different matters entirely.

Acting, finding movement through it was all but hopeless. There was nothing she could do, her whole body felt as though it was on fire. The Ko-oni-jin's fingers were wrapped so tightly around the appendage, that she was forced to one knee, screaming out in agony, the sound echoing against the walls.

In almost automatic desperation her fingers pushed against the moist stone of the cavern floor, trying to gain momentum against the impetus being exerted by the Elder's arm. It twisted around her tail, trapping it under an armpit, thus intensifying the torture. With teeth gritted, Bulma tried to push off the floor, but her knee gave out halfway. It slipped on the damp surface, causing fresh pain to track through her body, and she fell violently to the stone, her head making contact before anything else.

With blood seeping from the wound it created along her forehead, she strained to look up at her captors, desperately wanting to make sense of her situation. Through the pain she somehow managed to find voice to one of the multitude of questions that her mind routinely put forward. "Why do you want to hurt me?"

The pressure was applied again, and she thrashed wildly under the Ko-oni-jin's grip, as a small green foot, pushed at a pressure point under her chin, forcing her to be still. "You have left us with no choice." Was the even reply handed to her by the Elder, "Give us what we want!"

"But I don't know what that is!" She whimpered, trying her hardest to work out a plan of escape, whilst pinned to the floor, "Tell me!"

"The Saiyan has formed an energy bond with you, which you accepted. Whilst this attachment to you exists we cannot control him. Only one bond can exist at the same time. Give it to us!"

"I don't understand. Bond! What bond?"

"Do not claim ignorance female, you have formed an energy induced, emotional bond with the prince. We have searched his memories, we know all about this, do not lie to us!"

Bulma's mind raced, "I'm not lying. Please! I don't know anything about it!"

The back of the Ko-oni-jin's free hand lashed out, slapping her violently across the cheek. "I don't believe that you know nothing about it, but your feigned ignorance is of no importance. We will have Vegeta's energy, create a mental bond to replace the one you have established. Then our kind will no longer be forced to live in the Saiyan's shadow. We will be free, entitled to the land that is ours, finally able to live our lives in peace. Do you understand? I have to do this, not because I enjoy hurting you, but for the future of my species. Give me your bond!"

Bulma's stomach turned, so that was what the energy was that encased her the night she had stolen into Vegeta's room, that was what had shown up on her fathers scans. Had Vegeta really known about it and not told her? Dammit! She had never asked for it, and now they were planning to kill her because of it. "So you are going to kill me? Doesn't that make you just as bad as the Saiyan's?"

"No, we do not want to kill you! We just want your bond!"

Despite herself Bulma managed to let out a sigh of relief at these words. Maybe diplomacy wasn't entirely lost after all, "and… and what if… if you get my bond? What then?"

"Simple. We reintroduce the energy to Vegeta, and then use our own power to control him. All of his thoughts, actions and power will be ours! We can infiltrate the Royal palace of Vegeta-sei, rule over all of the Saiyan's, and change the legislations and bounties hanging over our heads."

Control Vegeta? What were these creatures? Had they completely lost their minds? No one could control Vegeta! He was too powerful… wasn't he? "What will happen if you take my bond by force?"

"The reality is that we will have to use a procedure that has only been tried once before. In that instance the shock of losing a bond was fatal."

A chill ran through Bulma's blood, coursing along with the pain, as she realized that even though they did not wish to kill her, they would do anything to get what they wanted. Even though she knew that death in this game wasn't the end, she also knew that if she died here then Vegeta would be as good as dead in reality, "Then you were lying! You do want me dead!"

"No. If you give us the bond willingly then your chances of survival will be much greater!"

"So let me see if I have got this right. If you take the bond I will die, and if I give it to you, I could still die. You wouldn't happen to have a third option floating around there somewhere!" The silence and contemptuous stare that was contorted by this statement, was expected, "I didn't think so."

The elder bowed his head in acknowledgement, "You are not in any position to demand anything more female, now you have wasted enough time, give us the bond!"

Bulma's eyes narrowed to near slits, the moisture that filled them, making her vision swim. The Ko-oni-jin was squeezing on her tail as extra inducement. "Ahhhhh… Ok!" she ceded, willing to say anything that might give her a respite, "Ok! I will give you the bond."

"Lies again female! You just want me to let you go!"

"Dammit! You are obviously as dumb as you look. If it's true and you did intrude on Vegeta's thoughts then you'll know that the 'bond' as you call it, was a mistake. Vegeta never meant to give it to me, and I didn't have any choice about accepting it."

The elder growled, "The bond would never have been forged if Vegeta did not want it."

Bulma was about to shout out some abuse at his stupidity, when the import of the words pelted her subconscious full-force. Vegeta wanted it to happen? No, that was impossible! He was asleep, how on Chikyu could he want to bond with her… unless? Had he woken up?

She shook her head violently out of that train of thought. Whatever Vegeta's actions signified, now was definitely not the time to dwell on them. She had to think quickly. Maybe there was a way out of this. They intruded on Vegeta's thoughts not hers, perhaps… perhaps she could lie her way out.

Wiping her eyes along torn spandex, she twisted her head slightly to look angrily at the Ko-oni-jin, the pain still thumping through her body. "Vegeta may have wanted it, but I didn't!" she screamed, feeling sick as her lungs pounded, "I never wanted it! The only reason I came here was to find him so he would remove it."

The small creature looked accusingly into her eyes, trying to see a hint of untruth that he could use against her. He got none. Under his penetrative glare she didn't so much as flinch or shy away. Her stare was fixed, determined, meaning reading her features was useless.

Now he was unsure what to do. He had only witnessed visions up to the point that confirmed the female had a bond with the Saiyan no Ouji, the fact that his power was running perilously low meant that he and the Emissary had agreed to stop. It was entirely plausible that the female didn't want the bond, in which case she could well be willing to cooperate with them. Under this impression his grip relaxed slightly. Could she be telling the truth?

Sensing an opportunity to escape Bulma allowed her mind to race, inducing the energy to rush through her restricted limbs. It poured over her body, increasing around the fingers, and even though the Ko-oni-jin's grip was still around her tail, it was relaxed enough for her to think through the pain. It wouldn't be long before the elder realized his mistake, and having no other options she persuaded the power to sharpen around her fingertips. In one fluid motion the power was slashed blindly behind her, hoping it would make contact where she wanted.

There was a moment of half celebration, even though the pain coursing through her body was intensified momentarily to an unbearable level. If she had, had more time to think then she would have aimed the energy at the Ko-oni-jin, but all she could think about was escape, and her surest way of achieving that was to get out of his hold.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, the pain dulled a little, and even though it was still severe, she at least had control over it. Groggily getting to one knee she craned her neck around, to get a glimpse of confirmation that she had succeeded. Her face contorted into a kind of half-smile as she saw the brown, furry length of her tail, laid limp in the creature's hand, completely severed from the rest of her body.

Automatically breathing through the pain, one hand pushed her from the floor and the other reached haphazardly for her temple. It lunged desperately for contact with the point that controlled her scouter. Right now it was her only lifeline, and by some sort of miracle, even though her hand was flailing in near panic, she managed to press it first time.

Streams of data cascaded across her dazed vision, demanding her attention as the small machine scrolled through pages of script. Frantically trying to find Vegeta's alterations, her body running on sheer instinct, she scrambled to her feet away from the Ko-oni-jin to find a safe position behind where Vegeta lay.

The was no time to lose, even now she could see the elder lapsing out of his shock, his eyes scanning the room to fix on her position, and so powering up once again, she let the delicious feeling of unhindered energy flood through her body, only this time it was accompanied with dots of pure white, senzu induced power.

Their nourishing energy poured over her in ethereal unison, some of them stopping at her forehead, a few falling over the grazes that had been scored across her back, but the majority fluidly gliding into place over the stub where her tail used to be.

The Ko-oni-jin elder was absolutely dumbfounded. He didn't have a clue what was going on? He had never seen power like this. It looked as if the female's body was repairing itself from the inside out. He had to act quickly. It was now very evident that whatever was going on was good for the female and definitely not for him, so pushing off the stone, he flew at Bulma, fists flying, not willing to wait for her regeneration to be completed.

Bulma took a step backwards, trying to evade the attack until her body was healed, but there was no ground behind her, only water. With a splash she fell into the freezing cold underground lake, flailing as the minerals within its crystalline depths stung at her open wound. The Ko-oni-jin was right above her now, its nimble green fingers interlaced through her hair, pulling at the scalp as inducement for her to do as he wished.

In comparison to that which she had felt earlier, this pain was inconsequential, and so lifting her arms to grab the creature's limb she pulled her body up, gaining just enough momentum to kick him squarely in the ribs.

The Elder's body crumpled under the impact and hand retracted from its hold, but Bulma was in no mood to let him off so easily. Manipulating her ki to stay floating in front of him she revised her grip on his wrist, spinning him around in midair, letting go and sending his small body flying into the ceiling full of stalactites.

The impact echoed around the large room, as large chunks of rock fell from their ancient position, shattering like ice as they met with the floor. "You see what you're up against Ko-oni-jin! Not just a pretty face huh! As if I would do anything you wanted me to! I'm sorry about your species, but this has nothing to do with me!"

"It is everything to do with you female," came a small voice from behind her right shoulder. Instinctively she looked up to the ceiling, only for her eyes to confirm what her ears already knew. The Elder hadn't even been fazed by the impact and was now on the attack. She had no time to think, no time to react, as a beam of compressed ki was sent into her back, disintegrating her armor and slamming against her spine, spiralling her body out of control, through the air and towards the solid walls.

She never made impact, but instead met firmly with a small green foot, which sent her flying back the way she had come. She crashed to the floor, skimming along its damp surface, her body being carved by the stone in the process.

She finally came to a rest at the foot of the sacred stone, her head falling backwards by the motion making sure it made enough contact to make her senses spin. She wasn't left to contemplate this long as the Ko-oni-jin grabbed her at the throat, his fingers glowing a bright red. The energy he produced was like none she had ever felt before, it didn't burn against her power, but flowed with it, stopping any plan that she might have been hatching to escape.

Sharp fingernails punctured the skin and lifted her with immense force into the air. The Ko-oni-jin Elder raised both their bodies, giving her a taste of her own medicine, pushing her ki scorched back, forcefully against the cavern ceiling, where one of the stalactites missed the semi-protection of her shattered armor, to pierce its way through flesh and blood, pinning her there.

Bulma's consciousness wavered, her vision totally blurred, all she could hear was the dripping of blood as it poured through the wound, falling rhythmically to the floor. The Elder's hand removed itself from around her neck, letting her body slowly slip from its impaled state, to fall mercilessly to the ground, "I didn't want it to be this way female, but now you have left me with no alternative. I will take your bond. Let us both prey that you survive it!"

Not saying another word, he placed his hand squarely over her ribcage, his hand glowing with power, as it pulled at her own.

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There was a haze, nothing more. Vision was clouded, feeling numbed, and mind confused. Where the hell was he? What had happened? All Vegeta could remember was talking to the Ko-oni-jin and then… Shit! What had they done to him? He couldn't remember a damn thing! It was indescribable how angry, how utterly disgusted with himself he felt at this moment. There were shapes, brief glimpses through the daze that fooled his vision, and jumbled up all color into a kaleidoscope of confusion, but nothing more.

The lack of pain, made him breath evenly in thankfulness, but he knew that it was grim relief. It certainly couldn't counterbalance the feeling of uselessness that the general numbness of his limbs created, making his mind realize that something more than he was aware of was going on. Almost instinctively he tried to get up, but his body didn't seem to be adhering to the same plan. His right arm managed to lift slowly from whatever surface it was laid along, but it felt heavy, wrong. Under the inducement and a mindset for pushing himself to the limit that his whole unparalleled existence had forged into a kind of stubborn mentality, his leg shifted as cautiously as his arm.

Finally there was something. It was miniscule and almost went unnoticed, but it was something akin to… pain. His features turned into a half-smirk. That was much more like it. Nothingness was daunting in its presence, but pain, well pain was an old friend. It made his whole body sit up and take notice. Unfortunately the muscles that flexed in response only succeeded in making him fall.

He wasn't sure where he fell, but the contact with a solid surface was aggressively exerted onto his debilitated limbs, and although the impact was infinitesimal compared to the usual blows that his body took, in his weakened state it proved much more of a problem. The pain subsided slightly, and as it seeped to the back of his mind, something else triggered a reaction.

It was sound. It flooded over his senses as they recovered, helping him forge an assessment of his situation. The noise echoed, and for a brief moment the delight he felt in having something to work with was dulled as he became conscious of that sound. It was familiar. It was, perhaps, little more than a trickle of information, but that being said, he was not a person it would be lost on. It was power. The low hum of ki being expelled, and because of his present state, and the uncertainty of his surroundings, it worried him.

An attack on his body by anything right now could, potentially, be very bad news, at least until he could force his brain to find the correct momentum to push his body upright. He had to get a grip on himself. Had to find a way to control his body, but the problem was he wasn't sure how. He was completely drained. He didn't have an ounce of ki left to fall back on, leaving him weaker than the average human.

It was the greatest of all humiliation, and he couldn't take it quietly anymore. Not having the ability to do anything else, his lungs filled, and he roared out his frustration in one great guttural scream, that expelled the air so violently from his lungs that he was sure his chest would explode under the pressure.

Strangely enough the action seemed to help, and as he lay dazed on the floor, his hearing popped into normal parameters, one sound intruding.

"Vegeta!"

His body doubled up into a train of racking coughs as he tried to put words enough together to form a reply, but his mouth was too dry. He knew the voice, almost as well as his own. It was Bulma's, and he instantly lunged forward in reaction as he realized the tones weren't normal. They were tinged at the edge, tainted with emotions that made him feel sick to the stomach. It was a mixture of emotion that he usually delighted in, but not when it fell from her lips. It was fear and… pain.

With his recovering hearing came the blessing of improved sight. It started at the centre as little more than blurred tunnel vision, but continued to expand as the daze of colors collected into some sort of muddled order. There was an overwhelming darkness, highlighted only by the softest of light in the distance.

Laying caution to the wind Vegeta's feet pushed against the floor, trying to find stability or momentum that would push him towards it. The fact that he had not heard any other words from Bulma panicked him to a degree he wouldn't have believed possible.

Finally his feet made decent contact with a solid surface and he attempted to stand. His body got to a stooped upright position before his right leg gave out, forcing him back to one knee. Curses flew fluidly from his lips. He hated this! His pride was at minimum, just as it always was when he had no energy. His strength was everything to him, without it he was just like the multitude, ordinary and unable to do anything to help the only creature that he had ever cared about.

How utterly pathetic! The legendary Saiyan no Ouji, not even having the strength to protect his mate… how he would be laughed at for it? What was even worse was that he now knew that the pain he felt earlier wasn't his. His current debilitation was nothing more than a complete energy drain, it ached, but would never be able to inflict such injury on him. Dammit! He could sense it all!

His lips pursed as he tried to find his feet once again. "Bulma." He meant to shout her name, but as the words formed in his throat, they restricted to little more than a whisper.

Standing upright he wavered for a moment, an indescribable dizziness pounding through his head, and just as he regained some sense of normality something struck. He didn't have a clue what it was, but it was deliberate, and definitely not good for his newly recovered mobility. Not even having the slightest chance of keeping on his feet he fell straight back to the floor, meeting it with no little violence, the full fall impacting his left shoulder. A great swathe of pressure to his chest followed his collapse, reducing him once again to redundancy.

Dazed vision tried to focus on the green blur that held him captive, but the only sense left was hearing, and as if to enunciate this, the smallest of voices drifted into its perception, "Stay down Saiyan! The Elder is conducting business and does not wish to be disturbed."

Instinctively Vegeta's right hand was raised to counterattack, but it was easily batted away. Gritting his teeth, and being able to do nothing else he spoke. "I will kill you all for this!" he growled in the most sardonic manner he could muster, making sure he iterated all the words so their import was fully understood. "You can be certain of that Ko-oni-jin!"

"And just what do you propose doing to stop us? At this very minute the Elder is draining your mate of her bond. Once the procedure is complete there will be nothing stopping us from controlling you. We did not want it to come to this but she was stubborn, would not let us take it willing. Now she will die because of you. How does it feel? This is what your kind have done to us for centuries. Finally we have the chance for something more, and it is all thanks to you. You can feel it can't you? Her pain. I hope you are proud of the fact that it is all your fault!"

"This is not my doing it is yours. You are all fools together. No one crosses the Saiyan no Ouji, you have not won anything yet!"

"No, but every second you remain here is torture for your mate. It will not be long. She is near to death now."

As if to emphasize this point, a scream echoed around the small room. Its harmonics were unmistakably female, and Vegeta felt a stab of pain race through his mind. NO! He would not let this happen. He had been unable to help her before, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let it happen again! He closed his eyes, not being able to put up with their taunting lack of sight anymore, and concentrated, trying to find even the slightest bit of energy left to help her with. He found none, at least not in his body, but his mind… his mind was still his own.

Balling his hands into fists, he reached out with it, hoping to find a way to communicate with her. The Ko-oni-jin's power was searching through her body, and at first Vegeta was unsure if he could speak telepathically through it or not, but the Elder's energy was not a full capacity, and he was using almost all of the little he had left to drain Bulma of the bond.

With lungs pounding and throat contracting he found a way through, "Bulma! Bulma you have to listen to me. Be strong, you have to. I can't help, the Ko-oni-jin have taken all my energy. I can't even stand. You have to fight it!"

There was a pause, and Vegeta felt sick at the thought that maybe he was too late. "Bulma! Answer me!"

"Vegeta! I can't do anything. I can't move it hurts too much, but you can…"

"I can what?"

"Can… Vegeta the game! It's only a game you have to end it. You have to willingly want to end it. I can't hold on for long… It doesn't matter if I die, all I'll do is return to reality, but you need to…. Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Then there was nothing, the numbness that he felt when he first woke up returned. The pain was gone, completely erased, and he screamed out not wanting to accept its meaning. The glimmer of hope that finding her mind had created was obliterated he was too late. Bulma was dead, and as usual… it was all his fault.

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A/N - *gets prepared to be hit with Parethe's bitch bat* Yeah… shamefully late again! All I can do is apologise profusely and beg for your forgiveness. ~Ember~