"Good day, Kariifuuru, Raditz, Nappa, Taurus..." Vejiita said as he entered the small meeting room. The four Saiyajin sat on mats around a low table, but they stood and saluted their Admiral.
Nenais'u felt a brief tremor of fear. Two of them were the ones who had tried to capture her. She tried to hide behind the frame of the door, but Vejiita took her arm and pushed her forward, in front of him.
"Sit down, all. Look at what I found," Vejiita said, grinning.
The single female Saiyajin began to laugh. "How did you manage that? X’erat was dead-set on studying her!"
"Child's play, Karii," Vejiita replied. "I went to X’erat, flared my power a bit, and said, 'I'll be taking over this project!'"
One of the male Saiyajin laughed. "He just handed her over?"
"Heh! What choice did he have?" the admiral chuckled. "Now, on to business. The girl's name is Nenais'u--" he put a hand on her shoulder-- "and Nenais'u, these are my fellow Saiyajin: my sister Kariifuuru, our guard Nappa, Raditz, and his brother Taurus."
Nenais'u bobbed her head in an Amon bow and took a moment to look at the Saiyajin. Kariifuuru was small, even shorter than her brother, but she had the body of a fighter nonetheless. Her hair was a wild red color that none of the male Saiyajin could match; Nenais'u wondered if it was dye, a mutation, or a female trait.
Nappa was an enormous mountain of muscle. He was completely bald, but was the only one of the Saiyajin to have facial hair--a thin mustache. Nenais'u quickly assessed the man's frame and decided that with such a size, he was probably not very intelligent.
Next to Nappa sat Raditz, the other Saiyajin who had helped to capture her. He was big, not abnormally so like Nappa, but much stockier than Vejiita. His hair was longer than any of the other Saiyajins', falling over his back and ending a little above his knees. A faintly cruel smile flickered over his face as he saw the recognition in her eyes.
The girl shivered and looked quickly at Taurus. He was not much smaller than Raditz, but his hair was a great deal shorter, spiking up randomly on his head. He did not wear a cruel expression like Raditz or Nappa, or a sadistic grin like Vejiita's; his face was composed, and unreadable. Nenais'u unconsciously reached out toward his mind, and saw him look up in surprise when her psyche touched his lightly. Flushing, she took a step back and nearly fell over Vejiita.
"Tsk!" Vejiita said, steadying her. "Keep to your feet, girl." He snapped the broken collar off of her. "You're clear for now. Have a seat."
"Ne...?" Nenais'u blinked, confused. What was going on here?
"Come, sit," Kariifuuru said, smiling in a friendly manner. She motioned for Taurus to move over to make room for the girl.
"Go on." Vejiita gave her a slight push and went to sit between Nappa and Raditz. There was now a circle around the small table, left open by the place designated for Nenais'u. She had no choice but to sit there, so she slowly approached the spot and dropped into a sitting position on the mat, so swiftly and silently that Karii jumped slightly.
"That's a neat trick," the woman said, grinning. She seemed friendly enough, so Nenais'u smiled shyly in return.
"Nenai..." Taurus murmured from her other side. The girl turned to look at him, wide-eyed. His lips quirked in a half-smile, but his eyes were serious. "We can call you that for short, yes?"
Something in his low voice made her blush slightly. She nodded and looked down at the surface of the table, not daring to meet anyone's eyes.
"Well then," Vejiita said briskly, "let's get on with this. First of all, what did I miss after my injury?"
The Saiyajin quickly briefed their leader on the completion of the capture of Mar Amon. Nenais'u listened numbly, feeling each description of destruction as a pain inside her. Raditz gleefully described his part in the demolishing of "a great big birdy church with some creepy-looking statues," explaining how the statues were systematically shattered.
Nenai gasped, realizing that he was describing the Temple of the Moon's Oracle in Yar Dalbri. The image of a statue being blasted into shards leapt into her mind, and she suddenly began to tremble violently.
"Raditz!" Karii hissed. "Stop that!" The woman turned to Nenai, concern plain on her face. "Hsst-t-t! It's alright, child, relax."
Raditz blinked. He truly had not realized how he was hurting the girl.
"Feh..." Vejiita looked faintly annoyed. "Nenais'u, really. It's only a building, church or not. Religion cannot be captured in stones..."
Nenai's head snapped up, and she stared at the admiral, her eyes blazing. "Don't speak to me on religion!" she shouted, the strange multi-tone appearing in her voice. "I need nothing of what you have to say to me!" Her hair began to wave, as if in a gentle breeze, although the air in the room was still.
Taurus began to laugh quietly. "Look at what you've done now, Vejiita, you've gotten her riled up." He cupped Nenai's chin in his hand, forcing her to turn slightly to look up at him.
"...Ne...?" The girl blinked rapidly, anger draining from her face. The Saiyajin’s face was almost expressionless; only a slightly sardonic smile showed any feeling. Even his eyes were empty of emotion, their curious dark greenish-black color glinting at her.
Turning to grin at the other Saiyajin first, Taurus leaned down and kissed her deeply. Nenai made a startled squeal, and batted at him frantically as all of the other Saiyajin roared in laughter.
"That's cute, Taurus," Raditz snickered as his brother broke away from the kiss, leaving Nenai looking a bit wild-eyed.
Karii was laughing so hard she was crying. "Damn, Taurus...I think you scared the hell out of her..."
"Well," the man said wryly in his odd accent, "who wants to be in a small room with an irate Amon?" He turned to regard Nenai again. "Feeling better?" His grin was wicked.
The girl dropped her gaze, blushing furiously. What did they want with her? They were teasing her--rather cruelly--but still, it was all in fun. All of them seemed inclined to be friendly...
She looked up. Taurus was looking at her, apparently waiting for an answer.
"I...I'm fine...but..."
"Go on," Vejiita coaxed.
"Exactly...exactly what will happen to me now?" the girl asked softly, looking around at the warriors. "I mean, Vejiita, you took custody of me from X’erat, and he was going to study me...so...now what?"
"Nice," Karii murmured. "She's quick, Vejiita."
The man nodded, then smiled at Nenai. "Well, we'll still want to study you, to a certain extent, but we can find what we need from your actions. We're more interested in your powers." Vejiita paused as the other Saiyajin nodded their agreement. "To that effect, we would like to offer you...a position in Freeza's forces."
Nenai reeled back as if she had been struck. "You...you've got to be joking."
"Not at all," Vejiita said, smiling thinly. "You're strong, and quite powerful, and intelligent, it would seem. You'd be an asset to us."
"Us...being Freeza's forces, or us being the five of you?" the girl asked quickly.
Raditz laughed. "She is fast," he said admiringly. "Which do you think, Nenais'u?"
The girl's eyes flashed. "I'd say the latter...which leads me to ask, why should I help you?"
An elbow dug into her ribs, and she turned to look at Taurus' impassive face. "Mind your manners, wench," he said quietly, "or I s'll mind them for you."
Nenai blinked at the mild threat. "I--"
Karii clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Answer her, Vejiita."
"Feh. Nenais'u, really. We're in a position to help you enormously here. Instead of being a specimen of study, you could have rights--and something to do. If you're helpful to us--and to Freeza--you're much safer than if you were a lab animal," Vejiita explained impatiently.
"I understand you, quite clearly. I just don't know that I want to help destroy more civilizations the way all of you helped to destroy mine." Nenai stood and glared coldly at the Saiyajin. "I'll have no part of your killing. Where that places me, I don't know, but I'll settle for it."
Vejiita looked very angry, but before he could say a word, Taurus stood, looked at Nenai through narrowed eyes, and slapped her across the face, hard.
"Bastard!" Nenai lunged at Taurus, who caught her wrists and grinned viciously.
"Think about this logically, m'dear," he said with a growl. "Accept the offer and ride easy. Refuse, and then you'll be in for real trouble, say, if X’erat decided he wanted t'see your innards..."
Something in his eyes warned Nenai into docility, and she withdrew, away from the circle of Saiyajin. "I...I can't do what you're asking of me," she said brokenly. "I think I'd rather die!"
"Nenais'u!" Karii said, shocked. "You don't mean that--!"
The girl did not reply, only closed her eyes and stood still, looking more lonely than a flower on a battlefield. She subtly drew a cloak of hurt about her, forcing the Saiyajin away from her.
After a long moment of silence, Raditz and Nappa continued their report on the invasion. Nenai listened silently, standing unnaturally still near the doorway. She felt them looking at her occasionally, but did not open her eyes to stare back. Finally, the meeting ended, and the Saiyajin all stood and approached the door.
A hand came down on her shoulder, and she jumped instinctively.
"Come, Nenais'u," Vejiita said quietly. "I have to show you to your quarters."
"Quarters? Why? I'm not a mercenary--"
"No...not yet...but we're giving you the benefit of the doubt. Besides which, you don't necessarily have to fight, Nenai. There are other services..."
Vejiita's insistence was wearying, and Nenai felt herself giving up. "Fine, Vejiita," she finally sighed. "Whatever."
The Saiyajin silently clipped the rigged collar around
her neck and led her out.
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