Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Confusion
Sharp pain. That's the last thing I remember before the darkness enveloped me and I remembered nothing more.
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Eventually, after what seemed like hours, I eased back into consciousness and noticed a sharp, stabbing throb in the back of my head. As my eyes fluttered open I blinked and attempted to take in my surroundings. There was a vast, blue sky above me with light crisscross clouds scattered about, and from the hard, unforgiving surface below me I surmised I was lying upon hard-packed dirt. It was arid and hot, but I still had absolutely no idea where I was. I stirred a bit, trying to ease into a sitting position. Not a good idea. Black spots danced in my vision as dizziness struck me, and I would have fallen back onto the rocky surface if I was not caught by a firm but gentle hand.
"Whoa there," a soft baritone voice mused, "up already? Try not to pass out again so soon." I blinked the confusion out of my eyes to get a better look at the one who was supporting my back. He had a huge mane of black, spiky hair reaching all the way down to the back of his knees, a sharp widow's peak, and eyes like the vast void of space. His thick eyebrows were arched in apparent concern and apprehension. He had a small, sharp nose and his mouth was slightly agape. Not bad looking, I thought dazedly.
Moving down his form I saw something stranger. He wore some type of armor that seemed to heavily protect the shoulders. The shoulder pads extended outwards at least 6 inches on each side, and they didn't look to be flexible. The rest of the armor was black with a beige-striped pattern. The beige pattern extended to protective pieces over his thighs and middle. The strangest part, though, was the furry belt he wore around his waist. At least I thought it was a belt... That is, until it moved. Dumbfounded, I blinked again to clarify my vision. Was that… a tail? This person had a tail wrapped securely around his waist. And it seemed odd until I felt another furry appendage move underneath me. I have one too?
After shifting my body to peek at the tail below me, I looked back at the very very muscular stranger. The only other noticeable features were these peculiar red bands around his left bicep and thigh.
The guy must have caught me looking him over because he straightened up and coughed, looking away abruptly.
"You're lucky to be alive, you know," he mumbled "you took a blow to the head that could have killed anyone. The healing equipment you carry saved your ass." He must have noticed my confusion, because his next question was spoken carefully.
"Don't you remember anything?" Well, obviously not. And for that matter, I couldn't even recall who I was.
"N-no… um… where am I? Who are you? Who… who am I, exactly?" I started to shake. I searched in the back of my mind for anything that could count as an answer, but my head throbbed every time I tried to reference anything past 5 minutes ago. The man sighed in exasperation.
"I'm Raditz. We don't exactly know each other that well. In fact, a few hours ago you came out of nowhere to help my brother Kakarot kill me." My shocked face led him to explain without pausing.
"…it didn't work, obviously. Something went wrong, and instead of dying I was grievously injured. The next thing I knew, you had healed me and were murmuring to yourself about some sort of glitch in the timeline. You kept looking at that—" he gestured to a watch on my wrist, "—while trying to figure out what to do. It had seemed as though you were sent here to fix a discrepancy in time and became stuck here. You introduced yourself as (y/n), a female Saiyan. All that junk made next to no sense to me, but you seemed to understand quite well. Everything was going along fantastically," he snorted, "that is, until my brother came back with his 'reinforcements' and attacked again."
He paused this time to gently lift me up into a full sitting position, supporting my neck in one arm as he sifted through my short, choppy hair to search for the injury I had sustained. When his fingertips brushed against the cut, I flinched and gasped simultaneously, eliciting a quiet "sorry" from Raditz. He sighed, reaching for a small capsule of some sort. He popped it open and pressed a small green bean to my lips.
"Here. The first one could only fix most of the injuries, but it obviously wasn't enough to completely heal you. You used it to heal me earlier, and I found more in your bag. Eat it and you'll recover." I looked at the bean suspiciously before deciding against ignoring Raditz' help. He obviously hadn't come this far just to hurt or kill me. I took the bean into my mouth and chewed a little before swallowing. It tasted bitter—like a pill –but left me feeling surprisingly satisfied. The hunger I didn't know I had accumulated drained away instantly, and I could feel my dizziness fading. Raditz obviously seemed pleased, as he inspected the cut on the back of my head and watched it seal itself shut.
"Do you remember anything now?" he asked cautiously.
I tried again to access my memories, but again was met with resistance. Almost like a mental block. I sighed and sat up straight, rubbing the bridge of my nose in agitation.
"No."
"Oh… well, to continue the story from earlier, my...brother..." he spat out the word like he had something unpleasant in his mouth, "came back to attack his last living family member to 'finish the job'. Instead, you jumped in the way to protect me and they shot you down. You had already worn yourself out from the first battle, and you were in no condition for a second. You fought all you could before a powerful kick sent you careening into a mountainside where a sharp rock split your skull. The sound was so deafening that even Kakarot and his Earthling friends were startled. I could see the look of regret on his face as he looked down at his hands before flying away in shame. The poor fool thought he had killed someone. As if it were such a monstrous thing for a Saiyan to do..." he trailed off, his face screwed in obvious contempt.
I took a second to process the information. I had… a horrible injury, and I had lost my memories. Which seemed to be important considering I came to this timeline supposedly to fix something. But now that I was stuck… what was I to do? And then there was that word that bugged me. When it was spoken I felt a familiar tug in my memory. I looked at Raditz carefully, hesitating to ask my question.
"W-what's a Saiyan?"
I saw him blink and stare at me as though I were crazy.
"Uh… I'm Saiyan. You're Saiyan. We're part of the strongest warrior race in the universe." There was a hint of pride in his voice. "When I first met you I wasn't sure, but your black hair, your tail, and definitely your smell gave it away."
I flinched. Did I…smell? I discreetly sniffed the air, hoping to find answers. What greeted me in return was a rich, smokey pine scent. It seemed to be coming from Raditz. Another less noticeable scent was emanating from myself. It smelled like lavender and an ocean breeze. Huh, I guess I did smell... His scent, however, was actually very…nice.
A faint beeping noise coming from behind Raditz then roused me out of my reverie and I stood up abruptly, moving away from him. My tail fluffed out a tiny bit in response to my curiosity and my booted feet crunched against the rocks on the ground as I searched for the source. Eventually my eyes came across a green lens device attached to what looked like a white earpiece.
"What's that?"
He looked a bit flustered as he hastily grabbed it and pulled it out of my reach.
"This... is a scouter. It can tell you someone's power level, but it also doubles as a communication device. I think Vegeta is trying to get ahold of me." He fitted the earpiece to his face, pressing a button on the side as he listened intently.
"Yes? Um… oh. You heard that? …I can explain." He turned away from my curious gaze, indicating with an agitated flick of his tail that he needed privacy. I huffed in frustration, crossing my arms and turning to walk a few paces away from him. My tail was lashing back and forth in annoyance, but despite the inconvenience of him being occupied, I was glad to have some more time to think. I still couldn't recall anything of my past, but at least I knew a little bit more about who I was. I was a warrior… a Saiyan, as he called it, and I was in quite the predicament. I glanced down now at the clothing I wore. I was dressed in tight black spandex down to my ankles and wrists, and wore white boots and gloves. I also wore a piece of armor similar to Raditz', but it was just a white chest piece and bared no semblance to his other than the material it was made out of. Mine had no shoulder pads, and looked much less restricting. My clothing was tattered here and there, with a couple of dried bloodstains on the breastplate. It must have been from the battle earlier. I took off my gloves, as I saw no purpose for them anymore. They felt odd and were covered in gross muck. I tossed them away and unceremoniously kicked some dirt over them.
The watch on my wrist seemed to be the only thing to remind me of my past, but the screen was dark and I had no idea how to work it. I tapped the screen in annoyance and put my ear to it, listening for any indication that it was on. Maybe I had broken it? Nonetheless, I had not a clue.
Raditz grunted suddenly, and I turned to see him stand and put his hands on his hips and flip his hair to the side. The movement almost looked..sassy. I snorted to myself at the thought of a nearly 200cm tall man being "sassy". But I soon listened in again because Raditz sounded serious and almost defensive.
"Are you sure, Vegeta? I know how it sounds, but we don't know everything yet…" He flinched and held the earpiece back as the person on the other end yelled. "...yes, Vegeta. I understand. I will." He pressed the button on the side of his scouter again before sighing angrily. His sigh turned into a deep-throated growl as he grabbed a fistful of his hair. "He always makes such RASH FUCKING DECISIONS. That PRICK!" He whipped around suddenly as if just noticing my presence, and coughed awkwardly as he realized I was staring.
"How much of that did you hear?" He looked at me quizzically as his bristled tail wrapped itself securely around his waist once more.
"Only the end." I said honestly, not wanting to provoke trouble. He seemed relieved by this, if his tail smoothing down was any indication.
"Good," he huffed. "Now sit down or something because I have a lot of explaining to do."