Second Life

Chapter 11

Anxiety

To say Bardock was shocked to see his youngest son was an understatement. Had another ship arrived and they’d not heard?

“Hey Dad,” greeted Kakarot as the spread of food came out. Paragus stood off to the side, even as they took their seats.

“How did you get here?” asked Bardock. Kakarot told him quickly about King Kai and his concerns about the Legendary Super Saiyan and how he’d followed his trail. Well, that was one more confirmation that Paragus wasn’t completely full of it, but why did the trail lead here?

“Well, it’s not Paragus. Now if I were that super saiyan where would I be right now,” he heard Kakarot say. A quick comment from the pig had Kakarot tucking in to the food with the rest of them. Well most of them, Raditz was picking at his again and where was Gohan?

At the end of the meal, Bardock had hoarded enough food away from the others to cover a small meal for a saiyan. He could see Kakarot eying it but he was determined Raditz would eat a full meal.

The others were already gone, they couldn’t even try to keep up with a saiyan’s appetite.

“You’re not leaving this table until it’s all eaten,” threatened Bardock. He was feeling more and more like Chi-Chi as the moment went on, though he was sure she never had a problem with Gohan eating.

“I’m not hungry,” said Raditz stubbornly pushing the food away. He laid his head on the table and closed his eyes. “I’ll help,” said Kakarot, reaching out to one of the plates, Bardock slapped his hand and he pulled it back, pouting. While Bardock did desire a chance to be a better father, he did not need his two adult sons to behave like a pair of three year olds.

“Raditz, eat,” he ground out, annoyed with the whole thing now.

“Father, no,” replied Raditz without lifting his head.

“Fine, we can do this the hard way,” said Bardock. He stood, leapt over the table, and threw Raditz to the floor. Raditz let out a cry of surprise as Bardock sat on him and began shoveling food into his mouth. Kakarot was staring at them with surprise and a slight bit of amusement. Bardock himself was amused, until Raditz’ entire body went stiff. From his position on top of his eldest son’s chest Bardock saw pure panic flash through Raditz’s eyes before he closed them, but Raditz made no move to fight back. Bardock wasn’t pining his hands or feet but he didn’t swing either of them in an attempt to free himself.

Bardock dropped the spoon he’d been holding and put his hands on each side of Raditz face.

“Raditz, what’s wrong?” he asked he quickly moved off Raditz to kneel at his side, thinking that perhaps he’d somehow injured him. “Raditz,” he called again to his still unresponsive son. He heard Kakarot get up and soon he was kneeling on the other side.

“Raditz,” called Kakarot softly. He could hear Raditz sucking in deep breaths of air, he open his eyes and looked at them both with confusion.

“I, I,” Raditz stuttered before he sat up quickly.

“Are you hurt?” asked Bardock reaching out to feel along Raditz’s ribs, his son not only flinched from the contact but he also scooted back along the floor to get away from it. There was fear in his eyes now, but before either he or Kakarot could move, Raditz bolted from the room. He and Kakarot looked at each other confused.

“What just happened?” asked Kakarot

“I don’t know but I will find out,” said Bardock.

Raditz fled. He ran out of the castle and flew off the cliff on which the castle was perched. There was a small forest down here. Raditz sat on the ground, leaned against the largest one he could find. He was still breathing heavy trying to slow down his heart.

“This is all a breeder is good for,” hissed Nappa

Raditz shook his head trying to think of something, anything else.

Bardock lay in his shallow grave, he was just sleeping, unaware that his bearer planned to bury him alive.

“No,” Raditz whispered to himself. “He was dead, he was dead,”

He held the infants face into his chest, holding tightly even as the boy began to struggle. His small limbs eventually fell limp and lifeless.

“I had no choice, they didn’t give me a choice,” he insisted to the night sky, because his conscious wasn’t listening.  He sat there for a few moments, forcing himself to think about the stars surrounding him. He did not think about the eventual confrontation between him and his father. He didn’t want to think about that.

Raditz had no idea how long he’d sat there, long enough that he’d drifted off. He couldn’t tell what had woken him. He heard his name being called.

He found himself staring at his brother, who taken a seat, crosslegged, in the dirt on front of him.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Nothing, just…old nightmares, it’s stupid,” Raditz muttered

 “You should come back and rest,” said Kakarot with obvious concern. He reached out to touch Raditz’s shoulder but dropped his hand at the last moment. They sat awkwardly in each other’s presence for a moment.

“Go on. I’ll be there in a while, I just need a few more moments alone to clear my head,” said Raditz when it seemed his brother might have gotten up the courage to ask him questions he didn’t want to answer. Kakarot flew off back to the castle, Raditz felt the relief wash through him.

Raditz did head back to the castle. He flew to the front entrance determined to put off joining the others as long as possible. He thought he knew the way to their room but apparently not well enough. He got lost quickly.

He walked passed a cracked door; he heard grunting, pained grunting. He peeked in only to see Brolly, sitting in a chair his teeth gritted together. He seemed to be struggling with something. Raditz could have and should have walked away but he didn’t.

“Are you alright?” he asked stepping into the room.

Brolly still struggled, then his aura flared. “Kakarot,” he gritted out. His hair had an odd tint to it and he seemed more muscular than he’d been before.