Alatrunks

Alatrunks
By Herve and Freewater
Warnings: None that I can think of right now
Rating: PG for now
Disclaimers: I don\'t own anything. Seriously, anything at all, not even the desk I\'m sitting at

oooooooooooooooooooooo
A Diamond In The Rough

The next afternoon on a cracked rooftop of one of Truhania\'s many old houses, a young man with long purple hair, wearing a white fez and a mauve waistcoat, quickly rushed up to the rooftop\'s edge, cautiously carrying a stale loaf of bread to his finely toned chest. Being extra careful not to crush it as he rushed, as if it were the greatest treasure in the whole world he was holding.

In his haste he almost dropped it over the edge, causing his heart to jump into his throat as he tightened his hold on it as much as he could without making it crumble in his hands. He was on the run, and after going so far he couldn\'t just lose his precious cargo, then, everything he\'d just gone through to get it would have been for nothing.

Only few seconds later he found himself cornered by three of the Sultan\'s guards, who had all managed to find their way up to the old house\'s rooftop, eager to get him and lock him away for the rest of his life.

One of the guards held out a rather large boom box, and a heavy one too judging by how the man\'s arms were shaking from having to carry the large burden all the way up to the top of the house, just to be able to play his chief\'s corny theme music. Trunks looked behind them to see the large man panting and wheezing as he struggled up the stairs, but at the sound of the trumpets and flutes, he quickly stood up straight, looking more confident that he would finally be catching Truhania\'s most notorious thief as he put his remained energy into a complicated summersault to jump the remaining steps.

It failed miserably, and he landed awkwardly on his face. The guards all made painful faces at the sight of it while Trunks pinched the bridge between his nose and eyes before sighing loudly, shaking his head in near disgust. \'How the hell someone like him turned out Chief of the Palace guards is beyond me!\'

As quickly as he fell, Mr. Satan got back up again, his face still holding a look of confidence as he marched forward, pretending nothing happened at all as he stood at the head of his fellow guards. Not at all noticing as they fought off their heavy sweat drops.

He wore a long scraggly moustache, a rasta\'s haircut and a large white cape, and was now cornering the gorgeous thief. An evil smirk on his face as he tilted his hips in the sunlight ever so slightly, just enough to make the champion belt around his waist shine impressively in the bright sunlight.

Trunks just looked bored at the very sight of it. To him, he could easily get ten of those things, and if he ever did, he would simply sell them for what they were really worth.

Two shilings a piece.

A fact that Mr. Satan knew about, and only angered him all the more. In fact it made his blood boil.

\"You miserable thief !\" He spat hatefully, angered that he\'d been chasing around the same common peasant for the better half of his career and still could never catch him. \"I\'ll have your hands for a trophy, street rat!\" triumphantly declared Mr. Satan while whirling his scimitar in intimidating ways. Or what he thought was intimidating. No one watching him was really all that impressed by the show.

Today was the day! He just knew it! Today he was finally going to put that worthless fool in chains before burying him in the lowest part of the palace dungeon!

Trunks looked back at them, then down the side of the house, which suddenly seemed rather high up, then incredulously at the flaking bread in his hands before nervously asking. \"All this for a loaf of bread?\" Didn\'t they know he only stole food? The very thing he would starve to death without? It wasn\'t like he was out stealing jewels from people who couldn\'t afford the loss or anything like that. Why couldn\'t they just leave him alone?

Preferring not waiting for Mr. Satan\'s answer, Trunks decided that all in all escape was maybe a better idea, even if it probably meant breaking his neck. So, he took a deep breath before calling upon lady luck to save him once again before jumping off the rooftop with a loud wail. Luckily for him, he landed on two ropes strung between the buildings with drying clothes on them. Skying down the ropes he did manage to unintentionally collect bits and pieces of clothing on him as he went. Deciding to keep them instead of throwing them away, thinking that he might fool the guards and make his escape with an appropriate disguise.

Finally, as he was nearing the end of the rope, a woman unfortunately reached out and slammed her window\'s shutters closed. Causing Trunks to painfully slam into those same shutters and fall to the street. Luckily, his fall was broken by numerous awnings as well as the pile of clothes around him. Immediately standing up again, Trunks quickly pulled off the top layer of clothes and was about to enjoy his well earned bread when one of Mr. Satan\'s subaltern screamed from the rooftop \"There he is!\" He cried, pointing at Trunks.

Having for once a perfect-timing, Mr. Satan proudly asserted. \"You\'re facing the great Mr. Satan, so don\'t expect to get away that easily.\"

\"You think that was easy ?\" Asked an astonished Trunks, his mouth hanging open at the statement before looking over at three women whom all laughed at him for his disrepect.

Mr. Satan gave his orders to his troops. Not wanting to let him get away from him again. \"You two, over that way, and you, with me. We\'ll find him or I\'m not Mr. Satan\".

Opting for a discreet escape, Trunks quickly pulled a sheet over him and wrapped himself as a disguise, then he rushed over to the jeering women.

\"Morning, ladies.\" Trunks said while bowing with respect.

\"Getting into trouble a little early today, aren\'t we Trunks?\" Fondly asked one of the women. Obviously used to hearing the guards cursing horribly as they chased the poor young man around every morning for some insignificant theft or another.

Trunks, feigning surprise, laughed. \"Trouble? What? No way!!!\" He chuckled lightly. \"You\'re only in trouble if you get caught...\"

But before he could finish his phrase, Mr. Satan\'s hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back causing the fall of Trunks\' disguise as he came face to face with one visibly happy Mr. Satan. Glad that he\'d caught him at long last.

\"Ok! Now I\'m in trouble !\" Trunks conceded.

\"...And this time\" Added Mr. Satan before an extremely fat and harry monkey came to Trunks\' rescue by pulling up Mr. Satan\'s cape over his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Then he started a dance of victory on Mr. Satan\'s head while laughing hysterically at the prank he just played on him.

\"Perfect timing, Yajirabu! What would I become without you?\" Joyously recognized Trunks. Letting out the breath he didn\'t know he was holding.

\"How right you are, I couldn\'t have put it better myself!\" Yajirabu half-jokingly replied in a voice so scratchy anyone without Trunks\' trained ears would have a difficult time understanding him.

\"Come on, let\'s get outta here! Gotta keep...one jump ahead of the breadline.\" Trunks suggested as he finished his phrase, and for some unknown and abstruse reasons; but in all likelihood because it was a Disney\'s based story; Trunks felt a foolish, senseless, compelling, pressing, and uncontrollable need to burst into song.

One swing ahead of the sword
I steal only what I can\'t afford
That\'s everything!

Being trapped between a wall and Mr. Satan, strangely and almost klumsily wielding his scimetar, Trunks battled him for a while. He gracefully dodged a couple of swings, then pulled down Mr. Satan\'s pants in the hopes of distracting him, revealing flashy flowered underpants for everyone to clearly see. Being highly humiliated by the mob\'s mocking and loud laughter, Mr. Satan felt a rush of energy fill his face as his mind was now being controlled by pure hatred. He furiously swung at Trunks in the hopes of slicing him in half for revenge, but only managed to destroy a barrel full of foul-smelling kippers. As Trunks ran off once again, Mr. Satan pulled a smoked herring over his lower body as a pair of pants.

One jump ahead of the lawmen
That\'s all, and that\'s no joke
These guys don\'t appreciate I\'m broke!

Trunks and Yajirabu scampered up a pile of barrels in a desperate attempt to escape the armed guards who refused to quit chasing them, and when they finally reached the top of the pile, they kicked one barrels down on top of Mr. Satan\'s head.

For strange reasons, the remaining of the Sultan\'s guards suddenly felt the urge to sing while pursuing Trunks.

Riffraff! Street rat! Scoundrel! Take that!

At those lyrics, Trunks scampered to the top of a nearby platform, and once he was secure he apologetically waved them with the loaf of bread.

Just a little snack, guys!

Taking that as an act of provocation, the guards threw every knife, daggar and sword at him. Causing Trunks to hide behind one of the beams to keep from being hit as the guards vigorously shook the unstable platform back and fro, trying to knock him off.
Rip him open, take it back guys!

Then Trunks jumped off the platform to what seemed to be a certain death, only to grab Yajirabu\'s hand like an acrobat.

I can take a hint, gotta face the facts
You\'re my only friend, Yajirabu.. ooh!

Trunks and Yajirabu swung into the nearest apartment, which was in fact a harem. Their intrusion, kind of surprised the harem\'s habitants who all screamed:

Who?!?

Inside the harem, Yajirabu found a plate full of delicious and expensive looking fruits, and he wasted no time in sloppily stuffing them in his mouth like a starved chipmunk, provoking the harem\'s dancers wrath.

Oh, it\'s sad Trunks\'s hit the bottom
He\'s become a one-man rise in crime

Trunks and Yajirabu jumped inside the underneath apartment only to be caught by a rather large and unhappy looking woman.

I\'d blame parents, except he hasn\'t got \'em!

Trunks bowed in order to apologize for the inconvenience, then exited as fast as possible when she tried to take a swing at him.

Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat
Tell you all about it when I got the time!

Carrying on their run away through Truhania\'s market place, they hid behind a muscleman making some sort of show for the crowd. The Sultan\'s guards rushed past, first taken in by the trick, till Trunks failed to match his moves with the muscleman\'s and they were discovered by the crowd. Forcing him to flee again.

One jump ahead of the slowpokes
One skip ahead of my doom
Next time gonna use a nom de plume.
One jump ahead of the hitmen
One hit ahead of the flock
I think I\'ll take a stroll around the block.

The chase was still continuing, and to escape their pursuers Trunks and Yajirabu raced through a flock of sheep, then hurdled over a fakir sleeping on a bed of nails. Unfortunately for our skinny fakir, Mr. Satan, still half stunned by the barrel\'s fall, landed on him, making the poor man cry out in pain. That accident in particular kind of made the crowd go into coalition with the Sultan\'s guards.

Stop, thief! Vandal!
Outrage! Scandal!

Running as fast as he could until he was backed up and trapped against a door, Trunks tried to nervously calm the angry mob.

Let\'s not be too hasty

After a while, Trunks was finally surrounded in front of a door by Mr. Satan and his subalterns. Luckily, the door opened and Uranai Baba came out with lust in her eyes.

Still I think he\'s rather tasty!

Being more afraid than it was possible to describe, Trunks tumbled away, before putting his arm around Mr. Satan and acting like they were all chums.

Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat
Otherwise we\'d get along!

Mr. Satan finally came back to his senses and tried to catch him once more.

WRONG!!!

They all jumped into a pile and fought, yet when the guards stopped, Trunks and Yajirabu were already gone, discreetly trying to sneak away in barrels. Their plan discovered once again, Trunks opted for sprint. He ran across a flaming pit, only followed by Mr. Satan who hopped up and down, screaming in pain as he crossed the scorching hot rocks. As Trunks and Yajirabu passed a sword swallower, Yajirabu got an idea at the sight and went back, bluntly pulled the katana out of the swallower\'s mouth. Making him grab at his throat in shock.
Being now armed, Yajirabu advanced on the guards with a threatening look on his face, secretly enjoying how they all retreated in fear. One man cried out like a scared child.

He\'s got a sword!

Mr Satan tried to slice Yajirabu with his scimitar while he gave his men a memorable rollicking.

You idiots--we\'ve ALL got swords!!

Realizing that the tide had just turned on him, Yajirabu set the sword down with an apologetic look on his face before taking off running. For once being scared by Mr. Satan\'s threats if they failed to escape. The guards managed to surround Trunks and Yajirabu once again, leaving them no escape on their right nor on their left. Seeing that, Trunks jumped up and climbed a rope trick being done on the street just as all the guards all crashed into each other. Much to Mr. Satan\'s great despair.

One jump ahead of the hoofbeats!

Unfortunately for him, Trunks still wasn\'t out of trouble since the crowd was still pursuing him from their wrath during his escape and despite his explanations.

Vandal!

Trunks kept on running, unfazed by the insults and more concerned about getting away.

One hop ahead of the hump!

Seeing that the crowd became even more infuriated against him, so he accelerated his speed.

Street rat!

Trunks barely kept his balance when he was tripped up by a vindictive stallholder.

One trick ahead of disaster

The crowd was greatly piqued that the stallholder\'s tentative failed and loudly expressed her rage to be defeated by a worthless street rat.

Scoundrel!

Trunks hardly escaped the new trap that the crowd had set to stop him.

They\'re quick--but I\'m much faster

Yet refusing to recognize their defeat, the mob tried to bombard Trunks with various object and perished fruits. Yajirabu, being the hungry pig he was, went so far as to open his mouth to try and catch them.

Take that!

Thanks to the crowd\'s intervention, Mr. Satan and his subalterns were now back in the chase, and they pursued him up a long staircase into a room at the top of the tower. There, Trunks staked his all as he grabbed a dusty carpet from off a rack and jumped out the window.

Here goes, better throw my hand in,
Wish me happy landin\',
All I gotta do is jump!

Mr. Satan followed him out the window, but he went straight down to the street, and landed in a warm and squishy pile with the sign \"Crazy Freeza\'s Discount Fertilizer.\" Trunks using the carpet as a parachute, had seen where he\'d landed from above, and laughed so hard his ribs ached until he landed safely on the ground and far away from any danger.

Now safe from Mr. Satan, Yajirabu stared at Trunks oddly before running off quickly. Blinking, Trunks realized he had just sung during his escape and in front of everyone including Mr. Satan and turned bright red, hurrying off in the direction taken by Yajirabu.

Having had enough time to put himself back together and try to forget the whole musical he had just performed, Trunks finally rejoined Yajirabu who was, to Trunks\' relief, kind enough to act as if nothing had happened.

\"And now, esteemed effendi, we feast! All right!\" Trunks joyously announced while breaking the well earned bread in two then giving half to Yajirabu, who begun to eat it voraciously. But as Trunks was on the verge of doing likewise his attention was caught by two skinny young children rummaging through the garbage for food. When the little girl finally noticed him, she was so surprised that her first reaction was to drop her find. After a while she came back to her senses and tried to hide it in case he would want to take it from them.

After such a heartbreaking sight, Trunks\' hunger seemed to disappear completely, and it didn\'t take him long to make up his own mind as to what he wanted to do with his half of bread. He looked at them, then the bread, then at Yajirabu silently asking for his approval.

\"Oh no! Nononono! Not again... we didn\'t eat anything since yesterday morning.\" He whined pitifully, hoping to convince him of such, and to reaffirm his point, he took a big bite of his food.

Trunks didn\'t bother trying to scold him for his cruelty, because he knew the fat monkey was right, yet he got up and walked over to the children anyway, which caused the girl to defensively pull her brother back.

\"Here,\" He said, offering the bread. \"Go on, take it\" Trunks said, smiling while holding out his share of bread to them.

It came as a real surprise for the children who greeted this unexpected gift with delighted giggles. Watching the scene out of the corner of his eye, Yajirabu tried to swallow another bite, but failed miserably, feeling rather guilty about his own selfishness. So, he walked over to the children and offered them his half eaten bread, and was rewarded by a warm hug from the orphans.

\"Ah, don\'t.\" Was all he managed to reply with, being too embarrassed by the situation. That\'s when he noticed that Trunks had left. He quickly looked around for him, then saw him walking off into the daylight where a parade was actually going on.

Trunks always had a fascination for parades, so he peered over the shoulders of the people and admired a stylish prince riding on a horse while listening to his neighbor\'s conversation.

\"On his way to the palace, I suppose.\" Suggested the bystander on his left.

\"You\'re right, it\'s certainly another suitor for the Prince. I wonder if he\'ll ever marry one day.\" Added another one thoughtfully.

\"Yes, it\'s at least his thirtieth in four months.\" Trunks said softly before being startled as the two children came running out from the alley. The young girl having lost control of her brother who wanted to play, and the little boy literally ran out in front of the Prince\'s horse, startling it and causing it to jump up in fear.
The snobish looking prince barely blinked as he regained control of his horse, but he did wrinkle his nose at the sight of the young children in front of him with disgust. \"Get out of my way immediately, you filthy brat!\" Threatened the prince while bringing up his whip to attack the defenseless boy, but Trunks, mustering all his courage jumped in front of the kid and caught the whip with his arm. Holding back a grunt of pain as it snapped over his skin painfully.

\"Hey, if I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners\" Trunks angrily reproached, throwing the whip hard into the prince\'s face. Disgusted that anyone could be so cruel to a small child.

\"Yeah!\" Yajirabu yelled in his screechy little voice, hanging off of Trunks\' shoulder while trying to glare at him. But unfortunately, it wasn\'t as intimadating as he would have liked.

\"Oh, I\'ll teach you some manners for free!\" Haughtily answered the prince as he roughly kicked Trunks and Yajirabu into a nearby mud puddle.

As the crowd laughed at him, Trunks felt the extreem urge to save his hurt pride, so he loudly, and clearly, cracked a joke for everyone to hear. \"Look at that, Yajirabu. It\'s not every day you see a horse with two rear ends!\"

Hearing that, the Prince abruptly stopped and turned back to where Trunks still lay in the dirt, shooting him a look full of hate before contemptuously sneering. \"You are a worthless street rat. You were born a street rat, you\'ll die a street rat, and only your fleas will mourn you!\"

At those words, Trunks, visibly hurt, rushed the Prince in an attempt to beat some sense into him, but the doors to the castle grounds slammed shut in his face. Piqued, he added more to himself than to the prince who couldn\'t heard him anymore: \"I\'m not worthless. And I don\'t have fleas.\" He said while scratching his head. \"Come on, Yajirabu. Let\'s go home.\" Thus, he made the climb to his home with the view and gently tucked in Yajirabu for the night.

\"Riffraff, street rat. I don\'t buy that. If only they\'d look closer, would they see a poor boy? No sirree. They\'d find out, there\'s so much more to me.\" he said to comfort himself, then he pulled back a blue old moth-eaten curtain revealing a breathtakingly view of the Sultan\'s magnificent palace.

He couldn\'t help but sigh at the sight of it. Surely the people living there wouldn\'t have the difficulties he had. \"Someday, Yajirabu, things are gonna change. We\'ll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all....\" Trunks prophesied, before laying down in his sleeping place and gently dristing off for the night.

To Be Continued...........