Chapter 1 - The Prince's Elite
 

    I'm gonna be late! Jianu fretted as she ran at full speed through the twisting corridors of the palace, pulling her armor and gloves on as she went.  The auburn-haired elite saiya-jin girl usually cut things close, but this was even closer than she liked.  Catching sight of the figure who had just appeared ahead of her she called out,
    "Kakarott!"   The spiky haired boy slowed just enough for her to catch up.  "You over-sleep too?"
    "Yah, of all the days . . ." Jianu nodded, today was the day that the prince would choose his personalelite team and the two of them were up for consideration.  Both she andKakarott were elite warriors, age twelve.  The prince was thirteen.  There
would be eight chosen in all and wouldn't you know, they were running late.
    "If I miss out on this oniichan will never let me hear the end of it.  Notto mention Otousan, Okaasan, and Turles," Kakarott worried.
    "My 'kaasan would never forgive me for missing out either."   Naturally being elite children, their parents were elite fighters too.   Kakarott's father Bardock and uncle *Tamanegi were both in the King's personal team.  And his mother Kiichigo along with Jianu's mother **Yashi were on the Queen's.   In other words, they were expected to be there, on time and succeed in impressing their prince.  Not an easy task.  Reaching the main arena, the two kids slipped inside just as the king's right hand man Zorn addressed the crowd.
    "Cutting it a little close aren't we cousin?" Turles whispered.
    "They probably over-slept again," Radditz teased.  The two kids blushed bright red, they deserved every jibe.  Over-sleeping on a day this important!
 

    Vegeta-Ou and Anzu-Ouhi smiled down at their son as he glared across the
assembled elites.  The boy was thrilled about today's events, but wasn't
letting it show.  Just as a prince should be. Vegeta-Ou stepped onto the
dais and addressed the crowd of around fify warriors.  "As you all know, you
are here today so that my son can choose his own elite team.  Each of you
will face my elites in combat and he shall chose from those of you who
survive."  Saiya-jin tradition stated that the heir to the throne's elite
team must be stronger than the current King or Queen's since the heir had to
be stronger.
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'Oh no, that means I'll probably have to fight Otousan!' Kakarott sent to
Jianu, she gave him a sympathetic look.  Bardock had trained both his sons
and knew all their moves.  It would take everything they had to beat the
King's elite.  They had decades of experience, so Kakarott and Jianu would
need all their cunning, power, and luck today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The King's elite came into the arena, all familiar faces to Kakarott and
Jianu:  Bardock, Toma, Totepo, Panboukin, Zorn, Tamanegi, ***Zukkini,
^*Jagaimo, and ^**Kurumi.  In the stands, Jianu could make out some of the
Queen's elite, her own mother Yashi, Kakarott and Radditz's mother Kiichigo,
and Toma's mate Celipa.  Her mother gave her a wink of encouragement.  Each
elite called out a name and the fight's began.  Nine simultaneous matches,
over and over as the King's elite made short work of the younger warriors.
They were halfway through and only seven candidates had succeeded in
winning.  Jianu didn't visibly cringe when Toma called her name, but she
sure felt like it.  A vicious wave of terror was clawing at her belly as she
walked over to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vegeta-Ou blinked in surprise, what was a girl doing here?  The Kings and
Princes of Vegeta-sei always had all-male teams while the Queens and
Princesses had all-female.  He almost spoke out when his mate interrupted
him.  'There's no rule against her being here.  Vegeta might not choose her
even if she succeeds. Besides, she's just a child and lacks the experience
needed to win.'  He nodded in agreement, she would probably lose.  The girl
couldn't be more than twelve years old.  She couldn't possibly defeat Toma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kakarott meanwhile, had his own problems, his worst nightmare was occurring.
   To reach his goal he had to defeat his father!  'Maybe I should have
stayed in bed.'
 

March 27, 2001
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*~Tamanegi - onion
**~Yashi - coconut
***~Zukkini - zucchini
^*~Jagaimo - potato
^**~Kurumi - walnut
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