- A New Era -

Part 3 - New playground.

 
 


"What about this one?"


Raditz pointed at a green planet not far from their current position.


"Mmmm... No, it looks like a big swamp. Let's find something else."


Though it was somehow pleasant, the presence of the young prince on Raditz's lap was starting to make him feel awkward and he was eager to find a planet that would be to Vegeta's taste.

After two months of living together there, they were bored of the life at the Palace and had decided to find a new playground. A place where they could be alone, without having to listen to boring teachers or train all day long. Fighting was fun but they needed some time on their own. They had taken a pod and left Vegetasei, leaving only a note to Nappa telling him they'll be all right, begging him to be silent about their little trip and asking him to take care of Kakarotto and Broli while they were gone. Of course it had taken Vegeta a lot of patience to convince Raditz that they shouldn't take his little brother with them. And now they were wandering into space to find a suitable planet for their vacation.

After a few minutes, the young prince leaned and looked outside at an emerald and blue world.


"This one! Let's land."


For once, they chose a place where their arrival wouldn't be too obvious. As they exited their pod, Vegeta looked around with a satisfied smile. They were surrounded by trees and hills and they could see a lake in the distance. The young prince wrapped his tail around his friend's and tugged slightly. Raditz smiled and followed him. They had been walking for a while in the forest when the prince stopped. Raditz frowned.


"There are people not far from here. I can feel their presence. Do you think it could be some kind of city?"

"A city in a forest... I don't think so. A village, maybe. Something small."


Vegeta turned suddenly and was facing two young men. They smiled and talked to him but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Although he had learnt a lot of languages he didn't know this one. He looked at them silently for a while then turned to Raditz.


"I think they're friendly."

"Of course, we are."


Both Saiyajin started.


"You can understand us?"

"Of course. We study a lot of things, here. Learning rare languages is our specialty. Nobody else speak that language on this planet, so you must have traveled for a while to arrive here. If you need to rest, our village isn't far. You're welcome there. Can we offer you something to eat?"


Both boys smiled and nodded happily. The young men smiled back.


"Please follow us, then."


As they walked to the village, Vegeta studied the two men. They were humanoids like him but had longer and pointed ears. And of course, no tails. He remembered having read something about a race called "Elf" and was sure these two guys were Elves. The path between the trees went wider and soon they arrived in a very different place. There was only a few trees on what seemed to be the main place. Houses were built all around, some made of wood, others of mud and stone. Smiling faces greeted them. Raditz noticed that everyone looked young there. There were children of all ages and young adults. Maybe as his own people that race was aging slowly. Something else was strange in this village. Vegeta turned to one of their companions.


"I don't see any female here. But I see a lot of kids. How can you reproduce?"

"There are females. They're precious. Very few... They are the hope of our race. Every time a girl is born the village celebrates this birth for a few days. Unfortunately, it's very rare. But it's said that some signs will announce a change and our race will be saved. It's a legend, but we believe it. The village's chief had two daughters a few years ago. Twin girls. It's one of the signs, but a lot of people think it's a coincidence."

Vegeta frowned as he understood that the women of this village where living for reproduction only and the whole village was based on consanguinity. His own race had encountered that kind of problem a long time ago. Females had gotten scarce and to avoid seeing the race disappearing some measures had been taken, like forbidding spoiling male seed in unproductive intercourse. Some said Saiyajin warriors' aggressiveness came from that. But they had been able to avoid consanguinity, avoiding the sometimes deadly flaws that went with it. These Elves were doomed. If they were Elves. The young prince turned to one of them.


"What are you, exactly? Your race, I mean."

"Black Elves."


Vegeta started as he remembered reading that this specific species was supposed to have an intense sexual activity. As he looked at everybody smiling at him he wondered if he hadn't made a mistake by landing there and following these men. The lack of females certainly meant they had adapted to the situation. He just hoped little boys weren't to their taste. He went close to Raditz and tangled their tails together. The little group stopped in the middle of the place and one of the Elves pointed to various places.


"This is the inn, if you want to stay here for a while. Here, my house. If you need something, just come and see me. If you follow this path you go in the fields, and this one leads to the waterfalls. You can exit the village following this other path, but it's dangerous. Some people have heard strange noises coming from that part of the forest."


Vegeta sighed. Certainly another legend, the poor village threatened by a bad beast, or something... If only that was true. He needed a little action. He grabbed Raditz's arm and decided to go to the waterfalls. A bath there would be great. As they walked in the forest the sound of the water got louder. But he suddenly heard something else: someone was laughing. They went closer and hid behind a bush, watching through the branches. Vegeta gapped and blushed. Two naked young Elf boys, only a few years older than himself, were kissing and caressing on the grass, they bodies still wet from their previous bath. So what he had read about Black Elves seemed to be true. And what he had suspected about their sexual orientation too. Vegeta felt his body warming inside and Raditz's hand on his shoulder didn't help getting comfortable. Vegeta stood and grabbed his friend's wrist then went back to the village, silently cursing his suddenly too tight clothes.


"What are you doing? You said you wanted to go to the waterfalls! What about our bath?"

"I changed my mind... You would have liked to join them, maybe?"


Raditz blushed and thought "why not, if you join me too", but didn't dare speaking. It was something they had never truly discussed and he wasn't certain yet about the prince's feelings.


"So, what are we doing then?"

"If we're going to stay for a while and come here again, I want to know more about this place. And I want to hear more about their legends."

"I didn't think you would be interested in legends."

"We too have legends, Raditz, and I find it rather interesting."

"Yes, yes, the legendary warrior, I know..."

"I think this can be useful. If you know what people fear or believe in then you know what to expect of them. And how to take advantage of them."


As they reached the tavern, five men of all ages dragged them to a table where food and drink were quickly piled before them. At the sight of their questioning looks one of the man sat next to them and explained:


"We have few visitors, here. We're always so happy to see strangers... You're welcome to stay here as our guests. There are rooms upstairs. Just choose yours."


But the room could wait. All they could think of right then was to taste everything on the table. They managed to thank them through mouthfuls of what tasted like spiced-honeyed meat, completely forgetting to ask about the legends and letting the image of the boys from the waterfalls leave their mind.



Ten days had passed and the two boys were learning the life of Elf peasants, following some foreign language classes and teaching basic defense to young children. So far it was pleasantly new and they weren't bored yet. As they were peacefully sitting in a tree, watching people going about beneath, then slowly drifting into a digestive nap, they heard a loud thump and some people screaming. Vegeta opened his eyes and saw a huge dark beast walking in the village. It was higher than most of the houses and seemed determined to have Elves for dinner. Vegeta remembered what the Elf had told him about the dangerous path. The young prince had been wrong, it wasn't another legend. He motioned for Raditz to follow him and flew towards the beast. He needed some exercise. And he didn't want his peaceful hideout to be destroyed by that stupid animal. They stopped above the beast and attacked it, trying to avoid the fleeing villagers. In only a few seconds and some well aimed ki blasts the village was strangely silent. The boys landed near the fallen monster and made sure it was really dead. Then something strange happened: all the villagers where kneeling and turning towards them, singing a strange song that neither of them could understand. What they thought was a priest approached them and knelt before them.


"Thanks to our legendary gods, the village is safe! This is the second sign, our race will be saved!"

"Legendary gods?"

"Yes, a legend said that a couple of gods, united by strong feelings, would come from the sky to save us from a demon beast. Dark haired and dark eyed young gods. You."


Vegeta smiled. Everybody on his planet was always treating him with deference because he was a prince but nobody had ever called him a god, yet.


"We're not gods. I'm a prince, and this is my friend, my brother. And we're not a couple. Not in the way you seem to think."

"We believe the legend. You're gods. And humble ones, it seems."


Raditz smiled as he heard this. He was sure that nobody had ever thought of the prince as a humble boy. Vegeta saw his laughing smile and nudged him. People were coming to them with presents, mostly fruits and flowers. Raditz felt ridiculous but Vegeta seemed to like this new situation. He accepted the presents and went towards the forest, followed by Raditz whose arms were now full of flowers and fruits.


"And what do you plan to do, now that you're a god?"

"You're one too, Raditz. Now we're equals. At least here... I'm not sure people would agree to see you as my equal on our planet. Let's eat this near the lake, then we'll have to go back home."

"But we're not-"

"Let them believe what they want! All we want is to be welcome here. We couldn't have found a better opportunity to be permanent guests here."


"Permanent guest? But you were just talking about going back home..."

"We have to. I don't want to put Nappa in trouble. I think we've been away long enough. We'll come back, don't worry. I like this place."