Unwanted: Lost and Found

Unwanted


Chapter 7 - Lost and Found


"What do you mean, you can not find her?" Vegeta gnashed his teeth as he slammed his fist atop his desk.


"It would appear that she had taken the liberty of a private ride just over an hour ago, but has not returned since," Radditz opted to be the one to deliver the news, clearly hoping to handle the situation better than that of Bulma's four frightened guards taking shade behind their designated speaker.


"Then what are you all doing here? Get out there and bring her back in one piece so that I may throttle her for disobeying me!" Damn that woman! If he were not so angry with himself for not anticipating this insurrection, he very possibly would have been cursing her to the depths of hell.


"I am afraid that is not all, sir," Radditz cleared his throat, before bluntly confessing, "your wife's mount came back just half an hour ago, without her."


It was truly bizarre the emotions that proceeded to engulf Vegeta as his mind slowly filtered the news. For the first time since his marriage, the thought of life without Bulma pierced him more sharply than a sword through his chest. For as much as they argued, bickered, and insulted, never once had he desired to see any harm come to her. He wanted to keep her safe, he had vowed to, and he truly believed he could keep that promise. However, it seemed he had been wrong.


He had done this. She had come to him, asking him to accompany her. He was in the middle of nothing pressing, he could have gone, but he did not. He refused because he was afraid, afraid of her seeing, of her knowing how he desired her. He did not want to allow her knowledge of the power she held over his body, and over his thoughts. And now it may have cost him her permanent absence. She could be lying dead somewhere, injured in a riding accident, or worse, someone might have harmed her, abducted her, and it would be completely his fault.


"I want every available man searching the perimeter of this castle," Vegeta began belting out orders. It was what he knew best, what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. "Post a reward for any knowledge that will lead us to her. I want her found immediately, is that clear!?"


"Yes, Sire," five voices echoed, followed by the four guards departing immediately to begin the search. Radditz however lingered behind, wanting to bring a possible oversight to Vegeta's attention. "This could be Nexus' doing," he suggested carefully after closing the exit behind the guards. "Bulma is an expert rider; I am not in the least persuaded to believe she had an accident."


The thought had crossed Vegeta's mind as well; this was simply too much of a coincidence to believe that the first time she took off on her own, she had an accident. Nexus' recent disappearance did not squelch his suspicions either, "A consideration, but a highly irrational one. Why would Nexus abduct or hurt her? It would only unleash a war upon him that we all know he has little hope of winning."


"Assuming the Tomabatsu fights by your side," Radditz reminded wisely.


"Why the hell would they not!?" Vegeta demanded. "I am their rightful King. Bulma was Toma's only heir; therefore, their allegiance lies with her and her husband, me."


"Yes, and that is exactly what concerns me, sir. If Nexus is in fact behind your wife's disappearance, then I must wonder just what he has up his sleeve. The man has lain low for two years; it would make no sense for him to emerge now, take your wife, and ensure war unless he had something that could ensure his victory."


Radditz was of course right. Nexus was not like his father, he put more thought into his battles than basic military strategy. He assessed all the angles, only choosing the ones that would bring him a swift, undisputed victory. Vegeta shuddered to think what strategy he had concocted using his wife. "Have my horse readied. I want you to gather a team of your best elites." He was not going to be bested by Nexus, and certainly not at the expense of Bulma. He had vowed to protect her, and damn it, he would not fail her again.


"We go hunting for Nexus."


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"Rise and shine, my lovely queen," Bulma heard an eerie voice as she felt her cheek being stroked. Twisting her head, she slowly opened her eyes to a fate more horrifying than her most graphic nightmares.


"Nexus!" she scrambled backwards until she felt her body hit a wall, a carriage wall, "What the hell?" She quickly scanned her surroundings, trying to make sense of how she had come to be here. It had to be a dream! She had an argument with Vegeta. He refused to escort her, so she had taken it upon herself to ride alone, if for no other reason than to spite him. But then, when she reached the edge of the Vegetabatsu territory, something-something happened.


"Such language for a woman of your status," a scathing voice mocked her playfully. Nexus, the fiend who had killed her fiancé, was sitting before her. He had not changed much in the past two years. The burly man still had the toned physique of his father, but his facial features were not nearly as ridged, clearly a reflection of his mother. His jet-black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, his dark eyes boring into hers as he spoke, "Our first time alone, long overdue, don't you think?"


"Not long enough, you bastard!" Like a crazed feline, she pounced on him, clawing, punching, kicking, anything she could do to inflict damage upon his person. A futile assault against a man as strong as he, but she could not help the urge to want to kill the man. He and his father had taken so much from her, she wanted revenge desperately.


"Now, now, my lady," Nexus managed to grab hold of her wrists and twist them behind her back. Using one hand to lock them together, he extended his free arm to slither around her waist, pulling her to sit on his lap, her back pressed against his firm chest. "I would prefer not to hurt you. You are more valuable to me in one piece, but if you push me, I might be willing to let you depreciate."


She squinted her eyes and bit her bottom lip, willing herself to hide her pain as Nexus proved his point. "Of what value am I to you?" she forced out the question, hoping if she could distract him he would loosen his hold; he did.


"It's quite simple, actually," she felt his hand slide upwards from her stomach to rest flatly, threatening, on her collarbone. Yes, that was it! Now she remembered. She had halted her ride after seeing what she had thought at the time was an injured man lying on the side of the path. Then, after she had dismounted her horse to see if she could help him, a hand had come across her throat. He had to have been planning her abduction for some time to see it played out so easily. "You have always been the final piece to my puzzle, Bulma. Had you just married me two years ago we could have avoided all this, but you had to be difficult-"


"Difficult!" she interrupted, struggling against him to reinforce her outrage. "You killed the man I loved! Your father murdered mine while you stood and watched! What in the name of the gods made you think I would ever find you anything but repulsive?"


"Well, clearly it would not have been a love match," the large man chuckled, pressing his hand a little tighter against her petite body to subdue her resistance. "But I had, let's say, enticed your mother into an arrangement between our peoples, one that would ensure the destruction of the Vegetabatsu. All that needed to be done to solidify the agreement was for you to wed me. Our alliance would have been complete, and you, my fair queen, could have been ruling the whole planet by my side. But no, instead you chose Vegeta-" his momentum suddenly broke for a crass chuckle, "Vegeta! A choice that quickly proved to me you were either insane or being manipulated. So, regardless of which affliction you suffer from, here I am to humbly rescue you."


Her arms were unexpectedly released and she found herself on the opposite side of the carriage, looking thoroughly perplexed as he pulled out a quill and a document from his coat pocket, "For you, my lady." He handed both to her. The thought of trying to ram the quill into his black heart sounded terribly appealing, but she could not help her curiosity.


"What is it?" She refused to make any move to unfold the parchment until she knew what was inside.


"A gift from your husband," he had the most wicked of smirks upon his face. Being joined with Vegeta, she was used to the expression, but with Nexus, she felt no similar sense of security as she had with Vegeta.


Vegeta.


Was he looking for her? He said he would not, but that was only after the war was over. He still needed her now, so no doubt he was concerned. Not that it mattered of course. What did she care if he was concerned about her? His opinion, his feelings meant nothing to her. Lifting the top of the document up, she was finally made privy to the writ before her. "It can not be," she continued to scan through the papers, "these are annulment papers."


"And your dear husband has already signed them, convenient, ne?"


"This is a forgery!" Bulma insisted, regardless of how much the signature resembled his. How could it be anything else but a fake? Vegeta would never sign annulment papers and then deliver them to Nexus.


"No, my dear, I am afraid it is not. You see, I have had an associate working behind enemy lines these last few years trying to find me anything that could right the mess you made in marrying Vegeta. And just a few weeks ago, he finally made the stiff fee I was paying him worth it. First, in finding me this marvelous document in Vegeta's chambers, and then today, making certain you would be riding alone this afternoon."


"Codo," Bulma whispered breathlessly. Of course, he had never once in her employ fallen sick; it could not have been a coincidence.


"The very one," Nexus nodded proudly, "You are sharp."


"This is ridiculous. Why would Vegeta have such papers scribed?" She threw them back to Nexus; she wanted nothing to do with his twisted scheme.


"Actually, I was hoping you could answer that, my lady." She could not, at least not for certain. Though she had her suspicions they may have been an anticipatory measure to implement after Nexus was finally defeated and their marriage no longer served any purpose. She was not certain why, but the thought stung.


"What does this all mean?" She narrowed her brows, having no interest in sharing her private thoughts with her captor. She wanted to know exactly what he was planning. "If you think I will simply sign these documents, ending my marriage to Vegeta, and then turn around and marry you-"


"That is not what I think; it is exactly what is going to happen. You will sign these documents, you will vow to become my wife, then I will have my war, and the Vegetabatsu will finally fall."


The sound of horse hoofs were all that could be heard for some time as the pair stared at one another. And then finally, Bulma spoke up, her disagreement simple but resolute, "I will neither sign those documents nor marry you, and nothing you can do will convince me otherwise."


He laughed at her, laughed at her! Did he think her a joke? Because she was not joking, far from it. She would die before allowing millions of innocents to be sacrificed on the altar of this man's egocentric pursuit of planetary domination. "You do not have a choice, my dear," he paused his chuckling to explain, "we have already been well on route to my territory for some time. It shall only be a matter of time before we arrive to a private reception in which you will either vow to become my wife or-hm-well there actually is no 'or.' So resign yourself to the fate, my dear." He lifted the papers to her once more. "Sign," he insisted, handing her the quill.


For a split second she recoiled, as if preparing to attack him, and then abruptly her entire body relaxed. Releasing an exhausted sigh, she submissively lifted her arms to clasp the quill and the document. "Clearly, I have no choice," she sat back from him securely, and waited until he eased back on his side of the carriage before she dropped the quill and clasped the annulment with both hands. She managed to rip the document into four ridged pieces before Nexus reacted violently, restraining her with the weight of his body as he tried to salvage the document.


"Bitch!" he hissed while winding his fingers around her slender throat. She was no longer any use to him now that he could not dissolve her marriage.


"You have to let me go," she boasted while grabbing at his massive hand, trying to pry it from her throbbing neck. "If you harm me now, you will ignite war against the Vegetabatsu and Tomabatsu, and you will lose." The backside of his calloused hand came down across her left cheek, knocking the wind out of her as she fell ungracefully against the cushion of the back carriage seat.


"This can be repaired," she heard him claim as he fumbled with the torn parchment. "And you," he bruised her right arm with his blood-stopping grasp as he hauled her upright, "will not try anything so foolish again, because make no mistake, my lady, I will beat your fiery nature out of you until all that is left is a meek shell of a woma-" His threat was promptly jolted as the carriage suddenly grinded to a screeching halt. "What the hell is going on?" Nexus' attentions were temporarily stolen as he yelled to the coachman.


"Nothing to worry about sir, there is just a drunken man blocking the trail. We will deal with it swiftly."


"See to that," Nexus turned back to Bulma, offering a false apology for the interruption, "Yes, now where were we? Oh yes, I was lecturing you on the dangers of having too much spir-" Nexus found himself interrupted again, except this time it was the sound from his coachman screaming. Sounds of a scuffle then followed. It seemed the 'drunk' who had crossed their path was causing more trouble than had been anticipated. More footsteps and screaming could be heard, and Bulma surmised that the carriage she had heard following behind them had unloaded and charged at whatever was causing them such problems.


"Sounds like you have the situation well in hand," she could not help her sarcastic tone.


"Stay here and shut up," she found herself being thrust against the sidewall of the carriage again as her abductor jumped out his side of the coach to assess what was going on. He had to be some degree of halfwit if he truly believed she was not going to use this opportunity to escape.


Pulling out the hairpin that had already been on the verge of falling out after all of Nexus' manhandling, she jimmied open the lock he had falsely hoped would keep her caged. Pushing open the door, she, as quietly as possible, jumped to the ground. Intending to make a run into the covering of the surrounding woodlands, she found herself stalled by the sound of Nexus' voice.


"Ah, a brilliant plan. Pretend to be a lost drunk and then catch my men off guard with your completely sober fighting tactics. Not bad, but I am afraid you have no hope against me. I am the best swordsman on the planet."


She wanted to spit, hearing his boasting, but to her pleasure the man, or at least she assumed her rescuer to be a man judging by his stature, did not move. In fact he did nothing but stand completely still, a blade in his hand, his body and face completely shielded by a long brown cloak. He said nothing as he lifted his sword towards Nexus, jerking the blade slightly towards himself, a clear invitation for his opponent to advance.


He did.


Bulma knew she should take her chance and run, but her eyes were completely entranced by the battle. Something about the hooded man's movements, his technique seemed eerily familiar. No, it did not matter. She had to get away; this may be her only chance. Tiptoeing back to the second carriage, while her captors were either distracted with battle or unconscious, she managed to steal one of the spare swords for protection, before she took off for the woods.


She ran, and ran, and ran until she felt the wind completely knocked out of her. She did not know where she was, but it did not particularly matter to her. She simply had to get far enough away so that Nexus could not find her, and with any luck, she would stumble upon a village where she could barter the fine blade she had stolen for a horse and directions back to her home. Home, she could not help the irrational curiosity to know if Vegeta was concerned for her, missing her, or hell, if he even cared she was gone. Not that it mattered, of course. She knew she was just a means to prevent, perhaps now instigate, a war with his enemy. It should not bother her how he felt. She certainly did not care.


Collapsing on a tree stump, Bulma found herself at the end of the uncharted path she had taken. She was atop a small cliff that overlooked a beautiful waterfall, one that tempted her to dive in, washing away the stench of Nexus, but she resisted. She had to find a way back to her home before Nexus found his way to her. Not a few moments later, she brusquely believed she was too late.


"Ah!" she screamed in alarm after feeling a hand touch her shoulder. Jumping to her feet, she turned around, lifting her sword, preparing to defend herself when she realized it was not her abductor who found her, "It's you." She did not know who 'you' was specifically; he was simply the man who had allowed her a chance of escape from Nexus. So why had he followed her? Was he a mercenary? Had Vegeta offered a small fortune to have her brought back? Was it money this man was after, or was it something more sinister? Perhaps he intended to pick up right where Nexus had left off, abducting her for his own cruel purposes. She had no intentions of finding out.


"Stay back," she warned while taking a few steps away from him, keeping her sword poised for anything. He lifted his gloved hands, as if to prove to her that his intentions were not of a violent nature. She wanted to believe so. "Who are you?" she demanded; when he did not respond, she asked a second time, but he seemed no more inclined to answer, instead he took a step forward, a move that sent her a step back, a step too far.


"Bulma!" A male voice, one she had not heard in over two years called after her as she fell into the freezing depths. She could not breath, she could not see, all she did was feel the cold until two familiar arms wrapped around her body, pulling her to the surface. Gradually, she felt herself being lifted out of the water until finally she was laid out on the soft sand of the shoreline. "Bulma," she heard the concerned voice again.


"Kakarrot," she whispered thoughtlessly before her eyes slowly opened and absorbed the sight of her now twice savior. "It can not be," her hand glided up to circle his damp cheek, "You're alive."


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