Visiting the Village

(set a week after Broken Nest, Kakarrot and Raditz have been on Earth approximately one month)

Sometimes the universe has a sense of occasion, or at least a sense of humour, even if none of its occupants notice it. Which is possibly why, almost fourteen years to the day Geta walked out of the jungle for the first time, Master Moo-shun found himself once again waiting at the edge of the village and watching Geta make his way through the foliage, followed by several figures. Geta smiled and waved when he saw his old friend.

"Master Moo-shun! I should have expected to see you here, shouldn't I?"

"Quite probably," the martial artist nodded agreeably. "It seems like just yesterday I met you coming from this path for the first time. I take it you have some friends you wish to introduce me to?"

"Yeah!" turning, Geta waved the figures with him forward. "Master Moo-shun, these are Raditz and Kakarrot! They arrived about a month ago, and they're really cool! Guys, this is Master Moo-shun, master of the village dojo and one of my oldest friends, in every sense of the term!"

The young man behind Vegeta stepped forward. He was the tallest person Moo-shun had ever seen, taller than Moo-shun's own six foot five, and he had never expected to see hair like that. His ki level was probably around what Geta's had been when he first arrived and he was – to Moo-shun at least – obviously not human. Geta had been young and a blank slate when he arrived, and even with his hair and tail and various other quirks, he had been human enough that Moo-shun had been fooled. This youth… it was as if one of his beast person students had taken on human form all of a sudden. He looked almost human, but there was a slight sense of otherness to him, one Moo-shun doubted anyone but a ki-sensing master would be able to sense. And, as always in instances such as this, there was the slight tang of fear that came from facing the unknown, the different. Fortunately, Moo-shun was well-versed in how such fear was beaten:

By allowing the unknown to become familiar.

Smiling warmly, Moo-shun bowed. "It is an honour to meet friends of my best student. Though I believe I must apologise for a grave wrong I have done you, Geta."

"Wrong?" the flame-haired youth frowned. "What wrong?"

Moo-shun turned so he faced all of the group, including the messy-haired young boy clinging to the tall youth's shoulder, and Yamcha and Bulma, who were standing close enough to be supportive but far enough away to give them space. The old man gazed at Geta seriously. "When you first arrived in this village, I told you that you were human. However, I begin to think that this is not the case."

"That's right," it was not Geta who responded, but the long-haired young man, "He is Vegeta, crown prince of the saiyan race. I am Raditz, and this is my brother Kakarrot." He gestured to his shoulder at the messy-haired boy. "We only recently arrived on your planet."

"'Arrived on our planet?'" Moo-shun blinked. "I would accuse you of playing along with one of Geta's jokes, but I believe you to be in earnest. I will be frank, though – I would not have expected the alien theory to be the correct one."

"I know, right?" Geta chimed in, "I'd been leaning towards time travel or scientific experimentation myself – I didn't think aliens existed!"

"Thrilling as this all is, we came to town for a reason," Bulma interrupted, stepping forward, "You two," she gestured at the newcomers, "Are coming with me to the market to get some decent clothes. Geta, you are coming with us to make sure we get to the market. Yams, you stay here and fill Moo-shun in on what's been happening this month." And with the air of someone who hasn't even considered the possibility her instructions won't be obeyed, Bulma set off. And, as so often happens when such a tone is taken by someone who knows how to utilize it, things did indeed happen as she said.

Kakarrot hopped off his brother's shoulder and scampered over to the woman. "I want an orange shirt!"

His brother scowled and went after him. "You can't have orange, Kakarrot, it's a weak colour!"

"Yeah, but there isn't anyone left to beat me up for wearing it while claiming to be a warrior!"

"It's the principle of the matter!"

"Actually, here on Earth, orange is just another colour – it's more pink certain people take issue with," Bulma remarked casually, "Lots of strong people wear orange."

Raditz snorted. "Next you'll be telling me pale purple isn't a warrior's colour."

"Actually…"

"…you've got to be joking."

Moo-shun watched them go with a smile. "You certainly do seem to be finding some interesting friends recently, Geta."

"Yeah, they're pretty great," the shorter male smiled back, "I really should go with them to make sure they don't get lost – mind if I tell you more later?"

"Not at all, go on."

"Thanks! Bye Master Moo-shun, Yamcha!" and Geta ran off after the others, waving back at them as he did so.

Moo-shun laughed at turned to Yamcha. "So, we seem to have been thrust into each other's company for the moment. Come back to the dojo with me, and we will work on your abilities."

Yamcha fell into step next to him. "Don't you want to hear about Raditz and Kakarrot?"

"Of course. But I have also known Geta for most of his life, and I think this is a thing he should tell me about himself," the old man smiled. "Now, pay attention as we walk – when we reach the dojo, you will list all the people we met on the way there, from lowest level of ki to highest, starting now."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Geta walked quietly beside Bulma as she led Raditz and Kakarrot through the market like a queen, procuring clothes for the younger brother first, including several orange shirts, to his great delight and his brother's annoyance. Currently she was looking Raditz up and down and sighing.

"If you were even a few inches shorter, we'd be fine. As it is… we'll have to go to the tailor or the city. And given how twitchy you've been since we got here, I'm thinking the tailor's a better idea at the moment."

Raditz folded his arms, scowling. "I don't need more clothes – the ones I've got on have plenty of wear left in them."

"Okay, one, no, just no, your armor looks like it's going to fall apart any second now., bringing me to my second point, which is that people don't wear armor as clothing around here, and finally," she put a hand on her hip and glared right back at him, "You look like a scruffy space pirate, a look which has been in style absolutely never! And Bulma Briefs does not allow fashion faux pas like that on her friends!" she tapped a finger to her lips, considering, while Raditz gaped at her. "Actually, thinking about it, the sporty look's in right now, and martial artists come in a stupid variety of shapes and sizes - come on." spinning on her heel, she strode off again with purpose.

"How and why do you put up with her?" Raditz growled as he and Geta trailed after the blue-haired genius again.

Geta shrugged and grinned. "She grows on you – and she's fun! Watch this – hey, Bulma!"

"Yeah?" she glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Your hair looks stupid!"

During the next twenty minutes, they acquired several sets of gi-style pants for Raditz in various shades of copper brown, several dark tank tops, and placed an order for some proper boots (all of which he learned he would have to take off if he wanted to go Oozaru), and Bulma and Geta argued over which of them, exactly, had the stupider hair the entire time, with every apparent sign that they were both enjoying themselves immensely.

In fact, the only reason the argument ended when it did, as far as Raditz could tell, was that Kakarrot got punched. He'd gotten bored and wandered across the square to watch a fight that had started between a group of rough-looking characters and a girl in what seemed to be traditional blue and pink clothes. Geta had glanced over when the fight started, then turned his attention back to Bulma, which Raditz took to mean that interference was unnecessary. Or something. Honestly, he wasn't much inclined to interfere anyway. Heroics were a good way to get yourself killed or captured, in his experience. So he didn't pay much attention – Geta had said power levels were pretty low around here, Kakarrot could handle himself.

He looked up at the shriek of rage in time to see the girl (who had apparently won the fight) rear back and punch his brother smack in the face before stomping off. As he watched, Kakarrot stood up from where he'd fallen over and watched her go, looking somewhat dazed. Then he wandered back over to Raditz, rubbing his cheek where it had been struck. Raditz smirked at the young teen's serious expression.

"I've found my future mate."

Raditz snorted at the declaration. "No you haven't."

Kakarrot glared indignantly at his brother. "Yes I have!"

"You're fourteen, brat. No one finds their mate at fourteen!"

They were still arguing about it when they arrived at the dojo.

OoOoOoOoO

Everyone was surprised to find out that Geta was an alien prince. Then they press-ganged him into finally admitting that humans don't have tails, and he sulked but did it. Also, I think this is the point in this series where I confess that if you think you glimpsed a DBZ Abridged reference somewhere… yeah, you totally did. I freaking love that show! It's the only thing I allow myself to reference in these fics besides mythology (since DBZ is roughly based on The Journey to the West, as we all know) and the original manga (and sometimes anime).

It's interesting how different colours mean different things in various societies, like how death is associated with black in Western culture, but with white in many Eastern cultures. The idea that orange is considered a weak colour by saiyans, whereas pale purple is a strong and/or masculine colour is one of my earliest bits of headcanon for saiyan culture, and it's still one of my favorites. I like the idea of Vegeta sniggering to himself about the Turtle School gi, or going 'well, if it couldn't be black, at least it's badass' when he first saw Trunks' hair. And considering the ridiculous array of martial artists we see in DBZ, I'd think they carry a crazy range of sizes for gis and basic work-out clothes.

Bulma and Geta are fun to write together, they have such a good time with their verbal spars. Also, while it's not mentioned in the fic, Raditz's new boots are lavender. He thinks they're great, and Yamcha just doesn't have the heart to tease him about them. Bulma totally does, though it falls a little flat. ;) And now our newcomers have Earth-type clothes! Woo!

Also, hi Chichi. Nice punch.

Chichi

Age: 15

Height: 5' 1"