Castles and Wits

Chapter 3 - Bulma's Fear

It was noon, and Bulma was dressed in her riding outfit. She felt even gloomier than she had that morning - it seemed the more time that passed, the worse she felt. She couldn't believe she had agreed to letting the Prince accompany her during her training. After all, she hardly knew him!

"What's with the face?" The Prince asked. Bulma looked up and saw him leaned against a stable wall, dressed in a blue suit and white boots. Much different from how she had seen him up until now.

"What face?"

"That - never mind." Vegeta pushed himself from the wall. "So, which one will I be riding?" Vegeta slowly approached her. Bulma took a step back. She wasn't expecting his movement.

"Erm, well, you can ride this one over here. He's nice." Bulma gestured to the brown horse on her right.

"And which one is yours?" Vegeta took another step towards her. She decided to stand her ground, instead of backing up again. "That one over there. The Black stallion."

"Alright." A smirk lined his lips as he peered at the Princess. "Let's do it, then."

The horses were already saddled and ready to go, having been prepared by the servants earlier in the morning. Bulma led Vegeta to hers, giving the horse an affectionate pet on his long nose.

"Do you know how to get on a horse?" She asked.

"Do you ?" He couldn't help but to shoot back. Bulma merely laughed, turning her back to the saiyan. "Of course I do, watch,"

And then she mounted in one swift motion, kicking a leg over the horse as she settled into the saddle.

"Mph." Vegeta huffed. He walked to his horse, and instead of following the Princess' lead, he levitated into the air before easily plopping down on its back.

"Isn't that cheating?" Bulma asked.

"I got on, didn't I?"

The morning passed fairly quick, and despite her sadness about Yamcha, the Princess found herself laughing quite a bit. Why, she couldn't help but giggle when Vegeta struggled to control his horse.

"Stop doing that!" Vegeta growled at his horse. "Listen to me right now!"

"You know he can't understand you, right?" Bulma laughed. "Why do you talk like you're having a conversation with him?"

Patiently she showed Vegeta how to steer the horse, teaching him to kick its sides when he wanted to go, click his tongue when he wanted to trot, and how to say "giddy" when he wanted to gallop.

"Giddy? What a ridiculous sound!" Vegeta tssked.

"Just do it!" Bulma jeered. Rolling his eyes, the prince said it. So quietly that Bulma could barely hear, but the horse sure did.

Off it went galloping , Vegeta shouting an obscenity as it went. Bulma laughed and egged her stallion on. Soon she had caught up to the saiyan. "Race ya!" She called.

"Like hell you will!" Prince Vegeta replied. He was competitive by nature, and even with a ridiculous sport such as horse riding, he refused to lose. "Giddy, damnit, giddy!" He snarled, frustrated as Bulma gained the lead.

"Ha!" Bulma crowed. She looked over her shoulder and winked as she went, and the saiyan couldn't help but smirk. Once again he found himself wondering if she knew how flirtatious she was, because she made it seem so natural in her personality. She wasn't trying at all, he could tell.

"Eat my dust, sucker!" She joked, kicking her feet to encourage her horse.

"Hey." Vegeta snapped out of the momentary trance, competitiveness coming back at full swing. "How dare you leave me behind!" He kicked his feet, as Bulma had just done. The problem was that he did it a bit too hard. In one sudden movement the horse lifted its front legs in the air, bucking Vegeta off.