DBZ X-Readers, Vol. 2

Cell x Reader Pt. 8 'Consumed'

It didn't take long for you to start feeling like you'd made a terrible mistake.

You spent three days trying to stay away. It was three miserable days of trying to escape notice, of trying to get the courage to leave the forest and move into the city, of feeding from animals; it was easier than trying to find fruit or wild vegetables or anything, and you were damn sure it wasn't safe to go to where you thought the lab was.

There was a constant stream of conflicting signals. You were desperate for him, you wanted nothing to do with him. Every moment was an agony of indecision.

And after you finally gave in and went back...the egg was...

Well it wasn't gone. It was cracked wide open, right down the middle.

He'd left the egg, obviously. But if he wasn't there then where was he?

That other form, the little one, maybe Cell walked off like that. There should be some kind of tracks you could follow. At the same time you wondered if he was back to his bipedal state. But if he had, you were sure you'd know it. He'd have come after you.

Right?

He had no way of knowing something hadn't chased you off, necessitating your leaving his egg where you had ...right...?

You were relieved when you found the slight prints in the dirt, and floated carefully so as to avoid scuffing them more than you had already. ...it looked like he'd turned briefly in the direction you'd gone, but...

...but then it seemed as if he'd turned back.

Where was he going?

A few hundred feet later, you got your answer in the form of a hole. A small pile of dirt in front of it told you what little you were still puzzled by. Well...he made sounds like a cicada. Maybe he had to burrow underground like one too?

But how long would he be down there? The underground period of those creatures varied wildly. Would it be one year, two, five, ten, seventeen?

No. No, it wouldn't be that long.

You'd just have to wait, that's all.

________________________________________________________

When you heard a gunshot a few days later, you were both relieved and terrified. Relieved at the idea of seeing another living person, and terrified because...well...

...but curiosity got the better of you and you ended up flying in its direction.

Thankfully, it only appeared to be a hunter. Or was it a hiker? Either way he had a rifle and a big backpack with him.

Your tail twitched, and inwardly, you chided yourself. You didn't need to eat him. There were animals for that. It was wrong to eat people.

At the same time, though, you hadn't been full since you got here, not really sated.

Maybe he had other, normal food with him...? No. You couldn't just rob him.

You followed him carefully overhead as he moved in the general direction of the river. From the treeline you could see him setting up a campfire, and then a short distance away he threw something onto an empty patch of ground...

Oh! A capsule house!

It was small, probably no more than a one-room cabin. There seemed to be solar panels on the top, though, and an air-conditioning unit half out one of the two windows.

You wanted it. Immediately.

But again, you told yourself that you couldn't just take things from people simply because you wanted them. Cell might have worked that way, but you didn't. Well, wouldn't anymore.

Over the next few hours, he caught several fish and strung them up over the fire. You weren't a fan of sweetfish, but nevertheless the smell was...how long had it been since you'd eaten any meat?

Too long, you decided.

You moved down behind a tree and continued trying not to simply go over. It wasn't even just the food, it was...it was seeing another human. A normal human, and then not having to eat them, or fear from them. At a distance, it was...nice.

As the sun made its way down and it began to get darker, you started to get hungry as well. Once again, the instinct to pounce was present. It would be easy. And there were things he had that you needed, or could find use for.

One doesn't blame the lion for eating the antelope. Cell's words, ones he'd repeated several times, rang in your ears and you cringed.

When you looked back to the fire, the hunter was gone. Briefly, you panicked. But then you thought, he wouldn't have brought that gun along for no reason, he was probably thinking of--

"What th'hell're you?"

There was a gun muzzle pressed into your back.

"I--I was just--"

"And why've you been followin' me?"

"How did you know I was following you?"

The gun drew back.

You turned around, but didn't otherwise move. The hunter still had his rifle pointed at you, just not directly pressed against you. Your tail curved outward a bit.

"I figured something was. Now, lady, you got to the count of three to explain yourself--"

"But I haven't done anything!" You protested.

"I don't take kindly to thievin' types, either. Again, you got 'til I count to three to tell me what you were doing before I blow your brains all over this tree."

"Look, I--"

"One."

"I don't mean to--I was just--"

"Two." He pumped the rifle.

You shut your eyes and just as he was about to call "three" forced the end of your tail into his back.

"Ah!" The hunter fell forward--whether more out of shock or pain, you didn't know. But you weren't ready for him to try anything more.

Pulse, contract...

Food...

The hunter tried to get up but it was only a matter of seconds before he was unable to. Within a few minutes, he was gone, save for the clothes and the gun.

You picked up both and headed back to the campsite. The clothes were tossed into the fire, and the gun...well, you weren't sure what to do with it. You couldn't just keep it.

You moved into the capsule house, the inside of which rather looked like a traditional hunting cabin. There were a few fox heads on the wall, and one or two mounted fish. There was a cabinet which you found held MREs (you wrinkled your nose at that), dried fruit, and various little tinned foods. There was a bed in the far right corner, a very nice four poster.

The left side of the cabin seemed to have a wardrobe and a gun cabinet (which itself had a collection of oddly shaped knives in the lower drawers), as well as an easy chair.

The bag he'd been carrying was next to the easy chair and within it you found mostly food and water, but there was a first aid kit too. And, you were silently happy about this--a wallet with a decent amount of money in it.

Spoils, you thought. Exp up, found items.

If anyone found you you'd just say you were a lady friend of his or something.

And then you'd just have to...

...well, you weren't doing this because you wanted to. You were doing it because you had to.

So before you could reason yourself out of it, you went outside to put that fire out, once you were sure the clothes were all burned), then headed back inside and lay down on the bed.

It was odd.

You'd gotten used to cots. Or uncomfortable beds.

And you'd gotten used to Cell being there.

It took you hours to get to sleep.

Not that you would admit the reason.