DB series Story collection

Point of no return II

"Don't you want to eat, kid? We probably won't eat for days once we start on our new assignments, which will be as soon as Vegeta's healed and ready to go."

"Oh," Trunks said in realization. "Well, I guess I could eat when Vegeta eats."

Nappa laughed loudly at that before turning and heading towards the door. "If you like bloody body parts, sure. Suit yourself. Vegeta's diet will suit you just fine." Trunks paled a bit at his words, staring after him.

Trunks shook his head, fairly certain that no one would willingly eat bloody body parts. Nappa must have just been busting his balls. The teenager hesitated momentarily; now that Nappa had brought up food, his hunger was suddenly overwhelming. He was debating what to do when he realized that if they were eating, then surely there would be some utensils there. Maybe he could take one and salvage it into some kind of tool that he could use.

A split second later, he tore after Nappa.

Nappa snickered when the teenager fell into stride with him. Trunks glanced at him sheepishly.

"I guess I am kinda hungry."

"Well, you do have Saiyan blood," Nappa laughed. Trunks cracked a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, looking around him at everyone they were passing by. They walked in silence for a while, before he looked over at Nappa. "Is it always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Just... I don't know..." Trunks struggled to find the words to convey the deadly intense atmosphere of the base. With everyone wearing scouters and armor, it had an incredible military feel that Trunks had never experienced. He realized Raditz wasn't kidding when he referred to it as an army. "It's like everyone wants to kill around here."

Nappa snorted, "Don't worry kid. You'll get used to it."

"How long did it take you to get used to it?" Trunks asked curiously.

"I was the commander of the Saiyan army. This isn't anything new... though the respect could be a hell of a lot better," the Saiyan remarked in a bitter tone. "Well, here we are."

Trunks looked at the room Nappa had led him to. The first thing he thought of was that it looked like an enormous military-style mess hall. There were old, dirty tables filling the room with soldiers of all different shapes, sizes, and races all sitting about while they ate at a near frantic pace. Trunks grimaced a little as he followed Nappa inside. Each table was filled with something that looked like food, and the soldiers were all digging in with their bare hands.

Nappa led him over to a smaller table where Raditz was already sitting on the worn bench type of seating accompanying each table. Nappa took a seat next to Raditz and smirked up at Trunks.

"Dig in, kid," he laughed.

Trunks eyed the food laid out on the table, trying to hide his disgust but not really succeeding as he tried not to gag. It didn't look appealing in the least. It looked like a horse had been slaughtered, skinned, chopped up, then left on the table for a week. On top of the odd-looking meat was a coat of gray slime that looked more like something out of his mother's laboratory than something he should be eating. There was something that looked like a huge square loaf of bread next to the slop, and Trunks was grateful to see something a bit familiar. On the far end of the table was a large bucket. Judging from the other tables and the other soldiers, that was what they had to drink from. Unfortunately, there were no plates, napkins, or cups of any kind.

And worst of all, no utensils he could use.

He sat down quietly across from the Saiyans who were digging in using only their hands, eating like this was a buffet free-for-all. Trunks decided it was best that he breathe through his mouth as he removed his white gloves, putting them down in his lap. He then reached to a small piece of the meat and ripped it off, forcing back a gag when he saw that it was dripping in something that looked an awful lot like blood.