Twelve Eyes Total: The Four Children of Ginyu

By Son Rhandi

Chapter 2: "Tea and Crumpets"
 

"Get away from me!"

"Sir, please quiet down..! We have other patients trying to recover..!"

"No! I'm not letting you take my shirt!!

"We need to remove the bullet..!"

"I was shot in the arm, not in the chest! If you need to do all that then cut off my sleeve!!"

They, that is to say, the four boys, rushed their mentor to the medic as soon as that mysterious azure man turned the corner. They couldn’t be sure, exactly, of that man’s motive, the shady azure man bringing disorder with his derringer. Who would—on the blue, blue Earth—dare bring harm to their Master, that old man who'd came in with the wind and cared for them like a father..?

"Whoever he was... I say, whoever he was..." Jeice whispered in a quiet fury. "He'll get his. He will get his..." He pounded his fist into the opposing palm.

"Indeed." The larger humanoid growled in agreement, his clean-cut, clean-shaven look subtracting from the overall ferocity of his appearance.

"Thank God he used a derringer... Thank God it was only a derringer... Guldo clutched his boar skin cloak, wrapping it around himself for an attempt for self-comfort. Indeed, it was a lucky thing that he’d been wounded with that particular weapon. A pistol would have caused him more pain. A shotgun wound in the right place would have crippled his arm. A military rifle could have well taken it off... Berter felt a slight shiver down his spine. The smell of gunsmoke, the fear of metal between his eyes, that metal which had felled his alpha, albeit only a tiny derringer...

"……You would fight for that horrible man..?"

What horrible man would fight Master?

"You boys! Don’t be fooled by that scoundrel!"

He's no scoundrel; He--

"If you wish to learn the truth about that man, come to the Brindlekat Tea House tonight on the sixth hour!"

"Brindlekat..."

"Berter..?" The white rabbit looked up at him with a childlike innocence. "You're not thinking of going there, are you?"

"Uh?" He hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud. "...No. No, of course not..."

"Excuse me..."

The attentions of all four were turned to the voice, the woman nurse popping her head  in the doorway. "Um... You're the ones who brought in the Minotaurus, correct? We've removed the bullet, so you all can come back to see him now."

Oh, how he loathed Freeza, that despicable cur, that fleshmonger. From the start of his teenage years to his twentieth he kept him as his callboy, playing whatever games he so pleased. And on his twenty-first, with a knife he so cleverly hid beneath the mattress during the last stage, in the Dragoner's throes, Zarbon stabbed him at the neck, his crimson blood staining the perfect satin sheets, those which that boy—that man—had so come to hate. The head of the dog  was now cut off. All that was left was to burn the body, that nasty body made of steel and stone and whose parts were scattered all across the western continent...

"Argh, I feel so silly, lying in the street like a frightened, little animal. But I think I understand how they feel when hunted like that. It makes me rethink a few things."

"Are you all right, Sire?"

"I'm still up and talking to you, aren't I? That should say something, I think." He grinned, rubbing his dress and relieved that the doctor and nurses took his advice to cut the damned sleeve. "I guess this means I have a bit more explaining to do than I'd planned... Phooey."

"G.L.B."

The Minotaurus started. He took his attention to the foot of his bed, where Berter was knelt to meet his level. "You keep jumping at that abbreviation; I want to know why," He said in an icy tone. "Why did you respond when that man called that out? What is the significance of those three letters?"

"We’ll get there, my boy. It’s neither the time nor the place for any of that just yet."

Berter scoffed. "It's never the right time or place for you, is it..? I’m beginning to think my suspicion five years ago was well founded…"

Ginyu blinked, feeling a little hurt by the statement. "I guess I can't blame you for saying something like that. Would you rather that man tell you, then, all about me? Or at least what he thinks he knows?"

"I'd rather that man tell me what reasons he had to harm you."

"He......" The older man settled back against the headboard. "I remember his face. He's very familiar, and yet...... Nothing. I don't know where nor when I know him, or what I might have done to him, but I think we'll all find out soon enough. Things just tend to work out that way."

It was always more fulfilling, destroying things to a waltz beat. The chimes were his favorite. They reminded him of falling teardrops. An oboe in the right key sounded like a bawling babe. It was a beautiful thing, watching that factory go up in flames, that place where he'd originally been sent, a slow waltz tune in his head and upon his lips, the smoke thick and black as his hatred for that organization, K-MUTTS: Kold's Mutts, its symbol the head of a border collie: a riley, black dog that rounds up sheep.

Freeza was such an idiot, he though snidely. It was his own fault that it happened; the old pervert brought it on himself, he who had sent the lad around the factory as an errand boy during the day. Of course, no one would think anything of it to see him afoot on his own and without shackles. He'd slipped out of that place one day and traveled to a town a few hours off for a barrel of grog and to the alchemist a bottle of poison. "Here. A gift from Master Freeza for your hard work" were his exact words, presenting to all the guards of the barracks steins of tainted grog. And, of course, they thought not of it and drank them down, taking themselves down as well. Ho ho, and from their paralyzed bodies he stole the keys and set those children free.

An older boy, an ogre whose name he found to be Dodoria, thanked him and offered his services for a quick way to dispose of the bodies. Originally, it was Zarbon who had he idea to burn the bodies in the furnace, but it was Dodoria who took it a step further and decided to play with oil and gunpowder. Oh, what one hot coal could do...

All stitched up he made his stay at the inn with his children in tow. They all paid his bill, that minor surgery and cost of emergency in-patient. He apologized for it, the spendage of all their coins, but they found it no trouble. Master was still Master, alive and healing and doing his best to normalize their situation.

"So, did you boys have fun today?"

"Mm-hmm. I bought jerky for all of us! Moose!"

"Excellent," Ginyu breathed his approval. "I haven't had moose in years. Recoom?"

"Shave and a haircut. Like it?"

"Yeah. You reminded me of one of those Nordic folk all unkempt like you were. It's an improvement." Recoom grinned.
"And how about you, Jeice?"

"Chewing tobacco. A waste of money, I'm afraid."

"Tobacco?" The Master's face faulted. Then, under an odd notion, he chuckled. "Well, of course it was. Have you ever known a rabbit to chew strips of burnt leaf and tar?"

Jeice ran his fingers though his hair and laughed along side him. "And Berter, I know you had a good time, even though it was through poor judgement on your part. But you're still young and have plenty of time to get it right. I won't chide you on it too much."

"...Thank you, Sir," the blue lad replied, blushing but otherwise composed.

"Ooohhhh...... What a tiresome day..." He yawned, stretching his arms outward. "What time is it, one of you?"

"Um..." Guldo looked to the window. "By sun's face, about three and twenty-four."

"Okay, then. Here's what we'll do: Wake me on the seventh hour, no later. We'll talk then, so if you're going out, don't be late. And I'll kindly remind you again to watch out for painted women... And boys... If you want to go to speak with that man...... I won't ask, that is, I...... Well, you know, it's really none of my business..." He kept his eyes closed and smiled warmly the entire time, desiring not to show the hurt of his own words through his eyes. "Well, then, leave an old man to rest, won't you?"

What is it you're hiding, hmm? Are you a criminal on the run, or maybe a free knight? You're a lot more complex than you care to admit, Master G.L.B... I'm beginning to resent you for it. Would it be all right to enter this place? But like you said, it really isn't any of your business... But still, is it fine to both love and hate someone? Won't one emotion overpower the other eventually? No, no. This has nothing to do with my feelings for him. I've got a right to know just who it is that I've shared my life with for the last five years, don't I? This is nothing more than a background check.

Yes, a simple background check.

Indeed, that place was Brindlekat, a large, wooden sign of a cat mottled with blacks and browns and oranges hanging above the doorway. Though a little early, he did find the place. An hour to go, now...

Seven and fifteen and the boy was late. Seven and thirty and he was annoyed. Seven and forty and he felt betrayed. Seven and forty-one and the boy was back.

"I thought I said the seventh hour and no later?" Inquired the Minotaurus, doing good to hush his ire.

"I'm sorry, and about more than just this, too..." was Berter's soft-spoken reply, draping his cloak along the nearest free bed and taking a seat. "I trust, Sire, you've yet to do any speaking?"

"No, my boy, due to your less than fashionable lateness, so let's start." He shifted his position and sat straight up in his bed. "I'm sure you've all grown tired of calling me the same three names, right? So--"

"No. Start by telling us why it is you just... showed up one day."

"I wanted to live a peaceful life with a few chil—"

"Don't give me that!!" The blue one barked. "That’s all you ever say! I want the whole story, Master G.L.B!!"

"......Of course. I guess it'd be proper to tell you the whole truth, not just things I want to keep to myself. Jeice..." Tucking a thumb under the buttoned flap of his shirt, he began to undress. "Is this what you saw that day on the covered wagon?"

The rabbit's eyes grew wide as saucers. On his chest, emblazoned on his orchid chest, was a tattoo of the head of a Border collie, the same he'd saw all those years ago. "Master......?" He choked.

"I'm sorry, Jeice...... I was, at one point, in leagues with those people, that organization, K-MUTTS; The very same responsible for all your miseries..."

"But you......" He began, just barely above a whisper, his throat constrained with grief. "No, you... You helped us and...... and...... you said you weren't...... but you are...... you lied..?"

"No, I didn't lie. I was never a slavetrader, never. Don't cry, my boy..."

"Don't call me that!!" Jeice shouted, his voice cracking. "How dare you..." He spoke in a choked fury, hot tears streaming down his face. "How dare you call me your boy... You, a K-MUTT--Kold's mutt!--a dog that rounds up sheep... A dog that kills rabbits!!"

"Please, before you pass judgement, let me finish. The abbreviation, G.L.B., stands for 'Grand Lavender Bull'—colorful, isn't it?—which is what I was known as in K-MUTTS. Coincidentally, the initials are also that of my real name, Ginyu L. Blazenbul. I was at the right hand of its leader, the man Freeza, son of Kold, clan of Icezephyr. They dabbled in a lot of things, mostly child labor, weapons manufacturing... Pillaging was more recent, running out inhabitants of entire cities so that we—they might use the landspace. That's how Hunds went."

Berter's eyes narrowed. "So you knew after all, then..."

"Yes. I was sent to the factory north of Hunds. They'd said that four children escaped during the night... I went out, but I had no intention of looking. One day, I just decided I wasn't going to be apart of it anymore. I grew to hate the institution and everything it stood for, so I said my good-byes to K-MUTTS almost six years ago."

"That man, Zarbon......"

All eyes fell on Berter. "I went to him, which explains my lateness. He said, at first, he was in a factory west of Arches, but then you came and took him from that place to see Freeza. He hates you for that, for bringing him to see that man."

"Zarbon...? ......Oh. ...........Ohhhhh...... I see now why he shot me, that poor fellow... I'll explain this as delicately as I can. Freeza... ...That is, he......" Ginyu sighed. "Freeza was just a horrible person who took an unhealthy interest in children. That's really the best way I can put it."

"So," Recoom began a recap. "You were sent out to go looking for us... You found us, but you didn't turn us in......." His brow furrowed, his gaze set to the hardwood floor. Then, eyes clear, he looked to that old Minotaurus and said: "You were willing to change, so I forgive you. I still love you as Master, not as the Grand Lavender Bull, not as the dog that rounds up sheep..."

"I don't care, really. No one's perfect. And besides, you made up for it by taking us in rather than turning us in." The little frog smiled.

"I think I understand now just why you were so secretive all the time." Berter rubbed the back of his head. "......You're still an okay guy, I guess. I can't complain too much since you didn't turn us in."

Ginyu looked as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "I wasn't lying. I really did just want a peaceful life. Just me and a few kids."

"You think by taking care of us, it makes up for all the horrible things you done running with those other dogs?!" Jeice growled, a little unusual for a rabbit. "I’ll stake my soul that Zarbon wasn’t the only child you sent to that man!"

"Well, you’d be right, I’m afraid, but I can’t turn back time, Jeice. You have to understand what’s done is done. The most I can do is try to make a better person of myself."

"Don’t… Don’t tell me that!! I’ll never see Mama again! Never!! And it’s all because of you and your pack!!" Pushing past his brothers, he stormed out the room, down the stairs, and out the inn. The boys began chase, shouting after him. "Silence!!" The Minotaurus roared. "Leave him, let him go. He needs some time to think things through."

"But, Master..!" Recoom began his argument, his eyes reflecting a desperate concern. "We… We can’t just let him go off into the night! You said yourself the jungle had dangers around every turn..!"

"I know, I know…" the older man sighed, burying his face in his palms. "Berter, go after him. He’ll probably want to know where Zarbon is."

The boy blinked. "Sire..?"

Ginyu threw the sheets from his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting so as to face away from his proteges. "Congratulations, lads. You’ve all graduated to higher levels. It’s time for a few more tests now, here in this jungle Posing." He rose to his feet. "Berter, should Jeice decide not to come back, stay with him and form your own pack."

The wolf grimaced. "Come now…" He said, not needed to see the boy to sense his emotional discomfort. "Don’t you think it’s kind of silly for your alpha to be a bull? Go on, you’re almost a man now. Take care of your brother."

He crinkled his muzzle as tight as it could go. "Master Ginyu! I tire of being your student! After these final tests, promise me when we return that I… That we can call you ‘father’!"

For a moment, his ruby eyes glimmered with a spark of happiness. Ginyu turned to Berter, his lips pulled back in a smile. "My boy, when you return, you can call me whatever you wish."

"Fine, then! A promise, remember!" He rushed to the top of the flight and bayed with all the pride he could muster: "I’ll be back soon! And with Jeice! That’s my promise to you!"

 Next: Save Us, My God