It was just another night in late April. Nothing would have given away anything out of the ordinary happening that night. Piccolo couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning for what seemed like hours. He was sweating. Suddenly he arose, panting heavily. One of those freakish nightmares again. He had had those for weeks every now and then. Tonight, he seemed to have them constantly, starting from the very second he had managed to fall asleep, even if for just a few minutes. He looked outside his cave. The sun wouldn't rise until in a few hours. But he decided to head outside. Since he couldn't sleep he might as well be awake. He landed by the river under the waterfall right underneath his cave which situated roughly 30 feet above the ground. He took a sip of water and washed his face. He sighed anxiously. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. If this kept going on, nothing good would come out of it. He hated being this tired. It made his concentration weak, plus lowered his tolerance of any type of annoyance. Piccolo figured it would be the best not to see anyone until he would get proper rest again. Even seeing Gohan would be out of question. No matter how much he cared for the kid, he knew he was most likely doing both of them a favor this way. Gohan didn't mean any harm, but sometimes he got on his nerves. And he didn't want to upset the kid by snapping at him for something he normally wouldn't.
Suddenly Piccolo felt an unfamiliar ki. Had it been any other situation he wouldn't have paid any attention on it, but now he got a feeling there was something unusual about this one. Yes, he was right. It was the same ki he had felt the night before, and a couple of nights before that. Back then, it had faded almost as soon it had appeared, so he hadn't had a chance to do anything about it. The ki gave him a strange vibe, now that his full attention was on it. It was like no other ki signature he had ever felt in his life, nothing like any human's or some other life forms' he knew. The signal wasn't very strong, and as its location could have been far away, so Piccolo decided to check it out before it would fade out again. Heck, he didn't have anything better to do anyway. He arose in the air and took off to the signal's direction.
He flew for a while towards an unfamiliar location, until he felt the signature fading and disappearing all of a sudden. He cursed his bad luck, but thought to keep on flying to the direction where he had felt the energy coming from. Soon he felt it again, but this time only briefly. He was getting close. He looked down. He had no idea where he was. Nothing looked even remotely familiar. Right underneath him was a forest that covered the land as far as the eye could see. Well, at least it seemed like that in the dimming moonlight. He kept looking around until he spotted something that differed from the view. A tiny, dark, plain area with no trees. Suddenly it let out a ghostly glimmer. It was just then he realized it was in fact a small pond reflecting the moonlight that had just re-appeared from behind the clouds. He decided to land and have a look around as the moon disappeared again behind the clouds.
On the ground, Piccolo soon learned this wasn't just any, your typical forest you'd see anywhere. There was something about it that felt out of place. Left alone, of course, the fact that he didn't recognize even a half of the vegetation around. It was quiet. Too quiet. He couldn't hear anything within a miles' range, aside his own breathing and heart-beat. It was as if the entire forest was asleep… or dead. The thought made a cold shiver travel down his spine. The Namek wandered along, making as little sound himself as he possibly could. He didn't know where he was going, but something told him to go on. The moon re-appeared again, easing the ghostly impression around the forest a little. Piccolo walked on, until something made him stop. Had he heard something? He stood still for a minute. Yes, he definitely heard something. It was barely audible; it was thanks to his extremely good hearing he could even pick it up. It sounded like humming, but sharper. More delicate. He went on towards the sound and little by little discovered it was music. Someone was singing, and very beautifully, for the matter. The closer its source he came, the more enchanting it sounded for him. Soon he realized he had arrived by the pond he had seen from above. The stars and the moonlight glimmered playfully on its surface. He felt again the ki he had felt before, and wondered if the person who was singing was also the source of this unusual energy. He grouched further, hiding behind an old and large white willow tree and looked towards the sound. Piccolo's eyes widened and his heart nearly stopped at the sight. He shook his head closing his eyes and looked again. No, he wasn't seeing things. About 10 feet from him was a young woman, bathing. She sang a mysterious song in a language he wasn't familiar with and she had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard in his life. She had a long, wavy brown hair that went under her waist. Her eyes were like two sapphires and her lips reminded him of rose petals. Her figure was slender and very feminine. Her breasts… Piccolo felt himself blushing and he swallowed at the sight. Her skin was a beautiful shade of jade green and she had pointed ears like his. She had a pair of golden earrings hanging from them. His heart fluttered. The light wind carried her scent to his sensitive nostrils. The smell was intoxicating to him. He closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to reveal himself, but it was hard to keep himself from doing so. That moment, he wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to know who she was and what she was. And why he had never seen her before. Never had he felt this way before and he didn't bother wondering why all of a sudden this female had awoken all of these sleeping emotions and desires he didn't fully understand. But he didn't have time for thoughts like that now. He leaned closer to see her better, but his balance failed as the branch he has been holding from suddenly snapped and he fell. The singing stopped that very second. Piccolo cursed loudly as he stood up and glanced around quickly. The girl was gone. He tried to locate her ki, but it failed. Nothing. As if she had never even been there the first place. He glided over the spot he had seen her and spotted something glimmering on the shore. It was one of her earrings. He picked it up and looked at it closer. At least he now knew it wasn't just some mirage. He would find her again, somehow. He had to. A warm feeling filled his heart when he held the golden trinket. He examined it closer and just out of curiosity tried it on a finger. It fit perfectly on the fourth digit of his left hand. He kept looking at it, dazed, for minutes until he suddenly yawned. It wasn't until then when he finally realized how tired he really was. He sat down under a tree close by and closed his eyes. He fell sound asleep immediately and slept peacefully the rest of the night.
The next morning he woke up in his cave. At first he wondered if it all had been just a dream after all. But then he noticed his finger. The ring was still there.
