Read and enjoy!
Note: The setting is post-GT. Deal with it. B)
The forest was one stretching shadow as midnight came and went, the deep sky void of a moon. Stars were pinpricks, endless in a way only the country mountains could boast. Nocturnal creatures cried out their routine songs. Trees swayed noisily as the wind shifted through their branches. The wind itself howled.
With no warning at all, every sound dropped. The breeze abruptly cut off, the trees stilled. Animals and birds silenced their calls. The woodland was suddenly motionless, not a single living thing stirring. The silence would have been deafening to human ears, had they witnessed the phenomenon. Nature was quiet in an unheard of spectacle.
That silence was quite soon to be replaced, as a single star blinked, then grew brighter. What had once been a gleam the size of a pinhead increased with astonishing speed, and the forest was lit by a striking white glow. It wasn't the Earth's resident star, the signal for morning. Rather, it was a new occurrence altogether, with the single star expanding till it appeared the same size as the moon from the planet's surface.
Animals dove for cover when it finally ceased growing, hanging blindingly in the sky. Birds screamed in warning. The center of the star was becoming tinged with red, concentrating with each second. Soon the forest area was draped in a scarlet light as the star glinted bloodred. It flashed once, then twice.
It was gone. The light vanished, the star back in its usual place, as though nothing had happened at all. But something had, in fact, happened. The startled animals cautiously crawled out of their hiding spots, and followed a strange new scent to a particular spot. They carefully crowded, attempting to unmask this unfamiliar aura that had befallen the clearing in the middle of the woods. The grassy clearing shone unnaturally, glowing softly with a white light that was swiftly vaporizing. Curious, a young dinosaur crept closer to the center and sniffed loudly.
All the gathered creatures startled when a hand twitched, then the other. They slowly stalked closer again when there was a low moan. Not heeding his mother's frightened call, the baby dinosaur let out an overjoyed huff of breath, thinking he had made a new friend. He whined quietly and licked one of the hands sloppily until it moved again, this time curling its fingers. The baby wagged his tail excitedly.
The young man under a painful barrage of licks took a renewing breath, the corner of his mouth gradually rising. After a wet lick over his face, he opened glowing white eyes and laughed.
~!*!~
It was getting harder with each passing day. By nightfall, he could hardly walk. The young dinosaur that had befriended him could sense it, too, as he snuffled around at his legs, emitting quiet whines. The only way he could get the little one to settle down was by placing a hand on his head, but he could tell by the way his fingers trembled that the action would become less comforting as time went on. The baby tried his best to help, curling up against his side as he had done since the day they had met, however long ago that had been. He couldn't remember.
He winced as the dino nudged his ribs with its bulky snout. They hadn't been together long, but already he knew they were in some way bonded emotionally. The little guy could sense his rising distress and did everything it could to ease him. It worked occasionally, but only for a short time. His mind simply wouldn't rest, meaning his body hadn't fully rested since the several days he'd been here in the forest.
He was tired, though it might have been an understatement to say so. He was exhausted, mentally and physically. It was all so incredibly strange. He had woken a few sunrises ago, but ever since then he had been impossibly weak. Couldn't sleep, could hardly eat whatever the young dinosaur thought to brought him-raw meat usually. Whatever he could swallow only came back up shortly after, draining him further. His limbs felt heavy and useless, no energy whatsoever. That was how it had been ever since he had awakened, but why? He supposed he didn't care about why as much as how to make it go away. He did't like feeling like this at all.
Staring absently down at the dinosaur head resting in his lap, now snoring softly, his vision blurred and faded. He despised, feared, this feeling that he could...could die at any given time. He could die. The very thought made his jaw clench fearfully. In the deepest recess of his mind, the idea of passing on made him tremble. It was some kind of primitive fear, he guessed. It didn't make much sense, how terrified he was, considering how badly he suffered. The small part of his mind that still functioned well made him wonder why he was so afraid, when he should more likely be embracing the concept of dying to escape.
He was in pain, head throbbing, muscles aching, lungs burning, albeit much duller now than when he had first come to-that part was scary enough. The pain was slipping away, and that, he deduced, meant he must be closer to death than he liked. By thinking about it for too long, his teeth would begin to chatter. He hated it, hated it so much. But why? He didn't care. At this point, he just wanted to not be gradually losing ground.
The little dinosaur suddenly jerked his head up and aimed it toward the entrance of the small cave they rested in. Rumbling footsteps and loud grunts signaled the return of his parents, bringing dinner no doubt. The baby got up and started to dart out excitedly, then paused, looking back with big sad eyes. His friend smiled reassuringly and gave a slight nod. The dino lowered his head a bit, but did as told and ran out, crying out his welcome to the adults.
All his less-than dinosaur friend could do was watch with a sinking heart. He didn't like to act as depressed as he felt around the little guy; it affected him too. But it was hard to keep one's hopes up as they felt their strength deteriorating with each hour, unable to do a thing. He bit the corner of his lip and looked down at his reclined body. A long-time issue reentered his mind for the millionth time.
The clothes he wore. By now they were grimy and nearly indistinguishable with tears, but he remembered first seeing them when he woke up. They were nice, he supposed. Baggy white pants, scarlet sash, gold belt. He found out the hard way, thanks to dino, that he wore earrings, nearly having them torn out by razor sharp teeth. The gold necklace formerly around his neck lay nearby, dented and slobbery from being used as a toy. He couldn't care less about it, anyway. What he did care about was...why he couldn't remember where the clothes hade come from.
It aggravated him to no end for some reason. Maybe it was silly, but he felt as though he should remember. As though the memory were there...but he couldn't reach it. Frustrating, to say the least. On that note, he had no idea how he had gotten to these woods in the first place. He just remembered waking up, and the rest had sort of gone by in a blur. He had no recollection of anything beforehand, which bothered him much, much more than not knowing how he had gotten some clothes. All memory was gone.
So here he was dying and amnesiac. What a way to end life... His brows lowered as his legs faded out in his sight and he blinked hard. It didn't help, everything was still fuzzy and dark. His breathing sped up and his eyes widened slightly. He couldn't get rid of the darkness anymore, instead it lingered like a bad taste. A bad taste that was slowly causing him to panic. He was dying. Yes, he was definitely about to die. His whole body was shivering with fear as he hugged his arms closer. He didn't want to die.
After a few moments, he resorted to squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaw to keep his teeth from rattling too badly. He had to calm himself, otherwise he would go into a panic attack, that much he knew. But it was too hard. His body was collapsing around him and it was terrifying. His breath caught in his throat, serving to make his heart skip a beat. No, no, no...no dying. Not tonight. Not ever, never. He could hear his own gasping breath and pounding heart, louder than thunder during a storm. Beyond that, he could feel more than hear himself choking, hiccuping, trying desperately not to give in to himself. It was too much, too much...
"Rrrrrah?"
He gasped and pulled his head up. There was the baby dinosaur standing over him with huge dark eyes, looking both confused and fearful as he held an animal leg in his jaws. When his person-friend looked back down, breathing raggedly, he dropped the leg and stepped closer.
"Urrrr?" he purred confusedly, deeply concerned. He could tell his friend was in pain, but he didn't know why or what to do. So he settled on gingerly curling up against the man's side.
Taking in gulps of air at a time, sweat dripping down his nose, he glanced down at the young creature snuggled next to him, its own chest rising and falling much softer. Just seeing the dino made his heart slow its pace, his breathing still rapid but calming. He was there, he was alive. He wasn't dead. He was very much alive. Closing his eyes again, he let those words overflow his mind. He was alive.
Opening them again, he found the giant muzzle of a parent dinosaur sniffing the entrance, sensing the distress pouring off him in gallons. He couldn't help but crack a tiny smile. They may not show as much affection, but he knew those two vicious carnivore cared for him, just a bit. There, that made him feel better. He could feel the fear melting away.
Still, he chewed his lip again and took a shallow breath. His cheeks were cold and wet from tears he hadn't even noticed slipped out. There was no need to worry now. He was okay. After all, the dino was with him. Yet...at the same time, the gnawing ominous feeling refused to leave his empty stomach. He wasn't in the clear, far from it. He had managed to survive this episode, but he got a strong feeling it was only of more to come.
Except this time he denied it. He would not allow himself to sink into that despair again, he could not. Both for his and the dinosaur's sake. He very well may not survive the next attack, and he couldn't possibly do that to his little friend. The baby would be crushed. No, he would continue to live. Somehow.
Right then, he suddenly made up his mind. If he survived this night, he would gather up every drop of non-existent strength he had left come morning and head out to find help. Anything would do, or anyone. He refused to die here. He would find someone to bring him back to health in any way possible, just so he could be with the friend that kept him alive all this time, simply by being by his side.
That, he promised himself.
~!*!~
"Mom, I'm home!"
ChiChi looked up from her seat at the table, wearing a small smile. "How'd it go, Goten?"
Her youngest son paused, a strange look on his face as his hand subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck. She twisted her lips at him once she noticed he wasn't meeting her eyes. "...Not so great?"
"You...you could say that."
"What happened? And put your stuff away first."
He glanced down to where he still held his dark blue carrier bag. ChiChi resumed sipping her steaming mug of tea, absently reading the day's newspaper. She enjoyed nights like this, drinking warm tea, listening to the heavy rain beating against the roof and windows. Unfortunately, she didn't get very many of them.
Then she looked back up when she noticed her boy hadn't moved from in front of the closed door. She placed her cup down with concern. "Is everything alright?"
Goten blinked, startled out of his thoughts apparently, and met her eyes. Her motherly instincts suddenly kicked to max mode. Her precious baby boy was sad, it was easy to tell by his ever-so open eyes.
"Goten, what's the matter?" she asked worriedly, standing slowly. He predictably looked away with a shrug and started walking away to his room.
"Nothing's the matter," he tossed back casually as he briefly popped into his room to undoubtedly throw his bag on the floor, along with the rest of his belongings. Right now, though, ChiChi felt there were more important matters than a clean bedroom, surprising as it was.
"Something is," she insisted a bit firmly. "You have your father's eyes-they're like a book. Like it or not."
He hesitated in his trip to the living room, sparing her a quick glance before sinking into the couch with a tiny sigh. That only made her even more curious, so she nonchalantly settled down on the cushion beside him. The television wasn't on; he simply sat there, staring out the window. He truly was like a printed book, as easy to read as the pages. That didn't mean it was a good thing.
"Honey..." She placed a light hand on his arm, forcing him to look at her. "I can tell something's bothering you, so just tell me. The date-how did it go?"
He looked away again, this time chewing the corner of his lip. It looked like he wanted to spout the whole story, but something was keeping him back. She realized he was beginning to act more like Gohan than his father in the way he acted sometimes. Much more reserved, while still mostly upbeat, deeper in thought, actually using his brain. Little things like that tipped her off. It made sense though, she thought with an old sadness that had been buried away. He had spent considerably more time with his brother than his dad.
Right now, he was showing his Gohan-Side. That is, until she crossed her arm and gave him her best executed 'mother' look, a turn of her lips, a raised brow. At that, he looked away much more quickly and rubbed his neck again.
"It's just..." he said quietly. Yes, she was getting somewhere! That look always worked with both Gohan and Goku. "Yeah, it didn't go so well."
"What happened?" she urged softly.
"She dumped me."
He sounded blunt, but she could tell he was a little more affected than he let on. Her brows lowered with concern. So that was it. She couldn't say she had experience, neither did Gohan, but she tried her best to relate. She could only imagine what must have been going through his head.
"I'm so sorry, Goten..." She squeezed his arm comfortingly. "But I guess she wasn't the one."
"No."
"...Was there anything else?" She couldn't help but feel he was still keeping something.
"Well...I guess it's not my business, but I'm kind of worried about her." His cheeks held a hint of red as his eyes aimed downward.
"Worried?"
"Yeah, see the thing is... Today, when she-we-broke up, she left with another guy. I don't wanna make assumptions, but by the way they were acting, I'm thinking he was her new boyfriend. And...ugh, I don't know."
ChiChi could only watch with hidden confusion at his words. He sounded so conflicted, but to her, if it was the girl who called it off, then it shouldn't be his problem. But then again, she knew nothing about this sort of thing. Still, she again attempted to be the empathetic mother.
"What is it?" she asked. "Something about the new guy you don't like?"
He nodded slightly. "You know Valese; she's super...she's just so-"
"Gullible?"
"...I was going to say 'innocent' but I guess that works." The two shared tiny smiles before he launched back in. "Anyway, the guy was just so opposite, if you know what I mean. Like some kind of gang leader."
"Really?" Her brows raised. This certainly wasn't good, and he had reason to be worried.
"But I couldn't say anything. I mean, they seemed happy. At least she did; he just sort of scowled. Heh...reminded me a bit of Vegeta, if he were a tatooed teenager."
There were a few moments of silence. Then there was no stopping the abrupt flood of loud laughter from the two as soon as the dam broke. The mere image in both their heads was hilarious enough to last them a good five minutes of unrestrained laughing. After a while, they trailed off once the scary reality of that picture occurred. The Saiyan prince as a gang leader... Suddenly they were vaguely reminded it wasn't so far from the truth.
"Uh..." Goten cleared his throat, but there was still a glimmer in his eyes that made ChiChi herself feel better. She hated seeing him any less than joyful. "A-anyway..."
"You should tell Bulma about that next time we see them," ChiChi joked, winking, and he began laughing again.
Then silence reigned supreme again. This time, however, it was a somewhat pleasant quiet, a light-hearted mood still in the air, the rain still pouring. This was how she liked it, enjoying some downtime with her son, even if the original topic had been a bit dreary.
Both of them suddenly jumped at a white shock of light, followed almost instantly by roaring thunder. Outside the nearby window, they witnessed the strongest part of the day-long storm. Wind howled obnoxiously loudly, trees of all shapes and sizes bending at its will. With a barely audible snap, a rotten tree at the edge of their view collapsed, sending off a new whirlwind of leaves as it collided with the mud ground. The two watched, transfixed, as strike after strike of lightning whitened the dark room.
It was impossible to not reminisce back to years ago. Goten was three, cute as a button, and curled up in a blanket on the couch. The night was very similar to this one, dark and gusty, thunder almost constantly rumbling. The little boy was only half a face as the rest of him was bundled in an old red blanket. At a particularly loud boom, he jumped with a squeak and hid the rest of his face. He always hated storms, no matter the size. Not long after, though, his mother came to the rescue. She scooped him up in her arms, causing him to give a small laugh even though he was scared. She would tuck him into bed, still wrapped up, and covered him with his bedsheets. He would complain that he would melt with so many on.
Now he was an adult, yet he still held onto her for comfort in times of need. She smiled wistfully as he continued to stare out the window. Perhaps she wasn't the champion at all things romantic, but she helped in every way she possibly could. And it seemed to have worked. The gleam was still in his eye from their comic break, and though he was still clearly concerned, she had succeeded in consoling him for now. They would get to the next part when it came, and she would be there again.
Nights like these were golden for thinking. She only wished there were more thunderstorms to enjoy.
Thump. Tunk.
"Hm?" They both turned at the sound, coming from the front door. The noise stopped.
Scraaatch.
"Is someone clawing at my door?" ChiChi exclaimed indignantly as she swiftly got up and flew over. The scratching was much to loud to be a stray cat or another familiar animal. Must have been a flying tree branch or some other type of debris that was currently being tossed around. She just hoped her front door hadn't been damaged, not mentioning she had painted it only a month ago.
She carefully opened the door, fearful of heavy rain and wind getting into her clean house, peering around the edge to inspect the outside surface. What she found was not what she had expected by a long shot.
"Goten, come here!"
Goten stood up quickly at her shriek and rushed over, exclaiming, "What? What?"
He gasped. There, on the doorstep of their house, lied a limp figure. A man, by the looks of it. Goten wasted no time in crouching down next to the person, ignoring the dangerous weather. He seemed to be unconscious, a brief check revealing that he was breathing, but faintly. No time to waste. The demi-Saiyan didn't bother looking to his mom for confirmation as he hoisted the man up as much as he could. The guy was heavier and bulkier than he had first anticipated.
"Bring him inside," he heard ChiChi instruct loudly over the winds. "To the couch."
"Alright," he grunted in reply, then frowned down at the man halfway held in his arms. "Hang in there, big guy."
The unconscious man was a good deal taller than him, causing a slight issue in the way he was carried-or, rather, dragged inside. But Goten did his best. He pushed the questions out of his mind for the moment as he focused solely on getting the person to safety. Judging by how frigid his bare skin felt, he had been out much longer than doctors recommended.
ChiChi was waving to him like a traffic director, occasionally putting in a frantic word as she worried about how he was carrying her latest 'patient.' He mostly ignored her, unable to change anything, and made it to the couch. A few more difficult maneuvers and the man was lying flat, almost half the length of his legs hanging off the end.
Temporarily shooed away by his mother, Goten hung back as she knelt beside the man and inspected him quickly. He looked to be in some kind of pain, breathing raggedly with his mouth hanging open for air, trembling head to toe, brows knit tightly. It was hard not to feel sorry for him as Goten waited for further instruction. He was no expert at this stuff. Now, maybe if Gohan had been there it would have been another story.
ChiChi finally stood again and gazed down at him with furrowed brows. She turned around to her 'assistant.' "Go get a towel so we can dry him off. Poor thing's as cold as ice."
"Got it." He darted off, and came back seconds later holding two beach towels, which were the first he could find.
They set off drying him as best they could, ChiChi taking the top half, Goten the other. He got stuck with ringing out the man's sopping pants, which almost left him with buckets of water. He didn't complain-how could he possibly? He, for one, really liked helping people, and this man desperately needed it. Despite being in a much warmer environment, his breathing only seemed to decline as he would frequently give a rattling cough that made Goten cringe. He sounded awful. All the more reason to hurry.
When he glanced back, his mom had paused in her drying, towel clenched absently in one hand. The other was gently fingering his face, which made Goten stop as well.
"Mom?" he asked slowly, one eyebrow raised high. She only glanced back briefly before resuming.
"He's got gold earrings," she stated, not sounding the least bit affected by his odd staring. That stopped once he realized she had simply been brushing back his wild black hair to get a better look.
"Gold, huh?" He leaned forward to see. She was right; two gold loops made themselves known. "Where...where d'you think this guy comes from, wearing clothes like this? Almost looks like royalty." He had been joking on that last bit, but it did appear that way to be honest.
ChiChi only shrugged then went back to rubbing his well-sculpted biceps with the towel. "I don't know. But I intend to find out once he wakes up."
He nodded, and started to work again as well only to be startled by a loud noise, once again coming from the door. A thunk, like something large hitting the wood. ChiChi scowled in that direction. "Please, I don't need another one at my door."
Goten chuckled, then got up to check out the noise. He opened it cautiously, but then widened it upon seeing what was on their doorstep now. He blinked. "Er...hey, little guy."
A baby dinosaur-a T-Rex, by the looks of it-stared up at him with giant dark eyes. The two stared for a few moments before Goten gave it a crooked smile.
"What's up?" he asked it, bending over so he was at its height. He and dinosaurs had a good history, so he was sure they had spread good stories about him to their friends. Maybe this one was among them?
It sat there on its haunches with a lowered head and whimpered sadly. He frowned. It looked so depressed for some reason, like if it hadn't been a dinosaur it would have been crying. He didn't understand. Then the baby peered around him into the house, whining growing louder and more anxious. Goten glanced back, and suddenly it clicked.
"You were the one scratching on the door the first time," he said with realization. "Were you..with him?"
The baby cocked its head and stared up at him again until he caught the affirmation in its eyes. It still didn't make sense, though. Why would the baby dino be with him? Were they buddies? Goten had gotten plenty of friends like that when he was little, so he understood. But a grown man...? He was no one to judge, that was for sure. His dad had animal friends even now.
"Well..." He sighed. "Sorry, I know you're probably worried. But you can't come in. My mom-"
"Goten, who's there?" she called on cue.
"Just a baby dinosaur friend," he answered casually. He could sense her pause.
"...Don't let it in the house!"
"Right." He looked at the creature apologetically. "Sorry, little fella. Go back to your parents."
He closed the door, catching the baby whine again before it was blocked off. He felt bad, truly he did. But there wasn't anything he could do for it. Instead, he went back to the passed out figure on the couch and continued to squeeze water from his muddy pants.
~!*!~
Thank you for reading!
