-Birth of Nimbus
Onyx eyes stared into the distance. It was a vast desert, barren except for the cacti and large mushrooms littered around.
The voice that received his full attention was rough but with a certain swaggers that made it more comfortable. The voice of somebody who knew how to get what he wanted. Though that confidence had cost him a handful of times.
"Okay kid, you want to be fluid and fast like rapids. Flowing around your obstacles, not through them. Sometimes power isn't enough. Even the alpha wolf knows when to get out the way."
The young Son shifted into a basic defensive stance. An easily malleable one, ready to be made from the ground up. It wasn't a knew experience, not entirely, to be trained but what he was trying to accomplish was massive.
"Your quick, I'll give you that. In a dead sprint across the island you'd probably beat me ten times over. But what you lack is agility, reaction. You've used power all your life, but sometimes you'll have to chip the enemy down to get the result." the desert bandit got into his stance. Loose both arms flowing. His energy flowed like it, fluctuating and rippling, but still wonderfully steady.
On a pure skill, at the very basic level, if our whole group were to fight at an even ki. This man could destroy us in terms of quick light attacks, wearing us down as he flowed around our attacks.
That's why Gohan was learning from Yamcha, ex desert bandit, baseball player, and Z-fighter.
"I always thought the best way to teach was to do, So..." the human incarnation of wolf tilted down, in an offensive stance. "Let's go!" He charged.
The cliff area had a beautiful view into a flower covered valley. The waterfall held his gaze for a time before he turned his full attention on his teacher. The cliff area had a beautiful view into a flower covered valley.
The voice was rough, no mercy, get the job done. Like a true soldier, trying to train until he couldn't anymore and then continuing on pure willpower alone.
"You try to win anyway you can, that's good. But desperation is never a good trait. There's a fine line between tenacity, trying and trying to do what seems impossible, and simply denying the inevitable. Know your limits and break them. Pick your fights and more importantly, your moves, carefully."
The basic stance had shifted, loose but focused, he'd refused to let his arm hang behind him as Yamcha had suggested. It reminded him to much of his greatest victory. Nonetheless it was still more relaxed, slightly swaying with the air currents. Now he would add to it.
"Flailing around to attack will be your downfall. Sometimes its not how hard you hit, victory is decided on how and where your attacks land. Concentration is key in this. You need to know three things, what hit you're making, what hit is going to follow, and what move you're opponent's going to make. Know that and the fight will be easier, know it three moves and advance and you'll stand a chance against a real fighter."
He crouched into an even stance, arms angled forward and facing his temporary pupil.
His concentration was unmatched when paired with his vicious precision. Each blow calculated. Each one equally as deadly as a direct blow to the head. It wasn't in the power. It was in the execution.
That's why Gohan was learning from Tien, ex mercenary, lifetime bodyguard, and Z-fighter.
No preamble just a straight charge began the first of many training sessions.
An island, a single part of an archipelago. One of the few masses of land not destroyed by the fights that have occurred here. It was beautiful nonetheless the sound of the ocean captures the teenager's ears before his newest teacher came into his vision.
Nervous, and joking, a tad bit self-conscious, proof that what you experienced as a boy shaped your path as a man. Naturally defensive and quick with his tongue, he'd grown (sadly not in height) into a fierce competitor,
"I don't need to tell you how effective it is for the gazelle to weave and duck the cheetah's charge, or how only the strongest men know when running can be the best answer. You've seen it before."
That was definitely the truth. On the small emerald planet, in the outer reaches of the north quadrant, running and sneaking had just about saved their lives.
The stance remained the same still, basic but fluid, like water. As his hands flowed his eyes searched scanning his opposition for an opening, the exact weak points of his body.
"I'm not saying to run from your problems, no, you know that that doesn't work, but if you need time to think, to plan you're going to need to evade. The key to evasion is to keep a clear head but always stay aware. Use your environment for an advantage. You plan, you scheme, and you frustrate your opponent."
Instead of a stance the student turned teacher faced the opposite direction. A pure white aura erupted from him.
Resourcefulness was his forte. He was unmatched in making the most of his environment. A simple rock was the same as a mountain to him. A way to escape. If he wished it, he would never get caught.
That's why Gohan was learning from Krillin, ex monk, Turtle Hermit, and Z-fighter.
"Now! Catch me if you can! In your base form!"
The island was small and familiar, the pink island served as the true start of his life and he offered it a small smile.
The voice was smooth, sultry, but monotone, robotic like. It was too perfect in it's sound and emotion couldn't weave it's way through, either that or the owner found no reason to show much emotion.
"It's simple. You run, they can't catch you. That won't happen if you get caught. Get caught and you can find your life not a problem anymore."
The stance was still loose from his first lesson, his eyes still wracked his opponent's weak points like his second teacher had told, but now his eyes and senses took in everything. His brain worked like the world's strongest computer, calculating his environment and any and every possible route.
His eyes roamed for a second...
"Eyes up kiddo, I'm taken," she really didn't seem to care, just said it as a reflex. He immediately complied. "Use the air around you as your guide. Become in tune with it. It can tell you where the path of least resistance is, the safest path to go, and where your enemies are. Like I said earlier, it's simple. Marron could understand it."
She raised an arm, locking it in place as she took to the air. A pink form of Ki appeared locked dead on the chest of the teen.
Her speed was second to none. The grace and efficiency of her movements was a vision. She used everything she had to maximize her attack count. She gave her opponents openings, just to watch their faces fall as she danced, and it was a dance, away from her opponent.
That's why Gohan was learning from #18, former killer android, Mother, and Z-fighter.
"We're playing cat and mouse." She gave a sly smirk, firing a warning shot that barely missed his arm. "Run, mouse..."
The atmosphere in the gravity room was suffocating as usual, the pristine white walls were almost blinding, but the only other thing to look at was the grey control panel at the far wall, covered by the a sturdy casing.
The voice was unforgiving, prideful, and mocking even in the mist simplest form of speech. A simple look from him could make half of the beings in the galaxy shiver in fear, one taunt could make them wish they were dead.
"I'm only going to say this once, so you better listen carefully. Half of the battle is won before it even truly begins. Put your enemy under pressure and they will mess up. Let your Saiyan lust for battle shine through. When your victim looks at you all they should see is a raging Oozaru, a controlled warrior, the golden shine of a true Super Saiyan.
There was no stance, the demi-saiyan was leaning against the wall, per his teachers orders. There was no fighting this time. That was the reward for his tutelage. Even so his eyes roamed his opponent for weak spots. His feet were shoulder length, ready to move and dodge with the most minuscule of signals.
"Get into your opponents mind. They are yours to beat mentally, the simplest smirk or glance can make them bow before your power or become more confident. No all that you do. Don't boast too much. False courage isn't frightening it boost their own confidence. One statement is all that is needed to make a victim bend to your whim. During battle make them crumble with the simplest of ease. Treat them as a training dummy. Take pride in the fear in their eyes."
He signaled for the Son boy to stand in front of him. He dropped into a stance and his fellow Saiyan followed.
The master of taunts and mockery. As mentally tough as they come and able to read an opponent like a children's book. Every action, the slightest movement exuded all of his pride and more. The confidence of a dead... his dead warrior race.
That is why Gohan was learning from ex-Planet cleanser, Z-fighter, and the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta.
The scene was familiar. His first day of training was in this exact place. There was still the large crater where he'd taken out the sizable mountain his first real damaging attack.
The voice was gruff, blunt, and stoic. Achingly familiar and even more soothing. Through thick and thin he's been there, a mentor, a second father, and a friend. The saiyan let out a blissful sigh.
"Familiar isn't it, brat?," a joking smirk, reserved for the Son boy graced his emerald features. It lasted but a second before it was replaced by the normal indifference of the Demon King. "Have you ever watched, truly observed a feline in the midst of a hunt? They are unique, infinitely smarter than they appear. Cornering, leading the pathway for their opponents to be caught in an unwanted situation. That is how you must act. And yes it is acting. People believe that defense is mere reacting but you can and will use defense as an instigator, leading your opponent into a mistake that you can capitalize on."
The stance was loose yet sturdy, pressuring, the Son boy's eyes were closed, finding his inner warrior, the raging beast that lay dormant. His eyes opened the same onyx orbs with a different feel. He took delight in his original master's lapse in concentration letting out a wild battle hungry smirk. He let the air currents around him dictate any possible escape routes keeping his eyes focused on his mentor as though he was a threat that needed to be dealt with. His mind ran beautifully planning out the flow for the different ways the battle could go. He let out a silent chuckle. It was like he was applying string theory for a fight.
"Heh. Vegeta's teaching has been good for you. I almost forgot what a crybaby you really are," a fanged smirk.
"Big talk for someone green with envy."
He let out a barking laugh showing his sharp fangs in their full glory. There was a small but definite smile on his face as he continued his teaching. "Lead your opponent to you. Trap them. Get them comfortable, too comfortable, wait for them to drop their guard and then at the last second, act. Take your openings and make them your opponents greatest downfall."
He got into a stance similar to his student's the only difference was how his were more sturdy, more immovable object than water.
The teacher of the Earth's most powerful fighter, he lived up to expectations. It was true that his student had surpassed him, in power, far surpassed him. He closed the ever extending gap with more cunning, mire conniving ploys, his poker face and ability to bide for time were second to none in the heat of battle.
That was why Gohan considered Z-fighter, ex demon king, and his original and original teacher Piccolo as his mentor.
Wide black eyes darted from left to right spastically taking in this new environment. He'd never been this far from home before! The sound of the clearing of his mentor's throat caught his attention and he turned to give his full attention, saluting with his sleeve covered hand.
The voice was calm and a bit nervous. The teacher took a minute to close his eyes and take a breath reading the signs of the world around him. Listening for the trees and the animals, for the winds and the stream. This was his playground. His safe place his training ground.
And now he was going to tell what he learned to his little brother.
"Okay Goten, first things's first you've got to relax your body and let it flow...
He'd teach as he'd been taught.
Calm, decisive, aware, cocky and calculating.
That's why Goten Son was learning from high school student, the strongest Z-Fighter, and his brother, Gohan Son.
And this is a one shot that I made for no reason, there was a lot and I mean a lot of road trips that I had to make this baseball season and that time was spent writing stories whether it be one shots or the two personal stories I'm working on, Little Deaths and Trapped.
Speaking of Little Deaths... go bug Patreca, my partner in crime for that story and tell her to write oe of her own.
That being said I finally found my muse (I think I misused that word...) for my two main stories, Learn Something and Emerald in the Rough, that have taken quite the back seat and as such for the five days of the summer that are left I will (attempt to) devote my time to them. Because I love you guys ad you deserve better than I've been treating you.
Anyways... Thanks for Reading!