Yin and Yang 3
Disclaimer: DBZ belongs to Funimation, and Highlander belongs to Rysher. Not me, unless something strange like body switching happens, and I wide up male. I hope not. I am not making any money.
Bura looked at her watch, and hoped that she wasn't too conspicuous at the diner she was waiting in. She had no idea when the Old Lady was going to show up, and she had gotten there earlier.
She sighed to herself. A whole day of shopping, wasted.
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Karen was flying along behind the large green form in front of her, wondering where they would be going.
It was a pleasant day for a flight, she mused, feeling the sun warm her back through her well-worn clothing.
She still didn't know anything much about the tall alien, although sometimes her curiosity wanted to eat her alive. As far as she knew, this guy didn't know anybody either; where were they going?
Her question was answered soon enough as the approached a small house in the middle of the forest. Her eyes scanned the area, and she felt an extremely powerful ki there. The house that she assumed was their goal, looked like a combination of a normal house and one that could have passed for a space ship. She blinked; it was one of the strangest houses she had ever seen. What was wrong with the roof?
"What is it?" Piccolo asked, sensing that his sparring partner had stopped. He saw her suspended in the air, with a baffled look on her face.
She didn't answer, but pointed at the house.
"What about it?"
"When did they start building things like that?"
"Uh-"
Fortunately for the confused Namek, Gohan had sensed their arrival and was heading up to them.
"Mister Piccolo!" shouted Gohan joyfully, seeing his mentor.
Karen just looked at him, and wondered why he seemed strange to her.
Right, old girl, he seems strange. So does the green alien, and you are a nearly two thousand year old immortal.
Snorting to herself, she turns her attention back to her 'friend' and his student.
"Who's this?" asked the boy, looking at the rather hobo-ish appearance of the woman with his teacher.
"I am called Karen," she answered, and bowed slightly.
Gohan didn't look impressed.
Karen smiled faintly back.
Piccolo coughed. This was something out of character for him; he usually let silences linger. Unfortunately, they were there to do something, and that meant actually talking.
"We are here because Karen is going to South City, and that means she needs to know the way there, and it would be a good idea to stop and for her to clean up a bit…"
Karen didn't know about that part, and glanced at him quickly.
"Things tend to change while I'm in the woods," she cut in, seeing the odd look on Gohan's face. "Piccolo was taking me somewhere I could ask for directions."
The young man's face cleared. Then he noticed the strange look that the woman was giving him.
"Is there something wrong with my nose?" he asked, brushing his nose, trying to scrape whatever it was away.
Slowly, Karen shook her head, and blushed.
"What is it? Really!"
Karen went to giving him this strange look. "You seem, well, different. Other than the flying part, of course."
Gohan stopped short. Different? Him? Well, there wasn't all that much to make him different, other than the fact he could fly. And was the Great Saiyaman, and that he was part alien, and that he-
Okay, maybe he was a little different.
"I guess so. Um, come on in, and we can get you some directions."
They looked at each other uneasily, and descended to the earth. Approaching the door, there was a screech, and Chi-Chi ran out of the house, followed by Goten.
"What is that beast doing here??" she screamed, pulling out her frying pan, about to do battle.
Piccolo just stood there, looking at the irate mother in front of him. Seeing what was about to happen, Gohan tried to intervene, and started with his famous "Mother, Mister Piccolo is not-"
It was then that Goten decided to meet their visitor.
GLOMP!
It was a very surprised Karen that found herself suddenly staring at the sky above her, with an eight-year old boy in her lap, babbling about how happy he was to see someone new.
"Uh- Nice to meet you."
Goten then got a good look at her face, and jumped back.
"What happened to you?" he asked, and Chi-Chi turned her attention to the unknown woman.
Goten was gently touching the scars around her left eye, confusion marring his face.
"Wha' happened to yer face?" he asked, wondering at the strangeness.
This caught Chi Chi's attention. She had been about to whack a certain Namek over the head, but stopped at the last minute.
"Oh, my dear, whatever happened to your face?" she asked, echoing Goten, suddenly the over protective mother. In her eyes, she couldn't have been that much older than Gohan. She rushed over, and soon, her own cool fingers were tipping up her face to see what had happened.
"I- uh, well, it's a long story."
Chi Chi's eyes widened, and her glare was redirected at the Namek again.
"Did this monster do this to you? Why, you green, stinking, slimy!"
Her trusty frying pan was out again, and she scrambled up, about to swing-
When a huge saber blocked it.
CLANG!
Karen had shed the little boy and her traveling pack in an instant, surging to her feet, and had unsheathed her sword without thinking.
Everyone, including Goten was staring at the blade. Karen grimaced, looking at it. Well, she had to admit, it was ugly.
It was enormous, and it should have taken more strength than she had to weld it. It had a broad blade, curved like a flame towards the point, with bar for a hilt, and a shiny, scrolling pommel.
The fine work on it had long since been rusted and tarnished away, leaving only the functional parts. The bright Damascus steel remained, and it was enchanted against breakage.
In fact, it shattered the nice copper frying pan.
The silence remained even after the sound of tinkling went away.
Finally, the quiet was broken by an odd sound. Piccolo was laughing.
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Piccolo sat, somewhat bemused, in Chi Chi's usually spotless kitchen, while the woman in question looked around for a map, and Karen searched through her huge pack for something to pay Chi-Chi back for her pan.
There were several loud crashes as Goten helped her look, and Gohan was looking at her sword suspiciously.
"Where were you two weeks ago?" he asked, while her attention was still on her packs.
"Uh, I think I was having the crap beat out of me by Piccolo," she answered, voice muffled.
Gohan frowned, and crossed her off his mental list of suspects.
There were a pair of simultaneous "AH-HA's!" and Chi-Chi came back into the kitchen, while Karen had pulled out a small coin from her bag.
"This should cover the price of the pan and the map," Karen told her, looking at the small coin, and biting it. It gave slightly. She was glad that she had kept most of her investments in gold; it never changed in value.
Handing the tarnished and dirty coin over, Chi-Chi looked at it, and promptly fainted.
"What did I do?" Karen asked, aghast.
Gohan noticed the coin that was locked in his mother's fist. Prying it loose, he inspected it, his eyebrows trying to hit his hairline.
"You know this is gold?" he asked, looking rather dazed himself. He was thinking that this woman comes out of nowhere, seems to be only a little older than himself, with gold. This is too weird.
Karen blinked. "Yes it is. I keep my savings that way, because gold keeps it value."
Gohan was wondering what the heck this person was.
"Uh, I'm a collector?"
Gohan seemed to accept that.
"So, you were needing clothes and a bath? I'll go get the bathing barrel," he said, blushing, hoping his mother would wake up in time to help.
Karen mouthed the words 'bathing barrel' at Piccolo. He nodded, and she snorted.
Gohan disappeared briefly, while his mother woke up. She was nibbling on the coin to make sure it was real.
"I, ma'am, thank you, that pan really wasn't worth-"
"Its fine, ma'am. Really. I have a feeling that it will just be payment in advance."
Chi-Chi just looked at her, while Piccolo had what looked suspiciously like a grin marring his usual scowl.
"I'll go help Gohan get your bath ready," she said finally, still a little overwhelmed by this seeming girl who looked like a hobo.
Karen grinned at the massive Namek, and shrugged.
"I guess I need to get out more."
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It didn't take all that long for a demi-Saiya-jin to heat up water, and when Chi-Chi came outside with several towels, Gohan got the hint and went back inside. He shuddered to think of what his mother would do to him if she even thought he had been peeping.
There was a sound of splashing, a sigh, and then fierce scrubbing. Gohan guessed that it had been a long time since her last real bath.
In little time, however, Karen was getting out, and Chi-Chi was handing her some used clothes. While they had been used, he guessed it wouldn't take much for them to be in better shape than what she had on her.
"Thank you. This is very nice, though-"
Gohan just realized that she was wearing one of his old gis. It was dark purple, and she had belted it with a black sash his mother had found somewhere. It sagged off of her thin frame, because although she was a big girl, with a strong build, she couldn't match that of a teenage demi-Saiya-jin.
Karen, he noted, was well built for fighting. Her muscles didn't bulge, but were instead well defined, and sinewy. She was steel and whipcord, under a hide of what looked like boot leather. With that scarred face, he thought, she was almost ugly.
He tossed her a towel, and they both headed back to the house, where some lovely smells were coming from.
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"Really, Son-san, this is unnecessary," Karen protested, as her plate was loaded down.
Chi-Chi sniffed. "Who knows how long it has been since you have had a home cooked meal, young lady. Now, what had you been doing in the forest for all that time anyway?"
Karen realized that eating would be a good way to avoid that kind of question, so she started stuffing her mouth. When the only noises she could make were those of chewing, she tried to talk, but of course, Chi-Chi super mother wouldn't let her talk with her mouth full.
Swallowing, Karen looked over at Piccolo, who was sitting over in a corner.
"Really, Piccolo-san, there isn't any reason for you to sit over there," she commented.
He opened his eyes from his meditative pose. "I don't eat," he answered curtly.
"That doesn't mean you have to be alone over there," she said back. It saddened her to see her friend over there like that. If these people were his friends, well, Gohan was, then why was he doing that?
"What do you consume, anyway?" Karen asked, when he casually floated up, ignoring Chi-Chi's glare.
"I drink water."
Karen blinked. "Well, I guess this means that you tend to stay sober," she added lightly.
Gohan was gaping at the whole thing. He had never gotten his mentor to talk like that. He sighed, a little enviously, at the way that the two interacted. They may not have known each other long, but they acted at ease with each other. He had trouble-getting Piccolo to say more than a few words!
Karen suddenly looked up, and realized what time it was.
"ThankyouSon-sanforthemeal,gottago,bye!" she shouted, and sprinted for the door, looking at the map, and picking up her pack on the way out. She was off like a bullet, and they saw a blur as she flew off.
Piccolo watched her go off, feeling a little confused. He felt strange that she was gone.
Seeing his sensei's expression, Gohan stated," I'll go with her, if it makes you feel better, Mr. Piccolo."
Piccolo absently nodded. For some reason, he felt like there was a strange hollow somewhere in his chest. It was kind of like when he didn't see Gohan, or anyone, for that matter, for a long time.
He shook it off, in time to see his one-time student take to the air.
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Vegeta had been hard at work training, when his curiosity caught up with him. He had noticed the strange files that his mother in law had been reading, which had struck him as odd from the beginning. While he was not the most observant person in the universe, this was beyond strange. That woman didn't have two thoughts in her head at the same time. What would she be doing staring at computer for hours on end?
The question bugged him to the point where he had to do something about it, before it got in the way of his training. Stopping, and turning off the artificial gravity, he stepped out of the gravity room, sensing to see if that annoying woman's ki was anywhere in the building. It was gone.
His next big problem would be getting into her computer. He had seen some of the types of protections that Bulma and her father put on their computers. He didn't know if he could handle those.
Opening up her laptop, he started. She hadn't even put in a password!
Muttering about the stupidity of Earth women, he looked at the icons on the screen. There were the usual ones, internet, word processing, and so on. Then, he glanced down, and saw one that seemed strangely familiar. Using his mouse, he clicked it open.
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Two hundred years from present date
~The war had been going on for several years when the Old Lady, at this time going by the name Dominique, entered in. She became a fighter pilot, and was shot down-
"What the?" Vegeta said aloud, wondering what the hell he had gotten into. Scrolling down, he found earlier dates.
One thousand years from present date
~It has been almost a thousand years since this immortal was reported. Since then she has-
Vegeta blinked. An immortal. There were people out there, humans!, that were immortal. He had to find out how they did it!
Not thinking any further about it, he dressed, jumped outside, and flew off, following Mrs. Briefs ki signature.