So They Say; Dirait-on
Disclaimer:
I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the Dragon Ball Z characters. They are owned by those who own them. I do, however, own the original characters (if any), and the fic all of this is in. That is all.Time seems to hinder life as it moves along, sometimes flowing against the old wounds that are already there like grains of salt. This in turn creates new wounds, exposed to the open air so that everyone can see what harm it has done. These can be hurtful to bare, hidden to everyone except for those that have to feel these marks every waking moment. Many will not realize it is there until it is too late for anyone to do anything about it. Until something drastic happens and there is no way out of the trouble that one got his or herself into except to let the old wounds heal that will allow new ones to surface.
Time also has a way of going in the same direction as life, moving with the twists and turns that it gives one. It helps heal everything that has happened in the past and perhaps what will happen in the future. It keeps all harms away, protecting all wounds at any cost to anyone else. It slows down the pain at certain points in life so that it is easier to bear then if time were to speed up.
But what if, by some chance, time has been changed? What if something came from the future and changed what was meant to happen? What if this person meant to do it and stopped what was occurring long before it was supposed to happen? What if it had a side effect that wouldn't bee seen until it was too late to stop it? Time can be changed at any moment, allowing room to grow and learn what mistakes could have happened, but there is always another side to this. A deeper side that isn't always told or is always known.
This is the story of how, in the years after a great battle, the past changed more then what was supposed to be changed. Of how a unforeseen side effect would rise up and go against what these hero's had worked so hard for. And how a new love could change that outcome forever.....
Prologue
In the distant mountains on some lonely continent far away form any other civilization, snow had begun to fall slowly down to the already snow-clad ground. If there were anything living around it wasn't shown for everything seemed to be dead or somewhere close to it. The sheer cliffs, long drops, and sharp rocks were another factor in the place that had no living, breathing souls around that would dare to enter such a place. All those that had fallen upon such a place had either been too stupid to climb such mountains, and lost their lives by falling on the slippery rocks or had died from the below freezing temperatures that went down even further at night.
Whatever the reason was for no one to have lived there or attempted to do so, it was a good place to hide something so valuable that no one would ever dare to come to. Who would want to go search in a place such as this? Not many would bother doing it. And something was hidden among the snow in a cave deep within the mountain range. It was nestled in one of the more unreachable mountains, hidden almost in the middle of the mountain itself as only a ledge jutting out would be the only way for anyone to know that it was there apart from the most oblivious sign. The cave stretched almost to the other side of the mountain, cutting deep within the rock that held up the structure as a whole.
There was a metal door that blocked the entrance to the cave off from the outside world, a deterrent for most people since there probably wasn't a soul living that knew the exact password to open it. If, by some chance, someone did manage to get in, they would find what was inside more valuable then any piece of gold, treasure, or whatnot that was still hidden among ruins of ancient culture. Once inside, any traveler would find themselves staring at a broken down lab rather then actual stone walls. Different kinds of machinery garnished every wall from the entrance down to the back of the cave, some of it mostly computers and control panels of some sort. Almost all had lost it's shine that it once had when it had been taken care of by some scientist years ago, the buttons and gizmos not working or the parts to them were hanging out like they had been intently broken. In the middle of the room there were several metal tables, all of which had broken jars and beakers with dried up or frozen liquid, the stains and ice the only thing left of whatever had been there. There were, however, several beakers still intact with frozen liquid in them, but still had cracks due to the plummeting temperatures. Dust and mold had gathered throughout the lab, seeping into he machinery, rendering everything useless.
One might think that there was nothing in the cave but remnants of a doctor's lab, but if they paid close enough attention that person might see something in one of the corners of the cave. Something that might be useful to them. Once someone got a closer look, he or she would come to realize that it was a broken cryogenics tube, already broken into by some vandal that had braved the cold weather, and steep mountains. Glass was thrown about like a blast had hit it, the freezing liquid that was once inside of it had been splashed about like it was from a lake. The control panel looked like it had been tampered with, but only by someone that was skilled at doing such a thing.
Yet it didn't look like anyone had tampered with any of the controls that allowed people access inside the secret cavern. There were no marks of forced entry of any kid, whether it be by some energy blast or from someone that used any other forms of breaking into it. The only thing that even suggested that there had been any movement from the entrance was a pair of footprints that looked like they were headed away from the cave. The prints stopped at the edge of the ledge that jutted out from the mountain, the snow that had been at the edge before the new snow had started to fall seemingly looking like something had pushed itself up into the air, and flown away.
There was no way to prove that there had been anyone there for there was no one around to say that they had seen something. Maybe only time would tell if the truth of the cavern would come out, and life would be thrown back into chaos once again.
One Year Later, Two Years After Cell
A blast flew into the blue ocean from a small island in the middle of no where, rippling across the waves as it made a trench in the water. This blast flew towards the distant horizon where the blue water sat on the bottom of a blue sky, the two tones of blue clashing together like they always had for countless years. The sun shown down upon the water, making it sparkle along the surface. Several fish sprang out of the water every so often, ignoring the blast of energy that surged past them before it eventually fizzled out minutes later. It hadn't been a particularly strong blast, but it was strong enough to deep fry a couple of fish for dinner if someone was in the mood for burnt meat.
The person that had emitted the blast stood at the edge of the small island as he watched the water move back into place where the blast had pushed it out of the way. The ocean's waves gently lapped at his ankles, soaking the bottom of his green pants just a bit. That was all he wore that day, the sun baring down upon his exposed shoulders as both of his arms were extended, palms forwards, and his chest moving up and down slowly with every breath that he took. The seagulls cries up above echoed in his ears as he lowered his arms, two of his three eyes blinking very slowly.
He smiled a bit at what he had done although he really didn't feel all that great. At least, at what he had accomplished in the last two years. It had been rough, he knew it, but it was like any other time in his life. Things happened when he had least expected it, and then all of a sudden, it just seemed right again. He just had to get through it, that's all.
"Tien?" A small voice asked from behind him. He turned his head around, then moved his gaze down ever so slightly to see a small, clown like being standing there, his eye's staring up at him. His lips were in a line, small circles of red upon his white checks, as he blinked his eyes, his face full of wonder.
"Yes Chaotzu?" He asked, turning his three eyes back towards the gleaming water.
"Are you alright? You've been out here for a while now."
"Yes, I am alright. Just letting off some steam, that is all."
The other being didn't say a word as he moved next to his friend, not caring if his shoes would get wet by the lapping water that went up against the sandy beach. Although the two had been friends for years on end, this moment it seemed like all that had faded into the water that sat before them. Before, they could talk about anything that was on their minds but now it seemed like there was nothing to say. Nothing to show for what had happened a few years earlier. Tien had changed in a way that few saw but Chaotzu saw something as it really was. Something that no one else could see. The hurt and pain of losing someone that had been a friend.
"Tien, I am worried about you," Chaotzu said slowly, his eyes slowly moving up to his friend. At first, Tien didn't say anything as he closed tow of his tree eyes before opening them again.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Like I said, I'm just letting off some steam, that's all."
"You've been training out here for a while now without any breaks and Master Roshi wants...."
"Listen, I don't care what Roshi wants or needs. If he wants it so badly, he just has to do it himself," He snapped hastily, a bit of wind swirling around the two as Tien lifted himself off of the ground. He hovered there for a moment before he flew up into the sky, stopping at a certain point before flying off into the distance. Chaotzu stood there, his mouth opened slightly as he watched his friend go. He was half tempted to follow suit, but remained on the tiny island far away from anything and everything.
****
I wonder what's bugging him, Master Roshi thought as he watched Tien fly off into the distant horizon, Chaotzu just standing there, doing nothing. He had expected the small clown-like being to follow the other, yet was surprised that he had stayed where he was. It was unusual to the two apart since they had grown close from their days as students under the Crane Master many years ago. It had all changed since then and now both were no longer students.
"Hey, you're missing the best part!" Oolong called from in front of the TV, causing Roshi to turn around to look at the talking pig. It was that hour of the day when the Fashion Channel did the bathing suit modeling with both Oolong and Roshi parked in front of the small screen, not missing a moment of it. It was customary that both would drool over the barely clad models who, in their opinion, were some of the sexist women alive.
With Tien's hasty take-off out of his mind, Roshi settled back down next to the pig to gape over the bikini girls that walked along the tiny catwalk. Both snorted excitedly at what was going on in the screen, not even noticing that Chaotzu had come through the door and was now standing directly behind them. All the tiny being did was sight what the two were doing before he wandered into the kitchen to find something to do then to watch two perverts drool over bathing suit models. It was wasn't his idea of fun nor would he ever consider it.
"What's bugging you?" Oolong asked as soon as a commercial interrupted their program. He grabbed an already opened soda that was sitting beside him, slowly draining the contents of the can into his mouth.
"Tien," Was all that Chaotzu said as he pushed a chair over to one of the counters and climbed up onto it so that he could reach the things that were there. "Something is wrong with him."
"Well, if you want to talk to him, he is just outside, you know."
"He left a few moments ago," Roshi answered for Chaotzu as he banged a fist onto the TV so that he could attempt to make the commercials end with no avail. "That is what I was doing over there, watching him I was. It isn't hard to notice that there is something wrong. It is Tien after all. I would have thought that he would tell you what was going on."
"He didn't. He just left," Chaotzu snapped, turning his head over his shoulder as he sighed once again. The program that Roshi and Oolong were watching came back on, thus grabbing their attention for the time being. He shook his head, unable to wonder what was really wrong with his friend until he told him.
Until then, there was nothing else to do.
****
An Hour Later
He hated to leave Chaotzu on the island by himself with Roshi and Oolong, but Tien had no choice. Besides, he figured his friend would have followed him by now but it was kind of ridiculous to assume things at this time in his life. After all, assuming something would always be there wasn't the greatest thing in the world, but sometimes it was all that a person could until he or she could figure out what was really the truth.
Tien didn't have any where else to go to as he flew over a ridge of small rocks that were the ending of a lone mountain range and the beginning of the ocean. The mountains got lower until they formed this low ridge where people sometimes went to if they wanted to be sprayed with the salty water of the sea. It was there that people could lose their lives because the rocks could become very slippery at times, thus making some people lose their balance only to hit their heads on the sharp edges of the rocks. It was a common place for people to come to as they walked along the beach that jutted out from the mountains to the ridge where they staked their lives by standing on the rocks. If the slippery tops didn't do anything, then the waves sure did. One was enough to knock even the strongest person alive down and perhaps drag them out to sea if they weren't great swimmers or they were already knocked out from hitting their heads on the rocks in the first place.
He sighed as he looked down at the ridge of the low-riding mountains, half expecting to see a lone human standing there, tempting fate yet again. Tien then turned his attention forwards only to snap his head back down towards the Earth. He stopped in his soaring, something reflecting down below. At first he thought it was just a piece of metal from something big or lots of jewelry of someone that had the unfortunate outcome of losing his or her life on the rocks. But, at a second glance down there, it looked more like an orange tint then anything silver or gold.
Looking around to see if anyone else was there, Tien swooped down to the beach part of the ridge, taking several small steps towards the rock part before climbing onto it. He kneeled down by what he though to be something as he removed several rocks from around it. A few moments later, he pulled a round ball-shaped thing out from under the rocks, holding it up towards the light.
"Six," Tien mused, counting the stars that went in a column of two with three rows. He knew what this was even without having to ask anyone in particular: A Dragon Ball. These were the rare balls that would summon the dragon, Shenlong, and grant that person a wish of his or her own. Of course, since Dende had become the new Kami, that had changed from one wish to three (I think. It's been a while since I saw those episodes (can't you tell? ~_~;)). It had been a long time since he had seen one of the Dragon Balls since Gohan and the others had wished for things to return to what it once was before the Androids and Cell ever existed. Yet, he knew he had no use for one of these, but what was the harm of keeping it anyways? Surely there was someone else that was collecting them at this moment and could use one.
Just before Tien was about to take off from the ground once again, the rocks that had been around the Dragon Ball started to move, causing him to stop a few feet away from the ground. Tien landed back where he once was, moving cautiously towards the moving rocks. Just as he came back upon them, a arm jutted out from underneath the rocks, causing him to drop the Dragon Ball and get into a defensive state. It took several moments for him to realize that whatever was underneath the rocks wasn't moving at all and was probably dead from the weight that was on top of it. He knew he couldn't leave the poor soul there for someone else to stumble upon it like he had, so Tien dropped his defense a little and slowly started to take the rocks off of whatever was underneath them.
The shock of what laid beneath the ridge came full circle as he took off the last stone a half hour later. There, laying bruised and battered, was a human woman, her chest still moving up and down but very slowly. She resembled someone that Tien thought he had seen a long time ago as she wore a long flowing dress that had been tattered from the rocks or other things that might have made those tears in the cloth. She was shoeless for the most part, her skin cut, bleeding, and bruised from the rocks and other such things. Her flaming, shoulder length red hair was messy and tangled with seaweed and other forms of planet life as it just laid limply on the rocks.
Tien put a hand to her neck to make sure that she indeed was still alive, a light smile coming to his lips when he realized his eyes weren't playing a trick on him. Just as he started to move his hand away from her neck, the woman's right hand grabbed his wrist, making him unable to pull it out of her grasp. She opened her emerald green eyes, her face scrunching up to see what was there. He didn't know if she saw him or not, but she smiled up at what it seemed to be nothing at all.
"Dirait-on," She muttered to the wind before she let go of him, closing her eyes and slumping down onto the rocks again. Tien looked around once again before he picked the girl up but not before grabbing the Dragon Ball as well. He placed it on her stomach, hoping that it wouldn't fall off as he lifted into the air, going back in the direction in wince had come.
Perhaps there was someone on the island that could help him in this situation.
To Be Continued
