-A/N: Hi everyone! This is my second fanfiction I have written on this site, but I'm hoping I'll be able to finish this one :) I haven't written any fics for DBZ before or any fics for ANime/Manga in general... So I hope this is OK! I want to thank you for checking out my story and I hope you will read and review :D Thank you! -
The sky overhead was black. The darkened clouds that had gathered in the sky above removed all traces of the stars that were once shining like gems against the velvet of the night.
It was cold.
Small freckles of white began to slowly flutter down like feathers from a dove and rested neatly on the glass of the window screen, forming tiny ice crystals on its smooth surface.
Trunks sighed heavily, his warm breath forming a cloud of white inside the aircraft, leaving behind a misted circle on the window screen in front of him. Leaning forward, he wiped clear with the end of his red woollen jumper, before flopping back in the green polyester seat where he had been sitting for the last 2 hours.
Trunks folded his arms and closed his eyes. He could smell the mustiness of the old aircraft he was flying in; thick with dust and damp, as if it had been sitting, tucked away in storage, without being used for decades. The snow began to fall faster, in bigger chunks of white, causing the ship the rock ever so slightly in the night air.
"Urgh...! What sort of ship can't shrink down into capsule form anyway? 'It's old', he says, 'needs a little fixing up here and there, it will be a quick job'. Sure, easy for him to say, but its not like we've gotta try and rebuild the whole planet right now or anything... "He said, frustration in his voice as he sat on his hands in attempt to recapture their warmth.
When was it exactly? When life began to slowly come back to normal? Or at least, as normal as they could get. A year? If even that, with all that has happened and everything they've been forced to go through.
Gohan.
Trunks shook his head sharply, attempting to keep the memories at bay. Bulma was the one who kept him together the whole time. He'd have nightmares, they were all different, but they all had one theme in common: someone close to him getting killed by the Androids. He'd wake up, cold sweat pouring down his face, eyes bloodshot, trembling... And Bulma always came to his rescue.
"...I bet Mom needed to cry during those times... Wanted nothing but to have had some time to herself, to escape it all into her own little world... But she didn't. She's so strong... I hope she knows how grateful I am to her..." He whispered, opening his eyes and looking deep into the darkness ahead of him.
The snow continued to fall even faster than before, making it nearly impossible to see the hills of the Snowy Highlands ahead. He sat up anxiously, fiddling with the the limited dials and switches the ship had to offer in attempt to free his window of snow.
"How old is this thing? Doesn't anything actually work...?" He mumbled to himself, his panic increasing as the aircraft's dials failed him.
A red light began to flash on the control panel of the ancient ship. Danger. The Icy wind of the mountains teamed up with the ever increasing amount of snow, falling thicker, faster, white blankets of the snow smothered the aircraft, as it it wanted to seal it away forever in the ice coffin of the snowy highlands.
Trunks grabbed the yolk of the ship, attempting to keep himself on track, steering the rattling old craft away from the deathly gusts of wind, until the ship is hit by the biggest gust of all, launching Trunks out of his seat, cracking his face on the control panel. It was falling, he was falling , circling, plummeting to the Earth like a giant ball of lead, the blizzard rolling and ripping at the craft like a playful kitten with a ball of yarn.
"Crap!" He screamed, his voice becoming hoarse and lost in the howling blizzard.
A blinding light flooded his eyes as the ship was hurled towards the snowy ground, the sound of the explosion almost deafening him as the ship hit the snow covered Earth.
The flames from the explosion flickered like candle light against the night. A cloud of black smoke had arisen, blocking out the surrounding white mountains with its dark smoke. Fir trees surrounded the fiery pile of debris, causing the branches to alight and slowly burn the green needles to black as the smell of burning fuel smothers the calming scent of the fir trees.
Trunks opened his eyes, dazed, and looks about him, slowly moving his head. He was upside down in ship. Flames surround him he hears a popping sound, and the strong smell of fuel starts to seep through the flames as the leaking fuel from the fuel tanks begins to ignite.
"Crap..!" He spluttered, blinded by the black smoke that was quickly spreading through the trees outside of the ship.
As Trunks pulled his legs out of the mangled chunks of burning metal the glass window screen shattered ,sending clear crystals that glisten like jewels against the flames onto his lap. An escape. Trunks climbed through the broken window and jumped, landing on the snow covered ground that surrounded him, the icy cold of the snow almost feeling like its burning his skin after being trapped in the ball of dancing flames.
A faint whistling sound vibrated through his ear drums as he attempted to scramble to his feet, slipping and skidding in the snow.
BANG!
The fuel tank exploded. Fiery hot pressure raced from the ship, shards of sharp metal and other debris shot outwards, piercing his skin, before the shards began to rain down more gently. Trunks stops and stares at the fiery mess of which was once the ship he was flying in. The refection of the flames danced in his blue eyes as he stared. The fallen snow that had surrounded the ship had since melted away with the intense heat radiating from the hunk of metal. He looked up towards the sky; the blizzard had actually stopped now, and the silver gems of the stars were twinkling up in the velvet sky. All that surrounded him were trees; tall, old fir trees that he would have been able to enjoy the fragrance of if the strong stench of smoke and burning petroleum hadn't already filled the air all about him. Blood trickled down his forehead and into his eye as he began to see red, his legs and clothing were also burnt by the sizzling metal slabs in the ship and his purple hair was also singed from the flames.
He sat down on the snow covered ground and scooped up a handful of the ice crystals into his burning hands and put it on the burnt skin of this leg.
"Uuurghnnnn...!" He said, as the cold of the snow stung as he rubbed it onto his burnt skin to prevent it from burning deeper.
He looked over to the ship again. The flames crackled and the trapped air popped as it continued to burn.
"What am I supposed to do now? I was supposed to fix that thing but instead I blew it up... Damn it!" He lifted his arm and checked inside of his leather jacket for his case of Dino-Caps.
"Great. Just great." He said, his voice flat and frustrated as his search wasn't a success.
He sat and thought. He knew he could easily fly back to West City, but he had no idea where he was, so finding his way back there would be a nightmare, and he doesn't know how far off course the blizzard put him.
"Guess I've got no choice. I'll have to fly around for a bit..." He said in defeat as he slowly got up onto his feet.
"Over here! Hurry up!"
Trunks listened. "Was that a person?"
"Quickly! They might need our help!" Said a woman's voice through the trees.
Trunks stood and watched where the voices were coming from, until a women with red hair appeared through the trees along with a huge man with a horizontal scar across his forehead and a diagonal scar below his left eye. Trunks watched and stared at the two who had emerged, and seconds later about 9 more people came stumbling through the trees. They all looked at Trunks, and then at the fiery mechanical mess of what was his ship.
"We must hurry and put the fire out. This forest is very old, so we can't allow any more damage of come of it." Said an old man. Trunks stood there, baffled, but agreed to help put the fire out, since he was the one who started it after all.
The group looked at what the ship had become. What was once sailing through the stars earlier that night was now crashed and burned in the middle of a forest. The metal was black, covered with carbon from the flames, and the smell of burning fuel still lingered in the air.
"...Do you guys know where I am right now? I was headed towards West City but got blown off course by a blizzard." Trunks finally said as the group of people were inspecting the ship, and the red haired women was inspecting his wounds.
The red haired women looked up at him and smiled, "Why, you're in Jingle Village of course. Its located just between the Holly Plain and the Snowy Highlands." She said, pointing the direction to both the additional places she mentioned.
Trunks thought for a moment. He was sure he's heard of it before from Goku before he died... He looked up at the big man next to the woman. Trunks thinks he may have seen him in one of his Mom's science magazines before.
"... Please excuse me if I'm wrong, but would you happen to be Android 8, created by Dr Gero?" He asked the tall man, whose face saddened when he heard the Dr's name.
"Yes... That is me... I am not bad, I live here with Suno and her family here in Jingle Village." He said, gesturing towards the red haired women.
An old man stepped forward, "Yer say yer be headin' t'wards Wes' City? Hate t'tell ya boy, but 'ats a lon', lon' ways from 'ere." He said, looking at his watch. " 'ts already late too..." He finished.
The villagers looked at each other.
"I would put you up for the night, I really would, but my house is a little crowded so there's no place there for you to sleep..." Said Suno apologetically, she looked towards another women, "How about you, Mominoki?" She asked hopefully, knowing the rest of the villagers were a little crowded at home too.
The other women shook her head, "I have two young children at home, and this here is a complete stranger who destroyed part of the fir forest! I will not let him stay for the night. Ever." She said, as she turned around and left.
Trunks looks up at the sky again.
"I'll just head to West City now. I don't want to inconvenience any of you, but thank you for your help." He said, as he too started to head for the clearing of the forest.
A young boy, probably about the age of 10, grabbed his arm.
"There is one place you're guaranteed to be able to stay." He said, he face full of amusement.
"Yeah?" Trunks encouraged as the boy let go of his arm and pointed through the trees.
"Through the village there's a small house that stands alone, high up, you know? A women lives alone there, and she's known for putting people up for the night, like travellers. But you know what? Really she's a witch! You'll be guaranteed a night there though, if you're brave enough..!" He said, his face excited as he eagerly awaited Trunks' decision.
Suno taps the young boy on his head and scolds him.
"You know full well that the women who lives there isn't a witch, she's just... Different." She tells the boy, and then turns to Trunks.
"She's a nice women, so I think you should maybe go and try at her house." She said warmly, as she and the other villagers all began to leave the fir forest and head back to their own homes, leaving Trunks alone in the forest to make his decision.
And it was an easy one to make. Before long he was already heading up towards the 'witches' house, trekking through the deep snow in order to reach it. The stars in the night sky above twinkled and the moon's silver glow was soft, shining against the white snow lighting his path.
"I wonder what this women could have done to deserve a nickname like that? Either that boy is just a brat or she really has done something strange."He thinks about what Suno had said.
"She's just 'different'... Different can mean many things, after all. But anyway, who wants to be normal? Right?" He said aloud to himself as the tiny, glowing, lone house came into view.