Thank you everyone for your reviews! MVS and I appreciate them very much. Hope to hear from you again and please, enjoy the story. Or else. You don't want to know what "else" we mean...

And thanks to Mr. Blue22 for reminding me. There's a time skip between the first chapter and this chapter. It's about eight years between them.


Year 659

"My baby! Where's my baby!" the frantic mother cried out.

The lady looked frantic, wild even as she stood about the room, which looked as if it were hit by a tornado. Cushions and toys littered the floor, a bed mattress lying half on its frame, half on the floor. Tables were knocked off their legs, the objects that once rested on them lying about where they fell.

It was the same in all the surrounding rooms. The mother had tore through the whole apartment, searching in vain for her child, a sinking feeling growing into a pit in her stomach. She wanted her son in her arms right then, right now. Kami have mercy on the person that informed her otherwise.

Off in the corner of the room, maids looked on in fear of the woman, trying their best not to be noticed. Who knew if the lady would turn her terror and recently revealed violence on them? It wasn't worth their lives to find out.

A soft knocking caught the attention of the terrified women. Taking a quick look at the raging lady and seeing her tossing around chair cushions in her latest attempt at finding her child, one of the maids quietly made her way to the door, opening it with utmost care so as to not alert the lady. An armored guard stood on the other side, a curious expression on his face as he heard the cries of the lady.

The maid quickly shook her head in the negative, indicating that he should not question the mayhem occurring beyond the door. "Is there something I can do for you?"

The guard straightened out his posture. "Yes ma'am, I've just been informed that Lords Goku and Raditz have returned from their pursuit of the child-napper. Lord Goku is wounded while it is believed Lord Raditz may not have survived the confrontation. I was instructed to deliver this message to the lady, but it appears now is not a good time…"

"Indeed it is not. I will deliver your message to the lady. Please inform us of any change in Lord Goku's condition."

"Yes ma'am."

As the guard turned his back and left, the maid shut the door and faced the still panicked Lady Chichi. A sigh left her lips as the full weight of the message settled on her shoulders. This was not going to be an easy task.


Year 671

The air was crisp and clean, very refreshing to the senses. It was always this way as the sun rose at the horizon, the new light reflecting on the dew clinging to the grass. Being an early riser was a blessing when it came to witnessing such sights.

Gohan had to thank Mr. Piccolo for that one. The old man always made sure he was up at the crack of dawn for some reason or another. The man was always restless and liked to get an early start to the day. He'd relaxed a bit over the years, but being constantly woken up at such an early hour had become habit by now.

Another funny fact about Piccolo: he was green. There weren't many people like him that the young man had seen during their travels. But then, not too many people seemed perturbed by it, so it didn't seem to matter. There were plenty of other weird things to worry about besides skin color. There were even talking animals that lived amongst the population.

Feeling stiff, the young man stretched out his arms, feeling the relief from his loosening muscles. Moving with him was his white, long-sleeved shirt, a trail of buttons running from collar to the bottom. Purple pants covered his legs, tucking in beneath dirty white boots. Those boots had traveled many a mile in their times.

The sound of gravel shifting alerted him to a presence behind him a moment later. The familiar deep voice put him at ease a moment later.

"You're up early, Kid."

"Earlier than you," Gohan grinned as he turned around to face his comrade. A smirk was on the green man's face as he loomed over the sixteen year old youth. "I've been up before you the last month now."

"So you've have." Mr. Piccolo walked to the young man, moving to stand beside him as he gazed out to the sunrise. "Truly remarkable," he murmured.

"That I've been getting up before you? Not really. You're just getting old."

A large vein began pulsing on the taller man's forehead. "I meant the sunrise," he said in an irritated voice.

"Oh, well that's pretty too." Gohan looked out to the sight once more. The two stood in silence for awhile before the young man said "Is it about time we got going?"

"We can wait a few more minutes. It's not everyday one gets to see a lovely sunrise, Kid. You would do better to relish in nature's beauty more; 'smell the roses' as they say."

"This coming from the guy that told me to quit staring like a empty-headed cow and march every morning?"

"That's what happens when people get old, ain't that right?"

Gohan began scratching the back of his head, a large smile appearing on his face. It had been a habit he'd picked up over the years when ever he felt nervous or embarrassed. Mr. Piccolo seemed disgusted at it when he first started doing it, but now he was more amused by it. Amazing how time seemed to soften people up.

Eventually, the two headed back to their campsite and packed up their bags. Neither had much other than a blanket, some food and water, and a few other personal items, but then, one didn't need much when they traveled all the time. It wasn't like they had a place to stash every single thing they found interesting or desirable.

Such was the life of vagabonds.


The road had been a solitary one with twist and turns and hills and valleys; nothing too unusual really. But as with life, there was always a fork that waited to give them pause. While not a monumental decision, it was always one that was slightly more difficult if there was more than one person making the decision.

"So, which way do you think we should go?" Mr. Piccolo asked.

Gohan stared at his two choices before nodding his head and grinning. "I say we head left. Looks promising."

Mr. Piccolo nodded his head. "Alright, we go right."

Gohan fell down, completely shocked by his mentor's casual discarding of his choice. Finding a way back to his feet, the young man protested "But you said I could pick where we went!"

"No, I asked where you thought we should go. Experience has taught me to never listen to your choices, Kid. You have a knack for taking us head first into some kind of trouble," the green man stated. "I rather today be nice and quiet if you don't mind. Right we go."

Gohan pouted. His choices didn't always lead them to trouble. It was just that one time with the robbers. And that other time with the smugglers. And then those kids that took Mr. Piccolo's cloak and refused to give it back. And then the farmers that thought they were cursed and chased them out of town. And then the…

Okay, so maybe they did have a couple encounters. That still didn't mean anything!

Looking to his comrade, Gohan was immediately surprised to fine the green man not there, instead walking down his chosen path. Now that wasn't nice…

"Mr. Piccolo!" the young man whined as he ran to catch up with him. Catching up with him, Gohan began to sulk, eyeing the green man pointedly.

"If you think I'm going to change my mind, you're sadly mistaken," Mr. Piccolo said, not looking at the youth. "So quit your pouting and act like a man."

"That's kind of hard when an old man won't let me," Gohan murmured.

For a moment, Gohan forgot his comrade had excellent hearing. As Mr. Piccolo had once said, "These ears of mine are more than for decoration, Brat." If the young man remembered correctly, he had promptly begun pulling on said ears, much to the ire of the green man.

Gohan suddenly came to a stop. Why wasn't Mr. Piccolo still walking? Turning around, the young man saw his mentor standing a few yards away, that familiar pulsing vein on his forehead. Uh oh, it looked like he pushed that old age comment a little too far this time.

If Gohan hadn't been looking at the green man's face at that moment, he would've missed the man's eyes changing color, from dark to nearly white. That was his only warning, and fortunately proved enough of one, as the young man crossed his arms in front of his body, his eyes shutting tightly. Focusing his mind, he pronounced "Shield." A moment later and the outline of his body began to glow a bright yellow.

All of this happened just in the nick of time too. Gohan felt a jolt of electricity run through him, though fortunately not painfully. It was more of an awareness if anything and didn't last long.

"Hn, your defensive spell's improved," he heard Mr. Piccolo say gruffly. Opening his eyes, he saw Mr. Piccolo looking at him expectantly.

Gohan grinned. "I only felt the jolt this time. Didn't even hurt at all."

"That's something anyway. Use to be you'd be a pile of burning flesh."

Gohan's face dropped. Every time he did something that he thought would impress Mr. Piccolo, the man would find someway to humble it within seconds. "Hey, I'm not like you and have the talent to blow things up at will."

"Of course, you barely had any talent at all and I miraculously taught you how to defend yourself somewhat. By the way, don't bother with the arm crossing; it's not needed and a waste of energy. You shut your eyes too, so I could've quickly closed the distance between us and attacked you."

Gohan hung his head. That was Mr. Piccolo, always the perfectionist.

That was when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his mentor standing next to him, giving him his version of a comforting smile. Now that he thought about it, it looked as if it could scare small children away. "Don't worry too much about it, Kid. Magic takes a lot of time and practice to use even the most basic of spells. It's much easier to just walk up to someone and stab them in the back with a knife."

Yep, that was Mr. Piccolo. He knew how to look on the bright side of life.


It stood out amidst the scenery, almost as if it didn't belong there. Large grey stone blocks formed what remained of a tower, many of its former materials littering the ground around it. Scorch marks dotted the structure, especially near the top of what remained of the tower, almost as if a bolt of lightning had struck it and blown the top apart, which accounted for the debris around it.

Piccolo stared at the worthless monument in distain. How many of these damn things were about anyways? He'd been on the road for twelve years and there always seemed to be one of these things on the horizon, altering the landscape. It was fortunate that someone had gotten around to attacking the thing; honestly, the whole "secluded tower in the wilderness" was like putting a target on someone's back. Though judging from the appearance of the tower, it was likely the place had been abandoned long before it had fallen into pieces. It was hard to believe all of this came about for one stolen child.

"How many of these are there?" Gohan asked, staring up at the thing. The young man seemed genuinely curious about this, regardless of seeing several of them before.

"Hundreds, I would imagine," Piccolo answered gruffly. "I wouldn't be too shocked if it went up to the thousands though."

Gohan turned his head to look at the green man. "That many? Why?"

Piccolo sighed. It looked as if he were going to explain to the Kid the reason. He had to wonder since he told him multiple times when he was a child. "You do remember that story I told you about a child been stolen from one of the Higher Houses, yes?"

The youth nodded his head. "These towers have something to do with that? I just thought that was some story."

"Regardless, many families were terrified that such a thing would happen to their own children. So those that were able to built towers like these over the land, hiding their children within them. As you can see, this one isn't in use anymore. I'd imagine who ever was kept here was released, left on their own, or someone came around and attacked the place."

"That sounds…extreme."

Piccolo chuckled. "Never underestimate a parent's protectiveness of their offspring. Even the meekest can transform into a mother bear."

The two fell into a silence after that. It wasn't until Piccolo took noticed of the sun setting at the horizon that he spoke. "It's about to get dark. We should make camp soon."

Gohan continued looking at the tower. "Why not here?" he asked. "It looks as good as any."

A bubble of humor worked its way up Piccolo's throat. He didn't let it out, but he would definitely allow himself to feel amused. Well, the Kid had a point, might as well use the place. "Alright, let's do it."

Walking up to the tower remains, they soon found a door that barely hung on its hinges. When Gohan touched it to push it open, it fell to the ground with a loud clunk. "Well, that door's useless," he commented, looking at the rotting wood.

Ignoring it, Piccolo crossed the threshold and looked about the place. There wasn't much in there, appearing to be completely looted over the years. Much like the stone outside, pieces of wood—most likely from the furniture and decorations that were once housed here—littered the floor along with what looked like metal. From the shape of the metal, it appeared to be armor, possibly for the head or chest depending on the piece. A fight must've occurred here at some point. Fortunately, there was a roof over their heads that looked like it was still stable. At one end of the room was a staircase that led to an upper floor. What was left of the daylight outside poured through the opening the stairs created.

"Gather the wood and build a fire. We're gonna need some light," Piccolo said.

It was sometime later, as a bright flame burned in the room, the two leaning against their packs as settled in, Gohan asked "You mentioned the purpose of this tower earlier. What's the story behind it?"

Piccolo looked at the youth, sitting across the fire from him. After a moment's thinking he replied "I've told you that story when you were a little kid."

"It's not like we have anything else to do," he pressed, leaning closer. "What was the reason behind them?"

Again, Piccolo stared at the youth before shaking his head. "Alright, so be it. A little more than a decade ago, there was a break-in at one of the Higher Houses. As you know, there are four: the Monkey, the Turtle, the Ribbon, and the Demon. From the Monkey House, a little boy was taken from his bed, the kidnapper successfully escaping. When the Monkey House failed to retrieve the child, there was an uproar across the land. As you know, the Monkey House held some of the greatest warriors of the lands, so if someone could sneak into their stronghold and take one of their own, that person could sneak into anyone's home and take someone. In order to prevent that, many people of the Houses, both higher and minor, began placing their children in towers in order to protect them. A waste of time if you ask me, but then, no one would bothers to listen."

Looking at the youth, Piccolo could swear he was having déjà vu. That same innocent look Gohan had as a child was on his face, clearly interested in the tale. It was almost creepy.

It didn't take very long for Piccolo get tired of staring at that face, causing him to look away. It was then his eyes fell upon a dull-looking knife. Hmm, well there was something he had been neglecting with the boy. "Tell me, we haven't really gone over the finer points of sword combat, have we?"

That caught the young man off guard, thankfully ridding him of that innocent expression as he jumped. "Uhhh, no we haven't."

"Then that is an oversight we need to correct," Piccolo said as he stood up. "Check around the armor in here. It looks like a fight occurred here some time ago, so there might be a couple of swords lying about."

Unsure, Gohan slowly stood up and started searching the room. He seemed to be confused with the sudden change in topic, but that was fine for Piccolo. Stories of time long ago were best left for the tongues of storytellers, not impatient men such as himself.

"Hey! I found one!" Gohan announced excitedly. "And there's another!" he said soon after.

"Very good." Moving away from the fire, Piccolo began kicking pieces of debris away, clearing a spot in the middle of the room. "Bring them here."

Gohan was in the clearing in a couple of seconds. Reaching his hand out, he gestured to receive one of the swords. As soon as he had one, he gripped the hilt tightly. "Hold your sword like this," he commanded.

Staring at the green man's hand, Gohan began to fumble with his hilt until he held it somewhat like himself. "Like this?" he asked.

Quick as lightning, Piccolo drew his sword to a side and then swung it in front of him, knocking the sword out of Gohan's hands, the sword clattering on the ground soon after. "No, go get it and try again."

Gohan looked flabbergasted. "But you're the one that knocked it out of my hands! You should go get it!"

"Gohan, I have a weapon in my hand. If you don't get that sword, I'll cut your head off."

Staring at him, Gohan's eyes soon widened and he took off after the sword, returning with it shortly. "Good, now hold the sword better. You don't want to keep running after it now, do you?"

Once again, Gohan fumbled his hands around the hilt. Once he steadied himself, Piccolo again took a swipe at him. This time the young man held onto the sword, though it was flung along with his arms to a side. A second later and Gohan brought the sword back up.

Piccolo nodded. "Better." Then without warning, the green man went on the offensive, slashing at the young man. Clumsily, Gohan flailed his sword about, trying to deflect the strikes. It was almost as if Piccolo was playing with him as he beat his sword away, leaving him wide open for attack, yet never going for the kill. To be honest, he was playing. It was tough though, since his instincts were telling him to go for the kill already, continuing to grow stronger with each strike.

Eventually, Piccolo backed off, leaving a sweaty and heavily panting Gohan, who looked as if he would collapse at any time. Staring at him with a close eye, Piccolo waited for his student to catch his breath somewhat. "Did you notice how I attacked?" he eventually asked.

Gohan stared at the green man for a few moments before he slowly nodded his head.

Piccolo returned the gesture. "Good. Now strike me just as I did you."

"B-but I can…barely stand," Gohan protested between breaths.

"Either strike me or I cut off both your arms. Decide quickly; my sword is in a slicey mood."

Letting out a cry, Gohan heaved his sword up and swung it high into the air, aiming for Piccolo's head. Relaxed, Piccolo merely held his sword up and caught the blade, his sword barely moving from the initial strike point. "Notice how I stopped your blade without any excess movement," the green man said. "Attack me again."

Hesitantly, Gohan drew his sword back before swinging again. Once again, Piccolo stopped it with the same result. Frowning, Gohan began swinging from all different angles, oddly similar to the way Piccolo had wailed on him previously. Yet Piccolo blocked every blow with minimal effort. "Hmm, a little clumsy but you've picked up a bit," he noted cautiously. "Let's see if that defense is any better."

Immediately, Piccolo parried the next slash and launched a counter attack. Widening his eyes, Gohan barely managed to get his sword back to stop the attack. Interesting enough, his blade didn't fling to his side like previous, but somewhat held its position. It wasn't as sure as his block, but it was better than previously. Smirking, Piccolo withdrew himself. "So it seems you have some talent with the blade. At least it's better than your lack of magic talent."

As Gohan heard the first sentence, a big grin began to crease his face. Once the second sentence came out, he lost the grin. "You always have to find someway to put me down, don't you?" he pouted.

"You learn more when humble," Piccolo gruffly replied. "If all you hear is praise, you become arrogant. When you become arrogant, it leads to needless mistakes. Never be satisfied with your current skill. There is always room for improvement."

Gohan soaked that in for awhile before nodding his head in understanding. "So if I don't get cocky, I won't make mistakes?"

"No, you will make mistakes. I've been trying to beat them out of you so far."

Gohan looked taken back. "You mean this whole lesson was about beating mistakes out of me?" he said incredulous.

"What's the matter? That's how I've always taught you. It's the only way you learn."

The young man paused as he began to go over all of their lessons, from magic, to survival, to swordplay. Piccolo watched in amusement as he saw realization hit, followed by a large sweatdrop rolling down his head. "He's right," he muttered to himself.

A smirk worked its way onto Piccolo's face. "We're done for tonight Kid. Tomorrow, I show you the hard stuff."

"The hard stuff?"


To Personalperson: Piccolo's a big green softy towards the end lol. Then again, how do you resist a child's wide, innocent eyes?

To dbzfan8: I used textspeech? Where? I'm so lost, though that's not an uncommon occurrence lol. This chapter should be long enough, I would think.

RyRy tested; MaMa approved.