Chapter 2: Friends?
Disclaimer: I own nothing
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Goku picked himself up off the ground from where the explosion had thrown him. He counted himself lucky, since his face had broken his fall and protected his tail. Getting to his feet the young boy looked around, blinking the spots out of his eyes.
He hadn't a clue what that explosion was, but he did know one thing; he was definitely not in the mountains anymore. His Grandpa's hut laid at the base of a huge tree, one of many that covered the area. It appeared that he had ended up in an enormous forest. The ground surrounding the hut looked freshly dug up, as though the house had been thrown there and destroyed everything that laid in that space before it. Grabbing his power pole from his satchel, the young boy began to venture out to try and figure out what had happened.
"I bet it was some nasty old witch! Grandpa always warned me about them, they probably want to get all of my fish!" Goku continued exploring outward, scanning the area for several minutes. He didn't recognize any of the plant life, and the terrain was strange to him as well. Living in the mountains, he had become accustomed to seeing far out over the horizon. All of the trees made him feel quite cramped. However, the discomfort and confusion were immediately forgotten once he noticed a plant covered in small green beans.
"Oh boy, food! I'm so hungry! I wonder how they taste…" Goku picked one of the beans off of the bush and popped it into his mouth. While the bean lacked flavor, he suddenly felt as though his entire body was filled with energy and his stomach was full.
"Whoa! It's gotta be some kind of magic bean! My tummy doesn't feel empty anymore, it's like I ate an entire lake full of fish! Whoo hoo!" Goku started running around, excited by his newfound discovery.
"RRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Goku stopped jumping around as he heard a high pitched scream behind him. He turned to see a purple glow emanating from deep within the woods. Goku stretched out his senses in an attempt to discover what was going on, and the sounds of combat reached his ears shortly afterward.
"Oh boy! A fight!" The boy launched himself into the air, jumping through the trees like a monkey until he reached the source of what he'd heard. There were several unconscious figures lying on the ground around a small child with red hair, and a very angry looking man was standing over her. Goku looked from the child to the man in indecision, unsure of who to attack. As the man went forward to strike the red head, Goku decided that he was the bad guy.
"POWER POLE, EXTEND!" Goku slammed the pole into the man's face, knocking him down and away from the girl. He then launched himself forward to deliver a hard kick, knocking the bandit out just as he was beginning to get up. The spiky haired boy quickly glanced around at the other bandits to make sure they were out cold. He noticed one of them was still groaning, so he smacked that one on the head before turning to the red headed girl, who was staring up at him. Goku gave the her a grin and held out his hand.
"Hi! I'm Son Goku, what's your name?" The girl looked at his hand for a moment before clasping it, allowing the boy to help her to her feet.
"My name is Erza. Erza Scarlet."
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Erza stood carefully, worried that her body would give out on her again if she moved too fast. She furrowed her brow as the boy started poking the bandit leader's face with his staff.
"What are you doing?"
"I was hoping that he would get back up so we could fight some more, that wasn't very fun. He went down way too easy." Goku pouted and shoved his staff into the bandit's nose one last time before giving up. He turned back to look over to Erza, who was looking at him funny.
"You just attacked a group of bandits for fun?"
"Well it looked like you needed help too. Oh yeah! I forgot to ask, are you okay? You look like they really beat you up!" Erza's look of confusion quickly morphed into a scowl.
"They did not beat me up! I've just had nothing to eat in a few days so I'm very hungry! If I was at full strength I would have beaten them just like-"
Erza cut herself off and looked down at the ground. She had promised to not tell anybody about what had happened at the tower. She had been told that if she started talking about her time there, her friends would be killed. Even telling this one boy in the middle of nowhere could lead to the deaths of all of those she cared about. Luckily for her, it appeared that Goku had only caught part of what she said. His eyes were bulging out and there was an expression of horror on his face.
"You haven't eaten in DAYS?!" he exclaimed, tears starting to gather in his eyes at the thought.
"I don't think I could go a single day without eating! Come on, I'll give you one of my magic beans!" Goku grabbed her by the hand before she had a chance to respond, and began dragging her back the way he came. Erza struggled desperately to stay on her feet as the energetic boy pulled her along at high speeds, her body barely able to keep up. They came to a stop a minute later when Goku saw the same bush he had eaten from earlier. He picked one of the beans off the bush, examined it for a moment, then abruptly turned around and shoved it into the tired girl's mouth.
Not expecting the move, Erza was barely able to swallow the bean without choking on it. Much like Goku, she was instantly filled with a burst of energy. The redhead watched in shock as her body completely repaired itself, and her stomach was left feeling completely full. She spent several seconds examining herself, trying to see whether she was truly healed or if it was some sort of illusion. Her hand trembling, the young mage brought her hand up to her eye patch. She unwrapped the bandages around her head, and all of her doubts vanished in an instant. Her eye worked, it had been healed!
"Thank you, thank you so much for healing me!" Goku just grinned back at the girl, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. With her thanks now out of the way, Erza turned her attention to another subject. The sound of her hand smacking his face was loud enough to startle the birds for miles around. They all took to the sky, cawing in terror as the redhead began yelling at her unsuspecting victim.
"Whether you healed me or not, you shouldn't just shove food into a girl's face! It doesn't matter if you were just trying to be helpful, it is still incredibly rude! Were you never taught any manners?" Goku's face changed to a dumbfounded expression, but not for the reason Erza was expecting.
"Wait, you're a girl? A real girl? I've never met a girl before! Grandpa always said that if I ever met a girl I should be on my best behavior and be as polite as I possibly can!"
"Wait, you're saying you've never seen a girl before?"
"Besides Grandpa, you're the only other human I've ever met!"
"The only… you've been that isolated your whole life?!"
Goku completely ignored her question. Instead, he was walking around the astonished girl, examining her from every angle.
"So do girls not have tails then? Are there other differences besides that?" Erza's eyes immediately jumped to Goku's lower back, where she had finally noticed the brown monkey tail that was poking out from the top of his pants. How had she completely missed that before?
"Why do you have a tail?! People don't have tails!"
"Nuh uh! All little boys have tails; they just fall off when we get older. My grandpa told me so."
"There is no way that's true! I've spent months with other boys our age and none of them had tails!" Erza reached out and grabbed the tail, yanking it up to her eye level to for closer examination.
Goku froze, and giving a small yelp of pain he slowly fell forward, face-planting on the ground.
Erza blinked, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Her hand unconsciously loosened and Goku's tail slipped free, falling to the ground besides him. Goku lay unmoving for a few minutes before he finally snapped out of his pain filled stupor and returned to his feet.
"Owwwww" he groaned, gently clutching his tail. "That really hurt. It was weird, like all the energy in my body was being squeezed out of me." For the first time since Erza had met him, Goku wasn't smiling. He was looking at his tail like a kicked puppy, sadness etched in his features. Erza continued to watch him in silence. She was unsure of what had happened, yet she felt very much responsible for it. Goku looked up at Erza again, maintaining his shell-shocked expression.
"Please don't tell anyone about that. I want to be the strongest in the world like my Grandpa was. If people knew about what happens with my tail, I'll never become as strong as he is. I'll never win another fight again." Erza immediately nodded her head, seeing how easily such a weakness could be used to defeat him.
"I am very sorry for my actions. I truly did not mean to hurt you like that. I beg your forgiveness, please strike me as punishment!" Goku's attention was quickly drawn away from his tail towards the young girl.
"Hit you? You mean like a fight? Alright, awesome!" Goku instantly lashed out, catching Erza off-guard. The last thing she saw was a tree flying towards her head. Then there was nothing.
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Erza returned to consciousness with a pounding headache. Her eyes opened slowly, taking in her new surroundings. She was no longer out in the woods. Instead she appeared to be inside some sort of hut. The redhead rose to her knees slowly, and glanced around the small room. She paused at the sight of Goku devouring a fish more than twice his size. He gave her a cheerful wave and passed her a small plate of food before turning back towards his own. Erza had to turn her back on him in order to eat without losing her appetite. Only when Goku finished filling his black hole of a stomach were they able to resume conversation.
"How did you hit me so hard? I've never felt a blow as powerful as that one before. I was only expecting you to leave a bruise at most."
"I already told you, I'm training to become as strong as my Grandpa. He was really powerful, and I want to be just like him."
"I must apologize for underestimating you. It will not happen again. So is this your Grandpa's house? Where is he? Also, why did you bring me here in the first place? We were right next to a magic bush that could heal wounds."
"I can get a feel for energy, and I wasn't sure if it would be safe to take more than one at a time. I didn't want to accidently kill you or something. You went down way too easy before, I still want to fight you! I brought you here because it was getting dark out. I wasn't sure if the moon was full tonight or not. I brought you in here so that the monster can't get us."
"Monster? What monster?"
"Grandpa always told me about a giant monster that came out on the nights of the full moon. He said I should never be outside on those nights, or he might get me."
"Don't tell me you actually believed him! That's the kind of stories old people tell kids to make sure they go to bed on time! Where is your Grandpa? I bet if I talk to him I could get him to tell you the truth, that there is no monster!"
"There is too a monster! You can't ask my Grandpa about him because it killed him! I found him all squished up and bloody inside of a massive footprint!" Erza paled at this comment, she had just insulted a dead man. Goku didn't seem to care though, as he continued speaking.
"He died fighting the monster so I bet he was happy. Besides, his spirit is in the Dragon Ball right over there." Erza looked over to where Goku had indicated and saw an orange ball with four red stars sitting on a pedestal in the back of the hut.
"Your Grandpa's spirit is inside that thing? What is it?"
"My Grandpa told me this story a while ago, about how there are seven Dragon Balls and whoever can gather all seven together will be granted any wish!" The disbelief on Erza's face sailed blissfully over Goku's head. He continued chatting to her about the Dragon Balls for several minutes, while Erza began to contemplate whether or not it would be wise for her to slip out of the house during the night. She had no idea if the boy would be willing to leave, or if he might prevent her from accomplishing her goals in some way.
Goku's talking was suddenly cut off as the boy collapsed backwards, taking the young girl by surprise. He seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of his sentence. She stared at him for a moment, checking to see if he was truly asleep. When he did not rise, Erza decided that she might as well spend the night in the hut and gather her strength. She needed to be at her best to complete her journey safely. She had made a promise, and she was planning on keeping it. Tomorrow, she would continue her search for Fairy Tail.
