Videl felt her eyebrows rise as she took in the boy in front of her that Krillin wanted to take with them on their hunt for the Dragonballs. He looked fairly non-descript, wearing modest clothes of green trousers that looked as though they were rough hewn and a somewhat rumpled white shirt. His face didn't seem to be all that memorable either, but when Videl tried to sense the boy's presence, his gaze locked onto her and pinned her in place.
Videl felt her breath catch as she witnessed his intense stare, before he once more moved his gaze to Krillin and broke out into a dazzling smile. Videl breathed a sigh of relief at that, for some reason she had been intimated by a boy her own age! How was he able to do that? The only people she had ever felt intimidated by were people who were far older than her (like Krillin and Master Roshi) or when she was facing down criminals who had guns and there was a threat of death. She also couldn't feel anything like she had for Master Roshi or Krillin and that was somewhat puzzling to her.
"Nice to see you again Krillin, how's 18?"
Videl was rather surprised. Although the boy, Gohan she believed Krillin had called him, had a slightly gravelly voice it was still soft spoken. She almost had to lean in to be able to hear him.
"18's doing well, she's been recovering well from all the stuff that happened a few years ago, in fact I'm thinking about asking her to marry me soon!"
Gohan's smile grew at that as he offered congratulations to his friend. Just as Videl was getting somewhat ancy, they had come here for a purpose after all, Gohan's gaze once again fell on her.
"And who's this that's traveling with you?"
Before Krillin had a chance to introduce her, she decided to interject herself into the conversation.
"Videl Satan, pleased to meet you."
Her introduction accomplished, she thrust a hand forward expectantly. Gohan quirked an eyebrow at that, before smiling in a way that made her think she was about to be the butt of some sort of joke. However, he did grasp her hand and give a firm shake.
"Any relation to Hercule?"
Videl shot a questioning look at Krillin, but he merely shook his head and had the same sort of grin that Gohan was sporting. Rolling her eyes she looked back towards the boy and let go of his hand as she answered.
"Yeah he's my dad. Not intimidating or anything is it?"
She definitely heard Krillin stifle a chuckle at that, but Gohan merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in an amicable way.
"Nah, was just curious. Although I'm kinda wondering why you're pow wowing around with Krillin."
Apparently Krillin had an answer for him.
"Awe, don't be like that Gohan, in fact, I think Master Roshi said that she has potential."
Videl was slightly confused as to what this could mean, but she had no response before Krillin continued.
"In fact, I think he wants me to take her on as an apprentice."
Videl choked on any response that she had as she looked over at the diminutive man. While she was proud of her father's style and accomplishments, she was definitely curious as to how he could have such a massive presence.
"As interesting as that is, what does that have to do with me going on an adventure?"
Krillin rubbed the back of his neck in response to that, almost as if he was embarrassed.
"Ah, well, it was more 18's idea than anyone else. She thought it might be kinda weird for a grown man to travel alone with a thirteen year old girl."
Before Videl was able to stop herself she was already snapping a response.
"I'm fourteen!"
Apparently the two males were only amused by that response.
"I can see your point."
Videl physically stopped herself from growling at the boy. She needed to go on this journey, and if she learned some things from Krillin in the process than so much the better for her.
"One catch though, we're going to have to tell my mom."
Krillin visibly winced at that and Videl was curious as to why he would. Surely he had expected that they were going to have get permission from Gohan's parent.
"Is Chi-Chi in right now?"
Before Gohan was able to respond, a voice came from the house interior behind him.
"What do you want Krillin?"
Krillin's face rapidly paled as the owner of that voice stepped out from the door. She was a kind looking woman with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair pulled into a bun atop her head. Two of locks of her hair hung by her ears and were flowing softly in the mountain breeze.
She had a hearth look to her as she was wearing a purple dress, a yellow sash, and sturdy brown boots. Over her shoulders was an orange kerchief that was tied near her neck. As she crossed her arms Videl noticed that the woman was sporting two red bracelets that jangled when she moved.
"Well, I'm waiting, are you here to take my baby again?"
Gohan winced at what Videl could only assume was his mother's, what had Krillin called her? Chi-Chi, that was it, tone.
"Mom," well that confirmed that, "I think he needs to have somebody watch his back. I guess this girl here is going to gather the Dragonballs."
Gohan said this as he gestured to Videl, and she felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance at him not using her name. Crossing her arms and scowling she decided to correct him on his mistake.
"This girl has a name. One I just told you not even a minute ago. How hard can it be to remember? My last name is pretty famous."
Although she had been grumbling the last part, Gohan's mother narrowed her gaze onto her.
"Oh? And what is your name?"
Sighing, she decided to give her name once more. Meeting new people could be extremely annoying. This had to be around the fifth or sixth time that she had had to introduce herself in the span of the past two days, a commodity for someone who had become as famous as she had.
"The name's Videl Satan. And before you ask, yes, Hercule is my dad."
Her name merely got a raised eyebrow from Chi-Chi before the woman once more turned her gaze to Krillin.
"You must be joking."
Videl was a bit confused at that reaction as Krillin rubbed the back of his head and gave a small chuckle of embarrassment.
"Well, no. You're looking at what I think might be my new student."
Chi-Chi snapped her gaze to Videl once more and Videl had to fight not to look away from the woman's searching gaze. Tentatively she tried to feel out Chi-Chi's presence, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gohan's gaze had sharpened as she did so.
For a second she didn't really sense anything, but that passed as she suddenly felt Chi-Chi's presence. Her eyes widened, while not on the level of Krillin or Roshi, she could tell that this woman in front of her was strong. Most likely stronger than Videl.
"So, that old pervert wants Krillin to take on a student?"
Videl merely swallowed as she nodded in nervousness. She felt like she might be being tested by the woman in front of her, but she had no idea what she had to do to pass.
"Did you know that that style was the first one my husband had learned?"
Videl couldn't keep her eyes from widening at that as she shot a look toward Krillin, who merely gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
"I think I need to see what has Krillin and the old pervert so set on you learning that style. How about this, Gohan can go with you if Miss Satan here can land a clean hit on me."
Both Krillin and Gohan looked surprised at this, apparently they hadn't thought that Chi-Chi would make some sort of test for Videl.
"Mom-"
"I don't think that's-"
The two males were cut off as Chi-Chi raised a hand, effectively silencing them. Her gaze had never wavered from Videl's as she issued her challenge. However before Videl could answer, Chi-Chi had one last thing to say.
"Even though it has been sometime since I've been in the tournament circuit, I'm still fully capable of vetting out regular Earth martial artists."
Chi-Chi finally snapped her gaze to the other two and they shrank back at that. Smirking the woman turned once more to Videl.
"Think of this as an initiation of sorts, Miss Satan. If you can fight me you can fight any other regular fighter on the planet."
Videl was somewhat confused at the challenge and the mention of tournaments made her blood start to pump in anticipation. Videl had fought many, many, people. However this was the first female fighter that she had come across that she felt might actually challenge her.
"I accept, just tell me where and when."
Chi-Chi smiled at that.
"Good girl, as for the when, no time like the present, and we'll say…"
Chi-Chi pointed in a general northern direction.
"…there's a clearing a little bit north of here, it's perfect for a small fight."
Videl nodded and the two ladies began to walk towards the clearing. Videl heard the tell tale shuffling of footsteps behind her signaling that the two males had decided to tag along to watch the show. After a few minutes of walking they broke through the trees into a picturesque clearing in the middle of the woods.
Videl glanced around and noticed that the trees formed an almost perfect circle here, almost as if someone had deliberately made the clearing. Once they had made it to the middle, Chi-Chi had stopped.
"Well then, I suppose Gohan will have to moderate, since Krillin will most likely be your teacher soon."
Rolling his eyes good naturedly, Krillin responded.
"It's not like Gohan is your son or anything."
Chi-Chi glared at the smaller man and he visibly wilted as the matriarch to the Son family let her silence do all the talking. Sighing and rubbing his head once more, Krillin just made a gesture as if to say get on with it.
"Fine, fine, I just want you to know that I would have been impartial. In fact, this can be my own test. Although Roshi said that you're good, I've yet to see you really fight. Get that hit and I'll definitely teach you Turtle Style Martial Arts."
Videl nodded warily as she got into a loose fighting stance. Chi-Chi smiled at her as Gohan walked forward and stood between the two fighters. Once her son was in the middle, the woman slid into her own stance, fist a fist pulled back towards her waist, legs a bit more than shoulder width apart and her other hand raised with two fingers up and curled.
Sighing Gohan raised his hand, before he brought it rapidly down, signaling for the two to begin.
Videl rushed forward immediately and went for a sweeping kick, but Chi-Chi merely stepped over the attack and lashed out with a kick of her own that caught the teen in the side and sent her sprawling. However, Videl planted a hand and was able to flip back to her feet before her eyes widened and she had to fall backwards to avoid a kick that went sailing past her nose.
She wasn't given any time to rest as Chi-Chi then planted a foot and tried to bring an axe kick down on Videl's body. However, at the last second Videl rolled out of the way as the foot smashed into the ground, cracking it in the process.
Videl's eyes widened at that display of strength. How the hell did she keep running into these crazy people. This diminutive woman wasn't that much bigger than Videl herself, and yet she was hiding that much strength in her tiny body? Gritting her teeth Videl went for another attack, this time trying for a punch, but it was easily redirected and all she got was an elbow to the stomach for her troubles.
Videl almost gagged at the blow, but even though Chi-Chi hit hard, it had nothing on Roshi. Thinking quickly she grabbed the offending limb with both hands before launching into the air and lashing out with a kick.
Chi-Chi's eyes widened at that and swayed backwards before she used a palm thrust on the now unbalanced Videl to send her to the ground once more. Videl allowed herself to bounce before she rolled back to her feet. Taking a moment, she examined her opponent.
Although their exchanges had been brief both women were now breathing much harder, although it seemed as though Videl was catching her breath quicker. Perhaps the fact that Chi-Chi hadn't really fought in a while had her with lower stamina? If that was the case then Videl needed to push the woman, and perhaps make her tired with other tactics?
"I gotta admit, that's pretty good for someone who hasn't been in the tournament scene for awhile."
Chi-Chi merely smiled at that comment.
"Oh honey, the tournament scene nowadays is nothing. I fought when there were monsters in there. However, once I had my first child I decided to leave the fighting to my fighting maniac husband."
Here Chi-Chi's smile became much more smug than it had been before.
"That doesn't mean years of ingrained training just goes away though. I'd say you're not too bad, but let's see if you can actually beat my challenge."
Videl scoffed, her breath completely recovered.
"I'll do one better and beat you!"
That said she sprung towards the woman once more, who sidestepped Videl's first spinning kick and went for another palm thrust, but just as she was doing so, Videl accelerated herself so that she had twirled around and was able to grab Chi-Chi's arm. With a shout, Videl hauled with all her might and was able to send the surprised woman flying. However, Chi-Chi merely flipped and landed cleanly on her feet.
Videl decided to try and press her advantage. She ran at the more experienced fighter and began an all out assault. Kicks, elbows, knees, punches, she tried everything, but the more she did the more Chi-Chi merely blocked her and eventually Videl was struck with a counter that sent her sprawling once more.
Cursing in her head, Videl rolled out of the way of a dropping knee and flipped to her feet once more using her hands. This woman was good. Every attack she tried was either countered or redirected. The older woman smirked at her as she straightened from her last attack.
"You seem to be having fun, if that smile is anything to go by."
Smile? Was she smiling? Videl felt her face and realized that she had a contorted it into a wide smile. She pondered that for a minute before coming to a conclusion. She had been searching for something like this. Something that pushed her to her limits, something that she knew she could win if she broke through those limits. This wasn't fighting street thugs or fighting a monster like Roshi. This woman was maybe a tad bit stronger than her, but because of that, Videl felt herself becoming sharper with every hit, getting that much closer to the goal laid out.
Videl almost felt like laughing, this, this was something that she had been craving and hadn't even known. No one in the soon to be named Satan City could give her this kind of challenge. She might have felt it when she first began encountering the underground elements of the city, but it had faded the longer she had fought.
What she was feeling now was a challenge. She had found someone who pushed her to be better and she was going to grab this opportunity with everything she had. She heard a small laugh come from Chi-Chi as the woman once more took her stance.
"I swear, I'm surrounded by battle maniacs, at least there's a bit of a woman's touch this time."
Videl didn't let her smile fade as she once more launched herself at Chi-Chi. She needed to be that much faster, that much more intelligent in her fight, that much stronger. She felt her muscles scream as she began to expand her awareness, tapping into the recently unlocked power within her unconsciously and once more began to glow.
Chi-Chi's eyes widened when tendrils of white energy began to roll off of Videl, but she immediately narrowed her eyes in determination.
It was as Videl was once more going for a punch that Chi-Chi grabbed the girl's arm and tossed her towards the trees. She felt a sense of satisfaction as she noticed that the girl's form had been completely shot. However, midair she righted herself and smashed into one of the outer trees feet first.
Videl let her knees bend at the impact before she pumped her new power through her legs, not nearly as much as she had when fighting Roshi, she needed to hone this power, it was a tool for to use, not for it to use her.
With an explosion of wood Videl rocketed from the tree once more toward her opponent. She vaguely recognized the look of shock, but the defenses were up once more. Videl grit her teeth and decided to do something unexpected. She pulled her hands in and felt her body fling past Chi-Chi's guard. A second later the two collided their heads with a thundering crack that rang out across the clearing.
Videl thought she heard shouts of exclamation from the two males who had been watching the fight, but her attention diverted to the woman she had been fighting.
She felt a deep sense of accomplishment just before blackness too her as she realized that the woman had been knocked out cold. She had won. With that final thought she slipped into unconsciousness.
Krillin shook his head at what he supposed was now his new apprentice. He could now see what Master Roshi saw within the girl. The fact that she had been unconsciously channeling ki was nothing short of impressive. The last person he could remember that had taken to ki that easily was Goku, and that guy had been a freaking alien.
He gave a glance over to Chi-Chi who was coming to as her son gently cradle her head. That last hit had been a shock, something that he might've expect from a kid Saiyan, not Hercule's daughter. And wasn't that a weird concept. Never mind the fact that the man had somehow procreated, apparently his daughter had a potential that the man himself definitely did not. It almost made him curious about who the girl's mother was.
"Yo, Gohan, what'd you think?"
Gohan gave a contemplative glance toward the now unconscious Satan child, and Krillin heard the sound of soft snores. Krillin let out a snort at that. He needed to work on the girl's stamina, she didn't even use her ki that long and she was now out like a light.
"I think that I'm pretty surprised. Mr. Satan wasn't really all that impressive a few years ago. I never would've expected his daughter to be as strong as she is."
Krillin let a knowing gleam in his eye as he elbowed his best friend's son.
"And she's a pretty decent looker too, huh?"
Krillin felt the satisfaction of the dusting of pink formed on the most powerful being in the universe's cheeks.
"Shut up."
Even though it was a small mutter, Krillin let out a boisterous laugh at Gohan's comment. He needed to make sure to rib the kid, being stuck in the mountains with only his mom, little brother, and schoolbooks made the kid far too serious.
"I think that you'd make a cute couple."
Before Gohan could retort, Chi-Chi made it apparent that she had recovered from her short bout of concussion.
"What's this, have you got a crush Gohan?"
Gohan glared at Krillin and the man only lifted his hands in a sort of apologetic manner. Rolling his eyes, the demi-Saiyan lifted his mother back to her feet.
"Well, Mom, I'd say that she got a clean hit, she even managed to make it a draw instead of the one hit challenge that you had originally."
Chi-Chi rolled her eyes as she gave her son a light glare.
"Well, I hadn't expected her to use ki all of a sudden. She was even able to manipulate it to give her a boost. Honestly, how long has she had that ability?"
Krillin let out a low chuckle at the question. He was sure that Chi-Chi would be surprised.
"Apparently… yesterday. Roshi gave her a bit of a test. Pretty similar to yours I think, but I didn't really see it. That's why this was a better litmus for her, no offense Chi-Chi, but Roshi is stronger than you."
Chi-Chi merely huffed in response as she went to the girl. Crouching down, the woman lifted Videl with ease and placed her over her shoulder. Her task done she began to walk back towards the house. Krillin supposed he should just count himself lucky that the woman was being fairly amicable, even though because of her loss her son was going to go on what was promising to be another crazy adventure.
A glance in their direction and the woman called out.
"Well, are you two coming or not? Dinner will be ready soon."
Krillin and Gohan gave calls of acknowledgement after trading a quick glanced and the two bounded over to Chi-Chi in a single jump causing the woman to shake her head. However before they completely left the clearing she obtained a glint in her eye.
"So Gohan, when can I expect grandbabies?"
Gohan appeared to choke on his spit at the question and his face flamed red causing Krillin to laugh uproariously. He had forgotten that Chi-Chi really knew how to push the kid's buttons at the most unexpected times.
"Mom!"
With a content sigh Krillin followed his best friend's family back to their house. He would make sure that he saved some of the food for Videl, the girl was likely to be starving when she came to.
Videl slowly returned to consciousness, noticing a delectable smell drifting into her nose first. She opened her eyes slowly, to see an unfamiliar curved ceiling. Shooting up, she had to make the world stop spinning before she could get her bearings.
"Woah there, we gotta stop meeting like this. I hope you don't make it a habit."
Videl's eyes shot to a comfy looking red armchair chair occupied by Krillin. Looking around she noticed that she was in a comfortable living room and that she had taken over the couch. She felt a coolness on her chest and looked down to see a wet cloth that had obviously been on her head before she had awakened.
"Where-"
Before she had even finished her question Chi-Chi came into the room, bowl of rice and meat in her hand. Although the bowl looked far too large for Videl, the smell made her stomach growl in anguish, filling the entire room.
She blushed in embarrassment as Krillin gave a small laugh and Chi-Chi smiled indulgently.
"I supposed you might hungry after using your ki like you did."
So saying, Chi-Chi thrust the bowl into Videl's waiting arms and gave her a pair of chopsticks. A brief "Itadakimasu," and Videl was gorging on the meal. She knew that she probably looked like a pig, but she was too hungry and the food was too good for her to really care. Soon the entire bowl was gone and Videl was feeling much more content. She placed the chopsticks on the bowl and clapped her hands together.
"Gochisousama deshita."
She blushed once more when she noticed the amused looks from Krillin and Chi-Chi. However, when she glance around she noticed that Gohan was nowhere in sight.
"Where's Gohan?"
Chi-Chi had a strange glint in her eye at that question and Krillin looked incredibly amused.
"Oh, looks like someone's got a bit of a crush?"
Videl stared blankly at Krillin for a moment before she felt her cheeks warm.
"It's not like that! The entire reason I fought Chi-Chi was to get him to go with us to gather the Dragonballs."
Krillin gave a low chuckle at that.
"Oh, you didn't just want to impress his mom so that she would approve of your budding relationship?"
Videl glared at Krillin, but the man just looked incredibly amused at the situation that the girl found herself in. Raising his hands in apology, it became Chi-Chi who answered Videl's question shifting her attention to her former opponent.
"He's looking after his brother at the moment. I was just here to make sure that you were okay and to get some food into you. Even though you've only started using ki, it's still your energy and that has to come from somewhere."
Krillin nodded as Videl tried to puzzle out what the woman meant by ki. Seeing her puzzled look Krillin decided to expound upon Chi-Chi's comment.
"Ki is an energy that everyone has the potential to use, although it is most commonly found in Martial Artists. It's an energy that allows us to fight stronger, faster, longer. Once you've really master ki manipulation you'll even be able to fly."
Videl scoffed at that, she knew that the ability to fly were just wire tricks, but Krillin merely raised his eyebrows at her before he slowly started to float into the air.
Videl felt her jaw drop at that. Even with her eagle eyes she could see no wires anywhere near the man. He really did seem to be floating in midair.
"How-"
Her question was cut off by the currently flying man.
"You've already begun to harness you're ki and you're a natural sensor. When we first met you were able to feel my own ki, even though I wasn't consciously channeling any of it."
Videl felt her brain almost freeze at that and the implications of the floating man in front of her. Her dad had lied. Her dad had lied to everyone. Her dad had lied to her.
She felt a sting at that. If he had lied about the ability to fly, what else had he lied about?
"However, it might be a bit before I teach you how to do this."
Her eyes snapped back to Krillin, viciously shoving down the complicated feelings that had been trying to consume her a moment ago. She felt her eyes widen as she realized what he was saying. The man gave her a small smile as he touched back down on the chair.
"I did say that I'd train you if you were able to pass Chi-Chi's challenge, and you did pass, with flying colors."
The woman in question merely grumbled as she collected the dish from Videl.
"A lucky shot, who headbutts people nowadays?"
Krillin snorted at that.
"I think the answer is your own son, but I guess that might be a story for a different time."
As Chi-Chi bustled out of the room Krillin turned his attention to Videl once more and clapped his hands together to rub his palms.
"So… you've passed my test, we're now gonna have a Dragonball in our possession and Gohan is gonna be along for the ride. An all around successful day I'd say. Just one last thing."
Krillin straightened and his expression went from a slightly teasing one to something much more serious.
"The Turtle School has been around for a long time now, as of right now I'm the only living full time practitioner. Master Roshi is pretty much retired and the others either have other styles as well, or they have let their skills go in favor of other endeavors. I guess what I'm trying to say is... would you like to learn under me?"
Videl thought over the offer for a moment as the man waited patiently. She knew that by doing this she was taking a step in a direction that would open her eyes to the true possibilities of Martial Arts that Roshi had mentioned. However by doing this she would be abandoning her dad. She felt a pang at that thought, but another, crueler, part of her thought that he was getting what he deserved. She squashed that part down and tried to look at the offer objectively.
On the one hand, she would be learning how to utilize this ki and eventually she could fly. She had to admit that the thought of being able to fly under her own power made her somewhat giddy with excitement, but if that was the only reason she was sure she could figure it out herself if she tried. Krillin had said that she was natural at ki manipulation after all. However, she was a bit wary of this thinking. Both times she had used that power, she had ended up passed out in an unfamiliar house. What if she went too far and accidently drained herself dry? She was sure that that would have dire consequences.
On the other hand she had been training proudly in her father's style for as long as she could remember. She knew that she was proud of her accomplishments with that style, but apparently it was too tame to compete with the Martial Arts world that she wanted to step into.
If Chi-Chi had merely been the gateway and people like Roshi and Krillin were what awaited her at the end of the rabbit hole, then her father's style would not be strong enough to stand on that stage. Which begged the question, how had her dad beat Cell?
Crushing that question into the deepest recesses of her mind for now, she looked up at the patiently waiting Krillin.
"Can I-"
She stopped as her voice came out as more of a croak than she had thought. She supposed she had spent more time thinking on the issue than she had thought she had. Clearing her throat, she attempted to answer once more.
"Can I have a night to think about it?"
Krillin gave a slow nod as he got up from his chair.
"Sure thing, kiddo. Just know that if you want to stand on the real stage of Martial Arts, not just in a tournament, one of the best ways is to go after the Draognballs. I'll respect your decision no matter what, but I can safely say that your dad's style isn't suited to what we might encounter. Just think on that."
His words hurt, but she could see the truth in them. Videl was on the cusp and she would stay on that cusp if she stuck with her dad's fighting style. She knew he didn't utilize ki, knew that it was for tournaments, she had already begun to incorporate other things into her fighting to deal with the thugs in the city.
Krillin excused himself as Videl laid back and stared at the ceiling. Her mind was in turmoil, so she decided to use something to test whether or not she would accept Krillin's offer, her fight that she had had not even a few hours ago.
She had never felt more alive in a fight. Thugs were nothing special to her now, even the ones with guns went down pretty easily. Anyone she had fought in her father's dojo had fallen to her prowess eventually. She had competed in the junior tournaments and had been excited to be challenged, before she crushed the competition and rose to the top. Her father hadn't fought her months (and now she was beginning to have horrible suspicions about that).
It hadn't been until she fought Master Roshi that she had been thoroughly outclassed. When she had fought Chi-Chi she had felt something she had not felt since she had begun Martial Arts. Excitement.
She had been excited to fight someone who could push her. She had been excited to see if she could break past her limits. She remembered the thrill that went through her as she realized that she was able to deal a knockout blow to the woman who had had her on the ropes the entire fight.
As Videl drifted off into sleep she came to her decision. She was sure that she had made the right one, not only because of what she had felt today, but also because of the trials that were to come if she went after the Dragonballs.
Krillin sat cross legged on a rock by a waterfall within the woods with his eyes closed. If there was one aspect of his life with the monks that was still with him, it was meditating on events. He had been meditating ever since he had woken up, trying to feel whether or not he was doing the right thing in taking an apprentice. Everything had pointed to the fact that that was the right decision, but he didn't know how well he would adapt to being a teacher.
All of his life he had been a student, first to the monks and then to Roshi. He had gone on grand adventures that he had never in his wildest dreams would have expected. Hell, he had been to other planets.
He had faced off against terrifying evil, had died more than once and had also been resurrected more than once. He had a beautiful girlfriend whom he intended to make his wife. He had lived a crazy life and not all of his friends had made it to this point, but was he ready to teach?
Well, the offer was made, now he just needed to wait for the girl to decide. If she decided against becoming his apprentice, then that was fine. If she did become his apprentice, then he would do everything in his power to make her as strong as he possibly could.
He let his senses expand for a moment and felt Videl's approaching ki as she headed towards him. He quirked an eyebrow, apparently she was able to sense him even when he was suppressing his own ki. Or she had just asked where he had gone, yeah that was more likely. He calmed his racing heart as the girl walked toward his rock. With a content sigh he opened his eyes and saw Videl standing near him, hands on her hips and looking determined. He supposed it was good that she was headstrong, if he taught her he would know how to deal with any kind of devious tendencies, much like his own had once been, so long ago.
He snapped his attention to the girl as she took a deep breath and clenched her fists at her sides.
"I've thought long and hard about what I want to do, and I've come to an answer."
Krillin kept his silence, waiting for her to speak her mind. With a nod she brought her fist in front of her face and soft white tendrils began to expunge from the hand. Almost as soon as she had done so, she stopped.
"Even just that makes me feel fatigued, and now that I know about ki, I know I need to learn to control it. So far I've only used it in admittedly friendly spars. Even though I was seriously outclassed the first time and got a lucky hit in the last time, I know that I do it unconsciously. Even if we go our separate ways, I'm still going to use the ki."
Taking a deep breath, Videl once more looked at Krillin.
"So if you'll have me, I'll study under you, Master Krillin."
Krillin felt a small smile form on his face at that. Master Krillin. It had a nice ring to it.
"I think we'll get along just fine, kiddo."
And another chapter made! Man, I had wanted to update this for awhile, but real life has been quite busy. I've also had a bit of general writer's block when I did have free time, so I made a smaller RWBY fic to jog the cobwebs loose. If you're into RWBY give it a look.
I'm feeling pretty good about this fic so far, the feedback has been wonderfully positive, and I hope that I met expectations with this second outing. The fact that I got over 100 follows and 70 favorites in such a large fanfic section really makes my day and all of the reviews have been quite welcomed. I'm kinda weird in that any kind of review/fav/follow always brings a smile to my face, even in my more popular stories like Lucid or Gallant, so for every person that does so, I do notice! And I thank all of you form the bottom of my heart.
It was actually quite fun to write the fight between Videl and Chi-Chi. I've always preferred Chi-Chi as the warrior princess that she actually is in Dragonball to the more caricature that she became in Z. I also think that of the fighters that Videl has interacted with so far, Chi-Chi is probably the closest to her level so that gives some nice growth. I said that more minor character's would be coming, and Chi-Chi's time to shine proves that a bit I'd say. Next chapter we might be meeting someone who has a certain sneezing condition (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) so that should be interesting.
Welp, I've rambled for long enough. Once again, no beta so any spelling, grammar errors, or typos are due to that. Questions, comments, concerns? PM me! If you're feeling kind, leave a review or hit that fav/follow button. Like I was saying every time it happens it makes me smile. Now then onto the disclaimer, cuz woot woot bottom!
Disclaimer: DragonBall, DragonBall Z, and DragonBall GT are all owned by Funamation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyam! Please support the official release!
