DRAGONBALL Z

DESTINY\FATE VARIANCE

CHAPTER THREE

TRAINING

Night came quickly to the wild lands that Piccolo had taken the boy too. He was still too weak to protect himself from the predators that roamed the area and so Piccolo had taken him by the scruff of his neck and flew up a steep butte. He deposited the child on the top knowing that he would be safe up here.

"I'll stay up here for tonight" he said to himself and he took up the lotus position and slowly he began to meditate. He was beginning to enter a deep state of meditation when he heard a voice.

"I'm hungry" came the complaint from below.

Piccolo growled to himself but he knew that that would not help. The child needed sustenance and if was anything like his father then he needed a lot.

Piccolo then went about gathering fruits from around the area faster than many could see.

After collecting a decent amount he secretly deposited behind the boy. The boy turned around and his eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Where did this come from?" he asked. He then began to look around but soon he slowly took a big apple into his hand and sniffed it. Something must have told the boy that the food was alright because he took a big bite and from there he began to eat quickly.

Soon enough the food was finished and he stood up.

"Hey it's really bright outside. I wonder why?" The boy then seemed to notice his shadow. "Wow, my shadow is so long"

The boy then looked up and something incredible happened. Piccolo saw the boy's eyes focus on the moon and with his superior vision he was able to see the boys Onyx eyes transform into red orbs.

The boy's power then spiked incredibly and his clothes ripped off as he slowly began to increase in size. Piccolo heard wild grunts and snarls coming from the boy who was transforming before his very eyes. Fur began to cover his now giant body and his face had an elongated snout with sharp teeth and wide nostrils. His most disturbing feature was his blood red eyes.

Piccolo could not help the shiver of fear that came over him when he stared into those eyes.

The Beast let loose a roar of uncontrolled rage and the butte beneath it, crumbled like sand beneath its massive weight. The Earth shook when the creature landed.

How do I stop such a thing Piccolo fervently thought. Deciding on action rather than inaction Piccolo charged. He thought that he might have the element of surprise but that was not the case.

The monster turned to look directly at Piccolo but undeterred he charged only to have to dodge for dear life as a crimson energy beam shot at him. It had come straight from the beast's mouth and if not for his quick reflexes then Piccolo knew he'd be dead.

For all its giant size and mindless fury the monster moved with an amazing speed and so Piccolo found himself hurtling to the ground after receiving a giant fist to the body.

He landed in a Piccolo sized impression, or he made the impression. At the moment he wasn't sure, since the world was spinning so fast.

The ground shook suddenly and out of pure instinct Piccolo leapt to the side and it was just in time because the place he had been in was now occupied by a giant fist.

I have to do something drastic if I am going to stop this kid. He brought his middle and fore fingers to his forehead and he began to concentrate his Ki, into his most destructive attack. Not in terms of explosive power but in terms of effect.

"Special Beam Cannon…"

Before he fired, he looked up at the monster and saw it staring intently at the moon, and then somehow it seemed to surge with more energy and power.

THE MOON!

"FIRE!" Piccolo screamed and he then sent his attack to the moon. On contact it drilled into the lunar satellite and upon reaching its centre it exploded, breaking the moon apart.

The absence of the moon did the trick and Piccolo felt the monstrous power dwindle and then disappear. He wearily looked back and saw a small naked boy passed out on the floor.

"You really made me work for that one kid" he said out loud.

He then approached and calling upon his mystical powers he materialized a set of orange fighting clothes for the little boy.

"The clothes are like your fathers, but the symbol on the back says you're from my camp. Wear it well, because it means a lot more than you know."

He also materialized a sword so that the boy would have something with which he could marginally defend himself with.

Before he left Piccolo slowly walked to the boy and he did something he thought he would never do. He pricked his thumb with one of his own nails and he then turned the boy onto his back and opened his mouth and let one drop of his purple blood fall in.

"Don't ever say old Piccolo never did something for you"

Piccolo then gathered his energy and took off.

'I have to train, I have to get stronger. This child almost killed me… I can only imagine what Goku or Vegeta could do in that form… I will definitely become stronger… I have too…

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On the winding path of Snake Way a living warrior paused and looked back sensing the stirring of a distant power.

Gohan…

He faced forward once again and set off at an even faster speed.

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In the deepest reaches of North Galaxy a lone warrior trained furiously against the planets increased gravity. Of all of those who had participated in the battle on Earth, he alone understood the threat that was coming. He had spent most of his life under Frieza's heel and those two who were closest to Frieza had all of his evil and cruelty.

It had been difficult to leave his wife and child but as all of Royal blood knew hard decisions needed to be made without any regrets.

Hard decisions had led to his rebellion against Frieza and the loss of Nappa and Raditz. The two warriors had sacrificed themselves when Zarbon and Dodoria proved too strong and it was all they could do to send him away from that slaughter.

He had vowed on his life that they would be avenged and to do that he would grow stronger. For his fallen comrades… and for his fallen people…

He also had another reason to grow stronger…

For his wife and his child.

Vegeta gathered energy into his hand and performed a secret technique. The artificial ball of energy that lit the sky of the planet he was on began to affect him.

Even as his bones surged in size and his rage and power increased he still kept depth of his thoughts.

For Bulma and for Bra…

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Three Months since the attack on Planet Earth

High on Earth Lookout's Kami, the God and Guardian of the Earth observed the young girl manipulating her Ki. She had come a long way in such a short time and it was evidence of her own inner strength and determination.

She was currently in the early stages of Bukujutsu and Kami had no doubt that soon she would be flying.

Bra had shown great talents in Ki manipulation fighting techniques and she seemed to absorb his Kami-Ken training very well.

"Tell me Mr Popo what do you think of my young apprentice?" he asked the ancient jinni.

"I believe she will be very powerful and she will be a great asset to in the battle to come. Her spirit is strong and her Saiyan heritage allows her to reach great heights of power." He answered.

Kami turned to look at Bra and saw her face scrunched up in concentration. Her Ki which had been flowing smoothly before was now erratic and fitful.

"Bra don't let your impatience get the better of you." Kami called out.

She seemed not to hear him and Kami saw the look on her face change from irritation to anger.

They were unprepared for what happened next. Bra let out a scream of frustration and raw energy and power burst from her in a raging torrent.

Kami shielded his eyes from the intense light and called upon his own power to keep himself rooted in place. The task of keeping himself in place was more difficult than he could imagine as the power from Bra rolled unchecked.

The power than began to die down and when Kami was able to look at Bra he saw her floating well above the ground. Her head was cocked to the side as if listening to something and her eyes were closed.

Amazing Kami thought.

Abruptly her eyes opened and at first she did not realize where she was until she looked down and saw herself floating above the ground.

Slowly but surely she descended to the ground. Upon reaching the ground she fell to her hands and knees breathing heavily.

"I knew I could do it… I'm a princess after all" she said and she quickly passed out.

Kami walked to the child and gingerly picked her up.

"I knew you could do it too Bra"

Kami took the child into the Lookout and placed her on her bed. He then pierced his forefinger with one of his nails and placed a drop on the child's forehead.

"For your protection, little one" he said…

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Gohan raced through the forest with the large T-Rex hot on his trail. Although to some it might seem a life threatening situation but to him it was great fun. Having been out in this place for so long Gohan had been forced to adapt and it had come to him easier than he thought.

The first few days were tough and if it wasn't for Bra he did not know how he could have gotten through them.

Another thing that helped was the sword he had found beside him when he woke up after that bad dream where a monster destroyed the land.

The sword reminded him of the one his mother would use to practice with. He found that the memory of his mother's movements had not faded and pretty soon he was learning how to use the weapon based on those memories and his own thoughts.

Life out here was fun. There were great lakes from which to wash and fish, there were large forest to swing and play in, and there were all sorts of creatures to see.

Mr Piccolo had been gone a long time and Gohan had often wondered if he would be coming back soon, but he was not overly worried.

Mr Piccolo as tough as he seemed wasn't really that bad.

Currently Gohan was playing his most exciting game. He would bait the large T-Rex to see how long it could chase him before it tired out.

At moments he would slow down to make the monster think it had caught but then he would speed up again.

As they broke through the forest and into a field at the foot of mountain shelf Gohan thought he would try something.

He started to speed up and when he got closer to the mountain he gathered all of his energy and jumped.

He soared through the air higher than he thought possible and for a second he became scared until he felt himself falling back down.

He smoothly landed on the mountain and he turned around to look at the ground below. He was actually a lot higher than what he at first thought. He realized the great height he was at due to the small speck that was the T-Rex. He usually could see very well and for him to not see the creature meant that he was pretty high.

"How am I going to get dow…" Gohan did not finish his sentence because he felt a cry of anguish come from his friend.

Bra.

Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated until his mind was transported to the other place. He found here there struggling very hard against something, her face screwed up in deep, frustrated concentration.

"Bra-chan, are you alright?" he asked. She seemed not to hear him and Gohan approached her.

When he put his hand on her shoulder an intense energy passed between them and Gohan saw Bra relax.

He was happy that she was relaxing but his happiness was short lived because when Bra opened her eyes her energy blazed forth knocking him away from their place.

Gohan opened his eyes and he was very disoriented and suddenly where the mountain had been solid beneath his feet, there was air and Gohan felt himself plummeting.

'Gohan-kun!' a voice screamed in his mind. 'Use your energy'

"But how?" he questioned out loud.

'Gohan-Kun!' the voice screamed 'jump!'

The voice was so scared and distressed and Gohan knew that she was worried about him.

He closed his eyes and in the same way that he had used his energy to jump so high he put it under him and pushed up.

He suddenly felt that he was not falling anymore and slowly and carefully he opened his eyes to himself a few meters above the ground, floating.

"Wow cool" he said and with that loss of concentration Gohan fell but he extended his hands and when he hit the ground he sprang off to land on his feet and then he fell on his back and passed out.

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Piccolo had just arrived, and he had seen the boy's tremendous jump and his equally tremendous fall. He would have caught the boy at the last instant but that had proved unnecessary because it seemed the boy had just learned to fly.

"You've come a long way in such a short time. You are truly are your father's son and now the real training will begin. I think at the end of this we will both be very powerful…"

Piccolo could not stop the feral smile that came to his lips…

Three Months Later…

They had trained hard today and made excellent progress. Gohan had created his own signature move and Piccolo could not have been prouder.

The boy was currently asleep and Piccolo had created a fire to keep them warm. He had grown in power and so had the kid. There were things that Piccolo taught him like fighting, Ki manipulation and techniques but it was not a one sided exchange. The boy also taught Piccolo things he had never before understood like, friendship, laughter, and fun.

In this boy Piccolo could see his own Legacy…

It was there under the stars that Piccolo finally understood and accepted his new destiny. To watch over this child.

"Don't worry kid" he said as he reached forth and brushed away the hair from his face. "I won't let anything happen to you, I…pr…promise"

End of Chapter Three