DBZ Bonds
By
Dragon with a Shotgun
OMG I'm listening to Nightcore Lost in the Echo and my brain feels like it's on fast-forward! Oh, forgot to add, I haven't based the time period in any episodes. So everybody's alive and well in the story, XD. No one's dead. Enjoy!
The Beginning Four
She had felt some strong emotions in her life. Shock, fear, happiness, sadness… But the emotion that was written in her facial features and etched in her chest was exhilaration. She had never felt anything as great as she felt as she clung to Goku's neck as he flew through the air. She had a huge, amazed smile on her face, her eyes bright and her hair blowing in the wind as the group of warriors flew over miles of trees and mountains. The lake was on the other side of the mountains. Goku had described it to be huge, almost like an ocean. He said that it sparkled in the sun and reflected everything like a mirror.
Carina couldn't wait to see it. She actually couldn't wait to see anything at all. She didn't have a clue of how long it had been since she had last seen anybody or anything outside. Her heart raced in her chest as she held onto Goku, and she watched the ground below her raced by.
"How do you like the view?"
Carina looked at Goten and Trunks and smiled. "It's awesome! I've never seen anything like it!"
"Well get used to it, we usually fly wherever we go!" Goten grinned as he drifted closer to his father and Carina. "Have you ever flown before?"
She shook her head.
"Not even in a plane?" he inquired.
Again she shook her head. "No, never been in the sky before."
Goku furrowed a brow, thinking to himself. It's a wonder why she didn't hesitate to go with him in the way they were traveling. If she had never been in the air before, surely she would have been nervous to let him take her with them if they were flying. Then again, she must have been curious to try it, so he couldn't blame her. She probably wanted to get out and do more things, and she was probably more curious about everything she saw.
"We're almost there, guys." He said, wrenching himself from his thoughts as he glanced over his shoulder at the kids.
Carina smiled and sat up, sitting on his back almost like a horse. "I can't see it."
Goku chuckled. "You won't for a little bit. We're in the clouds, so you actually can't see it."
"Yeah," Trunks said as he swung by. "If the sky had no clouds today, you'd be able to see it for miles! It's real big!"
The little girl smiled in excitement. She looked over Goku's head, narrowing her eyes to peer through the clouds as best as she could. But she couldn't see a thing. She wondered how they could tell where they were going. Maybe they had been her so many times that they had the map carved into their brains. Her father had been to his friend's house on the other side of the country on her home planet so many times that she thought that he was magic. He knew so much about life, and used to tell her many stories about his childhood before she went to bed at night. He used to tell of how he used to go do things with his dad, like fishing and playing catch with a baseball.
But that was for boys, wasn't it? Catching ball… Then again there was softball. She never took a liking to that sport. She had always wanted to learn karate over those kinds of sports. Fighting was a strategy game almost. You had to use your mind but also know how to use your body in defense and offense. Her dad said that it would be good to know how to defend herself, and she had started martial arts before her planet went down. It was really fun, too. She had a few favorite partners to practice with and she had a great time learning kick moves, dodging, and also punching. Learning how to fight with Goku and his friends, at least watching them, might be a good way to get a new start on this planet. They seemed like the fighting, warrior type. Especially Vegeta… They all were muscular, Krillin and even Goten and Trunks had some large arms and legs from training.
Goku, though, was huge compared to everybody else. He was taller, and much more buff than the others. He surprised her when they had first met. He was so much bigger than her. He reminded her of the Giants in one of her father's bedtime stories, the one when a little man chopped down the giant vine that came from a few little beans. She felt like that little man, and that Goku was that Giant. But maybe that was the reason she clung to him so much. His size made her feel as though she was safe. She felt protected when she was near him, and was glad that he was okay with it.
Suddenly he turned his head, smiling at her.
"Alright, hold on!"
She had a clue that they were going to lower to the ground, which could've been a few miles down, but what she did expect was that he'd suddenly do a dive. Straight down.
She shrieked and abruptly leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck again. She heard him laugh as they spun downward. The force of the freefall was so forceful that she felt the pressure of the gravity working to bring them back down to Earth. She dared to open an eye to peek around her. She saw Gohan beside them, smiling at her when he noticed her looking at him. He waved, but then he spun away and disappeared into the clouds. She looked to her left and saw Vegeta. He was diving, too, but he wasn't fazed by it. He was still, his arms crossed and his eyes closed in a calm but hard expression. She also saw the boys, Goten and Trunks laughing and twirling around each other while Krillin watched them.
She didn't know why, but she hesitantly unwrapped her arms from around Goku's neck. She gently pushed away, feeling the air's pressure fight against her, all the while pulling her toward Earth. Goku must have felt her let go, and he turned around to check on her, almost afraid that she had lost her grip and was in terror. But when he did, she smiled at him. He saw the look in her eyes and saw no fear. Only excitement. He watched as she spun a few times, laughing. He laughed too.
Goten and Trunks were then circling Carina, laughing and twirling her. She had never had so much fun before, she had forgotten about what had happened to her home planet and was having the time of her life.
"Hey, you might wanna grab onto dad again!" Goten shouted, floating away.
Carina wasn't sure what he had meant. Until she looked down and saw the ground. She gasped, but a pair of huge arms wrapped around her and she was pulled into Goku's chest. She buried her face into his garments, afraid that they'd crash. But she felt the pressure ease off, and then she felt Goku's body bump gently. She opened her eyes, and was astounded to find that they were standing on the ground, not a since indention in the ground. A drop of sweat slipped down her forehead before she let out a huge smile in relief.
"Heh heh, scared weren't ya?" the Saiyan mused aloud.
The girl panted some and nodded meekly. "Y-Yes…"
The man chuckled and let her on the ground. She had a hard moment of trying to balance herself, but she straightened herself and brushed herself off.
"Hey, you had me worried there for a moment when you let go." Goku said, kneeling down and brushing her shoulder.
Carina smiled and shrugged lightly. "I just… wondered what it felt like to be free…"
The Saiyan's eyes widened slightly, his mind turning her words over a few times before tilting his head. "What do you mean?"
"I have never flown before, and it felt… so new and so…" She looked down.
Goku stared at her for a moment, confused. He was about to ask her if she was okay. She was looking at the ground, looking a bit sad. But out of nowhere she squealed and did a twirl, startling him into leaning back.
"IT WAS AMAZING! We have to do that again sometime! I had never felt anything like that in my life! We were flying all calm and all, and then we were suddenly going SWOOSH and then I let go and I was spinning around and around-,"
Goku laughed as he watched her do arm movements of the whole story, making like an airplane and running around and laughing. He felt something in his heart that he really couldn't put his figure on. It was familiar to the way he loved Gohan and Goten, but not quite the same. It was deeper than that, and it confused him. Seeing her run around, giggling, laughing, trying her best to explain everything that she had felt during her first flight experience. She seemed so happy, like she forgot everything that had happened to her.
"-And we were laughing and then Goten was like, telling me to grab onto you again, and then I was scared when I saw the ground and then you grabbed me and here we are!" He chuckled as she sat down on the ground panting, giggling before she plopped down in the grass on her back.
"Alright, alright," he said, kneeling down beside her. "Calm down before you hurt yourself!"
She sat up, wiping happy tears from her eyes. "I'm okay, I promise!"
Gohan was then standing beside Goku, smiling at her amusingly. Trunks and Goten were beside him, and they laughed at her.
"You should've seen your face! You were so scared!" Goten laughed, pointing at her.
Carina jumped up with a huge smile on her face. "I know! But it was so awesome!"
The kids laughed, talking about how she had reacted and how excited she was. Then they turned and ran to the lake shore, jumping in the water and splashing each other. The boys were dunking the girl, making her squeal and laugh. Goku gazed at them for a minute, enjoying the peaceful, happy moment before he turned away and walked over to Krillin, leaving Gohan to watch over them. When he reached his side, he sat on the log beside him.
"She sure seems happy." Krillin smiled at the kids before turning his eyes to Goku. "Remember when we were their age?"
Goku laughed heartily. "Yeah, I do. Great memories."
"Mhm," Krillin hummed, but then chuckled. "You used to get us into so much trouble with your curiosity. Like how you thought that some women were men and some men were women. I still don't understand how you got the two genders mixed up."
The larger man rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I don't even remember!"
The two adults laughed at their memories. But then they sighed and got ready for their training.
"Have you started training yet?" a deep voice rang at them.
Goku and Krillin turned their heads, but recognized the Namekian right away. He was standing with his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face. His long white cape gently blew in the small breeze. His purple garments were light with the sun shining brightly on him. Goku was about to greet him, but he felt a tug at his waist. He looked down and saw Carina slightly behind him. Trunks and Goten were with Gohan, who grinned when he too saw Piccolo.
"Hey, Piccolo!" he greeted before his little brother tackled him to the ground, Trunks following his lead and pinning him to the ground.
Piccolo huffed and smiled slightly. "I see that the boys have anyway."
Goku waved at him. "What's up, Piccolo? You gonna here to train, too?"
Vegeta chuckled darkly. "The more the merrier, as said by some. Gives me a better chance to demonstrate my power."
Krillin made mouth movements with his hand at Vegeta. "Yeah, yeah, whatever!"
The taller man grabbed him up by his shirt and furrowed his brows. "You wanna be first to feel it, punk?"
Krillin smiled nervously, holding his hands up in an innocent manner and a few drops of sweat running down his forehead. "Nope! I'm good, thanks!" When Vegeta got his answer, he dropped the smaller man on the ground with a hard thump. Krillin huffed and frowned at Vegeta when he turned away and walked off.
"Humf! Well he hasn't changed a bit!" he muttered as he stood up.
Carina tugged on Goku's garments. "Vegeta's always like that?"
Goku smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but we're used to it. Don't worry, he wouldn't hurt ya." He lifted his gaze and smiled knowingly at Vegeta, who had his back turned toward them and was crossing his arms. Goku laughed quietly. "Isn't that right, Vegeta?"
The smaller man growled and didn't say anything. Carina blinked at him curiously, looking back up at Goku's face, who was studying Vegeta, as if a thought was turning over in his mind. She wondered, too, if Vegeta would hurt her if he got angry. He sure looked like he'd do it if it was word to come down to it. Piccolo then looked at her, and softened his gaze.
"Who's the kid?" he asked.
"Goku brought her back yesterday. She's going to stay with us for a while." Krillin answered, hence Goku wasn't listening. But he turned his attention back away from Vegeta and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, she's staying with me and Chi-Chi and the boys until we figure about what to do next." he clarified.
Piccolo kneeled down and studied Carina, who hid behind Goku's leg. Piccolo looked a little scary. He reminded her, again, of one of the monsters in her father's stories. He was tall, green, had sharp teeth and pointy ears. She was nervous with him gazing at her with his black large eyes. He held up a hand and wiggled a finger at her.
"Come here," he said softly, but sternly.
Carina swallowed and looked up at Goku, who nodded at her and pushed her back slightly. Her feet skidded the ground when he pushed her, not wanting to move from where she was standing. But, she obeyed and slowly walked to the green Namekian, shyly looking at her feet. When she stood in front of him, she reluctantly looked up at him. He studied her face for a moment. She wanted to go back to Goku.
But he surprised her by smiling calmly at her. "She's rather on the small side. Wonder how she survived."
She blinked up at him, confused. Did he read her mind or something? She had heard of Namekians. She had heard that they can have different abilities, and were similar to Saiyans. They could fly, fight, and were strong warriors of their tribes on planet Namek. But why wasn't he with his tribe?
He chuckled. "I don't have one, kid. I live alone on Earth."
She tilted her head in wonder. "Are you reading my mind?" she asked.
"You could say that." he replied, smiling.
He then stood up and ruffled her hair with a hand before passing her and walking over to Gohan and the two younger boys rolling around on the ground laughing. Before the boys noticed him, he yanked up Goten and Trunks with his hands and held them away from each other. Gohan was panting on the ground with a big smile on his face.
"Thanks Piccolo."
The Namekian dropped the boys on the dirt, earning their whining and complaining about them having fun. He frowned at them, and before they could do anything else, he thumped them in the head with his hands.
"HEY!" Trunks snapped, rubbing his head with his hands. "What was that for?!"
"Yeah, we didn't do anything!" Goten complained as he rubbed his scalp.
Piccolo glared at them. "If I hear any complaining out of either of you I'll tie you both together and use you as a soccer ball."
The two boys gave each other wary glances, imagining being kicked around the field, both tied together in a ball, rolling around in the grass yelling. They thought better, and decided to keep their mouths shut rather than risk a terrible injury from Gohan's previous mentor.
"Alright, who's going first and who's going against who?" Krillin asked.
Goku grinned in a challenging way. "I'll go first. Besides, you said you wanted to show me how much stronger you've gotten since I've last seen ya, right?"
Krillin's eyes widened and he laughed nervously. "Oh! Ah, um… You see, I think I'll go against someone who's… you could say, lacking some of the power you have. I want to warm up first, not jump into a full blown fight."
Goku rolled his eyes. "Alright, whatever you say."
Krillin let out a long sigh of relief. He absolutely knew from fact and experience that he couldn't compare to Goku's strength. The Saiyan's proved it more times than he could count. He was actually scared to go against his friend. He thought that it was odd, having known him since he was only a kid. Goku didn't even know what person was a man and which was a woman. He wondered how that little spiky haired kid turned into a insanely strong Saiyan that can blow up the entire Earth if he wanted to. But Krillin knew that Goku would never do that, not to the place he's lived all his life. He wouldn't do that to any planet at that matter. He cared too much about life to do that.
But a voice yanked him back to reality.
"I'll fight you, Kakarot."
Goku made an expression that was between a frown and a smile. "Great! I'll get warmed up."
Carina walked up to Goku's side. "Goku, why does he call you that?"
He shrugged. "That's my real name. He just calls me that."
Carina frowned in confusion. So his name was Goku, but his real name was Kakarot? Well, she'd rather call him Goku. Kakarot seemed like a mouthful to say. She looked at Vegeta. He was turned toward them, staring at Goku with dark eyes. Goku turned away, walking further from the group to stretch and get warmed up. Vegeta just stood there, like a statue, waiting for his opponent to get ready to fight. On the outside, he seemed calm. But when she looked into his black eyes, she could see that he was excited. He wanted to fight. And something told her that it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Wait,"
The group looked at Goku. He was walking back.
"I have to do something to do before we fight." he said.
"What is it now, Kakarot?" Vegeta demanded coldly.
Goku smiled at Carina. "I need to teach her how to feel our ki and be able to see us when we fight."
Whoo! Again another chapter! I like it. It's like an episode playing in my head. :3 I hope you like it. ^.^
