A Special Training IV

A Special Training IV

Disclaimer: The series mentioned in this fic belong to their respective owners, and no offense if meant to them, and I make no money from this.

It had been three weeks since Usagi had been left on the small, isolated island.

Usagi, no matter what her friends may have believed, was not stupid. In fact, in her way, she was rather smart. She just lacked discipline.

So, she had gotten her priorities straight. She tried to find shelter, and ended up staying in a rather high cave, up on a wall of a canyon overlooking the sea. Since no one was there to help her, so she thought, there was no use whining and complaining.

"I never really thought about it," she said to herself. "I got so used to being the one that complained."

She had not much trouble finding edibles. It was berry season, and other fruits were becoming ripe as well. And, although it was gross at first, she had been able to catch fish.

Usagi had come across the stream, where many tiny fish would be facing upstream, resting against the rocks in the swift rushing water. She was getting hungry for meat, then, and so her usual gag reflex was not working.

Staring at the small, and medium fish, she realized she couldn't get them with a hook. But they were right in front of her…

Her hand darted in the water, and she missed, scattering the small little buggers.

Not realizing she was starting to growl, her hand flashed into the water, and so she went, for the next several days.

Eventually she was successful. In fact, she was so successful that she became sick of fish.

Then came roots, nuts and berries. Okay, anything about eye level and looked like fruit was easy.

She figured out the roots by accident. There were several game trails throughout the island, and she was following one, to see what was on the other side of the island. This was her fifth day.

A large boar was digging at something, and Usagi got curious as to what it was. As silently as she could, she walked up behind it.

Of course, as it was only her fifth day of training, she wasn't very silent.

"AHHH- waaaaaaahhHHHHH!" she screamed, as the boar turned and saw her.

She ran as fast as she could, and, of course, tripped.

The boar nearly trampled her, but she managed to dodge at the last minute. Jumping to her feet, she unsheathed her sword awkwardly, and stabbed it through its head.

"I just killed something…" she said faintly, but sobered. It would have tried to kill her. In fact, it nearly it.

"Plus, pork it pretty good eating," she said aloud, and pulled her sword free, wiping it on the porker's hide, and gagged.

"I will not puke, I will not puke," she repeated to herself, over and over, and dragged it back to her camp, also taking note of where she had found it.

Later, she went back, and tried the roots. They tasted pretty good.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She's doing better than I thought she would," Piccolo reported. Goku nodded, not letting himself get distracted by what Piccolo was saying. He and Piccolo were sparring, getting ready for the ever approaching Android threat.

And whatever has Kami's underwear in a bunch, Piccolo thought, worried.

"She did nearly get eaten a couple of times when she was asleep," Gohan pointed out, as he had decided to help with "Usagi duty," as they had termed it.

"The first time I scared it off," Piccolo told him. "The second, I made enough noise for her to wake up, and she fought it off herself. It hasn't happened since."

This distracted Piccolo enough that Goku got a hit in, but it barely fazed him.

"In a few more months, we can start the real training," Goku said enthusiastically.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Usagi stripped methodically, unconscious of her nudity, and looked at her reflection in a still pool.

It was one of the few baths she had taken, and yes, she stank to high heaven.

What was the worst was her hair.

The once glorious fall of sunlit gold was a tangled, dirty, ratty mess, and you couldn't see the original color. It was getting to be more of a hassle than it was worth.

"So, I guess I have no choice, now, right?" she sighed, and tried to resign herself.

Taking out her constant companion, her sword, which she had nicknamed Luna, she hacked away at the muddy locks, and it fell in ragged piles at her feet. It was all she could do to restrain her tears.

One of the few things she had ever really, really been vain about was her hair. It had had to be long, because it was the only way she could wear the royal hairstyle.

Still, she managed a chuckle. What would her friends think of her now?

Wading into the water, she submerged, and seemed to wash away her old life, and was reborn into this stranger new one.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Six months.

She couldn't believe that six months were already over.

Usagi really didn't know if she wanted to leave this island that had been her home for so long. She had gotten used to the silence.

She had always been a person who had to be around people. People were how she defined herself. She had never been alone with her own thoughts for so long…

It would be around sunrise when Piccolo came for her, and she wondered what would come. She hadn't really asked who the enemy was, only knew that it could destroy this world. Usagi had guessed how strong these people must actually be, especially if they could fly.

Usagi had come to know herself in ways that she wouldn't have guessed earlier. She felt more at peace with herself, and she looked down, unsheathing her sword.

Luna, as she had named it, seemed to hum sweetly as she came free of her sheath, and Usagi took a few practice swings. The sword itself was very worn now, because she had learned how to sharpen it, and it had taken her a while to figure it out, so there were nicks all over it.

"I'll never be a fencer, but at least I can hack decently."

The sun was already set, and she walked along the beach, growling at any animal that could hurt her. They had taken the hint several months ago, and had stopped trying to hunt her.

Her friends would never have recognized her. Her skin had darkened to a nut brown, her hair was hacked off at the base of her neck raggedly, and scratches and abrasions marked her hands and face.

She hadn't lost any weight, in fact, she had gained a lot of muscle, and she was about five inches taller. Her clothes were rags. Oddly enough, she was more content than she had ever been.

A sweet wind blew off the ocean, and Usagi listened to the waves crash, watched the birds find their nests for the night, and knew that she could never let this world fall to whatever would destroy it. It was too beautiful. It was worth fighting for.

It was worth dying for.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Piccolo flew out that morning to find her, and was pleased by what had come of this survival training.

She was sitting on one of the cliffs of the island, her eyes closed, in a general attitude of mediation.

He didn't make any sound, but she was facing him before he actually came into view.

"Hello, Piccolo. How have you been?"

Not quite what he expected.

"Fine. I see you survived. First, I will teach you how to fly, so you can come with me. I'm not carrying you any more."

"All right."

Then he threw her off the cliff.

No scream, and silver light flashed around her, and she was hovering above the rocks below, her eyes clamped shut, and her teeth clenched. Piccolo got the impression that she was doing her best not to freak out.

"You can open your eyes now, you aren't dead."

"I- what? I'm, I'm flying?" she gasped, shocked. She looked up at Piccolo, eyes full of wonder.

At that moment, their met, and Piccolo felt a strange twitch in his heart.

Shaking it off as indigestion, (although how he could get indigestion is anyone's guess) he turned back to the delighted Usagi, who was doing figure eights. He couldn't help put smile.

Usagi saw the smile, and grinned back.

Even if he does have fangs, he is a lot nicer than he lets on, she thought, and followed him back to the mainland.

To be continued.