Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? I mean... come on... everybody knows I surely don't own my dear sweet Gohan, or the overly Shmexy Piccolo... or those super awesome Dragon balls... surely everyone knows that Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama...? (Who I also... unfortunately... do not own...) Oh... You didn't? Well, you do now, so no legal actions against me! But guess what... I DO own a certain girl-child who just happens to make her appearance in this very chapter. Be nice to her... everyone knows what it feels like to be the new kid in class... (besides if you aren't nice to her... :whips out cannibal cookbook: well, you don't wanna know... ) HAHA. I shall rule you all with MUFFINS. ahem... sorry... back to the story.
Chapter 4
Osanai
At the bottom of a canyon, miles away from Capsule Corp, the Dragon balls pulsed and hummed wildly. A huge Dragon had erupted from them and now towered, thousands of feet, above it's summoner. "What is your wish?" The deep voice boomed into the sky. It shook small stones loose from the walls of the canyon and the summoner winced slightly. The tiny person tugged at a lock of chin length hair. Two locks of equal thickness framed the face of a slender young woman. Her hair was bright silver, and was the only part of her to give any indication that she could be older than the young teenage appearance her face implied. Except for the two chin length bits, the rest of her hair was worn in a single braid that reached past her knees and ended in a small blade, woven into the silver. It's hilt, onyx black. "Im..al...y." She mumbled. The Dragon lowered his head a few hundred feet. "Speak up." The girl shuddered. "Im...Immortality!" She closed her eyes tight and balled her fists at her side. The Dragon made a noise as close to a human sigh as one can imagine. "Of course, what else does anyone ever ask for?" The girl opened and eye and stared awestruck. The Dragon had a sense of humor. She smiled slightly but stopped abruptly when the Dragon spoke again. "It shall be done." She gulped, and closed her eyes again. Suddenly she was filled with euphoria. Golden light penetrated her eyelids, so bright she could see the canyon through them. She pulled her beret over her eyes, trying to shut out the source. And then, the feeling faded, the light vanished and she felt the ground shake. She slowly lifted her hat and opened her eyes just as seven stones flew into the air and off in every direction. She grinned childishly, and jumped into the air, hovering feet above the ground. She held up her hand, open, palm out, and fired pure energy into a far off cliff. The resulting impact was devastating. The cliff looked as though it had imploded and none of the remaining rock shards were bigger than her smallest finger. She giggled, "So this is what it feels like to be a Goddess."
Gohan stood frozen. Every muscle in him screamed. He wanted to go, to fly to the spot where the Dragon had been, to see who had just made a wish, and what it would mean to them all. Vegeta trembled. More out of anger than fear. Someone had made a wish, that probably meant more fighting. This time he wasn't as excited, he had objects of importance in his life now. Things he could loose. Vegeta grit his teeth and turned to Gohan. "Boy! We go now!" Gohan nodded stiffly.
"Dad! Can we go too?" That was Trunks, clinging to his father's arm, bright-eyed and jubilant. Vegeta shook his head. Trunks sighed. "Come over here and leave your father alone." Bulma held out one hand to him. The other to Goten who was giving pleading looks to Gohan. Gohan shook his head as well. "This might not be safe." Goten grumbled and shot conspiring glances at Trunks who returned them. Bulma grabbed the back of both their necks, ushering them towards the house. "Be careful." She called over her shoulder as the two Sayins took off. She watched them go from the doorway, unable to shake the feeling of anxiety that had overcome her.
The trip was a silent one. Neither man spoke. Both lost in their own thoughts. Gohan still finding himself thinking of the previous days events. Vegeta wondering how long it would take his son to escape the woman, and how much more time he had to make sure everything was safe until the boys inevitably showed up. Neither of them noticed the life force on the outer reaches of their internal range slipping away until it was almost completely extinguished. Vegeta was the first to sense something wrong. He slowed for a nanosecond and then burst forward, not waiting for Gohan to catch up. The younger man noticed and raced to match the fallen Prince. They were heading straight for a canyon. "Vegeta, What-?" He stopped, he knew the answer before the question had left him. There, in the distance, where the Dragon had lingered, he saw a form dropping like a rock from the sky. It hit the ground with such force it bounced. Tinkling laughter echoed in the canyon.
Vegeta flew towards the sound as Gohan descended. His heart pounded, something about the way the body was shaped, the way the cloth whipped as it fell, the distinct pattern in the energy slowly passing away. His breath caught in his lungs, his eyes burned though he couldn't look away. Piccolo lay broken. His chest smashed, purple blood seeped from the corners of his mouth. Gohan's heart thudded, roaring in his ears as he landed next to the Namekian. "P-Piccolo-san?" Nothing. "Piccolo?!" Green eyelids fluttered open. "Ki..." He coughed, spraying purple mist everywhere. "Hey, kid..." His voice was a hoarse whisper. "Piccolo... what happened?" The green one laughed, it was punctuated by hacking and rough coughs. "Witch." Gohan shook his head furiously. "Don't talk anymore..." Piccolo snorted, exhaled sharply, more purple haze, "Doesn't even hurt anymore." He closed his eyes shaking his head feebly. Gohan clenched his teeth and fumbled in his belt. He pulled out a small sack, he never went anywhere without it. He upturned the small pouch and palmed the very last Sensu bean. He smiled, weak, "It'll all be fine now, Piccolo-san." He lowered his hand to the fighters mouth. It wouldn't open. "Piccolo-san, don't be difficult." He forced the bean into Piccolo's mouth, when he didn't meet any resistance he looked up. "Piccolo-san?" His eyes were relaxed behind their lids. "Piccolo-san?" No reply. The boys finger rested between the others motionless lips. Gohan's eyes widened with an emotion he couldn't name. A numbness flooded his brain. His finger trembled as he pulled it out of the dead mans mouth. The Sensu bean remained unscathed, whole, useless. He put it back into the bag, not thinking, not feeling, not noticing Vegeta hovering hundreds of feet above him. He was... cold.