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Heart of a Warrior
Chapter 3b – Fateful Reunion
"Focus, Krillin." Steelin said in a voice that seemed to be everywhere at once. "If you make a mistake, I'll send three shuriken at you."
Krillin grunted an affirmative; he knew the drill by now. He was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by ten department store mannequins, each covered in bells. The object of the exercise was really simple: steal all the bells without making a sound. The description of the exercise was, of course, the only simple thing about it. The fact that he had only a minute to do so while dodging a shuriken for each bell he touched made it just a bit less than easy. Krillin was confident, however, because his last attempt at this exercise had been very nearly successful and he was sure he could do it correctly this time.
Suddenly, he began moving, flitting about the mannequins without so much as a whisper. The only sound to be heard was the thud of shuriken striking the ground like machine gun bullets. Before the minute had expired, the shuriken had stopped flying and Krillin stood in his starting position holding a bulging bag over his right shoulder and breathing quickly. A triumphant grin was plastered on his face.
"Well done, Krillin!" Steelin said as he leaped from a tree, landing within a few yards of Krillin. "I see you sorted out those tricky ones that caused you trouble last time. You even managed to finish with a bit of time to spare."
"Thank you, sensei." Krillin said as he dropped the bag onto the ground. It hit the ground with a very heavy sounding thud. "Next time, I'll do it even faster."
Steelin laughed. "I believe you, because next time you have only half a minute." He tactfully did not notice as Krillin's jaw dropped. "Now then, we're done with Thief's Fist for today. Let's have lunch, then we'll focus on Orinji kung-fu afterwards."
The two martial artists returned to their camp and began to eat in silence. Krillin learned early on that Steelin preferred to meditate during a meal. Having spent his entire life in a monastery where the monks enforced silence during meals, Krillin accepted his teacher's wishes quite easily. Following his teacher's example, Krillin also spent the time reflecting on the four months he had spent training under Steelin.
It certainly had not started out as smoothly as he had thought it would. Steelin had led them out to the wilderness, where they had set up a spartan camp. After sparring to determine Krillin's abilities, he had announced, with no small surprise, that Krillin was not conditioned enough to undertake the Thief's Fist training.
"That won't do. We'll have to train you up, and quickly." Steelin had said. "Get some rest. I guarantee you'll regret it tomorrow if you don't."
He had not been kidding. Krillin had learned very fast that his new teacher's methods were extremely demanding. For an entire month, Steelin had had him doing hundreds of strength building exercises and running twenty miles every day. Between all of that, they had also sparred several times a day. Unsurprisingly, Krillin had eaten like a horse and slept soundly thanks to this tiring routine.
The daily sparring also revealed a painful truth for Krillin. After stalling for a week, Steelin had finally gotten around to broaching the subject.
"Krillin, don't take this badly, but did you really master the Orinji style?" he had asked. Krillin had been shocked and, just as quickly, angrily defensive.
"Of course I did! I almost fought the Master to a standstill." he retorted.
"Maybe so, but I assure you that you're not a master of the form. Don't get me wrong, you're very advanced, and you know a lot of high level techniques, but your style is incomplete and unpolished.."
"And how would you know that?" Krillin asked, heatedly.
"Because I've mastered the Orinji style." replied Steelin in a cool tone. "I'd say, from what you've shown me, that you've probably taught yourself most of the advanced stuff. The Orinji are notoriously inflexible when it comes to their rules. Those monks never did have enough sense to advance the most promising pupils. That would explain why you show mastery in your basics but not in your advanced techniques."
This revelation had been devastating. The whole time, Krillin had been puffed up with the idea that he was better than the people that had sent him away. In reality, in the face of an objective person, he was barely a bad knock-off.
"Look, Krillin, I don't want you to take this badly, but I do want you to know the truth. It won't do if you are going around with a higher opinion of your abilities than is true."
After a few minutes, Krillin had finally asked the inevitable. "Ok then, please help me finish my training."
"Krillin, I'm teaching you Thief's Fist. That'll be more than enough for you..."
"I can do both, especially now, while I'm only doing strength training."
"Krillin, you won't have the time or the strength. No, I can't do that."
"Please, I humbly beg you to train me." Krillin had dropped to the ground and prostrated before his master. "Sensei, please, I've got to truly master the Orinji style...it's important."
Steelin had shaken his head and sighed. "Very well, I'll teach you, but my Thief's Fist training will always dominate the time. And I won't slow down on either, so you'd better be able to keep up or I'll cut out the Orinji training."
Since then, Krillin had applied himself more earnestly than ever. His pride would not let him accept less than mastery over the Orinji style. It was a grueling pace that only became worse as his month of conditioning ended and the real Thief's Fist training began. He had struggled through it all, never daring to complain or to ask for the pace to slow. Three months later, his steadfast manner was paying off. The training, while no less rigorous, was becoming less painful. His body had adjusted to the regimen, freeing his mind to absorb and process the things he was learning.
Krillin finished his meal quickly, as was his habit, and, after clearing away his dishes, he spent the next half hour practicing with nunchaku. Steelin was a master of chain weapons, particularly the nunchaku, and these weapons were an integral part of the Thief's Fist. The nunchaku was the most difficult (due to Steelin's affinity for it) to master, so Krillin used any spare moment to work on his form.
"You're doing very well, Krillin." Steelin said as his pupil finished practicing. "I'll make you a master of that weapon yet. Now then, I have a few new moves for the advanced tiger form that you need to learn..."
"I think that it is time we return to civilization." Steelin said suddenly a few days later. He had just finished sparring with Krillin, who, from the way he was sprawled on the ground, had apparently gotten the worst of their last exchange. However, Krillin hopped to his feet, looking no worse for the wear and ready to continue their match.
"We're going back to the city?" he asked. "So does that mean my training is complete?" he asked.
Steelin chuckled at the question. "No, you're not quite there yet, though I will admit that you've progressed much faster than I expected. In fact, you'd probably be further along if you were devoted only to Thief's Fist..."
Krillin's face darkened for the slightest moment. "So...if my training isn't done, why are we leaving?"
"We need a change of pace. Monotony is not a friend of Martial Artists; this is why many of us go on training journeys." Steelin could see that Krillin wasn't entirely convinced about that explanation. "Ok, fine, it wouldn't hurt to shower and eat things we don't have to catch ourselves."
"Finally!" exclaimed Krillin. "I thought you'd never say that."
Since they kept a very basic camp, it was not long before they had packed up. Krillin put on his new cloak, which was in the same style as Steelin's and had a small crest with the word "Nottingham" on it. "Ok, Krillin, now for our next training exercise. We're going to sprint the entire way back to the village."
Krillin considered the exercise for a moment. The village was over ten miles away. It would be tiring, but not impossible, especially after all of the running he had done during the last four months. "No problem." he said with more than a little confidence.
"You're confident...good. You'll be carrying all of the bags." Steelin said as he fastened his cloak around his neck.
"Is that it?" Krillin asked, now sounding quite over-confident.
"And we'll be going through the trees."
The going was unbelievably tough. It wasn't anything like running, or even jumping, as Krillin thought it might be. He could not seem to do it as fluidly as Steelin, who glided between trees, just barely stepping on the branches at the tops of the trees. His burden was heavy and he simply could not step on those flimsy branches, so he was forced to jump through the trees. After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the village. Krillin was scratched, dirty, and sore; Steelin looked as if he had just finished dressing.
"How does he do that!" thought Krillin as he tried to catch his breath. His shoulder's were sore and his back ached. He followed Steelin into Utopia Village, which they had only briefly visited months before, after having caught a train to it from where they had first met. It was not exactly large, but it did have a few traffic lights and a hotel down the main street.
"I think we'll go check into a hotel..." Steelin said, as they walked through a row of vendors selling produce. Krillin, however, barely heard him. Something, or rather someone, had just caught his eye. He saw a flash of gold in the afternoon sun and heard a pair of voices that sounded very familiar. He dropped the bags and turned around to look back at a stand they had just passed. In front of it stood a tall, orange haired man, a black haired boy, and a blond girl. The girl reached up with her right hand to pull the hair away from her face. Krillin felt a wave of emotion sweep through his heart that made him inhale sharply. The girl that had been on his mind for nearly a year had suddenly appeared before his eyes.
It was Kou.
She had grown a bit and her hair was shorter, but she still had that voice that sounded like music in Krillin's ears. She and her brother were poking about the vendor's stand while their father seemed to be haggling the price of a bunch of bananas. It took a moment for the shock of seeing them to wear off before he realized that they were both shoplifting, and rather inexpertly. They were so obvious that other vendors, as well as the stand owner's wife, were looking at them suspiciously.
"I was wondering where you'd gone." Steelin said, startling Krillin. He glanced in the direction Krillin was looking. "Hmmph. These amateurs are going to make our 'shopping' difficult. They're terrible!"
"Maybe, but I know those people." replied Krillin quietly. "We should do something before they get caught."
"Agreed. I'll distract everyone and take care of the man. You handle the other two...and make sure you appropriate their 'merchandise', in case someone decides to search them."
Krillin approached Kou and her brother quietly, going over everything he had learned the last four months. He never imagined he would be putting it to use so soon. Out the corner of his eye, he could see Steelin striding purposefully towards Houou and the vendor, making entirely too much noise for someone that was just walking.
"Oi, Orange-san!" Steelin called out. "I thought that was you, you old blighter! Long time no see..."
Everyone was suddenly paying attention to Steelin, giving Krillin time to make his move. In a flash, he was behind Kou and her brother. Working swiftly, as he had done with the bell training, he snatched everything that the two had stuffed into their pants and shirts while keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might be looking. After about five seconds the distraction began to wear off, but he wasn't quite finished.
"Remember your training! Make them see what you want them to see." he thought. He tapped Kou on the shoulder and simultaneously lifted another item from her brother.
"Don't be alarmed." Krillin said so quietly that only they could hear. They both stiffened and made to turn around. "Don't move! You guys are about to get caught unless you do what I say. On my word, turn around and act like you know me, then follow me. If anyone stops you, let them search you. Ok?"
The two nodded slightly. "Kou, Hou! There's a capsule store down the street! Let's go check it out!" Krillin said loudly enough for others to hear. Kou and Hou turned around to face him. Hou played his part well enough.
"Really?" he said. "Cool, that sounds like fun!"
Kou looked at Krillin in shock. She moved toward him, but Krillin shook his head slightly at her. She looked questioningly at him, but followed along with her brother. "Ok, let's go see it." she said.
Krillin glanced in Steelin's direction and saw that, like Kou and Hou, Houou was following Steelin away from the vendor's stand. The man glanced in their direction; no doubt Steelin had let him in on what they were doing. Houou looked worriedly at something that was just over Krillin's shoulder. Or someone just behind him.
"Hold on now, son." said a man from behind him. Krillin turned to find himself looking up at a man with a Deputy badge pinned to his shirt. He had a distinctly suspicious look on his face. "I'm gonna need your two friends here to empty their pockets."
"Um...I don't understand. Why do they need to empty their pockets?" he asked, hoping he sounded convincingly innocent.
"Well, I got a few complaints about some people taking a 'five finger discount' down here, so I came down to see for myself. These two and their father have been very busy down here."
"You're joking, right? They'd never do that." Krillin said, though he could see quite clearly that the Deputy was not buying it. "Ok, fine. Turn out your pockets, guys."
Kou and Hou complied, rather hesitantly. With a start, they realized that their pockets were empty, as were the various other places they had stashed items. Trembling slightly, they both pulled their pockets out. "See, I told you they wouldn't steal anything." said Krillin.
"Yours too, son."
Krillin was expecting this. It was time to really test what he had learned. He concentrated his energy into his arms and let it flow into his cloak. He opened his cloak, which was lined with everything he had pilfered, and looked up at the deputy. The man's eyes were blinking, trying to focus, though Krillin knew that he would only see empty pockets. The deputy rubbed his eyes and shook his head, but he didn't say anything to suggest that he had seen anything out of the ordinary. Krillin let out a sigh of relief.
"I don't know what you three did, but you'd better be careful, because I'll be watching you." the man said, shaking his head one more time. "Now get on."
Krillin led Kou and Hou away from the market, trying not to walk to quickly. He turned into an alley and looked back to make sure they were not being followed. "Man, that was too close." he said. Before he could say anything else, he felt himself being smothered by a surprisingly strong hug.
"Krillin! I can't believe it!" Kou exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"
"Can't...breathe..." Krillin gasped. She let him go, which simultaneously relieved and disappointed him. "I should ask you guys the same thing, shoplifting so obviously like that! We were just able to keep you guys out of jail.
"Oh right...thank you for that. Really, it's Dad's fault. He's such a bad gambler..." Her brother cleared his throat rather loudly. "Oops, sorry, brother! Krillin, this is my brother, Hou. Hou, this is Krillin, the boy I met back at the Orinji temple."
They shook hands. Krillin noticed that the boy's grip was quite strong and that he was squeezing unnecessarily hard. "I've heard a lot about you. It's amazing how much she's talked about you, even though you only met once. I thought you'd be taller."
Krillin flushed, but he did not rise to the bait "I get that a lot." he responded, tightening his grip on Hou's hand. He noted, with no small amount of triumph, the slightest twitch in the boy's cheek that let on how much the handshake was starting to hurt. He relented and let go of Krillin's hand.
"I never thought I'd see you so soon, and away from the temple no less." Kou said, completely oblivious to the little battle that had just occurred. "Did they finally recognize you and send you out on a training journey?"
"Um...not quite." said Krillin, squirming a bit under his cloak. "I..sorta left the temple a few months ago. But I still study martial arts and I have a new teacher." he said quickly as she began to look crestfallen and Hou began to smirk.
"Really? That was the man who went to talk to Dad?" she asked.
"Yeah. He's helping me finish the Orinji training as well as teaching me his own style."
"That's great! I just wish they had done something about those bullies before you had to leave."
"Well, I didn't need their help in the end. I took care of the four of them myself." Krillin said proudly. "I couldn't have done it without you, though."
"Me? What did I do?" she asked, blushing slightly.
"You told me to fight and you believed in me. That's all I needed."
Hou snorted. "Man, you two are going to make me hurl, seriously. Anyway, what I really want to know is what you did with our stuff."
"Huh? Oh, that stuff. I took it." Krillin said simply.
"I know that, but how did you do it? Our father has trained us very well. There's no way you should've been able to swipe anything without me knowing." Krillin did not like the challenging look that Hou was giving him.
"I..."
"Hou, where are your manners?" said a familiar male voice. Krillin looked up to see Kou's father standing directly behind Hou. "Is this how we treat someone who has aided us? By challenging them and rudely asking them to reveal the secrets of their martial arts? You should show more respect."
Hou looked shocked and humbled. He bowed to Krillin and mumbled an apology, though Krillin could see he was angry that his father had chastised him. Hou sauntered off to the side.
"Hello Krillin, we meet again." said Houou, shaking Krillin's hand. "Thanks to you and your master, my bad judgement didn't get my children into trouble. I am in your debt."
Again, Krillin flushed with embarrassment. "Um...it was nothing really. Actually, it was good practice."
"I'm glad to see that you left Orinji behind and found a real teacher. And no less than the Prince of Thieves." the man said. "Though I am slightly disappointed...there is a great bounty for Steelin Hood which my honor won't allow me to collect now."
Steelin laughed jovially at this as he, too, entered the alley. "I'm sure that would have been quite a battle. Imagine that, Iron Man kenpo versus the Thief's Fist. I think people would pay to see that." He turned to his pupil. "Well done, my young apprentice. You handled that even better than I expected. I saw some areas for improvement, of course, but we'll work on those later."
"Hey mister." Hou said, tapping Steelin on the shoulder. "Are you really Steelin Hood?"
"The one and only."
"Wow...they say you can steal anything." Hou said, quite impressed. "I guess that explains why Krillin could do what he did."
"May I suggest that we go enjoy the fruits of our labor? I'm sure the children are starving." said Steelin.
"We have a room at the hotel. We can eat there." replied the other man.
As they walked towards the hotel, Kou took Krillin by the arm. "Is he really Steelin Hood?" she asked, quietly.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, it's just..." she said, hesitantly. "I just thought he'd be taller."
Much later, Krillin was snoring away on a futon that was, for a change, not exposed to the elements. Houou had offered to put them up for the night, especially since neither of them had any money. Krillin had gotten a real kick out of showing off his new abilities. He amazed everyone by slowly tapering off the energy that he was spreading from his body to his cloak. This gave the impression that the items were materializing, though he knew that what was really happening was that he was allowing them to see what was really there. Steelin had looked slightly disapproving but also almost as surprised as everyone else. Needless to say, Krillin was asked many times to demonstrate the technique that evening. After a silent meal and hours of catching up and getting to know each other, everyone had finally gone to sleep.
Their peaceful slumber was soon interrupted, however. The small room's door burst in off its hinges and people streamed in. Everyone in the room hopped up as soon as the first man had entered the room, ready for an attack. Krillin and Hou, seeing the men running into the room, automatically moved to intercept and attack them. They were halted by the older men.
"Krillin, stand down." said Kou quickly.
"Hou, be still." Houou said to his son.
"But we can take them!" the boys exclaimed, almost in unison.
"Do as I say, Krillin." Steelin said calmly. Houou only glared at his son.
The boys stopped, though they did not stop glaring at the intruders or release their ready stances. Krillin glanced back at Kou, who looked worried but prepared. Hou and Steelin looked wary but relaxed. Soon, they were surrounded by men wearing Deputy badges, each with a pistol pointed at the group. A short man dressed like a stereotypical cowboy walked into the room. Krillin could see a Sheriff badge on his shirt.
"Good evenin' gentlemen, lil' lady." he drawled. "I'm Sheriff Dewey. I understand ya'll have been stealing in our market. We don't take kindly to that 'round these parts."
No one said anything. Krillin felt his stomach muscles knot up, but he did not look away when the sheriff looked him in the eye.
"And I'll be a hog's third cousin, twice removed, if you, sir, ain't Steelin Hood. It says here," the man held up a wanted poster with Steelin's face on it. "that there's a ten thousand zeni reward for your capture."
"They're short-changing me again, I see." Steelin replied with mock indignation.
"Could be, son, could be!" Dewey said, laughing. "But that's not what I came here for. I came to make you fellas a proposition, and a damn good one too. You see, we've been having a bit of an...animal problem, lately. A gang of 'em have been running around here, terrorizing our village. We ain't had a good time dealing with them but, then again, we ain't had any strong fighters like yourselves on our side. So I figured, 'Hey, why not get them to go out and fight them animals?'"
"I'm sorry, sheriff, but you seem to have us confused with mercenaries. We are martial artists." said Houou.
"And thieves and wanted criminals. Of course, if ya'll helped us, we'd be willing to forget all about that. Think of it as paying your debt to society."
Steelin laughed mirthlessly. "Well, Dewey, you do drive a hard bargain and, with those terms, I don't see how I could refuse."
"I agree." Houou said, rather tightly.
"See, I knew you boys would be reasonable. I want you to stop by my office tomorrow morning to get the details." He waved his hand and the deputies began backing out of the room. "Oh, and one more thing. It's not that I don't trust you, but I'll be expecting ya'll back here at sundown the day after tomorrow with those animals in tow. If you don't make it back, or those animals ain't with you...well, I leave that to your imagination. Good night."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes
Wow, it's been nearly two years since I updated this story. That's crazy, really. I lost interest as soon as I realized that I would need to write training sequences. Those things are ridiculously boring to read, so you can imagine how bad it is to write them. Besides that, I was also growing out of DBZ fixation at the time and my interest in fan fiction waned at the time. I spent enough time writing odd bits of fan fiction here and there (never released) that I figured I may as well write some original stuff and see if I can make anything good out of it. Thus, most of my writing energy as of late has been on a few original stories. However, I recently began plowing through Dragon Ball (which I'd only seen 13 episodes of before starting this fic) and I realized that I wanted to keep this thing going, especially as my knowledge of the DB storyline has increased.
I say all of that as a sort of apology to anyone who read the first parts and still check back from time to time hoping that this thing would keep going. I have about 7 or 8 chapters planned covering what Krillin was up to the year prior to arriving at Kame House and I assure you it's interesting stuff. I can categorically confirm that these chapters will contain: Red Ribbon soldiers, a medieval kingdom, gladiator combat, the truth about Krillin's parents and siblings, and a ki technique that will be unique to Krillin throughout the rest of the Dragon Ball story arc. I can also say that Dragon Ball purists will probably despise the way I take the story, but people who wished that there was someone who would actually strive and almost keep pace with Goku's advancement through the series will be happy with what I'm doing.
I won't promise regular updates. I'll just say that, as long as this story continues to interest me, I'll continue to write it. That's probably the best deal you can get with fan fiction, right?
Sorry for making you read this long (and possibly boring) AN section