The trip to Namek was an uneventful 36 hours, but Bulma found herself soothed by the familiar star speckled blackness outside the windows of her ship. Though many found the endless darkness of outer space daunting, she found solace in its quiet simplicity. Bulma spent much of her journey to Namek, staring out at the passing celestial objects and willing her unwanted feelings away.
After a smooth entry into the planet's dense atmosphere, Bulma landed her ship in a small pass in the hilly terrain. She pressed a few buttons and checked the atmosphere for breathability before she packed her belongings. The blue haired mechanic smiled as she squeezed a small capsule in her hand, a forgotten relic from her life on Earth. She steeled herself one last time and finally disembarked the ship.
Bulma was greeted by the strong fragrance of the native foliage. The landscape was particularly rich in grass and tall trees, but instead of green like Earth, the Namekian flora sported a more turquoise hue. The chemicals in the atmosphere resulted in a pale green sky, unlike anything Bulma had ever seen.
She stood for a moment and allowed herself to take in all of her surroundings, she appreciated their beauty but also that it seemed to be the complete opposite of Vegetasei.
Well, maybe not the complete opposite, as Bulma had only been standing outside of her ship for a few minutes before she began to feel sweaty. The heat on Namek was different than the desert capitol of Vegetasei, it was incredibly humid which is likely what encouraged so much plant growth.
Bulma scoffed at the thick, wet air before removing her jacket and tying it around her waist. She fished the capsule out of her pant pocket and pressed the top button before tossing it. After a pop and puff of smoke, Bulma's old hover bike materialized.
A small smile tugged at her lips at the nostalgia, it felt like ages since she last rode it. Bulma tossed one leg over to straddle the seat and checked her gauges. With one last peek back to make sure her ship was secure, she set off racing to locate these mysterious dragon balls.
With little to no background knowledge about the treasures, Bulma was really winging it, when it came to her strategy for locating them. With only week to collect all seven, she really needed to hustle.
Her first thought was that she would find civilization, then maybe ask the locals where to find them. Bulma imagined with how valuable Paragus made the dragon balls seem, the locals must often field questions about them.
The wind whipped through her hair as she jetted off to the east, thinking she had seen a little village when she had first come in to land. After about thirty minutes, Bulma saw several white, dome shaped buildings on the horizon. She smiled, the architecture was vaguely reminiscent of Capsule Corp.
As she neared the village, Bulma noticed the green people mulling about their daily lives. She parked and recapsulized her hover bike, several yards from the town's edge. Opting to walk over instead of blowing through on her alien contraption. She approached a tall man who didn't appear busy.
"Hi I was wondering if you could tell me where I might find a dragon ball?" she inquired politely. Bulma heard that the Namekains tended to be a peaceful bunch and thought a courteous approach would be best.
"Ahh another seeker," the man smiled, "Let me see if the elder has time for an audience with you." He turned and walked away, but Bulma wasn't sure if she was supposed to follow. He looked over his shoulder, so she took that as her cue and jogged to catch up with him.
"Are you familiar with the traditions?" he asked.
"Could you remind me?" Bulma replied, feigning some background knowledge.
"Each of the dragon balls are protected by an entire village, and when a seeker arrives, they must be granted approval from the village elder to take it." Bulma nodded at the information, this was actually amazing news! If all the treasures were located in the villages than they would be much easier to find and there would be no deep sea diving or impromptu spelunking.
"How do you get the elder's approval? Is there something I need to say? Do? Bring?" Bulma rattled off her questions eagerly, but the man just laughed.
"No, you don't need to do anything special. The elder will look into your heart and he will decide." She furrowed her brow at that. It seemed as though all the natives were men, Bulma thought she was going to be able to use her charms to get her way, now she wasn't so sure if that would pan out.
"What do you mean look into my heart?" she questioned confusedly.
"We only want those who are worthy, those with pure hearts and good intentions to have the dragon balls. As I'm sure you can imagine we have a great number of seekers come to our planet in hopes of obtaining them. Us Namekians have the ability to sense energy, and the village elders spend a great deal of time honing this skill so that they may look even deeper, so that they may read the seekers and decide who is worthy. "
Bulma blinked in surprise, being able to read one's energy wasn't a completely foreign concept to her, but fine tuning it so greatly to read other's intentions must take years and years of concentrated practice. She nodded at the man as they continued walking.
'You are uniquely qualified to get them for me.' Paragus's words echoed in Bulma's mind. He must have already tried to collect the dragon balls but the Nameks wouldn't hand them over. Bulma did think he came off a bit shady, but he must've been turned away for the darkness in his heart. She began to wonder what his intentions for the treasures could possibly be, when the pair entered one of the largest dome houses in the village.
She dismissed her musings about the morality of her mission as her escort introduced her to an especially wrinkly Namekian sitting in a throne like chair. Bulma bowed respectfully to the elder as he welcomed her.
"Come in," the elder said in a raspy voice, he outstretched his hand for Bulma to take. She stepped closer to him and set her small hand in his before his other covered hers.
"So you are here for the dragon ball?" he asked and Bulma nodded in the affirmative. "Very well." He closed his eyes as he squeezed her hand between his. If felt like an eternity as Bulma stood there waiting for the elder to say something.
He began to give small nods, "yes, yes, I see," he said to know one in particular. "There seems to be something weighing heavily on your heart, but it is pure nonetheless."
Bulma smiled brightly in response, paying most attention to the latter part of his statement. "You may have the dragon ball," the elder spoke, much to Bulma's excitement. "Please retrieve it for her." The man who had escorted her to the elder's home walked behind him and Bulma's gaze followed him.
He approached a lone pedestal, atop a red velvet pillow sat a translucent orange orb the size of a bowling ball and in the center were three red stars. The orb reflected the light in the room, and Bulma found herself fixated on its odd beauty. She wondered if it was made of some special jewel, if the Nameks had crafted them, and how long something like that must've taken.
Then Bulma's practical side realized she would have sacrifice her hover bike's capsule to hold the dragon balls as she collected them, as their was no other place to put such large balls. He brought the dragon ball over to Bulma and placed it in her hands.
"How many is that for you?" the elder questioned.
"Actually it's my first," she replied honestly as she marveled at the breathtaking treasure. "I could use some help, if you could point me in the direction of the next village."
"I would be happy to assist you in your quest, young miss," Bulma heard a voice from behind her say. She turned but then had to look down at the small Namekian standing behind her. He looked like he was a child! And as sweet as the offer was, Bulma wasn't trying to babysit some kid.
"Hi, sorry, what's your name?"
"My name is Dende."
"Well, Dende," Bulma began softly, "I so appreciate you wanting to help me, but I think you may be a little young for this journey." Dende frowned at this.
"Miss, I know I am young, but I'm eager for adventure, I have forty years of experience navigating this planet. I'm sure I could be of use to you!" Dende replied earnestly. Bulma furrowed her brow in confusion, there was no way this pipsqueak was nearly twice her age.
"If you're 40 years old, how old is the elder of your village?" she asked with genuine curiosity.
"Our elder is actually quite young for his post, he is only 563 years old," Dende informed her, "the majority of village elders are over 800, but the most wise elder in all of Namek, Guru, he is 2000 years old!" Bulma's eyes bulged in surprise, but after she realized with all this information he seemed to know this little guy could be an asset, so she relented, "alright Dende, you can come!"
She brought her newly claimed dragon ball outside and decapsulized her hover bike and put the treasure on to the ground before putting into the capsule. The natives watched her as if she was doing some sort of sorcery.
"Hop on!" she called to Dende as she mounted her bike. They gave their thanks and farewells to the helpful Namekians before Dende tentatively got on. He held tightly as she zipped out of the village and on to the next.
Days later, it was dark after the retrieval of their third dragon ball, so the villagers invited them to stay. Bulma and Dende laid on adjacent floor mats in someone's guest house. Bulma stared at the ceiling in the dark room, deep in thought.
Collecting the dragon balls had proved simple enough, with Dende's help she was on pace to get all of them by the deadline Paragus set. But each village elder would say something to her that would give her pause, they spoke in vague terms, their message wrapped in a riddle that confused her.
"What do you think the elder meant when he said there is a heaviness in your heart?" Dende asked quietly, Bulma hadn't even realized he was still awake. He, too, must have been puzzling together what the elders had said.
"I couldn't say for sure, but I guess I have a few theories." Dende didn't reply, waiting for her to elaborate.
"I think I had a lot of unresolved feelings from when my planet was destroyed. I have to remind myself that there's nothing that I could have done even if I was there, but I still harbor some survivor's guilt." She sighed before she continued, "more recently, I had a falling out with a man that I realized I'm in love with. And that, that was something I could do something about and didn't. Now I'm being forced to move on and I don't know that I can or want to."
Dende opened his mouth to speak, but Bulma spoke over him. "And I worry that I'm here for all the wrong reasons, I don't know if I deserve the treasures, I don't think my heart's pure!"
He could tell by the way her voice cracked and the sniffles that followed that Bulma was now crying. "Well, I don't know much about romantic love, but who says it's too late for you do something about it. And the elders have been in unanimous decision that you are worthy of the dragon balls so you shouldn't fret," Dende attempted to comfort her, "you should get some rest."
Bulma hummed in agreement before she rolled over and wrapped herself up into her blanket. She considered whether or not her plan to run away from her feelings for Vegeta was still the best plan. But the terms of her mission stated that she wasn't to return to Vegetasei and what if he rejected her. Could she really handle having him break her heart twice?