Rejection of the precious

Well, I updated my last story yesterday and I want to get 'A Hero's Time Warp' updated soon too. My "oh so fun life" is to be put on hold until I have updated a little more. Surprisingly, I had fun writing the last chapter for 'GTSW-R'.

Chapter Ten – In the Wilderness

"I'm so stupid..." uttered a certain raven haired child. He swiped his sweat brow with his sore and bruised arm. The bandages had long fallen off as he trekked through the forest for hours on end. He shoved past a few more trees –nearly tripping over every passing tree root he came by. "I can't believe I chased after my clumsy father. Then a giant lizard knocked me out and then... and then! Darn! Now I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere..."

Gohan had been stuck in the wilderness now for just over a week and he was still struggling. He didn't understand how Piccolo had come to fact that he was magical or something but, nonetheless, had to find a way to survive. Unfortunately, Gohan had no choice but to do as the green fighter wished.

The child managed to scrounge some fruit every now and then but his taste buds were itching for meet. And to Gohan's dismay, he had no clue how to hunt. So when Gohan tried to fish, that went just as bad as anything could. The boy never knew fish grew to the size of a house in the mountains!

Grrrrruuuuuumbble...

His stomach moaned out again and he had never missed a kitchen so much in his life! Gohan was ashamed to admit this but; he was a city kid and city kids didn't fare too well out in the wilderness alone... with no food... and no shelter, or no anything for that matter.

Gohan stopped his pacing and relaxed for a moment –leaning against the nearest tree. He took one, long deserved breath and rummaged through his tattered pockets for something to eat. He managed to bring out some berries he had thought to be safe. Getting diarrhoea now would definitely be a problem. The child then popped all five pieces of food into his mouth and savoured every bit of flavour –this was his first thing today and it was nearly five in the afternoon.

Even Gohan didn't think he would fare this badly in the wild.

All the child did was either sleep from exhaustion, explore a little or eat whatever scraps food he could find. But the worst thing of it all was; he couldn't study!

Gohan noticed, then, that he couldn't even push himself up –he was just that tired. The child had been aware that all the time he was feeling sluggish and weak but this was out of the ordinary.

"Oh well, this is where I die. I guess..." came the depressing words of an exhausted child as he rested his head back against the bark of an old and probably bug infested, tree. As his eyelids became heavier and heavier, they fluttered and became more tempted to close. And just as they were about to shut, a giant, lilac blur shot out in front of him.

Gohan chose now to regain energy. "Wha?!" he yelped, opening his eyes wider than saucers.

Stood in front of him was something resembling a dinosaur -no, in fact, a dragon. It had large, curious eyes which reminded Gohan of a small child's and wings which seemed out of proportion with its body. Two horns were perched on its scaly head and it had a large mouth which liked to present itself as a grin. It may have been noted as a cute creature, but from where Gohan was standing, anyone could see the length and sharpness of its claws.

"No! I changed my mind! You're not going to eat me and I'm going to live!" Gohan hissed, standing up and jumping back about a yard. It was young looking, Gohan noticed but, without a doubt, had an appetite most likely bigger than even his father's.

The creature merely tilted its head in confusion at such behaviour. The child felt even more anxiety as the dragon began to approach causing him to take more steps back consciously. "Stay away, you hear?!"

The child felt that there was nothing he could do when the thing pounced on him. Just as he was about to scream, he felt that his face wasn't being bitten off by a crazy, hunger-driven beast. But rather, being licked and slathered over into submission by a giant baby.

Gohan couldn't help but giggle as he was being tickled by the giant tongue. "S-stop it!" he stuttered out through fits of uncontrollable laughter. "Ahahaa, stop it! Aha! It's g-gross! Ahaha!"

Luckily for the boy, the dragon stopped its excessive licking but still remained to sit on top of him –despite the difference in weight. The creature seemed about the size of a fully grown cow, or, perhaps, even bigger. Yet, it seemed Gohan didn't even feel a thing.

The creature purred as Gohan patted its head. "Please release me, Mr. Dragon. I have to go and find some food or I will die."

The dragon was startled by what Gohan said, causing the boy to be surprised that the dragon could actually understand him. The lilac coloured animal hopped off of him and dived into the forest somewhere, leaving Gohan bewildered and wondering if anything actually happened or if he was just food deprived.

Gohan walked off somewhere else and found the nearby river, which was close to a cave he had been living in. The water was nice and fresh and the fish didn't grow as big as mini vans there –which was a relief for Gohan, especially when taking a bath. But, nevertheless, he still had the problem with being able to catch a fish. There was more chance of them eating him than vice versa.

Thanking the heavens that another day had finally passed, he kicked off his shoes and threw down his sword. He stared at it for a moment, wondering why he had found it randomly in the middle of nowhere. It was brand new and was not a scrape to be seen on it. The child passed it off as luck as beggars could not be choosers.

"Wow, he's struggling kinda' bad." Goku commented as he and Piccolo stood on a close by mountain, watching the boy.

"That's not my problem." Piccolo snorted uncaringly.

"You can't say you 'don't care' because it was you who wanted to give him the sword."

Piccolo's eye twitched at the tone his rival used. He folded his arms and glared out into the sunset. The light wind of the upcoming evening howled past the duo and the Namek spoke once again. "He'd be dead without it. Don't you think it's pathetic that he can't even defend himself in the wilderness? He is lucky I didn't place him here in mid winter –then, there would be a problem."

Goku frowned worriedly and watched his son suffer, his heart aching along with his child's. 'Come on, Gohan. You can do this...'

More days passed by and Gohan hadn't heard from that little, purple dragon again or Piccolo, or even his father which did surprise him a little. To the child's dismay, he had never felt so lonely. The boy began to notice he had lost a considerable amount of weight and it was starting to make him feel concerned. However, every once in a while, he would find a lone apple lying next to him after a terrible night's sleep. Little coincidences seemed to be occurring quite often.

"It's been nearly two weeks." Gohan mumbled as he engraved another note of a passing day into the cave's wall. The familiar sounding of his stomach rumbling echoed in his cold and empty home, signally his hunger pains.

"Grwaah!"

Gohan looked up, startled. He couldn't help but grin when seeing the purple dragon he met not long ago. It was still as cute as ever, and even cuter more so when it wagged its tail. The child jumped up and ran over to it, feeling, somewhat, happier that he was no longer alone. Now getting another bolt of energy, Gohan petted its head and smiled when it purred like it had done last time.

It shocked the child when the creature snagged Gohan by his torn clothes and dragged him outside of the cave.

Just as he was about to protest, his vision became blinded by many colours. Before him, there laid a giant pile of fruit –even bigger than the boy himself. The child, unashamedly, felt his mouth water as the smell of exotic food flew up his nostrils. Step by step, he continued forward without the thought of rejecting the creature's offer. He stopped millimetres away from the feast and faced his new friend, tears stinging his eyes as a smiled softly.

"Thank you very much Mr. Dragon. You are very kind!" Gohan sniffled to only have the animal purr even louder as he was praised.

Time began to shift faster as Gohan gained an ally, and soon the boy was entering his third month in the wilderness...

Well, I know –short chapter and I REALLY wanted to continue it. But I only needed to show a little time passing. Garrgh. I know there isn't much speech in this chapter and I quite struggled with that. I can't exactly make Iccarus talk, can I? Ahh well, thanks for all reviews, Pms, favs and alerts! You keep this story going. =).