KORIN TOWER SAGA
Chapter 25: The Sacred Land of Korin
After two weeks of intensive training, Videl and Sharpner were finally prepared to face their greatest challenge yet. The two young fighters have pushed themselves to the limit and beyond in hopes of conquering Korin Tower. 20 mile runs, extreme weight workouts, hours of practicing their form, combined with sparring matches provided excellent results so far.
The four teens had decided to meet at Videl's for their departure. Currently three teens patiently awaited their fourth companion and the person who was providing their ride.
"Geez, why is he always late?" grumbled Videl, steadily growing more impatient.
Her mother smiled at her overenthusiastic daughter. "Now, now Videl. Korin Tower won't be going anywhere."
"Yeah V, he'll be here soon," added the ever chirpy blonde, trying to defend her boyfriend.
Sharpner was getting anxious about leaving as well, but decided to just keep quiet on the subject. Fortunately it didn't take long before the blonde boxer noticed a JetCamper in the distance. As the vehicle got closer he could only assume one thing. "Hey, I think he's here," Sharpner informed the three females of the group, while pointing a finger towards the incoming vehicle.
"Well it's about time," Videl nearly shouted, verbalizing her annoyance.
As the JetCamper landed, the boarding door opened, and a short moment later Gohan made his way out of the vehicle. Walking up to his friends, he took his father's signature pose and said, "Sorry I'm a little late guys. My mother and little brother were making a big fuss."
Erasa smiled and latched herself onto Gohan's arm. "See, he wouldn't be late without a good reason."
Videl rolled her eyes at her overly affectionate and forgiving best friend. Making her way to the JetCamper, she just waved it off and retorted, "Yeah, yeah, let's just get going." Turning to her mother with a smile, she added, "We'll be off now, see you when we get back."
Smiling back at her daughter, face full of pride, Victoria replied, "Right, you'll do great Videl. Do your best." Looking towards Sharpner, she threw in, "And you too Sharpner."
Throwing some hair over his shoulder, said blonde gave her a thumbs up, then proceeded to board the aircraft. Erasa quickly followed wanting to get a good look at the ride Gohan supplied. As Gohan made his way to follow his friends, he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Turning to see the arm belonged to Mrs. Satan; the boy looked at her with curiosity.
Victoria smiled at the young Saiyan before she requested more than said, "Take care of them out there."
Gohan stood momentarily shocked, wondering why she would assume he could protect them. Instead of fighting it or questioning it, Gohan simply answered, "Right." And with a big grin in place jogged his way onto the JetCamper. Victoria smiled fondly as the aircraft rose into the air, before flying off into the West. She could only imagine the adventures these kids were about to experience. "Good Luck," she thought as she watched the small dot disappear into the distance.
[With Gohan's Group]
As the young teens left Satan City, Gohan typed the coordinates into the computer and set it to auto pilot. "Alright, this thing isn't all that fast, so it will take about twelve hours to get there," Gohan announced as he stood and turned to his friends.
"Cool we can just hang out and have some fun then," Erasa replied, cheerful as ever.
Sharpner just gave a shrug and looked around the camper to see what all they had. Videl on the other hand wasn't too thrilled to be stuck in one place for too long. "Maybe I should have flown in my JetCopter afterall," She simply muttered to herself, as she crossed her arms.
Hugging her best friend around the waist, Erasa said, "Cheer up V. I know your pumped for this, but for now lets enjoy ourselves a little. It's still summer break."
Erasa's little pick-me-up speech got the boys' attention as well. Seeing all three of her friends looking at her with smiling faces, Videl couldn't help but crack. Letting out a sigh with a small smile on her face, she replied, "Yeah you're right," As her smile grew she added, "Let's have some fun." And with that the four teens began to explore the camper which had everything from a large stocked fridge, a stove oven, decent sized bathroom, and two bunk beds. For the more entertaining side they had cards and bored games, a TV, game station, and various books.
As the time flew by, no one noticed the sky grow dark outside. The sudden sound of the computer beeping caught the teens attention. Getting in the pilot's seat, Gohan saw that they were nearing their destination. "We're almost there but I think it would be best to set down somewhere for tonight," Gohan informed his friends.
Looking at the time, the teens realized it was already 8:35pm. "Yeah, it's gotten pretty dark. We'll get a fresh start in the morning. Sound good to you two?" Videl said, turning to the two blondes.
Sharpner once again gave his signature shrug and said, "Fine with me."
"Doesn't matter to me," Erasa added cheerfully.
Hearing their replies, Gohan took over the controls and landed the JetCamper. Suddenly Erasa pulled out a deck of cards and turned to her friends. "Alright guys. Time for a game of cards before bed," she declared with a grin. The three teens simply grinned in return and sat at the table ready to play. Before long the three teens finished their game, in which Sharpner had an unrelenting losing streak, and went to sleep.
As Videl was drifting off to sleep, she could still feel her excitement grow. "I'll definitely get stronger," were her final thoughts before succumbing to sleep.
[The Next Day]
Getting an early start that morning, Gohan awoke first out of the small group. After washing up, brushing his teeth, and grabbing a light snack; Gohan started up the JetCamper. As he was getting ready to get back on course for the tower, Videl walked up behind him.
"You're up early," Videl commented with a yawn, drowsiness still having an affect on her.
Gohan turned to her with a smile and said, "Yeah we'll be there in about an hour, so I figured I'd let everyone sleep for a bit."
Stretching, Videl simply replied, "I'll just get ready before those two wake up. Wait until you see them fight over a mirror."
Hearing Gohan's light laughter made Videl smile as she was turning to get ready for her day ahead. Roughly an hour of flying and some arguing between the two blondes later, The group was seated at the front of the camper as they approached their destination. Their eyes stared out at the horizon as a forest slowly became visible in the distance. As they drew closer, Gohan could already see the tower with his advanced eyesight. But it was Videl who spotted it first out of the other three teens.
"There, I see it!" the raven haired girl screamed out of excitement.
As the blondes noticed it as well, their faces instantly fell into awe. Approaching the Land of Korin, one could already see the staggering heights of this tower as it shot out of the ocean of forest beneath it. To the teens from the city this was a spectacle to behold.
"I've never seen so many trees," Erasa said with her eyes wide, then added, "Except maybe on TV."
With his jaw hanging wide open, Sharpner could barely counter her statement but managed to say. "Trees? The tower…even from here I can't see the top. And we're…supposed to…climb…"
As Sharpner's sentence hung in the air, Videl's brain was trying to digest what she was seeing. "I can see why Sharpner is shell-shocked. How can it even be possible to climb that tower?"
Being the only one not stunned by the sheer sight of these sacred lands, Gohan began to descend near the border of the forest. As their newest friend was landing the three teens snapped out of their shock to look at him. Of course Videl was the first to voice her objections. "Why are you landing Gohan? There's still a long ways to go," she said with a frown and slight irritation in her voice.
"Because this big vehicle will be hard to land in the forest. Plus your mother even said that there were natives living at the base of the tower. If we come flying in out of no where it would be rude," Gohan simply explained as they set down.
Erasa's face changed from one of confusion to understanding. "Oh you're right Gohan. Good thing you're such a smarty," she said and gave the Saiyan a hug.
Sharpner nodded with his arms crossed and replied, "Makes perfect sense."
Videl looked thoughtful for a moment before she smiled, "Well looks like we're hiking. At least I can get a little more training in."
Gohan grinned at his friends and said, "That's the spirit. Then let's pack up some supplies and get going. Looks like we might get there in about two days or so."
The three city teens frowned lightly at the prospect of that much slow walking, but they knew it wasn't all bad. Camping with friends has it's benefits as well. So without wasting time the group of young adventure seekers packed up what they could, capsulated their JetCamper, and began their journey into the forest.
[Elsewhere in The Land of Korin]
Deep in the forest, in the middle of a small clearing just a short distance away from Korin Tower, sat an large man. He wore only a pair of deerskin pants, matching shoes, a bangle around each arm, a bear tooth necklace, and a feather upon his head . The man's dark skin, was almost caramel in color. His massive muscles were adorned by some minor scars, the only major one being the cross shaped scar on his right pectoral muscle. The slightly aged face of this man was cover in tribal paint across his cheeks and nose.
Silently he stared into the skies towards the tower. For a long time he's been guarding that tower and the land surrounding it. For the most part it was peaceful, although from time to time some group comes along to claim the land and some come to challenge the towers legend. As he was deep in thought a figure approached him from behind.
"Father, is something wrong," said a man who wore the same clothes with the addition of a vest and a bow and quiver slung onto his back. He was obviously much younger and not nearly as large as his father, but his muscles showed he was certainly no slacker when it comes to exercise. He watched his father with a slightly worried frown.
After a brief silence, the man spoke to his son. His voice much deeper than his sons, one that carried strength of will and conviction. "The land is suddenly calm, no longer do I feel a bad omen left by our last unfortunate guests." Turning to his son with a smile, the man continued with confidence, "I feel good things will soon come to our small village."
The man's son smiled back before looking off into the distance at the tower. "Yes Father, I too feel the winds of change. My body is almost trembling with excitement."
[Midday; With Gohan and Fiends]
The young group of teens have been walking for several hours. At first the three city teens were almost mesmerized by the nature surrounding them. The air smelled fresh with hints of wild flowers and fruits mixed in. The large, towering trees covered the forest floor with a bounty of shade, allowing for some relief from the summer heat. The sounds of nature were soothing to the ear. All in all it the beauty of it was breathtaking.
But before long Gohan's companions began complaining about the slow progress. Videl and Sharpner were especially anxious to do something worthwhile with their time. Not really paying attention to the complaints, the young Demi-Saiyan off-handedly mentioned walking on their hands if they wanted to train so badly. All though being slightly thrown off guard by the suggestion, the two fighters soon found it was a good way to travel and train simultaneously.
"Geez Sharpy, can't you go any faster?" Erasa complained after looking back at her two friends for the hundredth time. Although Erasa and Gohan were going at a decent pace for average people, Videl was doing well to keep up while walking on her hands. Sharpner on the other hand didn't have the balance Videl did and there fore was lagging behind.
A grunt was heard from the blonde teen, before he replied, "This isn't easy you know? Why don't you try it?"
Erasa simply folded her arms beneath her chest, lifting it slighty, and turned away. "Well I'm not the one training, so either walk normally or keep up."
Walking slightly ahead of the group, Gohan sweat dropped. "Looks like everyone's getting a little irritable." Turning to his friends the young Saiyan said, "We should probably get another hour of walking in before we set up camp for the night. Don't want it getting dark on us."
Sighing in relief, Erasa smiled and said, "Good I'm really getting tired of walking."
"Yeah, and I can get some real exercise in before dinner," Videl added.
As promised, an hour later, they found a good clearing to set up a campfire and their tents. As Gohan and Erasa prepared the group dinner, the other two teens, did some exercises and finished off with a light spar. Though both teens were surprised when Videl sent the obnoxious blonde flying into a tree. Night quickly fell and knowing they would have to walk quite far the next day, the group of teens decided to catch some early zees.
The next day was spent the same way. Videl and Sharpner were still traveling on their hands as Gohan and Erasa lead their way. Well mostly Gohan. It was lunch time when the group of friends decided to take a break from walking. While Gohan was busy finishing off the rest of their lunch, the other three sat around and talked.
"Wow, it really is nice out here," Erasa commented to no one in particular.
Videl was sitting with her legs out, leaning back on her arms for support. Smiling as she gazed upon Korin Tower from the distance. "Yeah, peaceful and relaxing. I can see why Gohan's family lives in the wilderness now," Videl replied as she looked at their spiky-haired friend in question. Gohan simply smiled at her with a mouth full of food, before continuing his lunch.
Sharpner was just laid sil;ently on the ground, arms tucked behind his head, eyes closed. He agreed with his friends but felt commenting on it was pointless.
Suddenly, the bushes nearby rustled, putting the group of teens on alert. Sharpner sat up from his position, Videl visibly tensed up, and Erasa slid a bit closer to her boyfriend. Gohan, being ever oblivious, looked at his friends in question before he swallowed his mouth full of food.
"Relax guys, it's probably just some animals nearby that smelled our food," Gohan said casually standing up with a piece of bread in his hand. His three friends watched curiously as he made his way over to the rustling bush.
"Wait Gohan, it could be a dangerous animal," Videl tried to warn, which made Erasa a bit uneasy. She wouldn't want Gohan being eaten by some wild Tiger.
However, Gohan didn't listen as he knelt down and broke off small pieces of bread and spread it out along the ground in front of him. The other three watched with awe as small rabbits and a few squirrels came out of the woodworks to snatch some bread before nibbling away on their newly acquired food. Soon after some birds flew down, one even perching on Gohan's shoulder, which the young teen happily supplied with some bread as well.
"Amazing," was all that escaped Erasa's lips as she watched her boyfriend feed the wild life of the area. Videl and Sharpner were also stunned. Here was their newley acquired nerd friend, surrounded by animals, who had no qualms in climbing the young teen like a tree. The whole picture just seemed so serene. Suddenly Erasa stood up and made her way over to Gohan, but the unexpected action frightened away the little critters.
"Awe~, why'd they run away?" Erasa questioned, clearly disappointed.
Gohan chuckled at the poor blonde before giving an answer, "You scared them. If they feel intimidated or you move too quickly they'll run off. You need to be at ease and make them feel at ease."
Erasa listened to Gohan's explanation and it made sense. Her boyfriend was so nice even animals liked him. But it was Erasa who commented first, "Wow, Nerd-Boy. Guess we got a regular nature boy on our hands, Maybe I should call you Tarzan."
Gohan looked quizzically at his blonde friend as he laughed at his own joke. Noticing his confusion, Erasa simply said, "It's just some story book character. Don't worry about Sharpner, most people don't think his jokes are funny."
This made aforementioned blonde to send a scowl at Erasa. Videl in the mean time was thinking to herself, "I've been so focused on climbing the tower, I hadn't even noticed. Gohan has been taking charge of the trip so far. He is more accustomed to being in this environment, but he's really seems at ease. Not as shy and nervous like in school. This side of him isn't bad at all."
As their lunch came to an end, the young travelers continued on their way to the base of the tower. Gohan informed them that they should reach it by tomorrow afternoon. The day quickly faded into night as the teens set up camp. The tower now looking larger than ever, Videl felt like she could reach out and almost touch it. Trying to drift off to sleep Sharpner, lay in his tent, thinking only one thing, "I won't fail. I can't fail. I have to find out what I'm really capable of." Up until now Sharpner had been acting confident about climbing the tower. But he also knew it scared him. To fail and reach a limit, to watch Videl grow stronger and more unreachable, to never find the path he is suppose to walk. Sharpner knew he was capable of more than just being a muscular jock, he just needed to find that something and he believed this was the first step to get there.
[The Next Day; Almost Noon]
Knowing this was the last stretch before reaching the base of the tower, Videl and Sharpner decided to walk normally to conserve some energy. The group of four walked down a path that the young Demi-Saiyan calculated would take them directly to the tower.
"Looks like we'll be there soon. I can't wait," Erasa said watching the tower grow ever closer.
Videl smirked confidently as she responded, "Yeah, me neither."
"I wonder how…" Erasa started as she tried to start a conversation with her best friend. But when she ran into Gohan's arm which suddenly shot out in front of her, stopped any talk and halted the groups movement. Videl only caught a glimpse of Gohan's stern face as he stared out into the surrounding forest, before a spear shot out and stuck into the ground several feet in front of them.
"What the…" Videl thought, before her thoughts were interrupted by a voice the sounded from all around the forest. "What business do you have on this Sacred Land of Korin!" the disembodied voice shouted.
A/N: well that took way longer than I wanted it to. Sorry for all those who waited so patiently. Well this one's kinda short (again I feel like this should have been out sooner, blame my work). So little starter for the Korin Tower Saga, soon we'll get to see Upa and Bora again. also just a reminder im changing many power levels in this story, even Roshi's will be higher than in canon. Currently Videl is roughly 250ish and sharpner is about to crack two hundred. This is do to gohan giving them energy making their bodies more attuned to use ki subconsciously and the training they've done with weighted equipment which I'll also mention in the story. Upa will also be significantly stronger, of course I've already mentioned he climbed Korin Tower like he promised goku he would. I've really been itching to get past this saga and to some more interesting one's but hopefully I don't rush too much, although I guess a little rush couldn't hurt considering how long ive been taking to update. In any case this chapter is unedited and I feel I rushed the end a little bit. Can't think of anything else to add so well read, review, and enjoy.