Trials of The Tree

Part Six

Overburdened

The alarm in his scouter roared and Turles' eye shot open. He'd barely settled down for a nap when the scouter started to go crazy, he pressed a few buttons to see what it was so concerned about.

Huh . . . Kumber hasn't transformed back yet? He thought at first until he realized the Scouter was picking up Kumber's power level of just over three thousand as well. Turles realized there was something on the planet even stronger than Kumber when he transformed

Okay, we're going to need to be careful, he thought. He stayed in the trees and flew towards the place where the tree-line ended and met the massive gnarled roots of the Iwatian god-tree. He had only a moment to wonder if he could fly up to the top of it and look for one of their pieces of fruit before his scouter alerted him that Kumber's power level was rising.

You idiot, Turles thought, your power level is lower than that one even when you transform and the wild unfocused aggression of the Oozaru won't be enough, you should have waited until the rest of us recovered!

Turles tried to avoid looking at blue power ball in the sky but he failed. He had just enough time and presence of mind to stow his Scouter in his battle jacket along with his pod remote before the changes started. He still couldn't control his Oozaru state and a little bitterly he realized that that was probably about to get him killed.

Thanks loads, Kumber you fool! Turles thought as his transformation began. Distantly he could hear Kumber's roar and it stirred in him something primal. He roared back though he still had a normal Saiyan's lungs, his body grew and the changes began. Turles had to take solace in the fact that the Oozaru would probably be too angry and stupid to realize it was charging to its own death.

But since it wouldn't realize it it probably wouldn't care. He could at least take some solace in the fact that he wouldn't really be awake for his death. It bothered him though, he wanted to be conscious, to face his death like a true Saiyan warrior.

Still Turles let the angry mind take over, allowing his own consciousness to be pushed aside believing that when next he opened his own eyes it'd be in the afterlife. Maybe I'll see big ears there . . . at least I won't have to be embarrassed alone.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Cauli had lost her scouter so when she heard the annoying beeping alarm noise she realized it was Leek's.

She'd gained a measure of greater control over the Oozaru and when the others had scattered chasing prey she had had the foresight to keep by at least one of her comrades, though she couldn't tell which one it had been until they had transformed back, collapsing in a clearing away from the fires they'd set. Though the forest hadn't blazed the way she'd hoped it would.

Leek stirred grumpily Cauliflora managed to climb to her feet and walk over, reaching into the larger Saiyan's battle jacket and retrieving his scouter. She held it up to her face and pressed the button, it immediately warned them of a high power level.

Thirty six thousand? I guess that makes sense if Kumber hasn't transformed back yet. Looks like we are getting stronger here after all, just not by much . . . Cauli thought, tossing the scouter back to Leek.

"It's just Kumber running around like an idiot." Cauli said.

Leek yawned, "Why would he do that? He should have turned back by now."

Cauliflora shrugged and Leek put his scouter on and pressed the button again. He said, "Wait a second, that's not Kumber."

"Huh?" Cauli raised an eyebrow. She turned back and looked at Leek, "What do you mean?"

"I mean Kumber's about a mile away from us in that direction," Leek pointed but with no real bearings Cauliflora wasn't sure whether it was to the north or the south or wherever.

"How's that possible?" Cauliflora demanded and Leek shrugged helplessly. "Nothing on this planet should have a power level higher than Kumber's when he's transformed, heck nothing on this planet should have a power level higher than mine when I'm transformed!"

"Or mine, but that's what it says." Leek said. "Should we go tell—whoa!"

"What?" Cauli demanded after Leek just stared in shock at his scouter for a moment. She was annoyed that he would react without telling her what he was reacting to.

Of course nobody made her break her own scouter, her perfect, beautiful purple scouter. The symbol of her status as a Regular and she'd thrown it away in a temper tantrum.

"No way!" Leek gasped, "That's insane, what is he thinking?"

Cauliflora grabbed the larger Saiyan by the collar and yanked him down to her eye level. Her own actions and regrets weren't Leek's fault, but that didn't mean he could keep racting without informing her, "What are you talking about?" She demanded, showing him her fist so he realized what the consequences would be if he didn't start telling her what she wanted to know.

Leek stammered, "K-Kumber's transforming! His power level is spiking, he's going after that high power reading!"

"That's insane!" Cauli gawked.

"That's what I said!" Leek agreed.

"Does he have control? I mean without it he's going to get himself killed against a higher power level!" Cauli said.

"We've got to help him!" Leek said.

"We'd die too, we have to plan!" Cauli said.

"He's the squad leader!" Leek scolded her, "I'm going to help him, no real Saiyan backs down from a fight!"

Cauli scowled, but she knew her father would have told her the same thing. She said, "I'm not backing down from the fight, I'm trying to make sure we win it! Let's at least survey the situation before we transform, we won't be able to control ourselves once we're Oozaru," she lied. She would be able to control herself, Leek wouldn't.

But the big brutish Saiyan nodded his agreement and the two of them ran through the tree-line keeping beneath the canopy to avoid accidentally looking into the power ball and taking in the concentrated Blutz waves.

"Turles is transforming now!" Kumber said after a moment.

Cauli swore. Turles too? She thought he was smarter than that. "This isn't good," she said, thinking out loud.

"We've got to transform too!" Leek said.

Cauli checked to make sure her pod's remote was in her battle jacket and nodded. She knew she'd have at least some control, she'd have to keep her head on her shoulders and fight smart. "All right," she said, "let's do it!"

They leapt above the canopy taking in an eye full of the bright blue light. It was enough that when they landed back in the forest the changes were already starting.

Coarse dark brown fur grew all over her skin, her chest barreled out and her size increased rapidly. Her eyes got stronger and sharper, her sense of smell became so good she could smell the blood from the last night and the fresher blood being spilt now. Her hands became enormous and wide, capable of ripping trees straight out of the ground with ease.

She kept control as she changed asserting her mental dominance. It was easier now that she'd already done it before. When the Oozaru's rage boiled through her brain she embraced it but let it take a back seat to her own. The Oozaru was not some entirely separate consciousness, she understood that now.

The Oozaru was her without reservations, it was a bestial primal portion of her brain, pure instinct and proper Saiyan aggression asserting itself over reason and civilization but it was still her. Her reason and her sentience remained she just had to have the strength of personality to assert them.

This planet had given her that, Cauliflora had spent enough time as an Oozaru to understand how to handle it and as a result she could fight at ten times her normal strength and still have her wits, but that didn't mean she was just a giant hairy version of herself, she was still in an entirely different body and relying on her Oozaru instincts a bit helped her to control it. She'd spent over sixteen years getting used to her Saiyan body, the Oozaru was definitely different.

She and Leek let out roars to answer the calls Turles and Kumber were making, their Oozaru bodies fully formed they charged through the forests in broad daylight clearing the tree-line and leaping and bounding over the maze of roots and soil surrounding the great tree.

It was a sight to behold, it could almost have been made for the Oozaru and Cauli had to confess to a desire to just climb it and swing from its branches. It was such a bizarre desire it actually caught her off guard. I want to play in that tree! She realized, thinking to herself. It actually made her laugh and the sound of a laughing Oozaru wasn't something Cauli had ever expected to hear.

As she and Leek rushed into battle the distance they needed to clear was massive, the tree's roots went for miles. Being giants they would close the distance in minutes but Cauli saw a flash of blue light hit Kumber, she'd never seen anything like it. It was a massive blast, greater than anything she'd ever seen from any Saiyan warrior. The Iwatians have a champion of some sort, Cauli thought, and I don't think we want to get too close to him . . .

But she'd stay by Leek and see what she could do so far as damage went, if the position became untenable she'd have to fall back and now that she actually was an Oozaru that didn't feel as if it'd be as easy as she'd thought at first. Even though her reason remained the aggression and instinct of the Oozaru were very powerful and she balked at the idea of running. It was difficult for the reasoning portion of her brain to convince her ape body that there could be anything more powerful than it was.

They closed the distance to where Kumber had gone down, Cauliflora's Oozaru nose could smell blood, both the blood of enemies and Oozaru blood. Somehow the Oozaru brain knew the difference and the scent drove the rage instincts even further. 'A threat, there is a threat,' I have to destroy the threat! Cauli thought to herself, or her Oozaru mind asserted over her reasoning mind. As her mastery over the Oozaru grew it was less an internal conversation and more of a steady stream of thought with the occasional unexpectedly aggressive urge.

And at least in this matter both her reasoning side and primal side were in agreement; they needed to destroy the threat. Cauli just needed to be extra careful to keep an eye out for what that threat was. She doubted sheer weight of numbers alone had helped the Iwatians to defeat Kumber.

Or kill him. He doesn't smell 'defeated' he smells dead. Cauliflora thought grimly, the Oozaru part of her didn't really have a lot to say about a dead comrade. The dead comrade was dead and served no further purpose, but whatever killed it needed to be destroyed. That was about as much as the primal Oozaru was able to weigh in on things, and it explained why Leek was just blindly attacking anything that moved.

He wouldn't know or possibly even care that the Iwatians had a greater champion somewhere, he'd just smell the blood of the fallen Oozaru and rage at everything around himself hoping to stomp the threat out. Cauli had the strange realization that in this instance the power of their race was a liability; what good was power without reason to guide it?

A number of Iwatian hunters were coming for her, she saw Leek leap up and expel a blast of energy from his mouth, blasting several of them away but they were like ants swarming now.

It shouldn't have mattered, they had faced numbers before but this time it seemed like the Iwatians attacked with purpose. Had they ever done that before? Cauli had the distinct impression that they'd always fought with desperation before.

But it seemed like they had a plan now. The young Saiyan realized that if they'd taken down Kumber they might have found some flaw in the Oozaru . . . but short of it being an unreasoning berserker, something they'd proven powerless to exploit before, what flaw could the aliens possibly have found in the Oozaru form?

Cauliflora realized she could only think of one. My tail! My tail is just as sensitive as an Oozaru! But I don't know if I can wrap it around my waist like this!

She realized she was going to have to be very careful, or as careful as a giant monster monkey could be. She threw herself at the Iwatians and saw they certainly went after Leek's tail now. She swatted them away, as long as she could keep both their tails safe the two of them should be fine.

But Leek was hard to predict, he was a creature of pure rage and instinct, if he'd been in control they might have made a lethal team fighting back to back instead it felt more like babysitting. She wished Rhuby had made it . . . she would have loved to fight back to back with Rhubara again.

And remembering her fallen partner only made the Oozaru's rage stronger, the Oozaru was herself after all so her own anger amplifying meant the Oozaru's blind rage got more powerful too.

The Iwatians swarmed them like ants and Cauliflora swatted them and slaughtered them like ants. She'd kill them all and if this champion showed himself she'd do her best to kill him too and if she couldn't she'd flee and tell everyone.

Thirty six thousand was tough, but it was nothing compared to King Vegeta or even officers like her father or General Nappa when they transformed. The Saiyan race were the greatest in the galaxy, they wouldn't be shamed by these primitives.

Cauliflora raged on it never occurred to her that she should try to herd Leek towards Turles, it never occurred to her that as much trouble as she was having keeping hers and Leek's tails safe from attack there was no one to watch Turles' backside.

So Cauliflora didn't see when Turles finally went down, she only focused on protecting herself and Leek. Though a hundred if not a thousand Iwatian spears, some of them thrown by stronger hands than usual were cutting her and starting to slow her down she had killed so many of the Iwatians it was hard to believe they weren't breaking and running.

Oh . . . you idiot! She thought of herself. They had nowhere to run to, just like the warriors she could vaguely remember giving their lives to protect their fleeing comrades when the Iwatians ran out of places to run they'd fight even knowing they'd die.

For the rest of her life she'd remember that a cornered enemy was a dangerous enemy, but it seemed like the rest of her life wouldn't be very long. Cauliflora swept her hand out, knocking away several Iwatians but she saw Leek had gotten too far from her and they'd gotten him by the tail.

He was on his knees, Iwatians were cutting at, biting and just clubbing his tail and it sent weakened pained moans from the Oozaru's snarling mouth. Cauliflora wished she didn't have control, she wished she wouldn't remember what she was seeing. Dozens of primitive lizard apes bringing down the strength and pride of the Saiyan race . . .

She had to fight on, she twitched her tail and tried to keep it from being a stationary target, she threw some of the Iwatians she caught at the ones swarming Leek but it didn't seem to matter anymore.

She was bleeding from a thousand cuts, she'd been exhausted before but now the Oozaru was starting to slow down from loss of blood. A part of her brain noticed Leek go down but she didn't care anymore, neither of them was going to conquer they were about to be conquered.

She started to stumble around, she could feel her brain shutting down from the constant pain in her tail and the loss of blood. With what energy she had left she blasted indiscriminately like some sort of crazed fire breathing demigod, it didn't matter to her what she hit. She hit tree roots, she hit Iwatians, fires caught and fires were absorbed and shot back at her as heat blasts.

This is it . . . she realized. She could smell more blood, Leek was down and the Iwatians had probably made certain he'd stay down. At least I'm going to die in battle. Cauli thought. A strange portion of her even thought, I'll see you soon, Rhubara . . .

She felt her tail come off, if was quick and it was painful but she didn't have the strength left to react to it. She shrank, her body slowly became her own again. She was surrounded and Iwatians swarmed her to attack her, fighting for position as her shrinking form gave them less surface area to batter.

She closed her eyes falling unconscious before the transformation was complete.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

The tunnels and caverns beneath the three were massive yet they were still packed to the brim with scared Iwatians. Korizato was tending injuries a few had received from the shoving and fighting to get into the caverns. Fear was thick in the air, though Korizato didn't need to read anyone's aura to tell that. Besides Korizato's ability to see auras had a certain limit, and it wouldn't be worth wasting the energy seeing too much.

A pair of hunters burst through the tunnel one of them shouting, "Make way! We must reach the elders, this creature is in need of our help! Make way!"

Korizato saw what creature they meant, the healer's hearts stopped seeing Rhubara's limp form being carried by a pair of strangers. Kori rushed forward, "What happened?"

"We have to take this creature to the sages, please!" The second hunter insisted, "Elder Konpeito gave us orders!"

"Konpeito?" Korizato gasped, following along with the pair of them, "I'm his mate, this is our ward!"

"You can come with us," the lead hunter said, "but we must get to the elders! Make way!"

Korizato had seen some of the wise elders, they had been trundling in and out of the cavern attending to whomever they could, they had been using their power to heal injures here and there but they never seemed to be able to stay in one place for very long. Still the hunter seemed to know where he was going and people got out of the way as they rushed through.

The healer went with the two hunters all else forgotten as Kori tried to heal Rhubara as they ran. Other hunters were making their way out now that they knew there was a coordinated defense but there were still so many others in the tunnels that progress was difficult. Iwatians were trying to make space for them but there was not a lot of space to be made.

But finally they found one of the Wise Elders tending an obviously broken arm. The Elder glowered in their direction, "Stop making such a racket, Nabat! What are you doing rushing down here like this?"

"Great Wise Elder Sage," Nabat, the first hunter cried urgently, "The village elder leading our hunters in defending this great tree sent this creature to you to be healed, he says she is the gift from the gods that we need to survive this terrible ordeal! If we can help her to regrow her tail she can stop the demons!"

Murmurs filled the cavern as the Iwatians wondered whether or not it could possibly be true, or what manner of creature had been brought before their Wise Elders.

But the Wise Elder scowled, "This creature is not of us . . . take it away."

"Did you not hear what was just said?" Korizato exploded, "You old fool, my ward is our salvation!"

The Wise Elder blinked once and returned to tending the broken arm. "Our own kind must come first, if this creature is of the gods let the gods preserve it."

"No," the injured Iwatian said, "Never mind my arm, if that creature can save us all . . ."

"The gods only show us a path, we must choose to travel it!" Korizato insisted.

The second hunter set Rhubara down on the ground, Kori could see Rhuby's aura was faded so far that the healer thought, it might be too late to save her really . . . maybe that's why the Elder won't try . . .

But Korizato couldn't just let Rhubara die. This stranger from the a strange place, this creature that had become family. The healer knelt down beside the dying Saiyan, Korizato tried to heal Rhubara but the task was beyond the village healer's skills.

Another healer trundled over and lent their hands too, and then a third, Nabat and the other hunter stepped away and watched anxiously.

Finally the Wise Elder said, "Don't just stand there like a simpleton, Nabat, find the others. Regrowing limbs would take all of us working together."

Korizato almost didn't want the Wise Elder to help given how long it had taken the old fool to come to their aid but the Elder just smiled a toothless smile and said, "Don't be an idiot, the best all of you could do is keep this one stable. Oh but if you could see more than just the aura of moods, if you could see the mind's words . . . this creature is no friend."

"She is my friend," Korizato said, "she is my ward, my little one, I won't let her-"

"Yes, yes . . . but your so-called little one has pulled many strings from the tapestry of life . . . if I heal her she will pull many many more."

Korizato looked down at Rhubara and said, "She's a warrior born to a race of warriors . . . but she's a good soul, who are you to say the strings she'll pull in the future won't be evil ones?"

"What is good and what is evil?" The Wise Elder asked, but he did put his hands down on Rhubara's chest and begin to pour healing power into the limp Saiyan's form.

Almost immediately Rhubara's breathing improved. Her eyes slowly opened a bit but they were weak and unfocused. It occurred to Korizato that seeing the inside of a cavern wasn't going to be the first thing Rhubara would want to see, the healer needed something to distract the Juvi's attention from their location.

Korizato had a strange idea. The healer reached into the herb pouch and pulled out the last piece of fruit they had plucked, Korizato held it out in front of Rhubara and said, "Come on Rhuby, you can do it. Just look at this and remember the treetop, remember how wide and open it was, the sky Rhuby, remember the sky."

It seemed to work, the bright colored fruit gave Rhubara something to focus on and Kori could see her aura getting stronger.

"Is that . . . is that the fruit?" The Wise Elder looked stunned. "You plucked fruit from the Tree? Where? How?"

Before Korizato could answer Nabat returned with two more Wise Elders, "The others are coming!" He said, "Sires you must hurry we-"

"We've slain one!" Another hunter cried, Kori could see Rhubara's eyes weakly open, her aura was coming to life again.

"Slain one?" Someone asked.

"The demons!" The hunter cried, "I saw from the mouth of the tunnel, the one with the great brown and black carapace! There was a second with it with brown and green, they had cut off its tail, it was shrinking it will-"

He didn't finish the rest, Rhubara's eyes shot open fully and her purple eyes focused.

She reached out and took the piece of fruit from Kori's hand and reached upwards with her other hand. Blue light gathered in her palm and then surged forward cutting a clean hole through the rock and dirt above them, Rhubara just flew up and out of the hole she'd made in the cavern ceiling.

But she wasn't healed and her tail was still missing. Kori didn't want to imagine what would have seemed more important to Rhubara than being whole again, something horrible must be happening on the surface even I the report seemed good.

"We can't just let her wander off on her own," Kori told Nabat and the hunter nodded.

"Come on, we'll find her on the surface and bring her back."

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Turles returned to himself in a moment of shock as he tumbled through the sky, his Oozaru's rage dissipated and instead he felt just weariness and pain.

He struck the ground hard as his body continued to shrink and revert back to normal. He made a crater as he crashed and he lay there exhausted and terrified. His body wasn't broken but he was too tired to move. He could hear the roars of two Oozaru in the distance, but only two . . . had one of them fallen? Who had it been?

His body screamed for rest, his eyes were heavy and he wanted to just sleep, even if that meant death.

No! He shouted to himself. He struggled to sit up. He couldn't rest there, he needed to find a place to rest, a place where the Oozaru wouldn't crush him if they won and the Iwatians wouldn't find him if they won. It was hard and he was in pain but he struggled to move, crawling his way out of the crater with the strength of one who knew that to slow or wait would mean death.

He understood that his tail was gone, it had been cut off and for the first time he was glad that he wasn't through his adolescent growth yet after all; he could still regrow his tail in time.

He struggled from the crater, he heard the sound of something approaching, a deep guttural voice growled, "It can't be . . . you fool, you fool!"

Turles had just enough time to wonder if the voice was referring to him before he heard the Iwatian close the distance and grab him by the head. The creature held him up to look him in the eyes and roared, "Saiyan!"

"Y . . . yeah . . ." Turles mumbled, managing a little bit of a smirk. "I . . . see you've . . . heard of us . . ."

Turles wanted to be brave in the face of death but the truth was he was scared. He was too exhausted to fight even though adrenaline was rushing through his body he couldn't get free of this Iwatian's grasp. The alien glared at him with pure and probably justified hatred and Turles tried to glare back with defiance.

If he's going to kill me I wish he'd just hurry up and do it already. Turles thought.

He could hear the roars of the Oozaru in the distance, but now they sounded pained, one of them sounded very weak. They must have realized they need to cut off our tails, Turles realized. These stupid ape lizards aren't so stupid after all.

"Do you hear your pack in the distance? Do you hear them dying?" The Iwatian growled at him.

Turles could only shrug weakly. "I . . . don't know . . . how you hid . . . such a power . . ."

"You mean the strength of our race?" The Iwatian demanded.

"No . . . that power level . . . if we'd known one of you had . . . a power level over thirty thousand . . . we'd have sent . . . elites . . ."

"Gibberish!" The Iwatian roared and Turles felt the claw-like hand grip his head tighter, "Your kind came here to destroy us! But you've failed! We will cut your tails we will kill you all! I will kill you!"

"Then . . . do it." The Saiyan growled. "I am a warrior . . . born to a race of warriors . . . I am ready. My . . . ancestors are . . . waiting."

The Iwatian glared at him, "I hope you do not feel ashamed when you meet them," He snarled, but he was hesitating.

"What . . . are you waiting . . . for?" Turles snarled.

But the Iwatian hesitated, Turles felt his grip loosen as if he actually meant to let him go.

And why not, he's stronger than I am and without my tail I can't change that, Turles thought, but the idea of being a prisoner was unacceptable and it stirred an unexpected fire in Turles' heart even stronger than the Oozaru's rage.

Adrenaline was pumping through his system and he wouldn't die in the grasp of some soft-hearted alien. He wouldn't be looked down on, he wouldn't accept pity. There was a flash of blue light in the distance, Turles wasn't sure what it was but the Iwatian looked towards it and Turles struck, blasting him in the chest with almost everything he had.

The Iwatian staggered back, hurt but not dead. His grip on Turles was loosed and the small Saiyan flew towards the tree. He knew he'd be safe there, he could find a spot and rest, he could recover, he might even be able to find fruit.

After all if he was right and the fruit made him stronger . . . he'd do anything to survive and get off of planet Goulder.

And if it was Kumber who was right and the fruit ended his life at least he could go out on his own terms like a true Saiyan warrior.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Rhubara could feel them, she could feel the others, she could sense their energy.

The Wise Elders were healing her, Korizato was healing her, the whole world seemed to be spinning until Korizato held one of the fruits out. Rhubara focused on it and sensed the others' energies . . .

Leek was fading fast, Turles felt normal which meant he wasn't an Oozaru anymore. Rhuby could still feel Cauliflora, she was still fighting, she was still strong . . . for the moment.

But she'd be overwhelmed.

Contrary to what others would think it really wasn't the announcement that Leek had been killed that snapped her out of her trance, she'd sensed Leek's death, she knew about it when it happened.

What snapped her out of her trance was sensing Cauli lose her tail. That was when even getting her own back stopped mattering.

Cauli was in danger, Rhubara needed to save her best and dearest friend.

She took the fruit from Korizato, Cauli might need revitalizing, she took off not even really hearing anything anyone was saying and not even registering in her mind that she was underground in a cavern and traveling through tunnels. All that mattered was getting out, getting to Cauli.

So she . . . sort of made a short cut.

She blasted a hole through the ceiling of the cavern and flew out of it, she saw her blast had tore through the tree as well, but that hardly mattered to her. She scanned the battlefield and saw the spot where Leek had gone down, she saw Cauli's shrinking form.

She shot off like a bolt of lightning, the Iwatian mob were clubbing and striking at Cauli's limp Saiyan form.

Rhubara landed right on top of Cauli knocking several of the Iwatians into each other, but that was not enough. She felt her energy overflowing and she spread her arms out. She released her energy in a dome of force blasting everyone back, she shouted, "Leave her alone!"

The blast was bright and more powerful than Rhubara had expected it to be but she didn't care. It had the intended effect of pushing the Iwatians away and distracting them from Cauli.

Rhuby looked down at Cauli, who was frighteningly still. She could sense the life energy in her but Rhuby could tell it was even fainter than her own. Rhubara had the piece of fruit she'd taken but if Cauli wasn't conscious enough to eat it the fruit was useless.

As bad as the situation was Rhubara was glad to see Cauli again. She tried to mimic Korizato's healing technique but no energy flowed from her to Cauli.

The Iwatians were closing in around them now, most of them probably wouldn't know not the harm her, they probably didn't understand that she and Cauli were harmless without their tails.

Rhubara let her aura glow, she couldn't quite manage to make it burn. It gave the aliens pause at least, but she knew it'd only last as long as her energy did.

You idiot, she thought, you're holding a piece of revitalizing fruit!

Rhubara laughed weakly, she said, "It figures I didn't really master Korizato's technique . . ." Rhubara held up the piece of fruit, "if you could just take a bite of this . . ."

She took a bite of the fruit but swallowing it didn't help her, in fact it made things worse.

She couldn't keep it down and coughed it up, she shuddered and collapsed on top of Cauli's still form.

Rhuby could feel Cauli's chest rising very slightly. She was breathing. I need energy, she thought. She tried one more time but again she couldn't swallow it and she was starting to feel sick.

Maybe I can't eat more of it, Rhubara realized, maybe my body won't accept it because I've already had some . . . maybe you can only eat so much at once . . .

She coughed it out again, but this time she caught it in her hand.

Rhubara was running out of energy and she and Cauli were both running out of time. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I know it's gross . . ."

She couldn't swallow more of the fruit but maybe Cauli could.

She pushed the chewed fruit into Cauli's mouth as the last of her aura gave out around her. She struggled as her body slowly began to give out watching to see if Cauli would swallow.

She saw the other girl's throat move, and they she saw her beautiful blue eyes slowly open. She heard the most wonderful voice in the universe whisper, "Rhuby?"

Rhubara smiled and then collapsed as the world went dark.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Korizato and Nabat raced out from the caverns beneath the tree, Nabat pointed and shouted, "There, the strange creature!"

Kori looked where Nabat was pointing and saw a battered creature floating above the ground towards the tree. How it had avoided detection all this time was a mystery because it was not moving quickly. It was small, about the same size as Rhubara and its carapace was similar though far more intact. It had the same skin-tone and same color of black mane only its mane was much shorter and its build was somewhat bulkier.

"That's not my ward . . ." Korizato warned.

Nabat didn't seem to listen though and approached cautiously, "Crea—uh . . . Elder Konpeito's companion," Nabat called cautiously.

The creature, obviously another Saiyan turned a wary eye to Nabat. Korizato could see its aura was faint but frightened, the healer doubted the Saiyan was a threat.

Nabat held his hands out and cried, "Are you not the same creature that Elder Konpeito tasked me with bringing before the elders? How do you soar in the sky?"

The creature stared at them for a moment, then asked, "You can't fly?"

"No!" Nabat said in shock.

"Good." The Saiyan smirked. Korizato was about to speak when suddenly there was a flash behind them so bright that it stunned the healer and Korizato's eyes shut themselves against the harshness of it.

When the Iwatian opened them again the Saiyan was soaring up the tree trunk much faster than it had approached it, Nabat was gawking but Korizato shook the hunter and said, "No, never mind that one!"

"But the Great Tree is aflame, it will surely perish!"

"Then let it perish," Korizato said, doubting that it actually would, "it's no concern of ours, let it go."

The hunter nodded and turned around, spear at the ready for combat. Korizato turned too just in time to see another falling star drift towards the ground.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

Cauliflora went from a dreamless painful purgatory to suddenly feeling amazing. She wondered, Am I dead?

She was lying on the ground and Rhuby was on top of her. She looked at the unconscious form of her partner and eyed the approaching Iwatians.

Cauli snarled and reached into her battle jacket. Her armor was damaged and cracked and if she were the praying sort she would have prayed that her remote was still intact.

It was. She'd never felt more grateful to fate for anything in her life.

Well . . . almost. She thought as she regarded her own unexpectedly continued survival and the unconscious but living Rhubara lying across her lap. She carefully draped one of Rhuby's arms over her shoulder, Rhubara looked as beat up as Cauliflora felt and Cauli couldn't help noticing that Rhuby too was missing her tail.

I don't know how you survived without it . . . I don't know why you're here . . . and I don't care. All that matters is that you did and you are.

She could see Leek's still and lifeless Oozaru form not far away and she remembered seeing Kumber go down. What about Turles? Without her scouter she couldn't be sure but she knew if her survived he was smart enough to realize it was time to give it up and make a run for it.

I don't hear any roaring, he must have gone too. Cauli thought. She was supporting Rhuby with both hands and one of the Iwatians tried to rush her but she held her hand out letting energy gather in her palm. She'd expected to drop Rhuby but actually the girl had never felt lighter. Cauli for that matter had never felt it easier to gather energy.

She snarled at the Iwatians again, the one that had seemed about to rush her backed away.

"You win, ape lizards," Cauli said, "you can keep this dirt ball."

For now. We'll see what King Vegeta has to say about all this. Cauli thought bitterly. She was still battered and bruised but she felt full of energy, she felt as if she could take on every one of the Iwatians surrounding her if she had to.

Their giant tree was on fire, many of them were fighting to put out the flames though surprisingly they weren't turning their heat beams on her. But they all seemed more concerned with keeping a distance, they milled around her but didn't try to attack. She knew better than to try to blast them, she just held Rhubara close and waited for her pod to arrive.

Once it did she squeezed into it with her partner, holding Rhuby close and pressing the buttons to send them into space. She wanted to go straight home to planet Vegeta, but she programmed the nearest healing planet into the computer instead, she knew she and Rhuby were both going to need some patching up, Frieza's goons would no doubt be accommodating.

She only hoped Rhuby could make it, the other girl's breathing was shallow.

She didn't watch the planet through the window as they lifted off, she'd seen enough of it. Instead Cauliflora looked at Rhuby. Am I dead? Am I dreaming? Will I wake up and realize you're still gone? She wondered. She held her best friend tighter, and an unexpected tear rolled down her cheek. She said, "I thought you were gone . . . but we're together again so don't you die on me now Rhuby."

Cauli pressed the button to initiate hibernation, she held Rhuby close and whispered, "I'll be here . . . when you wake up."

She might have imagined it, but it felt like Rhubara held her back just a bit before Cauliflora fell asleep.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

How did it end up like this? Turles wondered, coughing up a bit of blood. Lost on an alien world, my tail's gone my team's gone . . . I'm alone. The Saiyan looked up at the dark night's sky and groaned painfully.

At least Cauli made it . . . maybe . . . He guessed. How could we have succeeded in this mission? Were we ever meant to succeed? Did Lord Frieza really send us here to die?

There was a flash of lightning and clash of thunder near one of the tree's many roots. The tree was already aflame, a fitting pyre for a Saiyan warrior. The small Saiyan shuddered but not from fear of the weather, just from the shock of the sound.

Turles saw something sort of orange and spiny in the tree. Fruit . . . that's just what I need, he thought. He didn't care anymore if it made him stronger or if it killed him, he wanted it. Learning the answer to the question that had ruled his mind for days now might well be the last mystery he ever solved.

Floating rather than walking across the high branch the small warrior plucked a piece of fruit from the tree with a slight sense of relief.

I am hungry. Being beaten near to death takes a lot out of you. I'll have a bite and wait out the storm, when the weather's calmed I'll find one of the pods and get out of here. I'll get a new squad . . . the toughest squad there is, no one will be able to stop us.

It sounded good but it was difficult to make it sound believable to the young there was really was to eat something and hope to regain strength, so the young Saiyan ate a piece of the fruit. It tasted pretty good. There was another flash of lightning and the sound of thunder drowned out the beginnings of the shocked scream the Saiyan let out as the fruit took affect.

His muscles grew larger and stronger, he dropped the fruit and roared as his body rapidly expanded.

And then he was fine . . . better than fine . . . it was like getting a zenkai boost, only better. He landed and though he still had his aches and pains he wasn't feeling so tired.

This fruit! He realized, though even in his own mind he couldn't form words. It was simply . . . amazing. He'd never felt stronger.

He was carried away with the sensation of strength that he didn't notice the new warrior approaching him until it was to late.

The warrior before him wore a skin tight blue suit like the sort Frieza's officers sometimes wore and white and yellow armor similar to the new style Cauliflora and Kumber had wore. That kept Turles from attacking him on sight.

"I'm not an illusion. I'm a fellow Saiyan, and I'm here to rescue you." The warrior said, though Turles had never met a Saiyan with lavender hair, and couldn't help notice that he lacked a tail.

Well so do I now. Turles thought. He stood up and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm Trunks . .. I'm the son of Prince Vegeta."

"You mean King Vegeta?" Turles asked skeptically.

"I'll explain later." Trunks told him.

"Are you sure I'm not hallucinating you?" The smaller Saiyan asked.

Trunks held out his hand, "We don't have long. Come with me if you want to live."

"Well if you put it that way," Turles said, knowing his chances were better with whoever this was than they were alone on an alien planet, "Pleasure to meet you Trunks, my name's Turles."

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

The forest was dressed in the colors of spring and all of its brilliant greens and blues. The sun was setting over the canopy and the light of the pale green moon would soon bathe the village in a soothing green glow except for the light from the torches.

Picking up the pieces of their lives had been difficult at first. At first the homes of those they had lost were a solemn reminder of the price their species had paid for its survival and yet till they knew others had lost even more.

But there were many displaced Iwatians and soon the vacant homes in the village had been filled, soon once more the village was flourishing.

Korizato stood by the gates watching the youngsters play in the clearing outside of the walls. The knife-tails were far less of a danger now, their villages had strong warriors to protect them instead of only hunters to feed them. Never again would monsters, knife-tail or Oozaru do harm to their villages.

Konpeito, Misiri, many of those who had eaten the fruit of the tree had become powerful fighters, no longer just hunters they were some of the first Iwatian warriors in generations and Korizato had to admit to being proud if a little wary now that Konpeito's job was not to avoid danger but to seek it out and keep it away.

They were hardly unique as many of the first hunters to rise to the challenge of facing the Oozaru at the base of three had shared the Fruit of the Gods had become strong and the knife-tails had learned to be wary, and the Oozaru had not been seen again.

Many of the parents called out to their children, Kori did as well.

Though what Kon had told Rhuby was true, that Kori and Kon weren't capable of producing offspring of their own there had been no small number of little ones without a home or parents to care for them after the battle in the shadow of the Great Tree. Kori and Kon had taken in in as many as they could reasonably devote their time and affection to and after raising a Saiyan for weeks raising a family of Iwatian children would be easy.

Not that Korizato was ever flippant about the responsibility, though Kon certainly could be. The young Village Elder would take the children on the most daring of adventures to the sight where he had battled the first Oozaru where he would retell the story to them over and over.

They could never get enough and with how powerful Konpeito and many of the others had become the children were in no danger. Still Korizato always waited to greet them at the gate when they returned.

The Gods had judged them worthy of life and the Gods worked in strange ways sometimes. Korizato understood that Rhubara hadn't meant to teach them anything but the little Saiyan had at least taught Kori and Kon that they could be parents, and even that they could enjoy it. The Saiyan had helped Korizato to fly and even if the healer had been too afraid to make the most of the experience it was still an unforgettable one.

And it seemed Konpeito, who was never given over to much interaction with children or telling of long tales had had a stern change of heart.

Rhubara had taught them so much and she had helped them to reach up into the heavens and pluck the fruit of the Gods. Korizato only hoped that they had been able to teach the young warrior something. Korizato hoped that Rhuby had made it away safely.

The Great Tree had burned and broken, the Gods had taken away the gift that once had turned the mightiest heroes and healers into great legends to give their fruit to the Iwatians one last time and it seemed never again as no attempts to plant new seeds had resulted in a new tree.

But in exchange the forest had bloomed with new life. Though never barren before now the forest flourished and produced such an abundance that life had become almost too easy.

Korizato believed that the star that had risen in the sky had been Rhubara returning to the heavens. A warrior from a race of warriors she had said, but Korizato hoped that she had found her place and peace.

The healer smiled as the procession of children and hunters came back to the village, little ones rushing into their parents' open arms. Kori embraced two of the three little ones that had come to be part of the healer's own house, the third and youngest rode on Konpeito's shoulders but patted the healer's head as they passed.

When they had found him he had been so small and alone, his parents both lost in the battle. There were none from his home village who would claim him or even name him and so the youngest of their children had actually been the first that Korizato and Konpeito had taken in and the only one they had named.

Of course there were many good Iwatian names that would have served the child well but they had settled on something rarer.

"Did you have fun in the woods today, Ruby?" Korizato asked. The little Iwatian giggled and nodded.

"Of course he did," Konpeito said confidently, "They all did, they were with me, after all!"

"Oh really?" Korizato said with feigned doubtfulness. "And just what sort of fun things did you all do?"

"We went hunting for knife-tails!" Their eldest child declared happily, Kori's eyes were wide with shock and Kon shook his head vigorously.

"N-not seriously!" Konpeito said quickly, "I only showed them how a hunter senses energy! They never would have been in any danger!"

"Yeah," Their second eldest agreed, "we weren't in any danger cuz papa already taught us how to throw spears!"

"What!?" Korizato gawked. This was definitely news.

"Um . . . not Ruby?" Kon offered with a disarming smile. The smallest child giggled some more, Ruby was too small to hold a spear let alone throw it.

It was alarming news to be sure but Korizato trusted the children's safety in Kon's hands and couldn't resist a smile. The healer sighed, "You four hooligans . . . at least you had a good time."

The children all agreed enthusiastically so Korizato smirked wickedly and said, "Well I'll bet you'll have an even better time washing up for supper!"

This was met with decidedly less enthusiasm, "Aw, no!"

"We're just going to get dirty again!"

"Not tonight you're not," Konpeito laughed, "Go on and do as you're told."

"Oh you too." Korizato ordered.

"Yes, right away." Konpeito nodded, not prepared to argue.

Misiri laughed, "Our healer is the only one who can make our Elder act just like a juvi."

"The spear throwing was Misiri's idea." Konpeito called over his shoulder. Korizato fixed the young warrior with a stern gaze.

Misiri smiled sheepishly and said, "I uh . . . I better be going."

Korizato laughed as Misiri rushed off, a few of the other parents laughed too. As the sun set and the gates closed Korizato looked out at the darkening night sky and the pale green moon one last time watching for any falling stars.

Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z=Z

The desert landscape around the villa was far different from the civilization of the main city some miles away and Tathy enjoyed the peace even if she'd never been made to deal with the heat. The vast expanse of stony pockmarked desert so different than the vast oceans of her home and though she missed them even those oceans had been noisy and dangerous with unexpected threats presenting themselves from anywhere in a three dimensional space.

But the desert was two dimensional, which was to say a threat would come from across the desert and from the high hill their villa was perched on no threat could find them unprepared.

The orange sun was setting in the sky and soon she'd be called in but for the moment as she stood in the yard with her fellow fighters watching the sun set behind the mountains she enjoyed the noticeable difference in temperature that the night brought.

Her comrades came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes from the giant Bass to the diminutive Poi and they had come from so many different places.

"What is that?" Bacore, the hulking feline-featured creature nearest to Tathy asked, pointing a claw at the sky.

A falling star shot across the twilight. White at first and then bright red as it broke through the atmosphere, it plummeted towards the ground then struck in the distant desert.

It wasn't far away and it clearly struck the ground hard but it made no shock wave or large cloud. The ground didn't shake the way it would whenever a normal meteorite struck, which was a thing that happened with some frequency thanks to the gravity shields that surrounded the planet.

But the planet's shields also had a tendency to snare ships that came too close, and Tathy knew that had been a ship dragged down by the gravity shields, not some random space trash.

So she smiled at Bacore and answered him, "That, my friend is an adventure."

"Perhaps one for another time." Poi told her turning away from the scene.

But Tathy looked into the distance where the ship had landed—or crashed, more realistically—and said, "Silly, you don't choose. The adventure finds you."

Several of her comrades gathered around her, the villa guards as well. She pointed off in the distance towards the place where the ship had crashed, "Who else wants to see what or who the War World has ensnared now?"

Tale's End.

Note: I hope you enjoyed this little bumper story, if you did then I'd love to hear about what worked and if not I'd love to hear any suggestions to make it work better. As ever review, PM, or message board post, whatever works. Next week we'll be back to the regular chapters. Assuming they're ready by then.