Goku arrived at Tien's a few minutes after Vegeta told Jenny to get him his armor. He held it under his arms and he felt... he felt the protection it provided, the safe feeling. It was the same feeling he felt when he came here to the cabin. Jenny's protective magick was strong. He looked to Tien chopping wood, he guessed Sabriena was inside cooking dinner. He set his armor on the ground and called out, "Tien, we need to talk."
Tien drove the head of his axe into the stump and stood up straighter, wiping his brow with the back of his wrist. It wasn't like Goku to use that sort of tone, to start a conversation off like that. He walked over, staring at his friend as if trying to read him. "What's going on?" he asked, his own voice just as serious as Goku's. He didn't like the slight frown on Goku's lips, the seriousness in his dark eyes. "Did something happen?"
Goku swung the armor for Tien and Sabriena out from under his arm, offering it to Tien. "One of the Saiyans came to visit me. He told me where they were camping with the Atlantians. Vegeta says we will attack them in three days. The morning after the full moon. He thinks they will be out all night, their energy used up. It will be a good time to attack," he said seriously. He wasn't serious for most things. Battle however. Battle was something he didn't take lightly. Especially when it threatened his family and friends. He wasn't going to lose anyone this time.
He thought back over the last battle against the Atlantians. So many of his friends had come too close to death that night. Jenny giving birth on the battlefield, Trunks nearly crushed to death by a dragon, Piccolo bitten by another, and Leelee tied to a stake, burning alive…
Goku gave a violent shudder. No. Not this time. This time, they were going to initiate battle and take their enemies by surprise. It was different than anything Goku had done before – he couldn't remember ever being the first to attack. But this had been going on for far too long. It was time to end this.
Tien accepted the armor, blinking at Goku. "Three days? We're... we're attacking them?" He turned from Goku, running a hand over his head, his eyes wide at the information. He'd been wanting to get this over with, to be done with the nervousness he felt from the threat of this war, but now it was as if it was coming far too soon.
Sabriena had stepped out of the house just in time to hear what Goku said. She licked her lips nervously, her heart starting to hammer against her ribs. She wasn't sure if she was ready, even after all the training she'd done over the past year. It was crazy to think she'd been living and training with Tien for over a year now. "Are," she hesitated, her voice small, "are we ready for this?"
Goku looked over at Sabriena and walked over to her, offering the bulky package that contained her armor. "We are ready for them," he said. He watched Sabriena as she took the armor from him, cradling it in her arms. "You are ready for them. You weren't... before, but being out here, with Tien... You are ready."
Sabriena took the armor with shaking hands, trying to believe Goku. She'd always half-assed her way through the battles before, but this time, she was going to have to meet the enemy head on, to work with the others as a team, to remember her training and use it the way Tien and Goku had taught her. A sudden fear rose up in her, not of death or injury, but of disappointing them.
Tien swallowed harshly, setting his armor on the steps to the cabin and turned towards the river. "I need a minute to myself," he said in a low voice and walked off.
Goku watched as Tien went down to the river, before looking back to Sabriena, "I everything alright?" He walked forward, rubbing her shoulders a moment before he looked back down towards Tien before he looked back at her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered softly, watching Tien. She drew a deep breath, watching as Tien knelt next to the river. She wrenched her eyes away from him and looked at Goku again. "I just..." she paused and licked her lips nervously. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke again, "I just don't want to disappoint him. Or you. I don't want to mess up in battle and have either one of you ashamed of me."
Goku smiled at her, cupping her cheek and brushing her skin with his thumb, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You're ready, Sabriena. You won't disappoint us. I have faith in you and so does Tien." He looked back down towards the river and wrapped his arm around her back and walked slowly down towards the river.
Tien couldn't explain the fear in his chest as he walked down to the river. He'd been nervous before battle before, that was nothing new and was normal, but this fear was unlike anything he'd ever experienced. It seemed to curl around his heart, his very soul, and steal the breath from his lungs. He suddenly wished he had more time to prepare, that he'd used the time he'd had a little more efficiently. Perhaps he could have trained a little harder, a little longer, pushed himself a little further. What difference could just one more day have made?
Not knowing exactly what he was doing, Tien dropped to his knees beside the river, staring out over the sparkling water. He drew a deep breath, bowing his head, and spoke softly, "This is all a little new to me. And I might just be… talking to myself… but," he paused and sighed, thinking he should have felt foolish, but yet he found he didn't. "I know I've made a lot of mistakes in my past. I have a lot of regrets for things I can't take back… can't undo… I've tried to atone… to make it right the best way I know how." He leaned over, placing his hands on the ground, calming himself for just a minute. The meditation he'd done with Sabriena that day, grounding himself, attuning himself with the earth, echoed through his mind and he found it comforted him. "If you're out there… if you're real… if you can somehow hear me… please help us."
Tien let his eyes close for a moment, pressing his lips together. He could feel Sabriena's fear and her worry. A very strange thing had happened the night they bound their lives together. They discovered they could feel what the other was feeling. If she was happy or sad or nervous, Tien could feel that same emotion. Likewise, Sabriena could feel his emotions as well. But there was an even more interesting aspect to it – they could feel what the other felt physically if the sensation was intense. If he took an exceptionally hard hit from Goku in training, she felt it. If she was feeling sick, Tien wouldn't feel so good either. And when they were in the throes of passion, they always came at the same time, their bliss shared in an entirely new way.
Tien knew that if Sabriena died in this war, he would go with her. Just as if he died, she would perish with him. But he didn't like the fear they were sharing now. Fear for their friends, their family. And there were things out there that were so much worse than death.
Tien's fingers dug into the earth as he prayed, "We've all trained so hard for this. All of us. We can't lose anyone to this. Please. Please help me protect her. Please help me protect them – my friends. Please." He begged. "I don't know if you're out there or if I'm just… thinking wishfully… but please protect us all."
Sabriena smiled softly as she heard the last words of Tien's prayer. She'd never known him to pray before. She gently disentangled herself from Goku and went to Tien, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay," she assured him. "We're all going to come through this war together."
He smiled weakly at her, reaching up to cup her face, forgetting he had mud on his fingers as he soothed his thumb across her cheekbone. "Oops," he snickered. "Looks like you've got war paint on."
She giggled and leaned into his touch, blinking at him as his eyes went wide. "Tien? What is it?" she asked.
"War paint," he breathed, an idea suddenly clicking in his head. "Remember the ashes from Beltane?"
Sabriena nodded.
"Arthusia said they were protective," Tien went on. "I mean, I know it might sound crazy, but what if we made up some war paint and added the ashes to it?"
Goku walked down after Sabriena, hearing the conversation. "War paint?" He saw Sabriena's face as she turned to face him. "Hey, yeah! If it works, it could be that much more of a defense against the Atlantians!" he said excitedly. He paused, tipping his head to the side. "So, ah, how do we test it?"
"Test it on me," Tien volunteered.
"What?" Sabriena gasped. "No! Tien, what if you get hurt?"
"Well I'm not asking you to try to take my head off," he chuckled. "Go grab that jar of ashes off the mantle."
Sabriena stomped away, muttering under her breath, "Mental. He's completely lost his mind."
Tien rinsed his hands in the river and looked up at Goku for a moment, "If this goes bad, just, you know, get me to Jenny or Dende ASAP, alright?" he chuckled.
Goku frowned, "Really? I don't know about this Tien. What if it goes really wrong? Shouldn't we test it on something else?"
Tien shook his head. "We don't have time for all of that. If the ashes seem to work, it'll take me at least the rest of the day to get some paint made up for everyone."
Goku wasn't sure he liked the idea of Tien testing this on himself, but if it worked, he was definitely sharing it with everyone else. He watched as Sabriena came back to the river, carrying the large earthenware jar of ashes and a small bowl with her. She scooped a tiny bit of water into the bowl and mixed in a pinch of the ashes, then smeared it roughly across Tien's face as he pressed his lips together and closed his eyes.
"You better hope this works," Sabriena muttered, rinsing her fingers in the river.
Tien stood, his face feeling weird with the ashes on it. "I'll have to make it into a real paint if this works," he said. He drew a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Okay, Sabriena, try hitting me with some of your magick, girl," he said. He shook his hands at his sides as if trying to shake off a bit of nervousness.
"Completely asinine," she muttered as she transformed. Conjuring a small orb of magickal light, she lobbed it gently at Tien's face.
He closed his eyes at the last second, bracing himself, but the attack glanced off.
Sabriena's eyes went wide and her jaw fell open. "No way," she breathed.
Tien beamed, feeling excited, and turned to his friend. "Okay, Goku, you try and hit me with an energy wave."
Goku blinked at him before his face split in a wide grin. "It actually worked!" he cried. He formed a ball of energy in his hand and asked, "Are you sure about this?" He frowned at Tien's nod and threw his attack point blank at his face and he jumped back as the energy exploded, the heat from it hot on his skin and he watched as Tien stood, unscathed from his attack.
Tien grinned widely. "Alright, it works," he said, "now we just have to mix up some paint and give it to everyone else. Couldn't hurt to have some extra protection to go with that armor."
Sabriena was still dumbfounded. "Okay," she said, a smile finally pulling at her lips. Let's get busy. Should I run to town and buy some paint?"
Tien shook his head as he crouched by the river and washed his face. "No, anything you guy would most likely be synthetic," he said. "Didn't Jenny have trouble getting the armor to work because she was using synthetic materials?"
"Oh yeah, she did," Goku said thoughtfully. He tapped a finger to his chin, looking upwards. "But gosh, where do we get natural paint?"
"Right here," Tien answered. "I can make it." He stood up and wiped the water from his face before he looked at Sabriena. "What colors should we use, girl?"
Sabriena thought about it for a minute. A memory came to her then, of the day when they'd rescued Paige from the castle. "White, red, and black," she answered. "The colors the Fates were wearing when we met them."
Tien gave a nod. "Not a problem."
Goku and Sabriena watched Tien in fascination for the rest of the afternoon as he worked, carefully creating the paint as Sabriena requested. Black was easily made from the charred black logs from their fire. Red was created by gathering red berries from the forest. White proved to be a bit more problematic, but they eventually settled on using simple bread flour since it was made from wheat. Using water from the spring and the ashes Grandma Arthusia had given them after Beltane, he carefully mixed the parts together until they had bold, bright colors in smooth, thick paint.
"So, ah, what should we paint on our faces?" Goku asked. "Like a certain design or something?"
"Anything you want, I suppose," Tien answered, carefully measuring the paint out into little stoneware jars for Goku to take to the others.
"You could do a tribal design," Sabriena suggested. "That would look awesome. Look up something online."
Goku nodded and gathered up all the little jars. "What are you guys gonna do?"
"Oh, I've got an idea," Sabriena answered with a sly smile.
"Well tell me!" Goku whined.
"Nope," she grinned. "You'll just have to wait and see."
"Oh fine," he huffed. "You guys take care. I'll see you at Capsule Corp in three days."
"We'll be there," Tien promised and watched as Goku vanished from sight.
Author's Notes: Just thought I'd respond to some of the reviews again!
"Wow Fasha is a Slut. Wierd and interesting you potray her as such in this story"Eh, it's not so much that she's a slut, but that she will use any means to accomplish her goals. My version of Fasha is extremely proud of her Saiyan heritage, almost to the point of being radical. She doesn't agree with mixing the races together and believes that the bloodlines should be kept pure. (Think Deatheaters from Harry Potter.)
"Also go to the Dragonball Wiki. Go to Character articles. In a interview, it revealed the names of Andriod 18 and 17." Hey, thanks! I never knew that. Thanks for the info.
"Sabrina is right, everybody needs to smack Chi-Chi as hard as they can. Maybe she wouldn't be as cold hearted." GreenSaiyan, I like your thinkin'. If someone doesn't agree with you, SMACK 'EM UNTIL THEY DO! LMAO! Love that.
"Oh so that's why I was wondering what the hell was going on. Lawl" Reign of Sorrow, ya okay there, darlin'? You know where you are? Here. Sit down. Have a cookie.