A/N: Aight this took a while. . . sorry about that XD. I just graduated yesterday and I've been binging the Office and trying to find a roommate. . . ugh I'm exhausted lol. I'm gonna respond to reviews at the bottom of the chapter so. . . yeah. But here ya go!

Also warning in advance. The first part of this gets a little gory. Just a heads up!

Chapter 4: Beat of the Beast

The world was burning.

Gohan would've panicked if it weren't for the bright magenta sky. Sure, they'd had an occasional purple tinted night on his world and this Earth, every now and again, but it never looked like this.

And there were never four suns in the sky.

It was a vision. That was the only reasonable explanation, and it was concerning and terrifying at the same time. He'd never had this many consecutive visions before. The most he'd ever had was four in a year, and he'd already passed that mark a while ago.

His attention was brought back to the scene by a deafening explosion. Shrieks of laughter and cries of pain rang out followed by many more explosions. The stench of smoke clogged his sensitive nose and his eyes were assailed by a flash of light, sporadically. He stumbled forward, nearly slipping on the gravel, to get a better view on the situation.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when his foot connected with something. A quick glance at the sole of his shoe came back gooey. What he saw made his stomach turn inside out.

It appeared to be a dead body. Its chest was caved in (whether it was from him stepping in it or something else, Gohan couldn't say), and the gooey substance was littered all over its body. The thing's grotesque bug-like head was staring up at the sky, sightless.

Gohan licked his suddenly dry lips as he cast his gaze across the land. There were more bodies around him. Some were more charred and dismantled than others, but they all had the same blank, sightless stare.

"Jeice!" The voice came out like a croak but it was clear as day. "There's some more of them over here!"

Gohan snapped his eyes to the sky, shielding his eyes from the glare of the suns with an arm. He could barely make out the silhouette of five people set against the light and magenta sky. Their forms looked humanoid yet at the same time were contorted into unnatural forms. A shower of lights emanated from them, falling to the Earth and shaking the ground with explosions, like gods throwing down judgement from above.

"Ah, I see 'em!" One of the voices called back. It was a lot gruffer in tone. "This is too easy!"

A cacophony of laughs echoed through Gohan's body and chilled him to the bone.. Explosions tore through the world around him, never ceasing alongside the cries of the dying.

"Gohan!"

Gohan snapped up and his eyes flitted about the forest before he focused on Shen. He had the grace to look bashful at the raised brow Shen gave him. "Sorry. Vision."

Shen leaned in with interest in her wide eyes. "What did ya see?"

Gohan shrugged and turned his gaze to the grass, trying to slow down his racing heart. He wasn't very successful. "I don't want to talk about it."

She dropped down next to him, making him glance up. She was giving him an exasperated stare that bordered on a glare. "I thought we talked about this. Ya don't need to sugarcoat anything. I can handle it!"

"No. I can't. I just don't want to talk about it right now, so could you just drop it?"

Shen's face flickered for a moment before she nodded. "Alright, I'll just leave you to-"

"Shen, trust me. I would tell you, but I just can't right now."

Shen raised her hands before she snatched her crutches from the ground. "Nah, I get it," she replied with a paper-thin smile. "It's fine. We start moving in a few more minutes anyway."

Before Gohan could get a word out, Shen was already hobbling her way out of the room.

He sighed and dragged his hands down his face. He pushed himself out of his grassy bed, absently scratching at his now itchy arms, and headed out into the sunlight. In a fit of childish paranoia, he found himself checking to see if there was only one sun in the sky.

Once he reached his friends, there wasn't much awaiting him. Toph had apparently just been spending some brief time exploring while he'd been asleep. She'd greeted him with a little wave and went on her way.

Shen just gave him a half-nod before handing him some berries. He looked them over quizzically before staring at Shen through the roof of his eyes. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry. He was always hungry, but he couldn't ignore that it was Shen who'd gotten them food. She just rolled her eyes at him and walked over to what was likely her own portion. "I know what I'm doing, Gohan. Ya weren't the only kid raised in the woods."

Gohan hummed, knowingly. "Yeah sorry about that. You're right."

It was easy to forget that she'd been living with her parents in the wilderness for a good chunk of her life before the orphanage. Shen just took it in stride and walked over to Toph, at a fairly fast pace considering her makeshift crutches and splint. "Ya ready to move?"

Toph stretched her arms with a long yawn. "It's about time! I was starting to get bored over here."

And they were off.

Gohan tried to talk to Shen multiple times throughout their walk, but he'd be ignored each time. She'd look down at her hands, talk to Toph, or, like on one occasion, just flat out ignore him. So, he gave up on that fruitless effort and just walked in silence, occasionally snacking on his berries. His head quickly went to his dream. Or vision, would be more appropriate. He'd never seen those guys ever in his visions, but he could vaguely recall the uniforms.

He wasn't able to get a good look at them with all the sunlight, but he could make out some shoulder pads and loin-guards. It wasn't too dissimilar to Frieza's armor in that aspect. The thought alone was enough to give home shivers.

They looked like a bunch of demons firing off in the sky like that. Just hearing the glee in their voices was enough to turn his stomach to mush.

Then there were the faces. He could never escape the faces.

"What's got your pants in a twist?"

Gohan glanced at Toph in mild surprise. She kept facing forward with her usual blank stare, so he almost thought that he'd imagined her voice. "Well?" she repeated.

"Don't bother. He doesn't want to talk about it."

Gohan shot her a dirty look that she stuck out a tongue at. He felt a little smile twitch onto his face despite their strained situation. He turned to Toph with an apologetic smile. "She's right. I just don't wanna-"

"Hey shh!"

Gohan stared at Toph with no small amount of exasperation. Why was everyone being so difficult today? "What? Aren't you the one who asked me?"

"I said shh! There's someone nearby!"

Gohan's heart stopped cold. His head went on a swivel as the forest suddenly seemed far more dangerous. His paranoia was going wild again, almost swearing that he'd catch a glimpse of the strange armor or hear a mocking laugh. He couldn't spot anything definitive, but he didn't dare doubt Toph's senses. She'd been far too accurate for too long for it to be a mistake. "Where are they coming from? How many are there?"

"I said shh!"

"Hey!"

Gohan spun on a dime to gape at Shen. The girl had dropped her makeshift crutches to put her hands in a boxing guard. "C'mon out before I make ya!"

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Toph muttered.

As soon as she'd finished her sentence, the foliage exploded with motion. Four men of different builds had revealed themselves. Each of them had some kind of weapon in hand. Some had a crossbow while one had a set of throwing knives strapped to their chest and legs and another had a spiked mace on a chain.

And they all looked ready for a fight.

"Y'know," started the man with the mace, "We were hoping to find the Shirshu out here, but this is an interesting surprise. What're a bunch a' runaways doing out here in the woods?"

Gohan sputtered like a fish. It took all that he had within him not to start backing away.

Unfortunately, Shen had no sense of self-preservation. "We don't need to tell ya anything! So how about ya get outta our way and ya won't get hurt!"

The mace man looked back at his men with a wicked smirk. "Would ya look at that? This one has some life in her! Say, we're a reasonable bunch. A reasonable bunch, but a hungry bunch. We'll get outta ya hair so long as ya give us your valuables!"

"Not a chance in hell!" she retorted.

"Shen, what are you doing?!" Gohan hissed, yanking her back.

"Fighting back and not being a wuss!"

"This is gonna cost ya, kid," warned the mace man. He was more than a bit physically imposing with his wide shoulders, tall stature, and piercing eyes. Not to mention, he had no idea whether any of them were benders. . .

Gohan looked at Toph for assistance, but she just stared ahead. He made to talk to her when he remembered her words from before.

"She needs to do this."

He didn't know if Toph still felt her advice applied with a sprained ankle, but he didn't feel like prodding her would be a good idea. Shen cracked her knuckles with a confident smirk. Her confident ruse was betrayed by her wince whenever she leaned too heavily on her bad foot. "Alright, let's go!"

The mace spun his chain a few times with a wicked smirk twitching across his face. "Don't say I didn't warn ya!"

He swung the chain with surprising force. Shen barely had the time to throw up a rock wall. It crumbled on the mace's second strike, causing Shen to leap back. She winced as she landed unsteadily on her bad foot.

Gohan felt his breath quicken as he saw the mace man rearing back for another attack. In a split-second fit of madness, he dove towards Shen, knocking her down just in time to avoid a spiked mace to the face.

"Ow!" Shen shoved Gohan off of her with a glare. "What's your problem?!"

"My problem! I just saved your life!"

"I had it covered!"

"Did you now?!"

"Leave this to me."

Gohan cast a quick glance at the blind bender. She took a deep breath before dropping into a low stance. The mace man laughed uproariously. "Ya can't seriously expect to beat me! Your friend didn't stand a chance, so why would y-"

Quick as lightning, Toph stomped her foot and shot a pillar of rock into the man's gut. He shot through the forest with a loud yelp. His clattering mace was the only sign of his existence.

The remaining men gave each other a sorta nervous glance. Toph smirked. "How about you try picking on someone your own size?"

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

"Ah!"

In seconds, the men were out of sight. Toph dusted off her hands and jerked her head towards the woods. "Stop your gawking. Let's get moving."

Gohan shut his mouth abruptly, finding it had fallen slack. Her grace under pressure was nothing short of astounding.

"Grah! Why can't ya people just let me handle something alone!"

Gohan blinked in surprise as Shen stomped off, even bumping shoulders with Toph in the process. Gohan smiled apologetically at Toph. . . before remembering she was blind. "Sorry about Shen," he offered instead. "I don't know what's gotten into her. . ."

Toph just blew a bang out of her eyes as she cocked her head to him. "C'mon."

The trio walked in silence.

Gohan spared a glance at Shen every now and again, each time hoping that she'd cooled down. It was to no avail. She only seemed to get angrier with time. He wanted to try talking some sense into her, but he knew from years of experience that she wouldn't listen to a word he'd say. Toph looked as unbothered as ever. Maybe he could talk to her? At least to get her to talk some sense into Shen.

Building up his resolve, Gohan sped up his pace until he was at Toph's side. "Hey."

Toph kept her gaze straight ahead. "Yeah?"

"Do you think that you could talk to Shen? I think she could-"

"No."

Gohan was about ready to punch something. "Why not?!"

"I'm not her mother. Besides, she just needs to blow off some steam and she'll be fine."

"You don't know her like I do! She's never been like this. Not to this extent."

"Well, Mr. Expert. Why don't you go talk to her?"

"She won't listen to me!"

"Guys!"

"What?" They both snapped.

Shen pointed with a shaky finger at something off in the distance. "I-I think I found the Shirshu. ."

Gohan found himself back on high alert. His eyes flitted across the landscape, once again, coming up with nothing. "I don't see anything."

Shen backed up slowly while never taking her eyes away from a certain spot. "It's right there."

"Get back," Toph murmured. "Don't scare it."

Gohan felt like his heart was walking on a tightrope above a pit of acid. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering what had possessed him to embark on such a dangerous, idiotic quest. He didn't have the experience, resources, or ideas to get himself out of most of the situations that he'd found himself in. He didn't have a plan for convincing the Earth King and he certainly didn't have a plan for a Shirshu.

He froze in his tracks once his eyes made contact with a mouth of glistening white. It sprung.

Gohan narrowly escaped being pinned under the beast with a well-timed roll. He bit back a curse at the scrapes from twigs that he acquired in the process.

"Spread out!" Toph shouted, forming a rock wall. The Shirshu rammed into it full-force and landed hard on its side, writhing on the ground.

Gohan scrambled back on his hands and feet in a frenzied crab walk. Watching the Shirshu squirm around and screech was a bloodcurdling sight, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. The creature was feral, no doubt, but it looked scared. He couldn't explain it, but it just seemed as afraid of them as he'd been of it.

A slight rumble drew Gohan's attention back to the ground. A part of the ground slowly raised itself, helping turn the Shirshu back to its feet. He suspected it was Toph's doing. He should've felt his heart start to race again (admittedly it did a little bit), but he found himself feeling calm.

For a while, nobody moved.

The Shirshu took one long sweeping glance at them before it bounded off, back the way it had come. Shen gave a mix between a laugh and a sigh as a big grin split her face. "Yeah! Ya better run ya stupid animal! Ow!"

Gohan gave Toph an incredulous look as she stalked past him, not even batting an eye at the pebble she'd flung at Shen's head. "Don't disrespect the Shirshu. Got it?"

Shen rubbed at the back of her head and stuck her tongue out at her. "I had it covered, ya know."

"Uh huh."

Gohan was only dimly aware of their conversation. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the thick brush that was still disheveled from the Shirshu. It was nonsensical to keep thinking about it. They'd run it off successfully, and it was probably long gone at that point with its speed. He just couldn't get its haunted stare out of his mind no matter how hard he tried.

And he'd tried.

Gohan bit his cheek, never taking his eyes off of the brush. "Should we go after it?"

Shen glanced back at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you serious? What good is going after the du. . . Shirshu gonna do? It's probably miles away by now or something."

Gohan couldn't find it in him to snicker at the fear of Toph that had been put into her. "But the hunters are still out there. Maybe incapacitated but they'll get up. And even if they don't there'll be others. They did say the Shirshu after all, and I know there is definitely more than one Shirshu out there as rare as they are."

"There's a chance others know about it, and they'll try going after the Shirshu again," Toph murmured.

"Exactly!"

"But it's not our problem," Shen countered. "We're supposed to be heading for the Earth King, remember? Stopping an alien invasion and all that?"

Gohan felt like he was talking to a whole new person. Everything about her demeanor just felt wrong. The way she glared at him like he was scum and the way she was laser focused on getting to the Earth King. Sure, she probably cared a little, but if he knew her, it wasn't to that extent.

He was at a loss for words for a moment before a light bulb went off. "We could keep the Shirshu with us!"

"Come again?" Shen asked.

"We could keep it with us to protect it and have it take us to the Earth King faster! It'll be like killing two birds with one stone!"

Shen stared at him dubiously. "Like a domestic animal?"

"It's been done before!" He'd seen as much in the books that he'd find in the library. "We just need to get it to trust us. You understand, right Toph?"

Toph sighed as she braced her hands behind her head. "Yeah, sure. Let's go save a Shirshu."

Gohan smiled at her. "Good. But first, can I talk to you for a minute, Shen?"

Shen searched him for a moment before shrugging. "Sure."

They hadn't walked too far away from Toph. Gohan didn't figure that she'd care too much, but he wanted to be a fair distance away just in case.

"What did ya wanna talk about?" Shen asked, crossing her arms.

Gohan chewed on his cheek and let his arms fall to his sides. "I'm sorry, I should've told you about my dream/vision thing. I was being stupid and it really wasn't a big deal."

Shen watched him with a raised brow.

He drew a deep breath to steel himself. "I saw a bunch of aliens destroying a planet. They were monsters, Shen. There were so many dead people. People they killed."

Shen nodded and uncrossed her arms as her face softened. "Do you think they're with Vegeta?"

Gohan sat down on the grass, shaking his head. "I don't know. I didn't get a good look. I could only see their shadows and armor. They might even be with Frieza."

Shen froze at the name. He couldn't blame her. Freiza was the physical embodiment of every boogeyman space had to behold. He'd been strong enough to send Vegeta packing. That alone was enough to give Gohan the shivers.

"So," Shen muttered, "what're we gonna do about it?"

Gohan shrugged. "The same thing we've been doing I guess. Find the Earth King and train."

Shen nodded, absently kicking at the ground with her good foot. "That's not what I really cared about, ya know?"

"Oh?"

"I just. . . Toph is so cool and badass and you're strong as hell! And then there's just me. One-shotted by a damn pebble!"

She sat down with a thump, sulking with crossed arms. Gohan stared at her for what felt like the thousandth time that day. Her being envious of Toph felt normal. She was a great earthbender, and honestly he wished he could have half of her bravado. But Shen envying him felt alien.

It did explain a lot though.

Gohan sat down next to her with a soft smile. "Don't sell yourself short. You're way stronger than you gave yourself credit for."

"I got taken out by a pebble. . ."

"A pebble fired by a pro-bender who caught you off guard! You lasted a while with him and you're a self-taught bender. A young one, too! That counts for something."

Shen shrugged. "I still need to prove to myself that I can do this. I need to know that I don't have to run to ya for help every time things get hairy. I gotta be something on my own."

For once, he could read her. He didn't like what he saw, but he could understand it. He'd felt inadequate more than a few times just in the past few days. "Sounds like we should try it out with the Shirshu then?"

Shen met his gaze with a faint smirk. "Let's."

Gohan wasn't much of a tracker, but Toph was more than able to make up for it. Her sensing abilities new no bounds as she easily noticed indent after indent of hardly visible Shirshu tracks.

"It should be somewhere around here," she stated. "It might've went to sleep somewhere in secret."

A loud cry rang out of the forest, startling the trio. "I think that was the Shirshu!" Shen cried, "C'mon!"

The three ran as fast as their legs would carry them (Toph and Gohan ran, Shen was moving at more of a hobble). As they got closer, he could hear voices shouting to one another. Every time that he'd want to give into his aching muscles, the Shirshu's pained howls spurred him on.

When they finally reached the animal, Gohan felt his blood boil. The Shirshu was strapped down by multiple thick wires, howling in vain against the same men from before. They were laughing and cheering, albeit looking more than a little banged up.

"How are they still alive?" Gohan breathed.

"I mean, I didn't hit them that hard," Toph replied.

". . . You're kidding. These guys got shot into the stratosphere."

"Hey, focus!" Shen chastised. "What are we gonna do?"

Gohan chewed his cheek as he looked at every bit of their surroundings. The space was open without many trees inside a fairly large radius. There'd be a lot more room for a battle, but not many trees for defense. "Shen? How's your foot?"

"I don't feel a thing!"

"Shen."

"It hurts a little, but I can walk and stand on it for a while," Shen grumbled.

"OK, Toph, can you take them out again?"

Toph shot him a smirk, cracking her knuckles. "Is that even a question?"

Gohan nodded with a smile. "Alright, Shen and I will take the binds off of the Shirshu while you take care of the men."

Shen sputtered in what was sure to be a harsh rebuke, but he held up a hand. "Not right now. Ready?" He got two nods, albeit one reluctant one. "OK. . . go!"

He broke out in a sprint, charging into the clearing as he ignored his racing heart. The man with the surplus of knives noticed them charging, but he was too late. In a bout of deja vu, he was sent flying through the forest followed by another hunter and another and another.

All before he and Shen had even reached the Shirshu.

"Do you still want me to hang back here?" Toph asked cheekily. "I can stake out for more hunters if you want?"

"Just c'mon!"

It was quick work unbinding the Shirshu. Toph and Shen we're able to bend them all some sharp rocks to saw at the rope. Every snapped cord seemed to make the Shirshu breath a hair faster. Whether that be from excitement or fear, he couldn't say.

When the final rope was cut, the Shirshu leaped back, knocking over Shen in the process. Gohan tried to get in front of it, succeeding every once in a while through sheer chance.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Toph fall into a stance. He quickly caught her eye and shook his head, bracing a hand on the Shirshu's arm. "Hey, hey! We're not gonna hurt you! We just want to keep you safe."

The Shirshu jerked about a few more times, baring its teeth at him. It was worth noting that it never truly attacked him, no matter what. It was probably the only thing that kept him from bolting off and abandoning the plan.

He caught its eye, briefly. He had no idea if what happened was sheer luck or if it was part of his psychic abilities or even just an extraordinary bout of understanding, but the Shirshu stopped.

"There we go. . . just settle down. We're not gonna hurt you. I promise."

It bolted on the spot; its movements so sudden that even Toph was caught off-guard. Shen made to go after it, but Gohan snagged her firmly by the arm. She glared indignantly at him before glaring at the long gone Shirshu. "You're letting it get away?! What happened to the plan?!"

Gohan just stared off at the woods. "We'll let it go and find a different way to travel. C'mon."

Shen's groan could've shaken the Earth.

A/N: Imma just do Chapter 3 and onward cuz I am, admittedly, lazy T-T

X3runner: I'm def thinking about having him recreate techniques that he sees in his visions. It kinda gives a lot more freedom than if he'd had a sensei and all that. Also, thanks for reviewing every chapter! It means the world to me!

michellehernandez2316: I'm glad to hear it! Sorry about the whole Gohan not having a teacher thing though lol. I hope you enjoy the future chapters as well!

dcsonic 10: Thank you, thank you, my good man! Love hearing from ya, dude!

jonathonne: Glad you're so enthusiastic about this. Hopefully the next update won't take as long. . . hopefully XD

Thank you all for reading! Feel free to leave your thoughts in the review section. I love reading em!

Uploaded: May 18th 2021