The adventure continues. Ruko, Goku and Bulma have decided to put the hunt for the remaining Dragonballs aside in favor of helping a lost turtle find the sea. Currently, they run through a mountain range as they follow the road ahead.
"I hope that we get to the sea soon." Ruko sighed as she jogged lightly beside Goku. Goku still carried the turtle on his back, but that didn't slow him down.
"Yeah, I'm really getting hungry." Goku agreed as he looked ahead sadly. Bulma, who was on her red motor cycle, said nothing as she drove beside them. She hadn't changed out of her pink night dress. Her hair really had gotten messy from the bike, as it caused the blue strands to whip about behind her in the wind.
"You know, this is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." Turtle commented quietly as he glanced between the two kids who were escorting him. They both looked to the turtle in surprise, before they smiled warmly.
"Awe, hey, it's no big deal!" Goku said casually and basked in the fact that he and Ruko had made the turtle so happy.
"Really, it isn't!" Ruko agreed, also pleased.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you both." the turtle continued, and Bulma glared at the three of them. She did not want to go on this side-quest in the first place.
"Gosh, I think I'm going to cry!" Bulma exclaimed bitterly, and kids looked at her curiously. "Spare me! Just concentrate on where we're going so that we can get there while we're still young!"
Small, matching frowns were directed towards Bulma for her remark, but the blue haired teen hardly cared.
"Ya think Bulma's all snippy 'cause the hair she worked so long on, is a mess now?" Ruko whispered loudly to Goku, one hand up to cover her mouth from the teen's view. The boy blinked in surprise, before his dark eyes traveled up to the blue haired teen, and a smirk grew on his face.
"Uh oh, it looks like a bird came along and made a nest there!" he giggled, which got Ruko to laugh along with him.
Their ability to whisper wasn't as developed as they had thought though, as Bulma's frown deepened and she shot them death glares. It went unnoticed by the tailed duo, but not the turtle. He slowly began to duck his head into his shell.
"Uh, maybe we should tone down on the teasing guys..." he muttered tentatively.
"Why's that?" Ruko asked in surprise, which got a growl out of Bulma. The teen slammed the breaks on her bike and it's tires squealed from the sudden abuse.
"THAT'S IT!" Bulma shouted but it soon turned from anger to alarm. Her bike veered dangerously to one side as she had miraculously managed to stop it, seconds before a large bear paw swiped at the air in front of her. If the teen had kept going, she would have been snatched right off the speeding motor bike or crushed.
"Hold it right there!" a deep voice demanded, and the large bear paw produced a body that went with it. The bear had been hidden behind one of the large columns of rock that bordered the road.
In front of them stood a very large bear dressed in a samurai armor. It towered over Ruko and Goku, easily reaching the height of Bulma's capsule house. It laughed at them madly, and drool appeared on it's lips as it gazed down at the four of them hungrily. One of the bear's eyes had a scar over it, and Ruko wondered how it was obtained. Goku felt the turtle on his back begin shake in its very shell.
Unconcerned about the new creature, the tailed duo stared up at the bear, and wondered what it wanted with them.
"Lookie what I've got here!" The bear growled out triumphantly, its voice all scratchy. "A human and it's two babies with their pet turtle."
The kids narrowed their eyes at the bear as Bulma's eyes widened in shock and the turtle's shaking increased.
"Just how old do you think I am?!" Bulma demanded heatedly, rather insulted.
The bear spoke in a low growl, "old enough, I hope, to know when your outdone. Luckily for you, human, I gave up eating your species when I figured out that they tend to give me heartburn. Hand over the turtle, and I'll let you and your youngins pass unharmed." It was meant to be a warning, and it didn't go unnoticed by them.
The teen hunkered down as much as she could on her bike, but it didn't serve to do much as she stared at the bear with fright in her eyes. "G- Goku," Bulma's quiet voice broke the tense silence, and said boy glanced over at her. Her entire body shook. She didn't even look at the kids as she motioned to them with her hand. "You heard him! Give him the turtle, quick!"
"No way!" Ruko denied instantly and both kids stuck out their tongues. The girl then stepped forwards in front of Goku and jabbed her chest with a thumb. "Just one of us is more than enough to beat ya, bear! Take me on and see if ya can get away with tryin' to eat my friend!"
A low growl left the bear's lips and the sharp end of a canine was shown. The large anthropomorphic bear held an odd mixture of amusement and annoyance in his yellow eyes as he stared down at them. "You wish to fight? Foolish child, you will loose."
"Hey, bear!" Goku called out, and the bear's eyes drifted over to him. The boy gave him a smile, but the kindness behind it was lost due to the gleam in his eyes. It made a sudden unease grow in the bear, an instinct that told him to run.
There was a thrilled note to Goku's tone as he spoke. "You'll most likely be pulverized to mush, if ya fight Ruko! I might be a little nicer though, and let ya walk away... but only if ya say yer sorry that ya tried to eat Turtle."
Panicked, Bulma turned to face the kids, her eyes wide with incredulity. "You idiots! Your going to get us killed! Just give him the turtle and be done with this!" she demanded, almost hysterically, but they didn't listen.
"I don't care what this guy says." Goku sneered, and Ruko gave a firm nod of her head.
"No." they denied together.
"Are you twerps out of your minds?!"
"He's our friend, Bulma." Ruko stated calmly, as though that explained everything. And to the tailed friends, it did.
"Exactly." Goku agreed, but the bear had heard enough by now and unsheathed the sword that was strapped to his belt with a laugh.
"It doesn't matter who comes forward. Your all gonna end up in my belly, heartburn be damned. Prepare yourselves, humans!" It went forwards and purposely shook the ground with the step. A smirk appeared on the bear's face as he straightened the sword out beside him in a ready stance for an attack.
With a shout of fear, Bulma roughly turned her bike around. It's tires squealed loudly and dug up dirt from the ground in the teen's haste to get away. She drove it in the opposite direction and didn't look back.
"Let's go then!" Ruko declared as she slid into a battle stance. Her tail swished to one side, then stood perfectly curved near the back of her knees.
"H- how's about we go just over there, Goku?" Turtle asked nervously as he tapped his flipper on the boy's shoulder to get his attention, then pointed to where they had come from. "We wouldn't want to get in the way..."
"Hmm, I guess so!" Goku agreed, and planted himself in front a large stone not too far away from the fight. The turtle relaxed somewhat with the new distance.
Ruko jumped to the side as the bear swung his sword at her. It landed with a dull thunk in the ground, and had enough force to create a large rut in the packed earthen path.
"It's just us now!" Ruko called up to him when she noticed that Goku had taken the turtle further back from the fight. The bear laughed as he looked down at her small stature, then effortlessly brought the sword back up again.
"You think your real cute, don't you monkey boy?" The bear asked her as he took a step forward.
Ruko smiled happily at him, glad to get some more exercise during her day. Her spar with Goku had been cut short after all.
"You should have run while I gave you the chance." the bear sneered, and the girl rose a brow.
"Think so, huh?" she called up, then grinned excitedly. "We'll just have to see 'bout that!"
The bear stepped forwards again and swung his sword at her. She leaned back at the last second and hopped away. It was almost as though the sword moved in slow motion for her.
"Woah!" Ruko laughed as she moved out of the way just on time. She wagged her tail teasingly at the bear when she landed on her hands, which only seemed to get the bear annoyed. "You missed me!" Ruko called out as she flipped over on to her feet. The bear tried for a second swipe, and the young girl used his thick arm to help propel a jump over his head as though she were a trained acrobat.
As she twisted and a twirled in the air, Ruko managed to spot a laughing Goku in the distance as he watched. The turtle on his back had covered his eyes in fright. And Bulma had hid herself behind another large rock not too far away as she watched the fight with wide eyes. Ruko smiled widely to herself as she tapped the bear on the shoulder, just beside the black pauldron plate that covered that joint, as she passed then landed safely behind the bear's back.
"Over here, Mr. Bear!" she called out gleefully.
The bear turned to face the tailed girl, and swung his sword with full strength to where he had heard her. Ruko saw the move, and moved to face the oncoming attack. She jumped up to get the height that she needed and stretched out her hand. A push off the flat of the blade with her palm, as the weapon cut through the air in the exact spot she had been only a moment ago, gave her the momentum to fly high up in the air. Adrenaline rushed through her and Ruko giggled at the sensation as she easily landed on her feet with a cheeky grin.
The bear looked down on her, surprised, then gave a short bout of laughter. "I like you kid!" the bear exclaimed, then smirked as he threateningly lifted his sword up high. "It's too bad you have to die!"
He swung his sword down, but Ruko wasn't were he had aimed it. The bear froze, then looked around in confusion.
"Yoo hoo!" Ruko mocked, and the bear looked towards his blade. Ruko had balanced herself up on top of the bear's sword. "Hi!" the girl greeted before her sunny expression disappeared. A chill went down the bear's spine, frightened by the sudden turn of mood.
Within a blink, the girl's form disappeared from before the bear's eyes. Before the anthropomorph's expression could change into surprise, a sudden sharp pain cut up his arm from his wrist. The giant-sized sword clattered to the ground as the samurai bear let out a loud yelp and retracted his limb towards his chest instinctively.
Whimpers filled the air as the giant bear cradled his arm. Tail flickering irately behind her, Ruko stood in her next battle stance in front of the bear. Her green eyes were cold and devoid of feeling as she listened the cries.
"Wh... what just happened?!" Turtle whispered hoarsely from behind Goku. Turtle was in shock, but Goku had simply stopped his laughing when he saw his friend's mood change, as though it were normal. The tailed boy let out a small hum in acknowledgement of the question, but didn't look away from the girl in front of them.
"The bear's wrist broke." Goku told Turtle nonchalantly, and the sea creature looked on with even wider eyes.
"I can't move my paw!" The bear exclaimed with panic then, and looked up towards the tailed girl in front of him. His face scrunched up with fury, "you're gonna die for that...!" he proclaimed with a low growl, entire chest shaking from the vibration.
Injured arm kept tightly against his chest, the samurai bear got up off his knee- which he had fallen onto in his pain- and faced Ruko with a murderous rage in his eyes. Then, with his uninjured paw out at the ready, he moved into a sumo stance.
Ruko didn't bother to say anything in return. Instead, she moved at a slower pace as she then charged forwards. A tree trunk thick paw came down to swipe at her and the girls raven black hair was pushed back from the tailwind the strike had caused. With a simple duck underneath the paw, Ruko's hand shot out and grabbed the bear's other wrist before she spun on her heal so her back faced her opponent.
"HAAA!" she yelled out as she forcefully bent the grabbed limb at the elbow and pitched her body forwards. The ground shook as the bear was thrown forwards from the move. Air was forced out of his lungs when his back hit the road, which was louder than the snaps that came from his ribs.
Shouts and curses of anguish left the bears mouth as his good arm then wrapped around his middle in attempt to negate the pain. Before he could try to stand up again, Ruko stepped forwards and kicked at the bears neck. A single pop sounded before the bear went silent, his entire body fallen limp as he passed out.
It was silent for all of three seconds. Then Ruko turned and gave a piece sign to the three that were watching her.
"Yay! I win!" Ruko cheered, and Goku ran up to her with a smile.
"That was great!" Goku praised, sharing a fist bump with her, and Ruko grinned all the wider for it.
"Yup! That one wont be bothering people for a while!" She replied gleefully.
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say kid..." Bulma muttered as she slowly re-joined the group. She eyed the bear as she passed it, and stopped when she was safely on it's other side.
"Are you okay?" Ruko asked the turtle, and he nodded his head from on top of Goku's.
"I'm fine, thanks to the two of you." Turtle said gratefully, and the two kids smiled.
"Some creatures think your good to eat huh?" Ruko asked, and the turtle started to shake again on Goku's back.
"WHAT!? Oh no!" The turtle squeaked, shaking his head 'no' vigorously. "Oh my! No, no! How disgusting! Turtle meat is tough... and poisonous! You don't wanna eat me! You'd... puke." Turtle proceeded to laugh nervously as he avoided all eye contact.
"Thought so." Ruko said and Goku nodded as Bulma rolled her eyes.
"Some people will eat anything. Not us though!" Goku explained and the two of them started to jog forwards again. The turtle sighed in relief.
"Yeah! Grandpa said specifically; 'no eating others that talk'! He was very serious about this." Ruko chimed after a moment, to which the turtle eyed her nervously.
"Hey! Wait up!" Bulma called, and she started up her bike again in order to race after them.
"Onward to the sea!" Ruko declared happily. She let out a small giggle as Goku immediately started to pull ahead, but quickly hastened her own pace to keep up with him.
When he noticed her at his side, she stuck out her tongue at him before she ran ahead. Goku pulled a face at Ruko's gesture, but wasn't one to be left behind. He picked up his pace even more to try and pull ahead of her. As soon as he was close enough, he gave a tug to Ruko's belt to make her misstep and quickly pulled ahead. The girl let out a gasp of surprise at the sudden tug on her clothes and nearly face planted due to her trip.
"Hey!" Ruko called out indignantly, quickly rightening herself before running after the giggling boy.
She jumped up and used Goku's head like a stepping stool as she flipped over his head. Making sure to pull at her eyelid, Ruko stuck out her tongue at him again before she landed on her feet and kept running.
They kept going, running past one another and pulling pranks to get ahead. Bulma watched them go for the better part of five minutes before the corner of her mouth began to twitch up. She quickly averted her gaze and deepened her frown.
About an hour later, the group had noticed how the rocky mountains had disappeared, only to be replaced with a thick coconut tree forest.
A little out of breath by now, the tailed duo directed their attention all around them. A long dirt road stretched out before them, and tall green mountains jutted upwards on either side of the road, which left them to travel between the two precipices easily.
It was all so new and interesting to see, the two kids quickly forgot their game. Instead they made exclamations for something new, which was now much more important. They'd turn to Bluma to get answers to their questions, which the teen seemed to answer reluctantly. All the while, Goku and Ruko easily kept up with Bulma's bike, which had the number seventy-five on it's dashboard.
Just as Turtle began to fall asleep to their voices, Ruko looked towards Bulma curiously. This was the fifth time that she or Goku had asked something, and was answered with a loud 'shut it already, won't ya?!' from the blue haired teen.
"Hey... Bulma?" Ruko asked, and the teen merely gave the girl a small glance. Ruko tilted her head up to the blue haired teen curiously. "Why are you always complaining?"
Goku let out a small hum from beside Ruko, before he also looked over at the tense Bulma, also curious. "Yeah, why don't ya try thinking happy thoughts?" he asked rather seriously and Bulma let out a scoff.
"Happy thoughts." She muttered to herself, and rolled her eyes at them. "Hold on, let see if there's anything to be happy about." The bike came to a stop and the two kids halted beside the bike, not at all out of breath anymore now that they've had a break from their game.
Quietly, they watched as Bulma grabbed the book of maps from her magic-bag-that-held-everything. A smile came to her face at what she saw when she opened it.
"Hey! Not bad! Just two more miles till we get to the sea."
"Wow, we're close!" Goku said excitedly, and Ruko looked at the turtle happily.
"That's great!" she beamed and noticed that the turtle seemed to be sniffing the air.
"I can't wait to get back into the water!" Turtle exclaimed happily, and even Bulma couldn't help but smile at that.
So they kept going, new smiles on their faces. Goku came up with another game to play with Ruko, and they soon found themselves hopping from one shadow to the next as they traveled (with Bulma stating how childish they were being in the background, but she was ignored).
Noticing a snake sunning itself on a rock at one point, Ruko almost ran right for it to share as a tasty snack with Goku. It looked long and thick too, like it had good hunting grounds to keep healthy. But then she turned away from it with a sigh as she remembered what Bulma had told them the night before.
"There it is guys! I've found it!" Bulma declared as she came to a stop just ahead of them.
The kids stopped too and stared with wide eyes at the sight before them. The path that they were on had abruptly turned into yellow sand. It stretched out to their right and left until it was snuffed out by the trees.
Up ahead, they could see how the yellow sand gradually receded under a very large body of water that sparkled under the morning sun. It was so large, that the kids couldn't see to the other side of the water- it was simply too far away.
As they looked they noticed that a few of the coconut trees had grown randomly across the sand as well. They provided small spots of shade, which could be lain in comfortably.
"No way...!" Ruko gasped, her eyes wide.
"Wow...!" Was all that Goku could say. Then he and Ruko ran forwards with the turtle still on Goku's back.
"Look, look, we're really here!" Goku called out, stopping when he got to the end of the dirt road.
"It's huge...!" Ruko stopped beside her friend, her green eyes wide as she tried to take it all in. "And blue!"
"And beautiful!" Goku added and the two little kids laughed as they ran up to the waters edge. Goku let the turtle down and stared as a wave crawled up the sand to lick at the tips of their shoes. "The sea..."
"Isn't it beautiful guys?" Bulma asked, and the kids nodded.
"It's incredible...!" They exclaimed together.
"I never dreamed that a place like this ever existed." Goku stated. White seagulls chirped down at them as they lazily danced on the saltwater breeze.
"I was starting to wonder myself." The turtle admitted, which made Ruko laugh. "It's been so long! Thanks for bringing me back."
"No problem, Turtle!" Ruko said as she turned to face him.
"And it was a lot o' fun!" Goku added with a smile. The turtle then began to crawl away in the sand.
"I'd better get going." The turtle decided then, with a nod directed at the two kids with tails as the waves began to wash over his leathery skin.
"Ya sure do have a great home!" Ruko complimented as the turtle waded his way into the water.
The turtle looked at the two kids over it's shell. He had tears in his eyes as he turned to face them in the water.
"I never would have made it back here, if it wasn't for you." The turtle admitted. Then he bowed his head as much as any turtle could. "Thank you!"
"Anytime!" The kids called out together as they waved at the turtle who had swam quite a bit away from them in a very short amount of time. Ruko smiled, noticing that the turtle moved a lot faster in the water than he ever did on land. Suddenly the turtle stopped and turned back to face them.
"Would you mind waiting here?" He called out to them, "I have a gift that I'd like to give you two, to repay you for all you've done for me."
"A gift?" Goku asked, and Ruko tilted her head to the side.
"What kind of gift can a turtle have? Huh?" Bulma asked, intrigued.
"You'll see. I'll be back soon!" And with that the turtle disappeared under the water's blue surface.
"It's not a dumb shell is it?! Hey hold on!" Bulma called, but the turtle had already submerged into the water. "He's gone..."
"...think he's gonna give us food?" Ruko asked Goku casually, only nudging him with her elbow to get his attention. He blinked at her in response before a hopeful expression was on his face.
"That'd be real nice!" Goku decided, and licked his lips at the thought.
After a few minutes of waiting, and no return of the turtle, the group realized that it might take Turtle a while to get whatever it was that he wanted to get. With that in mind, Ruko and Goku had both discarded their shoes a safe distance from the water and rolled up their pants before they wadded into the ocean. Goku bent down, and scooped up some of the water with his hands. Bulma came in the water a few seconds later, and looked at Goku.
"What'cha doing Goku?" Bulma asked, and Ruko looked up from watching fish swim by her feet to see what was happening. Goku brought up the water to his mouth to drink it. Ruko didn't see the problem there. Bulma smirked though, watching. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"
"EEEEWWW!" Goku exclaimed and spat out what he had sipped. Ruko stepped back, startled at his outburst. "Yucky! This waters salty!"
And Goku proceeded to try and get the slat off of his tongue. Wide eyed, Ruko looked down at the water. But water isn't salty. It's refreshing and cool to drink. Not quite believing what Goku was saying, she bent down to get some water of her own.
"Don't do it!" Bulma warned, seeing where Ruko was going with this. A second later she had copied Goku in spitting the water out, coughing.
"Your right..." Ruko muttered after a moment, her voice strained. She and Goku angrily walked out of the water, feeling betrayed and tricked. Bulma snickered at them.
Being the son to a well known Lord was a lot more bothersome than some would suspect. He had everything he needed of course, even from a young age; all the food he could want, all the protection that he could need, and more. But for all the things the world he had, there was one thing that Pilaf never got. Moving himself out of his father's shadow, creating a name for himself... it was all just the start.
Proclivity since he had sat down in the annoying studio that was designated to him, Pilaf's small eyes rose to the spot he had cleverly hidden his prize from only a few weeks ago. At once he wanted to get up, go to the box hidden in plain sight and gaze down at the magical item that would finally grant him his deepest desire; the need to make sure it was real was nearly overwhelming. He resisted the urge, as he did several times before as the day slowly passed.
Instead he brought his attention back to the request of assistance that sat on his desk, boredly skipping over the lines explaining how some trapped demons dubbed as 'Saints' in the City of the Dead were tired of being trapped and needed some sort of leverage over their keepers in order to be let go. Pilaf brought over a blank piece of parchment and began to write his reply, before writing up a brief summary of the deal for his father to file away for future reference when the time came to collect. Whether the leverage that Pilaf provided worked or not didn't matter- that would be up to how these 'Saints' used it after all- gaining new subordinates and expanding their group's influence, however, did.
Rolling up the parchment, Pilaf tied it with a thick black ribbon and sealed it with wax after he rung the bell for a messenger. Just as he put his father's official seal down in it's holder on his desk, a lutin flew into the room from an entryway in the ceiling that was made especially for small creatures like them.
The lutin hovered in front of the desk, it's black belt which matched the color of the ribbon on the rolled letter marked it as a messenger.
Pilaf lifted the scroll and handed it over, "to the City of the Dead." he explained as the creature lifted it's clawed hands and touched the paper. At the contact, the scroll suddenly shrunk rapidly and with a puff of smoke appeared to be no longer than Pilaf's smallest nail. The scroll hovered in the air for only a moment before the lutin snatched it, put it in it's clothes and flew off without a word.
Just as he was about to move on to the next inquiry sent his way- another one of the many he had already addressed- Pilaf paused. His pointy ears gave a twitch as the noise of two heavy, rushed footsteps steady came closer. The doors to the room burst open not a moment later. Both Shoe and Mai ran in, looking petrified.
"Sire!" Shoe cried out as he came to a halt, Mai shaking at his side.
The double doors soon slammed shut behind them, and Pilaf was reassured that their conversation would not be overheard despite the curiosity these two would have surely attracted by running through the castle, straight to him.
"What?" he demanded, and snarled when neither answered him right away. "Spit it out already!"
When the two flinched, Pilaf took a moment to close his eyes and breathe. Attempting to be a little more subtle, he hissed harshly. "Did you get the Dragonball?"
"Not exactly sire..." Shoe finally gasped, short on air.
"It's like this," Mai began and looked down at the small imp. Even sat in a tall desk chair she still managed to loom over him. "There was a slight problem with the information sire."
"And?!"
"It was bogus!" Mai exclaimed, her hands on her face as she turned ashen. Even with her fright, her voice was still monotone. "We were nearly killed by a huge pack of wolves!"
"And then we crashed, sire!" Shoe added, still shaking from the experience. "Some crazy kid kicked our plane and knocked us out of the air!"
"Silence!"
"It was horrible!" Shoe continued, having to get the trauma out. "We spiraled! Down and down and down...!"
"Silence I said! I am sick of your excuses! Now get out of here and get that Dragonball if it's the last thing you do! UNDERSTAND!?" Pilaf yelled out, glaring at the two.
They both shook where they stood, breathing heavily as they took Pilaf in. Then they both gradually straightened, a determination shone in their eyes.
"Sir!" Mai and Shoe replied, saluting.
A ring suddenly sounded, and Pilaf looked to the ceiling. Out from another lutin hole came a messenger, their wings fluttering behind them madly as they battled gravity to stay airborne.
"From the West." the lutin announced as it set down a tiny scroll on Pilaf's desk. As soon as it let the paper go it began to smoke. The messenger lutin soon left the room, the smoke cloud clearing to reveal a normal sized scroll of parchment. A golden ribbon with a black streak down the center kept the parchment in a roll, an official wax seal with a pattern matched the one on Pilaf's desk exactly kept it closed.
Taking out his letter opener, Pilaf cut the ribbon and unrolled the parchment. Slowly his small eyes shrunk as his lips lifted in a snarl of a smile. "Why hello."
His subordinates glanced at one another, sharing a question with their eyes before they looked back to their employer. The paper snapped shut a moment later, only for Pilaf to light it aflame within his palm. Mai and Shoe both flinched back at the blatant display of power, but stayed completely still when Pilaf's eyes fell to them.
"You're quite lucky today, Mai, Shoe. I've just recieved word of another Dragonball to the West. Some old hermit named Roshi has it." Pilaf grinned, showing off his pointed teeth as the last of the paper ash fell on top of his desk. "The two of you can go fetch it for me."
"Uh.." Mai mumbled, unsure of what to say.
"Does he have any wolves..?" Shoe questioned quietly, and a nervous look grew on his face as he waited for the answer.
"He lives on an island in the middle of the sea." Pilaf sneered, his eyes flashing with warning. "There will be no wolves there."
"We'd better be careful." Mai then tried, to change the topic. "It could be another Bunts Steer..."
"Never mind that! Go get me that Dragonball!" Pilaf shouted, making his two agents stand at attention.
"Yes sir!" They agreed with another salute.
"Ah.. I get so relaxed when I'm on the beach." Bulma sighed out. She drew in the sand with a stick and hummed to herself quietly.
"Yeah," Goku agreed. "Yer not talking nearly as much!"
Ruko snickered at that, which only caused both kids to tumble into laughter. Bulma sent them a sneer in response, but didn't bother to give into their taunts. Instead she let herself lean back into the sand, her back against the trunk of a fallen tree, and returned to soaking in the sun since her drawing was done.
Unfortunately, only after a few seconds, Bluma lifted her head to glance around. The two tailed dweebs had gone completely silent. To her alarm, she only saw Goku present. He sat in the sand, by a pile of mussy sand that he and Ruko had gathered from where the waves washed ashore, using the mildly wet sand as a base for the sides of a castle. As he worked to make the sand building's foundation sound, Bulma wearily looked on either side of her to make sure that she couldn't see Ruko on either stretch of beach.
"Goku?" Bulma questioned, almost too quietly. The boy's tail twitched at the sound of his name moments before he hummed to her in question. "Where-?"
"Watch out!"
Before Bulma could even finish her sentence the sand beside her erupted. Shrieking her surprise, Bulma barely managed to save her eyes from injury on time as she dove to the opposite side of the blast as best as she could. Breathing hard, the teen took a moment to catch her breath before she slowly turned to see what happened. Her eyes widened when they landed on the cannonball sized coconut that was now in the sand inches from where she had sat only moments ago.
Then Ruko was there, landing in the sand with two more coconuts in her hands as she looked up at Bulma with a mix of guilt and amusement. "Sorry, Bulma." she had to look away from Bulma, giggles threatening to escape from her as she looked at the sand covered teen. "I dropped it on accident."
"Accident?!" Bulma spluttered, finally managing to pry her gaze away from her would-be murder weapon. She hadn't feared coconuts before but, as she felt her heart spike in tempo in her chest, she found that she suddenly didn't want to be anywhere near one ever again. "You almost took my head off!"
"Nah, there wasn't any danger." Goku suddenly replied reassuringly, and Bulma spun to stare at the boy that was suddenly behind her. When had he gotten up from his castle? "I knocked it out of the way on time!"
"Ohh! I saw!" Ruko suddenly praised, her eyes wide with excitement as she looked at her friend. "That was really cool, Goku! Ya moved so fast!"
He grinned at her, standing a little taller as his tail curled happily behind him. "It was nothing," he dismissed, though he didn't loose his grin. In fact, it only seemed to get wider. "The sand made me a little slower than I wanted ta be."
Ruko looked like she wanted to take the words for a challange, making Bulma shiver at the thought. Even though the teen knew she couldn't stand up yet- her body wouldn't stop shaking, she could still feel the impact of the coconut in the sand- she made herself taller and ignored the way that the sand slid from her hair to the ground.
"Oh no, you don't." Bulma stated firmly, "I will not be used in whatever deadly game you're thinking of!"
Bulma was gifted a sweet tilt of the head by the young tailed girl. Her tail curled behind her as amusement danced in her eyes. But then Ruko's attention was taken by the coconuts in her hands and her tail picked up the fallen third.
"Bulma, what are these? I thought that they smelt real nice!" she asked instead of answering, making the blue haired teen a little weary.
Even so, Bulma answered the question posed. "Those are coconuts. There's a liquid inside them called coconut milk, but it's more like sweet water... and the inside of the fruit can be eaten."
"It's food?!" Goku questioned excitedly, freeing up one of Ruko's hands as he took a coconut to examine for himself. "Oh no, this one can't be good, it's all fuzzy."
"I couldn't find one that wasn't fuzzy." Ruko replied sadly, but then frowned in confusion. "Though I can't smell the fuzz on it like I normally can, either."
"That's just how coconuts are." Bulma supplied easily, now much calmer than before. "There's a special name for the fuzzy outside- I can't remember it right now- but right underneath that fuzz is the coconut's shell. If you're able to crack open the shell, you can get to the good stuff on the inside."
"Have ya ever tasted this before, Bulma?" Ruko questioned, but Bulma shook her head.
"Nope. Not the fresh stuff anyhow. Mom gets coconut milk sometimes for her cereal- some crazy plan for a diet, I think- but I never liked the stuff. There are a lot of sweets that have dried coconut in them though. Those are usually pretty good."
As she spoke, Goku had tried to open his coconut out of curiosity. Gradually the boy had made his grip tighter on the fruit, pulling with his dominant arm and contradicting the force with equal pressure with his other arm. Then, quiet suddenly, there was a loud crack that rang out, moments before his coconut exploded.
Arms dripping with coconut milk, Ruko and Bulma both stared as Goku slowly opened his eyes. Pieces of shell and milk gathered on his clothes, face and even hid in his hair from the force of the explosion. Then the boy's pink tongue came out to lick his lips and his eyes widened.
"Hey, that's pretty tasty!"
"Really?" Ruko perked up at that. In response Goku looked down at his hand, in which was part of a coconut shell that hadn't moved since it burst open. He uncurled his hand to reveal the crescent of a shell with a little of the coconut milk precariously balanced within it.
With a smile, the boy held the shell out to the girl. "Here," Goku prompted, to which Ruko carefully received the coconut.
Carefully removing the sand from her person, Bulma let out a sigh. Ruko's face lit up as she drank the coconut milk, clearly enjoying the taste, and Goku began to inspect the inside pieces of the shell, coated in the white coconut fruit, which was fortunate enough to not have sand on it.
Soon both children sat down in the sand together, eating the coconuts and drinking the milk from the fruits. They had taken to smashing a particularly pointed stone on the coconut's which got the shells to crack enough to be drained of milk before they'd open the fruits with the ease of monkeys that used to peel bananas.
"Hey, what's that?" Bulma wondered aloud, attention drawn off to the water. The two kids paused in their snacking to see what she meant. "What ever it is, it's moving towards us."
"It's the turtle," Goku stated. "And he's got someone on his back."
"Hey it is!" Ruko confirmed happily, ready for their waiting at the beach to be done.
"Wow, it's like you guys got super-vision or something." Bulma commented with a smile. "Pretty cool, you two."
"Hey turtle!" Ruko called out.
"Over here!" Goku shouted and waved both arms above his head to try and be seen better.
"Don't you know that your the only one's on the beach?" The kids heard someone say. They guessed that it was the guy on the turtles back.
"Ahoy there!" Turtle called out with a smile. "Sorry I kept you guys waiting! I had to go get my master."
"Man check that guy out..." Bulma said, sounding astonished.
The turtle landed on the beach and the man on the turtles back waved hello. He was an old man, with a bald head. A purple turtle shell hung off his shoulders and covered his entire back. Red sunglasses covered his eyes and his plain orange shirt had buttons that went up the front. His white shorts stopped just above his knees and he wore sandals to cover his feet. A thick beard and moustache sprouted over his face and hid his mouth. In his hands was a rather strange stick that was slightly crooked thanks to the knots in it's length and the top was round and bumpy like a club.
"Hi! How's it going there, kids?" The man asked.
"Hi." Bulma greeted awkwardly. "Welcome to shore." After a few moments Bulma muttered to herself. "...what a cool outfit..."
"Kids!" The turtle hermit exclaimed with flourish, "I want to thank you for helping out my turtle."
"It was our pleasure, mister!" Ruko and Goku said with a smile. The old man hopped off of the turtles back and onto the sand.
"I'm Roshi, the Turtle Hermit."
"A Turtle Hermit...?" Bulma questioned, and Roshi ignored her to look at his turtle.
"Which one of these kids helped you again?" Roshi asked, and the turtle pointed its flipper at Ruko and Goku.
"Its the two little boys, there." Turtle confirmed, and the two kids glanced at one another.
Ruko and Goku both stood up straighter beside one another, and the girl smirked triumphantly at how Goku was a few inches smaller than her. Roshi walked over to the two kids with tails and stood in front of them.
"Your very brave, boys! I have a gift I want to give you as a token of my gratitude."
"You hear that guys?" Bulma said, curious for the two kids. Roshi turned around and faced the ocean once more. He took a deep breath and pointed his staff dramatically to the water.
"Come! Magic carpet!" Roshi yelled out, and Bulma gasped.
"Magic carpet?!"
"What in the world is a magic carpet?" Goku asked.
"What's a magic carpet?! Its a carpet that you sit on obviously! It will fly you anywhere in the world, wherever you want." Bulma explained to the kids as they all watched Roshi. He was still standing dramatically, but nothing was happening. "They're not real though. Well, I don't think they are anyways."
After a few more minutes of waiting in silence, the turtle spoke up.
"Master, hold on..." He said, and crawled over to Roshi in the sand. "Isn't the magic carpet at the cleaners?"
"Oh yeah, that's right." Roshi realized and immediately got out of his pose. "You have a good point there, Turtle." Roshi stroked his beard in thought.
"I knew it..." Bulma looked rather glum as she spoke, disappointed. "They're not real."
"The other option is the flying nimbus, but am I really ready to part with it?" Roshi muttered to himself quietly. Ruko and Goku watched him curiously. Then the old man snapped his fingers and spoke aloud to himself again. "Why not? If you can ride it, it's yours!"
Roshi took his dramatic pose once more and took a deep breath. "COME TO ME! FLYING NIMBUS!"
"This guy..." Ruko glanced over at Goku, her expression uncertain.
"He's odd..." Goku determined quietly as he looked back at Ruko.
"No guys, he's not odd." Bulma shook her head and put her hands on her hips as the two tailed kids looked up at her. "He's nuts."
"Now where is that cloud?!" Roshi hissed to himself as he glared up at the sky.
Ruko followed the old man's gaze up in the sky, where there were many clouds about. All of which seemed to be moving at their own leisurely pace. As the girl wondered which one he could be talking about, there was suddenly a soft sound of the wind gathering that caught Ruko and Goku's attentions. The three of them gasped in surprise to see a yellow cloud flying much faster than the rest, while headed directly for them.
"There it is. Its about time..." Roshi complained, and the cloud came to a halt just before them. It hovered in place, now completely still. "She's a beauty isn't she?"
"Woah! Look at that, Ruko! Isn't it neat-o?" Goku asked with his mouth agape.
Ruko's eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at the cloud. "Yeah it is!" she agreed as soon as Goku had spoken.
"How strange...!" Bulma exclaimed, and watched as bits of the cloud seemed to get blown away by the light breeze, yet the thing never got any smaller or bigger in size.
"Wow, look at that!" Ruko said. She got a terrible urge to touch the cloud and pet it. It looked so soft and fluffy...! Then she wondered- could she, perhaps... eat it?
"Don't be afraid." Roshi said, "she's as sweet as candy."
"Gosh!" Goku said and crouched down to try and see how it was hovering in the air like that.
"I can eat it?!" Ruko asked, whipping her head in the direction of Roshi. How had he known her train of thought?!
"No!" Roshi said, looking slightly alarmed by the thought. Goku got up and ran around to the other side of the cloud. Ruko pouted, she had wanted to try...
"It's so light and puffy!" Goku said, looking at it in wonder. "Can I have a taste too?"
"You don't eat it, you little baboons!" Roshi yelled at the two kids. Ruko had brighten up at Goku's words, but Roshi made her sad again.
"What does this thing do?" Bulma asked and Ruko and Goku had fun taking turns touching the Nimbus. It almost seemed to twitch away from them, like it was ticklish.
"If you can manage to sit on this cloud, you can fly wherever you want!" Roshi said to her.
"There's got to be a catch. You wouldn't want to give something like this away! Something's wrong with it, right?" Bulma questioned skeptically.
Ruko and Goku had layed down on their backs and laughed as they put their hands on the underside of the Nimbus. In response the cloud tried to float higher, to get away, only to be stopped by an oblivious Roshi who used his staff to push the cloud back down where it had been.
"Hah?!" Roshi said, he looked at Bulma, offended. "There's nothing wrong with this cloud!" Bulma gave him a look.
First to get up was Goku. He bounced on his toes while glancing between the teen and elder. Ruko followed soon after, not much better at standing still, while she kept her eyes on the Nimbus.
"Can we try to ride it now?!" They both suddenly said together, their eyes bright with excitement. Roshi returned his attention to them.
"Sure, why not?" he complied with a shrug, and Ruko couldn't repress her happy squeal of excitement. "But! I must warn you; you must be pure of heart to ride this cloud."
"Pure of heart?" The kids asked, having no idea what Roshi was talking about.
"Yup. Otherwise, it wont let you on it." Roshi said, holding up a finger. "It's picky that way."
Goku and Ruko looked to the cloud, now unsure. Will they get to ride it? Then they smiled, they'd just have to see.
"Sounds great!" Goku agreed, Ruko nodding beside him.
"Let's try it out now!" she pushed.
"Here, let an old man show you how it's done." Roshi said. Even though they were a little disappointed, Ruko and Goku took a step back.
Roshi bent his knees, then leapt up to the Nimbus. Just as he was about to sit on the cloud... he fell right through! Ruko stared, open mouthed, and Goku was too shocked to react. Bulma suddenly grabbed her stomach as she began to laugh without restraint. Both kids paused to look at her, surprised that she could even make such a sound. The old Turtle Hermit looked to be in pain as he dropped his staff and fell backwards onto his shell.
"Are you okay, master?" Turtle asked, crawling over to Roshi. He didn't respond, only groaned in pain. When they noticed how he seemed to have trouble getting up, Ruko and Goku went over to Roshi after a moment and began to help him up.
"You must have done something naughty." Turtle said, and Roshi groaned again.
"Quiet...!" Roshi wheezed.
"Now let me try it!" Ruko said.
"No, me!" Goku countered, which got the two to glare at one another. A small growl left Ruko's throat but Goku only frowned in response.
"Fine! At the same time then!" Ruko declared, which got the tailed boy to grin. "On three!" They turned towards the Nimbus.
"One!" Goku started and they bent their knees.
"Two!" Ruko said. They tensed and closed their eyes.
"Three!"
They both jumped high in the air. When they opened their eyes, they had both landed safely on the cloud. Roshi looked rather shocked as he stared at them while a disbelieving smile had appeared on Bulma's face. The kids opened their eyes and smiled with triumph when they saw where they were.
"Oh yeah! We did it! We did it! We really did it!" Ruko yelled out and she and Goku danced happily on the cloud.
"Yeah! Yeah! We did it!" Goku yelled over and over.
"They've done it, master." Turtle announced with awe.
"I'll be darned." Roshi responded, looking at the two kids with wide eyes.
"Woo hoo!" The kids yelled together.
Bulma crossed her arms, "of course they did." She muttered to herself, then looked at the cloud curiously. "I wonder if I could do that too...?"
"There goes my cloud..." Roshi sighed.