AN: Okay, so… things did not go according to plan and I kind of gave up on this story -as you will note from 'last updated' date. Then I started working (instead of studying) and I have lots more time now. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own nuthin'

Chapter 5 (Hear It Roar!)

I'm dead.

There was no other explanation. No alternative, Bulma's hazy mind concluded when her blue eyes opened groggily to view a strange new world –several shades of blue lighter than the world she was used to seeing. It was the Otherworld –it had to be! The last thing she recalled was the white flash of her final desperate attempt at saving herself from frenzied sharks. The blast burnt them to a crisp, but it was too late. She had already lost too much blood; her energy was shot and her vision fading, hence she could say with certain finality that she must, indeed, be dead.

Blinking twice, the cyan-haired mermaid's senses suddenly cleared and so did her awareness of her environment. Bulma quickly realized that her first conclusion needed some revision. Surely dead mermaids didn't wake up on soft, spongy beds with splitting headaches and feeling like they've been rammed into by an adult Great White Shark. Also, dead mermaids definitely didn't wake up with two-tails of seaweed wrapped around their abdomen and upper tail, thus by deductive reasoning Bulma revised that she was alive after all. How she was alive though, was still beyond her, and the adventurous little mermaid was determined to investigate the matter further; starting with where in the name of Neptune she was.

After struggling for a few minutes, attempting to lift herself–it hurt like a sting-ray's ass to do any sort of tail flexing –the exhausted princess found that she wasn't making any significant progress and lay back down with an exasperated sigh. She then settled for observing her surroundings from the bed. The room was sparsely furnished: bed, small glass table beside the bed, a fish tank on the far side of room and the natural fissures in the rock walls of the room formed a storage unit that was covered with stained glass doors. All in all there was nothing unusual or special about the place, except for the disorienting shade of blue that lit the water around her. The light seemed to be filtering in from various windows in the room.

A pair of ink-drop black eyes suddenly appeared in her line of sight and she started. Unfortunately, she couldn't recoil and flee as her reflexes demanded, due to her injuries. The merman before her didn't seem threatening, though, he had a serene face of pure white slick-looking skin that bled into a dark-gray from his temples on to his head. On first sight it seemed his hair was cropped close to his skull, but at a second look she recognized the texture on his head as something similar to shark's hide.

Oh -so this must be what legends described as a Selachimorphians, or more commonly: the Mer-Sharks. A shy secluded race of Merfolk, it is said that they were a carnivorous race of berserkers who were often unpredictable and prone to fits of aggression and violence. As a result they were often feared and hated by other races and their presence scarcely tolerated anywhere outside their own realm, thus the Mer-Sharks retreated somewhere to the deep-wild of uncharted caverns –and not scale or hide of them ever seen since. Bulma continued to watch the merman warily, who for a moment seemed as startled by her as she was by him. He quickly gained possession of his wits, though, and offered her what seemed to be a kind smile while a few triangles of sharp and serrated teeth poked higgledy-piggledy out from partially parted full-lips.

'You're awake.' He finally said and Bulma nodded dazedly, still staring at his the layers of razor sharp teeth, an uneasy feeling running down her spine.

'Where am I?' She offered hesitantly.

He remained quiet for a while, contemplative, before: 'Where do you think you are?'

Bulma frowned, feeling the tell-tale spark of annoyance at his evasiveness.

'Well, if I knew where I was, surely I wouldn't have asked.' She replied petulantly. His smile hinted at amusement when he answered:

'Ah, well –surely you must have an idea of your current location, unless you were wandering the Shark's Den with no particular destination in mind.' This time, his tone held a subtle teasing undertone which the feisty mermaid did not appreciate at all.

'Lookie here, Buddy, I'm on a very important mission and I don't have time for mind games. Is this the Reef?' she asked, taking a chance.

'Yes' he answered plainly.

'How did I get here?'

'One of our hunter-gatherers heard the explosion you caused in the Den and found you unconscious and wounded when he went to investigate. Honestly, I didn't see the point in him bringing you back here, as you were so severely wounded, I really didn't think you'd survive.'

There was awe in his thoughts and in his facial expression –the latter so clear in the brightness of the water that for a moment Bulma felt a sense of surrealism as she watched him. It passed as quickly as it came, her senses adjusting once again to her new surroundings. Bulma considered his words and grinned wryly. Her naturally higher power-level had many advantages that still left even her closest civilian companions reeling. Her extra reserve of energy allowed not only for quick healing, but also the ability to infuse her muscles with said energy, making it so dense not even a spear could pierce her skin, and to accomplish short bursts of super-speed. Yes, she understood perfectly what this gentle-looking merman might feel now –any normal Mer would have been long dead after a shark attack as severe as the one she was currently recuperating from.

'So, why have you come to this place?' the merman spoke again, startling her from her private thoughts.

Bulma prepared herself for another round of deception when suddenly, an unholy screech echoed through the room, so loud it seemed to shake the walls and the glass of one of the windows cracked. Heart hammering, Bulma turned her questioning gaze at her caretaker only to find that his face was almost deathly pale as her own must have been.

'What was that?' she asked shakily, her brain already supplying various answers. The merman before her was still in contemplation, his thought heavily guarded. He seemed to not have heard her or else chose to ignore her for he spun about–his vertical tailfin swishing side to side rapidly as he exited without answering her. Frustrated and tired, Bulma had nothing to do but fall back into a fitful sleep, waking momentarily upon any sudden noises and movement in her immediate vicinity –always to experience the pain that accompanied the reflexive reaching for her missing trident. She didn't know how long they left her for, but observed the water slowly darkening to deep blue-black –a strange phenomenon that she could recall, from her lessons, was caused by sunlight filtering into the ocean. The light was bright during the day and obscured by the moon during the night. The evidence of being so close to the surface caused a nagging sensation in the pit of her belly and made her anxious to hurry along on her journey. Whether she would be pressing on or going back was another internal debate that also seemed to have no conclusion. Some part of her had already supplied a very probable answer to that Neptune awful screech earlier, seeing as she was currently in the Reef among mers who worshipped a legendary water-dragon. It would stand to reason that a sound like that must have come from said resident dragon: one not-so-mythical Imoogi. Common sense thus argued against going forward –listing being eaten as a very good incentive not to head for the surface. The council may be perverse, manipulative slime balls in her opinion, but they were still the devils she knew. On the other hand, plain obstinacy and that Neptune-forsaken inexplicable 'pull' urged her to push on and finish her mission, reminding her that going back would be just as dangerous as going forward –for surely the Eelians would not simply let her leave their territory if she popped back out of the Redemption's Pass, and not to mention that she might still be eaten -by Sharks –if she were to head back. Damned either way was the inconclusive conclusion... Considering the pros, she thought, absolute freedom and the joy of discovering new horizons were pitted against idea of returning to take the thrown –if it were indeed required of her –and telling the power-hungry worms in the council exactly where they can shove their royal breeding law, and so doing, end the age of meek, weak-willed queens once and for all. Both ideas had merit and deciding just made her head hurt along with her wounds. It would be better, she finally concluded, to think again of these choices after she was healed enough to travel. This time she dozed off to a more restful sleep.

She woke up again, started out of a dreamless sleep by that same hair-raising cry. 'By Neptune, that's annoying,' was her first coherent thought. Her mind was sluggish and it took a while for her to register the sensation of a gentle touch on her wounded side. Unfortunately with the return of her senses came the return of pain as well and she grit her teeth as the burning throb in her side made itself known. The Mer-shark she had met earlier was carefully rewrapping her wound with more seaweed lathered with something pungent and herbal. He was also talking to her, but her wits were slower to return than her physical senses.

'...else you would have been torn apart. From the look of this wound you have been vigorously shaken and if not for that armour you would have long since been devoured.' she heard him say when she finally managed to focus of the content of his thoughts. Still quite befuddled, she neglected to shield her private thoughts properly while trying to contemplate the frustration she somehow managed to sense in the Imoogi's cry and was therefore momentarily confused when her caretaker's head suddenly snapped up to stare at her wide-eyed.

'How are your able to identify the Imoogi?'

Bulma slammed down her mental barriers as soon as she realised her mistake and considered her caretaker warily. His hands had stalled in their ministrations and he was looking at her with a puzzled frown. Suddenly he relaxed and continued wrapping. Bulma remained silent as she watched him. Her mind still felt sluggish and she guessed that she must have been given an anaesthetic of some sort and that it affected her usually effortless telepathic control.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you know of our Realm Guardian. You must have made some conscious effort to get to this place and since you know of its existence and location...' he trailed off, seemingly lost in his own thoughts again, while his hands continued working: round and round he wound the bandages.

'You must really be someone special to have made the journey alone –and to have come so far,' he spoke again, 'which pathway did you enter the Den from?'

After judging the question to be harmless, Bulma decided to answer honestly:

'The Eelians' Redemption Pass'

His hands froze again momentarily, before continuing once more.

'I gather you attempted the Pass as an aspiring warrior, rather than a suicidal mermaid. In any case, your presence here would be accidental.' He was attempting to sound conversational, but Bulma could sense the underlying tension in his thoughts –he obviously wasn't as proficient in shielding the emotional undercurrents of his thought. Something in his words caught her attention though,

'Wasn't it only Eelian warriors who attempted the gauntlet of the Pass, though? I am clearly no Eelian –or have you never seen one? I've never seen a Selachimorphian myself so I would not hold the mistake against you.'

He turned toward her again, confusion clearly evident in his expression. 'Oh, I know well what you are. As I recall it,' he answered, 'the gauntlet was always open to any mer-species... perhaps because of the feud between the Eelians and Mammalians it is no longer so.' He finally finished bandaging and pinned the final piece. Turning toward her again, he paused a moment to examine his handiwork before continuing with his tale.

'The gauntlet's primary purpose was to prove yourself a worthy warrior. At first, you gained great honour and prestige if you completed the mission and returned with the hide of an adult Great White. There was a ranking system too –the bigger the shark, the stronger you were considered to be. Warriors came from all over the Realm, from all different species, to prove their superiority. The ones who failed and did not survive were honoured as well –remembered for their bravery. For warriors whose honour were somehow compromised the gauntlet also served as an opportunity to redeem themselves –even if they did not survive, especially if they did not survive... I guess over the years, when the Mammalians and Eelians continued to feud, the Eelians claimed the Pass as their territory –oh, the law still stated that anyone who wanted should be permitted to attempt the gauntlet, no matter his or her species must gain access, but with the conflict and all, not many Mammalians were willing to cross the borders. Besides, there was a new, better way to prove your strength… war'

'No kingdom with its salt would risk soldiers on such a needless endeavour anyway, not when they needed every last fighting mer at arms for battle.' Bulma mused, reflecting over this interesting piece of history. 'You're quite knowledgeable.' She stated, genuinely impressed. 'Do you perhaps know how the Pass became a means of suicide? The means as an execution is understandable.'

'Well, I should say –If thinking of it logically –that because many who have had their honour smirched, died on this excursion and was hailed as heroes for it. As you have already mentioned, during war time it would be wasteful to send good warriors off to their death when they were needed elsewhere so it stands to reason that the only mers who would attempt the Pass would have been those who had something to prove and nothing to lose –the dishonoured. Even if the mer was not a warrior he would still receive an honorary standing among his peers and family, hence ritual suicide.

'I must say though, it has been a long time since we have hosted a true warrior who has attempted the gauntlet, for judging by your armour and trident, that is what you are. You're also a strong one, if the charred corpses of six Great Whites are anything to judge by.'

At the mention of her trident, Bulma attempted to sit up, momentarily forgetting her injured side and winced in pain.

'You have my trident?' she asked, once her breathing slowed to normal again.

'Yes' he was suddenly serious again, and Bulma suddenly felt chilled despite the abnormally warm water she floated in. 'Up until the first cry of the dragon...' he started hesitantly, seeming to steel himself before continuing 'up until that moment, your presence here would have been accepted as the first gauntlet swimmer to attempt the Pass in centuries –nothing more. Yet, the Imoogi has never, in my lifetime and in that of our older men and leaders made itself known... The Realm Guardian has been asleep for as long as I can remember –so you can imagine –that the fact that it has awakened right after your arrival is... very puzzling indeed. Our leaders are divided as to the reason. The minority feel it a coincidence –the rest attributed it to your arrival, thinking it fulfilment of a three hundred year old prophecy.'

Bulma could see his attempt to soften the blow, but it still did not prevent her blood from freezing in her veins, while her mind was abuzz with speculation. Bulma was not by nature a superstitious mermaid, but the evidence could no longer be denied. Her mind turned to her twin sister as she considered the probability that the priestess might have been on to something after all. 'Prophecy' –yet another one, or maybe the same one –either way it was too big of a coincidence to be considered myths and legends. Add to that the peculiar pull she had been feeling ever since losing that first breast scale –a sort of thirst for adventure that had lead her into her current situation; it was becoming more and more likely that some external supernatural power or deity had a hand in the events following her miraculous fertility was somehow screwing with her life. In hindsight, it was by no means a very rational decision that caused her to leave family and home to explore the unknown, but with every tail stretching between herself and her home she felt an odd shifting in her centre, as if things were putting itself aright –like puzzle pieces slotting into place. The warrior princess was so deep in thought that she did not catch the departure of her caretaker and was thus surprised to find herself once again alone in the room.

'Where have you been?' she asked when the Mer-shark returned a while later, a very appetising scent reached her from the tray he was carrying and her stomach growled embarrassingly.

'A tuna wrap' he said; amusement clearly visible in the twitching at the corner of his lips. His jet black eyes were still unnerving and so were his teeth, but he radiated no danger and Bulma was content to trust her gut when it came to his character. 'So, what's going on?' she asked, digging into her first decent meal since she left home, 'you've been gone for a while.'

'Well,' he started hesitantly, 'I guess you should know since it involves you.' He then suddenly swam away, only to return a short while later carrying what appeared to be some sort of book. Very apprehensively he handed it to her, opened on a certain page and pointed to a heading which read 'The Vessle'...

The Vessel

The Vessel will Enter upon a Bloody Wave

And Stir the One who Sleeps into Wakefulness

Bring it unto It who Guards the Wall

That One will see the Vessel filled

The Split realms will then be Tethered by what it Carries

Until the time Comes for the Wall to Crumble

And the Severed Bond to be Rejoined

Be WARNED, however

Of the Metal Ones

Who eat the Land with jaws of Fire and Light

If the Metal Ones Devour the Land

The Wall Will Be Reinforced

That which was Inside the Vessel will Fail

And the Tether will Snap

And the Dragon will Sleep

And the Land and Sea will Forever

Be Separate.

'You know,' Bulma said, heart racing, 'our people also have a prophecy...'

'I know.' the mer-shark interrupted. 'It is currently under discussion by our older men.'

'Wait – ' with that Bulma attempted to rise again, wounds momentarily forgotten only to receive a painful reminder of their existence before settling back down, 'Hold up' she tried again, 'how did you know about our prophesy?'

'It was on your person, on a piece of scroll. The top part of it was ruined when the Sharks attacked you, but two lines of your prophecy were of some interest to several members of our governing committee.'

'I don't understand –the documentation I carried was that of the Imoogi and a map to this place.'

He suddenly produced a limp piece of writing scroll that looked a bit worse for wear – a large chunk of it was missing and almost the whole page was completely blood-stained, but Bulma recognised it as the page she tore out of the Queen's History Book. The page he was holding was the one that had the information of the Imoogi, but as he flipped it around and showed her what was at the back, Bulma couldn't believe that she missed it: their People's Prophesy: the completed version. Bulma took the page with shaky fingers and read:

…barren trident she brings back

The One who slumbers again must stir

For the royal challenge to occur

In battle, Grand: the victory –

Unites all of land and sea.

A golden crown he will wear –

The brown-tailed...

The top and bottom parts of the page was torn and stained so that the script was unrecognizable, but only a fool would not have been able to make the connection between the two prophecies, with what was legible.

'What does this mean?' she asks, heart hammering.

'We think that… your prophecy also speaks of the awakening of the Imoogi when it refers to the one who Slumbers and it also has the unification of the Land and Sea in common.' He answered.

'I get that! What I meant was –what does this mean for me?'

'Well –given the evidence, it has been decided that you are the Vessel which our prophecy speaks of. Your prophecy also indicates you as a means to uniting the two realms –ocean and land.'

'It can't be me!' Bulma's denial seemed pointless, even to her. Evidence is evidence.

'You did enter this place in a cloud of your own blood,' he pointed out reasonably, 'and then the Imoogi awakened. It can't get more obvious than that.'

'Shut up' she said, but there was no heat to her sentiments.

Well, Bulma, she thought privately, this is one prophecy you can't wriggle out of. 'Okay, so I'm the Vessel.' she resigned, 'what happens now?'

'We proceed according to the prophecy's instructions –we bring you to the Imoogi'

'What?' she exclaimed, sitting up in the process –again forgetting her injuries and yelped in pain. She lay back down, waiting for the dizzying pain to recede with clenched teeth. 'Are you insane?' she started ranting again, careful, this time not to move too much. 'How will feeding me to a sea dragon result in anything but my being eaten?'

'We're not feeding you to the Imoogi.' He stated, a hint of exasperation in his tone. 'We're taking you to be... uhm, filled.'

'Are you sure you're not taking me to fill the sea serpent? What the kelp does that even mean?'

'I… uhm, am not sure.'

'Well guess what bud, I am not going to be anyone's sacrificial virgin –you're going to have to kill me first!'

'Do not be obtuse girl, the sacred serpent will not eat you.' His exasperation was starting to hint at annoyance.

'Says you! No –I'm not doing it!'

He remained silent for a while and Bulma watched his amicable expression turn stoic and cold.

'You act as if you have a choice.' And just like that, it seemed the water temperature dropped by several degrees. Bulma suppressed a shudder at his tone, made worse by the manner in which he seemed to be suddenly more capable of eating her than the Imoogi.

Despite all her efforts to, which in Bulma's state was limited to cursing and wriggling in her binds, there was no escaping from her from her current predicament: chained to a stalagmite at the entrance of a Blue whale sized cavern.

She'd woken up in this bound state… again. Her body felt weak and sluggish. Drugs, she deduced, administered through her last meal: the tuna wrap. She should have known not to trust that sly shark bastard.

Bulma had already stopped keeping track of time. Her voice had long since stopped working. Her obscenities fell on deaf ears anyway, drowned out by the chanting of the Reef mers schooling around her. Looking at her now, slumped over and silent one would think she'd accepted defeat and submitted herself to her fate. That person would only have to look into her eyes to realise his mistake. There was a fire burning inside Bulma. Fueled by the steadily increasing frequency and volume of the Imoogi's cries. Some idiot had put her armor back on, and clipped her trident to the holster on her back. All was not lost for the blue haired princess -she still had a chance at survival. So she rested, preserving her energy, because with Neptune as her witness she was not ending up inside a dragon's belly today -not after coming so far.

The chanting of the Reef merpeople were increasing in volume with the Imoogi's cries, growing more frantic. From inside the cavern, the Imoogi roared, the sound so close it seemed the dragon was almost upon her. Bulma stiffened and faced the opening, staring intently into the blackness before her while the chanting around her reached a crescendo. Then, from the darkness a glimmer of blue appeared -slowly gliding from side to side until it formed two glowing blue orbs, which soon became the illuminated silhouette of the legendary Imoogi. Bulma, along with every mer at the entrance of the Serpent's Pass stared, transfixed as the giant ocean Guardian made itself known.

It looked unlike any sea creature Bulma had ever seen. It's eyes were situated in the front of its head, like a mer's, but it had an elongated snout that made it head seem slightly triangular. It wore a sneer from which a row of massive razor sharp teeth were neatly displayed. Above its eyes the crown of its head lengthened upward into two horns that branched out like tree roots and besides its nostrils two tentacles adorned its face like whiskers. More tentacles exploded out from beside its face like a mane drifting limply in the currents. Its long body snaked forward and in twisted loops seeming to stretch on forever. It had two pectoral fins which seemed strangely small for an animal so massive and a dorsal fin running the length of it back all the way to its tail -Bulma assumed because she couldn't find its end in all the coils its body made.

The chanting around her had long since died down as everyone watched in awe as the majestical creature started moving its serpent-like body in a hypnotic dance. At first glance its body seemed completely black until movement brought attentioned to the iridescent dark blue scaled shimmering all over the length of it body.

The dragon stared at Bulma and opened its mouth wide until it seemed the creature was more likely to inhale her than to eat her. The legend of the creature paled in comparison to the real deal, Bulma thought. It was a monstrous as it was beautiful and its sheer size made Bulma slump in defeat, realising how insignificant she truly was.

As the warrior princess contemplated the last few days and the decisions that lead her to her demise in that exact moment, something magical happened.

Bulma's weak and lethargic body started re-energising. She looked up, uncomprehending at the dragon's dancing form and slowly started to understand that the majestic creature meant her no harm after all. As Bulma's body was filled with power, she yanked on the chains that bound her -breaking them. She unclipped and extended her trident, feeling infinitely more secure with the power object back in her webbed hands and then made a dash for the tangle of coils. Her attempts to weave herself through to the other side of the writhing flesh was foiled. The Imoogi, it seemed had a different direction for her in mind for it wound its body around her, closing any openings she could have slipped through until its form resembled a sort of tunnel leading her further into the cavern known as the Serpent's Pass. Seeing no other choice, Bulma started the long swim through. The Pass lead her into deeper waters again, and the natural light of the Reef dissipated once more.

On and on she went for what seemed like ages, never faltering. Never tiring, the Imoogi seemed to supply her with the energy she needed to continue. After a while, their direction changed and they started moving towards the surface again. The drag on her body lessened as the water pressure around her decreased. She could swim more freely without the help of her makeshift power supply. The cave abruptly ended and Bulma found herself in the open ocean for the first time. As they came closer to surfacing, her own luminescence became redundant. Pale white light lit up the ocean. Its source, a white glowing orb whose size and radiance increased the closer they got to the surface: the moon.

She breached the surface with a mighty tail swish. The first touch of air on her scales was cold and fresh and exhilarating. For a moment, she felt the freedom of complete weightlessness. Then gravity came crashing down on her and she fell back to the water with an ungraceful splash. When she popped back up, it was only her head and shoulders she managed to keep above water with the rhythmic waving of her flukes. It was at that moment that the dragon breached with a giant arc, roaring loudly in what Bulma felt was triumph before diving once again into the dark depths of the ocean.

The dazzled mermaid then floated on the surface, observing the night sky intently, recalling all her lessons about the surface world and comparing the reality to what she had imagined. Incomparable she thought. New horizons awaited the warrior princess and it was time to face her destiny. That piece of land she noted drifting in her peripheral seemed as good a place to start as any.

Vegeta stood over the still form of the beautiful fish-tailed-woman. Well, at current she seemed to be all woman. An hour earlier he found himself strangely entranced as he watched her drag herself onto the beach and hack up a lung full of water before collapsing; her blue tail and body-armor shining brightly as moonlight reflected off it. He would have pegged her for dead if it wasn't for the fact that he could still sense her ki pulsing strong and vibrantly. It left him feeling strangely relieved, but the Saiyan Prince viciously squashed the foreign feeling the moment it surfaced and dismissed the unconscious half-woman with a grunt of indifference before returning to his training… only to find himself dragged grudgingly back, by his own curiosity, to the sight at which the woman's unconscious body rested. It seemed, in his absence the woman's fish-tail had disappeared, replaced with shapely porcelain legs that now floated gently with in the waves of the outgoing tide and a not entirely unpleasant shiver went down his spine at the sight. On the side of her exposed leg, he could make out what seemed to be faintly glowing markings. The markings looked embossed into her skin, making it bulge slightly like scars or brandings and formed an intricate pattern of swirls and spirals. It stretched from her hip to her ankle and his fingers itched to trace them. Her upper body was dressed in armor that covered her chest, abdomen and shoulders. Under the armor she wore what seemed to be a mesh of finely woven silver metal. It clung to her arms and covered her lower body until mid-thigh. What an unusual sight, he thought. His eyes finally found her face, slightly obscured by her long teal tresses.

Before he realized what he was doing, bent down and gently pushed a strand of teal hair out of her face.

Gods, but she's gorgeous, he thought. Her skin was petal-soft, the sensation sending a wave of heat flaring through his body and he wondered if her skin was this soft all over. Vegeta retracted his wayward hand as if her skin had burnt it, chastising himself for his foolish display of sentimentality.

He stood up again and started pacing restlessly; contemplating the uncharacteristic urges the strange woman inspired in him.

'Snap out of it, you fool!' he rebuked. 'This is no time to be acting like a moonstruck juvenile during mating season… and over a damned fish!' He froze then, and looked up into the night. Sure enough: there the full moon hung, heavy and clawing with its pervasive illumination.

'Well,' he thought scathingly, 'that explains it… Stupid moon, making me think I'm going all soft in the head.' He then looked at the half-naked woman again, and found her wakeful eyes staring warily at him. Midnight black locked with deep blue and he found himself unable to avert his eyes. Unthinking, he stepped forward, but froze again at the sudden appearance of her trident. He would be amused that she thought the weapon threateningly pointed at him could actually hurt him. Instead, her ability to distract him so thoroughly, that he missed her grabbing the weapon in the first place, infuriated him to no end. He then glanced accusingly at the moon again before chuckling scornfully. From his peripheral view he caught the woman trying to manoeuvre herself away from him and frowned. She obviously feared him –and rightfully so. He should have been thrilled that he could once again intimidate someone using only his demeanor, yet strangely he only felt disappointment. If he was being honest with himself he could admit that he expected her to show the same amount of ferocity she did when facing that giant sea-lizard. Seems he had overestimated this creature –she isn't worth his notice after all. With that thought in mind, the Saiyan Prince scoffed, offering one last disdainful glance at the slinking woman before turning on his heel and walking away.

Bulma released a relieved sigh when she was sure the two-legged creature was far enough away, then grabbed her throat in surprise when she realized that she was breathing through it. Her hand skimmed down to her rib cage where her gills were located and searched frantically for the splits in her skin. She found nothing. All the while her chest was rising and falling rapidly with the absence of water. Was this what they called air? She thought. Why did it feel so… empty? With jerky movements she attempted to rise and test out her latest acquisition: her very own pair of legs. Seems there truly was something to those childhood stories. Not that she ever had any doubt, but one can hardly get ahead in life without cold hard facts to back up your gut-feelings. When she first dragged herself ashore, she immediately found that her flexing tail would get her nowhere. The only way to move forward was displacing the sand beneath her with her hands. It was an interesting discovery to say the least. Also, now that she's seen the how the dark-haired man maneuvered his legs to move, she had a pretty good idea what to do with her own.

Slowly, inch by inch, very wobbly, she manage to make her way forward, trusted trident in hand, ready for her to lean on whenever her knees shook too much to keep her balanced.

She did it. She was free. She was on land, walking on two legs and, even though she felt a tad unsteady, she was immensely pleased with herself.

AN: So. I don't really know what to make of this chapter. I have a piece of the next Chapter written, but I'm coming up a bit blank as to character interaction. All I know is that it has to be an EPIC romance… no less will do. So, wish me luck on my authoring endeavors. Also, forgive my errors -I have no Beta.