When I reached the peak of the hill, there was no one around, at least no one I could see. I sighed as I looked out onto the red expanse, leaning against a large red rock. I let the wind blow against my face, moving to lean against the staff. Suddenly, an explosion lit up the sky. The sky flamed bright yellow and orange as the explosion echoed across the wilderness. I walked to the each of the hilltop, looking towards the source of the explosion. The sky continued to flicker wildly as explosions continued.
A noise to my right made me turn my head. There was a figure approaching, flying towards the hilltop in a blaze of chi. I was frozen as the figure drew closer. 'Please let it be a good guy, please let it be a good guy…' The first thing I noticed was wild spiky hair… a Saiyan. Goku? I hoped. Then my heart dropped to my feet as I recognized his face… and his name. Vegeta… Prince Vegeta. The evil and arrogant prince of Saiyans who tried to kill Goku and Gohan. My face was frozen. I guessed that my expression showed no sign of fear because it hadn't changed since I turned my head. All my screaming and whimpering was inside my head, and even though I was deafening myself inwardly, I could not utter a word. My mind raced as I tried to think of what to do. I wasn't about to let him kill me, not if I could help it. 'Talk about stating the obvious,' I told myself as he landed on the hilltop a few metres away from me.
'Damn,' I thought, 'He's not as short as I thought.' He was still a few inches taller than me. From his comparison to Goku, I had thought this guy was miniature. Goku must be pretty big then… oh, where is Goku? He was staring at me with an curious expression. His brows were furrowed in his characteristic scowl, but that hardly ever changed. I calmly stared back at him, wondering how I was going to get away. The explosions were still continuing, but they seemed far and distant, the pounding in my ears was too loud. The yellow and orange light flickered across his face and his armour, making his expression all the more intimidating. The wind picked up a little more, blowing the ribbon of the staff as well as my hair across my face. I couldn't even blink when it blew a strand of hair across my eyes. My wind pulled at my robe, whipping it against my stiffened legs. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.
'He looks intrigued,' I thought. The scowl seemed second nature for him, so I guess that for his natural expression. 'If he were really planning on killing me, he would be smirking,' I thought, trying to remember what I'd read about this arrogant warrior prince. He looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by a massive explosion off in the distance. Vegeta was startled and turned around to look at the explosion. Seeing my chance, I leapt behind the large red rock, my noise masked by more explosions. I crouched, getting ready to leap down to the ledge below if Vegeta came after me. I peeked out at him from behind the rock, making sure to be well hidden in the shadows. He had turned back, and was looking around, probably for me. He can't sense me, I realized. I was too glad with relief to think about why it was that he couldn't sense me. Vegeta stared at the spot where I had been standing. I could have laughed at his obvious confusion, but my heart was still blocking my throat.
He wasn't scowling anymore, I noticed. He had a thoughtful look on his face. He almost looked… nice, for a second. Levitating, he floated off the side of the hilltop. He turned back round for a minute, and I pressed myself closer to the rock, but I didn't want to duck completely behind the rock yet. I just had to watch him… I didn't know why. After a brief pause, he turned around and flew off. After he disappeared in the horizon, I let out the breath I'd been holding. I knew that Vegeta teamed up with the good guys somewhere in this part of the story, but I was still unsure of what he would do when he was alone. I sighed as I sat down at the edge of the hilltop, dangling my feet off the side. The explosions continued, but now it sounded like fighting. I could hear screaming and yelling between the explosions. 'Maybe I'd better wait until things calm down,' I thought, squinting to the horizon, trying to see who was fighting.
It felt like hours before the fight ended, and I spent several more hours wandering across the wilderness towards the site of the fight. 'It's further than it looks,' I thought, as the elusive fighting area seemed to stretch further away as I continued walking. By the time I reached the area, the fight was over, but the craters where chi blasts had impacted were still smouldering and the dust was still unsettled. I froze as I saw a figure lying in a large crater. 'The loser,' I thought sadly, hesitantly stepping towards the edge of the crater. Then I stopped short as I recognized the armour. Vegeta. Despite my mind yelling at me, I ran down the side of the crater. Then I remembered: Vegeta died on Namek. He was brought back later, but he died… killed by some soldier of Freeza or something. He looked so… I don't think powerless is a word ever to be used on Vegeta, but that was as close as he got. I silently knelt down, leaning against my staff. His face was battered and bloody, and his armour was broken and dirt-stained. He had a deep gash in his face, and blood was spurting out of it in weak surges. 'Wait a minute, was his heart still beating?' Sure enough, the surges were constant, but were getting weaker. He was dying. I hesitantly reached out a finger. I had rarely dealt with death before, even the death of relatives. 'But this isn't real,' I kept telling myself as I stared at the dying man lying in front of me. My finger brushed against his bruised cheekbone. He felt real enough.
I froze as his eyes opened painfully. Actually, make that his eye opened painfully. His other eye was swollen shut. But he wasn't dead… yet. He seemed to recognize me, not that he could show it; his face was too battered for any expression to be distinguished. I just stared back at him, my heart twinging slightly. He looked as if he were trying to speak. From the state of his throat, I doubted if he could still talk. But I had a feeling he'd try anyway, and I was pretty sure it'd damn hurt if he tried to breathe in air to speak. They always broke ribs when they fought. Sure enough, I saw him wince in pain. 'God… or rather, Kami, as they call God around here,' I thought, 'At least he could try to die in peace.'
Reaching down, I held my finger gently against his straining blood crusted lips. A weird feeling ran through my abdomen as I touched his lips but I ignored it, I already had too much weird stuff to think about concerning my situation as it was. He seemed to freeze when I touched him, ceasing his effort to speak. My hand took on a life of its own for a few seconds, brushing back across his cheek. I quickly pulled my hand back, looking at it strangely for a few seconds. Why was it tingling, anyway? I looked back at him. He was still staring intently at me. Suddenly, Vegeta's body spasmed, and I sadly watched his clenched face as his body jerked wildly. As suddenly as it started, his body froze, then it slumped back onto the ground with a thump. I didn't know if he was really dead, but I couldn't bring myself to find out. I shut my eyes, trying to rein in the raging emotions that were beginning to surge through my mind. I hardly knew this guy, and yet I was feeling very affected by the concept of his death. I agreed with myself that I didn't react well to death, and that it was a good thing I didn't see many funerals in my time. 'Maybe it's just because it's Vegeta that-' something began speaking in the back of my mind, but I cut it off hastily. Where'd that come from? I shrugged it off as I made my way out of the crater.
I surveyed my surroundings. The barren landscape was blemished with craters and blast marks. I spotted smoke in the distance, rising like a white pillar to join the clouds above. My stomach growled loudly. 'I don't care if they're bad guys,' I decided, 'I'll get food one way or another.' With that, I headed determinedly towards the pillar of smoke.
As it turned out, I had finally found the good guys. They were camped by the lake, roasting some fish to eat. The smell of the roasting meat made me quicken my step as I approached the group gathered around the fire.
It must have been surprising for them. A mysterious dark-haired girl dressed in a robe with a staff walking out of the wilderness. I saw them freeze in what they were doing. Goku had a cooked fish halfway to his mouth. Bulma had her hands frozen on the keyboard of what looked like a modified laptop computer. Gohan was in the middle of chewing his fish.
"Hello," I said quietly. They didn't move. "Mind if I join you?"
There was a long pause before Bulma broke the silence. "Um, yeah… sure," she said, motioning for me to sit on an empty stone next to her.
"Thanks," I murmured as I sat down, laying the staff down next to me.
Bulma grabbed a fish on a stick and handed it to me. I smiled gratefully and proceeded to hold the fish over the fire, watching silently as the flames licked the sides of the fish. Goku and Gohan went back to eating, but they didn't take their eyes off me.
"So, um… what's your name?" ventured Gohan, after he had finished his fish.
"Quinn," I replied, examining my cooked fish. I was so glad to finally get food. I smiled at him, "You can call me Quinn."
Gohan smiled and his face tinged pink. Why was he blushing? I turned my attention back to my fish, eagerly taking a bite.
"So, Quinn," began Goku, "What are you doing on Namek?"
I stopped in the middle of chewing. "I-I… I don't know," I mumbled quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Bulma.
"I just appeared here," I answered, putting down my fish. I knew it sounded evasive, but it was the truth. They had to see that… didn't they?
They looked at me quizzically. How was I going to explain this? "I think I'm from another dimension," I said hesitantly.
I explained about my dream, about how it had become reality, and how I had woken up on Namek. I purposely stopped before I reached the part where I ran into Vegeta. I don't know why I did that, I just did.
"Wow," whispered Gohan. "How are you getting home?"
"I-I don't know," I said, feeling a little dizzy. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought, holding my hand to my head as head started to throb. My stomach was beginning to lurch.
"Quinn, are you all right?" asked Goku. His voice sounded distant and far away.
I tried to answer, but the darkness clouded over my eyes and I blacked out.
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Next chapter: Freeza.
A noise to my right made me turn my head. There was a figure approaching, flying towards the hilltop in a blaze of chi. I was frozen as the figure drew closer. 'Please let it be a good guy, please let it be a good guy…' The first thing I noticed was wild spiky hair… a Saiyan. Goku? I hoped. Then my heart dropped to my feet as I recognized his face… and his name. Vegeta… Prince Vegeta. The evil and arrogant prince of Saiyans who tried to kill Goku and Gohan. My face was frozen. I guessed that my expression showed no sign of fear because it hadn't changed since I turned my head. All my screaming and whimpering was inside my head, and even though I was deafening myself inwardly, I could not utter a word. My mind raced as I tried to think of what to do. I wasn't about to let him kill me, not if I could help it. 'Talk about stating the obvious,' I told myself as he landed on the hilltop a few metres away from me.
'Damn,' I thought, 'He's not as short as I thought.' He was still a few inches taller than me. From his comparison to Goku, I had thought this guy was miniature. Goku must be pretty big then… oh, where is Goku? He was staring at me with an curious expression. His brows were furrowed in his characteristic scowl, but that hardly ever changed. I calmly stared back at him, wondering how I was going to get away. The explosions were still continuing, but they seemed far and distant, the pounding in my ears was too loud. The yellow and orange light flickered across his face and his armour, making his expression all the more intimidating. The wind picked up a little more, blowing the ribbon of the staff as well as my hair across my face. I couldn't even blink when it blew a strand of hair across my eyes. My wind pulled at my robe, whipping it against my stiffened legs. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.
'He looks intrigued,' I thought. The scowl seemed second nature for him, so I guess that for his natural expression. 'If he were really planning on killing me, he would be smirking,' I thought, trying to remember what I'd read about this arrogant warrior prince. He looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by a massive explosion off in the distance. Vegeta was startled and turned around to look at the explosion. Seeing my chance, I leapt behind the large red rock, my noise masked by more explosions. I crouched, getting ready to leap down to the ledge below if Vegeta came after me. I peeked out at him from behind the rock, making sure to be well hidden in the shadows. He had turned back, and was looking around, probably for me. He can't sense me, I realized. I was too glad with relief to think about why it was that he couldn't sense me. Vegeta stared at the spot where I had been standing. I could have laughed at his obvious confusion, but my heart was still blocking my throat.
He wasn't scowling anymore, I noticed. He had a thoughtful look on his face. He almost looked… nice, for a second. Levitating, he floated off the side of the hilltop. He turned back round for a minute, and I pressed myself closer to the rock, but I didn't want to duck completely behind the rock yet. I just had to watch him… I didn't know why. After a brief pause, he turned around and flew off. After he disappeared in the horizon, I let out the breath I'd been holding. I knew that Vegeta teamed up with the good guys somewhere in this part of the story, but I was still unsure of what he would do when he was alone. I sighed as I sat down at the edge of the hilltop, dangling my feet off the side. The explosions continued, but now it sounded like fighting. I could hear screaming and yelling between the explosions. 'Maybe I'd better wait until things calm down,' I thought, squinting to the horizon, trying to see who was fighting.
It felt like hours before the fight ended, and I spent several more hours wandering across the wilderness towards the site of the fight. 'It's further than it looks,' I thought, as the elusive fighting area seemed to stretch further away as I continued walking. By the time I reached the area, the fight was over, but the craters where chi blasts had impacted were still smouldering and the dust was still unsettled. I froze as I saw a figure lying in a large crater. 'The loser,' I thought sadly, hesitantly stepping towards the edge of the crater. Then I stopped short as I recognized the armour. Vegeta. Despite my mind yelling at me, I ran down the side of the crater. Then I remembered: Vegeta died on Namek. He was brought back later, but he died… killed by some soldier of Freeza or something. He looked so… I don't think powerless is a word ever to be used on Vegeta, but that was as close as he got. I silently knelt down, leaning against my staff. His face was battered and bloody, and his armour was broken and dirt-stained. He had a deep gash in his face, and blood was spurting out of it in weak surges. 'Wait a minute, was his heart still beating?' Sure enough, the surges were constant, but were getting weaker. He was dying. I hesitantly reached out a finger. I had rarely dealt with death before, even the death of relatives. 'But this isn't real,' I kept telling myself as I stared at the dying man lying in front of me. My finger brushed against his bruised cheekbone. He felt real enough.
I froze as his eyes opened painfully. Actually, make that his eye opened painfully. His other eye was swollen shut. But he wasn't dead… yet. He seemed to recognize me, not that he could show it; his face was too battered for any expression to be distinguished. I just stared back at him, my heart twinging slightly. He looked as if he were trying to speak. From the state of his throat, I doubted if he could still talk. But I had a feeling he'd try anyway, and I was pretty sure it'd damn hurt if he tried to breathe in air to speak. They always broke ribs when they fought. Sure enough, I saw him wince in pain. 'God… or rather, Kami, as they call God around here,' I thought, 'At least he could try to die in peace.'
Reaching down, I held my finger gently against his straining blood crusted lips. A weird feeling ran through my abdomen as I touched his lips but I ignored it, I already had too much weird stuff to think about concerning my situation as it was. He seemed to freeze when I touched him, ceasing his effort to speak. My hand took on a life of its own for a few seconds, brushing back across his cheek. I quickly pulled my hand back, looking at it strangely for a few seconds. Why was it tingling, anyway? I looked back at him. He was still staring intently at me. Suddenly, Vegeta's body spasmed, and I sadly watched his clenched face as his body jerked wildly. As suddenly as it started, his body froze, then it slumped back onto the ground with a thump. I didn't know if he was really dead, but I couldn't bring myself to find out. I shut my eyes, trying to rein in the raging emotions that were beginning to surge through my mind. I hardly knew this guy, and yet I was feeling very affected by the concept of his death. I agreed with myself that I didn't react well to death, and that it was a good thing I didn't see many funerals in my time. 'Maybe it's just because it's Vegeta that-' something began speaking in the back of my mind, but I cut it off hastily. Where'd that come from? I shrugged it off as I made my way out of the crater.
I surveyed my surroundings. The barren landscape was blemished with craters and blast marks. I spotted smoke in the distance, rising like a white pillar to join the clouds above. My stomach growled loudly. 'I don't care if they're bad guys,' I decided, 'I'll get food one way or another.' With that, I headed determinedly towards the pillar of smoke.
As it turned out, I had finally found the good guys. They were camped by the lake, roasting some fish to eat. The smell of the roasting meat made me quicken my step as I approached the group gathered around the fire.
It must have been surprising for them. A mysterious dark-haired girl dressed in a robe with a staff walking out of the wilderness. I saw them freeze in what they were doing. Goku had a cooked fish halfway to his mouth. Bulma had her hands frozen on the keyboard of what looked like a modified laptop computer. Gohan was in the middle of chewing his fish.
"Hello," I said quietly. They didn't move. "Mind if I join you?"
There was a long pause before Bulma broke the silence. "Um, yeah… sure," she said, motioning for me to sit on an empty stone next to her.
"Thanks," I murmured as I sat down, laying the staff down next to me.
Bulma grabbed a fish on a stick and handed it to me. I smiled gratefully and proceeded to hold the fish over the fire, watching silently as the flames licked the sides of the fish. Goku and Gohan went back to eating, but they didn't take their eyes off me.
"So, um… what's your name?" ventured Gohan, after he had finished his fish.
"Quinn," I replied, examining my cooked fish. I was so glad to finally get food. I smiled at him, "You can call me Quinn."
Gohan smiled and his face tinged pink. Why was he blushing? I turned my attention back to my fish, eagerly taking a bite.
"So, Quinn," began Goku, "What are you doing on Namek?"
I stopped in the middle of chewing. "I-I… I don't know," I mumbled quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Bulma.
"I just appeared here," I answered, putting down my fish. I knew it sounded evasive, but it was the truth. They had to see that… didn't they?
They looked at me quizzically. How was I going to explain this? "I think I'm from another dimension," I said hesitantly.
I explained about my dream, about how it had become reality, and how I had woken up on Namek. I purposely stopped before I reached the part where I ran into Vegeta. I don't know why I did that, I just did.
"Wow," whispered Gohan. "How are you getting home?"
"I-I don't know," I said, feeling a little dizzy. 'What's wrong with me?' I thought, holding my hand to my head as head started to throb. My stomach was beginning to lurch.
"Quinn, are you all right?" asked Goku. His voice sounded distant and far away.
I tried to answer, but the darkness clouded over my eyes and I blacked out.
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Next chapter: Freeza.