Okies peoples!! I need a few more reviews than... *looks back* three. *sigh* Do you not like it? If not, feel free to tell me, it'd be much better than just letting me finish a sucky story. Because I have much better stories I could be working on, only I promiced myself that I'd only post two works in progress/ chapter stories at a time. Com'on you know you wanna review. *Chibi eyes* Pretty Pretty Please?
oh, yeah and without further adue... I don't own SM or DBZ. Oy. Here's the next chapter.
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Hope of a Planet ch5
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"No no NO!" Piccolo yelled at Usagi.
Chibi-Usa wiped her brow. It was so hot, and she was getting frustrated. Gohan had mastered this ki blasting thing right away on the first day. He was over the other hill practicing, but Usagi just didn't get it. Not only couldn't she form the ball of energy, but she didn't even know if it was possible for her to do so. She tried and tried, but she wasn't getting it. And, on the second day, even Piccolo's infinite patience was fading fast, and he was beginning to become fed up with her poor performance.
"I told you." He tried to explain calmly. "Aim your energy at your fist and form it into a ball. Try using two hands." He sighed, clenching his teeth, as he reached the end of his proverbial rope.
Usa frowned and closed her eyes in concentration. She began to see something. Her mother or was it... Sailor Moon? No, because, in a flash she was in her princess form, much like Chibi-Usa's own. Princess Serenity held the Ginshouzu at her heart. It flashed into a ball of light and a beam shot out from it at a red... no a green-haired... The vision stopped as abruptly as it started. She opened her eyes and looked at Piccolos expectant face.
Chibi-Usa was confused. There was no way she could have witnessed that, but.. She had been having more and more visions like that lately. Closing her eyes. She imagined the ball of light, which was, in her mind, the Ginshouzu with the beam of light shooting out. She was surprised to hear a faint explosion and opened her eyes to watch a huge dust cloud dissipate into nothingness where there used to be a mountain many miles away.
Piccolo stared with his mouth hanging open. "uh.." He managed looking a Usagi's face. "Yeah. Like that." He shook his head, expertly hiding the smile that threatened to emerge, "Now, let's try a smaller one."
Usagi nodded and by the end of a long and tiring day, she could form small balls of energy and throw ki blasts rather accurately.
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Piccolo grinned evilly at the terrified looks in the faces of his pupils. He motioned to the cliff they were standing on. "Who's going first?" He asked, playfully.
Gohan shook his head. "Explain it one more time."
Piccolo sighed. "Alright, but this is the *last* time. When you jump, whatever you do, don't think about falling. But, don't think about flying either. Simply allow your energy to flow outward, and it disrupts gravity. Like placing yourself temporarily inside a bubble where gravity doesn't exist. You have to use a great amount of energy, and you probably won't be able to do it for long. Just try it until you get tired, and then come back here." He patiently explained for about the third time.
"But what if..." Chibi-Usa started.
"What if. Nothing." Piccolo lashed out. "Second guessing is what will make you fall."
Usagi closed her eyes seeing a beautiful white horse with wings and a horn and her in her princess gown also with wings. Flash. She opened her eyes feeling calm. "Ok." She said simply, stepping forward.
Piccolo was taken slightly aback. He was expecting to have to literally push one of them off the cliff to go first. He nodded. "Fine. Kid, you go first."
Chibi-Usa closed her eyes, then deciding against that she opened them. She stepped off the cliff. No fancy jump or hop. Just a simple step. And she fell. She began spiraling out-of-control towards the ground below. She was going to scream when suddenly she realized she wasn't falling anymore, nor were her eyes open. She must have shut them. Opening them, she found herself about halfway down the cliff. She looked around and realized that she was indeed floating.
She kicked up and soared upward. She flew over a river and saw her reflection. She had wings, and was in her gown. Just like in her vision. She smiled and flapped her wings soaring over the fields and trees. She looked back to see Piccolo standing on the cliff almost smiling, with Gohan who was waving. She was going to wave back when suddenly a huge ship came from out of nowhere. She tried to warn them, but Piccolo and Gohan were shot.
"Nooo..." she whispered as tears began to make their way down her cheeks. The ship turned and left her. She tried to follow it, blinded by her tears when suddenly she saw... Crystal Tokyo. No, that couldn't be right... but was that her mother and father?... waving at her? She smiled through her tears when suddenly the ship shot them as well. The whole palace went up..
"Usagi!!" Chibi-Usa shot up.
Gohan looked down on her with worry. "Hey, Usa. You ok?"
Usagi blinked in confusion, "Gohan?... What?"
"You were having a nightmare." He leaned back. "Musta been a bad one. You were tossing and turning and crying."
Usagi touched her wet cheeks. "It was.. a dream?" She looked at Gohan, who was tending the beginning of a fire. "Did I wake you up?" She asked.
Gohan shook his head. "Nah. I woke up ages ago. Can't get back to sleep. It's almost morning now. We should get going soon."
Chibi-Usa nodded. Running her hands over her head, she quickly put her hair up in its customary odangos. "Why couldn't you sleep?" She asked casually.
Gohan was silent for a moment. Well, I'm kinda worried, ya know?"
Usa frowned, not understanding.
Gohan continued. "Well, Mr. Piccolo said we were going to learn how to fly today."
Usagi's eyes opened wide and then she smiled. That was why she had that dream, or at least part of it. She took a deep breath, to calm her and joined Gohan at the fire. "Why are you worried?" She asked.
"Well," Gohan sighed. "My dad told me once that he didn't even know it was possible to use your energy to fly, until one day he was... thrown off a cliff."
"Thrown off a cliff?" Asked Usagi in shock. Why did her dreams always have hidden meanings?
"Yeah." Gohan laughed. "But I guess that's silly. Mr. Piccolo wouldn't throw us off a cliff."
Usagi chuckled half-heartedly. "Yeah." She mumbled.
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Piccolo grinned evilly at the terrified looks in the faces of his pupils. He motioned to the cliff they were standing on. "Who's going first?" He asked, playfully.
Gohan shook his head. "Explain it one more time.."
Piccolo sighed. "Alright, but this is the *last* time. When you jump, whatever you do, don't think about falling...." Usagi's eyes were wide open. It was exactly the same as her dream. What could it mean? She wondered as she tuned back in what Piccolo was saying. "...Until you get tired, and then come back here." He patiently explained for about the third time.
"But what if..." Usagi started, hesitantly.
"What if. Nothing." Piccolo lashed out. "Second guessing is what will make you fall."
Usagi closed her eyes, and nodded. Remembering her dream, she envisioned a white unicorn with wings and her in her princess gown. The difference between this and her dream is that now she didn't feel so calm. However when she opened her eyes she still spoke those two condemning syllables, "Ok." She stepped forward.
Piccolo was taken slightly aback. He was expecting to have to literally push one of them off the cliff to go first. But he also followed the script written in Usa's mind. He nodded. "Fine. Kid, you go first."
Usagi closed her eyes, and opened them. "Here goes nothing." she mumbled stepping off the cliff. She again closed her eyes without realizing, only this time she continued falling. She opened them and screamed as the ground got closer and closer. Now she could see the individual trees. Now she could see the leaves clearly. Now she could see the individual blades of grass.
Suddenly she felt something wrench upwards underneath her armpits. She stopped falling and turned her head to glance sheepishly behind her at Piccolo.
He sighed. "Look, kid. You got guts. I'll give you that. But let's try to do it right next time, ok?"
Usagi blushed as Piccolo carried her to the top of the cliff. Gohan got it on the first try. But she jumped several more times, before Piccolo finally called it quits for the day, claiming to be 'sick and tired of playing fetch.'
Usagi couldn't understand it. Gohan smiled at her in the firelight. "Don't worry about it, Usa-chan. I'm sure you'll get it tomorrow."
Usagi shook her head. "No."
Gohan frowned. "What do you mean no? You're not quitting, are you?" His eyes opened wide.
Usa shook her head. "No. I'm not quitting, but I think that I know that Piccolo will catch me, so I'm not really in danger."
"Huh?" Asked Gohan. "Aww.. Heck. I'm surprised that he caught you at all. I figured he'd let you fall to the bottom, and say it was to toughen you up for training."
Chibi-Usa smiled. "He's not really a mean person. He's just really... It's almost like he doesn't know how do deal with other people... especially not kids. 'Cause he's alone all the time. Doesn't he ever talk to other people?" She asked.
Gohan shook his head. "I've never seen him." He said.
Chibi-Usa sighed. "That's so sad. He reminds me of my friend, Setsuna" she muttered.
Gohan perked up. "Setsuna? That's a cool name. Who's that?"
Usa sweatdropped. "Oh, no one really. Just someone I used to know."
"Oh," said Gohan, disappointed. "Well, I'm tired. Goodnight."
"Night." Mumbled Usagi...
Chibi-Usa woke up freezing. She reached for her covers only to grasp nothing but the cold hard ground. She opened her eyes to find herself on a narrow ledge. She glanced down at the rushing river below her, and looked to the cliff next to her. She couldn't climb the wall. She'd have to jump into the river. Well, she could try to fly, but even if she couldn't she'd be all right. It'd be cold. But... She stood up. Better than staying here all night. She raised her arms over her head for no reason really and stepped off the ledge. She was falling and falling and suddenly she felt someone grabbing her hand. She looked up to see a fairly old man holding on to her, from a much larger ledge. From the looks of his campsite and materials, he was a rock climber.
"Hold on there, little miss. I gotcha." He grunted as he struggled to pull her upwards. "You shouldn't be playing so near these cliffs. What do you think you're doing anyway?"
She frowned. "I was trying to fly." She told him simply.
The man sweatdropped and slipped a little. "Didn't cha momma ever tell you that real people can't..." his last work was cut off as he slipped and the little that Usagi weighed pulled them both over the ledge. The man waited to fall. But he never did, so he opened his eyes slowly.
The girl with the long pink hair smiled down on him and tilted her head. "Fly?" She asked finishing his previous sentence. She pulled him up a little and set him down on the ledge flying in front of him.
The man scratched his head. "Well, I'll be. Now I've seen everything. You ain't an angel, are ya?" He asked rubbing his eyes.
Chibi-Usa giggled. "Nope." She looked back over her shoulder as if to confirm. "Silly, I don't have any wings. But thank you for helping me." She smiled, bowing in the air quickly, as she flew off.
The man shook his head. "That's the last time I drink before bed." He mumbled
The sweat poured down Chibi-Usa's face as she barely missed another hit from Piccolo. "Keep your elbows up." He shot at her quickly. He caught Gohan in the face sending the poor boy back a few feet. "Don't swing so wide." He told him focusing for a second fully on Usagi. In that second Usagi barely managed to stay on her feet. Piccolo got in three good hits and she managed to block about 4 more. Then Gohan came barreling back in.
Using usually his left hand for Gohan and his right for Usagi and only occasionally crossing over, Piccolo was still kicking the butts of the five-year-olds. When Usagi was slammed yet again into the ground. Piccolo stopped suddenly. "That's enough for right now. Go get something to drink and rest." He ordered, as he flew off.
Usagi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She was only vaguely surprised to see blood. Gohan looked at her, not faring much better. "How you doing?" He asked as they walked to the stream.
Usagi shrugged. "I'm fine. Had my mouth open for that last one. Cut my lip. You?"
Gohan grinned. "I think I bruised my butt getting knocked flat so many times. But I'm ok. He was really rough today."
Usagi frowned. "I think it's getting to be time."
Gohan stopped, looking up, as if searching the sky for answers. "You're right. We've only got about a few weeks left."
Usagi looked at the ground. "Do you think we'll be ready?" She asked.
"I hope so." Replied Gohan.
Usagi smiled. "I'm sure we will." She told him with a confidence that she didn't really feel.
Piccolo listened to the children talking. He had to wonder too. Were they ready? Could he allow them, young as they were to even witness, let alone fight in this battle? The battle for the planet? He frowned. They were both excelling it their own ways. Gohan was defiantly far superior to Usagi in hand-to-hand combat. His technique is similar to his fathers. But Usagi could literally fly circles around Gohan. They were pretty equal in ki blasts. Both were fast and caught on quickly. He sighed. They were both so innocent, yet so full of hope. It was as if they were hope personified. Piccolo nodded. They were the hope of the entire planet.