Okay…I have had this fic written for a while…but I'm going to end up changing a lot of it…but here's the bit…I do NOT own DBZ…duh…k, now that the hard part is out of the way, enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Fight

HOPE!!

The word flooded his mind over and over again. HOPE!! HOPE!! Continuously it flowed like the waters of a river, spilling over the walls of his subconscious. He felt he was drowning, an enormous pressure on his chest forcing the last amounts of air from his body, making him inhale the icy depths. He was falling deeper and deeper into the murky darkness…eyes tightly shut against the growing pain in the back of his mind. It felt like Hell, hot and burning yet cold and freezing at the same time. They boy finally managed to open one eye…then the other. The scenery was all the same, all around him. An overwhelming darkness shadowed his features but the bright and fearful burning of his crystal blue eyes managed to pierce the darkness. He looked all around him…the darkness everlasting and ever menacing. Panic began to seep into his head, his pulse quickened and his mind reeled. There was no way out.

He spun himself around, ignoring the pain of his protesting muscles…frantic…frantically trying to find a way out of this dark hell. His lungs burned in agony, his blood hot with fear and rage…but they would get him no where. The denseness of his surroundings still pounded upon him…it seemed to be taunting him. At times, a small light would appear in the distance…only to disappear a moment later. It offered him a way out than snatched it back from him savagely.

Finally, he stopped his hectic spinning. The fire in his lungs had flamed at a nearly unbearable peak, racking his body with fierce stabbing pains. But he ignored them…now was not the time for anger…nor pain. He closed his eyes and forced his now ragged breathing to slow, much against the protest of his air starved muscles and lungs. He was trying…trying to use his training to focus. There had to be a way out…no place was completely impenetrable…that much he was sure of. He began to concentrate, all his powers, all his energies…he utilized them now. They were his lifeline…

Several moments passed. His mind was being forced to the breaking point…the strain of the space had lessened its hold over his thoughts as well as his body…but it still lingered near…waiting for the moment in which its prey would falter and it could claim him again…But it would be left alone…a light appeared, very similar to the ones he had seen in the distances of his nameless prison. Only this one was right in front of him. It radiated a soft glow, much like a halo around the moon. It seemed to call him, drawing him to it's light. Cautiously, he reached out to touch the glowing orb before him. His hand made contact…but the light did not burn. It was as warm as a fire aglow in a darkened room. Comforting. The fear left his eyes and joy nearly overwhelmed him…the light began to brighten…it seemed to want to show him something…

He stepped ever closer to the shining object with awe as part of its center vanished to reveal another place…the cream colored walls, the small desk, and the sheathed sword resting on the back of the chair. It showed him home…

He felt himself inhale a sharp breath, his heart caught in his throat and refusing to return to its normal place in his chest. He swallowed hard, once again reaching out to the orb…and the image. Moments before his hand made contact with the scene, voices sounded through the image…very familiar voices. He drew back, slightly surprised and nearly lost all concentration. Slowly, the glowing orb…his salvation in this dark pit…began retreating into the depths. He felt himself inhale a sharp breath, fear knocking on the doors of his thoughts. Quickly, he recovered the remainders of his senses…forcing his fear to subside for the second time during this encounter, he began to focus again…harder this time, pouring forth every thing in is soul to re-establish the connection with the outside world.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead, but instead of straining him, it gave him confidence…the knowledge that even a place such as he was still bound to some set of rules…it was the rope he had been looking for…and he grasped it firmly.

The light came forth…slowly making its way back to the young man standing in the middle of the black abyss. It neared him with ever growing speed…but instead of stopping before him as it did before, it continued. He felt his entire soul and being surge as the light entered him. It filled him with the hope he had been longing for but yet the fear it caused seemed great as well. He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, his breathing coming in forced and ragged gasps…