To Piccolo's left, a waterfall plunged several yards into the depths before turning into a slow-moving river that meandered through a dense forest. The few rays of sunlight that found their way to the river through the closed canopy of leaves made the river glisten in the colours of the rainbow. Through the clear water, one could see the stones on the bottom and the many fish that were swimming there.

The green branches offered shelter to many creatures. Birds nested and squirrels jumped from branch to branch. On the forest floor, smaller and larger quadrupeds ran close with their noses to the ground in search of food.

But Piccolo had not chosen the area for its beauty but mainly for its tranquillity and the absence of people. The nearest settlement was many miles away. Since he had settled here a month ago, he had not met a soul. He had never stayed in any place as long as he had here. He had begun to like the forest and even feel somewhat at home.

Less than a year after the 23rd martial arts tournament, after wandering the earth for a long time, he had found this place. His place. Next to the waterfall, halfway up the cliff, was a ledge that led to a small natural cave. It offered the perfect shelter during storms. Not only the forest offered a lot of training opportunities, but also the plain above, from which the waterfall rushed down. Not far away, a mountain range rose up, where no people seemed to wander along either. For Piccolo it was the perfect environment. Here he would be able to train in peace.

Right now, Piccolo had no eyes for the beauty of his surroundings. He was meditating. His eyes were firmly closed, his legs cross-legged, his arms folded in front of his chest. He hovered about a yard above the floor of the rocky outcrop. Today he found it difficult to get into deep meditation, to activate his powers that lay dormant deep within him. His eyebrows twitched, his hands clenched around his upper arms again and again. Memories of the fighting tournament rose up in him. That Goku!

Just thinking about that guy, anger rose up in Piccolo. He had been humiliated by him, by this weakling. Goku had even given him a Senzu Bean to help Piccolo regain his strength. How stupid and effeminate of him. And Piccolo had no choice but to leave the battlefield as quickly as possible. He had to admit defeat, albeit reluctantly.

Piccolo took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. He could not allow himself to be distracted by such thoughts. Emotions only interfered with training and would not get him to his goal. He had to keep training to become stronger and finally defeat this Goku. His breathing was calmer now and Piccolo slowly went into deep meditation. His body began to glow. He activated his powers deep inside, brought them to the surface to be able to call them up better.

He could not tell how long he had been immersed in meditation until he heard a sound he did not know. Slowly he opened his eyes. It was almost dark, the sun could only be glimpsed on the horizon. Searching, Piccolo's gaze flitted over the forest in front of him. He saw nothing unusual.

The sound grew louder. It reminded Piccolo of a swarm of wild hornets racing collectively towards an object. Then something hissed over him. Reflexively, Piccolo jumped back and pressed his back against the rock wall next to the entrance of the cave.

The next moment there was a crash. About a mile away from the waterfall, twigs and branches broke, then whole tree trunks. A bang followed. Then silence.

Piccolo blinked and tried to make out what had just flown over him. But the trees obscured his view. Smoke was rising from the spot where the object had come down. He had to get closer.

Slowly he hovered over the rocky edge of the ledge and approached the crash site flying above the tree tops. The object had cut a swathe through the forest. Several trees had fallen victim to it. It had slid a few more yards across the ground before coming to a complete stop. Smoke was still rising from it.

Piccolo hesitated to approach the unknown thing. It was none of his business. Afterwards, there was another creature in this sphere and he had to get rid of it. Or maybe the crash had taken care of it on its own and he didn't have to worry about anything.

Turning around, he noticed a reddish glow from the corner of his eye. His attention was caught. Was that fire? What would happen if the fire spread to the forest? His place of refuge would be destroyed. It had taken him so long to find "his" quiet place, no fire was going to ruin that now.

He stretched out his left hand towards the river and concentrated. Some of the water from the river rose, formed itself into a ball and floated over to Piccolo. His hand directed the water ball over the crashed flying object and he lowered it over the fire. The fire went out. For a moment he watched the flying object, from which a few plumes of smoke were still rising, to make sure that the fire was out.

Satisfied, he nodded. Time to resume his meditation. Suddenly he became aware of a new sound. A whimper. Piccolo slowly approached the object and looked at it more closely. It was round and seemed to be made of metal. On the side of the sphere facing him, there had probably been a pane of glass before, but it had been shattered by the crash. Remnants of glass on the edge stretched out their dangerous fingers.

Piccolo crouched down to look inside the sphere. A human being lay there on its side. A woman, as far as Piccolo could tell. Blood was running down her forehead. Her dark hair was also caked with blood. Her eyelids were fluttering.

Piccolo turned away. What did he care about a life? The woman moaned. "Please. Help..." Her voice was only a whisper. Piccolo looked into her open wide eyes. He hesitated. Why couldn't he just turn away? The woman reached out a hand, trembling, and repeated her plea for help. Resigned, he closed the distance to the capsule with two steps. He reached into a depression above the shattered glass and tensed all his muscles. The metal did not move.

He took a deep breath and tried again. This time the metal moved a little. With his second hand he now also reached into the depression and thus pulled the metal apart. As he had suspected, the area with the glass was a door, which now gave in to Piccolo's efforts and detached itself from the capsule.

While Piccolo opened the door, the woman lay apparently motionless in the sphere. When she saw Piccolo's face above her, she tried to smile, but it ended in a grimace. The pain was too strong. She reached out to him again.

Hesitantly, he put his hands under her body and lifted her up. But Piccolo didn't get far, because it was as if she was stuck somewhere. Since her arms and legs were free, Piccolo pulled again. The woman gave a short cry and the resistance dissolved. The woman now lay motionless in his arms. Her eyes closed. Her breathing was shallow. Blood continued to flow from the head wound, Piccolo discovered several cuts on her arms and legs.

What should he do now?

Indecisively, he looked from the woman to the capsule and back again. Then he looked at the edge of the forest and finally turned towards the waterfall on his right. Piccolo pushed himself off the ground and flew to the rock plateau that jutted out beside the waterfall. The entrance to the cave, which he liked to use as a shelter during a storm, was not visible from the forest floor.

There was nothing in the cave to indicate that Piccolo often stayed here. He owned nothing and needed nothing. With the unconscious woman in his arms, he stood indecisively at the entrance to the cave. Should he just lay her on the cold earth? He chose the cave wall that was furthest away from the entrance and not directly visible thanks to a protruding rock. Without further ado, he created a camp of straw and blankets with the help of his magic, on which he laid the woman down. Piccolo looked at her for a while. The many cuts on her arms and legs, as well as the largest wound on her head, were no longer bleeding. He covered her with one of the blankets and on impulse created another cup of water, which he placed next to her head.

Piccolo left the cave and stopped on the plateau. He looked over the treetops to the setting sun. He wanted to resume his meditation, which he had been interrupted by, so he sat down cross-legged on the rock and closed his eyes. But he could not concentrate on his meditation. His thoughts kept wandering and the woman's face appeared again and again in his mind's eye. Piccolo caught himself wondering if she was all right. Frustrated by these feeble human thoughts, he flew to the higher ground and, with energy beams and bare fists, destroyed some stones and burned holes in the earth.

When the sun came out again the next morning, Piccolo stopped his training, breathing heavily. Should he check on the woman? He still wondered why he had helped her at all. What had made him do it? He picked up his turban and cloak, which he had taken off during the training, dressed and flew to his cave.

Slowly he entered the cave and stopped abruptly. Was he moving quietly in his own cave? Shaking his head at his own behaviour, he walked around the rock that jutted into the cave and behind which the woman lay on the blankets. She seemed to have woken up briefly, for the cup of water was empty. She was sleeping and breathing calmly. So far she seemed to be doing well.

Piccolo spent the rest of the day in light meditation in front of the cave entrance. He was still unable to slip into deep meditation. He wondered why. Again and again he turned his attention to the cave at his back. As the sun sent its last rays over the forest, Piccolo heard noises from the cave.