"One's Quest,
Another's Journey"
Part 3:
"The Meeting"
Piccolo and Cora had traveled only in a month's time through two countries each just about. Piccolo traveled by land most of the way and a few times by boat. Cora traveled mostly by land, and by a few plane trips, but both made great time, even though it didn't seem geographically possible for them to travel so quickly over great amounts of land.
The weather got a bit colder in China, and Piccolo knew a blizzard was coming soon up in the mountains. If he didn't make it over the boarder soon, he would be caught in China a few days extra. Seeing his way safely through the forest with hardly any humans around, he took flight over the Great Khingan Mountain Range. Some snow had fallen on the mountain peaks as he flew overhead. The cold air on his face didn't bother him one bit. He was so used to all kinds of weather, that he thought nothing would be so different here on this planet, it was so much, it seemed to him, like Chikyuu, but then again it wasn't.
Cora on the other hand, had a tougher time walking over the mountains she had come upon. It too was cold and she too feared a blizzard coming soon. But she had to push on, she wasn't that far from Mongolia anyway, and to rest was almost to be foolish. If she had at least a little, she might have gotten caught in the storm of snow.
'Winter, must be coming sooner this year,' she thought as she trekked on and upwards. The mountain air was starting to get thin as she moved up higher. 'I can't go on like this. I have to go back a bit and walk around the mountains or at least try to find a safer, much easier way there.' She said as she began back down the mountain. Not long did it take her to get to the bottom, where she found what looked like a warned down path, a flat path at that. She took that, and found that she could walk much faster. She stopped and looked back at the mountain as she took a drink from her water canteen. 'Wow, how could I have wanted to go up that? I must be crazy or at least desperate.' She thought as she looked ahead of her. She could see that the path took her completely around the mountains, but how could this be, she never saw it there before? Shrugging what happened, she kept going, almost nonstop.
Piccolo now found himself over the boarder of China and into Mongolia. He flew behind a mountain and started to walk down it over the boarder to this new country. He stopped for a moment and looked out over the cliffs, the wind blowing his cloak in all directions. He sighed and started on his way again down the peaks.
Walking finally on soft, flat ground he finally made it to Mongolia it only taking an hours time. He sat down and rested, meditating, the wind calming him a bit, as if Earth was talking to him in gentle whispers. But his meditating state was quickly interrupted as his ears flicked a bit as he heard a rumbling above him. He looked up and flew off just in time as a rockslide just about came down on him.
"That was close," he said as he floated there in the air, watching the rocks tumbling. He landed a mile away from the rockslide and found, what he hoped, a safer place to meditate. He sat near a tree and closed his eyes. Again the wind blew past his ears as the Earth spoke to him you could say. He sighed a bit as he finally calmed down.
'I've traveled so far and so quickly. So, why have I come to this country?' he asked, as millions of thought crossed his mind. 'Was I meant to come here?'
He growled a bit, finding his mind that was racing with great thought, making him unable to calm down and meditate properly. He sighed and opened his eyes and just laid back against the tree looking around him, some caribou grazing near by in a great field opening, with no care in the world that Piccolo, one of the strongest Zetto team fighters was there. They did sense his power, but knew he wouldn't hurt them.
'I've never seen creatures like these on Chikyuu. They look better than those stupid dinosaurs,' he thought as he remembered what those blubbering fat things looked like. 'It sure is good to be away from those dinosaurs too,' he chuckled a bit. He took a drink from his water canteen as two male caribou began to spare against each other for a mate or territory borders.
He looked at what he could of where the sun was and only found it covered up by too many clouds, he got up and went on his way once more, taking flight over the land. He found himself taking his time, unlike before. That didn't bother him, he began to relax more than usual and enjoy his trip more and more every day.
Cora had finally after many hours, found herself at the Mongolian border. She showed the border patrolman her passport and he let her through.
'Wow, I must be lucky or something,' she thought as she kept on walking. She stepped off her path and found a tree branch that was big enough to be a staff. She grabbed it and began to flip it around her a bit.
The wind suddenly picked up and brought with it the smell of something that wasn't normal to the land. She smelled the air and wide eyed just about couldn't believe it.
'This can't be who I think it is?' she thought as she walked. 'I have no clue what his body sent smells like, so how in the world would I know in the first place. But that smell is so different than what I've smelled before.'
She walked a few more miles until she found a fallen tree to sit on. She took out her carving knife and began to trim the twig branches from the staff. Soon she had herself a nice, strong staff to walk with for balance. She took off her cloak and spun the staff around her hands a bit, trying to get the feel of the wood and the weight of it.
"This will do nicely," she said as she put her cloak back on and hooded herself.
Piccolo landed on the ground, and walked the rest of the time. He walked for many miles until he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He felt a strange energy coming over the hill in front of him. The power was of this planet and strong at that, magically put most of it.
'It's probably just another power I feel from this land,' he thought as he walked on over the hill.
Cora on the other side of the path looked up at the man in dark clothing in front of her. They both passed each other, but as Cora passed him, she stopped and looked back. Her heart racing so fast she was sure she would have a heart attack. Time seemed to slow down as she just watched the dark clothed man walk on. She took a deep breath and called out to him.
"Good day, Piccolo." She said, sweat forming on her brow, her heart racing even faster, she thought for a moment she was on a roller coaster.
He turned around and looked at her.
"How do you know my name?" he asked, walking a little towards her.
She swallowed hard and answered him finally with a deep breath.
"I would know you if you where in human form, Namekian."
Piccolo's eyes went wide and he just stood there for a full minute in shock.
"Don't look so shocked. I mean you no harm and your secret will be safe with me. I am of fae of this Earth and I keep to my word," she said with a bow and took off the hood.
"How can I really trust you?" he asked, with a bit of a growl.
"I know where you come from, you come from Chikyuu, another form of this Earth. You are from the Zetto team and you are a Namek. I do not know why you are here, but if you tell me, you and I can be of great help to each other."
Piccolo just stood there even longer, he wasn't sure if he could really trust this human woman and if he did, he would have to show her what he looked like underneath all that dark fabric. From under the hooded vale he looked at her sternly, glaring in so much surprise, he could kill her in one blow if he wanted to.
"You wouldn't kill me, cause you know damn good that if I die, who else could you trust to get you around this country or for that matter other places in this world," she added, her voice trembling.
From that, he removed the dark vale like mask and walked up to her a bit closer, the sun that could shine through the clouds, highlighted his chin and mouth only, the rest of him hidden from the darkness of the hood. She smiled a bit, now calm, but then again not calm. She stayed on heightened alert for anything to come her way from Piccolo. He was a very strong creature and she wasn't that strong to even put a mean blow to him.
"I guess I will have to trust you, human," he said with a long sigh. "But be warned only this time, you cross me or use me in any way for your kind, I will be sure to kill you and be on my way."
"Yes, sir," she said with a salute and bow.
"What did you do that for?" he asked.
"Just out of respect and I intend to keep your trust and respect though this whole trip," she answered, her voice finally and truly calmed. "Now tell me, why have you come to this form of Earth?" she said, as she sat down on a large rock, holding her staff tightly and ready for anything from him.
"I came her by the power of the Dragon Balls. It was very boring there for a great while and I needed to do something different, so Dende let me come here for a vacation, you could say. So far, it has been an easy trip, but then again, a hard one," he said as the wind suddenly picked up hard and fast.
"Wooo.That wind is getting really hard now. I think we need to find some shelter." Cora said, standing up and pull her hood over her head.
Piccolo nodded, "I saw a cave up in the mountains a few miles away from this spot. And it seems not to be safe to fly right now." He looked at her and smirked.
"Yeah, I know I can't fly so that is so out of the question. It doesn't bother me if I walk, I'm so used to it, I could be a horse if I wanted and me fine with that."
The two of them walked a few feet away from each other, but still close to make sure neither of them fell from the steep climb up to the cave. She looked at Piccolo's shoes and just couldn't believe it.
'How could someone walk with those kinds of shoes? They're so thin it looks, he must have very hard feet,' she thought.
"I walk more than I fly and yes I do have hard feet and I'm just used to it," he replied.
Cora stepped back a bit in surprise, but she almost had forgotten that the Namekians could read thoughts of another person and speak in telepathy. She chuckled to herself as she kept walking.
After a hard climb up the mountain a bit, they finally came to the cave, it being big enough for them both, where they could be at separate spots in the cave, but still be close to the fire if needed.
"You stay here, I'll go get some firewood." Piccolo said as he walked out the cave.
"Wait," she called out. "I haven't seen that many trees or even dried sticks here. Are you sure you can find some?" Piccolo nodded as he flew off. "Okay, but don't come bitching to me that you couldn't find anything." She said to herself.
"I will, just shut up and wait!" Piccolo rumbled out to her a few feet away from the cave.
She sat back a bit in surprise. 'Oh yeah, I forgot,' she thought with a laugh, making sure to block her thought from Piccolo. 'They have the perfect hearing. Duh.'
An hour later, Piccolo came back with a great load of wood and sticks on his back. He dropped them on one side of the cave and started to build the fire.
"Save your matches," he said as he continued to build the fire. Cora stood back a bit further against the wall of the cave, she knew what was to happen next, and he made one blast of firry energy to make the wood start up. He looked up at her, his dark black eyes staring at her. "You're still afraid of me, aren't you?"
"A bit, but I knew you were going to do that, that's why I stepped back," She said with a trembling voice. "I don't dare want to get in the line of fire around you," she smirked.
The fire now was bright and very warm; she slowly sat back down near the fire.
"Aren't you going to take off your pack?" he asked with a light smirk on his lips.
She laughed a bit as she took off her cloak and put her very large pack of camping gear on the ground by the wall of the cave.
"I haven't really rested or slept much since I started last month for this quest to find you," she said, quickly covering her mouth.
"What did you say? Did I just hear you say you knew I was here on this planet?" Piccolo growled, standing up, towering over Cora greatly. "How did you know?" His fangs barring tightly as he clenched down on his teeth at her.
Cora backed up against the cave wall, shaking hard as her heart almost stopped.
"I.I." she stammered trying desperately to speak, but she couldn't.
"Tell me now!" he yelled, the cave echoing his deep voice.
"It was a prediction! I saw you walking the countryside of Japan in the flames of my fireplace back home in New York! That's all!" she yelled back, her voice echoing around the cave louder than Piccolo's.
He stepped back a bit and sighed. Cora wasn't sure if that was enough to prove to him that it was the truth, what else could she do, but wait for his answer. He looked down on her, as she began to slide down the wall and sat down hard on the ground. He turned his back to her and leaned up against the entrance to the cave.
'She must be telling the truth. She said she knew who I was and what I was, how could it be a lie or a way to use me?' he thought, he looked back at her, his eyes glaring, he growled and turned to her. "I believe you," he finally answered, Cora taking in a deep breath of relief.
"Thank God, thank Kami," she whispered softly to herself, Piccolo hearing it though. She looked up at him and hoped she was being with him for the right reasons that the shaman said.
"What is your name?" he asked, finally breaking the silence in the air.
"My name is Cora, I came from over seas in New York, of America to find you and here it is, my predictions were correct. And what I'm about to tell you, I hope you don't get angry at me about it, cause it's the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God," she said looking him square in the face.
"Okay then, tell me everything you know," he said as he sat back down in front of the fire.
"But first, could you please remove your hood of your cloak?" she asked.
"Not until I see it fit."
She nodded and explained herself of her actions.
"You may not know it, but." her speech was stopped suddenly.
"About Dragonball Z, yes I know of it. My travels started in Japan last month and I saw everything of the animes. Seeing something like that just about made me sick, but they got mostly everything about the show out correctly."
"Okay, that summed that up, thanks," she continued. "Anyway, I'm a big fanatic about all kinds of anime of Japan and I studied the forms of the characters from them. Over time I was able to talk with the creators of the animes and found all the characters zodiac sign charts, planet charts, number charts and such. One night, about a month ago or so, I was sitting by my fireplace and began to see an image in the flames. I saw you, only the backside of you walking the forest countryside of Japan. I couldn't believe what I saw and to show it was real, I turned to my charts I made of the anime characters and looked for yours. I had everything of you, to your zodiac sign, colors, and personality, and from that I was able to predict us meeting or at least you coming to our Earth for a visit. As I came to notice all of this, I looked out my great window, that over looked the field, the stars were out so brightly that night, and to make it even better, it was the time of the month for the shooting stars. One group of stars fell in the form of the Dragon Balls, as if they were laid out before a Namek's feet to be summoning the Eternal Dragon. And from that, I knew it was true and I had to get started to find you."
"I saw those same stars that night," he replied.
"I had a feeling you might have."
"And I knew someone was watching them at that time, when it was morning in Japan," he said.
"That was me, I was the one watching those stars."
"Is there something else to this, that you haven't told yet?" he asked.
"Oh yes, there is actually," she began. "I started my quest in Africa and for some reason I had to go see the old shaman, he was a good friend of mine whenever I came to Africa, he passed away after I spoke with him. But when I got there, he told me about you, or at least some of you in Wise Shaman tongue that was of riddles and things. But I knew he meant you, and I had to take the path to find you, and now here I am, talking with you."
He nodded a bit and sighed, the wind whipping into the cave a bit, making the flames of the fire flicker. Cora covered herself up more with her cloak and just sat there looking at Piccolo.
"I guess that is all I have to say, do you believe me?" she asked.
"Yes, I believe you," he said as he slowly took off the hood from over his face.
Cora finally saw the truth of what he looked like in real life, not at all like the anime had portrayed him to look like. He looked a bit human around the face, hardly any lips to show, but they were there like a human's, just thin. The antenna on his head were perfect of what the artist intended and his ears were so much like an elf's but much longer and they were perfect looking. The color of his skin was almost every shade of green possible when the light hit it just right. The blackness of his eyes were pursing and deep like the dark, starless night sky. She shook her head a bit, to stop herself from looking at him so much.
"You can't be surprised, cause you've seen me before so many times," he said, smirking a bit.
"It's not that at all, I just can't help but think how handsome you really are in real life. I've only dreamed of what you may look like, but my dreams couldn't even make you look so perfect as you look right now," she said blushing a bit. Piccolo had no idea what to make of that complement at all. He just sat there with a blank took on his face.
Cora checked her watch, "It's getting late, I think we should rest for the night," she said as she unclipped her sleeping bag from the top of her camping gear pack. "And I know, you'll stay up keeping the fire going, and you don't sleep," she added, Piccolo nodding.
She took off her boots and cloak and laid them near her camping pack and climbed into the sleeping bag and zipped it up. "Good night, Piccolo, and don't worry, I can get up before dawn by myself, but for this case I think I'd like to sleep in a bit, if that's okay with you?"
"You look like you need the extra sleep. I won't bother you for some time then," he said with a very tiny smile.
"Thank you, Piccolo," she said, as she slowly fell asleep.
Piccolo, of course, stayed up all night, meditating and keeping to the fire. His thoughts were calmer now and he was able to meditate purely, he levitated above the ground a few feet as he began.
'She must be harmless, if she wasn't she would have done something to me by now. I think I will be needing her around, how else will I make it out here in this new world that I've come upon,' he thought as he opened his eyes a bit to look at her.
The next day, around nine in the morning, Piccolo went outside the cave and waited for Cora to wake up. She awake finding the campfire out and Piccolo nowhere in the cave. She quickly got off the ground and went outside.
"You don't need to worry about me, Cora, I'm not going to leave you out here alone," he said seeing her at the corner of his eye.
"So, you are alive. I was just wondering," she said as she walked back into the cave and got dressed with new clothing. "Don't come in here just yet, okay." She called out to him.
She got dressed in everything new, knowing it was very cold up in the mountains of Mongolia. She was now dressed in white wool under pants and under shirt, blue jeans with flannel inside, wool socks, a red and green patterned flannel long sleeved shirt and her rainproof black trench coat and hiking boots. She took out what was left of her food from that restaurant and ate that, the put her clock inside it and got her packs back on her back.
"Must you bring so much stuff?" Piccolo asked a bit annoyed.
"Well, you don't eat anyway, and I have to. I've got a pan for cooking, silverware, a cup, my camera, sleeping bag, a weeks worth of clothing, money when I get into towns and cities, compass, my staff, and my hand gun just in case of trouble, and my hunting knife. Luckily I had my permit to carry that gun and knife and I had proof of what I was going to do. So far, passing a few borders into other countries I've been very lucky. If they found those two things, I wouldn't be here right now, I would be in jail or something," she said. "And if you think very well that I'm going to dump any of this stuff you are so mistaken."
"Okay then, but don't come crying to me that you fell off the trail because of that heavy pack," he smirked as he walked down the mountain path, Cora following.
"Very funny, Piccolo, very funny."
'I thought so,' he said to himself.
The wind had begun to blow a bit colder than usual and both of them knew that a blizzard probably would be coming soon down upon them. Some light snow had fallen that night on the mountain, it's white patches outlining the rocks as they walked. They had walked for hours going up and down small mountains and up across plain valleys, but it was all worth it. The land was barren at times, but yet beautiful. Cora stopped a bit behind to rest, as Piccolo went on ahead of her just a mile away. He soon came upon a heard of caribou migrating across the tundra. He quickly turned back around to bring Cora with him.
She was sitting on a rock as she drank some water from her canteen; she looked up and saw Piccolo flying towards her.
"What is it?" she said as he landed in front of her.
"There's a great big heard of horned animals a mile up and I'm new here of course. I was just wondering if you knew what kinds of creatures those where?"
She got up eagerly and followed him close by. They soon came upon the heard, Cora's eyes went wide as she looked at the beasts.
Pulling Piccolo down to the ground, "Get low, you don't want a male caribou after you."
"So that's what they're called," he whispered.
"Yeah, and if you get in their way, you'll have a body full of their antlers on you for sure. It's getting close to their migrating season to go south for the winter and to mate as they come back up north," she explained, keeping a sharp eye out for any large male caribou. "Wow, aren't they beautiful?" Piccolo nodding. He had never seen such creatures on Chikyuu before and again; he was very pleased to be away from those bumbling dinosaurs.
"You know Piccolo, if you want to know something about Earth, just ask me and I'll tell you what it is or if I don't know I'll find out," she added as she looked at him.
Piccolo nodded his reply. "You know, you looked almost embarrassed to ask me, as if you would naturally know about this planet and it's inhabits. You don't have to be ashamed about that, if you didn't have me here, you would have not known what to do as you traveled."
Piccolo glared at her harshly. "I was not embarrassed!" he growled.
"Yes you were, just a bit. It's okay, I'll be here to help you out and you help me," she said, looking up at the heard. Suddenly fear came over her greatly as the most horrify thing came charging up after them. Piccolo looked up and grabbed Cora in his arms tightly as he flew upwards away from the charging male caribou, it stomping his hooves; snorting and calling out to them as if to ask for a challenge to fight.
"See what I mean? You can't get them angered, it's not good," she said as she had just realized she was up in the air. "Oh my God!" she yelled, her heart racing.
"Don't worry I'm not going to drop you," he said as he looked for a safe place to land. They finally landed about a few miles on the other side of the heard. "And also, don't worry, you have everything with you," he added as Cora check around her.
"But where's my staff?" she asked.
Piccolo opened up his dark cloak to reveal the staff inside. "I picked it up after you dropped it when we took off away from the heard," he said handing it to her. "It's a very nice piece of wood, if could be used to defend yourself you know."
"Thank you, and yes I do know that, that's why I found it when I got to Russia," she said as she stood there looking where they were. She pulled out her compass and looked around. "Well, we are in the direction of West, why don't we hike around Russia for a bit and get out of this barren land of Mongolia, or would you rather stay here for a bit longer and see if we can find some natives. Maybe you would like to learn about these kinds of people."
"Well, why not, I'm mostly here to learn about this planet and everyone in Chikyuu is waiting for me to come back and tell them everything."
"Yeah, I bet," she smiled. "How long are you here on Earth anyway?"
"Until the Dragon Balls are regenerated."
"That will take a full year on Chikyuu, right?"
"Yes, I'll be here for a full year or a bit more."
"That will be plenty of time to travel all around this Earth, plenty of time," she smiled thinking of what could happen while they traveled together.
Piccolo looked out around him and smelled the air a bit, the air crisp and cold.
"I think we should walk a few more miles, going West like you suggested and bed down early tonight. I sense there will be a blizzard tonight," he said as he began to walk a bit ahead of her, Cora following very quickly behind.
About five or more miles, they came across a river that had fish in it. Cora stopped and took out her hunting knife and patently waited for a fish to swim by, Piccolo looked back and just watched her. Not long after, she slammed the knife into the river water and came up with a nicely sized fish at the end of her long knife.
"Ha! I knew I could do it," she said, putting the fish on the ground and cutting its head off with one blow. "Ahhh.that water's freezing!" she screamed as she tried to warm up her hands.
"Now we really have to hurry to find shelter or you might get sick."
"Nope not me, I've been in worse places, even in Africa. I'm fairly immune to most illnesses that are commonly cured. I've had all my shoots too," she said as she wrapped the fish in some butcher paper that she had in her pack. "And don't worry, I know how to cook anything. I learned most of my stuff from the shaman."
"He must have taught you well then," he added.
"Yes he sure did," she said getting up off the cold ground and walking towards Piccolo. "Shall we continue?" He nodded and they were on their way to finding shelter.
A few more miles and they came upon another cave, it being close to the ground and very dry, laid with dried leaves and sticks for bedding.
Cora pulled at his cloak to stop him from going in too far. "What are you doing?" he growled angrily. "I'm getting really tired of you pulling at me like this."
"It's best I do not speak, for that is a bear's cave and I can smell him. Back away slowly, please, Piccolo," she said very concerned. "You see those bones right at the entrance?" he nodded as he looked. "The way they are placed is how you can tell it's a bear, and how the bedding it placed inside too. Bend down to the ground of the cave and smell it, and tell me how it smells to you," she said looking all around her, her eyes scanning the land for bears.
Piccolo bent down and smelled the ground, his nose twitching at the hard sent. "It smells dirty and strong."
"That's the smell of a bear, particularly a brown bear of Asia. I think we should get out of here now, Piccolo," she said, he nodded in reply. "Hush, don't move or make a sound and listen well to what you can hear." She said as she heard the faint sound of a brown-bear near by making the snorting sound of a warning. Piccolo got up and looked around, he too could hear it, but much clearer.
"I think he smells the fish you carry with you. Drop the fish and well leave very soon." He said, spotting the bear very close over a hill. Cora up folded the fish from the wrapper and left it.
"Man, after that easy catch I have to leave it for that bear. That sucks!" she said, as she made sure she had all her things with her. Piccolo looked at Cora and nodded.
"You're lucky you are not that heavy, even with that pack," he smirked as he picked Cora up in both hands.
"I'll just pretend I never heard that okay," she said as Piccolo took off just as the bear began to charge after there. As he flew away from the bear, they both looked back, seeing the bear eating the fish quickly.
"We need to find shelter and quickly," Piccolo added.
He flew for just a little bit until he came upon a group of natives outside their hut. He landed quickly, hoping that non of them saw him fly with Cora in his arms.
"Well, now you get a chance to see some Mongolian people," Cora said as she looked over the hill. "We might as well go over there and ask for a night in their house." Piccolo followed her closely, making sure he was covered up from their sight, but his eyes were showing through the cloak.
They soon came to the hut, and what looked to be the leader of this small group came up to greet them, but then again, it wasn't that much a nice greeting.
"Do you know their language, Cora?" Piccolo whispered.
"Nope, but I can try and hope for someone in the group that speaks some English."
With some effort, Cora tried to talk with them the best she could to get some shelter for the night. After a long talk, the leader of the group of ten people, let Piccolo and Cora sleep in the hut, but for only that one night and they had to leave early in the morning. Cora and Piccolo didn't rest well that night, fearing that the people would get suspicious of them, but soon Cora finally slept and Piccolo laid down to make himself appear to be sleeping, but of course he wasn't.
The next morning, Cora woke up, her stomach rumbling loudly with hunger. Hearing the growl, one of the women of the group prepared some food for them. Cora bowed a thank you and ate slowly, making sure not to make herself sick. She turned to Piccolo, who was sitting up looking around him.
Leaning over to him, "You better eat anyway to show you are pleased to have stayed here," she whispered to him, Piccolo pulling his hood over his face and taking off the vale, he took the food and ate it just to shut Cora up. Soon after, both of them got their things and were on their way to Russia going west.
"Did I say something wrong?" Piccolo asked.
"In a way you did. In this world you have to bid by what the hell I say to you or I can leave you here to die or get killed by some wild animal. What I say goes okay, and what happened there this morning, I just about wanted to smack you across the face. They were kind a nice to give us a place to sleep for the night and you eat that food like you hated it. You better hope that the next time we come across a small group of natives like that, you act nicer okay," she stammered at him, she turned back and saw Piccolo standing there a little ways from her. She ran back, hoping she didn't make him angry.
"I know you are new here, but you have to swallow your damn pride and get over yourself or you will die out here in this world. I know more than you do out here and without me, you will be nothing and you will come back, either hurt, with nothing interesting to tell your friends back at Chikyuu or you will come back to them dead. I very well would not like to hear that they brought you back by the Dragon Balls and found you dead on the ground, okay? How more plainer do you want me to explain this to you?"
Piccolo took off his hood and vale and looked at her sternly, he stood their saying nothing, but what Cora could see on his face, she knew he wasn't happy what she told him, and he was a bit hurt by it, but she wasn't sure if she could see it on him or not.
"I'm so sorry, Piccolo, to have told you in such a way, but it's the truth and you need to realize that and if you don't, I hate to part ways right here," she said as a tear welted up in her eyes.
Swallowing hard, "This isn't easy for me you know to say this, but." he began pausing a bit. "I have been a bit hard, haven't I?" She nodded slowly. "I'm just used to taking my own way of control on things. You are right, Cora, I need to trust you and learn from you. I'd hate to come back to Chikyuu with nothing much to tell them or be dead."
Cora looked deep into his black eyes and wasn't sure if she saw tears in his eyes or not.
"It's okay, Piccolo, no matter what we argue about between each other, I will not leave you behind. Just like what you said to me, 'I won't drop you or leave you here," she said smiling, Piccolo giving bit of a smile back. "Let's get going now. It looks like it's going to be a nice day out," she added as she looked up at the sky, the sky showing a little bit of blue in between the clouds.
They both walked side by side though the rest of Mongolia. Seeing many new things like gray Siberian foxes, more caribou, crows, rabbits, and big birds of prey. As they traveled through this land, Cora told him everything she could about what animals were what and about the plants around them.
Cora wasn't sure, but she thought for once she heard Piccolo laughing a little at what they talked about. She sighed softly to herself, as she knew she was in the right place finally in this world. She knew the great journeys ahead would be tough and easy at the same time. They would go through everything together and then some. It was to be the most exciting journey both of them would ever take.
Another's Journey"
Part 3:
"The Meeting"
Piccolo and Cora had traveled only in a month's time through two countries each just about. Piccolo traveled by land most of the way and a few times by boat. Cora traveled mostly by land, and by a few plane trips, but both made great time, even though it didn't seem geographically possible for them to travel so quickly over great amounts of land.
The weather got a bit colder in China, and Piccolo knew a blizzard was coming soon up in the mountains. If he didn't make it over the boarder soon, he would be caught in China a few days extra. Seeing his way safely through the forest with hardly any humans around, he took flight over the Great Khingan Mountain Range. Some snow had fallen on the mountain peaks as he flew overhead. The cold air on his face didn't bother him one bit. He was so used to all kinds of weather, that he thought nothing would be so different here on this planet, it was so much, it seemed to him, like Chikyuu, but then again it wasn't.
Cora on the other hand, had a tougher time walking over the mountains she had come upon. It too was cold and she too feared a blizzard coming soon. But she had to push on, she wasn't that far from Mongolia anyway, and to rest was almost to be foolish. If she had at least a little, she might have gotten caught in the storm of snow.
'Winter, must be coming sooner this year,' she thought as she trekked on and upwards. The mountain air was starting to get thin as she moved up higher. 'I can't go on like this. I have to go back a bit and walk around the mountains or at least try to find a safer, much easier way there.' She said as she began back down the mountain. Not long did it take her to get to the bottom, where she found what looked like a warned down path, a flat path at that. She took that, and found that she could walk much faster. She stopped and looked back at the mountain as she took a drink from her water canteen. 'Wow, how could I have wanted to go up that? I must be crazy or at least desperate.' She thought as she looked ahead of her. She could see that the path took her completely around the mountains, but how could this be, she never saw it there before? Shrugging what happened, she kept going, almost nonstop.
Piccolo now found himself over the boarder of China and into Mongolia. He flew behind a mountain and started to walk down it over the boarder to this new country. He stopped for a moment and looked out over the cliffs, the wind blowing his cloak in all directions. He sighed and started on his way again down the peaks.
Walking finally on soft, flat ground he finally made it to Mongolia it only taking an hours time. He sat down and rested, meditating, the wind calming him a bit, as if Earth was talking to him in gentle whispers. But his meditating state was quickly interrupted as his ears flicked a bit as he heard a rumbling above him. He looked up and flew off just in time as a rockslide just about came down on him.
"That was close," he said as he floated there in the air, watching the rocks tumbling. He landed a mile away from the rockslide and found, what he hoped, a safer place to meditate. He sat near a tree and closed his eyes. Again the wind blew past his ears as the Earth spoke to him you could say. He sighed a bit as he finally calmed down.
'I've traveled so far and so quickly. So, why have I come to this country?' he asked, as millions of thought crossed his mind. 'Was I meant to come here?'
He growled a bit, finding his mind that was racing with great thought, making him unable to calm down and meditate properly. He sighed and opened his eyes and just laid back against the tree looking around him, some caribou grazing near by in a great field opening, with no care in the world that Piccolo, one of the strongest Zetto team fighters was there. They did sense his power, but knew he wouldn't hurt them.
'I've never seen creatures like these on Chikyuu. They look better than those stupid dinosaurs,' he thought as he remembered what those blubbering fat things looked like. 'It sure is good to be away from those dinosaurs too,' he chuckled a bit. He took a drink from his water canteen as two male caribou began to spare against each other for a mate or territory borders.
He looked at what he could of where the sun was and only found it covered up by too many clouds, he got up and went on his way once more, taking flight over the land. He found himself taking his time, unlike before. That didn't bother him, he began to relax more than usual and enjoy his trip more and more every day.
Cora had finally after many hours, found herself at the Mongolian border. She showed the border patrolman her passport and he let her through.
'Wow, I must be lucky or something,' she thought as she kept on walking. She stepped off her path and found a tree branch that was big enough to be a staff. She grabbed it and began to flip it around her a bit.
The wind suddenly picked up and brought with it the smell of something that wasn't normal to the land. She smelled the air and wide eyed just about couldn't believe it.
'This can't be who I think it is?' she thought as she walked. 'I have no clue what his body sent smells like, so how in the world would I know in the first place. But that smell is so different than what I've smelled before.'
She walked a few more miles until she found a fallen tree to sit on. She took out her carving knife and began to trim the twig branches from the staff. Soon she had herself a nice, strong staff to walk with for balance. She took off her cloak and spun the staff around her hands a bit, trying to get the feel of the wood and the weight of it.
"This will do nicely," she said as she put her cloak back on and hooded herself.
Piccolo landed on the ground, and walked the rest of the time. He walked for many miles until he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He felt a strange energy coming over the hill in front of him. The power was of this planet and strong at that, magically put most of it.
'It's probably just another power I feel from this land,' he thought as he walked on over the hill.
Cora on the other side of the path looked up at the man in dark clothing in front of her. They both passed each other, but as Cora passed him, she stopped and looked back. Her heart racing so fast she was sure she would have a heart attack. Time seemed to slow down as she just watched the dark clothed man walk on. She took a deep breath and called out to him.
"Good day, Piccolo." She said, sweat forming on her brow, her heart racing even faster, she thought for a moment she was on a roller coaster.
He turned around and looked at her.
"How do you know my name?" he asked, walking a little towards her.
She swallowed hard and answered him finally with a deep breath.
"I would know you if you where in human form, Namekian."
Piccolo's eyes went wide and he just stood there for a full minute in shock.
"Don't look so shocked. I mean you no harm and your secret will be safe with me. I am of fae of this Earth and I keep to my word," she said with a bow and took off the hood.
"How can I really trust you?" he asked, with a bit of a growl.
"I know where you come from, you come from Chikyuu, another form of this Earth. You are from the Zetto team and you are a Namek. I do not know why you are here, but if you tell me, you and I can be of great help to each other."
Piccolo just stood there even longer, he wasn't sure if he could really trust this human woman and if he did, he would have to show her what he looked like underneath all that dark fabric. From under the hooded vale he looked at her sternly, glaring in so much surprise, he could kill her in one blow if he wanted to.
"You wouldn't kill me, cause you know damn good that if I die, who else could you trust to get you around this country or for that matter other places in this world," she added, her voice trembling.
From that, he removed the dark vale like mask and walked up to her a bit closer, the sun that could shine through the clouds, highlighted his chin and mouth only, the rest of him hidden from the darkness of the hood. She smiled a bit, now calm, but then again not calm. She stayed on heightened alert for anything to come her way from Piccolo. He was a very strong creature and she wasn't that strong to even put a mean blow to him.
"I guess I will have to trust you, human," he said with a long sigh. "But be warned only this time, you cross me or use me in any way for your kind, I will be sure to kill you and be on my way."
"Yes, sir," she said with a salute and bow.
"What did you do that for?" he asked.
"Just out of respect and I intend to keep your trust and respect though this whole trip," she answered, her voice finally and truly calmed. "Now tell me, why have you come to this form of Earth?" she said, as she sat down on a large rock, holding her staff tightly and ready for anything from him.
"I came her by the power of the Dragon Balls. It was very boring there for a great while and I needed to do something different, so Dende let me come here for a vacation, you could say. So far, it has been an easy trip, but then again, a hard one," he said as the wind suddenly picked up hard and fast.
"Wooo.That wind is getting really hard now. I think we need to find some shelter." Cora said, standing up and pull her hood over her head.
Piccolo nodded, "I saw a cave up in the mountains a few miles away from this spot. And it seems not to be safe to fly right now." He looked at her and smirked.
"Yeah, I know I can't fly so that is so out of the question. It doesn't bother me if I walk, I'm so used to it, I could be a horse if I wanted and me fine with that."
The two of them walked a few feet away from each other, but still close to make sure neither of them fell from the steep climb up to the cave. She looked at Piccolo's shoes and just couldn't believe it.
'How could someone walk with those kinds of shoes? They're so thin it looks, he must have very hard feet,' she thought.
"I walk more than I fly and yes I do have hard feet and I'm just used to it," he replied.
Cora stepped back a bit in surprise, but she almost had forgotten that the Namekians could read thoughts of another person and speak in telepathy. She chuckled to herself as she kept walking.
After a hard climb up the mountain a bit, they finally came to the cave, it being big enough for them both, where they could be at separate spots in the cave, but still be close to the fire if needed.
"You stay here, I'll go get some firewood." Piccolo said as he walked out the cave.
"Wait," she called out. "I haven't seen that many trees or even dried sticks here. Are you sure you can find some?" Piccolo nodded as he flew off. "Okay, but don't come bitching to me that you couldn't find anything." She said to herself.
"I will, just shut up and wait!" Piccolo rumbled out to her a few feet away from the cave.
She sat back a bit in surprise. 'Oh yeah, I forgot,' she thought with a laugh, making sure to block her thought from Piccolo. 'They have the perfect hearing. Duh.'
An hour later, Piccolo came back with a great load of wood and sticks on his back. He dropped them on one side of the cave and started to build the fire.
"Save your matches," he said as he continued to build the fire. Cora stood back a bit further against the wall of the cave, she knew what was to happen next, and he made one blast of firry energy to make the wood start up. He looked up at her, his dark black eyes staring at her. "You're still afraid of me, aren't you?"
"A bit, but I knew you were going to do that, that's why I stepped back," She said with a trembling voice. "I don't dare want to get in the line of fire around you," she smirked.
The fire now was bright and very warm; she slowly sat back down near the fire.
"Aren't you going to take off your pack?" he asked with a light smirk on his lips.
She laughed a bit as she took off her cloak and put her very large pack of camping gear on the ground by the wall of the cave.
"I haven't really rested or slept much since I started last month for this quest to find you," she said, quickly covering her mouth.
"What did you say? Did I just hear you say you knew I was here on this planet?" Piccolo growled, standing up, towering over Cora greatly. "How did you know?" His fangs barring tightly as he clenched down on his teeth at her.
Cora backed up against the cave wall, shaking hard as her heart almost stopped.
"I.I." she stammered trying desperately to speak, but she couldn't.
"Tell me now!" he yelled, the cave echoing his deep voice.
"It was a prediction! I saw you walking the countryside of Japan in the flames of my fireplace back home in New York! That's all!" she yelled back, her voice echoing around the cave louder than Piccolo's.
He stepped back a bit and sighed. Cora wasn't sure if that was enough to prove to him that it was the truth, what else could she do, but wait for his answer. He looked down on her, as she began to slide down the wall and sat down hard on the ground. He turned his back to her and leaned up against the entrance to the cave.
'She must be telling the truth. She said she knew who I was and what I was, how could it be a lie or a way to use me?' he thought, he looked back at her, his eyes glaring, he growled and turned to her. "I believe you," he finally answered, Cora taking in a deep breath of relief.
"Thank God, thank Kami," she whispered softly to herself, Piccolo hearing it though. She looked up at him and hoped she was being with him for the right reasons that the shaman said.
"What is your name?" he asked, finally breaking the silence in the air.
"My name is Cora, I came from over seas in New York, of America to find you and here it is, my predictions were correct. And what I'm about to tell you, I hope you don't get angry at me about it, cause it's the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God," she said looking him square in the face.
"Okay then, tell me everything you know," he said as he sat back down in front of the fire.
"But first, could you please remove your hood of your cloak?" she asked.
"Not until I see it fit."
She nodded and explained herself of her actions.
"You may not know it, but." her speech was stopped suddenly.
"About Dragonball Z, yes I know of it. My travels started in Japan last month and I saw everything of the animes. Seeing something like that just about made me sick, but they got mostly everything about the show out correctly."
"Okay, that summed that up, thanks," she continued. "Anyway, I'm a big fanatic about all kinds of anime of Japan and I studied the forms of the characters from them. Over time I was able to talk with the creators of the animes and found all the characters zodiac sign charts, planet charts, number charts and such. One night, about a month ago or so, I was sitting by my fireplace and began to see an image in the flames. I saw you, only the backside of you walking the forest countryside of Japan. I couldn't believe what I saw and to show it was real, I turned to my charts I made of the anime characters and looked for yours. I had everything of you, to your zodiac sign, colors, and personality, and from that I was able to predict us meeting or at least you coming to our Earth for a visit. As I came to notice all of this, I looked out my great window, that over looked the field, the stars were out so brightly that night, and to make it even better, it was the time of the month for the shooting stars. One group of stars fell in the form of the Dragon Balls, as if they were laid out before a Namek's feet to be summoning the Eternal Dragon. And from that, I knew it was true and I had to get started to find you."
"I saw those same stars that night," he replied.
"I had a feeling you might have."
"And I knew someone was watching them at that time, when it was morning in Japan," he said.
"That was me, I was the one watching those stars."
"Is there something else to this, that you haven't told yet?" he asked.
"Oh yes, there is actually," she began. "I started my quest in Africa and for some reason I had to go see the old shaman, he was a good friend of mine whenever I came to Africa, he passed away after I spoke with him. But when I got there, he told me about you, or at least some of you in Wise Shaman tongue that was of riddles and things. But I knew he meant you, and I had to take the path to find you, and now here I am, talking with you."
He nodded a bit and sighed, the wind whipping into the cave a bit, making the flames of the fire flicker. Cora covered herself up more with her cloak and just sat there looking at Piccolo.
"I guess that is all I have to say, do you believe me?" she asked.
"Yes, I believe you," he said as he slowly took off the hood from over his face.
Cora finally saw the truth of what he looked like in real life, not at all like the anime had portrayed him to look like. He looked a bit human around the face, hardly any lips to show, but they were there like a human's, just thin. The antenna on his head were perfect of what the artist intended and his ears were so much like an elf's but much longer and they were perfect looking. The color of his skin was almost every shade of green possible when the light hit it just right. The blackness of his eyes were pursing and deep like the dark, starless night sky. She shook her head a bit, to stop herself from looking at him so much.
"You can't be surprised, cause you've seen me before so many times," he said, smirking a bit.
"It's not that at all, I just can't help but think how handsome you really are in real life. I've only dreamed of what you may look like, but my dreams couldn't even make you look so perfect as you look right now," she said blushing a bit. Piccolo had no idea what to make of that complement at all. He just sat there with a blank took on his face.
Cora checked her watch, "It's getting late, I think we should rest for the night," she said as she unclipped her sleeping bag from the top of her camping gear pack. "And I know, you'll stay up keeping the fire going, and you don't sleep," she added, Piccolo nodding.
She took off her boots and cloak and laid them near her camping pack and climbed into the sleeping bag and zipped it up. "Good night, Piccolo, and don't worry, I can get up before dawn by myself, but for this case I think I'd like to sleep in a bit, if that's okay with you?"
"You look like you need the extra sleep. I won't bother you for some time then," he said with a very tiny smile.
"Thank you, Piccolo," she said, as she slowly fell asleep.
Piccolo, of course, stayed up all night, meditating and keeping to the fire. His thoughts were calmer now and he was able to meditate purely, he levitated above the ground a few feet as he began.
'She must be harmless, if she wasn't she would have done something to me by now. I think I will be needing her around, how else will I make it out here in this new world that I've come upon,' he thought as he opened his eyes a bit to look at her.
The next day, around nine in the morning, Piccolo went outside the cave and waited for Cora to wake up. She awake finding the campfire out and Piccolo nowhere in the cave. She quickly got off the ground and went outside.
"You don't need to worry about me, Cora, I'm not going to leave you out here alone," he said seeing her at the corner of his eye.
"So, you are alive. I was just wondering," she said as she walked back into the cave and got dressed with new clothing. "Don't come in here just yet, okay." She called out to him.
She got dressed in everything new, knowing it was very cold up in the mountains of Mongolia. She was now dressed in white wool under pants and under shirt, blue jeans with flannel inside, wool socks, a red and green patterned flannel long sleeved shirt and her rainproof black trench coat and hiking boots. She took out what was left of her food from that restaurant and ate that, the put her clock inside it and got her packs back on her back.
"Must you bring so much stuff?" Piccolo asked a bit annoyed.
"Well, you don't eat anyway, and I have to. I've got a pan for cooking, silverware, a cup, my camera, sleeping bag, a weeks worth of clothing, money when I get into towns and cities, compass, my staff, and my hand gun just in case of trouble, and my hunting knife. Luckily I had my permit to carry that gun and knife and I had proof of what I was going to do. So far, passing a few borders into other countries I've been very lucky. If they found those two things, I wouldn't be here right now, I would be in jail or something," she said. "And if you think very well that I'm going to dump any of this stuff you are so mistaken."
"Okay then, but don't come crying to me that you fell off the trail because of that heavy pack," he smirked as he walked down the mountain path, Cora following.
"Very funny, Piccolo, very funny."
'I thought so,' he said to himself.
The wind had begun to blow a bit colder than usual and both of them knew that a blizzard probably would be coming soon down upon them. Some light snow had fallen that night on the mountain, it's white patches outlining the rocks as they walked. They had walked for hours going up and down small mountains and up across plain valleys, but it was all worth it. The land was barren at times, but yet beautiful. Cora stopped a bit behind to rest, as Piccolo went on ahead of her just a mile away. He soon came upon a heard of caribou migrating across the tundra. He quickly turned back around to bring Cora with him.
She was sitting on a rock as she drank some water from her canteen; she looked up and saw Piccolo flying towards her.
"What is it?" she said as he landed in front of her.
"There's a great big heard of horned animals a mile up and I'm new here of course. I was just wondering if you knew what kinds of creatures those where?"
She got up eagerly and followed him close by. They soon came upon the heard, Cora's eyes went wide as she looked at the beasts.
Pulling Piccolo down to the ground, "Get low, you don't want a male caribou after you."
"So that's what they're called," he whispered.
"Yeah, and if you get in their way, you'll have a body full of their antlers on you for sure. It's getting close to their migrating season to go south for the winter and to mate as they come back up north," she explained, keeping a sharp eye out for any large male caribou. "Wow, aren't they beautiful?" Piccolo nodding. He had never seen such creatures on Chikyuu before and again; he was very pleased to be away from those bumbling dinosaurs.
"You know Piccolo, if you want to know something about Earth, just ask me and I'll tell you what it is or if I don't know I'll find out," she added as she looked at him.
Piccolo nodded his reply. "You know, you looked almost embarrassed to ask me, as if you would naturally know about this planet and it's inhabits. You don't have to be ashamed about that, if you didn't have me here, you would have not known what to do as you traveled."
Piccolo glared at her harshly. "I was not embarrassed!" he growled.
"Yes you were, just a bit. It's okay, I'll be here to help you out and you help me," she said, looking up at the heard. Suddenly fear came over her greatly as the most horrify thing came charging up after them. Piccolo looked up and grabbed Cora in his arms tightly as he flew upwards away from the charging male caribou, it stomping his hooves; snorting and calling out to them as if to ask for a challenge to fight.
"See what I mean? You can't get them angered, it's not good," she said as she had just realized she was up in the air. "Oh my God!" she yelled, her heart racing.
"Don't worry I'm not going to drop you," he said as he looked for a safe place to land. They finally landed about a few miles on the other side of the heard. "And also, don't worry, you have everything with you," he added as Cora check around her.
"But where's my staff?" she asked.
Piccolo opened up his dark cloak to reveal the staff inside. "I picked it up after you dropped it when we took off away from the heard," he said handing it to her. "It's a very nice piece of wood, if could be used to defend yourself you know."
"Thank you, and yes I do know that, that's why I found it when I got to Russia," she said as she stood there looking where they were. She pulled out her compass and looked around. "Well, we are in the direction of West, why don't we hike around Russia for a bit and get out of this barren land of Mongolia, or would you rather stay here for a bit longer and see if we can find some natives. Maybe you would like to learn about these kinds of people."
"Well, why not, I'm mostly here to learn about this planet and everyone in Chikyuu is waiting for me to come back and tell them everything."
"Yeah, I bet," she smiled. "How long are you here on Earth anyway?"
"Until the Dragon Balls are regenerated."
"That will take a full year on Chikyuu, right?"
"Yes, I'll be here for a full year or a bit more."
"That will be plenty of time to travel all around this Earth, plenty of time," she smiled thinking of what could happen while they traveled together.
Piccolo looked out around him and smelled the air a bit, the air crisp and cold.
"I think we should walk a few more miles, going West like you suggested and bed down early tonight. I sense there will be a blizzard tonight," he said as he began to walk a bit ahead of her, Cora following very quickly behind.
About five or more miles, they came across a river that had fish in it. Cora stopped and took out her hunting knife and patently waited for a fish to swim by, Piccolo looked back and just watched her. Not long after, she slammed the knife into the river water and came up with a nicely sized fish at the end of her long knife.
"Ha! I knew I could do it," she said, putting the fish on the ground and cutting its head off with one blow. "Ahhh.that water's freezing!" she screamed as she tried to warm up her hands.
"Now we really have to hurry to find shelter or you might get sick."
"Nope not me, I've been in worse places, even in Africa. I'm fairly immune to most illnesses that are commonly cured. I've had all my shoots too," she said as she wrapped the fish in some butcher paper that she had in her pack. "And don't worry, I know how to cook anything. I learned most of my stuff from the shaman."
"He must have taught you well then," he added.
"Yes he sure did," she said getting up off the cold ground and walking towards Piccolo. "Shall we continue?" He nodded and they were on their way to finding shelter.
A few more miles and they came upon another cave, it being close to the ground and very dry, laid with dried leaves and sticks for bedding.
Cora pulled at his cloak to stop him from going in too far. "What are you doing?" he growled angrily. "I'm getting really tired of you pulling at me like this."
"It's best I do not speak, for that is a bear's cave and I can smell him. Back away slowly, please, Piccolo," she said very concerned. "You see those bones right at the entrance?" he nodded as he looked. "The way they are placed is how you can tell it's a bear, and how the bedding it placed inside too. Bend down to the ground of the cave and smell it, and tell me how it smells to you," she said looking all around her, her eyes scanning the land for bears.
Piccolo bent down and smelled the ground, his nose twitching at the hard sent. "It smells dirty and strong."
"That's the smell of a bear, particularly a brown bear of Asia. I think we should get out of here now, Piccolo," she said, he nodded in reply. "Hush, don't move or make a sound and listen well to what you can hear." She said as she heard the faint sound of a brown-bear near by making the snorting sound of a warning. Piccolo got up and looked around, he too could hear it, but much clearer.
"I think he smells the fish you carry with you. Drop the fish and well leave very soon." He said, spotting the bear very close over a hill. Cora up folded the fish from the wrapper and left it.
"Man, after that easy catch I have to leave it for that bear. That sucks!" she said, as she made sure she had all her things with her. Piccolo looked at Cora and nodded.
"You're lucky you are not that heavy, even with that pack," he smirked as he picked Cora up in both hands.
"I'll just pretend I never heard that okay," she said as Piccolo took off just as the bear began to charge after there. As he flew away from the bear, they both looked back, seeing the bear eating the fish quickly.
"We need to find shelter and quickly," Piccolo added.
He flew for just a little bit until he came upon a group of natives outside their hut. He landed quickly, hoping that non of them saw him fly with Cora in his arms.
"Well, now you get a chance to see some Mongolian people," Cora said as she looked over the hill. "We might as well go over there and ask for a night in their house." Piccolo followed her closely, making sure he was covered up from their sight, but his eyes were showing through the cloak.
They soon came to the hut, and what looked to be the leader of this small group came up to greet them, but then again, it wasn't that much a nice greeting.
"Do you know their language, Cora?" Piccolo whispered.
"Nope, but I can try and hope for someone in the group that speaks some English."
With some effort, Cora tried to talk with them the best she could to get some shelter for the night. After a long talk, the leader of the group of ten people, let Piccolo and Cora sleep in the hut, but for only that one night and they had to leave early in the morning. Cora and Piccolo didn't rest well that night, fearing that the people would get suspicious of them, but soon Cora finally slept and Piccolo laid down to make himself appear to be sleeping, but of course he wasn't.
The next morning, Cora woke up, her stomach rumbling loudly with hunger. Hearing the growl, one of the women of the group prepared some food for them. Cora bowed a thank you and ate slowly, making sure not to make herself sick. She turned to Piccolo, who was sitting up looking around him.
Leaning over to him, "You better eat anyway to show you are pleased to have stayed here," she whispered to him, Piccolo pulling his hood over his face and taking off the vale, he took the food and ate it just to shut Cora up. Soon after, both of them got their things and were on their way to Russia going west.
"Did I say something wrong?" Piccolo asked.
"In a way you did. In this world you have to bid by what the hell I say to you or I can leave you here to die or get killed by some wild animal. What I say goes okay, and what happened there this morning, I just about wanted to smack you across the face. They were kind a nice to give us a place to sleep for the night and you eat that food like you hated it. You better hope that the next time we come across a small group of natives like that, you act nicer okay," she stammered at him, she turned back and saw Piccolo standing there a little ways from her. She ran back, hoping she didn't make him angry.
"I know you are new here, but you have to swallow your damn pride and get over yourself or you will die out here in this world. I know more than you do out here and without me, you will be nothing and you will come back, either hurt, with nothing interesting to tell your friends back at Chikyuu or you will come back to them dead. I very well would not like to hear that they brought you back by the Dragon Balls and found you dead on the ground, okay? How more plainer do you want me to explain this to you?"
Piccolo took off his hood and vale and looked at her sternly, he stood their saying nothing, but what Cora could see on his face, she knew he wasn't happy what she told him, and he was a bit hurt by it, but she wasn't sure if she could see it on him or not.
"I'm so sorry, Piccolo, to have told you in such a way, but it's the truth and you need to realize that and if you don't, I hate to part ways right here," she said as a tear welted up in her eyes.
Swallowing hard, "This isn't easy for me you know to say this, but." he began pausing a bit. "I have been a bit hard, haven't I?" She nodded slowly. "I'm just used to taking my own way of control on things. You are right, Cora, I need to trust you and learn from you. I'd hate to come back to Chikyuu with nothing much to tell them or be dead."
Cora looked deep into his black eyes and wasn't sure if she saw tears in his eyes or not.
"It's okay, Piccolo, no matter what we argue about between each other, I will not leave you behind. Just like what you said to me, 'I won't drop you or leave you here," she said smiling, Piccolo giving bit of a smile back. "Let's get going now. It looks like it's going to be a nice day out," she added as she looked up at the sky, the sky showing a little bit of blue in between the clouds.
They both walked side by side though the rest of Mongolia. Seeing many new things like gray Siberian foxes, more caribou, crows, rabbits, and big birds of prey. As they traveled through this land, Cora told him everything she could about what animals were what and about the plants around them.
Cora wasn't sure, but she thought for once she heard Piccolo laughing a little at what they talked about. She sighed softly to herself, as she knew she was in the right place finally in this world. She knew the great journeys ahead would be tough and easy at the same time. They would go through everything together and then some. It was to be the most exciting journey both of them would ever take.
