…Of Secrecy
"Keeping away from others
Can be the only way to protect yourself…"
Tamashii sat with her back against a tree; it looked like a careless position, but in reality, it was logical. No one could sneak up on her if she had her back to a tree. Not that they could sneak up on her anyway. Her eyes were closed, but she was very alert, paying attention to every movement, every sound. Nothing escaped her. She felt, even before the others, the boy's time machine, for she knew already that that was what it had to be from talking to him telepathically an hour or so before. "He's here," she said flatly. Her voice betrayed none of her anxiety. If he had felt her lying in those few moments that her mind had been inside his, all hell could break loose. It was not a good idea to lie in your mind when you spoke telepathically; if the person you were "speaking" to figured it out, it could be very difficult to get them to trust you again. Of course, that all depended on whether they had trusted you in the first place. If not, then you'd have one hell of a time getting them to trust you at all.
They stood to greet the strange man. She crossed her arms and stood with a strange look on her face. She didn't look necessarily angry, and definitely not worried, more like…solemn. And perhaps sad. Definitely sad. Depressed? One might have said that. He's so lucky, she thought, her thought barely more than a whisper in the dark corners of her mind. She had caught glimpses of sadness in "his" mind. Trunks. The name had an odd sound to it. The thoughts she had managed to catch in his mind without actually prying were brief, but she had seen the androids, and she had seen an oddly colored woman. Her hair, anyway. Her hair had been gray, but it had faint traces of both lavender—the color of the boy's, as she had gotten it from "speaking" to him—and aqua. She guessed that the woman was Trunks' mother; only a very few people had that color hair. When she spoke to someone "that way," she got a picture of them in her mind, a kind of visual phone, her mother had explained it. She had seen a young man with a fierce scowl of confusion, short lavender hair, and sad blue eyes. You also got, when you spoke that way, a brief, fuzzy view of what that person was thinking. She had seen 17 and 18, and his mother handing him a small vial. She wasn't sure of what was in it, though she guessed that it was fairly important. At least he still has someone. I don't have anyone anymore. The tears once again built up in her eyes, but she forced herself to blink them back. Tears were for the weak. She didn't necessarily believe it, but she was afraid that if she didn't, her entire carefully constructed world would fall down around her feet, and that she would drown in her tears of pain. So she pretended to believe, pretended that she could hear her father telling her, and in some ways, she really could.
She was jolted back to the present as she heard a man gasp. Oh shit. I'm in for it now. He recognized me; I shouldn't have forgotten that he would. I should have left until later, when I could talk to him alone. Oh well. Too late now. "If you want to talk about it," she said before he could speak, "then we'll go away from the others. They don't really need to know." You don't either, but I suppose you're entitled to a little explanation. "Goku won't arrive for another ten minutes."
He stared at her, stunned. How did she know when Goku would arrive!? He nodded, though reluctant, and allowed her to lead him to an area a safe distance away, where not even the Namek, Piccolo, could hear them talk; she didn't want anyone that didn't have to to hear her.
"Who are you?" he asked again. Maybe she'd give him something besides her name this time.
"I already told you that. I'm a half-breed Saiya-jin; my name is Tamashii." Her voice held none of the almost overpowering emotions she was feeling.
"I mean, what race is the other half? How can you speak telepathically? How can you speak through different dimensions? Why did you lie to me?"
She winced at the last question, then sighed. "I'm half Samura-jin, and magic is a gift of that race. The rest of my people were exterminated long ago; I was only four, and my parents sent me away. I used magic to speak to you, and believe me, it wasn't easy. I could have done much easier it if you hadn't been time traveling. I lied to you because you didn't need to know what I didn't want to tell you. If you insist, my real name is Takara, but I don't want you to use it around the others. Is there anything else you need to know?"
He stared at her in wide-eyed awe, then pulled himself back to reality. "How do you know when and where Goku will arrive, and what dimension are you from? When you spoke to me telepathically, I saw glimpses of the androids in your mind. They haven't even been released here yet, so you can't be from here."
She silently cursed herself for her stupidity. He was a half-breed just like she was; she should have guessed that from his high, familiar power level. Of course he could catch her thoughts; although Saiya-jins couldn't contact people telepathically, they could "see" brief thoughts just like she could, unless the person contacting them had a strong mental shield. She should have put up a stronger one before contacting him. "I know where Goku will land and when because I felt him when I felt Frieza, and took a moment before following the lizard's ki to figure out when he would land and whether or not it would be soon. I decided to wait here and see him on a whim, just because I want to know whether he'll be a good sparring partner or not. I have a lot of respect for him; he was the first to reach Super Saiya-jin level in well over a thousand years. My dimension…" Her voice became choked as tears began to impede her vision. "My dimension is even worse than yours."
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AN: Konnichiwa!! I'm trying, honest!! I'm doing good! Please review and tell me if I should continue. A little cliffhanger, sorry 'bout that. I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can, I promise!! School ended on the 15th, and that's why I've been getting them so fast. I'm going places over the summer, though, so I'll try to tell you people if I won't be updating for a while. I haven't started the next chapter yet, so bear with me. Ja ne!! ^_^*