___Chapter 48___
~~NOTE- ok, every time I type Dende's name nowadays, I keep spelling it without the 'a' and since I'm getting sick of having to go correct it every time, I'll just type it Dende from now on. And ten points to whoever can guess where I got Goten's second statement! //.^ ciao ~~~
With a sigh, a pair of dark eyes opened, and as he stood up + stretched his arms, Dende knew he was bored. Construction was going nicely, with no problems after Yumcha got the job he wanted, but... still.
It was boring now that he didn't have anything to do, and since he had his strength back, the stillness was starting to get to him.
The feeling didn't last long though, as something behind him he hadn't noticed before jumped him. Dende opened his mouth to scream, but a hand covered it quickly.
---
Noone said anything, just stared blankly at the unconscious namek lying on the ground. Gohan knelt down, and poked her head, asking "Hey... you ok?"
Oboe's antenna perked up slightly, and she pulled her eyes open to a hazy set of faces staring at her. Then she remembered what had been said, and jerked up, grabbing Muuri by the collar and demanding to know why Swift had changed his name.
Muuri, slightly shocked by how fast she'd reacted, said "Because he needed no more reminders of what had happened that day. And Neru was a nickname of his, the last thing any of his friends called him. He did it as a matter of respect."
Oboe listened, but her brain was preoccupied with more that Swift. Now that she knew there was more at stake than before, she really wanted to get on with the dragonball hunt.
So the four said goodbye to the old namekian, and walked back out into the light.
---
The air around the lookout was shattered by an ear-piercing scream, and before they knew what was happening, the Z-senshi had broken out into their fighting positions, eyes latched toward the place the sound had come from.
Another sound followed the first, and "HEY, YOU BIT ME!!" echoed out across the area in the form of a familiar voice belonging to a certain purple-haired 'wonder boy'.
"Well, what was I SUPPOSE to do, you scared the living daylights out of me!!" Dende shouted back.
"Yo, Yo!! Calm down guys!" yelled Goten, waving his arms frantically and standing between the two. Trunks and Dende still narrowed their eyes at each other, but their annoyance quickly turned to laughter as Goten said "Guys , guys! I've got two words that will solve all our problems here- time share!"
"Ok, what did you two want anyway?" Dende smiled, choking back a laugh.
Trunks smiled as he handed the young namek his hand, saying "Fix first, talk later. You've got sharp teeth, you know that?"
Before he could finish his statement, the wound was healed, and Dende merely said "You move quietly when you want to, you know that?"
So that conversation was dropped, and the three friends sat down in the shade, watching the work progress.
---
The silence was nearly deafening, with no other living thing in sight, rain falling from yellow clouds in the (usually) pink sky, which had gone red behind the sheets of mist. He was drenched to the bone, cape clinging to him like a second skin, and his real skin gleaming with the moisture. But Piccolo didn't care. He liked it this way, with noone to interrupt him in his meditations. He was used to it as well, after all those years spent in solitude.
Only one thing was bothering him now- and a low growl emanated in his throat as it came to mind- Kami. Why was that old bastard pestering him? Couldn't he just leave him the hell alone? {{No, }} Piccolo growled to himself {{He has to make my life hell, and he can't do that by leaving me be, can he.}}
He lapsed back into meditation, but was broken out of it with a sneeze. Piccolo just 'harumph!'ed it off, wiped some of the water off his forehead, brushed his cape over his shoulder, and lapsed back in.
---
Oboe blinked at the sudden brightness, but her eyes adjusted quickly, and she found herself staring out at the namekian wilds, with only scattered villages to show civilization. A broad smile lit her face, the happiness that the place brought her almost making her laugh out loud. But the thought of Piccolo brought her back to earth, and she resumed her disguise.
"EEK!!" shouted a voice behind her, and she turned to see Lute, lying on his back (he'd tripped), eyes wide. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out.
With a sigh, she knelt down, and whispered "Lute, I have to use this form. I don't want to think about him either, but I've no choice."
"A.... anoco?" Lute mumbled, still in a mild state of shock. Oboe was about to speak, but then Vegeta burst in.
"No baka, it's not Piccolo. He's DEAD, remember? That's your mother transformed. You shouldn't act so stupid, you SAW her transform, remember?"
Lute's wide eyes went normal, but a hurt look crossed his face, and he looked away. "Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, "Don't be so hard on the-"
Gohan stopped, though, as Vegeta's head snapped backwards, Piccolo's fist imprinted firmly in his face. "Don't," she whispered harshly, "mock my son. Alright? I can pretty well kick your ass in this form, especially because I'm damn pissed off." Vegeta didn't reply, just stared at the red mark on his face, and Oboe reached down, grabbing him by the collar and screaming as loud as possible "AM I UNDERSTOOD???"
The sayian's eyes flared open at the pure force in hearing Piccolo's voice slammed in his face at such a volume, and nodded weakly. Oboe dropped him, and strode forward a few steps to stand at the cliff edge, forcefully suppressing her flared aura.
Gohan swallowed hard, holding a bewildered Lute on his shoulder, noone saying a word.
---
Five minutes later, the four of them were flying, Lute included. Noone dared challenge Oboe's decision right now, she wasn't in the mood for it.
{{Maybe some of your attitude is rubbing off on her, namek.}} Vegeta thought silently, rubbing his bruise. He sighed, letting his hair whip in the wind with his eyes closed. {{Piccolo, she's absolutely insane. The two of you are perfect together.}}
And for the first time in a long time, Vegeta genuinely smiled.
---
Wiping the sweat off his brow, the black-haired man moaned, yelling to his partner "This is HARD!"
The partner, who was busily carrying the other end of a block of stone that weighed nearly fifteen times what he did, glanced over and yelled "Hey! Hold your half, will you Yumcha? I said before this isn't easy, you had it good in the truck."
Yumcha quickly put his other arm back up, but sighed, and grumbled " I know. I had AIR CONDIONING, for god's sake! Air conditioning! And here I am, sweating my ass off! *sighs again* Well, at least I'm getting some exercise doing this, I'm sick of getting left behind and beaten into the dirt first whenever I'm in a fight."
Tien nodded to him, indicating they leave the slab there, and with an "oomph!" they dropped it. As Goku thanked them and grabbed the brick with his ki, they turned around and jogged back to another spot to get the next chunk, Tien talking as they went. "I know the feeling, Yumcha. I wasn't much help in that fight either, if it makes you feel any better. Remember the old days, when we could spar off against Goku and have a chance?"
Yumcha laughed, and pointed a finger toward where the girls were, saying "I'm out of breath. Let's get some sake. I heard Yen's brought some of hers up, and that it's pretty damn good."
Tienshin gave him a look, but shrugged, saying "Just one. Ok?"
Yumcha nodded, smiling broadly.
---
Half an hour and twenty-two shots later, the two were back on the job, still tired and hot, but not complaining as they raced back and forth.
---
It was dreary inside. The rain had been going practically straight the last week, mist and fog hanging in blankets around the little planetoid. And the old god sighed, staring out the window once again.
"Is this weather something of your doing, Piccolo? Is this hatred of yours enough to spill out of you and paint the sky in blood?" he whispered to himself. Kami-sama stood, pressing his hand on the glass as he asked himself "What makes you like this still? You've changed so much, child-of-mine, but you still hate me so deeply?"
Then he shook his head, turning his back on the outside. "I don't understand you Piccolo."
He felt something pull on his robes, and glanced down to see Bubbles, looking up with a sad look to his features. Kami smiled, and picked up the little simian, patting it's head. "And what do you want?"
Bubbles pointed to the cabinet.
"Oh, can't reach it, can you?"
Bubbles nodded.
"Alright, I'll get you something." Kami finished, setting the monkey down on the counter while he went to the cabinet.
---
Gohan busied himself, as he had earlier, with watching the landscape fly by below him. Soon enough, though, flying with his head down got him in trouble, because when Oboe and Vegeta stopped, he didn't, and went barreling right into them.
Oboe merely shot him a 'oh boy' look, but Vegeta kicked the halfling in the stomach, yelling "Hey, watch it!"
Gohan held his waist, one eye narrowed slightly from the pain, but he pushed it out of his mind and asked "So, why'd we stop, Oboe?"
"Don't call me that."
"Hmn?"
"Think- it's a risk to my cover we can't take. Just call me by his name."
"...oh. Ok Oboe- Piccolo."
"Better. Now, what were you saying?"
"Um... oh yeah! I was asking why we stopped."
"*half-smiles* Well, you were looking down so long, I thought you'd notice. But we've reached the first village. We out to find the 'sushinchu' here."
"The four star ball?"
"Yes." And with that, Oboe dropped down to the ground, the others right behind her.
~~NOTE- ok, every time I type Dende's name nowadays, I keep spelling it without the 'a' and since I'm getting sick of having to go correct it every time, I'll just type it Dende from now on. And ten points to whoever can guess where I got Goten's second statement! //.^ ciao ~~~
With a sigh, a pair of dark eyes opened, and as he stood up + stretched his arms, Dende knew he was bored. Construction was going nicely, with no problems after Yumcha got the job he wanted, but... still.
It was boring now that he didn't have anything to do, and since he had his strength back, the stillness was starting to get to him.
The feeling didn't last long though, as something behind him he hadn't noticed before jumped him. Dende opened his mouth to scream, but a hand covered it quickly.
---
Noone said anything, just stared blankly at the unconscious namek lying on the ground. Gohan knelt down, and poked her head, asking "Hey... you ok?"
Oboe's antenna perked up slightly, and she pulled her eyes open to a hazy set of faces staring at her. Then she remembered what had been said, and jerked up, grabbing Muuri by the collar and demanding to know why Swift had changed his name.
Muuri, slightly shocked by how fast she'd reacted, said "Because he needed no more reminders of what had happened that day. And Neru was a nickname of his, the last thing any of his friends called him. He did it as a matter of respect."
Oboe listened, but her brain was preoccupied with more that Swift. Now that she knew there was more at stake than before, she really wanted to get on with the dragonball hunt.
So the four said goodbye to the old namekian, and walked back out into the light.
---
The air around the lookout was shattered by an ear-piercing scream, and before they knew what was happening, the Z-senshi had broken out into their fighting positions, eyes latched toward the place the sound had come from.
Another sound followed the first, and "HEY, YOU BIT ME!!" echoed out across the area in the form of a familiar voice belonging to a certain purple-haired 'wonder boy'.
"Well, what was I SUPPOSE to do, you scared the living daylights out of me!!" Dende shouted back.
"Yo, Yo!! Calm down guys!" yelled Goten, waving his arms frantically and standing between the two. Trunks and Dende still narrowed their eyes at each other, but their annoyance quickly turned to laughter as Goten said "Guys , guys! I've got two words that will solve all our problems here- time share!"
"Ok, what did you two want anyway?" Dende smiled, choking back a laugh.
Trunks smiled as he handed the young namek his hand, saying "Fix first, talk later. You've got sharp teeth, you know that?"
Before he could finish his statement, the wound was healed, and Dende merely said "You move quietly when you want to, you know that?"
So that conversation was dropped, and the three friends sat down in the shade, watching the work progress.
---
The silence was nearly deafening, with no other living thing in sight, rain falling from yellow clouds in the (usually) pink sky, which had gone red behind the sheets of mist. He was drenched to the bone, cape clinging to him like a second skin, and his real skin gleaming with the moisture. But Piccolo didn't care. He liked it this way, with noone to interrupt him in his meditations. He was used to it as well, after all those years spent in solitude.
Only one thing was bothering him now- and a low growl emanated in his throat as it came to mind- Kami. Why was that old bastard pestering him? Couldn't he just leave him the hell alone? {{No, }} Piccolo growled to himself {{He has to make my life hell, and he can't do that by leaving me be, can he.}}
He lapsed back into meditation, but was broken out of it with a sneeze. Piccolo just 'harumph!'ed it off, wiped some of the water off his forehead, brushed his cape over his shoulder, and lapsed back in.
---
Oboe blinked at the sudden brightness, but her eyes adjusted quickly, and she found herself staring out at the namekian wilds, with only scattered villages to show civilization. A broad smile lit her face, the happiness that the place brought her almost making her laugh out loud. But the thought of Piccolo brought her back to earth, and she resumed her disguise.
"EEK!!" shouted a voice behind her, and she turned to see Lute, lying on his back (he'd tripped), eyes wide. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out.
With a sigh, she knelt down, and whispered "Lute, I have to use this form. I don't want to think about him either, but I've no choice."
"A.... anoco?" Lute mumbled, still in a mild state of shock. Oboe was about to speak, but then Vegeta burst in.
"No baka, it's not Piccolo. He's DEAD, remember? That's your mother transformed. You shouldn't act so stupid, you SAW her transform, remember?"
Lute's wide eyes went normal, but a hurt look crossed his face, and he looked away. "Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, "Don't be so hard on the-"
Gohan stopped, though, as Vegeta's head snapped backwards, Piccolo's fist imprinted firmly in his face. "Don't," she whispered harshly, "mock my son. Alright? I can pretty well kick your ass in this form, especially because I'm damn pissed off." Vegeta didn't reply, just stared at the red mark on his face, and Oboe reached down, grabbing him by the collar and screaming as loud as possible "AM I UNDERSTOOD???"
The sayian's eyes flared open at the pure force in hearing Piccolo's voice slammed in his face at such a volume, and nodded weakly. Oboe dropped him, and strode forward a few steps to stand at the cliff edge, forcefully suppressing her flared aura.
Gohan swallowed hard, holding a bewildered Lute on his shoulder, noone saying a word.
---
Five minutes later, the four of them were flying, Lute included. Noone dared challenge Oboe's decision right now, she wasn't in the mood for it.
{{Maybe some of your attitude is rubbing off on her, namek.}} Vegeta thought silently, rubbing his bruise. He sighed, letting his hair whip in the wind with his eyes closed. {{Piccolo, she's absolutely insane. The two of you are perfect together.}}
And for the first time in a long time, Vegeta genuinely smiled.
---
Wiping the sweat off his brow, the black-haired man moaned, yelling to his partner "This is HARD!"
The partner, who was busily carrying the other end of a block of stone that weighed nearly fifteen times what he did, glanced over and yelled "Hey! Hold your half, will you Yumcha? I said before this isn't easy, you had it good in the truck."
Yumcha quickly put his other arm back up, but sighed, and grumbled " I know. I had AIR CONDIONING, for god's sake! Air conditioning! And here I am, sweating my ass off! *sighs again* Well, at least I'm getting some exercise doing this, I'm sick of getting left behind and beaten into the dirt first whenever I'm in a fight."
Tien nodded to him, indicating they leave the slab there, and with an "oomph!" they dropped it. As Goku thanked them and grabbed the brick with his ki, they turned around and jogged back to another spot to get the next chunk, Tien talking as they went. "I know the feeling, Yumcha. I wasn't much help in that fight either, if it makes you feel any better. Remember the old days, when we could spar off against Goku and have a chance?"
Yumcha laughed, and pointed a finger toward where the girls were, saying "I'm out of breath. Let's get some sake. I heard Yen's brought some of hers up, and that it's pretty damn good."
Tienshin gave him a look, but shrugged, saying "Just one. Ok?"
Yumcha nodded, smiling broadly.
---
Half an hour and twenty-two shots later, the two were back on the job, still tired and hot, but not complaining as they raced back and forth.
---
It was dreary inside. The rain had been going practically straight the last week, mist and fog hanging in blankets around the little planetoid. And the old god sighed, staring out the window once again.
"Is this weather something of your doing, Piccolo? Is this hatred of yours enough to spill out of you and paint the sky in blood?" he whispered to himself. Kami-sama stood, pressing his hand on the glass as he asked himself "What makes you like this still? You've changed so much, child-of-mine, but you still hate me so deeply?"
Then he shook his head, turning his back on the outside. "I don't understand you Piccolo."
He felt something pull on his robes, and glanced down to see Bubbles, looking up with a sad look to his features. Kami smiled, and picked up the little simian, patting it's head. "And what do you want?"
Bubbles pointed to the cabinet.
"Oh, can't reach it, can you?"
Bubbles nodded.
"Alright, I'll get you something." Kami finished, setting the monkey down on the counter while he went to the cabinet.
---
Gohan busied himself, as he had earlier, with watching the landscape fly by below him. Soon enough, though, flying with his head down got him in trouble, because when Oboe and Vegeta stopped, he didn't, and went barreling right into them.
Oboe merely shot him a 'oh boy' look, but Vegeta kicked the halfling in the stomach, yelling "Hey, watch it!"
Gohan held his waist, one eye narrowed slightly from the pain, but he pushed it out of his mind and asked "So, why'd we stop, Oboe?"
"Don't call me that."
"Hmn?"
"Think- it's a risk to my cover we can't take. Just call me by his name."
"...oh. Ok Oboe- Piccolo."
"Better. Now, what were you saying?"
"Um... oh yeah! I was asking why we stopped."
"*half-smiles* Well, you were looking down so long, I thought you'd notice. But we've reached the first village. We out to find the 'sushinchu' here."
"The four star ball?"
"Yes." And with that, Oboe dropped down to the ground, the others right behind her.