___Chapter 49___
It was tranquil in the village, most everyone busy, save a few around outside. Five young children, no more than eight (namekian), were playing in the town center. And on a rooftop watched three adolescents, sweating and breathing hard after a long day of sparring.
The first, in long blue pants and a neck ruff, with his short black vest thrown over his shoulder, laughed and crossed his arms behind his head, saying "It's always so quiet around here, why can't something happen for once?"
"I dunno, Osu, that's how it always is in the village. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" asked the second, brushing the dust off his red gi, making sure the black writing on the vest wasn't marred or ripped too much.
"Ah, calm down Hiku, that vest isn't the most important thing in the world!" laughed the third as he took a drink from his canteen, purposely spilling a bit on the object in question.
"CHUI!" Hiku yelled, slapping the purple-clad boy over the head with his vest. Osu just watched and started laughing. Chiu stood up, ready to spar again, but tripped on his cape and fell flat on his face. Then they both started laughing, joined in by Chui shortly.
"Hey, get off the roof you three!" yelled a voice from inside, and Hiku quickly jumped off, followed reluctantly by Chui.
"Always have to do what anoco says immediately, eh Hiku?" asked Osu from the roof sarcastically, getting an annoyed glance from Hiku.
"He said to get down Osu, we should listen to him. He IS our father, after all."
"I'll get down when I'm ready."
"*shrugs* Whatever. I'm not the one who's gonna get punished with water gathering duty the third time this month."
Osu ignored the comment, and kept staring up at the sky as the other two sat down below the hut to get out of the sun. The sun... Now that he thought of it, it WAS pretty bright... but he could have sworn he saw dark spots up there. The young namekian shrugged it off, but his eyes were distracted by it once again. They'd moved.
Osu sat up, narrowing his eyes and looking straight up into the brightness. Then he was certain- there WAS something up there. Something alive. Osu worked his eyes as hard as he could, but he just couldn't see it, the best he could tell was that there were four somethings, two smaller than him, one his size, one bigger. And they were heading toward him, not away.
He wasn't quite ready to panic, though. He wanted to be a warrior, and warriors didn't panic. But then he saw one of the shapes that was smaller than him clearly, from it's blue training suit to the black flame of hair on it's head. And screamed.
---
Vegeta watched out of the side of his eye as the namek panicked, loosing it's balance and falling to the ground with a 'thump'. He saw the other two, petrified in fear (whether it was at seeing the blue one fall or him, he wasn't sure). But Vegeta didn't do anything, just sat there.
---
Hiku had been wondering why his aeco had been so quiet, but then the scream came, and Osu crashed to the ground right in front of him and Chui, causing him to jerk his head up and notice the sayian-jin, standing not twenty feet away.
Hiku froze.
He'd heard the older warriors talking sometimes, about the sayians. He'd never believed the 'horror stories', though- they were just made up to scare little nameks. But all thoughts in his mind came to a halt when he saw those cold, dark, cynical eyes turn toward him.
His vision was jerked to the side though, when Chui yelled "MONSTER!!!" and rushed straight at Vegeta.
"Chui, NO!" Hiku shrieked after him, too frightened to move as he saw the white-clad figure shoot past. He didn't go far though- about three feet away, Vegeta's hand shot out faster than his eye could follow, catching him by his throat in midair.
"Bakas." the short man muttered, glaring at his captive. "Can't keep from rushing headlong into a fight, can you? You're all just like him. *sighs, closes his eyes* "
Vegeta's attention was drawn away from the terrified namekian, though, when another kicked him in the ribs, yelling "Put the kid DOWN, dumbass!"
The sayian complied, turning his head, and he nearly started laughing when he saw Piccolo's exasperated face glaring back at him. The laughter shut itself quickly, though, as he remembered who was behind the mask, and he looked away.
Gohan landed right after Oboe, sighing and shaking his head. "You really screwed up this time, Vegeta."
---
Osu and Hiku stood there, speechless. Right there, standing not twenty feet away from them, was.......
"AAAAHHH!!!!" was the only warning the three travelers had before Oboe was nearly knocked down by the two wide-eyed teens.
She just stared blankly at their bright faces, and was halfway through mumbling 'What the hell...' when they both cried out "SUGOI!!!!!!!!", and smiled broadly, staring up at the tall, confused namekian in purple with pure joy on their faces
"Hey, what's going on here?" she managed to spit out, before they chimed it simultaneously with "Are you Piccolo-sama?!?"
"....Yes...."
" *gasp* You're the namek who fought the tyrant Frezia and survived???"
"....Yes...."
Vegeta stared blankly as the two's eyes grew even larger (A feat he hadn't thought possible), and couldn't help but crack a smile when they both cheered "YOU'RE OUR HERO!!!"
Then the one he'd dropped snapped out of his trance, and this time Oboe WAS knocked to the ground, the third one yelling "You saved my life! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"We're training to be warriors, you see" Osu said, still grinning like crazy, "and some of the adult warriors were talking about Frezia one day, and they said about you, how you fought him at half strength, and you were kicking his ass, until he cheated, and that you are the greatest namekian warrior of all time and we all want to grow up to be just like you!"
"..." was all Oboe had to say, but them she muttered "...Who are you people?"
"I'm Osu, and this is my brother Hiku. That's Chui."
Gohan stared, and muttered "Did he just say their names are push, pull, and caution?"
Oboe rolled her eyes as she stood up (assisted by all three teens) and stated plainly "Stop thinking in Japanese. They're namekian, they have namekian names."
"Oh... ok." Gohan said, laughing briefly to hide his embarrassment as he flashed off the classic Son grin and scratched his head.
"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE!??!" came thundering a voice from inside the closest house as the door was thrown open, revealing a very flustered namek dressed in near-black green robes. He didn't look that old, but did at the moment, with his face creased in fury.
Chui swallowed, and yelped "I didn't seal the door shut, I swear!" as he jumped behind Oboe, whispering "Save me!"
Oboe glanced with narrowed eyes at the boy, but turned to the elder and, bowing respectfully, said "I'm sorry for the disturbance, sir. The four of us have come with permission from Muuri-sama to try for the dragonball found in your village."
"Four? I only see three of you."
Oboe cocked an eye-ridge, and glanced around. Lute wasn't there. With a roll of her eyes, she called out "Lute, get DOWN here, now."
"Ok anoco!" he called out, dropping from the sky to land beside her.
Osu and Hiku's jaws dropped right there, and they mumbled "Your.... He's your DAD?"
Glancing over at them, Lute put on a smirk and nodded vigorously. The two promptly facefaulted. Within a second they were back up, asking the emerald-eyed child a hundred questions at once. Chui was still buzzing around 'Piccolo'.
The three teens shutup when the elder called them off, a hint of annoyance in his voice, and they retreated to a distance.
"So," asked the elder, glancing back up, "What were you saying? I'm sorry for their actions, if they've caused you any trouble, they'll be punished. My name is Takusan, by the way. I'm the elder of this village."
Gohan smiled, saying "Well, they're a bit overly-energetic, but there's no harm done.", shaking his head.
Takusan nodded, and asked "Who are you, by the way?"
Before anyone else could respond, Chui and the others simultaneously yelled "You baka! Can't you tell? It's the half-sayian Son Gohan, the sayian-jin prince Vegeta, and the greatest namekian warrior ever born, Piccolo-sama!!"
Oboe did a double take, and muttered "S.. sama? Honorables aren't necessary, just call me by my name." That was a mistake though, because upon hearing their hero tell them they could call him by his first name, their jaws dropped.
Before they could speak again, Takusan whirled on them, practically roaring "ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU! GET INSIDE, RIGHT THIS _INSTANT_!", and they fled to the safety of the hut. He regained his composure in a second, though, and bowed to them, saying "It's an honor to have you in our village. Is there anything I can do for you?"
---
Still a bit shocked from the change in his voice, Gohan just stared, but Oboe filled in, stating "We are on a quest to gather the dragonballs. Son Goku was killed in a fight for our sake, and we wish to revive him."
Vegeta cocked an eye. "But you already said-" He was briskly cut off by Piccolo's hand slapping over his mouth, and Oboe yelling in mind-speech 'It's namekian custom, baka. I know what I'm doing.', silencing him. Then the two began a dialogue that was older than the both of them, with Oboe answering Takusan's questions.
"I know of this. So you come seeking life, not death?"
"Yes. The sacred relics shall be used for life."
"The trials are not easy. They shall test you, body and soul."
"I know."
"Not all succeed, many fail."
"I know."
"Where shall you drawl your strength?"
"My honor. I swore to him I would do this."
"What else?"
Oboe stalled for a second, trying to think of how to phrase the next part without giving anything away, but came back quickly with "My heart. I will protect those important to me."
"Are you to be trusted?"
"Muuri-sama has said me so."
"More important that the words of another are those of your own soul. What does your soul tell you, warrior?"
"I can do this. I must."
They stopped, neither saying a word for what seemed like an eternity, faces drawn silent as well. Then Takusan smiled, nodding. They'd passed the test.
It was tranquil in the village, most everyone busy, save a few around outside. Five young children, no more than eight (namekian), were playing in the town center. And on a rooftop watched three adolescents, sweating and breathing hard after a long day of sparring.
The first, in long blue pants and a neck ruff, with his short black vest thrown over his shoulder, laughed and crossed his arms behind his head, saying "It's always so quiet around here, why can't something happen for once?"
"I dunno, Osu, that's how it always is in the village. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" asked the second, brushing the dust off his red gi, making sure the black writing on the vest wasn't marred or ripped too much.
"Ah, calm down Hiku, that vest isn't the most important thing in the world!" laughed the third as he took a drink from his canteen, purposely spilling a bit on the object in question.
"CHUI!" Hiku yelled, slapping the purple-clad boy over the head with his vest. Osu just watched and started laughing. Chiu stood up, ready to spar again, but tripped on his cape and fell flat on his face. Then they both started laughing, joined in by Chui shortly.
"Hey, get off the roof you three!" yelled a voice from inside, and Hiku quickly jumped off, followed reluctantly by Chui.
"Always have to do what anoco says immediately, eh Hiku?" asked Osu from the roof sarcastically, getting an annoyed glance from Hiku.
"He said to get down Osu, we should listen to him. He IS our father, after all."
"I'll get down when I'm ready."
"*shrugs* Whatever. I'm not the one who's gonna get punished with water gathering duty the third time this month."
Osu ignored the comment, and kept staring up at the sky as the other two sat down below the hut to get out of the sun. The sun... Now that he thought of it, it WAS pretty bright... but he could have sworn he saw dark spots up there. The young namekian shrugged it off, but his eyes were distracted by it once again. They'd moved.
Osu sat up, narrowing his eyes and looking straight up into the brightness. Then he was certain- there WAS something up there. Something alive. Osu worked his eyes as hard as he could, but he just couldn't see it, the best he could tell was that there were four somethings, two smaller than him, one his size, one bigger. And they were heading toward him, not away.
He wasn't quite ready to panic, though. He wanted to be a warrior, and warriors didn't panic. But then he saw one of the shapes that was smaller than him clearly, from it's blue training suit to the black flame of hair on it's head. And screamed.
---
Vegeta watched out of the side of his eye as the namek panicked, loosing it's balance and falling to the ground with a 'thump'. He saw the other two, petrified in fear (whether it was at seeing the blue one fall or him, he wasn't sure). But Vegeta didn't do anything, just sat there.
---
Hiku had been wondering why his aeco had been so quiet, but then the scream came, and Osu crashed to the ground right in front of him and Chui, causing him to jerk his head up and notice the sayian-jin, standing not twenty feet away.
Hiku froze.
He'd heard the older warriors talking sometimes, about the sayians. He'd never believed the 'horror stories', though- they were just made up to scare little nameks. But all thoughts in his mind came to a halt when he saw those cold, dark, cynical eyes turn toward him.
His vision was jerked to the side though, when Chui yelled "MONSTER!!!" and rushed straight at Vegeta.
"Chui, NO!" Hiku shrieked after him, too frightened to move as he saw the white-clad figure shoot past. He didn't go far though- about three feet away, Vegeta's hand shot out faster than his eye could follow, catching him by his throat in midair.
"Bakas." the short man muttered, glaring at his captive. "Can't keep from rushing headlong into a fight, can you? You're all just like him. *sighs, closes his eyes* "
Vegeta's attention was drawn away from the terrified namekian, though, when another kicked him in the ribs, yelling "Put the kid DOWN, dumbass!"
The sayian complied, turning his head, and he nearly started laughing when he saw Piccolo's exasperated face glaring back at him. The laughter shut itself quickly, though, as he remembered who was behind the mask, and he looked away.
Gohan landed right after Oboe, sighing and shaking his head. "You really screwed up this time, Vegeta."
---
Osu and Hiku stood there, speechless. Right there, standing not twenty feet away from them, was.......
"AAAAHHH!!!!" was the only warning the three travelers had before Oboe was nearly knocked down by the two wide-eyed teens.
She just stared blankly at their bright faces, and was halfway through mumbling 'What the hell...' when they both cried out "SUGOI!!!!!!!!", and smiled broadly, staring up at the tall, confused namekian in purple with pure joy on their faces
"Hey, what's going on here?" she managed to spit out, before they chimed it simultaneously with "Are you Piccolo-sama?!?"
"....Yes...."
" *gasp* You're the namek who fought the tyrant Frezia and survived???"
"....Yes...."
Vegeta stared blankly as the two's eyes grew even larger (A feat he hadn't thought possible), and couldn't help but crack a smile when they both cheered "YOU'RE OUR HERO!!!"
Then the one he'd dropped snapped out of his trance, and this time Oboe WAS knocked to the ground, the third one yelling "You saved my life! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"We're training to be warriors, you see" Osu said, still grinning like crazy, "and some of the adult warriors were talking about Frezia one day, and they said about you, how you fought him at half strength, and you were kicking his ass, until he cheated, and that you are the greatest namekian warrior of all time and we all want to grow up to be just like you!"
"..." was all Oboe had to say, but them she muttered "...Who are you people?"
"I'm Osu, and this is my brother Hiku. That's Chui."
Gohan stared, and muttered "Did he just say their names are push, pull, and caution?"
Oboe rolled her eyes as she stood up (assisted by all three teens) and stated plainly "Stop thinking in Japanese. They're namekian, they have namekian names."
"Oh... ok." Gohan said, laughing briefly to hide his embarrassment as he flashed off the classic Son grin and scratched his head.
"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE!??!" came thundering a voice from inside the closest house as the door was thrown open, revealing a very flustered namek dressed in near-black green robes. He didn't look that old, but did at the moment, with his face creased in fury.
Chui swallowed, and yelped "I didn't seal the door shut, I swear!" as he jumped behind Oboe, whispering "Save me!"
Oboe glanced with narrowed eyes at the boy, but turned to the elder and, bowing respectfully, said "I'm sorry for the disturbance, sir. The four of us have come with permission from Muuri-sama to try for the dragonball found in your village."
"Four? I only see three of you."
Oboe cocked an eye-ridge, and glanced around. Lute wasn't there. With a roll of her eyes, she called out "Lute, get DOWN here, now."
"Ok anoco!" he called out, dropping from the sky to land beside her.
Osu and Hiku's jaws dropped right there, and they mumbled "Your.... He's your DAD?"
Glancing over at them, Lute put on a smirk and nodded vigorously. The two promptly facefaulted. Within a second they were back up, asking the emerald-eyed child a hundred questions at once. Chui was still buzzing around 'Piccolo'.
The three teens shutup when the elder called them off, a hint of annoyance in his voice, and they retreated to a distance.
"So," asked the elder, glancing back up, "What were you saying? I'm sorry for their actions, if they've caused you any trouble, they'll be punished. My name is Takusan, by the way. I'm the elder of this village."
Gohan smiled, saying "Well, they're a bit overly-energetic, but there's no harm done.", shaking his head.
Takusan nodded, and asked "Who are you, by the way?"
Before anyone else could respond, Chui and the others simultaneously yelled "You baka! Can't you tell? It's the half-sayian Son Gohan, the sayian-jin prince Vegeta, and the greatest namekian warrior ever born, Piccolo-sama!!"
Oboe did a double take, and muttered "S.. sama? Honorables aren't necessary, just call me by my name." That was a mistake though, because upon hearing their hero tell them they could call him by his first name, their jaws dropped.
Before they could speak again, Takusan whirled on them, practically roaring "ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU! GET INSIDE, RIGHT THIS _INSTANT_!", and they fled to the safety of the hut. He regained his composure in a second, though, and bowed to them, saying "It's an honor to have you in our village. Is there anything I can do for you?"
---
Still a bit shocked from the change in his voice, Gohan just stared, but Oboe filled in, stating "We are on a quest to gather the dragonballs. Son Goku was killed in a fight for our sake, and we wish to revive him."
Vegeta cocked an eye. "But you already said-" He was briskly cut off by Piccolo's hand slapping over his mouth, and Oboe yelling in mind-speech 'It's namekian custom, baka. I know what I'm doing.', silencing him. Then the two began a dialogue that was older than the both of them, with Oboe answering Takusan's questions.
"I know of this. So you come seeking life, not death?"
"Yes. The sacred relics shall be used for life."
"The trials are not easy. They shall test you, body and soul."
"I know."
"Not all succeed, many fail."
"I know."
"Where shall you drawl your strength?"
"My honor. I swore to him I would do this."
"What else?"
Oboe stalled for a second, trying to think of how to phrase the next part without giving anything away, but came back quickly with "My heart. I will protect those important to me."
"Are you to be trusted?"
"Muuri-sama has said me so."
"More important that the words of another are those of your own soul. What does your soul tell you, warrior?"
"I can do this. I must."
They stopped, neither saying a word for what seemed like an eternity, faces drawn silent as well. Then Takusan smiled, nodding. They'd passed the test.