Chapter 22- A Change Of Scenery
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball or Disney for that matter, not that there's any mention of such childish nonsense here.
Krillin stood alone, or so he thought. It was pitch black so he couldn't really know. He stretched his senses as far as he could, trying to pick up something to indicate where he was, how he got here. Suddenly a jolt of cold terror ran up his spine as he realized that he was most definitely not alone, he felt something cold brush the skin of his forearm, his eyes widened in panic. He began to hyperventilate as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could make out the towering forms of the creatures before him. He couldn't make out specific features but somehow his mind knew they where Namekians, all of them more vicious than Piccolo himself. In a flash he saw his own body lying dead in the changing rooms of the tenkaichi budokai stadium. Tears welled up in his eyes as the creatures advanced, shaking the ground with each step until it shook so violently that he fell to the ground, crying out with pain as he… woke up.
"Huh?" Krillin looked around him at the light and comfortable surroundings of his room on the ship. He appeared to have fallen out of bed, seconds later he understood why. Just as in his dream the floor beneath him shook so violently that his newly wakened mind thought that the "Namekians" must have been stood right behind him. He froze for a second until the dream left him totally, and common sense kicked in.
He ran over to the window and was shocked to find that all he could see was green. No stars and darkness, but bright, grass green. At this point Goku practically fell through his bedroom door, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin yet again.
"Krillin! We're landing!" he roared over the din of the whole ship's vibrations. He was skipping from foot to foot like an excited child.
"I just about gathered that!" Krillin roared back "perhaps we should go buckle ourselves in!" Goku gave him a puzzled look, which meant he obviously hadn't been able to hear him. Just as Krillin opened his mouth to repeat himself, the shaking stopped.
"Wha-?" they both exclaimed in unison as they ran to the window. They were rewarded with the site of an attractive landscape coming into view, stranger than any they'd seem before. If they were expecting something out of a sci fi film, they weren't to be disappointed. The sky and water where grass green, while the "grass", or what appeared to be akin to grass, was sky blue.
"Trippy eh Goku?"
"Sure is Krillin, let's go wake Yajirobe, I think the ship knows how to land itself"
'Thank Kami for that' thought Krillin as he tried to imagine Goku landing a space ship. 'Goku's no rocket scientist' he thought, congratulating himself on his "excellent" pun.
They pounded on Yajirobe's door for a good ten minutes before he answered the door, groggy eyed and half dressed. Both Krillin and Goku flinched at the sight of him before Goku managed to squeeze out
"Yajirobe, we're landing… go… get dressed or something"
To which Yajirobe replied
"Whatever" before slamming his door in their face, leaving them to guess what he would do next. They exchanged glances and shrugged.
"Don't ask me Goku, you invited him" said Krillin
"Yeah, but it was either him or Gohan, and Chichi didn't like that idea" Krillin roled his eyes as they both set off for the main control room to wait for landing. It was only then that he realized he was still only in his pajamas.
"Um, Goku, I'm going to get dressed, it might be cold on this planet"
"Sure Krillin, but hurry up! You don't want to miss the landing do ya?"
"I'll hurry" Krillin smiled as Goku eagerly took up a seat next to the window.
If Goku was excited to begin with, it soon wore off as the ship took a whole hour coming in to land.
"The planet must've been further away than it looked" said Goku dully as he stared expressionless out of the window
"Maybe there's just a lot more to landing a ship than either of us know about," replied Krillin.
"Maybe you two should shut up and let me eat in peace" Yajirobe called sulkily from behind.
Krillin scowled
"If I was quiet every time you ate I might as well take a vow of silence!"
"I don't see why you already haven't monk boy!"
"Knock it off you two" Goku said calmly "we're about to…"
He was interrupted as the ship jolted violently, throwing the two arguing parties to the floor on top of one another.
"Thanks for the warning Goku" Krillin groaned, pulling himself off of Yajirobe.
"No problem Krillin! Now lets get outside and see what's there!"
"Yeah, right behind ya Goku" Krillin said less than enthusiastically, as he pulled the dragon radar from his pocket.
"How about you Yajirobe?" said Goku, but they turned to find no trace of Yajirobe. "Strange" said Goku quizzically "he must've already gone outside or something"
"We really should have brought Gohan" said Krillin "even a four year old's gotta be more useful than that bum"
Meanwhile, in limbo…
Bulma sighed as she read through a pamphlet on the health spar for the dead. She was waiting for Kami to arrive to update her on the group's progress on Namek.
Vegeta turned to see the bored expression on her face
"I see your missing Bardock," he hissed, narrowing his eyes slightly
"Huh?" Bulma looked up confused "he's only been gone a day Vegeta, but for your information I'm sure that I will miss Bardock at some point, he was my friend after all"
"Humph" Vegeta crossed his arms defensively "a saiya jin and an earthling friends, disgraceful"
Bulma lifted an eyebrow
"And what exactly is our relationship?"
"That's different, I'm a prince, and I do as I chose"
"Whatever Vegeta, it all sounds like double standards to me. If it makes you feel better I'd rather be here with you than in heaven with Bardock" she smiled
"Sentimental nonsense" Vegeta muttered under his breath before stalking out of the room, although he did allow himself a small victory smirk as he went to find something to blow up.
Bulma returned to her reading and sighed to herself
"He's so restless recently. I hope Goku finds those dragon balls soon."
Just as she said this Kami materialized in front of her
"Well, speak of the devil!" Bulma grinned
"Good afternoon Bulma, and how are you today?" Kami said amiably
Bulma sighed
"Bored, mentally numbed, frustrated and restless." She replied
"Hardly surprising, it has been over a year after all. Perhaps I should have a word with King Yama, see if we can get you a change of scenery!" he smiled knowingly
"What have you got planned?" cried a suddenly very enthusiastic Bulma.
"I won't say until I can make promises, it'd be cruel otherwise!"
"You've got a point, I suppose" she said, calm again suddenly "thanks for thinking of us"
"No problem. Anyway, back to business" Kami took a seat next to her on the couch. "The team have just arrived on Namek today, I've been getting some vague pictures of what's going on there using telepathy to see through each of the team's eyes, although all I can see through Yajirobe's is his next meal." They both chuckled lightly "what I've glimpsed through Krillin and Goku's eyes is very exciting, I don't remember my home planet you know, its fascinating to see it… anyway back to the point. I think they shall soon meet some of the planet's inhabitants and hopefully tomorrow, the search will begin in earnest." He finished
"It's such a relief to know that finally something's getting done! I finally have a hope of getting out of here in the near future!" she smiled with relief and then giggled as she began to imagine what it'd be like to take Vegeta home to her parents. Kami soon interrupted her thoughts
"I'd better be going now, I'll try to sort out that change of scenery for you, and I'll get back to you tomorrow most probably!"
"Yeah, thanks a lot Kami, I really appreciate all you've done for us!"
"Well, you know… just doing my job!" he replied, suddenly nervous as he remembered that Bulma still had no idea what this was all about, or that the man she loved was going to be thrown into the most difficult battle of his life shortly after she returned to her home planet. He felt deep sympathy for her as she waved goodbye to him, her eyes full of gratitude that he was suddenly unsure that he deserved.
These thoughts still cluttered his mind as he rematerialized in King Yama's office and stated plainly
"Sir, I'm afraid I need another favor from you"
Back on Namek…
Krillin pressed the button on top of the radar twice and silently prayed that the balls here showed up. His prayers where answered as seven bright spot glowed up at him. However, he began to feel a little edgy upon realizing that four of the balls where gathered together.
"That's strange," he said to himself
"What is Krillin?" Goku stopped looking for Yajirobe and turned a concerned eye to his friend.
"Four of the dragon balls are in the same place. I mean, I know they scatter randomly so technically they could have landed together coincidentally… but somehow I doubt it"
"That's ok Krillin, the Nameks must have them! We just need to find a village or something and then we can explain what we want them for… I'm sure they'll be reasonable about it!" Goku grinned reassuringly, but after last night's nightmares, Krillin wasn't going to be easily reassured. Truth be told, he'd hoped to get through all of this without bumping into any Nameks. He shuddered and thought he felt a presence behind him
'Stupid dream's got me paranoid!' he thought to himself, but then everything went black.
Krillin woke to find himself in a dimly lit cavern of some sort; he froze as he heard the familiar rumbling sound from his dream. Slowly he turned toward the source of the sound, only to find it was merely Goku snoring loudly a meter away from him. He wandered over to his friend and shook him, hard.
"Goku! Wake up! The Nameks have got us! I told you they'd be like Piccolo! Didn't I tell you?" Goku slowly opened his eyes, yawned and got up.
"The Nameks have got us? I thought I just fell asleep!"
"Look around you Goku, who d'you think dragged us here? Yajirobe?" Krillin stated sarcastically.
"Yeah, this looks like some kinda prison cell" he said as a creaking sound came from behind them.
Krillin leaped behind Goku as a creature who looked very much like a slightly overweight Kami entered the room through a door that they had previously thought was part of the cavern's stone walls. Krillin shut his eyes tightly, expecting the worst, Goku scratched his head and waited for the creature to make a move
"Greetings" it said in perfect English "I am Muuri, and you must be Krillin and Goku?"
"Yeah, that's us, nice to meet you" Goku smiled
"Ah… ah… we come in peace?" Krillin said nervously, slowly daring to edge closer to Muuri.
"Oh heavens yes, we know you do! I'm sorry about the harsh measures but we had to be sure that you weren't from Freiza! But where are my manners? Lets leave this room and discuss everything in some more friendly surroundings eh?"
"Sure" said the two as Muuri smiled and lead the way.
There, it's been a while but this chapter was extra long ^_~ by my standards anyway!
Hope you enjoyed!