***********Chapter 26**********
The air in the van was littered with excitement as Gohan proudly boasted about his newfound strength. Videl didn't mind the bragging but the others did.
"Gohan will you shut up? Jeez I mean it's been almost two days, since you've done it and we all know how excited you are." Yelled Juuhachi at Gohan. Gohan frowned but respected her wish.
"So where are we going next?" Asked Buruma, who was in the back seat with Vegeta.
"Let's go see some sort of a land mark." Suggested Videl.
"And what land mark would that be?" Asked Juuhachi, who was driving.
"Ooo! Let's go see some caves! I'm sure there would be some up here with all the mountains." Said Buruma.
"That sounds interesting." Said Gohan. "But how will we find some?"
"Let's stop at a gas station maybe someone there will know." Said Videl.
"All right." Said Juuhachi. The group exited the freeway when a small town with a gas station came into view. The girls got out and went into the store to buy gas and ask if there were any caves around. Kuririn got out and put gas in the van.
"Hey I haven't seen you around these parts, where ya from?" Came a voice from behind the gas pump. Kuririn turned to see a small mouse looking guy, wanting the tank to fill up quickly so he could go back inside the van.
"Uh…it's none of your business." Kuririn stated flatly.
"Well excuse me! You know we town folks here don't like sass talking outsiders. So you better watch out if I was you." The mouse turned back to his beat up truck and continued to put gas in it. Kuririn wondered how much gas he was putting in because it still wasn't full and already he had put 20 gallons in. Come on hurry up this guy's creeping me out…Kuririn whimpered to himself. Vegeta dozed in the back while Gohan went crazy trying to get the radio to work. He finally sat in defeat and looked towards the store for his girlfriend.
"You know you have to turn the key towards you down all the way." Vegeta said with his eyes closed. Gohan gave him a 'huh?' expression and decided to forget about the radio. He looked out the window and saw Kuririn put the nozzle back in the gas pump and head towards the store to see what the girls were up to.
"Um…ok let's see. Methinks you can find caves here." The store cashier said, pointing on to a dirty and probably obsolete map.
"Uh thanks…" Buruma said, looking at her friends with an expression of concern. They shuffled out the door and bumped into Kuririn. "Hi Kuririn, let's get out of here."
"Yeah I agree, I ran into an unfriendly native." Kuririn shuddered and hurriedly climbed into the van. Buruma was made to drive and they burned rubber getting out of the station. They kept going on the beaten road until it got dark. They couldn't find a campsite on their map so they had to stop and set up camp out in the wilderness. Buruma got out and shivered.
"Wow, it got cold. We better hurry up and get a fire going." Gohan and Kuririn went into the forest to gather wood. Vegeta and Buruma set up the tents and Juuhachi and Videl got dinner going. When Buruma finished she went over to help the other girls with dinner. Vegeta relaxed on a folding chair gazing at the stars.
"Vegeta! Videl! Juuhachi! Buruma! Come quick, look what we found!" Vegeta bolted up and went in Kuririn's direction. Juuhachi stayed behind to look after the stew that was boiling in the pot on their camping stove.
"Come back soon!" Juuhachi yelled after them. The others quickly followed Kuririn to the base of the mountain. Where he stopped just out side of a bush that concealed a cave. One by one they joined Gohan, who was already in the cave, Gohan emitted a soft light from his body making the cave walls glow. Buruma gasped in awe as the walls revealed themselves to be white she walked over to them and touched it.
"Whoa, it feels warm. Look! There are pictures on the wall. They look like prehistoric grazing animals!"
"This is hard core, and there are no stalagmites. I bet the white stuff prevented them from forming." Said Videl.
"How did you know that?" Asked Kuririn.
"I did a paper on stalagmites during my junior year." Videl got a round of nods.
"Hey are there any more chambers like this one?" asked Buruma.
"Yeah, over here," Kuririn pointed to a narrow tunnel. "And the most peculiar thing is there." They followed Kuririn into a chamber that had one giant stalagmite he got down on his knees and motioned for everyone else to do the same.
"Whoa! Neat! Hey and it looks as if something was hidden here a long time ago." Exclaimed Videl. The stalagmite barely reached the floor so it had a space to hide something in. They filed out of the chamber and headed back to their camp.
"AAAHHHH! Get away from me!" they heard Juuhachi scream. Kuririn started to run really fast and got to the camp just in time to see a couple of guys drag a lifeless Juuhachi away.
"Juuhachi! NO! Gohan please help me." Kuririn ran off in the direction of the guys and Gohan followed him. When they caught up with them they found that they had stumbled upon a group of hicks in robes carrying pitchforks and torches.
"Uh this is bad." Gohan said. Kuririn nodded.
"Let Juuhachi go!" Kuririn screamed. The leader looked at his friend next to him and then back at Kuririn.
"No she is our sacrifice, you leave now and no one else will get hurt." He said.
"Sacrifice? Hell no!" Kuririn ran to Juuhachi's side and found that she was bleeding from her head. Kuririn reached to stroke her head, but was pushed away by a pitchfork.
"Get out of here runt!" The leader hit him again and Kuririn fell backwards. Gohan rushed up to the leader and smacked him down. The crowd gasped at their fallen leader but then turned their angry eyes towards Gohan.
"Kill him! Make him our sacrifice!" Someone screamed.
"Kuririn I think we better leave now…" Kuririn went back to Juuhachi and released her from her guard. He scrambled up and ran into the forest. Gohan stayed to hold them off he transformed and emitted sparks on the crowd of hicks. They screamed and scattered. Great now I've got to go find them. Wait what if they stumble upon Kuririn? Gohan ran in the direction Kuririn ran and soon caught up with him. They finally reached the campsite, the others looked up in surprise.
"Yay! You got Juuhachi!" Said Buruma.
"We have to leave now! Hurry!" Said Kuririn. The other's jumped up and started putting things back in their proper capsules. Buruma jumped in the driver's seat and Kuririn placed Juuhachi in the middle seat and got in next to her. Buruma accelerated the van and wheeled onto the freeway and decided for the time being to head home.
"Videl could you get me the first aid capsule." Kuririn cradled Juuhachi in his arms, watching the bruises appear on her arms, face and legs. He treated her head wound and the pain made Juuhachi come to.
"Ow! That hurts…" Juuhachi whimpered trying to hold back tears of pain. "Stop, it hurts…it hurts…"
"I know shhh…it's ok. I'm almost done." Whispered Kuririn. Videl and Gohan were in the back leaning on each other wondering if they should say anything. Vegeta sat in the passenger seat arms crossed and wondering if the hicks would like a visit from him. He smirked at the thought and continued to look out the window. Buruma was driving and it was dark so she was a bit scared that something would pop out at her.
"How's Juuhachi?" asked Videl.
"She got a pretty bad head injury but other wise she didn't brake any bones. So I guess she's Ok." Answered Kuririn.
"Uh huh. She probably has a splitting headache." Said Videl.
"Yeah she probably does. Hey Buruma could you find a hotel?"
"Sure. But it might be awhile."
About an hour later Buruma found a motel 6 and they rented two rooms for the night. They all decided to return home the following day hoping that it'll only take a few days.
~Ok I'm mad my electricity went out and I lost most of my story that I recently wrote, so this version is shorter than the last but hopefully it's better. So tell me what you think. (Stupid computer) ok enough venting. So what will happen during the next few days before they get home? Who knows! So tune in next time with Buruma!!!!