Rewoven Tapestry
The Searches Saga: Chapter 2
by Contrail
Disclaimer: Dragonball was created by Akira Toriyama. The American translation is done by Funimation.
September 2nd, 749 - East Mountain Area
Bulma stepped out of the capsule house she'd spent the night in and stretched, enjoying the feel of the mid-morning sunlight. She'd woken up a while ago, but she'd taken some time to eat breakfast and make sure that she looked like her usual gorgeous self. She had no idea who she might run into looking for the Dragonballs, after all, and she wanted them to see her at her best. Looking around the meadow by the road where she'd set her house up last evening, she decided to walk around for a little bit before spending who knows how long driving in a car to the shore and sailing a boat to the island the Turtle Hermit lived on.
As she walked, Bulma started think about how well her search for the Dragonballs was progressing. She already had three of them, and she'd undoubtedly have a fourth by the end of the day. At the rate she was going, she figured she'd have the rest in no more than a week. And then she'd be able to wish for a perfect boyfriend for herself! He'd be nice to her, of course, and gentle, yet still strong enough to protect her if she needed it (and only when she needed it). He'd shower her with presents and kisses, never make her angry, always do what she asked him to without complaint, cheer her up when she was sad, and always understand what she was feeling. Physically, he'd be just the right amount taller than her, of course, and handsome. Would he have dark hair and eyes? Or would he be a blonde, maybe? Or perhaps a redhead?
Bulma was too busy trying to picture what her perfect boyfriend would look like to watch where she was walking. One of her feet got caught under the edge of a large dark vaguely hemispherical object, and she promptly tripped and fell over the top of it, landing face first on the ground. Raising herself up on her elbows, she turned her head to see what exactly it was she'd tripped over. Her blue eyes met another pair that was staring back at her out of a brown... wrinkled... leathery... beaked... face.
"Sorry about that," the face spoke in a quiet, almost monotone voice that held a long-suffering air to it. "You might want to keep a closer eye on where you are walking though." Being spoken to seemed to snap Bulma's mind out of its temporarily shocked state, and she took in the rest of the creature's appearance in a swift glance. With its large rounded shell that covered everything but its head and four flippers, it had to be a sea turtle.
"I was thinking about something very important," she said with a modicum of annoyance as she got to her feet. "But what are you doing around here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be living near the sea?"
"Yes, I'm quite concerned because I'm so far away from home. By the way, could you spare some salt water?"
She did have some salt water in a capsule back in her house that she didn't really have any plans for, and then the turtle'd owe her one... "Sure, I'll get you some." Bulma strode briskly back towards the house, and the turtle wiggled its way after her as best it could. Soon, the turtle was drinking the salt water out of a metal bucket as Bulma looked on. The turtle gulped the last of it down, obviously very thirsty, and set the bucket down with a clatter and a sigh.
"Good sea water," he complimented Bulma. "Aromatic, yet full-bodied."
"Yeah, I think it's an '87."
"Nope, an '86."
"Are you sure about that?" she asked in a somewhat skeptical tone.
"Mmhmm. I know my water."
Deciding to change the subject, Bulma thought she should repeat the question she'd asked earlier and hadn't gotten an answer to. "What *are* you doing here?"
"Well, I'm lost. I'm just plumb plain old lost. I got in a long foot race with a hare, took a wrong turn, and I've been looking for the sea ever since."
"I hate to tell you this, but the sea's in the opposite direction. Wait here, I'll go get you a map." It only took her a few moments to fetch a map from inside the house. She flipped through it as she walked back over to the turtle, locating the right page. "According to this, the sea's almost a hundred miles away."
"Great. That'll take me twenty years." The turtle lowered his head as he looked sadly at the ground. Bulma felt a little sorry for him, but she really needed to get going towards Master Roshi's island so she could give him the staff and get his Dragonb- Wait a second, hadn't Mr. Son told her that Master Roshi was known as the Turtle Hermit? And now she ran into a talking sea turtle on the way towards his house... It was worth asking about, at any rate.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know an old man named Master Roshi, would you?"
"Uh-hunh. He's my owner." Great! If she brought the old guy's pet back to him, he'd probably be grateful enough that he'd just give her the Dragonball.
"Well, I'm heading in that direction. I could probably drive you to the sea, if I can manage to get you into my car."
"Why, thank you."
Bulma turned to encapsulate her house and put it away, but paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, by the way, do you have a name I can call you? I'm Bulma Briefs."
"Master Roshi calls me Umigame." Bulma nodded and continued her preparations to leave. It was a tight fit and Bulma had to struggle to get him in, but eventually Umigame was maneuvered into the back seat of Bulma's car. Hopping into the driver's seat, Bulma started the car up and was soon driving down the road towards the sea. It took less than two hours for them to reach the shore. Bulma parked as close to the water as she could reasonably get. She got out of the car and stood there for a moment, letting the ocean breeze bring a salty tang with it as it blew around her face and through her hair. It took some effort for her to pull Umigame out of the back seat and on to the beach.
"You know, this is probably the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me," he said to Bulma. "Thank you for bringing me back here."
She smiled. "Don't mention it." Particularly since he would be helping her to get the next Dragonball. "Now, do you remember how to get to Master Roshi's island?"
"Yep. I find navigating in the water a lot easier than navigating on land."
Bulma nodded. "Then just let me get a boat out and I'll follow you there." She retrieved the staff she needed to deliver from the car before encapsulating it. Digging out her capsule case, she found one that would suit her needs and exchanged the car capsule for it. Triggering the new capsule, she tossed it out over the water, where it became a small motor powered boat. She pulled her socks and shoes off before wading over to the boat and getting in. She didn't want to have to spend the rest of the day in disgustingly wet, squishy shoes after all. "Lead the way, Umigame."
Umigame may have had a lot of trouble moving around on land, but in the water he was surprisingly fast. Bulma checked the Dragonball radar from time to time as they made their way across the ocean, making sure they were heading in the right direction.
The island that eventually approached in the distance was quite small, barely large enough to hold a small house and a few palm trees upon it. The house looked cozy enough but was oddly colored, with pink walls and a red roof. As they got closer to the island, Bulma could make out the words 'Kame House' painted on one side of the house. An old man was sitting outside by the beach, reading a magazine. He was skinny and bald, and dressed in a brightly colored shirt, shorts, sandals, and what looked to be a large purple turtle shell strapped to his back. A pair of red-framed sunglasses completed his ensemble, and Bulma guessed that this old nut must be the Turtle Hermit. Another quick check of the Dragonball radar showed that there was definitely a Dragonball somewhere on that island.
The old man looked up and set his magazine down as they got closer, probably alerted to their approach by the sound of her boat's motor. Umigame reached the island shore first, and Master Roshi walked over to him with a smile. "Umigame! Where have you been all this time? I was worried about you."
Umigame looked a little sheepish. "I got lost. But this nice young lady helped me find my way back here." As Umigame said that, Bulma's boat reached the island, and she cut the motor and hopped out onto the sand.
Master Roshi looked her over, his smile widening. "Hello there, young lady! I'm Master Roshi the Turtle Hermit! Is it true that you helped my turtle?"
"I'm Bulma Briefs, and yes, I drove your turtle from where I found him to the sea shore."
"Thank you, you are a very kind (not to mention pretty) young lady. I have a gift I'd like to give you as a token of my gratitude."
"Really?" Bulma asked with a smile. She always appreciated gifts, and if she didn't want whatever it was maybe she could convince him to give her his Dragonball instead.
Roshi walked closer to the edge of the beach and raised his staff in a strange pose, shouting, "Come to me, Immortal Phoenix!" He then held the pose, staring expectantly towards the horizon. Everyone on the beach was quiet as they waited to see what would happen. Several long moments passed with only the sound of the waves lapping at the beach disturbing the stillness.
Finally, Umigame spoke up. "Master, didn't the Phoenix die from food poisoning?"
"Eh, that's right, now that you mention it, Umigame. Now what else could I give her? Hmmm..." Roshi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Taking a closer look at him, Bulma's eyes fell on the orange spherical pendant he wore around his neck. Three red stars seemed to float below its surface. It was a Dragonball!
"Never mind, never mind! I know what I want!" Bulma broke in enthusiastically.
Jolted out of his thoughts, Roshi looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "Eh? You do? What?"
"I want that!" Bulma was pointing to the Dragonball. "That pendant you have around your neck!"
"What, this?" Roshi asked her as he started to take the pendant off. "Are you sure you want this old thing? I found it washed up on the shore of my island a long time ago."
Bulma accepted the Dragonball from the old man, gazing at it happily. "Oh, it's beautiful." The three-star ball was hers! Holding it up to her cheek and smiling, she continued, "Thank you, I really love your gift, you're a kind-hearted and generous old man! Thank you so much."
Roshi scratched his head, wondering what the big deal was.
"Oh, before I forget, I have something I was told to give to you..." Bulma started rummaging around in the bottom of her boat, finally pulling out the staff that she needed to deliver to him.
It was a bit hard to tell because of his sunglasses, but Bulma thought Master Roshi's eyes widened a bit when he saw the staff. "Who did you get that staff from?" he questioned her.
"Son Gohan, he said he used to be your student. I agreed to bring to you in exchange for his Dragonball. He wanted you to find someone worthy to pass it on to."
Bulma held out the staff for Roshi to take, which he did with a thoughtful nod. "What is a Dragonball, that you'd make the journey from Mount Paozu to here just to get one?"
"Well, that pendant you gave me is one. Once I get all seven of them, it's wish time!" Bulma smiled at the thought of getting her wish granted.
"That thing grants wishes?" he asked in a somewhat disbelieving tone. "If it's that important to you, maybe you could give me a little... extra reward... for giving it to you." Master Roshi's expression had taken on a lecherous cast by this point. "Just one little peek at your panties, that's all I ask..."
Bulma made a disgusted face. Show her underwear to this old pervert? Not unless she had to! Umigame jumped into the conversation before she could voice her reaction. "You know that's against your code, Master! It's wrong, dead wrong!" Umigame scolded.
"Can't an old man have a little bit of fun around here?" Roshi yelled back.
Bulma finally found her voice. "You were perfectly fine with just giving the Dragonball to me until you found out what it did. A deal's a deal, old man, and I have no intention of catering to your little fantasies out of the goodness of my heart!" Turning to Umigame, she said, "I enjoyed meeting you, maybe we'll see each other again sometime. But I really need to get back to looking for the other Dragonballs. Bye!"
Bulma got into her boat and maneuvered it away from the island and back to the coast, ignoring Master Roshi's shouting about how kids these days were ungrateful and disrespectful. Just three more to find before she'd get to make her wish! As her boat glided through the water, she wondered where the search would take her next.
Author's Note
Heh, it's rather fun to write Bulma in the beginning when she's still a selfish little bitch and she's insulting, bribing, and tricking her way through any obstacle that's in her path.
Most of the scene where Bulma meets Umigame for the first time is taken from Dragonball episode 002, "The Emperor's Quest". I almost always use the American dub names for characters, but calling the sea turtle 'Turtle' makes me expect a dog named 'Dog' and a cat named 'Cat' to show up next. (And yes, I realize that Umigame means 'sea turtle' in Japanese.)
A good bit of the Master Roshi/Bulma interaction is based closely on Dragonball episode 003, "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi". Also, in the American dub Roshi calls for a magic carpet, which is supposedly 'at the cleaners', instead of the Immortal Phoenix.
Next time on Rewoven Tapestry, Bulma reaches the next Dragonball, but learns that the only way she can get its owner to give it up is by defeating Oolong the (not so) Terrible, a shape-changing monster... er, pig.
