Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.
Chapter 12 - Kame House
The sun's last magnificent rays cast the shadows of the trees onto the pale sand, long and thin, into amorphous shapes. It had been a warm day, and Krillin had spent most of it running errands for Muten Roshi, traveling to and from Satan City and the Kame House many times.
After a hard day's worth of traveling, he spent the moment on a beach chair, catching the last rays of the sun and looking up into the slowly darkening sky. Ever since he had been killed by Freeza and brought back to life with the dragonballs, he had spent many days like this, pondering the mysteries of life.
He sighed, rubbing the sweat off his bald head with a towel. "It's good to be alive…"
All of a sudden he sensed something. An unfamiliar ki--abnormally high to be a human, yet too weak to be of any threat. His senses on alert, he searched the horizon and the orange-red skies above it.
"What is it Krillin?" inquired Umigame, the aged sea turtle. "Do you sense something out there?"
He nodded, reaching a hand to shade his eyes from the sun. "Uh-huh…and it seems to be getting closer, too. Do you see anything out there Umigame?"
The turtle raised its own neck and looked out across the softly lapping waves. "No, I don't…"
"I just can't see much in this--hey! There it is!" Krillin pointed a finger out at a dark speck in the dusk's sky, which grew steadily bigger. "It seems to be a human…but it's…it's…flying? I thought we were the only ones on Earth who could fly, Umigame!"
"Well I suppose you're wrong then," said the turtle, ambling towards the open sea for a better view. "Do you suppose this is a threat?"
"Unless they are hiding their ki, no I don't think so…but I think I should better go in for a closer look," Krillin replied, laying down the towel and taking flight into the air, the rays of the sun reflecting off his head. He turned in midair and faced the figure in the distance. However, at that moment, it had stopped in flight.
"I wonder what they are doing…" he muttered to himself, flying forward for a closer look, yet making sure to be cautious all the same. The figure had its back towards him, yet from the hair and figure, Krillin was almost positive the person was a woman.
He stopped when he was about forty feet away from the figure, debating whether he should call out to her. Suddenly, an object dropped from the figure and plunged into the ocean; seconds later, she had glanced at the sun.
'Why is she looking at the sun?' Krillin asked himself, but more thoughts were cut from him as unexpectedly, she began dropping headlong towards the water, gathering speed from the heights she had been hovering at.
"Wha?! Oh no!" Krillin shouted, racing after her at top speeds. With a tremendous splash, she hit the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Without a moment's hesitation Krillin dove in after her.
Beneath the water's surface, it was like another world. The rays of the sun didn't even graze this underwater world, where the darkness lurked, sea creatures hidden on the ocean floor's rocky bottom. Schools of fish swam by in colorful variants, adding brightness to the dim world. The figure was sinking, deeper and deeper towards the bottom as Krillin kicked the water from behind him and reached it, just before it was engulfed in darkness. Gripping her tightly in his arms, he dragged the heavy weight up to the surface, breaking it and gasping for air.
Gulping mouthfuls of air, Krillin glanced down at the figure in his arms, a woman in her early twenties, her crimson hair plastered around her wet face. "Sure haven't seen her around…" he mused, as she spluttered and coughed up a mouthful of salt water. Stirring, she still did not open her eyes as Krillin made his way back to the Kame House.
* * * * *
"Hey Muten Roshi!" Krillin yelled as his feet at last touched the warm sand on Muten Roshi's island. "Come out here for a second, will you?"
There was a shuffling of feet and moments later, the door to the house was flung open, Muten Roshi at the threshold, dressed in casual t-shirt and shorts, his white beard combed fine. "What s'matter? What's going on Krillin?"
"This girl fell in the ocean and she was flying--" he began, pulling her into view.
"Whoa! Krillin, what a hottie you got there!" Muten Roshi exclaimed, eyes popping out from his head and his mouth dropping open, the clear drool visible. Rushing down the front steps, he raced across the beach and appeared before the girl, grasping her hand and feeling the smooth skin underneath his fingertips. He coughed, then regained composure. "She doesn't look too well, does she?"
"Obviously not…" Krillin glanced down at the pale figure in his arms. She seemed vaguely conscious, yet her eyes were not yet open.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Bring her inside and get her dry!" The old master turned and walked back to the Kame House, Krillin in his wake, Sashima still in his arms.
"Where should I put her?" he asked, once they were in the living room. He looked around. There wasn't much space in the room, and most of the floor had been littered with Muten Roshi's dirty magazines. The couch seemed to be the only decent spot, and he carefully laid her down on it.
"Oolong! Could you get me a couple of towels?" Krillin hollered, looking around for the pig that lived with them.
"What for?" Oolong came out of the kitchen, a sandwich in his mouth. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"
"For her," Krillin pointed to the figure awkwardly, "she fell into the ocean, so could you go--" In a flash, Oolong was gone, a blur of color in the direction of the bathroom. "Geez…what was that about?" Krillin wondered as he laid a hand to the back of his head.
"Here!" Oolong had returned, fresh white towels draped around him. "You can go now Krillin…I can wipe her dry…" The grin on his face made Krillin sweat drop.
"Uh…I don't think that's such a good idea…" he replied, snatching the towels from Oolong.
"Of course it's not," Muten Roshi had arrived, and he in turn swiped the towels from the clutches of Krillin, "because I will be the one to dry her!"
"What gives you the right to even TOUCH her old man?!" Oolong demanded, grabbing a hold on a towel and pulling with all his might.
"What gives you the right as well?!"
"You wait when she wakes up and finds that a dirty man like you has laid hands on her!"
"Anyone would be better than a perverted piece of pork like you!"
"Who are you calling a perverted piece of pork?!"
"YOU! THAT'S WHO!"
"Hey…hey…calm down you guys…" Krillin chuckled nervously, pulling the two away from one another.
"Ugh…damn sun…damn dimension…"
"Huh?" Krillin, Muten Roshi, and Oolong ceased their bickering and turned to give their attention to the woman on the couch, who by now, was awake and relatively normal.
"Ugh," she groaned again, then for the first time seemed to notice that she was being watched. "Hey…where am I?" she wondered, staring around the room and taking in the scene.
"You're at the Kame House," Krillin spoke up, "you fell into the ocean…" He looked more closely at her face. 'Red eyes?? That's an abnormal eye color…'
"Oh yeah, I did. Heh, last thing I remembered was looking at the sun and then losing it. Thanks for saving me. By the way, what's your name?" Curiously she looked at the three before her.
"Ah…let me introduce myself!" Muten Roshi elbowed Krillin and Oolong off to the side, then sweep down to a formal bow. "I am Muten Roshi, and it was me who rescued you from the ocean depths--"
"Don't be a fool!" Oolong interjected, stepping in front of Muten Roshi, "he can hardly swim anymore! My name is Oolong and it was me who risked my life and braved the sharks in the water--"
"Uh…okay…" Sashima raised an eyebrow, wondering if the kinds of people she had met today would get even stranger.
"Don't mind them," Krillin said, grinning broadly, "they are always like that."
"Oh sure," she replied, "…and you are?"
He blushed slightly--having a woman inquire his name was not a usual thing. "Uh…Krillin…my name is Krillin!"
"Nice to meet all of you--I'm Sashima," the red-haired woman replied, getting up and stepping on one of the scattered magazines. "Oh sorry! Here--" she picked one up from the floor, yet quickly tossed it back down as if it were a dead rat, sitting back down on the couch.
Krillin winced, turned scarlet once more. "Uh…I'm sorry for the mess this house is in…I try and keep Muten Roshi and Oolong from reading too…much of that stuff…"
"Er…I see…" she paused, glancing out the window at the setting sun, yet quickly withdrew her gaze from it, rubbing her temples in annoyance.
"What's wrong?" Krillin asked, noticing her quick reaction to the sun's rays.
"Oh nothing…not much…" she replied, running a hand through wet hair, "I just don't like looking at the sun, that's all. Red eyes don't go too well with the brightness of something like the sun, you know?"
Krillin was amazed at her comment. 'Is she some cat-person or something?' He kept these thoughts inside though, and made with another comment of his own. "Of course! The way cats--er--I mean! Red eyes are…absolutely not good with the sun! Especially without sunglasses and such!"
Sashima nodded. "I did have sunglasses, but I accidentally dropped them when I was flying--"
"Eh?" By now Oolong and Muten Roshi had stopped their quarreling, hanging on to every word spoken between Krillin and Sashima. "You can fly??" gasped Oolong.
"Uh…yeah…" Silently she cursed herself. These people who she had just met weren't supposed to know that about her, and the bald dude had probably even seen her fall from the air as well!
"Now that you mention it," Muten Roshi stroked his beard, "your ki IS relatively high for a human's…" He peered at her intently for a few seconds through his sunglasses and paced slowly the perimeter around the couch.
She scratched her head in pretended confusion. "Ki? What is ki?"
"Er…ki is your inner energy, like your life force," supplied Krillin, "and this may be a bit rude, but do you know how to raise your ki?"
Sashima had no idea what in the world they were trying to pull at her, yet she could see no harm in summoning up a tiny bit of power, especially when the fact that she could fly was already in the light. She needed to dry off anyway.
"Okay…I'll raise up my "ki" or whatever you're talking about…but only because I need to get dry and nothing else, okay?" Closing her eyes, she started to draw the energy from within the center of her, feeling the warmth radiate through her body, to the tips of her fingertips and the soles of her feet. When all at last she was dry, she cut off the extra flow of energy and restored it to its rightful place within her.
Opening her eyes, she nearly fell off the couch at the wide-eyed stares which Oolong, Muten Roshi, and Krillin penetrated her with. "Hey? Are you three alright?"
At once they seemed to snap out of their stupor, Krillin opening his mouth as if to say something, then closing it back again. Muten Roshi finally spoke up.
"You know, Sashima…your ki is extremely high for an average human's, yet…is that all the energy you have?"
Deliberately she decided to forge a lie. "Yes, that's about how much energy I have--why? Is that abnormal or something?" Inwardly, she already knew the answer to the question, but the fact needed not be told.
Neither Muten Roshi nor Krillin seemed to buy into her answer. "So if you have a ki like that," Krillin began, "why did you fall out of the sky all of a sudden? You weren't injured, were you?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. Just that looking at the sun gives me headaches and all…it wasn't as bad from where I came from, but I still needed the sunglasses some of the time." The woman got up and made her way to the open door, peering out at the open sea and the growing darkness around. The sun had set by now, last spokes from its ball of fire across the ocean waters. It was a magnificent scene, the beauty of it all striking a chord somewhere within her.
"It's getting real late--"
Seizing the opportunity, Muten Roshi blurted out, "Would you like to stay with us? We have enough rooms to accommodate you!"
Sashima sweat dropped, feeling a tad sick to her stomach. Politely she declined, "Thank you very much Muten Roshi, and thank you all for saving me, but I better be getting back to Capsule Corporation before it gets too dark and I lose my way."
"Capsule Corp.?" Krillin echoed, "You're staying there with Bulma?"
"Yeah, you know her?"
"Bulma is a good friend of ours, as a matter of fact. Say 'hi' to her for us, will ya?" said Krillin.
"Sure thing! Oh and um…which way is Satan City?" Sheepishly she chuckled, putting her hand to the back of her head.
"Satan City is that way--" Stepping outside, Krillin directed her in a westerly direction, where the last tinges of orange and red loomed. "Oh and do you need to borrow some sunglasses or anything?"
"Nope, but thanks anyways," said Sashima, levitating into the air. "Well…good-bye!"
The figures in front of the Kame House blinked. When they opened their eyes, she was gone.
"Whoa, how'd she fly off so fast?!" cried Oolong, scanning the horizon for her shadow.
"Muten Roshi, did you sense something strange about this Sashima person?" Krillin asked his old teacher, turning to face him in the gathering darkness.
His face was serious as the aged master looked across the sea. For a moment he did not speak, yet when he did, the words carried much effect.
"Krillin, when you asked her if she knew what ki was, she said she didn't know. But from the look in her eyes, she obviously knew; she was holding back a lot of energy as well. And Krillin, do you sense her ki right now?"
His pupil paused, then slowly nodded. "It's out there, but it's extremely far away, like in Satan City almost. I just don't see how she could've flown all the way back to the mainland that quickly without us seeing …it's like she just used an Instantaneous Movement technique like the one Goku uses…"
"She may not need to learn that technique to use it."
"Huh?" Krillin was baffled. "What do you mean?"
"There was a slight difference in her ki than that of you or I. I suspect she is not human."
* * * * *
She arrived in front of the metal gates that flanked the entrance to Capsule Corporation in record time--she hadn't bothered to fly to risk catching anymore of the sun's rays. By the time she had returned, it was completely dark, the street lamps casting a ghostlike aura on the objects that stood nearby. She shuddered, remembering all too well of her sister.
Pressing the button at the gate, she waited until she heard Bulma's voice, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Sashima," the younger woman replied back, and presently a tiny screen above the speaker clicked on, revealing an image of Bulma. "Oh hey! You're back--hang on, let me open the doors for you…"
She stepped back as the wrought-iron gates swung open, and as she stepped through, them closing behind her. In the brightness on the vicinity of Capsule Corp., the darkness no longer seemed to be as forbidding as she made her way to the front steps of Bulma Briefs' house, where Bulma stood waiting at the front door.
"Wow you sure got back late--I was wondering if you got lost or something!" Bulma exclaimed as she ushered Sashima inside, shutting the door behind her. "I er…found some bags on your bed…were all those things yours?"
She laughed and made her way to the kitchen. "Heh, sorry about that; I ran into a little trouble today and didn't want to carry all the stuff around." Opening up the fridge, she took out some cold chicken and some leftover stew, ladling some into a bowl. "You don't mind if I eat this right?" she asked quickly, glancing up, a little embarrassed.
"Oh no, eat whatever you can find--there's enough food here for many more people! Hey, I'm going to go watch the news okay?" Bulma called from the doorway, and left abruptly, leaving Sashima at the kitchen table with her dinner.
Plopping down on the leather couch, Bulma could not help wondering what Sashima had been up to that day. 'The shopping bags ended up in her room…and supposedly she was in Downtown. How does that work? If she can teleport herself and other objects, what else can she do??' Flipping on the t.v., the first story she saw was the evening's top story.
"…and police are still at this moment questioning the suspects of the notorious gang which has unexpectedly been rounded up today. Witnesses say that at about 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, a barrel of gunshots were heard in a warehouse down by the abandoned part of the waterfront. When police arrived there, they were met with a shocking scene--about twenty men entangled in a net on a gigantic heap on the floor. These men are suspected to be part of a larger organization involved with much of Satan City's violence and drug dealings. We now go to Oki Tsukawa at the Satan City Jail, where these dangerous men are being held at the moment. Oki, what can you tell us?"
[The camera switches to a woman in front of the jail] "Well Rotsue, I'm here live at the city jail, and police have informed me that they have finished their questioning on the apparent gang leader, who is nicknamed 'Golden Ear.' Evidently, he seems to be in some kind of shock, and the jail psychiatrist is doing on evaluation on him at the moment. All afternoon he has been mentioning of a woman who has been able to quote 'hover in midair, disappear, and escape unharmed from bullets.' His description of her is that she is in her early twenties, with crimson hair and equally crimson eyes. Police say she is not a suspect in this case, yet they would like her to be found and brought in for questioning. If you have any information, you are urged to call the Satan City Police Department…"
Bulma was stunned. "Unharmed by the bullets?" the words tumbled from her mouth, "just who IS Sashima?"
"You really want to know?"
Bulma leaped from her seat; Sashima was in the doorway to the living room, and she made her way over to Bulma, who recoiled slightly. Taking a seat and staring absently at the t.v., she at last raised her voice to speak.
"You can sit down, Bulma. If you really want to know, I'll tell you."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Finals are over! And I think I did well on most of them…with the exception of math, I bet. *cough* I just HAD to be stupid and study my ass off and I still didn't get that 95%! Actually I was nowhere even near 90%, 82.6% was more like it. Slight ray of hope in the distance…ugh. Anyways, I'm looking to about a chapter every half a week to a week…though that may change a bit. And I'm taking a web design class and now I figured out how to upload things onto fanfiction.net in html, good for me. Oh and please visit my website at: http://www.boomspeed.com/ladysamurai if you haven't done so yet. Thank you.
Chapter 12 - Kame House
The sun's last magnificent rays cast the shadows of the trees onto the pale sand, long and thin, into amorphous shapes. It had been a warm day, and Krillin had spent most of it running errands for Muten Roshi, traveling to and from Satan City and the Kame House many times.
After a hard day's worth of traveling, he spent the moment on a beach chair, catching the last rays of the sun and looking up into the slowly darkening sky. Ever since he had been killed by Freeza and brought back to life with the dragonballs, he had spent many days like this, pondering the mysteries of life.
He sighed, rubbing the sweat off his bald head with a towel. "It's good to be alive…"
All of a sudden he sensed something. An unfamiliar ki--abnormally high to be a human, yet too weak to be of any threat. His senses on alert, he searched the horizon and the orange-red skies above it.
"What is it Krillin?" inquired Umigame, the aged sea turtle. "Do you sense something out there?"
He nodded, reaching a hand to shade his eyes from the sun. "Uh-huh…and it seems to be getting closer, too. Do you see anything out there Umigame?"
The turtle raised its own neck and looked out across the softly lapping waves. "No, I don't…"
"I just can't see much in this--hey! There it is!" Krillin pointed a finger out at a dark speck in the dusk's sky, which grew steadily bigger. "It seems to be a human…but it's…it's…flying? I thought we were the only ones on Earth who could fly, Umigame!"
"Well I suppose you're wrong then," said the turtle, ambling towards the open sea for a better view. "Do you suppose this is a threat?"
"Unless they are hiding their ki, no I don't think so…but I think I should better go in for a closer look," Krillin replied, laying down the towel and taking flight into the air, the rays of the sun reflecting off his head. He turned in midair and faced the figure in the distance. However, at that moment, it had stopped in flight.
"I wonder what they are doing…" he muttered to himself, flying forward for a closer look, yet making sure to be cautious all the same. The figure had its back towards him, yet from the hair and figure, Krillin was almost positive the person was a woman.
He stopped when he was about forty feet away from the figure, debating whether he should call out to her. Suddenly, an object dropped from the figure and plunged into the ocean; seconds later, she had glanced at the sun.
'Why is she looking at the sun?' Krillin asked himself, but more thoughts were cut from him as unexpectedly, she began dropping headlong towards the water, gathering speed from the heights she had been hovering at.
"Wha?! Oh no!" Krillin shouted, racing after her at top speeds. With a tremendous splash, she hit the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Without a moment's hesitation Krillin dove in after her.
Beneath the water's surface, it was like another world. The rays of the sun didn't even graze this underwater world, where the darkness lurked, sea creatures hidden on the ocean floor's rocky bottom. Schools of fish swam by in colorful variants, adding brightness to the dim world. The figure was sinking, deeper and deeper towards the bottom as Krillin kicked the water from behind him and reached it, just before it was engulfed in darkness. Gripping her tightly in his arms, he dragged the heavy weight up to the surface, breaking it and gasping for air.
Gulping mouthfuls of air, Krillin glanced down at the figure in his arms, a woman in her early twenties, her crimson hair plastered around her wet face. "Sure haven't seen her around…" he mused, as she spluttered and coughed up a mouthful of salt water. Stirring, she still did not open her eyes as Krillin made his way back to the Kame House.
* * * * *
"Hey Muten Roshi!" Krillin yelled as his feet at last touched the warm sand on Muten Roshi's island. "Come out here for a second, will you?"
There was a shuffling of feet and moments later, the door to the house was flung open, Muten Roshi at the threshold, dressed in casual t-shirt and shorts, his white beard combed fine. "What s'matter? What's going on Krillin?"
"This girl fell in the ocean and she was flying--" he began, pulling her into view.
"Whoa! Krillin, what a hottie you got there!" Muten Roshi exclaimed, eyes popping out from his head and his mouth dropping open, the clear drool visible. Rushing down the front steps, he raced across the beach and appeared before the girl, grasping her hand and feeling the smooth skin underneath his fingertips. He coughed, then regained composure. "She doesn't look too well, does she?"
"Obviously not…" Krillin glanced down at the pale figure in his arms. She seemed vaguely conscious, yet her eyes were not yet open.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Bring her inside and get her dry!" The old master turned and walked back to the Kame House, Krillin in his wake, Sashima still in his arms.
"Where should I put her?" he asked, once they were in the living room. He looked around. There wasn't much space in the room, and most of the floor had been littered with Muten Roshi's dirty magazines. The couch seemed to be the only decent spot, and he carefully laid her down on it.
"Oolong! Could you get me a couple of towels?" Krillin hollered, looking around for the pig that lived with them.
"What for?" Oolong came out of the kitchen, a sandwich in his mouth. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"
"For her," Krillin pointed to the figure awkwardly, "she fell into the ocean, so could you go--" In a flash, Oolong was gone, a blur of color in the direction of the bathroom. "Geez…what was that about?" Krillin wondered as he laid a hand to the back of his head.
"Here!" Oolong had returned, fresh white towels draped around him. "You can go now Krillin…I can wipe her dry…" The grin on his face made Krillin sweat drop.
"Uh…I don't think that's such a good idea…" he replied, snatching the towels from Oolong.
"Of course it's not," Muten Roshi had arrived, and he in turn swiped the towels from the clutches of Krillin, "because I will be the one to dry her!"
"What gives you the right to even TOUCH her old man?!" Oolong demanded, grabbing a hold on a towel and pulling with all his might.
"What gives you the right as well?!"
"You wait when she wakes up and finds that a dirty man like you has laid hands on her!"
"Anyone would be better than a perverted piece of pork like you!"
"Who are you calling a perverted piece of pork?!"
"YOU! THAT'S WHO!"
"Hey…hey…calm down you guys…" Krillin chuckled nervously, pulling the two away from one another.
"Ugh…damn sun…damn dimension…"
"Huh?" Krillin, Muten Roshi, and Oolong ceased their bickering and turned to give their attention to the woman on the couch, who by now, was awake and relatively normal.
"Ugh," she groaned again, then for the first time seemed to notice that she was being watched. "Hey…where am I?" she wondered, staring around the room and taking in the scene.
"You're at the Kame House," Krillin spoke up, "you fell into the ocean…" He looked more closely at her face. 'Red eyes?? That's an abnormal eye color…'
"Oh yeah, I did. Heh, last thing I remembered was looking at the sun and then losing it. Thanks for saving me. By the way, what's your name?" Curiously she looked at the three before her.
"Ah…let me introduce myself!" Muten Roshi elbowed Krillin and Oolong off to the side, then sweep down to a formal bow. "I am Muten Roshi, and it was me who rescued you from the ocean depths--"
"Don't be a fool!" Oolong interjected, stepping in front of Muten Roshi, "he can hardly swim anymore! My name is Oolong and it was me who risked my life and braved the sharks in the water--"
"Uh…okay…" Sashima raised an eyebrow, wondering if the kinds of people she had met today would get even stranger.
"Don't mind them," Krillin said, grinning broadly, "they are always like that."
"Oh sure," she replied, "…and you are?"
He blushed slightly--having a woman inquire his name was not a usual thing. "Uh…Krillin…my name is Krillin!"
"Nice to meet all of you--I'm Sashima," the red-haired woman replied, getting up and stepping on one of the scattered magazines. "Oh sorry! Here--" she picked one up from the floor, yet quickly tossed it back down as if it were a dead rat, sitting back down on the couch.
Krillin winced, turned scarlet once more. "Uh…I'm sorry for the mess this house is in…I try and keep Muten Roshi and Oolong from reading too…much of that stuff…"
"Er…I see…" she paused, glancing out the window at the setting sun, yet quickly withdrew her gaze from it, rubbing her temples in annoyance.
"What's wrong?" Krillin asked, noticing her quick reaction to the sun's rays.
"Oh nothing…not much…" she replied, running a hand through wet hair, "I just don't like looking at the sun, that's all. Red eyes don't go too well with the brightness of something like the sun, you know?"
Krillin was amazed at her comment. 'Is she some cat-person or something?' He kept these thoughts inside though, and made with another comment of his own. "Of course! The way cats--er--I mean! Red eyes are…absolutely not good with the sun! Especially without sunglasses and such!"
Sashima nodded. "I did have sunglasses, but I accidentally dropped them when I was flying--"
"Eh?" By now Oolong and Muten Roshi had stopped their quarreling, hanging on to every word spoken between Krillin and Sashima. "You can fly??" gasped Oolong.
"Uh…yeah…" Silently she cursed herself. These people who she had just met weren't supposed to know that about her, and the bald dude had probably even seen her fall from the air as well!
"Now that you mention it," Muten Roshi stroked his beard, "your ki IS relatively high for a human's…" He peered at her intently for a few seconds through his sunglasses and paced slowly the perimeter around the couch.
She scratched her head in pretended confusion. "Ki? What is ki?"
"Er…ki is your inner energy, like your life force," supplied Krillin, "and this may be a bit rude, but do you know how to raise your ki?"
Sashima had no idea what in the world they were trying to pull at her, yet she could see no harm in summoning up a tiny bit of power, especially when the fact that she could fly was already in the light. She needed to dry off anyway.
"Okay…I'll raise up my "ki" or whatever you're talking about…but only because I need to get dry and nothing else, okay?" Closing her eyes, she started to draw the energy from within the center of her, feeling the warmth radiate through her body, to the tips of her fingertips and the soles of her feet. When all at last she was dry, she cut off the extra flow of energy and restored it to its rightful place within her.
Opening her eyes, she nearly fell off the couch at the wide-eyed stares which Oolong, Muten Roshi, and Krillin penetrated her with. "Hey? Are you three alright?"
At once they seemed to snap out of their stupor, Krillin opening his mouth as if to say something, then closing it back again. Muten Roshi finally spoke up.
"You know, Sashima…your ki is extremely high for an average human's, yet…is that all the energy you have?"
Deliberately she decided to forge a lie. "Yes, that's about how much energy I have--why? Is that abnormal or something?" Inwardly, she already knew the answer to the question, but the fact needed not be told.
Neither Muten Roshi nor Krillin seemed to buy into her answer. "So if you have a ki like that," Krillin began, "why did you fall out of the sky all of a sudden? You weren't injured, were you?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. Just that looking at the sun gives me headaches and all…it wasn't as bad from where I came from, but I still needed the sunglasses some of the time." The woman got up and made her way to the open door, peering out at the open sea and the growing darkness around. The sun had set by now, last spokes from its ball of fire across the ocean waters. It was a magnificent scene, the beauty of it all striking a chord somewhere within her.
"It's getting real late--"
Seizing the opportunity, Muten Roshi blurted out, "Would you like to stay with us? We have enough rooms to accommodate you!"
Sashima sweat dropped, feeling a tad sick to her stomach. Politely she declined, "Thank you very much Muten Roshi, and thank you all for saving me, but I better be getting back to Capsule Corporation before it gets too dark and I lose my way."
"Capsule Corp.?" Krillin echoed, "You're staying there with Bulma?"
"Yeah, you know her?"
"Bulma is a good friend of ours, as a matter of fact. Say 'hi' to her for us, will ya?" said Krillin.
"Sure thing! Oh and um…which way is Satan City?" Sheepishly she chuckled, putting her hand to the back of her head.
"Satan City is that way--" Stepping outside, Krillin directed her in a westerly direction, where the last tinges of orange and red loomed. "Oh and do you need to borrow some sunglasses or anything?"
"Nope, but thanks anyways," said Sashima, levitating into the air. "Well…good-bye!"
The figures in front of the Kame House blinked. When they opened their eyes, she was gone.
"Whoa, how'd she fly off so fast?!" cried Oolong, scanning the horizon for her shadow.
"Muten Roshi, did you sense something strange about this Sashima person?" Krillin asked his old teacher, turning to face him in the gathering darkness.
His face was serious as the aged master looked across the sea. For a moment he did not speak, yet when he did, the words carried much effect.
"Krillin, when you asked her if she knew what ki was, she said she didn't know. But from the look in her eyes, she obviously knew; she was holding back a lot of energy as well. And Krillin, do you sense her ki right now?"
His pupil paused, then slowly nodded. "It's out there, but it's extremely far away, like in Satan City almost. I just don't see how she could've flown all the way back to the mainland that quickly without us seeing …it's like she just used an Instantaneous Movement technique like the one Goku uses…"
"She may not need to learn that technique to use it."
"Huh?" Krillin was baffled. "What do you mean?"
"There was a slight difference in her ki than that of you or I. I suspect she is not human."
* * * * *
She arrived in front of the metal gates that flanked the entrance to Capsule Corporation in record time--she hadn't bothered to fly to risk catching anymore of the sun's rays. By the time she had returned, it was completely dark, the street lamps casting a ghostlike aura on the objects that stood nearby. She shuddered, remembering all too well of her sister.
Pressing the button at the gate, she waited until she heard Bulma's voice, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Sashima," the younger woman replied back, and presently a tiny screen above the speaker clicked on, revealing an image of Bulma. "Oh hey! You're back--hang on, let me open the doors for you…"
She stepped back as the wrought-iron gates swung open, and as she stepped through, them closing behind her. In the brightness on the vicinity of Capsule Corp., the darkness no longer seemed to be as forbidding as she made her way to the front steps of Bulma Briefs' house, where Bulma stood waiting at the front door.
"Wow you sure got back late--I was wondering if you got lost or something!" Bulma exclaimed as she ushered Sashima inside, shutting the door behind her. "I er…found some bags on your bed…were all those things yours?"
She laughed and made her way to the kitchen. "Heh, sorry about that; I ran into a little trouble today and didn't want to carry all the stuff around." Opening up the fridge, she took out some cold chicken and some leftover stew, ladling some into a bowl. "You don't mind if I eat this right?" she asked quickly, glancing up, a little embarrassed.
"Oh no, eat whatever you can find--there's enough food here for many more people! Hey, I'm going to go watch the news okay?" Bulma called from the doorway, and left abruptly, leaving Sashima at the kitchen table with her dinner.
Plopping down on the leather couch, Bulma could not help wondering what Sashima had been up to that day. 'The shopping bags ended up in her room…and supposedly she was in Downtown. How does that work? If she can teleport herself and other objects, what else can she do??' Flipping on the t.v., the first story she saw was the evening's top story.
"…and police are still at this moment questioning the suspects of the notorious gang which has unexpectedly been rounded up today. Witnesses say that at about 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, a barrel of gunshots were heard in a warehouse down by the abandoned part of the waterfront. When police arrived there, they were met with a shocking scene--about twenty men entangled in a net on a gigantic heap on the floor. These men are suspected to be part of a larger organization involved with much of Satan City's violence and drug dealings. We now go to Oki Tsukawa at the Satan City Jail, where these dangerous men are being held at the moment. Oki, what can you tell us?"
[The camera switches to a woman in front of the jail] "Well Rotsue, I'm here live at the city jail, and police have informed me that they have finished their questioning on the apparent gang leader, who is nicknamed 'Golden Ear.' Evidently, he seems to be in some kind of shock, and the jail psychiatrist is doing on evaluation on him at the moment. All afternoon he has been mentioning of a woman who has been able to quote 'hover in midair, disappear, and escape unharmed from bullets.' His description of her is that she is in her early twenties, with crimson hair and equally crimson eyes. Police say she is not a suspect in this case, yet they would like her to be found and brought in for questioning. If you have any information, you are urged to call the Satan City Police Department…"
Bulma was stunned. "Unharmed by the bullets?" the words tumbled from her mouth, "just who IS Sashima?"
"You really want to know?"
Bulma leaped from her seat; Sashima was in the doorway to the living room, and she made her way over to Bulma, who recoiled slightly. Taking a seat and staring absently at the t.v., she at last raised her voice to speak.
"You can sit down, Bulma. If you really want to know, I'll tell you."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Finals are over! And I think I did well on most of them…with the exception of math, I bet. *cough* I just HAD to be stupid and study my ass off and I still didn't get that 95%! Actually I was nowhere even near 90%, 82.6% was more like it. Slight ray of hope in the distance…ugh. Anyways, I'm looking to about a chapter every half a week to a week…though that may change a bit. And I'm taking a web design class and now I figured out how to upload things onto fanfiction.net in html, good for me. Oh and please visit my website at: http://www.boomspeed.com/ladysamurai if you haven't done so yet. Thank you.
