Profound realities…

Chapter 2: Prelude to the past…

A young man steps out of the shadows, his feet downed with heavy black boots, his hands slipped deep into his dark blue jacket pockets, he stopped focusing his eyes upon us.
"You didn't see what we went through then, but you will now, I will tell you briefly how it began. As my late aunt had told me," he explains, his crystal topaz eyes glazed over and drying from the lack of blinking.
"My name is Trunks, I'm here to tell how I came to be where I am now", he says, his voice deep and serious as though there were a funeral in procession.
" Years ago, on a small island outside of south city something happened, something appeared and from then on nothing was ever the same again." He tells us the audience, bowing his head slightly letting his hair fall around his cheekbones.

"Two beings, with the strength that had never been witnessed before by the earths protectors had been born, pure Evil, with nothing but hatred and revenge in their iced eyes and minds, we were never warned about them, we had to improvise" he hissed, throwing his head back tossing his bangs away from his eyes.
"It would have been easier to find a solution to defeat them if Goku had survived" he said with regret and some anger in his tone. Looking up toward the sky for a moment, breathing in a short breath he turns toward us and starts pacing in our direction
"The heart virus which is still incurable, took the life of Goku Son leaving the rest of us alone to fight this new threat… I myself was only a baby when this happened, I don't remember any of it" Trunks confirms, tilting his eyes toward the ground passing below his feet, then swiftly upturning back toward us.
"But that doesn't mean I wouldn't suffer the consequences", he said with slitted eyes, stopping with his feet slightly apart he licked his dry lips.
"The first to fight way my father, Vegeta, the prince of sayajins, he was defeated, next came Krillin who was killed in more than half the time, after that Yumcha, Tien and Chouzu tried to go at it together, they also failed. Piccolo fought a brave battle but didn't come out of it with any victory, he was lucky though, we found him later on clinging to life in the rubble"

Trunks said, taking in a breath of clean air to continue, staring deeply toward us with his cold meaningful eyes, each pupil had a story to tell."After that the rest of us hid away until we could find a way to defeat them, my young mother, Bulma was in the lab preparing a device that she believe could deactivate these 'demons', I was with Chichi, Gohans mother when it happened." He stops and composes himself, its evident that he would not be calm if he did not take this small breather.
"They came to during the night, and that even number came in and destroyed everything, she slaughtered my mother and left her hanging from the ceiling by her hair for us to find days later, after the rats had gotten to her." Trunks cringe through his teeth with constraint, his fists constricting in the bottom of his pockets, his eyes closing together tightly until his developed crows feet.
"If there was a god why would he allow this to happened, I asked myself that so many times. But there is no answer to that in words, at least not those I can hear" he says more calmly, parting his eye.
"And now I don't ask myself that anymore, I just thank him that I am here…"
" I can't say anything else, the rest needs to be seen to be believed "He says, looking up and back toward the way he came.
"Ill see you at the end as I have at the beginning, this is not just my stories, its the story of many…" he says, as small smile appearing on the face of a young man with hardened heart, twisting his body around we hear his boots scraping along the gravel ground.
" This roads a long one, so don't say I didn't warn you" he says as a final note, with his back to us his hands still deep in his pockets, he paces casually away toward the sun, his boots crushing upon the gravel as he walks further away.

His left hand raising up out of his pockets, he gives a single wave to us before continuing on his leave.
"Why…Piccolo, why did you tell them!…" a voice eccoed, its sounds moving furthur and fuirthur away. He could hear his name being called by the young voice in his mind and wanted to go toward it, but then realised the harsh reality of his fantasy.
"Piccolo.. Did you want a blanket or not!" Chichi asked again, nudging a dark blue folded blanket into Piccolo's shoulder, waiting for the namek to acknowledge her question.

Piccolos eyes parted slowly, he would never allow himself to arrear surprised or caught off guard, especially not by her and her critical backstabbing manner.
He reached out taking the neatly folded fabric from her and watching as she briskly walked away from him away. Piccolo made all the blankets for the group every few weeks and especially on the cold nights, the sun hadn't warmed trhe earth to a tolerable temperature in months, the summers had become unwelcome snowless winters.
"The dreams have affected you again my son, you do poor work of hiding it" a voice carried from the opposite side of the diminutive fire, its flickers of sparks floating up a few inches above the flames before vanishing with the breeze, Piccolo shuffles his shoulders and unfolded the blanked.
"I didn't realise you still kept tabs on me old man, don't make me warn you again" the warrior responded, drapping the thick navy fabric over his extended should pads and around over his ears, Kami watched him tilting his elderly head from side to side and then smirked.

"You cant take that action and you know it, I am needed at this time in the search so you will have to accept my presents." Kami told him frankly, seated with his back rested against the stone wall of a ruined house. His smirk broadening into a full smile when Piccolo didn't answer back
"Fuck you." Piccolo whispered aloud, folding his arms against his chest with his hands concealed in his armpits. The guardian scraped the bottom tip of his staff into the small fire to keep it alit, igroning Piccolo, they would be the only ones who didn't sleep being namek's.
"That language isn't necessary Piccolo, you know that." A calm voice spoek up from beside Kami against the other concrete wall of the house.

Piccolo eyed them with his head consistently in its bowed position, his features almost black apart from the white of his eyes. Kami neglected to turn his head to respond to Gohan standing up for him, the young man needed to be alone at this time.
Piccolo didn't add any comments either, instead watching Gohans profile with the same consern as a father would have for his son, silent and no longer the young boy who held his true fathers persona of happiness and optimism.
Goku the one and only who gave so much hope and always made it all better in the end.
Gohans sat lotus style with his loose fists resting in his lap, a faint glowing and flashing or colour illuminated his face like flames from a fire; only this light was generated by something else that was much more speacial.

Between his knees rested three dragonballs, the seven, one star and his most prized of all the four ballpassed down to him by his fathers father.
"Gohan honey, aren't you cold?" Chichi asked comeign to stand beside him, nuzzling the hem of her purple blanked closed to her neck and face to ban the frost and burn of the cold against her skin, Gokhan looked so trans like and drugge at times like this.
His head lifted and slowly turned to look at his mother, his face o longer the smooth round cheeks of youth and innocents , now it was scared with a horrific synbol and a reminder to Chichi of one of Gohans last battles against the twins of destruction.

Android 17 was the fiercely cruel one who devolped the strategies and ideas, 18 manically enjoyed watching then being applied and obliged on that day to hold Gohan down against the ground whilst her twin burned the number.. '17'.. into Gohans right cheek without remorse, heargrign as his screams carried through the burned city and across the trees into the winderness.
"Yeah mom.. Thanks" he responded with grace, when away from battle and training young Trunks, he tried to keep some of his kindness alive.

It had been close to 7 years, 7 years of searching for a needle in a hayfield, only 3 of the 7 dragoballs have been found, gohan was determined to keep going and not give in on the search, Piccolo meanwhile stayed patient with Kami, because without Kami all hope was lost.
Sensing her son's troubles, Chichi slid down onto her buttocks beside her only son, her hands hugging her knees close to her chest.
"Are you alright, you have me worried honey, all this silence that you show is starting to get to me" She told him, her hand reaching up to stroke the hairs on his head.

Pulling away she wrapped half of her large blanket around his shoulders, looking down she could see the three dragonballs clearly in his lap.
"Please Gohan, don't go crazy on us and go off on your own again, im almost died the last time" she pleaded, her lips frowning.
Gohans eyes closed shut from watching the dragonballs, sometimes he could have sworn that he was still a young boy, Chichis way of worrying for him hadn't changed since then, he new it was one of the only things that kept him sane.
"I wont, I wont leave again without the rest of you…I promise" he said with honesty, reopening his eyes to focus upon the balls again, their glowing light was warming to the heart, but not so for the body. He was thankful his mother shared her blanket with him.

As they tried to find their sleep, someone else had just awoken from his, ruffling beneath his red and blue-stripped blanket Trunks sat up rubbing an eye with his fist, his pillow ruffled hair standing on end.
"Aren't you all asleep yet…its what…2 am or something?" he grumbled, frowning at he looked at his scratched watch, a watch he had since he was 3 years of age, it still had its original teal wristbands and clear plastic watch face.
"I warned you, napping during the day wouldn't help but did you listen to me… no" Piccolo snitched, very unlike himself.
Trunks rolled his eyes back at his mentor then pulled his knees up to his chest, gazing over to the warm crackling fire he started falling into a daydream, mesmerised by the dancing flamed and sparks.

Before his opened eyes appeared android 18, a beautiful and deadly creature that on many occasion had nearly destroyed him and the ones he loved, her stone cold expression smiling back and him with a length of her blond hair falling over her left eye.
"You'll be tired tomorrow if you don't get some sleep now" Chichi said to him over her shoulder, waking him from his daydream.
"But im bored Chichi, can I grab something to eat at least?" he asked, leaning back with his hands to support his weight.
Chichi pressed her lips together.
"Fine, there are crackers in the nap sack beside you, don't overdo It." she reminded him; the last thing she wanted was to deal with was a teenager having stomach cramps.
"Chew quietly!" Piccolo reminded with a snarl, his eyelids firmly closed together.
Trunks leaned over burrowing his hand into the velvety knapsack, pulling out 3 square water crackers, crossing his legs beneath his blanket he tried to quietly nibble them down.

As he did his clear blue eyes looked up to the dark clear sky, one thing that hadn't changed was the stars and the moon, there was no moon tonight but the stars were plenty.
In these instances he dreamed up things he desired most, things like a skateboard, bike and the latest video games, but most of all he wished for his mothers presents, even if it were only in his dreams.

Thanks for reading…