Chapter 3: There and back again: A Saiyan's Tale

The Fellowship of the Ring marched on, keeping to their mountainside path by Gandalf's council. It was getting cold and once again they were tired and hungry. "I got a bad case of the munchies", said Legolas, who was now in said stage of being stoned. Gimli rubbed his stomach and felt it too. "We need food Gandalf!" he shouted. Gandalf looked back sternly and pointed his finger at Gimli. "You ate all our food", he said. "A month's supply you ate for all of us".
"We might die thanks to you", said Merry.
"But we've got the munchies", said Legolas. "Isn't there any food at all left?"
Gandalf turned round and ignored the elf's plea.
"That was really good weed Legolas", said Gimli. "Where'd you get it?"
"Mirkwood", replied Legolas. "They make the most potent stuff in the whole of Middle Earth, and it's cheap too."
Gimli looked interested now.
"I can do you a deal on any drug you want Gimli", he continued.
"Really? I'd love that", said the dwarf. "But I thought Mirkwood was an elf forest. Elves aren't concerned with drug dealing, or so I thought."
"Nah", said Legolas, waving his hand as if to dismiss Gimli's claim. "Mirkwood is drug capital. We just keep it hidden so the rangers won't find out. They'd close our whole operation if they did."
"What about Strider?" asked Gimli.
Legolas looked at Aragorn and smiled. "We need people to distribute the drugs for us", he said. "Strider gets around. He travels all over Middle Earth, and since he used to be a junkie, we struck a deal with him."
Gimli was learning so much. He had no idea about the shady dealings of the elves. He thought long and hard about what Legolas had told him for the next few hours.

Trunks and Goten had been flying for an hour. They weren't as fast as their parents and had further to fly. Piccolo had not been wise in sending them so far from the meeting point. It was doubtful if they could find their way back, but they had been told the exact location of the dragonball. The wish was also an incentive for them to find it quicker; without it, they would probably go off and play somewhere.
"Where is it again Trunks?" asked Goten.
"Um…Piccolo said it's in a mountain I think", replied his friend.
"When are we going to be there?" asked Goten.
"Soon", replied Trunks, and they flew on.
The two young saiyans were not used to such heavy responsibility, and did not realise how important the mission was. Nevertheless, they would do their best.
Another hours flying brought the mountain into view, and they were suddenly excited. It had been a very boring journey, especially considering the fact that they both had attention spans of less than five seconds.
"Yippee! We're here! We're here!" shouted Goten, and turned a somersault midair.
"Wait", said Trunks, looking confused. "How do we know this is the right mountain?"
"Do you see any other mountains around?" asked Goten.
"No, I don't. But we might have gone the wrong way."
"We haven't"
"How do you know?"
"I…I just do, okay?"
This was another thing Piccolo hadn't accounted for when he assigned teams: Trunks and Goten argued often and both were stubborn, especially Trunks. After a brief dispute, they came to an agreement as Trunks realised that if this was the wrong mountain, they now had virtually no chance of finding the right one. They flew down and scanned the area. "We'd better split up and search one side of the mountain each", said Trunks, taking command. Goten nodded and they both flew to the other side. Arriving at the same time, Trunks looked annoyed. "I was taking this side!" he said. Goten stuck his tongue out and flew back to the other side.
After searching for a few minutes, they had systematically checked every area of the mountain, and had found no dragonball. They met up and discussed their results.
"Maybe you were right", said Goten. "Maybe this is the wrong mountain."
"I'm not so sure", replied his friend with a curious look on his face. "Stand back".
Goten stood far back, and Trunks moved his hands together. He powered up a small kamehameha and fired it at the mountain. The blast was loud and fired a large hole into the side of the rock. Goten looked in awe as he saw that the mountain did not collapse. Even more surprisingly was the hollow that had been revealed to them.
"I thought so", said Trunks. "There's an inside to this mountain".
"Hooray!" cheered Goten, and they flew into the hole.

The cave was vast and dark. In places the Saiyans couldn't see at all.
"Ouch!" cried Goten.
"What is it?" asked Trunks.
"Another invisible wall", replied Goten.
"It's not invisible Goten. It's just too dark in here to see anything. This is useless".
"Let's go super saiyan Trunks. Then we'll be able to see better".
"Okay. I don't think we have any other choice".
They both stood side by side, arms erect, and at the same time, let out a huge burst of energy as they began to glow a golden colour, their hair turning gold and their eyes turning green. They could see the cave now illuminated, and the walls were revealed to them. They made their way through a small hole in the wall and found themselves on a ledge, high above of a giant hollow. A stream ran through the bottom of the cave and tiny droplets of water dripped into it from stalactites, replenishing its water supply. There was, however, no sign of a dragonball. Both saiyans dropped to the bottom of the hollow room to search. They were filled with a confidence that could only be possessed by a child too young to have learnt the harsh realities of life. Goten landed first, followed by Trunks. When they had both touched the ground, a loud scream came from the next room in the cave. Trunks looked at Goten who looked back at him. They nodded to each other and immediately ran to the source of the noise.

The adjacent room was a lot smaller than what seemed to be the main part of the cave. Rocks were arranged in a way that made them easy to climb, a bit of a coincidence. The whole area seemed to show signs of sentient influence, from the unnaturally clean hollows (which nothing in the cave could have had the power to dig out at any time) to the rocky staircases that led up to the ledge Goten and Trunks had stood on earlier. A whimper could be heard in the corner. It was the same pitch as the previous scream they had heard. Curious, they moved towards the source. As they did, a small creature came into the light. He was skinny and had a greyish-blue complexion. His eyes were large and his skin looked rubbery. In addition, he couldn't have been more than one and a half times the size of the young saiyans. He lay, rolled up in a ball, cowering with his hands over his eyes.
"No light, go away! Smeagol hate light, Nasty light!" said the creature.
"Um…do you want us to put the light out?" asked Trunks.
"Yes…put out light, please. Smeagol no like light". His hands were glued to his eyes.
Trunks immediately suppressed his chi and went back to normal saiyan mode. Goten followed suit and the room went dark.
"Thank you, good saiyans. Kind saiyans help Smeagol. Smeagol grateful".
"Are you Smeagol?" asked Trunks.
* Gollum * The creature made a strange noise in his throat. * Gollum * it came again.
"What's that noise you're making?" asked Goten, still curious as to the nature of the creature.
"Bad noise. Smeagol not well. Big peoples call Smeagol Gollum."
"How did you know we were saiyans?" asked Trunks.
"Smeagol know all about saiyans. Smeagol tell from nasty light, but kind saiyanses stop light. Good saiyanses!"
"Well". Continued Trunks. "Since we helped you, do you think you could help us?"
"Yes. Smeagol help. Smeagol grateful!"
"Okay. Have you seen any shiny orange objects around? We're looking for one. It's called a dragonball."
"No. Smeagol not see dragonball." Goten and Trunks could not see, but Gollum had a worried expression on his face. "Smeagol go now". He got down on all fours and crawled up the rocky staircase.
Goten looked at Trunks, waiting for orders as he wasn't sure what to do. "Do you think we should follow him?" he suggested.
"I dunno…he's the only one who can help us and he probably knows the cave pretty well. I guess that's a good idea."

He led the way, and they climbed the staircase, tracking Gollum by the sound of his footsteps and by sensing his chi. They tracked him to a small, dome-shaped room and stood outside, listening. Gollum could be heard muttering to himself:
"Nasty little saiyanses. No take new Precious. Bad hobbit take old Precious, but Gollum not let saiyanses take new Precious. Gollum hurt nasty saiyanses. Make them scream."
"Did you heard that Trunks? He says he's gonna make us scream".
"nah. We can sense his chi, remember? He's too weak to do that".
"But Trunks, what if he's hiding his power?"
Trunks' eyes widened. He hadn't considered that possibility. They could be up against an enemy far superior to them in strength. This called for a new battle plan. "Let's go ask him nicely for the dragonball. He probably knows where it is", he said, and they walked into the room.
"Uh…Mister Smeagol?" asked Trunks.
"No take Precious, good Precious, nasty…AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Gollum nearly jumped out of his saggy skin. "Little saiyanses make Smeagol jump. What you want?"
"We were wondering if you could tell us where the dragonball is. We really need to find it".
Gollum jumped to his feet. "Gollum not seen dragonball! Go away!"
Goten went Super Saiyan.
"Yup. There it is", he said, pointing to the dragonball that had now been revealed by the light.
"No light! Put out light!" cried Gollum, but Goten wouldn't listen. He went over to the dragonball and took it. Gollum dived at him, screaming. "Nasty saiyanses not take new Precious!" he shouted as he bit Goten's hand hard."
"Yow!" screamed Goten. "He IS strong, he IS strong!"
"Keep hold of the ball and run for it!" said Trunks, turning Super Saiyan so he could see again, and making a beeline for the exit.
"I can't!" cried Goten, nursing his hand, as Gollum grabbed the ball. He stroked it and comforted it. "Gollum not let little saiyanses take new Precious", he said, and crawled on all fours out a small hole in the room.
"Trunks, Help me!" shouted Goten. Trunks, who had made it back to the ledge, heard his friend's cry for help and jumped back down, making his way back to Gollum's hideout. Goten was shaking his hand violently. Had he been human, his hand would have been halfway down Gollum's narrow throat by now, but luckily he was a Saiyan, so it was only bruised.
"He got away," said Goten.
"Damn", replied Trunks. "We're dealing with a far superior power here".

Gollum had made it out the back of the mountain. It was still daytime, and to make it worse, the sun was shining bright. He had to put his hate for the light aside for the moment though; he had to protect the new Precious at all costs. Bilbo had stolen the old Precious, and he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He ignored the light and ran as fast as he could down the mountain. Luckily, the sun was on the other side, and he could travel in the mountain's shadow, keeping him safe from the light for the moment. After that, he would only have to run for a few minutes before reaching the forest which would provide more shelter for him. One thing was for sure: Noone was going to steal Gollum's new Precious.

"Which was did he go?" asked Trunks, anxiously.
"That way", said Goten, pointing to the hole Gollum had escaped through, but Trunks was already halfway through it when he looked up. "C'mon!" he shouted from the other side. Goten crawled through and they could see a beam of light penetrating one of the walls. 'That must be where he's gone', thought Trunks, seeing that there was nowhere else he could have gone other than outside.
"Wait Trunks!" shouted Goten, catching up. "Would he really have gone outside? He hates the light, remember?"
"I know", replied Trunks, "But he also seems desperate. Besides, I can sense a small chi outside".
The crack in the wall was very narrow. It prove too narrow for the two saiyans to fit through. Gollum would have been able to fit only because he was so scrawny. "Stand back", said Trunks, and blasted the wall open, creating a gap even Majin Buu could fit through. They couldn't see Gollum, but used his chi to follow him.

He had travelled far in such a small space of time. Too far for his body to handle for much longer if he kept going at his present rate. He was out of breath and looked back constantly out of paranoia, which only used up more of his energy. The new Precious was tucked safely under his arm, and he kept a watchful eye on that too. Finally, he knew he would have to rest, or else collapse. He stopped by a tree and took comfort in the fact that the forest sheltered him not only from the light, but also from the saiyans. He was very out of breath now after having run so fast. He was faster on all fours, but carrying the Precious meant he had to run on two legs, which was hard for him. Looking up from his seat on the ground, he saw Goten and Trunks flying over him. This sent him into a state of panic and he ignored his weariness, digging a hole in the earth as quick as he could, and burying the dragonball in it. He watched his two enemies fly past and heaved a sigh of relief. Then suddenly they turned around and circled the area like vultures. They had found him.

"I think he's directly below us", said Goten.
"Yeah. I sense him", said Trunks.
They descended and found themselves in a forest.
"Drat!" said Trunks. "He could be hiding anywhere here!"
"Mister Gollum!" shouted Goten.
"He's not going to answer you Goten", said Trunks. "Duh!"
Goten laughed, and went to look for him.
Little did they know, Gollum had been watching them from the moment they landed. He took this opportunity to sneak away, but not before digging up the dragonball again. He cleaned the dirt off it and ran.
"Did you see that?" asked Trunks?
"See what?" asked Goten.
Trunks began running, dodging the trees, following a small, moving object in the distance. Gollum had got a good head start on them, but they were faster than him.
Goten saw it too now. He quickly hatched a plan and took to the sky. It would be faster to fly over the trees, and he could still see Gollum between the gaps in the forest. When he had flown far enough ahead of Gollum, he landed and stopped the creature in his tracks. Gollum jumped and changed direction, but Trunks was standing behind him; he was trapped.

"Please! No hurt poor Smeagol!" pleaded Gollum, dropping to his knees. He looked genuinely afraid. 'He doesn't seem so tough', thought Trunks. He knew getting the dragonball would be no problem now. "Can we have the dragonball now?" he asked, not wanting to simply grab it for fear of being bit.
"No. Smeagol keep new Precious", he replied. It was no use moving as he was blocked in all directions; he knew by now that the saiyans could find and catch him wherever he was, but he was under the spell of the dragonball. If he couldn't have old Precious, he had to have new Precious. Trunks went over to Goten and they spoke out of range of Gollum's hearing. They still watched him though out of the corner of their eyes, not trusting him for a second.
"Gee Goten. I kinda feel bad for the guy. Is there anything we can give him in return for the dragonball?"
"I dunno Trunks. We have nothing on us that he'll want".
"Okay. Leave it to me then".
Trunks approached Gollum, who backed off, moving his hands up to protect himself. The young saiyan proceeded to unleash a huge burst of energy, producing a large amount of light. Gollum yelped and backed off. "Turn out light! Please! Poor Smeagol!"
"Give me the ball and I won't kill you", said Trunks sternly, looking down at the wretched creature.
"Smeagol give new Precious to little saiyanses and they not kill Smeagol?" asked Gollum.
"That's right", said Trunks with a serious look on his face. Smeagol thought long and hard. Then, taking one last look at the Precious, he handed it over to Trunks. "I'm sorry we have nothing to give you in return Gollum, but we really need this."

He flew off with Goten and they returned to normal saiyan mode. As they got further away from the forest, Gollum's screams and cries died down and they no longer felt guilty.
"That wasn't so hard", said Goten, smiling.
"Yeah. I know. What shall we do now? We can go back to the meeting point, or find some trolls to play with."
"By play with, do you mean toy with them till they get angry enough to kill us, then realise they can't, making them even more angry so that they get even more tough, repeating the cycle in an infinite loop?" asked Goten.
"Um…yeah", replied Trunks.
"Let's go!" he shouted, and they both changed direction for a little fun before reporting back to the rest of the company.

Stay tuned for Chapter 4 where Krillan, Yamcha, Gohan and Videl encounter severe hostility.