The Mysterious Namek
Episode Three: "Barriers"
Ever close your eyes?
Ever stop and listen?
Ever feel alive?
And you've nothing missing
You don't need a reason
Let the day go on and
on
Let the rain fall down
Everywhere around you
Give into it now
Let the day surround
you
You don't need a reason
Let the rain go on and
on
What a day, what a day
to take to
What a way, what a way
to make it through
What a day, what a day
to take to a wild child
Only take the time
From the helter skelter
Every day you find
Everything's in kilter
You don't need a reason
Let the day go on and
on
Every summer sun
Every winter evening
Every spring to come
Every autumn leaving
You don't need a reason
Let it all go on and
on
What a day, what a day
to take to
What a way, what a way
to make it through
What a day, what a day
to take to a wild child
What a day, what a day
to take to
What a way, what a way
to make it through
What a day, what a day
to take to a wild child
What a day, what a day
to take to
What a way, what a way
to make it through
What a day, what a day
to take to
Da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da-da
What a way, what a way
to make it through
Da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da-da
What a way, what a way
to make it through
What a day, what a day
to take to a wild child
What a day, what a day
to take to a wild child
--Enya, "Wild Child"
Bulma placed a rectangular object down in front of Setsuetsu, who was paying little attention to her. It was clear he had the attention span of a baby. Teaching him wasn't as easy as Piccolo had previously thought. Especially when he was this fickle.
Setsu finally lowered his eyes to the object lying on the bedsheets. Though he was starting to come out of his odd catatonic state for the first time in three weeks, he still seemed so distant. As if the motor was running, but nobody was steering. The world and everything in it was a terrifying place.
"Setsu...this is a book." Bulma tried again. She watched the thin Namek stare at the book for a period of ten seconds, then look away. "You can say 'book'. C'mon, try it."
Setsuetsu just made a moaning noise. He pushed the thin black book away and let it fall off the bed.
Bulma sighed and stood up, stretching her back and arms a little, "This is just like Annie Sullivan trying to get through to Helen Keller. There has to be something to break through to him…"
"As if it would come to him in this closed-up piece of crap room." Piccolo's voice shot across the room, the tone cold and biting.
Bulma whirled around to face the tall Namek. Piccolo was standing half in shadow with his arms crossed, leaning back with one foot propped against the wall. His thin lips were drawn into their usual tight straight line, offering no outward clues to his hidden emotions.
"Then what do you think we should do with him? Throw him into a world he can't comprehend?" She asked sharply.
A corner of Piccolo's mouth drew up to reveal half of a gleaming fang, "Yeah. If it shut him down, it might start him back up again."
"Or make him worse. He could die of fear, you know." Bulma crossed her arms defensively and eyed the Namek in the shadows. His presence made her nervous.
"Tch." Piccolo clicked his tongue rudely, "I'm taking him out to the valley."
In the midst of the discussion, Setsu stared at the ceiling. The argument beside him went in one ear and right out the other. At least it seemed that way until he suddenly mumbled words that held no meaning to him, "No, book, box, floor!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he fell still again as if he'd never spoken.
Stopped by the outburst, Bulma blinked and look down at Setsu's still form. She sighed and ran a hand through her blue hair, "Well...I guess that's progress."
"He doesn't know what those words mean! They're just noises to him! This is why I need to get him out of here...he can't learn enough when he's being pampered."
"What if -"
"I talk, you listen, human."
Her jaw snapped shut at the rude way in which she was called a human. She was too shocked to say anything, instead just staring at the Namekian while he began to speak again.
"I saw the printouts from his examination." He began coldly, "I don't know if he'll ever learn to take care of himself, but if he can I'm going to make him try. And if he can't, I'll just put him out of everyone's misery. No child of mine is going to live like a coddled infant."
"You can't just kill him because he doesn't live up to what you expect him to be, Piccolo!" She snapped. "You - "
"I'm taking Setsuetsu out of here. If you don't like it, then look the other way." Piccolo growled, uncurling from the wall and striding towards the bed with graceful steps. He pushed himself between the bed and Bulma as he lowered his hands to lift Setsuetsu. As soon as his palms encountered the other Namek's skin, he growled, "You go through all these foolish pains to care for him and not once did you take his temperature! Has it occurred to you that he has a fever!? No wonder he's unresponsive, you fool!"
Bulma's cheek twitched and she clenched her hands into tight fists. Piccolo was really getting under her acrylic nails and pissing her off. "I thought his skin being warm was normal!"
"You fool! A Namek's body temperature is lower than a human's," He growled low, made sure Setsu had his blanket and carefully lifted him off the bed. Not another word was said to Bulma as he walked out the door, down the hall and into the cool evening air.
And Bulma just stood there,
watching, powerless to stop him.
Half an hour's worth of flying brought Piccolo to a gentle landing near a waterfall surrounded by trees. He carefully sat Setsu up against a tree and went to work breaking down branches with loud cracking noises that could be heard throughout the valley. Setsu didn't respond to the obnoxious noise, staring straight ahead like a corpse.
Piccolo huffed to himself, wondering why he let himself get into this mess as he stripped the branches and wove the strips together as tightly as a basket to form an intricate oval-shaped structure. Pure instinct was driving him to make a suitable place for his adult 'child' to rest, but not even he was aware of it until he finished.
His first thought was to destroy it, but then again, where would Setsu lay?
"I don't like it…" Piccolo reassured himself, "There is no way this bond can grow so strong! No way in hell!"
During his father's rant, Setsuetsu sat like a statue where he was placed with his limbs stiffly positioned the way they happened to be sitting when he was put down. Piccolo's voice came to him as a distant echo from the end of a long tube. Enough to be heard, but not enough to be understood.
When Piccolo had exhausted his brief loss in temper, he not-too-gently unfurled the white blanket from Setsuetsu's statuesque form and laid it in the bed. Then he picked the other Namekian up and placed him gently upon it, pushing him to lie flat.
"I would tell you to stay here, but you're not going anywhere, so just forget about it." Piccolo rumbled. He flipped his cape over his shoulder, turned and started towards the muddy riverbank beneath the waterfall. When he reached a spot with sufficient mud, he scooped some up, moistened it further and rolled it between his hands until it became an earthen clay. He reached for a nearby aloe vera plant, broke it open and mixed the fluid inside with the clay.
No thought passed through his mind and no emotion flickered on his features as he rose and returned to Setsu's side. Only when he looked down did he sigh mentally.
C'mon, Setsuetsu…
Piccolo lowered to sit indian style next to the nest and scraped some of the muddy clay off his palm. He spread a thin coating out over the pale Namekian's forehead, a remedy he had often used on himself whenever he came down with a fever. The mud would act as a seal while the aloe vera juice reduced the heat in his body.
Using the technique on someone else proved to be much more awkward than doing it to himself.
Setsuetsu made a soft cooing noise at the sudden increase in physical contact, as if he craved being touched. He even made eye contact with intensely focused eyes, fully awake and aware. Piccolo happened to look down at the right moment and see the difference.
"Setsuetsu?"
Setsu didn't reply, he just stared intently until Piccolo's hand withdrew. It was like hitting an off-switch, the way he seemed to return to his strange unconsciousness as soon as the physical contact ceased. Piccolo allowed one of his hairless brow ridges to rise as his mind worked its way into a swirl of confusion.
Oh come on, you can't tell me I have to pamper him to make him wake up... He thought to himself. He finished spreading the muddy paste over the other Namek's forehead and backed away like he was the plague. Just why did you have to come *here* of all places and times? Huh!? Why HERE!? Why to me?!
Of course, no reply came.
Piccolo snarled and assumed the lotus position a few yards away from where Setsu was lying. He lowered his head and began to think about something he'd glimpsed while Bulma was drawing his blood. Something on the wall with an article about electro-therapy for catatonic people in what he called the dark ages. He never did learn much about or have any interest in medical science.
…could he be stuck that way and unable to come out even if he wills himself to? No! No son of mine would be that weak!
But the thought persisted.
Something has to be awake in there. Nobody can live mindlessly like that forever.
"Shimatta…" He forced himself to walk closer to Setsu's half-conscious form and placed a hand on the top of his head. "Either this will kill you…or help. You won't like it no matter what way it's done. So I'm just going to do it." With that, he released a stream of electromagnetic energy that pulsed between his fingers and sent the other Namek's body into a fit of violent convulsions. Two pulses directly into the brain.
Setsuetsu's slavering, animalistic scream reached beyond the forest and into the valley. He burst into tears when the painful hand removed itself from his cranium. He began to writhe as a secondary seizure from the sudden shock overtook his brain. The electricity jolted him straight up above the flames he knew as his world. He shivered in his new surroundings and opened his eyes as light reached them fully. Light from the sun. Light from the sky. Light from the world.
Piccolo couldn't believe himself. He was feeling guilty for inflicting pain on this poor creature! Or was he feeling something from Setsu? It was impossible to tell. All he knew was that instinct, disguised as guilt, was rushing to the surface, and nothing he did could force him to fight it off.
Before he even realized he
was moving, Piccolo placed his hand on Setsu's forehead in an awkward gesture
of comfort. The poor Namek's cries ceased after a time, when tears had
finally drowned out the agony. He fell asleep again, leaving his father
in another swirl of confusion.
Falling crystals surrounded him, coming down from every direction. Perhaps if he could catch one, he could keep it.
Climbing to his feet, he walked towards the glittery things falling from the sky and thrust his hands out. They felt cool, but every time they touched his skin, they disappeared and made his hands shiny!
As the sky grew brighter, it revealed itself to be gray. He didn't care. All he wanted was to play in the magic falling crystals.
Them something else caught his eye. Something green on the bottom with pink and white on the top. He stretched out a hand to touch the pink parts surrounding the white and discovered a softness unlike any he'd ever known. The falling crystals were landing gently on the pink parts, dotting it with sparkles.
It would be a perfect gift.
In silence, he grasped the
pretty thing and pulled it gently from the ground.
Morning came and awakened the world to a dreary, rainy dawn. Droplets from the sky came down in torrents, pattering into the earth, hissing past leaves and gurgling into streams. Piccolo lifted his head from his meditation in the midst of the Earth's music and lowered his gaze to the interwoven branches he'd gathered for Setsu to sleep on.
It was empty, but the blanket was still there. A sudden giggle turned Piccolo's gaze towards the edge of the trees, where Setsu was standing in the rain with a flower in his hands. He was examining it like the most fascinating little thing in the world.
Piccolo's expression grew amused. He dropped down from where he was hovering and walked cautiously towards Setsuetsu. "Hey, what're you doing?"
The childlike Namek startled at the sound and stopped poking at the flower long enough to look over his shoulder at Piccolo. His expression grew sour at first, then returned to its curious placidness, as if he had already forgiven the pain delivered to his brain last night.
Setsuetsu grunted and lowered his eyes to the flower in his hand, once again remembering its presence. He reached over to grab Piccolo's wrist, pulled his hand closer and placed the still-glittering blossom on his palm. The pink flower contrasted greatly against the darker Namek's skin, sparkling like a gem encrusted treasure.
Piccolo glared down at the flower in his hand, "What's this for?"
Before he could complain further, Setsu grabbed his wrist again and proceeded to tug him out under the torrential rain. He gripped Piccolo's free hand and thrust the open palm under the droplets. It was the only way he could show off this really neat discovery of the magical falling crystals that disappeared when touched.
"Big deal. It's just rain." Piccolo yanked his hand free and rubbed his wrist.
"Rrrr...ain." Setsuetsu stuttered.
Piccolo pointed to the sky where the rain was coming from, "Yeah. Rain. It comes from the clouds and cleans the earth."
Setsu's smoldering eyes turned to gaze in wonder at the fast-moving gray things floating high above him. Suddenly the entire sky lit up in blazing glory and a loud rumble roared across the valley. Frightened by the sound, Setsuetsu dashed towards Piccolo and wrapped his arms around his waist, hiding his face in his chest. Just where did that big boom come from?
With a sigh, Piccolo pried the frightened Namek's arms off of him, "Looks like we're having a thunderstorm," he said as the rain poured down harder, snarling through the trees and battering the ground. "Come on, let's get under cover."
Setsuetsu dashed away from Piccolo to grab his blanket. He looked a little sad when it sagged, sopping wet in his hands. A whine rolled from his throat and he looked over at Piccolo with dejected eyes and wilted antennae.
"Come on, it's just wet." The older Namek approached the younger one and guided him towards a cave nearby. Setsu followed obediently, clinging tightly to his precious white treasure. Another flash of lightning and crash of thunder sent him scurrying into the cave Piccolo was taking him to. Piccolo sighed again, rumbling, "I swear...I've seen rats with more courage than this poor kid..."
Giving the storm another huff, Piccolo entered the cave and felt around in the dark for the small pile of firewood he kept for such emergencies. When he found it he blasted it with a weak ball of ki, starting a small fire that lit up the cave. Then he shook himself like a sleepy bear to get the excess rainwater off his sparkling skin. A few clear droplets hissed and evaporated as they fell helplessly into the fire.
Setsu was absolutely fascinated by the dancing orange wisps rising from the wood. Piccolo was worried that it would scare him back into his "conscious coma", but his concern proved unwarranted. Setsuetsu was staring at the flames with haunted, intense eyes.
"Fire," Piccolo explained, "It gives light and warmth. It has the power to both create and destroy. If you respect it, it won't hurt you."
"...Ffffire." the younger Namek imitated the word. He edged closer and reached a hand out towards the flames.
Piccolo gasped and grabbed Setsu's wrist with a strong hand, "No."
"No?"
"It'll burn you. Fire is to be admired, not touched."
Setsuetsu sighed and pulled his hand free as he turned back to the fire. He stared at it with faraway eyes, lost in thought and confused. Then something in his mind flared. This dancing orange substance looked just like the swirling hot material he saw all around when he was born. They had to be the same thing!
Something clicked into place. The key to his mind was in the lock and just needed to turn.
Pointing to the fire, Setsuetsu said, "Fire."
"Yeah," Piccolo settled into the lotus position against the wall, his skin gleaming a goldish hue from the flickering flames. It seemed more like an adornment to his sharp features rather than a source of warmth and light.
Before Piccolo could stop him, Setsuetsu grabbed a forked twig with dried leaves still clinging to it. He shoved it into the fire and pulled it out, watching it burn. "Fire!" He waved the stick around. Piccolo stretched an arm out to snatch it away before his childlike counterpart wound up burning himself.
Piccolo added the burning stick to the small campfire as he turned to Setsuetsu, frowning in thought. "Yes, it's fire."
Setsu grinned toothily, his innocent features half-shadowed in the firelit cave. Piccolo almost heard his mind click with realization. He watched the other Namekian point outside at the water falling from the sky, "Rain!" He scrambled off the dusty floor and bolted outside into the storm. He was laughing and letting the droplets fall against his lettuce-hued face and hands. "Rain!"
Shaking his head, Piccolo didn't bother hiding his smile. Setsu had finally made a small connection with the world around him. At least some words wouldn't be meaningless to him anymore. Piccolo heaved himself up off the forest floor and plodded outside where he found the other Namek staring at the sky. He could tell he was looking at the world with new eyes. Eyes hungry for knowledge and understanding.
Piccolo crossed his arms and watched Setsuetsu look around, squinting through the misty rain drifting down. He took the flower from his belt and approached him. "Setsuetsu." He held the flower up so the other Namek would see it. "Flower."
Setsu touched the soft petals.
"Flower." Then he pushed it back towards Piccolo so he'd keep it. "Flower!"
He exploded again, laughing as he dashed back into the cave. "Flowerflowerflowerflower!"
He reappeared and bolted into the dripping, rain-soaked forest. Piccolo
had no choice but to chase after him.
Gohan sighed as he finished the last algebra problem in his workbook. The clouds were breaking. Morning sun streamed into the window across his desk and hands while he checked himself for mistakes. He rubbed off part of an equation with his pencil eraser and re-worked the error he'd discovered. Finally the work was done.
"I wonder how Piccolo and
Setsuetsu are doing," Gohan said to himself, leaning back with his hands
linked behind his head. "Maybe I'll just call Bulma and see." The young
boy slipped out into the hallway and picked up the phone. He was glad his
mother had gone into town for groceries, he didn't have to worry about
her overhearing his conversation.
Bulma was just coming out of the shower when the phone in her room rang. Her wet hair clung to the nape of her neck and shoulders. She wrapped her naked body in a towel and hurried to answer the phone, struggling to hold her only source of modesty up while clutching the receiver. Despite her efforts it still fell down to expose one naked breast. She gave it another yank up and re-covered herself, grumbling, "Hello?"
"Hi, it's Gohan. How's Setsu?"
"Oh," Bulma disguised the disgust in her voice with a sigh. "Piccolo took him out to...I think it was a valley or something. Anyway, he's gone."
"I know where he is! Thanks, Bulma! Bye!"
Click.
She blinked at his hasty
farewell. "...you're welcome."
Piccolo, soaked and not too pleased at being in such a state, led a very excited and sopping wet Setsuetsu back to the cave. Not an easy task. The paler Namek kept breaking free and trying to run away. It took Piccolo three tries to finally coax him back under cover where it was dry and warm.
Only then did Setsu realize he was wet and cold. He flung his clothes off and huddled close to the fire, shivering. Water droplets gave his pale green skin a sparkling sheen against the flames.
Piccolo glanced down at his own clothes. They were so wet they felt heavy and clung to his muscular frame. A quick ki wave dried him off instantly. He touched Setsu's head to do the same.
Setsuetsu freaked, screaming at the top of his lungs. He struck out at Piccolo's hand with his sharp nails. A sudden move that drew blood.
Piccolo instantly brought his palm down at Setsu's cheek. Gohan used to receive the same strike whenever he misbehaved. It never phased him.
But it was excruciating to Setsu. He screamed and collapsed, holding his cheek in agony. Not understanding why pain was being inflicted on him. He stared up at Piccolo with wounded eyes and scooted away until the wall stopped him. Why did this caretaker like to cause him pain?
"You're impossible," Piccolo growled. Just then he felt something warm seep into his shoes. He glared at the other Namek. "Can't you control yourself?!"
Setsu just wilted further against the wall. He didn't even know he was doing it.
"Humph. I guess you don't understand the needs of the body yet. Perhaps I'll show you later." Piccolo looked down at the small scratches on his knuckles and palms. They were already healing and only present as small purple marks.
Showing Setsuetsu would probably
work. He was pretty good at mimicry. That is...if he could ever teach him
the entire world wasn't a scary place.
Gohan landed lightly outside Piccolo's cave. Water droplets dripped off an overhang just above the cave's mouth and made soft plop-plop noises on the rocks below. Gohan walked forward through a few puddles and poked his head into the opening.
Piccolo was meditating by one wall, an unclothed Setsu sat curled up against another. One hand clutching his cheek. He sobbed inconsolably - and Piccolo just sat there without doing anything!
"Setsu!" Gohan raced to the frightened Namek's side.
"Gohan, don't touch him."
"He's hurt!" he protested.
"He was reprimanded." Piccolo didn't move anything other than his mouth to speak. His tone was deadpan as usual, though deep and filling the cave.
"For what?"
"Attacking me when I was trying to help him."
Gohan faced Piccolo fully. He agreed with a lot of what Piccolo did, but this one just didn't sit well in his mind. "He probably thought you were attacking him. You can't scold him for something when he was merely reacting on instinct."
The older Namek scowled at his student, "He must learn somehow. Until Setsuetsu understands the world around him, I will have to treat him like an untrained animal...for his own safety. That includes letting him know it's not okay to strike out at me. It can't be just me, Gohan. We all have to teach him."
"So he can't strike you, but you can strike him?" Gohan didn't look convinced. A corner of his mind told him he should just back off, but he ignored it.
Piccolo emitted a warning growl. "He is my son, that means I'm the one in charge of him. I refuse to coddle him. He'll learn to be self-sufficient."
"And if he can't?"
"You ask too many questions." His voice carried the familiar leave-me-alone tone Gohan was all too familiar with.
What's with Piccolo lately? Ever since Setsuetsu came along he's been more uptight than ever! I've never seen him so...cranky, wondered Gohan silently as he switched his gaze between the two Nameks.
Little did Gohan know that Piccolo's conscience was eating away at him for making Setsuetsu suffer. Back in the days when he was evil he wouldn't have given hurting innocent people a single thought. But with Kami and Nail in him, their guilt wore away at him like rock eroding over the eons.
"Well," Gohan scuffed his shoes against the cave floor and turned away. "I guess you guys need to be left alone. Sorry I bothered you."
"Shake it off, kid." Piccolo said. "Forget not that I trained you the same way. Setsu will just take longer."
That made him feel a little better. "Okay. Well I better get going. Mom probably has another assignment ready for me to study."
"Does that woman ever give you a break?"
Gohan just grinned and scrambled out into the sunlight. Piccolo's ears and ki senses followed his retreat. Then he pulled his flask off his belt, undid the cork and took a long drink.
Setsuetsu's teary eyes followed the sound. His tongue darted out to lick his dry lips, but he didn't dare venture over.
"Drink." Piccolo lowered his flask and eyed Setsu. Sighing, he held out the container and shook it so the water sloshed. "Water."
"W-waaaater." Setsu snatched the flask and drained every last drop. With the way he was emaciated, Piccolo wasn't surprised if he figured out a way to drink an entire river. He certainly needed the nourishment after his body nearly cannibalized itself to stay alive. So much so that mineral water and meat broth might be necessary to make his body healthy again.
Setsuetsu seemed to forgive Piccolo's anger after being offered water. He crawled over, pushed Piccolo's turban off and grabbed one of his antennae.
Pain wracked Piccolo's skull. A sweep of his hand grabbed both of Setsu's wrists. He growled menacingly. "Pain. No."
Setsu wilted. "Paaaaaain?"
He put Setsu's hand on the bruise he inflicted earlier. "Yes. Pain."
The younger Namek winced. Tears trembled in his dark eyes. He pulled his arms free and traced two fingers down the front of Piccolo's throat. Or at least as much of it as he could touch over the collar of his cape. "Pain...pain..." The tears cascaded down his pale cheeks.
"No pain, Setsuetsu. See?" Piccolo pulled his collar down so Setsu could see his entire throat. He realized how silly that was, Setsu just poked at his neck even more. Probably looking for the hole that didn't exist. A touch he wasn't entirely comfortable with. He adjusted his clothing again and went on, "You're probably wondering how I'm in one piece again...well that isn't something I can explain to you now. Not until you can understand everything I say to you."
Setsu withered down into Piccolo's lap. He pressed his cheek to the older Namek's thigh and sobbed quietly, his tears soaking into the thick purple cloth.
Piccolo sighed quietly to himself. His clothing rustled as he lowered a tapered hand and cupped Setsu's bald green head in his palm. The difference in their skin tones was as obvious as the contrast between a Caucasian and an African American human. His gesture was answered with soft sniffling.
"I know it's hard for you. I can't pretend to understand your pain. Perhaps when you learn to speak, you will be able to tell me all you know of where you came from." Piccolo glanced down to discover Setsu had fallen sound asleep. An almost tender smile twitched the corners of his sharp lips, barely visible in the dying firelight and bits of sunshine touching his face. "I promise that no harm will ever come to you while you're in my care. You're my son and I will do my best to help you understand this world. It won't be easy and it will be frightening at times...but I will do all I can to give you the knowledge you need to survive."
I just hope I can give him what he needs...he's so innocent and unaware of everything...I hate the idea of tearing away his oblivion of the world. He moved his hand away after that, turning his attention to the dying campfire. It created flickering patterns in his black eyes. The smile left his expression. He doesn't know hate, anger or a broken heart. I'm about to change all that, but will it be for the better?