Chapter 4 – The island of the dragons
When the dinner was eaten, Bulma went to the navigator's cabin and checked the maps. The she went to the captain's bridge and put something on the steering wheel, right under Vegeta's nose. "Take a look at this."
Vegeta looked. It was a flat screen with an electronic map and a flashing red spot on it.
"Let me guess," he said in a tired voice. "The Capsule Corporation Super-Reliable Location Finder® or something?"
"Yep, and according to this we are almost there." Bulma pointed at a small island with the X on it. "As a matter of fact, we should be…" She frowned. "We should be seeing the island already."
"Trunks!" Vegeta shouted. "Stop the ship! Kakarot… now where is that clown when you need him? Okay, Goten, get down here and lower the anchor."
The clipper was stopped in a minute and Vegeta flew out to the sea. He crossed the surface for a few times, then returned to the ship and shook his head with surprise.
"Are you sure about that map of yours?" he asked his wife.
"Well, excuse me," Bulma glared at him.
"Unless…" Vegeta went on the bowsprit (two more sharks down…) and blasted a small energy orb to the empty air.
They gasped. The orb hit something invisible in the air and on the same second a huge sphere of energy appeared in front of them. It was blue and had short lines of electricity running over it. And… there was an island inside the sphere.
"So I was right. Looks like that Ironleg was a bit smarter than we thought," Vegeta said and looked at his crew. "Well? Shall we go to that treasure hunt or whatever?"
They decided that Chichi would stay behind to keep an eye on the ship (she didn't want to because she was afraid that angry tigers may eat her sons when she isn't around but she calmed down surprisingly fast when Vegeta said that he felt like someone needed to walk the plank.) The others flew to the sphere (Trunks carried his mother because Vegeta refused to do it) and looked at it.
"Looks dangerous to me," Videl muttered.
"It's just energy," Goten said and poked the sphere. BZZZZT and he fell down into the sea.
"Never, and I mean NEVER poke an electrical sphere," Vegeta told him as he flew back up to the others. The prince formed a small energy ball and blasted it into the surface of the sphere. It bounced back and hit Goku in the face.
"Ow," Goku stated.
Vegeta grinned. "Hard to admit it… but I didn't mean to."
"Let me try." Goku put his hands together. "Kame… hame…"
"Quit fooling around," the prince of the Saiyans growled. "Even if you manage to break the sphere with the Kamehameha, you'll destroy the island with it." He looked at the blue surface. "Okay… let's see if you can resist that one." He pushed his fingers into the sphere and grabbed it. Blue electricity lines started running over his body but he didn't seem to care. The sphere bent a little… then Vegeta tore a hole in it.
"Get in there," he demanded. When they were in, he followed them and let the sphere go. The hole closed instantly.
Vegeta sniffed himself as they landed on the beach of the tropical island. "Great. I smell like fried chicken."
"So that's where those dragons were coming from…" Bulma said thoughtfully. The island had a huge mountain in the middle of it and at least ten dragons were flying around near its top.
"They're able to fly through that sphere and dad's energy ball didn't do the trick?" Trunks asked with surprise.
"Dragons have a very thick skin," Gohan said. "Where's that treasure supposed to be, Bulma?"
Bulma checked the map. "Erm… I'd say that on top of that dragon nest."
"Let's get up there then." Vegeta floated up in the air and headed towards the mountain. Trunks grabbed Bulma and followed him, and so did the others.
"Look!" Videl shouted when they had crossed about half of the way and were just about to fly over a river. "Down there, on the shore!"
They landed by the river.
"That's where most treasure hunters end," remarked Goku.
There was a skeleton lying on a small plain next to the river. Wild animals had eaten most of its clothes but it was holding a little leather bag in its hand and the animals hadn't wanted it. Gohan crouched and took the bag. He opened it.
"Well?" Goten asked.
"Well, at least now we know where the third map is," Gohan said. "And that guy is the coxswain of the Bloody Star, I assume." He showed the others a small ragged map and a few other papers that had been inside the bag.
"What are those papers?" Videl asked? "Letters?"
Gohan examined them. "No… that's the diary of the coxswain. Listen.
"June 27. We left the harbor and headed to the Southern Seas. The wind is strong. We should make it within two weeks.
June 28. Still sailing, the weather is fine…" yada yada… two weeks of sailing, a small storm…" Gohan turned the papers. "Aha. He reached the island.
"July 12. We should be there but there's no sight of the island. The crew is worried about the dragons.
July 13. Nothing. We keep sailing, the crew is getting grumpy. I'm getting concerned.
July 14. Nothing.
July 15. Still nothing.
July 16. I can't believe it. My own crew betrayed me. They gave me a boat and some food and told me to go and search for the treasure on my own.
July 17. My ship and my crew left and I'm alone on the sea with the boat. The dragons seem hungry.
July 18. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. One of the dragons was flying in front of me and suddenly a blue sphere appeared in front of it. The dragon flew through the sphere and it disappeared again. There was an island in the sphere. Am I going crazy or is it a good sign?
July 19. I made it to the island. I hopped on the dragon's back when it was flying low and I got to the island with it. Now I need to find the treasure.""
Gohan turned the papers again. "More than a week traveling in a jungle… hungry howling at nights… here's the end of the diary.
"July 29. I found a new kind of fruit. It's tasty and doesn't seem poisonous.
July 30. I keep going.
July 31. I reached a river and am trying to figure out how to cross it. The howling is making me worry."" Gohan looked up. "That was the last entry…"
"So much for treasure hunting by foot," Vegeta turned around with a grunt. "Is there anything else interesting or can we keep going?"
"We should bury him," Videl said.
Vegeta was already flying on towards the mountain top.
"Okay, maybe on our way back…" the girl muttered as she followed the others.
They reached the top and looked around. The dragons didn't seem happy about the visitors but the Saiyans kept them in a good distance. They discovered a small cave and landed in front of it. Bulma announced that the treasure should be in the cave, so they climbed in and waited until their eyes got used to the darkness.
"There's a tunnel here!" Trunks shouted, lurking deeper into the cave. "Come on, let's see what's down there!"
The path went down to the darkness. It was diagonal and very slippery. And smelly.
"What's that smell??" Goten complained. "And why is the ground so slippery?"
"I'd say that those two questions have one answer," Goku mumbled. "Dragons…"
They kept going. The air was hot and it was hard to breathe. It was getting darker and darker. Soon they weren't able to see anything.
"Somebody please use that energy blast of yours so that we could at least see where we're going!" Bulma demanded.
"A bit pointless when walking in a dragons' cave," Vegeta's voice remarked in the dark. "They use their breath as fire material and when we'd use ki in here, it would react like a match in a gas tank if you see what I mean."
"This place could use some airholes," Goku said, coughing.
"What if we'll run into some dragon in this dark cave?" Videl asked a bit nervously.
"There aren't any dragons down there, I don't sense any auras," Gohan said. "Although… there seem to be some of them behind us."
Bulma squeaked. "Hurry up you guys…! Let's get down there already!"
They went on. Suddenly Goku shouted: "Hey! I can see a light!"
"Too much of those dragon fumes…" Vegeta remarked.
"No, there really is a light!" Videl said. "And the air is getting cooler!"
After about five minutes' walk they came out of the tunnel and reached a small room. It had a little hole in its wall that allowed the daylight and fresh air to get inside the room.
Bulma looked around. "Empty…?"
Trunks and Goten were sneaking around already. "Yo guys, there's something here!" Goten said and pushed a spot on the wall. "It looks like…"
A stone block turned and revealed a secret passage.
"…a button." Goten said slowly and blinked.
The secret passage led to a small tunnel. And when they reached the end of it…
"Holy…!" Bulma gasped.
"This is so beautiful," Videl practically whispered.
Trunks and Goten could only gaze around; their eyes turned huge.
The room was full of big wooden chests and piles of expensive fur. The chests were opened and filled with jewels, pearls, gold and silver coins… there were loads of necklaces and earrings on the cold stony ground… some brand-new looking swords and armors in the corners…
"Well, there we have our treasure," Vegeta announced. But it was obvious that he was as shocked as everyone else.
Goku crouched and took a handful of sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. "They're pretty," he said thoughtfully. "But that's all I see in them. Pretty stones… and people kill to get them?"
The others turned to look at him. The small room was suddenly very quiet.
Gohan took a silvery sword and examined it. "Ironleg killed so many innocent people to get that treasure, and it has been hidden here for nearly a hundred years without being useful to anybody. Pointless…"
Vegeta frowned and looked at Bulma who had tried a ruby necklace on. "Do you want to keep that?"
Bulma looked up with slight hesitance. "And what if I do?"
"Nothing… you should just keep in mind that this necklace has probably been torn off from some rich lady's neck," Vegeta remarked. "All those things here are covered with blood." He looked around. "I can still feel it… yearn for revenge in this treasure."
"This place… is a cemetery." Bulma said, dropping the necklace.
Vegeta didn't seem to listen. His voice sounded like he was in a totally different world. "Fighting for pride, for revenge, for self-defense, maybe for someone you love… I can understand that. But for shiny stones? Kakarot, I have to agree with you."
"Let's get out of here," Videl said quietly. "Let's leave this place exactly as we found it. The dragons will protect it. We found the treasure, didn't we?"
Suddenly Vegeta smiled slightly. "You're right, Videl. We came looking for the treasure and we found it." He turned around and went to the entrance. "I'd say that we've gained our goal. I'm done here, ready to go when you are."
Chichi almost got a heart attack when she heard the story.
"You mean you found a whole room full of gold and jewels and you decided to leave it there???" she yelled. "Did this blue sphere brainwash you all or what???"
"You weren't there, Chichi," Goku told her. "You wouldn't understand. Vegeta, I'm gonna go heave the anchor."
Vegeta nodded. "Brats…" Trunks and Goten were already hoisting the sails. The clipper turned around and sailed towards the distance.
* * * * *
It was a sunny Saturday morning in the Western Capital. The sleepy policemen passed the huge building of Capsule Corporation and stopped for a minute to listen.
"You aint nothin' but a hound dog…" Elvis's and Bulma's voices yelled over each other. The policemen heard a bedroom door slam and grinned.
"Same old story," the first policeman remarked.
"It's a wonder that her husband hasn't killed her yet," the second one said.
The third one yawned. "I want coffee…"
"You're not trying to find another treasure map, are you?" Vegeta asked while munching a huge bacon. Bulma was vacuuming the kitchen floor. She looked up and smirked.
"What for? The Capsule Corporation is doing better than ever. It may have been a nice adventure but hey, Goku was right, a bunch of shiny stones for all that work? They're nothing but aluminum oxide, you know."
Vegeta frowned. "Alumiwhat?"
"All sapphires, emeralds and rubys have the same chemical formula," Bulma explained. "Aluminum oxide. Plane building material and the air combined."
Vegeta yawned and grunted. "I don't care of chemistry, especially at this time of the day." He glared at the cuckoo clock on the wall.
Bulma stretched her back and went to the window. The sun was rising. The woman looked at the sky.
"Blood, revenge, cries and fear," she suddenly said. "All for nothing."
"And I still have one question," Vegeta replied. "But I'll probably never get the answer."
Bulma looked at him. "What question?"
The Saiyan prince frowned. "The energy sphere. Who created it? And how?"
Bulma seemed shocked, then she nodded and turned back to the window.
"We'll never know…"