*You just see this big red ball instead of a face*
You love me... *puppy dog eyes™* You like my story... I LOVE YOU!! YOU'RE THE BEST!!! I'm so sorry about the late update but I've been very busy the last two weeks and when I tried to write I found the damn writer's block comfortably lodged on my back and scrambling the words and the ideas in my head. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! I HATE IT!!!
Well, then I thought it wasn't fair to let you waiting for so long. So, this chapter is kind of a filler, but that I hope you enjoy anyway. And the last part answers a question that a couple of you have asked me. I see a lot of you were sent for a loop when you read about Videl's childhood tragedy. Believe me, I had no idea I was gonna put that there, then I remembered this trip with my gang to Playa Dorada on the North Coast all by ourselves, and how we spent the whole night talking and secrets just went flying overboard. Believe me, it was shocking.
Also... NOBODY HAS READ SAIYAJIN NO ODYSSEY!!!! BWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I only have one review *sniff sniff* So please, onegai, s'il vous plait, por favor, would you PLEASE check out my other fic! You just have to click my profile up there that says Penchy-chan and read it. It's 3 chapters long, actually a prologue and two chapters, but anyway. And the people who wanted Mirai no Trunks in can go there and read him, cause he's there and... and... whatever -_-; Just check it out and tell me if I should just delete it or not.
Disclaimer: (See Chapter 1)
I own Lettusu and Cauli.
Chapter 7:
Downtown Vegeta-sei
The door closed behind him. Videl sat on the bed, the sheets tangled at the bottom between her legs. She thought about what had happened overnight. Had she done right in telling Gohan her biggest secret? Now she felt better, relieved, like she could be totally at ease with him now. Maybe the fact that she knew his greatest secrets and he didn't know hers was what had been bothering her in the first place. Pushing away his advances at a close friendship. She should have known. He was like that with all of his friends. They were like family. She didn't fit in the picture. At first, she thought he was after something else, and that bothered her. Then she got to know him better, which wasn't so hard considering how transparent his kin tended to be. She had felt bad for judging him wrong and decided to be his friend.
She had longed for a friend like him and now she felt like she was already getting attached to him. And Gohan being so sweet did nothing to change the situation. He had trusted her with his secrets, of being a saiyajin half-breed and having amazing powers. He was even willing to teach her how to develop her own. Videl felt new tears graze her eyes, but not of pain or sadness. They were tears of joy, joy that she was lucky enough to cross her path with Son Gohan, and everything that came with him. Who would have thought she'd be traveling to another planet? And meeting the king of a legendary warrior race?
Yes, she did right in telling him. It felt good to trust someone. But... What would he think of her now? Would he pity her or would he shun her because of her misfortune? 'No Videl. Stop. You're judging him wrong again'.
She hopped off the bed and went to her dresser, to retrieve her attire so she could start her training with Gohan.
After both teens were ready, they headed out their door in silence. Neither knew what to say. They both wanted to break the silence but none knew the proper words.
They went down the courtyard they've been looking out last night and flew out to the outskirts of the palace. If both heard correctly, Vejiita would soon drag Trunks to the Training Grounds, and knowing Goten, he was surely tagging along. Now Goku was a heavier sleeper and, Chichi in arms, they supposed he'd be even more. The woman was intense in everything she did, especially when she wasn't needed to get up early the next morning to prepare a saiyajin meal. (hint hint ^_~)
Gohan and Videl found a nice spot in the yard, where last night had been the celebration. Several servants were still cleaning the mess left overnight. They both settled at the shade of a couple of trees. The palace didn't have walls or fences to encircle the land, only a road divided what was royal land from the other. However, you could see there were guard posts at strategic positions upon the place.
The teenagers sat facing each other in lotus position. Both agreed on meditation for starters. They sat there, quietly gathering their ki, giving it flow, harnessing it, controlling it. To anybody else, they were just lazing around, but soon, they opened their eyes.
"Okay. Want to keep the course we had?" he asked.
"But what about Goten? Won't he feel bad for being brushed off?"
"He has to learn his lesson. Besides, he's more advanced than you are, so it's not much what he'd be missing."
"Ok. Let's do it."
"You're still new to ki sensing, but you're good at it. I'm sure it'll soon be like second nature to you. This is an exercise I came up with. It's about identifying the ki by its signature once it's been condensed and expelled. It's very useful once you learn to identify the sources and harness your ki to transmute the other energy into one compatible to yours, making it possible to even absorb the ki as it were your own."
"Wow."
"That's what Goten was trying to do last night. You see, in order to transmute the ki, you have to use your own, but in a low level, that makes it possible to be compatible. Though it's dangerous if the blast is too large or there's not enough time." She nodded.
"I want you to raise your ki as far as it goes."
Videl closed her eyes again. She immediately found her center and welled up her ki, powering up slowly, making the grass and the trees nearby dance in rhythm to her energy.
"That's it." She said as she opened her eyes.
"Now, in order to transmute ki, you must already know the source, which means that you have to learn to sense ki all the time, even if you're not fighting. Just sense everything around you." She made a face.
"Don't look at me like that. You'll see once you get the hang of it, it'll come out naturally."
He looked intently at her to see if she had understood, only to find that peculiar determined expression on her face. He smiled with pleasant satisfaction.
"Sense... sense everything. Extend your senses and ki in every direction."
She closed her eyes again and sensed. She could feel herself travel along and crash with Gohan's powerful ki. She embraced it, touched it with her senses, recognizing it for all it was worth, smooth and calm, like a huge, silent pond. She then continued behind him, along the plain, looking for more energy to behold. Her pre-senses crashed again against two different energies. They were a quarter mile away. These were rough, uneven, with a considerable amount of violence pulsing intertwined with iron will and bravery. One of them possessed a great sense of duty. 'Must be guards', she thought. She continued on through the walls of the palace. Flying through corridors at the speed of thought. She relaxed a bit, hoping not to crash against another energy.
There... Two more energies, very close to one another. Dense energy both had, but were both at ease. They were sleeping, if the pattern of emission was any indication. One of the powers was considerably larger than the other, very much so that it mostly dwarfed it. Pure... so pure, but at the same time it was so wild. The pureness reminded her of Gohan's ki... It was Goku! 'And the smaller ki must be Chichi'. She scanned both signatures to identify them. Then she decided to tumble in another way. She passed near another ki. This one was very small. It was a power level so low that she immediately realized it was ningen. And as she had pinpointed Chichi only an instant before, that ki would be no other than Bulma's. She was sleeping and she was alone too. 'Vejiita-san must have had taken the kids to train', she thought, searching for the three. On the way, she passed another ki. This one was pretty strong compared to all other strangers. If she could assume anything, she'd say it was the most powerful outside their group of saiyajin. It was strong, flowing with ease, imposing, but it also felt violent and tired. Passing that, she came along three more, all in constant movement. It felt like they were fighting. Two against one if the clashes were any indication. One was really powerful. It had the same density of energy Goku had, as well as the wildness, but this one was rippled with raw passion, violent, relentless, imposing. 'It must be Vejiita's, which means the last one was Vejiita-Ou, as both signatures are similar'.
The other two kis were amazingly powerful, yet playful, pure, carefree and unadulterated. 'The kids'. Oh, and they were being pummeled by Vejiita.
A little farther away from them, but in the same Training Grounds was another energy. This one was slightly familiar, so she scouted it. It was strong, obstinate, with a determination that rivaled her own, extremely loyal, but at the same time untamed. 'Who is it?'
Videl frowned at her inability to identify the ki. Gohan was right. She needed to make it a habit to sense other ki all the time. She withdrew, pulling her senses back the way they'd come. Then she opened her eyes to find pitch-black orbs staring at her.
"Done."
"Now, up to the next step. As you already know how to make ki blasts, I'll show how to control them."
After two hours of hard lessons for Videl, they decided to come in for breakfast. The others were all up by now and already in the dining room. Videl took in Vejiita Ou, who was wearing normal armor like his son. He was having a small conversation with Veggie, while Bulma, Chichi and Goku talked among themselves. The children were too busy stuffing their faces to utter a word or even acknowledge the pair of teenagers that came in at that moment.
... Then, there was Cauli. She was silently eating her share, which of course was enough to feed a whole family for three days. The saiyajin female looked up at their arrival, suppressing a huff at the sight of the Chikyuujin girl.
"Ohayo minna" Gohan said.
"Ohayo Gohan, Videl." Goku said.
"You were up early" Vejiita Ouji commented.
"Yeah, I have a lot to catch up on. We decided to take the day for my lessons."
"And how are you coming around?" Goku asked cheerfully. Videl looked at Gohan for his opinion.
"She's coming around good. She learns fast."
"Did you sleep well?" Chichi asked spying the not so fresh look they both sported.
"We didn't." They both said in unison while taking their seats.
The clanks of the tableware suddenly stopped. All eyes were on them, except the gakis', that kept darting from one face to the other wondering what was so shocking. Gohan and Videl both frowned. What was it now? But it didn't take Videl long to figure out what they were thinking, so she cleared her throat loudly and answered the unspoken question.
"We talked all night. It was fun." She said focusing solely on the memory of Gohan's peeping childhood. She didn't want to go all somber with the other one, her best kept secret.
"Oh." Chichi said simply. "That's nice. But you both look tired. Better get some rest tonight, you heard me?" She finished this in her smart tone, wriggling her index finger at them.
"Hai okaasan."
"Hai Chichi-san."
"Okay, now eat your breakfast."
Funny... Yeah, that's what it was, cause they hadn't noticed the table. It was full to the brim with meat (yeah, meat), fruits and a huge pot of something that looked like soup. Or was it stew? The meat smelled delicious, even for breakfast. Weird. And even because they didn't know what animal it came from.
Videl noticed there were just two items in front of her: a bowl and a plate. She didn't recognize the material. It felt like wood coated by resin, but it clanked like porcelain. And where was the cutlery? She looked at Gohan, who was watching the others. All of them, no exception, were eating with their hands. Chichi was drinking the soup/stew stuff directly from her bowl and Bulma was eating some purple fruit in wonder. All the others though, were attacking the meat like there was no tomorrow. The teens looked at each other, shrugged and turned to the food. Videl had fruit and soup/stew while Gohan tasted the meat.
During the meal, among the idle chatter that took place, Videl decided to rectify the ki profiles she had sensed earlier. Yes. There were Chichi and Goku. She had been right. And there was Bulma. She'd been right also. Then there was Vejiita Ou. She'd also been right about him, so that also meant she'd gotten Veggie-chan's ki right. She giggled at the nickname, earning a curious look from Gohan. She just shook her head no at him. Ok, then. She'd been right up to now. 'Let's check the gaki then'. Goten: pure, cheerful, carefree, innocent. Trunks: pure, cheerful, spoiled, proud, mischievous and a little too smart for his own good... Yep. She'd gotten them right, too.
Oh. There was also Cauli. She'd forgotten about her. There was that untamed savagery, that obstinacy and loyalty. Then there was realization. 'Oh, so it had been her', Videl thought remembering the ki signature with Vejiita and the kids in the Training Grounds. Videl didn't know why, but she sensed some sort of hostility coming from the woman. Because that's how Videl saw her like: a woman. Cauli seemed too serious, too uptight, too boring. What the heck did she do for fun? Only when Cauli turned to her and scowled dangerously did Videl realize she had been staring. She quickly averted her gaze to her food trying with all her might to keep the blush from rushing to her face.
~*~
After breakfast, Bulma insisted in having a walk through town. She wanted to learn as much as she could about saiyajin culture. Once again, the young commander and the king turned to their political affairs while the Chikyuu bunch stepped out the Palace grounds on their way to the city.
The place was bustling with activity. Merchants, guards, civilians, servants, runny nose brats and almost decrepit old geezers. They could all be seen coating the streets like an ant farm. It was an interesting fact that although the Palace owned a traditional, almost kind of medieval architecture, the city itself was overloaded with technology. It was the legacy, a forlorn legacy at that, left by the tsufurujin before their genocide. A legacy corrupted either by the imported novelties, yoked to their own gadgets by sheer genius or brute force, or by the primitive contraptions that clung like parasites to the metal buildings.
The bustling activity, the smell of dirt and sweat, combined with one or other thread of decomposing meat of some animal they've never heard about, finished throwing them back into reality. They were all gapping in wonder, except Vejiita, who in turn watched his surroundings with veiled curiosity, having been there only a couple of times during his childhood. Everything seemed so alive, so normal, and so different. This was a part of the saiyajin race that NONE of them knew.
On their wake, the saiyajin recognized the prince on the spot, not only for his fine garments, but specifically for his undeniably royal features. The regal bearing, the feline grace, as well as imposing presence. And last, but not less, the characteristic royal hair, upswept in the shape of a tarred flame. Did I mention the scowl?
Without exception to the rule, they all paid respect, either bowing or turning their heads down. Vejiita's ego secretly swelled, as would a teen member being stimulated on their first sexual experience. Kami! It was good to be home! Where you were respected as deserved by birth, where nobody dared mock your actions. But... why doesn't it feel as good as expected? Sure, it does feel good, but... why like this?
So hollow...
'This is my home. The world I was born to rule.' There goes pride, growing like a watered plant. But... 'If this is what I grieved over for as long as I can remember, and now it's offered to me in a golden platter...
Why do I feel like...
I don't want it?'
Have you heard about the new DBZ live action movie planned for next year? So cool!!! There's this poll in the funimation website for what actor you want to play Goku's char. There's Keanu Reeves, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and some others. I personally like Jackie for Goku and Jet for Veggie. What do you think? If you wanna discuss this thing, just email me, I'll write you back.
Katie!! The translations:
Otousan - dad
Otousama - father (when you call him that to show respect)
Okaasan - mom
Ojiisan - grandfather
Obaasan - grandmother
Ojisan - uncle
Obasan - aunt
Niisan - older brother (with respect)
Niichan - older brother (fondly)
Minna - everyone
Hai - yes
Iie - no
Onegai - please
Sou ka? - Really (curious)
Ningen - human
Onna - woman
Gaki - child
Chibi - little
Ou suffix - king
Ouji suffix - prince
Hime suffix - princess
Ohayo - morning
Ohayo gozaimasu - good morning (very formal)
Gomen - sorry
Gomen nasai - I'm very sorry
Sugoi - like Cool! Or something
Kawaii - cute
I guess that's it. If I left any other word out just tell me, ok?
Push there
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