CHAPTER SIX:

The horizon was barely beginning to lighten when a loud THUNK resounded through the twin's cabin.

"Itetetete!" A dark form rose their hand to their head and rubbed a forming bump. With a groggy voice, they spoke. "Maaan, why do you hafta take up so much room in the bed, Shi-chan?!" A loud snore greeted her. Sighing, Kuroi rose and opened the window, looking across the sky. "Oh well, it's nearly morning anyway." Only snoring answered her.

Stretching deeply, Kuroi yawned and fetched her clothes for the day. It had been four months since her return to the world of the living. Kuroi grinned. She knew Shiroi probably had some surprise planned for her. Her twin really took her death hard; she had to celebrate her revival every chance she got. In a way, Kuroi was glad she got up before her sister. She could strip Shiroi of every chance to do her share of chores, and revel in watching her twin scramble for ideas to treat her. After four months, celebration got a bit monotonous. Snatching a quick snack to pick her up before breakfast, Kuroi went into the front yard and began her Morning Kata.

By the time she had finished, the sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of the world. Taking a final stretch, Kuroi returned into the cabin and picked up the Dragon Ball Radar from its place on the table. It had taken a while for Shiroi to explain what the radar was supposed to do and how it worked before Kuroi understood. Now, a schedule was laid out that could be followed by either of the twins. Check the radar every morning and night to see if the dragonballs had recovered or not. Kuroi had long ago began to wonder if the things would recover at all.

Kuroi sat in her chair and stared at it. It had been four months, to the day, that the dragonballs were used. Sighing, she pushed the button. Will it be like every other day?

Kuroi practically fell out of her chair when the radar lit up. It's possessed! Peeking up from the edge of the table, Kuroi stared at the beeping device so recently and unceremoniously launched from her hands. Slowly, recognition lit up her eyes. "It's working!"

Snatching it up, Kuroi noisily ran to the bedroom. "Shi-chan, Shi-chan! Get up! The-the-the.. thing is working!"

She stared as her sister remained motionless and silent save for a quiet, even breathing. "OI! SHI-CHAN! WAKE UP, WE'VE GOT DRAGONBALLS TO COLLECT!" Again her sister was silent. Face twitching, Kuroi calmly placed the Dragon Ball Radar on the dresser and returned to the bed. Plucking it from the ground, she flipped it, dropping her twin roughly on the floor.

"Uwaaa!" Shiroi rose into a stance, wary for any attacks. Even despite her sleepy state, her instincts held strong. Looking up and seeing a fuzzy shape resembling her sister, her stance slackened. "What was that for, Ku-chan?!"

Kuroi dropped the bed on the floor and grinned wildly at her. More awake now, Shiroi's features took on her usual calmness. "Something happened." A nod greeted her, but Kuroi still remained silent. Slowly, but surely, a steady beeping began to creep into her consciousness. Kuroi's grin widened as Shiroi's face began to reveal shock. "The Dragon Ball Radar! It's working?!"

Kuroi laughed, giddy, and swiped the radar from the dresser, displaying a blinking green dot to her sister. "I tried it this morning, and it just started bleeping at me!"

Shiroi stumbled over, staring at the device in shock. "It's working..." Taking the radar and examining it, she twisted the button a few times. Kuroi watched, clueless as to what Shiroi was doing. She had never said anything about twisting the button. Nodding, Shiroi looked up to her sister. "It's like last time. All the dragonballs are scattered pretty far apart. The closest one is to the south, on an island."

Kuroi swung her arms around, warming her shoulders up. "I'll swim there! What are we waiting for, c'mon!"

Shaking her head, Shiroi spoke. "No, Ku-chan, we can't just leave like this. We need food, clothes, supplies, not to mention our reserve of money."

Kuroi blinked at her sister. "It's not going to take that long is it? We just follow the Dragon Ball Radar and gather the dragonballs and then wish on them to be fused, right?"

Shiroi sighed. "Yes, Ku-chan, but gathering all of the dragonballs is going to take more than two seconds. The dragonballs are scattered all over the world. When Gokuu-sama and I collected them, some of the dragonballs were at all of the corners of the world. Even with Kintoun!"

Kuroi scrunched her face up at the new word. "Kintoun?"

Shiroi nodded. "The cloud that Gokuu-sama controls. We are talking about a demi-god here, Ku-chan. Because we're mere mortals, no matter how fast we go, it will take us longer than just a week"

Kuroi groaned unhappily. Shiroi left her sister to her devices and walked into their cabin to pack for the trip.

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Kuroi tapped her bare foot impatiently on the floor of their cabin while her sister packed provisions for the journey after the dragonballs. More than once, Kuroi had heard Shiroi mutter something about a cloud. Waving it aside, Kuroi shouldered her pack and trudged outside hoping that there would be something there to relieve her boredom.

The second Shiroi stepped out of the cabin, Kuroi heaved an irritated sigh. "Jeez, Shi-chan, what'd you do, pack the entire house?"

Shiroi walked past her sister, Dragon Ball Radar in hand. "You do know that the more you poke and prod me, the slower I go."

Kuroi growled her answer. The white haired twin glanced over her shoulder at her twin. "Now that wasn't a very nice thing to say," she said, a mocking grin pulling at her lips.

To inform her sister exactly how nice her previously growled words were, she muttered some indecent words, the most of them describing an uncomfortable torture-fest with Shiroi as the star. Shiroi snickered and hitched her pack higher on her back.

"So," Kuroi chirped five minutes into the trip. "How close are the dragonballs?"

This was going to be a long adventure.

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Trejiita poked a stick into the small dragon that would be his dinner. The dragon had put up a fight, which had forced Trejiita to use a ki ball in order to kill it. The ki ball had been small enough to not attract attention, but it reminded him how much his power was slipping. Having to keep his ki at a human level kept him on his toes, but he couldn't train anything but his body.

An urge to let go of the leash he kept on his ki, and just train until he could no longer stand up straight burned hot in his breast. He managed to swallow it before his ki slid any higher.

Trejiita poked the stick into the dragon for a second time, this time satisfied with the results. He easily lifted the dragon away from the fire and ripped into it.

Munching thoughtfully on a bite of meat, Trejiita pondered the events of the past week.

For the past sixteen months, he'd been brooding over the loss of his family and his life. He was neither Vejiita nor Trunks, and so he had no place in the lives of his family. He couldn't be a husband, son, father, and brother to the Briefs women at the same time. So he'd been forced to disappear, however due to his loyalty and... love... for both Bulma and Bra, he'd wanted to check up on the two of them from time to time.

When Bulma had learned that neither Trunks nor Vejiita could be returned to her, she had gone into seclusion, strengthening her security and lessening her appearances in public. Trejiita was surprised that Bulma had allowed Bra to continue school.

As the days passed, Trejiita yearned more and more for the knowledge of how his family was doing. He had reduced himself to sneaking onto Capsule Corp grounds, ducking and dodging the security-bots, just to watch his family eat a meal or sleep.

Then he had gotten himself nearly caught. Bulma had sensed him. An odd yearning of both lust and love stirred in his gut. He wasn't supposed to feel lust for Bulma - a portion of him was her son. Either way, Trejiita had just barely been able to escape, and the close encounter caused Bulma to up the security for a second time.

This time, no matter how much Trejiita tried, he could not be able to find a way to break into Capsule Corp to continue his monthly visits. It was impossible. Why had he allowed Bulma to sense him? What had been going through his head?

Lust. Love. Grief at no longer being able to be part of Bra or Bulma's lives.

Trejiita returned his attention to his food. It was his own fault, he should have just been happy with reading newspapers and watching the occasional television for updates on the inhabitants of Capsule Corp. That was what he would have to do for the rest of their lives. There was no way that he could take the place of two men.

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Shiroi looked ahead of her to her still racing twin. "Ku-chan, wait!"

Her black haired sister slowed only a little, but looked back. "What?"

"The sky's starting to get dark." Shiroi pointed to the twins' right at the setting sun. "We need to find someplace to set up camp. ... Ku-chan?" She stared at her distracted sister who had slowed to a stop.

Kuroi herself pointed, only this time ahead of them. "What's that?"

Shiroi squinted her eyes, trying to discern what her sister had in the dimming light. Slowly, a dark form began to appear. Before she could reel in her curious twin, Kuroi had already started towards the apparently abandoned hut.

"It's a hut," Kuroi stated.

Thanks for the blinding flash of the obvious, Ku-chan, Shiroi thought. "There might be someone still living here. We need to be careful."

"Aw, come on, Shi-chan. There's no one here we can't beat up." At this, Kuroi stepped up to the front of the house. "Hellooo, any one hoooome?"

Shiroi stood back and watched as her sister vanished into the darkness of the shack-like building, watching and wary for any attackers to jump out of the brush. A few minutes and some rustling later, Kuroi emerged from the hut and greeted her twin with a smile.

"There's no one here, and there hasn't been for a long time." Kuroi glanced back into the darkness. "The place is a mess, but it's livable. We can stay here for the night."

Shiroi regarded the building once more before nodding, and picked up her bags while Kuroi again vanished into its depths. Pausing at the door, she noticed a sign by the jamb. "... Son... Gohan." She stared at the sign for a while, straining her memory for the reasons this name sounded familiar before finally giving up and joining her sister.

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Shiroi woke to sounds of her sister eating. Noisily. Rolling her eyes, she rose out of the makeshift bed they had constructed the night before and joined her sister outside. The hut was tiny, much smaller than their cabin, and thus had no room for a kitchen.

"Ou, ohayo, Shi-chan!" Shiroi raised an eyebrow at the meal in front of Kuroi. Apparently the game was different here than at their home, for what Kuroi was eating was no animal Shiroi had ever seen before.

"Is that safe to eat?"

"I'm not dead yet, so yea." Kuroi licked her fingers and sighed in contentment. "It's actually pretty good. But I had a hard time of hunting it. It was a vicious thing!" She pointed at the toothy mouth and clawed feet. "It's skin was tough to beat too. It's scaly like a fish."

Shiroi walked around the monster before taking a slab herself. "If I get sick, it's your fault."

Kuroi grinned. "Okay. I'll be sick too, so we'll be even." She looked over to the rising sun. "But eat fast, we need to get moving."

Nodding, her sister prepared her breakfast while Kuroi packed their belongings. Within half an hour, they were again on the road.

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Popo turned from the new flower garden and looked to the silent figure standing on the edge of Kami's Lookout. Dende was grinning down at Chikyuu.

"Kami-sama?"

Dende looked up and found his assistant standing nearby. "These twins truly are a breath of fresh air. There are few on Chikyuu like them."

Popo regarded his Kami as blankly as always. Dende blinked. "Well, it's been four months, Mister Popo. Shenlon has recovered enough for another wish. Finally things are beginning to happen." He returned his attention to the Earth below. "I just hope that I can block as many of the obstacles as possible. It's not time for Trejiita just yet, but almost." Dende smiled. "Things are going just as they should."

Popo looked down at Chikyuu, unable to see as Dende without Kami eyes of his own. "How long?"

Dende regarded his domain. "Not long. Not long at all."

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"Anou, Shi-chan? Where's the island?" Kuroi stared out across the vastness known as the ocean. She had originally planned to just swim to the island housing the first dragonball, but she had never seen a body of water larger than the lake by their cabin. There wasn't a landmass in sight.

Shiroi squinted out across the water, straining for a glimmer of land. She looked again to the Dragon Ball Radar. "Well, it's out there. On an island, but it's further than I thought."

"We can't swim that far! How are we supposed to get all the way over there?!" Kuroi stomped her foot and Shiroi ignored her sister's brewing tantrum, instead focusing her attention on their current problem.

Her black eyes scanned the beach, combing it for any sign of a raft. Upon seeing none, she turned to her twin. "We need to search the beach until we find a boat. We'll use that to get to the island." Hiking up her bag to a more comfortable position, she started east, waiting for her sister to follow.

It took an hour of walking, but eventually the twins found an old boat upside down on the sand. With a little handiwork, it was again in working condition. After a push, they were on the water.

Kuroi stared at the ocean. "Uhm, aren't we supposed to be going somewhere?"

Shiroi rose an eyebrow. "Of course we are. You take the paddle and use it."

Frowning, Kuroi looked around. "There's no paddle." Shiroi twirled around, dangerously rocking the boat.

"What?" Calming herself, she closed her eyes, thinking. "Okay, we'll use our stuff and make a sail."

"Then what?" Kuroi looked uncertainly at the blanket Shiroi pulled from their bag.

"We'll have to use our flashy hand techniques to blow ourselves to the island."

Kuroi's eyes widened. "But we'll set the blanket on fire!"

Shaking her head, Shiroi looked up. "Remember what Teddy taught us about holding back?"

"Oh." Kuroi looked down at her hands. I never knew what he meant by that.

Shiroi continued working until a fair sail was erected. Looking to her twin, she nodded. "Okay, time to use our flashy hand techniques."

Lifting her hand, Kuroi aimed it at the middle of the blanket. "Ha!" A flash erupted from her hand, blowing it back, and the boat jerked violently forward. Shiroi gripped the edge tightly. She didn't notice anything amiss until an ash of the blanket floated onto her arm. Looking up at the sail, she found an inferno replacing the blanket.

"Ku-chan, you were supposed to hold back!" Kuroi addressed her twin with a sheepish grin, and tossed the blazing blanket overboard. Shiroi sighed deeply.

"Gomen, Shi-chan."

"We'll have to live without a blanket now. Not until we get to a village, but to do that we need to get to the island first. We have to think of something else." Shiroi sat, plopping her chin in her hands.

"Why don't we just push ourselves?"

Shiroi looked at her twin in annoyance. "We can't push ourselves, we're on water."

Kuroi moved to the rear of the boat and slipped her hand into the water. "We can do this." With another kiyaa, she released a ki blast. After violently jerking again, the boat moved forward.

Shiroi blinked at Kuroi's submerged hand. Raising her eyes, she blinked at Kuroi. "Why didn't you say this before?"

"But I did. You were too busy making your sail."

Irritated, but holding it in, Shiroi joined her sister at the rear of the boat. "You take first shift. I'll continue in half an hour. At this rate, we should be there a little while before sunset."

Kuroi grinned, dipping her hands into the water. "Yosh'. Hold on, I'm going to use the big flashy ball." With this, the twins were well on their way.

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Uubu picked himself off the ground just in time to avoid a bright flash of ki. Forming one of his own, he blindly threw it behind him, hoping to gain himself time to escape a fair distance. Using a nearby tree, he flipped and faced his opponent.

Gokuu grinned, knocking the poorly planned ki ball aside and continued pursing the boy. Uubu was better these days, but he was still only eleven and had much more to learn; planning and predicting his opponent's moves for instance. His grin widened when he saw Uubu come about to face him, fist ready.

Using his Shunkan Idou, Gokuu vanished, startling the young boy. Uubu stopped his advance and wildly searched the surrounding trees. There were thousands of places to wait in ambush. His head whipped up as his sensei's voice rang through the air.

"Tsk, tsk, Uubu. You need to think a little more about what your opponent is thinking before making any moves. If they vanish, don't use your eyes, use your senses." Gokuu half stood, half floated over the top of a tall pine, with arms crossed and the usual smile spread across his features.

"Gomen, Gokuu-san," the youth responded, face down.

Gokuu jumped, landing in front of Uubu. With the thumb of one hand in his belt, he raised the other and ruffled the boy's hair. "That's okay, Uubu. Fighting is an art. We are always learning new things. One day you will master what I've taught you."

Uubu nodded mutely, face still downcast. Gokuu stuck both thumbs in his belt and leaned back, grinning at his student. "Want to try again?"

Raising his head, Uubu nodded, a smile forming. "Hai!"

The earth Saiyajin fell into his stance, grin as wide as ever when his senses began to pick something up. Uubu was about to charge when Gokuu held up a hand, stalling his advance. "Wait."

Uubu regarded his sensei curiously as Gokuu turned his face towards the nearby ocean. "Gokuu-san?"

Gokuu turned back to his student. "It's getting late, and we've trained hard today." Face alight, he grinned. "I think we can stop here. We'll continue tomorrow."

Slightly disappointed, but also glad the exhausting day was over, Uubu nodded. "Hai, Gokuu-san." Uubu turned to go back to the village, looking behind him to see if his sensei was following. Gokuu remained still, looking towards the sea. "Gokuu-san?"

Gokuu looked at his student, face beaming. "Don't worry about me, Uubu. I'll be there in a little while."

Concerned, but not questioning his teacher, Uubu turning, trotting in the direction of his village. Gokuu-san... What's out there?

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Kuroi was the first one out of the boat on onto dry land despite the fact that she had been the one to have the final shift of playing motor. Shiroi tossed her twin's pack to her, and tugged the boat farther up on the shore.

"What're you doing? We need to go get the dragonball," Kuroi demanded, impatient. Shiroi gave the boat a final yank and walked over to her pale twin.

"We also need that boat to get us off of this island. Or do you want to swim?"

Kuroi waved it off. "Can we get the dragonball yet, or are you not finished messing around?"

Shiroi pointed towards the south. "This way."

Shiroi could only take one step forward before her path was suddenly blocked by a blue gi.

Kuroi stepped into her fighting stance, face a mask of fury. "What do you want, male?"

Shiroi glared up at the face of the male in her way. Then, as if struck, her expression slackened and her black eyes widened. "Gokuu-sama!" she gasped, taking several steps backwards.

Kuroi glanced at her twin for a split second, her attention directed at 'Gokuu-sama' in front of her. "Who?"

Shiroi waved at her sister. "Get out of your stance, Ku-chan. This is the demi-god I was telling you about; the one who helped me with the dragonballs."

Kuroi straightened, her fists settling at her sides. "Oh. "

Gokuu raised a hand in a cheerful wave. "Yo!"

Head slightly tilted, Kuroi approached the earth Saiyajin, moving around him in a circle. She noted the strong muscle build and fighting gi. The calluses on his hands proved him to be a seasoned fighter, yet no scars marred him. Kuroi stopped her inspection in front of him. Grinning, she reached out, grabbing Gokuu's right hand with her own and pulling it tightly to her chest. Shiroi's eyebrow twitched, recognizing the formal amazon greeting.

Gokuu blinked at her blankly, wondering what she was doing. "Anou..."

Kuroi blinked herself up at the warrior. "Anou... You're supposed to do the same thing."

"Oh, okay." Flexing his arm, her pulled her hand to his chest, arms forming a lock. Kuroi was roughly yanked towards him, nose nearly smashing into his chest. "Now what?" He looked down at her, curiosity written all over his face.

Squeezing his hand as tightly as she could, she grinned up at him. Let's see who's stronger... "Now you squeeze."

After a moment's hesitation, Gokuu complied. He only stopped when Kuroi was trying desperately to wrench her red hand out of his unaffected one. Frantically, Kuroi blew on the offended member. Gokuu watched her in concern. "Did I hurt you? You said to squeeze."

Kuroi scowled at her hand and looked up at the curious male. "No,ofcoursenot. I'm not that easily hurt." Her hand continued to throb behind her back, out of sight of the Saiyajin. Okay, so he's stronger than I am, but that doesn't mean he's a better fighter.

"Oh, okay." His usual smile returned as he stuck his thumbs into his belt. "What was that for?"

"It's the formal amazon greeting. Amazons greet fellow amazons and worthy warriors in this way," Shiroi said.

"Really?" Gokuu scratched his chin idly in thought. Now that he thought about it, Chichi did want to beat him up the first time they met at the Tenka Ichi Bodokai.

"Anyway, now that we've said hello and everything..." Kuroi grinned at the male, her hand's injury apparently better and forgotten. "Let's spar!"

Shiroi turned to her twin, mouth opening to reprimand her sister for challenging a demi-god when Gokuu interrupted her.

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Gokuu grinned and fell into a stance.

Kuroi's brow furrowed lightly, for his stance strongly resembled hers. Shrugging it off, she fell into her own and the two faced off.

It was Kuroi to charge first, pressing off the ground at a faster than expected speed. Gokuu quickly rose his arm to block her advancing fist. She pressed on, throwing her all into her attack. The male merely blocked or dodged each of her tries.

Strange..., Gokuu thought. Her fighting style is so familiar. He glanced over to the silent Shiroi, remembering her own battles with the Red Ribbon army. They fight alike, only this one is stronger and more spontaneous, but not unplanned. Why is it so familiar?

Kuroi heaved in frustration, yelling at the male to regain his attention. "Stop dodging me, and fight back!"

Eyebrows shooting up, he obliged the amazon with a hefty cuff to the head. Kuroi reeled back, rolling into a little pile on the ground a fair distance away.

Gokuu watched with curiosity as Kuroi sat up, rubbing her head. "Itetetetete." She quirked an embarrassed smile up at Gokuu. "Jeez, you're good! I didn't think you'd hit so hard."

Gokuu gave a short, friendly laugh. "You have an intensity that is very formidable. And you're very spontaneous. That is good in a fight; your enemy cannot come to expect your moves."

Kuroi looked up at Gokuu with wide light blue eyes. "I like you!" she exclaimed, bouncing to her feet. "I can even forget that you're the wrong gender, and everything!"

Gokuu placed a hand behind his head, laughing sheepishly, unsure how to react. He noticed Shiroi, watching quietly, arms crossed reminding him of a much-missed warrior.

"So why are you two here on the island?"

Shiroi nodded towards her twin. "We're collecting the dragonballs again."

Gokuu cocked his head to the side and made a curious noise. "Again?"

Shiroi quickly spoke over anything her twin was saying. "We need to make a wish that's very important," and left it at that. Kuroi curiously regarded her twin, uncertain as to why they couldn't tell Gokuu what their wish was going to be. Gokuu nodded, sticking his thumbs into his belt.

"Well, if you're gathering the dragonballs, then you aren't going to get them collected very quickly walking everywhere." Gokuu lifted his head and called for his cloud, Kintoun.

Kuroi screamed like a banshee as the yellow cloud zipped from the heavens and puttered to a stop in front of Gokuu.

"Get it away from me, it's going to eat me!" Kuroi danced in circles before bolting behind her sister. "That's the cloud that tried to eat me when I fell off of Kami's Lookout!"

Gokuu placed a hand on the cloud, his eyes dancing with laughter. Kuroi warily watched him as he then launched himself onto the cloud as if it was a form of transportation - like a horse or a car. Gokuu smiled his most boyish smile and held out his hand to the black-haired twin. "C'mon, it doesn't bite. And it's much faster than walking."

Kuroi ignored Gokuu's hand and inched closer, her blue eyes fixed on the floating cloud. Her hand gingerly rested on the surface, the pressure increasing until Kuroi was pressing into the cloud with all of her strength. Gokuu watched patiently as Kuroi then retrieved her hand and wiggled her fingers. All five were still there. After seven more tries, Kuroi was satisfied that the cloud was not going to eat her - at least not as long as Gokuu was sitting on it - and scrambled onto it. She kept her senses open for a long moment, just in case the cloud suddenly decided that its cargo wasn't satisfactory and munched on her.

Gokuu jumped off of the cloud while Kuroi occupied herself with bouncing tremulously on the cloud, testing for limitations. Shiroi was at his side within a moment, and he glanced down at her with a bright grin. Shiroi was unemotional, save for a flicker in her black eyes.

"Domo arigatou Gokuu-sama, for the used of your cloud."

Gokuu's grin increased. "Don't call me Gokuu-sama; I'm not a demi-god. I'm just an earthling like you. Call me Gokuu."

Shiroi's wanted to rant that the last thing he was was 'just an earthling,' but held her tongue. "Domo arigatou, Gokuu."

"Well, I've got to go, or Uubu is going to really start worrying about me. Good luck!" Gokuu waved at the engrossed Kuroi on Kintoun and then winked at Shiroi beside him. With a spring in his step, he walked towards the village on the horizon.

Kuroi glanced up at Shiroi as she crawled onto the cloud beside her sister. "Oi, where'd Gokuu go?"

Shiroi pointed towards the village. "Back to his family. And we need to go collect the dragonballs."

Now that she was assured that the cloud that she sat upon was quite docile and the least bit carnivorous - although she wasn't 100% sure about that one - Kuroi's vibrato returned. "Ouu! Let's get going!"

Shiroi nodded and patted Kintoun hesitantly. She'd watched Gokuu do this, but she still wasn't sure. "Kintoun, go south about 5 to 10 miles."

Kuroi's shrill scream filled the air as Kintoun lurched and then zipped southward.