Chapter 6

Katrina had no idea how long they flew for, but she didn't care. She was completely convinced that she was dreaming. But apparently, Piccolo could sense that as well.

Katrina's senses were jolted by a sudden drop into a lake. Piccolo remained floating above the lake. She continued to sink until she reached the bottom. The sand was soft and the cool water felt good after sleeping for a few days.

Then she realized that no matter how hard she tried to believe it, this was not a dream. She would not wake up in her stiff gray colored bed and she would not eat the government drool during her lunch. She was awake and at the bottom of a lake.

She also had no air. Katrina quickly pushed off the sand and floated towards the top. The lake was not too deep, so she didn't have far to go. She broke the surface and took a deep breath. She glared up at Piccolo. "What did you do that for?"

"You needed a wake up call." He grunted and landed on the grass near the bank of the lake.

Katrina brought herself out of the lake and wrung out her raven black hair. "You could have just slapped me, it would have had the same effect." She told him.

Piccolo shrugged. "Maybe. But it looked like you could use a bath. Too bad those blood stains sunk in already or else—"

"Wait, what?" Katrina shot him a worried look.

Piccolo pointed at her clothes. "The blood stains. You haven't forgotten already, have you?"

Katrina's head slowly moved to look down at her shirt and pants. Sure enough, dark, brownish-red stains were spattered on them. "No..." She whispered as her eyes began to waver. She raced back into the lake and started scrubbing her shirt and pants. "No...no!" She said as she kept scrubbing. "Come out! Come out! Please!"

"I'll get you different clothes if it bothers you that much." Piccolo stepped over to the edge of the lake and gazed at her.

Katrina stopped and waited for the water to settle. She gazed at her reflection and noticed that her other bandage was coming off. Slowly, she peeled it off and threw it aside.

She looked down at her reflection, then she glared down at it. "You did this!" She hissed. She smacked the water so her reflection would shatter. Then she started to scrub her cheeks. "Why?!" She asked to no one in particular. "Why won't they come off!!"

Piccolo saw that she was starting to get a little delusional, so he stepped into the lake and grabbed her. He dragged her out of the lake over towards some trees near the middle of the clearing. He set her down there.

But Katrina only curled up in a ball and sobbed uncontrollably. Her entire body was shaking tremendously.

Piccolo looked down at her and felt something that he barely felt: Pity. He took his turban off and his shoulder weights and ripped the cape off. He then wrapped it around the shaking girl.

She appeared unaffected and continued to cry. Piccolo sighed. It may take a while for the effect to ware off. He then sat down near her just in case. Guess there's nothing to do but wait.

It seemed like a year had passed before she decided to uncurl. She finally noticed that something was covering her and saw that it was Piccolo's cape. She moved it so she could poke her head into the outside world. The sky was dark, but the sun was either setting or rising behind the mountains. She couldn't tell if it was East or West, but quite frankly she didn't care. Her head pounded and she felt empty. She could barely move.

She heard something move to her right, so she slowly turned her head to look. Piccolo was walking towards her with something in his arms. When he came closer, she saw that it was wood.

He set it down a few feet from her. "How are you feeling?" He asked quietly.

Katrina could barely speak, but she managed to muster out, "Hungry."

Piccolo nodded. "I figured you would be. You haven't eaten for almost a week now." He piled up the wood and in an inexplicable flash, the wood was on fire and roasting. "Can you hang on a little longer while I go get something?"

She didn't even know if she nodded or not, but Piccolo seemed to sense a yes. He nodded and pointed behind her. "I brought you some new clothes if you want to change into them. I'll be back." Then he took to the air and was gone.

Katrina looked behind her and noticed that they were piled very neatly. They looked brand new. She looked through the pile. It consisted of a black shirt with sleeves cut at the elbows, purple pants, lilac colored boots, and a blue ribbon belt.

She looked around to make sure that she was all alone, then she changed into them as fast as she could. The black shirt and the purple pants were made of a thick material and were pretty heavy, so when she got everything on she collapsed back on the ground.

The fire was burning well, but she still wrapped Piccolo's cape around her tightly. Katrina closed her heavy eyelids for what seemed like a moment, but it was Piccolo that had to wake her up.

Apples and various berries were piled up in front of her, and five fish were cooking near the fire on sticks. He had given her a canteen of fresh water as well. "The fish will be done soon, so start with the apples and berries." He told her as he sat down on the other side of the fire.

Katrina didn't hesitate. She stuffed as many berries in her mouth as she could and continued like that until the fish were done. Piccolo couldn't help but laugh a bit as he handed her a fish on a stick. She took it without noticing his snicker and ate the fish heartily.

With two fish, apples and berries in her stomach, she was finally full. She rested against the tree that was behind her and looked up at the sky. "What am I?"

Piccolo looked up from biting his fish. "Hm?"

She didn't remove her eyes from the black velvet above her. "I finally realize that I'm not normal...I mean I've known it but I'm finally able to come to terms with it." Then she looked back down at him. "So what am I?"

Piccolo paused for a second, then replied, "That's for you to find out on your own. I can't help you."

Katrina stared at him for a second, then turned away.

Silence draped over the campsite as quickly as a wind passes through. Piccolo finished his dinner and tossed the sticks aside. He looked over at his companion. "Katrina is it?"

Katrina came out of her daze and looked over at him. "What?"

"Your name. It's Katrina, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. A...a lot of people called me Kat...just a nickname that I got..."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about your past." Piccolo inquired.

Katrina shrugged. "It...it kind of stuck..." She answered quietly and turned her head away.

"Well, anyway, training starts tomorrow. Sorry to start off right away but—"

"It's ok..." She replied. "I mean, I have to save the world, right?"

Piccolo paused. "You won't be alone, but yes."

Katrina didn't look at him, but Piccolo got the feeling that she understood. "Get some sleep then. Good night...Kat."

Katrina looked back over towards him, a little stunned that he called her that name. But when she looked, he was gone.

Sleep. Her head told her, so she lied down underneath Piccolo's cape and closed her eyes.