Chapter 8

"Let's get started then." Piccolo said, his voice sounding more serious. "Sit down."

Katrina obeyed and Piccolo sat down in front of her. "First of all, before I can teach you, you have to understand how energy works."

Katrina listened intently.

"Everything that you do consists of energy, whether it be talking a walk or fighting an enemy. Restoring your energy is easy, you either sleep, eat or meditate. But the trick behind energy is that in order to make it greater, you have to train and learn how to harness it. That's why I brought you into this."

"What do you mean?" Katrina asked.

Piccolo paused, choosing his words carefully so that he wouldn't upset her about her past. "That day, you showed a tremendous amount of energy, but apparently you don't remember much of what happened. That's what happens when you lose control of it." Piccolo was looking at her straight in the eye now. "I'm going to teach you how to control that power and channel it."

Katrina looked down at the brown rock underneath her.

Piccolo looked at her with compassion. Great job. He told himself. "Listen, Kat, I—"

Katrina suddenly looked back up at him. "I'm fine." She said. "Go on..."

He looked deeply into her eyes for a second, then continued knowing that it was what she truly wanted. "The first step to knowing how to control your energy is flying. But before we go into that, I want to show you what energy looks like when you bring it out." He held out his hand and in no time at all, a small, glowing, yellow orb was floating above his palm. "That's my energy. I can bring it out quickly because I've had years of training. It won't be as easy for you, but I have confidence in you." He closed his fist and the energy orb dispersed.

"Put out your hand and concentrate. You'll find something deep down inside of you. When you do, make it rise and come out your hand." Piccolo crossed his arms and waited.

Katrina stared at her hands for a second, then put them in front of her. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. But like every other teenager, she was impatient. She gritted her teeth slightly and started to shake until she felt two strong hands on her shoulders.

She opened her eyes and looked up straight into Piccolo's face. "You have to relax. When you are totally relaxed, that's when you find it. Now," he said moving his hands from her shoulders to her own two hands. "Try it again."

Katrina realized that he wasn't going to let go, so she let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. This time however she did somehow relax. Maybe it was just knowing that Piccolo was right there beside her, or maybe she can just instantly relax. What ever the case was, she found it.

She opened her eyes as a huge rush of air suddenly seemed to come right out from underneath her. She looked over at Piccolo who was smiling. He let go of her hands and his grin got wider. "That's your energy."

Katrina looked down at her hands and noticed there was a small, glowing, purple orb of light floating in between her palms. She stared at it in awe and didn't take her eyes off of it for some time. "Why is it purple?" She asked.

"The color of energy differs from the type of person you are. Most have yellow or blue, but I guess you're one of a kind."

Katrina lost her concentration and the energy orb disappeared. "I know that already..." She muttered quietly.

Piccolo paused and looked at her for a moment. She was, indeed, one of a kind. The stripe markings on her cheeks and the strange symbol on her neck were things that he had never seen before. Her black tail was new as well, but he had seen a brown one before. She was a telepath, and she was the only person who had not screamed when first meeting him. She is pretty special... Piccolo thought, making sure he had the block on.

Piccolo stood up. "I think you're ready." He held down a hand and helped her stand. "This way, I won't need to carry you anymore."

"Oh, so you're saying that I'm fat and you're sick of lugging me around everywhere?!?!" Katrina hollered.

"No, I'm not!" Piccolo shook his head.

Katrina pretended to be upset and turned away from him. "Just forget it. Maybe I should go kill myself." She sobbed.

"Hold on! I never said that you were—" He stopped when he realized that Katrina was laughing and not crying. "Wait a second!"

Katrina turned around with a grin on her face. "Gotcha." She giggled.

Piccolo's eye twitched and he turned and started to walk away from her.

Katrina stopped laughing and followed him. "Hey, c'mon, Piccolo, it was just a joke!"

"There is no time for joking around! We only have a year of training, which isn't a lot!" He took off into the air. "Learn how to fly yourself!!" Then he flew down the mountain and out of sight.

Katrina stood near the edge and watched as the white flame disappeared from sight. "Piccolo..." She whimpered. She sat down at the edge. "I didn't mean to hurt him. I just thought that......oh what's the use. Now I'm stranded up here for who knows how long."

She lay back down and began to watch the clouds fly on by. Hours seemed to fly by and she still had no idea how she was going to get down. She closed her eyes for a moment because the sun got too bright.

When she reopened them, she saw Piccolo towering above her with a glower. She sat up and turned around to face him. "Piccolo?"

Suddenly, he broke out into a smile. "Gotcha."

"YOU JACKASS!!!!" She stood up and slapped hard across the face. "How dare you do that to me!!! I thought I was gonna be stranded up here for days!!"

Piccolo could only laugh, despite the fact that his cheek began to throb. "You deserved it."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

Katrina glared at him long and hard until her eyes began to hurt. Then she smirked. "I think we're beyond the line of kidnapper/victim."

"What do you mean?" Piccolo asked, already not liking her tone of voice.

"Well," She began, "I mean, you did save me from falling, and my joke wouldn't have meant so much that you had to pull one on me too. I think you're starting to like having me around."

"Please, you're a pest and a baby like all teenagers are. I could care less." Piccolo crossed his arms and turned his face away. Usually he was pretty good at bluffing, but in this case he was bad.

Katrina paused, but kind of expected that answer. "Ok." She walked over to the ledge and turned around to face him. With a smile she said, "Prove it." Then she stepped backwards off the ledge and began to plummet.

"Hey!!" He rushed over to the ledge and saw her falling towards the ground. "Oh this is just great. If I get her, it proves her point. But if I don't, she's dead." Then he stopped. "What am I saying?! I need her......t-to save the world!" He flew as fast as he could and managed to catch her about ten feet from the ground.

Katrina opened her eyes when she knew she stopped moving. She looked over at Piccolo. He refused to look at her. Instead, he looked up at the sky and started to fly back up towards the top of the mountain. Katrina wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him until he landed at the top.

Piccolo purposely dropped her on the ground hard and glared at her coldly.

"Ow! What did you do that for?!" Katrina asked, standing back up.

"Don't ever do that again, Katrina!!" Piccolo roared.

She knew he was serious because this was the first time he had ever called her by her full name. "But I—"

"If there's one thing you do, you never play with your opponents emotions. Never! Only backstabbers and cheapskates sink down to that level, and I never want to see you going that low. Understand?!" He shouted.

Katrina nodded.

"Promise me that you will never sink that low ever again, Katrina."

"I promise." Katrina looked at the rocky floor. "I-I'm sorry..."

Piccolo nodded, but she didn't see it. He looked up at the sky and saw that their daylight wasn't going to last much longer. Damn, we don't have much time left! That's my fault, I shouldn't have been gone that long. Piccolo walked over towards Katrina. "C'mon, I'll take you down." He said quietly.

Katrina nodded, but instead of being carried under his arm, he picked her up off her feet. Katrina wrapped her arms around his neck again but refused to look at his face.

Piccolo slowly flew down into the clearing below. He landed a little away from their campsite and walked the rest of the way while carrying Katrina in his arms. When he got to the tree, he set her down gently. Katrina still hadn't looked at him, still ashamed.

Piccolo watched her for a moment before starting the fire again. He gathered up the wood and set them down in a neat pile. In another flash of light, the fire was sweltering again.

Instead of taking his usual seat across from the fire, he sat down next to Katrina. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."

For the first time, Katrina looked over at him. "About what?"

Piccolo looked over at her. "I shouldn't have been so angry at you. You didn't know." Then he looked down at the ground. "It just...really aggravates me how some people use emotions just so they can win." He clenched his fists tightly. "They're cheaters and sore losers because they know that they can't win regularly."

Katrina watched him compassionately. She moved closer towards him.

Piccolo was still glaring at the ground when felt a gentle hand cover his trembling fist. He looked up right into Katrina's kind eyes. She didn't say anything, but he sensed that she understood.

Piccolo smiled at her. He relaxed his fist but didn't shake Katrina off. Instead, their fingers entwined and remained like that. Katrina rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Piccolo looked down at her and couldn't help but smile wider. You really are one of a kind... Then he rested his back against the tree and watched the stars.