Thanks for the reviews! Its nice to know that there are a whole three people reading this. ^.^;; Though I will readily admit, the first two chapters did little in the way of enticing people. Let's see if this one drags a few more in. Responses to reviewers will be at the bottom of the page.
Disclaimer: Akira Toriyama is the god of DBZ, all hail he who feeds us.
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Beyond The Cloudy Dawn
By Phoenix Cubed
Chapter 3
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As the crow flew, it was just over a three-hour flight to the Eastern Mountains. As the Saiyan flew, it didn't take Gohan more than a half an hour to reach the craggy peaks—fifteen minutes if he was in a rush. Unfortunately, because of the androids, there was no reason to hurry, so the flight was long and highly uneventful. The area had long ago become depopulated by the demonic duo, so there were no persons' energies for Gohan to seek out and mentally tag for location; a habit he had picked up years ago to help what authorities were left keep track of the declining amount of people.
A bitter upside to the rapid human depopulation of the planet was the great repopulation of ecosystems that would have never had a chance with the dominant humanoid species about. In recent years Gohan had begun to fly through airspace that, when he was younger, he had been warned to stay away from because it had been so choked with noxious fumes and chemicals from industrialization. Large grassy fields grew where concrete jungles had once upon soared, felled and returned to nature by the androids; though Gohan knew their motives had not been so altruistic. The birds sang with more gusto than ever before, and all but the largest of dragons and dinosaurs—who were targets of the androids when human pickings were slim—could be seen freely roaming around nearly everywhere, instead of only the remote, deserted areas where people did not dare settle.
A shadow swept across the flying half-breed. Thoughts of animals always made Gohan think of Icarus, his one time pet Hiya Dragon turned all time friend. Icarus had been vital to pulling the boy from his grief stricken melancholy after Goku's death, forcing him out into the world of continuing life and rebirth to play and move on. Even Chi Chi had occasionally given into the affectionate brushes and deep throated purring of the pony sized hatchling. But then the adorable baby dragon had begun to grow like mad at the same time Gohan had begun his own adolescent growth spurts. And then one day by chance, while Gohan lay hidden from the androids, he had watched them hunt down and destroy a family of the biggest Pterosaurs in the Five-Thirty-Nine Mountain Area, crushing the eggs and tearing the giant dinosaurs' wings from their bodies for use as sails and kites. Their laughter had rung in Gohan's ears all the way home, until Icarus, then only half the size of the destroyed Pterosaurs, had nuzzled the boy in hopes of comforting him. It was then that Gohan had made the hardest decision of his life. Icarus was too big to live in the open land around Gohan's home without eventually calling attention to himself. Not even the ancient forest would hide him properly. So to save the dragon's life, the boy had been callous and harsh, pushing his friend away and telling him to leave and never, ever return. It had hurt them both a great deal, but Icarus had obeyed his friends' wishes, and Gohan never saw him again except within the safe confines of his dreams.
The wind took an abrupt change of direction and speed, forcing Gohan from his thoughts and onto matters at hand. Before him loomed the extensive mountain range of the East. Stopping not too far from the rocky sides of the looming boulder giants, it was easy to spot the scorched and smoldering remains of energy blasts. Charred matchsticks gave signs as to where trees once stood and large craters were pleasing indications of android frustration.
Releasing his life energy and letting it slowly dissipate back into his body, Gohan made a gentle decent to a smooth outcropping of rock. High on the mountaintop, the air was thin and cool; the demi-human closed his eyes and gathered a lungful of the refreshing mountain aroma. A breeze drifted by to ruffle the man's spiked hair and set his flesh to tingling, making him smile and relax further into the moment. His mind clear and his body at ease, Gohan once more gathered the sleeping abilities within him and put them to work.
Once upon a very long time ago, Vegeta had given the only son of Goku a heritage lesson. It had been brief, blunt, and somewhat condescending, but Gohan had learned a great deal about the way the Saiyan race worked. While in theory every race of being could use and manipulate life and spirit energy, each race channeled the energy in a way that was unique to that race alone. The Saiyans, however, took it one step further in that each member of the species could further specialize themselves in a way that few else could. Though Gohan could not remember precisely what Vegeta had called it, the prince had explained that Gohan was highly in tune to energy of nearly any sort. Saiyans such as Gohan would need a ki technique demonstrated only once to understand it and replicate it, could meet a person a single time and later isolate and identify them by their energy signature at anytime or place. Or, as Gohan was doing now, detect even the lowest levels of energy without knowing precisely where a person was, as long as he had an idea of what he was looking for.
Or at least, he was supposed to be doing.
Gohan frowned and pushed the searching fingers of his energy further out, willing the tendrils of his ability to seek out and latch onto anything. Stretching and seeking, there was nothing as far as he could feel—wait…no, just a rabbit. The man frowned and shook off his search, taking to the air to find another spot and try again.
Four hours and five tries later, still nothing.
Gohan crossed his arms and tapped his foot in annoyance, ignoring the fact that the motion was out of place several hundred feet above the ground he was meant to tap. Something odd was about, and Gohan was feeling like the butt of a very cruel joke. He had been around the entire mountain range twice, and all he had succeeded in doing was to frighten a large flock of rooks nestling in the cracks of the mountainside. There was absolutely nothing anywhere, not even a decaying body. In one perspective, that was a very good sign, as it meant the androids probably had about as much luck as Gohan in locating people. But on the other hand, Gohan had never been so frustrated. He was about five minutes from sympathizing with the androids and blasting a few craters of his own. This was ridiculous! Had there not been recent signs of the androids all around the mountains, Gohan would have assumed the information Bulma had given him to be inaccurate, or that he had the wrong mountains. Perhaps it was possible that the rumors of people hiding in the Eastern Mountains were just that—rumors. That being the case, Gohan would gladly accept the feelings of foolishness that crept about his insides. After all, the androids had fallen for the same trap.
But no, there was definitely something odd about the whole situation. There should be some sign of humanity. Gohan knew for a fact that there was once a small village nestled in a valley between two mountain peaks in the Eastern Range. He had visited it once while searching for the dragonballs, and he was there again now, hovering just above the area that was supposed to be a village, or at least the remains of one. But the area had been completely cleared, leveled, and given back to nature, leaving no evidence humanity had ever been there.
The urge to participate in a destructive vent of frustration came again as Gohan glared at nothing. He was in the exact spot the village had been, he was sure of it! Yet there were no signs of humans ever living on the grass bitten surface. The man brought his hand up to his jaw and gave his chin a thoughtful scratch. Not willing to give into the possibility that he was wrong, Gohan mentally searched for a logical explanation to the vanishing village. One thing was for sure; this was not the work of the androids. The effort to was too neat and thoughtful to be done by them. It was a possibility that the village had been disassembled in an effort to hide from the creatures. Gohan certainly wouldn't have thought twice about the area if he hadn't known better.
But he did know better. And that was why yet another hour was whittled away with Gohan's arms crossed over his chest and his eyes looking straight ahead, glaring at ab-so-lutely nothing.
Another strong wind picked up, this time with enough force that Gohan felt himself be pushed forward a bit. He braced himself slightly and turned his head to keep the grit from his eyes. Then the wind gave an abrupt switch of direction, shoving Gohan again from the opposite direction and throwing dirt directly into his dark irises. He sighed in defeat and decided to let the day win the round, he could always come back tomorrow.
Clink. Clink.
Gohan's head shot up and his ears twitched in interest. Whatever in the world was that?
Clink. Clink.
Letting his hearing guide him, Gohan squashed the excitement brewing in his gut and concentrated on the noise at hand. It was surprising, what he found. There, tucked between two boulders, was a small metal pole with a chain dangling from a small, rusty iron ring at its top. The wind howled again and wedged itself in between the boulders, catching the oxidized chain and lifting it just enough so that it swayed and fell back against the pole.
Clink. Clink.
Gohan smiled in satisfaction. Though insubstantial in itself, the artifact proved that Gohan was indeed accurate in his thinking, and that whatever gods did exist, they were not always out to make his life miserable.
Still, there was the matter of what had happened to the rest of the village, who had done it, and where the people had gone. He would need to think on this awhile.
Deciding there was little else for him to do that day, Gohan took once more to the air and began to fly back to the Capsule Corporation. After a bit of deliberation, he thought it best to speak with Bulma before finding a place to sleep for the night. He didn't much feel like going back to his mother's house; especially considering that the meat crepes still sat in his knapsack, cold and untouched. Maybe he could give them to Trunks. Loss of appetite or no, Gohan was still a Saiyan, and he hated to see good food go to waste.
Not hardly had Gohan reached cruising altitude when he felt the barest twinge of something nibble at his senses. Gohan slammed on the brakes and froze in mid air—not a something, but a someone. Immediately he pushed his own energy out and latched onto the small energy he had felt. Before he even knew what he was doing, Gohan had taken off and was speeding towards the small life source he had sensed. Flying towards it made the man realize that the energy he had felt was not small, only far away. As he drew nearer the power bloomed to the intensity somewhat just beyond that of a normal human. It made Gohan curious as to who, or what, might be generating such a level. Maybe a minor demon had ventured from its cave, or a young dragon even. Dragons, Gohan knew from experience, gave off very little life energy, but that didn't make them any less lethal. Even the androids had a healthy respect for an angry adult dragon.
The power gave a tiny burst and Gohan adjusted his angle to zero in on the location of the owner. Zipping over a few tall hills, the man found himself just north of the mountains and approaching the Cliffs, an eroded part of the mountain foothills that adopted a sparsely vegetated ecosystem. He slowed down, realizing that he was very near to what or whoever had caught his attention, and began to carefully look about. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught Gohan's notice, and he turned fully around to see the biggest surprise of his life.
There, a good four hundred feet up from the ground, perched a human on a rocky cliff face, looking for all the world about to fall. Looking as if she were about to fall. A very pretty she, to be exact.
Gohan slowly drifted closer to what he now saw was a young woman, no older than him, but perhaps a year or two younger. He watched in guilty amusement as she struggled to find purchase in the very sheer side of the cliff, noting with interest that the woman seemed undecided as to whether she wanted to go up or down the vertical grade. At least she was well equipped for the climb with her black leather knuckle gloves and rough tread hiking boots, though her clothes had certainly seen better days. A loose white Tee that was dust covered and frayed at the edges hung low over a pair of cut off blue jeans, and her raven hair was caught in two worn yellow bands to hang like horsetails over her shoulders. It was a picture Gohan would have been content to watch all day had he not been afraid of gravity bringing it to an abrupt end. So, floating some five feet from the struggling girl, Gohan decided it was time to offer his services.
"Uh," Gohan cleared his throat, "excuse me."
The woman screamed and jerked in surprise. The rock under her boot gave way and Gohan watched in alarm as she began to fall. However, at the last second the girl's hand swept out and managed to catch a jutting stone. She grunted as her momentum clashed with gravity and she swung her feet onto a narrow ledge. Panting with exertion, the young woman sat there for a moment with her shoulders heaving and her head turned away from Gohan. Not daring to speak in fear of a repeat performance, Gohan floated stock still until finally her head began to slowly turn towards him.
Sapphire irises stared at him with a mixture of fear, surprise, and anger. "S-stay away from me!" She yelled at him, "dirty android!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Gohan threw his hands up in defense, "hold on a minute! I'm not an android!"
"Oh yeah?" The young woman countered, struggling to maintain her footing, "then how come you can fly?"
"Uh…" Hm, she had him there.
"Those monsters always fly around, and I don't see anyone else zooming about, so you've got to be an android." Her fierce blue eyes, despite the sheen of fear, reflected at him a burning intensity, daring him to argue with her logic.
"Look," he said, "I'm not an android."
"Prove it."
Gohan would have chuckled had exasperation not tempered his reasoning; this girl had some nerve! "I haven't killed you yet, have I?"
"No, but that doesn't mean anything."
"Of course it does," he replied, "it means I'm not an android." Gohan pressed a hand to his chest and gave a reassuring smile, "I'm Gohan. I'm sorry I scared you just now, but I was in the area and I saw you on the cliff. Thought you could use some help."
"Well you thought wrong," she retorted, "I'm fine, I can take care of myself."
Gohan frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm sure you're very capable of handling things; but seeing as you're four hundred feet from the bottom of this cliff, and another five from the top—"
"Listen, pal," the girl ground out, "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not going to allow some stranger who happens to be able to fly like an android get any closer to me than necessary. Its not that I don't believe you when you say you're not out to get me—it's just that I don't believe you. And besides, I can do this."
If she had one thing going for her, at least, it was one of the stubborn and determined wills he had ever come across since the androids had beaten down the collective spirit of the human race. Gohan could think of only two people to rival it, and with Bulma and his mother in mind, the demi-Saiyan knew just how to handle the situation.
"Fine," he said.
The girl pulled her head over her shoulder to look at him, blinking owlishly, "fine?"
Gohan nodded, "fine. If you don't want my help, that's all right. But if it's the same to you, I'll stay here until you're on solid ground, just in case you might need me."
She leveled a glare at him, "why don't you just go away?"
"Unless you can come over here to shoo me away, I think I'll stick around a bit."
"Do you think if I could do that, I'd be stuck on this cliff?"
Gohan just smiled at the girl. She huffed and turned back to rock scaling, "jerk."
Time slowly ticked by, and although Gohan didn't have a watch to precisely measure it, he knew that not more than a half an hour could have passed. He had to admire the girl, though she hadn't moved far from the spot he had found her at, it certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort. She would descend a few feet, find no purchase, and be forced to climb back upward and try a new path. Every now and then she would discover that she'd gone more sideways then down, giving her no choice but to look up and try for a higher ledge to ascend and start her decent over. But Gohan could see that it would be much too difficult a climb to go up without any gear, and the girl was beginning to tire. It wouldn't be too much longer before she'd be willing to at least listen to his offer of assistance, and Gohan knew just what to lend. If she could ride it, good for her, but if she couldn't, then at least Gohan would be able to catch her and bring her somewhere safe.
Sweat dripped steadily from her temple as the young woman struggled to regulate her breathing. She'd slipped multiple times trying for footholds in every direction available to her, but to no avail. Soon she knew she would be too tired to even keep a hold of the cliff face, and without looking, she knew it yet to be a long way down.
There came a quiet cough behind her.
"Why are you still here?" She spat at him.
"You know," Gohan started, "I could give you something that'd be helpful."
"Your absence?"
"Not quite."
"Then unless it's a rope or a parachute, forget it."
"No, no," he replied, "this is better than a rope, much better than a parachute."
Tired and nearly ready to throw in the towel, the young woman sighed and asked what helpful little tool did the man have that might help her.
"Hold on, I'll call it."
"What?" Call it? Her head snapped up. She knew it! He was an android, and he was calling his sick partner to come and kill her off! Well, to hell with that. If she was going to go, she'd go down fighting! However, having no real way to defend herself, she had only one way to thwart the schemer's plan.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and fell.
The wind whistled through the young woman's ears like a screaming siren. Vaguely she thought she heard the man yell something at her, he was already too far away to make out. Her loose T-shirt flapped around her as her arms spread out like flightless wings in small hope of balancing her body. Tears streamed from her ducts as she struggled to open her eyes, wanting to watch the ground rush at her, faster and faster until—
She bounced. It was a light rebound, as if she'd fallen on a fluffy down pillow. Odd. The ground wasn't supposed to be this soft. In fact, she thought as she slowly opened her eyes, if she didn't know any better, she thought she'd fallen on a—
The girl gasped, a cloud!
Gohan took a deep breath and let it out slow and easy, trying to calm his frayed nerves. What in the world had possessed that crazed girl to let go of the ledge like that? Sending a silent thank you to wherever Kami might be at the moment for letting the Nimbus be close by, Gohan descended down through the air until he was just off the ground, eye level with the Nimbus and the suicidal girl.
The suicidal girl who was currently one hundred percent occupied with the Nimbus cloud. Curiosity seemed to consume the young woman as she moved about the small space of the cloud, grabbing handfuls and watching the substance pull apart like cotton; putting her hand deep into its middle, then pulling out her arm again and bouncing up and down.
Gohan was perplexed, "what are you doing?"
The girl looked up, only slightly surprised to see him. "Is this a cloud?"
"Sort of, yes."
"If it's a cloud, why don't I fall through?"
Gohan sighed, "Nimbus is a 'magic' cloud, if you will. If it likes you, it'll take you anywhere you want to go. Consider yourself lucky; there aren't a lot of people who don't just fall through. And if you had, you'd be a pancake right about now."
"You can summon a cloud?" Something flashed in the girl's eyes, "is this what you said you were to give me?"
"Of course," he replied, "what else would I have?"
The girl's cheeks took on a faint pinkish tinge, though she tried to hide it by a smart retort. "Well certainly not a cloud! Honestly, why would anyone have a cloud—"
Gohan squinted at the girl, "You thought I was going to call an android, didn't you."
The pinkish tinge turned into a small blush, "no!"
He chuckled, "I guess that's why you jumped off the ledge, then."
The small blush turned into a brilliant flame of scarlet that swept across her cheeks. She glared at him, "well how was I supposed to know!"
"I did tell you."
"Told me what?!" She yelled, "that you were going to call a magic yellow cloud?"
"That I wasn't an android." Gohan responded evenly.
"Oh."
They looked at each other for a moment, neither saying a word. Then a fresh breeze stirred, and Gohan began to take notice of the cooling air and descending sun. Knowing that androids weren't the biggest danger after nightfall, Gohan decided it was time to make peace with the spitfire in front of him and send the girl off somewhere to safety.
"Look," he started, "we didn't exactly start off on the right foot, so let's start over." Gohan let his feet fall to the ground, relieved that the Nimbus cloud followed him to hover at his waist level. Giving a courteous bow to its rider, he reintroduced himself. "Hello there, my name is Son Gohan. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss--"
Bright blue eyes regarded him as the girl debated over answering his question. Finally, her back to the descending sun, the young woman lifted her chin and set her head in a position of undefeated pride. With the wind pulling loose strands of her dark hair and playing them about face, she nodded to him.
"Videl," she greeted him, "Satan Videl."
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Well, it's a start. ^.^;; Now, to those wonderful people who acknowledged my existence:
Poppy & Dragon Empress: Thanks bunches for the encouragement, here is the more to give you a better idea, just a tidbit though, much much more to come.
ChibiChibi: I think he's twenty. Trunks is ten, and as far as I know, Gohan is ten years older than Trunks. Reasoning is that in the anime/manga(?) he was eleven when he defeated Cell and Trunks was or was nearly a full year of age.
If someone would like to correct me on this, feel free to, but it will change the story very little. There's a very delicate time scale that's going to develop in this story, though really its touch and go, as there's not much information out on the Mirai Trunks timeline.
Also, if anyone else would like to be notified of new chapter uploads, use a signed review or leave your address. I'll be happy to oblige, though a service charge will be rendered in the form of one review.
^.^;;