The Story

Chapter 3

A/N: I don't really know what I'm gonna do with this story; I know that it lacks a lot, but I'm really just trying to type this thing up as fast as possible. I'm not trying to live up to anyone's standards, but I'd like to know at least one person like the damn thing, so send me reviews, please!

Disclaimer: It's not mine, it's not mine, that's not mine, oh, that's not mine...but the plot's mine...

Friends of Thee

I spent over three days surfing the net, searching for Hideyoshi Higurashi. I finally found his name on a list of employees that worked for the Employees of Texas Company (ETC). However, he was currently stationed on the island of Kyushu, which wasn't exactly close to where I was staying.

There was only one way to assuredly get to Kyushu before Higurashi-san left from there. Gohan and I would have to fly.

It's not quite what you are thinking, no. When I say flight, I mean…actual flight. At any rate, it's not like we'd be in any danger; I had learned the basics of how to fly a while back. Well, I still wasn't very good at it, of course, but I could at least stay in the air for a while.

Our plan was well thought-out. Gohan and I both made excuses to Chichi; I told her that I would be spending the night with Kayko, and he said that he would be doing some special super hero gig. Gohan's excuse was really lame, but somehow Chichi bought it.

It was now about two o' clock in the morning. The air flowing around me felt warm and soft, as though it were embracing me. It felt really nice, but as I couldn't see anything in the near-darkness, I was a bit uneasy.

I glanced over at Gohan. His outline soaring nearby was only just visible.

"Hey Gohan," I said, "do you think we could take a breather?"

We had left the house around seven that evening, stopped once at eleven, and hadn't stopped since.

"Well, I dunno, Kei. We need to keep going if we're gonna get to Kyushu by daybreak." He glanced over my way. "If it had been only me, I could have been there by now, but you're not used to flying yet, so…"

Anxiety and distress were probably painted bright on my face, but I wasn't sure, and Gohan wouldn't be able to see my face in the darkness anyway.

I sighed deeply, knowing that I was slowing him down. Guess there was no alternative. I tried to stay in the air, really I did. But hey, it must be karma, right?

Yeah, I guess I'll put it to karma.

I had no control as I fell. The ground rushed up so fast…have you ever stood in front of a bullet train? No, I haven't either, but I imagine it's much the same.

I was out cold long before I hit the ground. Luck? Karma, maybe? I don't know. Whatever it was, I thank God for it.

Meanwhile, however, as he scanned the ground miles from where I had fallen, I don't think Gohan was feeling quite as lucky.

'What is it?'

'I dunno; it looks human to me.'

'That…thing there is not human.'

'But it certainly does look human, Fallow.'

'I know that, Starly! But I need to know what it is, not what it looks like. That rock over there looks like a rabbit, but it's still a rock…should we just kill it?'

'No, it doesn't look too dangerous to me, especially after falling all that way…Fallow, should I go get Hunter? Or Railee?'

'No, I'll look after this thing…but go and get Maren.'

'What! Maren? Why him?'

'Well, we'll need his help if we're gonna keep this thing alive long enough to take it to Montra's place.'

'Whoa, wait! We're going to THE Montra's place!'

'Yes, Starly…now go and get Maren. Now!'

How to describe this…well, you know how I felt after Gohan found me at first? This was worse. This was way, way worse.

It was dark, but even in that dank darkness it hurt to open my eyes.

That was my first sign.

My second sign was that I couldn't move. That was bad, as I had no idea where I was. After thinking about it (with my eyes still shut, of course) for a good while, I remembered what had happened.

Gohan and I had nearly reached the edge of Kyushu. If fact, we were right above the coast.

In the pregnant darkness I had seen the outlines of large trees bordering a giant forest. Now I could feel the air warming around me, although light had yet to seep into the chamber I was laying in.

I could tell it was a chamber after just a while. Even though I could only open my eyes in two-second intervals, it took only a few minutes for me to adjust to my surroundings.

What had seemed dark, wasn't. There was a lamp in the corner. Granted, it was not a very bright lamp, and I gathered that it was probably more like a candle. I could tell because my eyes didn't explode when I looked briefly in that direction.

Finally, when I could open my eyes for 20 seconds or more at a time, I tried to sit up. Now you would think that I had learned my lesson the last time this happened but…it seems as though I always have to learn the hard way. Sometimes more than once.

Had to fight the urge not to scream. It was hard.

Head reeling, back aching, stomach bursting open, body covered in blood…my innards were actually starting to roll across the floor…pretty little pinkish things, I might add. Or at least, they might have been pretty if not for the fact that they were tumbling out of my stomach at an astonishing rate.

I started laughing right about then, which caused even more blood to squirt out of a giant wound on my right arm. Heads weren't rolling yet, but oops, there went my liver!

'Oh, for Kami's sake, don't move, you idiot!'

Took me a minute…before I realized that I hadn't just 'heard' words. There was…no sound. It was…all in my head. I slowly looked around the chamber, oblivious to the organs slipping squishily out of my gut.

'Dear Kami, do you feel no pain! Lay back down at once!'

Something in my gut (or rather, the lack thereof) told me to turn around. What I saw was some old, short lady with pointed ears and wrinkly, nearly brown skin crouched behind me, staring at me, bemused. The look on her face was so odd that the only things keeping me from full-blown hilarity were my welling tears.

'Dear child,' said the lady (or I at least assume that she was a lady), 'Maren has turned against our clan and sided with his fanatical friend. He sensed a deep power in thee, as do I, but he shall want to use thy power for evil. Please tell me that thine is of good and not of evil origin.'

Uh…right. What was I gonna say? 'I'm not evil (well, not really) and I don't wanna run off with some freak who wants to take over the world or something…'

I struggled to answer the creature. "Look…I-I'm not…evil, ma'am…I-I just fell and I c…couldn't stop…" My head spun from the sudden use of energy, and I nearly collapsed.

The old lady smiled a lazy, toothless grin. 'Well, I had to make sure. Here now, lie still.'

Confused, I did as I was told. Suddenly there were many sharp pains, quickly followed by a cool, soothing sensation that swept through my whole body. Soon I was out of it again, but I was thankfully no longer like a jigsaw puzzle on the cold chamber floor.

It was high noon.

The birds were being obnoxiously loud and the sun beat down on anyone trying to avoid its scorching rays. The wind blew softly as it whistled through the tall trees, causing them to sway back and forth with a loud creaking sound that you could just hear above the loud din of the birds. A particularly large bird swooped down for the single meadow. It was a goshawk, and it had spotted a seemingly juicy rabbit just ready to be stolen away.

The goshawk's long tail fluttered in the wind as it came in for the kill. It was nearly to the rabbit when a spear struck straight through the hopper fast as lightning. The goshawk screeched in bewilderment, before a large gray and brown figure with sharp teeth bit down on the rabbit's neck, which snapped easily.

I woke up just outside the woods, on the opposite side of the cost. If I were to ignore my now reddish black and gore-covered T-shirt, why, I'd say I was just fine and dandy. But I couldn't ignore the gore, and my now-blonde hair (I dyed it a few weeks after coming to live with Gohan's family, did I mention?) was matted and filthy. This seemed good enough reason to search for a stream or river, as well as Gohan and/or Mr. Higurashi.

Found the river!

A lot of god it did me…there just had to be a 30-foot cliff (which seemed oddly familiar, though I can't imagine why) and I just had to accidentally drop my shirt down there. Just my luck, isn't it? Oh and then a grackle started laughing at me.

What the bloody hell?

I didn't even know that grackles could laugh! Speaking of which, I guess it was actually just some big, black bird, but it could have been an American blackbird, if only…we were…in America…

Right, so there I was, walking along the river-cliff with no food, no friends…oh yeah, no shirt, not a clue as to where the hell I was, and an extremely sharp pain in my abdominal region.

Luckily, it did not take me an incredibly long time to locate a nearby house. I think I may have scared one of the kids by my sudden appearance, or just my appearance in general, but I did get amazing results; the kid ran inside crying, and an old woman was instantaneously outside to greet me.

She nearly screamed when she saw me, so I guess I must not have presented a very pretty picture. I slurred out some words in a jumbled sentence containing the words 'lost' and 'clothes' then waited as she went back into her house to get a shirt and write some directions for me.

As I waited, the kid peered out of the house cautiously and started walking slowly up to me. He was a cute little kid; he had kind of shaggy blonde hair and dark brown eyes that stared up at me in apparent distrust. I laughed at him lightly and he scrambled away.

After the woman had given me a shirt and some new shoes, as mine had mysteriously disappeared, she gave me directions to the nearest town. I went on my way, and she sent me off with a wave.

When I was far enough away from the house, I took off into the air to get a better view. I couldn't fly up very high because I was still so weak, but I knew that traveling would go faster in the air. Also, it would make it easier for Gohan to find me than if I was walking around on the ground.

After about an hour of flying about hopelessly, I gave up on Gohan and went to search for Mr. Higurashi myself.

It proved to be harder than I had originally thought. Much harder, actually, because it had all been a ruse. Someone had been ready for us, creating fake files on Mr. Higurashi and planting them into the computer database.

It was all a big lie; everything that boy had told me was untrue, and I was not at all happy about it. Someone would soon have a whole lot of explaining to do.

Gohan tried to find the girl, but to no avail. He finally decided that if she were to go anywhere, it would be to where Mr. Higurashi was rumored to be.

Yes, it was all a lie; someone had told Gohan of this earlier, but he was hoping to be with Keija when she found out so that he could feign surprise. Now it seemed as though his plan had backfired on him somewhat. This someone who had given him information, a hacker, had also told Gohan that there really was an American Hideyoshi Higurashi currently in Japan, but that he wasn't on Kyushu.

The hacker did not reveal where Mr. Higurashi was.

I was totally furious. Now something that Gohan had said earlier made perfect sense, and I could tell that he knew of this treachery before I did. I decided that the best way to make him pay would be to make him worry. I would return to his house and tell his family that he had stayed behind to check on something.

No, I changed my mind. I would not go back to his house; I would go out on my own and fight to earn money to live on. It was a good idea, because I was pretty strong when it came down to it.

I was on my way to another experience. A trying and emotionally painful experience that would leave my mind scarred…for the rest of my life.

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