Time Distorted
BY MARA ROBERTS
Chapter 4
Campfire
Year 686
Night was falling as Mie looked up to see Kakorott and Bardock flying towards her, battered. She had sensed them battle one of Bibidi's underlings two hours before, but had felt they could handle it. She had scanned their minds and even though Kakorott had been hurting from Bardock's attack, there were things they needed to work out between them. Mie's interfering in the battle would have interfered with that as well. Studying their faces she decided that they had made the first step in trust and acknowledging the other as an equal.
"Kakorott, come over here so I can heal you. You too, Bardock."
Kakorott approached and declined. His wounds were really minimal, and the pain from Bardock's attack had worn off. Bardock looked ready to follow Kakorott's lead when the boy spoke up. "Your wounds are far worse than mine, and though my energy helped a bit you should still have a proper healing."
Mie went to Bardock and healed him before he could move.
"And you shouldn't?" she asked.
A bit disgruntled, Kakorott hobbled over to Mie and she laid her hands on him. He felt a life giving energy wash over him; rejuvenate him. Mie smiled, inwardly. He was trying to be the dominant male. Those were his Saiyjin instincts. While they might cause a little friction now, they would be of great use later, in the serious battles. Provided this little fissure is worn over, Mie thought. But I'll see to that myself if I have to.
"I could sense Bibidi's general direction when he relinquished Gendu. I'm sure we'll hone in on him the closer we get to him."
"Do you know how far away he is?"
"No. The energy faded too quickly for my senses to follow. How is Gohan doing?"
"Very well. He has a knack for drawing on foreign energy."
"Will that make him susceptible to Bibidi?" he asked, a trifle alarmed.
"If anything, it will help him reject Bibidi. He'll be able to recognize it sooner and fight it off."
"Good," Kakorott nodded. "Perhaps we should learn how to do this as well."
Mie hesitated. "You Saiyjin's are too hotheaded, and I would have to think, due to your nature, it would only make you more vulnerable. But if you like, I will practice taking over your mind so you could make out an intruder and fend him off."
Kakorott had a feeling she wasn't telling him everything, but he didn't look into it. He wasn't about to question one of the gods. "I would like that. I'd feel better prepared."
"In the morning then, before breakfast."
"Alright. Bardock, will you be joining us?"
"It can't hurt," the Saiyjin agreed.
"Actually, it can, and it will. But you'll thank me for it, I'm sure. At any rate, if he wasn't before, Bibidi is surely aware of our presence by now. You three have worked hard today, so I'll take the first watch. Gohan will take the second, Kakorott third, Bardock fourth. Agreed?"
They all nodded their assent.
"Good. Now go to bed. I'm sure we'll see some fighting tomorrow."
>
The night passed without commotion. It was four thirty in the morning when Mie woke her young companion. She gestured to Bardock, who was on watch, and Kakorott to sit in front of her, cross-legged. They were silent so as not to wake Gohan, but he roused anyway and offered to set up breakfast. Mie nodded her thanks and she began to teach the others how to ward off a wizard. She started with Kakorott.
"I am going to invade your minds, one at a time. For the first time, I will warn you, but after that it's up to you to figure out whose mind I'm in. I won't try to take over at first, but just to get you used to recognizing someone else in your mind. The other part comes later."
They nodded.
"I'm ready," Kakorott said.
Without speaking Mie pressed into his mind, practically shouting her presence. She slipped past his natural barriers with practiced ease, selecting his memories and coating her essence on them, but not reading them. She respected the Saiyjin's privacy. As soon as she noticed a guarded corner of his mind, her way was blocked. She couldn't move towards it, only away. She slipped out and back in several times, trying to get close to that box, but Kakorott sensed her every time, and was getting better. Every entry she made he sensed more quickly. Every time she quieted her presence he seemed that much more alert. Satisfied, she slipped back out. Only fifteen minutes had passed.
She opened her eyes and found Kakorott to be covered in a fine sheen of sweat. She had worked him harder than she meant to, but not that hard. She had this niggling feeling it had to do with those shadows she couldn't get close to, but also felt if she tried to barge her way in she would be thrown violently out. Or unleashing something she didn't want to deal with. Is that the darkness that he fears within himself? He keeps it locked tight inside, but he put so much power there too, and there was no need for that. I think if he were to use that power he would first have to go through everything dark inside himself. It's as though the power has been building up around, and inside of, that box for a long time. Guarding against all entrance. Even mine.
She shoved off the thought and turned to Bardock. He seemed slightly nervous, having seen how much effort Kakorott put into it. "Bardock, are you ready?"
"Yes," he said decisively. Even if he weren't ready, he'd force himself to be.
Mie closed her eyes once more, not noticing when Kakorott got up to help Gohan with breakfast. Bardock's mind was that of a soldier, far more disciplined than Kakorott's had been. In that sense it was easier for him to find Mie, but it was also easier for Bardock to evade her mental probes. It seemed as the lesson went on, he got a little bit worse. Mie couldn't figure it out and gave up, pulling out. When the practice was done he was panting ever so slightly.
Meanwhile, Gohan jumped back when Kakorott added a tree's worth of firewood to the small campfire he had been preparing the morning stew over.
"We're going to need a lot more food than that," the boy declared. He and Bardock hadn't had a decent Saiyjin meal since the start of this whole thing and Kakorott was determined to set that to rights. His stomach just couldn't take it any more.
"What are you doing? There's enough for four."
"That isn't even enough for one," he said. "I'll be right back."
In five minutes Kakorott brought back a dead deer, already skinned, and set about preparing a stew in which to cook it. He spotted Gohan's turtle shell, which the man had kept in homage to his master, and to continue to test himself, and flew off to a nearby river.
Gohan was mortified at the use to which the boy was putting his beloved shell, and aghast the amount of food he was making. Deciding to let Mie berate him, as women were far more skilled, he just watched in silent horror.
"Don't worry, old man," Kakorott said with a grin. "Everything will be just perfect, mark my words."
"Old man?" the woodsman sputtered, indignant. "Well, runt, you don't know anything about portions, do you? You went to all this work, and most of it will end up in a beast's belly. If you had tried to take the stored food I would've skinned you alive, but because you left our rations well enough alone, I'll ask Mie to go easy on you."
Kakorott grinned as though without a care in the world, and Gohan gave up trying to warn him. But it hurt seeing that much food about to go to waste.
He filled the shell and came back, placing it over the roaring furnace that once was their campfire. As the water boiled he gathered some seasoning herbs he had spied in the forest, and added them to make what he hoped would be a tasty sauce. In three minutes he had the meat off the bone, and added it to the shell. He flash cooked it by carefully putting out waves of heat, made with his Ki. By the time Bardock's lesson was over, the meal was done.
"Breakfast is ready," Kakorott called out. Bardock seemingly recovered in a flash, and was at the fire. Mie could have laughed. Saiyjin's, she thought with a laugh, will always recover at the promise of food. No wonder he was distracted, what with this wonderful aroma. Kakorott, I should choke you, except I know you didn't do that on purpose. Her eyes narrowed into slits. Or did you?
She noticed Gohan looking skeptical at the large amount of food Kakorott had insisted on preparing, and he glanced back at her. She only grinned and nodded, quietly telling him to just accept it and sit down. He seemed surprised that she would let it go, but thought that seeing all the food left over would be lesson enough for Kakorott. Man was he wrong!
Mie came to the eating area, but wouldn't let them start until she and Gohan had taken what they would want. Gohan was completely baffled by this, wondering why Bardock was being left out. If she were going to make Kakorott eat all the leftover until he burst, that would be punishment. But what had Bardock to do with this?
He found out when his and Mie's plates were full, and she nodded to the other two. "Dig in."
Dig in they did, gobbling food up so fast Gohan could only stare. Mie sat calmly, eating her breakfast, nudging Gohan to finish his up as well. He nodded and ate mechanically, still watching the spectacle before him. He didn't criticize Kakorott for overkill again.
When the meal was over, surprisingly quick as far as Gohan was concerned – there was a lot of food – Kakorott filled them in on what he had sensed, how Gendu's energy was being reinforced, and that any energy they lost in a fight would go directly to reviving the monster, Majin Buu.
They flew east, the direction Kakorott had said Bibidi was from. They agreed to stop in any villages they passed, both to narrow the region they had to search, and to fight any of Bibidi's men that might be there. It would be better to face them one at a time, instead of all at once when they attacked the stronghold. Besides which, the Saiyjin's would only get stronger with every battle.
Idib City
"Papa, papa!" a little girl said as she pulled on the sleeve of her father's plaid cotton shirt. He put down the box of fruits he was carrying to the store for sale.
"What it is, little one?" he asked gently, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"After we go to the food store, can we go to the park? They got a new ultra super cool swing set, and monkey bars."
"Alright, but you'll have to work extra hard on your chores when we get home."
"Okay!"
The father once more hefted up the box and slung it so it rested partly on his right shoulder, balanced by his hand. With his left hand he clasped his daughter's. She walked gaily along, skipping and singing a tune.
Then she felt her father's hand yank her down and she let go. She watched time slow down as the box of wares fell off her daddy's shoulder and tumbled to the ground. She put her hand up to her mouth as her father's blood spurted out of a wound in his chest, where a small cone impaled him. It was about two inches long, and an inch in diameter.
"Daddy," she cried out in distress, moving to sit by his side, not even noticing the other people on the street suffering from whatever had hit her dad, too.
"Run," he choked out. "Run, now!"
He shoved her away as a cone came in her direction. It hit him on the arm.
"Don't look back!"
Scared, she could only obey, her feet taking her far away from where she wanted to be. She ran to the park and hid in the branches of a tree Daddy had never let her climb. She watched as a slinky-looking man gathered the cones, crying silent tears all the while.
>
She had stayed in that tree a good long while, not even coming out when her stomach growled. Finally, the sun was going down when she climbed out of her perch. She had to go see her daddy.
She walked along the buildings, peeking behind corners before she would walk out on a new street. Bodies littered the pavement. She recognized her teacher and the principal of her elementary school. Both were motionless.
But Daddy's okay. Daddy's strong; those stupid cones couldn't hurt him! But when she rounded the final bend she saw the fruit still laying where it had fallen, some of it trampled. Her eyes moved of their own will to the still form that had once been her dad. She paused, unable to look away, unable to move forward.
Out of the corner of her vision she saw four people flying down to land on the street. She ducked back behind the corner, afraid. The little girl watched from the shadows as they spoke. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she didn't dare move any closer.
>
Mie and Kakorott had been flying in front, followed by Bardock while Gohan took the rear, when the came across the city of Idib. They set down to figure out just what had happened.
Gohan looked around. The buildings were not devastated, the land untouched. Only the people were hurt.
"What could have done this?" he whispered out loud.
He walked over to the body of a fallen man, surrounded by fruit, and put his arm on the man's back.
"Get away from my daddy!"
They all looked up to see a little girl, about seven years old, step from around the corner. She was crying and ran over to her father, hitting Gohan on the hand until he stepped back.
"This man is your daddy?" he asked, gently.
The girl sniffled, and nodded yes. Gohan dug into his pack and took out a handkerchief. He bent down to his knee and dried her tears, putting the hanky over the girls nose, instructing her. "Blow."
He waited until she was all done before placing it back in his pocket. The girl sobbed suddenly, and threw her arms around Gohan's neck, weeping uncontrollably.
"There, there," he said, rocking and comforting her as best he could.
Mie walked over. "They're still alive."
"Huh?" he looked up at her, still rocking the child. She stopped sniffing, and hope came back into her eyes.
"They've been drained of much energy, but they are still alive. Perhaps there is still a chance to save them. If we can find the stolen energy, we may be able to reinsert it inside of them." She looked at the girl, and asked her, "Little one, what is your name?"
"Malan," she replied.
"Well, Malan. Can you tell us what happened?"
"My daddy fell and he was bleeding. There was a cone in his chest, and another hit his arm," she said, pointing to the spot. "Then a man came and collected all the cones. I ran and hid in a tree, like daddy said."
"Was he dressed in white, with an M emblazoned on his forehead?" Bardock asked. The girl burst into tears again at the sound of his rough voice. Gohan glared at him and he stepped back.
"Don't worry, he's a lot nicer than he sounds," Kakorott assured her. She stopped crying at this but remained silent.
Gohan repeated the question. "Was he dressed in white, with an M on his forehead?"
"Uh-huh. But he wore a weird green. It was dirty, though. There was gray and brown on it, too."
"But he had the M," Mie confirmed.
"Yes."
"Alright, let's go find him and get that energy back" As Mie started to organize them, Gohan stood up and released the little girl, prepared to take off in the direction he had been assigned. The little girl grasped his leg and wouldn't let go.
Gohan looked at Mie, pleading silently. He didn't want to leave the child alone. She was frightened, and very distraught. She nodded.
"Take her with you, but team up with Kakorott. You two search the north side of town; Bardock and I will take the south. We know he has to be here somewhere, or we'd have sensed him take flight."
"It will be dangerous for Malan if we have to battle. Maybe there's another way," Kakorott argued.
"What?"
Not answering, Kakorott cupped his hands to his mouth.
"Flying Nimbus!" he called out, but not too loudly. Within moments a puffy yellow cloud came into view, stopping in front of the boy. "Nimbus, will you let Malan ride you?"
The cloud went up and down, as if shaking its head yes. It then lowered itself so the girl could climb on without jumping. It held: she didn't fall through.
"Nimbus, hang back from Bardock and me, close enough so you're in sight, but far enough away of there's trouble so neither of you will get hurt, okay?"
Nimbus nodded again.
"Let's move out," Mie ordered, and move out they did.
They went slowly, stretching out their senses and straining their eyes for any sign of someone down below on the streets.
