This story was originally written in 2001, and is one of my very first sagas. Please forgive the grammar and writing mistakes!

The Scabs

Chapter Four

The sun had been up for a couple hours now. But, Piccolo had not moved. His body was exhausted as was him mind. Sweat beads ran down his green face due to the extreme heat. He had collapsed in the open field, the sun slowly baking his body. He needed water, but he did not have the strength to make it to the stream.

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"Come on Gohan!" The girl screamed. "We are gonna be late!" She was slightly irritated that the boy seemed to become preoccupied with everything he saw.

"I just saw the greatest snake!" Gohan said. He took off running through the bushes.

Great she thought. No wonder Goku never lets him in the woods. He's unbelieveable!

Gohan could not find the snake. It had disappeared in the thick brush. "Ahh.." He said. "It's gone Raya...the snake is gone.." Gohan's lip quivered.

Raya put her arms around Gohan, "It's ok. The snake just went to it's home. That is what we need to do. Your daddy will kiss us both!" This seemed to please the child, thinking the snake had a family. Raya took Gohan's hand and the two trodded through the woods.

Trying to get her bearings, Raya stopped. She looked around and couldn't figure out for the life of her where they were. Chasing Gohan through the woods, she had gotten all turned around.

"Do you remember which way we were going, Gohan?" Raya asked. The boy shook his head. The heat was getting unbearable, and her backback was getting heavier and heavier.

"Ok...let's take a break." She told Gohan. "I need some water." Gohan smiled and took off through the woods again. "GOHAN! I DIDN'T MEAN FOR YOU TO RUN OFF!" Raya screamed exasperated. Well, she knew he wouldn't go far. So she sat there in the grass, pulling her water bottle out of her backpack.

A few minutes had passed when she heard Gohan yelling. "Raya! Come quick!" The girl jumped up and ran as fast as she could in the direction of Gohan's voice. As she approached, she saw him standing over the body of a man. A large green man.

"Gohan! Get away from him! He might be a Demon!" Raya told him.

"No. Demons only come out at night." Gohan reminded her. "And I don't think they are green." Gohan continued to stare at the man. "I think he is hurt. Look at his leg." Raya walked over and knealt down beside the man. His leg was bleeding, purple blood. How strange. He was sweating bullets. Out in the direct sunlight, it could be sun poisoning.

"Ok. We need to get him into the shade." Raya said. She instructed Gohan to take his legs and she would grab his arms and maybe they could move him. "You are the strong one, Gohan...not me. So you better do most of the work." She said.

Gohan picked the man's legs up with no problem. Raya, however, was struggling. With Gohan's small body doing most of the work, they managed to drag Piccolo into the shade, under a large tree. Raya took out her water bottle and put it to Piccolo's lip, raising his head up slightly. She slowly let some of the liquid pass through his lips. When he began to cough, she stopped. She took off a yellow scarf that she had tied around her dark brown hair. Soaking it with some of the water, she gently dabbed his face with the wet cloth.

Slowly, Piccolo's eyes opened. He was startled when he looked up and saw the young girl looking down at him. She was closer to him than any human had ever been. Plus, she was touching his face with a cloth. Piccolo jumped up, taking a fighting stance. He looked at the young girl, then at the little boy beside her.

"It's ok." The boy said. "We just wanted to help you."

Piccolo couldn't believe the stupidity of these two. Letting his arms fall to his side he said "Don't you know better than to go near strangers, little girl.."

"You needed help."Raya stampered. "We found you in the sun..and we just dragged you to the shade and gave you some water." Raya could feel the butterflies in her stomach. Looking up at this man, he was huge. Maybe she and Gohan had been wrong to stop.

Piccolo looked at the girl. She was maybe 13 or 14. The boy maybe 4 at the most. But neither one seemed to be all that afraid of him. This angered Piccolo. They were humans and he had no use for them. He powered up slightly and attempted to walk forward to scare them. However, the wound on his leg stopped him in his tracks. He fell down on his good knee, the other one shooting pain through his body.

"Here!" the girl said. "Let me help you." She reached out a small hand, and Piccolo slapped it away.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed. "Just go!" He was furious that they saw him as needing help.

The girl refused to cry. Although she was scared. She turned and looked at Gohan, who had big tears in his eyes.

"Just shut up!" she told Piccolo. Reaching over, she tried to push Piccolo backwards. But she was not strong enough. "Fine!" she said defiantly. She took her scarf and tried to wrap it around the wound on his leg. Again, he slapped her hands away.

"Girl...I ...will... kill... you if you don't leave in the next two seconds!" Piccolo said between clinched teeth, his eyes blazing with fury.

The girl was holding her hand, red from being smacked so hard. She could feel the tears and she felt the fear.

"Come on Raya..." Gohan begged. "Let's go..." Gohan was in deep sobs now.

But Raya was also angry. She turned to Piccolo and shouted back at him. "I just tried to HELP you! You idiot! Die here for all I care!" Raya was not prepared for Piccolo as his large green hand slapped her across the face. She fell backwards, landing hard on the ground. The sting on her face felt like fire. Her tears were falling like an ocean now, she was unable to stop them.

"RAYA!" Gohan yelled, running to her side. She was not unconscious, just crying uncontrollably.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT? THAT WAS MEAN!" Gohan shouted. The small boy could feel his insides churing. He could feel his energy growing. So could Piccolo.

"What.." Piccolo said in a whisper. This kid had power. He could sense it.

"You didn't have to hurt Raya. She tried to help you, you big green dummy!" Gohan's eyes continued to pour tears.

"What the hell are you kid?" Piccolo asked.

"I am GOHAN!" he shouted. Gohan pulled his tiny fist back, ready to hit Piccolo. However, Raya reached up and grabbed his hand.

"No..Gohan." she said. "Let's just leave him." her voice was soft and quiet.

"We shouldn't have bothered you, mister." Raya said, her voice trembling. "Please, just let us go...don't hurt him. He's just a child."

Piccolo looked at her face. She was afraid. Her brown eyes red and swollen. He also saw the large black bruise which covered the entire area from her left eye to her chin. Piccolo smiled.

"Next time, I won't show you any mercy. You understand.." He told them.

"Fine. Next time, I won't help you either." Raya said. She picked up her backpack and took Gohan by the hand. The girl walked quickly back to the woods, pulling Gohan behind her.

"Damn humans..." Piccolo sneered. "Like I needed their help...Hummp.." Looking down at his leg, he cringed. The girl's yellow scarf was laying on the ground. Reluctantly, he picked it up and tied it around his leg, hoping to stop the trickle of blood. This being done, he took to the sky. He wanted to know more about the boy. He sensed a fair amount of power from him. Yet none from the girl. However, she was stubborn. Piccolo knew he probably should have killed them both. He obviously pittied the girl. She was so weak, crying and scared. Yet, he realized they did help him. As long as he was living, he could still kill Goku.

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Goku was beside himself. When he arrived at the Ox King's house, he was told that Raya and Gohan left a couple hours earlier. The Ox King assured him that it was daylight and that they should be home when Goku returned.

He flew as fast as he could. His head swimming with horrible thoughts. They had to be alright.

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As they arrived home, Raya and Gohan collapsed on the rug in the livingroom. They had practically ran the entire 2 miles home.

After a few minutes of rest, Raya went upstairs to change her dirty clothes. Looking in the mirror, she was shocked at her face. Her dark brown hair fell in ringlets around her face, half of which was black with a bruise. Her chocolate brown eyes still red and swollen. She was a mess.

"I'm real sorry he hit you, Raya." Gohan said as he peeped his head into her room.

"Oh...it was my own fault. I shouldn't have been so pushy..you know me." She told him. "Come here, Gohan."

As the child entered the room, Raya knealt down to search his eyes. "If Goku finds out what we did..he'll be furious. So, let's not tell him, OK?"

Gohan's eyes were huge. "You want to lie..to my daddy?"

Man, she felt like a heel. Teaching a 3 year old to lie. "Well, you don't have to lie..I'll just tell Goku that I fell down. That's how I hurt my face. You just keep your mouth shut, how's that?"

Gohan thought this over for a few seconds. He couldn't really see anything wrong with her idea. After all, "he" would not be lying to his dad..just Raya. And that was her business.

"Ok." He said. "I guess that will work."

Relieved, she hugged Gohan. "Thanks squirt. Now go on to your room and take your nap. I need to clean up."

Gohan smiled and went on his way.

Again Raya looked in the mirror. Her soft white skin was a sharp contrast to that nasty bruise. She would just have to deal.

She ran a nice hot bath with lots of bubbles. After a while, the knots in her body began to loosen up. Just as she got out and put on her robe, she heard Goku yelling downstairs.

"RAYA! GOHAN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Gohan quickly ran downstairs and into his father's arms. Goku held him tightly. Raya inched her way down, knowing what his first words would be when he saw her.

"RAYA! Oh..what happened?" Goku walked over and gently touched her face.

"I'm fine." She told him. "I just tripped and rolled a few hundred feet down a hill. But luckily my face took most of the impact." She managed to smile. Raya hated to lie to Goku.

"Gosh, that bruise if awful. You sure you're ok?" Goku continued.

"Yes. Don't baby me." She frowned.

Goku smiled. "I don't mean to." He said smiling. "I just love you." He pulled Raya close. "You are the only little sister I have. I don't want anything to happen to you." She hugged Goku back, knowing he would rip that green man's arms off if he knew the truth. But, Raya did not want that. For an odd reason, she didn't think the green man would have "really" hurt her. But maybe she was delusional.

"I'm hungry!" Gohan said. "Cook us some pancakes, Raya!"

She smiled. "OK. But you guys go wash up. You are both smelly." She held her nose as she walked to the kitchen.

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Later that night, Raya was busy cleaning her room. Picking up her backpack, she began to empty it of the remaining contents. Her trip to grandpa's house was short, so she took out what few changes of clothes she had worn and put them in the hamper. Suddenly, she began frantically looking through her bag.

"Oh..no" she said, almost in a wimper. "No..no...no..no.." She took the backpack and turned it upside down. Her journal was not there. She said down on the bed. Her heart was racing. Did I leave it at grandpa's house? she wondered. What if I dropped it in the woods?

Raya had few precious posessions. But her journal was the most important. In it, she wrote all the feelings and fears a 13 1/2 year old girl can express. Her lonliness. The wish that she had a normal family. And how she hated going to her grandpa's house. It was out in the middle of nowhere, and she was always bored. He wasn't even really her "grandpa", yet that is what she called him. He was Gohan's, and that made her feel even more left out when she was there. But, if he read that, it would surely break his heart. She knew the burly old man loved her.

Raya got up and quicky dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. She put on her good hiking boots and a hooded jacket. It would be chilly outside, now that sun had set.

Carefully, she climbed out her bedroom window. Times like this, she wished she could fly like Goku. But she did not have that talent. If she were his blood sister, she might. But she was not.

Raya kept looking behind her, making sure she had not been spotted. The girl disappeared into the woods.

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Piccolo had spent the day in meditation. His leg was now healed, and he was prepared to end this thing with Goku tomorrow.

Yet, his thoughts were constantly interruped. He wondered about the girl and boy he had met earlier. The boy had definite power, but how much Piccolo was not sure of. The girl however seemed to be completely normal. Her KI he could not even sense. Piccolo smiled as he thought of the terror that ran through them on their way home. If nothing else, he taught them a valuable lesson. Fear.

It was well past sunset. Piccolo's Nakemian ears heard screams and shouts again. This time, they were coming from an area even closer to his home. Piccolo decided that those Demons would need to have their fun somewhere else. He was tired of them interrupting his meditation.

He flew towards the sound, and sure enough, he saw four Demons. This time, they had a single victim. He could hear her screams, which pierced his ears. Enough was enough.

He landed behind the Demons, who were holding the girl down on the ground trying to push her legs apart.

"Well, friend..." the first Demon said. "I see you have come back. Sorry, but she is small..not nearly enough to share with you." Piccolo could sense the fear in this Demon. He knew Piccolo was much more powerful than he had ever imagined.

"Take your fun somewhere else." Piccolo said gruffly. "I live not far from here, and your play time is bothering my meditation." The Demon nodded. As they picked the girl up from the ground, Piccolo gasp.

It was the little girl from earlier today. He could still see the bruise he left on her face, however, it was now covered with blood due to multiple cuts to her pale skin. Her clothing was sparse, and he saw blood dripping from different wounds on her body.

"Wait!" Piccolo said, before he could stop himself. He walked over to the girl, her head slumped down towards her chest. He could hear her soft crying.

"Have you taken turns with her yet?" Piccolo asked.

"Well...no." The Demon said. "We only found her moments ago."

"Fine. Then leave her with me." Piccolo said firmly.

The three smaller Demons looked over to the larger one. Piccolo had not seen this partictular one before, yet he could tell this was the Demon in charge.

"We will not." The large Demon said. "She was found by us, and she will be devoured by us." He motioned with his head for them to carry her on. But Piccolo was more than ready for a confrontation.

He brought his hand up, releasing a powerful blast which landed just inches behind the Demons. Two of them fell to the ground. But the one holding the girl held fast.

"You will have to do much better than that." The large Demon said, walking up to Piccolo. "You can't possibly take on all of us...and live."

Piccolo smiled, his fist moving faster than lightening into the creature's face. He flew backwards, into a tree. Piccolo was angry, that this Demon would defy him. With another blast, he blew the Scab into tiny bits.

The other three, knowing they were no match, dropped the girl and ran.

She landed on the ground with a thump. Not moving. Just about every stitch of her clothing was torn, revealing bloody marks and cuts left by the Demons' sharp claws. Piccolo walked over, staring down at her small body. He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. Not even sure why he saved the girl in the first place. But he did get pleasure out of blasting that Demon.

Piccolo knew if he left her out here, she would either die due to her injuries, or more Demons would find her. Smelling the fresh blood.

Reluctantly, Piccolo picked her up. She wimpered with pain. He wasn't sure what they had done to her. Anything was possible. He had no idea where her home was, so that was not an option.

HELL! he said to himself. Now what...

Thinking for a moment, he took to the sky. Headed for his wastland. There he would decide what to do.

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OK..I know this was somewhat predictible. This type of thing has been done over and over...And yes, she is Goku's sister...AGAIN..but I needed a female character to be close to Goku in order to make this story work. But, she is not a Saiyan. Just a human. I'll explain it in depth later.

I hope you are not disappointed. I tried to figure out something less obvious to happen in order for Piccolo to save her...but my mind was not working at it's full capacity. Anyway, hope you can find something to enjoy in this!

Please Review!