Dragonball – Tale 522 "Frigid Submergence."

The nerves in Heron's face danced with a cooling sensation as he plunged himself into a body of water, to which no end could be seen. He opened his eyes and looked into the depths of which he was engulfed by. The bottom only went about 35 feet deep, and hundreds of small, fish-like organisms danced about one another in schools. Most chose to clear a path before Heron arrived, but some bigger organisms brushed closely against his stomach, face, and legs.

Heron had taken it upon himself to explore the entire area as far as possible from whence he came, and found that he was on a 5 by 5-kilometer island. This was awfully small when compared to a continent or nation, but for one Namek'jin this was an awful lot of space. In fact, he was perfectly fine exploring, living off of, and training on it for a full 14 years.

The Namek'jin child had grown up. He now stood at an impressive 6'7" and was a medium build, but with very defined muscles and features. He wore a navy blue long sleeved gi with a dark blue belt, an outfit that well suited his deep, healthy green and yellow skin. Yes, he had taken great care of his body through its development and lacked nothing it the physical. However, his mind was still ragged, torn, and vengeful. But he had also gained great intelligence, and would put it to great use.

It was recently he realized he had learned everything he could from the scroll of the Legendary Super Saiya'jin, and thought back on one part of the destroyed scrolls that piqued his interest. It had taken him years to piece it together, but he realized that the Dragonballs had wish granting capabilities, and that they may very well still exist. This gave him great optimism and hope, to restore his family to the living realm and continue with the life he once had.

And so, he now journeyed through the water to find the next piece of land. Lucky for him, he had done a substantial amount of underwater training, as it trained his movements in a way the surface could not. By-productively, he could now sustain himself for up to 12 minutes on one breath. Paired with the plethora of amazing combat skills and specialized techniques he had achieved, he felt confident that nothing could stand between him and the ancient Namek'jin spheres.

Ironically, now was the time for his first opposition. As Heron kicked through the crisp, relaxing water, a large predator of the sea's, perhaps resembling…an overgrown piranha. It was at least 8 times his size, and equipped with some massive teeth. It came up behind Heron with silent speed, ready to take off a leg or two for the first bite.

Our Namek'jin, however, had become aware of this long ago. Just as the creature's jaw clamped down, Heron yanked his feet from its range and twisted around, grabbing a couple of its top teeth. It paused for a moment and then opened up its mouth. Heron set his feet in its mouth and held the mouth open, and smirked…

Out of the still surface a bit of green began to rise…Heron rose from the water and stepped up onto dry land. With that, he pulled up that (now dead) gigantic fish-creature and dragged the thing over his right shoulder using one hand like it was nothing. Of course, it was easily 500 lbs. And yet he wasn't bothered. As it tussled along behind him, Heron walked across this treeless piece of land, noticing several plateaus about the place. He had only gone a few miles, and yet wondered how the landscape could be so different. He also noticed that it was much cooler here, and that he'd never felt the air this cold before, with one exception.

He continued to ponder these thoughts as the air bit at his wet skin. After a few minutes of walking, he came to a stop and looked down off the huge cliff edge he had approached. It was easily 500 feet tall. At the bottom Heron could make out several Namek'jin houses and tree's scattered about. Without more than a moment of hesitation, He swung the fish-creature over and in front of him, stood on it, and then pushed off the cliff.

As he plummeted through the air, Heron carefully analyzed the speed of his drop. Every Namek'jin had quickly taken notice of this odd sight and stopped what they were doing. About 400 Feet down, Heron jumped off the fish and let it drop on his own. Its dead weight crashed into the dirt and created a nice break in Heron's fall as he landed on it. He still ended up on his butt, however so he was unharmed and quickly stood up, and brushed himself off. Not one of the Villagers was left unaware, and quickly began to come towards him. Heron casually approached these that were the first Namek'jins he had seen for 14 years. It didn't seem to faze him in the least, as much as they were dumbfounded and confused.

"H-Hello? Who…who are you?" The first Namek'jin that came upon him asked hesitantly. Heron, however, walked right past, and paid no attention to him. Several more just kind of…scooted out of his way as he walked into the village. They hadn't a clue what to make of this, and simply took no action other than staring.

Soon, Heron came about the Village houses. Although he walked a fairly straight path, his eyes darted about, and he spotted the biggest, most impressive of the houses. He walked straight in, despite the various onlookers, and stepped in. This was the home of the Village Elder, who sat alone at a table, looking over a scroll of some kind.

"Tchuu…" Heron immediately cleared this throat. His voice box had little use over his life, and the mere sensation of trying to talk shocked him a bit.

"H-Hello…Elder. I am an outsider, and I've come to talk. My name is Heron." The Elder was a bit surprised at his uninvited guest, but didn't seem too upset. He set his book aside and instructed Heron to take a seat across from him.

"This is Sub-Village 8 of the "Kansa" Grand Village. Tell me, young one…where do you come from? What has brought you here?" The Elder asked. Heron was filled with wonder at the impracticality of the Villages name. It seemed so…manufactured and monotonous.

"Ahem…" Heron cleared his throat again, "I came from an Island several miles from here…I left that place for the first time in my life earlier today. This was the first place of Civilization I found."

"I see…you say an Island several miles away? In what direction?" The Elder questioned.

"I'm…not sure? My sense of direction hasn't developed well, as I've lived alone for 14 years. I could probably lead you back if need be. I'd estimate it as a 12 Kilometer walk followed by a 5 Kilometer swim."

"Interesting…I've heard of no Namek'jins within that range. The nearest point of Civilization is supposed to be 25 Kilometers southwest." The Elder paused for a moment, "You say you lived alone for 14 years? Elaborate upon that.'

"Yes…I am 24 years of age. The others…left 14 years ago. The island is only about 5 by 5 Kilometers. My intention for leaving is to find something…" Heron looked down for a moment. Although he was full of confidence before, he suddenly felt small amongst all of this 'talk' he was so unused to. Even when with his family, he'd been the least talkative for the most part.

"What is it you seek?"

"Something called 'Ryu-Tamas'." Heron looked up and into the Elders eyes. The Older Namek'jin seemed to stumble over his own breath.

Next: Conditions to be met.