Chapter Three
Rideria seemed to be more bored than anything while she sat patiently by the riverbank and watched her sisters splashing in the water. Piccolo had allowed them to go into the shallow end and hovered close by in meditation.
But Rideria had refused. "Don't want to." She said frowning. So, she angrily sat down and observed.
Rikola and Rhyne giggled loudly as they played. However, when a fish bumped up against Rhyne's leg, she screamed as if she had been shot. She darted toward the riverbank so fast, that she lost her footing and fell face first into the shallow water. Rhyne came up coughing and gasping for air, having ingested some of the fluid.
Still in the water and unafraid, Rikola laughed. "Just a fish!" She yelled at the younger sibling. But, Rhyne did not care. She was embarrassed and her feelings were hurt that she had been such a coward. She sat down on the embankment a few feet from Rideria.
The older girl glared at Rhyne. "Crybaby." Rideria said hatefully.
"That's enough." Piccolo intervened. "I don't see you in the water, so you have no reason to judge your sister's actions." His tone was firm and Rideria felt her cheeks flush with anger.
Rideria got up and stomped into the river. She stood not far from Rikola, who was remaining quiet on the matter, with her arms crossed and her face in a deep frown.
Piccolo was stunned at her blatant attempt to outwit his attempt at control. He stood up and flew toward them, hovering above the water.
"You want to challenge me, girl?" Piccolo asked angrily. Immediately, Rikola hurried out of the water, leaving the older girl alone.
Rideria did not respond, which infuriated Piccolo.
"Then let's see what you're made of." He told her. Before Rideria had a chance to react, he sent down a blast toward the water, causing it to explode around her. First, she went flying up into the air, and then tumbled down into the water a few feet away. This area of the water was deeper and she went under immediately.
On the riverbank, Rikola and even Rhyne jumped up and ran toward the water.
"No!" Piccolo shouted at them. "Let her be!"
They abruptly stopped, but remained right at the water's edge.
Piccolo counted in his mind, knowing that Rideria could only hold her breath for about thirty seconds or so. Zoning in on her ki, he waited.
Down below, Rideria struggled for her bearings, not knowing how to swim and not sure which direction was up. Her hands and feet were moving wildly, her eyes burning from the sudden impact of the water. Before she could stop herself, she drifted into some high seaweed and then to the river's bottom. At that point, her lungs exploded and she exhaled her air, leaving her without oxygen.
Piccolo saw as the bubbles began to surface on the water and he knew that her time was up. He quickly flew into the water, directly to Rideria. Snatching her up, he returned to the air in less than five seconds.
For the second time that day, he tossed his daughter down to the ground. Rideria was coughing uncontrollably, vomiting water with each cough. On her hands and knees she looked up at Piccolo. He couldn't tell if she were crying or not, her eyes already red from the water.
Their eyes locked. "Now, you will not be so insolent again." Piccolo said angrily to his oldest daughter. "You will obey me and if any of you…" He looked at each girl. "If any of you dare to show such disrespect again, I will end your life as surely as I am the one who gave you life."
Rhyne was in absolute tears as she held onto Rikola's hand. Rikola herself felt nothing but fear.
Rideria finally stood up. She avoided her father's eyes and went to be with her sisters.
"Now, it is time for a bath." Piccolo told them. "Take your clothing off and use this to bathe with." He materialized a bar of soap and thew it toward the girls.
They hesitated for just a moment, which Piccolo did not like. "Did I not make myself clear?" He asked. Like lightening, Rikola grabbed the soap and ran back towards the water, closely followed by Rhyne and Rideria.
All three little girls disrobed and waded to the shallow end for their bath.
The heat was almost unbearable. Gohan's window was open, but the breeze coming in was too hot. He wiped his upper lip, which was coated with sweat. "I gotta have a break." He said to himself.
ChiChi had told him to remain in his room until his studies were complete. But, Gohan wanted nothing more than to get away. He carefully inched his way downstairs looking for his mother, but thankfully she was not there. "She must have left for the store already!" He said happily.
Gohan hurried outside and flew away. His intention was to find Piccolo and see how his friend was doing, hopefully spar some. He hadn't seen the Namek in several months and missed him a great deal.
Searching out Piccolo's ki, he was excited when he located his friend by the river. Hurrying down, he found the Namek in meditation.
"Piccolo!" Gohan shouted and landed beside him. "I've missed you!"
Piccolo smirked. Gohan had not changed a bit. His hair was still smoothed down and he still wore the gi that Piccolo had made for him.
"You too, kid." Piccolo said. "How did you get away from your mother?"
"She's gone shopping." He smiled.
"So, you snuck away?" Piccolo knew that if ChiChi found out, Gohan would be in trouble.
"She won't find out. She shops for hours!" Gohan smiled sheepily. "Can we spar?"
Piccolo's interest was immediately peaked. "Yes, but…." He wasn't sure at all how to tell the boy about his girls. "I need to show you something."
Rideria, Rikola and Rhyne had noticed the newcomer and immediately got out of the water and threw on their gi's. Shyly they walked up behind this strange looking creature and stood, waiting for direction from Piccolo.
Piccolo motioned for Gohan to turn around and when he did Gohan's reaction was priceless. He gasped in utter shock. Now, Gohan had seen Nameks before. They had even lived on Earth for a short time after their home planet was destroyed by Frieza.
"Wow." Gohan said. "Where'd you find these little guys?" He smiled. He thought they were so cute and little.
"Gohan, these are mine." Piccolo said.
Gohan's eyebrows went up in confusion. "What do you mean? Yours?"
Piccolo sighed, knowing he would have to spell it out for the Saiyan child. "They are my offspring." He told him. Surely the kid could understand that.
Gohan's eyes got even bigger. He looked from the children and back to Piccolo. "You mean, you had….babies?" Gohan was astounded. "But…you're…..you're….."
"Gohan, Nameks can reproduce alone, remember….." He said irritated that he had to explain himself to a seven-year old. "I spat out an egg seven weeks ago….it just happened to have three of them inside." Why did he even try and explain? He should have told him he found them in the woods.
"Three?" Gohan said as if he had miscounted. "All three of these are…your…..children?"
The boy was dense. "Yes, Gohan. These are my female offspring." Piccolo shook his head, trying to refrain from anger.
That did it. Gohan's mouth hit the ground. "They're……. girls!" he looked back at the children as if they had suddenly grown two heads "Girl Nameks!"
Rideria stepped forward, not sure of this taller creature, but she did not like the tone he had. "Problem?" She asked Gohan defiantly.
Gohan's laughter immediately stopped as he heard her soft voice. He looked at Piccolo, blinking dumbfounded.
"They do speak." Piccolo said sarcastically.
Gohan looked down at this little green girl. "They look just like you, Piccolo. They don't look like girls."
Rideria frowned, not understanding what was so different about a girl. This creature in front of her looked strange to her no matter what. "What are you?" She asked Gohan
Piccolo shook his head. Rideria apparently had no fear and approached Gohan without any forethought. She had no idea the power that the young Saiyan boy possessed.
Gohan looked at Piccolo for help. "He's a human." Piccolo said. "Earth is inhabited by mainly humans."
"What are we?" Rikola asked, stepping closer. "We are not human girls?"
Piccolo sighed. "No, we are Namekians. Technically, we are aliens on this planet, since it is not the home of our race."
Rideria looked harshly at Gohan. "You funny looking human girl."
Again, Gohan's mouth flew open. "I'm not a girl!" He said loudly.
Rhyne was hiding behind Rikola, watching as her sisters curiously asked questions.
"You're human! Human….what?" Rideria asked loudly, angry that she did not understand this.
Piccolo stepped forward speaking to his daughters. "There are usually two sexes to each race. Male and female. Gohan is a male, boy…he will grow to be a man….if I don't kill him first." He said seriously. "You and your sisters are female, girls…you will grow to become women…again, if I chose to let you live."
"What are you, Father?" Rikola asked.
Piccolo growled at her. "I AM A MALE!" He yelled.
Rikola and Rhyne jumped back, having had enough. They did not completely understand, but were not concerned about this matter at the present time.
But, Rideria was very concerned. "What is the difference between male and female?" She asked.
Neither Gohan nor Piccolo made an effort to answer that. "I'll explain it to you when you are older." Piccolo said angrily.
"Maybe my mom or Bulma could talk to them about….that…." Gohan said.
"It is not important." Piccolo said. "What is important is their training!" he inched off the ground, heading upward. "Let's show them what it means to spar." Piccolo couldn't hide the grin that was on his face. Gohan followed him in the air. Down on the ground, the children desperately ran, trying to keep up with Piccolo and Gohan as they few a few yards away.
"Piccolo, won't this scare them? I mean, if they've never seen you fight, it might make them afraid." Gohan said, not wanting to frighten the tiny girls.
"That's what I want." Piccolo said. "Don't hold back, Gohan. I want to show them what power really is."
Gohan gulped. This was going to be an exhausting afternoon.
Thanks for reading!