Hello again!!! looks around My, so many new reviewers! YAY!!! And let's not fail to recognize those of you who've been around for... well, forever. Okay, well this chapter's got something new for you all to chew on. But it would kind of spoil it to tell you now! Read it for yourself!
Chapter 29: A New Plan
Breathless, her weary feet aching, Pan trudged up the last snow-covered slope of the mountain's peak. Once at the top, she collapsed and breathed heavily. She dropped the bucket of water she had been carrying in front of her, which she immediately noticed had been frozen solid for quite some time now. She looked tiredly up into the grey storm clouds which dispensed thick snowflakes and heavy winds upon her. Piccolo hovered in front of her, a small golden aura surrounding him, keeping him warm. He smirked slightly, and landed at her feet.
"Not bad, but you could have gone much faster."
"What do you mean by that?!?" Pan defended. "The air is so thin up here; it gets harder and harder to breathe! Plus the annoying presence of that bucket gets on your nerves after a while. I mean, what was the point of this exercise anyway?"
"Hmph..." Piccolo chuckled. He had expected this. "The point of this was to test your endurance. And the less you complain, the higher you score. Judging by your performance today, I'd say we have a long way to go. You'll be doing this training exercise a lot in the future."
Pan grumbled, and allowed herself to fall on her back in the deep snow. She was too relieved to be able to sit down to care that it was cold.
"Feel like going back down? I'll let you fly this time." Piccolo offered.
"I don't know if I have the energy left to fly..." She grumbled.
"Then you'll just have to walk." He picked up the frozen bucket, and hovered down the mountain without her. "I'll see you at the bottom then." He called.
"NANI?!? YOU MEAN YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME OUT HERE ALL BY MYSELF?!?" Pan hollered. Piccolo merely waved. "WHAT KIND OF MENTOR ARE YOU?!?" There was no reply. He had flown completely out of sight. "ARGH!!!" Pan kicked her foot at the ground, sending a patch of snow flying about fifty feet. "Well, I guess I'd better get going if I don't want to freeze to death up here..." She muttered to herself. And so she began her long and lonely descent.
She hadn't walked one hundred yards when she noticed a few old oak trees covered in thick bark. She shuffled along, admiring the little scenery she had, when she noticed one fallen tree that looked like it hadn't been dead for very long. Pan stomped through the deep tundra toward the deceased trunk, and began inspecting the bark. It was still pretty much in one piece, and looked fairly sturdy. With a good yank, Pan stripped one side of the bark off the tree, and laid it out on the ground in front of her. "Perfect." She muttered. The bark began to slide down the icy slope, so Pan hurriedly hopped on top of it and laid down on her stomach. The bark-sled slid down the mountain faster and faster, until Pan was hollering out in enjoyment, praising herself for her cleverness. She held tightly to the sides of the sled, using her weight to steer clear of the trees and rocks jutting up from the snow. Going down the mountain was certainly much easier than going up it.
After a while, the fallen snow began to thin out, until Pan found herself sledding on dry ground. It became much harder to steer in the grass and dirt, and it was not long before the bark-sled, becoming more brittle the longer it was used, finally split in two down the middle. Pan was thrown from the broken pieces of wood and somersaulted forward right off a small cliff. Pan flapped her limbs about frantically as she fell, screaming at the top of her lungs. But her voice was cut off when she felt a harsh jerk on her arm, and found she had been saved by her mentor.
"Having fun?" Piccolo scowled. Pan knew she was in for it.
"Heh heh... How did you know where I was?" She managed a weak smile.
"I sensed your ki going down the mountain too quickly for me to believe."
"Oh..." Pan hung her head in shame. She had forgotten to mask her ki. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me. You're going to be apologizing to yourself. Since you didn't finish your training exercise, I'll just have to come up with something else for you to do."
Pan grumbled.
They soon landed by the river again, and Piccolo set his pupil down near a large waterfall.
"You see that waterfall?" He pointed. Pan looked, and nodded hesitantly. "I'm going to meditate up here on the bank. What I want you to do is sit under that waterfall until I'm done. And if you get out, I'll just make you stay longer."
"Yes, sir..." Pan groaned, and waded out into the shallow river. Compared to the climate on the mountain's peak, this was actually quite warm. She mounted a large boulder right in the middle of the waterfall's base, and sat down underneath the flow. She immediately felt the pounding weight upon her shoulders, and almost fell over backward. Regaining her balance, Pan tried to endure the straining new burden, out of fear of having to stay longer. She eyed Piccolo, who had settled on the grassy bank and began to hover a couple feet off the ground with his legs crossed and eyes closed. There didn't seem to be anything interesting to look at, so she closed her eyes as well.
After about an hour, Piccolo reopened his eyes to see Pan with her eyes closed and a pained look on her face. He chuckled softly to himself. She certainly had guts. It was just like when he had trained her father.
"How're you holding out?" He asked her suddenly.
"Just fine, I guess..." Pan uttered, trying to hide the pain in her voice. Her shoulders were incredible sore.
"Hmph... Good." That was all he said. After a few more minutes of silence, Pan spoke.
"Uh... Piccolo-san?"
"Hmm?"
"... Where exactly did you come from? I mean no disrespect, but... this is a Saiyan planet, and there don't seem to be many of your kind around here."
"Heh... I was wondering when you would ask. You're right; I was not born on this planet. In fact, neither was Dende. He was born on the planet Namek, where all our ancestors came from."
"Mm-hmm..." Pan nodded in understanding. "... and you?"
"I am not like most Nameks. You see, I was born on a little planet far away from here called Earth. Many many years ago, a Namek from our home planet traveled to Earth and became it's guardian. The guardian wanted to be a pure being, so he split off from his evil side. The pure side, known as Kami, became the guardian of the Earth, while the evil side became known as Piccolo Daimo... my father."
Pan was taken aback by this last statement. Piccolo was the son of a pure-evil being? But he didn't seem that way at all. Piccolo smiled at her quizzical expression, as though reading her thoughts.
"Of course, at first I was just like my father. But something was different in me. I was curious about my heritage. I left Earth in pursuit of my native planet, but instead found my way here. I was planning on leaving again to continue my search, but Goku kept getting in my way. He and I actually got into quite a few fights. But what really convinced me to stay was when I met Dende. He had been taken captive from planet Namek, and since he proved of little use to the Saiyans, they let him go free to live on Vegeta-sei, in case he ever did become of use. He was so young, yet could vividly remember planet Namek. I frequently went to him just to hear about what Namek was like. Of course, these new images only made me want to leave more. But what kept me here was the fact that Dende seemed to rely on me for guidance and support. His healing powers were still developing, and he needed someone to help him. So I told myself I would only stay until he could fend for himself, but things kept coming up. Somehow I got into training Gohan, and he and I developed a friendship that melted away a lot of the ice in my heart. I finally realized I just couldn't leave Vegeta-sei, so I stayed."
Pan paid complete attention to him, even after he was finished speaking. Piccolo eventually rose and faced the late afternoon sun, as though looking back into the past and remembering something that was all but forgotten in his memories.
Pan sighed softly. "... I think I understand now."
As the brilliant orange sun set beyond the horizon that evening, Princess Bra sat alone in her room finishing up her research paper on the history of the monarchy government of Vegeta-sei. She had taken much longer than she had planned, due to her lack of focus. Her head was swimming with thoughts. Thoughts of Zamuri and her visit with him earlier, and also of her plan to get him out of the castle and back to his family. She had been formulating her plan carefully in her head, when someone knocked at her door.
"Come in." She responded. The door swung open to reveal the curious and slightly concerned face of Vegeta Jr.
"Hey, sis. What are you doing in here?"
"Oh, I was just finishing this paper." She held the parcel up for him to see.
"Yeah, but you've been cooped up in your room all day. I haven't seen you at all today."
"I just wanted to make sure this paper is done well. I've edited it at least three times."
"Oh, okay... Well, it's almost time for dinner, so finish up." He gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, and left her to her essay.
As soon as he had left, Bra hurriedly completed it, and headed down to the dining hall. The more time she had to work out the details of her plan, the better. All she had so far was the fact that it was much too risky to get Zamuri out of the castle now. However, it was possible to force her father into releasing him. He just needed the right 'motivation'. And it just so happened that that very motivation passed her in the hallway on her way to dinner. Anxiously squirming around in the arms of the maid who held him, young Prince Goku was currently on his way to get his diaper changed after finishing his own dinner. Bra smirked slyly to herself as she thought how her little brother would fit into her plan.
Bra ate her dinner so fast that it looked like she hadn't eaten for weeks. Both Vegeta's were amazed and confused by her odd behavior, but didn't have time to say anything to her about it. She had already gotten up and left the table. Once back in her room, she locked the door and took out a sheet of notebook paper. There she drew a quick outline of the castle, and marked all possible escape routes. The front gate was too obvious, and the back gate was always heavily guarded. She looked out her window, and down into the garden. From there she could see an old tree she had always loved to climb with her brothers. She took note that the height of the tree was nearly the same as the wall surrounding the castle. Yes, that was definitely a possibility. Now the only dilemma was how to get there with Goku in the dead of night. She knew of the maids' passageways within the walls of her home, and could use them to her advantage. Okay, so she now knew how she was going to get Goku, and get out... but what next? She couldn't possibly travel all the way to the other side of the mountains and back in one night. Her father would surely notice her absence. Plus the baby would slow her down. She would need help. But from who?
She found her answer while exploring the maids' passageways trying to find Goku's nursery. She was having no luck in navigating her way around the labyrinth of halls. They all looked the same, and Bra was getting confused.
"Excuse me." She called to a passing young maid. The girl immediately bowed respectfully, nearly dropping the pile of folded towels she was carrying.
"Y-yes, Princess Bra?" She stuttered uncertainly.
"Please, could you tell me which way the nursery is?"
The timid girl straightened up and brushed her long bangs from her rich brown eyes. "Oh, it's down the second passageway to your left. From there, go up the flight of stairs; take a right at the top..." Seeing the puzzled expression on the princess's face, the maid cleared her throat and began again. "Ahem... would you like me to take you there, milady?"
"Oh yes, if you don't mind." Bra nodded immediately, and followed the youth down the hallway. She couldn't help but notice the girl was just a little taller than her, and her short black hair was not like that of most Saiyans. The tip of every strand of her fine spiky hair was a dark shade of auburn. In fact, every spike her hair formed looked like it had been dabbed in brown paint. It was unusual, yes, but nonetheless fashionable.
"What's your name?" Bra finally asked, breaking the long, unbearable silence.
The maid hesitated for a moment. "Keiko... ma'am..."
"Keiko then..." Bra nodded in approval.
They continued on up a narrow marble staircase, and found themselves in front of a white door at the top. Keiko slowly pushed the door open, revealing a large light blue room that Bra somehow recognized, for she had spent most of her time here until she was three. The thick, strong scent of baby powder met them as the two entered. There was a large crib in the corner, and the floor was littered with baby toys and blankets. There was a white couch on one end of the room, and a changing table on the other. Bra immediately noticed another maid who appeared to be attempting to rock the baby to sleep. It was apparently not working out. The young blond maid looked up at the sound of the door opening.
"Sis, what are you doing here? I thought you were..." Her voice came to a sudden halt as she noticed who was behind Keiko. "Princess... Bra... wha-" She bowed her head as best she could with the restless child in her lap. Goku squealed with delight at the sight of more company. He tried to use his short but strong legs to stand on the maid's lap, colliding into her lowered head. The maid flinched, and clasped a hand to her bruised nose. The baby, not fazed, persisted to bounce up and down with his captor's arms as supports.
"Hey, Mitsuko!" Keiko said cheerfully, trying not to laugh.
"Could we have a moment?" Bra asked the young blond maid.
"Oh... yes, of course milady!" The girl jumped to her feet, and set the giggling baby down in his crib. She bowed once again to Bra, and shut the door behind her. Goku, still not the least bit tired, immediately stood back up, using the bars of his crib as a support.
"... Shall I leave you as well?" Keiko stuttered.
"No, no, you stay." Bra replied, ruffling her tiny brother's unmanageable black hair. She attempted to smooth down a small cowlick that had formed in his bangs, but failed and gave up. His small hand shot upward to meet hers. He firmly held onto her index finger, and laughed when she tried to pry him off. She struggled for a moment before he released his grip, and she stumble backward. It was impossible to cease his laughter.
"Anyway..." Bra continued, after straightening herself up. "You're probably wondering why I asked you to stay, right?"
Keiko nodded faintly.
"Well, actually I have a favor to ask of you. It's a sort of... life and death situation... quite literally."
Keiko seemed taken aback. Though she had no idea what she was getting herself into, she couldn't just refuse a favor from her majesty, the Princess Bra.
"I... I understand if you won't want to put yourself at risk. For accepting this mission could mean death in the long run..." Bra had to test this girl. She had to know that the one she chose to carry out this crucial task could be fully trusted. "You see, I have this friend... whose life has been suddenly placed in my hands... and the only way to save him... is to betray my father..."
Keiko began to doubt that this quest was really worth it. After all, what was in it for her?
It was almost like the princess read her mind. "If you do accept and successfully carry out this task... I can grant you your freedom."
"My... freedom..." She whispered. So long... it had been so long since she had seen the outside of those cold white-stoned walls... so long that she couldn't even remember what it looked like...
Bra nodded. "Yes. So... will you accept?"
The stunned maid closed her gaping mouth, and slowly nodded. "I accept."
...Yes, if you were wondering, Keiko is that new thing I mentioned at the top. Yep, I've got big plans for her! (smirks evilly) MWAHAHAHA!!!