Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty
Written by: Feraligreater328 and StevenBodner
Edited by: StevenBodner and SparkerLightning
A/N: Here's a slightly new direction. It's something that I actually wanted to introduce a bit earlier, but I've just kinda been juggling it. I thought of a compelling narrative to go with it, so I hope you'll stick around for the ride.
Chapter 116: Ushio and the Tale of Gyuhime
Long ago, in the Mountains to the West...
This is a tale from long ago, in the age before Son Goku and the Z-Fighters. The age when two young martial artists set out on their own journeys, having been discharged by their wise, old master. The two pupils had been given one last quest from their aged mentor...
"King Piccolo might be long gone, but new demons will always rise to take his place! I leave it to you, my pupils! Journey to the Mountain of the East and the Mountain of the West! Slay those wicked phantoms and keep this world safe!"
The two pupils journeyed together. They worked, they laughed, they ate, they slept, they played! And eventually, they went their separate ways. The star pupil set off into the East. And the star player of this tale...he went West.
At the base of the Western Mountain...
Ushio bit into a crisp apple as he heard out the meek villagers' pleas. "Mt. Pleasant, eh?"
The village elder nodded. "We call it that because of how refreshing the breeze is during the spring months! We used to go up there to bask in the lights of heaven...until that foul demon moved in!"
Ushio cocked his head. "Oh?"
The elder nodded. "That foul beast came around and everything went wrong! Being a demon, we wouldn't dare encroach on its land! But even as we refused to trespass, the beast still took from us! Our cattle! Our precious cattle...all of them made a pilgrimage up to the top of Mt. Pleasant and we haven't seen them sense! They've all been lost...to Gyumao Kotei!"
Ushio finished his apple with a smirk. "Gyumao Kotei...? The Ox Demon God King? My, oh my...Master was right..."
The broad-chested, hulking Ushio stood up and grabbed his mighty twin axes. He smiled wide. "Demons really are arrogant creatures~"
The village elder flinched. "Y-You almost seem excited..."
Ushio slammed the broad sides of his axe blades together, causing a deep, metallic gong to ring out. He chuckled. "Gimme a week! I'll bring you back a demon's head!"
And then, without hearing a word of protest from the elder, Ushio ran out of the town gates and began his trek up the pathways of Mt. Pleasant. The village elder scoffed, a look of disbelief on his face. "That foolish boy is going to get himself killed..."
Deep within the forests of Mt. Pleasant...
It had been nearly a full day since Ushio had set out on his trip up Mt. Pleasant. He was full of vim and vigor, piss and vinegar. He was satisfied with his training. He was ready for a fight!
Suddenly, as he was running, Ushio suddenly detected something rushing at him from the left. He stopped dead in his tracks and a red blur shot right by him and slammed into the side of a rocky ridge. Ushio smirked, a deadly look in his eye. "So, you're gonna be my first opponents?! Well?!"
The fast-moving mass ripped itself from the rocky ridge it crashed into, revealing itself to be a massive, red bull with golden horns. A black spot ran all across the beast's back and two yellow, crescent moon shapes marked its sides. Around the beast's neck, a collar was latched with a tag dangling down. Ushio gritted his teeth. "Your name is Akabeko, eh?"
Another bull stepped up. This one was monstrous, a hateful grin on its face. It had several dozen horns shooting from its head, ticking across the ground like the legs of a spider. Hanging from a dire nose ring, a tag bore its name. Ushio nodded. "Gyuki..."
And finally, an old bull stepped forward. This one had an old man's face and a long, bushy beard. Attached to one of its massive horns was the same sort of tag as its peer. Ushio sneered. "And you're Kudan...?"
All three bulls circled, none of them speaking but their intent being stated quite loudly. Ushio chuckled. "You ain't gonna let me face down your master, eh? Well then..."
Ushio ripped his axes from their sheathes and clanged them together. He charged at Akabeko and howled at the top of his lungs. "BRING IT ON! I'LL CRUSH THE LOT OF YOU!"
Eight days later, at the peak of Mt. Pleasant...
A young, slender woman emerged from an ornate, but small stone castle. She stretched, having just woken up from a peaceful slumber, and gave a big yawn. She was naked from horn-to-hoof, but didn't seem to mind at all. To the naked eye, she was a mostly normal and beautiful woman. Her porcelain skin reflected the Sun brilliantly. Her ebony hair shined with a luster most could only dream of.
The only puzzling sight however was the sides of her head. While this bathing beauty did not have hoofs, or any other non-human features for that matter, the massive ivory horns jutting out of the sides of her head, perfectly framing her face, were impossible to ignore.
She calmly and gracefully walked into a sparkling basin of water next to her home. She deeply drank from the pool of crystal-clear water and then walked in for her morning bath. She always took extra care to be clean, as being clean made her feel at peace. As she bathed, several of her bovine friends poured in from the nearby field. They crowded her as they always did, pushing and shoving for her attention. She lovingly caressed each cow and bull, planting a kiss on their foreheads and making sure they felt her love.
Once her bathing was done, the woman emerged from the water and dried off. She primly and properly put on her outfit: a royal purple qipao, a pair of golden boots in the shape of hooves, and a golden crown that slotted easily over her horns. She looked in the mirror and shot herself a great big smile. But then, her smile faded. The woman sighed. "I thought it was weird that Akabeko, Gyuki, and Kudan hadn't come to bask before me..."
Three severed heads flopped onto the ground. Beaten and bruised, Ushio stepped over them. He looked determined as ever. "Look, lady, I ain't here to fight a girl. I want to fight Gyumao Kotei! Bring him to me! He has a date with my silver axes~!"
She flinched. "Silver...? You've come prepared for a proper demon slaying, haven't you?"
The woman sighed, turning to face Ushio with a confident smirk. "Gyumao Kotei...? Is that what those peasants call me down there in their little hovel? That's hilarious~"
Ushio flinched back. The woman held out her hand and a staff came shooting from the castle into her grip. A single naginata with an ornate tip. She held it with the poise of a trained master. "My beloved, cattle subjects refer to me in their language as Gyuhime! That is the only name you will ever learn, swine!"
Gyuhime charged at Ushio and the martial artist roared. He held his axes to the sides and charged right back at his foe, clashing blades with her. The two of them both flinched back, surprised to be facing a warrior that matched their strength. Ushio sneered. "Those feeble oxen of yours were able to last for five days! I don't think you'll meet their standard, little girl!"
Gyuhime responded with a palm thrust, busting Ushio's nose and making blood rain. "A fool like you should not waste his limited brain power on estimates!"
The blades of Ushio's axes and Gyuhime's naginata clashed and the two came to an immediate stalemate. It was hard to tell what was more impressive: Ushio being able to hold back such a powerful demon, or an unassuming woman like Gyuhime not budging against the mountain of a man in front of her. The two simultaneously shoved one another back and Gyuhime laughed, twirling her naginata like a baton. "Well played, human. You have the strength to stand up to my power~"
Ushio spat. "My master trained me up strong! Can't disappoint him here!"
Gyuhime beckoned Ushio forward. "Then come."
Ushio charged and Gyuhime chuckled. She thrust her hand forward and fired off an invisible shockwave. The burst crashed into Ushio's knees and sent him tumbling forward. Ushio grunted. "That's that ki nonsense, right?!"
Gyuhime slammed the pommel of her naginata into the bridge of Ushio's nose. "You humans often call things you don't comprehend 'nonsense', don't you?"
Ushio, in response to the mockery, thrust his fist upward and delivered an almighty uppercut to Gyuhime's face, sending her flipping backwards. Gyuhime landed on her feet and Ushio stood. The warrior wiped his bloody nose and the demon dabbed a trickle of blood from her busted lip. She chuckled and narrowed her eyes. "This is going to be a treat~"
Ushio bellowed like a madman. He held both axes to the side and charged at his foe in a burning rage. Gyuhime held her naginata aloft and charged right back. And so began an almighty struggle for supremacy!
10 Days Later...
Lightning struck in the background and rain poured down at Ushio, beaten and battered, heaved his twin axes into the air and brought them down. Gyuhime responded, also quite exhausted. She channeled her ki into her naginata's blade and sent a horizontal slash at Ushio. His armor having long since been chipped away, Ushio took the slash on his bare chest and cried out as blood burst from the wound. Undefeated, the hulking brute leapt fifty meters into the air and held his axes high! Gyuhime snarled. "He might not have ki-control, but the bastard is still quite skilled..."
As she leapt back to avoid the falling lummox, Ushio snarled. "OH NO YOU DON'T!"
The warrior lunged forward, mid-air, and began to spin down towards his opponent. With his axes held aloft, Ushio appeared as if he were a giant buzzsaw, descending down from the sky to strike down his enemies. Gyuhime twirled her naginata in one hand, sending a bladed cyclone up to catch Ushio and sliced him to ribbons. And yet, Ushio powered through!
He burst through the cyclone with purpose, slamming his axes down and missing the shocked demoness by a hair's breadth. Using her naginata like a pole vault, Gyuhime shot herself forward at the recovering Ushio and slammed her forehead into his face. The horns jutting from the sides of Gyuhime's head gored into Ushio's cheeks, damaging the area around his eyes and shattering his orbital bones.
Ushio fell onto his back and Gyuhime thrust her hand out, summoning her naginata and charging forward again. She swung her blade with all of her strength, aiming to take the aggressive human's head off. Ushio, reacting quickly, heaved his axe forward and met her strike. Gyuhime smirked with satisfaction, watching as her naginata smashed Ushio's axe to pieces. The force of the attack sent the hulking martial artist flying back. She went in for another slash, only for Ushio's other axe to come flying right at her head. She ducked the attack and went to continue her slash, but was quickly met by a thrusting palm. Ushio's hand slammed into Gyuhime's face and sent her crashing backward into the ruins of her former home, smashing the destroyed residence into even tinier pieces.
Ushio stood and spat out a tooth. "Keep...keep it comin', lady..."
Gyuhime's aura flared a deep crimson. Her teeth sharpened and her eyes became dire and full of rage. Her horns seemed to glow with pure energy. But the demon cackled. "You foolish man...DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN TRYING THIS ENTIRE TIME?!"
That was a bluff and they both knew it. Gyuhime was visibly exhausted after her ten-day bout, but she was still much more energized than poor, beaten-down Ushio. If he didn't do something quick, she would kill him.
Ushio gasped in pain and Gyuhime thrust both of her palms into his chest, sending him flying back into a tree. The trunk of the tree burst into splinters and Ushio went flying back through it, crashing into a massive stone and lying still. Shooting forward in a burst of speed, Chika snarled. "Now die, human scum!"
Right as she was about to gore him once more, Ushio's hands shot up and caught the bull by the horns. Gyuhime was stopped in place. She flinched in surprise and Ushio grinned at her. "Sorry, I'm not quite done yet~"
Gyuhime snarled, baring her fangs. "Damn you!"
She brought her hands together in front of her chest and formed a glowing sphere of ki in the shape of an angry bull's head. "OX BOMB!"
The ki blast swelled and Ushio and Gyuhime both gasped. Ushio wasn't expecting a ki attack of that magnitude and Gyuhime seemed to have realized that she lost her cool in a major way. The ki bomb exploded between them and sent them both flying into the air.
The two crashed back in front of the ruins of Gyuhime's former home and both immediately scrambled to their feet. Gyuhime reached out to summon her naginata, only to be shocked at suddenly being overtaken by a large shadow. She turned and found Ushio heaving a massive log down at her. Gyuhime roared in response, plunging her fist into the wood and busting it into splinters. Ushio went for the double hammerfist, but Gyuhime rolled out of the way. She gasped as Ushio's fists collided with the ground, causing it to crumble and fissure. She gasped. "H-How do you still have so much strength left?! What are you?!"
Ushio didn't answer, charging at Gyuhime with his hands drawn to the sides. Gyuhime immediately recognized the stance. "W-Wait...he can use ki?!"
Before Ushio could react, Gyuhime summoned her naginata and plunged it into his thigh. Ushio growled in pain, losing composure long enough for Gyuhime to press her hand to his chest. She fired kiai after kiai after kiai, but each was weaker than the last. She was running low on stamina!
Gyuhime sneered and ripped her naginata from Ushio's leg. Snapping off the staff part, she lunged at Ushio with her new knife, aiming to sink it into his throat. But Ushio wasn't finished yet. He grabbed his axe and quickly used it to disarm Gyuhime. The blade of the axe clashed into her knife and they both went flying. Thrown off balance, Gyuhime fell back as Ushio stood up. The hulking martial artist raised his fist high and charged it with ki. "Ki control ain't my thing, but that don't mean I can't do it! Master would never have let me leave his sight without some knowledge on that!"
He roared and brought his fist crashing down into the side of Gyuhime's head. "NOW STAY DOWN!"
With all of his strength, Ushio drove Gyuhime's head into the ground, causing it to fissure beneath her. The dust settled and Ushio was breathing hard, looming over his collapsed opponent. "D-Damn..."
He looked down at his three broken fingers and then at Gyuhime's horns, still in pristine condition. "Those are strong horns..."
Ushio grabbed his axe. He loomed over Gyuhime once more. She was defenseless. The perfect time to take her demonic head off and bring it back down to the townsfolk. And yet...he couldn't make the blade drop. Rain poured down over the two and Ushio just stared at Gyuhime. She was ethereally beautiful, even with the wounds of battle marring her face. And she looked peaceful when not going for his throat.
Another moment passed and then he sighed. "Dammit..."
The warrior sheathed his axe and glanced over at a few gnarled coils of rope. "Well...that might work..."
Some ways down Mt. Pleasant...
Gyuhime's eyes fluttered open and she grumbled to herself. "Wh..Whuh..."
She felt something soft and squishy between her teeth and her eyes snapped open. Gyuhime had a large piece of cloth wedged between her teeth. And her arms and legs were tightly held behind her. She darted her gaze from left to right and quickly deduced that she was being carried like some sort of rucksack. Ushio chuckled. "Quit squirmin'! You ain't getting' loose until we get you to the village! And they're probably gonna lock you up for a long time for stealin' their cows!"
Gyuhime continued to squirm, eventually giving up and grinding her fangs across her gag. "Whuh uh hegh eph iph?!"
Ushio flicked one of the knots binding Gyuhime's arms. "Master taught us both where all of the pressure points on a fighter's body are. It's simple to press 'em in with a few tight knots. You ain't goin' nowhere!"
Gyuhime gnashed her fangs and the cloth split. She snarled. "LET ME GO!"
The martial artist ignored her, looking off to the side to see yet more cows moaning in sadness as Gyuhime was carried away. "But damn...these cows really seem to like you. If I weren't so intimidating to 'em, they'd probably attack me..."
Gyuhime snarled. "UNTIE ME!"
Ushio glanced down at his throbbing, broken fingers. "Those horns are tough. I punched 'em dead-on and they shattered my fingers..."
Gyuhime sneered. "OF COURSE, THEY DID! I'M A DEMON THAT TAKES PRIDE IN MY LINEAGE! YOUR MEAGER STRENGTH COULD NEVER MAR THE HORNS OF A PRIDEFUL DEMON!"
Ushio rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah..."
He trudged through the mud and the muck as rain continued to fall. His limp was only getting worse and his eyes were far more damaged than he initially thought. Ushio groaned. "You demons sure know how to tear things up, huh?"
Gyuhime sounded annoyed. "Says the bastard that wrecked my house..."
Ushio snorted. "You moved onto these people's land uninvited and started stealing their water and cows."
That little comment sent Gyuhime into a rage. "THEIR LAND?! THEIR WATER?! THEIR COWS?! YOU DAMNED, PRESUMPTUOUS HUMAN SCUM!"
Ushio stopped in his tracks. His footing was slick, the mud shifting under his weight. He didn't care though, instead addressing his captive travel companion. "What are you talking about?!"
Gyuhime sneered. "You damned humans act like you're the only species on this entire planet! The land belongs to you?! The water belongs to you?! The cows...ACTUAL LIVING BEINGS...belong to you?! And you justify attacking others over those selfish beliefs?!"
Ushio frowned. "I..."
Gyuhime gritted her teeth. "You killed my friends! You murdered three of those precious cows you came to 'recover'! How dare you try to act high and mighty and justified when you're the aggressor?!"
Ushio flinched back, unknowingly causing the ground to shift under him even more. Gyuhime sneered again. "You're all the same! You assume you have control over everything and shut out other species that you don't care for! You poison insects that are living their lives! You overfish the waters! You tear down nature to accommodate your own foolhardy expansions! And you treat killing us demons like it's a game because of the actions of one being and his bastard kids! You humans are monsters!"
But then, before Gyuhime could continue her helpless rant, the ground finally gave way. Exhausted and injured, Ushio couldn't regain his balance. And so, he and Gyuhime went tumbling down the hill. As they tumbled, Gyuhime tried to gain her bearings. She was quite endurant, so even crashing into the various stones and roots as she fell was doing very little damage to her. She was focused. "Perfect. Just gotta find something to cut these ropes, and-"
*SNAP*
A loud snap echoed out that sent shivers up Gyuhime's spine. She looked behind her and saw that her captor, in spite of his burly body, was in far worse shape. He had just crashed into a massive rock and the impact shattered several of the bones in his left arm. His legs were also in pretty bad shape, both twisted and bent out of place. With his final, unbroken arm, Ushio tried his best to catch himself. But his fingers only found gooey mud wherever they tried to dig in. Gyuhime sneered. "Serves you ri-"
Her eyes turned and immediately locked onto a greater danger. "OH NO!"
Ushio looked as well and gasped in horror at what he saw. Both he, in his injured state, and Gyuhime, in her bound-up state, were cascading towards a cliff edge with a bottomless chasm right next to it. Immediately, Ushio's search for something to latch onto became more frantic. "Damn! Damn!"
"Damn! Damn!"
Ushio looked over and saw Gyuhime. She was struggling fiercely against the ropes. But to no avail. She had only managed to get one foot free from her hogtie and that was going to do her no good. Ushio growled under his breath, thinking about everything the demoness had just said to him. He looked around, seeing nothing he could grab onto with his unbroken arm. And so, staring death in the face, Ushio came to a conclusion.
Gyuhime felt a hand latch onto her rear and he face lit up bright red. "Filthy human! Copping a feel before you die, how shameless and-"
Ushio heaved Gyuhime into the air. They looked at one another and he chuckled. "I am my master's student, after all~"
And then he used all of his strength to heave Gyuhime to a solid chunk of land. She crashed down with a thud and stared in pure shock as Ushio continued to slide down. He shot her a peace sign and chuckled. "Guess that's it, huh? I really...really am sorry about your friends. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive my selfishness~"
Gyuhime's eyes went wide and she moved faster than her brain could follow. With a massive tug, the demoness ripped her other foot free of its bindings and began to run forward, arms still tightly tied.
Ushio closed his eyes, ready to brace the inevitable, only to suddenly feel something sink into his hand and draw blood. The martial artist opened his eyes and gasped. "Y-You've got to be kidding me..."
Hanging over a bottomless chasm, Ushio was helpless to save himself. And yet, he was not plummeting to his death. Looming above, on solid ground, Gyuhime had caught him as he fell. But, with her arms bound, she only had one option to catch him. One of Gyuhime's horns had impaled its way through his palm, leaving him to dangle like a worm on a fishing hook.
The two of them stared at each other in silence, and then Gyuhime yanked Ushio back up to safety. The two of them laid there, rain pouring down on their faces and exhaustion slowly setting in. As their vision began to go dim, both of them saw cows start to gather over them.
And then they both blacked out.
The next morning...
Ushio woke up to the smell of frying meat and boiling oats. Groggily, he sat up and was immediately beset by the worst pain. "Agh..."
"Be careful. You have three broken limbs and an injured back. No sudden moves."
Ushio looked up in surprise, seeing Gyuhime standing over him. She wasn't dressed in her royal finery as she was before, but rather in a simple purple dress with a yellow sash and an orange scarf tied over her shoulders. She had an apron with several cows stitched on it pulled over her ample bosom. Ushio blushed. She sighed. "It's not much, considering that someone destroyed my house... but the cows and oxen were kind enough to build this place for shelter while we slumbered..."
Ushio gasped in shock. "COWS DID THIS?!"
Gyuhime sat down in front of him, placing a bowl of porridge and two grilled fish next to his bed. "You have a functional arm, but I will feed you if you require the assistance."
Ushio slowly shook his head, picking up one of the fish and biting into it. "Did you...patch me up like this?"
Gyuhime nodded. "I did."
Ushio cocked his head. "Why?"
Gyuhime shrugged. "You saved my life when I was helpless to do so myself."
Ushio adopted a shameful look. "But...I'm the one that rendered you helpless in the first place..."
Gyuhime sighed. "Not important. You still saved my life. So, I will help nurse you back to health."
Ushio finished both fish and then began to drink the porridge from the bowl. "You could...just take me back to the village. I... after everything you said, I don't wanna be a burden on you..."
Gyuhime was blunt. "Out of the question. I will not step into that human hovel of ignorance and intolerance. I will nurse you back to health, and then you can go there if you so wish."
Ushio looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She glared at him. "What?"
He shook his head. "N-Nothing, I-"
She sighed. "You don't trust me. I suppose that's fair. I'm not particularly trusting of you either. So... we will start with a boon. A simple exchange that will establish a trust between us."
Ushio nodded. "O-Okay. And what is that...?"
Gyuhime adopted a very serious look. "Demons are meant to go by titles. Giving our bestowed names to others is something...unorthodox. But in hopes of establishing trust with you, human..."
She leaned in and started to whisper. "My name is..."
Ushio blushed. He looked down at his new caregiver and she looked up at him. "That name is something that you and I share. As long as you swear on your life not to reveal it to anyone...I swear that I shall nurse you back to perfect health~"
A genuine smile spread across Gyuhime's face. "Do we have a deal, Mr. Ushio?"
Ushio nodded. "We have a deal, Miss Gyuhime~"
Back down in the village...
The village elder grumbled in anger. "It has been three weeks and that boy has still not returned. And so, Gyumao Kotei claims another soul..."
He pressed his hand atop a flyer atop a nearby table. The village elder looked down at the flyer, studying the symbol on it: the symbol for Crane. "I suppose, we'll just have to save our money over the coming years to hire professional help..."
And so, time passes...
All-in-all, Ushio's healing took thirteen months. Thirteen months of regaining his strength, recuperating his stamina, healing his wounds, and getting back to his old self. And, perhaps against their will and perhaps not, in that time Ushio and Gyuhime grew closer and closer.
It was under the light of a waxing crescent that they first held hands, under the light of a new moon that they first fell asleep in one another's embrace, under the light of a waning crescent that those three words left Gyuhime's lips, and under the light of a full moon that those lips met his.
As those months turned to years, and as those years turned into a decade, and as that decade gained a twin, Ushio and Gyuhime settled more and more into life together. They built a new castle, Gyuhime crafted a helmet for her love to wear to protect his damaged eyes, and eventually the two became engaged.
The wedding was small. Gyuhime had no companions to invite other than her cattle, and Ushio did not wish to leave his love to gather his master and fellow student. The cattle brought the newlyweds a gift to celebrate their betrothal: a shining jewel with seven stars on it.
Not long after this wedding, a bump began to show beneath Gyuhime's dress. And soon, that bump gave way to something new. The massive martial artist and his demon wife placed their four hands under their newborn daughter, gently supporting her. The little one opening her eyes, looking perplexed as sparkling droplets began to fall onto her face. Ushio and Gyuhime couldn't hold back the happy tears, pulling her close and holding her tight.
A painting was commissioned, drawn by the tails of the cattle. A painting showing the mighty Ushio, his wife Gyuhime sitting on his knee, and their baby girl sitting in Gyuhime's lap. A beautiful moment forever captured in time.
Years slowly ticked on and the two watched their child grow. She was strong-willed and playful. They watched as her own pair of horns, matching those of her mother, began to grow out of the sides of her head. Gyuhime smiled. "Good, strong horns~"
Ushio held his wife tightly. "And she's beautiful like you~"
Gyuhime smirked and reached up, running her fingers through her husband's bushy beard. "One day, we'll have a son that's as handsome as you are~"
Ushio chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "Now don't curse a poor baby like that..."
Finally, after such a long wait up on their secluded little mountain, Ushio and Gyuhime came to an agreement. Ushio smiled. "I promise. If we explain everything to the village. They'll love you. You can live with people and experience so many new things~"
Gyuhime looked unconvinced. But then, she looked out at her beautiful, little girl and sighed. "Children need to be given the tools necessary to succeed. She'll never know how big the world is if she simply stays up on this mountain..."
Gyuhime and Ushio looked to one another. Gyuhime smiled. "I love you so much."
Ushio shared a kiss with his wife. "I love you too."
And so, Ushio left down the mountain. Knowing the routes and shortcuts like the back of his hand now, the trip should take no longer than two hours. Ushio looked back at his wife and child smiling down at him from their castle on the hill. "This is going to be a great change! I know it~"
Down in the village...
The people of the village acted as if they had just seen a ghost as Ushio walked into the village. Though they had all long forgotten his face, it was hard to forget a man as big as he was. Ushio was polite, waving to the gobsmacked townspeople as he made his way towards the village elder's house.
Ushio knocked and the elder answered. And, just like all of the other townspeople, the elder reacted with pure shock. He fell to the ground and stammered. "U-U-Ushio! Y-You're alive!"
Ushio nodded. "Yessir! Sorry to keep you waiting all of these years! It's been a couple decades, huh? Glad to see you're still alive~"
The elder nodded. "This is great! N-Now we can get our money back! We can give half of it to you as a reward and then use the other half for the village!"
Ushio cocked his head. "Money? For what?"
The elder cleared his throat. "We thought you died, my boy. So, we scraped and saved every penny we could until we had enough to reach out to the Crane School..."
Ushio rolled his eyes. "Shen's boys..."
He flinched. "Wait, why are you hiring the Crane School? All they're good for is ugly assassination work..."
The village elder, completely unaware, smiled. "We hired them to rid us of that demon, my boy. But now that you've done the job for us, we can demand our money back!"
Ushio turned white as a sheet. "Assassin...to assassinate..."
Gyuhime and his daughter both flashed through his mind. And then, without a second thought, Ushio turned tail and immediately made a break for Mt. Pleasant.
Back atop Mt. Pleasant...
As the sun hung low in the sky, Gyuhime picked up her daughter and started to carry her back into their castle. "Soon, my dear, soon you'll get to experience so much~"
The little one looked up at her big, strong mother. "Will I get to meet other kids, Mommy?"
Gyuhime chuckled. "I'm sure you will~"
The little one smiled warmly. "Do you think they'll like my horns?"
Gyuhime gently caressed the horns on her daughter's head. "Why wouldn't they?"
As Gyuhime spoke to her daughter, her senses were dulled. She had no reason to be on the defensive. And thus, as it were, she did not pick up on the sound of a string being drawn.
*SHUNK*
The poor, little girl fell from her mother's arms. She tumbled to the ground and landed flat on her back. "Ow!"
She sat up, looking grumpy. "Mommy! Why'd you drop-"
The tot's eyes went wide with fear, her voice going silent. Gyuhime was standing there, looking just as shocked. Slowly, Gyuhime brought her hand up to her chest. She gripped around the wooden rod sticking out from right where her heart was. Slowly, her hand slid down to the tip: a silver arrowhead. A trickle of blood ran out of Gyuhime's mouth and she turned at the sound of footsteps.
Five martial artists stood there. All of them were armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows. All of them had the symbol for Crane on their gi. One of them sneered in disgust and glared at Gyuhime and her daughter. "Ugh. It reproduced. Now we have to kill two of these disgusting, horned beasts..."
Gyuhime gripped her fist. "Baby. Run."
The little one sounded scared. "M-Mommy...?"
Gyuhime snarled at her bright red aura flared. "RUN!"
Awkwardly, the little one got to her feet and retreated into the castle. The Crane Assassins sneered. The one in the center, the presumptive leader, motioned with his fingers. "This one is already dying. Chase the child."
The four martial artists followed the orders of their leader, all of them rushing in as if Gyuhime wasn't standing there. The demoness looked furious and the first Crane Assassin to get near her quickly felt her wrath. Gyuhime thrust her fingers forward, ramming them into the unlucky assassin's eye sockets, and used all of her strength to heave him into a nearby rocky wall. The assassin splattered and fell to the ground, dead.
Gyuhime turned to face the rest of her foes, only for four more arrows to embed themselves into her. Through her arm, through her stomach, into her leg, and into her shoulder. Gyuhime gasped in shock and stumbled back, her demonic aura flickering. The lead Crane Assassin motioned to one of his subordinates. "The child. We will deal with this one."
The assassin nodded, leaping into the air and using his skill of flight to hover over Gyuhime. She sneered. "Do you think you're the only one who can fly?!"
Gyuhime shot into the air like a missile, ready to kill the one that sought to hurt her daughter. She drew her fist back for a tight, instant-kill punch. But then a silver arrow came shooting up. It passed through her right upper arm and her right forearm, pinning them together. Gyuhime gasped, and then two more arrows plunged into her back. She hit the ground like a stone, her vision hazy, watching as the assassin ran into her home to harm her child.
The demoness got to her feet, attempting to lunge after the assassin, but was quickly stalled. More and more arrows came shooting in. They stuck into her back like a pincushion. It felt like five, then ten, then twenty all at once. Gyuhime was frozen in place, pain was radiating in her body from the accursed silver. Two of the Crane Assassins stalked right up behind her, pointing the last of their arrows right at the back of Gyuhime's head. One of them spoke. "Master Shen sends his regards, demon filth!"
The other sneered. "Go to Hell with King Piccolo, where you belong."
Both of them released their grip on the bowstrings, letting them shoot forth. In that moment, Gyuhime acted. She fell to her arrow-riddled knees and then sprang up. She ripped her trapped right arm free, delivering a spectacular double uppercut that sent both of the assassins flying into the air, their necks snapped. Gyuhime was in a lot of pain, probably dying. But her mind was crystal clear. "My daughter will not be harmed by the like of-"
The lead assassin loosened his arrow and it shot right into Gyuhime's throat. The Ox Demon Princess was taken off of her feet, falling onto her back with a shocked expression in her eyes. Blood erupted from Gyuhime's mouth and she hit the ground with a thud, the light leaving her eyes before she even fell still. The lead assassin rolled his eyes, placing his bow back over his shoulder. "Strange. For a moment, that thing almost looked human. Almost."
A heavy footstep echoed out behind the lead assassin. He turned and gasped in shock to find a mountain standing behind him. Ushio's lower lips quivered. "M-My wife..."
The lead assassin scoffed with a smug tone in his voice. "You married that thing?"
Without a word, Ushio reached behind his back and pulled out his axe. The lead assassin's eyes went wide and he fumbled for his bow as Ushio raised his axe into the air.
Within the castle...
The daughter of Ushio and Gyuhime screamed in fear as the Crane School Assassin yanked her off of the ground by her horn. She struggled and tried to fight, but even her well-honed combat skills weren't enough to escape his grip. He sighed. "It feels weird to off a kid like this..."
He grabbed a silver arrow from his quiver and held it like a knife. "Oh well. We got paid, so..."
A massive axe blade came down and cleaved off the arm that the assassin was using to hold the girl. She fell to the floor with a thud and the mercenary held his bleeding arm stump. "Agh! What the hell! Wha..."
The Crane School Assassin was dumbstruck as Ushio loomed over him. The hulking brute was covered from face-to-toe with fresh blood. The assassin shivered in horror. "P-Please! Mercy! M-"
Ushio screamed with pure rage, bringing the blade of his axe down onto the helpless thug with a sickening crunch.
Back outside the castle...
Ushio and his daughter both stumbled out of the castle, both of them drenched in fresh blood. The poor girl's stare seemed to stretch for miles, unable to focus. The two of them fell onto their knees onto the ground, taking up either side of Gyuhime's body.
The girl, tears already streaming down her face, gave her mother a shake. "Mommy...Mommy please...wake up..."
Ushio, meanwhile, simply pressed his hand onto her chest. He felt nothing other than stillness. He ran his finger across her jawline and felt the setting in of a frigid cold. He gritted his teeth tight and tears began to run out from beneath his helmet, pattering against her face like rain. Ushio looked down at his beloved wife and a sob escaped his throat. And then, he cried out all at once with nothing short of agonized grief. "CHIKA!"
And that day, a legend was born in this world of ours. The people of the village below were horrified to find the mutilated bodies of their hired champions lying in the center of town that morning. Days later, Mt. Pleasant suddenly burst into flames, the once temperate mountain having suddenly become a Frying Pan. And later, days after that, a terrifying new monster appeared. It rampaged through their town, screaming with rage and attacking indiscriminately. Nothing was safe from its brutal assault.
And yet, some could have sworn they heard the slightest hint of grief in this monster's bellowing roar.
This was the birth of the Ox-King! A brutal, demon tyrant with no equal.
In present day, Mt. Paozu...
Chi-Chi tenderly stroked her finger down Baby Chika's face, a sad and wistful frown on her lips as the rain fell from the sky outside. Gently, Chi-Chi moved Chika's hair to the side and faced a fear that she was hoping she would never have to face in her own kids. Monkey tails were fine, that was Goku's thing. That was something that could be defended against.
But, in Chi-Chi's mind...there was nothing more terrifying than seeing those ivory-white horns growing right above Chika's ears. Chi-Chi's hand trembled as she slowly held up an iron file. Her eyes were dull, full of nothing but sorrow and fear as she stared at it. "Those bad people...they came and killed your grandmother because of those nasty horns, you know? If those weren't there...they would have thought she was a normal human. A boring, safe, normal, safe, run-of-the-mill, safe human..."
Chi-Chi gripped the file tight and brushed the hair away from Chika's tiny, growing horns again. She stared at them with fear, antipathy, and hate. But then, tears built in Chi-Chi's eyes and she began to tremble. "I... I want you to be safe...but I could never hurt you like that..."
And so, after planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Chi-Chi slumped out of her room and back towards her own. The entire way, tears streamed down her cheeks as memories played.
She passed Gohan's room and remembered her father speaking to her. 'Now Chi-Chi, you make sure you wear your helmet in front of other people, okay? I don't want anybody trying to hurt you...'
She passed Goten's room and remembered the shock on his face, the heartbreak in his voice. 'Chi-Chi! Sweetie! What have you done to yourself?!' 'I had to, Daddy. I have to be able to go out and find him so we can have our wedding! I can't wear the helmet forever!"
Chi-Chi entered hers and Goku's room, walking past the bed and her husband like a zombie. Goku was powering his way through a plate of blueberry muffins and a gallon of milk, playing some sort of game on the Gameboy that Bulma got him for his birthday. She walked into hers and Goku's bathroom and sat in front of the mirror.
Chi-Chi pressed her free hand to the side of her head and cringed as she felt them poking into her skin. She gritted her teeth, all of her fear and self-doubt and desperate wishes for her life to be normal welling up within. And then, she grabbed a handful of her hair and screamed. "GOD DAMN IT!"
The poor woman raised the file in her hand up to the side of her head, but a bigger and stronger hand suddenly stopped her. Chi-Chi looked up at Goku, tears pouring down her face. Her hair had been yanked aside to reveal a chipped and worn-down stump of a horn, a small point growing from the center of a smooth, filed down surface. Goku frowned, not out of anger but out of sadness. "I wish you'd stop hurting yourself like this, Chi-Chi. You don't have to. No one is going to let anybody hurt you..."
Chi-Chi sobbed. "That's what my Dad told my Mom, Goku..."
And then Chi-Chi began to cry hard. "Our daughter has these damned horns, Goku! Wh-What if people try to hurt her and we can't stop them?!"
Goku quickly took the file, giving it an angry glare and crushing it in his grip. And then he pulled Chi-Chi close and hugged her tight. "We won't let anything happen to her, Chi-Chi. I promise."
The Saiyan from Earth stayed crouched down, letting Chi-Chi cry herself to sleep in his arms before carrying her back to their bed. Goku wasn't one to understand human ways of thinking that well. He never had been. But, even with that mindset, he still stared down at his visibly terrified, exhausted wife and wished from the bottom of his heart that he could make her feel better. Goku laid down next to her and pulled Chi-Chi close. "I won't let anything happen to Chika. Ever. I promise."
