Sins of the Father
Chapter 31: Amends
A few months into enjoying his hard-won solitude, Yajirobe nearly spat out the food in his mouth when a familiar figure strolled out of the woods surrounding his home like she was on a woodland walk.
He rose immediately, his hand hovering over the grip of his sword. 'Hey!' he yelled, causing her to stop. 'What are you doing here? Didn't I make myself clear last time? You're not staying with me and eating any more of my food!'
Rayne smiled, and held up a bundle of rabbits by their tails. 'How's this for a peace offering?'
Skeptical, Yajirobe squinted at her. '... so that means… you're going to be catching your own food from now on?'
'Uh-huh. You taught me well.'
'Huh.' He slowly straightened. 'Alright then. Get the rabbits over here- we'll cook 'em up good.'
'Gladly.'
0o0o0
'Yamcha, do you have to go?'
He froze halfway through pulling a sock over his foot. Frowning, Yamcha turned to the doorway. Nera was slouched over, holding one arm against the doorway, rubbing her eyes. 'You're awake?' Yamcha asked.
She yawned, locking her hands over her head and stretching. 'mmmyea… Now answer my question.'
Briefly, Yamcha turned back to his foot and finished pulling up his sock. He then rose and faced her. 'I do, yea. You remember what I told you about the World Tournament, right?'
'But that isn't in six months… you can stay here a bit longer, right?'
Yamcha frowned again. A few days has turned into a few weeks, which turned into a few months, and now… 'Have you seen me doing a lot of training?' he asked humorously, placing his hands on his hips.
Nera yawned again. 'No.'
'And that's because…' Yamcha bent over, touching his toes and stretching, 'I haven't been training.'
'What's so important about training?' she asked sleepily.
'The Tournament?' Yamcha reminded her.
'Oh. Yea.' Absentmindedly, she backed out of the room and walked down the hall.
After spending a moment stuffing his things into his pack, Yamcha slung it over his shoulder and followed after her. 'I made the mistake of not training for the last tournament' They walked into a small, cozy kitchen. Nera was drawing herself a cup of tea with some hot water from the sink. 'I don't intend on repeating that. I need to get some serious training in.'
She turned to him and leaned back on the kitchen counter, cupping the tea mug with both hands. 'You can't train here?'
Yamcha gave her a weird look before looking away and shaking his head. 'Yea… I can't.'
Nera shrugged. 'Alright. You know what's best for you. You need anything from me before you go?'
'No, you've already done so much by letting me stay here. It's time I got a move on, though. This isn't my home, y'know?'
'Where's your home?'
Yamcha half-frowned, half-smiled. 'I'm still looking for it.'
Nera seemed to wake up a bit more, and glanced at him. 'Sorry to hear that.'
'It is what it is.'
'Mmm.'
A few seconds passed. Nera waved at her tea to try and cool it down. 'So you're leaving now?'
'Yep.'
'Alright, hold on.' She set the cup down on the counter and walked over to Yamcha and wrapped him in a hug. She couldn't see his face start to redden. 'Visit anytime, okay?'
'...Yea, sure.' Yamcha hugged back and withdrew at the earliest . 'You don't have to walk me to the door,' he added quickly, 'I can see myself out.'
She nodded, returning to her cup of tea. 'Bye, then. See you soon, Yamcha.'
'See ya.'
Once he was outside- and he was certain Nera wasn't looking at him from a window- Yamcha's entire body sagged as he sighed. That was… so close. I was this- he held his thumb and his pointer finger an inch away from each other- close. Any longer and… ugh...
Why do you fall in love with every woman that does a favor for you, Yamcha? Just let people do nice things for you... With this thought bouncing around in his head, he proceeded out of town.
0o0o0
Daylight was fading fast- in such declining visibility, training became more and more ludicrous as time went on. Chiaotzu patiently waited for Tien to say something, anything, recognizing this fact. Tien didn't let up from his training for a moment, however. Eventually, Chiaotzu felt compelled to speak. 'Tien, the sun's setting…'
His body was aching- training with Tien today had been especially draining. It didn't help that to boost their progress, Tien had made a habit of taking them to higher altitudes on tall hills and mountains to limit their oxygen intake. They trained from dawn until dusk, eating packed meals when they took their short breaks and sitting when needed. The unrelenting pace of their training, coupled with its undiminishing intensity, was starting to wear down the pale fighter.
Tien launched a rapid-fire series of jabs into the air, then finished his movement by swinging up a leg vertically, swiping through the air like a gust of wind. 'I'm not tired yet,' Tien replied once his leg returned to the ground. He prepared to launch into another set. 'I'm not stopping today until I start to feel exhausted.'
'Tien…'
'You can get back on your own, right?' Tien glanced over at Chiaotzu momentarily before throwing out a couple of full kicks. 'You can go back if you want, but I plan on staying out here for as long as possible We only have a few months until the tournament, after all, and we've wasted enough time as it is.'
Chiaotzu tightened his mouth. 'You know as well as I do we didn't waste any time.'
'Chiaotzu,' Tien said curtly, 'if you're tired, go home.'
A part of Chiaotzu wanted to stick around with Tien- unfortunately, that part, too, was crying for rest. 'Alright... I'll see you soon, right?'
'A few hours,' Tien assured him, 'nothing more.'
'Okay. See you then.' Chiaotzu collected his daypack and started to descend the slope of the hill they were on. The day was- soon to be had been- perfect, with not a cloud in the sky. At the altitude they were at, the darkening sky and the gloomy landscape around them were particularly beautiful. It's a shame I can't stick around- but if I train any longer I'm not going to be able to walk back to the shack. There was a clear gap emerging between him and Tien- though it's not like it didn't exist before. Chiaotzu simply couldn't keep up with Tien physically, as much as he tried. I guess it makes sense. He was never as strong a psychic as me. Still, it was something Chiaotzu realized he might have to accept as the new status quo. He could clearly remember being the top dog at the Crane dojo until Tien surpassed him through sheer strength of will and effort. They were pretty close during and after the 22nd World tournament, too.
But now Chiaotzu had first-hand experience; a Tien unbound by time or teaching would push himself harder than any other human being on the planet. He genuinely started to believe that Tien would repeat at the 23rd World Tournament and again be crowned The World's Strongest.
Then again, Krillin is being trained by God…
0o0o0
Yajirobe was in the middle of spicing a roasted boar on his spit when someone slapped away his spicing hand. 'Hey!' He swiveled to the spice assaulter. 'What's the big idea?'
Rayne was visibly fuming at him. 'What did I saw about cooking! You don't need to eat this often! You could be training!'
Grumbling, Yajirobe turned back to his boar, putting himself between it and Rayne protectively.
She cocked one of her fists in anger, pulled back her arm… and sighed. She let the tension drain away from her body. He's a lazy, obese samurai. I might as well be yelling at a tree to stop growing. She walked over to a sitting log nearby and fell onto it, laying her entire body down its length. I never understood why people don't do this more often. It's super comfortable…
Her clothes were drenched in sweat from the day's effort, but she didn't feel like walking to a stream a few miles away to wash them. Today, she hadn't hadn't felt like doing a lot of things. She was finding it hard to push herself to train on her own- she was really missing Yajirobe as a sparring partner on most days where she was out on her own. She felt she was being inventive with her training, though. The other day she came across a small overhang above a riverbed, and she had actually managed to snap it off to slide down to the stream directly below it. That had felt… cool.
It's getting down to crunch time. I definitely spunked a lot of good training time early on… but taking these trips out to Yajirobe's for weeks at a time are proving useful. The woods around his house are a great place to practice in peace. Aside from her training,Rayne was especially happy with the progress she was making on a house she was constructing from scratch. Well, more like a sophisticated four-walled room than a house comprised of uneven logs, but it's getting there. Situated in a small river-valley she had stumbled upon during her exile from Yajirobe's place, she enjoyed its isolation from the rest of the world. It felt like a little piece of the world she could call her own.
She wasn't quite sure what had compelled her to start building a house. Maybe she was just tired of being a drifter these past few years. Maybe the house would be a home one day. Whatever. I'm looking for some stability in my life, I guess. Repairing a sense of home, a sense of friendship with-
Ah, damn it. I didn't want to admit that to myself.
It gets lonely on your own. She missed… everyone. What i would give-
Her thoughts were interrupted as Yajirobe staggered over with a heaping plate of pork flank. 'You want some?' he mouthed through his chewing.
Rayne sat up on the log and gratefully accepted the plate from him. 'Thanks.'
Yajirobe continued to eye her while he sat down with a plate of pork of his own. 'I should show you something,' he said after a few seconds, placing the plate down.
'Hmeauh?' She lifted her head, trying to speak through a mouthful of food. 'Whdeah?'
'Wait a second.' Yajirobe rushed off into his cabin. As he was doing this, Rayne chewed and cleared enough room in her mouth to actually talk again. A moment later Yajirobe emerged with a sword similar to the one on his belt- this one, however, if it could be judged from the scabbard, had a much more modest appearance and ornamentation. He gestured it to Rayne.
She swallowed another decent chunk of the food. 'You want to teach me how to use a sword?' Rayne asked, skepticism clear in her voice. 'Do you really think that's going to be useful for someone like me?'
'Don't disrespect a good tool,' Yajirobe said matter-of-factly. 'You never know when an unexpected skill like this can save your life.'
Rayne quickly put down her plate and swallowed the rest of the food in her mouth. 'Okay, okay,' she rushed her words out as soon as her mouth was empty 'I guess you can show me a few simple moves.'
'Rule number one.' In an instant, he withdrew the sword and held it vertical between the two of them, 'there is nothing simple about using a blade. Every strike has to be concise, effective- there can be no wasted movement.' Carefully, by holding the bottom of the hilt, he offered it to Rayne. She gripped the top of the hilt with her right hand, and as soon as Yajirobe let go, she gripped the bottom with her left. 'Imagine that the blade's an extension of your body, like an arm or a leg. You wouldn't flail around a leg, right?'
'No.' Once she was done visually inspecting the blade she stepped back and turned to the side, giving herself a wide berth from Yajirobe. Suddenly, she twisted her grip and flashed out the sword in a horizontal arc, swooshing through the air as it went. The edge of the blade glimmered, a sign she had held it steady throughout the entire swing.
One of Yajirobe's eyebrows went up. 'How'd you do that?'
'I've used swords before.' Rayne dropped the tip of the blade to the ground and then cut diagonally right up into the air, hard stopping it when the blade was horizontal to her head. 'It's part of the officer training for the Red Ribbon Army.'
'The Red Ribbon who?'
'Nevermind.' She continued performing her simple swings, trying to familiarize herself with both her old training and the new weapon. After a few moments, Yajirobe signaled her to stop and stepped closer. 'You're still using it like a sword. Remember what I said? About treating it like a tool?'
Rayne looked at him quizzically. 'The purpose of a sword is to be used as a sword, right?'
A knowing grin spread across Yajirobe's face. 'See for yourself.'
Something flashed through the air- it moved so fast that Rayne could only guess that it was the blade- and the sword reappeared horizontally in front of Yajirobe's head, a small slivers of pork interspaced at regular intervals along the flat of the blade. She glanced over to her plate of pork- but it was empty, save for a few scraps. Yajirobe greedily began to eat the food off his blade.
Beneath the disgust and annoyance Rayne felt over what Yajirobe had just done… she couldn't stop herself from feeling awed. 'How did you do that?' she asked, intently watching the hungry samurai eat the last of the meat off his sword. 'That was- insanely quick!'
'It's like he I told you,' he took out a cloth and wiped his sword down. 'When you begin to use the sword like a tool, like an extension of yourself- good things happen.'
'Huh.' Rayne glanced between Yajirobe, his wiped-clean sword, and her own. 'Huh.'
0o0o0
The land changed color with the gentle pace of a paintbrush. Vibrant and life-spilling green gasped and gave way to more even browns and yellows. Those too began to fade with time until there was only a wide canvas of sunburnt yellow passing underneath him. Krillin hadn't actually ever seen a desert before. It was refreshingly novel.
I missed everything down here- even, somehow, the places I've never been to before. I guess long-term separation had a way of doing that.
After a few minutes of passing over an unending forest, Krillin sighted a gaggle of black dots down on the sand below. Carefully, he eased back on Nimbus and guided it to the ground.
As he approached, it became obvious the black dots were a collection of buildings, comprising a small village on the edge of a spring-fed oasis. As hospitable a place he had seen for the past hour. It was only when Nimbus touched down on the ground did he start to recognize faces.
A particularly familiar one greeted him. Streaks of gray were shot through his newfound goatee. 'Krillin?' Nam asked with a look of confusion. 'Is that you?'
'Ahh, c'mon, I don't look that different, do I?'
'No, just… I didn't expect to see you here. I hadn't sensed your presence in… years, if I recall correctly. I thought you had died,' Nam said, converting every note of seriousness across to Krillin.
'I was… away for a while. I'm back now, though.'
They held eye contact with each other for a few tense moments- it was clear to both of them why Krillin had visited.
'Come,' Nam said after a moment, beckoning Krillin, 'this way.'
As Krillin followed Nam through the village, he was able to marvel at the small community. People were carrying babies against their chests or guiding small children in their quest for new and exciting experiences. There was a youthful jovialness in the air that seemed to grip the entire village. There were children… everywhere.
The scars of the past were slow to erase, however. Krillin ominously noticed that there was a visible lack of children over the ages of 5.
Krillin was still in the process of seeing this when he literally walked into Nam's back. 'We're here,' the village chief said, moving to one the side. 'I'll give you your privacy.'
Krillin bowed in thanks, then pulled back the door flap. It was darker inside- his eyes were slow to adjust. Bracing himself, he entered.
It was a smaller building that he had realized. The room was tight and sparse, save for a modestly furnished worktable that had various straps of fabric and metal scattered on it. In the corner of the room, there was a single, modest bed, draped in wonderfully decorative and intricately woven blankets. Those blankets were pushed to one side by the occupant.
Retu turned his head to one side. Upon sighting Krillin, his eyes immediately widened. 'Krillin?...'
Krillin meekly held up a hand in greeting. 'Hi- Retu-'
'Krillin!' Retu clenched his face with effort and in one smooth movement, swung his legs off the bed. He then grabbed a metal shaft with a U-shaped design on the top and stood, propping the metal shaft under his right armpit. Putting his weight on this, he stood- Krillin noticed that Retu was now a good foot taller than him. 'It's really you!' He beckoned Krillin closer, taking the Turtle student with one hand. 'What have you been up to? It's been nearly three years!'
Krillin seemed to be consumed by some bright, unexpected emotion. 'I… I've been caught up in some things. I just recently got the chance to come around. To say hi, I guess.' He paused. 'Retu, I don't mean to bring this up- but I can't believe-'
Retu waved him down. 'I know, I look a lot different than from last time, right?' He didn't say this regretfully, nor accusingly, but with a genuine sense of appreciativeness. 'Thing are looking up.'
'How long have you been… up and about?'
'A few years now. I woke up pretty quickly. The hardest part was adjusting.' He swung his arm to the workbench beside them. 'I had to spend a lot of time trying to make something I could walk around with, but eventually through trial-and-error, I was able to make this thing here,' he said, rapping on the metal shaft. 'I'm not the fastest around the village… but I'm certainly the strongest.' Retu had a mischievous grin on his face.
'Strongest?'
'Uh-huh. Take a look at this.' Retu took a deep breath and froze in place. Then, a white, transparent aura slowly started to build around him. He held up one finger, similarly clothed in white as the rest of his body. He gestured with it to Krillin's body- and Krillin assented with a shake of his head.
Retu tapped his finger into the center of Krillin's chest- and nearly toppled over Krillin with the force released by the single touch. Krillin staggered, and barely steadied himself in time to prevent himself from spilling outside through the door flap. 'Woah!' Krillin exclaimed, 'that's some serious power!'
Retu smiled even as he visibly sagged from exhaustion. 'I've had a lot of free time on my hand to continue to figure out ki. That among other things. I've become sort of the village strongman, actually- beyond Nam, that is.'
Shaking his head, Krillin couldn't even begin to express what he was feeling. 'That's… great. Amazing, actually. Wow…'
'Krillin,' Retu asked, enthusiasm clear in his voice, 'if you're back- does that mean I'm going to train again? I've been making sure I'm not rusty- I've been waiting to pick the training back up.'
'Mmm. Soon.' Krillin had to reach up and ruffle Retu's hair- considering that Retu was taller than Krillin now, it was an awkward gesture. 'I'm still older than you, right?' Krillin joked.
'I guess we'll find out when you train me,' Retu replied. 'Soon?'
'Soon. It's been three years since the last Tournament, which means…'
'Which means there's another one coming up!'
'Yep. I'm going to compete in it.'
'Why?'
Krillin titled his head to one side. 'Why?'
'Yeah. Why compete in it again? You never struck me as glory-hogging type.'
That's true enough. 'There's a lot of reasons. Some personal, some… not so personal.'
'Alright, alright… sorry, I'm just super excited! You'll be here first thing after the tournament, right? I can't wait to begin training.'
'For sure. Just a month from now. You can wait, right?'
'For sure.' Retu stepped closer and hugged Krillin. He was silent for a moment, then said, 'I heard about Master Roshi from Nam. I was sad about that for a long time- I'm sorry.'
With the care and calculated sadness of a parent, Krillin said, 'It's okay. It was his choice to go as he did.'
Retu nodded, hugged Krillin a bit harder, then broke off. 'See you soon.'
'See ya.' Krillin exited.
Once outside, Krillin breathed in the desert air fully, letting it course through his lungs. I can't believe I made him into my mental ghost, manifesting him to taunt me whenever I doubted myself. To think, after all this time…
Alright.
Nam swung by during Krillin's musing, and shot him a knowing look. Like his nephew, mischief subtly filled his face- but good-natured all the same. Wanted me to stew before being overwhelmed by such a bright spirit, huh? Fair enough, Nam. Fair enough.
0o0o0
It was a bit disappointing how fast Krillin had departed once returned coming down on the power pole. I gave him that damn thing and he barely acknowledges I exist! Does he think he's special because he trained with Kami?... Big whoop. Korin tugged at a small, wiry plant, finishing his weeding of his garden pots. While he caught his breath he stared at the uprooted plant in his hand. How the hell do weeds even grow up here!?
He walked over to the side of the tower and threw the planet off. It wasn't a very windy day- because of that, Korin could watch the weed float nearly vertically downwards. Uninterrupted, it descended peacefully until it was pushed by the wind towards the tower. Before it moved out of sight, however, it woooshed right past a climbing cloud.
Oh. That's a person.
That's… Launch? Oh, I remember now…
Not wasting any time, Korin quickly moved over to one of the garden pots he had previously been weeding. He leafed through the plants by hand before settling on a puny little shoot, barely strong enough to stand of its own free will. In one deft move, his hand swiped vertically down one side of the shoot, popping out a handful of small green beans out to the side. His other hand was there, and with the assistance of a small, brown pouch, quickly caught every bean.
Except for one. He misjudged the angle of the last one and one bean sped past the pouch, rocketing away on a blast of wind. 'Aaahhh!' Korin spun around, fully prepared to sprint after the stray bean.
There was no need. As he turned he saw Launch standing with one clenched hand raised. Wordlessly, she walked over to Korin and neatly deposited the bean into his still-open pouch. 'That yours?' she asked, grinning.
Korin grunted. He tied the pouch twice over and placed it in Launch's still outstretched hand. 'You remember what I told you about these right?' he said, resembling an exhausted teacher. 'Only use them in an emergency- like someone is about to die emergency.'
'Yea, yea, yea,' Launch replied, gesturing away his concern. 'You know what I'm about. You don't need to tell me the whole rigmarole again-' she tilted her head, as if considering something. 'Or maybe you do?'
'Whatever. Just keep them safe until the tournament. The next batch of those won't be ready for another year.'
'A year, huh?' Launch held up the bag, inspecting it. 'Why so long?'
'Because they're chock full of nutrition!' Korin directed Launch's attention to the piddly senzu plant. 'And this thing stinks as soaking up nutrients! Just look at it.'
'Uhh… I see that. Welp,' Launch said, putting emphasis on the "p" 'I better go. See ya.'
'You aren't tired from the climb?' Korin asked. 'You're always welcome to stay the night, you know.'
'Nah. You trained me, remember?' She tied the pouch to her waist. 'Bye.' With that, she hopped over the railing and climbed out of view.
Korin was getting flashbacks. Just like Krillin, no thank-
Launch's head popped up from beneath the level of the floor. 'By the way- thanks!' She smiled and her head disappeared below again.
How… did she do that?
0o0o0
Chi-Chi sat on a rock, keeping herself off the wet, still thawing ground. Nearby, Suno was flying across the ground, using both her love of late spring and her dedication to training to keep herself constantly in movement. She would, crouch, flip, twist, spin, and jump into a dizzying amount of maneuvers in the space of a few heartbeats. Mud was constantly splashing off the ground from where her high, brown boots landed. She was making full use of her recent growth spurt- her range of movement was rivaling Chi-Chi's now.
I always thought Suno was a lot younger than myself. I guess when you're teaching someone you overestimate the difference between you and them…
But by Kami, there's such a difference between us.
'Suno?' Chi-Chi said quietly, causing her pupil to turn her head. 'Can I ask you a question?'
Suno saw Chi-Chi's eyes were deep-set in her head. She had a good idea what her master was about to ask. 'Shoot.'
'Am I a good master?' There was no doubting the sincerity in Chi-Chi's voice, in her eyes, as she addressed Suno. 'Did I… not screw up?'
'Oh, Chi-Chi.' Suno slowed to a stop and walked over to her teacher. Chi-Chi was propping her head up by her knees. 'What's gotten into you?'
'I just… I've made a lot of mistakes in the past. I want to make sure I don't repeat these mistakes with you.'
'You're crazy.' Suno came closer and held Chi-Chi by her shoulders. 'You've taught me so much. I wouldn't have learned any of this if you hadn't come back to Jingle Village. I would be… I don't know, running around, just living a normal life, I guess. Where's the excitement in that?'
Chi-Chi twisted, shirking off Suno.'You don't want to be normal?'
'Nah. This is way more fun.'
'Can't argue that,' Chi-Chi replied, starting to chuckle.
Suno took a few steps back from Chi-Chi. In an effort to change subjects, she asked, 'Do you think we can finally do our real spar?'
'Soon,' Chi-Chi said, sighing. 'You're not quite there yet.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes.'
Suno shrugged, turning back to her wide-open field of thawing snow. After a moment of preparation, she burst into another set of routines Chi-Chi had shown her.
It was strangely familiar for Chi-Chi to watch. It's almost like- she reminds of a younger version of myself. I still have that enthusiasm every once and a while, of course, but it feels less important now…
I wonder… if she's that much like me...
'Can you make a promise?' Chi-Chi asked after a moment of contemplative silence. 'Don't compete in the World Tournament. That would make me feel a lot better.'
'Am I anywhere near the power levels of your friends?'
'Err… no, not exactly.'
'Then I'll watch from the sidelines for this tournament. That way I'll learn the most, right?'
'Right.' Chi-Chi nearly shook her head in disbelief at Suno's willingness to accommodate her. I am favored by Kami, truly. Maybe I should think about this a bit more...
0o0o0
One week before the 23rd World Tournament…
It turns out that walking halfway across the world took time. A lot of time.
This sucks. Rayne hated walking more than any other form of moving. It was always so slow! Even back when she was in the Red Ribbon Army, she preferred riding in a truck or on a bike.
Too bad they aren't around to give me a lift. What I would give for a big, wide troop carrier...
Lost in her thoughts, Rayne practically stumbled into a major roadway, only pulling back once a car sped past her a foot away from her nose.
An idea began to form. Beaming, she jammed her thumb towards the sky.
0o0o0
Yamcha slammed his palm into a boulder. It momentarily shook violently before splitting open like an egg and crumbling apart.
Satisfied, Yamcha withdrew his hand, holding it ever-so-slightly from the discomfort of slamming it directly against solid rock. Fantastic. He swept his hands through his shoulder-length black hair, being careful not to touch his still healing scar jutting out from the left side of his face. I'm breaking new ground… literally, haha!
He clenched his right hand, watching ki slide out like blades from the edges of his fingers. Evildoers beware. You're due a visit very soon...
0o0o0
Earth rumbled and split from the immense force pushing down on it. A wrapping, twisting wave of energy shot down, breaking and butting itself against the ground. The blast tapered off after a few moments, leaving behind a darkened patch of rock.
High in the sky, a green, menacing figure panted, letting his forward arm droop. Hours and hours and hours… His entire life- what he himself remembered, at least- had been consumed by training. The strong dominate, or kill, the weak. I can't afford to be on the wrong side of that.
The boy flashed through his mind, as did the two bald humans. Equal in their depravity, they taunted him from beyond the grave, still consuming the thoughts of whatever small part of his father still remained within him. I will find peace- through rectifying the past.
Below him, the dirt began to settle, a reprieve granted to a spot of land for the first time in the past ten hours. 'Once more!' he yelled, aiming his clawed hand at the blackened spot of earth. 'Again!'
Another brilliant, yellow beam screamed from the heavens.
0o0o0
Alone in a darkened, shuttered workshop, Bulma snored away, giving the room a cave-like ambiance. A clock on the wall blinked "5 AM" in light red lettering. In her sleep, she clutched a flat, rectangular object, her head pinning it to the table. The glass of the object glowed softly with hues of blue and green.
Bulma shifted her head, rolling it off the device and onto the metal work table beneath. On the surface of the device, dots were moving...
0o0o0
They were rounding the first true hill on their trip when Chi-Chi surprised Suno by spinning around 'You got everything?' Chi-Chi asked.
Nodding more enthusiastically that Chi-Chi through possible, Suno practically sprung into the air with excitement. Her gi- which was laced with blue and white- was supposedly emblazoned with the symbol of Jingle Village. Not that I've ever seen that symbol, Chi-Chi considered. She looked at her own clothing. I guess my multi-color clothing isn't for everyone. But it's unique, right? Thanks, Dad.
'This is finally it? This is the day we set off?' Suno enthused.
'No joke.'
'Jeez…' she couldn't stop smiling.
'And you're sure your mom is okay with this?' Chi-Chi checked, staring directly at Suno.
Her pupil didn't flinch, 'She's okay with it as long as you're accompanying me.'
'Really? Huh.' Chi-Chi gazed off in the distance at Jingle Village. 'Who'd have thought I'd cut such a responsible figure...'
'Can we go now?'
Chi-Chi glanced back Suno. 'This is going to be a long trip; so we're going to away for a while before we get back to your village. You're… sure?'
'Yes! Can we get on the road already!'
'Alright,' Chi-Chi replied and turned, shrugging. 'Just remember, you asked for this.'
Rolling her eyes, Suno fell in behind Chi-Chi's steady walk.
0o0o0
The room darkened with the gradual creeping of night, but if Krillin had noticed, he didn't show it. He remained unmoving and cross-legged on the floor of his room. He had guessed correctly that there were some businesses on Papaya Island that had a lot of available rooms the week leading up to the World Tournament.
He probed across the world, searching for every relevant ki signature, new and old, that was approaching the island. From what he sensed, everyone was either nearly here or rapidly converging on the island.
Call it gut instinct, but he felt some of those people would prove to be less-than-good.
I'm ready, regardless.
0o0o0
A series of knocks rang against the wooden door of the modest shack Tien and Chiaotzu had cobbled together near the mountains. They were in the middle of their morning tea.
'Who's that?' Tien asked.
Chiaotzu sipped from his cup. After a few fleeting moments of silence, the door to the shack was smashed inwards off its hinges. Into the darkened light stepped a fully grown woman with yellow hair sprinkled with swirling blue streaks. 'Bozos!' she yelled, holding up the fist she had pummeled the door in with, 'it's tournament time!'
A/N: It's tournament time and the rapidly encroaching end to DB, whooooo yeah!
Reviews:
Luke: Thank you, that's super nice to say! Not sure if it's true or not but thank you!
Zeikwalt: He definitely got a boost… read and find out.
LWexe: It was a fun chapter to write! I like exploring everyone on their own.
Legendary-AI: Time will tell… Kakarot is a true wildcard.
Belsareth32: Thank you! Glad you're still reading along!
Guest #1: Probably! We'll see. Defeating Piccolo is never an easy thing.
Anon: Any way you slice it he's a longshot of even coming into existence right now…
Guest #2: Thank you for sticking around! And such kind words!
