Thank you Ness Frost for all your input! And of course everyone else for the positive feedback and reviews! MUCH APPRECIATED!
Also, fastest update ever. This is what happens when I don't have millions of papers to write. Don't get used to it :/
Piccolo was growing increasingly bored and irritated over the days that stretched out. He felt cramped in the confines of the ship. There was no sunlight, just artificial lighting that occasionally flickered annoyingly. There was no sand, no grass, no life in this stinking hulk of metal. There was no truly dependable source of water besides what Krillin had shown him. A shower, it was called. But, the water was always either freezing cold or scalding hot. Krillin insisted that there was a way to make the temperature tolerable, but he had yet to figure that out.
The damn space the shower was in was far too small anyways. He had to duck down for the water to actually hit his head, and the whole situation just made him feel claustrophobic. He supposed he'd just use it when absolutely necessary, and considering there was no room to train in the insufferable pod, would effectively be once they arrived on Namek. Maybe even once he got back on Earth with the kid.
Krillin was becoming increasingly annoying, trying to make friends with him. He knew Tsuki had told him to get used to it, and that he'd be a close ally, but that didn't mean he wanted to be all buddy-buddy with him. Not at all. No, he didn't want to talk about the traveling. No, he didn't want to talk about Vegeta possibly coming back to finish what he started. No, he didn't want to talk about training. No, he didn't want to talk about "the old days."
And no, he did not want to talk about Gohan.
Krillin found that one out the hard way. He got the hints when Piccolo would just not answer his questions, or snort derisively at a statement. But as soon as the kid's name came up, the Namekian let out a loud growl and pushed the much smaller human away from him forcefully before storming off. Krillin made sure he never brought it up again.
And the Bulma woman was insufferable. She was constantly doing something, fixing equipment and the like, making a ruckus of metal parts clanking together. Or she was bossing around her companions as if she had a right to do so. That annoyed Piccolo very much. He much preferred when she had a healthy fear of him, like in the past.
But the most infuriating part was when she wasn't fixing something or snapping at them, she was moping around the damn ship like a ghost. At night, he could hear her sniffling to herself in her room, which was beyond irritating.
Krillin said she was grieving the loss of Yamcha, and that working and being bossy were her way of dealing with the pain.
Stupid woman. Didn't she know the best way to deal with grief was to internalize it? Or destroy something in a fit of anger?
Tonight was beginning to be the final straw. Bulma had been throwing a fit since mid-afternoon, bossing Krillin around, and berating Piccolo for not helping out around the ship. As if there was anything he knew how to do with technology. Now, she was in her room, crying, the noise assaulting his ears once more.
He was finished with it.
With Krillin watching him in frightened awe, Piccolo stormed over to Bulma's door and forced it opening, practically tearing it off its hinges. Bulma let out a surprised yelp, jumping off her bed, and then began an angry tirade, shouting at Piccolo.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she shrieked.
"Quit your crying, you annoying, insignificant little human. Despairing won't bring him back," Piccolo snapped.
There was a stunned silence from Bulma for a moment as her face went from shocked to furious in just a few moments. "Don't you dare tell me to stop grieving for someone I love! You have no right! Just because you don't know grief or sorrow doesn't mean the rest of us don't. You don't even know love in that cold, evil heart of yours, and you never will!"
"Bulma..." Krillin gasped.
Piccolo let out a feral snarl and grabbed Bulma by the neck, slamming her back into the wall, her feet dangling several feet from the ground as she was forced up to his level. His eyes gleamed angrily, his teeth bared to her. Bulma let out a choked gasp as she tried to breathe around his constricting hand.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Stop it!" Krillin said forcefully, if somewhat shakily. "Put her down, Piccolo!"
Piccolo dropped her unceremoniously to the floor and stormed out, leaving Krillin and Bulma to stare after him in shock.
No one bothered Piccolo much after that incident. Bulma practically tiptoed around him, and Krillin stopped trying to make the small talk.
It made the trip entirely more bearable.
In the quiet hours of meditation, Piccolo often found his thoughts wandering to the boy, wondering how he was handling being in the other realm. He tried to call upon Tsuki for answers, but it seemed the goddess was reachable only on her terms. Sometimes, in the dead of night, when it seemed even space itself darkened, he would watch out the window and look into the endless blackness, searching for signs of the god or goddess working, but he saw nothing.
In the silence, he often had to remind himself that yes, the kid was coming back.
Piccolo was making damn sure of that.
Another week passed in the monotony of space. Things had smoothed out somewhat. Krillin was approaching Piccolo more and more often, and the Namekian found himself becoming more tolerant of his companionship. Bulma too was coming around, speaking neutral words to him.
As the days carried on, Bulma could often be found at the control panel of the ship, continuously checking their coordinates, and collecting data from the surrounding expanses space, noting seemingly insignificant things, and growing more optimistic with each day.
Then, finally, the news they had been waiting for. "There! We're approaching Namek's solar system!" Bulma exclaimed happily.
Krillin sprang from his seat on the couch. "Seriously? How much longer then?" he asked excitedly.
"Two hours until we hit her atmosphere. Then only fifteen minutes from there!"
"Isn't this great, Piccolo! Just over two hours and we'll have Gohan ba- Hey, what are you looking at?" Krillin asked, coming to stand next to Piccolo at the large window where the Namekian was looking out intensely.
Beyond the pane, a flurry of lights were streaming in rapid succession, filling the blackness of space with streaks of gold, red, blue, and purple. Piccolo's brow furrowed.
"Hey, Bulma, come check this out!" Krillin said. "What do you think it is?"
Bulma came over. "Hm, interesting. I suppose it could be solar winds changing course. Not sure. I've never exactly been in this solar system, you know," she finished sarcastically.
"Could they damage the ship?"
"Mm, no, I don't think so. Looks like it's too far away to even worry about it."
Piccolo said nothing as he continued to watch.
He said nothing about how wrong they were.
He said nothing as the red and gold swirled around the blue and purple, choking it out.
And he said nothing when Tsuki suddenly appeared before him and time stopped once again.
The goddess looked more flustered than Piccolo had ever seen her. Her flaxen hair was in a complete disarray, her eyes flashing in anger. Her whole body was quivering in unrest.
"I'm afraid it is not good news I bring you, my friend," she stated bluntly, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to placate herself.
"Your brother, I presume?" Piccolo supplied blandly.
"Of course. Bastard cannot stay out of my work."
"He won."
Tsuki looked at him sharply. "Yes," she answered dully. "It appears my brother has been dipping into some dark magic that I was not aware of. He is getting stronger than I had thought."
"And that's bad."
"Extremely. Once he starts getting into dark magic... my powers can only do so much before I have to tap into some reserves."
"Well then why don't you?"
"I don't know how to use them."
"What?"
"There are some things my mother did not have time to teach me before she passed. I'm on my own figuring this out."
"What did your brother do? What should I expect?"
"I told you the story of the Colds, the race that took out the Saiyans?"
"Yes."
"Frieza and Vegeta are headed to Namek."
"What? Why? Why us?"
"He found out about the boy. And he very much does not want him brought back."
"So he sent those two to kill us and stop it from happening?"
"No. Frieza and Vegeta are here to get the dragon balls. Both for the same purpose. Immortality."
"They're working together? That's why Frieza called for Vegeta to leave Earth?"
"Yes, but Vegeta is now rogue. He's here to thwart Frieza."
"Great. So they're both searching for the dragon balls too, then. And they'll gladly kill us in the process."
"Frieza, yes. Without a second thought. You must avoid him at all costs. Vegeta... well, he may be of use to you."
"How? He'll want us dead. He'll know we're here to bring Gohan back. Doesn't that mess up his grand scheme?"
"Yes, but Vegeta is one of mine. My brother can interfere with him as much as he wants, but Vegeta will still bend to my will, and my will alone. I cannot change why he is here, but I can prevent him from killing any of you. But, he will be hostile, and he will resent you. I cannot change any of that. You'll have to do that for me."
"So what you're saying is, he can beat us to within an inch of our lives and leave us to die, but not actually kill us," Piccolo said sardonically. Tsuki nodded. "Perfect."
"Start practicing your people skills."
"Why does your brother not want Gohan brought back so badly that he's willing to kill us for it?" Piccolo asked bluntly, ignoring her quip.
"Because Gohan is the wild card. Gohan is his blood. And because of that, the boy can take him down. And he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Amat cannot kill him himself. So, if Frieza becomes immortal, then he could become the vessel to kill the boy for him, should someone succeed in bringing him back ever."
"Does Gohan know any of this at all?"
She shook her head. "We are forbidden to tell him. Not even my mother in the other realm can share this knowledge. All he knows is that he is special, and nothing more. No one can know any of this. It is against the unwritten laws."
"Then how come I can know all of this?"
"Because I need that boy protected. And I have chosen you as my vessel."
"Why me?" Piccolo asked tiredly.
Tsuki smiled. "Because I like you."
"Can't say the feeling's mutual."
But she was already gone.