Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, or anything else related to the Dragon Ball universe, or any of its characters. They are all owned by Akira Toriyama.
'So it's going to be one of those days, huh…'
In all honesty, he really shouldn't have been surprised.
He had tried to go to sleep. He really did, but too much had happened in the past few hours for him to succeed for any significant length of time.
His mind was exhausted, yet it refused to stop working.
He had replayed the event over and over again in his head, thinking through all of the implications that finally unlocking his Ki held.
He might have fallen asleep for a few hours, if that, but the rest of his time since then had been spent tossing and turning in his bed, restlessly.
This had only ever happened to him a handful times in the past. Whenever he had been studying one of his favorite subjects, and a new theory had been presented that had completely blown his mind, he would usually find himself in the same state that he found himself in now, when he finally went to bed.
Dead tired, but unable to sleep as his mind whirled, thinking through all of the new possibilities.
Huh.
Maybe he needed to get out more if the most exciting things that happened to him involved learning about brand new, controversial, scientific theories.
His recent experience with his Ki, worked exactly the same way. It raised too many questions for him to sleep properly at the moment. He needed to figure out how to utilize his Ki in his training before he'd be able to rest.
His mind simply refused to leave a thought process unfinished.
His current Ki level was frankly, pathetic. He needed to work on that as soon as possible. For some reason, he couldn't access the massive amount of Ki that he knew he had, hidden away. The amount he could access consciously at the moment, was miniscule by comparison.
And that threw a few wrenches in his current training plans.
He had originally hoped that, after unlocking his Ki, he would be able to access all of his hidden power at will. Something that couldn't have been further from the truth.
He had wanted to spend all of his training time on Ki experiments, working on new techniques, and most importantly, on his silent movement training. Since he had so much hidden power, he had thought that he wouldn't really need to waste a whole lot of time getting stronger, and that he would have more than enough time to spare on trying out new ideas.
But that wasn't the case anymore.
If he wanted to compete against the saiyans, then he needed to get strong, fast. He didn't have a lot of time to spare on things that he wasn't even sure would work out in the end.
His silent movement training, unfortunately, fit right into that category.
He needed to come up with a completely new training plan, as his current one was obsolete.
He had grown attached to his silent movement idea, but if he wasn't strong enough to fight a saiyan directly in the first place, it would ultimately be useless.
He had seen the battle that his father had had with his uncle, and had witnessed firsthand what high level combat looked like.
How was moving really quietly going to help him out in a fight like that, if he wasn't strong enough to keep up in the first place?
It wouldn't.
Maybe, he should just spend all of his time getting stronger and faster, rather than just learning control. All of the control in the world wouldn't help him out in a fight of that caliber at his current level. He didn't have his hidden strength to rely on, so he needed to either unlock it somehow, or get strong without it.
He needed to focus on his Ki, rather than waste his time trying to do something that he didn't even know was possible, and had no luck with. Training stealth had yielded absolutely no results so far, and he didn't have enough time, or patience, to keep testing it out anymore either.
The whole point of it was to learn how to minimize his energy use in each movement, but how much energy would he really save anyway?
Maybe it wouldn't even really make all that much of a difference.
In any case, even if it was possible, and was worth training, he simply didn't have the time, with the way things were going.
All of his time spent learning how to be stealthy, could have been spent increasing his Ki reserves, coming up with new attacks, and getting stronger.
He didn't have time to waste on trial and error training methods. He had to go through essentially a lifetime of strength training in less than a year to even approach the strength of his dad, or the saiyans. There was a limit to what he could do in that time.
The longer he thought about his situation, the more doubts he had.
Ultimately, his training seemed to come down to one thing.
Since he was going to be fighting, he needed to spend all of his training time working on skills that would increase his odds of surviving a direct confrontation with the saiyans.
What would being quiet, be useful for at his current level? Running away? It wouldn't even do him any good there, since the saiyans would be too powerful to run away from, even if he wanted to. And besides, he had already resolved to himself that he wouldn't run away from them when the time came.
He wouldn't let his dad down again.
What would learning all of the intricacies of Ki do for him in the end? Sure he might be able to do a few new interesting tricks, but how would that help against beings who were capable of destroying cities, possibly even the planet itself?
He didn't know for sure how strong these new saiyans were.
His powers were still dormant, as a result, he needed to sacrifice his unconventional training plan for a more practical one.
He couldn't waste any more time.
Restlessly, he rolled over onto his other side.
God, he was tired.
There was still no way he was going to fall asleep any time soon either, if his past experiences in similar situations were anything to go by.
He had too much on his mind, and needed some air.
Rolling onto his stomach, he pushed himself up, and onto his feet.
Letting out a yawn, he walked over to the cave entrance.
He didn't want to fully leave the cave, so he just looked out into the night, at the distant treeline a few hundred meters away.
What did his dad do to train? He could remember distinctly, that in the past, he could hear his father walk around whenever he moved. Whatever his dad's training entailed, it clearly didn't involve stealth to the degree that he had been considering for his own training.
His dad made noise when he walked around.
Yet, his dad was the strongest on the planet.
Surely if there was a better way to train, his dad would have found it right? If his own training ideas actually did work, and were effective, surely his dad would have already tried them out in the past at some point, right?
His dad seemed to exclusively train his overall strength, his Ki, and his martial arts techniques. Nothing else. Stealth wasn't a factor. Neither was experimentation.
Maybe that meant that they weren't important enough skills to train.
Maybe, all of his theoretical ideas didn't work in reality.
If they did, his dad or Piccolo would have already tried them.
He let out an irritated sigh, and gently closed his eyes.
He had no idea what he needed to do anymore.
Well, actually, he did. He was just reluctant to do it.
He had spent a lot of time thinking about how he was going to train, and he had all kinds of ideas that sounded great in theory. He just didn't have enough time to make them work.
But they were still his ideas, so he was really reluctant to just abandon them all for a more practical approach.
But, the practical approach was guaranteed to increase his chances of survival in the coming fight. It was what his dad, and Piccolo seemed to favor too. If there was a better way, surely one of them would have found it by now. They had decades more experience with training than he did, so they probably knew better.
His stealth training idea, wasn't even known to be possible. Not to mention, that it seemed pretty impractical in a battle with a saiyan. There were just too many unknowns that he didn't have time to work through.
The practical approach just kept sounding better and better.
Stealth and control, were only important if he was strong enough to utilize them in a fight.
With his powers dormant, he needed to get strong first.
When there was a time constraint, it was better to stick with what has been proven to work in the past, then to try something new, and untested.
With a final review of his thoughts, he made his decision. He needed to get stronger, faster, and learn how to use his Ki in energy attacks. He couldn't waste his time learning all of the intricacies of Ki with such a small amount of time to spare. Besides, he could always come back after the saiyans were defeated to experiment with his abilities.
He'd have his whole life afterwards to try out new things.
Right?
He would train the same way as his dad, and save his new ideas for when he was a bit more experienced.
With his mind finally made up, he turned around, with the intent to go back to bed. His thoughts were now resolved, so he should be able to get a few hours of sleep before the sunrise.
After letting out a yawn, something made him freeze, mid-stride.
It was only after listening carefully to his surroundings, and trying to identify what had made him pause, that he noticed it.
Something was wrong.
There was an eerie feeling in the air. One that sent a shiver down his spine. It was a feeling that put him on instant alert, and made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
He knew what this feeling was.
He had felt it numerous times before. Everyone did at some point to his knowledge, but most of the times that he had felt it himself, it was usually just a by-product of his child-like imagination. It was not so long ago, that he went through the phase of constantly checking for invisible monsters under his bed, and in his closet after all.
Children were generally afraid of a lot of things that they shouldn't be. He was no exception.
No… this feeling. It wasn't new to him.
He was young, inexperienced at life, and still carried that general childish paranoia when it came to all things unknown.
This feeling was stronger than it had ever been, during all of those times he had felt it in the past. Much stronger.
This time, it felt real.
It felt as if he were being watched… right now.
And this time, it scared him. This time, nobody else was around to convince him that the monsters he was afraid of weren't real.
And he was afraid. More so then he really should have been.
He wanted so badly, to just take the remaining few steps inside the cave to sleep, he really did, but he was frozen in fear. His body wouldn't listen to reason when he was like this. Even if he knew that there was no good reason to be afraid, he couldn't help it.
He was still just a kid.
What if this time, the monsters were real?
Something in the area, was just wrong.
After spending a few moments listening to the area around him, and debating about whether or not to just ignore the feeling in order to try to go to sleep, he steeled himself, and against his better judgement, slowly turned back around to face the trees.
It took another moment or two before he finally figured out what had put him on edge.
The forest was way too quiet. Eerily so.
The thing that made him freeze in the first place was a sound that he had heard. A sound that he really shouldn't have been able to hear at this distance. It was a snapping sound. A twig or branch had broken, far off in the forest. He barely heard it, but it was enough to notice.
The only reason he had heard it was because the area was just too quiet.
Normally, he was able to hear the sounds of various nocturnal animals if he was ever up this late at night. The forest never truly slept. There were always animals awake doing something or another, usually insects.
But tonight, it sounded like the forest was dead.
There was no sound at all coming from the forest.
No insects, no birds, no animals, there weren't even any trees, or leaves, rustling.
Under normal circumstances, a branch breaking in a forest was commonplace, and would never be able to be heard over the sounds of the forest from this far away.
But right now, it was the only sound emitted from the entire forest. And since the forest was the only source of background noise in the area, the only sounds that he could hear were his own breathing and heartbeat, and the quiet crackling from the fire that was still going, back in his cave.
It was creepy.
The forest was surprisingly scary at night, when it was silent like this. He almost wanted to rush into his cave to grab his sword.
The silence just felt too unnatural.
Instead, against his better judgement, he continued to watch the treeline, looking for something that was out of place.
This was a different kind of fear. A primal type. Fear of something unknown. Even though he had searched through the entire forest, and was relatively confident that there was nothing within it that could really hurt him, this was different.
Something out there had made everything in the forest go quiet.
He wanted to turn around and leave, but was too afraid of making noise in this silence, so he just remained frozen, still searching for anything abnormal.
'Maybe it was Piccolo? Maybe he came back to check up on me?' He thought, uneasily, and with a little hope.
Movement.
His vision was instantly drawn to something moving behind one of the trees about a hundred meters away.
A black figure stepped out from behind the tree, in complete silence, and walked out into the open.
Gohan's eyes widened, and remained locked onto the being.
It was human shaped, and just remained standing between the two trees, looking out into the clearing.
After squinting his eyes, he could immediately verify, one important thing.
It wasn't Piccolo.
The whole area was way too dark to see clearly, but there was a faint light coming from the moon, and stars. It was enough to distinguish the figure clearly from the trees around it.
The figure had long hair, and didn't have the cape and shoulder armour that Piccolo did. He didn't know what, or who that was, and for some reason… that scared him.
The being was just standing there, perfectly still, just looking out into the clearing separating the two of them, but not quite facing him.
He didn't know why he was so afraid, but he couldn't help it. This whole situation just felt wrong, almost like a nightmare. One where he knew something bad was about to happen, but could do nothing to stop it.
So he just stood frozen, and continued to watch, as the figure bent down to grab something, picked it up, and continued walking, disappearing behind the next tree over.
It didn't seem like he had been seen by whoever or whatever that was, at least. The fire in his cave was much too dim for it to illuminate the cave entrance behind him, thankfully.
Just then, he felt something pass over him. Almost like a wave of warm wind that encompassed his entire body. Whatever it was, forced his Ki to make another appearance. It felt almost like his Ki was resonating with whatever this wind was.
His Ki flooded his entire body, and was brought to the surface of his skin, almost as if it were trying to reach out and grab onto the energy that was currently surrounding him.
His Ki flooded his muscles, and he idly noticed, that if he could figure out how to do what he's doing right now, later, he'd finally be able to augment his strength. He had never felt as strong as he did now.
The wind surrounded him, and he could feel it contouring to his body somehow, as if it were measuring where he was, and what he looked like.
It almost felt as if the 'wind' was watching him somehow. It reminded him of a sonar. An idea that was only further validated as the wind's intensity grew slightly, and remained locked onto him, rather than passing over him. It was only about as intense as a gentle breeze, but he could feel it.
It was completely unnatural.
For a moment, the wind was motionless. When it stopped, it felt as if he was underwater. Then, as abruptly as the wind came, it left. His Ki died down, and he felt it disappear.
The feeling had been indescribable. Both awe-inspiring, and terrifying.
After a few moments of silence, he let out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding.
Before he had the chance to mentally question what had just occurred, or why, he heard another sound. It sounded like someone's breath hitched… right in front of him.
He looked up, startled… right into the eyes of the black figure, presumably the one he had seen earlier, standing right in front of him, not three meters away.
There had been no warning. The figure had crossed the whole clearing in an instant, utterly soundlessly. His instincts hadn't picked up on the figure's arrival whatsoever.
There were no air movements. It just appeared.
Like a ghost.
If he hadn't felt fear before, then he certainly did now. He could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed horror, at the thing in front of him.
He almost wanted to scream, or faint, but for some reason, he didn't. He just remained frozen right where he was standing, without making a sound. It seemed that under extreme amounts of fear, he froze, rather than taking the much more common fight, or flight, methods.
To an outsider, it may have even looked like he was only moderately surprised at what had just occurred, rather than all-out terrified.
His mind had completely shut down for a few moments, before he realized that he was indeed still alive, and that the figure in front of him wasn't moving at all.
It was just standing there, looking right back at him.
The figure was a bit taller than he was, not yet the height of a teenager, likely around the height of a twelve or thirteen year old, dressed mostly in black, but now that he was paying attention, he could make out blonde, spiky hair, and most notably, there was a tail wrapped around his waist.
Just like his own.
Impossibly, this was a saiyan.
One who, strangely enough, looked just as surprised as he was, if not, even more so.
The newly identified saiyan's face, had 'surprised' written all over it. He almost even looked afraid to see him.
There was a momentary stare down between the two of them, before a look of understanding appeared on the blonde saiyan's face, as if he had just figured out what was going on.
A look of determination then crossed the saiyan's dimly lit features.
Gohan's mind did what it always did in unfamiliar, unexplainable situations. After rebooting, it exploded into a frenzy of questions and possible explanations.
This was another saiyan. How?
There were only supposed to be two left, other than his dad.
What did this new one want? Why was he out here in the forest? How did he move so fast? How strong was he?
In a moment of realization, everything seemed to click into place.
His uncle Raditz, came here in a spaceship. That meant, that the saiyans were capable of interstellar, possibly even intergalactic travel.
Something that required spaceships that were capable of faster-than-light travel. Much faster than light. As a result, he had no idea how fast the Saiyan spaceships were.
There was no reason to believe that it would take a full year for the two incoming saiyans to get here, especially since a year according to the planet that Raditz came from, may have differed from a year, Earth time.
They really had no clear idea when the saiyans would arrive. Despite what they had been told by Raditz, the information was impossible to verify, and useless as a result.
His uncle may have only said that it would take a year, so that he could throw everyone on the planet off guard, and leave the Earth defenseless when the saiyans actually arrived, giving the saiyans a huge advantage.
It was a brilliant tactical move, in his opinion. Deliberately leaking false information to your enemies to gain an advantage.
This was what the Earth was up against?
How terrifying.
They had already lost.
The saiyans were already here, and nobody else but him, knew it.
The one in front of him was short, when compared to his dad, and uncle. Much shorter than the black figure that he had seen in the trees earlier too.
Which meant that both of the saiyans were out here for some reason.
If there were even going to be only two. Maybe Raditz lied about that too, and there were actually more than two, on their way.
He wouldn't be surprised.
The Earth didn't have a clue what it was in for. Everything we were told could have been a lie.
So much for preparations.
Going by the evident determination on the new saiyan's face, he was probably about to be killed.
That wind earlier must have somehow sensed his energy. That was why his Ki had reacted the way it did. The wind technique somehow brought out the energy of the target, so that it could be measured.
Which meant, his own Ki had been read. Possibly even his vast hidden powers that he couldn't yet control.
From the perspective of this saiyan, he was a child with huge Ki reserves that could become a potential roadblock in their conquest of the planet.
He was a threat… and was going to be eliminated for it.
There was no way he could compete against someone that was this fast.
And judging by how silently this new guy got here, the saiyans had mastered his silent movement idea too. Possibly to an even greater degree than even he had thought possible.
If nothing else, at least he now knew that it was possible to move like that. His training ideas worked after all.
Who knew?
He could accept his death, knowing that he had been right.
Maybe the people of Earth could still win in the end. Surely Piccolo will notice if his life force disappears, and will be able to mount some kind of defense against these saiyans.
The blonde saiyan lowered his center of gravity and prepared to move.
Gohan's life flashed before his eyes.
'Sorry mom… dad…'
Maybe he'd see his dad on the other side.
At least there was that.
Faster than he could blink, the saiyan took an impossibly fast, soundless, step towards him, and launched himself… back into the trees in the distance?
What?
He continued to stare after him, still frozen in shock.
The saiyan had moved in complete silence again, and had covered the length of the clearing in way less than half a second. He could only just barely follow it with his eyes. It was frightening how fast he was. Way faster than he had seen Piccolo move earlier, and impossibly more refined in his movements.
But he was still left without an explanation.
Why?
Why was he still alive?
Not that he wasn't grateful or anything, but leaving him alive served no tactical advantage in conquering the Earth.
He dropped down to his knees and tried to catch his breath. Sweat was pouring down his face. That was easily the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
That saiyan was way out of his league.
But maybe… it wouldn't matter. He was still alive at the moment. If he could get his sword, then maybe, just maybe, if the saiyan attacked him, and he was incredibly lucky, his hidden power would come out, at least long enough for Piccolo to sense it.
He didn't think for a second that his powers would be enough to defeat someone of that caliber.
But maybe if he could warn Piccolo, then maybe Earth would still stand a chance.
Maybe.
It was all he could do.
He shakily got up off his knees and scrambled into his cave as fast as possible. He made a beeline to his sword and drew it.
Taking a moment to look at the blade, he tried to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do.
The blade might as well have been a toothpick against that saiyan. There was no way the sword would prove to be an effective weapon here.
But it'd have to do. It was at least better than being unarmed.
He spun around, and tried to make his way to the cave exit, when he bumped into someone.
Stumbling backwards, he opened his eyes to see the black shirt that the blonde saiyan was wearing. His eyes widened in fear, and he glanced up at his face.
In the time it took for him to transfer his gaze from the saiyan's shirt to where his face would be, the saiyan had disappeared without a trace.
It was a level of speed that eclipsed, even the blonde saiyan's own previous demonstration in the clearing. In an instant, he just wasn't there anymore. He didn't fade out, or blur, he just wasn't occupying the space he had been a moment ago.
That was when he felt a hand touch the center of his back.
In the next instant, and before he could fully react or even comprehend what was going on, the world blurred. His surroundings darkened and there was a flash of light, before he landed on his back on the ground.
His eyes were closed and he waited for the pain to come… but, it never did.
Was he dead?
He slowly opened his eyes and noticed that he was sitting on a patch of grass. The air felt different, but that hardly compared to the biggest and most notable change that had occurred.
It wasn't night time anymore.
The air around him was really foggy, so much so, that it was almost impossible to see what was going on two feet in front of him. But there was still light. The sky wasn't dark anymore, and he certainly wasn't in his cave.
He could even hear the sounds of insects, and running water in the distance. A contrast from the eerie silence of the forest in which he had just been.
Where the heck was he?
He took a quick glance around his surroundings.
This couldn't be real. He had to be dreaming. He had had some pretty vivid dreams in the past, but this one took the cake.
He must have actually fallen asleep after unlocking his Ki, and dreamt up this whole thing. The entire situation was just too absurd to be believed otherwise.
In order for him to go from night to day so quickly, he would have to travel to an area of the planet that was currently day time. Which had to mean that, in an instant, that saiyan took him, potentially, to the other side of the world.
He absolutely refused to believe that. It was just too fast. He had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation.
He'd even prove it.
He raised his sword and ran his index finger along the edge.
He immediately dropped it again, in disbelief.
He had felt the sharp stab of pain. It was enough of a shock for him to drop his sword.
It hit the ground blade first, and sunk into the grass a few inches.
His finger was now bleeding, and he had felt the pain.
Impossible.
You weren't supposed to feel pain to that extent in dreams. In his experience, if he was ever killed, or hurt, in a dream, the most pain that he would feel was just a dull, phantom pain, which quickly faded after immediately waking up.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He had no immediate explanation for his current situation.
If it wasn't a dream then what was it?
He really had to stretch his imagination to come up with another possibility.
Maybe, the saiyans have the technology to transport people large distances incredibly quickly? But he could see no reason why they would take him anywhere alive.
Unless maybe he was going to be used as a hostage?
Raditz did that last time, so he couldn't completely dismiss the possibility.
Maybe he was in some kind of illusion, or a really, really, realistic dream? One unlike any he had ever had?
He had no idea.
One thing was for sure though. He was once again, completely helpless.
His head snapped up when he heard a voice.
"You are surrounded by people who do nothing but make stupid decisions. Your dad's friends, Piccolo, even your dad himself. They all make terrible decisions when it comes to defending your planet."
He looked around furiously for the source of the voice. It seemed to be coming from everywhere around him at once.
He saw the silhouettes of some unusual trees in the fog. Ones that looked like giant sticks, planted into the ground, with a spherical bush on the top, and no other leaves anywhere else.
There were some other unusual plants that he couldn't immediately recognize, and it appeared that he was in a valley, between two cliffs.
But he couldn't see anyone else in the area.
He had been completely thrown for a loop, and had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore.
"Who… who are you?" He asked fearfully.
"Why are the saiyans on their way to Earth?" The voice asked, seemingly ignoring his question.
Now Gohan was even more confused. What did that have to do with anything? This guy was even talking as if he weren't actually a saiyan himself.
Yet he had seen the guy's tail.
What the heck was going on?
But… it was a good question. He wasn't actually too sure himself. He just knew they were coming because Piccolo had told him that they were.
He just assumed that they wanted to conquer the planet, and get revenge for Raditz's death.
"You're wrong." The voice continued.
Gohan blinked.
He hadn't even said anything.
'Oh wait…. I understand now…'
This was just like that dream that he had on his first day out in the wild, about Piccolo. It was just an overly realistic, hallucination, brought on by exhaustion.
For some reason, he kept having those recently. This was his second one in about two weeks. Were vivid dreams like this one, common in other kids, his age? Would they keep happening to him in the future?
He must have exhausted himself after unlocking his Ki, and using it for the first time. He was probably still in his cave, fast asleep.
He still had no idea who the voice belonged to though. He couldn't recognize it.
If this was anything like his previous dream about Piccolo however, then he was about to make some pretty interesting discoveries. He just had to find the answer to each question and take them seriously.
Wait.
He was wrong?
Why was he wrong about the saiyans? If they weren't on their way to conquer the Earth, then what were they coming for?
"The saiyans are on their way to the Earth because they know about the Dragon Balls." The voice finished.
Gohan's eyes widened.
How could they possibly know about those? Most of the people even on this planet didn't know about them.
He was wrong about this dream. This really wasn't like the dream that he had earlier. This voice was telling him things that he didn't actually know himself.
That dream about Piccolo, didn't tell him anything new. It just allowed him to see a new perspective on things that he had already been told, or figured out for himself.
He hadn't even considered the possibility that the saiyans knew about the Dragon Balls. There was just no way for them to know, as far as he could tell.
If the saiyans got their hands on all-powerful, wish granting Dragon Balls…
He didn't even want to think about it. They could do so much worse than just destroying the Earth…
If the saiyans had known about them for a while, then they would have attacked already. Probably when Raditz arrived. Since the saiyans haven't attacked yet, they must have only recently found out about them, which means that they had to have been told, possibly by Raditz himself.
Maybe Raditz had some way to communicate with the other saiyans?
He shook his head.
But that still couldn't have happened. Raditz couldn't have known about them himself, even if he could hypothetically contact the other saiyans, unless…
'You are surrounded by people who do nothing but make stupid decisions. Your dad's friends, Piccolo, even your dad himself. They all make terrible decisions when it comes to defending your planet.'
That was what the voice had said, wasn't it?
Gohan narrowed his eyes.
He had been told. Someone from Earth, had told Raditz about them.
If the saiyans were indeed after the Dragon Balls, and nothing else, then whoever told Raditz, potentially doomed the planet.
There was absolutely no reason whatsoever to tell him. Nobody should have been that careless.
So how did he know? Who told him?
He closed his eyes, and began to think. This was a serious issue. An incredibly dangerous enemy had found out that the Earth was the home of artifacts with indescribable power. As good a reason as any, for the planet to become a massive target for other races like the saiyans. If Raditz had found out himself, then any alien enemy in the universe, could potentially find out as well.
Any allies of the remaining saiyans, may now know about them too. The Earth has been officially advertised to the universe as a valuable target for invasion.
All because someone told Raditz. There was an information leak that he had to find.
Someone putting his home and family at risk like that was unacceptable.
So, what had happened on that day? How did he find out?
'Raditz first arrived on dad's old teacher's island, in order to talk to him. '
Raditz, and his dad, had talked for a while… before things went south…
His dad had been told about the saiyans, about being Raditz's brother, about the destruction of the Saiyan homeworld by a meteor…
Something about a saiyan's power increasing at the sight of a full moon too… He'd have to look into that later…
But his dad never mentioned the Dragon Balls as far as he could recall. Nobody had at the time.
He had then been knocked out himself, and kidnapped.
When he eventually came to, he was locked in that spaceship, where he would then witness the fight between his dad, Piccolo, and Raditz.
During that fight, either his dad, or Piccolo must have let the information slip. And Raditz must have then relayed the information to the other saiyans somehow.
But who? Who did it?
He needed to know. That way, if they were ever in a situation like that again, he would be able to stop that person from spilling the planets secrets to our enemies, again.
They were supposed to defend the Earth, not paint a target on it. And the best way to defend something, is to make sure that nobody knows it's there.
It was either his dad, or Piccolo.
He tried to remember what happened in the fight.
He hadn't been able to see what happened very clearly from his vantage point in the ship, but he remembered seeing how fast paced it was, and how destructive.
He remembered how neither his dad, nor Piccolo, could really land a hit.
And then his dad managed to get behind Raditz and grab his tail, rendering him completely helpless, and then… he let it go?
That stopped his thoughts, right in their tracks.
What?
Why?
Why did his dad do that? The battle should have ended right there.
He shook his head. It didn't matter at the moment, he'd think about that later.
Raditz immediately got the upper hand after that, and managed to defeat both Piccolo and his dad.
That was when he intervened himself, with his hidden powers… He didn't really remember what happened after that. He apparently landed a fatal wound on Raditz though, according to Piccolo…
He let out a sigh of frustration. He still had no idea.
"It was Piccolo." The voice stated. "Both your father, and Piccolo risked every life on the planet that day. Your dad was willing to let a clearly superior enemy get away from his grip, but it was Piccolo, who told Raditz about the Dragon Balls."
"Why?" Gohan's voice had a noticeable amount of irritation in it.
"No reason."
Gohan clenched his fists.
If it were an honest mistake that was one thing, but to just tell your enemy flat out, out of your own free will, about exactly why they should invade the planet…
That was just stupid.
He was almost five years old, and even he understood that. Granted, he was an incredibly gifted five year old with a phenomenal memory, and was probably already smarter than both of his parents in most subjects, but that was beside the point.
It was still obvious.
Don't advertise anything to your enemy, under any circumstances.
Mistakes like that, were the reason for the defeat of one side in almost every single war mentioned in his history books.
One side gets critical information on the other, and then the war ends soon after. Knowing your enemies secrets was a far more effective weapon than anything else.
In contrast, broadcasting your own secrets to your enemy is the stupidest thing you can do.
He took a deep breath, and let it out.
It didn't matter now. It was in the past. Getting angry wouldn't change anything.
"Your dad, is a fighter. Piccolo, is a fighter. All of your dad's friends, are fighters. What do you suppose is going to happen if the saiyans are defeated by one of them? What will your dad do, if he defeats one, and they beg for mercy?"
Gohan could answer without hesitation.
His dad would give it freely. Regardless of how dangerous they were. Even at the risk of every life on the planet. That was just how his dad was.
It was exactly what he did with Raditz, and it was exactly what he would continue to do in the future. With Raditz though, he actually did give his own life for showing mercy.
He even risked the life his son.
His eyes widened.
My life.
That made him pause.
His dad was perfectly willing to let his son's kidnapper go. He didn't knock him out first, or critically injure him, he just… let him go.
That revelation felt like a spike being driven into his chest.
'That was supposed to be the whole point of coming after me right? To save me from Raditz? Why didn't you then? You essentially had my life in your grasp, and then you… you just… gave it back to Raditz.'
And for what?
Was it because he said he was sorry, and begged for mercy? Was it because you wanted a good fight? Was there another reason?
It didn't even matter.
If the point was to rescue me, you would have knocked him out when you had the chance and then done so. You could have given him mercy after he woke up, if you absolutely had to, and after you had rescued me.
But you didn't.
'Was I… was I just the excuse you gave so that you could have a good fight? Did you come after me, not because I was kidnapped, but because Raditz would put up a fight?'
No, that… that couldn't be right… could it?
His dad would never do something like that.
His dad loved a good fight sure, but what he was suggesting, would mean that his dad loved fighting more than he loved his own family.
Was that really the truth?
Could he really see his own father believing that?
His dad did give up the opportunity to rescue his son after all…
In any case, he couldn't think of a single valid reason for his dad to be able to justify letting Raditz go the way he did.
And that was unsettling…
He had a lot to think about. This dream was really starting to shake up his beliefs.
"The Earth doesn't need another fighter. It needs someone willing to do what is necessary to defend it. You can see the mistakes in the actions of everyone around you. You need to understand that just because someone else does something one way, doesn't mean that that way, is the only way, or even the right way." The voice continued. "Don't grow up to be someone else. Find your own way."
He lowered his head to the ground, allowing his hair to cover his face, and he shut his eyes.
I see.
It all makes sense now.
His dad and the others, weren't defenders of the planet.
They weren't protectors.
His dad was a martial artist. He had trained all of his life to fight others in fair, one-on-one spars.
His dad wasn't a killer, and wouldn't ever be one. He wouldn't stack all of the odds in his favor before a battle, even if doing so would greatly increase his chances of winning.
Even if doing so would potentially save every single life on the planet.
That was how his dad was brought up. To fight fair. He didn't know of any other way. That was why his dad never practiced lethal techniques, or possible ways to sneak up on opponents.
His dad never trained in stealth, not because it didn't work, but because it wasn't honorable to fight that way.
They were, all of them, his dad especially, unsuited for the position that they were in. None of them would do what was needed to keep the planet safe.
They could fit the bill if they absolutely had to, but they weren't meant for it.
That was what the voice meant by the planet not needing another fighter.
When the saiyans arrived, the planet needed someone that would be willing to kill them, if it came to that.
And it would, in all likelihood, come to that.
If the saiyans were defeated, and then allowed to leave, they would get stronger and come back, without a doubt. Possibly even, with allies.
The Dragon Balls were just too enticing a target.
Other races of powerful warriors, if they existed… and they had to be out there, would hear about how the people of Earth were strong enough to repel the saiyans.
That they were potentially ready for war on a galactic scale.
That was how humans seemed to work throughout all of history. They didn't just leave if they discovered a new land with people living there, even if they were beaten back in a war. They always came back with a bigger army.
There was no reason to believe that aliens would be any different.
The saiyans were a prime example of this.
Earth survived the original saiyan attack. Raditz, managed to call reinforcements. Now more powerful saiyans were on their way.
We can't allow the cycle to happen again.
If these next saiyans fail in their invasion, who's to say that they won't contact someone even stronger out there?
That was the nature of conquerors and explorers. If they failed… send the next wave to try again.
If the saiyans came to Earth, they could not be allowed to leave.
They would either succeed in their invasion, or they would die. That was how it had to be, to ensure the safety of the planet.
But could he do it himself?
Would he be willing to kill them, if the opportunity arose?
That was the big question.
And he couldn't answer it yet.
He opened his eyes once again.
The fog had cleared a small amount, and he could barely make out the outline of a figure, deep within it. This one was taller than the blonde saiyan was, but his features were still mostly blurred.
"If you take away nothing else, remember this. Nothing is impossible to achieve with your abilities. And I don't mean that in the clichéd 'you can do anything you set your mind to' way. I mean you can literally create any technique you can imagine. You just have to work out how. If you don't believe me, just look at your sword."
Gohan's eyes widened in realization, and he transferred his gaze to the sword, still stuck in the ground.
Piccolo had created it from his own energy somehow.
The implications of that were staggering. Being able to create anything out of thin air…
There were so many possibilities.
Could it be used on a small scale? Could it be used to create electronics? Could it be used to create artificial body parts, to heal people that would otherwise die, from a disease, or otherwise critical injury?
Could the technique be used to heal amputees?
He'd have to ask Piccolo to teach him how to do that.
He glanced back into the fog, where he could still see the outline of the figure. Squinting, he was barely able to make out the fact that whoever it was, had long, lavender colored hair.
He only managed a cursory glance, before he felt a familiar hand touch his back once again.
Then the world blurred.
Gohan abruptly jolted awake.
The first thing he noticed was that he was still in his cave.
The sun was shining through the cave entrance, signifying that it was morning once again.
That had been the most vivid dream that he had ever had. It had felt even more real than the one he had had about Piccolo on his first day out here.
And just like that one, it changed his opinions on essentially everything.
He had a new role model. He wanted to be able to move around like he had seen that blonde saiyan in his dream move. That saiyan had moved exactly as he had envisioned his stealth training would eventually allow him to.
He wasn't going to doubt if it was possible to move like that anymore. He needed to start his stealth training again.
He had to make it work. He absolutely refused to fail, now that he had seen it in action.
There were a ton of new revelations that he had made as well. His faith in his dad had taken a hit, and he needed to rethink a lot of different things about his life.
He was unsure about how he felt about… pretty much everything.
He'd create a new training plan today, and start trying to figure out how to work with his newly unlocked Ki.
His stealth training was back on the list without a doubt. He never should have doubted himself in the first place.
He needed to learn how to use his Ki in a way that would allow him to kill. And he needed to come to terms with having to do exactly that when the time came. He doubted that his dad, or anyone else would.
But it needed to be done. And if no one else would, then he would have to do it himself.
He nodded, satisfied with his current course of action. He reached over to his right, where he usually left his sword when he slept… only to find that it wasn't there.
He glanced over to where his hand was, and sure enough… no sword.
He started looking around the cave frantically, searching for any sign of it… to no avail.
His sword was gone.
What?
Where the heck did it go? Did he leave it outside or something?
He walked over to the cave entrance, and walked out into the sunlight.
He started searching around the clearing for any sign of it, but he just couldn't find it anywhere.
He remembered having his sword with him when he was trying to unlock his Ki. It was inside the cave with him at the time. He was sure of it.
He walked back into the cave to see if he missed it during his search.
After turning over every stone, and even going as far as lifting up his bed to check underneath, he let out a sigh of frustration. He couldn't find it.
He pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. That was when he noticed something strange.
There was dried blood on his finger.
Bringing his hand up to his face, he examined the wound more thoroughly. There was a dried cut on his right, index finger.
A cut in the exact same place as the one he had given himself in the dream from last night.
His eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before he let out a chuckle. He must have reached over, and grabbed the blade in the middle of the night while he was asleep.
Wait…
Only, the blade wasn't anywhere near him.
He frowned.
Maybe he cut his hand on a rock instead?
He glanced around the cave. There were no bloody rocks anywhere to be found. There weren't even any sharp rocks in the area.
'Okay, what's going on?' He was starting to get concerned.
Was that somehow, not a dream?
It had to have been one. That was a saiyan in his dream. One that just so happened to be able to move exactly like he himself had wanted to.
Any explanation was more likely than yesterday's events being real.
His mind started whirling.
Maybe, during his sleep, he reached over and grabbed the blade of his sword, cutting his hand. Then, at some point during the night, for some reason, an animal of some sort crawled into the cave, and took his sword out into the woods somewhere.
Why an animal would do this he had no idea. But as unlikely an explanation as it sounded, it was still more likely than meeting saiyans capable of moving across the planet in an instant. Ones who seemed to know everything about his life, who his dad was, what his opinions on most things were, and exactly what to say, to make him change those views.
He ran back outside into the clearing, to the same spot he had been standing in his dream.
His dream was pretty scarily accurate when it came to the treeline in the distance. It looked almost exactly the same.
Taking a few steps forward, he looked down, and focused on the ground.
This was the exact spot that the saiyan in his dream had arrived at.
He knelt down, and looked closely at the patch of grass. There were no discernible footprints of any kind.
He frowned in thought.
That could either mean that his dream never happened in real life, or that the saiyan he had 'met' had been so skilled in stealth, that he didn't leave any tracks when he moved.
But there had been another saiyan. At least, someone who was probably a saiyan. The guy in the fog with lavender hair was probably the same guy as the first figure that he had seen in the woods. Maybe he left tracks.
He had to know for sure.
Getting up off the ground, he ran towards the treeline. Towards the exact spot that he had seen the guy appear in his dream.
He stopped when he was in front of the exact tree that he had seen the guy step out from behind of.
He examined the ground again. He couldn't see anything that jumped out at him –
Wait.
There was something here.
Something had been walking here, he could see the tracks. They were faint, but he could still see them. He wasn't skilled enough at tracking to be able to determine whether it was a saiyan or not, unfortunately. It could have easily been an animal. But it still sent a chill up his spine.
If he wanted to dismiss what happened last night as a dream, then he had to believe that first, he cut his hand on his sword in the middle of the night, the same sword that somehow, was moved out of the cave while he was asleep, to a still unknown location, and by an unknown means, and to top it all off, a random animal had to have been walking in the exact spot as the figure in his dream.
All of these things were possible, even in succession like that, but it was starting to look pretty unlikely. But the only alternative was practically impossible. Those saiyans in his dream knew him. They knew his thoughts. They couldn't have possibly been real.
Something had happened last night that he was currently unable to explain.
That was the only thing that he could really conclude.
How frustrating.
Maybe he'd figure it all out when he found his sword again.
Standing back up, he gazed off into the forest.
It couldn't have gone too far right?
A/N: Please excuse any grammar and spelling errors, as I have no beta reader at this time.
- LeviTamm