Chapter 12

He anchored his boat, and walked over the sandy hills of Earth Dragon Isle. It had been awhile since his last visit to the isle, and this time, he carried explosives for blowing that annoying rock away. The man had messy black hair, and lime-green eyes, wore a black, sleeveless, leather vest with the top buttons torn off, black leather pants that were tucked into his dark brown boots, and brown gloves with black fingers. Around his neck was a long red bandana with the knot on the side, and on his shoulder, was the emblem of Termina. He adjusted his gloves, and grabbed his pouch from the boat.

Inside the pouch, he had a set of explosives, his Element Grid, and a pendant he had received from his half-human father. His father lived in Marbule with his sister after his mother passed away. The guy'd been devastated when that happened, and had retreated to his own at first, before his sister had slapped some sense into him, literally. Now the two of them lived in Marbule, enjoying life together.

Giving a sigh, he slung his pouch around his shoulder, and headed toward the quicksand, but was more than shocked to see smoke coming from the higher ledges. He blinked, and headed toward the ledge.

"Those Elements can really come in handy!" Bulma said, smiling at the homemade fire Ancha had made.

Elvor blew on his hands to warm them. The cold was already starting to set in, and the six friends had gathered around the fire to keep warm.

"Brrrr!!" Ancha shivered. "C'est cold!!" she complained rubbing her hands over her arms to get warm.

Vegeta didn't respond. He was lying on his back, staring up at the stars with a heavy scowl like he did almost every night.

The stars were the same that he had viewed years ago, although there were a few new ones. For some reason, his life was getting worse constantly. First Laze got poisoned, then they were forced to flee from Termina, then from Arni, and finally, away from El Nido, the place they'd all grown up. Zenan had been too dangerous for them, so they had headed toward a different continent, one that Porre would never come to. However, now they were back, and were trying to find six relics they were to get from the Dragons, but they couldn't even get to the Earth Dragon.

How ironic.

Vegeta was rather pissed off, at Porre to be exact. If he ever figured out who started this all, he would make sure he or she died a slow and painful death. After his mother had passed away, his father'd been all he had left of his family. Elvor was like a brother to him, and Laze was like a sister, and he wouldn't know what he'd do if he'd lose either one of them.

He'd probably go crazy or something. Sometimes, he felt that he was getting colder to everyone but his own friends. Maybe, if he lost either one of them, or maybe even both, he would become cold to them too. Would he? He hoped not.

Goku was watching the fire, and poked some wood with a stick, a little bored. He was worried about his sisters, his parents, but how was he supposed to go to them? He'd been gone for years, with no one to guide him back to his home, left without his comrades or friends. That suddenly brought up a question that had been left unanswered ever since he'd moved into North City.

"Vegeta," he said.

Vegeta grunted, showing he was listening.

"Whatever happened to Ciria?"

Vegeta's eyes hardened at the mention of the girl's name, and he didn't even notice it was already starting.

"She's dead," he said coldly, and Goku felt a pang of guilt.

Goku had thought she'd gone back to Arni, but by the looks of it, Ciria had simply returned to the sea. What came from the sea, had returned from the sea.

"I'm sorry. It's probably all my fault," Goku said, and though his apology was rather late, it was good to know that he felt sorry, now that he knew what happened.

Haelles snorted, and said: "'The past is dead, it was all just a dream'."

Goku looked confused, but didn't question it. Elvor sat down, after gazing at the quicksand for what had seemed like eons.

"Something's not right here," he said. "Somehow, there has to be an entrance. But where is it?"

"It's in the quicksand, and the sand-boil's the exit," a voice suddenly said, and they turned around to face a man, watching them with a gentle smile. "Sorry to interrupt, but if you're planning to get in this isle, you're going to have to go through the quicksand. I tried it the last time I got here, but there was this rock in the way. That thing was too heavy to lift by myself, so I had to leave."

"Wait a minute!" Bulma said. "Are you saying… that we have to go through the quicksand to get to the entrance?!"

"Yes."

Ancha groaned.

"Je suis going to 'ave zand in mon mouth!"

Elvor coughed the sand from his lungs, as the others came tumbling down.

"God, some way to enter," Vegeta mumbled, having been wise and keeping his mouth shut and stop breathing until he was through.

As Bulma tumbled from above, Vegeta easily caught her. He set her down a little carelessly where the others wouldn't fall on her, not noticing the now dazed look on Bulma's face.

She watched him with such a dazed look, that it was amazing, that only Goku saw it. It was a look that Goku recognized, from years ago, but… that was impossible… she was dead… wasn't she??

Laze shot up in bed, sweating furiously. She couldn't take it anymore!

'So… many questions… so… little answers… must… have… answers!!' she screamed to herself.

Tossing the blanket off of her, she stumbled across the room, knocking over a chair underway. Clumsily, she dressed herself, feeling horrible, but she was determined. She needed answers, and she needed them now!

"Too… many… questions…" she whispered, turning the doorknob. "Must… have… answers…" she continued to whisper, grabbing her scythe, which she had secretly taken along.

Downstairs, she walked out, and began her search.

For answers.

The strange man, who had introduced himself as Asoret ©, carefully placed a package under the strange rock, and stepped back.

"Okay, get ready," he told them, and the six friends already covered their ears. Asoret pressed the igniter, and covered his own ears.

A large explosion followed, and the rock was hurled into the air, letting out a strange shriek as it went. The seven travelers watched the rock, until it crashed onto its back.

"Oh, it was a Rockroach," Asoret said.

"A what??" Elvor asked.

"It's like a giant rock-turtle, only these aren't as easy to kill."

The Rockroach continued to wriggle around, trying to get back on its feet, but to no avail. They stood still for a moment to watch it wriggle around, before moving on.

In the next area, were four sand-boils, of which one was inactive. There were three more Rockroaches here, two were moving around, the other was standing still. There was a door on the other side, but… how were they to get there?

Vegeta took a few steps forward.

"Great, now what?" Elvor mumbled, placing his hands in his pockets. Vegeta was studying the positions of the sand-boils, as well as those of the Rockroaches. One of them was walking around to their right, near a ledge above a sand-boil. Another was walking around near the second sand-boil. The last one simply stood near the third sand-boil.

"Hmmm…"

A few seconds later, he snapped his fingers.

"I think I have an idea!"

"That one walks around in a pattern, and he gets rather close to the ledge at one point. If we can beat or scare it so that it will retreat into its shell, we'll be able to push it onto the sand-boil," Vegeta explained, as they watched the Rockroach on their right.

"But… what's the point of it?" Asoret asked.

"You'll see," Vegeta said with a smirk.

After a while, the Rockroach was at the ledge again, but when it turned around, it was face-to-face with seven humans, who looked at it with hatred. That didn't scare it though, and it shrieked in fury. How dare those humans?! The nerve!!

"Okay everybody! Keep him near the ledge, and use a lot of Green Elements," Vegeta said, grabbing his axe.

The others grabbed their weapons as well. Asoret grabbed something that looked like a half moon with a hilt, but the edges were actually two blades. Asoret nodded.

"Easy."

Elvor however, rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to use just Green Elements! I just had this new trick figured out and I need something to practice it on! TURNBLACK!!!" he screamed, as black sparks arose from around him.

Black energy spiraled around the Rockroach.

"Keep him busy! This could take awhile!!" Elvor told the others.

Bulma nodded, and ran toward the Rockroach.

Her dagger left deep imprints in the Rockroach's head, and it shrieked in pain as she lashed at it again and again. Vegeta was surrounded by green sparks, meaning he was going to use an Element.

"RUN & KILL!!!" he screamed.

He ran at the Rockroach with such speed, that no one noticed him, until a loud clang sounded, and there was a large hole on the side of the Rockroach's shell, and Vegeta stood on the side, before jumping back.

"Showoff," Asoret mumbled as a string of green energy formed on his weapon.

He pulled the string back, and lifted the weapon. An arrow appeared from out of nowhere, and Asoret tightened the grip on the string, before releasing. The green arrow hit the Rockroach in the eye, making it shriek in pain.

Elvor, who had been focussing his energy, suddenly smirked, and said: "Done!!"

Everyone turned to him, as a whole mass of white sparks surrounded him. His rapier changed into a swallow, he lifted off of the floor, twirled around in the air once, and ended up holding the swallow with one hand, aimed at the Rockroach. Behind him, a white, ghostly figure of himself, only without the swallow, was following his movements as the world turned black. The see-through figure seemed to hold something that looked like a large glowing arrow, before Elvor screamed the name of the attack.

"FLYING ARROW!!!!"

And with a loud thunderous sound, he was literally shot at the Rockroach, only visible as a blinding white arrow, which, not only brought the Rockroach in a lot of pain, but also knocked him off the ledge.

It ended on its back, right onto the sand-boil. They all looked down, wondering if it would stay there. Nothing happened, besides the fact the Rockroach was trying to get back up.

"Wow, nice tech," Goku said.

"Thanks," Elvor said.

He had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, that something was wrong, though he couldn't figure out what it was.

The Rockroach that wasn't moving, wouldn't move, so they had been forced to use more explosives, while the other one was also up for a fight.

Vegeta banged the Rockroach in the face with his axe, and jumped back. With a speed that no one foresaw, the Rockroach suddenly ran forward, and hit Vegeta, HARD!! Vegeta was tossed against a wall, but he shook his head, and was up again. His heart was starting to harden, and soon, he would banish every bit of love he would get thrown at him.

Bulma suddenly noticed something odd on the Rockroach, and, without herself knowing it, thought of a new Element. Yellow sparks suddenly shot up from around her, and she raced toward the Rockroach, but with her dagger in its sheath! She ran around the Rockroach, but she hit him underway, making him spin around. Bulma was holding an Element of a Yellow Color, so she placed it in her pouch (she wouldn't need any more Yellow Elements around here!) and grabbed her dagger again.

Ancha ran toward the Rockroach, and kicked and punched at it a few times in pure anger. That was enough to knock the Rockroach out, and they sighed in relief. Vegeta didn't however, as another piece of his heart was tossed over the edge. They pushed the last Rockroach on the sand-boil, and that's when Vegeta's idea became clear.

A loud rumbling sounded, and the sand-boil that had been inactive at first, was shooting upward. Everyone turned to it, but Vegeta simply walked over, and when the sand stopped, he jumped in!! Bulma gasped, and the others looked shocked, until the sand-boil shot sand and Vegeta upward, onto the ledge they couldn't reach before.

"Would you hurry up?!" Vegeta shouted down to them.

They did, and made their way into the next room.

Alright, in the next chapter, they have to face the Earth Dragon. But will they succeed in beating her? R/R if you please.

Reviews:

DarkAngelB: Well, it turned out okay, didn't it?

Ryu: Hey, no sweat!

Guitar Daughter of Piccolo: [smiles] Hey! Thanks!

san: Well, there are two things I do in my spare time. I play Chrono Cross, and I write stories, which is about it. I'm working on chapter 20 of this story already.

saiyankiyse: Well, one word. Chichi.

Hope: Yep, you're going to have to wait.

Ciria: [grins] Thanks for the compliment. Your question about the Sky Dragon will be answered later on. And if you think Sky's cool, wait 'til the other Dragons show up!

Janus: Hey!! Next chapter's a battle alright?!

Kid: I will, thanks.

Louise: What's up with Azanka?? Whew! That's still gonna be a surprise, alright?

Bulma BriefsYue Lover: I will. (PS: You're in!)

Okay, I hope you people enjoyed, and in the next chapter, people are gonna fight against the Earth Dragon. Here's the schedule.

1. Terra, the Earth Dragon

2. ????????

3. ????????

4. ????????

5. ????????

6. ????????

7. ????????

8. ????????