They had departed from the Brief household days ago. Chi-Chi was rather irritated they hadn't run into any Dragonballs yet. Bulma claimed they were nearing one, but it seemed like they were making absolutely no progress whatsoever. She knew Gohan had given Kakarot a Dragonball, but she wasn't supposed to know this. Gohan must really like Kakarot if he trusted him enough to give him the four star ball. The four star Dragonball was the only Dragonball her father and Gohan had been able to get their hands on after they defeated King Piccolo. It was special to them, and wasn't something they could easily part with.

"Can we please stop?" Bulma whined. Chi-Chi rolled her eyes and shook her head. They didn't have time to stop every minute Bulma got uncomfortable –which, unfortunately, was quite often.

"We just stopped ten minutes ago, woman," Vegeta snapped. Chi-Chi silently agreed with the Saiyan. They had just started making progress again.

"Yeah, well it's the desert," she said, stubbornly, "It's hot." She crossed her arms and stopped walking. Chi-Chi sighed. If Bulma didn't come with them they'd never find the Dragonballs.

"Then we'll carry you," Vegeta scoffed. "It would be quicker anyway. Besides, this Dragonball can't be too far ahead."

"I'm not letting you carry me," she said, sternly. Her eyes narrowed as Vegeta walked toward her. His twin looked on with contempt.

"I guess it's a good thing I wasn't asking for permission, then," he growled. He pulled Bulma off her feet and slung her across his shoulder. "Kakarot, carry the other girl," he ordered. Chi-Chi was about to protest. She would let any other Saiyan carry her if it meant Kakarot didn't have to touch her. She was still angry at him and her father's words were running through her head: "She likes you, she just doesn't know it yet." How could her father know whether she liked him or not? At the moment, she knew she didn't like him. Chi-Chi stood stiffly as Kakarot gently lifted her off the ground. Instead of slinging her over his shoulder like Vegeta had with Bulma, he rested his arm behind her knees and supported her back with his other arm.

In a moment they were off the ground, the others flying closely behind them. They had only been flying for mere seconds when Bulma pointed out the small village in which the Dragonball was supposed to be located. The group of them touched down, hardly realizing the streets were void of inhabitants. Bulma was complaining loudly to Vegeta, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore her. Chi-Chi turned to Kakarot.

"Just for future reference," she whispered sharply, "I can fly on my own." Kakarot turned a little red in the face and scratched the back of his head.

"Good to know," he replied. Chi-Chi distanced herself from Kakarot and walked towards Bulma who was still hissing fire at Vegeta.

"-Not completely helpless you know," She said, resting her hands on her hips. Verspa, who until this moment had remained silent, burst with rage.

"Would you stop your whining? That is no way to address a prince," she snapped at Bulma, standing beside her brother. Bulma let out a sort of choked noise and fell silent. Though Chi-Chi didn't agree with Verspa's methods- and still didn't trust the girl- she was glad they had someone around to shut Bulma up. Chi-Chi gently tapped her friend on the shoulder.

"The Dragonball?" she reminded her, "Where exactly is it?" Bulma was brought back to Earth with a sound crash. She looked around at all the little houses surrounding them as well as the faces of the Saiyans and Earthlings awaiting her answer. She looked down at her Dragonball locator, studying it closely for a few seconds and chewing her lip in concentration.

"I can't tell," she said finally. "We'll just have to ask around for it, I guess." Chi-Chi sighed. She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. From the stories that her father and Gohan told, it seemed like finding all seven Dragonballs always took an eternity.

"Okay," Chi-Chi said, walking up to the nearest house. "Let's get started." She knocked on the door and waited for a reply. There was no scuffling of feet rushing to answer the door, so she tried again.

"Hello?" she called out, still knocking. "Is anyone home?" She heard footsteps approach. Raditz, one of the quieter Saiyans- with rather long hair, walked forward grinning boyishly. He turned to Chi-Chi.

"This is how you do it," he said, still smirking. Without taking his eyes off her, he kicked the door of the house in, splintering the wood in several places. Chi-Chi threw him a disapproving look. Raditz shrugged. "Well who doesn't like surprise guests?" he said, motioning for her to walk inside. Chi-Chi did so, looking around the house to see if anyone was home. The others followed her inside, helping with the search for inhabitants.

"Hello?" she called again, halfheartedly this time, and expecting no reply. She heard movement to her left, and caught a glimpse of a man peeking at her over his table. His eyes looked relieved. He retreated underneath his table and Chi-Chi could hear him speaking.

"Sir?" she asked, slowly approaching the table. The man appeared once more, but stood. Chi-Chi saw that his daughter was with him. She was a pretty thing, about her age, with chestnut colored hair and innocent looking eyes.

"It's only the Ox-King's daughter," the man reassured the girl. He smiled at Chi-Chi. "You're safe," he said, wrapping his arm around the girl with the chestnut colored hair.

"We're sorry to have frightened you," Chi-Chi apologized. "We're only looking for something. Maybe you know what it is? Do you know of the Dragonballs?" The girl nodded.

"Yes. There is one in the village it belongs to the village elder. She won't give it away, though," said the girl, speaking in a soft voice.

"Are you sure we can't make her change her mind?" Tien asked.

"She has promised it to the one who can rid our village of the curse," said the girl. Her eyes began to fill with fear as she spoke.

"Curse?" Kakarot asked. The girl nodded, but didn't elaborate further. The other man picked up where she left off.

"Our village is plagued by a monster," he began. "We have been for several years. The monster takes many different shapes and we never know when he is coming. He is supposed to come today and take my daughter, Pocawatha. We thought you were him," he said. As he spoke of losing his daughter, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly to him.

"If we defeat this monster, we can have the Dragonball?" Kakarot asked. He had a sound of curiosity in his voice. It seemed he was eager to fight and defeat this monster. The man nodded.

"That is what the elder has promised. But do not think you can defeat this monster so easily," he said. "Many of our people have tried and failed. He is devilishly cunning."

"We'll take care of your monster problem," said Vegeta, crossing his arms. "You just be ready to go and get that Dragonball."

"You said that the monster was returning today?" Bardock asked. Chi-Chi hadn't heard him say two words their whole journey until now. The man and his daughter nodded. "Would you mind if we wait with you until he arrives? It should be a fairly simple ordeal." The man and his daughter looked wary at first, but Bardock spoke with such confidence that their doubts soon melted away. They nodded their heads in consent. They had scarcely done so, when Chi-Chi felt the ground underneath her begin to shake. The girl named Pocawatha stiffened, her eyes filling with fear.

"He's here," she whispered. "Oolong is here."