The sun rose over the horizon on a new day. A new path has been opened up for a young boy. His naked body lay almost lifeless among the ruins of his former home. The birds that had stayed quite during the eventful night started their morning song. Creatures began their scurrying about in search of food for the day ahead. A stray mouse spots Gohan and cautiously approaches. Standing on its hind legs it attempts to get a good look at the boy witnessing the rise and fall of his stomach and the soft increase and decrease of the sleep bubble on the boy's nose.
The mouse continues its curious journey towards Gohan tilting its head in a confused motion. The bubble pops frightening the mouse and it scurries away stopping as it reaches a nearby bush. Gohan's eye's flutter open, his eyes slowly look about his surroundings while he remained unmoving. He spots the mouse in the distance keeping watch. He smiles at the mouse, "So you woke me up." He slowly lifts his head off the bare ground, sitting up with as little effort as possible. "Where am I…?" The young boy grimaces with apparent discomfort as he attempts to raise himself. He raised his arms stretching them out and slowly rotating them while cracking his neck with slow movements forward and back. He smiled in delight as his aching muscles relaxed. "Ah…That feels so much better." Another attempt in lifting himself off the ground resulted in a soft rumbling from his stomach. "I am so hungry…" Gohan added his hand to his stomach and a light groan.
His shut eyes opened once again, he looked around for his mother ready for breakfast. He couldn't remember going camping with his parents but that was the only thing that explained why he was outside. His heart stopped in an instant when he noticed the surrounding view. Tears stream down his face. He quickly lifted himself off the ground. He realized for the first time his lack of clothing, but quickly dismissed it as unimportant as he approached a massive pile of debris. He spotted a picture frame broken and slightly singed leaving no doubt to whose house this once belonged.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy, where are you?"
Gohan runs to the far corner of the debris, "Daddy, I'm scared! Where are you?"
Tears began again as the young boy falls to the ground crying harder than any boy has ever cried. His mother had taught him well. His lack of ignorance and early study habits had given Gohan the ability to come to the startling realization of what happened.
"Daddy! Mommy…"
"Please come back to me…"
Gohan wandered around the debris while tears continued to escape the young child's eyes. He spotted some remains that looked to be a part of his room. Cautiously stepping over sharp wood and steel rebar he reached what was once a drawer, reaching in to the mess he pulled out a familiar hat with a glowing ball above it as well as a matching set of clothing. He quickly dressed himself and continued to rummage through various objects around recognizing a once intact model plane build with his father's help as well as a ship in a bottle that only his mother had the patients to help him complete. A small smile appeared on his face as he remembered the happy moments with his family. "Daddy, mommy I miss you…" As quickly as the smile came it went and the water works began again. "Daddy! Come back! I am sorry! I will go to bed when told! I will eat all my veggi-tables! Please come back to me!"
The intensity of his sobs reached epic proportions as his loss and loneliness began to overtake him. He kneeled on the rubble unable to continue standing. Gohan! His sobbing stopped and he looked up then stood and ran towards the words stopping suddenly looking around again. "Daddy…" He slumped defeated as he started to believe that his mind was playing tricks on him. Be brave…My son…
He looked into the heavens knowing for a fact he was not imagining things. "Daddy I miss you, but I will try…" Walking around the house one more time picking up some additional clothing and searched what remained of the kitchen he found unspoiled food and quickly filled his stomach. He returned to his room and picked up some books that he once felt he would never read due to his once passionate belief, instilled in him by his mother, that he was destined to be a scholar.
He looked at the book titles and marveled at the ridiculousness, "Idiots guide to wilderness survival." He rolled his eyes at the title and looked at the other book that seemed have a little more believable of a title, "Introduction to the various martial arts." A gift from one of his father's friends it seems. A joke that was still lost to him as he remembered his father and mother laughing upon opening the gift.
He had never met any of his mother's or father's friends. Gohan remembered his mother calling them hooligans and delinquents. She didn't want her 'precious baby' associated which such people. He had a grandfather, not that he could remember him. It had been a while since he last saw him. He was an important person somewhere. He hated his ignorance. He wished he had inquired more about his family and about family friends. He felt so alone. He knew heading to the nearest town was impossible. After all, in all the books he had read for fun he never once found one with a 3 year old traveling 200 miles in the wilderness. Why had his parents decided to live so far away from everything and everyone?
A thought hit him all of a sudden. Something that he read about in his books several times, when someone died there was a funeral. He felt the over whelming need to find his parent's bodies and give them a proper burial. With his mind made up he set out to locate his parents. He had a feeling that it was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done in his short life. He didn't want to find out what caused their demise. Or in what condition they are in.
Several hours passed in constant search and the young child still had not found any remains. At one point he thought he was close when he saw the several blood patterns leading to bare ground with an impression similar to what a body would make if crushed. He thanked his mystery novels for that information. After several more hours of search every clue led him to the same location. He eventually came to only one conclusion, they just disappeared. It sounded completely crazy to his young educated mind but his books told him that he should have at least seen a drag trail if animals got to them.
He felt a sense of loss from being unable to put his parents to rest. His head was hung low as he left the woods and headed for his great grandfathers shrine. He remembered the well kept room that was maintained as a way for his father to honor his grandfather. He was exhausted. All he wanted to do now was to lay in his bed a sleep his worries, fears and loneliness away.
High above floated a green being by the name of Piccolo. He watched as a child walked towards a small shelter nestled on a small hill overlooking the remains of Goku's home. "Goku is dead…unbelievable." He stared in disbelief at the scene before him. The huge prints in the ground around a demolished house and scorch marks laid waste to a vast area of the once tranquil forest. He glared menacingly at a young boy. He never would have believed that it was possible for this young child to kill his arch enemy. He believed that only he had that power. If he had not witnessed the monster he never would have believed that it was possible. He had watched the beast trample the harpy and crush Goku in his hands with little effort. The beast continued its assault on the landscape throughout the night until the moon set. Then he watched in utter amazement as the monster reverted into a small child.
Fury was written all over his face, Piccolo felt robbed. He would never have the ability to kill the man that handed him his greatest humiliation. After watching the child for several hours to determine the level of threat this one could pose to his ultimate plan. Piccolo was completely amazed to the child's reaction to his victims' death. It was a surprise to learn that his rival had conceived a child without his knowledge. After hours of observing his prey he determined that he was no threat currently but could be later in his life and must be removed. With his mind made up Piccolo raised his hand forming a large blue ball of energy. Piccolo aimed his energy at the being responsible for his rival's death, energy dangerously close to escaping his palm. Piccolo's eyes shut and the energy in his palm dissipated, for a reason he could not completely fathom he halted his mission to end the child's life. He would have to think on this turn of conscience. He knew that something had changed and he didn't like it. Glancing back at the child he scoffed, "I'll let you live…for now." The next moment he was gone, blasting off into the distance in a stream of energy.
On a small island in the middle of the ocean an old hermit looked out in dread into the distance across the vast ocean. He lowered his head in apparent sadness. "Master Roshi, are you OK? You have been out there all night just staring in the distance."
Krillin looked at his old master, "Master Roshi?"
Roshi turned around and looked at his friend. He no longer considered this man to be his student. Roshi knew that it was possible that this young man had surpassed his own abilities and only needed to develop his own technique to completely transcend the training he had received from him. He gave a grim look towards Krillin opened his mouth to speak and then closed it and turned around and looked back into the distance.
"I would like to be alone please." Krillin didn't want to leave his obviously distraught master but nodded his head and went back to training on the other side of the island.
Roshi remembered the moment he met Goku. The naïve child had immense spirit, not to mention the purest heart he had ever known. He felt the surge of energy and felt the fight. He did everything he could to prepare himself for the defeat of the strongest opponent his former pupil had ever faced. Then the impossible happened, the life of the Ox-king's daughter was snuffed out then a few moments later Goku himself was defeated. His eyes widened and his sunglasses he never removed fell from his face. A single tear fell from the martial arts master as he remembered the recent loss of his greatest pupil.
He sensed Piccolo arrive at the scene and started to believe that he was involved with the trouble but shoot down that thought when he only seemed to be observing the fight. No doubt defeat Goku at his moment of greatest weakness.
Roshi stayed all night contemplating the fate of humanity now that a being stronger than its hero now was free to eradicate humanity. The disappearance of the being's energy came as a great relief but a terrible thought came to mind. 'Who or what would keep Piccolo at bay?'
Roshi thought about how to inform his friends and his first student the Ox-king. He wondered if he should tell them at all. The loss was still fresh in his mind and you could not bear the burden of relaying this tragic news. He made up his mind in a moment, a moment of weakness and cowardice, not to inform anyone. He felt it was the right thing to do. Heart ache and grief was not what everyone needed. After all, it had been 4 years since anyone had heard from the hero.
Sleep didn't come easy for the young boy. The hard mattress and the absence of his loving mother and father stirred up fears of ghastly ghouls and monsters from beyond the grave. The boy shivered in his sleep trying to recall his mother's face and her comforting hold as his father checked under his bed. Foolish as it was, he still felt there were things on earth that he simply didn't understand.
The morning came and the small child opened an eye looking at the surroundings of the converted shrine. He held himself tight as further realization of his parents absence settled in his heart. He opened his eyes completely, "I will be brave father."
Steeling himself, he got off the bed dressed himself and when back out towards his former home. Animals had gotten to the remaining food and nothing was left but inedible scraps. His stomach growled, "I'm so hungry…. stupid animals…" The once furry creatures that endlessly entertained him were now starting to look like a nuisance. He started to understand why his mother got upset when he brought one of them home with him.
He returned to his current residence and started to read the survival guide. He looked for some information on how to catch food. He remembered going fishing with his father but that didn't help him much. His father just jumped into the water and caught a fish in his hands. He had tried to catch a fish in the same manner but his swimming skills were not very good. He found a passage talking about how to craft a fishing pole and its uses. It seemed simple enough. He wandered the woods looking for a long branch that could be used.
Walking for what seemed to be hours due to his hunger he started to wonder if it was possible to find a stick as long as the book required. Looking up at the trees he noticed several dead branches that would do nicely but was unable to reach them. "I guess I will just have to climb." He remembered his father doing this on several occasions to hunt for eggs. His father just seemed to jump up into the branches no matter how high they were. So Gohan decided to do the same.
Taking a step back from the trunk he prepared himself for a large leap. He quickly took a few steps forward gaining momentum and launched himself into the air. He didn't jump very high and quickly realized his imminent collision with the tree trunk. He closed his eyes in preparation of the pain he was sure he was going to feel, but nothing happened. He looked around and found no trunk in front of him. He quickly turned around and saw a large hole in the middle of the trunk. "How did that get there? Did I do that?" Gohan simply shrugged his shoulders and looked around the base of the tree and found the one branch he was trying to get on the floor. "Wow! Just my luck!"
Gohan pulled out a wool cloth, remains of a shirt he surmised. He gently unwound the cloth and formed a length of string that was to be attached to the end of the branch. Satisfied with his work Gohan placed a hook fashioned from a piece of discarded scrap and decided he was ready for his search for food.
He quickly located a large river and located a boulder in the center for him to start his quest. Gohan placed the makeshift fishing pole into the water. Suddenly he jumped up into the air and spun around on the boulder, "Ouch! Get off! Get off!" Attached to his tail was a large fish biting firmly onto the tip. His fast spinning dislodged the beast and it flew towards the shore only to fall back into the water. An idea came to mind and he prepared himself for the shock of another bite and placed his tail back into the water. He watched as a large fish approached and just as it was about to bite down Gohan yanked his tail out of the water and caught the fish in his arms. "I guess I didn't need the pole anyway."
"I got food! I got food! Mommy! Daddy! I caught food for myself. I know that you would be so proud of me!" He sung the same line over again expressing his excitement at his first catch. Reaching his new home he placed the fish on a pole as to avoid getting it dirty and grabbed the book on how to cook his fish. "Gather wood and large stone. Place stones in circle encompassing the wood. Place fish on pole about one foot from the flames. Wait 30 minutes before consuming. Sounds simple enough."
With all the wood gathered and the fish ready he looked back at the book to find how to start a fire. "With flint in hand strike with firm action into tinder to ignite a flame…What? What does that mean? That doesn't help me at all. I don't have a flint…" He sat down looking at his uncooked meal. "How was it that daddy started fires?" Gohan stood back up and stared at the wood, "He placed his hands like this." Gohan placed his hands into a cupping motion at his sides, "Then he moved them forward…" Moving his hands a forward motion he anticipated the wood to catch fire but nothing happened. "That's not right…He says something before moving his hands forward. Kamekameka? Nope…" Gohan continued his trails voicing several adaptations to the words that he heard his father speak.
"Kamehameha?" As the words were spoken he felt the change in air and the small light that came from his palm. He smiled as he realized that these must be the right words. With more certainty he placed his hands at one side as if holding a ball, "KA…ME…" A small ball of light appeared in between his hands and Gohan's heart raced with excitement. "HA…ME…" The ball of light grew within the confines of his hands and started to give Gohan trouble holding on to it. Pushing his hands forward with great force he yelled, "HAAAA!" In an instant a blue stream of light erupted from his hands missing the fire wood pile and continuing towards a tree. Upon impact a large explosion rang out knocking Gohan off his feet while his firewood and uncooked meal crashed into him.
"Wow…" He said wide eyed with disbelief. He looked at his hands in amazement. After recovering from the blast and placing his meal above a reconstructed pile of fire wood he tried again, "maybe if I don't put so much force into it..." Getting back into position he started again, this time in a softer tone and less pronounced speech. "Kamehame…Ha!" Pushing his hands forward while speaking the last syllable a proportionately smaller beam of energy erupted from his palm and ignited the wood. "I did it!"
The excitement from the discovery of his father's move wore off as he finished his meal. The impact of the two energy attacks drained all his spirit and consciousness swiftly left the small child.
AN: So let me explain something within this story that people may feel is a mighty big plot hole. Roshi has the ability to sense power levels, he seemed to know how from the start of Dragonball and continuing to the end of every series. Goku learned how to detect power levels from Kami and Piccolo being a part of Kami he knew all along. At least his reincarnation did. Krillin and the others didn't learn until they were trained by Kami themselves. Proof of this is in the apparent smugness of Krillin when Raditz appeared for the first time, being warned by Roshi and Goku before being knocked into the side of the house. Roshi deciding not to inform anyone and not mentioning the Dragon balls is a small plot hole but not relevant to the premise of this story. Sometimes small plot holes are needed in order to proceed with the story. I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter. I don't know when I will update. I write for fun but sometimes it is not fun to continue especially if I receive no reviews.
The time line in this chapter is when Gohan is 3 years old approximately 9 months from the arrival of Raditz.