*Gohan's POV*

Piccolo's upset. I can tell by the way his antenna keep twitching irritably in the direction the power levels vanished .
I wonder if he had a premonition. He stops so suddenly I fly right into him. "Watch it!" he barks.
"S-s-sorry." I stammer, he's really mad… he snorts angrily glaring at the woods.
I try to lighten the mood "What's up Piccolo? You look like the wood is hiding them on purpose!" I tease. Wrong move.
His head snaps over at me, his eyes are almost glowing with rage… I unconsciously drift back.
Why is he so riled up about this?
I shrink under his glare. Swallowing hard I say "Maybe we should split up..." I suggest fearing for my hide.
Piccolo snorts and nods, zooming of into the trees without another word. Leaving me floating cluelessly in the air.
A power level flickers abruptly at the edge of the woods. In an instant, I rocket toward the qi. It's strong too, except it keeps fading and re building. I've never sensed anything like it!
Swooping low over the trees, I search for the person. Then I hear the coughing. Loud rasping sobs so inhuman, at first I thought a mountain lion was choking on a fur ball…
Right at the edge of the woods, next to a space pod and a camouflaged tent, a boy is curled clutching his heaving chest. I land a few feet away.
"Are you alright?" I ask, he looks awful.
His head jerks up; tears are rolling down his face and he is gasping for breath. He's scared too.
But even more shockingly he looks almost exactly like Vegeta! His hair standing on end in that weird flame style, his general body structure, his face and his left eye almost exactly the same… his right eye is this really weird dino-yellow. Also, he has a long reddish-brown tail, swishing wildly behind him.
Slowly his coughing stops, with effort he heaves himself into a weak defensive stance. After a few seconds of trying to stand correctly he falls over sideways. In a flash I catch him, by the shoulder.
"You ok?" I ask again.
He tries to glare at me but he's too scared. I can tell he's thinking of fighting me again but decides against it "Thanks." He rasps, wearily shrugging out of my grip then stumbling to a stand a yard away. He's still swaying, but I'm starting to think that's normal for him. After a brief silence of studying each other, I realize he's on the verge of turning tale and running. Poor guy, scared out of his wits, I'll bet.
I smile nicely "Its ok. I won't hurt you. You can trust me. I'm Gohan. What's your name?"
He swallows and rubs his nose, his brows furrowing in a very Vegeta-ish frown "T-topple." He finally reveals, still out of breath from coughing.
I smile broadly, something tells me friendliness is key here. "Cool. You hungry? I have some fish over a fire a few miles east."
He's torn, he wants the fish and he wants to trust me. But in the end he shakes his head quickly. Then he swallows "Can you bring the fish here?"
I grin "Sure thing."
Topple smiles weakly, then coughs again.

Twenty minutes later I'm aback at the camp watching Topple devour his sixth fish, I've had to go back and catch some more. "You like fish huh?" I say as I watch at least five pounds of meat disappear. This kid makes Dad's and Vegeta's apatite look civil!
Swallowing loudly he shrugs, puts another hand full of fish in his mouth and answers "Ah ere ha a-y ee ore"
I think that means "I never had any before."
I nod "You should try some when mom makes! it she uses all types of really good spices ,it's the best! …uh I think that's still raw…." Too late, he's gobbled that up too. I guess he'd like sushi too.
He's finally finished. And shakes his head "Can't be, my sister is the best cook in the universe. Sorry." He smiles modestly.
I take up the challenge "Nu-uh! My Mom makes soup so good you could almost cry eating it!"
"My sister makes Namekian mash so tasty, people come from three solar systems over to have some!"
"My Mom's cooking is so good, the prince of all saiyans says it's the best."
"So? My sister cooked for the royal palaces of King Tohar The Picky for five months before she decided to quit!"
I try to come up with something but draw a blank" Well, um, I guess we'll just have to see some other time who's better."
Topple is grinning from ear to ear, his face is smeared with fish juices and he got some fush bones in his hair. He looks decidedly un-princely.
I like him, he's spunky.
"So uh… where you from?" I ask companionably.
He cocks his head at me and thinks for a moment "I don't know."
"Oh… do you have family around?"
He smiles broadly, all the tension and fear has evaporated from him since earlier, he's still coughing and he's pale but after the fish he looks better "My big sister. Ja-ihn." Pride and happiness hang in those words. I can tell he really loves her… and her cooking.
"No parents?" I ask to keep the conversation going.
"I guess…five." He says thoughtfully.
"Huh?" that answer makes no sense. How can you have more than two parents? "What do you mean …five?
"Well… five people make up my DNA. So I guess I have five parents." He answers absentmindedly breaking the fish bones into little bits.
I swallow. This is so weird. Not knowing what else to say I ask "So uh what's' Ja-ihn like?"
That big goofy grin comes back "She's great! She taught me everything I know! How to fight and take care of myself and how to read and write. And she always looks out for me. Even if I mess up and they almost catch me she always comes back to get me. She kicks but, too."
That makes even less sense but I nod. He's obviously proud of his sister.
"But mostly she's my best friend. Not that she'd ever admit that. She's really, really proud and stubborn…." He finishes thoughtfully.
Then I get it, she's like Piccolo.
"I know somebody like that. You should meet him. He'd like you." I smile.
"Do you have a lot of friends?" he asks curiously.
"Uh I guess… mostly from school thought..." Weird question.
He practically jumps out of his skin, standing unsteadily he stares at me wide eyed "You go to school!?"
"Uh yeah?"
" What's it like? Is it fun? Are there lots of kids? Do you get homework? Are the tests hard? Can I come?"
"Ummm…" I don't know where to start. But he's standing really exited (if unsteady) his yellow and brown eyes shining with hope.
"I guess you could come… I don't see why not..."
"AWESOME!" he squeals and half hugs half tackles me. More from reflex than anything else, I throw him playfully down. In a flash he's on his feet and tackling me for "real". Then we grapple for a few minutes. He's good. His balance is awful but he compensates with speed and toughness. This guys like boiled leather!
After fifteen minutes we're both panting and giggling. It's good to fight somebody my own size for once.
He's gasping for air though.
"You ok?" I wish I had a cough drop. He starts coughing violently but shrugs, then coughs more. He convulses and groans. A tear is trickling down his cheek.
"Been better." He says lying flat on his back and staring at the sky. "What's your friend like?" he asks glancing over at me.
"Well he's-" I'm interrupted by a loud crushing sound from the edge of the woods. Two shapes come crashing out of the woods growling and snarling and fighting.
One is Piccolo, I have a hunch the other is Ja-ihn.