Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews! Here's another chappy! Hope you like! I don't own DBZ.
Last time...
Mirai looked out of the tent and, noticing Lime was gone, walked down to the river, stripped off his boxers and dived into the clear water. The cool water was refreshing; both to his body and mind. He swam a few laps across the width of the river, getting in some exercise as he cleared his mind. He dove into the water and caught a few fish and tossed them onto the shore. Climbing out of the water, he replaced his boxers and sat at the shore as he gutted the fish.
Lime came back a few minutes later, added her fruit to the meal already prepared and dug in.
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Early the next morning, Gohan's eyes fluttered open. It was still dark outside and the only noises to be heard were the occasional crickets and Icarus' light snoring. Looking down, Gohan realized he and Videl had shifted in their sleep so that they were now spooning against each other. Both his arms were settled on the girl's exposed stomach, as her shirt had ridden up slightly during the night. Her head lay on his strong chest while his rested on her shoulder. As they were so close, he could smell her soft feminine scent, loving the aroma of her lavender shampoo. Right then he had to thank every deity that nature didn't decide to give his groin a workout this morning. That would have been disastrous.
The previous day, he had spent time with Videl gathering enough fruit from the forest that would last them at least three days. They had also found a river with a small waterfall where they could bathe in privacy or go swimming. As the pond was nearby, Gohan could always dive in and grab some fish if they wanted some.
They had decided to get up early to continue Videl's training which had been put on hiatus since the day before they left the palace. He hated waking the girl but it just had to be done. Removing his arms from around her waist, he leaned down and whispered gently in her ear, "Videl. Time to wake up."
His breath tickled her ear causing the dark haired girl to squirm before her eyes opened lazily. She rolled over and snuggled deeper into Gohan's chest. "Maria…" she grumbled. "I don't wanna wake up yet…too early."
Gohan gave a chortle at the girl's words. She was clearly out of it. He decided to use a tactic he often used on Goten when he refused to wake up. "But Videl," he continued. "You have to wake up. The Gold Fighter's taking down the Red Shark Gang without you!"
"Gold Fighter…abs…yummy…" Videl babbled, a goofy smile spreading across her face.
Gohan's face flamed as his body stiffened. Did she just say…? Wait. Calm down, Gohan. She just likes my body. That doesn't mean she likes me! Does it?
"Gold Fighter…" Videl repeated, dreamily. Suddenly she shot up, inadvertently head-butting Gohan under the chin. "Gohan! If you think you're going to take down the gang without me, you've got another thing coming!"
"Ow!" Gohan yelled as he bit down hard on his tongue, moving about a foot away from the Satan girl in the process.
Videl looked around wildly as she realized she was not in her bedroom. Looking to her left, she noticed Gohan trying to stem the flow of blood from his mouth. It was only then that Videl felt immense pain on the crown of her head. "Ow! What the hell happened, Gohan?" she yelled, only to cringe as her loudness made her head hurt even more.
"You sod noh! You hid me!" Gohan tried his best to explain with a useless tongue. Storming off, Gohan went down to the pond to wash the blood out of his mouth. At least he hadn't bitten the tip off.
Videl stared at the boy's retreating back, rubbing her still sore cranium. Suddenly she felt heavy breathing on her neck. Gulping heavily, she slowly turned around to face a very grumpy Icarus. The dragon slowly advanced on her, causing her to step back with every move he made. Before long, Videl felt hard rock behind her. Oh hell! Where the hell is Gohan when you need him? I mean I did give him a bloody mouth but that was totally accidental. Now his dragon wants to kill me! Why the hell do I have to be so loud? Seeing her life flash before her eyes as Icarus raised a deadly paw, tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up! Just please don't kill me!" she begged.
The dragon seemed to be having none of it as he brought down his paw with the force to make a T-Rex see stars.
Videl closed her eyes and braced for death. However, it never came. After a few seconds, she opened one eye hesitantly to find Icarus' paw a mere centimeter from her face. The dragon gave her a death glare and growled before he stalked back to his corner, lay down and went back to sleep.
Videl blinked in confusion. What just happened?
Right then Gohan walked in, wiping his mouth. Seeing the Satan girl's wet cheeks he immediately rushed to her side. "Are you ok, Videl? Did you hit your head that hard? I'm sorry." he said in concern, thumbing the tears away.
Videl was still too stunned to answer or even blush as his calloused hands roamed her delicate skin. We have to get out of this cave! She looked up at him with wide eyes and was about to spill her guts when the dragon gave her another death glare. On second thought, I better keep my mouth shut. "I-I'm fine," Videl stuttered. "S-sorry."
"If you're sure," Gohan said, unconvinced but he didn't want to push her. "Are you still up for training?"
Videl managed a smile. Anything to get the hell away from this monster. "You bet!" she chirped.
"Alright," Gohan replied. "I'll head over to the waterfall. You can get changed and meet me over there."
"No!" Videl answered a little too quickly. There was no way she was staying in that cave alone with the dragon. "I'll come with you." She gazed past Gohan to see the dragon raise an eye ridge at her. Sadistic bastard!
Gohan looked back at her suspiciously. Something was going on with that girl and he knew it. Taking her by the shoulders, he looked seriously straight into her eyes. "Videl," he said gently. "What's going on?"
Videl refused to meet his gaze. "It's nothing. Don't worry about me," she replied.
"Too late," Gohan responded.
Damn. He is not taking no for an answer! How stubborn is this kid? Looks like I'm going to have to come up with something convincing. Sighing, she said, "I just had a dream about the night at the warehouse." Truth be told, the past two nights sleeping in his arms were the only times since the incident that she didn't have a dream about those bastards.
Gohan's face darkened. "I should have killed them all," he whispered in regret.
Videl's eyes widened. He would really go that far?
"Of course I would!" Gohan replied, staring deeply into her eyes. "Nobody is allowed to hurt you on my watch!"
Videl's eyes widened. Did I say that out loud? Shaking her head, she smiled up at Gohan. "Thanks," she said sincerely, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Let's get going before it gets too hot."
Gohan nodded and walked with her over to the waterfall, conveniently forgetting to let go of her hand.
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Erasa and Sharpner…
"Now, Sharpie," Erasa coached. "Just reach out and touch it. It won't bite." She was holding a butterfly in her palms as the blonde boy shivered in front of her. She had decided it was time for Sharpner to get over his irrational fear of insects and the best way to accomplish this was to let him face his fear head on.
Sharpner looked uncertainly at the creature in his friend's palms. They were seated inside the hut they had made; a cool breeze blew in from the makeshift door as the sky darkened outside. The patches of sunlight peeking through the gathering clouds formed gloomy shadows against the wooden walls of their dwelling, making the tiny creature seem ten times larger. Come on Sharpner! You can do this! It's just a little bug! It can't hurt you! After the self-pep talk, Sharpner lifted his left hand slowly and inched it to the purple and yellow winged insect. It's now or never! Closing his eyes tightly, he gently brushed the butterfly's wings with his fingertip. Feeling its soft texture, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the blonde girl in front of him, beaming with pride."I did it! I guess it's not so bad after all!" he exclaimed.
Erasa smiled back at him as he stroked the insect's wings with more surety. "Do you want to hold him?" she asked.
Sharpner nodded. "Yeah," he whispered back.
Erasa released the creature into the boy's larger hands. She watched him close his palms around the butterfly then open them to allow the insect to fly free. She giggled at the overjoyed expression on her partner's face. Sometimes he was just too darn cute!
Suddenly the little creature flew right back into Sharpner's still-open palms. The blonde boy looked down at the insect curiously. "Did you want to stay with us buddy?" he asked. The butterfly flapped his wings once. "Cool! I'm Sharpner and this is my friend, Erasa!" he introduced. Sharpner made a thoughtful face as he tried to figure out what to call his new friend. "I know! I'll call you, Jingles!"
The butterfly promptly fell on his back before getting up and flapping his wings angrily at the blonde imbecile. "Ok, ok," Sharpner conceded. "We won't go for Jingles. How about Snowflake?"
The butterfly sweatdropped and turned away from the boy. Was this kid crazy? "No? How about Kero?" Sharpner asked.
The butterfly flew out of the boy's hands and made a circle around his head before coming to rest on his shoulder. "Oh, so you like that!" Sharpner said, stroking the butterfly's wings. "I really thought Herman was a better choice but it's your name!"
Kero just facefaulted. He was now positive this kid was on drugs. Oh well, if things got too crazy he could always bail. Flitting off, he landed on Erasa's nose causing the blonde girl to giggle. Well, at least she was cute.
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Mirai and Lime…
It was the third day since they had been in the wilderness and Mirai was craving some meat. Yes. It was time for him to go hunting. Against his better judgment, he had allowed Lime to come along. They were now several miles away from their campsite and it made no sense for them to turn back now. The area they were in was densely foliated. Trees towered three hundred feet above them, shrubs picked away at their jeans while plants of all sizes in between littered the landscape. The ground was covered in dead leaves and the only sounds to be heard were the howling wind and the cries of scant flocks of birds as they soared through the forest to some unknown destination.
It had been two hours and so far they hadn't come across so much as a rat. With the loss of his ki sensing capabilities, Mirai had to rely on animal tracks and his astute sense of smell to track the animals. However, the forest was not being very merciful that afternoon. Animal tracks crisscrossed each other in a confusing pattern. The wind seemed to be blowing in every direction at once making it impossible for him to track a scent. To make it worse, he had been discreetly marking the trees around him with his sword and this was the third time he had gone past the sycamore to their left. They were totally and completely lost. The icing on the cake was the low rumble of thunder and the darkening skies above them. So not only were they lost but they were lost in the rain.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Lime asked for the tenth time. Her brow was creased with worry as the first drops of rain escaped the heavy dark clouds above. Something in the pit of her stomach told her he had no idea where he was going, yet she was terrified and still desperate to know the answer for sure.
Mirai could keep up the façade no longer. Cursing silently at the sky, he shook his head silently, feeling awful as his love sagged her shoulders in disappointment. As the rain began to pelt down harder on them, Mirai decided to dwell on her expression no longer. They needed to find shelter, any shelter, and judging from how the wind was picking up, they needed to find it fast.
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