PREVIOUSLY

Anyways, tomorrow they were travelling to a nearby village for Goku's birthday and Robin decided that he shouldn't get all depressed thinking about his family before such a cheerful day. Robin was also tired from that day's training and he fell asleep into a dreamless sleep with one last thought. 'No matter what happens, I will make it home one day.' Robin was positive he would make it home one day, he just wasn't sure how long it would be until then.

Chapter 4: Goku's Eighth Birthday

Just as the first glimmer of sunlight started to peak up over the horizon, Robin woke up. He woke up first every morning, usually around 4 am. It was hard to know when there weren't any clocks around the place.

Today was different though, it was Goku's "Eighth" birthday. It's quoted due to the fact that Goku's real birthday is unknown. But today was the day that Gohan found Goku in the forest. It's been seven years and Gohan thought that Goku looked around one year old when he found him.

Since today was special, Robin decided not to do any energy training that morning and was focused on finding a gift for Goku. He really had no clue what he could get Goku. Goku wasn't the kind of kid to want stuff other than food. However today they were going to a nearby village and they were eating at an all you can eat buffet. Getting Goku food is pointless.

Robin decided to go for a stroll. As he was wandering aimlessly down the path to the lake, he looked around at all the animals. They weren't scared of him anymore and seemed glad to see him. 'What's something you get for someone who wants nothing?' Robin pondered on it until an idea struck him. 'Something they can use! I'll get him some extra training gis. He seems to have only that one pair.' Robin was proud of the idea he came up with.

Robin got to lake and looked at his reflection. He was also wearing a gi. The day after he arrived, Gohan made him an outfit. It looked like the one Goku wore, but instead of a white sash, his was red. He looked himself over. He didn't change at all which seemed kind of odd, even for a saiyan. His muscle mass didn't change with the training, hell, not even his finger nails grew.

Robin looked at his nails curiously, he wondered if he was even growing at all. He knew saiyans aged slowly, but shouldn't their nails at least grow, or their muscle mass grow and decrease?

Some faint walking was heard and Robin turned around to see Gohan walking through the trees. "Nice morning isn't it?" Gohan asked casually as he walked over to Robin. "Yeah, it seems almost too peaceful, it's somewhat unnerving." Robin replied as he turned back to the lake realizing there were no animals around it.

"This specific day there's always beautiful weather and something great happens, but something bad always happens too." Gohan said as he too looked around. "What do you mean by that?" Robin asked. "Well the first day I found Goku, it was a great day but that night, Goku turned into a giant ape and destroyed much of the surrounding forest. Then the year after that, Goku fell down a ravine and almost died. It was good he didn't though. Then when Goku turned six, there was a huge forest fire, Goku was in the forest when it started, but it didn't affect the trees around him for some reason. Sometimes I think that boy if the human incarnation of both miracle and devastation." Gohan spoke peacefully, reminiscing about the past.

"Well, Goku's going to be up soon and I'm going back to the house to make breakfast." Gohan said as he turned and starting walking back. Robin just stood there thinking about what Gohan said. 'I wonder if anything bad is going to happen today. I hope it's not the day. Bulma's only supposed to arrive in around three years. I'll keep an eye.' Robin decided he would be cautious today.

After breakfast, Robin and Gohan started packing things up to bring with them since it's about an hour walk to the nearby village. Goku was outside going through his forms. Goku was quite excited because it would be the first time he would meet anyone besides his brother and grandpa. Maybe he would even see a car.

"You know Robin, if you had never popped up here, I probably never would have brought Goku to the nearby village. I was always worried he might hurt someone, or freak people out with his tail." Gohan said as he was putting a few pouches of water into a sac.

Robin had almost forgotten that normal people don't have tails. He had gotten so used to seeing Goku with one, and having one himself. Robin had also been training his tail. If he was going to be around, he needed to cover his greatest weakness.

However, Robin could tell that he was already changing history. Goku wasn't supposed to meet anyone before Bulma came along. He also wasn't supposed to see cars and other technology until searching for the Dragon Balls. This worried Robin, but he decided not to voice it since it didn't seem like too much of a major thing.

While Robin was looking around for anything he may want to bring, he spotted a book bag under Goku's bed. "What's this?" He asked as he got down and reached under the bed for it. "Hmm?" Gohan looked over to see what Robin was talking about.

Robin pulled the book bag out and it looked familiar. "Oh, I forgot about that. Goku and I found that near your body when we first found you. I guess Goku just shoved it under his bed." Gohan said as he turned back to whatever he was doing.

Robin was surprised that his back pack was here. He opened it up and was even more surprised at what was in it. His Mac Book Pro, his Samsung Galaxy and some extra papers, pencils and other school supplies were in it. Along with all that was charging cables and his Cannon Camera. He had a camera in his book bag because he read up on the school he was supposed to go to and wanted to join the school news club. He thought he could be a reporter and a camera would be helpful.

Robin quickly checked all the batteries of his devices and they were all full. He also found an extra set of batteries for his camera. Those would be helpful considering they lived in a place with no electricity. As he looked at his phone, he was surprised to see he had a signal and was receiving data.

"Ready to go Robin?" Gohan asked as he finished packing up. This brought Robin out of his thoughts and decided he'd look into it later. He shoved all his things back into his back pack and put it over his shoulders. "Yeah, let's go." Robin said as he and Gohan stepped out of the house.

It was an uneventful walk to the village. Goku was cheerful as usual and Gohan just followed him along smiling. Robin was somewhat nervous though. 'Could this alter history too much?' He questioned himself consciously.

Also, the closer they got to the village Robin started to get a strange feeling. There was also the problem that he didn't sense any life force coming from the direction of the village. Robin wasn't the best at feeling life force, but surely a village full of people would be enough for him to sense it. Robin kept quiet though and just followed Gohan and Goku.

When they walked through the gates of the village, it was obvious something was wrong. The village was absolutely deserted. No parked vehicles, no one walking around. It was so quiet that even Goku stopped and looked around. "Where is everyone?" He questioned aloud.

Not a single soul was in the whole village, at least there were none that Robin could sense. "I have no clue Goku." Robin said to him as he looked confused. 'This is strange. How come there are no people?' Robin was walking towards a building that said Resto-Bar on the sign, while in deep thought.

The door to the building was open and he stepped inside. The place looked clean. He then walked over to the counter and swiped his finger on it. There was no dust at all. The place was abandoned that day. Robin was positive. The drinks on the shelf behind the counter looked new, and the food he could see in the back part of the building looked fresh.

Robin walked out of a building to go talk to Gohan but realized Gohan was talking to Goku. "Sorry Goku, but it looks like we need to go back home. Orange Star city is too far to walk and it's the nearest place." Gohan sounded disappointed as he was hoping today Goku could learn more about human interaction and culture. Goku looked devastated though, he was so happy earlier to finally get to meet new people, just for that happiness to be crushed.

"But why? Where is everyone?" Goku asked. He looked as though he wanted to cry, but he was a martial artist and wouldn't let himself cry. "I don't know Goku, but if they left, then it's probably a good idea we leave." Gohan said to him.

Robin decided to speak up before Goku would ask more questions. "It seems as though they left recently. That place over there is still clean but not a single person." Robin said to Gohan quietly. He didn't want Goku to hear, even with his saiyan hearing.

"Then we should probably get going." Gohan said as he turned around and started walking back in the direction they come from. Goku just followed behind him, head low.

"I think I'm going to stay for a bit longer, I'll be home later. I want to try to find more information on what's going on." Robin said. Goku propped his head up at this. "Can I stay with you?" He asked. Gohan turned around and looked like he was about to say something but Robin spoke up first. "No Goku, I think it's better that you go back with grandpa." Goku looked disappointed at this and turned back around and started walking again. "Okay big brother, I will."

As Gohan and Goku started to walk down the path, Robin spotted Gohan walk into the bushes for a second and walk back out with something shiny in his hand. Robin couldn't quite make out what it was though. He shrugged it off and decided he would ask Gohan about it later.

Once Gohan and Goku were past the horizon, Robin slowly lifted into the air and flew in the direction of Orange Star City. He knew he wouldn't find any information about what happened in a ghost town. It would also make for good training considering he's never flown large distances yet.

Gohan looked over his shoulder when he sensed Robin power up slightly and saw him float off and zoom in the direction of the city. He just smiled knowingly and turned around to keep walking with Goku.

Well that's it for this chapter. A side plot is starting. Maybe someone could guess what's happening.