A/N: *insert standard apologies for perpetual laziness/school/life/and other unfortunate circumstances here*
This took longer than I anticipated, but I'm glad iss here. I really don't have much else to say so here ya go!
Chapter 8: Stay the Path
". . . Ugh. . ."
The ground was cold against Gohan's skin. He could feel an array of goosebumps springing up along his arms. It was rough too. Parts of it were uneven, leading to a bumpy feeling that pressed into his skin. He'd likely have a few impressions on his skin when he checked. That was when he felt the soreness in his back. Every breath he took drew a wince as his clothes itched against his bruised back. A similar soreness had his entire body aching.
He sat up quickly at that.
All of the memories from yesterday came surging back. Was it yesterday? He noted that the room was dark aside from the firelight from torches, casting long shadows. He bit back a cry of pain as his body protested the sudden movement.
"You awake, huh?"
Gohan fought the urge to turn towards the voice immediately. Instead, he slowly framed his neck towards the voice. Eventually, he was able to make out the dimly lit face of a guard in the torchlight. "Where am I?"
The guard scowled before turning away from the boy. "The palace slammer. The king'll see you in the morning. I'd rest up if I were you."
Gohan wanted to get more information or explain that there was a big misunderstanding. He frankly wasn't sure which one he should do first. What he did know, however, was that the guard was in no conversational mood. The most he'd get out of the man would likely be another scowl at best. At worst, he might get himself beaten up.
If he was going to get answers, it'd be in the morning.
They were roused in the morning. The soldiers weren't much for being careful with them, at least in the case of Gohan. His stomach grumbled in protest as he was pulled from his cell and through the halls. As hungry as he was, Gohan couldn't help but admire the room. It at least kept him occupied from the fear starting to settle in his chest, and the rope bindings that rubbed at his wrists.
He hadn't seen any sign of Shen or Toph in a handful of hours. Well, he guessed a few hours had passed. He couldn't tell how many hours had passed between the moment he'd been captured and then released. They'd been held separately, so he hadn't even been sure if he would see them again. The king of Omashu hadn't been known to be remarkably cruel, but he was definitely more than a little unorthodox.
To his (mild) relief, he'd been brought into the same room as his friends. Unfortunately, the circumstances were less than stellar. They were in the throne room standing before the throne. He didn't think he'd felt smaller in his life with bulky soldiers standing behind him in such a spacious room under the gaze of the king sitting atop his throne. It was quite a shame being in a room that magnificent under such terrible circumstances.
"Your Highness," began a soldier, "what would you have us do with the urchins?"
"Hey!" Toph exclaimed. "Who're you calling an urchin, you smelly, pea-brain?!"
"Shut it, brat, before I shut you up!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
Gohan growled as he shot Toph the most forceful glare he could muster. If he'd been in a less stressed frame of mind, he'd have realized that she wouldn't have even been able to see it. "Stop antagonizing him, Toph!"
Toph stuck out her tongue at him. "He started it!"
"I don't care! Just give it a rest!"
"Well aren't you all a lively bunch!"
Gohan's awareness reached his mind as his eyes fearfully darted to the throne. The king was adorned in his green robe and his horned headset. His hair was jutting out at the sides as his goatee sat in a bush on his chin. His eyes had bags like he was a stranger to a good night's sleep and looked wild. Even from a distance, Gohan could spot them twinkling with barely contained thoughts.
He gulped.
King Bumi stood up from his throne, peering over the group. "What brings you all here?"
Gohan found his voice, miraculously before Toph could say anything. "We were heading for Ba Sing Se to speak with the Earth King! We decided to go through Omashu instead of trying our luck in the desert!"
"I see. And this involved taking my soldiers money, hm?"
Gohan could feel his ears burning. He prayed that they weren't nearly as red as they felt. "We-We didn't me-mean to! I mean, we tr-tried to take it back! I mean-!"
"A thief, spineless, and a liar," a soldier scoffed. "I guess I shouldn't have expected much from an urchin."
Gohan winced as his face grew hot.
"Hey!" Shen shrieked. "Lay off!"
"Or what?"
"Silence!"
You could hear a pin drop.
"What of you two? What are your accounts?"
"It was my idea to take the money!" Shen shouted, glaring at the ruler. "So what? You guys make so much money here, ya won't even miss it!"
Gohan wanted to shake her, but the king had already moved onto Toph.
She shrugged, seemingly unbothered, but if her taut jaw was any indicator, she was only barely reining in her fury. "The kid's right. It's not that much money. Tell your muscleheads to back off and we'll be on our way. And give us back, Jing!"
"Yeah, where's Jing?!" Shen demanded.
The king rubbed at his bushy goatee. "Hm? Do you mean that shirshu? We have her detained! Don't worry, she's being cared for! Now, how about we bring you children back to your cells?"
"What?!" Toph shouted. "No way!"
"Toph!" Gohan cried. "Don't fight him, please! We need to make a good impression with the Earth king!"
"Listen to your friend," a soldier grunted. "If you have any sense to ya, you'll know fighting isn't fun for any of us."
With a few shoves, Gohan found his way back to his cell, praying to whatever spirit would listen that they'd make it out alright.
Gohan leaned back against a wall. It was unpleasant for his back, but the pain kept him from worrying too much. He'd been pacing before for what could've been hours, but his legs had grown much too tired for that. His thoughts had never stopped turning, despite that. He didn't know if food would be coming anytime soon. He felt partially guilty for thinking about food when he didn't know what was happening with his friends, but he couldn't help himself. He felt like he was gonna die if he didn't get food soon.
"Let me in there."
The voice was gruff. It wasn't the regular guard stationed there. That guard's voice was lighter than the one he was hearing. Another weird thing he noticed was the scent. There was a stronger smell of sweat mixed in with some other scents. It didn't smell pleasant to say the least. Finally, he sensed multiple people outside his cell. Four in total. There was only supposed to be one guard. There'd only ever been one guard.
'Maybe, the king decided that they needed more security. . ?'
He didn't even believe himself.
"Alright fine, don't get your panties in a twist."
There was a jingle of keys and then the cell swung open. Gohan pushed himself to his feet with a strength he didn't know he possessed. He met the four men standing, more like leaning the cell wall. His eyes didn't miss a bag overflowing with pebbles lying behind the men. "Wh-What's going on?"
"The king wanted us to bring you back to the throne room," spoke one of the guards with a wide smirk.
"Funny thing is that he gave us free rein on how to get you there," said another, palming one of the stones.
"We're gonna have fun with this!"
Gohan pressed further back against the wall as more of the soldiers began to brandish some stones. He tried to stop himself from shaking but found himself unable. He yelped as a stone exploded right beside his head. He hadn't even been able to track it because it was moving so fast. "Wh-Why did you do that?! You don't need to-!"
Another stone stopped short of his foot saw him pressed further against the wall.
This happened again and again, despite his protests.
"No! Stop!"
One of the stones hit him square in the jaw, sending a stinging pain through it. It was bruised immediately. His eyes watered up as he raised his arms to guard his face. A second hit him in the sternum. He soon found himself curled into a ball and being pelted by pebbles on all sides. Somewhere between all of the chaos, something in him snapped.
An animalistic growl tore out of his throat as he tore upon the men. As soon as the roar reached his ears, however, he soon came back to his senses.
His cell was shattered. All four of his assailants were unconscious and slumped in a mess of pebbles. He felt numb as he walked towards them, gingerly as if he might break them by moving too swiftly. To his mild relief, he could still sense the soldiers, but he needed to feel their pulse. He needed physical confirmation.
Reaching the closest soldier's prone form, Gohan stretched trembling fingers to the side of his neck. Thankfully, he felt the pulse. He would've sighed in relief if he hadn't seen the scale of the wreckage. The other soldiers surely would have heard such a loud ruckus and would be on their way to investigate. They might even hurt Shen or Toph in retaliation. Maybe they'd kill all of them. Shen. Toph. Jing.
All dead because of him.
He sat there, in the wreckage, and felt a tear fall.
Having nothing but your thoughts to keep ya company sucked.
'Maybe it's because ya feel guilty? Serves ya right! Ya just had to get that money huh? And for what? Satisfying your own ego? Making things right? Yeah, ya sure made things right.'
'Shut it, mind.'
But it didn't shut up. It just got more annoying.
She stood up and walked over to the wall, starting to trace her hand along its surface. The cool metal was cold against her hand. It felt wrong. It was unnatural compared to the comforting earth that she'd known for so long. However, she was oddly thankful for the distraction at that moment. She'd long since lost track of the time. That had been. . . unnerving. It felt like she was back in her hometown, trapped away from the world without any bearings. It felt icky.
She could only imagine how pissed Gohan would be at her. 'He'd have every right to be fucking pissed off, ya fucking idiot! Ya can't do anything right, can ya? Ya disappoint everyone ya meet. You're an embarrassment.'
Shen could feel her eyes beginning to moisten as she dragged the back of her knuckles across her eyes. After a few harsh blinks, she completely cleared her eyes and steeled her gaze. There would be no crying today, if she could help it. She didn't deserve it anyway.
"Hey, kid!"
Shen saw the guard, staring at her. His look of distaste was clearly visible. Shen fought the urge to roll her eyes. Antagonizing the guards wouldn't help any of them. "What?"
"You're not hungry?"
"No."
"Alright then, suit yourself."
The quiet returned once again. Shen almost found herself going up to the bars so that she could make some small talk with the guard. Anything to keep her mind from wandering again. She took a deep sigh as she lay back down to look up at the ceiling.
'Count the tiles. . . . just count the tiles. . . You ruined everything.'
"No, I didn't."
'You're the reason that you're all in prison, aren't ya?'
"Yes but-"
'Then you ruined everything. You all are behind schedule and you're gonna get a bad reputation with the Earth King. Heck, ya might even get Toph's parents on your trail because of your fuck up. Then who knows what they're gonna do to ya and Gohan. Man, Gohan's probably not gonna want anything to do with ya anymore.'
"That's not true!"
'Oh, ya know it is, kid. It's not gonna matter for too long, though, cause the alien's gonna arrive and kill everyone because ya fucked up.'
"SHUT UP!"
"Hey, the hell's going on in there?!"
Shen's cheeks flushed as she hurriedly sat up, staring at two irate looking guards. She hurriedly rubbed at her eyes and cheeks before stammering out an apology. The guards just shook their heads and returned back to their conversation.
'Great, ya just can't stop fucking up, huh?'
Shen tried to push her embarrassment and the voice aside as she listened to the conversation. She doubted that she'd get much out of it, but it sure beat staring at the ceiling and getting into screaming matches with herself.
"Ya got the new shipment?" asked the first guard. She recognized him as the one who'd been stationed there in the first place.
"Yeah, it's all right here," said the second guard. The guard was nearby. She could see his key, glinting innocently on the ground. In fact, it was close enough for her to grab. She stared over at the other guard. He was staring over at whatever the shipment was; both of them were completely focused on the shipment. If she was careful enough. . .
Shen began her slow crawl towards the bars. She hardly dared to even breathe as she inched closer and closer to her freedom. After what felt like a lifetime, she was inches away from the keys. She reached out a hand with a small smile, ready to scoop the keys up.
BANG!
Shen nearly fell over in surprise as loud clangs of metal started to reverberate down the halls.
"What the hell?!" shouted a guard.
"The fuck was that?!" shouted another.
After a quick glance at the distracted guards, she snatched the keys with a quick swipe and sat back down carefully. No one seemed to notice her theft.
"Hey, can ya two help me over here?"
"I'm supposed to be watching the girl!"
"Seriously? The little ankle-biter can't do much inside a' that cell. There ain't no earth for her to manipulate anyways. Plus, there's a shitty situation down here and I'm gonna need some manpower!"
Shen tensed at that. Situation? The only person who could've done something like that was Gohan. But it wouldn't make sense. He didn't want them to fight back and solidify a bad reputation among the most powerful people in the Earth Kingdom. It couldn't have been him.
The man shrugged and walked over along with the other guard.
Shen couldn't believe her luck. A part of her felt like it was too easy. She didn't care though. Who knew when she'd get a chance this good again?
Cursing her short reach, she leaned forward as far as the bars would allow, aiming for the keyhole. She fiddled with the lock, wincing with the effort. She barely managed to get the key inside of the lock as she twisted it open. With only a slight creak, the door budged open. She hurriedly stuck her head out only to find no guards in sight. She stepped out of the cell and headed opposite of the direction that she'd seen the guards. An odd sight stopped her short.
It was her bag of money. Technically, it was the Omashu military's money, but that was a simple detail. Her fists clenched as she marched over to it, giving it a hard kick. The sack tumbled over and sent a couple of bronze pieces skittering. "Stupid money! They already have more than enough anyways. . !"
She stared down at it. She could take out a few pieces and no one would ever know. Well, Gohan would know later, but it would be too late to do anything about it by then. . .
"No. . . this stupid thing got us here in the first place."
She began her way down the hallway, opposite the way the guards had taken, keeping her eyes peeled for guards and her friends.
Toph was bored. She could've blown the Omashu guards to kingdom come if she'd had access to earth. It would've been quick, easy, and painless. . . OK, relatively painless. Painless for her but a world of hurt for the guards. Gohan, Shen, Jing, and herself could've been on their way and a lot closer to the Earth King.
Instead, she was locked in a metal cell with floors also made of metal so she could barely even see, Jing was locked up Spirits' knew where, and they were out of money. Not to mention, this imprisonment had set them back a couple of days. To make matters worse, Gohan didn't want any of them to fight back. Didn't he say that Omashu's king wasn't someone that they wanted help from in the first place? What would it matter that they'd roughed up a couple of his soldiers? The Earth king probably wouldn't even hear about it.
Despite all of that Toph would be lying if she said that that was bothering her the most. No, it wasn't the imprisonment on her mind, or the lack of money, or that weird explosion she'd heard a few moments ago. Nope, it was that stupid-
"Hello, there young one!"
Toph flinched and immediately scowled in what she believed was the old man's direction. She hadn't been able to tell where he was coming from because of the stupid floors. Everything was coming to her slower, duller. It made everything all murky. "What do you want? Shouldn't you be living it up on your throne playing Pai Sho or something?"
There was a pause. "I do other things besides rule and play board games, you know? Like visiting my guests from time to time."
"You always throw your guests in prison cells?"
"Only the ones who take money."
Toph scowled. She could hear the smile on his face. This whole situation was funny to him, huh? He was just here to taunt her. The simple idea of being someone else's amusement toy had her blood boiling. "Look! You got your stupid money back, so you can let us go now! You can use these cells for people who actually deserve it! Like murderers and eel-hound kickers are something!"
"You want to leave?"
"YES!"
"Well, I'll let you out on one condition. You must tell me. . . how do you feel about your companions?"
Toph blinked in mild surprise. That was probably the last thing she was expecting him to ask. ". . . Gohan and Shen. . . ?"
"Yes. What is your honest opinion on the two of them?"
Her eyes narrowed as she tried to search his voice. Unfortunately, he was nothing if not good at keeping things close to the vest. His tone didn't give much of anything away besides a slight modicum of interest. He had to have been playing her. Maybe he was bored, and she was a means of killing time. There was no way that she or the others would be set free if she answered a question that simple. "Why?"
"Can't you oblige an old man?"
Toph just turned away and faced the wall.
"It gets pretty boring in here. There isn't much to do in this castle, despite all of the money and riches."
"So, you're here cause you're bored."
"Yes, but I figured you might be bored as well. Being in a cell like this instead of out exploring. We're kindred spirits, you and I. My offer still stands by the way. . ."
Toph weighed her options. On the one hand, this guy was annoying. On the other hand, having a conversation with the old coot would probably beat sitting relatively blind for hours and hours on end. "They're alright, I guess. Shen's cool enough, Gohan's always uptight."
"Is that all?"
Toph threw her hands up as she glared in the king's direction. "What? Did you want me to tell you a whole life story? I haven't even known them that long!"
"You know there's more though."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know there's more that you can mention."
"No, there isn't!" Toph crossed her arms, feeling her blood start to boil. "I told you everything! You're skipping out on our deal!"
"There's more."
Toph felt her teeth starting to grind together. Her mother always said it was a habit she should stop because it was unlady-like. That reminder only furthered her ire. "You want more? Fine! Shen reminds me of myself from whenever I was younger. But she seems even more impulsive. Gohan reminds me of my parents. It makes me mad sometimes when he acts like I can't do anything! It's like he's them and everyone sees me like this-this. . . delicate, stupid little flower who can't do anything for herself! But then there are times where he treats me like an equal, or heck, even better than he is. Like I'm not blind. It makes me feel. . ."
"Capable?"
Just as quickly as the rage came, it was gone. She turned away and returned her gaze to the wall. "You got everything you wanted to hear, yet?"
She could hear a slight sigh come from the man, followed by a few shifting sounds like feet shuffling along the ground. "Yes, I believe that is enough for today, miss. Guards, you can unlock her cell and lead her and her friends to the throne room."
Toph blinked.
Once.
Twice.
'He's not actually gonna-'
"But sire-!"
"Do as I say! They haven't got all day, I don't think? Don't you, miss?"
Toph felt herself cracking a small smirk after the initial shock wore off. "No, we don't."
"You heard the girl." She could hear a wide grin in the man's voice. "Get them freed!"
Suddenly, the old fart didn't seem so bad.
Gohan was more than a little relieved when he saw his friends were still alive and alright. They were the only ones that he'd ever had in his life, and he didn't know what he'd do if he lost them. If he lost them and it was his fault.
"Shen! Toph!"
"Hey," Shen replied, glaring at one of the guards escorting her. They were all still bound with ropes as they stood before the king. Speaking of which, the man was watching them with a wide smile. It might've reassured him to see that on anyone else's face, but with how crazy he'd heard King Bumi was on top of that glint of mischief dancing in his eyes. . .
"I am so sorry, sir!" Gohan pleaded. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone or break that cell! I don't have the money to pay for it, but-!"
"Sorry?" the king asked. "My dear boy, you shouldn't be sorry! You've done a splendid job. Quite flashy what you managed to pull off!"
". . . I'm sorry, I don't follow."
The king looked away from Gohan and turned to Shen. "Why didn't you take the money? It was nearby. I don't doubt that you could've taken a couple of pieces and my personnel would've been none the wiser."
"That's what got us into this mess," Shen scoffed. "I just wanna get me and my friends outta here!"
"I see," the king replied. "What about you, Toph? Anything that you want to say to the group?"
"Don't push it."
The king gave a warm cackle. "Alright then, guards, release them of their knots!"
There were a slight couple of tugs and then Gohan felt his bands fall away. He gingerly rubbed at his wrists as he watched the king with wide eyes. "Why?"
"Hmm?"
"Why are you letting us go? We stole money, I broke your cell and hurt some of your men!"
"You've all learned the lesson that you needed to learn."
His mind was quite battered from the last couple of hours. Under different circumstances, he would've offered a more polite and thoughtful response, but in that moment, the most he could muster was "huh?"
The king's smile was just as wide as ever as well as patient. "Stealing was the wrong thing to do, and I believe that you all understand that. I needed you all to understand some more lessons before you faced the Earth King. There are people in the world who will eat you alive if you aren't prepared. Even now, I can't say that you all are as ready as you can be, but that'll come in time."
"You believe us?"
"Of course, I do! Being open minded is a very important thing I'm sure you'll learn. Gohan, I believe your name was?"
Gohan stood up a bit straighter at his name. "Yes, Your Highness!"
"You have a very gentle soul. You want peace for all and that is an admirable quality. However, you are also a timid soul. You confuse this with peace. True peace comes from fighting back when necessary. Don't mistake my distinction as a dismissal of nonviolence. What you need to know is that there's a time and a place for both."
Gohan felt his mouth dry at that nugget of wisdom. "I see. Wait. . . They attacked me on purpose!"
The king nodded, sweeping his gaze over Gohan's bruised form. He could spot some of that mischief die away. At that moment, Gohan recognized that King Bumi wasn't just saying words. He was a man who would not hesitate to go into action when necessary. "Yes. It seems they went against my orders and overdid it. I'll have to talk to them about that."
Gohan felt a shiver go up his spine at the sound of that.
"You there, Shen, correct?"
"Yeah?"
"Your heart is in the right place. I can truly believe that you wanted to help your friends when you stole that money. However, you need perspective. If you had done this in a place less forgiving, your friends could have ended up dead."
Shen didn't say anything. She just looked off towards the wall. Gohan's heart went out to her. After the past couple of hours, he couldn't find it in him to still be mad at her. He'd known her for long enough to know when something was on her mind.
"Toph, you are guarded in your deepest emotions, and your mind can become clouded because of it. When you open up, you'll find that many of your worries were but ants in reality." He paused for a moment before regarding her more firmly. "You may even see that people are more than what they appeared to be."
Toph turned towards him with her blank stare, crossing her arms. "So, you just wanted to be our parent for the day?"
The king chuckled, shaking his head. "Not just that! I wanted to give you these."
He walked behind his throne and brought out a sack of coins. No, Gohan corrected, it was the same sack as before. Gohan followed the man's movements as he handed the sack over to a guard who brought the bag to him.
"You're letting us have them?!" Gohan exclaimed.
King Bumi nodded. "You'll need them. Just remember, don't go stealing again. Others won't be as forgiving."
"I promise!"
"I'll try."
"Sure."
King Bumi cackled to himself. "Well, I guess that settles that. Now, guards, bring them their shirshu from the barracks!" He turned back to the impromptu group with a wide grin. "Now, how about some food? I know you all must be famished!"
Gohan's stomach took that time to release a loud growl. ". . . Yes, please."
A/N: This took. . . much longer than anticipated. Oh well, onto reviews and such!
X3runner: Shoot, you were spot on for what I was trying to accomplish lmao. While I was reading it to respond to it, I had to double-take a couple of times XD. But yeah, he is very much gonna have to continue to grow and change and there's gonna be an ample number of opportunities for him to do so.
dcsonic 10: Maybe. He might end up with a certain waterbender, or maybe even a Fire Nation gal, or maybe a Kyoshi warrior or something like that. Who can say? :P Aang is unfortunately still a popsicle in the ocean and Katara and Sokka are still at home. However that could change. Lastly, nope. His tail got cut off back at the orphanage. There might be a slight reference to the gruesome story behind that one in the future.
dcsonic 10: Yeah, I have recently. The graphics on Sonic running look dope af. If I was Itachi. . . man ion even know what I'd do lol. I think I would probably have told the Hokage that about the Uchihas' plan and tried to stop it another way. As for my favorite Naruto pairing, I gotta say Shikamaru/Temari. They're really dope and they work together well.
Aight, I shall take my leave. If y'all have any other reviews or queries or various other questions in your heads, feel free to give em. I love reading them lmao. Hopefully the next update won't take as long.
Uploaded: March 31st, 2022
