Training With The Turtle Hermit
Goku waved his arms in excitement as their new master in martial arts finally told them they were going to have their very first lesson and right before dinner, too! Master Roshi had capsulated his house and given them all a ride on his boat to another bigger island where around three hundred people already lived at. He and Natsu went around the island to explore their new surroundings and found it very different from the smaller island, "It's finally time for training. I'm so excited!"
"Um…me too? Launch, in her nice form, came up from behind Roshi, asking if she should train with the others. She still isn't keen on the idea of training, but if he expected her to train with them, then she'll give it her best.
Happily answering her, the hermit replied, "You're free to do whatever you want!"
"I guess I will prepare dinner…" She sniffled. "Th…en…ha…ha…ha"
Terrified of the woman's sneeze, all three males ran in cover to the nearest place, which happened to be a giant rock. "Haaaaaa…"
Giving a loud yawn, Launch continued, "I guess I'll go prepare dinner now! Do your best!" She waved to everyone before going into the house.
Surprised and relieved, the blue-haired woman only yawned as all three hiding fell down, "Guess she was just yawning…" Goku crawled from behind the rock. "That scared me…" Krillin admitted coming out from the too along with Natsu.
Master Roshi stood back up, facing the boys, "Y-you fools! How dare you be scared? A martial arts expert must never be afraid!" The boys walked up closer to him. "Now, let's continue with our fearless training! Krillin, do you have any fighting experience?"
Giving a nod to his master, he said, "Yes! I've studied eight years at the Orin Temple."
"Alright then, very good," He nodded to the boy, "I suppose I can skip the lesson about what a punch and a kick are. Now, before I teach you three anything, now I need to test your current ability." He pointed to the rock they hid behind, "There's about a hundred meters from that rock to that tree," his other arm pointed to a tree, "Where's my stopwatch!?"
"You want us to race?" Krillin asked.
"Just because you can run doesn't necessarily mean you can become a good martial artist, but it'll prove you have solid legs and loins," he then mutters, "Though if you're the expert fighter, you shouldn't be the one to run away!"
Chuckling, Krillin smugly said, I'll run first, Master Roshi."
"Ooh, confident are ya!"
"Well, you'll probably see why," He peeked at Goku and then at Natsu gloating, "I can probably make it to the Olympics if I wanted to!"
They all moved around Roshi by the tree, Natsu a few feet away from the rock with Goku sitting right next to him rocking back and forth cheerfully, and Krillin getting ready to race, "On your mark…get set…hit it!"
The little monk rushed with all the speed he could muster on his tiny legs, determined to take the shortest time and beat the other two. He ran past his master towards the tree, grabbing it to catch his breath as his time was announced, "Ten point four seconds," Still breathing heavily, he went over to him, "That's pretty good."
"Yeah, that's an okay run, but I usually make it around ten point one…haa…I don't know what happened…haa…but I guess the wind was against me…haa…" He huffed in exhaustion.
Goku jumped to his feet and yelled, "Yoo-hoo, Master Roshi, can I go yet!?"
"Now, let's not get antsy…"
Goku got into position with his left leg bent back, his right extended ahead, and his arms stretched out, "On your mark…get set…go!"
Giving it his best, he ran ahead on "go," enjoying the feel of the wind and the sound of Natsu cheering him on from behind. He felt something strange, though, and looked down at his feet, noticing why he couldn't speed up.
"Now let's see now, it looks like eleven seconds even," Roshi checked his stopwatch, "You didn't beat Krillin's time, but you were still pretty darn fast!"
"Oh, it's really not fair to compare him to me!" Krillin arrogantly told him, "I set the bar pretty high, you know."
Goku checked his feet while the other three spoke and frowned at his shoes. He stood, lifting his right foot up and looking at the soles of his shoes. "Yup, you both have well-toned legs."
"Master Roshi, can I change my shoes and try once more!"
Frowning at the other, Krillin said, "Don't be a sore loser, Goku," Lifting his foot, he told him, "My shoes aren't meant for running either, now are they?"
"But mine are broken!" He showed them his feet where his toes wiggled, "look!"
After Roshi gave him a nod, he ran over to the house, replacing his torn shoes for better shoes, and was getting ready to try again.
"Ok! I'm ready!"
"Alright, get on your mark…get set…go!"
Running again, Goku felt more comfortable now that his shoes were intact and not ripped apart. He could hear the whooshing sound as he raced from the rock to the tree, passing by both Krillin and Master Roshi.
"Wow, eight point five." Those were Roshi's only words as Krillin fell in surprise at his rival's speed.
"Was I fast?" Goku asked, coming back excitedly.
Opening and closing his mouth, Krillin appeared like a fish as he asked, "Wh…what…kind of training did you do…?" If the kid was fast, then he wonders how fast Natsu is…
"Is it my turn!?" Natsu called from his position by the rock, his stance similar to Goku's, except his arms were bent more to his side at an acute angle.
Roshi raised his arm, indicating yes, "On your mark…get set…go!"
They watched as he sprinted off with a speed that seemed faster than Krillin but a little slower than Goku from one place to another. Goku clapped for him, "Go Natsu!" Natsu placed his heels firmly on the ground, stopping a few inches away from the others.
"Uh…nine point nine eight."
Master Roshi cleared his throat, "Hmm…those were fast times…you guys are on the top of your league!" Giving their master a cheesy grin, they listened as he continued, "But that wasn't good enough!" They stared in surprise at the elder. "You're still merely at a human level. In order to continue forward down the path of becoming a perfect martial artist, you must overcome the limits of a human! This is where things get hard…"
The three students of the turtle hermit watched as he took off his shell, giving the stopwatch to the closest, "Krillin, keep time for me."
"Whose time am I keeping?" He asked
Cracking his bones as if he never used them before, Master Roshi replied, "Mine, of course! I hope I'm still in shape." He stretched his limbs, readying for a run.
Separating again, the students were on one end and their master on the other, "Are you ready, Master Roshi!" Goku calls out.
They watched as he took a second the swing his shell from his place to the rock beside them, crushing the stone on hit, "Oh yeah, I'm ready!"
"Then, on your mark, get set and go!" The words were barely out of his mouth before the martial artist appeared by their side, with the wind still moving around their faces. He was like the wind.
"Now that's speed," Goku said with his mouth hanging open.
"Uh-huh." Natsu nodded, his mouth gaping too.
"What's my time?" Roshi asks
Staring at the stopwatch, Krillin stutters, "Five…point six…seconds."
"Five point six, huh…? Not too bad." He picked up his purple shell, placing it back on his back.
"That really was amazing!" Natsu told the old man with his eyes wide like the other two boys.
"Can you teach us to do that?" Goku asks in excitement.
"What, throw a purple turtle shell?" He sounded confused before realizing what the boy actually meant, "Oh right, the running! Of course, it's just surpassing the normal human limitations!" He gave a tired sigh, "Boy, all that running has gotten me thirsty! Goku, grab me a beer!"
"Beer? What's beer?" Goku asked, confused at the term.
"Do you mean bear?" Natsu wasn't any better at knowing what the elder wanted.
Krillin eagerly said, "Don't worry, master, I got ya!" he ran off to the house.
Roshi stared at both the spikey-haired students before sighing, "Goku, Natsu, I have many things to teach the two of you besides fighting," he couldn't understand how either of them never heard the term beer, "Now, are you two sure you guys weren't raised in a bubble?"
Giggling nervously, both kids gave him the usual hand to the back in awkwardness.
"HA…HA…ACHOO!"
Turning their heads to the house, Roshi nervously said, "That's no yawn." He ran off to hide again, with Goku following him and him pulling on his friend's arm in fear.
They saw Krillin screaming for his life as the blonde version of Launch came out chasing him with a knife, "The hell do you want, you little shit!?"
Still having his stopwatch, Roshi glanced down at it, "Oh, would you look at that…eight point eight seconds much better than before!"
The sun had finally started to set, giving the island a striking appearance with its colors of orange and red. Launch had sneezed back to normal right before she could do any real damage to Krillin, and Master Roshi decided to give them a detailed description of how to push your limits. Am I making any sense?"
All three students nodded to the hermit, "Good, now we'll work on applying it tomorrow morning. Now, you three have one more task to perform before coming inside for dinner."
"More running?" Goku asked.
Moving his head around, Master Roshi said, "No, it's a different kind of test," he picked up a white rock and marked it with a marker. "Take a good look at this stone." The stone had the name turtle written on it, "Have you memorized it?"
"I think so," Krillin told him with a questioning gaze.
"Yes..." Natsu hadn't a clue what they were supposed to do with it.
"Are you going to eat it?" Goku asks, not knowing if the hermit was actually hungry enough to eat anything.
"What?!" No Goku!" The old hermit felt like he should be concerned for the boy's lack of intelligence. He gripped the rock, swung his arm back, and aimed it far away over the cliff to somewhere in the jungle below, "Oh, ho, ho...it went pretty far."
"Are we supposed to throw stones?" Natsu asks, confused.
"Throwing stones isn't the test here..." They faced him, "The test is to find mine."
Surprised colored their features as they questioned his motives, "For the one you just threw?" Krillin asked.
"Anyone can throw a stone just like anyone can throw a punch, but to find a stone takes a focused mind and a calm spirit. This will separate you from the others, so the person who finds it can keep the stone, and the one who doesn't can keep their appetite."
It didn't take them long to figure out what he was saying, and the three have slight screeches of panic, "However, if none of you bring back the stone in thirty minutes, then none of you gets to eat!" His students started rushing over to the mountain, "Watch out for snakes!"
The three boys stopped at the cliff's edge, looking for a way down, "Darn it, there's no way down!"
Goku then jumped, fell, happily grabbed a branch, and swung from tree to tree. He then grabbed another branch; it snapped, and he fell to the ground.
"Dinner, Dinner!" Goku repeated as he ran around the forest, "Hello, stone, where are you!?"
Natsu ran through the forest, sniffing around the trees in case the stone landed close to him, "I smell sweat and turtle shells," He took another sniff, "I'm closer!"
Natsu used his nose to find the source, and after running around for a while, he locked on to the smell, "AHA!" he rushed to the source from different directions, keeping his eyes wide open until he spotted the white stone with the word "turtle" on it. Reaching his arm, he touched the stone. "I FOUND IT!" his scream of delight was loud enough to alert anyone of their presence.
Seeing his friend's hands on the stone, Goku asked, "Do you think he'll let you share some food with us?"
Shrugging, Natsu said, "Well, he didn't say the winner couldn't do it."
"You guys actually found it!?" Krillin came running towards the two in surprise.
Answering the monk, Natsu said, "Following his scent."
"What are you, a dog?" Krillin asked incredulity, "But are you sure it's the real one?
Lemme see." He reached his hand out.
"Yeah, here, look, it has the mark written on it," Natsu said, confused, giving it to the boy as he threw a questioning gaze at Goku.
The other boy stared at the stone for a few seconds before dashing away, "Wahah, you idiots!"
"Ahh!" The other two screamed, giving the boy a head start.
Goku and Natsu followed Krillin through the darkening forest, determined to get the stone back, "That's cheating!" Goku called out. "Give me back that stone, Krillin!" Natsu screamed, trying to close in on the boy.
"I'm sorry, but I stole it fair and square!" He yelled at the other two, pushing his limits. He ran to a rope bride, making it to the other side before the other two in record time. Krillin quickly broke the rope, collapsing the bridge and all who stood on it.
The two went to find another way to catch up to Krillin.
Rushing back to the thief, they stared him down, stopping when he did, "D-Dammit! Fine then, we'll fight it out!"
Goku jumped from the tree and landed in front of Krillin. Natsu did the same, ready to punch this smug boy. "Ohh! You wanna go?!"
Krillin made the first move; he threw a side kick to Natsu's right, which was blocked, and then another to his left, blocked again. He tried again with his fist, and each time, it was blocked. Natsu had his leg behind Krillin to kick his knee joint and have the other boy fall down. He placed his foot above the other, and flames burst out in warning, "Give up!?"
"I-I give, I give!" He said fearfully, watching as the other boy retracted his leg back, "Well, I can't fight with you," He stood back up, going into his shirt, "Just where did you train before?" Taking a stone out, he turned around, throwing it in the opposite direction, "There's your stone!"
Goku yelled, rushing over to the stone, "Wait up, stone!"
"You're such a jerk!" Natsu told the boy as he ran with his friend to find the stone yet again.
Unfortunately, they returned after realizing Krillin threw a different stone to them. Goku had captured the one thrown and saw that it was shaped differently, and the writing wasn't the same. The scent also had barely any of the old turtle hermit and came back to see the iniquity little boy smirking next to Roshi, who told them they lost.
The other two boys stood there with drool coming down their mouths as they stared at the food.
"Dig in, Krillin!" Master Roshi took the first bite of stew, enjoying the taste.
"Do you like it? Launch asks them.
"You bet!"
Krillin, smiling the whole time, asked, "Would you like more to drink Master Roshi?"
"Oh yeah, you read my mind!" He told the boy, then faced Launch, "Well, I didn't know you were such a gourmet cook Launch; thank you very much!"
"Just thank the fish!" Launch joked, causing the three to laugh.
Seeing both of their mouths drooling, Natsu bumped Goku slightly and motioned to the jungle. Goku understood what he meant, and the two decided to go hunt for food.
The old hermit, happily eating the food, asks, "Yummy! What's in this tasty stew?"
"Let's see...what did that man call it? She tries to recall, "Oh, it's a pufferfish."
Both of them stopped eating as she said the name of the fish, hoping they heard incorrectly, "Pu-pufferfish."
"But that's poisonous!" Master Roshi told her, feeling his face turn blue.
"Oh, I feel ill!" Krillin's whole head turned blue as he held his stomach in pain.
Falling on the ground next to Krillin, Roshi moaned, "So do I!"
"Oh, I didn't know!" Launch started feeling sick herself.
Seeing the three moaning in pain had the two spikey duo go outside to start hunting for their meal, "Gee, I guess we should stay away from the pufferfish," Goku said as they headed back to the jungle.
"Hey, what they deserve came to them," Natsu mentioned that Krillin stole the stone he found and claimed it as his finding. Like Natsu had promised his friend, they had a huge feast containing tigers, triceratops, and a few stray turkeys as meats. They also found bananas, strawberries, and some spices to their meal. It was the best feast they had in a long while, and were almost sad to have their food gone and their bellies stuff.
Returning to the house, they weren't surprised to see everyone still lying on the ground, sick from the pufferfish. Natsu and Goku went to a random section in the living room to sleep.
Waking up early, the two went outside to enjoy the morning sun, "Come on, Master Roshi, let's go train!" Goku calls into the house. "I think we'll call off training today..." He crawls to the door, groaning and passing out, still making pained noises. Natsu snickered silently while Goku stared in disappointment.
To Be Continued...
The first day of training starts the next chapter. Thanks for reading.
Remember to vote in the poll or review on who Goku should be with. Also, if you have ideas on what magic some of the Z-Fighters should be, sure to share your thoughts in the reviews.
Ciao!
