Long, long ago, in a deep dark forest far from civilization, beyond a towering range of... well you get the idea. It's the kind of place that stories like this begin.
An elderly man was walking in the forest with a straw basket strapped to his back. He was humming a soothing song to his cargo. With a sigh, the old man recalled exactly why it was that he was searching through the bushes so late at night.
It was twilight when he happened to be outside. He had taken a glance at the dimly lit sky and saw something shine. It grew closer, until finally, a large orb-like object raced by. It left behind a streak of white as it passed over the forest and landed with a deafening boom somewhere deeper in the mountains.
It could have easily been mistaken for a falling star to anyone who had glanced up upon it. But not him. The old man had seen a star like this once before and knew it for what it truly was. Which was why he was out here now, despite having to care for this special cargo on his back, searching for the object before any stay animals might get to it.
A stick snapped not too far away, making the elder freeze on the spot to listen. Though the old man was not listening for what may have caused the noise. No, his attention was fully on the basket on his back- or more specifically- the cargo that he held within.
He looked over his shoulder carefully, having heard nothing, and peered inside of the basket. There, wrapped in a swath of white blankets, made of the softest material that the elder could find in his battered old house, rested a small baby boy. His inky black hair stood up on end and- despite it's rigid appearance- was soft and bent naturally with the wind.
The elder smiled tenderly at the baby. Despite how innocent the little tike looked while asleep he was a real trouble-maker while awake. He liked to fuss and fight against any kindness that happened to be shown to him. It was almost as if the boy were angry all the time, or immensely hurt by something unknown to the elder. So when the boy was sleeping soundly, as he was now, the old man could help but feel relieved.
Distant sounds of the mountain monkey's chattering angrily with one another reached them. The noise began to rise within the forest, and the old man knew that the fallen star had somehow fallen near one of their nests.
The elders heart sank as he watched the baby begin to wake up.
First with a was small twitch of the nose. Then the boy's dark brown-almost-black-looking eyes opened. He blinked, looking quite bewildered with his surroundings, before he began to squirm. The baby moved as though in a panic, and cried out as he attacked anything that it could reach.
The sudden, quick movement threw off the old man's balance. He stumbled a bit, feeling the thwack of a hard, dark brown tail whacking the the back of his head as the baby began to thrash around. And before the elder could try to fix things, it was already too late.
In a single moment, the old man could only watch with fear seizing at his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the baby tumble out of the basket. The elder turned, his body beginning to act before his brain could try and catch up. An arm reached out, ready to grasp any limb of the small baby before he could fall down the side of the ravine that the elder had been walking beside. A scream of surprise and fear ripped out of the baby's throat and the elder's hand missed the end of the child's long tail by a millimeter.
"GOKU!" the old man yelped as he realized he missed, and the baby's small form disappeared into the ravine. His eyes were wide and his heart thumped erratically in his ears. A loud, sickening thump was heard from below, and the child's screaming was abruptly stopped.
Alarmed and grief stricken, the elder surged forwards. He hopped down the side of the ravine by using rocks that jutted out the sides as though they were stepping stones. Quickly spotting the baby boy, the old man almost felt as though his heart would stop from the sight.
Blood had begun to pool around the small head of the infant, drenching his hair and slowly being absorbed into the ground. The elder reached him and examined the child's head carefully. He swallowed, and tenderly lifted the boy up.
As though the touch awakened him, the child's eyes flew opened for a brief moment, before his eyes teared up and he began to cry. Shushing the child, the elder held the boy close to his chest and felt the front of his shirt get fisted tightly. A nose was shoved in the old man's neck and a tail wrapped itself tightly around the elder's withered arm. Carefully avoiding the gash on the baby's head, the elder smoothed down the child's wild hair with one hand and rubbed gentle circles on the boy's back with the other. The infant's entire body shook as the gentle affection only seemed to make him cry harder.
If the elder hadn't been suspicious of the child's origins before, he was certain of them now. There was no doubt where the baby had come from. In a fall that would have killed any other child, this one was left alive.
With his heart weighed down with guilt, the elder looked in the direction of the fallen star and the monkeys loud chatter. His eyes were filled with turmoil as he pondered on what to do.
The small child's tail wrapped itself tighter on the old man's arms, and his attention was brought back to the boy. Carefully setting his cheek on the infant's head, the old man turned, and left in the direction of home. He knew that he had to be with the child that he already had rather than try and help a new one that might have arrived on Earth.
The elder took the baby home and took care of him, bandaging him up carefully so that he could recover.
A few days later, when the child was well enough to travel again, the elder went out and searched for what he had seen falling from the sky. When he finally found the landing spot, he saw that the area had already been vacated.
And in the crater that had been left behind, was a space ship. It was round and white- very similar to the one that he had seen before. In fact, it was an exact replica. Except- it was empty. There were no signs of life.
Suddenly, as though sensing his approach, an electric wire flashed before a symbol on the inside of the ship suddenly began to glow. The symbol looked much like two horseshoes intersecting with a single line down the center.
Then, slowly, a voice began to speak. It was broken and robotic but the elder could just make out what it was saying.
A few years later, the baby boy that the elder had taken into his care was much more placent than he had been before his tumble. The boy grew to be very caring and kind, and worked hard to please his grandfather. One day, when they were both in the forest, they met something.
It was another child. A child with a tail.
"Son Goku...! Hold up, son!" The elderly man said, calling after his grandson.
A young boy was running just ahead of the elder. He had inky-black hair that stuck up on his his head wildly. He didn't stop running at the sound of his grandfather's call. Instead, he simply turned around and ran back to the elder with a wide smile on his face.
"Yes grandpa~!" he called back with a giggle. The child, Goku, had dark brown eyes that, if you'd see him from afar, would look completely black.
That wasn't the only thing strange about this child though. A long brown and fuzzy tail was following him around. It wasn't a fake, for it moved around of it's own free will, often accentuating the boy's emotions.
Just as Goku had reached his grandfather, he turned back around and started to run in the direction that he had been going only a moment ago. When he had gotten to a certain distance, the boy fell into a march and swung his arms out of rhythm with his legs. Knees were lifted high with every step he took, and he hummed a tune as though pretending to be a soldier. His tail wagged as he walked, showing just how much of a good mood that he was in currently.
Then, as though he had suddenly become a statue, Goku stopped moving. Standing stock still, only his tail twitched as his attention was grabbed by something further within the forest. He listened, and his nose twitched as a scent reached him.
"Goku?" The elder asked, his tone cautious. He had stopped just behind his grandson, his senses going on high alert. Long ago, the old man learned just how much sharper Goku's senses were than his and he tried his best to get the boy to use them to his advantage. It wasn't often when ones senses led them astray, after all.
"Did you hear that, grandpa Gohan?" Goku asked curiously as his head tilted to his right. His eyes were closed and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. With a gasp, Goku opened his eyes and ran forwards, towards the noise that he had just heard. "It sound's like a fight!"
Alarmed, the elder- Gohan- quickly followed Goku, before he could loose him in the woods. The way that Goku was headed,was very close to the ravine that he had fallen in as a baby. Gohan would not be happy for a repeat of that incident, despite knowing that a fall like that would no longer hurt Goku. Gohan had been teaching the young boy Martial Arts for a reason.
The trees suddenly cleared and Goku stopped at the edge of the line were they ended. Panting, Gohan looked at what it was that had caught Goku's attention, and immediately Gohan recognized the figure.
He had first noticed them around when he took Goku fishing, or to gather wood for the house. Gohan had been doing his very best to approach the other child, even leaving out clothes and food for them. But they never approached him, despite the things that he left out being gone in the morning.
"Look at that!" Goku whispered, awe in his voice. In front of them were two figures. One was a cheetah, whom was growling and hungry. The other was a child that seemed to be no bigger than Goku in size, who was growling back at the hungry, spotted cat.
The child before them had medium length hair that was an inky-black. Their hair resembled more of a wild version of a lions mane rather than Goku's palm tree-like styled hair. The child had a slightly more slender figure than Goku and Gohan suspected that it was because they hadn't eaten enough during the frost season that had just passed.
The child was on all fours, moving around as though they were most comfortable like that. Their bare hands and feet were smeared with mud and dirt, much like the child's face. The clothes that the child wore was oddly placed and filled with wholes, as though they tried to wear the clothes for warmth, but was only partly successful.
Slowly, predatorily, the cheetah and the child paced around one another. With every movement that the cheetah made closer, the child would counter with their own. Poofed up like a frightened cat, a long brown tail followed behind the wild child, the end of the thing twitching from just how tense they were.
The unknown child hissed like a wild animal, and the cheetah growled back menacingly.
"Grandpa! Grandpa look! He has a tail! Like me! I knew I wasn't the only one!" Goku whispered frantically, tugging on Gohan's sleeve and pointing. The boy spoke so quickly that the old man barely knew what Goku was trying to communicate. Goku bounced on the tips of his toes and his eyes practically sparkled as he watched.
An unknown signal was made, and suddenly the cheetah lunged forwards with an attack. Yellow-aged claws extended and sharp teeth were bared as a roar ripped out of the creatures mouth. At the same time, the wild child ran towards the cheetah. Forest green eyes were narrowed in cool concentration as dirty limbs nimbly pushed them forwards.
With a low growl that sounded a little too animalistic, the wild child ducked under the cheetah's outstretched paw. Then, in a single fluid movement, the wild child was laying on it's back underneath of the cheetah's body. Legs flung upwards swiftly, and the cheetah was hit squarely in the ribs.
A loud snap was heard momentarily before the cheetah yelped, and was knocked off of it's feet to be thrown a few feet away.
The child quickly scrambled back onto their hands and feet before they gave a feral growl to the animal. The cheetah whimpered, and there was a glint of fear that reflected in it's eyes. It now knew who exactly was the stronger predator between the two. Slowly, the animal began to make it's retreat into the forest. Instead of going after the cheetah, in order to finish it off, the wild child simply let it go. They watched tensely as the other animal fled, and only relaxed when the cheetah had disappeared in the foliage.
"Wow!" Goku exclaimed, running forwards. "Wow, wow, wow! You fight great!"
Goku's outburst scared the child so much, that they instantly jumped away. Like a cat who had just noticed a cucumber that was placed near it.
"Goku-!" Gohan yelped, trying to stop his grandchild, but it was already too late. With every step that Goku ran forwards, the wild child scrambled backwards in alarm. Their tail was still puffy and they had their slightly sharper-than-normal fangs bared in warning. Just as the child was about to hiss at Goku, they fell backwards with a yelp.
Stunned, Goku wasn't sure what to do. He ran forwards to the edge of the cliff and fell to his hands and knees before he stuck his head over the ledge to see. Goku gasped and called out for his grandfather to help. Having instantly ran forwards at the sight of the child falling, Gohan barely told the boy to stay where he was before he jumped down the cliff side.
Bending down, Gohan looked distraught at the sight of the small child on the ground. There was a steady flow of blood that was making it down from the child's hairline and into their face. Nostalgia rose, and Gohan quickly pushed the image of baby Goku in the exact same predicament to the far corners of his mind.
Quickly, Gohan placed one hand over the small child's heart while the other he hovered just below their nose. When the elder felt the small motion of a heartbeat, he let out a heavy breath. Being careful of the child's small body, Gohan picked them up.
They looked to be about the same age as Goku, who was three at the moment. Yet this child was much thinner and much lighter than they should be for this age. Cradling the wild child carefully in his arms, Gohan quickly made his way back up to the top of the cliff.
Goku was anxiously waiting for him there. And at the sight of the blood, the boy's eyes went wide and his face paled. "That's blood, grandpa! Blood! Is he okay? Will he be okay?" Goku asked the moment that Gohan landed in front of him. Goku had instantly ran to Gohan's side in order to better see the child that he was carrying.
Gohan fought to keep his face neutral for Goku, but didn't say anything, for he didn't know. Goku followed very closely at Gohan's side as they left for their home. Tear streaks began to form down his pale face and the boy sniffled as they walked.
As soon as they arrived back at their house, Gohan told Goku to go and fetch some fresh water as he carefully put the small child on the only bed in the room. Quickly turning and looking through his things, it didn't take Gohan very long before he was able to find bandages to use. He dressed the child's wound and then changed them into clean clothes. That was when Gohan paused to process that this wild child was actually a 'she' and not a 'he' as Gohan had originally assumed.
When Goku came back in with water, Gohan had already covered the young girl in new, clean clothes that happened to be Goku's spare set.
Goku sat beside Gohan and watched solemnly as his grandfather wrapped bandages around the newcomer's head, washing out the blood and grime from their face.
"Grandpa..." Goku whispered, his tone sounding rather broken. Gohan looked over at Goku in alarm as tears begun to form in the young boy's eyes. Goku's small frame shook as he sobbed, looking at the other child as though they were about to die. Gohan face softened as he reached over and pulled Goku into a tight hug.
"What's wrong, my boy?" Gohan asked as he petted Goku softly on the head. The boy's entire head fit into the palm of the frail old man's hands.
"I'm sorry...!" Goku said, his tears now falling freely. He gripped tight to Gohan's shirt with his small fists. "I didn't mean to scare him! I just wanted to say hi...! And now... And now he's dying! Because of me...!" Goku sobbed, and Gohan pulled away so that he could get a better look at his grandson.
"Now, now, Goku." Gohan soothed with a tender smile on his face. It was hard for Gohan to believe that Goku had been so vicious during their first year together, especially when he cried like this. "You had nothing to do with it. This isn't your fault, Son Goku."
Goku didn't say anything; instead he just sniffled and looked towards the child sleeping in their bed. With a sigh, Gohan glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping form under the covers, then looked back at Goku again.
"How about this then..." Gohan said slowly, an idea forming in his mind. His words got Goku's attention, and the boy sniffled again as he looked back up at the blurry form that was his grandfather. "From now on, Goku, it will be your job to protect her from danger. We'll teach her everything we know and show her that she's not alone. You can always look out for her. Forever. Sound good?"
Goku wiped his eyes and looked up at Gohan. He wasn't smiling, but he seemed determined with his new task. With a nod of his head, Goku carefully climbed onto the bed and sat beside the sleeping child's head, across from Gohan.
Gohan smiled warmly and grabbed a cloth that had been placed on the girls forehead. Gohan put the cloth in the water that Goku had brought, wrung it out so that it was just damp, and carefully began to wash the girl's face. With rapt attention, Goku watched everything his grandfather did curiously.
The very next day, Goku had awoken with the sun. He and his grandfather had found a cozy place outside to sleep for the night, since the sleeping girl was in the only bed that they had in their one-roomed hut, and the night was warm enough for it anyways.
Goku quickly ran to a tree to go to the bathroom before he made his way into his home in order to check on the sleeping girl. Goku poked his head through the door and his dark eyes landed on the lump of blankets on the bed. He watched until he saw the girl take in a deep breath and let it out evenly a few times before he concluded that she was still asleep.
With a slight nod of his head, Goku slipped back out of the house and walked over to the four large pots that sat beside the outside wall. Each pot was the height of Goku's three year old body, which meant that he didn't have to reach too far up before being able to remove the lids from them.
Easily keeping his balance on the tips of his toes- with a little help from his tail- Goku easily opened the first pot and peered inside. Wrapped packages of food were stored here before the frost season, and already the reserves were nearly at the bottom of the heavy clay pot. Luckily they only used the stored food in here for when no food was able to be caught from the forest or river, otherwise Goku would have eaten all that was here long ago.
With little to no effort, Goku lifted himself up with his arms, and let himself hang by his hips on the rim of the pot as he dove in head first. Reaching as far as he could with his fingers, he grinned widely as he successfully managed to grab the packaged dried meat. Several bundles were lifted out and then placed safely in Goku's shirt before he let his own weight tip him out of the pot.
He landed squarely on his feet, and Goku put one hand at the bottom of his shirt to keep the food from falling out as he used the other to put the lid back onto the pot.
Goku then walked over to Gohan and placed two bundles of dried meat beside his head before he wandered back into their hut. Goku put the food on the small table in the middle of the hut before he turned to look at the sleeping girl in the bed.
Quietly, he went to her side and peered down at her. Her breaths were even and warm. A calm expression had smoothed her wild-like features in her sleep, which made her look more friendly overall to Goku.
His eyes landed on the wash cloth on the girl's head. It was dry. So Goku changed the dry cloth on her head, making sure to do exactly as his grandpa had done the night before.
Then Goku left the girl's side and sat at the table quietly. He unwrapped his food and began to eat it while keeping his eyes on the girl curiously. This person was so new and foreign to Goku. They were his size and had been rather startled by Goku's sudden presence before. He felt like he had to learn everything about this person, and see if he would hold up in a fight against them too.
The sun had fully risen by the time that it's rays started to enter the room. A shaft of light fell on the wild girl's face and she moaned. Goku dropped the food that he had in his hands and his eyes went wide. Then he jumped off of his chair, and flew out of the hut so that he could wake up his grandfather.
The girl's eyes fluttered before she opened them. Forest green eyes quietly looked around the room, but the girl quickly found herself to be somewhere she did not recognize. She sat up, and hissed when a pounding started against her skull. She put a hand to her head gently and waited for her vision to return to normal.
Goku ran back in the room and grinned when he saw that she was now awake. She spotted him too, and froze, unsure of what to do.
"Hi!" Goku said with a grin that was so wide, it was almost like it would split his face in two. "My name's Son Goku! It's nice to meet you!"
She didn't respond. Tilting her head to the side, she leaned forward until she had her hands and feet both on the bed. Her tail flicked back and forth as she regarded Goku curiously. Ever so slowly, she crawled off the bed and circled him. Goku didn't really know what she was doing, but he smiled when he saw her tail.
"I knew I wasn't the only one!" Goku said triumphantly, then grabbed his own tail to show to her. "I bet you thought you were the only one with a tail too, huh? Looks like all boys have them, like I thought! See? I have one too!"
The girl sat beside Goku, regarding his tail curiously as he smiled at her tail. Then, at the exact same time, Goku clapped his hands around the girl's tail and she grabbed his.
The two of them suddenly felt ill with pain. They fell over, their hands instantly clenched into tighter fists around each other's tails. It was like all of the energy had been sapped out of them at once. No matter how much they wanted to, they couldn't move. So they just groaned in pain on the floor.
Gohan walked into the hut, with the food Goku had gotten for him in his hands. He had almost stepped on them before a groan drew his attention. The two kids were almost passed out on the floor, expressions of pain clearly seen on their faces.
Despite this, Gohan chuckled. He put his food on the table beside Goku's before he pulled the two apart. They almost instantly recovered, glaring at one another as they pushed themselves to be the first off of the floor. Quickly moving away from one another, they each held their tails protectively and glared at each other.
"I'm glad to know that the two of you are getting along!" Gohan laughed, a smile still on his face. The sound got the girl's attention and she looked over at Gohan with interest.
"A..looong?" She parroted, scrunching up her face in confusion as she said the unfamiliar word. She let go of her tail and crawled around Gohan, inspecting him too.
"What do you think, Goku? Should we keep her? Her name's Yue Ruko. I have been calling her that ever since I discovered that we were being followed around in the forest."
"Ruko?" Goku asked tilting his head. The girl turned to look at him from around Gohan's legs when he said the name. Goku noticed and smiled. "I guess that is your name."
Gohan already knew that raising one child would be tough, but he still took on another when the need for his help came. From that day on, he took care of both Goku and Ruko, teaching them the ways of the world and above all, how to fight in martial arts.