To distract Goku and Ruko from her, Bulma had sent them off to the laundry. The machine that their clothes were in had already washed and dried the fabric, put there just before Bulma had been in the bath. Seeing their clothes clean, the two kids instantly grabbed the garments and began to put them on, until they noticed the odd flowery smell that now seemed to permeate from them.
Goku had paused at the smell for a second, before he continued to slip his clothes on easily. Ruko on the other hand had scrunched up her nose and went straight to Bulma to complain, almost tripping as she forgot to hold up her pants.
"Bulma, why do my clothes smell like this?" she asked, and held out her gi shirt for Bulma to inspect. The teen let out a heavy sigh, went completely still for a full ten seconds, then turned to Ruko and snatched up the clothing.
"What are you talking about, it smells fine now." Bulma raised her brow at Ruko questioningly after she had put the clothes under nose and taken a good whiff.
"It smells like flowers!" the girl exclaimed, as though that were a huge offense.
"Yeah? And?" Bulma asked, not seeing a problem with this. Ruko pouted, and Bulma shook her head. "Just put it on. The smell is much better than it was before I washed it, that's for sure." Then the teen went back to brushing her hair, and Ruko looked down at her clothes blankly.
"Bulma, I'm still hungry." Goku said as he came into the room, still tying the knot on his belt.
"Go sit at the table, I'll be out soon." Bulma grumbled as Ruko began to get dressed. Abruptly turning, Goku disappeared from the frame, only for the noise of a chair scraping against the floor to follow. Bulma groaned.
"What's takin' 'er so long?" Goku whined the moment he spotted Ruko walk out of the bedroom, now completely clothed in her own blue gi.
"Still brushin' 'er hair." Ruko explained, then pulled back the chair that was to Goku's right. Once she pulled herself up, the girl put her hands on the table and began to drum her fingers. Goku let out a small sigh and leaned back in his seat, but couldn't hold still for more than a few seconds at a time. Tails stuck out from the back of their chairs twitched irately as the kid's stomach's rumbled hungrily.
"Bulmaaaa!" Goku called out after a full fifteen seconds of silence. He sat on his knees and let his torso drape over the table top. "We're hungry!"
"Ya, ya, shut yer yaps!" Bulma huffed as she finally appeared from her bedroom. Both children perked up from the table, and watched the teen eagerly as she went into the kitchen.
"Can I help make it go faster?!" Ruko called out, and jumped to her feet on her seat. But Bulma had already shook her head, as she began to gather food items and place them on the table.
"Already done kid." Bulma stated as she moved about. Ruko sat back down happily, but then her and Goku's excitement over food began to dim as they took in what was placed in front of them. Quietly, the kids watched as Bulma finally sat down across from them, and they blankly stared at the food.
On the table was a basket of bread, a bowl of ham and a bowl of lettuce leaves. Ruko and Goku looked at the odd assortment of foods and felt rather disappointed. In front of each of them, an empty plate had been placed along with a cup of steaming black liquid- coffee.
"So... this is it huh?" Goku asked as he picked up a piece of bread. He sniffed it before taking a huge bite. At the same time, Ruko sniffed at the liquid in her cup before she took a sip. She spat the liquid out of her mouth almost as soon as it touched her tongue, and coughed as she put the cup back down. Ruko pushed the cup far away from herself with a look of disgust. Goku frowned at the food that he was chewing on, before he gave the bead loaf a look betrayal.
"Yuck!" Goku spat and put the bread down on his plate. "This stuff doesn't have any flavor!"
"And my soup's bitter too!" Ruko complained, then crossed her arms in disappointment.
"That's no soup, it's coffee!" Bulma sighed, "and how do you expect to grow big and strong if you don't eat right?"
"Your right!" Ruko realized, and hopped off of her chair. Goku smiled and followed her lead to the door.
"Thanks for the advice Bulma!" Goku called, and the two of them put on their shoes.
"Huh? And where do you think your going?" Bulma asked as she watched them.
"We're gonna go and get some food that's gonna make us big and strong!" Goku explained. Ruko nodded beside him.
"We'll even bring some back to share!" Ruko added with a smile. Goku tied the Power Pole to his back then the kids made their way out the door.
"You might end up being food yourself, if your not careful out there!" Bulma called out to them, her eyes wide. "I wouldn't do it if I were you!"
The kids smiled at each other as they closed the door. They didn't have to worry about becoming food. They were the best hunters on their mountain- why should that fact change as they leave to see other places in the world?
It was twilight. Frogs croaked and crickets sang as stars began to reveal themselves far above. It was fairly dark out for twilight, Bulma's capsule house being the sole exception as light poured out of it's windows endlessly. But both kids were at complete ease to the dark, and didn't falter in their steps as they set off to the forest that was a little ways from Bulma's capsule house.
Once they had reached the trees both Goku and Ruko bent their knees, and their eyes focused on the branches high above them. Tail's stilled behind them, the duo suddenly sprung up and grabbed onto a thick tree branch with ease. From there they hopped from one tree limb to the next and the branches that they used bounced from their combined weight. Ruko grabbed a small bat that had crossed their path as Goku grabbed a giant centipede that tried to crawl away. They landed in a small clearing, and showed each other their catches.
"Wow, slim pickings so far." Goku said with a sigh, and Ruko nodded as she looked around.
"Bulma could probably eat that whole centipede by herself." She pointed out.
"We're gonna have to do better than that." Goku commented, then looked over at Ruko. Her eyes had gone wide and her stare was fixated on the bark of a tree. The boy looked to the tree for just a moment, and his eyes went wide as he noticed a trail of green slime that followed behind a slow moving mollusc. "Uh, Ruko-"
Before he could say anything more, Ruko had dashed forwards and stuck a finger in the weird slime. A small line of the goo followed Ruko's finger as she pulled back from the tree and stared at the odd stuff in wonder.
"This stuff is so weird...!" She squealed, but Goku only shook his head.
"Nope, don't do it." he warned, but it was too late. Ruko looked up at him, eyes wide, as she brought her tongue back in her mouth.
She swallowed, her finger now completely clean, and tilted her head to one side. "Hu? Why not?"
Goku opened his mouth, about to reprimand his friend, when an odd noise was heard. Both kids looked up curiously to see a very large bird gliding above them. From where they were on the ground, that bird looked as though it were big enough to rival Bulma's house.
"A bird?!" Goku gawked, eyes wide.
"Wow!" Ruko exclaimed amazed by it's size. Putting their catches away in their shirts, the kids followed after it. They were determined to make that bird their dinner.
The bird, however, was not a bird at all. It was simply a plane. And inside of this plane, sat a very nervous Shoe and a very calm Mai.
"There's Skull Valley. It's right ...below us." Mai said, turning her head to look at Shoe slowly. The dog wasn't looking at her though, because his eyes were on the ground far below them.
"C- can we go back now and just s- say that we went?" Shoe asked hopefully. Mai slowly turned her head back to face the sky ahead of them.
"No..." she frowned, a little miffed that she didn't get to scare him. "We'd better check it out."
She pushed the controls forward and brought the plane down. They landed it on top of a large flat stone, in the middle of the valley. Two very tall cliffs stood to either side of the valley, which made the area look as though it were in a bowl. Mai got out of the plane first, and walked in front of it.
"Geronimo!" Shoe yelled out as he hopped down from the plane.
"Shoe! Be quiet...!" Mai scolded and glanced around her surroundings wearily.
"Sorry..." He apologized and Mai hopped down from their rock.
"Come on." Mai paused when she landed on the valley ground, a sickening snap had come from under one of her shoes. Upon further inspection, she realized that she had landed on the ribs of a corpse. As they looked around more closely, they noticed how the entire valley was filled with bones. Mai and Shoe's eyes widened in shock as they wondered how so many corpses could have gotten to one place.
"I- I wanna chew on one of these bones but... but I'm too scared...!" Shoe babbled nervously, and held tight to Mai's pant leg with a paw. Mai pushed the dog off of her with a huff.
"Why are you so scared? The Emperor would do worse to us if we don't go back with the Dragonball." Mai responded with a raised brow, but it went unseen in the darkness.
"Pilaf?" Shoe asked, eyes wide.
"His father, but I can't be certain that Pilaf won't follow in his footsteps."
"Yeah, I guess so." Shoe moved to look around the area again, but he didn't stop trembling. "Master Fang says that the Emperor's son is more trustworthy than his father though, when it comes to pacts."
"Which is why I haven't told the Emperor anything." Mai agreed.
Suddenly Shoe shivered and rubbed his arms. "Oh man, Master Fang is gonna be so angry with me when he finds out I'm not com- what was that?" Completely still, Shoe's ears swiveled forwards as he cut off his own sentence to pay attention to something else. One of his ears twitched towards Mai as she approached, but he otherwise didn't move.
A bright red glow appeared then, small, but noticeable. The two agents looked up at it, their conversation now forgotten as they remembered why it was that they were there in the first place.
"What do you think that is?" Shoe asked and craned his neck to look up at Mai. She was so tall in comparison to him, that the back of his head touched his neck in the effort.
"I don't know..." She replied as she bent her head so her chin almost touched her chest as she looked down at her companion. "It could possibly be the Dragonball though."
They looked away from one another. The pair felt mixed feelings on the topic of wanting the light to be a Dragonball or not.
"We'll have to check it out." Mai said, and they started to walk forwards.
At that moment a shadow passed over Shoe, followed by another, and two triumphant yells caught his attention. Mai and Shoe watched as two kids fell from the sky, one with a red rod attached to his back and the other without a weapon. They landed on a tree branch, one after the other, then flipped in the air before they landed on the ground beside each other.
"It's kids." Shoe said in surprise, "and they like to jump."
"They're hoppers alright." Mai agreed with a nod, hands on her hips.
"It's green!" one of the children said happily, and the other made a noise of disapproval.
Ignoring their odd words, Mai swept her hand in the kid's direction, as though to brush them away. "Beat it kids, before you get hurt!"
"Beat it, yourself!" The one with the rod shot back. His hair stuck out at the sides of his head, most similar to a palm tree really. Mai and Shoe couldn't make out any other features of this kid due to the darkness.
"Listen here!" The other kid called, and the agents of Pilaf thought this one was a boy too. His hair stuck up all around his head, much like a lions mane, and was long enough to go just past his shoulders. But what stood out the most about this kid was their forest green eyes. They seemed to glow in darkness like an eerie light. This kid had pointed his finger accusingly at Mai and Shoe. "That's our big birdy! We saw it first!"
"So just stay away!" The one with the red rod finished.
"What in the world are they talking about?" Shoe asked Mai, as he stared at the kids.
"Beats me." Mai shrugged to Shoe, then spoke up as she addressed the kids. "Kids, I think I hear your mommies calling!"
Before anyone could say anything else, growls were heard from behind them. Shoe and Mai tensed up when they heard a bark. Out of the shadows of the valley, a pack of wolves surrounded the group of four.
"Those lights..." Shoe whispered, and backed up against the back of Mai's long legs. "They weren't Dragonballs..."
"No kidding..." Mai retorted, then lightly kicked Shoe in front of her. "Use your doggy powers, and talk them into not attacking us."
"It doesn't work like that!" Shoe hissed back in a near-panic, eyes wide with fright at the thought of facing so many foes all at once.
"This is great!" The kid with green eyes called gleefully, as he looked around the area.
"Now there's enough for all of us!" The kid with the red rod affirmed.
"Alright! Yummy~!" one giggled, and they both licked their lips.
Mai and Shoe looked at them as if they were crazy. They were happy to be surrounded by man-eating wolves?
The wolves then choose that moment to charge forward. They bit and snapped their teeth threateningly. Mai and Shoe jumped back, terrified, but kids simply let out snarls of their own. Slid into loose stances, the tailed duo jumped, punched and kicked as they easily dodged being injured themselves. The kids laughed happily, one flipping over the others shoulders and landing on a wolf. To Mai and Shoe, their laughter sounded almost ghostly and disconnected, and the thought of the kids being insane crossed their minds.
"It's then end, Mai!" Shoe cried out, just before one of the kids kicked away the wolf that had gone after them. Their path now clear, the two agents scrambled into their plane and started it up.
"That was close..." Mai sighed, as the plane roared to life and began to lift off into the sky.
Down below Goku and Ruko had already beaten most of the pack. As Goku knocked away one of the wolves, Ruko looked up in alarm.
"Hey, our bird!" She called out, and kicked away another wolf. It let out a startled yelp as it's shoulder was dislocated, and didn't get back up after it landed.
"It's escaping!" Goku cried, "I'll have to get it down!"
With a nod, Ruko kept the wolves off of Goku as he ran down the valley at top speed.
"Power Pole: extend!" Goku yelled out, and the staff obeyed. Goku made the pole catch on a rock as it launched him high into the air. With a yell, Goku kicked the bird right under one of it's wings.
"I got it!" He yelled out in excitement, watching as the bird spiraled as it fell. There was a loud explosion after the bird landed in the trees. And a big cloud of white smoke traveled up to the sky. Goku landed in the valley a few seconds later, and Ruko met up with him. After most of the wolves had been defeated, the remaining ones scattered.
"It fell over there, but there was a fire." Goku said as he pointed in the direction of the smoke. Ruko nodded, and they both made their way up the tall cliff towards the smoke. They ran as fast as they could to get to the bird and find out it's fate.
When they arrived, there were broken bits of fire all over the place, and one of the birds wings had snapped in two. Goku got out the Power Pole again and used it to prod at the bird. A loud clang was heard when the pole met the birds carcass.
"Gosh..." Ruko muttered as she looked about. She felt a little bad for the bird. Pieces of it were strewn all over the place!
"This bird's rock hard!" Goku exclaimed in surprise, but then inclined his head towards Ruko. "But, it's probably better that ya don't get to eat it."
"What do ya mean by that?" Ruko asked, and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Well, it was green." he responded, as though that were answer enough.
"What does-" as Ruko spoke, her eyes suddenly wide and she groaned. Arms wrapped around her middle, the girl ran over to the nearest tree and began to hurl.
Goku walked over calmly. He gathered her hair with one hand and patted her back with the other. "There, there." He said with a shake of his head, "ya shouldn't have eaten that green stuff earlier."
Ruko hugged her tree when she was done and let out a small moan. "Why didn't ya tell me earlier...?" she grouched tiredly, and the boy sighed. Goku took a step back from Ruko, and she released her tree, only to wipe her mouth on her sleeve.
"All better now?"
She nodded, "yeah."
"Good." He gave a firm nod, then gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "Then lets go and get the food that's waiting for us in that valley."
The girl hummed in approval, and her stomach rumbled with a new ferocity after being emptied. They then turned and raced each other on their way back to the valley with the wolf pack.
Bulma sat comfortably on her couch. She had read through an entire news paper and had just gotten to the word search. The teen tapped the end of her pencil on her chin for a moment before she brightened and scribbled out a word in one of the margins. A knock sounded at her door then, which was promptly followed by two voices. Bulma had wondered how long they would be gone for, and had found the quiet she had granted from it almost deafening.
"Bulma, we're back!" The kids called together, and the teen got up from the couch.
"They're alive after all! I'll be darned!" She muttered to herself happily and walked to the door. When she opened it though, Bulma couldn't quite believe what she saw. The two kids were happily holding out their first two catches- a bat and a centipede- for her to see.
"If ya think these snacks look good...!" Goku grinned proudly, then gestured to the three dead wolves tied to the extended Power Pole which was hoisted between the two kids, "then ya gotta take a look at the main course!"
Suddenly, the door was slammed shut in their faces and Bulma was no longer there. The kids looked at the door, surprised.
"Bulma?" They asked at the same time.
Apparently, Bulma was not a fan of bat's and centipede's and wolves. Both Goku and Ruko had started a large fire where they put the three gutted and cleaned wolves to cook. They chewed on their small appetizers happily, as they made sure their dinner didn't burn. Ruko looked over to the house, where Bulma had shut herself in.
"This is looking very good!" Ruko called out to her, knowing Bulma could hear her. "Are ya serious in not wanting any?"
"You guys are grossing me out! I can't believe your going to eat that!" Bulma yelled back. The kids shrugged at one another, and took their food off of the fire. It was ready to eat. And within a few moments, all that was left of their dinner was bones. They burped happily, their tummies full, and made their way back into the house.
"Oh my gosh, that is so disgusting! You guys need to go and brush your teeth." Bulma complained to them, then pointed to the bathroom.
"Huh?" they said together, and their heads titled to one side at her.
"I am not going to smell your disgusting wolf breath all night!" Bulma shouted, and dragged them to the bathroom. Bulma showed them how to brush their teeth properly, which turned into an entire ordeal when they kept on spitting out the toothpaste. When it was finally over, Goku happily went to the bed in the bedroom and bounced on it's soft surface.
"I can bounce on this all night!" Goku giggled gleefully, as Ruko and Bulma came into the room. With a smile Ruko rushed forward and joined him to bounce on the bed. They laughed as they bumped into one another.
"Come on Bulma, there's room for all three of us!" Ruko said happily, giggling when she and Goku bumped heads again.
"Room? What are you talking about kid?" Bulma asked, and the two stopped their laughing to look at Bulma. "Sorry Goku, but your sleeping on the floor."
"Serious?" Goku whined sadly, his fun from a moment ago forgotten.
"Yes!" Bulma exclaimed, "We are not sleeping together. Your used to ruffing it, aren't you? A guy who eats centipedes, bats and wolves shouldn't mind sleeping on the floor."
"I don't mind." Goku spoke and put his hands behind his head thoughtfully. "As long as your not still mad about not having a tail..." Ruko snickered at that.
"Get it through your thick skulls! I DO NOT WANT A TAIL!" Bulma yelled, making Ruko cringe back.
"Then what about me? Where should I sleep?" Ruko asked, and tilted her head at the teen curiously. Bulma sighed, and shook her head.
"Sleep where you want, Ruko." Bulma said.
Ruko blinked. "Really?" she asked excitedly, then side-eyed Goku with a feral grin. "Is this cause I'm a girl?"
"Well, I'm not about to sleep in the same bed as a boy- unless there's romantic feelings- so yes." Bulma sighed with a shake of her head. As though she had won a lottery, Ruko turned to Goku with a look of superiority.
"I'll stay on the bed then!" She declared tauntingly, and Goku stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation. She stuck hers right back at him, which earned her a low growl. Eyes narrowed, the kids then tackled each other. Fingers interlocked in a grapple, they pushed and pulled at each other as they tried to keep balance on the uneven bedding.
Ignoring them with a roll of her eyes, Bulma went to the bathroom to brush her own teeth. Bulma heard a thump and knew through the tremor in the floor that they had both rolled off the bed.
"Hey guys!" Bulma called out to them as she brushed their teeth. Not bothering to check if they were listening, Bulma continued. "How is it that you and your grandpa ended up together anyways? What happened to your parents?"
"Not sure what happened to them." One of them grunted, before Bulma heard them go 'ooph'. Another thump followed, and Bulma assumed that one of them had been hit hard enough to fall over.
"Our grandpa said that he found me out on the mountain side, on a little bed of moss, when I was just a baby!" Goku said, his voice a bit breathless.
"So he picked him up and took him home!" Ruko finished, sounding just as out of breath as Goku.
"Well, did you know that you don't have to keep your tail, even though you were born with one?" Bulma called, and by the sound of it, both kids had now stopped fighting. "Some dogs actually get their tails cut off when they're still small."
"Ya shouldn't have let them do that to ya, Bulma, your no dog!" Ruko's tired voice called out and Bulma poked her head out of the bathroom to yell at them both.
"I'm not even talking about me, lame brains! I've never had a tail!" Bulma yelled, before looking at them oddly.
Goku was laying down on his back, on top of the covers that Bulma had place on the floor for him. Ruko was laying across his stomach, on her stomach, with her tail beside Goku's head. Goku was parallel to Bulma's bed with Ruko horizontal to it, and both kids were fast asleep. Bulma clenched her fists as she stared at them, fuming.
"I don't know what planet these kids are from..." Bulma grumbled. "But it is not earth!"
Outside in the night sky, three comets passed by at the same time.
The next morning, it was Goku who woke up first. He groaned, a weight pressed down on top of him and opened his eyes blearily. Somehow Ruko had turned in the night so that her head was on his chest, and the rest of her body was directly on top of him too. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly, then a moment later, Ruko yawned and rolled off of him. A small yelp escaped the girl as she fell onto the floor with a thump, which got a good laugh out of Goku.
"I- I'm up!" Ruko called as she stood abruptly. Goku sat up and Ruko swayed in her spot as she rubbed at her eyes tiredly while she looked about. Then the two of them looked over to the bed, were Bulma snored soundly. Most of the blankets were on the floor instead of on her, probably kicked away at some point during the night.
"Guess it's not time to get up yet." Goku concluded and stood up beside Ruko.
Then their eyes sparkled as they crawled onto the bed. "Plenty of room up here!" the boy declared triumphantly, and Ruko giggled lightly when she saw his face.
Goku layed down between Bulma's legs and Ruko layed down at the teen's side. Lazily, Ruko's tail reached over Bulma, hooked underneath one of the blankets and began to pull it over the teen's stomach and on top of herself. Suddenly Goku sat up with a puzzled look on his face. One of Ruko's eyes opened when she felt the bed move, and she looked over at him curiously. Goku lifted up his hand, then patted Bulma's underwear, directly between her legs.
"What are you doing?" Ruko asked him as she let out a small yawn. She put her hand under her head lazily and closed her eyes tiredly. Her tail curled itself over her leg, then flickered this way and that now that it had completed it's job.
"S- something's wrong..." Goku said and his nervous tone had the girl open her eyes again. He then proceeded to take Bulma's underwear completely off. "It's strange, it feels like there's nothing there-"
Goku stopped talking as his eyes looked down. Like a frightened cat, the boy jumped off the bed and plastered himself to the wall as he yelled his lungs out in fright. Bulma and Ruko both bolted upright from the sudden noise and looked to Goku in alarm. The boy's entire body shook as he stared at Bulma with wide, traumatized eyes.
"I- it's your- your balls Bulma!" The boy managed to choke out, and Ruko looked over to Bulma inquisitively. "They're- they're gone! Just- gone!" Goku revealed, and Bulma's eyes went wide.
"What?!" She yelled and dashed off to the kitchen. "Your kidding me! How?!"
Goku only shook his head, but the action went unseen by the teen. Wide eyes landed on Ruko as the girl began to scooch her way to the end of the bed.
"What happened?" she asked curiously, and the boy swallowed.
"T- there was nothin' there." he said, "Grandpa always had something there. I have one too..." He let out a small gasp and looked up to Ruko. "Ya- ya have something there too... don't ya Ruko? Between your legs?"
The girl furrowed her eyebrows then shook her head. But then, as Goku's face slowly went blank with shock, realization seemed to hit Ruko. She let out a small gasp, "the thing that makes you a boy," she said, rather proud of her deduction, "Bulma doesn't have one either!"
"They're all here!" Bulma called out to the kids with a relieved sigh. She walked back into the room with the Dragonballs in her hands. "You must have been dreaming, Goku! Man, you really gave me a scare." she took one look at Goku's blank stare and Ruko's proud face, and rose an inquisitive brow. "What's up with you two?"
A little while later, the three of them got ready to leave the house. Well, one of them did. Ruko and Goku were already at the door, ready to leave the moment they woke up. Bulma was still in her night gown as she sat down at her dresser. She had her hairbrush in her hands and brushed through her hair carefully.
"My gosh, Bulma, wow...!" Goku groaned from just beside Ruko as they appeared at the bedroom door frame.
"How much longer is this going to take?" Ruko whined to Bulma a moment after Goku.
"Look, no one asked for your commentary! You guys didn't have to wake me up at this insane hour! And you, Ruko!" Bulma pointed to the girl with her hairbrush briefly before she began to brush her hair again.
"Me?"
"Yes, you! Look at you!" Ruko looked down at herself and Goku glanced over at Ruko to see the problem. Neither of them could see it. Ruko was wearing the same clothes that she always was. Her tail was still there, twitching behind her and her clothes still smelt flowery. "Your a mess! At least let me brush your hair!"
Ruko gave Bulma a sour look. "No thanks."
Then both kids walked away into the kitchen. They watched as the coffee maker made some coffee in fascination. It amused them for a while but didn't hold their attention for very long. Bulma huffed and turned around to face the direction that the kids had walked off in.
"Early birds." she complained. "You can have your nasty old worm!"
"Well your moving so slow..." Ruko sighed boredly as she watched one drop after another fall into the glass carafe of the coffee machine.
"I wouldn't be surprised if ya turned into a turtle." Goku remarked with a snicker. Bulma walked over and Ruko eyed the brush in her hands. Swiftly, Ruko moved to Goku's other side, the boy glancing up curiously, and Bulma sighed.
"Well, you can go out into public with your hair sticking out in every direction! But not me." Bulma grabbed the coffee that had been made and poured it in a cup. "Would you like to have coffee with me?"
"Nah, it doesn't taste good." Ruko said as she stuck out her tongue.
"And it makes me feel funny!" Goku added.
"I'm gonna go exercise!" Ruko then called as she jogged over to the front door and Goku quickly followed.
"Me too!" He agreed eagerly and they both disappeared out the door.
They let the sun shine on their faces as they stretched their arms high above them. After a moment, the two of them bounced apart and faced one another. They eyed each other for a moment before they each clapped their hands together as though they were praying, and bowed low. With mischievous looks on their faces, they straightened from their bows and moved into their identical fighting stances.
"Ya wont win!" Ruko declared. Goku grinned.
"We'll see about that!" He replied cockily.
They raced towards each other. Goku jumped, about to kick Ruko in the chest, when she used his leg to lift herself up and aim a knee to his face. Unable to dodge, Goku flew back and hit a massive rock, smashing it open. Ruko easily landed on her feet with a smile, then scrambled out of the way as a rock suddenly flew at her.
These rocks that they threw and broke; they were the size of their own small bodies or slightly bigger.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, and Goku laughed evilly as he lifted up a large rock over his head.
Ruko started to run towards him, so Goku threw the rock. At the last moment, the girl jumped up, and kicked out her leg. She smashed through the rock that Goku had thrown and flew through the mess she made. When she got on the other side of the rock, however, Goku wasn't there anymore. She landed and looked about.
A shout came from behind, and Ruko quickly lifted up her arm in defense as she turned towards the noise, but was too slow. She got a kick in the face and flew into the nearest rock. It shattered upon impact. With a glare at the triumphant look Goku gave her, Ruko saw a perfect sized rock of her own. With a smirk she ran over to it and lifted it up. Goku was ready, and smiled wide in anticipation.
"W- woah!"
Ruko looked up to see that the rock that she had been lifting up, was not a rock at all.
"What in the world...?" Goku said, and ran over to see. The rock was moving! Shocked, Ruko dropped her rock with a thud, and it complained.
"That's a new pain...!"
"Bulma..." Ruko muttered, her eyes wide.
"She really did turn into a turtle!" Goku panicked and pointed at the turtle in shock.
"I guess this changes our plans a bit, huh?" Ruko spoke a moment later, and walked around the turtle to inspect it. The turtle looked at the two kids curiously, having no idea what they were talking about.
"Ruko? Goku?"
The kids turned around to see Bulma looking at them. She had the door to the house slightly open so only the top half of her body could be seen.
"Who are you guys talking to out there?" she asked, and the kids looked from the turtle to Bulma before sighing in relief.
"Oh?" Bulma spotted the turtle and rose an eyebrow curiously. "Who are you?"
Goku quickly pointed at the turtle. "We thought ya'd turned into 'em!" He admitted with a lopsided smile, now giggling at the prospect.
"Wha-?" Bulma looked back at the turtle, a little bewildered. "He looks nothing like me, you lame brains! But... this is strange. A tortoise shouldn't be living around here. Aren't you supposed to be living by the sea?"
Ignoring the fact that he was called a tortoise, the turtle nodded. "Yeah, and I'm a bit concerned as to being so far from home. Oh, do you happen to have any salt water?"
"Sure." Bulma said, and went back in the house. After a moment she came back out with a bucket. The turtle grabbed the bucket to his best ability, and tipped it over himself with a content sigh.
"That's some good sea water." The turtle complimented happily. Ruko watched in fascination as the turtle tossed the bucket aside.
"Yeah, I think it's an eighty seven." Bulma said thoughtfully.
"Nope. Eighty six."
"Really? Are you sure about that?"
"Yup. I know my water."
"Well, what are you doing here?" Bulma asked. Ruko, who felt like trying to touch the turtles flippers, began to inch closer to the animal.
"Well, to make a long story short: I'm lost! It's that simple. I'm lost. I've been trying to find my way back to the sea..." The turtle said, and Ruko snuck closer. Her tail was twitching as she tried to be discreet. "It's been over a year now."
"That's sad." Bulma frowned, as she looked down at the turtle sadly. Every time that the turtle glanced towards Ruko, the girl froze in place. It was like a great game to her, and she gave the animal an innocent smile. "And your still not anywhere near the sea. Wait here, I'll go and check my map."
A moment later, Bulma came back with a book in her hands. "Bad news. It seems like were still not anywhere near the sea. It's about a hundred miles away."
"Great," the turtle sighed sadly, "that'll only take me twenty years...!"
"Twenty years?!" Ruko spoke up, her eyes wide in concern. She had made it rather close to the turtle and it jumped at the sound of her voice so near.
"Gosh, Bulma, that sounds like a long time." Goku said as he looked away from Ruko's game to Bulma.
"Well, I wouldn't say that, Goku." Bulma hummed as she still looked at her map. Then she addressed the turtle, "I wish there was a way we could help you..."
"I know!" Ruko jumped up with a smile and dressed the group. She had successfully petted the turtles flipper and now felt like she had won her silent game. "We could take him!"
"Yeah! I can carry ya all the way to the sea, Mr. Turtle!" Goku offered easily, and gave the turtle a smile. The turtle looked over at Goku and Ruko in wonder.
"That would be wonderful! Thank you!" The turtle cried thankfully, and tears were gathered in his brown eyes.
"Aren't you guys forgetting something?!" Bulma yelled at them. Her eyes had narrowed as she looked down at the two children. Ruko took a step back- even though she had been yelled at a lot by Bulma so far, she hadn't gotten used to it yet. "Are you nuts?!"
"But ya just said that ya wished that we could help." Goku pointed out.
"So why can't we just take him to the sea?" Ruko asked.
"I didn't mean it." Bulma grouched and the kids frowned. "We're on an adventure, we don't have the time to transport a beached turtle!"
"But ya just took all morning to get out of the house!" Ruko complained, not understanding why Bulma was contradicting herself.
"Your impossible." Goku agreed with a huff.
"I'm impossible?! What do you mean by that!?"
"If we're so pressed for time, why did ya spend all morning in front of the mirror and worrying about your hair?" Ruko elaborated and Goku gave a confirmed nod. Bulma frowned at the both of them.
"Fine! Help the stupid turtle if you want! I'll find the Dragonballs by myself!" Bulma shouted and crossed her arms in defiance.
Goku crouched down in front of the turtle, and Ruko helped the turtle get on his back. Ruko quickly went inside of the capsule house and grabbed both the Power Pole and their grandpa's Dragonball as Bulma stormed off somewhere inside. She tied the red rod onto her back and ran out of the house. Then she tied the Dragonball onto Goku's belt and the two of them looked at the turtle.
"Gosh, are women like this were ya come from?" Ruko asked the turtle.
"No, most have tails." The turtle said, and that made Ruko smile. They started to jog off down the road, in a totally random direction.
"Do any of them get their tails cut off when they're little, like dogs do here?" Goku asked the turtle curiously. Turtle looked rather affronted by the notion.
"Oh no, certainly not. Besides, they're not dogs." The kids laughed at that.
Just a moment after, the sound of Bulma yelling at them caught their attention as they continued to jog away.
"She sure likes to yell." The turtle commented. The kids nodded solemnly.
"Ya haven't heard the least of it!" Goku confirmed with a smile on his face. They didn't get very far before they heard the sound of Bulma's motor cycle.
"STOP! Stop, or I swear I'll run you down!" Ruko jogged backwards to see the teen. Goku couldn't really turn to look with a large turtle on his back, but he tried in vain anyways. "I mean it Goku! Ruko!"
"W- we'd better stop." The turtle said, and the kid's glanced at him. "That girl scares me..."
Both kids did stop then, and waited for Bulma to catch up with her bike. It came to a screeching stop only a moment later.
"Careful...!" Goku taunted with a fake gasp, and Ruko smirked.
"You might make a mess of your hair riding on that thing!" Ruko gasped with fake concern. She even moved her hands to either side of her face as she stared at the bike in mock horror. Bulma glared at the two of them as they suddenly burst out in laughter.
"Knock it off, you two." Bulma grouched, "I've decided to go with you." And she raced off with the bike, not giving them a chance to say no.
"What's the matter?" Ruko called as she and Goku started to jog once more. They easily kept up with the bike.
"Scared?" Goku mocked, and the kids smirked at one another.
"Me? Scared? Give me a break! I'm the bravest person you'll ever see!" Bulma gloated.
And with that they headed off to the sea.