Dragon Ball: Space Adventures

The Long Week III

It had been about a few hours now since they've had taken off from earth. The only sound that could be hear was that of a quiet whistle, the engines roared with peace and calm and Uub having ran out of things to think had gotten up from the ground, and calmly walked towards the room where Bulla stood, then he had entered and then he had asked.
Uub sat down on the floor again, still chained, under the attentive eyes of the black-haired boy. He could see him struggled with the prospects of the self-assigned task of watching him over. His face constantly made grins of pain and discomfort and he'd gone as far as getting up from the ground and start tapping the floor. Was standing still so complicated? He figured it was.
—You do not have to watch my every move.
—Someone has to.
—What do you gain from doing such a thing?
—Peace of mind.
Uub quietly sighed. At first, he'd had no choice but to go along with it, but now, he was almost concerned his teacher would not show up to save him. It'd been fun to join forces with the blue-haired girl for a couple of moments and bother the boy, and he had hoped, considering Bulla seemed miles nicer than the other captor, that she had freed him by now. But with each passing second that idea disappeared. She didn't seem to care, in contraire, the other crewmate seemed to care a lot about him, although he figured, by staring at angry pair eyes for a couple seconds, that he wasn't that far away from throwing him off the ship— he just hadn't figured how yet.
A couple of more minutes passed, and he began to get more impatient. He wasn't used to having this much free time. He'd already mediated for too long, he'd already sat still for too long, he'd even began to understand the black-haired boy a Little, this was boring, he needed to do something.
Quietly, he got up from the ground, and wandered into Bulla's dorm again. Bulla seemed to be working in a project, sitting on a small plastic table near her bed. There, small pieces of nails and wood seemed to be quietly forming into something, and in front, a plastic wall held two pieces of paper with the design in mind. The design in question was that of a ship, it looked rather similar but it was filled with annotations, both were, although he noticed that the one to the right was a perfect photograph, and the one she had made was colorless and slightly different in some areas.
There he stood for a little while, watching Bulla work on her little wooden figure, sometimes grabbing the plans on the right and staring at it, making some adjustments. He had only meet her for a while, but he was pleasantly surprised, she seemed to know what she was doing, she even was an architect and builder to some extent. In a way, he felt rather dumb for not expecting such a mind from the daughter of one the wisest ladies in the world, but one can never be sure wherever talent passes down, he had learned that from meeting some wise elders of the tribes around his native island, and as smart as those elders were, he knew, even with his relative youth, that it had not passed down successful to some of their children.
For a while he stood there, Uub could clearly hear the sound of the music playing on the young maiden's ears, from a strange Apparatus that he had never seen before; It was an oval shaped structure that covered both ears, and connected itself through a small dark tube that moved across her head like canal, and it played a song that went like this;
~Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena
Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría y cosa buena~
The song was sang by a men, and he spoke in a tongue he didn't understand. Still, he figured it had to be a festival song, considering the upbeat tone and if someone like Bulla, the daughter of the world's richest lady in the world, listened to it, then it had to be a very popular tune. He wanted to ask her about it, he had never been too interested in whatever the people of the city did, it was their business and he already had his hands full, furthermore, the few times he had visited the city he had felt it was too loud and that it smelled as horrible as the pony's stables, but, and considering how he was going to expend a large period of time alone with two Wong kutha, why not then learn about their lives. Uub looked back, the sound of tapping had turned from one leg to full on jumps, he looked at the boy who he now called "Mata marah" who was jumping in the back with a grin on the face as quickly as he could. He had everything, speed, form, it really was a joy to watch and he chose that from then on, he'd only speak to Bulla unless he could annoy him one way or the other, that would be fun, quickly, he looked back, and he noticed that Bulla was also tapping her feet. He wondered what was up with that.
Uub sat again on the ship's lounge, bored and wondered what was else. He looked at the clock, it was almost 5pm. It was summer back home, and the sun would stay long above, but he wondered if by now some of the people from his village had already began observing the sunset. Had his brothers eaten? had Ni Ketut scolded them for doing something dumb? Probably, but they wouldn't be able to run towards his arms and get him to convince her to not indult manners in them—and it wasn't like he could do much, he feared her as much as them really, but now he could only visualize that angry stare of her's. Her beautiful dark eyes and long straight hairs that felt so soft in the touch, and he knew then, he'd miss her for over a year, he'd miss his brothers and he'd miss everyone back home, every dog that played outside his village and every cat that lazily stood guard in search for rats and every bird that sang their songs every morning. He wouldn't be there, he wouldn't be there for help in the harvests and he wouldn't be there to teach the children how to read and become proper farmers, and what if they needed his help? What if there was another drought just like the one that sent him to the tournament? What if there were any bandits?
They needed him, he needed to be there, but he was here, alone, so far away he couldn't understand the numbers anymore.
—84, 85
Uub looked upwards, The boy was now doing push-ups, every time he finished one he looked upwards towards him. Had he really done that many? Uub considered that for a moment before thinking again, that wasn't really the problem at hand—he had to get his mind on the problem itself. Why had his teacher brought him here? What was the thing he had that no one but him could bring? He had learned that Trunks Briefs was a strong fighter too and that his teacher's two sons; Son Gohan and Son Goten were also formidable foes to anyone, and in a way, he felt even more useless, why was he really here? Uub took a deep breath and crossed his arms as good as he could. He felt like he didn't understand a thing anymore, and something told him that wasn't going to change anytime soon and that it was going to get a lot worse from now on. But, even with all his doubts, he had a mission on his hands. His teacher had asked for his help, and he had gotten the approval from the elders of his village even after he had gone in a long tangent about his duties in his village, naming every single activity he helped or cared for, and with all that, they had allowed him to go. There had to be a reason for it, there had to be a reason for everything, and now, all he had to do was to find it.
Uub sighed deeply.
—134,135
He looked up to her, Mata Marah had continued doing pushups without fear, the form was impeccable and he wasn't half-assing them either. His face always stood centimeters away from the ground and all the strength came from the arms. It was then Uub noticed something interesting; Those arms were rather beaten up—filled with scratches and quite muscular—too muscular for his age (which Uub still debated if it was nine or ten) They somewhat reminded him of some of the young warriors he had seen more than a children arm's, same with Bulla's, they were surprisingly toned too. What where they feeding those children? What was he not eating? Had he not ate well at all?
He shook his head again; He had to do something else than think. Quickly, he got up and decided to meet Bulla again, Mata Marah soon followed him, He felt like he had to get something else to do too.
By the time he re-entered the room, Bulla was now deep into assembling the early concept, with some semblance of success.
Quietly, he entered right and called.
—Miss Briefs.
He said quietly at first, but Bulla didn't pay attention at all.
—Miss Briefs
Nothing.
—Miss Briefs.
Finally, she removed the weird head equipment she wore, and turned around, with one raised eyebrow.
—What is it?
She said, bothered.
—Could you free me from this handles?
—No.
Uub held a sigh.
—Is there a reason?
—I'm afraid so.
—What do you gain from doing such a thing?
—Peace of mind.
A soft laugh resounded on his back. He didn't think it was possible to hate someone after meeting them for less than a day, but today he had learned something else. Uub sighed deeply. Trying to remain diplomatic
—I understand such issue, I'm not supposed to be here, but, I am, now is it fair to hold me this way for approximately a year or so?
—Absolutely not.
—So you agree?
—Absolutely.
—Then could you release me?
—No.
Uub rolled his eyes. Was he really going to do this? Was he that desperate? His whole being felt disgusted with himself, but did he had another choice? For a moment, he almost said it, he almost dropped to his knees and begged, but no. He would find a way to free himself eventually, but he'd never kneel. Uub forced himself to smile, they wouldn't win.
—Would you know where my holdings are?
For a moment, he feared that they might have thrown them out the ship. Quickly, those fears were dissipated as Bulla pointed at one place in their drawers, then she went and gave him the large bag where he held everything. With a fake smile, he thanked at her and left for the lounge.
In the lounge he sat, and carefully grabbed one of the many books they had gifted him for his trip. He'd never been one to read much— he'd never had the time, but now? this was a perfect time to become an avid reader. Books about epics of his people and the kingdoms around, stories about the wars and famines, about love and death, for a whole year he'd have to entertain himself, and for a year he would.
Mata Marah sat in front of him. Sweat ran over the face, and he was now doing sit-ups, giving him a quick side eye every now and again, but he didn't care, he had better things to do.
At around seven he ate, and at around nine Bulla decided to shut off the light, The boy protested but not for long, instead, he decided to bring his mattress, and casually throw it on the floor. With a smile, hr shut off her door. Uub decided to not dwell much on him, he had better things to do, like sleep. Calmly, he closed his eyes. For a while, it was odd, he felt jaded but only mentally, he'd never experienced such a thing, where was the feeling tiredness that embedded his entire body? Why did he feel so empty? He turned around for a while in his bed, he felt like a hyperactive child that can't sleep, why couldn't he sleep? Perhaps tomorrow he'd train more, but was that the real problem? He didn't know. Tiredly, he turned around. He felt like a child. Perhaps he'd had too much time. For how long would he be here? He didn't know. He could only hear the sounds of some people talking in the other side, it was extremely muffled, but he could hear something. Perhaps it was just a radio, did the radio reach all the way to the ship? they had told him when he arrived that they'd be able to contact them. Perhaps. He didn't know.
Uub sighed for the last time that day, and closed his eyes.

The second day was a day of routine. He woke up the moment the light appeared on the ship, the clock said it was seven AM, so Uub hurriedly jumped from his mattress. He was late, and he had plenty of things to do.
First, he went to the bathroom to change, and second, he began to train. Quietly, he returned to the lounge. It was so empty and quiet, like some of desert. Uub shook his head, he had to get his head on the game.
At around ten, when he had finished training and had eaten breakfast, Mata Marah appeared, boasting of a black hair free of bandanas and wearing an Orange Pajamas. He seemed happy, and the second their met eyes her grin immediately turned to anger, quickly, the boy went to the bathroom, and then got out and grabbed her breakfast and sat right in front of him. It didn't take him long to finish, and just as fast he hastily grabbed Uub's mattress and dropped back into where it belonged without an ounce of care.
As Uub read, the bot began her own training. This time he kept his thoughts to himself, and as he saw ho, beating the daylights out of the bag, he felt like Mata Marah was definitely imagining his face in it. Uub commanded him, He wasn't bad.
At around four, Uub got bored. His eyes burned for having read too long. He was no good reader and the book had easily made him re-read a couple of pages, but there is a time when one says enough. He sat down and chose to meditate—and after a couple of minutes, he got bored. He shamed himself, but he couldn't think of what to think. He decided to sigh and take a , he dropped his clothes doing weird maneuvers and entered the bath. He knew what a shower was, although he had never used one, and after some playing around, mainly burning himself and almost freezing him, he figured it out, the lovely sensation of a perfectly warm shower was nothing short of incredible. It almost made him forget how angry he felt still having the chains on him, like some sort of slave. But no matter, they weren't going to win.

The third day was as uneventful as the first, the quiet whistling of the ship's engine gave him some company, although no much. There as he sat, he felt conflicted by how similar the silence was to when he arrived at the 27th Martial Arts Tournament. The ending and subsequent years had made him forget the initial dread, but at the moment, nothing took him off from those feelings. How he walked through those streets worried and alone, so far away from everything he knew. There wasn't anyone to help him, it was just him. The concrete streets that burned his feet and the thousands of people that moved freely almost gave him an anxiety attack, he still didn't know how he had managed to make it inside the building or the ring. It was a miracle in his eyes.
When he had arrived back at his town he had sworn to never leave them, he would never go through the horror he had felt of a community-less existence. But here, sat a million miles away, he regretted it. He envied the boy or Bulla, neither girl seemed to care, they seemed content. Mata Marah regularly trained and he'd barely seen the blue-haired girl leave her room, she always seemed to be doing something. Although he'd also never seen her eat or bath, it was weird, but not as weird as the other crewmate. The more he watched him the more convinced he was there was something wrong with him. He trained a lot, hit very hard and ate even more. But there was something else he couldn't quite put down, something odd. Something inhuman about the whole thing. Was he going insane? He hoped not. It hadn't even been two days.
Uub decided he'd had enough. First he thought of a new nickname, and when Kepala Oren had gone to the bathroom, He grabbed from the Kitchen a knife and began trying to cut the handcuffs. He sat on a chair and quietly, tried to cut it. He expended two minutes going at it, until the knife fell down, and when he tried to grab it. He looked to his left and watched him smile cheek to cheek. Quickly, he got up, put the knife where it belonged, and returned to his place and began to read again. By god, he would do something about it.

The fourth day reminded him of death. How would it feel like? He assumed it would at least be peaceful, like watching the sun come down or feeling the air of the beach passing through him. He also felt like his feelings about Kepala Oren were getting more confirmed by the second. There was something wrong about him. He had noticed when he had stared at him for a moment that the boy didn't appear to be breathing at all. There was no movement, no relaxing, just stationary. Motionless, like a rock. Not even a pitiful blink. When he was quiet or emptily staring at him or playing something on a metal apparat, he seemed like a statue. There were no signs of life, only through the quick movement of his pupils he felt the black-haired boy lived, they were so fast and off-putting. He had the very same dark eyes of his master. Perhaps that was the true nature of the weirdness he felt at heart. Uub decided to shake his head. He had to focus more on his reading, and the current moment, that was the very only thing that kept him sane. The only regret he had was that he would run out of books. He'd managed to bring twenty, he thought that was more than enough. And as he stared at the other resting half of his book, he quietly panicked. This wouldn't well.
But if there was one thing that made him feel better, was that at least he wasn't the only one, Kepala Oren seemed to be suffering just as much. Those cold dark eyes had sunk deep into a pit of despair. The ship's maddeningly short space had him constantly moving around the walls as if she was stuck in a prison jail. He needed more space, and he made make-do, but for how long could that orange bandana do such thing? One day, those apparats and radios would get boring, and soon there'd be no escape at all.
At the fifth, Uub decide to just watch some stars, quietly, he got up and took advantage the boy was in the bathroom again. He stood there, with his mouth open, staring at the skies of black, looking at what he felt was a field of flowers, where a billion little blinks lived, of red, or yellow of blue and of white, where one would quickly shine and then disappear forever.
—I knew it!
A voice roared, and ran inside.
—You thought you were smart huh? Prepare yourself dumbass, you're going to spend the rest of the year chained to that chair now.
But he didn't reply, The boy tilted her head and calmly walked toward his side. Uub's eyes deeply ignored the existence of everything but to what he watched. Pan turned her head to the left, Bulla soon joined and began quietly staring too. She turned her head to the right, and watched.
There was a galaxy in front of them, so large it occupied most of the window's, tilted 40 degrees to the left, and turning like a whirl— like a ballerina with a blue dress, with shades of dark brown and a blinding white light in the middle that led to the center of the beast, where a billion dots danced around it, sometimes growing in light for a moment before disappearing forever.
They all stared without muttering a word for a few minutes, they didn't want to interrupt her, she was dancing.

At the sixth, Uub had given up. Not on life, but on the trip. His teacher had told him that one never knows their own limit until they meet them, and now, he felt like he had discovered his. Never again would he agree to something like this again. He would leave inter-stellar flying to other, braver people, capable of being hours alone without issue. He was not used to it, to the silence, to the emptiness. There was no laughter, no talking, no music, no animals, it was empty, barren, dead. Would everyone back home be alright? Was the village on fire? God knew, probably, probably not, his teacher was still back at home, wasn't he? He didn't know.
Suddenly, the door from the girl's room opened, and a very happy Bulla appeared from it.
—Integrants of C.C. I! I have some excellent news!
She exclaimed, pointing her left hand upwards.
—Are we arr
—In less than twelve hours we shall arrive to our destination!
Uub almost cried tears of joy when he heard that. It was over. He had done it, at the edge of insanity, but it was over. Quickly, he jumped from the ground. And him alongside the boy began to quietly prepare. It seemed now that they would land at twelve hours their time. All they'd had to do was to go bed.
The joy soon grew into worry. He would do it; he would be the first person to have ever land into another celestial body. How would they be? How would he be?
He didn't know, but whatever it was, he hoped it'd be better than whatever this horror of a trip was.

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