A young red-haired girl with brown eyes walked calmly toward a frost-covered forest. Despite her composed demeanor, her face betrayed a flicker of tension each time she moved boldly, as though expecting someone to leap out at her at any moment. After a few minutes, she reached her destination — a clearing with a small frozen lake, towering frosted trees, and snow-blanketed bushes. It was an especially picturesque scene, with various animals observing from the shadows, such as foxes and rabbits, while the cheerful chirping of birds filled the air.

The girl settled herself on a large, flat rock and gazed out at the landscape — a ritual she had been repeating for several days.

"It's a relief that no one from the Red Ribbon Army comes around here…It lets me feel calm and at peace." A faint, sad smile crossed her face. "Dad hasn't come back yet, and Mom is really worried about him…I hope they find that Dragon Ball soon so the Red Ribbon Army will leave us alone."

She sighed deeply, pulling her knees to her chest in a gesture of unease.

"I don't even understand why the Red Ribbon wants that thing so badly. What could a Dragon Ball possibly do to make them force all the men in the village to search for it?" Her eyes glistened as tears threatened to fall. "I wish someone would come and save us…I'm so tired of this!"

Wiping her eyes, she fell silent, letting the beauty of the landscape gradually ease her troubled mind. After a while, she stood up, deciding to head back home before her mother began to worry. Just as she was about to leave, something in the sky caught her attention. Shielding her eyes with one hand, she squinted to get a better look. What she saw appeared to be a plane flying toward her — a rare sight, as her village lacked any proper landing sites aside from the distant Muscle Tower.

To her growing alarm, the plane began to wobble uncontrollably before crashing to the ground and bursting into flames. Without hesitation, she sprinted toward the crash site, her heart pounding in her chest.

"The pilot must still be nearby…or could they already be—" She shook her head violently, banishing the grim thought. "No! I have to stay positive. They could just be injured. I need to hurry if I don't want them to freeze!"

Pressing forward, she scanned her surroundings carefully until she spotted a plume of smoke rising in the distance. When she got closer, she saw a lump of orange against the snow. Her pace quickened, and she soon realized it was a boy around her age. He had wild, jet-black hair styled in a spiky palm-tree shape, black eyes, and was dressed in an orange gi. In one hand, he clutched a bundle wrapped in purple cloth.

She knelt beside him and touched his arm, relieved to find that although it was cold, he wasn't frozen. Just as she prepared to grab him by the feet to carry him back to her house, something unusual caught her eye — something that made her heart skip a beat.

It was a monkey tail, curled behind him.

"W-What? A boy with a monkey tail!? W-What, w-what…" she stammered, utterly baffled by the sight. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she firmly grasped his legs and began dragging him toward her home. "Now's not the time to think about that. I need to get him inside before it's too late."

Author's Note: This is the first Dragon Ball story I've ever posted, and I hope you enjoy it! I've been working on this for months — maybe even a year — but honestly, I can't remember exactly. Regardless, this is the first serious story I've ever written. That said, I'll aim to post new chapters every two weeks. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!