Rhyme & Reason (Dragon Ball AU)

[TC9078]

Currently looking for additional beta readers- if you are interested, please PM me. Comment any critiques you have of the story. I hope you enjoy.
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Deep in the forests of Mount Paozu, within a small shrine like house, a small boy slept in his bed. However, it was not a restful slumber. The boy's head was caked in sweat, and he tossed and turned all over, whimpering in his sleep. Suddenly, his eyes shot open. He sat up, panting heavily as he scanned his surroundings. His onyx eyes softened slightly upon realizing that there was no danger, and his muscles relaxed.

The boy tossed off his blankets and climbed off his canopied bed. The boy stood, before staring at the gem his Master had left him before his death. The dream had come again. It had kept coming ever since his Master's death. He didn't understand why it kept coming, or why it kept troubling him so.

"How can a nightmare continuously fool me. It's disgraceful," the boy said to nothing. He sighed and grabbed his small red pole, tying it around his shoulder, before walking out the door to see the cut of wood he had dragged home in the dead of night before he had slept. It was not a big deal, he had just planned on cutting it later. But to this boy, it only served to remind him of his failures.

"I hate this!" he yelled, tossing the wood in the air, before kicking it dead in the middle, splitting it into even chunks that fell on the ground around him. I'm twelve years old! I should be done with this by now! Raditz was finished with his first mission by the time he was four! Yet here I am, no closer to finishing my mission then when I arrived! He screamed in his mind. Yet this world was obviously much more dangerous than the one his brother had encountered. That fact was obvious by the fact that he had a minder.

She wasn't around often, at least not since Gohan had died. Whenever she was there, she was always distant, and the most frequent thing he heard from her was, "when are you going to continue your mission, Kakarot?" She refused to teach him anything, and almost never answered his questions either. Whenever she looked at him, she looked sad. He hated it most because he knew she was his mother. All of the stories that Gohan had read him, or had in his collection, portrayed mothers as nurturing figures, not distant figures who were almost never around.

As Kakarot thought on this, he came across the apple tree that he often looted for food whenever he needed it. He grabbed an apple and started eating it. He absentmindedly wondered what he would eat today. It's not like there was much else to do. He didn't really live anymore, he just existed, and went wherever life bored him into. He didn't have a benchmark to see how strong he was, and so he just kept training. It was losing it's luster. Isn't that funny? A Saiyan getting tired of training. He tossed the core behind him, laughing all the while. I really have been here too long. Suddenly, an orange blur passed in front of his face. Kakarot let go of the branch, letting his tail flip him upside-down as he watched the tiger jump over him.

Well, I guess that's my lunch. He thought, letting go of the branch and dropping to the ground. He drew his power pole off of his back and readied it for the strike. The tiger lunged at him again. Kakarot sidestepped and slammed the pole into the back of the tiger's neck. A snap sounded through the air as the beast fell to the ground, unmoving. So, that's my meat for tonight. A bit lean, but it works. He grabbed his game and began the walk home.

-R&R-
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Kakarot was almost home when he heard a loud whirring sound coming from up the dirt path. He looked in that direction, and saw a dust cloud coming toward him. He tried to move out of the way, but just as he was doing so, a large metal object collided with him, sending him spinning through the air, until he landed face first on the ground.

-R&R-​

A girl with braided purple hair poked her head out the car, slightly freaking out. "Oh god, is he dead?!" she screeched. Brilliant job, Bulma. You go off on a quest to wish for a lifetime supply of strawberries and you end up killing a kid. She had started her journey in North City and traveled around the Eastern Part of the continent to get here and get the next Dragon Ball, and of course something bad would happen. It's just like Tights warned her, these kinds of quests often end up going bad for one reason or another! But then again, her sister always hung out with that weird alien cop, so it's- Bulma stopped once the boy stood up again.

Oh good, he's ooo-gaaaah! What is he doing?! The boy extended a red pole and swung at the car, sending it flying into the air before landing on its right side. The boy followed up by continuing to pound away at it with his pole. Not exactly in her right mind, Bulma grabbed her pistol and shoved her head out the broken window, firing as fast as she could at the wild child. The child crashed to the ground on his back before standing up again.

"What the hell was that?!" he screamed.

"You... you shouldn't be alive kid!" Bulma yelled back.

The boy smiled, before holding out his pole in front of him. "Your weapons are useless against my might. Now I shall end your existence right here, monster!"

"Monster?!" she screamed, tossing her gun through the air and waving her arms. Might not have been safe, but she wasn't really thinking right now. "I'm not a monster! I'm a human! Just like you!"

"Human?" he asked, mostly to himself. "But your hair..." he was interrupted by a loud bang. Her gun must have landed and gone off. Bulma sighed and climbed out of her car, landing on the ground.

"See? I'm not a monster, I won't bite." she said. The boy walked up to her and circled her. He stood on her right and lifted up her dress with his pole briefly.

"Shame on you! What do you think you're doing?!" she screamed, slapping away his pole.

"Checking to see if you had a tail. I didn't think you would, but it can't hurt to check," he said, as if it were obvious. She noticed he had exactly that. "My Master told me that if I met a girl that I should be nice, and not kill them."

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" she mumbled, slightly scared. "Is your Master around here?"

"No, he died a long time ago," he said, walking over to her car. "Oh, if you're not a monster, than this is probably a piece of technology used for transportation."

"Um... yeah, we call it a car," she replied deadpan.

"So, does that mean that you're from the big city?" he asked, curious.

"If you mean Orange Star, then no. I'm from West City, on the other side of the world." she replied.

"Great!" he grabbed his tiger by the tail. "Follow me! I'll give you shelter and some food, and we may discuss your city!"

She quickly pulled out her radar and pressed the button. The Dragon Ball was located not too far in front of her, so it was easy to infer that the kid was in possession of it. If I just follow him, I can easily take my third one. I'll have my lifetime supply of strawberries in no time! I'll show you, sis! I really can do this! She followed after the boy.

"So. We're having... tiger for lunch. What's on your agenda?" She asked, continuing to look around at the heavy forest around the path upon which they walked.

"Were you not paying attention? We can eat and discuss various matters. If you wish, you can watch my exercises, I am a bit of a Martial Artist." He explained, sounding incredibly bored, even closing his eyes and slumping when saying it. Oh right, that reminds me, I need to write Dr. Norimaki to thank him for the assistance in finding out these legends. The two walked in silence for some time, occasionally having to dodge roots laying around a road that likely hadn't been used in decades.

"Hey, kid. Do you have a name?" Bulma asked. It was always possible that this boy didn't have a name, many children that grew up far from civilization either don't have one or don't remember what theirs was.

"Daikyō Kakarotto, I'm not from this planet." Kakarot replied. "However, you may just call me Kakarot. What's yours?"

"Huh... me?" she asked. He nodded in affirmative. "Bulma." Then she thougth about what he said. "Wait, what was that about you being from another planet."

The boy stopped, as if realizing his mistake. He stood in contemplation for a second, then turned around and gave what he probably thought was a menacing stare. "I'm sorry, do you reveal your deepest and darkest secrets to someone that you just met?"

"Um... no," she replied. Damn kid, don't cut yourself on all that edge. The boy nodded and continued on the path, muttering "stupid" for several seconds while shaking his head. Right as she was about to ask him what he meant by that, the trees began to become fewer and the ground was getting lighter in colour, obviously more traveled upon.

"Nice name, by the way," Kakarot stated, snapping Bulma out of her thoughts.

"Hey! Bulma happens to be quite elegant!" No, it really isn't. I'm named after underwear; there is nothing elegant about that. "It's certainly better than Kakarot." That I do mean. After walking for several more minutes, the forest finally cleared into a beautiful, flora filled field, with a small house in the middle that almost looked like a shrine. Firewood was neatly stacked off to the side of the door, and otherwise, there seemed to be very little around it. It was... actually rather nice. Out in the wilderness, away from all the hustle-bustle of the big cities... "Nice little house you got there, kid."

"Thanks," he replied, "it was my Master's." He looked at the house as if noticing something was off. "One moment." He dropped the tiger and ran over to the doors of the house, which he thrust inward. He stood there in the doorway, listening. Bulma looked around and saw a nice bed, several books, especially a large one in the middle that looked like it had lost most of the binding.

However, in the middle of the room, her eyes struck gold. Or, rather, orange. For in the middle of the room lay a Dragon Ball. A smile slowly made its way across her face. She quickly ran forward and picked up the Dragon Ball. Quickly examining it, she found it to be the Four-Star Ball.

"Oi!" Kakarot yelled, walking right up to her. "Put my Master's orange jewel back!"

"Orange Jewel?" Bulma asked, perplexed. Oh, he must mean the Dragon Ball. However, before she could voice this thought, he had snatched it away. He shot her a look of indignation. Bulma sighed and pulled out her two Dragon Balls from her satchel and placed them on the table. Kakarot looked even more confused than before. Resigning herself, Bulma began to tell him about the Dragon Balls.

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing this!
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Somewhere in the world, a door opened, illuminating a dark dungeon, with the armour of the long dead guards acting like torches in the moonlight. Three figures stepped into the room: a black clad woman with dark hair, an anthropomorphic orange dog dressed in a purple ninja outfit, and a short blue skinned imp dressed in a colourful robe and hat. The trio calmly strode forward into the now-illuminated room and up the path leading to the altar in the back... well, mostly calmly.

"Sir... it truly is dark in here. I don't think this place has seen the light in at least the past century." said the dog.

"Quiet, Shu!" snapped the imp as he turned to look at the orange gem sitting on the altar. He carefully walked up the stairs to the altar upon which it sat, before carefully picking it up and walking back to the others. "In any case, that hardly matters now; I'm ready to make my wish!"

The woman cleared her throat. "Emperor Pilaf, sire."

"What is it Mai? I'm kinda in the middle of something here!" Pilaf yelled.

"My apologies, sire, but you can't make a wish with just one Dragon Ball. You need to collect all seven of them." Mai explained.

"You mean... we have to collect more of them?" Pilaf asked.

"Yes. But once they are collected, the Eternal Dragon will come forth for the sole purpose of granting your wish." Mai explained.

"Well, we do have a radar back at the castle. I suppose I can do a bit more searching. Then I will wish to RULE THE WORLD!" Pilaf declared. A silent "of course" sigh passed between Mai and Shu, as they followed the short little Emperor out of the room.

R&R​

"I see," Kakarot remarked. "That is a very... interesting power." Bulma looked down at him and saw the smile on his face. It was the trademark smile of when someone was about to do something very bad, but they'll enjoy it. "So... you can wish for anything?"

It took her a moment to realize that he had asked her a question. "Oh, um, yes." She was suddenly getting a feeling that it had been a terrible idea to come here. Then her mind fully acknowleged his smile. I'm going to die. This kid is going to kill me, take my Dragon Balls, and probably kill a ton of people. This is the worst; I don't wanna die like this! I've never even kissed anyone! Her panicked thoughts were interrupted by the very person causing her to panic.

"You can't have it, if that's what you were going to ask," Kakarot said. That snapped Bulma out of her panicked state instantly.

"But... but why not?! You're not exactly going to use it," Bulma observed. If he doesn't give it to me, I'm gonna have a problem...

"I'm not gonna give you my Master's prized possession just on a whim," Kakarot answered. Okay, I can understand that, really. It's not like I'd give away a prized heirloom to someone just because they were collecting it. But at the same time... I really need that Dragon Ball. But what can I... no, I won't... but I really... ugh! Why do I have such qualms now?!

Resigning herself, Bulma forced a smile at the boy. "I get it, I know what you want." Here goes nothing. She pulled aside a part of her dress and showed part of her underwear to Kakarot. "If you give it to me, I'll let you touch it." Why did I say that?! Ugh, I'm a genius but I can say the wrong things at the wrong time.

Kakarot just stared, unmoved. "How depraved is this race that they're selling out their bodies for gems of dubious value?" he deadpanned.

Dubious value, my ass. "I spent a good half a year researching these things! Their value is not dubious!" Bulma shouted. I just finished explaining this to him!

Kakarot started to retort. "All you told me was a-" but then he suddenly stopped and looked to the door. Bulma looked to the same spot as him, but she saw nothing except dust from the wind. Suddenly, Kakarot shot out the door.

R&R​

What is she doing here? Kakarot thought frantically as he ran into the clearing. She always showed up at the most inconvenient time imaginable. After circling around the back of the house, he looked in all directions to try and spot her. However, the signature had disappeared. Kakarot sighed in relief, hoping it was just a false alarm. He turned on his heel, only to crash directly into the last person he wanted to see.

She just stood there with her arms crossed. She wore battle armour shaped like a dress, and had her tail wrapped tightly around her waist. Her onyx eyes were locked onto his, exact copies staring at each other. After a brief stare-off, she sighed and let her arms down. "Kakarot," she began, "why are you still just here?"

He looked down at the ground. I'm about to get the standard lecture about how I'm failing, and need to get out there and start working on my mission. I understand that I'm failing, I just wish I had a good way of knowing where to start... wait a second! "I was just getting ready to leave," he replied smiling. Perfect! Bulma may be a bit annoying, but she has provided me with the perfect opportunity to start my mission!

His mother did a double-take, clearly not expecting that response. "Wait, after all this time, you're actually getting ready to leave?" Did she really think that I was just going to sit on my hands here forever? I was so incredibly bored that I probably would have left sooner or later, anyway.

"Yep, an earthling came by. She was looking for Gohan's gem. I'm gonna go with her to see this world," he said. Her normally stern face softened, and she even cracked a smile.

"Well, good luck to you, then," she said, before floating off the ground and flying off into the distance. Her calm and happy demeanor had creeped Kakarot out more than anything. If there was one thing that Daikyō Gine Onio was not, it was happy. Despite this, he ran back into the house, where Bulma was still sitting, staring at the door.

"I'm coming with you," he stated. Bulma looked at him carefully, seeming to size him up.

"Why?"

He at least knew the answer to this. "I've lived here my entire life, and never left this mountain. I want to go out and see the world." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Besides, there are many predators and other dangerous creatures that live in this area."

"W-What kind of predators?" she stammered.

"Pterodactyls, tigers, and other assorted animals like them. That's not even talking about the many bandits that inhabit the southern part of this region, many of which happen to be beastmen. Frankly, I'm surprised you even made it here at all without encountering any of them." Kakarot explained.

"Um... then do you want to come along as a bodyguard?" she asked.

"I mean, if that's what you want to call me, then sure," he said. "Just let me keep my Dragon Ball, and I'll come with you."

She seemed deep in thought for a few moments. However, after some deliberation, she smiled brightly. "Okay! You can come with me!" she said. He smiled back at her. Too easy. As thanks, I'll kill you last, Bulma. She jogged out the door and turned around.

"Come on!" she called and waved. Wow, she is eager to leave immediately. Kakarot grabbed a small bag to hold his Dragon Ball in, stuffed it in, and tied it to his belt. As he tied his power pole back onto his body, he truly contemplated what he was doing. He was finally leaving this mountain that he'd lived on for ten years, to finally begin the mission that he had been assigned. Yet at the same time... just the fact that it was a change, something new, was something that warmed his cold heart, if only for a moment.

Kakarot walked outside to find Bulma glaring at him. "Well that took you long enough!" she yelled.

"Do you really want to yell at the guy who can break your bones as easily as he can look at them?" he asked deadpan.

"Yeah, yeah. Be as histrionic as you want," she muttered.

"In any case," Kakarot said, "How are we going to find the Dragon Balls anyway? Do you have a way of finding them?"

"Yep!" Bulma said, voice clearly full of pride. She reached into her satchel and pulled out a small device and held it to him. "This is my Dragon Ball Locator. Though, I always just call it my Dragon Radar. I just press this," she pressed the button on the top, "and it shows where all the Dragon Balls are!"

There were, like she had said, seven blips on the radar. So, one is to the... Kakarot looked up at the sky to check direction, south, and three are to the west, and the rest are right here with us. "How far away is it and how do we get there?"

She studied the radar while tapping her cheek. "About 1400 kilometers to the south is the nearest one. We can't exactly walk that far." She grabbed out a small case from inside her satchel and began inspecting it.

"So... how do you expect us to get there? I can't fly," Kakarot noted.

"Of course you can't, people can't fly," Bulma said offhandedly, not even looking up. Kakarot silently facepalmed. Wow. This planet is even more of a backwater than I thought. I almost feel bad. Almost.

Bulma pulled out a small capsule from the case, pressing the button on top and tossing it. The capsule exploded into smoke, before revealing a small two-wheeled vehicle where it once was. Kakarot rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn't seeing things. Wait... so this race cannot fly, and seems to be one of the weakest in the cosmos; yet they somehow managed to solve either atomic compression or pocket dimensions and store basically anything inside a tiny capsule?! How did-

"Come on, Kakarot! Hop on behind me!" Bulma called. Kakarot obliged, climbing onto the vehicle behind her and holding on to her. "Hold on!" she yelled as she flexed her wrist, sending the vehicle charging forward. Huh, this isn't too bad. It certainly moves faster than any speed I can run. Kakarot looked around and saw the trees slowly wearing thin as they exited the forest onto the plains. Off into the world I go.

R&R​

The woman looked down as the vehicle sped away up the dirt road. Despite the fact that she could easily outpace them if she chose to, she remained stationary in the air, watching the bike go. Kakarot... please find something. I don't care what it is, but find something to love and cherish on this world. Something that will make you not want to destroy it. I hope you will forgive me for all this time, my son. I've never been a good warrior; but I know you will be just as great as your father, if not greater. Travel, learn to love, get stronger.

R&R​

Bulma was absolutely on top of the world. Not only had she gotten a third Dragon Ball with little to no effort, but she had gained a ridiculously strong companion who could act as a bodyguard if things got really bad. And since they were in the sticks, it could easily get that way. He had mentioned bandits, after all. I really should have asked Dr. Norimaki to let me take his sister along, she beat up those bank robbers while blindfolded. I doubt this kid has anything that spectacular up his non-existant sleeves. But then again, he busted up my car, so maybe he co-. Her thoughts were immediately interrupted as her lack of focus led to her speeding off a hill and flying through the air for a good seven seconds. The motorcycle hit the ground as Bulma slammed on the breaks as hard as she could until the bike came to a full stop.

"Bulma, you seem to have a severe lack of control over this thing," Kakarot remarked. This kid is going to be the death of me. As she finally came to terms with the fact that, yes, she had almost crashed, and yes, she needed to pay more attention, it dawned on her that she really needed to pee. She hopped off the bike and hit the kickstand down.

"Kakarot, mind waiting here for a second? I need to make a pit stop," she said lightly. Kakarot seemed to be staring into the distance behind her, and took a few seconds to respond.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea Bulma, maybe I should-" he started.

"Oh no you don't! You stay right there you little pervert!" she screamed, running off behind the rock.

R&R​

Kakarot simply stared at where Bulma had run off too. He had seen the pterodactyl swoop down behind the rock, and tried to warn her, but she thought he was trying to perv on her. Well, she'll want my help soon. Five, Four, Three, Two, O-. "KAKAROT! GET OVER HERE!" And right on cue. He ran over to the rock. Sure enough, the dinosaur had Bulma wrapped in it's claws. Kakarot sighed, and pulled out his weapon.

"Power Pole, extend!" he called, extending the pole and bringing it down on the dinosaur's neck. The snapping of the creature's neck sounded loud and clear as Bulma fell from the now limp claws. "Power Pole, retract!" The pole retracted to its normal size as he put it away. Bulma just stared at him.

"You... saved me," she said. "Thanks," she added with a smile. Kakarot felt his heart warm a bit. Finally, someone appreciated him and wasn't just trying to change him or push him into something. But at the same time, Kakarot didn't want to show any kind of weakness.

"I didn't do it for you," he said. "If you die, I have no way of finding the Dragon Balls. I can't exactly read the Dragon Radar."

Bulma's smile didn't waver one bit. "Yeah, yeah okay," she replied, clearly not believing him. That was fine with him, she didn't have to. Kakarot simply walked back around the rock to the motorcycle. About 30 seconds later, Bulma came back, and the two sped off again. This time however, Bulma was glaring at Kakarot noticeably less often.

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing!

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Following the incident with the Pterodactyl, Bulma had proven much more tolerable to travel with. She no longer glared at him for holding onto her too tight, she simply let him know. In addition, she hadn't glared at him much at all since then. Unfortunately, the traveling also made Kakarot incredibly hungry. He had seen several creatures wandering around that seemed edible, but Bulma had consistently told him not to get off the motorcycle. He had obliged, unwilling to be left behind in unfamiliar territory.

When the sun started to go down, Bulma drove the motorcycle into a clearing and hit down the kickstand. She then got off and walked off the road. Kakarot followed suit.

"So, are we going to camp here tonight?" Kakarot asked.

Bulma groaned in response. "I'm a delicate flower, there's no need to live like savages by sleeping on the ground."

Kakarot chose to ignore that vague insult. "Then what do we do? It's not like there are any houses around here," he said.

"Capsules!" Bulma said. She grabbed out her case and popped it open.

"Wait, your capsules even have houses inside them?" Kakarot asked in disbelief.

"Yep! Now back up a bit, I'm gonna put it right over there!" she called. Bulma activated the capsule and tossed it into the field. After a loud pop and smoke, in the place of the capsule was a round white house. "Now that just looks downright cozy. Way better than a tent. Come on Kakarot."

Tentatively, Kakarot followed her into the small house. She pressed a button and the whole room lit up. Kakarot stared around the room, skeptical of what he was seeing. Artificial lighting? I haven't seen that since... since... Kakarot closed his eyes and remembered.

--R&R--​

The small child looked up from his cot, at the staring faces of those around him in a brightly lit room. Looking down at him were a young lady with shoulder length hair and a boy with waist-length hair.

"He looks just like Father and Nini," the boy said. "What's his name?"

"Kakarotto," the woman replied.

"Kakarotto," the boy repeated, leaning over the infant. "So he'll be called Kakarot, then. Will he be big enough to spar with, Mother?"

"Of course he will, Raditz. He's just a newborn now. He'll be big enough to spar with sooner than you'll know."

Some time later, the woman had left, and the boy was left with his little brother. He walked to the door and pressed the button next to it, shutting off the light. The moment little Kakarot began to cry, he quickly flicked the light back on. Once the light came back on, the small child giggled. Raditz flicked it on and off a few more times, causing the child to laugh freely and happily. He walked over to the infant and picked him up."It's the job of the elder brother to watch over the younger one." he said to the baby. "I'll have to go on my next mission soon. Once you're old enough, I'll bring you with me, baby brother. You'll learn to fight beside me, just as our father did with our uncles, Kakarot."

--R&R--
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The memory faded with a red planet cracking and exploding, just as it always did in his nightmares. Kakarot was trying his best to hold back his tears. "Nii-san," he sobbed softly. Kakarot hated remembering it. All it served to remind him of was of the harsh reality that he lived in. He was alone, trapped on an alien world. His mother never showed him any affection... the only thing that mattered to her was his mission. He didn't even have a home to even return to once that was done. His father had died with their planet, and his brother was probably dead, too. He had nothing, no one.

"Ew, Kakarot, you smell." Bulma said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You need to take a bath before dinner."

Kakarot looked up at her in confusion. "What's a bath?" he asked. Bulma promptly did a double take.

"You've got to be kidding me... you don't know what a bath is? That's disgusting!" she yelled.

Bulma sat on a stool in front of the bathtub. Of course, that kid has no idea what a bath is, this is just my luck. "Kakarot, hop into the tub here." she called. The boy looked apprehensive at first, but then did as he was told, hopping over the side and sitting down in the tub. Bulma turned the knob and soaked the small boy down with the shower head, before rubbing some shampoo in his hair.

"Bulma, what's this stuff your rubbing in my hair? It's burning my eyes." Kakarot whined.

"It's called shampoo, it cleans your hair. You should count yourself lucky, you're being washed off by a pretty girl like me. I don't exactly do this for everyone," she said. She sprayed his hair with the water and washed all the shampoo off. "There, much better!" she stated, delighted at her handiwork, since Kakarot's hair was no longer sticking up everywhere. "Turn to the right, Kakarot, I'm gonna scrub off your back for you." He obliged. She scrubbed off the upper part of his back before coming to his tail. She lightly grabbed it and held it up.

"You actually attached this accessory right to your butt?" she asked.

"It's not an accessory," Kakarot replied. To show her, he waved his tail around. I really should be phased by this... but I've seen far weirder. Wait... I think I saw a woman with a tail working at a bar out in space once! I'll have to ask Tights to confirm, I don't remember that trip very well. Damn it, I wish I had been a bit older for that trip, it would have saved me a bunch of trouble! She allowed Kakarot to finish washing himself off, and then washed herself off. Following that, she grabbed some bread and ham out of her little fridge and set it on the table. Kakarot ate, but after it was all gone, he still complained of being hungry.

"Look, kid," she said, "if you're still hungry, then take your extending stick there and go catch yourself something to eat. Just don't get yourself hurt."

Kakarot glanced back at her. "It's called the Power Pole," he said simply, before walking out the door. He didn't come back for about an hour, but he came back stating that he had eaten and felt full. Bulma had been in the restroom brushing her teeth. Once she finished, she laid out a blanket for him to sleep on. Shortly after he'd laid down, Bulma recalled her thoughts on his tail.

"Say, Kakarot," she began."Are there others like you? Like, people with tails?" I really hope he answers me, my curiosity is going to murder me otherwise. He could be anything from an alien to a science experiment gone horribly wrong!

Kakarot's face fell. He turned to her, looking incredibly wistful. It made her feel bad, she thought she was about to make him cry. "There were," he said. Kakarot said nothing else, he simply laid down and turned away from her to sleep. Damn it! That does nothing to satisfy my curiosity! I should have outright asked if he was an alien! That's what I really wanted to know. There was nothing she could do about it now, so she simply closed her eyes and let sleep come.

--R&R--​

Gine was happy to finally have a chance to breathe. With Kakarot off on his little adventure, she could stop worrying about him. She also didn't have to try setting an example, and let her tail hang freely behind her. The boy was a mess and easily the hardest challenge she'd ever faced raising, far worse than his brother. Maybe that's why he's so endearing. Raditz was normal, Kakarot is... I don't quite know, but this planet has influenced him, whether he likes that or not. He might not even recognize that fact, yet. But he will, eventually. That girl seems like she's perfect for keeping a Saiyan under control.

It was at that point that Gine realized that she had no idea which direction the two had gone in. I don't want to spend too much time looking for them and getting lost... I guess I have to use it. Reluctantly, Gine pulled her green scouter out of her armour and placed it over her eye. Glad I removed the long-range communication on this thing years ago. She pressed the button and scanned around. Within minutes, the Power Levels of 15 and 3 were registered. Gine sighed, relieved that she didn't have to spend days looking for them. But no sooner had her relief come than another power level appeared on the map. 170...290... 450... It just kept rising as she watched. 700, 890, 1050!? What... there is no way an Earthling could be that strong! Suddenly, the power dropped off. What the hell could that have been? Curiosity getting the better of her, she floated up into the air and flew in the direction of the power level. I'm likely getting myself into trouble again... I'll never learn, will I? She chuckled to herself. At least on this planet, there was no one strong enough to give her any trouble.

--R&R--​

The nightmare came again that night, the first time it had ever come twice in a row. But it was somehow even worse than usual. This time, when the fireball hit the surface of his planet, he felt he could hear the screams of his dying race in his mind. Men, women, children... the screams echoing loudly... then a flash of light... and his home and race were gone. But even after the planet exploded, the screams didn't stop.

Kakarot woke up in a cold sweat, barely managing to not scream. He managed to calm himself and slow his breathing in time before he lost it. Losing it now... I don't even want to think about it. His Master had still been alive last time he'd lost control, and it had taken both him and his mother to get Kakarot back under control again. He had created an entire forest clearing in his emotional state that time.

As he got his emotional state under control, he looked over to the futon, where Bulma still lay asleep. Why did she choose to bring me along? She can't possibly know what I am; to her I'd just be a strange boy with a tail, not a warrior from the stars with a mission to destroy her world. I didn't save her until later... so why did she bring me along? Wait... why did I save her again? He thought back to when he broke the pterodactyl's neck. What had his reasoning been for saving her? He didn't even remember. I hate not understanding, and I hate that I remember all the wrong things!

He stood up and walked over to the window. Looking out at the clearing, the sun had risen into the sky, and they could likely make good progress in the next day. Yet Bulma was still asleep, as if it were still the dead of night. Hmm... I wonder what will wake her up quickly. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Bulma!" he called. "The Dragon Balls are gone!"

Instantly, Bulma was out of bed, screaming and rushing over to the table where the Dragon Balls lay, exactly where they had left them the previous night. Seeing them there, she turned and glared at her companion, who was laughing at her expense. "That's not funny, Kakarot!" she yelled.

"No, but your face was," he replied. "In any case, it woke you up, which was my goal. Get dressed, we have a great day ahead of us!" Or at least, that was what he had thought she would do. Instead, she spent an exorbitant amount of time washing her hair with that shampoo, then drying it with some kind of air blower while running a teethed piece of plastic through it.

Exasperated, Kakarot just decided to go outside "Bulma!" he called out. "I'm just going outside. Hurry up! If you move any slower, you're liable to transform into a turtle!"

"Shut up kid!" she shot back. He didn't really care, he just ran out the door. Kakarot stretched, then ran over to a large rock. This one ought to do. He wrapped his arms around the rock and lifted it into the air. Kakarot tried to break it, but it resisted. He grit his teeth and continued squeezing as hard as he could, until the rock finally shattered under his strength. I'm so weak, I can't even break a rock easily. He didn't know why all these feelings had come back after so long of not being there. The feelings had gone away... but now they seemed to be back. He thought as to why they were.

"Are there others like you, Kakarot?"

It was Bulma. She had brought everything that he had been buried deep within him right back to the surface with that single damned question. The memories were bad enough when he wasn't forced to think about them! But instead, she reminded him of the others of his race, and how weak he was compared to them. Eager to force himself to forget, Kakarot ran over the next biggest rock he could see, grabbed it, and lifted it up.

"Woah, Woah!" the rock yelled. Wait, what? Am I dreaming? Did Bulma knock me out for that joke? No, she's too weak, a punch from her would tickle at worst. So... why did- Kakarot looked more closely at the rock in his hands, his previous musings forgotten briefly. Upon closer inspection he realized it wasn't a rock at all: it was a turtle. Sheepishly, Kakarot dropped the turtle.

"That's a new one," the turtle said.

"I'll bet." Kakarot agreed. "What are you doing all the way out here? The river's like seven miles that way." He pointed in the direction that he and Bulma had driven from.

"Before I answer that... could I have some saltwater?"the turtle asked. Kakarot blinked. A sea turtle? Why would one be this far inland? I need some answers... but first.

"Bulma!" he called. A crash sounded from inside, and about 15 seconds later, she opened the door and poked her head out, her purple hair falling loosely from her shoulders.

"What do you want, Kakarot? I'm almost done with my hair!" she yelled. What is her obsession with her hair? I think it looks just fine.

Kakarot pointed at the turtle. "I found a turtle, he's asking for some seawater before he'll talk. Could you oblige him? I'd like to hear what he has to say." Bulma glared at him before sighing. The turtle chose that moment to speak up.

"Excuse me, but can I get some seaweed, too?" the turtle asked.

"Sorry, we don't have seaweed," she replied. "But I'll grab some saltwater, one moment." Bulma disappeared into the house, and Kakarot heard the sound of running water, before Bulma came back with a metal bucket. "Here you go." The turtle immediately rushed to the bucket and began guzzling the water. How long has the turtle been out of the water? I'm surprised it hasn't died by now.

"Thank you very much," the turtle said upon finishing his drink. "The truth is... I'm Kame."

"We can see that you are a turtle!" Bulma yelled at him. Wait, was that Galactic Common? I thought no one spoke that on this backwater! But Bulma seems to have translated it instantly... What is going on with this world?!

He continued, unfettered. "I was gathering mushrooms, and I got lost. I've been trying to find my way back to the sea for a year now."A year?! That's... 549 days? No, no, Earth year. 366? About that, yeah.

"You're trying to get to the sea?" Bulma asked. She quickly ran back inside and came back with a map. "Bad news for you, turtle. The sea is 120 kilometers to the south."

"120?! Gosh, that'll take me forever," the turtle said. South... hmm...

"We can take you there, Turtle," Kakarot offered.

"You mean it?!" Turtle said, excited. Bulma shot him a look of annoyance.

"Kakarot, we hardly have time for this!" she said. I knew she'd say that. But I think she's forgetting something.

"Isn't the next Dragon Ball in that direction?" Kakarot asked rhetorically. I know it is. Now to see if she does. Bulma ran inside again and came back out with the Dragon Radar, checking it carefully.

"Well, whaddya know. It's in that direction, too," Bulma said. "Good catch, kid. I would have missed that." How the hell did she find any of them on her own?

"So? Can we head down there, drop the turtle, and grab the Dragon Ball?" Kakarot asked. I already know she'll say yes. But judging by how she's acted thus far, my phrasing should make it seem like she's the one in control.

"Of course! Let me just get dressed, m'kay?" Bulma said as she walked back inside. She came back out around 10 minutes later dressed in a black jacket, khakis, and riding boots. In her hand she had the Dragon Radar and Kakarot's bag containing the four-star-ball. She had re-braided her hair into the same style it had been the previous day, red ribbon and all. She tossed the bag to him and slid open a panel next to the door. She pressed a button and the house instantly turned back into a capsule. She put the capsule back in her case and unloaded her motorcycle. "Kakarot, you carry the turtle. I don't have any cars that we can use, so I'll just drive next to you. It shouldn't take us very long to get to the shore."

Kakarot nodded and hoisted the turtle up onto his shoulders. Why is she being so complaisant? She was not like this yesterday. He continued to contemplate this as they headed along the road, conveniently distracting him from his earlier brooding. The two went across the plains as the day wore on, with little landscape around for them to see.

Bulma complained, much to Kakarot's shock, very little on the trip, and then only about the temperature. To be fair, it was much warmer that day than it was typically. Must be this planet's warm season. Hope it doesn't get too hot. The two continued following the road until it reached a small pass between two cliffs.

"Bulma," Kakarot stated, "this is a textbook example of a trap. I can almost guarantee some kind of bandit will screw with us here." While he said 'almost guarantee,' Kakarot knew that there was someone there. It was such an obvious ambush point. There were probably weapons buried there from armies ambushed in the past. Maybe not even buried, considering how much of a backwater this world is.

Sure enough, as they entered the pass, a large bear-man thing with a scar over his eye jumped down and landed in front of them. "Oh, that will make a fantastic dinner. Humans give me heartburn, but turtles are a rare delicacy. Hand it over, now!"

"Get off my back, I'll take care of this," Kakarot whispered to Turtle. Turtle nodded and climbed off his back, scampering over to where Bulma had ducked behind a rock. "Who are you to demand anything of me?"

"Kid, you are dead meat! I am the ruler of this land! The dreaded Bear-Thief!" he shouted.

"Oh please, do go on." Kakarot snarked. He drew his power pole out of its case and held it as the Bear-Thief continued his spiel. At the same time, he positioned his tail behind him to use in case he needed to climb the thief's body.

The thief smiled and pointed his sword at Kakarot. He shouted, "the King is far away in his burning castle, he hasn't enforced his rule in this area in a decade! I rule here now. So you should know your place, you damned monkey!"

The moment the final word came out of the thief's mouth, Kakarot's face dropped. He dropped out of his stance and let his Power Pole's front hit the ground. His breathing stilled and his fists tightened, as his body began to shake.

"Aw, what's wrong, little monkey, did I strike a nerve?" the thief taunted. Suddenly, Kakarot looked up at him, rage filling his small eyes.

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, rushing forward. "Power Pole, EXTEND!" Kakarot screamed, swinging it as hard as he could at the thief. It smashed into the side of the thief's head, a resound BOOM shattering through the air. The thief fell to the ground, likely dead, but Kakarot didn't care. He simply picked up the sword and started hacking away at the former thief. "DON'T." smash. "CALL." smash. "ME." smash. "A." smash. "MONKEY!" he jumped in the air and threw the sword as hard as he could at the body. The sword impaled itself in the middle of the largest remaining piece of the body.

Kakarot took a deep breath and looked down at himself. There were a few splatters of blood on his gi, but nothing washing it wouldn't eliminate. Good. This gi is the only piece of clothing I have with me. I'd rather not walk all the way back to Gohan's just to get another outfit. Feeling his face, there was no blood on it either, nor was there any in his hair.

He looked back at Bulma and Turtle, only to see them staring at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Bulma in particular looked rather terrified. I guess now she realizes just who she chose to ask to be her bodyguard. Well, not exactly, I guess. If she actually figures out that I'm a Saiyan... I'll teach her how to blast something with her ki. That should be reward enough in that unlikely scenario.

"Come on, we need to move. I doubt he was the only member of his group if he considered himself the 'King.' How much further is it to the sea, Bulma?" Kakarot asked.

--R&R--​

It took a few seconds for Bulma to process the question. The little kid in front of her had just turned a feared bandit into bear-chops, yet here he was asking her how far it was to the ocean like nothing had just happened. What happened to this kid that killing could mean so little to him? Wait... monkey... didn't Jaco say that he's been trying to hunt down some 'damned monkeys' for like 12 years now? Kakarot is 12... he must be an alien of some kind. Maybe he's what Jaco was looking for.

As these thoughts rushed through her head, she drew her map from her jacket pocket and unfurled it. They were only around five kilometers from the ocean, almost there! Kakarot walked over to her slowly while she was focused on the map. When she put the map down, she saw the boy looking up at her carefully, with an almost worried expression on his face.

"I don't have to go home, right?" he asked. His eyes shone like that of a small child begging for a toy. Bulma sighed. She didn't plan on sending him home, but he didn't need to know that, might as well make him think that she might have. It might encourage him to not be so wanton with the murdering in the future.

"Sure. Just don't go killing people without permission," she replied. Kakarot seemed to think about it for several moments.

"Um... sure," he replied. He picked up Turtle and the two of them began to head up the mountain pass. No further bandits harassed them as they got through the mountains and followed the trail down to the plains. Another hour and they arrived at the dunes at the edge of the water. The Turtle smiled brightly and laughed as he smelled the ocean. Bulma parked her motorcycle and jogged up the sand dunes with Kakarot.

The boy's eyes widened happily as he saw the ocean. He jogged down the hill and let the turtle down onto the sand. Turtle went to the water and turned around to face them.

"You brought me home. Words alone cannot express my gratitude," he said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I insist on giving you a gift, please wait here, I'll return in a short while." Turtle then turned around and swam out into the ocean, out of sight. Bulma sat down in the sand to wait. They had a few more weeks, and they had 3 of the Dragon Balls. Hmm... maybe strawberries isn't the best plan for a wish... a giant chocolate fountain, maybe? That might be cool. She looked over at Kakarot only to see him sitting on a rock, drawing in the sand with his 'Power Pole'. He seemed to be writing, but it didn't look like either script commonly used on Earth.

"What are you writing there, Kakarot?" Bulma asked. Kakarot looked up at her and sighed.

"My name," he replied. "This the native script of my people." He dropped the stick to below his previous writing and quickly wrote what she presumed was his name in the logographic script of Earth.

根 カカロット​

"I'm assuming," Kakarot continued, "that you can read that one." Indeed, Bulma could read that script, it was the most common script used on Earth. It was like asking if the grass was green. But this reignited Bulma's curiosity regarding Kakarot and where he came from. She figured that he had to be an alien, but getting him to open up about where he was from or why he was on Earth would be difficult. She still remembered how sad he had looked the previous evening when she asked about it. She had to approach that topic carefully if she ever intended to learn about it. She tried to think of what questions could get him to talk without triggering whatever caused his sadness. However, as she contemplated, Kakarot pointed out to the ocean.

"The Turtle's coming back! And he has a person on his back!" he called. Bulma looked out to the ocean, but all she saw was a faint silhouette in the distance. In fact, even saying that was stretching the truth a bit.

"How can you see that far, kid?" she asked. He didn't answer. Welp, that plan's a bust. Oh well, there are other ones. There is always a blueprint, even when one goes wrong. As the silhouette approached, she could see it clearer; sure enough, it was Turtle and a bald old man with sunglasses, a bright orange beach shirt, and a long beard. Turtle swam up to the beach and the old man hopped off.

"Good Afternoon!" the old man called.

"Um... hi." Bulma replied. She really didn't know what to say to him, after all she had just met the man. He seemed nice enough, but appearances could be deceiving, as her tiny psychopathic companion showed.

"I have to thank you all for saving my Turtle. He's been missing for a while, and I'm a bit less without him." The man explained. "I'm Roshi, the Turtle Hermit." The old man looked down at Turtle. "Which one of these two youngsters helped you?"

Turtle pointed his flipper at Kakarot. "The little boy here," he said. The Hermit nodded and walked up to the little boy.

"I owe you a debt kid. I have a wonderful present for you, to that end," Roshi said. Kakarot looked up at him, then scratched his head with his tail.

"What kind of present?" he asked. Roshi just stared at him for a moment, as if contemplating something. He seemed to be staring at Kakarot's tail. Why would he be staring at Kakarot's tail? I mean, yeah, it's weird... but the King of Earth is a blue anthropomorphic cairn terrier. It cannot be any weirder than that.

"Well, just wait and see," he said. He picked up his wooden staff and threw it to the ocean. "Come to me Eternal Phoenix!" he called. The was a very noticeable silence following the call.

Turtle looked up pensively at Roshi. "Um... Master? The Eternal Phoenix died of food poisoning." The staff drooped as the Hermit looked at the turtle.

"Oh right, it did." Everyone promptly face-faulted. Wait, how did the Eternal Phoenix die of food poisoning?

The old man stood deep in thought for several long moments, muttering as he did so. "Hmm... I could give him the... no, that's at the cleaners. What about the... hmm... well, if he can use it, it's his." He stood up and called, "Come to me, Flying Nimbus!" Once again, there was silence. Bulma could almost hear the crickets chirping. "Where is that damn cloud?" he muttered. Bulma looked up, and saw a cloud moving a bit different than the others, as it began to grow in size. It grew bigger and bigger, until Bulma realized it was just moving closer to them. The yellow cloud overshot them, then turned around and slowly spiraled around them, coming to a stop next to Roshi. "This is the Flying Nimbus, my Kinto'un. Don't be afraid, she's as sweet as candy."

Kakarot in particular was in awe, staring at the cloud with an expression of wonder. "So, can I eat it, or-"

"You don't eat it, you little... um... boy." Roshi said. "You sit on it and it flies you wherever you want."

Bulma stared at him carefully. "Alright, what's the catch?"Bulma had learned a lesson the hard way, being the heir to the richest man in the world. Nothing comes without a catch, especially something like this.

"You need to have a pure heart to ride on it," Roshi explained. And there it was. "Here, let me show you how it works." He crouched down and jumped onto the cloud. It promptly parted and allowed him to fall on his ass. Kakarot frowned, while Bulma let out a few giggles.

"I guess the wise old hermit isn't so pure himself, huh?" Bulma asked. Kakarot sighed and walked up behind the cloud.

"Whatever. Imma try now," he said. He bounced up and his feet touched the cloud... he managed to stand for a little over a second before falling through it just as Roshi did. Unlike the old man, however, the little boy managed to land on his feet. The boy looked up, frowning. He looked at the Turtle Hermit... and then his eyes brightened a bit. "Hey!" he said pointing at Roshi's chest. "I want that!" Roshi looked down and fiddled with whatever was on his neck.

"You mean this?" he asked. Bulma couldn't see what they were talking about, she figured he saw a crystal or something that he liked.

"Yes. Since all you seem to have otherwise is a cloud that I can't use."

"Sheesh! Don't blame Nimbus for your own impurity. I certainly don't. If you want this, you can have it." Roshi took off his necklace and handed it to Kakarot, who promptly ran over to Bulma to show what he had received. Bulma almost couldn't believe her eyes- in Kakarot's hands was the Three-Star Dragon Ball. Bulma looked back and forth between the Ball and Kakarot, until she smiled brightly and hugged the little boy. He squirmed a bit, but then finally stopped.

"You got us another Dragon Ball, Kakarot! I guess you were right to help the Turtle. That one's yours," Bulma said. She walked over to her motorcycle and capsulized it, before opening another one, this one with a rounded top, modeled after a recumbent bike's top. "Come on, then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Master Roshi!" Kakarot hopped on the bike behind her, putting the Three-Star Ball around his neck. Bulma hit the throttle and they drove off. As they started to drive, Bulma checked the Dragon Radar- their destination was to the Northwest, they could reach it by the end of the week. It's not like anything could go horribly, horribly wrong there, right?

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

The moment their bike arrived in the village, Bulma could tell something was wrong. Despite the village having a sizable number of houses, paved roads, and painted signs, it looked like a ghost town. As if they vanished only days ago. She parked the bike and stepped off, looking around.

"You think that bandits abducted the town or something?" she asked. Her small companion curled his tail behind him as he thought. That's adorable. He's crazy, but right now I can really tell that he's a kid... it even looks like a question mark!

"Nah. There're people here." he said. "I saw some shadows moving in that house." Kakarot pointed at the house directly in front of them. Bulma nodded and the two walked forward to the door. She knocked on it lightly.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" Silence. "I know you're in there, I saw you through the window." Well, no I didn't, but Kakarot did, and his eyesight is far better than mine. Still, there was nothing. She didn't even hear a rustle of movement inside the house. I really don't have time for this. Bulma turned to look at Kakarot. "Can you open it?" He nodded. Kakarot walked up to the door and pulled his hand back for a punch- "Hold on!" Bulma said. She quickly pulled out a capsule and opened it, revealing her Walkman and headphones. She quickly tossed on her headphones and pressed the button on her Walkman, motioning for Kakarot to continue as she bobbed her head along to the music.

Has he lost his mind?

Can he see or is he blind?

Can he walk at all

Or if he moves will he fall?

Bulma looked to see if Kakarot was done yet, but he was just standing there, staring at her. She crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. Unblinkingly, he pointed his palm at the door... and it began to glow. A few seconds later, the glow shot from Kakarot's hand. It hit the door and blew the handle and part of the frame off the wall. Bulma immediately hit the stop button and put her headphones around her neck.

"What the hell was that?!" she shrieked. Kakarot rolled his eyes.

"The future."

"But what was it?"

"You impress me, and I'll tell you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" He didn't answer, he simply grabbed the door and pulled it open.

"It means-" Kakarot was interrupted by a loud yell as a man swung an axe at him. Bulma quickly pushed the boy out of the way, but in the aftermath, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm. Looking down, she saw a large gash in her jacket, with blood spurting out. Well, that's not good. Nearly instantly, Kakarot had his Power Pole out and pointing at the man. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he screamed.

The man charged unfettered. The boy sidestepped the next axe swing. "Power Pole, extend!" he called. The Pole hit the man in the stomach, forcing him to his knees. He attempted another swipe at Kakarot, but the boy simply grabbed the man's wrist, before decking him in the face. The man's hands released the axe and went to his nose, which was now bleeding. Kakarot quickly spun, hitting the man in the back of the head with his Power Pole, sending his face directly into the ground. Kakarot retracted his Power Pole and walked over to the man. Picking up the axe, he held it above him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end your life for this offense." The man looked up at him worriedly, saying nothing.

"K-Kakarot!" Bulma called. Kakarot quickly turned to see his companion holding up her arm for him to see. Her blue jacket had a slice in the sleeve, and within he could see deep red blood running out from it rapidly, and dripping onto the ground.

"Shit!" Kakarot tossed the axe into the wall and ran to his companion.

--R&R--​

Once Kakarot had finally gotten Bulma's wound bandaged, she glared at the man, who was scratching his head, clearly ashamed of himself.

"Where the hell do you get off?! You swung an axe at a little boy, and nearly took my arm off! Since all I have are normal bandages, I'm probably going to have a scar there for the rest of my life! Not only that, but you ruined my jacket!" she screamed.

Kakarot giggled. "You know, all scars tell a story. Telling yours has to interest some people."

"You are not helpful right now, kid!" she turned back to the man. "Now, would you mind explaining why you attacked me after spilling your tea?"

The man shook his arms. "I didn't spill my tea! The demon who keeps kidnapping girls from the village calls himself Oolong. He transforms, and I thought you were him!"

A shapeshifting demon? That's new. "If you're fighting a shapeshifting demon, I can help," Kakarot offered.

"But Kakarot-" she began.

"No 'buts,' Bulma. Besides, you need to sit here and rest for a bit, you lost a bunch of blood from that wound."

"You would help us?" an old lady at the door said.

"If I was compensated for it, yes."

"What would you want in payment?" Kakarot grabbed the bag he had tied to his sash and pulled out the Three-Star Dragon Ball, holding it out to the woman.

"We're looking for relics that look like this," he said, pointing at the ball. "There are seven of them, we have four so far. We have a radar that tracks them, and it pointed to this village." The old woman fumbled with her pockets, before pulling out another one.

"This what you lookin' for?" she asked. Bulma moved closer to get a better look. Indeed, it was the Six-Star Dragon Ball. Her enthusiasm returned suddenly.

"Yes! Yes it is! In exchange for that, we'll get rid of Oolong for you!" she stated. The villagers gathered and spoke for a bit before seperating again.

"But even if you manage to defeat Oolong... we still don't know where the other girls he took are," the man with the axe said.

Bulma had seemingly already though this through. "The girl, Pochawampa, was it?"

"Pocawatha."

"Right. If he's looking for you, then he'll be looking for your clothes. Can I have them?" Kakarot giggled at Bulma's request.

"Bulma, no offense to you, but this plan is a bust. You're far too big to wear her clothes," he said. Everyone turned and looked at him. Suddenly, Bulma smiled wickedly. Kakarot's face changed to one of confusion. "What?"

--R&R--​

Kakarot had expected her to do something. Something like using Pocawatha as bait. Not dressing him up in the girl's clothes.

"You look absolutely adorable, Kakarot," Bulma said. "Though, your tail is a bit of a dead giveaway." Kakarot sighed, pulling his tail inside the dress, and wrapping it around his waist just like he'd seen his mother do. It feels a bit... odd... but I could get used to it eventually. Walking is gonna be a challenge, though.

"You're lucky I'm getting a Dragon Ball for this," he muttered.

"Alright! Now you can get taken away by Oolong, beat him up, then come back here!" Bulma cheered. Suddenly, a man with a shotgun ran up to the door.

"He's here! That bastard Oolong is here!" Bulma quickly sprung into action.

"Everyone, hide in your homes! We'll take care of this!" Everyone obliged, shutting themselves inside. Bulma grabbed Kakarot's hand and walked him outside. "Alright, good luck, Kakarot. I'll find you if you don't come back quickly." She turned around and shut the door. Of course, I'm left to do this. Damn it. I would be mad at her, but no one can heal from an injury that fast. But why do I have to be captured? Couldn't I just beat him first, then beat the information out of him? Or if he's a coward, I could just imply I'll beat him up and he should cave. Suddenly, Kakarot felt heavy footsteps on the ground. He turned his head and saw a large demon man in some kind of formal attire walking with a bouquet of flowers.

"Hello little lady," he said, "I've come for you." How to best... I know! I'll quiver and shake! That should imply fear. And explain why I cannot turn around and face him directly. He began to do just that. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you scared? It must be because of how I look, isn't it? I'll just transform then." A puff of smoke went up around him, and in place of the demon man, there was a human man with the same voice. "I'm actually a very nice guy. Is this okay, or would you prefer a younger man?"

I really, really don't like this, I really want to just fight this idiot! Wipe that smug grin off his face. If only Bulma could fight, I would love someone to help me teach these idiots a thing or two. Then again, she is pretty smart, she could catch on pretty quick. Well, I guess I could think that up... while I beat up this wanna be casanova! Kakarot elbowed Oolong in the gut. Damn, that felt good. He tossed off his disguise and unfurled his tail, kicking Oolong in the stomach and throwing him back.

"You!" Oolong snarled, "you dare deceive me?! Lord Oolong the Terrible?! You're dead meat, kid!" A puff of smoke went up around him with a pop. When the smoke cleared, the finely dressed man was gone, and in his place was a large cow. "I'll kill you, kid!"

"Frankly, I think that's..." Kakarot paused for dramatic effect, "...bullshit." Hearing nothing but crickets chirping, Kakarot just sighed. "Fine. Don't laugh." He put his hand out in front of him. "Now tell me where the girls are, or I'll beat it out of you." His face twisted into a wicked smile. "Personally, I'd much prefer the latter, but I'll give you a chance here."

"Oh, cocky one, are you?" Oolong asked. "Well then I guess I'll have to put the m-" he looked at the clock, and his face turned to one of panic. "H-Hold on one minute!" Oolong yelled, running away at full speed. Kakarot stood flabergasted for a few seconds, before coming to his senses and giving chase to the bull. He ran out the gate behind Oolong... and he was gone. The only thing there was a small anthropomorphic pig in a dark green uniform.

Kakarot ran in all directions and couldn't find him anywhere, so he returned to the village gate, before turning around and shouting, "Oolong! Get back here this instant or I'll turn you into steaks when I find you!" Yet nothing appeared. Kakarot frowned, walking back into the town. Suddenly, a pop sounded behind him. He turned around, and in front of him was a large suit of armor holding chopsticks and broth.

"You think I'd actually run away, twerp?!" Oolong shouted, "Now surrender or I'll dip you in this broth and eat you!" Kakarot stared at him confused. Then he started laughing. A full, hearty laugh, fully fueled by the fact that this... whatever this thing was... couldn't seem to understand just how outclassed he really was. Then again, he probably thinks the same. Time to see.

"So, you ever gonna stop just transforming and fight me already? I'm really bored," he complained. Oolong got flustered and shook his hand, scalding his thumb with the hot broth. He screamed in pain, then glared at Kakarot.

"You... you twerp! I'll end you for this! You won't like me when I'm angry!" Oolong shouted.

"Yeah yeah, can we just fight already?"

"Oh, sonova- YES!" Oolong yelled as he threw a punch at Kakarot in his rage. But Kakarot was already out of the way.

"Wow! You're really weak," Kakarot said. Oolong swung his arm angrily at the boy, but he continued to dodge every swing. Every time Oolong came close to hitting him, the boy moved just enough that he missed. Other times, he just caught his arms. Kakarot wasn't even trying, this was very easy for him.

Suddenly, he was just gone. Oolong looked around but couldn't find him anywhere, before suddenly feeling a slight weight increase on his shoulders and neck. "Like, any of these weaklings could beat you with ease. How the hell did you scare anyone?" Oolong growled and grabbed the kid by the tail and threw him into the air. The boy stared down at Oolong with a glare of pure malice.

Then Kakarot cocked his arm back and swung it, shooting a blast of light from it. The ground in front of Oolong exploded from the impact, causing the creature to scream and jump backwards. Kakarot then drew out his Power Pole and extended it to the ground, using it as a recoil. He flew feet first into Oolong's head, smashing into it with a sound like that of a gong.

He dropped to the ground and grabbed Oolong's wrist, holding it in a vice grip. "Now," he said, "tell me where the girls are."

"And if I refuse?" Oolong replied. Kakarot's eyes seemingly lit up.

"Have you ever heard of Beowulf?" Oolong shuddered and began to shake. Just as suddenly tears pooled in the eye slots and water began to gush out.

"Please, don't hurt me anymore! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" he sputtered. This guy is pathetic. Oolong the Terrible? More like Oolong the Terrified. Kakarot loosened his grip slightly.

"And? I'm waiting."

"They're... They're..." A pop sounded and the suit of armour was gone. In its place was the anthropomorphic pig that Kakarot had seen earlier.

"Wait... you're Oolong?" Kakarot asked, dumbfounded. He just couldn't believe that the person terrorizing this town was this tiny thing. Kakarot looked up from Oolong, keeping a tight grip on the pig's wrist. "Hey! I beat Oolong, you can come out now!" Slowly, the villagers and Bulma filed out of the houses and gathered around the two. All were surprised to see that the demon who had terrorized them for so long was a small pig. After everyone finished gawking, Kakarot looked Oolong dead in the eyes.

"You will lead us to the girls. If you turn into an ant and try to escape, I'll crush you. Then, when your broken carcass turns back to normal, I'll chop you up and turn you into bacon." Oolong gulped and nodded. Oolong led them through the plains and off the road a small ways. Within minutes, they reached an elaborate palace. Bulma walked up next to Kakarot and Oolong and looked at the two of them.

"So," she said pointing at Oolong, "what's with the PLA uniform?" Oolong looked at her side-eyed.

"They're easy to find. There are literally millions of them," he replied. The villagers all surged towards the palace and raced inside, calling out for their daughters. However, when they arrived, they found their daughters, one was leaning against the wall staring off, one was in exercise clothes, and the third was sitting on a lounge chair sipping a smoothie. As it turned out, Oolong had wanted a timid girl, or at least one who wasn't so demanding. I guess you don't always get what you're looking for in life. Oh well. I still want a sidekick, though. Kakarot sighed. I just wish there was another Saiyan on this planet that isn't my mother.

 

[TC9078]

And now for something completely different.
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History​

The Saiyans had no institutional central government for a very long time. Whatever government they did have was often short-lived and chaotic. Because of this lack of authority, different tribes of Saiyans took control over certain areas and warred with other tribes over lands. Saiyans were seemlingly conditioned for conflict, they fought and ate food, then went back to fighting. The Saiyans were easily the most savage species of humans that had been observed to that point.

However, that situation did not last. Around 1500 years ago, the Tuffles, another human species who lived on their world, were disgusted by this savage race. Many wished to wipe them out, since the Tuffles controlled far more of the planet than the Saiyans. The Tuffles attacked the Saiyans, hoping that the deep divides would allow for an easy conquest. In their initial attack, 15 tribes were exterminated, with several more following. The Tuffles gave no quarter, and believed that they would scare the Saiyans into going quietly.

In fact, it had the opposite effect. The First Saiyan-Tuffle War, as it became known, provided the spur for unity that they had not had before. The Chief of the Kiku Tribe declared that his family would defend the Saiyan race, and that they would rule afterwards. The Saiyans won the war, even taking land from the Tuffles. Chief Kiku changed his name to 'Vegeta,' declared himself King, and decreed that all future Kings would share his name. With the deaths of so many in the war, the system was in need of reorganisation. Many families in leadership positions had absolute power over their tribes. It was from this that the Clan System that the Saiyans were so famous for developed.

The System​

The Saiyan clan system wasn't much unlike the tribal system formerly practiced. However, it differed in the leadership. While tribes chose their leader from amongst themselves, clan chiefdom passed from father to son. Each clan possessed land that they ruled as their own semi-independent fiefdoms, but they all nominally answered to the crown. They had absolute power in their land, and could not be displaced except by extinction, which was rare as all clans had cadet lines. A Clan Chief was the Supreme Ruler of both their family and their domain. The Clan Chief represented the face of the clan, therefore it was imperative that he retain the honour and respect of his clan. Should a Clan Chief lose the respect of his fellow clan members, a challenge may be presented by another clan member.

Leadership Challenge​

When a member of the clan challenged the Clan Chief for the leadership, someone of equal rank was required act as an outside witness. Typically, this would be a brother-in-law from another clan. Each clan possessed a traditional duelling ground. Each Clan had their own specific rites for leadership challenges. For example, Clan Onio had a very specific set of rules, which included no face or groin shots (Clan Onio was an outlier amongst the Saiyans, they were almost civilized).

If a challenger lost, then he was stripped of his name and exiled. If the Chief lost, traditionally he'd step aside and serve the new Chief willingly. Of course, none of this mattered if the loser died. A challenger surrendering was the exception, it was usually a fight to the death. Of course, the Clan Chieftess would also swap in that instance, as they were always the Mate of the Clan Chief.

Clan Chieftess​

Unlike most patriarchal societies, a Saiyan Clan Chieftess traditionally had seperate responsibilities and duties from her Mate. Ofttimes, the Chieftess was in charge of domestic concerns, ensuring the Clan Chief could focus on other matters. They would manage organisation, make appointments of assistants, and sometimes even engage in diplomacy and politicking of their own. A Saiyan Clan Chieftess could sometimes even be more powerful than her mate, depending on her birth family and the one she married into. Sometimes, the sound of a Chieftess' third name was enough for rebellions to subside or armies to flee in terror.

Naming Conventions​

Saiyan naming conventions, one of their most famous traits, was intrinsically linked to that Clan System. A Saiyan can have many names or few. A Third or Second Class Saiyan will often only have one name. A First Class is always a member of a Clan. No matter how many names a Saiyan had, they always went in a very specific order.

First came their clan name, to ensure that everyone knew exactly which Clan they belonged to; as the Clan was the most important part of Saiyan Society, it was always placed first.

Second came their personal name. All families have traditional names, few new ones were ever brought into a family's main branch. In the main line of a family, the names end here.

Third is highly dependent on where a Saiyan is in a clan. A Clan Chieftess' third name is the name she once possessed before her mating. (For example, Chieftess Onio Auber Nasu, was born into the Nasu clan, but became part of the Onio clan via marriage.) Cadet branches of a Clan traditionally have a third name to mark which branch of the family they are. Adoptees, while rare, also had a third name, in which their former family name became their third name. Distinguished fighters in a battle were sometimes granted third names for themselves.

Fourth name is as far as many could go. A fourth name was often because of a married adoptee, in which their original name became their fourth name, and their adopted maiden name became their third name, while their new Clan became their first name.

Messing up a Saiyan's name was a severe insult, and depending on who it was, it could often end with the offender's death in a rather violent manner. It is to this end why it was often only the Royalty that was dealt with by outsiders, since it was nearly impossible to screw up their name. If someone screwed that up, then their death was likely good for the gene pool of their species.

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing! I am extremely unsure about this chapter, so any feedback on it is highly welcomed.
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After several days of slowly traveling west, Gine checked her scouter again, to find that she was only a few hundred units away. She continued travelling slowly, hoping to not alert the creature to her presence. Getting closer, she saw a figure in the sky. She flew up closer until she could get a good view of them. Seeing the figure, Gine felt her heart stop. What?! But... but how? He... he said they were all dead! No... he wouldn't have lied! Not about this! But... the evidence is right in front of me... why?! Why would he lie to me?!

Gine floated up behind them, who seemed to be searching for something on the ground. Once she was as close as she dared, she cleared her throat. The figure before her inhaled sharply, and turned around slowly to look at her. Her eyes were wide as saucers, her body seemed to be shaking, and the hair on her tail stood up on end. "Hello, Seripa."

Seripa stared back at her in disbelief. "G-Gine? But... I thought you died when Frieza blew the planet up!" she stammered, but then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "So, you survived. Did... did Bardock-"

"No, he died leading the army against Frieza," Gine said sadly. "He was the only one able to lead the army; King Vegeta made him Lord General for the final attack. I escaped during the battle, with all the info I could download." she admitted.

Seripa stared at her. "How much?"

"The Royal Archives and clan files, information on PTO forces, patrol routes, all the blueprints available, and the frequency for Code 79." Seripa's eyes brightened.

"That's great news, Gine. Maybe we aren't doomed here, after all." she said, returning her eyes to the ground. "What about your children?"

"I don't know where Raditz is. He's still alive, though. He was off world, and he was in Prince Vegeta's household. He's probably out there with the Prince and Nappa," Gine sighed. "Kakarot, on the other hand, is here on Earth with me. He's off searching for orange orbs with red stars." Suddenly, she recalled something. "Wait, so if you're here, that mean Surai is, too! Where is she?"

"Surai? She's up in Orange Star City, she lives at an orphanage. I wouldn't bother, though," Seripa frowned. "She hit her head when she was young, and lost her memory. Because of me, she knows her real name is Surai, but she doesn't use it. She uses the earthling name 'Micaela.' She's not in any shape to fulfill her obligation."

"Why haven't you been getting her back in shape, then?" Gine demanded.

"I've had... other concerns," she replied. Seripa pointed down at at the ground, where there were a great many bushes near a forest. "What do you see?"

"A bunch of bushes on the edge of the forest."

"Anything else?"

"Come on Seripa, it's not like you to be philosophical. You were always the no-nonsense chick. I guess that comes from being Second Class. I was the idealistic engineer that always needed to be bailed out of trouble. What's going on?"

She shushed Gine and pointed back at the bushes. "Look now!" she whispered. Gine looked down... and saw one of the bushes rustling. The bushes continued to rustle, then stopped. Moments after the rustling stopped, a small head poked up from the bushes. The person climbed out of the bushes, holding a handful of berries. They sat down and began eating them. Gine looked back at Seripa and saw a happy smile on her face. Turning quickly back to the person, she focused on them intensely. Looking carefully, Gine realized that it was a small girl, no more than eleven or twelve at most. She had pitch black hair that went partways down her back, though she couldn't tell the girl's eye colour.

"Seripa, who is that?" Gine asked. Seripa looked at her, the smile not leaving her face for an instant.

"My daughter." she replied.

--R&R--​

His head flew forward into the back of the seat, and Kakarot awoke from his nap. His sleep wasn't haunted by nightmares, and he was actually a bit happy for it. Or at least, he was until this bumpy trip. Their destination was up the river, so Bulma had used a capsule to conjure up a boat. Of course, she had trouble driving, since she could only use her left arm completely. He also had to make sure she changed her bandage every time she took a dip or something, and had just started keeping the 'First Aid Kit,' as she called it, in his gi pocket.

"Hey, Kakarot!" Bulma called. "We're out of gas, could you use your Power Pole to push us to shore there!" She pointed at a small shoreline with a tree on the waterfront. Kakarot nodded and complied, pushing the boat to shore and tying it up. Standing on the shore, Kakarot assisted Bulma in getting out of the boat. "Well, it's nice to be back on solid ground! Five days on a river is quite annoying!" She reached into her pocket, then her face blanched. Uh oh. Bulma suddenly screeched. "My capsules are gone! Damn it, I must have dropped them in the river!"

Kakarot was completely unmoved. "So... we walk." Bulma looked back at him annoyed, then realized he wasn't kidding.

"I'm not accustomed to walking!" Bulma yelled. Despite her protests, the two set off towards the next Dragon Ball. For a while, Bulma walked without complaining... then the grassy plains and forests gave way to a rocky desert with jagged rocks and pillars scattered around. At which point, the complaining went though the roof. Thankfully, Bulma kept walking, and didn't collapse to the ground and start complaining like a spoiled five year old.

After they had walked for several hours, Bulma walked to one of the rocks and sat down in the shade. "I'm gonna rest here for a few minutes," she said, before promptly passing out. Once she was asleep, Kakarot carefully grabbed her right arm and laid it over her chest, to keep her bandage off the ground. He then stood up and walked around the rock and looked out at the vast expanse of land.

"What am I doing?" he asked himself. "I'm supposed to kill everyone on this planet, but here I am helping a female earthling find a bunch of mystical artifacts. I haven't killed anyone since that damned bandit." Kakarot sat down crosslegged and closed his eyes. Maybe if I meditate on it, I can make some sense out of it.

--R&R--​

Standing on a clifftop across the way, Yamcha watched the small boy meditate for several minutes, before smiling and decending to the ground below. This was going to be the easiest job he'd had in years. Uncapsulizing his flying scooter, he hopped on and drove to the boy, his best friend Puar glued to his leg the whole time.

When he got close, he deliberately braked to the side to blow dust in the boy's face. When the dust cleared, a very annoyed child was staring at Yamcha. "Yo," he called to the boy, who simply kept a straight, scowling face.

"Who the hell are you?" the child demanded.

"I'm Yamcha," he replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Money. Capsules. Now." Yamcha turned his scabbard to the boy, hoping to intimidate him.

The boy blinked. "Why?"

Yamcha was dumbstruck at this kid. "Um, I'm robbing you," he explained. The boy's face cleared up, and then he pulled out the pole on his back.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with 'no'. How about you turn around and run back into whatever hole you crawled out of?"

Yamcha grinned. He loved putting the cocky ones in their place. He tossed his scabbard in the air to distract him, then charged, sword bared.

--R&R--​

Kakarot watched Yamcha charge forward, jumping over him at the last minute. He glared down at the bandit, gripping his pole like a bat and swinging it at the side of Yamcha's head. In his panic, Yamcha brought up the sword to block the attack, then swung his one arm back and punched the boy in the stomach. The boy flew back through the air for a few seconds, before twisting himself and landing safely on the ground.

Kakarot took a deep breath, then pointed the end of the pole at Yamcha. "Power Pole, extend!" The pole extended quickly and hit Yamcha in the stomach. The shock caused Yamcha to drop his sword, and Kakarot took advantage of this to send it pinwheeling into the distance with a swing of the Power Pole. Yamcha managed to find his feet again and stand back up facing the boy.

"Kid! Where did you get that pole?" Yamcha asked.

"My Master gave it to me before he died."

Everything clicked into place for Yamcha. "I see. Was his name Son Gohan?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"He was a master of martial arts, on a level that few have ever reached. If you were truly his student, I will consider it an honour to defeat you!" Yamcha got into his stance and pulled back his arm to his breast. He took a deep breath and charged Kakarot.

"Wolf Fang Fist!" he yelled.

"Wolf Fang wha-" Kakarot began, but was interrupted by a kick to the face from Yamcha. This was followed by a combination of punches to his face and a thrust by both of Yamcha's palms, sending Kakarot flying through a bunch of rocks, and burying him under a pile of rubble. Yamcha clapped his hands, revelling in his job well done. He looked down to to his side and picked up the Power Pole, he'd probably be able to sell it for a good price, after all.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The rubble in the distance began shifting quickly, before being blown away by a flash of purple. The boy stepped out from where the rubble was, his face twisted into one of pure rage. "Alright, you ass. I thought this would be an interesting fight, but you know what? All you did was piss me off. So, now, you can die!" A purple glow began to surround him.

Kakarot was totally bluffing, though. He didn't know how to use this attack properly, and it would probably go horribly wrong. But it still was the only thing he could do now. He focused on gathering his ki in around himself as much as he could. Yamcha was just staring at him, looking absolutely shellshocked. He smiled and released some more energy, then everything suddenly went dark.

The moment the boy passed out, the energy around him exploded in all directions, sending out purple beams that cut through the stone like a hot knife through butter. After several close calls, Yamcha was forced to abandon the Power Pole and retreat on his bike. Thankfully, Puar had retrieved his sword in the mean time. I will get him! Yamcha swore.

--R&R--​

When Bulma came to, the landscape had changed. Many of the rocks were now rubble, and... Oh shit, where's Kakarot? She stood up and looked around for her small companion, before spotting him lying on the ground. Bulma raced over to look at him. He was covered in bruises, and had several cuts on his body. She was horrified. Oolong hadn't even put a scratch on him, yet here he was, lying on the ground, looking like he'd just lost a bar fight. What kind of asshole beats up a small child like this... and who would be strong enough to do so to Kakarot of all people?

 

[TC9078]

Excerpt from "Saiyans- Barbarians or simply misunderstood?" by Masukume Mero​

Just like most civilisations in the universe, Saiyans have marriage rites. Ofttimes, people will refer to Saiyans as having 'mates,' but this a misnomer. In the Saiyan language, the word for 'spouse' is the same as the word for an animal's mate, but the word for marriage is a separate and unrelated word from the word for animals mating. They have no separate designation for 'husband' or 'wife,' which unfortunately only feeds the thought that Saiyans are no more than animals.

All non-royal Saiyans, from the high nobility to the lowest street urchin, get the feeling of a need to search for a spouse around the age of nine or ten (in Galactic Standard, around fourteen or fifteen). The Third Class are known to roam around the different settlements and cities around their territory, searching for someone to wed. When they find someone they like, they will often fight with them. A common Saiyan saying roughly translates to 'You cannot truly know someone until you fight them.' It only makes sense for them to wish to fight one they wish to wed in that instance. This has- fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view- led to the joke 'for most, it's love at first sight- for Saiyans, it's love at first fight.' Upon the fight's conclusion, if the two decide that they like each other, then they will leave together to eek out a new existence away from their previous lives.

For Second Class Saiyans, the challenge is much harder. The Second Class is not titled nobility, but they have many of the same privileges. Their privileges rely heavily on them keeping their money and power. If they lose it, all those privileges will go away in an instant. However, in this respect, they are lucky. Second Class Saiyans can marry into the titled nobility with very little, or in some cases no, social stigma. Several current noble families started as Second Class and took over upon the death of a First Class family they were related to. However, even more have had terrible heirs, and with their families being nowhere as large a the titled nobility, the family has lost their privileges and fallen back into the dirt. Marriage is often very simple, registering it with the local authorities.

The First Class, the Nobility and effective Political Class of the Saiyans, have some of the most interesting marriage customs observed anywhere. While the exact peculiarities of each clan differ, they all have the same basic outline. Unlike what is often seen from nobility, arranged marriages aren't the norm. They ofttimes only occur within the direct branch of the family. Within the cadet branches, it is common for a member to choose a spouse, and ask the Clan Chief to bless their marriage. It's a rarity for such a request to be denied.

Once a wedding has been arranged, a site will be agreed upon between the Chiefs of the two clans will decide on a place for the ceremonies to occur. Ofttimes, it will be at the groom's clan's ceremony grounds, but it has been known to happen at the bride's, or even at a neutral place at times. This is, obviously, moot when a member of a Clan marries someone from the second class.

I spent many months as a guest of Clan Onio, well known as the most 'civilized' of the Saiyan clans. In this, I studies many aspects of their culture. In this, I also was given the privilege to observe a wedding of the Chief's eldest son, Onio Nira, to a daughter of Clan Nasu, from courtship to the ceremony itself. After having requested of his father permission to marry, Clan Chief Chaibu went to Clan Chief Subusu to work out the exact arrangement. The marriage of the clan's heir is a very big deal, and as such, the entire clan was brought to the ceremony grounds. Both Chiefs agreed to hold the wedding it on Clan Onio's ceremony grounds. On the day of the wedding, the entirety of both clans arrived at the home of Clan Onio for the ceremony.

The joining of two of the most powerful clans among the Saiyans was a very large event, and many other clans sent representatives to the wedding. On the morning, a huge feast, with food tables spread out across the entire field began. Food from all across the planet was brought for the guests to enjoy. Clan Onio and Clan Nasu both spent fortunes, and used this as an opportunity to show off the power of their clans to their guests. The event was so big, even the Saiyan Crown Prince showed up to the wedding, alongside the Chiefs of Clans Koshō, Yoasobi, Hyōtan, and Daikyō. All of them offered gifts for the families in question.

Around mid-day, a large brawling tournament was held. Clan Onio is famous for having very strict rules for all of their contests. More that a few fighters from Clan Nasu were disqualified for breaking them. Around 2pm, the fighting ended, and the Clan Chiefs, Crown Prince, and the winner of the previous bought all fought each other in a melee. By the time it was done, it was down to Clan Chief Daikyō Mooli and the Crown Prince. The two fought until the sun went down, and there was never a victor in that fight. (That fight has practically gone down in legend amongst the Saiyans, and many attribute it to Clan Daikyō's miraculously fast rise from the lower nobility under the heavy influence of the Onio to being a power player in their own right.)

At sunset, all were called the centre of the ceremony grounds. The Saiyans, being largely agnostic, didn't have a priesthood. Instead, each clan stood on one side of a stone podium, used for precisely these occasions. A pathway was formed by each one, where the Clan Chiefs escorted the bride and groom, respectively, to the centre. The Clan chiefs then exchanged the bride price and dowry, respectively. The bride and groom stood across each other at arms length, and from here, the actual ceremony began.

The two proceeded to put their hands on each other's shoulders and look into each other's eyes. When their fathers stepped off the podium, they lightly kissed each other on the lips. As they kissed, their tails came undone from their wastes and wrapped around each other's. After a moment, the two pulled each other close and wrapped their tails around the other's waste. At this point, the two broke their kiss and lightly kissed the other's neck, directly above the right shoulder and collarbone. I don't know exactly what it does, but this seems to signify the end of the ceremony. No, despite what the horror stories say, it isn't a bite. It's a gentle kiss.

Once the ceremony was over, another round of feasting began. During this ceremony, at least 4 fights broke out due to drunken idiots. Thankfully, there were no deaths. Once that round of feasting was over, the newlyweds retired to bed for the night, and so did everyone else. The next morning was filled with grumpy, hungover Saiyans trying to avoid getting into fights with each other...

I stayed amongst the clan for another year following that, even getting to witness the naming of the couple's first child- their daughter, Gine. I returned here to write this prior to my graduation. I know that as a Tuffle, I shouldn't like or even sympathize with them. But ultimately, they are a race of humans, just like us, and we should try to live with them, not against them.

Editor's note: The irony in this dissertation? This was written in the summer of Age 705. The Saiyans conquered much of the Tuffle's territory in the Sixth Saiyan-Tuffle War, in the winter of that year. Guess he was wrong in thinking the two could co-exist. Granted, it was 25 more years until the Seventh War that ended the Tuffles for good, but they're all gone now, and if they weren't, well the whole planet's gone anyway, so it's not like any could have left.

 

[TC9078]

I was just informed that I will not be able to be on my computer much at all for the next few days, so I will be posting the next chapter today. As always, thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing the story. Next update will be next Saturday.

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It was after dark when Kakarot came to. His head felt terrible, and he was cold. The moon was a shiny halfmoon, illuminating the desert. A few feet to his left, Bulma was sleeping on the ground, using her backpack as a pillow. Kakarot looked around, and saw nothing. No signs of struggle, no charred ground, no roasted husk of Yamcha. He realized that Bulma must have carried him all this way, and since she could only use her left arm... Kakarot suddenly felt himself having more sympathy for the girl than he did even before. With those thoughts in mind, Kakarot sat down crosslegged and put his hands together, closing his eyes to meditate, just as Gohan had taught him.

Kakarot quickly lost track of time, and became lost in his thoughts. The particular one bugging him was his mission. It had always been at the forefront of his mind, he was always acting to try and get it done. Then, when he'd left with Bulma, he'd gotten so much more wrapped up in this. He was almost forgetting his mission at times, enjoying his journey with Bulma, much as he hated to admit it. He tried to tell himself that it didn't matter. He'd use the Dragon Balls to wish for Gohan to come back to life, then they'd settle the score. Gohan was the strongest on the planet, even that bandit has heard of him! If I can kill him, then I'll know I'm strong enough to finish my mission. Then... then what? At that point, I'd have to activate my pod's beacon, but... would Frieza send forces to pick me up, or kill me? Even if I can beat Gohan, I have no chance of going toe-to-toe with Frieza's forces. Damn this stupid planet and its weak gravity!

"Kakarot!" he heard a call in the back of his mind. After a bit of confusion, he figured that it was Bulma calling for him. Resigning himself, Kakarot opened his eyes. Sure enough, Bulma was indeed calling him.

He looked at her neutrally. "Yeah, Bulma?" Bulma took off her jacket and tucked it away in her backpack.

"We need to keep moving," she said. "We need to get to the other side of the desert as fast as we can."

"Glad to see you're finally seeing reason, we are on a journey, after all." Kakarot replied, approvingly. Bulma nodded and put on her cap. The two continued walking onward through the desert, with only a brief stop to get some water and prickly pears from a cactus.

Kakarot was extremely surprised that Yamcha never tried to attack them. He thought he had seen him on a ridge a few times, but he was always gone before he could get a good look. Finally, as the sun went down, the two took cover in a cave. Bulma sat down against one of the walls and put on her jacket.

"If someone had told me before this whole journey I would be walking through the desert with a little kid as my company, I would have tried to have them committed," Bulma stated.

--R&R--​

From atop a nearby mesa, Yamcha observed the cave entrance. While he'd wanted to steal the damned Power Pole, the fact that this kid had a girl with him made him unable to do so. Yamcha liked girls just fine, but he got far too flustered when around a girl his age, it made him unable to fight very well, which would be a death sentence against the likes of that kid, who nearly destroyed Yamcha's hideout when he fell unconscious. I don't even want to think of what kind of damage that might have done had he been fully conscious for that entire thing. Forget my hideout, I would probably be a burnt out husk of meat if I took something like one of those beams head on. Resolving himself, he climbed down from the mesa and snuck close to the cave, only as close as he needed to be to listen to their conversation.

--R&R--​

"So, Kakarot," Bulma asked, "Is there anything you enjoy doing?" Even after travelling together for a week, she knew next to nothing about him, besides that he was the last member of whatever race he was, Earthling or otherwise. Ever since his fight with Oolong, she had accepted that the boy was probably an alien refugee of some kind. She'd probably have to ask Tights to look at her Encyclopedia Galactica books if she wanted to find out what race he belonged to, since him telling her was probably not going to happen. Besides, him being from one of the cool races was incredibly unlikely, one of the outcast races was possible... and him being from a PTO planet was just something that wouldn't happen, those guys never left any survivors unless they were useful.

"I enjoy poetry," he replied. "My grandfather was an aspiring poet, he'd gather poetry from anywhere he could find. His personal study was almost like a small library, filled from ceiling to floor with different poems in more languages than I could imagine." Kakarot sounded almost happy when he talked about it. She wanted to keep him talking like this, him being happy would mean he would answer her questions more easily. Maybe I could catch him off guard... ah hah!

"Did he translate them into Galactic Common, or did he have people do that for him?" she asked.

"Depends on the poem, some of them he translated himself, some he had others translate, others he simply left in their original form because some things get lost in translation," Kakarot replied simply. Then he blinked and looked at Bulma, almost shocked. "Wait, did you just say Galactic Common?"

"Yes," Bulma replied in 'Galactic Common'. "I do speak it, it's one of two languages spoken here on Earth, it's mostly spoken in the North and East." Kakarot went as white as a sheet. He probably realizes what he did. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid. "Are there any from here on Earth that he had?" He didn't answer at first, but after closing his eyes for a second, he opened them again.

"No," he said. "Chikyū, as we called it, wasn't on our radar until very recently." He curled up into a ball, wrapping his tail around his legs. "It's beyond the range of where we typically explored." This planet is well within the territory of the Galactic Federation, how would it- oh.

"You're from one of the planets in the Planet Trade Organisation, aren't you?" she replied, with a sad tinge. Kakarot looked up at her, and with his face one of sadness, he nodded. "That's why you said you're there were more of you... the PTO wiped your race out." She crawled over to the boy, tears had started forming in his eyes. "I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid hurting herself, and he didn't stop her. He simply shook and looked to be trying so hard to not cry.

"Are there any that you like from here on Earth?" she asked with a gentle voice, trying to soothe him. He wrapped his tail around her left arm snugly before replying.

"I like T.S. Elliot's The Hollow Men." he said quietly. Bulma knew that poem, she had been forced to write an essay on it only a few months ago.

"What do you like about it?"

"It just speaks to me. It's definitely the type of thing my grandfather would have kept in a prominent place on his shelves. The way it describes people coming back from war, just mindless husks that look like people. The final line is something I love, for that's how it really is. This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper," Kakarot's voice was starting to cheer up again. "There's also Do not go Gentle into that Good Night. I love it, but it saddens me at the same time, because it reminds me of my father, who led our race's last stand."

Bulma understood, even if she couldn't fathom the emotions. His father had likely led a final defense at all cost of their race when the PTO had come for it, for resources or something, like they always do. He probably fought valiantly, then went out in a blaze of glory as he was overwhelmed. "Kakarot..." Bulma thought about what she was going to say for several moments, but in the end, she came to a decision. "When we gather the Dragon Balls, we can wish to bring your race back!"

The boy's head jerked up to look at him, a look of shock completely replacing the melancholy. "Wh-Why?!"

"Letting you have your race back is a far more important idea than a lifetime supply of strawberries." Bulma replied. Kakarot frowned.

"It won't work. We'd need more than one wish," he explained. "It's not just my race that was wiped out. They destroyed my entire planet. All that's there now is a huge asteroid field. We could bring the planet back, but then we'd need to gather them again and wish my race back." Bulma's heart sank. This poor kid had lost his race and his planet. No wonder he was so down, he had no home to return to, at all, except that little shrine in the mountains.

"There have to be some survivors, at least!" Bulma said turning to him. "Once we use the Dragon Balls, we can go to space and look for survivors of your race! I'm pretty sure I saw a woman with a tail at a space station once, so there's at least one." Kakarot gave her a questioning look. "My sister is friends with a member of the Galactic Patrol, she sometimes helps him and she's dragged me along more than once."

"It's fine, Bulma, really," he said. "I've long since accepted their deaths." Kakarot said nothing more and laid down. Before Bulma could really register anything, the boy was asleep. Bulma decided that it was the best idea to follow suit and laid down on her backpack, soon losing herself to the bliss of sleep.

The next morning, Bulma was the first one up. Kakarot was still asleep, and the sun was peaking from just over the horizon. She walked to the entrance of the cave and looked down... to see a capsule with a note tied around it. She withdrew the note and read it:

For you, with apologies to the boy.​

The note was probably from the bandit that had tried to beat up Kakarot... Oh no, did he hear us talking last night? That wouldn't be good... but what's in the capsule? Bulma ran back into the cave and woke up Kakarot. Thankfully, the boy woke up quickly. She explained the note and the capsule to him, and he seemed to understand, if embarrassed that someone had overheard him. Bulma turned and threw the capsule through the air and with a pop, a red car appeared. She quickly climbed in to find that the keys were already in it. After managing to drag Kakarot into it, Bulma turned the ignition to start the car, and drove off in the direction of the next Dragon Ball, unable to believe her good luck.

--R&R--​

Yamcha sat in his own car, watching the the duo drive off. He smiled as he activated the tracker on their car. Once they were safely out of sight, he began following them, making sure to keep out of viewing distance. He would follow them until they got their wish, then he would steal it right out from under them. There was absolutely no way this could possibly go wrong, right?

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

The desert finally started to clear away. There were no more major rock formations, more trees began to appear, and as they drove on, the ground shifted from sand to dry grass. It had been nearly 5 days since they got the car, and only now was the gas starting to run low. Soon after reaching the dried grass, Bulma found a dirt road that led in the direction they were trying to go. This is probably the Desert Road that was constructed… the Paozu region has been in anarchy for a decade, since the Ox Kingdom withdrew their troops from the region to deal with civil conflict at home. Hopefully here, we won't encounter any bandits. The sky was a pleasant orange, and the sun was coming up on the right. Bulma tapped Kakarot's shoulder to wake him up, as had become common practice for the pair. She'd be up early and drive for a time, then wake the boy up once they were moving at a decent enough speed. The boy's eyes opened groggily and he yawned and stretched in his seat.

"You found the road?" he asked. Bulma nodded in response. She handed him the map of the region from her guidebook.

"So, we're going to Frypan Mountain?" Kakarot asked.

"Yep. It's guarded by the Ox King, though, so we need to be careful. We are still in his Kingdom, after all," Bulma cautioned.

"What's your grand plan if we get caught, then?"

"Simple. I stall for time, you grab the ball, and then you blow everything up and we run for it."

Kakarot glared at her. "By 'blow everything up,' do you mean 'try to form a blast and use so much energy that you fall unconscious and it scatters in all directions'?"

"If that's what you did against Yamcha, then yes." Bulma replied. Kakarot seemed to be about to reply, but this was interupted when they reached the top of a hill, and saw a huge mountain on fire.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Kakarot said, in awe.

-R&R-​

At the same time, Yamcha's tracker suddenly stopped moving. I see. They're really serious about going to Frypan Mountain. "The Sixth Dragon Ball seems to be in the Ox King's Castle," he said.

"But Yamcha, they'll never be able to get it. Between the fire and the Ox King, we might as well just turn around and go home," Puar insisted.

"Hmm... actually, the Kakarot boy might be able to convince the Ox King to hand it over to him. Both the Ox King and Son Gohan were students of the Turtle Hermit, and Kakarot has Son Gohan's Power Pole, proof of their training together. It may be prudent to head up that way, it shouldn't take us all that l-" he began, but was interrupted by a shrill scream.

Yamcha turned to see a young girl in a turquoise gi and a pink obi, gloves, and boots, running away from a dinosaur. Well, this is still the boonies. That girl probably does that all the time. Suddenly, the girl tripped on a rock and faceplanted. The dinosaur caught up and bit into the ground at the girls location, swallowing whole.

Yamcha was stunned into silence. Did he really just watch a little kid get eaten by a dinosaur and do nothing? He was a bandit, and really shouldn't care, but this seemed just... a bridge too far for him. Suddenly, the dinosaur started to whimper. A bright white beam shot out of its head, expanding in size steadily, until the dinosaur fell over, dead. Out of the cauterized wound, the little girl stumbled. She looked around, before running again... right to him. Upon seeing him, she stopped.

"Err-um... hi there," Yamcha said, stuttering. The girl screamed and threw her right hand forward. From her palm a blue beam shot out at Yamcha. He jumped over it, using his momentum to jump the girl and whack her over the head. She immediately fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Well, that was weird," he commented. "Come on, Puar. We should probably head to Frypan Mountain."

"So, Yamcha," Puar said, "Why didn't you get all flustered around her?"

"Really, Puar? I'm not a lolicon, I'd think you'd have more faith in me than that!" Yamcha admonished, starting their car. They drove off up the road towards Frypan.

-R&R-​

Crossing her arms, Gine looked pointedly at Seripa as they sat in a tall tree together. "Okay, since I haven't gotten a chance to ask you this yet, how did you survive?!" she demanded.

Seripa leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. "I hopped in a pod and flew off once I got Surai from Chief Genmai."

"But... Bardock told me you died on Planet Meat. But here I find you with a little girl on Earth, one that is most assuredly not Surai. Is she-"

"The father is an Earthling. And I was never on Planet Meat. I went with Bardock to Kanassa, then he followed the rest of the squad to Meat, I stayed on Vegeta."

"But... why?"

"I was in the healing chamber. A Kanassan got the drop on Bardock and me during the attack. Honestly, you couldn't have helped even if you had been there. The creature hit Bardock in the neck, then spun through the air and hit me too when I tried to help Bardock. Toma got the creature, but the damage was done," Seripa sighed. "Bardock said something about being able to see the future after that, I never got that. The closest to it is that my daughter claimed she had a dream where I was killed by a tank."

"That would be outright disgraceful. A member of Bardock's Elite Squadron, felled by a simple gunpowder explosive? You'd be laughed out of Hell," Gine giggled.

-R&R-​

She hated when this happened. The dreams always started at the worst times. First the numbness, then the visions. Sure, it had decreased in frequency over the last few years, but it still sucked.

She was standing on a planet that looked a lot like Earth, but the sky was a different shade of blue, and there were planets all over the horizon. Looking down at the ground below the plateau she stood upon, there were two figures. One was a small boy in an orange gi with a brown tail wrapped around his waist, his rigid white-blond hair spiked up, and his green eyes seemed filled with anger. His opponent was a pink creature with red eyes, with skin that reminded her of bubblegum, who had its arms raised like it was flexing a muscle.

The pink thing suddenly jumped into the air and dove back down to swing at the boy, creating a giant flash of light, and shaking the entire world. The plateau she was one was pushed upwards, turning it into more of a mountain than a plateau... then again, a plateau was still a plateau, no matter the height. When the light cleared, the two flew in opposite directions from having punched each other.

The creature raised his hands to the sky and a glowing pink ball formed between them and expanded in size. The gold boy charged the creature as it threw the ball. The ball of energy engulfed him, and she thought the fight was over. Suddenly, the boy jumped out of the ball, throwing it behind him and into the air. Ten seconds later, it came back down as a beam, crashing into the ground.

The sky began to redden from the energy... and suddenly, everything went dark. She knew the dream was over. Which was truly a shame, as she was enjoying it.

-R&R-​

Appoaching the mountain, Bulma drove them into a desecrated ruin of a town. To Kakarot, it looked like it had been a prosperous town once, but everyone had either fled or died. Notes for later, attack the towns and cities last, keeps them in an area I can find them. "Kami," Bulma muttered, "it's so hot. Even hotter than the desert!"

Kakarot picked up a stick and tapped a skeleton's head in boredom. "So," he began, "how do you suggest we get the Dragon Ball?"

"Take your Power Pole and launch yourself over the flames into the castle," Bulma said.

"That sounds like a terrible idea that could very easily backfire."

"I mean, yeah, but do you have any better ideas?"

Kakarot thought about it. No, no he did not. "I better not regret this," he said in resignation. He pointed the pole behind him. "Power Pole, extend!" he called. He rode the pole into the air and over the flames.

He was only flying for a moment before he realized that this was an awful idea. The flames licked his clothing and set parts of it alight, while also burning him... and his tail. He quickly threw the pole in front of him... or at least he hoped he was. "Power Pole, extend!" he called desperately. He flew back through the air and over the nearby hills, landing in a lake. As he hit the water, everything went black.

-R&R-​

"K-Kakarot..." Bulma muttered. She had seen the figure fly into the flame and a scream, but nothing more. She began to tremble. She might have just sent the poor boy, one of the last survivors of his race, to his death. Suddenly, an axe impaled itself next to her in the rubble. WHY THE FUCK IS IT ALWAYS AN AXE?! Bulma could at least get solace in the fact that he didn't almost lose a limb this time.

She slowly turned around, and standing before her was a giant of a man. Three metres high, thick, muscular arms like tree trunks, a red cape and a golden helmet. The Ox King had come for her.

"What do you think you're doin' here?!" he demanded.

"J-Just passing through!" Bulma stuttered.

"Are you sure? Because you look a lot like those people who come to steal the treasure from my castle! You're not here to steal them, right?!"

"N-No, we weren't- I mean, I wasn't!"

"Whose we?"

"No one, I swear!"

"You know, I have to put up with liars all day, part of being a King. I. Hate. Liars."

Bulma trembled in fear, wondering why she had sent her main source of defence away. She was really dumb sometimes.

-R&R-​

Kakarot opened his eyes to find himself floating on the surface of a small lake. His gi was mostly burnt off on the right, and he had several superficial burns on his body... but surprisingly, nothing too bad. It would all heal quickly, so he was in good shape. Well, except for his singed tail, that would take a few days to heal.

"K-Kakarot!" a scream came from afar. Well, great. She got caught, what a surprise.

"Power Pole! Extend!" he snapped. The pole pushed him into the air, allowing him to vault back to the town. He dove through the air, landing on the ground right next to Bulma. He glared at the teenager. "Yes, use your Power Pole to launch yourself through the hellfire, I'm sure that'll go well!"

"Yeah... you're right. I'm so sorry, I almost got you killed," she said solemnly. Kakarot relaxed slightly; at least she apologized.

"Just... make sure to plan out your strategies better. Hopefully not getting me killed in the process," he said. Kakarot then turned his eyes to focus on the Ox King. "So... can I have your Dragon Ball?"

The Ox King just tilted his head to the side. "I won't be giving anything to treasure hunters!" He bared his axe and swung it down. Kakarot sighed and bounced backwards, out of the way of the swing. He dodged an onslaught of attacks by the Ox King, each one barely avoiding hitting him, some more than others.

Then, the Ox King swung straight down. With his axe in the ground, Kakarot jumped on his arm and ran up to his head, bringing the Power Pole down upon the big man's neck. It didn't even phase him. "Gah! What are you made of, pure metal?!" The Ox King simply grinned, releasing his axe... and grabbing Kakarot's tail. The pain caused Kakarot to drop the Power Pole and go completely limp. Well... errors have been made. The Ox King threw Kakarot as hard as he could into a ruined house.

The boy popped out of the newly created rubble and glared at the big man. "Oi! How did you know about my tail?!" The Ox King crossed his arms.

"If you honestly think that you're the only one of your kind to have come here," the Ox King replied, "think again." Kakarot's face changed from anger to one of deliberation.

"Wait, do you know Surai?" he asked the big guy.

The Ox King shook his head. "No. I've never met her, I have heard about her, though." He reached down and picked up the Power Pole. "This... this is the Power Pole, is it not?"

Kakarot nodded. "Yeah, my Master gave it to me."

"Was your Master named Son Gohan?"

"Yes, he was... why?"

-R&R-​

A long winded explanation later, Kakarot sighed loudly. "So, let me get this straight. You and Master Gohan were students of the Turtle Hermit."

"Correct."

"He gave you each a Dragon Ball, and gave Master Gohan the Power Pole."

"Yeahuh."

"And you want me to go and find him so you can use a mystical relic of his to put out the fire around your castle."

"Yes."

"Wonderful. So, what do I get out of this?"

"You get my Dragon Ball."

Kakarot thought on this, before finally coming to a conclusion. "Fine. I'll help you out. Any clues as to how I get back across the desert quickly?"

The Ox King scratched his chin before replying, "Gohan used to use that stick to vault around quickly. Since Master Roshi had his flying cloud, that was the only way that we could find to keep up with him."

"So, you want me to Pole Vault halfway across the continent on a wild goose chase. And then after that I have to find my way back," Kakarot muttered. "Is there anything else you want from me?!"

"Um... I sent my daughter Chi-Chi out a few days ago, since my wife met up with an old friend a few days ago and decided to go and have some 'girl time'. If you find her, I would appreciate it if you brought her back safely," Ox King said.

Kakarot sighed again. "And what does she look like?" The Ox King reached into a pocket and produced a picture of a girl with pitch black hair that went halfway down her body, onyx eyes, and dressed in a dark green gi, with pink gloves and boots, and a pink obi to finish it off.

Bulma peeked her head over Kakarot's shoulder. "Oh wow," she said, "she's a cutie!" Kakarot, despite his confusion about the colours not matching, found himself unable to look away from the picture. There was just something... odd... about this girl, he couldn't quite figure out what it was. At least not from the picture. To prevent himself from sending the wrong picture, he quickly pointed the Power Pole at the ground and extended it, vaulting him into the air towards the East.

-R&R-​

The moment Yamcha saw the picture of the girl, he had run back to his car as fast as he could and sped off. I am dead meat if that girl isn't okay! The Ox King would have me flayed alive above hot coals... not to mention what his wife would do, that woman has even more horror stories surrounding her! Thankfully, he arrived and found the girl unconscious, right where he'd left her. Yamcha quickly dismounted and picked her up into his arms and gently shook her.

"Hey... hey wake up," he said softly. Sure enough, she soon stirred, opening her eyes lightly. Well, at least I didn't kill her. That would have been a difficult one to get out of. Unfortunately for Yamcha, the moment she saw him, she kicked him in the face and backflipped about 10 feet away from him. "Hey! Don't shoot Chi-Chi! I'm not a bad guy!"

"That's exactly what the last guy said, and all he wanted was my body, as a tool for taking the throne! I'm not falling for it this time!" her hands began to glow again. Yamcha panicked and tried to charge her again, hoping that, by a stroke of good fortune, he could just defeat her and get her to listen. Unfortunately, fortune just happened to fall from the sky in this instance.

-R&R-​

Gine stretched her arms out to her sides. "So, how did you become seperated from Surai?" she asked.

Seripa looked down, embarrassed. "I chose a space pod that was a bit screwed up, and when he hit the atmosphere, it went all haywire, Surai fell out of the pod and I was thrown from the pod at full speed. I must have continued flying in the pod quite a while, since Orange Star, where Surai is, is on the other side of the Kingdom."

"So, because you picked a faulty space pod, your mission is screwed eight ways from sunday?"

"Pretty much. I woke up here badly injured, and a man took care of me until I recovered."

"I'm guessing he's the father of your daughter?"

"Your guess is not inaccurate."

"So is that why you're wearing Earthling clothes? It took me a moment to even realize you still had your tail, since you put it through those loops in the trousers."

"They're for belts. Since Earthlings don't have tales, they use leather strips to hold their pants up when then are too loose."

"Well, they obviously never figured out elastic."

"They did... they just started selling it a few years ago."

"Ouch. This place really is a backwater."

"It's not too bad."

"It's not, it's just that the people here have to play catchup. I mean, I've seen exactly one Earthling that can use his ki and none that can fly."

"Members of the Crane School of Martial Arts can fly."

"Is it efficient?"

"No, I've seen street children on Vegeta fly better on their first attempt."

"...that's just sad."

"I know." The two just stared at each other. Gine tried to change the subject.

"So... wanna spar?"

"Sure, just not too much or my mate's going to get a ton of complaints lobbed his way."

"Wait, what did you say your mate's job was, again?"

-R&R-​

Kakarot was following his instructions, and pole vaulting his way east until he got back to the Mount Paozu area. As he moved along, he heard yelling in the distance, and looked down to see two figures. Huh, I wonder what they're arguing about. As Kakarot paid attention to the figures below, he stopped paying attention to where he was placing his pole... and it collapsed under a loose collection of rocks. Just as fast as he had been going, the boy plummetted toward the ground, and the two figures.

Just in time to pass right in front of Yamcha's Wolf Fang whatever, and a punch to the head sent him into the other figure and across the ground. Kakarot's head was swimming, but he managed to open his eyes... to find himself entangled with a person about his size in a dark green gi. His arm was stuck under their's, and their legs were tanged around his right leg. Kakarot looked up to see a blushing face looked at back at him. Onyx eyes, black hair, green gi. "Hi there," he said carefully. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come crashing into you. Some jackass bandit with a mean punch hit me." He carefully pulled himself off of her and helped her up. "You're Chi-Chi, right?"

"Yes," she replied, still blushing.

"Great. Your dad sent me looking for you, you're going to get the Banshee Fan, right? I was supposed to find the fan and grab you if I could."

"Banshō Fan... and since you know that... I guess you're the real deal, aren't you?"

"Indeed." Kakarot turned his head to face Yamcha. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business." He cracked his knuckles and looked at Yamcha. He got into his pose and waited. And waited. And waited. Yamcha still didn't move. Sighing, Kakarot instead charged him. Their fists met with a boom. Kakarot followed up with an uppercut, which Yamcha swiftly dodged. As Kakarot's face passed near Yamcha's, Kakarot simply smiled, and wrapped his tail around Yamcha's arm. As the bandit was trying to figure out what exactly his tail was, Kakarot pulled himself in and kicked Yamcha as hard as he could in the face, sending him flying backwards.

The bandit felt his mouth, and his cat turned into a mirror to show him something. Wait, his cat can change form? Yamcha's face turned to one of shock, and he screamed, "No! My tooth! You've ruined my perfect face!" He quickly hopped in his car. "This isn't over kid! I'll get you! Eventually!" And with that he sped off.

Kakarot turned around and walked back to where Chi-Chi had watched the brief fight.

"You have a tail," she said shocked.

"Oh gee, I hadn't noticed," Kakarot deadpanned.

"No... it's just that-" Chi-Chi began, but then stopped. She sighed, and loosened her obi slightly. Something curled out from around her waist. Kakarot's face blanched. It was a tail, just like his.

"S-S-" he began, but was interrupted.

"No, I'm not Surai!" she snapped quickly. "My name is Chi-Chi. I'm the Princess of the Ox Kingdom... and a Second-Class Saiyan half-breed."

The colour still hadn't returned to the boy's face. He was just staring, shocked at the girl. She-She-She-She... He focused, trying to come back to his senses. "I'm Daikyō Kakarot, the second son of Clan Chief Daikyō Bardock, Planet Earth's primary infiltration baby. I didn't realize anymore of our kind had come here."

"They didn't really. There's my mother and Surai. I don't care for that apparant part of me. I grew up as an Earthling, and that's what I am." She walked over and picked up the Power Pole from where it lay. "Can we go?" she asked, wrapping her tail back up and covering it with her obi. Kakarot limply nodded and grabbed the pole from her.

"Since I'm real nice, you can hold onto my back while I vault. Should make the gathering weight part easier, anyway." Chi-Chi nodded. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tightly. Kakarot took a deep breath. Just my luck. A random girl who I bump into happens to be a half-breed. The universe really must not like me... and she even fights well! Why, why must you do this to me! "Power Pole!" Kakarot called. "Extend." The pole shot the pair into the air, giving Kakarot plenty of momentum to fling himself again, and Chi-Chi's extra weight didn't hinder or help him, really. He supposed they balanced out. What bothered him the most was that he didn't really mind her pressed against him. He really should've been telling her to not hold on so tight, but he didn't want to. The fact that he didn't was the part bothering him.

-R&R-​

Gine didn't know what to think about what Seripa had told her. "Your mate is King of most of the southern part of the continent? And you are his Queen under an alias?"

Seripa nodded. "Yep. My official name is Selypa Parsnips, the Queen of the Ox Kingdom. And of course, mother of the heir to the throne, Princess Chi-Chi."

Gine cut her hand through the air. "I still find it ridiculously convenient that you somehow landed in a place where a King would find you and you fell in love with him. And you gave him a half-breed heir."

Seripa frowned, "When you call her a half-breed, it sounds like you're insulting her."

"Sorry, I don't know what else to call her though," Gine sighed. "I am surprised that you two only have a daughter, though."

Seripa adopted a sullen face. "It's not by choice. If we could, we'd have a family that made Bardock's seem small." Now that was a bold statement. Bardock had four older brothers and five younger brothers. All but him and the youngest had died in the Seventh Saiyan-Tuffle War, however.

"But," Seripa continued, "giving birth to Chi-Chi took a lot out of me. I don't know why, but I haven't been able to have a child since." Her face actually looked sad now. "Maybe it was the fact that the Earthlings have shorter gestational periods, she was larger than a normal baby."

Gine's heart sank. "I'm sorry for-"

"No, it's fine." Seripa quickly interrupted. "It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. It's not like I can just bury the past like some people said."

Gine nodded in solidarity. "They're wrong, I've learned, in what they say about the past. About how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out." She shook her head. "I can barely even look at my son without being reminded of my mate. It's started to fade, but it's still there."

"Don't worry, Geen," she said, using her old nickname. "You'll be just fine."

"I hope so, Sera," she replied. "I hope so."

-R&R-​

After several hours of continuous pole vaulting, Kakarot finally arrived at the sea and hung just above the waterline. "Well, isn't this just great." Kakarot complained. "We're here in the middle of the sea, and no sign of the Turtle Hermit."

"Can't we ask for directions, Kakarot?" Chi-Chi asked quietly.

"Who are we going to ask out here?" he asked in reply. Chi-Chi pointed down at the water where a dolphin was looking up at them. "Huh, good eye," he said to Chi-Chi. "Where's Master Roshi?" he asked the dolphin.

"Oh, Master Roshi? He's over there!" the dolphin said, pointing with his fin.

"Thank you. When I cleanse this planet, you will be spared," he replied.

"Wait, you'll destroy the planet?" Dolphin replied.

"Um, yeah I just said that. Is that a problem?"

"No, not really. Well, when you do so, could you give the humans a message for me?"

"Sure, what?"

The dolphin lifted its fin as if it were waving. "So long, and thanks for all the fish!" Kakarot nodded, before leaning back and continuing to vault along.

"I've never seen a fish like that before." Chi-Chi noted.

"By the way it was above the water, I think it was a mammal, actually." Kakarot corrected. The two continued on for another 15 minutes, before they spotted a small island. As they got closer, Kakarot spotted a small house and a few palm trees on its sand beaches, but the house took up the vast majority of the island's land area.

"Ah! That must be it, Kakarot!" Chi-Chi cheered, pointing at it.

"No, really? I couldn't tell. Whatever gave you that impression." Kakarot asked sardonically.

"Well, amazingly enough, it does say 'Kame House' in big red letters on the side," she snarked back. Wow, nice one. Maybe this one isn't completely hopeless.

Kakarot used one last fling and landed safely on the shore of the island. Chi-Chi let go and stumbled around for second before finding her footing. Why does she not use her tail to balance herself like any normal Saiyan? He turned his attention to the person who had just walked in front of him.

"Well, now. If it isn't the little boy I gave my Dragon Ball to. What brings you here?" Roshi asked.

"Wait... this is the great Master Roshi?" Chi-Chi asked.

"I know, right? I was surprised to find out that he was so great, too. He just looks like an old geezer," Kakarot said.

"You know kid, you might want to be a bit nicer," Roshi muttered. "I see you've done just fine without my flying cloud." Kakarot just stared at him. The silence was thick enough that a butcher's knife would shatter against it. "So, what happened to the girl there? Last I saw her she was taller, had nicer hair, and actually had breasts."

Kakarot just sighed. "That was Bulma. This is Chi-Chi. Now, I've had a very long day and I've been flinging myself around with the Power Pole for several hours, I'm not in the mood for any games."

In the background, Chi-Chi muttered, "I'll have them when I grow up, pervert."

"Listen, Chi-Chi here is the Ox King's daughter. He sent me here in the hopes that you could put out the fire on his mountain," Kakarot explained.

"The Ox King, eh? I haven't heard from him in a very long time. Unlike Gohan he never kept in much contact with me. I always tried to explain-"

-R&R-​

As Roshi went off on his rant, Chi-Chi tapped Kakarot's tail with her index finger, knowing it would get his attention.

"What?" he asked.

Chi-Chi shushed him, then whispered, "Are you sure this is really Roshi?"

"Who else could it be? I doubt anyone else would just have a defective cloud floating around," Kakarot replied. I guess he has a point there. "Alright! Enough, we get it, The Ox King never writes. Now can we please explain why we're here?" I still don't believe it's him... I'll give him a little test. Chi-Chi reached into her gi and pulled out a kunai from a hidden pocket. If he can dodge this, then I'll believe it's Roshi. She threw the kunai as hard as she could. Roshi stood stock still before quickly bringing up his staff to block it. Unfortunately, being made of wood, the kunai passed right through it and embedded itself in the man's skull.

"Oh dear..." Turtle, who had been observing the whole thing, said. Kakarot's face was first one of shock, then he burst out laughing. He kept laughing until he fell over, and even then he was still laughing. Eventually, the laughter brought tears to his eyes, and he was forced to stop, but he still kept making giggling noises at the poor man's suffering.

Eventually, Roshi pulled himself back to his feet, but the boy was still cackling like the Mad Hatter. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up kid."

"I-I'm totally not sorry," Kakarot said, trying to catch his breath, "but how did an old geezer like you survive that?"

"You little runt! I'll have you know I'm one of the strongest people in the world!" Roshi yelled. He grabbed the kunai and yanked it out with ease. Okay, I guess he is Roshi. Suddenly, a very wicked smile came across Roshi's lips. "Hey, little girl. How would you like a gift in exchange for coming all this way to see your father's old teacher?" Chi-Chi perked up. I swear, if it's another one of those crappy courtship gifts, I'll throw the kunai again, this time for his throat. I'm sure Kakarot would enjoy watching his blood splat- wait, where did that come from? I don't want to kill him!

"What kind of gift?" she replied, holding her voice steady. The old man looked over at Kakarot and smiled even brighter.

"Oh, you'll see," the mirth was evident in Roshi's voice. He turned out to the water and pointed the remains of his staff outwards. "Come to me, Flying Nimbus!" There was a pregnant silence as the wind blew across the island.

"I see your theatrics skills haven't improved much, either," Kakarot remarked. In the distance a yellow cloud moved through the sky. "Just a friendly word of advice, you might want to try stretching 'Niiiiiiiiiiiiimbuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus'. Then, by the time you finish, the cloud might actually be moving."

The cloud circled the island and arrived in front of them. "This is the Flying Nimbus. If you sit on her, you can fly around anywhere," Roshi introduced. "If you can ride on her, she's all yours." Chi-Chi looked at it in askance. This looks more like a giant piece of cotton candy. Yum, Cotton Candy, I'd love some of that right now! She shook her head and bounced into the air, landing firmly on the cloud.

"Huh?" she asked out loud. Suddenly, she realized that she had done it. She bounced up in the air. "Yay! I got it! I got a free cloud!"

"Interesting, so I guess it does work," Kakarot muttered. Chi-Chi laughed and pointed to the sky.

"Soar!" she called. And the Flying Nimbus did just that, flying through the air and doing sommersaults.

-R&R-​

"Alright, kid," Roshi said. "What are you actually here for?"

Kakarot shrugged nonchalantly. "I already told you, the Ox King sent us here hoping that you'd have a way to put out the fire on Frypan Mountain. He told us to ask you for the Banshee- sorry, Banshō- Fan."

Roshi sighed. "Well, the Banshō Fan would certainly do the job. I just worry it's too dangerous for you kids to use."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"It's very powerful. One swing and it gets very windy. Two and it'll start a thunderstorm. Three will literally cause a typhoon to form around you. I've never tried four, but I imagine it wouldn't turn out very well."

That was fine with Kakarot, he didn't plan on swinging it more than twice. Swinging it alot could easily complete his mission... but where was the fun in that? He wanted to experience the thrill of the fight as he went about his mission.

Kakarot sighed. "That's fine, I was only going to swing it twice at most." He looked up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey! Chi-Chi!" he called. The yellow cloud did one more circle around the isle and came to a stop right next to them.

"This cloud is amazing!" she cheered. Kakarot shook his head and laughed a bit. This girl was incorrigible.

"I'm sure it is. Turtle guy said we could borrow the fan," Kakarot said. Chi-Chi pumped her arms in the air and flew the nimbus around in short circles.

"Hurray!" she cheered, "we can finally put out the fire and go home!" Kakarot smiled and looked at the hermit. Your move, old man. You can either agree with me and I get what I want, or you deny me and break the poor girl's heart. In the end, the old man sighed and shook his head, going inside.

-R&R-​

After waiting for some time, Master Roshi had still not found the Banshō fan, even after ransacking his house.

"Turtle!" he called. "Where did I leave the Banshō Fan?"

"You were using it as a placemat, you stored the aloe vera plants on it." Turtle replied.

Roshi's head fell. "Oh dear," he said, "that was the Banshō Fan? I spilled some wine on it and threw it out."

Kakarot sighed. Chi-Chi felt herself wanting to cry. If the Banshō Fan was gone, that meant she could never go home. And Kakarot wouldn't get his artifact... no one would be happy with that result. "Are you absolutely sure you're the Turtle Hermit?" Kakarot piped up.

"Of course I am! Who do you take me for?!" Roshi yelled.

"It's just that Master Gohan was far less forgetful, and he was really old!" Kakarot explained.

"I- you know I can't... really argue with that one. You could still be nicer about it, though," Roshi said. Yeah... Master Roshi's right, he really could use some lessons in being nice. Oh well, he's still young. He has time to learn before he gets thrust into the spotlight. If he wasn't so rude he'd be dreamy. "Alrighty, then!" Roshi declared. "If the Banshō Fan is nowhere to be found, I'll just go and put out the fire myself!" Roshi then turned and went deeper into his house. How will he put out the fire on his own?

The Turtle Hermit was gone for around ten minutes, before stepping out, dressed in a fine orange shirt and dark pants.

"Was the change of clothes really necessary?" Kakarot asked.

"Of course! I gotta look sharp for such an occasion," Roshi replied. Kakarot sighed and looked up at Chi-Chi.

"Um... Chi-Chi." He looked almost nervous as he spoke. "Since I gave you a ride here... could I... could you... give me a ride back on the Flying Nimbus? My arms kinda hurt." Chi-Chi's heart skipped a beat for a second. Had this boy really just asked her for something... and so politely?

"Um... sure," she replied. She reached down and held open her hand. Kakarot hesitated, then took it and climbed onto the cloud. To Chi-Chi's surprise, as he held onto her, the cloud accepted him. Or at least, he didn't fall through it. Chi-Chi looked down at the Turtle Hermit. "Master Roshi! Would you like a ride?"

Roshi smiled back. "No thanks, kid. I've got my own." He pointed his new staff to the air. "Come to me, Baby Gamera!" Out of the sky, a large rock-like shell spun down and landed at Roshi's feet. Out of the shell, appeared a turtle-thing. Oh, so it is literally a baby Gamera. "I need you to spin me over to Frypan Mountain. You know where that is?"

"Of course I do," Baby Gamera replied.

"I'll meet you two there!" Roshi called. Baby Gamera began spinning rapidly and flying through the air. Chi-Chi willed the cloud forward and they sped off across the ocean.

-R&R-​

Bulma dug through the rubble of the village by the Ox King's Castle, hoping to find a capsule, or at least something interesting. After some digging, all she managed to find was an old accoustic guitar, of the such that her 'friends' back at high school would play. If she could even call them friends. She was only going back to school for senior year out of boredom. If I'd known then that I would enjoy this trip so much, I might have just graduated, taken the diploma, and come out here. She didn't have any friends, she had people who tried to get close to her for her money. Being the child of the richest man in the world was both a blessing and a curse. Sure, she could get whatever she wanted, but no one liked for her being her. They liked her for her money. She could guarantee, if she ever lost that money, all her so-called 'friends' would vanish faster than antimatter in open air. After sifting through and finding nothing of note, she resigned herself, picked up the guitar, and walked back over to the Ox King.

"Anything you like?" she offered, unable to think of anything better to say. The Ox King looked down at the guitar and nodded.

"Het Geluid van Stilte. Know of it?" Ox King asked. Bulma nodded. She did know the song. Why he knew the name of it in a long dead language she could only guess. Bulma sighed and sat down on the rock behind her. Guess those music classes will give me something. Entertaining a King was definitely not where she saw herself in the future. She wasn't a princess, what kind of royalty would have any interest in her?

After tuning the strings, the began the classic strum. "English version, right?" The King nodded. She watched her fingers carefully and took a deep breath.

"Hello Darkness, my old friend.
I've come to talk with you again."

-R&R-​

Yamcha had been nearly asleep when he heard the guitar. After nearly losing a tooth to the crazy monkey boy, he decided that maybe sneaking and spying wasn't so bad after all, and hid in the outskirts of the ruined village outside Frypan Mountain. The monkey boy would inevitably return here, so he could continue following them without risking an actual beating, rather than just a lost tooth and a tactical retreat.

Suddenly, he heard a guitar behind strummed. He peaked up over the rubble, and saw Bulma sitting on a rock, plucking a guitar with her fingers, and singing. She looked like an angel, singing with the fire behind her, her purple hair resting on her shoulders as she did so. Yamcha found himself unable to look away, nor wanting to. He'd seen the girl with the monkey boy often, but never up close like this, by herself. Well, not counting the massive King sitting in front of her.

"And the sign said 'The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
and tenement halls.'
and whispered in the sounds... of silence."

She finished the song on the guitar before taking a deep breath. As the song finished, Yamcha heard the sound of something rushing through the air. He quickly ducked back into cover as he saw a yellow cloud fly over his head and come to a stop in front of the Ox King.

-R&R-​

"To answer your question, girl," Ox King said, "I have some old literature from when that language was spoken, so I used it for fun." Bulma reeled back. "I can tell, girl. Everyone gets that look when I say things like that."

"PAPA!" a voice called, as a yellow cloud flew past and stopped in front of the Ox King's face. "Look! Master Roshi gave me his Flying Nimbus!" Bulma stood and looked closer at the voice. It was a small girl with pitch black hair, dressed in a dark green gi with a pink obi, gloves, and boots. Kakarot was holding onto the girl with his eyes shut. Wait, how is he riding on the cloud? "Kakarot!" the girl called, "You can let go now!" Kakarot opened his eyes, looked around briefly nodded, and did so. The moment he did, he fell right through the cloud and landed on the ground, on his feet.

Bulma giggled. "Kakarot, I thought you were a monkey boy, not a cat." The boy's eyes twitched as she said that. The girl on the cloud looked down at her. Oh, that must be Chi-Chi, the Ox King's daughter.

"Don't say that, 'monkey' is a derogatory term for people of his race. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but just keep it in mind," she said. Wait, how come he told her that? He never told me that, even when he was talking before... and he couldn't have met this girl before today. What has she got that I haven't that he's willing to trust her just like that?! Wait... why do I care?

"What?! The Banshō Fan is ruined?!" The Ox King yelled, snapping Bulma out of her thoughts.

"Yep. But Master Roshi said he would come here himself to put out the fire," Chi-Chi replied. She turned her head around and pointed at a smudge in the sky. As it got closer, Bulma could see something spinning amazingly fast through the air, coming to a stop above them.

Immediately, the Turtle Hermit fell from the spinning thing and landed on the ground. After spinning around dizzily, he steadied himself on his staff. "That's the only problem with Baby Gamera," he said, "It makes you real dizzy."

The Ox King ran over and prostrated himself right in front of the old man. Unfortunately, the force of his body hitting the ground caused the old man to lose his balance and fall over. Roshi immediately picked himself back up. "I've heard the stories about you, you big Ox!" he chastised, "A demon who kills anyone who comes near his castle, who openly consorts with vampires and other such demons?!"

"To be fair, Master," Ox King replied, "those were all thieves I killed. The Vampire story is just one my wife spreads. Selypa is very proud of that one. They've done their jobs at keeping bandits away."

"Oh quit it, you won't need to spread those legends anymore after today, you can go back to just being King of this nice land," Roshi said.

"Yes Master, thank you Master!" Ox King replied. Bulma was shocked by this display. This huge man who looked as if he could tear dinosaurs in half with brute strength was supplicating to an old man, who seemed to have not eaten in weeks.

"Seriously, do you not recall any of our training? I thought I told both you and Gohan to practice! If you had listened, you could do this yourself!" The old man threw off his turtle shell, and it landed on the ground with a loud SLAM. He unbuttoned his shirt next and laid it atop the turtle shell, before climbing on top of a piece of rubble right in front of the mountain. He cracked his neck and flexed his arms. With a loud grunt of effort, his thin arms suddenly bulged into full muscular arms of a bodybuilder on a magazine. Taking a loud deep breath, the Turtle Hermit flexed his torso, and it followed suit, ripping right into shape.

"W-Well, that's not something you see everyday," Bulma stuttered. The man extended his right arm forward and took a deep breath, his body clearly shaking from the effort. As soon as his hand was extended, a blue glow travelled up his arm and enveloped the Hermit's entire body.

-R&R-​

Yamcha watched the Turtle Hermit with a keen interest, as any martial arts fan rightfully would. The Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi, was a legend amongst the Martial Arts community, his Turtle School one of the most exclusive in the world, with a reputation for training some of the best Martial Artists ever, with only the Crane School being able to compete.

"Yamcha?" Puar asked, "What is the Turtle Hermit doing?"

"If I were to guess," he replied, "he's using his signature move... to think I would ever get to see it with my own eyes, I can barely believe it."

-R&R-​

As the blue glow subsided partially, the old man rotated his hands in a circle, before cupping them in front of him. "Ka... Me...." he said, moving his cupped hands to his side. "Ha... Me..." he continued. A blue ball began to form in his hands. "HA!" Roshi yelled, thrusting his cupped hands forward. A blue beam shot from his hands into the fire, creating a blinding flash and causing the ground to shake, knocking everyone over.

When the flash subsided, Kakarot stood up to look around. Indeed, the fire was gone... and so was the entire mountain. Roshi was sitting on the same piece of rubble as before, his muscles returned to normal.

"Wow..." Kakarot said, in awe of the display of power. "I-I don't... " he looked at the Hermit pensively. "I apologize for doubting you, you are clearly the strongest warrior on the planet," he said with a light bow. This is humiliating, I should be smarter than this.

Roshi nodded to him, before walking up to the Ox King and Chi-Chi. "Sorry for blowing up your castle."

Chi-Chi shook her head at him. "It's fine, we can always build another one, right Papa?"

"Right! You know Master, you should really come and stay with us, it's far safer over here," Ox King said.

Roshi shook his head at his former student. "I honestly prefer living alone, just restore order to the Paozu region and it'll be just as safe as here."

Meanwhile, Kakarot was eying the car and his own hands. The way he gathered his ki... if I focus it in my hands... Kakarot cupped his hands at his side. Now... the words... "Ka... Me... Ha... Me... Ha!" he yelled. Almost immediately, a blue ball formed in front of his hands and a beam shot from it into the car.

Kakarot felt his entire body shaking from the effort, but he managed to find his footing and smile. "I did it." He looked back to see Roshi, Chi-Chi, and the Ox King staring at him, dumbfounded.

"H-How did you-" Roshi stuttered, "i-it took me fifty years to create that technique! How could you use it so easily?"

"He's Gohan's student, Master," Ox King interjected. Roshi seemed to relax a bit.

"I know that, Ox King. Gohan wrote to me, telling me of a small child with a tail that he took in, along with a woman with a tail who came by. Gohan thought she was his mother, but she always flew away, like one of Shen's students." Roshi remarked.

"Chi-Chi!" Kakarot called. "It's not too hard! Just focus your ki into your hands while cupped, and say it as you force it forward." It wasn't that he was ignoring Roshi, it was just that he didn't have an answer for him. The girl looked at him, then cupped her hands at her side. "Kamehameha!" she yelled, thrusting her arms forward. As Kakarot had done before, a small blue beam shot from her hands and sent the car flying across the rubble and out of sight. The girl stumbled and fell backwards from the force, but otherwise seemed fine.

Roshi was absolutely speechless. He took a deep breath and looked at the two kids. "You know, while the boy may have some attitude problems, you two both have incredible potential. Why don't you two come by my island? I haven't taken on any new students recently, I could train you two personally."

Kakarot smiled lightly. "Once I'm done with my quest, I might just take you up on that." Chi-Chi ran up to him.

"Quest? Of what kind? You didn't explain this to me before, Kakarot!" she said, sounding... excited?

"Oh, um..." Kakarot grabbed the bag off his obi and withdrew the Four-Star Ball. "Bulma and I are seeking out the seven Dragon Balls. When they're all gathered together, they call forth the Eternal Dragon, who will grant you a single wish. That's why we came by here, since the sixth one is here. I have two, Bulma has three. I guess that'll be four once she finds the one in the ruins." He looked over to the ruins where Bulma probably was digging for the Dragon Ball. Chi-Chi nodded and ran back to her father, climbing up on his shoulder and whispering something in his ear.

Suddenly, Bulma walked up next to him, holding the next Dragon Ball, looking at the nearby wreckage of their car. "WHO THE HELL WRECKED OUR CAR?!" she screamed. Kakarot limply raised his hand, as did Chi-Chi in the distance. She glared at both of them, before turning to Kakarot specifically. "Great. Now how are we going to continue. I don't want to walk anymore!"

The Ox King stepped forward. "If you two need a car, I can provide you with one. It's the least I can do."

Kakarot smiled up at the big man. "You would? Thanks. I don't know what I would do if I had to listen to her complain about it walking all over again." The Ox King smiled and pulled a capsule out of his pocket. He tossed it into the air, and when it opened, it revealed a green, open topped hovercar. Now that's more like it. After a few more whispers into the Ox King's ear, Chi-Chi hopped down onto the ground. Kakarot climbed into the car with Bulma.

"Kakarot! Hold on a second." Chi-Chi called. He looked back at her as she ran up to the car.

"What is it, Chi-Chi?" he asked. She simply got a sly smile on her face, before quickly swiping the Dragon Ball from Bulma.

"What the hell!?" Bulma screamed. Chi-Chi tucked the Dragon Ball into a pocket in her gi.

"The Dragon Ball is rightfully mine. If you want the wish," she looked at them pointedly, "you'll have to let me come along, too." Kakarot sighed.

"You know you could have just asked, right? Just get in the car." The girl suddenly got a beaming smile on her face and bounced into the back seat beside Kakarot.

"Alright! Off on the adventure we go!" Chi-Chi called. Bulma sighed and hit the gas before anything else could go wrong. Kakarot and Chi-Chi both waved behind them at the two figures as they got smaller in the distance.

"I don't see why you wanted to come, we only have one more Dragon Ball to find, and that's the One-Star Ball. There's not much to see in that regard." Bulma said to Chi-Chi.

-R&R-​

After changing vehicles to a quieter one, Yamcha followed along the group closer than before, since his tracker was now fried, but he was easily keeping pace. There was only one left now, from what the girl had said. It wouldn't be long now, he would get his wish from the Dragon Balls, and there was nothing that could stand in his way now.

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Let me know what you thought of the twist in the comments. ​

 

[TC9078]

Thanks to @Ranma-sensei for editing!
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Following the sun, Bulma drove the car west as fast as she could. They were so close to finishing the journey! There was only one Dragon Ball left. Unfortunately, in order to get the Seven-Star Ball, she had to bring the Princess of Frypan Mountain with her. Chi-Chi wasn't a bad kid from what she'd seen. In fact, it was probably the opposite since she owned the Flying Nimbus and could fly on it.

It was more that she'd strongarmed Bulma into bringing her along, and she didn't really bring much to the table. Chi-Chi was strong and rich. Kakarot was strong, and Bulma was already rich. They didn't need her- but Kakarot had made his opinion very clear that he wanted her to come along. I think he has a crush or something. That has to be it. There is no other reason why he would be acting this way towards her.

They stopped next to a small river for the night, and made camp. While Kakarot went out to hunt and make food, Bulma decided to wash herself off in the river. It was cold, but she got used to it, like a pool. While she didn't have soap to clean herself completely, she was at least able to get most of the dirt and grime off of her skin. While sitting in the water, she looked carefully at the wound on her arm. It had mostly scabbed over, but there were still some open parts that didn't bleed but could easily get infected.

Suddenly, Bulma heard a splash. Looking quickly in the direction of the noise, Bulma saw a small head poke out of the water. It was just Chi-Chi, probably having the same idea as her.

Noticing her, Chi-Chi swam up to Bulma. "I'm sorry for forcing you to let me come with you, I just didn't think you'd let me if I asked. Please forgive me!" she begged.

Bulma's mind completely blanked. She just didn't know what to say to her. A literal Princess just came up to her and begged for her forgiveness. Not only that, but from what Bulma could tell, Chi-Chi had no idea who she was, so as far the girl knew, Bulma was just a normal teenager. She sighed and smiled at Chi-Chi.

"You don't need to worry, Chi-Chi. You can accompany us, I don't mind." she lied. She really didn't want the girl to come along, but she was so innocent... Bulma didn't want to break her heart. Chi-Chi seemed to fall for it.

"Thanks, Bulma," she replied.

"Bulma! Chi-Chi! I made dinner!" a voice called out. The two of them quickly climbed out of the water and put their clothes on. As Chi-Chi put her gi on, Bulma saw something on her. Wait... is that... As Chi-Chi ran over to the fire, Bulma grabbed her shoulder.

"You have a tail?!" Bulma demanded. Chi-Chi gulped and blushed. "Kakarot is an alien, so I can understand him having one, but how do you?! Are you adopted or something, from the same race as him?" Kakarot was suddenly standing next to the two of them.

"Chi-Chi's mother is of the same race as me. Her father is the Ox King. She's a hybrid," Kakarot answered swiftly. Bulma's eyes widened at the revelation. So... that's why he wanted her to come along. He thought his entire race was dead, and then there's this girl. He must be loathe to part from her... the only member of his race he knows.

Chi-Chi whined. "I'm the Princess of the Ox Kingdom, I was born and raised on Earth, and my father is an Earthling. I don't want to be called a hybrid. I'm just an Earthling. Calling me hybrid like that sounds like you're talking down to me."

Kakarot looked at her side-eyed. "That's what you called yourself when you introduced yourself."

"No, I said I was half-Earthling. That's the half I want to be identified as. I don't know anything about my other half's culture, history, or anything else, and I don't care to," Chi-Chi clarified.

"That makes no sense, you should embrace the entirety of who you are!" Bulma said.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Bulma, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," Chi-Chi recited.

"Hamlet, Act One, Scene Five," Kakarot noted. "So, what you're saying is that it's more complicated than she makes it out to be?" Chi-Chi nodded. Bulma chose not to pursue it any further, sitting down to eat in silence.

-R&R-​

After Bulma fell asleep, Chi-Chi walked over to where Kakarot sat on a small log, poking at the firepit with his pole, trying to extinguish the last embers. She sat next to him on the log. After an awkward moment of silence, she spoke.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Chi-Chi asked. If she did know, she'd understand why I hide it.

Kakarot shook his head. "No, she doesn't, and I plan to keep it that way. She told me that her sister is friends with someone from the Galactic Patrol. I fear she may reveal us by accident."

"The Galactic Patrol?" Chi-Chi asked, eyebrow raised. Now there's a group I haven't heard of.

"The main enforcement arm of the North Galactic Federation. Earth lies in their territory, and Saiyans are personae non gratae to them." He looked directly into her eyes. "It matters not if you are entirely Saiyan like me, or only partially, like you. If they see us, they will try to kill us upon recognition."

"But... but why? We're small children!" Chi-Chi protested.

"We're dangerous to them. We're the reason they lost so much land to the Planet Trade Organisation. We infiltrate other human worlds, we massacre the population, then the planets are sold to a PTO ally to make colonies and harvest resources. Saiyans were always given a nice percentage of the sale of the worlds they conquered." Kakarot said.

"That's terrible!" she squealed. "How could you do that?"

Kakarot pointed to his head and tapped his temple with his index finger. "They train us in our spaceships. We're taught what we need to do, and that's it." He put his arms back down. "That's why I'm here. I'm supposed to kill everyone on this planet, then signal the PTO to come and grab me, and they'll sell this planet for profit."

"But you won't... will you?" Chi-Chi asked. If he does, I'll stop him. I don't know if I can, but I'll try!

"It doesn't really matter. I'm too weak to even take on your dad, let alone the Turtle Hermit at full strength. I can't complete my mission in this state, so you needn't worry. I couldn't do it even if I tried," he said. Kakarot hopped off the log and laid down in the grass.

"Lay down and sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." After the boy closed his eyes, Chi-Chi layed down and followed suit, letting her exhaustion in as sleep consumed her.

-R&R-​

Kakarot, meanwhile, continued to lie awake even as the girl fell asleep. I'm not strong enough. I need to get stronger... I don't want to kill either of them... but I might have to. Damn it, what do I do?! He took a deep breath to steady himself. I need to speak to my mother, she'll know what to do... after we find the last Dragon Ball, of course. Can't exactly leave now, can I? He closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

-R&R-​

Bulma awoke the next morning slowly. The sun was still low in the east as she sat up and stretched, letting out a gentle yawn as she did so. A gentle breeze blew her hair out of her face as she stood up. The two alien children were still asleep on the ground; Kakarot with his tail curled around him protectively, and Chi-Chi a few feet away in a similar pose, but her tail hidden by her obi.

Bulma pulled her map out of her bag to see their location. Okay, so we're not far away from the border of the Ox Kingdom. Just across the border there's a decent sized town... I could probably buy some capsules there. Should take us about an hour to get there.

Plan set, Bulma cupped her hands around her mouth. "Kakarot! Chi-Chi! Wake up, it's time to go!" The two children were up within a minute, though both were yawning still. "We're about to cross the border out of the Ox Kingdom. Chi-Chi, be careful and don't say who you are, someone might want to hurt you out of revenge or something." The girl nodded crisply. "Kakarot, don't attack anyone. If they attack you, feel free to break their pride." The boy nodded, visibly reluctant.

Bulma smiled and climbed in the car, starting it. The children climbed in the back behind her, and they drove off up the road.

-R&R-​

Sipping from his canteen, Yamcha watched the two through his telescope. He started his car and kept pace with them. "Those fools. They don't even notice me following them. Getting my wish is going to be child's play."

Puar floated up next to him. "What is your wish, anyway? Unlimited money? An invisibility cloak? A girlfriend?"

Yamcha put his hand to his chin and thought. "I don't really know, Puar. A girlfriend might not be so bad, but that seems like a waste of a wish. I doubt we'd ever be able to get the Dragon Balls again, and that Kakabrat might beat me up even worse than before."

"Well, we need to think of one quickly, they only have one Dragon Ball left to find," Puar noted.

-R&R-​

As the sun was nearing its apex, Bulma drove the car into the small town she'd seen on the map. It had a small gas station, and several shops, but didn't seem to have any running water. She parked the car next to one of the gas pumps and waved down the attendant.

"Mind filling up my car?" she asked kindly.

"Um, sure," he replied, a tinge of fear in his voice.

Bulma smiled and grabbed her backpack. "I'm going to go shopping, watch the car, guys!" Kakarot and Chi-Chi just looked at her unamused.

-R&R-​

Chi-Chi looked over at the attendant as he filled up the car. "Hey!" she called, "do you guys get many visitors?"

The attendant shook his head. "No, no one comes here anymore. Shame, really. The market in the middle of town used to have goods from all over." The gas pump clicked and the attendent pulled it out of the car, hanging it back up.

Chi-Chi put on her best angelic smile. "The girl with the purple hair has our money. Would you mind waiting for her, pretty please?" The man quivered under her innocent eyes.

"Sure, sure, just don't take too long. The cost is 4,239 zeni." Meh, not terrible. Chi-Chi hopped out of the car and leaned against the side. Kakarot leaned out of the car next to her.

"There's something odd about this town. I can't put my finger on it," Kakarot muttered. As Chi-Chi opened her mouth to reply, Bulma came jogging back over with a bag in hand.

"Hey guys, I got us a bunch of stuff, and I even got us a house capsule, fully stocked!" she cheered.

Kakarot sighed. "How much did you spend, Bulma?"

"523,621.35 zeni. I checked," she replied nonchalantly. As Bulma and Kakarot began to talk behind her, Chi-Chi decided to walk around a bit, waving behind her to let them know she was walking off. She looked up one of the roads and just walked up it calmly.

-R&R-​

Looking up the road, there were stalls holding fruits lining it. Kakarot had desperately wanted to walk up and try some, but Bulma told him not to, and instead had given him a sandwich she'd bought on her way back from the capsule store.

"It's a shame. Capsules are going out of stock everywhere, now," Bulma said, sadly.

"Is there a reason for that?" Kakarot asked.

"Yeah, Commander Red wants to monopolize production for his army." After seeing Kakarot's confused face, she added, "Commander Red is the leader of the Red Ribbon Army, a large paramilitary group that controls most of the world west of here. The company that makes capsules is headquartered in West City, which is under their control. He ordered them to stop selling abroad completely at the end of this fiscal year. They've already scaled it down by 68%. They'll only continue to get rarer and rarer."

"Where are you from, Bulma?" Kakarot asked, suddenly curious.

She sighed. "West City."

"So, you know about them first hand." Kakarot looked up at her. "If you ever-" he was interrupted by a loud crash. He turned to look and saw a big guy with goggles and... rabbit ears smashing the apple stand. Seeing the rabbit ears immediately made Kakarot lose any respect he may have had for them. He could barely even take them seriously. "Well, those guys look like idiots, what with those dumb ears," he remarked dryly.

The rabbit guy grabbed a civilian by the collar, yelled at him, then punched him into the wall of the closest house, before turning to see the two of them. He walked over to them with his hands in his pockets and perhaps the smarmiest smile that Kakarot had seen.

"My, my, my. Now isn't that a gem. How would you like to spend time with a real man, pretty lady?" he said. Wow. And Bulma says I'm overly dramatic.

"Why," Bulma asked, "have you seen one?" The rabbit guy flushed and sputtered.

"Wow, that may be the closest thing to injury you've done to anyone on this trip," Kakarot remarked. Bulma winked at him and gave him an 'okay' sign with her right hand with a smirk.

The rabbit guy growled and grabbed his weapon off his back. "Alright, bitch, I was trying to be nice. Now you're going to follow me or I'll make your life a very short-" Kakarot didn't even wait for the guy to finish talking. He grabbed his Power Pole and extended it into the guy's gut, knocking the wind out of him, and causing him to drop his rifle.

"Huh," Bulma said, looking at the rifle, "Kalashnikov Automatic Rifle, 1947 Model, who would've guessed." Kakarot didn't even bother replying. A faint sound was reaching his ears. He looked in the direction it was coming from and held his pole over his head. "Stay here," he said to Bulma, before running and vaulting over the next few houses with his pole. As he flew over the houses, he saw what he'd heard- Chi-Chi was standing there whimpering as some other guy -with the same weapon the first guy possessed- shot at her. Of course, all the bullets were bouncing off her arms, but it probably still hurt.

Not hesitating for a second, Kakarot extended his Power Pole and swung it as hard as he could at the man's neck. With a BOOM it impacted the side of the man's head, and his head snapped to the left with a resounding SNAP. Even if that hadn't snapped his neck, a fatal brain hemorrhage would have finished the job there.

He landed right next to Chi-Chi and smiled at her lightly. "You good?" he asked. She crossed her arms.

"I was doing just fine. I was waiting for him to run out of ammo, then I was going to hit him," she said. From behind her, a small boy in a headscarf poked his head out, before running into an alley behind the now-dead man.

"Well, that was fun. Now I guess I-" Something suddenly hit Kakarot in the head... and it really hurt. He turned in the direction it came from and saw another rabbit guy lying prone on the ground with a longer gun, including some kind of vision assister on top of it. The rabbit guy fired again, this time Kakarot backhanded the bullet, sending it into a nearby wall. It still stung, but not as much as before.

"Any ideas on how to deal with this guy?" Kakarot called.

"Just one!" Chi-Chi replied, cupping her hands at her side. "Kamehameha!" The blue and white beam shot from her hands and engulfed the prone man in light. The man screamed for several seconds, but it soon ceased. When the beam subsided, the man had been burnt beyond recognition, even the rabbit ears had been disintegrated.

"Well, I guess roasted rabbit is on the menu tonight, huh?" Kakarot remarked. Chi-Chi just looked pale, her eyes were wide, and her breathing had slowed.

"D-did I just kill him?" she stuttered. Kakarot sighed.

"Yeah, and I just hit that other guy so hard in the head his neck snapped. It's not a big deal, these guys are terrible people, anyway, they're terrorising the town."

"Yeah... yeah, you're right. They deserved to die, it shouldn't bother me. I'm the Princess, I'll have to preside over these one day, anyway," Chi-Chi replied meekly. She took a deep breath, and opened her eyes, refocused. "Let's continue, then."