บท 3: Questions and Roshi
Things don't always go the way we hope or want, and when such things are derailed it is sometimes crushing. It's the very reason why I don't get my hopes up - hell - I don't even let myself dream of things too positive. If something seems too good to be true, it likely is and it's best not to pursue it. Kakarot, at this moment, is utterly heartbroken, tears already building in his eyes as the words of the dragon sink in. He's motionless where he stands before the creature, his joyful grin having fallen, replaced by quivering lips as he tries so very hard not to break down right now. He believed his parents could be brought back, he was so very hopeful and it was beautiful while it lasted.
"Dragon" I'm approaching the creature before I think on it, earning his attention. I do believe his eyes narrow at me, maybe a bit peeved by the way I had chosen to summon him. "Is there a way to bring Kakarot's parents back, despite the many years that have already been passed"
You never know until you try right? And I don't feel right leaving the boy like that, hopeless and hurt all over again as he once more suffers the pain of losing his parents. He's a nice kid, a good person and good people deserve good things. It could be fruitless, what I'm doing, but I'd feel a bit better knowing I tried to help him any way I can.
"I have limiters that are set in place by my creator, all of which correspond to his power" the dragon explains to me, his words shaking my core. "The stronger he is the stronger I will be"
"So if he removes this one-year limiter, Kakarot can have his parents?"
"Not exactly"
Dragon, you need to get straight to the point because all this denying and talking is not helping the poor kid. Are you doing this on purpose?
"What's the problem?" Please tell me everything right now.
"His parents perished with their planet. Were you to wish them back they would reappear at the sight of their death. With no planet, they would be brought back only to die in space. You would need to wish their souls to this planet and then wish them back. That requires two wishes, and that is not in my power"
You useless son of a bi-
Don't just go insulting random people Durian.
"Okay, thank you. We just need to have a conversation with your maker then" that sounds easy enough since I know exactly who has created this amazing creature.
"If that is all, I'll be on my way"
But we didn't make a wish, did we? Did this dragon just take my question as a wish? All I can do is watch him shoot into the sky with the dragon balls following. Right before my eyes the seven balls group together before shooting off in different directions with a streak of light following them.
I don't think that dragon likes me.
Oh well, I got the info I needed.
"Awe comes on, that's a wasted wish!"
Oolong was steadily getting on my nerves with his selfish arrogant behavior, constantly spouting nonsense and then trying to steal the wish from Kakarot. Now he's insinuating that the information I got from the dragon is worthless? Information that could bring Kakarot's parents back.
If I'm mad, Kakarot's furious because in a flash he's grabbing the pig by the collar, practically growling in his anger as grips the pig tightly. With how firmly he has him, he's positively chocking the pig harder and harder with each passing second. Oolong panics, clearly understanding that he's made a mistake and that Kakarot is beyond angry at him
"H-hey kid I'm sorry, I di-"
Before he could finish that, Kakarot reels back before throwing the creature hard enough to have a shockwave whipping back. His scream is heard for miles, getting smaller and smaller until I hear nothing more.
Well, that pig surely learned to fly.
And Bulma is a bit terrified.
"That pathetic disgusting creature" that anger has not settled just yet as he's balling his fist, his ki spiking dangerously.
"He had it coming" I chuckle, trying to calm him down even just a little. Maybe it works because his fists clench and unclench for a moment or two before he huffs out a breath, his entire frame slouching.
"I couldn't bring them back" the pain behind those words hits very close to home.
"I'm sorry" I'm not good at comforting people, but I can at least understand where he's coming from. He's not the only one who wants someone back and he's not the only one to be broken by the realization that it may be impossible. "I don't like to get anyone's hopes up and I'll feel especially bad if I just end up hurting you again, but you heard the dragon"
He nods solemnly yet full of determination.
"He can do it if his maker gets stronger"
This is when Bulma decides to step in, although a bit hesitant. She seems rather uncomfortable in this situation as if not sure what to do or if anything will be quite of help at this moment.
"Don't mean to be that person, but the dragon never told you who his creator is" she points out that crucial factor, but I'm grinning in her face.
"That is perfectly fine because I already know who that creator is and where to find him" after all, my old trainer knew quite a lot. He has told me of the dragon balls, even going as far as telling me who created them. "The problem is getting to him"
From what the old master had told me, I would need to be quite strong to be worthy of meeting the creator and as I am now, I'm not getting up there. Kakarot doesn't have a shot either, so he'll have to train his ass off.
"Why is that a problem?" Kakarot is in my face in the blink of an eye, standing way too close to me right now, but I don't bother pushing him away.
"Because we can't see the guy if we're not worthy and to be worthy we have to be strong, stronger than we are now" I inform. "So we can't go to him right now"
"We need to train" he determines, smiling a bit when I nod. "We can train under Master Roshi"
The turtle hermit is said to be the world's greatest martial artist. I'm curious to know if this is true, is he truly the best? Is he better than my master? Training under him would give me a different perspective, new techniques and overall gives me much to learn, so I'm not opposed to it. While I'll train under him I will not be taking on his school name as I am part of the tiger school and that school only. It would be a great dishonor to my master to turn over to another school, no matter the situation.
"Durian" calls Kakarot, now a step away from me. He's eyeing me carefully before his smile fades for a moment. "Do you not want to train under Roshi?"
"That's not it" I reassure him with a pat on the shoulder. He's smiling again, happy with me joining him. Why is he so happy when I agree to things with him? "I will train under him, but I won't take on his school"
Hopefully, he'll accept my terms.
"Great, then we should get going" the nimbus is already coming to him. He really gets excited.
I ignore him for a moment in favor of finding Bulma who looks very awkward standing by herself. I've interacted very little with her, so there's not much I know about her, but from what I've seen she's a good person.
"So Bunny girl" she winces at the nickname but doesn't deflect it. "What are you going to do?"
She shrugs, biting her lip in thought as she watches Kakarot fly around on his cloud. I wonder if she had a wish in mind. Kakarot tells me that she was the first one in search of the balls and that he only joined her when she came for his dragon ball. She never told him her wish and she didn't object to him making his own. So it makes me wonder.
"I think I'll just go home, I've had my adventure and school starts soon" she sighs at the thought. "Go back to living my life"
"You started this right?" She nods. "Then did you have something in mind?"
"Nope," she laughs at this. "No wish at all, I just wanted to do something for my summer break and thought "Hey, why don't I go and find all of the dragon balls to see if they're really magical". So I left on this little adventure of mine that proved to be far more dangerous than I had thought"
She tells me of the many times she could have died had it not been for Kakarot and she admits that she was quite naive in thinking she could just travel the world in search of these mystical balls without facing danger. Really reckless of her.
"But that's all over now I guess" though she doesn't look very pleased. "I hope he gets his wish eventually, he's really nice and I owe him a lot"
"Heh, he's something else that's for sure"
"And he has a way of making friends with anyone"
"That too, hell I just met him and here I am doing whatever I can to help him" truly a turn of events.
"Yeah, it's a talent, I'm convinced" she giggles, toying with the transportation capsule I had so kindly loaned her. "I guess I'll be seeing you?"
"What? Want me to stop by capsule corp sometime?" I jest. "You barely know me, you know. We know nothing about each other"
"Good point, but it's always good to make friends," she says. "Kakarot has taught me that much"
"If that's how it is, then sure, you'll see me around" I always wanted to go to capsule corp and Bulma is my ticket right now.
That sounded selfish.
No, no I'm actually interested in being friends, so I really will stop by to see her.
"I'll keep an eye out" she promises then tosses the capsule to the ground. "I'll be going now"
"Safe travels" I wave already walking away before I remember something crucial. "Oh yeah, Bunny girl!"
"What?"
"I'm a girl"
"What?!"
~~~~~~~~
With Bulma gone Kakarot returns to me after saying goodbye to her. He's driving circles around me with that cloud and it's a bit nauseating.
"Hop on" he urges, smiling brightly as he settles the cloud low enough to allow me on. All he gets is a skeptical look in return as I really don't think I'll be able to board that cloud.
"Kakarot"
"Come on"
Sighing, I indulge in his askance, placing a single hand on the cloud only to have it pass right through. Holding said hand up, I give him a very - I told you so - look to which he laughs a bit sheepishly. I know myself better than anyone and I know that my heart is not pure. Someone of pure heart is very rare to find as we mortals can't help but be tainted by the darkness. After childhood one can quickly dirty themselves, losing all purity they once possessed. How Kakarot kept such purity is beyond me.
"At least you tried" he tries to offer some positivity, which is greatly appreciated. "Honestly I really thought you would be able to"
"I can appreciate your confidence in me" it's quite nice to have someone think so highly of me.
After finding my bike Kakarot and I got on our merry way. Kakarot estimates our travel to be a few days with us needing to stop and camp as well as him needing to stop at his house to speak to his grandfather and get more supplies.
"Do you have somewhere to go?" He asks me after Realizing that he never gave me the chance to say much.
"Nah, I'm fine" I've been roaming the world for years. I've long since lost anything resembling a home or a place to go to.
"Okay" he goes quiet for a moment, eyes focused on the distance and tail moving this way and that. I find I tend to watch his tail move around, it just looks a bit fun to me. "I've got an obvious question here"
"Shoot"
"Well, we just met" he starts, brows furrowed. "It's not even been a full day, just hours and here you are helping me. You went out of your way to understand why the dragon can't help me and are willing to go all the way to his creator to fix this"
He has a point there. Just a few hours ago I was roaming the world with no endpoint, just wandering for the sake of moving. I'm not sure what I was trying to do, or maybe I know exactly why I traveled without end. The endless travels were getting a bit exhausting and when I was offered to join them, I didn't understand why I shouldn't take them up. I had nothing better to do and I had been wanting to see the dragon. Years back I wanted to collect them for my own wish and admittedly, I wanted it all to be true, I wanted Kakarot to wish his parents back. I wanted that because it would mean that such things are entirely possible and that maybe, just maybe, I could have mine granted as well.
Never get too hopeful, I would remind myself because when things don't go the way you want you'll be devastated.
"You're asking me why I'm helping you?"
"Yeah"
"Because you're a good person and good people deserve good things" that is something I have always been told and something I now live by. "And I understand where you're coming from. You just want to have your parents back. All of us have someone we want to be given more time with"
It's just the way things are that makes such a thing hard.
"Who do you want to see again?"
"My master, my parents" if I had them again I would be perfectly content.
"You could've brought them back today" Kakarot points out to which I simply shake my head.
"That wish was yours so such an act would be dishonorable next to the fact that it's been more than a year since I lost them, so it would be just as fruitless"
"Then we'll wish them all back when the dragon gets stronger" he grins this positive thing. "I think I owe you that much"
Never in my life have I met a person as kind as this boy and it's a bit disorienting because someone this nice just seems too good to be true. And if it seems too good it likely is, so my first instinct is to brush it all off. But he's so genuine that it's hard not to believe him.
"You're weird"
"What? What did I do?"
Your kindness is beyond odd. The only people to be this kind are my parents and master, but they are family. This boy hardly knows me, he has no reason to be so nice to me.
"You're just weird"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Days later and we're flying over the sea. I've had to switch to a flying car just recently, again patting myself on the back for having nearly every type of transportation. I've learned a good hard lesson about not having the right rides with me and have learned to carry around an arsenal. Just recently we had stopped at Kakarot's small house in the mountains and I met his grandfather. Conversing with him has me seeing where Kakarot's kindness comes from as the old man was such a gentle soul. Be that as it may, he is rather skilled in martial arts. A quick sparring match with him had him pointing out the smallest mistakes I would make against him, urging me to adapt when fighting someone unknown. He recognized my school, almost immediately asking me how my master was doing. It was a bit amusing because it seems like all old people in the martial arts business tend to know each other.
While there I noticed the odd contraption stored away in a corner. As curious as I was I had asked Kakarot about it, only to learn that it was his space pod, the one that brought him to earth. He let me open it to get a look in and it's really weird but impressive. The tech used to build that is beyond anything I had ever seen, and I have seen a lot of tech.
Would he let me take it apart?
Wait I don't have the tools.
But bunny girl does, she has all the tools.
Our stop at the old Gohan house was brief as Kakarot simply needed more supplies, such as a futon and more clothes. Makes sense since the Turtle hermit lives on an island smack dab in the middle of the ocean. We'll have to live there while we train.
It's nice driving above the sea, watching the sun reflect off its surface, and spotting any fish I can under the surface. Man, I really want to go for a swim right now, I bet the water feels amazing.
"There it is"
When Kakarot said his island was small he really wasn't exaggerating. It really is tiny, just enough for his house and some space around to lounge. Truly a hermit this one, as well as Gohan, off alone in the mountains. My master loved to surround himself in the wild with a house right in the middle of the forest. The amount of times I'd been chased by some wild animal is uncountable.
Kame House is written proudly on the little pink house, near it a massive turtle rests, watching us as we approach. Kakarot seems to know the turtle as he waves at him, asking him how he's been recently.
The turtle talks.
Once on the island, I put my car away and greet the talking turtle. The big guy must be over two hundred years old.
"A talking turtle, who'd a thunk it" you learn something new every day they say. "I'm Durian"
"Nice to meet you" he bows his little head in greeting.
"Eh, you're pretty cute" I pet him, which he seems to appreciate.
"Where's the hermit?" Kakarot asks even as he climbs up to peer through an open window. "Oh, found him"
I join him, curious to see what the great Master Roshi could be up to, only to find the old man fully invested in a female workout show.
"Is he a pervert?" I have to ask because assuming is a terrible habit.
"Yes, it's his weakness" Kakarot informs with a look of pure disappointment.
Of course.
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