Dragon

Roaming the desert for days allows for little rest, causing exhaustion amongst the many other problems that arise with traversing through the sweltering heat. I had forgotten how tired my body had been until I was given the time to take a break, to simply sit back and relax. It is relieving. My muscles ache for whatever reason and my body feels heavy, but the longer I rest in this back seat the better it all begins to feel. I had been hesitant about letting bunny girl drive my car - simply because it's my car - however, now I can see that it was an amazing idea. There's more than enough space for Kakarot and I, so there's no hassle. No one bats an eye when I turned what they had thought to be a headband, into a blindfold. An odd thing to see someone do, though not something they questioned. I wonder what sort of reasons behind my blindfold they could have imagined by this point.

With a sigh, I'm sinking deeper into the seat of the car, body loosening with the simple action. Oh, now I want a bed. It's been days since I've slept in a bed.

As joyous as I am now, I can't very much ignore the people following us. It had come to head when we left town, the ki signatures I had first ignored never faded it simply stayed at a safe distance. It's not too hard to realize the group has a tail. It's easier still to determine what the stalker could be after, as it's not every day you run into a group with wish-granting orbs. Whoever is following us doesn't feel like much of a problem, they could easily be dealt with.

Probably shouldn't let my guard down though. And that ki signature feels familiar.

"How do you know about the dragon balls?"

Kakarot is ever the curious one, asking me question after question since I've joined them. Having not interacted with people for a good few years now it's not something I have a problem with. His questions are often light as he's just trying to know me better I guess. He seems really trusting of me, unlike that pig that had a million grievances about me joining. One of them being that I might try to steal a wish. For one, I have no right. The group has worked hard to get the balls themselves, from what I've heard and Kakarot is the one wanting a wish. Though what exactly he wants to wish for is not within my knowledge.

How do I know about the dragon ball he asks?

"Old people tend to know a lot" and my master was one of the oldest, though one of the strongest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"Yeah, they really do they're also a bit odd" Kakarot agrees with a laugh. "I met the turtle hermit a few days ago, he lives in the middle of the sea"

Makes sense

"He has a flying carpet and a nimbus" Kakarot details. "The nimbus is mine now though"

The nimbus cloud is actually real? Well, I thought that old man was making stuff up now. One can only ride the cloud if they are pure of heart so this kid is a rare case.

"Pure-hearted are ya?"

"Yeah, I was surprised"

"Why?"

"Because I'm a Saiyan" he shrugs as if what he told me was supposed to make everything click. "We're a warrior race who live for battle and we're brutal. Most of us are merciless and don't really care about anyone weaker than us. I have Saiyan tendencies after all, so I assumed the cloud wouldn't accept me"

The tail already told me he was no ordinary boy, the armor is just weird, now I hear he's an alien sent from space by his parents so he didn't perish with the rest of his people when his planet was destroyed. Well, that's tragic. He lost everything when he was just a child, sent off to another planet completely. I could only imagine what he must've felt.

"I wanted to wish my planet back" he informs after a lull in the conversation. "But that probably is not the best idea"

Yeah, probably not. If his race is as ruthless as he says then it's best we don't have an entire planet of them.

"I'll just wish my parents back, they're different than the others"

Don't we all think that about the ones we love? Don't we all assume them to be different - better - than all the cruel creatures that dwell in the world? It's sweet, innocent, but not always correct, is it? Perhaps his parents truly are different from the other Saiyans. They sacrificed themselves to make sure their child could live, that makes them parents of the century in my book.

"Why do you wear a blindfold? Is something wrong with your eyes or something?" Ah, the long-awaited question.

"It's an odd form of training" I reply, removing the blindfold to look at him. There is no harm in telling the kid, he's not half bad.

Probably shouldn't call him a kid if I'm just a few years older

There's a long silence which I take for him wanting me to elaborate on my words.

How do I explain this?

"Ki is essentially "life force." This force is palpable energy inside every living being, with its main focus being in the center of the body. By drawing it out, an individual can utilize it and use it outside the body" I explain, hoping he understands. "With ki, you can do a lot"

"Would the Kamehameha wave be one of these things?"

"Yes, exactly" he gets it, good. "Now, the thing with ki is that you can learn to sense it over time. It's good to be aware of your own first - at least it's better that way for me - and through this familiarity, you could learn to sense the ki of others"

"When does the blindfold come it?"

"Well, it's pretty simple really. When one sense is taken away the others quickly try to counterbalance this loss, making other senses that much stronger and also quite possibly introduce you to another you did not know you had" this isn't sounding very simple. "The blindfold was enforced by my master to teach me to sense ki. By not relying on sight I had to rely on everything else until eventually, I learned to sense ki"

He nods, brows furrowed in thought, or something else, I don't know.

"Then why do you still wear the blindfold?"

"Training" with that the blindfold is back on, the familiar darkness now welcome.

I've learned to sense ki, yes, but that doesn't mean I'll get rid of the blindfold. I want to train my body and senses to move and act without the sense of sight, so I'm not held back if someone plays dirty and decides to blind me. Plus it helps me be far more aware of my surroundings as I actively sense ki around to get a sense of where I am and what's going on.

Most of all, sometimes sight can hold you back.

"I've got a heads up" there are two more signatures getting steadily closer from the front. I'm fairly certain we're about to be attacked. "We're being followed and have been since we left town"

Bunny girl almost crashes the car at the news, almost giving me a heart attack.

"Don't crash the car!"

"We're being followed and you're only now telling us?!"

"Yes, because the person following isn't a threat" I admit honestly. "It's the people that are coming from the front that could be trouble"

"What!?"

"Yeah, I think we're about to get shot" just a wild hunch since I'm pretty sure I saw someone with a massive weapon before I put the blindfold back on.

I bet they're after the dragon balls.

Before Bunny girl has time to react, Kakarot is gone, likely having jumped out the window and I am following close behind, instructing Bulma to just keep driving. We'll have to catch up to them later.

"Where are they?" Kakarot is shouting, already a good distance from me by the sound of his voice.

"One's up in the air"

With the Nimbus he's sure to get them no problem, that just leaves me with whoever's high up on one of these overgrown mushrooms. I can't see anything and I'm not willing to take the blindfold off yet. I doubt I need to. The signature is low but more than enough to give me an exact location as well as the exact height difference between us. A jump with enough force should have me up there no problem.

So that's what I do.

With a running start, I'm propelling into the air, going in blind - literally - with nothing but a ki signature to guide me. I would have preferred doing this on solid ground since it's my first time attempting this, but this will have to do. Worst-case scenario I miss my target and tumble to the ground to be covered in sand before being shot by whatever gun they have. Yeah I'd rather not.There's a shout when my foot comes down on someone, followed by the thump of a body hitting the ground.

Well, I guess that worked.

And I knocked out a woman.

"What are you up to?" Pushing the cloth up to my forehead, I find an older woman, who's barely conscious. I kinda feel bad, but she was about to shoot me. "Come on, talk, or I'll have to hurt you. I may be a kid, but I will hurt you"

She scoffs or tries to and all that leaves is blood. She mumbles something about emperor Pilaf and loyalty, but after that nothing else comes out of her.

"Out cold" I even held back some this time.

"Durian!" In comes Kakarot carrying someone actually smaller than him. The small guy is squirming and fighting in this grip, clearly conscious enough to talk if I force him.

Good.

"Bring him here"

~~~~~~~~

A good thirty minutes or so of threatening to throw the little dog creature off the mushroom and actually doing so gets me all the answers I need from the blubbering creature. He's all kinds of scared as he begs me not to hurt him and even more so to not tell this emperor he works for. It's quite the pathetic sight if you ask me, made even worse when Kakarot scares him so much he almost falls to his demise. They are a sorry pair who are of no actual threat to us now they don't have their weapons and robot suits. Leaving them on the mushroom in the sweltering sun seems like punishment enough. Now we need to catch up to Bulma and that pig and probably take care of whoever is following them.

Luckily, I carry a good amount of transportation capsules with me as there is no telling when you'll need something extra.

I'm not sure what type of motorcycle I've purchased but it's mighty fast, fast enough to keep up with the nimbus which is just impressive. Kakarot is the one leading the charge because he can see them pretty well from so high above. It won't take ten minutes to catch up with the speed this thing has. Now I understand why I was charged so much money for it and am happy I made the purchase. I'll take very good care of this here bike.

"Huh that's Yamcha" Kakarot dips low to hover just above my head, the follower's car now in sight. Why am I not surprised Kakarot knows the person.

"Who might Yamcha be?"

"A bandit"

"Of course" accelerating the bike has me speeding past Kakarot so quickly I fear I'd fallen off had I not been holding on so tightly. On the plus side, it put me right next to this Yamcha who looks more than surprised to see me, and the sentiment is returned.

"Yo-"

I knew his ki felt familiar. It's the damn desert bandit that tried to rob me of my capsules. I take one nap under some shade and I get ambushed by this fool who barely has enough skill to defend himself.

"You again"

He decided to try and rob someone else even after I beat his ass into the next day. Some people are far too stubborn for no real reason. Now, look at him, scared out of his mind at seeing me and likely rethinking his life choices. He still has a nasty bruise on his cheek that seems to be just now healing.

"You either turn around right now, or I break your arms" because clearly, the beating he took was not good enough.

Unless he's had a change of heart and is not following the group to steal the dragon balls for himself, I have no reason to have him sticking around.

"I- I'm not-"

"You're not following us for the dragon balls?" Kakarot questions, his appearance frightening Yamacha even more as he nearly swerves off the road. "Last I remembered you broke into our trailer and tried to steal our dragon balls after trying to rob us beforehand as well"

Stupidity or bravery? I can't decide which one this bandit has to try to rob the same people three times, especially when one of them clearly kicked his ass from what I hear. I suppose he's not as cowardly as I had thought.

"Just go"

"Unless you really want Durian to break your arms"

He's still very much a coward so he does as he's told, smart enough to realize he won't get out any better than this if he doesn't take our offer.

"He tried to rob you too huh?" Chuckles the alien boy next to me.

"Yeah, thought I was easy pickings because I was sleeping" little did he know.

"You gave him the bruise?"

"Sure did, glad it stuck"

~~~~~~~~~

We find some sandcastle on a patch of grass at some point, the dragon radar beeping furiously as we stand in front of the remarkable structure. It's obvious enough that the last one is within, clearly held by this emperor Pilaf that dog creature was so reluctant to betray. It's quite amusing when you realize the person they work for is far weaker than them, so you just have to wonder why they would work for him, let alone be so loyal. Sometimes I don't understand humans and their attachments as well as the people they get attached to. Children look up to and admire parents that treat them like objects instead of living people. There are naive people who are always there for the ones who constantly screw them over and talk behind their back. People admire the very people who work to sabotage their success. It's just infuriating to watch because such people are only making it worse for themselves.

"The door's wide open"

No one moves a muscle, everyone just eying the open door and the darkness past it. If this isn't such an obvious trap I don't know anymore, because who thinks that leaving the door wide open for us is a smart idea. Let's not even think about the fact that it opened when we appeared, it just opened right in our faces, all ominous and mysterious and dark and so obviously a trap laid out for us. Kakarot is not impressed if that scowl is anything to go by.

"Do they think we're stupid?" He asks, sounding very offended by the notion.

"I have nothing to say" because nothing can be said about this, all you can do is marvel at the stupidity.

Looking up, I see multiple breakable windows that are far safer than the trap laid right in front of us. Kakarot seems to think the same, as the nimbus is already climbing higher and higher.

"Give me a sec"

With that he's gone, jumping through the window with ease. There's some screaming, followed by something breaking before it all goes quiet. I could only imagine what took place up there from that high-pitched scream alone. Soon enough Kakarot jumps out the window, a dragon ball in one hand, a small blue person in the other. This one is even smaller than that dog.

If that's emperor Pilaf I am very confused.

"Let go of me right this instant! Do you know who you're dealing with?!" The little man-boy shouts and flails in Kakarot's firm grip. "I am emperor pilaf and I will rule this earth, you hear me!"

He really is Pilaf.

Comprehension is lost because it makes no sense for those two buffoons to work for him. That woman seems very skilled in the use of weapons and that dog, while nothing impressive has amazing skills with that robot thing. Even without it, they are stronger than this little man child as his power barely grazes that of the dog.

He's tossed to the ground, only to be tied up and have his mouth taped shut soon after.

Sad really.

"How do you even have all of this?" Where does he get the money from?

He shouts from behind the tape, eyes desperate and pleading as if I'm that kind of a person. Keep begging and see if I don't throw you in a ditch you disgusting little creature.

"We've got em all" Bunny girl - I should stop calling her bunny girl - marvels at the gathering of the seven balls, all of them pulsing a dull light from within as if barely containing the power that they hold

"How do we do this?" asks Oolong curiously. "Do we just wait or something"

"We summon the dragon," Kakarot says this, but doesn't seem to know any more than Oolong.

The pulsing balls are quite nice to look at, almost captivating really. There's a slight hum between them, something that I almost feel under my skin. It prickles in the similar way magic does when I come in contact with it, meaning these balls truly hold power. Whether it's the power to grant wishes or not is still to be decided.

"Does anyone know how to summon a dragon?" Questions Bun- Bulma. A useless question really, because it's obvious enough.

I'll give it a shot.

"Yo dragon, we've got the balls, please grant us a wish with your amazing power or whatnot"

Nothing happens and everyone looks at me as if I were some child who did something stupid.

Before I can defend myself, the balls glow brighter and brighter until it's painful to look at, forcing everyone to shield their eyes from the assault. Shielded but not closed I get to witness the appearance of a creature I never thought I would ever see. A magnificent green dragon erupts from the gathered orbs, shooting into the now dark sky and appearing to be never-ending long. His body twists around above us, looming over us completely, barely leaving much else to see other than the creature himself.

"Speak your wish"

His voice is this booming thing that settles in my chest with intimidating pressure. It feels as if his words flow through my body, which is a lot of weird for me. The feel of the massive amount of magic in the air prickles my skin, causing goosebumps to form all over my arms. It's the first I've encountered such magic or even reacted in this way. It's almost sickening with the overwhelming amount but at the same time something to want.

Holy crap.

"I wish fo-" the pig is struck before he could finish his sentence as I will not allow him to steal the wish intended for Kakarot.

"Oolong!" Bulma smacks him for extra measure.

"Dragon" Kakarot has to shout to reach the dragon, drawing his attention to the young boy. "Is it in your power to bring those lost back to life?"

"Yes, it is" his words have Kakarot grinning, but I sense a "but". "However, I cannot bring anyone back who has been dead for over a year"

Yeah, there it is.

Congratulations dragon, you just crushed a little boy's hopes and dreams.