Training

The sun is just barely grazing the horizon when Master Roshi enters our shared room, all bright-eyed and full of energy already. He seems a bit surprised to find me already up, seated on the windowsill and enjoying a nice apple as I watch the sun come up. He doesn't question me, just moving to wake up the rest who are still fast asleep. Early mornings had been the usual during my training under Master Lao as he would wake me to meditate with him until the sun fully came up. After which we would do a few stretches and begin our daily training. It's a habit of mine now to wake up before the sun, meditate and stretch before the day starts. Today I've decided to have an apple, cutting my meditation short, and just enjoy the sunrise before I have to be swept off by my new master.

It takes a while for Master Roshi to wake the others, Krillin struggling to stay awake as it is. Chichi doesn't seem to have much of a problem, as she yawns stretches, and gets up happily. Kakarot has less of a problem as early mornings are likely his cup of tea as well. Roshi did tell us we would begin at the crack of dawn so Krillin should know to get up quickly. It takes him being poked with a broom for him to finally get up, tears at the sides of his eyes as he yawns for the tenth time already.

"Good morning" Chichi greets me as she stumbles over to her little backpack, rummaging through it in search of suitable clothes for the morning. "You really get up early"

"Early bird and all that" I simply say as I take the last bite of my apple, satisfied with the light snack.

Kakarot has already left to take a shower while Roshi goes off to prepare a light breakfast for the group.

"First day of training," Krillin says with excitement as he gathers his clothes as well, suddenly ready to face the day.

With everyone leaving the room I take the time to go outside, having showered and eaten already. It's good to start the morning with some stretches, especially before being active as I'm sure we will be today. I'm curious as to what the old man will have us doing today as training. Will it be like yesterday or completely different? It will be a challenge I'm sure, one that requires determination, strength, and vigor. My master's training was oftentimes quite intense, sometimes leaving me so tired I barely had the strength to continue the next day. It required a great deal of willpower to continue my training every day as I'm sure Master Lao had fully intended. The meditation in the morning is to feel the ki flowing through your body as well as build mental fortitude and calm the mind and body. The gruesome training is to break you down before building you back up to be stronger.

A bit gruesome for a nine-year-old when I take the time to think about it.

"Want some?" Chichi appears near me after half an hour or so, carrying a plate of sandwiches I believe she made herself. She's already indulging in one herself when she asks me.

"Not at the moment" the apple is good enough for the moment and it's not smart to eat too much when we're bound to be active soon. "Where are the boys"

"Still getting dressed" she sits down nearby and I continue my stretches in the quiet that follows. "How come no one realizes you're a girl?"

Good question there Chichi, as you for some reason are the first and only one to realize my true gender when meeting me. She admits that she had been confused for a moment when she first saw me as I appear to be a bit masculine in appearance, but the longer she watched me the more she noticed feminine features.

"Well, you said it yourself" I reach down to touch my toes. "I appear very masculine"

The gi isn't very form-fitting so much of my shape isn't shown and the defined muscles help very little. Add to the fact that I bind my chest every day as a learned practice more than anything else and it's not like I have much to begin with. Even if I didn't bind my chest it wouldn't be that noticeable. Then there's the short hair.

"Yeah, I guess" another silence falls over us as we wait for the others to join us. I notice that Chichi wears the same blue gi Kakarot wears whenever he doesn't have that odd armor of his, and I have to wonder why. When I ask she says she currently doesn't have suitable training clothes and the clothes she wore before were a bit too revealing.

How old is she? Why would she be wearing revealing clothing?

After another thirty minutes or so, the sun has risen above the horizon fully, bringing warmth as well as light with it. Master Roshi and the boys finally leave the house, the latter joining Chichi and I as we await the instruction of our new master. He goes on to explain what martial arts is, how it is used to defend oneself and enjoy life better and keep you healthy in both body and soul, and from the way the others seem to be barely hanging on I'm assuming they've heard this already. Roshi must notice this too as he just sighs and cuts it all short.

"Basically let's just train hard and enjoy our lives okay?"

"You didn't have to pull out that big speech," Kakarot says blankly. "We already know all that"

Roshi says nothing to him, simply turning his back towards us, beginning a light run, and motions for us to follow him.

~~~~~~~~~

Who would have thought that delivering milk would be such a tedious task? When he said we would be delivering milk I immediately knew something else would be in play here and I was not completely wrong. We are delivering milk as he had said but he has us going through some very strenuous terrains that I at first had no problem with but the longer it went on the more I started to feel the exhaustion creeping up on me. Incredible stamina is something I had been blessed with but even that runs out eventually and at the moment it has run out as I find myself in a very familiar situation. The group had scattered as we try to escape the massive dinosaur that is set on making us his food, my speed now haltered by the crate in hand and my exhaustion. Not a single bottle must fall out of my hold no matter what.

Why do I have to go through this again?

"You kids better pump those legs if you want to survive!" Master Roshi runs past us all, leaving us behind to suffer.

"I'm gonna die!" I hear Krillin shout somewhere behind me and I quite believe that. May he rest in peace, he was a cocky little monk that one.

"I can barely feel my arms" Chichi gasps running past Krillin with a sudden burst of speed. She had been struggling the most but pushed through it like a champ.

Kakarot forces out a laugh, almost stumbling into me when the dinosaur tries to bite at his tail. The appendage is quickly secured around his waist as the boy catches up to me, panting like a dog but wearing this big grin on his face.

I'm not sure how much longer the creature chases us but he does eventually lose all interest in us and disappears, leaving us relieved to not be running for our lives anymore as we quickly locate the next house to deliver milk. Master Roshi is already there, sipping on some offered lemonade and commending us for not dying back there as if he did not abandon us. Despite it all, I can't be mad at him, not only because this house is our last stop but because I've been taught not to let emotions get the better of me. And I've especially been through many enraging moments in life with that old man, more than enough for anger to not quickly boil beneath my flesh.

Besides, this is supposed to be intense training, no reason getting mad.

"No time for rest" I'm grabbed by the collar by the old man, forcing me to stand straight as he orders the others to do the same. "This is just our early morning training and we'll be doing it for the next eight months"

Eight months, huh? I won't be seeing any gains if we do the same thing for that long with how quickly my body adapts.

"Now, following our early morning training, we'll be doing our morning training"

There really is no time for rest because he quickly leads us to a field, conversing with a woman for a moment. It doesn't take much promoting for me to get an idea of what's to come.

"He's going to make us work on the field, isn't he?" Chichi hesitantly asks, sounding as if she would not actually like the answer to that.

"Looks like it" Kakarot replies, no longer panting like he was just a moment or so ago.

Lo and behold he does have us working on the field, but of course, there's a cruel twist to this as we are not allowed to use any tools to dig, instead using our bare hands.

"This exercise is meant to train your hands and nothing else" he bellows

I'm curious as to how well I'll do here seeing as I've already gone through many exercises that were meant to train my hands. Master Lao made sure my fists are strong and firm, having had me do multiple exercises, most of which left their mark on my hands. Strong hands are fundamental, or so I had been told.

With four of us, it doesn't take incredibly long to finish the entire field, even with Chichi and Krillin struggling in the beginning. They get used to it quickly enough and the only problem ends up being the pain of digging through soil, nails hitting small stones, and whatever else could be found in the dirt. My hands end up bleeding in the middle of it all, having come upon a rather sharp rock when digging, but that is ignored when it happens. My first thoughts are to get it disinfected as soon as this is over as I can not risk an infection that is likely to happen with me digging through dirt. It's painful to work with the cut finger, but the pain is nothing I haven't experienced before and nothing I cannot handle. A cut is nothing when you break bones punching rocks and trees for days.

The rest of the day is full of hard work, our only respite being the one time he takes us out to eat and the nap he allows us all to take. He has us study, work for a construction company, swimming with literal sharks that almost ends with Krillin being eaten and Chichi almost drowning, then he ties us under a tree and releases bees upon us, saying it is to test our reflexes. At the end of the day, we're exhausted and beat up, with many bee stings that need to be treated as soon as possible. His training is unorthodox, that's for sure, even weirder than what Master Lao had put me through. We're meant to do this every day with heavy turtle shells on our backs, each weighing about 20 kg. When he notices that I can easily carry the thing around he switches mine out for almost triple the weight, doing the same for Kakarot when the boy insists on having the same as me.

I take back my comment of diminishing gains.

When night falls, I'm the one treating the others, as I'm the only one with good medical knowledge. I can't help being gentle with them when they wince and whine whenever I touch them, but it is quite amusing to see Kakarot flinch back at the sight of a needle. It's not even going to be used on him, I just have one around and the boy suddenly doesn't trust me anymore. He fully believes I'll stab him with it when he's not paying attention. To think Kakarot, the boy who can take bullets with ease is afraid of a tiny needle.

"It burns!" Krillin practically screams when I spray some alcohol on his hand. I'm not the only one who suffered a cut or two as they all have little cuts on their hands, Kakarot even damaged a nail and hadn't noticed until I did.

Chichi is watching Krillin with an exasperated expression because she had alcohol sprayed onto her hand as well and all that got out of her was a wince and soft gasp While Krillin - the so called hardened martial artist - is wailing in pain.

"You're dramatic"

"Give me your other hand Krillin" I order and he hesitates for a moment before reluctantly doing as told. His hand gets the same treatment as the other and tears form in the corner of his eyes as he tries not to whine too much this time. "It'll pass, don't worry"

"It's a full moon today" Chichi comments by the window. "It's beautiful"

Kakarot almost looks on instinct, his neck snapping back before he could glance the window. It confuses me until I remember what he had told me about full moons and transformations, how he has no control of himself in that state and how much destruction he causes. He seems set on avoiding the moon for the rest of his life, but I can't help but think it counteractive. The form is highly dangerous, yes, but because of this he should learn to control it, shouldn't he? He can't avoid the moon forever, one day he will accidentally glimpse it and when that day comes, well...

Learning control is the best thing to do, but learning control requires transforming, and once that form is reached his mind is gone.

"I've never asked this, but why do you have a tail?" Krillin happens to ask at this moment, eyes stuck to the furry tail that moves behind Kakarot. The question has Chichi interested as well as she is no longer focused on the moon, instead turning to face us with curiosity.

"Because I'm a Saiyan," he says the words he had said to me a few days ago, saying it as casually as he would state his name.

"What in the world is a Saiyan?"

"An alien race" Kakarot shrugs. "We're warriors, we live for the thrill of fighting, we absolutely love it"

Krillin is in absolute disbelief while Chichi stares at Kakarot with an expression of realization. It must click in her head why the boy gets so excited at the prospect of getting stronger, fighting and training, and all that stuff. She doesn't seem as skeptical as Krillin, choosing to take Kakarot's word as he has no real reason to lie or fabricate some ridiculous story.

"You're an alien!?"

"Yes"

"What are you doing here then?" Krillin asks, skepticism thick in his voice.

"I was sent here by my parents" Kakarot informs with a tiny smile. "They wanted me to live so they sent me here, hoping I would be safe"

There's a question that lingers in the air, one neither Krillin nor Chichi wishes to ask as the answer would not be a happy one.

"I think I was around three years old when they sent me away" he counts on his fingers to make sure. "I don't remember much of my father, he was not always there, always off on missions. And I have a brother too, who is reclusive, a bit cold, he didn't seem to like me much. The only person I really remember is my mother. She was always there and she would tell me many tales about my father and stories about my brother. What I know about my race is what has been fed to me while in the incubation chamber, what I know of my family was given to me by my mother"

The more he tells us about the Saiyans the more it becomes clear that emotions are not something they operate with. Their children are raised in incubation chambers until a certain age, often being two to three. Kakarot was different as he was too weak to be let out on time, his low power level would have gravity crushing him. And with how weak he was even his brother looked down at him if I go by what he's giving us.

"My mom was kind, gentle, and loving, not like others Saiyans" he explains with a very fond look, recalling as much as he could about the woman.

It fascinates me that he remembers this much when he had been just a toddler when these things occurred. Is it just the Saiyan mind? Is he just different in that regard? Are their children built to remember things that far back? From what he has said I have gathered that these incubation chambers worked to feed them knowledge as well keep them alive. How would they do that? Their technology is obviously far more developed than what we have here on earth, I had realized that when inspecting his ship, but now I'm even more interested in their tech.

Chichi seems to sympathize with him when it comes to the loss of his parents, or mother at least. She has no memories of her mother, the woman had died after childbirth, but she wished she got the time to know her.

Nice to know I'm not the only one missing a mother here.

It makes me laugh before I can help it, earning looks from the rest.

"Have we all lost at least one parent?" I have to wonder. "Because Kakarot and I have lost both, Chichi has lost her mother, what about you Krillin?"

He had been quiet, which is odd for him. When questioned about his parents he seems lost, fidgeting with his hands as he tries perhaps to find his words.

"Never met my parents," he says almost hesitantly. "I was raised with the monks"

So we have three orphans and one motherless daughter.

"Aren't we a depressing group of kids?"