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******
Gohan
awoke with a start, and sat bolt upright.
He hadn’t a clue as to why he had awoken, but now that he had, he
didn’t feel tired in the least. He
felt so alive and trouble-free like he hadn’t in so
long. He stood and
stretched, more out of habit than necessity, and gave the widow a slight
push. It swung open and
Gohan’s face was met with a rush of wind, brisk and sharp, and
surprisingly refreshing to the senses.
Further sleep would be impossible; how he longed to fly in the cool
night air, and feel the whipping wind in his hair once more.
He glanced at his watch; it read approximately 0100 hours, he
hadn’t noticed the precise time. Gosh, it’s way too early; I’ve only been asleep for two hours or so!
Maybe just a quick fly will help…I’m sure no one would mind, he
reasoned with himself, I mean,
it’s better than me waking them.
Suddenly, something on the horizon caught his attention.
He narrowed his eyes to gain a clearer picture of the figure.
It quickly began to retreat. He
suddenly blinked with the release of a gigantic ki and fell backwards,
grabbing the windowsill just in time.
That’s Nahmi! he
thought, astonished, and hurled himself out the window after her…Wow,
she’s in a hurry, but what’s
she doing out here at this time of night? Strangely
enough, he didn’t pause to consider that she may wonder the same thing
of him, but instead sped off after her, straining to suppress his energy.
He didn’t want to be caught by the ever-alert Vegeta.
******
Nahmi
stopped still in mid air and swivelled around towards the direction in
which she had come. She was
being watched. Damn, she cursed, what now?
She had been positive that she had gathered her possessions in
practical silence, and there was no way that her watcher could have sensed
her ki, she had made sure of that. The ki of her watcher suddenly rose, their power growing
increasingly closer; though it was obvious that they were trying to
suppress it. Whoever it was;
they were now following her. She
suddenly found herself wishing that she had taken the time to study
everyone’s energy signatures, for at present, she had no idea as to who
was following her. It was possible that it was Gohan, but there was also a
chance that it could be Prince Vegeta.
She couldn’t take that risk; she was right in thinking that he
was not one to cross with a guilty conscience.
There was only one thing she could do; outrun them.
She increased her ki and put on a sudden burst of speed, knowingly
revealing her identity whilst doing so, but she didn’t care; she knew
that she was much faster, and what she was doing was necessary.
She had to find out why she had ended up on Earth, and more
importantly, where from.
******
Gohan
slammed to a stop. He had
lost sense of her ki. What’s she doing? he thought, concentrating on locating her
energy. It was hopeless; she
was far too fast for him to keep up with, and he couldn’t follow her
trail if he couldn’t sense her energy.
He suddenly felt someone grab him from behind.
He let out a yell, but a skilfully moved hand muffled it.
He could feel his captor’s hand on his mouth; it was strong, yet
amazingly delicate. This he
thought in the split second that it took him to grasp the stranger by
their thin wrists and flip them to his front, where he speedily secured
them in a headlock. Gohan
quickly regretted his instinctive reaction when his eyes were met with a
bright purple, and his arm was met by Nahmi’s pearly white teeth.
They
sprung apart, facing each other, one clutching her neck, the other
furiously rubbing his wrist.
“What
did you do that for?” They both found themselves shrieking at the other.
“You
surprised me!” they found themselves replying.
They laughed and relaxed, moving slightly closer to one another so
as not to yell.
“Sorry
I snuck up on you from behind,” Nahmi began, “I thought that you would
have known it was me. But I
guess I forgot that I had hidden my ki so that I could find out if it
really was you.”
“Who
did you think I was?” Gohan asked, wondering as to whom she could have
possibly confused him with.
“His
highness,” she scowled, and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck at
Gohan’s look of disgust. “Well,”
she reasoned, her voice high pitched with embarrassment, “I had a little
trouble sensing who you were, what, with you suppressing your energy and
all. And,” she confessed,
“I’m none too skilled at reading new energy signatures either.”
“That’s
okay,” Gohan’s grin suddenly changed to a smirk and he raised an
eyebrow cheekily, “I’ll forgive you.”
Nahmi pulled her bottom eyelid down and poked out her tongue.
Gohan laughed and Nahmi began to giggle.
“Oh,”
she quickly added, gazing at the arm that he still held.
She glanced at his eyes and then at her feet, “Sorry I bit
you.”
“Yeah,”
he agreed, “I’m sorry I got you in a headlock, I should have known who
you were.” Nahmi suddenly
began to giggle, interrupting his apology.
She clutched her stomach in one hand and tried to muffle her
laughter with the other.
“What?”
Gohan gave her a puzzled expression.
She doubled up in fits of laughter, tears streaming from her eyes.
She couldn’t believe that Gohan hadn’t noticed.
“What!”
he repeated, pulling slightly back with his arms out to the side in a
mannerism that clearly said ‘I hope your not laughing at me!’ That’s when he noticed it, to his absolute horror…he had
neglected to remove the baby pink nightgown that now fluttered gently in
the breeze. “Ahh!” he
fell backwards in complete and utter embarrassment, which only added to
Nahmi’s amusement. “I, I,
I,” he blushed scarlet as he stuttered and stumbled in an attempt at an
explanation, but Nahmi only turned her back on him and continued to try to
suppress her giggles. Gohan
folded his arms and frowned, his face boiling with humiliation.
She regained herself and turned in his direction, not daring to
look at him though.
“Sorry
Gohan,” she murmured and risked a peek at him.
She quickly grabbed her mouth in both hands and swivelled to turn
her back on him again. He
looked so funny that she just couldn’t control herself.
She heard a rustling sound from behind her.
“No,
I’m truly sorry Gohan,” she spluttered between bursts of giggles.
She faked a cough and hit her chest with her clenched fist in an
attempt to compose herself. Gohan wore a loose white gi tucked into long black pants; the
nightgown slung over his shoulder underneath his folded arms.
His expression was stern but a light pink still lingered on his
cheeks. Nahmi resisted a
laugh, “You really shouldn’t take it off,” she finished, struggling
to appear serious.
“What,
and have you laugh at me again, Nah-uh, no way.” He tossed the nightgown from his shoulder.
“Hey!”
Nahmi yelled and launched herself at it, catching it in one hand.
She flew up behind Gohan and placed something silky and warm over
his shoulders. She rounded on
him, her hands folded in front of her.
“Don’t just go throwing my stuff away!”
“Y-your
stuff,” Gohan stuttered, feeling the warmth growing in his cheeks.
The nightgown hung around her shoulders and she quickly slipped her
arms into the sleeves and drew it about herself.
“It’s
cold,” she scolded, “and if you’re going to be such a baby and not
wear it just because it’s pink, then I will
and you can have my cloak.” Her
voice was cross and she turned her back to him once more. Gohan drew the cloak about himself; it was surprisingly warm
and comfortable, but he suddenly realised what she had just said.
“Well,
in case you didn’t notice,” he pointed out angrily, “I was wearing it until you started
laughing at me!”
She looked down at her feet, “I
know,” she sighed, “it was me who was acting childish.
I shouldn’t have laughed at you.”
She knew that she had only given him her cloak out of guilt.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you a baby,” she looked
up and grinned at him playfully, “but you’ve got to admit…”
Gohan began to laugh. “Yeah,” he
chuckled, “and to think that I wasn’t the only one wearing one of
those.” Nahmi giggled gleefully as an image of a very disgruntled
pink-covered Vegeta appeared in her mind.
Strangely enough, it was the exact same situation that Gohan had
imagined, minus the crown that she saw on the arrogant prince’s head.
“So I guess,” Gohan continued, “I can’t blame you for
laughing.” His expression
suddenly changed to one of seriousness, “Hang on a minute,” he was
finally asking what he had come to find out, “where are you going?”
“Somewhere where this nightgown
will definitely come in handy,” she replied ruefully and hugged herself
tightly, shutting her eyes. Gohan
had noticed her severe change in tone, and concern quickly overcame him.
“What’s
the matter?” he asked tentatively.
She opened her eyes, her expression clouded with sorrow. She drew in a deep breath and turned her mournful gaze to the
stars.
“I
have to find out where I came from,” she stated earnestly and returned
her gaze to Gohan, “I mean, I couldn’t have possibly come from the
planet Vegeta…It was destroyed long before you or I were even born.” This was the first time that this thought had even occurred
to Gohan’s mind. “It
means I’m a Saiyan, but from somewhere else…and if I have any
family…” She hesitated at the word family…she hadn’t meant to
mention it in front of Gohan. He
gazed at the ground, and Nahmi bit her lip.
He
suddenly looked her in the eye, “I’m helping,” he declared
resolutely with a note of understanding in his voice, “just tell me what
I have to do.”
She
smiled meekly and flew over to him, her eyes full of comforting.
She grasped him by the cloak and pulled it tightly around him.
Something silver flashed in her hand and Gohan heard a click as she
fastened the clasp near his neck. She
pulled slightly away from him and stared into the distance behind her, the
direction in which she had been travelling, “It’s cold where we’re
going,” she replied simply, and grabbed him by the hand.
Gohan felt a sudden jerk and the next thing he knew, he was being
pulled along the valley faster than he could have ever thought possible,
towards the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
The
landscape changed rapidly, or at least, it appeared to at the speed that
they were travelling. The
low, forest-clad mountains slowly grew to rugged and desolate ranges,
broken every so often by tropical gorges.
As the mountains became tipped with snow, so did the cavernous
ravines become barren, brown and seemingly lifeless.
Soon, the temperature drop became painfully obvious to Gohan and he
shivered beneath the thin navy cloak.
The air was becoming noticeably thin as Gohan heaved his chest to
take in another breath. He
gazed around to see nothing but white, with the odd, sharp pewter coloured
cliff or windswept slope protruding from within the otherwise endless
blanket of snow… And still they flew; though the landscape barely
changed again. The mountains
rose to higher peaks, the air became thinner, their surroundings generally
became more harsh and unforgiving. Suddenly,
Nahmi took a steep dive down a granite crevasse.
It would have only been a quarter of a mile wide and two miles
deep. Deep at the very bottom
a silvery thread spun its way between gigantic boulders and beneath
delicate branches of ice. The
grey cliff nearest to them was studded with icicles, frozen by the cold.
Nahmi’s speed had slowed enough for Gohan to notice that as they
neared the bottom, water began to drip from the jagged shards of ice
suspended from the slight overhang of the wall of the deep gorge.
Soon, they had reached the river, and Nahmi released Gohan’s
shivering hand.
“You’re
cold,” she noted and smiled. The
almost-full moon overhead gave the valley, along with her eyes, a glint of
silver. Gohan now understood
why she wore the symbol of a silver raindrop on her forehead, for this was
surely the only place within the miles that surrounded them, that received
rain. Of course, it was not
rain from the clouds, but rain from the walls of the protruding cliffs. A slight tinkle could be heard all around them; the tinkle of
tiny droplets smattering on rocks and ice as they made their way to the
winding river which gurgled and churned about the sharp rocks.
Nahmi gestured to him, and he was awoken from his thoughts.
“Follow me,” she cried, and she made her way slowly downstream.
The
river wound it’s way down a slope that was shallow only in comparison to
the angles of the mountainsides. The
river grew louder as it became deeper and smashed its way around the
boulders. A large
snow-covered mound could be discerned amongst the darkness ahead, and as
they reached it, Gohan saw that the water of the raging river had been
tamed and pooled by an outstretched arm of the hill, forming a small water
fall on the opposite side. Atop
the small, snow-clad hill stood a traditional Japanese temple, towards
which, Nahmi flew. She slowed
and landed lightly on the steps. Gohan
descended behind her quickly.
“Welcome
to my humble abode,” Nahmi grinned, and drew in a deep breath, savoring
the sweet smell of the icy air. Gohan
wished that he could reply adequately, but all he managed was a strained
laugh accompanied with the chattering of his teeth.
Nahmi laughed and grabbed him around the shoulders, directing him
inside. They ascended the
remaining stairs and walked between two of the six large pillars on the
side of the temple that ran lengthwise to the river.
Two gigantic carvings of dragons, one blue, the other red, greeted
Gohan’s eyes. Nahmi smiled
in answer to his look of amazement.
“The
great twin dragons,” she gestured to each, “Ignis and Glacies, of Fire
and Ice.” Once again, Gohan
wished to express his thoughts, but couldn’t due to the cold. However, Nahmi got the gist and laughed, and led him to the
great, intricately carved silver and gold doors that stood between the two
dragons. She gave them a
slight push and they swung soundlessly inwards on their great hinges.
Nahmi pushed him inside and swung the great doors shut, turning to
face Gohan, a look of pride on her face.
She removed her nightgown and hung it on a wooden peg carved in the
likeness of a dragon’s head. They were inside a short hall; the pegs on the left shaped
like the dragon of Fire, the pegs on the right like the dragon of Ice.
Gohan shuddered as a chill ran up his spine.
“On
second thoughts,” Nahmi changed her mind and took the nightgown from the
wall, “here, you look like you need it,” she giggled and handed it to
Gohan, who received her kindness graciously.
She opened the arched wooden door at the opposite end of the small
foyer, and placed her slip-on shoes outside it.
Gohan did likewise and followed her inside. A wave of warmth rushed
to greet him and he suddenly breathed and relaxed. The inside of the temple was very much like the inside of the
lodge, set out in the same manner and style.
The main difference was that everything was carved of stone rather
than built of wood. The
colours were warm oranges, accompanied by cool blues, but Nahmi barely
gave Gohan time to notice anything more.
She snatched a torch from the wall and hastily led him down a thin
hall to a small, disused, storage room.
She pulled a key from a chain around her neck and unlocked the
arched wooden door. They stepped inside; to reveal that the only thing that was
inside the room was a small silver spaceship.
It was shaped as a raindrop, obviously to enhance speed and
protection from entering Earth’s atmosphere, and it was carefully
concealed inside a glass case. Gohan’s
couldn’t believe his eyes, the ship was only small enough to hold an
infant child. He gaped at
Nahmi, and noticed that her eyes seemed as windows to her mind, which was
a million miles away. She
sighed and spoke softly.
“Indigo
found me in this very valley inside this very pod when I was barely even
one year old.” She walked
up to the glass casing and ran her finger over it softly.
She seemed to be tracing over something, like letters.
Gohan took a step closer, and noticed an inscription on the side of
the ship: ‘Nahmi.’
He gasped, and Nahmi gazed at him, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Someone
loved me Gohan,” she cried, her tears trickling down her cheeks.
She clutched the glass case tightly between her fingers; “Someone
loved me enough to carve my name on the side of the ship deep enough that
it could be read even after entering the Earth’s atmosphere.”
She sniffed and took a shaking breath.
Gohan had never expected her to cry like this; he had been right in
thinking that there was no possible way that he could even begin to
sympathize with her. She
continued.
“Indigo
says that this type of metal is extremely strong; so strong, that when she
dropped it on a sharp rock when she was carrying it home, that it didn’t
even look like showing a scratch.”
She heaved open the glass case and used a long, thin stick to press
a tiny button deep inside a hole on the side of the ship.
It made a beeping noise and opened; she was careful not to let any
of her tears drop onto it. “Indigo
only realized that I was inside when it opened,” she was beginning to
calm, “See this smashed glass? That’s
where Indigo broke it open to get to me.
She said I was floating in a blue liquid with an oxygen pipe on my
mouth. And see that
screen?” Nahmi pointed to a
triangular screen at the tip of the ship, on the rim of buttons that
surrounded the bubble of broken glass.
“That’s a message to me from whoever sent me here.
I can’t read it Gohan!” she wailed helplessly and flung her
arms around his neck, her tears flowed onto his shoulder and seeped
through his layers to dampen his skin far beneath.
He put a comforting arm around her.
“What if it’s from my parents;” she sobbed softly, “what if they sent me to Earth so I could grow up safely and return to them and help? What if I was actually sent to Earth to destroy it.” She lifted her head and looked into Gohan’s eyes. Her tears were quelled and her eyes were full of determination. “I’m sick of the ‘what if’s,’ I have to find out… What if we aren’t the only Saiyan’s left?”
by Lolli
