Chapter 7
Bulma opened her eyes with a start. Something had jerked her awake. She looked up to see two old-looking creatures that somewhat resembled Piccolo.
"Ah, you're awake!" The shorter one said.
Bulma felt her head for bumps. She couldn't feel any. She looked around in amazement. She didn't recognize her surroundings at all. Could she...?
"Am I dead?" Bulma wondered aloud. The two creatures laughed.
"No, you're not dead," the larger one said. "But you and your companions had quite a nasty spill. When we found your ship you were all still inside, but unconscious. We took you here and gave you emergency medical treatment. It's a good thing we found you when we did, because otherwise you might not have survived."
"Thank you," Bulma said gratefully. "Are my friends okay too?" The larger creature nodded, smiling. Bulma hopped out of her bed and walked over beside Kuririn's and Gohan's beds. She knocked on their foreheads to wake them up.
"Bulma!" Kuririn exclaimed. "You're alive!"
"I'm glad you noticed," she chuckled. "You don't look so dead yourself."
"Whoa!" Gohan gasped. "Are they Nameks?" He pointed at their strange rescuers.
"Yes," the short one said. "My name is Raichi, and this is Zarkuro. We found you three at the bottom of a cliff and brought you here for treatment."
"Thanks!" Kuririn and Gohan said, bowing their heads in appreciation.
"Come with us," Zarkuro said. "We have a meal waiting, if you'd like to share it with us."
"I think we'd like that very much," Bulma said, glancing at her companions, who were nodding vigorously. They followed Raichi and Zarkuro to a room where a table was prepared for them. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan sat down while Raichi and Zarkuro brought the food to the table. The two Nameks lifted their glasses as if to make a toast.
"To your success in locating the dragonballs," Raichi said, then took a drink. Zarkuro nodded and did the same.
"How did you know about that?" Bulma gasped.
Raichi giggled, and Zarkuro levitated his glass in the air for Bulma and her friends to see. Bulma didn't know whether to clap or levitate her own glass. She was unfamiliar with the customs of these two. Was it possible that Zarkuro was just showing off?
"Wow!" Gohan said. "You guys know how to control your ki too?"
"Yes," Raichi said, levitating a cigar to his mouth. "There are many things you don't know about us. But we know a good deal about you."
"How?" Bulma asked suspiciously. She did not like the idea of some strange alien reading her intentions so clearly. It was too great an invasion of privacy, in her opinion.
"Let's just say we have our ways," Zarkuro said. He and Raichi looked at each other in agreement.
"Hey," Kuririn said. "I remember that Kami knew a lot about the people he met even before he met them. Maybe all Nameks are like that."
Bulma wasn't so sure. Piccolo certainly hadn't known she could fight when he saw her on Roshi's island. These old Nameks made her suspicious.
"How is our spaceship?" Bulma asked them.
"Come," Raichi said. "We will show you." Bulma and her friends followed the old Nameks outside to a nearby storage shed.
"There," Zarkuro said, once they were inside the shed. He pointed to the ship, parked in the end of the building. "We were able to repair the structural damage you sustained in your fall, but as you can see, there are still a few superficial dents and cracks."
"Oh, thank Kami!" Bulma exclaimed, running around to the back to inspect every angle. "It looks as if all that's wrong with it is a few bumps and scratches! I think we'll have no problem getting it off the ground!" She inspected the reverse thrusters, and to her surprise, found that they were in perfect working order.
"You really did fix it!" She exclaimed, walking back toward the group. "Thank you very much. We owe you both a lot for this. Is there anything we can do to repay you?"
"Don't worry about that," Raichi said, shaking his head and smiling mischeviously. "You've already given us everything we need."
"Huh?" Kuririn asked. "What did we give you?"
"What my partner means," Zarkuro said, glaring at Raichi, "is that a good deed is its own reward. We could ask nothing more of you three than the gratitude you've shown us. Now," he said, turning toward Bulma. "What do you say we begin looking for those dragonballs? We have about eight hours of daylight left. I'll have to stay here in case one of our fellow Nameks needs me, unfortunately. Raichi and I are doctors, you know. But Raichi can go with you. That is, if you want a guide."
"Yeah!" Gohan exclaimed. "We'd love to have someone to guide us, right guys? I mean, Bulma's smart and everything, but she could get us lost."
"What?! Lost?!" Bulma said angrily. "Why you little...! Just who was it that piloted the ship, anyway, you ungrateful little..."
"Besides," Kuririn broke in. "We'll find the dragonballs a lot faster with four people, right Bulma?" He looked at her as if to beg her not to explode. She took a couple of deep breaths and allowed herself to cool down.
"Yeah, you're right, Kuririn," she sighed. She took out her dragon radar. She wasn't really too mad at Gohan anymore, but she still didn't want Raichi along. She didn't trust him or Zarkuro. Something about those two gave her the creeps. She was glad that they had rescued her and repaired her ship, but her intuition told her that she should keep a close eye on them, at least for now. Oh well. There was no time for such musings now. Her dragon radar had already picked up on all seven dragonballs, three of which were very closeby!
"Look!" Bulma said, waving at Gohan and Kuririn. "There's three of them not too far off!"
"All right!" Gohan whooped. "Let's go get 'em, Bulma!"
"Yeah," she said, smiling. She took out her pack of capsules and threw out the one for her medium-sized air car. Bulma, Kuririn, and Gohan began to pile in, but Raichi stopped them.
"Hold it," he said. "I wouldn't advise using such a small vehicle for a trip into our wilderness. There are many dangerous beasts running free around here. Let me take you in my vehicle. It's slow, but it's safe."
"We'd better listen to him, guys," Kuririn said, climbing out of the air car. "He knows this place better than we do." Bulma could see from the nervous expression on his face that Kuririn was envisioning dangerous, man-eating monsters or something along those lines. Sometimes he could be a real coward. Oh well. Even so, he still had her beat in training, and besides, she didn't want to cause any more outbursts, so she relented and got out of her car. Gohan got out too, and she recapsulized it and put it back in her capsule case.
They all piled into Raichi's noisy, slow pod took off for their first dragonball. Bulma was so excited that she forgot all her previous apprehensions. This was just like the old days of dragonball-hunting. Those were some of her fondest memories. She could almost taste the danger and adventure. She loved hunting down those glistening jewels that could help one achieve his most treasured of dreams. But it wasn't even the wish that she loved most. It was the hunting.
The first dragonball turned out to be somewhere in a nearby river. Bulma graciously let the boys have the honor of stripping down and diving in the cold water for the orange orb. She may have been excited, but she wasn't stupid. She watched closely as each one went down and popped back up again a few minutes later for air.
"Any luck?" She asked Gohan, the first one up.
"No," he said, shivering. "Are you sure the dragonball is in here, Bulma?"
"I'm positive," she said confidently. "Keep looking. It's down there somewhere." Gohan nodded. He dove down again. She had to give the little squirt credit. He sure had determination, and a lot of spirit. He was growing up to be just like his father in a lot of ways. Goku... She wondered how he was healing. She thought maybe she should call back home and see how things were there. But her thoughts were interrupted by a loud splash below. Raichi popped up out of the water, holding up what else but a dragonball! Bulma jumped up and clapped her hands together happily. One down, and only six more to go!
On to the next Chapter!
