___Chapter 27___

A gentle rain, all that was left of the storm, was falling slowly and quietly when her eyes slid open. Her mind was filled with another one of her dreams.

In it, she had been walking through a strange place. She was alone and freezing, deep in the middle of some alien forest far from her home. Exhausted from walking for hours, and dying of thirst for she dare not drink anything in this place where trees hid the sky, she fell to the ground, unable to take another step. But the place she had chosen was not a good one.

A creature she had never seen the likes of in her life was coiled in front of her. It looked like a tail with a head, no arms or legs, and it's eyes scared her. She couldn't move, for her energy was gone, and the tail creature's gaze seemed to be hypnotizing.

Then it struck forward, and dug it's fangs (which she had not seen before), into her arm. Oboe screamed with whatever breath was in her lungs when she felt something enter her bloodstream.

The poison flowed through her, and the pain was horrible. Her systems could not handle the alien assault inside her body, and went into total lockdown. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't even cry.

Oboe should have died right then and there, but by some twist of fate, she did not. Her body just froze. Every process in her body stopped dead in it's tracks. But her eyes still could see. The creature slithered away, leaving Oboe staring ahead, silence filling the world. It was at that point she had woken up.

"Wha... who woke me up? And when did I fall asleep?" Oboe wondered aloud, her voice wavering as she sat up and looked around. There was someone behind her. Damaiou.

Oboe smiled aloud "Damaiou, they said that you attacked my brother. I don't believe them though. Palidor must have mistaken someone else for you."

"Oboe..." he whispered, but she didn't hear him.

"So, do you know who did it? Because I swear, whoever did that to him is going to get hell from me!!"

"Oboe..." he said again, irritably, trying to get her to stop, the guilt was getting unbearable. but she continued, oblivious to the torment in his mind.

"I always trust you to get the facts straight. So you can tell..."

"Oboe! stop-"

"...me who hurt my brother? And why do you keep trying to stop me?" Her eyes were so innocent, trusting, he felt guilty just looking at her. And she still went on. The next words out of her mouth broke his heart.

"I can't believe Palidor said you hurt my brother. He went as far as to say you attacked him! But I know you would never, ever do that. Only an evil person would. Ragnoroc is so friendly and nice to everyone. He might not quite understand things sometimes, but that's nothing to yell about. Whoever did that, I'm soo gonna kick their ass. I like you alot, and I know you'd never hurt me like that. That person has to be the most..."

"Oboe!!! Please stop! There's something I have to tell yo-"

"..horrible bitch who ever lived, and they should die a..."

"GOD DAMN IT, OBOE!!! Shut the HELL up!" Damaiou cursed/screamed, unable to hold out and listen to her anymore. He grabber her by the shoulders and yelled "Oboe, please! You're killing me with all this! I WAS the one who attacked Ragnoroc! I DID IT! Just stop talking to me! I can't take it anymore!'

Then Damaiou's arms collapsed to his sides, his head bent so his face was out of view, and he turned his back to her, and said in a near-whisper "Go ahead. Scream at me. Take back everything nice you've ever said about me. Just please, stop trusting in me so much. Sanchiro said I have alot of evil in me. More than a normal person should. And I guess that's coming out now. So you might as well tell me now that you hate me. I don't know why I hurt Ragnoroc. When.."

His voice cracked for a second, but he swallowed it, and continued "When Sanchiro was holding you, and you weren't moving at all, I was scared that you were dead. I.. I like you too Oboe, and I really didn't want to loose you. And when the kids ran over, Ragnoroc said you were dead, and all the fear, all the... the hatred, just escaped from me. And I attacked him. So hate me. But for the love of god, stop praising me!"

Damaiou's eyes welled up with tears, but he did not cry. Any gentleness the rain had held was gone, now it only stripped the warmth from his body and made him shiver. The rain wasn't the only thing making him shake, though.

Oboe sighed, eyes dim, and looked at her friend, one arm wrapped around herself. "Damaiou, I don't hate you. It's OK. I can tell you didn't mean it. Now look at me. We're friends, and friends make up when they have problems. Ragnoroc's gonna be alright- Katass is taking care of him. Maybe he'll even loose that scar someday. Bur we can heal this wound in our friendship much more easily. Just turn around, shake my hand, and then follow me back to see Sanchiro. I have another one of my dreams to tell him about." She reached out her hand expectantly, a gentle smile on her face.

Damaiou's eyes flew open, and he jerked his head toward her. Not believing he had been given a second chance. Damaiou smiled, and gave her his hand. And the two flew off to where the children and Katass were.

---

Quite a stir was created when the two children landed, not too long after Oboe had flown off in tears. Now she was smiling, and standing next to Damaiou, holding his hand. He wasn't exactly smiling (he never really did) but his face showed happiness.

When asked what had happened, Oboe only quipped "We've come to an understanding."

Katass just blinked once or twice, shrugged his shoulders, and said "Well, I've got to get back to work."

Oboe nodded, but then her ears perked up. Something was missing.. "Katass-san, where's Palidor?"

Katass stopped walking, and pointed at the tree. "Thanks!" Oboe yelled as she took off on her feet in that direction.

"Wait for me!" Damaiou yelled as he raced off after her.

---

Oboe gazed up the tree, and the sense of awe she always got while looking at overcame her, but she pressed it down. She was busy trying to see if Palidor was in his usual spot. The sound of sniffling from his favorite branch told her yes.

She didn't want to spook him, so she flew up slowly. She landed behind him on the limb, and looked at him for a second.

He had his knees drawn up in front of his face, with his arms pulled around his knees, and his chin pressed against his chest. His longer antenna was sticking out below his arm, the shorter one plastered to his face, and his vest fluttered behind him slightly as he choked out little sobs.

Oboe's eyes narrowed slightly, and she crawled forward until she was right behind him. Then she put a hand on his head and said "It's ok Palidor. Everyone's fine."

His head jerked up, and he stared at her in shock, his orange eyes still glistening with the now-ended tears.

Oboe giggled, and laughed out loud when he shouted out her name and hugged her tight. Oboe returned it, and smiled upon seeing him feeling better.

Damaiou just stood at the base of the tree until Oboe made a 'come here' motion with her hand. Then he pushed himself into the air and hovered next to the two.

When Palidor saw Damaiou, his pupils dilated quickly, and he glanced at Oboe quickly, trying to see what was going on.

"I said everyone's alright now. That means him too." Oboe said.

Palidor nodded, and jumped to the ground with the other two. "Damaiou, what happened back there?" he said, still a bit confused.

"I.. don't really know. But I didn't hurt him on purpose. I was just upset, and lost control.. or something." Damaiou stated, his eye ridges drawn together.

Palidor shrugged his shoulders, and said "Well, good to see you back pal."

---

When Sanchiro appeared, Oboe asked him to talk in private. Then she told him about her dream.

Sanchiro nodded, and affirmed her that it was indeed what she thought. He looked at her, and said "But if you wished to tell me in private, why did you bring Damaiou along?"

Damaiou, standing next to Oboe, looked up. "Because he's my friend."

"I understand." Sanchiro smiled. {{In more ways than you'll ever be able to comprehend, young ones.}} he said silently in his mind.

All three turned upon seeing someone land nearby. It was the three warriors from before. The first warrior, who wore a sleeveless black vest, a white collar around his neck, and white pants stepped forward and said "Sanchiro-sama, we've already spoken to Katass-san, and have been meaning to speak to you of these two children.. They show extraordinary power, and.."

"You wanted to know if they are aloud to train with the fighters. You would have to ask them about that." Sanchiro said, knowing where the conversation was going.

Damaiou and Oboe went absolutely blank. Them, warriors!?! It was hard to believe.

"Well, I guess I'd be ok with that. Damaiou?" she answered, glancing toward the one in question at the end of her statement.

"Where you go, I go. Of course I'll come." he replied with confidence.

The third warrior, who wore a short white vest and red pants ending around his knees eyed him and said "You understand that it won't be simple. We don't lead an easy life, boy."

Damaiou smiled coolly and said back "You just watch. We can take it."

The warriors looked at each other and smiled. It was going to be interesting to have someone new in camp. There were currently only eight fighters. It was rare that any of the namekians could leave their peaceful ways and learn to fight. Now there would be ten of them, and the one who trained them all. Of course, their teacher was not a namek. He had gotten stranded here 15 years ago and, with permission, picked eight youths with potential to become fighters.

Now it time to watch someone else learn the hard way what it meant to be trained by Ratal.