By Cremrock

Slowly, the sun dipped down below the mountains, it’s golden hue diminishing. Not that it mattered. There was still the main one beating overhead. Any sensible Nameksei-jin would normally be resting at this time. The sun was the hottest in the area at this time, and when you live on a planet with no night, well, everyone had to sleep sometime, and that time was now. Near Nameksei’s second village, one Nameksei-jin wasn’t quietly dozing, however. Instead, he was in the hottest part of the area, a low valley with very little shade. And he wasn’t resting or even trying to relax. He was training.

"HHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A Nameksei-jin scream echoed throughout the valley, even as the energy that exploded from his open palm sheared large chunks off of an old boulder crisscrossed with scorch marks. Finally, the boulder was unable to take the stress and exploded, showering a dusty black garment lying on the ground with jagged chunks of rock. The Nameksei-jin warrior frowned, as huge drops of sweat trickled down his forehead. He glanced from left to right at the eight other boulders, each one about six feet tall, arranged around him. He inhaled deeply, preparing himself for the next section of his exercises today. His antennae flopped downwards a bit as his eyes narrowed. Then, in a blinding flash, he was off. The boulder to the immediate left of his field of vision shattered with a powerful side kick of his left leg, the sound resounding through the valley. Scarcely pausing at all, the warrior pivoted with his right leg and brought the heel of his left foot down on the next boulder to the left. The two rocks on the right met a similar fate at the hands of the warrior’s right leg. The Nameksei-jin then tensed and back flipped over the four rocks behind him, landing behind them and immediately bringing both fists down on one of them, then slashing outwards with open palms, as if his hands were blades. As the first boulder crumpled into pieces the slashing hands sheared the two rocks to the left and right of it into two equal halves. He stretched as he glared at the final boulder. Inhaling deeply, he opened his mouth wide, screaming. The sound of the final boulder shattering paled in comparison to the force of the Nameksei-jin’s shout. He turned and scowled at the ruined rocks around him. Nameksei’s main star continued to beat down overhead. The relentless trainer narrowed his eyes, glancing across the valley. His arms and legs had finally begin to throb with pain from the boulders and exhaustion from the heat, but he hardly noticed. It was why he was who he was, the best.

"And they wonder why I can fight so much better than the others." The Nameksei-jin remarked. It wasn’t because he was special, it was because he worked his rear end off, and knew his duty. It wasn’t because he liked to fight, although he had to admit he did enjoy it, which was rather surprising for a peaceful race like the Nameksei-jin. It was because someday, sometime, the Saichoro, Nameksei, or its people might be in danger, and the Nameksei-jin warrior was determined to protect it. That day would hopefully never come, but if it ever did, he knew he would be as ready as he could make himself. His ears perked up as he heard a distant shout. He glanced at the horizon, spying a tiny dot slowly but steadily running towards him.

"Not again…" He muttered sadly, although a twinge of joy could also be detected in his voice.

About 300 yards away, the Nameksei-jin child’s loose robes fluttered in the dusty wind. His short antennae were practically plastered to his forehead, which was drenched with sweat, caused mainly by the heat, but also by the large bucket the child was struggling to carry, while still running as fast as his tiny three year old legs could carry him. His maroon colored vest fluttered behind him. The child didn’t care though, a smile stretching upwards on the sides of his face. He had finally sighted his destination, and knew he would be at his goal soon.

"Neru!" The child shouted happily. The older Nameksei-jin squinted at him, scooping up his dusty robe from the ground and using it to wipe his forehead before tossing it over his shoulders. He smiled as the child approached, despite his reaction upon seeing the child on the horizon. By now the child had slowed to a walk, his care for keeping the bucket from tipping over outweighing his urge to dash the rest of the way, now that he was near his goal. Neru began walking towards the child, even as the child eased the bucket down and toppled over in an effort to catch his breath. By the time he felt like he could move again, he was laying in the shadow produced by his taller sibling, who was wearing a small expression of concern that widened back into a smile when he recognized the child’s bright eyes staring up at him in joy and awe.

Still smiling even while shaking his head, Neru admonished,

"Now Dende, I know you like to help me out when I go training, but I thought I’d explained to you the dangers of a young Nameksei-jin going out in this heat." He smiled as he extended one sweat covered, green skinned hand. Dende grasped it, and the taller Nameksei-jin pulled the child up with about as much effort as lifting a twig.

Dende’s adorable three year old grin widened as he gazed at his idol, his tiny voice responding.

"But Neru, it’s so hot out today! I felt sorry for you, so I figured someone should bring you a drink!" Dende indicated the bucket, filled with clear water. Neru grinned, and bent down to pick up the bucket. He took a small sip and sputtered, yanking the bucket free from his face to glance at Dende with an expression of disbelief. For a brief moment the child’s face fell, as he thought he might have done something wrong. Neru caught onto this and quickly grinned, as disappointing the child had not been his intent.

"Dende! Not only did you walk all the way out here in this heat, but you went to the far side of the village to get the best water too?" The child glanced up and nodded, his smile rapidly returning. Neru stared at him for a moment. "Thanks a lot, Dende! Now here, you take a drink, I don’t want to explain to Muuri how you sneaked away and walked here all this way in the heat before passing out!" Neru leaned down and handed the bucket back to Dende, who clutched it awkwardly with both hands and took a long sip, even while spilling some of it, saturating the front of his robe.

The Nameksei-jin child wiped the area around his mouth with one sleeve, and offered the water back to Neru, who took another drink. Dende loved to help out Neru. Indeed, when it wasn’t the dry season and hadn’t been quite so hot, Dende practically followed Neru around wherever he went. Right now, the only thoughts running through Dende’s mind were, "I did it, I helped out Neru all by myself!"

Neru tilted his head, acknowledging Dende again.

"So Dende, just how did you find me? I could have sworn everyone was asleep when I left the village, and as you know I don’t commonly announce to everyone where I’m going." Neru said warily. Dende giggled, clasping his two tiny hands over his mouth.

"I wanted to surprise you, so I pretended to be asleep. It was easy to sneak out of the village, but not so easy to sneak out of the house." He remarked brightly. Neru nodded, thinking that next time he’d better check and make sure everyone was asleep before leaving. He didn’t want to worry Dende, but he was concerned for the child’s safety, and not primarily because of the heat. Dinosaurs roamed some areas around the village, and he didn’t like the idea of one finding itself a tiny Nameksei-jin snack. Granted, he knew that the dragonballs could bring the child back from the dead, but it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

The last time the dragonballs had ever been used had been twenty years ago, during that awful time when the Saichoro’s eighty-seventh child had tragically fallen off that cliff. Neru regretted that day, partly because he wished he had been in the area watching the child, and partly because of the feeling of helplessness he had felt at being unable to comfort the Saichoro. He remembered the details vividly. One moment, he was talking with the Saichoro peacefully, and the next… the look of horror on the elder Nameksei-jin’s face had been stunning, as the Saichoro informed Neru that one of his children had died. The sadness in the Saichoro’s tone had been so sorrowful that Neru had shed tears himself, despite the rational knowledge that the child would soon be back. Neru pushed the depressing thought out of his mind. That had been long ago, and it didn’t matter now. It was in the past. He noticed Dende staring up at him, his smile diminishing slightly. Neru mentally kicked himself, as he had probably taken on a sad expression at those thoughts without even realizing it.

"Oh yes, that’s right, isn’t Muuri taking care of that little brother of ours?" Neru asked, mostly so the child wouldn’t pick up on Neru’s sudden soberness. Dende nodded.

"Yes, the elders decided that Muuri would be taking care of Kargo, since I’m the only other child he’s watching. He still won’t let me hold him though, he says I’m not old enough." Neru shrugged, his strict mental and physical training already doing its part to keep him from thinking about the tragedy again.

"Don’t worry about it Dende, I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt the lil’ guy. You probably just need to grow a bit. You’ll be allowed to hold baby Nameksei-jin eventually…" Neru grinned before continuing. "Anyway, I’d better take you back to the village. It’s still hot out, and you could probably use a nap if you haven’t gotten any sleep yet." Dende glanced down at the ground.

"But Neru… I’m not," Dende tried very hard to suppress it, but suddenly yawned. Neru chuckled.

"Come on Dende, I’ll give you a ride on my shoulders!" He said, laughing.

"Wow! Really?" Dende exclaimed, beaming. Neru nodded, his two antennae dancing up and down in the air in conjunction with his forehead.

"If he thinks riding on my shoulders is fun, that kid’s going to be in for a shock when I teach him how to fly!" Neru thought. He leaned down and picked Dende up, who giggled as Neru flipped him upside down once as he eased him onto his shoulders. Neru’s antennae swayed gently in a refreshing, cool breeze. He glanced up.

"Ready?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah!" Dende exclaimed. Neru started walking back towards the village slowly. Dende giggled and chatted with Neru about how the water had tasted and what he had done with the other children lately for about five minutes. Then his voice slowly died down. Neru’s eyes widened in concern as Dende went limp on his back, but he calmed down a second later when he heard the child’s quiet snore. Not wanting to expose the child to the searing heat any further, Neru shifted Dende around so that he was holding him more securely in his arms. A moment later, a small cloud of dust surrounded Neru as he floated into the air. He started flying towards the village slowly, a quiet breeze whipping around the two of them. Neru glanced down at the sleeping Dende.

"I swear, nothing’ll stop that kid when he’s determined. It doesn’t matter what you’ll put in front of him, if he’s determined to do something he’s going to do it, whether you tell him to stay at home or not." Neru thought.

He smiled, recalling the first time Dende’s determination had shown through. The elders from the six villages had gone to consult with the Saichoro about the Ajissa harvest that season. As was his custom, Neru was present with the Saichoro and the elders. He only did it so the Saichoro would know that he would always be there to protect him. The Nameksei-jin race was peaceful. No one would have ever dreamed of harming the Saichoro or one of their brothers. After all, he was their father. At any rate, Dende was about two years old and had just learned to talk, albeit poorly. Typical Nameksei-jin children didn’t have to rely on their parent or in these cases their brother, for long. They still lacked mental maturity at a young age, but they didn’t need to be held all the time, in fact, Dende had begun walking around quite a bit at that age. After the meeting, Dende was going to meet his father, the Saichoro. Of course he had seen him before, but Neru and the others assumed he was so excited because he had been too young to remember the previous times. Muuri had been discussing which Ajissa plants had to be transplanted to a better field when there was a strange rapping on the door. A moment later, to the surprise of everyone in the room, Dende toddled in. His clothes had huge tears in them, his hands were covered in dirt, and a minor gash was bleeding just slightly above his left eye. He glanced up at the Saichoro in awe and had smiled widely before rocking back on his heels and passing out due to exhaustion. Afterwards, Muuri gently scolded him, because although the elders all agreed that climbing the rock spire on which the building sat was an incredible thing for a child to do, it had been very high up, and the cut on Dende’s head was evident. Clearly he had gotten lucky, because a fall just might have caused the child to lose his life. Apparently he had sneaked away from the Nameksei-jin who had been watching him when he had begun his climb. Still, that had been enough to impress Neru. He had always had a soft spot for Dende, but then again that had been a fond memory as well.

There was some ancient Nameksei-jin tradition that the first person a Nameksei-jin looked at immediately after hatching would be a close friend for life. Neru had been present when Dende had been hatched, and had been very surprised when Dende had gazed at him. Muuri had also been present at that hatching, and had told Neru to hold their newest brother. Neru had made an effort to become better with children after that. Still, he had to admit that during his life some of the Nameksei-jin children had been afraid of him. He wasn’t sure if it was just the fact that he wielded tremendous power compared to some Nameksei-jin, or if it was because he was a fighter type. Dende never seemed to mind though.

Neru snapped out of his thoughts as he neared the village. He landed softly in the center of the village, for most of the Nameksei-jin were still asleep. He ducked into Muuri’s home, and glanced at the table, where the elder Nameksei-jin was quietly dozing, holding baby Kargo. He briefly checked the baby, in case Muuri’s lack of attention was harming the child in some way, but the baby was warm and safe in Muuri’s arms, his tiny chest rising and falling as he slept. Neru walked over to Dende’s tiny bed, and eased the child down gently. He began to walk out of the hut, and glanced back at Dende, whose eyes were still shut tight. Neru smiled slightly, reaching down and tousling the child’s antennae slightly before turning back towards the door.

"Thanks for the water kid," He mumbled softly, stepping back outside. His workout had gone well, and though he had tested himself and the aching in his body had confirmed his knowledge that he had trained hard, he knew he was far from invincible, and although he would never let on to anyone else, the heat had indeed been draining. It was time for a nap of his own.