Nameksei-Before Freezer
Chapter 4
By Cremrock
Karacol watched from afar, stunned as Neru embraced the rattled Dende. The child was almost completely obscured by the much larger warrior’s body, but Karacol stared at the two of them in silence, as a single regret filled him. He gazed at the two of them longingly for a few more moments, then turned away. His smirk and mischief at the thought of a future prank had disappeared, as he gazed up into the bright green sky, his antennae swaying gently in the wind. His eyes began to shed silent tears, as his mind echoed with one thought.
"Why?"
He began to think back to that day that he seemed doomed to regret for the rest of his life, one year ago.
"B…but… I didn’t…!" Karacol stammered, his face drooping downward.
"Karacol! You were supposed to be watching Dende! He could have died climbing up to the Saichoro’s hut! He didn’t get that cut by romping around in the grass! What on Nameksei were you thinking?!" Muuri yelled angrily.
Karacol, 16 years old, Nameksei-jin warrior in training, cowered away from Muuri, who was incredibly furious. The normally calm Nameksei-jin elder had opened up on Karacol with both barrels as soon as they had gotten back to the village. Dende, recovered from his accident although now graced with a huge bandage over his face, was toddling around somewhere in the village.
Karacol stared at Muuri’s fire filled eyes, the tears in his own eyes not much of a counter. He couldn’t believe the way Muuri was acting, as it was a shock to everything he had learned in the sixteen years he had been raised by the normally placid Nameksei-jin elder.
"But… I was trying… it wasn’t MY fault…" Karacol muttered. That was when Muuri exploded in rage.
"THAT’S IT! YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO GO TO THE NAMEKSEI-JIN FIGHTING TOURNAMENT! YOU’VE GOT TO LEARN SOME RESPONSIBILITY!" Muuri screamed. Karacol gaped. He had been training intently for this tournament, as it had been the only thing he had been talking about for days. It had permeated his thoughts until it meant more to him then almost anything in the world. Karacol stared at Muuri in disbelief, but the elder Nameksei-jin’s face was stern. Pain ran through his heart as his dream of doing well in the tournament and impressing the elders was shattered. He turned away. "Karacol! Don’t you walk away from me!" Karacol was already beginning to walk away, and for a brief moment Muuri wondered if he had done the right decision. "Karacol? Karacol! Wait!" He reached out, but the sixteen-year-old Nameksei-jin had already ran out the door, ignoring his guardian.
For how long, he didn’t know, as he sat in a small hollow he had found last year, silently sobbing. All Karacol knew through the emotional distress that covered all rational thought like a haze was that he was sad. And very, very, angry that he had been forbidden to go to the tournament. Tears scored their way down his face, normally a bright green turned to a more foresty color, the Nameksei-jin equivalent of turning red.
"It wasn’t my fault… I can’t believe I’m not allowed to go… Muuri is SO unfair…" Karacol thought vainly. It wasn’t as if he could do anything to change it. He was still sobbing when he heard a scraping sound, and through irritated, tear filled purple eyes, he gazed up and saw a tiny green figure standing over the hollow, peering down in bewilderment. He thought there was something wrong with the figure’s face, as if a piece of it was missing or… He squinted through his tears, focusing on the tiny two-year-old face, at least partially obscured by a lumpy white bandage that somehow enhanced the child’s image. Dende had only recently learned to talk, but he had always been sympathetic and never liked to see anyone cry.
"I’m sowwy, Kar-kar." Dende’s tiny voice chimed downwards. He still wasn’t very good with names, preferring to use the nicknames he had made up. "What wrong? Did you get a boo-boo?" Dende asked forlornly, as he had no idea that Karacol had been watching him and that Karacol had just been punished, being only two years old. All Dende knew was that one of the people he knew was sad.
Karacol stiffened as Dende’s words reached him. He didn’t even think. He only reacted, as he stood up and leaned down in front of Dende’s puzzled face. The child leaned back, unsure of what was happening. Karacol’s eyes were ablaze with rage, and a very mean-looking frown etched across his features.
He first began speaking in low tones, but his voice became louder and angrier.
"What’s wrong…? What’s wrong?! You’re what’s wrong!" Karacol’s tone frightened Dende, who was confused. Karacol stared, uncontrollable rage billowing up inside, even though in his heart he knew this wasn’t Dende’s fault. "I…I…I HATE YOU!" He screamed, as his ki exploded outwards. It wasn’t focused, and it didn’t have the destructive force of a blast, but it did produce a wind that forced dirt, rocks, and air in directions all around his, picking up Dende and sending him flying backwards. The child bounced along the ground once or twice, rolled, and skidded to a stop. He sat up and stared at Karacol in silence for a brief moment, purple blood trickling from his reopened gash above his eye, his bandage hanging loosely from the side of his head. Karacol’s eyes widened as he realized what he had done. Dende’s lip trembled, as his breathing began to accelerate.
"D…Dende… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean that…" He began desperately, but the damage had been done. Not so much from the bruises and scrapes, which hurt, but by the words. Dende sniffled a bit, but before Karacol could do anything else, Dende burst into tears and ran away crying, kicking up dust as he charged away, his loosened bandage waving behind him.
Surprisingly, Karacol didn’t get in further trouble. Instead life was much worse. Dende never told Muuri what had happened after Karacol had left that day, and Muuri assumed that he ran in crying because he had fallen and hurt himself. For awhile after that, Dende hardly ever said anything to Karacol, and Karacol, afraid that he would only hurt the child in someway, stayed away.
Karacol later apologized to Dende. But Dende always stayed far away from him. It had been obvious that the child still didn’t believe him, and was probably afraid that he would get mad again. After that, Karacol began to realize that fighting wasn’t nearly as important as he had thought. Neru ended up winning the tournament, as Karacol was really the only opponent that could come close to matching him. And so, Karacol relaxed more. He didn’t train nearly as hard, and played pranks on people. Everyone just assumed he was undisciplined, but he alone knew the truth. He was lonely. He played tricks on people because it was the only way he knew he could interact with them.
Karacol’s friendship with Neru suffered as well. He didn’t train nearly as hard as he had used to, and that had been the main time he had often talked with Neru. Neru seemed to tolerate his pranks before because he had been a good sparring partner, but now that he pulled a lot more pranks and didn’t spar nearly as often, Neru grew more annoyed, as the warrior Nameksei-jin just couldn’t comprehend how his number one student had fallen so much. That and… one day, Neru was a lot harsher to Karacol. Karacol knew why. Dende must have told, because Neru wasn’t in a bad mood that day, at least with any of the other Nameksei-jin he interacted with. This seemed clearly reserved for Karacol, and he didn’t see any other reason he would get angry.
It grew worse every time he saw Neru and Dende sticking together. Karacol wasn’t jealous, only deeply sad that no one ever really talked to him. Every time Dende smiled and looked up at Neru, Karacol felt a pang of emotion because he had wrecked his chances with Dende. He would have loved to spend time with Dende and Neru, possibly teaching Dende something. Maybe braving the wilderness for a few hours, or even just walking… Even something as boring as planting Ajissa’s would probably be more fun with Dende and Neru to talk to… but as far as he knew, any chances of Neru genuinely liking him, or Dende forgiving him, were gone forever.
Regaining some of his composure, but certainly not all of it, Karacol wiped his eyes and crouched, still watching Neru and Dende, who by now had recovered from his initial problem and was meditating again in an effort to hold the sensation of ki for a longer time. His heart ached and his emotions were at their peak, but he had brought this upon himself. He would not turn away.
Two hours later, a faint rush of air blew Dende’s robes this way and that, as the tiny Nameksei-jin’s shoes and feet slowly lifted a few inches off the ground, the grass springing back up and just barely touching the soles of Dende's’shoes...
Neru smiled, as Dende seemed to grow a few inches, the child’s eyes and teeth clenched. He was focusing his ki now, but it was plainly obvious that he wasn’t used to it, and he collapsed back to the ground a few seconds later. It was a great accomplishment though. Neru hadn’t learned nearly as fast as Dende was learning. The Nameksei-jin child dusted off his robes and glanced up at Neru expectantly.
"Well?" He asked. Neru quirked an eye-ridge, wondering what the child meant. Dende smiled, light from two of Nameksei’s three stars reflecting on his features.
"Did I do good, Neru?" Dende asked expectantly. Neru grinned, nodding as he helped the Nameksei-jin child up to his feet. Neru was enthusiastic about Dende’s promise, most likely in part because he had taught Dende himself, feeling joy that his student was succeeding.
"You’ve almost got it Dende! You know what ki is now, you can sense it to some extent, and now you were able to control it enough to float! Once you’ve been practicing and develop your own feel for it, you won’t even have to think about it very much! All I have to do once you prove you can float for a long time is teach you how to propel yourself, and off you go!" Neru clapped Dende on the shoulder, who giggled.
The lesson continued…
Dende strained, as Neru asked the tenth question. The wind rustled the Nameksei-jin child’s robes slightly as the grass waved lazily.
"So Dende, how’s Muuri been the past few weeks?" Neru asked. Beads of sweat trickled down Dende’s face, but he didn’t lose his composure.
"I dunno, Neru. He’s seemed good to me, though." Dende said, a tiny hint of exhaustion in his voice. Neru didn’t enjoy seeing Dende get tired, but this was necessary.
"That’s nice." Neru said wryly. "So how’s the weather been in your village, nice and clear? It rained a lot around the Saichoro’s house last week." Dende’s face fell, but after his face assumed a blank look for a few seconds, he managed to utter a reply.
"Y…yes. It’s been nice and clear, Neru." Dende replied, his hands balled into fists, his antennae slanted downwards, his eyes focused on Neru’s eyes. His robe fluttered slightly, as a bead of perspiration trickled down into his left eye. Dende flinched, and his left eye shut and watered slightly, but he still didn’t lose focus. Neru grinned. It was time to say the final thing he could think of.
"Want me to see if I can convince Muuri to let me watch you during the revival festival tomorrow?"
The look on Dende’s face was comical, as his eyes snapped open even wider and he grinned with glee. A split-second later, his face took on a surprised look and he just barely managed to gather together his focus and prevent his feet from touching the ground. Neru grinned broadly, as Dende continued to impress him, despite his mishap.
"Okay Dende, you’ve proven that you can float while focusing on other things and not letting your emotions distract your focus…" Dende’s eyes locked on Neru.
"You can stop now." Neru replied awkwardly, as Dende shook his head no. The child looked about ready to pass out.
"Dende, what’s wrong?" Neru asked. Dende’s lips tightened into a frown.
"How do I know you’re not trying to trick me?" He said pouting yet somehow managing to remain floating. Neru groaned. He leaned in and picked Dende up, swinging him up in the air with a flourish before setting him squarely on the ground.
"Because I wouldn’t have done that if I was trying to trick you. Good job Dende. I’ll bet you’re ready for a break." Neru said dryly. Dende said nothing and merely fell backwards. Neru grabbed for Dende, because he knew that the child could actually hurt himself pretty badly doing that, but he missed his grab and clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the thud he knew was coming. A moment later, he opened his eyes to see Dende grinning. He was in a vertical position, his face staring up at the sky, but something seemed wrong with the way the child was laying, almost as if… Neru clapped his hands together.
"Dende! That’s great! You managed to make yourself float right before your back touched the ground!" The child nodded, and the dust around him "poofed" up slightly as he let go of his focus and descended the remaining inch or so to the ground, pleased that Neru was proud of him. Dende sat up, and Neru sat down next to the child.
"Hey Neru, want to hear a joke I heard?" Dende asked, accepting a small bottle of water Neru pulled out of his vest. Neru shrugged.
"Sure thing Dende, let’s hear it."
"Well…" Dende began.
Karacol sighed. Even his sharp Nameksei-jin ears couldn’t pick up what Neru and Dende were saying, but he figured that it was a joke, judging by the way both Nameksei-jin burst into peels of laughter… Karacol sighed as he pictured himself sitting next to Neru and Dende, having a good time like they were. Then it hit him. He would pull a prank on Neru and Dende, which would get their attention. Then he could hang out with them for awhile! He sat down and began to ponder exactly what he could do, knocking one antenna around with his finger, which he often did when he was thinking.
Neru floated with Dende about twenty feet up in the air, wind whistling around the two of them. He looked into Dende’s eyes, and the child nodded that he was ready. Neru let go of Dende, who descended a few centimeters before focusing his ki and floating in front of Neru. Though he couldn’t propel himself yet, floating twenty feet off the ground was no different then floating two inches off the ground, provided that one had a means of getting up twenty feet in the air. Neru, perfectly capable of propelling himself and his ki, had picked Dende up with the child’s approval, and taken him up into the air. The last lesson would go much easier now that Dende could float fairly well while focusing on what Neru was saying, and it was a lot easier then sitting on the ground explaining it. Neru soared above Dende a moment, glowing with white light, then floated down in front of the child’s eye level once more.
"See that Dende? That’s the ki you use to propel yourself… you see, you project your ki outward in the opposite direction you want to go, while still floating,. It’s kind of difficult at first, but you’ll have an easier time then I did." Dende peered at Neru, taking everything he said in.
"Why will I have an easier time then you, Neru?" Dende asked. Neru began his lengthy explanation.
"Well, there’s another type of ki, the kind I used to bore a hole through that rock earlier. You can use that to fly, but it is very dangerous for anyone around you, since it’ll blast whatever it touches. I’m a warrior Nameksei-jin, so I have a natural affinity for that type of ki. You’re not a warrior though, so you don’t have the same problem… your ki as it is now should be perfect for flying, you won’t have to focus on altering it. All you have to do now is focus on floating and projecting your ki." Neru explained.
Dende glanced down at the ground, his face twisted in bewilderment.
"How will I do that, Neru?" Dende requested. Neru grinned.
"You know that feeling you had when you were learning how to sense ki? The one you felt on top of you? That was your own ki, remember? Try sensing your own ki and try to sort of… push it out in the direction opposite the one you want to go. Remember that you still have to focus on floating, but don’t panic if you lose focus. I’m here. I won’t let you fall." Dende looked hesitant, trusting Neru completely but, as flying was not something that Nameksei-jin had originally been gifted with unless they had once had wings, he was a little scared at seeing the ground from so high up, not holding on to Neru or anyone else.
Neru watched as Dende tried to focus himself, and smiled. A moment later, a white light blasted out of Dende’s left side with a sound of expelling energy, and the child screamed in surprise. Being propelled to the right about ten feet. Neru threw a hand across his forehead and started laughing after seeing Dende still floating there, staring at him. Dende’s face adopted a quizzical look, his mouth becoming a tiny o. Neru noticed his expression and stopped laughing. He flew over to Dende easily.
"Sorry Dende, I didn’t mean to laugh. It just looked pretty funny, because normally it’s easiest to expel ki out around your feet. Dende stared, and for a moment Neru was afraid that he had hurt Dende’s feelings, and that the child was going to cry. During a second that felt like a minute, Dende stared, but then giggled.
"You do it Neru!" Dende exclaimed. Neru gulped. He had spent years channeling ki through his feet, and wasn’t sure how easily he’d be able to channel the non-destructive variety through his side. He clenched his eyes shut, focused for only a split second, and…
Neru shot to the left even as a bolt of ki blasted to the right over the horizon. Dende’s giggles were nearly drowned out by the sound of a booming explosion as a mountain in the distance gained a blackened scorch mark above it’s base, which was still easily visible despite the distance. Neru gaped in the mountain’s direction even while Dende continued to laugh.
"Whoops." Was all Neru could manage to say, blushing slightly.
Karacol kicked his feet up in the air, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. He had been watching Neru and Dende, had deduced what Dende had said to Neru, and had found the proceeding event insanely funny, momentarily snapping him out of his depression and getting his mind rolling on a prank he could play on the two of them.
"Heh… I can’t believe Neru did that! I have to think about something I can do to him!" Karacol said outloud. He sat down, chuckled a bit more, and resumed thinking about the "perfect prank".
This time, Dende skyrocketed into the air, but not with one sustained ki blast. He seemed incapable of maintaining propulsion, instead channeling ki through his feet for a few seconds, stopping, then flying upwards again. Neru watched him carefully, trying to ascertain what was wrong. It wasn’t the most fluid flying he’d ever seen, but Dende was still getting somewhere. Neru smoothly glided up in front of Dende, who was relaxing for a moment.
"What’s wrong, Dende? How come you keep stopping like that? You did pretty good that time!" Dende glanced up, startled by Neru’s abrupt appearance. He sighed, being completely honest with his mentor.
"I’m afraid, Neru! I’m having trouble stopping, and I’m afraid if I keep trying and can’t stop I’ll fly off of the world…"
Neru raised an eye ridge and scratched his head.
"What would make you think that Dende? You shouldn’t have any trouble stopping, given all that you’ve learned…"
"B…but… I had a nightmare a few days ago… you were there…" Dende’s voice cracked slightly, as he began trembling and shuddering. Neru gulped. If this was any indication, then his test of being Dende’s guardian might be bumped up yet another situation… Dende acted so mature at times, he had difficulty remembering that the child was only a three-year-old and was perfectly within his boundaries to cry when he thought of something unpleasant.
"I started flying away… and you started flying after me, but you couldn’t catch up and I just went flying on and on and on until I wasn’t even on Nameksei anymore… And no one ever came to help me, even though I called and called and…" Dende didn’t finish, because the Nameksei-jin had burst into tears even as Neru put on a burst of speed and caught the child, his concentration and focus broken. Neru looked around awkwardly as the child sobbed, burying his face in Neru’s vest-clad shoulder. When he finally thought of something to say though, he spoke straight from the heart.
"Don’t worry Dende, I swear I won’t let anything happen to you…" Neru said softly. To his surprise, Dende’s sobs diminished and he looked up at the older Nameksei-jin with tear filled eyes.
"P…promise?" Dende demanded. Neru nodded. Satisfied, Dende sniffled a little more in Neru’s arms, then wiped his eyes with one of his huge sleeves. He whispered in Neru’s ear, and the warrior Nameksei-jin let go of him, the child’s robes fluttering all around as he descended a foot or two before focusing his mind and suspending himself in mid-air. Dende’s face took on a determined look, and a moment later his robes fluttered upwards as he surrounded himself with a bright light. Neru grinned.
"That’s a great way to practice, Dende! If you expel an even amount of ki in all directions you won’t go anywhere, and it teaches you control!" Neru exclaimed. Dende’s eyes narrowed, and a moment later he flew upwards, his arms outstretched in front of his face, in a manner somewhat different from the way Neru flew, normally with his arms jutting out at acute angles. He started flying downwards, changed his trajectory, and a moment later the Nameksei-jin child was flying around Neru in circles, even while Neru exclaimed,
"That’s great Dende! You’ve done it!" Dende hardly heard these kind words though, they were almost completely drowned out by his own laughing and gleeful screaming, as the world turned all around him, wind rushing across his face while his antennae flapped wildly. Dende stopped in mid-air for a second and stared at Neru, who was grinning.
"Hey Neru, wanna race?" Dende asked, full of confidence. Neru grinned. He doubted Dende had the speed to match him, but he wasn’t going to let Dende know that, instead intending to pretend to tire out and slow down, allowing Dende to win.
Hiding behind a tree nearby, Karacol snickered as he overheard Dende’s words. Not knowing Neru’s intent, he bent down and picked up a smooth, rounded rock and whispered softly to himself.
"Hehe… I think I’ll throw this rock at Neru so Dende pulls ahead and wins, that’ll bug the heck out of him!" Up above, Dende and Neru started flying to the right, slowly at first, as Neru pointed out a marker. Karacol leapt out of his hiding place as soon as Neru and Dende took off, and wound up to throw the rock… he took careful aim at Neru, and snapped his arm forward, sending the rock on it’s unchangeable trajectory...
"Wow Dende! You’re so fast, I’m having trouble keeping up!" Neru yelled, the wind rushing past him as Dende flew alongside him, in the lead by about a nose. Dende giggled and clenched his fists, as if willing himself to go faster. At that moment, Neru faked a gasp and the white light around him slowly diminished, as something whizzed past his ear.
"What the…?" Neru thought.
Karacol’s eyes widened in horror as he saw Neru’s speed decrease dramatically, glancing back behind and looking directly at him long before the rock should have hit him. He realized that he hadn’t thought that Neru might let Dende win, and he was sure by now that the rock had missed Neru. But he wasn’t so horrified that Neru had spotted him and that his prank was ruined. That was too simple. Life was too cruel. The rock’s trajectory was perfectly angled to hit Neru in his original position… or in this case, the head of the Nameksei-jin child in front of him. Karacol’s mouth opened wide, as a guttural shriek of despair escaped his lungs, a scream against the laws of physics, against the world itself.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
Neru froze, wondering why in the world Karacol was standing there screaming, and why Karacol’s face had a look of pure horror. A moment later he heard a yelp, and the look of shock on his face turned to a look rivaling Karacol’s in terms of fear. He spun around in mid-air, just in time to see Dende begin plummeting towards the blue-green ground of Nameksei. Dende was falling rapidly, his body limp, his robes fluttering upwards as the ground rushed ever closer to his form. Neru wasted no time, blasting in an arc towards Dende as fast as he was capable, maybe even faster. Dende continued to fall, now obviously unconscious. Whatever had whizzed past him, it must have struck Dende in the head or some other vital spot. Another, horrifying thought culminated his desperate race against time.
"No! I’m not going to make it!"
Despite all of his skill as a warrior, Neru was among the smartest Nameksei-jin on the planet in terms of logic and reasoning capacity. He hated with his entire being to admit it, but he knew he wasn’t going to get to Dende in time to prevent the child from being injured. There was only one thing left to do, minimize the impact. His ki control wasn’t excellent, and Neru knew that attempting to slow Dende directly might be dangerous, given his accident when trying to fly from his side earlier during the lessons. So he did the only thing he could. He focused his ki and gave Dende a mental push that was very physical, timing it just as Dende smashed into the ground with a terrible thud, causing the child to roll, allowing his entire body and not just his back to absorb some of the shock. By the time Neru had landed, Dende had rolled along the ground and was lying face up, with his eyes closed. Neru didn’t get much more of a look then that because Karacol had arrived, running at full speed, a few seconds before he had gotten a good look at Dende. Karacol bent down and cradled the Nameksei-jin child’s head, crouching over the child, whose face was covered with bruises and scrapes, with a cracked lip and a broken nose also detracting from his condition.
Karacol blocked Neru from getting a better look, as Neru spoke quickly, worried sick for Dende. He pushed his anger at Karacol aside for the moment.
"What is it! How bad is he hurt!" Neru demanded, keeping a few feet distant from Karacol and Dende, fervently hoping that it was some fluke, that the child was merely asleep and hadn’t sustained many injuries, anything.
It seemed like minutes had passed, but in reality it was only a few seconds, as Karacol turned around, his eyes brimming with tears. This surprised Neru, since the younger Nameksei-jin was almost as stern as he was, even though Neru was pretty sure he just might have been crying some himself. Karacol’s voice was slow. Resigned. Filled with depressed emotion.
"H…he’s…" Neru’s eyes widened as he recognized the look in Karacol’s eyes. He had only seen it once before, in the Saichoro’s eyes some years ago.
"No…" Neru choked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Karacol, unable to conceal his emotions, nodded slowly.
"H…he’s n… n… not breathing, Neru. D… D… Dende’s dead."
Special thanks to Tomo-chan and Dendeshe for their assistance with this story so far! I'd forgotten to mention it before, but they do deserve some credit. ^_^