A Future now Uncertain }{ Gohan & Kasumi

[Son Gohan]

“Come on, what ‘arm would it do ya?!” A rather bulky Saiyan exclaimed, flinging his right arm in to the air, his left hand still firmly gripping the grip of a mace-like weapon.

Gohan couldn’t help but glance at the man’s forearm, the one which was holding the weapon. It was absolutely covered in firm and rippling muscle that seemingly threatened to rip through his skin at any moment! It was clear that this Saiyan’s many years as a blacksmith had turned him into a stocky and formidable warrior; one that Gohan guessed could like crush even the hardest metal within his palm. If he hadn’t been in love with his craft then Gohan would have considered extending an invite to him, though if he did the young hybrid knew the answer he would receive. No, this particular Saiyan was better off where he was; doing something he both loved and was good at.

With the slightest of laughs, though not a disrespectful one, Gohan shook his head. “How many times will we have to have the same conversation Jebur?” he asked humorously.

“Until ye give in of course!” he aptly replied, a hearty chuckle emanating from the depths of his mammoth sized being.

“You know I have no need for a weapon.” Gohan continued. “And seriously, do you think a mace would suit me?” the young hybrid took a step backwards and extended his arms outward, allowing Jebur to look at him properly. “You, the most renowned weapon and blacksmith of the Empire, should know a mace would not suit me.” At that Jebur seemed to concede, Gohan’s unquestionable logic once again bringing this almost daily debate to a close, as it always did.

“Aye,” Jebur began, putting the mace to one side and turning back to Gohan. “I know full well it wouldn’t suit ye.” he added.

“Then why would you even suggest it?” Gohan cocked an eyebrow, awaiting the response with a partially held back smirk.

“I’ll keep tryin’ with every type of weapon I can make until ye give in!” Gohan laughed at that, knowing full well that Jebur meant every word of it.

“Ok, ok, how about this; I promise that sometime soon I will come in and you can put me through your tests until we find a weapon that will suit me. How does that sound?” Jebur’s face lit up like a child seeing a mound of presents on Christmas morning.

“…ye mean that?” he asked, somewhat more dubious than he no doubt meant to.

Gohan nodded clearly. “You have my word as a Saiyan warrior.”

Reaching forward, Jebur grabbed Gohan’s right forearm and shook it. “You honour me Gohan.”

“The honour is mine Jebur.” Gohan said through a laugh, shaking his fellow Saiyan’s forearm in return. “But I must take my leave now; I’ve got a lot to do.” After a quick farewell Gohan moved away from the smiths place of work and through the bazaar until he was out of the marketplace and steadily heading towards the royal palace of Vegeta city.

He did indeed have a busy day ahead of him. He had a meeting scheduled within the palace, surprisingly not with King Vegeta – for a change. Instead it was with one of the higher up Saiyan Elites, the meetings topic specifically aimed at the seemingly reborn threat of the Tuffles, or at least, reborn from Gohan’s point of view. Gohan knew he was only being included in such a meeting because of he was in good favour with the King, and of course that carried a lot of weight on its own, perhaps his performance at the battle on the city limits was also something to do with it.

Either way he was hoping to catch a brief meeting with the King afterwards. There was still so much he wanted to speak to him about, considering that they had not been able to speak too freely in their last meeting. At any rate, it was comforting to know that it was not only he who remembered the mysterious events that had surrounded the Martial Arts Tournament on Earth, but Gohan wouldn’t truly feel comfortable until he could firmly say he knew everything that had changed in the wake of the Great Catastrophe; only then could he truly make sure that the universe was free from danger.

As Gohan approached the palace an unusual sight caught his eye. A young girl stood to the side of the road, wearing a white dress with what appeared to be crimson blood splattered down the front of it. This was not the most surprising thing either, as blood on planet Vegeta was common place. The most surprising thing was the young girl’s hair, which was bright pink. Instantly Gohan could tell that this was no Saiyan woman, besides her obviously out of place hair it was clear from the way the other Saiyans moving past her reacted to her; as if she was non-existent. Gohan was more than used to this sort of treatment.

Gohan had time to kill, the meeting wasn’t for some time and he wasn’t an integral part of it at any rate, and so he decided that he would instead quench the thirst of his curiosity. Somewhat casually, as all other Saiyans often came across as overly intimidating, Gohan moved towards the young woman. The blood didn’t appear to be hers, in the sense that she didn’t appear to be injured in any major sort of way from what Gohan could see, but just in case she was it was better for him to make sure.

Gohan was dressed in Saiyan armour, it wasn’t his own as he had not been able to find it since returning here and it seemed to be the worst sort too, but his expression and eyes was soft and light-hearted. He stopped before the young woman and looked down at her, his own height causing him to tower over her somewhat considerably. “Are you injured?” he asked softly, nodding down to the blood on her dress. “You weren’t attacked by someone, were you?” he gave a quick glance around to see if he could spot any potential attackers, but nothing seemed overly out of place.

Word Count: 1,017.

[Kasumi]

The morning sunrise burned into a pair of closed eyelids, causing the emerald orbs to flutter open, a hand lifting to cover on top of them; in order to keep her vision pure of what laid before her. She still settled to the side of the palace, the King had kicked her out, she didn't blame him, but now she stayed here for the time being in order to keep correct placement of her exact location. Sitting up from the ground she let out a long yawn, arms lifting and stretching above her head, smacking her lips together softly. It was time for breakfast, so she had to head back into town in order to find something she’d be able to get. Last time, she had her Saiyan friend Kinoko buy her food at a bar, but that was a few days ago, she was growing rather starved. Her flat dress shoes pressed into the ground, tapping softly as her white dress swayed along her legs, eyes scanning around what was for sale. Fruits, bread, meat, fish; her tongue came out of her mouth and flicked along her bottom lip, the smell rising into her nostrils as she hugged her hands against her own middle. Nobody ever paid her any attention; maybe she’d be able to sneak some food? She frowned at the thought, knowing that wasn’t right to do, but what else could she do? Starve? She couldn’t give in to that outcome. Her stomach gave a growl as her fingers slid along the wooden counter, along the papered sign of what was for sale and at what price.

Watching as the Saiyan man behind the counter turned to talk to a customer she’d curl her fingers around a loaf of bread, pulling it quickly under her dress, quickly shuffling off. She felt a heavy feeling in her heart, she didn’t like doing this, especially considering her raking in the other timeline; being a Princess and now she was some sort of “street rat”. The Saiyan man turned around and noticed a missing place in the bread stack and frowned, scanning around only to notice the girl out of place; her bright pink hair giving her away. “Stop thief!” This made her gasp and turn her head back toward him, a few guards now running after her, causing her to take off in fear rather than anything. She would have gladly given that loaf of bread back, but now she was scared of what was to become of her. Then again, this was suicide, since they were Saiyans, they could easily fly or teleport in front of her. Closing her eyes tightly she panted and rounded about a corner, diving into an alley; two guardian cats now darted at her sides; one black and the other gray, both with a crescent moon upon their foreheads. Looking down toward them, recognizing just who they were she’d smile softly, “Kurono, Kashi..”

The two cats now took form into beings much like herself, a woman with pink hair and pink eyes, a samurai sword sliding out from her waist; the other being a man with brown hairs, green eyes much like Kasumi herself; two guns sliding out from his belt and aiming toward the Saiyans. They were to be decoys for Kasumi to get away, considering they were her bodyguards. “Be careful…” She whispered, darting around a few more corners and finally coming to a stop, her back pressed up against the building. Panting heavily her head tipped to the side, noticing that nobody was following her anymore and slid down along the building, sitting down upon her bottom and pulling out the bread once more. She licked at her lips and her stomach gave a painful growl of hunger, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat it for some reason. Sighing she let her head fall back against the wall, slowly nibbling down onto the top part of the crusted part, tearing it open to get into the moist and fluffy bread inside. After having eaten a quarter of it, she pushed herself back up and wandered back to her ‘home’, just outside of the palace as she went to find her bag she had managed to take; considering it was being thrown out anyway. It was a carrion bag, one with a strap that would settle over ones shoulder. Sitting down into the grass she’d stuff the bread inside, letting out a soft sigh as she managed to save it for the time being.

Now standing back up she’d let her head tip back, gazing up toward the sky, her arms hanging loosely at her sides as she simply took an interest to the sights around here; it was beautiful, yet different than how she remembered it. A few Saiyans walked past her, not that she minded, and she kept to her peace, and to her memories. “Are you injured?” Blinking softly now she turned her head to face a man who was walking over toward her, that Saiyan armor he wore causing her to take a small step back; almost fearing that one might have followed her after having stolen that bread. “You weren’t attacked by someone, were you?” The sudden thoughts came rushing back into her head, her lips closing tightly together; she had to watch her fiancée die before her eyes, her friends and family – only her mother was the last she had seen, who told her to come to this time period. The blood splattered upon her, was theirs. That saddened gaze shifted, a soft smile spreading along her lips as she bowed toward him; considering at this time period, she’d be inferior. “Thank you… I’m alright. It’s… it’s not mine!”
Closing her eyes softly she kept a smile spread over her lips, wanting to make sure that he understood it; hopefully he wouldn’t ask just who’s, that would complicate things. Having a Saiyan before her was rather frightening, most in this time liked to pick a fight with her; but he seemed to be a little different. Slanting her eyes toward him she tipped her head to the side, starting to circle her as if a vulture. “Are you a… half breed?” She wasn’t meaning to come off rude, if anything she was rather curious.

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[Son Gohan]

At the sound of Gohan’s voice the young woman turned and immediately looked back at him. As expected she began to step away from him, clearly intimidated by his “Saiyan” appearance; he couldn’t blame her, especially if she had been through rough times at the hands of the Saiyans, as her blood stained dress lead him to believe. However, her fear soon shifted and was replaced with a small, yet soft smile. She had obviously seen his good intentions for what they were, rather than judging him by his appearance alone; either that or he was far less intimidating than he believed himself to be.

“Thank you… I’m alright. It’s… it’s not mine!” she somewhat meekly responded, closing her eyes.

If it wasn’t her blood, then whose blood was it? That was Gohan’s first line of thought after hearing her response. If it wasn’t hers then there was a chance that she had injured someone else, and their blood hand ended up covering her, or that she knew someone that was injured and needed assistance; though her lack of urgency about her made him doubt the latter. However, Gohan decided it was likely best not to press the matter, as it would not have done any good if she didn’t want to tell him. “Well that’s good.” he simply added with a nod of the head.

She eventually opened her eyes, slanting her head slightly as she looked on at the taller hybrid. Gohan continued to watch her without saying another word, intrigued by her. What was she doing here? What was she thinking? He couldn’t read her as easily as most, but he could tell that she was curious about him; or so he perceived. Slowly she began moving, circling him as a predator often would its prey, though he doubted he had anything to fear from this young woman. Finally she spoke again.

“Are you a… half breed?” she asked curiously, almost as if she’d asked the question as soon as it had come to mind, without giving it too much thought.

Gohan did not turn to follow her as she moved around him, but instead followed her with his eyes until she fell out of his line of sight. Allowing her to move behind him was a show of trust that he hoped would go a long way. “Half-breed, hybrid; take your pick.” he said, a hint of surprise mixed in his voice. Is it really that obvious? he thought, though there was only one way to find out. He didn’t speak again until she reappeared on the opposite side of him, where he began following her with his eyes again. “How…did you know?”

She continued to move around him until she was back where she originally started, directly in front of him, at which point he spoke again. “It’s obvious you’re not of this planet, or the Saiyan race…who are you? Why have you come here?” they were questions that his curiosity would not allow to go unasked. “Surely it was not to live on the streets in squalor.”

Word Count: 515.
Total Word Count thus far: 1,532.

[Kasumi]

“Half-breed, hybrid; take your pick.” This made her let out a soft giggle, hopping to a stop just before him, head tipping back to take another long glance at his face. “How… did you know?” He seemed a little shocked to say in the least, but this only had her smile all the more, eyes fluttering close while her head fell forward. It was quite obvious how he was more curious how others were, especially with all the questions he fired at her. “It’s obvious you’re not of this planet, or the Saiyan race… who are you? Why have you come here?” Her lips parted open a tad, as if to speak, but the words didn’t come. Her eyes held sadness in them; silence is all that she could give for the time being. How could she explain this? Could she? It would change the future, and then again, wouldn’t that be best? So her loved ones wouldn’t die? “Surely it was not to live on the streets in squalor.” Now taking in a deep breath she let her back press up against the building behind her, arms hugging together there as she let her head fall once more.

The explosions, screams, blood flying across her face, it all seemed to be replaying in her head and it felt like she was about to explode; scream her heart out with all the built up emotions. ‘Be strong, Kasumi…’ She heard her mothers’ voice telling her, which helped her keep a smile on her face daily, but how much longer would that last? A few pink strands fell down into her face, in order to shadow over her features, lips parting once more in order to speak, “I’m not… from this time period; yet I am from this planet.” She spoke softly, yet loud enough for him to hear, thankful that nobody else was around at this point. “I lived in a world of my people, hidden in the darkest parts of Planet Vegeta, we still do at this point… but later on, the Saiyans and hybrids all allowed our race to live with them on the planet. There’s parts of Vegeta that goes unused, so we were allowed to stay there and make it our kingdom.” Her eyes darted off to the side, watching as a Saiyan man walked by with a friend, talking amongst themselves and she waited for them to pass.

“I am Kasumi Sinclair, daughter to Chii and Reno Sinclair; the King and Queen of our race.” She pointed to the crown on her head and then dropped her arm once more, “there was this… new alien race other than ours. They seemed very keen to wanting to take Planet Vegeta, so it’s a rule to take out the weakest part of a planet first, right? To make sure they don’t get in the way and to at least hold a slight advantage… they massacred my friends and family and my…” Her hands pressed up to her chest, digits sliding along the engagement ring that rested upon her finger. Lifting her head now to look toward him, her eyes seemed to be fighting about the stinging sensation of tears that welled up at the corners of her eyes, almost a pleading look upon her face. “They all died before me… this is their blood. My mother sent me to a time capsule and… told me to go into hiding. That my bodyguards would follow soon after… and she sent me off. The fate of Vegeta unknown to me…” She couldn’t bring her smile back to her face, no matter how hard she was trying, “it’s probably a big mistake just … TELLING you this, but… I know that we can’t repeat such a disaster again.” She felt a churning in her stomach, as if she was going to vomit any minute from the reminder of just how brutally slaughtered her kind had become, and her head turned to gaze off to the side once more. She wanted to distract herself now, but it was hard to, especially after what all she had just said. “I knew you were a half breed because… so was my fiancée.” She finished off, a faint smile spreading over her lips, even the memories made her feel a little good inside.

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TWC: 1,769

[Son Gohan]

Gohan waited for the young lady to respond to his questions, as he had got slightly carried away and asked a few all at once. In truth she could have easily refused to answer anything he had asked, as it was really none of his business; he wouldn’t have minded, at times he too liked his privacy. However, after a few moments of clear thought, she glanced up at him through strands of pink hair that had fallen in front of her eyes, and she finally answered.

“I’m not… from this time period; yet I am from this planet.” her voice was quiet, loud enough for Gohan to hear but no one else, especially given the loud noises from the city. At the mere mention of ‘time’ Gohan felt his muscles tense; this was not the first time he had experienced a situation revolving around time travel, though was she really telling the truth? He remained quiet and continued to listen to her story. “I lived in a world of my people, hidden in the darkest parts of Planet Vegeta, we still do at this point…but later on, the Saiyans and hybrids all allowed our race to live with them on the planet. There’s parts of Vegeta that goes unused, so we were allowed to stay there and make it our kingdom.”

Her eyes looked to the side as a Saiyan moved past them, relatively close, and so Gohan used this break in her story to speak without interrupting her. “So they live on this planet, even now? Fascinating...” it was a rhetorical question, a statement more than anything else. The fact that another race of people had been living on planet Vegeta, in secret, all along excited him. How long had they been there? Longer than the Saiyans? Longer than even the Tuffles perhaps? Had they lived through the original Saiyan Tuffle war, and if so why did they not intervene? And then there was the destruction of the planet by Frieza, and why they had not tried to stop him? So many questions ran through Gohan’s head, but he asked none of them; it was time to listen again.

“I am Kasumi Sinclair, daughter to Chii and Reno Sinclair; the King and Queen of our race.” She made a slight motion to the crown that rested on her head. Gohan had wondered about that, and now it made perfect sense; she was in fact royalty.

“There was this…new alien race other than ours. They seemed very keen to wanting to take Planet Vegeta, so it’s a rule to take out the weakest part of a planet first, right?” Gohan nodded, that sounded like sound battle tactics, from what he had so far gathered while being in the Saiyan army. “To make sure they don’t get in the way and to at least hold a slight advantage…they massacred my friends and family and my…” The pause that followed spoke more than any words could. She had lost a great deal, and for her to struggle now when she had not while mentioning the loss of her family meant only one thing; it was a loss that Gohan had also been forced to endure. “They all died before me…this is their blood. My mother sent me to a time capsule and…told me to go into hiding. That my bodyguards would follow soon after… and she sent me off. The fate of Vegeta unknown to me…”

That had answered one of Gohan’s mounting questions, but he still had so many that remained unanswered. However, the story was clearly affecting her emotionally, and Gohan did not want to push her too fast, through fear it would not only cut her off from speaking further, but it would also greatly upset her; more so than she clearly already was. So instead he remained quiet through this pause in the conversation, merely waiting until she was ready to continue again.

“It’s probably a big mistake just…TELLING you this, but…I know that we can’t repeat such a disaster again. I knew you were a half breed because…so was my fiancée.” She added with a sense of finality about it. A faint and soft smile spread across her face slightly, the first time since she had begun telling her story. In that moment Gohan found himself envying her. He could not think of his wife and smile so easily, not with the rage and sadness that still consumed his insides.

Finally he felt as if it was his time to talk. “That is…I mean how do I know any of that is really true? I mean, how far into the future did all that happen anyway?” Gohan asked. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her, he was generally trusting by nature, but it was a somewhat outlandish story. “But if you are telling the truth…” his voice trailed off and he shook his head with a slight sigh. “Time travel…it always changes things, but now how people expect it to.” Then suddenly it struck him and he was surprised he had not thought upon it sooner, considering what he had heard. A wave of excitement rose within him, but he fought to keep it contained.

“You said your people lived alongside the Saiyan race in peace, right? That they allowed you to share their planet with you?” he knew she had said that, but he had to make sure. “The Saiyans of this time wouldn’t dream of being so kind. I need to know, if you have any idea, what changed them?” it was Gohan’s entire reason for joining his Saiyan brothers and sisters, to show them that there was a different sort of life they could lead, one free from the ruthlessness that they had grown so accustomed to. If this young woman, Kasumi, knew anything that could shed some light on how they achieved such a thing in the future, it would be invaluable. Maybe it’s because of my efforts? he briefly though, daring to believe.

Word Count: 1,002.
Total Word Count thus far: 2,534.

[Kasumi]

Kasumi had recovered almost right after telling her tale; it had felt a bit better being able to get it off of her chest. There weren’t many people that she knew that she was able to trust in this time period; however, he seemed like a kind guy who wouldn’t do something negative to prevent something like her birth. “That is… I mean how do I know any of that is really true? I mean, how far into the future did all that happen anyway?” Bringing her index finger to rest against her own chin she thought momentarily, calculating the time she had just traveled back into. “About… 100 years into the future.” She replied, waiting for anything else he’d like to question – not that she blamed him. “But if you are telling the truth… Time travel… it always changes things, but not how people expect it to.” This made her frown lightly, knowing that the future was already altered, and possibly in a bad way for all she knew; then again, anything might have been better than the kind of future she had to live through. Despite her sad tale, he seemed to hold a look of excitement upon his face, making her eyes blink a bit rapidly from such an expression.

“You said your people lived alongside the Saiyan race in peace, right? That they allowed you to share their planet with you?” Nodding her head, she listened as he continued on, “The Saiyans of this time wouldn’t dream of being so kind. I need to know, if you have any idea, what changed them?” At this her cheeks puffed up a tad, trying to remember of the tale she was once told. “Well, when I was born we were already living in peace with one another. But… I do remember Kinoko, a Saiyan friend I had made; he told me that a Saiyan had stumbled upon our hide out. Our kind would never come out, we were too frightened back then, after seeing how the Tuffles were treated. But this Saiyan he treated our kind nicely… little did we know that it was the King of their race. He seemed angry and strong, yet he held a sort of gentleness in his gaze… and he allowed us a place to stay. This Saiyan king was accompanied by another Saiyan teen, he seemed to be his friend in some sort… they worked together to try and bring peace between our races.” She was surprised that she had remembered that, yet grateful to her friend for telling her this in the first place.

“Well… the actual idea for peace could have been thought of before then, or when our two races met – I’m not quite sure. I wish I knew.” Her pouting face retorted back to normal, “but you say that they’re ruthless? Then why are you so nice? It seems to me that there might be some Saiyans that may still be kindhearted like yourself!” She grinned cheerfully, already gaining hope at such a thought which she hoped to be fact. “But… please don’t tell anyone else that may cause harm to our race.” The thought of such a thing happening was an odd one, rather than sad. If her related family members were killed, it would cause Kasumi to disappear, no longer being born – she wouldn’t be in Otherworld or Hell, she’d simply be gone. How would that feel? Blinking as she tried to imagine this, she must have appeared to be crazy now; face retorting into different ways as words and sentences formed through her mind. Suddenly she stopped all movements, blushing as a sudden rumble came from her stomach, her hand moving to rest upon her tummy in an attempt to silence the noise it had just made. Truth be told, she hadn’t eaten in a few days, aside from some of that bread she was able to nibble upon – but bread could only do so much! “Ahaha…” A small sweatdrop moved down along the back of her head, feeling a tad embarrassed for something so loud and unnecessary. “I-ignore that, ne…”

From above, a few shadowy figures stood, most likely being Kasumi’s bodyguards from earlier and they suddenly vanished with a shifting of their body. They had been watching her, and noticed how she seemed to be fine with the Saiyan before her – not seeing him as a threat, she was allowed privacy. Now that she thought about it, he could have been someone following her when she stole that loaf of bread. Bringing a hand up she smacked her hand against her face in a facepalm; feeling rather gullible that she might of spilled all that out to some sort of guard or Elite of the Saiyans. “Oi… I need to think things clearly more…” Yes, she had just said that out loud and randomly in front of Gohan – she must have come across as some sort of oddball, but for some reason it’s what people always loved about her; she could turn serious or sad situations into something rather amusing or heart-lifting from her behaviors.

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