FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
Jade Tatsu
Author of 26 Stories |
Before we begin, I have to give my sincerest thanks to Kaeli-san, Sylv-chan, Rebecca-san and Yasai-san for pre-reading for me. They have really helped to get rid of some of the glitches that bug fic writing. Thank you everyone.
The Past: Dimenice-sei - Year 734 - 15 years before the beginning of Dragon Ball (Before a certain monkey tailed boy met a gorgeous blue haired girl and the adventure began.)
"Okaasan!" The child screamed as he ran through the dark vaulted corridors of the temple. His face was twisted in horror, tears streaming from eyes screwed shut. Only instinct and rudimentary training kept him from running into things.
"Okaasan!" The plea came again as he barreled through the outer doors into the sun, fleeing the temple. The doors boomed hollowly as they came to rest.
The group gathered before the temple looked up as the child ran blindly towards them. In all recorded history, this had never happened and it could not be considered a good sign.
By luck, training or perhaps the bond that exists between all mothers and their children, the child unerringly ran to her comforting embrace. He collapsed, sobbing, not really hearing the soft noises Sansert was making. He only knew that he was safe, protected.
"There now, Morphine-chan. You're safe. Nothing will hurt you."
A soft 'tap' came from within the darkened temple. It was followed by another and another. And they were becoming louder, closer. Something was following the boy out.
"Wah! Okaasan!" The boy strained into his mother, almost knocking her over. He did not yet know his strength. The strength he would use to protect his race.
"There now. Shhh!" Sansert crooned, snaking her tail around and rubbing it along her son's in a gesture of peace and love. This was not how she had been told her son would react to visiting the Oracle. Not at all.
Slowly, very slowly, almost seeming to materialize from the dark shadows of the temple the Oracle emerged. He wore a long robe, faded with age and his tail dragged behind him. He carried a staff that was responsible for the tapping noise. His eyes were blue, like most of his race but they were clouded over, sightless. But not completely so, for his was the vision of the future and things not of this world. The dust motes seemed to flock in the air around him, dancing the in sun and giving his outline a soft luminance. He looked towards the boy, eyes almost sad.
"What did you do to him?" Sansert snarled, rising slightly and snaking her tail protectively around her son, drawing him close. "What did you tell him?" Her green eyes snapped dangerously. She was not a warrior but she was the next best thing.
The Oracle looked up at her, questioningly. "I told him nothing but the truth. I answered his questions." The Oracles voice was harsh but not from rebuke. It was just the harsh, raspy voice of an old man.
"As if a child could ask something that could cause that much response," Sansert flared, rising fully to her feet. "What did you tell him?"
"I answered his questions," the Oracle repeated.
"With respect Oracle," one of the Priests broke in. "I think what the Mother of the Chosen One is trying to ask, is what upset him so much? What questions did the Chosen One ask?"
The Oracles face clouded. Visions were not customarily shared with those not present but these affected them all. He sighed before answering. "The Chosen One asked of the future, of their strength and of their death," the Oracle finished quietly.
"Strange things for a child to be asking," another Priest murmured but he was answered immediately by another.
"Not the Chosen One, for they are this worlds defense and we will need their protection soon enough."
"And how did you answer?" the Priest who had initially questioned the Oracle continued, ignoring the conversation of his brothers.
"I answered with the future. The planet's future is still mired in fog that I cannot penetrate. There are too many things which are still to happen, too many whims and decisions which must be expressed," The Oracle paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing. "As for the Chosen One's strength, he will be the strongest in the universe but it is the manner of his death which caused distress."
"How dare you?" Sansert screamed, as Morphine clung to here tighter. "How dare you tell a child of their death?"
Several priests moved forward to comfort her and to restrain her should she move to attack the Oracle.
"Mother of the Chosen One, I do not dare. The child asked and I am bound to answer. He will be killed in dishonor by one who has great honor, by one the universe is waiting for, by one we should offer our prayers to." The Oracle finished, not seeing but still perceiving the horrified looks he was receiving.
"What does he do to deserve such a fate, to bring dishonor to our race?" a priest asked in a trembling tone. The honor of the Chosen One was the honor of their race. To die in dishonor...
The Oracle shook his head. "That, I may not tell you. But I am not without hope. There are two visions before me and the one I have uttered can be turned aside and death shall come in old age, surrounded by peace."
"How?"
"He must answer this question in his heart and in his soul and he must believe his answer with everything he is. It is the question which faces all warriors and leads to two paths."
"A question?" Sansert queried. "That's all?"
"That is all, Mother of the Chosen One. But he must answer it correctly and he must believe in his answer." The Oracle looked back down towards Morphine, his face changing from one of gentle explanation to one of cold inquiry. "I ask you again Chosen One," his voice was like a whip. "Who has more power - the one who wields power, or the one for whom the power is wielded? Your fate rests on your answer." The Oracle glared down for a few seconds more before turning away, leaning heavily on their cane and beginning to walk back into the temple.
"Stupid Oracle," Morphine whispered from his place on his mother’s leg. "Stupid question," he hissed, clenching his fist. "I already know the answer. I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER," he screamed, turning around savagely, knocking his mother over as he flung a brilliant sphere of red energy at the Oracles back.
With surprising speed and agility the Oracle turned and batted the ki ball away, sending it into the sky with his cane. He looked back, directly into Morphine's red eyes, eyes that marked him as the Chosen One. "Who has more power - the one who wields power or the one for whom it is wielded?" He repeated as the doors boomed shut, preserving the temples sanctuary once again.
Outside the Oracle could hear several Priests helping Sansert to stand but he could also hear Morphine's voice. "I know the answer! I already know the answer!"
He shook his head sadly and slowly walked deeper into the temple. "You know one truth, Chosen One, but you do not comprehend the others." The noise from outside slowly faded, leaving him alone with the tap of his cane and the steadily increasing roar of the fire that burned unfueled at the heart of the temple.
The Oracle looked sightlessly at the flame but there was no further vision forthcoming and for once the Oracle was glad. "May the Kaio's have mercy," he whispered, seeing again the vision just past.
The Past: Dimenice-sei - Year 737 - 12 years before the beginning of Dragon Ball
The fire screamed. It paused and then screamed again.
The Oracle burst into the inner sanctum of the temple but then he skidded to a halt as the vision came to him.
A woman, not one of his own race but another, one he did not know... No, he did know. Saiyajin. It all became clear when he saw the woman's tail. She lay in the flames. Her belly was extended with child and she was screaming with the agony of birth. A scream the flames were matching. All around her a war was being waged but she was not without protection. Several others of her species were covering her but there was not one to support or comfort her.
The Oracle lowered his head for an instant. Her fate was decided but it was that of the child’s he had been brought here to see. That of the child... The flames screamed again but the Oracle did not hear.
"Masaka..." He fell to his knees, his cane clattering loudly against the stone floor. He tried to close his eyes but the vision continued. The fate of this child. The fate of Gods rested in their hands, and the fate of all that would be. But to them, that would be secondary to their life, something they did not consider important.
Born in battle. They would live only in battle, love only the conflict. That was the fate for this child. Fighting, destruction, killing. That was the only life they would know, and it was the only life they would want.
"No... There is always two, always more than one path for a child, even the child of a Saiyajin," the Oracle gasped, pleading with the vision.
Slowly, reluctantly the other path became clear. But the force of this destiny was weak. The path was a mere fog, whisper of a shadow. And while it was also one of battle, it was one of hope, of protection, of love. The Oracle could feel it, this was the path the universe wanted, this fragile vision. The Oracle shook his head. It would not be, it could not be, there was something that was standing in its way. The vision of fire would be.
The fire screamed again as the woman threw back her head. He eyes were shut but tears still streamed down her face in agony. This was not an easy birth. Her hair fell around her, matted with sweat and blood and the armor she wore was singed from combat. There had been a few close calls but she would live long enough to birth this child. He almost wished that she wouldn't. She screamed once more, her face twisted with effort and then fell silent.
And then a new sound emerged. A thin high wail of a new born. One of the woman's protectors turned around and picked up the still bloody child, severing the link between mother and child, as the woman slowly sat up and arranged her cloths to give herself a little more dignity. Across the vast of space, the Oracle heard the rough voice, "Here!" and watched as the babe was thrust into its mother’s arms. "Can you move? We have to leave before we are pinned down."
The woman nodded slowly. Apparently she was unconcerned at the battle being waged around her and the prospect of moving so soon. "Hai," she breathed deeply. "Just give me a second."
The other warrior nodded and turned, casually releasing several ki blasts that obliterated several enemy soldiers who were trying to break their defense. "Get ready to move!" The order was shouted above the noise of battle.
The woman looked down at her child, shushing it by tucking her little finger into its mouth. It gurgled and began to suck at it hungrily. The woman smiled, wiping the child's already thick stock of black hair, cleaning the blood from it slightly. "My little one," she whispered as a tremor shot through her, accompanied by a wave of dizziness. She looked down at the ground before her. The evidence was clear. Blood, her blood was everywhere and she could feel it draining from her. She looked back at her child and smiled again as she slowly fell back, cradling the newborn gently against her fall. "My little Kakarotto..." she whispered as her eyes closed.
The other warrior looked back, the order to move on his lips but it became a snarl of frustration. "Oh great! Now we've gotta carry the brat!"
The child cried once again and then the vision faded leaving only the echo of the child's cry and the Oracle trembling as the future became clear.
Blood. There was so much blood.
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