Chapter 2 - Hunt For A Shiny Sphere

Suzushii was standing in the kitchen of the Fuyu family's small two-story house when he heard the doom set before him by his grave mother and reluctant father. He was trying hard to take it like a man...and failing miserably.

"But, Mom! You don't understand what Atsui's like! He's a complete jerk! Why does Suru sensei teach us to fight if we can't..." The sentence that Suzushii had begun was only going to complicate matters, so he shut up immediately. Alas, for his mother was quick to pick up on such things.

"He taught you, Fuyu Suzushii, to fight for health, life, and to defend! He didn't teach you to go get in a fight with your 'rival' every other day simply because you're both jealous of each other!" Suzushii's mother was a fearsome sight to see when she was angry because her wintry blue hair, which was normally soft and puffy, would turn into sharp little ice-sickles, and her teal eyes would blaze like a flame. With hands on hips and a voice like a blade, she could sever the quickest tongue of the cleverest boy in the town. 

Suzushii couldn't figure out a serious way to answer his mom. He could prattle on all day about how much of a jerk Atsui was, but his mother would be just as convinced in the evening as she was in the morning. Suzushii's silence was the pronouncement of victory for the mighty mom.

It was Suzushii's father who broke the silence. "Son, Tsurara is right. Its one thing for a boy to get in a fight once in a while, and it's quite another when you get in a fight every other day for absolutely no reason." Kosetsu was secretly rooting for his son to punch Atsui's lights out, but he supported his wife and realized her logic was sound. Despite his age, the father could hardly keep his boyhood attitudes from bubbling to the surface now and then. His appearance was much like Suzushii's; tall, with black hair, shiny black eyes, and a fit body.

Suzushii knew that his destiny was already cemented, so he decided to find out what the consequences were of his little battle. "Well...what's my punishment?"

Tsurara's eyes grew large and quite round. Her hair stood on end and her voice rose to a wail of frustration. "What?! Do you think that you can just get in a fight whenever you want so long as you pay the toll to your parents? Well, if that's the way you work, we're going to make sure the price is too high to be worth it." Out of nowhere the blue-haired mom pulled out a paper. As soon as he saw it, Suzushii's heart felt like it was being eaten alive by the butterflies in his stomach.

"This is the list that Master Hana Shukketsu Suru gave you for the scavenger hunt. You can have it back when you're done with this list." His mother shoved a sheet of paper in front of Suzushii's face.

The boy took the list numbly and read it silently to himself. His mind was reeling by the time he got to the bottom. Looking up at his mom with horror filled eyes he said, "B...But that will take all day!"

"Exactly. Now get hopping. I think mopping the bathroom would be a good place to start," said Tsurara as she handed Suzushii the mop bucket.

Aisu was a boy of about nine years old with a big smile, fast fingers, and a brain that could boggle Sigmund Freud. He could do freshmen college algebra, and his skills with the computer could easily get him hired at any computer store, but for all the boy's assets he had some problems. Running was beyond him, strength obviously hadn't been encoded in his chromosomes, and he lost every fight he ever got into. For all his lacking in such areas, Aisu loved to hear stories about fighters, warriors and people with great power so much that he barely talked about anything else (besides computers). That's why, when Suzushii was finally freed from his chores the next day, the first thing Aisu wanted to do was listen to the tale of Suzushii and his Amazing Battle with the Dreaded Atsui!

"Oh...and then he hit you square in the gut?" The two boys were walking down the sidewalk of a small street in Helmstead as the grand story was being told. Their voices raised in excitement every time the next punch or throw was communicated. Aisu was skipping down the street, thumbs tucked under the suspenders of his blue denim overalls. Suzushii was in a pair of jeans and a green tee shirt with the same pair of dirty tennis shoes he wore when he fought Atsui.

"Yeah, I should have just rolled forward instead of turning around, but I didn't and 'wham,' he got me. But it didn't last long, 'cause I brought up my fist and hit him right in the chin! We both went back, I was coughing and he was, like, wobbling all over the place and going..." Suzushii imitated what Atsui supposedly looked like, and Aisu giggled uncontrollably at his brother's exaggerated gyrations. It was obvious that Aisu had never heard a realistic fight story in his entire short life.

Aisu's pure chirping laugh forced Suzushii to begin laughing and it was a few minutes before either of them could speak again. When their fit was finally over Aisu choked out, "Oh man, that musta been cool! You shoulda just sucked in your gut and punched him in the nose right then! You woulda won if you did that!" The blue-haired boy was skipping around the street, as thrilled as ever by the story.

"Yeah, but I couldn't. Atsui hits hard, so I had to get my breath. We both jumped at each other and started wrestling, but I grabbed him and threw him on his back, and I tried to pin him but he jumped up real quick, and..."

"Hey, Suzushii!" The tale was cut short by Shiryoku's slightly shrill yell. "You made it!" The girl ran forward from a bench she'd been sitting on while waiting for the two boys. The gi she had been wearing two days before had been traded for a white skirt and a red blouse and now her hair was tied back in a short little ponytail. "Hi, Aisukurimu!"

"Hi, Shiryoku! How're you today?" Aisu smiled pleasantly up at the girl. Unlike all of the older kids, and most of the younger ones, Shiryoku would actually play with Aisu and have fun. He was as much of a friend to her as Suzushii.

"I'm doing pretty good! Hey, you guys wanna get ice cream? It's pretty hot out here, and we've got a lot to do today." The sun was glaring down, and they were all squinting in the light.

"Sure," chimed in Suzushii. "Hey, how are you coming with the scavenger hunt?"

They all started walking down the sidewalk as Shiryoku pulled a list from her backpack. "Well, I've gotten the first two things on the list. The first item was a water balloon that you have to get from that toyshop down on the other end of town. You have to tell the guy at the counter the secret words to get it." She pointed at the first clue that had been printed on the bottom of their scavenger hunt list. It was simply three really weird words, but Shiryoku had figured it out and gotten the balloon. The store's keeper was Suru Sensei's son-in-law, so she figured that was where the water balloon would be. "I just had realize what the words were for, but once I understood, it was easy to get the balloon. But you can't just get any balloon, the one he gave me had a word written on it by Suru sensei himself."

"Oh, he's going to make it tough on us, isn't he? That was just the first one. How'd you get the second one?" Suzushii voiced his concerns and the trio speculated on the rigors of item hunting as they entered the ice cream parlor and ordered their cool desserts. After much deliberation over their lists, Shiryoku and Suzushii decided to go to the toyshop and get Suzushii's balloon first, then go hunting for the second item on the boy's list. Apparently everyone had to get the balloon, but only a few more of the listed items matched after that.

"Okay, so you guys gotta get a 'flower that plays the piano,' and you got no idea what the clue is yet?" Aisu was sucking on a chocolate milk shake and his words were a bit mushy.

"Right." Shiryoku was studying the list intently and she barely heard the boy's words. "Hmmm...I don't see any pattern in the list. I guess they're just random objects, and he's done a really good job of making sure they won't be easy. I mean, what's a 'Spiked-ball on King Arthur's Stone'?"

"I dunno," said Suzushii through a mouthful of hot fudge sundae. "We gotta get the clue from the toy store guy first to find out 'bout the flower. Mmmm..." He closed his eyes as he savored the taste of the hot fudge melting the ice cream in his mouth.

"Hehe, we oughta post the clues on the Internet and make the other scavenger hunt people pay five dollars for the address!" Suzushii's younger brother laughed, and his black eyes curled up in glee. The other joined in until they were interrupted by the ice cream parlor's entrance bell ringing as a small troop of kids came marching in.

"Hey, Keru, what're you doing here?" yelled Shiryoku to the girl leading the new group. She was one of the other martial arts students under Suru sensei. She was a first year student who was pretty nice to everybody, and she and Shiryoku got along well.

"Hi, Shiryoku! Oh, we're just here for a break from the scavenger hunt. Hey guys," Keru called to the troop at her heels, "this is Shiryoku, my friend in Suru's class, and this is Suzushii and his little brother." They all said their hellos and learned each other's names, and then immediately forgot them. Pretty soon they were all deeply into conversation about the scavenger hunt.

"So you got two, Shiryoku, but you didn't get any yet, Suzushii?"

"No, I had to work all day because of getting in that fight with Atsui."

"Oh, that's a real bummer. I've only gotten one, so I need to hurry up or I'm not going to get them all. But there's no worry because I've got my friends to help me!" All of Keru's companions piped up in a cheer of agreement.

"That's great. Well, good luck, we've got to get back to it." Suzushii got up and the trio threw away their cups and spoons. "See you later, everyone!"

"Bye," chimed in Keru's entire bunch.

The bell over the parlor's door clanged as they exited. Back in the blinding sunlight, Shiryoku said, "Well, let's go to the toy shop and get this hunt started!"

The rest of the day was devoted to hunting the items Suru sensei wanted. Within fifteen minutes they had the water balloon with Suru's mark on it, and the clue to the next item, "The water makes beautiful music and the flowers chime in." That sent them all running to the swimming hole in the nearby river where they found a clump of purple flowers in front of a row of alternating light and dark stones that resembled the keys of a piano. After a few minutes of searching, they found a note with the next clue on it tucked under one of the stones.

They searched all that day but couldn't find the next item, and they all went to bed a little forlorn. They searched together again the next day and continued to seek the hidden items. There were only four days left by that time, so they ran like startled ants all over town. At first it seemed like their progress was going at a snail's pace, but pretty soon the pile of items began to grow. If a clue wasn't packaged with the item itself, they would visit Suru sensei at his home, towing along the latest object to get the next clue from the perky old master. Pretty soon they discovered that the "Spiked-ball on King Arthur's Stone" was actually a pinecone sitting on a big rock in front of Suru sensei's house. The clues slowly fit together, and eventually they found what they were looking for. Yet, for all of their progress, the sun arose on the last day of the scavenger hunt and each kid still had to find two items. 

Suzushii's alarm clock sounded, and the boy was up and moving in an instant. The water wouldn't come out of the shower fast enough, and as soon as Suzushii was out he threw on his clothes and dashed down the stairs. His mother swayed as she came out of the master bedroom in her bed robe, yawning and blinking in the rising sunlight. "Aren't you up a little early? I don't think it's good for a boy to," she had to stop for a yawn, "for a boy to be up this early."

Between heaping spoonfuls of breakfast cereal shoveled into his mouth, Suzushii was able to get out, "Yeah, bu' is' only for 'oday!" The cereal bowl and spoon clanged in the sink as Suzushii rushed past and out the door. "See you later, mom!"

"Have a good day, sweetie," yawned Tsurara.

The sunlight was weak and the world was still cast in a pale, grayish light when Suzushii and Shiryoku met, huffing and puffing, at the bench near the ice cream parlor.

"You ready?" The globes of Shiryoku's eyes were tensed in concern.

"Yup, let's get to it."

They plopped down on the bench and pulled out their scavenger hunt lists. Each item remaining was different. They looked at each other, and they knew it was almost hopeless; at least one of them probably wouldn't make it in time.

"Shiryoku, I want you to have the chance to go to the Tenka'ichi Budokai." It was a simple statement, and he didn't have to voice the rest of what it implicated.

"No! Suzushii, you deserve to go to the tournament! You've been working on it for three years straight! You..."

Suzushii interrupted her, "You've been training as long and as hard as I have! But I got in trouble; otherwise we'd both already have everything! Just because I couldn't stop myself from trying to give Atsui a bloody nose doesn't mean you should have to suffer! We're going after your last two items. Come on."

The boy stood up and began walking away, beckoning her to follow. Shiryoku didn't move. She wasn't going to let Suzushii ruin his only hope of reaching the tournament, but she also knew that he was too stubborn to listen to reason, no matter what she said. Splitting up for the day was not an option. They had done nearly everything together ever since they met in the first week of Suru sensei's class, and this was one of those things they would do together or not at all. 'Well, I'm not going to let him get away with this. His head is too thick for his own good.'

"Suzushii, you're not throwing away what you've been working on for the last three years just for me. Now don't you argue! We're going to alternate between our things. We'll start with mine, just to make you happy." Her tone was definitely annoyed, and with hands on hips she looked like she could be match for Tsurara in willpower.

Suzushii stopped and considered the girl for a moment. His brow furrowed in indecision. He blamed himself for them being late...but he wanted to go to the tournament so very badly...

"Okay." The features on his face lightened, and his mouth turned up in a smile. "Come on, let's get going."

'Jerk. Doesn't even know what's good for him,' thought the agitated brown-eyed girl. She ran after him and smiled at the thought of spending the rest of the day with the jerk.

The sun rose high in the sky, soaring with the magnificence of an eagle and, to the two teenagers scurrying in the town below, with the same speed.

For the first couple of hours they dashed around in a frenzy, but after taking a breather they realized if they just calmed down they might actually get somewhere. With careful thought and impatience, they untied the knotted riddle of the next item. It was noon before they actually found the elusive object, and it was thirty minutes later when they left Suru sensei's house with the next clue.

They had better luck with Suzushii's next item. It was only four in the afternoon by the time they found the wheelbarrow full of river rock they had to roll back to their master's house.

At five, they were about to give up, their wills nearly broken, their hopes almost crushed to powder. 

"What does the list say?" It was a dull monotone from the dispirited Suzushii who was sitting slumped over in the bench where they met every morning. His eyebrows were furrowed down so that they met on the ridge of his nose, which made him look like two black caterpillars were having a wrestling match on his brow.

"Well, the list says we are looking for 'The Stars Held in a Sphere of Orange,' and the clue is 'The Stars will shine where the light can't reach.' What could that mean?" Shiryoku tried to sound upbeat, but she didn't feel it. They had just a few hours to get the last two items.

"I dunno..."

They sat in silence and watched their feet for an interminable amount of time. Finally, coming out of her daze, Shiryoku stood up, whirled around, and began yelling at Suzushii. "Come on! Get up! We can't just give up in the last few feet of the race! We've figured everything else out so far, and we can do this one! How many places can the light not reach?"

Shiryoku's sudden outburst caught Suzushii by surprise and he stuttered, "W...well...basements, c...cellars, caves..."

"That's it! Isn't there a small cave in the mountain on the other side of town? Maybe this thing's in there!"

"Well, yeah, maybe, but..."

"No 'buts,' come on!"

Suzushii was yanked off his feet and went stumbling after the speeding Shiryoku. He grinned as they ran. He didn't know if either of them would make it to the tournament, but if they ever had to fight each other he wasn't sure he had a hope of defeating someone with as much raw determination as Shiryoku.

The Sun was still high enough in the sky to illuminate the land in an orange hue, but it was just close enough to the horizon to shine directly into the teenager's eyes as they crawled over the hills on the west side of Helmstead. The trees of the forest faded the farther they got from the east side of town, and by the time the terrain reached the west side almost all of the trees were gone, replaced by rolling hills and loose rock. Before long the hills turned into small mountains; and that was where the two teenagers found their cave.

It had taken them forty-five minutes to get to the mountains. The distance wasn't that far, but the rough soil and twisting path made traveling a weary task. Their tongues hung out of their mouths and sweat beaded from their foreheads when they finally climbed over the last hill to meet the cliff that held their cave.

"Phew, it wasn't very nice of Suru sensei to the put the orange ball thing out here, was it?" Suzushii had repeatedly stubbed his toes on the smaller, less conspicuous boulders during the journey, which had turned his mood a little sour.

"Oh, get over it. He had to put it somewhere, and if it he made it too easy there wouldn't have been a point." Shiryoku's mood had gotten increasingly more chipper the further they came. She kept going over the riddle to Suzushii, and by the time they arrived she was absolutely convinced it was here. It made her especially glad, because once they got the strange ball, she would have finished the scavenger hunt. She still felt bad that Suzushii might not get his last item, but it was hard to be too down if you were one of the only students to have a chance for the Tenka'ichi Budokai.

"True, true. Well, if it's here, let's go find it already. We might actually be able to finish off my list if we hurry." Suzushii was glad that Shiryoku had a chance to go to the tournament. Helping her get the items she needed was enough to make the boy happy...but there was nothing stopping him from being even happier if he finished off his list too.

Suzushii held his hand to his forehead like a visor as he scanned the surrounding area for the cave. He hadn't been there since he was quite a bit younger, and apparently the same went for Shiryoku.

The two slid down the other side of the hill, and soon the Sun disappeared over the cliff. After a few minutes of searching, they found the generously sized hole of gray stone that was the entrance to the cave. With the Sun on the other side of the mountain, the cave looked dark and ominous even though it didn't go very deep into the cliff.

Two overactive imaginations took over as the teenagers peered into the cave. They both swallowed dramatically, and Shiryoku motioned for Suzushii to go on. "Hehe, after you." She smiled sweetly.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, right." Suzushii took a brave step forward, then stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't move for a few moments, until he finally turned his head from side to side, looking around suspiciously.

"What's the matter?" Shiryoku's voice squeaked a bit in imagined fear.

"Seriously, all jokes aside over the cave, I felt like somebody was watching us. I guess it was just my imagination." Relaxing a bit, he stepped tentatively into the cave.

"Yeah..." Shiryoku didn't know whether to be frightened at the possibly unseen eyes, or angry at Suzushii's wild fantasies. She shrugged her shoulders and felt a shiver leave her spine as she followed on her friend's heels.

Not far from the cave, behind the top of a rather steep hill, two pairs of black eyes watched the children enter the side of the cliff. The man the eyes belonged to stood up once his prey entered the cave, his black, spiky hair cascading down his back. A black trench coat hang down the man's sides and was belted around the middle. A smile parted his pale lips as he thought to himself, 'The trap is set. Now for the test.'

The inside of the cave was black. After going in just far enough so that the darkness made it hard to walk, the teenagers waited a few minutes for their eyes to adjust before they continued. They crawled, rather than walked, the rest of the way, fearful of tripping on a loose stone or falling in a shallow hole. There was a bend in the cave wall, and just about ten feet past that the cave simply ended. The duo saw nothing as they crawled to the bend, but they hesitated before they turned the corner.

"Um, Shiryoku?" The broken silence made both of them jump.

"Y...yeah, Suzushii?" The girl's voice was a bit unsteady at first, then firmer.

"Kids play in here when it's light all the time. Wouldn't they have found the object?"

"I don't know, I've been a little worried about that, but I think Suru sensei probably had that figured out."

"Oh...Okay."

They rounded the bend, childhood stories of giant spiders and flesh-eating Ogres teasing their rational minds. As soon as they could peer around, Shiryoku gave a small shriek and Suzushii gasped.

There was pretty much nothing but more cave, except for a small pile of stone in the far corner. The stones themselves didn't seem special in the slightest, but from underneath them came a faint, yellow-orange glow. It was so faint that it probably wouldn't show up in the sunlight, but in the darkness of the cave it shone in golden brilliance.

Suzushii stood in awe, but was finally able to say, "Well, this is definitely the coolest thing we've found so far." The Tenka'ichi Budokai was the last thing in either of their minds.

"Yeah...I wonder what it is. The light it makes is so beautiful."

The boy nodded his agreement and they slowly made their way toward the light.

When they were close enough to touch it, Suzushii slowly lifted the small rocks covering up the luminescence. What they found underneath was a perfectly round sphere made out of orange crystal, and trapped inside the fist-sized ball were four crimson stars glittering with their own inner light. The two kids' jaws dropped and their eyes bulged as they looked at the magical artifact in front of them. After uncounted moments Shiryoku leaned over, picked the four-star ball from the ground and held it before her. "It's so beautiful."

"I wonder what it is and where it came from?" Suzushii's mind was racing through every ancient legend and magical tale ever told to him. The glowing ball seemed to tease his memory, like he had imagined this very object before, but he couldn't conjure up where the feeling came from.

The answer to the boy's question eluded both of them; silence was the only answer. They had no thoughts of leaving the cave yet, but Suzushii suddenly felt a cold tremor run down his back and settle in his stomach. "Shiryoku, let's get back outside." His voice was deep and urgent.

A little surprised by his tone, Shiryoku nodded quickly, "Okay."

They stumbled and scampered back towards the exit. The light from the mysterious sphere helped their progress, but it was only when the receding rays from the setting sun reflected onto their path that they could actually walk without fear. Without fear, that is, until a shadow blocked the light.

Both of the scavenger hunters glanced up in startled surprise and beheld a tall man in a trench coat and a short, pudgy man in a leather jacket blocking their path out of the cave.

"H...hey, who are you?" Suzushii stopped moving and instinctively took up his fighting pose. Shiryoku didn't speak; she just struggled to hide the glowing ball in a hip pouch from these men who might want to rob them.

"Who we are is of no concern." It was the tall man, and his voice was a bit scratchy, but strong and handsome. "Just give us the dragon ball." The short man punctuated the sentence with a nod.

For a moment the two children were puzzled, then it dawned on them that the man was talking about the glowing sphere. Shiryoku finally slide the dragon ball into the pouch at her side, and then immediately the boy and girl took a step toward their oppressors. "Leave us alone!" Their combined voices, great in volume, caused the shorter man to take a step back. The tall man didn't react at all.

"Then we'll take it from you."

The men strode forward, but the two young fighters didn't just stand around and wait for their opponents. They rushed straight at the two ruffians; ready to do whatever it took to get out of the cave. The tall man drew a gun, and a knife gleamed in the shorter man's hand.

Before either of the men could make use of their new utensils, Suzushii's foot snapped up and the gun went flying from the taller man's hand, and Shiryoku took care of the knife with a skillful chop. Suzushii's right fist flew like a missile straight at his opponent's nose, but the man's left arm came up and deflected the attack with ease. The frightening realization that this man truly knew how to fight dawned upon the inexperienced boy. The tall man's right arm curved up and pushed solidly into Suzushii's stomach, causing the youth to collapse on his knees, coughing and wheezing for air.

Shiryoku was fairing better. Her first punch landed in the soft cheek of her foe, her knee knocked the wind out of the shorter man, and he went stumbling backwards. His rage caught hold of him, and he screamed incoherently as he charged at the girl. Shiryoku responded with a roundhouse that sent the man sprawling on his side.

The tall man didn't seem to notice his partner's ill fate or he simply ignored it. The man held his attention completely on Suzushii. He reached out to pick up the fallen boy, probably just to get some more solid punches in. That was his mistake. In a flash of limbs, Suzushii put a vice grip on his opponent, the same way he had done hundreds of times to other people in the practice dojo. The man went flying over Suzushii's back and landed painfully on some loose stones. The tall man struggled to get up, but as he turned his face toward Suzushii, his nose made acquaintance with Suzushii's knuckles. The man went sprawling backwards, holding his face and groaning.

"Come on, run!" Suzushii grabbed Shiryoku's hand and they both ran hard, their hearts pounding with fear and exhilaration. Soon they had topped the hill and were out of sight of the cave.

The tall man watched as their heads disappeared over the horizon. He removed his hands from his nose to reveal a perfect face, not so much as a bruise appearing where Suzushii had hit him. A chuckle arose from his throat as he stood up, the only thing disturbed by the fight being his coat, which had come unbelted. The short man came to his feet as well, but he was in much worse shape. His lip was bleeding, his body bruised, and his lungs were gasping for air.

The short man limped over to the tall man and wheezed out, "Akakabu, I think these are the ones you want."

"No, I don't think so. According to what Suru said, these two are too noble. I think the one called Atsui will do fine."

"Whatever you say, Sir."

They both walked out of the cave and Akakabu smiled absently as his brown, furry tail waved in the dying sunlight.



This story and all characters that are not in Dragonball are (c) 2001 to Lannon the Wizard - ghasti35@cybertrails.com