I am Kera, a Saiyan Warrior Princess

Chapter 5

Several months had passed since the incident. Her daily routine had not changed, so Sitara still spent her mornings alone. After a quick breakfast, she inspected her traps. That morning she was lucky: a doe had one leg caught in a snare. The doe had apparently already spent several hours in the trap and was lying exhausted on the ground.

Sitara wanted to end the animal's suffering as quickly as possible, crept up behind it and craned its neck. A cracking sound told her that the cervical spine was broken. The animal's movements went slack. Sitara bent down to the doe's ear.

"I thank you for your sacrifice," she whispered to the animal. She stroked the soft fur and decided to trade the animal for other things in the village. She untied the noose, shouldered the animal and flew to the village.

It seemed like an eternity to Sitara that she had wandered along the path by the river to reach the forest where she had crashed. She had not known how long she would stay, but so far she had not felt the need to seek happiness elsewhere. The forest felt like her home to which Piccolo also belonged. They didn't speak much to each other, but she enjoyed his closeness.

The green meadows and forests whizzed by under Sitara. The day would be hot, so she wanted to hurry and be back in the forest before the midday heat. It was always pleasantly cool there.

Sitara did her errands in the village. Since Yumi was not there, she only exchanged a few words with the other villagers. She packed the exchanged goods into a bag and flew back. She had exchanged rice, bread, vegetables and some spices. This would last her a few weeks.

After a quick midday snack, she trained again with Piccolo. She was now so good at flying and controlling her energy that she no longer thought about when and if she did it. It belonged to her and felt like it had always been part of her life. Over the last few months Piccolo had also taught her to sense other energies. If she concentrated, she could sense the small faint auras of deer or even rabbits. Piccolo's aura, on the other hand, she could recognise even over great distances if he did not consciously suppress it.

When the sun had almost disappeared on the horizon, Sitara lit a fire and began to prepare the meal. Piccolo sat by the fire as usual and watched her prepare the food. He rarely spoke. If at all, he only answered Sitara's questions curtly, but Sitara still enjoyed it when he sat with her. Perhaps he felt the same way, even if he would not admit it in front of her.

When the meal was ready, she sat down next to him and offered him a plate as she did every evening. This time he accepted it with a grateful nod. She was so amazed that he accepted it that she forgot to eat herself.

"You should eat. It's getting cold." She looked down at the plate she was holding and took a bite. It tasted really good. The new spices and vegetables were a luxury that made the meal a real treat.

"It tastes very good," Piccolo said softly. Sitara let the plate sink. Had he really just said that? She noticed that her cheeks were getting hot and instinctively put her hand there. What was that strange feeling?

"Thank you," she just murmured. She had never expected to hear praise from his mouth. Silently they continued to eat. When they had finished their meal, Sitara washed the plates in the river and took them back to the hut. Usually Piccolo disappeared in the meantime, but this time he remained seated and she joined him again by the fire.

"Where did you get the spices?" With that question he had said more in one day than in the whole of last week. Was he trying to have a normal conversation?

"I exchanged meat and fur with the people in the village." Was she imagining it, or was he nodding appreciatively? At first she was flattered, then she thought that maybe he hadn't meant it as a compliment. Maybe he hadn't thought she was smart enough to come up with the idea of exchanging goods on her own. Then it would have been an insult. Why did her mind wander like that?

"Why do you live here alone?" Now it was her turn to ask a question.

He did not answer immediately. "Here I have my peace to train."

When he didn't elaborate, she continued, "What do you train for?"

Another long pause. "I have a score to settle. Once I settle that, I can take over world domination." This statement was simply worded, yet Piccolo said it with a hatred in his voice that made one shudder.

"What score do you have to settle?"

Piccolo stared into the flames. "I participated in the 23rd Great Fighting Tournament to fight Goku. He had killed my father three years before."

Sitara swallowed. Okay, that was apparently a pretty big score to settle. "You were going to kill him, this Goku, during the tournament?"

Piccolo shrugged. "I wanted to defeat him, at least. So I could prove who was the strongest. He won by a very narrow margin. According to the rules of the tournament, he had won because he had pushed me over the edge of the ring. We were both on the brink of death. After the fight, his friends gave him a Senzu Bean and he was cured with it. He gave me one too. That was ..." He broke off in mid-sentence. Sitara could guess what he had wanted to say. It had been a humiliation for him. He was a proud warrior, a fighter who wanted to achieve his goals alone, without pity. She only had to look into his eyes, which were still staring into the fire. Anger and hatred spoke from them. His eyebrows were drawn together, his whole face seemed distorted. If she had understood correctly, it had been about two years since the tournament. And still that anger gnawed at him.

Out of reflex, she moved a little closer to him and put her arm on his. She was sure he would pull his arm away again and he did.

"Sorry," she murmured. Silence spread between them again. Sitara wondered if she should just go into the hut to sleep. Then he began to speak again.

"My father wanted to take over the world. He was on the verge of victory, but then Goku killed him. Just before he died I was born, with his consciousness, with his purpose. I sought and found Goku and failed to defeat him." His hands clenched into fists. The veins on the back of his hand stood out.

"Are you angry because you have not yet been able to complete your father's task or because you have failed to defeat Goku?"

He looked at her properly for the first time that night. "Isn't that the same thing?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. It sounds to me more like you're angry because you couldn't defeat this Goku, not that you haven't yet completed the task your father left you with." After a brief pause, she continued quietly. "You wanted to prove that you were the strongest." Silence again. Sitara was almost tired of this conversation dragging on. Was it really so difficult to talk about? Does she have to pull everything out of his nose? If he didn't want to talk, then he should just say so.

"What nonsense,"Piccolo suddenly shouted, jumping up and disappearing into the darkness thenext second. Sitara remained sitting for a moment, then shrugged her shouldersand went to sleep. That stubborn guy, she thought for a moment before her eyesfell shut.