Papeera : The Elusive Saiyan

Chapter 4 : The Warriors

That night, Papeera couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if she failed to stop the Saiyan invasion. Young Talio would be killed, and this planet would be reduced to ashes. I cannot let this happen. I must stop the incoming invasion.

Young Talio awakens, and sees Papeera staring out the window. silently, he slips out of bed, and slides over to where she is sitting, and puts his arm on her shoulder. "Are you okay Papeera? Last night you were like this too? I know something is wrong. Why won't you tell me?"

Papeera gazes out the window one more time. "I've just been thinking about my childhood. You're really lucky to have a loving mother. My mother abandoned me when I was very young, and my father hated me. I was locked up for years, and was saved by a strong warrior named Branson."

Talio notices that as she speaks, she begins to slump down, and her lips began to tremble. A speckle of light began rolling down her cheek as Talio embraced Papeera. "Don't cry. Even though your mother abandoned you, my mother thinks of you as the daughter she never had. You will always be welcome here."

Papeera begins to stand as she wipes the tears from her eyes. Papeera squeezes his hand, as Talio races off into the hallway and he shouts behind him, "Come on! Breakfast should almost be ready!" Papeera emerges from Talio's room, and walks into the kitchen.

Talio's mother sees her, and her red puffy eyes. "Oh honey, what happened. Are you okay?" Talio runs over, and gently explained what happened, then grabbed Papeera's hand and tugged her into the dining room. Talio's mother brings out fresh eggs and potatoes, and the three sit down and eat.

After they had finished their breakfast, Talio and Papeera head back into the woods to continue his training. During the journey, the young boy stops when he sees a bear coming towards them. "Uh oh. Papeera. There's a bear up ahead." Seeing this, she looks at Talio, at the bear, then back at Talio.

"Close your eyes, and feel the energy coursing through your veins. Focus it all to your hands." A golden glow appears around his body, and gradually moves into his hands. "Good. now concentrate it into a ball, and throw it at the bear. Don't look with your eyes. Feel his energy."

A blinding light emerges from Talio's hands as he hurls a ball of pure energy at the approaching bear. Upon seeing the incoming projectile, the bear turns and begins to run. Papeera puts her hands on the boy's shoulders, and speaks again. "Feel his movement. Control your energy. You can strike him down. I believe in you."

The energy ball begins to move off its course, and follow the bear. Papeera steps back in awe as Talio begins to hover above the ground. "I didn't even teach him how to fly yet. How can he be so talented." The ball strikes the bear, and with a roar, it came crashing down to the ground. Talio opens his eyes to see he is flying high above the tree line.

"Papeera! How do I get down from here!" Talio begins to panic, but he remembers what Papeera told him the day before. "You must always stay calm. Panic will only disturb your focus and connection to your spiritual energy." Slowly, Talio begins to float back down to the ground. He lands softly, and looks over to Papeera. "That was Awesome! Can you teach me how to control it?"

Papeera chuckles to herself. "Of course. but first, you have to be able to fight. Flying will be a later lesson. Papeera looks at Talio. "He is so young, yet he is learning so fast." She snaps back to reality, and after noticing Talio disappeared, she sighs, then laughs. "You can come out now. Wait. Where is he? Talio?"

Papeera closes her eyes, and begins to feel her surroundings. "This is impossible. He is flying again. This kid is extraordinary. TALIO! Come down here!" Talio floats back down to the ground, and does a flip before landing on his feet. "I know you're having fun, but it's time to begin today's training."

Talio begins learning how to properly punch, kick and block. Soon the two turn into a blur of flying fists, and swinging kicks. After a few minutes of intense sparring, A bright light begins to emerge from Talio. He concentrates another ball of energy, and leaps backward launching the ball at Papeera.

Seeing the incoming energy blast, Papeera panics. Charging her own attack, she releases a barrage of Ki missiles speeding toward Talio. Seeing this, she panics even more. "Talio! Look out!"

The young boy takes in his options, and quickly charges another attack. He soon realized that the attack would only block one of the incoming blasts. "Oh No. This could hurt." Talio braces for impact, as the missiles close in on him. Feeling the incoming energy, he tries to brace for the impact.

Right as the energy missiles are about to strike Talio, his charged attack suddenly turns into an aura around him. Explosions surround him as the missiles explode off the aura. He looks around, and seeing no more missiles coming, flies through the forest looking for Papeera. "Where did she go? She was right here a minute ago."

Talio closes his eyes, and tries to sense her energy. "I can't feel her energy. She must be hiding it somehow. " Continuing to look for Papeera, he starts yelling her name. "Papeera! Where did you go?" Hearing Talio, Papeera emerges from the trees and flies over to Talio. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy.

Papeera pulls Talio in and embraces him. "I thought I killed you. I've only used that attack once while I was being trained by Branson, and it almost killed him. I have no idea how you survived, but however you did that, you need to figure it out, cause the Saiyan invasion will be starting soon, and their attacks are even stronger than mine."

Talio tries to think back to what happened. "I charged another Ki attack, and when I realized I couldn't stop the attack, I kind of froze. I think, the attack energy manifested into a shield right before the missiles hit." Papeera is shocked by his story. "There is no way he learned how to use the Ki Shield. King Vegeta had a hard time using it. Only the prophesized savior of this planet could learn this fast."

The two practiced all the new techniques Talio learned, and then began to return to home. Talio's mother cooked them dinner, and after they ate, the Talio and Papeera disappeared into Talio's room and fell asleep. For 3 months, they followed a strict training routine, until one morning Talio and Papeera were awakened by an explosion.