The Warrior of Pure Heart | Dragon Ball Z

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Chi-Chi spent three days following the trail, using as a guide the few flashes of ki that she managed to capture, which helped her chart a possible course. Although, at the beginning, it seemed that she was going practically blind, there was a moment when the presence began to become more tangible, and she could perceive it for a longer time.

I'm getting close, she concluded confidently, motivating her to keep moving forward.

On her way, she passed through a couple of towns, where she took the opportunity to eat and rest. That helped her recover a little from her injuries and regain strength. She also asked people if they had seen a green-skinned man and a little boy with black hair around, but no one could give her any information. That was expected. Piccolo Daimao had gone five years without being seen by anyone, so he must have stayed away from cities and towns. But if that was the case, where did Gohan get food from? Or was that monster even feeding him?

With each day that passed, the anguish for her son increased more and more.

On the morning of the third day, after a fitful night's sleep under the stars, Chi-Chi set out early on her journey. Trying to focus on re-feeling the presence she had been following up to that moment, she was surprised to perceive it much more clearly than before. It still felt far away, but it was there and didn't fade after a while.

Is he! It is very close!

Motivated by that thought, she began the journey on the Flying Nimbus at full speed in the direction that that presence marked her. She did not stop all day; she just kept going straight and without a detour. Halfway down the path, the presence came and went, but it didn't matter. The course was already clearly marked in her head like a map.

When she was close, Chi-Chi began to consider the possibility that what she had been following all those days was not Piccolo. On the one hand, she was quite a presence, as much as Goku's, and no other warrior on Earth could match him in that way. Master Roshi had mentioned it the other day; both were the strongest warriors in the world.

However, already having her presence so constant in front of her, she could tell that she did not feel fear or unease as she expected would feel when sensing an evil ki. She remembered Goku mentioning that term on occasion: "evil ki." But if such a thing existed, she wasn't sure what she felt fit that description.

If it wasn't for Piccolo, she would have been following the wrong lead all this time, and the worst part was that she would have no idea where to go next. But it was better that she no longer thought about it. She would soon find out if it was him or not.

Just when the evening of the third day began, Chi-Chi and the Flying Nimbus arrived at the exact point where she had perceived that presence the last time. It seemed to be a semi-desert valley, with high cliffs around it, but overall, it seemed to be a great flat land, with only sporadic displays of green. The place also seemed lonely; from the heights, she did not see a single person at all, not even an animal.

And what bothered her the most was that the presence she had been following up there had strangely abruptly disappeared from her senses a couple of minutes before she arrived, as if a light bulb had suddenly been turned off and left her in the dark.

Her first thought was that it had moved to another site, but she thought that it must not have gone very far. She then began to focus again, inspecting the environment around her in search of that presence... but found nothing. All that space seemed overwhelmingly empty.