Dragon Ball: Far Beyond

Bright New Beginnings

 "Mother, mother! I have found an apple tree for us to eat from," says the young boy running up to his mom with a basket of apples. His mother was in a small room in the back of the house where she hung up clothes she had been washing to dry. The house they lived in was made from stone, and there was no technology. His mom looks up at the boy running in with a basket. She motions him over as he stops looking at her and grabs an apple.

"Great job my boy, this will help your brother get better from sickness, go see if you can find any more fruit, but remember to stay careful." His mother embraces the boy and grabs the basket.

"Don't worry mother, I will be safe," the young boy says while heading towards the door. His mother smiles.

"Hm, I'm sure you will, little one, be back before dark." The boy waves goodbye as he goes running out the door with a new basket in hand. He runs across the soft, grass covered land onto a trail that was made years before the boy was born. He breathes in the fresh air of the planet as he watches birds fly through the air. Along the trail, he sees the apple tree that he had found for him and his mother.

"Huh," the boy thinks to himself, "If I go down that trail that the tree is on, I bet I can find more food! Oh, but the trail leads into the forest, I'm not allowed to go there. But it will be quick, I must do it for my mother and brother." The boy dashes off into the forest, not knowing of the paths deep in the trees. He enters the forest and slows down, now at a walking pace.

"Now, where could food be?" He walked deeper into the forest, taking trails that twist and turn throughout the quiet lands. Upon all his wandering, he finds a bundle of strawberry bushes.

"Yes! I did it! Now, to take these to mother." The boy grabs multiple handfuls of strawberries and throws them into the basket until it's overflowing. The boy grabs the last handful and then turns around to leave the forest. He begins walking the trail he came from. The boy walked for ten minutes which quickly turned to twenty. The sun starts to set and light exits the forest faster than the boy had imagined. It grew darker and darker while the boy still walked through the forest, lost and afraid. The boy walked on a straight trail, but he suddenly heard rumbling in the bushes. He stopped and looked at the bush with fear.

Out of nowhere, an animal with sharp teeth and a thick fur coat jumped out in front of the kid. Another one jumped out from the brush that had caught the boy's attention; this one was bigger than the other. They had long, sharp claws with huge teeth. The beast stood on all fours and was taller than the young boy. The boy screams as he turns and begins to run. The animals chase him down and quickly begin to gain on him. The bigger beast hits the boy with his head and knocks him over. The boy tumbles and hits his head against a tree. He sees the animal charging at him and it goes to bite him. Out of a flight or fight response, the boy jumps feet into the air and, without realizing, grabs a tree branch and hangs from it.

The animals jumped up and bit at the boy trying so desperately to reach him with a couple inches keeping them from reaching him. The boy starts to slip as tears drop down from his face, agitating the animals even more. As he begins to fall into the jaws of a beast, a figure flies out of the trees with a katana in hand. The figure stabs the bigger animal, causing it to fall to the ground. The other leaps at the figure and is caught by a ki blast that kills it. The boy falls from the tree. He yells out, but softly lands in the person's arms. A soft, feminine voice speaks to him.

"Whatcha doing out here on your own little guy?" The boy looks up at the girl as she sets him down.

"I, I was grabbing food for my mother and got lost." The boy looks around at the dropped strawberries and begins to pick them up.