Zach and Kami training 1

[Zach]

{Taking place just a few hours after “Garden variety Zach.”}

The day was wearing on into evening and the sky was starting to shift into various shades of orange and red as the sun started to dip towards the horizon. At some point during the afternoon Zach had fallen asleep on the edge of one of the planters, the weeds he’d pulled still grouped together in a pile at his feet. The teen slowly started to come around as the air began to chill his exposed skin. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep precisely, but it was the entirety of the afternoon and had lasted into the evening.

With some effort, Zach got into a sitting position on the edge of the planter and then climbed the rest of the way back to his feet. It had to be near time for the evening meal and he didn’t want to hold things up by being late. He also though didn’t want to leave the sun dried weeds laying where he’d left them and have someone things he was making a mess. Bending down to scoop up the dead plants, Zach let out a soft grunt and picked them up. His innards hadn’t improved any since the afternoon but he could still walk and breath mostly with ease now.

The next question facing Zach’s mind though was what to do with the weeds. He couldn’t just pitch them over the side, if someone was down there they wouldn’t be very happy about getting hit in the head by falling plants. Neither could he put them in the compost pile since he still didn’t know if Kami had one or where it was if he did. He considered burying them in the garden but if the sun hadn’t completely killed them yet, he’d essentially just be replanting the weeds.

[Geurin]

tap...tap....tap

Kami made his way down the hall of the lookout, passing each room as he went. Fallen warriors whom had died in his intense training

tap....tap...tap

Ba'alzamon, the demon of black fire, was no match for the regimen that Kami had placed for him

tap....tap....tap

Komon, a most human like android was pushed to his limits here, and met an untimely end

tap....tap....tap

Nehan, Kami's brightest student, still resting soundly in his room. One of only two individuals to every successfully conquer the Kami's training, and ever begin to surpass the Kami. The other being the boy's father.

tap....tap....tap

Kami entered the base of the lookout, the sun was setting, however night was short-lived on the lookout, peering over half the earth meant almost constant daylight, with only a brief hour or so of darkness. This was the time he had decided to train Zach.

Zach was a remarkable young man, courageous and dignified, with a strong will and body, however he lacked control of both himself, and his actions. He allowed his gut to make decisions for him, he was very hot headed, and it would lead to his demise. If that had not already been proven with his fight with Suki, it would certainly be proven here in the training, as the number one tool at Zach's disposal would be a level head, if he could conquer that, he could conquer the world.

Kami was still supporting himself using the Kami staff. The staff had a history scheming for thousands of years, created by the very first Kami, and passed down to every one since. It helped to bring his power back after the creation of the dragonballs, as well as helping him walk. He appeared before zach, and it was clear that because they were both in terrible shape, the physical training this day would be limited, so what did Kami have in mind.

[Zach]

Still holding the weeds in one hand, Zach was about to head for the temple entrance when he spotted Kami heading out towards him. Ever since the dragon, the green man was in a shape only fractionally better then his own. He smiled to the Namekian as the other approached and when he was closer, addressed him aloud while also presenting the weeds he’d pulled.

“Kami, it’s good to see you up and about.” the blonde started. “I couldn’t stay cooped up in my room any longer and came out here to relax. I uh, weeded your garden a bit but don’t know here to put these.”

He paused a moment, but not long enough for Kami to respond as he wanted to explain first why he’d been working on the garden in case it was in fact not something Kami wanted done. “I don’t know if you know but my family were farmers. I grew up around plants and just don’t like to let these buggers invade a garden. I hope you don’t mind.” he added and lowered his hand, having shown the green man the spoils of his epic campaign in the garden.

[Geurin]

Kami let out a smile, only half of one however as even the muscles in his face were were weakened by the events that had transpired. He was happy however to see that Zach had chosen to stay on the lookout, and also that he had kept himself busy even while in recovery.

"I was never one to remain still either"

He responded, Mostly in a whisper as zach continued talking.

Wow, for someone who dislikes speaking in combat, he sure can talk

Kami thought, listening to the boy reminisce about his former life. Little did zach know that Kami knew all about him, his likes and dislikes, his secrets, his fears. Kami knew everything there was to know about the children of earth, and zach was no exception.

"Good, I had been meaning to weed the gardens here, but the last week has been far to busy"

Busy, no more like exhausting. Kami would normally weed the garden, and even plant new exotic flowers in his spare time, however now the effort was far to great. One of his greatest joys came from gardening, and he was happy to see it was maintained even in his absence.

Kami came and sat across from zach, the wind that blew felt good as it whipped through the air around them. Even in this weakened state Kami still seemed to radiate a sort of angelic feel about him. Perhaps it was less of an energy, and more of a personality.

[Zach]

Zach was happy that his actions had found favor with Kami, there was just something about the man that made you not want to disappoint him. Still cracking one of his rare smiles, Zach moved to and sat down next to the Namekian, all be it with a bit of a twinge from his innards and a grunt.

“Mmm… Well I’m glad I could help. Now I just need to figure out what to do with them.” the boy replied, referring to the weeds in his hand. He watched Tenshu for a few moments and started to think. ‘The guy’s probably in worse shape then me now, why would he drag himself all the way out here? Can’t just be to check up on his garden… Well I did so I guess it’s not impossible.’

“Kami…” Zach started, trying not to sound like he was worrying for the other’s health. “Why did you come all the way out here? Surely not to watch me pull weeds. The walk is hard enough so forgive me for saying so, I don’t think you would have been able to do your own gardening even if I hadn’t. So why did you come all the way out, just to see me?” the boy asked. Truly the green man’s motives were a mystery to him, he didn’t think himself that good of a conversationalist to warrant the Kami struggling out to the terrace. Nor did Zach think the man intended to actually weed his garden, look at it maybe, but even still it was a heck of a trip for someone in his condition.

[Geurin]

The kid was bright.

Kami had not come out to watch zach weed the garden, he had not come out even for the fresh air. No he came for training. Although Zach was still weak, and clearly so was Kami, It was necessary that the two of them begin training immediately, If for no other reason than Kami felt as though Suki's return would be imminent.

"Zach, you are a powerful warrior"

He said looking out at the clouds that grazed just below the lookout. The wind was still blowing at a decent rate, causing the Kami's robe to blow in the breeze, his scarf flowing outward, fluttering with the flow of air. Kami knew this would be the hardest lesson to teach zach, and it was for that reason they needed to start now.

"Zach, why do you fight?"

Kami had asked this to each of his students, and each had their own unique take on the reason they fought, but ultimately it fell back on the same underlying principal, something Kami was certain would be the same with Zach.

The question really was less for Kami's knowledge, and more for Zach's inner development.

[Zach]

Zach continued to sit with and watch Tenshu as he gazed out across the lookout’s terrace. The boy could tell by the green man’s contemplative expression that he was thinking, or perhaps just enjoying the view, either was possible. There were a few moments of silence before Kami responded to Zach and then it was to, at least the boy though, pay him a compliment. Perhaps it was just his ego but that is how the boy interpreted it and nearly blushed.

“I am glad you think that.” he responded a bit more cheerful then his usual tone and then waited as Kami seemed to return to his thoughts. Another moment later and Kami asked a question that drove the smoothly turning gears on the boy’s head to a grinding halt. ‘Why do I fight? What kind of question is that?’ the boy though. He wasn’t sure at first how exactly to answer. The newly old man was wise, he knew that to be certain, but did not know if this was some kind of psychological test or something similar.

Then he started to think about the possible answers he could give the Namekian. Top on the list was revenge, it was the blonde’s primary motivator. He’d been training alone for two years running solely on the need to exact retribution for his family’s deaths and those of his home town. Then there was anger, his temper was far too short for his own good. Hatred came next, a general distain for any trouble making aliens, with a special niche cut out just for his overpowering detest of Saiyans and their particular brand of barbarism. About the only alien race he knew about and didn’t dislike were in fact the Namekians mostly because of their determination to maintain peaceful relations with anyone they had contact with. Finally was his desire to see Earth left in peace, a desire that drove him to come to the aid of any human or enter into any battle in which humans were threatened and one of the chief reasons he was almost killed by Suki.

The most powerful though was undeniable and even though he personally saw nothing wrong with revenge, this way Kami spoke, acted and even the feeling he gave off almost made Zach ashamed to admit what his primary motivation in life was, almost. “I know you aren’t going to be happy with the answer… But I suppose you might have already figured it out anyway… Revenge… I want to bring the butchers who murdered my family and my town to justice.”

[Geurin]

Kami nodded, it was just as he had predicted. Zach was indeed fighting for the same thing that most other warriors were. He was fighting for those he loved. Just as each and every other creature had been, he was fighting for those who could not defend themselves. Unfortunately the boy had fallen into the trap of hate. Revenge is a powerful motivator, however it can lead to devastating consequences.

Kami understood where zach was coming from, the terrible nature of what he had experienced would push anyone to such extremes.

"It is a good motivator, Revenge. It will push you further than any other motivator, ultimately when the time comes, if you are prepared to be vengeful, then you are prepared to end the conflict."

Kami knew the dangers of revenge, however as a master of the martial arts he also knew very well the benefits it had, and if zach was willing to open his mind, perhaps Kami could help him channel that revenge into a benefit

"Zach, do you know the names of the two saiyans that destroyed your home?"

[Zach]

Zach was frankly surprised by the Namekian’s reaction to his reason for carrying on his quest. He’d expected some disapproving scowl or a longwinded lecture on how his determination to punish those who’d killed so many was somehow wrong. Instead the green man all but agreed with him. Needless to say Zach was speechless for a few moments, giving Kami time to continue. He wasn’t sure why the other asked if he knew the murderer’s names. Of course he didn’t, the only thing known about them was that they were a pair of Saiyans. The only people who might have known their names were incinerated with the bar in which the battle had started.

“No… I don’t know their names… Just that it was a pair of Saiyans… The only people who survived the blast were on the outskirts, one of them left the bar when the fight started and was driving home to his farm when the town went up.” Zach explained. “He’s the only reason I even found out what happened.” the blonde added. The thought occurred to Zach to ask why Kami wanted to know about the Saiyans but figured it was probably idle curiosity. Either that or he intended to help Zach fulfill his desire, which considering the fact that he lauded Zach’s choice of motivation, seemed plausible.

[Geurin]

"Its sad when you think about it."

Kami said, He had said very little thus far, and knew that Zach was thinking. That is what Kami wanted, to open zachs mind for thought, for him to see his situation from the viewpoint of the world. Kami was not judging zach, but it was clear zach feared his opinion.

But Kami was not here to judge zach, he loved the children of earth, each and every one of them for who they were, that included their darker side. Zach had a right to want revenge, it was human nature. And now it was time for Kami to change Zachs perspective forever.

"Zach, Is it possible that as opposed to hating saiyans, you actual hate these two individuals, and because you have not yet found them, you believe the entire race is to blame?"

[Zach]

“I got past sad the night after I first woke up in the hospital.” Zach responded to Kami’s first statement. “I’ve been running on nothing but anger and rage ever since… Sometimes I wonder what I’ll do if I ever do catch them… I don’t have a home to go back to.” the teen continued. He paused a few moments to consider exactly what he was telling the green man. If his crusade to bring the two murderers to justice was ever completed, he had no other prospects in life. His entire being has been consumed by his desire for retribution, the only glimmer of a normal boy remaining being his love of farming. But he didn’t have a farm, only a crater, and it was the fault of those damned monkeys, every last one of them.

“No…” he started, answering Kami’s question. “No, I do blame them, all of them. If they weren’t such a barbarous, depraved race with such a callous disregard for life, then my town would still be there. My family would still be alive!” Zach shouted. His anger was flaring up again with Tenshu’s attempts to curtail it. The attempt had only succeeded in dredging up the pain of his losses, fresh and excruciatingly vivid. Zach’s fists clenched, his base animal side crying out to strike the man who’d brought back the pain. But Zach couldn’t hit Kami any more then he could hit his own father. It took a few moments of heavy breathing and obvious struggling with himself before the boy’s fists relaxed back into hands and he continued.

“…It’s their whole damned culture. Every one of them is a barbarian and they make no attempt to better themselves. They are worse then Suki, he’s only interested in battle as a means to expand his empire. Those butchers fight and kill for the sheer pleasure in it… and that’s just what they did to my family…” Zach continued, breaking into tears now. His strong, stoic exterior was cracking wide open, showing the raw emotions that governed the boy. His rage and hate were the only things he had left, else the bubbling cesspool of despair that lay beneath might have swallowed him up by now. His hatred had saved him, quite literally, had he not had it to hold onto, Zach very likely would have taken his own life shortly after leaving the hospital. Now all of that despair was oozing through the cracks in his armor and it was turning the proud young man into a sobbing wreck.

“I want my parents back… I want my parents back…… I… want… them back…” Zach said as the flood gates opened. The teen dropped his face into his hands as he slumped forward, elbows coming to rest on his knees. It didn’t matter that he was crying and someone could see him, the world didn’t exist any more, not right now. The cold, black emptiness inside had welled up and combined with the still present distress of having almost died, Zach’s emotional control was shot completely to hell.

[Geurin]

"You dont mean all that"

Kami was still sitting calmly, allowing zach's outburst to occur, he needed to get his anger out, even if it was threatening to Kami's safety. Zach could control himself, and if he could focus that anger he would be better for it. Such rage could be channeled to do great things, and Kami was here to help zach accomplish that, and also take a weight off of his mind and conscience. Although it was important to get off the topic of his family. Loss was a painful subject, and that would have to be tackled in a different way.

"Zach you know deep down that isnt true, that there can be no absolutes"

In the history of the human race, evil has always shone itself, whether it was with bombs, genocide, poverty, hate always came around. But Kami would never give up on the human race, nor any race, because there were no absolutes.

"Zach, have you heard the story of Son Goku"

Being Kami of earth, he knew much about its history, although it was difficult at times to tell fact from fiction, there were truths he knew to be within the stories of past heroes, and that anyone could learn a lesson or two from them.

[Zach]

Zach by this point was too upset to hear or even fully understand what Kami was saying to him, but it did sound very much like the other suddenly flip flopped on the Saiyan issue. ‘Why is he going on about? Of course I mean every word of it. I’d burn their planet to ashes if I could.’ Zach thought tom himself. His face was still concealed in his hands, hiding the fact that the tears had stopped, rage instead rearing up again to take the place of his sorrow. Uncontrollable, blind hatred exploded within Zach, the same hate and anger that had kept him going for the past two years. He knew this feeling well and although it was uncontrollable in it’s intensity, Zach could at least direct it away from those he liked.

“You’re wrong.” he rasped and lifted his head. “Their whole culture revolves around violence. From birth those monsters are thought nothing but how to kill. They look at it as a playtime activity as we would checkers. Disgusting savages.” the boy was talking more to himself then Kami but did pick up the last question the green man asked, though he frankly wasn’t interested.

“I don’t read fairy tales Kami. Stopped doing that when I was a kid.” the blonde concluded. He knew his Namekian friend wouldn’t take what he was saying to heart, the other thought too much of him to think Zach actually meant what he said. It was either that Kami did not know he’d thrown himself into the dark abyss of hatred or that the green man thought himself persuasive enough to bring Zach back. He would fail, Zach himself declared himself lost, embraced that fact and sought only two things, his revenge and to prevent anyone else from having to suffer as he had.

[Geurin]

Kami continued to sit and listen to the anger fueling zachs hatred. To most it would be a lost cause, but certainly not to Kami. Zach was to powerful to allow such rage to be acceptable. If anything Zach was one of the strongest on the planet, and to allow him to explode like this in any other setting would be unacceptable.

He decided he would wait until Zach was slightly more stable to continue his story about Son Goku, until zach was able to listen, the purpose of story would be lost in the sea of desolate anger.

"Zach, whom do you hate more, Touketsuki or the Saiyans?"

A new question, perhaps one that would get Zach thinking to himself, or breathing more calmly. Both had nearly killed him in zach's mind they were both considered pure evil. But which was more?

Before Zach had the opportunity to speak Kami would continue.

"Saiyan children, Saiyan civilians. Saiyan doctors and saiyan teachers, all of them, even those who choose not to fight, will be forced into combat very, very soon. Just as we have been attacked on earth, also shall they be. Is the earth not destined to become the same society? The same fighting, and killing society? When suki returns, and kills the fighters, what then? Will he force us to kill each other like common gladiators, pitting us against each other like a common dog fight. Zach you mustnt judge so harshly a culture you do not understand, or have not experienced. To hate those saiyans is to be expected, but to be bitten by a dog, and to hate all dogs there after is nothing short of naive. And then, will you zach, find yourself doing what they did to you, to yourself. Will you not arrive on their planet, destroy their small towns, and leave other zach's out there into the world, hating humans and all that they stand for."

It was a lot to take in, however if Zach wouldnt do it for himself, then perhaps he would listen to the reason of safety. For just as Kami had said, if Zach continued his behavior, he would certainly put the earth in danger. Because it was this irrational explosion of emotion that did pit him against Suki, and this same anger that had him impaled over his horn. It was this anger that was distracting Zach from his true hidden potential. And as soon as Zach could see that, he could begin training in a way that even Kami would not keep up. Because Zach was a hero, and the only thing that could defeat a true hero, was himself.

[Zach]

Though thoughts of blasting the monkey planet into rubble, dancing through his head came to a grinding halt when Kami compared Suki and the Saiyans and asked him which he hated more. Zach was about to ask if the man was daft, hate was hate, there was either white or black, hated or not hated. It was such an obvious answer, he hated them both equally. No! No, he hated the monkeys even more, they took his family away, ripped them and everything he knew away while he slept.

The Saiyan’s as a whole were a broad, easy target to hate. He wanted to say he hated the Monkeys so much, heck he’d even considered siding with Suki until he found out that the other intended to extort Earth. That was the moment when Suki when from grey to black. The grey line was impossibly thin and the Changeling had only been on it because he was in a position to defend Earth from the Saiyans, thus expunging him of the crime of bombing the planet with that teleporter device. However the moment he announced he intended to extort Earth as payment for it’s protection, Zach’s opinion of him shifted to the black.

That didn’t make him the monster the Saiyans were though, did it? They’d killed his family, destroyed his town and done it all over a squabble in a bar. Time though ad done something cruel and one might say amusing to Zach’s hatred though. The rage and fury felt for the nameless, faceless apes that had robbed him or a normal life was faded slightly by the very fact that he had no face to put the rage to. Suki’s attempt on his life though was fresh, vivid and came complete with a devilish visage.

He wanted to ay the Saiyans so much, but at the moment, Suki represented the biggest threat to himself and the people of Earth and he couldn’t let that continue. “I…… can’t….. I……” Zach struggled with the words, obviously fighting with himself over the issue. The stress was visible, his face turning red, sweat beading up all over his skin.

“That… Monster… I hate… him… more…” the boy finally managed to express. True, the Saiyans were monsters in their own right, but they killed because they mistakenly thought they were stronger or better or simply for the sake of ego and thought they needed to prove it. Suki on the other hand did it for the simple, sick pleasure it brought him and for profit. The alien was a monster in every sense of the word and that made him worse then the monkeys. One might view this realization as a tiny inch upwards out of the pit Zach had thrown himself into, but he’d descended miles and compared to that inch of progress upwards the difference was nil. All he’d done was find something he hated more, a direction instead of an aimless battle. He would kill Suki, to the expense of all else, this was his task now, even the monkeys were irrelevant for the time being, Kami had given him that.

“You’ve given me a clear direction, one I probably would have missed on my own… I did miss on my own, and it almost got me killed.” Zach added. “But don’t think this means I hate the apes any less, we just have a bigger problem to deal with… and I can’t let them get in the way of that… Not a second time.”