The hunger hit him like a physical blow.
His stomach cramped so violently that he doubled over, one massive hand pressed against the dirt to keep from falling face-first into the stream. The reflection staring back at him wavered - wild green eyes in a gaunt face, framed by tangled black hair that hung past his shoulders like a curtain.
This was supposed to be the body of the Legendary Super Saiyan. Right now, it felt more like a prison made of starving flesh and aching bones.
He forced himself to stand, legs shaking with the effort. Every movement sent sharp pains through muscles that had wasted away during years of drifting through space. His tail, coiled around his waist, twitched with each wave of hunger pangs.
Food. He needed food or this body would shut down completely.
The jungle around him buzzed with life. Birds called from the canopy above. Small creatures rustled through the underbrush. Somewhere nearby, he could hear the splash of fish jumping in the stream.
But as he took a step toward the water, something strange happened.
Every sound went quiet.
The birds stopped singing. The rustling ceased. Even the insects fell silent, as if the entire jungle was holding its breath.
He froze, confused. Then he felt it - a faint tingling sensation, like electricity dancing across his skin. His vision sharpened slightly, and for just a moment, he could sense the life around him. Not see it, but feel it. Dozens of small lights in his mind, scattered throughout the trees and water.
Ki energy. He was sensing ki.
The realization hit him like lightning. Even in this weakened state, he still had access to energy sensing. It was faint, barely there, but real.
And every single one of those life signatures was moving away from him.
The animals were running.
"Great," he muttered, his voice hoarse and unfamiliar. Even that simple word sent pain shooting through his dry throat. "Even the fish are scared of me."
He stumbled toward the stream anyway. The water was crystal clear, flowing over smooth rocks. Fish had been jumping here just moments ago - he'd seen their silver flashes in the sunlight. Now the water was empty.
He knelt at the edge, cupping his hands to drink. The water was cool and clean, but it did nothing for the gnawing emptiness in his gut. He needed protein. Calories. Real food.
Standing up too quickly made his vision blur. He steadied himself against a tree, breathing heavily.
Think. He knew this world, knew how it worked. Saiyans were natural fighters, natural hunters. Even weakened, this body should have instincts he could rely on.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus, the way he'd seen Goku do a thousand times in the shows. Reaching out with his senses, looking for any life signature he could catch.
There - upstream, about fifty yards away. Something bigger than the small fish. Probably hiding under an overhang or behind rocks.
He began walking, each step careful and deliberate. His bare feet found purchase on the slippery rocks. The jungle canopy filtered the afternoon sunlight into shifting patterns of gold and green.
As he got closer, the ki signature became clearer. Definitely a fish, and a large one. But it was deep, probably in a pool where the current had carved out a hollow beneath the bank.
He'd have to go in after it.
The water was shockingly cold. It came up to his chest, and the current was stronger than he'd expected. His weakened legs struggled to keep him upright against the flow.
But there it was - a fat river fish, easily three feet long, hovering in the deep shadow beneath the overhang. Its ki signature pulsed steadily, unaware of the predator wading toward it.
He reached for it slowly, trying not to disturb the water too much.
The fish bolted.
It shot out from under the bank like a silver bullet, heading downstream. He lunged after it, lost his footing on the slippery rocks, and went under completely.
Water filled his nose and mouth. The current tumbled him over the rocks, each impact sending fresh waves of pain through his already aching body. He surfaced gasping, just in time to see the fish disappear around a bend in the stream.
"Damn it!"
The curse echoed off the water, and he immediately regretted the outburst. His throat felt like sandpaper. But more than that, the sound of his own anger frightened him.
For just a moment, it hadn't sounded like his voice. It had been deeper, more savage. Like something else was lurking beneath the surface.
He dragged himself to shore, shivering and exhausted. Water dripped from his hair and clothes - what remained of the simple garments he'd worn in the pod. The fabric was torn and barely holding together.
The sun was getting lower. He could see orange light beginning to creep through the canopy. Soon it would be dark, and he still had no food, no shelter, and no way to make fire.
He needed to try a different approach.
Closing his eyes again, he reached out with his ki sense, searching for something smaller. Something he could actually catch in his current state.
There - a cluster of tiny signatures in a tree about twenty yards away. Fruit, maybe. Or nuts.
He made his way over, stumbling slightly on the uneven ground. The tree was massive, its trunk easily ten feet across, with low-hanging branches heavy with some kind of purple fruit.
The problem was reaching them.
In his current state, climbing was out of the question. His arms barely had the strength to lift his own weight, let alone pull himself up a tree trunk.
But maybe he didn't need to climb.
He stepped back and raised one hand toward the lowest cluster of fruit. He'd seen Goku and the others do this countless times - just a simple ki blast, precisely controlled, to knock something down without destroying it.
He focused, trying to gather what little energy he had left. A warm sensation built in his palm, and for a moment, he felt a flicker of hope.
The blast that erupted from his hand was anything but precise.
A beam of golden energy, easily three feet wide, tore through the air and completely vaporized the entire branch. The fruit, the leaves, even part of the trunk - all gone in an instant. The smell of burning wood filled the air.
He stared at the smoking crater in the tree trunk, horrified.
"What the hell..."