(Sometime later)
(Back on Earth)
Sweat dripping down his face, Gohan allowed for a few moments to catch his breath following the vigorous round of training he'd just undertaken. Moving his arms around and bringing them down in a tai chi motion, a long exhale followed by his eyes closing allowed the demi-Saiyan to find a sense of equilibrium with his being. Upon settling his jumbled nerves, he then looked up, faced the mountains of his countryside stretched out in front of him, before turning heel and marching back towards his home. Along the way the spiky haired warrior took a moment to stretch and relieve his body of the excess weight he'd used for his session.
Bringing his right hand around, the teenage warrior pressed it against his wrist band and, encasing the band in a bright orange glow, quickly lowered the installed weight to a manageable level. In an instant, the demi-Saiyan felt over a hundred tons of mass leave the fabric, allowing him to continue on with dispelling the rest of it. "Ah yes. That's much better." Pushing himself to the limits of his body garnered some excellent results from his Saiyan cells.
Feeling he'd made great progress that morning, the young warrior decided it was time for a nice, fulfilling breakfast. Smelling his mother had already begun cooking for the family, the spiky haired Saiyan made a beeline straight for the house. Along the way, he spotted the familiar face of Piccolo watching him from the oak standing near their house. When the teen waved to him, the Namekian nodded in response, closed his eyes and continued to stand there with his arms folded, as per the usual routine.
Pleased to see his family's most regular sentry had dropped by to check up on them, Gohan then let himself into the house and immediately headed towards the kitchen. It was there he found his mother standing over the stove, cooking beans, toasting bread and steaming rice.
"Mm. Looks good," the demi-Saiyan exclaimed, catching sight of the dozen dishes she'd already prepared and covered to keep warm. When his mother looked at him and away from her work, the teenager smiled, "All those toasted egg baskets… are we celebrating something?"
Chi-Chi smiled, "Not anything in particular. But seeing as how it's the start of a new week, I was thinking of making you and Goten something extra special." Returning her attention to working the frying pan, the woman hummed pleasantly as she proceeded to toss the omelets. "I'm guessing Zangya has already taken off?"
"Yep. She left over an hour ago for West City… said something about wanting to get into town early to hit the coffee club."
"Hm. Shame," the Son mother replied, exhaling after she did so. "I was planning on making her something good for the trip, but seeing as how she's already gone. I'll set my alarm clock early next time so I can catch her out the front door."
Hearing the pan pop and sizzle as the spatula scratched over its surface, Gohan gave a lighthearted chuckle as he slowly moved towards the corridor. "Don't strain yourself too much. You already do more than enough around the house. The last thing we want is for you to pass out from overworking."
"Nonsense. I've got energy to burn. More than enough to give even you super powered Saiyans a run for your money," the gutsy woman replied while pumping her bicep in a very gung-ho manner. Just as the spiky haired warrior was about to head off to another part of the house, Chi-Chi then pulled away from her work station and craned her head around the corner. "By the way, have you seen your brother anywhere? I went to check on him a few minutes ago but he wasn't in his room." After all, that child really loved his eggs and bacon. A mere whiff of them could send him into a frenzy.
Stretching out his senses to check out the area surrounding their domicile, the demi-Saiyan quickly glanced back at the raven haired woman and smiled, "I think he snuck out to go check on Icarus up in his cave. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"Oh. Okay," Chi-Chi replied, before quickly returning to her task. "As long as he's still in the area, then that's fine. The last thing I want him to do is to run off to some other part of the mountain on an empty stomach." With that remark made, the woman emptied the frying pan into her eleventh plate and moved it to where the others were, allowing Gohan to head over to his bedroom to check his computer.
The way their morning was going, it was shaping up to be a really good start to the week.
XXX
(Meanwhile)
As Gohan and Chi-Chi were preparing breakfast indoors, out in the woods just a stone's throw away from the house, a casually dressed Goten could be seen making his way up the trail towards the small cave belonging to their resident dragon. Panting excitedly as he sprinted up the path and around trees, the child soon skidded to a halt outside the entrance to the cavern. Upon which he sucked in his breath, leaned forward, placed his hands on his knees and looked into the makeshift home.
"Hey, Icarus. Come here boy," Goten exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he waited for a response. "Guess who's come to visit."
As soon as his voice was done echoing off of the walls, the child saw the head of a creature resting in the middle of the earthly home perk up and start lumbering towards the exit. The moment he stepped through the stone archway, the pink skinned reptile was instantly greeted by a wash of sunlight and the cheerful smile of his best friend's younger brother. Like a puppy, Icarus happily wagged his tail as he looked down upon the child in the blue Emperor's garb.
Giggling when the dragon chirped in greeting, Goten quickly rushed up to their family friend and gave him a hug, "Hey there, boy. Did you miss me?" When the dragon squawked, the young half-Saiyan laughed and scratched the underside of his neck affectionately. "Ha-ha. I'm happy to see you too." Speedily swinging up onto Icarus's back as if he were mounting a saddle, the child then gave his friend a comforting pat on the side. "Come on. Mum's making us a big breakfast."
The pink dragon chirped and wasted no time in turning to the path ahead. With a destination planned, Icarus started on a slow trek back down the hill. However, just as he was beginning to move, the reptile stopped when, out of nowhere, he sensed an unpleasant aura fall over them and gave an angry growl towards the canopy.
Surprised at the dragon's sudden display of aggression, Goten leaned over to look into his friend's eyes. "Huh? Icarus? What's wrong?" He then looked up to see exactly what his companion was looking at.
As soon as his eyes landed on the dirt path through the forest, the child watched as a shadowy figure descended from the sky and landed directly in the center of the road. Narrowing his eyes at the stranger, Goten was able to make out from his distance an anthropomorphic female collie staring back at him. Dressed in Egyptian garb with a fluffy tail waving behind her and a scar across her left eye, the figure looked the exact opposite of a friendly canine, as they were currently leering in the child's direction with a foul air radiating off of her.
Having to hold Icarus back when the dragon bucked and snarled angrily, the demi-Saiyan spoke up, "Hey! Who are you?"
The brown haired warrior of old smirked, "Oh… just a passer taking in the sights." Unfolding her arms and leaving them at her sides, Shiera then began to march towards the dragon and his rider, eyes flickering with evil intent. "Unfortunately, since this mountain area is so big, I find myself to be a little bit lost." Along the way, the warrior drew the curved sickle-sword from her back and began dragging the tip along the ground, a sight that had Icarus take a big step back and caused sweat to begin building on Goten's face.
The dog warrior grinned maliciously, "Do you think you could give me some directions, young one?"
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