“L’erreur de Nos Chemins”
by: Niebezpiczny Ksiezyc

 

Disclaimer: I do not own DragonBall Z. Why? Gee I do not know, perhaps because I am not the creator, no? I hope that you enjoy this story, it was originally written as an archetypal fairy tale set in ancient France for my English class last year. So I decided to go back and change the names of the characters and a few other things. For those of you who had read my GundamWing fanfics, you are probably wondering why the title is not in Polish, well, you have to read the fic to understand why! All is explained later! As usual reviews and e-mails are nice, but be warned, if you send a flame, you will get one back!! Enjoy!

 

Un
(One)

 

Long, long ago in la Gaule (ancient France), the Counsel de la Vie (counsel of life) stood anxiously around a large, amethyst colored pond in the middle of a dark cave, lit only by the soft flickers of many candles. The gentle flames licked the dark edges of the cave, dimly showing shadowy figures in the bowels of the deep cavern. The nine members stood in their gray hooded robes around the pool with grave looks in their caliginous eyes. Over the sound of the purple water lapping against the side of the rocks, a small murmur of their chanting filled the heavy, tension filled air. Louder and louder, the steady and firm chant of the Counsel echoed inside the cave, reverberating off the stony walls and towards the yawning mouth of the cave. All of the creatures near the cave and even some peasants within earshot, stopped their actions and turned. Turned towards the sound of the chant, “l’erreur de nos chemins! L’erreur de no chemins! L’erreur de nos chemins!” (the error of our ways)

“Concentrate, Bulma! Concentrate! Focus your thoughts, mon élève (my student)!” The girl brushed her long blue hair from her dark, mischievous cerulean eyes and in disgust said, “how can I Professeur Kai, with that garçon stupide (stupid boy) making so much noise!” A young boy, dark haired boy looked up with his large onyx eyes from his task of crushing various potent herbs in an ancient mortar with a strong pestle. He was about to open his mouth to protest when his teacher intervened in what was sure to become a verbal battle of epic proportions. With a heavy sigh he decided to end today’s lessons. “That’s enough Bulma! When will you learn to stop picking on Vegeta?” Professeur Kai asked sounded rather exhausted.
“Oh, Professeur Kai, how can I stop when it is so easy?” Bulma said looking very innocent. Professeur Kai merely rolled his eyes and told his two students to come to him and sit down before him. He gingerly sat on a stool while he watched the two put away their work, walk towards him and sit. With a twinkle in his once lackluster eyes, Professeur Kai began to tell them a story of his childhood. It was a tale that sounded very similar to Vegeta and Bulma’s currant relationship which consists of mockery and hurt feelings. Bulma constantly interrupted the story to add her usual sarcastic remarks. Finally, fed up with Bulma and her witticism, Professeur Kai told her to be quiet. The story ended with Professeur Kai and his fellow student falling in love. When the story was completed, Vegeta’s eyes were clouded with disbelief, and Bulma’s glistened with laughter. As quickly as the emotions came to their eyes, they changed. Suddenly, the old face of their gentle teacher was twisted with pain. Bulma quickly rose to help her teacher, but he held up his hand and said, “I am all right.” Professeur Kai sighed heavily and said, “now is the time for me to tell you about the Counsel de la Vie.”

 

Deux
(two)

And so Professeur Kai began the perplexing task of explaining the Counsel to his students. “As a king would protect his kingdom, the Counsel protects all forms of life. The Counsel consists of many noble and powerful sorcerers, who have pledged their lives to watch over la Gaule. As I speak to you, the Counsel is meeting in a secret, hidden cave far from here.” The teacher looked sadly upon his students and patted Vegeta on the head to ease the boy’s angered face. “The Counsel has requested that you two journey together to la Caverne de l’Avenir (the cave of the future). This will be unlike any quest that you have ever encountered before. The path to la Caverne is laced with danger. I regret to tell you that I cannot accompany you, but do not worry, I will help you prepare for the journey” Bulma and Vegeta looked at each other, too shocked to even speak, a very different change in the girl’s normal behavior to say the least. Professeur Kai rose and walked over to his shelves of herbs and magic potions, and picked up a nearby leather sack to start packing. He turned to his students, who were still too stunned to speak, and said, “Well, you should start packing for the trip.” A few hours later the teacher stood in front of his students to teach them their final lesson. “Avant vous partez (before you leave), I have advice to give you. Travel for a half a day towards the setting sun. You will soon reach another cavern. It belongs to le Dragon Rouge (the Red Dragon). He will help you on your quest.” The two travelers carried bags full of supplies, heavy cloaks and Vegeta held his trusty sword. With their hearts beating quickly, and words stuck in their throats, the two travelers turned from Professeur Kai and walked out of the house, starting down the path towards their destiny.

 

Trois
(Three)

 

“Vegeta, I can carry my own bag, merci (thank you)! I do not need your help!” Bulma yelled at the bewildered boy who thought that he was being a gentleman. “I have enough things to worry about, and I do not need you getting on my nerves!”

“Oh, I get on your nerves?” I get on your nerves? With rage burning inside that threatened to erupt like a volcano from the usually laconic boy, Vegeta took a deep breath and yelled, “Bulma, you are just a spoiled, méchant jeune fille (nasty young girl)! Quand (when) will you grow up? We have to help each other out remember? Though I do not see why I need the help of some simple girl” As soon as that last sentence came out of the boy’s mouth he immediately regretted saying it. She was sure to scream at him now.
“Oui (yes), I remember! Oh, I am simple?! Why do you think that I am some kind of idiot? All you men are the same!” Bulma roared. Then, with every last ounce of dignity in her body, she held her head high and walked down the path that lead to a dark forest, swaying her hips.

Vegeta shook his head and sighed heavily to relieve his anger, and followed the fuming Bulma down the path. Each step he took, Vegeta realized that he did not like the feeling of this place. The sun could not breach the heavy canopy of tree tops. Only small tears in the verdant shield allowed sunlight to drip onto the forest floor. Strange creatures of all different colors and sizes began to follow the two travelers. Vegeta opened his mouth to say something, but then shook his head remembering that Bulma was still furious. Vegeta laid his free hand on the handle of his sword and quickened his pace, so that he could walk beside Bulma. When he caught up to her, he almost wished that he had not. The icy look that Bulma gave him was even more frightening than the creatures following them.

Before long, Bulma and Vegeta reached a colossal cave. Vegeta handed Bulma one of the torches near the opening of the cave, but she glared at him and reached for her own. Walking cautiously, the two made their way into the dark cave. The light from the torches spread from the two, surrounding them in a halo of warm light. As they walked deeper into the cave, the air seemed to be getting thick and warm. Vegeta grasped his torch and sword, which was still in its sheath, as hard as he could. Bulma saw that Vegeta was afraid, but before she could mock him, they reached an opening and before them was a large, red fire breathing dragon. The dragon looked at the two frightened youths and said in a deep, booming voice, “I have been waiting for you Bulma and Vegeta.” Before the two could ask any questions, the dragon let out a deep laugh and smiled a toothy grin at the two. “Oui, je sais (yes, I know) who you are and why you are here. However, the matters in which you come before me are not to be taken lightly. A strong Sorcerer named Freeza is threatening to take over la Gaule. He will stop at nothing to rule this land and spread his evil ways. You must fight side by side and trust each other in order to defeat him. Travel north for three days, and then you will reach the Cavern de l’Avenir. That is where you will find the Counsel de la Vie.” The dragon then reached his long scaly arm around massive boulder and pulled forth a brown leather bag and offered it to the travelers. “These will help you on your journey.” Bulma cautiously reached out and took the bag from the dragon, and then slowly opened it.