Ava's Earth Quest 2 - The Turtle Hermit Part 2

The Turtle Hermit Part II

Medium Quest

Requirement: Must have completed The Turtle Hermit.

Reward: 2,000 zeni and 10 Hero Points.

So, Master Roshi has agreed to train you. But, he has not always been known as the most conventional of teachers. He sends you to a remote island and tells you to survive for thirty says without using your powers. How will you overcome the hazards and desolation of island life, and can you make it through the rigors without breaking down wielding your ki?
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Note to Admin

The role players who plays Vegeta and Goku gave me permission to use their names, as long as Vegeta doesn't get mentioned as a Super Saiyan, or goku doesn't have nay part to play, just gets mentioned. All other Canon names have been changed.

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Ava was sitting on the beach, looking out over the ocean, the waves lapping at her toes. She smiled and closed her eyes. Maybe this planet wasn’t all bad. Master Roshi had agreed to train her and he had sent her to do some strange missions in this past month.

He first sent her to go fetch ripe plums from a tree at the top of the Barazig Mountains to the north of his island. And he instructed her to pick them the old fashioned way, no flying allowed. She thought that it was simply to find lunch for the old hermit, but as it turned out, without her powers, it was harder than she thought.

He then sent her to go collect a rare peacock pearl from The Dagger Isles, just east of the island. That was pretty hard. The rocks there were so sharp, it tore her suit up good, and not that Master Roshi seemed to mind. When she arrived back at the island all torn up, the peacock pearl in hand, he wasn’t even interested in the pearl. Goku was right; I was a dirty old man.

This was her day off. She was allowed to just relax. Master Roshi had told her yesterday that he next mission would be the most challenging up till this point.

“You’ve done well, Ava…” he said, walking out of his house up behind her.

“Thank you, master.” She smiled.

Soon she would be stronger enough to take anyone.

“Don’t you want to go for a swim?” he asked her.

“I would, but I don’t have a swimming suit here. I left them all at Jane’s place.” She sighed.

Today was sweltering hot and the water was so cool. A swim would be wonderful right about now.

“If that’s the problem, I have plenty swimming suits here.” He said, going back inside.

Ava turned and waited to see what he would come out with. He came out a few seconds later, holding two pieces of black cloth. She got up and walked up to him.

“This?” she asked, taking the cloths from him.

“We call this a bikini. Very flattering. Especially for young woman.” he drooled.

“Um…” she said,” giving the cloths back to him.
“I’m sure you have something more… conservative.” She said, walking into the house, going to the trunk that was standing open.

She pulled out many bikini’s, looking at the bright colours and flowery prints. She hated flowery prints these humans seemed to love. She pulled one out and it seemed bigger than the others.

“Aha…” she said, standing up and closing the chest.

She went to her room, locked the door and slipped on her new swimwear. It, unlike the others, was a full swimsuit. She walked out, and stored out to the beach, heading into the ocean.

She swam around, diving deep and having a look around. She saw many stage fish and coral reefs. This planet had so much going for it. Namek never had things like this on it. She surfaced and swam back to shore, stepping out of the water, seeing Master Roshi waiting for her, towel in hand. She walked up to him and took the towel.

“Thank you…” she said, seeing blood running down his face.
“Ma…Master…” she said, pointing at his nose, where the blood was coming from.

“Don’t worry my dear, chronic nose bleeds, happens from time to time.” He said, and her worry dissipated.

She shrugged and went off to go sit on the deckchair.

“When in the presence of young ladies…” he chuckled under his breath.

“You know, Saiyan ears are very sensitive.” She said to him and he gasped, forgetting she was a Saiyan.

“Ri…right then…” he said, walking off to stand next to her.
“Your next lesson is starting tomorrow.” He began and she listened, while drying off her long black hair.
“There’s a grouping of islands near here, one hour’s flight. They call it the Scarstone Archipelago.” He said, looking out to the east.

“Yes, master, what am I fetching for your collection?” she asked, looking out over the water.

He looked at her and laughed.

“Nothing. I want you to survive there, on your own, for 30 days.” He laughed, looking back out over the ocean.

“Is that it? That’s my next quest?” she asked him, not really believing he would send her on such an easy mission.

“Being alone on an island, with no one to talk to, can drive anyone mad.” He said, not looking at her.

“Like someone else I know…” she thought.

“But the kicker is, you need to live as a human. No powers.” He said, and she looked at him disbelief.

She was a Saiyan who had been taught to battle and bred to fight. No powers… that was completely unimaginable to her.

“What?” she asked him, standing up, looking at the old man’s face, he was deadly serious.
“But… but…” she began but he stopped her with a finger on her lips.

“As soon as you land, you may not use your powers. I will be able to tell if you cheat.” He added, looking at her shocked face.

Her brown eyes were stretched as wide as they could. How would she do this?

“No powers at all, not even an air boxing match?” she asked, asking if her usual stress relief counted.

“Nothing. No flying, no ki balls, no powering up. Zip.” He said to her and she sighed.

Surely this had a reward. Surely this old man had a method to his madness.

“All right…” she agreed.

“You need to survive for 30 days. Shelter, water, food, fending off the wildlife.” He explained, walking off.

“Do I at least get rations?” she asked as he walked into the house.

“No.” he seemed a bit harsh.

“Okay. I’ll do it.” She said, sitting down on the deck chair.

“After 30 days, I’ll come get you.” He said, stopping at the top of the steps.

“If I don’t forget where it is. Hehehe…” he laughed, walking into the house.

She lay back on the chair and watched the waves. She wondered in Goku and Melcha had to do the same thing. But they grew up as human; they would probably find it easy. But Vegeta, he grew up knowing he was a Saiyan, knowing is capabilities from birth… just as she did. How would he find this test? She sighed. She missed him terribly. It had been a month since she last saw him.

No doubt Jane would be having her baby soon. And Ava always thought that Vegeta was the father, even though he would deny it. Would that affect her and Vegeta’s relationship, him being married to Jane? She hoped not. She was beginning to fall for him… hard. She drifted off, sleeping in the sun, relaxing. Tomorrow would be harsh on her.

Early the next morning, she got up and said goodbye to Master Roshi, who gave her a map to the Scarstone Archipelago. She took it and flew off, hoping she would pass this test.

She flew for a solid hour, not stopping once and when she found a grouping of islands, she stopped and checked the map. She had flown past the crescent moon shaped rock outcrop a good 20 kilometres ago.
This was Scarstone Archipelago. She looked at the map and saw that Roshi had circled a certain island on it in red. No doubt she had to go to that one.

“Well, here it goes.” She said, flying down to that island.

She dropped down, stopping just before hitting the ground. She looked back west, towards Roshi’s island. Would he really know if she cheated?
No, she needed to do what her master asked her to do.

She landed and looked around. It was a typical tropical island, not too big, but also not as small as Roshi’s island. She heard the calling of monkeys up in the canopy as she walked into the thick jungle. She was getting nowhere quick, so she stepped back and held up her hand, getting ready to send a blast down. A small white ball of energy formed in her palm and she sighed. The ball dissipated and she grabbed the nearest vine, pulling it down.

“Damn it!” she shouted, making her way through the jungle.

She broke through the jungle into a clearing and saw a pool of water. The source of the pool as a waterfall with clear running water.

“Water, check.” she said to herself.

She collected some wood and built a small shelter, using the wood and vines that she colleted from the jungle. She found a sharp rock and bashed it against the cliff until it was sharp enough to cut. She grasped it in her mouth as she climbed a palm tree and sliced through some leaves, watching them as they fell to the ground. She dropped down, making sure to not use her flying ability, and collected the palm fronds, and dragged them back to her camp. She put them on top of her shelter, overlaying them so they made a solid roof.

“Looks good and dry…” she said, leaning against the framework.

Next she needed to find food. She heard the monkeys calling again and she headed off in that direction.

She found the group of Howler monkeys, eating peacefully up in the tree tops. She took her sharpened stone out of her belt and looked up at the little monkeys. She stood up and got ready to throw one when she saw a little baby clinging to the side of the one she was aiming for. She stopped. She couldn’t kill a mother who had a baby. She sighed, she was so hungry, and hungry like only a Saiyan could be.

“Hang on…” she thought, looking up at the fruits they were eating.

They were monkeys, like her, essentially. What they were eating, she could eat too, in theory. She went to the base of the tree and began climbing it, up to where the monkeys were sitting. They looked strangely at her, as if to say, ‘Hey human, what’re you doing up here?’ she swung her tail out at them and they almost realised she was like them, and carried on doing what the wanted. She looked down into the heart of the palm and saw they were eating some kind of fruit. She reached down and pulled one from the heart and looked at the monkeys, they weren’t eating the skin. She skinned the fruit and got to the soft orange fleshy part and looked back at the monkeys, that’s how they were eating it. She brought it up to her mouth and bit into the fruit and chewed.

“Sweet…” she said, taking another bite.

She collected some of the fruit and few coconuts and climbed down from the tree, heading back off to the camp. She got there with enough time to find wood and attempt to make a fire. This would probably be the hardest part of all.

She laid two pieces of wood down on the ground, with some fine coconut husk on top of it. She put a stone under that, to the one side, making sure the ember would get enough oxygen. Then she built her fire, ready and waiting for the little orange ember that would keep her warm tonight. She began rubbing the sticks together, and again, and again. Everyone she had ever seen do this, made it look so easy.

“Damn it, why’s it not working?” she said, sitting back.

She looked at the rocks and wondered if they would make sparks. She got up, made her way to the other side of the pool and pried a pair of rocks off the side of the cliff. She walked back to her camp and sat down, sitting close to the fire.

She banged them together and they made a spark. She smiled and held them over the husk. She banged them together and she sparks flew into the dried coconut husks and they began to smoke. She out the stones aside and blew into the husk, and the fire burst into furious life. She picked it up with the two sticks underneath and took them to the fire stack. She placed the burning mass in the middle of the pile of wood and kept blowing gently on it. Soon, it was a roaring fire. She sat back and smiled. She had everything she needed for the night. She opened a coconut and drank to the victory of making this far.

“6 hours down, 29 days to go.” She toasted herself.

That night she lay down and slept soundly, while the roaring and crackling fire kept all the nasty animals away.

The next few days were spent making stone and stick spears and fishing gear, learning to fish and exploring the island. She had learnt that those monkeys that she had seen, were prey to a huge lizard type dinosaur. So she decided to move her camp up to higher ground. Where she could see it coming, if need be. She moved everything up onto a hill near the river that ended in the waterfall. She stopped afterwards and looked around. This planet, this island, was beautiful, and she kind of hoped Roshi would forget where it was. She imagined a little bamboo house down by the beach, waking up every morning to the sound of waves in your ears. Heaven, she thought.

On the 5 day, while out fishing, she dived down and went after a huge fish, which had learnt over the past few days that she had to breathe sooner or later. She watched as it swam under a group of coral and disappeared for the third time today. She shouted out in frustration, causing the fish to get frightened and swim away in a flurry of bubbles. She swam up to the surface and wiped the hair out of her face.

“DAMN IT!” she shouted out loud.

She sensed an energy signature above her and she looked up and saw someone watching her.

“…Vegeta…” she gasped.

She was swimming naked. There was no need to cover up here. She was alone.

“What in the name of Shenron are you doing here?” he shouted down to her.

“Nothing!” she shouted back up.

He dropped down and she hoped he wouldn’t see her body too much.

“We’ve been looking for you. We need to get together, you, me and Goku. Talk about our futures.” He said, looking down at her.

Why was she not flying up to speak to him?

“Fly up to me.” he said, looking at her.

“No, I… can’t.” she said, looking away from his glaring black eyes.

He was taken aback.

“Are you hurt, do I need to get you to the Lookout?” he asked.

“No… no. I’m training. With Master Roshi.” She said and she could see his anger boiling up.

“ROSHI… that dirty old man…” he shouted.

“He was the only one who wanted to teach me!” she shouted back at him.

“Goku would just cream me; I could never keep up with him. And you…” she seethed.

“You didn’t even look at me when I was asking you. I took it as a no.” she said, covering herself.

“So, in this, training, you can’t fly?” he asked her as she swam off to the shore and he followed her.

“No, I may use none of my powers. No flying, no ki blasts or balls. Nothing. I have to live and survive like a human.” She said, reaching the shore.

“Close your eyes please…” she asked him.

He closed his eyes and heard her getting out of the water and he couldn’t help himself and he had to peek. She was out and heading for her training suit. She looked like a siren that had just been given legs, tall, slender, with a brown tail wrapped around her waist. His eyes drifted down to her round derrière and he blushed. He then closed his eyes again. She slipped into her suit and turned to face him.

“Besides, why do you need to talk to me about our futures? You’re marrying Jane. And Goku is married to Emily. I have no hope of passing on my genes. Unless it’s with a human.” She said, folding her arms over her chest.

“I’m not marrying Jane!” he protested.

“She’s carrying your child!” she shouted at him.

He didn’t know what to say to that.

“What, you think that just because you’re a Saiyan that you couldn’t get a human girl pregnant?” she shouted at him.

“No, I didn’t think it would happen.” He said sadly.

“We are more compatible with humans than you think, Vegeta.” She said to him, turning and beginning to walk into the jungle.

“My training will be done in a month. Come see me on Roshi’s island then.” She said to him, but he dropped down in front of her and crossed his arms.

She stepped back. He had a strange look in his eyes.

“Wait, what… are you doing…” she said, stepping back.

“I think we can use this time.” He said, stepped up to her.

“What… do you want?” she asked, seeing him coming closer.

“You know what I want.” He said, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a tight grip.

She gasped, blushed, feeling his hard stomach against hers. She blushed more and averted her eyes from his.

“Ever since I first saw you, I’ve wanted you…” he said, making to kiss her, but she pulled away.

“Vegeta…I’m training…” she said, looking into his black eyes.

She felt her legs give way under her at the sight of his broody black Saiyan eyes. Her Saiyan instincts were screaming at her to kiss him, to claim him, before Jane did. But it was too late for that anyway. They were having a baby together. He caught her and held her up on her feet.

“I knew it… you want me too.” He said, smiling.

“Vegeta… let’s not go down this path.” She begged him, pushing him away reluctantly.
“Jane is my best friend. She would kill me. And I would feel so bad, I would let her.” she said, walking off into the jungle.

“FINE!” he shouted after her.
“Roshi’s island, one month!” he said, flying off.

She went into the jungle and leaned against a tree. She breathed hard and tried to catch her breath. He did want him, more than anything. But she needed to finish her training. This was priority number 1.

One full moon night, she was trying very hard not to look at the moon, knowing it would make her use her powers. She was lying down in her shelter, her eyes closed tightly shut.

“Just a few more hours,” she kept whispering to herself.

She heard a rustle and quickly opened her eyes to see if it was that damn lizard again. She had given it a thrashing today, she knew it would be back. She looked around but saw nothing. She looked to her other side, where the river was, and saw the full moon reflecting in the river.
She felt her Saiyan blood boil and call to the moonlight. She was about to transform…

“NO…NO!” she shouted as she felt her mouth beginning to elongate.

“NO!” she shouted, grabbing her mouth and trying to push it back.

She felt her hands turn to paws and her skin turn to fur.

“I WILL… NOT LET THIS… HAPPEN!” she shouted.

She began to scream, careful not to power up. She just needed to get rid of the anger inside to stop herself from transforming. Slowly she felt everything turn back to normal. She stopped screaming and opened her eyes to see hands in front of her. She had done it. She had managed to control her inner animal. She smiled and lay back down. Now that she knew she could control it, there was no reason to worry anymore. She could get some sleep.

25 days later the old turtle hermit set out in his boat toward the island.
He landed on the shore of the island he had circled on the map and got out of his boat. He pulled it up onto land and turned around.

“OKAY AVA!” he shouted into the jungle.
“THIS MISSION IS DONE!” he said, calling out to her.

He heard nothing but the sound of birds and monkeys in the trees. He feared the worst. Had she been killed by the lizard that inhabited this island, the monster he had nicknamed Tane.

“AVA!” he shouted out, hoping he was wrong.

There was rustling in the underbrush and he strained his eyes to see what it was.
Out of the jungle came a woman not unlike Ava. Her hair was unruly, and her clothes were torn, but had been sewn up with small vines. She was barefoot and had the look of an Amazon warrior. She was carrying a spear, a sharpened stone embedded in a stick about as long as she was tall. The thing that caught Roshi the most was her eyes. They looked as wild as an animal. Her inner Oozaru, perhaps he thought.

“Master…” she smiled, walking up to him and kneeling.
“I’ve done what you asked.” She said, not looking at him.

“Your eyes… what happened to your eyes?” he asked her.

She smiled.

“I think I may have got in touch with my inner animal.” She said.

“The Oozaru?” he asked and she nodded.
“Very well then. Your mission is complete. Let’s get you back to my island. I have a new suit waiting for you.” He said, watching her stand up.
“You didn’t use you powers?” he asked her.

She shook her head.

“Not once.” She smiled.

“Excellent. Then you pass.” He said, heading back to the boat.

“Master, if it pleases you, I would like to fly back.” she asked him.
He looked at her and smiled.

“Of course. See you there.” He said, getting into the boat.

She smiled and looked back into the jungle. She would miss it. The games she and the lizard played, they were just getting fun.
She looked at her spear and stuck it into the ground, sharp end first. She looked at her feet and began to hover. It had been so long since she felt this weightless. ]

She shot up into the sky, feeling power like she never had before. She was faster, stronger and more aware of her surroundings. She laughed as she blasted through the sky and clouds. This old hermit really knew what he was doing.
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END
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Quest status - Completed
Word count - 3797