//------------------------------// // Master Kirin // Story: Dragon Road Season 1 // by FoolMeThrice //------------------------------// Kai knew that a saiyan became exponentially stronger when coming back from the brink of death. However, the dumbest plan he could think of was harming himself constantly, then getting healed right after. There were better methods of getting stronger. For instance, there was a legend he recalled hearing very recently. He knew that succeeding would mean he would become much stronger, if the legend was true, that is. Back to the Peaks of Peril, it seemed. Chapter 7 Master Kirin Kai huffed in exhaustion, leaning against one of the rocks leading to the village of kirins. The wound of his was hindering him greatly, leaving him breathless quickly. No time to slow down, he thought. He had to get to the tower. The young saiyan stumbled toward the shortcut the squirrels had shown him, musing shortly that they would likely be gone by now. It was almost winter, and the weather was starting to reflect that. Shaking those thoughts off, Kai continued forward, moving the rocks to squeeze through the crevice. Recovering, it was a bit harder to get through, as every movement agitated his healing injuries. Soon enough, he managed to escape the crevice, and looked out at the familiar entrance to the village. Past being awed, Kai walked to the village, his goal to find one of two kirins: Autumn Blaze or Rain Shine. Either one would be able to help him out. As Kai ventured through the village, a few passing kirins recognised him and waved, and he waved back. Although he had a goal, that didn't mean he couldn't be nice. ‘Wow, so this is what it's like to be normal…’ He could never just walk around Ponyville. Too many scared or hateful stares. It was… nice. He almost just wanted to live here with the kirins. But… he had to be in Ponyville. The ponies would come around one day, and he still had his family. Shaking this off, Kai made for Rain Shine's home, hoping she would be in. It was a short walk, and the saiyan pushed the doors to the kirin leader's home. For once, Kai's luck was actually high. Sitting together and sipping tea, were Rain Shine and Autumn Blaze, the two kirins he needed. The kirins turned to the door, and were immediately shocked to see Kai. Rain Shine's brows rose, and Autumn Blaze spat her tea out. Autumn was the first to spring out of her seat, and sprinted to the saiyan. She tackled him in a hug, successfully knocking Kai off of his feet. “Kai!!” The young warrior, of course, returned the hug affectionately. He would properly consider Autumn Blaze his first friend. “I missed you so much! I've been hoping you'd come visit soon—I mean, not that that was all I was thinking about, but—well, actually, it kinda was…” “I missed you, too, Autumn.” Kai stated, patting her head and saving her any embarrassment from her rambling. The kirin smiled, moving into his hand. “What brings you back so soon, Kai?” They glanced up at the approaching Rain Shine, who had a questioning eyebrow raised, but a smile on her face. “Have you made your wish already?” Kai propped himself up with his hand and lightly moved Autumn Blaze off of himself. The two kirins casted curious looks at him, but simply waited for him to reply. “No, I got into a fight and nearly died.” They gasped in surprise. Sure, they hadn't seen Kai fight, but they knew he had to be strong. Stronger than your average kirin—or pony in his case. To lose, and nearly die? “I'm here 'cause I need to climb Kirin Tower for more power. Thought I'd ask you for everything you know.” Rain Shine frowned, closing her eyes. “Unfortunately, there isn't much more to tell. Four days of climbing yielded nothing for me, and that was when I was more energetic.” She grumbled musingly. “Yeah, guess I was kinda just stalling.” Kai let out a humorless chuckle. “I lost all of my confidence after losing. I'm actually scared to go up there.” Hearing that from the brave saiyan made both kirins feel as though Taurtaurus would freeze over. “But, Kai!” Autumn Blaze put her hooves to Kai's chest. “If anyone can do it, I know you can!” “Autumn Blaze is right, Kai.” Agreed Rain Shine. She offered a gentle and reassuring smile. “Was it not you who taught us the error in preemptive fear?” Kai stared for a moment, thinking on their words. They were right. So very right. The saiyan groaned, and ran a hand along his hair. “Ugh… What am I doing? I can't waver now. Not when I'm so close to getting all seven Dragon Balls.” Kai slammed his fist into the floor and sprang up to his feet in one fluid motion. “Alright! I'm gonna climb that tower!” Autumn Blaze and Rain Shine smiled brightly at seeing the confidence return to Kai's face. That was the Kai they knew. “Come on, Rain Shine! Let's go see him off!” Autumn Blaze exclaimed enthusiastically. “Ah, you don't have to—” “I want to!” She interrupted Kai, nearly skipping outside. “Let's go!” Kai laughed, shaking his head and shrugging as he watched the energetic kirin. “Wish I'd known you a few years back…” He muttered to himself, an air of humor about him. Shaking that off, he and Rain Shine followed Autumn Blaze outside, and the trio made their way to the tower. Kirin Tower was just as grand as always. If not, even more grand, considering Kai had to climb it now. The trio of kirins and saiyan stared up the tower, seeing a point where the remainder of the tower was covered by the clouds. Kai looked to Rain Shine, eyebrow raised. “Nothing at all?” Rain Shine shook her head. “Geez. Guess this is it then.” “Remember, no matter what, you may only use your body to climb. No magic, no flying, no teleportation—nothing.” Was her only reminder. Kai nodded and gave a short stretch. Legs, arms, back, neck… He was ready. “Alright. See you when I'm stronger!” “I'm gonna wait for you here, no matter how long you take!” Assured Autumn Blaze. Knowing trying to sway her was futile, Kai simply nodded, and reached his fist out to her. “Thanks, Autumn.” The young kirin bumped his fist with her hoof, returning his smile. “Of course!” Kai looked back to the tower, and bent his legs. “Here I go!!” The saiyan jumped high, scaling a portion of the tower at once. Even he was surprised. ‘Must be that near-death boost…’ Continuing on, Kai jumped again and again, making it even higher than before. He took care to keep his grip firm, and kept scaling Kirin Tower. “Remarkable… He is already out of sight…” Rain Shine whispered in awe. In seconds, he made the distance that had taken her several minutes. She looked to Autumn Blaze, who had seated herself on the grass, looking up at the tower calmer than ever. “Autumn Blaze, you weren't serious, were you?” “Could you bring some food and water every couple hours?” Rain Shine nearly face-faulted. Of course she was serious… Sighing, Rain Shine walked away, back to the village. “I'll send someone soon.” “Thanks.” Autumn Blaze could hear Rain Shine's hoofsteps fade away, so she relaxed, all alone. A smile graced her face, as she stared up the tower. “You can do it, Kai.” Kai didn't overestimate his abilities by any measure. Sure, he may get a bit overconfident at times, but after this last time, he would never overestimate what he thought he could do. After all, his mind and his body were two different entities. His mind could say he could fight for hours all it wanted, but if his body was past its limits, then he would not be fighting for another minute, let alone an hour. This was all to preface Kai's shock at how long Kirin Tower was. He hadn't slowed his pace, no matter how much pain he was in. He cleared such a long distance in a few minutes, he was sure he would have made it back to Ponyville, were he traveling horizontally. But this far, and there was no top in sight Kai glanced down for a moment. He had no fear of of heights, but he was surprised at how high he was. Now, not even the ground was in sight. It made him feel he was somewhere in the middle, but he wasn't dumb enough to believe that. “Hoo, boy… I'm gonna be here forever…” Kai shook his head, and continued to ascend the tower. However, despite his efforts, the day seemed to fade away quickly, paving the way for the night. And still, the top was nowhere in sight. No stranger to sleeping oddly, Kai took a moment to sleep vertically, resting as much as he could. When he awoke, the moon was still out, but it looked to be lowering. Kai let out a short sigh, seeming almost longing. “The moon always looks… so strange.” He mused shortly, just as the moon lowered fully, replaced by the sun. “Welp, back to it.” Another day of climbing passed, then another. Three days total, and Kai was beginning to get annoyed. Was there truly even a top? Did it ascend to space? Hopeless, Kai gave another glance upward, and the sigh leaving his throat hitched. “Is that…!?” Only with keen saiyan eyes could he make out a very, very small dot. Way at the end of the tower. Meaning… “That's the top!!” Seeing it after so long energised the tiring saiyan, and he leapt up high, again and again to reach the top. In a few minutes, Kai could finally touch the top with his hands. There were several holes greeting him, each with a ladder leading inside of… wherever it was. Kai gripped onto one of the ladders, and breathlessly climbed into the top. “I did it…!” He panted, sprawling onto the tiled floor of his new surroundings. Taking a quick glance around, he could see several pots and crates, but there looked to be nothing else. Just a bare, white room. Kai put some effort into standing up, and wandered over to the farther end of the room. There were stairs in sight, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to wait here… If only that legend was just a bit more specific… “Up here!” Kai's head flicked to the stairs. A raspy voice gave him an instruction, so obviously he should follow it. The young saiyan scaled the stairs, emerging at the top to find a more opened space, revealing his height quite plainly. There were rails, but they seemed not to matter much with how high he truly was. None of that mattered. Kai redirected his attention to the center of the area, spotting a pedestal with some kind of jeweled flask on it. In front of it was a… creature, with green skin, and brown robes. It was bald, bore wings on its back, but it looked wrinkled. Perhaps it was old… Kai approached the green individual, tilting his head in wonder. Its eyes were closed, yet he felt an analytical stare upon him. “Um… Hello.” “Hello, there.” The green individual greeted back. “My name is Kai. I came here to get power… like the legend?” He began, unsure. “But of course. As the hermit watching over this tower, I have known of your intentions for some time now.” “The… hermit watching over…?” “Indeed. I am who the kirins down there would call ‘Kirin’. Welcome to my tower.” Kirin gave the area a large wave, formally greeting Kai. “Woah…” To meet a hermit, who may or may not have created kirins as he knew them, was amazing. But the hermit's clairvoyance had him realising something. “Then that means you can give me the power I want?” “Hmm… Perhaps.” Kirin reached up and grabbed the previously mentioned flask, allowing Kai to view it in all of its glory. It looked more like a gourd of a blue color, with white jewels decorating the sides. “The means to increasing your power is taking a sip of this magic water.” Kirin shook it at Kai. “Don't just stand there. Didn't you want power?” Kai hurriedly scrambled over to the hermit, and accepted the gourd from him. He eyed it curiously, before popping the cork out of it and sniffing the contents. “This stuff'll make me stronger?” Kirin only smiled at him. Kai supposed that was good enough for him, so, decisively, he took a rather large swig of the liquid inside. He exhaled, refreshed but confused. “…It just tastes like ordinary water to me.” “Does it? Oh, forgetful me!” Kirin seemed distressed, but it was a false kind of distress. “That was where I kept the water from Kirin Cove.” “Kirin Cove?” “The village of the kirins, of course.” Kai hummed his acknowlegement. “I've had that water for a few years now, so I really should have thrown it out. But you know, this tower is so large, I haven't been down there for many decades.” “Just how old are you?” Kai asked in surprise. “A bit slow on the uptake, aren't you?” “Huh? Wha—” ‘—t do you mean?’ was what Kai tried saying. However, he found himself unable to speak when he tried. Another attempt yielded nothing. “This was the water from before you purified it. The water that dooms the drinker to a silent and emotionless life.” Kai glared at the hermit, fists clenching tightly. “Perhaps you shouldn't just drink something a random old hermit gives you, hm?” “…” Kirin's eyebrows rose. He didn't need to be clairvoyant to know what Kai just mouthed. Ratings would take a hard dive if that was heard… “I understand your frustration, but then, maybe in a few days time, you won't understand it.” Kirin reached into his robes, and pulled out a small bottle. “Unless, of course, you drink this. Guess what this is.” “…” Kai tried answering reflexively, but his inability to speak showed immediately. He glared at the hermit again. “That's right, it's the cure. A full bottle of water infused with foal's breath.” Kirin observed the saiyan's face, and noticed his hand stretched out in an accepting manner. “Hm? Oh, you think I'll just give it to you? If you want the cure, you'll have to take it.” “…” Kai cracked his knuckles, and stomped towards Kirin. “Dear me, whatever shall I do?” Kai lunged at Kirin, arms outstretched to grab the bottle. With clear ease, Kirin hopped over the saiyan, letting him fly face-first into the pedestal. Kai held his face in pain. “Perhaps having your emotions taken would be benefitial to you. Your anger makes your moves awfully telegraphed.” Kai attempted to growl, but the only signs of his anger at those words were his glare and gritted teeth. He was about to jump again, but he had a sudden epiphany. Kirin was right. Him being angry was doing nothing. Besides, despite being underhanded, Kirin WAS offering a way to get stronger. The saiyan raised an eyebrow upon seeing Kirin smile suddenly, as if he had been privy to his… ‘…Can you… hear my thoughts?’ “It took you long enough to ask.” That answered that. Kai would have groaned if he could. With someone reading his thoughts, he would never be a step ahead. Though, he supposed it didn't matter. One way or another, Kai was going to drink that cure and get stronger. Kai took a stance, low to the ground. He smirked at Kirin, who simply stood facing him, eyes closed. In an instant, Kai took off toward the hermit, hands a blur as he swayed his arms all around. “Oho!” Kirin awaited the inevitable attempt on his bottle, subtly tensing his hands. As soon as Kai twitched within range of the bottle, Kirin swiped out with his hand, catching the saiyan's left hand easily. With a quick jerk, he took Kai off balance, causing the young saiyan to stumble and fall to the floor. “Attempting to psyche me out. Did you somehow forget I could read your mind already?” Unable to sigh at his own stupidity, Kai headbutted the ground… floor… whatever this tower counted as. Recovering quickly, the saiyan continued his attempts at Kirin's bottle. However, it seemed no matter how close he got, it was always just out of reach. “Nope, not there.” Kirin smacked Kai's hand away at a rather direct attempt to steal the bottle. “Woah! Not there either.” The hermit spun out of the way of a charge. “Nice try, but no.” As if it needed to be said, Kirin avoided another attempt. The same thing went on for nearly half of an hour, before Kai fell to a knee, exhausted. As he panted, he gave his hand a look, as if he could see the answer to his pressing issue in his palm. Recalling his adversary could read minds, he casted a glance at Kirin and put a question at the front of his mind. ‘Why am I so tired already?’ Kirin offered a smile. “Rather, why weren't you tired before?” Kai lifted an eyebrow. “Three days of climbing with an injury, only to immediately be put to work like this. On top of that, you're doing this in an environment with very little oxygen. Any ordinary individual would be dead by now.” “…” Kai realised that he had, in fact, spent three days climbing. And when he thought about it, it was really hard to breathe up here. “I doubt you want to take a break right now, so…” Kirin rustled in his robes for a moment, before taking something out. “Here. Eat this.” He tossed the item to Kai, who caught it easily. “…?” Kai gave the item in his hand a confused look. It was a small, green bean. It looked useless, but this was a world of magic and rainbows, so who knew what it could do. Kai was about to do as he was told, but the thoughts of a similar action stopped him. He glared at Kirin. “Oh, no, this isn't like the water. It's a Senzu Bean. It restores your energy, heals your wounds, and fills your stomach for ten days straight.” If that didn't sound too good to be true… But, Kai supposed there was no reason to doubt Kirin's words, so he popped the bean into his mouth and chewed. Kai's face screwed up slightly at the taste. It was fishy, but not… good. When he consumed it, he felt his entire body pause for an instant. Then… “…!” His eyes widened as he felt all of his energy return, his hunger quell itself, and his healing wounds vanish. “Impressed? Normally, only a being such as myself would be allowed to consume this bean.” Kai didn't listen to a word that was said. He stood up and stretched his body out before looking to Kirin with a smirk. “Oh? Ready to continue? And so confidently, too.” Kirin found his eyes widening when he suddenly saw twenty Kais surrounding him. They all appeared transparant, but all wore different expressions. A few serious, some taunting, others in motion… “My word…” Kirin couldn't help but mutter. Like this, he couldn't read Kai's mind, as he couldn't properly lock onto the real one. Well, not with his eyes. However… “Tah!” A fist suddenly collided with Kai's face, sending him backwards towards the pedestal. Although he hit the pedestal hard, a grin was plastered on Kai's face. Kirin was confused for a moment, but a glance in his mind made it clear. Kai was excited to be up against such a strong opponent, in a time of calm. The hermit couldn't help but smile at his determination and excitement. Kai stood once again, taking a stance, higher than the last time. Kirin's eyes narrowed. He was not dealing with a normal opponent, that much was clear. Kai masked his true intentions between thoughts, forcing so many to the forefront of his mind, taking one or the other as the truth was pointless. Thwarted, Kirin relied on his natural skill. He wasn't a hermit for nothing, after all. ‘Left, up, right, back, forward, punch, kick, jump, duck, dash, spin, kick, fall.’ Of those, Kai only performed one: dash. He dashed to Kirin quickly, rearing his right fist back, and swiftly bringing it to the hermit's face. Kirin ducked, but an involuntary gasp left his mouth when he realised, once again, he was thwarted. Kai halted the strike just before it would have hit Kirin, setting him up to kick instead. Kirin weaved, but the same was the case—a feint. Three more feints prompted Kirin to strike back, attempting a simple right jab to create distance. Immediately after throwing the jab, Kirin chided himself on getting hasty, as his adversary seemed to be expecting retaliation. Kai stepped to the side just a bit, letting the jab go right between his body and his left arm. With Kirin's arm there, Kai gripped onto it, and prepared to strike while the hermit couldn't move. Despite the handicap, Kirin was still able to guard against the mighty right punch with his left hand. He preemptively stopped Kai from using his legs by throwing a kick of his own, forcing the saiyan to guard with his knee. At a stalemate, Kai and Kirin jumped back and observed each other closely. ‘Outstanding… He faked me out mentally and physically, bating me into striking. Then, he used that strike against me.’ ‘This guy is really good… Even though I threw him off, he could still respond.’ Storing their thoughts for later, the fighters prepared for the next onslaught. Idly, Kirin wondered if Kai even cared about the bottle right now. Truth be told, Kirin was losing interest in it, as well. In an instant, they were off again. Five hours straight of Kai attempting to either defeat Kirin or take the bottle led to him on his back, panting in exhaustion. However, the grin on his face made it clear that he was satisfied. Kirin sat against the railings on the side farthest from him, actually winded. Similarly to Kai, a smile was on the hermit's face. “It's starting to get late. How about we rest and continue tomorrow?” Kirin suggested. “…” Kai instinctually tried responding, but when he remembered he couldn't, he just gave a thumbs up. Night came around fast, and with it, brought a thought. Still on the floor, Kai glanced over at the sleeping hermit, spotting the bottle he seeked between loose fingers. He COULD just take it… It would be super easy. Just… snatch! Then he could drink the water, get cured, easy. But… ‘That would be lame… 'Sides, I'm having too much fun fighting him. Shame it'll all be over by tomorrow.’ With that thought, Kai averted his gaze upward, and closed his eyes. Sleep took him very soon. At the time, Kai was the only one asleep. Kirin had actually been awake, curious if Kai would try to steal the bottle while he ‘slept’. He was quite pleased to see the outcome. ‘An odd one. Not pure of heart, but pure of intentions.’ Kirin's brow line lowered. ‘Though, this boy is unnaturally strong. The only things limiting him is his lack of experience and his pride. A few years of humbling and training would make this boy a truly fearsome warrior.’ With those musing thoughts, Kirin finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep, eager to see if Kai would make due on his boast. The session began immediately after the sun rose, Kai storming Kirin with blow after blow, the strikes far more precise and deadly than they were yesterday, much to the hermit's shock. This was the kind of jump in skill and power that took months. Kirin was forced to dodge, choosing not to harm himself with guarding insanely strong strikes. However, the hermit saw his chance, perused Kai's mind, and made a move. Ducking under a hook, Kirin connected a palm-strike to Kai's lower abdomen, around his waist. The blow sent him away a distance. Kai was going to dash back at him, but Kirin lifted a hand. “Aren't you missing something?” He asked as he strolled over to the edge of the tower. Kai raised an eyebrow, just as the hermit held his hand over the edge and opened his palm. “Weren't you going to summon the dragon, Shenron?” With dawning horror, Kai felt his waist to find his satchel was gone. He glared at Kirin, who smiled innocently at him. “If somebody with evil intentions were to find them…” Strangely, hearing of evil did nothing to affect Kai. It was hearing that someone may find them that made him act. With a look of irritation, Kai ran to the edge of the tower and hopped over the rail, sure to swing and grab onto the tower itself. Quickly and carefully, Kai went about descending the tower. Working with gravity, Kai managed to get to the bottom of the tower in a few short minutes. Back at the bottom, Kai glanced around frantically, trying to find his satchel of Dragon Balls. “Kai!” The saiyan turned, and saw Autumn Blaze grinning at him. “I knew you could do it! You're probably like, a bagillion times stronger, huh?” Kai opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Autumn Blaze's brow rose as Kai tried to explain this silently. “…” Kai pointed to his mouth, and then to Autumn Blaze. Maybe she would understand… “You want to kiss me?” Kai nearly facefaulted. “Payback: check.” The saiyan gave her a serious glare, something the kirin picked up on. “Wait, can you not talk or something?” Kai nodded rapidly. “The stream of silence is cured! How!?” The saiyan pointed up at the tower, and Autumn Blaze understood. Sort of. “That kirin guardian made you drink uncured water?” Again, he nodded. It was basically the case. Averting the subject, Kai gestured to his lower abdomen, where he usually had his satchel. Autumn Blaze misinterpretted this, and her face flushed. “I… um… That's awfully inappropriate, Kai… At least take me for dinner, first…” Kai actually did facefault. From the ground, Kai silently groaned, cursing his luck. Autumn Blaze seemed to realise that he wasn't refering to… ahem… and was actually refering to his satchel. Speaking of that… “Oh! You didn't have your satchel on you, huh? Did you leave it at your home?” “…?” Kai's head flicked up to the kirin, brow raised. “Yeah, you didn't actually have your satchel. Why?” Autumn Blaze was not privy to the reason for Kai's sudden rage, but she could nearly smell his anger. Despite that, she was still calm, knowing he wasn't mad at her, nor was he the type to take his anger out on others. The saiyan jumped to his feet, and bent his knees to jump. However, he cast a short glance to Autumn Blaze, and took a moment to pat her head, before jumping up high to scale Kirin Tower once again. The kirin touched her head with a hoof, smiling up at the saiyan's already faded form. “Ehehe…” Autumn Blaze let out a goofy laugh. “Totally worth waiting.” Kirin sat against the railings, patiently waiting for his peculiar opponent to return. With such a monumental boost in power and skill in only a day, Kirin found himself excited at the thought of even just another week of training the saiyan. Perhaps there was far more to him than either of them knew… Before his thoughts could progress, Kirin blinked at what he was sensing. “No, there's no way…” Kirin would accept a boost in power like Kai's. Why not? But what he would not accept was sensing the very same saiyan almost to the top already. If this were the case, then that would mean the round trip of going down and then up this grand tower only took an astoundingly brief thirty minutes. Head snapping to the left, Kirin saw exactly what he refused to believe. Kai stood before him, huffing and puffing, and looking none too happy. The hermit frowned. This was not going according to plan at all. “Finally back, are we? Did you enjoy my little—” Kirin couldn't even finish, a blast of ki suddenly sent his way. He quickly jumped clear, seeing just how angered Kai was. This must have been the saiyan's way of saying ‘Shut up’, in far less kind words. Seeing his adversary was long over jokes, Kirin chose to take this seriously. Very seriously. Kai dashed forward, reaching out his right hand. Too obvious, Kirin thought. He hadn't learned a thing. The hermit jumped before Kai could reach him. It seemed it was Kirin who hadn't learned a thing. Kai followed him up, expecting such an action and knowing one had less control in the air. His rising knee was barely guarded by a hand, and his follow-up strikes were countered, as well. By the time Kai chose to slow down, they had already landed onto the floor again. Kai pressed Kirin, forcing him back with powerful and quick blows. Kirin tried dodging, but he always seemed to fail and dodge when feints were coming his way. It finally became apparant to him that Kai was observing his minute twitches and tenses, alerting him to what the next counter to an attack would be. Kirin refused to be outsmarted, and continued to defend against the attacks. Very soon, he was backed against the rails, and the feel of the cool metal caused him to avert his gaze for a split-second. Kai grinned at his fortune and acted immediately. The hermit found himself reeling from an elbow in his stomach, his grip on the bottle failing. Kai attempted to swipe it while Kirin recovered, but he didn't quite grab it, only managing to swat at it. “Ah! No way!” Kirin tried reaching out for the bottle, but it was already on a course off the tower. So much for that one… “Huh?” Kirin's eyes widened when he saw Kai put a foot to the railing. “No! You'll die from a fall like this!” But Kai didn't care. The saiyan leapt after the bottle, well out of range of the rail or the tower itself. While he managed to catch the bottle, it was clear that gravity had given the Grim Reaper a slip with Kai's name on it. “No!” Kirin vainly reached out for the saiyan. But… “Oh!” Before his eyes, Kai floated in the air. Kai smirked, arms crossed as he calmly hovered back to the tower's floor. Kirin let out an impressed chuckle, and gave a welcoming gesture. “Well, you did it. Feel free to drink that water.” ‘Remarkable…’ Kirin could help but think. ‘To succeed in two days where none have ever even succeeded in climbing the tower before…’ Kai grinned, and removed the top to the bottle. He wasted no time drinking everything inside, not even caring about the overwhelming taste that the added flower to make the cure gave this small amout of water. In seconds, Kai was finished, and gave a short flex of his body, glancing to his hands. “…I can talk again!” Was the first thing he noted. Kirin smiled in response, fond of his enthusiasm. “But… I don't feel any stronger from drinking that.” “Hm? I never said drinking that would increase your power.” “Huh!? Yes you did!” Kai protested. “No, I said the means to increasing your power was to drink what you first drank.” Kirin pointed to Kai. “That was the start. After that, you attempted to steal that bottle for hours straight, in conditions you had never experienced before. On top of that, I forced you to climb the tower twice, giving you further strength.” Kai looked shocked to hear that, but realised it was true. Kirin continued. “In this short time, you already seem to be adjusted to this thin oxygen. All in all, you've already received the boost in strength you've seeked.” Hearing that put a smile on Kai's face, and he did something that shocked Kirin. Kai bowed, not even uttering a word. Perhaps he presumed Kirin would read his thoughts anyway. Rising, Kai cast the bottle aside and ran to the railing. Without a moments hesitation, he jumped right off of the tower, grinning widely as he was in freefall. Kirin stared after him, able to see quite clearly that the saiyan was flying, not falling. He smiled. Autumn Blaze leaned against Kirin Tower, her eyelids falling as she stared into space, beyond bored. She had explored this forest several times prior, and on top of that, she couldn't roam around if she wanted to. Now, it had only been a bit over an hour since Kai had dropped down, but still. Four days of blank waiting was too much for her, and she was reaching a point where she was going to scream. With noone to talk to, it felt like she was silenced by the stream of silence again. The kirin shivered. Good thing Kai was here. She didn't know how much longer she could bear the lack of social activity. Speaking of… “Huh?” There was a sound above her—rushing wind. Choosing not to muse on what it could be, she elected to look up, and found her eyes widening at the sight of a falling figure. She recognised the color scheme, even from this distance. Without a doubt, it was… “Kai!” Autumn Blaze jumped up to her hooves, and started jumping up and down excitedly. This time, she knew Kai was finished with his training. The happiness she felt was way different than it had been before. In a short moment, Kai slowed his fall, and hovered to a landing. Suddenly clairvoyant, he knelt down to accept a passionate hug from his best friend. “Autumn, I did it!” Kai exclaimed, earning an excited squeal from Autumn Blaze. “I knew you could do it!” The two parted the hug and gazed at one another. Autumn Blaze could see a notable difference in the saiyan's gaze, looking a bit more sharp and confident. His body seemed a bit more sturdy when she thought about it. Really sturdy. “What're you gonna do now?” Kai's expression became a bit more serious, his grin dimming but his eyes still full of fire. “I'm gonna keep collecting the Dragon Balls!” He answered with clear determination. Autumn Blaze giggled. She should have guessed that would be his response. “Now that I can fly, I'm gonna get done way faster!” “Well, what're you waiting for!?” Autumn Blaze, though sad to see him go so soon, was excited for Kai. Hearing his story, she knew this was what he wanted. And seeing Kai happy made Autumn Blaze happy. “Go, go, GOOO!!” At her shout, Kai couldn't help but laugh before taking to the air. He reached into his pocket for his Dragon Radar, and gave the kirin below a grin. “I'll be back soon—promise!” With that, Kai turned midair, and flew off with an aura of sapphire. Autumn Blaze watched as he flew off. When he was finally out of sight, she let out a laugh. “For as much as I love to talk, I feel like I'm always at a loss for words with him…” She decided it was an odd show of respect for the individual that saved her village from a life a silence and foolishness. Being more reserved so as to avoid annoying him… But she was just lying to herself. She knew Kai appreciated being talked to, but she really had to forced sentences out of herself with him. Autumn Blaze shook her head. “Can't wait to see you again… Kai.”