Something hit him. Hard. It lifted him out of the darkness for a moment. Cracking one eye open, he saw Woran exchange punches with one of the warriors. Her clothes were torn and she was bleeding from a dozen cuts and scratches. Black bruises contrasted highly with her white skin. She kicked her opponent out of the way and attacked another one. When she turned, he saw her face. He was shocked by the expression on it. Rage. Pure hate. And sadness. Tears were streaming down her face. He wanted to say something. To comfort her. To tell her that everything was all right. But his body wouldn't obey him. He fell into the darkness again.

There was a sound. Somebody was talking. To him? Whoever it was, he wanted her to go away. He was so tired.

The person spoke again. He listened with some more attention this time. The tone of the voice was urgent. Not understanding a word, he just wished that the person would go away. So that he could sleep.

But the person wouldn't go away. And wouldn't stop talking. There was despair in the voice. When he didn't react, the voice broke. Finally, some coherent sound reached him.

"No! You can't die! I will not let you die! You must fight!"

Now he noticed things he'd missed before. Somebody was holding him. His upper body was lying on the person's lap. His head was held in someone's arms. Warm drops fell onto his face. A few fell on his lips, and slid down into his mouth. Warm. Salt. His thoughts became a little bit clearer. He knew what was falling onto his face. Tears. Strange, nobody had ever cried for him. No. Wait. Somebody had. A boy. A black haired boy. And somebody else. A girl, a strange girl with white hair. He knew that both meant a lot to him. Names, names. He could almost see their faces, almost speak their names. But the blackness, the blackness was so inviting. And he was so tired. So. Tired. It would be so easy to just let go.

He was drifting away, quietly into the darkness, when something stopped him. The person was pulling at his clothes, searching around in his Gi. The feeling of fingers sliding across his chest gave him a strange feeling in his stomach. Something was pulled out of his Gi. When the person moved his head backward, a terrible pain erupted from the side of his neck and turned the blackness white hot. A low groan escaped his lips. Fragments of words reached him through the white-hot pain, but they didn't make any sense.

Slowly, the white became black again. Everything he felt seemed to travel a great distance before it reached him. The person had placed something in his mouth and wanted him to swallow. But his body wouldn't obey him. He felt like a prisoner in his own flesh. More tears fell onto his face, and some slid down into his mouth. It were so many, that he nearly choked on them. The tears triggered his body's reflexes. He swallowed. Something larger then the tears went down. When the thing reached his stomach, a warmth spread through his veins, dispelling the blackness. With the blackness gone, the pain of his neck wound seared trough his body. The warmth spread. It went from his veins to the rest of his body. The pain lessened quickly, and he felt the wound closing.

Opening his eyes, he looked up into Woran's tear streaked face. Like a flower blossoming, the grieve on her face turned to hope.

"Piccolo.?" She whispered.

He sat up. Woran removed her arms from around his neck and looked up into his eyes. She looked as she couldn't believe that he was all right, but was hoping it with all her heart.

"Hey, kid. It takes more than a puny knife to kill me."

The last words hadn't left his mouth yet when she flung herself forward, crying, and embraced him fiercely. He didn't know what to do. She was holding him as if she was afraid that he would disappear the moment she let go. Her body was shaking from her sobs. His Gi was wet with her tears. Not knowing what else to do, he patted her on the head. His fingers came away sticky with blood. Looking down, he saw that the hair on the left side of her head was crusted with half dried blood. He also noticed other injuries.

"Hush kid. It's all right. Now, let me take a look at you."

He carefully detached her from his Gi and held her at arms length. She was in a pretty bad shape. Her left eye was closed and swollen, and starting to turn black. The left side of her face was also bruised. Her Gi was in taters and she was covered in cuts, scratches and more bruises. She avoided putting weight on her right leg. He could see that her knee was swollen.

"I've seen better days, haven't I?" She said, smiling trough her tears.

He didn't reply. There were more important things to think about. He had told her that such a puny knife couldn't hurt him. And technically it couldn't. But this one had. It was a mystery to him why the warrior had been able to hurt him.

"Poison."

"What?"

"It was poison that enabled the warrior to hurt you."

It was as if she had read his thoughts. He scanned her face for some sign that she was joking or something. But she wasn't. The situation was still to grave for jokes. She wiped some tears from her face.

"What do you mean by poison?"

His tone was dead serious. If there was something that allowed weaklings to hurt powerful fighters like himself so severely, he wanted to know about it.

"I'll show you."

She limped over to where he had been lying just a few moments ago. There was still a large puddle of purple blood on the ground. In the middle of the puddle lay a knife.

"Here. See this?"

She picked up the knife and pulled a nail through an almost invisible crack in the middle of the blade. Holding up her finger, she pointed at a strange black substance on her nail.

"This knife is poisoned. And I've checked the remains of the sword. It's also poisoned."

He took the knife out of her hand and examined it carefully. The crack was actually a small, almost closed tube.

"Nasty thing, isn't it? There is one of those tubes at the other side to. This way of crafting makes sure that the poison enters the victims body, even if a minor wound is inflicted. The sword was crafted in the same way."

He looked again at the knife. That such a small thing could cause so much harm. His ears twitched at an almost imperceptible sound and shook him from his thoughts. Something was out there. And it wasn't an animal. The sound came again, this time loud enough to be identified. A person was moving. Woran had heard it to. She wiped away her tears and assumed a fighting stance, as best as she could with her injuries.

"That's not necessary. Whoever is out there isn't strong enough to hurt us."

The sound had come from behind a large rock a few yards away. Walking in a wide circle around the rock, he formed a ball of Ki in his hand, just in case. He could now see who had made the sound. It was a pitiful sight. One of the warriors was still alive, but only just. He was leaning heavily on the rock to keep himself from falling. His clothes were torn. What was left of them was stuck to his body with blood. The warrior gave him a sad grin. His teeth had a red sheen to them.

"You trained her well. She is a good fighter, when her heart is in it. And she is a clever one to."

The warrior started coughing and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach.

"She really is a good fighter. And she cares about you a lot. Take good care of her, will you?"

"That is a very strange thing to hear from a person that wants to kill you."

Woran limped past him, her face and eyes cold as ice, mouth set in a grim line. The warrior smiled sadly at her words.

"I don't have something against you personally. I was just obeying orders. And now I can freely say that I don't agree with them at all. As it is, I don't have to worry for my life anymore."

He smiled sadly again. Woran crossed her arms and gave him an icy glare.

"I would very much like to know why you were 'ordered' to kill me."

The way she said 'ordered' made it clear that she didn't believe the warrior at all. But as important as her question might be, he had a very important question of his own.

"I have a question too. The poison. How does it work?"

Woran opened her mouth to object. One look made her close it. She took a step back and bowed her head. The warrior looked at him, then at Woran, and then back at him again.

"The poison. I'm not proud to say that some of my comrades work with it."

"I don't care for your warped sense of honour. I want to know how it works."

The warrior sighed, his brows furrowed in pain.

"The poison. It's a tricky stuff. Those of the lower ranks who use it are never told how it is made. Only the real high ups know. And even then, only a few of them really know."

"And.?" He asked annoyed.

"It's a subtle poison. It works slowly, but it is very potent. First, it slowly dulls the senses. It does it in such a subtle way that you don't notice it."

He raised an eye ridge. The warrior shrugged, his face contorted with pain from the movement.

"Or at least you don't notice in the heat of battle. It also affects your strength, speed and endurance. Basically, it affects everything. Even special abilities you might have."

"That explains why your moves weren't as graceful as they normally are."

Woran was letting him go down easy. Now that his mind was clear, he remembered how clumsy his moves had been.

"Its a dangerous poison." The warrior continued, his voice very soft. "There isn't an antidote, and most healing magic's don't work." Again that sad smile. "You are extremely lucky that she found something that worked."

He bowed his head to Woran, coughed a few times and spat out some blood. His eyes were half closed and his breathing was shallow.

"Take.good care.of her. She's.special. More special.then you.might.ever.know."

The warriors breath escaped in a long, shuddering sigh.

"No! Wait, damn it! You still haven't told me."

He swore under his breath for a moment because the warrior was dead. His half open eyes were staring into the distance.

"Damn. He still hadn't told me everything about the poison. I'm sure there is more to it then simply dulling of the senses and the affecting of strength and speed. Next time you kill someone, be more careful. If they all die this quickly, we'll never find anything out."

Silence greeted him. Normally, Woran would have answered him with a witty or funny reply. She never could resist to comment on some humour from him.

"Hey kid, cat got your tongue?"

Silence again.

"Kid?"

Turning around, he saw her sitting with closed eyes against the rock. Her hand pressed against her left side. Blood was seeping trough her fingers. Her right leg was stretched out before her; she was hugging her left one to her chest. Her face was deadly pale and she was going to great lengths to keep the pain from showing on it. She was doing a good job. If they didn't see her wounds, a stranger wouldn't know that she was in agony. But he knew her too well. He could tell she was in pain by the set of her jaw and her tensed muscles. He walked over, went down on one knee and put a hand on her shoulder. She winced despite herself.

"Hey kid. Seems like today's events are finally catching up with you."

She opened her eyes and gave him a smile.

"Yeah, seems like it. Did you learn anything from the warrior? I'm afraid that I didn't really follow the conversation."

"Not much. Next time, when you kill someone, be more careful will you? If they die this quickly, we will never get to know anything."

She chuckled for a moment.

"Ow, my poor broken ribs! Piccolo, this time, your humour is really going to kill me."

"Yeah, right. Now tell me. What did you do with the Senzu beans?"

"I dropped them after I gave you a bean. The bag must still be lying there."

With a nod he stood up and searched for the Senzu beans. They were easy to find. He picked up the bag and looked at it for a while. There were bloody fingerprints all over it. Puzzled, he walked back.

"Didn't I put this into my Gi?"

Woran's blush was all the more obvious on her pale face. She avoided looking him in the eye.

"Yeah. You did. I had to, eh. fish it out, when you were hurt."

He felt his cheeks go hot. Turning around, he tossed the bag over his shoulder.

"Take a Senzu bean."

"Eh, Piccolo."

"What is it kid?"

"Well, I think I have a problem."

He turned round, after being sure that he was no longer blushing.

"What kind of problem?"

She sighed at his sharp tone and pointed to her right leg.

"I think its broken, right above my knee. And if it isn't properly set when I swallow the Senzu bean, it won't grow back the right way."

"Why don't you set it yourself?"

She gave him a sad smile.

"You know that I can take a lot of pain. But I'm willing to bet a lot of money that if the pain of setting a bone is added to what I'm already going through, I'm going to faint dead away."

Seeing that she was serious, he uncrossed his arms and sat down next to her. He grabbed her leg just above and under the knee.

"Is it a clean break?"

"I think so." A deep sigh. "I hope so."

She put a lot of emphasis on hope.

"I'm going to set it on three. Ready?"

She gave a sharp nod.

"Alright then. One, two, THREE!"

When he pulled, he could feel the broken ends grind over each other. Woran growled and grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his flesh. The bone wouldn't set into its proper place, so he pulled harder. Her growl turned into a moan. Her fingers dug even deeper into his arm and she screamed. Her scream was abruptly cut of when her bone popped back into its proper place with a sickening crack. He let go of her leg and turned round to look at her. She was out cold.

"Hey, kid, wake up."

He gave her shoulder a gentle shake. She gave a small groan, but didn't wake up.

"Come on kid, wake up! You are bleeding like a pig!"

Now that she was unconscious, her hand was no longer pressing on the wound on her side. Blood was gushing out.

"Shit. Kid, come on! Wake up! You have lost too much blood already. And I don't want to risk giving you a Senzu bean when I'm not sure if your leg is properly set."

Having no other choice but to risk it, he put his arm around her shoulders and let her head fall backwards. He took a bean and was about to place it in her mouth when she groaned again. Her eyelids fluttered.

"Wake up kid, wake up!"

She slowly opened her right eye, but it wasn't focused.

"Woran, can you hear me?"

She blinked and frowned, trying to remember what had happened.

".Piccolo?"

"Back in the land of the living, are we?"

She moved her head back up and groaned.

"Seems that I am. Dead would be a lot less painful."

"That depends on it. Is your leg properly set?"

She ran a hand over her leg and nodded.

"Think so."

"Then take a Senzu bean."

She took the bean out of his hand. Her hand was shaking badly. While she waited for the bean to work, he wondered again how she could fight with such fine, almost delicate fingers.

"Ouch! I felt that!"

Her leg bone healed with a few painful cracks. As soon as her injuries were healed, he helped her back up. She had a mischievous smile on her face and her eyes were shining. He just knew that she was up to something.

"Hey, Piccolo?"

He didn't like her tone at all.

"What kid?"

"You owe me a lot of money."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"I fainted. So pay up."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I made a bet. I said that I would bet a lot of money that is the pain of setting my broken leg was added to what I was already going through, I would faint dead away. And I did. So, where's my money?"

"Sometimes I wonder why I let you live."

"Because I'm cute, intelligent and you can't live without me."

Time to change the subject.

"What would you have done if you hadn't fainted?"

"Nah, don't worry about it anymore. I never bet for money. Besides, I don't even have a penny to scratch my back with."

"You're impossible kid. Just keep calm. You have lost too much blood. I'm going to get rid of the corpses."

She nodded, still smiling. He just shook his head and started to blast the corpses.

"Piccolo?"

"What is it now kid?"

"What are we going to do with the weapons?"

"We? Well, for starters, YOU aren't going to do anything with them. I'm just going to blast them into a useless lump of metal."

"Blast them! But that would be a waste! Some of those weapons are finely crafted."

"Finely crafted? And since when are you a weapon expert?"

"Since you kicked me in the head during training."

"Very funny kid."

"Well, I actually didn't find that funny at all. It hurt a lot you know."

"Kid, get to the point, before I make you."

"Alright! Shees, a bit of humour won't kill you, you know."

"No, but it will kill you if you keep at it."

She rolled her eyes. Death threats hardly had any effects on her anymore.

"What I was trying to say before I got a death threat, again, was that maybe we should keep the poisoned knife. So that we can let Bulma analyse it or something."

"Hm, not a bad idea kid. It appears that you do have two brain cells to rub together."

"Birds of a feather flock together. And that was one of my lines!"

"Whatever. Now go gather the weapons and stop bothering me."

"Yes sir!"

She gave him a mock salute and went in search of the weapons. Most of them were lying next to their owners, but some of them were in the oddest of places. He stared down at a very mutilated corpse.

"What the hell did you do with these guys? This one looks like his head was run over by a truck."

A knife came flying from under a rock, a moment later followed by Woran who was struggling to get out of the narrow crack.

"Wow, that was a tight fit!"

She stood up, dusted herself of and took a look at the corpse.

"And what were you doing under that rock?"

"I kicked one of the knives under it so that its owner couldn't get it back. And you mean this guy? I kinda used his face as a punch ball. He deserved it. He said some pretty bad things about you."

He disintegrated the corpse with a beam of Ki.

"Did you get all the weapons?"

She did some quiet calculations on her fingers.

"Yeah, think so."

"Where is the poisoned knife?"

"Right here. But this isn't the only poisoned weapon."

"We only need to keep one. Go put rest of the weapons in a pile. I'm going to blast the last corpse."

"Yes Captain Piccolo!"

Again that mock salute.

"You are not funny kid!"

"That's what you think."

He sighed and walked to the last corpse. This one was beaten up badly to. The kid had more fighting potential then he thought. It was no easy feat killing so many warriors. Too bad she sometimes had an attitude.

"Ah, shit! Stupid sword."

"Watch out kid, those things are sharp."

"Oh really? I never would have noticed that without your help. Oh, wait, I would. They tried to kill me with those things!"

"Whatever kid. Are you finished putting them into a pile?"

"Yup."

"Alright. Stand back."

He concentrated so that his Ki beam was low on power, but very hot. Slowly the weapons melted.

"Lets get back to your cave kid. You need a good night rest. You have lost too much blood, and you need to be fit for tomorrows training. I'm going to teach you some special techniques. Now come here."

The effects from the Senzu bean were beginning to wear off. The beans gave her back her energy, but she was weak from blood loss. The bean worked like an energy boost for her. Its effects would be temporal. What she needed was a good night's sleep. She stood before him, fatigue in her eyes. No questions why this time. The only thing she did was look him straight into his eyes. He bent down and took her into is arms, one under her knees, one round her shoulders. As he slowly rose into the air, she put her arms round his neck. She didn't like flying very much.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

She nodded, but didn't remove her arms. He flew off towards the cave. He wasn't even halfway there when she fell asleep in his arms.

"Rest kid. You deserve it." He whispered to her. "You did great today. You'll be a great warrior one day, I just know it. Rest now. Save your strength. Your battle is over."

He silently touched down on the ground outside the cave. He walked inside and put her into her bed.

"Rest kid. I'll guard over you this night. No one will hurt you while I'm guarding over you. I promise."

He sat next to her bed and started some light meditation.

"I promise."