The people have spoken so all shall be revealed. I am going to take the two most highly voted topics and roll them into one. Without further ado, let DBZ Survival Skills 217 begin!
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ
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Gohan looked out of the window of the bus with a bored expression over his face. His classmates babbled away but he didn't pay much attention. They were travelling to a remote country town where they would spend a few days before taking a ferry to a nearby island where they would spend a further seven days surviving in the wilderness. Of course in this day and age, that meant that mobile phones and other electronic devices were not to be brought along for the journey. Many people had tried however but none of them had succeeded, all electrical equipment had been confiscated and left back in Satan City, much to the protest of a dozen whinny girls. Everyone was allowed to bring one object which they would need to survive but all the students were told to place it in the bus without anyone else witnessing what they had brought. That way, the students wouldn't be able to plan on who would bring tents and such to help other students.
"What's up cutie?" asked Erasa shifting from her seat to plant herself next to Gohan. There were no seat belts on the bus and it was relatively smooth going so there was no immediate danger in moving around.
"Not much," said Gohan turning to face her.
"Is that a new bracelet?" asked Erasa looking at the leather wrapping surrounding his wrist.
"Got it a few days ago," said Gohan lifting his hand to head height.
"Where did you get it?" asked Erasa admiring the accessory.
"Friend of the family gave it to me," said Gohan recalling the moment. His mother had wanted him to fit in better and as such had made Bulma make a device which suppresses ki. As such, the power Gohan now wielded was equivalent to the strength he had had when Vegeta had first made his appearance on Earth. He still had the power to blow up a small mountain but it was nothing compared to what he could actually do.
"It looks nice," said Erasa with a smile and Gohan smiled back albeit in not so much of a wide grin. She then began to talk about topics which Gohan really didn't care for and simply responded with a series of grunts and 'yes.' He didn't pay all too much attention as he began to recognise the area around them but he couldn't quite remember from where or when. The road curved slightly to accommodate the fact that part of the cliff they were driving along had fallen away years ago.
Videl had been watching Gohan out of the corner of her eye. She had been suspicious that he was hiding something but she had no proof to back up his theories. The bus trip would have been a perfect opportunity to ask him some questions but Erasa had had the same idea but for different reasons. She knew from personal experience that Erasa would not stop talking until she ran out of gossip topics of which there was never an end in sight.
"We're here," announced one of the two teachers who had accompanied the students on this journey. "Everyone please leave the bus in an orderly fashion." Hence to say that when you are confronting teenagers who have been isolated in a bus for several hours the last thing they are going to want to do is spend more time on the bus. Therefore, the doorway became a push and shove brawl as each individual tried to reach freedom first. While many were in pain, those who had waited behind patiently couldn't help but laugh at the predicament.
After much struggle, the class managed to find the freedom of fresh air, quite a reality check for those who had lived their entire lives in the city. "What is this smell?" asked one of the girls.
"That my friend is the smell of nature," said a woman stepping forward from a nearby cabin. The class turned to look at her; she had auburn brown hair and was wearing a green uniform. Gohan couldn't put his finger on it but she looked faintly familiar but he couldn't for the life of him recall where from. He figured after being in Satan City for a couple of weeks he could have easily mistook her for someone he had seen in the streets. "I am Sergeant Cornelia; I will be your survival guide and I welcome you to Augusta Village."
"A woman taking charge? This is my kind of place," said Videl inspired. Being a part of the police force, even though they were meant to treat men and women the same it was never the case. While it may have seemed like everything was fair from the outside, looking from the inside it was a totally different scene.
"While you are here you will do what I say at all times, failure to comprehend will result in severe punishment," Cornelia warned, glaring down the men who had mischievous grins plastered on their faces. "I will not tolerate any kind of lack of respect towards the people or the community. Yes you at the back," she said pointing to a black haired girl who had raised her hand.
"I'm just wondering, where's the nearest mall?" she asked.
"You will not find a mall or top brand convenient store anywhere within a hundred mile radius of where we are," said Cornelia with a blank expression. "You have two days to get used to living in a community you are unaccustomed with. On the third day you will be given five hundred zeni to which you will need to buy yourself rations which will help you survive a week on a deserted island."
"Five hundred zeni!" exclaimed a couple of the classmates. "That's hardly enough to buy food for a day let alone a week."
"What you buy is up to you, but I must insist that you buy something which will help you stay warm and be able to collect drinkable water. The crucial elements of survival are food, water and shelter. You've all brought an individual item to help you with your survival over the next week, let's see what you have brought."
With that Cornelia led the group around to the other side of the bus where there were three small children trying to break into the storage compartment. "Get away from there you brats!" shouted Cornelia threateningly. The children quickly got the message and ran as fast as their legs could take them.
"What was that about?" asked one of the teachers.
"There are a group of children in this village who run wild, they have no parents or no guardians," explained Cornelia. "They hide out in an abandoned property and we do not have the authority to take them away."
"So they're orphans?" asked Videl.
"Some of them, the others are children who wanted freedom and have run away from home, some of the children were even dumped there when their parents could no longer afford to keep them," said Cornelia bowing her head in shame. "Once we were able to get all of the children out of there and take them to an orphanage but they came back in a larger number. We would have taken them a long time but the house was bought and unless we get permission from the landowner we can't access their property out of fear of prosecution."
"Is there any way to stop them?" asked Sharpner. "What if they steal our stuff?"
"While they are on the property we have no authority to go in and do what is right," explained Cornelia. "However, when they leave the front gates it is a different situation in where we can legally capture them and take them somewhere safer."
"What if you were able to obtain a police permit?" asked Videl.
"The officers around here don't have the authority to do so, we'd need someone with a higher rank," said Cornelia.
"I might be able to help you then, we'll talk later," said Videl before blending in with the rest of the pack.
"Alright then," said Cornelia opening up the storage compartment of the bus. She pulled out a pink sleeping bag with floral patterns. "Who's is this?"
"Mine," said Erasa lifting her hand into the air before the sleeping bag was thrown into the air and landed awkwardly in her arms.
The next object pulled out was much smaller. "Who's lighter?" asked Cornelia holding the white object in the air.
"That's mine," said Sharpner before catching the object. He smiled as he played with it before he noticed Videl glaring daggers at him. "It's my dad's," he quickly explained since he was too young to be legally smoking.
Object after object came out of the bus including sleeping bags, tents and other random objects including one girl's lip balm. Cornelia's eyes focused sharply on the object she had grabbed hold of. Pulling it out the class seemed to gasp as the metal sword was removed from its sheath glinting in the sunlight. "Who does this belong to?" she asked coldly.
Much to the class' surprise, Gohan stepped forward. This was a shock due to the fact that here was the nerdy bookworm holding claim to a weapon capable of dealing great damage. "It's mine," he announced, his tone not shifting from his usual voice.
"Be careful kid," said Cornelia placing the blade back in the sheath before tossing it to Gohan who caught it with precision before slinging over his shoulder and strapping it on. He then turned back to his peers to see that they all had a stunned look on their faces.
"What?" he asked scratching the back of his head.
"Alright, that's the last of it, pair up with someone of the same gender and follow me to your new homes for the next couple of days," said Cornelia closing the storage compartment. As the group walked off, several pairs of eyes watched them from a safe distance.
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So it begins. Please review.