Dragon Ball: Rebirth

Chapter 1- Sign from the Heavens

Prologue:

532 years after the death of Majin Buu, fanatics near the area of Mt. Paoz began their cult religion. They believed that Son Goku was an emissary from the gods and that all Saiya-jin were divine messengers. Therefore, they began to attack random individuals in the country, in honor of the mighty Saiya-jin. Over time, their power grew, and cities were destroyed. Soon, these fanatics gained space travel technology, and carried out their beliefs to an extremist's extent. Kami-samma, Lord of the Earth, could no longer tolerate their wicked behavior, and set about the catyclismic destruction of the earth's evil inhabitants. All technology was lost and the face of the planet was changed. Few survived. And the few that did believed that Kami had turned his back on them. Thus began the Age of the Lost... where our story begins.

Chapter 1: Sign from the Heavens

Aram worked hard in the field. The daily monotany of his life had trained to do his work speedily and move on. Pleasure was not an aspect of life anymore. His plow moved up and down the endless fields, slicing neat rows into the brown dirt.

"Curse Kami! Its his frickin' fault that we're stuck in this world where death is the only escape." Aram shouted aloud. No one heard him. He lived in a rural part of the world, not that there was a part that was civilized though. Cities were a thing of the past, something that was regarded as children stories, as was Goku or Piccolo.

Aram stopped moving when he heard the creak of wagon wheels approaching. He turned and looked down the field towards the road, and saw the faint outline of a caravan. He soon realized it was a slave caravan. That set him on edge. Being alone out here made him an easy prospect for the slave traders. The few times a year he ventured to a village to sell his crops he heard about how the slave trading was getting worse, and that they were getting bolder. It sickened him.

He walked up to the caravan and stopped the man in charge.

"What parts are you headed to?" Aram asked in the Basic tongue.

"None of your business," the cloaked trader said with a thick accent. He then motioned for the caravan to carry on, but Aram stopped them again.

"Any man who travels on my land is my business." Aram replied with coldness. The leader looked around nervously, seeing where his guards were. With the assurance of his guards, the leader continued on.

"We're bringing these slaves back to the Emperor's palace. You'll have hell to pay if you try and stop us. If you harm an imperial..."

"The Emperor has no power here. He hasn't had any since the day he 'proclaimed' himself emperor. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm freeing these slaves." Aram casually walked up to the cage and snapped the wooden doorway off. The leader stood shocked and tried to mumble out some form of a response.

"Wha--impossib...how...KILL HIM!" the leader screamed.

His 3 men lept at Aram with an incredible speed, a result of their intense physical training. The Septugin, Imperial guards, were trained from birth in combat skills. Normal men walked the other way when they saw a Septugin, but Aram new how strong they were. To the leader and the slaves, the Septugin were moving incredibly fast, but to Aram, they were moving so slow Aram wanted to laugh. By the time the Septugin landed where Aram stood, they hit nothing but thin air. Puzzled the 3 looked around. They looked around puzzled, but one of them slumped to the ground suddenly. Dead.

"If that's the best the emperor's soldiers can do, its amazing that there still is an empire."

The Septugin were puzzled to see Aram standing in front of them. No man could move faster than a Septugin, yet this man... the Septugin were puzzled. They obeyed their masters, but this human... this barbarian was stronger than them. Honor over death, they thought. Bowing, the Septugin turned and left.

"What are you doing? I gave you an order to kill him and you dare refuse!!??" the leader yelled. The leader was a rather pathetic man. Short and fat, he had thought the Emperor had favored him by giving him jobs in the north, but the man soon realized that the north wasn't fun. The people didn't believe the Emperor had any power over them. Normally a few Septugin was all it took, but now they were starting to rebel. The leader continued screaming at the Septugin and they kept ignoring him, walking on down the road towards the south.

"If I were you," Aram interuppted, "I would catch up to your guards. Some of the wild animals around here are dangerous. They have a taste for human flesh also."

The leader looked puzzled, as if deciding leaving his cargo was worth his life. Deciding, he tore after the Septugin, screaming for them to wait up.

Chuckling, Aram turned to face the freed slaves. A scraggly bunch, they were mainly women and children. They had been gone long months from their home, he could tell. Their bodies were thin and they were dirty beyond belief. Sighing, he motioned for them to follow.

While heading towards his house, Aram struck up a conversation with one of the older women. She looked nervous, walking through the dense forest that led to his house.

"You're obviously not from around here, are you? Every time you see another tree you jump."

Startled she looked at him and said, "We're from the mountains to the far north. We're all frightened by what you said of the creatures."

Aram continued on down the trail, with the ten refugees following him.

"Those creatures are only a problem at nights. Besides, none of those creatures are stronger than me and they know it. Tell them to hurry up though, I'd like to reach home before dark. Its easier that way."

They walked in silence for the next hour. Aram was disturbed by their silence. They have no hope, he thought. They know I can't take care of them forever, and they don't know how they'll make it home.

Shaking his head, they walked on.
********

It was night fall by the time they reached Aram's home. He had it set up in the middle of a clearing in the forest. His house was large, and he also had a barn where he could store his items and the ocassional traveler. This time however, he felt such pity for them that he actually let him in his house. Hospitality only went so far you know.

That night, Aram cooked a large stew. He made sure each had somewhere to sleep, and each had plenty to eat. After the children went to sleep, the adults discussed how they were going to go home.

"I can supply you with 2 weeks provisions and rations, but beyond that you're on your own. Do you know the way home?" Aram said, above the confusion.

Each woman looked petrified. One of the younger women spoke up, but her voice trembled. "That's very kind of you sir, but that amount of food wouldn't last us but halfway. Besides we need protection to go there. Bandits roam the area, as those wild beasts. Please sir--" the woman stopped, seeing the coldness in Aram's face.

"Pathetic. That's all you are. If you can't make it home to the north, you'll just have to go somewhere else. There are a few town's to the south." he said with no emotion in his voice. Aram couldn't stand weakness, he never could and never will. It was in his blood to believe in survival of the fittest. Yet part of him... he shook away his soft emotions. Being weak is what killed his parents. Being weak...

Aram's thoughts were interupted by a knock at the door. Aram motioned for them to all be silent. Cautiously, Aram opened the door, standing before him was a very large man, wearing a mantle and turban. His skin was green and he looked of Namekian descent.

"Pardon me sir," he said in a deep voice, "but you could possibly spare me some water and a place for tonight. It is late and I have travel far.

"Why not. I already have 10 refugees, what's one more," Aram replied sarcastically. The Namek entered, moving swiftly to the table. He removed his turban, exposing his drooping antennaes. His face was lined with creases. He didn't look that old, Aram thought, but his eyes told of wisdom long before the earth was changed.

"Now stranger," Aram began, " where are you from? And what's your name?"

Looking up the man cleared his throat and said three words that changed the course of Aram's life.

"I am Piccolo."

Key notes:

Fighters are a rarity of this time. The Septugin were known to be the strongest and most feared, however, there were a few occurences where a fighter was discovered with special talents.

Goku, Piccolo, and the rest of the Z Senshi are known as legends. Some people doubt there existence, others think that they were normal men who had legends spring up around them. All written knowledge was lost when Kami destroyed the face of the earth.

The Empire controls only the central regions. As in the north, the Empire are a far off thing, although Imperial traders are seen more often.

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