Saun 7 720
After a long day Goku had decided to take a breather at a tavern. He rarely had the time or the impulse to drink but today was different. He had wracked his brain time and time again over the power and knowledge that was given to him about the developing power within him. If what he had been told was true then he wanted to develop that power. In fact, it felt like there was something within him that needed to develop it. The grown man groaned and slouched over the countertop of a bar while he waited for his drink.
As he lay there, he wondered how to best utilize his powers. His lessons with his mentor Roshi had been very informative, especially since they had known each other for many moons. Goku had yet to display any signs of being able to use runes competently and was told by his mentor that his first time would come soon enough. Roshi had told the hybrid that when the time came he would be able to feel the urge to inscribe powerful runes. That being said, Goku felt nothing but himself.
A half hour passed during which Goku drank slowly from his pitcher of ale. It was much too much for him to finish by himself and he wondered why people even ordered this much. He only needed two sips to know that he didn’t even want to drink anymore because of the flavor. Just those two sips was enough to make him feel a little strange anyways so he clearly had ordered way too much. Perhaps it was meant to be shared with another. With a glance to both his sides Goku spotted a hooded person sitting nearby without a drink so he scooched over to sit beside him or her.
“Hello,” he opened with, “I seem to have ordered too much ale. Would you care for some?”
The person turned to the winged man and it was now apparent that this was a woman. Tears were welling up in her eyes and it was as if she wanted to burst out crying at that very moment. She shook her head no then said, “I’m much too distraught to drink right now. Can’t you see that?” Goku wasn’t sure what to say. He was not the best at picking up these kinds of social cues. He had to actually see tears in her eyes to know that she was sad, or very happy. He assumed if she was alright enough to make it here that she would be okay to drink. He pushed the pitcher to her regardless then introduced himself, “I’m Goku. What’s got you down miss?”
The woman finished the entire pitcher of ale in one go, much to Goku’s confusion, then replied, “oh this and that. The man I fancied found another and they shut down the shop I work at. I’ll be alright but I just have to let these feelings out. Thank you for the drink,” she would say as she held up her glass for more. Goku ordered another pitcher obliged and poured more ale into the cup. That was when he started to feel something. He felt sad, except he wasn’t sad. He was quite happy to be here, in fact. These emotions were so conflicting that he wasn’t sure what was going on.
Goku made contact with the woman after pouring her drink and felt like he was in another world. In the instant he touched the woman the tavern suddenly turned white and grey. Goku blinked once and the woman was no longer really a human. He was sitting next to a woman that seemed to be made entirely of tiny eel like creatures that had merged together to make a human body. The eels consisted of many different colors and was almost pulsating as the slimy bodies moved on their own accord. Goku wasn’t exactly sure what he was experiencing. He looked around and saw that everyone just went about their business as if nothing weird had just happened.
The woman gave him a puzzled expression then averted her eyes. As soon as the eye contact was broken Goku could no longer see the illusion, or true form. He was not sure which was real yet. “So you’ve seen what I really am. Tell me, is there any love to be had for a being like me? I can disguise myself with magic but as soon as I touch anyone the illusion is broken.”
Goku brushed his hand against her shirt. The illusion faded slightly so he could see her true form but it was so dim that it was as good as gone. Simply out of curiosity the hybrid wanted to see the form fully once again. Touching was going to be diffuclt, however, since he was now worried that the eels might be dangerous. The woman had laid her head down and let her emotions flow out of her. “Come now, no need for that,” Goku said as he put a hand on her back for only a second before getting grossed out. The eels were slimy to the touch.
Goku asked and said “Are there others like you? I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve seen or heard of anyone like you.” With each passing moment Goku’s fear festered and grew. He did not know what this woman was capable of. He was a nice guy but he had to draw the line at strange eel monster that was trying to disguise itself as a human. He slowly inched away and looked towards the door.
The woman glanced at Goku with fierce eyes. “You want to leave me too don’t you? They all want to leave. Cruel men is all this town has to offer.”
Goku felt a shiver run down his spine. He dug into his pocket to find some pocket change to pay for the pitcher. He got up abruptly and made a break for it. He ran as fast as he could to the door. As he ran the floor seemed to elongate to make it ever harder to reach the door. Goku was not the fastest sprinter by any means but he ran as if his life depended on it. His poor balance was even harder to keep when the floor sped up and he went for a tumble.
“I’m so close!” He shouted. He couldn’t believe that nobody else seemed to be aware that he was fighting for his life over here. He reached for the door and grabbed onto the underside of it. He pulled himself towards the exit but he realized that his legs were not moving on their own accord. He looked back and could not believe what he saw. A long eel had wrapped itself around both his legs and was being pulled by the woman still sitting at the bar. She looked at Goku maliciously with a crazed look in her eyes.
“come back,” she said, “come, be my love! You can be better than the rest! Just give me a chance!”
“Let me go!!!” Goku shouted. He could not even kick his feet. All he could do was pull with his arms to try escaping the grasp of the eel which slowly wrapped itself even more tightly around his legs. Goku knew that he was gone for if he did not break this hold. “One hundred percent power!” he shouted in his mind. His arms tensed up even more and he was just barely able to pull so hard that the eel snapped in the middle. Goku’s body got launched out of the doorway and he rolled into the empty street. The door slammed shut behind him and the wails of the eel woman echoed inside the building.
As Goku thought about his interactions over the past couple weeks he realized that this was the only overtly emotional experience he had witnessed. But now that he could see the strong sadness within this woman what could he do about it? There had to be some way to help but he was not the one to do it. He had been given only the briefest of introductions to the woman and he had defaulted to fleeing. “I have to do better,” he said while assessing his injuries. “I should have been able to help her yet all I could do was run away.” He groaned when he found his sore spots. His knees were where he felt the most pain because that’s where he had landed when he fell. His legs were fine aside from some marks where the eel had wrapped around them. His arms also hurt because he had used them to the extent of their abilities.
Goku staggered to his feet. He looked intently at the bar as if he expected the door to burst open but the danger seemed to be gone. He thought “I feel sorry for the guy who she goes after next!”
