Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Inadequate ❯ Chapter Eight: ( Chapter 8 )

Goten awoke later staring at the fallen bodies in front of him. The mud around him had dried into a thin crackled skin. Goten quickly sat up and wipe the wet goop off of his face. Around him were soldiers dragging their fallen comrades away. His body was covered in mud, this made Goten cringe. He struggled to his feet as he straightened up he was reminded why he was down there. His back pulsed with pain, but he eased his muscles through it. Goten stumbled over bodies and fallen weapons. Goten fell to one knee, every bone in his body hurt. When he wearily raised his head he found his eyes staring at his captain again.

"Why is he everywhere I go?" Goten mumbled out loud. His captain was looking over the corpses. For once he didn't have a cold, angry look on his face. For a moment he looked almost like he was crying.

"HEY!" A voice echoed throughout the still air. Spyre immediately looked up with his usual glare. Goten saw the source of the voice. It was Rand he was running up the muddy hill. As Rand reached him Goten caught Spyre walking off again, glancing at the corpses along his way.

"Hey, you made it out of your first battle!" Rand said helping Goten up. Goten ignored his hand and stood on his own.

"Heh I'm surprised a lot of M class newbies don't live through the first battle." Rand laughed lightly as they walked back to camp.

"What…exactly are we supposed to so in battle?" Goten asked nervously due to Rand's previous statement.

"Well…we're the first one to go in. we are made out of the best fighters to ever grace the planet!" Rand said proudly thumping a fist on his chest. Goten scratched the side of his face to keep himself from laughing. As the day went on Goten was able to peal the thicker layers of mud off of his skin. He had started to notice that a lot of soldiers were leaving the barracks, curious as to what was happening Goten followed. He followed them outside the camp; even from behind the crowd Goten could see a large pile of dead enemies. The enemy soldiers were laid on top of sticks and also had thick pillars laid over them.

"Their burning them…" a smooth low voice said beside him said quietly. Goten nearly jumped when he saw Spyre there.

"Uh burning…them?" Goten stuttered nervously.

"Yes, this is how we dispose of the dead enemies." He said nodding as the fire was started.

"I knew that. They…uh did that at my village too." Goten said covering his nervousness.

"Of course they did." Goten could've swore he saw a hint of a smile on his face, but before he could confirm it he turned to leave.

"Hey wait!" Goten called as he trotted beside him.

"What is it?" Spyre said in a somber tone.

"Well I saw you fighting last night, and I want to know…where you learned it." Goten asked apprehensively.

"So your saying you want me to teach you?" Spyre stopped and turned to face the younger boy.

"Sure, I mean if you would grant me the honor." Goten said trying to be as respectful as possible.

"You will met me at the entrance in two hours. We will discuss the terms at a location of my choosing." Spyre walked ff leaving Goten in a dumbstruck state. By now the fire of dead bodies had flared up into the afternoon sky.