Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Little Slave Girl ❯ Rowyn's Return ( Chapter 28 )

Seething, the slythwasps advanced on Piccolo. Ryven saw him rise swiftly above them and raise his hands towards them, with a yell light flashed from his palms, hitting five or six of the creatures as they screamed and exploded. Ryven saw Rowyn's form as she flew upwards towards Piccolo, a gleam in her eyes, hands curled and reaching...

"No!" Ryven felt her heart pound as a tingling sensation began on her forehead, just beneath her headband, she'd felt it before, it coursed throughout her limbs and pulsated behind her eyes. She gathered herself, launched into the air and drove herself bodily towards Rowyn a moment before her outstretched fingers could brush the side of Piccolo's ear.

"Get away!" Ryven cried, knocking Rowyn out of the sky, Piccolo turned to her for half a moment, during a lull in trying to get rid of slythwasps and try not to be touched by them as well, to see the familar three glowing interlocked circles upon his daughter's brow. At Rowyn's sudden fall, the other slythwasps hesitated, seeming unsure.

Ryven flew downwards towards where Rowyn had fallen amid a clutch of trees, her clothing torn and bloody, a look of fear mingled hatred upon her face as she licked blood from her mouth. She didn't wait for Rowyn to say or do anything, jumping the rest of the way to the ground, Ryven leapt upon Rowyn's chest and pushed her down into the earth. She felt Rowyn's fingers clawing her arms, trying to suck the energy from her, teeth clenched in concentration.

But a strange light had taken over Ryven, acting as a shield against the slythwasps' attack. They cried out in frustration with Rowyn's mouth. They could not understand how something that was formed of the very stuff they survived upon could be used against them in such a way! Ryven held on, she felt the slythwasp minds within Rowyn growing dimmer, weaker. The physical ones, surrounding Piccolo, had begun to fade and dissapear with crackling light, a few lingered and skimmed the air nervously, hungrily, around Ryven and Rowyn.

Falling downwards, following Ryven's extremely powerful ki signature, Piccolo saw her perched upon Rowyn, both girls glowing nearly to the point of blinding him, the wind around them had begun to move, gathering up leaves and dust into a fearsome wind funnel. He could see it was a battle of wills!

"Get out of my friend!" Ryven cried, drawing back her arm and backhanding Rowyn hard across the cheek, she didn't want to do it, but she thought the shock might jar the evil inside Rowyn and give her the advantage, "Get...out!"

Suddenly, Piccolo realized as he watched in muted horror, fearing for their very lives, the light issuing from Rowyn was growing dimmer. Ryven, realizing she was gaining the upper hand, pushed her powers to the limit, forcing the slythwasps farther and farther back until Rowyn cried out with her own voice and tears sprang to her eyes.

"R-Ryven?!" She screamed, as Ryven moved to let her up, relief washing over her in great waves. But Piccolo was there in a flash, white cape billowing out in the wind of the dying storm. He moved to secure Rowyn's hands and feet with rope he'd materialized. Ryven looked at him in shock. But Piccolo was no fool. He'd tricked once by her seeming to return to normal, but not again!

"P-Piccolo?" She cried, tears streaking her face, "It's me! I swear it! It's really me! Please untie me! I'm so scared! Ryven? Please? Please..."

Ryven turned to Piccolo, asking, "Papa, the sythwasps, are they gone for good, do you think?"

Piccolo felt in his bones that this wasn't the end. "No." He said, shaking his head, "I have a strong feeling they will return."

Turning towards Rowyn, Piccolo knelt down towards her, reaching out he touched the side of her head with one hand, closing his eyes briefly in an effort to sense something within the elfin girl. After a few moments, he drew away and began to untie her. Ryven watched, the orbs upon her brow having disappeared once more, leaving the flesh between her brows smooth and clear once more, though she could still feel the slight tingling there.

"They have fled from her," Piccolo said, as Rowyn tried to stand, but as the slythwasps had been using her as a constant source of nourishment, felt too weak and slid back to the earth, "But her mental defenses haven't been trained properly enough to keep them out. If something isn't done about it they will just take her over again when they've regained the strength they lost when you drove them out."

"What can we do, Papa?" Ryven asked, looking at her friend who was still sobbing, though quieter, upon the ground.

"I have to teach her," Piccolo said, feeling doubt coursing through his veins like blood as he watched the little one trembling, "But we don't have alot of time! Ryven, you go back to Goku's, stay there!"

"I can't take care of myself, Papa!" Ryven said, "You know that!"

"I know," He said, "But I don't want to be worrying about you while I am working with Rowyn, I have a feeling I am going to need all of my attention for the task."

"It might not be so difficult," Ryven said, "She all ready knows how to speak mind-to-mind..."

"Yes, she knows how to send and recieve thoughts and feelings," Piccolo agreed, "But her mental barriers are wide open, inviting anything inside, I will show her how to raise up sturdy walls around her mind, walls that can keep the slythwasps and creatures like them out!"

Piccolo lifted Rowyn's slight weight in his arms and said; "Stay safe. I'm taking her back to the lookout to start on this."

Ryven nodded, tears in her eyes at having to be without him once more, even if logic told her it wasn't for long and for a good cause. Still, the heart isn't ruled by logic and she missed her Papa all ready. She felt her heart ripping as she watched his cape fluttering in the winds of his wake as he become smaller and smaller against the blue of sky.