Chapter 1: The Boy From the Sky
The morning started like every other morning.
Goku woke up, kicked off his blanket, and immediately hit his head on the low wooden beam of the ceiling.
"Ouch!" he yelled, rubbing the sore spot.
He sat up and looked around. The small hut was empty. Sunlight was coming in through the window, landing right on the four-star ball sitting on the pillow.
"Morning, Grandpa," Goku said to the ball. He stood up and stretched, his back popping loudly. "I'm gonna catch a really big fish today. I saw a giant one in the river yesterday, but it got away. It had whiskers like a cat."
He grabbed his blue gi, pulled it on, and tied his belt. He picked up the Power Pole from the corner and strapped it to his back.
"Be back later!"
Goku pushed the door open and ran out into the forest.
The air was cool. The grass was wet with dew. Goku took a deep breath. He liked the smell of the woods. It smelled like pine trees and damp dirt. He leaped over a fallen log, landed on a rock, and pushed off, soaring through the trees.
He was thinking about breakfast. Maybe roasted fish. Maybe some apples if the monkeys hadn't eaten them all yet.
Then, the sky made a noise.
It wasn't thunder. Thunder rumbled. This was a high-pitched scream, like something tearing through the air.
Goku stopped on a branch, balancing on one foot. He looked up.
High above the clouds, something was falling. It was a streak of fire, moving faster than anything Goku had ever seen. It wasn't a bird, and it wasn't a plane. It looked like a falling star, but way too close.
"Whoa," Goku whispered.
The object slammed into the East Valley, a few miles away.
BOOM.
The ground jumped. Goku nearly fell off his branch. A massive cloud of dirt and smoke rose up into the sky, blotting out the sun. The birds in the forest went silent instantly.
Goku blinked. "That was loud."
He waited for a second, expecting a monster to crawl out. Grandpa Gohan had told him stories about demons and monsters. But nothing moved. Just the smoke rising higher and higher.
"Maybe it's food," Goku said.
He jumped down from the tree and started running toward the crash.
The crater was huge. It had smashed a whole section of the forest flat. Trees were snapped in half and lying in a circle around the hole.
Goku stood at the edge, looking down. The dirt was glowing red from the heat. In the center of the pit sat a white, round metal ball. It looked like an egg, but made of steel.
"Hey!" Goku shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Anyone down there?"
The metal ball hissed. Steam shot out from the sides, and a door popped open.
Goku put his hand on his Power Pole, ready to fight.
A boy fell out of the ship.
He tumbled onto the hot dirt, coughing. He was small, about Goku's size, maybe a little shorter. He was wearing weird white clothes that were torn up.
But the first thing Goku noticed was his hair.
It was red. Bright, deep red. It didn't look like dye. It looked natural, sticking up in strange spikes.
And there were things floating behind him.
Three purple, crystal-shaped objects hovered in the air behind the boy's back. They weren't touching him. They just floated there, spinning slowly. They made a low humming sound, like a bee trapped in a jar.
Goku slid down the side of the crater, his shoes kicking up dust. He walked right up to the boy.
The boy was on his hands and knees, shaking. He looked at the ground, his eyes wide and terrified. He didn't seem to know where he was. He looked at his own hands like he didn't recognize them.
"Hi," Goku said.
The boy flinched violently. He scrambled back until he hit the side of the ship. He pulled his knees to his chest and covered his head with his arms. The three purple crystals spun faster, moving closer to him like they were trying to protect him.
Goku tilted his head. "I'm not gonna hit you."
The boy didn't move. He was trembling so hard his teeth were chattering.
Goku squinted at him. Usually, Goku could tell how strong things were just by looking at them. The bear in the woods felt strong. The giant fish felt strong.
This boy felt like... nothing.
It was like looking at a rock. There was no presence. If Goku closed his eyes, he wouldn't even know someone was standing there.
"Are you a ghost?" Goku asked. He poked the boy's shoulder.
The boy gasped and swatted Goku's hand away.
"Don't... touch..." the boy whispered. His voice was raspy.
"Oh, you can talk," Goku said. "I'm Goku. Who are you?"
The boy lowered his arms slowly. He looked up. His eyes were the same red color as his hair. They looked tired. Really, really tired.
"Ren..." The boy stared at Goku, confused. "Ren... kon."
"Renkon?" Goku laughed. "That's a funny name. Like the root vegetable."
Renkon didn't laugh. He looked around the crater, at the burning trees and the smoke. He looked scared. He tried to stand up.
He placed his hand on a large rock to steady himself.
CRACK.
The rock shattered. It turned into dust under his hand.
Renkon jumped back, staring at the dust. He looked at his hand, horror written all over his face. He held his hand against his chest, breathing fast. He looked like he expected someone to yell at him.
Goku whistled. "Wow. You're strong!"
Renkon shook his head quickly. "No... I... didn't mean to..."
"Do it again," Goku said, excited. "Break that one." He pointed to another rock.
"No!" Renkon shouted. He squeezed his eyes shut. "No more tests. Please."
Goku frowned. "Tests? I'm not testing you. I just think it's cool."
Renkon opened his eyes. He looked at Goku. He seemed confused that Goku wasn't angry.
"Come on," Goku said. "You look hungry. My grandpa's house is nearby. I have food."
Renkon hesitated. He looked at the ship, then at the forest. He didn't seem to remember where he came from, or why he was in a metal egg. He just knew he didn't want to be alone.
"Okay," Renkon whispered.
Goku turned around. "Follow me! But be careful, the ground is hot."
Goku climbed out of the crater. When he got to the top, he looked back.
Renkon was climbing, but he was slow. Every time he took a step, his foot sank deep into the dirt. It looked like he weighed a ton. He wasn't fat, but he moved heavy. When he finally pulled himself up onto the grass, the ground actually groaned under his feet.
"You walk loud," Goku noted.
Renkon looked down at his feet, ashamed. The purple crystals hummed quietly behind him.
"It's okay," Goku said. "I walk loud too when I'm sneaking up on monkeys."
They started walking through the woods.
Goku kept looking back at the floating crystals. "What are those?"
Renkon glanced over his shoulder. "I... I don't know."
"Can I touch one?"
"No," Renkon said quickly. He looked terrified. "Dangerous."
"Okay, okay," Goku said, putting his hands up. "Sheesh. You're jumpy."
They reached the river. Goku hopped across the stones easily. Renkon stopped at the edge. He looked at the water like he had never seen a river before.
"Jump!" Goku yelled from the other side.
Renkon took a deep breath. He bent his knees and jumped.
He cleared the river easily—too easily. He shot into the air like a rocket, way higher than he needed to go. He crashed down on the other side, his feet slamming into the mud, burying him up to his ankles.
Goku laughed. "You jump weird too!"
Renkon pulled his feet out of the mud, looking embarrassed. But for the first time, he didn't look terrified. He just looked like a kid who didn't know how to use his own legs.
"Almost there," Goku said.
They walked for another ten minutes until the small hut came into view.
"That's my house," Goku said proudly.
Renkon stopped. He stared at the small, run-down shack. It looked fragile.
"Go on," Goku said. "I'll get the fire started."
Renkon walked to the door. He reached out to grab the handle. He hesitated, remembering the rock he had crushed. He took a deep breath, focusing hard, and barely touched the wood.
He pushed the door open. It didn't break.
Renkon let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Goku ran past him and threw some wood into the stove. "Sit down! I'm gonna cook the fish."
Renkon walked inside and sat in the corner, as far away from everything as possible. The purple crystals hovered close to him. He pulled his knees up and watched Goku work.
Goku was loud. He hummed while he cooked. He dropped things. He banged pots.
Renkon watched him, his red eyes tracking every movement. He didn't remember much. His head felt foggy, like it was stuffed with cotton. But he remembered silence. He remembered cold rooms and white lights.
This room was warm. And orange.
"Here," Goku said. He handed Renkon a stick with a roasted fish on it.
Renkon took it carefully. The stick bent slightly under his grip, but it didn't snap.
"Eat up," Goku said, taking a huge bite of his own fish. "Then we can train! You're strong, so you gotta spar with me."
Renkon looked at the fish. He took a small bite. It was hot and salty.
"Spar?" Renkon asked quietly.
"Yeah! Fighting practice," Goku said with a mouthful of food.
Renkon flinched. The word 'fight' made his stomach hurt. A flash of memory hit him—pain, bright lights, something heavy pressing down on him.
"I... I don't want to fight," Renkon whispered.
Goku stopped eating. He looked at Renkon. He swallowed his food.
"Why not?"
"I might break it," Renkon said, looking at his hands. "I break everything."
Goku stared at him for a second. Then he grinned.
"I'm not a rock," Goku said. "I don't break easy. Grandpa said I have a hard head."
Renkon looked at Goku's smiling face. The three crystals behind his back slowed down, their humming becoming a soft vibration.
For the first time since he woke up in the crater, the shaking in Renkon's hands stopped.
"Okay," Renkon said softly.
Outside the window, the sun began to set, casting long shadows over the mountains. Deep in the forest, the birds finally started singing again.
The boy with the tail and the boy with the red hair sat in the small hut, eating fish in the quiet of the evening.
And far away, in the deep darkness of space, something shifted in its sleep, sensing a ripple it hadn't felt in a very long time.