#fallafel

The dragon had excused himself when he came back to the reality of the situation. Other Time Patrollers had backed away initially when Shenron pointed looked in their direction. Now, however, they began to close in, hushed whispers and excitement surrounding them. The most repeated question among the crowd that Fallafel could hear was “so.... which one of you is it?”

His mind went numb. He hadn't realized that, even though Chikori had been the closest to him, in close proximity to both of them was also Mulla, Nanna, and [The Namekian]. His entire squad had come back from their latest mission just in time to see Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time use the Dragon Balls. It was the most talked about event, even to the point where an announcement had gone out to all the Time Patrollers about when and where it would occur, making sure that no one interrupted this very important event. Fallafel didn't think that his group would be standing so close together when they came into the [_____] area, and wished now he had been sitting or standing somewhere else, away from them.

And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that no matter where he had been standing, the dragon would have been drilling his eyes into Fallafel's soul. Did the mythical Shenron feel like that to whomever he looked at? No wonder the other Earthlings spoke with such reverence of him... A creature like that, you can't help but believe was a god. He almost wondered how Elite Patroller Trunks could handle having the dragon look at him, but quickly remembered that he communed with the Supreme Kai of Time quite often, being one of the few Patrollers directly under her in the Chain of Command. Actually, he still wasn't quite sure if there was anyone else between him as leader of the Time Patrollers and the Supreme Kai, but he was jostled from his dazed thinking as he was prodded on his arm. His group had a herd around them. He looked to his left, seeing that the unmoved Saiyan had woke him from his thoughts. Though she kept a rather level head for what he had heard of other Saiyans from his fellow Time Patrollers, he had spent enough time with her to tell that she was getting tensed by the crowding. Maybe she was feeling claustrophobic? Not that she had ever seemed to be afeared of much....

But he was pretty sure that she had also shown concerned for him. It felt like she was constantly vigilant, and she must have seen that he had been bewildered by the revelation that just occurred. That his group held the legendary Warrior that the Time Patrollers were asking Shenron to summon to help them. That Shenron had looked right at him, right at them, and struck fear into his heart, and hope into his head.

He felt a battle between his ego and his insecurities over it.

It must be me!

No, don't be silly. It couldn't be us. It definitely couldn't be me. I'm not the strongest, not by a long shot. Especially in this group... I'm pretty sure I'm the weakest.

So what? He was looking right at us!

He was probably looking at Chikori. She's the most displaced person here... It'd only make sense.

So are you/me/we!

Yeah, but that's only because I tagged along to watch out for Chikori. And she doesn't even really need that, I just didn't wanna never see her again.... They didn't even want me for the Time Patrol. Didn't ask, didn't consider. Just her. Had to beg to come along.

So? We'll just prove we're it. The Time Warrior. We'll show--

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud shout, as the crowd parted. Fallafel noticed that Chikori seemed to relax as the space between their group and the crowd increased. On the other side of them, he finally noticed that the two Majins and the Namekians each had reacted differently. Nanna, the yellow Majin, was very cheerful and encouraging the crowd, giggling and affirming that their group was indeed who the dragon was talking about. Mulla, a purple Majin, seemed to remain as stoic as she ever was-- which was more than he had seen from Chikori and the Namekian, who currently had his arms stretched to hold back a group that had been pressing up to get in their faces. Fallafel made a mental note that he'd have to apologize to him later. He knew how much he appreciated his personal space.

But before he could spend much more time watching his teammates' reactions, his eyes caught the attention of small, short, pinkish blur running up towards them. The Supreme Kai of Time had rushed over from the pedestal that they had used the Dragon Balls on. Behind her, Fallafel had noted that Trunks flew behind her, looking slightly exasperated by the deity's effusive response. He felt a bit better about that.

“Alright guys!” shouted the Kai, in a voice much larger than her small body belied, “Anyone who was NOT having Shenron pointing them out needs to get a move on!” There were grumbles in the crowd among them, with a lot of chatter following thereafter. “No ifs ands or buts!” With a bit more grumbling, the crowd around them began to disperse. Feeling pleased with herself, the Supreme Kai of Time nodded, and motioned for the 5 person group of Time Patrollers to follow her. In a regular voice, she addressed them.