Taki Hills Saga

A single-saga story depicting the relationship between Tien and Chiaotzu before they were introduced in Dragon Ball. It takes place in 748 Age, when Tien is 15 and Chiaotzu 10. They are both young Crane School students and have been selected to partake in a local martial arts tournament, the Taki Hills Tournament.

CHAPTERS WILL BE ADDED ONE AT A TIME AS THEY ARE COMPLETED. THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT.

Characters
Tien Shinhan

Chiaotzu

Master Shen

Mercenary Tao (Often referred to as Master Tao)

Denji

Prologue
As dawn broke upon a quiet, remote mountainside, on a morning over 15 years ago, pupils of the Crane Hermit were awoken by a sound never before heard in their training grounds; the cry of a baby. A boy wrapped in a soft green blanket was discovered within the dojo. He was lying on the ledge of an alcove carved in the wall, which held a statue of the school’s patron crane.

Master Shen, the Crane Hermit himself, went to see the mysterious boy. No one knew where he had come from and nothing on the boy yielded any clues, either. A small piece of paper was tucked inside the blanket, but it had neither a name, location, nor anything else to identify the child. When Shen lifted the boy from his alcove, he opened his eyes; all three of them.

“What do you think, Tao?” Shen asked his younger brother as he entered the dojo.

Tao examined the baby with cold, merciless eyes. “A triclops,” he noted, and then, with his usual cynical look at life, he continued, “The boy will never really fit in. He will distance himself from the others, spend a lot of time apart. However…” A malicious glint Shen knew only too well lit up Tao’s eye. “If we train him, show him kindness and teach him our ways, he will be loyal to us. He will do anything we ask of him, and if he proves to be a good fighter, he could be quite the asset.”

The brothers’ eyes met and they both began to chuckle softly. They would keep the boy, alright. Keep him and quash any goodness or warmth in his heart, and then mold him into their perfect fighter.

The pair raised the foundling, whom they called Tien Shinhan, in and around their dojo. From a very young age, he showed great talent and skill as a fighter. He began training with the other students at the age of 4. In the beginning, it was very difficult for him. He was so much younger and smaller than the other students, but he studied and watched and took his time, and the results were fantastic. He had surpassed all but the most advanced of his fellows by age 10.

As he matured, he also grew to be a quiet, serious young man. However, he had a flaming temper. Through meditation he learned to control his emotions, but when provoked he could easily break and attack with a frightening power that was difficult to tame. Over time, in part because of Tien’s fear that one day he would snap and hurt someone, Tao’s predictions came to pass. He took to spending a lot of time apart from the other boys, and the only people he felt worthy of his trust and loyalty were the only ones who he felt understood him; his masters.

And to them and their teachings, he devoted himself wholly. Masters Shen and Tao could have no faults in Tien’s eyes. All they did, any hardships they put him through, were only to toughen him and prepare him for the world. Becoming stronger to please them and make them proud was his sole aim as a child and he carried it with him as he became a teenager. He would do anything for his masters.