"Wake up Raditz, you have arrived on Tarish." The pod's dashboard had lit up and was beeping. Both Raditz and Gohan were still asleep. "Wake up Raditz, you have arrived on Tarish." The pod repeated in a louder voice. Raditz's eyes slowly cracked open.
"Wake up, runt." He growled, grabbing Gohan by the neck of his shirt and climbing out of the pod. The alien world was slightly similar to Earth, with the exception of three things: Tarish has two moons, the foliage is different shades of red year-round, and the gravity is three times stronger.
"When these show," Raditz said quietly, looking at the faint outlines of the two moons. "This planet's people will all be obliterated," he muttered.
He looked back at Gohan and roughly shook him. "Brat, if you don't wake up, I'm going to leave you behind and you can spend the rest of your miserable life right here on this patch of soil." He shook Gohan again, who gave a loud rumbling snort and woke up.
"Daddy?" He asked tentatively, looking around. His line of vision came to rest on Raditz's left leg.
"Your daddy isn't here." Raditz levitated into the air. "Now get ready to live like a true Saiyan!" He shouted, powering up and soaring through the air.
After about two hours of flying, Raditz began to descend.
"When you meet your Prince," he warned, landing lightly on the ground. "You are to show the utmost respect to him; he could kill you with a snap of two fingers, and I wouldn't put him past it." Gohan whimpered in the older Saiyan's grip. Raditz began walking down a dimly-lit path. Within a few minutes, Gohan saw a small fire.
"Well Nappa, look what we have here. Raditz has returned. But not with Kakarot, it appears…" A small man said in a husky voice, sitting on a log by the fire. He was fully garbed in skin-tight blue clothing with white and yellow armour covering his chest and shoulders. A furry brown tail was wrapped firmly around his waist. A taller and much more built man emerged from the forest behind the short one. His clothing consisted only of black undergarments, displaying his massive tree trunk-like thighs, beneath his armour.
"Is he the Prince?" Gohan asked, pointed to the larger man.
"Don't ask questions!" Raditz snarled, throwing Gohan to the ground. "Vegeta, Nappa, Kakarot refused to return with me. However, I have brought his half-breed son." He explained, dropping to one knee. Gohan, sitting on the ground, looked at Raditz with a confused look. Raditz shot him a violent glare. "Kneel!" He hissed angrily; Gohan dropped quickly to one knee.
"I see." The short one murmured. He walked up to Gohan. "At least he knows how to show respect before his Prince. Stand up, boy." He barked suddenly. Gohan rushed to his feet. "That's better. What is your name?" He bent down to peer at Gohan face-to-face."
"G-G-Gohan." He stammered out, taking a step backwards.
"Gohan. Well, welcome to the last group of Saiyans alive. Have you received basic training yet?" Gohan shook his head.
"Then you are of no use, brat!" Vegeta erupted abruptly, striking Gohan on the side of his head, sending him soaring to the right, landing in a pile of dust.
"Vegeta!" Raditz exclaimed, astonished. "He was half-Saiyan, he could have possibly helped! At least he had a tail!" He rambled, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.
"Raditz?" Vegeta asked calmly before turning towards the taller Saiyan.
"Yes, my Prince?" Raditz warily asked, lowering his arms slowly.
"Shut your miserable mouth." He snapped. Raditz looked offended but didn't dare say anything. "That's better." Vegeta purred, strutting slowly towards Gohan, who squeaked and skittered further backwards.
"I'm not going to hurt you again, you foolish boy. Now stand up." He growled; Gohan slowly rose to his feet. "Nappa, retrieve my spare suit, would you?" He asked, turning towards Nappa. He nodded and walked towards one of two spacepods before leaning into one and pulling out a folded pile of clothes and armour.
"Here." Nappa said, throwing the pile at Gohan, who failed to catch it. The clothes landed in a folded heap behind the boy. Vegeta frowned angrily but retained his composure.
"Put it on. This will be your armour, and it will stretch for when you transform."
"Transform?" Gohan questioned, pushing his limbs through the clothing. Vegeta opened his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand.
"Why," he said lightly, whirling towards Raditz. "Did you not explain anything to him?"
"I-I'm sorry, Vegeta." Raditz fumbled to get the words out. "I wanted to get to Tarish before you and Nappa left the planet, and before Kakarot rounded up more fighters."
"The boy knows nothing of fighting, nor his heritage. We have more work on our hands than I thought. This means spending more time on Tarish than planned, which takes up time that could be used on other planets." Vegeta said coldly. Raditz was carefully watching his every move; he flinched slightly as the Prince turned towards Gohan. "Get comfortable, brat." He shot, seating himself on the ground. "This is a long story." Gohan sat down and Vegeta began to tell him the story of the Saiyans: their win over the Truffles, how they conquered and sold other planets for profit, and how their planet was destroyed by an asteroid.
Several hours later, Vegeta concluded the tale. "And the only reason Nappa, Raditz, your father, and I survived is because we were on other planets. Do you see now why it is so important for us to stick together? Us remaining Saiyans, we are like family." Gohan's eyes widened at the word.
"Family?" He repeated, looking down at his new boots. Vegeta nodded."
"Your father is now excluded from this…family, as he refused to come back with your uncle Raditz. You, however, work nicely as a replacement." He looked around the camp before his eyes settled on the alien corpse he roasted before Raditz's arrival.
"Eat." He said gruffly, pointing at the body. "Your training begins soon."
"What am I going to do for training?" Gohan questioned. Vegeta growled lightly. Does this brat ever run out of questions? He thought angrily.
"Raditz, Nappa and I are going to go take care of the rest of the inhabitants on this planet. That will take roughly three months. This leaves enough time for you to remain in this area and fend for yourself." Gohan whimpered and gaped at Vegeta.
"You're leaving me here?!" He whined, tears filling his eyes."
"Boy," Vegeta snarled, whipping around and facing Gohan. "If ONE of those tears fall, I will destroy you." The tip of his finger began to glow blow as he pointed at Gohan, who sniffled loudly. Vegeta grunted and, picking Gohan up by the skull, hurled him towards the carcass. "Eat fast," he smirked.
Two hours later, the three Saiyans approached Gohan.
"We're leaving now." Raditz stated coldly.
"When will you be back?" Gohan's voice seemed void of all emotion.
"Three months." Nappa answered before Raditz had a chance to.
"You can't leave me by myself!" He cried, darting forward and clutching Raditz's leg. "I'm only four!" Raditz frowned angrily.
"Get off me, you insolent brat!" He roared, slamming his open palm onto the side of Gohan's head, knocking him to the ground. "Your father was sent to Earth as an infant, you are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, now you get to learn!" He shouted, lifting off the ground. Vegeta and Nappa followed suit.
"Wait!" Gohan wailed, running after their quickly-fading shapes in the sky. "Don't leave me here!" The increased gravity of Tarish made it hard for Gohan to keep a normal pace and within seconds his legs gave out and he fell to the ground.
"They left me," he whimpered, curling into a ball. "What am I supposed to do by myself on a different planet? There's ALIENS here! What if they eat me?" He wondered out loud, wrapping his tail around his arms for warmth.