As I can see no way that "Tree of Might" is cannon, I thought it would be fun to explore how Gohan and Icarus might have met in the series.

Icarus

"Oh my goodness, Earth is amazing!!"

Gohan laughed excitedly as Dende attempted to take in the world around him. Ever since the Namekians had settled in at Capsule Corp, Gohan had been showing his friend Dende all the wonders of Earth. Today they were in the Mount Paozu forests and Dende was in seventh heaven.

"I've never seen such a wonderful forest in my whole life! This is what we dreamed to make Planet Namek look like before that creature invaded."

"Well, it will be a while until we ask Porunga to find you a new home so you can visit this area as often as you like. Just make sure I'm with you because some very dangerous animals live in these woods but I've learned how to deal with them."

"Wow! Sometimes I wish I was strong like you, Gohan."

"Don't do that; everyone is unique and has special gifts of their own to offer to the world. Imagine if everyone was exactly the same."

"Yeah that would be boring."

They continued their hike while Gohan pointed out features of the forest and Dende drank it all in. After a bit they stopped so that Gohan could have lunch.

"Too bad you don't eat; Mom's cooking is really yummy!"

"I'll take your word for it. If I tried to eat, I'd probably just choke and spit it back up."

They laughed but stopped when they heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. Gohan leapt to his feet and struck a fighters pose. The rustlings increased and then a purple head poked through. It was a young dragon who yelped and retreated upon seeing Gohan's lethal pose.

"Huh, please come back, I won't hurt you."

The little dragon was reassured by Gohan's calm voice and inched closer. Dende was still a little scarred but knew that Gohan had the situation under control.

"I think he was attracted by the smell of the food." Gohan took a large piece of chicken out of his bag and tossed it towards the dragon. "Go on eat it."

The dragon did so and squealed with delight. Gohan continued to feed it until he ran out of food. Unfortunately the dragon was still hungry.

"I'm sorry, there's no more food." He shook the empty bag to emphasize the point and the saddened dragon left to forage. "Oh that makes me sad, I really liked him."

Dende said "Maybe he'll come back when he's full. I'm sure he'll remember our scent."

Gohan nodded and they resumed their journey. They were headed uphill now so that they could survey the forest from above. It would have been much easier to fly but that contained no adventure.

"So how are things at Capsule Corp?"

"Things are great! Bulma and her family are very nice and I've even started to get used to Vegeta living there. It's not really that hard considering we rarely see him."

"You're lucky getting to be with you're family."

Dende knew that his friend was thinking about Goku and changed the subject; "What have you been up to lately?"

"Oh I've been reading a really neat story. It's a fantasy adventure with an awesome hero named Icarus. No matter what kind of trouble his friends get into, Icarus arrives to save the day!"

"He sounds like your Dad" Dende blurted out before remembering he was trying to change the subject.

"That's what I think every time I open the book. Maybe that's why I enjoy it so much."

They stopped talking as they reached the edge of the cliff and gazed in wonder at the beauty spread below them.

"This is beyond words, Gohan! I bet you come up here often."

"Not all that often. Dad always said to be on the look out for rockslides."

As he finished speaking, the ground began to shake as the region was hit by one of its rare earthquakes. The ground under Gohan's feet crumbled and he was so surprised he forgot to fly and hit the ground hard. Before he could move a rock landed on top of his legs, pinning him in place as more rocks rained down.

But he never felt their impact because something large and warm covered him and shielded the earthy assault. The rock slide ended as quickly as it had begun and Gohan realized that the thing shielding him was the dragon he had fed. It was very badly hurt and barely breathing.

Dende landed nearby and asked "Gohan are you alright!"

"I'm fine; focus on the dragon, he's really messed up!"

The young Namekian extended his hands and let his healing magic work go to work. After a moment the dragon lifted its head and began shaking the debris from its back with Dende's help. Soon it was able to get off of Gohan who removed the original rock and let Dende heal him, although his injuries were minor.

The dragon began licking his face and the laughing boy said "That was incredibly brave. You almost died but you thought only about helping me."

Dende said "Just like the hero in your book."

"You're right!" He turned back to the dragon and said "I hear by name you Icarus!"

Icarus seemed to like his new name and his new friends. "I hope he doesn't plan to follow me home because I seriously doubt Mom would let him stay. But don't worry boy, I'll come and play with you every day."

"Isn't that something else; you simply go for a walk and come back with a pet."

"Not a pet, Dende, a friend."