Lily of the Valley
Chibi Tsuki
A/N: Thanks for being my first decent reviewers Ryoko-onee and Deanine! I'm very grateful that I've got an audience even if it's small ^^ I also revised chapter 1 but the word's are still the same it's just that I just did a little format editing.
Oh and I forgot my Disclaimer last time!!! *gulp* So my present disclaimer goes for both my chapters 2 and 1. I repeat 2 and 1.
Disclaimer: If I owned DB/Z/GT then I wouldn't be publishing my stories here, I'd be getting people to design a whole new saga and besides I wouldn't have altered the originals in the first place. In other words, for those who are too thick, I don't own DB/Z/GT.
Chapter 2
Trials
A shorter figure handed a bottle of liquid over to Tepin's. All Gohan could see was darkened figures with bright sunrays behind. "Taluu, feed him the liquid and make sure he drinks every last drop," Tepin's voice made his insides shiver and quake.
Gohan gulped as the other tall figure walked over to him. He noticed that it was a girl approaching, he could see by the way her long hair was neatly tied into a plait and she walked with the perfect posture.
"Where can I go after you give me that stuff? I'll just wander back here and then you'll waste your stuff on me again and again. I'll be stuck on this island without a home..."
"Shut up kid," he growled, looking at the boy with the teary eyes.
"Tepin, I really do think he's got a point," the girl stopped and muttered, facing her leader. "He'll only come back. Besides, he's only a kid, where will he stay during all that time?" Gohan noticed her gentle voice wavering a little as if she were afraid to say what she had just said.
No one spoke for a period of time, until the leader himself softened his stern face in a slightly sympathizing look. Suddenly a voice spoke up, "Tepin, please. Maybe he'll be a fighting partner for me." It sounded familiar, like he'd heard that voice before. Gohan remembered, it was the voice of the girl he'd seen earlier, the one who told him to jump out of the tree. "I'm sure he can fight. He fell off the cliffs and he's still alive."
He was in a hard position, his instincts told him to set the boy back into the human world but his two comrades wanted the boy to stay and the boy did have a point. With a soft grunt, Tepin nodded his head in agreement to the suggested conclusion and turned his gaze on the fluffy white clouds in the sky. "Before I let ya stay permanently, ya on a trail. Ya must oblige to the rules we have 'ere. Firstly ya gotta do ya chores each day, stay outta trouble and stay must not venture into anyone else's sleepin' quarters. Most importantly, ya must not lead anyone into this valley. Understood?"
"Yessir!" Gohan smiled, standing up to salute at his new comrades.
"Wait Kebs, he's under ya wing for the time being until I see him good enough to stay permanently."
"Right, Tepin," a voice muttered.
"Taluu, write down the list of chores and times and give it to Kebs, from there he can take it on. Now spread!" Everyone scattered of out sight within seconds, each and everyone doing their own chores and work.
"Hey kid, what's your name?" Kebs questioned, walking over to the shorter boy and surveying his appearances. "Gohan."
"My name's Kebs, our leader is Tepin and the older girl was Taluu. There's also Zzuka and Aapri. Altogether there were five of us, now there's six, including you," the Kebs muttered, leading the younger boy out of the area.
Gohan stopped and looked up at the eight year old, giving him a questioning glance. "Can I get my sword first?" Kebs was much taller than he and was also much nicer than Tepin.
"You won't be getting the sword yet, maybe later in the week. Let's get you started with work. We'll be having lunch shortly and you're going to be fetching water from the stream." The older boy looked at the note Taluu had quickly scribbled and given to him. "C'mon, I'll show you how to get the water."
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Gohan inhaled the smell of food as he pulled the last bucket of water up to the dining area through to the kitchen. The gang's living area was rather civilised compared to the cave men at the beginning of time. Each sleeping, working and studying quarter had steady bamboo built walls and neatly cut wood planks for the floor board, polished with a type of wax on type to avoid splinters when walking. The rooftops were built with several thick wooden poles that were sustained by the top of the bamboo wall and gathered at the single wooden pillar at the middle of the room. Quite frankly, the pillar looked more like a tree than anything else. On top of the wooden poles were giant leaves that covered the entire room from the rain and morning dew. But sunlight seeped through the windows in the bamboo walls. To avoid rain from flooding in through the windows, they used leave-knit blinds that easily rolled down when you pulled the cord on the side.
Heaving the bucket up onto a stool, Gohan tipped the bucket over so the water would flow into the water tub. Once the bucket was emptied, he placed it to the side and quickly pulled the tub lid back on to avoid bacteria and insects plaguing the water. He breathed out and ran over to the others, waiting patiently for Tepin to tell him where to seat.
Gohan blinked a couple of times, seeing all the food on the table. No wonder the dining table could fit at least eight people. There were stacks of food, enough to feed at least twenty grown men. He remembered how much his father used to eat, about fifteen or so many bowls of rice and a couple plates of meat and vegies. But there were about twenty plates of meat and vegies and other stuff and everyone had their own large bowl of rice. But he didn't stare for long, his little stomach was growling terribly after carrying up all that water.
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With a satisfied grin, the young Saiya-jin lazed in his seat and watched as the others feasted hungrily. This was the first time he saw Tepin's features properly. The older boy had dark brownish hair that spiked all over the place with a several long bangs that would hang over parts of his face if it weren't for the piece of dark blue cloth tied over his forehead. His skin was tanned and his dark green eyes seemed focussed and troubled. Gohan noticed the hint of muscles on the older boy because he was wearing a loose blue T-shirt with very short sleeves. But the T-shirt seemed tighter near his waist, perhaps he wore a belt or something, whatever it was Gohan couldn't see. The older boy had two bandaged arms. Although the bandage itself was tattered and torn a bit, it was wrapped around the boy's lower Brachium biceps [1], wrists, palms and knuckles. They even had tough ropes coiled around just to secure the bandages.
He looked at the girl sitting next to him, she was really pretty and had long blonde hair tied into a plait. She was the one who was going to give him that brainwashing stuff but she stopped at reasoned with Tepin. Her sparkling cobalt blue eyes shone like stars in the night sky, Gohan liked her, she seemed really nice. Earlier on Aapri had mentioned her name… it was Taluu. The calm and serene Taluu, who wore the orange bandana, fancy sleeveless top and wristbands. What was with wristbands and bandages? Basically everyone was wearing them.
Sitting opposite him was the other boy who looked slightly younger than Kebs. He had wild hair just like Gohan's father and he wore a black sleeveless with a loose and floppy white pull-on piece of fabric that gathered together at the bottom, creating lots of creases and folds. At the back, it reached pass his shoulder blades, with as many folds as there were in the front. Strangely, he wore a thick bandage on his arm, without ropes or torn pieces but it didn't wrap around his knuckles or palm. It just ended at his wrist and the upper half of his Brachium biceps. But Gohan had forgotten his name, well no one really introduced him to the entire gang so it wasn't his fault.
Glancing to his right, Gohan studied to facial features of Kebs who sat beside him. This youth seemed different to the rest of the group, he had long pointy ears and most unusually coloured hair which Gohan didn't take any notice before. He had cropped green hair a few orange streaks and a few strands of loose hair sticking out but other than that he didn't have a proper fringe. Even his nose was pointer than everyone else's but he did wear clothes similar to the boy across the table. Gohan decided that Kebs was the wild type, the one that didn't care much for his messy hair and clothes.
On the other side of Kebs was the girl that Gohan had seen earlier on but he didn't catch a glimpse of her face or what she wore, big old Kebs was blocking the vision, thus making it very difficult to see her. Besides, everyone had already finished eating and they seemed to be ready to pack up and start working again. Gohan picked up his bowl and brought it over to the small washing bay, scrubbed the bowl lightly with a damp old rag and dipped it into the tub of clean water before starting another process of drying it up. He smiled slightly as he put his few utensils back into the cupboard with the others. "Oi, Gohan next job for you," Kebs yelled approaching the boy with a friendly smile plastered over his face. Gohan looked up and toddled over to him. "Hey, can you perform Ki blasts?"
"What's a Ki blast?" He questioned, his eyes conveying a confused expression.
"Hm… guess you don't know." He scratched his head while trying to think of a suitable explanation.
Suddenly a voice spoke up, "It's when you shoot these coloured balls of energy that can harm even the toughest rock." Gohan turned around to face a bright eyed girl with dark, dark bluish-purple hair. It was the girl he had seen earlier on when he jumped off the tree.
"I remember being thrown into a mountain yesterday but when I looked up again I saw that it had disappeared," he stated still unsure what exactly was a Ki blast.
Kebs pondered for a second before speaking, "That's not a Ki blast but instead a Ki force you used to break the rocks."
"I kind of understand what Ki is now… but how do I use it?"
"Well you er…"
The girl waved her hand and walked to the door, placing her hand on the pole. "I'll guard now while you teach him." She smiled sweetly and disappeared quickly enough into the air, like the way Piccolo had.
"C'mon Gohan, let's go battle." He jumped through the window and down to the cleared area below, his feet landing steadily onto the grassy floor. Gohan squeezed his eyes shut and followed suit but instead, landed on his rear end, injuring what happened to be the stump of his tail. Rubbing his bottom, the young Saiya-jin lifted himself up and patted away the dirt. "Nice try but you need more practise. Alright, let's start now."
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The girl looked down at the training couple while perched at the tip of the lookout that was easily camouflaged by the Lily of the Valley plants around them. Gohan seemed to be concentrating hard on producing the glow of light they used as their weapons. Lying stilly in her hands was a soft leather covered book bounded with old metal rings, opened at the middle. She was supposed to be reading this beginner's novel to increase her knowledge the way Tepin wanted them to so that they would actually know the world around them and be successful in education even though he lacked knowledge himself. Mentally she slapped herself and continued reading, her finger following the large prints that made up the word 'banana'. She stumbled across the words with a little difficultly. But eventually memorised the variety of given alphabetical letters.
Suddenly the wind blew harshly against her body as she felt a surge of Ki rising. Her sharp and keen eyes were listening for the suspicious sounds that may appear to be a threat to her small family. She shifted her position and slowly stood up, still clutching onto the leather book. The Ki kept rising and rising until she had felt that it was definitely a signal of attackers. Leaping off the small point, she flew into the air, chucking her book into the lookout before going away in search of the mysterious force. With a few seconds, she was at the cliff top but the energy had already died away, totally vanishing within seconds. Whatever it was, it was a strong force and she didn't want to let her home be in peril. Since she had lost the only way of finding the mysterious Ki, she left the edges back to the lookout while observing Gohan's improvements but keeping a watchful eye the whole time.
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Stretching his limbs, he yawned before glancing at the scene around him. He was inside a small hut-like house with a lantern beside him with the unlit candle lying motionlessly in the lantern. With a small surge of Ki, the candle burst into flames that flickered dangerously. Something didn't feel right, he looked at the window, noticing the appearance of early dawn as a small burst of rays made its way over the horizon, namely trees. A glow of light burst into the dark sky, literally lighting the area with light before disappearing in an instance. What's happening? Jumping out of his thin blankets, he raced to the window and looked outside, unable to visibly see anyone but he could feel it. As he performed an imperfect jump out of the window, he realised that he'd landed onto a spiky bush as his tender skin touched the points of the plant. But he had enough strength to keep himself from yelling out aloud. Another burst of light rocketed into the sky and disappeared after a short moment. Were they Ki blasts?
Making his way through the small forest, he pushed apart the plants, hacking away the thicker parts with his bare hands, scratching at his flesh. But he continued through until he reached the area where Kebs had been training him that afternoon and watched as he saw three shadows sparring dangerously, aiming disastrous Ki blasts at one another. Who were they? Several hundred metres away was a different couple sparring even more dangerously than the trio. He could hear their fists connecting and the growls produced. From out of no where, a blast was fired straight at him as he unexpectedly gave out a yelp and lifted his arms up the way Kebs had taught him when blocking energy balls. The fighting had stopped instantly and instead, he could feel their Ki approaching him. Until he saw the tallest one's figure which he recognised as being the same as Tepin's, he relaxed a little but continued to stay silent.
"Gohan, wanna join us for a spar?" he registered that as Kebs' voice. Grateful young Kebs with spunky hair that totally looked unorthodox for a normal Earth citizen, just like Piccolo but that was a different case. The youngster nodded his head casually and waited for further instructions. "You can spar with Zzuka. Tepin shall we continue until the sun comes out fully?" Tepin gave no drastic approval but Kebs had easily picked up the answer anyway. "So until the sun comes up." The others separated themselves, all except another member of the gang that was slightly shorter than him. She looked up at him before turning away, leading him to an empty patch of land where she stood still while Gohan positioned himself.
Launching himself at her, he ran at an uneven pace and leapt. Only to land harshly at the ground. He felt a kick at his side and rolled over from the force. Before he could regather his strength, he was already pinned down by his opponent. But the girl just let him go, knowing that he was rather weak for a proper fight. "Gohan, you need to use them thinga-ma-bobbies," she stopped, searching for the word.
"What? Eyes?" He questioned.
"No."
"Ears?"
"No."
"Fists?"
"No, no, no."
"Senses?"
"Yeah, that's it. Senses. Now use your senses to listen around you and use your mind to feel for the upcoming attacks."
"How'd you do that?"
"A easy way to do that is to close your eyes and use your ears and senses because they guide you someway or another."
"It's an easy way, not a easy way."
"Oops. How'd you know? Are you like really smart?"
"I don't know what you would call smart but my mother wants me to be a scholar and become really good at science and maths and generally everything I guess."
"Oh… Maybe you could teach me something. Tepin wants us to learn how to write and talk properly. You can teach me what you've learn."
"It's learnt."
"What's the difference?"
"Learnt is past and learn is present."
"Oh… so what does that mean?"
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Gohan smiled after a full day of successful training and there was another thing to rejoice about, he had actually met some of his own friends. Not his dad's but his own friends. Taluu, the pretty girl who was around Tepin's age had forced them to take a shower that morning, after stinking the out the hut especially since she and Zzuka were clean. Grumpily, Tepin stalked down to a small lake that lay a good fifty metres away from their main water supply. From what it seemed, it looked as if it were man-made or in this case; blasted by energy balls. It was spacious enough to fit several huts so there was no worry that they'd get squashed by one another. Gohan stood at the edge of the lake as the others started filling the area with more water until it was flooded and of course it only took them less than a minute to gill it up. They started stripping down to their trunks, throwing their extra weights away, scattering across the dirt covered floor. "What ya waiting for kid?" Tepin asked gleefully as he resurfaced. It was actually the first time he had noticed Tepin speak this way, friendly and gentle. The oldest boy gestured for him to enter the water.
This was an offer was couldn't refuse. Either way he would have to bathe so he took off his grotty gi and chucked the heavy weights to the ground just like the way the other three had. "You bear weights too? I'm surprised Gohan," Kebs muttered in a partially astonished expression but soon enough he recovered. With a bomb dive, Gohan broke through the water's surface and landed at the bottom of the lake floor, taking a while to resurface.
"Impressive," Tepin uttered and rested his arms on the edge of the ground. "I don't think we're gonna to be able to go without soap. Taluu will most likely be afta our butts. Oi, kid, Zzuka told me that ya pretty smart. Ya wanna help us to improve?"
Gohan was silent for a minute before uneasily accepting the challenge. Helping Tepin might prove to be a little problem but surely he would be able to be corrected wouldn't he? He sighed softly to himself and smiled with the knowledge of knowing that he was beginning to be accepted and more or the less feel like he was beginning to belong there.
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A/N: How was that pplz? Hm… I know it took about 4 million months before I got this chapter up. I'm bad… Very bad… But I've been trying to zoom through a chapter each time so plz forgive me. And I can't be certain when the next chapter is due but I promise that I'll keep typing and writing.- Just remember to review!!!