A/N~ Awww, thank ya'll so much! I asked for 4 reviews and I ended up getting 11 instead. Thank you so much!! Well I've decided to continue my story (obviously) and I hope you all like it. This is actually a pretty dumb chapter, but it had to be done, blah blah. Anyway, thanks again and I love you all!! Mwa!
Disclaimer- Having your blood taken has to be the freakiest thing in the world. I seriously thought I was gonna either 1. vomit 2. faint 3. die. I'm such an aichmophobic dork. How that has anything to do with the disclaimer, I dunno and don't care.
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The Deception of a Whisper
Chapter 5- The Dangers of Inexperience
This chapter is dedicated to Demi Saiyan Prodigy, thank you so much
Why the sudden chill and stillness scared him, he didn't know. The palace cellar and storage room always seemed to have that effect on him since the first day he had ever been in the place to pick up his first set of official armor. Ironically, that was the same reason why he was here again, though the usual suit he picked up on other occasions was now to be replaced by a less familiar style, lighter yet denser all the same and with the emblem of Vegetasei in the corner of both chest plates signifying that he was not only a palace guard, but served the royal family directly. Normal guards' armor produced the emblem in the middle of the back plate while those in the royal family wore it only in the corner of the left chest plate.
An elfish looking creature with a quaint and curious grin produced the armor for the young captain saying in a sly voice, "Your first day, is it?"
Gohan took the armor examining it with scrutinizing eyes before retorting in a cold, toneless voice, "What business is it of yours?"
The short creature gave a small shrug still grinning with the sides of his long mouth, "None at all, my curiosity only wishes to know for information you may have on the 'morrow and it's events."
"What about tomorrow?" Gohan asked disinterested and still examining his armor.
"Why the trial of course!"
"And why would this trial concern you so?"
"Oh, not me at all, boy."
"Then why do or should you care?"
"It matters to me, boy, bec…"
A small ki blast struck the elf in the middle of his chest setting him roughly on his backside. Despite the harsh fall, the creature's grin seemed to softly fade into the outline of an informed smirk upsetting Gohan all the more. He carefully brought himself back to his feet and noted the small hole in his shirt before turning back to the captain.
"If you call me boy one more time that hole won't be only through your shirt."
"Fair enough, sir," the elf responded softly. "I just thought that you might like to know that the trial concerns you."
Gohan cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "I don't think I understand."
That's when the creature began to chuckle in a jovial manner, rubbing his chest tenderly as he pivoted on a foot and began to shuffle away back into the recesses of the room. "That really is the funny part of it all though. I don't quite understand why yet either, but I suppose we'll find out."
A deep scowl spread over Gohan's lips as he watched the elfish being scuttle away all the while chuckling in a rasping melody. The hair on his tail began to bristle in annoyance as the tip twitched from its seat at his waist. "Baka yowamiso."
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New armor shined, polished, and in place, he waited outside the Throne Room doors to be presented to the king for inspection. Although there was no one nearby in the hallway besides himself, he couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being watched by unseen eyes. His neck shivered slightly and involuntarily at the sudden feeling of someone blowing sweetly and softly upon his exposed skin, yet when he turned no one was there. He considered the fact that they were just apparitions from his imagination brought on from his apprehension and quickly dismissed them just as the heavy, metal door was opened and a tall, husky guard walked out. The guard inspected Gohan for a moment with a slight scowl before motioning for the younger Saiyan to follow him into the room.
The first thing Gohan noticed about the room was the vast expanse of it. He had been in the room only once previously and had almost forgotten the high ceilings strewn with enaajii pits that dimly lit the area. Set in a wide hemisphere, the curved edge of the room pictured the outside landscape through its translucent wall while the interior was set into four arguable levels. The entrance floor fell short after a ways to peak at a distinct bridge that raised above the rest of the room to carry unto another platform where four distinct chairs sat though only the left two were occupied. Below this structure sat another floor, narrower than the rest and lined with chairs and set persons facing the four chairs while yet another level lay between the other three both lower and currently unoccupied by anything.
Soldiers stiffly stood across the back wall and on the sides of the third floor with their prominent, armor blandly shining its ivory appeal in the weak light. A pair of unnoticed soldiers suddenly caught his attention as they strolled from their respective places at either side of the four aligned chairs to march across the bridge to where the captain stood erect and presentable. He recognized one immediately as his father, the Colonel, and the other as an older general named Cabbe who had come to be known as one of the most vicious Saiyans in his purging days.
They stopped at the edge of the bridge and waited for him to join them before crossing back over the bridge once again placed on either side of the younger soldier and trailing him half a pace as well. The threesome stopped about fifteen feet in front of the elevated chairs, the two occupants rising as those before them took a knee to honor their title as the man shook his crimson cape behind his shoulders and took two short steps forward. The man, identifiable as King Vegeta, flicked his wrist in an upward gesture and those kneeling quickly stood upright, heads erect and backs straight.
Gohan watched a secluded part of the royal city beyond the window never allowing his eyes to stray as the king slowly lowered from his perch and came down to face and examine him. The older Saiyan circled the captain for a moment scrutinizing his form and build before walking off to his side.
"You're young," the king stated simply in his gruff, low voice. "Maybe too young. How old are you?"
"I am twenty, your highness," Gohan responded monotonously keeping his eyes averted from the king's.
"What's your name and rank?"
"Captain Son Gohan, first class, your highness."
The king grunted in displeasure, "You can drop the formalities after each question, they're annoying, but only for now." He took a step closer to Gohan and looked directly at his face as though carefully thinking about something before stepping back again. "Captain Son Gohan, huh? And a first class too, no less." He scoffed out a bitter laugh before continuing, "You're Kakarrott's brat I suppose?"
"Yes, sir."
A deep smirk plastered on the king's face as he glanced quickly at the Colonel and then back at Gohan. "And a captain too, eh? I bet your daddy helped you with that title, didn't he?"
"No, sir."
The king's smirk slid from his face in confusion, "Then how did you acquire it. It's almost impossible for a brat such as yourself to raise in my ranks that fast, especially if you aren't an elite warrior."
"I passed all of my training and fighting courses early when I was sixteen and immediately was drafted into the purging commissions by General Nappa…"
"You served under Nappa?"
"Yes, sir."
"That stupid baka," King Vegeta angrily cursed to himself. "I pity you."
"I pity myself for that misfortune, sir," Gohan dully stated.
For a moment the king was silent before he let out a hearty laugh, studying Gohan's stark face a moment. "With good reason, with good reason. Nappa is an idiot; if he weren't so dumb he wouldn't have been caught so unaware during that ambush on Pluneo. He basically signed his own death warrant with that one." His laughter suddenly cut itself short as he reflected a bit more on the event. "Damn bastard nearly took out my entire third army as well. Only one battalion survived that you know."
Yes, sir. I'm aware of that," Gohan stated, his arrogance beginning to shine through his eyes as his tone turned smug attracting the king's attention.
"Oh, I get it now," King Vegeta countered taking on his own haughty grin. "You were that soldier that rounded the bend and attacked from behind weren't you?"
Gohan only allowed himself to grin giving the king his answer.
"Good tactics, brat. I'm surprised with you, and that may very well be a good thing." He turned on his heels and motioned for Gohan to follow him as he raised himself onto the elevated platform with the chairs and then turned to face him again. "Remove your armor."
A soft murmur echoed from the other guards as Gohan did as he was told, placing his torso armor at his feet and returning to stand upright.
"Now the top section of your body suit."
Once again, he did as he was told and awaited further instruction as the king snapped his fingers and the queen calmly stood and took her place beside him holding a red, translucent vile in her hands.
"Before I induct you into my personal guard," he began. "Tell me: how do you believe justice should be served?"
Gohan silently stood there for a moment reflecting on the question before evenly answering, "With the trials prescribed by the king himself, with little mercy to those who disobey the crown, and a shuddering death to those who deny it and its glory."
A small smirk spread over King Vegeta's face as he removed his right glove and handed it to the queen who took it quickly. "Good answer. Now salute me."
Raising his left arm to a parallel degree with his shoulders, Gohan placed his fisted hand across his chest and awaited further instruction as the king stepped up to his side, right hand raised and finger pointed as a small ki ball began to form at his finger tip. Slowly and intricately, he wove the energy across Gohan's skin in an even, thick pattern occasionally stopping to wait as some of the younger man's flesh singed and fizzled with the extreme heat and streams of blood softly boiled from his new wounds until the design was done.
Gohan stood plastered there as he received his mark and watched as the king stepped back and nodded at the queen as she stepped forward to him after handing the king back his glove. She shifted the vile slightly in her hands as she carefully spilt some into the cup of her hand and pressed it to his side keeping her hand firmly pushed against his skin as a fizzing sound escaped from under her hand along with a red fume, which quickly dissipated into the air. The burning was intense, but Gohan refused to let his face contort in any way to show the pain he was feeling. It would be disgraceful.
The queen then stepped back and stood by her husband as he addressed Gohan once more, "You have been branded with the royal emblem at a parallel angle to you heart. If you deceive me in any way than I will personally blast you through that very sign." He motioned towards Gohan's armor on the floor telling him to put it back on. "I will see you tomorrow, but first go get yourself a new suit, I don't like to see my guards in dirty armor or suits, even if it is with blood."
Quickly saluting and kneeling once again, Gohan silently left the Throne Room to return to the basement.
~*~
Thankfully, the creature in the basement department didn't say much to Gohan during his next visit, but instead just grinned connivingly as he scurried about gathering Gohan's new, clean body suit. Gohan eagerly took it from the little elf and left. His journey out of the palace went uneventful until a voice from behind him stopped him dead in his tracks as he passed the Royal Chambers.
"Are you in?" the voice asked in practically a harsh laugh.
Gohan slowly turned to see the prince striding up to him. He knelt and inquired, "In what, your highness?"
The prince grunted before continuing, "My father and I both aren't fond of those stupid formalities so get up."
Gohan stood as he was instructed and waited as the prince crossed his arms over his chest and took a stance in front of the other Saiyan.
"Are you an official palace guard?"
"Yes, sir. I was inducted about an hour ago."
The prince nodded for a moment in some sort of agreement before turning and without another word walked away through the corridor. Leaving Gohan to reminisce over his own thoughts.
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Perhaps it was just Saiyan nature that drew him there and the constant need for a good fight, or maybe it was the smell of sweat and the thought of a sufficient workout to relieve his pent up stress that brought him to the PTF alone as it seemed to do every now and again. Despite the reputation that the Public Training Facility had for drawing in grimy and egotistical Saiyans alike, he preferred it to the one he and his father had built at home and even the Academy's high tech facility which he had access to because of both his standings as an officer, palace guard, and past student of the prestigious fighting school.
None of those fancy machines and glossy walled expanses of the Academy could ever compare to this; meeting the competition of the unpredictable, low-ranking Saiyans. And that was just what he was doing now. He found that the fights with most other officers or well-trained guards to be beyond dull since their technique was far too similar and their moves far too calculated. Fighting them was like fighting a robot preprogrammed with all its attacks set to execute in numerical order. No, that wasn't fun at all, it was merely sport, this was much better and in more than one way as well.
True, the strength and speed of these warriors was not much of a match for the young captain who gracefully took each and every challenge and humbly won each and everyone. The true difference about these Saiyans was that the lower-ranking warriors fighting style was so unchoreographed, so erratic that the captain was constantly kept on his toes with endless curiosity and determination to incorporate this witticism into his own method so that he too would be able to make his defensive and offensive decisions on the spot and at the second he needed them.
A deteriorating shingle from the roof fell beside Gohan to the floor and lay there silently in a crumpled mess. He kicked it lightly with the toe of his boot and watched as it desecrated itself into hundreds of ashen grains. Although the PTF was a popular hangout among the Saiyan population, renovations were still on a to-do list for the sponsorships. A friendly hand found its way to his shoulder shaking Gohan from his mental reverie and gave him an excited shake.
"Good work, sir," the man said directing his eyes to the scene before them where another young Saiyan was being aided to his feet by yet another man. "Your form is very impressive."
Gohan just grinned back at the older man as they walked over to the other two who were currently laughing about something and dusting off their armor.
"What so funny?" Gohan asked unamused.
"Well Captain…" the first began, but unable to contain his laughter.
Gohan turned his gaze to the other man who was wearing a stupid grin and was holding his arms behind his back in somewhat of an embarrassed manner. He quirked an eyebrow at him telling him to explain with that gesture.
"Ummmm…. Well, sir…." He too began, unable to conceal his embarrassment.
"Well what, Plinet?"
"Uhh, you know that last round house kick you did?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Ya know how it made Peasn hit the ground really hard next to me?"
Gohan stared in confusion at Plinet's lanky figure unable to see where this detailed foreshadowing was going. "I don't get it."
"Ok, well… ya know how Peasn ate a whole lotta fried stuff earlier during lunch?"
After thinking a moment, Gohan's face noticeably paled as he continued to stare at both the laughing self-mockery still sitting on his butt on the arena floor and the uncomfortable soldier standing before him. "I'm getting an idea…"
"Well sir," Plinet continued giving a mortified expression. "Let's just say that had to be the most vile gas leak I have ever smelt, and during a battle no less."
A look of distaste smeared over Gohan's face as he thought about what he had just been told.
Peasn, who was currently still laughing on the ground about his flatulent outbreak, suddenly let out a painful squeak as he was kicked abruptly on his back.
"Hey! What was that for, Corrit?" the angered soldier sneered hopping to his feet and placing himself in a defensive stance infront of the older Saiyan.
"Stop making a bad impression on us in front of the capt'n," Corrit hissed back, his bulky, shorter body refusing to follow the other's example into a battle stance unafraid of his would-be-foe.
"I'm not making a bad impression," the younger one yelled.
"Then what's this you're doing now?! It's no wonder why the other officers won't consider us for better duties when you go and act like this in front of them!"
Entertained by the exchange and in hopes of maybe witnessing a battle between the bickering Saiyans, Gohan listened intently and watched from the sidelines.
"The other officers don't consider us because you're too much of a kiss ass for them to think that you can accept such responsibilities…."
"Do they always fight about this kind of stuff?" Gohan asked calmly turning to Plinet who had joined him at the sidelines.
Plinet shrugged his slim shoulders not finding anything too amusing about the spectacle before him as Peasn threw a half-hearted punch at Corrit. "Sometimes. I think they're just kinda uneasy about being around an officer, especially in such a commercial atmosphere."
"Well then maybe I shouldn't have told them I was a captain."
"Why?"
"So that they wouldn't be acting like this," Gohan stated gesturing towards the two in the arena fighting to decide the victor of their brawl. "I actually kinda wish I could have talked to them a bit more."
Plinet glanced over to Gohan's placid form smirking in his revelation. "So that's it."
"That's what?"
"You didn't let us talk to you because you wanted a sparring partner," Plinet said crossing his arms over his chest proudly earning an annoyed grunt from Gohan.
"What are you talking about?" the young captain sneered.
"You wanted to make some friends, didn't you?" Plinet slyly remarked.
Gohan was silent for a moment reflecting upon what he'd heard before answering, "Why would I want friends? All they do is die."
To this Plinet nodded losing his smirk in the process. "That's true, but it's still nice to have them all the same. Wouldn't you say?"
Again the young captain waited to reply, nodding his head solemnly and looking over to the man beside him with a quaint, hidden sort of curiosity. His gaze was returned as the other slowly nodded with a cheesy grin. "Yes, we're friends, if that's what you're thinking about asking."
Gohan took in the phrase and softened his glare a bit allowing his lips to twist uncertainly into his own lightened grin.
"How old are you anyway?" Gohan asked inquisitively noting the youthful lines on Plinet's face.
Plinet chuckled uneasily and pulled disorientatedly at one of his long, thick locks that hung over his face. "Well, I'm much younger than your average palace guard I'll tell you that."
"And how old is much younger than the average palace guard?"
He continued to fiddle with his hair as he took on a sheepish smile. "Twenty-two."
Gohan nodded indifferently.
"You don't think that's too young?"
Gohan slowly shook his head. "No, not at all. It really all just depends on your experience level and ability really, or so I would suppose."
Plinet nodded his head in agreement as he assessed what Gohan had just told him. "So how old are you?"
"About twenty."
"Really?!"
He nodded once more, arms folded neatly over his chest.
"And I thought I was young for my position," the older Saiyan commented in distraught.
"Well," Gohan began taking on an informed voice. "The only reason I was placed upon the r…."
His sentence was cut short as a force impacted upon his head knocking him forward into the arena sprawling upon the dirt. The fight between the other two Saiyans just above him abruptly stopped at the intrusion as a hoard of laughter erupted from where he had previously stood an instant before.
Evenly, he pushed himself back onto his feet and turned to face his assailants. The forms of three tall, bulky Saiyans caught his attention as they continued to bully Plinet from the sidelines. He dusted himself off and calmly strolled over to the scene, glancing up once at the two still hovering in the air, their feud silenced for the moment as they watched him walk before deciding to join behind him. Plinet waited eagerly as Gohan came and stood at his side folding his arms over his chest and smearing a menacing glare across his brow and a half-displayed snarl on his lips.
The other warriors watched his silent display with interest as one of them strode up in front of him and mirrored the younger man's expression lowering his head slightly so that each breath he took passed dankly over his skin and slightly mused his hair. Then, in a low, dangerous voice the man ordered Gohan, "Get out of my arena…."
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A/N- Review!!! You can only give me more incentive to write another chapter faster and the faster I type, the sooner you really see Videl. AAHHHHHH!! yeah. Anyways, Review!!
