Chapter 3: A Girl Called Neroh

Five hours had passed when Gohan regained consciousness, and he found himself in a bed in a dark room, only lit by a crackling fire and a few scented candles. His muscles had finally relaxed a little, and he weakly sat up on his elbows and noticed that his wounds had been tended to. He looked around the room and found the girl that fought the monster, and she was sitting in front of the fire, boiling and mixing pulped herbs of some kind in a round bowl. Now that he could see clearly, he could make out what she looked like. She was a slim and muscular girl with large, onyx eyes, and she had a long, furry tail, much like a Saiyan's, but it was jade colored like her hair. Her clothing involved a short black spandex top lined with red, brown gauntlets, tattered purplish-blue training pants held up with a white cloth belt, and chunky brown boots. She heard him stir, and looked up at him.

"Good. You've awoken," she said. "How you feeling?"

"A little woozy, I guess…" he said, rubbing his forehead.

"I'm glad I got to you in time, otherwise that Bynkah would have eaten you for sure."

"Bynkah?" asked Gohan.

"The creature that attacked you. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to go into the Forest of Eternal Shadow?" she quizzed, as she strained the now cooled orange mixture into a glass tube, took out a syringe and proceeded to fill it.

"I didn't know," he said, as she came over with the syringe. "Because I'm not from around here. To tell you the truth, I'm not even from this planet. I know it sounds stupid-"

"It doesn't sound stupid," she said, injecting the fluid into his dislocated arm. She removed the needle and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Just rest while the injection gets to work." After a minute or two, Gohan felt a new burst of energy surge through his whole body. His strength returned, and all his aches and pains were no more. Even his arm seemed to relocate itself with virtually no pain at all. He jumped out of the bed and found that he could stand on his own two feet again. He couldn't believe it! That mixture had roughly the same effect as Senzu Beans!

"Hey! What was in that stuff?" he questioned.

"Oh, extracts of Kuri berry and Saiku flower root, mixed and filtered in boiling lake water. Kuri berries detoxify the body of Binka venom, preventing the return of muscular spasms. Saiku root restores the person to full health, and it also repairs any broken or dislocated bones."

"Thanks. I'm grateful, Miss… miss…"

"Nerohtyrakoshi."

"I think I'm gonna have to get you to write that one down!" he laughed. "I'm Gohan. Son Gohan, to be precise." He extended his hand as a greeting. Nerohtyrakoshi shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Gohan. You can call me Neroh, seeing as my name's such a mouthful." A loud rumble filled the room, and Gohan blushed furiously.

"I take it that you're hungry?" she giggled.

"Yes, a little… I'm sorry about that…" he said, rubbing the back of his head with one hand and trying to will his blush away.

"Don't worry about it. I was just going to make something to eat anyway!"

Neroh began to prepare a meal for them both, and Gohan stared in wonder at the bizarre looking items of food that she pulled out of her larder. A couple of the fish with the six legs that Gohan saw in the lake, a small basket containing strange fruit and vegetables, and a bottle of electric-blue liquid were laid out in front of the fire. The weird fish were placed in the flames and she chopped up the vegetables, placed them in a pot of the pink lake water and put it over the fire. It wasn't long until the meal was ready, and she put the food on a large stone slab near the fireplace.

"It's chow time, Gohan!" she laughed.

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"So… what is this place? What planet am I on?" asked Gohan, as he bit into the leg of one of weird fish again. Funny how something that resembles a fish tastes more like chicken…

"This is the Planet Reikagia," she said after she drank some of the blue liquid.

"I can't get over how colorful the planet is! Earth's pretty plain compared to this place!" he told her.

"Earth? Is that where you come from?"

"Yes. You heard of it?"

"No."

"Earth is a planet where a race called the humans live."

"And that's what you are- a human?" she asked.

"Well… actually, I'm half-human. The other part is-" he really wasn't sure about telling her, seeing as the Saiyans were once feared across the universe.

"Go on," said Neroh.

"Saiyan."

He waited for a horrified response, but instead, she smiled at him.

"Cool. I'm half –Saiyan too."

Gohan almost spewed his mouthful of fish over her. How is it possible when Frieza wiped out the Saiyan race roughly twelve years ago?

As if reading his thoughts, she answered his question.

"Frieza may have annihilated the Planet Vegeta, but what he doesn't know is that a few thousand Saiyans managed to be evacuated before it was destroyed."

Gohan was amazed. When Radditz came to Earth all those years ago, he said that only four Saiyans survived. It made Gohan think. Radditz wasn't told of the evacuation!

Neroh continued explaining. "The surviving Saiyans hunted for a new planet to live on, and they found this planet- the Planet Reikagia. Reikagia was already inhabited by the Kagi-jins, but the two races live at peace with one another because they are alike in many ways, although the Kagi-jins are less bloodthirsty. They have kind of… curbed the Saiyans' savagery a little, you might say."

"So what you're saying is that the Saiyans no longer go to other planets to destroy entire civilisations?" queried Gohan.

"Not since they escaped the wrath of Frieza. It was his idea to use them to exterminate the weaker races of the universe, and put the empty planets up for sale for his customers," she said. "But don't get me wrong. The Saiyans still enjoy the thrill of a good fight, and the Kagi-jins give them just that!"

You learn something new everyday… Vegeta will have a fit when I tell him the Saiyan Race still exists!

His thoughts were cut short when Neroh talked again.

"The only problem is, Frieza's still out there, and it won't be long until he reaches this planet!"

"That's going to be tough for him," said Gohan smugly. "My dad kicked his scaly ass when I was seven. Frieza's dead and is currently spending the rest of eternity in Hell!"

"Your dad's a hero, then. I'm sure the remaining Saiyans will want to congratulate him!"

"They won't be able to. He died, a long time ago." Said Gohan. Hurt was heard in his voice.

"I'm ever so sorry, Gohan. I didn't know." Neroh said sympathetically. "But do try to stop grieving. It's in the past. Your father probably wouldn't want you constantly mourning over his death."

"You're right." A long silence fell between them.

"My parents didn't want me to be like that when they died, although I do still miss them." She sniffed as she blinked back tears.

Gohan looked over to Neroh.

"You're an orphan?"

"And an exile, all thanks to that bastard Artek."

"Who's Artek?" he questioned. Neroh took on a faraway look.

"He's an evil demi-god that is sealed up under Tak Xenath, the Red Volcano, which is on the dark side of this planet. I was six years old when he captured my parents, who were the protectors of the two races at the time, and he tortured them in front of me and tried to make me decide who died first. Of course, I fought for their freedom, but the only things I came away with were severe wounds and broken bones." She said, her voice almost cracking. "After that, when I was eight, he wreaked havoc on Reikagia, since neither Saiyan or Kagi-jin was able stop him. Seeing as I was the only child with both Saiyan and Kagi-jin blood, which was supposed to make me the most powerful being on Reikagia, the people expected me to destroy Artek once and for all. Unfortunately, he was far stronger, and both races ended up detesting me because I couldn't kill him. They had to rely on a Kagi-jin shaman to seal him in The Flames Beneath instead, and they banished me to live at the edge of the Forest of Eternal Shadow, away from civilisation." Her voice just gave way, and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked away to the side: she didn't want Gohan to see her cry.

"Artek took the two things that were really dear to me, and I've been training since that very day so I can seek my revenge. But what's the use? He's too powerful! Plus, because he's sealed under Tak Xenath, which is the entrance to The Flames Beneath, there's no way I can get to him unless he somehow manages to free himself. I'll just have to live in this constant agony of everybody hating me until that day comes."

Gohan quit eating his chow and put his hand on one of her shuddering shoulders.

"I don't hate you, Neroh." He assured her, as he rubbed her shoulder gently, to ease her dejection. She blushed lightly and looked up at him.

"Thanks, Gohan. I'm glad there's at least one person that doesn't abhor me." She said, wiping away her tears. Gohan looked out the window, and he noticed that the sky was darkening.

"I'd better be off then. Thanks for the meal, and your help, Neroh." He said, as he got up off his butt.

"What? Where are you going? You don't have anywhere to stay, have you?" she burst out, sounding almost anxious.

"No, but I'll probably find a cave to stay in or something." said Gohan. "I don't want to trouble you." (A/N: What a hint!!! You couldn't make it any more obvious, Gohan… ^.^)

"You can stay here if you'd like… I'd really enjoy the company, since no one's talked to me from the age of eight onwards…" She said, blushing for a second time. Gohan blushed as well- he's never stayed over at a girl's house before…

~tbc~

Mega blushings all round! #^_^# Will Neroh ever get her revenge on Artek? Well, you'll just have to wait and see…

Ja Ne!