"Rebels of the Revolution"

By Akira

Disclaimer:  Vegeta-sei, Gohan, Goten, Videl, Pan, and Trunks are dutifully Akira Toriyama's.  The first line of the summary belongs to Peter Jackson of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (Boromir in The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring at the Council of Elrond).  Midwinter comes from several different fantasy books I've read.  Lastly, there is mention of Enerials and Enerial forged weapons in this chapter.  Both belong solely to my friend, Natalie, who has granted me permission to use the Enerials for my own purposes.

Summary: "Saiyans have no king; Saiyans need no king." The heir to the throne returned long from exile – a choice he made long ago. He took the throne, and within months, rumors of a rebellion emerged. The entire planet turned against him… all except one girl.

Thanks go out to… Jezika, Natalie, Videl17, and Simon… for reviewing! 

Chapter X

"Your style is very peculiar, trainee Pan, daughter of Gohan, Steward of Vegeta-sei," the tall Enerial Lady remarked at the first session of their dawn practice as she surveyed Trunks and Pan at swordwork.

Pan pasted a smile on her face, but inwardly she was sighing.  Just when she had broken the King out of his habit of calling her "daughter of Gohan, Steward of Vegeta-sei…", Jenaesil had showed up with it again.  She didn't hold a grudge against the Enerial, for Pan knew it was of their custom.  Pan smiled wanly, "I do not know whether to take that as a compliment or no, my Lady."

"Oh, I was not trying to criticize you, young one; I was merely noting that," Jenaesil assured her.  "It certainly differs from my style.  Perhaps the King is trying to show you a new way."

Pan blushed a little and dropped the heavy wooden practice sword.  "My Lady is too kind," she murmured, trying to will power back into her arms and pick the sword back up.

Jenaesil laughed, "Just as my Lord is too hard on his trainees.  Here, try this sword."  Jenaesil held out a sword of similar design as Trunks's.  "It's my own so it might be slightly bigger than what you are used to."

Pan gripped the sword hilt offered to her.  The silver sword was feather light.  She stepped into her combination pattern dance.  Just as she was about to finish the final twirl with the sword, a flash of silver stopped the flow of the sword through air.  As the clanging noise startled her out of reality, Pan looked up to meet the cobalt eyes of her King.  "My Lord?" she asked quizzically, wondering what he would want.  She had been flawless… or so she hoped.

"You're getting too comfortable with that sword, Pan," Trunks noted.  "The last two steps you just finished, you performed them as one who was dependent on the sword to guide them.  Let your instincts and reflexes guide you, not your sword, or in this case, not the Lady's sword."  He turned to Lady Jenaesil, "My Lady, it is far too early in her practices with the sword to practice with Enerial-forged swords."

"Nay, my Lord.  Our children practice with these swords from the beginning, and we produce some of the finest swordsmen.  You are taxing her already strained muscles with that wooden sword."

"I suppose you know best, my Lady, but…" he replied with a wink to his little audience of Pan, Naeon, and Nayena, all of whom were standing nearby. 

As Trunks and Jenaesil continued their conversation of the pros and cons of sword training, Prince Naeon moved closer to Pan.  "Trust what those two tell you.  They may not look it, but both are lethal with their swords," he murmured to her.  After that brief two sentences, he moved to break up what was on verge of becoming a verbal fight.

Pan stood rooted to the ground.  Did those rolling tones in Prince Naeon's voice cause this reaction to every female, or was it just her? 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"My Lord?" Pan poked her head into the King's inner chambers.  "Shall I go fetch the guests?"

Trunks met her eyes.  "In a moment.  First help me decide, pale green or ice blue?"

Confusion reigned for a cursed few moments before it registered in Pan's head that she was to help him pick out a dinner outfit.  "Ice blue, my Lord.  Frankly, you'd stand out like a green weed if you were to wear green during Midwinter."

"Very true.  Thank you," he turned with the blue outfit in hand to his changing and bathing chambers.  He paused by the door, "Oh, and go get the guests.  Meet me in the Great Hall.  I shall be there momentarily."

Pan walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.  She had already dressed up in her off-white silk gown.  Yes, even her, the tomboy, had managed to be wrangled into a gown – not a dress, but a gown – for the Midwinter dinner.  And to make matters worse, this was only the first out of an entire week.  Exquisite designs covered the entire gown, three-quarter sleeves, and right down to the delicate trim at the ankle-length hem.  She nodded swiftly to Blaze, a trainee of fifteen serving under Andrean, who passed her in the corridor.  Unlike all the other trainees, who were to be serving during the entire festival, she would serve the High Table and dine there also.  'Ah… the glory and fame of being my father's daughter….'

"My Lady and Prince, are you ready?" Pan called out softly as she knocked on the door to the Enerials' chambers.

The door opened by itself and Pan timidly walked in.  "If you would please, my King requests you to join him for dinner," she said formally polite with a curtsey as protocol demanded.

Lady Jenaesil smiled warmly at Pan, "Wait one moment.  My brother requires a little more time."

"Yes, my Lady," Pan curtsied again, staring in awe at the Enerial Lady.  Her auburn curls were pulled into a bun with tendrils artistically left framing her face.  The delicate white dress, which the Lady had donned, was simple, elegant, and flowing.  Though the Lady's height rivaled that of the tallest Saiya-jins, thus was Enerial nature to be tall, her attire had accentuated her figure instead of exaggerating it to unreal proportions. 

Pan was further astonished as Prince Naeon entered a few minutes later.  "Prince Naethegaelyn," Pan murmured, unable to keep her eyes off of him as she swept yet another curtsey.  The Prince fastened the clasp of his belt, where the hilt of his sword and his dagger were visible, on around his waist as he smiled at Pan. 

Misinterpreting her stare as one of question, Naeon chuckled, "Enerial bodyguards of the Royal Family always dons black in public.  I am an exception though I like to stay true to custom."

Pan blushed and looked down.  She edged closer to the door as Lady Jenaesil got up to fasten her brother's cloak around his shoulders.  Then she proceeded to lead them to the Great Hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Nayena was already there beside Trunks.  She scurried to the sides of familiar figures as soon as they walked through the doors.  Her dress was a shade of blue much darker than the light blue of her hair.  Pan smiled briefly at the Nyra and moved to Trunks's side.

"Your father and uncle will be dining with us at the High Table," Trunks murmured to Pan as the Enerials approached.

Pan paled considerably at the news.  Father and Uncle… the two of whom could never stay around Trunks for five minutes without starting a verbal fight.  "I shall sit by Father, then?" Pan asked, directing the conversation onto lighter ground.  She had done this for the benefit of the Enerials, but she might've conjured up a wall for all the good it did – the Enerials were absorbed in their own conversation, quietly following them.

"Yes, sit by your Father, across from me.  I shall escort you and Nayena in, leaving those two –" here Trunks wiggled his eyebrows towards the Enerials – "to fend for themselves."

"You are a bad man, my King," Pan murmured as she latched herself onto Trunks's arm. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How goes your training, O daughter of mine?" Gohan asked of his daughter as she sat down for the meal, having finished serving the first few courses and the main course.

"Fine, Father, progress is coming along quickly," she replied deftly, knowing very well that if she mentioned weapons, the scene would turn out quite… interesting.

"The King… he's not trying anything on you that's out of custom, is he?" Gohan asked casually, keeping his voice low so that Trunks, seated across from them, could not hear.

"No, sir, he's very knowledgeable, punctual, and everything else one could wish for in a trainer," Pan replied, keeping her eyes off of Trunks, who she knew was hearing every word and would gloat over this for days, possibly weeks.

"Good, good," Gohan smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.  He still seemed convinced that he had handed his daughter over to a monster… a very pretty monster, but a monster nonetheless.

Videl smiled across the table at the King, "What have you been teaching little Pan?" 

"Well, my Lady, you can see she's no longer little," Trunks remarked, a teasing smile on his lips.  Pan had grown three inches since the Fall Festival, and although her muscles were sinewy as opposed to bulky, they were noticeable.  "We've been working very long and hard at her combat skills, hand-to-hand, that is."

"Hand-to-hand?  Last I saw her, she was working on archery, and that, my King, is definitely not hand-to-hand," the Warrior Commander of the Elite remarked as his eyes flickered from teasing and smiling to confusion and resentment. 

"My dear Warrior Commander, your wonderful niece, my trainee, mastered the bow and arrows a long time ago.  Perhaps if you were to practice with us more often, you would've known that," Trunks replied smoothly.  He was not on the best of terms with the Elite Commander.

"Why must you insist on training Pan in the use of weapons when Saiya-jins clearly do not need them?  We can out-fight any race that uses weapons in a matter of seconds by just our sheer power," Gohan stated, voicing the one thing, which had been the source of much disagreement between him and the King.

An audible sigh was heard from Trunks as he was about to reply, but another male voice interrupted.  "My Lord Gohan, have you ever studied the art of weaponry?" the deep masculine voice asked.  Heads swiveled towards the Enerial two seats down from Trunks.  Prince Naeon smiled, "I take your silence as a 'no'.  The use of weapons eliminates the waste of energy and power, the both of which I understand is what Saiya-jins pride themselves with.  Creatures, Saiya-jins included, last much longer in battle with the use of weapons.  Enerials, such as myself, trained in the skill of multiple weapons, know the advantage and benefit of hand-crafted battle tools.  We would not require the time to call our power to ourselves, such as you and other Saiya-jins might, but instead, we would use quick reflexes and natural instincts to instantly have in our hands a weapon."  Naeon stopped, looking at the faces staring at him.  He held up his right hand, in which he held his simple dagger, "I could have hurt most of you, possibly maim you for life, without you even knowing for the entire length of time I held this in my hand.  No, do not raise your powers.  I will not hurt you."  He fastened his dagger back onto his belt and returned to his meal, having said his share.

Trunks nodded his thanks.  For once in this familiar argument, Gohan was left speechless.  That was a first.  He risked a glance at Pan and told her, "That, my little trainee, is exactly why I am training you into mastering different weapons.  I learned from the Nameks and Enerials the reason behind weapons long ago."

Pan nodded, swallowing the last of her meal.  She stood, curtsied to her elders, and left the High Table only to return with a pitcher of water to refill everyone's drinks.

End Chapter X

A/N: My weekly update!  Well, there was too much descriptions in this chapter than I would've liked, but I've always been criticized as not having enough descriptions, so *shrug*. 

You may ask why I update such short chapters.  My answer:  I enjoy quick updates, and I try as hard as I can to meet deadlines, so sometimes the product of that is short.  I think this might be my longest chapter yet.

You may also ask why I include the Enerials so much.  My answer:  I honestly don't know.  I understand how some people come to ff.net for fanfics about characters they already know from the anime/book/whatever and not so much original characters, but I guess this puts a little spin on the story… and adds a little flavor.

Just a little extra note, and I'll try to keep out of this habit, but:

Videl17:  I hope this chapter was long enough to satisfy your thirst!

Simon:  I read your bio, aaaand I'm very happy, ecstatic actually, that I'm getting one of your good reviews!

Oh, and anyone want to be on my e-mailing list?  For updates that is… strictly updates.

As always… REVIEW!