A/N: I'd just like to ask you to please take the time to read the entire note on the bottom of this chapter – There's some really important information there explaining some of the things that might not have made sense in this chapter. (You'll know it when you read it.) Thanks for your time, enjoy the story!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 3~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Cost of Hesitation
(or: Enter the Faceless Ones)
Gohan drifted somewhere between here and there. The pain in his body told him that the Bruisers, as he had dubbed them, hadn't stopped at just his arms and legs – yet the pain was distant. More evident was the pain of his heart. The pain of knowing he could have done something. The pain of knowing Goten had sacrificed himself…
Tears streaked down Gohan's face as he came more and more awake. The full extent of the pain finally made itself known in one fell swoop as Gohan shouldered his way into reality. He almost passed out again from the pain of so many injuries, but stubbornly refused to give up. He deserved this pain, so he might as well stay awake to …enjoy it.
He looked around himself with a faint sense of curiosity, dimmed by the vast amounts of pain – but after all, this was an alien planet… He was in a strange structure, which he knew instinctively to be some sort of communal building. The ceiling was low, as there didn't seem to be any way to support a taller structure. The ground was covered in the blue moss, with the exception of the hard, lumpy stones that Gohan was sitting on. With a mental jolt of surprise, Gohan realized that he wasn't restrained at all. He immediately tried to get up, but hardly managed an inch before he was forced to sit back down from the pain.
Taking a quick, professional assessment of damages, he decided that he wasn't going to die from the wounds, though he would be seriously crippled if he didn't get treatment quickly. His forearms were both broken and lying useless at his sides, and his shins were both broken at almost right angles – he couldn't bear to look at them for more than the brief second it took to note them, then forced himself to close his eyes. The burning sensation he felt in his chest when he breathed probably signified a few broken ribs, and the warm, wet feeling on the right side of his face was blood, though the pain was so distant that he couldn't tell where the wound might be. The way it hurt to breath through his nose meant that it was either broken or part of it was sliced, he couldn't tell which at the moment, and the tickling sensation across his back was recognized as blood, probably from the flogging he could vaguely remember. All in all, the pain was so all encompassing that it hardly hurt - if that made any sense to his benumbed mind.
No wonder they hadn't bothered to tie him up.
He could see a group of Bruisers standing a short distance away, passing what looked to be a capsule back and forth, obviously trying to figure out what it was. He couldn't help but feel smug that Goten had managed to trigger the locking mechanism, as he obviously had, and would have laughed at the befuddled aliens if he hadn't been in so much pain.
But he was drifting off again… so sleepy… maybe he had been mistaken; maybe he'd get lucky and the wounds would be fatal after all…
Kitten raised an eyebrow as she and the others stepped out of their ship onto the black, purple, and blue planet of Keman. "Kais, it looks like a giant bruise!"
Xe snorted slightly in derisive agreement, and the others chuckled or rolled their eyes according to their personalities.
"Let's get on with it. Remember, we're to kill them all. Every one of them. No, I don't care Dae - women and children too."
Hali barked the orders in the same concise manner that she always did, anticipating any protests that were likely to come. Kitten knew that Hali didn't particularly relish killing off the women and kids any more than Dae did, but she knew it was necessary, and so did Kitten. These creatures had a powerful weapon in their possession, something they called the Dragon Balls. Something that had to be destroyed before they did any more harm. Somehow they were tied to one of these creatures, and they didn't know which one - nor did it particularly matter. All these creatures were evil, as a study of the planet had told them.
Kitten was one of six members of the elite mercenary group known as "The Faceless Ones." They were the best at what they did, were scrupulously honest most of the time, were quick, clean, and efficient, and were the best that money could buy. She had joined up at age 13 after being recruited as a mechanic/resident genius. Alright, alright, she had to admit that she'd made up the last part - but they all went along with it anyways!
But, to no one's surprise, she was letting her mind wonder off the job. She didn't really have a big role this time – basically the only instructions she had were to guard the ship. Flicking long white hair out of her eyes, the 17-year-old watched with a twinge of jealousy as the others took off in separate directions. This mission should be fairly simple, especially for warriors of their caliber. She watched mildly as Xe went south, Hali north, the twins east, and Dae west.
Stifling a yawn, Kitten settled down on top of the sleek silver ship. Patting it absentmindedly, she scanned the area. No one was in sight. Damn. And she sooo wanted to kill something!
Gohan was suddenly called into alertness as the group of Bruisers ran out the door, leaving him alone in the hut. What was happening? They hadn't left him alone at all for the three days he'd been here! Maybe they thought he was still too weak to escape, and not worth the effort it took to keep an eye on… Or maybe there was a problem outside, enemies of this clan. If that were true, Gohan might just be able to convince them to rescue him! It was definitely a long shot, but it couldn't be any worse than what he was going through right now…
With a grunt of pain, Gohan used his elbows to push himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against. Extremely painful though it was, the 9-year-old determinedly rotated until he was standing on his knees, his legs too far gone to stand upon. With a deep intake of breath, the demi Saiya-jin shuffled forward, resolutely ignoring the waves of pain that washed over his body with every jarring movement. He was going to escape. He had to. The only pause he made on his trek to the door was when he lowered himself painfully to the ground with his elbows in order to pick up his capsulized spaceship with his mouth. It hurt like all hell, but hey - he couldn't escape without this!
It took Gohan nearly fifteen minutes to reach the doorway of the hut, a mere 6 feet away from the stones he'd been sitting on. He grimaced at the thought of being caught like this, and had to remind himself over and over again that slow and steady wins the race - and hurrying will end with you flat on your face in too much pain to move.
It took monumental effort, but somehow he managed to get himself a few yards away from the dark clutch of huts. He looked back at them and briefly wondered why it was so deserted. Had they gone hunting or something? But no matter, there was no one around to stop him and that was the only really important thing right now.
Well, amend that, he thought as his stomach groaned, it's important to find food too, seeing as I haven't eaten since leaving my ship. The thought of food cleared his pain be-numbed mind only briefly - but it was enough time for an idea form that would make escape significantly less difficult. With a tiny smile that was half ironic humor, half agony, Gohan forced enough of his ki underneath him to float an inch or so above the ground. Being an intelligent boy, he stayed low, knowing that with wounds as bad as his he wouldn't have the ki to sustain himself very long. And another fall would probably kill me, he thought wryly.
Using this method, Gohan was able to make it almost a mile away from the little village before collapsing into a deep, pain-induced sleep.
Humming an off-key tune to herself, Kitten continued to sketch designs for a requested ship modification. Hell, she had nothing else to do.
"Where are they? They should be back by now… No purging mission this easy should be taking them two entire fucking hours!" Out of reflex, Kitten sent her senses out in search of their ki. All of them were still fighting by the looks of it, though it seemed as if the twins would be wrapping up shortly. Another ki sweep told her that no Keman-jins were within a mile radius.
For the hell of it - has it been mentioned that the hyperactive teen was bored as hell? - Kitten sent her senses in an ever-widening circle, trying to spot how far away the closest Keman-jins were. On her 5 mile arc, she suddenly paused, having come in contact with a substantially high ki reading that was nonetheless falling fast.
Curiosity warred with given orders inside her head - to check out the ki, or not? Risk being reprimanded by Hali, or do something to relieve my boredom? Well, at the thought of her boredom, there was no longer a question of what to do. With a grin and a swish of her tail, Kitten took off towards the fading ki. This might be fun!
She spotted the battered creature in seconds. After all, that orange gi was bright enough to hurt the eyes when examined against the black soil, even while dusty and bloody. She dropped down from the sky a few feet away from it, examining it with a critical eye. It dawned on her right away that it was no more a Keman-jin than she was, and therefore not part of the purging mission - so why was it here, and why was it so beat up? Because, as the first glance had revealed, it was in real bad shape - are its legs supposed to bend like that? - and blood was seeping onto the black sand. It was going to die if it didn't get any help, and fast. Biting her lip anxiously, she debated whether or not she should rescue it - after all, it might be dangerous!
But no, it looked like a child - there was no way that a mere child would be able to harm six of the most powerful warriors in the universe! Gingerly rolling over the body, she gasped at the extent of damage. There was so much clotted blood on the face that she couldn't make out any features at all, and there was a piece of bone protruding from the chest, most likely a rib of some sort. She couldn't do a full analysis on the creature given its unknown anatomy, but she reckoned that a stay in the regen tank would fix it up anyways.
With care for the multiple wounds, Kitten gently picked up the tattered creature and flew back to the ship. Once she'd cleared off a place for it on the surgeon's table with a quick swipe of her tail, she carefully took off the scanty remains of its clothing. After placing it gently into the healing chamber and setting a regen-cycle, Kitten had the oddest feeling that she had just done something worthy, noble, and likely to change her life forever.
Hmm… If this brat will change my life forever, it's probably a good idea to put a ki lock on this room of the ship. You never know if it will be a good change or a bad one.
When Gohan woke up much later, it was to blue liquid caressing his naked body. His conscious mind was highly confused - where was he? What was this stuff? But it didn't take long for his subconscious to kick in.
Saiya-jins… This blue crap has to do with Saiya-jins! I have to get out!
But…
They killed Piccolo! They killed daddy! Have to… have to get out…
And then came the flashes of memory - the death of his father, the death of his mentor, the trip to Namek and the death of Krillin… With a cry, Gohan powered up, blasting the regen tank into oblivion. Panting heavily, he cast frantic eyes about the room for some sort of clothing. He… he had to escape!
It wasn't until he had pulled on the tattered remains of his bloody gi that recent memory caught up with him.
Oh yeah… We wished everyone back. Vegeta is good now, he's the one who put dad in the tank… It, it healed him I think. Is that what was happening to me? I was being healed? I'm not broken like I remember being… But still, who brought me here? Why did they save me? What's going on?
He felt himself over, looking for the wounds that he could vaguely remember having. He winced several times as his prodding fingers came in contact with raw, pink skin, stretched tightly over new scars. There were no open wounds that he could feel, his arms and legs felt completely healed, and he could breathe through his nose again. He took a few experimental steps, and found that he could move easily. A deep breath proved that the ribs were properly healed, and an experimental exploration of his face indicated scar tissue across the bridge of his nose, but nothing else. Smiling broadly at his restored state, he spread his legs and arched his back, stretching out the kinks. It wasn't until he leaned forward and felt the skin on his back stretch uncomfortably did he remember the beating that had occurred. Apparently the stay in the funny tank hadn't healed him completely - he'd probably broken out before the healing was done.
Oh well, he thought with an easy smile, at least I'm well enough to protect myself. I won't hesitate this time… I won't ever hesitate again. At the last thought he dropped the easy smile a child his age should possess, and adopted the stony, thoughtful face that had become normal while alone in space. My hesitation killed Piccolo once, and it almost killed me. I can't afford hesitation, even if it means killing others.
Completely serious now, the nine-year-old searched for the door as another thought struck him. He wasn't on his own ship, and he wasn't with the Bruisers - which meant that at some point someone or something had found him and taken him with them. Despite the healing, he couldn't be sure of what picked him up - just because Frieza had healed his soldiers didn't make him good. Preparing for the worst, Gohan double-checked his own ki, making sure it was as low as he normally held it - about 70 or 80 rather than 700,000. Gohan did a sudden double take – 700,000 was nearly triple the ki level he'd had when he left Chikuu-sei! But that's logical, isn't it. I trained all the time for six or seven months, and then almost died – when Saiya-jins recover from serious injury, Vegeta said they get stronger. I most definitely suffered serious and prolonged injury – it makes sense that I'm stronger now.
While he was at it, he sent his ki senses around the vicinity, trying to discover where he was. To his surprise, he encountered a barrier of sorts around the room he was in that didn't allow him to sense outside this one area. Worried what this could mean, Gohan chose to be ready to fight. Preparing himself for combat, Gohan quickly tied up his long hair in a tight horsetail to keep it out of his face. His gi was no longer fit for battle, but a glance around the room revealed no other clothing. Oh well, he'd made due with less before.
After gingerly exploring the extent of the ki wall, Gohan decided that the best move would be to lie low, waiting for whatever was out there to come to him. If he kept his ki down then they wouldn't be able to tell that he was awake now, and he would be able to take them by surprise when they next came in. He settled down to wait, taking stock of what could potentially become the battleground as he did so.
He waited for the door to open, prepared to launch the attack - for he would never hesitate again.
A/N: Lexi: *smirks* I have successfully taken over the author notes! *laughs evilly as Kitty struggles to escape Vegeta's strangle hold*
Kat: NO! dammit Lexi, make your muse let go of me!
Lexi: Iie, it's my turn to talk. *sticks nose in the air and turns to the audience* Okies, I get to explain this chapter to you. First of all, I'd like to say that Kitty and I are going to be posting in depth descriptions of all these characters on a website – there's six of them, and that'll be a pain to go through the history, personality, physical description, etc of each and every goddamn one. Kitty wanted to be all description-happy and write out pages of info into the story itself, but I vetoed – talk about boring!
Kat: *snorts, tugs on Vegeta's arms* No, informative! There's a difference!
Lexi: *rolls eyes* whatever Kitty-chan. Anyways, back to my explanation. We'll post the address on the beginning of the next chapter (it isn't finished yet .) or, if you guys are in favor of it, we'll just post the stats instead of the next chapter in the story itself.
Kat: *still struggling ineffectively* Geeze Lex, at least tell them about what's written in the story already!
Lexi: *waves hand dismissively* Yadda yadda. Okay, lots of information, so hold tight – First of all, the ki lock around the room Gohan was healed in makes it so that he can't get out or feel ki – the downside is that the Faceless Ones can't feel his ki while he's in there either, which is why no one felt it when he powered up and destroyed the regen-tank. Also, the reason the Faceless Ones can sense ki is because – come on! Chikuu-jins, who aren't talented with ki at all I should state, can't possibly be the only ones to figure out how it works in an entire universe populated by races of sentient beings. This is an A/U, so Kitty and I decided that Xe-chan was taught to sense ki by his mother, whose race is inherently capable of it. He taught the others by and by, thus how the Faceless Ones can sense energy. The reason the Cold's couldn't is because, let's face it – if you're the best, you don't tell your secret techniques to people you basically are itching to kill!
Kat: *finally resorts to biting Vegeta's arms, and with a curse he lets her go* As a matter of personal defense, I want to add that the character Kitten is in no way shape or form a caricature of me.
Lexi: *smirks and looks the other way, whistling innocently*
Kat: *glares* Or at least I didn't model her after me in any way. She is an independent character, and the reason she's called Kitten will be explained later – just don't get turned off because you think it's a self-insertion. *gives a half smile* I personally hate self-insertions with a passion, so I felt this necessary…
Lexi: *sighs* are we done yet?
Kat: *thinks* Yeah, yeah I think we're done. That's a long author note, Lexi-chan – I thought you said mine were too long and boring!
Lexi: *grumbles and stocks away irritably*
Next Time on Dance Among the Stars:
Introducing the members of the Faceless Ones! "Outsiders might see them as blood thirsty, evil, backstabbing mercenaries, but Kitten knew better. She knew that they were in reality blood thirsty, sorta-evil mercenaries - but there was no backstabbing involved unless it was referring to assassination."
Kitten: In fact, considering her karma, it would turn out to be a Saiya-jin or something - and boy would she get it then!
Sassy: "Maybe because we were busy eradicating all life from the face of the planet?"
Ryl: "Or maybe it's because you're old and slow, Sassy. It would explain a lot,"
Hali: "You were stupid, Kitten. But there's nothing we can do about it now. No, I won't kill you for something so trivial. Yes, I could tell you were worried. I'll take a look at it as soon as it's better. Let's move out, dead planets bug me."
Xe: Xe stepped into the ship, ducking to fit through the door. He stood silently for a moment, surveying the already gathered members of their group, then glided silently to his chair.
Dae: "Kitten? Did you do something stupid again? I hope you didn't blow up anything important this time, we already have repairs to worry about…"
