*Happy Beginning Note* I'd like to point out that the notes at the end of every chapter are actually very important to this story.  Unlike Lexi's stories (*coughcough*) these author notes explain certain important aspects that will help you fully appreciate the intricacies that go into this story – things you might not notice right away, or take for granted or a mistake, are actually important things that will come into play later.  Read the notes at the end!!!  *smiles* thank you.

Chapter 7

Story Time With Gohan

(or: Spiels Gone Horribly Wrong)

Gohan watched as the aliens entered the room and took their seats.  First had come a stocky red female who reminded him inexplicably of Piccolo - probably the serious, intent air that she exuded, as well as the competent strength and expressionless face.  Then came the two look-alikes who shimmered with golden scales, and looked nearly as tall as his sensei, though more willowy and wiry.  The looming pale man with an air of darkness that was palpable reminded him strongly of the prince of Saiya-jins entered from behind his chair, and it was a struggle not to cringe away from the intense eyes.  The last one to enter was no bigger than Krillin and extremely pale, with long red hair.  As soon as the short one spoke, Gohan felt everyone's attention focus solely on him, waiting for him to explain himself.  He fiddled slightly, having no idea what to say at all.  It just didn't seem appropriate to say, "Hello, how are you?  I'm Gohan!" in present company…

"Who are you?" asked the serious-type red female, taking the initiative.  From what he could see, she was the leader - the others deferred to her, and she had the prime seat directly across from him.

"Son Gohan, ma'am," he replied hesitantly, before adding nervously, "called Gohan."

She nodded slightly.  "Well then Gohan, tell us where you are from."

"Chikuu-sei" he replied promptly, feeling as if this might not be so bad after all.

"Why were you on Keman-sei?"

He paused slightly, frowning.  Keman-sei?  That must be the planet he'd landed on…  "I was there for supplies.  I'd chosen the coordinates randomly when I left, having nothing upon which to base a well chosen destination."

She too frowned slightly, as did several of the others.  The next question came from the pale girl he'd met first – Kitten, if he remembered correctly.  "I thought that Chikuu had no means of space travel.  How did you leave the planet?"

"My father's friend, Bulma, is really, really smart.  She made spaceships based off of the designs of those who've come to our planet.  I, well I…" he blushed profusely at this, "I kinda stole one from her 'cause I wanted to go on an adventure again, like my dad.  It wasn't finished, so I had to do that myself, but it wasn't very hard."

The pale girl, Kitten, stared at him incredulously, and the red-haired guy to his left appeared amused.  The yellow things were exchanging a glance, the dark guy just watched him, and the red woman gave a barely perceptible frown. 

Suddenly something occurred to him, and he frowned right back at the red woman.  "You know, you know who I am now - but I don't even know your names, let alone what you are, yadda yadda…"

The redheaded boy burst out laughing, the pale girl giggled, the yellow things were both openly snickering, and even the dark man had cracked a tiny smile - but the red woman just sat there for a moment.  Probably amused at his lack of tact, and his stupidity, he thought angrily.  Finally she nodded slightly.  "Very well, you have made a valid point.  My name is Halaen, the leader of the Faceless Ones, the mercenary group you see here."  She indicated the funny black tattoo that he'd noticed on all of them.  "This is the symbol for our group.  You have already met Kitten.  To your left is Daerentii.  The twins are Sassy and Ryl.  The last is Xe'liien."

Not for the first time, Gohan was quite glad that his mother had trained his mind to be so sharp - there was no way that he would be able to remember such names otherwise.  He gave them all a small smile.  "Thank you."  He nodded politely towards the one who called herself Halaen, but inside he was getting even more nervous.  She said they were mercenaries.  Killers for hirer…  Kami, what have I gotten myself into?!

"How old are you?"  Came the drawling voice of the male twin - Rylon, he believed.  "You look like a wee squirt… like Dae!"  The redhead glared and stuck out his tongue, muttering that he was 5 and 20, thankyouverymuch.

"9 years old." he stated proudly, tilting his chin up slightly.  There was a moment of silence, then a few more smiles were cracked - this time rather annoyingly condescending.  "Hey," he cried, glaring at them heatedly, "just 'cause I'm young doesn't mean I'm stupid, weak, or inexperienced.  I've fought in plenty of battles, thank you very much."

"Aye lad, but were they real battles?  Or were they just a collection of children slinging mud at each other?  Forgive me for pointing out the highly obvious, but generally speaking a ki of 76 isn't enough to carry you through a real fight."  Gohan glared at Sassy, feeling the heat rising to his face.  Unconsciously he began to power up, letting go of the usual restraint he held himself with.  He was mad at these strangers - how dare they insult him, and the trials that he'd been through?  They knew nothing - nothing!  Had he not seen friends die in front of his face?  Had he not helped defeat terrible monsters?

"I'll have you know that I've been fighting since I was an infant.  When I was barely 3 years old I defeated a creature not even my father could, and saved him from the Dead Zone.  When I was 4 I was kidnapped by my uncle, and I managed to wound him enough for dad and Piccolo-san to do the rest, only to watch my father die in front of my eyes from the death beam.  I lived on my own in the wilderness between the ages of 4 and 5, being beaten into a bloody pulp by a Namek who thought that was the only way to prepare me for the Saiya-jins' arrival.  I got thrown into mountains just so that I would learn to fly.  At 5 I watched the man I'd come to know and love as my sensei get killed by the Saiya-jins cause I was too frozen up - he who was called "Demon King" stepped in front of the ki blast meant for me.  I watched four of my friends die that day alone, before my father came back to help us.  I watched my father fight Prince Vegeta, and did all I could to help him - ended up battered and bruised, but we managed to defeat the arrogant prick.  He escaped though…  Just a little while later, the last surviving members of my group and I set off on a journey for Namek so that we could bring back our dead friends - only to find some goon named Frieza already there.  We allied ourselves with Prince Vegeta, and fought the lizard.  He killed my friend and snapped my neck.  Killed Vegeta, too.  My father turned Super Saiya-jin, the first to accomplish that in a thousand years!  He sent us off planet because Frieza was destroying it.  All I know is that he took off after Frieza, and that daddy's still alive out there, and Frieza is dead…" Gohan angrily wiped at his eyes, highly displeased with himself for blowing up like that - I mean, his entire life story blurted out to a bunch of strangers who were insulting him, and had cheerfully admitted to being mercenaries!  It wasn't acceptable.  But I'd do it again.  Serves them right for belittling the sacrifices that I've witnessed and made.

There was complete and utter silence.  Everybody was staring at him as if he'd grown three heads, five arms, and was dancing around like a trained monkey in a pink tutu.  Even Halaen, who had shown no emotion at all before this, had her mouth slightly agape, and her eyes very wide indeed.  The seconds ticked by, and Gohan was very uncomfortable… why were they staring at him like that?  Now the heat in his face was purely embarrassment - his anger was long gone, and his power level had retreated back to 76.  He coughed lightly, hoping to break the silence.  "So, um, yeah… I'm not completely inept…" he said uselessly, trailing quickly to a halt when all he met was silent disbelief.  Okay, now it was kind of pissing him off again…

Kitten's mouth hung open at the kid's litany.  If it was to be believed, it meant that not only was this kid very experienced, he was also insanely strong for a child - not to mention a Saiya-jin… a little fact that he'd forgotten to mention before his spiel.  But still… Among other things, he either had very good control over his ki, or very bad control - she'd figured him for 80 at the most, earlier, yet when he was angry she could have sworn that he was easily breaking 80,000 and still rising… 

And more than that, if he was to be believed, the reason that Frieza had disappeared in the last year or so was death by Gohan's father - a Saiya-jin, no less.  It also meant that there were still Saiya-jins alive in the Universe, a rather worrying thought, actually.  In fact, she thought with an insane urge to giggle – I'd been thinking about 'what if he's a Saiya-jin' when she'd first picked him up… wow, later I'll have to tell Dae that I think I'm getting psychic, too… 

But really: if he was truly a Saiya-jin child, he might actually be a worthwhile member of the group - if he wasn't a danger to them, of course.  And what had he meant about his father dying when he was 4, only to mention him again a few years later?  That was just weird.  And so was mentioning going to Namek to resurrect dead people - something odd was going on with this kid, and it might end up being a very good thing indeed that she had picked him up.

"A-alright kid, let's say you're telling the truth.  I have a couple very important questions to ask you." Kitten said, willing her voice to remain steady.  After all, she'd been the one to find him, and she was the closest to him in age…  "First of all - you said you were a Chikuu-jin, yet you just said you're a Saiya-jin.  How does that work, and why did you lie?"

"I didn't lie!" the kid - Gohan, she reminded herself - cried in horror, looking at her as if she'd insulted him worse than Sassy had done earlier.  Well, that was something to store away for future reference - he was devoted to truth.  Interesting… but he was talking more, and she ought to pay attention.  "I said that I was from Chikuu-sei, a complete truth.  I grew up there, as did both my parents.  I also said that my father was Saiya-jin, another truth.  He was sent to Chikuu as a child, hit his head, got amnesia, and grew up as just another (very strong) human child who for some odd reason happened to have a tail.  My mother is a Chikuu-jin, so I'm a half-breed between the two - a fact Vegeta always laughs at me for." 

Kitten swallowed.  All right, so he's a half-breed - something the Saiya-jin Empire had been very meticulous about wiping out for unknown reasons.  What did that mean for his abilities and his disposition?  She stored that away for later reference as well.  And here he was mentioning Vegeta, Prince of the Saiya-jins again - first it was enemy, then ally, now almost like a friend…  What was going on with this kid?

"Ok, and what about the part that involves going to Namek to resurrect dead people?" came the intense voice of Dae to Gohan's left.  His eyes were alight with intense curiosity, and Kitten knew from experience that he was as eager to know the details behind the boy's entire story as she was.

"I have a better idea," drawled Ryl, habitually placing his booted feet up on the table.  "Why doesn't the lad just tell us the entire story, explain the details as he goes, and badda bing, badda boom!  We know everything straight off, without jumbled questions confusing us at every turn."  He arched an eyeridge as he leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head, looking highly amused that he had to state what - to him at least - was blatantly obvious.

Kitten rubbed her temple slightly, knowing that one did not contradict the Twins if one could at all help it, and Ryl actually had a halfway decent idea this time.  Hali was nodding her agreement, and motioning for the child to speak up.  Kitten turned her attention back to the half-breed sitting next to her, and sat back to enjoy his life story.

For his own part, Gohan was a bit nervous.  After all, he'd just given them the roughest sketch, and now they wanted more!  But… it was an interesting story, and it might mean something to them - it had seemed to him that the Ryl and Sassy both brightened considerably at the mention of Frieza's death.  Was Frieza an enemy of these people?  If so, it would most certainly be a great way to win their friendship by telling them about Namek.  While on the trip to said planet, he'd discovered an aptitude for telling stories in a way that others enjoyed, and he had employed the talent well for the amusement of Krillin and Bulma.  Out in space this past year he'd again practiced storytelling often, finding that it amused himself as well.  Now he could only hope that this audience was as receptive to his talent as his friends had been… 

With a tiny sigh, Gohan pulled his unshod feet up onto the chair and settled cross-legged, leaning forward ever so slightly in the way that he had discovered engaged your audience.  At the moment his hands lay comfortably in his lap, ready to be used in flamboyant gestures that helped illustrate the tale.  He took a deep breath and began his story.

"Like all stories, true or make-believe, this story has a great hero.  This hero's name is Kakarott, son of Bardock, Saiya-jin warrior of the third class."  Thank you, Vegeta, for giving me that piece of information… Kais forbid that something you've told me has actually proven useful for once.  "He was not called this, however, until his son came to the age of four - but our story starts back when the hero himself is only a child…"  Gohan spun the entire story of his father's arrival, upbringing by Grandpa Gohan, and the quest for the Dragonballs, as he knew it.  He didn't explain everything, just the important or funny parts - especially centering on Goku's odd strength, his tail, and the Dragonballs.  He told it with such animation, his entire face alight with the story, and the motions of his hands seeming to weave the tale into life… all six of the mercenaries, homicidal though they might sometimes be, were held spellbound by the child. 

It took several hours for the tale to be told in its completion.  In the long run he didn't dwell long on his father's childhood, choosing instead to spend more time on his own life, the tale more pertinent at the moment.  He told them everything, leaving little out.  He had seen keen interest in the tale of Namek and Frieza's demise, so he spent a long time on that, going over each successive battle in detail.  He told them of his own rather painful near-death experience with the broken neck, and his father's worry for him - would he be able to take the senzu bean properly?  Because, among other things, he told them of the healing properties of the little bean - failing to mention, of course, that he had some in his ship.

Kitten had been especially intrigued when it came to capsules, and had insisted upon seeing his ship at the end of the story.  He told her that once they were on the planet he'd be happy to show her, as well as the other capsules he had on board.  In the end it seemed to the boy that the air in the ship, and the mood, had thawed considerably.  They weren't watching him quite so closely, as if expecting him to lash out at any moment.  They weren't condescending anymore either - indeed, they seemed almost respectful!

"So that's what happened, huh?" drawled Ryl softly at the end of the story.  "That's how the bastard lizard met his maker.  I'd always hoped it would be slow and torturous - and preferably by my hand… but oh well.  They said he always feared death by Saiya-jin more than anything else - that's why he destroyed the planet even while they were working so very well for him… Serves him right."

Gohan smiled slightly at the nicer of the two scaled beings.  "Yeah, I was on the receiving end of a litany about exactly what Vegeta always wanted to do to him… It was eye opening to say the least.  Some of the things he said I'm still not sure are physically possible."

Sassy gave a dry laugh as she leveled a look at him.  "Trust me, child, when I tell you that if what Prince Vegeta wanted to do to Frieza is even halfway as creative as my brother's and I… it would take a lot of bending and breaking, but we would make it possible."

Daerentii chucked softly, shaking his head a bit.  "Quite honestly, Sassy, your creative juices at work are not what I want to be talking about until we've landed on the planet, restocked, and are debating our next mission.  That is the place for such a conversation - not around small ears."

Sassy sneered at him, but Gohan saw her eyes sparkling with good-natured amusement.  "Look a bit closer shrimp - if you stand side by side I'd be quite tempted to point the brat out as being the taller of you two."

Xe'liien, surprisingly, was the next one to speak up.  "And I'd hate to disagree with the ever-correct golden child, but I must point out that Dae's ears are far the larger of the two."

Dae blushed slightly as Sassy tossed her head at the wraith-like figure. 

"And anyways, Dae-chan - I think he's proved himself fully capable of hearing that kind of stuff." came the insertion from Kitten.

And so it was, laughing, that the group went about getting ready to set down on the planet.  Banter continued cheerfully over the intercoms as Daerentii, who commented on their similar size allowing Gohan to fit easily into his spare clothing, took Gohan back to the sleeping quarters.

~*~

Kat: *sticks tongue out at AAS* See! Can too get it out by Sunday! ^____^ LoL – thanks so much for all the reviews! And ah, I'm not miffed at you… ^_____^  But see, this is a nice loooong chapter, just for you. ^___~

Lexi: *grins* This chapter was a /lot/ of fun to write… ^__^  Couple things you might be curious about…  The reason that Kitten, Sassy and Ryl were introduced by nickname is because Kitten had already introduced herself as such, and both of the Twins' names are too hard for the others to pronounce – it's why they got nicknames in the first place. ^___~

Kat: And the story thing…  The way Gohan tells the story is supposed to really stand out – he's grown up a lot in space, and he's more mature than in the series.  His character is already being effected, and this is just a very obvious example of that.  And yes, this will probably play an important role latter. D

Lexi: *rolls eyes* Anyhoo…  Now they know that Gohan is a demi-Saiya-jin!  Expect yummy stuff next chapter!

Kat: Oh yea!  One more thing!  Did any one notice that "Keman," the land with creatures similar yet the opposite of Nameks, that had they're own Dragonballs – is actually "Namek" spelled backwards?  Just wondering… ^__~

Next On::  Dance Among the Stars

"Touch down everyone.  There's some nice homey caves over to the left that I think will be a welcome change of scenery to talk more in."

"Yeah, and that way you can see the lad's ship, right Kitten?"

"Why Ryl!  I'm surprised at you - you think I'd place my curiosity before your comfort?"

"Yes," Sassy inserted dryly.