Chapter 6- Ascent
"Why can't we just fly up, dad?", Gohan asked his father. "Even if Tarian knows we are coming, we don't want to waste a lot of energy speeding up the mountain. It would be better for us to just climb, that wouldn't waste as much energy.", Goku responded without looking back. After climbing halfway up, the group found a trail that wound up the mountain. As they followed the trail, Piccolo noticed that Gohan looked weary. "Gohan. Are you alright?", he asked. "Yeah. I'm fine.", Gohan said, but Piccolo couldn't help but notice that Gohan seemed to be getting weaker the farther they ascended. He was trailing behind the group, and seemed to be out of breath. "Guys. Let's stop. Gohan needs to rest.", Piccolo said who was walking next to Gohan, with his hand on the boy's shoulder. "No I'm-", Gohan tried to protest, but his father cut him off. "You look horrible, Gohan. And these clouds are getting worse, let's find a cave and stay there for the night.", Goku said. The group walked some more and not ten minutes after Goku suggested finding a cave, they found one. Goku built a fire and Piccolo went in search of food. When he returned with a couple small animals, they cooked the measly food and ate. Goku and Gohan slept on one side of the cave and Vegeta slept on the other. Piccolo, however, kept watch, in case the possessed Nameks came back. He looked backwards and looked at Gohan. The young Saiyan was quivering in his sleep, but otherwise seemed to be sleeping peacefully. At least he wasn't screaming like he was when he was sleeping on the ship. Piccolo grunted and returned to his watch, unaware that there was much more going on in Gohan's mind than what he thought.
Gohan knew he was dreaming. The only problem was, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake himself up. The fact that the dream seemed different terrified him even more. Gohan was standing in an eternal whiteness. "Helloooo!", Gohan yelled. The only thing Gohan could hear was the echo of his voice and the pumping of blood in his ears. And then, someone responded. "Hello…Gohan…", said the raspy voice of Tarian. Gohan turned and saw the evil Namek behind him. "You…", Gohan said, glaring. He was ready to fight the Namek, even if it was only a dream. Tarian laughed. "I know what you are thinking. But, sorry, this isn't a dream. I am inside your mind.", he said, smirking at Gohan. Gohan stepped back and said, "B-but how?" Tarian laughed again, "Hm. I guess I might as well tell you. As you already know, I am the one who has been causing the nightmares that you have been suffering. But do you know why?" Gohan just stared. "I'll tell you why," Tarian said, "I want revenge. Revenge on your father. He killed someone very close to me, Lord Slug. And for that, I will kill someone very close to him, you. But instead of outright killing you, I want you to suffer. I want to not only make you feel pain, but I want your father to watch you suffer and go insane before you die." Gohan looked shocked, but he stood his ground. "You…you monster!", Gohan yelled. Tarian laughed again. He started walking towards Gohan. The boy tried to attack, but found himself paralyzed. His limbs were stiff and refused to budge. All Gohan could do was watch as the evil Namek stepped directly in front of him and place his hand on Gohan's head. "Don't worry," said Tarian, when he noticed Gohan's eyes welling up with tears, "This won't hurt…for long." Gohan's surroundings turned black and he heard Tarian yelling. Then the pain came. It was the most excruciating pain he had felt in his life. It was like there were scorpions in his brain and a white-hot sword in his stomach. Gohan screamed. The louder he screamed, the worse the pain got. The sword went from his navel up towards his heart. The pain intensified and he heard Tarian say, "You are mine." Then, the pain stopped, and Gohan woke up, Tarian's voice echoing in his mind.
Piccolo saw Gohan sit up quickly as he woke. "Gohan, did you have another one?" The boy was rubbing his head and looking down at the ground. "Yeah…", he said. He looked at his father, who was snoring and then at Vegeta who was quietly sleeping, facing the wall. Gohan was cold. He stood, gathered some twigs and put them on the dying fire to start it up again. "Do you mind if stay up with you, Piccolo? I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep." Gohan sat next to his teacher and Piccolo put his arm around the boy. Gohan was shivering, so Piccolo brought him close. "Of course you can, Gohan." Piccolo looked down at him and smiled. Gohan looked up and smiled back. Then, they sat in silence, waiting for the others to wake up.