Here's Chapter 61! Thanks to Diosa de la muerte, Dragon1157, Scimitar X, Ryo-chan wolfgirl, icewolf, Hoshi124 and Masenko56 for all the reviews on chapter 60. Thanks also to Tepheris for all the reviews on chapters 3, 21, 22 and 27.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters, Akira Toriyama does!
….
Gohan gave a loud burp before he sighed contentedly and patted his stomach which was completely stuffed with roasted Krilis deer meat. The youngster flopped onto his back snuggling into the warmth of what Turles called "sleeping furs". Normally sleeping outside meant a rough pallet or the bare ground, Gohan certainly appreciated this luxurious form of 'roughing it.' Soft warm multi-colored fur was backed with a silken material. The little-half-blood wrapped a portion of the plush covering about him.
For two days now he had prowled the great forest of Teylazhar with Turles. Every meal they devoured they had caught with their own hands.
Turles had banked the fire and was slumbering inches away from him. Gohan found himself fighting mixed emotions concerning the Saiyan pirate. He had fairly burst with pride when Turles complimented him on his hunting skills and the efficient manner in which he quickly butchered the massive boar. Yesterday he had swiftly dispatched two tasty Generak antelope and the pirate commander had been quite generous with praise. But thoughts of his father and friends crept into his mind once again. Resentment suffused the small demi-Saiyan's entire being.
Gohan threw back the warm coverlet. He pulled on his boots and stood glaring at the source of his great loss. The son of Goku began walk away from the crude campsite then he broke into a run. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fled, he wasn't sure where he was going but he was getting away from Turles!...
…
"Now I told you there could be side effects from the treatment for the skin irritation. I'll prescribe you some Icqleizite to counteract the swelling. Within an hour or so you should be good as new. And I would thank you not to threaten my existence. It's quite unbecoming!" the feline head medic huffed in indignation. With a swish of his purple tail, he stomped out of Chi-Chi's room.
….
Bulma groaned as she stared at another container of liquid protein. There had to be something else for her and Chi-Chi to consume while they were stuck at the healing station on planet Grizet.
"Is there a facility that prepares food here other than the Dietary Department?" the azure-haired female asked the tech who brought in the tray with the detested substance.
"Why, yes," the pink-plumaged avian tech declared. "There's a small food preparation area on the second floor."
"Thanks!" Bulma replied. Now maybe they could get some real food!
….
Karvet raced into his patient's room as he heard yet another scream of outrage echo through the corridor. The purple feline's jaw dropped in amazement. The pale-skinned brunette human female's complexion was now a brilliant royal purple!
"I'M HIDEOUS!" Chi-Chi bellowed.
"Now Miss, I wouldn't say that" Karvet said. "That's actually a very …."
"I'm PURPLE ! YOU FLEA-BITTEN MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A DOCTOR!" Goku's widow howled.
"There's no need to be so rude! What's wrong with being purple?" the head medic wanted to know.
"I LOOK LIKE A WALKING GRAPE, YOU QUACK!"
"The Icqleizite must have reacted with the melanin in your skin….fascinating! My whiskers, I never would have guessed…." the feline's voice died away as Chi-Chi seized the startled medic by his furry throat.
"Get me back to normal or I'll RIP EVERY single whisker off your face!" the daughter of the Ox-king hissed.
The terrified physician fled when Chi-Chi unceremoniously dropped him to the floor.
…..
Gohan sped through the darkened forest. As he tripped over a small tree root, he fell to his knees and burst into a torrent of sobs. Thoughts of his beloved pet Ember and Daiz coursed through his mind. Could he be loyal to the memory of his father and friends and still care for them? He balled up his small fists in helpless fury and confusion. Ember meant so much but she was from Turles…
The little half-Saiyan suddenly snapped up his head. All the night sounds of the forest had ceased. Something was very wrong for it to have suddenly become so deathly quiet. Gohan swallowed hard as Turles suddenly appeared.
"Care to explain why you chose to go for a leisurely stroll at this hour? Did you not even consider the dangers of going through the forest in the night?" the dark-skinned Saiyan demanded.
"YOU'RE the danger here….MURDERER!" Gohan snarled as he slowly got to his feet.
"You're not making any sense, Brat!" Turles said with an obvious edge to his voice.
"You killed my family, my friends…DESTROYED MY WHOLE PLANET!" with those words Gohan threw himself at the pirate commander.
Turles sidestepped him easily. The black and silver armored warrior grabbed his left arm and flung him away. Gohan leapt to his feet but before he could challenge the former leader of the Crusher Corps an ear-splitting roar pierced the once silent forest…
…
Bulma sighed with relief as she finally found something that would be considered edible by the average human in the small excuse for a café in the Grizet healing station. Maybe Chi-Chi would be in much better mood if she had something more substantial to eat than the tasteless liquid protein she'd been compelled to subsist on the past two days. The glossy red Nechari fruit reminded the young scientist of the sweet ripe apples she enjoyed on Earth. Crispy golden-fried Kupsa-hen made her think of her mother's delicious fried chicken. Surely her friend would find her culinary discoveries quite appetizing.
…
Chi-Chi gasped and let out a scream of absolute terror at the sight of an enormous hairy black spider that skimmed along upright on two of its eight appendages right into her room.
"Hmph! Doctor Karvet warned me that you were quite excitable. For Kami's sake, one would think you never saw a Gerarachnid before!" the strange life-form snorted.
Bulma let out a horrified shriek as she started to enter Chi-Chi's room.
"Are we QUITE finished?" the spider-being sighed.
The former heiress of Capsule Corps wasn't sure which was more shocking, the hue of Chi-Chi's skin or the gigantic talking spider.
"Y-You c-can talk?" Bulma sputtered.
"MOST civilized sentient life-forms DO! Now if we can dispense with the hysterics, I am Doctor Sqzaris, my superiors requested that I take over this patient. Doctor Karvet refuses to treat her any further."
"Thank, Kami!" Chi-Chi said flatly.
Then the mother of Gohan shivered with revulsion at the thought of the spider-doctor touching her. If he put one hairy leg on her she'd…
"Look what I got for us, Chi-Chi!" Bulma said brightly trying to ease the obvious tension in the room that was almost palpable.
"Those look delicious!" Chi-Chi eagerly bit into one of the Nechari fruit. She sighed in delight over its juicy sweetness.
Doctor Sqzaris mumbled something incoherent when he looked over Chi-Chi's chart. He read further and smacked a hairy appendage to what appeared to be his face. Eight pairs of eyes directed their gaze to the ceiling.
"Askarycycin followed by two doses of Iceleizite? No wonder you had a reaction, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had suddenly spouted another head with that combination in your system!" the arachnid-like medic declared much to Chi-Chi's dismay.
"So that incompetent alley cat caused me all that grief?" Chi-Chi snapped.
The young scientist thought she might change the subject.
"Don't you think these just smell absolutely heavenly? " Bulma held out the container of Kupsa -hen to Chi-Chi.
The brunette female hastily backed away. She wasn't taking any chances after the fish incident.
"Ummm, they're delicious!" the blue-haired genius gushed as she smacked her lips.
The Gerarachnid physician watched Bulma as she enjoyed the deep-fried morsel in her hand.
"I make it a point to never eat those."
"Why not, they're so tender and juicy" Bulma remarked as she bit down into another piece.
"Well, they have a habit of…of consuming their own dung" the spider-like medic informed her.
Bulma felt her stomach lurch she covered her mouth and raced from the room.
'It's about TIME something happened to YOU!' Chi-Chi thought smugly.
…
Gohan's eyes widened in horror, he had discovered the source of the mighty roar that echoed through the forest. A huge snarling feline with gray mottled fur with a thick black mane and dagger-like teeth was eyeing him hungrily. The only thing between him and the great cat was the Saiyan pirate. After his attempted attack would Turles allow the beast to devour him?
Turles stood his ground before the enormous predator he would not allow it to harm the boy. "So the Kanir still wander this forest eh? Very well I'm up for a light workout."
A burst of purple energy shot out from the full-blood Saiyan's right hand. With a speed that belied its size, the feline leapt out of the way. The blast struck the ground where the creature had been but seconds before. Lightning-fast reflexes were the only thing that saved Turles from the mighty jaws that snapped closed on nothing but air as he phased away from the impending onslaught.
The series of handsprings employed by the Saiyan prevented a vicious swipe from the cruel claws that vainly struck out at the silver and black armored warrior. Turles shot a low-level blast that incinerated the tip of the Kanir's tail. A yowl of pain came from the now enraged beast.
Gohan suddenly realized that the pirate commander was simply toying with the livid feline. Try as it might the creature's teeth and claws inflicted no damage on the evasive Saiyan. Minute blasts struck the Kanir on the tip of its ears, its tender nose and random spots on its writhing form. In pure bestial fury the feline flung itself at Turles once more…
….
"I might have been purple but you're looking a little green about the gills, Bulma" Chi-Chi teased the former darling of Capsule Corps.
"YOU HAVE GILLS? That's utterly amazing! How in the third quadrant did I miss something so obvious?"
Karvet seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and he was eagerly observing Bulma's neck.
"YOU!" Chi-Chi barked. "I'm going to find out if you're more attractive…..WITHOUT A TAIL!"
The purple feline tore from the room screaming loudly for the center's security team.
…
"Now I'm bored!" Turles snorted as he fired a huge purple Power Wave that obliterated the great cat he had taunted for a considerable time.
He turned to Gohan "Well Brat, do you still wish to challenge me?"
"N-No, M-Master Turles! But y-you s-still…" the seven-year-old choked out.
"Speak plainly you're a Saiyan! At least you're supposed to be. I thought you had come to understand enough of our ways for it to be clear that…." Turles stopped midsentence and gave a great sigh.
"It seems I have failed in my responsibility towards you. Your father, your…friends and your planet met their destruction at my hands true enough but Kakarot fought and died like a Saiyan…."
Gohan was tempted to blurt out 'Goku' but dared not.
"In doing so, your sire gave me the responsibility of properly raising you to be a Saiyan warrior. Had he not I would have slaughtered you without a second thought for being uncooperative. I detested the thought of being burdened with you but the spoiled, simpering Earth child became someone I would have been proud to have sired myself. I saw something in you... perhaps it never really existed " Turles looked away as he spoke.
"I thought you had learned…. Obviously I was mistaken, I am bound by Saiyan honor to be responsible for you until you become of age or surpass my abilities. So until you can defeat me you are my responsibility now whether or not you wish to be. We're returning to the palace NOW!"
Things were going to be very different between them now Gohan thought sadly.
Turles suddenly knocked him off of his feet. Was the pirate commander going to punish him now? The dark-skinned Saiyan covered the little demi-Saiyan with his own body as the Kanir charged without warning. The great claws sliced into the left shoulder guard of Turles's armor like a hot knife through butter. Only a grunt was uttered by the elder Saiyan as the guard was ripped away along with some of the flesh of his shoulder.
Gohan hadn't even heard the Kanir as it slunk up behind them. If the great animal had struck his small frame it most likely it would have resulted in a broken neck. Turles quickly dispatched the beast paying no mind to the wound on his left shoulder that was now bleeding profusely…..
…..
Ember began to bark excitedly.
"Gohan must be back" Zailora yawned.
"I'm delighted! Now I hope he quiets down that mutt so we can get some sleep!" Daiz growled.
"Wait, why would they be returning at this hour? Something's wrong!" the Kabochan female declared as she sat up.
"Turles is a big boy he can handle things" the former prince argued as he tried to pull Zailora back into the bed they shared.
"Daiz, stop! I know something's wrong!" Zailora insisted.
She ignored the protests of the male pirate and dressed quickly.
Sure enough Gohan and Turles had returned to the palace. Turles's gait was unsteady as he walked, his breathing sounded labored. Suddenly the Saiyan collapsed to the courtyard's tiled surface. Daiz was concerned but his mouth went into a tight line as he saw Zailora drop to her knees at the pirate commander's side and began to fuss over Turles…
…
Will jealousy come between Daiz and Zailora? Will things be strained between Turles and Gohan? Find out in the next chapter! Reviews would be greatly appreciated!
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