Hey you!
Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter!
Previously on AHL:
Gohan was distracted when Biku tapped on his nose. "Hey! Contact! Woman who desires your attention over here."
The half-saiyan lowered his gaze to her once more. "Sorry. It's been a long day." He responded as he smiled at her.
"Let's make it even longer." Biku's eyes glinted cheerfully as she caressed his cheek. "I'm home alone tonight. Why don't you come over to my house?"
Gohan considered this offer. "Sure." He already sneaked out. It didn't matter if he went home a little later.
Biku grinned and she leaned in to kiss him once more. The two pulled each other closer one last time, knowing that they were going to leave this place after this so they might as well make this the best one yet.
However, a deep voice interrupted their last round of kisses.
"Well well… Out of all the places I would expect to find you…."
Chapter 23. Take that Chance.
"… This was not one of them."
Gohan sat up and placed a hand on his forehead, cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. Captain Ginyu, Jeice and Zarbon were grinning at the two young students.
Jeice made a face. "So, how old were you again?" He stated in mock confusion.
"Congratulations, beautiful young woman." Zarbon stated charmingly as he made a bow to Biku. "You just corrupted the only innocent Saiyan alive."
"Oh no…" Gohan whispered as he placed both his hands in front of his face.
Biku was amused as she nodded to Zarbon. "It was my pleasure." She said, playing along.
Turning to Gohan, Ginyu tilted his head sideways as he studied the young warrior's shocked expression. "Does Vegeta know you're here?" Gohan's guilty expression told it all and Ginyu chuckled. "I'll just call him and ask him about it."
"Please don't." Gohan crawled over and extended his hand in an attempt to stop the man. Ginyu raised an eyebrow at him and Gohan quickly added: "Sir."
"No. No." Zarbon chipped in. "We can't allow Vegeta's baby comrade to roam the dangerous cities alone without Vegeta's knowledge. It's our civil duty to call him." Ignoring Gohan's pleading gaze, Zarbon reached up to his scouter to open the connection to Vegeta. "Hey Vegeta!"
"No…" Gohan muttered as he lowered his hands.
"I found something on the streets here that might be of interest to you." Zarbon continued as he made eye-contact with the half-saiyan. "Oh, you are aware of his absence? Well, he's right here. I'll send you the coordinates. See you in a bit."
Gohan's shocked expression turned into a glare by now. The young warrior couldn't believe they just told Vegeta where he was. Gohan made a face and grabbed Biku's hand. "Let's get out of here." He went to crawl off the elevation but Zarbon got in his way.
"Oh no no no." Zarbon stated, wagging his finger at Gohan. "You're going to wait like a good little boy until your keeper arrives and then he can decide what is going to happen to you."
"And we can watch it all." Ginyu added cheerfully.
Gohan blew out a sigh before sending Biku an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry you have to go through this. Just go and I'll talk to you later."
"The lovely lady is staying too." Zarbon said as he looked over at Biku. "Vegeta should know what you are up to these days."
"She has got nothing to do with this." Gohan snarled at them. "Leave her out of this."
"It's okay, Gohan." Biku responded as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine with staying. These wonderful gentlemen seem to consider it important that I meet your comrades." The young woman managed to send the men a sweet smile that made Gohan admire her all over again. How could she stay this calm in such an annoying situation? He was ready to beat them all up, even though he knew he wasn't allowed to, and she managed to smile at them… What?
"It's Biku, right?" Zarbon asked as he studied the young woman. When Biku nodded Zarbon continued: "Yes, I'm well acquainted with your sister, Kwanda."
"She's well acquainted with every man on this planet." Biku responded, rolling her eyes. "I can understand her choice to play with you though. You are hot." She allowed her eyes to travel over his appearance without showing any kind of shame.
The half-saiyan was taken aback by Biku's open flirtation with Zarbon while everyone here knew she was closer to Gohan's age than to Zarbon's age. Zarbon, however, didn't seem to mind at all. Gohan looked up when he felt familiar power levels coming closer and he made a face. Why was this happening?
"Half-breed!" Vegeta frowned as he headed closer. The man went straight for the half-saiyan, moved up his hand and smacked the half-saiyan right across his face.
"Hey!" Biku snarled. "Take that aggressive attitude down a notch, you brute!"
Vegeta glanced over at the young woman, looked her up and down before completely ignoring her and turning back to Gohan. "What the hell do you think you're doing sneaking out like that? Do you have a death wish?"
"I think that much is obvious." Zarbon responded. "I think our task is done here. Good luck little Saiyan." Zarbon nodded to the frowning half-saiyan before looking to Vegeta. "Good luck to you too. He's a handful, guys."
"Thank you for calling, Zarbon." Vegeta responded. "Ginyu, Jeice." He said in greeting.
The others cheerfully wished Gohan a great evening before heading to the party themselves. Gohan received curious glances from the saiyans and he lowered his gaze. He wasn't really sure what to say now.
"So what exactly were you two doing before they arrived?" Nappa questioned as he looked from Gohan to Biku and back.
"Oh, I can tell you that." Biku said as a grin appeared on her face. "Your comrade was just blowing my mind and body. Honestly, best fuck of my life." She said with a straight face.
"Biku!" Gohan complained. "She's lying. We were just hanging out." He said as he turned to his grinning comrades. "Nothing more."
"Hmmm, let's hang out some more." Biku grabbed Gohan's collar and pulled him into a kiss. The half-saiyan glanced sideways awkwardly but then decided to ignore his comrades and responded to the kiss. Who cared if they knew what happened today?
Nappa made a "Whoop Whoop" as he bumped his fist in the air, but Gohan ignored him, deciding to enjoy the last kiss he was probably going to get in a long time.
"Okay, enough fun for one day." Vegeta stated in an annoyed tone. "Half-breed. Come."
Biku looked over to the Saiyans. "You're not going to leave a young woman all alone in a dark night?" She said, pouting slightly. "You'd better leave someone who can protect me."
"Something tells me you can take care of yourself just fine." Vegeta responded bluntly. "Say goodbye now, lovebirds."
Biku made a pfft sound before turning to Gohan. "I guess I'll show you my room some other time." She whispered, winking at him, before she let him go. The young woman elegantly crawled off the elevation and looked over at the adult saiyans. "Just for the record, I'm not the only female who has done some corrupting of this particular innocent tonight." She said before sending a teasing grin in Gohan's direction.
The half-saiyan's mouth was wide open as he watched her walk away. Gohan looked back to his comrades to find several raised eyebrows. "She's lying." He said weakly. "We played a game." He added when they only sent him broad grins. The half-saiyan blew out a sigh and gave a sad look at the ground. He never felt so embarrassed in his life and he'd been in some humiliating situations.
"Let's go." Vegeta said as he turned and started to walk away.
Gohan made a face as he followed the others. He already noticed how Nappa and Raditz allowed Vegeta to pass them, probably because they wanted to walk next to Gohan, and they did.
"How many girls did you kiss?" Nappa asked curiously.
"Let it go, guys." Gohan muttered as he followed Vegeta.
"Our little baby turns into a man and we're supposed to just let that go?" Raditz said, gasping for air dramatically.
"You're growing up so fast." Nappa added, wiping away an invisible tear.
"Guys." Gohan complained tiredly.
"So come on. Give us the details." Nappa added cheerfully, leaning forward to look at the small half-saiyan.
"I'm not going to tell you anything." Gohan started to walk faster but the two saiyans kept up with him easily.
"Don't hold out on us now!" Raditz responded, grinning when he noticed the hopeless expression on Gohan's face.
"Please let it go." Gohan asked.
"Never!" Nappa shook his head. "Come on. Give me the scoop. Which of the numerous girls is the best kisser?"
"Ah man." Gohan suddenly started running and took flight in order to get away from them.
Vegeta watched as Gohan ran passed him and flew up into the air. The man showed a smirk when his comrades appeared next to him. "You're not going to follow him?" He asked as they walked next to him.
"Meh." Raditz shrugged. "He'll be in his bed when we get home and we'll corner him there."
"He's got nowhere to go anyway." Nappa added. "He's just prolonging the inevitable and I don't understand why."
"Because that boy," Vegeta started as he looked up and watched how Gohan entered their apartment through an open window, "will always put up a fight, no matter how futile.
**** Approximately ten minutes later ****
Gohan leaned his head back against the wall behind his bed. "What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?" He asked tiredly.
"Well," Vegeta reached out and handed a hot chocolate to the young warrior, "you did sneak out, so I think you owe us one." The half-saiyan accepted the hot chocolate and gave it a surprised glance. It was the first time Vegeta gave Gohan something to drink. "You're freezing. Shouldn't have spent all that time outside."
"How do you know I'm cold?"
"Saiyans can communicate in more ways than just vocally. You'll understand when you get older." Vegeta responded before walking to the foot end of Raditz's bed and sitting down there.
Gohan glanced to Nappa, who was sitting on Gohan's bed and Raditz, who was sitting on his own bed as well. When the three adults arrived in the apartment, Gohan pretended to be asleep. However, this did not stop Nappa from pouncing on the bed, scaring the bones out of the half-saiyan, and barking at the half-saiyan to spill his guts.
The young saiyan put up a proper fight, saying that it had been a long night and he needed to sleep. The others easily brushed away his attempts at privacy.
"How did you manage to sneak out?" Nappa asked, frowning at the young warrior. "There are bars everywhere."
"Not at our window." Vegeta responded quietly. Gohan met Vegeta's eyes and a shiver went through the young warrior. Vegeta always knew exactly what was going on. Gohan sipped from his drink and decided he had the right to remain silent.
"You sneaked out through our room?" Nappa asked, raising both his eyebrows at the young warrior. "Ooohhh, we took a bad one in, Vegeta. He dared to sneak right passed you and managed to get away with it."
"For now..." Vegeta responded, closing his eyes.
Gohan wasn't too sure he was happy with Nappa's comments. He was already in enough trouble without Nappa laying it on extra thick for Vegeta. Especially Vegeta's last comment made Gohan realize he was going to pay for this later. They might be nice right now, probably because they were all tired and not in the mood for a beating, but Gohan would be in for it later.
"You didn't leave though. When we realized you were gone we thought we would find you at the space pod centre or already in a space pod… When we couldn't find you Vegeta remembered that you asked if you could go to the party and that's when we received the call from Zarbon." Raditz explained as he settled on his own bed.
"You thought I made a run for it?" Gohan asked, looking at Vegeta. The man didn't acknowledge his question but continued to stay still with his eyes closed. The others didn't answer his question either. "That would be such a sloppy attempt to escape. Please don't underestimate me." He stated.
Raditz and Nappa seemed to accept this answer but Vegeta showed no response whatsoever. Instead, the man opened his eyes and got up. "Right. It's time for bed. We're leaving for a new mission soon and we need to be ready." The man paused in the doorway. "Oh, and we need to put bars in front of the window of our room too."
Gohan made a face in response to this but he decided not to make any verbal comments. Vegeta was already angry enough with him. The man wasn't really showing his anger but Gohan had been living with the man long enough to see the signs.
"Yes! I'm itching to finally go on a mission again!" Nappa got up from the bed and roughly tousled Gohan's dark hair. "Glad to still have you here, kiddo." He stated before he headed to the doorway.
Gohan placed the drink on the table and crawled under the covers again. The half-saiyan glanced sideways and realized Raditz was looking at him. "What's up?"
Raditz shook his head. "Nothing. Sorry. I was just dozing off. Tired as fuck." He stated before getting in his own bed as well. "Get a good rest. You'll need it."
"I know." Gohan blew out a sigh as he sank deeper into his matrass. Tomorrow was probably going to be a long day…
**** Somewhere in Space ****
"One year and four months!" Nappa said cheerfully.
Gohan rolled his eyes and sank back in his chair. These space pods were already too small for his liking. Being locked up in such a tight space and having to listen to those annoying comrades all day was pure torture.
"That's how long we've been together, kiddo." Nappa continued, oblivious to Gohan's annoyance. "One big happy family."
"Happy family." Vegeta scoffed. "Yeah right."
Gohan showed a small smile in response to Vegeta's sarcasm. The half-saiyan would never admit it out loud but he agreed with Vegeta right now.
Nappa ignored the younger warrior and continued to celebrate their anniversary. "Sixteen months! And only a handful of escape attempts. Honestly, half-breed, did we tame you already?"
That was something Gohan had been asking himself too lately. When was the last time he tried to escape? After Gohan snuck out for the party, Vegeta had been particularly hard on him. According to Vegeta, Gohan was not busy enough if he could find time to sneak out and party at night. Therefore, the young warrior needed to firstly, be trained harder and, secondly, have more chores to do around the apartment. This basically meant that Gohan was working all day. In the few days before they left for their mission, Gohan was allowed to sit down for approximately ten minutes a day. Every morning Gohan was woken up early so he could prepare breakfast for the rest and every night the half-saiyan was given an assignment that he had to complete before he was allowed to go to bed. He was often still scrubbing boots or sowing uniforms back together while the others were already asleep for hours.
Luckily, the journey to this planet was about a month so Gohan got an entire month's sleep. It was almost time to land so they were woken up so they could get something to eat and fully wake up and be ready to get to work once they landed on the planet.
Gohan took a bite from the piece of dried meat he received from Vegeta before they left. Disgusting, but it kept them alive during the trip. While Gohan was munching on the meat, he heard Vegeta start the explanation for their upcoming mission. The half-saiyan appreciated Vegeta's change of subject. He wasn't sure whether that was really Vegeta's intention or not but he appreciated it nonetheless.
Not long later they landed on the planet safe and well. Gohan gave his space pod a wary glance. These things were going to be the end of him one day. The young warrior looked up when Raditz approached him. "How are you feeling?" Raditz asked.
"Fine." Gohan muttered in response. The half-saiyan returned Raditz's smile and they both turned to Vegeta when the man spoke to them.
"Raditz. Where are the documents on this planet?" Vegeta asked as he held out his hands expectantly.
"Oh, right here." Raditz pushed the remotes in Gohan's hands and hurriedly reached in his uniform to retrieve a small white machine. He handed it to Vegeta and the saiyan prince pressed on a button to activate it. While Vegeta studied the small projection of the planet and the relevant information floating next to it, Raditz looked over to the younger warrior and held out his hands.
Gohan gave Raditz one remote back but he wasn't done with his own remote yet. "This actually looks a lot like the control panel in the space pod itself." He remarked.
"That's because it basically is a small version of the control panel in the pod. In that way you can still control the pod when you lose the remote. You only lose the option that makes the pod come to you." Raditz responded.
"Ah…" Gohan nodded once. "Interesting."
"Are you two done chatting? I'd like to start the mission." Vegeta snarled at them.
"Yes sir!" Gohan and Raditz responded at once. Raditz glanced sideways to the half-saiyan and opened his mouth but Vegeta cut him off.
"Raditz, north. Nappa, south. I'll take the brat and work from here." Vegeta ordered.
"Yes sir." Raditz hesitated as he glanced to Gohan again.
"Then get going." Vegeta snarled. "We're losing enough time as it is."
Raditz nodded twice before turning and flying away. Vegeta looked at Gohan and noticed the young warrior was ruffling with his uniform. "Forgot how to dress yourself properly?" He commented.
Gohan gave the man an annoyed type of glance that Vegeta was not used to getting from people. It was one of those things that only Gohan could manage to do and get away with it alive. "Yes, after spending so much time with you savages I cannot take care of myself properly anymore."
Vegeta hand smacked against Gohan's upper arm harshly. The half-saiyan allowed the hit to land as a small smile appeared on his face. He deserved that one… Vegeta gave a huff before turning around and pushing off from the ground. Gohan blew out a sigh before following his squad leader.
The half-saiyan managed to get through the day without too much trouble. He had gotten in enough trouble lately and he was not feeling like getting yet another beating so he decided to lay low for a while and cooperate. He would get his chance… Someday.
This planet was a relatively easy one. After working for about seven hours they met up somewhere in the woods. The last battle had gotten nasty and Gohan got hurt. The wound was not severe but it would have to be treated. The young warrior made a face as he studied the wound on his arm. What the hell happened? Gohan couldn't even remember. It must have been one of those swords the warriors here used. In the last town they encountered trained warriors that owned swords and were obviously trained in using them. This cut wasn't the only one of Gohan's body but it was definitely the worst one.
"Let me take a look at your wounds." Vegeta stated as he approached the young warrior.
Gohan looked up. He frowned as he studied the obviously more troublesome wound on Vegeta's shoulder. "Shouldn't we treat yours first? It looks more serious." Gohan responded as he reached up to grab Vegeta's medicine kit.
Vegeta pulled the kit back out of Gohan's reach. "It can wait. Sit down so I can heal you." He stated as he nodded to the branches they cut down and spread around the fire.
"Vegeta, your wound is bleeding heavily. You should sort out your priorities." He stated.
"I can lose a little blood. Besides your wound is bleeding too. Sit down."
"But…"
"Half-breed!" Vegeta snarled as his tail lashed out. "Why do you insist on disobedience?"
Gohan stepped back and held out his hands in a calming manner. "Okay. Okay. Never mind." He said before sitting down on the branch. Vegeta knelt down next to him and reached out to rip the entire sleeve off Gohan's uniform.
"Gee. Thanks." Gohan complained.
"It was useless and will only get in the way." Vegeta responded without looking at the half-saiyan.
"Do we have any spare uniforms?" Gohan questioned. The half-saiyan tensed when Vegeta started the cleaning of the wound. Honestly, Vegeta was created to torture other people, even when he was trying to help them. He knew that they weren't the best friends but couldn't Vegeta at least try to be gentle?
Gohan closed his eyes when tremors of pain shot up his arm and through his entire body. He leaned his head back and stared up at the light green sky. He searched for anything that could keep his attention away from the pain.
"Nope. You'll have to do with this one." Vegeta's eyes were trained on his task. Gohan lowered his gaze to the man and the half-saiyan blew out a sigh. Great. He would have to rip off the other sleeve too then.
"How are we doing here?" Raditz asked as he approached the other two. "Do you want me to treat half-breed's wounds?" He asked Vegeta.
Vegeta shook his head. "I started it. Might as well finish it." The man glanced sideways to Raditz. "Start on dinner. We'll need to eat quickly and maybe take a brief nap."
"Right." Raditz nodded once in response. The older saiyan briefly tousled Gohan's hair before turning around and leaving to get the food ready. Gohan watched him go with mixed feelings. He knew he wouldn't get out of treating his wound, it was for the best, but Raditz would definitely have been easier on him.
Another tremor ran through Gohan's body and he quickly looked down and realized that Vegeta stuck a needle through the puckered flesh on his wound. A small smile appeared on Vegeta's face. "Needles. Needles." He said in almost a sing-song voice.
Gohan sent the man a dark glance. It was bad enough that they knew he didn't like needles. They didn't have to make matters worse by teasing him with it too. The half-saiyan focused on his own breathing while he was being treated. This is something Gohan learned to do from an early age. It didn't take the pain away. Nothing could take pain away so easily. But it distracted him from it somewhat and lessened the awareness of the pain. If that made sense, he wasn't sure, but it helped him through some difficult times… Like right now.
"Done." Vegeta gently pushed a sterilized cloth against Gohan's stitched skin. The half-saiyan nodded once and moved his arm a bit. There was some pain but it was manageable.
The half-saiyan looked up at the squad leader. "Thanks. Do you want me to treat your wounds now?" He suggested.
Vegeta nodded once and turned so Gohan could get to the wound on his shoulder better. The half-saiyan quickly got to work. He didn't know when he started to heal his comrades during the matches. It was just something that sort of happened at some point. They kept healing him and treating his wounds so why shouldn't he return the favour? Even if they kept him here against his will, returning the favour of treating wounds was only right.
After treating Vegeta's wounds, Gohan was told to help with the preparation for dinner. They didn't have much time to eat so they kept it simple. Even the simplest of foods could be delicious when prepared well. On the first mission Gohan realized that the nicest moments with his comrades were the moments spend around the fire, enjoying their food after a couple of hours of hard work. Even the most lethal Saiyans were civil as long as they had good food.
The group decided to take a three hour nap. That was enough time to allow their bodies to rest and get their strength back up. They all chose their own tree to lean against and sat down, closing their eyes and falling asleep instantly. They learned to fall asleep quickly so they could get the most out of the few hours of sleep they would get.
Vegeta opened his eyes when the alarm on his scouter went off. The man automatically moved up his hand to silence the alarm before letting out a large yawn. Man, waking up after only a couple of hours of sleep was getting harder by the day. Was he actually getting old now? He slowly got up, stretching his muscles here and there, and felt his back crack several times. Yes, he was definitely getting old…
The Saiyan prince looked around at his comrades. "Wake up, guys!" He called as he headed for Nappa. The older comrade was closest to him so he might as well start there. Nappa's scouter was already going off but the man easily slept through it. Vegeta was always the one to wake Nappa up because the older Saiyan was very difficult to wake up. He would sleep through anything.
"I'm up. I'm up." Nappa muttered before opening his eyes.
Vegeta nodded once and turned to his other comrades. The man frowned as he looked around. "Where's half-breed?" He asked as he watched Raditz walk closer.
The uncle shrugged. "Bathroom probably. You know he always makes sure we can't see or hear him pee. Self-conscious brat."
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Well, I wouldn't want to see or hear that anyway so he's doing us a favour." The man stretched his muscles. "Why don't you guys go ahead? I'll wait for half-breed and then start from here."
"Yes sir." Raditz stated as he nodded. Nappa agreed and the two left Vegeta to wait for the half-saiyan alone.
Vegeta sat down on a branch and yawned again. He frowned as he looked around. What was taking the brat so long? He noticed a small rodent and he pointed his finger at it. A purple beam shot right through the rodent, killing it instantly. Vegeta smirked as he got up to fetch it. That would make a nice waiting snack.
The man lazily ate the flesh of the rodent as he waited. He left a small bit for the half-saiyan. The young warrior would appreciate that. However, when Vegeta finished eating Gohan still wasn't there. The saiyan prince frowned as he got up and looked around. "Half-breed! What is taking you so long?" He snarled. The man reached up to scan for Gohan's power level.
Vegeta widened his eyes when the scouter could not find Gohan's particular energy level. The man opened the line of communication to the half-saiyan. "Half-breed. Come in…. Are you there...? If you don't answer now I'll have your balls for dinner, brat!"
Vegeta waited for a few second as he realized what was happening. The Saiyan prince opened the communication line to the other two Saiyans. "Raditz. Nappa. Half-breed is gone."
**** On a different planet ****
Gohan got out of the space pod and looked around. This planet would be okay for now. He just needed to get some supplies that would take him through the following few months of travel. The young warrior closed the space pod before looking at the remote in his hand.
When Raditz forgot to ask the remote back, Gohan quickly pocketed it and kept it for as long as he could. He expected Raditz to get back to it once they were having dinner but his uncle seemed to have forgotten about it. When the others saiyans were asleep, Gohan grabbed his chance. He simply walked away from them. He knew the scouters would go off if he powered up so he kept his powerlevel low as he walked. After walking for about an hour, he decided to slowly fly to the space pod, keeping his power level as low as he possibly could.
Reaching the space pod, Gohan took a moment to figure out how everything worked but he realized it was all quite easy. The saiyans thought he couldn't control a space pod because nobody taught him how to do it. What they didn't know was that Gohan had all the time in the world to research space pods while he was at school. How stupid could they be? Of course he would take advantage of his unsupervised time in order to prepare an escape attempt.
His original plan was to swipe a remote but his life was made so much easier when Raditz just handed it over to him. The half-saiyan stood still for a moment as he thought about Raditz. Would his uncle be punished because of this? Gohan somewhat liked Raditz. He didn't want his uncle to get hurt because Gohan ran away.
The half-saiyan shook his head. No time to think about these things. He wanted to leave. He wanted freedom and Raditz was holding him back. Food and water were most important. He pulled out his empty bottle and went to search for a stream. After finding it he filled the bottle and drank from it. After drinking some water he filled the bottle again.
Now for food. He looked around. A hunt would probably be best. He could prepare the flesh of the animals here and take it along with him. The young warrior managed to hunt down some small animals and not long later he was sitting on the ground, eating from a freshly baked rodent.
So… What now? Where to go now? He hadn't figured that out entirely yet. He honestly didn't expect to get this far. He would head to the Milky Way but he would take the long route. Vegeta would probably expect him to go to earth.
At first Gohan considered travelling in the exact opposite direction. However, he did remember Vegeta's threat. The Saiyan prince threatened to kill Gohan's mother if Gohan ever escaped. Gohan wasn't sure if they would actually carry out that threat. If the Saiyan squad went to Earth, they would give away the existence of that planet which would make it impossible to ever use it as leverage to keep Gohan in check. Then again, would they still want Gohan alive now that he managed to escape? Would they just kill him once they found him?
Gohan lowered his gaze to the ground. Were they aware of his absence? They probably were. His scouter went off while he was in the space pod to tell him that the three hours were over. They were probably looking for him right now.
The half-saiyan could feel chills running down his spine as he thought about Vegeta's angry gaze, directed at him, and the man's hands coming closer, grabbing hold of Gohan's wrists and pulling him back into that world of pain and cruelty.
The half-saiyan closed his eyes and shook his head. This wasn't going to do him any good. He needed to keep his mind on the present. Survive. For now. That was all he needed to do. Survive.
And that's what he did. After getting the needed supplies, Gohan decided to travel to the northern quatrain. He would stay away from the Milky Way for now but he could try to find a planet near the entrance to the Milky Way and stay there to keep an eye on things. He hoped there would be suitable planets nearby. The planets in the Milky Way were practically useless. Luckily, back when a squad of Frieza's soldiers went to explore the Milky Way, they decided that the Milky Way was not anything interesting after they encountered the first few uninhabitable planets. They never even took the time to see if planet Earth was any good.
Back in his space pod, Gohan ordered the computer to calculate the estimated time it would take him to get back to the Milky Way. The young warrior let out a frustrated sigh when he read the estimation on the screen. "Two years!?"
Was he that far from home? How could this journey take two years? Gohan let his body fall backwards and leaned into the seat a bit more. Life was not his friend right now. Two whole years… Well… Gohan took a bite from the roasted meat he prepared earlier that day. There was nothing he could do about it. The half-saiyan nodded once before putting the food back into the bag and reached out to the computer.
"There we go." He muttered as he looked at the mapped out route on the screen. "First stop is planet Ikoa for some supplies. It will take me about two months to get there." He blew out a sigh as the space pod vibrated before shooting up into the air. The half-saiyan tried not to allow negative and doomsday thoughts into his head but instead focused on the computer again. "Good night." He muttered to himself before he pressed the button that would activate the sleeping gas. The half-saiyan leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
**** DBZ **** DBZ ****
"Look who we have here?"
Gohan screamed in pain when Vegeta's nails sank deep into his skin, blooding easily welling from his flesh and streaming down his shoulder. The Saiyans surrounded Gohan. Their eyes seemed red like flames in an entirely black world. Grins on their faces as they pulled back their fists, pounding down on the helpless young warrior.
Gohan tried to move his arms. He tried to stop them but his limbs were so heavy he could not move them. He tried to power up. Was he wearing ki-bonds? His eyes moved down to his wrists but he could only see open wounds and torn flesh. The half-saiyan felt a chill running down his spine when he realized that some wounds were so deep he could actually see a bit of white from his bones.
A nauseating feeling took over his stomach and he retched but he couldn't throw up. A hand moved into his vision and fingers pushed into the already open wound until they could get a hold of his flesh… and they tore it off his bones.
A pain he never felt before ran through his body as he watched Vegeta easily tear away the flesh from his lower arm.
"You thought you could get away from us?"
**** Darkness ****
Gohan woke up with a loud scream. He thrashed in his seat to get everyone off of him before he realized he was alone. The half-saiyan looked over at his right arm, the vision of his torn flesh still fresh in his mind. But it was intact. No problems at all. The half-saiyan ran his hand over his arm as if to make sure that the skin was actually still on there.
"Think again."
Gohan looked around when he heard Vegeta's voice. Where? He glanced at the communication devices but nothing was active. He turned his communication-line offline a while ago and he destroyed his scouter and left it back on the last planet he visited.
The young warrior shook his head. "I'm going crazy." He muttered out loud. "Can't let them get to me."
A robotic voice announced that the pod would land in an hour exactly. Gohan gave a curious glance to the window. He'd already been travelling for two months? Granted, he'd been sleeping most of the time, only to be woken up by nightmares like the one he had just now. He grinned as he thought of the planet he was about to see. He was actually quite excited. Finally a planet he could visit without having to destroy the beauty of it.
Gohan couldn't wait.
**** DBZ **** DBZ ****
#GohanIsFree
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