Post by Tao Lung on Sept 17, 2014 5:32:05 GMT
This time we see our favorite scarred boy stuffing some clothes in a large brown colored backpack, like those you use when you go camping. He had already packed up all the food he intended to bring with him, although a perfect calculation wouldn’t be possible, since he didn’t know how long his trip would last. If he ran out of his rations… well… he would have to learn how to survive in the wilderness. Hunting shouldn’t be that hard for someone with his skills… he hoped. Once he was done, he took his gear and headed out of the room, to meet with his sensei and family in in the courtyard.
– “That was quick. Are you sure you packed up all you need?” – Master Crane inquired.
– “Don’t worry. I’m all set up” – Tao answers.
– “Find this tower my son…” – Ms. Kuwa asks with a spark of hope in her eyes.
– “I will mom… I will” – The blond answers. He proceeds to hug his mother and give her a kiss in the head.
– “Dad” – He says before giving his father a tight hug as well.
– “Good luck, my son. And may God watch over your path” – His father vows. He then turn to Mauritz, extending his hand to the youngster for a handshake.
– “Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family, man. Maybe under other circumstances we can hang out sometime” – Tao says with a friendly smile in his face.
– “And Pat will come with us” – The boy says with an equally friendly expression.
– “Indeed she will” – He replies. He then turns to Master Crane, though they wouldn’t be saying their goodbyes right now. The boy nods at his tutor, signaling that he was ready to leave. His sensei responds with another nod and the two of them move towards the landing point of the Master Crane’s aircraft.
In a few minutes, the duo reaches the vehicle; upon seeing the approaching passengers, the pilot turn the engine of the ship on. The metal door then opens, releasing a small bridge for Tao and his master to climb aboard their ride. The two then proceed to their seats.
– “As I explained before, I will only be able to take you to the area of the sacred towers possible location. I’m not sure where it actually is or if it is actually there” – The sensei reminds his student.
– “And I will have to make the climb on my own, else Kami will send me back down or make me climb forever” – Tao completes.
– “It is good to see you paid attention on the details. And that you’re optimistic about the tower’s existence as well” – Master Crane says.
– “Aren’t you?” – Tao inquires.
– “I am as optimistic as one can be with ancient stories, my pupil” – Master Crane replies.
– “And that means?” – Tao asks, once again puzzled by his sensei’s usual cryptic way of speaking; you could never really picture what was going on in his mind. In this case, the question was if he actually believed in his own suggestion or not.
– “That means I believe your sister has a chance. And that you’re able to give it to her” – The old sensei concludes. Tao smirked at Master Crane. The old man wasn’t necessarily known for being soft with his words.
– “This tower… tell me more about it” – The boy requests. Every information about his destination would be good, not to mention it would be an interesting way of passing the time.
– “Very well” –
It’s been two thousand years since the era of ancient Master Tienshinhan, so much of the information I have maybe have been distorted. All I know are the stories that were passed on to me by my master and what I read in the ancient texts of the Crane School… But none of the texts were written by Master Tien, nor he was still alive when the first registers of the school were made, so the veracity of this tale is very debatable. What I know, though, is that when Master Tien was young, he was already one of the strongest humans of the world.
– “Isn’t there a theory that Master Tien wasn’t human, you know… because of the whole third eye thing?” – Tao interrupts the tale to quench his curiousity.
– “That isn’t relevant to the story at this point. May I continue?” – The sensei replies, a little startled by the sudden interruption.
– “Sorry…” –
As I was saying… even though he was considered to be one of the strongest men in the world, he wanted to become stronger. And so, he went to the sacred grounds where there was a tower… or a tree maybe … anyway, a structure so huge that it would reach past the clouds. And whoever managed to climb it without cheating would meet the master of the tower and become really strong.
– “Kami” – And the monologue is discontinued once again by the inquisitive boy.
– “I believe they called him Korin back then. And it was after him that the sacred lands were named” – Master Crane responded.
– “Awesome. Didn’t know that” –
So, after meeting with the master of the tower, Master Tien became his pupil and was bestowed with incredible skills. Some even say that’s how he got his third eye… a gift from Korin-sama himself. He also united with other heroes that climbed the tower and together, they protected Earth for many years to come, from the most diverse threats. One of them being the elder of the Turtle School. In fact all the first masters of the schools we still have prospering today seem to have fought together in the past, but ended up going separate ways and their connection faded away as the generations passed. And during these dire battles, many of these age-old warriors were brought from the grasps of death with the use of very special seeds that Korin-sama cultivated in his tower.
– “The senzu beans” – Tao added.
– “Yes. It is speculated that the plants are bred with holy water, which is what gives the beans their magical healing properties” – The teacher concludes his monologue, at least.
– “That’s an amazing tale. Thanks, master” – Tao says, actually entertained by the brief history-mythology class he just had.
– “You’re welcome. But as I said, these are stories… you can’t tell how much of it was altered or lost because of possible metaphors that were interpreted almost to the letter. Whenever you pass a story forward, it never reaches the last ear the same way it did on the first” – The master replied.
Master Crane didn’t know how right he was about his last statement. Or maybe he did, I don’t know… but what I DO know and all of us from the real world that accompanied this amazing series know is that the tale told by Tao’s tutor is composed of several flaws, product of crossed information, half-truths, misunderstandings and speculations. Nothing you wouldn’t expect from a two thousand years long Chinese Whispers game.
The trip (and the conversation) went on for a little while. They must have been in the air for about an hour… maybe less… maybe more…. probably more; I’m not really sure. Never been good myself regarding notion of space and time passed. Anyway… After sometime during the flight, Tao and Master Crane heard the pilot’s voice resonating from the intercom.
– “Sensei… you’ll want to the see this” – The man says bluntly. The duo then stood up from their seats and walked toward the cockpit. The pilot unlocks the door and as they go in and once they get to see the reason for the sudden call, the two simply stand in place dumbfounded.
– “Unbelievable…” – Master Crane mumbles. Tao has no reaction; he simply stares through the glass. Let me describe what they saw in that moment. Beneath them, several trees from a dense forest that extended to the horizon, making it impossible to tell where it ended. And there, sprouting from the tree crowns they spotted a massive structure, continuous all the way past the clouds. It was the fabled tower. It had to be…
– “So… it actually exists” – Tao finally declares himself.
– “What an amazing sight. I thought you would have a much harder time finding the tower, but it is right there, in the open… and that means-” – Master Crane is interrupted before he could finish his reasoning.
– “It means my sister will wake up soon enough” – Tao says, without taking his eyes off the marvelous edification. The sensei turns his sight to his pupil and drafts a discrete smile in his face.
– “That certainly give us hope, but don’t get ahead of yourself, Tao. You still don’t know what awaits you in the bottom of that tower. Don’t take your journey for granted before it actually is over” – The tutor advices. Tao realizes the wisdom in his master words; he still had to climb the tower and he imagined it wouldn’t be as simple as it seemed.
– “Should I get closer to the monument, sensei?” – The pilot asks, ready to prepare the ship for landing in case they reached as far as they would go. But Master Crane encourages him to go on.
– “Indeed” –
A man built like a mountain comes out of a tipi. The sound of the approaching airship caught his attention… and everyone else in the tribe. The Karinga tribe. Great folk that dwelled in the sacred lands for generations, protecting them from threats as well as guarding the tower, at the bottom of which they were settled. He (and his folk) stare at the metal bird approaching in great speed; moments later the visitors were hovering the glade surrounding Korin’s Tower. Inside the ship, Tao and Master Crane observed the community below them.
– “Do you know who these people are, sensei?” – Tao asks, looking at the tribals through the window.
– “I’m afraid not. There are no mentions of them in the ancient texts” – Master Crane replied as he studied their reaction to their presence.
– “Then let’s hope they civilized enough to not attack us on sight” – The scarred boy said. The pilot begins to land the ship. The muscular man and a few other natives await in front of the ship. The door then comes down, revealing its passengers. The tribesmen didn’t seem much startled by their presence. They stood firmly, staring at the duo. Tension rushed through Tao’s body as he makes eye contact with them, specially the giant.
– “H-hello?” – The blond says, but obtains only silence as response. He wondered if they were able to understand his idiom, if they had their own.
– “Uh… do you understand my language?” – He makes another attempt. And again the tribesmen remain mute. Tao scratches his head. He didn’t know how to proceed from here.
– “This is not working master… I think they do not understand me” – Tao states the obvious.
– “It surely seems so” – The tutor replied. The boy then decide to jump off the ship. That caused the big fellow to react to the sudden movement, uncrossing his arms as if readying himself for a possible engage in combat. The tutor follows his student in his careless decision.
– “Wait, I’m not here to harm you…” – He says showing his hands in a sign of peace as he notices the warrior’s mistrustful reaction.
– “I need help… That tower… is it true that it leads to where Kami-sama resides?” – He continues. This repetitive silence is becoming boring to write about… but it seizes the scenery once again. The scarred boy clenches and swings his fist down in a sign of frustration while growling. Master Crane remained in silence all the time, simply observing the big fellow in front of them.
– “I’m wasting my time here…. I’ll just go ahead and climb this tower at once…” – The boy grumbles and proceeds to walk towards the tower.
– “Tao, that’s not a good idea…” – Master Crane says, trying to stop his pupil from making a mistake. The giant simply steps in front of the boy, blocking his passage. What an ass. The other natives simply stare at them. Tao was starting to get really pissed off. As he tries to get past the warrior through the lateral, the scarred boy takes a palm strike to his chest and is sent sliding (still standing) back a few meters. We can see a vein popping in his head. As Tao threats to jump on the warrior in retaliation, Master Crane grabs him by his shirt, stopping him.
– “Let me go!” – Tao vociferates.
– “You are not thinking clearly. This course of action will not take you anywhere” – The tutor tries to calm his pupil down.
– “Why are you siding with them? He attacked me first!” – The boy justifies.
– “I don’t care who started. You’re not in highschool anymore. I’m siding with reason. And so should you” – The sensei keep trying to beat some sense into his enraged student. Tao finally stops struggling and Master Crane let go of him.
– “What good is reason when they can’t understand a word I say? I tried to talk, didn’t you pay attention?” – Tao complains.
– “Yes Tao, I did. It is you that is not” – The tutor lectures the boy, who gets more and more irritated, due to his growing anxiety; he was so close… but yet he seemed so far from his objective.
– “Why do you always have to be so cryptic? I don’t want to hear your sermons now! I want to climb that damn tower and I don’t care if I have kick this bear’s ass! Hell… I’ll thrash this entire tribe if I need to!” – The angry boy replies, raising his tone. As the young boy finishes his sentence, he notices the brute got really startled this time. Master Crane shakes his head in disapproval.
– “Oh, Tao…” – The old master sighs.
– “Ah, you got that, right big guy? Good, so listen closely… I don’t want to hurt you or your people… but if you stand in my way again… I won't think twice before killing you or anyone else!” – Tao threatens completely taken by despair, which clouded his reason. The giant widened his eyes and his physiognomy shifted to an angry look as if he was about to tear the youngster apart.
– “Yeah, you heard me! No matter what… I’ll climb that tower… and I’ll get that damn senzu bean” – Tao completes. That last sentence for some reason caused the warrior to stop.
– “Senzu… bean?” – The colossus asks with a puzzled look in his face.
Let’s now fast forward our story to a few moments ahead; our protagonist is now sat down in front of the tribe’s campfire, accompanied by his master and surrounded by members of the Karinga tribe, including the warrior who confronted him moments ago. His name is Saba, by the way. And now I would like to break the narration to make an addendum and explain the origin of the name. Like Bora (the first member of the tribe we saw in the original Dragonball series, remember?) his name is based of a fish used in the japanese cuisine. Bora is the word in japanese for gray mullet (I bet you didn’t know that! Well… neither did I until I did some research to come up with the guardian’s name…) while Saba is the word for mackerel. And now that we got that cleared up, we can get to the point where I was explaining the current scenario. The fact was that the natives could understand the scarred boy pretty well. Something Master Crane noticed while his pupil was about to throw a tantrum. As Saba explained, the moment Tao arrived and started talking about the tower and kami, they pretty much figured out he was just like the others; he was just pursuing the tower and kami’s training to raise his powers for his own selfish purposes. So they analyzed the duo. And Tao’s anxiety and bloodthirsty threats didn’t contribute for a good first impression. But when the boy mentioned the senzu beans, that caught the giant’s attention (and naturally everyone else’s). Never had him heard of someone coming after the tower with such purpose. However, unfortunately for Tao, he had never heard of the beans either. And it didn’t seem to ring a bell in any of the natives, who stood there looking puzzled each other after the boy explained all he knew about the matter and the issue with his sister that drove him to the sacred lands. Not even Master Crane’s complementation of the story based of what else he knew according with the school’s ancient documents helped with the matter. The fact that none of them acknowledged the existence of the magical seeds said a lot about Tao’s chances. But he was not ready to give up yet. He was still inclined to climb the tower and find out by himself whether they exist or not. But things weren’t that simple…
After their brief exchange of information, a woman seemingly around her thirties stood up and walked away from the fire and the visitors. Saba stood up and went after her. They stopped a few meters from the fire and started talking about something. Tao had no idea what was it about. The giant then stepped back towards the boy and his master.
– “Back then you said you would do anything to climb the tower. Even kill any of us if we tried to stop you” – Saba affirmed, reminding Tao of his vow.
– “Yeah… but that was just in the heat of the moment. I would never harm you-“ – Tao is then cut by the brute.
– “Then let’s see it” – Saba proceeded stoically.
– “Let’s see what?” – The boy inquired, confused with what the warrior meant.
– “Let’s see how determined you are to complete your task” – Saba added. Tao didn’t reply; he simply frowned and stared at the brute.
– “You said you would kill to reach your goal. Show us” – The man continued, definitely messing up with the youngster’s head with his proposal. Tao just couldn’t believe what was being requested of him.
– “You want me… to kill your folk?” – Tao asked in disbelief.
– “A deathmatch. One on one. That will prove if you’re worthy” – Saba explains.
– “You’re joking, right?” – The boy queries, still not convinced he heard what he just heard. Saba remains silent.
– “Who I’ll be fighting against?” – Tao interrogates with a serious look in his face. It seemed he would have to take part in this barbaric challenge.
– “The tribe’s leader and greatest warrior” – Saba replied.
– “And that means you, I suppose” – The boy says rhetorically.
– “No” – A female voice hits Tao’s ears. It was the lady from before. The one who stood up and walked away a few moments ago.
– “He means me” –
Tao faces the woman before him. Physically wise, she didn’t stand out much from a regular woman. Her name was Sanma (also a fish, for those out there who like pun-based names). She had a tan skin and long black braided hair. In her face three red stripes were painted: one above her nose and one on each cheek. The mark of the tribe’s chieftain. She was also very beautiful… and Saba’s wife. Tao had a sweat drop on his forehead; anxiety was once again getting the best of him. In her hand, she held a spear, just like Tao. The weapons were the proof this was a fight to the death.
– “HAJIME!” – Saba says because I can’t think nor invent a better word for “begin” that fits the theme. And with this, Sanma charges at the scarred boy trusting her spear at his face. What an incredible speed… This woman is definitely not fooling around. Tao has the reflexes to dodge the pointy edge of the weapon… barely. She manages to put a(nother) scar on the boy’s face. A small stream of blood comes out of the open wound, running down Tao’s right cheek. Sanma grits her teeth and swings the hollow part of her weapon at the boy. The attack was successfully parried. Tao reacts by pushing his opponent back using the pole of his spear. He stands guard. Sanma analyzes him for a moment and dashes at the body, bringing the polearm down on the boy in a vertical slash. Tao parries. Then with great dexterity, she throws a barrage of attacks, alternating between thrusts and swings periodically. Tao blocks the attacks as best as he can, but at one point after dodging (barely again) a thrust, Sanma got in the right angle and distance to fit a kick to Tao’s chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Wow, this chick was strong… she took the youngster’s air from his lungs for a brief moment.
– “Why are you holding back? Is it just because I’m a woman?” – Sanma asks, but receive no response from Tao, who simply remains standing frowning and gritting his teeth as he stares at the female warrior.
– “Heh… Don’t be a fool. This is a fight to the death!” – Sanma says before vanishing with an afterimage technique. Next time Tao sees her, the lady is tearing his chest apart with a well placed slash. The boy shrieks in pain. She completes her succession of attacks by hitting his face with the other end of the spear and finishes the combo by thrusting the pole side right where she just carved a tattoo on Tao’s body. The blond once again stumbles back and falls kneeled down on the ground, supporting himself with the use of the spear holding onto it with one hand. Sanma walks towards Tao.
– “Heh… you can’t even save yourself…”– The female warrior asks stopping in front of the youngsters. She lifts her spear slowly, pointing it at the boy.
– “…what makes you think you can save your sister?” – She completes. Tao widens his eyes and makes a sudden movement, swinging his weapon like a quarterstaff at Sanma’s legs, before she could impale Tao like a shish kebab. He lets out a yell as he does so. The attack is successful and she trips and falls on her back. Before she would reach the floor, Tao attempted a second attack, thrusting the pointy edge at the woman. It seems to go through her and sink in the earthy ground beneath her… but it was only an afterimage.
– “Now we’re talking” – Sanma says with a smile on her face.
The match goes on for a while… it must have been about 5 minutes of spear sparring, with a few almost-kills , kicks and even timely punches. Note that when I say 5 minutes, I mean real 5 minutes. Not Frieza-blowing-up-Namek-in-five minutes. The fighters are already feeling the strains of fatigue. Sanma less. Tao was all dirty from being sent rolling on the Earth. The chieftain got a couple of scars from some well placed strikes. But they still had energy to go on (although Tao was already panting a little bit).
– (“I’m losing precious time here… I gotta end this already. But this woman… she’s just too fast”) – Tao thinks to himself. Sanma stares at him like a lioness aiming for her prey. He studies her.
– (“I have to stay too much on the defensive… because of that spear. I have to take it away from her… she is way out of my league in armed combat”) – Tao remains lost in his thoughts. His eyes scans the area. It was then that an idea crossed his mind. It was risky… but it was worth a shot. Tao suddenly sprints. Sanma widened her eyes as she sees her opponent’s suicidal tactic: running open-chested towards her. Then, as soon as he gets a bit of acceleration (they were a few metters away from each other by the time I started this new paragraph) Tao throws his spear at her. Sanma simply jumps, having the spear pass directly by her and sink itself in a nearby tree, right behind the female warrior. This was not good… Tao was now unarmed. Still, he jumped directly at her aiming holding his fist back as if he was going to throw a punch at her. The audience stares in awe at his stupidity; Sanma reacted in the most obvious way: still in the air, she thrusted her spear at Tao to deliver the finishing blow. But this time, it was him the one to fade right before her eyes through the use of the zanzoken technique, rather than attacking this turn. In game mechanics terms, you could consider his course of action of analyzing and feinting as a “charging” maneuver. Like I said, she reacted in the most obvious way… and Tao was counting on that. Tao’s next move was even bolder; taking advantage of the acceleration and momentum he build during his risky move, he heads to the spear sank in the tree, landing on the pole which he uses to get a second impulse and propel himself once again towards Sanma, but coming from behind her this time. As soon as his afterimage fades, she obviously figured he would be attacking her from behind. She only has time to glimpse at Tao’s spinning body already bringing down a powerful kick t her. She only had time to block with her spear. Perfect. Tao put all of his strength in that strike… and it was more than enough to break the weapon in half. The force of the strike also sends the woman down, falling on her back and sliding a few meters across the floor. When she finally stops moving and opens her eyes, she sees the image of her opponent standing right in front of her, with the pointy edge of the broken polearm pointed at her. She was at his mercy.
– “What are you waiting for?” – She asks after a brief moment of silence, with Tao remaining idle, but without taking his eyes off Sanma; without even blinking. He throws the piece of weapon to the side and extends his hand to her.
– “I came here to prevent a death. Not to cause one. I’ve beaten you and that’s it. I’m not going to take anyone’s life because a meaningless custom or whatever” – The boy says, pulling Sanma up. Master Crane opens a discrete smile. The warrior proceeds to clean herself off all the dirt by tapping her body a few times.
– “Your sister’s life is at stake… we agreed on a deathmatch… and even though I nearly killed you a few times in our battle, you still refused to take my life” – Sanma states as she finishes cleaning herself, looking at Tao’s eyes with a serious physiognomy. The boy simply stares at the woman. Suddenly, her expression shifts into a friendly smile.
– “You passed” – She says. Naturally, Tao was more confused than ever.
– “I… passed?” – He interrogates. Saba steps forward.
– “Before climbing the tower, one must pass a test of value. And you did it ” – Saba explains. Tao was still at loss.
– “Mercy. You chose to spare my life when you were sure your enemy wouldn’t do the same were the positions inverted. That’s the virtue of a good heart. That proves your value to us from the Karinga tribe and more important… it proves your worth to Kami-sama” – Sanma makes a pause before finishing her sentence.
– “Come, lets tend to your wounds and get you something to eat. You’ll have a long journey towards the top of the tower” –
– “That was quick. Are you sure you packed up all you need?” – Master Crane inquired.
– “Don’t worry. I’m all set up” – Tao answers.
– “Find this tower my son…” – Ms. Kuwa asks with a spark of hope in her eyes.
– “I will mom… I will” – The blond answers. He proceeds to hug his mother and give her a kiss in the head.
– “Dad” – He says before giving his father a tight hug as well.
– “Good luck, my son. And may God watch over your path” – His father vows. He then turn to Mauritz, extending his hand to the youngster for a handshake.
– “Thank you for all you’ve done for me and my family, man. Maybe under other circumstances we can hang out sometime” – Tao says with a friendly smile in his face.
– “And Pat will come with us” – The boy says with an equally friendly expression.
– “Indeed she will” – He replies. He then turns to Master Crane, though they wouldn’t be saying their goodbyes right now. The boy nods at his tutor, signaling that he was ready to leave. His sensei responds with another nod and the two of them move towards the landing point of the Master Crane’s aircraft.
In a few minutes, the duo reaches the vehicle; upon seeing the approaching passengers, the pilot turn the engine of the ship on. The metal door then opens, releasing a small bridge for Tao and his master to climb aboard their ride. The two then proceed to their seats.
– “As I explained before, I will only be able to take you to the area of the sacred towers possible location. I’m not sure where it actually is or if it is actually there” – The sensei reminds his student.
– “And I will have to make the climb on my own, else Kami will send me back down or make me climb forever” – Tao completes.
– “It is good to see you paid attention on the details. And that you’re optimistic about the tower’s existence as well” – Master Crane says.
– “Aren’t you?” – Tao inquires.
– “I am as optimistic as one can be with ancient stories, my pupil” – Master Crane replies.
– “And that means?” – Tao asks, once again puzzled by his sensei’s usual cryptic way of speaking; you could never really picture what was going on in his mind. In this case, the question was if he actually believed in his own suggestion or not.
– “That means I believe your sister has a chance. And that you’re able to give it to her” – The old sensei concludes. Tao smirked at Master Crane. The old man wasn’t necessarily known for being soft with his words.
– “This tower… tell me more about it” – The boy requests. Every information about his destination would be good, not to mention it would be an interesting way of passing the time.
– “Very well” –
It’s been two thousand years since the era of ancient Master Tienshinhan, so much of the information I have maybe have been distorted. All I know are the stories that were passed on to me by my master and what I read in the ancient texts of the Crane School… But none of the texts were written by Master Tien, nor he was still alive when the first registers of the school were made, so the veracity of this tale is very debatable. What I know, though, is that when Master Tien was young, he was already one of the strongest humans of the world.
– “Isn’t there a theory that Master Tien wasn’t human, you know… because of the whole third eye thing?” – Tao interrupts the tale to quench his curiousity.
– “That isn’t relevant to the story at this point. May I continue?” – The sensei replies, a little startled by the sudden interruption.
– “Sorry…” –
As I was saying… even though he was considered to be one of the strongest men in the world, he wanted to become stronger. And so, he went to the sacred grounds where there was a tower… or a tree maybe … anyway, a structure so huge that it would reach past the clouds. And whoever managed to climb it without cheating would meet the master of the tower and become really strong.
– “Kami” – And the monologue is discontinued once again by the inquisitive boy.
– “I believe they called him Korin back then. And it was after him that the sacred lands were named” – Master Crane responded.
– “Awesome. Didn’t know that” –
So, after meeting with the master of the tower, Master Tien became his pupil and was bestowed with incredible skills. Some even say that’s how he got his third eye… a gift from Korin-sama himself. He also united with other heroes that climbed the tower and together, they protected Earth for many years to come, from the most diverse threats. One of them being the elder of the Turtle School. In fact all the first masters of the schools we still have prospering today seem to have fought together in the past, but ended up going separate ways and their connection faded away as the generations passed. And during these dire battles, many of these age-old warriors were brought from the grasps of death with the use of very special seeds that Korin-sama cultivated in his tower.
– “The senzu beans” – Tao added.
– “Yes. It is speculated that the plants are bred with holy water, which is what gives the beans their magical healing properties” – The teacher concludes his monologue, at least.
– “That’s an amazing tale. Thanks, master” – Tao says, actually entertained by the brief history-mythology class he just had.
– “You’re welcome. But as I said, these are stories… you can’t tell how much of it was altered or lost because of possible metaphors that were interpreted almost to the letter. Whenever you pass a story forward, it never reaches the last ear the same way it did on the first” – The master replied.
Master Crane didn’t know how right he was about his last statement. Or maybe he did, I don’t know… but what I DO know and all of us from the real world that accompanied this amazing series know is that the tale told by Tao’s tutor is composed of several flaws, product of crossed information, half-truths, misunderstandings and speculations. Nothing you wouldn’t expect from a two thousand years long Chinese Whispers game.
The trip (and the conversation) went on for a little while. They must have been in the air for about an hour… maybe less… maybe more…. probably more; I’m not really sure. Never been good myself regarding notion of space and time passed. Anyway… After sometime during the flight, Tao and Master Crane heard the pilot’s voice resonating from the intercom.
– “Sensei… you’ll want to the see this” – The man says bluntly. The duo then stood up from their seats and walked toward the cockpit. The pilot unlocks the door and as they go in and once they get to see the reason for the sudden call, the two simply stand in place dumbfounded.
– “Unbelievable…” – Master Crane mumbles. Tao has no reaction; he simply stares through the glass. Let me describe what they saw in that moment. Beneath them, several trees from a dense forest that extended to the horizon, making it impossible to tell where it ended. And there, sprouting from the tree crowns they spotted a massive structure, continuous all the way past the clouds. It was the fabled tower. It had to be…
– “So… it actually exists” – Tao finally declares himself.
– “What an amazing sight. I thought you would have a much harder time finding the tower, but it is right there, in the open… and that means-” – Master Crane is interrupted before he could finish his reasoning.
– “It means my sister will wake up soon enough” – Tao says, without taking his eyes off the marvelous edification. The sensei turns his sight to his pupil and drafts a discrete smile in his face.
– “That certainly give us hope, but don’t get ahead of yourself, Tao. You still don’t know what awaits you in the bottom of that tower. Don’t take your journey for granted before it actually is over” – The tutor advices. Tao realizes the wisdom in his master words; he still had to climb the tower and he imagined it wouldn’t be as simple as it seemed.
– “Should I get closer to the monument, sensei?” – The pilot asks, ready to prepare the ship for landing in case they reached as far as they would go. But Master Crane encourages him to go on.
– “Indeed” –
A man built like a mountain comes out of a tipi. The sound of the approaching airship caught his attention… and everyone else in the tribe. The Karinga tribe. Great folk that dwelled in the sacred lands for generations, protecting them from threats as well as guarding the tower, at the bottom of which they were settled. He (and his folk) stare at the metal bird approaching in great speed; moments later the visitors were hovering the glade surrounding Korin’s Tower. Inside the ship, Tao and Master Crane observed the community below them.
– “Do you know who these people are, sensei?” – Tao asks, looking at the tribals through the window.
– “I’m afraid not. There are no mentions of them in the ancient texts” – Master Crane replied as he studied their reaction to their presence.
– “Then let’s hope they civilized enough to not attack us on sight” – The scarred boy said. The pilot begins to land the ship. The muscular man and a few other natives await in front of the ship. The door then comes down, revealing its passengers. The tribesmen didn’t seem much startled by their presence. They stood firmly, staring at the duo. Tension rushed through Tao’s body as he makes eye contact with them, specially the giant.
– “H-hello?” – The blond says, but obtains only silence as response. He wondered if they were able to understand his idiom, if they had their own.
– “Uh… do you understand my language?” – He makes another attempt. And again the tribesmen remain mute. Tao scratches his head. He didn’t know how to proceed from here.
– “This is not working master… I think they do not understand me” – Tao states the obvious.
– “It surely seems so” – The tutor replied. The boy then decide to jump off the ship. That caused the big fellow to react to the sudden movement, uncrossing his arms as if readying himself for a possible engage in combat. The tutor follows his student in his careless decision.
– “Wait, I’m not here to harm you…” – He says showing his hands in a sign of peace as he notices the warrior’s mistrustful reaction.
– “I need help… That tower… is it true that it leads to where Kami-sama resides?” – He continues. This repetitive silence is becoming boring to write about… but it seizes the scenery once again. The scarred boy clenches and swings his fist down in a sign of frustration while growling. Master Crane remained in silence all the time, simply observing the big fellow in front of them.
– “I’m wasting my time here…. I’ll just go ahead and climb this tower at once…” – The boy grumbles and proceeds to walk towards the tower.
– “Tao, that’s not a good idea…” – Master Crane says, trying to stop his pupil from making a mistake. The giant simply steps in front of the boy, blocking his passage. What an ass. The other natives simply stare at them. Tao was starting to get really pissed off. As he tries to get past the warrior through the lateral, the scarred boy takes a palm strike to his chest and is sent sliding (still standing) back a few meters. We can see a vein popping in his head. As Tao threats to jump on the warrior in retaliation, Master Crane grabs him by his shirt, stopping him.
– “Let me go!” – Tao vociferates.
– “You are not thinking clearly. This course of action will not take you anywhere” – The tutor tries to calm his pupil down.
– “Why are you siding with them? He attacked me first!” – The boy justifies.
– “I don’t care who started. You’re not in highschool anymore. I’m siding with reason. And so should you” – The sensei keep trying to beat some sense into his enraged student. Tao finally stops struggling and Master Crane let go of him.
– “What good is reason when they can’t understand a word I say? I tried to talk, didn’t you pay attention?” – Tao complains.
– “Yes Tao, I did. It is you that is not” – The tutor lectures the boy, who gets more and more irritated, due to his growing anxiety; he was so close… but yet he seemed so far from his objective.
– “Why do you always have to be so cryptic? I don’t want to hear your sermons now! I want to climb that damn tower and I don’t care if I have kick this bear’s ass! Hell… I’ll thrash this entire tribe if I need to!” – The angry boy replies, raising his tone. As the young boy finishes his sentence, he notices the brute got really startled this time. Master Crane shakes his head in disapproval.
– “Oh, Tao…” – The old master sighs.
– “Ah, you got that, right big guy? Good, so listen closely… I don’t want to hurt you or your people… but if you stand in my way again… I won't think twice before killing you or anyone else!” – Tao threatens completely taken by despair, which clouded his reason. The giant widened his eyes and his physiognomy shifted to an angry look as if he was about to tear the youngster apart.
– “Yeah, you heard me! No matter what… I’ll climb that tower… and I’ll get that damn senzu bean” – Tao completes. That last sentence for some reason caused the warrior to stop.
– “Senzu… bean?” – The colossus asks with a puzzled look in his face.
Let’s now fast forward our story to a few moments ahead; our protagonist is now sat down in front of the tribe’s campfire, accompanied by his master and surrounded by members of the Karinga tribe, including the warrior who confronted him moments ago. His name is Saba, by the way. And now I would like to break the narration to make an addendum and explain the origin of the name. Like Bora (the first member of the tribe we saw in the original Dragonball series, remember?) his name is based of a fish used in the japanese cuisine. Bora is the word in japanese for gray mullet (I bet you didn’t know that! Well… neither did I until I did some research to come up with the guardian’s name…) while Saba is the word for mackerel. And now that we got that cleared up, we can get to the point where I was explaining the current scenario. The fact was that the natives could understand the scarred boy pretty well. Something Master Crane noticed while his pupil was about to throw a tantrum. As Saba explained, the moment Tao arrived and started talking about the tower and kami, they pretty much figured out he was just like the others; he was just pursuing the tower and kami’s training to raise his powers for his own selfish purposes. So they analyzed the duo. And Tao’s anxiety and bloodthirsty threats didn’t contribute for a good first impression. But when the boy mentioned the senzu beans, that caught the giant’s attention (and naturally everyone else’s). Never had him heard of someone coming after the tower with such purpose. However, unfortunately for Tao, he had never heard of the beans either. And it didn’t seem to ring a bell in any of the natives, who stood there looking puzzled each other after the boy explained all he knew about the matter and the issue with his sister that drove him to the sacred lands. Not even Master Crane’s complementation of the story based of what else he knew according with the school’s ancient documents helped with the matter. The fact that none of them acknowledged the existence of the magical seeds said a lot about Tao’s chances. But he was not ready to give up yet. He was still inclined to climb the tower and find out by himself whether they exist or not. But things weren’t that simple…
After their brief exchange of information, a woman seemingly around her thirties stood up and walked away from the fire and the visitors. Saba stood up and went after her. They stopped a few meters from the fire and started talking about something. Tao had no idea what was it about. The giant then stepped back towards the boy and his master.
– “Back then you said you would do anything to climb the tower. Even kill any of us if we tried to stop you” – Saba affirmed, reminding Tao of his vow.
– “Yeah… but that was just in the heat of the moment. I would never harm you-“ – Tao is then cut by the brute.
– “Then let’s see it” – Saba proceeded stoically.
– “Let’s see what?” – The boy inquired, confused with what the warrior meant.
– “Let’s see how determined you are to complete your task” – Saba added. Tao didn’t reply; he simply frowned and stared at the brute.
– “You said you would kill to reach your goal. Show us” – The man continued, definitely messing up with the youngster’s head with his proposal. Tao just couldn’t believe what was being requested of him.
– “You want me… to kill your folk?” – Tao asked in disbelief.
– “A deathmatch. One on one. That will prove if you’re worthy” – Saba explains.
– “You’re joking, right?” – The boy queries, still not convinced he heard what he just heard. Saba remains silent.
– “Who I’ll be fighting against?” – Tao interrogates with a serious look in his face. It seemed he would have to take part in this barbaric challenge.
– “The tribe’s leader and greatest warrior” – Saba replied.
– “And that means you, I suppose” – The boy says rhetorically.
– “No” – A female voice hits Tao’s ears. It was the lady from before. The one who stood up and walked away a few moments ago.
– “He means me” –
Tao faces the woman before him. Physically wise, she didn’t stand out much from a regular woman. Her name was Sanma (also a fish, for those out there who like pun-based names). She had a tan skin and long black braided hair. In her face three red stripes were painted: one above her nose and one on each cheek. The mark of the tribe’s chieftain. She was also very beautiful… and Saba’s wife. Tao had a sweat drop on his forehead; anxiety was once again getting the best of him. In her hand, she held a spear, just like Tao. The weapons were the proof this was a fight to the death.
– “HAJIME!” – Saba says because I can’t think nor invent a better word for “begin” that fits the theme. And with this, Sanma charges at the scarred boy trusting her spear at his face. What an incredible speed… This woman is definitely not fooling around. Tao has the reflexes to dodge the pointy edge of the weapon… barely. She manages to put a(nother) scar on the boy’s face. A small stream of blood comes out of the open wound, running down Tao’s right cheek. Sanma grits her teeth and swings the hollow part of her weapon at the boy. The attack was successfully parried. Tao reacts by pushing his opponent back using the pole of his spear. He stands guard. Sanma analyzes him for a moment and dashes at the body, bringing the polearm down on the boy in a vertical slash. Tao parries. Then with great dexterity, she throws a barrage of attacks, alternating between thrusts and swings periodically. Tao blocks the attacks as best as he can, but at one point after dodging (barely again) a thrust, Sanma got in the right angle and distance to fit a kick to Tao’s chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Wow, this chick was strong… she took the youngster’s air from his lungs for a brief moment.
– “Why are you holding back? Is it just because I’m a woman?” – Sanma asks, but receive no response from Tao, who simply remains standing frowning and gritting his teeth as he stares at the female warrior.
– “Heh… Don’t be a fool. This is a fight to the death!” – Sanma says before vanishing with an afterimage technique. Next time Tao sees her, the lady is tearing his chest apart with a well placed slash. The boy shrieks in pain. She completes her succession of attacks by hitting his face with the other end of the spear and finishes the combo by thrusting the pole side right where she just carved a tattoo on Tao’s body. The blond once again stumbles back and falls kneeled down on the ground, supporting himself with the use of the spear holding onto it with one hand. Sanma walks towards Tao.
– “Heh… you can’t even save yourself…”– The female warrior asks stopping in front of the youngsters. She lifts her spear slowly, pointing it at the boy.
– “…what makes you think you can save your sister?” – She completes. Tao widens his eyes and makes a sudden movement, swinging his weapon like a quarterstaff at Sanma’s legs, before she could impale Tao like a shish kebab. He lets out a yell as he does so. The attack is successful and she trips and falls on her back. Before she would reach the floor, Tao attempted a second attack, thrusting the pointy edge at the woman. It seems to go through her and sink in the earthy ground beneath her… but it was only an afterimage.
– “Now we’re talking” – Sanma says with a smile on her face.
The match goes on for a while… it must have been about 5 minutes of spear sparring, with a few almost-kills , kicks and even timely punches. Note that when I say 5 minutes, I mean real 5 minutes. Not Frieza-blowing-up-Namek-in-five minutes. The fighters are already feeling the strains of fatigue. Sanma less. Tao was all dirty from being sent rolling on the Earth. The chieftain got a couple of scars from some well placed strikes. But they still had energy to go on (although Tao was already panting a little bit).
– (“I’m losing precious time here… I gotta end this already. But this woman… she’s just too fast”) – Tao thinks to himself. Sanma stares at him like a lioness aiming for her prey. He studies her.
– (“I have to stay too much on the defensive… because of that spear. I have to take it away from her… she is way out of my league in armed combat”) – Tao remains lost in his thoughts. His eyes scans the area. It was then that an idea crossed his mind. It was risky… but it was worth a shot. Tao suddenly sprints. Sanma widened her eyes as she sees her opponent’s suicidal tactic: running open-chested towards her. Then, as soon as he gets a bit of acceleration (they were a few metters away from each other by the time I started this new paragraph) Tao throws his spear at her. Sanma simply jumps, having the spear pass directly by her and sink itself in a nearby tree, right behind the female warrior. This was not good… Tao was now unarmed. Still, he jumped directly at her aiming holding his fist back as if he was going to throw a punch at her. The audience stares in awe at his stupidity; Sanma reacted in the most obvious way: still in the air, she thrusted her spear at Tao to deliver the finishing blow. But this time, it was him the one to fade right before her eyes through the use of the zanzoken technique, rather than attacking this turn. In game mechanics terms, you could consider his course of action of analyzing and feinting as a “charging” maneuver. Like I said, she reacted in the most obvious way… and Tao was counting on that. Tao’s next move was even bolder; taking advantage of the acceleration and momentum he build during his risky move, he heads to the spear sank in the tree, landing on the pole which he uses to get a second impulse and propel himself once again towards Sanma, but coming from behind her this time. As soon as his afterimage fades, she obviously figured he would be attacking her from behind. She only has time to glimpse at Tao’s spinning body already bringing down a powerful kick t her. She only had time to block with her spear. Perfect. Tao put all of his strength in that strike… and it was more than enough to break the weapon in half. The force of the strike also sends the woman down, falling on her back and sliding a few meters across the floor. When she finally stops moving and opens her eyes, she sees the image of her opponent standing right in front of her, with the pointy edge of the broken polearm pointed at her. She was at his mercy.
– “What are you waiting for?” – She asks after a brief moment of silence, with Tao remaining idle, but without taking his eyes off Sanma; without even blinking. He throws the piece of weapon to the side and extends his hand to her.
– “I came here to prevent a death. Not to cause one. I’ve beaten you and that’s it. I’m not going to take anyone’s life because a meaningless custom or whatever” – The boy says, pulling Sanma up. Master Crane opens a discrete smile. The warrior proceeds to clean herself off all the dirt by tapping her body a few times.
– “Your sister’s life is at stake… we agreed on a deathmatch… and even though I nearly killed you a few times in our battle, you still refused to take my life” – Sanma states as she finishes cleaning herself, looking at Tao’s eyes with a serious physiognomy. The boy simply stares at the woman. Suddenly, her expression shifts into a friendly smile.
– “You passed” – She says. Naturally, Tao was more confused than ever.
– “I… passed?” – He interrogates. Saba steps forward.
– “Before climbing the tower, one must pass a test of value. And you did it ” – Saba explains. Tao was still at loss.
– “Mercy. You chose to spare my life when you were sure your enemy wouldn’t do the same were the positions inverted. That’s the virtue of a good heart. That proves your value to us from the Karinga tribe and more important… it proves your worth to Kami-sama” – Sanma makes a pause before finishing her sentence.
– “Come, lets tend to your wounds and get you something to eat. You’ll have a long journey towards the top of the tower” –