Post by Tao Lung on Aug 23, 2014 17:16:21 GMT
Amazing abilities; Distinctive clothing; Special gear; A perfect moral compass; Courage. All characteristics of a super hero; You won’t find those in this story. And you definitely won’t find such in Tao Lung. Specially the latter; that’s how he felt at least. The young boy is leant against the wall. Sat down in the floor he hugs his knees, eyes tired from consecutive battles against insomnia; and consecutive losses. He simply can’t let go of those images of earlier today. The giant apes and he and Master Crane fleeing, leaving the citizens to their own fate and luck. He felt like a coward, no matter how wise were the words of his sensei regarding how useless would be their efforts against such a threat. He didn’t care. Conscience has a much heavier weight than reason, and it was clouding his better judgment again, keeping the youngster from his sleep. The image of his mother, his father and his sister comes to his mind. His home laying in the tranquility of Ginger Town; he can’t help but inquires himself if he would have taken the same course of action, had his family been amongst the spectators. He imagines himself jumping of the moving airship, rolling in the dusty grounds beneath and dashing towards the epicenter of that whole mess. That’s what he would have done. That’s what he should have done, according to his naive conceptions. What if those… things reached his family in the Western Frontiers? He had to make sure they were fine. He needed to see them… How long it’s been again? Months? An year? A bit over an year. Last time he was there was in August, 2799. He would always visit his family in their respective birthdays. Throughout the year, they would keep in touch thanks to the technology. This year however, he didn’t go home. He was so involved in his martial arts, trying to achieve control over his ki that he missed their meeting this time. His visit was long due.
In the next “panel” we see our protagonist standing up, leaning over a table. In his right hand he holds a pen, in his left, he holds a sheet of paper. He writes a message to his master and fellow martial artists. “I’m visiting my parents. Row Break. Tao Lung”. Simple and direct. And then, just like that, he leaves the Crane House. With him, he carried but a light travel bag with few clothes. He didn’t need much as he left most of his belongings at home. In his pockets, he also carried his wallet. Always good to have documents and money with you. He was wearing his favorite red and black jacket; a good choice for it was a rather cold night outside. His dojo a bit farther from the middle of nowhere, so he had quite a walk to do. Standing right in front of his school, he takes one last look at the front door, leaving any hesitation he still had behind and takes a deep breath. With a powerful dash, he runs his way down the mountains.
Many hours later we see Tao in a bus seat, eyes closed. He was resting from his marathon under (and over) the comfort of an air conditioner and a cushioned seat. His head rests against the window’s glass and he drools, lost in a deep sleep. After an abrupt break, Tao is brought back from his world of dreams and into the real world. He sees the driver climbing down his floating transportation and though the window he observes as the bald rotund man begins to quarrel with another driver. Tao was still too dizzy to figure out what was happening but probably the other driver screwed up and almost had the bus sink in his car’s rear. Tao realized something though. That scenery (the town’s landscape) was very familiar. “Oh crap” he realized… he has slept past his bus stop. Widening his eyes in the realization of his mistake, he shakes his head to shrug his sleepiness off, grabs his belongings and jumps of the vehicle. He would have to walk a little bit until he gets home. Again… And since I’m lazy to write about a man running, once again, I’ll skip to the next part of this story.
Home; his destination was reached. He proceeds to the door and takes a look at his clock: 14:36 (or 2:36 pm if you’re not used to that format). He rings the bell, waiting for a few minutes for his long-waited reception.
– “Yes” – Say his sister as she opens the door, before she realizes it’s her brother who is unexpectedly standing in front of her. Tao simply smiles.
– “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ANIKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” – The young girl yells hysterically, jumping at her brother. For those unfamiliar with that term as well, it is how Japanese people use to address brothers. Because of the commotion raised by Pat, it calls the attention of his father and his mother, who join the loud girl for a well-deserved warm reception.
In the minutes that succeed his arrival at home, Tao and his family conversed a lot. He told them about the progress at the Crane school, about the confusion on the Tenkaichi Budokai and about his long run back home that ended up in his comedic missing-of-the-bus-stop. The latter wasn’t unexpected given Tao was a very distracted person. The tourney troubles however, seemed to have been televisioned. It was all over the news. Thankfully though, his family was safe and that was all that matter. They then told Tao about their work, about Pat graduating in the end of this school’s year. And specially about her date for the prom – just a guy from the school – what raised that unavoidable (yet healthy) brother-and-sister jealousy. Pat became as red as a tomato when they brought the matter up and began to sculpt a wall of qualities of her not-yet-boyfriend, probably afraid that her martial artist brother would go after the poor fellow. Tao simply laughed and invited his sister for a walk through the town later. On these 3 years that Tao has been training with Master Crane he never once paid a visit to his old town; he would only stay at his parents house and then go back to the dojo. It was past the time he showed his face around again. After all this time, he had already made peace with his appearance. Maybe it would be good to see some familiar faces. And also meet this boy his sister was going out with. Thus, after the pleasant conversation (and a reinforced lunch) Tao proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower. He and his sister would go out after he was done.
If you came here looking for kicks and explosions, I’m sorry to disappoint you. That’s another thing you won’t find in this story. Tao is but a regular guy with a non-peculiar life, trying to carve his path through the ways of the martial arts. Maybe he is bound to greatness someday. Maybe he will remain unable to control ki for his entire life. Or maybe he will get run over by a truck during his walk with his sister and I won’t ever write about Tao again. Whatever happens however, will be a tale for another time.
In the next “panel” we see our protagonist standing up, leaning over a table. In his right hand he holds a pen, in his left, he holds a sheet of paper. He writes a message to his master and fellow martial artists. “I’m visiting my parents. Row Break. Tao Lung”. Simple and direct. And then, just like that, he leaves the Crane House. With him, he carried but a light travel bag with few clothes. He didn’t need much as he left most of his belongings at home. In his pockets, he also carried his wallet. Always good to have documents and money with you. He was wearing his favorite red and black jacket; a good choice for it was a rather cold night outside. His dojo a bit farther from the middle of nowhere, so he had quite a walk to do. Standing right in front of his school, he takes one last look at the front door, leaving any hesitation he still had behind and takes a deep breath. With a powerful dash, he runs his way down the mountains.
Many hours later we see Tao in a bus seat, eyes closed. He was resting from his marathon under (and over) the comfort of an air conditioner and a cushioned seat. His head rests against the window’s glass and he drools, lost in a deep sleep. After an abrupt break, Tao is brought back from his world of dreams and into the real world. He sees the driver climbing down his floating transportation and though the window he observes as the bald rotund man begins to quarrel with another driver. Tao was still too dizzy to figure out what was happening but probably the other driver screwed up and almost had the bus sink in his car’s rear. Tao realized something though. That scenery (the town’s landscape) was very familiar. “Oh crap” he realized… he has slept past his bus stop. Widening his eyes in the realization of his mistake, he shakes his head to shrug his sleepiness off, grabs his belongings and jumps of the vehicle. He would have to walk a little bit until he gets home. Again… And since I’m lazy to write about a man running, once again, I’ll skip to the next part of this story.
Home; his destination was reached. He proceeds to the door and takes a look at his clock: 14:36 (or 2:36 pm if you’re not used to that format). He rings the bell, waiting for a few minutes for his long-waited reception.
– “Yes” – Say his sister as she opens the door, before she realizes it’s her brother who is unexpectedly standing in front of her. Tao simply smiles.
– “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ANIKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” – The young girl yells hysterically, jumping at her brother. For those unfamiliar with that term as well, it is how Japanese people use to address brothers. Because of the commotion raised by Pat, it calls the attention of his father and his mother, who join the loud girl for a well-deserved warm reception.
In the minutes that succeed his arrival at home, Tao and his family conversed a lot. He told them about the progress at the Crane school, about the confusion on the Tenkaichi Budokai and about his long run back home that ended up in his comedic missing-of-the-bus-stop. The latter wasn’t unexpected given Tao was a very distracted person. The tourney troubles however, seemed to have been televisioned. It was all over the news. Thankfully though, his family was safe and that was all that matter. They then told Tao about their work, about Pat graduating in the end of this school’s year. And specially about her date for the prom – just a guy from the school – what raised that unavoidable (yet healthy) brother-and-sister jealousy. Pat became as red as a tomato when they brought the matter up and began to sculpt a wall of qualities of her not-yet-boyfriend, probably afraid that her martial artist brother would go after the poor fellow. Tao simply laughed and invited his sister for a walk through the town later. On these 3 years that Tao has been training with Master Crane he never once paid a visit to his old town; he would only stay at his parents house and then go back to the dojo. It was past the time he showed his face around again. After all this time, he had already made peace with his appearance. Maybe it would be good to see some familiar faces. And also meet this boy his sister was going out with. Thus, after the pleasant conversation (and a reinforced lunch) Tao proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower. He and his sister would go out after he was done.
If you came here looking for kicks and explosions, I’m sorry to disappoint you. That’s another thing you won’t find in this story. Tao is but a regular guy with a non-peculiar life, trying to carve his path through the ways of the martial arts. Maybe he is bound to greatness someday. Maybe he will remain unable to control ki for his entire life. Or maybe he will get run over by a truck during his walk with his sister and I won’t ever write about Tao again. Whatever happens however, will be a tale for another time.