THE LAST ONE PART 1: THE BEGINNING
Story by: Malus Wolfe
Edited by: Davey Rootbeer
Produced by : Your Mom
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Chapter 3: History of the Land
"No! Please! Help me!" a female voice cried off in the shadows.
"I'm coming!" I shouted. The entire area seemed to be spinning around me. I couldn't find where I was going for the life of me. I ran through hallway after hallway, trying to find the screaming voice.
Dammit! I thought to myself. I need to save this girl! I came to a large chamber. There, a girl with long, flowing blue hair was tied to a large tower of bone.
"Help me!" She shrieked.
"I'm coming!" I shouted. As she came into view, I recognized her face. It was the girl from the soccer game! I ran at full speed to save her.
I got there just in time for her to slip out of my hands and fall into a gaping pit.
"AAAAAAHHHH!" She cried.
"NOOO!!" I shouted, crying.
I suddenly jolted awake. I didn’t know where I was or what was going on. As I stopped panting, I realized I was covered in cold sweat. I closed my eyes, and sunk my head back into my pillow. "Phew, a dream, just a goddamn dream...”
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I walked downstairs. The inn was well lit and noisy. People were shouting and singing all around me, even though the sun had risen. My head wouldn't stop pounding. What did that dream mean?
"Morning kid. Sleep well?"
I jolted around, still half asleep. There, Davey was grinning with a cup of tea, sitting in a chair in the lounge area. He handed the tea to me.
"Here, this will wake you up." He said, with a half-smile.
"Damn it Davey! Don't sneak up on me like that." I shouted, piercing the lull of the room. He said nothing as I held my head in my hands, attempting to gain a bit of consciousness "Well, what's on the agenda for today?"
"A history lesson, sit down. I'm going to explain why I brought you here." He spoke softly, with a feeling of deep thought in his voice. He did not look at me, only at the cup of tea in his hand.
"Umm, kay." I murmured, sitting in the opposite chair. I was begging to regain my bearings, and I was interested in learning about this land. Sipping the tea, I listened to his story.
"I brought you here to stop the Tendo king. He is the leader of the entire land of the Yumakai."
"He rules Yamakai?"
"No, Yumakai. It is the land of the users of the energy called youkai. Yumakai is a single peninsula directly north of Serai, past the barrier walls. It is a barren, desolate land, destroyed in a war long ago. Tendo lives there, creating demons out of youkai."
"Youkai? Is that like chi?"
"Yes and no. Youkai works the same way as chi, and at the same time it is several times more deadly. Youkai is the energy of pure evil. It is the form of corrupted chi. The destructive power of Youkai is more than you could ever imagine.” He sipped his tea, and began again.
“In any case, right now we're in the frontier town of Serai. This is the defense outpost of the chi users. All area beyond here is corrupted by the Tendo King. Do you remember those walls? Tendo frequently sends hordes of demons to attack Serai, in an effort to wipe us out. The border is our defense; guards stationed there slay the demons. Many lives are lost in this process. I want to end this senseless killing of our people."
"So why was I brought here?" I asked, puzzled.
Davey finally looked at me. "The marks on your hands, they have more use besides traveling between the worlds. They are able to open special gates in this world. We need you to open these gates.”
“Why? What’s behind them? Some cool weapon?”
For the first time I can remember, the smile wiped completely off Davey’s face. “Yeah, something like that. They’re orbs, made of pure youkai.”
“Pure youkai?” I said, snapping up from my chair. “Isn’t that a bad thing? Why do we want to find them?”
“Yes, it is a very bad thing. If the Tendo King ever got a hold on these orbs, his power would be unstoppable. They’re too powerful. They youkai contained within them is able to destroy the entire world, if used properly.”
“So what’s the big deal? They can’t open the gates without me right?” I chuckled, giving myself a feeling of false security.
Davey shook his head. “You aren’t the only Planeswalker still alive. However, you are the only one not sided with evil.” This comment dug pretty deep. There are other Planeswalkers? Other people like me living on earth? I sank my head, thinking. Davey didn’t speak.
After a few moments, I broke the silence. “So what exactly are we supposed to do when we get the orbs? Hide them and hope this Tender King guy won’t find them?”
Davey looked angry. “It’s Tendo, and we’re getting the orbs so we can convert them.”
“Convert them? Into what?”
“If we put enough chi into them, the polarity of the energy will reverse, and they will change into orbs of complete chi. This way, we can use them to our advantage, absorbing them into ourselves and increase our own power.” Davey suddenly sprung up. “Let’s go, it’s already midday, and we have a lot of training to do. No more boring stuff, you’ll have fun with this next experiment.” He opened the door out of the inn and started walking briskly.
“Training? Hey! Wait up!!” I sprinted after him.
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We finally stopped in the middle of a farm, with a barn and a small wooden fence surrounding the area. Davey took my gloves away, throwing them to the ground.
“You won’t need these.” He said with a tone of determination.
I shrugged. “Fine, if you say so. What exactly are we doing here?”
He smiled. “It’s about time you learned how to use your chi.” My face brightened as he said this, I wanted to learn how to harness this power. “I’m going to teach you three very basic techniques. The first is a standard chi shot. See that fence over there? I want you to extend your hand, and will your chi to come out. Your chi sits deep within your body, dormant. I want you to try and feel it. Listen to it, calling you from your bloodstream.”
“Ok…” I extended my arm. I tried to focus, but I couldn’t figure out what I was focusing on. I sat there with my hand out, simply waiting.
“Focus. You’re doing nothing.”
I tried harder, searching for the hidden energy, still no avail. An hour went past. Davey went and sat down in frustration. I was exhausted.
“Why…isn’t it working?” I panted, resting my arm.
“You need to concentrate on extending your chi at the target! Focus harder! Listen to your bloodstream talking to you!”
I shrugged again, and extended my hand. I hooked onto a phrase Davey said, and concentrated on it. Bloodstream… my hand began to pulse. I felt an increase in the force of my bloodstream in my hand. I willed it to gather there. My hand, bloodstream, just my hand and the bloodstream, my hand, bloo…
“Good job.” Davey said.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Look at your hand.”
I looked down. It was brimming with fantastic blue light. The light wrapped around my hand, dancing in different shades and shapes of blue, while lighting up the whole area. “Whoa…”
“What are you waiting for?” Davey said.
“Right!” I pointed at the fence and let loose. The energy flew from my hand like a fireball. Even in the air, it seemed to dance and play, twisting and twirling with the wind. The fence exploded with brilliant blue light as it hit, destroying the wood. The wood wasn’t charred or burnt; the chi had simply made a perfectly round hole, around the shape and size of a soccer ball.
“Amazing. Able to make such a powerful shot on your first day.” Davey smiled, apparently in amazement. It was short-lived however, and he spoke briskly again. “Time for the next technique. Take your chi, and keep it in both your hands.
I nodded. I started to concentrate on my bloodstream. It took me awhile, it was hard harnessing the chi in two places at once, but I finally got both hands brimming with the blue light.
“Good, now take it, and trace a circle in the air with your hands. Use your index finger as a pen, and the chi shall be your ink. Connect the two ends of the circle.”
I did as I was told. Using my index finger to trace, I started a circle, with my two fingers going in opposite directions. As I moved my fingers, a trail of chi remained, levitating in the air, flickering like a flame. When one end of the trail met the other, the entire inside of the circle exploded with blue light, becoming solid. “Amazing!!”
“Chi shield” Davey replied. All of a sudden he shot his eyes at me. He quickly fired a ray of concentrated chi from his right palm.
I quickly turned the shield. His chi dissipated as the shot hit my shield, which rippled in response. “What are you doing?!”
“Testing your shield. This shield will work for now, but it won’t be able to handle high powered chi attacks. Remember that. If the shield gets too weak, pump your chi back into it to strengthen it. Now for the third technique. Concentrate your chi again.”
This time it was easy. It only took a couple of seconds to get my hands glowing again. The chi flowed easier around, and I didn’t experience any pain in summoning it.
“Good, you’re learning quickly. Now take that energy, and release it towards yourself.”
“What?!”
“Just do it!”
I hesitated for a moment, and nodded. Davey hadn’t given me any reason not to trust him. As I released it, the energy spread around my entire body. I was glowing with the blue light, flickering as if I was on fire. No pain accompanied this. The chi seemed to flow with me, and protect me.
“Chi enhance. You’re now several times stronger. Every physical action you do will now be enhanced. Be careful though, you will consume chi every time you do something in this state, even move. Your body has a limit to how much chi it can contain. If you use too much up, you will slip into a state much like unconsciousness.
“Sweet technique!” I said, ignoring his warning. I threw a few punches, which soared in front of me. Chi dissipated after every punch, dancing away in the air before it disappeared. I jumped, and soared into the sky. I must have gone thirty feet up, and it was only a small hop. I staggered as I hit the ground. Must be running out. Better wrap it up. I willed the chi to gather in my palm. It slipped around my body, swirling towards my hand. As soon as it was all gathered, it sifted into my skin, back into my body.
Davey was already walking away. “Hurry up; we need to take care of some business tonight at the bar.” I looked up, and noticed the sun was setting, turning the sky a light red.
“What kind of business?” I asked, but to no avail, he had started running. “Davey! Wait up!!”
It seemed as if I was always running since I came to Yamakai. A question lingered in my mind, however. Was I running to something, or running away from something? I tried not to think about home as I used some chi to speed myself up, trying to catch up to Davey…
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