TwoGreatPowersch2

Author: Swiss Army Knife
Email: dragonswissarmyknife@hotmail.com

Two Great Powers - The Legend and the Lesser
Chapter 2 - The Little Mistake

Once in a time that is yet to come, a great warrior will rise above all others in all the universe.

His name will be like that of the gods – everyone will know it and respect it. Many others will try to come against him, but they will all fall; crumpled under the power of this man. He will have waited, resting, like in a deep sleep for the day when he will rise like Thunder! With the strength like that of a dragon he will come on the day of all days…

The Great Battle will have come…

The day that the centuries have waited for….

No longer will he be called a myth. No longer will he be forced to wait! He, the great Legend will prove himself in the Great Battle. He will bring down all opposition, until the moment when the blood runs dry from the Lesser… Then he will have proved his worth! THE LEGEND WILL APPEAR!

The Great Battle and The Legend will become truth, and all the universe will fall under his feet…

*****

Sitting cross-legged before the fire, Yokoshima was deep in meditation. His fingers ran lightly over the worn pages of parchment at his feet before him, containing within them the cryptic ancient writings that told the story of his hopes and dreams. He stared at them with wide eyes that didn’t really see, a bead of sweat coursing down his brow.

Something was wrong; he could feel it.

It had been a week since he had at last found whom he believed to be the legend, the tailed child named Gokuu. For so long he had watched the boy, sure that he was the one he had been looking for all of his lifetime. He had had no doubts that this child was the one, the legend!

At least until the dreams began to come again…

Long before he found Gokuu, he had seen his figure in his mind. His meditation and dreams had led him to the boy. It was why he was so sure that he was the one. After he went and stole the boy from his former father figure, the dreams had stopped. For a while.

But now, his mind was again filled. He had missed something important…

Picking up the parchment off the ground, Yokoshima carefully studied the poetic lines of destiny in his hands. The Legend… He thought to himself. The Legend will come when… He closed his eyes in frustration. What was he missing?

“M…mister…” A tiny voice interrupted his thoughts.

Yokoshima put down his sheets and turned his head around to face the intruder, eyes cold as ice. “What did I tell you to call me?” He hissed icily.

The small child at the door shrunk back and cringed. Quietly, almost in a whimper, he responded, “…Sensei?”

Yokoshima turned back to stare into the flaming fire. “That’s right, brat.” He hissed. “As your master, I deserve only the utmost respect from you.”

Gokuu gulped, but eased his body inside the dark chamber. He’d been looking for his new “sensei” for at least half an hour now. The large deserted training complex that he had been brought to was enormous to the little boy. He was scared all by himself, and he had become lost searching for the man that had taken him here.

Crawling up behind his somber master, Gokuu looked up into his frightening eyes. “Is something wrong?” He dared to ask.

The glare that he received for daring to address the man froze poor Gokuu to his spot. Barely breathing, he sat down on the floor beside him and tried not to say anything, even though questions burned inside him like crazy. His sensei seemed to be thinking very hard about something, and obviously didn’t want to be bothered by him.

Sparing a glance over at the papers at Yokoshima’s feet, Gokuu’s eyes raised. The characters on the page were strange to him – obviously not the Japanese characters that he was used to seeing. What is that thing? He wondered; his slow, little boy brain fighting for an answer.

Then, all of a sudden, Yokoshima spazemed. He made a gasping sound. Like a lightning strike, it had hit him what could possibly be wrong. He picked up the parchments, eyes running over the paper rapidly, searching for the line that spoke of the other one…the Lesser.

When his eyes found it, he swore out loud, angry with himself and angry at everything in general. Surely he did not have to supply the looser also!

Or was it really the looser that he was lacking. Yokoshima glanced down at a startled Gokuu. If it was true that he had to find them both, than for all he knew, the brat he had now was the Lesser. He growled under his breath in anger. How was he to know?

“Sensei?” Gokuu asked curiously.

Yokoshima was not listening. The vision from the night before leapt to his mind and seared through him like fire. The one were the second figure came into the room with Gokuu. Was this the other?

Abruptly, the man stood from his meditation position and walked to the door, grabbing his jacket on the way out. Gokuu stood and followed after him at his heels, but Yokoshima hardly took notice.

There was another boy out there that he had to find…

*****

Gokuu was tired. He had been walking all day long, a heavy backpack of supplies on his back. He and Sensei had been traveling like this for a week now; getting up very early and walking all day long at a grueling pace. His short legs ached. Never in his life could he remember traveling so far at once.

Sensei didn’t seem bothered, he noticed. He seemed to be following something instinctive that Gokuu couldn’t see or feel. In fact, he didn’t know where they were going, only that they would get there sometime soon, according to his sensei.

His days had been filled with dirt roads and empty sky. His heart ached bitterly for his Grandpa, whom he had been told was never coming back. He’d been so upset, but Sensei had yelled at him and told him to stop being a baby, or else he would punish him. Gokuu didn’t know what he meant by “punishment,” but the man already frightened him enough that he didn’t want to find out.

Then, in front of him on the road, Sensei stopped. Gokuu took the opportunity to collapse onto his rear end on the ground, breathing heavily. For once, though, his sensei didn’t yell at him for being lazy. He seemed too busy staring at whatever was in front of him.

Curious, Gokuu looked up and ahead. His eyes widened at what he saw; the first sign of civilization he had seen in days. It was a small village, surrounded by pretty trees and happy little people walking around and going about their duties.

“Sensei!” He cried out hopefully. “Are we stopping here?”

The man in front of him grunted, and Gokuu jumped up from the ground with joy, suddenly refreshed. He had to stifle the happy shout that had welled up within him. Following along merrily, Gokuu and his Sensei made their way quickly to the town.

Gokuu was in high spirits.

His Sensei had left him to search the town for whatever it was that he was looking for, and had allowed him to go exploring. He walked happily through the streets, taking in the people and their homes.

He had stopped at the end of a street to get his bearings, when out of nowhere, a young boy about Gokuu’s age nearly ran into him. Gokuu fell to the ground with the boy on top of him. The child scrabbled frantically to get back up again, a look of fright on his face.

Before he could run off, Gokuu grabbed his arm and good-naturedly pulled him back.

“Hey,” he said. “Whatcha in such a hurry for?”

The boy didn’t respond, but throwing a look over his shoulder, scampered behind a stack of sandbags next to a home, dragging Gokuu along with him. Unsure of why they were hiding, Gokuu poked his shoulder.

“Why are we – “ He began, but the other boy hushed him.

Gokuu looked over his new “friend” crouched beside him and sneaking a peek over the rim as if waiting for something horrible to come around the corner any second. He was shorter than himself, Gokuu thought. Maybe by a whole head’s height. When he returned Gokuu’s stare, he saw large wide eyes that seemed to transmit whole emotions without help. Now they were fearful and anxious.

Most interesting, Gokuu couldn’t help but notice, was that he was completely bald. Six dots went up his forehead like some kind of marking that Gokuu didn’t understand. It made him look funny like that. Gokuu almost laughed.

But then the boy shushed him again, just as a group of older, large, rough looking boys tromped around the corner at top speed, laughing and hooting like a bunch of animals. They seemed to be searching for something, and it occurred to Gokuu that they might have been whom the boy hiding at his side was running from.

When they were gone, the boy sighed deeply, relieved. Gokuu stood up and extended a hand of help to the other, who hesitantly took it.

“Hi, I’m Gokuu.” Gokuu said as he pulled the other boy up. “Where those boys chasing you?”

The smaller child nodded, head lowered. “T-they pick on me a lot…” He muttered softly.

Gokuu was sympathetic. “Was it because you have dots on your head?” He asked innocently.

The other boy looked surprised, putting a hand to his dots as if he had forgotten that they were there. Then he smiled.

“They don’t pick on me because I’ve got dots,” He said. “They all have dots too. This is the Orinji temple village.”

“Orinji temple?” Gokuu was confused.

The boy nodded and pointed up at the top of a hill at the village’s center. There sat a small yellowish temple. “Everyone here’s got family that makes them a monk.” He explained.

“Oh.” Gokuu was still confused. “Then why do the big guys chase you like that?”

The boy was quiet for a moment, as if deciding whether or not he trusted Gokuu. Then he shrugged and sighed deeply.

“They pick on me ‘cause I’m short, and I’m the worst monk at the whole temple.” The boy ended sadly. Then he went on with an explanation. “I break stuff, and I don’t do my chores too good, and I kept forgetting what to say.”

Gokuu didn’t think that was so bad. He broke stuff all the time, and sometimes he couldn’t remember anything. Sensei said that he was one big reoccurring concussion.

“So, “ He asked, deciding to drop the topic. “What’s your name?”

The boy looked about to respond, but before he could, someone yelled loudly. Gokuu jumped a mile.

“KURIRIN!” Yelled the harsh voice. Who ever it was sounded angry.

The boy beside Gokuu looked sick, and tremors shook his body as he glanced in the voices direction. The look of fear returned to his eyes. Nervously, he looked back at Gokuu.

“I gotta go,” He said quietly. “I think I’m in trouble with my papa again…”

Another shout, louder and sharper than before, seemed to verify this. Kuririn cringed. “I better go…”

With that, he ran off around the corner. Gokuu waved goodbye. Curious, Gokuu walked to the corner and continued to watch the boy as he ran to a tall, strong looking man in the middle of the small dirt path. Next to the man, the little boy looked puny.

The man was obviously angry. His hands were on his hips, and his brow furrowed. A furious look was on his face. When his son reached him, he gabbed a finger in his direction reprimandingly. His gestures were aggressive and punctuated by clear disappointment. What ever the boy had done had to be bad, Gokuu reasoned. By listening carefully, he picked up bits and pieces of the one-sided, heated conversation.

“…worthless brat, I ask you to do one thing…!” Gokuu heard the angry fathers voice say. Several other words followed, then the man pointed down the road. “Now get to it!”

Gokuu didn’t get to listen to anymore, as just then, he heard his own name called. Whirling around, he ran hurriedly to his Sensei, who was waiting impatiently on a path near the other side of the road.

“What were you doing over there?” Sensei asked him darkly.

“Just talkin to my friend.” Gokuu tried to sound light hearted. “I kinda ran into him…”

His sensei suddenly looked interested. “Is that so?”

He looked down the road that the boy had run off on. Then a smile snaked its way onto his face. His bony hand descended on Gokuu’s head.

“Good boy…”

*****

That night at twilight, Gokuu was rudely awakened from his nap by a very grave and serious Sensei. He was told to pack his things; they were going to collect and then leave. All this talk puzzled Gokuu. What were they going to collect?

Half an hour later, everything was clear. They stopped in front of a small, beaten down looking house at the edge of town. Gokuu looked around inquisitively.

“Sensei, what are we doing here?” He asked.

“It depends.” The man answered back. “Either I’m getting a worthless necessity, or I’m getting the person who will help me rule the world.”

This, of course, cleared nothing up for Gokuu.

“Stay here.” Was the only command to the boy as Sensei walked up to the doorframe and knocked lightly.

A second later, a pretty woman answered. Gokuu heard her ask what his Sensei wanted, and they began to talk…

Gokuu watched silently as his sensei argued with the woman. He had talked kindly to her for a while, but later when she had shook her head wildly, refusing him what he came for, he had begun specking very harshly. He yelled and waved his arms around, gesturing toward himself and to the tiny boy with the funny dots on his head that I had seen earlier, whom had come up behind her shortly into the conversation. His mother had her arm around him protectively, and he had a firm grip on her dress.

Was something wrong with the boy? He had seemed fine to Gokuu when he had spoken to him, but now he clung to his mother looking confused and scared, his eyes on Sensei. Not that Gokuu could blame him; Sensei scared him sometimes too.

Straining his ears, Gokuu wished he could understand what they were saying, but from his assigned spot he was unable to hear anything but snatches of conversation.

“He’ll be better off!” Sensei yelled.

The woman shook her head again, looking near tears. She said something to Sensei that made him mad, and for a moment I could hear nothing but heated words from him.

“I’m giving the brat that chance of a life time!” Sensei’s next words came clear. “He’s coming with me!”

Then Sensei had made a grab for the little boy, but with a yelp he ran into the safety of his mothers side, who wrapped her arms around him, shielding her frightened child from the enraged Sensei.

So that was Sensei’s plan? He was going to take the little boy? Gokuu’s eyes got wide with hope. He got so lonely by himself. It would be nice to have a friend. He suddenly felt himself hoping that Sensei would manage to pry the boy away from his mother and bring him with them. Then, at least, he wouldn’t be alone.

Then out of nowhere, the boy’s father came rushing to Sensei and the woman’s side. Like the little boy, his head was shaved with six dots running up his forehead.

“What is going on here?” he demanded of Sensei. “What do you want with the boy?”

“He is to be my pupil!” Sensei explained angrily. “I have been searching for him for all my life, and I’m not about to leave now!”

“What do you mean, ‘your pupil?’” the man asked. “He is just a stupid child; not worth anything to you at all. Now go and leave us in peace.”

“I won’t leave without that brat.” Sensei stated. He pulled the man aside and began conversing with him while the mother comforted her child.

“Do not worry, Kuririn-kun.” I heard her tell him. “Your father will send him away, and everything will be fine.”

Gokuu had to admit, his faith in Sensei wavered with her words. Perhaps she was right and they would be sent away without his new friend. He shouldn’t have been worried, of course. As always, Sensei got what he wanted.

After a moment or two of conversation, the two men seemed to come to a conclusion. Sensei reached into his pocket and then shoved a fair amount of zeni into the father’s outstretched hand. He counted it rapidly, turning his back from the anxiously waiting mother. When he was done, and put it inside his robe and nodded to Sensei. Smiling, my sensei turned heel and marched to the door of the little house. Before the woman could react, he grabbed the boy and hefted him into his arms.

“NO!” the woman screamed, reaching for her boy. Sensei ignored her, and threw the child, now screaming in protest, over his shoulder. “He’s all I have! Give me back my baby!” she squawked.

The other man came up beside the woman and held her back, muttering to her soothingly. “The boy is going with him now.” He told her. “Stop making a fuss.”

“NO!” she screamed. “NO, NO, NO! KURIRIN-KUUN!”

“MOMMA!” the boy yelled, reaching for her.

Sensei walked over to Gokuu and sat down the boy, ignoring his mother. “We’re leaving.” He snarled at him, and Gokuu flinched. Still, he was excited.

“He’s coming?” he asked, pointing at the boy being held by the arm in Sensei’s iron grip.

“Yes.” He said shortly, and released him.

Immediately, the boy tried to make a break for it back to his mother. It was a big mistake on his part. Angry, Sensei grabbed his arm and lashed out like a snake, backhanding the boy across the face viciously and sending him to the ground.

“You are not to run away from me!” Sensei yelled at him. “You ‘re under my charge now, and that means you will do what I say!”

He looked up at Sensei from the ground with wide, tear-filled eyes. Gokuu pitied him. It must have been hard having to leave his Mommy.

Oh well. Gokuu thought, smiling happily. Now at least I have a friend!

_______________________________________________________________________

End Part 1.

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