Episode 4: Em'bracing One's Adventure
As Brace and Matsu walked through the woods, Zack continued to struggle with his bonds. He knew that they were very close to getting to the city, and if he couldn't get out, he was stuck with a stupid teacher as a tutor. He didn't know how many hours have passed. All he did know is that soon they would get to the city, and he would lose. He concentrated really hard on the one spot to gather energy at his hands, slowly gathering it all for one heavy blast, since normal blasts didn't affect it. Then, all at one time, he let go and blew away the rocks that were binding him together, hoping off of Matsu's shoulder and jumping in front of Brace and Matsu. The two of them looked surprised as they saw Zack starting to stand, looking back at them with a face of victory.
"Ha! Told you I could do it!" Zack said. Matsu and Brace applauded.
"Wow, that was really good work." Brace replied.
"Hell yeah!" Zack replied, pointing two fingers up in a victory pose.
"But...you might wanna turn around." Brace said, moving Zack's head to look behind him. As Zack looked, he moaned in displeasure as he saw they had just arrived in town, right when he got there.
"Ahhh c'mon!" He shouted. Brace just giggled to herself as she walked into the town. Zack continued to moan to himself as Matsu came up next to him.
"Ah, no worries eh? At least you got out, so that's a sign of improvement." Matsu said, trying to cheer him up.
"Oh forget it, lets just go." Zack said, sounding very disoppointed as he walked into the town following Brace. They have been searching town everywhere, but for some strange reason, Brace couldn't find any tutors. She was intent on getting help for Zack, but apparently that wasn't happening at the moment, which Zack took much pleasure upon. He even thought to himself lucky if he wasn't going to find any tutor whatsoever. His expression increased as he heard Brace sigh dissoppointingly after an hour of looking around. As he noticed though, the villages around here seemed to be made of just plain stones and woods. Not quite what he'd expect for magical people, then again he thought they had their reasons.
"Man, this isn't working." Brace said, sitting on a bench.
"Oh well, I guess we'll have to go without one." Zack said, happily. That was, until a stranger came up behind them, which Zack and Brace noticed.
"Excuse me, I happened to hear you say something about needing a tutor?" The stranger said. He was shrouded in a dark brown cloak, covering everything about him except his feet and his mouth. His eyes were shrouded in shadows.
"Uhh...yeah." Brace said, standing. "Who are you?" The stranger just chuckled.
"I....go by many names, but I believe this will settle as a symbol." The stranger said, pulling back his sleeves. When Zack and the others looked, they gasped at what they saw. The stranger had not one, not two, but all four of the primary bracelets, except for light and darkness. They each shimmered a diffrent light as the the others looked. While standing, Brace and Matsu bowed in respect, while standing. Zack looked at them curious, before Matsu grabbed him by the head, bending it down and forcing him to bow.
"Hey!" Zack shouted, trying to lose Matsu's grip on him.
"Please forgive us, we didn't know you were a kaise." Brace said, respectfully. Zack finally wrangled his grip off of Matsu, rubbing his neck from how sore it felt from Matsu's grip.
"Geeze, what's the big deal? And what's a kaise?" Zack asked, wondering about their mysterious behavior. Brace looked up at Zack with a bit of an angered face.
"Zack, it's a kaise. They're masters of four primary bracelets! They're considered respectable because of their wisdom." Brace yelled.
"Wait, four? How do they get four? I thought you said you had to descend from a primary balance?" Zack asked, confused.
"Correction, I said I'm a descendant of the light balance, never said anything about needing to in order to use that element." Brace said. Zack felt a sweat drop behind his head, finding how ironic his misinterperatation was.
"Anyway, as I was saying, we're trying to find a tutor for Zack here." Brace told the stranger, pointing at Zack who turned his head away in anger, crossing his arms.
"For the last time I don't need a damn tutor!" He yelled.
"Hm...he's from a diffrent world, yes?" The stranger said, causing the others eye's to widen.
"H-How did you know that?" Zack asked, still in a bit of shock. Even though he didn't know anything about this world, as to how he could tell he was from a diffrent world was completely confusing. The clothing both worlds have aren't that diffrent, and he looks just like any other person in this world. And even more, he figured it out alot faster than Brace and Matsu did.
"Because of that." He replied, pointing to the ground. When the other's looked, they noticed they had shadows, except for Zack who had two. "I'm guessing you got possessed by an apparation?"
"Ok now your creeping me out." Zack said, wondering how the hell he knew all of this.
"Normally, a person from this world who gets possessed by an apparation mantains a single shadow. However, you seem to possess two. So etiher you were born this way, or you're from a diffrent world." He replied. Matsu and Brace looked a bit impressed, while Zack still was a bit nervous. He didn't want to put his trust into the hands of some complete stranger, esspecially one who seemed to know everything of the situation.
"So...can you help us?" Brace asked.
"What?!" Zack stammered, stepping in front of her. "No no no! There's no way I'm trusting this guy! Some kaise freak or not, I'm not doing this!" Zack stammered, glaring at the stranger. The guy just seemed to keep the same expression as he did before he smirked.
"Alright then, I know how to settle this. We'll have a duel. If I win I am your official teacher. But if you win, you can train yourself just as you like it." He said, causing Zack to throw a strange look.
"What? That's not even fair! You have four elements and I only have one!" Zack said, holding up his bracelet. The stranger looked intently on it to see it shimmering in the bright light. He smirked a bit as he grew an idea.
"If fairness is how you'd like to do it, then we'll have a simple match. Your fire bracelet against my fire bracelet." The stranger said. Zack seemed to be in thought for a moment, thinking about the proposition. He knew that being someone who used four diffrent elements would have more experience, but if it was the only way to not get a tutor, he decided to accept it then.
"Fine, we have a deal, but you better keep up your end of the bargain." Zack said. The stranger just seemed to chuckle to himself a bit before he respawnded.
"Very well then. Follow me." He said, as he lead the way to the outside of the forest. Zack grinned as he began to follow, before feeling something tugging his arm. When he looked back, he saw Brace holding onto his wrist with a worried face.
"Zack! Please don't do it. Duels with tutors are very different. If you lose here he'll kill you!" Brace said worried, causing Zack to gasp a bit surprised.
"What?! How the hell am I suppose to know that?!" He stammered, he started feeling nervous though as he felt the strangers hand on his shoulder.
"You weren't." The stranger replied. With immense strength, grabbing him by the shoulder, the stranger threw Zack into the air in the opposite direction. He must have been at least a hundred feet in the sky, going like thirty miles per hour. Brace and Matsu stood there with their mouths gaped open from shock, while they heard Zack's screaming echoing as he soared.
"Zack!" Brace shouted, a bit worriedly. The stranger put his arm in the way though before she could run after him.
"Don't worry. He won't get killed." The stranger said, as he took off with immense speed. Again, Matsu and Brace looked a bit shocked.
"How the heck is he so strong and fast?" Brace said, a little surprised. Even she has never seen someone like this before. Even in a world where elements control the world, and everything is completely diffrent, even she wasn't use to seeing someone with immense strength.
"It must be a earth and air bracelet." Matsu replied. Brace looked back at him curiously. "The wind bracelet enchances one's speed, while the earth one enhances one's strength. Putting them both together, let's just say I hope Zack is in one piece when we get there." Matsu said, running off into the woods. Brace was going to say something, but seeing how Matsu already left she didn't wanna waste time by standing around, and she quickly took off after them.
As Zack soared, he continued to scream, not knowing when he was going to land. By his guess, he was in the air for at least a minute so far, screaming as he kept going on and on forever. He couldn't tell if this meant he just lost or whatever, because by the time he'd fall, he would land painfully on the ground, or kill himself on the ground when he landed. He gasped though as something caught his leg, causing him to dangle down while in the air. He looked up confused until he gasped at the sight of the stranger from earliar holding him, while simply standing in the air.
"What the?" Zack stammered, looking down again to see how high he was, then back at the stranger. "Put me down idiot!" Zack yelled.
"As you wish." The stranger joked, causing Zack's eyes to widen in panic.
"No no wait, I didn't mean..." Zack started, before he was dropped by the stranger. He screamed as he got closer and closer to the ground, but snapped out of it as he looked back at his bracelet. He thought to himself for a few seconds before nodding, showing that he had an idea. Aiming his arm at the ground, Zack shot a wave of fire straight down, continuously. It took a few seconds, but he could finally feel his falling lessen as the fire blast pushed against the ground, causing him to rise a bit. He could finally make out what he was seeing, looking at the clearing he was at the other day. He moaned to himself but only for a few seconds, seeing how now was not the time for complaints. He blasted harder as he got closer and closer to the ground, finally doing a flip in order to land on his feet. When he did, he stood up again, looking around.
"Ok, now your seriously fricken dead!" Zack shouted angrily, punching his fist to his hand. He looked behind him though as he saw the stranger standing a few yards away from him, putting his hands through his sleeves.
"You can have the first strike, whenever you please." The stranger said with a smirk. Zack looked at him questionably for a bit. Why would he have me attack first? Zack thought to himself. He thought about it for a few seconds before grinning, thinking he knew what the stranger is going to do.
"Oh no, I've seen this trick before." Zack said, causing the strangers expression to grow quite curious.
"What ever do you mean?" He asked.
"Oh sure, I attack first, then you counter with a diffrent move, because I left myself open for an attack!" Zack said, corssing his arms. The stranger just chukled to himself before clapping.
"Bravo, you saw through my trick. Lesson one, complete." The stranger said, causing Zack to grow an annoyed expression.
"Can it with the lessons! We have a duel to do and as far as I know your not suppose to teach me anything unless you win!" Zack shouted, taking a battle stance. The strangers expression changed to a bit more of curiousity before putting his hands to the side.
"Very well then, if your confident enough, we shall have the duel as was proposed. I must warn you though..." The stranger said, lifting his head. Zack could see one of his eyes, which revealed to be very stern looking. "Your going to regret it." The stranger said. Zack looked more closely as he could see one of the four bracelets on the stranger's arm glow, the fire bracelet. He stayed in the stance he was in, ready for anything. But Zack's eyes widened as he saw an array of fire all channling to the palm of the stranger. At first, Zack had no idea what he was doing until he saw the stranger's palm starting to grow an immense ball of fire. It grew until it was probably at least two feet, causing Zack's eyes to widen. All at once, the stranger shot the blast straight towards Zack. Not knowing what else to do, he aimed his hand at the ground and blasted it, causing him to rise in the air, barely fast enough to dodge the on coming ball of flame. Zack looked, somewhat in fear, as he saw the blast continuing to go, leaving a trail of burnt ground in it's path. Zack snapped out of it though as he suddenly saw the stranger right in front of him, both his arms straight out and his legs bent in a little.
"I hope this isn't the best you can do." The stranger said. Zack's expression was blank. He realized that the stranger had a back up plan just in case. In the event that Zack used his bracelet to get into the air, because of the ball's immense size, he couldn't see the stranger doing the same thing Zack did, going closer to Zack. In a quick second, the stranger flipped forward, bringing his leg down when he flipped all the way around, smashing Zack back to the ground. Zack didn't even know what hit him first, as it was practically a quick flash that happened, and before he even knew it he crashed into the ground, with debris and dust scattered everywhere. The stranger came back down to the ground, arms in each sleeve, looking at Zack. Zack winced a bit, trying to open his eyes as he saw the stranger looking back at him.
"I really hope you change your mind before you accidently get killed." He said. Zack coughed a bit of blood that came running down his mouth as he slowly got up, trembling a bit to keep his balance as he got to his feet.
"I...I'm not giving up..." Zack said, who appeared to be breathing hard. He shouted in rage as he attempted to blast the stranger with fire, at full force. His eyes widened though as he saw that the stranger simply raised his hand, and somehow, the fire was absorbed into his palm.
"Ah, the things you could learn if you would simply allow me to teach you." The stranger said. Zack's expression grew angrier, as he jumped straight at the guy with a firey fist. It didn't work though, as he was kneed right in the stomach, causing more blood to come out. He was then grabbed by his neck as the stranger raised his head until he was about his hieght. Zack was about two feet off the ground in order to be the same size.
"Admiring effort, although that won't always help you win." Zack screamed as he felt like his neck was on fire, as fire was starting to burn on it. Trying to shrug it off, Zack managed to kick the stranger to the side with immense strength, causing him to lose his grip on Zack. Zack fell to one of his knees as he put one of his hands on the burn mark that was on his neck. As he looked back, he saw the stranger quickly getting off the ground, but with a grin.
"Very impressive. You just might make an excellent student." He joked.
"Shut up!" Zack shouted, blasting again towards the stranger, with the same results as last time. But what the stranger didn't see, partially due to the flames being in the way when he was absorbing it, Zack was shooting himself straight towards him, using one hand to blast behind him to send him shooting, and gathering energy into his other hand. The stranger simply smirked as he saw this, impressed by the preformance. Zack attempted to hit straight at his head, but the stranger simply moved his head to the side, causing Zack to miss. Zack couldn't believe it either, unable to stand how fast the stranger was, or how he was able to counter so easily. Next thing he knew he was grabbed by his wrist, while still in the air. He turned his eyes a bit, still seeing the stranger there smirking.
"Oh this is getting very fun indeed. May I show you though how to promptly use that attack?" The stranger asked sarcastically. Zack's eyes went blank as he saw massive energy being transferred to the strangers palm, as his fist began to catch on fire. At first, it was about the same size as Zack's. But it quickly grew within a few seconds as it now appeared to be a ball of fire that engulfed the strangers hand. With a quick trust, the punched his hand right in Zack's stomach, causing him to gasp at the pain he just felt. As he looked down, he saw the stranger continuing to grin. "Oh, and here's the part where it get's fun." With that, Zack was blasted back at quick speed, feeling the ball of fire still pushing him back agaisnt his stomach. Zack couldn't even find energy to scream in pain as he felt himself crashing through tree after tree after tree. With each one he crashed through, the blast demished a bit after bit after bit. Finally, Zack gasped air as he felt himself hitting the last tree, not crashing through it. He felt his skin being scrapped against the bark as he slowly fell to the ground, still brathing hard. When he looked down, he saw his shirt was torn from where the blast managed to hit him. He slowly lifted his head, still breathing heavily as he saw the stranger walking through the path that was destroyed, before stopping a few yards away. By this time the sun was down and the sky darkened.
"I really don't get you. You keep on trying, and refuse any help someone offers. Why is that?" The stranger asked. Zack just breathed heavily a bit for a few seconds, before making his way to his feet, taking a battle stance again.
"Becuase...this is my...a...adventure..." Zack said, breathing hard. He noticed though that the stranger's expression changed to a bit of anger.
"An adventure? Is that what your calling this? You think this is just like a video game, coming back to life if you lose a battle and getting stronger to win again?" The stranger said, taking a few steps closer. "Your nothing but an idiot. This is the real world. There is no extra lives, or bonuses for defeating a strong opponet. You don't get to choose how a game ends in most cases, because that's just they way they were meant to end. Do you have any idea what you'll get yourself into if you simply treat this as a game?" The stranger asked, removing the his robe. Zack's eyes went blank at what he saw. The stranger had cuts, scars, bruises, and what shocked Zack most was that he didn't have a right eye, it only appeared to be swollen completely. And he was balled with burns all across his head.
"This is the real world. Those who are untrainned to do things will result in this. I was like you once, wanting to go on adventure, and my very first element to receive was the fire one like you have. But I was careless, and my stupidity consumed me in flames like you see now. There is no happy ending, and you can't change one's destiny." The stranger said, putting his robe back on and putting his hood over his head. "I give you one last chance boy. Either you agree to be a student, or I will be forced to not hold anything back."
Zack just stood there speechless. He couldn't believe what happened to the guy, or what he saw. He couldn't believe he had the chance of being consumed by his own power, and he definitly didn't want to end up looking like the guy he just saw. He also knew that he was going to be having difficulty along the journey ahead, and he would be facing difficulties like this. But to him, he didn't want one changing his destiny. He chose his destiny the minute he put his arm into that hole and got sucked into this world, and he knew it. Looking back at the stranger, he sighed deeply as he put his arms to the side.
"Fine..." He said softly. The stranger just seemed to smirk.
"Very good choice. Now if you will follow me, we should be getting back to your friends..." The stranger said as he started to walk through the woods. He stopped though as he heard water hitting the ground. When he looked back, he saw a tear rolling down Zack's eye. His head was down as his body appeared to be shaking a bit.
"If I'm to get killed, then this is my destiny." Zack said, raising his head. The stranger just looked curiously as he saw more tears rolling down his face, and his expression was angry. "Your the one who doesn't get it. I refuse to let someone else control my life, and I refuse to accept any help to teach me how to use these stupid things!"Zack shouted. As the stranger looked, he raised his eye brow as he saw energy being gathered, not just to one, but both his hands. "I accepted this adventure the day I met Brace and Matsu. Sure, I didn't know what to expect of it, but it was my choice to keep going along!" The more he shouted, he walked towards the hooded stranger. "And even before I accepted this, I knew I would have an adventure when my mom was killed seven years ago!" The stranger's expression changed to a bit more curious as he heard this. " I knew that if I had an adventure, it would be because of her death, and I knew that there was no going out of it once it started!" His hands had formed a sphere of the fire, still continuing to grow. "I'm not about to let my life be put into someonelse's hands, and I'm not about to let you control it!" With that shout, he rushed to the stranger screaming in anger at full forced. The stranger simply gathered energy in both his arms as well, seeing no other option, rushign towards Zack as well. There was a large explosion as both of them collided their blasts together at once.
At the time, Matsu and Brace saw the explosion about a mile away from their location. When Brace was really worried about it, unable to tell if Zack was killed by teh stranger or vice versa. They both took off running towards the source of the explosion, hoping either of them were ok. When they got closer, they saw smoke rumaging throughout the woods, going in all directions. They stopped, knowing if they got closer they would suffocate from the smoke. Brace was getting really worried as of now, not being able to see anyone.
"Zack!" She shouted, echoing through the woods. Both of them looked curiously though as they heard coughing, but unable to tell who it was. They saw a shadow in the smoke as it started to get closer. Brace was praying to herself, hoping to see Zack. Their expression changed to a mix of shock and surprised when they saw Zack walking out through the woods, one of his hands over his sides and his clothes torn in a few areas.
"Zack!" She shouted happily. Zack slowly raised his head a bit, his eyes both half open as well as his mouth, he he saw Brace. He smiled a bit, shaking as he slowly raised his arm. He shook as he gave a thumbs up at them, telling them he was ok. But he suddenly collapsed on his front though, still giving the thumbs up sign. Brace, worried, rushed over to him, leaning him up aginst her lap.
"Zack! Please wake up, Zack!" She yelled. Brace and Zack looked back though as they saw another guy coming through. It was the stranger that agreed to be his teacher. His robes was torn just as well, but not as much as Zack's. He was breathing just as hard however, collapsing to one of his knees. Brace looked back disoppointingly, knowing how much Zack didn't want to have a tutor, and how much he tried in order to win.
"You won, didn't you?" Matsu said, disoppointed as well. The stranger just breathed for a bit before getting to his feet.
"He..." The stranger said, before stopping. He remembered back to what Zack said earliar, wanting to choose his own destiny and not wanting anyone to interfere with it. He felt like something was reawakened in his heart, remembering the same way he wanted an adventure as well. He looked back at Zack who was still breathing a bit heavily. As he looked more closely to his arms, he saw that there were burn marks on his hands from where he gathered his energy. The stranger thought for a moment, before looking back at Matsu. "He won." He said, getting a surprised look from Matsu and Brace.
"He won?" Brace replied, a little bit happily. The stranger nodded.
"He may not know how to control his power, but just give him some time and he'll master anything." The stranger said, as he started to walk away. Brace looked at him a little curiously though as she heard him stop. "But just in case...I'll be checking in every now and then." The stranger said. Matsu and Brace could see a smile as he looked back.
"What's your name anyway?" Brace asked, curiously.
"My name..." The stranger pasued for a moment. "Call me Leneth." The stranger said, as he disappeared into the forest. Brace and Matsu looked back at Zack who appeared to be snorring. Matsu picked him up, putting him over his shoulder as the two started walking back to town, Zack still snoring as they carried him. Brace gasped a bit as she was picked up by Matsu, who put her on his other shoulder. She looked at Zack's head who was on leaning on Matsu's back, smiling about how he was going to get good news in the morning...