Dragonball
FT, The Black Thorn Saga
Chapter 11: The Training Begins
Xavier went to work as he would any other day, making sure to clean those rooms
he had forgotten about the day before when his head was in the clouds. After an
hour of cleaning, Xavier got his coat and backpack and headed out the door. As
he stepped out the door, he was greeted by a biting wind that reminded him that
winter loomed around the corner. Xavier looked up into the sky and saw that it
had become very cloudy, as opposed to the crystal clear skies of that morning.
This brought a smile to Xavier's face. It wasn't that he hated warm sunny days,
he just preferred gloomy winter ones. He descended the stairs, still half
looking up at the clouds, when he heard a female voice from the bottom of the
stairs, "So, what's so interesting up there?" it asked.
Xavier's attention snapped back to earth when he heard the question. He looked
ahead of him and five stairs below him, leaning on the railing, stood Emily
with a smile on her face. Xavier's smile broadened when he saw her and replied,
"Nothing really. Just looking at the clouds."
Emily chuckled at this and shook her head. As Xavier got to the step the Emily
was standing on, she turned an walked alongside him. After they had walked a
few steps, Xavier said, "I didn't expect to see you waiting here."
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked as she purposely bumped into him. Xavier didn't
have a reply. Instead he let his arm wrap around Emily's waist. They continued
walking for a few more paces when an mischievous smirk made its way onto
Xavier's face. A second later, he had both arms wrapped around Emily's waist
and effortlessly picked her up into the air (surprising himself as much as
Emily due to the ease with which she was off the ground), spun around once, and
set her back down. Once she was back on her own feet, Emily asked Xavier,
between laughing, "What was that for?"
Xavier merely shrugged his shoulders before he and Emily burst out laughing
again as they continued walking to the bus.
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Xavier entered his apartment after walking Emily to hers. He walked to the
phone and listened to the familiar message. OK...mom's working, as usual,
Lydia is gone 'til nine...hmm...I wonder how I'm supposed to get in touch with
Dende. He said we'd start training as soon as I was ready, so I suppose there's
no time like the present. Damn, I wish I knew how to do that telepathy thing
that Dende knows. Oh, well. If he's the 'guardian of earth,' I guess he'll know
or something. Xavier thought as he walked away from the phone and into his
room. He dropped his backpack on the floor and was about to hang up his coat
when he heard a knocking sound. He walked to the front door and opened it, but
there was no one there. The knocking sounds began again. This time, Xavier was
sure it wasn't coming from the front door, but from the direction of his room.
He walked back there and listened again. The knocking was coming from his
closet. Xavier slowly walked to the closet. When he got there, he heard the
knocking again. He slowly reached for the doorknob, preparing himself for
whatever might be behind the door, and flung it open. Xavier peered inside and
what he saw almost made him die laughing. Dende was standing in the small space
of a closet with his arms stuck at his sides. One of Xavier's neckties was
hanging off of Dende's left antenna as the Namekian struggled to free himself
from the confined space. After about thirty seconds of listening to Xavier laugh,
Dende finally asked in a slightly annoyed voice, "Are you going to help me get
out of here, or just roll on the floor laughing some more?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Xavier replied as he got to his feet while trying to
catch his breath and quell his laughing. Once Dende was finally free of the
closet, Xavier asked him, while trying not to start laughing again, "How in the
world did you manage to do that?"
"Well," Dende began as he removed the necktie from his antenna. "I figured you
might want to start your training today, and when I 'heard' you thinking about
how to contact me, I figured I would just use the instantaneous movement to get
here. When you threw your backpack down in the corner over there, you were
standing exactly where I was going to appear. Rather than crash into you, I
ended up in your closet."
"Well, why didn't you just use your teleportation to get yourself out of the
closet?" Xavier asked.
"Believe
me, I tried. But when I use the instantaneous movement, I have to put my index
and middle fingers of one hand to my forehead for it to work. I tried to open
the door first, but there's no doorknob on that side of the door. I tried to
move my hand back to my forehead, but as you saw, I didn't really have the
range of motion to do that."
This was too much for Xavier as he, once again, burst out laughing
uncontrollably. When his laughter finally subsided, Dende asked him, "Are you
ready to start your training?"
"Well, yeah. Wasn't that the whole purpose of your coming here?" Xavier
replied.
"Alright then." Dende said as he placed his index and middle finger of his left
hand on his forehead and placed is right hand on Xavier's shoulder. As before,
Xavier closed his eyes as the two of them disappeared from the room.
When Xavier opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a beach. He
looked around and saw that he was, in fact, on an incredibly small island. In
the center of it was a small house and palm trees dotted the perimeter of the
island. After taking in the surroundings, Xavier realized that Dende was
nowhere to be seen. He walked all around the tiny island, but he still couldn't
find Dende. Xavier then looked at the house again and, shrugging his shoulders,
thought, Well, I have no other options, I might as well see if anyone is home.
With this, Xavier made his way up to the front door and knocked. There was no
answer. Okay, maybe they didn't hear me. Xavier thought and knocked again, this
time a little louder. When there was no answer again, Xavier began to get
frustrated. Great, just great! I'm stuck on a tiny little island, with a
tiny little house and no one is home! Being completely frustrated, Xavier
pounded on the door as hard as he could. This time, he heard a reply. Someone
inside the
house yelled, "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT, I'M COMING, ALREADY!!!!"
This was immediately followed by the sound of a toilet flushing. A few seconds
later, the door to the small house opened to reveal a very short, very old,
very bald man with a white mustache and beard that made him look even older. In
his left hand, he held a walking staff as tall as the owner and he was wearing
a green t-shirt, tan shorts, red sandals, and very, very dark sunglasses.
Xavier also noticed the man had a rolled up magazine in his right hand, which,
as far as he could tell from the small part of it he could see, was a lingerie
catalog.
The old man raised an eyebrow when he saw Xavier standing at his door and
asked, "Can I help you?"
Xavier, who was half-expecting Dende to answer the door, stumbled over his
words as he tried to put together a reply. "Hi...um...I was...um...do you
happen to know if Dende is around?"
"Dende?" the old man replied. "No, he's not around. You should have stopped by
yesterday if you're looking for him."
"Well, I was just talking to him a few minutes ago," Xavier replied. Only after
the words left his mouth did he realize how stupid he sounded. Not giving the
old man a chance to reply, Xavier continued, "What I mean is that Dende brought
me here, but now he's vanished."
"Oohh, I see." the old man replied as if he understood exactly what Xavier was
talking about. "Then you must be Xavier?"
Surprised that the man knew his name, Xavier replied, "Yeah, but how did
you..."
"Come in, come in. We haven't got all day, you know." the old man interrupted.
Xavier followed the old man into the house. The interior was a lot bigger than
the exterior of the house suggested. They first entered into a living room,
complete with a purple couch and matching chairs. Xavier noticed an aerobics
program was showing on the TV and thought, this guy doesn't look like the
type to be doing aerobics.
Before Xavier could think anything else, he walked right into the old man, who
had stopped walking without Xavier's noticing. The man turned around and
shouted at Xavier, "WILL YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!"
Xavier backed away from the old man and was about to apologize when the old man
started to talk again. "So, you're probably wondering who I am, what you are
doing here, and how I know about you, eh?"
"Well, yeah." was all that Xavier could reply.
"Well, for starters, my name is Kame Sennin, but you can simply call me Master
Roshi." The old man began. "Secondly, I know about you because I was told by
Dende. And third, you are here for one reason and one reason only." Here, Roshi
paused briefly.
"And that is?" Xavier asked.
"TO
TRAIN!! WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE HERE TO DO?" Roshi shouted in Xavier's
face. The sudden change in volume caused Xavier to jump back and inadvertently
fall over one of the chairs. Roshi stood perfectly still as Xavier scrambled to
get back on his feet and reposition the chair as it had been before his
unexpected trip to the floor. When Xavier had finally composed himself, Roshi
asked, "So, shall we step outside and begin?"
"Whatever you say." Xavier replied. "You're the teacher."
"Good," Roshi said as he walked out the door. "You already understand the first
lesson: the teacher knows what he's doing." When he stepped out of the
air-conditioned house, Xavier was met full force by a blast of warm tropical
air. Xavier hadn't noticed before, but he was still wearing his leather trench
coat. He stopped on the small porch that was attached to the front of the
house, took off his coat, and draped it over the railing. Feeling cooled off,
but still wishing he was wearing shorts, Xavier followed Roshi. As they were
walking to the beach, Xavier was struck by how old Roshi looked. How is this
guy supposed to teach me how to fight? He looks like he can barely walk. And
what's with the turtle shell on his back?
Once he was halfway between the house and the water, Roshi stopped and turned
to Xavier. "Now, the second most important lesson I'm going to teach you is..."
he began.
"Excuse me," Xavier interrupted. "But, you seem a little....well....old to be
doing any martial arts."
Roshi looked at Xavier silently. His left eyebrow raised as he seemed to think
about what
Xavier had just said. An instant later, Xavier was holding the top of his skull
in pain and Roshi was shouting, "OF COURSE I'M OLD!! I'M OVER 550 YEARS OLD TO
BE PRECISE!!!"
Xavier stopped rubbing his now sore skull when he heard Roshi's age.
"F-f-f-five hundred?!" He exclaimed.
Roshi merely nodded a reply. Xavier then sighed and said, "Well, I guess I
shouldn't be too surprised. After all that's happened recently, I guess someone
living as long as you shouldn't be too much of a surprise. But, I gotta ask,
what just hit me in the head?"
"Hmm? You mean this?" Roshi replied. A second later, Xavier was again clutching
the top of his skull in pain.
"YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT!!" Xavier shouted in reply.
"That is what brings us to the second most important lesson I have to
teach you." Roshi
began. "Always take note of your surroundings."
"That's
it? That's the second most important lesson you can..." Xavier's reply was cut
short when he felt a sharp slap across the right side of his face, which he
didn't see coming or going. Rubbing his now sore cheek, Xavier said, "Alright,
alright, I'll take note of my
surroundings."
Xavier stopped rubbing his face and looked around him. He started at the edge
of the beach; the waves hitting the sand repetitively, with the occasional
wave, larger than the rest, coming up-shore a few more feet before finally
receding like all the others. He moved his gaze over the beach, observing every
mound and depression, the occasional sprig of grass, and the way the grains of
sand moved when a breeze hit the beach. Continuing his mental mapping of the
island, he noted where every palm tree was that he could see. He took a moment
to observe how the leaves swayed in the breeze and tried to get a rough average
of the number of coconuts on each tree. Finally, he observed the small house in
the center of the island again. This time, he noted open windows, chipped
paint, anything slightly out of the ordinary. When he was satisfied with his
inspection of the small island, Xavier turned to Roshi and said, "Ok, now
what?"
"Now," Roshi replied. "We see if you have just learned lesson two."
As soon as Roshi stopped talking, Xavier felt something hit his left arm, just
below the elbow. "SON OF A BITCH!" Xavier screamed in pain. "Why the hell did
you kick me?" he asked Roshi.
"What do you mean?" Roshi replied with a sly smile on his face. "Did you
actually see my
foot hit your arm?"
Xavier quickly replied, "No, but your left foot is dug deeper in the sand than
it was a few moments ago, indicated that you just put more weight on it." Roshi
smiled at how quickly his new pupil caught on. Xavier, however, didn't notice
the smile, but kept talking, "And besides, the instep of your right foot in
turning a lovely shade of pink, telling me that you just hit something with
it."
Roshi
feigned a laugh as tried to bury his right foot in the sand and thought How
embarrassing. I used to be able to knock over a tree with one kick like that
and walk away without a mark on me.
"Now, after that demonstration," Roshi said. "Do you have any idea what the
next lesson
is that I have to teach you?"
Xavier thought for a second before he replied, "I've got it: never
underestimate your
opponent."
"Precisely." Roshi replied. Hmm...this kid has some potential, at least in
the brains department. Maybe Dende was right about him. Roshi thought to
himself. "I have one more thing to teach you today." He continued. "Do you know
what ki is?"
The blank look on Xavier's face told Roshi that he needed to explain. "Ki is
your life energy. Most people have very weak kis and, therefore, are not very
strong. Some people, however, through proper training, become strong enough that
they can harness their ki into a weapon, a fighting energy, if you will."
Xavier stood unmoving, the same blank expression had never left his face.
Sighing, Roshi
continued. "Well, seeing as it is a hard thing to explain, I guess I'll just
have to show you what ki is. Here, hold this." Roshi said as he handed his
walking staff to Xavier with his left hand. Roshi then walked a few steps away
from Xavier then turned to face him again. He spread his feet to either side of
his torso, until his shins were perpendicular to the ground while his thighs
were almost parallel to it. He brought his arms in front of his body, his hands
clenched into fists. Slowly, he pulled his arms back, bending them at the
elbows. When he stopped moving, Roshi's fists were at waist level, slightly in
front of him.
Xavier was looking on, thinking What the hell is that old man doing?
When Roshi began
to scream. After a few seconds, Roshi's muscles began to swell. Veins began to
appear on his arms and his shirt began to rip at the seams under the strain of
the newly added muscle mass. A few more seconds passed in which nothing
happened, aside from Roshi's now constant screaming. Suddenly, a blinding light
seemed to emit itself from Roshi's very being. Xavier had to shield his eyes from
the intense light. While he was still covering his eyes, Xavier was hit by what
felt like a brick wall. He was thrown like a rag doll through the air, and
would have continued into the ocean, had a palm tree not stopped his flight.
Xavier hit it with a sickening 'thud' as his back contorted itself to the
trunk. As he was being held against the tree by the 'brick wall,' Xavier
managed to open his eyes. When he did, he thought he was hallucinating. Roshi,
in his now bulked up form, seemed to be on fire, literally. He was surrounded
by and incandescent white flame, but did not appear to be harmed by it. After
being pressed against the tree by the unseen wall for a few moments, Xavier
fell off the tree, landing face first in the sand. He tried to ignore the screaming
pain that emanated from his spine, but when he tried to lift his face out of
the sand, he found that his entire body was paralyzed by pain. As he lay there,
unable to move, Xavier thought he heard Roshi's voice say, in a somewhat
embarrassed tone, "Oh, my. I think I overdid
it." Those were the last things Xavier heard before his world went black.