February 28th: Away - 200 - Alas, my friends, February Prompts are at an end. Our heroes worn, their lives wartorn, mayhaps to mourn, or make some porn, they walk away this morn'. Leave the "camera" for this in one place as they walk away from it.
AN. We are changing the POV and tense of this chapter for the fixed camera angle. So instead of close 3rd and past tense, we are now in plural and present tense. Please enjoy :)
The Tenkaichi Budokai is a world renowned martial arts tournament. Fighters of all styles and schools travel for miles to test themselves against the best of the best.
We are watching the front gate, some thirteen years after we last left our group. There is a registration table set up. Two men in uniforms have clipboards, and paperwork for any fighter who wishes to sign up for the tournament. They are familiar faces, and many of those who come by their table laugh and joke amiably with them.
Watching fighters sign up can get a bit tedious, so we fast forward to the part we're all interested in. The Turtle Hermit Master Roshi, an old man wearing a turtle shell and his two young students Yamcha and Krillin, wearing spiffy suits that look desperately uncomfortable, approach the table. Their companions—Bulma, Lunch, Oolong, Kame and Puar—wait on the curb, chatting about the flight. It had been a long one this time: Master Roshi had made quite a scene about a bathroom break during the plane's descent.
All signed in, the Kame'sennin school join their friends and begin to speculate. They don't want to go in just yet, though they would be well within their rights to. One is missing from their number, after all, and they don't want to miss his arrival.
"Are you sure he's coming, Master Roshi?" Yamcha asks, nervously scratching his arm.
Incensed, Krillin responds with a snarky, "Of course he's coming! This is Goku we're talking about!"
Master Roshi is not sure, and does not say anything. The uncertainty he feels is, he's sure, unnecessary. Krillin's right: this is Goku after all.
As they wait, the conversation slowing to a halt, another group arrives. These are particularly familiar to us, but in the time that has passed, it is worth making introductions again.
At the front is Tienshinhan—-Tien to his dearest friend—wearing the heavy green surcoat of the Crane with a soft little smile on his face. Now twenty years old, he has grown very tall and broad. His left sleeve is pinned up by his shoulder, revealing the angle of his stump proudly. Beside him is Chiaotzu, the red bobble on his hat from years past replaced with a bird head, so round and fuzzy it would be hard to distinguish unless you knew to look for it, with his trusty crowbar slung over his back. He has not changed in the past thirteen years at all really, save for the warmth in his eyes and the grin on his face. No longer required to be blank and mannequinesque, he can show his true face. Behind them, laughing and jostling, is Papaya, looking around excitedly at the island that is her namesake. Her Crane surcoat is marked and crumpled on the left side, where InoShikaCho is nudging her every few steps, a wicked grin on a snout that is speckling with grey among the purple.
The new Crane School. They approach the desk as well, smiling and laughing as they sign up under their school name, before Roshi turns, notices them, and cries out, "InoShikaCho!?"
Ino jumps, then snuffles forward. A few tentative sniffs later brings trust and joy, and soon he is bounding in exuberant circles around the Turtle Hermit.
Reunited after many decades, Roshi now turns his eyes to the surprised group standing around the desk. "I thought he was in the possession of the Crane Hermit, Master Shen," he says conversationally, though his gaze hasn't missed the little bird atop Chiaotzu's hat, nor the smiles on all their faces.
"Master Shen is no longer with us," Chiaotzu says in a soft, even voice. It's cautious, that voice, uncertain if he will be met with hostility or suspicion. Thankfully, Roshi surprises him again with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.
"He never knew how to stop when he was ahead." Roshi pats Ino's side and frowns as he feels the now faded ridges of scars striping beneath his fur. "I take it you are in charge of the school now."
Chiaotzu flushes and falters. Tien, as always, is there to catch him. "Yes. Chiaotzu is the Master of the Crane School." He smiles, puts an encouraging hand on Chiaotzu's shoulder. "I see you are acquainted with InoShikaCho. This is Papaya and I'm-"
"Tienshinhan!" They all turn as Son Goku sprints up to the desk, wearing the skin of a saber-tiger who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, with his tail curling curiously in the air behind him. "What are you doing here!?"
"We're signing up for the tournament." Tien glances behind him where the two attendants are starting to gather their papers. "You should get onto that, Goku. They're closing up soon."
"Oh yeah!" Goku darts past them and, in his enthusiasm, hops onto the table, startling the shorter attendant into a little scream.
"You know Goku," Krillin pipes up.
"Yes. We've crossed paths before," Chiaotzu says. "He visited the Crane School a few months ago, up in the northern plains."
"That's on the other side of the continent," Yamcha says, a little dazed. "He made it here in a few months?"
"I'm sure he's been further than that," Tien says with a smile. "He's quick on his feet."
"Signed up!" Goku pops up in the middle of the group. "Let's go, let's go!"
Goku grabs Krillin's arm and drags him through the gate. After exchanging a fairly heated kiss with Bulma, Yamcha follows, his cheeks burning a dramatic red. Chiaotzu, Tien and Papaya start to follow, but Roshi steps in front of them.
"Tell me, did he suffer?" he asks.
The three Crane students confer for a moment telepathically, not looking at each other, before Papaya says, "I'm afraid so, sir. I'm sorry."
With a slow nod, Roshi steps aside. "Thank you. I'm glad that at least the school lives on." As they pass, he puts a hand on Chiaotzu's shoulder for the briefest moment and murmurs telepathically, I'm sure you're a good teacher. A kind teacher.
Chiaotzu flushes even more and hurries after Tien and Papaya, keeping his head low to hide a pleased smile. Roshi, preparing his Jackie Chun disguise to enter the tournament, will never know how much those words mean to the young Crane Hermit, or the two students he has brought with him.
The gate is empty now. Everyone has left, either gone inside or around to the audience entrance. We watch a gentle breeze blow a dead leaf in a flurry, skipping over the stone tiles with a soft rasping sound. Tomorrow the tournament will begin in earnest. But we will not be here to watch. We can be reassured, however, that no matter how the story unfolds from here, the new Crane School is going to continue to thrive.