Disclaimer: Tekken belongs to Namco Bandai
Encounter
The enormous expanse of the Amazon Rainforest stretched out as far as the eye could see. As Verity looked out of the small window of the airplane, she thanked the Discovery Channel for the documentary on the massive jungle. The police were clearly helpless in the investigation that looked in on Julia's disappearance, but Verity had one last hope at locating her missing friend: Jin.
Maybe Jin could find something that the human investigators had missed. All she had to do was pry Jin away from that accursed gateway. Verity hoped that the news of Julia's kidnapping would be enough to make Jin return with Verity to Phoenix. As the plane landed, she set her mind and firmed her resolve.
A few days later, Verity walked down the main road that led to the village she had left over three months ago.
I only hope that they understand that I can't tell them why I'm here. They wouldn't believe me. …Well…the villagers might…but the archaeologists wouldn't.
Here we go.
She rounded the last bend and saw a number of the village children all huddled together, clearly getting ready for a game. One of them looked up and saw Verity. He blinked several times before he began to shout. The other children turned to see what had caused the sudden outburst and also saw Verity. The majority of them smiled and ran up to Verity, but some of them--the older ones-- stared in confusion. The teenagers knew that they were not supposed to see Verity for a very long time, -- if they ever saw her again, that is. Two of the girls turned to each other and then took off to find the elders.
"Hey guys! It's so good to see you again!" Verity said, although she knew they couldn't understand her. She bent down to hug them and they began to talk to her. Verity smiled and nodded politely like she always had. She still didn't know what they were saying.
"What you do here? Verity?" a heavily accented voice said.
Verity turned to see the chief walking toward her accompanied by his wife and eldest son.
"You speak English now?" Verity asked, shocked at the revelation.
"Little. But enough. What you do here?" the chief asked again
"I…" She hesitated. Should I tell him the truth? Would he believe me if I said I came to find a renegade demon? Verity took in a deep breath. Let's find out. What can he do? Throw me out? "I…I'm here looking for someone."
"Who," the chief asked confused.
"A…a demon," she said quickly.
The chief's eyes narrowed. "There no demon here. Go. Back to home."
"No. You don't understand. I have to find this demon. He's the only one who can help me. Julia was kidnapped," upon seeing the chief's confusion at the word, Verity rephrased, "Julia was… stolen. And her demon friend is the only one who can help me find her. No one else has been able to," Verity frantically explained.
"There no demon here. Go. Back to home!" the chief repeated fiercely. Apparently the topic of demons was not a welcome one around here…at least not if they weren't part of fabled legends. Great.
"Forget I said anything. I'm going to look for him, good-bye," Verity turned and walked away as the three of them stared at her back. She was about to leave the boundary of the village when suddenly a voice spoke up.
"Wait!"
Verity turned to the voice and saw a teenager who couldn't have been more than seventeen. She had never seen this kid before. Something that seemed impossible since she had lived there for two months and had met everyone.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Keeroh, " the boy replied, and then added, "I can help you find the demon."
"What?" Verity was stunned.
"I know where you can find him!" he said quickly while his eyes darted over his shoulder at the chief. The three authority figures had their backs turned to them and were walking away.
"Whoa. Back up a bit kiddo. I've never seen you before and you speak English way to good to be a native," Verity observed.
"I am a native, it's just that I've spent the last few months in the big city at college. I learned how to speak English there," he explained.
"Really?" Damn…must be the genius of the village if he's been to college…he can't be older than…what?… seventeen? Verity thought.
"Yes. But that is not important. You are looking for the demon so that he can help your friend?"
"You know him?" Verity asked hesitantly. Did he believe her?
"Yes. He saved my life."
"It seems like he has a habit of doing that," Verity said with a hint of humor, "You said you know him. Do you know his name?" Verity wanted to make sure that they were talking about the same demon. It would suck if it weren't the right one.
"Yes. He calls himself Jin," Keeroh said brightly.
Verity's eyes opened wide, "Take me to him. Now."
Keeroh nodded and led Verity into the jungle. After a couple of hours of hiking through dense foliage, they arrived at a large clearing.
"It's the Gateway Temple…" Verity gasped as the large structure came into view. It was enormous. The style mimicked that of the Mayan's temples, but as far as she could see there was no entrance…anywhere. Maybe it was on the other side?
"Yes. He spends most of his time around here. If we're lucky, he'll be around," Keeroh said.
"How do we call him? Does he have some sort of Bat-signal," Verity asked skeptically.
Keeroh laughed, "No. I'm afraid not. We'll have to make do with calling out his name. He has remarkable hearing, if he's within a few miles he should be able to hear us."
"Right."
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----When do you plan to get over your ridiculous depression, boy? Asked the demon in annoyance.
" Whenever I feel like it," Jin said sourly as he looked out at the forest from his perch atop one of the gigantic trees.
----Do you realize what the mere thought of that girl has done to you? You spend all your time moping around wishing she were back in your arms. It is so stupid! Get this through your thick skull: she is not coming back and you are not going after her. Stop your lover's lament. I can't stand it!
"Then maybe you should stay out of my head if you don't like what you see," Jin spat.
----Maybe I will. I think I'll take a vacation and perhaps when I return you will have gotten over your little crush.
…hmm…Maybe I should take you with me…you look like you need a…What was that?
"Huh? What was…what?" Jin listened carefully for whatever it was that the demon had heard.
----I think it's that Keeroh kid. Another one of your good deeds. Gah! You should stop saving people. They only end up asking you for more favors! He listened a little longer Oh. You must be joking! Looks like he brought a friend to meet you!…ridiculous!…ridiculous!… the demon's spirit faded, leaving Jin alone.
"Verity?" Jin whispered as he recognized her voice. She sounded frantic. What the hell is she doing here? The next batch of amateur archaeologists won't come around until next year…Wait…if she's here…then Julia must be here too! Those two don't go anywhere without each other.
Without thinking about it twice, Jin sprang into the air and headed in the direction of the shouts. After just a few minutes he pulled out of his flight and landed in the clearing.
"JIN! JI…oh my god…" Verity blinked several times as she realized that he was right in front of her. Her eyes looked him up and down.
Oh my…my oh my…Damn…Verity's jaw dropped…and I thought Brock was hot…he's nothing compared to Jin…
This guy is absolutely gorgeous! Even with the wings and the horns…Damn, Julia is lucky!
Verity had never actually seen Jin clearly in the daylight, and she was shocked. She simply stared as he looked at her with a confused expression.
"Verity? What are you doing here?" Jin finally asked.
"I…I was looking for you," she managed to say as she shook away her previous thoughts.
"Looking for me?"
"You know him too?" Keeroh asked suddenly, making Verity jump. She had already forgotten he had come with her.
"Um…yeah. I met him about five months ago, while I was here for school,"
Before Keeroh could say anything else, Jin repeated his question, "Looking for me? Why?"
Verity turned to Jin, "I need for you to come back to Phoenix with me."
"For what reason?"
"It has to do with Julia," Verity said with a hint of sorrow.
"Julia?" Jin saw the sad look on Verity's face. "What happened to Julia?!" he demanded.
"She…She…Julia…was kidnapped," Verity hung her head and a tear escaped her eye.
Jin was stunned, "Kidnapped!? When!? How!?" he stammered.
"About three months ago and nobody knows how that's why I'm here," Verity couldn't bear to look at Jin in the eyes.
"THREE MONTHS AGO!" Jin exclaimed, "And you're just NOW coming to tell me!?"
"I'm sorry…but…"
"No. Don't say anything else. There's no need to ask me to tag along. You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried to shoot me," Verity gaped at Jin, "Fuck the temple. We're going to Arizona."
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Next Chapter: "The Gateway"
