Chapter 5: The Journey Begins

Author's Notes: My email address has changed! If you'd like to leave feedback for me (I'd really appreciate it!), or have any questions, please email me at lannon_the_wizard@yahoo.com


The fall of Suzushii's feet upon the forest floor was forlorn. Although it had been an amazing day, it had taken a less than perfect turn. Suzushii learned that he was going to train with the greatest martial artist in the world, a dream that no one had even dared to consider in hundreds of years, something that made him happier than he ever thought possible. But then he had to say goodbye to his parents, brother, sister, and best friend with the possibility of not seeing them again for years. The irony of the situation made Suzushii feel like ripping his hair out.

The afternoon sun seared the back of his neck through the canopied branches of the forest's trees. The heat beckoned the boy to take a nap in the shade of the biggest tree he could find, but he ignored the scorching air and continued on. He had only been walking an hour, and it was just the first day of his journey, but already every footfall was a battle. At least it smelt good in the summer, almost like the acorns, pinecones, and every other nut and seed were baking and giving off a bread-like smell. Suzushii breathed in the wholesome air and pressed on, the goal at the end of the road pressing him to persevere.

It had taken a lot of effort to get permission to set off on the journey. When he broke the news to his mom she had done the exact opposite of what he had expected; she went silent. She contemplated, and then called her husband. He came swiftly home from work and the family had a long, tense conversation while Aisu and Shiryoku played upstairs. After talking everything over thoroughly, his parents were still reluctant to let him go. He reasoned with them as best he could, all the while warding off the panic that surged up within him every time he thought they would say no. But finally they had agreed. What made the decision was the simple fact that there was nothing in the world that could be better for someone who loved martial arts. Going to learn from Kame-sen'in Muten Roshi was like having Central City University call you up and tell you they want to pay for every zenii of your education for the rest of your life. An opportunity like that just doesn't come along twice in a lifetime. So, they let 
him go. He packed everything into a capsule, said a tearful goodbye, and waved to him as he set out upon his long road to the coast, just as Suru Sensei had instructed.

His family had been heartbroken, especially since he had to leave that very day. Well, he didn't have to, but Suru had pushed him to do so. He told Suzushii that with his sensei gone to the tournament, he needed to keep up his training and the only way to do that would be to find Kame-sen'in right away. The old sensei also told Suzushii to make the trip on his own rather than have his parents drive him there. 'It'll make you strong,' he said, 'It'll start turning you into a man.'

Suzushii had no qualms about going until the time to leave actually came. His father had bawled, his mother had cried and hugged him tight, his sister had waved him a cheerful farewell (no surprise there), but Aisu had been a problem. The two brothers shared a very deep bond, one that few siblings ever attained. As much as Suzushii's mother loved her son, Aisukurimu loved Suzushii more. As the young man said his good-byes, Aisu remained silent. He didn't shed a tear, didn't ask to go, or even say farewell. As Suzushii walked away, the look in his brother's eyes pierced his heart, and it was almost impossible to take the next step.

The memory was painful enough to make Suzushii gasp. He wasn't sure how he could leave his brother like that. It was very hard, but he had to do it, nonetheless. His brother would just have to learn to live without him.

Shiryoku was easier to deal with than he anticipated. She had hugged him tight around the neck and cried along with Tsurara and Kosetsu. She was his best friend and she understood that he had to go, but it wasn't easy for her to think of not seeing him again for so long.

Maybe Kame-sen'in would let him visit them often....

As Suzushii mused on these thoughts, he was suddenly flung from his reverie back into the real world by the sound of a car coming down the road from behind him. Suzushii looked over his shoulder to see who was coming. He was off the side of the road to enjoy the shade of the trees, so the car didn't see him immediately as it came swiftly down the road. It passed him in a cloud of dust, and then unexpectedly came to a sliding halt, kicking up even more choking particles from the parched road. Surprised and curious, Suzushii watched as the car geared into reverse and stopped parallel with the young martial artist.

The door opened and out flew the gaunt form of Shiryoku. Immediately Suzushii could tell that she had been crying, her eyes blood-shot and face strained. She stopped a few feet away from him, shaking faintly. Around the edge of her white gi Suzushii could see Shiryoku's parents looking out at them from the confines of the car. The parents of the Kankaku house had concern painted on their faces, which made Suzushii wonder what in the world was going on.

Shiryoku's voice was strong, but there was something in it that the boy had never heard before. "Suzushii, I want to come with you. Will you let me?" 

The first thing that sprang into Suzushii's mind was a quick, 'Of course not! Why would you want to do that? I'll be gone for years!' But then he looked into Shiryoku's eyes, those glittering spheres that reflected the light of the sun just as much as the thick lenses of her glasses, and he knew he couldn't say no. There was longing and desperation in them. He didn't know why, nor could he fathom the reason for a long time to come, but he knew that, as much as he needed to go on this journey, she needed to go with him even more. "Y...yes, of course...I'd love to have you with me, Shiryoku."

A look of flooding relief brightened her face, and she stood up straight and strong. She ran up and hugged Suzushii hard, then let go and looked into his eyes and said, "Thank you." Quietly she walked back to the car and took a capsule from her parents, hugged and kissed them in their seats, then shut the door. The car pulled hesitantly away, but before long it had disappeared through the cracks of the trees back towards the city. 

"Well, let's get going." Shiryoku started walking, and Suzushii fell into step behind her. Now she was acting just like she always had; strong, happy and confident. Suzushii shook his head in wonderment, deciding that girls were way too hard to understand and he wasn't even going to try.

-----

The teenagers continued through the forest, laughing, joking, and happy. The sun was hot but it no longer bothered them as much. The trees began to grow farther apart and were steadily becoming smaller as they made their way through the land. After about two hours, they reached the official edge of the forest and looked out upon the world that awaited them.

It was a flat land, and the horizon was unimaginably far away and easy to see. Pastures of savage, green grass, leafy shrubs and wild flowers spread out over the countryside. Cows wandered around their owner's land, munching on the greenery. Fences kept the cows from the crop fields of corn, cotton, and anything else that would grow in the healthy soil. Small, spherical capsule houses sat next to shade-producing trees and once in a while a good old-fashioned house built permanently on a solid foundation could be found, weathered but still sturdy and ready for the next five generations of people to live in and prosper.

Suzushii had almost never traveled far from his home, and the sight was new, exciting, and powerful to him. Shiryoku had traveled often beyond the forest and into other places, from farm towns to big cities, but even she felt the grandeur of their new freedom and the fact that this world was theirs to explore as the would. They both stood silently, just soaking in life.

In perfect harmony they began moving again, and the looks on their faces said that from there on out nothing could stop them. They marched ahead, determined and ready to put the miles under their feet before nightfall.

But before they could pass the first field, a shrill voice sliced the air. "Wait! Stop!"

-----

Tsurara cried for a while after Suzushii had left, and Kosetsu stayed home to comfort her (and for her to comfort him). Kori went upstairs to do her hair, and Aisu went to his room after telling his parents he was fine and didn't need to talk about what had happened. It was quiet, and the silence felt heavy and disturbing.

Tsurara got up from the couch and walked listlessly to the kitchen and got a drink of water. The stuff tasted bland and flat to her. Setting the glass down upon the counter she went back into the living room and looked at her husband whom was sitting forlornly upon the couch, his elbows on his knees and his head resting in his cupped palms. She smiled at him, and the smile he returned was sad.

On impulse, Tsurara left her husband and began climbing the stairs to the second floor. She wasn't sure what she was doing; her legs just took her up the steps. She passed Kori's closed bedroom door, swept beyond the bathroom, and stopped. Ahead she saw the door to Aisu's room, but just to her right was Suzushii's bedroom. She looked inside. The room was fairly tidy, but the bed was left unmade from the boy's rush that morning. She imagined him there, deep in slumber, as she had seen him countless nights before. This had been his home ever since he was born. He had slept in his crib here, he had learned to walk in the living room downstairs. In the kitchen he had a birthday where he started a food fight with the cake, and he had tried to pull out his tooth by tying it to the front door. But what Tsurara remembered the most now was his head lying upon the pillow, his eyes closed and his hair standing up even when he was lying down. How his breath sounded, and how he'd shift in his bed if she made too much noise. A tear ran down her cheek when she realized she would not be seeing that again for so long.

She moved silently back down the stairs and sat next to her husband. She leaned against him and rested her head upon his shoulder, and he put his arm around her and hugged her tight. For a long time they just sat there, remembering.

Kosetsu and Tsurara jumped when the phone rang; it's digital beep painful after the silence. Tsurara was the one to pick it up, and she listened for a moment, then went pale. Kosetsu sat up and his face reflecting worry as he listened to his wife answered yes and no questions to whoever was on the other end of the line. Finally she took the receiver away from her ear and hang up. She looked at her husband and shook her head as she said, "Suzushii's teacher was murdered."

-----

The police came over and talked to the Fuyus about their son's involvement with Suru, if they knew of anyone that had a grudge against the sensei, and many other questions surrounding the old man. What worried them all was that maybe the killer's intent had nothing to do with Suru sensei but was really directed toward one of the students. After hearing that Suzushii had gone off alone, the police captain directed one of the officers to go find him and pick him up as quickly as possible.

Just after the officer left, the Kanakakus drove up to the house to find out why all the police cars were around. After telling the authorities they had just dropped Shiryoku off with Suzushii, the police radioed in the information to the officer searching for them. Soon the two sets of parents were in the living room trying futily to reassure one another, worried about the safety of their children.

Who knew what the murderer was up to, and if at that very moment he was searching for their babies?

Concerned about her other children, Tsurara went upstairs to check on them. Kori answered the knocks on the door immediately and chimed her fineness to her mom. Tsurara then made her way to her youngest son's bedroom and knocked on the door repeatedly. When no answer was forthcoming she entered the room, but Aisu was nowhere to be found.

-----

Officer Pluggins had worked on very few murder cases in his lifetime. The town of Helmstead and the surrounding area was almost crime-free, so murders were the kind of news that lasted months. There had been a few over the last twenty years, the time he'd spent as an officer, but none of them had matched the brutality of this one.

Pluggins wasn't sure why he was so nervous about this case. Sure, it had been brutal, but that didn't mean the killer was any more or less dangerous than any other. Maybe it was the fact that the person killed was a martial arts teacher of high regard, or that the sensei hadn't been taken down by a gun or knife, but apparently by someone's raw strength. What kind of powerhouse could do such a thing? And it was definitely odd that three of the teacher's students went off by themselves or turned out missing the same day of the murder. 

The old officer sighed and tried to digest the lump in his stomach. He was in his late forties or early fifties, heavyset, beginning to wrinkle in spots, and his hair follicles were taking turns bungee jumping off his head. Retirement was on his mind, but it was still off in the distance. He reminisced about golfing and drinking iced tea as he searched for the kids, but so far they were nowhere to be found. 'I'm around where the girl got dropped off,' thought Pluggins to himself, 'so where are those stupid kids?'

A few minutes passed and there was still no sign of them. Suddenly the automatic lights on the police car flicked on, and Pluggins blinked in surprise. The trees were cloaked in shadow, almost like a thundercloud had just blocked out the sun. Wondering where a cloud that big could have sneaked in from, he stuck his head out the window and looked up at the sky. His eyes grew wide and he lost his breath. There were no clouds. The sky had turned as black as midnight, but no star twinkled from the anti-light that had covered the world like a dome. The darkness was palpable, and the hairs on the policeman's arms stood straight up like there was electricity in the air.

Finally peeling his eyes from the sight, he called in the event and found out that he wasn't the only one that watched the sky turn as black as death. Calls were flooding the station reporting the unexplainable phenomena that had blotted out the sun.

Pluggins had long forgotten the kids, the sky having crowded out all other thoughts. But suddenly Pluggins plunged his foot on the brakes and shoved the pedal to the floorboard. He cursed to himself as he was jolted around in his seat belt, furious at what had forced him to stop so suddenly.

He angrily grabbed the CB radio again and began yelling into the microphone, "There's some punk kid freak with pink all over standin' in the middle of the road! I'm going to check this out. Over."

The scratchy response came back over the radio and Pluggins got out of the car and undid the button on his holster, ready to use his gun if this person was more than just a stupid young jerk. Way too many weird things were going on that day to forget caution. "Hey!" he called out, "What're you doin' blockin' the road? Get out of the way! Who are you anyway?"

The figure was looking down the road, away from Pluggins, but as the officer approached it slowly turned around to stare blank-faced at the enforcer of the law.

"Hey, I'm talkin' to you! What're you...." He went dead silent as the figure raised its hand, and an orb of light seemingly grew from its outstretched palm, flicking away the shadows that blanketed the road.

"What in the world...?" 

An explosion ripped through the forest, and Officer Pluggins never spoke again.

-----

"Aisu, what are you doing here?!" Suzushii stared red-faced at his younger brother who was huffing and puffing, slumped down under the weight of his backpack after running to catch up with the two teenagers.

"I'm...coming...with you..." came the haggard reply through large gulps of air.

Suzushii growled in confusion and frustration, impatient with his brother's inability to breathe. Shiryoku stood next to Suzushii and wore a stern face that was quietly contemplating the twist in their situation. Her eyes darted over to Suzushii for a moment, and he was surprised to see anger there. He backed off a bit and let his brother regain his composure.

When Aisu had finally oxygenated his body enough to talk, Shiryoku began speaking, sending another warning glance at Suzushii. "Aisu, what are you doing so far away from home? Don't you know your mother's going to be worried?"

The blue haired boy nodded emphatically and Shiryoku had to hold back a chuckle at the boy's forwardness. "I'm here 'cause I wanna go with Suzushii! Nobody asked if I thought it was okay, and since nobody asked I'm coming along!" He pointed to the red backpack strapped around his shoulders over his blue coveralls, "I'm packed and everything, probably better than you guys." 

Suzushii smiled. Aisu was hard to stay mad at, even when he was being as stubborn he could be. The backpack was indeed full to bursting, and it probably carried more than either of the two teenager's capsules. In a softer tone than before Suzushii said, "I'm glad you thought of that, but how did you follow us?"

"I snuck through the woods."

A frown of suspicion curved the older brother's lips, and even Shiryoku looked surprised that he could be quiet enough to follow them unnoticed, especially with that hulking bulge on his back.

"But, Aisu, you know you've got to go back home. You've got school soon, your mom and dad will miss you, and you won't be able to work on the computer when you're on the trip. We're going to be gone for a long time; this isn't just a little vacation." Shiryoku was calm and reasonable, and she was confident that she had gotten through to him.

"I don't care, I want to be with you and Suzushii." The boy stuck out his chest and crossed his arms, trying to look like his mother when she'd say, 'End of discussion!' 

Suzushii smiled in amusement, but a sad light flickered behind his eyes as he looked at his little brother. He had known for a long time how alone Aisu seemed without very many friends to call his own, but at that moment Suzushii finally understood his brother's frustration and his desire to come with them. But the fact remained, if Suzushii didn't take his brother home none of them would be going to train with Kame-sen'in Muten Roshi. "I know you want to come, Aisu, and I'm sorry that you can't go with us. I'd love for you to come. I think we'd have a blast on the trip and training together. It just can't happen, though. I'm going to miss you horribly, but you can't come, this is something I have to do alone."

"She's coming." Aisu said, pointing strait at Shiryoku. Suzushii opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't think of a sane reply. The girl blushed a little but stayed silent as well, and Aisu smirked happily, a smug little expression painted upon his face.

"Oh, for crying out loud! You're going home!" Suzushii stomped forward and took a hold of Aisu's arm and started pulling him back toward the forest. 

"No! I'm not going home!" Aisu tried to pull his arm out of his brother's grasp and dug his heels into the ground, but to no avail against Suzushii's much greater strength.

However, Aisu was no mental slouch, and he knew there was more than one way to skin a brother. Opening his mouth wide, Aisu clamped his teeth over his brother's arm.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Suzushii let go and the two brothers went flying in opposite directions, each crashing with a thud into the soft dirt. Aisu got up and dusted his overalls off calmly, grinning in victory.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...." Suzushii cradled his arm, a little tear clinging to the side of his eye. Shiryoku was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, and fell over, holding her sides with mirth. Suzushii's pain quickly turned to anger and he stood up, about to storm over in a fury to scream and holler at his brother, but a shadow passed over the land and everyone went dead silent.

The cheerful, heat-bringing light that had beaten upon the ground all day began to fade. No cloud marred the crystal sphere of the sky, but its beautiful blue tint began to change into a life threatening black, and the Sun winked out like it was nothing behind the power of the darkness that approached. From their vantage-point, the kids could see lightning streaking up from the forest floor some miles away, and even though the distance was great, they could still feel the power of those bolts crackling through the air. For a moment of utter and complete silence they just stood there, staring in the direction of the lightning, forgetting to breathe. Then they turned to look at each other, all their arguments forgotten in the eerie moment. None of them had the faintest idea what was happening, so they all looked back to where the lightning had been only a few moments before. They listened to the still air, trying to hear anything that might explain what they were seeing. Then there was a bright flash of 
light not far from where they were, and the rumble of an explosion washed over them. They turned from the forest and ran like the end of the world was upon them, through the pastures and fields and backyards, screaming with fear and excitement. They ran until the sky returned to normal and they collapsed to the ground, laughing with glee between gulps of air.

And so, their journey began.

-----

It was only moments after the sound of the explosion hit the Fuyu's home that Captain Teisen ordered everyone to get to the forest ASAP. In mere seconds sirens were blaring as police cars swam from the Fuyu's house, lights flashing with feverish intensity, tires squealing, and hover engines whirring.

Throughout the town people were buzzing around like bees whose nest had just been whacked by a naughty little boy. People were outside with binoculars, flashlights, and telescopes, canvases and notepads, and sometimes just wide-eyes trying to figure out what was happening. Some were milling about the streets wailing about Doomsday and Armageddon. It was so bad that more than once the police either had to detour around the people or sometimes had to physically force them out of the way to get through to where the explosion had happened.

After a very delayed departure from the city, the squad of police vehicles finally found themselves meandering their way through the forest road. After a fairly long drive Captain Teisen was beginning to think they weren't going to find any explosion...right before he had to slam on his brakes around a curve in the road.

The whole procession came to a sliding, dusty halt that left the air hardly breathable. As the police exited their vehicles booming coughs began to fill the air. Captain Teisen's voice roared for silence, and the coughs became muted and choked in the officers' attempts to become quiet.

The dust settled after a moment, and as sight returned, they all went silent. The road ended at the edge of a crater the size of a basketball court. The center of the crater was deep enough for three men to stand on each other's shoulders to have a head at ground level. Scattered around the site were small pieces of Officer Pluggins' squad car. Most of the pieces were melted, mangled, and rent, but their origins were obvious. Some of the newer officers began vomiting as pieces of Officer Pluggins himself began to show up. Captain Teisen shook his head in bewilderment and disgust. He spoke out clear and sharp, "Secure the area!"

His men moved to obey, and soon they discovered that no one was left in the immediate vicinity. Captain Teisen began to search around the crater, trying to find any clues to what could have possibly caused this massive explosion. The only obvious clue to turn up besides pieces of Pluggins and parts of his car was a half-eaten chocolate candy bar sitting only a few feet from the explosion. 

Teisen stood at the edge of the crater, alternating his eyes between the candy bar and the giant hole in the ground. One of his officers walked up to him and the Captain nodded, acknowledging his presence.

"Sir, we've called in some higher authorities and a demolitions expert to find out what we can. Besides more of the same, we've found some tracks that could have been made by the missing children, but we can't tell yet if they belong to them for sure or how long ago the footprints were made."

The Captain nodded solemnly, but did not respond. The officer stood nervously for a few moments, waiting for a reply. When none came the young man cleared his throat and said shakily, "Um, sir, what would you like us to do?"

The Captain's eyes turned to the officer, and they were tensed in fear. "Son, don't do anything. Keep everyone here. I don't want another of our officers to die." Teisen turned back to the crater.

Just a few miles away, walking briskly through the pastures were three children, talking and laughing and having a good time, out on their first adventure. They knew nothing of killers or giant craters, just the innocence that came with being young and free. By the end of the next day it would all begin to change.