Welcome to Gaia! ::

The human boy slowly pushed in the cabin’s wooden door and peeked inside. There was nobody in. He proceeded to enter the cabin and close the door behind him. Immediately, the boy sprang to where his hammock hung and began to dig up the sand beneath. Finally he pulled out his ocarina which he had wrapped up in a cloth to keep clean. Holding his beloved music device, he felt once more complete. So engrossed in his reunion with his ocarina, the boy didn’t notice the presence of the person who followed him to the cabin. It wasn’t until the door squeaked loudly as it was pushed open that the boy realized he wasn’t alone.

“Dude… is that you?” asked a familiar voice. “Dougie! Oh, thank goodness it’s just you. I’m glad to see you’re alright.” the brown haired boy replied. The blonde surfer slowly approached his roommate and seemed afraid. “Dougie, you alright man? You seem troubled.” The blonde local shook his head and put on a reassuring smile. “It’s nothing really; I guess I’m still shook up from the pirate attack.” “Yeah it was pretty intense.” Looking to avoid any unwanted questioning, the boy quickly got up to moved to the door. “Hey, we better go see if everyone else is okay.” the boy said as he opened the door and walked outside. He and Dougie walked up along the pier’s support beams in mutual silence. Unfortunately the silence was not to last, nor was it to be broken by either of the young men.

A large rough hand seized the brown haired boy by the neck and slammed him into one of the poles. “You brat! Ye knocked me off the boardwalk and me crew left me fer dead! But I s’pose I should be grateful, if I were on de ship when it were hit, I’d be sleepin’ in Davey Jones’s locker.” The blonde surfer charged at the pirate to save his friend but was quickly put down by a swift backhand to the face, knocking the surfer dude to the sand. “Don’ be getting’ ahead of yer self. Ye’ll be getting’ yer’s soon enough.” Turning his attention back to his captive he resumed his monologue. “Now, where were we? Ah, now I remember.” The pirate used his free hand to pull out a knife while his other hand kept the boy pinned to the post and kept him busy struggling for air. “Now, prepare to meet yer maker boy. Any last words?” the pirate antagonized. “Dah” the boy choked out. “What was that?” the pirate taunted. Suddenly the pirate’s hand was stretched as the boy’s neck grew larger. “I said... DIE!” The boy’s blue eye burst into flames.

Dougie helped his friend back to the cabin and wrapped up his wounded arm. The ocarina dude explained everything to his roommate about his relationship with Inferno. Dougie sat on the bed and listened intently, it was the first time the ocarina dude had ever seen his surf buddy this solemn. “So what are ya gonna do dude?” asked the blonde surfer. “What do you mean? I’m leaving. I caused all this damage and now you know I’m a monster. I have to go far away.” “Dude, I don’t care if you’re a monster. You’re like the coolest dude I know. Plus, you saved the town by getting rid of the pirates. You’re a hero dude!” “No, Inferno got rid of the pirates… and it wasn’t to save the town, it was to kill the pirates. Plus, I still have little control over the transformations. I don’t know when I’ll change again; each time I transform, the link between us gets stronger and it seems like shortly it won’t only be on moonless nights that he’ll take over. So I need to go away and learn how to control myself.”

Dougie understood that his friend’s decision was absolute. “Well, is you have to go, at least let me help.” Dougie found a pair of dark gray pants and a clean red shirt. “I don’t need these pants, it never gets cold enough here to wear them, and I never wear this shirt anyways.” The brown haired musician gladly accepted the attire and gathered his other clothes together and balled them up under his arm. “I guess this is good-bye.” He prepared to leave when his surfer pal grabbed his shoulder. “Wait up! You’re not seriously gonna travel like that are ya? All your clothes and your ocarina tucked under your arm?” “You got a better idea?” asked the ill-packed traveler. The blonde surfer smiled and ran to grab something. He pulled the black hammock his friend had been using off its hooks and laid it out over his bed. He pushed his buddy over to it and knocked his clothes out from under his arms and onto the spread out hammock. Grabbing the corners and folding them, he tied the corners together and through the contraption over his pal’s head and under one of his arms. “Dude! You’re hammock is now totally a sling you can carry your stuff in.”

“You’re gonna give me your hammock?” “Sure, you’ll put it to better then I, and besides I said you could take anything here… other then my board of course.” “Of course… thanks Dougie I hope you get to become the great surfing legend you deserve to be.” “Thanks dude. And I hope you find how to control yourself and become the hero I know you’ll become.” “Me? A hero?” “Dude totally! You’re like already strong fast and brave. All you’re missing is like a cape or something ya know?” The two friends laughed. “Thanks for everything Dougie. I’ll never forget you.” The brown haired boy hugged his blonde surfer friend. “Same here dude.” The sun began to break over the horizon and so the boy began to head off. Dougie shouted from the edge of the town as he watched his friend leave. “Bye! Good luck Ocarina Dude!” Dougie hollered at the top of his lungs as the brown haired boy started his new journey.

After finding a dirt road that ran through the valley, the boy came upon a small shop on the side of the road. Deciding to take a load off his feet, he opened the door and a bell dinged as the door swung open. Sitting down at the bar, he was soon greeted by a bartender. “Welcome traveler. What can I get ya? How about some tea?” The mention of tea made the boy's neck hair stand on edge. “Um, you got any milk?” he asked. “Sure, just a sec.” The bartender disappeared to the backroom. The boy took a moment to look around the shop. There was few other customers. Maybe ten or fifteen people in all. The bartender came back and handed a big frothy mug of milk. The boy dropped what little money he had left onto the countertop and began to enjoy his drink. “Mmmm… milk… yum.” The boy licked the milk off around his mouth. He decided right then and here that milk was definitely better than river water. Yep, no contest.

One of the bigger bar patrons came over and sat next to the boy. “Milk eh? Ain’t you just precious? Kiddies aren’t welcome in were. The boy turned at looked at the man. He was a big burly man. His messy unwashed hair was complimented with his unshaven face. His clothes were black and wrinkly. “Could you please go away? You’re ruining my milk.” The man stepped back a little. “Oh well pardon me, I didn’t mean to bother you.” He said sarcastically before backhanding the mug of milk out of the boy’s hand and sending it crashing to the floor. “My milk! Why you-” The man grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. “Listen here small fry, I don’t like you. And you’re gonna learn why in this bar, I’m king!” The man’s smug demeanor was quickly removed as a flurry of feet smashed in his face as the boy leaned back and kicked. After slipping out of his shirt, the boy fell the ground and immediately sprang forward and rapidly punched the bully repeatedly in the gut before downing the man with a swift kick to the solar-plexus.

With a little help from the other bar patrons, the man was thrown out of the bar unconscious. The boy wasn’t satisfied with unquestioned victory and looked at the broken glass on the floor that lay in a puddle of milk. But his mourning was soon ended as one of the other men bought him another milk, and even bought the rest of the house a round of beer. While the rest of the people celebrated their free alcohol, the generous guy sat down next to the boy who happily drank up his milk. “Where’d you learn to fight like that kid? You were amazing. No wait, don’t tell me… I bet you trained at the Yellow Dragon Dojo, right?” “Dojo? No, I didn't learn to fight like that from anywhere, I just did it.” The man jerked back in shock. “Just did it? Boy, you really are something else. And here I thought you were a trained yellow dragon.” The man and boy talked more and more, and the boy steadily became more interested in this ‘Yellow Dragon Dojo’. “Hey mister. You won’t happen to know were this dojo happens to be, do ya?” The man turned and smiled. “As a matter-of-fact… I do.”

“Punch! Punch! Kick!” ordered the instructor. The students of the dojo followed the commands in sync. Well, almost all of the students. One student with brown spiky hair wandered through the halls of the dojo. Sneaking out of class… again. Although he had looked-forward to joining the school, the beginners’ courses bored him out of his mind. In order to alleviate his boredom, he’d sneak out of class and either goes watch one of the more advanced classes or he’d go steal some peaches from the tree in the court yard. Every so often the dojo would reset the obstacle course and made things different. But while the boy with brown hair would be caught a few times, when he was hungry, the peach tree was always reached by him. The obstacle course had just been redesigned, and the boy figured now would be a perfect time to test it out. He stood at the start line, and crouched down to prepare his sprint. “Okay, one… two… thr-” “OCARINAAA!!!” The instructor screamed at the top of his lungs. The sudden alarm caused the boy to trip over and fall on his face.

Back in the one of the dojo rooms, the boy the instructor and the head of the dojo all sat together. “Listen Ocarina, if you don’t want to learn then get out of the dojo!” “Hey, I wanna learn but your class is so basic, I can’t stand it.” The instructor and student argued back and forth while the dojo master just sat silently and watched. After what seemed like forever, the master finally stood up and the two fell silent. “Well, it seems to me that young Ocarina dude feels he is capable of more skilled classes than what is being offered to him. So, if that is the case… perhaps it may be best to grant his wish. Ocarina stand up.” The boy immediately got to his feet and stood straight. “If the current classes are too easy and slow for you, than how about this? Instead of the regular test times to gain a new belt, we will cut your time in half. You will progress twice as fast at the cost of having half the time to train. Does this sound fair?” asked the head of the dojo.

The instructor’s jaw nearly hit the floor upon hearing this wild offer. He looked back at his student and watched as the unbelievable happened, the student asked for more. “I like it, but only if I get three days off a month: the day before the new moon, the day of the new moon, and the day after the new moon. If I can leave the dojo for those three days, I’d be more than honored to accept your gracious offer.” The dojo master remained silent for a few seconds before asking the obvious. “Why do you want these three days off?” “To train alone.” “And why those days in particular?” “I’m afraid that I cannot say sir.” replied the boy. The boy’s instructor stood up outraged. “How dare you?! When Sensei asks you a question, you answer him!” “And I did… I told him that I can’t tell him.” The instructor turned to look at the master.

“He did answer me.” said the old man. “Okay then, I accept those terms. But be warned, once you start this special training, I’ll hold you to it even as you approach the black belt. Is that understood?” “Yes master.” “Good, now why don’t you go back to your room and prepare for tomorrow’s session?” The boy bowed in respect and ran down the hall to his room. “Sensei… why did you-” the dojo master raised his hand and silenced the instructor. “He has raw talent unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If he believes he has what it takes to progress twice as fast, than I believe he will strive to do so. And besides… this should be fun to watch.” The old man smiled to himself.

The spider demon swung her spear across and cut across Inferno’s chest as he rushed her. “You better be careful now. One drop of my acid in that wound of yours will kill you. He he!” the spider began to spew acid shot after acid shot, trying desperately to hit her target. Inferno quickly took cover behind a large stalagmite. The spider slowly melted the stalagmite away with her acid, until it crumbled reveling Inferno. “I got you now!” Ithica proclaimed as she reared her head back to expel after acid attack. Inferno suddenly burst into flames and blasted towards her. She threw her spear at him but he side stepped it and grabbed the spear out of the air. Ithica not wasting a moment spat out her acid and hit the demon dead center in his chest. The spider smiled and watched as the rest of the red shirt Inferno wore began to wither away. “Any last words before you die, whelp?” The spider cackled, but her moment of mirth was cut short as she saw the orange demon throw off the rest of his shirt and revealed his chest with a closed wound. “How did your wound heal so quickly!?” The spider queen screamed. “I burned it shut.” Inferno replied as a small grin crept across his face.

He spun the spear he intercepted around and once more charged the spider. “Your thick skin can’t protect you from my acid forever!” Ithica tilted her head back once more to gather acid in her mouth for her next attack. Before Ithica ever got the chance to finish gathering up her acid, Inferno jumped and appeared above her. As she saw Inferno above her face which was tilted facing the cave’s ceiling, she saw him arch his arm back before he plunged her own spear in her mouth and down her throat. Ithica staggered back and gagged on her acid and spear. Inferno landed behind her and spun around to face her. “Now… burn you measly insect.” Inferno blasted a stream of fire and ignited arachnid adversary. Ithica cried out in pain as her body lit up like a torch. She fell to the ground and curled her legs up. Inferno launched another stream of fire and continued to watch the spider demon burn to death. Eventually, there was nothing left of her but a charred corpse and a black spear. Inferno pulled the spear out of the burnt carcass and slammed it down flat against the remains and shattered the corpse into lumps of charcoal and ash.

He unfolded his wings and flapped them to make a wind, blowing the ash out of the cave. He engulfed his hand in blue fire and rubbed his chest to evaporate any possible lingering acid on him. Feeling content with his overkill, Inferno continued to travel deeper into the cave after having rested. He soon discovered what the spider was hiding. On the back end of the cave, the walls were covered in eggs. The demon spider eggs stuck along the walls of the cave. “Well well well, look what we have here. It appears that I found the queen’s little egg nest.” Inferno turned around and moved 30 meters away before turning around and forming a small but powerful ball of fire in his palm. “Looks like I get to train with a little… target practice.” The orange demon grinned maliciously and proceeded to shoot the large green eggs one by one.

It was the day of the test. After returning to the dojo, the boy was given a new red shirt and a haircut. The hair cut couldn’t have been much simpler. They simply sliced his long locks of hair in half. The dojo had no reason to take concern over split ends. But now that his hair was out of the way, Ocarina dude felt more prepared then ever to pass his first test. He tied his white belt around his waist as was required during the test. It took next to no effort to break the wooden board in half, and the yellow belt spar wasn’t much more difficult. The head of the Dojo handed Ocarina dude a yellow belt as a sign he was ready for the next step in the training. The boy took off the white belt and replaced it with the yellow, but on a whim, the boy took the white belt and tied it around his head. He found that he enjoyed the cloth wrapped across his forehead and decided to keep the look.

It wasn’t long before it was time for his next test. This time, it was only him taking the test. The blue belt required him to punch through one board, kick through another, and break two more boards with his head. The second part of the test was to spar with a blue belt. After passing the test and progressing ahead of his fellow fighters, he replaced his yellow belt with his blue belt and his white belt on his head with his yellow belt. His clothes slowly began to wear down, since clothes were only washed once a week and Ocarina pushed himself to progress faster then everyone else, his clothes suffered for it. Ocarina began to quickly learn two skills. The first was how to strike properly. The second was how to wrap your own injuries, which were usually the result of you failing to strike properly in the first place. Regardless, as the months went by, Ocarina dude became stronger and stronger. His strikes became more focused and accurate, and with it, Ocarina took less damage to himself from his powerful strikes.

The night of the new moon had come and gone again and it was once more the night of the full moon. Ocarina dude snuck out of the sleeping barracks and climbed up on top of the roof of the dojo and watched the full moon. He pulled out his ocarina and began to play music in the moonlight. “Interesting choice to play music; at night and on the roof.” Ocarina dude turned to see the Dojo Master standing on the roof and walking towards him. “I like the full moon. It’s soothing… peaceful… comforting.” replied the youth. “I suppose it is. So, I see you play the ocarina.” “That’s right.” “And your name is Ocarina dude.” “Yep, it sure is.” “Hmmm.” The old man turned around and headed back down the roof. “Try not to stay up too late Ocarina dude, despite your special advancement program, you still have to go to the training lessons like everyone else.” “Yes Sensei, I’ll be down shortly.” The old master nodded softly and returned to his office. The boy played for a little bit longer before stopping with a sudden realization. “Hey wait a minute. How’d he did up on the roof in the first place?” Ocarina asked himself.

It was two days before the day of the new moon. Ocarina dude was getting his stuff put away for his trip. “After I get back, I’ll be time for my red belt test. I wonder how many months I’ve been here. I can’t quite remember… but it must have been quite awhile.” Ocarina finished putting his spare clothes up to dry by the window and hid his ocarina under a floorboard where he slept. The gong rang signaling it was time for lunch. Ocarina dude scurried to the mess-hall and got his bowl of noodles. Ocarina dude had found a way to get a tiny more food then the others. He thinned out the inside of his bowl so it could hold more volume. It was childish and petty, but if it meant getting a tiny bit more noodle or rice, then Ocarina dude was okay with that. As everybody sat down to eat, the dojo master came out to give his announcements. Ocarina dude was happily slurping down his noodles while listening to the announcements.

It wasn’t until the head of the dojo uttered the following that Ocarina dude was paying full attention. “…and tomorrow evening will be Ocarina dude’s test for advancement to the red belt.” Ocarina dude sprayed noodle broth out of his mouth, drenching the unfortunate student who was sitting across from him. The head of the dojo was already moving down the passage outside the mess hall when Ocarina dashed to talk to him. “Sensei wait!” The old man stopped and slowly turned around to see the panic stricken apprentice run up to him. “Sensei, about tomorrow, that’s the day before the new moon. I can’t take the test that day. Could we reschedule to two days after the new moon?” asked the brown haired boy. “No.” the master said flatly. “No?! Why not?” “Because, tomorrow is when you are to take the test and tomorrow is when you will take it.” “But-” “No, I’ve been far too lenient on you. Consider this punishment for trying to spy on me. You either take the test tomorrow or you give up our deal for rapid advancement and three days off. Or your third option is you leave the dojo.” “But I-” Ocarina dude stammered. “My decision is final young Ocarina!” the dojo master hit the floor with his cane for added effect.

He turned around and continued to walk down the hallway as the boy fell to his knees, flabbergasted by the sudden turn of events. That night Ocarina dude meditated to try to gather more control of himself for the next day. Since it wasn’t the night of the new moon, he might still be able maintain control until he finished the test. It was going to be a battle of wills. Hopefully, the inner-struggle wouldn’t weaken Ocarina too much to cause him to fail the test. He formulated his plan. He would spend the day meditating until the time of the test, and then after he finished it, he’d bow, take the belt, and bolt out of the dojo to the forest before Inferno took control. After repeating the plan over and over in head, Ocarina finally fell asleep.