Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ocarina dude walked through the tower with his cape. “I love this cloak. Oh my gosh. If Dougie ever figured out his hammock became a cape for me, he’d so totally say I look like a superhero.” Ocarina dude laughed to himself as he wondered towards the hot-spring. Ocarina dude hung his cape up on the wall with the rest of his clothes before entering the water in his boxers. He sat in the water and as the steam cleared his mind he began to wonder. “Why haven’t I seen or heard anything from Inferno lately? Ever since I came up here to the tower Inferno’s been pretty quite. And I haven’t heard anything out of him ever since I started using magic. Is it the magic? Was it the taboo fruit? Or is it because of the cold climate and high altitude?” Ocarina dude pondered these questions to himself. He sat in the water silently until he felt the water move and looked to his right. A couple of feet away he saw Rin submerge into the water wearing a small black swimsuit. “Oh. Hey Rin. I didn’t hear you come in.” Rin turned her head and looked Ocarina dead in the eyes. “That’s because you weren’t supposed to.” she said with a blank stare. Ocarina dude chuckled lightly and rubbed his head before saying, “Oh yeah. Sorry, sometimes I forget that you’re a ninja when you’re not wearing that ninja outfit. Your hair is nice. I never would have guessed with the way it’s knotted up when you’re fighting.” Rin stared coldly at the clueless Ocarina. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Later half the teens were gathered in the hot-spring gazing at the deep end. The master walked out and noticed all the teens staring at the one spot. “What are you doing?” “Watch.”, said Tyr. Suddenly Ocarina’s head popped out of the water as he took a deep gasp of air before quickly disappearing below the water’s surface again. “I’m almost afraid to ask but… what is young Ocarina doing THIS time?” Sparrow turned and said, “He said something about not having enough stamina and he started jumping over and over again in the deep end.” The master blinked a few times before saying, “he does know that this is his day off right?” The students nodded. The master sighed before saying, “He’s wearing his weights still, isn’t he?” The watching teens nodded their heads as Ocarina popped up for air before sinking like a stone again. “How long has he been doing this?” “It’s been over an hour now.” Rin said. The master’s eyes widened for a second before he quickly regained his composure. “Well, Tyr if he stops coming up you better go save him from drowning.” “Yes Sir.” replied Tyr. Ocarina’s head reappeared and gasped for air again before once more disappearing.

That evening after dinner, Ocarina dude sat in his room playing his ocarina. The master walked into his room and closed his door. Ocarina dude stopped playing and turned to see him. “Yes master?” Ocarina dude said. The master sat two feet from the boy and said, “I’m afraid I have to ask you some questions young Ocarina.” “Okay..?” “First, why do you never take off those wristbands?” Ocarina dude looked down at his golden cuffs. “They don’t come off.” The boy yanked the cuffs to pull them off but the golden bangle didn’t come off his wrist. “May I try?” asked the master. Ocarina dude extended his arm to let him try. The master grabbed the wristlet and pulled lightly before letting go of it immediately. “Are… are you cursed Ocarina dude?” The room fell silent. “You are, aren’t you?” the master asked. Ocarina dude nodded his head lightly. “Is it related to how you used to go out during the new moon?” Ocarina dude nodded again. “I see. Those golden cuffs around your wrists are imbued with a powerful white magic. They act as a seal and contain your curse. They feed on light energy and it doesn’t look like they’ll ever come off.” Ocarina dude stared at the floor. “Young Ocarina, the reason your problems with the new moon haven’t been occurring here is because of this tower’s location. Its high altitude and northern proximity make it so that the light of the sun never fades here. That is why it is the Phoenix’s tower. But should something happen, in which the light should vanish. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Ocarina dude looked up and said, “I know.” The master stared at Ocarina dude dead in the eyes. “Forever.” “What?” “Should darkness befall this tower, I want you to leave and never return. Understand?” Ocarina dude’s heart dropped into his stomach. After a moment of painful silence, Ocarina dude replied, “I understand master.”

Inferno blasted a fireball at Maia but the girl threw her colossal shield down and it suddenly shined. The fireball hit the shield and bounced off it, ricocheting straight back at Inferno. The orange demon swatted the fireball and sent it sailing out a window. Maia’s magic was based on reflection. Needless to say, it was super effective against magic and projectiles. Inferno angered by his attack being so easily deflected charged at the girl with the shield. He slashed his claws but they went straight through her and she disappeared. “An illusion!” Rin fell from the ceiling and pushed back the demon a few feet with a storm of kicks and jabs before springing off the floor as Azhar ran underneath and slashed Inferno’s chest with his duel swords. Inferno staggered back from the surprise attack only to be tripped by Sparrow. Inferno used his hands and back-flipped away to avoid falling. The students were fighting in unison and Inferno was getting enraged. He tilted his head back and blasted out a powerful ball of blue fire from his throat at the kids. Tyr jumped in front of them and swung his naginata down and the fire ball vanished in a cloud of steam. Inferno saw the blade of Tyr’s weapon surrounded with water. Inferno jumped and unfolded his wings to become aerial, but Tyr and Maia bent over to let Rose and Blade use them as a step board as they jumped off their comrades’ backs and took to the air and slashed Inferno’s wings causing the demon to come back to earth and fold his damaged appendages behind him once more.

Inferno’s eyes lit up in rage and his scar shined red as he extended him left arm out and a black demonic sword materialized in his hand. With one swing of his sword he created a wave of dark energy that threw all the students back. Inferno charged the master with his sword but a giant black ax came down and hooked Inferno’s sword and pulled it to the ground. “My blade is dark too.” Zuberi smiled and pulled the sword out of Inferno hand with his ax and swung his mighty weapon at the orange villain. Inferno fell ball and sprang to his feet. The cursed sword vanished from the floor and reappeared in his hand. He raised his blade up but three beams of light shot at him. The demon avoided the first one and blocked the second with his sword. But the light beam made the cursed sword dispel and the third beam hit his golden cuff on his wrist. The demon howled in pain and glared at the source of the light shots. He spotted Yumi standing at the staircase with her bow and arrows. The demon darted towards the archer and dodged the other students as they tried to stop him. Inferno sprang off the floor and bounced off the wall as the students tried in vain to stop him. He neared Yumi as she notched her arrow onto her string. “You’re mine now!” Inferno cackled before seeing the master warp in front of Yumi and put his hands to his temples. “Phoenix Flash!” A dazzling bright light blinded Inferno and the dark creature began to blast fireballs randomly as he waited for his eyes to recover from the blinding attack. Before his eyes could fully convalesce, he felt his foot become engulfed in ice. Murali began to freeze Inferno to the ground. “You foolish little insect! Your ice cannot freeze over my fire!” Inferno yelled as the ice incasing his foot shattered and melted from a fiery explosion.

Before Inferno could take one step, the cuff on his ankle was blasted with light as Yumi shot another light arrow. The cuff radiated light energy that burned the fire demon. “Damn these ******** cuffs!” Inferno screamed before spreading his arms out. “Burning Cyclone!” the orange yelled as he became engulf in a cyclone of raging flames and moved toward the girl with the arrows. A stone wall rose in front of him but Inferno’s powerful attack simply broke through the barrier of granite. Tyr, Sparrow, and Murali teamed up and used water ice and air to try and push back the fiery whirlwind, but Inferno’s will and anger proved too strong as he slowly moved closer and closer. “Yumi shoot him!” yelled Murali. Yumi yelled back, “I can’t, I’m running low on arrows and I can’t get a decent shot off at him when he’s spinning like that. I need to hit his golden cuffs!” The master ran up and grabbed Tyr and Murali. “Do exactly as I say.” He whispered a plan to them and they hesitantly agreed. The master pulled out his sword and lept off the floor and turned his sword down as Tyr soaked him with water. The master came down and began to pierce down to stike Inferno in the cyclone from above, but Murali blasted him and he became frozen solid. As the master fell into the burning vortex towards Inferno, the flames melted the ice from his body as he descended into the eye of the storm. Finally thawed, the master stabbed at Inferno and Inferno’s attack stopped.

As the flames dispersed, it reveled the master holding his sword out and Inferno holding the blade with the palms of his hands to keep the blade from piercing into him. “Yumi, get your shots off now!” Yumi pulled back her arrow. Inferno swung up his left leg to kick the master in the head, but the cuff on his ankle was hit by the light arrow and Inferno roared from the pain. Inferno tapped into the true demon inside him and began to use the red Inferno’s strength to push the master back while holding his blade at bay. Just when the master felt that he was going to break grip from the assault, Rin jumped onto Inferno’s back and held onto his horns as she wrapped her legs around Inferno’s neck. Tyr, Murali, Zubari, Saru, Blade, and Azhar all grabbed him behind and began to pulled back, hindering Inferno’s movement. The master felt something against his back and saw Maia pushing him forward with her shield with the help of Rose and Sparrow. The group’s onslaught overpowered the orange demon and before he could get off one last attack, Yumi released her arrow and the projectile soared from the bow in a flash of light and hit Inferno’s fourth and last golden cuff around his wrist and the demon finally succumbed to the cuffs power and he transformed back into Ocarina dude.

It took him several days, but Ocarina dude eventually left the summit of the mountain. The brown-haired youth was never so thankful to have fire powers as his was on his way down the snow covered mountain-top. Food was a luxury, but Ocarina managed to catch himself a rabbit. The boy always hated hunting for food. Fruits, vegetables, and fish were no problem for the boy. But killing another mammal always left the boy slightly heart broken. Alas, this was the first rule of survival. Eat or be eaten. Do or die. Kill or be killed. As long as it was for survival, Ocarina dude could bring himself to do what had to be done. His fire abilities made cooking his food and staying warm nigh child’s play even in the snowy fields. After what Ocarina assumed to be a week’s time minimum, he reached the flat plain at the mountain’s base. The boy was amazed at how different it was back at lower altitudes. Looking back, Ocarina realized that even in the Temple of the Azure Dragon, he was up high on a mountain side. He took a deep breath of the first oxygen rich air he had in a long time. His lungs expanded and his blood pumped like never before. Down at the normal elevation, Ocarina dude found a new level of energy he never imagined.

The boy ran for hours without losing breath. He scuttled across the land heading south only stopping for a quick bite to eat or a drink of water. “All those days wearing those weights and breathing in that super thin air, back down here I feel unstoppable!” Ocarina dude laughed to himself as he made his way to the center of the valley. Once there, Ocarina looked at his map and checked his surrounds. Amidst the thick cover of the forest, Ocarina dude found a lone lake. Perhaps it was too small to be called a lake, more like a pond. The pond’s most distinguishing feature was its perfect circular shape. The pond seemed unnatural, but the surrounding forest showed no signs of human interaction. Ocarina dude leaned over the water’s surface and gazed down into the water’s depth. Despite the water’s clarity, Ocarina could not see the bottom. It was hard for the boy to believe that a pond only a few yards in width could be so deep that the bottom was hidden in the dark.

He sat down to rest for the evening, but a sudden earthquake caught Ocarina by surprise. The spiky-haired youth looked over the water to see the entire pond rise up slightly before it blasted out and showered the boy as a dragon with golden-yellow scales rose up out of the water and stared down at the boy. His yellow scales glistened in the light of the evening sun. “Who dares trespass on my land?” the dragon questioned in a deep booming voice. Ocarina dude was taken aback and stammered to answer. “Wha- uh, you mean me?” Ocarina asked before realizing the stupidity of his response. He quickly rose to his feet and stood before the dragon. “I mean of course you mean me. I mean it’s not like there’s anyone else here right?” Ocarina dude chuckled nervously. The dragon was obviously annoyed by the youth’s improper replies. “Leave this place at once if you cherish your life.” the dragon threatened. “Wait!” Ocarina dude called out, “I am a student of the School of the Yellow Dragon. I have been to all the schools it is made out of: the White Tiger Dojo, the Halls of the Black Tortoise, the Temple pf the Azure Dragon, and the Tower of the Vermilion Bird. I was told to come here by my former master to seek the founder of the School of the Yellow Dragon and ask for his help. So please, hear me out.”

After that fateful encounter with the Yellow Dragon, Ocarina dude decided to head west and see where it would take him. He remembered a book in the library called ‘Journey to the West’ and he really enjoyed it so he figured he’d make his own journey to the west himself. The night of the new moon came and went, and Inferno never appeared. Ocarina thought it was too good to be true, but it was. He found a break from walking by catching a ride on a train. Unlike last time, Ocarina dude didn’t break through the roof and destroy somebody’s luggage. This time he simply caught the hand-rails on the caboose and sat on the top of the car. Ocarina dude still had no money and had no intention of being worked like a dog again. Ocarina dude rode the train as it headed west and got off once the train stopped at a water filling station. The boy with the golden bracelets resumed his journey west on foot. After several weeks, Ocarina dude finally found a town just outside a large city and decided to rest there for a while.

The town was called Lefle and it was a place with a primary focus on music. Ocarina dude wondered around looking for a place to stay until he bumped into a rather large man with green hair. “Sorry dude, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” The large man apologized too and the two of them got into a conversation. Ocarina dude had managed to bump into the local music teacher of the town and best choir voice in the country. Ocarina dude showed the man his ocarina and before the brown-haired boy knew what had happened, he was sitting in the man’s house being served dinner like he was one of the family. The man’s name was Jacopo and he had a soft spot for people in need, especially fellow musicians. Ocarina dude regulated the amount of food he took, making sure not to eat the kind people out of house and home. Elise, Jacopo’s wife, brought out a large bowl of mashed potatoes and family dug in. Elise was pregnant about six months in already. Jacopo had already started construction on a room for the baby. Ocarina dude decided to help him out with the construction to repay them for their hospitality.

It was three days later and Ocarina dude and Jacopo were painting the walls of the baby-room with a light pale shade of green paint. The crown molding was decorated with music notes and tiny musical instruments hung from the mobile above the crib. “You’re really into this baby’s room ain’t ya?” Ocarina dude asked. Jacopo puffed up his chest and replied, “Of course, it’s my precious baby and nothing is too good for-” a loud knock from the front door cut him off in mid-sentence. Jacopo left Ocarina to keep painting while he rushed to the door. He seemed panicked for some reason. Ocarina dude put down the paint brush and quietly made his way to the front room to eavesdrop on the conversation. “Please, give me two more days. I’ll have your money by then, I promise.” Jacopo pleaded. “You had better, it would be quite… unfortunate if something were top happen to your wife.” replied a tall man wearing a black suit and a black hat. The man and his two accomplices left and Jacopo fell to his knees. Ocarina dude grabbed the man’s shoulder which shocked the unsuspecting music lover. “You in trouble with the mob?”

The blood rushed to Ocarina dude’s head as he hung upside down from the ceiling wrapped up in vines. ‘I had to give the dragon my sword. I could have given him this red gi instead, they both came from the same place, but no; I wanted to keep the cool outfit that I couldn’t get anywhere else.’ Ocarina dude thought to himself as he listed off the many things he did wrong that led him to this predicament. The small gang of thugs sat around a table playing poker and smoking cigars while they waited for Jacopo and Elise to return. Ocarina coughed on the cigar smoke. “Hey, you mind putting those things out?” Ocarina dude asked only to have a lit cigar flicked at his face. Four men played poker while one other stood guard with a shotgun pointed at Ocarina dude. The vines held Ocarina dude tightly and any thoughts of escape. Finally the boy closed his eyes and accepted his last resort. His eyes shot open and his body burst into flames instantly incinerating the vines. Inferno flipped his body in midair and landed on the floor. The men playing poker immediately shifted their attention to the winged orange monster that just burst out of the vines.

The man holding the shotgun pulled the trigger and blasted Inferno. The demon staggered back as blood dripped out of his newly created wound. “You little b***h.” Two men jumped at him from behind only for Inferno to turn around and intercept them. Inferno kicked one of them back and grabbed the other one. Inferno returned his focus to thug with the shotgun and held the captured man in front of him as a human shield. “What do you think you’re doing?” the mobster cried out as Inferno slowly walked towards the man who just finished reloading his gun. “I’m curious” the demon said, “to see how close I can get before this coward decides that he is more afraid of me than he is of the consequences of shooting you. Let’s find out.” Inferno grinned maliciously as he walked ever closer to the trembling gunman. Fire escaped from the corners of his mouth as the orange demon continued to approach with his human shield. “You’re crazy, Powel would never shoot one of his-” the man was interrupted in mid-sentence as the shotgun fired twice and blasted a hole through him. Inferno discarded the man like an old dish-rag and tossed him out the window, shattering the glass as he went through it.

Before the man could finish reloading his weapon, Inferno appeared in front of him and grabbed the gun barrel. With one hand he held the barrel in place while he used his other hand to bend the metal pipe thirty degrees out of place. “I dare you to try and shoot this now.” Inferno jeered before spinning around and swatting the third thug out of the air with the bent gun before he had the chance to stab him from behind. The man fell to the floor only to have the leader step over him like a log. “So, it’s just you and me now isn’t it demon?” Inferno kicked the former gunman behind him and sent him crashing through the front door. “It appears so.” The two squared off in the living room. The leader’s eye shined green and vines began to cover the walls. “Good luck avoiding all these you bast-” the man was left speechless as Inferno slowly walked over to him, the vines around him withering away and dying from the heat drying them. The smaller vines burst into flames for a second before turning to ash. “I wonder how many people I’ll have to tell this before it becomes common knowledge. I am Inferno and I am the ultimate fire demon.” The plant controlling gang leader stepped back in fear from the sudden pressure wave that emanated from the orange beast.

Jacopo and Elise came back the next day to see a crowd of people gathered in front of their house. Fearing the worst, Jacopo ran through the swarm of people expecting to see Ocarina dude’s head on a pike as a message from the mob. But to his surprise, he saw Ocarina dude with his head on his body sitting on the porch keeping an eye on the group of thugs who sat on the ground before him all tied together. Jacopo looked up to see Ocarina dude’s bandage wrapped arm wave at him. “Yo! I told ya I could handle it.” Jacopo couldn’t help back laugh at the battered boy’s statement. A wave of relief swept through him and he fought to hold back his tears. “Ocarina dude… thank you.” Jacopo said as his wife finally made her way through the crowd of people. “Hey Elise, good to see you and baby are safe. Sorry about this but the house got a little scorched in a few places from the fight. I also broke your front door and a window or two. But I bet you can get some money selling them things.” Ocarina dude dumped a pile of knifes, daggers, brass knuckles, and one gun that was bent beyond use in front of flabbergasted couple.

Later that evening, the town threw Ocarina a feast, the best gift the boy could ever ask for. Ocarina dude left the town to decide how to handle the captured mob. They were locked up tight in the town jail. As Ocarina grabbed a turkey leg off his third plate of food, Jacopo stood up and tapped his glass with a fork. “Eh-hem. I would like to propose a toast to Ocarina dude. Not only did he single handedly defeat the gang of thugs who had been tormenting not only myself but much of the town, but he also did it out of the goodness of his heart. Let it be known that on this night, the town of Lefle officially recognizes Ocarina dude as an honorary hero.” The entire town who had gathered for the celebration rose their glasses and cheered. Ocarina meanwhile filled another plate of food and proceeded to dig in. Ocarina dude slept peacefully that night. The next morning he began to pack up his stuff when Jacopo walked into his room. “Ocarina what are you doing?” “Getting ready to go.” “Where are you going?” “Dunno yet, I’ll find out when I get there.” Jacopo was dumbfounded. “What’s the matter? Why are you leaving? Is something wrong?” he asked. “Nope, everything is fine. But this isn’t the place I belong. This town doesn’t need me anymore, so I’m gonna go look for some place where I can do some good.” Although Jacopo didn’t fully understand Ocarina’s reasoning, he accepted that his decision was final.

Half the town gathered to see their hero off. Ocarina dude traveled down the dirt road as the town’s people waved him farewell. Once the city was out of sight, Ocarina dude came upon a fork in the road and he picked up a stick. “Which way should I go now?” Ocarina dude dropped the stick and looked in the direction that the sharp end pointed towards. “Good enough for me.” Ocarina said before he pulled out his ocarina and began to play a cheery little tune on it as he headed down the path the stick pointed to. He didn’t know where this road would lead him, but ever since he first woke up on the farm all those year ago, he never really did know where he was heading. Even if he didn’t know what lied ahead, it seemed better that way. So long as he kept putting one foot in front of the other, Ocarina dude would find his way to wherever he was going, the possibilities were endless, and that’s the way he liked it.

AWESOME!!!!!!