Crane Hermit - Part 1 - Novashen (Closed/Complete)

The mountain air seeped into Novashen's lungs, the taste of crisp air bring a sense of happiness to the Prince, even if it were only fleeting, as his confusion at no longer being home and in a strange land still lingered in his mind. The circumstances around his disappearance still plagued him, itching at the back of his mind, almost as much as the circumstances around his awakening, and the strange feelings in his body.




For some reason he had an uncanny knowledge about this planet called 'Earth', even though he knew that it was not the name of the planet he had resided on. He knew various bits about it's history, it's people, points of interest, especially some of the stronger fighters, like this being named 'Goku' and another named 'Yamcha'.




The information on the fighters seemed fairly irrelevant to him, he had no idea why he would have this suddenly knowledge, “Something happened to me in that room of metal, I will have to find out what later, maybe one of the people I met earlier might know, for now I should continue what I was going to do... my training, only problem is who do I train with here in this strange realm?”




As cliché as it sounded, as soon as he thought of it, several names came rushing to the forefront of his thoughts, all Masters of the Martial arts on the Earth realm, and all with significant skill and power to teach Novashen how to fight better, back on his own realm he had been a moderate warrior in training, but judging from the data he had on Earthlings he should be able to easily vanquish most of them.




“Why are they so weak? Do they not train hard to keep their territory?” Novashen wondered, there must be major differences from this world and his own, major differences he did not understand.




“And as Father always taught me, knowledge is power.” he pondered, his Father's words for a moment, before flying off towards the location that he somehow just 'knew' about it. Another strange ability that he had suddenly discovered was that he could now fly, on his own world it was a rare ability that the strongest warriors had, something that he could not do, but now he did it without effort.




“Someone did something to my body, that person shall pay for violating my royal personage,” Novashen thought in his head, an image of him decapitating some fool or another even though he did not know who it was that had modified him.




He flew for many hours, observing a massive spread of mountains in all directions around him, the occasional lake and forested area appearing as a blue dot or a massive expanse of trees appeared far below. Every now and then he had to swerve out of the way of a giant white object, that was soaring through the sky without wings, or any obvious form of lifting itself from the ground.




“What manner of beast is that?” Novashen thought, as he quickly swerved around the first such beast he came across, utterly confused how something could fly without wings or the prop mastery of martial arts. “This is a strange strange world indeed.”




The strange sights of Earth were not without beauty however, and the Prince from another existence found their sights soothing, putting his mind and soul to rest as he flew effortlessly through the air. The myriad of colors from high above would have been breathtaking had Novashen ever had need of taking breath.




The pure white of the clouds, the exact shade of the fur of the fabled Unicorn, the crystal blue of the ocean waters below like the scales of the Leviathan, and the greens of the forests below were like the boughs of the wise old Treants, all of these beasts were real in his home and all of the colors below reminded him of home.




Those were the thoughts he used to distract his mind, at least temporarily while he flew towards the person who would be his new Master, the young Prince knew that the more he focused on his plight the worse off he would be, so he focused on the things that soothed his soul. Then before he knew it, he was flying lower and lower, his height levels adjusting as they needed to so that as he approached a secluded hut in the middle of a mountain range he would be able to land perfectly on the front door step.




His feet hovered for a brief instant above the front of the door, as if something in him were afraid to land on the ground, and it took him a full minute to realize that he had to will himself to land before he would, it was like some of the systems in his body were capable of being fully automatic if he so desired, but ultimately he still had full control regardless of the circumstances.




“Master Crane, I hereby beseech you. The Prince Novashen requests to train with you. I have heard of your skills, and choose you amongst all Masters to train me,” Novashen declared, after taking a few steps back away from the house.




The Prince stood waiting for the Master to come from his house, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited, he had declared to the Master that he was a Prince after all had he not, so the Master should respond immediately regardless of his title.




Several minutes passed, and finally after keeping Novashen waiting, Master Crane emerged from the hut, garbed in his traditional robe, the emblem of the crane decorating the front of the rob.




“Well who might you be, that asks specifically for the Master Crane?” the old Master asked Novashen, smirking slightly at the sight of the impatient Prince.




“I said already who I am, the Prince Novashen, second heir to the throne Nova,” Novashen replied, biting back the irritation that he was feeling at this old Master., when it suddenly hit him he was not home anymore and he was showing the Master a great deal of disrespect, especially since the Master would not have a clue at all who he should be.




“My deepest apologies Master Caren, I am Novashen, a warrior who wishes to apprentice under your Mastery,” Novashen correctly corrected his tone, and bow to the Master a small fraction to indicate his respect.




The Master Crane simply shook his head in annoyance. “What is wrong with these young warriors these days?”




“Novashen, if you wish to train with me you must show me your power! Bow not to me, I do not ask for you to revere me, you will respect me! If you wish to have me teach you, take down a ex-student of Master Roshi, a little snot who rejected me for that perverted old fossil of a warrior!” the Master Crane exclaimed, growing excited as he spoke, finally having the opportunity to get back at Master Roshi.




“Yes this pawn will do perfectly.... heh heh..,” Master Care though to himself, laughing quietly, keeping a hand in front of his mouth as he did so.




“Yes Master Crane, I know just who to go after.” Novashen bowed slightly once more, out of reflex from the manners he had been taught as a child, not remembering that Master Crane did not care.




From his memories came forth the image, description and power ranking of one such warrior who used to study under Master Roshi and was close to his strength that he would be able to fight him on mostly even grounds.




What happened next is recorded elsewhere, two warriors met on the field of battle, both of equal power and skills. According to Novashen's records that warrior had at one time been a pupil under the Master Roshi, so he was no easy foe, and the battle raged on for a long time. Yet, Novashen was made from very hardy materials, and did not tire easily so the outcome was inevitable, and only one warrior was left standing. Though Novashen did show that warrior mercy, not wanting to stain his hands with unnecessary blood, doing so could lead to consequences down the road, and his Father had taught him to make friends with the lesser folk when he could, allies being a rare commodity indeed.




Soaring through the air, Novashen reflected on his hard fought battle, “Not all of Earth's inhabitants are this weak it seems, the rare warrior of power has emerged from them. Now back to Master Crane, and to learn more from him, and more about this world.”




After some time, the Prince found himself nearing the location of the home of Master Crane once more. This time instead of having to knock on the front door, it appeared the Master had been waiting for Novashen to return, as Novashen could see him sitting on his porch as he approached, a look of anticipation written clearly across his face.




Landing just at the foot of the steps, Novashen hailed the Master as he landed, “Master, I have defeated a student of Roshi's as you asked of me, do you accept me as your pupil now?”




Master Crane, fairly jumped out of his skin as he heard Novashen's voice. The Master was finding it odd that he could not sense the Prince's energy signature, and though he had felt the Prince's opponents energy signature fade throughout the fight, not once did he actually feel Novashen's power.




“Ye.. yes, I do accept you. You did exactly as I asked in taking care of that nuisance for me,” the Master Crane, got up from the porch, a look of excitement on his face, causing his gray mustache to twitch.




The Master Crane was elated, finally he had been able to get a small measure of payback at Roshi. Many times had his own students failed to be able to defeat the Turtle Hermit's pupils, and now this warrior in training had defeated one of Roshi's ex-students without any focused training.




“Yes, I see a great future for you indeed,” the Master Crane laughed, and if it sounded just a bit maniacal, Novashen did not notice, such was his naivety as one who had been surrounded by only those he could trust.

Word Count - 1746