The Fields of Earth (Solo) - Complete

Sairai let himself relax in the shadows cast by the tree above. Since interplanetary travel had been opened between most planets, he’d allowed himself a little time away from his homeworld to visit the Earth. A cool breeze licked his face as the strange, yellow sun of this world radiated soothing warmth through his muscles. He took a deep breath and slid further down, the roughness of the tree’s bark causing a pleasant tingle to run down his bare back. He smiled and looked up and noticed that the leaves painted the rays of the sun a light, pleasant green.

He allowed himself to be caught momentarily by idle thoughts as he looked out around himself. He wondered how these people had managed to inhabit this planet for so long without draining the resources to practical nonexistence, as the Planet Trade Organization was known to do. The wind caressed the grass gently, whispering in alien tongues of vague secrets that were held within the natural world that no sentient being would ever be able to figure out on his own. The Changeling smiled and lifted himself off of the tree with the help of his tail and turned to look out over the field that he had chosen for his rest.

He had been searching for a teacher for the last few days, since he had come to the planet chiefly inhabited by the human race, and could feel that there was something very different about how this planet worked as opposed to how his own home did. There seemed to be less needless violence and more of a focus on peace and furthering the goals of the planet as a whole as opposed to each person vying for their own.

“I’m going to like it here,” he decided, and he didn’t particularly care who heard him. He began to walk out across the field, hands clasped lightly behind his back. It really didn’t matter much which direction he took, so long as he was moving. He had taken this excursion without the consent of his family, and knowing them, they would eventually find the time to track down their less useful offspring and punish him for his perceived insolence. He was loathe to let that happen, regardless of the fact that most of his family’s so-called enforcers were little more than green recruits to the PTO who were unlucky enough to end up with no other job.

“Hard to believe the humans haven’t been particularly rude to me, from what I’ve seen. Some of them have been downright hospitable. Amazing what a little diplomacy will get you. Perhaps some of the conquerors back at Frieza #79 should take a few pages out of my book,” he said, emphasizing his last two words with a light chuckle, since he knew full well that the PTO was unlikely to use diplomacy unless up against a vastly superior force. Of course, such a force had not made itself known in the galaxy, so they were unlikely to resort to diplomacy at all for the foreseeable future.

Thus Sairai continued his leisurely stroll in uninterrupted peace for just a little while longer as the winds danced over the grasses of the fields and sang in their mysterious, otherworldly songs.

WC: 546

As Sairai continued his leisurely stroll, a smell began to waft toward him from an unknown source. It smelled like smoke, but not in what would be considered a bad way. If he was to guess, he would assume that someone was cooking a meal somewhere just out of view. The young fighter followed his nose to the source of the burning smell and found what he was looking for. There was a small tent set upon a sandy stretch of ground with a fire sitting about twenty feet off to the side, surrounded by a ring of rocks stacked about three high.

The Changeling’s mouth began to water as he looked at the blackened pot hanging above the fire. Instantly, he could hear his mother whispering in his ear, “If you want something, take it by whatever means necessary. This includes theft, murder, and blackmail.”

He held two of his fingers to his forehead, closed his eyes, and shook his head. He was not a thief or a blackmailer. He might have been a murderer, but only when the occasion had called for it; when he had no other recourse. He dug his three toes into the ground beneath him, allowing the cool earth to calm his mind enough to think rationally.

“One day… One day I will be able to forget those lessons that they tried to force on me,” he promised to himself. Sairai found a large rock nearby and took a meditative position on top of it, one leg over the other. He kept his eyes closed, even when he heard someone approaching.

“Ah! A fellow traveler, eh?” a slightly jovial voice rang out from the darkness surrounding the Changeling. The young alien opened his ice blue eyes and turned to the source of the voice. He was a slightly shorter man, roughly equal in height to the First Form Changelings, with a long mane of reddish brown hair, though he was remarkably clean shaven.

“It’s been awhile since I last saw anyone travelling these fields, and I see the stew I was making is still here. You’ve got manners not to steal from a fellow traveler. Why don’t you hop down from that boulder and share a bowl with me?”

The slightly shorter being raised a brow as he looked down at the man without saying a word.

“Come on. I don’t bite or nothing.”

Sairai let himself down from the boulder and sat down next to the fire.

“What’s your name, fellow?”

“Sairai.”

“Mighty strange name. Mine’s John.”

“And you call my name strange.”

“Ah. You must be a visitor from one of those other worlds. Well, you seem nice enough, didn’t steal my dinner or nothing. You’re okay in my book,” John said as he brushed a fleck of imaginary dust off of his yellow tee shirt.

“Thanks for that… I think,” Sairai responded, locking eyes with the gruff looking little man for just a moment before grabbing a bowl and a ladle and helping himself to a healthy portion of the brown, meat and vegetable filled concoction.

“What’d you call this again… stew?” the Changeling asked as he took a bite.

“Yep,” the man responded, sitting down and helping himself to a bowl.

The younger man swallowed it and smiled. “It’s good.” The flavors were all there, and the meat tasted fresh.

“Thank you. It tastes better with fresh meat, but I had to make do with a deer I killed in the forest a couple of days ago. This field has little besides small game. What brings someone like you out here, anyway, fellow?”

“Well, to be honest, I was just enjoying the sights.”

It was the human’s turn to raise his eyebrow, though he also added a curious tilt of the head to his questioning expression. “You really don’t expect me to believe this is all you were doing?”

Sairai looked away from the man for a moment and pursed his lips, contemplating his answer. “I’ve… been looking for ways to grow stronger, looking for a trainer if you will. I’m fairly strong as I stand, but I seek something… more.”

“Sounds like you’re looking for more than a simple trainer. Sounds like you’re looking for a purpose. My ma always said that power for power’s sake alone wasn’t true power at all,” the man said, nodding to himself.

At that, the Changeling rolled his eyes, but then stopped and contemplated for a moment. “A purpose, huh… That actually doesn’t sound half bad,” he decided aloud.

“Well, there might be someone who can help you here on Earth. I wish you the best of luck on your journey,” the traveler said, and patted the alien on the back.

Sairai almost coughed up his stew due to the strength of the man’s show of affection. “Th-thanks,” he coughed, and then resumed eating.

WC: 811
TWC: 1,357

Sairai smiled and rested softly on his back after finishing his meal with the new friend he had made, the human named John. “Your cooking is excellent, even if you say the meat wasn’t fresh. It’s still fresher than nearly anything we’re lucky enough to get on my home world.”

The man smiled lightly and chuckled to himself. “If you say so. In my expert opinion, it would have done better with a tad more salt, and some fresher venison.” The hunter put the bowls away before pulling out a small journal from his tent, and began to write.

“What are you writing?”

“Oh, this? It’s a travel journal. I use it to keep track of my day to day adventures, if you can even call them that. Still, it’s been handy to keep a record of the days I spend on the road. Wait till I tell the fellows back home that I met a real live alien. They won’t believe it.”

Chuckling, the Changeling reverted his gaze back to the skies above. “I suppose they wouldn’t. If I told any of the people I knew back home that I’d sat and had an actual conversation with a human, they’d probably laugh me off the planet.”

“And why’s that?”

“My race is… a bit on the arrogant side. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Ah, touchy subject. Got it.”

Sairai watched the clouds pass by overhead. White, with nary a touch of grey or black to them, nothing like the dust clouds that would randomly wash over the populated portion of Frieza #79. These clouds seemed quite gentle, lacking any foreboding quality about them, other than a slight chance of overcast skies and perhaps some rain.

“You know, come think of it, I did hear a few rumors a couple months back about a martial arts trainer,” John said. He began flipping through the pages of his journal until he found the right page. “Right, here it is. The ‘Turtle Hermit.’ I think it might be worth a shot, if you think you have any chance of finding a recluse such as him. Rumor has it he lives on an island all alone somewhere out in the ocean.”

Sairai drew circles in the dirt with one finger as he thought the idea over. While they may have been just rumors, there was still a chance this person existed. “Got any more info on this hermit?”

“Only that he’s supposed to be one of the greatest living martial artists remaining in the world today.”

“Alright… Sounds like as good a place as any to start. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and before you wander off, let me thank you,” John said, a smile plastered on his face.

“Thank me for what?” Sairai asked, looking up at the man with a curious expression.

“For being such a wonderful guest, of course! If your race is as bad as you make them out to be, you must be the exception that proves the rule.”

Sairai smiled softly at those words before using his tail as a balance to stand. “It was wonderful sharing dinner with you. Thank you very much for the meal. I had a great time.”

With those parting words, Sairai bowed deeply, turned on his heel, and took off across the field again, his search for a master renewed. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going, but he knew his feet would carry him to where he needed to go. The winds picked up and whispered to him again in their mysterious language. This time, he felt that he understood some portion of what the wind was trying to tell him. The winds were speaking words of encouragement to him, telling him to keep on with his journey and that soon he would reach his destination, a destination that promised to be all that he expected and more.

WC: 650
TWC: 2,007