The Turtle Hermit - Complete

The Turtle Hermit

Easy Quest

Requirement: None

Reward: 1,000 zeni and 10 Hero Points

You are looking to step your training up a notch and seek to be a pupil of the legendary Master Roshi. Upon arriving at his small island, you find the venerable teacher is depressed. His last student abandoned his training regime and Roshi thinks himself a washed up teacher. Seek out his previous student, find out why he quit, and bring Roshi's morale up once again.

The wind rushed by the ears of the Changeling as he flew out above the sea. It was a clear, sunny day, with nary a cloud in sight. “Another fine day on Earth,” Sairai said as he continued his journey to where he had tracked the rumored Turtle Hermit’s location. He chuckled to himself as he realized no one could hear him, and even if there was someone nearby, his voice was so low that it would have been carried away by the wind before anyone could have heard it.

As he looked down at the waters, as they crashed lazily upon the shores of the multitude of islands below, Sairai’s mood immediately dropped through the floor. There have to be hundreds of islands out there! How am I supposed to know which one this hermit lives on?!

Sairai panicked and dropped down to the nearest island he could find. He stopped roughly half a foot, crossed his legs, and levitated in a meditative position. His closed his eyes and allowed the simple darkness to engulf his mind, erasing his worry and anxiety. The simple meditative exercise he had learned long ago to control his rage and baser emotions came in handy at times. While it had originally been used with the purpose of allowing him to utilize his baser emotions for his own benefit, he had refined it further to allow him to release those emotions from his awareness in their entirety.

After he finally cleared his mind, the Changeling straightened his legs and stood, his toes digging into the sand below, meeting little resistance from the soft earth beneath him. He dig his toes into the sand and allowed the cool ocean water to wash over him as he took a deep breath.

He looked from left to right at the islands surrounding him. It was a daunting task, but there was no chance he would give up. He had to find this man. This man would be his teacher, and Sairai would become stronger than his family had ever dreamed of him being. Then, one day, he would perhaps be strong enough to find a purpose and spend all of his energy devoted to fulfilling that purpose, whatever it turned out to be.

“I’ll find this man. Of that, I have no doubt.”

Sairai levitated back up into the air and flew off to continue his search for the Turtle Hermit, mind clear and resolve set in stone. The islands below seemed to rush by as he continued his search. A light smile played across his lips as he looked below. Perhaps, one day, I’ll make my own home on one of these islands. Wouldn’t that be interesting?

WC: 451

After hours of searching, Sairai was on the verge of landing to rest for awhile, until he saw a strange shape on the horizon. Is that… a house? he asked himself. He picked up his speed and came upon an extremely small island with three palm trees and a small shack-like building called Kame House. The Changeling tilted his head curiously and landed on the beach, his three toes digging leisurely into the warm, white sand. He smiled for a moment before he went up to the door and knocked on the screen door. When no one answered, he frowned.

“Anybody home?” he asked. When he received no response, he inspected the house. It was a light pink color, a strange choice for anyone who would be considered a martial arts expert. Sighing, he sat down on the stone steps, letting his tail hang off the edge of the porch. He allowed himself to lean back and relax, breathing in the ocean air and just allowing it all to sink in.

Suddenly, a voice came from within the house. It was shrill, and sounded more than a little aged. “Are you going to go away or not?”

The Changeling nearly jumped out of his skin at the words. “I suppose I was foolish to think that there was no one here,” he said to himself as he stood up. “I’m here to seek the training of the Turtle Hermit.”

The door to Kame House opened and a hunched over old man with a turtle shell on his back walked out. Bald and wearing sunglasses, the old man sat down on the porch next to the younger being, leaning forward on a short walking stick.

“Well, you found him,” the old man sighed, “I’m not taking on students, though. You’ve wasted your time seeking me out, young man.”

“Wasted my time? You’re kidding,” Sairai responded, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at the old man, his tail curling slightly in annoyance.

“I’m old and washed up, kid. There’s no chance I can teach someone new. I failed my last student. I won’t make that mistake again. I’m done training students.”

Sairai sat down next to the old man and put his reptilian hand on the older man’s shoulder. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too hard on yourself, old timer? From what I’ve heard, you’re one of the most talented martial artists on the planet. How could you ever have failed one of your students?”

The old man frowned and ran his fingers through his beard. “I wish I knew. I really do. My last pupil just stopped coming to see me during the course of his training. I don’t know what I did wrong. The failures of the student are the failures of the teacher, after all, and I seem to have failed miserably.”

“Well, why don’t you let me know who this student of yours was and I’ll go check out why he left your tutelage? If nothing else, it might bring you some peace of mind.”

The Turtle Hermit smiled slightly and asked, “You’d do that for me? You don’t even know my name.”

“It would be my pleasure, though I’d like to know my prospective teacher’s name, if it’s all the same to you?”

The old man laughed slightly and said, “Roshi. If you manage to convince me to teach you, you’ll be calling me Master Roshi.”

“Fair enough. My name is Sairai. It’s nice to meet you.”

Roshi motioned for the young Changeling to follow him inside and began digging around his house for something. When he found what he was looking for, he handed it to Sairai. It was a picture. The young man had straight black hair hanging down to his shoulders and an obvious scar on his neck.

“Shouldn’t be too hard to find. Where do you last remember seeing him?”

“He said he was going to do a little fight training outside of South City. Maybe you could start looking at the dojo on the outskirts.”

“Good idea,” Sairai said, nodding. He walked out of the door and immediately took off, heading directly toward South City. This had better be worth it… he thought to himself as he kept his eyes fixed on the horizon.

WC: 715
TWC: 1,166

Sairai found the dojo with minimum trouble and landed slowly, touching ground slowly on the dirt road in front of the giant wooden gates. He ran his hands along the sides of the doors and pushed in, relishing the sound of the creaking wood as the courtyard slowly came into view in front of him. The garden was immaculate, well tended trees lined the sides and the slow sound of trickling water filled the air, giving the place a feeling of immense peace. Weirdly, however, it appeared there were few students.

The Changeling walked in and was greeted with curious expressions. No one approached him outright until a familiar young man came up to him and held up his hand, telling him to stop.

“What brings you here, stranger?” the young man asked. Sairai looked at him with a critical eye and zeroed in on his neck. The scar was there, shining with the sweat that had been running down the young man’s neck.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. You’re Master Roshi’s student, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Well, uh… Yes, I was. Why do you ask?”

Sairai scratched the back of his head with his left hand, searching for the right words. “He’s been… a little depressed since you left his tutelage, and refuses to take on students. He thinks he did something wrong and drove you away, if I had to guess.”

The young man seemed to soften his stance considerably, and he smiled. “Ah, so he never did receive my letter. Come in, come in. I’ll explain everything inside and you can deliver the message, if you’d like. I assume the main reason you came here was because you were seeking to train under him like so many before.”

Sairai nodded and followed the other young man in. “So, what happened?”

“I came up here for some independent training, but when I got here, the master in charge here was deathly ill. He had no pupils trained well enough to take over, so I offered to take over if no suitable replacement could be found. Unfortunately, no suitable replacement ever was found.”

The man thought better of his words, and amended them. “Unfortunately is a rather strong word, actually. I find myself enjoying the time I’ve been spending here. I might not be Master Roshi’s star pupil, but I still have plenty to teach the kids here, and I’m sure I’ll come back to Master Roshi sometime in the future to finish my training. Please let him know I’m not quitting. I’m just keeping a promise I made to a dying man.”

Sairai nodded and said, “Very well. I’ll let him know. Thank you for being so forthcoming. I know my appearance isn’t exactly… normal.”

“Frightening is more the word. My apologies for my treatment of you, but as long as you don’t cause trouble, you’re a welcome guest here.”

“Thank you, but I must be going for now. I may return one day to accept your offer. Farewell,” Sairai said as he walked back into the courtyard and flew off, his eyes set squarely upon the horizon, back to Master Roshi’s house.

Once he arrived, he found the old man still sitting on the porch, still looking sorry for himself. Sairai landed in front of him, arms crossed, and tail pointed nearly straight up in the air. His expression was grim, and Roshi looked almost scared. Then, Sairai smiled.

“He said he did not leave his training. He was merely taking a break while he kept a promise to a dying man. He’s training others in the martial arts, since there was no one else skilled enough in the dojo to take over. Apparently he was the only one who came even close to fitting the bill.”

Roshi sighed and stood up, leaning on his staff. “You’re not lying. I can tell. Alright, come on in. You’ll start tomorrow.”

Sairai smiled and followed the old man inside. He had a good feeling about this.

WC: 670
TWC: 1,836