Ava's Earth Quest 8 - Guardian of Earth

Guardian of Earth

Easy Quest

Requirement: None

Reward: 1,000 zeni

You've learned of Kami, the chosen Guardian of Earth, who is also a renowned warrior and teacher. Wishing to see if he would take you as his pupil, you decide to ascend to Kami's Lookout, which lies far above Korin's Tower, in the clouds. Upon arriving you are greeted by a robust black genie who tells you his name is Mr. Popo. Mr. Popo is very polite to you and a very generous host. However, he wishes to test your skills before he permits you to speak to the Guardian Kami. All you have to do is land a punch. Beware, despite his jovial appearance, Popo is a fearsome warrior.
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It had been a week since Ava had spoken to anyone except Korin. He was getting worried. He had sent her into that cave to help her, make her realise that her fears were irrational and were not going to materialise, but she hadn’t progressed that far yet. She still hated Kaval and Agan for what she had seen.

They came by regularly to check if she had snapped back into reality, but every time, they were disappointed. Korin had the distinct feeling she was hiding from the world.

One day, she and Korin were playing chess and her head wasn’t in the game. Not that it mattered. She played with Korin merely to allow him some down time. She never expected to win.

“I’ve noticed that you’re not with me right now.” Korin said to her.
She was leaning on her hand and looked out over the balcony.

“Yes, Master.” She said, picking up a black knight carelessly and moving it.

“When are you going to realise nothing happened?” he asked her, moving her black piece closer to his king, giving her the opportunity to win.

“When I forget that Kaval choked me.” she said, moving a pawn forward.

“I just can’t get over it. It felt so real. His eyes were exactly the same…” she said, looking at Korin.

“Maybe you should get going with your next task and forget about him, for now.” Korin said, moving his king closer to her knight. Surely she didn’t miss that.

“Forgotten. Now, my next task?” she asked, looking at him, laying her king down.

“Have you heard of the Guardian of Earth?” he asked her.

“Once or twice?” she said, looking out over the clouds.

“I think you need to go see him. Your training with me is done.” He said, looking at her as she whipped her head to face him.

“Done but I’ve only done two tasks with you. I’ve been here two weeks. “She said, looking at him.

“I know. But you need higher training now. You’ve reached the point where I cannot teach you anymore.” He said.

She nodded and sighed. She had graduated from yet another trainer. She was burning through them like wildfire.

“He lives at the top of this tower, at Kami’s Lookout. His name is Kami. He will able to train you further.” He said, hopping off his chair and walking to the end of the balcony.

Ava got up and got her things together and went to the end of the balcony.
“Good luck Ava. I wish you peace.” Korin said, looking up at her.

“I doubt I’ll ever be peaceful again. But thank you master.” She bowed to him.
She smiled at him, the first he had seen in a week and flew off the balcony, flying up to Kami’s Lookout.

She was faster than ever, even with the huge shell on her back, but it all seemed very hollow. She had lost touch with Kaval. And without him, there was nothing else she wanted anymore. She guessed she would train. It was all she had left.

After a few minutes, she saw the huge white bottom of the lookout appear ahead of her. She flew around it and she hovered over it, looking down. It looked clean and minimal, with a house and a little garden here and there.
She shrugged and flew down, landing on the shiny white tiles.

“Hello…” she walked around.
“Hello… anyone home?” she asked, rounding a corner and seeing a short, stout little black genie watering plants with a brown watering can.
“Um… hello.” She called out to him.
He turned and looked at her, with a smiling face.

“Oh, hello there young one…” he said, putting down the watering can and walking up to her. She noticed there was a butterfly sitting on his shoulder.

“Hi, I’m here to see Kami?” she said, looking around.
“Kami. Kami is busy meditating right now. You’ll have to wait.” He said, looking at her.

“Are you hungry, thirsty?” he asked her.

“A little.” She smiled weakly.

“I can make you something to eat, while you wait.” He said, walking off into the building.

“That would be lovely, thank you…” she said, walking off after him.

“My name is Ava.” She said, sitting down at the table while the genie began to cook.

“I’m Mr. Popo. I’ve heard a lot about you Ava…” he smiled cutting up onions.

“All good I hope.” She smiled.

“I heard you got into a fight with Kaval and Agan last week.” He said to her.
She looked away. There were their names again.

“A misunderstanding, I assure you.” She smiled at him.

“The first thing you should know about this lookout, is the placement.” He said, walking over to her and placing a glass on cold drink in front of her.
“We can see everything from up here.” he said, looking at her.
“You fought them. It was far from a misunderstanding.” He said, waiting for her answer.

“Yes… okay. I went into the Cave of Darkness. And I saw… something.” She said, not wanting to reveal too much.

“I won’t ask you what you saw. But you need to know, that cave is very powerful. But, it’s not real. Not a single bit.” He said.

“I know. But… it hurt…” she said, hugging herself.

Popo nodded and went back to making food.
Course after course, Ava put it away, like only a Saiyan could. But Popo knew this the moment he saw her. So he didn’t stop cooking. Finally she stopped him.

“I’m done Popo, thank you.” She said, rubbing her belly.

“Okay,” he said, sitting down opposite her.

“Why did Korin send you up here?” he asked her.

“He said that my training with him was done, and that I needed Kami to teach me further.” She said, looking at him.

“Fine, but I need to test you to see if you deserve Kami’s training. Is that okay?” he asked her.
She nodded and stood up.

“Okay, let’s go. What is your test?” she asked him.

“Follow me.” He stood up and walked out the room.

She followed him as he walked out the room and out onto the courtyard.
They stopped in the middle of the lookout and he turned and looked at her.

“You need to land one punch on me.” he said, looking back at her.

“One punch, is that it?” she asked him, frowning.

“Just one punch.” He smiled, holding up one finger.

“Okay…” she said, flitting towards him. She punched out but her fist went right through him. As she watched, his image disappeared.

“Over here Ava…” he said, calling to her from behind her.
She turned and looked at him.

“Ah, so you’re faster than you look?” she smiled, walking up to him.

“You’ll need to strategize to win.” He said, flitting away again.

“Strategize, okay, I can strategize.” She said, closing her eyes. She felt for his energy signature.

He was constantly moving, left, right, up, down, behind, in front. He didn’t stop for a second. She followed his signature and when she thought she had figured out his next move, she opened her eyes, jumped up, and threw a punch.

“Missed.” Popo said.
She looked and she had missed him by inches. He flitted away again as she reached out for him.

“DAMN IT!” she shouted out of frustration.

“Use your skills. You can beat me.” Popo said to her.

“Usually things are coming at me, not running away.” She shouted.

“Try again.” he said to her.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She saw his signature flitting away again and again. She just needed to figure him out. Follow her gut. She sat down and began to meditate, looking for him. Calming her soul and finding that thing she needed to beat him. Peace. She sighed and put her hands on her knees, palms up. She had to calm down. But she couldn’t help thinking about that hallucination she had seen. She felt horrible for treating Kaval and Agan so badly. But she didn’t trust them anymore. She needed to put that out of her mind now. She needed to focus. She breathed in deeply and out again, watching Popo’s energy signature. He got bolder and came closer to her. She smiled and flitted away from him.

He looked around for her but he saw her no where. She was above him, smiling down. She had him now. She flitted down to him and began to attack him with ki blasts. Her entrapment attack was sure to confuse him. She blasted at him, flitted away to her left, and then blasted at him again, forming a circle of ki blasts heading towards him. Then she flitted directly above him and waited.

Popo saw all the attacks coming at him and he took off upwards.
Ava smiled. This is exactly what she wanted. He held out her fist and waited. Popo was looking down for her. At the last second he looked up and he flew straight into her fist. The blasts collided below and Popo fell back down to the Lookout in a puff of broken tiles. Ava smiled and flew down, and landed in front of him.

“Tag… you’re it.” she said to him, holding out her hand for him. He took it and she helped him up.

“That was a good attack.” Popo said, rubbing his nose.

“Thank you. It put Master Roshi out too.” She smiled and put her hand on her hip.
“Can I see Kami now?” she asked him.

“'I’ve been here all along Ava…” Kami said, walking out of the shadows.
Ava turned and looked at him. He was an old Namekian.

“A Namekian?” she asked walking up to him.

“You never told me he was a Namekian…” she looked at Popo.

“Would it matter?” Kami asked her.

“Yes. I would have been here a lot sooner. Do you know Guru?” she asked him.

“No. I left Namek long before he was born.” He smiled at her.
“But I know his son adopted you as a baby.” He smiled at her.
“Do you mind if I look into your memories?” he asked her.

“No…” she said, bending down.

“Mmm.” He said, holding his hand out and touching her forehead. She closed her eyes as he delved into her mind.
“I see great pain in your memories…” he said to her, taking his hand away.

“I need you to train me. So I can forget about it.” she bowed.

“Pain cannot be trained away, or forgotten. Only worked through.” He smiled at her.
He turned and walked away from her.

“Your training starts at dawn.” He said, disappearing into the building.

“Thank you, master” she said to him.

She smiled. She looked back at Popo, who was cleaning up the broken tiles already.

“Here. Let me help you.” She smiled, picking up a broom.

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END
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Quest Status - Completed
Word count - 1829