Secret of the World Traveler (Complete)

Another day, another errand, Sairai thought to himself as he flew across the expansive ocean north of Kame House. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have sworn a good majority of these errands were just to keep him busy while his Master slacked off at the house, reading magazines or watching TV. There were times where it seemed like it was nothing more than busy work, and while oftentimes the young Changeling student would indeed come back more powerful than he had left, he almost always saw it as more of a happy accident than anything particularly planned by the old turtle shell wearing martial artist.

“Sometimes I really do wonder at how the old man is considered one of the masters in the field. He rarely if ever just sits you down and outright teaches you anything. It’s always something so roundabout that it would be nearly impossible to figure it out without having to think about it or at least have some sort of visual aid,” he said, knowing that no one was listening.

Venting was one of the best ways the young Changeling was able to cope with some of the stresses of being the student of one of the weirdest teachers he had ever met in his entire life. There were just points where things seemed not to go his way at all, and he would end up with a block that prevented him from growing any farther for what seemed like weeks at a time.

Eventually he came to solid land and, in no hurry to return to Kame House, he landed on the ocean front and decided to hoof it to South City instead of making a spectacle of himself and flying. His toes dug into the soft sand beneath him as he began to walk, tail swishing back and forth as if to some silent song.

About twenty minutes later, he was deep inside of a forest, walking well worn paths that he could only assume were made by people who made a habit of walking to the beach. A familiar scent filled the air as the wind changed direction. It smelled like the special stew that the human known as John made on Sairai’s first day on Earth.

The young Changeling followed the smell, and sure enough, in the middle of a clearing there was a fire with a large black pot boiling above it, with the redhead human sitting in front of it. The gruff little man lifted his gaze for a moment and locked eyes with the younger man before his face broke into a tooth filled grin. He patted the dirt beside him and the young alien walked up and sat next to him.

“Fancy seeing you here, boy. I thought you’d be off chasing after that weird martial arts teacher out on the sea, or have you found him and learned all you needed to by now?” the strange little human asked.

“I’ve met the master, but I have not yet learned all I needed to from him. I’m actually running an errand for him in South City at the moment, but I decided to take the scenic route instead of just flying the whole way there,” the younger one replied. He tapped his fingers against the ground absently while John got out a couple of bowls and poured some of the nice, meaty stew.

“This time it’s fresh. It should taste ten times better than it did the day we met,” the man said, his eyes twinkling with good cheer.

Sairai smiled and took a bowl and a spoon and tried a bit of it. As promised, it tasted absolutely amazing. The fresh meat was warm and tender, practically melting in the Changeling’s mouth. A wide smile crossed his lips as he nodded at the older man.

As they basked in the warmth of their mutual friendship, Sairai was suddenly stricken by a bout of curiosity. “If you don’t mind me asking, John, why exactly are you travelling the world?”

The older man smiled absently for a second, and seemed as though he was taking a fond stroll down memory lane. Sairai remained silent as he waited for the man’s response.

“How do I explain something as complicated as this?” John asked himself, without looking at Sairai for even a moment. “It started when I was really young. My father kicked me out of the house when I was sixteen, and told me to make my own way in the world. I took that as a challenge and literally decided to make my own way in the world. I travelled this extensive world and haven’t come close to finishing my journey, though I’m closing in slowly, day by day.

“I’ve actually become something of a student of the world. I’ve learned things about this great planet that many would never know, and things that many would rather keep buried for the rest of eternity.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Simply put, I’ve learned of powers and abilities held by some of the most remote people on the planet, and even some things thought long ago lost to history, like the secret to reversing aging. You might not believe this, but I’m well over eighty years old.”

Sairai’s brows rose at that and he nearly dropped his spoon. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he nearly yelled. From the look of the man, he was barely out of his twenties, much less past his seventies.

“Yeah. It’s a strange thing, to be able to live long enough to see the world in my own ways. I’m actually a fairly decent fighter as well. Maybe not as strong spiritually as some of the stronger men and women of the world, like your Master Roshi or that Crane style fighter what’s-his-name, but I can tell just by sensing your energy that you have grown in strength immensely since the last time I saw you. You’re growing, slowly, but surely, along the path that will take you to your one true purpose.”

Sairai couldn’t help but smile at that. He hadn’t decided on any purpose outside of taking care of the people he cared about and protecting the planet from unsavory forces, whether from this world or any other. A black look crossed his face for a moment as he tried to search out John’s power, but he could feel barely anything from the slightly larger man.

“Don’t bother trying to see how much more powerful I am than you. I learned how to mask my own ki signature many decades ago. It’s one of the most basic tricks a person can learn to prevent other people from figuring out how strong they really are. I was just beginning to learn it the last time the Demon King Piccolo was terrorizing the world, many years ago. It was one of the only ways I could ensure that the old geezer wouldn’t be able to sense me out and kill me off, considering I was a potential threat to his control over the world.”

Sairai nodded, though he didn’t understand a thing the man was talking about. He had heard some stories passed around of the legendary Demon King, but had himself never seen nor heard of the man.

“I know you probably don’t know who that beast of a man is, but trust me, you’re probably better off not knowing.”

With those words, the two friends continued to eat their meal in peace, until John said, “Why don’t you let me test your powers? I might be able to help you grow just a bit stronger than you already are.”

WC: 1,278

The Changeling coughed down the swallow of stew he was eating at that moment. He turned, wide-eyed, at John and sputtered out a single word, “What?” He coughed against and smashed his hand against his chest, trying to settle the fluid that had managed to make it down into his lungs. “You, test me?”

John laughed at him, a guffawing sound that seemed to echo throughout the entire forest. “Test you? You think I want to take you on as a student?!” he laughed again, this time uproariously. He then placed his bowl on the ground and looked the younger man in the face, wiping the tears out of his eyes. He stood up and dusted off his pants, motioning the alien to follow.

“I don’t test anyone. This will be a one shot training exercise. I’ve got better things to do than babysit you, no offense intended. I plan to finish travelling this world before I hit a full century of age, then I’m going to retire, or maybe find something else to fill the time between now and the end of the planet.”

The human man looked over to a nearby tree and motioned with his hand. It was a swift motion, almost too fast for Sairai’s eyes to follow. The tree didn’t seem to move. “What did you-“ Sairai started to say before John cut him off.

“Just watch,” the older man said, looking at his fingernails with a half interested expression. It took a few seconds, but the tree began to fall, sliding along itself smoothly, as if it had been cut by an energy beam, but the Changeling had neither seen nor sensed any ki being used by the man. A crash resounded through the forest as the tree finally tipped off of its axis and fell to the ground.

Needless to say, the young alien’s jaw was hanging open. “How did you…?”

“Do that?” the self proclaimed world traveler asked him. “Simple. I pumped my ki up to full power during the split second I did the attack and then reduced it back down to its current level. Amazing little trick, isn’t it? It’s all about catching the opponent by surprise. The attack? Well, that’s a different story. Because the attack itself is invisible to the naked eye, it’s almost impossible to dodge.”

The human powered up to what Sairai could only guess was a mere fraction of his true power and looked at the Changeling with a serious expression. The intensity of his eyes startled the young man. It was the first time in the few times he had known the man that he had ever seen him with a serious look in his eyes. Needless to say, it was not something easily shrugged off.

“Now, come at me with all you have. I should have powered up enough to be able to take just about anything you can throw at me.”

The young man sighed and released his Ki Control, rising to full power against his better judgment. He knew it was most likely better to do like the older being had done and merely use a fraction of his power, but even if he did, there was still likely no chance that he’d be able to match strengths with a man of John’s considerable age and experience.

He took a deep breath and came at John with his standard opener, bringing his tail around to try and hit the man’s ribs. John caught his tail one-handed and attempted to throw the Changeling into one of the trees behind him. Sairai wrapped the end of his tail around John’s wrist and held on for dear life until the man hit a point where his swing slowed down and then let go, flying backwards until he was able to catch himself and levitate in one position.

“Not a bad opening move, but it leaves you open to a very obvious counter. You showed pretty decent ingenuity by countering the counter like that. Alright, now come at me with something else.”

Sairai charged him with a howl and punched for his head and then kicked him in the shin. It didn’t matter how powerful the man was, that would at least smart for a few seconds and give the Changeling an opening. As he expected, John jumped around on one leg for a moment, giving him an opening to do a back flip and land a blow right on the man’s chin.

John smirked underneath his moustache and ducked underneath the attack before pushing Sairai off balance, planting him firmly on his backside.

“Another basic of trickster combat. Pretend that you’ve been caused more pain than you actually have. Take the opponent off their guard. Make them think they have an opening where none exists and then exploit the opening in their follow up attack.”

The older man winked at the Changeling. “I could have done a lot more damage to you with that if I wanted to, and now you know what you need to look for to take advantage of a moment of arrogance as well.”

Sairai nodded and used his tail as a springboard to rise back into a standing position. “You’re a tricky old sod, I’ll give you that,” he said through clenched teeth. He’d landed right on the base of his tail and it still smarted.

“Alright, enough with the warm ups. Give me the best attack you have.”

Sairai sighed and lifted a single finger before pointing it at the old man. He allowed the energy of his spirit flow through him and began to direct it through his right arm, then his hand, and finally through his index finger, concentrating it into a single point mere millimeters away from the tip. A small orb of light blue energy began to glow in front of him and then fired out toward the older man in the form of the signature attack of the Changeling race, the Death Beam.

John brought both of his arms in front of him, but it was in vain. The Death beam pierced through the flesh of his arm and through his shoulder, fading a few inches beyond him. He fell to the ground with a grunt before placing his hands on his shoulder with a loud curse.

“A piercing energy attack? I should have known you’d carry a trick a bit harder to block than some standard ki wave. Blast it, that hurts.” Upon taking his hand off the wound, John’s shoulder was nearly completely healed. There was a little red, but other than that it looked good as new.

“Alright, I think I’ve determined your abilities and taught you a few tricks of the League of Dirty Fighting. Why don’t we call it a day and go back to our stew?”

Sairai concealed his ki signature once again and nodded, slapping his hand down on the older man’s shoulder, causing him to gasp in pain before laughing. “You’ve got the making of a true underhanded fighter, you know that?”

Sairai nodded. “It’s in the tradition of my race to be very much that type of fighter. You’ve taught me a few tricks that they wouldn’t use, being too prideful to admit pain or injury, but I’m not sure that’s the kind of fighter I want to be, my friend.”

John laughed and replied in an even tone of voice, “I merely taught you the tricks. It’s up to you how you use them or how you don’t use them. All I can say is that you’re going to need more than strength, speed, or spiritual power in order to win some of your fights. Don’t say I didn’t warn you ahead of time. It’s all about strategy. You don’t live for over eighty years without learning how to take care of yourself after all.”

Sairai chuckled at that and then looked up into the sky. “It’s almost noon. I hate to eat and run, my friend, but time’s flying and Roshi needs those supplies before sundown. Perhaps I’ll catch you sooner or later and we can have a little bit more fun at my expense. Sound good?”

John chuckled and nodded. It sounded nearly perfect to him. Whistling a light tune, the man began to pack up his camp to prepare his move to his next destination. Where it would be was anyone’s guess, but both the Changeling and the human knew that they were destined to meet again, at some point down the line.

WC: 1,423
TWC: 2,701