Book 1: Magic
Chapter 10: Trust is Earned, not Given
Our four heroes: Naruto Uzumaki, Son Gohan, Jaina Draconis, and Avatar Korra, followed the fairy commander through the gate and into the capital city. It was then, when traversing through the entirety of the place, that Korra finally figured out something, a point of view that astounded her.
Everything was peaceful, from the children playing in the streets to the guards that conversed with the citizens, nothing seemed… Different. It was hard to describe for this serene place seemed to have no grudges or hatred of any sort, no spark of violence, anger, sorrow, or any other typical emotions that demonstrated such conflict.
Just… Peace, as if there wasn’t any war, any loss of friends or family. As if the Darkness never came to be, this… This…. This was what that yellow pegasus had referred too. The scene before the Avatar reminded her of what she is, a bringer of balance and peace, her goal!
And it seemed, that she wasn’t the only one thinking of this. The loudmouth companion she knew to be Naruto had not spoken a single word. His eyes just seemed to be half open, like reminiscing about something that should’ve been, but wasn’t.
Even Jaina, who by far happened to be arguably to most non-cooperative member of the group, is staring at the surroundings with the utmost astonishment and awe. Korra couldn’t help but remember the small details that she heard from her initial introduction and small conversations.
Korra bit her lip, ‘All this time I’ve been talking to my friends, yet I barely know anything about them. All I know happened to be most of abilities, and what I’ve happened to learn when they talked about what current equipment they had on hand.’
She looked back to Naruto, ‘And the person who so happens to be the most loudest and somewhat idiotic person of the group… Is the one reaching out to all of us… Naruto… I call myself the Avatar. I’m suppose to bring balance to my world but I can’t even bring us together as a group, and yet you’ve shown more effort in that than I have . You and Gohan seem to have a relationship with each other that I’m… Quite frankly… Jealous of.’ Korra thought, her mind having wandered to a inner monologue.
Korra’s head snapped up in attention, “Huh, what?” She geniusly said.
Naruto chuckled, “It’s me, anyhow, I was wondering if you had any money left from Silvercross Town?” He asked.
“I think Jaina had the money,” Korra answered him.
Naruto smacked his fist in a open palm, “Oh yeah! Thanks anyway.” He said before slowing down his walking to get next to the Dragon Knight.
Korra walked closer to the half saiyan Z-fighter, a question on her mind, “Hey Gohan?”
Gohan looked toward her, the thirteen year old saiyan having a grin on his face that lightened up her mood, “Yeah?” He replied.
“”I was wondering if-”
“Believe it!”
Gohan and Korra turned their heads and faced Naruto with deadpanned expressions of ‘Really?’
Even the fairy commander was wondering why in the sacred leaves did the orange-clad human shouted randomly.
Jaina mouthed a single word, “Idiot.”
“Was there any reason for you to even say that?” Gohan questioned.
Naruto gave a sheepish smile, “Uh… Force of habit.” He replied with embarrassment.
Korra said, “Somehow, this doesn’t surprise me.”
The ninja had a comical expression plastered on his face, “What you mean by that!?”
Gohan answered him, “It means you say it so many times that you might as well say,” He stopped to change his tone of voice similar to Naruto’s, “Believe it!” Then changed back, “Every five minutes,” He finished with a amused smirk.
“Oh come on... “ Naruto stated.
“You don’t hear me say, Deal with it! Every five minutes.” Korra commented.
Jaina chuckled a bit, “That would get so repetitive.”
“I wonder what I would say…” Gohan wondered out loud.
Korra replied to the half saiyan, “I don’t know, that Kamehawhatever you call it?”
“Kamehameha,” Gohan corrected the Avatar girl.
Naruto grew a bit curious, “Kamehameha! Kamehameha! Kamehameha! Actually that sounds a bit cool to say…” He commented.
“Oh ha ha,” Gohan replied.
“What’s that even mean?” Jaina asked.
“Turtle Destructive Wave,” He answered.
“It kills turtles!?” Naruto and Korra both say in alarm.
“What, no!” Gohan exclaimed. “It’s just called that cause the creator was called the Turtle Hermit Sage!”
“Ooooooooh,” They both say.
“So…” Naruto began to say, “Frog Destructive Wave?”
“Avatar Destructive Wave?” Korra butted in.
“Dragon Destructive Wave sounds better,” Jaina finished it.
“It does,” Korra agreed with the Dragon Knight.
Gohan facepalmed, “You… You’re all ridiculous.”
“You can say that again…” The fairy commander couldn’t help but comment on the conversation between the four human teens. “I really doubt you’re our enemies if you all act like that…”
The hybrid saiyan Z-fighter scratched the back of his head, “Hehe…” he chuckled.
‘Oh great, we just embarrassed ourselves...’ Korra thought to herself with a red-faced expression. ‘I blame Naruto!’ She finished her train of thought.
“Why do I get the feeling someone’s thinking of me…” Naruto whispered to himself.
“If you three haven’t notice,” Jaina began, “I believe we arrived at their capitol building.”
Naruto snickered, “So, you believe it?” He teased.
Jaina’s eyes widened a bit, before saying, “S-Shut up.”
“Well, at least the jokes can’t get any worse.” Gohan said with a grin on his face.
Naruto’s expression went into that of a mischievous one, “Never occur a prankster’s wrath…” he said, rubbing his hands together.
Korra stepped back, “Well…” She began to say, “Nice knowing you Gohan, I’ll bring something to wash it off.” The Avatar finished, patting the hybrid’s shoulder.
“What I say?” Gohan asked.
Jaina sighed, before smirking, “Actually… I’ll be there to see that happening.”
“Can… You not?” Gohan asked Naruto as the saiyan’s tail curled upward in a expression equal to that of a crude question mark.
“Too late, your destiny has been sealed!” Naruto exclaimed, both arms on his waist as he laughed his in a jokingly evil matter.
“I’ll be on my guard then,” Gohan said, “You never know… The destiny might turn against you.”
“We shall see Gohan, we shall see,” Naruto stated.
“We’re here,” The Fairy commander interrupted the group.
Our four heroes entered into a massive tree, the insides carved with a delicate yet royal matter that in contrast with the positive outlook of the city, gave the impression of a serious political atmosphere. Going down a dimly lit hallway, they entered into a large dome room with a balcony that held a number of seats in which high ranking leaders of the fairy council sat, staring at the four with soul searching eyes.
Within this room, the tension between the leaders of the fairy folk, and the four teenagers was high. As if pressure weighed down on the human heroes, being judged, any action could lead to potential consequences. Any word could mean an offence to another. So, it was in our heroes best interest, that they didn’t do any unwarranted disruptions.
Jaina’s thoughts went into a serious tone, ‘This is a delicate situation, I’m sure everyone in our group realizes that.’ She thought. ‘We do not know what offends them, nor the laws of their civilization.’
The Dragon Knight looked to each fairy that held a seat in the council before her, ‘They seem to have a more united culture than my world, or is it like a monarchy?’
She looked around, guards looked down at them, fully ready for any movement that they might pull off. ‘The positions of the guards indicate a fast reaction to anything we might do. Only appears to be one way to escape, which is the entrance, but it would lead to the center of their capital. We’ll be surrounded.’
‘If I had my Dragon form, it’ll be much easier to escape if things went sour.’
“Wow this place is pretty big, reminds me of that room where we met that yellow winged horse!” Naruto exclaimed.
The apparently leader of the fairies replied, “For that, you’re all going to jail.” The female fairy said.
“...”
“...”
“...”
“Whaaaaaat!” Naruto exclaimed in alarm.
“Naruto, you idiot!” Jaina yelled at him.
“Fantastic, just what we need!” Korra yelled, “Jail time! Thanks a lot Naruto!”
“Ugh…” Gohan groaned, “This went sour fast.”
The fairy leader and her compatriots started laughing at the reactions of the humans before them.
“I’m just teasing you,” The fairy leader said, “Ah, children.”
“Oh…” All four of the human heroes said, sighs of relief all about.
“Thank goodness-dattebayo,” Naruto said.
One of the male fairies chuckled before saying, “I apologize for our leader’s tease, its a bad habit of hers.”
“Oh shush Tiaro,” The fairy leader responded.
One of the fairies, a female noble toward the right of the dome, said, “So, this is the four human ‘heroes’ that aided in defending Silvercross Town?”
“That is us ma’am,” Gohan answered the noble.
“How old are all of you?” The fairy noble asked.
The hybrid saiyan replied, “I believe around thirteen right now.”
“.... What!? By the spirits, you’re all so young!” She couldn’t help but exclaim, screw professionalism, they were just kids!
“Uh.. Well, we were older.” Gohan answered.
Jaina interrupted him, “Fairy nobles, we are of a older age than we appear. The incident of in which brought us to your world in the first place had a side-effect which decreased our physical bodies to a pre-adolescent state. I am originally of nineteen years old.”
“Seventeen,” Gohan added on.
Korra perked up, “I was also seventeen,” she stated.
Naruto seemed distressed, “What! Oh come on! That’s no fair! Everyone is older than me, I’m only sixteen! Dang it, I’ll never be the tallest in the group!” The number one knuckleheaded unpredictable ninja exclaimed.
The three humans looked to him with expressions that told him to zip it.
The Uzumaki immediately silenced himself to avoid being punched, sliced, blasted, and burnt alive.
Jaina spoke up to the council of fairies, “Esteemed fairy leaders, we are more than we appear. Our actions in Silvercross Town freed them from tyranny under the Darkness’s rule through use of stealth and strategy. If you do not believe us, perhaps if we provide some sort of demonstration it will change your thoughts?”
The four human heroes watched as the fairies discussed among themselves, they whispered so softly and quietly that even Gohan’s slightly enhanced saiyan hearing couldn’t pick up what they were talking about.
The fairy leader looked back to them, her eyes staring downward at the human teens, “We have conversed about your suggestion, and against my displeasure, voted that we will provide you a way to prove yourself.” She stated.
A fairy lord spoke up, “You may have defended Silvercross Town, but that alone isn’t warranted to give our complete trust to you.”
This time a noble fairy women spoke, “Here is your quest: East of the capital, through Fae Forest, lies a encampment of harassment of the Darkness’s forces. This small force is making its way closer to our city by removing the natural defense of the forest, chopping the trees down, so that it will make a path for their siege machines.”
The leader finished it off, “You four are to head to this encampment and destroy it, as well as free our fellow kin captured by them during some failed hit-and-run tactics.”
Jaina finished writing down the notes in her small journal, before closing the book and looking up to the fairy council, “We will do our best to destroy the encampment and free your fellows.”
Naruto wanted to shout, but the saiyan hybrid, Gohan, stepped on his foot to prevent the ninja’s outburst.
“Ow…” Naruto said.
“Shush,” Gohan whispered, his tail wiggling about to his side.
Jaina turned to her three companions, “Alright, let’s go. The sooner we get this down, the more we gain of the fairies approval to aid us.”
Korra nodded in agreement, but said, “We should eat first though, we haven’t had any food since this morning’s rations.”
“Ramen?” Naruto questioned.
“Don’t think they have that in this city, different culture,” Gohan replied.
“What… No... Ramen…”
And so the four heroes left the fairy council, Gohan dragging Naruto with him as the ninja stood still like a statue in shock. Both Korra and Jaina couldn’t help but roll their eyes at Naruto’s ridiculous dependency on a single food type, Ramen.
Son Gohan walked through the bustling peaceful capital of the fairies, having eaten the last of the rations since they lacked the local currency to really spend time at a restaurant. Behind him, Jaina, Naruto, and Korra walked with individual expressions on their faces. The half saiyan could guess easily what Naruto probably was thinking, if the earlier statement on how the ninja was going to prank him didn’t tell him enough.
The youngest Z-fighter knew that Jaina’s possible thoughts somewhere along the lines of the upcoming battle, and Korra still was a complete loss on his part.
‘Perhaps I should get to know her more?’ Gohan thought to himself, ‘We’re all friends, so why not learn more about each other?’ The hybrid human reasoned to himself.
“Jaina, you mind if you lead. I don’t really know exactly where I’m going, hehe,” Gohan said, making a truthful excuse to talk to Korra.
The Dragon Knight shrugged and took the lead of the group, Gohan slowed down his pace to match the female Avatar’s own. Now walking beside her, the half saiyan greeted her with his family’s iconic Son grin.
“Hey Korra,” Gohan said to the teen bender of the elements.
“Hello Gohan,” Korra replied with equal happiness.
“So… Uh…” Gohan said as he tried to think of a subject to start on, “How is your day?”
‘Great job genius, you couldn’t think of anything else to start talking about before beginning a conversation couldn’t you?’ Gohan scolded himself in his thoughts.
Korra tilted her head left and right slightly, “Mmh, it has been fine, though I’m sure it will get exciting when we deal with that darkness encampment,” She answered.
Gohan nodded, “Heh, yeah,” He agreed as the half saiyan struggled to think of a subject to speak about, “So… What were you doing before you were sent here? As in brought in the portal of course.”
“Pro-bending,” Korra replied with enthusiasm at the subject, “It’s a type of competition.”
Gohan grew curious, now he was interested in a sport from a different culture, “How is it played?” He asked.
Korra paused, thinking of a way to explain it, before answering him.
“Pro-bending is a competition in which two teams fight against each other using bending. There are three players in each team with each player having one of the four elements. Well, except for air; there is only earth, fire, and water used in Pro-bending.” Korra explained to the half saiyan that walked next to her.
“Why isn’t air used?” Gohan questioned.
“Well… There are only four airbenders alive,” Korra replied.
Gohan’s tail seemed to curl up along with his tilting head, his confusion evident, “Is airbending… A rare ability? How do you get bending?”
“You have to be born with it, if one of your parents is a bender you’re most likely to have it. Though there are cases where two benders have a non-bender baby.”
‘What, like in the Harry Potter series?’ Gohan thought in amusement, “Wait, if that is true, how are there only four airbenders? Is it a rare genetic anomaly that forms when two different benders have a child?”
“Genetic what now?” Korra said, blinking, she shook her head, “No, all the airbenders were… Killed off in the hundred year war with the exception of the previous Avatar.”
“Wait what?” Gohan said in surprise.
“D-did I hear what I thought I heard?” Naruto butted in, shocked.
Jaina remained quiet.
Gohan spoke up again, “Wait, so… When was this hundred year war?”
Korra hummed in thought, “I think… By the time I was born… It ended fifty three years ago.”
Gohan crossed his arms as they all continued walking, “Adding the age you stated within the fairy council places it around seventy years ago. I… I don’t see how with only four airbenders that lineage is going to last long. If it is a genetic trait, it will disappear completely in a few generations.” He said.
“Wait, you mean, that…” Korra trailed off as she managed to piece together that by the time she ‘reincarnated’ once or twice the airbenders could be extinct. “Well… Tenzin isn’t going to like that…” She whispered to herself.
Naruto walked a bit back next to them, “I know it’s rude to overhear and all, but who the hell is crazy enough to destroy an entire group of people?!” The ninja exclaimed with anger.
“Firelord Sozin and Ozai,” Korra stated, “Both of them were said to be firebender fanatics, they believed firebenders should rule the entire world, specifically Sozin, and his grandson Ozai later on, alone. Sozin used used a comet he named after himself to greatly improve the power of all firebenders and then waged genocide on the air nomads, wiping them and their culture out with the exception of Avatar Aang.”
“And then proceeded to wage your world’s version of World War one and two?” Gohan questioned.
“Or the Great Ninja Wars?” Naruto added on, knowing that it was probably an equal estimate.
Korra shrugged, it was history for her, and it looked like her world wasn’t the only one, “Pretty much.”
“Everyone, pay attention,” Jaina stated, making them look up and notice they were in the midst of a forest. “We’re almost there.”
“Wow… Time flies,” Gohan commented.
“Whoa, there are a lot of them,” Naruto stated.
The four humans looked toward the large encampment filled with the forces of the darkness, most of the enemy forces were that of corrupted satyrs and Diamond Dogs. The latter in which were a new type of being that our heroes never seen before, until now that is. The darkness foes were cutting down the nearby trees, fueling fires with the wood, working crude machines, and chatting about with rough speak. Toward the back, our heroes could see a shack that held prisoners within cages, treated poorly.
Jaina nodded in agreement to the ninja’s statement, “I estimate around a hundred, give or take a few dozen more.”
Gohan hummed, “Hmm, what’s our plan then?” He questioned.
Korra crossed her arms, “We could just charge forward and hit them hard,” She suggested.
The hybrid saiyan shook his head, “No, it would allow them to grab some of their captives and use them as bargaining chips.”
“Perhaps a aerial assault?” Jaina began, looking toward Gohan, “You could strike from above and cause some chaos as we come around and attack quickly,” She finished.
“No, it wouldn’t work,” Gohan replied. “All of my Ki attacks are explosive, there’s a risk that it could cause a massive forest fire by scattering the campfires as well as possibly injure the captives.”
Naruto spoke up, “Why not make so they can’t escape, enter the forest, or get to the captives in the first place by blocking them off, then we can press on them and finish it off as they are cornered?”
The others looked to him.
“Well think about it,” Naruto started. “We can have Korra use her earth jutsu-”
“Earthbending,” The Avatar corrected.
“Earthbending,” Naruto said, before continuing, “To create a surrounding semi-circle wall that blocks off three sides, that way the only way they can escape is to come toward us. We can finish them off quickly like that.”
“That sounds good in theory,” Gohan said. “But how is Korra going to create that wall without them noticing?”
“Easy, you and Jaina can provide a distraction by staying ahead of Korra. As you fight their forces, you would slowly move along the path of a semi-circle, Korra would be electing up walls all the while. By the time they realize they are completely surrounded, we will all deal the final blow!” Naruto exclaimed.
Jaina, Korra, and even Gohan blinked. Before the latter hero smirked and joked.
“Who are you, and what did you do with Naruto?” The hybrid said.
“Oh haha! Very funny, I’m serious here!” Naruto replied.
“We can use this,” Jaina said, “The plan is worth a shot. Any stranglers can be dealt by Korra.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact Naruto came up with this…” Korra trailed off, “But what about the hostages?”
“We… Uh…” Naruto said, “I haven’t thought that far…” He finished with an embarrassed grin.
“At least you’re back to normal,” Korra teased. “I guess I could rescue them after I raise up the wall.”
“Alright cool, you do that.” Naruto replied.
“We have our plan,” Jaina said, “Now let’s follow it through.”
Gohan grinned, “I’m sure we can do it guys, believe it.”
“Yeah! Believe it! Wait… Wait a second…” Naruto trailed off.
“Told you so,” The hybrid saiyan said.
Naruto scratched his hair, “Yeah, yeah, I get it now.” He said sheepishly.
And so, our heroes began their plan of action, both Gohan and Jaina entered the encampment, immediately, they attracted the attention of the darkness’s forces that occupied it. At first, they met no resistance as they walked deeper within the camp.
That didn’t last long.
“Hahaha,” laughed one of the corrupted Diamond Dogs. “You have walked into your doom!”
“We’re going to kill you!” Said another.
“It’s a fact, you are going to die!” Another said.
Gohan smirked, he could feel his saiyan blood beginning to boil, anticipating the upcoming battle, “Let’s test that fact.”
Without a second to waste, Gohan smashed a fist into the stomach of the nearest corrupted satyr, which gasped as saliva spit out of its mouth. The half saiyan Z-fighter quickly brought up his other fist, and punched his foe’s left cheekbone, sending it flying.
Jaina brings forth one of her blades, and slashes diagonally across a Diamond Dog’s body, she then kicks it away and points a open gauntlet toward another of the creatures.
“Fireball,” She says, as her magical energy channels into her hand and releases a flaming bolt, shooting its way across the ground, impacting against two of the darkness’s forces, burning them alive as their furs caught fire.
“Get them you fools!” One of them yells.
“Charge! For the Darkness!”
The forces of the darkness, corrupted and all, charge at our two heroes with malicious intent. But they appeared to be whirlwinds of death, as their expertise in both martial arts and swordsmanship greet their foes with defeat upon defeat. All the while, they slowly made their way around the encampment, distracting the forces as another one of their companions does her job.
Korra, the Avatar of the four elements, breaths deeply to prepare herself for her show act, that of conjuring up large formidable walls of earth. Opening her eyes, Korra runs forward before skidding her feet along the ground and raising both fist high in the air as if she was lifting something up.
Instantaneously with the completion of that movement, a stone wall forms in front of her. Korra smirked, and starts to make her way around, keeping in mind that it does take a little while for both Gohan and Jaina to lure the group of enemies around.
Gohan brought Piccolo’s blade up, blocking a weapon’s strike against him, the half saiyan dropped to the floor, and sweep kicked. This action brought down three guys that were in front of him, as he then hand pushed himself into the air with ease. Gohan, now in the air and facing downward, opened his hands to reveal small concentrated Ki blasts that would hit the enemies and not really the surrounding environment.
“Grrraaaaaah!” Gohan yelled as a multitude of blasts erupt forth from the saiyan’s palms, concentrated, small in size, and with the enemy clustered together, each and every blast hitting only their intended target.
The hybrid kicked away a corrupted satyr as he landed back on the ground, ‘Everything is going just as planned so far,’ Gohan thought to himself.
“Eeeyaah!” Jaina yelled her battle cry as she slashed open the stomach of a Diamond Dog, she then placed her hand in front of him, “Fireball!”
A flame bolt of magical energy mercifully ended the creature’s life from having to deal with the pain he exploded into ash and the fire ball impacted against the being behind its previous position.
The Dragon Knight quickly turns, and reels back to avoid an attack, she brings her blade up, blocking an attack from the side, metal upon metal creating sparks that disperse.
Jaina couldn’t help but smirk, “You lot are nothing but lapdogs! The lowest bunch for menial labor!” She taunted.
“Arf, shut up!” One of the diamond dogs exclaimed.
“Haha, I shall put the fear of the Dragon within you!” Jaina yelled as she kills another one of them by slicing its head clean off, “Magic Missile!” She exclaims, raising an arm up high, firing three arcane bolts of pure magical energy, each splitting off and finding individual targets.
They never stood a chance as the arcane energies seared off their flesh and turned them to dust.
With Korra, she continued to erect earth-made walls, she was surprised the darkness forces were having yet noticed them. But Jaina and Gohan were quite distracting in causing both chaos and taunting in the camp, they were almost done!
“Can’t wait until I get to join the fray,” Korra said to herself as she continued to earthbend and follow through with the plan laid out by Naruto Uzumaki.
Gohan dodged, and then uppercutted another on the diamond dog creatures, he moved out of the way of some more erratic and uncoordinated strikes, and then responded correctly with a series of martial arts.
‘Almost there, come on!’ He thought to himself as he observed that they were close to their goal.
Meanwhile, within the entrance of the Fae Forest…
Naruto observed within the trees the battle within the darkness encampment, waiting for the moment in which he will strike fast and hard with clones and all. His companions, Korra, Jaina, and Gohan were accomplishing their parts with ease.
‘Then again,’ Naruto thought to himself. ‘This camp is actually easy to defeat when compared to purple scar face… I guess our battle with him got us overestimating them.’
Finally, he took notice that Korra had just finished creating the semi-circle wall of earth, surrounding them completely.
Naruto smiled as the enemy took notice.
“Where we going!?” One of them yelled.
“We are surrounded, the darn human scum trapped us!”
“Quickly, head toward the forest!”
Naruto leapt forward to the tree just before the camp, and they saw him, all of them.
“It’s just one human, get in there!” A diamond dog exclaimed.
“I don’t think so!’ Naruto proclaimed, “You’re all going down!”
Naruto did his signature hand sign.
*POOF!*
“Take this!” Naruto shouted as he and his clones all leapt from the trees and toward the trapped group of enemies. “Multi Shadow Clone Rasengan Barrage!”
“Oh shit!” A bad guy yelled.
A hundred Narutos collided with the trap forces of the darkness, Rasengans impacting against them to form a large drilling wall of chakra energy, spiraling outward as he tore through the enemy, explosions racking the area.
“Aaaaaahh!” All the Narutos yelled in unison as they pushed their techniques, slamming harshly against them, breaking through their armors and weapons with ease.
“Way to go Naruto!” Gohan cheered as he raised a fist in the air, both he and Jaina safe from the attacks of the ninja clone army.
“Tch,” Jaina scoffed as she crossed her arms, her blade now back in its sheath.
“No fair, I wanted to fight too…” Korra said, “I’m fighting next time.”
Gohan laughed, “Sure thing, but I’m sure we just got lucky this time. The Purple Scarred Demon showed us that there are dangerous and powerful forces within the Darkness’s grasp.”
Naruto, the original, ran up to his companions. “There we go, all finished. Let’s go rescue those prisoners and head back!” He exclaimed.
“Agreed,” Jaina said.
Korra nodded, and bends a hole within the earth wall to make a door directly to the captured allies, “This way.”