Book 1: Magic
Chapter 13: Tales of the Train
The wind carries the leaf, floating aimlessly, seamlessly across the homeland of the fairy folk. Its green exterior betrays the cold breeze it travels along, beginning the seasonal change that would bring the land into the colorful fall. The naturalistic capital starting its shift, as the people prepared for the frozen beauty that would follow it afterward.
A lone figure blurred speedily up the strong branches of a large tree, before stopping abruptly on top the tallest one, overlooking the landscape before him.
Naruto Uzumaki took in a deep breath as the breeze blew quietly. His clothes wavering slightly with the wind passing through them. He placed both hands on his waist, comfortably standing there as he viewed the breathtaking sight.
His eye-catching a leaf, traveling along the currents of the winds. It reminded him of his home, the great ninja village, Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves.
But the young ninja held an optimistic viewpoint. He is not one to easily swayed by the coming darkness. He knew exactly what he was going to do.
He thinks…
Our orange and black-clad shinobi crossed his arms in thought.
‘Um… Let’s see… We got a train to be at… It’ll bring us to… The borders of these two places… And then…” Naruto paused. “What the hell do we do from there?”
“Alright, Naruto, time to put on the thinking hat! We gotta find these Elements of Harmony, find a way for me to be taller everyone else, defeat the bad guy, then head home! No biggie, it'll piece of cake!” He said to himself filled with determination.
“But first!” Naruto said crossing each finger in a hand-sign. “Shadow Clone Jutsu.”
In a puff of white chakra smoke, three identical looking shadow clones came into being. The original, one and only, Naruto Uzumaki pointed to each of them.
“Alright, you go get Korra, you get Jaina, and finally you get Gohan! Meet up at the train station just over there!” He said, pointing toward the direction of a small, almost unnoticeable, train station just about toward the edge of the Fae Forest.
After all, Naruto did come to the tallest tree to spot said train station in the first place.
The three created clones nodded in acceptance to his plan and began leaping from tree to tree towards the town. Meanwhile, though, the real Naruto looked onward toward the train station. In mentioning his current team member’s names, it sparked a brief remembrance of the most latter companion.
Son Gohan.
The martial artist baffled him, while it was possibly true that he was least unaffected of them as he had said. There also the distinct likelihood that his power came from another source. Perhaps Gohan was a type of Jinchuuriki? But for what reason did he transform? Gohan never seemed to display any type of negative emotion, it almost seemed foreign to him.
“Well…” Naruto trailed off, “Except when someone threatens to hurt someone else.” The ninja stated.
It’s true, the Ki user only expressed such anger towards others than himself getting hurt.
Naruto could only wonder what Gohan’s tale behind that was, but if Gohan was a type of Jinchuuriki… Why exactly did that giant monkey form of his only have one tail? The ninja was absolutely sure the One-Tailed Beast had been extracted by the Akatsuki.
Wait… How come he never heard of Gohan’s Ki energy before? Or about the Avatar, Korra would talk about; or even this Dragon Knight that Jaina bragged about.
“What the hell did everyone even come from!? I mean-” Then it hit him.
They were in a different world right now… So what if his three friends were from different worlds as well.
It would certainly explain a lot of things… Sorta.
Naruto rustled his own hair with his hands in agitation, “Ugh, too much thinking! How about I just head to the train station already.”
With that, Naruto Uzumaki jumped down from the large tree branch and heads toward the target location.
Avatar Korra walked down the dirt-paved road that made the pathways of the Fairy Capital. The peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that covered the ever busy homes and markets gave her a sense of calm.
Even as her mind continued to be filled with questions revolving her increasingly curious companions.
First off, the only other girl in the group, Jaina Draconis, had quite the pissy attitude. Not in the way of bullying, but more likened to arrogance in her own abilities. Sure, Korra herself had a few kinks in being what could be arrogant, but it for good reason! She trained hard for those skills! Had control of three of the four elements at a younger age than her predecessor!
Okay, perhaps they were a little more similar to each other than she thought.
Next, Naruto Uzumaki, the obnoxious ninja was certainly annoying at times, but she could tell that the boy wasn’t a bad person. He had a big heart, and she could appreciate that! His abilities were certainly confusing, though, most of she’s seen Jaina’s abilities were a bit similar to her own and relatable.
Naruto threw that out the window and made copies of himself left and right like nobody’s business!
Not that it wasn’t really cool, it was amazing in fact! But outside of that and what he called ‘Rasengan’ his martial arts… Sucked. It’s more akin to brawler tactics than a trained form.
Then there was Son Gohan, the mysterious overpowered kind boy of the little group.
His martial arts were fine tuned, incredible even, she could see the fluidity of his motions, when she could see him that is. Gohan had such blinding speed that she could barely catch up to him. It reminded Korra of the air bending she’s managed to see from Tenzin and his family, defensive, fast, and yet very precise.
But his energy, she’s only seen glimpses of what he’s allowed them to see. He could fly without anything aiding him, could create beams of energy… And that’s about all Korra had seen outside of his usual martial arts.
What else could Gohan truly be capable of? Because out of all four of them, he lasted the longest against the so-called ‘Purple Scarred Demon’.
Not to mention, he overpowered that one guy back in Silvercross.
“Hey, Korra!” The familiar voice of Naruto brought her out of her thoughts, she had not registered when she had lain against a wall, but it mattered little.
“Naruto?” Korra questioned.
“Yep! Well, I’m a clone, just sending a message that everyone is meeting at the train station.” The shadow clone stated.
“Oh! I’ll be there soon then,” Korra firmly replied as she got back up. “Do you know which way it is?”
“Yeah, follow me!”
Korra walked after Naruto’s clone, trying to think of a conversation topic, “This train ride is going to take a while…” She started, “Got any ideas to pass the time?”
“Mmh… Good question…” The clone appears be to in the dark about the answer.
Wait… It came to her.
“How about we each talk about where we lived? It must be nice to know all these different places,” She said, fondly remembering the first time she entered Republic City. It was so different from the South Pole, she surely had a culture shock of some description when she first entered.
The clone raised an arm in exclamation, “That sounds like a great idea! The boss will surely love talking about the village! I’ll tell him that right away-dattebayo!”
“W-wait, don’t!” Korra yelled to stop it.
*POOF!*
Too late.
“...” Korra remained speechless for a full minute as it registered she no longer had a guide. Before she released a long drawn out sigh.
“That’s… Just like him…” She said, now having gotten used to the ninja’s blonde moments. A sudden thought popped in her head right after. “I wonder what Gohan would look like with blond hair… Nah, he’s fine with that charcoal black.” She waved it off as an afterthought.
She looked around, “Might as well go in the general direction he was leading me…” The Avatar slumped her shoulders in defeat for a brief second before standing straight and proud, walking what she hoped would be the correct direction.
Twenty-five minutes later…
“Ugh!” Korra slammed her fist against a nearby tree. She was utterly lost within the Fae Forest and very tempted to just burn everything around her to ease the frustration of that fact.
The Avatar took a deep breath, before releasing a long sigh. She lay back against a tree with her shoulders slumping, the bender’s sight catching the falling leaf petals in the wind.
And then Gohan’s face appeared in her vision.
“Wha!” Korra jumped upright, turning sharply and looking at the boy hovering just in front of her.
“Hehe, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to surprise you,” Gohan apologized while landing on the ground.
“It- It’s alright,” Korra replied.
The human before her smiled brightly, as if all was right in the world, “Hey, everyone was wondering where you were! Of course, Naruto blamed his clone for leaving you like that. He offered to look for you, but I knew exactly where you were at.”
“You… Did?” The Avatar questioned curiously, “How?”
“Oh…” Gohan’s face went thoughtfully for a few seconds, “Well, I sensed your energy? Well… More like life force now I guess?”
“Sensed my life force…?” Korra said with cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
“Um… Korra, are you okay?” Gohan asked.
The girl shook her hands in front of her, “I’m fine, I’m fine!” She hastily replied.
He only nodded in acceptance, “Let’s get going shall we? I’ll carry you there as it’s faster.”
“Yeah… Wait, carry?”
Twenty seconds later, the Avatar, bender of all four elements… Found herself two hundred feet in the sky, gripping the Z-fighter for dear life as they traveled above the treetops with a quickened pace.
“Don’t drop me, don’t drop me, don’t drop me…”
“Um, how many times are you going to keep repeating that?” Gohan asked with an amused expression.
“Don’t drop me, don’t drop me, don’t drop me…”
“Quite a bit… You know I wouldn’t drop you for anything anyway, right?” He said to her.
“I sure hope so! It’s a long way down and it’ll be a pain in the butt to recover from that!” Korra yelled to the ‘pilot’ who gripped her arms.
“It’s only sixty meters down, why such-”
“Sixty meters?!”
Gohan sighed, “We’re almost there, look, it’s literally right there.”
Korra looked forward, her eyes spotting a certain structure with a railroad track traversing out of one end. She could see the frontal part of the train itself clearly, its industrial appearance quite a contradictory to the naturalistic surroundings. The station itself painted a bright red and tan mix, making it easy to spot outside the Fae Forest’s edge. Although its height helped little as the trees that circled it were just as tall as the building itself.
She took notice that they were descending back down, slowly of course, and saw a few shapes within the station. As Gohan flew back down towards the ground, she made out that the larger shapes were both Jaina and Naruto.
Outside of that, there were a few fairies scattered about, and a quick glance into the large paned windows revealed a few of those cute pony creatures.
Upon landing, Naruto came up to her.
“I’m so sorry Korra, I didn’t mean for my clone to abandon you like that!” He apologized profoundly, even bowing a bit before her.
Korra’s eyebrow raised at the clear Fire Nation custom, perhaps Naruto’s home village had more similarities than she thought?
She raised her hands, waving then slightly, “It’s fine, Gohan helped me out.”
The ninja went back to his goofy smiling self quickly, “Alright then!”
“We got a long way to go,” Gohan began saying, drawing everyone’s attention. “So let’s get to it, we have to find the rest of these Elements and the best place to start looking is the final destination of this train.”
“Agreed,” Jaina decided to comment. She looked toward the train for a moment, “Although this contraption is new to me, I’ve seen zeppelins that provide a similar function, except through the air.”
Gohan turned towards the Dragon Knight, “You've never seen a train before?” He questioned.
She shook her head, “No, though it will not provide any problems.” Jaina finished.
“Mmh…” Korra hummed a bit while in thought, so where Jaina came from didn’t have trains? Well, it did have zeppelins, she’s seen a few, but they were being outclassed. Maybe they were magical zeppelins? Is that even a thing?
Naruto nodded, “It’s just a train, nothing too big!” He waved it off, “Let’s get on, then I got an idea to pass the time!”
With all four of our heroes in agreement, they made their way inside the station, sitting themselves within the confines of a train compartment. It took another twenty minutes before the machine powered up, charcoal smoke blowing from its top, and it began its journey towards the next station.
The sound of a flipping pages filled with ears of the last Dragon Knight hands gripping onto the leather cover that decorated the magical tome within her grasp. Jaina Draconis, in her personal experience, appreciated the tranquility that was brought with traveling in a train. Although there was an ever-present echo of the wheels traversing against the railroad, the sound was quieter than zeppelins.
A quick glance around her revealed what her companions were doing in their own spare time.
Gohan seemed to skim through a book she identified had received in those ruins a while back, the pages flipping faster than she knew possible to read. That, or he was the fastest reader she’s ever meet.
Wouldn’t be surprising considering so many other achievements he’s procured.
Korra, on the other hand, had a bored expression on her face. Sure, it has only been a single hour since the train had left the station. But taking in consideration Korra’s personality, it’s not too surprising to find her in this matter.
Naruto looked as if he was about to burst.
Then again, if anyone had a chance of dying from boredom, it would be him.
Jaina sighed audibly, drawing attention from the two bored comrades. The book shut loudly in her palm, in which she placed back within her inventory of items.
She could hardly believe why she choose to give attention to these people.
“Naruto…” She said.
“Yeah?” The orange-clad ninja replied.
“You had some sort of idea you mentioned?” Jaina questioned.
“Oh! Korra and I came up with this idea, we always seem to speak a little of our own homes…” Naruto began, catching all their attention. “So, a thought came up that we all spend this train trip learning of each other’s homes.”
Gohan closed his book gently, “That sounds nice, it’ll be interesting to learn of each other’s worlds.”
Worlds.
She nearly forgot about that little fact.
Not so little when you realize that the people you’ve been talking and fighting alongside with come from places where Rivellon doesn’t exist.
Korra blinked, “I almost forgot about that…” She trailed off.
Naruto scratched the backside of his head, “We kinda all glossed over it, huh?”
Jaina shrugged, ‘Might as well get this over with so that they leave me alone.’ She thought to herself as she readjusted herself on the seat. The armor she wore provided a bit of discomfort, but she rather be prepared for anything.
“I’ll start I guess,” Jaina said.
“I wouldn’t recommend taking a vacation to Rivellon anytime soon if I was you, but beforehand it was quite a peaceful landscape. Rivellon comprises of an abundance of valleys and fjords. As well as thousands of years worth of ancient ruins scattered throughout. Most of the more dangerous monsters were killed off centuries ago. But in their place became filled with goblins, trolls, the more mundane non-magical creatures.”
“Goblins and trolls?” Gohan questioned.
“Annoying,” Jaina commented. “Civilization is spread apart, prompting travel by zeppelin to get from place to place. Not to mention, the war with the Black Ring had destroyed a good portion of human civilization before they were defeated.”
Naruto lay against the cushions of the seat, “Sounds like your world has a lot to deal with right now.”
“Who just casually says a good portion of civilization is destroyed?” Korra stated.
Jaina didn’t seem to mind, “Like you’ve stated before with your hundred year war, it’s my history. Besides, I don’t live in the mainland any longer. I rule my Battle Tower upon Sentinel Island.”
“Tell us about that,” Gohan said.
“Huh?” Jaina replied in a small amount of surprise.
“Your Battle Tower, what’s it like?” The Z-fighter repeated.
Korra and Naruto looked at Jaina expectantly, the Dragon Knight narrowing her eyes in thought over the subject. No one had ever asked her about the Battle Tower if they weren’t actually involved in it.
“It’s… Very quaint. The Battle Tower itself was constructed with ancient magics. Not including the old design that not only holds up, but also surpasses current technological levels. It provides my needs in a way that seems almost sentient-like.” Jaina began.
The Dragon Knight continued after a few short seconds, “But it has a certain beauty to it… After I took control of it from a Necromancer and let my newfound servants clean it up. It always seemed… Welcoming. As if blessing an air of safety over me.”
She found that she had ranted on for a bit, “I apologize, what about your own world?” She asked, pointing at Gohan.
“That’s right… Hm… How can I explain this…” Gohan trailed off in what Jaina assumed was thought of how to describe his realm. “Well… What I know so far is that my world has a much more of a technology edge than anyone else here. But I spend my time outside the cities and near my home at Mt. Paozu. So I guess I’ll talk about most of that.”
“You live on a mountain?” Jaina asked puzzlingly.
“No,” Gohan answered. “It’s more of a valley than a mountain. It’s a very large valley, in fact, loads of forest and animals. But there is a desert to the east which is separated from the valley by Dragon Rock where Icarus lives.”
“Dragon Rock?” Jaina said.
“Who’s Icarus?” Korra asked.
“Dragon Rock is a… Boulder region, the boulders in my world can be up to a hundred meters tall. Icarus is a friend of mine, a dragon.”
“A dragon?!” Korra, Naruto, and Jaina all exclaimed at the same time.
Jaina’s interest grew sharply in the subject, Dragons, were in her world, a highly ancient magical species whose own names once said to spawn new flora and creatures in existence. They were perhaps the most powerful beings ever to be.
She had met one once, briefly, the knowledge imparted to her eludes her comprehension. She might be a Dragon Knight, with the same draconic magic coursing through her veins, but her mind still had human limitations.
“Yeah, he’s a Hire Dragon. We became friends when since I was very young. He’s grown quite a bit since then.”
“Wait,” Jaina said, wanting to confirm something. “Is he magical in any way?”
“Huh?” Gohan questioned, “No, he’s not. I mean, he’s smart, but he can’t do magic or breath fire.”
A breath escaped her, so, dragons outside of her knowledge aren’t all ancient powerful beings with the ability to create life.
That was relieving…
She didn’t want to be on one of ‘her’ dragon’s angry side after all.
That’s terrifying.
Jaina then realized Gohan had been talking for a bit, and refocused herself on his conversation.
“Most of my world doesn’t know about energy or magic, I got friends. But they’re all my father’s friends. Except for Trunks, but he’s a bit complicated.” Gohan stated. “What else… We have the Lookout, which is a large observation hanging high above in the sky, my friend Dende is training with Mr. Popo to be the Earth’s newest guardian there.”
“Earth’s Guardian?” Korra questioned, “Is it like an Avatar?”
Gohan scratched his hair in thought, “I mean… Well… I guess in some ways the two terms are similar…” He looked to Korra and asked, “How about you? How’s your world?”
“Huh?” Korra seemed dumbstruck for a split second, “Oh! Um… My world… Yeah… It’s pretty cool…”
“Have you actually traveled much?” Jaina questioned.
“I have… Just… Only to a few places.” Korra replied, “Well, my home is at the South Pole, it’s nice. Very quiet at times but it can get quite beautiful on some days.”
Gohan then said, “You live on an ice cap? How? Isn’t it a frozen wasteland?”
“Well it’s frozen but it’s not a wasteland. Sure snow covers the entire place but there are many creatures that live there alongside us.” Korra explained to the Z-fighter.
“Seems kinda boring-dattebayo,” Naruto commented.
“Hey!” Korra countered, “There were plenty of things to do! I spent a lot of time with Naga, my family, and Katara.”
“Who's Naga and the latter?” Gohan said, wanting to know her a bit more.
Jaina shrugged, her interest waning in the subject. It didn’t matter who they are. What mattered was getting information. She opened her book again, reading through it while vaguely listening in to the more ‘boring’ details of Korra’s narration.
There were a few details that caught the Dragon Knight’s ears. The first is when she mentioned pro-bending, a competition between ‘benders’ that utilized the elements of fire, water, and earth. The skill requiring to dodge and attack in seconds time did make Jaina respect Korra’s abilities a bit more than before.
Not because she could bend the elements in the first place, but because she had the reflexes to create a chain of offensive and defensive reactions.
“That’s awesome!” Naruto shouted, “Pro-bending sounds amazing, wish I could’ve seen it!”
Korra smiled, looking proud at the compliment, “Thanks!” She exclaimed.
Jaina, Korra, and Gohan then all looked toward the orange and black clad ninja.
“What?” Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Is there something on my face?”
“Your turn…” Korra pointed out.
“My… Oh! Oooooh… Mmh… Give me a second to think…” He trailed off in thought. Naruto snapped his finger when he presumably finished.
“I live in the Land of Fire, in the Great Ninja Village of Konohagakure. It’s surrounded by a huge forest with trees that have branches so thick you could sleep comfortably on them. Um… The leaves fall commonly so I guess that’s why it’s also called the Village Hidden in the Leaves.”
Naruto took a breath before continuing, “The village was amazing, very colorful and full of life. I especially enjoy Ichiraku’s Ramen Stand, which I visit pretty often with my friends and Iruka-sensei.”
“You said was,” Jaina caught that peculiar tense.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, a sheepish smile on his face. “Hehe… Well, the village got pretty devastated after an attack. But we are rebuilding as fast as we can.”
“I’m sorry,” Gohan apologized for bringing it up.
The ninja shook his hands in denial, “No, no, it’s fine! Everybody is alive and well, and I beat and convinced him to revive all those he killed. He’s given me something I now hold precious.”
Jaina saw it, a side of Naruto that he didn’t display much.
Something that screamed out with courage and unyielding determination.
A source of fulfillment that will be achieved.
“Ex- Excuse me…” Jaina said as she got up on her feet, letting the book fall from her hands and onto the couch while the young Dragon Knight left the compartment to be left alone for a small while.
‘That… Look… Why does it bother me?’ Jaina thought to herself. ‘His expression was just… It was like… He was a different person, someone that would keep his promise… Divine damn it, why does it stick in my mind?!’
All the while, the train moved forward, drawing ever closer to its first stop.