Rise of the Gemini

The young kid’s eyes, a grey-blue with streaks of ochre, analyzed his opponent, looking for an opening, and his medium-length hair rustled in the wind as he leaned back slightly to avoid his opponent’s flurry of punches. His opponent, also a young kid in his pre-teens, narrowed his dark brown eyes in concentration as he faked a left hook before delivering a left body shot, which he followed up with a low hook, jab, cross, left hook, cross, left hook, and right body shot in quick succession. Narrowly blocking and/or dodging each punch, the the first fighter sensed an opportunity as his opponent threw a particularly wild hook. He weaved under the hook and whirled around, his white gi fluttering behind him as he executing a spinning hook kick to his opponent’s head. His opponent, however, had other plans, one of which included throwing his hands between his head and the first fighter’s foot, easily blocking the kick. Taller and more muscular than the first fighter, he also easily blocked jump roundhouse kick that followed the spinning hook. The second fighter also had shorter hair than the first guy. I don’t know why this detail is important, but I thought you should know. The fight continued this way for some time, with the first fighter’s precision matched by the second fighter’s strength. After a lengthy bought of heated battle during which some particularly nasty blows were exchanged by both characters, the first fighter parried a kick from the second fighter, stepped back in preparation for a side kick, and then...he saw her. The girl appeared around a bend in the dirt path a short ways away from the field in which the two fighters fought, with both hands clasped on the handle of a bucket of water, undoubtedly drawn from the nearby well. As she rounded the corner of the road, the wind swept her long, black hair to the side, the clouds parted, and a ray of light shined down to illuminate the angelic beauty her face. The first young fighter stood entranced, and his heart skipped a beat when she glanced over in his direction. She smiled at him. He smiled back. Then excruciating pain erupted across his face and he blacked out.

...

As the kid opened his eyes, he wondered why the sky had rotated 90 degrees to a vertical position. “That’s strange,” he thought to himself as he stared at the vertical sky in front of him. “The sky’s never done that before.” As mental acuity returned to him, he realized that the sky had not flipped 90 degrees; he had, and he was lying face-up on the ground. Along with brain functionality, however, came throbbing pain permeating his head. The face of his opponent appeared between him and the sky and looked at him with a concerned expression.

“Are you okay Shard?!? What happened? I thought you were going to block my punch, but for some reason you didn’t react!”

The first fighter, who was indeed named Shard, sat up with a groan.

“Absolutely brilliant idea, Blaze! Just punch the guy who is standing there and not reacting! Why not go around punching babies while you’re at it! Your genius truly is being wasted in these fields; why don’t you head over to Ninjago City so as to enlighten its people with your brilliance.” Shard snapped in a sarcastic fury, obviously in a bad mood due to the fact that, well, he had just been punched, and it hurt. Plus, the fact that the beautiful girl was gone probably didn’t help his mood too much.

The second fighter, whose was indeed named Blaze, replied defensively “We were in the middle of sparring! The whole point of sparring is to punch the other person! Also, did you just compare yourself to a baby?”

“What, no, I--whatever, that’s not important!” Shard stuttered in reply. “What is important is the wasted potential of your infinite wisdom! If, hypothetically, there existed a minifigure named Einstein, and if, completely hypothetically of course because obviously no one named Einstein has ever actually existed, he was the smartest man ever to live, your utter genius would surpass even his.”

“Well someone woke up grumpy,” Blaze muttered, nonetheless extending a hand to help Shard to his feet.

“Only because someone knocked me out,” Shard muttered in return while taking his brother’s outstretched hand.”

Despite their constant, I mean constant arguing, the two brothers knew they could always depend on each other. They had to, after all, without any parents to depend on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

*Crack! Snapple! Pop!* The old man sat up from his straw mat and quickly flicked his arms from side to side with surprising agility for a man of his age, cracking the joins in his back while stretching it in the process. He let out a contented sigh.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.” That was his sigh. It truly was contented.

He reached over to the wall adjacent to his straw sleeping mat, grabbed the wooden staff propped up against it, and then used it to stand up. He grabbed his wide straw hat as he stood and plopped it on his head. As he slowly walked across his one-room shackle-hut, he stroked his medium-length grey beard and smiled. The rising sun provided a red glow through the shackle’s window and promised to herald in a beautiful day.

Psych!

Just an hour later is was pouring torrents of rain, proving the sunny day promised by the bright sunrise to be a total lie. Not that the old man minded. He was content, remember, as indicated by his very contented sigh. In fact, he gave another contented at that very moment as if to confirm his contentedness. With a spring in his step, he went out to work in his rice fields and took no notice of the rain. He and the rest of the villagers had to make a living, after all, and rain wasn’t going to change that. Besides, the old man thought to himself, the rice grew in flooded paddy fields anyway, so he was going to get wet regardless of whether it rained or not. The cloudy cover would be a nice change of pace from the blazing sun glaring down on the workers.

Some time before noon (it was hard to judge the exact time because the sun was hidden behind the clouds) the younger folk quickly set to work filling two wheelbarrows with bags of rice, rice cakes, and other rice products.  As one of the two representatives for the rice farmers, the old man had the responsibility of carting one of these two-wheeled wheelbarrows full rice to the town and sell it to townspeople who were in dire need of the staple food. While the young men filled the wheelbarrows, the old man took the opportunity to trot back to his home and grab a stack of five thick, heavy books. Upon returning, he found that the wheelbarrows were all filled up, so he plopped his books on top of the bags of rice of one of them. An elderly lady was already there and ready to take the other wheelbarrow to town, and she turned to face the old man as he approached.

“Glad to see you could make it Tado!” She said, smiling.

“Of course I could make it, Suzu! I’m not so old that I’m bedridden, not yet anyway! I just had a few things I had to grab before leaving.” He gestured to the books placed on the top of his wheelbarrow as he said this.

It took them about two to three hours to make it to the nearby town. It was a scenic walk along the thin, light brown colored dirt road, winding through grassy plains, green as an emeralds, nearby a deep blue river that sparkled like diamonds.

As the approached the edge of the small town, they could faintly hear the bustle and noise of the trading hub at the center of the town. They made their way through a maze of houses plopped randomly throughout the town, until a large, circular area opened up in front of them. Spread out across the entire area were little stands and wheelbarrows and people selling various goods.

The old man, Tado, quietly set down his wheelbarrow in the same little corner that he was always stationed at. The old lady, Suzo, set hers right next to his. From within his wheelbarrow, Tado pulled out two unfolding straw chairs for him and Suzo. The two sat down, chatted idly about the day, occasionally serving a customer in dire need of rice, or calling out a hello to a passing acquaintance. Eventually, Tado saw his two favorite customers approaching.

“You know, these fancy pencils from Ninjago City will likely gain widespread use by all serious artists. Get this: if you make a mistake, you can actually erase it!”

“I don’t deny that new inventions are cool, but true art is made with ink and watercolor. It takes true skill, too, because you can just wipe away your mistakes.”

“I would think that with your obsession with the latest and greatest “science,” you’d understand the amazingness of this invention, the pencil.

As the two young kids reached the rice wheelbarrow, they stopped their arguing, turned to Tado, and bowed.

“Greetings sensei,” they said together.

“Oh, nonesense! There’s no need to call me sensei! I’m nothing of the sort!” He said smiling.

“True,” the taller of the two kids said. “You’ve done way more for us than just being our sensei!”

The old man chortled. “Shard, Blaze, have a rice cake!” He handed out a cake of dried rice and honey to each of them. The two kids rearranged the bundle of items and goods the had recently purchased from the market and took the rice cake, grinning.

“Also,” Tado added, reaching to his wheelbarrow “I have another thing for you.” He pulled out the stack of five books.

“These two are for you, Shard,” he said, handing out a textbook of mathematics and a textbook of science. “You zipped through the last textbooks so fast! You’ll be a scholar in no time!” Shard remained quiet, but he beamed with pride at Tado’s praise. Tado handed the other two books to Blaze. “And these two are for you! A book of martial arts moves and one of samurai legends!”

“Awesome!” Blaze exclaimed, taking the books and adding them to his stack of items.

“Tado,” Shard pipped up. “You taught us art and writing, and you seem to know everything...”

“Well I wouldn’t say everything, but I do have years of experience on my side.”

“...so which are better? Pencils or watercolors? You know that there is nothing I love more than learning about scientific progress, but that has no bearing on art. The traditional watercolors for art are way better! Blaze disagrees, however, saying that pencils are more convenient and whatnot.”

“Hey, no, that’s not quite what I said! Tado, he’s misinterpreting my argument!”

Tado smiled. “Do you want to know what is the artist’s greatest tool?” Tado asked to two young kids.

“Yes!” Both Shard and Blaze said, nodding.

“This is,” he said, reaching over his wheelbarrow and patting each of the kids on the chest. “It doesn’t matter what utensil you use as long as it comes from here.”

“Woah!” The kids said, their eyes wide. “You really do know everything!” Shard exclaimed.

“Run along now, kids. You want to get home before dark,” Tado admonished them.

“Wait! First we have to buy some rice!” Blaze interjected. “Two large bags please,” he said, placing a handful of yen on the edge of the wheelbarrow.”

Tado took the coins, placed them in Blaze’s hand, and closed Blaze’s fingers around them

“You know there’s no need for you to pay me. You’re like family to me, and one should never charge their family.”

“Okay then!” Blaze said. He and Shard each grabbed a bag of rice and ran off.

Tado watched them, amused as he saw Shard drag Blaze along a detour that would take them past the furniture carver’s stand. The furniture carver was in the middle of a transaction with another customer, but that didn’t concern Shard. What concerned him was the furniture carver’s young (and good looking) daughter by his side. As they passed, the young girl looked up and made eye contact with Shard. Embarrassed, Shard hurried past, grabbing Blaze’s hand and dragging him behind.

“They’re such smart young men.” Tado contemplated out loud as he watched them run off.

“You use the word “young men” very loosely, Tado!” Suzo interjected. “They’re only ten years old!”

“Perhaps so, but they have been forced to become young men at such an early age. Few kids have gone through the things they have. Few adults have, either, as a matter of fact.” He paused in contemplation.

“You know, Shard seems to have taken a fancy to Juro’s daughter. She’s ten years old as well, isn’t she?” Suzo prompted.

“Why yes she is.” Tado answered.

“I ship it.” The old lady replied.

Tado smiled. “I’m lucky to have them as my art students. As my sons.”

“Indeed you are,” Suzo replied.

Tado sighed contentedly.

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It was a rainy day. Not the same rainy day as before, but rather a different rainy day. This rainy day was special, however, because it was Tado’s day off, and Tado always loved his days off. Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not because he hated working or anything of that sort. In fact, he was very contented with his job. No, he loved his days off because that was when he got to teach Shard and Blaze the arts. But at that moment, he wasn’t teaching them anything in specific. Instead, he was telling them of the ancient tales of…

Le ninjas.

The old man pulled up a chair in front of a fire crackling in a small iron stove, and the kids sat in front of him on the ground.

“Long ago,” Tado recited to the rhythmic crunching of rice cakes in the mouths of Shard and Blaze “In the time before time, the Great Spinjitzu master formed the world using the four elements. Each of the elements on their own was decent, but used together, their power was the decentest of all. However, only one man could control all four elements: the avat--wait, I think I’m getting my ancient legends mixed up. Just a second.” Tado shuffled through some ancient scrolls and parchments and such until he found the one he was looking for. “Oh yes, that’s right,” he exclaimed as he refreshed his memory of the legend. “That’s how it went. Okay, where was I?”

“In the time before time!” Blaze piped up.

“Ah yes, in the time before time, the Great Spinjitzu master formed the world using the four elements: earth, lightning, ice, and fiya.”

“Why’d you say ‘fiya’ weird?” Shard inquired.

“Stylistic choice,” Tado replied without hesitation, “Now let me continue. The Great Spinjitzu master was able to create the land by using the power of Spinjitzu. Specifically, he used the Spinjitzu power of creation, which combined the powers of all formed elements into a creative force. He taught others the art of Spinjitzu, training each of them to become the master of one of the elements. However, only he, and eventually his sons, had the skillz to control all four of the elements.”

“Why’d you say ‘skillz’ weird?” Shard inquired.

“I thought we already went over this. Stylistic choice my boy! Now, if you’re done asking queshons, I will continue with my epic story.”

“Why’d you say ‘quesch--’”

“AND THEN, The Great Spinjitzu master died.”

“Oooh” Shard and Blaze responded.

At least I’m pretty sure he’s dead. Let me double check.” Tado flipped through his scrolls for a few secants.

“Well, these vague and somewhat ambiguous ancient scrolls never specifically state that he died, but they imply it, so I declare him dead.”

“Yeah!” Shard and Blaze cheered.

“So then his sons made some friends, they had girl problems, and then one of them got banished to the underworld. And the other one, in his great wisdom, decided to hide the epic weapons of epic power because why not? He was originally going to try to use their power, but then he realized that doing so would turn him into a portal, so instead he decided to hide them. Then he lived out the rest of his life partying. And then he died.”

“No he didn’t!” Blaze objected. “I heard that he’s actually still alive! I heard he’s still alive and is named Mr. Wu.”

“Um...Well, the scroll isn’t clear on his current status, so I declare him dead!”

“Hooray!” Shard and Blaze cheered.

The next hour involved Tado teaching Shard and Blaze how to carefully paint the delicate details of the nearby pond.. Then hour after that involved them throwing paint at each other outside. Despite making a total mess which he would doubtless have to clean up later, the old man seemed to enjoy the game just as much as the two little kids. He might have even enjoyed it more than the kids. And then Shard got paint in his eye and started crying so they had to call the game off and Tado had to give Shard a Rice Wispy treat before he would stop crying. Then Blaze wanted a Rice Wispy treat because Shard got one.