The Lost Jinzouningen Saga
A Dragon Ball Super Z spinoff by Deaku
Story 05 ~ Remembrance
Rain was pouring down relentlessly and fierce winds were drowning out all noise. The sky was black, brightened with an occasional flash of lightning. Lore was caught out in the middle of it all, attempting to find someplace he could take shelter.
"I could have stayed in the cave I slept in last night!" Lore screamed, with extreme annoyance in his voice. "But what did I do?! I left! Completely ignoring the dark clouds that were gathering in the sky! If anything it's going to be a light drizzle, I told myself! I'm a Jinzouningen it won't bother me! Lore your such a baka!"
Lore wrapped his cloak around him tighter, hoping it would help him stay somewhat dry. The rain kept Lore from seeing more than a few yards in front of him, his goggles were the only thing keeping his sight clear. Also, the electric charge in the air interfered with his optic scans, keeping Lore from utilizing them to find his way. So he continued to trudge ever onward, hoping to find a town or at least someplace with shelter. I haven't been in a storm this bad since that night I had the wreck. Though I do remember one other time I saw a storm this bad.
~~~~~
Lore Tempest awoke to the sound of his alarm clock. Slamming a fist down on it to shut it off, he rolled over to go back to sleep. Suddenly, he remembered why he had set the thing in the first place, he and Athena were going to go check out the carnival today. Quickly jumping up out of bed he rushed over to his dresser, nearly tripping over several things in the process, and put on some clean clothes.
"I need to get some light in here so I can see the floor." Lore said to himself. Walking over to his window, he threw open his curtains. Lore was almost sorry he did, it was pouring outside.
Lore walked out to the living room and let himself fall down onto the couch. He covered his head with a throw pillow, letting out a grunt as a morning greeting to his older sister.
"What in the world is wrong with you?" Ryoko asked, looking up from the bowl of cereal she was eating.
"That." Lore answered, pointing out the window.
Ryoko looked out the window, "It's raining, so what?" A smirk appeared on her face as she remembered something. "Oh that's right, you and Athena were going on a little date today weren't you?" she said, holding down the urge to laugh at her younger brother's moping.
"Oh, just leave me alone." Lore told her, kicking up off the couch and walking over to the window. He wondered what to do, now that his plans for the day had been completely derailed. Then thinking of something he could try, to give himself a little hope for the day if nothing else. Lore put his hands together and bowed his head. "Kami, if your listening. Please, could you make the rain stop for today? If you do, I swear I'll make it up to you someday, somehow."
"Like that's going to work." Ryoko said laughing.
"Doing something is better than just sitting around not trying anything at all."
"I agree," came a voice from across the room, causing the two siblings to jump. It was their mother, Sakura, leading a sleepy looking Urika from her bedroom. "Lore, I hope you remembered it's your turn to do the laundry today. If you get right to it, you should be able to finish it in no time. And Ryoko, it's your turn to take out the trash, so you better finish your breakfast and get it done." Both Lore and Ryoko let out a groan as their mother set Urika on the couch.
Lore gathered up the laundry and grabbed one of his hand-held games, then proceeded to the basement of the apartment building where the laundry room was. It took nearly three hours, but he got everything done and headed back up to his family's apartment.
"Laundry's finished!" Lore called out as he entered. But it seemed that nobody was around so he set the laundry baskets in their proper place by the door, so they could be picked up by their proper owners later. Lore looked out the window, it was no longer raining and the sun was shining. He ran over to the window with a big grin on his face. "Yosh! The rain has stopped and there's still plenty of time to go to the carnival with Athena!"
"I doubt your little prayer had anything to do with it." Ryoko told him as she walked out of the kitchen.
"Who knows if it did or not. But I thank Kami anyway!" Lore replied as he began to dance around the room.
"I wonder how everyone in your school would react if they knew you were making a complete fool of yourself by dancing around our living room?"
Lore stopped dancing with a smirk on his face and a slightly malicious look in his golden eyes. "Oh, I don't think you'll tell anyone."
"And why shouldn't I?"
"Because I remember a certain person acting the same way when the boy she had a crush on asked her out. As this person was dancing around the room, I happened to have my video camera in hand. Now, wouldn't it be interesting if that tape got shown at this person's school?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I'll have to think about it while I'm at the carnival." Lore then noticed Ryoko was headed for his room. "Don't worry about searching my room while I'm gone, the tape isn't in there. I put it in a very safe place where a certain person wouldn't be able to find it."
"Why you little..!" Ryoko fumed, then turned towards Lore.
"Jaa ne, Oneesan!" Lore called out as he shot out the door and down the hallway, escaping his older sister's wraith.
~~~~~
After a couple more hours, Lore finally found a town. But he had no clue what the name of the town was. He wasn't about to pull out his map to check, just to get it ruined by the rain. But still, he was happy he found it. The rain was still pouring down, but at least the buildings were shielding him from the wind.
As Lore walked, he searched for someplace he could duck into until the storm passed. Lore turned a corner and saw someone walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction that he was. It was a woman, she was heavily bundled up and holding an umbrella. Lore went to the edge of the sidewalk to let her get by, as she passed Lore got a good look at her face and thought that she looked like his mother. The weather must be getting to me, people I don't even know are starting to look like my family. Lore shrugged off the notion and continued to walk.
"Urika!" A voice called from down the street, causing Lore to freeze in his tracks.
Looking over his shoulder, Lore saw another woman run up to the first one. the two began to chat and laugh, then headed off down the next street. Lore didn't quite know what to think of it all. It's just a coincidence! Really, what are the chances of that actually being my sister? I just better continue on my way. Lore began to walk again, but found himself going in the same direction as the other two went. Damn feet! Not this way! The other way! Lore tried to turn around, but found his curiosity was getting the better of him and he kept following. I can't believe I'm doing this!
Lore kept a good distance behind the pair he was following, ducking into alleyways and behind anything large enough to lessen the chance he would be seen. There has got to be a better way to do this. If I'm spotted by anybody, I'm going to have a heck of a time trying to explain myself. Wait! I know what I could do! Lore jumped up to the roof of the nearest building and continued his pursuit. This is a little better I guess. Who's going to be looking up during a storm anyway?
Lore continued from rooftop to rooftop, fortunately most of them were flat. After a few blocks, and several near slip-ups later, Lore saw the two women he was following enter into a restaurant. He stopped on the building across the street, setting his pack down, Lore looked down at where the two had entered.
"Now what do I do?" Lore asked himself. "If it is Urika, I just can't go down there after such a long time, looking just the same as when I disappeared. The shock might give her a heart attack or something. What to do?" He began to pace back and forth. "Maybe if I disguised myself and checked things out first."
Lore began to rummage around in his pack, not really finding anything that he could use for a disguise. So he settled for hiding his features as well as he could.
"Okay, my goggles are tinted enough to hide my eyes, so I can use them. I can use my bandanna to keep my hair out of sight, but I had better keep the RR symbol out of view. Who knows what people would think if they saw me wearing the infamous Red Ribbon insignia. Then with my hood up, they all should hide my face fairly well. But what do I do about my voice?"
After thinking for a few minutes, Lore remembered that the information in his computer stated that he had the ability to modulate his voice. A few moments later, after he had found a setting he liked, Lore decided he was ready. Looking around to make sure no one would see him, he jumped off the roof and entered the restaurant.
~~~~~
"Come on Oniisan!" Urika called out dragging her big brother along through the crowd.
"I'm walking as fast as I can. How about if you slow down a little?" Lore knew his request was futile. After all the cotton candy she had just eaten, Urika wasn't going to be slowing down for the rest of the day. One thing that was puzzling Lore was that he had eaten just as much cotton candy, but his metabolism just didn't seem to be processing all the sugar as fast as Urika's was.
Lore's family had come to the amusement park for summer vacation. Lore had invited Athena, and Ryoko had invited her boyfriend to come along on the trip as well. It was a pleasant trip, but as soon as they entered the gates both parents were somehow able to sneak away without anybody noticing. That left Lore & Ryoko to "debate" over who would watch after Urika. After several minutes, Ryoko left Lore the "privilege" of the job. Of course the first thing Urika wanted was cotton candy, Lore bought it and almost immediately regretted doing so.
"Nothing quite like a five year old that's had too much cotton candy, is there Sugar?" Athena asked, interrupting Lore's thoughts of how to get back at his older sister.
"Tell me about it. It's not that I don't like watching after Urika. It's just I'd like to be told about it in advance, instead of having the job dropped on me at the last second." Lore answered.
"I don't think it's that bad." Athena told him. "At least we won't be bored."
"Let's go you guys," Urika said impatiently. "I want to go on some rides!"
A few hours and several rides later, the trio was sitting at a table eating a late lunch. While Urika was busy eating, Lore took the opportunity to change the film in his camera.
"Weird isn't it, we've been all over this place and we haven't seen your parents or your sister since this morning." Athena said as she drank her soda.
"Not really," Lore replied. "They pull this stunt all the time, we won't see them until they're ready to go home. Last summer when we went to the beach, me and Ryoko had separate rooms from our parents and Urika. I didn't see any of them until it was time to leave. Thank Kami I had my own money to buy food or I might have had quite a problem trying to find something to eat. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, they only do this while we're on vacation."
Just then Urika finished eating and jumped up from her seat. "I'm done! Time to go have some more fun!" She yelled, then ran off.
"Matte yo Urika! Matte yo!" Lore called out, jumping up from his seat to chase after her. Inadvertently he left his camera behind, Athena grabbed it and followed.
Urika stopped behind a group of people who were watching a pair of acrobats. "I can't see! Lore will you lift me up?" she asked as her older brother caught up with her.
"Sure Urika, just don't run off like that again." Lore told her. Urika nodded in agreement, so he lifted her up and put her on his shoulders.
"Sugoi!" Urika screamed in delight when she could finally see the show.
Athena saw this and couldn't resist taking a picture. "Smile for the camera!" She told them as they turned around. Urika waved her hands in the air, Lore gave a peace sign with one hand and held on to his little sister with the other. Athena smiled and took the picture.
~~~~~
Urika let out a sigh as she was cleaning the tables, she didn't know why the boss was making Rei and herself work today. Just because people had been to the restaurant earlier in the day, didn't mean they were going to be coming in during the storm. Just then, as to contradict what she was thinking, a man wearing a hooded cloak walked in.
"Konnichi wa." Urika greeted him, "What would you like sir?"
The man sat down then looked up at the menu. "I'll have some ramen and some tempura please."
"Right away sir. Rei, wake up back there! We got a customer!" Urika called back to the kitchen where her friend was. Turning back, she got a better look at her mysterious customer. Besides the hooded cloak, he was also wearing goggles, but took neither off as he sat there. Well that's certainly strange, but to each his own I guess. She didn't know why, but Urika felt as though she had met this man somewhere before.
Finally Rei came walking out of the kitchen. "You have got to be kidding me! Someone was actually stupid eno... Oh! Gomen nasai sir! I thought Urika was joking with me."
"Don't worry about it." The stranger laughed, "I thought I was the fool for actually setting out this morning with such dark clouds in the sky."
Urika handed Rei the stranger's order and rushed her back to the kitchen. Then came back to introduce herself. "Like my friend said my name is Urika. What's yours?"
After a few seconds the stranger replied "Juun."
"Juun, that's an interesting name. Well if you'll excuse me, I have to finish cleaning the tables. Rei will bring your food out when it's done." Urika went back to cleaning the tables and a while later, Rei brought out Juun's order.
"Itadakimasu!" Juun said as Rei set the food down in front of him. "Oishii!" He told her after taking a few bites.
"Arigato." Rei replied. She then noticed Urika was just standing in one spot, staring out the window. She walked up to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong Urika?"
"Nothing," Urika replied, sounding very sad. "Nothing at all."
"C'mon, you can tell me." Rei urged, but Urika remained silent.
"Sometimes it helps if you talk about what's bothering you Urika." Juun suddenly added in. "Rei's willing to listen and if you don't mind telling a stranger about your troubles, I'll listen too."
"I guess your right." Urika finally said. "It's just that days like this always bring back bad memories."
"Like what?" Rei inquired.
"There was a storm just like this when my oniisan Lore disappeared." Urika told her, but when she said it Juun started coughing. "Are you alright?" She asked in a worried tone.
"Hai, some food just went down wrong, that's all." Juun replied, looking very pale. "Please continue what you were telling us."
"Yeah Urika, please tell us what happened." Rei added.
"Alright," Urika said with a sigh. "It was storming just like this when he disappeared. I was only six at the time, but I still remember it. Lore had gone off to do something for a project at school. I'm not sure what it was he had to do, but he drove off that morning and never came back. After he didn't show up the next day, my parents went to the police and filed a missing persons report. They began the search, but didn't really know where to start since nobody even knew the direction he went. The search was called off after about a month, but none of us ever gave up hope. Kaasan was utterly convinced that he was still out there, just that something was keeping him from returning home."
"How sad, I'm sorry Urika." Rei patted her on the shoulder, and Juun just nodded as he continued to eat.
"It's alright, you shouldn't worry about it. But now that I think about it, there's one more thing I remember about that time. I kept having this strange dream, to this day it still scares me a little. In the dream, Lore was always being chased by this old mustached oni. The oni would catch him and put him into a jar, saying something about how this new toy of his would serve him well, then he would laugh and disappear."
"Maybe your dream had some deeper meaning, like it was trying to tell you something." Juun said, earning a very strange look from Urika.
"Yeah, maybe it was,' Rei added in. "My grandfather was a psychologist and he used to say that kind of stuff all the time." But that earned her a strange look of her own, so Rei decided that she had better change the subject. "So, what happened after all this? Was your family able to continue on alright?"
"Well everything eventually returned to normal, Ryoko and I kept going to school and our parents went back to work. Lore's girlfriend, Athena, remained a friend of the family until she moved away and we lost contact with each other. Eventually, Ryoko got married to her sweetheart and had a daughter of her own. Hmm, I wonder how Lore would react to that? He always thought Ryoko's boyfriend was a cornball because he was training to be a professional wrestler and would always act the part." As Urika finished the last part, Juun had another coughing fit.
"Juun, are you really all right?" Rei asked.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. I guess I should eat a little slower." Juun told her with a nervous laugh.
"Anyway," Urika continued. "Everything went back to normal, until the Jinzouningen came that is. Many people didn't seem that worried, the attacks always seemed to be far to the south. Some doubted that the Jinzouningen would ever come to our home, but they were wrong. I was in school the day they attacked, my friends and I were sitting around eating lunch when the sound of explosions came from downtown. When I looked up into the sky, I saw two figures firing down beams of energy into the city. Somebody screamed and everybody started running, most students ran to their cars and drove off. Since I didn't have a car, I thought it would be pretty stupid to take one anyway, I ran out into the nearby forest. I could hear explosions going off behind me, but I just kept running further and further away. By the time I came to my senses and stopped running, I was out in the middle of the wilderness with no clue as to where I was." Urika said sadly. "I just started wandering, eventually I found my way to this town. I was in terrible shape, half starved and I hadn't slept in days. I found out that the Jinzouningen had attacked the town once before, but had never come back. Many of the people here had been in a similar situation that I had been in and told me everything was going to be okay. I was taken care of until I got better, then I was given a job and I've been living here ever since."
"Sounds like you had a happy ending after all." Juun said as he was finishing his meal.
"Yeah, I guess I did." Urika replied with a smile. "I'm married and have a family of my own now. I even was able to reestablish contact with my niece, we write letters to each other quite often. I think I'll have to go down there for a visit soon, she's not only married but she has a daughter of her own now. I guess that makes me a great-aunt, I must be getting old." Urika finished laughing.
"Oh, come on Urika. You don't even look old enough to be a mother yet." Rei told her and they both began to laugh.
Just then Juun finished his meal. "Gochisou sama deshita! Here's what I owe you for the food." He said standing up and handing them some money. "Keep the change. But now I better be on my way, I have places to be."
"Sayonara." Urika said as he began to walk away.
"Jaa ne." Juun replied, sounding a bit sad.
As he walked out, Juun did a two fingered salute. The motion brought a strange feeling to Urika. That's what Lo.. no, it's just a coincidence that's all. She looked one more time, but Juun was already out the door.
"He seemed to be a nice guy, a little strange, but nice." Rei said as she cleaned off the table, then she noticed something that was on the seat. "What's this?" Rei asked no one in particular as she picked the object up, taking a look at it. "It's a photo, of some guy with a little girl sitting on his shoulders."
Urika gasped when she saw the picture and recognized it. "That's a picture of me and my Oniisan when we went to an amusement park! But why would Juun...?!" She was unable to finish the sentence as she grabbed the picture and ran out the door, despite the fact that it was still storming outside.
When she got outside, Urika looked up and down the street. There was no one, not even any cars were around.
"What's wrong Urika?" Rei asked as she came out the door, looking around. "Hey! Where'd Juun go?" She noticed that he was nowhere to be seen. "What, was he some sort of ghost or something?"
"Possibly." Urika replied sadly. She then looked at the picture and smiled. "Or maybe he was a guardian angel." She turned and walked back into the restaurant, followed by a very confused Rei.
~~~~~
Lore double checked his supplies and equipment, he didn't want to be out in the middle of nowhere just to find out he forgot something. Yep, it was all there; some food, video camera, plenty of film, spare batteries, and all the rest he thought he would need. Lore was going out into the wilderness for a school assignment, he needed some footage of a heard of saurians in their natural habitat. Deciding he was ready, Lore packed up everything and exited his room.
"Where are you going?" Ryoko asked when she saw her younger brother heading for the door with a full pack.
"Out to do some filming for a school assignment." Lore answered.
"It's not like you to do something like this at the last minute. Why didn't you do it yesterday?"
"I would have, but I was stuck here taking care of Urika because a certain person decided to run off for a spur of the moment date."
"Oh yeah." Ryoko said with a smile. " So why didn't you try and stop me then, if you had this assignment to do?"
"I tried. But you weren't paying any attention at all to what I was saying and left."
Just then Urika came running out of her room carrying her favorite stuffed animal, Mister Fluffy. "Oniisan, guess what? My favorite show is on tonight. Do you what to watch it with me?"
"Sure Urika, it shouldn't take me too long to get this over and done with. So I should be back later this afternoon." Lore told her.
"Oniisan, do you promise that you'll be back in time to watch my favorite show with me?" Urika asked.
Of course I will, I'll be back before you know it." He assured her. "Jaa ne." Lore told them as he did a two fingered salute and walked out the door.
And so Lore Tempest left his home that day, thinking he would do what he needed for school and then return home to continue on as he always had. But little did he know the fates had other plans for him.
~~~~~
Standing atop the building across from the street, Lore watched as Urika and Rei went back into the restaurant.
"Gomen nasai, Urika." Lore said sadly. "I'm just don't think I can face you as your brother right now. You'll have questions that I just won't be able to answer. Plus, you seem to be happy with your life. If I suddenly showed up, it might throw it all into chaos and I wouldn't want that to happen."
As he spoke, a voice sprang up in Lore's head. Then why did you leave the picture then? You Baka. "So she would have something to remind her of the good times, instead of the bad."
Lore picked up his pack and slide the straps over his shoulders, then took one last look back down at the restaurant. Lore launched himself up into the air, regardless of the danger from the lightning, and flew away. "I'll return when I feel I'm ready to face you as your brother and when I'm ready to be part of a family again." Lore said as he flew. "Sayonara, Urika."
The End
Hello again everyone, Deaku here. Lore has decided he needed to take a break from the previews, so I'll be going at it alone today. In the next story, Lore shall be wandering around deep within the mountains and stumbles upon some truly ancient ruins. Within, Lore gets much more then he bargained for as the dangers of the lost city test him both physically and mentally. So stay tuned for the next chapter of the Lost Jinzouningen Saga: Darkness.
