Description: Ever since he fought on that spot once and felt a very grim presence indeed, Frei has been naturally curious about the ruined temple of Sunshine City. When the Trial of the Dragon tournament begins, he finds himself unable to quiet his worries, and so he visits the dangerous place. What he discovers is an old man with some surprising information, an important new lead, and the sinking feeling that this entire scenario's going to go bad... fast.
Of all the places in Sunshine City it still seems there is one place people really don't want to go. Even the gangers that prowl the streets through most of the city's outer regions give the old beaten path that leads to the broken down temple alot of space. It just seems to eminate bad vibes even to those not so well attuned to the world. Maybe that is why when King of Fighters was happening several people that seemed to follow the ancient evil known as Orochi liked to congregate around the building.
Really there isn't anything special about it in appearance. It is run down and busted all around. Before the followers of Orochi showed up in an attempt to do a few rituals it seems that the place was untouched for years. Whatever those cultists attempted has long since been removed and the place has gone back to being quiet and unattended. Even so a strange power seems to be in the air and those that are attuned to the energy of the world could tell something very wrong has happened in this place. When it occurred and what is of course a whole other matter.
It has grown dark today, faster in this area more so than the rest of the city. Of course the large trees that grow over and around the temple help with that. There is a gentle breeze and not far from the temple itself there is a fire. Not a large one, but something a camper or the like might start up to keep themselves warm. There have been rumors of people going into the temple and not coming back. Is this perhaps one of the ones that looks to go inside? There is a few worn blankets piled not too far from the fire, but not much else. No person at least that can be seen.
It's taken some time since his arrival in Sunshine City before Frei managed to get himself here. Part of the issue is that the outskirts of Sunshine City simply aren't safe, and while he's fairly confident that a few angry thugs are not a serious threat, Frei would like to avoid any... long-term entanglements in that arena. It's not his intent to carry any dangerous grudges with him back to Japan, where they might join the long list of people who, in an attempt to get at someone who works there, have kicked in the YFCC's front door and left the place looking like a complete mess. Besides, this is HIS wild hunch, his half-remembered feelings and images that tell him to come specifically to this temple. No sense getting anyone else hurt... or worse.
So it took a few days. He had to find a nearby place to stay that wasn't a crack or whore house, for starters. He had to watch and get a feel for when people came and went around the area. He had to do something about his painfully-recognizable red hair, which is now mostly stuffed under a black knit cap, with fragments of his bangs hanging down into his eyes. But today as the light faded, he finally found his moment and made his move. An 'evening walk' is dangerous but for the bold, not unheard of in Outer Sunshine. A circuitous path to obscure his destination, and finally it's Frei's form that the red-orange glow of that single fire illuminates for a moment.
Then he steps inside.
The memories, now almost a year old, are not as vivid as they once were, but the shadowed corners and dimly-lit crevices of the temple space are counterparts to the dark corners of Frei's memory. That feeling, that persistent feeling, of hunger he felt so long ago, rises up in his mind, making a chill play across his skin despite the warmth of a summer night. A dark presence. He'd assumed it had something to do with the strangeness behind the King of Fighters tournament, but when he'd heard of strange feelings and goings on in Sunshine City...
Zach had noticed it, in his own way. For a moment, Frei wishes he'd thought to ask Aranha to come, to see if the Spider felt the same way he did in their fight at this spot so long ago.
It would be nice if the shadows falling over things would stop taking on almost-recognizable shapes.
"...maybe this was a bad idea."
The voice echoes off the walls once inside. The place seems undisturbed and if anyone had been inside recently they have done well to cover their tracks. The same stains that were on the walls and altar still remain, but no new ones seemed to have been added which is probably a good thing. Perhaps all the rumors were just that, rumors. The feeling of something evil here does seem lessened than it was from the last time Frei had visited. Perhaps the destruction of Orochi has caused whatever this is hanging around the temple to grow weaker.
"A bad idea. One who came to unleash the power?" a voice whispers out from the darkness. "Much too late. All that is left is some remnants of the beast's power." it murmurs as emerging from the shadows is a rather frail looking man that looks to be easily in his seventies if not old. He is almost all skin and bones with tatters of clothing covering him. Could the fire outside and blankets belong to him? If so why of all people would this old man brave the dangers of the outer parts of Sunshine to come out to this place?
He moves slowly and clambers up onto the main altar. He sits there cross legged and his eyes close while head hangs forward. "No, not one of them. Not a follower of the serpent that once rested here." he finally says after a few moments. An eye cracks back open as he observes Frei and looks the much younger man over for a bit. "So why are you here? I do not sense any power of the dragon on you. Was it just curiousity?"
Trained fighters can still be surprised or scared. Case in point: someone in the room starts talking, and Frei instinctively spins around to look for the sound. Of course, it's bloody dark in here and making any light is bound to attract the attention of the wrong people, which makes the search not terribly fruitful. Eventually the voice and the sound of footsteps pull Frei's attention in the old man's general direction; that, and the fact that he's slowly adjusting to the darkness, sight-wise. It doesn't even occur to him that if he just took a moment and concentrated he'd be able to sense the man's life force easily... or perhaps it does occur to him, and Frei has no desire to open himself up to the spiritual world right now. Especially here.
"Unleash it?" The curiosity and confusion in that voice are genuine, at least. As far as Frei can remember, the presence here was... hungry. It was looking to devour, which was why he felt his strength sapped so when Frei fought with Aranha against Gen, here. Whatever it was, he assumed someone TRAPPED it here. "No, I didn't come to unleash anything."
Watching the man walk to the altar, Frei decides to risk it, extending a hand out, palm down, and closing his eyes a moment. When he opens them again, it's to blink in surprise. He's right; unlike before Frei doesn't feel any interference or drain on his own abilities. Then the old man starts talking about 'them', and the 'serpent' that once rested here. Memories surface, of Kyo Kusanagi's story about the bloodline treasures and the Orochi, a story that very few people indeed have heard firsthand. But Frei knows that entire affair was settled elsewhere. So, what was here?
Tilting his head somewhat, attempting to sound light and even a bit deferent, Frei addresses the old man at last. "I don't think I have any dragon-related powers. I guess... maybe it was just curiosity. I'd been here once before and felt something... dangerous."
The old man gives a rather crooked grin that shows a few teeth missing. Perhaps even stranger when Frei takes time to let himself becom more aware of the powers around him it seems that old man himself seems to radiate something much similar to the vibes the temple itself gives off. He looks human and solid at least. He doesn't seem to be some lost spirit or the like. Would a spirit need a fire and blankets to keep warm at night afterall?
He just gives a slow nod. "Those that worshiped the serpent were mislead. It was never here. They just found what was left over of another force that was housed here until a few years ago." he explains as that eye closes again and he almost looks like he is about to doze off at any moment. His fingers lightly brush along the altar as he tilts from side to side. "They made the mistake because it was close to their serpent. This place was used to seal away the Black Dragon. An evil force that cannot be controlled....or couldn't be until he came along." He seems to be almost rambling now more than anything. No real attention paid to Frei as he leans forward and starts to rock back and forth. Maybe he was the care taker of the place? It might explain why he seems to give off the same tainted feeling the temple does. Perhaps he was driven mad by the power here.
"He killed the guardian, Lee Song. He took the dragon and now it lives in him." There is actually a bit of grief in his voice as he speaks now. Lee Song also seems familiar in name. Wasn't there a dojo that was owned by him in the inner parts of the city? "It now gains power. It was weakened for being dormant for centuries, but the man.......he is letting it devour the innocence of this city. Sunshine will continue to decay as long as he lives. The man who lives in shadows."
The situation is now getting a little bit weird. The old man is up, and on the move, and something about him _unsettles_ Frei on a woo woo vibe level. As the hobo/prisoner-looking guy goes about telling his story, the younger man listens, but is also slowly circling the altar, keeping the same distance from it but moving in and around the temple. Very slowly, as this requires picking over ruins and moving through dark spaces, and Frei doesn't let his eyes leave the old man for long. But there is something about this place that makes him not want to stay in one place too long.
'It was close to their serpent.' Alright, so the Orochi cult was here by mistake. That makes sense; the 'demon' they summoned that Frei managed to banish back to its home -- with great effort -- attacked a place in Greece that had a similar aura. "The 'Black Dragon'..." Frei murmurs, as the old man describes what went down. "Not sure I like the sound of 'until he came along'..."
Now Frei comes to a stop, and realizes that he was subconsciously moving himself to the place where he and Aranha stood against Gen, so that in his mind's eye, the memories of the fight move across his field of view like ghosts or holograms, shadowy reminders of that day. It makes it look as if he's staring at nothing, before he turns back to the old man. "So there's someone out there, strong enough to control this malevolent force that can't be controlled... and where have I heard..."
A pause. Finally, FINALLY, this bloody technological marvel he felt he wasted his money on is going to come in useful.
Out of Frei's pocket comes his phone, and a quick Google or two provides archived articles from the Sunshine Times, with headlines he can't help but murmur aloud as he skims them. "Lee Song, of the famous Ryu Zui Ken dojo, found dead under mysterious circumstances... survived by granddaughter Lynn Baker, also of Sunsh-- wait a minute. Lynn Baker?" And then his thumb moves across the screen a bit, before he frowns, eyebrows going up. "'Inner Sunshine City last night, leaving her in serious condition. Approximately 10:30 PM PDT, Lynn Baker, head instructor at the Ryu Zui Ken Dojo in Sunshine Plaza, was found by local residents suffering from several slash marks and stab wounds across her torso and back'..."
The phone goes back in his pocket, and Frei now trains his eyes back on the old man. Somehow, having some facts to fill in is making him a little bolder, but only just. He still seems surprised and off-balance, but he probably won't get a chance like this to find answers again. "What IS the Black Dragon? Who sealed it here?"
Rocking about on the altar the old man is silent for some time. He almost seems to forget that anyone else is even in the temple with him for quite some time before Frei's question finally seems to snap him out of his small daze. Those eyes open up once more and his head turns to where he looks to the younger man once more for a few long moments. "Lynn Baker, the granddaughter....yes." It seems that maybe he didn't hear those questions that were asked. "He entrusted her with the power of one too. The weakest of the dragons. Two more to his favored students. One that has turned his back on past events and seeks a new life. The other stalks the streets."
Things are starting to get rather confusing now. So there isn't just one force, but four? The others though he never mentioned being sealed here. Of course he could just be quite mad and making the whole thing up, but at least his talk of Lee Song seems to be right on the ball. It could be that he is speaking both in truth and with bits of madness so it may be hard to discern just how much fo what he says could honestly hae happened.
He suddenly hops from the alter and lands on both feet as he begins to pace. "Sealed centuries ago. Maybe Lee Song's ancestors?" he says and he rolls his shoulders in a bit of a shrug. "I was a caretaker, I could always hear it whispering. Wanting me to let it free. To let it consume me. I was weak unlike the man that freed it." Turning about he stalks over to Free and looks him straight in the eye. "The dragon like the others was created from the earth. This one twisted and full of malice unlike the others. It only wishes power. It was sealed in hopes of to remain dormant until the end of times. The longer it is awake the more danger everyone is in, but the man that carries it is smart. No one can find him."
Now this is a surprising story, but it's not the first of its kind that Frei's heard before. When Orochi reared its ugly head, a trail of people -- Kula Diamond, Ash Crimson -- led him to Kyo Kusanagi, who explained some of the history of his mystical bloodline. After being told that the Orochi legend was more real than people thought, the idea of ancient dragon spirits that form pacts with fighters and grant them power isn't terribly shocking. After all, doesn't Frei himself subconsciously draw on a similar force? So Lee Song was their guardian, and now the various dragons -- probably color-coded -- are out there, somewhere, including one with his granddaughter Lynn. "So whoever attacked Lynn may have been after it."
There's a moment of backpedal as the old man is suddenly up in his grill, but the story that comes after is enlightening enough so that the sudden invasion of personal space is forgotten. "So maybe I need to find these other 'dragons'," Frei says aloud. Does he want to share his GOALS with this man? Perhaps. There is a sort of... longing about this old man that he can sense, a desire to have the thing back here, maybe even a WANT to hear those whispers in his ears once more. "But if Lee Song is gone... will his granddaughter be able to seal it away again? Would... *you* know how?" he asks, at last turning a direct question back on the old man.
No matter how you slice it, though, finding Lynn Baker is next on Frei's list... if she'll believe a word of this, for that matter. There's no guarantee that Lee Song's apparently sacred duty is taken seriously by those he knew.
The mention of the attack on Lynn seems to just perplex the older man. His head tilts some, but he does at least step away some to give more room for Frei once more. "Someone attacked her? I do not know. Few know of her power." he admits and he gives another shake of his head. He actually looks worried about the fact now that it has been revealed to him that the young woman might be in danger. "Seal it? No, I could not. Not sure if anyone could. Lee Song may have been the last."
He holds his head as he wanders back to the altar and he kneels down before it before leaning in to rest his head against the cold stone of the altar. "Things are getting worse. He is gaining power. I can hear the dragon in my head. Taunting me. I might be next if the girl has been gone after. It could be him. It could be the man who lives in shadows." He seems to be doing his best to keep from going into a panic. His breathing has gotten heavier as he remains kneeled down like that. Eyes are shut tight as he takes in heavy gulps.
"You may be in danger too. I have said too much. Watch your back. he controls this town. Not these gangs. They only think they have control. They don't even know the truth." He ends up twisting to sit down and lean back, his eyes still closed as he takes another deep breath. "Go, flee this place. Do not return. He could be waiting if you do. I do not think you have the strength to not be consumed."
Who IS this man? In the end, perhaps someone who traded his sanity for his duty; who stood fast and tried to protect this place even when it was clear that doing so was taking him down a dark path from which there was no turning back. And now he says Frei might be in danger? Well, that much is probably a given. Could he resist this Black Dragon if they met? That isn't clear. "I... might surprise you," he offers the old man with the faintest of smiles, before extending a hand to him nonetheless. "Listen... you're right that it's probably not safe here. But I can protect you, take you somewhere safe. These things you're talking about... I don't think ANYBODY knows about them. And I get the feeling that they're about to become very important."
There's a pause, and he glances over his shoulder, back toward the street and the dark city waiting outside, as hungry and implacable a beast as this 'Black Dragon' was, in Frei's mind. But there are ways to ward off the darkness, if you know how to look. "There's a fighting tournament in the city right now," Frei explains to the old man. "And in my experience, there's almost always something going on behind the scenes. But that also means there's plenty of people here who know how to fight. We can keep you safe, even get you out of the city."
Another pause, and then he looks around the dark, destroyed space. Even as he thinks that there's no reason to stay here, no reason to be among this destruction which now the man has no purpose to even guard since the Dragon is gone, the redhead knows in his heart that the old man is going to refuse, and probably even die here. But he has to make the effort, all the same. He has to try.
The hand is extended towards him, but the old man only reaches out to bat it away. "I must remain. I have always remained. Bound to this place." his touch is cold. Perhaps he has been away from the fire and blankets far too long. It almost feels wrong in a way. Unnatural just like the force that seems to surround this fallen temple. "I protect it even in the state it is in." Obviously he doesn't seem to be very good at protecting given what occurred around the temple itself when followers of Orochi decided to make this place their own. Maybe that is part of what lead him to be this maddened shell of a man.
Slowly he gets to his feet and he starts to stalk by. "No amount of people can protect me. If it wishes to consume me it will happen. I know I can no longer resist the temptation. Tell everyone to stay away. If he ever returns when someone is around I...." he just strails off and shakes his head. Slowly he staggers outwards from the temple He seems to be growing more sluggish by the moment.
"I just need rest. Some rest before the nightmares come again. Before I see the black wings on the horizon." he whispers. Frei soon seems to be ignored as the old man only seems intent on moving towards the small little campsite he has made. He settles down on the blankets and starts to curl himself into a ball. "Trust no one in town." is the final words he vies before it seems like he finally starts to doze off, drifting into sleep and silence for the time being. How long until the nightmares come he does not know.
That cold, hard feeling in the pit of Frei's stomach means he knows how this will end up. Perhaps the man in the shadows left the old caretaker alive out of pity, or a misplaced sense of harmlessness. Once it becomes apparent that he shared what he knew with someone -- and it WILL happen, Frei considers with grim certainty -- the man's life is forfeit. Even with that strange aura he possesses, it's clear that the aging guardian would provide little challenge to anyone with fighting experience. His life is as good as over, and in his own little way, it was Frei who helped push him along that path. Because he had to know, one way or the other.
The best thing, then, is not to let the man's death -- and the knowledge he passed on -- be for nothing. Lynn Baker is first priority; she'll know the other two students of Lee Song. And then there's Freeman, a name that gnaws at the edge of Frei's consciousness, half-remembered. They've met. Freeman didn't make a very good impression. Murderous personality, black shadowy chi.
Hmm.
There's one last moment where Frei glances around the temple, and then turns to go as well. He probably won't be coming back, and for now the best thing he can do is get back to the brightly lit haven of inner Sunshine City as fast as possible. There's so many things to do and not enough time.
But he does have the wherewithal to stop by the man's campsite on his way out to say "Thank you, and... rest well."
And then he too is gone.
Log created on 13:49:48 06/17/2012 by Frei, and last modified on 09:27:54 06/18/2012.