From Branden Landry's series The Dragon Tamer,
19-year-old Hitoshi Yoshioka goes through a similar experience as Jace Phoenix, except he is brought to a new dimension and he didn't want to become one. He and his friend, 18-year-old Rudi Kranz come...
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Art By: Akira Holt
"Why do you have to constantly drag me out here?" I asked. "Oh stop complaining. You gotta get out once in a while," Rudi responded. And that's my friend, Rudi Kranz.
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Art By: Rudy Hertz
Rudi has always been an outdoorsy kind of guy. He moved to Japan from Germany with his family 4 years ago back in December of 2013. He was 16 at the time and loves Japan with all his heart. His favourite part happens to be the Tenshi Hills. Every other weekend he drags me along with him. Even though there are many times I clearly expressed "no" he doesn't care. I try not to be too much of a party pooper because he seems to enjoy it. The hills, the mountains. Those are his elements.
I soon continued down the trail and we came across a bridge over a creek. "Yeah, I'm not taking that," Rudi said behind me. So he decided to walk through the creek instead of over it. "Damnit! Now my socks are wet." "It's your fault," I echoed. We kept going down the hiking trail and soon came across a tall rocky waterfall. "What are you doing?" I asked "I'm going to climb it," He responded. Rudi put his bag on the ground and took out some climbing gear. Without telling him I walked off and took a path that lead up there. Sure it was steep but it was better than scaling the cliffside.
When I reached the top I sat in an area next to the waterfall as I watched Rudi attempt to climb up. About a half hour later he made it up and was exhausted. "Wait. How did you get up here so fast?" Rudi asked. "I got up here a half hour ago," I responded. "Wait-" Before he could continue I pointed to the path behind me. "Damn!" He shouted. "Hey, at least you got a good workout." "Haha, very funny." "I thought you knew the forest," I said "I forgot about the Oka trail." I just shrug and we continue hiking. But things were going to get weird. Rudi kept hiking ahead but for some reason, I was drawn off the path. It was like something was speaking to me. There was this trail in the area called the "Hito Ke No Nai Michi" meaning "Deserted Trail" no one's ever ventured down that trail. I can only think of one story involving someone going down that trail. Of a young boy named Tatsuya Abe and he was never seen again.
There is a myth down there about a ghost town known as "Kako Ni Torawarete" AKA The Aged Town. It's believed the ghost town was abandoned in the early 1920s and the period reflects through the town's empty streets and abandoned storefronts. What was odd was that I had to sudden urge to head down the Hito Ke No Nai Michi and so I did. Rudi didn't notice I was gone but it didn't take him long to realize the mysterious disappearance. So when Rudi looked behind him he did not see me.
"Hitoshi?" He called out. "Where the hell did he just go? He was right here a second ago." Rudi turned back around and began searching for me. Little did he know that was the last time he'd see me in a while. I kept walking down Hito Ke No Nai Michi. For the first five minutes, there were many warning signs saying things like "Machigata tān" and underneath it Wrong Turn. And another sign was written a bloody red and said "Tachiiri kinshi" or Keep out. But it was like I was no longer in control of my body. I was in a trance-like state and kept walking forward. For a little while down the trail, there was a bunch of eerie graffiti.
Things like disturbing messages and visuals. Eventually, that graffiti ended but throughout the path, there were incredibly eerie messages. There was one that caught my attention more than others, however. Reading "Minutes feel like seconds, hours feel like minutes, I've lost track of time, my sanity slowly depleting if I don't make it back let my family know I love and miss them." despite seeing the eerie message I kept going forward. I later came across a random mossy wall. There was an entrance and a sign that was covered in leaves.
Was this Kako Ni Torawarete? I thought. I moved the vines covering the sign. It read "Welcome to Tenshi" I guess that was the actual name of the town. I entered very cautiously and when I did It felt like I entered a different period. The whole town looked as if it was frozen in time. With World War I posters plastering the streets. The roads were empty and each building had old furniture dating back to the early 1900s, everything was littered on the grounds and falling apart. Nothing was taken when the citizens left. Whoever lived left and they left fast.
In the entire town, there was one thing that stuck out and that was a massive metal gate on the far right end. It was very gothic looking and was completely painted black. There was something that was off about it though. It just didn't sit right with me. But curiosity got the best of me.
