Chapter One
Rift's Beginning
Takumi heard someone knocking on his bedroom door in Castle Shirasagi, and looked up from the book he was reading. The particular knock was a bit more hardy and impatient than most servants, so he knew who the knocker was even of they hadn't called for him.
"All right, I'm coming, Hinata," he called out, closing his book with a sigh.
It had been a particularly interesting read about some of the wars in the western country of Canaire, including one spot where a large band of rebels was trying to take over a large region by the usage of secret tunnels and keen strategy. From what he had read so far, they had been successful.
Takumi scooped off the small, light grey kitten off of his lap that had taken a liking to being in his room lately and placed it on the floor, where it instantly ran and climbed onto his bed. Ignoring the kitten that was now circling on his covers, he went over to his closet and pulled out a practice yumi and canister of arrows.
He flipped the canister's loop and the yumi's string over his head before closing the closet door. The new weapon set rested near the holster with his Fujin Yumi, the divine bow of Hoshido. Even when he practiced with other weapons, he still liked to have the divine yumi nearby.
After pausing to stroke the small purring kitten, which stretched out before curling up again, he strode toward the door. He slid it open reveal a slightly impatient Hinata waiting.
His brown-haired samurai retainer grinned at his liege. "Wow, I was waiting so long I almost thought that you had forgotten that you were going to practice around now."
Takumi shrugged. "No, I was just reading."
"Cool. What about?" Hinata asked interestedly. He did not really like reading as a hobby, but knew Takumi did.
Takumi was about to answer when another voice spoke up.
"Hello, Lord Takumi," said a familiar female voice.
Takumi turned to see his other retainer, a blue-haired spear fighter coming toward them with a small smile on her face.
"Hi, Oboro," he greeted her.
Hinata turned to her with one hand on a hip. "Man, I thought you weren't coming," he said, grinning a bit.
Oboro frowned at the samurai. "No way," she said. "You know that I wouldn't ever miss doing anything for Lord Takumi."
Takumi inwardly sighed at the familiar scene as they continued to bicker. It would never escalate to weapons, but their frequent small verbal spats could be a bit annoying.
"Enough," he interrupted them. "Let's just go already."
His retainers looked a little sheepish. "Sorry, Lord Takumi," Oboro apologized, while Hinata rubbed the back of his head.
Takumi let out a small sigh. "It's fine," he said, shrugging.
His retainers followed them down the hall, thankfully without any more arguments. They were nearing the stairs to the first floor of the castle when Takumi heard some footsteps and a familiar voice behind him.
"So, happy birthday, Lord Takumi."
Takumi managed to avoid rolling his eyes as he turned around to see a short, thin servant with grey-brown hair grinning at him.
"Hello, Goro," Takumi said, a little bit exasperatedly.
"You know that Lord Takumi's birthday isn't for six months?" Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Six months and one day," Oboro corrected, frowning at the samurai. "Today is June thirteenth."
The servant frowned, his shoulders actually slumping downward. "Ah," he mourned, "I was sure that I had his half-birthday right this time."
Takumi shrugged, hoping that the man would forget again and he would not be wished a half-birthday the next day. "It's fine," he said. "I've got something to do right now, anyway."
"Yeah, being the most awesome archer in the world," Hinata cheered, while Takumi hoped that the three people around him did not see his slight blush. He had not been actually doing the greatest lately with his usual weapon type, and had resolved to practice more during the day.
"Yeah, yeah," he responded, hoping he sounded nonchalant.
It seemed to work as the man bowed to him. "I hope you have a good half-birthday minus one day, Lord Takumi," he said, grinning again.
Takumi nodded politely, and Goro turned around and walked away jauntily. He then turned and started down the hallway again, with his retainers beside him.
Hinata raised his arms and interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Yeesh," he said, frowning slightly. "Who celebrates half-birthdays, anyway?"
"Who knows," Takumi said, sighing.
"I suppose that he was just trying to be kind," Oboro commented.
"I guess," Takumi replied, shrugging.
Every year Goro wished people, including the royal family, if he could find them, a happy birthday sometime near the day of their half-birthday. Some people were confused; others actually seemed to like it for some odd reason. More than once someone had told him that it wasn't necessary, and unfortunately the man seemed to never remember that. At least the servant was not too annoying, though.
Thankfully, the only other people that even looked at them as they continued toward outside were the green-haired twin samurais, who briefly stopped their argument to greet their prince, and started bickering again after Takumi passed them. He soon came to the side doors that would eventually lead to the front courtyard of the castle. He sure hoped that his accuracy would be better today.
Takumi shot another arrow at the target around two hundred feet away. He was satisfied to see it take root in the exact center, unlike the last two. Sheesh, he needed to focus better.
"All right, Lord Takumi!" Hinata cheered. "Nice!"
Takumi briefly turned to the brown-headed male standing about ten feet away from the right side of the target.
"Maybe," he answered, shrugging. "I can still do better overall."
Hinata grinned. "Yeah, of course you will!" he said cheerfully, pumping a fist in the air.
"Yes, indeed," said Oboro, smiling confidently.
"Yeah, and no Faceless have come around either," said Hinata cheerfully. "Maybe the patrol earlier scared any others off. I wouldn't mind whacking a few if they come after Lord Takumi finishes, though."
Oboro stopped in the motion of putting the arrow that she had pulled from the target into a container nearby, and frowned at her fellow retainer. "We don't need any of those things around, so you shouldn't wish for them."
Hinata shrugged. "Eh, you know that Lord Takumi can hit Faceless all day without any problem," he responded.
Oboro scowled. "That's not the issue," she said.
"Maybe not," Hinata said. He raised an eyebrow. "You're still holding the arrow, though. Want to swap?"
Oboro's face turned a bit red. "No!" she responded, then turned to her liege.
"Sorry Lord Takumi," she apologized. She placed the arrow it in the upright canister nearby, then waited again near Hinata.
Takumi shrugged. "It's fine," he said.
He pulled another arrow from the canister from his back, not breaking his careful stance. He then nocked the arrow and pulled the yumi's string, concentrating hard as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the target in front of him.
He released, and with some satisfaction, saw the arrow pierce the center of the target again. Takumi practically ignored his retainer's exclamations of praise. He should still be able to get more in the exact center still, and better yet, a much higher average of doing so. His lower accuracy lately was unacceptable for anyone in the Hoshidan army, and especially for him, as the prince.
Takumi sighed. Sometimes it seemed that he would never catch up to the excelling status of his older, obviously more talented half-siblings, Ryoma and Hinoka, and also Corrin, who was the Queen of Valla, and Azura, the Vallite songstress who was his adopted sister. Even Sakura, his full younger sister, was often praised for her spectacular healing abilities.
Usually, he practiced alone. The only reason why his retainers were with him for this practice in the first place was that Ryoma, and then later, Hinoka, had insisted on at least one person accompany him since some Faceless had been spotted and defeated near his usual practice area in the forest near the castle. Thankfully the hulking, Nohrian mage-created humanoid creatures had not actually come in the area, though, and his targets were untouched. Unfortunately, there were still quite a few Faceless remaining from before and during the recent war, and were even probably still being created due to many Nohrians that no doubt still thought Hoshido as their unforgivable enemy.
For now, there was the archery practice. Takumi focused on shooting yet another arrow. The next one should be exactly in the center, like the previous two. He pulled the string, the arrow already nocked on, and-
There was a slight crack of something heavy stepping on a branch to his far left. Takumi quickly stood and turned toward the direction that the sound had come from, not releasing his hand from the still taunt string of the practice yumi. He saw Oboro and Hinata quickly arm themselves, Oboro with her naginata, and Hinata with his katana. Both rushed toward their liege and stood on either side of him.
"Who's there?" Takumi called out.
It was probably not Faceless, since he could not hear the typical roar that accompanied them. He frowned intensely. This practice spot was his, and plus, no unruly outsiders should have the right to loiter that near the castle- his home- anyway.
Two dark-haired people dressed in Hoshidan clothing casually walked into the area, meandering as if they had absolutely no care than they were trespassing on castle territory. They could almost have been travelers that had somehow wandered from where they were going, except that they did not carry any sort of bags on their backs. Both of the men looked quite hardy, especially the taller one that was merely raising an eyebrow at the weapons pointed at him and his partner.
Takumi spoke to the two men, who had stopped about ten feet away from the trio. "Why are you trespassing?" he asked forcefully. "Don't try anything if you want to leave in one piece."
The taller person grinned. "Speak for yourself, half-kin," he retorted, almost jovially.
Takumi's frown deepened at the familiar insult, while attempting not to wince at the familiar horrible aura that came from his left. He knew that Oboro's face was contorted into an intense scowl on her face that many flinched away from, including some seasoned warriors. Usually the face came up when anything or anyone from Nohr- where her parents had been killed by an assassin on a trade route to that country- but it also appeared when she was quite angry.
"Don't you dare insult Lord Takumi!" Oboro seethed, her voice inflamed with fury.
She seemed about ready to charge toward the two intruders. Takumi turned his head slightly toward the spear fighter.
"Don't go toward them," he warned in a low voice. "We don't have a viable reason to fight them just yet."
Oboro huffed slightly, but thankfully stayed put, even though she still glared at the people.
Takumi turned back to the two men just standing there. He narrowed his eyes as the taller on smirked.
He spoke up to the intruders. "Why are you here?" he asked.
Takumi scowled as the smaller of the two people chuckled like Takumi had told some hilarious joke. "Oh, you're actually asking that?" he asked, still laughing. "Maybe you'll find out, but I really don't think you will."
Takumi saw Hinata's face become a bit confused. The taller intruder grinned ever so slightly, shrugging, and raised his hand. A small blue sphere surrounded by cerulean flames suddenly appeared above it, and he lobbed it casually toward Takumi.
Hinata and Oboro quickly jumped in front of their liege and placed their weapons in the sphere's path. Takumi heard a small whooshing, then crackling noise as he saw some bit of blue flame dissipate from hitting his retainer's weapons.
They then quickly charged toward the two enemies. As they ran, the smaller one lobbed another sphere, yellow this time, at the samurai, who quickly swung his sword and skillfully batted the magic back to the its creator. The smaller person shrugged for some weird reason, and stepped aside to the left where the magic flew past him and dissipated upon contact with a tree.
Oboro swing her naginata heftily at the taller one, who dodged the long-poled weapon expertly. After a few more nimble dodges, the man shouted as part of the long pole of his assailant's naginata slammed into his head, and he fell down motionless to the ground.
Takumi frowned. The yell from the intruder strangely did not sound as genuine as it should have, though perhaps he was imagining it. From how hard Oboro had hit him, though, he should not be getting up anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Hinata had wasted no time in attacking the other person. Unlike the other intruder, though, the smaller enemy chose more of an offensive strategy, and off-handedly lobbed more strange flame-covered spheres from different angles. Hinata dodged one and blocked all of the rest, the spheres dissolving into more yellow flames against his blade, dissipating rapidly.
Less than half a minute after the taller intruder had been knocked down, Hinata had dodged yet another sphere and held the sharp point of his katana by the man's throat.
Oboro frowned intensely at the taller intruder still lying motionless on the ground. She then stepped toward the shorter, slightly pudgier one that Hinata held in a deadlock, and held her weapon steady a foot away from him. Strangely enough, even with his comrade down, the man did not seem perturbed. He almost seemed bored as he looked past them at the trees.
Takumi spoke to the remaining intruder. "I'll ask again, and you know what will happen if you don't respond," he said, keeping his yumi steadily pointed at the man's unprotected head. "Why are you here, and are there any others with you?"
Still, the man did not respond, and Takumi scowled as the intruder almost seemed to swallow a yawn. Why was he not saying anything?
Suddenly, he heard a rustling on the grass nearby, and something moved in the corner of his eyes. He shifted his head slightly toward the sound, trusting Hinata to still be paying enough attention to the intruder he had put in a deadlock.
Takumi saw the source of the sound. The man that Oboro had smacked was moving like he had merely lain down to take a nap, which was surprising, since the spear fighter had whacked him pretty hard. Apparently he had been correct when he had thought that the man's cry had been fake. Perhaps the intruder had somehow magically blocked the attack, and then pretended to be injured, though Takumi was not sure why he would do so.
"What?" he heard Hinata ask.
Takumi quickly glanced back at his samurai retainer. The blade was still by the other man's neck, who was still standing there casually.
The intruder merely raised an eyebrow. Takumi released his still nocked arrow at the same time that Oboro lifted her naginata to deal another fierce blow. He frowned as he saw the arrow suddenly bounce off of some invisible shield which sparkled a bit as it hit it, then became invisible again. Oboro was thrown backward by the same force invisible force a few seconds later.
Takumi heard Hinata give a surprised yell, and turned his head to see the samurai fall backwards to the ground. The shorter intruder was smiling and had his hands up in front of him, as if he had cast another spell of some sort. No sooner than he had seen that, something invisible that felt like a lightning spell slammed into him, and he had a slight view of crackling yellow lightning in front of him as he was forcefully thrown backwards onto the forest floor. Wincing in pain, he sat up, his hand still clutching the yumi.
The two people had moved closer together. The taller one had his arms folded, and was smirking slightly. Takumi was a bit confused. If the two people were this powerful, why did they not use more power in the first place?
Ignoring his aching chest, Takumi set down the practice yumi, swiftly pulling his Fujin Yumi out of its holster as he did so, and stood. He quickly conjured the ethereal green string and a single glowing arrow, and aimed at the taller male.
Oboro was also standing up, wincing slightly, but charged again as Takumi released the ethereal arrow at the taller intruder.
Somewhat surprisingly, the arrow did not hit, as well as several others right afterword. Takumi watched as they merely bounced of yet another invisible shield, and dissipate a few feet away. He had switched to the Fujin Yumi for more power due to it being a divine weapon, but people had blocked attacks from it before. Apparently he could not rely on the strength of it alone this time.
Oboro came to the man a few seconds after the arrow had bounced away, but her swing did not even reach the shield, or whatever it was. She shrieked as her naginata was wrenched easily out of her grasp by something unseen besides a few random sparks around it, and suddenly her arms were pinned together.
Takumi had created another arrow, when suddenly he felt his Fujin Yumi being tugged of his hands with tremendous strength, surrounded by a tiny bit by yet more lightning. The glowing string and arrow on his yumi immediately vanished. At the same time, he felt the weight of the canister's strap over his shoulder disappear, accompanied by two thuds and a small clattering noise as presumably the divine yumi and the canister of arrows had been carelessly tossed onto the ground.
Not a second later, yet another invisible thing, except with no lightning this time, that seemed to be ropes besides feeling flatter and much wider, wrapped around him and forced him to a standing position. Takumi struggled futilely even as he saw Oboro and Hinata, similarly pinned and struggling, actually float on either side of him, facing their captors.
"You are going to pay for this!" Oboro shouted, seething, glaring furiously at the intruders.
Takumi inwardly fumed at himself. How could he have underestimated the two people so badly? And of course, the two enemies had attacked with magic, his main weakness. That was true for his retainers as well, though not Oboro quite as much. He did not even have enough magic in the first place to retaliate.
Usually, his way of getting around magical attacks was to avoid them. Here, of course, he was absolutely pinned down by two- what else? People obviously strong with magic. He had seen people become unable to move with staves and spells before, but not with some sort of weird invisible bonds that he and his retainers were currently trapped by, though, nor the other queer spells that the two enemies had used. He should have been way more wary when he had first seen them create the small weird spheres out of nowhere in the first place.
Takumi struggled to move either of his hands to reach for either his hidden knife or dragon stone, but to his frustration, could not budge either arm. He could not even move from standing in the spot he was trapped in.
The taller intruder grinned slightly. "So, half-kin, do you like the king and eldest princess of Hoshido?"
Takumi growled inwardly as he glared, but did not answer.
"Of course you know he does," Oboro shouted. "They're his siblings, you idiot!"
The man's grin became wider. "You sure?" he asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hinata asked angrily.
The intruder lifted up his arms in response, holding his palms toward each other about a foot apart. Something suddenly formed in between them- another sphere, except this time much larger, with no flames around it this time. The magic on the sphere was glowing light blue and violet, the colors swirling around continuously in a furious rage.
The man then laughed slightly. "I was expecting just the target," he said, smirking at Takumi. "But two other targets are also nice."
The glowing ball suddenly split into three, the two copies going through either of his hands to float about half of a foot from both sides of the original.
Takumi winced. Obviously, he and his retainers were going to-
"Oh, quit closing your eyes, you dumb half-kin prince," Takumi heard the taller male say. "We're not killing any of you."
Takumi had closed his eyes instinctively and opened them to glare at the intruders, trying to hide his confusion, even as other unwelcome possibilities ran through his mind.
"Then what are you doing, then?" Hinata asked.
The shorter person chuckled again. "Someone always asks that, when they find out they're not going to be killed after all. If they even believe us, anyway."
The male then turned his head to his partner. "Are you sure you want that one?" he asked, eyeing the three glowing balls of magic. "You know that it doesn't always have predictable results."
The taller man grinned. "Yes, indeed."
"All right, then," the shorter person said, as he merely shrugged.
His partner grinned again, chuckling darkly. "Now, then," he said, lifting up his arms.
The glowing balls followed his movement. They shone more intensely, the colors swirling even faster, and the man moved his arms in a throwing motion.
Takumi tried not to close his eyes as the balls came barreling toward him and his retainers, until they were right close to them, and then there was an explosion of pain.
There was some voice bobbing around him. It sounded masculine, but Takumi was not quite sure.
The voice gradually became clearer, and he recognized the voice, even though it sounded rather concerned. Someone was also shaking his right shoulder gently.
"Lord Takumi," Hinata was saying anxiously. "Hey, Lord Takumi. Come on, wake up already."
Takumi opened his eyes to a blurry image that quickly resolved to Hinata looking at him worriedly.
"What?" he asked in confusion, looking at Hinata. Past his retainer, a thick canopy of leaves swayed ever so slightly in the wind.
He had been practicing archery outside in his usual practice range in the forest, with his retainers helping, but . . .
A low groan sounded nearby him, and he sat up and saw Oboro lying on the ground about two feet away.
The spear fighter suddenly opened her eyes, and then gasped and also sat up. She turned her head and saw Takumi and Hinata sitting on the ground.
"Lord Takumi, are you all right?" she asked Takumi urgently. "What happened?"
Takumi slowly shook his head, confused. "I'm really not sure," he said. "I know that I was practicing, and then after that . . . I'm don't know."
Hinata frowned. "Yeah, same here."
Takumi looked at Oboro, her face slightly angry, yet confused at the same time. "Sorry, I don't know, either, Lord Takumi," she said, sounding frustrated.
Takumi huffed, and stood up and looked around, seeing his weapons- including his Fujin Yumi- and the weapons of his retainers sprawled on the grass as if they had been thrown. Takumi quickly went to gather his weapons, starting with the divine bow, which he quickly resheathed into its holster. He then started on picking up the arrows which were half scattered nearby its canister.
"Here," Takumi heard Oboro say.
He looked up saw her holding out some arrows in one hand. He heard some rapid footsteps and saw Hinata run up to him, also holding more arrows. Both of them had their weapons already sheathed.
"These are the ones from the container thingy near the target," Hinata said.
"Thanks," he replied, taking the projectiles from both of his retainers and stashing them in the canister.
He latched the lid of the canister closed and quickly looped the strap over his head, then picked up the practice yumi lying four feet away and put it near the canister. He then quickly checked for both his hidden knife and dragon stone. Thankfully, both were resting in their usual pockets.
Hinata frowned as he surveyed the area around them. "Hm," the samurai said. "Someone came, then, and not Faceless, unless they knew magic and didn't stomp around and break things like they usually do."
Oboro glared at her fellow retainer. "Obviously," she said, frowning.
Hinata scratched his head, confused. "Yeah, so I was over there," he said, eyeing the place where he had been standing somewhat near the target. "And Oboro, also."
Oboro nodded her head. "Yes, Lord Takumi was about to shoot another arrow," she said, her eyes looking worried as she frowned.
"Yeah," Takumi said.
"And . . . a battle, I guess, happened?" Hinata asked. "Or something?"
"Seems like it," Takumi said, "but I don't know who against."
Hinata frowned. "That's just weird," he responded, his face baffled. "How come we don't remember?"
"I would guess that some onmyoji- or someone with magic anyway- obviously didn't want us to remember them coming here," Takumi responded.
He then huffed, humiliated. Indeed, someone- or people?- had come, and obviously he and his retainers had been defeated. He wished he knew if they had even gotten close to beating whoever it was, instead of just being beaten outright. Had he even had a chance to use his Fujin Yumi? Who knew.
Takumi was also a little concerned about no pain, or any sort of wounds, or feeling anything unusual whatsoever. Obviously, they had just been in some sort of battle, and had been defeated somehow. That was rather obvious. Perhaps there had only been one person with magic, and the only thing that they had done was stand in the background besides erase their memories, unless they- or more than someone- were somehow responsible for their defeat?
Even so, it was quite strange that he felt absolutely nothing from the magic that had erased his memories, though. The only other time that he had seen a person that had their memory erased was several years ago was a soldier from the Hoshidan army while Takumi had been with a group, including Ryoma, visiting a small town a few days away from the castle. He had come from practicing with a katana with Hinata in a small area a little bit away from the town, and had seen the soldier holding his head, looking like he had a strong head cold.
From what he had read, people were generally affected in some way by having their memories tampered with anyway, even if slightly. He felt just like he did before coming to practice archery, and Oboro and Hinata also looked the same. Why was nothing different with him and his retainers?
"So who could have come, anyway?" Hinata asked, looking around the practice area from where he stood.
"Who knows," Takumi replied, sighing. "C'mon, let's scout the area."
To their disappointment, they found nothing. The clearing looked exactly like it had been before they had gotten there. Even the targets Takumi had set up long ago, as well as the container with the arrows in it that he had shot recently were untouched. Coupled with the queerness that he felt nothing from his memories being erased, it was kind of eerie.
"Seriously?" Hinata said. "You would even think that whoever was here would have left some sort of clue, or something."
"Or they're quite skilled at erasing their tracks," Oboro said, a bit sullenly, looking at the area devoid of any sort of evidence of intruders, including trodden on plants.
Takumi had to agree. According the glinting sun in a less dense part of the forest they had scouted, the attack and defeat had also all occurred within the single hour that they had been outside.
He sighed, frustrated at the lack of proof of the evasive enemy. "We should go back and report what happened."
Hinata shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, I guess," he said. "Though I wish that I knew more of what did happen."
"At least harming Lord Takumi was not the goal," Oboro pointed out.
"So what was it, then?" Hinata asked, scratching the side of his head with one hand. "Whacking the people in the way unconscious so that they could do something else?" He suddenly frowned, looking uneasy. "Like attacking the castle?"
Takumi winced. Perhaps that was not the case, since someone could have easily gone around them, and even then they would have to hide from the frequent patrols, including ones from the air on pegasi and kinshi, but who knew.
"Let's go," he said.
His retainers nodded, and they followed him at a run back to the castle.
Takumi sighed tiredly as he walked down a hallway in the castle, his retainers beside him.
"Well," Hinata said, "at least no one had attacked the castle."
"I suppose," Oboro responded testily.
"I wish I had at least seen whoever was in the forest. Even the patrols we looked with didn't find anything," Hinata complained. "Then I could have had a chance to whack them. Or another chance to whack them, or whatever it would be. Or something like that." He scowled slightly and huffed.
Oboro frowned at the samurai. "You should be glad that at least they did not want to harm anyone," she said sternly.
Hinata shrugged. "Besides erasing our memories of them. Or take anything, like some valuable katanas, or even someone's scrolls or gold pouches," he added.
"Or the Fujin Yumi," Oboro commented, looking at Takumi, where the divine weapon rested in its holster on his back.
"True," Takumi said.
There was the sound of several people bickering up ahead. Takumi barely glanced at usual sight of the green-haired triplet samurais quarreling as they passed them, arguing about some previous battle they had been in. They stopped and said a greeting to their prince as he and his retainers passed by them, then went right on bickering again. At least they had not been talking to each other during the patrols that had looked for the illusive enemy from the forest.
He sighed. No one had found the purpose of the battle- or whatever it was- that had happened earlier that had ended with his retainers sprawled unconscious on the forest floor. The mere thought of it was quite embarrassing, and Takumi had resolved not to let something like that occur again.
He and his retainers had not even been allowed to join in any patrols until they had received some brief magical testing to see if anything else had been done to them other than an obvious modification of their memories. Even more humiliating, after the patrols, Ryoma had banned them from going outside for the rest of the day to for further assurance that nothing else would happen due to the attack, magically or otherwise.
Yes, he supposed that his older brother meant well, but he would not be able to practice outside again until tomorrow. Hopefully being walloped by enemies would not be added to his growing list of flaws. Sometimes it almost seemed that he may as well be wearing a large headband with the word 'weak' embroidered on it.
Takumi inwardly growled. Stupid evasive people- it had to be more than one person if he and his retainers had been defeated. Why did they have to come where he had happened to be practicing?
There was the rhythmic sound of wooden crutches up ahead, and Takumi nearly groaned as he saw the familiar sight of a short, thin servant with grey-brown hair cheerfully limping toward them, one leg in its usual permanent cast.
"Happy birthday, Lord Takumi!" the man said jauntily, while his recipient scowled.
Hinata put a hand on his hip. "You know that Lord Takumi's birthday isn't for six months?" he asked.
"Six months and one day," Oboro corrected. "Today is June thirteenth."
The man slumped, still tightly holding the crutches. "Ah, I had hoped that I had gotten the correct day for Lord Takumi's half-birthday this time," he said sadly.
Hinata shrugged. "Maybe next time you can just say happy birthday on Lord Takumi's actual birthday," he said.
"Hmmm, I could," the man said thoughtfully, taking a hand off of one crutch and stroking his chin.
Takumi inwardly sighed, knowing full well that the man would forget what Hinata had said and attempt to wish anyone that he could find happy half-birthdays, as he did every year. He had hoped that he would be lucky enough for the servant to forget his usual greeting around this time of year, but as usual, there was no such luck. Sometimes the servant came around twice. Hopefully this would be the only time this year.
The cheery man smiled at Takumi. "Well, I wish you a happy half-birthday minus one day, Lord Takumi."
"Right," Takumi replied, not smiling.
"Bye, now," the man said jovially, grinning widely, and waved before limping past them.
Takumi watched him swing around a corner before turning around and walking again.
"Yeesh," Hinata said, putting his arms behind his head as he often did, "who celebrates half-birthdays, anyway?"
"Who knows," Takumi said, sighing.
"I suppose that he was just trying to be kind," Oboro said as they walked around corner.
"I guess," Takumi replied, shrugging.
They reached Takumi's room, and Takumi quickly unlocked it.
There were some quick footsteps from the left side of the hallway, coming toward them. Takumi quickly pocketed his key before he looked up to see a noble wearing a large satchel.
"Lord Takumi, I have letter for you," he said, bowing.
He then took a large cream envelope out of the satchel and held it out.
"Thanks," Takumi said, taking the proffered letter.
The noble bowed and walked back down the hallway. Takumi then looked at the letter with the slightly familiar lavish script on the front, confused.
"I would guess that that person from the forest wouldn't have sent the letter, right?" Hinata asked as Takumi slid the wooden door to his room open.
"I would certainly hope not," Oboro said, scowling slightly as they walked through the doorway. She closed the door once they were all through.
"The writing seems familiar, but I don't know who sent it," Takumi replied.
He had not been expecting a letter from anyone, and the thick paper did not look like the type of envelope that Leo, his older Nohrian cousin, or Corrin, his half-sister that was the Queen of Valla, sent every now and then.
"I'll get a knife for the letter seal," Oboro offered, and Takumi nodded his thanks.
As he walked across the room, he saw the small black kitten that had been insistent in staying in his room before he had left to go practice earlier jump from his bed. It quickly scampered to Takumi, rubbing his right leg. The kitten then trotted nearby him as he walked to the small table in the center of the room and knelt down on a small cushion. Hinata followed suit, except that he crossed his legs before leaning over and looking at his liege.
The black kitten soon climbed onto Takumi's lap, and he absentmindedly stroked its ebony ears before he flipped over the envelope the see the wax seal there, and stared in surprise.
"Who would be sending you a letter from Mokushu?" Hinata asked, his brow furrowed in slight confusion.
"I don't know," he said. "I don't know anyone there. It could be possible that someone could be just visiting there, though."
"Here, Lord Takumi," Oboro said, handing him a small sheathed knife. Takumi took the small metal pocketknife from her, nodding his thanks again. Oboro knelt down at the table across from Hinata.
Takumi unsheathed the small blade and carefully pried off the wax seal engraven with the emblem of Mokushu, and set it down on the table. After sheathing the small tool, he unfolded the top of the envelope and slid a folded letter out. There were actually two pieces of paper once he unfolded them.
He read the top one, which was an odd letter -bordered by colorful painted flowers and widely smiling rabbits and suns, no less- a bit baffled and annoyed.
To Prince Takumi of Hoshido:
Hey, and how's it going in the newly peaceful kingdom of Hoshido, land of the extravagant cherry blossom trees and the best red bean soup and fried noodles! The latter is especially tasty, though I can't say no to any type of delicious sweet soup, and my goodness, my mouth also waters at those scrumptious strawberry cheese tarts and extra creamy red bean ice cream deliciousness and crispy sweet potatoes, perfectly sugared to sweet perfection. I'm sure very glad that I had asked the recipe of the cooks for those sweet potato fries the last time I was in Hoshido. It's an absolute hit at all of my feasts. Even the cooks themselves ask for seconds!
But of course, I'm not writing this letter to tell of the scrumptious cooking of your marvelous nation- which I hope, by the way, is going well with the rebuilding and spreading of peaceful words and whatnot after the end of that dreadful war. The gods don't tell me everything, you know!
Now, onto the official part of this letter, which is pretty interesting, if you ask me. As I do with every trip, I bring lots of literary material- just for a bit of light reading and such, of course. How else is one to spend the time while looking at the same dreary landscape for days on end? Tomes on history, fairy tales- I especially enjoyed the ones about pegasi flying into waterfalls into other lands- and other such things to occupy my time when I am not directing my travelling companions to steer the cart the right way to not head into pot holes and such. So much unneeded bouncing if you don't avoid them.
I have a wonderful tome with me about the lore of the Cheve unicorns- a really great read, if I must so say so myself. The name is The Most Wondrous and Mysterious of All Creatures in the Chevian Area- the Uni-horned Horses of Dianhone. I do recommend it highly.I had recently gotten another copy from my library that I had not read before since my other copy had dreadfully disappeared from the room. I expect it was that nosy librarian with the blue feathered hat who was cleaning the shelves .I must remember to ask them about it someday soon.
Anyway, as I was flipping through this marvelous book, to my surprise there was a piece of paper there, looking as yellowed and aged as if it were at least a century old! On it there was a curious poem, about as cryptic and as easy to understand as many of the gods' prophecies that I get.
So, I was looking at that poem, admiring the quaint words and lavish old-fashioned script writing, when I had the sudden premonition that Prince Takumi of Hoshido should look at it. So I carefully copied it onto a piece of parchment from my best stationary set and was about to send it, when I discovered that someone had forgotten all of my letter seals. Alas! Also a whole bunch of extra leather armor, but surely that's not as important. One can't get Izumite letter seals in another country, you know. I unfortunately had to settle for a few seals from a nearby Mokushujin town, which even had samples of delicious mint ice cream. So delightfully creamy, and utterly perfect for summer weather.
Here you go, then. A mystic poem from the ages- or at least a century- from an unknown writer from the long ago past. Perhaps discovering its creator could even be part of a fun mystery! And before you ask, even I don't understand it, and no, I'm not going to be available to receive mail until I stay in one place long enough, which would be in about two months when I'm back at my marvelous castle with the best cushions, spas, hair dressers, and best of all, the silkiest sheets and scented candles. One doesn't make them quite like an Izumite, you know!
Signed,
Izana
Archduke of Izumo, Messenger of the gods, Director of Horikudo Shrimp Feasts and Creator of the Whipped Cream Cherry Gooseberry Blueberry Supreme Deluxe Delight
P.S. If you do by chance to stop by the Izumite capital, Horikudo, this year, I would highly recommend trying the wonderful sweet mentioned above. I change the food creation listed in my description in my letters every year, from one particular sweet that is the absolute best from that I created from the past year. So many to choose from, but this one rose straight to the top with its delicious, unique creamy texture. Such a delight! Of course, it's found nowhere else than Horikudo, since I'm its humble creator. I would also recommend the Fried Lemon Pepper Shrimp, by the way.
"So who's it from?" Hinata asked anxiously once his liege had placed down the letter beside the second piece of paper on the table. Oboro scowled in his direction, but the samurai ignored it.
"Archduke Izana," Takumi responded a little exasperatedly, rolling his eyes as he reached for the other piece of parchment.
"What?" Oboro asked, confused.
Hinata was equally baffled. "That weirdo that faked being dead? What does he want? Actually, why is he sending something from Mokushu in the first place?"
He then frowned under his thick brown bangs. "Wait, is it actually the archduke and not someone else?" he asked.
"The wording in the letter definitely seems like he wrote it," Takumi responded.
That, and the weird pictures surrounding the letter. No one else would be that crazy. He had received a few letters from the archduke of Izumo before, and every single one of them had equally queer illustrations around the letter, usually absolutely nothing to do with the words inside them.
"Okay," Hinata said, shrugging. "So, what does the archduke want?" he asked again.
"To send me some weird old poem that he found," Takumi intoned. "And no, he didn't say why he was in Mokushu."
"A poem?" Hinata frowned and crossed his fingers behind his head. "What, does he think that you'll like it or something? How nutsy."
"That does sound a bit queer, even for archduke Izana," Oboro commented, frowning a bit.
"Well, he did, anyway. The poem was on a separate piece of paper in some book that he had with him." Takumi glanced up at his retainers. "You can read the letter, if you want," he added, gesturing to the first piece of parchment.
"Nah," Hinata said, shrugging. "I think I'll just wait for the poem thing. Something with demented, smiling fluffy bunnies painted around it is probably just going to be weird."
"I'm all right, thank you," said Oboro, smiling some at Takumi, who also shrugged some.
Takumi looked again at the poem, thankfully devoid of fluffy bunnies, but was instead framed with various colored rainbows.
A mist of claws sprouts from blistering earth
Splintering, cracking
Until they rise and grow in bristles
And break
Misplaced until stratums wander
Lost
And become their own
Half of one and half of another
Wings and scales elapsed within hope
Shrouded by velvet thorns
The stars vanish
Coalesced into stone
Dark wings restrained by mists of brambles
Whispering
No twilight has ever shone
Which is lying-
The peaceful mirror
Or the banished prince?
What cannot rise
For it never fell?
A Hestrian knight flies asunder
Below the traitors' fate
An attack thrice combined
Yet still condemned to fail
Within starred walls
A dozen Qiento lengths of sorrow
Beneath the scarlet moon
A thousand wooden pillars break
Condense
Release
Found
Takumi read the words again, then put the paper down and frowned at the seeming randomness of the words.
"That bad?" Hinata asked.
Takumi looked at his samurai retainer and sighed. "Yeah, it doesn't make much sense, like Archduke Izana said."
That, and the general flow of the words was rather odd, also. Whoever wrote the bizarre 'poem' did not really seem to be, well, a poet, he guessed. He did not know how in the world Archduke Izana had thought the poem was 'quaint' in any way, unless the archduke often read strangely worded poetry.
Oboro spoke up, looking confused. "Even Archduke Izana stated that he did not know what it meant?"
"Yeah," Takumi replied, sighing. "Just a weird poem, I guess. Maybe."
Perhaps there was some good reason that the archduke had sent it. It really did not seem to convey any significant meaning, though the word 'Hestrian' being in the poem was odd. Actually, 'Qiento' was also an odd word since he had never heard it before, but it was possible that it had become outdated long ago somewhere.
Hinata leaned forward. "So, could I see it?"
Takumi nearly rolled his eyes, but handed the paper with the odd poem to the samurai. "Yeah, you both can. I don't know if you will get any more out of it, though."
Hinata read the words with a bit of a comical confused look on his face, then handed the paper to Oboro. When the spear fighter finished, she held out the parchment back to her liege.
Takumi took back the paper and set it down before looking at his retainers.
"Well," Hinata stated, "that was kind of weird." He put an elbow on the table and leaned on one hand.
He frowned at the letter a bit, then asked, "So could it have anything to do with dragons?"
Oboro seemed a bit confused, glancing at Takumi for a split second. "Where did you get that from?" she asked.
Hinata frowned, and said, "Well, there was a part about scales, and the word wings in there at least once, and . . . Oh, yeah, 'claw' was also in there somewhere, I think. So yeah, dragons have those, right?"
Oboro frowned a tiny bit. "Perhaps. There are only six living people that can turn into dragons that we know of," she commented, looking at Takumi again.
"True," Takumi stated. He was one of them, and he, as well as the rest of them, were the only ones remaining from the royal Vallite lineage, including his younger sister, Sakura. The other four were his Nohrian cousins, Corrin, and his adopted sister, Azura, who was living with Corrin as the princess of Valla.
Hinata shrugged. "Maybe there could be even other dragons somewhere," he said. His face suddenly brightened with excitement. "Hey, there was that second dragon lineage that Lady Azura had talked about when we were in Valla, back in the war. You know, that one lineage that was not the royal one. Could the dragons come from that one?"
Oboro sighed. "For all we know, that line had died out of existence," she stated a bit moodily. "Where would it be now if it didn't?" She paused. "The poem could very possibly be about something besides dragons- or something that was fantasied."
The samurai shrugged again, and stretched his arms. "Well, I'm just trying to make sense of it, and something that isn't just all moody gloom weirdness, with stars disappearing and stuff breaking and all that." He put his left elbow on the table again, and leaned on his hand.
Takumi spoke up. "What about the word 'Hestrian' being in there?"
Seeing that name in any form most anywhere besides odd myths and random brief references was rare. Many people knew of the existence of the small, western country, but there was very little knowledge about it, due to the barrier surrounding it that kept anyone from coming inside the nation. Takumi had actually seen one brief mention of the Hestria in the book about past Hoshidan battles that he had been reading just before he had gone to practice in the forest, but nothing of real significance.
"Don't know," Hinata responded, shrugging. "It could be cool if we could go to Hestria."
"Unlikely," Oboro retorted, scowling slightly in the samurai's direction. "It did not actually say Hestria. Just a Hestrian knight."
Hinata scoffed and sat up fully. "Something Hestrian has got to be from Hestria, though. How would a knight from there get out if no one can get in, anyway?"
"The poem did not say that anyone would be getting out of Hestria," Oboro said. "Or go inside it."
The samurai shrugged. "Yeah, they would just wham into the barrier. Maybe there's a secret passage somewhere."
"Maybe," Oboro replied, not seeming convinced.
Hinata shrugged again. "Or maybe you need some spell to get through that no one knows about. Like that weird barrier around it."
Oboro frowned. "So how would anyone get in if the barrier is created from a spell that no one knows about?"
"Or it is really a secret way in through somehow."
"Right," Oboro intoned sarcastically. "We are arguing about a poem that might have absolutely nothing to do with anything, and about going into a practically mythical nation. I don't think that that type of thing would happen anytime soon."
Hinata stretched his arms again, this time in front of him. "It still would be cool, though, wouldn't it?" he said, his face still bearing some excitement.
Takumi was almost sorry that he had brought any attention to the illusive nation as his retainers continued to bicker, and was glad that Hinata spoke up again, and nothing to do with walled nations or weird poems found by even weirder archdukes.
"So, Lord Takumi," he asked, "do you want to check out the shipment of weapons in the western armory that came last week? Maybe there are some good ones there."
Takumi shrugged. It was something that he was allowed to do currently. "Sure, I guess."
"All right!" Hinata cheered, seeming to bounce upward. The samurai then added, looking at Oboro, "There are some naginatas there, if you want to try some out."
The spear fighter shook her head. "No," she answered. "I already have a good enough weapon, thank you."
Hinata shrugged. "Whatever."
Takumi quickly folded the two piece of parchment and put them back in the envelope, and carefully picked up the purring kitten on his lap and placed it on the floor. The black tom stretched and the purred some more, rubbing against his side while he picked up the envelope, letter seal and seal opener.
He stood up, with Oboro following suit. Ignoring the kitten that rubbed against his leg, then went toward Oboro where it was petted gently, he tossed the seal into the waste bin near his desk. He then stowed the seal opener in its drawer and the envelope with the weird poem and the letter in another.
Takumi turned around to his retainers to see that the kitten had made its way to Hinata, who had knelt down to pet the purring feline.
"Yahhhh, yahhhh," Hinata said playfully, while rubbing the kitten's ebony fur vigorously with one hand.
"Watch it," Oboro warned. "You're going to rub his fur off."
Hinata stopped petting the kitten to grin at the spear fighter. "Nah," he said, "its fine."
The kitten mewled and rubbed against Hinata's right side, then clawed its way to rest on the samurai's shoulder.
"See?" said Hinata, rubbing the kitten a bit more as it purred. "He likes it."
Takumi saw Oboro roll her eyes as Hinata stood and walked over to Takumi with the kitten still on his shoulder. The small feline then jumped off to rub against Takumi's leg again.
He obliged the kitten, petting it a little bit. He then straightened and strode toward the door of his room and slid it open, his retainers and the kitten following, glad for the chance to get away from both the letter from Archduke Izana and the queer poem. Perhaps Oboro was right. The poem probably meant nothing at all, anyway.
Author's Note- Thanks to Starsoarer for a lot of help with this chapter.