Intro
This is the story of Kimiko, an archer who lived adventures we can only imagine…
Once upon a time Militia Captain Oska went on patrol in a nearby forest of Henesys, a feeling of uneasiness inside her heart. Something was off. The birds didn't whistle happily like they usually would and there was no sign of other animals either. She could tell that they feared the presence of darkness. Ready to protect the residents of the forest, Henesys and everyone who lived here, she searched for the source of her restless mind and what exactly scared all those animals.
As she came to the river to fill her little bottle with some water and to refresh her face, she saw a red cape, which was disappearing into the shadows, leaving a little basket behind. Trying to pin her against a tree, Oska shot an arrow into the shadow's direction, but before it could hit its target, it was already gone. The elf sighed in frustration, until a loud noise brought her back to her senses and out of her thoughts. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked around, until she realized the noise was actually an infant's cry and it came from no other direction than the basket. Nervously she held her breath, not knowing if this was a trap or not, since she couldn't face the person in the red cape earlier. Carefully and light like the wind, she tiptoed closer towards the basket, until she could take a glimpse into it.
When she saw the little baby with the blonde hair and the big blue eyes, crying its heart out helplessly, Oska lowered her bow and dropped it speechlessly. In all her centuries of living, she hadn't seen such an innocent being with such pure eyes of friendliness. It surprised her that even though she was regularly working with humans in Henesys, there weren't really any children around, not to mention any infants. The life in such a small village was very simple and close to nature, which made it all the more dangerous. Married couples always moved to safer regions like Tria or somewhere close by. Of course there were times she saw kids in the capital, whenever she was forced to go there, but she tried to avoid the people as much as possible, hiding under her hood to avoid being recognized as an elf. Even though there was peace between humankind and elves, the gazes upon her always made her feel irritated and she wanted to leave such places as soon as it was possible.
When the infant saw Oska looking at her with such gentle eyes, the baby stopped crying and held out her arms desperately while smiling the most innocent smile which only infants could show, not knowing any hardship of this world.
Slowly the elf pulled onto her own gloves to remove them from her hands, before she followed the baby's wish to be held. The grip around the little one was ever so slightly, because Oska feared that this little being could break anytime. When the baby reached out towards her ears, she gasped in surprise, but pulled the baby closer to her, holding her gently in her arms like a mother would do. Satisfied and enjoying the warmth of someone, the infant started laughing and clumsily touched the woman's ear. It was love at first sight.
Oska wanted to protect this baby from harm and train it, as soon as the kid was old enough. There were too many dangerous creatures living in this world and she wanted to make sure that this little being would be able to protect itself later on.
While she started to imagine the future and how to raise a human child, the baby started to move restlessly as it began to make sounds of frustration. It hit Oska soon, that the baby had wet itself, so she opened the sloppy wrapped clothes off it and wiped it clean. Afterwards she washed the clothes with a frown, wondering why the baby was left behind by the shadow to begin with. If it wasn't for her going onto patrol, it might have died sooner or later. Shivering by that idea, Oska shook her head strongly to clean her mind from those imaginations.
"Since I know you are a little girl now, I have to give you a name…" she muttered more to herself than the baby, while she wrapped the wet clothes into a bundle and pulling off her hood to wrap the baby into it gently. "You'll be my little baby girl….Kimiko", she whispered with a smile, as she put the wet clothes into her bag and grabbing her bow from the ground to hang it onto it, too. Afterwards she got onto her knees and took the hood up carefully, worried that she would hurt the little girl inside of it.
