III

Oguri Kisaragi

"The only exception is the silver flame. The other flame holders will either be a hybrid with other elements or carries the same flame."

He gave us a stern look as the rest of us froze. The elder was obviously listening in to our conversation. There were many things he pointed out that made me question the old man. For example, the fact that the silver flame belongs to a single person. That one bit of information surprised me, especially knowing now that I'm the only one with this flame. The three of us observed carefully at the man standing near the group.

"I don't understand still, Elder. How are we the ones to fight against the Crusade?" I started asking one of my many questions. Folding my arms, I waited anxiously for the answer and was caught off guard when he slowly lifted his arm to point at me.

"You."

I blink dumbfounded, "Huh?"

Duncan pulled his finger back and motioned his hand to wave at us. It was a silent gesture telling us to follow him. He turned around silently to start walking back to the village. Zale was the first one to follow, then the young Oguri. I remained behind for a moment to stare blankly at the back of the elder's head. An overwhelming feeling of anxiety suddenly flow within me. This feeling is somewhat nostalgic as if I have gone through this before. Something major in my life is soon to happen.

Running after the men, I tried my best to catch up to them. By the time I reached them, they were about to walk through the bridge. We passed the inn and the windmill for it is the first thing to go through when entering the village. I have no idea where the elder is taking us. He stopped talking completely, but rather was watching a group of children playing near the giant tree at the town square. Behind the tree is the place Duncan was leading us, his house.

We went up a stairway of logs as the Elder open the door, "Come in. There's someone I would like you to meet."

Zale nodded his head towards the Elder, who was holding the door for us, before walking inside. I bowed my head politely for his kind gesture, feeling a bit nervous and awkward for going into a house for the first time. It must be confidential if we were going to talk in his house. His house is smaller than what I had expected, despite it being two stories. From the entrance, we descended down by a ladder to where a rocking chair near a fireplace is located. The three of us stood quietly, waiting for the old man to shut the door and join us. We heard the door shutting, followed by unexpected and sudden meowing from behind the chair. It made me jump with Zale, leaving Oguri not fazed, and the elder going down the ladder. Duncan looked indifferent to the constant meowing noises as he sat down on the chair. A small creature lurked around him, revealing itself to be a small black-striped and orange cat. The feline slowly approached us, staring us down with its sharp eyes lock on us.

"Aww...It's so cute." The dirty blonde mused, crouching down to pet it.

The cat immediately narrowed its eyes at the hand and smacked his hand away with its paw, "Get your filthy hand away from me, human!"

The startled Zale immediately pulled his hand back and fell on his bottom after hearing the cat speak. Oguri and I looked as surprised as the warrior, watching as the one on the ground scream at the small creature.

"It talks!?"

"The kitty just talked..!"

Zale and I both exclaimed, receiving a blank stare from Oguri like he issn't amused at all by it. Honestly, it isn't every day you get to see a talking cat. The animal gave us a stare individually with interest hinted in her eyes before turning to look at the observing elder.

"These three are definitely them. They are the ones in my prophecy."

Duncan nodded his head in acknowledgement at the cat before looking up at us, "This is Devory. She is a prophet who is knowledgeable about the tale of the fighters as well as a descendant of a prophet with an ability to see who the flame warriors are in her generation."

"It is an honor to be in the presence of the next chosens."

I flinched the moment her sharp eyes flicker to my direction. With blank eyes widening, my heart started to wrench and beat faster every second. Her voice and that word chosens sound so familiar, but why was it making me feel pain? This nostalgic pain in my heart. I slowly placed my hand on my head, gritting my teeth as an attempt to refrain myself from screaming. This excruciating pain triggered a foot to step back, only to feel someone grab my shoulders from behind.

"Hey, what's wrong Asaya?" Oguri's voice was heard.

The cat solemnly closed her eyes, "Give her a moment."

I closed my eyes shut, only to see images flashing one by one. In the background of a pitch dark scene, I heard a heartbreaking scream bellowing. An image of a tall man holding my hand opening a rather large door appeared and vanished to another image. A woman was knitting a blanket, but as I moved closer and closer, the image blurred to nothing. The last image was consumed by smoke and fire, and the same bellowing scream of horror came to play. I came back to reality after opening my eyes, and started to pant heavily.

"Memories..?!" I gasped out, realizing that my aura had been surrounding me the entire time. By the time I came to, it was disappearing. Oguri kept hold of me as Zale was watching me with concern. My blue eyes strained to look down at the cat, who is smirking rather suspiciously before opening her eyes.

"Your duties as the chosen goes. Your goal now is to find the last chosen, then go to Tara to meet with the prophet there." Devory paused to look at the youngest child, "I understand he has met her before. So once you all are together, your task will be given."

Oguri narrowed his eyes at the feline, "Don't you mean we will meet you instead?"

The cat started giggling in a rather adorable yet creepy way as Zale and I snapped our heads to the blue flame warrior. Oguri gently released his grip on me, but luckily, I was now more stable than a few minutes ago. He did said a prophet had come to him to tell him that he was one of the chosen fighters, and Devory looked like she had no problem identifying us. Not only that, the visions I had earlier made me believe more of the fact that I am one of the chosens, along with Zale and Oguri.

She purred in amusement, "Interesting..So, you knew~."

The feline moved towards the place she came from behind the rocking chair as smoke started trailing her. Upon noticing this, Duncan was abnormally silent while stirring his tea as the child called out to the prophet.

"Hey! Come back!" Afterwards, Devory was nowhere to be seen. The young boy scoffed in annoyance. I could sense how irritated he must have been, but Zale was much resigned to accept this.

In the end, Zale and I chose to start packing for our journey. The elder gave me a pair of chakram rings that was said to be the weapons of the last silver flame holder. It also served as a reward from the village after I had unknowingly saved them long ago. I didn't know how in the world they got them. I was being modest; They shouldn't have done something like this. Another thing: I don't know how exactly to use these! Maybe..throw them? What if it gets lost? I guess I'll eventually get used to it. We were to embark as soon as possible on our journey to find the final flame warrior. Oguri asked if we can pack the leftover food in the fridge, which Zale immediately approved. The elder told the situation to the inn owner Nora, so we didn't have to worry about our room. Zale and I will be bringing a brown backpack similar to each other. The only difference is that mine has a bunny keychain and it's slung over my shoulder. I brought a nightgown, an umbrella, a sleeping bag, and a few other personal things. Zale brought his personal items as well as a surprise..Well, to Oguri and I.

"What is THAT?" I asked curiously, poking at his new shield.

Zale grinned proudly, "I finally finished my weapons! The Valkyrie shield and the Executioner's Sword!"

The shield is a badge-shaped covering half of his body. I knew he had been working on this project, but I didn't know he already finished it. In the middle of it is a green gem with a chain strap coming from the gem's sides to the edge of the shield vertically. The base is a metal gray while the rim has a somewhat dark green. Underneath the green gem is another chain strap coming from the side. Finally, he attached wings on each upper corners of the shield. The wings are white as the rim around is a dark green.

Executioner's Sword is a long sword that looks like one of those common katanas travelers seem to carry around. The guard is a small pair of wings identical to the ones on the shield.

Oguri casually walked up to the shield the warrior was showing off, and decided to knock on it gently.

"That's pretty impressive."

"Hey! Don't touch it!"

I sighed heavily at the touchy Zale with a blank look on my face before I slowly glanced at the child. It amazes me how calm the young blue flame warrior at times like this. I imagined someone would get annoyed or guilty if someone would yell at you like how Zale did. Oguri was just...calm. Having to lose important people at such a young age must have been hard on him. Unfortunately, I can't sympathize with him. While the two were conversing with each other, I was deciding what to wear. I've never thought that I would go adventure the entire world. Maybe now, I can recover my memories. Zale had already picked an outfit to wear. It is a light red short sleeved shirt with white fur along the sleeves. It has a hood with, again, the fur around the edges. Two dark brown leather straps adorned right underneath hood as it served to separate the hood and the coat. On the shoulders are metal buttons around the clothing vertically. Underneath his light red coat is a white vest like shirt with a visible black strap slanted across the vest. On the outer layer lies a dark brown cross-stitched belt slanted across his body. His pants are black with a bandage covering the entire right knee as his bottom fit is rolled up. His shoes are fashionably red and black, and he is wearing long fingerless white gloves with three dark brown leather straps. Just observing his outfit makes me wonder why he is wearing a theme not compatible to his flame. Then again, I can say the same to Oguri.

In my drawer, I came across a dress that I had bought from a traveling merchant visiting the town about a month ago. It was fairly cheap, so I decided that I should buy it. Maybe it's about time I put it to use. Without a word, I walked in the bathroom with my entire outfit in my arms. My other hand was carrying a pair of boots. My outfit has a lolita gothic style. It has an individual white hood as a black transparent gem served as a latch of the hood in order for the hood to not fall. The body of the dress has a purple corset lining up my chest, and has a white wavy layers underneath the corset. Behind the top layer is a white dress with three black frilly lining on the skirt. I wear black leggings with boots that are white with black fur. My shoulders are covered by a puffy long sleeves. They are purple with two black linings underneath the poofy part of the sleeves.

I left the bathroom with my other change of clothes and shoes before putting the clothes in my drawer. The shoes were placed under my bed. After we were all set and ready, it was time to leave the village.

I stared at the beautiful sunset, knowing full well I'm not going to see this in Tir in a very long time. It made me a bit sad leaving this town, despite it being the only town I can call home. I know having no memories can be my disadvantage when it comes to hometowns, but I know this small village will always be my home. I remained staring at the dusk scenery while Oguri and Zale were talking with the town elder.

"Zale, I hope your travels will go well and you all will be safe." I overheard Duncan saying.

The dirty blonde warrior nodded his head with a grin,"Thanks! You all take care too. We'll make sure the Crusade pay for destroying our village."

When I looked back at the two just out of curiosity, I caught sight of the young boy glancing at the green flame wielder. Although his face show a stoic and emotionless look, there was no doubt that Oguri was curious too. In a sense, I could understand that he knows what it was like to have his hometown attacked like us two. I remembered the day the group attacked us. Zale wanted to go help the elder Duncan badly. I was told that if it wasn't for me, the elder would have died. Zale would have gone to make matters worse. Just knowing that made me smile gently as I grab my wrist meekly.

"Take care, chosen warriors. We look forward to your return."

The three of us bowed formally to the old man before we started walking to start our journey.

We walked on a path of sheeps and dogs, indicating they were signs of the farm life of the small village we departed from. This path is known as Dugald Isle. It is a path that connects the small village to a city named Dunbarton. The logging camp where carpenters go to work at served as the middle point of the path. To the right side of it from the direction of Tir is Dugald forest. The small woods are populated by bears and wolves. A continuation of the path through there leads to Taillteann, or so I heard. Merchants Zale and I escort tend to go through that path. Because of the long path and our lack of supplies, our next destination is Dunbarton. I fell behind the two males with Oguri in the middle of Zale and I. Our small group had been silent since we left the village. Coming to our sight is the logging camp area. I could even smell the lumbar.

"Zale, where are we going first? Dunbarton, right?" Oguri questioned, finally breaking the silence. Even walking through the carpenter's work station is silent since the workers are home at this time of hour. It is just filled with hens, raccoons, and foxes.

"Yeah. Taillteann is farther than Dunbarton. We can start looking around that town first."

On each side of us are tents and wooden tables with tree stumps serving as chairs. Scattering around the area are the carpentry tables. In the middle of the camp is a giant tree, which we began passing.

Oguri folded his arms, "...I heard that town is awfully dangerous."

"Never been there?" I asked curiously, joining in the conversation. The leader snapped his head around lightly to look down at the boy with an astonished look. He probably was surprised as I was.

"No, I haven't. I came to Tir by going through Taillteann." The young boy answered, shaking his head.

"Oh..Well.." Zale started to respond awkwardly before looking forward again. I noticed that he had put a somewhat sympathetic face before he did. I couldn't blame him. At the same time, I became curious as to what did Taillteann looked like.

"Dunbarton isn't a dangerous place than it used to be. When I stopped by there once, I heard stories that every day and night, there would be fights. That was until recently a small organization of fighters banded together to stop the gangs."

I stared at the back of Zale's head blankly, "I don't know if I should be concerned or relieved.."

"Ah, don't worry really. The town is very peaceful now." The young boy and I fell silent after seeing his reassuring grin flashing at us. I always seem to feel at ease whenever he grins like that. The reason I was concerned was the fact he mentioned gangs. Even so, we will never know if gangs still exist around the town. I was bullied enough in the past to know that I'm not that confident in my close combat skills! And I got this new weapon too..I still have no idea how I should use these weapons.

I replied with a sigh, "Well...You learn something new everyday."

"Aren't you happy you're on this adventure though? You might find more memories!"

"I heard you say something earlier about memories...Did you lose them or something?" Oguri asked while giving me a curious look. I was taken off guard to his question, remembering all the times people would ask me that. It resulted to the same weird stares the kid was giving me now.

I frowned solemnly and slightly lowered my head, "Y-Yeah..Since I was eleven."

"I see.."

I glanced up to look at the child, only to see he had turned his head around. What a way to end a rather personal question so awkwardly. In the end, every single one of us was quiet. Seeing how it turned dark, I decided to provide the light for us by an orb of light I formed from the palms of my hands. It allowed us to see the path much clearer. I begin to worry for our endurance, especially how tired Oguri must have been.

I spoke softly, "Zale, we should rest for the night. We can reach Dunbarton tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, you're right. The big tree should be coming up soon." The warrior responded with a yawn.

We soon arrived at the mentioned tree and wasted no time to set up camp. I provided the light with the help of my flame, so it would make things easier for the boys to do the work. As expected, Zale had a tired look and was constantly yawning. It was hard not to have the rest of us yawn. However, when I looked at Oguri..He has a face as if something is ailing him. A complete shadow covered his face. He looked..sad.