Heritage Chapter 10
A snowy carpet hid any signs of life from plants, animals, the like. Tracks were few; it had been a cold winter indeed. Everyone stayed inside in an attempt to stay warm.
Well, most.
One person in the whole area would go outside every day, training, practicing, learning, mastering. Outside night and day, constantly. Barely getting enough sleep to endure the cold weather. The harsh environment had toughened her up over the past few months.
She sat down to break, rolled up the pants she wore under her dress for the winter, and looked at her scar as she contemplated her past.
Kimi heard footsteps in the distance. Before standing, she rolled down her pants leg; from looking at her scar while reminiscing. It was someone she had never seen before.
'Momiji and Toshiro are out gathering food and water, and Arlo is fast asleep…I'll have to confront him.'
"Who are you?" Kimi said defensively.
"Just a passerby, don't mind me," he said, raising one hand as a sign of peace.
"…Why would you travel through a forest? In the middle of nowhere?"
"Why would you live in a forest in the middle of nowhere."
"Answer my question before you regret it."
"Hahah, okay, you got me. I'm just a lost traveler, is all. Is this the way to the next town?"
"…yes. Why are you going there? Most of the place is burned to the ground."
"Oh, hahahah, I'm using it as a landmark. You know, I'm not necessarily headed for that town, but it's on the path to the town I'm headed to."
"…Why should I trust you?"
"Why would I lie?"
"Do you know my name?"
"Yes."
"Then you better get out of here if you know what's good for you."
"Hey, hey, can't you trust me? I'm just a lonely traveler, see. Just because I know who you are doesn't mean I'll report you."
"But it also doesn't mean that you won't."
"Hahah, fair enough. Here…can we strike a deal?" He held out a rope. "I'll allow you to bind my arms if you let me stay here for a short while. Take a break, and all."
"Hah, I don't think so. Get out of here."
"Whoa, whoa, harsh. Well then, if you're gonna be that stubborn…" The boy backtracked about one-hundred feet before clearing the nearby ground of snow and setting up a small one-person tent.
"What do you think you're doing," Kimi threatened.
"Now, now, I'm not in your way, am I?"
Kimi frowned and spit in his direction before heading back into the shack. "Whatever."
Kimi returned back outside an hour later. The guy was still there.
Kimi was tempted to threaten him further, but just kept her mouth shut. She began creating a fire to start cooking dinner.
'I wish this guy would just go away, god…what does he want? Free food? I hope he realizes he isn't going to get it…'
Kimi frowned. 'I wish Toshiro were here, this would be much easier…the snow makes it hard to start a fire since it makes the ground wet..'
Kimi tore part of the bottom of her dress off, wrapped it around a dry stick, and used her sun powers to light it on fire. Slowly scaling the torch above the ground, the mud began to dry. Kimi then placed some logs in the pit, added some of the last of the old newspaper they found a few years ago, and stuck the torch in the center. A fire slowly began to spread.
Kimi took the make-shift cooking spit and hovered it over the fire. She grabbed the thin spear, took it over to their small chest buried in the snow, and took out some of the rabbit meat, piercing them with the thin spear, spacing them equally. She walked back over to the fire, replaced the thin spear, and sat on a nearby rock, slowly spinning the meal.
"That looks good," he said.
"It's not for you, jackass."
"You're really on edge, aren't you? There's no need to be so crabby~"
"I'm not taking orders from a stranger any time soon," Kimi replied.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to forgive for your rude behavior?"
"You don't have any manners, do you?" Kimi asked.
"Now, now, don't you think you owe me?"
"I don't owe you shit, asshole."
"Here, I'll introduce myself. My name's Niko Hatori. Now will yu introduce yourself?"
"No."
"What can I do to get you to say your name?"
"Leave and never come back."
"Where are the others? I know there are others."
"What makes you think I'll ever tell you where they are?"
"Well, I can hear the pink one snoring inside. The old man's been dead for a while now, and the blue-haired boy ran away, too…so the tall guy and the girl with the ponytail are out, am I right?"
"You know way too much about us to not be suspicious."
"Hey now, you've got to admit, everyone in the world knows who you guys are now. Kimikoami Kashi the run-away princess, Toshiro Harley the flame, Arlo Takayama the absent-minded chameleon, Momiji Suzumiya the flying time-traveler, and Alex Matsumoto the technological mystery. Why did he run away, anyway?"
"You've got a lot of questions for someone that should know that none of them will ever be answered."
"Well then…If I answer some of your questions, will you answer some of mine?"
"What questions that I have could you possibly answer?!"
"Well, let's see…what your dad's up to, where your blue-haired friend is-"
"How would you possibly know these things."
"I…have my sources."
"…What do you know about my dad that would interest me?"
"Hm, well…every single town in the Kingdom is heavily guarded, almost five major cities have been burned to the ground by now…oh, he says that if you come home he'll still let you be heir to the throne."
"Psh. Yeah right," Kimi mumbled.
"Alright, my turn." Kimi frowned.
"Why did your blue-haired friend run away?"
"…In all truth, I couldn't answer if I wanted to. It was like he was…out of control."
"That so, huh? Well, seems I know more than you do."
Kimi stood. "What do you know about Alex?! Tell me now!"
"Nah. I don't have any more questions for you."
"Tell me now! I demand you tell me everything you know, unless you want your brains splattered all over the snow!"
"First of all, princess, you make a tempting offer, but even I know you're too goody-two-shoes to seriously hurt anyone. Second, the only way I'm telling you anything is if you give me something in return."
"How about dinner?" Toshiro said. Kimi turned around in surprise.
"Geez, no need to be so sneaky…" Kimi mumbled.
"Ho, dinner you say? Well, I am rather hungry…"
"Will you take us up on the offer or not?" Momiji asked, annoyed.
"Hn, I guess~" Niko slowly walked over, whispering something in Kimi's ear as he passed.
'It's too bad you wouldn't tell me your name, Kimi~' Kimi gasped at the realization, face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She went back to the cooking spit, mumbling angry words to herself as the others headed into the shaded, warm shack to converse.
Toshiro leaned down and lit the oil burners with his flame-like powers, warming up the shack little by little.
Kimi could hear the others talking inside. "Stupids…don't warm up to him so easily…"
Kimi unhappily continued twisting the thin metal pole, thoroughly cooking their meal.
"There…that's good." Kimi took the spit off of the rests, and brought it inside the shack. "Dinner's ready, come and get it."
One by one, single file, everyone in the shack stood, walked over, pulled a large chunk of meat off of the spit, and sat back down. The last person to stand was Niko.
As he grabbed a piece of meat as well, he leaned into Kimi's ear, whispering her wanted answers. 'Water Mirrors,' he whispered as he disappeared, seemingly into thin air.
"Oh, man! Where'd he go?!" Arlo exclaimed in amazement.
Kimi ran outside, confirming that his tent, along with any trace he was ever there, was gone. There were no footprints.
'God damn it,' Kimi thought. 'Why does that sound so familiar?!'
"What…was that all about?" Momiji asked skeptically.
"I don't know," Toshiro added. "Where did he even come from? Kimi?"
"He…was just a traveler. Wanted to get to the next town."
"What, a magician?! Cool!" Arlo said. Toshiro sighed a face-palmed.
"Well, uh, I'm gonna go back inside…where it's warm," Momiji eased her way inside.
"Food! That's right!" Arlo followed close behind.
Toshiro approached Kimi hastily. "Kimi, what did he say to you? Do you know him?"
Kimi sighed apathetically. "It's…nothing. I don't know what he meant, anyway. Doesn't even matter."
"Alright, Kimi. Come on, let's just…go back inside and eat dinner. Okay?"
"Yeah. Sure."
Kimi stepped out into the pitch-black darkness. 'Can't sleep again,' she thought.
Fuki came out of her egg. "Do you want to train?"
"No, that's okay. I know the winter's really cold, I don't want you getting sick. That wouldn't help anyone."
"Alright, Kimi…" Fuki slowly returned to her egg, continuing her needed sleep.
Kimi held her head in her hands and slowly exhaled. "What could he have met?" she whispered to herself. "Water mirrors…where have I heard that?
"Maybe…it's something from when I was in the castle. Does he mean the pond in the courtyard? No, I wasn't even allowed to play there, that can't be it…
"It's gotta be a book…yeah! A book! But, what were the contents-"
A sharp pain began piercing Kimi's mind, causing her to fall to her knees in recoil.
"N-Nii-san…I-I don't know what to think anymore…" Kimi mumbled between tears. Her hiccups echoed, and she sobbed loudly.
Momiji, Toshiro, and Arlo bit their lips and pinned themselves against the walls of the shed to keep themselves from running outside and helping. 'Have to let her sort this out herself…by herself…by herself…' they thought to themselves.
Kimi picked herself up and walked back towards the shack. Upon opening the door, she was hugged from all directions.
"Kimi, we just want you to know, we're here for you, and we'll support all of your decisions!" Momiji exclaimed. Kimi chuckled.
"Well then, would you be alright with us going back to the city?"
Kimi looked over at Momiji, the only one who might not be okay with the suggestion. With a small glance of uncertainty, she took a deep breath and answered truthfully.
"Yes! Let's go!" Momiji said.
"Sure!" Toshiro smirked.
"Haha! Yeah! Let's do it!" Arlo exclaimed.
The four friends all placed their hands together, standing in a circle, smiling wide at each other.
"Alright guys…It's time to grow up. Let's stop hanging in the shadows, and finish what we started!" Kimi exclaimed.
After packing up their things, the four children were on their way to the town that used to be a bustling city.
"I have a feeling we'll be seeing that glasses-guy in the future…but our next meet probably won't be so peaceful. We have to keep our guard up and use teamwork to conquer our enemies!" Kimi said.
"Alright!" her friends replied.
"Time to be off, then!"
As if hope filled the air, they continued to what might be their permanent demise.