Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story, I dedicate the 25th chapter of Grudges to you guys!
Kendal: Shouldn't you dedicate every chapter to the guys who review?
Me: That wasn't the way in the beginning.
Kendal: Oh yeah…. THAT time. When nobody even bothered.
Me: You didn't either, so, I had to blackmail you.
Kendal: (sulks) SOB….
Me: (mauls when nobody looks around)
Genis: (sighs) Some things never change.
All: Like the mauling.
Me and Kendal: STFU!
Ten years ago
"YOU DAMN STUPID THINGS!" I roared as I cut though another Boxer Iris who had let its guard down.
"FURY DAMNATION!" I bellowed. Immediately, I began to twirl my blade at a speed that made the blade look as if it was just a trick of light, because it was there, ghostly and flicking. I advanced forward. Not even a boxer iris, including one who was stupid enough to wander into my warpath, could make it though my tempest of slices alive, as exemplified by the fact that everything I now walked towards was blasted into hundreds of pieces of bark, bluish blood, and anything that composed formerly of monsters.
I had been battling my way through the forest in an attempt to get away from the Papal Knights, but this was ridiculous. I was exhausted, covered in blood, and was frustrated that perhaps I should have chosen to fight against the Papal Knights instead of endure this.
I finished my technique, and then dropped onto my knees, panting for breath. I knew that sooner or later, I'd burst through to Ozette, but now, did I even know where to really go? I was totally confused as to where I was the forest, which wasn't uncommon- It was impossible for a person to memorize the layout of the Gaoracchia Forest if you weren't a mapmaker, and I wasn't one.
And besides, indications and signs were impossible to place, given the monsters would rip whatever marker you put in about twenty minutes.
Not that anybody ever really tried to go in here, anyway.
I looked around, and breathed a sigh of relief. I had found a sunspot. The monsters never went here, and besides, my skin was feeling clammy from the actual lack of any light, so…
I walked over, where there was log conveniently placed there, and sat down, rubbing some blood that was running down my forehead in a small trickle. Well, it was really being soaked up by my headband. Thank whatever was in the sky for that. It served more than just covering up painful scars, and horrible memories.
Sweeping my eyes around, I saw more ghouls, boxer irises, phantoms, and worse, pumpkin trees. Damn, was this forest meant for annoying me to hell?
I stood up. Twilight was approaching, and there was no telling just how many monsters there would be then. Time to go.
I began walking the opposite direction the sun was setting- East, that is. To the west only meant the Papal Knights, Sybak, and farther, much farther, Meltokio. To the east meant Ozette and whatever else was there, I couldn't place my finger on. In other words, the east was the safest for me to go.
But damn, why did the forest have to be thick and monster-infested?
VWVWVWVWV
The girl easily hopped over the creek that surrounded Grandpa's house.
She was seemingly calm, but in reality, she was trembling from the insults that had been heaped on her by the other children while she was training.
She wanted nothing but to make them stop, but just how? She didn't know what she had done. She had only failed on making a pact with Volt, the summon spirit, hadn't she? It was an accident that killed many of Mizuho's population, but wasn't it just an accident?
The memory of the shimmering violet and yellow ball of electricity with eyes flooded her vision, and she let out an involuntary whimper.
VWVWVWVWV
Amazingly, I only had to fight a few groups of monsters while going further into the forest. The clammy feeling had returned, to be sure, but if I was going through a forest where in most places light never reached the ground, you'd feel it too, wouldn't you?
I saw one more undertaker slowly walking towards me. Without stopping, I simply said "Aeroslicer" and just sliced downwards, where I looped the blade back to its original position. Besides, the undertaker, with its head missing, just fell over, its coffin that it wore on its back on the ground, with the body going through its death throes before it stopped twitching, and just like that, the headless body and coffin were unmoving. The coffin, with the door pressed to the ground, had rumbled slightly before it was completely dead, but then I remembered that this… thing was already dead.
Whatever.
Finally, looking around in the dim twilight, I found the sign. Old, and having survived for years, the sign was the apparent only permanent marking for guiding people through the forest. Somehow, monsters never bothered with this sign, but even through its marking had long been weathered, every person that wanted to travel through the forest knew about this sign.
Everyone.
I heard voices, from the Ozette side of the forest. "Damn, do we have to go into this hellhole?"
"Duh, I'm going! I'm gonna nab the reward for killing the Ravager!"
"What's with him? What's the reward?"
"Idiot, it's a million gald!"
"By the goddess, I'm getting that reward?"
"Oh yeah!?"
"Yeah, I'm going!"
I had to make use of their little argument. Maybe I could take them all out, I wasn't that sadistic. All I wanted to do was have a moment of reprieve- I had pretty much exhausted myself completely with all the monsters in the forest, meaning I most likely would only have a single shot at a Grave Wave, the only thing I knew that could take all of them out at the same time, and even if I could do one, it could only be a short ranged one, about ten feet at least, fifteen at most.
I hadn't brought any food along, I was out of pineapple and orange gels, with only a few lemon gels left, and I didn't have any true injuries to that would make me need to use them. Besides, it wouldn't give me the energy boost that I needed.
I knew that I'd have to get out of here, but where? I couldn't go back into the forest, and I could take on the Papal Knights, which, given from just how many voices were speaking, numbered maybe a hundred.
That's when I noticed it.
A footprint. I stared at it. It was a few meters away from me, and it was dark anyway, but I couldn't believe it- a footprint that led deeper in the forest. Which meant…
I had just seen the foot print of somebody who lived in the forest. And the only people who lived in the forest- Perhaps around it, I didn't know- were the people of Mizuho.
I suddenly knew what to do.
I quickly charged towards where the footprint was pointed towards. Another wall of damned plants. Just how did Mizuhoans- If my suspicions were correct, anyway- manage to get through this forest? Did they actually make their own map or something? Did they just memorize it all?
Seriously…
I dived through a hole in the wall which somehow housed no plants- I silently thanked lady luck when I came through. Tugging a corner of my scarf that had been caught in the thicket while I was going through the barrier, I looked forward again for any sign or indication that Mizuho was there. Seeing an area of cleared roots that was too long to be natural, I ran down the path.
I suddenly stopped. Sunlight was filtering through another barrier. Which meant that this would lead to open ground, Out of this forest that deserved to torture only sick, sick SOBs.
The trees were too thick to let me though, so I decided to get…
Explosive.
I raised my fingers and willed mana to fill the air between the small gaps of the plant barrier, and then I snapped my fingers.
BOOM.
It was only a small explosion, but I was sure it had just alerted the Papal Knights that, with luck, might still be outside the forest, continuing their argument about who was going to capture me. Like that would ever really happen, anyway.
Without further ado I sprinted through the hole in the wall of plants I made, into the dying sunlight and a chance for a reprise.
VWVWVWVWV
"Vice chief, I'm home," the girl called tentatively.
The vice-chief had been there with her that day, when she had been at Volt's temple. He had seen her get flustered at her inability to understand the Summon Spirit of electricity, watched her cower as Volt fired a bolt of lighting at the her which hit the Chief, watched her scream her adoptive grandfather's name as she shook his unresponsive body again and again, with no result.
Tiga had also watched, with stunned horror, as many ninja who accompanied Sheena to the temple of Lighting were either killed or stunned by Volt. He had watched as Volt rose up into the sky and out of its temple, and bring down a thunderstorm that had devastated Mizuho, and had disappeared, all while Sheena sobbed her grandfather's name again and again…
He rose up and bowed respectfully. Then, as he returned to talking with a shinobi (Who had given the girl a hateful look, which she had cringed at) she headed to her sleeping mat.
VWVWVWVWV
Sometimes, when it came down to it, I slept in treetops.
While this sounded cool, it was really the most in convenient thing to do at night, especially if that's the only thing that you can sleep on, if nobody's on night watch and you're traveling alone.
With grumbling on learning that the only place I could sleep on was a large tree with unusually spiky bark, I scaled it, then found the large, albeit uncomfortable branch that was the only way I'd be able to any degree of rest without having to confront a mantis every hour or so.
Using my scarf as a pillow, I tentatively lay down and regretted it immediately. The spiked bark immediately pierced my arm as I tried to get some sleep. Even worse, I suspected with a few minutes of this I'd get pins and needles in my arms. I hated the sharp, numb feeling of that.
Silently cursing whatever deity was above (Ironically, they were the same people I had praised for letting my see the footprint in the Gaoracchia forest in the first place) closed my eyes, and slept.
Uncomfortably.
VWVWVWVWV
The girl kept tossing and turning, eventually throwing off her yakuta. She just couldn't help but think about all those people, that, because of her, were sad, angry, and most of all, hated her.
Eventually, she fell asleep with her thoughts. Because of that, she dreamed of what she wanted to simply forget.
Volt.
VWVWVWVWV
I yawned as I turned over, opening my eyes.
And what do you know, I find myself looking at a tree. Not a trunk of a tree, but the base of the tree.
Then I realized that I didn't feel anything. Not even pins and needles from sleeping on the branch.
Speaking of the branch, what-?
The answer came to me so fast, I screamed. Really.
While tossing and turning, I had thrown myself off the branch and had dropped onto the ground.
So, if that was the case, why the hell didn't I hurt all over, and why hadn't I woken up?
I turned, and promptly rolled off the pile of leaves that I was on, right into the tree.
After I finally finished roaring and rolling around in pain, I sat up, and looked above me. Yep, my scarf was back up there, as well as my cleaver. My knives, they always stayed on my belt. My pack, no problems, it was up there as well.
"Eventful morning, huh?" I muttered to myself as I reclimbed the tree. If you talked about rolling into a tree trunk, and before that falling onto a pile of leaves sleeping ten feet above ground eventful.
Later
Deciding to wander around this place, which, in my years and years of life, I had never reached, I found that the forest of death morphed into a pleasant one. Since Tethe'Alla was prospering right now, I wouldn't have to worry about monsters, but really, bandits were always a problem. No matter how strong, how tough, or how fast you are, you're always helpless while you sleep.
Anyway, the real reason I wanted to wander around was I wanted to check out Mizuho, if it really was around here. Shinobi, whatever they called themselves, didn't just spawn from nothing, so this part of the forest- Well, really, a place isolated by it, just had to be the place for Mizuho to be hidden. Otherwise, they'd just be wiped out by the monsters who always were in the Gaoracchia Forest.
Curiosity value, really.
That's when I noticed a particularly thick band of trees. They looked relatively young, but even stranger, they were all grouped together.
Feeling a sudden burst of suspicion, I began to walk slowly forward.
Nothing jumped out at me. Nothing appeared.
I resumed my regular pace, and…
I saw it, through a gap in the trees.
And arch way with a weird line of words, written in a random symbolic language, was right there. 2 guards were there, appearing to be motionless, but I could see that their chests were slowly rising and falling.
Man, these ninja guys were talented. I doubted that I could restrict my breathing that much.
It was a basic fact that Mizuho was a village hidden in order to protect its unique culture- They were unique in everyway, from their purpose of life, to how their houses were built, to their native language… Well, you get the idea.
So, I snuck around the village, strafing around the walls that so isolated the village from seeing much of the outside world, but let them see the tops of the trees.
Strange. I'd never want to live in a village like this, even if I was born here. Why did they even bother with fortifying themselves? They were secluded enough, being accessible only through the Gaoracchia forest and all.
After a minute of walking around the walls, I heard voices.
Eager to hear the words of another human being (Besides ones that were trying to kill me, anyway) I pressed my ears to the wall.
"Hey, you!" I heard a voice shout. Probably a boy's. "Why can't mommy come back? Why did you have to kill her?"
Huh
I pressed my ears closer, as a girl's voice was heard, stammering a fearful apology.
"Why can't you bring her back, you murderer? Why?"
This was making my blood boil. I quickly began looking for a way to get over the wall to see what was going on, but I didn't realize what was going to happen next.
I heard another boy yell in rage "DAMN YOU!" And a heavy thudding sound.
I hated it when people mocked, tortured, or otherwise attempted mental or physical harm to people who never really wanted to do anything. Maybe this girl had accidentally dropped a knife on somebody's head or something. But hell, it was never their fault, was it?
Was it?
Finding no way to climb or jump over it, I whipped out my daggers, jammed the tips in, and began climbing.
I heard other yells of both buoys, and girls, which receded as I went up. To be expected, as I was distancing myself from them as I climbed up the wooden wall like a spider, in a rapid pace that would put even natural spiders to shame.
Finally, I was over it. I perched myself on top and looked down.
I saw about five people crowding around a girl in a purple dress. A weird one, anyway. They were all children, but from the voices they were using, they could have been psychotic killers for all I knew.
They would have continued their stream of curses, hits, and general insults if I hadn't snapped (Again) and jumped down.
VWVWVWVWV
The girl braced herself for another blow when the others gave a single, chorused gasp and began backing away. And then a light thump.
"Now, what the hell did this girl do to you?"
She opened her eyes, and saw, to her amazement…
An outsider.
She only saw his back, but that was already intimidating. A gigantic sword hung across his back, its hilt pointing towards his right shoulder. A huge scarf covered his back, with only a thin slit between the two tails of the scarf.
The two huge tails of his scarf. His clothes, they were brown, just like the spikes of his hair- brown pants that went all the way down his legs, a sleeveless shirt.
She looked around the person. The girl saw everybody backing away. One of them- The bravest one, the one who had first hit her- was attempting to say something, but it looked like his entire body was frozen.
Well, it was- she couldn't even see a single muscle twitch.
Who was this man?
Yay, my first completely-flashback chapter's ended well!
Kendal: Agh, will you just tell the main story already? Besides, the other SOBs are laughing at us.
Me: What, it's your character development...
Kendal: WTF is that?
Me: I HATE YOU, INTERNET SLANG USER! DAMN SICK SON OF A -beep-ING B-beep-!
Lloyd: (sweatdrop)
Genis: Thank god we have the censor...
Kendal: Thank god, I don't want to make my ears bleed from this idiot's ranting...
Me: F-beep- YOU! MAULIIIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!
Kendal: Oh, s-beep-!
All: (turns away to avoid watching the bloodfest)