Volume I: Chapter III: Valuable Lessons:

I stand only 10 feet (3 meters) from my opponent, evaluating his stance to judge how I should approach and engage him. Despite it being 10:30 at night, the place was surprisingly bright. The moonlight bathing Dorado, illuminates the area, making it easier to see my surroundings. I try to tune out any outside noises to better focus, such as the chirping crickets and the occasional rustle of leaves when a soft breeze would blow by. After tuning out my distractions, the only thing I hear is the sound of my own breath. The only thing I feel is my heart beating as it pumps the blood that courses through me. Everything around me has ceased to exist. All that is left is me and my opponent.

5 seconds have past and I begin to gingerly inch my way closer to my opponent. If there is one thing I've learned from our sparring sessions, he likes to approach his 1v1's with a defensive strategy. He lures opponents in, forcing them to make the first move. He then counters whatever move it is they make and capitalizes by attacking their most vital points that he has opened up. I believe I can use this to my advantage if I can just lure him-or force him- into making the move I want him to make.

I decide I will go for a move he would expect. I step on his right leg for a bit of leverage and immediately bring my other leg up to try and kick him on the left side of his head- more specifically the temple. He parries it over him (as I predicted) and as my right leg is coming over, I turn my body in a way so that as I'm coming down, I use the same leg (that is now on his right side) to sweep him by giving a swift kick in his right knee, briefly knocking him off his feet. I went for the knee because (aside from giving me a brief window to strike) my father goes on about his ageing and how his legs aren't "as young as they used to be" and I can use that to my advantage here. However, this will be my only chance to strike him after getting him in position using this method. He's not the kind of person to allow the same thing to happen to him twice.

I hit the ground a few feet away from him and I get up, I can see he's already recovering. I rush to land a knee strike with my right leg on his head before he could fully recover, but just as I am about to make the strike, he tosses one of his sais toward my foot in a way that my left ankle gets caught in one of the gaps with the middle spike getting stuck in the ground. He wanted to throw me off balance. He swiftly moves his body in front of me and catches my right knee, ready to capitalize on the opening. He flips his other sai over and is about to hit me in the gut with the blunt side, but I bring my left hand down and knock his shot to the side and it barely misses me. But I didn't realize that was a diversion from his real move.

He attempts a sweep, still holding onto my trapped right leg and he is successful, but it also knocked the other sai lodged in the ground that was trapping my left foot, freeing it in the process. I decided to bring my left foot up in the split-second window I had and roll backward with my fall and kick him off me as I do (though not very well since he lands a bit to my right side). Noticing that the sai that was in the ground is free, I scramble for it before he notices. I grab it by the time he bounces back up to his feet and he sees it in my hand. Before I move up to him, I notice he's briefly stopped. He wants me to make the next move so he can capitalize again. I hope I don't regret what I'm about to do.

Instead of using the sai to fight him, I toss it behind me. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but I can't risk him disarming me (which he could very easily do) and getting it back, putting me at an even bigger disadvantage than I would be in if it were just an unarmed me versus him with only half of his weaponry.

"Interesting choice." He says with a little bit of surprise in his voice from my gamble. "You better try your damnedest if you want to keep me from getting it back."

I engage my opponent again this time throwing a straight left jab, forcing him to move out of the way to the outside of my attempted strike. I expected him to go for a strike at my open midsection or head that I was prepared to counter, but he instead goes for something different that I wasn't anticipating. As he dodges, he holds out his sai that is in his left hand and hooks my wrist. He then places his free hand on my back to hold me in place to prevent me from being whipped around while my left arm is being pulled behind me. With my arm being held in such a fashion, that it is now starting to actually hurt, I feel a force push me down and I realized he was trying to put me in some kind of arm bar or something to get me to submit. Next thing you know, I get a face full of dirt as I fall to the ground as he is quickly getting in position. This all happens in about the span of a second.

Not knowing what else to do (but still remembering the rule that any strike to a vital area is an automatic win), I manage to wriggle myself forward enough that I might be able to land a solid kick with the back of my foot on his head or neck. If he doesn't notice my kick, I hit him in a potentially vital area, and I win. If he does notice, he will have no choice but to release me and get out of the way. I feel the pressure on me immediately lift and my arm being freed as I go for the kick. He must have noticed then. But then, at that moment, I realized my mistake. I gave him that window to get behind me and retrieve his other weapon. He now has both sais again, putting me back to square one.

I immediately get up and charge toward him in hopes of ending it here and now before he can turn around and take notice. I try to get a knee on his gut, but it seems like he was expecting me to do something like that because he simultaneously stops me in my tracks and parries it, spinning me around in the process. I try to recover by going along with the momentum of the spin to hit him with an elbow in the liver with my right arm. He blocks it with his right arm. I then raise my fist with that same arm to attempt a back fist on the now opened right side of his head, but he barely moves back far enough to dodge. I take this moment to fully face my opponent again.

As he leans back after his dodge, I go for a kick to the side of his head again (this time on the right side of his head) and he catches it. I see him moving his leg and about to place his forearm to my chest. He's about to sweep me again! I make a gamble and jump with my free leg. I, now with no leg to stand on, must execute the next move perfectly. I lean my body backwards and kick off his leg while using the force of his push by his forearm as extra momentum to slip out and get myself free while gaining some breathing room. I almost land on the back of my neck in the process, but I rotated myself enough that I could get my hands down and land on my feet. After seeing where I landed, I realize I'm in the same spot where he tried to put me in an armbar—more specifically where I got the face full of dirt.

I now have enough space. He probably doesn't want to give me time to think, so he will try to quickly close the gap. My opponent then rushes up to strike me. Though expected, it is still unusual of him given his defensive strategy. I wonder if he knows he's running into a trap. I grab some dust from the ground and toss it in the air to create a bit of a smoke screen. Once he runs into it, it'll get into his eyes and I can take the opening while in the cover of the temporary smoke screen.

He runs into the smoke screen. Yes! Now's my chance! I swiftly and carefully circle behind him to land a strike. As the dust clears, I move up and prepare to make my move to strike him with a right punch. Victory is mine!

Just as I make the move, he dodges to the side. Using the momentum of the punch against me, he grabs my wrist and sweeps my legs. I fall forward and he turns me over on my back, still in control of my right arm and uses one of his sais to pin my left arm to the ground. He then places his right knee on my left shoulder, making it even more impossible for me to move. He's even positioned himself so that I can't even strike him with my legs this time. He then takes his remaining sai with his free hand and holds his weapon just mere centimeters from my throat. That happened within a span of five seconds. How is he so quick? It was almost like he knew I was going to try that. Just like that I went from holding my ground, about to make the final blow to being tossed on the ground and defeated.

"I knew you would try something like that, so I willingly took the bait to turn your trap into my trap. You shouldn't get so cocky or overconfident. Never assume victory is guaranteed because of a good move. Nothing is guaranteed, especially victory. It may be highly likely, but it is never guaranteed. And because of that you must be prepared for anything and everything. Always assume the enemy knows or is at least somewhat aware of what you'll do next. And if you do that, you will never get cocky and you will never get caught off guard."

He took his knee off of me, freed my left arm, and put his weapons away. After registering what just happened, I sat up and just sat there hanging my head in defeat. I've been training with him for about two and a half years now and I still can't come close to beating him- even when he was clearly holding back. I'm not strong enough. I'm still too weak.

I was so busy being disappointed in myself, I didn't even notice my father holding his hand out to pull me up and he started to take notice.

"Hey. Don't get so down on yourself, okay, Sim? I can tell from the look on your face that you're beating yourself up. Right now, you're probably thinking that you're weak and that you're not strong enough aren't you?"

Man, he's observant. He read me like a book.

"Look at me, Simin. Pick your head up." He continued.

I slowly raise my head and my eyes meet his own.

"It's okay to be weak. No one is born strong. We all have to start somewhere before we start growing. However, there will come a time and a place where being weak will no longer be an option. You won't be able to rely on anyone anymore, but yourself. In this world, there are people and creatures that don't care if you are weak and will try to take advantage of that. If you want to survive, if you want to live the life you want, you need to be strong enough to fight for it and defend it as well as the people you want to live that life alongside from those who want to take it away from you. Simin, this world will push you. It will try to knock you around. And it may even break you. That is an inevitability. And in times like that, weakness stops becoming an option and strength starts becoming a requirement.

"Besides..." he then sits down next to me and puts his hand on my shoulder as we sit in the moonlit grass. "You're pretty strong anyway. You've grown so much since we started training. You may not have noticed it, but I certainly have. I've even had to hold back a little less. I remember when you were tripping over yourself when we first started and now look at you." He says trying to (successfully) cheer me up. "However," he continues. "That doesn't mean you're anywhere near the peak yet. You still have a lot of climbing to do. Don't forget that, okay?"

I nod, giving him a quiet "mhm" sound.

"But let me tell you another thing, Simin. This will be my most valuable lesson to you, so listen close. In this world, out of all the scary monsters and bad people out there, none of them can have a greater effect on you than you can. You have the ability to be your greatest ally, or your worst enemy. Do you know what I mean?"

I shake my head no.

"What I mean is basically that you shouldn't sell yourself short or allow yourself to get so discouraged or disheartened. Don't stand in your own way. If you stand in your own way, you'll only hold yourself back and hurt your growth. You know your weaknesses and your strengths more than anyone. So instead of hanging your head in shame and defeat, change that to determination to improve and learn so you can turn your weaknesses into strengths while also making your current strengths even stronger. You have the ability to push yourself to greater heights and break through your limits. You have what it takes. I know it. Your mother knows it."

He then looks up at the shattered moon and I follow suit. It's very rare that he would bring up mom these days. I can't even remember the last time he brought her up. After a few moments of silence, he begins to speak again.

"You have your mother's heart, you know that?" He chuckles to himself. "That reminds me of a joke I used to always say around her. I would always say that you had her heart, but you have my guts. She would always hate that joke for some reason. But I always got a kick out of it. She's watching us right now I bet- from up there." He says, still staring at the shattered moon. "She loved you with all her heart you know. She wants to see you grow into a fine young man and I will be the one to get you there. She may not have the best seat in the house anymore, but she can see us without a doubt. So, let's not let her down. Let's make her proud."

I leaned my head on his shoulder as we sit on the grass watching the moon, counting all the broken shards and fragments to ourselves. After a few minutes, he speaks again.

"Alright now come on. Let's get you into a bath and then into a bed. It's late anyway."

He stands up and gives me his hand. I take it and he pulls me up and then kneels down to dust me off. We then head inside and call it a night.

After a quick bath, I get into my blue pajamas and lay in bed as my father tucks me in. Bruno walks to the end of my bed and goes to sleep at the foot of it.

"Goodnight, Simin. Love you." He says softly before kissing me on the temple and leaving the room, letting the door slowly shut itself with a click. I then take a look at my mother's knife sitting on my nightstand.

Good night, mom.

I then close my eyes and patiently wait to fall asleep.

I can't sleep! I think to myself with a bit of frustration.

I hate when this happens. Nights like these where I cannot seem to get even so much as a wink. I've been trying to sleep for at least an hour now, but I don't feel tired in the slightest. Perhaps it's the adrenaline still going through me from earlier? Or maybe it's because of my nightmare this morning. Almost like I'm subconsciously trying to stay awake out of fear of reliving the nightmare of what happened to my mother like some kind of emotional or psychological defense mechanism? Is that a thing?

I get up from my bed and look outside toward the Sol Tower. It looks like it says it's about 12:30 a.m. I walk to the door of my room, trying not to wake Bruno who is softly snoozing, his body slowly heaving in and out like a balloon being deflated and re-inflated over and over again. I gently open the door, careful not to make any creaks that could wake up father or Bruno. I always like to wait a few seconds when I do this just to make sure I was successful in being silent enough. Once I feel the coast is clear, I sneak downstairs and head to the kitchen. It's very dark. However, there is enough moonlight coming in through the window for me to see. If there wasn't, I probably would have stubbed my toe on a table or chair leg. That would definitely have woken Bruno and dad up. I walk over to the counter and grab two loaves of bread- one for me and one for mom.

I tip-toe back up the stairs, bringing the bread with me to my room and I slowly and silently close my door and head to the closet to change into the clothes I wore earlier and grab my shoes. I then head to the window of my room and open it and check behind me to make sure I didn't wake Bruno. Before deciding to climb out, I double check to make sure I have everything. Two bread loaves? Check! My shoes? Check! Door closed? Check! Okay. I think I'm good to go. I toss my shoes out and begin my exit.

The reason why I use the window and not the front or back doors is because they are much larger and heavier and because of that, they make a louder noise whenever I try to close them and the last thing I want is to get caught in the act. I gingerly climb out the window, sticking my feet out first and the rest of me following suit (and making sure to leave the window cracked open to prevent any small animals—like raccoons- from getting in) and make my slow descent with the loaves of bread- one in my shirt and the other in my teeth. I almost lost my grip on my way down, but I managed to recover. As I reach the end of my descent, my bare feet make contact with the cool, dewy grass, as I successfully finish my short journey. I always loved the feeling of walking on wet grass, which is why I decided not to put my shoes on before-hand. It just feels so cool and refreshing. Plus, it kinda tickles- like walking on wet paint brushes.

I turn my head as I hear a slight rustle followed by a pitter-patter of what sounds like what could be a small animal moving around. The raccoon might be trying his luck again with the neighbors' trash. Wouldn't be the first time and definitely won't be the last. I decide to ignore the hairy, intruding thief and turn my head away as I take the bread from under my shirt and the other from my teeth and begin to make my way toward La Estrella Marketplace. I'm surprised the sky is still so clear-not that I'm complaining. This makes it easier for me to see where I'm going.

It's so much quieter and more tranquil at this time of night. I follow the path and I am eventually greeted by the faint glow that is the star statue on top of the fountain being illuminated by the moonlight. I can also see the slightly fainter flickering of yellowish green lights as the fireflies slowly fly around as if they are dancing to a song that only they can hear around the marketplace, seemingly mesmerized by the glow of the star statue. As I get closer, I can even hear the quacking of ducks that like to wade in the fountain as well as the occasional splash of the fish living there. It's so different when fewer people are around.

As I step into the ring of lit lanterns that align the perimeter of the marketplace, I take a moment to take in what is around me. It's amazing how different this area is at night- how something so dense with people in the mornings can become so empty. So... lifeless. I honestly prefer it this way. No noise. No people. Not a living soul. It almost feels like I actually did fall asleep and am actually having a nice dream for once. Or maybe it's the world around me that is in a dream-like state. Either way, this is nice. All the stands that everyone would flock around to like birds around a person with breadcrumbs are empty and devoid of people. I am probably the only living soul occupying this marketplace. It's so quiet, the only sounds accompanying me are the chorus of chirping crickets and the occasional quack of a duck wading in the fountain. It also wasn't that dark due to the combination of the moonlight, lanterns, and the dancing fireflies, which gave everything a bit of a dim, ambient appearance. It's hard to believe this is even real sometimes. Am I sure I'm not dreaming?

I walk up to the fountain and take my shoes off so I can sit on the edge of it and dip my feet in the cool water. I took out the two loaves of bread and I placed mom's loaf beside me and proceeded to pull pieces out of the other and toss them into the fountain. The ducks took notice and began to wade their way toward me and began to gobble up the pieces one by one. One of the ducks gets close to my hand and I place a piece of bread in its open bill. After eating the piece, it gives me a quack. Maybe it was saying "thank you."

"You're welcome". I think to myself before quietly chuckling.

I then look into the fountain and could barely see the reflection staring back at me. My tan face, my deep purple eyes, my short raspberry-red hair.

My mother and I used to do this when I was little. Whenever I was sad or not feeling well or just having a bad day, we would come out here at night and feed the animals. I even still remember the first time we went out and did this. I was four and, in the backyard, I saw this baby rabbit running around. It couldn't have been more than a week old. I got its attention and, unafraid, it ran up to me and I started playing around with it and chasing it and stuff. Next thing you know, a bird of prey swooped in and carried the little thing off as it started making terrified, distressed squeaking sounds that were getting farther and farther away. Shocked and, frankly, downright upset, I ran inside and cried to my mother and told her that a bird took the baby rabbit away and was probably killing and eating it. She got down on one knee and pulled me close into a hug trying to console me and calm me down (complete with a soft yet audible "There, there"), gently running her warm hand along my back to soothe me as her shirt and shoulder were getting soaked with my tears. When that wasn't working, she went to the kitchen and returned with two loaves of bread. She then grabbed my hand and we walked down to the empty marketplace. She sat down and took her shoes off to dip her feet in the water and proceeded to place me on her lap as we grabbed our pieces of bread to feed the ducks. Still thinking to earlier that day, I then thought back to the conversation we had.

"Mommy, can I ask you a question?" I asked that day as I leaned back and rested my head against her chest.

"Ask away." She said with her calm, soothing voice.

I remember the question I asked being a very silly one:

"Mommy, why do some animals kill each other while others just leave each other alone? Why don't they just eat vegetables or fruits or stuff?"

She lowered her gaze at me and said, maintaining her comforting tone, "Oh, sweetie. I wish I had an answer to that. That's just how nature is I guess."

"You won't let any animals carry me off or eat me, right?" I asked.

She giggled in response and said, "No, sweetie. I won't let anything eat you or hurt you. Mommy will you protect you with her life. That's my promise to you." She then pulled me into a hug from behind and proceeded to kiss me on the crown of my head.

"Besides…" she continued. "I think you're fine."

Out of curiosity, I turned my head to face her and asked, "Oh. Why's that?"

She smiled at me and said, "Because you're too cute to eat up!" She would then tickle me from behind while in the confines of her embrace, almost making me fall of her lap due to the squirming and uncontrollable laughter. We eventually settled down, finished with our two loaves of bread, and called it a day before we headed back home.

I miss those times. I miss her. Why did she have to go and make that promise?

Anyway, I've already finished my loaf of bread. I look to my mother's loaf, still sitting beside me. I let out a deep, emotional sigh before grabbing her loaf and do the same with hers as I had done with mine. The same duck that quacked at me a moment ago decided to hop on the edge of the fountain with me. It was standing in mom's spot. I tried to shoo it away from there, but ended up startling it. It then flapped its wings at me, which then startled me and caused me to fall backward and hit my head on the hard cobblestone ground before it decided to hop back into the fountain. I don't think it took too kindly to that. I sat up and tried to alleviate the pain by rubbing my now hurting head. I think I should call it a night. I quickly pull apart the rest of the bread and toss it all into the fountain. A few seconds later, there was a lot of splashing in there because the ducks and fish were now in a free-for-all over who gets the most bread. I then put on my shoes and turned to walk back home. It's going to be a little tricky now since the moon was partially covered by a few puffy cumulus clouds, slightly darkening my path.

As I was making my way out the marketplace, I could hear faint footsteps getting closer. As the steps got louder, I could see, coming into view, the tall silhouette of a man wearing strange clothes- I couldn't see too well but it looked like some sort of hooded long coat or garb or something. He had his hood up, which made it impossible for me to see his face, especially in this lack of light. Is he an outsider? As he got closer to the dimly lit marketplace, I noticed that he looked like he was slightly limping. Is he hurt? Should I ask him if he's okay? No. Just ignore him. I don't think it's a good idea to get involved with strange people out at this hour (or strange people in general).

I was so distracted by the fact that there is a strange hooded man heading to the marketplace, that it didn't occur to me for a bit that I he is coming from where I came from earlier. Was he following me? No. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Besides, even if he was, it's not like I have anywhere to hide anyway. The place is wide open, I'm too far from the stands, and jumping in the fountain would only make noise- also… from where he's coming from, I would have already been in his field of view, so he's most likely already seen me. I just have to roll the dice and hope he is just some harmless passer-by.

I began making my way home, moving in his direction. As we get closer to each other, I try not to pay him any mind and ignore him. I don't even so much as make eye contact and just keep my eyes completely focused on what is directly in front of me. My heart is starting to speed up a bit with every step I take as I near the hooded figure. We eventually get close enough to pass each other and at that point, my heart is pounding as a few beads of sweat make their presence on my forehead. It seems like he is paying me no mind. I still can't help but notice his limp. He is clearly hurt. I also noticed his breathing was a bit labored too, like he was tired or exhausted. Oh! I know! He actually is an outsider who got into a bar fight or something at one of the taverns in Noche, which would explain why he's limping and breathing heavily and he is also drunk and took a wrong turn on his way home, which would also explain why he came from my direction. I guess that means he must live in the Luna quadrant. However, not wanting to be in the same vicinity as the stranger, I speed up my walk toward home as soon as I get about 10 feet (3 meters) past him. I'm still curious though. I want to take one more look at him. As I looked back, I noticed the hooded man was now suddenly turned around, facing me, as I kept walking and watched him disappear into the darkness.

As soon as I returned home, I check to make sure I wasn't followed and climb my way back into my room. But upon entering, I noticed something a bit strange. The door to my room is open and Bruno isn't in here. I don't remember leaving it open. I could've sworn I closed it. I also see that the door to my dad's room is opened too. He must have checked on me and saw that I wasn't there! Oh no. I hope I'm not in too much trouble. He's probably downstairs waiting to give me an earful. (sigh) Let's just get this over with then.

Before I was about to head down, I could hear a strange yet familiar noise coming from the closet. As I got closer, I realized the sound was something scratching on the door and whimpering. How did Bruno get in the closet? Did dad put him in there? If so, why would dad put him in the closet? I open the closet and let Bruno out. I then look over at my nightstand and notice something: mom's knife is missing! Where did it go? I'll have to ask dad to help me find it after the verbal lashing he's most likely going to give me. I then look back at Bruno and I can't help but notice he still looks and sounds distressed despite me freeing him. What does he know that I don't? I should head downstairs now and find dad.

I descend the stairs with Bruno tailing behind me and I notice the closer I get to the downstairs area, the more that things appear to be out of place or knocked over. Even some of the walls look a bit damaged. It's a mess down here! What happened? It was also very quiet—I mean the house is almost always quiet, but this was an eerie kind of quiet. As I turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I turn my head towards the kitchen, which was illuminated by a bit of moonlight shining through the window. For some reason I feel compelled to walk in there—like I will find what I'm looking for if I enter that room. At this point, I am extremely unsettled, but I've already started walking toward the kitchen- eyes fixated on the entrance- as my mind is screaming at me not to go in that room as my body disobeys every command. As I got closer to the entrance to the kitchen, for the first time in a long time, I quietly utter my first word:

"D-dad?"

I turned the corner and entered the kitchen. Stopped dead in my tracks, I was completely frozen in place by what the moonlight in the kitchen was showing me… almost like a spotlight. I couldn't even make a sound or even hear my own breaths anymore. It felt like all my senses and motor functions just stopped working. Everything around me just ceased to exist. All that was left was me… and the lifeless corpse of my father lying in a fresh pool of blood- with my mother's pocketknife dug into his heart.

*CHAPTER END*

Sorry I'm a bit late with this one. I meant to post it yesterday, but I had some assignments I had to get done first. Anyway, in this chapter, we have the first fight scene I have ever written. I wanted to keep it a bit "ground based" for this one since this is my first and I wanted to "get my feet wet" or get a feel for it to start, so I didn't want to start off with anything too crazy.

Fun fact #3: There is a DDLC (Doki Doki Literature Club) reference somewhere in this chapter.