Kingdom of Patch
Xiaolong-Rose Household
10/38/1011 L.E.
8:15 A.M. Standard North Vale Time
(Ruby)
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... Rubes-
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... Who ... are-
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... Mom?
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... Look towards the eastern dunes, you will-
"Girl, I know!"
Eyelids snapping open and instincts kicking in, I jolted upright from my bed to immediately point Crimson Heart, a customized AR five hundred rifle of my making, towards the poster-covered door of my bedroom.
"I mean, he 'won' the first quarter easy. And- Exactly! He even scored that knock down in round one which was 'totally' a knockdown and not some 'slip' like they said it was."
Yang. It's just Yang downstairs. Wide awake now, I switched the safety lock back on Crimson Heart and hugging it before slumping back down to my bed with a sigh. Ugh- Whiplash incoming.
And no sooner did I think that did the familiar sensation of whiplash spread throughout my noggin.
"What time is it even?" I asked out loud, tiredly.
Rubbing a hand on my head, I glance towards my room's curtain covered window and quickly noticing the lack of bright day light that usually tells me that it's way past twelve mid-morning. You know, the only 'appropriate' time to wake up on for the first day of a weekend.
Sighing, I place Crimson Heart to my side before sitting up to reach towards my Scroll lying on top of my nightstand.
A double tap and the mostly see through device activated to show the digital digits at the top of the home-screen picture of me, Yang, and dad posing with peace signs.
"It's still eight in the morning." Letting out my best attempt at combining a cry and a groan, I read the time. "This is way 'way' too early for a Sifon, come on."
Sifon, Cism, and Nihim, the weekend days. The best three out of the ten days of a week. And the best way, the preferably 'only' way, of spending your Sifons is staying sound asleep in bed until it's well past sixteen in the afternoon so you can wake up energized to do loads of fun stuff until it's past sixteen midnight.
"Right?! What's-his-name had the nerve to talk all humble shmumble like that in the interview at the end. Like, hello, you were laughing like god-damn maniac the whole fight. Get out of here with that fake bull-"
But with Yang raging down there, likely on the couch with her Scroll plastered to her ear, I suppose falling back asleep is about as doable as collecting water with a strainer.
"Well, breakfast it is then." Placing my Scroll back on my night stand, I got up from my bed.
And after spending about ten minutes or so, I changed out of my night ware and tidied up my sheets and my pillows and placed Crimson Heart back into my drawer.
The same drawer that doubles as my wardrobe and my arms cache.
"Okay." Holstering my Scroll in my pocket, I take a moment to look at myself in my wall mirror. My same short twelve year old self looking back at me with bed hair that I didn't feel like straightening out right now. "Let's get something to eat, Ruby Rose."
Moving out of my room and closing the door right after, I went down the stairs fully expecting to see Yang sitting on the couch. But surprisingly she wasn't there or anywhere in the living room.
"Yeah, that ugly toad just got lucky. 'Really' lucky, that's all. And- Yeah, girl, I've been saying that too. There's no way he's getting past Ortiz. There's just no way."
I hear Yang's yelling again, but this time I hear it better enough to tell where she actually is right now. Also the sound of the stove running and the scent of pancakes in the air were dead giveaways.
I make my way down the stairs and towards the threshold separating the living room and the kitchen. And there she was, Yang, wearing her brown shorts and a bright orange t-shirt and an apron over all of that. It also looks like she decided to tie up that long hair of hers into a bun today.
And unlike me, at fifteen she didn't need to use a stool to make sure she was tall enough to use the stove properly.
"Uh-huh. Yeah, the way he held the Disputer Belt was just ridiculous. I mean, it's a belt not a sash, Miss Universe. You'd think-"
"Hey, Yang, I think that one's cooked already." I said while moving towards the table. "It's steaming a lot now."
"Oh, oops." She dropped the whisk in the bowl she was carrying before grabbing a spatula and flipping over the current pancake that was cooking on the pan. "Morning, Rubes. Just sit there for a minute and I'll grab you some utensils."
"That's alright, I'll just go get them myself." I said, making a move to push back my chair and get up from it.
"No-no, you just stay there, Rubes."
Placing the bowl and the spatula on a spot next to the stove, Yang quickly walked over to one of our bottom kitchen drawers.
And even if I've seen it happen, like a hundred times already, it still amazes me to see her move around so quickly with her Scroll pinched between her ear and shoulder perfectly in place and not ever once looking like it might fall off.
Right after getting what she needed to get, she went over to me and placed a spoon, a fork, and one of those blunt knife thingies.
A butter knife or something, I think it's called.
"Thanks, Yang."
"No probs." She replied to me before hopping back up her stool and getting back to cooking the rest of the pancake batter she still had. "Hey, Mace? Yeah, sorry about that. It was, Ruby. She just woke up. Oh yeah, sure."
She glanced back at me as she scooped up the pancake she had been cooking before placing it on the plate she had readied next to the stove.
"Macey says good morning."
"Good morning." I reply with a little wave.
"She said good morning to you too." Yang said to her Scroll as she turned back to pour in another ounce of pancake batter to cook.
Meanwhile, I kept on thinking to myself as to whether or not I should share with her the weird dream I had about ...
About ...
Wait, what was it again? All I can recall now is that is was so super important that I woke up in a shock.
Or maybe it was just Yang's yells that woke me up?
No ... No it was definitely the dream that woke me up.
There was ... Someone.
Calling to me.
I just sat there in silence. Trying and failing with all of my brain power to think back to the dream I had. All the while Yang kept on cooking and complaining to her friend over the Scroll about the fight we watched together last night.
Well ...
Looking at the honey-covered twenty-stack pancake tower that was starting to get cold, I grabbed the fork and blunt knife in each hand.
... Can't think with an empty tummy.
And so I dug in to some good ol' pancakes with the full intent of wanting to just savor their yumminess.
But no matter how much I tried not to, I kept trying to piece together that dream.
I felt like I needed to, though I couldn't get figure out why exactly.
"So, how'd this batch turn out?" I hear Yang ask.
Thinking that she was still talking to her friend over the call, I didn't answer and just kept on eating away at the third to the last pancake of my stack.
"Hey, Ruby. I asked how this batch tasted this time around." I hear her ask again.
Stopping and looking up from my plate, I see Yang now seated across from me and waiting for my reply with a raised brow.
She had let her hair down and the apron she had worn now nowhere to be seen on her. The stove turned off and cleaned already from the looks of it. And she had a plate of twenty-stack pancakes readied for herself too.
I must have 'really' been out of it for me to not notice any of that until now.
"Oh, uh ... Awesome, Yang. Just as awesome as the last time, yeah."
"Well now, what's got you spacing out so much today?" She asked me as she readied her fork and butter knife in each hand. "You do that a lot, yeah, but never usually 'this' much with pancakes around. What's bugging you, Sis?"
A dream.
A dream I can't even call scary or anything because I can't remember a single detail about it now, is what I wanted to say. But considering how much that wouldn't really make any sense, I decide to do the easier response.
"Just a bit tired, Yang, that's all. After staying up until past fifteen last night to watch that fight, I really didn't plan on waking up this early." After chewing on another pancake slice, I point my fork at her. "And I wouldn't have, if it wasn't for you being so loud."
"Ah, so that's why you got up so soon." To her credit, Yang had the modesty to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that, Rubes. I didn't 'mean' to, honest!"
"Yeah-yeah, Yang. It's cool." I waved her off with my fork. "Just, you know, if your idol fighter loses next time, don't go raging about it so loud. And so early in the morning too."
"Okay-okay, promise. I won't be so loud next time." She replied, slicing off a large chunk of the first three pancakes on her stack and chewing on them. Loudly. "It's just- I still can't get over how ridiculous it ended. Like, Leon- that absolute hunk -"
Eye-roll.
"-was winning awesomely, right? You saw how he was winning that fight. And then all it took was one ridiculously 'lucky' punch from that ghoul-face and kablam! All over, just like that."
"Yang, come on, don't you think it's unfair to just call it luck?" I started, honesty starting to get a bit annoyed. "You and I saw it during the fight. That 'ghoul-face' was aiming at Cruz's body a lot in the beginning of the fight. And once his body started to hurt, he focused on defending that more than his head. And then boom, uppercut to the chin."
I wasn't as invested as Yang was into the eliminator tournament, and boxing in general, but I stayed up to watch that particular fight with her because for one she was really 'really' excited about it. And two, Dad's been really encouraging me to refine my hand-to-hand combat skills in most recent memory so I thought it would be a nice learning experience to watch one of Yang's idol elite boxers in action.
And I did kind of enjoy the fight. Even with the crazy way it ended with Cruz slumping down the canvas like a rag-doll.
And I got to note some stuff down too.
Like how you should never just engage in a brawl with someone who clearly has more punching power than you do.
Even if said someone was a head or so shorter than you.
"Yeah-yeah." Mixing a frown and a pout, Yang grumbled as she sliced up a good chunk of her pancake stack. "That Ekard guy won fair and square. He's still a ghoul-face, though."
For a moment, a really quick moment, I felt like I needed to say something about that. Sure, I think I can kinda get why she feels very strongly against the guy, but to keep on calling him something as mean as 'ghoul-face' is just ... Well, very mean.
But then again. He did look kinda- Well, 'more' than kinda ... Rough to look at.
Already I'm starting to feel bad for thinking that, but the more I recall his features the more accurate ghoul-face is sounding to me.
He had sharp eyes that made him look like he was always glaring at something. A big sharp nose and a big jaw that fit together with his big head. And his pale white skin didn't really make him look any less of a warlock-summoned undead.
Oh, and he was bald.
No ... No, I think it would be better to call him hairless.
Because whether he was born without them or had them shaved for whatever reason, he didn't have a single strand of hair on his head.
No eyebrows. No facial hair. Just a milky chrome dome.
Shivers down my spine, now that I'm visualizing him vividly in my head.
No offense.
The way he smiled too just makes it worse. I don't even think it's right to call it a 'smile' because it looked more like a laugh frozen in place.
An evil looking laugh, I should add.
"Ekard, huh?" I let out as I sliced another piece of pancake. "He had a really long last name didn't he?"
"Ha! If you call dumping a bunch of random words together a 'last name' then yeah, he did have a long one." She laughed. "But I think it was his last 'last' name I remember well enough. Mule feces or something like that."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... What?"
"Mule feces?"
"It's close enough. I think."
"Sis, that's just disrespectful."
"Oh, it's whatevs, Rubes. I don't know the guys full name and I don't want to." She smiled that same smile of hers that she usually does whenever she's planning trouble. A smile that had been missing in action for the past week, oddly enough. "Ekard Mule Feces. It's a funny enough name, so I think I'm gonna use it from here on."
Oh, Hezu, forgive my sister because she doesn't know what she's talking about.
Since it's likely Yang's gonna hold a grudge against the guy and call him ghoul-face and other colorful names from here on, I think it'll be only right that 'I' at least do a little research so that I can acknowledge Mr. Ekard's existence by his formal name.
You know, for respectfulness sake.
With that little promise in mind, we spent the following minutes just enjoying our breakfast in silence. And right after I ate the final piece of my last pancake, a question popped up in my head.
"Hey, did you hear anything from Dad yet?" I asked, placing my utensil on my plate and getting down from my chair.
"Nah, nothing." Yang answered right away, some irritation clear in her voice, as she sliced all the way down to the last pancake of her stack. Aggressively. "Aside from that message he sent last night telling us his 'super-urgent' meeting had started, he hasn't messaged me anything since. You?"
"I didn't see any new notifications in my inbox when I checked my Scroll earlier, so no. No news from Dad on my end either." I placed my plate and utensils in the sink along with the other kitchen stuff Yang had used earlier for her cooking. "Do you want me to do the dishes today?"
"Nah, I got that, sweetness. You can go and try catching some z's again, if you're still feeling tired. I need you rested for our outing this afternoon." She replied, downing a thick stack of sliced pancakes and chewing on them.
Loudly.
"What're we doing this afternoon?" I stepped towards her seat and placed my hands on my hips, wondering.
She held up a finger to me as she worked on chewing her mouthful of food.
"Celebrate your thirteenth nameday, duh!" She answered, voice muffled, before quickly catching me in a hug. "Happy belated n-day!"
Oh.
Oh yeah, that's right.
My birthday was the first day of this week, the thirty first of Oktaban.
I'm actually thirteen now.
Neat.
"Huh. I actually forgot about that."
Yang looked at me like I had just backhanded her.
"And that right there is 'exactly' why we're going out to celebrate. You miss one nameday and then you spiral into one of those sad loner types who think namedays are stupid and become an outcast of society." A little too dramatically for my tastes, she pushed my head into her chest and started rubbing the back of my head. "I will not let you end up like that, my Rub-baby. No way. No how."
"First off all, you haven't missed greeting me a happy nameday for as far back as I can remember. So stop overreacting." I muffled into her chest while poking my finger on her cheek. "Secondly, this week we fought Taijitu while falling down waterfalls set on fire among other eventful stuff. So 'sorry' if my nameday slipped my mind."
Also, I didn't say, I like being a loner.
Being alone is fun.
You get to have all the time and space that you need to to work on exercise, guns, gadgets, more guns, and- on days that I feel like it -some of that martial arts stuff. And you get to enjoy your comics, your music, and your sweets with no one to pester you questions about the weather, what size your clothes are, and what hobbies you're into.
And it's not like I need anyone else, really.
I have Yang and Dad, the only two people in my life that I really care about.
So it's all good.
Yep.
Oh, and speaking of.
"Also, aren't we gonna wait for Dad?" Freeing my head from the slow suffocation of Yang's mounds, I looked up at her. "We always celebrate with Dad."
"You mean, we always celebrate a week after with Dad." She answered back with a roll of her eyes. "And since it's likely that whenever he finally gets back from his 'business', he'll be too tired to travel with us. So it's best that you and I take this day to celebrate by ourselves for once."
Celebrating my nameday without Dad.
It felt weird to do, not going to lie.
Yeah, he could never really be there to celebrate on the exact day, but that's just because he's always super busy being the Headmaster of Signal Academy and lord of Patch.
And even then, with his tight schedules, he always eventually gets around to celebrating with us.
Eventually.
"I don't know, Yang..."
"Come on, it'll be awesome! We'll go to High-Peak Mall, have lunch there, catch a movie or two, and then get something nice for dinner after that." She let me go and stood up from her chair. "We'll buy one of those cookies and cream ice cream cakes~ that you always like."
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... Drats, she's got me there.
"Oh, alright. We'll celebrate by ourselves." I answered with a huff while crossing my arms together.
"Oh, yeah-"
"But, we are celebrating again tomorrow 'with' Dad. Alright?"
That stopped Yang from doing one of her victory poses and an annoyed look washed over her face. Though, like it always did, it didn't last long and she put up that confident grin of hers again.
"Fine, we'll do that too." Putting a hand to her hip, she moved her other hand in a shooing motion. "Now, go get some rest to scrape off any sleepiness you've got on you still. I'll need you charged up and ready to roll before sixteen."
"Yeah, I think I'll just watch something on the Holo-Screen for a bit to see if I dose off or not." I answered, turning my back to her as she carried her now empty plate and utensils over to the sink. "Call me if you need me for anything."
"Sure~ thing."
To be honest, my drowsiness was depleting more and more by the minute, but who knows. The body tends to have this weird urge to sleep after it gets a stomach full of good food, so we'll see.
I then went over to our couch and grabbed the remote from our little coffee table before plopping down and clicking our Holo-Screen on.
I didn't know what was on at this time, since in the past I would always be sleeping through this day's early morning hours, so I was just planning on clicking through channels until I found one that would hold my attention long enough.
"The wonderful world of the flora kingdom-"
Click.
"So there you have it, ladies. If ever you wanna impress your significant other, Vemoria's Secret-"
Click.
"The latest break through in Vale medicinal arts-"
Click.
"With a slight chance of rain-"
Click.
"Another baby on the way? This and more on today's Showbizz-"
Click.
"Ooooooooh. He lives in a pineapple under the sea!"
Hm.
Hmm.
Hmmm.
Nah. It's probably an old episode anyhow.
Click.
"Yesterday's Branwen Clan attack has still left Mistral's city of Ichiõ shaken up. Debbie with the details."
An attack?
"Yes, thanks, Alan. The denizens of Ichiõ are still shell-shocked from the brutal decimation of their city by the hands of the infamous and fearsome crimson-eyed clan. Over three hundred and eighty five thousand casualties have been reported with forty seven percent of that number confirmed dead. Moreover, sources say that there are over twenty two billion Coins worth of infrastructural damages all across the still-bleeding city."
Whatever amount of sleepiness I might have had left in me dried up completely.
"From what we have been able to gather from willing authorities; The Branwens began their raid by breaching the city's walls on the northern and southern corners. Ichiõ military and police and even many brave citizens rushed towards the breaches to block off the hordes of ground-class Grimm that never seem to be far behind the Clan wherever they show themselves. And with the military and police stretched thin, the Branwens made their way towards the monastery. Where they were then met with resistance, of course, against the handful of Huntsmen and Huntresses that were stationed in the city as well as the Monichetari Priestesshood themselves -"
"Branwens, huh?"
Odd.
I'm getting weirdest sense of Deja Vu vibes all of a sudden.
More than that though, this was horrifying to hear.
I know that I'm about a dozen thousand miles or so away and nine years off from getting my Hunting License, but I really do wish that I were there to ...
To ... Do 'something'. Anything, really, to help.
Maybe if I had there wouldn't be so many dead.
So many families broken.
"- marks the third Monichetari monastery that they've sacked just this week alone. We can only speculate at this point in time, but the pattern shows us that the Branwen Clan seem to be waging some kind of war against the practitioners of this particular Mistrali religion. But whatever for, is the question. This is Debbie, reporting live all the way from the Eastern Kingdom. Back to you, Kylon.
"Thank you, Debbie. In further news, the Landzereck households-"
I looked towards the window, the rays of the morning light getting stronger bit by bit, and began thinking about if whether or not the world was becoming more dangerous or I was just becoming more aware of how dangerous it already was.
I guess this is what they call, food for thought.
And speaking of thoughts, there was one that moved its way to the front line of the many other thoughts I was having right now.
I hope Mr. Ekard is safe. Wherever he is in Mistral right now.
Kingdom of Mistral
Saranhalli Province
Monichetari Monastery
10/39/1011 L.E.
11:02 P.M. Standard South-East Mistral Time
(Ekard)
Twenty three years.
Twenty three 'long' and 'grueling' years.
I have been alive in this world, living as best that I have been able to, for more than two decades now.
And throughout those years, I have lived and survived through a lot.
And I mean a 'lot'.
My full-on irreversible alopecia kicking in at nineteen is a testament to that.
But even with everything that I have faced and overcome, even with all the great lessons that I've learned through twice as great failures, I can confidently say that what I am undertaking right now has got to be my most fierce endeavor yet.
"Oh~, hush now. Hush now, little one." Feeling like I've been doing this for more than three hours now, I continue gently rocking back and forth the swaddled infant in my arms. "Come on now, there's no need to cry. I'm here."
That made her cry even harder.
Oh, Hezu, I know you give me your toughest battles, but come on now. How's about reeling back in that test of faith shenanigans for a bit?
I always kind of had this expectation that having a child would be a hard job to do.
After all, they generally spend the first half-decade of their existence just sleeping, eating, pooping and peeing in diapers, and crying. With copious amounts of the latter, most of the time.
Then childhood kicks in and it's a coin toss as to whether they'll be pain-in-the-heads or extra-pain-in-the-heads for five or so more years.
And thereafter, their 'dreaded' teen-years.
Years filled with uncertain identity-finding, unnecessary back-talking, straight-up rebelling, and quite possibly some fighting. And I'm not just talking about verbal altercations either with the latter.
Point is; Children. Very difficult.
And I always thought that by the time I would have my first one or batch, I would have the mental and emotional maturity to find little to no difficulty with the trails and tribulations that come with raising them.
But then again, I didn't really plan on becoming a father in my early twenties.
Or that my first ever child wouldn't actually be my own flesh and blood.
"Ekard? Are you decent in there?"
Above the knocking and the little one's cries, I hear Lady Jessica's voice sound off from behind my room's door.
"Hold on, let me get that for you." I answer back as I crossed the room and all the while rocking the little one.
I undid the lock and opened the door to reveal Lady Jessica carrying a wooden tray that held six extra-large bowls containing an assortment of food that looked like it had just been freshly cooked with the scant waft of steam coming off of them.
"I brought you your dinner because I had the suspicion that you were too busy to come down." Dressed in her usual priestess attire of bright-red pleated trousers over her bright-white kosode, she greeted me with that lovely smile of hers. "And I suppose I had the right of it. May I come in?"
"Of course, my lady, come on in." I replied and made way for her.
She and I moved towards my low-level circular table at the center of my room.
I slowly sat down on the zabuton on my side of the table, my little one still continuing with her crying, while Lady Jessica placed the tray in front of me and making no indication that she was going to sit down with me.
"Have you eaten already, my lady?"
"No, not yet." She replied with a little wave before walking around the table to stand over me. "I'll get around to dinner, eventually. Because for now, I'll be taking her off of your hands so that you can enjoy yours."
I quickly glanced down at the crying infant in my arms. And not going to lie, I felt some percentage of guilt for wanting to immediately jump at the opportunity of having someone else take care of her.
"Oh, no, that's alright." I looked back up at her. "I can handle this."
"Oh, I know you can, Ekard. Those years I spent raising you helps me assure myself that you have the makings of a good father." She started off as she knelt so that she and l were eye-level. "But you are young and untested in fatherhood. You will need all the help you can get with this, my boy. So while I am here and while I am able still, allow me to help you."
Lady Jessica.
Great-Priestess Jessica Hikyuon Crimson-Hair, she's formally hailed in her Order.
For as long as I can remember, she's been the closest I've ever had to a mother. Or a parent in general.
There are the other priestesses of the monastery and they're all wonderful women, all of them. But mother Jessica here has always been a cut above everyone else in my favorites chart.
Her deciding to keep me as a babe in defiance to the wishes of her superiors plays a huge part in that, I suppose.
"I ... I can't say you're not wrong." I sighed heavily as I handed the swaddled little one over to her. And I didn't fail to notice how the crying started to soften as I did that. "Thank you, Lady Jessica."
I knew she was right, of course. It was only logical that I shouldn't be expecting to breeze through this whole parenting business with my little to no experience on the matter.
Just like how you are going to need to spend 'years' of repetition in order to get used to using sturdier punching forms and more angular foot-work, you are going to need to spend some unforeseeable amount of time repeatedly taking care of a child before you get used to it.
And it has only been, what, two weeks since I took that baby under my wing?
I have plenty of time ahead of me to get the hang of it.
Still though, it feels utterly embarrassing to already be 'this' tired so close to the starting line of parenthood.
Especially taking in mind that speech I did for the little one.
"Don't let the guilt get to you too much, my boy. You are hardly the only person in the world to feel like giving up in their first time of parenting." She assured as she stood back up and rocking the now starting to calm down infant. "And besides, you feeling this way tells me that you're on the right path already. Just ensure to remember; Keep at it, step after step. Keep at it, brick after brick-"
"Keep at it, struggle after struggle." I finished that proverb for her. Some bits of my apprehension cracking away as I shot up at her a grateful grin. "I have not forgotten."
"Good, then." She smiled in return before turning her back to me and heading towards the door. "If you come looking for her, I will just be at the fifth level balcony. Enjoy your food."
"I will. Thank you."
With a click, my room's door closed shut and I found myself by my lonesome.
Where thereafter I spent the next several minutes just focusing on the sound of my own breathing, enjoying the silence, as I stared at the view of the start-lit night sky that my room's patio door provided.
Eventually I got my eyeful of celestial bodies and decided to heed the needs of my own. The thick scent of seasonings and spices making me look down at the tray to inspect my dinner.
An extra-large bowl of Sukiyaki Beef Ramen, two extra-large bowls of Oyakodon, two extra-large bowls of Gyudon, and lastly an extra-large bowl of Tofu Yasai Don.
"Ah, good heavens. That looks just 'lovely' right there." I grabbed and unfurled the chopsticks from their napkin wrapping with an appreciative hum. "Well, chowing time. I humbly receive~."
Looking like the most tantalizing out of the whole bunch, I decided to dig in to the Sukiyaki Beef Ramen first.
And just as I had slurped in a mouthful of noodles, I noticed a white blur in my peripheral.
Freezing-up mid-slurp, I slowly turned towards my patio door.
From what I could see through the glass, my small porch was empty and void of any forms of life.
Hmm. Must've just been my imagination.
I continued eating, though I couldn't help from glancing towards the patio door once in a while as I did so.
I eventually got around to finishing the contents of bowl number one, halved boiled-eggs and slices of beef and all, and reached towards one of the Oyakodon dishes.
Only to freeze again when I saw something white, bright-white, quickly appear then just as quickly disappear at the leftmost corner of the patio door.
Oh-ho-kay now, that is 'definitely' not just my imagination.
"Hello? Is somebody there?" I call out as I stood up from my zabuton before taking measured and weary steps towards the glass barrier separating my room from my porch. "Mow-Mow? Pss-pss-pss."
I was about ninety four and a quarter percent sure that there was no way this was Mow-Mow. For one, I haven't seen that cat anywhere since I got back home this morning. And two, her fur is black all over. So unless she decided to get a hair-dye at some kind of cat-salon, there's just no way this was her.
But, hey, it's pretty rational to hope that your potential home intruder is nothing more than a cute cat and not some armed robber, wouldn't you agree?
But that hope died an ugly death when the white blur showed up again on the left corner of the glass door. It didn't disappear right after, this time around. And this time, I got a better look at what this 'blur' really was.
And as soon as my racing mind pieced together what it was exactly that I was looking at, my stomach dropped.
It was a hand.
A glowing white hand with grotesquely long fingers that looked like they had about three to four more joints than normal was pressing into the glass.
My breath caught in my quickly drying throat as the shock stunned me in place. That shaky smile gradually being summoned across my face as my heart started to beat faster with fear.
For a moment, a very short-lived moment, I thought about just standing there and doing nothing. After all, from what I could see it was just a mangled hand. The rest of the body that it was connected to nowhere to be seen within my range of vision.
But then the hand slowly started moving.
The glass door just as slowly starting to open at the same time.
I let out a frightened and prolonged wheeze, my eyes bulging in surprise, as I quickly dashed towards my closet next to my book racks. Once I got to it, I flung it open and frantically rummaged through my stuff in search of a particular pair of items.
I took a quick glance back towards the patio, my heart skipping a beat and a half at the sight of the glass door now fully slid open by a freakishly long and pale thinly arm.
Oh, shit. Oh, no. Oh, no-no-no.
I started practically throwing my stuff out of the way in search of those damned items.
I could hear some kind of low-pitched moan and the sickening sounds of bone snapping from behind me.
I didn't dare try to look. Not yet. Not when I didn't have anything to fight back with.
I finally found the damned box and almost broke it open. I put on the Silverine gauntlets hurriedly before turning on my heel to face the horror that I knew had breached my room.
A face stared back at me. A woman's face.
A face with hollowed out eye sockets oozing crimson and a tongue-less mouth gaping in a perpetual scream.
A face belonging to a lanky and malnourished naked body that looked like it had snapped its ridiculously long arms in every which way in order to fit through the patio door. And at the portion of its torso where your liver should be, was an exposed small glass-like sphere that glowed in an angry shade of purple.
It was a Habineri.
A ghost, it's called in the Vale-Tongue.
A soul that has lingered in the Material longer than it should have.
They usually start off as incorporeal beings that would leave you with only lingering trauma but are unable to physically make contact with you.
But the longer they linger, the more they feed, the more material they become again. But with access only to fragments of their memories when they were alive, their forms take on monstrous shapes and sizes.
And in some rare cases when they've fed enough, when they've evolved enough, they gain the abilities to bend the very fabric of the Material the same way Aurics do.
Oh, did I also forget to mention that once they actually have a physical form they 'feed' by viciously chewing up the living and then devouring the newly departed souls of their victims?
"Why, 'hello' there~!" My steps tense and measured, I began inching backwards to my room's door. "Oh, weary spirit, what ever brings you into my humble abode?"
Now, you wouldn't really try to be cordial with what looks like the secret love-child of an Onryo and a Wendigo. But considering the number of times that I've actually Jack-Sparrow'd my way out of near-death experiences before, I might as well not go against the steak.
"If you're feeling awfully hungry, I've got plenty of food left still. You can have them to yourself, oh weary spirit." My back now pressed to my room's door, I gestured towards the bowls on my table. "After all, here I always have SOMEONE to always HELP ME with satisfying my appetite! And I'm sure the PRIESTESSES won't turn down a hungry HABINERI such as yourself!"
Its already gaping mouth widened in response, that horrible moaning sound emanating from its depths even louder than before, as it snapped back in place its mangled arms before using them to pull itself forward. The table getting turned over and the food spilling across the floor as it did.
"I will take that as a 'no' then!"
Preparing for the violence that was about to ensue, I shifted into a bladed-stance as I balled my gauntlet-covered hands into fists before raising them over my head in a high-guard.
Please be advised, people of the world; Never- And I mean never -go out of your way to box a flesh eating evil-spirit. It's simply just not advisable for your health.
"I will have you know, weary spirit, I am quite proficient in throwing hands. So-"
Like a lance, the Habineri thrust one of its hands towards my face.
I ducked right under the incoming appendage, the hand slamming into the door so hard the hinges shook violently. And immediately right after, I fired off a right counter-uppercut to its long arm just before the Habineri retracted it.
It howled disgustingly, screaming at the burnt portion of its arm that had been struck by my gauntlet, before turning its eyeless attention towards me again.
"That was your first and last warning. You can still-"
It shot its hand towards me again. Lower this time. Towards my abdomen, I noticed mid-thrust.
I shifted my feet to the left and the hand sailed past my cotton shirt before slamming into the door and rattling once more its hinges. I landed a right-cross on the arm again, the Silverine burning the spirits unnatural flesh, before landing a left jab on the mangled hand of that same arm as it was being retracted.
This time, it didn't waste time inspecting the damage I had dealt to it and just proceeded to throw its other hand at me. I parried and countered and again it threw its other hand towards me.
I maneuvered, bobbed, and weaved away from its thrusting attacks before countering and parrying from time to time.
If no one heard my yelling earlier then surely 'somebody' by now must have taken notice of the loud banging the Habineri's missed attacks were causing.
The maddened spirit's arms and hands now had large chunks of it burned away thanks to the Silverine of my gauntlets.
And though a lot of studies on them testify that they feel no sense of pain at all, the Habineri before me screeching at its near-destroyed limbs tell me otherwise.
It's distracted.
Seeing my opportunity, I bull-rushed towards it.
But instead of using its limbs to defend itself by attacking like I thought it would, the Habineri instead used them to hurl all of its body mass forward to meet my charge.
It happened so fast that I barely had the time to think it through before planting my feet to a stop and landing an uppercut to the incoming Habineri's chin. Its head snapping up and the frontal portion of its lower jaw disintegrating in flash of silvery fire, but with that attack not stopping in the slightest its forward momentum, the it crashed into me.
The impact knocked a lot of wind out my lungs and twice as much more as my back slammed into my room's door. Then a burning pain suddenly running across my abdominal area made me look down.
The Habineri was sinking its blunt humnarian-like teeth into my stomach. And before I could even begin to contemplate the agony, it quickly opened its mouth wide to then just as quickly bite into me again. Blood beginning to stain my cotton shirt.
Grunting, I jabbed the thumbs of my gauntlets directly into its supposed empty eye sockets. It howled in pain as silvery fire engulfed the sides of its head, its now-bloody mouth unhinging from its bite as a result. And as soon as it teeth detached from my flesh, I pushed the Habineri away from me by its shoulders with all of my strength.
The shove just pushed it back by a foot or two, but the momentary stagger was all I needed for me to land a fully-torqued left hook to its core. The alien-material of the glass hissing against the Silverine of my gauntlet in a flash of purple and silver. And just as the it was about to howl in protest, I torqued my torso again to land a left uppercut and a right-cross combo up at its jaw.
It staggered backwards some more and swung one of its arms like a baseball bat. I ducked right under it and shifted into a south-paw stance before throwing a fully-torqued left uppercut to its core.
Having the very thing powering its entire existence cracked not once but twice, the Habineri roared and began swinging its arms at me in a frenzy.
I ducked the swings aimed for my head and countered to its core. I hopped my way out of the swings meant to sweep my feet and countered. I blocked blows aimed at my torso with my arms and elbows and countered. Every strike pushing the monstrosity a step back.
The repeated blows to its core causing dozens of deep fractures to run across its glassy surface and dark liquid to ooze from those same cracks.
Just a little bit more. And-
It finally found some form of common sense and thrust both of its arms towards me at the same time. Unsure of which way which appendage was aiming for, I shelled up in a tight-guard and braced myself. And it must have put all of its body-weight into that thrust because the sheer force of it sent me flying backwards and crashing right through my room's door and into the hallway.
My legs didn't give under me just yet, but I was dazed and rocked. So much so that I failed to prepare myself for the Habineri's follow up rush attack. It slammed its whole weight into me and I nearly blacked out as it banged me into the hallway wall. And I would have slipped into the realm of unconsciousness if it weren't for the pain of it sinking its teeth deep into my right shoulder shocking me into focus.
I jammed my fingers into its eye sockets again, but even as the Silverine burned its skull, it didn't let up on its bite this time. It bit down even harder and lifted me up off my feet. And once I was high enough for its liking, it began thrashing me around across the wall like a God damned chew toy.
The pain was almost blinding, but it did a pretty good job at renewing my will to live.
Removing one of my thumbs from its eye holes, I pressed the gauntlets to the side of its face to let the Silverine burn through its flesh. In response, it slammed my head up on the ceiling before throwing me down onto the wooden floor. And just I was scurrying backwards away from it, it pressed its burnt hands on my chest before aiming a bite down towards my face.
I put up my armored forearm and it bit down on the bright silver metal. And before it could register the pain of the silvery flames burning its mouth inside and out, I landed as hard I could from this awkward position a punch to its now-exposed jaw bone. The impact making a sickening crunching sound.
The Habineri finally let go of the gauntlet it was biting on and was about to move its head away from me to stand up, but I grabbed it by the mandible and stopped it from getting any further. It bit down on the armored hand holding it in place and began aiming blows down on my head. I dodged the first two hammer-fist strikes by maneuvering my upper body left and right. Then just before it could send down a third strike, I pressed my feet into its chest and clasped with both armored hands its lower jaw.
And with a loud grunt, I pushed the the Habineri and pulled at its jaw at the same time.
With a disgusting squelch, it screeched and thrashed around in pain while palming at the area where the lower half of its mouth used to be.
Seeing another window of opportunity to finally end this, I threw aside the jaw that I just ripped out and rushed it again. It noticed me coming for it mid-rush and and it threw its arms forward in attempt to push me away. But because its attack trajectory was way too linear, I was able to dodge it by side-stepping to the left and thereafter swiftly shifting into a southpaw stance before firing off a quick left cross, right jab, left hook, and right uppercut to its core.
Figuring out that its arms took too long to get to me, it tried to literally use its head to bash mine in. I turned my face away in time and leaned back just enough for only its rancid hair to softly graze my temple. And when it tried for another headbutt, I just stepped backwards and it missed me by the skin of my teeth. When it tried for a third, I side stepped to my left and transitioned into an orthodox stance before landing to its core a fully torqued right uppercut.
That blow finally shattered the glass of its core and black goo spilled to expose the shining purple crystal beneath.
It screamed and rammed into me. And before my back could even finish bouncing off the wall it had pushed me into, it grabbed me by the waist and threw me towards the other hallway wall. It then tried to ram into me again, but I stepped to my left to evade and then after shoved a gauntlet into the now-unprotected hole of its core.
The Habineri screamed and then even louder when the Silverine started to burn the purple crystal underneath. And just as it was about to start shaking me off, I pressed into its chest and wrapped my other arm around its long waist to keep myself anchored to it.
"There do I see those wheat fields stretching beyond the horizon!" I began as the Habineri tried to pry me of it. "There do I see the endless lands of milk and honey!"
It began bashing me into the wall as it tried frantically to pry at the gauntlet buried deep into its burning core.
"There do I see that sky azure eternal!" It bashed me into the wall for an eight time. Its strength noticeably fading more and more. "There do I see those who have come before me!"
It swung itself to the other wall and slammed me along with it. And when I didn't let up on my hold in the slightest, it threw itself back to the other wall again.
"There do I feel that impending warmth!"
Slam.
"There do I feel that final embrace!"
Slam.
"There do I feel the flow of Creation!"
Slam.
"There do I feel end of my making!"
Mid-way on its thirteenth attempt at slamming me off, the final ounce of its strength finally gave and it collapsed on its mangled knees. It even attempted a last ditch effort at killing me by biting on to the top of my skull. But with its mouth incomplete as it is, it wasn't anywhere near lethal. Just a bit discomforting to have a bunch of teeth pressing into your dome.
"Here I pass on. Here I find peace." I continued the prayer as I hold up the Habineri. The silvery fire now coursing through its veins and burning its whole body from the inside and out. "Here I am. Here I am unmade again."
"Ekard, what is all that- Oh, my God!"
I hear a woman, Lady Chiwara if I'm not mistaken, yell out in surprise behind me.
I pull the embedded gauntlet from the Habineri and gently pushed it off of me, its burning husk flopping down on to the floor with a heavy thump.
"Go gently into that good night now, weary spirit." I gave it a bow before turning on my heel just in time to face Lady Chiwara rushing towards me.
"Ekard! Oh, goodness, you're bleeding!" Breathlessly she looked me up and down before taking a quick glance behind me at the burning Habineri. "Why didn't you call out for help?!"
"Uh, yeah, I 'did' do that, Lady Chi. So the real question is; Where were 'you' guys? Got stuck in traffic up the stairs or something?"
"This is no time for jokes, Ekard. We must get you medical attention hurriedly!"
"Pfft-lease. 'Tis but a scratch. Look, I'm barely even-"
My left leg gave under me and I fell down into one knee as my vision started swimming.
"Ekard!"
Ah, shit. Well, there goes my bravado.
With my adrenaline receding, the blood loss and the more than likely traumatic brain injury was finally catching up to me.
"Ekard, answer me! Can you get up on your feet, still?!"
"I don't-" I pressed my armored hands onto the wooden floor to stop myself from collapsing face first. "- I don't think so, Lady Chi."
"Right then." I could barely hear her say with the ringing in my ears. "I've you got you, son."
Even with my hearing and sight going haywire, clear signs telling me I was about to feint soon, I felt Lady Chiwara move me onto her shoulders before lifting me up in a fire-man's carry.
"Sisters!" She yelled out loud enough for it to pierce through the fog slowly engulfing my thoughts. "Sisters, prepare the-"
Slowly slipping into unconsciousness, I couldn't make out the rest of what she said. I couldn't make out 'anything' properly at this point. Blurred scenes kept changing in a literal blink and I could barely decipher what the muffled mumbling of numerous voices were about.
Through all of the hazy confusion and the pain, one thought remained crystal clear to me. And I am talking about ultra high definition kind of clear.
Hopefully the little one's alright.
And with that, I let myself slip into la-la land.
A/N: Next chapter this 10/15/22