Author's note: It took me a long time to write and proof read this first chapter. I put lots of work into this fic, so enjoy. The story has been changed slightly to fit the plot of the fic.
Prologue: Child of Aliahan.
There she was, standing in the middle of the field under the close watch of the setting sun. From dawn until dusk she'd train with her wooden sword at hand with hopes to one day be like her father: The hero Ortega. As the wind blew through the grass and trees, tiny tear drop leaves fluttered down from their branches. With a quick slash of her wooden sword she struck a few leaves slicing them in two.
At a nearby distance behind, a middle aged woman in a white dress and blue cape stood keeping a close eye on her student. Her long silver flowed in the wind lashing at her face, while her crimson red eyes looked on. She wore a golden headband with a red jewel in the middle; it indicated that she's a magic user of high class.
"That's enough for today Soia. Come inside the house, I'd like to have a word with you." Madame Yue spoke with a tap of her staff against the wooden floor. Slowly she turned and entered her house.
Soia ceased her training and obeyed. She wiped her sweaty brow with her sleeve and took a deep sigh of relief. Carrying the wooden sword with her she wiped her feet on the doormat before entering the house. She slid open the living room screen door open and found her master there sitting on the floor making tea. There was also a long wooden box beside her, but Soia paid no attention to it. She just walked up to Madame Yue and sat in front of her like she did everyday.
For a long while, there was silence.
Although Madame Yue was one of the greatest sages and spell casters, she's almost as skilled with a sword. She's been training Soia ever since she was a child by order of the king. Her husband was a fighter named Arayat and a daughter named Anya.
Anya's a year younger then Soia but they have the same birthday. Unlike her mother, Anya has an inability to cast any spells. So she trained with her father as a fighter during her childhood.
"You've been doing very well in your training. My family and I are very proud of you." Madame Yue finally said.
"I only do my best sensei Yue." Answered Soia, she smiled meekly while scratching her head.
"After today your training's complete. I have nothing more to teach you."
"I see."
"Your mother tells me that your going to the castle to see the king tomorrow. You're going to receive his blessings and go off into the world to defeat our enemies."
"Yes, but I --" Soia struggled to say with doubt in her mind.
Madame Yue motioned for Soia to stop. She then took the box beside her and held it up to Soia.
"I want to give you something for your journey. it's not much but you can sell it if you get hard up on money."
She removed the lid of the box. The wood was of a cherry tree and the grain was supple and well furnished. Inside was an item wrapped with a purple velvet. She gave it to Soia so she can unwrap it. Soia slowly peeled at the fabric and let it fall to the floor. She gasped with amazement when she saw her gift was a copper sword.
The sword was brand new and unblemished with glistening shine. The blade was three feet long with a tint of orange and yellow. The sharp end was on the left side of the blade and the blunt on the right. The handle was wrapped with fresh dark brown leather straps for a good grip.
"Well, what do you think? Do you like it?"
A smile spread across Soia's face. "Like it? Oh, Madame Yue I love it! Thank you!"
"I'm glad you love it. You know, you've been like a second daughter to me. Although I can't train you anymore you're welcome to visit, Anya would like that. You can go home now."
Before leaving, Soia gave Madame Yue a hug good-bye with a smile. She carried her gift and her practice sword and walked out the door. Before she left the gate, Madame Yue called out to her.
"If you see Anya on your way home, tell her that her father will be waiting for her in the dojo. And I don't want her fighting with boys again!"
THE TOWN that Soia lived in was within the kingdom of Aliahan. It was a provincial, ordinary town with shops, inns, churches, and taverns. Just about everyday a merchant would try to settle a bargain with the usual buy, sell, or trade method. Small children often played around the castle's moat to try to catch frogs.
Up ahead there was a small shop with a pink-haired female merchant. She had a bored expression on her face and was slowly dozing off. She fully woke up with a jolt when she saw Soia coming from the corner of her eye. She franticly waved her arms about trying to get Soia's attention.
"Soia! Hey, Soia! Can I interest you into purchasing anything? A warp-wing, herbs, or a pot lid maybe?" The pink-haired merchant cried out desperate to sell one of her items.
"No, nothing to day Ai. I only have 10 G of my allowance left. Besides, came here to sell." Soia turned down the offer as she placed the bamboo sword on the counter.
Disappointed, Ai went into a panic attack. "What, you're saying you won't even help out your own cousin? Come on, we're family!" Ai tried to make Soia feel bad for not buying anything. But Soia just gave her a stern look. "I guess not. Um, I guess I could give you 3 G for it."
"Only 3 G? Ai, I almost paid four times that!"
"Hey, now that's my final offer. Now you either take it or leave it. Besides, you were ripped off when you bought this in the first place. Bamboo swords of this quality sell for 5 G."
Soia only mumbled and cursed, Ai couldn't help but laugh.
"Soia, you're so honest and naive it's side splitting hilarious. Why, any dishonest merchant can easily take advantage of you!"
"You mean like yourself, Ai?"
"I'll just ignore that. The point is you're not going to survive out there in the real world. You'll be sixteen tomorrow and will be sent to fight, are you sure you'll be ready?"
"It's not like I have a choice! I mean tomorrow's my birthday and I want to spend it with my friends and family, not fighting monsters. I have mixed feelings about this, I love to travel and everything. But everybody expects the daughter of Ortega to bring down Baramos, so there's nothing I can do. But it's my duty and I musn't turn my back and run away from it."
"Not only that, but you're the student of Madame Yue, a sage of high rank. I mean she never takes on students, so you should be honored" Ai added as she polished a dagger.
Soia only sighed, she felt as though there's too much pressure resting on her tiny shoulders. Something then caught Ai's attention causing a halt to their conversation. She chuckled to herself at the sight shown in front of her.
"Hey Soia check this out, she's at it again." She pointed to the direction she was looking at.
Soia turned her head to the right. Upon seeing what's going on her jaw dropped with eyes wide open.
"Oh, no! Not again Anya!"
In front of the town Inn a young girl was fighting a perverse shady looking boy in black. Being prodded by cat calls and wolf whistles Anya had had enough and decided to defend herself. She sprinted forward with amazing speed and agility. While placing all her weight on the balls of her feet, she leaped into the air almost flying. When she landed behind her stalker she sprung forward again and tripped him with a sweeping low kick. She got back up on her feet and went into stance kata with her feet planted firmly to the ground, with all senses focused.
"Damn it Bunn, why don't you just give it up? You sure as hell seem to enjoy the beatings don't you?" Scoffed the young fighter.
"Oh, come on Anya don't be like that. You know you want me."
"Oh, shut the f@ck up! I'm not THAT easy!" Screamed a frustrated Anya giving him a rude gesture. "I've had enough!"
This time Bunn advanced first, but Anya held her ground. When he cam at arms length, Any continued her assualt. She jabbed him in the abdomen with a left punch and right hooked him in the jaw. When Bunn was in a daze she jumped into mid air and preformed a spinning double kick. But Bunn quickly recovered and blocked both kicks. While Anya was still in the air, he grabbed her ankles and threw her towards the inn wall. As Anya flew she used her legs to land and spring back head butting Bunn. Without a second to spare she uppercut and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. For the finishing blow she used a lighting critical kick to the groin. She KO'd Bunn and he fell to the floor unconscious.
Anya stood over the unconscious boy in a proud manner. She brushed aside her shoulder length raven locks and kept them in purple ties. Her face was sticky with sweat and dirt. Her eyes were ebony black and beamed with energy. She brushed off her green uniform that had her father's emblem on the front and black boots. Anya turned and bowed with pride when she heard clapping behind her.
"Well done Anya! Your skills are getting better and better everyday. But go easy on Bunn next time ok? I mean I'm sure he wants kids someday." Ai said with a mix of joy and concern, Soia wasn't very thrilled.
"You know, I wonder what you mother would say if she saw this? But don't worry Anya, I won't tell." Soia said. She gave a wink and a thumbs up to Anya.
Anya only smiled at her childhood friend. "Gee, thanks Soia. Say, do you think you can take me with you on your journey, please?" She begged with puppy dog eyes,
"That's really for you parents to decide, not me."
"Oh, come on Soia! I promise I won't just be excess baggage!"
"I'm sorry Anya, but there's nothing I can do!"
"Oh, fine!"
"Anya, I wouldn't let you go on something dangerous without your parents' consent. I'm sure if you ask, they'll let you go."
"Yeah, like that will ever happen." Anya pouted as she crossed her arms across her chest and kicked her feet into the dirt.
Soia looked at Ai for help with a desperate look. Ai only shook her head.
"Listen Anya, I have to get going on home now. You're father will be at your dojo ok, so ask him. We'll talk some other time, ok?" Soia said as she picked up her feet and ran home.
"Bye Soia, see you later."
IN A LITTLE house next to the castle wall, a two story house with a red roof stood by. Inside a middle aged woman was cooking dinner over an hearth fire. On the second floor there were two rooms. The room on the left housed and elderly old man napping in his bed. The woman put her cooking on hold, setting the kettle away from the stove when she heard a gentle knocking on the front door. She was surprised to see her daughter; Soia had come home early.
"Welcome back Soia. You're home early."
"Yeah, I though I'd surprise you." Soia answered. She wiped her feet on the door mat before coming in.
"Why don't you take a bath. Dinner won't be ready for awhile."
OUTSIDE, next to the upper right corner of the house stood a little shack of red brick. The window panes were as dark as black cherries with beads of droplets sliding off the windows. A small pipe on top of the roof emitted thick steam so Soia wouldn't suffocate. She bathed in a red drum barrel over a small fire. Hoping to wash all her worries away she scrubbed her neck with a hand towel to ease her tense muscles.
"I wonder, is this really for me? This journey. What lies beyond that horizon? Will I make new friends, enemies, or what?" She continued to think to herself until the sun sank behind the mountains.
After her bath she dried herself off with a towel and got into her pajamas. She wore a blue, satin, long sleeved shirt, and white shorts five inches above the knee. She draped the towel over her shoulders and detangled her short black hair. She stepped into her thong slippers and left the bathhouse, closing the door behind her.
When she entered her home through the back door, she became overwhelmed with the mouth watering scent of dinner. Juicy beef tender loin seasoned with garlic and pepper sautéed with teriyaki sauce, baked potatoes and broccoli smothered with melted cheese, steamy fried rice cooked with eggs and oyster sauce, and creamy clam chowder topped with chives. Soia felt like she's floating on a cloud drifting into heaven as the aroma wafted in the air. She shook her head vigorously to get back to reality, then she promptly ran to the dinning room and took her seat at the table.
"About time Soia, we were about to start without you." Said Soia's grandfather.
"As long as i get my share of food then I don't care, grandpa." Replied Soia in between stuffing her face.
"Soia, how many times do I have to tell you, don't bury your face in your food bowl? Eat like a lady!" Soia's mother scolded. Soia grumbled as she obeyed.
"Yes, sorry mother."
"You know Soia, tomorrow you'll be starting your journey. And I--"
"Mom, I don't want to talk about it."
"All I'm saying, is that even though I have to let you go, that doesn't mean I have to accept it. If I had a say in anything, I'd never let you go!"
"Mom, just leave me alone! I don't want to go either but I have to. I want to protect you and everybody, so I don't want to hear it!"
"Don't you dare use that tone of voice with me Soia! As far as I'm concerned as long as you live here you live here, you still have to abide by the rules of this house."
"Look, if you would just listen--"
"Not another word! Now I want you to go upstairs and study. Is that clear!?"
Soia just arched her eyebrows, rolled her eyes and ran upstairs. She slammed the door behind her when she entered her bedroom.
For awhile there was only silence with an uneasy slant. Soia's grandfather took one last sip of his wine before he spoke.
"You know Midori, everyday Soia is getting to be like her father. Don't you think you should let go? she's not a child anymore."
"I know that dad, but she's s till MY child."
Up the oak wood staircase and a right turn to the first room, a closed door shielded a teenage girl trying to study physics while daydreaming of things to come. She sketched random doodles into her notebook while her mind drifted into space. With several text books sprawled on her bed; she's trying to cram as much equations as humanly possible. Occasionally she'd place her pencil between her book and gaze out the window. In the dark, velvet, indigo sky, a lonely star humbly shined over the kingdom.
"The first star of the evening. As a child I'd reach out and try to touch them. So close, yet so far. I'd wish upon them, it seems that the number of stars is like the number of times I prayed for you to come home." She sighed extending her arm toward the sky. "But no more childhood fantasies from now on. Dad, where are you?" After staring into the night sky, Soia drew a soft yawn and laid herself to be, resting her head on a feather pillow. He hand searched the bed looking for her powder blue blanket and threw it over her head. Cuddling close to her pillow, she slowly drifted off to the beckoning call of rest.
End Prologue
An: More to come soon. Was it good? Bad? So-so? Please let me know by leaving a review. Questions? Comments? Please e-mail me Saiyuki@hotmail.com
Next: Predestined Future.