-Bamboo Chapter One: The Beginning-
We were eight years old when we met him.
That summer, when the entire world seemed so very big, we met Mr. Larug. It was the three of us: Seifer Almasy, brash and already handsome, the fastest and strongest kid at the orphanage, total nut; Quistis Trepe, a blonde blue-eyed angel, spectacled and thoughtful, the self-proclaimed "boss"; and me, Squall Leonhart, small and not growing fast enough, sometimes moody, intelligent, friend of Quistis and Seifer. At that point, I believed even when I was grown, I would still see the three of us that way and define myself more in terms of those two and myself. Perhaps that is what a true friend is, a reflection of a self created family a person longs to remain a part of forever. Yet our family was to remain too short of a time.
Home was the orphanage of "Matron" and her husband Cid Kramer, an admittedly isolated place near Winhill with a small population. Even though it may have not seemed much, we were content because it was all we knew. Small Selphie Tilmitt, a petite brunette always bubbling with optimism, and an eternal sparkle in her eye, even though she could get annoying at times; Self-assured Irvine Kineas, wannabe cowboy, tallest one among us and already popular with the girls, though that didn't get him anywhere with Quistis who gave him a present of a black eye when he pressed his luck with her; and zany Zell, a boy form of Selphie with unlimited energy, a shock of blonde hair which seemed as if he wet and stuck his finger in a power current, and a penchant for shadow-boxing and an obsession with hotdogs.
And then there was "Sis", my personal favorite. Of course she wasn't related to me, her real name was Ellone, and she was a few years older than the rest of us. Regardless, I considered her someone I could run to in time of need or whenever I needed something. All of us were in the same situation, children whose parents were either unknown, deceased, or couldn't provide. I myself only have a dim memory of a woman's hands embracing me when I was young with a soft reassuring voice. Sis told me that was my mother, whose name was Raine, who helped raise her as well before she died of unknown circumstances. Sis never said anything of my father, and I have never asked. Nor did I care to. I already had my family there, and it was the people at the orphanage, not some half-remembered dim recollection of soft hands, or a faded silhouette of a man who was never there.
It was a summer evening, just before sunset, when we met Mr. Larug.
He was obviously new to the Winhill area with a name like that, and rumors said that he came from Shumi Village, an exotic place we've only previously heard about in the maps that Matron left out on the table for us when we had nothing else to do. Hours and hours were spent pored studying maps, each of us with different reasons, Selphie and Quistis because maybe if they focus hard enough,they would find where their home was, where they're ancestry comes from however futile it was; Myself, for intellectual curiosity and also because I was always interested in other places, daydreaming that I could visit these far-off lands such as the "Centra" continent; Zell and Irvine because everyone else was doing it; and then there was Seifer who probably had the most ambition and desire out of all of us, who imagined he would grow up to become a knight and slay a Blue Dragon in one of those uncharted lands such as the so-called "Island Closest to Heaven". An ironic name, I think, if there are such things as these "Blue Dragons" in the first place, why would they call it someplace close to "Heaven" if those behemoths are roaming free over there? A mystery I would say. Regardless, it would give us all a reason to want to learn of more from the world, to satisfy our curiosity.
So that day Seifer, Quistis, and I set off to find this mysterious man, since we thought he was an interesting character and definitely worth a visit. He had been in town only a week, living in a tiny house about a mile south-west of the orphanage, which was also close to our main playground, a square mile of dense trees, bushes, grass, and the occasional wandering chocobo tribe migrating to the dense forests in preparation for winter. It had also been the scene of when Zell had gotten into his head to try to ride one of these chocobos because he once "saw someone do it". Nevermind the fact that he chose a child of "Mama" chocobo who wasn't too keen on the fact of a human trying to play "cowboy" with her cub. Needless to say, after Zell healed from the chocobo attacks, recovered from the spanking that was administered by Matron after being healed from the chocobo attacks, and grew back his manhood from being laughed at by us because of the spanking being administered by Matron because of the chocobo incident, Zell wised up and let the birds be. And if we harbored any fantasies of riding those chocobos, they were quickly squashed by Zell's example, so we let them be as well.
Mr. Larug was planting bamboo when the three of us walked up and said hi. His appearance was definitely exotic. He was a bit taller than the average man, about a half-a head taller than Cid. His skin was a light beige color, and I noticed that his hands, which were gripping the bamboo, was quite strange to compared to a humans, it being longer and odd-shaped, the fingers flowing as if they were controlled by the musings of the wind, giving the appearance of a weakness which I knew could be mistaken. He was barrel chested with with bushy white eyebrows and a face that reminded me of stone. Not because of being intimidating or hard, but because it was mysteriously noble, a profile of a statue created by a life that must have been difficult. There was vast experience etched in the lines of his face, and even as a kid I knew he must have seen many things I had never dreamed of. Sis told me that Mr. Larug had wandered many places before he settled here from Shumi Village, and that his whole family had perished from a wandering Chimera that killed many villagers before it was finally brought down by the amount of damage it sustained from the Shumi males.
Mr. Larug was not dressed like any Shumi, to my admittedly limited knowledge, but rather in clean white pants and a shirt. Yet there was something foreign about the way he moved, how he looked on the earth as if it was a person and not a thing, how his hands worked with no wasted gesture. We watched him plant his bamboo for several minutes before Seifer asked why he was doing it. Mr. Larug looked over and smiled. He was missing his two front teeth, but it was a kind smile.
It would be the beginning.
-End Bamboo Chapter One-
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AN: I know this may not seem exciting now, but I promise this will be a good story, just stay along for the ride. Also this is an alternate universe fic, so some events may happen at a different or later time as well as some other things. Oh, and one more thing: I would describe this story as melancholy, but you will see elements of romance, humor, and such R/R with tips, suggestions, comments, something, anything! See you guys next chapter.