Translational note: Otousan means father. Okasan means mother. "Chan" is an honorific denoting close familiarity, such as between siblings or parents with their offspring. Generally, it refers to a young person.
Chapter Five: Innocence LostThe walk to Windia was long and seasoned travelers knew that even the highway leading from Corsair to the homeland of the Wing Clan was fraught with deadly monsters and bandits. But Ryu knew his way through the wilderness. Under his steady, quiet leadership, the small band of adventurers avoided the hunting trails of the fiercer beasts and the territories of brigands and highwaymen.
It was his ever-present alertness and competence that sparked Mina's interest. And whenever something sparked her interest, it inevitably opened her mouth. "I didn't think he was this good at being a ranger," she said to her elder sister. "I thought whoever would be sent to bring Suzy back would just be a novice. But he's really good at what he does, isn't he?"
"Yes," Nina nodded, watching Ryu's retreating back as he and Katt scouted ahead for danger. "He is a caliber above and beyond what you'd expect for someone his age. Can you believe he's only twenty-one?"
"He acts like he's thirty," Mina giggled. "He's so quiet and mature. And brave." She gave Nina a sly look. "And he's pretty handsome, too. Isn't he, Nina?"
The elder Windian playfully bopped the younger on the head, eliciting a startled yelp. "You're still a little scamp, aren't you, Mina? Just what are you implying, anyway, huh?" Nina clicked her tongue. "It's not like he and I are an item or anything. I barely even know him. In fact, I only met him yesterday."
"Well, you're no fun," Mina mumbled. "You never heard of love at first sight?"
Nina laughed. "That sort of thing doesn't exist, little sister. You've been reading too many romance novels. They'll waste your brain."
"And you're so much of a bookworm that you're wasting your love life," the younger Windian countered.
"I'll leave the hopeless romantic to you, then," Nina said. Suddenly, she smiled and touched her sister on the shoulder. "Seriously, it feels real good to be with you again, Mina. It's been too long."
Mina beamed merrily, exultantly. "It has. I'm glad I got to see you, Nina. Even if I caused you a bit of trouble doing so."
"Nothing's too much trouble for my baby sister."
Mina pouted. "I'm not a baby anymore, Nina!" She punched her sister playfully. "But if I'm going to be a baby, then you're an old hag!"
"Hag?" Nina repeated, affecting an affronted expression. "I? Hardly! I am in the prime of womanhood, my dear baby sibling!"
"So you say," countered the younger girl, "but I'll bet Ryu doesn't like old women!"
"I don't like what?" came a calm voice. The girls jumped in surprise. A furious red blush stained across Nina's face when she saw Ryu and Katt walk up to them. They had finished their scouting earlier than expected.
Nina waved her hands, seemingly patting the air. "Uh, nothing!" she stammered in embarrassment. It did not help that Mina was grinning like an imp at her side.
Ryu blinked in confusion, but he did not say anything more about the matter. Instead, he said, "There's a swarm of Deathpedes nearby. I traveled around this area a few times in the past, and I've never known Deathpedes to cross the cliffs; the fact that they're on this side of the Windian Bridge means something very strange is happening."
"I suggested we should check it out," Katt said, "but I don't want to put Mina in any danger. She isn't a fighter or a mage like the rest of us."
"Are you saying I'm useless?" Mina practically growled.
Katt was about to say something mollifying, but Ryu beat her to it. "That isn't the point, Mina. We're supposed to protect you. Checking out a clutch of Deathpedes is hardly safe for even a veteran adventurer."
Katt's ears twitched in disappointment. "But they aren't that tough."
Ryu just looked at her hard. "Do you want to be responsible for Mina getting hurt? We're not here on an outing, Katt. We're here to escort Mina back home."
The ranger pointed to a line of hills near the cliffs. "When I last passed through this region, there was a little village behind those hills. They're mostly hunters and make their living from tanning monster hides into armor and other goods. They do a good job of keeping their land clear of any unwanted beasts."
"Meaning that if we pass through there, we should be able to avoid the Deathpedes," Nina reasoned.
The travelers made their way to the hills without further ado. But when they arrived at the village, they found it in ruins. The houses had been smashed down and bodies lay scattered in the streets—many half-eaten. Ryu tore his cloak into small strips, handing them to the girls. He bound one strip over his face, blocking the stench of carrion; the girls followed suit.
"What could have done this?" Mina asked, eyes wide with horror and revulsion; she had never before seen death on such a large scale, and never this close.
Katt knelt by a corpse that had been eaten from the waist down. "These aren't teeth marks and I don't see any claw wounds," she announced.
"That's because animals didn't eat these people," Ryu said in his usual calm tone. He spoke as if the slaughter of a village was normal. When Katt looked to him for explanation, he pointed to the ruins of what used to be city hall. In the rubble were black plates made of some tough material.
"What is it?" Katt asked. She tapped one of the plates with a knuckle. "It's hard as a rock, but supple as leather."
"That's a chitin derivation," the ranger said. "This village was destroyed by Deathpedes."
The girls regarded the village with new eyes, looking in horrified wonder at the extent of the damage done by a clutch of the insectoid monsters. "But there weren't more than eight of them in that group we saw," Katt said softly.
"You've never seen an angry Deathpede, then," Ryu said simply. "With their size and strength, all they have to do is run straight through town. But I wonder what agitated them to attack a village. Deathpedes aren't aggressive creatures, despite their name. They're predators, not killers. Human settlements would pose too much of a threat to them."
Katt kicked idly at a piece of debris. "So much for a peaceful stroll across the countryside, eh, Ryu?"
"We should bury these people or at least build a pyre." Mina said suddenly. "We can't just let them rot out here. It…it wouldn't be right."
Ryu was silent. If he had his way, he would just leave the town as it was. People die everyday, he thought. Hell, Bow and I have killed more than our share of folks. Mother Nature takes care of the bodies in her own way. But he did not voice his thoughts aloud.
He watched as Mina and her sister started dragging the bodies to an open space in the street. Katt joined them in the grisly work. Finally, Ryu decided to help—if only to get things over with. "I'll take care of the bodies," he offered. "You girls go gather some wood. Dry, if you can find it."
An hour later, when dark had fallen, the smell of charred flesh rose into the air with a column of black smoke. The travelers sat on a hill overlooking the ruins of the village and the pyre they had built. Mina still held the strip of cloth Ryu gave her to wear over her face. "I've…I've never seen so many…." she said quietly, unable to finish. The revulsion had taken permanent residence in her young face.
Nina sat beside her sister, holding small shoulders and resting her chin in Mina's hair. "You shouldn't have had to see this," she said softly. She tried to be strong for her sheltered sibling, but Nina could barely hide her own disgust at the slaughter.
Ryu watched the Windia sisters over his shoulder and sighed. He sat with his back to them, playing with a small stone, tossing it back and forth between his hands. This isn't that big of a deal, he thought. It's like they've never seen dead people before. But I guess they haven't. It's not like they spent ten years of their life training with adventurers, fighters, and mercenaries. He tossed the stone down the hill and watched it tumble down the slope.
"What are you thinking about?" Katt asked, sitting beside him. She hugged her legs, feeling a bit cold in the evening breeze.
"I was wondering what it would have been like to grow up in a nice home like Nina and Mina," Ryu replied.
"What do you mean?"
Ryu looked over his shoulder at the sisters again. "Look at them, Katt. A dead village terrifies them. But Bow and I…. Do you remember the Siege of Antimodes?"
The Woren nodded. "Yeah. Antimodes was a city-state of Corsair. It tried to secede from the nation and caused a political uproar."
"It caused a war," Ryu said grimly. "It was a quick war, lasting only about half a year. But a lot of people died because the fighting was extremely fierce and often occurred in close quarters. Bow and I were mercenaries for the Corsairians. Nina and Mina want to lose their lunch over dead villagers killed by insects. Bow and I helped wipe out ten such villages for the sake of someone else's war."
Katt looked at him with an unreadable expression. A part of her wanted to pull back in revulsion at his words. Another part of her was astonished at his brutal frankness.
"You're a gladiator, Katt," Ryu went on. "You kill for money, glory, and sport. You know as I do that people dying isn't something new."
"Nina and Mina aren't like us, Ryu," Katt said. "It's not like they're gutter-born fighters. But just because they've never seen death close up before doesn't mean their emotions about it isn't right."
Ryu yawned and lay back on the grass and stared up into the dark sky. "I know that, but still…I guess I just can't understand why it bothers them so much. It's…never bothered me before."
Katt looked at him in concern. "Ryu…."
But the ranger had already fallen asleep.
I'm dreaming.
"Ryu? Ryu?"
Otousan?
"Ryu-chan, where are you? Oh! There you are, you little thing! Come here."
Okasan….
"Ryu-chan, come look at what otousan made for you. Do you like it?"
"I like it! Thank you, otousan! But…how do you make it spin like that?"
The top…I almost forgot about it. I was five. I remember the top.
"Well, Ryu, you have to wind it up. See? Like this. And then you put it down and pull. See? Do you want to try?"
I was never very good with it at first. My hands were really clumsy.
"Oh! It fell down! I can't get it to work, otousan!"
"Keep trying, Ryu. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Remember, practice makes perfect, Ryu-chan!"
Otousan…okasan…how long has it been?
When Ryu woke up, it was still an hour before dawn. The girls slept soundly in their bedrolls; Katt snored enough for all of them combined, even as she rolled left and right across her bedroll. Ryu stretched and stood up, intent on gathering some water for everyone to wash up in before the sun came up.
He had to pass through the ruins of the village to get to the communal well—another reason why he had decided to fetch the water himself. Katt seemed disappointed in him and Nina and Mina would probably feel uncomfortable amongst the houses of ghosts. But to him, it was just another walk.
I dream about when I was still a child, he thought. But I can't remember what it felt like back then. I see the memories, but I can't feel anything. Not sadness, not happiness. Back then, a dead man would have frightened me. But I'm just so used to it now. He found the well beside the collapsed remains of what used to be a beautiful plaster house. He was drawing water when he noticed something polished and wooden beside the base of the well. Curious, he picked it up.
It was a child's top.