Chapter II – Munak

Mastersmith Aiko. That's how she liked to be called. She loved the sound of that word, mastersmith. Only 17 years old, she was the youngest person to ever reach the job of mastersmith. She knew that. And she was very proud of it. She never forgot she became a merchant for a reason. Even her clothing had a story to tell. The old, oversized cap she wore was a gift. A gift from the one who teached her the ways of the merchant. Master Haru, as she liked to call him. A gift to the merchant who became a blacksmith. Tied to her right wrist, a big red ribbon. The ribbon that once tied the braided hair of a young girl.

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Payon Archer Village, near the entrace of the Payon Cave. A very young blacksmith girl is sitted by a grave, longs locks of golden hair covering her face. She starred, for a long time, at the tombstone, in which the name Ryu Kuroda was written.

"Brother..." she said, with a sad tone in her voice. "I'm sorry for not coming here to visit you for so long. I was busy. Remember when I told you I was gonna be a merchant? I did that, brother. I'm a blacksmith now. I'm training to become a mastersmith now. Someday, my brother, I'll be strong. And I'll defeat the Moonlight Flower, as you wished, and take the Moonlight Dagger that should be mine, if they haven't took you away. I'll do it, my brother. I'll do it for you. My beloved brother..."

A single tear slipped through her face and fell on lap. The young blacksmith was so foccused, that she didn't notice the figure standing behind her. Her surprise wasn't small when she heard that sad female voice talking to her.

"You're his sister...aren't you...?" said the voice softly, yet very sadly.

The blacksmith girl stood up quickly, surprised and scared. Standing near her was a very pale young girl, her long, brown hair tied into a braid, staring at her with a very sad glaze hidden behind an amulet. The blacksmith rushed to get a huge axe out of her cart, and stood in a threatening position, with an expression that mixed fear and anxiety.

"You haven't answered my question." said the undead girl. "You're his sister...aren't you? Aiko...right?"

"How... how do you know my name?" Aiko asked, confused and clearly nervous. The girl did not move.

"He told me. He told me many things. The first friend I had in very long. Most people won't even wait like you did, before attacking me." the undead girl explained "Your brother was very nice to me. But still, he lied to me. He said he'd meet me again after he had became a hunter." the girl stopped for a few seconds, and then continued "But I can't say I was surprised. After all, he lied to me too. He said we'd be together forever. He promised me... Huh. I don't even know how many years it's been..."

"You knew my brother?" Aiko asked the obvious.

"We met quite a while ago. He could have killed me if he wanted to. I didn't see when he came. But instead of attacking me, he talked to me. He befriended me. It was the first time I had a living creature caring about me since he died too." said the braided girl "I miss Ryu. Like I miss him. I'm glad you at least gave him a nice ending. Many townspeople don't do that. That's why that cave is filled with people who shouldn't be in this world. I miss him, but I'm glad I haven't seen him around lately, if you know what I mean."

"..." Aiko dropped her axe in the ground, and spent the next few minutes just staring at the other girl, who looked about her age.

"Last time I saw you was in his funeral, years ago." said the girl. "Why did you come back now?"

"I wanted to talk to him... that's all." Aiko answered.

"You do know he can't hear you, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"And you don't care?"

"No."

"...Then your brother was right after all...we do have some things in common..." said the undead girl with a smile.

"...You...you're that Munak girl,right?"

"Yep. That's my name. Munak. Of course you already knew that. Everybody does..." she sounded a bit sad when she said it.

"Brother told me about you. I didn't tought he had actually met you. He told me your story, said you're the one who told him. I used to love hearing about you when I was a kid."

"Why? You didn't tought a dead person could tell a story?" Munak asked. "I'll tell ya, when you're dead, you don't really need to talk to tell a story."

Aiko didn't really understood what she was saying, but she decided not to ask.

"I never expected to see you here. Brother said you never leave the cave." said Aiko.

"I didn't. But I'm not so sure what will I do now. I'm tired of looking for him. It's been years and years that I've been looking for him, but I can't find him anywhere. And now that Ryu is gone too, I don't have anyone..."

"..." Aiko stopped and tought for a few seconds, then she asked "Why don't you come with me then?"

"...What?"

"You and me. We could make a good team. I used to have someone with me too. My master. But he's gone to Lighthalzen, so I guess we're both alone now."

"You and me..." Munak kept silence for a moment, before she continued "Like Ryu said. He said we could be good friends."

"I don't see why not. I'm alone, you're alone. And I don't think you'd want to stay in that cave forever."

"I don't,but... He's in there and... I want to find him... I REALLY wanna find him..."

"Listen, I have no friggin' idea who are you talking about" Aiko said, stepping closer to Munak "but I know one thing, if it's been so darn long that you've been looking for this guy and you haven't find him yet, trust me, you won't. I mean, that cave can't be THAT big."

Munak stopped for a while, thinking. Then she nod her head as if agreeing with something.

"Okay. I'll go with you." she said, staring at Aiko. The wind blew stronger and pushed her amulet to the side, leaving her beautiful face uncovered, her eyes filled with determination, as if she had just made the biggest decision she ever had to make.

"Great!" Aiko shouted with a huge smile "Listen, Munak's a pretty name and all, but you gotta admit it's quite a generic name now, don't you think?"

"Excuse me?"

"Kirya. I'm gonna call you Kirya!" Aiko shouted with an even bigger smile on her face. Munak was speechless.

"What the...?"

"Don't mind it too much. It's just a nickname."

"But what does that have to do with my name?"

"Nothing. But it's just so cute!"

"Yeah, if you're naming a poring or something..."

"Ah, you're no fun. Whatever. I'm gonna call you that anyway."

"You... got serious issues, ya knew that?"

Aiko didn't say anything. She just smiled and stared at Munak, as if to say she knew she was crazy and didn't give a damn about it. Munak stared back at her for quite a few minutes, then she untied her daenggie and extended her hand to Aiko, holding her ribbon.

"Here." she said "Take it."

"Huh?" Aiko took the ribbon and stared at it "What for?"

"Just a gift. So you'll remember me. I like to keep mementos. They can help when your memory fails." Munak answered, looking at something on her right hand, something that looked like a ring. Aiko placed her hand on the boy's cap she was wearing and made a sad face.

"Okay. I don't think it's necessary, since we'll be walking together now, but--" Aiko tied the red ribbon to her right wrist "--I'll keep it always with me."

"Oh, yeah, we'll be together now." Munak whispered to herself "But no matter how much you want or promise, you're gonna leave someday too. Like your brother did. Like he did..."