Chapter 1: The Start of a New Saga
"A long time ago, in the Northern Lands, lived a small clan of hunters known as the Partas. These hunters could excel at any task or job presented to them, but what they were highly skilled at was hunting the danger beasts that roam the country. Each day, both the men and the women would set out to bring back at least one slain creature to improve their ranking amongst their peers. While the adults were out hunting, the children would stay behind, the older ones taking care of the rest, while they would tend to the village with cleaning, repairs, and preparing for that night's feast. When the adults returned, a grand festival would take place to celebrate the slain monster's deaths as the clan would use the meat for food and the rest of the body to craft items they would need, selling the rest to the merchants who dared to venture the frozen lands. However, tragedy struck when a rival clan attacked the Partas when they were at their most vulnerable, forcing the group to relocate. For weeks they traveled, day and night, facing the harsh elements as many of the members perished until the group discovered a small, peaceful village as the villagers opened their arms and embraced the clan's arrival. It was this day, that the clan decided to settle down in this village and begin their new life while learning the ways of the quiet villagers." The old woman, telling the story, looked down at the three, young teenagers who quietly sat in front of her to listen to her tale.
The one on the left wore a white headband, keeping his black, unruly dark brown hair from falling into his eyes with a beige zippered jacket and a pair of dirty black pants. The boy seemed somewhat uninterested in the old woman's story as a pair of girls walked back, catching his attention.
In the middle sat a curious boy, yearning to know more about her story. His large green eyes were nearly being poked by his medium-length brown hair with a cowlick on top that fell over on its weight. The boy was wearing a black button-up shirt with a sweater vest over it and, unlike the other boy, a pair of clean pants.
Lastly, to the right sat a girl in cream-colored robes, with long, silky black hair, and attached to her head was a butterfly accessory. In her hands was a small rock she proceeded to throw at the back of the boy's head, who was still staring off in the direction of the girls that were passing by.
"Ow! Sayo, what was that for?" He angrily yelled as the girl looked away and whistled as if nothing was happening.
"I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" She asked. "I was just minding my own business."
"You liar!"
"Guys, let's just calm down for a minute." The boy in the middle said, trying to keep the peace.
"But Sayo threw a rock at my head, Tatsumi!"
"Where's your proof?"
The boy picked up the recently thrown rock and presented it as his evidence. "I believe this will be enough, your honor." He smugly said, showing the two the rock.
"That's just a rock," Sayo said. "That shouldn't even be considered evidence."
The boy, growing frustrated, clenched the rock tightly in his hand.
"Then how's this for your proof?" He asked before throwing the rock and hitting Sayo in the face.
"Ieyasu!" Tatsumi yelled at him before checking on Sayo. "Oh good, you're not bleeding." He sighed with relief. "But let's get you to…. Sayo?" He questioned as the girl had a fire in her eyes, staring daggers at Ieyasu.
"Did you just throw that rock at me?" She asked coldly.
Ieyasu gulped as he slowly began to stand up as Tatsumi was trying to calm her down.
Meanwhile, the old woman, still sitting in front of the three, slowly rocked back and forth in her chair. She had a quiet smile on her face as she witnessed Sayo push Tatsumi to the side and lunged at Ieyasu, tackling him to the ground before beating up the poor boy.
Ah, to be young again. She reminisced.
\_/\_/\_/
"I can't believe they said no to me!" Ieyasu cried as he, along with Tatsumi and Sayo were walking through the village. "It's all because of these stupid bandages!" He yelled, trying to take one off but felt the sharp sting from the wound.
"Well, maybe if you weren't trying to indulge your time with the women around here, you wouldn't be wearing bandages." Sayo huffed.
Ieyasu angrily glared at the girl, raising a fist to her while Tatsumi sighed.
"Can't we just have one day where we just relax and not fight?"
Both Sayo and Ieyasu looked at each other and then back at Tatsumi before giving a resounding 'no.'
"Life would be too boring then," Ieyasu mentioned. "We need more excitement to happen!"
"I think we already have too much excitement." Tatsumi groaned.
"Think about it this way, Tatsumi," Sayo spoke. "If everything were too boring, then nobody would want to live here."
As the three continued their walk, Tatsumi noted the many decorations being put up along the village square and the nearby homes. Several long tables were set up, forming an unconnected square with the missing side being used as an entrance to the massive firepit that was constructed in the middle. There, many villagers were cutting and preparing a large assortment of onions, carrots, potatoes, and many other fresh vegetables.
Along with the homes, many lanterns were being strung as well as decorations that were handcrafted by the many children of the village. All of the arts are built out of wood, rocks, leaves, and some bones and are even hand-painted.
"This year's festival looks like it's going to be a big hit," Tatsumi commented, admiring the totem poles several men were erecting.
"To think the Partas clan has been with this village for 17 years," Sayo noted, eyeing two hunters sharpening their dull blades. "I wonder what the future will be 17 years from now."
"I know I'll definitely be married to lots of beautiful women and be the village's head chief!" Ieyasu grinned at the pleasuring thought. "I'm sure you'll just be all saggy." He mocked, pointing at Sayo's chest. "That is if they can get any bigger! Haha!"
Sayo immediately punched Ieyasu square in the face. "I'm sure I'll be nominated for the Empire's Genius Achievement Award while you are still groveling on the ground, uglier than now." She remarked as Ieyasu was holding his nose while rolling on the ground in pain.
"I'm sure I'll live a peaceful life, with no excitement whatsoever." Tatsumi dreamed.
"Because I'm sure she would want the same thing." Ieyasu joked, getting off the ground, his nose slightly bleeding.
A chill ran down Tatsumi's spine as he had nearly forgotten about that woman.
"What are you runts up to?" A man with a coarse voice asked, approaching them.
The three turned around to find a large, older man carrying a box full of recently forged items. The man was twice the size of them, as he sported an olive-colored jacket with a grey undershirt. Atop his head were a pair of goggles, the lenses blackened from the ash of charcoal, that kept his short gray spiky hair in place. In his mouth was a large cigar, the ash blackening his mustache and beard as he blew out a puff of smoke without even taking out the cigar.
"Oh, Uncle Aldin," Sayo responded. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same." He replied, staring intensely at Tatsumi, making the boy nervous. "I was just delivering the new cooking utensils for the festival, seeing as the last ones broke and burned all of our food." He showed the contents inside the box.
"Hey, Mr. Stein," Ieyasu asked. "Where do you think you would be in 17 years?"
The older man sighed, blowing another puff of smoke. For as long as Tatsumi could remember, he knew that Sayo's uncle never liked thinking about pointless stuff. The man would rather focus on the present than the past or the future, making him very reliable in the village, just not a great drinking buddy.
"I'm not going to bother answering that." He coldly told Ieyasu. "By the way, the chief wanted me to make something for his daughter." He said, looking at Tatsumi. "Come with me, it's in my shop."
"But what about the cooking supplies?" Tatsumi asked as Mr. Stein began walking back to his place.
Mr. Stein turned back around and approached Ieyasu. "Here, take these to the cooks." He ordered Ieyasu, dropping the box thinking the boy would catch it but instead let it fall on his feet.
"Ow!" Ieyasu yelled in pain, but Mr. Stein had already begun walking away.
\_/\_/\_/
The room Mr. Stein used for his forge was partially tidy apart from the many tools and scraps of metal that littered his shelves and desk. Along the floor were burn marks from when he accidentally dropped the smoldering items and the large dents in the back wall where he would through the items in frustration after dropping them, forcing him to start from the beginning. In the corner, Tatsumi could see a barrel filled to the brim with discarded cigar ash and buds with several loose buds leaving a trail on the floor.
Mr. Stein began scouring through the littered shelves and his desk for the item requested by the chief, pushing trash and miscellaneous objects to the ground, irritating Sayo in the process. If there was one thing anyone would remember Sayo for, it was her approach to keeping everything clean. However, since Mr. Stein had moved in years ago, he was the only one to ignore Sayo's pleas and attempts to get him to clean his shop.
"Ah, there we are!" Mr. Stein said revealing a gilded bracelet big enough to fit on a wrist.
"What it is?" Tatsumi asked.
"It's a bracelet you dummy!" He replied, smacking Tatsumi on the head. "Have you learned nothing from me about forging?"
"Sorry," Tatsumi silently wept.
Sayo rolled her eyes. "So do you need us to bring this to the chief?" She asked.
"Actually, he requested that Tatsumi bring it to his daughter." Mr. Stein answered, handing the bracelet to Tatsumi.
"But she's not here right now," Tatsumi mentioned, still accepting the jewelry. "She went with the other hunters to get food for the festival tonight."
"Then give it to her when she comes back!" Mr. Stein shouted. "By the way, aren't you supposed to be hunting with them?"
Tatsumi jumped at the question as he looked at Sayo for help, but the girl could do nothing but shrug.
"Um, well you see…" Tatsumi panicked, trying to think of a reason. What am I supposed to say? I didn't want to go hunting. He'll kill me for not being a man and protecting her!
Before he was able to give an answer, a man's voice could be heard outside the shop's window as he informed the three the hunting party was back.
"Come on, Sayo!" Tatsumi said, using the opportunity to getaway. "Let's go greet them!"
"Huh, uh right!" Sayo said, surprised by the quick speed Tatsumi ran at.
"Wait…" Mr. Stein tried stopping them but found himself alone in his shop. "Damn brats." He sighed, taking another huff from his cigar.
\_/\_/\_/
As Tatsumi and Sayo entered the village square, they were immediately met by a large crowd of people all facing the same direction. The two struggled to get through to the front of the crowd as more people began joining, making it nearly impossible to move about.
"It's like this every year!" Tatsumi tried catching his breath as he and Sayo managed to escape the crowd.
"I guess it can't be helped," Sayo sighed. "Once the people congregate, you'd have better luck going through a rock than them."
"We should try and find Ieyasu," Tatsumi suggested. "I'm sure he's sitting somewhere nearby trying to get a view of tonight's entre."
Just as he finished speaking, a rock came flying and struck Sayo on the head, cutting her forehead and causing her to bleed.
"I think I found him," Tatsumi said, slowly turning around to find a grinning Ieyasu perched on top of a tree, overlooking the crowd. He was happily waving at the two with a big grin on his face.
"Tatsumi." Sayo calmly spoke. "I'll meet up with you in a minute. I have something to go take care of."
Before Tatsumi could respond, Sayo quickly ran off in the direction of her home. Tatsumi could tell Ieyasu was in serious danger as he sprinted towards the tree where his friend was. Waving his hands in the air, Tatsumi tried warning Ieyasu that Sayo was angry but the former began laughing, taking his waving as a ridiculous new dance.
"Tatsumi, if you're going to dance, you should put more rhythm in your body like this." Ieyasu said, shaking his body to the tempo of his fingers snapping.
As he danced, Ieyasu didn't notice Sayo coming out of her house with a bow and arrows in hand, a murderous look sprawled over her face. Tatsumi, now panicked, reached the tree, and began climbing it, nearly getting hit by one of Sayo's arrows as it struck the bark next to his head.
"I'll teach you to hit a girl with a rock." She angrily shouted, aiming another arrow at Ieyasu.
"Ieyasu! Get down!" Tatsumi yelled, reaching the branch his friend was on. "Sayo seriously means to kill you!"
"What do you mean?" Ieyasu asked, looking over to where Sayo was as an arrow passed by his head, cutting his headband off. "Oh…. that business." He said with a pale face as he began panicking. "What are we going to do?!"
"We?!" Tatsumi asked, reaching the branch, as his friend grabbed his shoulders, crying tears and snot. "You're the one who threw the rock!"
"Yeah, well maybe if you would've blocked it I wouldn't be in this mess!" Ieyasu argued. "You're equally as guilty as me!"
Another arrow passed by Ieyasu's head, nearly hitting Tatsumi if the boy hadn't shaken him to the side in time.
"Ieyasu! You're a dead man!" Sayo announced.
"Come on Tatsumi! Do something!" Ieyasu begged. "The crowd doesn't seem to notice us, so we're on our own!"
Seriously, can this situation get any worse than it already is? Tatsumi thought as he looked down at the oblivious crowd.
In the middle of the crowd were several horses surrounding a large cart with a gigantic monster on it. The size of the body was nearly 10x's as big as a house. It was miracle that it was taken down by a small group of people, most of them villagers.
Looking closely below, Tatsumi could see the crowd had surrounded itself around a tall, large chested, woman. Her light blue hair was held back by a black headband with the Partas Clan Tribe's insignia on the top of it. She wore a beige short-sleeved shirt with accent green marking along that sides that was tucked into a pair of beige shorts that reached just below her thighs. Around her waist, a pair of daggers was strapped to a belt that held her shorts up, followed by a pair of black boots she wore that reached up to her knees.
"Oh, Ms. Esdeath, you are quite the skilled huntress!" One woman said. "Won't you marry my boy? He's just as useful as you are!"
"Esdeath, marry me instead!" A man shouted. "I'll make you a happy woman!"
"Esdeath, come play with us!" Some children laughed and begged as one of them pulled on her arm.
"I'm sorry children, I have other duties to attend to." She smiled apologetically. "However, how about tonight we use the monster teeth for drums?"
The children seemed very excited as they nodded before going off to play some more. Soon, Esdeath was confronted by a tall, elderly man, close to Mr. Stein's age. His light blue hair was partly faded but some of the color had stayed and was reached down to his back in a mullet style with the Partas Clan headband on his head. He wore tribal clothing consisting of a black short-sleeved turtleneck shirt, a long white kimono, and a red vest on top of it, with a sash on his waist and a golden medallion around his neck.
"Esdeath, how was the hunt?" The man asked, examining the large beast.
"It was good, father." Esdeath smiled. "Now where is Tatsumi?" She asked, searching the area. "I don't see him here."
Focusing back on his problem, Tatsumi nearly met another arrow to the face until Ieyasu accidentally knocked him down, causing both to nearly fall before Ieyasu managed to catch the branch with his feet and Tatsumi in his hands.
The crowd soon noticed the two boys hanging from the branch as Esdeath and her father watched from the cart. Esdeath's eyes widened, and her face turned red, as she found Tatsumi and Ieyasu swinging from the tree in order to avoid Sayo's arrows.
"I'll be back." She told her father before running off towards the two boys.
"Ieyasu!" Sayo hollered. "You better hope that branch doesn't break before I shoot you!"
"Well luckily it won't since your fat ass isn't on here!" Ieyasu shouted back, angering Sayo even more.
"Are you crazy?!" Tatsumi yelled." Are you that desperate to die?"
"Tatsumi, I got this." Ieyasu winked. "The way I see it, she's almost out of arrows and then will have to go back for more, allowing us to escape."
"That would be a great plan," Tatsumi nodded before yelling at the top of his lungs. "If Mr. Stein didn't just bring her oil-soaked arrows and a fire pit!"
Ieyasu looked at Sayo and noticed Mr. Stein standing next to her with a small portable fire pit as he lit the arrows ablaze before handing them off to Sayo to shoot them.
"Just let me go!" Tatsumi yelled. "I think I can make the fall and I'll go stop her!"
"Okay! If you say so!" Ieyasu said as he began loosening his grip.
"Oh Tatsumi! I'm back darling!" Esdeath waved as she made her way through the dense crowd with ease.
"Never mind! Pull me back up! Pull me back up!" Tatsumi yelled before losing his grip.
As Tatsumi fell from the tree, he saw Ieyasu pull himself back up, only to be hit by a flaming arrow, causing him to catch on fire and fall in the process.
"I did it!" Sayo cheered, high fiving her uncle.
As Tatsumi neared the bottom, he closed his eyes, preparing himself for the anticipated excruciating pain before he felt the arms of someone wrap around him, allowing him to safely land on the ground. He could hear people clapping while a few others whistled. Ieyasu soon landed on the ground after, his clothes nearly burned off as Sayo approached him and aimed another arrow at his face.
"Now, who's fat again?" She growled.
"Tatsumi? Are you okay?" A woman's voice asked as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself in Esdeath's arms. "You're not hurt, are you?" She asked.
"No... I-I'm fine." Tatsumi softly spoke, embarrassed that he had to be saved.
"Oh goody!" Esdeath squealed as she gave him a giant bear hug, crushing his spine and pressing his face against her breasts. "I didn't know what I would do without you!" She exclaimed before letting him go.
"It's good to see you're okay too, Esdeath." Tatsumi coughed, trying to catch his breath. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the bracelet Mr. Stein had recently given him. "Oh, I was supposed to give this to you."
With a small smile on her face, Esdeath happily accepted the jewelry before clearing her throat and addressing the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to say we have had a most successful hunt and would like to start off the festival with some exciting news!" She spoke loudly and clearly for everyone to hear as she raised the bracelet into the air. "With this gift constructed by Mr. Stein and handed to me by my lover, Tatsumi, I am pleased to announce that Tatsumi and I are now officially engaged!"
"Wait what?!" Tatsumi asked surprised.
The crowd erupted into a ceremonious cheer and applause. Sayo and Mr. Stein began to clap, while Ieyasu tried speaking but met the end of Mr. Stein's boot. Several of the children then ran back up to Esdeath and Tatsumi, all with happy faces.
"Does this mean you two will be living together?" One of them asked.
"Yay! Big brother Tatsumi and big sister Esdeath are getting married!" Another yelled.
"Can I be the flower girl?" One shy girl asked.
"No, I want to be the flower girl!"
"Are you going to wear a pretty dress?"
"Big brother Tatsumi, are you still going to play with us?"
As the children continued their barrage of questions, several of the adults came forward with questions of their own.
"Did Tatsumi ask you to marry him, or did you?" One man asked. "If it's the latter, I oppose to this marriage until Tatsumi man's up!"
"Oh hush!" A woman said. "I think it's lovely that a woman is taking the lead in a relationship for once."
"When will the wedding be?" A girl asked Esdeath.
"Won't this be the first interracial wedding we've had here?" One man asked. "Seeing as Esdeath is from northern blood and Tatsumi is just a simple village boy."
There's so much happening that I can't even be mad at that response. Tatsumi thought
"All questions will be answered later," Esdeath explained. "For now, let the festival begin!"
Hey all, I hope you've enjoyed the new and improved chapter. Unfortunately, my account was hacked last night so all of my stories had been deleted so I've been digging through old files on my old laptop trying to find and data from the first chapters of this story, so as of this moment chapters will come out a little more slowly so no more Saturday postings until I can get things in order. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!
