Ylva walked on and finally arrived at the outskirts of the village where she found the same old woman who sold her the wolf fang days ago. The old woman was sitting beside her carriage that was connected to the two horses by a rope. "Obaa-san!" She exclaimed, a little surprised.
"Surprised, aren't you, dearie?" The old woman chuckled.
"Why are you here, obaa-san?" She asked curiously. The old woman smiled and patted the girl's head. "I saw what you did there in the village, I was right in saying that you had the scent of a beast. It's even stronger now." She said. "By the way, my name is Adi, which means the first. Call me obaa-san as before, we'll be traveling together no matter what."
"Yes?" Ylva answered though it sounded more like a question.
"Alright! Now get on board!" Adi told her as she herself got on the carriage's driver seat energetically. Ylva reluctantly got on and sat beside the old woman. The carriage began to move forward and they soon were out of the village's sights.
Ylva looked around and finally noticed that no one else was around. "Eh, obaa-san, you don't have anyone else with you?" She asked. Adi nodded. "That's right, dearie. I was traveling alone before but now that you're here with me, it won't be as lonely as before."
"But won't it be hard in case bandits come after us?" She asked. "We won't be able to defend against them."
"That's where you're wrong, dearie, I may be old but when I was younger, I was a well-known female soldier. I still got some tricks up in my sleeves. Besides, you're here with me. As I told you before, I saw your strength back in the village. Despite being a three-year old, your teeth was strong enough to pierce through the adult man's skin." Adi told her.
"That's true, then I guess I'll be in your care, obaa-san." She said politely with a bow.
"Ahahaha," Adi chuckled. "You're such a cute kid. I'm sure our travels will become more interesting than before." She said.
Eleven years later...
[Narpolia Harbor, Reim Empire]
It was evening now and two important characters were sitting down in an inn with one of them writing something on the parchment while the other was overseeing his writing. The first one was a 14-year old boy with long purple hair and golden eyes while the latter was an older man with long blond hair that reached past his shoulders. He also had a goatee.
The former was Ylva's childhood friend, Sinbad, while the latter was the current king of Balbadd, Rashid Saluja or otherwise known as "Harun."
"Sinbad, this part here...you mentioned about having a childhood friend named Ylva, right?" Harun asked in curiosity. Sinbad nodded in response and kept on writing. The name was strangely familiar and as the king read on, he suddenly remembered.
"This name...! I remember now, it belongs to someone whom I've met before!" He exclaimed in surprise. Sinbad stopped writing immediately and turned his attention back to him. "Sir, what do you mean by that? You met someone with name of Ylva?" He asked.
"Yes, the meeting had happened during my journey when I had passed by the desert to meet some people before heading back to the harbor in the city that would lead me here to the Reim Empire and eventually, to meeting you." He continued.
"Please tell me, sir!" The teen begged.
"It began like this...The journey was peaceful for the most part when..."
"Y-y-your majesty! Bandits have surrounded us! Their numbers are too big for us to handle!" A guard of his shouted.
"Calm down, we just need to think of how to get out of this situation without too much trouble." He calmly spoke and most of the soldiers had indeed calmed down.
Soon, Harun was forcefully tied up together with his guards. The leader of the bandit group pointed the tip of his sword to the king's neck. "It seems your guards are just for show, eh, your majesty?" He mocked him. "Anyway, I'll be taking all your things. STRIP THEM OFF OF THEIR VALUABLES!" He ordered his subordinates.
They immediately moved forward to check out the things inside the carriage when one of them suddenly dropped dead with a hole in his chest.
It was so quick, his subordinates dropped to the ground one by one. Their heads were either beheaded or their arms were hacked off. It was a rather gory sight and the blood soon dyed the sand red.
"W-WHO'S THERE?! I DEMAND YOU TO SHOW YOURSELF!" The leader yelled out in anxiousness and fear.
"Tch, not even a good warm-up. You're quite weak, I can easily smell your fear, you know?" The voice was undoubtedly female but there was scary intensity behind it.
Finally, the owner of the voice revealed it to be a young twelve-year old girl with vibrant crimson red hair and fiery-colored eyes. Her clothes were a bit unusual though. She was wearing bandages around her chest and a pair of cream-colored pants. There was a large skinned fur that was tied around her neck. Looking more closely, it belonged to that of a wolf's and there was also the fact that she was wearing a wolf's fang. There was an odd curved sword in her hand and a sickle strapped to her belt.
"Who are you!?" The bandit demanded once more.
"..." She did not answer and instead, moved forward in an instant and easily covered the distance between them. She swung the curved sword and easily stabbed through him.
She stood over the corpse with a manic grin on her face. "The hunt is over..." She spoke. Suddenly, she howled and a pack of desert wolves appeared from all sides. Most of them neared her and nuzzled her side.
Harun was slightly afraid but not as much as his guards at the fact that she might order the monsters to kill them but thankfully she did not. She softly patted their heads and ordered them to eat the corpses. They happily agreed with barks and yips.
Their bloody savior then approached them and raised her blade. She looked liked she was really going to kill them and the guards yelped in fear. However, Harun was not and calmly watched as she cut the ropes that bound them together.
"There, now you're free. Leave this place once you've fixed your belongings. The wolves will only eat what I tell them to do so you're safe for now." She said.
"T-thank you for saving us and his majesty!" Harun's guards spoke up loudly in gratefulness.
"I have no need for your thanks. I only intervened because these guys were hungry." She pointed to the wolves with her thumb.
"May we at least know the name of who saved us?" Harun spoke up with his hand laid against his chest. He had a kind smile on his face. Their unnamed savior looked at him from top to bottom before nodding.
"Alright, I'll tell you. People who have come across me, they call me Shut Hell." The name brought shivers to his guards' spine when she spoke in such a scary tone. Harun could feel a little bit of goosebumps form on his skin from hearing her voice but did he not show it.
"You may call me Ylva though." She added and the overwhelming pressure was gone.
"I see, then thank you, Ylva."
What kind of little girl have I come across? He thought.
"It sounds like her, she's the only one I know of having a wolf-like personality like that." Sinbad muttered. Harun nodded. "So that girl is really your childhood friend, what an interesting coincidence." He said.
"At least I know now that she's okay!" The teen said in a relieved tone. "I wish I could meet her though but right now I cannot, I'm too busy writing my autobiography and performing that I don't have the time to just go and visit her. Besides, my subordinates are arriving soon and I want to surprise them with how I managed to establish our company already." He said sadly.
Harun could hear the sadness in his tone ad decided to cheer him up. "Don't worry, Sinbad. How about I go visit your friend on my way back to Balbadd after I've finished my duties here? Try writing a letter, I'll make sure to get it to her." He said.
"Ylva can't read though from what I can remember, sir." Sinbad said.
"Then I'll teach her if she would allow me to." He told the boy in a determined tone. "Thank you, sir." Sinbad said gratefully.
Meanwhile, miles away back in the deserts that surrounded Balbadd, the said person was traveling with her wolves in a hurried pace heading to the capital of the kingdom itself, Balbadd City. The journey was quite difficult itself as their supply for water was limited. Ylva was rushing because she had received a message that the kind obaa-san who took care of her was dying.
You might be thinking. Why on earth would she leave the old lady alone? The answer would be because Ylva felt like she needed freedom from the crowded streets of the city. She felt suffocated and claustrophobic. Thankfully, her surrogate grandmother understood and told her that she could leave the city as long as she would visit her often. It was a deal.
And then she was gone.
Now, Ylva was returning once more to the city after how many months since she last visited her grandmother. She soon could see the hill that would overlook the city and her pace became faster. She howled her return as soon as she saw it, the wolves howled together with her. Their howls reached the whole city.
"Those howls..." A random citizen muttered. "Ah! They're back!"
"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Many people started to shout at each other. It seemed that they knew what those howls meant. It was actually a sign that meant that Shut Hell had returned and that she needed the streets cleared. Her return was usually quite surprising as the intervals between her visits were irregular. This "thing" started after her very first visit to the city after she had left. It was a sight to behold, the citizens were in a panic when they saw the desert wolves but were eventually calmed down by the wolves' Alpha, Ylva herself.
Surprisingly enough, the news did not reach the king's ears so he did not know of Shut Hell's existence until he met her in the middle of the desert.
Anyway, the stalls were moved and eventually the streets were cleared away. Ylva saw this from atop the hill and whistled. The wolves began their descent down and ran through the streets in a hurry. Ylva was among them as they ran and they eventually arrived in front of her grandmother's home. She knocked and it was opened to reveal one of her grandmother's friends.
"Ylva-chan, you finally arrived. Your grandmother is waiting for you." She said and made way for the twelve-year old red head to pass through. "Thank you," Ylva told the lady.
She immediately went to her grandmother's room to find the old lady herself lying on bed with a blanket on her body. Adi smiled when she saw her adopted granddaughter and weakly placed her arms out. "It's been too long, dearie." She spoke.
Ylva ran to her arms and began to cry. The old lady patted her back gently in comfort and it worked. She looked up and nuzzled her grandmother's cheek. "I came as soon as I heard, obaa-san." She said. Adi chuckled at the young girl's action. "You really have become a wolf while you were been away, dearie."
"Obaa-san, you're really dying, aren't you?" Ylva asked even though she knew the answer. Her sharp senses could smell the decay on the old lady's body. Adi's death was inevitable and she knew that but was simply in denial.
Adi sighed and gave the child a sad smile. "I know you'll be sad when I'm gone Ylva but don't be, I'll still watch over you even when I return to the home of souls, Rukh."
Rukh? "Rukh? I've heard you say that before but you never really explained it before, obaa-san." Ylva stated.
"I see, so I never mentioned it to you. I shall tell you then, " Adi spoke. "Rukh is the home of souls. While we live, it is every man for them self. But when you die, all go back to one place, This is Rukh. When humans die, their bodies return to the earth don't they? The souls return to Rukh, The home of souls. (1)"
So that 's what rukh is.
"I shall remember that, obaa-san." Ylva said as she stayed in Adi's arms. It was silent for the whole moment they were together. She listened to her grandmother's heartbeat as it slowed down and eventually stopped. Her pulse was gone. She controlled her tears and wiped the traces in the corner of her eyes before it could even drop down.
"I'll miss you..."
Ylva closed her grandmother's eyes before going out of the house where she saw her pack and her grandmother's friends. She did not speak but they could understand that Adi had finally died. The wolves let out a sorrowful howl while the others (the humans) cried.
"I leave her burial up to you, please take care of her...body..." She spoke in a sorrowful tone before she started to walk away with her wolves.
"WAIT!" One of them cried out and she turned her head. "Are you going away already?" He asked her and she shook her head. "No, I'll be staying in an inn for the meantime. I'll leave in around three days." She answered.
"Alright..."
And then she walked away, her bare feet touching the ground as she walked. The desert wolves were surrounding her as they moved forward together. Their ears were drooped since they could also feel their Alpha's sadness. Some who were closer to her licked her hands and she gave them a sad smile as she patted their heads.
A/N: (1) Taken from Magi Wikia. [Baba's words to Aladdin as she explained what Rukh was]