Chapter 4: A Town under Siege
A town under siege, a sea of
fire raging within a sea of green. The sky darkened by the escaping souls of
the tormented and the torture, and amongst an orchestral of screams, the
sadistic laughter of its wicked conductor. As Sakuya and the others approached
the town of Tasou, the town Lloyd thought would be next, they expected the
scene to fall upon them like the horror it was but saw anything but. The sky
was barely dyed by rising smoke, and while laughter did reach them, it was
merely the chuckles of joyous children. Not a soul in sight walked with terror
in their eyes, and not a person on the street hinted toward a sinister plan.
The town, so small and quaint, wrapped in the woods’ brush that would make it
hard to find, remained little more than a blip on the map as Sakuya and her
group made their way through it and set themselves up in an inn. With every
step, their eyes had searched wearily and warily around the hamlet, but found
no malicious hands crafting a diabolical scene. There were just people going to
and fro, people who seemed both happy and surprise to have more visitors to add
to the small lot that had already come to the village before. A young girl,
hair blond, eyes blue with an outlook on life as rosy as her skin, and her
parents the same; and a young couple, one dark skinned man of impressive bulk
and his girlfriend, smaller, lighter, with long brown hair braided into a
ponytail and tossed over her right shoulder. They didn’t seem like much,
nothing more than travelers and not even travelers from the same land, but
weariness had bred paranoia and wariness bred a need to know. As Aeriane and
Takeshi slept, Sakuya had made her way to the inn’s diner where she found the
other visitors discussing their intrigue with the land. She joined them at
their table, and received the curious gaze of the young girl who quickly moved
to the chair closest to her, and stared with an invasive intent.
“Jasmine, stop that.” Her mother
instructed and intrigue changed to disappointment.
“But mom!” She cried.
“No ‘buts’, don’t be rude to our
guest.” He mother scolded her and made Sakuya laugh.
“It’s alright really.” She chimed
in and the woman forced a polite smile. “I am curious though, what’s so
interesting about me?” Sakuya locked eyes with the girl who lit up with
childish glee.
“I saw you had a sword when you
came in, so that means you can fight right?” Jasmine squealed and Sakuya noted
her watchful eyes.
“I’m pretty good at it, if that’s
what you mean, but surely I’m not the only person you’ve ever seen who wields a
sword.” Sakuya replied and Jasmine agreed.
“No but most of the other people
I’ve seen work for the court of Irra, and they aren’t really that interesting.”
She sighed.
“Oh?”
“Yes,” Jasmine’s mother spoke
again. “You see, the reason we came to this village was because of a book my
husband read to Jasmine.” She explained with a nostalgic smile.
“It was about Irra’s first trip
to Hokutaga; she happened upon a wandering swordsman who challenged her to
fight and managed to win. Since Jasmine admires Irra, she always wanted to
see what the place the swordsman came from was like, and this town happens to
be it.” Jasmine’s father explained and Jasmine sighed again.
“But when we got here I learned
that his sword style is taught to new recruits to the court of Irra here, and I
was really disappointed.” A gleeful girl turned sad as she thought back to the
moment of her arrival and the immediately disappointment.
“So how come seeing me made you
happy?” Sakuya asked.
“Because I still want to see it.
I still want to see a unique style that Irra would have described as almost
magical.” Jasmine exclaimed and made her parents chuckle.
Sakuya smiled at the young girl
and let what foolish suspicion emerged, fade away, as she turned her attention
toward the young couple who joined the proud parents in their laugh. They had
courteously remained silent as the mother scolded her daughter and the seeds of
conversation were sown, but their laughter had held up a sign that said they
wanted to join in. As the vines of conversation reached over and entangled
them, Sakuya took a moment to examine them thoroughly to find tell tale signs.
The man, dark skinned and bulky, had a number of scars running up his arm, till
they disappeared under the sleeves of his blue shirt. His narrow eyes blinked
with an autonomy that all people possessed, but shined with a harden presence
hidden deep in their brown depths, and black hair was neatly cut down, save for
a spot where the flesh had once been torn, almost as if by an agitated man’s
rage. His girlfriend had a soft tan tone, and softer big brown eyes that didn’t
sparkle like those of Jasmine’s but shined with a passive happiness. Void of
scars and void of trouble’s torment, she sat there in a white dress, slit on
one side, barely seeming like anymore than a person on vacation. Conversation's reach was all but strangling
them now, as they realized Sakuya had began staring and the woman turned to her
with a polite smile, and said something she didn’t quite hear.
“Pardon me?” She escaped her
quiet curiosity.
“I asked why it is that you are
carrying a sword.” The woman repeated, and Sakuya shook her head.
“I’m a bodyguard you see.” She
said.
“Oh really?” The man smiled. “You
and I have something in common.” He said and as he held up his arms, Sakuya
realized they thought she was staring at the scars.
“No you aren’t Arty.” His
girlfriend nudged him and made him chuckle. “He actually works for a shipping
company, but he got all those scars from protecting the cargo. I worry about
him sometimes.”
“I see. Then what brings a
shipping company worker to this small town?” Sakuya asked.
“Business. These places are hard
to find so it’s worth dropping by and asking them if they want to do business.
Special items can attract more visitors to a town after all, right?” Arty
explained with a professional efficiency and Sakuya nodded her head.
“Any luck?”
“Not yet. The shop owners are
pretty worried about price.” Arty laughed and Sakuya nodded.
“Well I wish you luck.” She said
as she stood. “And Jasmine I hope you find someone with a unique style.” She
smiled then turned her back to the table and began walking off.
“I thought about it for a moment
and I guessed right.” Arty’s girlfriend said something that brought Sakuya to a
halt.
“What’s that Bell?” Arty asked
and Bell smiled.
“Well if she’s a bodyguard, the
only reason she came over here was to see if we are dangerous. That’s why she’s
leaving now.” Bell explained and Sakuya wondered if it was foolish to leave her
sword behind. “So I’m curious, is that girl who you’re protecting?”
“I can’t really answer that.”
She said and Bell smiled again.
“It has to be. That raggedy man
is her caretaker, and you and that boy are her bodyguard’s right?” Bell
submitted and made Sakuya silently praise her attentiveness.
“I still can’t answer that.” She
replied as she continued out of the room.
“I’m definitely right.” Bell
remarked to Arty who nodded to her, till Sakuya finally left them behind.
From a room filled with white and silver, Sakuya made
her way through a lobby of dark browns and beige, and down the hall to her room. There Aeriane sat
half-awake on the bed, clearly forcing herself to remain awake till her
roommate returned. When Sakuya sat on the other bed, she asked a question
through a yawn, and lied back down, now content with going to sleep again. As
Sakuya removed black shoes from her feet and pulled her hair behind her head,
she stared half-awake herself, as the question was slowly decoded.
“I think it’s safe.” She said. “We’ll
stay for a day and if nothing happens we have to leave, even if it means
someone will get hurt.” An urge to remain silent emerged as each word formed a
professional sentence that made her stomach knot.
With her hair drawn behind her head,
she lied on her pillow and stared at the flowers carved into the ceiling. Her
eyes barely remained open as they scanned the beige garden and she thought
about Jasmine, and her look of intrigue. The room had long since gone dark, and
seemed to darken every time she blinked, but even as the morning slowly approached,
she didn’t dare go to sleep. In Jasmine she had seen something that reminded
her of herself before fate forced her life to change, and the knot in her
stomach torment her as she imagined Jasmine going through the same. With each blink,
the room became dimmer, till the light creeping in through a window was all the
illumination she had and needed. She didn’t dare go to sleep, but she could
feel it setting in and as she decided to give into it, she rolled onto her side
and whispered to herself.
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