1
Slam! The door shut behind Ryoichi as cold air rushed in.
"Hey Ryoichi I know tending to the cows is tiring but do you mind running to town to grab some groceries"
"Uhh, ya no problem Grandma,"Ryoichi stifled a sigh.
"Thank you dear"
"Aww man I was really hoping to relax, why spring something like this on me so suddenly, town is like five miles away." He thought to himself as he begrudgingly walked down the snow powdered, dirt road. The biting cold made the trip feel endless. He pulled his leather jacket tighter. "I don't know if I could take this bitter cold if it weren't for this leather jacket." Trying to keep his mind off the cold he filled his head with as many thoughts as possible. "I definitely prefer warmer weather, although wearing the fruits of my labor sure feels rewarding." He could hear the satisfying crunch of snow beneath his foot after each step he took. "There's so much shoveled snow it makes these paths look more like a maze made for rats."
Ryoichi's house was so far out of town because his parents were in the military. There were pros and cons to having a house in that location. There was more space so you could have livestock, and a slightly bigger house. The closest house was another one owned by a military family about three miles away. It isn't all perfect though. The heart of the village is about five miles away, and you are closer to the active fighting although that was still about ten or so miles away.
As he started to get closer to town the three foot parapets of snow guiding the path grew to about six foot mounds surrounding the village. The cobblestone paths had a light dusting of snow but overall the village people did a pretty good job of making sure the snow was pushed to the edge of town. The town was pretty empty, no one was out who didn't need to be. Wives and kids were in their temperate sanctuaries. Walking through the seemingly empty village, the only sign of life was the open store doors marketing their warm interior.
After finally arriving at the shop Ryoichi started chipping away at the shopping list.
"Eggs..
Honey..
Goat milk.."
"You know we already raise cows. We should just raise these other animals to save money and time… Well actually I take that back I have enough on my plate with the cows,"
As he started to walk home he had remembered something his grandmother had mentioned before he left.
"Oh before you leave, I forgot to write down bread, don't forget."
"Crap!".
It was getting late and he didn't want to walk home in the dark so he jogged over to the bakery. The cold air pushing against his face burned. As he approached the bakery the smell of fresh bread hit his nose, along with the heat pouring out of the building from the ovens. All he could think as he approached was sleeping but he needed to start heading home soon or he would be making the trek back in the dark. The bakery's warmth swaddling him like a blanket didn't help the situation. After grabbing the bread he hurried out of the small shop.
"Finally now to go home for real this time." He uttered with an exaggerated tone to himself. While leaving the village a familiar voice echoed out from the alleyway. "Where ya going?" A man standing at about 5 '10, donning a well worn brown long sleeved shirt and jeans emerged from the alley's shadow. It was his lifelong friend Kurose.
"Where do ya think I'm going at this time'a night." Ryoichi shot back.
"I dunno, maybe to stare at your reflection in the pond."
"Haha, very funny."
"What are you guys eatin tonight."
"I dunno, maybe steak."
"Ooh, again! That's awesome, most farmers can't afford to eat like that."
"Well they also can't afford leather jackets…
,and also aren't cow farmers."
"Geez, chill with the sarcasm "
"You're one to talk."
The night sky started to descend upon them as they walked home.
Kurose frequently ate with Ryoichi and his Grandma. He had previously lived with Ryoichi's Grandma. She found him wandering the village by himself at a very young age. He couldn't remember who his parents were and they were never able to find them, which you wouldn't think would be that hard, because his skin was slightly darker than everyone else's in the village. She wasn't in the place to take in a kid, though luckily for her someone had volunteered to take him in. That only lasted about two months because he was found unsupervised in the village again, when the village people found his guardian she was wasted with liquor bottles all over the place and she made it clear then and there she was no longer interested in taking care of a child. He then went back to Ryoichi's Grandma where he lived for six years until he was about twelve. That was the same time she had to moved into Ryoichi's house because his parents got deployed on the front lines. He opted to live in the orphanage because he felt it was wrong to move into someone's house who wasn't even there to ask.
Ryoichi frequently visited his Grandma so he ended up being friends with Kurose before they were even old enough to go to school. Even after school started and he stopped visiting his Grandma, he and Kurose often hung out during and after school.
"So can I eat dinner with you guys?"
"Of course, We'd never say no, You even have a room with us if you need."
"I know, I don't want to burden you guys. At least at the foster home I'm only wasting the village's money."
"I'll say it till I'm blue in the face you're not a burden. Besides, the foster home's gonna kick you out in two years, what do you plan on doing then."
"Well that's why I'm constantly trying to find work notice I haven't been buggin ya guys as much."
"It's unrealistic to think you can buy a house by the time you're eighteen, but if that's what you're planning I'll wish you luck, Just know we're always here as a plan B."
"Uhh, thanks I'll keep that in mind."
As the sun set behind the mountains that always captivated Ryoichi he couldn't help but wish he could see what was behind those mountains within his lifetime.
"What do you think os behind those mountains?"
Well I'm not sure about the east but to the west is another village that frequently trades with us."
"Well obviously I know that, I'm more interested in the west and south of our village what's in those directions."
"I guess I never gave it much thought."
"We're hooome!!" Ryoichi enthusiastically declared, as the the cottage door slammed open.
"We? Must have brought Kurose then?" She questioned from the kitchen.
"Yup."
"Dinners ready" She proclaimed as she walked around the corner.
"Awesome, let's dig in. Thanks Grandma." Ryoichi said while finding a seat.
"Your Grandma always makes the best food."
After dinner Ryoichi asked "Do you have to be back in town for work tomorrow?"
"Uhh, no I haven't found a steady job I've just been doing all the odd jobs around town."
"Oh, That hasn't got in the way of school?"
"I stopped going."
"Well you should work on our ranch with me then."
"Do you plan on doing this forever?"
"I hope not."
"What do you plan on doing after this then?"
"Joining the military"
"Huh"
"Joining the military"
"Why are you mumbling I can't hear you dude"
"JOINING THE MILITARY!"
"NUH UH you won't!!" His grandmother yelled from the kitchen.
"Why would you do that, both your parents were taken from me because they joined!" She stated as she walked into the dining room.
"That's being a bit dramatic, they might not be dead." Ryoichi said in a dismissive tone, avoiding eye contact by digging at his food.
"Their division has come back multiple times and we haven't heard from them; they haven't been here for four years. Just because the head of the village doesn't mandate telling whose MIA doesn't mean they're alive. They've been gone so long they aren't even able to be my next of kin."
"I know that's why I don't bring it up around you." He said with a clear longing for the conversation to end.
"Why would you want to pursue something like that anyway?"
"Because I'm tired of living on the outskirts of town in a cottage. I don't want to live my whole life in this tiny village."
"Well you won't be joining the military", she said in a commanding tone. Before Ryoichi could respond his Grandmother added, "Why not the scouts, they leave town?"
"All the scouts act really weird and distant. Do you know any scouts, also as soon as I'm eighteen you don't have a say in what I do"
"I don't have the patience to deal with this. I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She said walking down the hall. The awkward silence between the two at the table was screaming.
Ryoichi sat staring dejectedly into space for a moment before standing up so fast his chair almost fell over."Well Imma head to bed, to see ya tomorrow."
"See ya.'
2
Early the next morning Kurose went outside. The sky was still a dark blue. Scanning the vicinity he finds Ryoichi, sitting on the wood fence that keeps the cows from wandering off, and heads over to him. "Mornin," Ryoichi exclaims. "Mornin," Kurose replies with sleep still in his eyes.
"Sorry about last night."
"What are you sorry about?"
"I brought up the whole future thing."
"Oh, it wasn't you; stuff like that happens regardless of who brings it up."
"What are you doing out here this early anyway?"
Ryoichi stares off for a moment before answering. "Well, I've had a few bulls go missing, which is odd because there aren't any predators around here and the gate's intact." He hops off the fence.
"That is odd." Kurose says as he follows closely behind Ryoichi.
"Let's head back to the village. I have some products I need to drop off."
Kurose nods his head in acknowledgement.
As the sun started to rise the temperature rose with it. "Wow, it's already warmer today than it was yesterday."
"Ya, it's much nicer today." Kurose replied. After Ryoichi grabbed the milk he was planning on bringing to the market, they started on the five mile journey to town. The sky was blue and the sun was blinding. "Man it sucks how inconsistent the weather is here, one day there's a blizzard the next its hot enough to make you sweat."
"Well, the blizzard's been about three days but I understand your point." Kurose responded.
After a few minutes of walking down the snow-dusted path Kurose breaks the silence, "You didn't seem particularly motivated about joining the military, any reason why?"
"Well, I want to leave the village behind entirely. I just can't see myself living a life where I go to work for eight hours, go home do nothing for a couple hours then sleep and repeat. Theres gotta be more out there!"
"Well you might as well get that idea out of your head, we both know extremely well its illegal for anyone other than the scouts to leave the village boundaries."
"Well I'll sacrifice it all for a chance to live. I've made up my mind. You should leave with me."
"I'm good. Although that sounds a bit short-sided what about your grandma?"
" She'll be fine besides tons of kids in the village would love to take my spot, Farm work is the next best thing after skipping town entirely. Do you have any desire to leave the village?"
"Well I am a little curios although I'd prefer to not have a warrant out for my arrest."
"Well surely they can't find out as easily as they make it sound."
"I don't care enough to find out."
"Well the offer remains open, if you end up changing your mind just tell me."
"What's the point of pretending to be interested in tending to the cows if you plan on up and leaving?"
"Well I kind of see taking care of the cows as the least I can do to help out my community, because in the end I think all anyone wants is for everyone to live their best lives. So in short I guess it feels like my responsibility as a person to continue the families work."
"I get that for the most part, although your theories fall apart when you consider wars, like the one your parents fought in."
"Well maybe that's because thats what they think is best for everyone."
"You don't hold any resentment toward the people who most likely killed your parents?"
"Oh no, I hate those bastards…", he said in the same thoughtful tone as the rest of the conversation, definitely lacking any emotion one might consider anger,
"... But the people there are probably fighting for what they think is right. No one strives to be a villain." The conversation ended as they walked into the village much more lively than yesterday although it was still a far cry from what would be considered "busy". They made their way to the market to sell the milk he had brought from home. After making the successful exchange Ryoichi noticed a lot of flowers were strung up all over the village. After pondering why that was the case for a moment it hit him "Today must be the festival marking the end of winter." he said with a snap.
"Oh ya, I forgot about that."
"Honestly we should have realized that was coming when we noticed the nice weather."
"Well in our defense we never go to festivals."
"While we're here might as well see whats going on, right?"
"Sure why not." after dropping off the produce they head towards the center of the city. On their way they had their second encounter of the day, and an unfortunate encounter it was. "Sounds like you all just acquired some money." The man said in voice one might imagine a serpent having. "Ya it's called working something you might consider doing." Ryoichi said without stopping hoping to just walk past the man, But he didn't move. He continued forward until their shoulders met hoping he would move. After being stoped by force he realized this is something he won't be able to easily avoid. "Give me some money and I'll let you pass."
"Still as direct as ever, haven't changed a bit since school Arata…
Still just as stupid as ever too." Ryoichi said with smirk on his face.
"Oh ya, just give me the money before something bad happens!"
"Well based on our many previous encounters I would bet your goons are hiding in the bushes on the side of the path, waiting for things to get physical."
Arata only responded by gritting his teeth in anger.
"We both know in a fight between you and Kurose, Kurose wins everytime."
Arata swings his fist towards Ryoichi as he hops back twice to reach the beginning of the path.
" This is a fight I'd rather avoid."
"Agreed."
As soon as they started running three more guys hopped out of the bushes from both sides of the path.
After running until they're out of breath they stop to see if anyone followed.
"Well I guess that throws a wrench in your, " everyone wants for everyone to live their best lives," theory."
"Well there's always outliers."
Just as they started to get ready to walk to another path that leads to the village center another person came up behind them and put his arms around their necks.
"How've you guys been haven't seen ya in awhile!"
"Well I'd be a lot better if you didn't scare me half to death tatsuya." Kurose barked at him.
"Geez, calm down no need to get snappy."
"Sorry we just had a run in with Arata." Ryoichi jumped in.
"Oh that couldn't have been pleasant."
"It wasn't, you'd think people would grow out of being an asshole." Ryoichi sneered
"Right? Well I guess some people just never change. While I have you here I've been wondering, where have you guys been I haven't seen you at school."
"Oh, I quit." They said at the same time.
"Oh man, I wondered its boring without you guys."
"Ya, well I'll make sure to visit you more often I guess."
"I will too." Kurose chimed in.
"Alright well you guys seem busy so I'll let you guys go, see ya later."
"See ya" The pair called out as they walked away.
"Well I've lost any interest I had in the festival."
"Me too." Ryoichi answered. With their feelings being mutual they got ready to leave the village and back to the cottage when they were abruptly stopped by the sound of screaming.
After hearing the screams Ryoichi's mind was racing to find the what could be the cause. An attack? No, we'd know before it reached the city center. Maybe a fire from the celebrations went out of control? Well regardless I should go help. "Kurose let's go check it out!" They started towards the ruckus.
After arriving at the source of the noise and locating the cause Ryoichi immediately realised this was his problem. A bull was rampaging through stands, every one seemed to have gotten away and the town guards were surely on their way. Ryoichi knew he could handle this better than anyone present so he ran towards the bull.
On opposite sides of this circular city center that was receded into the earth a little farther than the area around it made it feel like an arena. The place that was filled with civilians and vendors, now only occupied by two beings, Ryoichi and the bull.
As soon as the bull locked on to Ryoichi it started its charge. This wasn't the first time Ryoichi had been in a situation like this but, normally he was on a giant field where there no civilians to worry about. Hearing the kids screaming and the panicked murmurs Ryoichi remembered the stakes were much higher than anything he has had to deal with in the past. As the bull started its violent charge the villagers ran into their houses and locked the doors. Under the pressure Ryoichi's mind went blank and he panicked. Snapping back to reality he realised the hulking mass of muscle was bearing down on him at a high speed. He jumped out of the way last minute narrowly avoiding getting impaled on the bulls long horns. Damn it, that was close. I choked.The beast ran full speed into the cobble stone wall. Recovering from the dive Ryoichi thought to himself. Attempting to overpower a bull is a losing battle I'm gonna have to out smart it. Even with years of experience dealing with bulls he had never had to deal with worrying about civilians being around. He didn't want to risk a single person getting hurt.
After looking around Ryoichi noticed the umbrella for the vendor booth lying on the rubble, ripping off a piece he got up and stood between the bull and the frozen over fountain. As the bull readied itself for another round so did Ryoichi. The beast turned, snorting clouds of vapor into the frigid air. Its wild eyes locked onto Ryoichi, and it pawed at the snow-covered cobblestones. I really hope this works. Remembering bulls are attracted to movement Ryoichi waved the piece of umbrella in the air. The bull lunged forward with a thunderous charge, Ryoichi stood firm with the large portion of umbrella. Once the bull was full committed to the charge Ryoichi jumped out of the way once more. Once the bull realised what had happened it was too late it slammed head-first into the ice fountain, causing minimal damage to the villages prized possession. As the bull tried to recover from its daze Ryoichi walked up to it and kicked its front legs from under it to buy a little more time, he ran over to one of the knocked over stands and grabbed a rope he ran back to the bull and tied the rope around its neck.
With the bull walking beside him he left the way he came as fast as possible while looking down to avoid eye contact with the people around him as much as possible. Oh man, I hope the damages weren't too bad I think the village will handle this kind of thing but I feel terrible for ruining the festival. All the villagers watched as he and Kurose walked out of the village, the ones that had hidden in their houses peeked through the windows. Ryoichi felt like he could hear the gossiping whispers around him. "He Can't control his own livestock?" "That senile old lady shouldn't be in possession of such dangerous animals". All the terrible things the villagers could be thinking rushed through his head. This isn't just about me, would a mistake like this affect my Grandmother's reputation? If I kept better track of the live stock could I have avoided this? The village doesn't have space for a selfish person like me. Is this what happens when an unintelligent beast tries to leave its cage? It runs into a wall and gets dragged back to its enclosure. He felt sick to his stomach with guilt and shame as trudged through the air made thick with the villagers gazes.
While walking home Ryoichi made up his mind. "I'm leaving during the next blizzard."
"Wow your really serious about leaving?"
"Ya and I think you should too, do you really want to live in a place where it's illegal to see whats outside of where you live?"
"No, but why during a blizzard thats like the most dangerous time you could choose?"
"Well they're common and them being dangerous works in our favor. No scouts will be out if ones forecasted and our tracks will immediately get covered by snow. What do you think, are you gonna follow?"
"What happens if there's nothing better out there?"
"Well as a contingency we could say we got lost looking for one of my cows during a blizzard I'm sure they'd give us some leniency."
"Mmmm, ya maybe, let me think it over."
After returning the bull to its pen the number of missing bulls returned to just one. The blizzard that Ryoichi was planning to use was just one day away, so he grabbed the extra sword his family kept for self defense and training and packed a small bag full of things he would need for his travels. Later that night Kurose also agreed to follow along with him.
3
It was late in the after noon when the blizzard rolled in. They were checking their stuff before they set out.
"You got everything?"
"Ya, how bout you?"
"Ya I got my sword, some stuff to easily make a fire and a couple days worth of food."
"Why'd you grab that dull thing, the sword over your mantle looked way sharper." Kurose asked.
"Well thats kind of like a family heirloom my Grandma would definitely notice if it was gone, although your not wrong this sword is pretty dull. Sharp enough to get the job done though."
"Well as long as its durable I guess. Are you ready to go then."
"You bet."
As soon as they echoed their agreements they set off into the snow covered abyss. Looking out into the distance they couldn't see anything but a heavy white fog caused by thousands of snowflakes that torpedoed towards the ground. As they headed west they pushed on with all the strength they had, motivated by the fear of being caught by the village elders, and the consequences they would face for leaving the village's boundary.
After what felt like hours of endless trudging through feet of snow the blizzard finally started to lift. They looked back and saw no sign of their home town. After a couple more hours of walking they tried desperately to make a fire with the supplies they brought with them. Kurose had bought some supplies to easily make a fire. He had bought some fire wood ande kerosene off one of the town merchants. They doug out a small trench in the snow and made a fire. While taking shelter they ate the little food they managed to bring which was mostly dried meats. The rest of the night consisted of trying to get some rest while periodically checking for animals that might be hostile.
As they emerged from their pit they went back to the endless trudge through the miles of endless snow. They both silently realised how odd it was that the ground around them seemed to be completely flat, once you made it pass the mountains that surrounded their village. All you could see for miles was a completely white ground and blue skies. Towards the end of the previous night they came to the worrying conclusion that they only had enough food to last one more day, and enough fire supplies to last three more days. They continued their endless journey through the endless plains as they worried what would happen if they didn't end up finding anything, this was the only direction from the village where they had no recorded data, at least none that was available to them. Once the second night fell they repeated their previous arrangements that had gotten them through the fist night. They rationed the food a little thinner to try and stretch it one more day.
Day number three with no end in sight hungry and over heating as the sun was out and the temperature was rising at a steady pace. The one currently in front stopped. "Hey whats the holdup why're we stopping" Ryoichi asked in an irritated tone. " Well, we're well into our third day into this bright idea of yours with no end in sight, the only thing we can see the end of is our food supply."
"Whats your point?"
"Well what do we do even if we wanted to try and backtrack now we don't have enough food for three more days"
"Going back isn't an option we made this decision knowing that, I'm gonna keep going if your having second thoughts then you can head back" Ryoichi said as he started walking past kurose. Right as he shambled past, Kurose grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back towards him.
"What're you talking about" He growled
Ryoichi slapped his arm away with an excessive amount of force and turned to face him.
"I'm saying you can go back if you see that as an option, I know neither of us know what will happen if we go back but promise we won't like it." He shouted angrily. The conversation turned to an argument slowly got louder and more heated as they went back and forth. Their noise echoing through the nothing surrounding them.
"And you see shambling through the snow endlessly until we starve as a better alternative? What do you think we're even gonna find out here."
"Well i can tell you one thing theres gotta be something out here. The only thing we wont find is a giant impassable wall, besides you said yourself we don't have the resources to go back anyway, no matter how you look at it our best chance at survival is pushing on."
"But what is it you want to find a new version of our old life? The same place without the people we know? I should've realised how ridiculous of an idea this was but YOU drug me along knowing you had no plan."He aggressively poked Ryoichi's chest as he finished his sentence. "Me? You could've said no, but you craved a more interesting life just like me"Ryoichi fired back pushing him back in a way he felt was justified. Kurose responded by shoving him down into the cold snow. "Good luck finding shit out here" He said as he walked a way waving, not even bothering to look back. Ryoichi hopped back up and leg swiped Kurose's legs from under him knocking him into the snow. "Youre not thinking rationally you were about to try and head back without supplies or anything" He said standing above kurose "I'M NOT THINKING RATIONALLY?" Kurose shouted " Were you ever thinking at all when you decided to walk endlessly into a blizzard with no plan, hardly any food or other supplies" He said as he dusted as much snow as he could off himself. As soon as finished dusting off all the snow he could he went to throw a right hook right at Ryoichi when he heard a noise that caught his ear stopping him in his tracks. Three wolves surrounded them on the horizon with the sun setting behind them. As they turned to face the wolves Ryoichi drew his sword and held it in front of him. The wolves began their assault on the prey in front of them. The first wolf charging at Ryoichi got slashed in the face with his blade causing it to walk off to the side, the second one jumped at him and he used its momentum to thrust his sword into its neck. He got back up after he got knocked to the ground by getting hit from the full force of the second wolf. The third wolf attacked before he could get up all the way and also got struck in the face. Kurose standing behind and to the left of him noticed the first wolf after recovering had come up behind Ryoichi and was about to attack him. He ran at the wolf and tackled it into the snow before it could attack Ryoichi. He struggled in the snow trying to get a hold on it while trying to avoid getting a bone crushing bite. He put the wolf in a choke hold and using his slightly above average strength to break its neck. While Kurose was dealing with his struggle Ryoichi was working on fending off the last wolf slashing it in the face every time it approached. After several slashes to its blood soaked face it disappeared into the almost set sun. Before they could celebrate their victory they notice a very large bull with an evil dark aura hanging over it. It looked back at them snorting aggressively, This bull was way larger then any bull that had ever existed. They looked up responding to an unnatural screaming noise coming from above. A giant vulture looking creature we circling above with the same evil aura as the bull.
The bull charged in, feeling like the world was shaking under him Ryoichi stood there stupified looking at the massive bull. Right as the bull closed in he snapped out of his shocked daze and managed to jump out of the way. As he recovered from throwing himself out of the way of the bulls destructive path he looked over at Kurose and saw the giant bird swooping down with its razor sharp beak aimed straight at Kurose, whose arms were reflexively trying to defend his head. Ryoichi rushed over and blocked the birds beak in the nic of time. The force of the giant bird still knocking him and Kurose away. Getting up he looked at his sword and saw a mark made by the bird. Right before they split Kurose whispered something to Ryoichi, who nodded in response.
"Distract the bull I'll figure out a way to take care of the bird"
"Ok, got it" Kurose nodded in agreement.
Kurose tried getting the attention of the bull preparing for another charge. It came in for another charge, which like the last lacked any kind of agility, and Kurose launched himself out of the way once again. As he got up he got an idea, he positioned himself in front of the bull as it made another reckless charge, but instead of jumping to the side of the bull this time Kurose instead jumped over it, landing on the bulls back. He quickly positioned himself to face forward and grabbed the bulls horns, but as soon as relied on them at all they snapped off.
Why are they so brittle? He thought to himself.
As the bull started freaking out he held on the best he could to the giant bull. He shouted to Ryoichi who had been dancing with the bird up until this moment. He responded to Kurose by waiting for the bird to start its downward dive, and started running towards the bull. One thing Kurose noticed was that both these creatures lacked any kind of stopping power so he decided to take advantage of this unique disadvantage. As soon as the bird reached the trough of its dive Ryoichi jumped into the ice cold snow for what he hoped was the last time, at the same time Kurose willingly let go of the bull flying into the air. The birds sharp beak embedded itself deep into the body of the bull, going almost entirely through. As the bird struggled to escape Ryoichi walked up to its neck repeatedly struck it, repeatedly, until it stopped moving. As they looked at the mess in front of them they fell down in exhaustion.
"Well i guess we could eat the bull, right?" Kurose asked
"No, can't you smell that its rotten"
"What do you mean? It was just living!"
"Well, I can clearly smell and observe the bird and bull are rotten"
"Well I did notice the horns were abnormally brittle"
"Really? I am so curios what would cause a phenomenon like this"
"So what the hell are we supposed to eat then?"
"Well the wolves seem normal we could eat those"
"Wolves? Can you even eat those"
"Ya, you can eat pretty much any animal. Just don't expect no choice cut."
Fighting their exhaustion they dug out another small pit into the snow and built a fire. They cut up the wolves to the best of their abilities and cooked them. As they were eating Ryoichi shared something that had been bothering him.
"That bull was the one that had escaped my ranch"
"Huh" Kurose said not even taking a break from eating.
"How did you not realise that until now? It was huge I think you would've noticed"Kurose continued
"No it didnt look like that when it disappeared thats whats bothering me something changed it. The bird to, have you ever seen a bird that can damage a sword?"
"I guess not" He trailed off.
4
As they continued into day four, they noticed a forest on the horizon.
"Look a forest"Kurose said pointing ahead while looking back towards Ryoichi
"Ya, its the first thing we've seen since we left the valley"
They continued forward and made it to the forest before the end of the day, and through the forest they saw something they worried they would never see again.
"Civilization" They shouted at the same time and they ran the whole multi mile distance until they finally reached the first houses around the border. They walked through the town on the cobble pathways, the difference between them and the locals was stark. They were beat up covered in dirt, messy hair, torn clothes and had an exhausted air to them. As they shambled down the road someone came up to them and asked them a question.
"Hey do you two need a place to stay?" They turned around to see who the voice belonged to, and saw an older women looked to be in her thirties. The two boys looked at each other and then looked at the lady.
"Yes please" They said in unison.
Later that night after they had cleaned up, repaired their clothes and eaten some good food they sat in their temporary beds. The room the lady had led them to was an average sized room just enough space for two beds, one on each side of the room, and a night stand for each bed. Their dirty bags laid on the floors next to the beds they sat on. After collecting their thoughts they left their room to talk to the lady that led them their.
"Hey, just curious is there a reason you helped us?"Ryoichi asked.
He continued "We don't have anyway to compensate you financially"
The women who was sitting at the dinner table with two young kids, one looking about 8 and the other 10 responded, "Wait outside I'll come to tell you there"
The pair nodded in agreement and went outside to wait. After about 15 minutes the woman came outside.
"Thanks for waiting I wanted to make sure they finished dinner before i left the table"
"No problem, I just was curios why you helped us" Ryoichi stated
"Well people have been disappearing from our village lately" The lady continued
"Its really dangerous right now but usually it isn't this bad, something changed"
"Whats this got to do with us?"Kurose responded.
"Its mandatory to work in a job that brings you outside of the village for a year when you turn sixteen, I dont want to send my son on a suicide mission. Whatever it is already took the life of my husband" As she finished her sentence her voice changed from desperate to saddened.
"So What do you want us to do about it then?" Kurose asked.
"Well you two are monster hunters, right? Can't you two take it down.
Kurose choked on a stutter when he heard the words monster hunter, but before he could manage to get a sentence out Ryoichi had already blurted something out.
"Don't worry ma'm we're novices so i won't make any guarantees but we'll do our best" He said with a large smile on his face.
"Thank you so much"
"Just curious what "monsters" you got around these part any ways" Ryoichi asked mimicking an accent even he was unsure about.
"Well I don't know I've never left the village before, all I have to go off of is the stories I've heard from the scouts around here."
"Are there any hostile villages around here" Kurose asked before Ryoichi could.
"No thats what been worrying me, we've been completely at peace with all the villages around us for decades, we would know if we were under attack"
"Hmm, well thank you for providing us with the information you could"
"No problem, again thank you so much for your help I know all the towns folk would greatly appreciate it." She said with smile on her face as she walked back into her home. As soon as they heard the door shut Kurose and Ryoichi started talking amongst themselves again.
"Do you think at all before you talk" Kurose asked
"What do you mean"
"You just signed us up to fight "monsters" what ever the hell that even means"
"She said herself she's never left the village she probably heard an exaggerated story about a wolf or something and decided that was a monster, everyone knows the monsters under your bed aren't real, I guess everyone just learns at different rates"
"I guess so"
"Besides you wanted something out of the ordinary just as much as I did, also after all the help she offered us I figured we could offer some back, albeit theres probably not much we'll be able to do other than kill a wolf or something and bring it back maybe"
After finally agreeing helping out this village with its "Monster" Problem would be the best thing to do they headed inside and went to sleep to rest up for their long day of "Monster hunting ahead of them.
Ryoichi and Kurose spent the whole day wandering through the forest trying to find something hostile, but they were shocked to find absolutely nothing. It was the most peaceful stroll through the forest they had ever had.
"Maybe we should come back at night" Ryoichi asked.
"You said yourself, you don't think theres anything out here"
"Well I was hoping we could at least find a wolf or something to bring back"
"Well it seems like the wolves come out at night, maybe we can come back then and find one"
They headed back back to the village to relax for a couple hours while waiting for nightfall. While walking down the stone paths kids kept coming up to them and thanking them.
"Well I guess the news about our little ordeal has gotten around."
The kids kept giving them little gift like flowers and pictures they had drawn. They also would say things like,
"Thank you sir"
"You guys are gonna kill the monsters, right"
And various other bits odd gratitude and encouragement.
"I guess the kids are really scared of whatever it is out there, although that doesn't mean much, kids are scared if everything"
When they went to a spot to get food they were greeted with multiple people offering to pay the bill. After they got back to their room they sat in silence for a moment.
"SHIT!" Ryoichi silently yelled while grabbing his head in an exaggerated manner
"I didn't realise everyone believed this monster nonsense, what are we supposed to do about this"
"I told you to think before you speak"
"I said we were novices and then someone went and got everyone's hopes up."
"Well what do you suppose we do? Still want to try again at night?"
"With the whole village waiting on us theres no way a wolf will pass. I thought we'd be tricking single woman not a whole village.There's gotta be at least one person here who knows what a wolf is."
"So then you wanna ditch this place in the moring if we don't find anything then?"
"Not really, trying the wolf idea ranks a lot higher in my head." Ryoichi stared into space, thinking of ways to handle the situation. He continued
"Well, I'm gonna walk around town to burn time you comin?"
"Sure, I don't got anything better to do"
After a couple hours had passed the started to leave the village. All day the villagers had warned them not to leave the village at night. However they didn't pay it much mind. As long as what they were fighting wasn't human they weren't worried. Right as they were about to leave the a young girl ran up to them.
"Wait! My cats been missing will you look for it"
"Huh" Ryoichi turned around.
"My cats missing and want her to be safe"
"Well we'll keep an eye out for any cats" Ryoichi responded with a kind smile on his face.
"Thank you sir" The girl said as she ran home.
And the two continued into the forest.
They continued east looking for something but all they found was more trees and an extreme lack of anything that wished them harm.
"Oh man, theres really nothing out here" Ryoichi said through a disappointed sigh.
"Well what do you want to do we can't keep role playing as monster hunters forever, we gotta find a job sooner rather than later."
"I know but…" Ryoichi was cut off by a meow that echoed through the forest, well… what sounded like a really good imitation of a meow.
"Hey I guess we can at least bring that cat home so we don't seem like complete failures"
They both looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They headed slowly towards the source of the noise. As they got closer they saw a cat sitting on a rock, licking its paw. Ryoichi crouched down and slowly approached the cat, trying to call it over in a quiet friendly voice. Slowly creeping closer, the cat looked at him and meowed. He continued slowly, focusing on not scaring the cat away. As he approached the cat something broke his concentration, a noise, from behind him. He heard a mimicked meow, and as he attempted to look behind him he felt something attack his back. It felt like four daggers simultaneously slicing his back. He fell to the floor after being slashed, he could feel the blood start to trickle down his back.
"WHAT HAPPENED!" Kurose yelled to Ryoichi, who was now laying face first on the ground. He couldn't respond as he tried catching his breath. After not receiving an answer he ran over to aid him. Once Kurose reached Ryoichi he noticed the slashes on his back. He helped him onto his shoulder.
"What happened?" Kurose asked Ryoichi who was wincing from the pain shooting out from the cuts in his back.
"I was hoping to ask you I couldn't see it was behind me"
"I didn't see anything"
"What"
Ryoichi noticed the slight moonlight bending around an invisible object heading towards them. He grabbed his sword and and pushed Kurose to the side. He held the sword in front of him to block the object flying towards him. Kurose, now on the ground, looked on shocked as he saw Ryoichi's sword recoil from something that wasn't there. A long tear appeared clothes covering his chest, although the cut resulting in the tear wasn't nearly as deep as the cuts on his back. He reached to feel his chest and assess the the damage. After deciding he was ok he looked at Kurose. "We gotta get that cat"
"Ok" Kurose answered. He had tons of questions, swirling through his head, but he decided that he would focus on the immediate threat on front of them before asking. Ryoichi lunged at te cat but before he could strike it, it ran away.
Ryoichi and Kurose chased the cat for what felt like miles. As they ran through the forest they could hear long mimicked meows echoing through the forest.
"Whats going on" Kurose asked, breathing heavily from intense running.
"I'm not sure but I have a feeling that cats our monster"
They ran further and further east, trying to catch the cat. After running for what felt like an eternity they reached the end of the forest and hit a wall of mountains. They watched the cat hop up the mountain as quickly as it possibly could. Looking at the mountains it reminded them of the ones surrounding their village, except these ones were much taller, these ones also looked like the stretched endlessly in both directions.
The two guys looked at each other. "Well I think we should continue trying to catch it, its what we've been trying to do this whole time anyway, isn't it?" Ryoichi asked. "I suppose we wouldn't be very good monster hunters if we just let this thing run rampant, huh?"
"I guess we agree them?" Without wasting any time they nodded at each other in agreement and began their ascent into the mountains.
They climbed the fragile terrain. Every step they took the could feel the rocks beneath their feet shift and crumble. The higher they climbed the more nerve wracking it was. They had lost track of the cat at this point but they wanted to look over the top of the mountain to make sure they weren't chasing the dangerous monster to another population dense area. They were reminded of the cold weather they were experiencing previously when the started to have to climb through the snow. They were being as careful as possible not to cause aby sort of avalanche from the accumulated snow. The sun began to rise and they could see just how far they had come from their starting place. They couldn't even see their village even from such a high point. They looked west and could see the forest and the snow covered trees. Some roofs from the village they had stayed at, and even farther than that the snow covered field they spent days trudging through.
After hours of climbing they hit a steep plateau. But their minds had been made up, they were going to see what was on the other side of the mountains, so they decided start scaling the wall in front of them. The progress they made going up skyrocketed once they started their climb straight up, but the anxiety they felt looking down also increased. It had been almost a whole day after they started climbing but they finally reached the top, although instead of feeling triumphant they instead felt dead tired. They crawled along the peak to see what was on the other side but what they saw shocked them.
5
They saw a giant metal wall. It was just shorter than the mountains it was behind, as if they were there to hide them. They stared wordlessly at the impossibly large structure, that stretched endlessly in both directions.
"Wha-... wha… what is this?" Ryoichi choked on his words, trying to push them out through his shock.
"I… don't know"
They both walked towards the wall. The wall was started at the base of the mountain, so thats where they headed. The descent was a lot quicker as the base her was a lot higher than the one on the other side. As they worked on navigating down the steep slippery mountain, Ryoichi slipped sliding down the rest of the hill. Kurose reached out to try and grab his hand, losing his footing and following close behind. They tumbled to the base of the walled side. The scrambled to their feet as quickly as possible. They decided to walk along the wall to see if it stretched on as long as it appeared. After hours of walking they found an odd metal door with a metal knob sticking out of it. On the other side of the door there was another trail of mixed up snow stretching as far as they could see. "Looks like someone had they same idea as us" Kurose said.
They opened the door and inside they saw a cozy looking lounge. The lights were dimmed, most of he lighting came from the fire in the under the mantle. There was furniture that was needlessly extravagant. A couch and chaise made from a dark mahogany upholstered with red velvet. Walking in the snow melted off their clothes from the noticeable increase in temperature.
"Whats with this place" Ryoichi said looking around the splendid room.
"I don't know but it doesn't look like anyone's been here recently"
"This cup of tea is cold" Ryoichi inspected the cup on the table in the middle of the rug. Just as they sat down on the comfortable seats they heard a ding from the corner of the room. Just as they turned to look at the source of the noise two panels of the door open to two men in suits walking out. The two men looked to be middle aged, about 35. They had black suits and black glasses on. The glasses combined with their blank expressions mad it impossible to tell what their intentions were."Please wait here" One of the men said. "Uhh… ok?" Ryoichi said, unsure of what would happen if he tried to refuse. "Would either of you like any cookies or tea" The other man asked. "I'll take some"Ryoichi said hesitantly. "Ill also have some as well" Kurose echoed. The two men nodded and then synchronously left the same way they came through the walls. Ryoichi laid his stuff on the floor by the chaise he was sitting on. He then laid his head down and shut his eyes. "Are you just gonna go to sleep?" Ryoichi asked.
"Well I don't think trying to run is gonna benefit us at all"
"So your just gonna sit here and wait?"
"Well they told us too and they're offering us free food and drinks, this seems like the most beneficial thing for us now"
"You aren't worried about them poisoning anything?"
"What would be the point? They are clearly very powerful, if they wanted to kill us the secrecy would be unnecessary"
"I guess your right" After they both agreed, Kurose followed suit setting his things aside and laying his heald down on the couch he was witting on. Between the warm temperature and the dimmed warm lights made it the perfect environment to dose off in. As they listened to the fire crackling they finally fell asleep.
After an unknown amount of time had passed the same ding they had heard earlier woke them up. The two men walked out of the same part of the wall the had disappeared to. This time they returned with the cookies and tea they had promised. Neither Ryoichi nor Kurose had any idea how much time had passed. They felt like they had gotten some actual rest so assumed it had been at least a couple of hours. They sat up to eat the snacks placed on the table in front of them, they rubbed their sleepy eyes. Before the men disappeared into the wall again they turned towards the room and said "Archon Venn will be ready to talk to you soon" they turned back to the whole in the wall as the panels closed behind them once again. They sat there silently eating the snacks they were given. They both had hundreds of questions swirling through their heads, but they knew neither of them had any answers to them so they remained silent.
A couple hours went by, their tea was gone, so were the cookies and they were about ready to go back to sleep when they were interrupted by that annoying ding. This time when the walls opened the two men called them over. "Grab your stuff, you will not be returning" So they grabbed the few things they had brought and followed them into the room in the wall. As soon as they were in the room they noticed it was very small compared to the previous room they had been in. It was also very metallic with a rail around the the whole room and mirrors on the back wall above the railing. They sat their in the room full of anxiety as they had no idea what too expect. As soon as the walls closed behind them the glowing red number above the doors started counting up. There was a weird sense of pressure being exerted onto them, not to much but enough it was noticeable.
Standing there waiting for something to change, Ryoichi caught his reflection in the mirror, he was shocked at what he looked like. The pales under his eyes reflected how tired he felt, he was covered in dirt and his clothes were torn up. Once the doors opened again, they saw a new room. This room was completely different from the one they were in previously. The new room was a hallway, stretching left and right lined with doors. It was completely metallic, metal floors and metal walls. The two men stepped out and started walking to the left.
The two boys looked at each other before deciding they should follow. The group walked about 80 steps before going into a door in their left. As soon as they saw what was in the room behind that door their jaws dropped. Long racks with all sorts of clothes hanging on them. All colors types and styles, hundreds of articles of clothing. " Change into some clean clothes". Before they could respond the metal door slammed behind them.
"What do you think we should do?" Kurose asked.
"Well we don't have much of a choice. Even if we tried fighting our way out we're incased in metal with no sense on how to leave.Well im changing my clothes cuz mine are covered in blood and mud"
"I guess they haven't done anything hostile towards yet."
Ryoichi grabbed a long sleeve shirt that was red with small black stripes. He went to take his shirt off but hesitated. As soon as he started to pull his shirt off he could feel the wound on his back start hurting. The shirt was stuck in the wound on Ryoichi's back. He accepted this was gonna hurt and braced himself. He brought his shirt up to his head and ripped it off as quickly as possible. The pain shot through his body like electricity. He stifled a scream but the tears welling up in his eyes showed he was in pain. The shirt had made his wounds bleed again. He put on the new shirt and a pair of blue jeans he had found.
Kurose found a blue tank top and some jeans identical to the ones Ryoichi had found. After they had finished getting dressed they heard the door open. The two men gestured at the two to leave back through the door.
Once the extra pressure ceased the doors opened once more, but instead of the cozy room they were previously in, they were instead met with a cold room. The floors were completely made of metal, about 20 feet above them all sorts of vents and tubes whirred. This room was the biggest by far. There was another set of furniture in this room as well. The furniture here was a lot more regular, with cool colors and materials that a regular person could afford. They sat back down although this time they were a lot more on edge. The sudden change in environment through them for a loop, they had no idea what to think. They had never seen a room like this before.
They sat on the firm furniture silently filled with anticipation. Between all the things that had happen they had no idea what to expect. After waiting several long minutes a man with a clean shaven face walks in the room, his high rank was evident given the numerous badges on his militaristic suit.
"So you guys are the new arrivals?" He said in a warm tone of voice, accompanied with an equally as welcoming smile. Ryoichi shot up and walked over with a very stiff stride. When he got over to the man lowered his gaze and shot his hand out to meet in a handshake. The nervousness in his shaky movements was evident. "My name Ryoichi, sir".
"Hehe, don't look so nervous kid"
"Wh.. what, oh my bad im sorry. I'm Ryoichi sir"
"Much better, I'm polmarco Ford. And who are you?" He looked over towards Kurose, who was still watching from the couch trying to figure out how much respect Ford would demand. He walked over clearly nervous but more relaxed than Ryoichi was.
"Sorry, I'm Kenshiro, but i generally go by my last name Kurose"
"Ah, well nice to meet both of you. I'm sure you two are beyond confused but hopefully Venn should be able to shed some light non whats going on for the two of you." He walked back through the door and the two boys followed him/
Ryoichi was significantly more relaxed than he was previously, although he was still on edge as he wasn't sure what kind of person this "Venn" person is.
After reaching there final destination they sat down. The room looked like a large office. The walls were completely made of metal similarly to the previous room. The chairs they were in were kind of uncomfortable, firm cushions and hard plastic. A man in a nice black suit sat in a large extravagant chair more akin to a throne. The throne looked like a protrusion from the floor the same color as everything else in the room sterilized of color. The only thing separating the two boys from venn was a desk connected to the gound. The man in the throne appeared to be in his mid-forties, bald with some wrinkles on his face. "Welcome" He said in a voice that could only be described as slithering into their eardrums.
After the two introduced themselves to Venn he returned the introduction.
"I am Archon Venn, nice to meet you too." He reached over his desk to shake their hands. "So any questions?" He asked folding his hands on his desk.
"Wel.. we.. uh.. The…" Ryoichi struggled to get a coherent question out not because he didn't have any questions but because he had so many he didn't know where to start. Kurose interrupted him, "What is this place?"
"Well we use this as a border to separate Noctis with the simulation you live… well lived in."
"Noctis? Simulation? What are those"
"Wow I really have to start from zero here, okay. You guys lived in a simulated environment controlled entirely by the people I put in charge of it"
"What?"
"Like the terrain, decisions made by village leader and weather all completely controlled by us"
"But.. why, what does that do to benefit you?"
"I've already shared this much about classified military information, thats not important to this conversation"
Ryoichi listening to the conversation unfolding in front of him pissed him off. Why does this guy think he has the authority to play god for thousands of people. All the war disease and death he sees on a daily basis and ignores. The thoughts going through his head wouldn't stop. He grit his teeth in anger he wanted to punch him in the face but refrained.
" And Noctis?"
" Thats the city outside of here and the capitol of my glorious nation of Mendacium Prime."
Ryoichi snapped out of the trance he was in to ask a question.
"You said used to live in?"
"Well I can't just let you go back you know too much"
The two boys tensed up from hearing those sinister words..
"Don't worry I don't mean it like your gonna die, but more like they can't know they're in a simulated experience. You guys are welcome to live here in Noctis, but there is a condition… well not much of a condition"
He paused for a moment.
"you guys… in exchange for your lives, are gonna help me"
They laid in the beds they had been assigned. After their conversation with the Archon they were escorted to a room with a large window. From the window was an indescribable view. Large buildings towering over roads twisting and stretching infinitely. The sky was covered in a thick smog that would surely have blotted out any light that could be shining down. The words the archon had spoke echoed in their heads, still in disbelief over everything that had happened over the past couple of days. They slowly drifted off to sleep getting ready for what was coming next.