Berserk Fan Fiction ❯ The Hanging Tree ❯ The Roots ( Chapter 2 )

Note: I do not own the great manga or anime that is Berserk. I only own people's souls.

A/N: This chapter is where the shit hits the fan so there's going to be some violence near the end of it. You have been warned.

 

The Roots

Chapter 2 of 5

 

“Sabina! Sabina! I need your help in the kitchen!” a slender woman with long brown hair shouted as she stood in the doorway of her cabin. With one hand on her hips and the other holding a ladle, she quickly went back inside after seeing her daughter's head breach over the horizon.

 

Sabina had been collecting wildflowers along the hillside outside her village. Her long earthen brown hair was tangled with bits and pieces of grass and flowers from her excursion. After hearing her mother's frantic cries, she hastily picked up the handful of flowers she had collected and quickly made her way back to the cabin. She knew that her mother needed her help since she was the only child left in the family.

 

She would have been the youngest of five if three of her siblings had survived past age four. Her only surviving sibling was her older brother Dagu, who had married and moved out to have a family of his own about a year ago. Sabina missed her older brother, since he was the only one who she played with as a child. But now she was fifteen and acting more and more like an adult each day, though she was still protected from the outside world in her own little bubble. It would only be a few years before she had to find herself a husband and also leave the sanctuary of home just as her brother did.

 

“I'm here mother! I brought along some flowers so we can have a lovely centerpiece during our meal,” Sabina said in between breaths as she quickly pulled out a vase and filled it up with some water to feed her thirsty flowers.

 

“Oh, they are quite lovely. Now clean-up a bit and help me get some of these vegetables cut before your father gets back from work,” Sabina's mother said as she smiled at her young daughter.

 

Merinda had always wanted a daughter to call her own since she first married twenty-two years ago. She had met with heartache twice after one of her daughters was stillborn and the other, Sabina's older sister, died a few months after her birth. She had a son, Temanai, who was born a year after Dagu, but he was killed when some mercenaries skirmished too close to their lands. A stray arrow caught the child in the throat while he was playing outside with his brother. Sabina never knew him since she was still a newborn when he died. Now that Sabina was the only child Merinda had left, she did everything in her power to protect her from the poisons of the outside world; preserving her in that protective bubble, that would inevitably be popped.

 

A small group of men gradually made their way back into the village as the sun was slowly making its decent down past the horizon. Each one of these men had their homes and family to return to after their grueling day working at the mill. As the group made its way deeper into the village, the men would slowly filter out and return to their home. They all looked forward to the steady walk back, but none of them anticipated the trek more than Raphizel. He would always work at the old mill and come home exhausted, but he never seemed to get tired of talking with his wife and daughter. They were his light in the trying days of darkness around him: his reason for going on each day. He worked in the day to provide enough money to support his family and came home at night to his loving wife and affectionate daughter. He was a simple man who wanted a simple life and this was his paradise.

 

Passing through the row of houses glowing with the faint aura of the hearth fire, Raphizel paused for a moment to look west past a break in the row between two of the wooden houses. He noticed a fiery red glow on top of the far hill a few miles away. It had been getting brighter and brighter each night he returned home. He hoped that the winds of fate would blow the blaze of battle westerly, but he feared that they were not going to change course.

 

“Worried about that battle over there?” said a man who came up and put his hand on Raphizel's shoulder.

 

“Yes, I fear that it will be soon when they finally reach the village, Mortius,” addressing the portly man next to him.

 

The two men stood side by side thinking deeply about the possible fate of the village if the battle that was being waged just over the horizon were to get any closer. To a bystander, the sight would seem almost comedic as a tall, lanky Raphizel was being held down by the strong hefty hand of Mortius, who isn't well known for his height or for being thin. Neither men wore expressions of worry or joy; they both seemed to stare off to the horizon at a fiery glow that rivaled the red haze of the setting sun.

 

Sensing the tension mounting in the air, Mortius just pat Raphizel roughly on the back to divert his attention, “So I hear that your boy is coming back to visit?”

 

“Yes, he says that he and his wife Tessia have something important to tell us,” letting a smile creep to his lips. “I know they want to surprise us, but I think I know what their big surprise is.”

 

“There's nothing that ever gets past you now, is there?” Mortius laughed boisterously. “But make sure he comes by and talks to his old Uncle Mort! I won't let you live it down if I don't get to see him and his lovely little wife.”

 

“I'll make sure he sees you,” reassuring the rotund man.

 

“That's my good man!” giving one last forceful pat on Raphizel's back before making his way back to his own house. “I won't hold you up from your wife and daughter any longer.”

 

Raphizel watched as his good friend and neighbor walked off to his house. Mortius lived in the last house on the row that connected the small village. His house was the closest to Raphizel's, which stood on top of a small hill about several hundred yards away from all the other houses in the village. The house was built long ago by his grandfather when the village was starting to grow. He was the only one who insisted on building his house separate from the long growing chain of houses strung together like two pairs of slithering snakes growing in ecstasy in the act of copulation. It wasn't because he didn't care for his neighbors, but he just enjoyed the peace and quiet: solitude away from all the gossip and overabundance of neighborly love.

 

But if one were to sit on the rooftop, he or she could easily see the whole village and even the faint speck of the old mill off in the far distance; a past time that Sabina and Dagu, with Raphizel before them, always enjoyed doing. Once when Dagu was only seventeen and Sabina ten, he had taken both of his children up to the rooftop to tell them to story of their little village. He remembered describing the buildings to his children like worms all strewn together and braided by some young child who was bored. He told him about all the people of the village and how long their families had lived here. That memory was precious to him. He also recalled how they both laughed and listened intently to his every words.

 

Walking up the path on the small hill, Raphizel looked up onto the roof and smiled. He hoped that Dagu was visiting because Tessia was pregnant. If he predicted the reason for their visit correctly, than he hoped one day he could take his grandchild up on that roof and retell the story of this quaint village. He could hear the faint sounds of Merinda and Sabina talking in the kitchen. His stomach gurgled a bit, telling him to hurry and sate it. He relented and opened the door to his home for what unfortunately would be the last time.

 

Sabina finished tidying up and pranced over to her mother's side. She had always enjoyed spending time with her mother during the day helping her with the garden or anything that needed to be done around the house. Setting the food on the table, Sabina quickly poked a bit at the hearth to keep the house warm as the sun's rays were dropping over the horizon. No sooner had she finished bringing the fire to a constant blaze that her father walked through the door.

 

“Papa, you're home!” Sabina jumped up to embrace the man.

 

“It's good to be home,” as he kissed his daughter on top of her head. “It smells like you and your mother cooked up a feast!”

 

“Only your favorite stew!” Sabina's mother walked in carrying two bowls of stew while she walked over to her husband to give him a kiss.

 

Their meals were eaten quietly with the occasional sounds of the clanking of spoons against the bottom of their bowls. Raphizel always enjoyed his wife's cooking, especially tonight. He helped himself to at least three servings of the hearty stew that never seemed to put any weight on the thin man.

 

“Oh papa! Do you like the flowers that I picked today for our centerpiece?” Sabina asked with a tiny sparkle in her eye.

 

“Of course I did dear. They are very lovely,” as Raphizel ran his hand through his daughter's hair. “Now go take the dishes and clean them up for your mother.”

 

“Yes papa,” Sabina said politely as she scrambled to collect everyone's bowls.

 

Once he saw that his daughter was out of earshot, he took a deep breath as he put his hand into his wife Merinda's. “The fighting is getting closer and closer to our village.”

 

“Do you think I should keep Sabina indoors from now on?” as she tightened her grip on her husbands hand, sensing his distress.

 

“I think that would be best. I know that we can't shelter her from the outside world forever, but I'd like to think we can at least try,” Raphizel sighed.

 

“Try not to worry, my dear. We can only hope that nothing horrible happens to her,” trying to reassure her husband. “If you want, we could ask Dagu to take her to his village. He will be here soon to visit and so far there haven't been any battles or signs of war where he lives.”

 

“Hm, perhaps. We'll just wait until Dagu gets here to discuss that,” squeezing his wife's hand once more before his daughter walked back into the den.

 

“I finally finished all the dishes!” Sabina shouted triumphantly. “Now, tell me about how things are in the mill?”

 

“Nothing different from yesterday,” Raphizel chuckled. “How about the village? I'm sure you went around the town when your mother wasn't looking to catch up on the town gossip,” as he winked at his wife.

 

“Papa! I think I'm mature enough not to sneak out of the house!” Sabina pursed her lips while putting both her hands on her hips. “I'm almost fifteen now!”

 

“Yes, yes you are dear. I was only joking,” Raphizel laughed exuberantly as his wife just giggled.

 

“Well, I guess you don't want to hear what everyone in the village is talking about,” she huffed and crossed her arms in front of her.

 

“No, I'm interested,” trying to stifle back some laughter.

 

“Oh, well, everyone in the village is excited that Dagu and Tessia are visiting,” she said quickly perking up. “I think Crissy may still be in love with him,” she said in a faint whisper.

 

“Oh, she's such a sweet girl. I hope she eventually finds someone to take care of her,” Merinda said despondently.

 

“Don't worry mother, she'll find somebody,” Sabina giggled like a child who knew a secret she couldn't keep. She eyed the vase with the flowers she picked today in the fields. The various colors of reds, yellows, and purples were splattered and splayed on top of green that just seemed to burst out of the vase. The colors were mesmerizing and slowly hypnotizing the girl to a droopy state as if the flowers were made of some mysterious sleeping powder. “I think I'll make a beautiful bouquet for Tessia when they finally get here. What do you think father?” Sabina said with a yawn.

 

“I think it's time for you to get to bed,” her father said, noticing the young girl's fatigue.

 

“But I'm not tired yet,” she said groggily before finally stretching her arms out in a stifled yawn.

 

“A young girl needs her rest if she wants to grow up to be a beautiful woman,” Merinda chided. “I know of a certain young lady who has been staying up until the wee hours of the morning waiting for her brother to come back.”

 

“But what if I fall asleep and then Dagu and Tessia arrive?” she whined.

 

“Then we'll wake you, now get to bed,” Raphizel smiled as he kissed his daughter's forehead before watching her drag her tired body to her room.

 

Merinda and Raphizel waited until their daughter had gone into her room and fallen asleep. They always talked about the uncertain fate of Midland and whether or not this endless war with the Chudor Empire would ever end. It was on nights like these that they would remember why they wanted to shelter their children from the harsh realities of the world that seemed to have little concern for anyone.

 

“I fear for her Raphizel,” Merinda said as she gripped the end of her apron with her two small hands. “I don't want her to suffer the same fate as our poor Temanai. I've lost too many children already and I don't want to lose another.”

 

“I know dear,” as he put his hands over his wife's. “We can only hope that Dagu will agree to letting her stay in his house. They may need her help eventually,” Raphizel said smirking, trying to distract his wife from the pain of losing her son.

 

“Yes, they might,” Merinda smiled. “But only if you're right in thinking that Tessia might be pregnant.”

 

“Have I ever been wrong?” Raphizel cooed as he put his hand on his wife's delicate face.

 

Merinda never answered his question as the door to their house burst open. Merinda faced the door and blanched as she saw the bloody body of Mortius stumble into her den. Raphizel quickly ran to the dying man who had an arrow jutting out of his back. He was able to catch his neighbor as Mortius' battered hand reached up and grabbed Raphizel's collar.

 

“Run,” the word was barely a whisper as it escaped Mortius' lips. He gazed into Raphizel's eyes showing him all the horrors that he had seen and endured before they finally glazed over and the last shred of life left his body.

 

Raphizel barely had time to think before three armored men raced into his house. Even with Mortius' warning, there was no chance for any of them to escape. Raphizel shut his eyes as he saw one of the men run towards him with his sword raised above his head and prayed that Merinda and Sabina's deaths would also be swift.

 

* * *

 

A blood-curdling scream cut through the air like a knife and Sabina shot straight up in her bed. The scream sounded close—too close. Fearing the worst, she quickly grabbed her robe and pushed open the door to her room only to see a sight that would forever be burned into the depths of her consciousness. She saw the broken and bloody bodies of both her father and Mortius huddled in a sickening heap on the floor of her den. A man with a large bloody sword hovered over them like a vulture feasting on the dead corpses. Her mother was sprawled on the table, held down by another man. She looked over at her daughter and tried to shout again, but the man above her punched her in the face to silence her scream.

 

Sabina wanted to scream, she wanted to run, but her body wouldn't move. She just stared with her mouth agape and her small hands trembling at the horrid scene before her. The flowers she had picked earlier were tramped under the foot of the man about to rape her mother. The broken shards of the vase were mingling with the blood of her father and Mortius. Instinctively, she took a small step back only to step into the body of another man. She tried to face the man behind her, but before she had time to turn around and face the mysterious figure a hand covered her mouth and shrouded everything surrounding her in complete darkness.

 

End of The Roots

 

(continued…)