Role Playing Fan Fiction ❯ Shunned by Society ❯ Shunned by Society ( Chapter 1 )

The trees rush by in a blur as I race through the forest. The Nara Period of Japan was a harsh time to live. The moon cast its light down, lighting up the trees in a soft glow. My black clothes blended in with the shadows, my scarf whipping behind me. I heard a sound of something cutting through the air towards me. Quickly I went into a side roll before bounding back up and continuing to run.

 

I heard a thud as the man's knife embedded itself into the tree next to me. My heart accelerated as I realised just how close my chaser was to my current location. I skidded to a stop and leaped up, grabbing onto a low branch and climbed like a squirrel quickly into the tree. Then I crouched on the branch around ten metres from the ground and silently watched, waiting for my pursuer to pass and for me to make my escape. I heard him getting closer and then held my breath as he passed below me.

 

Then he stopped, right under my branch. The moonlight lit up his body. He wore a white shirt and black pants along with an apron wrapped around his waist. His knife gleamed in his hand as he looked around the area. I realised that people seldom tend to look up. He grumbled something before turning and wandering back through the forest, mumbling something like `thieving Hayato brats' and disappearing from view. I let out the pent up breath I hadn't realised I had been holding and stayed still for a few more seconds to be sure, then I climbed down, jumping the last five metres to the ground to land in a crouch. I pulled out the bread, cheese and bread from my top, grinning broadly before running to the cave at the edge of the village.

 

`Me and Arika will eat well tonight' I thought, glad I managed to get something for the two of us. I sighed before placing them back in my shirt and picking up the pace. I reached the cave around nine, judging by the moon. I called out “taka shinoku tame za chousen”. These were our code words meaning `falcon rising to the challenge' I heard a “raikou”, meaning enter. I crawled through the bush and emerged in a dark cave that twisted and dipped down. I walked around two bends and down some stairs that I had carved from the rock and brushed aside the cloth to emerge in our home. My sister sat on the floor, patching up our pants and tops.

 

“I got food” I said proudly, holding out the food I had managed to retrieve. Arika smiled as I sat down with her. Together we held hands and said “Zanson tame raibou”, the Hayato saying for “Survive to live”. We broke the bread and dug in, saving the fruit and cheese for tomorrow's breakfast. Arika smiled and chewed the bread slowly, enjoying the taste since we didn't know when we would be able to eat again after our food is gone. Once we finished Arika packed up while I gathered the branches from the corner.

 

“Goodnight” I said as Arika blew the light out.

“Goodnight Kousetsu”

 

I woke up and got out the last of our food. She woke up as I prepared breakfast for us and she stretched before joining me. I got dressed. My pants had holes in them and my shirt was missing a sleeve but my boots were fine.

“I'll be back by midday” I said as I placed my scarf on for protection against the biting wind. She smiled as I left the cave and ran to the village of Shimizu.

 

I walked through the streets, getting suspicious glances from the people. I walked toward a store and knocked into it.

“Sorry sir” I mumbled, picking up the fruit that had been sent rolling. Tucking them into my shirt I quickly walked off, hoping he wouldn't notice.

“Hey you, come back here with my product! Catch him, that Hayato boy stole my produce” the stall seller yelled. As soon as I heard him yell I ran, weaving in between people as arms reached out to grab me. Then I stopped as a person grabbed a hold of my scarf. They pulled me back, almost choking me in the process before they held onto my shoulders to keep me still. Two officers came and grabbed an arm each, dragging me to the prison house.

“Hey let me go” I yelled as people shook their heads and said “he deserves it, he is a Hayato scum”. That silence me, it cut deeply.

 

They threw me into a cell and left me there. As the sun sank I grew more worried about Arika, she didn't know how to protect herself. I took a breath and cleared my mind, thinking of a way to escape. I looked at the cell door bars and estimated the distance between them. I sucked in, making my slim body slimmer and managed to fit through the bars.

`Yes' I thought as I ran out of the building and raced into the forest. I managed to throw off the officer that followed me and stopped to catch my breath. I ran to our cave, calling out our code words but no one answered. Paling and getting a bad feeling, I called out again but still only silence answered.

 

I ran into the cave and stopped at what I saw. Arika was slain, multiple gashes and cuts lay open her body and one went right across her neck. “Arika, no” I muttered, holding back tears. Then I set my face. I grabbed my weapons and night clothes from under our beds and blew out the light. I looked back, my angry silver eyes flashed in the darkness before I ran into the woods, the shadows of the trees swallowing the last survivor of the Hayato Clan in its concealing darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keira Joy English Story 1,000 words