Princess of Silver Sands - Chapter 24
Posted by: Kura in Writing, Princess of Silver SandsPrincess of Silver Sands
Book 01
Chapter - 24 - Special Training
Chapter Twenty-Four
Special Training
“I’ve found a place… a beautiful place…” A woman with long blonde hair, dressed in a long flowing pure white gown, sits within a guardian of many flowers, an enchanting glow surrounding her as she sat there humming peacefully to herself as her hair flew slowly behind her like an artistic painting. A pair of large white wings on the woman’s back open and delicately positioned around her. “Would you like to come here with me? Do you want to call this place your home?”
“Yes…” There are several cries as strange and horrific creatures start to pull themselves to their feet, a race of creatures that were dying in the wounded and fruitless world they were forced to live in, each strange animal staring at the image that was being displayed before them in aw, some of the older creatures staring at the perfect scene, it a place that was all too familiar to them. “I want to go there!”
A young female demon that looked the most human out of all the other creatures there gets to her feet, she also staring up at the image before her in aw. “What is this place…?”
The still image continued to shine as the voice that had first spoken continues her speech. “It is the world that once belonged to us, but was then taken away from us. We were banished to this lifeless plain because we choose to follow the new leader, this is the world that once belonged to and has been taken from us. Do you want to take it back from them? Are you willing to fight to the death for it?”
The winged female child narrows her eyes, she knew that not only her but all the creatures with her would gladly fight to leave this place, a place that promised them only a slow and suffering death. “Take me there… and I will help you take it back, this home that was stolen.”
The memory plays over and over within her head. The reason why she fought to hard for so many years, never leaving the battle, never questioning further than what she knew.
The winged female demon was tending to the wounds she had received from the panther when she had entered the town. Running into that wildcat would never turn out favourable on her side, the panther a constant thorn, a grudge that had grown to becoming personal constantly held between the two.
She turns back to the faded image of the town she had once entered, knowing that it would be impossible for her to enter again as the Zimiko knight had probably warned everyone within the town of her presence. “I was so close…” She refuses to take her eyes off the place she was now greatly distanced from. “I felt it… the demon mother’s curse… our key.”
*******
“I know what you are! You’re a demon in the form of a human.”
Li looks up from her drink as she stares back at the female competitor she had defeated in the last round. Rena pointing her finger at her as she gave Li this accusation.
Li questions Rena about this. “A demon? Isn’t that a rather rude accusation?”
It was near the end of the celebration and most everyone had cleared out, Rena and Li some of the few people remaining.
Rena continues her accusation with no doubt in her mind. “The power you displayed, forbidden magic only followers of demons know how to use, and you’re weak to holy magic… a trait all forbidden magic users carry.”
She narrows her eyes as she continues. “But the trait that most gives you away is so obviously displayed that it’s painful to me that no one else had realized yet!” She lifts her fingers points to Li’s face. “Your eyes…”
She stares at Li’s purple eyes, they a colour not natural to humans. “No human carries such a colour, but all demons eyes are coloured exactly like yours.”
Li frowns glaring over at her, not bothering to deny anything. “What do you intend to do about it?”
Rena smiles to herself, the answer to that question being easy. “I’ll tell everyone about you, they’ll go against you. Even the people that like you now will turn on you.” She keeps her finger pointed to Li. “You will be killed!”
*******
The group is sleeping in a new room, one with two large beds to sleep in instead of the one they were limited to before. Angel and Li both sharing one of the beds, while Hitsumi and Echo share the other.
The princess is sleeping soundly until she is disturbed by her face getting smacked by the back of Li’s hand, the blonde looking as if like she was having another rather unpleasant dream.
Angel quickly sits up holding the side of her face in pain as she quickly looks around her for an explanation as to what had happened. “Who hit me!?” Seeing that everyone was asleep she turns to the stirring figure that was closest to her. “You… you can’t even sleep normally!”
Angel gets out of bed not wanting to fall victim to another one of Li’s attacks. “I’m awake now… no sense in ever trying to get back to sleep when I have to share a bed with her.”
She begins to get herself dressed, taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror once she had finished. “I can’t wait to get back to the castle. Wearing the same outfit for so long is kind of disgusting…”
There is a sudden knock at the door, the unexpected sound causing the princess to jump. She quickly turns towards the door trying to keep her heart from racing. “Visitors? This early in the day?”
She takes a deep breath to calm herself down, quickly fixing her hair so that it wouldn’t look too un-presentable before walking over to the door to answer it, opening the door only enough for her to look through to see who was on the other side. “Hello?”
Angel is greeted with Cookie’s cheerfully face, the energetic girl holding her hand up to great her almost bouncing on spot. “Good morning!”
Angel stares at her quietly, even she was not as awake as Cookie was in the morning. “Good morning…”
Cookie pushes the door open a little further as she tries to look inside the room. “Is Li up?”
Angel steps out of the way, allowing Cookie to enter the room. “No she’s sleeping, but I will gladly wake her for you.”
Cookie stops beside the bed Li was sleeping in, staring down at Li curiously. “Still sleeping? I told her that I was going to repay her today… why would she still be sleeping?”
Angel walks up to the bed Li is sleeping in, Li still looks to be going through the nightmare she had hit Angel during. “Maybe she didn’t expect you to come this early, Li isn’t exactly a morning person you know.”
Cookie looks from Li over at Angel. “Why is she twitching so much in her sleep?”
Angel laughs lightly at the comment before explaining the situation to Cookie. “Li always has spooky nightmares when she sleeps.” She looks down at Li a little perplexed. “Now… how am I supposed to wake her up without having her attack me in her sleep because of her nightmare…?”
Cookie gasps in disbelief. “She attacks in her sleep!?”
Angel shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know actually, but I don’t want to find out the hard way.” She looks around her for a method that would be somewhat safe, spotting Echo’s staff resting by the side of his bed. She picks it up holding it towards Li and poking her with it. “Hey… hey Li…”
She looks over at Cookie shaking her head, unsure of what she was supposed to do next. Cookie hums to herself as she too begins to think of a way to wake Li. “Well… I always wake up from loud noises…”
Angel looks back down at Li. “Really?” She grasps Echo’s staff with both of her hands holding it above Li.
Cookie nervously watches the princess, unsure of what she had in mind. “What are you doing! You’re not going to hit her are you?”
Angel shakes her head. “No, I’m just going to wake her up. She’ll be just fine.”
Angel holds it next to her as she pulls the staff back behind her, quickly swinging it forward and slamming it against the wall creating a very loud banging sound right above Li’s head.
Li gasps in shock as her eyelids shoot open and she gets up, quickly starting to back away from the noise until she runs out of bed and falls to the ground managing to back herself off the other side of it, a painful thunk filling Angel and Cookies ears when Li painfully hits the floor.
Li wasn’t the only person Angel had managed to wake from the noise, Echo sitting up and clinging onto Hitsumi screaming while Hitsumi was franticly looking around him for where the noise had come from. “WHAT WAS THAT!?!?”
Angel nervously looks back at Hitsumi, having never expecting a reaction quit like that. “I was just getting Li out of bed…”
Echo opens his eyes looking back at the princess. “Waking Li!?” His eyes fall on the staff the princess was holing, the young wizard quickly letting go of Hitsumi and making his way towards Angel holding out his hand for Angel to give his staff back to him. “That’s my staff Angel… please be careful with it I don’t want it broken.”
Li is lying on the floor staring at the ceiling in shock, panting slowly for breath.
Angel hands Echo his staff back before walking over to the other side of the bed to confront Li. “Li… you have a visitor.”
Li looks over at Angel still shocked over the unpleasant awakening.
Cookie walks up next to Angel, kneeling down and looking Li over curiously. “Li… are you okay?”
Hitsumi turns pale white when he hears the voice of the other girl. “Cookie!” He quickly jumps to the other side of his bed picking up his shirt and putting it on as quickly as he could. “How come you always walk in on me when I’m topless!?”
Cookie smiles as she gets back to her feet turning towards Hitsumi. “I never walked in on you the first time… you came to me that way.”
Echo watches Hitsumi a little confused. “Doesn’t matter anyways, you’re a guy.”
Hitsumi looks back at the others now with his shirt and jacket on. “That’s not the point! You don’t run around half naked in front of pretty girls!”
Echo gives him as awkward stare. “But you have no problem with sleeping half naked in the same bed as me?”
Hitsumi frowns as he looks back down at Echo. “You make that sound so creepy… and it was warm all right? I can’t sleep when it’s too warm I keep waking up every half an hour!”
Li begins to get to her feet, glaring over at Angel in anger aware that the princess had been the one to so rudely wake her up. “You’re dead…”
Angel quickly begins to back away from Li. “What!? No Li! You don’t want to kill me! You’re supposed to be protecting me remember?!”
Hitsumi grabs onto Li’s shoulders stopping her from approaching the princess and turning her in the direction Cookie was in. “Look Li, your friend is over!” Li turns away set on punishing Angel, Hitsumi grabbing onto both her and Cookie and pushing them towards the door of the room. “Why don’t you go talk to her outside and not kill Angel!!”
He pushes the two out of the room quickly closing the door behind them.
Li quickly turns around banging her fist against the door that Hitsumi had shut on her. “HEY! MY CLOTHES ARE STILL IN THAT ROOM!”
Hitsumi doesn’t look very willing to open the door for her just yet. “I’m afraid that you’re going to have to swear you’re not going to try and kill Angel before I can let you in.”
Li looks back at Cookie for some sort of answer to her current problem, Cookie shrugging her shoulders unable to give her one. Li glares back at the door unwilling to let the action slide. “I cannot promise you Angel’s safety.”
“Then I can’t let you in.”
Li growls angrily as she slams her fist into the door one more time, she needing more then what she had on right now. “Come on! I’m not going to run around the city like this!”
Hitsumi crosses his arms as he stands with his back leaned against the door, still unwilling to let her back in. “Well if its clothes you need, I can throw them out the window for you.”
Li looks less then pleased with the idea, her anger mounting ever more then before. “Hitsumi if you even think of making me more pissed off then I already am-”
Li is interrupted by the sound of the window in the room opening, followed by the fluttering of her clothes being thrown out of it. She quickly turns around running down the hall to attempt to get to her articles of clothing before some random person decided to run off with it. “Asshole!”
Cookie sighs as she follows behind Li not wanting to loose her, after all she had the whole day planned out for the two of them.
After finding and picking her clothes up off the streets Li is dressed and walking alongside Cookie as the two of them make their way through the city.
Cookie of course, was being herself and constantly talking, the young girl responsible for pretty much the entire conversation. “Hitsumi sure is funny isn’t he? He’s so shy when it comes to girls you know! I never would have expecting someone like you ending up with him.” She pauses nudging Li in the side. “No wait! I forgot, you’re not going out with him because you’re in denial!”
Li looks over at Cookie slightly annoyed. “What am I supposed to be doing with you today anyway?”
Cookie laughs at Li’s response, quick to remind her of what she had said yesterday. “Don’t you remember? Yesterday at the celebration I told you I was going to repay you. So that’s what I’m doing!”
Li tries to think back to the celebration remembering that Cookie had mentioned something like that. “Repaying? What for?”
Cookie throws a few punches in front of her as she dances around Li. “For beating the self centered wench of a so called fighter Rena!”
Li watches the energetic girl unsure if there really was any reason for Cookie to repay her for that. “It really wasn’t a big thing… I would have done it even if you hadn’t been involved.”
Cookie jumps behind Li covering her eyes without warning and forcing Li to a stop. “Alright we’re almost there! You can’t look right now because I want it to be a surprise!”
Li sighs as she crosses her arm not really the type that liked surprises. “Does it have to be?”
Cookie begins leading Li through the city, guiding her towards their destination. “Yes!”
Soon Cookie brings Li to a stop, the excitement in her voice at its peek. “Okay are you ready!?”
Li reluctantly sighs knowing that the sooner she got the surprise over with the sooner she could go back to doing other things. “I guess…”
Cookie uncovers Li’s eyes yelling to her excitedly. “Surprise!”
Li opens her eyes looking ahead of her. There standing in front of her was the horse Hitsumi had bought for her to travel on, saddled and ready to go.
Li stares at the horse talking in a dull un-amused voice. “Oh… wow… It’s my horse…”
Cookie nods her head and she places her hands on Li’s shoulders. “Today’s your lucky day Li!”
Li looks away from the horse and back at Cookie. “Because you reintroduced me to my own horse?”
Cookie shakes her head Li completely missing the entire point. “No! It’s lucky because, today’s the day you learn to ride her!”
Li looks a little shocked to hear this. “Ride a Horse! How did you know I didn’t know how?”
Cookie looks casually to the side while holding her arms innocently behind her back. “Word gets around~”
Li frowns bitterly as she brings up the only possible way Cookie could have found out something like that. “Hitsumi complained about having to double saddle with me… didn’t he?”
Cookie smiles in an innocent manner, she pretty much admitting to Li with just the look on her face that she was right. “Well that is one way of word getting around.” Li frowns bitterly to herself, Cookie quickly at her side to try and clear things up. “But don’t worry! After today, you’ll never have to share a ride with him again!”
Li looks back at the horse, the offer was intriguing. After all, Li wasn’t too found of having to share days and days worth of travel time on the back of a horse with Hitsumi. “I guess that would be nice… Alright then, I’ll let you teach me how to ride a horse.”
Cookie claps her hands excitedly. “That’s the spirit! You’ll master the technique in no time at all I’m sure!”
Li reaches towards the horse’s harness, the horse snorting as it bites at Li, Li jumping back to avoid the horses attack, the animal succeeding in driving Li away from her.
Li glares back at the horse, in no mood for dealing with that kind of behavior. “Hey! Watch it or I’ll turn you into dog food!”
Cookie stares at the horse slightly confused by its actions. “That’s strange, she was nice to me when I saddled her…”
Li points accusingly at the horse. “You stupid brat! Who do you think you are!?”
Cookie watches the two of them, the whole situation puzzling her. “I wonder why she doesn’t like Li… that may make things a little more difficult…” She calls over to Li to get her to stop yelling at the horse and start following her directions. “Lead her this way and I’ll teach you the basics to start!”
Li makes a grab for the reigns but the horse pulls them away from Li, turning around galloping off to the other side of the corral.
Li’s glare towards the animal grows even more annoyed while Cookie shakes her head in confusion. “This is strange.”
Li turns back to Cookie hardly able to believe what was happening. “What’s that stupid animal’s problem!?”
*******
Hitsumi walks out of the hotel along with Echo and Angel and onto the streets, surprised to find that more then two halves of the people that had been there the day before had already left, he looks about him in amazement everything looking different now. “Wow! The town looks so big now without all those people to crowd it up.”
Echo walks up next to Hitsumi taking a deep breath and smiling. “Certainly is more relaxing.”
Hitsumi look back to Angel, the princess tiredly trudging along after them, he turns from her and looks down at Echo a little curious as to how soon they would be able to start their journey once again. “How much longer do you think Angel will want to sit around here for?”
Echo shrugs his shoulders. “I think all her energy was burned during the competition. She seems pretty tired… I mean you can tell just by looking at her.”
Angel tries to force herself to look more upbeat. “You’re wrong! I’m well rested and feeling absolutely fantastic!
Hitsumi sighs as he holds his hands behind his head. “What about Li? How long is she going to take before we can leave?”
Echo shrugs his shoulders once again. “I don’t know, I think that actually depends on when Cookie will let her leave.”
Hitsumi chuckles to himself at the mention of Cookie’s name. “That’s Cookie. She’s so cute.”
“Cute?” Angel looks disappointed to hear Hitsumi say this. “But you barely know her…”
Hitsumi looks back at the princess. “That doesn’t mean she’s not cute.” He looks back at her curiously. “Besides Angel… why would you care?”
Angel quickly turns away from him to hide her face that was now flushed red. “No reason…”
Hitsumi smiles as he explains further. “Cookie’s an adorable person, she’s almost there, but is still lacking in a few aspects to be my type.”
Angel seems to perk up at the mention of this information. “Really?” She looks back at Hitsumi wanting to know more. “How so? er.. I mean… what is your type in girls?”
Hitsumi shakes his head no not really comfortable with giving the princess information like that. “I can’t tell you…”
Angel looks disappointed to hear Hitsumi say this. “What? Why not?”
Hitsumi begins explaining unaware of just what he was babbling off of his top of his head. “It’s rude. It something guys talk about when they’re pissed drunk, watching stripers.”
The princess narrows her eyes, annoyed to hear Hitsumi admit that he did something like that to her. “What?”
The flat and deep tone to Angel’s response quickly clues Hitsumi in on what he had just done wrong. “I mean! Never mind, just forget I said anything!”
Angel crosses her arms stepping in front of Hitsumi, talking to him in a tone of voice that demanded an explanation to what she had just heard. “When have you gone to a place like that?”
Hitsumi takes a step back from her trying to find a way to repair the situation and get himself out of hot water. “Not anytime after meeting you I swear! It was all before when I didn’t have such important duties!”
Angel shakes her head in disbelief not understanding how she could have such strong feelings for someone with so many flaws. “You steal, run from the law, go to dirty bars… what kind of life do you live!? “
Hitsumi gives Angel a weird stare thinking that by now that answer would be quit obvious. “The life of a bandit…”
Fade pats Hitsumi on the back, surprising and catching him off guard. “Hey.”
Hitsumi quickly turns back to Fade, quickly trying to cover what he had just said. Although he suspected that Fade really wasn’t the Slayer of Bandits it was still wise not to take any chances. “-Is definitely not the life I would want to live. Me? Want to live like a bandit!? No way, filthy little buggers.”
Hitsumi begins laughing as if he had just cracked an amusing joke, the princess staring at him not understanding what Hitsumi was doing, nor understanding why he was doing it. “Hitsumi you’re confusing me…”
Fade chuckles to himself as he watches Hitsumi silently try and tell the princess not to talk anymore on the subject. Hitsumi soon turns back to Fade questioning him slightly calmer then before. “So Fade! What are you doing here?”
Fade smiles at Hitsumi willingly explaining the situation. “I was preparing to leave today, I thought that I would give my regards to Li before I left.”
Angel walks up next to Hitsumi looking up at Fade and questioning him about him. “Who is this?”
Echo looks over at Angel curiously. “How can you not know who he is? This is the man Hitsumi fought in the last round of the competition.” Angel’s face turns a pale white as Echo continues explaining. “You said you watched all his fights including the final round…”
Angel laughs in the same manner Hitsumi had earlier when he was trying to save himself from being known as a bandit. “I did! Of course I’ve seen him before who hasn’t!? What I mean is…” She stops looking back at Fade when something comes to her attention. “What I meant to say was… how does he know Li? Is he a friend of hers?”
Hitsumi leans towards Angel whispering into her ear. “Li’s boyfriend…”
Angel looks shocked to hear that this person was someone like that. “Really!? I never would have guessed that someone like her would have…” She trails off frowning at Hitsumi in a slightly annoyed manner. “Or are you just saying that to shut me up?”
Hitsumi turns back to Fade to finish dealing with him first. “Li’s not here, she disappeared not too long ago with a friend of hers.”
Fade looks a little disappointed to hear this. “Then I just missed her… How unfortunate of me. Of course, my timing has always been bad.” He tips his head politely to the group, but before he turns to leave he walks up to Hitsumi talking to him in a low voice so that only he would be able to hear him. “I consider you a friend Hitsumi, so I fell it is my responsibility to warn you.”
Hitsumi silently stands in place, curious as to what Fade would want to warn him about. Fade continues talking to Hitsumi in a low tone. “Be cautious of Li, she is not what she looks to be.”
Hitsumi narrows his eyes, this not the first time he had been told such a thing.
His father stops Hitsumi one more time before he leaves to sleep. “One more thing kid.”
Hitsumi looks back at him, not sure if what he had to say this time was worth hearing. “Yeah?”
His father turns to the edge of the camp in the direction Li had gone in. “Be cautious of Li.”
Hitsumi doesn’t understand this warning. “Li?”
Fade continues to explain the situation to Hitsumi. “Li a person with enough power to kill the both of us, even as a child she would have the strength to overpower us as we are right now.” He pauses for a moment tightening his fists. “The strength we carry will never be able to compete.”
Hitsumi looked unsure when it came to believing this information. “What are you talking about…? Li’s not that strong I’ve been able to beat her in a fight before.”
Fade shakes his head there plenty that Hitsumi had not yet seen about Li or worse yet was refusing to see. “Li is running and hiding from the things that have happened to her, and in this process she has confined the strength she carries from everyone’s sight.”
Hitsumi remains silent, Li having mentioned something about running to him at one point.
Li looks to grow even more distant from reality. “That place is where my life was ended.”
“Your life ended?” Hitsumi smiles in his usual manner commenting casually on what Li had said trying to lighten up the mood. “That’s impossible you still look and healthy and alive to me.”
Li closes her eyes her voice shaking slightly. “I left my life in my past, and my past in the West Continent… no mater what happens I don’t want it to catch up with me, so I’ve been running as far and as fast as I can.”
Fade continues with his warning. “She will not stay that way forever, as soon as she allows herself to remember her past and admit to herself that it actually happened, she will again gain the power she once had. She will betray you and kill you.”
Hitsumi remains silent, information like this was disturbing and definitely something someone would not want to hear.
Fade continues making sure that Hitsumi knew there was no way around the situation. “Even if she doesn’t remember her past, and you finish your journey to the end. Once she parts ways with you she will place you and your journeys in the back of her mind as well, and you too will be forgotten, just like everything else in her history.”
He closes his eyes. “If you then tried see her again… and then tried to get Li to remember you once more… she will kill you… Memories and things from her own past are things she hates and has been running from with all of her strength, and if she can’t run from it she will try to destroy it.”
Hitsumi turns back to Fade, knowing that if Fade knew all this he would know the answer to the question he had concerning this. “What is she running from…? And why is she running from it?”
Fade keeps silent unwilling to talk any deeper into the situation, he instead putting Hitsumi’s own lack of knowledge against him. “If you knew her better you would understand.”
Hitsumi doesn’t say another word regarding it, the bandit staring directly ahead of him at nothing as his mind tried to make sense of everything Fade was telling him.
Fade walks past Hitsumi and the others lifting his hand and bidding him and his group farewell. “Good luck on your travels Hitsumi, I’m sure you need it more then you or even I may realize you do.”
Hitsumi slowly turns back to Fade, wishing him the same even though it was not what his mind was on at this moment. “You too…”
Echo runs past Hitsumi stopping in front of him and lifting his hand into the air, waving fondly to Fade. “Thanks for all the drinks!”
Hitsumi watches Fade leave in silence. It had now been two people that had warned him of Li. This couldn’t be a coincidence of any sort, there had to be a good reason for the warnings.
His thoughts are interrupted when a younger woman approaches him catching his attention, another girl close by her side. “Excuse me, we’re looking for a friend of ours…”
Hitsumi looks down at them, the interruption ending any further thoughts on the situation and bringing him back to reality. “A friend?”
The second girl nods her head, speaking up before the other one could say anything. “Yes… I saw you in the finals of the competition, so I thought maybe you would know. We’re looking for Rena. Umm, I think you might recognize her best as the girl who lost in the final round of the woman’s competition. You haven’t seen her anywhere have you?”
Hitsumi looks a little surprised to hear this, after all Rena didn’t seem the type to suddenly loose her way, when Hitsumi had seen her she was always so confident and sure of herself. “You lost her?”
The girl shakes her head. “No, she’s gone missing. She didn’t come back to her hotel last night after the celebration.”
The bandit looks rather concerned to hear this. “Really? That’s strange…”
The girls look rather upset, having found yet another person with no clue as to where their friend was. “We were hopping that maybe you had seen her…”
Hitsumi shakes his head no, not having seen her at all since the celebration that night. He turns to Echo wondering if maybe he had caught sight of her. “Echo have you seen the girl they’re looking for? Rena, from the female competitors.”
Echo shakes his head no as well, he too had not seen her anytime after the competition’s celebration. “No, I haven’t seen her since the party last night.”
Both of the girls look upset to hear that neither had caught sight of her. “Really… well thanks for your time.” The two quickly run off hoping to question anyone else that hadn’t already left the town.
*******
Li lands on the ground having been bucked off the horse again, she gets back to her feet, watching the horse bitterly as she rubbed her soar butt. The animal was being unbelievably inoperative with her. “I don’t think this can be done…”
Cookie crosses her arms annoyed to hear Li say such a thing. “Can’t be done? Li! Everyone you know can ride a horse! Even that girly girl Angel you travel with! I can’t imagine a girl like her outdoing you Li.”
Li watches at the horse eyes her from the other side of the corral as far away from Li as it was able to get. “But it doesn’t like me!”
The horse whinnies as it stomps its front hoof on the ground, as if warning Li not to come near her again.
Li of course takes the horse’s gesture as a challenge and begins storming towards the animal, a hand grabbing onto her shoulder and stopping her as Kara’s voice curiously questions Li on the rather strange situation she had stumbled upon. “What’s going on here?”
Cookie looks over at Kara happy to see her, she easily explaining what was happening. “I’m trying to teach Li how to ride a horse…” She looks back at the horse who was eyeing Li. “But her horse won’t let her on her back and keeps throwing Li off.”
Kara looks from Li to the horse. “Well… how long have you had this horse for?”
Li watches as the horse begins circling the corral in a run, to jumpy to stay in one spot. “Since I started traveling.”
Kara stares at Li, barely able to believe what she had just heard. “What? And you’ve never been able to ride it?”
Li shakes her head. “No, I don’t know how to ride horses at all.”
Kara continues to stare at Li. “So then you go everywhere by foot?”
Li nods her head. “That’s how it was done before I got mixed up with Hitsumi… because I didn’t know how to ride one I double saddle with him, so we’re just use her as a pack horse for now.”
Kara watches the horse as it turns and runs straight towards her and Li, Li quickly getting out of the way while Kara stays on spot knowing that the horse would be smart enough not to run past her, the animal wanting only to scare them into running not run them over. “You know you wouldn’t have this problem if you didn’t buy such a temperamental horse.”
Li watches the horse being sure to get out of the way if it came at her again. “How was I supposed to know?”
Kara walks over to Li as she begins explaining to her what needed to be done. “What you have to do is gain her respect and trust, pamper her, brush her, feed her. It will take a long time but-”
Li interrupts her she not having the time to do something like that. “I’m not sucking up to a damn horse! And I don’t have time for anything that will take a long time anyway.”
Kara shakes her head. “Well fighting the horse isn’t necessarily the best thing to do…”
Li runs towards the horse as it runs at her, Li managing to grab onto its harness and bring it halt. The horse whinnying as it tried to pull from her, Li fighting back against it unwilling to let her go. “Alright you! I don’t like you, you don’t like me. But we both have jobs to do and whether you agree with me or not. I am going to ride you, and you are going to carry me.”
The horse snorts as it pulls against Li, Li continuing to hold it down by its harness and keeping it in place. “Now… I’m going to get on your back, and you’re NOT going to throw me off. If you do I’m going to kick your ass!”
Kara sighs shaking her head in disappointment, the knight knowing that Li was dead serious and would probably end up attacking the horse.
Cookie timidly approaches Li, unsure if how close she should get to the unhappy horse. “Li… I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to deal with a stubborn horse…”
The horse shakes its head when Li again tries to get on its back, the horse rearing and throwing Li off before she is able to get onto her, the animal quickly breaking out into a run.
Li jumping to her feet running after it while yelling as loudly as she could. “THAT’S IT!”
Cookie and Kara silently watch Li as she chases after the horse around the coral.
Cookie shaking her head in disappointment, unsure of what to do now. “This isn’t how it was supposed to happen at all.”
Kara gasps screaming out a warning to Cookie, Cookie turning back just in time to see Li grab onto the horse’s neck bringing it to a stop and forcefully pinning it to the ground. Cookie quickly scrambles towards Li trying to get her to stop. “Li! That’s not what you’re supposed to do!”
She grabs onto Li trying to pull her away from the animal that was putting up a pretty decent fight against her.
Angel stares at the scene speechlessly, the group of three having arrived in time to see Li tackle the animal at to the ground. Although it was something Angel had never seen before it wasn’t something that surprised her, especially if Li was the one doing it.
Hitsumi stares at Li awkwardly. “What is Li doing?”
Kara looks back at the three of them, shrugging her shoulders and answering him nervously, the answer she was giving them a little ridicules. “She’s wrestling her horse…”
The horse pulls itself free of Li’s grip and gets back up to its feet, rearing and pounded her front hooves into the ground, Li rolling out of the way of the horses attack and getting to her feet and wrapping her arm around the horse’s head, grabbing it in a head lock.
Hitsumi shakes his head sadly, there was no end to the things Li would attack. “Li… stop beating up the horses…”
Li looks up from the horse and over at Hitsumi, yelling over at him bitterly. “She started it!” She tries to keep her footing as the horse pushes back against her, trying to ram her into the fence.
Hitsumi sighs as watches the two of them fight, never in his life did he think he would ever witness something like this. “Do you have to beat up everything? People are one thing, but once you start picking fights with horses something is clearly wrong.”
There is a slamming sound as the horse rams Li into the fence, Li fighting back and again throwing the large animal to the ground. “Shut up Hitsumi!”
Kara shakes her head, obviously Cookie had never foreseen this kind of trouble. “Such a temperamental filly… I’ve never see a horse so perturbed with its owner…
Echo watches as Li and the horse continue to fight, like the other two with him he was not surprised in the least. “It’s a gift Li seems to have…”
Hitsumi sighs turning away from Li and continuing on his way. “Well Li… if you’re going to wrestle your horse all day… I’m gonna go find something else to do.” He looks back at Angel who was leaning against the fence to watch Li. “Coming?”
Angel shakes her head, her usual energy to follow Hitsumi around almost nonexistent. “I wanna go and sleep in the hotel… I think I need a day of well disserved rest.”
Echo looks from Li to the princess. “Instead of watching the competition you should have rested the days we were here. You ended up tiring yourself out when you were supposed to be resting.”
Angel tiredly looks back at Echo trying to think of an explanation. “Well… I was too… interested in watching Hitsumi fight… It was so wonderful…” He words begin to drag, the young girl obviously tired and hardly able to keep awake.
Hitsumi begins laughing while Echo gives in to the princess’s request. “Very well Angel. I will go with you back to the hotel.”
Angel shakes her head smiling down weakly at Echo. “You don’t have to go with me. I’ll be fine. You go hang out with Hitsumi or something.”
Echo looks shocked to hear this, after all Angel was the one who had said she needed to travel with a companion. “Hang out with Hitsumi? But I-”
Hitsumi grabs onto Echo from behind, covering his mouth and preventing him from saying anything further. “Don’t fight it Echo! She’s giving you a day off! Embrace it! Take advantage of your freedom!”
Echo mumbles something to Hitsumi, but is unable to make any sense with Hitsumi’s hand over his mouth. Angel smiles at the two before waving to them and turning to leave, making her way back to the hotel.
Echo reaches out to her to stop her but Hitsumi turns him away from her, trying to talk some sense into the young wizard. “Don’t worry Echo you’re going to be just fine! I’m sure you’ll be able to have a great time! If you want, I’ll show you the excitement of being a single, handsome, available, bandit.”
Echo sighs not really seeing that as something that would be particularly thrilling to him. “That’s alright Hitsumi… I can find some way to occupy myself on my own I’m sure.”
Hitsumi watches the wizard leave slightly unsure of what to do with the free time the princess had given him. “Suit yourself, you’re going to miss out on a heck of a lot.”
“Stupid horse!”
Hitsumi sighs as he looks around him for something to do, really unsure of what how he was supposed to amuse himself this time, he eventually wandering of in his own randomly chosen direction.
Kara looks over at Cookie the knight figuring that her younger friend would probably not be able to do this on her own. “Okay Cookie… time to break them up… I’ll get the mustang and you get the filly.”
Cookie nods her head sighing in relief, glad that she wouldn’t be doing this on her own. “Right…”
Kara grabs onto Li’s shoulders and pulls her away from the horse, while Cookie takes the horse by the harness and backs it away from Li, both Li and the horse pulling to get back to fighting one another.
Li turns back to Kara bitterly, never one to welcome interruptions with any kind of fight. “Let go!! I’m finishing this!!”
The horse Cookie is holding back whinnies loudly as if accepting the challenge Li had just thrown in her direction, Cookie having trouble keeping her still.
Kara twists Li’s arm behind her back forcing her to stop struggling. “No! You’re going about this the wrong way! You’re supposed to deal with your horse with love and compassion.”
Li glares over at the horse unwilling to go about this in any other manner. “I think she’s a threat to people, we should put her down.”
The horse snorts at Li, pulling Cookie forward as it tried to make its way towards Li, the young girl having trouble keeping the horse in its place. “She’s perfectly fine Li. You’ve just both got off on the wrong foot. What we need to do is sit around and talk, figure out where your relationship went wrong.”
Li frowns in no mood to sit around and talk about things. “You’re not serious are you?”
Cookie finally manages to keep the horse in its spot, the young girl glaring over at Li sternly. “I’m dead serious! Now get over to the fence and sit down!”
Li shakes her head not willing to take part in something so stupid. “It would be easier and more sane just to buy a new horse.”
“Nonsense! You two just need to understand each other.” She looks over at Kara pointing in the direction of the fence. “Sit her over there for me will you?”
Kara begins dragging Li back to the fence, Li stubbornly trying to pull against her. “Come on! I don’t want to sit and talk this through!”
Kara sighs as she seats Li down. “Try to escape and I’ll drag you back here! You accepted Cookie’s offer didn’t you!? So you’re going to have to deal with it until the end.”
Li looks back at her horse, the tension between the two of them still will in the air. “Useless, stubborn little flea bitten-”
“Li!” Cookie interrupts Li before she is able to say anything more hurtful towards the horse. “That’s not very nice!”
Li stares at Cookie blankly. “It’s not like she can understand what I’m saying… cause she’s a STUPID horse.”
The horse whinnies prancing on spot, unable to relax with Li there. “Do you two always have to fight like this?”
Li glares over at the horse accusingly, it wasn’t as if Li had attacked the animal for no reason. “I didn’t start it!”
Cookie looks over each of her cases, trying to get to the bottom of this disagreement they were having. “Well? Have you always fought like this!?”
Li looks back at the horse, now that she thought back on it, the horse had never acted in such a way ever before. Of course she had never actually tried riding her before. “No… she was kind tempered when I first got her. Playful too, just recently she’s gotten bitter.”
Cookie takes a seat on the fence beside Li, tying the horse’s harness next to her. “Tell me about your history together. I’ll try to find where you two went wrong.”
Li stares at her for a moment, not sure if Cookie was being serious or not. The look on Cookie’s face telling Li was she was dreading. “You’ve got to be kidding…
Cookie shakes her head. “I’m not!” She was going to finish this no mater what it took. She was committed to teaching Li before the day was through. “Human and animal relationships are just as important as human and human relationships.”
Li moans in aggravation not wanting to go through something as stupid as this, Cookie patently waiting for Li to start talking so that the lesson could get underway.
*******
Echo smiles as he stretches his arms out taking a deep breath of fresh air, the wizard having traveled outside of the city so that he would have some time to himself. He sighs as he gazes into the distance the view of fields and forests meeting his eyes. “Beautiful.”
He holds his staff in front of him grabbing onto it with both of his hands, the small wizard closing his eyes. “It’s been so long since I’ve had the time to practice my skills.”
The young wizard begins humming a tune to himself, the air surrounding him starting to twist until it turns into a soft breeze that circled his small figure. He lightly swings his staff, the gentle breeze turning into a strong gust of wind, gathering and following the staff’s movements.
Echo opens his eyes, bringing his staff to the other side of him, the strong wind following his command and going where he wished for it to go, the invisible force obeying his every silent command as he pointed his staff in different directions for it to follow.
He looks relived to see that this spell was still one he could control. Echo had been worried that his skills may have suffered due to the little training he had been able to put himself through while on the journey.
“Hey!”
Echo gasps in shock at the sudden interruption, jumping and quickly turning back to face the person that had spoken, his staff quickly turning with him, the wind instantly picking up speed and hurling in the direction Echo had unintentionally pointed his staff in, the wind cutting through the long grass in the filed and into the forests, blowing down the trees and shrubs in its way.
Echo stares at the gaping hole in the forest in shock, a horrified whimper escaping his lips.
Hitsumi sits up having fallen to the ground to avoid getting hit by the attack. He stares at Echo’s horrified expression turning and looking back in the direction the wizard was staring in, wincing slightly when he saw just what had happened. “Whoops… was that my fault?”
Echo shakes his head as he tries to regain his composure. “This is so embarrassing…” He walks past Hitsumi who had now gotten back to his feet, walking towards the forest he had relived of several dozen trees.
Hitsumi follows behind him, feeling partly responsible for what had just happened. “I didn’t know that would happen honest. It really didn’t look that strong when I first saw it…”
Echo waves his hand at Hitsumi motioning for him to end the conversation. “Don’t bother yourself over it… it was my fault I know, you don’t have to make the situation any worse by rubbing it in.”
Hitsumi looks confused, not really understanding what Echo was trying to tell him.
Echo stops in front to the large gaping trail in the forest, holding his staff in front of him and closing his eyes as he readies himself and begin chanting another spell.
Hitsumi scratches the back of his head and he looks up from Echo and towards the hole the two of them were standing in front of. “What are you doing now? Trying to fix it?”
Echo nods his head slightly. “Of course, it was my own mistake so it’s only right that I fix it.” A nervous look fills his face as he tries to get his mind back on what he was supposed to be doing. “I just hope I can get the spell right…”
Hitsumi looks back at what had once been the woods, an impressed look filling his face after hearing this. “You can really make trees grow back?”
Echo slowly exhales bringing his staff towards him while keeping his eyes tightly shut as he began chanting. “I call to the lives resting in wait within the earth, awaken and fill this barren land with your presence!”
He holds his staff in the air, the ground breaking apart as many branches and leaves burst through to the surface growing and quickly and replacing everything Echo had destroyed.
Hitsumi stares at the sight, not sure if he should say anything, he quietly standing next to Echo as the small wizard held staff high in the air. Echo refusing to open his eyes, a little afraid of what he might see. “Did it work?”
“Well…” Hitsumi trails off slightly not really sure what to tell him, after all the spell had worked, but probably not in the way Echo had been expecting it to. “You filled in the area alright… but with weeds… the biggest weeds I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Echo opens his eyes tree sized weeds meeting his gaze. He moans sadly as he hangs his shoulders another of his spells ending in an embarrassing failure.
He turns to Hitsumi explaining the situation to him. “I’m really bad at spells that require living spirits… stone, lightening and wind are simple… but anything else… plants, water, fire, spirits of present and past… I can’t do well at all.”
Hitsumi sees the disappointed look on Echo’s face, the bandit patting him on the back trying to get Echo to cheer up. “Well… at least you got something! It would have really been a failure if nothing grew at all!”
Echo sighs to himself turning away from the mess that he had made as he started heading back to the town. “My training is far from being complete… how is it that I was entrusted with such a mission instead of Siren?”
He knew that the quest he was taking part in was one of the most important missions to come before the royalty in a long time, so it was very hard for him to understand why someone like him had been entrusted with it. He looks back at Hitsumi talking further, even though he knew that the bandit would not be able to clarify anything that was concerning him in anyway. “I don’t understand why I was entrusted with such an important mission when I have not even learned less then half of the spells I should know.”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders not really knowing the answer but willing to make a guess. “Maybe Siren has a lot of faith in you, and he knows that despite your training you’ll be able to pull this off.” He pauses thinking of another scenario the first being a little unbelievable considering Siren’s attitude that last time he had checked up on Echo. “Or maybe he was so desperate he used you as his last resort.”
Echo sighs sadly neither answer convincing him and the most likely one being rather depressing to him. “Either way… it’s still out of character for him. Siren isn’t known for taking chances, he will only do something if he knows it will succeed, even when there is only one path to take he will not walk it unless he is assured victory.”
He stops walking standing in front of Hitsumi holding his hand to his chest as he spoke to the bandit. “I know my strengths… he also knows my strengths and how limited I am. He knows well that I’m still in midst of my training but yet he still sent me! I shouldn’t be on such an important mission at this moment in time! I don’t have the skills or experience.”
Hitsumi stares down at Echo able to tell that this mater of his was bothering him greatly. “You know Echo… if all you’re going to do is worry that you’re going to fail then you will fail… have some faith in yourself. Maybe you’re more skilled then you realize.”
Echo stares up at Hitsumi in silence, not sure how to respond to that comment. He sighs turning away from Hitsumi, the bandit so simple minded when it came to things. “There is no hidden power in me. What I know how to do is what I’m limited to.”
Hitsumi looks a little upset to hear Echo say something like that. “You’re Seclude’s son aren’t you? I though you were supposed to grow to be equal in power to him.”
Echo shakes his head, even if that was something that was expected of him it was something that he felt was impossible for him to accomplish. “I am his son… but I do not have the strength required to follow in his footsteps.” He turns his gaze toward the ground. “My father was the most powerful wizard recorded… but out of the few wizards that remain in my race I am the weakest.”
Hitsumi laughs a little surprised that Echo would say such a thing. “Well you’re still little aren’t you? So you won’t be the weakest forever right?”
Echo smiles slightly as he looks back to Hitsumi. “Why are you going so much out of your way to prove me wrong?”
Hitsumi grins at the small wizard the answer being obvious. “Echo… I don’t care how weak you are compared to the other wizards, right now you’re the most powerful member in our group! We depend on you and that power of yours, so can’t you have even a little bit of confidence in your abilities?”
Echo sits down on the ground still keeping his eyes on Hitsumi. “Over confidence can be a downfall you know.” Hitsumi frowns bitterly haven been told that one too many times in his lifetime. Echo continues explaining despite the annoyance Hitsumi now held. “If you know your capabilities… you’re limits. Then you’ll know if you’ll be able to make a difference, or if you’ll just get in the way.”
Hitsumi sits down next to Echo still up to the challenge in proving the wizard wrong. “What if you were facing something really strong, and you knew you didn’t stand a chance but still moved forward to face it. Win or lose wouldn’t it be better knowing you at least tried?”
Echo shrugs his shoulders something like that sounding strange to him. “That’s not what I have been taught.”
Hitsumi sighs as he turns away from Echo a little annoyed. “That’s no excuse…” He turns back to Echo. “The safest road isn’t always the right one you know.”
“Spare your teachings. I’ve just finally gotten away from them.”
Hitsumi laughs at the response Echo had given him, being taught things was never one of his favorite things in the world either. “That’s right, you’ve been being taught by Siren for about a billion years now haven’t you?”
Echo frowns at the comment he not anywhere close to that old. “A billion is a little off.”
“It still makes you a pretty knowledgeable person.” He pauses thinking back to something, the usual carefree look disappearing from his face. “So… keeping that in mind, maybe you can help me out with a few things.”
Echo looks back at Hitsumi, the tone Hitsumi had in his voice one Echo wasn’t used to hearing from him. “What kind of things?”
Hitsumi lowers his head, usually if he didn’t understand something or had something to say it was always Ashton that he would go to for answers. It felt awkward talking to someone like this that looked less then half his age. “Things that aren’t particularly clear to me right now.”
Echo smiles as he leans back into the grass more then happy to help Hitsumi with any concerns he may have on his mind. “I’ll see what I can do to help you, but I cannot guarantee that I’ll always be able to know the answer.”
Hitsumi laughs finding it funny how Echo always seemed to refer to himself as someone that knew just as much as he did. “Good enough for me.”
Hitsumi begins talking not really sure if the wizard would know the answer but willing to at least try. “Yesterday when I was fighting Fade in the final round of the competition… I don’t know if you could hear the conversation that was going on, or if you were even there to watch the fight.”
He closes his eyes as he began thinking back to the fight that had happened the day before. “Fade… he knew the faults in my strength… as if it were something he had known about all his life…”
Fade begins to walk towards Hitsumi as he begins spelling the situation out to him. “My physical strength is higher then any human alive. Hitting my body is like hitting a stone wall… it will take a lot to bring me down. You Hitsumi are the opposite of me… your physical strength is that of a human, but your body is weak and breaks easier then most humans.”
Hitsumi’s eyes widen as he quickly jumps to the side avoiding a sudden attack from his conversational opponent, Hitsumi quickly catching his balance once more while keeping his eyes on Fade, confusion and shock filling his mind. “Who told you that!?”
Hitsumi avoids another of Fade’s attacks as he lunges after Hitsumi with one attack after the other hardly giving Hitsumi time even get out of the way. “No one told me! It just became obvious to me after watching several of your fights. You’re not fully of the human species!”
Hitsumi stops dead in his tracks when he hears Fade accusation. “Not human…? What do you mean…? What else would I be?”
Hitsumi frowns, this concerning him the more that he thought about it. “He said that I wasn’t fully of the human species…” He looks back at Echo hoping the wizard would be able to come up with some sort of an answer. “What did he mean by that?”
Echo sits up never having though Hitsumi would counsel him on something like that. “Not fully human?”
Hitsumi turns away from Echo thinking even further back. “Li had a similar situation with you…”
Li lets go of Hitsumi’s hand and pushes herself up from the seat she had taken, Li looking in a state of shock after hearing Echo’s words. She looks down to her voice shaking slightly as she tried to answer him. “I’m human…”
He continues, the incident more clear within his mind then it had ever been before. “When me and Li were arm wrestling… you whispered the same thing into her ear… didn’t you?
Echo sighs remembering that moment well. “It was indeed similar, but the wording I used was slightly different. I asked her is she was a half-breed.”
Hitsumi looks confused, the word was relatively new to him even though he knew it had been spoken of previously. “A half-breed… I think Angel may have mentioned something about them…”
Echo holds two fingers up to Hitsumi as if it would help him with his explanation. “A half-breed is what we call people of two races.”
“We?”
Echo frowns, the explanation having already hit a bump in the road. “Well… everyone really… though I think in this country it’s mostly wizards who use the term, people on the four continents have had very little exposure to half-breeds, and if they happen to know of them it is because it was first heard from a wizard’s mouth.”
Hitsumi scratches the back of his head as he begins questioning Echo again to make sure he understood him correctly. “So someone that isn’t fully human is a half-breed?”
Echo shakes his head, Hitsumi not having understood completely what he had said. “They don’t even have to be half human. They just need to be half of any race. Wizards are one race, humans are another, beastions, trolls, ogres, orcs and elves are also some of the many other races. A half-breed can be a combination of any of the two.”
Hitsumi looks confused, the explanation seemed so simple. “Only two? What about a half-breed with another half-breed? That could be up four races couldn’t it?”
Echo shakes his head again. “Half-breeds can’t reproduce, their bodies are incapable of it, and I have to say that I’ve never heard of a half-breed that was even able to live long enough to reproduce. The crossing of races is not only impure and taboo but it’s against the laws of many countries. If half-breeds are exposed they’re soon killed, so it’s rare to find a half-breed who has been able to live past the age of four… Li’s actually the first I’ve seen that lived past that age.”
Hitsumi looks a little troubled to hear information of this sort. “What about Li? What is she?”
Echo sighs to himself, half-breeds was always a touchy subject to talk about. If Hitsumi wasn’t the person he was talking to Echo would have never mentioned Li’s situation to him. “Li is a half-breed, she admitted to being one herself when I confronted her on the topic.”
“What breed of man are you?” Echo’s sudden question startles Li. Li turning around to see who had spoken to find the small wizard standing behind her. Echo continues with his question hoping to get an answer from her. “I know it’s impossible for you to be fully human. I know about the half-breeds from Merlin, enough to know that you’re one of them.”
Li smiles as she turns around throwing the dagger over Echo’s head and hitting the crate behind him in the same spot she had been aiming to hit as before. “You’re mistaken. I’m not from the country of Merlin I was conceived and born on the four continents, keeping that in mind you’ll realize that it’s impossible for me to be a half-breed of Merlin”
Echo watches Li walk back to the crate to retrieve her dagger. “Fine then, you’re not a half-breed of Merlin, but you’re still a half-breed. I saw it… the earth died when you touched it and you became stronger when you decided to use your true power, a frightening strength that you are hiding from everyone!”
Li looks back at him finally giving the wizard the answer that he wanted to hear. “No remorse for those who fall to me.”
Echo looks a little confused by her answer to him. “What?”
Li looks over at a group of bandits who are chatting among one another. “Of the countless number of people I’ve killed I feel no remorse for what I have done.” She looks back at Echo explaining this to him. “Because killing is a natural instinct for me and is sometimes even necessary… I guess you could call it a craving.” She places her dagger away in a sheath attached to her leg. “If you can figure out the races with those characteristics, then you’ll figure out what kind of half-breed of man I am.”
Echo lowers his head a little disappointed that he had still not come up with an answer. “I’ve thought hard… but I cannot think of a race that would act in such away. Even trolls and ogres, as violent as they can be towards other races do not crave or find pleasure in the blood of fallen members of their own race.”
Hitsumi points to himself curios then as to why Fade would label him as one of these half-breeds. “What about me?”
Echo looks back at Hitsumi, the wizard finding it hard to believe that Hitsumi could possibly be a product of two different races. “You Hitsumi?” Truthfully wizards and humans were the only races that lived within the four continents, and wizards were one of the more strict races when it came to a clean bloodline so it wasn’t often that you would find half-breeds here. “Do you know who both of your parents are?”
Hitsumi nods his head. “Well, you saw my dad didn’t you! He was human.”
Echo questions further, even though he knew all wizards to be male it didn’t hurt to ask. “What about your mother?”
Hitsumi frowns not really able to give Echo a clear answer on that one. “My mother died fighting a knight from the Zimiko family, I don’t remember seeing her even once. For as far back as I can remember it’s just been me and dad, but even so I know she was human… no one ever talked of her being anything else.”
Echo smiles the puzzle practically solved. “If you know that both your parents are human then you are human yourself. There’s really no question to it, even if you are a half-breed there’s really nothing you should worry about. After all no matter what your background it’s you yourself that in the ends decides how you live your life.” He leans back quite proud of himself over being able to answer Hitsumi’s question. “It’s just like that saying goes ‘Breath the breath given to you by the earth, enjoy the life given to you by the two that brought you into this world, and live with a soul given by no one, but grown in your own heart.’ Which basically translates too-”
Hitsumi stops Echo from saying anything further, remembering well the saying Echo had uttered. “Fade said the exact same thing, right before he left the ring he told me that.”
Echo looks surprised to hear this. “It’s an old elvish saying… one that half-breeds like to follow, to them it means that even though you were given life by others regardless of who they be, it is still your own soul that makes you a person, as all races have souls.”
Echo narrows his eyes as he began thinking the situation over. “Fade… if you really think about it there’s no doubt that he’s a half-breed… but… to say something like that in a stadium packed with people… usually half-breeds keep silent and hope not to be discovered… like Li…” He closes his eyes a little troubled by the information. “Fade… it’s as if he is not afraid of being discovered… almost like he’s waiting… no… challenging someone to label him as one…”
Hitsumi sighs as he begins thinking everything over. “How can you tell if someone’s a half-breed or not?”
Echo turns back to Hitsumi. “Half-breeds usually stand out… they have features from both races… both Li and Fade look human… completely… that’s probably the only reason they’ve been able to survive as long as they have. Those two are the prime example as to why half-breeds are forbidden. They’re like a wolf wearing the skin of a sheep, though they look like the rest of the flock they have the strength to kill and consume it.”
