Before I knew it 9 years had passed. I'm now 16, and Temti is 13. I spent my day's training with Lepricus, who turns out to have been a year older making him now 18, and Gixoh who is now 14. Liam, now 16, was focusing more on training a new generation of Guardian Knights, as well as recruiting for his Shadow Squad. When I had the chance I would help out, which helped me train more than before. Sirisa, now 15, would join us every now and then, but she mostly trained Temti instead. On the days that we weren't training, I would study. I learned a lot about the world under King Kirpinicus. Hey helped me get a deeper understanding of what it meant to be a Guardian. Which helped me understand what happens every time I defeat a Forsaken. It turns out each Forsaken, which at some point was a Guardian, was granted a skill by Shiro. Oh, it turns out he happens to be my father as well. That's how I learned that being a Twilight Guardian was a lineage and not just random. Each skill the guardians had was different depending on who they were. The first skill I acquired from Adora, Freeze. The second, from Gluttony whose real name, is Wixen, Absorb. The King informed me that I will eventually be able to grant these skills myself. He wasn't really sure how or when it happens, just that it's something only I can give or take. I also learned a lot about Manshu nature and law from Ariana, now 17. They had a lot to learn, as the society had been around for about 150 years. I found out that my family lineage had always been close to the royal family from the beginning. In between it all Queen Darina, helped me study, teaching me more about languages around the world. Since we planned to head off to Sanshu soon, the whole journey meant meeting different cultures. It was best for me to learn as much about each one.
S.Y. 650 Inu 3 7:43 S.Q. - Manshu Island Coast
"Today's the day huh? We finally head off to Sanshu."
[Liam]
"I can't believe father allowed us to even go, can you?"
[Gixoh, addressing the others]
"Honestly no, it must be because of Twilight though. I heard him and dad talking and it turns out he was close to his ancestors."
[Sirisa]
"You two didn't know this, when I was younger I used to see his father Shiro. Him and dad would talk and train here and there."
[Lepricus]
"To think, someone that unruly could turn out to become such a hero."
[Ariana, looking over at Twilight and Temti help load the ship]
"My children, are you ready?"
[Queen Darina]
"Yes."
[All in unison]
"Before you go, your mother and I have gifts for you each. Including you Temti"
[King Kirpinicus, handing out new weapons to each one, but Ariana]
"Thank you"
[In unison]
After the goodbyes, we boarded the ship completely. It was just Liam, Lepricus, Gixoh, and Sirisa who joined. Ariana stayed behind instead, it seems she wasn't much of the adventuring type. We spent days traveling to the Island of Sanshu. We trained, fished for a bit, and chatted about our days on the island. Since there wasn't much to do we had a lot of free time.
S.Y. 650 Inu 7 2:03 S.Q. - Somewhere at Sea
"I wonder if the Ship Captain knows about this island as well. Maybe we should go ask him?"
[Temti, talking to Twilight and Gixoh]
"Hey, Ric by any chance do you know anything about this next island?"
[Gixoh, heading up to the Main Quarter]
"Oh about Sanshu, I know a lot actually, what would you like to know?"
[Ric - Ship Captain]
"What kind of Island is it?"
[Twilight]
"It's a desert island, so we won't really find much on the surface. But it's a vibrant place underneath."
[Ric - Ship Captain]
"What do you mean by that?"
[Temti]
"See Sanshu is home to the race called Mole people, they generally live underground. They are also master craftsmen, so their home is much more advanced compared to others."
[Ric - Ship Captain]
"How long till we arrive at Sanshu?"
[Twilight]
"We've been traveling for a few days now. So at this point, it shouldn't be much longer."
[Ric - Ship Captain]
"That's good at least we haven't been attacked on this journey."
[Temti]
"Attacked?"
[Lepricus]
"Yeah, we were attacked last time on our way to Manshu."
[Twilight, addressing Lepricus and Siris down in the Main deck]
"What kind of creature was it?"
[Lepricus]
"If I remember right it was like a serpent, with scales?"
[Twilight]
"You mean, a Kera?!"
[Sirisa]
"How in Elopiah's name did you survive a Kera attack."
[Lepricus]
Temti and I began telling the three of them about the whole experience. A few more days passed and Ric finally told us we were arriving. We were all pretty excited. None of us had ever seen a Mole People, so this will definitely be new for us. As we began to approach you could see just how different the island was compared to Manshu. You could even see why they lived underground. As Manshu was full of life, it seemed Sanshu was a barren wasteland. As far as the eye could tell it was just sand. The only thing you could really see were these pipes. All of us guessed it was probably how they would bring water underground if needed.
S.Y. 650 Inu 11 3:52 L.Q. - Somewhere off the Coast of Sanshu Island
"What are these?"
[Temti]
"Hmm, I'm unsure, we do not have these on Manshu."
[Gixoh]
"They are water pipes, Sanshu is mostly a desert remember, so there's plenty spread around the island."
[Liam]
"How do you know that?"
[Lepricus]
Over the few days, I kept asking Ric what else he knew about the island. I'd rather not land somewhere where I didn't know the layout to like that.
"That's pretty cool don't you think Twilight?"
[Temti]
"Yeah, I guess so."
[Twilight]
"Maybe if we were to follow these we could find a town?"
[Temti]
"Maybe, they're all underground."
[Liam]
"Why is that?"
[Twilight]
"They say the natives here can't bear much heat."
[Liam]
"Wait here, a desert island, filled with people who can't handle the heat. Yeah, that's not strange."
[Gixoh]
"Let's follow them anyway, it's better than just standing around here."
[Twilight]
As we followed the pipes we eventually came to a more rocky region. We continued through it, eventually, we were surrounded more by rock than sand.
"Stop right there!!"
[Outcast 1]
[Swoosh. Thump.]
"Turn around slowly."
[Outcast 1]
"WHAT THE HELL!! Did you just shoot an arrow at us?"
[Gixoh]
"Yeah, and the next one won't miss. So who are you and why are you here?"
[Outcast 1]
"I bet they are a part of the Zenshu Cult, they probably came to finish us off."
[Outcast 2]
"Kill them, they can't be allowed to get away."
[Outcast 3]
"Whoa, slow down there, aren't you all jumping to conclusions. We aren't a part of the cult."
[Liam]
"Then I'll ask again, who are you."
[Outcast 1]
"My name is Twilight, these are my friends. We are trying to find the nearest town, do you know where it is?"
[Twilight]
"Twilight huh, (lowers crossbow) my name is Obitiga. Let me go ahead and warn you if you aren't a part of the Cult then trust me you don't want to know."
[Obitiga - Outcast 1]
"Why?"
[Temti]