For the past 14 years, I've grown, I've loved, and I've lost what once, was mine. And by each passing year, my young self had grown quite curious of what lies beyond this little city of mine, I've lived in this so called Bihame city for almost my entire life and never once, have I left it. I go by the name... Rozu Akira.
Of course I had my grandma, whom, I had to take care of as she's reaching a really old age, but despite being old, she was still capable of speech and her hearing was still decently good compared to the other elders in our neighborhood.
My grandma was the one who took care of me when I was little back then as she told me that my mom and dad had died during a trip, asides from that, I didn't have any siblings nor friends as there weren't kids my age found anywhere in nor near the neighborhood that I live in. So knowing that, I wouldn't dare to leave my grandma, she'd be lonely and just by thinking about it makes myself sad.
But I still wanted to explore and adventure the toriand continent, to be able to taste new food, witness once in a lifetime events, sleep in taverns, fight of monsters and all those wonders that could bring glory to ones self. And recently my grandmother knew what I had in mind and decided to have a talk with me during a cold, windy night.
"Dear child, I can't help but too sense this uneasiness you keep having, what's the matter?" her old weary hands slowly reached out too mine and I looked her in the eyes when our hands held together,
"Oh it's nothing grandma..." I hesitantly said trying to avert my gaze from hers, my hands became sweaty and she noticed,
"We've lived together for 14 years and you better not think you can fool me just by saying "oh it's nothing"" She mimicked a whiny voice indicating that it sounded like me, i tried not too laugh, but I guess I can't keep on living like this.
"hehe, I guess there's something that I've wanted to do for a very long time now"
"and what might that be?" She asked, I took a deep breath, inhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. My grandma looked dead serious after my dramatic breathing, why was I so nervous?
"Well it's just that... y'know... I've been thinking. What if... I were able to adventure off into the vast lands outside of Bihame, and be able to explore Toriand..." After saying what I had to say, my grandma's eyes opened up, wider than she had opened them through my life time, oh boy.
"Oh that, I actually knew you were thinking about that, i was just teasing you with the ol' strict parent act" she laughed it off like an old geezer and I, her granddaughter, had her mouth opening and closing like a pet goldfish, confused as I was... she kept laughing.
"W-what do you mean you knew?!" I asked after the brief shock I received from her comment about my thoughts of adventuring, she wiped the edge of her eyes that were once wet due to laughing too much that she teared up. She held her stomach and tried not continue her never ending laughter.
"Well ya see kid, I ain't your normal household granny so don't get the wrong idea." The way of her speaking was similar too a fisherman near the docks, just what's going on with her today? Maybe she's feeling under the weather, I'll be sure too check her temperature once it's bedtime.
"Now, now, I'm not drunk in the head, I've got something really important to tell you so you better listen closely..." But I guess I can let it go for once, I wanted to know the reason why she's been acting like this.
"I, was once an adventurer... a great one honestly" She held my shoulder close to hers, now I was trying to stand-crouch beside her chair.
"grandma are you really not sick let me check your temperature-..." I bluntly said, having my palm reach out for her forehead. She yelled into my ear
"No I ain't and I have proof that I was once a great adventurer, look, LOOK!" She sounded way too desperate, I sighed and decided to go with her antiques, but what happened next surprised me entirely.
A warmth glow circulated around inside her two enclosed palms, soon that glow turned into visible... black particles? the particles materialized into several pieces of old looking paper, paper that looked like it was used in a thesaurus, just how old were they? But I guess I've braced myself for whatever my grandma was plotting as I had previously watched her laugh at my dreams of becoming an adventurer.
"Grandma was that just now-" I bluntly said once again sounding uninterested, "I think I need more sleep, so I'll just leave your imaginary self here and head-" I slowly stood up and she smacked me in the head, the force was quite strong that it actually put me back into my place.
"YOU AIN'T DREAMIN'" right I wasn't, because there was still this lingering pain that was left from the impact of her palm smaking onto my poor head's back, one thing's for sure, that force was not one of an old lady's.
"this is magic hun, and you gotta believe, cuz I did it" She smirked like the 6 whiskered cat that our neighbor, Ms. Neij, takes care of. She then showed me the pictures and I took a close look at them,
"grandma... this is-...." I was amazed at some of the contents captured in this picture, I pinched myself once again to make sure that I wasn't dreaming.
"hehehe you got that right sweetheart, it's me and my pals back then traveling across the far away lands." I was astonished as I kept flipping through the old worn-out photos that she had taken out of nowhere.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS STORY OF YOURS EARLIER GRANDMA?!"
"Eh, I keep forgetting alright, you can't blame me, I'm an old lady after all" She lies down way back into her chair.
"Then what about my mom and dad?" I asked as I layed down the pictures onto the small coffee table in front of us. The curtains swayed slightly and the fireplace kept us warm through the night. My grandma then explained about my dad being really possessive and overprotective of our family and had wished that my mom and I wouldn't take the foot steps of an adventurer as he had feared that we might die too young and too fast, after all, adventurers risks their lives to explore and well... adventure.
"huh..."
"You can't blame him though, if your mother died on a journey he would've been really sad and wouldn't know how to take care of you..."
"But in the end, he never took care of me didn't he? Because, YOU were the one who took me in..." I felt frustrated
"No, no, your mom was at fault too, she was being rebellious and left you too me so that she could go on an adventure" Now i even feel more frustrated, my grandma really was a careless one. I guess my mom was the problem here, but all she wanted to do was adventure... and I too wanted the same thing
"Now you get it right?" She patted my back, reassuring me that it wasn't my fault, I mean I never really thought it was my fault too be honest. I'm just happy as long as my mom and dad is happy, wherever they are, whoever they are now too.
"So about your adventure... go ahead"
"w-what no! What about- mmfmfll" She covered my mouth and shushed me before I got too finish my sentence, how rude, she shaked her head left to right.
"Don't worry about me, I might be old, but I can take care of myself, actually, I was capable of taking care of myself in the first place. But if you really want to go on an adventurer... you have to do something for me first..." I was finally able to take her veiny, sacky hand of hers off my mouth, I gasped for air and signed that look where it said 'what is it?' to my grandma, she then answered.
"Get yourself a travel partner"
"huh?.....HUUUUUUUUUH?!" So does this mean I get too go on an adventure? But I still have yet too make a goal or mark down the locations that I want to go too, or the things I want do, or-
This was all to sudden... I was actually expecting her too ignore me since she was old and all, but I guess I was wrong.
What might lie ahead of my journey? Will I get to find an ally to travel beside with? Might I change my mind and return to being a normal citizen of bihame?
TO BE CONTINUED.....