The magical elven ship, the Rievbelta, slid effortlessly through the sea all night as it
made its way toward its destination.
Though larger than the sailing vessels humans usually manned, the inside of the ship
placed little emphasis on living quarters, leaving nothing but small, cramped cabins
barely big enough to accommodate the bunk beds stacked three high. However, many
of the beds remained empty. Given how few women passengers there were—only a
handful aside from Chiyome and Ariane—most of the beds were used for storing
cargo.
Ariane was asleep, her brow furrowed as she tossed in the narrow bed, a thin blanket
pulled over her. From time to time, she'd mumble some complaint about Arc in her
sleep.
The cabin, quiet save for the soft sounds of its sleeping occupants, was dimly illuminated
by the light of the moon shining through a porthole in the wall.
In front of the window sat a young girl with cat ears atop her head, gazing out at the
dark ocean that moved about below them.
As she watched the dark waves splashing against the side of the ship, Chiyome thought
back to her younger days, when she was still a trainee back in the village. One
particular night, when she'd been deep in the forest, surrounded by rustling trees,
came to mind.
She must have been around five years old at the time, and still going by her birth name,
Mia. This was before she'd been granted the name Chiyome, one of the six great
fighters of the Jinshin clan. She'd only recently joined the clan and was still a clumsy
crybaby.
The village had been created for young members of the clan to train. This training
involved the children staying out in the forest all night in order to help them get used
to the darkness. Startled by the whispers of the trees and the howls of monsters off in
the distance, Chiyome curled up in a bush and tried to suppress the sounds of her
breathing, tears streaming down her face as she prayed for the night to pass by quickly.
Even though adults supervised the training to make sure the children were safe, the
young Chiyome—Mia—was absolutely terrified. It was a difficult night for her. But
somehow, she made it through. As soon as morning came, she passed out from
exhaustion.
In spite of all the hardship, Mia never swayed from her dream of becoming a ninja. A
short time later, she was practicing throwing shuriken with several other children her
age. Straw scarecrows had been stuck in the ground some distance away, serving as
targets for the metal projectiles. Despite their young age, all of the children were
hitting their targets with the heavy shuriken.
Mia pinched the shuriken between her fingers and threw it with all her might toward
a scarecrow's upper torso. However, rather than flying straight ahead, it tumbled to
the ground a short distance in front of her.
The other children broke out in laughter at the sight.
"Hahaha! Mia, you suck at this!"
"What are you aiming at anyway? You need to look straight ahead!"
Mia's eyes began to burn, and the shuriken embedded in the ground in front of her
blurred, as everyone around her kept laughing.
"Nng… Waaaaaaah!"
The embarrassment grew too much for Mia to bear, and she began to cry at her own
shortcomings.
Her parents had been enslaved by humans, and her father had died of exhaustion due
to the sheer amount of work he'd been forced to perform. His body simply couldn't
keep up. Her mother escaped with her, thanks to the efforts of the Jinshin clan, but the
humans came after them. Before they could be captured, Mia's mother gave up her life
to protect her.
This village was full of similar stories of those who'd suffered at the hands of humans,
losing one or both parents. But it hadn't only been a desire for revenge that caused
Mia to seek out the Jinshin clan. She wanted to save others in the same situation she'd
been in, and become a strong fighter so that she could protect herself in the future.
She was certain that her mother would still be here had she been able to fight. It was
Mia's inability to forgive herself for that loss that drove her.
Mia wiped away her tears, picked the fallen shuriken out of the ground, and threw it
at the target again.
Again it came up short, this time bouncing off the ground and rolling away, sending
the children into another fit of laughter.
Just then, three shuriken cut through the air and embedded themselves in a tight
cluster in Mia's target. This display of skill put a quick end to the children's mockery.
A young boy walked silently toward the training ground, casting a cool glance around.
He looked to be around two or three years older than Mia, and he wore a gentle smile.
Like Mia, he had black hair and was a member of the cat clan. The boy pulled three
more shuriken out of his shirt and threw them.
Each one cut a different arc through the air, landing dead center in three different
targets.
"Once you can do better than me, then and only then do you have the right to mock
anyone else."
Rowe, the young boy who cheerfully offered up this challenge as he stood by Mia's
side, was well known among the villagers for both his physical prowess and his
impressive maturity, despite his young age. This was the first time Mia had met him in
person.
"Watch me."
Rowe picked up Mia's shuriken from the ground and held it in front of her face before
gracefully tossing it forward, landing it squarely in the center of his previous cluster.
Mia followed every motion the boy made, even as tears still streamed down her
cheeks.
Rowe turned to Mia and shot her a smile. "Instead of throwing it at the target, think of
it like extending your arm toward the target."
Mia wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded firmly before picking up another
shuriken and throwing it straight ahead, doing the best she could to mimic the boy's
movements.
Unlike her previous attempts, this time she managed to hit the wooden pole that held
the target in the ground. Mia looked back up at Rowe, the surprise apparent on her
face. He offered a broad grin in return.
Rowe pulled several more shuriken out of his pocket and placed them in Mia's hand
before pointing toward the target.
"Well, looks like you just need to put your mind to it and it's yours. Next time, place
your fingers just a little bit higher."
Mia nodded, and focused all of her attention on the target ahead.
The other kids, who'd been intently watching the exchange between Mia and Rowe,
immediately began mimicking his style as they went back to throwing shuriken at
their own targets.
Mia continued to practice throughout the rest of the day, and, by sunset, was able to
hit the target every time, even if her accuracy could use some work. She let out a heavy
sigh, barely able to hold her arm up anymore due to her exhausted muscles.
Rowe smiled at the young girl.
"Well, I think this is a good time to call it a day."
Mia looked up at him quizzically. "Why did you help me like that?"
It was a simple question, straight from her heart. She couldn't fathom why someone
like Rowe, a child prodigy by nearly any measure, who was respected by adults and
outpaced all his peers, would spend his time helping a screwup like herself.
"You and I come from similar backgrounds… We're both orphans. So I guess I just
wanted to help you out." He offered her a gentle smile.
Mia shook her head. There were countless orphans in this village; that couldn't be the
reason. Mia fixed her azure eyes on Rowe and asked again. "Why me?"
He smiled ruefully. She was much more stubborn than he'd expected. Actually, scratch
that—it was precisely what he'd expected from her.
"You and I are one and the same. You weren't invited to this village by a member of the
clan, but rather came here of your own volition."
What he said was all true. She'd come here on the very day she was rescued… the day
her mother died.
She'd been covered in cuts and bruises, and her eyes had been swollen from crying.
But in spite of that, she'd told the member of the Jinshin clan who rescued her that she
wanted to join their ranks, her voice still trembling from crying.
"I… I wanna be one of you! I w-w-wanna protect people. Please, teach me!"
The young girl cried over her own weakness, and felt an anger welling up inside at her
own powerlessness. She wiped away her tears, her body and spirit beaten nearly to a
pulp, as she stared intently up at the adults dressed in ninja garb.
Rowe shrugged his shoulders. "We're all apprentices here, Mia. But I'm going to make
sure that you become stronger than anyone else. I promise. You're still a bit on the
clumsy side, so I'll need to look after you for a bit. Do you have a problem with that?"
Mia gave her head a firm shake.
From that point on, Mia and Rowe spent all their time together.
Rowe was occasionally sent on assignments outside the village, but he always visited
Mia first thing upon his return, to help her with her training. Under his close guidance,
Mia quickly improved. She emulated everything about him, from the way he swung a
sword, to how he carried himself, even down to how he spoke.
Together, Mia and Rowe drew a crowd no matter that they did.
***
Several years later, on a crisp morning, Rowe appeared in front of Mia as she was
practicing her swordsmanship alone. He'd just returned from an assignment.
"I see you've added to your repertoire while I was away."
Mia jumped when Rowe spoke. She'd been so focused on her training that she hadn't
noticed his stealthy approach. When she saw him, her face lit up.
"Welcome back, brother!"
She began to run toward him, then remembered herself and dropped to a knee,
bowing her head low.
"E-excuse my impertinence. You've been granted the name of Sasuke and accepted
into the fold as one of the great warriors of our clan. I apologize for my lack of respect."
Rowe—now known as Sasuke—let out a sigh at her sudden change in behavior. Then
he offered a mischievous grin. He stretched out his hand and ruffled her hair.
"I'm back now, Mia."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
Her eyes scanned Rowe's face, the face of a man she loved like a brother.
Sasuke turned away from Mia and looked off into the distance. "Becoming one of the
clan's six great warriors isn't purely a cause for celebration. Taking on this role means
that the previous holder of the spirit crystal is no more…"
Mia bowed her head again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
Sasuke turned his gaze back to his prote ge and stroked the hair between her ears. He
smiled at her gently, his eyes softening.
"Whoa, hey, I'm sorry, Mia. I shouldn't have been a downer like that. I was just thinking
that if I'd been strong enough, then maybe the previous Sasuke would still be here."
The current Sasuke wiped the sad look from his face and smiled again. Mia was at a
loss for words, unsure of what to say. "Sorry, I know I'm not making a whole lot of
sense." Sasuke scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh. He quickly tried to
change the subject. "Hey, Mia, why don't I show you what I can do, now that I've
pledged myself to a spirit?"
Sasuke opened his hand in front of Mia and closed his eyes as he focused.
A moment later, a light began to form in the center of his palm. It swarmed around his
hand, then a sudden gust of wind blew all of the fallen leaves high into the air.
Mia's eyes went wide as she watched the mystical wind move.
This was a relatively simple ninja technique, common to cat people who possessed
magical abilities, but Sasuke's method was entirely different.
Through training, most cat people were able to perform rather basic magical ninja
techniques, but only a rare few could pull off techniques using the power of the spirits.
The power spirit crystals granted to the six great warriors were rare treasures that
allowed their holders to become one with a spirit by making a pledge to it. This gave
them the ability to summon forth the spirit and use magic more powerful than the
spells wielded by even the best mages. The wind technique Sasuke had just performed
made use of his spirit's power.
At a glance, a normal observer would be unable to tell if this were simple magic or the
work of a spirit. However, when the power of a spirit was used, it let off a characteristic
glow, a glow that represented the pledge its holder shared with the spirit.
Sasuke had been able to use magic-based wind techniques for many years, so the
ability he'd just demonstrated shouldn't have fazed Mia, but he was taken aback by the
look of amazement on her face.
He looked straight into Mia's deep azure eyes. "Mia… d-did you see the wind?"
Mia wasn't exactly sure what he was trying to say, so she responded with a brief nod,
then cocked her head to the side in confusion.
"That's amazing! That means you have a strong affinity with spirits, too!"
Mia's ears twitched as she found herself mirroring Sasuke's excitement.
Sasuke took the surprised girl's hand and held it up to his eyes.
"Can you feel the spirit's breath, Mia?"
A soft glow began to form in her palm, and she could feel a gentle wind stroking her
skin. Small sparks flew out of the center of the light, as if they were dancing. She could
feel a slight warmth spreading throughout her hand.
Sasuke finally let go and gazed intently into Mia's eyes.
She could tell what he was going to say next. She focused all her attention on her palm.
In the cool, damp forest, surrounded by the low-hanging mist of the early morning,
Mia began to feel that same warmth return to her hand as a force ran gently through
her, causing her ears to perk up.
A fine mist began to accumulate in her palm, growing larger with every breath she
took. When it was the size of a small bubble, it began to shine under the light of the
early morning sun, intensifying and dancing about in her palm.
Sasuke stared in astonishment at what was happening before him.
"This is amazing, Mia! You were able to call a spirit without a spirit crystal! I've never
heard of anyone your age being able to pull something like this off. We need to report
this to the village leaders… No, we need to report this to Master Hanzo himself!"
Mia smiled cheerfully at Sasuke's enthusiastic praise. "Does this mean I'll finally be
able to help you?"
Sasuke paused at this, but quickly fixed a smile on his face so Mia wouldn't notice his
hesitation. He nodded. "If you keep working on your power, you'll be a great asset to
the village. But don't overdo it. Trying to influence the spirits is a lot harder than it
seems."
Sasuke reached out and took Mia's hand again.
She was slightly confused at his sudden change in behavior, but she nodded eagerly.
"Got it!"
***
Soon, the news that Mia was also able to call forth spirits was the talk of the village.
Hanzo, the leader of the Jinshin clan, was all too aware of just how remarkable this
turn of events was. He assigned the other five great warriors to train Mia whenever
Sasuke was unavailable.
Like a natural, Mia quickly picked up a knack for summoning the spirits, much to the
surprise of the adults in the village. Her talent was undeniable.
Mia threw herself fully into practicing her abilities, even outside of her instruction
time, in her effort to keep up with Sasuke, now one of the six great warriors of the clan.
However, this devotion led to a fatal lapse in judgment.
One day, Tsubone, another of the six great warriors, told Mia to take a break from
training for the day and let her body rest.
Mia, however, was having none of it.
She had mastered the ability to use a spirit to carry out water-based techniques and
was leaps and bounds ahead of her peers. But she hadn't yet been assigned to a squad.
Instead, she'd been ordered to stay in the village and focus on her training.
While all her peers were out hunting monsters beyond the village limits, she was
stuck, all alone, practicing.
According to Hanzo and the other villagers, Mia's ability to call forth spirits without
the need for magical items made her a precious resource. They figured that she would
only grow stronger if she had a spirit pledge crystal to call her own.
With that in mind, they simply couldn't risk sending her outside the village.
But Mia found this incredibly frustrating. She wanted to catch up to Sasuke and start
being a useful member of the village as soon as possible. Still, she could understand
where Hanzo and the other adults were coming from.
Mia decided to sneak out of the village in order to practice her water techniques alone.
Because of their spirit crystals, the six great warriors were a force to be reckoned with.
In Mia's case, however, she didn't have a spirit dwelling within her. She needed both
time and concentration in order to call forth a spirit, making her techniques largely
ineffective in the face of an attacker.
Which was exactly the case with the large, growling monster she encountered almost
as soon as she'd left the village.
What the monsters roaming the wilds outside the village lacked in power, they made
up for in large numbers. The monster Mia found herself facing wasn't much to speak
of in terms of strength.
Up until now, she'd only run across goblins, which hardly counted as training.
The growling monster in front of her now was of a totally different variety, usually
unseen in the forest. It was about three meters tall and had two long, curving tusks
jutting from its lower jaw. On top of its head, it also had two dark purple horns. The
monster was covered in black, mottled fur and had bloodred eyes.
Unlike normal beasts, monsters were imbued with mana and could call forth something
akin to magic. The creature before Mia was wrapped in a dark mist that made it
difficult to see where its body ended and the mist began.
Worse, the sun was already starting to set, turning the sky a deep crimson and bathing
the forest in darkness.
Shadows cloaked the monster, making it almost impossible to see.
"Graaaaaaaol!!!"
The monster let out a hideous cry and charged, heading full tilt toward Mia. She
twisted out of the way, feeling it graze her side, then pulled a shuriken from her pocket
and hurled it at the monster's eye.
It missed its mark and hit one of the dark purple horns instead, the resulting clang
echoing through the clearing.
Taking advantage of the distance between herself and the monster, Mia drew the short
sword from her waist and held it at the ready.
She glared at her opponent, in the hopes of gaining enough time to summon forth a
water spirit. The monster, however, had other plans, and rushed headlong toward the
girl.
The monster was massive, a full five meters long if you counted its tail. Despite that, it
was still able to move rather nimbly, though Mia had no time to dwell on this.
She was so focused on calling forth the spirit that she didn't respond to the oncoming
threat until it was too late. Blood sprayed as a large gash opened in her right arm.
After ramming past Mia, the monster slammed head-on into a tree.
This didn't slow it for long, however. It quickly turned around for another headlong
charge.
The dark-furred monster tore right through a tree the size of a young child, knocking
it to the ground.
Mia flipped through the air and readied her blade, though her face contorted in pain
with the effort. She wasn't able to lift the sword with her injured arm.
A look of what could have easily been happiness flashed in the monster's bloodred
eyes.
A strong wind rustled through the trees as the dark mist expanded, enveloping the
monster. With a powerful lunge, it tore off into the shadowy forest.
Mia was still staring after it when she suddenly sensed something behind her—the
monster.
It had used the rustling leaves to cover its movement and was now bearing down on
her again, fangs the lengths of her arms gnashing as it ran.
"No!"
"Body to wind, gale shuriken!"
Right at the last second, a voice called out, and a glowing gust of wind slammed
straight into the monster.
"Gyraaaaagh!"
The monster was struck hard on its flank, a large gash appearing on the left side of its
face as it tumbled to the ground. It had been moments away from tearing open Mia's
throat.
She suddenly noticed a person in front of her.
"Mia, are you okay?"
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke, likely on his way back from a mission, stood before Mia with his sword drawn.
It wasn't often that she saw him outfitted in full ninja garb, since he rarely wore it
around the village.
After letting out a sigh of relief, Sasuke turned his attention back to the monster.
"What's an umbra tigris doing out here in these woods?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the dark mist surrounding the monster
began to expand again. The creature slunk back into the forest, its bloodred eyes the
last to fade away into the darkness.
They could still hear its heavy breathing as it continued stalking its prey. The umbra
tigris wouldn't give up so easily.
The rustling trees calmed slightly, replaced by the sounds of insects. Sasuke looked
around at the trees behind Mia, steel in his gaze.
"Can you use your water magic?"
Mia nodded.
"Good. I was just on my way back from a mission, and I don't have a lot of strength left.
It's too dangerous for you to go back on your own, so we'll have to wait for it to come
in for another strike. When it does, we'll make our move."
Mia nodded, sheathed her sword, and turned her back to Sasuke. She squinted into
the forest and focused on her left hand, trying to summon a water spirit.
The monster was much more cautious now that it was injured. It carefully stalked
through the dark trees, waiting for the wind to pick up again and mask the sound of
its footsteps.
Mia swallowed hard. She could feel a tingling in the back of her throat.
"Hah?!"
"Wha?"
A powerful gust of wind swept through the forest in the blink of an eye, swirling from
the blades of grass at their feet all the way up to the tops of the trees. The entire forest
shuddered.
Mia could barely see anything in front of her. She focused on the sound of Sasuke's
voice.
"Body to wind, spiral tempest!"
A vortex of glowing air formed around Sasuke before shooting off toward the umbra
tigris.
"Gyaaaaaaugh!"
Bright red blood gushed from the monster as the wind cut deep into its flesh.
The gashes themselves weren't very deep, so this technique only served to slow the
creature. It didn't look ready to retreat just yet.
Mia turned to face it head-on.
A small cone of water rested in the palm of her hand. She closed her fist, and the water
launched forward, drilling deep into one of the countless cuts that marred the
monster's body.
"Body to water, bloodstream hell needle!"
The monster's body started to inflate as pins of water stabbed out of its skin, giving it
the appearance of a large porcupine.
The monster spasmed, water needles taking on a tinge of red as they filled with blood.
The umbra tigris collapsed.
"We did it! I killed my first big monster, Sasuke!"
As Mia began to come down from the adrenaline high, she was overcome with a
giddiness she could barely contain. She jumped up and down with joy. Sasuke walked
over to her and solemnly raised his hand.
The dry crack of flesh hitting flesh reverberated throughout the forest. Mia brought
her hand up to her cheek in astonishment.
The stinging sensation grew as her cheek burned red. She dropped to the ground and
broke down into tears.
"Waaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaugh!!!"
Fat tears rolled down Mia's cheeks as she sobbed. Sasuke, tears welling up in the
corners of his own eyes, leaned down to pull the young girl close.
"I thought you were going to die! Don't you remember what Master Hanzo told you?
Don't ever go out into the woods alone! Do you want me to lose my family all over
again?!"
Mia continued to sob as she wrapped her arms tightly around Sasuke, his voice now
coming out strangled as he fought back tears.
"I'm… I'm s-s-sorry!!!"
Sasuke ruffled Mia's hair as he patted her head.
Now that the tense moment had passed, the two could hear their stomachs grumbling.
Mia, her face still buried deep in Sasuke's chest, let out a soft laugh. This brought a
smile to Sasuke's lips.
"I picked up some wheat while in town. Why don't we head on back and have some
soup?"
Mia nodded, though she still didn't look up at him. "Okay…"
Sasuke pulled up one her ears, which had flattened against her head, and leaned in
close to whisper. "But first, Master Hanzo is going to have a few words with you."
Mia's ears and tail stood at attention as she looked up at Sasuke, her eyes wet and puffy.
"Eek!"
Sasuke laughed and ran his hand through Mia's hair.
Once they got close enough to hear the sounds of the other villagers, Mia's tail slumped
back down.