Not to disturb anyone I woke up early, 7 am on saturday. I got out of bed quietly and put on the winter boots that I hadn't worn since I arrived. I slipped into my warm black sweater and grabbed my duffel bag and began preparing. I prepped some clothes to pack as well as some other miscellaneous items.
I picked up my bag and looked over the room, the dark gray bricks in the room being illuminated by the suns light coming from the center window. I looked towards Henry and Kasago, I hadn't disturbed them while getting prepared thankfully, as they were still asleep soundly. I headed towards the door and before I could exit I heard a voice.
"Fubuki," Kasago voice was groggy.
"Yeah?" I responded cautiously.
"Don't die," a slight smirk grew across Kasago's face before he laid back down.
"I'll be fine." I reassured him as I smiled and left, closing the door gently behind me.
I breathed a sigh of relief while standing outside for a second. I checked my Kommun device, Kusaha had messaged me to ask if I wanted to get something to eat today. I smiled at that before turning off the device and heading towards the stairs.
I looked towards the gap and contemplated, I sat there for a full minute, hand on the guard rail debating what to do. I slowly continued walking down the steps, avoiding the gap altogether. The lighting at this time of morning is so unique, it gave the stairwell an atmosphere that was indescribable.
I walked out of the building and saw the morning sun's shine, the leaves of the trees glistened and the smell from the flowerbed of the courtyard was so uniquely pleasant. It was windy out, and a little cold too, it reminded me of what for me would be a warm summer day back home. I miss being back home, friends always around, the weather never changed, as much as the capital has done for me, I don't think it will ever truly feel like home.
I left the schools entrance building, and finally got to Kaliston, where the paved rocky streets combined with the wind and sun all came together to make an environment that just felt happy. People were now leaving their homes and going down the streets, probably to get to work, but they didn't seem to notice me as I walked through.
I got past the crowds rushing to work and got to the street Kasago had took me to, I needed to walk down here to get to Uliston. I walked down the street, the shops just now being opened, the air filled with the smell from the bakeries and tea shops. I passed by the Garavi Tea House and stopped for a second. I reminisced about Kasago for a second before continuing. I had finally made it through the street and walked down the steps and I was now close to Uliston.
I'm on the street where Asaki lives, usually I would take a right to visit him, but instead I went left and arrived at the Flowers Intertwined. I touched the stone of the fountain and thought about meeting Kasago and hanging out with Kusaha here. I looked up towards the sky and sighed thinking about all the time I've spent in the capital. This place might never be my first home, but I think it's earned being called my home, and leaving hurts more than I thought it even could. I won't be gone forever, but leaving still causes me such pain.
I know I can't go back now, I'm a bit ashamed that I was stubborn to Kasago's advice, if I hadn't been than maybe I wouldn't need to train. At the same time, I still want to train, to gain glory and admiration from beating Rias and that beast. In the end, it shouldn't matter, I'll be back in a few weeks, and I'll come back even stronger, let's see Rias beat me then.
I chuckled a bit before getting up and walking to the gate of Uliston. I put my palm to the cold lightly colored gray stone bricks and stood for a second. I went over to a guard and quickly asked him where Mount Gotokata actually was. He pointed practically due north, and even from here I could see it. It was truly a massive mountain surrounded by forest.
Despite it's size it seems to be about a half day's walk at least. I thanked the guard and left the gate, leaving Yuki'oro behind. The mountain might be a half day's walk, but the forest is so massive that I should be within it in an hour or so, depending on my pace.
The road was simple, a rocky pavement most likely meant to transport cargo from Yuki'oro to the northern country of Brisman which has been an ally of the Yuki kingdom for 4 years now since the king achieved a peace treaty in the negotiations following a failed uprising in Wesston close to 5 years ago.
I walked for a while, noticing rivers with rocky beds and rushing water as well as small villages with children playing and people laughing as I walked by. After what felt an eternity of walking I finally reached the forest, though from here to the mountain should take me about the same amount of time, if I run that is.
I began running, the rough forest being a great place to train my reflexes, I swiftly jumped from tree to tree until I reached a well that was about halfway between me and the mountain. I drank from the well and sat down a bit, resting before I needed to continue onward.
I sat down for a while, drinking from the well and occasionally practicing punches on trees before noticing how high the sun had gotten. Judging from the sun it's nearing noon, which indicated to me that I needed to continue my journey. Walking through the forest isn't so bad however, the sun's rays shining between the leaves of the trees and highlighting certain patches of grass is very calming. Though thinking about what might happen on that mountain gives me a feeling of anxiety.
While I don't think they are inherently bad people, things might get bad, and if the rumors are true I just might need an escape. In case of that I did bring some water bottles in case I need icicles, seeing as the mountain isn't very snowy means that the water bottles would be my only way of creating icicles if things do go bad.
I started running again soon, the feeling of rushing past all the trees and grass and whatever else was so freeing considering how boring the past while has been. At my current pace I should make it to the mountain's base in 10 minutes or so. I was now close enough to be able to notice the wooden homes built over the cliffs edge of the mountain itself.
When I noticed the mountain's base in front of me I gained a surge of energy and rushed towards it at a speed I had never traveled at before. I gasped for air before sitting down on a stone. Looking upward all I could see was a pure gray mound of rocky terrain with a slight imprint of a pathway and the edges of some homes towards the peak.
I sighed stepping onto the first rock and began climbing up. The mountain isn't the largest, decently tall, but nothing that wouldn't take me a half hour or so. The mountain's top should be pretty large if it can host an entire village, that or the clan is pretty small. Either way I'm more excited about what's ahead than what's behind.
I jumped from rock to rock, gripping and grasping at the rocks just to entertain my self while climbing. I finally reached the top and looking out I could see the village's entirety. A small manmade stone archway served as the entrance that lead to one massive open area in the village center. A bit ahead from that was a massive center building, tall and made from some kind of refined stones unlike the other homes that had been made from wood and usually had been settled mostly over the cliffside.
I looked towards the massive building once again, it probably housed 30-40 people and could most likely operate as the village's headquarters for diplomacy and such. The other homes not so much, only about 7 of them and they weren't too massive, leading me to believe the village probably held a population of 60 or so.
Near to the massive building there was a training area which took up a considerable amount of space. As I tried going beyond the archway I saw shadows from behind it bolt around and within seconds 5 people were all on top of me. They all wore the same black outfits with no masks and each held knives to various parts of my body. The knives were mostly identical except for the girl that had a knife held to my throat, she had a freaky smile and a unique knife.
Before I could notice the knife's actual features they called out for some kind of chief and as I struggled a massive man stepped out. He wore long loose fitted pants and open toed shoes with a shirt that only covered from one shoulder to his waist, leaving one of his nipples exposed. I continued trying to struggle to get out, but the 5 people held me down quite well and I didn't manage to escape their grasp.
"Why have you come Marcelian?" The chief's eyes grew with disgust, mistrust, and anger the longer he looked at me.
"Mizuki," I caught my breathe and turned my head up to him, "Mizuki sent me here to train." I exhaled in exhaustion before dropping my head to the ground.
"What I thought," The anger in his voice grew, "Throw him in the dungeon," The chief's eyes stared daggers at me until he turned around and went into the massive building.
"What dungeon? Wait what the hell? Let me go!" I shouted but it was no use.
The 2 people that had been holding down my legs, both very muscular men picked me up and held me by my arms as they carried me towards the large building. They entered the building and went down a hallway, passing by a massively open room with a desk. They turned right and went down a dark dirty stairwell before stopping in front of a dark barred cell.
They tossed me inside and shut the door, then one of them used some kind of spirit ability to avoid from me just breaking out. They both looked at me as if I was dirt before walking back up the stairs, leaving me in a dark dirty hole.
How long could I possibly be in here for? How long could they even want to keep me? Why would they want to keep me here? I think the worst part of this is that if I had just listened to Kasago I wouldn't be here. Why did Asaki encourage me? Why did he get angrier when I mentioned Mizuki? What threat did he even think I posed? Am I never going to, leave?
Whatever that guard had done to the cell was working flawlessly, as no amount of kicking or punching would bring even a single brick out of place. I sat on the floor of the room, my head down defeatedly. I couldn't think of anything else I could possibly do to leave. Eventually I managed to fall asleep and woke up hours later, though whether it was the next day or simply night I couldn't tell in this windowless prison.
Soon someone had heard that I was awake and one of the guards came down the steps with a lantern in hand. He slowly approached and gave me some food and gave me my duffel bag back after it had been thoroughly searched. Seeing him more clearly now he had sharp short slightly purple hair, his outfit had sharp edges and was mostly gray with white highlights.
"What is it?" I held mistrust in my voice and a slight hatred in my eyes as I looked up to meet his gaze.
"I've come to speak with you, though it seems like you're in a mood, if you want I could just return tomorrow night." He talked as if he held something over my head.
I thought for a second, "Fine, what do you want to ask?" I stood up.
"Why have you really come here?" I pressed his hands to the bars of the cell.
"I didn't lie, I'm only here to train, let me out of here!" I pulled on the bars violently.
"Seems like you're still intent on disrupting our peaceful way of living here, I think I'll visit you another night perhaps." He started walking back up the stairs with a smug smile.
"Get back here!" I hit the bars, "Come back!" I looked up but there was no one.
I sighed in shame and sat back onto the ground, pressing my palms to my face as I curled into a ball. I was hungry, yet still too proud to eat what these people had provided me. I rested my head on my knees, silently shedding tears in the cold, dark, and dirty cell.
The more I thought about the situation I was in, the more the pain in my heart grew, the lump in my throat closer to outbursting, but I would never let them hear me wallow. I laid down on the ground, away from the makeshift prison bed they had put in here and instead curled into a ball. I tried to keep whatever I owned near me at all times in case they wished to take it from me once again.
In the end I managed to fall asleep, yet when I woke up I felt no better than when I fell asleep. I sat up against the wall, my legs spread out as I stared towards the stairs awaiting anyone to come down them. Kasago, why didn't I trust you? Why am I like this? One silent solidary tear rolled down my face as I firmly planted it against the invulnerable wall.
With nothing else to do, and intent on escape I began training in the cell. While I didn't have any equipment I was able to train my energy a bit by practicing making icicles from the air. At first I couldn't conjure a single one, but after what felt like endless hours of practice I managed to form full icicles out of the water in the air.
I had been around for what was most likely 10 minutes, though I could never really be sure. Once again I heard footsteps, someone was coming down, I eagerly awaited for them to come down, yet despised myself for feeling such.
"So ready to speak with me now?" His smug sadistic smile sent shivers throughout my entire body.
"I already told you why I'm here, so if you're only here for that you should leave." I turned around to face the wall rather than him.
"Hey, look at me!" He slammed the bars.
"What is it?" I turned my head over my shoulders and met his gaze, my eyes filled with hatred, pain, and mistrust.
"Tell me your name," He seemed weirdly calm.
"I'm Fubuki Ayoi, and you?" I sharpened my gaze.
He laughed in a disturbed way, "Shizuki Gamimaru, not like it'll matter to you though."
"Fine then Shizuki, what do you want from me." I turned from him again, just looking at him was painful.
"Tell me why-" I cut him off.
"I said I'm here to train!" I shouted so loud every sound around us stopped completely.
"Maybe we should leave you in here for a month this time." He spat on the ground as he got up and left with a disgusted look on his face.
As I heard the last of his footsteps leave me the adrenaline and hatred left me, and all I was left with was a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. I've never felt this in such intensity, I can't handle it at all, why are they doing this? What did I do to deserve this?
I somehow felt betrayed in a way, and the intensity of the sadness within me grew, I felt as if I was going to burst. I was hyperventilating, my heart beating quicker than ever. I felt an energetic rush run through my body, and this had been no normal energy rush. It's that same feeling, that same event, the same each time. The energy coursing through me exerted all at once, creating a massive explosion that completely destroyed the jail I was in, and created a massive sound.
The dust particles flew everywhere, the door of the cell flew into the cell opposite me and destroyed that one completely. I looked back into the cell, grabbing my bag and noticing an imprint on the wall. The imprint was an outline of my body made from frost. Before I could look at it a bit closer I heard tons of footsteps.
I thought quickly and ducked behind the stairs, which covered me completely in shadows. Getting a better look I saw the dungeon they had built was a system that circled all the way through the underground of the village. Assuming I had simply run further into the dungeon they ran straight ahead.
I waited a second and based on their footsteps it would take them a while to get back, taking my opportunity I rushed upstairs. I had no idea where I needed to get out from, my memory has been lacking due to exhaustion and lack of food. I was too tired, and stopped to catch my breathe when someone ran down the hallway.
It was that same girl that held her knife to my throat, getting a better look at her she was shorter than me, medium length dark hair and around my age. The freaky smile on her face persisted, it was now intensified by the prospect of a fugitive on the run from them. She noticed me and stopped.
"Found you!" She laughed manacially I realized she was holding a knife in both hands just as she slashed with her right knife.
"Wait stop!" She tried stabbing me but instead stabbed the wall as I backed off.
"Come here!" She lunged at me and tried slashing me at my throat.
I grabbed her wrist and threw her off me, "I'm not trying to fight you, I swear!" She came at me again.
"Honestly I don't care really." She said non-chalantly before attacking again.
"Hear me out," I dodged her slash, "Let me meet with your chief please!" I dropped to the ground dodging another slash.
"Why should I believe you only wanna talk to him?" She slowed her attacks.
"You like to fight right? Whether your chief talks to me or not I promise you a one-on-one fight alright?" I grabbed her arm stopping her attack for a second.
She tried stabbing with the other, "Alright I guess," I grabbed her other arm and allowed her to lead the way.
She showed me to that massive room from earlier, "Thank you so much," I said exhaustedly before opening the door and walking inside.
The chief hadn't noticed me standing there. I was gasping for air, a nervous wreck as I watched this massive man who could kill me with a stare simply do paperwork. I finally caught my breath and was ready to plead my case with him.
"You're-" He cut me off.
"So you got out of the dungeon, here to kill me right? Don't waste your time unless you want me to kick your disembowled head back to whatever slum you came from." He spoke in a casual sense.
"I'm not here to assassinate you, I swear on my life, I only want to train." My voice started to crack as a lump grew in my throat.
"You keep saying that, yet you mention the name Mizuki don't you." His voice grew a bit angrier than he had been.
"I don't understand what your problem is with your own daughter, but don't take it out with me, please." I started to tear up a little bit before getting on the ground and shamefully groveling in front of him.
He held a shocked expression, "You, what was your name!" He demanded in an urgent yet passive tone.
"I'm-" I stuttered, "I'm Fubuki Ayoi, please sir, train me," My voice grew weak with tears the longer the silence between us went on.
"Not a single human being, never once, has ever bowed their head to a gamimaru, not the greatest assassin nor the kindest diplomat." The chief calmed down and sat.
"Huh?" I looked up and wiped the tears from my eyes, "What does that mean?" I asked in a shaky voice.
"It means I've screwed up, Fubuki Ayoi." The chief hung his head in shame.
I don't understand what's happening, is he about to apologize? Why did he say my name like that? He screwed up? In the way he treated me? I think at the very least, I'm not ending back up in the dungeon.
"What do you mean?" I stood up.
"Fubuki-" The chief stopped talking as we heard muttering coming from outside.
"I told you he's not in here!" The girl from before said.
"I know the bastards in there! He's trying to kill the chief! Let us through Kiamari! Now!" Shizuki shouted at her.
There was a slight sound of struggle before the door burst open. Shizuk as well as 2 other guards stood there. I looked towards the chief in a split second before Shizuki lunged and grabbed me. In an instant the chief grabbed Shizuki and threw him out the door and through the entire building.
The ground trembled as Shizuki finally landed outside. The chief was standing between the guards and me, and even though he's protecting me he's still terrifying to me.
"You really dared to touch my granddaughter?" He asked in an audacious near silent tone.
The chief began walking forward towards Shizuki, I could see a glimpse of his eyes and they seemingly glowed a lightning blue. As Shizuki recovered, got up, and saw the chief he was mortified, he frantically tried blaming me before being picked up by the chief.
"Thank you Fubuki, if this ordeal hadn't gone down I never would've realized how unfit this one was to be a guard." The chief held his uniform tightly in his hand, grasping it angrily.
Everyone stood in anticipation as the chief threw him once again, but instead of landing outside, Shizuki was thrown off the mountain entirely. I was sat still on the ground as the chief turned to look at me. He walked over to us, patted his granddaughter on the head before turning to the other guards.
"You let everyone else in the village know, Fubuki Ayoi is no threat." Without question they all scampered off into the night except his granddaughter.
"Grandpa you wanna tell me what's happening?" She questioned desperately.
"Kiamari, in life their are moments when you must admit you've done wrong." He then turned to me, "Fubuki, I've done by you so much wrong, hopefully you and him find it in yourselves to forgive us." He bowed down to me.
"Grandpa what is this? Who is this guy I don't get it." His granddaughter pleaded.
"Go to bed Kiamari, I'm going to speak with Fubuki alone for a moment." He gave her a terrifying look and she hurriedly rushed upstairs.
He walked over to his desk and sighed as he sat down. He then motioned for me to come sit, and as I sat down in front of him I looked around the room. Behind him was a window, same size as the one in the dorm too. Around were bookshelves filled with different books and such. Most interestingly is how many stacks of papers he had on his desk.
I wonder what a small village chief needs to do so much paperwork for. Maybe it's because of his clans notoriety or something? Though I'd never heard of them so maybe it's something else.
"What did you want to discuss, sir," I said nervously.
"Fubuki, we've done by you such wrongs, and hopefully you can forgive us. If you are still open, I'd be willing to train you personally as a kind of apology." As he said that a branch with some leaves outside his window rustled.
It almost seemed like a shadow leapt from it to create the noise, but when I looked over all I saw was a small flame on a single leaf that was quickly extinguished by the wind. The chief seemed to breathe a sigh of relief because of that somehow.
"I think I'd be fine with that," I spoke slowly, trying not to anger him.
"Great, go upstairs and get some sleep, there's a room up there marked, "Eternal Flame," I don't think he'll mind if it's you who's staying in it." He pushed me jokingly.
I went upstairs and crept into the room, it was pretty minimalistic, just a bed, an empty desk, and a bookshelf with 5 books, all labeled, "Ensan" I guess it must be a series of book. As I got settled I put my duffel bag on the bookshelf and laid down. Thinking back on my time in the dungeon was even worse now that I was sleeping just floors above it.
As I fell asleep a sense of emptiness was replaced with hope, yet the slight hatred I had acquired didn't fade, no matter how much I had tried to convince myself I was fine with what had happened. Even though everything has turned out fine, I still think I should've listened to Kasago, and now I'm beginning to miss the safe environment of the capital.