Aaki awoke in his home, puzzled on how he got there and why he felt drained, he tried to lift up but his body ached causing him to fall back down, while laying down Aaki looked around for his mother but she was nowhere to be seen, he could hear commotion coming from outside and forced himself to get out of the bed to check it out, Aaki was surprised when he saw people observing the Ankokujuu's body which had thousands of cuts on the outside of its body. The villagers were amazed that someone managed to kill such a beast, even Aaki's mother was stunned to see it, Aaki walked up to the villagers which caused them to move out of the way in fear, each one knew Aaki was there when the beast attacked…they knew because they were the ones who made the beast attack the boy while he was roaming the forest.
The boy glared at the beast and just as he did everything that happened last night reawakened inside of his mind, he now remembered exactly what he did last night and it scared him a little, Aaki saw how everyone was staring at him so the boy turned around and began running, he ran and ran and ran until he was deep within the forest, he didn't know what happened until he tripped and fell in front of a pond, the boy lifted himself off the ground and began wiping his face, he washed the dirt off of his face with the pond water and his face shocked him, his eyes were a beautiful gold and his hair a icey white, Aaki couldn't recognize himself anymore.
Aaki: "My hair color makes me look like an old, AWWW THIS SUCKS!! Why is my hair and eyes different, it's almost like I'm a monster…is that why everyone was acting strange?"
Aaki just sat there, his eyes slowly watering up and tears slowly fell from his face, his mother slowly walked up to him after searching for a while, she got down on one knee and hugged Aaki.
Aaki's mother: "There there, don't cry because you're blessed"
She looked the boy in the eyes as he stopped crying
Aaki's mother: "Don't cry because you're different, just stand strong because there is only one you, people will find something to love about you, someone will love you so much that they'll stay with you for the rest of their lives, you are different…and that's okay, this change came out of nowhere but it's okay"
Aaki smiled at his mother and the two went home smiling, holding each other's hand and playing as they walk together, later while his mother was resting Aaki decided to train, he went back into the forest and began trying to use that ability he used the previous time, unfortunately the ability wouldn't activate causing Aaki to become a little aggravated and try again, he failed again. Aaki sat down on the grass and stared at his palm.
Aaki: "Why won't it activate again, wait…what even is it? I remember golden sand that acted as shards of glass, the village's library must have something on this"
He let out a large sigh and glared at the eternal night.
Aaki: "I can train when mother isn't awake, if I come out here during the village's sleep time and study during the village's awake time, no matter what I will protect mother, with my life"
As time went by the boy continued to practice his ability time and time again, after a few hours he went home and snuck back in, luckily for him his mother was still asleep.
2 years later…
A boy could be seen sprinting throughout a forest, he was chasing a pack of hound Ankokujuu's with a sword made of steel, the boy jumped above one of the hounds and his blade cleanly sliced through its torso splitting the creature into two and leaving its body there dead, his next attack came in the form of golden sand that grabbed the legs of a few hound's and started smashing them into the ground, with the last hound near escape the boy wrapped his blade in golden sand and sent it flying into the sky, it soared above the tree's and then started plummeting towards the last hound, the blade smashed into the ground causing a large crater, as the boy walked up towards the crater he could see the blade has successfully pierced the hounds head into the ground, the boy smiled as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
(Aaki, Age 14)
Aaki: "You guys were more difficult to take down, you must be learning how to flee from danger"
Aaki: "It's been two years since I've started my training and so far it's been promising"
Aaki walked through the streets of his village, people waved at him, a lady offered him bread for his mom and he gladly took it continuing his way home.
Aaki: "The bull see's me in a new light now, especially since I'm the only one between them and the Ankokujuu, they've even been offering free items like food, weapons, or materials"
Aaki entered his home and placed down his sword at the door, he walked further inside where he saw his mother making a stew, he gave her a hug and placed the bread on the wooden table.
Aaki: "You don't have to wait for me to come home"
Aaki's Mother: "And you don't have to be out fighting those dangerous creatures, it's a mother's job to worry about her son"
Aaki: "If I don't stop the Ankokujuu then they'll attack the village and hurt you, I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened…knowing I have the power to stop something but instead letting it happen is sad"
Aaki's Mother: "You've always been a smart kid, but don't let that get to your head, think about your own safety"
Aaki's mother lectured him for two hours about safety, Aaki looked as though he was about to fall asleep but made sure to stay awake, after a few hours Aaki stared at his palm. Aaki's gold sand began to consume his hand, it started to take different forms even turning into solid gold but quickly fell apart into gold sand.
Aaki: "Next year I'll be going into battle, a war against powerful Ankokujuu…the village volunteered me without my mothers permission, she was devastated when she found out but at the end of the day the royals need additional soldiers to prolong the fight until help arrives, meaning they'll take from the poor for their own gain…even their people or food…even if it means starving us to death they'll do it so long as they don't"
"I hate them…"