26th day of the 10th month of the year 718 KDC

I write this now sitting on a bench at the base of the wall surrounding Sakura.

The good thing is I made it! I went through the gates just as the sun was dropping below the horizon. If I was any later I may not have been allowed in, so I am glad I got here when I did. All shops had closed though and only food and drink vendors were active.

This has caused me a problem. Now I am in a new town and have no money with which to be able to rent a room or buy food.

I think tomorrow I will need to find a blacksmith and try and sell this sword. I know it is from my father, but at this rate I will die on the street before anything else, so getting some funds is important. Finding a job would help too. And then there is this Hawk person that my father mentioned in his note.

First though I need to rest, I have been walking all day and my feet feel like they are about to fall off. With no place to go at this stage I have chosen this bench on the other edges of the town.

I realise now, while writing this, that if someone were to pick this up and read it, whether now or after I have passed, then they will not have a clue about me except that I am 18. I should correct that before I go any further.

I am fairly short, just under 5 foot. I have a club foot, which has made walking hard. My hair is an unruly mess of blonde which sits up above my head and seems to almost glow. And all my teeth are crooked.

Haha. Almost fell backwards off the bench laughing at that. A couple passing by gave me a weird look as I started giggling for no reason.

In all seriousness though:

I am just under 6 foot tall, so fairly average based on the people I have seen.

I have medium length dark brown hair, almost black. I have to keep pushing it behind my ears because it annoys me if it falls in front of them.

I think someone said I have bluish/grey eyes. Not sure though, I haven’t actually seen myself in a mirror.

I’m reasonably fit, but not strong or sporty by any lengths.

My right foot does turn out slightly when I walk, I don’t really know why.

And my teeth are fine.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way as you continue reading this you will have a bit of an idea of what I look like. Which is average, very average. I don’t stand out like some of the people I saw tonight trying to entertain the crowds.

I am starting to get curious as to why I am writing in this journal. As I said in the previous entry it is not something I have really done before. But when I sat down tonight I had this urge to whip out the journal and start writing about my day. Hopefully I can figure out what this feeling is, maybe it’s just filling the void left after having nowhere to go. Maybe it’s something else.

Oh, oh. I just remembered something, better write it in. There seems to be a bit of buzz around the town at the moment, I’ll list what I know from eavesdropping.

- Seems that about 21 years ago, around this time, that the town was attacked by a demon horde. They beat them off, but did suffer some losses.

- Every 21 years a different town gets attacked, never in the same place twice.

- People are a bit on edge though because the hunters in the region have been sending reports back about increased demon activity hereabouts.

- There hasn’t been any major attacks for about 20 years now.

This is both interesting and worrying at the same time. I mean, I have heard about demons, and seen their pictures in books, but I had never thought they were real. Maybe places slightly isolated aren’t as likely to get attacked or hear about it. I do feel the urge to see them for myself. I would like to know if the pictures in the books were accurate to the real thing. But on the other side of the coin I don’t want to be anywhere near when and if they do attack.

I’ll just have to hope at this stage that I can find something that will take me away from here before anything does happen. Maybe a trader needs some help and I can join him on his journey into the other countries.

That would be the life, travelling from place to place, experiencing new things, buying and trading for unique items that you can’t find in other towns.

Well, that’s enough for tonight. Hopefully I will sleep alright, and tomorrow….

Well…. Tomorrow I hope things go my way.