That night I had another dream… About that time years ago. I thought I had finally accepted the aftermath. It was a clear summer day, at that time I was 18 and was on my way to meet up with Arlene for a date. Well I say date, but it was just us hanging out at my house with my siblings.

My parents had left earlier that day by themselves to visit family. I quickly picked up Mai and Kenny and together picked up Arlene before we walked home. The seemly normal day was shattered with a simple phone call… The plane my parents were on was shot down...accidentally...

My knees lost strength and I fell to the ground… This is too cruel...Why!? Mia’s only 6! How am I supposed to explain this to her? Dad promised Kenny that he’d buy him a new Video Game when he came home from their trip! …They… were going to meet Arlene’s parents for the first time…

My girlfriend knew something was wrong and brought my siblings into the living room to play with them before she whispered in my ear.

(Arlene) “Take your time Honey, we’ll talk about this when you’re ready…”

And left with a saddened expression. She was my saving grace, I think I would have broken down completely without her support… I can then feel the tears I was holding back swell up and silently cried. I swear mother and father, I’ll keep them safe in your place. Please rest in peace and leave the house to me. I can then feel the sensation of someone wiping my tears as I slowly wake up.

I awaken to Melia hovering over me wiping my tears with an expression similar to Arlene’s that day and pat her on the head.

(Melia) “Are you ok... Kuro? If you’re not used to sleeping alone… I... can sleep with you.”

Does she know what she just said… Oh she caught on, her face lite up like a christmas tree.

(Melia) “N-n-nnot like that! I was just thinking you weren’t used to not having Lila sleep next to you.”

Well her intentions are pure at least, and I continue to pat her head.

“I’m fine Melia, I just had a bad dream. Nothing to worry about.”

After calming Melia for a while I get up and get dressed. Time to head over to the Smith’s Alley and pick up my gear. I picked up the bracers and shin guards without a hitch and head home for lunch before leaving. Meal time was silent, neither Sebas nor Melia uttered a word as I ate silently.

“Thanks for the delicious meal as usual Sebas, I’ll be back in a year’s time. Until then, take care of yourself. You also Melia, me and Lila will be home before you guys know it, so don’t worry!”

They simply nod as I return to my room to get my things. Once I reach the gates of the Manor I’m greeted by Fen and the rest of the guards… Oh and there’s a wild Melia.

(Fen) “It has been a pleasure, Sir Kurogane. The next time we meet I shall be sure to be skilled enough to put up a proper fight.”

The rest of the guards shout out similar words in my direction as Melia walks up to me with a basket.

(Melia) “The Forest of Mist is a long way from here… I made you a few sandwiches for the road.”

Well that was sweet of her. I accept the basket and say my goodbyes and exit the city for the first time… Not in a cage.

Until I can no longer be seen clearly I walk at a normal speed on the road, there’s a small village on the way they said about 2 or 3 days away and the road fortunately is straight and doesn’t split off. Once I’m sure no one else is watching I start running full speed down the road, I’m not sure how fast I can run but there’s only one way to find out!

As I run I make sure to keep an eye out for any prying eyes, I’d rather not explain how I’m running at the speed I am right now. After running for an hour at full speed I slow down to about half max speed in case I run into someone. Wait… wasn’t the village a few days away?

Maybe... Another village popped up since the last time someone’s been through here…? No, that can’t be right… it’s only been two years since I’ve come through here... there’s no way a village this size could just... appear. I have some ridiculous leg strength to have reached this far ahead of schedule, much more than I was expecting. Slowly walking towards the village I introduce myself to the nearest person I could find.

“Excuse me sir, my name is Kurogane and I am on a journey to the Forest of Mist. I was wondering if there was an Inn I could rest at tonight.”

The villager turns to me and smiles.

“Of course we do. There’s an Inn run by my Grandson near the village square. Please be careful though there have been a lot of wolves lately. So it’s not safe to be out at night.”

Wolves… Sound tasty… Gah! That’s what I forgot! Spices! How am I supposed to enjoy some cooked meat if I don’t have at least some salt and pepper? At least I have some food to snack on thanks to Melia. After getting directions I head to the Village Square and open up my basket.

There were several sandwiches along with a note and a small bag? After wolfing down the sandwiches I pick up the letter and read it. It’s from... Sebas? The letter seemed to mention something I forgot to bring with me?

He said he had packed it for me…This guy…How did he? Sebas left me with some rosemary, salt and pepper. How perfect is this guy? While I take the bag of spices and stuff it into my rucksack, I hear howling…?

In moments, the windows shut all around me and the sound of doors being locked. There are a few men that run out of the Inn and a few other buildings holding pitchforks.

(Villager) “It’s dangerous outside Kid! Quickly! Run into the Inn and close the door!”

The villager shouts at me as he runs towards the fields with the rest of them. Uh… where are they going? I grab my bag and throw it on my shoulder and walk the opposite direction of the villagers. Leaving my hand on my sword I slowly travel through the road until I reach the outer part of the village.

Greeting me was a small pack of wolves, there looks like 5 of them? One of them is noticeably larger than the rest of them… Must be the Alpha… If I kill the Alpha the rest of them will run away. Well aren’t they polite, they doing any sudden movements and are just growling at me…

It’s getting late, let’s make this quick. Loosening my grip on my bag it drops to the ground. Before my bag can hit the ground I close in on the nearest wolf slicing clean through it’s head as I draw my sword. Before the other wolves could react I kick it’s carcass towards the Alpha to stall it for a moment and make quick work of the remaining 3.

Hehehe… You’re not going anywhere dinner! Did that stupid maid think 4 sandwiches would be enough to fill my stomach? There wasn’t even any meat in any of them! They were VEGETARIAN SANDWICHES! These guys will have to make up for your lack of insight you damned maid.

The Alpha is still growling at me and is trying to get behind me. Unable to it lunges towards my throat. As soon as the wolf starts to gain air I slash at the air in front of me flinging the blood on my sword into it’s eyes making it flitch. I then side step away from it and behead it.

Well then...Time to gather up everything and start a fire~ I start humming as I gather up the wolf bodies into a pile and my eye meets the villagers from earlier. Uh…? Why do you guys look so shocked? It’s not my fault you guys went the wrong way… Wait... Do they want the meat? It’s mine damnit! I killed them so it’s mine!

The Villagers suddenly let out a triumphant cry…?

(Villager A) “We’re saved! The little Hero saved us from the monster wolf!”

Next thing I know a few dozen people had come towards me as I was gathering the wolves.

“You know… I’m not giving you guys any of the meat.”

(Villager B) “Of course Little Hero, please let us help you skin these wolves for you and prepare a simple thanks for you. You must be starving you poor thing!”

The lady villager starts to set up a fire as she motions a few of the males to help me skin the wolves. Good thing these guys are here… I’m not exactly good at skinning animals. While they were preparing MY meal the number of people slowly grows... ? At least they’re bringing their own food... I did tell them I’m not sharing.

“Oh, I don’t need the fur. If you guys want it, you can take it. Same with the bones.”

The villagers gladly took the hide and started to cook the meat and used the bones to make a soup. I forgot you could do that with the bones… Maybe I should take them back? Ahh… I’m starving… I look over to my side and see the severed head of the Alpha wolf and notice a little round candy on the ground?

I wonder how that got there…? I pick it up and dust it off and pop it in my mouth and crunch it down releasing a sweet flavor into my mouth. Mmmm this candy should hold me over until the villagers are done cooking, honestly they brought enough food now. So I don’t mind sharing some of the meat now… just some… maybe a piece.

Unbeknownst to me the villagers started to have a party around me? I guess they think I’m a Hero of some sort for killing… a wolf… because I was hungry. I mean they seasoned my meat for me and even served it to me and added some rabbit meat so I’m not one to complain. The sun eventually sets during the festivities and I’m escorted back to the Inn, they’re even putting me up for the night free of charge!

I won’t say no but isn’t this a bit much? All I did was kill a few wolves not any monster or anything. Eh.. I’m just going to not worry about it and head to bed, I’ll ask someone tomorrow about this. Don’t want them suddenly asking me to pay for the room now.

The following day I awaken to the sun beating my face in… since Melia isn’t here to wake me up... I guess I over slept? I really don’t want to get out of bed… but I’m hungry again. Slowly dragging my feet I grab my things and head down into what I think looked like the dining area of the Inn.

(Innkeeper) “Ah the Little Hero is awake! I forgot to mention last night that this is the dining area and breakfast was included with the room.”

The Innkeeper looks like a young man about 20 years old with disheveled blond hair, a bad case of bedhead this guy. I sleeply sit down and am served a vegetable soup, salad and a piece of rabbit meat. I should probably ask about this whole hero business while I’m at it… worst case I’ll pay for the meal at least.

“Hey… I know you guys think I’m a Hero and all… but I just killed a few wolves? They weren’t even that dangerous?”

The Innkeeper just stares at me for a moment and laughs at me.

(Innkeeper) “As one would expect from such a small Hero. That wolf pack was lead by a monstrous wolf that has been terrorizing our village for the last month! Of course something as that would seem weak to you!”

Was it strong? The sword Harvey gave me cut clean through it… there wasn’t any resistance at all? I did use more strength than usual this time but that shouldn’t have made that much of a difference right? … Right?

After eating my breakfast I said goodbye to the Innkeeper and left the village towards home. It’s supposed to be at weeks worth of travel via carriage. But then again I did make it here in a couple hours. At least there’s really no reason to hide my strength here at least… they already saw me kill those wolves so I break out into a sprint onto the road.

Sebas told me there there should be a fork in the road and to keep to the right, at the second fork in the road the forest should be on my left hand side. He repeated himself several times for some reason… He even wrote it down… I’m not THAT bad.

After running for a couple hours I end up at the passing the first fork in the road, before the sun starts to set. I could keep going but honestly running all day isn’t the funnest thing… I’m also starving so I start nibbling on the jerky while looking around for a place to sleep. Hmm… this tree over here looks pretty good. Just in case I kick the tree to see if anything falls out… nope... just leaves.

Climbing up the tree I sit on one of the thicker branches halfway up and get comfortable. Alright then… something better not disturb my sleep this time! I swear if something happens again I’m going to be furious! With that thought I doze off while leaning against the trunk of the tree.

I’ve been having a lot of dreams about the past lately… some I would rather not relive. That night I had another dream, it was after one of my business trips. I had to leave the country on business for a month and had once the job was done I ran home.

When I opened the door home Mia was sitting on the couch reading a magazine while Kenny was looked like he was watching T.V. I hate leaving them all alone for work but I really don’t have a choice. As the door shuts Mia looks up and sees me and runs over giving me a hug while Ken seemed uninterested.

(Mia) “Big Brother! I was so worried! Did you finish your work?”

I pat Mia on the head and tell her I finished and will be home at least for a few months.

(Kenny) “It’s not like it’ll matter… He’ll just leave us behind like mom, dad… and bis sis.”

Kenny always wears his emotions on his sleeves… it’s been hard on him recently. I’m not really sure what else I can do for him...

(Mia) “Kenny! Don’t be mean to big brother!”

As she pouts and I pick her up and carry her back to the couch. She’s still puny for a 13 year old and she’s still attached to me which I think is the cutest thing. After I set Mia down I sit next to Ken and pat him on the head also.

(Ken) “I’m not a kid!”

But he doesn’t swat my hand away, he’s at that complicated age huh?

(Ken) “Chirp!”

… Huh? Why does he sound like a bird now? Even Mia is..? Ah... it’s morning… and the damned birds are awake… They’re worse than my alarm clock! I can at least control that, but I can’t control birds. Making sure the coast is clear first, I jump down from the tree and take a look around. Yep, no one around!

I should be able to get home by the afternoon but first breakfast! I open up my rucksack and start digging through it… dagger... spices...dagger...money... bracers...shinguards...skinning knife… empty...bag…? Wait... where’s my jerky? After triple checking my bag I’m… out of jerky… How?!?

I bought like 4 pounds of jerky! Did I drop it somewhere? No, I was careful with my food… I was just nibbling on it when I was looking around... ? Did I eat all of it!? Well… I did run into those wolves yesterday… maybe I’ll find something to eat on the way.

I keep an eye open for any kind of critter as I run… nothing… nothing… I should have hunted down those noisy birds from this morning and have some roasted bird. My stomach is already growling as loud as a certain Giant Lizard that attacks Tokyo as I reach the forest. It already feels like afternoon because I started to slow down due my hunger… There had better be one of those killer bunnies of doom around or I’ll probably faint before I get home.

In a daze I drag myself into the forest. Ahh… So hungry… I drag my feet until god finally throws me a bone. Behind me I can hear some rustling and when I turn around I see a bunny jumping towards me. Ah how kind of you to sacrifice yourself rabbit. I’ll be sure to savor the flavor of your meat. I side step to the side and slam my fist into it’s skull forcing it into the ground.

Finally to make sure it stays down I lift my leg up into the air and smash in it’s skull again with an axe kick. At this point I’m so hungry I don’t even bother cooking the rabbit and just slit it’s throat and grab it by the hind legs and swing it back and forth trying to speed up the bleeding process.

I then attempt to skin it and eat what I can. Damnit… I’m a bloody mess now… At least I can use magic to create water and clean up. Once I’m sure I won’t scare Lena and Roy with my blood stained appearance I run back to my familiar old shed. It looks just like I left it, with a sign that reads “Blackie” in Elvish.

I open the door to see Lena curled up in a blanket surrounded by books… Did she add more!?! Somethings just never change do they? As quietly as I can I close the door and see Roy taking a nap in a hammock. As I step forward I see Roy wake up and look at me in a daze.

“I’m home, did you guys miss me?”