Sachihiro

There is a sort of hollowing liberation at having your worst fear realised. As a father you do everything in your power to prevent it from happening, you go your whole life trying to protect them but as a person you know it will eventually happen to us all. Calamity is liberating because it's just pulling off the scab of that fear and having it done with. At the same time, it's hollowing because inside you are empty like your whole world has ended and now you’re just a husk that has nothing else to live for, nothing to lose.

We bob side to side up and down for a while, it eventually gets dark. Mira rows us back to shore, it’s completely dark and the wind is blowing threateningly but somehow she manages it. I’m surprised but I can’t find it in me to care that we’ve gotten to shore. As soon as we get ourselves off, the raft is off with the wind like a kite. It surprises me that only our weight was keeping it down, then I see the strain on Mira’s face and I feel like shit.

I’m acting like I’m the only one that has lost a daughter to the point that I don’t even notice how Mira has been working against the storm.

I remove a wound salve from my ring and apply some on her bare shoulder as we walk side by side wearing miss match garments from our rings. Her skin isn’t as bad as mine but I’ve been itching like mad and haven’t been paying attention to myself. It doesn’t take long to find other people huddled together for protection in the darkness, some wide-eyed others excited and even more looking completely lost. It's gotten cold, the air is wet and cutting or again maybe it is just my skin being overly sensitive. I can’t get Hannah out of my mind.

Some of my children are warriors, so it has always been at the back of my mind that some of them might leave this world before I do. My greatest fear was realised. Still, I’m somewhat relieved in a way to get it over with, an involuntary shiver runs through me. I have the sense that this is the worst thing that will ever happen to me, so fuck the world let it burn! At the same time, I flinch from the thought because I still have many more loved ones I could lose. I try to think of other things.

Even though it only ever happened to me once before I think this is the most anticlimactic Awakening there has ever been. I’m sitting in a circle with my family around hundreds of others in similar circles huddled together for comfort, most of them with gills on their necks but we all keep well away from the coast. A whole wave washed through from one side of the isle to the other sweeping away almost everyone in its path.

Aurora is between my legs snuggling into my chest, she hasn’t sought her father’s comfort in years but here she is. Warm in my arms, I pull her closer. Nikita on my side also held close with Ikigai on the other shoulder.

In the night Shrava, my long-lost concubine finds us and mourns with us our dead. I don’t know how she even knew we were on this particular isle or how she got here but I have a hug and a smile for her, nothing else even after all these years. The sea spray and wind keeps everyone uncomfortable, none of us sleeps at first. Others who have no one else find themselves sharing our fire, few questions are asked. It’s a long cold night, I watch every newcomer at first but I keep losing my focus.

Someone burst into a puddle of water startling many but no one seems shocked for long, all over the place people are experimenting with newfound abilities. I run my senses over Aura, Nikita and Iki. I can feel the mana radiating off of them in waves, only Ikigai able to control her output somewhat. They will need to be taught, and help to figure out what they can do.

I stand sentry watching over my family with a spear in hand, though we are all exhausted I can’t sleep. The zanpakutō is a powerful weapon, maybe even overkill but with some of the abilities, I’ve glimpsed from the survivors I know that everyone here is dangerous in some way. I’ve been obsessively checking and rechecking those blood crystals since the storm of darkness hoping against all hope that they are safe in the Foothills.

Shravanthi makes her way to me and gives me a sad smile that I appreciate. There is something fresh about her, untainted by all the shit and drama that I’ve experienced around my family. We send to each other, a long conversation and for the first time in a while I feel like I have a friend.

I speak to her of the years, I spent as much time as I dared with my family, with the kids and my mates working on the family dynamics. I tell her about how to get extra money I hunted spirit beings with Mira to be used into armour enchanting by the Midnights. Lucrative work but very cutthroat. I tell her about Hannah, about how the girl vexed all her mothers growing up.

How aloof she sometimes was, above it all, all the troubles and drama of the world. She lived in her own world that one and she had her own rules, barely conforming to societal norms and absolutely no sense of propriety. I smile as I talk about my girl, manipulating the tears so they don’t fall.

Hannah wasn’t a warrior by pursuit but she was ruthless when it came to killing, she didn’t relish it but she never had remorse for any that fell from her blade. Twice I took her into the mountains hunting orcs and twice she killed people without even batting an eye, she made me proud. When I took the others on those raids the first time was always a harrowing experience, not so with Hannah. I never really understood her though...

I talk about my trip to the mountain citadel then the trip through the Sandorian wilderness that eventually led me here. Shrava listens attentively, prompting me now and again but mostly nodding with an arm snaked around my waist as I rumble on to where ever my mind wanders. Tomorrow we will build a funeral pyre for our dead, Hannah is lost though. Maybe eaten by some sea monster and I’ll never even see her remains.

Edward and Stacey though deserve a proper send-off, we’ll sing a dire to Hannah then as well.

‘’I used your name to get us here you know,’’ I eventually say. ‘’How did you get these people’s trust?’’

‘’I’ve been here for years Sachi, and some of the things I’ve known from back home have benefited these communities.’’

‘’Not gonna give me specifics?’’ I ask with a raised eyebrow. She just stares at me with those pretty eyes and pouts her adorable little mouth. I sigh, ‘’Are we safe here for the time being though? Not a lot of people treat strangers well, especially strangers that stand out so easily.’’

‘’You’re safe here, and there were a lot of humans in the villages here just this morning. It’s just that with the tsunami...’’

‘’The others were swept away, yea I overheard. Did you lose anyone?’’

She looks away but nods her head affirmative.

‘’Lover?’’

She says nothing which is answer enough, I sigh. We are all losing people nowadays so this is it huh, this is the end of the world as we know it.

‘’What’s the plan Sachi, what are we going to do now?’’

‘’I don’t know, but I’m tired of the handicaps I’ve placed on myself. I’m going to talk to the others, if it is safe as you say and we can’t sail due the strange weather then we stay here and get stronger. We’ll shore up all our shortcomings and together I’m confident we can face anything, we’ll figure out what everyone can do now with their new abilities and leave as soon as a path is available to Pangaea.’’

Shrava nods and snuggles closer, she’s asleep a minute later. There is no point in me keeping trump cards I may never get the chance to ever use, tomorrow I summon all my spirit energy back to myself and I get Honour back.

When burglars come you never expect them, even when in your mind you’ve played out scenarios and sometimes literally practised them with your family; when they come its almost a complete surprise. Which I suppose is why we practice in the first place but as I wake up to screaming death and moans it takes me a second to realise that something is happening and in that second Kuyoki has a quarterstaff shaped object clamped around her neck and held down hard against the ground while she flays inefficiently. Ava has two people on top of her tying her down and she is completely overcome but her assailtents don’t want her hurting herself.

Shrava is being dragged away screaming with clamps around her ankles and a boot is stomped on my chest before I can properly register my surroundings. And all that is in that first second of grogginess before I have even properly assessed the situation.

A throwing star is out of my ring before I can fully think about it but it bounces ineffectively on the boot owner’s thigh. I do a sweep using water mana to make the ground on my back slick and take his legs out from under him. Pushing myself explosively up with a tap of my hand on the ground I’m releasing Silencer from its sheath on my back, the throw is good with the spear shooting straight through the one bending over Shrava’s head to pierce the one behind Niki holding her by the neck.

Throwing stars practically zip themselves out of my pinky ring as I channel a continuous flow of power through my arm spraying everyone around me. The razor sharp sky-steel tipped stars bounce ineffectively on their dark armoured skinsuits. There is almost a pause in the abducting as they look at me and with casual surprise realise I’m a threat then they start moving into action. Something yanks me back hard but I can ‘see’ the tree behind me and I spin to land on it feet first.

I bunch up, shooting off with aura reinforced everything two handedly wielding Razor I’m cutting into a neck to a spray of blue blood. I land in a twist someone takes the opportunity to surprise them behind me and I hear the roar of our powerhouse Onimorē before da’s own outraged roar follows and javelins start flying.

I don’t know how they kept us asleep but now that we’re up and managed to rouse ourselves the momentum is shifting. I draw Kata, swerve and hack, block swerve and hack. Their armour is some sort of glistering purple suit that makes them hard to properly see but easy enough for Razor and Kata to cut into, barely but the job gets done.

According to my awareness I’ve hit the two I’m now moving through at places critical for movement so I just parry their paltry counters and I get a chance to see what’s going on wholescale as I move for cover. Others are trying to fight all over the area, some even competently but the difference in weapon quality tells. I take a purple electric strike on my Razor, the hand on the sword burns hot but the feeling is quickly gone. I let Kata fly at the mage but the axe is blasted out of its path a water bold after water bolt shooting from my now empty palm with me following in a sprint behind the bolts.

The bolts are dispelled with a wave of the mages hand the stars I send ignored as they bounce ineffectively off the suit. I now have one weapon in hand and the mage has clear line of sight, I step left then zag right tanking one strike on a very quickly formed water shield. I step past a strike another splashing on a newly coalesced water shield. I don’t slow my pace forward.

Mages are usually very dangerous but the secret with beating them is always getting close and close is where I get myself. My first strike is deflected off a mana shield my second makes him stumble a step, my third cutting through the shield and into an armoured shoulder. With the shield gone I get my knee up slamming between his legs then stab into a gap at the neck of the armour suit.

One gets off Ava to help two keeping da at bay and she gets herself free wrestling her opponent down. Onimorē smashes through their bodysuits like they aren’t there, Esuas is keeping two busy and seems to be only marginally injured. Another makes the mistake of hitting Iki on the back of the head instead of properly subduing her, she doesn’t stay down a moment before with strength that shouldn’t be on a girl that size snapped the persons head.

The tide turns from there and pretty soon we are chasing retreating foes, with the others around us getting free it doesn’t take long before all our assailants are dead on the sands between the trees. None reach the shore where they were obviously heading but no one is feeling safe as people try to figure out what happened.

I run up to Niki and I hug her, I look for Aurora signalling her and soon we are in a 3 way hug. My kids are okay, I look around and everything seems fine, some more pissed than hurt in fact. A few people in the undine glittering shell armour with spears organise themselves and rush into the water.

We get away from all the other people around here, there are just too many here that would be useless in a fight. We moved deeper into the quiet forest, the ground is all sand and the leaves are more leafy than branchy but we aren’t so far out of our natural habitat that we can’t find a defensible position.

In an hour of looking we find a place to fortify, a gorge with only two ways in or out we generously litter with traps. Before we even begin to feel comfortable.

‘’Okay how did they ambush us like that?’’ I ask as we get together to discuss plans.

‘’I’m getting wood for the pyres, Thandeka joint me?’’ Kuyoki says startling Thandeka from her thoughts. She nods in response and complies.

‘’Lets set a watch first, two people on that passage and another two on the other end. Not at the same place-‘’ da starts.

‘’We know the drill,’’ Max interrupts. ‘’I’ll take first watch on this side,’’ he grabs his spear and leaves, Sema joins him without a word.

‘’I’ll take watch with Sway on the other end,’’ Andrew says grabbing the other young man around the shoulders and pushing him along.

‘’I- I couldn’t use my illusions...’’ Mirabalis says with confusion in her voice.

‘’Same,’’ Mira says with a thoughtful nod. ‘’I couldn’t touch my mana at all without getting dizzy.’’

We look around, not many are mana focused but all those that are were disabled from using their mana. Well excpt me, I didn’t feel a thing but we give up trying to figure that out .

‘’Mirabalis, your abilities work now?’’ I ask and get a nod.

‘’Okay, I propose Mirabalis goes back to the others disguised as an undine woman. Mingle and try to get the lay of the land, listen to what they are talking about there and their plans. You’l have... Soal as support a kilometre or so away in the woods. Vuyo, Aurora, Iki, you three go west explore as far as you deem safe; see what we have around us.

‘’Dewan you’re in charge of traps, Oni you worry about the guard detail. Shrava, ma and I head to where the nearest village used to be see what we find. Everyone good with that?’’

‘’I’d like to go with Mirabalis, to the camp I mean.’’ John says distractedly. I look at him with awareness but I see nothing alarming there.

‘’Okay that’s fine I think, we meet back here in 25 hours to discuss what we know and where to from here. Then we pay our respect to the dead, anything else on anyone’s mind?’’

We move as planned.