Station Taru, 15:30

“Now arriving at station Taru.”
Kikaru woke David up, it didn’t take long for David to become his usual self.

“We’re here.”
They both grabbed their bags and walked out of the train. The station was very small, there was only 1 platform. There were 3 shops that sold various things, but that was about it. Kikaru and David went to 1 shop to buy a map of the area.

“According to what Tom said, there is supposed to be a village somewhere in this area called ‘Taru’. All we need to do is walk there, it doesn’t seem like any busses are riding at the moment.” Kikaru was already beginning to walk, David following behind him.
“It’s hidden in the mountains, eh? That’s gonna be quite the walk.” David exclaimed, a big smile of excitement showing on his face.

“Yeah, let’s go!” The two of them started walking into the mountains.

It was quite the long walk, but nothing very dangerous. They both enjoyed the sights that they saw, and they were blessed by great weather. They bought a small booklet at the station that explained some of the local spots to visit. One interesting that Kikaru read was that there was a Village Guardian. It wasn’t specified what it was, but the mere mention of it alone got the duo very excited to see what it was all about. -Infinity- was a subject at the back of their mind for now, they were in it for the journey.

Taru Village, 16:00

Kikaru and David stood in front of a pretty large wooden entrance, the village was right behind it. Kikaru was a bit tired from all the walking, but David didn’t seem to show any fatigue. They were deep in the mountains now, finally entering the ‘sacred’ village.

Upon entering, they immediately began observing their surroundings. It was a somewhat small village, multiple rows of houses stood neatly, still looking modern. There were some people outside working on one of the houses. One of the people waved at the duo. “Hello, new strangers!”
They both waved back. They were surprised by the niceness of the villagers. A small girl bumped against Kikaru while she was playing with her friends. “Sorry, mister!”
They also noticed that none of the villagers seemed to bat an eye at the both of them carrying swords. It felt weird for Kikaru to carry his sword out in the open, even if it was legal.

They were both just making small talk to each other when they were suddenly stopped by someone shouting at them. “Stop! New strangers!”
Kikaru quickly turned around, thinking he had done something wrong. He saw a young boy running at him, to his surprise.
“I am the helper of the village guardian! I need to check if the both of you aren’t up to no good!” The boy was of a small stature wearing a white kimono nagagi with a light blue haori. he looked like he was 14 at best. He had a very loud voice to him, taking his job very seriously.
“My name is Han!” He quickly introduced himself, doing a small pose with two horizontal peace signs close to his face.
“Ah- My name is Kikaru!” Kikaru said in response, still surprised by the sudden appearance of Han.
“The name’s David.”
“You two! What are you doing in this village?” Han asked.
“We’re just passing by on a journey.” David quickly said, looking at Kikaru who nodded in response.

“Alright! Do not cause trouble, otherwise the guardian will come for you!” And just like that, Han had already gone off into the distance.
“What the f-”
“I found him kind of funny.” Kikaru quickly cut David off.

He looked at the map, noticing that there was a very large shrine. “Hey, David, if we’re here anyway, why not visit it?”
David nodded at the question, the both of them began walking towards the large Shrine. Once at the shrine, they both stood in front of a statue of a Shīsā. A small lion Yokai that is a guardian deity.

After doing a purification rite, they both began to do a small prayer for their fallen comrades. They both didn’t question each other for who they had lost, mutually believing it to be a very private matter that can bring back painful memories. After their prayers and thanks to the local shrine workers, they began looking for a library.

”We could look up the information of this village there.” Kikaru noted.
“Yeah, I’ve got to say, I’ve really taken a liking to this place. The people are very friendly towards strangers, that doesn’t happen every day.”
“That’s true, although.. I am quite curious about the village guardian that Han talked about. Do you think he exists?” Kikaru asked.
“Probably? It might also be a deity, we did see the statue at the shrine.”

While they were talking, someone was watching them from a distance. “So these are the two I got that message about, so it seems.” The person left quickly, both of them not noticing a thing.

Kikaru and David saw Han again, his face practically saying that he needed some help.
“Yo, han!” Kikaru walked towards him, David following right behind him.
“Ah, stranger-aru. Is there anything you need?” Han said, having somewhat forgotten Kikaru’s name. He had both his arms crossed, with his eyes looking at the ground. He wasn’t being very subtle about struggling with something.
“I should probably ask you, are you struggling with something?” Kikaru didn’t even think twice about how Han called him. He had that same smile on his face as he always has when he was helping someone. Positivity beaming from him. Han began thinking.
“Hm… You two are still strangers to this village. However, I need some help. I’m looking for a lost cat, miss Roko couldn’t find her all day. It’s my duty as an apprentice to find her.. however.. I can’t seem to find her.”
David laughed. “Sure, we’ll help you with that! Why not?” He basically said what Kikaru was thinking.
Han tried to hide his gratitude, but he was once again very easy to read. “Thank you, Stranger-id”
“That’s.. not my na-“ Han cut David off.
“Roko’s cat is a small orange one. She can easily be identified by her very white ear.”
They both nodded. “Alright, we’ll search for her. How about we meet again at this place when the sun has gone down?” Kikaru said, Han nodding to that.

The three of them then separated to search for the orange cat. David was whistling to himself. “White ear huh? Shouldn’t be that hard to find.” He then realized that this village was pretty big. “Perhaps I spoke too soon.” He gulped. While deep in thought, he felt someone tug at his jacket. He turned around seeing a smaller, older lady. “Do you need anything?” David asked in his most respectful tone.

“I saw you talking with Han. You seem to be a new friend of his. Do you want to go inside and drink some tea? My husband just made some, but it was too much…” The old lady asked, she spoke in a very soft tone, it sounded very inviting.
David looked at his watch. They had promised to meet up when the sun had gone down. He couldn’t say no to this very nice lady, so he nodded.

“Yes, I would like to.”

Meanwhile, Kikaru was walking in another district when he suddenly heard a meow coming from afar. Kikaru listened again, trying to pinpoint the location of where it came from. He had very good hearing, so after another meow he noticed that it was coming from a tree at the park where some kids were playing. Kikaru ran towards it. Looking up, he saw the cat that Han described.

“Found her, but how am I going to get her out of the tree.” He thought to himself, he then saw Han dashing through the district. While Kikaru took it slow searching for her, Han had taken the strategy of bolting through the village. Kikaru quickly adapted to it.
“HAN! SHE’S HERE!” He shouted, hoping Han would hear it. Pointing at the tree.
“ALRIGHT, THANK YOU, STRANGER-ARU!” Han began running way faster, surprising Kikaru.
Han ran at the tree at a very fast speed, worrying Kikaru that he would crash into it. But he then saw him jumping very high, way higher than the average person could. He held onto one of the branches, climbing himself up towards the cat.
“Be ready to catch her if she jumps out.” Han said towards Kikaru.

Kikaru held his hands out in the general location of the cat. Han tried to grab the cat but failed. She jumped right into the arms of Kikaru.

“There, there” Kikaru patted her on the head. The cat wasn’t hostile, purring softly.
Kikaru looked at the cat, her white ear being a stark contrast to the rest of her orange fur. Han jumped out of the tree, landing neatly on both his feet. Some children had gathered around them, gazing in awe.
A kid started pointing and laughing. “The cat has a white ear just like you have white hair, mister!” More kids started laughing.

Kikaru laughed too, he was having the time of his life. A giant smile showing on his face. The cat jumped into the arms of Han. “Thank you.” He bowed at Kikaru.
“I’m gonna bring her back to lady Roko. You’ve proven to me that you have a good heart, Stra-… Kikaru.” He quickly corrected himself, before walking off.
“You’re welcome!” Kikaru shouted.

Han waved back as the sunset showed his silhouette walking off into the distance.

He looked at the kids that we’re still looking at him. “Mister, do you wanna play with us?”
Kikaru nodded, and they began running off. Kikaru had to play tag with them, their laughter echoing through the streets.

Meanwhile

David had entered the old lady’s house. After taking off his shoes and jacket, he walked into the living room. It was a very simple living room with some Chinese styled wall scrolls. There was a kotatsu in the middle, where an old man was sitting. He was wearing some plain clothes. On the wall was the name Yung.
“Welcome!” The man openly greeted David.
David greeted back, before sitting down under the kotatsu. The old lady sat down with some green tea, passing it over to David.
“Thank you.” David said, before taking a sip.
“You’re new to this village, aren’t you, boy?” The man asked, his tone was still very friendly.
“Yeah, I just came here today with my friend.”
“My wife saw you talking with Han, energetic boy, that one. But he’s good natured. Just like my son.” The man laughed.
“He would enjoy this tea very much, but he’s busy.” The old lady said.
David just had a smile on his face, he liked the warmth of this place. Both of them were very nice to him.
“Can I ask, how long have you been in this village?”
“We’re originally from china, we migrated to japan 23 years ago. It’s been quite a while. We can still remember when we came to this village, The guardian accepted us with open arms.” The old lady told their story.

“Guardian..?”
“This village has a long running tradition of guardians. It’s a person who protects this village at night, keeping it safe from pillagers or other people with evil intentions. He’s now the village chief, as he found a new apprentice, the current guardian.” The old lady has a small, soft smile on her face as she sipped her tea.
“That’s so interesting!” David couldn’t really hold his excitement in.
“Ho-Ho-Ho. The younger generation is still energetic.” The lady laughed at David’s excitement.
The old man was just silently sipping his tea. David looked through the window, where he saw that the sun was almost entirely down.
“Excuse me, I need to go. Thank you very much for the tea and the history. I hope we can meet again.” He put his shoes and jacket on and walked outside, the old people waving at him.
“He’s just like our son.” The old man sighed.
“Such an energetic boy.” The old lady laughed.

David rushed to the spot where he was supposed to meet Kikaru again. He saw the white haired man standing there, noticing that his face was a bit dirty. Kikaru noticed David and waved at him. Once he stood in front of Kikaru, David noticed something.
“Where’s Han?”
“Oh, we found the cat, I played with some kids afterwards, it was very fun. But they tackled me a few times.” Kikaru laughed.
“Sounds like a fun time, how about we find a place to rest.”

While the two of them were walking, the walked past the park where Kikaru was playing with the children. They were suddenly stopped by someone placing their hand on Kikaru’s shoulder.
“Oh, Han, is that y-” Kikaru asked while turning around, his jaw suddenly falling open.
“Kikaru, what’s wrong.. WH-” David noticed Kikaru’s shock and looked at the same spot, his jaw falling open too.
In front of them was a person towering over them, he was wearing shaded glasses, they couldn’t see his eyes. His short black hair contrasting the moonlight that shone upon them. He was wearing a blue haori with a white nagagi and a cyan hakama. He had a frown on his face. Speaking with a very deep tone, anger resounding from it.  

“My name is Kaey Yung, I am this village’s guardian. I am asking the both of you to leave before you harm this place, that I am.”

Chapter 2 -END-