RTYY 103 – From the Beginning
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ZenTar1Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind) had more than a few questions, more than a few things he’d like to clarify, but he could only stare, mouth gaping, all that he’d planned to ask completely wiped from his mind.

“This is amazing! It actually worked!” VinWei2Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) was saying enthusiastically as she reached him. Finding him standing there, in the middle of the street, frozen like a statue, she couldn’t help follow his gaze and end up staring as well.

Bit by bit, people were starting to leave their houses, squinting at the bright light of the day, hugging their families and friends in open manifestations of sorrow and relief. What had looked like a deserted village was slowly regaining its life. But what had caught both their attention was the tall, young man walking towards them, and the unconscious teenage boy he carried, sitting on one arm as if he were no more than a child.

Leaning against his chest, with his head lying on his shoulder, the boy seemed comfortably asleep, his silver hair glistening under the sunlight. And yet, there was something so impressive, so awe-inspiring about that image, that even the villagers stopped their chatting to watch him walk by. The only one who seemed unaffected was VinWei who, with both hands already on her hips, kept staring at the tall man with an annoyed, critical expression.

“He finally ran out?” she asked the moment ZaiWin3Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). reached them and he simply nodded, leaving a sigh of exasperation on her lips. “What did I tell you about talking to him about this? We’re lucky that this village only has a few dozen people! If it had hundreds, the way he’s doing things, by now we’d all be testing your theory and seeing if it’s really true that if he dies you’ll die with him as well!” she chastised him angrily.

“I know. I still hadn’t had the chance to talk to him. I’ll talk do it the moment he wakes up.”

She sighed, letting go of her anger.

By then MenTar4Literally men (lake) + tar (wind) and HawkEye were rushing down the street, a young man dressed in plain, gray clothes that had clearly seen better days, in their tow. They had been tasked with checking every house, making sure that everyone who’d survive had been properly healed, so that there wouldn’t be another outbreak.

“Calzai!” MenTar called out, but the instant ZaiWin turned to look at him his green eyes widened full of concern at the sight of the boy tranquilly sleeping against his chest. “Is everything okay? Is Snow all right?”

“He’s fine,” ZaiWin replied shortly and his gaze fell on the young man who had followed them, and that had clearly became a few shades paler at the sound of his title. “Who’s this?”

“Calzai5Literally cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai., this is SkyLight, the village chief’s son. Unfortunately his father wasn’t able to survive this terrible plague,” HawkEye clarified and the young man immediately fell on his knees, loudly banging his forehead against the dirt of the road.

“My lord Calzai! Please accept our humble gratitude for all you have done for village of Last Tree and its insignificant inhabitants! We have no way to repay such a huge debt!”

ZaiWin sighed impatiently. He hated all that kneeling and prostrating. He also hated having people talking to him and not being able to see their faces. Back in Nox6Literally nox (night). Where Nox is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province. everyone knew this, even though he still had had to promise severe punishment to whoever dared kneel in such way in his presence.

“Stand up!” he ordered and MenTar quickly helped the young man to his feet. He too was aware of this Calzai’s peculiar distaste regarding such formalities. “You have nothing to thank us for. We were just fulfilling our duty and following the Nai Calzai7Literally nai (transparent / translucent) plus cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as Invisible General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai. To distinguish them they were given different colors. The Nai Calzai refers to RimMyu from Wei.’s command,” he quickly clarified, eager to put someone else under the spotlight and, sure enough, the man looked pleasantly surprised by his words.

“You were sent by the Nai Calzai? Even though we were never able to send word about the terrible incidents that have befallen our village?”

“That’s right,” ZaiWin confirmed, leaving a hopeful smile on the young man’s face. “And I’ll need you to tell me all about these incidents you’ve referred. But first I need you to find me some place clean and safe where this child can have some rest,” he declared to everyone’s surprise, since it was the first time they heard him call Snow something other than brat.

The young man nodded vehemently.

“But of course! Please follow me! I know just the place!”

SkyLight hurriedly led them to a small house, pushing open the wooden door.

“It’s a bit dusty, considering it hasn’t been used in a while. But since no one was living here in the first place, I can assure you that there are no traces of disease.” The young man bowed respectfully as they stepped inside.

Similar to the houses ZaiWin had seen before, it was a one room dwelling, the bed laid against the farthest wall beneath a small window. Closer to the door stood a round table surrounded by three chairs, and to his left a few empty wooden shelves had been nailed to the wall.

Crossing the small room, he carefully laid Snow on the bed, making sure he remained in a comfortable position. Free from his burden, he turned around to face the others.

“HawkEye, help the villagers clean their homes of the dead and help them prepare them for their last rites,” he instructed and HawkEye immediately bowed, leaving the house to obey his command.

“MenTar, you stay here. Watch over him.” MenTar nodded with a smile and VinWei placed another blue crystal on Snow’s chest, its glow make him look even paler.

“Just to make sure he’s okay,” she explained, gently aligning the boy’s hair.

“SkyLight, right? Is there a place where we can have a talk?”

“Of course, if the Calzai won’t mind following me all the way back to my home. In the beginning, after things got out of hand, we gathered our sick at the tavern and at the inn, so it would be easier to look after them. But they all end up dying …” he added in a pained voice and ZaiWin nodded.

“Your dwelling will do just fine.”

SkyLight took a deep breath, pulling himself together, and bowed again, showing them the way out.

“This way, please.”

They followed him back outside, across the street where other people were still gathering, sharing their grieves and pain at the horror that had befallen them.

Leading them back to his home, SkyLight opened the door to let them in.

“Please forgive the mess. I’ve been sick and alone for the last past week, unable to get out of bed the last couple of days,” he apologized, his cheeks blushing embarrassedly, and ZaiWin looked around the room, at the piles of used bowls and cups on the cupboard, leftovers of food scattered over the table. Unlike the small house where Snow was staying, this one was much bigger, two other doors probably leading to sleeping quarters.

Pulling a chair away from the messy table, ZaiWin sat down, ignoring the apologetically man. VinWei followed his example, her expression unusually grave, while ZenTar remained standing, leaning against the wall right next to the entrance door.

Scratching his messy, oily hair in embarrassment, SkyLight looked hesitantly at them.

“Sit,” ZaiWin commanded.

As if someone had just threatened him to death should he fail to obey, the young man immediately pulled a chair for himself and sat down, nervously squeezing both hands over his lap.

“From the beginning. How did your village came to be in such dire situation?” ZaiWin asked in a dry voice and SkyLight’s expression became immediately darker.

“We’re a small, poor village as my lords can see. We mainly live from the land’s blessings and from the coin that the occasional travel leaves at our inn. There was a time when many merchants would pass by here on their way to the Province of Tei, but now not so much, and so we mainly live a simple, quiet live.

“A fortnight ago our fields were suddenly invaded by a pack of dark creatures, the likes we had never seen before. Thinking they might be wolves or another such animal, afraid for our livestock, a few of our men tried to chase them away … but they never returned home. The next day we couldn’t even find their bodies to bury. But the worst thing wasn’t any of that. Our fields were completely ruined.

“As farmers, we’ve seen our share of bad harvests, but nothing like this. It was as if our entire crops had simply rotten away overnight. We’d just started one of the best harvest seasons in a long time, our fields full of large, round pumpkins. And the next day everything was gone. Everything turned black and rotten. No one could believe such terrible thing, and many had to go and see it with their own eyes. My father, as the village’s chief, among them.

“The next day all those who had set foot on the fields were sick. They were dead the following morning. And then the sickness spread, even to the farthest houses.

“The people that got sick afterwords didn’t die as fast as the first ones, resisting for at least one week. But, on the other hand, it gave them more time to spread the disease to those around them. Soon the entire village was either sick or dying,” he declared, tears filling his dark-brown eyes.

“Why didn’t you send a message to the Capital? Asking for help?” VinWei demanded and SkyLight turned to look at her.

“It all happened so fast! First everyone was grieving. Grieving for their crops. Then grieving for the loss of our loved ones. When we realized that the sickness was spreading it was already too late. There was no one healthy enough to ride in search of help. Nor were there any horses left to take them.”

“The animals got sick as well?” ZenTar asked and SkyLight nodded.

“First were the dogs, then our livestock, finally the horses. In just three days after those beasts invaded our village there wasn’t a single animal alive.”

“Before that. Before those beasts raided your fields. Did anything strange happen? Anything different?” ZaiWin wondered and SkyLight seemed to ponder on his question for a moment.

“I wouldn’t say anything strange. But different yes. We’d just celebrated the first day of the harvest season. It’s a tradition in our village. Every year we hold a small festival when it starts and another when it ends, where we hold a small banquet featuring all the blessings the land as granted us.”

“When was this?”

“Two days before the attack.”

“Nothing else?” ZaiWin insisted and SkyLight searched his own memories.

“Not that I can remember …”

“No merchants? No one new in town?”

“Oh!” the young man exclaimed, an alarmed expression on his face. “There was a traveler! A tall, young man, wrapped in a black cloak! I remember now! We were setting the decorations for the festival when he appeared at the gates. My father thought it strange, because he seemed to be traveling on foot. There’s no other village in our immediate proximity, and so it meant that he had to be walking for at least a fortnight. Father invited him to stay and rest, spend the night and enjoy the festivities. But he refused, accepting only the offer to quench his thirst on the village’s well. He went on his way before nightfall. Do my lords think he might have had something to do with the calamity that befell us?”

“Not likely,” ZaiWin replied. “The beasts that laid waste to your fields, contaminating the land, aren’t completely strange to us. They are wild, feral and vicious. No man could ever tame them and command them.”

SkyLight’s shoulders slumped.

“So I guess it was just our bad luck … Or maybe we have been punished by the Heaves for some unknown offense.”

ZaiWin stood up and looked outside. The sun was already descending. Soon it would be night.

“Now the most important thing to do is to deal with your dead and clean your houses. Worry about the why when you don’t have anything else better to do. Right now your only focus should be making sure the disease is completely eradicated. The corpses should be burned, not buried. As all the clothes, utensils and food the sick might have touched. We can help you with that, if you want us to.”

“Yes! Yes, please!” SkyLight immediately agreed, jumping to his feet.

“And everyone that survived should also bathe and change into clean clothes.” SkyLight nodded again. “Vin, think you can help there?”

“No problem. Zen, can I borrow one of your feathery friends to carry a message back to the Capital? I’d like to let my father know what happened here as soon as possible.”

“Of course.”

They all left the house.

Outside HawkEye was already organizing the villagers, trying to convince them to gather all their dead outside the village gates so that they could be properly burned. But some mothers were reluctant in letting go of their dead children, husbands wanting to spend a few more moments with their dead wives.

“Talk to them,” ZaiWin told SkyLight. “This is no time to mourn. Even though you’ve all been healed from the plague that took your families, holding on to the dead will only bring about more disease.”

“Yes, my lord!” SkyLight immediately replied, bowing respectively, before running towards the group of people arguing with HawkEye regarding his disrespectful idea to gather all the dead in one single, large funeral pyre.

“That something like this could happen in Wei8Literally wei (crystal / precious stone). Wei is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. …” VinWei breathed, a heavy expression on her face, and ZenTar placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go and send your father your message.”

To tired to cook. So today this will have to do --> ?? Not that I'm complaining, though ?

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