The Memories of A Broken Age

[Eternalfire61]

The White Falls of Stattani pooled at the bottom of the small ravine. Steam rose up from the pool, setting a mist over the village. This village resided in one of the mountains of Stattani, The Silver Peaks. They were called that because of how the light shined off of the snow. Many people considered them to be white, but names were names and they didn't often change. The people of this town were quiet merchants, and fair warriors. These people had been trained to fight for the king, and to be able to defend Stattani from the scum of the mainland. The mainlanders didn't know they life they had, the hard economical time, rumors of an assassination. Sadly, the only thing that was keeping this country together was it's people. Hard working, strong people who have known times of war and peril. Your parents were those kinds of people, and you were raised this place too.

Your family was one of the more fortunate of these people though. They were one of the twenty royal families of Stattani, and your father was one of the mayor's greatest friends. They had fought during the civil war many years ago that threatened to split Stattani into two provinces. Times now are simple, but within simplicity lies great complexity.​

 

[White]

Kaida made her way to the mayor. Today is her 14th birthday. She is quite excited and has been looking forward to this day for the past 12 months.

"I have been a good girl!", she thought happily and smiled brightly. She allways follows her parents wishes, they wanted her to study well and so she did, she now could verse half of the families poems out of her head.

Soon she would learn to fight as a woman for her family. And she found the best of this is that her teacher is going to be no other than her father herself. Kaida doubts that anybody could imagine how much happyness she finds in that.

She has been noticing that the men have been looking at her more and that her body started to change. To change and slowly look like her mothers. She wondered what that meant or why even some boys that learn the literature of the ouchi have been staring at her body.
"I couldnt understand, they are stupid boys...", she said loudly and stretched her arms.

A few stairs up and she would arrive the Mayors hous.
Arriving it, she knocked at the door and waited for a response.
She has been taught that it is disrespectful to enter a house without the owner welcoming the visitor and that it will bring bad luck to enter without beeing welcomed.

 

[Eternalfire61]

The door was opened by a rather small man wearing black vestments. He looked her over and then let her in. "The mayor has been waiting for you for some time, that isn't a sign of good fortune." The little man cracked a sneer and brought her to the center of the mayor's home. The middle of the mayor's home was the grounds of training for his sons and the mayor himself. As they reached the middle of the house the mayor was still training, it looked like as if he had started just recently based on his routine. The little man bowed and left the two by themselves. "You are late." Swift cracks of the mayor's sword hit a wooden post as he spoke. He was precise, so precise that it almost seemed like he followed a rhythm. With one last strike he set his training sword against the post and walked toward her. "You will be training soon, so you must be here on time. If this happens again, you will be punished."

 

[White]

"Forgive me Elder, mother did not permit me to leave before my hair was perfect"
She bowed her head as a mean of respect.

"She also told me to ask you to pass her a financial report of the situation here. Additionally my father wishes to speak to you regarding my training. He said that it is about the "way of the sword"."

She looked back up to the mayors face, expecting an answer.

 

[Eternalfire61]

The mayor rolled his eyes and then went over to a small table that had some food on it. He poured himself some tea and then began to speak. "Your father will know about the way of the sword when the time comes. Right now we have to focus on your training." They mayor took a wooden sword from one of the racks and then handed it to Kaida. "You still strike the post till you understand your sword, then you will learn how to use it." The mayor sat down in a chair behind her and sipped his tea quietly. "You may begin."

 

[White]

Kaida picked up the sword and grinned shily.
She moved over to the post and started to hit it with the sword, giggling. This is so weird for her... and beeing watched, too.
After a short while she looked quite bored, hiting the post with the wooden sword in one hand and without effort. Then she just let herself fall onto her back and stared into the ceiling.
"boooorrrriiiinnnggg...." she sighted.

 

[Eternalfire61]

"Discipline starts at the core of the soul. It's intricacies and complexities marvel us, yet it is boring." The mayor chuckled to himself for a moment as he set his teacup on the table. "You must understand the sword to use it." The mayor plodded toward Kaida and picked up her sword. "Our duty in life is to appease our Gods and make right what is wrong. " The mayor hit the post a couple of times then stabbed the sword into the ground. "Continue."

 

[White]

Kaida stood up and picked up the sword. Gracefully she began to copy the Elders attack.

"Do the gods really exist elder? I mean, we are expected to pray and to right what is wrong but why do they not simply force us to obey what is right and destroy what is wrong?"
She continued the copy the Elders attacks, then tried to stab the sword into the ground aswell, which was not very succesfull and simply started to move it through the air slowly, feeling how it slices through the air.
She remembered her father doing this with the family's heirloom, "Ouchi".

 

[Eternalfire61]

The mayor shook his head at the young girl. "Your training requires you to understand our religion. It is the religion of this world that keeps us together. All of us understand it and celebrate it. Without it, we have nothing to live by." Kaida was doing it wrong and the mayor didn't appreciate that so he stopped her. "Today is just introductions before your training actually starts, you will receive a weapon tomorrow. That weapon will be your soul, the core to your being. You will use it not as a weapon, but as a guide to justice. The mayor took the wooden sword from her and set it on the rack. "You are dismissed, tell your father that we can meet tonight if he wishes to discuss anything."