Kazoku...

Posts : 65

Galateia allowed her eyes to run through the small camp that she and her following companion set up before closing her eyes. The fire was still barely rustling, tongues of the flames were still slowly but relentlessly erupting out of the small pile of wood but eventually it would go out. Best thing about traveling by the mountain path was that there was no forest scenery to catch fire so there wasn’t that much worry about keeping it safe. It took Galateia a while to realize that rock does not melt from a casual fire, apparently she was overly cautious for months.

All seemed to be well, the camp looked peaceful and Aoi looked like he had fallen asleep. Usually Galateia would’ve slept for an hour or two, then woken up and started walking, for some reason she used to sneak away almost once a week every week. Seeing Aoi catching up to her was just that entertaining… This night wasn’t like that, the warrior just wanted some sleep and she would have gladly just slept through the night. Evading bandits trying to cash in a bounty on her head puts enough strain but it also satisfies her fighting urges so Galateia couldn’t really complain…

The girl’s heavy eyes closed up, she didn’t even notice slipping into a deep sleep. That was how it usually happened, everything just slipped out of one’s control.

The girl’s eyes opened back up, she was in a dojo that reminded her a lot of home. No. It was home, back in Kumogakure. Her father was standing in front of her wearing his black kimono, that meant that they were training. Father moved sideways to allow his daughter to choose a weapon off of the wall that reminded Galateia more of an arsenal, it had pretty much every sort of weapon. The girl picked up a wooden sword and her father arrogantly lifted his chin up and sighed.

“This is not a weapon of an assassin.”

“I am not going to assassinate you, Father, I’ll be fighting you.”

A powerful slap knocked the little girl down on the floor, she lifted her head up just to see an empty dojo. She reached for her boken that had fallen out of her hands when it occurred to her – no her father was still there! It was too late, the girl felt a sharp piercing sensation. She couldn’t help it but scream out in pain and fell down on the floor. Galateia felt blood squirting out of her back, she could feel the sticky liquid all over her kimono. Then the second painful impulse came when her father pulled out the knife using his foot for leverage and kicked the girl even further.

“Someone treat her! We’re done for today…” he yelled out visible annoyed as the caretaker rushed to the little girl’s aid. Galateia closed her eyes and banged her head to the floor. She was weak, slow, stupid! Out of all the injuries, all the backstabs, beatings and wounds that her father had inflicted over the years knowing that she was weak and that her parents hated her for it hurt the most. The girl allowed the caretaker to pick her off the ground, the old woman offered no words, she was probably more annoyed to have to treat this careless brat again than anything else.

“I’m sorry, nanny… I won’t get hurt again and you won’t have to take care of me…” Galateia apologized with a weak voice.

“That’s what you said last week when your father broke your arm, he is visibly becoming more ruthless, one of these days if you keep fighting him when challenged he’ll kill you.” the woman replied with an emotionless face. “You’re weak, it’s about time you accept that you are not worth of your family bloodline, refuse your father’s attempts to kill you teaching the clan’s hijutsu and lead a different life. You’re no assassin.”

“But… But… If I die… Won’t that mean you’ll have less work to take care of?” the girl asked with a faint voice as her mind felt like floating away.

Galateia saw her caretaker’s eyes open with shock, it was definitely the first time that she heard a child say such words. The woman’s face twisted with anger as she tossed the child onto the floor of her own room and then threw a bandage and some sewing tools to stitch the wound up at the girl. “Fucking Yoruma…” Galateia heard the caretaker mutter as the woman turned around and left leaving the girl to either stitch her wound or to bleed out.

Galateia reached for the needle and the thread, stopping the reach halfway to witness how pale her skin was. Just like the Jiangshi… If she died now, would she become a Jiangshi? Like those monsters in nanny’s stories, the ones that consume flesh for sustenance. But… Galateia was rather tall and couldn’t float, she also couldn’t twitch her limbs like the nanny used to show her. Maybe they teach how to shrink and twitch in the Jiangshi school? Is there a Jiangshi school? There has to be, Galateia struggles to even be a good daughter so trying to be a good flesh eating zombie should be even more difficult…

The girl picked up the needle and the thread, her vision was starting to double up and blur – death couldn’t have been too far away. Galateia looked around the mess that her blood made and tears started running from her eyes, this was her blood so she’ll probably have to clean it all up. Nanny looked really angry at her, Father probably hates her too because Teia just keeps disappointing him by getting stabbed. The girl tried to put the thread into the needle a couple of times. Suddenly weakness and dizziness took the girl over, her body just stopped working. The girl just relaxed and started waiting on her knees for her death.

Suddenly the door to her room opened and mother entered, she took the needle and the thread and put the thread in, then the woman slapped Teia as hard as she could knocking her down and tossing the needle with the thread at her. “I’m sorry, Mother, whatever I did, I’m sorry…” Galateia uttered as the woman turned around and left. The girl reached for the needle and without hesitation drove it into the spot on her back, she couldn’t see the wound, just feel it. Just keep stitching where the pain was… The pain was driving Teia mad…

The girl’s eyes shot wide open as Galateia woke up. She looked around the camp, the fire was already out, Aoi looked like he was asleep but she may have been speaking or shouting and maybe he was woken up by it. Not that it mattered, the girl stood up and left to walk her pain out. She needed to let some time pass before going back to sleep, those memories needed to sink back in.

“Family…” the girl uttered silently to herself as she slowly treaded the mountain path…

Posts : 65

“Oy, you’re that Yoruma bitch for million ryo!” Galateia heard those familiar words. Those were just some more bandits to beat, just more of the countless people that hated her and wanted her dead. To the nukenin it seemed so incredibly ironic that this world made her be born just to hurt her and tell her how it wanted her dead. Why did Mother and Father make her if she was such a disappointment? Why was she allowed to draw breath when all this world wanted for her was to suffer and die? Nothing made sense anymore.

The girl drew her sword evading the first couple of strikes and lunges as she counterattacked striking down one bandit after the other. What kind of lives did these men lead? Were they also disappointments to their families and friends? Were they told their entire lives how their existence made no sense and how they would’ve been better off never having been born in the first place? Did they also wonder why were they even conceived if all point of their lives was to just die? The girl didn’t make sure to kill these men, she just slashed at them opening up gruesome wounds but she didn’t really care if they lived or died.

So much has changed since the early days. Galateia’s mind slipped back into her memories, memories didn't make her sloppy, she was just mindless. The girl just swung her sword and cut people down without a single emotion, without a single twitch of her, usually incredibly full of emotions, childish face. She didn’t need to sleep for her past to follow her, all she needed to do was to stop being focused on the here and now. All she needed to do was to stop holding so firmly on the current reality at hand and past came running back. Father used to stab people above the eye saying it made them mindless and docile or something, maybe if Teia picked her own brain she could forget it all too…

“No… I never handled a knife as well as Father, I’d just cut my eye out…” the girl thought as memories took her body over.

The girl could remember standing by the corner of a large home, peeking at the kids playing at the streets. Boys playing ninja, wielding large pieces of wood acting like they were swords. Kumogakure took great pride in their swordsmen, they had probably the best skill in the land rivaled only by the Iron Country and their samurai. Galateia was jealous of these boys, being able to run around and fight other boys whenever one felt like it. She didn’t know anyone and no other kids spoke to her, when she tried to talk to some kids sometimes their parents dragged them away, apparently they didn’t like Galateia’s heritage or something…

Whenever Galateia wanted to fight someone as her childish urges went up she had to ask her father to train her. That usually didn’t go very well, she got beaten, stabbed, mostly multiple times and kicked around. But in a way she loved her father for never refusing her, he may have beaten her up pretty rough and always left her on the line of death but at least he honored her request. He always looked at her funny, even when he was happy his eyes changed when he looked at Galateia as if she was something he hated. And when her father left her to bleed out his eyes were even angrier. The girl didn’t want to upset her father because she loved him, she had to find other people to fight eventually…

“Ummm… Hi… Can I fight you?” Galateia once asked the boys in the streets swinging their “swords” around. The boys always laughed at her and mocked her, called her a “girl” as if that meant that she couldn’t fight. They always laughed her off and then if they didn’t cast her out eventually their parents came to pick their kids away from Teia. Because Galateia’s appearance usually meant that the kids would be separated by their parents they started instead of ignoring her just straight out hating her.

One day the kids got really angry. “You just won’t quit it, will you? Fine, we’ll fight you.” the kids shouted out as one of them threw a stick for Galateia but she shook her head and pulled out her own boken. The kids looked surprised that Galateia had her own weapon. The girl clashed with the first boy that decided to fight her, as her boken collided with the boy’s stick the boy roughly pushed Galateia away with all of his strength throwing her down on the ground. The kids laughed at her for being so determined to fight but losing her first fight against the very first challenger.

Then someone’s parents ran out and rushed to the scene. “OH MY GOD, IS THAT THE YORUMA GIRL!?” the mother screamed out as her husband picked up and broke her boken with his knee. “How many times did we tell you to not play with her?! Her family are killers! They don’t know what it means to play! They fight and kill people and they love to do that!” the mother kept yelling at the kid that Galateia fought. “But, Mom! This girl isn’t even that strong, even if she is a killer I can handle her…” “Well you’re lucky that this one is weak and useless but what if she calls her clan for help?! Yoruma are killers, sadistic and mindless bastards!” the woman yelled as she slapped Galateia hard.

The girl got off the dirt and ran back home. By the time she made it to the estate Galateia already knew that her parents would have known, Yoruma are assassins, they have agents watching everything in the village and if the parents cared enough to ask one of them to watch over Teia they would have known. Apparently they did not, Mother just got angry at the girl asking why is her nose bleeding and why is her dress torn up and dirty. Galateia told her parents everything, there was no reason to hide it anyways, they could’ve gotten the information out of their contacts easily.

Father stood up and walked up to the girl. Without saying a word he kicked her down on the floor.

“My own daughter… The inheritor of my household… Defeated by an Academy brat…” he reached for the side of his belt where some of his knives were hidden but mother placed her hand on his and gestured for Galateia to leave. Father was beyond angry, he was yelling out loud and could’ve been heard all the way to the girl’s room. Usually he was ignorant, disappointed, the girl had never seen him angry enough to wish to kill her on sight…

Finally Galateia snapped out of her memories. She looked around at the pile of cut up and injured bodies, most of the still grunting in pain, some of them struggling to crawl away. She sheathed her sword back as the warrior checked up on her own numerous wounds, most of them were just cuts and gashes that could be treated easily and started to walk back to the camp. Maybe now that she spent so much energy fighting these guys she can finally get some sleep…

Posts : 65

The warrior’s head sunk down. Her injuries hurt a lot but pain wasn’t something that bothered Galateia too much. Over her life she’s taken much more of it and was willing to go through much more of it to achieve her goals. Still, feeling that warm stream of liquid running down her body coloring her white top red was something one couldn’t have gotten used to easily. Things like this usually happened to Galateia daily, she fought bandits and bounty hunters off every day since she had the bounty placed on her. The warrior loved fighting but this sort of fighting just felt empty…

Galateia staggered back into the camp and put her back to the same tree she went to sleep by. She didn’t risk to light the fire, she didn’t want to wake Aoi, if his ghoul vengeance descends upon her and he decides to eat her flesh she’d be in a lot of trouble, there was absolutely no need to fight Jiangshi magic unless absolutely necessary. Teia grinned with her teeth contrasting the bloody face, over the time she had gotten used to the little creeper and kind of wanted for him to stay around her. Galateia’s face sunk down to examine her wounds and patch them up…

“Later that day the girl stumbled down the stairs and stood by the door to listen in on her parents speaking. She wanted to know if her father still wanted her dead, the girl’s tiny hands held a dagger as firmly as a child could hold it, it was probably the first time that the little Teia had held a knife instead of something like a training sword or lifting weights. It felt easy as a feather, it wouldn’t have been difficult to slip it into her own heart if that was what would’ve made Father proud…

“I cannot believe that my child got beaten down by a clanless Academy brat in front of the entire village… Every day she is shaming my name more and more, I can’t bare it any longer!” Teia could hear her father’s voice, the grip around the dagger tightened as the girl placed it closer to her little pounding heart and her arm reached for the door handle.

“You need not worry, honey, it seems like the Goddess of War was merciful on us, I am carrying another child. The medics are almost completely sure it is male, a worthy heir for a worthy house, don’t you think?” Mother’s sultry voice seemed to soothe Teia’s Father’s wrath quite effectively, the young warrior couldn’t understand the meaning of her Mother’s words.

“You can come in now, Galateia, do not think for a moment that you can hide from us…”Father’s voice echoed through the manor. The girl’s trembling arms opened the door as the young Galateia walked in still holding the dagger to her heart. Father smiled and walked up to her, with each step the girl’s grip on the dagger tightened and the edge of the blade came closer until a small part of the tip pierced her skin and sent some blood over her pink dress.

“Do you know why you’re named as you are? Galateia is what Yoruma believed the mistress of war was named after, she is not our Goddess, we are not religious or anything but the ancient folk believed that she was the Goddess of Combat. Had you taken your life earlier and relieved me of the shame of knowing I spawned you earlier I would have still considered you worthy of that name. Now, there is no point… You shame that name, soil it!” the man yelled as his hands tore the dagger off of the girl’s hands and tossed it aside.

“Your mother carries the true heir of the Yoruma name – your brother. From now on, you are no daughter of mine, you do not wear neither the name Galateia nor the worthy Yoruma name. To me you are nothing. Feel free to leave this home whenever you feel like it, if you wish to stick around and be nothing, be our guest. You are part of my family no longer!” Father said as he walked away, Galateia fell on her knees as the stone floor opened a wound on the girl’s knees. “My son will not be your brother, do not dare address him as such. One cannot be a brother to Nothing…” Father said as he left the room, the girl rushed back to hers shortly.

Galateia just laid on her bed in her room the entire time. She didn’t cry, unlike any normal occasion her face was not affected by her childish emotions in any way. She was just… Confused. How was she supposed to live now? Father said that her death now would have been pointless, that if Galateia killed herself she’d still be useless to him so how should she make her parents love her? Something told her girl inside her heart that even if she mastered the hidden Yoruma techniques properly using an assassin’s weapon instead of a sword, even if she beat down whoever they pointed their finger at, even if she started slitting throats like a proper assassin that still would not be enough – she lost all of that.

The girl flipped on the other side of the bed to face the decorated wall, her eyes started to get wet. She loved her mother, she loved her father and she knew that she’d love her brother when he comes around. And yet as long as she stayed home she had no point to living, neither her father nor her mother would acknowledge her, she’d just be not dying. The girl stood up and took her broken boken into her arms. Her hands gently stroke the rough shattered wood, she felt sad about her broken sword as if it was an old friend she had known her entire life. In a way it was, it was her only friend, the only friendly soul that understood her “Heart of the Sword” and had no objections to it.

The girl spent the entire night training in the Father’s dojo after picking up another boken, she put the shattered and broken one on a soft pillow and slid it under her bed. Proper sword deserved a proper memorial. While the memorial was in no way proper, at least it was the best Galateia could give at the moment… While the girl was training she knew that her father was watching her, she remembered his words, told when Galateia was even younger, maybe she was five years old at the time... “Why are you hesitating to strike when the dummy is down? Do not let your opponent stand up, do not let it set his plans up! It is when one is peacefully laying on the ground or in their sleep that a true assassin strikes!” The next night the girl did not go to bed, she did not lie down on the soft embrace of a bed but just sat by the wall and closed her eyes until she went to sleep…"

With that memory closed, the warrior realized that she had patched up all of her wounds. They itched and hurt like hell, not nearly as bad as they’ll hurt the next day – they always hurt the worst the next day, but at least they were treated. The girl slid her cut up cloth top and put her armor back on her shoulders and her hips, she sat by the tree and closed her eyes to go to sleep again, tomorrow was supposed to be a rather busy day.

[EXIT/TOPIC OVER]