Genesis (Erityian Tribes Novella, #7)

03 : ҁѫҩ•ϫҩᵻϫѫǂᵻϫ

On top of the strong waves rocking the boat violently, the cold wind also felt like a thousand needles prickling through the skin. Winter was harshly felt on the dark, raging sea, but Shō was not bothered by it.

He was fortunate that night, he thought. The merchants were either asleep or worried about the boat's condition when he landed on their vessel. He had to hide fast after seeing his brother escape from the hands of the villagers. He was worried, but he also knew Ryō could take care of himself, maybe even better than he could. Besides, even if he came back, he knew his brother would not come with him, nor listen to him any longer. He just hopes that Ryō would not let his negative emotions corrupt him and drag him into darkness.

The merchants' vessel was not as large as the ships he had seen at the port, but it was enough to house thirty to forty people. The lamps near the mast were the only source of light, but the sea fog obscured every view possible. He scrunched down near the rails, away from the merchants' quarters, veiling himself with a dirty mantle used to cover some of the wooden boxes on the deck.

His mind was buzzing with thoughts. Shō did not expect to leave the land without his brother. He would always dream of traveling the world with Ryō but after what happened, he knew it would take years to see him again.

'Farewell, brother,' he said inside his head. 'I will return, and I will see you again.'

***

Shō did not know how many days it was already. Because it was already winter, it was hard to distinguish day and night at the sea due to the fog, mist, and snow. He had to pretend as a slave owned by one of the merchants to not raise suspicion, and fortunately, they did not bother to check the number of people aboard.

Besides himself, he only had the tantō, a short sword, and the quiver he stole from the villagers while they were running. Since this was an unexpected departure, he did not have any plan nor things needed for a journey. In addition, he had to always lower his head because of his strange eye color. He knew people would be suspicious because nobody in their land had that kind of eyes. Ironically, despite always looking down, he could see everything clearly. Shō saw a land few kilometers away and felt ecstatic to discover the world beyond his hometown.

Maybe two or three days had passed when they reached a harbor. He sneaked out of the crowd once the merchants and slaves came down. His heart was throbbing loud and fast. He was in a foreign land. He was about to see the world. It was the start of his dreams.

Shō wandered around, only to realize that the island was littered with the same people. There were Japanese soldiers roaming around who exercised authorities over the native inhabitants. He immediately hid, fearing that they might recognize him from the wanted posters back in his hometown.

He did what he needed to do—fled to the mountains, a place where he would be safest and most familiar to him . . . but that was also his biggest mistake.

For days, he had traversed the mountain range. He had no problem with food as he knew how to hunt and the forest was abundant of fruits and edible leaves. On his fifth day, he encountered a life-threatening situation—he got surrounded by indigenous hunters.

He recognized their clothes and they were the same natives who inhabits the northern part of Ezo. It turned out there were also people like them here in the island, and one thing he knew about them was that they were very territorial when it comes to their hunting grounds. They must have thought he was stealing the food they could have provided the village and if he did not surrender, he would be dead the moment he tried to run away.