" YUANFEN " genji shimada.

i | 2055

THE BLADE OF THE knife the young girl gripped tightly in her hand ran along the flank of the fish effortlessly. She watched as the shimmering silver scales fell from the animal, collecting onto the dirt at her feet in a messy pile. An elder sat beside her, his wrinkled face scrunched in concentration and his dark yet graying hair falling over his eyes. He rambled on about stories of his youth, recollecting the time where he and his brother supposedly came face to face with a wendigo in the woods. The children of the tribe often called his bluff, and the young girl once again found herself reminding the elder that if he had seen a wendigo, he would not be alive to tell the tale.

"Oh, but that's the catch!" The elder exclaimed. "We were so brave that the wendigo feared us! Why else do you think our tribe has no problems with the beasts now?"

The young girl rolled her eyes, though she decided to cease her arguing. There was no point in accusing the elder of a false tale; he had spent so many years telling the story that he had begun to believe it himself, so not even he knew the truth behind it.

Tossing the fish aside, the girl reached for another. The hunters had just brought back a full basket of trout fresh from the river nearby that morning, and she was eager to taste the tangy meat that night for dinner. Her tiny fingers only barely brushed the next fish when she heard her name being called from across the clearing.

"Dahlia!"

She looked up, grinning widely upon recognizing the sound of her father's voice. She sprang to her feet as she noticed Sam Blackrock approaching her, dressed from head to toe in a fancy black suit from his latest business trip. Her tiny feet pattered across the dirt, and she launched herself into the outstretched arms of her laughing father. He twirled her around in the air and kissed her head too many times for her to count.

"I have missed you, my flower," Sam mumbled into her hair, squeezing her tight.

"I missed you too, papa!" Dahlia squealed happily. Her feet met the ground once more, and she pointed over her shoulder excitedly. "I've been taught how to scale fish! I'm helping out now."

"I am so proud," Sam said with a grin. Then, his expression faltered, and he grabbed his daughter's hand in his own. "I have something that I need to discuss something with you."

"What is it?" Dahlia asked curiously. She followed her father farther away from the rambling elder, and he knelt down on the ground in front of her.

"We must leave the tribe."

For a moment, Dahlia thought that her father was joking. She laughed loudly, though upon noticing his solemn expression, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Why?"

"We all have to find new homes, little flower," Sam explained to her. The Canadian government, now run solely by omnics who had little no to respect to the Native tribes residing on the land, ordered for the disbandment of their little tribe. His daughter, far too young to understand the politics behind the entire situation, was luckily able to be spared of the real reason. "I have been asked to join Overwatch. You remembered Overwatch, don't you?"

"Yes, papa," Dahlia said with a nod. The young girl heard many things about the international task force that helped protect the world, but up until that moment she believed that it was nothing more than stories told by the children in the tribe- much like the superheroes that the little boys were infatuated with.

"Will we ever see the tribe again?" she questioned, frowning. Looking around, tears began to form in her sparkling eyes as she feared that she would never see the forest or the river or hear the made-up stories that the elders told one too many times ever again.

"That isn't for certain, Flower," Sam comforted hisdaughter. He pulled her close, hugging her tightly. "Remember, the tribe willalways be with you. Don't be afraid. Overwatch will be good for the both of us."