The Hunt for Peace

Chapter 10

Facing the wine-dark sea on a cold, stormy morning reminded Hiroka of her days up north. An island in Bear Country, clashing with the fearsome blades of savage forest men in the snows. A cup of warm water in her hands, cloaked in camel hide. She feels the wind brush against her face, hair, and hands. The skies were gray, and whatever sunlight did make it through was distorted in a way that locked the heavens in a state of ostensibly eternal sunset. She takes a sip from her fine, wooden cup. The warm water made it past her lips, warming her insides. The wind never stopped here in Nalae. Never-pausing gusts from whichever direction, perhaps that's why she could find any flies or mosquitoes.

The raucous tide sometimes split by the fish that tried to jump out of the waves. Eventually knocking down some of the trees. Poor terrestrial creatures clinging onto the leafless treetops in order to avoid drowning, knowing they too will be carried off into the infinite nothing by the strong waves should they ever fall in. Occasionally something big rises in the distance, only to submerge back in.

A small hum leaves her lips, the sound carried by the air as it slowly and lightly transitions into a beautiful melody. The waves continue to undulate and roar, the dark gray clouds up above and the gaps of orange light between them moving along as the day progresses. Hiroka's voice was the only thing discernible from the sound of heavy rain hitting the rising flood. There she stood, leaning on the railing of the outpost. A calming song amidst the boisterous fury of the elements. As the rain raged on, and not a single piece of dryland was in sight, she sang of the flowers that would bloom in the springtime, or the red ones that dared pierce through the frost of the wintertime. A whole garden of flowers, painting the land for it was the canvas of the gods. The red flowers to be plucked and given to their beloveds, and the blue ones that dared glow in the darkness of the night. The white ones that were carried by the breeze, each one representing a hopeful wish, and even a black one that stood as others wilted. In a pattern they rise and fall, pollinated, sown, plucked, and more. Be it tulips or vines, carnations or daffodils, they all came at their own times. The future promises them one where they will burn under the sun's wrath, or be trampled under a horse's foot, but also one in which they will blossom. A world of blossoming flowers, where none ever needed to fear wilting, or trampling, or burning. A world where jails weren't filled to the brim with the arrested, and mothers needn't search for their daughters in the burning ruins of the village they once called home. A time where the cherry blossom was now a commonplace tree, for no further renewals are needed. Eternal spring.

"Well that's one way to wake up," says a voice, Hiroka's heart skips a beat as her head snaps to look in the direction of the speaker. Rakni was walking over to her, he rested his elbow on the railing, standing beside the singing samurai. "Usually it's just loud banging noises or some dumb animal mistaking me for a sleeping herbivore."

"Yes.. yes.." Hiroka scratches the back of her head, looking away. "Quite different, I know. Not the usual constant rough-and-tumble attitude of this land."

"Didn't understand a word of it though," says Rakni. She looks at him, seeing that he's worn a fur coat of his own,covering his bandaged body. Rakni takes a whiff of the flood's scent, feeling the deluge's winds blow his hair right back. "You've been pretty understandable to me so far, until that whole thing. Were you just speaking gibberish?"

"No, it's my mother-tongue, the dialect of my homeland."

"You know that does perplex me a bit, how is it that I can understand you and vice versa?"

"Magic"

Rakni scoffs, "I need a bit more than that, Chosen One."

"That time I touched you back at the beach, the glowing light thing. It allowed me to understand your language. Something about the gods and how they're perceived. Whatever I say becomes understandable when I'm speaking to you."