Red Hawk

Chapter Six: Hide's Great Day

Hide woke to the light of the morning sun, having fallen asleep at the park on his way home the previous night. He gave a stretch, rising from the bench in which he slept upon. It was a peaceful morning, a light fog lingered as the birds chirped a happy song. With a yawn, he began to make his way back towards the guild hall.

When he arrived, he noticed that many of the members were still asleep. Only seeing Kai and Odin in the dining hall of the guild. Not even Sabrina had woken up yet, very unusual for her. Hide wandered over towards Kai. "You ready for some more training today?"

"I can't today," Kai politely declined, "I actually have a quest I'm about to go on."

"Oh for real?" Hide lit up, "You're a real go getter, always on quest or training. You need to take it easy sometimes."

"Can't become a Celestial King doing nothing," retorted Kai as he rose from the table, leaving out for his quest. Hide had forgotten Kai had made that is goal in life, even if it was for no other reason than to spite his father. With a shrug, Hide walked out of the guild hall himself. With all that had been going on, he felt it better to take a break from quest. After all, his mother was in a rather bad situation right now. With nowhere else to go, he decided to spend the day at the lake outside of Elrosa.

Making his way towards the lake, he encountered a very troubled looking child. He was only around five years of age, crying loudly in front of a flower shop. Hide asked him what was wrong. Apparently it was his mother's birthday, but the flowers he wanted to get her had gone up in price. Feeling sorry for the kid, Hide gave him enough money for the flowers and a box of chocolates.

With a good deed done for the day, Hide once more made his way towards the lake. His progress snuffed out as he felt his stomach rumble, forgetting he hadn't eaten at all the night before. It was still early, so many places weren't open. He did manage to find himself a quiet café, sitting there long enough to enjoy a bagel and coffee. It was unusually quiet in Elrosa today. Hide couldn't help but feel as if something was off today, but he ignored the feeling for the time being.

Even still, he couldn't help but feel as if someone or something was watching him. He did his best to ignore this while he ate his breakfast. Wanting more to eat, he checked the money he had in his pockets. It wasn't nearly enough to get more food. Helping the child earlier had used up a majority of the spare change he had in his pockets, and he didn't feel the need to head back home to grab more.

So he used what little he had left to buy some bread and peanut butter from a small market. Along the way, he found a box of abandoned kittens. He felt bad for them, too small to defend themselves. Their tiny mewing echoed in the quiet morning, the four of them barely opening their eyes. Not willing to just leave them there, he lifted the box under his arm. There was a small animal clinic nearby, so he had a place he could drop them off to be taken care of.

Reaching the clinic, he got praise from the woman working there. It was apparently common for people to abandon animals in the streets, most people ignoring them as it wasn't their problem. Trying to refuse it, the worker demanded he take a reward for his kind deed. It was nothing but a small cash reward, but he still felt wrong taking it. He had done this out of the kindness of his heart, not to be paid.

After a few more misadventures, Hide finally reached the lake. It was a beautiful sight, clean blue water stretching from the border of Elrosa, all the way to the border of a neighboring city. Hide had never gone to that city before, and had never even learned its name. But he loved to stare at it, imagining what it was like to go there. Whenever someone asked him why he never went there, the answer was always the same. Ever since he was a child, it had been a mystery to him. And as an adult, he wished to keep that feeling of mystery within him.

It was always within reach, but he never tried to grab the answers for the questions he held. He decided to get right at the water's edge, soaking his feet in the cold water. Small fish swam up to his feet, nipping at them to clear off any dead skin they could find. It tickled, and he had a hard time not squirming to the sensation. Making himself a sandwich, he noticed a family of ducks approaching his location.

There was plenty of bread to share, Hide scattering crumbs into the water for them to enjoy. As he took the first bite of his sandwich, the fish and ducks swam away. Hide closed his eyes, a smile upon his face, "Why are you here, Hibiki?" Hibiki was standing behind Hide, stunned he knew it was him without looking. "Or would you rather me call you brother?"

"I'll be better if you don't speak," Hibiki coldly said. Hide could feel the cold steel press against the back of his head. In an instant, he knew the object. Hibiki had the barrel of a pistol pressed against his head.

Hide didn't even try to move, "I'm sorry it's come to this."

"I'm not," Hibiki pulled the trigger. The sound echoedin the quiet air, roaring loudly, and then followed by silence.