Heroes of Dreamland, Book 6 1/2: The Last Sakuranoki (OLD)

A Warp Star Brings Joy

Sitting upright suddenly, Cherry was astonished to see that it was already after dawn. Down below on the ground stood Tracker, his arms crossed and a determined smile on his face. "Come on," he called, voice mostly cheerful. "Like I just said, we've still got quite a ways to go."

Nodding, Cherry flew down out of the tree and began to hover just off of the ground right next to him. "Okay. Ready when you are, sir."

Chuckling, he shook his head. "There's no need to be so formal, really. Just 'cause I'm a soldier doesn't mean I'm not also a normal person."

With a thoughtful frown, she murmured, "But battle and all that other... 'soldier-y' stuff... doesn't it change you?"

He frowned and turned away from her, then nodded once. "Well, sure, I'm not the same person I was when I joined up. I'm a lot less optimistic, a lot more realistic, and a better warrior than I was before. But at the same time, it's not like I've changed completely and become a bloodthirsty monster or anything. I joined because I wanted to protect what I love, not because I wanted to destroy what I hate. It's an important distinction to make, and I'm not sure if everyone makes it."

Frowning deeper, she carefully picked up the little sakuranoki from where it had rested next to the oak tree, grabbed her notebook from where she had cast it aside and tucked it back into her cape, and then took flight again and started to follow Tracker through the forest while he stayed quiet.

Finally, she wondered aloud, "Where did you live before the war? And what made you decide to join the army? Like, what did you want to protect?" Suddenly, she caught herself with an embarrassed blush. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to tell me all of that stuff."

Shaking his head, he disagreed with a sigh, "No, it's fine. Something to keep the conversation going, right?" He paused a second, then started, "I come from a place called Reverence Province on the planet Star World. I'm from Reverence Clan, the clan that spends the most time studying the code of honor, committing it to memory, and teaching it to others. It's also our job to help debunk any and all frauds who claim to be the Warrior of the Stars, or who claim to have new rules we're required to follow or that we suddenly don't have to follow some of the old rules anymore. It's not the funnest task in the world, but hey, at least we don't have to go through life making ourselves face our worst fears like Courage Clan folks do."

Laughing a bit, Cherry wondered, "How many clans are there, anyway?"

Frowning, he closed his eyes and began to think. "Well, off the top of my head, I can think of Reverence, Courage, Chivalry, Knowledge, Heritage, Truth, Honor, Fervence, Trustworthy, and Compassion. There's probably more, those are just the ones I can think of. So there's at least ten of them."

She giggled a bit harder. "Well, then us Fairies have you beat. We've got more classifications than you could count, probably... Let's see, there's Royal, Noble, Decorating, Repair, Innovating, Nurturing, Farming, Scholar, Writing, Bookkeeping, Preserving, Cooking and Baking, Creative, Artist, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Guardian, Oracle, Sakuranoki..." her voice faded out at the end. "Well, there's still one Oracle Fairy. But the Sakuranoki Fairies are all gone."

After giving her a sympathetic look, he sighed, "I don't think we've ever lost a whole clan before. Just the idea sounds weird... how could you have a society of true warriors if you're missing, for example, Chivalry? They're the ones that remind everyone else that it's not glory or revenge we fight for, but instead, the protection of the innocent. Or if we had no Heritage clan... we'd forget our past in a snap, and those who forget the past are always doomed to repeat it, you know? Or no Fervence... they remind us to put our heart into everything we do, to always give our one-hundred percent. And without Reverence, who would help us to remember that we're never the most powerful or the ones in control, that there's someone bigger in charge of everything?"