The rain came hurtling down, unrelentlessly slamming onto the window of Tsukuda House, little pellets of water wandering on their long journey, aimlessly falling from the precipitated sky. Miyuki sat up in her bed, reading a journal on the geography of the region. Apparently, the Miyuki Pass, her namesake, had been caused after a meteorite had gone out of orbit and had crashed to earth approximately 19, 700 years ago. The Committee of Reasoners had found indication to believe that if there had indeed been a meteorite, it had likely been one of the last meteorite mines of the March of Mining era. Their reasoning was that they had recently discovered evidence of drill bits and iron, a long lost metal, under the road and in the surrounding hills of the Pass of Miyuki. The book also said other metals had been discovered too. This was extremely dangerous, excavating in the pass, but in understanding the past, as the book said, the future can be more prosperous and better for all life on earth, if there was any more human life apart from the Ametaninians and the Shiromuras...
"Miyuki!" cried her mother.
What now? Thought Miyuki...
Heading downstairs, she found her mother had a green briefcase in her hand, and passing it to her daughter, stated,
"School's been reopened. They found that one of their pipes was broken, hence why school got flooded, but no matter, no matter, you can now go to school, which means I can go to work!"
And with that, her mother, Amaya, kissed Miyuki on the cheek, strode out of the kitchen, went to the gate, and was picked up by an airobus, flying her away and up the valley, to where she worked as a journalist at Ametani Courier.
Back in her home's kitchen, Miyuki was in a huff. Kind though it was for her mother to pack everything she would need for school in her green briefcase, she still felt exceedingly annoyed.
Oh joy, oh jubilation! Now how do I get out of school? I think I'll just call in sick and---
Thud, thud, thud, went the entrance door.
Walking a few paces to the door in a startled manner, she hoped upon hope that it would be Akio, her best friend, here to say "Let's skip school together!" but instead, she found a traveler, wrapped in a mottled green and brown cloak, with a hood covering his face, but with piercingly present, observing and powerful eyes, like an ember glowing bright beneath ice - distant, and yet, very much present.
Miyuki's day had just gotten a lot more interesting...
YOU ARE READING
In the Pass of Miyuki
FantasiaFor thousands of years, the quiet settlements of Ametani and Shiromura have lived in peace, separated only by the treacherous Pass of Miyuki. On the land that was once believed to have been the long lost country of Japan, these two settlements have...
