The Era of Heroes

Ch. 4: The Long Road ahead

Saru didn't mind the company, sure it might not be thier house since the old one is still destroyed, but the number of people muttering just outside the past few hours was putting her on edge. The Hinano family was kind enough to provide them temporary housing, albeit still cluttered with the number of residents already living there, but she was good friends to them already, so it keeps her busy by just talking to some of them. She walked into the main room with ingredients for tonight's dinner, there she saw with one of the youngest of their many sons playing around with a toy.

"Have the boys brought in the rest of the ingredients?" Saru asked, "What about news from outside, any relieve coming?"

"In any other circumstances, I say we wouldn't be good with either but not only have we got more than enough food for us but they came in saying a whole column of carpenters and soldiers are coming in with all the help we need," said in shock of what her sons told her earlier.

"W-what size are we talking here?"

"Enough where we're not only recovering but expanding, and from what I heard, the town across the lake is totally unscathed from those terrible shocks, better even if what others are hearing about is true."

"That's incredible..." Saru whispered as they prepped the food, she also saw the look of Mrs. Hinano eyeing the room her daughter is currently in as the noise outside grew just slightly louder. "Are you doing okay?" she asks her friend.

"That girl of yours...Utano...did you knew she possessed such powers?"

"I've told you and everyone else before, she has never shown any magical abilities in her life, she was born and raised like any other child." Saru dismissed the allegation, fearing of the wrong impression they've been hiding it or even worse.

"Okay but...and I'm not saying this in a bad way, did you actually find her-"

"For goodness sake, we have the same hair color, and who else in this village acts closest to my husband as she does! Those two wouldn't even hurt a fly."

"I'm sorry, Saru," her friend apologized as she looked out to the door, "Guess I and everyone else is trying to wrap our heads around what is going on. It's like something straight of those tales, an out of nowhere Kami that no one else but your daughter can see comes to us after a great catastrophe to grant her powers to stop these...dusts clouds?"

"That's what she said they look like," Saru clarified, "In terms of what they are it's more confusing, either Oni because of the large...teeth, or Yokai from the odd shape they possess being unlike any Oni from a story she or any of us know."

Her breathing became more stuttered, hesitant almost in finishing her sentence, which brought Mrs. Hinano's attention to her friend, "Are you worried about her?"

Saru stopped what she was doing, sighing heavily as those fears were coming back to her, "Honestly... I know she'll be okay cause if there's anything I learned while raising that girl is that she's a hard-worker capable of achieving any goal given to her. No, what I'm more afraid of...is what's out there, waiting for her."

"From the way she describes them, those monsters sound very terrifying." her friend agreed only to see Saru shake her head in disagreement.

"Those aren't the only things out there ready to kill her," she clarified as she remembers tales of samurai and bandits from decades ago, thier blades willing to slice down any that get in there way.

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Utano sat properly with her eyes closed, still wearing her yellow magic garbs, Mito sitting right beside her. Both were alone in the upstairs room while Utano's father, with his three closest friends, waited outside, respectful of the girl's privacy when conversing with a potential Kami. She squints and mumbles in frustration, soon breaking form by slouching, which complied Mito to ask, "Uh, Utano? What are you doing?"