Through Thick and Thin | Benimaru

Chapter 1: Heterochromia

Deep in the Forest of Jura, an ogre village with a population of a little over 250 individuals was celebrating the birth of a new ogre. Not only did the leading family of their village just give birth to an adorable pink-haired ogre, but now the healers of the village were to give birth. The existence of the healers in the village was essentially for the ogres since their warlike race was prone to injuries.

The mother, an ogre with light blue hair, bright blue eyes and two horns protruding from her forehead, was in their wooden hut with the midwife and the female leader. Outside, the father, an ogre with dark blue hair, darker blue eyes and a single horn, paced nervously. From beside him, his elder brother, another ogre that looked almost identical to the father-to-be, patted his back to reassure the nervous, first time parent.

"Don't worry, little brother," the older ogre said, laughing slightly at the sight of his normally composed younger brother tearing his hair out figuratively. "You know that my wife just gave birth not too long ago either. Our lovely counterparts are strong enough to get through birth. Have faith."

The younger ogre couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh in agreement. Truly the ogre he had married was a force to be reckoned with. With a sharp tongue and her intellect, she easily won all the arguments they had found themselves in. In addition, in her early ages, the light blue haired ogre had been quite the boyish one, preferring to roughhouse with her younger siblings.

"How is your son doing?" the soon-to-be-father asked his older brother, trying to calm himself down. His nephew was a quiet, dark blue haired child that was born just a couple of years ago. The young ogre had a darker blue hue in his skin than his father, inherited from his mother, and had bright blue eyes, inherited from his father.

"He's doing well, though that sharp gaze of his still scares off the other children. The only ogre that plays with him is the young master," the older brother said with a small laugh. The young master of the village was a bright, red haired ogre that was born a little under two years ago. His horns had just started growing in since ogres were born hornless. His two little stubs of horns were pitch black. His eyes were a beautiful red and often regarded the young, sharp eyed, blue-haired ogre with curiosity and amusement.

"I hope the young master will get along with my daughter as well," the younger brother said happily.

As the two dark haired ogres chatted quietly between the two of them, the light haired female had successfully birthed a small baby girl. Taking after her mother, the newborn had light blue hair. Surprisingly, as the infant opened her eyes to stare up at her mother, the little female had heterochromia. Her right eye was a bright blue that both her parents had, but her left eye was a mirage of colors, from orange to red to purple. It reminded the mother ogre of a sunset. She said nothing as she smiled down at the small child and snuggled her in, but dread filled her as she had to acknowledge that her child had a skill that had been passed down from the maternal side

The mother of the new infant had a dormant gene that she had hoped wouldn't appear. It had been a long time since anyone in the family had been born with what was called 'sunset eyes', but it always signified of an ogre that could manipulate blood. A long time ago in the past, a family of ogres, the ancestors of the mother, had saved the village. However, they saved it by making a deal with a majin. He granted them names and the power to manipulate blood. The ability itself was known to only the village leaders and the family, but it was also extremely dangerous.

The infants born with sunset eyes, a sign of this ability, couldn't control their powers and would end up killing their own parents within the first year of being born, if not upon birth.

The ability of blood manipulation, called [Haemokinetics], was an unstable ability in a sense and seemed to have a mind of it's own. The counterpart, [Haemokinetic Constructs] was the ability to solidify blood. The skill [Haemokinetics] would stop at nothing to be able to develop this ability. Unfortunately, the cost to develop the solidifying ability was through absorbing the blood of the user's relatives with the strongest similarities in blood. So essentially, the user's immediate family was the target of [Haemokinetics]. Once [Haemokinetics] was satisfied, the skill would stabilize and no one else would be at risk, but by that time, the immediate family would already be dead. These ogres therefore usually grew up without parents or siblings.