Two Years Later
Sixteen-year-old Sakura felt her mind swarming as she continued to toss her possessions in the bag. Once she was finally done, she pulled the drawstrings with all her might, bracing her foot against the bed to keep her steady as she leaned back.
"Sakura! Why are you doing this?! Why are you leaving us?!" her mom yelled from the living room.
Sakura shook her head, sighing. "I already explained all of it to you and Dad last night. I'm not explaining it again," Sakura bit back. She ignored the sound of her mom's sniffling as she slung the bag over her shoulder and tied up her boots.
"Where will you even go?" her father's stern tone said as he stood in her bedroom doorway, looking down at her.
Sakura chuckled, glancing up at him as she continued to lace the thigh-length boots. "Does it matter? I'll go anywhere they'll let me. That's not much places in this God-forsaken kingdom. Really narrows the options."
He glared at her. "You're being completely irrational about this. What could you possibly do to change Grumor?"
She chuckled again, standing to her feet. She looked him directly in the eyes, wondering to herself how it was possible she could be the daughter of such a pushover. "Guess we're about to find out, huh?" she said snidely. She quickly walked by him, knocking his shoulder boldly.
"Sakura! If you leave now, you may never be allowed to come back!" He yelled after her as she neared the door, her mom letting out a loud sob.
She kicked the door open roughly, laughing as she did. "Good knowing you guys then!" she yelled back as she yanked her coat off the coat tree.
"Don't you love or care about us at all?!" her mother pleaded.
Sakura froze in her steps, stopping right outside the doorway. She studied the ground a moment, glancing back at her parents. "Of course. That's why I'm doing this."
Her father continued to glare at her as her mother let out another loud, painful sob. Feeling the pain in her mother's cries starting to get to her resolve, she slammed the door shut, muffling the sounds.
Without looking back, she quickly strode away from the small, peasant home, heading into the small village they lived in.
Her first step in her mission for independence and later revolution, was to get a job at the village blacksmith and work herself up until she was working in the larger blacksmiths in Daemarrel, making weapons for the troops and gaining respect from the royals.
For now, her sights were focused on the small blacksmith. She threw the weaponry door open, ignoring the looks she was getting from men two or even three times her size. She sauntered up to the counter where her friend and owner of the blacksmith, John stood. He looked like your typical smith. Big, bulky man with dragon tattoos. She had matching dragon tattoos from when he had offered to get her some from the person he went to. Where his were on his arms, hers were all down her back.
Once she reached the counter, she leaned on it, grinning at him. "Hey Johnny boy," she crooned.
He gave her a wary look as his gargoyle in the back corner, perked up a little at the sight of her. "What'd I tell you about coming in here by yourself? Have you been going to the bar by yourself too? You're too young and..." he paused, blushing a little, "pretty for that."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm not ignorant, I know 50-60-70-year-old men stare at me. I can protect myself the few times they actually act on those thoughts. Besides, I'm here on business."
