Anarchy

A mysterious feminine figure stepped out of the thick foliage and into the cold winter sunlight, her boots crunching on some twigs as she looked around the forest clearing, though it was covered in white. A few strands of blue black hair slipped out of her hood as she walked on, her silver eyes that were tinted with a dark blue, darting around the clearing, as if inspecting the area for a hidden enemy. “Well,” she mumbled, “I guess it’s safe now.” Raising her hands quickly, she took off her fur lined hood and revealed a young face with with valleys and landmarks carved into her face, all a reminder of what she endured and needed to continue enduring until she got home.

Home was a touchy subject for her.

As she walked towards the middle of the clearing, a small piece of snow fell onto her head from a tree, causing her to yelp in surprise. Wiping it off hastily while chastising herself, she took another look around as she walked quietly, and as she did, she shook her hair out of the hood, kicking at the snow on the ground. “Reminds me of home.” Her ashen ears perked up a little as she took her large sword off her back and in a swift movement, swept snow off that flew onto a nearby tree trunk with a soft thump. Sitting down on the cold ground, she sighed and leaned against the hard bark of the tree. Her hands moved swiftly to put the large sword next to her, laying it flat with the sheathed tip facing away from her.

She pulled it out gently, one of her hands gently holding the sheath while the other pulled the sword out, studying it carefully as it emerged from its sturdy yet makeshift leather sheath. She turned the sword and caught the flat side in her palm, studying the blade further before drawing circles on the flat blade with her fingertips, careful not to hurt herself. “Careful now, Yuki...” She mumbled to herself, pushing her cloak aside. As she did so, she revealed a leather pack that went across her chest. Yuki’s fingers unlaced the belt that held it tightly closed, catching it and taking out a small rag and a bottle filled with ruby liquid that imitated water, it’s shine reflecting onto her face. Rolling her shoulders, Yuki sat up and arched her back before relaxing and dabbing the liquid onto her rag before drawing slow and gentle circles on her sword.

It was some time later that Yuki rolled her shoulders and sat up, her sword now cleaner than before. Though she would have liked to take more time into cleaning her sword, Yuki knew she couldn’t afford it. “There we go!” Yuki said, and put the bottle and rag away with a few fluid motions.

She got up, taking off the furred cloak to reveal a leather vest, accompanied with leather bracers on her right arm that had a buckle system to it. Her heavy duty pants covered her legs, down and into her leather boots. Her shins, however, were covered in leather bracers, and on her hip was a leather pack next to three dagger holsters that wrapped around her hip. She shifted in the waning evening light, regaining feeling in her legs and cracking her back. She still kept her grip on the hilt of the blade, tightening it as she readjusted her grip, running at a tree in front of her. The tree stood up like a sore thumb, making it a perfect tree to slash and practice her moves.

Pushing off of the ground, she curled her legs in before landing over a large tree root to leap, rapidly approaching and stabbing her sword into a tree in a fluid movement. Reaching back, her hands expertly found their way to the dagger holsters, pulling one out and stabbing it deep into the wood with a muffled but satisfying thump. She backflipped, taking both blades but nearly got stuck, out as she tumbled backwards. Landing on her feet caused a large wave of pain to go up her spine, and as she slowly rose into a standing position, pain shot through her heels and up her legs, causing her to ground her teeth together and go into a kneeling position. She attempted to force a cry of pain down, only to have it come up as hissing. Yuki stayed still while kneeling, before she finally stood up and sprinted towards the same tree, her ashen ears flicking around weakly as she ran.

Yuki jumped up though her legs screamed in protest, throwing the larger blade away on impulse, as she landed on the side of the tree. She dragged the daggers down the side as she slid down, the rough bark digging into her knees. She pushed off, attempting to jump from the side to... where? Yuki hadn’t thought it through, and turned, clumsily groping at the air for a branch as she muttered a small “Oh no.”. Yuki had glanced down, thankful for a millisecond that she hadn’t gotten too high before she crashed onto the ground. Yuki let loose a cry as she rolled, her back slamming into the tree trunk a good distance from the tree she pushed off of, causing the snow to shudder before falling over her entire body while she groaned in pain. Yuki didn’t move for a while, pain brushing itself over her, causing her to shudder as she got up.

As she got up, she brushed her fingers lightly over her right calf, feeling something warm and wet seeping onto her pants. “It’s open again.” Hissing in frustration, she turned and went to retrieve her sword after she had brushed off all the snow on her, cursing at her own stupidity. Thankfully she was used to the snow, and wasn’t too wet when she brushed the snow off.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from shadows, causing Yuki to nearly jump a foot in the air.

“Um, excuse me, miss. I didn’t expect to find anyone out here in the middle of nowhere. Do you... Ah, you’re injured! Are you okay?”

Yuki gasped and stood up, grabbing her sword in front of her and holding it in a defensive position. “Who are you? Did you follow me here?” She snapped, pointing it in the direction of the sound. Her ears folded back and her tail brushed the small of her back as she curled her upper lip, her dangerous canines flashing.

A young man stepped out from behind a tree, his palms up and empty to indicate that he was unarmed and unwilling to fight. “Ah, no, no, I was just wandering about when I heard noises coming from here, so I came to investigate.”

She put the sword down cautiously, her hand still grasping the hilt. She shot a wary look before leaning on the nearest tree. “I see. I’m being..,” Yuki stopped and seemed to choose her words carefully, “hunted, to a degree.” Her ashen tail swung side to side slightly, her ears still folded down as she shifted weight from one leg to another.

The young man raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I’m not one to pry, but I certainly can’t leave an injured person behind. Do you mind if I take a look? I have... some knowledge on the medical arts.”

Raising an eyebrow, Yuki muttered a small, “Oh?” but nonetheless sat down with one leg curled under while her injured leg extended in front of her. Her tail brushed the ground as she looked at him, sizing him up. If worst came to worst, it looked like she could overpower him easily and make a quick getaway. As quick a getaway as I can while being injured, that is. She made a face, blowing air at her hair before glancing at the man.

The young man slowly approached her, kneeling before her to examine her leg. “You might have to roll up your pants so that I can have a look at it.”

She rolled it up reluctantly, keeping an eye on him as she revealed an older wound covered in gauze. “I haven’t had the time to properly treat it, and with the rising prices, I don’t think I can afford it. Nonetheless,” Yuki shrugged as if it didn’t really concern her, “it’ll heal with due time.” Her tail hit the ground in a choppy manner, as if she really did care, but was only putting on a brave face.

“If taken care of properly, yes, it’ll be fine in a few days, but that is clearly an injured leg and travelling on an injured leg without treating it is certainly not taking care of it properly. And even if you do treat it, it is very difficult to take care of it properly while travelling.”

The young man appeared genuinely concerned, but Yuki didn’t lower her guard. It didn’t help that his apparent genuine worry for her reminded him of someone close to her back home, causing her throat to constrict. She pushed the thought down, and as the thought receded, her throat opened. “If you want, I can help with cleaning the wound.” She said.

“You can help by not moving too much while I treat it... Hmm, this doesn’t look too bad. The wound’s not too deep. Regardless, it should still be treated to prevent infection.”

She was silent for a long second. “What are your motives? Most importantly, what are you planning?” She frowned and shied away, her ears folding back against her head more. He, however, ignored her questions as he worked on her injury.

It was over before she knew it. All he had really done was wrap it and create a splint. “This is all I can really do for now; for a while, you should rest and let it heal. Unfortunately, as you said, you’re ‘being hunted’, and probably can’t afford to stay here for long, so if you really must go for one reason or another I suggest a crutch or something similar.” He gave a curious glance at her hand, still clutching her sword before looking at her again. “Either way, with that injury you won’t be able to move anywhere quickly.”

“Hm.” She thought for a moment before flashing him a small smile briefly. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Gladly. Well, then... I guess I’ll be on my way, I suppose...” The young man stopped, and glanced at the evening sky. “... or not, seeing that it’s already evening. I suppose I could set up camp here for now or something, then I’ll be on my way tomorrow. At least this way I can still check up on your calf before I leave.”

Yuki grunted, acknowledging his discovery. “It’d be unwise to travel at night.” Suddenly lurching forward, she coughed into her hand before grabbing her waterskin, taking enough water to stop her coughing fit.

Her coughing fit caused the young man to reach out. “Hey, are you alright?”

Yuki grunted before coughing to clear her throat. “I’ll be fine; I just landed harder than I expected.” She made a waving motion, taking another swig from her waterskin. “Go on, as you were saying?”

“If you say so. Anyway, for traveling at night, that would be the case for most people, but I can’t agree that it applies to everyone. Furthermore, are you not being hunted by someone? One could also argue that it would be unwise to stay in any one place for too long when targeted. But on that injured leg of yours, I suppose you don’t have too many choices.”

She grunted, frowning a bit as she realized it made sense. “True. It would be difficult to travel and or fight on this injury.” She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Where do you hail from? You don’t look like anyone I’ve run into before.”

“Me...? I’m not from anywhere in particular. I’m just a wandering traveller, searching for the meaning of life.”

She nodded silently. “Understandable.” She gave him a quick glance before putting her sword down, rubbing her knuckles. “Where have you travelled to before, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Eh, various places here and there. I’ve already lost track by now, so it’s difficult naming particular countries. Even then, I haven’t found anything to help me, though, unfortunately.”

“I see. Hopefully you’ll find what you’re looking for.” She shrugged. “Sadly, it’s been the same for me. The sad fate of travellers; we don’t usually find what we’re looking for.” Her ear flicked to the side casually, as if swatting away a fly. Yuki looked up at the sky and frowned before swatting away a fly near her face. “Damn bugs.” She muttered, scowling.

“That would likely be because they haven’t looked hard enough, then, or spent enough time looking. And then, there’s also the fact that many of them are unfortunate enough to meet their demise before finding what they were looking for.” He said, ignoring her comment about the insects.

Yuki nodded sadly. “It’s sad to not get to your end destinations, but with the rise of hate crimes, murder and stealing, it’s not even safe to leave home.” Sighing, she continued on. “But some preserve themselves long enough to get to their end destination.” She gave a nonchalant shrug, as if she wasn’t concerned with the topic. “It’s always a looming topic if you travel.”

“Well, lawlessness depends on laws set down on society in the first place; in places that aren’t ruled by anyone, one technically there are no crimes being committed except those that break ethics— but those can’t be enforced, either.”

“That’s true.” Having no idea what to say next, she kept silent. Yuki got up and began to limp, taking and moving large rocks near the middle of the clearing. “Hey, can you help me get stray branches and help me snap them in half for the fire?”

“Stray branches...?” he asked, pausing at the unfamiliar term before realizing what she meant. “Oh. Well, I suppose I could. But you should stay here. You should be moving about on the injured foot of yours.”

She opened her mouth before shutting it wordlessly. “True. I’ll stay here with our things so no one takes them.” She sighed and crossed her arms before uncrossing them, but barely concealed her pout as she sat there, unable to help. Her tail moved restlessly, sweeping the ground for a bit before hitting the ground with a soft thump every other second.

It wasn’t long before the man came back, a bundle of “stray branches”, as she had called them, under his arm. He sighed; the slightly different terminology was something he’ll have to get used to yet again.

“Do you need any help?”

“No, I don’t. And you shouldn’t be moving around much in the first place. Need I remind you of your injury yet again?”

She made an annoyed noise and folded her arms. “No.”

“Then, in that case, it should be fine if you sit there and leave everything to me for the night without complaint.”

“Fine.” She grumbled, before mumbling something under her breath. A second later, she was watching him, as if he looked relatively close to someone that Yuki knew. She knocked the idea off, and gazed into empty space as he worked on the fire.

It wasn’t long before there was a crackling campfire near them, illuminating the dark and casting a warm orange glow around the two, the glow almost like an embrace. The two were silent for a few minutes, while Yuki gazed at the fire before speaking. “I’d ask to help you with lifting things and whatnot, but you already told me no, so I’ll sit here and help with small stuff whether you like it or not.”

He said nothing in response, and sat facing the campfire, leaning against a tree. He then took out a small book and started reading, neither acknowledging or protesting to her words.

She sighed and shook her head slightly, a small smile tugging on her lips. It took her a moment to realize that she had lost her wariness during the small time they’ve been together. She scowled as she stared at the sky, the broken part of the moon hanging by an invisible string, almost ready to break as the stars slowly but surely started to emerge from their long slumber.

A short while later, a slight rumbling broke the silence. Yuki ignored it and kept staring at the moon as if nothing happened, but the man snapped the book shut.

“That was you, wasn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. “Hungry?”

“No it wasn’t. But no thank you. It was kind of you to offer though.” Yuki shrugged and continued to stare at the sky.

He didn’t say anything. If she wanted to deny, he didn’t care. But it wasn’t a bad time to make something to eat, however, and so he set about making his meal, taking the materials from his backpack as he got started.

She gave him a quick glance, raising an eyebrow before laying on her back and staring at the stars more. The broken moon shone brightly, though it hung lifelessly in the night sky, the dark clouds shying away from the fierce light. She snuck a glance to her cloak that laid on the ground farther away, than at the young man before shrugging. It wasn’t really important as of now. The stars were laid against the night sky, and she let her thoughts wander, sighing.

He had finished making some noodles and had started eating. However, he didn’t offer any to her. She had already declined his offer, so why ask again?

She snapped back to reality suddenly, slowly sitting up. “Hey, do you mind grabbing the cloak? I forgot to pick it up beforehand.”

“Your cloak? All right.” He set aside his bowl, standing up with a strange motion, and walked towards her, as her cloak happened to be only a meter away from her.

Yuki tried not to smirk, and covered it with her hand. She could use his own commands against him like this. The smell of the noodles had started to claw at her empty stomach, irking her for quite some time.“Thanks,” she replied, waiting until his back was turned. Then Yuki took action; as quickly as she could, she rolled over, looked at the bowl only to find it empty. She rolled back over and stiffened at the sight that greeted her.

Jeremy had been watching her the entire time. In one hand was her cloak, and in the other... was a bowl of noodles.

“Looking for something?” he casually said, gesturing with the hand that had a bowl of noodles in it. “I thought you weren’t hungry.”

Yuki blinked, stuttering. “Uh..no-not at all.” Well, that didn’t go as expected.

“And not being hungry would warrant you to roll all the way to my empty bowl, attempt to eat from it, and roll all the way back, I suppose.”

She opened her mouth and closed it soundlessly. “I’m a bad communicator?” Yuki said sheepishly, shrinking a bit.

“So you’re actually hungry, then?”

She only nodded silently, and hung her head in shame for the poor attempt to steal a bit of his food.

“Well, next time, even if you’re bad at communicating, just say you’re hungry.” He then walked over to her, and handed over her cloak and the bowl of ramen. “And here you go.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and sheepishly laughed. “I never suspected you to be scary; you don’t look the part.” Yuki took the bowl out of his hands in a gentle manner, her hands growing warm as she held onto the bowl.

“Was I? Well, I suppose I have the right to be a little angry, but it’s not just because you lied about being hungry. The problem lies in that you’re currently under my care, and I had asked you not to move with that injury on your foot.”

She looked down, as if she were a small child guilty of touching something that wasn’t supposed to be touched. “Well, you didn’t mean it to be a problem.” Yuki mumbled before beginning to eat, her ears folding back and her tail curled around her.

“Well, of course not. I don’t really like problems.”

She nodded and continued eating, enjoying the warmth of the food and bowl in her hands.

The young man, having already eaten, sat back down, leaning against the same tree as before. He was about to take out a book, when he paused.

“So, where are you headed?” he asked.

Yuki took a moment to swallow her food before answering. “I’m headed back to my home country, Weis. I recently overheard that there’s been imbalance in the country, and I’ve become worried.”

“Weis...? Where is that located?”

She shifted her legs, moving her right leg up and on top of her left. “Across the Gyian Sea. It’s about a six month trip, and many don’t go there, especially the people who live here.” She scowled and made a face, growling out a phrase that sounded close to, “Riians, and their stupid practices...”

“Riians...? I assume they are a neighboring countries to yours?”

“We’re in Ri’lon right now, near the city of McCrual. The elves, however, used to call it Ridethyell, but when the humans took over, I guess they decided that the name didn’t suit the city. Ugh, do you smell that? It smells like shit, no pun intended.” Making a face, she continued. “And don’t ask me why the county Ri’lon calls it’s citizens Riians, I’ve no clue, despite being in this country for quite a while.”

“Oh, that? Your sense of smell must be stronger than mine; for me, it’s certainly bearable at the moment. In any case, your homeland... what’s it like?”

“Much greener than this, and it puts the “greenest” areas of this country look drab.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how to explain the winter; it’s both warm and cold at the same time. I don’t even understand it and I’ve lived there for the majority of my life. It’s the biggest of the three countries, with this one being the smallest.”

“I see. Sounds interesting.”

It shocked her that someone of his age wouldn't know where he was. Unless he wasn’t taught how to read, or was snuck in under the Gyian Coast. Or maybe, she mused, he came from Quel and was never introduced to the outside world. Well, okay, then again, travellers don’t have much money to begin with, myself included. She mused further, and bit her bottom lip thoughtfully before speaking again.

“Where are my manners?” She coughed and attempted to speak normally before speaking softly. “My name is Yuki Lsus.” Inside, she grimaced at the name; It felt wrong not to tell him what her real name was, but then again, she didn’t know him well enough to tell her her real name. It always felt wrong to hold her real name back, but not many that resided in Ri’lon could pronounce her name properly. Or, at least the people Yuki met couldn’t say it properly. Words hold more power than many think. Yuki thought, and sighed softly.

“I’m Jeremy. Nice to meet you.”

Yuki smiled. “A pleasure. Well, what do you know of Weis?”

“Not much.”

“We don’t have the technology Ri’lon does, nor do we have the big and looming cities. We’ve got about... oh, I’d say ten at maximum. But don’t take my word for it,” she said sheepishly, “I haven’t been back at Weis for a while. However, Weis is what you’d call the ‘hybrid headquarters’ due to our large population of hybrids there.” Yuki shrugged and continued on.

“Well, Weis do trade with Ri’lon, but sadly, many don’t go on the Gyian Coast, making it difficult to trade and travel there. Many are hesitant to go to Weis in the first place, mostly because they think that hybrids will come out and eat them. Hah!” She laughed humorously, scowling. “Ignorant fools. Their ignorance only made it worse for people to go and travel and or trade with us.” Yuki scoffed. “However, our cities are like Ridtheyell here,” she said as she motioned to the looming city behind her, “small and self supporting.”

“Sounds like an interesting place.”

“Depends on which aspect you look at it from, it is interesting. Would you like to see it for yourself and travel with me?”

“Well, I suppose I could... and besides, Weis sounds like an interesting place. I think I’ll take you up on your offer to travel together there.”

“Really?” Yuki barely concealed her surprise, blinking as she did.

“Well, I don’t have a reason not to, so why not?”

She shrugged and smiled briefly. “Not everyone takes up that offer. Well, especially people that meet someone like me after a few hours.” In her mind however, though it had been years since she stepped on Ri’lon, she wasn’t sure whether to call herself a ‘person’ or ‘hybrid’.

“Well, they do have good reason not to, I suppose. It’s not that easy for some people to take up an offer like that with someone you just met, even if their goals are the same.”

Yuki nodded. “Sadly, that’s true. I want to thank you for helping me. Not everyone will help a hybrid in a human ruled country.”

“It’s not really much to be thanked for, but okay.”

Yuki yawned and put her empty bowl down, replacing her small source of warmth with her cold cloak. She wrapped it around herself, and laid on her back, staring at the sky and fiercely lit broken moon again, her thoughts wandering. It wasn’t long until she started to feel the pull of sleep, and decided to fight the urge, thinking of what’d she do tomorrow. Her tail barely moved as she sat there, her ears perking up belatedly as she heard the crackles of the fire. She rolled over, curling into a ball and closed her eyes. Yuki had fallen asleep after a short while, her breathing slowing and soft.

“Hey, don’t just fall asleep there,” he said, despite knowing she probably couldn’t hear him. He soon got up, set up proper shelter, and before dousing the fire, Jeremy covered Yuki with his own blanket. He probably didn’t need it, anyways; it wasn’t that cold. He then cleaned up everything else, including the bowl he had given Yuki, before getting ready to rest.

And so, the fated day where two people who would change the course of history met for the first time finally ended.

If only they knew what fate had in store for them...