“Ruzo! Get that one!” Tsugi yelled, riding on Ruzo’s back. After ten years, Ruzo had grown magnificently and was bigger than his mother was. Tsugi jumped off Ruzo’s back with elegance and flung her dagger into the porgrin’s neck, ripping it in half. A group of porgrin’s - goblin-like creatures, but their heads were that of a wild boar, with giant tusks that stuck out from their bottom jaw - started attacking nearby villages and were taking the women to breed so they could raise an army. She landed gracefully on her feet and dashed toward the creatures, who charged toward them, raising their giant axes into the air.
She twisted and twirled slamming her dagger into them with explosive power. Every time she missed, the daggers created craters in the ground and flung dirt into the air. Ruzo barrelled through their small ranks and sent them flying through the air, slamming them into houses with a loud crash. Wood chunks and stone rubble scattered the dirt roads where a few of the lifeless bodies of the villagers lie. With one bite, Ruzo shook them hard enough to rip and detach their limbs, tossing them across the village.
Tsugi looked up and chuckled to herself, “Let’s hope the villagers don’t pass out from finding body parts all over the place.”
Vines shot out of the ground and bound the remaining five porgrin’s. The vines tightened and squeezed them, like a snake, constricting them and crushing their bones. Blood oozed from their orifices: eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Their internal organs crushed and their eyes bulged out. Tsugi looked behind him and grinned at Ellie, who had her arms raised to her sides. She looked at Tsugi and smiled before clenching her fists together. The vines constricted immediately and the bodies exploded from the pressure, sending tissue and blood spewing the surrounding area.
{Wow! So brutal!} Tsugi signed to her and grinned. One side of her lips curled up into a smirk, and she rolled her eyes at Tsugi. {Too bad you can’t just do that to everyone, it’ll be so much easier.}
{You know there’s a limit to everyone’s power. If I do that, then I’m putting myself and everyone else at risk, if I can’t heal.} She smirked as she walked by Tsugi to check on the bodies of the villagers on the floor.
“Ruzo!” Ruzo came running down the dirt road and halted right in front of Tsugi. “Alive, search.” At Tsugi’s command, Ruzo began his search to find anyone that could still be alive. His loud sniffing echoed through the dead quiet town, sending little dust clouds into the air when he searched the dirt and rubble.
Tsugi and Ellie continued through town and collected the bodies, both dead and alive, and placed them on the outskirts of the town. Master Lumes was going around healing everyone, one by one. Once they collected all the bodies they could find, they left the searching to Ruzo and assisted Master Lumes with healing.
“I should be able to handle the rest from here.” Master Lumes wiped beads of sweat from her forehead. “You two go clear out a building, big enough to house everyone for the night.”
They both bowed in unison and returned to the village. The village was quite small and not very advanced, so they didn’t have any big buildings.
{I guess we’ll just have to go with the barn then.} Tsugi signed. They proceeded inside and cleared out the rubble and cleaned the stalls. They ran through the houses grabbing: blankets; pillows; medical supplies; food; cookware and whatever else they needed to stay in the barn overnight. They set everything up and even started several fires for boiling water and for cooking food. They left the dead villagers lined up in the road, covered with sheets while they brought the injured into the barn, serving them food and only healing the injuries that required their attention. The day was long and exhausting, nearly draining all three of them of their energy.
Tsugi filled two bowls with soup and brought them over to Master Lumes and Ellie who were leaning against the wall, exhausted. “Master Lumes.” Tsugi handed her bowl to her. “You need to eat.”
She opened her eyes and rubbed them with her pointer and thumb, exhaling loudly before taking the bowl from Tsugi. “Thank you. You should eat too.”
“I will.” She replied and tapped Ellie on the shoulder, waking her and placing the bowl in her hand. {Eat.}
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Ellie gave Tsugi a half smile and blew at her soup before sipping from it.
Quiet murmurs and groans filled the barn as they stirred and moved about. Of the fifty villagers they lost eight. Sobs and wails could be heard from outside, when the villagers discovered the bodies of their deceased friends and family.
{So sad.} Ellie exhaled tirelessly. Though she couldn’t hear them, the aura in the air was overwhelming. {It’s going to be a long night. You two should get some sleep while you can. We have a lot of cleaning and stuff to do tomorrow.}
Tsugi tapped her on the shoulder. {You’re exhausted. You should sleep. I’ll take first watch. Both of you used a lot of energy today. I’m still doing fine, so I’ll watch tonight.}
Ellie was too tired to argue, so she just agreed and went to sleep in the corner of the barn.
“If anything happens, wake me.” Master Lumes muttered and followed behind Ellie.
Tsugi walked around and continued to monitor everyone, checking on their injuries and temperatures to make sure no one was starting a fever. She also gave Ruzo a once over, just to make sure he was okay. Although he was so big that it took her a while to thoroughly check him.
“Oh how the time flies buddy.” She rubbed his muzzle. “I remember when I first saw you, you were just this tiny little thing that fit inside my shirt. Now look at you. You are as big as a house and now you are carrying ‘me’.” She chuckled as he nuzzled her neck with his nose. “Now you can’t fit in my room anymore so you can’t wake me from my nightmares. Maybe, I should move into the barn with you.” She joked and rubbed away his crusty eyes. “Good-night bud.” She hugged him and planted a kiss on his head before heading back inside the barn.
After making another round to check on all the patients, she sat down by the wall again and pulled out the ocarina. She played a nice soft tune, soothing everyone to sleep as she played well into the night.
***
“Alright. Ruzo!” Ruzo slowly inched forward and lifted the giant beam up. “Hold!”
It’s been a few weeks since the attack and they were all working together to rebuild the village with the help of Ruzo. Everything was going smoothly and efficiently as they were already working on their last house.
“Thank goodness for Ruzo.” Johal, the village head said gratefully. “Without him, we would probably still be working on the first house.” He chuckled.
After getting the frame of the house up, they began to board everything up with more wood and stones, using moss and clay to hold everything together.
After the last stone was in place, the whole village erupted in cheers. It was hard work and exhausting, but they finally finished rebuilding. They even put up a wall around the village to discourage monsters from attacking in the future.
“Thank you so much Master Lumes.” Johal shook her hand.
“It was our pleasure.” Master Lumes lowered her head politely. “Now that everything is good, we must be on our way.”
“Why so soon?” His eyes widened with shock. “Well, we could never repay you for all your help and kindness, but please, at least join us tonight. We have prepared a feast.”
After a moment of contemplation Master Lumes finally sighed in defeat. “Very well, we will gladly accept your offer and leave in the morning.”
“Excellent. We have prepared three rooms at the local inn for you all. I’ve already instructed them to fill your baths for you in your rooms. Please relax and meet us in the town square for dinner.” He bowed courtly and left.
Tsugi left Ruzo by the barn, chuckling to herself as Ruzo received his own personal massage from some of the local children, and villagers before she returned to her room at the inn. When she entered her room, the fireplace was already lit to provide light since night was approaching. Next to the fireplace was a giant bathtub that was filled almost to the brim with hot steaming water. She walked over and ran her fingers through it as if testing the temperature.
Pulling off her clothes, she stepped into the hot bath, overflowing the water and sending it over the sides, when she fully immersed herself under. She ran her fingers across all of the scars as she scrubbed her body. Each one flashed a horrid memory that she’s tried to bury for years.
She stopped briefly to calm herself and slow her heart rate.
‘Just don’t think, just don’t think…music…soft…gentle music…’ She told herself as she scrubbed her body clean.
She bound her chest and dressed in loose clothes to cover her breasts. She couldn’t let anyone know that she was a girl, just as she’s hidden her secret for all those years.