I wake up and touch my small and slender hand to my face. I shake my head and wonder what dream I had been having. I woke up in a cold sweat so I am genuinely unsure what my dream could have been about. I don’t commonly have nightmares so waking like this left me shaken and unnerved.

Nothing scary has happened to me for a while now and I don't think I have any lasting trauma, or at least that is what Momma tells me, and I believe her. It must have something to do with that annoying voice I have in my head.

There it was. The male voice that I hear in my head all the time. I had his voice in my head for as long as I can remember and it is always whispering the same thing. Go to Xandivier Dungeon and clear it. That's it. I have tried to figure out why I have this voice, why I have this drive to go. The desire to be an adventurer. Momma says that Papa was an adventurer so maybe it is his blood within me calling out for adventure.

That life would be so different from the one that I have grown up with. I wouldn't be doing tea ceremonies or dances, and there would be no flower arrangements. I loved all of those things and wondered what would be so wrong staying in the life that I had known? I know that there are some jobs here that I wouldn’t want to do though…

"Sakura are you awake?" Momma asks me.

How does she always know? I don't think I have really even tossed around since waking up, so how is it that she knows?

"Yes Momma. I'm going to grab some clothes and go to the hot springs to relax a bit before I go to the bath house. Is that okay?" I ask her.

"Come eat some breakfast first." She said with a hint of something in her voice that I don't think I have heard before. It sounds as though there is tension in her voice. Was there something that could be upsetting Momma? If that is the case then why isn’t her tone that same as it would normally be if she was upset?

It concerned me so I gather up all of my belongings quickly and race down the stairs to the eating room. I move so quickly that I feel as though my momentum is going to cause me to fall forward and roll down the steps. That would most certainly be uncomfortable.

As I get down the stairs I look about me. There are small, polished cherry wood tables and matching chairs as well as tan plush couches with gold pillows. I sit on one of the chairs and tuck my tail politely across my lap.

Momma sits on the other side of the table with pancakes that have a drizzling of honey, a sprinkling of powdered sugar and fresh strawberries. I can’t keep my mouth from watering but I made sure to swallow any saliva that pooled in my mouth before speaking.

"Good morning Momma!" I say in greeting. She indicates that I may take my plate, so I do and gracefully begin cutting into it. As the sweet taste touches my tongue and I am nearly swept up in the flavor Momma speaks.

"Sakura dearest, I believe that you should be an adventurer. I feel that it is your calling."

"Momma!" I exclaim after swallowing my food. "Don't you want me to learn to take over the business from you? Weren’t you able to build this place into what it is because of your beauty? That's why the other women say that you had a child with Papa. So that you could have a child of either gender, beautiful enough to take your place when you feel like stepping down from your position." The shock is not hidden in my voice.

I watch her as I speak and see a keen and sharp look in her eye, especially as she looks around the eating room. No one wants to catch her eye, which I take to mean that she did not want for me to find out about this.

"I will not deny that when I was younger and more foolish the thought had occurred to me. But Sakura, I do not believe that this is the best life for you. I believe that the voice in your head might be there to guide you and lead you to your destiny. It is foolish to avoid fate."

I look at her, golden and red eyes meeting pure gold ones. I stare at her for a moment, but her will is stronger than mine. And I have to admit that part of me had been hoping and wanting to become an adventurer. I do not have a way to make that decision, or to break the news to Momma. I wanted to please her and be a good daughter. I guess that accepting her wise advice will be the best way to honor her.

"Yes Momma, you are right. After breakfast I will go sit in the baths and reflect on how to go about this in the best manner that I am able. I also must think of a day to go, a day that would be less burdensome. I want to have the correct amount of time to get my goodbyes in."

As I say all of this Momma watches me with her gentle and intelligent golden eyes. I have a feeling that there is more that she has not said yet, but I do my best not to let myself be led by my curiosity.

It is most important that I let things be said at the appropriate times. I recite my phrase, calm, polite and dignified at all times.

I finish my breakfast. and look at the plate, sad that it is all gone. It really is my favorite breakfast. I nod to Momma and make my way to the hot springs and out-door baths. I sneak around to the small ones and check to make sure there is no one there.

There aren’t at this time of day of course. They were usually used at night, which is why I like to come here during the morning, when the golden days of dawn kiss the day good morning. Also it was a lovely way to begin my day.

I strip down and set my clothes on a rock near the bath. I dip a toe in to test the temperature. Perfect as always. I slip gracefully into the water. I was taught from a young age that it is important to be graceful at all times. You can do many things gracefully, you can even hold firm on a point without bending, and still be graceful while doing it. Momma was the queen of doing this.

I stare up at the sky as it lightens, the sun making its way higher into the sky. It was lovely painting the skies in golden, orange and pink hues. The sky at this time always looks as though it was painted by the world’s greatest painter. Even with the beauty of the sunrise, some people enjoyed the sunset more. I do not have a preference between the two and simply love that both hold such majestic beauty. It seems that I was that way about most things. Of course, I have some favorite things but other than that I was pretty even tempered, a thing that I was praised for.

I am able to get excited about and enjoy most things, aside from the truly unpleasant ones. As well as unpleasant people. I close my eyes and let myself sink down into the bottom of the springs, putting thoughts of unpleasant people and unpleasant memories out of my mind. It is good and right to think on beautiful things, not ones that cause pain.

I sit down in the hot water, and wonder how long I could hold my breath. At the minute mark there was that voice in my head, and it feels louder this time, as if it seems to know the decision has been made, that I am going. This time however is a bit different. It feels as though a map has been burned into my mind, and I am not certain what it is for yet.

I take my time in the bath, smelling the sweet smell of the flowers. I move from the hot springs to the outdoor bath that has bath salts mixed into it. The salts had been freshly added this morning and begin to give off a fragrant scent.

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Was that... Sakura flowers? I wonder why Momma chose to use my name sake flowers in the bath this morning. I get an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach and wonder how many more peaceful days I will be able to spend here before I have to leave. Thinking about this gives me a headache and when I close my eyes all I see is a map.

I dry off and wrap my clothing around me delicately and make my way back inside. When I enter I smell sweetness and more delicacies to eat. Although I had eaten the pancakes not too long ago I can’t help but want to eat more. I walk forward and see the workers all together.

"Is there something special going on?" I ask.

When I do, I see tears forming in a few eyes. I quickly look over those around me, scanning for bruising, or to see if there is someone missing. Although the clientele here is carefully screened by multiple people, some things are brought out in people that are unexpected during intimate moments. I look down at the inside of my arms then away. Everyone looks fine here so there seems to be no reason to worry.

"Sakura honey." Momma says and I turn to look at her. "You are leaving today. I wanted to make sure that we all say a proper goodbye to you and give you the gifts which we have for you."

The tears make sense now and I feel some begin to form in my eyes as well. "I leave today?" I barely manage to squeak out as I focus on drying my eyes.

"I fear that you must. I have seen how your head pains you. I have also seen eyes lingering on you for longer than I like. And you just having turned fourteen no less. You have told me that you are not interested in doing more than flower arranging, tea ceremonies and some of the more innocent dances. You and Nila both. I won't have it! I won't!" Momma says, her voice a strong mixture of emotions.

I look at her and immediately know. She had tried to send Nila with me but out of obligation Nila feels that she can not leave. Mmany of the women here had owed a substantial debt. Nila’s isn’t even hers. I lift my eyes to Nila and know that my intuition leads me true.

"Let me be the first to give you a gift." says Nila. She is only two years my senior, almost old enough to warm beds. "Don't worry about me. I love our home and nothing will be done with me that is not my decision and that I did not consent to." she whispers with an attempt at emphasis.

She was a shy girl when we were younger and had been bullied. We had found her begging on the streets and had brought her in to live with us.

"I have been working on my enchanting." Nila continues. "Give me your wrist."

I reach my wrist out to her. Cold metal slips over my wrist and tightens to be a perfect fit. It is a creation of beautiful craftsmanship. It looks as though there are silver vines wrapping around my wrist with small white and pink flowers blooming from them.

"This will slowly heal you as time passes." Nila tells me and gives my wrist a small squeeze.

I look at it a few seconds then fling my body at hers, wrapping her up in a warm embrace. "Sister, I will miss you." I say near her beautiful tabby colored cat-kin ear. We are not sisters, but we feel as kin with one another. "Don't be surprised if I come and steal you some day." I smile at her and we give one another, another tight embrace.

"I am next." says Sinn, one of the few men that worked there.

He was somewhere between his late twenties and early thirties, and still one of the most highly sought out of all of us. It is his smile, it lights up a room and makes you feel warm and happy.. I wish I could smile like that.

"I made you a few outfits to help keep you cool. I know that you have difficulties with thermo-regulation and that you are hot even in the middle of winter. Most of these are for when you are in the dungeon but there are a few cute dresses as well, because you never know when you are going to need to be cute." Sinn says and hands over a bundle.

"Don't open it here, it took almost an hour to pack it, and anyways, it would ruin the surprise." Sinn tells me.

I nod to him, wanting to open it to see the beautiful clothing that he must have packed in there. He is the one who designs all of the outfits that we wear here at the Pleasure Gardens. I give him a hug before he steps back to let the next person come up with their gifts.

Next was Brandy. "You cannot walk and run around as an adventurer in delicate shoes and slippers. You are going to need something sturdy." After saying this she hands me over two pairs of boots, one in brown and one in black.

"There is no difference besides the color. I do, however, know that shoes of this kind get worn out very quickly. Also, what kind of young lady growing up in the Pleasure Gardens doesn't want to look her best!"

"This is very true." I say in response, doing my best not to cry… calm, polite and dignified at all… times.

I am so grateful and I was going to miss them all so much. I try not to think too hard on the fact that they had all of these items ready for me. It means that they all knew that this was coming, even though I didn't.

Following Brandy was Clyde, Ella, Emma, Jewel, Sherry, Elise, Katty, Kade, Leo and Risa. All that was left was Kylie, a former adventurer in her youth, and my mother.

Kylie walks forward. "Now I know that everyone else has given you something new. And yeah I got something new for you as well, but something old as well. Call me sentimental or something."

She says and scratches the back of her head. She passes me over a strongly oiled leather bag that had clearly seen some use. It was rather large. I open it up and my eyes go wide. Weapons. She has given me weapons.

Two sets of dual blades, one smaller and newer looking, and one older, a bit larger and deadly looking. The new ones are a light gray with soft leather grips. The older ones had one black ebony blade and one white blade. They both shimmered blue, it was a material that I had never seen before.

"It's called star stone. I dunno what it is, all I know is that it is rare and expensive. The blades on both are made with it. It never goes dull. But don’t go using that set right away. They were my old weapons, kept me alive more times than I could count. I call them rune blades. With all of that said you are not ready to use these, you have some growing to do first. You can use them when your hands fit the grips." Kylie tells me.

I nod and know not to ignore her words. Kylie is not one to bandy empty words so when she says something, you listen.

The final person left was Momma. She walks up to me, unwraps a bundle and throws it around my shoulders.

"Sakura my beloved, this is my gift to you. You may not think it as fancy as others, but it shields you against the elements to a small extent. The main thing that it shields though, is you. We are a hidden people, with far too few of us left. We are lucky to live in relative safety here, with the lord of the area an admirer of mine. I urge you not to easily show yourself to others until they have become someone you trust with your life.

“My next gift is perhaps something most choose for themselves, but all of us together have come up with it for you. That is your adventurer's name. Many do not share our belief of sacred names, and that is their foolish choice. But we know otherwise. Names hold power. To curse a thing you must know its name. Thus we deem you Amaya! May your blades make your enemies bleed like the rain at night." Momma says to me, a proud smile dancing on red rose colored lips.

I am overwhelmed with emotion to an extent that I don't know how to respond for a few minutes. Tears of joy, fear and many other unnamed emotions flow out of me.

"Thank you all." I choke out. I want them all to know how much they mean to me. I hug all of them in turn and they give me tight squeezes.

"I have a lunch packed for you along with maps and dried food." Momma says.

I am passed a heavy looking traveler’s pack.

"And money for the road. I expect that it should be enough to keep you for a while. Wear it around your neck and keep it close to your chest. It will be hard not to notice someone feeling you up for your money. Now then, change into a pair of your new boots and tie your cape around yourself tightly. It is time for you to be off." Momma tells me.

With that I change into my new boots and head out the door. I pull out the map and begin to make my way to the dungeon. It wasn’t the closest one, but it was the one I was called to. There are a number of dungeons in this world. I don't know how many, there are rumors of ones yet to be discovered. I should learn more about that once I get there.

After walking a ways I come to the intersection where the traveling coaches pick people up to lead them away to new places. This will be my first time riding one. I have barely been outside of the doors of the Pleasure Gardens. Momma always said that it was too dangerous, which I find humorously contradictory of her behavior today. I guess all of my headaches and sleepless nights made her change her mind on what she thought constituted being dangerous.

I don't wait for more than about 5 minutes before a traveling cart comes along.

"Where are you headed to traveler?" The coach driver asks with a slight drawl.

"Please take me to the town of Xandivier". I tell him.

"Ahh, a dungeon town, are you going for the adventurer try outs?" he asks me.

Those words made me feel as though my insides were turning to ice. You had to try out to be an adventurer?

"Yes, of course. Thank you for asking. Do you have any advice?"

"Haha sweet of you to ask but I have never been an adventurer myself so I wouldn't know what kind of advice to give you. Oh, well aside from try not to die."

"Oh right, silly me." I say with a slight smile, which he could not see. "I thought since you took people to and from Xandivier that you might have heard something from them about testing?" I pry slightly, hoping that he might be able to give me something.

"Well let me think about that for a moment." We both sit in silence while he appears to be thinking. "From what I hear of it either you got the talent to make it or, well, you don’t. And that's pretty much all I have heard. So, good to luck to ya."

We sit in silence for a little as the gravity of my situation starts weighing on me. I was going, alone, to take a test that I had not prepared for that would determine the course of my future. I can’t help but think, surely Momma knew about this, why hadn’t she said anything?!

"Don't fret about it so much lass. I'm sure that everything will be just fine. If not, well then, I get to make double when I bring you home." he said, and started whistling a jaunty tune to help keep my mind off of everything.

Surprisingly, it really worked. I didn't know the song that he was whistling, but was quick to pick up the tune to it and I start humming along. This eventually turns into singing songs that we know.

Several days pass in this manner, occasionally additional passengers would join only to reach their destination before Xandivier. Strangely no one else seems to want to go there, a thought that did not help alleviate my nerves.

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"Alright little lady, here we are." he says as he stops outside the gates to the town.

"Thank you so much for the ride. I appreciate this very much. I will remember your kindness."

"Call on me again at any point. My name is Michael and I can often be found on this road."

I make sure to memorize his name. He was kind and I would be needing to make this ride again, even if it wasn't at any time soon.

I look around me and drink it all in, the sights, the sounds, the smells. I would have been overwhelmed at all the of the different peoples, but I have seen a smattering of all of these races come through the pleasure gardens. Still though, to see them all here together!

I didn't know it at the time, but for the last time I thought to myself calm, polite and dignified, at all times.