Well let’s turn it back, back to the very beginning.

It was back when the war was at its height. It was after the nuclear missiles purged the Earth and before when things slowed to what it is today.

I was born into a family of restaurant owners passed down from the generations.

As far as I can remember, my childhood was not the greatest of childhoods.

Because me and my family are of Asian origin, we received decent amounts of discrimination from most of European society.

The children in school would bully me. The people on the streets would smash our shop and graffiti over our windows.

But there were a few who took a liking to me, the Captain is one of them.

Back then there were maybe five or six of us. We would hang out everyday, do homework together, watch the fighter jets roar past us from the tops of buildings, and so on.

They provided lot’s of good business for my restaurant too because they often brought their families and relatives to eat there.

We went through middle school together, then high school, then it came the time for us to enlist in the military.

As a proud young citizen should do, we all signed up for the air force and prepared for the beginning of our training.

The time counted down. Two weeks, on week, two days.

Then, the night before, I came home to find our shop destroyed. Furniture turned over, drinks spilt all over the floor. I thought it was a robbery, but turned out that the military needed subjects for their newfangled cloning project.

They reasoned it down to our family failing to pay taxes, thus making us criminals. But I put it down to the fact that we have black hair and yellow skin.

Looking back, I should have spoken out, tried my best to reveal whatever our city was up to. But I was clueless back then.

I told my friends, and they told me to leave. Run away to save myself.

And so I did. The night before entering basic training, I snuck aboard a trading plane and flew across the globe to New Asia.

With my mind set on destroying my home city and nothing left to lose, I joined the air force the very next day. By the month I was the top candidate in my class and shortly thereafter I was in the pilot’s seat and shooting down enemies.

Most of my friends I had in Europa I’ve never once met after I escaped. And sometimes I wonder if one of the fighters I blew out of the sky could have one of them in the pilot’s seat.

But soon those thoughts faded away, and I was beginning to feel that I belonged in New Asia. No one hated me because of my hair color, no one hated me because I spoke differently.

During my time serving, I came to know a lot of people from all over the world. One of them, whom I met while running some errands, introduced me to The Merchant’s Cabinet. And so I began working with them while I wasn’t off on missions. But soon my superiors caught on, and reprimanded me for doing shady stuff. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for my outstanding abilities as a pilot, it is very likely I would have been discharged from the military.

I was promoted to a Captain later. More specifically, Captain of the twenty-second fighter squadron. But I never really took to that role, found it to be too stressful and boring. So I decided to retire.

After retiring, I couldn’t quite get used to life outside the military. For the first time in many decades, I had to make decisions for myself and not listen to orders all the time. I felt like I had no purpose, like I had no use. I have no family, few friends, and no one to really care for. So I turned to The Merchant’s Cabinet to feel some purpose in life.

I worked my way up the ranks in The Merchant’s Cabinet, eventually becoming a very well respected member. Valkyria is one of the centers of operation for The Merchant’s Cabinet, and I just happened to take a liking to it after coming here many times.

So with my money I built this house and live here whenever I'm not away doing business.

The shop in New Asia? Oh yeah, I have a few people working there. Last time you met me I had some business to do in the city, so on my free time I just wanted to go check up on my shop and serve some customers. Good choice ehy? Cause’ I ended up meeting you people.

So that takes us up to now pretty much. The story of my life.

Takeshi picked up the little shot glass and downed the entire thing after finishing his brief autobiography. “It’s late, I see some of you falling asleep already, you all should probably go rest now.”

“Yeah sure, good idea,” Lenn said, poking Kang to rouse him from his sleep. “Thank you for the meal… and the lodging.”

“You’re welcome. This house feels too empty anyways.”

“Alright let’s go,” Lenn mumbled to his team, getting up and respectfully pushing the chair back under the table.

As they walked down the walkways around the garden, the bright moon shined down upon them from the cloudless night sky. It isn't often that they get to see the night sky in its full, milky glory, since New Asia’s sky is mostly grey in color. Billions of tiny sparkles swung from one end of the horizon to the other, forming a streak of light which hung above their heads.

“The sky’s beautiful huh?” Rei asked.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Yeah…”

They entered their room, taking a moment to breath in the dusty yet welcoming smell of the chilly, dark interior.

Lenn laid down in his cot, bid goodnight to his teammates, and closed his eyes.

*****

He woke up to the bright sunlight seeping through the rough fabric of the window curtains. He sat up sluggishly in his cot, rubbing his eyes and cracking his neck, as per his usual wake-up routine. That must have been one of the best night’s sleep of his entire life. He looked towards the clock on the wall, and it turns out that it was well past noon already.

With his eyes still trying to adjust to the light, he stumbled over to the window and tore apart the curtains with the energy of a happy young child. The breath of fresh forest air hit him in the face like a gentle wave, causing him to cough and inhale deeply.

The sounds of chatter and laughter flowed up from the streets below and into the room, giving Lenn a wave of nostalgia to the time when he still lived in his own home back in New Asia. After joining the military, that scene had become but a past memory.

“Whaaat time is it?” Kang asked, slurring his words as he yawned.

“Three-thirty”

“Wow ok…” he mumbled, getting to his feet and stretching his arms up. “That was a good night’s sleep."

“It certainly was…”

“So then, what do we do today? Any news?”

“What sort of news?”

“You know… whether they’re gonna come back for us or not.”

Lenn stepped back from the window, walking towards the couch in the corner and sitting down. “Nope, nothing.”

Kang suppressed a sigh. “So then… what do we do today?”

Lenn shrugged his shoulders. He had no clue either. “Let’s wake the others up.”

“Got it!”

So then Kang began looking for the best, most dramatic way to rouse his teammates from sleep. He thought about using a feather to tickle them, dropping a leaf into their mouth, even tried putting a little spider on their feet. But before he could come to a decision, Lenn had already walked over and gently woken them up with a few shakes to the shoulder.

“Hey! That was supposed to be me!” Kang exclaimed.

“Took you too long.” Lenn responded as he walked back to the couch. After Rei and Ying had mostly left behind the grip of sleepiness, he began to speak. “So, does anyone have any clue as to what we can do today?”

His teammates exchanged glances with each other, but no one gave an answer.

“How about we just look around the town? Go sit for a bit at a bar or something. We’ve got some money, not much but enough to last a day or two.” Rei suggested after a while

“Are we allowed to?” Kang asked. “We are soldiers you know. Especially in this uniform, it might be a little hard for us to roam around freely.”

“Mr. Takeshi gave us some clothes yesterday, we can just wear those.”

“Ah that’s a good point.”

“Then let’s go,” Lenn said, clapping his hands together. “We’ve got nothing better to do anyways.”

They rumbled down the staircase of Takeshi’s luxurious but compact mansion and left through the broad front door, saying hi to the guards as they went. Takeshi was nowhere to be seen, probably off doing business with other traders.

The streets felt very much like those of New Asia. Filled with people, market stands and adults standing around and chatting. Yet somehow this place felt more homely, more primitive, less like a machine which works non-stop.

As they walked past the stands, Lenn craned his neck to get a look at the goods on sale. There were fruits of all sorts, some red, some green, some purple even. Jewelry of all kind were on sale too, golden chains, sparkling gemstones. All as expected from a major trading hub like Valkyria.

“Say… if we just decide to stay here, what will we do?” Kang asked.

Lenn thought for a moment. “Find a job? Buy a house? Make a living I guess. Looking around, it doesn’t seem like a job should be too hard to come by.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right…” Kang said sheepishly.

“Why?”

“I mean… I wouldn’t mind a break from the constant fighting. And to be honest, this place doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Yeah…” Lenn sighed. "Whatever you say..."

“Hey guys, there’s a small bar of sorts just up ahead,” Rei told them, pointing to a wooden sign which extended over the street. “Wanna go in there and sit for a bit?”

“Sure,” Lenn and Kang said together.

The wooden door of the small pub opened with a loud squeak. Lenn and his team stepped into the warmly lit interior half filled with people. It was surprisingly calm as far as a bar went, and although cramped, seemed fairly clean as well.

They walked over to the counter and sat down on the high stools. The bartender came over and asked for their order.

“Three beers please,” Lenn said.

“But isn’t there four of you?” The bartender asked as he began filling three glasses with a rich orangey golden beer.

“Oh uhh…she doesn’t drink,” Kang answered for Ying.

“Oh I see. What about some fruit juice?” The bartender asked again, placing down the three glasses in front of them.

“You guys have fruit juice here?”

“We have everything here,” the bartender chuckled. “This is Valkyria! Everything from everywhere comes through here.”

“No I mean why would there be juice in a bar?”

“Oh I usually keep some juice around for making cocktails. Pretty common practice around here since fruits are so plentiful.”

Kang nodded his head. “I see…” he mumbled.

“So would you like some?”

“How much does it cost?”

“Uhh… I don’t normally sell this by itself. But since I’ll have to throw this out anyways in preparation for the evenings you guys can have it for free.” The bartender said, lifting up a mostly empty jug with some orange juice inside.

“Thank you…”

“Haha! No problem. But you still need to pay for the beers though.” The bartender told them while filling up a cup with juice and handing it to Ying. Then he turned to a new guest who just arrived and left Lenn’s group alone.

They sat there, drinking in mostly silence, exchanging a few words every once a while. The beer tasted good; very rich and refreshing. The New Asian military could only dream of having such good beer at such low prices.

The bartender chatted with them a little as well. Apparently Valkyria is one of the biggest towns out there, and also happens to be one of the oldest. It was also said that Valkyria was formed by people who attempted to flee from the war, but were shot down over these mountains. One of the planes apparently came to rest in one piece under the overhang, hiding them from the preying eyes above and allowing the survivors to build a world for themselves here. But the bartender expressed his doubts over such a story.

As the sun began to near the mountain tops, Lenn and his team prepared to leave the bar. They had finished their drinks and were just sitting around idly.

Suddenly there was commotion. A hooded man sprinted through the bar and out of the doors. A terrified old lady was screaming.

“He took my purse!” She shouted, pointing at the door which the man had just sprinted through.

People looked on dumbfounded, not yet having processed what was going on.

Rei sighed, shrugged his shoulders, pulled out a few coins from his pocket and slapped it onto the counter, then bolted out the door after the man with a speed his bulky body shouldn’t seem to be capable of.

Lenn and the rest took off after Rei too. They ran out of the door to see Rei walking towards a rough fabric bag laying on the floor, which the robber had apparently given up after seeing that he was being pursued.

They handed it back to the old lady, who thanked them warmly.

“How about you come to my family restaurant for dinner, as a sign of my gratitude?" She asked them while holding a crate of beer in her arms and with a huge smile on her face. "We always have some leftover food items every night so I’m sure you four will be catered to nicely. No need to pay."

Lenn looked at Kang, who looked at Rei, who looked at Ying, who looked back at Lenn, who nodded and thanked the lady.

For some reason, this town just seemed so friendly and welcoming. There always seemed to be too much of everything and never too little of anything. For just a moment, Lenn felt that maybe it wasn’t that bad of an idea to just stay here, forever, in this little mountain town.