“How many times do I have to tell you!” Came from a gruff voice that belonged to a equally looking and rather displeased half-ogre. It was a common feature found on the man's face and it wasn't unusual that it appeared so crossed. Though that was nothing to really bother about to Hiiro, all he really wanted to do was kill a simple slime-ball creature. “Take your eyes off them and they'll just-” before he could finish there was a slime already glued to Hiiro's face with a strong sense of provoked aggression. A muffled yell of frustration gurgled from within the slime's clear body and with a grasp of wet and sticky handfuls of the slime, he yanked off the annoying creature from his face. He proceeded to then slam the creature onto the ground without hesitance and pointed his rather shabby sword at it. He stepped on the moist body and it bulged to one side of his boot.
'Come at me again damn it!” He shouted loudly. “I'll kill you dead!” His stream of ranting continued until the slime had managed to slip from under his foot, bounced upon the ground and then once more smacked him in his face, yet again. Though it lacked any actual obvious emotion, one could assume it was quite pleased with Hiiro's displeasure as he lacked any way to speak with unbridled frustration at his repeat of a scenario. His companion by the name of Giruu simply crossed his rather large, muscle honed arms and stared with a typical blank look of expectation. The kid always thought he could take on anything he put his mind to, but the little pest seemed to have other plans.
“You're making this harder than it needs to be Hiiro.” He said with a straight face. Hiiro once more unlatched the creature from his oxygen depraved reddened face and tossed it with perfect accuracy at the nearby tree, seeing as there was no point in trying to cut it down. It bounced off rather harmlessly and into some brush nearby. “I'll never understand why you do this to yourself. But we'll continue another day it seems.” He made to turn away and Hiiro stomped his foot as if he was a taunted child.
“I will be the greatest swordsman ever! Don't ask me why I keep trying, you know that already!” He gripped his short sword with renewed determination. “I just...didn't have the right sword. Yeah, that's it you hear me Giruu? I need to buy a new one! Palpa needs to stop being a tight wad and let me get something that suits me already!” Giruu made a sidelong glance as he continued to walk and simply frowned and furrowed as expected by Hiiro. This topic again.
“At this point, an invisible sword would suit you just fine. Come, we need to return soon. It'll be dark by the time we get back.” Hiiro's face scrunched up in a snarl and sheathed his sword with reluctance. He really wanted to give Giruu a good whack upside the head but he knew that he'd never be able to even reach within ten feet before he'd get knocked around like a rag-doll by that giant sized blade of Giruu's. Something then occurred to Hiiro as he pouted, catching up to his long time friend and teacher. He walked behind him but close enough to speak in a quiet tone. He hung his head low as if trying to hide his face.
“Giruu,” He said in a unusually low voice, “why is it that every time I try anything, I always end up screwing things up?” Giruu gave another long expression devoid face and sighed inwardly. This kid was just not someone that looked on the bright side of things.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“You don't screw everything up Hiiro. Stop being so hard on yourself for once, you'll get old faster by being so moody about everything you cannot do.” Hiiro had become much more sensitive and emotionally distraught over the course of the year after the defeat of both Nanbuuko and Dagon Zot the evil dragon. Though he threw tantrums as often as ever did, he had begun to express himself more than before. Maybe Saraato had been able to take the edge off his ego in some way. Though he wasn't sure if he liked the angst Hiiro seemed to give off in massive vibes. “No offense, but you're still a kid. Acting like you are a total failure is just going to waste everyone's time.”
“Easy for you to say, old man. You've got all the time in the world to get better.” Giruu simply itched the back of his scraggly hair and closed his eyes to hide his annoyance.
“Old man? Since when did I deserve the honor?” He retorted with a forced laugh in between his words.
“Never mind I guess you couldn't possibly understand anyways.” Hiiro made a sharp downward motion at the edges of his mouth and his eyes became half lidded as if he was trying to clear his head of something he'd regret saying aloud. It was then Giruu stopped and turned to face Hiiro. He looked back at his long time friend and all Hiiro could do was give a mildly confused look as to why they stopped walking so abruptly.
“Sometimes to understand something, you must first learn the reason why you struggle to do so and in doing so you learn something about yourself. Not everything is laid out in obvious explanation, Hiiro. Part of life is accepting that which you fail to comprehend at first glance.” He looked at Hiiro without any expectation of any real response and figured it was lost on the boy the moment he started talking with any actual intent of thought. Hiiro looked away from the intense gaze and seemed to tense as if the words were actual attacks aimed at him.
“What if...you just can't do it right, no matter what you do then?” He said in a hushed voice.
“Then find another way. There's never just one way to do something, that I know even as a old man.” Though he doubted Hiiro fully understood his own emotions in itself, he knew that Hiiro was always trying to compensate for his lack of strength in physical means in whatever trivial way possible. Giruu once more turned away from Hiiro and put his massive hands on his hips. He took a moment as he surveyed the area around them and took a deep breath. This kid wore him out more than any life or death battle.
His mind drifted through the clear sky as he glanced upwards and saw birds flying about as if without a care in the world. Naturally he knew they were in search of food, but the thought of being without care for other worries other than hunger seemed fairly tempting. The sun shone brightly as if to mock the gloomy hunch that Hiiro's body had taken, his slim shadow looking like a bent out of shape tree branch. Maybe now was the right time to share some insight that even Hiiro could perceive as logic.
“Hiiro, have you ever heard the tale 'The Song of a Steel Resolve'? It's not a very well known tale but it's something I heard about some time ago.” A gentle but brisk gust of wind made the grass under their feet sway in rhythm with Giruu's steady breathing. Hiiro gave a small look of pained interest and seemed to submit to the incoming lecture. “Don't look so glum. We'll need to keep walking to get back in time.” Giruu proceeded to tell Hiiro about a odd story that he once overheard from somewhere long forgotten in his memory as they continued walking onward towards camp...