In the morning, Aki woke to the smell of frying salted pork. He opened his eyes and looked around, memories from the day before flooding his mind. He looked around the little campsite and found Endra hunched over the campfire with a metal pan. She was flipping the long slices of meat. Her son, Jax, was sitting next to her with a smile on his face, eyeing the meat.
She looked up when Aki stirred and smiled at him. "Good morning. They’re going to get you soon to go hunting. Or that’s what Sage told me, anyway. I figure you should have something in your belly before you go, so she gave me some meat."
Aki nodded his head and shook off the sleep, giving a soft groan. Then he took some fabric he had wrapped around his wrist and tied his long hair back into a ponytail once more. He looked at the pair and sighed, still wondering to himself how he got wrapped up in all of this. He needed to figure out a way to find out more about this relic. At least now he knew what they were after, kind of.
Endra then, with her metal utensil, handed him a piece of the cooked meat before handing one to Jax as well. It was thin and long, and when Aki took a bite of the hot meat, fat exploded in his mouth. It was salty and fatty, and he wondered why he had never had this before.
Endra had set her piece to the side and started frying up a few more pieces in her pan. "It’s bacon. Salted and cured pork belly. Did you sleep well?"
Aki looked at her and nodded his head. "Do you know whatever happened to the rest of the survivors from the town? I know they kept more than just you two. When I woke up, they tied the Doctor and one of the Ginger Gang members to my cart."
Endra frowned. "I saw them pull everyone but me and Liam towards the middle of the camp. I’m not sure, but I think we’re heading inland. These nomads sell their prisoners as slaves. They will sell the men off at the fighting pits. The women, well, it depends on the woman. Some of these people seem nice enough as individuals but as a tribe…" Endra trailed off and shook her head, handing Aki another piece of the bacon.
He took it and picked at it, nodding his head. "I’m going to get you guys out of here. I’m not sure yet, but I will. The elders are powerful, and the chief, he’s powerful. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure something out. Get you guys back home."
She narrowed her eyes at him. She then cocked her eyebrow at him and shook her head, her eyes filling with tears when her gaze softened. “How?”
Aki stood and walked over to her on the other side of the campfire. Kneeling down in front of her, he looked down at her and cupped her cheek in his hand, lifting her head. She opened her eyes, looking at him, and he wiped away the single tear with a thumb.
"I don’t know yet, but I swear I will," he told her. He smiled and looked at Jax, then roughed up his hair a little. The boy laughed, and Aki smiled behind his beard with him.
"It’s time," a voice came from somewhere to the left of them.
Aki had taken a rope to his cane sword so he could sling it over his back. Long was the disguise as a blind beggar. He went back into the tent and grabbed where the sword was propped against the tent canvas. He slung the sword over his back and started over to Kaga.
"Come on, the rest of them are waiting," Kaga then said, then motioned his head off behind him. He and the other nomad started walking off in the direction Kaga showed.
Aki gave one last look at Endra and her son, giving them both a firm, confident nod. "Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out." Then he followed the other two out towards the desert.
The three of them walked through the large camp full of families, doing much as he, Endra, and Jax were doing. They were sitting around a fire cooking and eating and being a family. Aki looked about while they walked and couldn’t believe how many people there were in this camp.
Towards the outside of the camp, he found larger tents set up with groups of women and then another with groups of men sitting outside of them. Aki smirked. These must be the single people that didn’t have families yet. As they walked, he saw multiple camps of groups of the unmarried. They were composed of younger people, but some elderly and even some children. Orphans, Aki supposed to himself.
There was then a camp of old women, the crones of the tribe. He wondered if they treated them well and wondered if these people believed in the Mother Oracles like they did in the Sasaki Empire. They weren’t cultivators, so the Mothers must be here as well? Traveling in their little groups with their protectors. Well, they must have something similar if the actual mothers weren’t here. After all, these people in the west even had their own brand of cultivators, though they were animal-spirited. Aki suspected these people got their gifts from the same Kami as he did, Misumi. The Kami of the world, of nature, and life.
They came upon a group of about twenty men and women, all carrying either spears or bows with a quiver of arrows. Some of them also had the axes hanging on their backs or on their hips. Aki looked at all of them. None of them were the elders of the tribe. Just regular mortal hunters.
"Normally, the hunting parties don’t have elders go along. Chief wants you to go to learn about the Sands. I have been commanded to go since none of these people speak your language," Kaga explained to Aki as he climbed up on an unoccupied horse. He pointed to another next to him. "This is Autumn. She shall be your horse for the hunt. One of the extra ones, the chief claimed."
Aki looked at the horse and nodded his head, thanking Kaga, and then climbed on. Aki wasn’t unfamiliar with how to ride, but it’s not something he did often or was very good at. This was shown when, as soon as Aki climbed on the horse, it neighed and moved from side to side before giving a very disgruntled grunt. Kaga stared at Aki and rolled his eyes before shaking his head and trotted away on his horse.
"It’s fine. I’m fine. We’ll be fine. It’ll all work out," Aki called after Kaga, trying to remember what to do.
"It’s a horse, it’s easy. Just tell it where you want to go, and it’ll take you," Kaga called back to him. He didn’t stop or even look back at Aki. He just rode and met with the rest of the hunters.
Aki looked up from the mane of the horse at Kaga’s back and watched him trot away. "Just tell it what I want it to do, easy enough." He gave himself an assuring nod and moved his feet forward. The horse did what Aki wanted him to. The rest of the group was calling back jeers and jokes, or what Aki assumed were jeers and jokes. They were yelling in that harsh language of theirs.
They were moving now, heading away from the horde’s camp. Aki was a little behind the group, and Kaga looked back every so often to make sure he was keeping up. Probably also making sure he didn’t get bucked off the horse and stomped on by Autumn the horse. Aki stayed right behind them, though, and they rode through the day.
They found little hunting. The sun was past its zenith. They found some small game, rabbits and a few squirrels. The nomads with bows struck with small arrows so they wouldn't completely obliterate the smaller animals. The day was pretty boring with Kaga explaining to Aki the life of the nomads and the men and women of the hunting party speaking amongst themselves.
While they rode and when Aki found himself comfortable enough, he cycled his mana. The wind picked up around the party as he did, but not enough for anyone to think Aki was doing anything. He didn’t want to cause them to lose their dinner. He cycled the white, almost clear mana through his channels. This served two purposes. For one, cycling helped him advance, and he also found it calming. He figured he was going to have to get as powerful as he could with the tasks he set upon himself currently.
He still had to get away from this horde with Endra and Liam. That might be done by just releasing them in the middle of the night. He figured they might just set up back in the town they lived in before. It was a port town and should be easy enough to rebuild. Aki took a moment to wonder about the ships that came in after the town was raided and emptied. What would have happened to the ships who tried to make a call at the port? It didn't matter. He shook the thoughts out of his mind.
After that, he had to get back on track with his mission. He had to get to the capital and start recruiting. Teaching cultivation. Not that he would be a great teacher, but the Elder seemed to have faith in him. Aki supposed that was good enough. Beyond that, he needed to figure out about this relic and Axel and his companions. What were they doing? What was the relic? This trip might be the perfect opportunity to get more information from Kaga.
The view was just open desert. Even the wastelands back in the Sasaki Empire had more life than what was here. There were large flat-top mountains and small dead bushes here and there. There were also these three-limbed plants that had sharp spikes all around it. When Aki asked, Kaga told him they were cactuses. They needed a little water, and the spikes were the plants’ natural defenses. Some of them were larger or smaller, and they all had beautiful-looking flowers on them that apparently the tribe's people would smoke during special ceremonies.
The sky was clear and a beautiful blue, the sun large and hot beating down on the party. Aki instantly realized why these people hardly wore any clothes and soon shed his outer robe. He left the black tattered mess around him and stayed in the thin dark gray inner robe he wore and black pants. The thin canvas shoes with the thin sole, while fine in the town and back home, were not made for the desert, or riding horses all day. They did well enough, though, for now.
Their life was as expected. They moved and raided and moved again. The horde roamed the continent and picked up other tribes, and they all grouped up. They had to, as the armies and the people were expanding out past their current towns. They wanted more big cities, like the one they called their capital. When Aki asked about the slaves, the tribe was keeping and what they planned to do with Kaga just shrugged and said it was the way of the world.
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Aki frowned and shook his head. He would never see eye to eye with these people. He understood there were problems, but raiding innocent towns and taking people as slaves? That couldn’t be the solution.
The group stopped, and one of the lead riders hopped off her horse. She bent down to the dirt of the desert and stuck her face right to the ground. Aki bent to see around Kaga that had stopped in front of him. It didn’t take long for her to give her assessment, though. She yelled out, and Kaga interpreted for Aki.
"There’s some antelope that passed through here not too long ago," Kaga told him. "If we can find the pack and get them, it will mean we can feast."
"Is it usually this hard to find food?" Aki asked when the woman climbed back on her horse, and the party started moving again.
"Not always. Sometimes there are lean times. As the horde grows, the animals seem to learn to stay away, though. The hunting parties will have to go out for longer. Another reason for the raids. We took many foodstuffs from the town," Kaga explained.
The group rode on, following the tracks the woman had found. They were picking up speed, and Aki could keep behind Kaga, though he fell behind, unable to keep his horse moving as fast as the others. He struggled, urging the horse to keep up when he felt a chill in the air. Aki pushed the cold from his mind and quickened his cycling to warm his limbs. Soon, though, he saw his breath coming from his mouth, like in the winter in the North of the Empire.
"Why are you even trying?" a young woman’s voice came from next to him as Aki rode, trying to catch up to the party. "You’re not going to do any of the things you’re trying to do. That other cultivator will find the scroll, Endra and the others will die. You’re just some beggar’s apprentice."
Aki looked over to the voice’s owner and pulled the reins on the horse, making it pause. The horse neighed angrily and bucked a little, but Aki could hold on and stay on top of the horse. The girl riding next to him was a young woman, appearing in her early twenties, with long straight black hair and a pale, sullen face. She looked at Aki and stopped next to him. The Kami was riding a small black horse, and she smiled at him with what appeared to be a forced smile. She wore the black inner cultivator robe that was like Aki’s. Instead of the large open outer robe, she wore a black cloak with a thin hood over her black hair.
Aki stared at the girl and jumped from the horse in between the pair of them, going to his knees. "Minako."
This was Minako, the Kami of desperation. She could be a boon to those when she was in a kind mood, but a disaster to those that did not gain her favor. Minako had driven families and cities to starvation, driven people to suicide, and sometimes worse. She was one of the younger Kami, older than only Genki, the Kami of tricks and the paranormal.
Minako giggled when she saw Aki’s reaction, letting her horse turn to face him and take a few steps back. "Oh right, I forgot. You know of us, don’t you? Even have the power of one of the Kami. The wind." She looked over at him, and Aki felt her probe his spirit.
"I do, my beggar master. He has taught me about you. I have even met a couple of you," Aki spoke, still on his knees. He bowed now, pressing his forehead to the sand of the desert.
She made a sound in thought when he mentioned this. Few people knew of the Kami, let alone had met any of them. There was more to this beggar master than Minako knew. She had heard murmurings from Kenji and Genki about how there was some old man taking in wayward cultivators, but they could never find him. "Is that so?" she asked the mortal.
Aki nodded his head and lowered his head to the dirt once more. "Yes, Master Kami. Lilith visited me before I had a fight with a local warrior. I saw her watching over the battle."
Minako rolled her eyes. Of course, this is what he meant. He had met none of them until now. She frowned. She tried to dissuade him from his current quest, telling him it was hopeless and he might as well give up. This one knew of her, though, and knew how to spot her visions for what they were. The young girl sighed. She would have to find another mortal plaything to entertain her for the time being, to keep her mind off her siblings’ fights that were happening.
Aki hadn’t noticed, but all around him had gone dark while they were speaking. They were in their own little bubble of existence while the Kami graced the man by speaking to him.
"Aki?"
"Are you alright?"
"Aki!"
Aki heard the voice coming from somewhere far away. He couldn’t pay it any heed, though, not while Minako was in front of him. She seemed surprised he had met the Kami and knew of them. While it was true not a lot of mortals knew of them, she didn’t know who his Elder was. That The Elder was someone that even the Kami feared.
"You better tend to your friends," was all Minako said, and then she disappeared.
The cold Aki had felt was gone, and the darkness he just now noticed was replaced by the bright sun. Kaga grabbed Aki’s shoulders, who was shaking him, yelling in his face. Aki stared at Kaga, confused, and then pushed his arms away. "I’m fine. There was…." Aki smirked to himself and shook the thought away.
"Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry," Aki said after a moment. He didn’t want to explain that one of the Kami had visited him right there. They wouldn’t believe him. They didn’t even believe in the Kami, not as he knew them, anyway.
Kaga looked at him with a doubtful stare, and Aki laughed a little and nodded his head. "I’m fine." He stood now and brushed off the inner robe he was still wearing.
Kaga gave a shrug and then put fingers to his lips, giving a loud whistle. A moment later, Autumn came riding back up to Aki and Kaga, with Kaga’s horse next to it. "The rest of them have found the family of antelope over the ridge a little ahead. They’re probably already cleaning them, so we can take them back," Kaga explained to Aki, looking up at the sky.
"It’s almost nightfall. We’ll have to make camp and go back in the morning," Kaga then looked around and pointed off into the distance. "We can make a camp right at the base of those hills. It’ll make a suitable cover. Come, let’s go help the others with the kill."
They each jumped on their respective horses, and Aki made sure his sword was still wedged into the saddle. He had taken it off when he took his outer robe and wedged it in there so he could grab it if he needed it. They took off then, galloping with Aki going as fast as he could manage, Kaga only a few yards ahead of him.
It didn’t take the pair long until they were caught up with the rest of the hunting party. Each of the members finished gutting their kills. It looked like a decent size group of antelope moving as a herd through the plains of the desert. Kaga sighed and looked them over. One of the party members shouted up to Kaga and then laughed loudly, pointing at Aki.
"They think you fell off, and your horse stomped on you," Kaga explained to Aki before sighing. "It’s too bad we haven’t found buffalo. Those would give us enough meat. We might have to make camp and see if we can find anything else tomorrow."
Aki stayed silent, not sure what to say to the man in response, so he just gave him a nod. A moment later, Kaga yelled down in the nomad language before looking at Aki. "I told them we’ll meet them at the base of those hills. Come, they have this under control."
They rode back now, taking their time. They got to the base of the hills, which was a group of four or five hills clustered together in a semicircle. It would give them excellent protection from the wind and elements once they were nestled inside the small mountains. The two of them rode through the opening, keeping an eye out, making sure nothing else had claimed this area as its home instead of them. Aki kept his hand near his sword hilt, just in case something happened.
Nothing was there, though. The little area was empty, just covered with boulders and sand. They climbed from their horses, and Aki pulled his sword and wrapped it around his back once more. The outer robe he took and just slung it on the sword sheath. Kaga told Aki to tie the horses up outside the area. They’d have to wait for the group to come back. They had a couple of extra horses which carried supplies to set up a camp and to feed and water the horses.
While Aki did that, Kaga scrounged for wood and things to burn, building a small fire. It didn’t take long before the rest were riding up. Several of them with carcasses on their horses with them, and some with the furs from the antelope. Aki tended to the horses, and when he went back into the rock clearing, he found they were roasting one of the smaller antelope so they could eat. The sun was set now, and the night stars glowed in the sky.
Once they all had eaten, and some members had rolled out their bedrolls and fallen asleep, Aki sat there drinking water, throwing his leftover bones into the fire. He was looking up to the sky at the stars. Aki found the different signs the stars made. The rat hid between other signs in the sky, but he could make it out.
Aki sat on his bedroll and closed his eyes, cycling his mana, the wind once more picking up around him, more noticeable in this small area. He heard Kaga say goodnight tonight, but he heard the man from somewhere far away. He didn’t break his cycling trance to respond to the man. Aki stayed like this for almost an hour before he was broken from his trance because of a young girl’s voice.
"Still trying, huh?" Minako spoke, sitting across from him, mimicking Aki’s stance. They were each sitting on their butts with their legs crossed in front of them.
Aki opened his eyes and saw the young Kami in front of him, and he smiled. "Always," was his only response.
Minako frowned a little and looked around the little area for a moment before looking back at him. "You know you have no chance of fighting that man. The large man from that sect you saw before these nomads attacked the town, and you don’t know where the scroll is."
Aki frowned and nodded his head, but shrugged. "Maybe not, but I still have to try."
"Do you, though?" She narrowed her eyes at him.
Aki nodded his head. "Yes, the head of that sect is trying to stop people from knowing the truth about you, the truth about the different cultivation elements. I’m also curious as to what this scroll is."
Minako shrugged. "You don’t even know why you’re going past the capital?" She paused and frowned. Foolish mistake. She shook her head. "It’s nothing. You mortals aren’t capable of handling the powers of the Kami. Not like that, not from that kami."
Aki smirked. So, now she had told him where and gave him a hint as to what it was. Though, he couldn’t help but think that was a little too obvious a mistake for the Kami to make. Maybe she wanted him to find the scroll of whatever, or maybe it was a trap. Without getting up, he bowed his head to the girl. "Thank you, Minako."
She frowned and disappeared from view as quickly as she appeared. Aki couldn’t help but think if he went, he’d be walking into some kind of trap. He sighed. It didn’t matter. He had a mission to do, and he was going to complete it. The beggar figured if it was some sort of Kami power, it would be better if the Akutamori didn’t have it. He laid down, covering himself from the cold in the outer robe like it was a blanket. His sword was set next to him, the hilt close to his hand.
It had been a few hours of sleep before he was woken up. It took him a few moments to figure out what had woken him when he smelled something in the wind. Something foul, unnatural. He sat up a little and looked around their small area. The fire had died out while they all slept, just a few flames and embers casting small lights around.
He wasn’t sure he saw it at first. He squinted, peering through the shadows, looking from where the unnatural smell was coming from. It was a shadow cast from the dull light on the rocks behind it. He saw the shadows of large antlers on what looked like a thin head before the head leaned down, and Aki heard a scream.