Past the last couple of the trees, Lukas’s home could be seen. The sun was at its peak laying down the shadow of the forest onto Lukas. As Lukas walked towards his home, he could feel something off. Maybe it was too quiet or the way the wind blew or the direction of it. He only knew that something felt strange. He let these thoughts cloud his mind. I hope they’re all right. Lukas opens the door to his home. It was dark inside, but he could feel a warm liquid creep between his toes. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Each step caused a pinch of dread to crawl into his spine until he reached his mother lying on the floor in a pool of liquid. Lukas’s entire body went numb as he traced the outline of the body. The head was turned to the side unnaturally. Her arms were covered completely in red. What happened? Lukas thought. He tried to cry and mourn in that moment, but the tears only sat upon his eyelids. All of Lukas’s senses froze into a fire. He could neither see nor feel anything, less than try and form words, but he could hear a creak at the entrance to the home.

“May I enter,” a tall figure spoke from behind him. Lukas watched as a tall figure crept closer and sat by him. “A shame for you and your family I bet. A whole world of opportunity and luck just doesn’t hit right,” the figure says, placing a hand on Lukas’s shoulder. “Step outside, I’ll clean this up,” the man says, slowly becoming more visible to Lukas’s eyes.

The man was tall and wore a long cloak that hid most of his body. Lukas with what strength he could muster stands up and walks out of the building.

“Lukas, what happened?” she said pointing at the blood on his clothes.

Lukas stares at his sister with a blank expressionless face.

“Are you ok,” she said, patting him. Yari scans his face and meets with his eyes which are finally pouring with tears.

“Mothers dead,” he tells her.

Yari begins to break down as they hold each other and sit across from their house. They watch as the day passes on and the strange man exits the house carrying the body of the recently deceased. He approaches the two siblings and looks at Lukas who had seemingly recovered from his breakdown. Yari on the other hand was halfway through hers.

“Young man, would you like to help me bury her?” the man asked.

“In a moment,” Lukas tells him, motioning the man to his sister. The stranger nods and continues to the backside of the house to begin the grave.

“What are we going to do,” Yari asks her brother.

“I don’t know,” he tells her. “We’ll figure it out somehow.”

Lukas meets the man after calming his sister down. In the small amount of passing time, the man was able to dig a grave big enough for a body. As the man began to push the corpse into the grave the closing sunlight showed his features. He’s young? Lukas thought. The man that was burying his mother could not be more than only a few years older than himself. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d already killed the man that murdered your mother,” the man spoke. Lukas stayed quiet and only listened to the stranger. The slow pant coming from his mouth. The shovel digging into the dirt and falling into the grave. Every sound slowed in the mind of Lukas as he continued to process this moment.

“Do you have any relatives nearby,” the man asks. Lukas shakes his head and looks away. The man bends to meet Lukas at eye level.

“My name is Shiro, what is yours?”

Lukas doesn't respond.

“ I am going to assume that is your sister out there as well.”

Lukas nods.

“Well, I am going to Tsuen to claim a bounty. If you have no other family members, I can take you to the Sabanto. He might put favor in you with my good word."

Tsuen is far but seems like a good option. I have to protect Yari and the Sabanto can provide that. It is the only option.

“Sounds good,” Lukas said with a crack in his voice. Quickly Lukas’s composure becomes strong.

“I’m Lukas,” he tells Shiro.

“Lukas, a pleasure!” Shiro makes light work and finishes the grave.

Yari comes into the picture carrying a handful of daisies she had picked from the field. Lukas takes Yari’s hand and introduces her to Shiro. The two siblings have a prayer for their mother as Shiro stands quietly behind. The siblings stand and turn to meet Shiro.

“You guys ready for the adventure,” he says with a soft smile. It is a bit off-catching that this man could act in a way after their mother’s passing, but in a way, it is cheerful to them as Yari matches his smile. Their time of grieving is slowing as the stranger talks in his upbeat attitude.

“How long is the walk to Tsuen,” Lukas asks. “Let’s see,” the man stares blankly at Lukas but not directly at him. His mind is elsewhere. “About three or four days, with potty breaks of course. But it shouldn’t take that long because we have Hugo!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Who’s Hugo,” Yari asks him.

“Watch this!”

Shiro turns to the forest in the distance and places his fingers in his mouth. He whistles loudly for the surrounding area to hear. One, two, three, four seconds passed till the brush at the entrance shook and a small black fox ran out. As the fox grew closer it became noticeable that it wasn’t completely black, but had a red copper tone to its fur and four tails.

“What is that,” Lukas asks.

“That’s Hugo,” Shiro simply said. Yari begins to pet the small creature. “I honestly don’t know what Hugo is. He just started following me around like maybe five years ago.” Lukas stops and stares at the man trying to range Shiro’s age for himself. Shiros’ face was mature but young at the same time. He had brown hair tucked behind his ears and hazel brown eyes that had rings underneath and a bit of scruff from his chin to neck.

“How old are you,” Lukas asks.

“Maybe 18 or 19, I don’t really keep track. Ya'know the busy traveling and bounty hunting life. It gets distracting from birthdays."

This man continuously gets weirder by the moment.

“I don’t know, I’m just busy.” Shiro pets Hugo as well and shows Yari specifically where Hugo likes to be pet under his chin. “Well if you’re ready, I believe we can begin our journey now,” Shiro says.

Lukas and Yari nod in acknowledgment.

“Ok,” Shiro whistles at Hugo. Within seconds Hugo grows from the size of a dog into the size of a horse, maybe bigger.

“That’s not possible,” Lukas gasps.

“He’s a four-tailed fox, he’ll do weird things here and there,” Shiro says nonchalantly.

Who is this guy? Shiro helps Yari onto Hugo first and then Lukas. Shiro then joins the siblings and off they go away from their home. Lukas and Yari look back giving their goodbyes as the place they grew up in may never be seen again.

It had been an hour since they left and they had made some great progress toward Tsuen. Lukas looks around his surroundings noticing the change from forests to open plains. It had been the furthest he’s been from home. Riding on Hugo’s back was surprisingly comfortable to the sibling’s surprise. Lukas had only ridden a horse once before, but it was not like a gallop or bumpy ride, but smooth and calm enough to let Yari sleep. But Lukas’s mind begins to wander back to his home, to the man who killed his mother.

“Shiro?”

“Yes,” the young man responds.

“Who was the man that killed my mother?”

“Ah, his name was Nagaru. A sly thief and a cult leader. I killed his followers back in Waichau. But yeah, that problem is solved and now I’m off to claim my bounty,” Shiro spoke.

So that explains the bodies in the middle of town. Lukas thought.

“How are you going to claim the bounty?”

“With this,” Shiro holds up a small bag for Lukas to see.

“What’s in there?”

“Now don’t freak out, but it’s their faces.”

Disgusting.

Shiro frantically tries to explain himself, “Look this just makes my job easier, I don’t have to carry entire bodies anymore and I can collect more bounties at once.”

“It’s still gross.” Lukas looks toward his sister. She has her arms encircling him and his sound asleep. “Keep that bag away from my sister,” Lukas tells Shiro.

“No problem, I’ll even spray it with perfume to get rid of the smell.” He jokes.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Only the wind and the occasional noise from Hugo could be heard, but the strange man that came to the two siblings’ rescue led a cautious stir in Lukas’s mind. He was a strange man indeed as not only is he lost of all formality but to kill five people, four of them in the middle of town like it’s nothing. He could be a really good bounty hunter or maybe a Warden like Sir Gorden, or maybe this man could be the Spirit of the Wind just like Hina spoke of. I just know that Yari must be protected, no matter how kind this stranger is.

Several days of the journey had passed. A few stops here and there for a break, but the group did make it to their destination in the time Shiro had told them. They had reached the Capital of the Prefecture, Tsuen. From what Lukas had heard from his mother and the townsmen of Waichau, Tsuen was a massive city with a wall that extended around the entire city. What he wasn’t told was that the city had wooden walls. The appearance of Tsuen was very underwhelming from the outside; it looked poor.

“There’s a nice tavern inside right next to the gates if you guys don’t mind us taking a quick stop,” Shiro asked.

“It’s fine,” Lukas spoke on his and Yaris’s behalf.

Shiro motions the two to hop off of Hugo. The siblings stand aside and watch Hugo shrink then run away into the clearing behind them.

“Where’s Hugo going?” Yari asked.

“It would be an odd thing for a regular person to see a fox with four tails, they’d either think it’s a demon or a curse,” Shiro tells her.

“Then why are we fine with seeing Hugo how he is,” Lukas questioned.

“Because I trust you. And to be frank, you two have nothing.”

Shiro turns and heads towards the guards at the entrance of the gate. I know he’s right, but he doesn’t have to be that blunt. The siblings quickly reproach him and meet with the guards. Shiro gave a quick waving motion that was too relaxed to care. It seemed to upset the guards, but they reluctantly let Shiro and his friends through. As the trio passed by the guards Lukas could hear one of them grunt under his voice.

“Filthy Spirit.”

Three travelers halted beyond the gate and took in a breath of the city air that felt warm and tender to the lungs. Small lamps lit the main street that treaded all the way to the biggest building in the city. Yari points to the building.

“Is that where the Sabanto lives?”

“Yeup, only a walk away,” he said, motioning them in a different direction.

Shiro drags the two toward a tavern that looks like it’s been around for fifty years and not fifty good years. It had a straw hat roof and the sign on the tavern read “Boars Mead”. As rough as the outside of the tavern looked, it was actually quite nice inside. It was well lit with red neat furniture. Shiro swivels his head around the room looking for a place to sit. His eyes rested at the bar where an older woman sat reading a book. He approaches her and orders a drink. Lukas and his sister sit on the high chairs, and they both reach his eye level for the first time.

“You guys want something to drink,” he asks the duo.

“We’re still too young to drink,” Lukas replies.

Shiro frowns. “One you’re never too young to drink and two I was literally offering any beverage you could order from here, and that included water.”

“Then waters fine.”

Shiro orders the two their drinks. The barmaid brings Shiro his drink, presumably of mead, and doesn’t take her eyes off of him. She had this strange look upon her face where she looked enticed by Shiro at moments when he looked away, but when his eyes met hers she dodged and hid.

“Why do you seem so scary sometimes,” Yari asked the man.

“I don’t know, do you find me scary,” he questions her with a smile on his face. Yari returns his smile, but Lukas’s countenance wants an answer. “I’ve traveled a lot these past few years and I’ve made some names for myself along the way. My favorite name that I’ve been called is Shiro the Untouched.”

“What’s the worst one you’ve been called?” Lukas's determined eyes met Shiro. For the first time they’ve met, he changed his attitude.

“I’ve been called a shinigami here and there.”

A Grim Reaper? How many people have this man killed?

“But hey I guess that’s my life being the Spirit of the Wind.”

Lukas’s eyes light up.

“It’s not a fairy tale or a legend?”

“Yes and no. I am part of a legend which is pretty cool, but my lineage as a Spirit is no fairy tale.”

“What is the Spirit of the Wind?” Lukas pushes, his interest peaking higher than Mount Rose.

“Maybe I’ll tell ya later. Now let us go meet the Sabanto. I’ve kept him waiting long enough.”