[i](Nagaya village, Nagahoro, three days after the reporter incident)[/i]

Shiri balanced on one leg as she delivered a series of rapid kicks against the simple wooden training dummy she had constructed. The thing spun and rattled and creaked under her assault. It probably looked impressive to the untrained eyes of the nearby villagers, but she felt slow and sloppy. It had been too long since her last training session. On top of that, she had been stone sober for the past three days, making her feel hollow and jittery. At least this was better than doing it drunk.

While she practiced, she couldn’t help but think about the exploding reporter again. It really did happen, several people in town had seen the messy aftermath. But her memories of what exactly he said right before were hazy. If she remembered correctly, this could be a sign of serious trouble. But what was she going to do about it? Seek out her former companions far and wide to tell them about a cryptic threat she may have misheard in her drunken state? Besides, the one she could most easily locate was Gideon… She really didn’t want to show up with that topic of conversation after such a long period of silence. Thus, she remained indecisive.

When she felt like the training dummy was on its last legs, she channelled her white phoenix style into the final kick. Invisible gusts of wind snaked up her three other limbs, across her torso, then came together around a focussed thrust of her leg. When her foot struck the wood, a sharp explosion of air came with it, ripping the dummy out of the ground and scattering it in several pieces across the grassy field. Some children who had been watching from a distance cheered at the sight, which made her crack a smile. At least her skills were still good for [i]something[/i], she supposed.

While she gathered the largest chunks of dummy, to use as firewood later, someone called out to her. It was her brother Koto, a squat, brawny man deeply tanned from work in the fields. “There’s a letter for you,” he said as he approached.

“For me?” Not many outsiders knew that she lived here, so this was the first time in a long while that anything was sent to her specifically.

He held out the envelope. Made of parchment and sealed with wax, it clearly looked foreign. “It was delivered to the temple but addressed to you. It’s from your boyfriend.”

“My what?” She took the envelope and looked at the sender, which made her heart skip a beat. Gideon Fairbright. “Oh. Don’t call him that.”

He shrugged. “The courier said it was urgent.”

She had a bad feeling about this, but she forced herself to open it right away. Her Casperian was rusty, but the gist of the message was easy to understand, especially since she already suspected what it might say. She sighed, feeling drained of what little energy and optimism she had regained over the past days.

Koto raised his eyebrows expectantly. “What is it?”

“It’s trouble. That gory mess in the tavern was a herald of something worse, something to do with the cult. I… I should go dust off Kare Sachi.”

***

Shiri squatted down to pull the long wooden box from beneath her bed. With hands clumsy from hesitation, she undid the clasps and flipped it open, revealing her trusty silksword. It had a slender hilt wrapped in neatly interwoven strips of leather, a small circular crossguard, and a scabbard of polished dark wood. She grasped the hilt and gently unsheathed it a few inches. The rippled steel of the blade glimmered faintly in the sunlight shining through the windows. Steel of this quality wouldn’t rust as long as it was stored well, for which she was thankful. It was beautiful craftsmanship, too beautiful to keep in a box. She had considered hanging it on the wall, for decoration, but she didn’t like the feeling of having a lethal weapon within such easy reach. She was done with killing after all, or so she thought.

With a sigh, she pushed it back into the sheath and attached the scabbard to her belt. The weight of the sword at her hip was at least comfortably familiar. So then… what now? Say goodbye to her family and head to Gwangju on her own, hoping that someone there could teleport her to Bradena? She felt terribly ill at ease with all of this. In fact, the urge to get a drink was coming back in full force now. With a nice bottle of rice wine, she could forget all this discomfort for a while, and answering Gideon’s letter would be future Shiri’s problem. It was an appealing prospect, even knowing how awfully unproductive it was. But no, she had to head out. It was her responsibility to make sure this problem would be delt with.

***

The local woman with the long black hair and the white dress halted when Yadira addressed her. “Ah, of course,” she answered in Casperian, though with a thick accent. “We have a good inn at the centre of town. It has a rooster on the sign. You will know when you see it.” She gestured down the winding path that led deeper into the village. When she looked like she was about to speak again, she instead paused, pursing her lips while squinting up at Yadira. “I’m sorry, but uhm, do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar.”

[@Hyyde322]