Echoes of the Past

[laraine]

"I'm okay don't worry Jiru. This is nothing compared to the past." She waved away his concern as she finished eating and noticed his unease within the clothes. She looked down at herself and noticed she was wearing strange clothes as well. The fabric felt expensive and heavy, but she didn't seem to mind too much. She had worn these types of clothes before at her home.

She looked back up at him as he said she should rest to regain her strength. She nodded to him. "Thank you for rescuing me. How is your eye?" She looked up at him, worried that he was injured.

[JxSlaughter]

"I'm fine..." Inside he was ashamed of his eye. He didn't understand it himself, what it did was so odd and strange. "Can you stay in bed for a while? I'll be going out really fast." He came to the door and put on the sandals he had left near the door.

Outside the room there was a large hallway with several doors. None of them he was concerned with, though he remember what was inside of them as a child. Paintings, statues of their dragon deity, and plants lined the hallways. Workers and so forth busily past him. They too knew who he was.

He came into the large center room. There were soldiers in the room. He walked up a few steps to an elevator. Though, Jiru knew that on the bottom and top floors there were oxen tied to it to pull it up, and bring it down. Jiru despised to use it. The soldiers let him through without questioning.

He came to the third floor and walked out of the elevator. The elevator door was a banner with an emblem on it. The room he came to was lined with soldiers. They wore masks to hid their facial expressions, but they were surprised to see Jiru walking among them again.

Jiru came to the room where his uncle was. He uncle had black hair like Jiru, but it was starting to turn gray. Age was apparent, but he looked healthy and hardy.

The room was extravagant as the last. But it was filled with paper, some bags of coins and random merchandise. His uncle was conversing with one of his employees. When he spotted Jiru he shooed the man away. His uncle leaned into his desk. "I heard you were coming. One of the soldiers in the mountain camp informed me."

Jiru sat in front of his uncle before speaking. "I have an important message for you. The town is in danger."

"Danger? HAH! What in Valear are you talking about. We are surrounded by a forest, mountains and a giant wall all around."

"They will find a way around it, they were near the main gate. They are the ones causing the sudden drop of traders in the far North."

"Ah, them. So they finally found us, and who is the child you are traveling with?"

"She is a survivor of Olympia... She seeks to destroy the group."

Jiru's uncle rummaged through one of his lists. "That town was burned to ashes 6 years ago. Your saying she's a surviver?"

Jiru looked down. "Yes."

"We know these people well-- you do know, don't you-- that these people don't allow survivors at any and all costs?"

"Yes..."

"You brought her here!? How dare you!" The man stood up enraged. He threw the papers all over the floors. "Bringing her here makes us the target!!" He pointed at Jiru. "You... you want us to go down, don't you? For your father's sake!?"

Jiru didn't answer, but it was the reason. He read the situation like a book.

"You beast, the only thing you care about is money!! Once we go down, your village wont be competing with us!" He picked up a bag of gold and tossed it at him. The gold scattered. Jiru didn't move. His uncle laughed. "That's why I wanted to raise you here, you have a strong drive for money- and yet you choose Nakashima. I don't understand." The man sat down and rubbed his head.

Silence fell.

"I'll have someone send the message to the village. We wont be going down without a fight."

"Can I send it?"

His uncle looked at him, dumbfounded. He had just yelled at him, and threw things at him. The man sighed. He allowed him. Jiru loved to send the messages as a child, in memory of this his uncle wanted sympathize him. "I'll have you punished when this is over..." His final look was menacing.

Jiru walked out with a bruise on his head from one of the coins, and the soldiers had heard the conversation from the hallway. But no one would know what they were thinking.

[laraine]

Echo watched him leave, curious why he had to go somewhere. She shrugged maybe thinking he was going to see some of his family or something. After she had finished eating, she gazed around the room and noticed a sculpture of some sort of god or deity on one of the walls. She tilted her head trying to figure out which god was depicted here, but after a while her head hurt and she lied down, staring up at the ceiling and nearly passing out from weakness.

" I hope Jiru will be okay..." She said to herself, she wrapped herself in the blankets and started to fall back asleep.

Not awakening until Jiru walked back through the door.

[JxSlaughter]

After an hour or so Jiru came back with a tray full of sweet pastries from the store, piled like a pyramid. He had gotten it for free because she knew the lady that worked there. She had gotten old and was happy to serve him again. Even though Jiru got it for free he happily paid her for it, because she would have gotten in trouble if someone found out.

Jiru sat the tray down on Echo's lap. He smiled. "Sorry I took so long." Soon after the tray was placed Ginta ran in. He had collar now. It was black and had a silver lining. The emblem on his collar was the same as the one on Jiru's ox. The dog came onto the end of the bed partly, with a happy panting smile with his tail wagging. "I think he missed you."

[laraine]

Echo's eyes shone as she saw the pastries She quickly dug into them, eating them all almost instantly.

She looked up when he talked and saw the dog come in. She smiled to the dog and pet him gently. Then turned and looked back up at Jiru. "Its okay Jiru, you must have something important to do and I'm happy I got to eat such wonderful sweets!"

"By the way, who is that?" She pointed to the deity in the room. "I don't recognize that god."

[JxSlaughter]

"Uh..." Jiru didn't pay much attention to it. His town didn't believe in such a deity, especially in such a form as that. "...It's the guardian diety of the village. I think her name is Fyate." The dragon was long and was wrapped around the cliff that the two travelers walked on. It had a head of a wolverine with many horns. Two of them were at the highest, and the size slowly fell as they went down on her face. The body was also similar to a wolverines, but it was very long. The statue had sharp claws on each paw that held onto the mountain, and the tail was as long as the body and it wrapped around the mountain. The wings were held back, but it was featherless and had thin fur across it. With sharp horns at the ends of each bone joint. It had hair across its face and it continued down the tail. The statue was five and half feet tall.

"There is a story about her but... do you really want to hear it? Jiru didn't look like he was interested in sharing it at all.

[laraine]

"Not if you don't want to tell it." She smirked. "Sorry I couldn't help but ask. deities, gods, it seems like every city has one. Since I was a priestess I was surrounded by scriptures about different gods and such. Old habits die hard I guess. Sorry." She laughed and then became silent.

"Jiru...if you don't wanna tell me about what happened out there, you don't have to. but I am curious about that black stuff that came out of your eye. Your attitude...changed after it happened. I was worried about you I guess. Why'd you protect me so fiercely anyways?" she was afraid of the answers to those questions, but she also knew she needed to know.

[JxSlaughter]

Jiru shook his head and he looked down. "My attitude had nothing to do with my eye. It was you, I haven't had a close friend in so long I didn't want to lose you." He was silent for a while. "And I guess I was scared... It was never open for so long, I didn't think it would just keep going like that.." Suddenly there was someone at the door.

"Excuse me, Zhijiru- the letters are here." The man placed a package at the door. "Whenever you are ready sir, but Zian says today." With that, the man left.

Jiru eye brightened and he smiled. "Hey, do you wanna see something cool out in town?[/color]"

[laraine]

Echo tilted her head to the side. "Sure, but what are we seeing?" She asked. She started to get out of bed, getting to her feet a little unsteadily. But finally managing to stay standing.

Does he really consider me a friend? That's bad. What should I do?

She looked down at what the man brought and replayed what he said in her mind. "Ah so your full name is Zhijiru! I think Jiru suits you better." She grinned. She got on some shoes and walked over to him.

[JxSlaughter]

When they came outside there were soldiers along the building. The two walked across a pathway of cherry blossoms and various flowers. The pathway was clean and tiled with rocks. At the end of the pathway there were two horses waiting for them both, one was Echo’s. "You know, I never did learn your horse's name. She is a beauty." He petted her before going onto his horse. Jiru's horse was black and had white spots on its heels and muzzle.

The town was much friendlier after they went through the gate. Because if they gone through the gate, they must have been here on an important business trip. There were things called dragon ox that were the highest type of ox any Sen Sei merchant could have. Though they came in a variety of shapes they had heads like wolves and two tall horns like their deity. Their bodies were white and they had long dragon like tails that had long hairs draping their tails that ended at their backs. Some had hairs of black, blue or purple. The hooves were almost claw like and their eyes were all black. These oxen had strings in their noses, because of their long necks to keep their heads from moving side to side it was connected to their collars to keep their heads looking forward. They still sounded like, and had bodies of ox. Clearly there was some connection to the dragon and the townsfolk’s ox. The owners would flaunt their ranks by hanging their emblem banners on the necks and backs of the creatures. When they towed goods the cart was in between two, because of their long dragon like tails- they didn't pull in front. Usually they held a carriage and worked as taxies.

Up ahead there was a tall wooden tower. This was the place that Jiru wanted to go to. He knew that Echo was just recovering but she would ride her horse most the way, so she should be fine. When the two came inside only an older man noticed Jiru for who he was. He was happy to greet him. Jiru said with a eager grin on his face, "I want to show my friend the announcement tower." The man nodded and let them through, he also smiled. Before Jiru left he handed one of the workers the package and said it was urgent. Jiru then led Echo to an elevator with a rope at its center. Jiru pulled them both up with his own strength; it would have been hard if Echo wasn't so lanky.

They came to the top of the tower. There was a wooden cross hatch cage. It was not filled with anything at the moment. Below them workers filled the containers for the letters. Jiru showed Echo to a bench beside the cage as he climbed on the roof of the tower. There was a man yelling, “Letters are ready!!” Suddenly the giant cage in the room Echo was sitting was filled with birds that flew up from the bottom of the tower. They landed on perches waiting for the gate of the cage to open. They had cylinders on their backs which contained the letters. The cylinders again, had emblems of each family member of the town. There were thousands of birds in the cage.

There were two decks on either side of the gate outside the room she was in. It soared over the city with a beautiful view of the town and the far off fields of the farmers in the area. What couldn’t be seen was past the trees beyond the walls the surrounded the city. Jiru told her from above to stand outside on the deck and to watch for the gate, his voice echoed in the wooden tower. When she did Jiru pulled the rope to the giant bell on the roof. It sounded off in a loud chime. The rope was also connected to the gate holding the birds in, so the lock lifted and the thousands of birds immediately flew out. A gust of wind flew by, as they flapped their wings all at once. The loud bell sound shattered them across the town in an instant and the townspeople below knew there was an important message coming. Long ribbons tied onto the ankles were of every color. It trailed behind them as they disappeared into the distance homes.

Jiru jumped down and ran next to Echo in a rush and laughing. “Wasn’t that just awesome?!” He was so happy and ran to the rails of the deck to look onward to see the view. His spirit was lifted in a natural high. He sighed in contentment when it was all over.

[laraine]

"Yeah that was incredible!!" Echo smiled at him, looking out at the town that lay before them both. It was a beautiful and wonderful sight that she had seen.

" I will never forget this day. Its been so wonderful Jiru, thank you." She turned to him and smiled gently.

However, a pang of sadness enveloped that feeling. She gazed back out as the birds flew off to their assigned houses, The colors of the ribbons catching the light and almost forming a rainbow in the sky. She tried to shake away the pain of never seeing him again after all of this. But it was a heavy burden to bare.

She turned to him. "Ah by the way, My horses name? Its Hikaru, Light. Because she was my light in a world of darkness." She grinned. "Silly huh?"

[JxSlaughter]

"Nope, it isn't silly at all." He leaned against the railing of the deck. "Animals just seem to do special things for us." He was still smiling from the event, still trying to come down to Earth. After a while trying to catch his composure he stated more important things.

"Well, the letters are sent, it wont be long until this is all over. The iron works are going to be requesting a lot of workers. Things will get dirty until enough weapons are made. I don't know how much time we have or what is going to happen during the fight...." He looked up at the clear blue sky.

"I hope that not too many people get hurt..." Jiru suddenly realized that the deaths of the people here would be his fault. But then again-- thinking of how they would fare against a surprise attack without him announcing or preparing the people would be worse. At least he is preparing them for an attack. With this thought, he didn't feel guilty.

He got up and stretched. "It is going to be a long while until the town is ready for the battle." He looked at Echo's side. "You probably want to get back to bed don't you?"

[laraine]

She turned to him and grinned. "Only if I get to eat more sweets later!"

She wondered why he didn't ask more about her, being the only survivor of Olympia. A prosperous city that disappeared in a sea of fire in one day. It was something that was a big deal at the time. Most of the people in the city had red hair, which is why she dyed hers black. She plucked a hair from her head and stared at it, seeing the red begin to take over a few inches from the root. She bit her lip and frowned, her original hair color was returning. She needed to find a way to dye her hair and maybe cut it a little. Her hair was growing fast, as it always had.

She continued to look as the bird disappeared and finally when Jiru took her away from the sight she briefly imagined this city on fire. She shook away the thought. Still, she couldn't help but wonder.
Is this really a good idea?

She looked up at Jiru. She had noticed his unease at being in this town, and wondered why he felt this way. But she wondered if she would be prying too much into his personal life. So, she didn't ask.

All this thinking began to make her feel . She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead and tried to make it to her horse. But it was hard.

[JxSlaughter]

He was uneasy before coming into the gate, but now he was more loosened up. He hated the town's self centered attitude when it came to family pride and rank with emblems everywhere- but those would be put down soon as people needed to work together to win the war. During times of war a fine was paid to those who still kept their pride in their own goods. Everyone had to put their emblems down and work under one name- the name of the town.

Another thing that loosened him up was just the fact that they were now inside. No regular outsiders came in, so no one would be judgmental when it came to the two. People thought that since they were able to go though, they must be important.

Yet no one except the small handful of people from Jiru's past knew him. The majority of the people that did know Jiru from his past were a lot older now, for they haven't seen him for years. They remembered him as a child, but with the bandages over his left eye it was unmistakable that it was the little Jiru they once knew.

Surely, Echo was much too dense to realize that this really isn't Jiru's town. But that was a good thing for Jiru, because he wouldn't tell her anything anyways. After all Jiru's ox, clothing and the stares he got outside the gate was surely a hint of him being a stranger here. But with the occasional people knowing him, she would never suspect it.

Jiru noticed her weakness. "Are you okay? I guess I shouldn't have taken you, your just recovering after all." He brought her down the elevator again and the older man from before waved good bye.

As a child Jiru learned not to judge people by their hometowns, looks or etc. All he knows is to just have a good time. He did notice her true hair color showing up, so it proved that she really was from Olympia. At least she wasn't lying about that. But what Jiru didn't understand was why the man said she was dead.

When they got back to the room Echo was pretty weak. Jiru didn't feel too bad about bringing her, because he would have probably never gotten a chance to show her ever again. He would definitely leave the place after the fight. He didn't intend to go out on an adventure in the first place. His older brother at home was probably worrying about him.

Jiru knew that after the war he would be punished, but he thought that surely his uncle would have thought things through and know that Jiru was right to warn them.

"You should get to bed and rest up, the workers will bring you more food shortly." He smiled and told her before leaving, "I'll bring you some sweets later, and I'll leave Ginta with you tonight." He thought that she could use some company.

[laraine]

This doesn't feel right...

"Jiru...wait!" When he stopped before leaving, she suddenly lost the nerve to say what she wanted to.

I am an idiot..Now what? I can't tell him anything about my past even if he is curious. It would be too hard. But...I have to say something....

"No, nevermind." She said with a shake of her head and placed her hand on Ginta's head, petting him gently.

She turned back to him. "Just...be careful...I don't know when they will attack..."

It was a lame attempt to cover up what she was planning on saying to him. But it was all she could do. In the end, both did not trust each other enough with their deepest secrets. They were friends, but they neither trusted each other, nor did they believe in the other to handle the truth.

Even as he left she was still very confused. She had never made a close friend before and the pain of not telling him tore her up inside. But she continued to believe it was for his own safety.

It was for his own good, she kept telling herself.