He hadn't really been that old when the Oban invasion had all started. Barely a teenager and quite sheltered at the time, the invasion hadn't meant as much to him as it may have to most of the other people of Tendaji. He'd been a young leaf boy under his father's household then. At the time he had been so detached from the war that when rumors started spreading about the Oban and Matori people he was confused as to what they were even talking about. He hadn't known about the Matori and their struggle to be free, nor had he known about the old king of Oba and his terrible ways. Things had been different back then compared to how he was now. He hadn't had a stake in anything going on during the Oban invasion. Even when he'd started to see other people going to help out against the oncoming threat. It hadn't been their business, or at least that was what his father had said at the time. Being young he had went along with it, and it had caused him to not have many opinions on the matter involving the invasion. All he had been told were the Oban were bad and everyone else was good. His father had honestly changed quite a bit since that time luckily. If he hadn't he wasn't too sure he would have even been involved with the most recent fighting. A parent could really color what their child believed, he had learned that from experience more than once.
The war hadn't had a direct effect on them way out in Tale, at least not at the time, but with seven years gone by the changes now were obvious. He wasn't just thinking about the changes involving leadership and freedoms, but the subtler changes too. He'd spotted a few Oban traveling through Tale every now and again, and even their influence had reached them as far as their clothing style. The dominant style was still that of the local leaf folk of course, but the fierce reds of the Obans had started to show up in merchant stalls as well as on travelers. Tendaji was changing not only in the extreme ways, but also in the small subtle ways of culture mixing. There were more and more hybrids popping up in places, much to the displeasure of some. He didn't mind it of course, it even gave him hope for his own one day. If he decided to have any that was.
It was nice knowing that the threat of the Oban were gone, but that didn't change the fact there were still some problems lurking in Tendaji. He may not have been involved in the invasion, but he was there for all of the issues involving the Alkidike. They were still a very real threat, even despite their banishment to what they now knew was Yaeli territory. He did feel bad for the newly discovered race. Having to deal with the extremist on their island was most likely an unpleasant ordeal. Still, he doubted their existence on the mainland would have been any better. He had seen the destruction they had caused while trying to force their way through to Sauti. Sure, they were at peace now. Everyone had come together to beat the Alkidike, but how long would they stay there on their island? They weren't a peaceful group so he highly doubted they would stay there for very long. He wanted to be prepared in case things happened, but how was he supposed to plan for an unknown threat? They had succeeded the first time they had dealt with the Alkidike, but he wasn't so sure they could deal with a second. While Dezani was not one to be pessimistic, he did want to keep the threat ever in his mind. Just in case. With all that had been happening recently, especially with the talk of monsters, it was better to be safe than to be sorry and overrun by the extremist once more. He had been working hard and training Raiha even more for what he thought was the inevitable second clash of the extremist and the other races of Tendaji. Others could ignore it all they wanted, but the signs were there. It might be subtle, and it could even be years before anything truly happened again, but he felt that something would happen one day. He would appreciate the peace for now of course, but he wouldn't relax until the threat had truly been taken care of and the mainland was safe from them for good.
Words: 771
