Name: Kukiko Stage: 2 - Swordsman (Sentinel) Race: Ice Gender: Female 3 Base Traits: Benevolent, Sarcastic / Ironic, Blunt, Stubborn ("You're definitely dying, but I'll do everything I can to help you. Seriously though I don't know how much I can do here...") Personality: Kukiko has a golden heart and will do her best for anyone. She is soft-spoken and often will place others before her own well being, hence why she wishes to pick up the healing path. For those who know her well they know that she would wear herself out often for the benefit of others by working late into the night or pushing herself to walk the extra mile to help bring an important item to a neighbor [as a healer she will be the one to stay next to a patient's side way into the early hours of the morning to simply hold their hand and comfort them / keep an eye on their recovery]. However, for those who don't know her well Kukiko is often misunderstood because when her face is at rest her expression is often is mistaken for anger or irritability. This irony often gives others the wrong first impression of her and she constantly is taking others by surprise when they do interact with her because she truly is such a sweet girl. She is quite witty and will at times offer sarcastic replies to those she feels close enough with.
Honesty is her best and / or worst quality because she knows no limits to truth. Anything and everything that crosses her mind will leave her mouth and for patients that may not be the most appreciated thing. If you're sick, you're sick and if you're in the way then you are in the way. She may say it kindly, but there will be no filter with Kukiko. For friends she is the best to give advice as she will tell you how she sees it, but sometimes friends would hope not to hear exactly everything that she is thinking - especially if they are at fault or if the topic at hand is a sensitive matter. Description: Kukiko is a petite iceling with finer clothing and elegant, voluptuous hair. The one thing to note is that she does have sharp eyes and a slight downwards curve to her mouth - the true culprits behind the misconception of her being a rather irritable and intense girl. Clothing: Silk and layered outfits with a fur cloak that she wears when going out. Accessories: A beaded necklace with a jade pendant. This belonged to her Great-Grandmother and ever since Kukiko found those old journals and learned about her magical heritage the piece has become priceless to her. History: Kukiko was born into a wealthy Zenan family. Her mother belonged to wealthy merchants while her father had inherited his fortune through generations of elites. While their marriage had been arranged by the family to tie connections and to promote prosperity for both future generations of the families the two icelings did love each other. Zia was the ideal wife who practiced art and often would create things for the market, rare sculptures and unique pieces of hand etched jewelry were her trademarks, while her husband, Akyen, was an excellent tradesman who helped to manage lesser merchants and took his pay from organizing their affairs.
While the two lived in comfort for several years before having children the arrival of twins was surprising for Zia and Akyen. They quickly expanded from their apartment in the capital to an actual home of their own, an impressive two story stone manor on the outskirts of the city. Thankfully both twins, Aniya and Rin, were perfectly healthy and would offer no concern for the parents. It was only seven years later when Kukiko was born that there was slight worry as their baby girl was born a moon earlier than expected. A healer was called right away and for the first few moons of her life Kukiko was observed carefully for any sign of weakness.
As she grew her parents relaxed more as they realized she was growing into a typical youngling with plenty of energy. Kukiko would often tag along behind her older siblings and try to participate in their activities before their studies separated her from them. While she was still too young to really practice anything both her older sister and brother were off learning about different things. Her brother learned how to craft items like their mother while her sister picked up her sharp tongue from their father. Meanwhile Kukiko found herself feeling lackluster in comparison to her family. Her siblings had adapted to learning skills from their parents while she couldn't seem to pick up on any of it. She had a naturally sharp expression that made it hard for others to find her charismatic while her blunt personality could often ruin a trade. [No lying for her no matter how big or small and by god that one piece was just atrocious anyways so why would we want it?]
As she got older Kukiko wanted to try her best to find her niche and to feel helpful, to no avail. She really liked healing, but she had no aptitude for magic, and she could never really wrap her head around medicine. Just when she was beginning to lose hope, she saw a speck of light in in a world of shadow.
That's when it hit her. "The best way to heal others is to entirely prevent the damage from happening in the first place!"
From that point on, she made it her goal to find the biggest (and most stylish) sword on the market and use it to protect people. Her personality developed even further, her stubbornness increased, and her physical growth and personal experiences gave her an intense resting mean face, but she was more or less the same old Kukiko. Once people get past her intimidating exterior, they found a caring and sincere individual, even if that sincerity came in the form of bluntness form time to time.
Familiars
Duram, the Roati
Gender: Female History: Duram's funny name came from Kukiko's silly sense of humor. Though her lack of enthusiasm and energy makes Duram seem rather apathetic, she is always there to support Kukiko whenever she is feeling down by acting as a fluffy pillow. Duram's favorite thing in the world is when Kukiko puts a bunch of bows in her fur, though her only forms of expression are appreciative eyes and a few bleats.
Prentice, Solo 1 - The Sword is My Calling (Class Affinity)
It was a typical early morning in Zena for Kukiko. It was the warmer months where the snow falls were scarce, and even more so since her and her family lived closer to the rolling hills near the border of Sauti. Her windows were open during the night to let the cool night air in and the morning sunlight shone down on her face. She woke in bed sprawled out completely, her arms and legs completely sore. Oh, dear maker, why? She lifted her arm to look at the welts she gained from training, and examined her hand to see some new calluses from swinging a practice sword around. It had been weeks since she started her training, and almost a month since she finally found her calling. Kukiko felt her Roati, Duram, climb up onto the bed and sit next to her with a short bleat. She pet her roati and reflected on how she got to this point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That day had been her day off from learning herbalism. She liked the idea of healing people, however she wasn’t magically inclined, so she would have to resort to the old fashioned ways of healing using herbs and poultices. As it turned out, however, she also didn’t have a knack for herbalism either since memorizing herb combinations were really difficult for her for reasons she couldn’t describe. Something about the amount of each herbs was something she just wasn’t cut out for, and she would end up turning healing salves into deadly poisons. Well, at least I get to relax today. She got dressed out of her nightgown and into what she referred to as her “shopping clothes”. She loved fashion shopping, and she felt it was easier to shop with clothes that made it easy to drape other dresses, skirts and all sorts of other fashions on herself. She also remembered that it was market day, so merchants from all around were coming to her town and bringing goods from all across the continent.
She ran downstairs, washed up and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. It seemed like her parents weren’t home since her mother wanted to put up her stall early, and she guessed her father got dragged into helping. Always the early bird. she thought as she ate some dried fruits and bread.
She finished up, grabbed a pouch of coins her parents had given her for an allowance, and headed straight to the market. She was beaming, eager to see everything that the merchants brought this time. By the time she got there, most stalls had already set up, and there were already a lot of people perusing the wares in each stall. She recognized some of the people, as her family had more of the well off guests in their home often. She bowed and waved to those she recognized, and continued shopping around for cute outfits.
Stall after stall, she looked at each of their clothing wares, sifting through hundreds upon hundreds of tops, skirts dresses and shoes. Nope. Uh-uh. Ugly. Ratty. Ew, what is that pattern? No. Definitely not. Too showy. Too long. None of the clothes met up to her standards, and none of the jewelry looked good to her. To her surprise, nothing at all in the market was popping out at her, and as she browsed with disinterest, her face became jaded. Man, what's going on? "There's nothing good here!" she accidentally said out loud. Realizing the sudden outburst and stares from all around her, she felt embarrassed and rushed away from that area of the market as fast as she could.
Kukiko found herself in the weapons and armor area of the market. Huh, never been here before. Might as well look around since the clothes are kind of awful today. She never thought about weapons much. She usually thought of swords and the like as weapons of war, bloody ugly pieces of metal that were used to run others through. She walked past several weapon stalls, pretending to be interested, her resting mean face keeping the merchants from even calling her over to look at their wares.
And then she saw it. A pink greatsword just taller than her, decorated with white-pink flowers scattered across the blade, and a red ribbon tied to a loop on the hilt. The handle of the blade was a pale gold that seemed to shimmer as she approached, and the blade of the sword was much bigger up close than it was from afar. Kukiko could fit her hand only on one side of the blade. She sighed and a “Wow,” escaped her lips. Never before had she seen so magnificent a weapon. As she admired the blade and ran a finger on it, someone called out from behind her.
“Well, I sure hope you aren’t looking to purchase such a weapon, young lady. A dainty little thing like you? Preposterous. You’d sooner be able to drag the sword to your home by next year, much less wield it.” Her hand paused, and her index finger twitched. Who just-? She whipped around, letting her eyes widen slightly into a death glare. Standing not far from her was a taller Oban man with clothing on the much more extravagant side. He wore silks that hugged his features, showing his firm build. His chest was puffed, and he held one arm across his abdomen, and one arm against his side. His polished boots barely had any wear or dirt, almost as if he had just bought them this day.
“Excuse me?” Kukiko’s face showed no emotion, but on the inside, she was absolutely livid. Everything she tried to learn ended in failure, and though she kept trying fruitlessly, deep down she felt her shortcomings like a knot in her chest. She felt she would find her calling eventually, but until that time she would try everything, and no random stranger, least of all some puffed up ignorant man, would tell her what she could and couldn’t do.
“Oh, sorry. Was I not clear enough?” The man raised his hand to examine his nails. “You’re clearly too weak to even lift that thing, let alone take it home. Leave the big swords for the real men.”
Everyone in the nearby vicinity grew quiet, and the silence was heavy in the air for a moment. Kukiko could hear the blood pulsing in her ear, but she didn’t quite know how to react. Reasonably, she could have ignored the man and went about her day, but her pride wouldn’t let her, especially since she was just trying to figure out what skills she could be attuned to. This man, this stranger, wanting some random girl in the streets to completely block off a walk of life just because of how she looked? Absolutely not.
Kukiko reached for a nearby weapon on a shelf without even looking and quickly unsheathed it. She paused for a moment and quickly glanced at the weapon. It was one of the smallest and most thin blades she had ever seen. It wasn’t spectacular in any way, and the handle seemed to have a knick in it. The blade, however, seemed extremely sharp, like it could puncture the hardest steel with ease. Perfect. With one quick motion, she hurled the dagger straight at the Oban man. She could tell he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction, and had no time to dodge the dagger. Luckily for the man, the blade landed in the dirt, just a hair away from his polished boots. “Well, that seems to be a blade perfectly suited for you. Too bad you didn’t catch it!”
His calm composure completely faded into rage. He threw his fists up, ready to fight the Kukiko, as a crowd gathered around the two. If I knew this is how my shopping trip was going to end up, I would have stayed home. Still, she wasn’t going to back down and let this guy walk all over and disrespect her. Him and his stupid ugly boots. Doesn’t he know those are out of style? Ugh, so tacky. She tried to emulate what her offender was doing and put up her fists and spread her feet a little. It was a weak stance, and anyone could tell that it was a fight she was going to lose, but she swore she would go down swinging.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course, thanks to my new friends and teacher, I didn’t have to lose that fight. They stepped in and stopped it from escalating any further. They even brought her over to their house to train and eat food. She even had a fun sleepover with her friend Katori. Ever since then, Kukiko had been hard at work training to use the sword. She was assured by her trainer that she was making improvements at an impressive rate, and though she was small in stature, she was actually really strong. I think… I think I finally found my calling. I may not be cut out for healing, but I think the best way to heal others is to entirely prevent the damage from happening in the first place! I never would have seen this coming. I still haven’t told my parents yet, but I’ll do it eventually. For now, Kukiko knew it was time for her to make her way to the manor for some more training.
I totally could have kicked that Oban’s butt.
[WC 1579]
Prentice, Solo 2 - Dodging Trouble?
Night time in Zena made for a beautiful experience. It was one of the colder days in the warmer months, and the winds from the mountain tops blew snow towards the southern parts of Zena. It usually didn’t reach Kukiko’s part of the village, but there was a storm off the coast to the north, so the strong winds managed to make small flurries across the country. Kukiko was sitting on her window sill watching the small snowflakes fall. Her parents had the servants preparing dinner, and she was patiently waiting. Normally, she would be reading her books on her bed next to her roati, Duram, but her soreness from her recent training sessions prevented her from concentrating. She also had a lot to think about with her recent lessons in swordfighting. She closed her eyes and felt a cool breeze on her face, as some snowflakes melted against her cheeks and forehead. Kukiko visualized herself on the training grounds, a wooden sword in hand, and her opponent, a faceless figure she was training with. Step forward, swing left, block right, diagonal slash, step back, block again, sweep, downward slash. She struck her imaginary opponent and it dissipated. As she slowly opened her eyes, she heard the dinner bell.
“Thank the heavens, I’m pretty hungry.” She hopped off of her window sill and paused. “I should cover my arms first.” She looked around and grabbed a nearby shawl. This will do, I guess. She pet her sleeping roati before heading down to the dining hall. Her house was relatively large, and her parents were successful. Her father was a politician with economic support from those who supported him. He had a way with words that allowed him to gain the trust of the other politicians, and brought strong and just philosophies to the courtrooms and discussion halls. Kukiko’s mother was a successful merchant, skilled in the arts of the trade, including investments and quality control. She travelled often all across the continent, stopping home as often as she could fit it into her trade route. Because of their busy schedules, they weren’t home very often, and set out in the mornings before the sunrise.
Tonight, however, was a rare occasion because both of her parents were home and they would both be joining Kukiko for dinner. That meant she had to do her best from letting her parents see her bruises and welts. She didn’t like the idea of hiding her training from them, but that was mostly because she wasn’t sure how they would react. In her mind, they might disapprove and force her away from her freedom of choice because they wouldn’t want her to take up fighting. They would probably think that her choice in adventuring and sword fighting would be a path that negatively affects their image and reputation. Kukiko loves and cares about her parents, and she wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt them, especially after they have done so much for her to try and help her find her way and interests. She felt they might take it as Kukiko throwing everything back in their faces.
I am going to tell them, I have to. Let’s not ruin this family dinner. She thought to herself, as she approached the doors to the dining hall. It’ll just be… you know, later. With the end of that thought, she stopped in front of the doors, focused on making sure her arms were covered, and inhaled deeply. With a slow exhale, she cleared her head. “Okay.” She whispered before she pushed the doors open and walked inside.
Her parents were already seated at the long table, with her father at the end, and her mother sitting to his right. Kukiko discerned they were talking about something light hearted, as her father seemed to be laughing at a story her mother was telling, probably about something silly she had said with a customer. Yeah, I definitely don’t want to kill the mood. One of her mother’s key philosophies when trading was making friends with as many customers as possible because then they would be sure to return and buy more from her. “Creating a good reputation as a friend and merchant will make you wealthy in the long run.” her mother’s words rang in her head. It was something she taught Kukiko when the young iceling thought she might want to become a merchant herself, something quickly quashed by her blunt honesty.
They lifted their heads at her approach. Her mother greeted her with the warmest of smiles and said, “Kukiko, my darling! It’s wonderful for you to join us.” She gestured to the chair across from her, and Kukiko sat down as she said, “Come sit here next to your father. I was just telling him about how a young boy bought some fruit from my stall, and he was so excited and proud that he purchased it on his own that when he whipped around, it flung from his hand and flew into another merchant’s stall. That merchant happened to have the same fruit and put it in his stock. The boy had no idea where the fruit went, and was completely at a loss for words. He just looked absolutely devastated. I felt so bad, I gave him another and said ‘Now don’t lose this one,’ and he just held the thing so close to his chest and he walked like he had pegs for legs.” Kukiko and her parents laughed together.
Their butler and small entourage of servants brought the food out to them, and set each plate in front of them. It was a mixed seafood platter with various spices that smelled absolutely divine. Kukiko could feel her mouth watering, growing antsy as she awaited the butler to finish pouring all of the drinks. It would have been impolite for her to just start digging in when not everyone was ready to begin eating. Table manners are always fashionable, even when my stomach is eating itself. When the drinks were poured, she waited for her parents to start eating before digging in. Before Kukiko could realize, she had eaten three quarters of her plate before even taking a drink, and her parents had barely made a dent in their plates. Her mother looked at her with surprise and joked, “My goodness, your studies must be really working up your appetite lately. Don’t forget to breathe, dear.”
“Ah, leave her be,” her father chimed in. “She’s still growing, and a growing girl has to eat.” He chuckled and took a bite of his food. “Speaking of which, Kukiko, how are your studies going? Have you made any progress towards becoming an herbalist? Hm? Any interesting discoveries or breakthroughs?”
Kukiko laughed nervously. “Father, I’m not an expert herbalist yet, but I’m still working on it. My studies are going… fine I suppose.” Her hesitation gave away a little, which was just enough for her mother to catch on.
“Kukiko? Is there something you’re not telling us?” Her mother questioned. She could tell something was off, but she couldn’t exactly be too sure.
Instead of answering, Kukiko reached for her cup to try to take a drink, but the soreness in her arms ended up causing a twitch in her hand. Her hand bumped into the glass and tipped it over. She tried to catch the cup, overextending her arm, and exposing some of her bruises. No! She immediately pulled away and tried to cover up her arms with the shawl. Thankfully, they were distracted by the now spilled water, and didn’t seem to notice anything. Her parents slid back in their chairs as fast as they could to avoid being wet. “Ah! I’m sorry mother, father. Let me go get something to clean this up.” She said apologetically as she ran off to fetch some rags to avoid further embarrassment. Phew. I don’t think they noticed. She went into the washroom and grabbed a few rags from a small closet. When she turned around, her mother was standing right in the doorway. Kukiko jumped. “M-mom?”
“Kukiko, honey, are you sure there’s nothing going on?” her mother pleaded.
After taking a deep breath, Kukiko answered, “Of course, mother. You know I’d tell you if anything was wrong.” As the words left her mouth, her heart sank. Wow. I think this is the first time I’ve ever lied to my parents… She hated the feeling, but it was too late to turn back now. She didn’t let her face betray her emotions, and instead, she smiled at her mother.
Her mother paused and took some time to examine Kukiko. She chose not to pressure Kukiko. “Well, alright. Come let me help you clean up this mess.” She grabbed some of the rags Kukiko was holding and together they went back to the dining hall. Once they were finished with both the dinner and the mess, Kukiko politely thanked them, and retreated to her room.
She closed the door behind her, and slumped into a fetal position, visibly depressed. Duram curled up by her side to try to comfort her. Kukiko stroked Duram gently and said, “I think I really messed up, Duram.”
[WC 1536]
Prentice - Stage 2 Class Quest - I'm Sorry Mother
In this class quest, Kukiko feels she is backed into a corner, and has no choice but to leave home and find her place in the world on her own, without her parents' help.
There’s no other way. I have to leave home on my own. Kukiko was frantically thinking to herself as she paced in her room, trying to make heads or tails of her current situation. Earlier that evening, her mother started asking her more prying questions about her studies as an herbalist. She tried her best not to avoid the subject, but that night her mother was unrelenting and refused to let it be, as if she really knew something was off. It ended in Kukiko trying to walk away to avoid the issue entirely, and her mother grabbing her arm. When Kukiko managed to wriggle free, her mother’s grip held nothing but the shawl she was wearing, and she pulled it off Kukiko as she wriggled free. Her mother saw all of her bruises and welts and was in complete shock. “Kukiko… My darling, what’s happened to you?” That’s when things escalated, and Kukiko ran to her room and locked the door. Her mother tried to talk to Kukiko through the door but was only met with silence.
“Kukiko, please! I’m begging you. Come out here and talk to me.” Her mother pleaded.
Without thinking, Kukiko blurted out, “Just go away!” There was a brief moment of silence so deafening, Kukiko could hear her blood rushing in her ears. A few minutes passed and then she could hear her mother's footsteps retreating. For a moment, Kukiko thought she heard a silent sob. Is she crying…? Everything felt so wrong. This wasn’t how she wanted everything to go down, and she felt like there was no other way out but to leave in silent shame. She didn’t want her parents’ image to be affected by her failures and mistakes, and she was afraid to face them with the truth. At this point, in her mind, the task was entirely impossible. I messed up too much. Everything blew up in my face all at once. My plans…
That’s right, her plans. She saved up enough money to buy the sword she wanted, and she trained so hard her bruises had bruises. Kukiko swore that she wouldn’t even stop there. I’m going to be the best darn swordsman ever. She knew she could do it, but it might cost her her relationship with her whole family. If I’m to find my place in the world, I have to do it my way. I’m sorry, mother, father… I have to do this.
The next morning, before the sun rose, she quickly got dressed and snuck out of her window with a pouch full of coins. She made her way on foot to the market, to the very stall she visited often to look at the sword she had been eyeing. Still there, good. The shop owner was nowhere near, however. She felt she didn’t have time to wait, so she placed the appropriate amount of coins on the merchant’s counter, took the blade off the wall, and ran. I suppose I’ll need new clothes where I’m going. Wherever that is… She purchased Oban style clothes, rations for her trip, and even changed her hairstyle. A whole new look for a whole new me. she thought to herself. I guess to Oba I go…
And so Kukiko’s journey began.
[WC 544]
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2020 7:15 am
Journal - Stage 2
Stage 2, Solo 1 - Fight with the Wild
An eerie calm settled over the hot, midday desert sands of Oba, where the winds ceased to blow, and a hush of silence fell over the dunes. The area seemed to be in a state of tension, the quiet calm masking an enormous pressure hanging over the land. Though the heat beat down on the desert and its inhabitants, that was not the root cause for the calm before the storm. The whole of nature and its denizens held their breath for the raging storm that was about to ensue.
Kukiko stood atop a mighty rock formation jutting out of the vast desert in protest to the monotony of the ocean of sand, holding her sword in one hand and a rock in the other. A single drop of sweat from her brow crawled slowly down her face, her gaze fixed on one spot in the sands below her. She wore an intense glare, one she had become so accustomed to in her time in the desert. Originally, she came here to become a better swordswoman and gain knowledge in the martial arts, but instead all she gained were, odd jobs and fetch missions... she thought as she let out a huff of air out of her nose, a scoff of sorts to the thought. And this one was quite the particularly odd job. Though she vowed to help people and protect them in order to prevent injury to make up for her lack of healing ability, she never thought she would have to protect them from this.
“Stupid. Ugly. WORM!” She shouted to the entire desert, hoping to get some kind of reaction to the non intelligent creature she currently hunted. The desert, however, remained completely silent, seemingly waiting for her next move. The drop of sweat found its way to the bottom of her chin, clinging and stretching until the tension finally broke and fell to the ground. At this moment, Kukiko tossed the rock to the sands below. She waited a moment, took a deep breath, and leapt from the rock formation down to the sands below. As she fell, the rock cratered to the ground, and a moment after a massive worm erupted from the sands, consuming the stone, and providing her with a point of contact to prevent herself from the same fate as the rock. As its head drew closer, she readied her sword. When she was within arms length, she pierced the mighty worm’s hide, and gripped her sword with both hands, gashing its hide as she fell. Her momentum slowed as she neared the ground, and she used the remainder of her fall to kick off of the beast and tumbled into the sand. She finished her movement in a crouched position with her sword gripped tight, ready to face the worm’s reaction.
The tension across the entirety of the desert broke with the worm’s roar, and Kukiko couldn’t help but glare, as if it were to add to the damage caused by her previous blow. Yeah, that hurts, doesn’t it? she thought to herself. Her blow hadn’t been without a cost. In fact, before she truly knew what she was getting herself into when she stumbled around in the desert looking for a giant sand demon, the creature had caught her by surprise by being burrowed in the dunes, reacting only to movement on the sand’s surface. Of course, she had but a mile or two of running and dodging to figure it out, which is how she got herself onto the top of that rock in the first place, and a few times the beast had managed to swallow her from right underneath her two feet, but her own stubbornness refused to let herself become worm food. And best of all? I saved my outfit from getting ruined… Or so she thought, for her latest stunt would earn her a new deep cut on her arm, causing blood to drip down and soak some of her sleeve. She let out a sigh at the sight, and snapped herself back to the worm. “You’re gonna have to pay for this, ugly,” she ineffectually insulted.
When she looked back at her opponent, it was already back to burrowing into the sands once more, however, this time it seemed her blow prevented it from being able to burrow completely, leaving half of its body exposed. She knew the battle was coming to a close, and she would be able to collect her reward soon. She needed only to finish the fight and bring back some proof. The beast accelerated towards her, and she crouched even lower to the ground, readying herself for a last minute risky dodge. In the blink of an eye, she darted out of the way, and pivoted her momentum back towards the worm, jamming her sword into its side. Unexpectedly, she was pulled forward along with the worm and she reached with her injured arm to grab onto the sword. “This may have been a bad idea.” She said out loud, but it was drowned by the rumbling of the worm moving through the sands just below her.
Kukiko managed to pull herself into a swing and land on the embedded sword. After hopping up on top, she reached to pull the sword free. After a brief few tugs, it came loose and she once more had her trusty weapon in her grip. After gaining her bearings and standing on the beast’s back, she felt the sting of sand in her open wound, but she pushed the pain out of her mind. No time to worry about that. Once the job’s finished, we can collapse and lick our wounds later. Carefully walking towards the head, she followed the injury she inflicted earlier. She found herself at the very front, where the open mouth was endlessly swallowing sand to push itself through the desert. She found the dead center of the wound, raised her sword, and plunged it deep into the beast’s hide. After a brief roar all movement suddenly ceased, launching Kukiko off of the limp body and into the coarse sand. She tucked into a roll, but the exhaustion of the fight had set in, causing the roll to end flat on her back.
The desert was silent once more, only this time in quiet relief. A gentle breeze caressed the dunes. Kukiko laid there completely spread out, her chest rising and falling with each inhale and exhale as her labored breaths caught up to her exhaustion. She stared at the clear sky, relieved at the fact that she actually managed to accomplish her task and survive relatively unscathed. She lifted her arm to examine it and saw a rip in her clothing. With great disappointment, she groaned, mourning the fact that her perfectly good outfit needed to be replaced. After resting for a moment more, she did a kip up, dusted herself off and sheathed her sword after picking it up. She tucked into a pouch a piece of the worm’s hide, and a few of its teeth as trophies and proof the job was done, and headed back towards town.
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Night time fell over Oba, the biting cold temperatures rolling in over the desert town. Inside a humble jewelry shop, an old man paced back and forth nervously awaiting the return of the adventurer he had employed. “Oh, I sincerely hope I haven’t doomed the girl to a certain dea-” His statement was cut off by the door bursting open. The old man jumped and turned to see who was at the door, but could only see a dark figure. Kukiko stepped into the light, and the old man breathed a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth, but she glared at him in a way that caused him to completely lose his voice. She held out a pouch and her empty hand, her bloody arm coming into the light. The man gasped at the sight of her injury, and scrambled behind the counter. When he found what he was looking for, he ran back to her with a set of bandages, some salve in a small metal tin, and a pouch stuffed with coins.
“Th-Thank you, miss! I’m sorry for the trouble I have caused.” He bowed low while handing the items over and grabbing the trophies from her.
Kukiko sighed, knowing she had done a service not just for this merchant, but also this village as a whole. She knew they wouldn’t be troubled anymore by this beast, so in the end, her injuries were nothing compared to what would be those of the villagers if she didn’t take this job.
She smiled at the old man, “Bah, don’t worry about it. I needed a new outfit anyway. Besides, I think scars can be stylish, if not a bit painful.” She winked, and turned to leave, waving goodbye without looking at the old man. Now… to get these wounds treated, and some food in my belly. She couldn’t help but admire what she did, and it put a certain spring in her step as she marched her way to the nearest tavern.
[WC 1538]
Stage 2, Solo 2 - A Chance Reunion
Kukiko sank herself nose deep into her inn room’s bathtub, wincing at the pain of the injury on her arm coming into contact with the freshly prepared hot bath. After a moment of stinging and clenching, she slowly started relaxing her muscles, the worst of it fading into the back of her mind. I really overdid it this time around… she thought to herself, reflecting on her battle with a mighty worm. Well, at least no one else got hurt, which means my philosophy about healing is working! She couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, blowing some bubbles into the water with her mouth.
It turned out to be quite a relaxing evening for Kukiko, and after a good long soak, she stood up and grabbed the towel she had readied before her bath, and wrapped herself up. There was a standing mirror in the corner of her room, and curiosity led her straight to it, but to her surprise she saw someone she didn’t recognize. She looked long at her own features, and leaned closer to the mirror whilst touching her face. Have I really changed so much I don’t recognize myself? She had only been traveling for a year since she left home, and she didn’t think it was a possibility. She continued to examine herself, noting contours and musculature she hadn’t seen before, and a certain thinness to her face. Wow, I’ve gotten pretty fit from all these jobs as a sword for hire, haven’t I? She couldn’t help flexing her arms, but flinched when the pain from her wound shot up into her shoulder. She examined the wound carefully. It wasn’t her first major wound, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. She didn’t need to sew it up, but it would definitely scar. “Ah, well, maybe some neat scars will end up being my style after all.” She smiled at herself in the mirror.
As Kukiko got dressed, there was a knock at her inn room’s door. She called out, “Yes?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, miss, but the dinner you ordered will be ready soon.” a woman’s voice replied.
“Perfect, I’ll be down in just a minute!” Kukiko answered.
“Yes, miss.” The lady walked away from her door back down the stairs to the tavern. Kukiko finished putting on her new outfit, quickly wrapped her wound with some fresh bandage wraps, gave herself a quick twirl in front of the mirror, and proceeded to head downstairs to where the eatery part of the tavern was. She picked an open table in the corner of the room, and waved at the barkeep, who then signaled to the server. Kukiko watched the server leave to the kitchen, and after a brief moment, she returned with a large platter of food, and a mug of tart berry juice. Kukiko handed the lady some coins and then started digging in. Man, I love the food here. These platters often remind me of… home. She hadn’t thought of her old home, or how her parents were faring without her. She couldn’t think of them often because oftentimes she would become distracted and teary eyed. It was heartbreaking to her how she left home, and she didn’t want them to worry, but she couldn’t bear the thought of going back yet. I just need a little more time… She stopped for a moment before taking another bite, when she felt a tingle on the back of her neck, almost as if she were being watched.
Grabbing her mug, she took a drink while looking around the room inconspicuously and saw a hooded figure approaching where she was sitting.
“Could it be…?” The stranger was right in front of Kukiko’s table when they decided to fling back their hood, revealing their face.
Kukiko froze at the sight of the stranger’s face and the only thing she could blurt out was, “M-Mom?” She felt hot tears flowing down her cheeks, and her chest was pounding. She never would have expected to run into her parents here, and had no idea how to even begin to explain everything.
“My sweet daughter, I’m so happy to see you safe!” Her mother pulled a chair up next to her, wiped a tear from Kukiko’s face, and embraced her. She pulled back after a moment and a gentle squeeze and looked at her daughter up and down. “You… You’ve grown so much. Look at you fit as a fiddle, and your arm!” Her mother was a whirlwind of thoughts and words, pointing things out, but never really finishing a sentence. When Kukiko’s mind finally caught up that this was real, she hugged her mother back.
“You’re… You’re not mad at me?”
“Of course not! I just wanted to see my daughter again. You have no idea how worried we were when you disappeared. I feared… I feared I may have done something wrong to push you away.” Her mother pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “If I ever did, please tell me. What happened? Why did you run away from home?”
Kukiko let out a sigh of relief. She was surely grateful for the opportunity to be able to explain herself without that fear of being judged for her mistakes and shortcomings. “I’m sorry, mother. I really didn’t mean to worry you. I just…” She paused and then went on to explain how she was actually failing to truly learn medicine and herbalism, and though healing people was what she wanted, she felt that she didn’t have the proper mind for it. The formulas and measurements weren't something she could properly grasp, and she was the most afraid of letting her parents down. She described how one day she found a sword in the markets that she actually fancied, described her fight with a stranger trying to disrespectfully dissuade her and because of her already feeling like a letdown, she saw that as a challenge to try and do the opposite. She continued to tell the story about how that led to a fistfight with the stranger, how a group of people who would then become friends and mentors rescued her from the fight and then trained her to use a sword. She described how she excelled at wielding a sword, and how confused she felt at not being able to do well with medicine and healing people like she originally wanted, and about how she adopted a new method and mentality of healing people through protecting them from injury in the first place.
Kukiko finished off her story with how the escalated fights with her parents and that feeling of not wanting to be a disappointment made her feel like she was backed into a corner, and how she felt the need to flee from home to continue what her heart actually wanted, even if that meant hurting her parents, and how she planned to return home eventually, when the time was right.
“And when, exactly, would that have been had I not found you?” Her mother inquired.
“I don’t know. I guess I felt if I were a successful swordswoman that it would lessen the blow. Maybe I thought it would have made you and father less angry at me for running away and wasting all your time and money with the medicine lessons…”
Her mother smiled at her. “Oh, sweetie. We love you no matter what you decide to do. We only wanted you to be happy, because in the end it’s your life. You get to live it, not us. We’re here for you, to support you in your trials.” They hugged each other again.
“I love you, mother. I’m so sorry I put you through this.” Kukiko whispered.
“Oh, it’s alright. At least you found your way in the process. Fate is funny like that, and the fact that it brought us together again just means that it probably had to happen this way anyway.”
“How did you find me anyway?” Kukiko wondered.
“Believe it or not, we heard of a warrior going around protecting people with a pink sword. We connected the pink sword as one of a kind from that merchant so long ago who reported it was missing, but paid for. Very strange, we thought. Somehow, we connected it to you, so we followed the tales of your adventure, but couldn’t quite catch up. Your father decided to head back home to tend the shops, but I wouldn’t give up that easily. No shop is worth more than my own daughter.”
“Then it was a good thing this town had quite a few problems to solve then!” They both laughed. She was elated at this chance meeting and felt like she had gotten so much off her chest.
“So…” Her mother paused. “What are your plans now?”
“I…” Kukiko paused. She already had a job lined up, and as much as she wanted to return home, she couldn’t. “I have another job lined up. I have to cross the sea. Unfortunately, I have to go all the way to Yael. Even after that, I don’t know where I’ll end up…” Kukiko was hesitant to let her mother down, but felt after everything she should be honest.
“Well, don’t forget to write home, okay?” Her mother stood up, searched her pockets and placed a shark tooth necklace on the table. “Have a safe journey, daughter.” The two said their goodbyes, and Kukiko was once again alone in her corner of the tavern, though she felt anything but.
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