Jai’s head was pounding like crazy, and he should’ve took care about that instead of running to a random scream from someone. He saw the moon sliced into two! Wait, that sounded wrong. Whatever!
He heard the snowball mewled and hugged the dearie tight to his chest before hurrying his pace. Passing by the dead trees on his sides, he arrived at a path stretched to the side. The ground was different, as it was grey and looked more solid than the red dirt he had been running onto. Jai pursed his lips a bit.
‘Where to now?’ He thought.
Then he heard a faint laughter from his right. It sounded distant. He ran to his right.
It wasn’t long for him to arrive at the scene. He could see some men with weapons surrounding an older man on the ground with no weapon, and to the left of them was an upside-down wooden cart with some fruits and other things scattered around it. Connecting the dots, it didn’t take long for Jai to lunge at them.
One of the armed men—the one with a big hat and very bulky—took three big steps forward to the old man on the ground. He was about to swing his sword when a foot contacted with his face.
“YEOWWW!!” He yelled. The sudden kick sent him a few feet backwards and he fell on his bum.
The other men gasped, “Ahrush!”, as some of them scurried to help their boss got back up.
“Lor af bun?!” Yelled one of the men, then pointed Jai with his dagger.
“Ahrush shon lor bahretti?!!” One of them spoke in anger, also pointing at Jai with another dagger.
Jai ignored them as he knelt down.
“Are you okay, Sir? Were you hurt?” Jai asked the man on the ground. The man looked at him with wide eyes, seemingly still afraid.
Jai could see the man has wound on his cheek. But it was shallow and not very critical, so Jai went to check on the man’s hands and feet for any wounds.
The man looked over at Jai, and then at the men before them, and then Jai again. The old man seemed to don’t know what to do or say.
“Mhar! Hallya’khru opser kon!” The man who was kicked pushed the other men away as he got up. His eyes looking around and stopping at Jai’s back a few feet away from him.
“Greminte! Ahrush shon lor bahresoma?!” He yelled.
Jai did not respond.
The man grunted and seemed to get angrier. “Groshi kurushon lor jubraste!”
Jai still did not respond.
“Jubraste!!” The man repeated.
No respond.
“Jubraste! Greminte!” This time, it was one of the other men. But Jai, again, did not respond.
The old man in front of Jai looked between Jai and the bandits again. His expression became more frightened. He tried to signal Jai to look behind him, but Jai was busy patting the old man’s feet and putting back the sandals.
The bandit’s eye twitched. He inhaled mouthful of air and yelled, “JUBRASTE!!”
Jai’s eye twitched at the volume. He put the kitten in the old man’s hands who took it in surprise but pulled the cat close. Then, Jai stood up and turned around.
He looked at the man calmly as he tried to figure out what the man was saying. He didn’t understand what they were talking about the moment he jumped in here. He thought his head was still messed up that he temporary lost his ability to socialize.
When Jai continued to not respond anything other than blinking, the angered bandit yelled again, “Jubraste!!”
There was a buzz in his ear and Jai frowned. His head must’ve truly messed up as he couldn’t make out a single damn thing this hooligan was saying. Jai’s face turned like he was between disgusted and irritated.
“Jubraste, jubraste. Speak like a normal human person, you giant impertinent dirtball.” Jai said.
That earned a dead red look from the angered bandit and a shock mixed with fear from the rest of the bandits. The angered bandit signaled his men, “KILL HIM!!”
One of the men lunged at Jai’s left with a dagger. He swooped in his dagger from above, trying a slash down. Jai easily dodged him and sent a punch to his chin, followed by a kick to his right to counter the upcoming attack from another man.
Jai did not stop there. These hooligans were goofballs. They were uncoordinated and attacked him in fury. It would be an easy battle, but he didn’t want to let his guard down because the old man could be held hostage when he was fighting. That wouldn’t be good.
If only he could speak with animals, he would ask the kitten to cooperate with him and who knows—tell the furball to scratch the eyeballs of these flies, or, slip into their pants and do something to where the sun don’t shine.
Ugh... Scratch that last one. How could he?
Jai pulled his elbow down and hit another bandit on his crouched back. The man fell down. He was done with the eighth man. Jai stared at the man in his two o’clock who cowered in fear and ran away. His eyes fell on the last man beside the angry bandit. That man was no different. Fear swept across his face and he clutched on his scabbard to his chest as if it was a fluffy teddy bear. People do shits when they’re out of their minds. This wasn’t the first time for Jai seeing people like that guy.
He narrowed his eyes to the man menacingly, the man fell unconscious.
Jai looked to the last one, the boss.
The man’s eyes filled with unimaginable fear. But he didn’t seem to want to back down. Still with that fear in his eyes, he shiveringly held his sword.
Jai barred his teeth and growled like a pissed pit-bull.
The man squeaked and ran away, not even sparring his men a glance.
Jai snorted, “Wuss.” He then walked back to the old man.
The old man was already standing up. Jai watched as the old man put his unoccupied hand on his stomach.
“Did they hurt you on the stomach, sir?” Jai asked in concern.
“Ah... Yes... They hit me here, right on my button.” The old man grunted a bit.
“Here, let me help you turn this over.” Jai wasted no time turning the cart back and gestured the man to climb on it. The man looked confused.
“What are you doing, son?” asked the old man, looking at him unsure.
“You’re hurt. I’ll wheel you to your home with this cart. We can put the remaining things in front of you in the cart.” Jai answered casually.
The old man blinked at him, then shook his head. “No, no, I’ll just be a burden. My village is far from here, I can go—“
“That made it the more reason to help you. Besides, I’m lost.” Jai smiled sheepishly.
The old man stopped to look at him. He seemed to contemplate something as he stared at Jai with uneven eyes. But then he sighed, and nodded.
The old man climbed on the cart with Jai’s help. After the old man settled down on the cart, Jai went to gather the fruits and other things that fell on the ground during the mishaps. He ignored the unconscious bandits around them—kicking them on purpose when he neared any of them to get the fruits. He put the fruits and other things on the cart alongside the old man and making sure the fruits were not in a too bad condition. When he was done, he walked to the cart pull.
He turned to the old man with a side smile, “Are you ready?”
The old man returned his gaze and nodded. “Slowly, child.”
“Of course. Take good care of my companion back there, will you? Thank you.”
The old man almost forgot he had a kitten in his arms. He instantly look down to check, but was immediately relaxed because the kitten seemed to have made itself comfortable on his lap.
Jai casually pulled the cart behind him. He walked with vigor, as if he did not just fight eight men trying to rob an older man. Said old man now sitting on the cart he was currently pulling, looking a bit more at ease than before. A small white kitten was on his lap, napping without a care for the world.They were walking for almost an hour now and Jai had tried making some conversations with the old man. Carefully asking who was he, how the old man currently felt, what was in the cart, or who were those guys. Those kinds of stuff.The old man introduced himself as Barun. He has a granddaughter named Miria, and they lived in a village called Letush. Letush was a small village that was located southwest of Aeronvein Kingdom.As he heard the names, Jai contemplated whether his mind was still in a woohoo or not. Letush? Did the man mean lettuce? As in lettuce the vegetable?And what was the kingdom nam
Barun navigated Jai through the gate. They passed small houses and a few barns, and then a small yard with a stone well in the middle.Jai noticed a girl was sitting by the well, her face looking downward. He couldn’t help but notice that she was frowning as they walked closer. Then the old man behind him called, “Miria!”The girl looked up and was instantly overjoyed.“Grandpa!” Miria exclaimed, running to the two of them happily.“What are you doing here, you child? And with that outfit!” Barun asked, a hint of concern slipped into his voice.“I-I was waiting for you, grandpa… I was worried…” Miria defended. She smiled apologetically to the old man.Now that the girl was only two feet from him, he could see her much better. The girl has long amber hair and she was wearing some kind of white
Disappointment.Anger.Sadness.Jai couldn’t believe his girlfriend broke them up just because he was poor. Yes, that means she was not worth it. She did not deserve all of those things Jai spent for her. His savings... That money he earned...Breaking up with her sooner was one thing he regretted the most in their relationship.“You’re poor.”Megan’s voice booming in the darkness realm he was currently in.The intensity of that cynical sense in her voice made him angry. He wished he wouldn’t have to see her ever again. When he came back to the city, he would make sure no Megan no Chen whatsoever can wreck his life either tomorrow, or any future events of his life. Hell, he would just fly away to Germany if he could.Another sound joined in. It was a crackle of sorts.
Jai and Miria walked side by side to the market. The little Usha was between them, walking in grace like it owns the street. A few times, it brushed past Miria’s ankle as if it intended to do that. That action took Miria by surprise every time, but it did catch her attention and she took it as adorable action and was not troubled by it.Jai was grateful though; it helped save him from Miria’s attention and let him spend his time to think about his dream last night.If he remembered it right, he dreamt about blue and white fire, with the white fire dominating the blue. There were also shadows of people. One side was from what he supposed was the military, and the other side was the lower ranked people, possibly the citizen. The setting seemed like a battlefield of sorts, but it wasn’t that big to call it a war. But it did seem like one side was oppressing the other with unknown reason. He wasn’t sure what the reason wa
Jai should’ve asked Miria for background information before he stood up. And he probably should’ve asked Miria what she meant when she mentioned Elemers. That would probably explain to him what the hell was going on in front of him so that he wouldn’t look like an idiot.Both Usha and he were surprised when one of the bulky men stomped the ground and a lump of dirt as big as a coconut suddenly floated from the ground beside him. Jai would’ve visibly twitched for the ridiculous nonsense happened in front of him; however, thankfully, Usha saved him from the humiliation because the little kitten flinched much more visibly. A cute roar and a hiss followed afterwards.‘How did he do that? Is he, like, Korra’s fanatic or something?’ Jai wondered. Was that what Miria meant by Ele or whatever it was?
Jai gulped the iced tea in the cup, and then exhaled satisfyingly.“This tea is very sweet and refreshing.” Jai smiled. “You should try it, Usha, it might cure your anger, you know?”The little kitten on his lap yawned in response. Jai sighed. Who was he kidding, Usha probably wouldn’t let that go. The cat showed an unusual intelligence compared to normal cats. The fight with the earthbenders thugs at the market showed it all, though all the furball did was trying to wreck their clothes.Jai was worried the cat will pluck their eyeballs out, but thankfully Miria pulled Usha in time. Jai wasn’t worried about the thugs, he was worried about Miria watching the gruesome possibility of a kitten harvesting someone’s eye right from the skull.A frown app
GARRR!A large crackling thunder appeared in the night sky. The purple hue it gave lighted up the dark.GARRRR!Thunder thrashed once again. This time, it wasn’t from the sky. It came from a man with long hair who was standing on top of a cliff.The man lowered his hand. He took a deep breath before raising both of his hands in front of him and put his left foot forward—as if preparing a stance. Jai could see the man raising his right hand upward, while his left hand stayed in front of him. His stance was almost similar to the alphabet letter K.Small sparks started gathering on the man’s left hand, andafter a few breaths, Jai saw the man punched his right fist forward and thick thunder shot out of his outstretched fist.The thunder was bright purple, and it shone very bright that Jai had to blink his eyes a few times before finally giving up and closed h
When Jai reached downstairs, he thanked the gods that it was Barun. He wasted no time telling the old man what happened on his absence.“Miria passed out, she’s in her room.”Barun’s eyes widened and he immediately sprung to the stairs, Jai followed after him.The old man went inside the room, ignoring the kitten beside his granddaughter, and checked her conditions. He sighed.“What do I do...” he whispered.“What is it? What’s wrong with her?” Jai was standing beside Barun, by Miria’s feet.Barun pulled the blanket over Miria’s body before looking at him. “Let’s talk downstairs.”Jai nodded and followed him.They went to the kitchen and sat by the dining table, across from each other. Barun sat still with his for a few minutes. His fi