Interlude:
Bodies. Littering the ground everywhere. Bodies. Soaking the ground red in the life of passersby. Bodies. No one deserved any of this. Bodies. served and cut. Bodies. Standing over all of them. A Body. That of a Monster. A body. That of which shouldn't exist. A Body. Conquering All.
Chapter 1:
In a small village in a secluded area of plains a few miles west of the mountains filled with bust streets lined with white walls of the hundreds of buildings covering the land, there were blacksmiths, merchants, vendors, and just regular people crowding every dirt pathway.
There was a secluded house on top of a nearby hill where the sword master of the village lived; it was a small house with a large area for training and sparring; however, only one person ever visited.
THUD!!!
The lone girl who trains with the sword master, Ari Rosenberg, kicked into a tree yet again. It was almost regular for the villagers to hear her getting beaten by the sword master multiple times a day, she'd been training since she was just a little kid after all. She was slumping over herself against the tree as she tried to catch her breath, muttering curses at herself.
Ari: "Damn it… fuck… my back-"
Ari had long hair that partially covered her face, some stands went all the way to her waist. It was uncut, messy, and probably really tangled. She had sharp eyes with pretty, long lashes and a deep crimson color. Her hair fell in multiple different layers at different lengths and would have lots of strands that would never lay straight and flipped out to the sides.
The most notable thing about her was that it was hard to tell if she was a boy or a girl from a distance, she could pass for either if she needed to. She abused this power as much as she could to get out of many of the duties in the village, then she used her free time to run off and play with swords or train.
Ari was kind of lazy when it came to things she didn't like, so she sat around the house as much as she could unless she had the chance to train with her sword or do something fun like hangout with her friend from the inner part of the village. Ari usually wore plain black clothes that were hand-me-downs from her dad, they were all multiple sizes too big for her; however. She wore them despite the fact that she looked homeless.
She raised her head to see the disapproving downcast stare of the sword master through her long, messy, black hair, her nose was bleeding and she was covered in dirt and bruises from the spar. She had failed to beat him in a sparring match for the 18th time in a row and that was just today, only adding onto her ongoing losing streak.
Sword Master: "You failed again, Rosenberg. Get back up. Again."
The sword master held out his hand towards her to help her up, despite how battered she was, Ari managed to climb back to her feet with his help. Ari was determined to win a single duel before she returned home to her family.
Ari took a stance, though wobbly and off, she somehow managed to keep herself up right. She immediately lunged forth towards him with her cracked wooden training sword, feigning a slash towards his left and immediately attacked from the other side; however, she was blocked without the slightest bit of effort from the sword master again. The sword master kicked her in the lower part spine, forcing her to lose balance and stumble forward. Ari twisted down and tried to sweep his leg out from underneath him—
Ari's eyes shined with the glimpse of victory, all she had to do was follow through and she would finally win!
Ari: "Ehh-"
He jumped over her leg and immediately swung down at her.
Ari: "AYE-"
Ari: Not good, not good! I'm way too predictable for this guy, I'm gonna lose again if I keep fighting like this!
Ari barely jumped away without getting hit, she landed on her hands and hopped back to gain distance. She knelt down across the field from the sword master, staring at his sword where she once was.
Ari: CLOSE CALL!
Ari took a deep breath and refocused herself, she rose to her feet yet again. Ari gripped her sword tightly, partially because the handle was slightly broken and she had to hold it together. She lunged at him again, swinging as hard as she could. The sword master had blocked her strike; however, the force from her swing was enough to crack his sword and completely snap off more than half of Ari's sword.
The sword master was almost baffled at the strength Ari was capable of, not only that; Ari was still ready to fight with a broken sword. Blood dripped down her wrist and hand from the splinters of the sword digging into her palm, the slightest bit of pain flashed across her face before being replaced with a look of determination.
Ari: I got it, I distracted him! I can win—OW MY HAND!!!
They both slid back to their respective edges of the field before immediately starting again, Ari used the broken training sword to slightly extend her range of attack; otherwise, she was focused on dodging his swings. Ari abused the sword master's disadvantage of close range to try and knock him down by any means necessary, but the minute she got close, the master locked one of her legs with his own and tripped her over his knee. Ari tossed her training sword away as she fell and smeared her bloodied hand across his eyes to momentarily obscure his vision, but dragging the splinters deeper into her hand.
Ari: I GOT HIM! OW FFF— MY HAND!
Ari, using the split second distraction to recover and get back to her feet, finally thought she'd have a chance to win against him.
Ari lunged forward the second she got to her feet, and tried to punch the sword master, the sword master stepped to the side and tried to trip her; however, Ari caught herself on her hands and tried to kick his head. The sword master dodged both kicks and swung at her torso. Ari quickly hopped back to her feet away from the sword master and picked her broken sword back up, having deliberately thrown it there early. Ari rushes in again using the splitters of her sword to prick the master's sword hand—Sadly—it didn't go as Ari hoped, he didn't drop his sword and then punched her in the face. Ari slid back, her nose oozing blood as she hit the floor.
Ari: Ah—shit! I think he broke my nose!
Ari heard him step towards her and immediately rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the heavy slash that almost hit her torso. Ari kicked up to her heels to avoid another, and then springed back onto her hands as the sword master swung again. Ari swung her leg down onto the back of his neck, she quickly jumped away as he tried to grab her ankle.
Ari: He's down! I just need to get in one final good hit and I'll win!
Ari's confidence was way higher now that she had lasted so far in this fight, she truly did have a chance at winning. Though confidence can lead to one's downfall when misplaced, he was a master after all.
Ari wiped the blood away from her nose and flicked it off her hand, though it didn't stop streaming down her face. Ari took a second to breathe as the sword master got back to his feet, she had never lasted this long in a fight so she was more than happy with herself. Ari rushed in again, picking up the top half of her sword and throwing it at him as a distraction—
Ari: "AWCK-"
—Ari stumbled back, covering her mouth to keep herself from throwing up. Ari clutched her stomach where he had unexpectedly punched her, he didn't even try to block her distraction. Ari wobbled weakly as her eyes blurred with tears, Ari could barely make out the silhouette of the sword master walking closer to her until it was far too late for her to react. He slams his fist into her jaw, blood and tears flinging into the air as her head snaps up. Ari sees the blurry sky seemingly fall further from her as she hits the ground, dropping into black on impact.
Ari later awoke inside the sword master's home on his couch, she had an old worn sack filled with ice sitting over her face, her hand was wrapped up in bandages, and she was utterly exhausted. Ari didn't spend much time away before she closed her eyes again and slept for another thirty minutes, too tired from the fight to even think about standing up again. After a little over thirty minutes, the sword master woke her up to send her home. Ari sat up and rubbered her eyes, but immediately wincing once she touched her blackened and bruised eye.
Ari: "Thank you for today—but I'm seriously going to beat your ass the next time I'm here!"
Ari stood up with a fiery passion as she yelled, only to wince and plop back down onto the couch!
Ari: Ow—man, now I look pathetic!
The sword master laughed a little before sending her out, the sun was near setting behind the mountains so Ari would have to hurry home or her parents would probably send the whole village to search for her or something like that. Ari made her way to the stone brick stairs towards the main part of the village, walking past the white walls, empty merchant shops, and the deserted streets which were littered with people only a few hours ago. Ari walked and walked as the houses thinned out little bits at a time, replaced with farm land and crops glimmering with an orange hue as she passed.
Ari: Damn it, I got my ass beat today. Nineteen losses in one day? Seriously? How bad do I have to be to lose a whole NINETEEN times consecutively?
Ari passed by the few villages who were still out around this time, mainly farmers who worked late to provide for the village. She got a lot of concerned looks from the spouses of the farmers who waited by the door for them and a lot of disappointed and rude looks from the farmers themselves, as far as they were concerned; Ari was the worst kid in the village. Not only did Ari do nothing to provide for the village, but she was constantly getting injured and requiring resources that people thought shouldn't be wasted on someone who will never learn her lesson. That's why so many people didn't like her, it was the reason she had run away from the village when she was younger too.
Ari: What are they staring at? Who's gonna protect the village when it gets attacked, huh? Why should I do it? I should leave them all to handle it themselves if they think I'm just, 'oh, so useless'.
Ari continued to walk down her path, her head stooped low as her hair blew in the night wind. Ari's crimson eyes followed the rock she kicked up every couple of steps, not to mention one villager ran away from her screaming 'MONSTER!!!' because of her eyes; Ari never really looked people in the eye after that day. The houses slowly thinned out until she reached her house at the edge of town, Ari looked at the door handle with a mix of relief and dread.
Ari: Please… don't yell at me for getting roughed up again…
Ari pushed the handle down and let the door creak open, the smell of food and the warm light from the oil lamps that lit her home. Ari stepped inside, her head still locked with the floor.
???: "ARIIIIII~"
Ari recognized the cheerful voice almost immediately, and all her disappointment seemed to fade away at that second.