The sound of cicadas gently buzzing along with the gentle rhythm of wind chimes echoed throughout the night, and Jordan sighed as he stared out his window. The washi paper that provided a barrier between him and the elements gently rustled in the breeze, though it provided little comfort as he pounded the pillow violently before attempting to lay down and go to sleep once more. In every one of his 14 years of life, he had found it difficult getting to sleep on time. Mostly it was because of his overactive imagination, trying to picture what new gifts his parents would bring from their latest trips. It was hard to blame him, as the presents that a child receives from their Jifu Rider parents tended to be fairly difficult to find anywhere else.
But tragically, his parents were both home safe and sound, his father's snoring echoing through the hallways being proof of that. He nuzzled his head as deeply into the pillow as it would go, trying to think about the airship cabin that he and his friend Derrick had to clean the next day, hoping that the thought of physical labor would be enough to finally send him off to sleep. However, just as he felt his mind finally begin to drift, the strangest sound that he could have heard made his eyes shoot wide open.
Silence.
No buzzing cicadas, no rustling paper, and even the breeze itsellf seemed to cease. Jordan slowly stood up on the tatami mat, knowing that his small stature would make him unable to see outside while he was still sitting. He let out a yawn as he approached the window, though he never closed his eyes as he did so, which allowed him to see the first explosion.
A pillar of flame erupted from the forest just outside of the village walls, the concussive force of the blast knocking the half elf teenager onto his back. He let out a violent cough as he felt the wind get knocked out of him, and groaned before struggling to his feet. He shook his head violently in an attempt to regain his composure, and returned his gaze to the window just as two smaller pillars erupted on either side of the first. As soon as the other explosions came into view, Jordan turned and ran to his door, sliding it open and yelling the first words that came to mind.
"Mom! Dad!" he shouted, scrambling into the hallway and making his way toward his parents bedroom. Before he was even a quarter of the way down the hall, a bald elven man and a human woman with short black hair violently slid the door open and crashed into the hallway, each wearing matching yellow cloaks and tapered trousers with loosely tied rope belts.
"Jordan!" The man shouted, holding out his arms as the teenager instinctively ran into them. "Are you hurt?" He asked, slightly pushing Jordan away without letting go of his shoulders as he meticulously examined his body.
"No, I'm ok," Jordan said, pulling away from his father as the adrenaline of the situation began to dull slightly while teenage embarrassment took its place. "What's happening?" He asked, looking toward his mother, who Jordan usually considered her the voice of reason in emergencies. Even though his father was an equally skilled Jifu Rider, it was safe to say that he was not a man who was afraid to show his emotions.
"Calm down, Scott," she said as she put her hand on her husband's shoulder before turning to look at Jordan. "The village is under attack by Reavers. Lucy sent word about 10 minutes ago that 3 airships are approaching the town's border. The automated defenses aren't going to hold for long, so we need to get you out of the village. Do you remember the escape plan that we taught you?" She asked, bending to get down on one knee and speak to him at eye level. Jordan attempted to avoid eye contact, but could feel the all too familiar stare of his mother burning into his face, eventually giving in with a sigh.
"Yeah…but where are you-"Jordan began to ask before his mother cut him off.
"Jordan, I want to make this clear. Your father and I are two of the strongest people to have ever sailed the skies. I don't like to brag, but it's true," she said, and Jordan chuckled as his father shrugged and nodded behind her. "The only way that any Reaver could ever beat us is by using you. If we know that you're safe, we can do our jobs and protect our home. So will you please get to safety and help us save this place?" She asked, not blinking once as her deep brown eyes stared into Jordan's. While he had known for his whole life the kind of people that his parents were, this was the first time that Jordan was confronted with the reality of their situation. When they retired 5 years before and permanently settled down in this village, they both told Jordan that they made an oath: to protect their new home no matter what.
His instinct was to tell them to stay. To tell them that he needed them and he wanted them to protect him. But as he stared into his mother's eyes and heard the screaming from outside, the words would not come out of his mouth. Instead, the young man took a deep breath and gulped down the bevy of emotions that he felt swirling around inside of his chest, attempting to paint a smile on his face as tears rolled down it.
"Don't worry about me, just focus on saving everyone you can. I'll make sure we have something good to eat for dinner tomorrow, ok?" Jordan said as he rubbed the moisture out of his eyes.
Within the next 30 seconds, Jordan could feel the tears actively streaming down his face as he took off through the burning streets of Chikaryu village. His parents had drilled the escape plan into his mind from the time he was 9 years old, though as he weaved throughout the paths, he found it impossible to see clearly. He was constantly blinking as he ran, the combination of his tears and the smoke from the burning homes around him obscuring his vision, and he continued to rely mostly on his muscle memory to carry him to safety as he tried to ignore the yelling and clashing of steel that surrounded him.
Just as he made the final turn before a straight shot would take him to safety, a figure turned the corner simultaneously and slammed into him, slamming him into the ground and knocking the wind out of him for the second time in the past 20 minutes. He wheezed as he quickly struggled to his feet, the adrenaline that was coursing through his body overpowering the pain. He furiously wiped his eyes as the figure in front of him stood up, though his vision quickly blurred once more when he recognized who stood in front of him.
"Derrick," he said, an involuntary smile breaking out over his face as he stumbled into the chest of his childhood best friend. "You're ok," he said, as he felt a comforting pat on his back.
"Crybaby," he joked, and Jordan immediately pulled away and began wiping the dirt from his cloak. He scowled at his friend, though he couldn't help but find it comical in their moment of peril that they both found themselves wearing the cloak of their parents shared crew. The brown skin of his dark elf ears poked out of the yellow hood, and the haori style jacket that he wore covered a cotton shirt that had been badly singed.
"Did you get burnt?" Jordan asked as he saw the damaged clothing.
"Nothing major. Did your parents go to fight too?" He asked, though before Jordan could answer, the shockwave of a massive explosion from the next block over nearly knocked both of them off of their feet. The two of them looked up instinctively, as the green and orange light that was now streaking across the night sky was difficult to ignore.
"Yeah, that's probably mom. Let's run and talk," Jordan said, and Derrick nodded as the pair took off down the street in the direction of that Jordan had initially been going. "Why were you going this way? The airship is in the eastern lot, right?" Jordan asked, coughing as a thick veil of smoke began to descend upon the entire village.
"I was looking for you, idiot. There's no way you'd have survived without me, look at how uncoordinated you are," he said, motioning to Jordan's skinny legs as he gradually fell behind his more athletically gifted friend.
"I'm just a late bloomer, and you can't make me ashamed of it," Jordan said sarcastically, unable to help himself from joking despite the dire circumstances. "If we cut down this way, we can hop the fence and get into the airship within the next minute," Jordan said as he pointed to a thin alley between two burning homes. Derrick nodded, and the pair ducked under the roaring flames of the businesses on either side of them as they entered a thin alleyway. However, they both slid to a stop as a guttural scream pierced the night sky.
"Stop it, please!" The voice of a young girl shouted. Jordan looked down the alley toward the source of the noise and audibly gasped as he saw a fully grown human man repeatedly kicking a child who could not have been older than 12. "Leave my brother alone!" The girl shouted, attempting to yank the man off of her sibling only to be rewarded by being thrown into the wall behind her.
"Let the boy take his punishment like a man, sweetie!" The thug yelled, his scratchy voice straining from years of what Jordan assumed were cigarettes among other various other poor life decisions. "He seemed like such a brave kid when he came flailing at me with that flimsy kitchen knife. But don't worry, Gorin Geird is a man of his word," he said with a twisted yellow smile that was missing several teeth as he kicked the boy once more in the stomach. At this point there were no more cries of pain, only wet coughs that covered the ground next to the him in blood. "I told you I'd let both of you go once he's taken a beating for him and a beating for you, so just sit back and enjoy the show-" Gorin started to say before an unexpected blow to his ribs knocked him cleanly off of his feet. He yelped in pain as he awkwardly landed on his wrist, and turned behind him to see a skinny half elf sitting on the ground rubbing his head.
"Leave them alone man, you look pathetic beating up a kid," Jordan said, wiping away the blood dribbling down his forehead from where he made contact with the man's chainmail. "Maybe a head butt wasn't the smartest move," Jordan said to himself as he saw Gorin stand to his feet. Without a word, the Reaver unsheathed the sword that had been holstered on his side, and raised it above his head as he looked down at Jordan with murderous intent.
"How do I look now?" He asked, his bloodshot eyes adding to his crazed demeanor.
"Like you need a dentist," Derrick said before he leaped up to the man's face and smashed a rock directly into his jaw.
Despite his blurry vision, the clatter of a sword and the yelp of pain was all Jordan needed to hear to begin moving to. He took advantage of his small size, squeezing in between his would be assailant's legs and shielding the young boy's body with his own. He then bent down to get a closer look, and grimaced as he saw the fountains of blood pouring from everywhere it could on the poor boy's face.
"Can you stand?" He asked recieving only bloody gurgles in response. "Yeah I wouldn't want to either, bud. You've been very brave today, so now it's our turn to be brave for you," he said, turning to see Derrick running toward them with a bloody but very angry reaver behind him.
"He's not friendly! Let's go!" He shouted, sprinting down the alleyway and scooping up the unconscious boy as he did so.
"Thank god, we'd all be dead if I had to carry him. C'mon, let's go," Jordan said while he grabbed the young girl's hand and pulled her along.
The 4 kids began hustling down the alleyway, their small legs carrying them as quickly as they could. Jordan peeked behind them, unable to help himself from laughing as Gorin tripped and face planted before even taking two steps toward them. Emerging from the alley, Jordan waved his hand in front of his face as he attempted to clear the rampant smoke from his vision. Though the fires had not decreased in severity, his eyes had begun to adjust slightly, and he could vaguely make out the glowing lock on the yard's front gate. With a wave of his hand, he guided the kids up to the gate, and he typed his birthday into the gate's lock mechanism. He thanked whatever god was above that his father's memory was too poor for multiple combinations, and with a few sparks of energy, the gears shifted with several squeaks and groans as the door swung open.
While the smoke still filled his lungs and the screams of his fellow villagers continued to pierce his ears, Jordan felt hopeful for the first time since the attack started as the 4 of them could now casually make their way toward the airship. The half elf teenager continued to rub his eyes, finally able to clearly see the environment around him for the first time, and smiled as he took in the familiar sight before him. Over the past 5 years, he had visited the airship yard more times than he could count. The village that he lived in was home to a few retired Jifu riders, and the subtle differences between the ships was something that he always found interesting. Though as much as the craftsmanship fascinated him, his immediate concern was the kids that they had with them. Both of them wore untied kimonos and simple cotton shorts and undershirts, indicating how hastily they had been forced to escape their home. While the boy's injuries were obviously serious, the girl was not without several scrapes and bruises herself.
"Is he breathing, Derrick?" Jordan asked as he continued to tug the girl along. He looked down and could see her eyes blankly staring forward as her movements began to slow, and he squeezed her hand tightly while continuing to move toward his parent's ship.
"Yeah, he's banged up though. We need to get him to Dr. Elton, but he's probably fighting at the front gate with our parents," Derrick said as he attempted to wipe some of the blood off of the boy's face with his sleeve.
"For now, let's just into the airship!" Jordan shouted over an explosion just outside of the yard's gate. "Once we turn on the automated defenses we sh-"Jordan began to say before a massive explosion of purple flames erupted a few feet in front of him. For the third time that night, the force of an explosion knocked him onto his back, and he was surprised that there was still wind left to knock out of him. After taking a moment to let the ringing in his ears stop, he slowly sat up and attempted to see what the source of the explosion was.
However, all that he could see was the dozen or so reavers that now surrounded them.
They stood around the kids like vultures circling around a corpse, and Jordan gulped as he stood to his feet before looking to his left to see Derrick gently lay the boy down before he did the same. His eyes darted around the chaos that surrounded them, and he felt his heart sink as he saw the airship that they had been racing towards was already up in flames. The distant sight of his mother's purple light was also discouraging, as even her insane speed would still not allow her to arrive in time.
"Search the area!" One of the Reavers shouted, causing Jordan to turn toward the sound of his voice. The black trench coats were indicators of an average Reaver with no particular status on their crew, so Jordan assumed that the deep indigo of the half orc man's jacket signified a leadership position in some way. "The Jifu Riders that live here are all retired, and I want whatever they've kept over the last few decades on our ships by the end of the night!" the man shouted, receiving an emphatic cheer in response.
Jordan felt his legs start to shake as the reavers began to move, but he felt a twinge of relief as it seemed that they were all significantly more interested in pillaging the yard's airships then dealing with 4 kids. Not a single one seemed to even notice that they were there, and he felt a small tug on his sleeve, sharply turning to see Derrick with a finger over his mouth. Once they made eye contact, his friend pointed to a massive hole in the gate that led to the forest outside of the village. Jordan nodded, and grabbed the young girl's hand once more. While the primary escape plan that his parents had established was to get into the airship, the roaring flames that were now crackling off of it made it seem like a less than ideal option. However, both he and Derrick knew the forest from their time adventuring through it as children, and he could already picture several spots that would be difficult for the fires to spread to.
However, just as Derrick bent back down and loaded the unconscious boy onto his shoulders, a concussive blow that Jordan did not have the time to perceive cracked into the side of his head. His legs crumpled beneath him immediately, and he face planted into the mud below as he heard Derrick shouting above him. His friend was not able to even get a full sentence out before the sound of a fist cracking into his skull stopped him mid sentence. Though spots now clouded the edges of his vision, Jordan was able to gather enough strength to look up and see his assailant, recognizing the bloody nose and lack of teeth from their old friend Gorin.
"Boss, these are the dumbass kids that threw a rock at my face!" he shouted as brown spittle flew from his mouth like the liquid of a bursting swamp bubble. "Can I kill them?" He asked with the giddiness of a child asking for sweets.
"I don't care Gorin, just hurry it up and help us loot these ships!" The half orc man in the indigo jacket shouted.
The sound of Gorin's cackle filled Jordan's ears, and he weakly attempted to rise to his feet. Though as much as he tried, the wobbliness of his legs and the dizziness caused by his head injury made it an impossible task, and he crumpled back onto the ground as he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed.
"You're first pipsqueak," he said, stopping just in front of Jordan's head and ensuring to kick plenty of mud into his face. "I want to make that brat who broke my nose watch your head roll before his does," he said coldly, and Jordan closed his eyes as he heard the sound of a blade approaching his neck.
Then he felt nothing. He heard nothing, and he wasn't in pain anymore.
Jordan thought for a moment that he had already died, but eventually he realized that he simply still had his eyes closed. With hesitation, he opened them, and nearly closed them immediately as he was blinded by a brilliant emerald glow. He attempted to stand, and was able to do so with ease as he felt the pain in his head and legs cease immediately, and he couldn't help but smile as he saw his father in front of him.
He looked the same as when Jordan had left the house that night, but with one key difference: his right fist was glowing with a nearly blindingly bright emerald flame.
Jordan looked around them, noticing for the first time a small dome of the same emerald flame that surrounded the 6 of them. The glow of his father's shield was a familiar one, as the more casual uses of it included protecting one's family from rain during a picnic, and Jordan smiled at the warmth that filled the brilliant dome of pure Iruyōri that surrounded them. Finally, he looked down at Gorin, who was now cowering on the ground in front of them, his 3 teeth chattering as much as they could.
"I would recommend…that you leave my son alone, young man," Jordan's father said, with a tone so serious and intimidating that even Jordan began sweating a bit himself.
"What the hell are you?" Gorin whispered, and Jordan noticed that all of the other reavers had stopped their looting and taken notice of his father as well. "I've never felt iruyori like this before, I thought you were all retired and washed up," Gorin said, his voice lowering with every word until it sounded as if a mouse was speaking.
"Oh no, I'm just retired," Jordan's father said as his face broke out into a concerningly large smile. "Now, do I have to repeat myself?" He asked, his glowing fist visibly tightening as he finished speaking.
"Everyone retreat!" The reaver in the indigo jacket shouted. "We're cutting our losses, meet up at the rendezvous point!" He yelled as he began walking toward one of the several large holes that they had made in the yard's fence, and was immediately met with protest.
"Boss, it's just one guy," one of the other reavers shouted, eliciting a few mutters of agreement from the others.
"That one guy is Jonathan "Emerald Fist" Hamilton. Have you guys ever seen the fissure between Tenkumachi and Kodaisaba?" The man in the blue coat asked as he passed through the gate. "He made it," he said, pointing to Jordan's father and retreating into the forest.
With those words, Jordan could see the expression on each Reaver's face instantly change. Starting with Garin who clumsily scrambled up from the ground, the rest of the Reaver crew fled the yard, though Jonathan did not allow the emerald field to fall until each Reaver had fully vacated the premises. Once the chaos had finally settled, Jordan could see the field of bright green Iruyōri begin to finally fade, and he instantly felt the pain in his legs and head return as he began to fall to the ground again. Before he could however, he felt his father's arm catch him, and he finally felt safe enough to allow himself to pass out.