TO FIND ONE’S HOME

Hikaru stared at the fields before him. The sun was just about to set on the west. The field was covered by its reddish glow. He couldn’t afford to travel in the dark. He couldn’t think of what could happen when it is dark.

He let his horse gallop fast on the vast plain. He had been travelling the whole day. He had transferred from train to bus to horse. When he get to the woods, he would walk by foot.

He wondered whether those guys had finally noticed that he was gone. Hopefully, they were still busy tending to Kei’s heart break to notice. He didn’t want the others to wonder where he was. He couldn’t afford the attention that might cause.

Hikaru let the horse gallop faster. It was necessary. Time was not his best friend at the time. If he let it slip in his hands, he wouldn’t be able to  reach his destination in time.

Hikaru stopped when the horse stopped at the foot of the cliff. He stared ahead. He saw tall bamboo trees surrounding a vast flower field of different colors. He could barely see the differing colors meaning his surrounding was a darker hue than earlier.

He cursed and pulled the reign of his horse. He let it walk towards the east.

If he could remember correctly, there was a small waterfalls in that area. He stopped and listened until he could hear the gushing sound of a running water. He tried to locate it. It was hidden beyond a small hill. Nobody had travelled this way before. They didn’t know this shortcut but he, on the other hand knew better.

He jumped down from his horse, located an area where it can graze freely and tied it on a huge tree. From here on, he would travel by foot.

Hikaru stared at the crystal clear waters. He held his hand out and let the cold water cascade through his arms. It was colder at this time of the day but he couldn’t care less as he stepped on it and let it flow in his body.

The falls led into a concave. He needed to cross it until there is some hint of light from the far east. He jumped inside the darker cave, took a torched that had been tossed aside and lighted it using his lighter.

He ran and jumped as fast as he can. Most people took another day of travelling to get to the village but he knew better. He knew better than to camp out in the woods in the west. Wild animals roam that part of the forest at night and he was not sure if this part of earth hadn’t been invaded by those monsters yet.

He pulled to the stop in at the exit of the cave. “Kusu!” he cursed. It was already dark. There was no trail to follow in this part of the valley so he needed to be careful. He grabbed his torch and led himself towards the village.

He passed rows and rows of different flowers. The village that he was trying to reach was invisible to those unknowing people. It was hidden by huge mountainous and rocky terrain, nobody would suspect that there was civilization in this part of the country.

He sighed when he reached the border.

The border was at the foot of a mountain itself. Who would have expect that to go inside the village, you needed to knock at the mountain itself. There were several openings in this part of the mountain. In each one, there were guards protecting it from suspicious people.

Hikaru tried to feel his way. He tapped on every part that he could feel. When his fist landed on something hollow, he knocked three times followed by another two and three.

“Who goes there?” he heard a faint sound opposite the hollow.

“Agripious!” he answered and stepped away.

A part of the rocky mountain was pushed showing a door. He stepped in and came face to face with a burly man in his thirties.

He was let in.

As he walked inside, he could smell the familiar iron ore. It had a certain familiarity that brought memories.

He let himself within the walled village. Through the night, he could still navigate using the dim light of the streets. In every side, there were stone houses that were enough to accommodate a small family. Livestock could also be seen beside some houses. Those who were capable enough had stable for a few horses.

He swerved in one street, walked farther until he came face to face with one of the biggest stone houses in the small village.

There were light inside. The chimney was emitting smoke showing that there was currently a living fire inside.

He let himself in the iron fence and knocked on the wooden door.

“Yes?” a lady who was in her 50s and quite fat opened the huge oak door. “Oh my god!” she exclaimed as she saw him in front of their door. “Are my eyes playing with me?” she asked to nobody.

“No, auntie. It really is me.” Hikaru answered.

“Oh my! God bless me! It really is you, Hikaru-kun.” The lady smothered him with kisses on the cheeks and gave him a big hug before letting him go. “Shou, Hikaru-kun is here!” she shouted inside.

A big man, also in his 50s came in the open. He looked at him as if it was a shock that he would step on that same house again. “What a surprise!” he said and opened his arms to the younger one.

Hikaru smiled and hugged his uncle.

“How have you been?” he old man asked.

“I’m fine, thank you!” Hikaru answered.

“Come inside. I will just prepare food for you. You must be hungry.”

“I am starving!” Hikaru stated while the old lady busied herself in the kitchen.

“What brought you here?” Uncle Shou asked Hikaru and led him in front of the fire and helped him off his booths and jacket.

“I just want to visit.”

There was a hoarse laugh. “Don’t joke, Hikaru. I know you, child. You need something.”

“Hey, is it wrong to visit my uncle?”

The man looked at him knowingly. “What do you need?”

Hikaru sighed. “I need help.”

The man studied Hikaru. “Of what?”

Hikaru stood up and get near the fire. He warmed his hands while staring at the yellowish color. “I need the help of the Primera.”

His uncle didn’t say anything so he continued. “Japan is facing a situation. Vampires are roaming the roads of every prefecture. There were more and more casualties. Dead bodies are everywhere. We couldn’t win this war without help. The Primeras are powerful. They could help.”

“And what made you think I will allow that?”

Hikaru faced his uncle. “I know that you won’t agree easily but uncle, this is not just our war.” He replied. “It is a war of all.”

“Don’t you think that vampires are enough? Being the primeras  outside the walls is another.”

“Uncle, they could fight and fight well.”

His uncle looked down to think before looking back at him. “I won’t allow it.”

“Uncle?!”

The older man stood up. “You heard me! I won’t allow it. The primeras are living peacefully here. They are not bothered. They are not suffering. They are not hunted. They had been swept out of the world outside these walls and I have no intention to let them step out there again!”

“But we need their help!” Hikaru stated firmly. “You don’t know what risks are there. If the other clan find them here, the whole village will be slaughtered. The primeras will be used like they had never been before.”

Hikaru stepped towards his uncle who was looking sullenly on the fire. “You have to listen to me uncle. They are in grave danger as well as this village.”

“I will see to that when that time comes. As for now, they will live here, where they are safe. I swore upon my ancestors to protect them, and I will.” His uncle said and walked away.

Hikaru sighed and slumped on the couch.

“What happened?” Aunt Minako asked upon seeing the older man walked angrily away.

“I tried to ask uncle the help of the primeras.”

The lady was taken aback. “Hikaru, you know the stand of your uncle about this matter.” She said as she put down a bowl of stew in front of him.

Hikaru shook his head and sighed. “We are facing the darkest moment, auntie. We are desperate already. There are things that I couldn’t understand. The council are shunning us away. We are searching in the dark. We are helping the sorts that we had despise for all life.”

“You are conniving with the vampires?”

Hikaru sighed.

“Did you tell your uncle this, child?” she asked.

Hikaru shook his head. Her aunt sighed seemingly thankful that he didn’t tell his uncle anything about it.

“Do you know what you are doing?” she asked in a quiet voice, afraid that the man would hear her.

“We felt compelled. They are also being hunted by the other clan. There was something to them that was drawing us to help them. They needed us. They needed our protection.”

“Vampires don’t need protection of humans!” his aunt stated in a firm conviction. “When the primeras learned about this, do you think they would help you?! They might even break our ties with them.”

“They can’t do that. They needed this walls protection and uncle’s.”

The old lady sighed tiredly. “Go ahead and eat before the soup gets cold. We will talk about this tomorrow. But don’t ever tell your uncle about the vampires that you are helping.” She said in a hushed voice then stood up.

Hikaru was left playing with his spoon and a cooling soup.