I

  laid there sobbing for a long time, until I couldn’t cry anymore.

  The cold morning air turned warm as the morning dragged on into the

  afternoon. I stayed there, unmoving. Manna’s words like a knife

  slowly turning in my gut. I don’t know how long I laid there, but

  when a familiar voice spoke, I sat bolt upright. “Now, I leave you

  for one day Tama and you fall to pieces like I killed Jiggle.”

  Sensei said, his voice sounded pained but also full of amusement. I

  looked at him and tears began to fall from my eyes. I pinched myself

  to make sure it wasn’t a dream before standing up and rushing up to

  hug him. He winced from the contact but didn’t push me away. If he

  had looked like a blender had spit him out last night, He looked like

  death twice warmed over now. I felt him leaning against me and I held

  him up.

  “Tama,

  Today is your graduation day!” He said happily, even as he winced.

  He suddenly coughed up blood and I quickly helped him inside. I

  rushed and brought him a health potion. He smiled and took it, but

  didn’t drink it. I tried to make him, but he held firm.

  “Drink

  it!” I cried, but he shook his head.

  “Tama,

  I have a gift for you, I wasn’t able to give it until today, but

  now its time.” He said between coughs.

  “The

  only gift Tama needs is her sensei to be okay!” I cried in a panic.

  I tried once again to give him the potion but he took it and it

  vanished. I punched the ground and sobbed.

  “Listen

  to me Tama, in the study, there is a special secret hatch under the

  table. Bring me the box inside. I looked at him, into his eyes. After

  a moment I slowly nodded and stood up, I quickly rushed over and

  pushed the desk carelessly out of the way, forcing the hidden door

  open and grabbing an ornate box inside. I turned and rushed back to

  him. I quickly tried to heal him but he held my hand. “Save your

  energy Tama, please” He said as he gently took the ornate box. He

  lay against the back wall, his back against it. I noticed a small

  puddle of blood under him.

  “Tama

  needs to heal you!” I screeched at him. He winced but shook his

  head. “It won’t work, Trust me.”

  I

  shook from pain and anger as he sat there. How could he be so calm?!

  He was dying! Finally, I just fell to my knees and stared blankly at

  the ground. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t force him to

  accept my healing and he took the only potion we had left and hid it.

  “Why”

  I begged.

  He

  smiled at me and whispered “He is back, I won’t let him hurt

  you.” He said as he coughed up more blood, by now the blood under

  him looked like a mini pool and I was trying not to fall apart even

  worse. He pushed the ornate box into my hands and whispered to me

  “Take her, give her a name… and run Tama. In my room, in my

  nightstand is a map to Drestor. Find Aunt Talia, she will guide you.”

  I tried to heal him again but he just shook his head and I stopped.

  “Remember Tama, You are an ocean in a drought. You are meant for so

  much more. But most importantly, you are my daughter and I will

  always love you.” He looked me directly in the eyes as he spoke, he

  hand holding my chin. I felt his hand loosen and watched his eyes

  dim.

  I

  sat there for a long time, disbelief flooded me as I stared. I didn’t

  believe it, I wouldn’t believe it.. Sensei was dead. But… but

  sensei couldn’t die. He was a traveler right? A long moment passed

  as I processed what I just though and I wiped my tears and began to

  giggle. Slowly, I stood and took the ornate box.

  Sensei

  didn’t die, he couldn’t die. He was just at the nearest church

  waking up naked. This was all a funny prank he was pulling on me.

  I

  watched his corpse, waiting for it to puff into smoke like travelers

  bodies did when they died. Just vanishing, leaving only his clothes

  behind. It didn’t change, it didn’t vanish. All that happened was

  that after a moment, his corpse slid to the side slightly, his dull

  eyes staring back at me. I remembered my mothers eyes .

  I

  turned, and walked out of the cabin. I didn’t go to my room and

  grab anything. I didn’t look for Jiggle, I didn’t even grab the

  map. I walked out of the cabin, and walked into the woods. My eyes

  glassy and my mind blank as I chose a direction and just ran. I don’t

  know how long or far I ran, I didn’t really care either. The wild

  animals avoided me like always and I didn’t run into any goblins. I

  just kept running and blinking. When I couldn’t blink anymore, I

  just ran, when I couldn’t run, I walked. Finally, when I couldn’t

  walk anymore. I collapsed into a heap on the ground. I stared

  aimlessly in front of me in a detached sense. After all, what was

  there? Nothing, that was all there every was. Everything I touched

  just… died. My mother, my Father, my Sensei.. even Jiggle was just

  gone. I wanted to cry, to sob. But I couldn’t do it, nothing come

  out. I just stared blankly into the nothingness.

  I

  heard her wings before I sensed her presence. I ignored her, she was

  like everyone else. She would die like everyone else. Her footsteps

  as she walked up to me pounded in my ears. She leaned over and there

  was silence again. I heard the thud of things being dropped on the

  ground next to me.

  Then

  she spoke, I barely listened. “I know it hurts Tama, but you will

  see this was all inevitable. If you truly want vengeance… You need

  to get stronger and fight back.”

  I

  ignored her, and after awhile, I felt as her wings buffeted me. She

  was gone and I was once again alone in the forest. I felt the chill

  as the darkness encroached, good. I didn’t want to see anything

  anyways.

  Slowly,

  the night turned back to morning and I felt the morning chill replace

  the nightly chill. My stomach growled at me. I hadn’t eaten since

  yesterday morning. I wondered if I could just starve to death.

  Slowly, the hunger became to much and I sat up. Next to me was a

  large satchel and an ornate box.

  At

  first, I wanted to ignore the items and just lay back down. But my

  stomach demanded otherwise. I reached out and opened the bag. Inside

  was a map that shows my home with a red line drawn to a town called

  Drestor. There was also a note and a bag of sandwiches. I ignored the

  note and ate some of the sandwiches.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I

  sat there quietly after that, lost in my own thoughts. Something

  Manna said sat with me, it wouldn’t leave me alone. “If you truly

  want vengeance… You need to get stronger and fight back.” Her

  words echoed in my head again and again.

  I

  turned to look at the ornate box. The last thing sensei ever gave me.

  I slowly picked it up, almost afraid to see what was inside. Slowly,

  I opened the box and looked inside.

  I

  gasped in surprise at what I saw. Inside was a beautiful and ornately

  made Katana, Rune’s covered it from hilt to tip. It glowed with an

  ethereal enchantment. It’s form almost liquid yet not. The hilt was

  a dark blue and covered in a purple star pattern. Without thinking, I

  slowly lifted the blade.. no.. her. I slowly lifted her out of the

  box. I felt her presence instantly. It was calm, endless, serene. I

  felt something I had did not remember feeling since… I winced but

  she calmed me with her… “Tama will call you Serenity” I

  whispered. “For you will help Tama find peace in her world despite

  all she has lost.”

  Tears

  filled my eyes and I smiled. Yes, Serenity was there for me now. She

  would comfort me, a perfect parting gift from my sensei.

  Slowly,

  I stood as I held my baby in my hands. She hummed quietly and her

  waves calmed me. I closed my eyes as I held her, forgetting

  everything else as I felt the peace overcome me.

  After

  a long moment I opened my eyes and sighed heavily. I had found my

  Serenity, now, I would get me vengeance. I was too weak right now,

  but that just meant like Manna said, I had to get stronger. Strong

  enough to protect everyone close to me. I was supposed to be the

  greatest ninja, and I would never forget that again. I looked in the

  bag again, and I noticed a few things I had missed in my grief filled

  state earlier. I once again thanked sensei for Serenity, and Serenity

  for her calm.

  Manna

  had also packed my clothes (much to my regret) and my dagger. She had

  also put the bag she had given me in there. The one with the amulet

  in it. I took out thew amulet and really looked at it. Then I closed

  my eyes and put it on. Manna wanted a chosen hero, she would have her

  chosen hero. As long as I got revenge for my sensei. I would do

  anything.

  I

  am not sure what I expected when I put it on, but nothing seemed to

  change. I didn’t feel any different and Manna didn’t suddenly

  appear. I stood there for a long moment waiting, when nothing

  happened I took it off and put it back on. Still nothing. I shrugged

  and pulled out the map. I still ignored the note, I was barely

  functional right now and I knew it. There was no way I was opening

  that bomb.

  I

  sheathed Serenity and put her across my back. Her new home where she

  would protect not just me, but everyone who needed her.

  I

  opened the map again and looked at it. I had no idea how to read this

  map, and as I looked around myself. I realized I was lost. In my

  grief I had just run into the forest without reason or direction and

  it was coming back to bite me. I was sure I could find my way back to

  the clearing if I really had to, but I wasn’t going to do that. The

  thought of sensei’s corpse just laying there was too much right

  now. He deserved a burial, but I was barely holding on. “Tama is

  sorry sensei, she promises she will return to bury you when she has

  recovered…” I said quietly to myself. Tears filled my eyes, but

  Serenity helped calm me again.

  I

  noticed the map had the mountains at the top, I know me and sensei

  lived just south of the mountains. That meant I had to have gone

  either east, south, or west. That didn’t really help my current

  state, but it gave me an idea how I could figure it out. I gently

  closed the case Serenity had come in and put learned it clicked into

  a smaller box. I smiled at sensei planning ahead. I put the smaller

  ornate box and everything else in the bag. I made my way to the

  nearest tree and after taking a deep breath, I started to count in my

  head. It would take two full rests between, but I should be able to

  do it.

  I

  jumped into the air and blinked, landing on the lowest branch, then I

  jumped and blinked again and again, and again, and again. Slowly, I

  made my way up the ancient tree. I made it to the top, or near it at

  least after about an hour. I always knew these tree’s were massive,

  but I have never tried to climb one and as I lay there one of their

  massive thick branches panting. I now realized why I had never bother

  trying.

  I

  finally caught my breath and sat up, climbing to my feet I looked

  around and saw trees for hundreds of miles in almost every direction.

  But, to the right it seemed the trees cut off sooner, and as

  expected, to the north were the mountains. Which to my shock, were

  actually slightly smaller then the trees. I could see their peaks

  from here.

  I

  reveled in being so high up, but reality came crashing back down soon

  enough and I pulled out my map. Based on the map, and my current

  location from the mountains, I was actually on target for Drestor. I

  just had to keep going the direction I had been going. “Huh, Tama

  is super lucky it seems” I said aloud. My mind instantly shut that

  down “Clearly not for everyone around you.” I froze for a second,

  my tail snapping before I shook my head and pointed myself in the

  right direction.

  For

  now, I smiled to myself and walked to the edge of the branch. I took

  a deep breath and a wide grin covered my face. I jumped and instantly

  began to drop at an alarming rate. I dodged past the branches like

  they were enemies and blinked past ones I couldn’t dodge. I felt my

  skin begin to pull and my body start to be crushed by the speed. I

  blinked again, but this time up. It slowed my momentum and put me a

  few feet above where I was. I then began to drop again. Even falling

  with slight bumps to prevent reaching terminal velocity, it still

  took me over an hour of falling to reach the bottom. Even so, my fall

  was still rapid and I hit the ground hard.

  I

  had planned for this of course and rolled as I landed, minimizing the

  impact. I still felt my ribs shatter and my knee’s snap in half.

  The ground beneath me cratered from my impact and I almost lost

  consciousness. I began pushing water into myself the moment before I

  hit the ground and I subconsciously continued as my body slowly knit

  itself back together. It took another fifteen minutes to fully heal

  and my knees still felt sore. But, it was a lot faster then climbing

  down.

  I

  limped for a few minutes until my legs felt okay again and I began

  jogging in the direction of Drestor. Based on the map, and my

  location. It should take me only a couple days. I must have really

  moved far during my breakdown I thought bitterly.

  Even

  as I started to move however, the sun began to set and I realized

  climbing the tree and coming back down had literally taken the entire

  day. I sighed and considered traveling through the night. Then

  decided against it. Instead I gathered some sticks from nearby and

  moved to an area that wasn’t cratered. I gathered up forest rocks

  and made a circle, then placed the dry sticks in the center of the

  rocks. I grabbed two more sticks and started a fire. The fire wasn’t

  for vision, I could see in the dark. It was to alert enemies I was

  here, when I wasn’t. I walked over to the nearest tree and blinked

  six times rapidly, appearing on one of the branches at random. I

  checked and made sure I had a clear view of the campfire before

  nodding. I ran my water until it was hot and made a small hole in the

  tree that I put the hot water in. I undressed and got into my

  makeshift bath all while keeping an eye on the campfire below.

  Tomorrow,

  I would start my travel to Drestor.