Volume 1: Episode 1 - The Lost Village
NOTICE: The beginning of this episode occurs immediately following the diner scene in Short Stories Volume 2, Episode 2.
Rune Lake, New Berengaria, Diner
After ordering, Jaze, Adell, Kaoru, and Mitani waited for their food to arrive and Adell decided to continue flipping through the book that Jaze brought, "Nekomi Myths and Legends." Kaoru leaned to the side, straining his neck, trying to get a better look.
Kaoru: Hey, can I have a look at that?
Adell looked up, eyebrows high, and closed the book, realizing that he had been hogging it the entire time. He flipped it in his hand and passed it to Kaoru.
Adell: Sure thing.
Kaoru smiled and took the book, opening it immediately. After spending a short time thumbing through some of the pages, he landed on chapter 4 and read the title aloud.
Kaoru: "The Lost Village." Have you heard of that, Jaze?
Jaze, his mind hobbled with thoughts of the tuna salad sandwich he was about to receive, took a moment to react.
Jaze: Oh? Oh yes. Famous story. A bit similar, I suppose, to the Roanoke story from human history. It happened thousands of years ago. To this day, nobody knows what happened...
Ramewet, A Remote Village
Mercifully, the sunset was positioned behind a tall hill during the summer months, casting a comforting shadow upon the end of another sweltering day. The shade did nothing for the humidity and Kat perched his hoe upon his shoulder so that he could wipe his head once again. His ears fluttered as he wiped around them sending little drips flying all about. The work was nearly done for the day with row upon row of tidy green herbs and now several newly-dug rows ready for planting.
Kat's only company in the herb field were women. Older women, in fact, for this was considered their sort of work. Men were expected to do the hunting, but Kat's tiny, weak frame and timid disposition meant that nobody wanted him in their hunting group. He was fine with this, for they picked on him whenever he was near, treating him like little more than a dirty old plush toy, the sort that you give to your pet. Punching, kicking, shoving, being passed around as an object to be abused. Working in the field was not a life of dignity, but it was quiet and peaceful.
With the sun behind the hill, it was time to quit for the day and the planting would have to wait until tomorrow. Kat switched his hoe to the other hand and picked up his satchel, throwing it over his shoulder.
Granny: Are you coming to the town square tonight to welcome the hunters back?
Kat: Sorry, Granny. I think I just want to go home. I have some fish in a tub that need to eat before they die.
Granny: Well, you're welcome to come later!
Kat: I'll keep that in mind. See you tomorrow.
It was a pleasantry at best, for Kat had no intention of going only to feel inadequate on a grander scale. With his satchel by his side and hoe on his shoulder, he set off to make the trek back to his lonely home in the valley.
Halfway through his long walk, one of the hunting parties Granny mentioned crested a nearby rise. It was Resef's party, the worst one, together hauling a pallet of carcasses. Resef was the best hunter in the village and he made sure everyone knew it. Worse, the rest of the villagers all but worshipped him and turned a blind eye whenever Resef or one of his hunting party minions decided to use Kat as their personal punching toy.
The sight of Resef always saddened Kat, for when they were kids, Resef and Kat were friends. Back then, Resef and Kat stuck together, each being similarly timid and slight of build and together they supported each other through the bullying they received in equal amounts. Ten years ago, however, Resef changed. He started exercising and practicing hunting skills. He grew large and muscular, more than anyone ever thought possible. Almost overnight, he turned from friend to bully. Kat both hated and envied him for what he had become.
As if to put an emphatic mark on his superiority, Resef almost always carried his ceremonial spear wherever he went, the spear bestowed upon the best hunter in the village, and it certainly looked the part. It was unquestionably the most valuable object for miles, with finely carved, gilded grips and a tempered steel tip. Rumor was that Resef polished it for at least an hour every day, which was certainly believable given how shiny it was all the time. Resef always held it with both hands in such a way to show it off at all times.
Kat picked up his pace to a trot, trying to look as casual as possible and not like he was running away. His hopes that he might escape their attention came to a crashing end when a glob of mud slammed into the back of his head, sending him splat to the ground.
Resef: Good shot, Paru!
Kat looked up to see Resef's party laughing at him and Resef giving Paru a celebratory paw-slap. This was typical. Though the ringleader, Resef rarely instigated fights, but goaded his minions into it. There was only one who seemed immune to Resef's goading, and that was Dewa. He was a strange one. He showed up in the village ten years ago. Nobody knew where he came from and he was always seen with Resef, though never participated in any of his violent, juvenile shenanigans. He was the only one to cast a disapproving eye at any of them when they were up to no good, but did nothing to stop them.
Dewa was also, in Kat's eyes, devilishly handsome. He had a thick, black coat of fur with just a tinge of red down his chest and even blacker spots on his arms and shoulders. Dewa glared at Resef and the laughter amongst the group died away. Before helping gather the pallet and continue on to the village, Dewa cast a glance in Kat's direction and grinned slyly. Kat caught his gaze and though he desperately wanted to look away and pretend that Dewa didn't see his humiliation, he found it impossible to do so until Dewa did so first.
Finally, Resef and his band of followers picked up the pallet and continued to the village. Kat stood, brushing the dirt from his body and continued on to his home.
Kat's House
With a sigh coinciding with the creak of the opening door, Kat entered his home and tossed his satchel on a rickety chair. Before doing anything else, he had to investigate every dirty little corner and object in his tiny home to make sure nobody tried to prank him yet again. Paru, especially, made a game of stealing something small from Resef and hiding it somewhere in Kat's house. Of course, it was Kat who always suffered Resef's wrath for that. Kat didn't know if Resef knew it was always Paru's doing, but it likely didn't matter.
In the corner of his home was a small temple, sculpted from stone as a miniature version of the worship temple in the center of the village, complete with sculpted roof tiles and cat gargoyles looming over the corners. There, every day, he prayed to his late parents and, after dinner, he would put two morsels of fish inside the little red doors as an offering.
With the sun's light rapidly fading, Kat lit his lantern, the only one he had, and went outside to procure his live fish from the basin under his house. The night would be spent like all others, some food, some reading, and then bed.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
Zelbunnii
Miyumon
Atomic Clover
