10 The start

Morning, the sweet perfume of the flowers outside filled the air. A couple months already passed since Gaarek, Kohana, Rōjū and little Hanonai settled on the house. The first few weeks were rough, most of the days were spent filling holes in the ceiling and searching for food. Regardless, the group managed to create a food storage room filled with boxes. Rōjū spent days being taught how to use an axe by Gaarek, who's efforts resulted in the collection of wood for storage as well as materials for repairing the house. Kohana, on the other hand, spent her days checking Gaarek's wound for some minutes before going out to the back of the house and plowing the ground to make a reliable food source. Not long after this the group had a garden a bit too big for them alone, Kohana overdid it, feeling like what she did was not enough to help. In reality, she thought of the storage room, the garden and a water collector too.

And now they got to where they are now. The storage room is filled with berries, wheat, lettuce and tomatoes, which let them make at least more than one type of food. The new garden in the front is now blossoming with flowers and the house is able to endure harsh storms. Gaarek is now able to walk normally, though is still unsure how far he'll manage to go running without opening his wound, so he does not risk it. One would say they are better than ever, which is an incredibly incorrect but justified thought. Every week the doctor would come by the garden, stepping over the flowers without giving them any attention nor care, before arriving to the door of their house at least three times on that set day. On top of this, he demanded half of the resources the group had. Gaarek knew this was a scam, the house was not worth that much, but he couldn't do much about it.

Eventually they ended up with a dillema, they would have to spend their life like this, collecting resources to pay the fee of them being able to live in a safe place, or they could escape with as much as they could hold to settle somewhere else. This idea was brought up by Rōjū, who got tired of the situation first. He came to the conclusion that this, in fact, wasn't how they should live. They should have the option to leave, that was what they were going to do in the first place!

"What are we still doing here?! Wasn't that guy going to get us a vejicle?" complained Rōjū. "It's vehicle Rōjū. And yes, that was the idea. Now... I don't think we'll get that far. Lately that man is demanding more than usual, and I have no clue on why. And after we got settled he told me we would have to pay for the vehicle. We ended up like this, paying for being able to live here and being able to leave from here." Gaarek explained, he laughed internally at the ironic situation. "I'll think of something, okey Rōjū?". Rōjū nodded sighing.

Then four knocks were heard coming from the door in quick succession. "I got wonderful news for you lot today!" Gaarek went to answer the door before the man himself barged in. "We do not have much time today, for it is the day you are able to leave. Sorry I had to enlarge the last quota, but the chance came for a friend of mine to give you a lift to get you very, very far from all the trouble here. Honestly, not even I thought you would be able to pay it" He said sitting down on one of the chairs. "You did a great job with the place too. I should be paying... Anyhow! The lift is almost here. You can leave your belongings, they'll be here still if you ever manage to get back. Now c'mon, follow me!" He clapped twice to call the rest of the group. "Where are we going?" Asked Rōjū. "Well aren't you curious? Most people do not care where they go as long as they go away." Rōjū frowned. "Well no matter. You lot will be going far West. You are right now in my village, that you know is the closest to that soldier camp back there." he explained before being interrupted by Kohana "How did you know about that?" the doctor paused and took a deep breath "Look here, wait until I am done speaking. It is of lacking manners to interrupt another." The man said giving a short lecture before continuing. "As I was saying, this is the closest town to the settlement, but also to the border between the Great Kingdom of Reichtum and the so called New Liberation Nation. It should be called old by now, and the kingdom is not really a kingdom without a king. Nevermind that, you'll be going far from the border, to the West where the capital of the oh so Great Kingdom lies." The kids were getting a bit dizzy. "That's a lot of...words" said both of them in unison. "Well, let's get going. And don't go missing me little ones." The man said starting to walk to the road where the group once crashed. "I am sure we'll have plenty of meetings in the future" The man said before halting in front of the road. They couldn't quite hear that last sentence, so they started just now to follow him outside. The whole group felt uneasy about the situation, but for different reasons. Gaarek was a soldier fighting against the very kingdom they were about to travel to, and both Rōjū and Kohana were slightly afraid of what would happen to them once they arrived to the kingdom. Their worries would shift eventually. After they got in the carriage decorated with golden ornamets and black paint, they were a bit confused and surprised. The vehicle started moving without a word from the doctor nor the driver, making them a bit more uneasy. Rōjū took his head out the window and looked back. The doctor was waving. It was then that he said a thought out loud. "Something bad is gonna happen. I never saw him that happy". "Don't worry about him now, we are going away" Gaarek tried reassuring him, but his own tone and voice sounded weak. Their future was everything but certain, but their journey now again continued. This situation they struggled with in this town was one of many they would face. The time it would take to reach the capital was inmense, but only Gaarek knew just how far it was. It angered him slightly.

For now, the group tried to rest as best as they possibly could. Hanonai woke up inside Kohana's clothes because of all the shaking the carriage did.