Elemental Fate Chapter 1

Every story has a beginning; this is mine.

Elemental Fate Chapter 1

Where do I start with this? Chise told me I should write down everything that’s happened but I’m not really sure how to begin. Act as if I’m writing to a new friend, she says. I guess that’s not so bad; it’s definitely better than talking to myself. If that’s the case, I should probably do an introduction first. My name is Kazuyuki Souma, I’m fifteen years only with messy brown hair, dark green eyes, and too thin according to my sister. I’m the youngest of four siblings, and although I’m close to my family I tend to avoid the people in the village. That said, it might be hard to believe that this is my first time away from my village boundaries let alone the fact that I’m roughly three hundred yards from the Morinaka-Svet Strana border writing this down. I know what you’re probably thinking, a rebellious fifteen year old who wanted to “get out there”, but usually Morinakins don’t have any desire to leave the dense forests we call home. I’d still be at home if my sister hadn’t been kidnapped because of me, but I’ll get to that later.

I guess for me the starting point to all of this would have been a cold winter morning at the start of this year. We have a ceremony that dates back to the ending of the Great War, a thousand years ago, when our people had more of a backbone and allied themselves with a race called Shikigami. Ever since then children, who had turned fourteen prior to the new year, are made to stand up on a makeshift stage in the center of the village and greet their Shikigami partners who will be with them for the rest of their lives. It’s considered to be a very happy occasion, and seeing as I had watched my siblings greet their partners year after year I was really looking forward to meeting mine. At the end of the ceremony, however, I was left standing cold and alone as all the other children were chatting away with their new partners. My worse nightmare had come true, I had become one of the few here who had failed to get paired.

I survived, and time went by but I felt like an outcast from the rest of the village. I wasn’t exiled or anything but if the only other option was to put up with the weird looks and gossiping whispers, I’d go with isolation in the forest every time. I still lived at home, dutifully managed all my chores around the farm, got along just fine with my family, but I still preferred the peace that only the forest could give. Most of the village avoided me due to my “issue” except for one: Sanosuke Daichou. Ever since we met, he and I disliked each other and he had been in high spirits since that cold winter morning. He became involved in this whole mess at the beginning of Spring and I still can’t decide if I’m grateful for his presence that day or curse his existence.

According to Chise, this is where the story really begins. I was sitting in my favorite willow tree whose branches had grown in just the right way that it became the perfect place to sit and take in the forest around me. There was still snow here or there in the shadier areas under trees and the wind still had a cold bite every now and then. The sun was putting up a good fight as the weather was getting warmer every day allowing new leaves to start budding next to the decaying ones the wind had been too lazy to knock off. I had another reason to be alone today. Haru, my closest older brother, had overheard my parents talking about what should be done with me which included possibly sending me to live with my uncle in Svet Strana to the South.

I gave a deep sigh and rolled my eyes as I heard the loud crunching of two people who had to slowly make their way through the forest because they were not as use to the uneven forest floor as I was. The first to make it past the dense foliage was Daichou. He stood a couple of inches taller than me and had close to three times the bulk which made sense because his family ran the mill and bakery in the village. Right on Daichou’s heels was his girlfriend Kana Masaki and though I knew her almost as long as Daichou, I’ve never had much of an opinion of her because she rarely spoke her mind. Kana was shorter than me and seemed to master the balance of looking plain but naturally attractive. For the life of me I couldn’t understand why she was with Daichou when he had an ego the size of the entire village.

“What do you want, Daichou? I’m not in the mood to deal with you.” I called out before they got too close, laughing as Daichou tripped over a particularly large tree root.

“We just thought we’d pay a visit to the local freak.” Daichou called back with a sneer, ignoring the fact that he just had just tripped like an idiot. Once they came to a stop he patted down his unwisely chosen white pants and a sleeveless fur vest that some men wore during the Winter months.

Kana was panting slightly from the effort it took to get there and was also assessing her own clothes, removing those sticky burrs here and there that get attached to your clothing. She wore a brown dress that stopped just below the knees, a sky blue sash, and a white jacket that could be closed with strings that hung from both sides. “Sano…” Kana said in an exasperated tone. Obviously it hadn’t been her idea to come here. Daichou shot her a glare and her eyes quickly looked down at the ground, bowing her head slightly

“What’s the matter, Daichou, are you worried you’ll lose status if your girlfriend shows any signs that she can think for herself?” I taunted. The problem was, roughly half of the male population here follow the same philosophy as Daichou about how women should be treated. Thankfully my father wasn’t one of them and taught his sons differently.

“Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face, Souma?” Daichou snarled angrily.

I leaned back into the groove of the tree, stretching my legs out before crossing them in an attempt to appear as comfortable as possible, even putting my arms behind my head for effect. “Nah, I’m good here. Kana is already forced to look at your ugly face every day, let’s not make it worse.” I called out with a laugh.

I glanced down at Daichou, who was livid, and then next thing I knew I was heading quickly to the forest floor. I had enough time to turn my body and tuck in my arms so that the fall only knocked the wind out of me. I looked up and from the muddy ground and saw the largest and hairiest ape I’d ever seen standing on the branches where I had been sitting.

“How was that freak? You scared yet?” Daichou called out with great smugness.

“Oh yeah, I’m terrified.” I said with as much enthusiasm as being told to clean out the horse barn again for the sixth time. I patted off as much mud as I could and made sure I had no other injuries. “Actually I feel bad for your partner who you force to hurt people just for your amusement.”

“At least I have a partner. All you’ve got is a trip out of the country.” Daichou retorted.

My eyes narrowed slightly. How did he know about that? “What makes you think that?” I asked after a short pause.

Daichou grinned. “I overheard your brother and sister talking about it. I guess they can’t wait to get rid of you too. Your family will certainly have an easier time of things with you gone.”

I’m not sure why I reacted the way I did, but the next thing I knew I had knocked Daichou on the ground and tried to punch as much of him as I could while Daichou was doing his best to hold me back. Maybe it was because I had never reacted this way before that put him off guard, but I managed to get a few punches in before he started punching back. Kana shifted back and forth unsure if she should stop the fight or go get help. She didn’t have long to decide when we heard growling from a clump of bushes.

Daichou’s head jerked up and I had enough time to register the fear in his eyes before we rolled apart just as a large Forest Cat landed with an ominous thud right where we had been fighting. These cats are about four feet tall and all four legs with black and brown spotted fur and deadly claws and fangs which were currently exposed as the cat growled angrily. I tried to remain as still as I could because I knew these animals hunted by movement though I had a sinking feeling that Daichou and I had already done enough of that for it to make any difference now.

I could almost see the Forest Cat’s thoughts as it looked us over, trying to decide who to go after. The muscular one, who looked like he could put up a fight, or the thin one, that would probably go down on the first pounce. I waited long enough to see the cat shift its weight in my direction before I was off to climb the nearest tree. I managed to get to the lowest branch before I let out a cry of pain as I was forcefully yanked to the ground by a pair of sharp front claws. I cried out again as the fall caused the claws to dig deeper into my back.

I vaguely remember Daichou yelling at Kana to go get help as he prodded the cat with a broken branch trying to get it off me. The only succeeded in angering the cat more and all Daichou got was a deep cut to the arm for his trouble. I felt the cat moving closer to my head with the intent to deliver the final bite and any attempt to move only caused the cat to increase its hold on me.

I felt my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest, and my mind was working like mad trying to think of a way out of this but I couldn’t. When the situation seemed like it was at it’s worse, something clicked like the latch being lifted from the barn door. I felt a burning feeling of rage that seemed to come from somewhere else, it was tinged with impatience. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ A voice called angrily in my mind. ‘Are you going to continue to lie there like a good little meal or will you fight back like the Elemental you are?’ I felt the rage building and realized that this time it was my own. The weight left my back as the cat let out a cry of pain. I managed to ignore the throbbing in my back enough to sit up and turn around. For as long as I live, I will never forget the sight of that cat running away in a crazed panic, trying to put out the fire that surrounded its body. I looked down at myself and realized with a start that the fire was around me as well.

“Don’t worry, the fire I used is harmless. That cat will simply be traumatized for a few days with singed fur.” Came a female voice from behind me.

I saw a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties but the idea that she was human was absurd for the simple fact that she floated about a foot off the ground. She wore a red robe that stopped a few inches above the knees, the arms of the robes were long and draped almost half way down her legs but had funny splits up at the shoulders leaving some skin exposed. A colorful sash was wrapped around her waist that was tied in the front and the ends hung down with the same fabric spiralled down her legs but left her feet bare. The fabric had a strange property where the color would change depending on the light, giving the impression of a lively burning fire. She had long bright red hair with matching eyes that had slitted pupils and she had pointed ears; both features are common among her species. I had no idea what a Shikigami was doing out here on her own, but I wasn’t going to complain because she just saved my life.

“Oh, sorry. I’m a little rusty with first greetings.” She said with a laugh and rubbing the back of her head, acting as if her lack of manners was the reason why we were staring at her as if someone had come back from the dead.

I blinked a couple more times and finally managed to utter out, “Uh...t-thanks for your help back there...but who are you?”

“I’m your partner, Chise of the Phoenix Clan. Nice to meet you.”

Author's Note

Please point out grammar problems or suggestions on how I could improve my writing.

Reviews

[RT]

First of all - I love this story! I wish I could sit in a writers' group and talk with you about all the good things in it. Since you asked for help catching grammar issues, etc... below are the issues I found - I copied the sentence or part of the sentence and put my corrections. What an awesome start to a story - I'm hooked :)
Issues:
15 years old
Ever since then, children who had turned fourteen prior to the new year are made to stand up on a makeshift stage in the center of the village and greet their Shikigami partners who will be with them for the rest of their lives.
I survived and time went by, but I felt like an outcast from the rest of the village.
Right on Daichou’s heels was his girlfriend Kana Masaki. And though I knew her almost as long as Daichou, I’ve never had much of an opinion of her because she rarely spoke her mind.
****Suggestion for dialogue - use a comma at the end instead of a period unless it is a ? or !... Example: At least I have a partner. All you’ve got is a trip out of the country,” Daichou retorted.

[Jayne Doe]

Really good writing. It was very engaging and a bit curious. Can't wait to see what happens next!