The Petals Falling

Chapter 5

    Last night was a crazy night. I never thought that I would be leaving this town, let alone with a person I had just met. I'm not sure what my life has turned into? I was supposed to live out my days with my sister and whomever my parents deemed acceptable for me to marry. I was supposed to take over the duties my mother taught me growing up. Instead I was disowned and kicked out of the house. I'm not sure what came over me last night when I asked Sadaaki to leave. But then again that is the happiest I have ever been in my life. I never thought I would be able to see what else is out there but now I have the chance to with Sadaaki. 

    I start thinking of Aika and how she will be stuck with our parents with no way out. I hope she doesn't have a bad life. I wish I could take her along with us but I know that if I were to go anywhere near the house, my father would kill me on sight. I'm not sure why he's hated me all my life. Was it because I wasn't a boy? Was it because he had to feed another mouth? I guess I will never be sure.

    I wake up on my back on the mattress next to Sadaaki, in the same position as we fell asleep in. I look at his face and the happiness I felt last night comes flooding back in. It's warm and greeting and I love it so much. He's sleeping soundly with nice even breaths. 

    I flip over onto my side to look out the window and see that the sun is just starting to rise. My movement has woken Sadaaki and he rolls and plots his arm around my shoulder and squeezes me up against his chest. I let out a slight squeal as his arms tighten around me. 

    I feel his hot breath against my ears as his raspy voice whispers out, "Good Morning".

    I let out a little laugh, "Good morning to you too Sadaaki".

    "How'd you sleep? I wasn't snoring was I?" He asks in a worried tone.

    "I slept very good and no you were very quiet"

    "Well good I was worried I had woken you up." He releases his grip on me and starts to stand up. 

    "So today is a great day to start our adventure. How about we go into the market and grab some supplies, then come back here and pack everything up. Sound good?" He asks in a very casual tone. I never thought someone would be this interested in running away with me. Especially me. I'm not special or interesting in anyway, this is the only place I've ever known. I give Sadaaki a weak smile and nod my head in agreement. 

    He gives me a big smile and lifts me off the bed to place me on my feet. 

    We take each others hands and walk out of the house with some bag for whatever we buy at the market. I'm scared to go back. I know everyone is going to be staring and coming up with their own stories in their head without knowing the real one. I squeeze Sadaaki's hand as we walk up to the booths. 

    The first is for breads which we grab a few loafs. I'm still not sure how Sadaaki has so much money and he tries to give it away at each stand but nobody takes it. That's not how it works around here. We instead trade different items that Sadaaki had sitting around his house that we weren't going to be able to take along with us such as some ceramic vases and paintings that he brought with him some how. We load up on grains mostly as we can keep them for a long time while also having enough to feed the both of us for a long time. We also grab some fabric as we may have to make some clothes for ourselves on the road. 

    It surprises me how much Sadaaki knows. At each stand he trades for different items that I never knew we were going to need such as a metal scrap bucket to collect water if we come to a stream. Or some other scrap metals to cook on since lugging around pans is going to be a hassle. He even traded for some stones we can shape and use as weapons. Sadaaki promises me we will teach me how to hunt and fight once we get away from the village. 

    As we circle around the market I take everything in. This is probably going to be the last time I ever come back here. It's a bittersweet moment as I was always so excited to go into town to go to the market but then again I am also looking forward to seeing what else is out there. I'm looking forward to this adventure with Sadakki and there is nothing going to stop me from going anymore.

    Sadaaki approaches the last stand and trades for some dried meat that he tells me will keep for a long time and that we can eat that in the case that we do not find any animals one night. 

    We grab up our bags and head back to the house. The last steps to do are to pack up some linens and put them onto the house and small wooden trailer that will be pulled along behind us. Once everything is loaded up we leave the house open for someone else to use. Maybe another traveling stranger will inhabit it some day. I sure hope they're as great as Sadaaki. 

    Sadaaki helps me up onto the horse and then goes up himself. We turns around to give me a smile.

    "You ready?" he asks

    "Yeah I think I am" I answer. I look back as the village starts to grow smaller. I look towards where my house was. Where my sister is. Where my old life was. I'm glad I'm leaving it behind. I leave the heartbreak behind and my parents but I also leave some strength for her also as she is own her own now. I take one last look and let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding and turn around to Sadaaki's back. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head against his shoulder and let the soothing bump of the horse put me to sleep.

                                                                                                        ***********************************

    I wake up as Sadaaki shakes me some. 

    "Hey I just wanted you to see this view" I hear him say. I slowly open my eyes to a sight I never thought I would see. All around us are different colors. It's like a rainbow fell to the earth and all of the colors bleed out into the surrounding greenery. Speaking of green everything is so green! I'm so used to the beige colors of hope that this sight is so beautiful to see. 

    As I turn my head from side to side I can see that all of the colors are from flowers. There's millions of them that seem to stretch on for miles and miles. There types of flowers I have never seen before. I look up to see the massive trees that cover the area that are also full of bright green leaves. This seems like another planet compared to home. 

    "How far away are we? This is so beautiful. Like nothing I've ever seen before. "

    I hear Sadaaki laugh slightly ."We've only been traveling about two hours East. We will stop soon or we could stop now if you would like to look at the flowers."

    "Yes, could we stop now? I would like to see them more closely. I never knew nature could make all of these colors."

    Sadaaki hops off the horse and then proceeds to help me off. I slide off and almost fall as my legs have not been used in the few hours we've been on the horse. I hold on to Sadaaki as my muscles stretch and slowly regain strength. I look up and give him a quick smile.

    "Thank you. I hadn't realized how far we traveled until now."

    "You're welcome and yeah it's only been a few hours but being on the back of the horse for that long can really wear you out. We should probably eat something and you need to drink some water. The sun has been beating down on you so you may be dehydrated", he says while looking at me worried.

    I nod and take out our first canister of water and drink some from it before handing it to him. While he drinks I take the chance to take a look around. I reach down to touch one of the flowers before Sadaaki pulls my hadn't back. I look up at him startled.

    "Do not touch anything. All of these flowers are very very pretty but they are also very poisonous. They are used as a sort of fence to keep people off someone's property. The beauty draws you in but the second that you touch them you die. I know many people who have died in fields similar to this." he says to me still holding my hand back. I look down at my feet and take a small step back into the safety of the trail.

     I watch as a small lady bug flies by also staying along the trail. I wonder how the animals know to stay away from the flowers also. I also wonder what else there is out there just like this. 

    "Could we keep moving?" I ask Sadaaki. He nods and gives me a small smile.

    "Of course we can. Are you hungry at all? Or would you like to just get the dried meat and eat on the road".

    I reach in the sack and pull out the dried meat and hold it up as my answer. I hold on to the bag tightly as Sadaaki helps me up onto the horse and then swings himself up after me. He pets the horse quickly before we start moving. I pull two pieces of meat out and hand one to Sadaaki. I take the other one and start to nibble on it. It's salty but appetizing. I watch the flowers move along side of us as the horse moves us away from the beautiful danger. Silence surrounds us and the only noises are the steps of the horse and the crunch of the ground beneath the wheels of the cart. After a few moments I work up the courage to talk.

    "Sadaaki, could you tell me about your family?"

    I feel him take in a sharp breathe. 

    "I usually don't talk about them" he says. "I didn't have a very good childhood growing up"

    I internal scold myself. Why did I have to intrude. That must be a very personal issue for him and I just brought it to life. 

    "Oh, I am so sorry I guess I was just trying to make conversation. While were going to be together for awhile, I thought we could get to know each other." I say in a quiet voice and look down at my hands hoping he isn't upset with me.

    I feel him slightly turn and look up to see him looking at me. He gives a small smile before turning back around and speaking.

    "I guess you're right. We should get to know each other. But get ready because it's not a happy story. My father never liked me. Ever since I was born."

    I let out a laugh interrupting him. 

    "I'm so sorry but I have the same experience. Continue. I won't interrupt again".

    He lets out a laugh before continuing. "My father was a very cruel man. He taught me from a young age that you can only be successful and powerful by putting others down. He never treated anyone with kindness. Especially my mother. He was extremely abusive to her when I was younger. He left bruises that he thought of as trophies to show off to his friends. He'd leave her bruised and bleeding every night. He'd let his friends come in and have their way with her also. When I got old enough I tried to fight back but was only met with my father and his friends leaving me almost dead. One day my father went too far and killed my mother. That was the day that I vowed to get strong and either kill him or get away. So that is exactly what I did. I was barely ever near my father as I was either building up my strength or saving up money in order to travel away from him. My father would bring in women every night to abuse the same as he did my mother. He wanted me to do the same things. He'd lock me in a room with them and not let either of us out until she had some sort of bruise or injury. I never laid a hand on any of them though. I wouldn't do it. Sometimes the women would hurt herself in order to get us out or my father would get tired of waiting and let her out and beat me instead. It was pure hell but about a year ago I was able to pack my things up and leave in the middle of the night. I had to travel around two days without stop in order to make sure that my father hadn't followed me and wasn't searching for me. While I was exploring I made a friend. Daki was his name. We traveled for many months together and he was the closest I had to family. We traveled down this same path one day. He was saying how he was going to pick a flower to give to the next women we came across to make her his wife. That's when he died. I picked up the flower and just fell over. I was in shock and tried everything I could to bring him back but it was too late. The good thing was that Daki's father was a farmer and had horses and one we brought along with us." he pauses to pet the horse we are now traveling on. He lets out a sigh. 

    "Then I came into your village and saw a small girl struggling to get away from a cruel man and saw my mother in her and had to help. I knew from that moment  that I would do whatever I could to protect that girl. She of course is you." he fades off.

    I stay silent not knowing what to say. what do you say to something like that? I thought my family was bad but what he went through was exactly as he put it, hell. There was nothing I could say to make him feel any better but I had to try. 

    "Well thank you. Thank you for saving me and taking me away from the cruel man. I am so sorry for what you had to go through and how you had to fight from the minute you were born. You say you vowel to protect but I have a vowel to make myself. I vowel to try my best to take away those memories. I hope to make you see that the world can be beautiful. I hope that we find a friend just like Daki and that we live out our days as he would've wanted. That we keep him alive in all that we do. And my last vowel is to protect you also. I know I am small and will probably not do much damage to anyone but I will try with all that I have to keep you safe." I end and let out a breath I wasn't aware I had been holding.

    Sadaaki turns around and gives me another smile.

    "It's unheard of but I can train you to be a fighter. I'll train you as I had trained myself growing up. A lot of it will be self defense if we are attacked it will be easier if you can protect yourself for the most part so we can fight as a team not as two separate people. Being small is actually a very good advantage. We can get your speed up and you will be able to outrun anyone and also be so fast that nobody would be able to touch you. This is also going to take a long time to do but hey, we have no plans. I mean this is all if you would like to learn."

    "Of course I would like to learn. i've always wanted to learn. My mother of course would always scold me talking about how young ladies don't play with swords and how if I were to pick on up I would automatically lose an arm by the grace of God." I say letting out a little laugh at the memory. "But yes I would very much appreciate it if you would teach me."

    He lets out a laugh as well as I ramble on.

    "I would be happy to train you. We can start tonight whenever we stop. We should only have an hour or two left until we are away from the flower and safe to stop for the night and set up a shelter."

    I wrap my arms around his waist and give him a tight hug. "thank you so much for everything."

    "Of course. There is nothing that would make me happier".