Whisper from World's End

When She Heard The Rumble

`        The boy turned his head on her with a face no man could tell what's on his heart filled with, it was rather a mixed emotion of dreams and sadness at the same moment. When the boy looked at her, she could tell that what he wanted to tell her was more complicated than what she visualized. Did she catch the message intention, or what's on her mind was a simple straight-forward question asked by a child? 

         He gave an exhale and said, "Asa, this world we live in was ruled by those who are strong.. Whoever has the power decides for us what is right from what is wrong. That is how our morality works, or rather, how society works."

        "If I'm strong, I can decide my own fate, not bound by what people's rights and wrongs justify. If I want to be strong I have to train and become one of the royal swordsmen."

        The boy continued swinging the wooden sword, "And it won't make much of a difference if I live doing nothing, rather than die trying."

        The girl watched her brother mimicking the men with iron armor they occasionally saw on the town market. It was cranky, and a bit sluggish, but there were some improvements from the previous attempts, sort of. Noticing that the girl had nothing else to do other than sit and watch, the boy handed her his sword.

        "Why don't you try training as well? I'll go find a stick or something so we can train together."

        The girl took it, but only swung it lightly for a while, before dropping it off on the ground. She was uncertain if playing around with a fake sword with no one to teach them the steps could be called "training". At least what matters to her was her brother's enjoyment in doing so. Maybe this was what her mother would call... a phase. She really hoped she wasn't wrong.

        Didn't take more than three minutes before the brother returned with a long cleaned tree branch. The boy was breathing heavily as he showed her his founding, excitement filled his eyes. Although the branch was in no particular special, the girl felt something odd with its scent, reluctant to give a more thorough examination.

        The fun was short lived however, as the mother soon called out for them to come home from afar. The boy, of course, refused like he always did, desiring to “train” longer. The negotiation failed however, and the mother half-forcibly pulled his arm back into the house. The girl walked behind her mother and brother, as she examined the wooden sword the boy had been training with. It was heavy and quite possibly hand-crafted. Her father’s only memorial.

        The sky gradually became yet even darker that morning, just as they arrived at the doorway. The mother took a notice and told the two children to take shelter inside. It was at the moment that a lightning struck the earth, leaving a loud rumble as it began to pour.

        For unknown reasons, the mother stared at...nothing... across the horizon. Was it a blank stare. No. The girl took a glance and knew that there was something that her mother was staring at, but didn’t really think much of it. She always knew that her mother was always hiding a thing or two, and those may not be an important issue.

        Until she saw the mother’s expression.

        Noticing her daughter's worry, she quickly dismissed it and locked the door

        "It's nothing, Asa. Go get your breakfast with your brother. I've already prepared your favorite omelette! You can continue playing outside when the rain has stopped, alright?" said the mother while smiling, trying her best to reassure the girl that it was just a rain.

        The girl kept silent as she took a seat, and started eating once her brother came to the dinner table. The food was warm, not too salty, but not bland either. It was a perfect meal to be consumed during a cold weather, or if the mother had nothing else to cook. To put simply, it was her mother's, and it was delicious.

        The mother soon joined them on the table, eating less than her children's like always.

        "You two grew up so fast, you know that," she smiled, "If only your father can be here to witness that. Haa.. I wonder how he is on his last expedition. I didn't get the news from the army about him this month." The mother sighed.

        The girl somehow could still feel her mother's uneasiness. She knew her mother kept both her and her brother in the dark to prevent them from panicking, but she was unsure if it would end up the way her mother had intended. The girl was trembling in fear, but kept her composure seeing how calm her brother was, and how hard it'd be for her mother to kept them protected if she panicked.

        It was only then however, when she heard the earth began to rumble.