Chapter Text
Sounds of blacksmithing filled the eerie calm of swordfather Eiji's forge. The embers spilled with every hit on the red hot metal, each blow bringing the mineral closer to its final form. The warmth of the forge fire provided a certain sense of comfort that could only be found here.
Yura huddled closer into her thin sheets, the fabric not doing much to hold back the cold. She'd grown deaf to the continuous pounding of the metal ore, her blind grandfather had his schedule for his smithing. The cozy atmosphere didn't do much in snuffing her doubts.
The snow and cold outside reminded Yura of two things. The day she ran from her village to seek out her grandfather,
And the day Mizu left. Today marked it being a whole year.
That night, in the peak of winter, Mizu informed swordfather Eiji of his departure. Yura remembered waking up to the sharp clang of the sword hitting the ground, followed by nothing but silence. He'd turned that impossible ore into a sword. But after that Mizu would just…leave. Not even bothering to speak to her one last time, or even spare her a final glance.
That made Yura feel butthurt.
The emptiness in her being was something she couldn't explain herself. Mizu and her were…friends, if she could even say it. The boy would always be awkward around her, refusing most of her attempts at starting a conversation. This led to them not talking much, but Yura thought it wasn't that bad to have another kid who was age.
She always found the boy so mysterious. He'd rarely talk about trivial things, didn't go anywhere except the forge and the river and would either practice with a wooden sword or learn blacksmithing with her grandfather: swordfather Eiji. But there was one thing that stood out about Mizu; his eyes. They were blue.
Yura shut her eyes as she recalled how he wouldn't even face her the first few weeks when she first came to Kohama. It wasn't until she saw Mizu's reflection in the water that she understood the reason why.
“Is that why you didn't show me your face? Because of your eyes?”
she could almost hear herself asking the question. Mizu would look up at her, his eyes shutting and body almost recoiling like he was expecting Yura to say something horrible or throw a rock at him.
“They're…not that bad”
Yura continued hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't feel so uncomfortable. Mizu's body eased slightly, his stiff shoulders drooping as a sign.
“Mn.”
Was all he'd give her in reply. A small hum. That was the most she'd gotten from him in all those weeks of no communication.
Yura opened her eyes, greeted by the flickering flames of the hearth and the hiss of hot steel meeting cold water. Sleep refused to take her yet another night, preventing her from getting that blissful escape. It's been happening for a while now, her thoughts wandering to Mizu for no reason.
“Grandfather, what did he tell you that night?”
Her voice broke the tranquility, as she sat up on the makeshift futon. Eiji halted his work, hands dropping the hammer and tongs as his head turned to face his granddaughter.
“This question again?”
“Why can't you just tell me?”
Eiji stiffened, he knew that Yura deserved to know, but what he truly was scared of was his granddaughter leaving. Mizu was a man. He had a good sword and the required skills to use it. But Yura? She wouldn't last a day outside Kohama. Women weren't allowed to travel without escorts and if she took any impulsive decisions…he didn't want to imagine the consequences.
“Why are you suddenly so interested? The last time you asked was a year ago, when he left.”
Yura frowned a bit, she wasn't so sure either. Why was she so curious? Was it the sudden disappearance that left her with no closure? Or was it because she's had enough of just staying in the forge, staying in Kohama?
“I'm not sure, grandfather. But I want to know.”
She hated this feeling of missing something, missing Mizu. Even if not many words were exchanged between them, actions were. As far as Yura knew he was awkward, a bit hesitant with her. But he was also determined and stubborn about mastering the sword.
Eiji only sighed in response.
“Don't you know where he is? Did he just tell you he'll leave and never come back?”
“Something like that.”
Yura huffed quietly at her grandfather's words, the sheets bundling within her clenched fists.
“I don't know where he is. Mizu simply told me he's on a quest for revenge. He's a stupid man doing stupid things that will just get him killed.”
Yura froze. A quest for revenge? She always assumed it was to become a samurai and to get out of this small fishing village, but it was for revenge all along. “Revenge for what?”
Eiji knew there was no use hiding the facts from Yura anymore, so he told her what he knew.
“To avenge his mother. To kill the four men who were the cause of his birth.”
“So he's just going in the search of those white men to kill them? No one has seen a white face in ages!”
This is stupid. Yura thought, Does he even know where to search? Where to go? Is he still alive?
“He's– maybe he's already dead!”
Eiji didn't give any comments about that, but Yura continued
“Shouldn't we search for him? Mizu is family, in a way. We can't be bothered when he's gone for a whole year!”
Yura felt her frustration rise as she stood up and walked to the forge where her grandfather was seated. “Grandfather, say something, please!”
“There's nothing more to say. If he's out for revenge then he will have it or he will die trying. Mizu is stubborn.”
“You've taken care of him since he was young, you've seen him more than you've seen me,” Yura steeled herself for the next words she uttered.
“Don't you care for him?”
Eiji's tongs hit the ground with a sharp clang, the sound slicing the quiet of the night, the crickets stopped their chirping for a moment before resuming.
“Just because I'm not doing anything doesn't mean I don't care, Yura.”
“Then I'll go—”
“No.” The answer was immediate. “You're not a man, you're not going to live that long on your own in this winter, unprotected.”
Yura clenched her fists on her sides, ready to snap out another argument but she paused. Taking in a deep breath. She slowly lowered to her knees, shifting her legs as she sat down near her grandfather, taking the blind man's battered and calloused hand in her own.
“Grandfather, I don't know why I suddenly want to find Mizu. But, I think I'll only grow more restless if I ignore this.”
She looked at him earnestly, eyes full of determination and a need to get rid of this abruptly risen worry, even if Eiji could see none of it.
Yura gave the old sword maker's hands a convincing squeeze, trying to coax a response out of him.
“Do you hear yourself?” Eiji hissed, his already shut eyes scrunched in disapproval. “It's the middle of winter, you have no idea where Mizu could be, we don't even have a city pass, and you want to travel alone to search for him?”
She couldn't disagree with all of that. Her grandfather was right in every sense. But this feeling, this void in her chest just kept clawing at her insides. For now, she just gave a simple nod.
“Alright, I won't think about it anymore. Let's just…forget about this.”
She patted Eiji's hands as she stood up and let go, the warmth of the forge fire receding as she moved back to the makeshift futon, carefully lying down on it again. Yura could hear the old man sigh to himself as the sound of metal scraping whetstone slowly faded into background noise as she felt sleep pulling her mind.
Clang Clang Clang
Hiss
The sound of smithing and cooling of the metal roused Yura. It was morning already, but it seemed like a mere few minutes passed after she fell asleep. She sat up, greeted by the sight of her grandfather at the forge yet again. It sometimes made her wonder if he really slept at night or if he just slept late and rose early.
She quietly stood up, rolling the makeshift futon away before tying the obi around her waist. With the help of a ribbon, she tied the long sleeves up, tugging the knot snugly. Her hand reached for the wooden bucket near the door.
“Grandfather, I'll head out to fetch some water.”
“Hm.”
That was enough confirmation for Yura to step out of the hut. The snow already reached above her ankles, making Yura walk a bit faster to not get her socks wet. After a bit of waddling to the nearby running stream and fetching water, she returned to the hut to put it on some fire to purify it.
This was her routine work: fetch water, make tea, cook some food, and make tea again.
But between these mundane daily tasks, she would do something else. The Chinese medicine books she's inherited from her mother, she would read those. This has been going on for a few years now and she's got…passable skills.
She could patch up and stitch deep wounds, and make an antiseptic balm or two. She'd source the raw materials from the forest between two villages. She's never had the opportunity to practice, which limited her abilities greatly.
However, Yura took it as something that gave her her worth. Something that gave her purpose, that she could use to help others in need.
She would attempt to ask Mizu to let her apply medicine on his occasional scrapes and cuts, but he'd always decline. Yura scoffed at the sudden memory that rose in her thoughts, turning her attention back to the bound paper she was studying.
But it probed on her mind, still. The urge to find Mizu, unprecedented and rather unwelcome. It was evidently dangerous and if Yura decided otherwise she was stupid.
And so she rose to her feet and snuck to the back room quietly, hoping her grandfather wouldn't hear her. In the midst of the wood and bamboo shelves with different crafting materials, Yura found a set of Eiji's old clothes, one of the two pairs that he'd stopped using.
Perhaps she could disguise herself. Surely, it should work to some extent.
She didn't deny the fact whatever she was considering was stupid. She carefully put them on and even tried to bind her chest, but her height… made her look like a con.
Yura ditched that idea, whatever, she could just travel carefully, out of sight of whatever threats lurked in the forests and other villages. So she decided that she'd sneak out tonight.
But what about grandfather? The thought seized her actions, making her drop the clothes in her hand. What am I doing?
She couldn't just leave her blind grandfather without any notice of her absence, her heart and stomach lurched at the possible scenarios running in her mind. She's well aware that her blind grandfather is independent in many things, but he's still old. To leave him like that, unaware of where his only family has gone.
“Yura? Did you drop something?” Eiji's voice broke her trance.
“It's nothing, grandfather.” She replied, shoving the clothes back where she found them. With a torn heart, one part wants to quench this urge to find Mizu, and the other feels horrible for even trying to leave her old grandfather alone.
Dusk settled in faster, as nights stretched longer in the winters.
Yura poured the tea into two cups, sliding one to her grandfather as the old man put down his tongs. She nursed her cup, the heat of the container easing the chill that lingered at her extremities.
Her eyes were full of turmoil, doubt, and confusion about her impulsive ideas. Yet the elderly man was literally, blind to it.
“Grandfather,” Eiji's head rose in response to his granddaughters’ voice.
“I want to search for Mizu. I know, it's a stupid choice. I don't know why I want to find him, but there's this… want. I just want to find him.”
Yura outed her thoughts but was only faced with silence and Eiji's stern expression. “Please, grandfather. I'll be careful, I swear.” She pleaded again.
“Yura, you're a woman. You're nineteen years old, you can't fight to defend yourself, and women aren't allowed to travel alone.”
Yet again, everything he said was factual.
“You'll be endangered out there, child. I can't abandon the forge, I'm old and blind, not that they've stopped me from continuing my craft. I am a sword maker, I cannot wield one. I can't teach you how to either.”
Yura sighed in resignation, every argument evaporated from her tongue.
Eiji sat calmly as well. Not hearing a reply from his granddaughter, he spoke again. “Why do you want to go?”
“I don't know, I just want to. It's clawing on my mind, it's taking over my every thought”
“Rushing to decisions is a stupid trait to have.”
“I know, grandfather. But I've been like this for a week now. I want to find him.”
Yura sounded curt about her choice, she needed to snuff this out as soon as possible. It was a horrible trait, but she couldn't ignore its call.
“You're foolish, so was your father. Look at him now, he's dead.”
“I'm not my father,” Yura hissed, aware of their similar traits but she refused to acknowledge any connection to her father. “I'm not him, grandfather.”
“Then how do you want to do this? Did you even think it out? You could get sold to someplace you don't want to be in, you could be killed, blackmailed, abducted and there are worse things than that.”
She flinched at the mere mention of them all. Being born a woman in this time would be no less than a liability, Yura knew that well. But she was stubborn and foolish above all.
“I want to go, grandfather.” She was adamant, taking the dumbest decision of her life. “Please.”
The old man scoffed with frustration, throwing a shawl over her face, “Fine! Go on and face the consequences of your choices.”
Yura was surprised, she immediately jumped up to her feet in shock, “Are you–”
“Go!”
She winced at her grandfather's tone. With trudging feet she gathered a few supplies that would last her seven days at most. With the elderly man's frustrated yet reluctant permission, Yura started questioning her actions.
No, not now. I've already gotten my grandfather's permission, I can't think about this differently. In moments, she was near the doorstep of the forge.
“Wait, if you're leaving, take a knife with you.”
Yura turned back to see her grandfather still sitting on the floor, gesturing back to the wood shelf lined with swords and knives. With a tentative look, she let her hands choose for her.
“I'll be back soon, grandfather. I promise.”
“...take care of yourself.”
Her sincere words weren't met with much of a confident response from her grandfather, but she smiled nonetheless.
The wooden door shut with a creak, as she was hit with the chill of the season. Wrapping her shawl closer, she stepped into the ankle-deep snow, waddling till she reached some free ground.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
A few hours had passed, and dawn was about to break in the sky as she reached a village. She felt the pain register in her mind, her legs and calves ached, even if she would argue that she probably walked more while working in and about back home.
The place was rather deserted, people already seeking shelter in their homes. She knocked on one of the doors “Excuse me? Anyone home?”
The door shakily creaked open, the man who did looked terrified as no words left his lips. The door was suddenly tugged open wider, and it was an old man now, with a…gun in his hands! A weapon from the west.
“Is she family?” The man asked, To which the terrified one shook his head as no.
“How about we take her as well and pay you extra? Hmm?” The man with the gun taunted the latter, seemingly giving him false hope.
Yura felt her blood run cold, and it was not the weather. She tried to make a run for it, but the terrified man clutched her wrist with a death grip.
“Please! Take her and leave my daughters alone! Please…”
The flesh trader clicked his tongue in disapproval, “I never said I'm taking her in exchange for your daughters, I'm taking all three of them.”
The man visibly paled, frantically pleading the flesh trader to reconsider. But before Yura could act, she felt a hit on her nape, her vision going black.
The last thing she felt was a rope being tied to her wrists.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”