Chapter Text
Prologue
A girl aged 6 sat under a tree, munching on a piece of moulded millet dumpling. Scrawny, scabby hands holding the dumpling with reverence. Face dirtied, hair all tousled, skin sinking in, although her eyes were hidden below messy bangs. The sun battered down on the sickly land of Wano. The tree leaves were touched with a hint of brown; some were barely hanging onto the stem, no doubt that the roots will be crippled too if there is no clean water. Thus is Wano's fate.
Reiko ran back into her quarters as the sun returned to its cove. Her room, if you could even call it that; wooden beams barely supporting the roof, tatami floors frayed at the ends, the door that couldn't shut and windows that wouldn't open. One can envision that this quarter used to be beautiful; carvings still apparent in some areas of the wooden beam, high quality tatami and a wooden bed carved with the highest attention to detail.
However, Reiko had no care for these details as her only focus was on her baggage. She stuffed the single pair of clothing she had, her pillows and her moth- bitten blanket. Tonight was the night of her escape, where she could finally be free.
Reiko quickly exited the gates as no guards would ever be assigned to the gates near her quarters. The Flower Capital brimmed with indulgence and excess, something in which she could never have. There were people with garments that draped onto the floor, a haughty display of extravagance. Women prance with heads high and fans covering their lips, but one could easily see the imperious smile they held. Men walked with certainty and arrogance, stomping with legs stuck in wide stances, top knot bobbing as they look around them, almost in search of people who don't belong on their noble land. Reiko picked up her pace as she knew the guards' changing post would be coming up soon. Hiding in the shadows of houses, knowing that if people ever found her it would be over for her. The guards started moving, lacking awareness of their surroundings as they conversed casually with the guards who would replace them. Reiko quickens her speed as she runs under the gate hoping they wouldn't hear her steps. The conversations still flow between the guards and Reiko ran off into the night sky, knowing nobody would miss her