"Come on, Gramps! Isn't there anything to do around here?" A boy asks his grandfather, with whom he's staying while his parents are out of town. "Just how old-school can you get? You don't have a TV, no computer, nothing! What do you even do all day?"
"Now now, quiet down sonny, you've made it very clear you don't enjoy model trains last time you were here, and you know I can't take care of a pokémon anymore. Like I've told you back then, if you're bored you should read a book! ...Sheesh, I'm lucky I've already retired. How can you make a living as an author when the only thing youths care about nowadays is their silly computers?" The grandfather sighs.
"You were an author, gramps? You wrote books? But I've never once seen a book with your name on it!" The boy looked somewhat confused at the sudden revelation, but his grandfather simply smiles at the conclusion. While it was true that his books hadn't been best-sellers, back in the day it had earned him enough money to make a living... Times were different, back then, but perhaps he could preserve just a little bit of those times through his grandson. Smiling faintly, the grandfather reaches into a cabinet at the back of the room and retrieves a dull-looking book with a monotonous, tan cover. On the front it reads; "Arotura: An immoral tale," in curly black letters.
"Curious aren't we? Alright then, I'll read it to you."
This story begins on a cold evening like any other. A young woman in clothes far too light for the weather warms her hand by a bonfire, waiting for a large piece of meat to finish roasting. Beside her sits her only companion; a Scyther, impatiently gnawing at another chunk of meat, this one raw. The woods were honestly the last place she'd have chosen to spend the night, but dusk had already fallen and night would soon follow, leaving her with little other choice. As she waited for the meat, she quieted her breathing and focused on the forest's ambient sounds.
She could hear the crackling of the fire, the soft noises of her pokémon eating, the rustling of leaves and even the sound of flowing water in the distance. It was a peaceful kind of quiet, and though she preferred this silence over the racket and the pressure of her old life, being alone like this every night was taking its toll on her. How long had it been since she'd fled Yaewong? Since she last went to sleep covered in bruises? Years now, and in that time she'd done things she wasn't proud of... Life moved on though, ready or not.
"We should go to town again tomorrow, Kaijin, our stockpile is completely empty..."
The girl's voice pierced the silence like a knife, despite how she kept her voice down. The Scyther, in response, merely shot her a bored look before it continued eating, eliciting an exhausted groan from the girl. Her Scyther being a pain do deal with was nothing new sadly, but at the very least it pulled through when she needed it. With a slight pout, the girl stood up, walked around the sloppily made spit gently moved it away from the fire, then carefully plucked at the meat where she hoped wasn't too warm.
The sensation of heat burning on her fingertips formed a sharp contrast to the cold, piercing winds blowing through the forest. She almost burned her tongue as she quickly blew on the strip of meat and put it in her mouth, but when she did she discovered all over again how just how nice warm food could be. Her pout was quickly replaced with the slight traces of a smile as she continued to pull strips of meat from the roast. Tonight she had good food, a bonfire to warm herself by and she even had some water left. The only thing missing was company, but even without any this night was better than average already.
"Now now, quiet down sonny, you've made it very clear you don't enjoy model trains last time you were here, and you know I can't take care of a pokémon anymore. Like I've told you back then, if you're bored you should read a book! ...Sheesh, I'm lucky I've already retired. How can you make a living as an author when the only thing youths care about nowadays is their silly computers?" The grandfather sighs.
"You were an author, gramps? You wrote books? But I've never once seen a book with your name on it!" The boy looked somewhat confused at the sudden revelation, but his grandfather simply smiles at the conclusion. While it was true that his books hadn't been best-sellers, back in the day it had earned him enough money to make a living... Times were different, back then, but perhaps he could preserve just a little bit of those times through his grandson. Smiling faintly, the grandfather reaches into a cabinet at the back of the room and retrieves a dull-looking book with a monotonous, tan cover. On the front it reads; "Arotura: An immoral tale," in curly black letters.
"Curious aren't we? Alright then, I'll read it to you."
Chapter 1
Unlikely Encounter
This story begins on a cold evening like any other. A young woman in clothes far too light for the weather warms her hand by a bonfire, waiting for a large piece of meat to finish roasting. Beside her sits her only companion; a Scyther, impatiently gnawing at another chunk of meat, this one raw. The woods were honestly the last place she'd have chosen to spend the night, but dusk had already fallen and night would soon follow, leaving her with little other choice. As she waited for the meat, she quieted her breathing and focused on the forest's ambient sounds.
She could hear the crackling of the fire, the soft noises of her pokémon eating, the rustling of leaves and even the sound of flowing water in the distance. It was a peaceful kind of quiet, and though she preferred this silence over the racket and the pressure of her old life, being alone like this every night was taking its toll on her. How long had it been since she'd fled Yaewong? Since she last went to sleep covered in bruises? Years now, and in that time she'd done things she wasn't proud of... Life moved on though, ready or not.
"We should go to town again tomorrow, Kaijin, our stockpile is completely empty..."
The girl's voice pierced the silence like a knife, despite how she kept her voice down. The Scyther, in response, merely shot her a bored look before it continued eating, eliciting an exhausted groan from the girl. Her Scyther being a pain do deal with was nothing new sadly, but at the very least it pulled through when she needed it. With a slight pout, the girl stood up, walked around the sloppily made spit gently moved it away from the fire, then carefully plucked at the meat where she hoped wasn't too warm.
The sensation of heat burning on her fingertips formed a sharp contrast to the cold, piercing winds blowing through the forest. She almost burned her tongue as she quickly blew on the strip of meat and put it in her mouth, but when she did she discovered all over again how just how nice warm food could be. Her pout was quickly replaced with the slight traces of a smile as she continued to pull strips of meat from the roast. Tonight she had good food, a bonfire to warm herself by and she even had some water left. The only thing missing was company, but even without any this night was better than average already.
