The Harvest Moon Consortium

[Winterhawk99]

Kano

“Eh, Tim. Why don’ ya come sit wit’ me a bit?” the big man said as he wandered past towards the cliffs overlooking the village. Tim didn’t have anything better to do; his parents wouldn’t let him do anything magical that was actually fun, and he had already finished his chores for the day. He watched Kano from behind as they walked. The man was almost as strong as Dad, but whenever Tim asked Dad if he could beat up some of the other villagers, he would always say no, he couldn’t. Tim knew better, though; nobody could beat up Dad. Blacksmiths can really swing a hammer--or a fist.

As always, Tim thought is was funny that Kano would avoid touching Tangwystyl’s water. In this case, the man glared at the water and climbed up the cliff instead of wading through it. Tim splashed through, taking the easy way up. He had already picked out a good spot and was playing with a blade of grass by the time Kano stood up above the cliff.

“Really yer da di’n’ wan’ ya ta be bored while he an’ yer mum were busy wit’ their work, “Kano grinned at the boy with a twinkle in his eye. “Le’s not tell ‘im I ain’t babysittin’ ya, eh? We’s jus’ talkin.”

“Okay,” Tim wasn’t sure if Kano knew that it still was babysitting. The man was so thick, sometimes. “Do you have any good stories?”

“Well, I cou’ tell ya again ‘bout ‘ow I became a courier back ‘ome?” Kano looked up into the cloudless sky. “It all started wit’ me runnin’ ‘way from ‘ome. I cou’ do good math, ya see. I ain’t too bright, but I rem’ber stuff well, includin’ math lessons. My paren’s wann’ed me ta be an accoun’an’ fer Lord Togita in the cap’tol-a Shienar. I wou’n’ stan’ fer tha’, an’ I ran off. Don’ use tha’ excuse ta run off, yersel’, though. I ‘uz fif’een when I took off, an’ I ‘uz too young ta be out adventurin’.”

“What about magic? Did you have any magic at home?”

“There ‘uz somethin’ kinda like magic, but I cou’n’ use it. Fer ya ta unn’erstan’ it well, I’ll ‘ave ta tell ya ‘bout ‘ow the Pattern of the Age works, an’ the Wheel of Ages. Tha’ wou’ be really borin’ ta you.”

Oh. Tim didn’t think so, but he obliged Kano on this. “Did you have samurai like Ameilia back there?”

“There were a few groups kinda like tha’. Shienar ‘uz a coun’ry near the Blight, an’ so almos’ every’un there--excep’ people from my village--was trained fer battle b’cause-a all the trolloc raids. Very strong people, Shienarans. The Aiel, on the other han’, came from Waste, which is nothin’ but desert an’ sharp rocks. One-a their main goals, both as a people an’ as in’viduals, is ta show no weakness at all.

“Pro’lly the closes’ group ta samurai, however, are the Blademasters. It don’ matter where yer from; even some-a the Seanchan from ‘ccross the Aryth Ocean were Blademas’ers, carryin’ the Heron-marked Blade jus’ like we did on our side-a the ocean. Run’way Shienarans cou’ learn, too,” He grinned at Tim with wink. Kano thought he was being subtle, but Tim could easily tell he was talking about himself.

“Like the samurai, Blademas’ers of’en fight duels. Dif’ren, though, is ‘ow the art is used in nomral combat. Samurai still try’n pick out one opponen’ an’ fight one-on-one. If a soldier in the army is a Blademas’er, ‘owever, he stays in formation, an’ uses ‘is techniques fer survival ‘gainst the en’mies, not fer glory. War ain’t a pretty thing, an’ the bes’ battle is the one never fought.

“When I’m in battle, I ‘magine a flame in my min’. I push all my emot’ns inn’a tha’ flame, leavin’ a void b’hin’,” The man’s face seemed to relax into a drab, emotionless expression, and his thick accent cleared. “It has two advantages. First, I can think very clearly, almost as if I am more intelligent than I really. Secondly,” Expression returned to Kano’s face and accent to his lips. “I don’ think I cou’ force m’self ta ‘urt critters if I let my emot’ns run me in battle.”

Ha! Dad really could lick Kano in a fight, then.

“In battle, we us’ly don’ wear armor. In jus’ our clothes, we Blademas’ers can flow from form ta form much more eas’ly. I also foun’ tha’ it ‘elps me run fas’er over ta some’un injured ta ‘elp ‘em if I ain’t wearin’ armor.

“Oh. Near’y fergot. Pro’lly one-a the bigges’ dif’rences b’tween Blademas’ers an’ samurai is tha’ Blademas’ers ain’t ‘ttuned ta an elemen’, an’ they don’ shove their swor’s through their own ‘earts.” The man’s hand twitched a little. He was probably worrying about Ameilia again.

“Some things are near’y the same, b’tween yer worl’ an’ mine, though. We ‘ave souls, jus’ like ya do. They can be c’rrupted or put in objec’s, like ‘ere. Near’y los’ my own tha’ way. Ya wanna ‘ear ‘bout it?”

Wow, Kano never mentioned this before. “Sure!”

“This’s the same story fer why I don’ drink, too. I ‘uz in Caemlyn--Tha’s the cap’tal city-a the midland nation-a Andor, when I ‘uz ‘bout eighteen. I ‘uz pretty drunk in a pub ‘un night, an’ I said I cou’ go anywhere ta get or d’liver a package. Some’un tol’ me they ‘ad a package in the sewer fer me ta pick up, an’ I ‘greed ta go get it. They tried ta stop me at the door, but ‘pparen’ly I ‘uz pretty stubborn ‘bout gettin’ the job done, an’ I pushed pas’.”

“I bet the sewers smelled terrible!”

Kano nodded and grimaced. “Stank-a evil an’ decay, too. I di’n’ fin’ the package, but I foun’ a li’l ceramic pot used fer burnin’ incense. I pocketed the pot, an’ when I woke up the nex’ mornin’ I cou’n’ seem ta get rid-a the thing. It smelled worse’n the sewers, an’ it looked worthless, but I cou’n’ bring m’sel’ ta drop it.

“The days wen’ on, an’ I started gettin’ more an’ more par’noid. I started thinkin’ every’un ‘uz tryin’ ta get my pot. Pretty silly, eh? It ‘uz maybe worth ‘alf a silver mark at mos’ in an antique shop. Finally, ‘bout a year af’er findin’ it, a myrddraal came ta me an’-“

“Wait, what’s a myrddraal?”

“A myrdraal is a shadowspawn critter. It looks kinda like a man ‘bout six feet tall an’ wearin’ a black cloak an’ armor. Its cloak don’ ever billow in the wind. Its face is pale as a dead man’s, an’ where there shou’ be eyes, the face is flat. The gaze-a a myrddraal is pure fear.”

“Well, tha’ myrddraal came an’ took my pot. It felt like part-a my soul went wit’ it. It ‘uz ‘bout two years later when the bond b’tween me an’ the pot ‘uz broken, givin’ me my soul back.”

“How did that happen?” This was really interesting!

“I died.”

Kano was silent for a few minutes. Tim stared at the sky, like Kano was. “Did you have priests on your world, like Shana?”

“Naw. We di’n’ ‘ave any gods ta worship.” Kano frowned thoughtfully, but seemed relieved at the change in subject. “An’ I still can’t seem ta worship Bahamut. I ain’t sure if people from my worl’ are even cap’ble-a worshippin’.” He was staring south again, probably at where the old dragon bones would be if the trees weren’t in the way.

“What about stories from after you came here?”

Kano laughed his slow, thick chuckle. “Ya wanna ‘ear somethin’ more inn’res’in’ than my inner struggles, eh? I don’ blame ya. Le’s see... There ‘uz the time Jo’ro an’ I freed tha’ nature goddess? I di’n’ know wha’ I ‘uz doin’ at the time, but I trus’ed Jo’ro an’ followed ‘im. There ‘uz also the time when I tried ta explore the home-a them red dragons out eas’ in the moun’ains. Tha’ di’n’ go too well, but Ameil’a’s mum saved me. Mos’ recen’, ‘owever, an’ the thing I’m mos’ proud of, is ‘ow we ‘elped them bronze dragons.

“Ameil’a was the un who really changed my min’ ‘bout ‘ppearances. When I firs’ saw ‘er, I thought she ‘uz some kinda shadowspawn from back ‘ome. Good thing fer us some-a my frien’s ‘ere convinced me she wasn’. B’cause-a things like tha’, I di’n’ ‘ssume the green dragon we saw las’ week ‘uz evil. Wit’ ‘er dyin’ breath, she asked us ta take care-a ‘er eggs. I fig’red we cou’ maybe fin’ a metal dragon who cou’ raise ‘em ta be good. Turns out she ‘uz a metal dragon, ‘ersel’, jus’ put un’er some kinda spell ta look green. Made me glad we saved the eggs an’ gave ‘em ta their da. Makes me even more ‘appy tha’ she ‘uz brought back ta life ta raise ‘er young, too.”

“Weren’t you scared when you were that close to the dragons?”

“It’s imposs’ble not ta be scared, but I only ‘ave ta look over an’ see my frien’s, an’ I know tha’ they’ll ‘elp me out when I need it, jus’ like I wou’ wit’ them.”

“Tim! Come help with supper,” Mom called from the inn.

“Ya better go ‘elp yer mum,” Kano stood up and dusted the grass off the seat of his pants. “An’ I shou’ be ‘elpin’ wit’ the construction. I’ll ‘ave ta tell ya more stories later.”

Story by Mictue