The Crimson Sentinels

Chapter One: Kazuki

Chapter One

Kazuki

He sat beside the stream watching the koi lazily swim through the crystal water, now that the earth's rumbling had finally ceased. It had started six days ago with that dull annoying thrum from deep within the earth and it had set off all the elders of the clan and even his own father had become irritated with everything around him, even his own family. Kazuki's mind drifted to the conversation held with his father earlier that morning. With a heavy sigh, Kazuki had been ordered to the barracks to train with the guards, yet he was two years earlier than the rest of his siblings had been for this task. A small bubble on the surface of the water from the koi stole his attention. Glancing down at his new sword, he fingered the edge carefully as he contemplated the next step in his life. The command from his father had been a surprise, as he was only thirteen. Usually, the young recruits were called for barracks duty when they reached fifteen years of age, not thirteen, so he was confused and somewhat annoyed. He blamed the earth's shaking for this sudden command to join the guard.

He had no qualms with joining the guard, but he had only just woken his inner spirit the year prior and he still had yet to form any kind of bond with it. Kazuki wasn't sure he was ready to take his rightful place in the ranks just yet. Knowing one day that he had to, just as his father had done, and his father's father before him and all his brother's and his sister years ago, he supposed that now was as good a time as any.

Shaking his head, he sighed. If truth be told, all he wanted to do was to live his life in peace, without worrying about having to fight or protect anyone. Just that simple existence of starting a family, having young of his own, but that was not the course his father had set out for him.

He pulled his long waist-length silver hair up and tied it with a thick piece of leather and dusted off his hands before pushing to his feet. His eyes fell onto the cobalt blue heritage markings that wrapped around his wrists and he pondered these before leaving the serene stream. Kazuki's markings had only recently appeared, he suspected because his inner spirit was now awake. To his surprise, now with his markings on his face, he and his brothers looked like triplets, not brothers separated by years.

All five of his brothers were guards, his older sister was a handmaiden in the royal quarters after she had trained in the guard and his youngest sister was following his mother's steps of being an embroidery specialist. The way his mother could weave cloth together in such quick succession usually left him sitting there for hours in the evening watching engrossed with her finger work. The details of the stitching were precise and elegant that the princess herself usually requested her kimonos made personally by his mother. He often found himself getting distracted from his normal evening chores while she stitched the intricate designs on kimono and haori for the clan.

The brilliant pinks and purples of the flowers, outlined in elegant silver, and the detailed intricacies of the leaves from the various patterns his mother would make were astounding. Mountains and animals stitched into the fine silks were so lifelike, it was no wonder the princess always requested her garments from his mother.

Akiara, his younger sister, was just as skilled as their mother if not more so after she had reached her coming of age day and taken on a portion of their mother's inner spirit. Kazuki wasn't that much older than she was, only a year separating them, but he was destined to follow in his father's footsteps. His eldest brother, Manami had already taken on station with the home guard, a secure group of guards who were in charge of protecting the royal family.

Since his brother had taken station with that particular group, he had noticed a definite change in Manami's attitude. It had gone from the carefree jovial nature to a more serious and stoic one. Now, Manami rarely came home or even conversed with the family when he did. More recently, Manami had not even bothered to visit, only ever being seen now when he was watching the Lord's son, Chijimatsu. They had never really been close due to the age difference between them, but he was still the eldest and someone Kazuki looked up to.