Yamigawa

Volume 1: Running Behind!

The years would pass by, until the little boy was a teen. It was morning. There was a distant sound of cicadas buzzing, and windchimes making small metallic tricklings in the distance. Their soft clinking calls flowing into the ears of Jaiden Steely. The sun had just come up, which was his usual cue for his eyes to open. The boy was on the bulkier side, with a light tan. His hair was shaggy and blonde, his eyes a dark blue. Around his room were small trinkets, and charms. On a shelf nearby was an old sword. The sunlight glaring off the site of it. Jaiden got out of bed, extending his arms up to stretch, sending a tingling sensation through his body. He looked over to his dresser, remembering his lack of an alarm clock. Although blacksmithing is a valuable career, Sector Four was very competitive with smithing. Unfortunately his family got the short end of things, enough that affording an alarm clock was out of the question. Closing his thought, he walked over to his closet and put on his clothes, slipping his feet into sandals. He walked downstairs, hearing sounds of bubbling from a nearby stove. He looked at his mother, standing over a boiling pot. Next to it was a tea kettle, letting out soft high pitched squeals. He could hear his father working in the forge outside, as the sounds of his hammer overpowered both the boiling pot and steaming tea kettle. Jaiden's mom looked at her son with a soft smile. She turned her head to the door and yelled

"Jack! Are you going to the East market today?"

The hammering continued, as Jaiden's mother was now visibly annoyed.

"Jack!"

The sounds of metal hitting the anvil suddenly stopped, as Jaiden's father walked into the room.

"Sorry, Laura. I'm not the best at hearing things. What did you say?"

His father had a smug smirk on his face, signaling that he actually had heard her the first time. Laura walked over and grabbed the much taller man by his ear.

"So you heard me! I asked you about the market! Are you going?"

His father chuckled and walked toward the door.

"Yeah, I'm headin' out. Jaiden! You coming with me?"

Jaiden had an eager look on his face. He quickly scrambled to grab his boots and sat down, quickly tying them. His mother had a warm smile on her face, crouching down next to her son.

"Jaiden, are you going to Grandmaster Yang's today?"

The boy looked up with a focussed stare. Still tying his boots, he muttered a response.

"Yeah, we're supposed to be practicing today. Nothing special!"

Laura looked over at the anvil outside.

"You could always take up the family business, rather than martial arts. You know that, right Jaiden?"

The blonde sighed as he got up to his feet.

"I know, mom. I plan on it."

The blonde bolted outside to meet with his dad. Most of the time, his father had errands for him to run if his mother asked for him to go to the market. But sometimes they just went to work at their blacksmithing shop. Jaiden always loved going to the market with his father, he knew most of the village people and would usually get all kinds of jobs and chores to do. These small efforts let Jaiden make extra cash for both him and his father. He met his father outside, wearing his usual gray cargo shorts, and buttoned shirt. The shirt had multiple rips and tears, but all of them were visibly woven together. His father sporting his conical hat with small floral chimes hanging from different parts of it, and a blacksmith's haori, shining in a unique circular pattern with silver highlights over the haori's black color. At his waist was his mask. Jaiden never really knew the origins of it, only that it was passed down to his father through generations of the tradition of passing it down. The mask wasn't like the Noh or Hannya that he saw others wear, it was plain white, smoked to a faded gray through years of use during blacksmithing, and had a character written on it. The character wasn't from any alphabet Jaiden recognized. This was always a surprise to him, as he'd always taken a joy in researching different languages and other subjects. It wasn't from any language in his books, which always nagged him. His father told him the symbol had the meaning of strength. It was so he kept his feet steady when pouring steel, and stood strong when swinging his hammer. He found himself so caught up in thought that he didn't even realize that they'd already reached the village. Each building of Sector Four's village was built from minimal materials, so each house had its own unique shape and design. Ropes would dangle from each structure, with lanterns and charms strung to the ends of them. The paths on the ground were made from stone, with cracks and aging visible. People were all over the streets, meeting in the center. On a porch nearby, there was an elderly man and woman. The woman sat out a pie in the windowseal, while the man was sweeping. Jaiden's father tipped down his hat and placed a hand on his hip.