Konna

~Chapter 5~

White fluffy clouds lazily drifted across the blue sky. The dazzling sun occasionally peaked behind the clouds, casting a golden glow below. Birds chirped happily, welcoming the new morning. I gazed at Renna who was still sound asleep. She was curled up in a ball with several red leaves stuck in her green hair. I walked over beside her and began gently shaking her awake.

Renna let out a long groan but kept her eyes closed. Unamused, I continued to shake her awake – this time with more vigour.

"10 more minutes," mumbled Renna.

"No," I replied firmly.

"Pleasseee," pleaded Renna.

"No."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Finneeee," Renna gave in and opened her eyes. "You're so mean. Why did you have to wake me up so early!?"

I looked up to confirm that the sun was well up into the sky. It was already past 10am. That wasn't early. I then stared at Renna with an unimpressed gaze.

"Training," I responded.

"What training?" Renna grumbled.

I stood up and reached out my hand to Renna. "You wanted to learn how to fight no?" I retorted. Renna nodded. Using my hand to support herself, she stood up. She then brushed away any stray leaves and dirt.

"Alright, what would you like me to do?" Renna asked.

Noticing Renna hadn't removed the stray leaves from her hair, I responded with "stay still." I moved closer to her and reached out for a red leaf in her hair. Startled, she subconsciously moved backwards and looked at me bewildered. She then blushed.

"What are you doing Kocho!?" Renna said in surprise. I innocently looked back at her, holding the red leaves I had removed from her hair. I tilted my head in confusion at her reaction. I waved the red leaves in front of her.

"These were in your hair," I replied.

"Oh," Renna said. She looked away from me. It was clear she was very flustered. Renna took a deep breath to calm down. She then proceeded to scold me. "Next time tell me what you're about to do okay?"

I nodded and then scratched the back of my head. "I'm sorry..." I meekly said. "Shall we start training then?" I asked cautiously.

Renna nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's jog. Follow me," I instructed. I started to lightly jog and Renna followed after me from behind. I noticed though, as time passed, the distance between Renna and I was increasing. It seemed I had overestimated her stamina. I slowed down my pace to match Renna's. I watched as her green hair fluttered in the wind and her face become flushed.

"Are your struggling?" I inquired.

"I wanna give up," Renna said breathlessly. She was heavily panting.

I thought back to when I started to run and my initial struggles. I remember starting to learn how to run from a very young age. Our village elders advocated that we gained the skills needed to protect ourselves. It was in the hopes to reduce the number of fatalities our village suffered from monster attacks.

My mother, who was one of the village guards, had taught me. I remember during the first few months, I hated running. It was arduous. I always felt like my lungs were going to burst, and my ankles were in agony. More often than not, I would want to give up. Yet, my mum would always say the same words to me. Those words were very effective at motivating me to continue. Recalling those words, I recited them to Renna. "If you want to protect others, you first must become stronger."