Traveling Through Tales

Chapter 5 Tour

After a heated argument between Shizu and her newly introduced brother Yashimu which resulted in another intervention made by Ozen, to prevent Shizu from doing anything drastic. Everyone calmed down and discussed their plans.

Starting the conversation Ozen spoke first.

"Yashimu, I need you to finish up the hunt I had given to you and your sister. We leave in two days so be sure to get it done or at least implement preventative measures."

"Father!" Cried Shizu. "Why are you letting Yashimu handle the hunt, wasn't I the one to be in charge of that task?"

"Shizu!" Yelled Ozen in a firm tone of voice, his eyes now squinting as his brow furrowed.

"I want you to give Azi a tour of Shisayama. Get him clothed and have him take up residence with Kajima, he owes me a favor and I believe this is a good fit for its use. I will have no complaints out of you on this matter but be at ease child. Know that you will be taking part in the hunt. Your brother needs this experience as you already have much experience with many hunts."

Looking a bit down, Shizu's expression morphed from a look of shock to pouting as she complained.

"Fine! But on the next hunt I get to call the shots. Do we have a deal father?"

Ozen saw the downtrodden expression of her's and remembered that in her youth, she was an outgoing little lass and it seemed that her habits still showed in her adulthood. Chuckling a bit to himself, he compromised with his sweet little daughter but added a condition.

"Alright but be sure you treat Azi well. If I hear a complaint from him then I'll have to reconsider who will lead the next hunt."

"Yes, Yes, Father I'll do my best." Said Shizu in a nonchalant tone.

Ozen looked at Shizu and sighed in exasperation as he knew that she was going to be a headache he would have to handle later on.

He then turned to Azi.

"While I would give you a tour personally, there are matters that I must finish quickly as I plan to leave in two days."

Azi frowned at Ozen as he was annoyed that he would be stuck with such a troublesome woman, but with a placating tone Ozen reassured Azi.

"I know that you are likely confused and annoyed with your current situation but trust me I will leave you in good hands. My friend Kajima is a dependable man and while he does seem abrasive from time to time, he is a kind soul underneath that thick skin of his."

In a whisper Ozen added. "Please bear with Shizu's attitude, she is a good girl at times and treats kids very well."

Feeling like Ozen's later statement seemed off, Azi decided to let it lay. Shizu's strength was obviously enough to handle any trouble and this Kajima fellow might be worth getting to know. After sighing Azi acquiesced.

"While I do have some misgivings about the current situation." He glanced at Shizu. "I will accept your kindness."

"Thank you for your assistance thus far, I will endeavor to repay my debt to you Ozen."

While he talked, Azi stated his sincerity as he straightened his back, changed his expression to the one of a professional, and politely bowed with one arm crossed flat against his chest in a gesture of respect.

This got the attention of Shizu, Yashimu, and Ozen as they did not think that he was able to act so politely. His past behavior and youthful appearance made him seem like a reckless youth that was laxed and who spoke his mind.

After a few moments of silence passed, it was broken as Ozen bellowed a laugh.

"Bwahahaha, you are a really interesting boy. Too think you could act and talk in such a noble way. Bwahahaha!!"

Ozen's loud voice bellowed out to the surroundings of the village and caught the attention of the inhabitants of the garden who usually began their early morning chores. They looked on at their king with a wry smile thinking to themselves. 'Oh, it's just Ozen being his usual self hahaha.'

After his laugh, Ozen coughed to hide his slight embarrassment from the attention he was now getting and then motioned to Shizu and Yashimu to be on their way.

Following Ozen's implied motions, Shizu turned to Azi with a frown.

"Follow me." She said in an uninterested tone. "Let's get you clothed before you embarrass yourself."

Looking at his wet attire and torn clothes he nodded in agreement.

"That...  is something I can agree with." Said Azi plainly. "I'm in your hands Shizu, lead the way."

Azi and Shizu then began walking down the dirt road towards the southern end of the village. The village was divided up into 3 sections where the northern and southern portions were filled with shops such as smiths, food stands, inns, and other places of business.

The central portion of the village was where the permanent residences of the village had their homes. This layout was due to how the village of Shisayama was a rest stop between the empire's capital named Yamato and the nation of Kujyuri's capital aptly named Kujyuri.

People would either rest in the northern and southern portions in inns or would get some quick shopping done to then move onto the last leg of the journey to either Kujyuri or Yamato.

The location Shizu and Azi were headed to was towards a smith's shop at the outer region of the southern portion of the village. Kajima, the owner of the smith, had a hobby of testing his tools frequently which caused a lot of noise and was quite dangerous to anyone in his surroundings during said tests.

So, Kajima set up shop as far as he could within the village boundaries in order to not cause disturbances in the village. His weapon tests tend to get a bit too overzealous. So overzealous that nearby trees and boulders would be slashed or smashed to pieces. The once jagged patches of land surrounding his house in the past were flattened by his so-called "light" "tests".

Along the way Shizu grabbed some clothes from a shop that was on the way to Kajima's. She threw them at Azi and directed him harshly to go change in one of the changing rooms of the shop.

"Here, put these on in that room. Also don't complain." Shizu said in annoyance.

"Yeah Yeah." Azi said in a sarcastic tone.

Azi got the feeling that Shizu was very abrasive with men, he did not know why but he knew that she did not like him one bit.

He then began to put on the clothing which took a bit of time for him as he was unfamiliar with the clothes. There was no underwear, and he was confused as there was a large hole in the pants that he was given.

With a bit of concern, he was worried that he was going to mess up on properly clothing himself, so he called out. "Hey Shizu, I need your help. I don't know how to properly put some of this on."

"Alright, but are you clothed?" Questioned Shizu.

Thinking to himself that Shizu's question was a bit strange, he thought to answer seriously but wanted to get back at her for punching him. So, in a joking manner he teased her a bit. "Yes, but I can be unclothed if you like."

"Gross." Said Shizu in disgust. "You are such a pervert." She muttered in a quiet tone.

"Alright keep your clothes on, I'm coming in."

Declaring her intent, Shizu then entered the room and then began to walk Azi through on how to use the long piece of cloth as underwear and explained that he could just cover the hole in the pants with a bit of fabric.

Still befuddled by the hole in the pants, he asked Shizu. "What is the hole for anyway?"

"That would be for your tail." Shizu then indicated her own with her hand. It was a large and fluffy fox tail which drew Azi's attention away for a moment, but hearing Shizu continue her explanation he turned away to ensure he heard her correctly.

"But in your case, you don't have one which I must ask. What happened to your tail?"

"Not sure, I mainly woke up like this, maybe it got cut off or fell off? Either way, nothing to worry about now."

"Your nonchalance seems to reinforce just how laid back you are, how are you not worried? I heard from my father while you slept, and you said it yourself, you might have amnesia. How does this not make you feel that something is wrong?" Complained Shizu.

Azi's body suddenly stiffened up as Shizu's last words of "something is wrong" hit deep into Azi's mind. He could feel that he was missing something but felt so uncomfortable that he had to shake his head to push the feeling away.

"Yes something is wrong, but when I think about it, I feel a strange sensation. I don't want to feel that sensation again. It's....."

Seeing the obvious distress on his face, Shizu felt a bit regretful for possibly touching a sensitive topic, so she interrupted him.

"Alright Alright no need to freak out, just get your clothes on. We need to hurry before Kajima's smith gets too busy. I'll be outside waiting."

Without hearing a response from Azi, Shizu left the room and made her way to the entrance of the clothing shop.

Seeing Shizu leave abruptly, Azi sighed and then thought to himself.

'My memories are all broken at best, I at least remember my name but besides that there are times where I feel as if I have seen this before or get this sudden urge to act in a sudden way. Maybe that was what I was like before.' Azi Sighed. 'Well, no use in asking questions, better to just act normal and see what happens. But man I really wanna touch that fluffy tail, but I think I'll die. *Sigh*'

Unbeknownst to Azi, due to his experience in the black void, much of his old personality was forcefully torn from him with his memories. What specifically was torn from him were his past obligations and the mental pressure he subjected himself to for the sake of improving himself to help others.

His current trauma is also a result of him unconsciously suppressing any negative memory and related memories out of a sense of guilt or regret for his past failures and actions in hopes of preserving what sense of self he had left in the black void.

The black had dredged up old memories that Azi had moved on from and healed from, but due to the unknown nature of the black void. It used these old memories against him for an unknown purpose.

This in turn ripped memories of how he used to be away from him, so while he is 27 years old physically and somewhat mentally, his true personality was uninhibited and is more relaxed and outgoing. This personality was locked away by the obligations he placed on himself as he grew up to become an adult.

Not knowing of the effects of the black void, Azi continued to get his clothes on, which consisted of a green cloak that descended to the side of his hips, a white coat with long blue sleeves, a white undershirt that felt a bit rough on his skin.

Long pants that descended down the entire length of his legs, underwear that was in the form of a tight loincloth wrapped around his groin, and finally a long piece of gray cloth wrapped around his waist that held the shirt and pants against his hips.

After clothing himself, he stepped out of the shop and turned to Shizu to ask.

"How do I look?"

"Decent at best, but I'm glad that they fit." Said Shizu.

Azi laughed at Shizu's comment and through his laughter was able to tease her.

"Thanks, it seems you somehow knew my sizes from the beginning. I wonder? What did you do to me while I was unconscious?"

Scoffing at Azi's implicating words, Shizu turned away and continued her tour of the village. Azi quickly followed with a smile on what Shizu would describe as his dumb face.

That day Azi got to familiarize himself with the village. What first caught his attention was how the houses were all made of wood which was strange to him as he usually thought that houses would be built out of a combination of metal, glass, and concrete.

He was then further befuddled as he noticed that every one of the villagers had fluffy ears and a tail. They were clothed in clothes made of weaved fabric and it was easy to see that the clothes were made by hand rather than by a machine. It was noticeable that all the clothes the residents were wearing were different from one another.

While he did see a clothing shop here and there, it usually only had clothes made with a uniform design but had the telling signs that each had their slight differences since they were hand crafted.

When he asked Shizu just how much his clothes cost he realized he could not interpret the true value. The currency was different from what he remembered as it was going by the denomination of Minos, an unfamiliar term to him.

Distracted by his own thoughts, Azi suddenly bumped into something. To his surprise it looked like a giant bird and on top of it was a villager who looked at Azi, but then paid him no mind as he guided his giant bird around Azi.

Surprised by this, he looked around and saw what looked like a huge lizard. The size of the bird was about 1.5 meters tall, but there was this lizard that was even bigger as it was at least 2 meters in height at least.

While both surprised and amazed at the large creatures he saw, he thought to himself that he would have to ask this Kajima, that Ozen spoke of, a few questions when he met him.

Azi's curiosity of the world around him compelled him to better understand the unknown surroundings he found himself in. He felt elated by the prospects of experiencing new things and learning about new topics.