• Chapter 1 Robyn


    Robyn was always a weird guy. I didn’t really know him that well at first, but one thing was for sure: he’s weird. Not only was his name weird, but he always wore such heavy clothes that it looked like he was always hiding something. Something dangerous.

    Like a secret.

    His hair was really long, down to his waist and he always wore it in a ponytail. What kind of guy does that? He preferred really weird clothing material, like anything green or made of leather. He normally dressed in green and brown. If you made him a midget and gave him all things green and changed his style a bit, he’d look like a leprechaun.

    But he was tall. Tall and mysterious.

    Nobody knew him, or knew anything about him. He was just a regular traveler I guess. But to me, he wasn’t. He seemed too different than a regular traveler. More like a super hero. I would know; he saved me in a life or death situation. I owed him my life.

    He didn’t talk much, it was hard to start a conversation with him. You couldn’t ask him anything simple like, “What’s your favorite color?” or “What have you seen on your journeys?” without getting a simple, “I don‘t have one,” or “Nothing really,” for an answer. I should know. I followed him throughout town.

    He looked young. He looked sweet when he smiled. I was amazed to have met a guy like him.

    He walked all over our little town; he was the lucky one since the girls kept whispering about him. The guys kept staring at him like he was the new boy at a school and he was geeky. Like one of those weirdos that do nothing but draw all day or write really weird stories and expect to be the top of the bag of potatoes. And he always walked like he was on a mission.

    He’d just storm in on everything. He was walking really fast and just dodging anyone in his way. I tried talking to him, but I felt like I was chasing my little brother in a game of tag.

    When I did catch up to him, I said, “Hi!”

    He looked at me, blinked, then went along with his business, almost as if I didn’t say anything. I tried to say something again, but he ignored me. Did he even speak?

    “What’s your name?” I said, even though I already knew his name, I just thought it’d be a good way to start a conversation.

    I had heard his name through the hotel manager. The manager isn’t anything special, he just works there and has the dirt on everything. The hotel manager is also my uncle.

    My uncle had said that a man came in yesterday and needed a place to stay. The man was wealthy, but he looked really young, like he wasn’t even twenty yet. But he stayed at the hotel anyways. He looked mysterious and didn’t say much, so my uncle said, he took a rather small room for someone who had a tone of cash on him. My uncle says he paid about three cents just for a really small room. Three cents! My uncle said we could buy bread for the week with that! I don’t know why Robyn would pay so much for a really small room, but I’m a little glad he did.

    I started the conversation.

    “I heard you’re staying at a hotel. Paid three cents. My uncle is the owner of the hotel. We’re not so rich but we make it through. How do you make money? You have to be rich to pay us so much at once.”

    “Saved up the money before I left.”

    Score! He finally said something.

    “So what did you do?”

    He paused and simply said, “I robbed a bank.”

    I gasped. Was he serious? Please tell me he isn’t serious about that!

    Robyn laughed, and he laughed like a maniacal girl.

    “I’m kidding. I don’t do that stuff. Wouldn’t you have seen signs about me or something? Geez, you kids sure do know how to have an imagination.”

    “I’m only fifteen!” I snapped. stressed

    He laughed that maniacal laugh again. What’s with his laugh? Shouldn’t it sound more manly?

    “It’s not funny! Don’t pick on kids who are younger than you, you middle aged man!”

    He stopped, frozen in his steps. He looked like a little child that had just lost one of his parents, or had fallen out of a tree and didn’t have a mother to comfort him.

    “Robyn, did I…?” I started but then he laughed and said, “How do you know my name? Didn’t you just ask what my name was? Don’t start thinking that just because I’m a traveler I’m stupid, because I’m not.”

    “Fine then tell me what my name is if you’re so smart!”

    I stomped my feet into the ground, and he continued walking through the crowd. I had to catch up to him again. I tugged on his jacket, even though it was summer time, and I regretted it so badly.

    Right as I tugged his jacket, he spun around and I heard the sound of metal sling against another piece of metal. Robyn had a serious, but surprised, look on his face. And I had a scared expression, for the fact that there was a claymore on my shoulder.

    I didn’t make any sound, but everyone else around us did. Women and children screamed. Everyone backed away from us. A man came in between us and said, “What are you children doing here? You boys should go out somewhere else if you’re gonna fight!”

    Robyn wasn’t amused. He actually antagonized the big muscular man.

    “Hmph. What’s a big dope like you gonna do about it?” He smiled. “Are you gonna get your wooden model of your blade?”

    I poked Robyn, but right as I did, the man had snapped already.

    “What was that, you little brat? Do you have any idea who I am?”

    Robyn looked around at the scared faces that everyone had in the town. Robyn didn’t know he was putting up with Gin, the most powerful man we had in the town. Robyn turned his head back to Gin and snickered.

    “Oh, I see. You must be the town oaf. Good job. Would you like your gold star right now?”

    sweatdrop

    More people backed away. Gin’s muscles started to show. Gin wasn’t very use to people, mostly people smaller, picking on him.

    “Why you little…!” Gin lifted his arms and was about ready to crush Robyn with his huge fists. But when The Fists came down, we didn’t die; we were on the roof of a fish-market hut. Robyn’s speed was really incredible. So was his strength.

    “Don’t be alarmed. He’s just acting like he’s tough. I bet you’re stronger than him, kid.”

    “My name’s not kid! It’s~”

    Gin jumped onto the little hut that we were on, and started swinging around his sword. A claymore is much bigger than that of a sword. It’s sharper too. Robyn had his claymore in his hands, but he put it back in the sheath that was strapped to his back. I didn’t noticed that about him until that point.

    “What are you doing?!” I yelled at him. “Gin’s going to kill us!”

    Robyn smiled and picked me up. He held me like a man holds a woman in his arms after rescuing her from something dangerous. There goes my dignity.

    Robyn jumped while I was in his arms. We were in the air for about ten seconds at the most, and we landed on another rooftop. He placed me down behind him and said, “My sword will be my biggest embarrassment if I have to use it to fight that idiot. A simple kick in the head or something should do the trick.”

    Gin came charging after us. I always knew he had anger issues, but I didn’t know he was that impossible to stop! Robyn took the leap of death after Gin came after us. Robyn went charging after him, and when I thought they would collide, instead Robyn jumped again and kicked Gin hard in the mouth.

    Gin had a huge nose bleed, and his mouth was bleeding. I think I saw teeth falling out, but before I could actually see, Robyn picked me up and jumped hut to hut to get to the hotel. I wish I could do that.

    My uncle was really mad when he heard about what happened and that I was part of it. Robyn just dropped me off, literally when I told him to drop me off at my uncle’s hotel, and I landed with a thump on the hard rocky ground. Robyn brushed off his outfit and left.

    “Take care of yourself, you got that, kid? No more sumo-wrestler fights, got it?” He laughed, but lightly, like he was remembering something. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. Hey, kid. If we do meet again, try to become stronger before then, okay?”

    He walked away slowly. I guess he wasn’t going to stay much longer at the hotel in the end.

    But he turned around and said, “See you, Mori.”

    I looked at him with amaze. How on earth did he know my name?