1 Van of Mountain Village

The country of Cloud River was a very small nation within the vast Eastern Lands. Unlike their glorious neighbour - the Great East Heaven country - Cloud River had little to boast of. It could only be said to be pure and untouched, with beautiful natural sceneries that stirred the souls.

It could also be said to be a tiny backwater country with no hopes of producing anyone or anything great.

Our grand journey begins in such a country's remote village, creatively named 'Mountain Village' by some esteemed and presumably illiterate fore-father. The village's ignominy was such that the most illustrious person to have ever been born there came upon his fame and fortune by pure accident. Yes, Gani the Rich, a long-dead merchant accidentally made a  fortune after he tripped and dropped a small splinter of thornberry-leaf soap into a passing nobleman's afternoon cup of tea. Legends say the aroma was so pleasing, and the tangy bitterness so shocking, that the nobleman declared that there was no better way to stave off the need for an afternoon nap. Thus, the nobles in Cloud River (for a time) would send their servants to Mountain Village for the local tea, which was henceforth named Sleep-Away tea, so that their children could drink it prior to lengthy exams or trips to stay alert and banish sleepiness.

Ahem, bringing it back to the grand journey we spoke about earlier.

On the outskirts of this remote 'Mountain Village', a young boy with brown tousled hair who could be no older than thirteen, was glaring at something in the distance with his expression full of thunderous anger. Van was running as fast as he could, his eyes fixed on the scene in front of him. 

Only several metres ahead, a gang of boys were crowded around a trembling young girl with fair hair. Standing at the front of the group was a young man with grey eyes and hair, with an expression of utter contempt on his thin face.

[It's Ryan - the Chief Hunter's precious son]

Ryan was about a year younger than Van, but due to his genetics and training from his father, was slightly taller and more muscular than most boys his age. Undoubtedly, this contributed to his acceptance as the head of a ragtag gang of bullies in the village.

The sight of Ryan made Van's expression worsen; his dark brows furrowed and his fists clenched while he ran. He gave off the aura of a wild beast, thirsty for blood.

"Get away from my sister, you piece of shit!" Van shouted.

The group of bullies were startled and subconsciously moved aside, revealing their leader's back.

THUD!

Van grabbed a fistful of grey hair and shoved Ryan to the ground. With a loud sound, the taller boy fell to the dirt and scrambled to regain his feet. Undaunted, Van pulled him back down and swung his fists at his opponent's head. Van managed to get a few solid whacks at Ryan before a blow to his side flung him off the taller boy. Ryan's followers surged forward and grabbed his arms and legs so that Van was immobilised. 

"F***!" Ryan spat, having regained his footing. His cheek was purpling and he stared at Van as if he was seeing him for the first time. Van glared back from the ground.

The grey-haired teenager straddled Van's prone figure and raised a fist while snarling.

"Stop!" The little golden-haired girl cried out. Van turned his head to the side and saw his sister. At that moment, pain blossomed in his chest as the blows he had endured in the last minute caught up with him.

"Finn!" He shouted. Ryan frowned and lifted his fist up, his expression was as if to say he disdained to even be fighting with such a nobody. However, as he swung his fist, Finn had run over in an attempt to protect her older brother.

Ryan's fist shifted too late.

Finn flew into the dirt from the impact. She let out a small whimpering cry, chubby hands pressed to her shoulder. 

"Motherf*****!" Van shouted, seeing red. The pain in his body seemed to disappear as the flames of range seared him.

Ryan, who seemed shocked at the turn of events, quickly returned to his previous expression and struck Van once more across the face. His grey eyes were accusing as if to say it was Van's fault that he had hit Finn.

Van twisted violently, trying to loosen his attacker's grip, his face and chest burning in pain.

The bullies surrounding him jeered. 

"Dirty, worthless orphan!"

"Your parents abandoned you here 'cuz they didn't want you!"

"I bet they were human trash, just like their son!"

  Kicks rained down on Van's sides and the fishy taste of blood bubbled up at the back of his throat. They kicked him, but it was their words that hurt the most.

"Don't talk shit about my parents!" He spat through bloodied teeth.

Finn clambered onto her feet, her wispy blonde hair a halo around her face and her apple cheeks an angry red. This angelic girl suddenly screamed like a demon and jumped into the fray, taking a boy by surprise and slamming him onto the ground. The boys around her scattered, confused and a little terrified.

Van grinned.

[That's my girl. My little lessons on being a nuisance have not gone to waste.]

In the chaos, one of Van's restrainers accidentally let go of him due to the slipperiness of his sweat and Van was able to fling him off. Quickly, he socked the opponent in the nose. There was a cracking noise - presumably he managed to break their nose.

[With Douglas' looks, this is an improvement.]

Van thought wryly.

Douglas, realising his nose was broken, opened his mouth and wailed like a banshee, which, plus Finn's terrifyingly unholy shrieks finally got the attention of the rest of the villagers.

Van might be the target of most villagers' apathy and dislike, but his little sister Finn was a bright, cheerful girl who no one disliked. On most days, she spent her time with the village aunties, who braided her hair and slipped her snacks and treats when they thought no one was looking. The village chief's wife, Sherpa, who was childless, fancied taking her in if she could, but she immensely disliked Finn's older brother, Van, who ran about like a wild child and always responded to elders with a sullen look in his eye. His temperament was too stubborn, and his age, almost thirteen now, was too old to be re-educated under her wing. Trying to figure out a way to separate little Finn from her elder brother had been giving her a huge headache and made her toss and turn at night. Finally, her husband the Village Chief, Leif, put his foot down – Finn was inseparable from her brother, and he would not tolerate that brat under his roof. That was that, and Sherpa had no choice but to swallow down her loneliness and endure the empty household.

Luckily, Sherpa and the other women were close by, harvesting blackberries along the waterway that ran alongside the village. Hearing the blood-curdling screams, they dropped their baskets, hearts in their throats.

Were bandits attacking? Was there a murderer?

They looked at each other in horror.

Sherpa arrived first on the scene.

She took in the disorder, and the dirty, bloodied form of tiny Finn as she wrestled with a boy almost twice her size. She almost could not believe her eyes. But a few moments were all she needed to grasp the whole situation.

Even as the other women arrived with their husbands in tow to beat up the so-called 'bandits,' Sherpa dragged Van and Ryan away by the ear. Van struggled futilely in her strong grip. Ryan, also unsatisfied, gave him a sharp kick to the shin. Van gritted his teeth and glared daggers at his nemesis.

Soon enough Sherpa's husband, Leif, appeared. He was a somewhat fierce-looking, middle-aged man with a livid scar that ran from his bicep to wrist. A souvenir from a fight with a bear, legend told.

"What is the meaning of this?" Leif questioned, taking in Van's state and Ryan's belligerent expression, already grasping 80% of the situation.

Unfortunately, as soon as he arrived he was already biased to one side.  Firstly, Ryan's father, Blade, was his best friend, and secondly, he disliked Van. If you asked him where this dislike stemmed from, it was hard to say, sometimes he felt like it was almost instinctual - as if imprinted onto his brain.

Ryan stuck a finger out and pointed it at Van, "He attacked me first!"

Leif's expression was unreadable. He looked towards Van and saw a thin teenage boy with dark hair and dark eyes. Leif shuddered. Every time he looked into that kid's eyes he felt... as if he were on the verge of falling into a deep fathomless pit filled with nightmares. It triggered some niggling memory in the back of his head. Sometimes he tried to recall the scene long ago when the two children had been delivered to the village by their parents, but the events were surrounded in fog.

Leif couldn't remember, but he never dwelled on it for long. It didn't matter. All he knew was that there was something wrong with Van. And the rest of the villagers agreed with Leif - Van made them feel cold and uneasy. And it was hard to like things that made you uneasy. 

"You hurt Finn!" Van shouted at Ryan, his face was a blotchy red.

"Do you have proof?" Ryan said coldly, but his eyes looked guilty.

Van pulled Finn protectively to his chest and pointed to her injuries, "How do you explain this then?"

The villagers whispered amongst themselves, feeling sympathy at the sight of the scrapes that marred tender porcelain skin. Finn's stony, trying-not-to-cry face caused not just a few villagers to glance disapprovingly at Ryan and his gang.

Ryan stiffened his jaw, "She fell. It has nothing to do with me."

Leif frowned, "It is not okay to baselessly slander people like that, Van. You are accusing him of a serious deed without any evidence at all."

Van had never felt so furious and yet incapable in his whole life.

The villagers disdained him, he knew beyond doubt, for what reason, he had no idea. The lack of justice frustrated him. Finn reddened and let out a loud cry, burying her head into his dirty chest.

"V-v-VaaAAN," she wailed sadly, pudgy hands thumping into his bruised sides, "I-I-I was so scared…"

Van winced, his little sister's fists sure packed a lot more force than they looked. He glanced around the village square and noted that Finn's crying face was earning her much sympathy. Seeing her dishevelled state, even Leif sighed and retracted some of his fierceness.

After a while, the village elders came to a consensus.

Ryan and his cronies were ordered to forage in the forest for a week for 'causing a disturbance in the village.' What they had to do was simple and easy, and there were no consequences for failure.

Van, on the other hand, was accused of 'attacking another villager unprovoked.' He was to collect herbs from the mountain - the one full of fierce beasts that could rend you to pieces with one bite.

If he failed, he and his sister would be evicted from the village. They didn't need to feed extra useless, hangers-on. Van knew that the villagers had some affection for Finn, stemming from their pity mostly, but it was not enough to offset their dislike for him.

[Now that I'm a bit older and able to provide for the both of us, they've decided that they no longer need to keep up their facade of being upstanding citizens who would look after abandoned orphans from the goodness of their own hearts.]

Van sneered. Getting evicted from the village was nothing for him, he would happily have left on his own. However, his little sister was treated very well here, and in the bigger towns, little girls are in more danger.

Luckily for him, Van spent most of his time on the mountainside anyway, foraging and hunting. The crowd dispersed, leaving Van and his little sister alone in the village square.

Blade, a grizzled grey-haired man who was as tall and wide as a mountain with a sharp spear strapped to his back, dragged his protesting son, Ryan, away. 

Van sighed and patted Finn's soft golden hair.

"Sorry I didn't come to protect you sooner," he said regretfully.

Finn shook her head violently from side to side.

"No sorry," he heard her muffled tiny voice from his chest.

She peeked upwards, eyes guileless and glimmering with the adoration of her strong, best big brother. Van beheld the hero worship in her eyes. He could let himself down, but he could never let down Finn!

"Big brother will be okay, in the big mountain, right?" She asked softly, cutely tilting her head to the side. Her thin arms clung to him as surely as an octopus would.

"You know I will," Van replied, assured of that at least, "What do you want me to bring back?"

Hearing this, Finn immediately perked up.

"Pretty scale, pretty scale!" She implored, eyes big and glittering with excitement, "Make necklace!"

Van immediately got a headache, not knowing whether to tell his little sister that the Rainbow Carp were the most elusive creatures to catch on the whole mountainside. Last time, he'd managed to fleece two glittering scales off a baby carp's back and did not see hide nor hair of another one for months.

He looked at the hopeful look in her eyes and did not say no. She deserved all the nice things he could get her.

The next morning, Van was up with the sun. Out of some old hemp cloth, he crafted a tunic for himself and Finn.

They were roughly shaped, but wearable.

Soon after, he left the tent.

In the village square, a hunter passed the elder's foraging requirements to Van, with strict reminders that he needed to deliver everything on the list by the end of the week.

At least the forage items weren't rare or difficult to harvest.

The only difficulty was the sheer number needed. He might need to go a bit deeper than he usually did, as the areas he usually roamed would not have such high amounts of Iron Grass or Mooncap Mushroom.

_____________

The hunter that had given Van his requirements watched him leave with a glint in his eye.

Shortly after he left, Blade appeared, his large frame blocking out the sunlight. He watched Van's thin figure leave the village. Eventually, he spoke:

"You did as I instructed, hunter?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hmph," said Blade, a dark look in his eyes. He felt that the punishment was too light. But what to do... As he stared into the distance, an ominous pressure touched his mind, just for a moment. His expression soon cleared and a peaceful smile appeared on his face.

"That boy is an ill omen. We would all be better off...if he just died in there!"