A Thief and His Woes

            Fire and air: the two mix together like bread and butter. A fitting simile for Fuji, for they were his bread and butter. Though far from an uncommon trait on Disposition-9, the mastery of an element had manifested far sooner in Fuji than was normal. Some people, such as his mother, had wanted him to use his gift for the village, but Fuji had other plans for his control of air. Who would miss a loaf of bread here, a wheel of cheese there, especially when Fuji’s mother could barely bring in enough money to support them as is?

A few of the villagers would pick on him, calling him an air head and full of hot air, though they wouldn’t realize how apt their insults were at the time. It was only after having been tossed aside as a sack of garbage would be for the umpteenth time by the castle guards that Fuji’s control over fire began to develop. More than a few fires had been started in the houses of his tormentors, though nobody could ever satisfactorily link it to Fuji. Most likely this stemmed from his frustration over not being able to do anything to increase his and his mother’s lot in life, and that damn Erazzmuz sure as hell wouldn’t be caught dead helping ordinary peasants.

            “Why even have a Lord if he doesn’t do anything to help our village?” The venomous thought escaped Fuji’s lips before he could contain himself. His mother looked over from where she sat on one of the only chairs in the patched and beaten up shack they called home together. A needle with light blue fabric threaded through was clutched in one hand, while the other held a frayed tunic. Light cast from a guttering candle stub situated directly in the middle of a rickety table illuminated Fuji’s mother’s face, outlining each wrinkle, along with the creased brow that went along with it.

            “You know our Lord does his best to provide for his people. I do not want to hear that talk again from you, young man,” came the disapproving tone, to which Fuji rolled his eyes, though not before turning away so she wouldn’t see the action, “Be a dear and go get me some more thread. I seem to be at the end of my spool. See if Uther will give you a good deal.”

            Fuji looked back at his mother with love in his heart but annoyance in his eyes. “Mother, I wish you would stop working for just five minutes. I’ll go if you put down that tunic and rest.” His eyes lingered on her claw-like hands, the result of years of sewing and patching clothing for the peasants in the immediate area.

            His mother shook her head. “You like to eat, do you not? You like having a roof over your head, pitiful as it is? What about the clothes on your back?”

            Fuji released a resigned sigh and stepped over to his mother, then stooped down and planted a swift kiss on her forehead. “I will return shortly. At least take a break while I’m gone, though. You have been at this for hours.”

            Without waiting to see if his mother would obey him, Fuji spun around and hurried out the door. Once outside, he adopted a casual stroll and not even five seconds later a door to his left swung open. A taller boy in his late teens stepped outside and fell into place beside Fuji, counteracting Fuji’s shorter stature and slighter build.

            “Where are you off to, Fuji?” the boy asked, “running another errand? Or are you ‘working’?”

Fuji smirked but continued looking straight ahead. “Mother asked me to get some thread for her. I’ll sneak in a job after I’m done. What about you, Gareth?”

Gareth tossed back his long black hair and scowled. “The old man is having one of his drunken rages again, and I figured it’d be better to just get out of there. One of my brothers can take the brunt of it this time.”

Fuji flashed a look of sympathy in Gareth’s direction but kept his attention focused on the buildings around them. Each of them was familiar to the pair, though not in the usual way. Each one had been the target of a burglary at one point, and to make their heists successful, Fuji and Gareth had examined them all in turn. There might not be another resident of their village who knew his way around like these two did. Gareth was a natural at this, and his deeply tanned skin and dark hair allowed him to blend into the shadows with an almost unnatural ease. Fuji, on the other hand, had to take several precautions before attempting a job, as his neon pale skin and shock of orange hair would give himself away immediately, and his gangly limbs did not afford him the privilege of fighting off any guards.

“I’m thinking of hitting a couple of the haunts tonight, maybe even going after Lord Erazzmuz himself,” Gareth declared. “I’m going to need you for this job.”

This caught Fuji’s attention. He stopped mid-step and stared at Gareth for a moment. “Are you sure you’re ready for that? The guards could spot you a mile away from the towers. They would have a real reason to execute you this time.”

Gareth snorted with laughter. “That’s if they catch me. Those baboons in aluminum can’t tell the difference between a rock and a river, let alone notice me in time to stop me.”

Gareth’s confidence, as always, was extremely infectious, and within a few seconds Fuji found himself nodding along.

“Alright, I’m in. But don’t think I’ll stick around for your sorry ass if you get caught.”

Gareth nodded, a serious face taking over. “I’ll see you later tonight. Meet me at the apple tree behind the courtyard.”

The two shook hands and parted ways when the business part of the village came into view. However, the bustling villagers were nowhere to be found and the crowded streets were unusually quiet given that both suns could still be seen above the horizon. Where was everybody?

‘Perhaps our Lord called another assembly of the nobles,’ Fuji speculated, ‘and of course every villager who matters or wants to matter will be there.’

A few short minutes later, Fuji arrived at his destination: Uther’s General Goods. A light shining through the window in the front showed the store was still open. ‘Good. I really didn’t want to pull one on Uther.’

Fuji stepped through the doorway and was greeted by the large toothy smile and open arms of Uther, one of the village’s most-loved shopkeepers. Just about every villager purchased some odd or end here, and even a few nobles stopped by occasionally. Once inside the shop, the reason behind this became clear as day. Lining the many shelves and racks were items ranging from staffs to scrolls to quills to armor, and so much more besides. A merry fire crackled away in the far corner, inviting guests to walk over and rest their feet for a minute in the comfortable armchairs. Today Fuji had the place to himself, as wherever everybody was, it certainly was not there. Uther stood behind his counter, an imposing figure who towered over almost every villager save Lord Erazzmuz and with the muscle to keep his shop secure against any would-be thieves. In contrast, his good-natured face was an open invitation to any and all to peek inside and find just the item they were searching for.

“Fuji! Good to see you, lad. Staying out of trouble, I hope?” Fuji simply flashed Uther a smile. “What are you in the market for today, son?”

“Mother needs some more thread, Uther.”

A frown replaced Uther’s smile. “Mariette isn’t working still, is she?”

Fuji sighed and nodded, “Unfortunately, yeah. I told her to take a break, but I doubt she listened to me.”

Uther shook his head, saying “That woman needs to rest sometime. She’ll work her hands right off her arms, she will. And then those hands will keep on sewing!” He guffawed at his own joke for a second, before coming back to the original topic. “What colour is she working with, a green, blue, or yellow? I actually got in some red with gold strung throughout, and a very pretty silvery-teal I know she’d be interested in.” As he named each colour, Uther pulled out a spool of each and placed them on the counter that divided him from Fuji.

Fuji considered this for a moment, and said “Blue is fine. I think she has Orthen’s tunic this week, so she doesn’t need anything special.” Uther was right about the silver thread, though. Fuji’s mother would kill for a colour as attractive. The gears in his mind started grinding.

Uther picked up the blue spool and handed it to Fuji, then reached under the counter and passed along a worn-down pair of brown pants. “Take these home with you. Tell Mariette one of the knees ripped open and a seam started opening up.”

Fuji gave Uther a grateful smile. No other shopkeeper would allow a villager to pay for merchandise through a trade. He could not help but keep glancing at the silver thread, and Uther was quick to pick up on this.

“I’ll go check on my backroom inventory. Can you keep an eye on these spools, make sure no one runs away with them for me?” Uther asked with a wink.

Fuji quickly nodded, immediately catching on. The moment Uther turned his back on Fuji to go into the backroom, Fuji swiped up the silver spool and thrust it deep into his pocket along with the blue thread. Then he turned on his heel and made a beeline for the door, with Uther calling out “Make good use of those threads!”

With his errand completed, Fuji continued down the road he had arrived on, his new destination being the apple tree.

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The western sun had set by the time Fuji arrived at his and Gareth’s meeting place, with the eastern sun resting just above the horizon. The nobles lucky enough to reside in the castle generally frowned upon ordinary villagers coming up to the courtyard, and the guards kept a close watch on any who did, but there was no law preventing such a practice. All the same, Fuji was not surprised when he walked up to the apple tree and heard a rustling of branches followed by Gareth dropping down to the ground.

“Well met, Fuji. To be frank, I didn’t think you’d show your face after what happened last time,” Gareth commented.

Fuji glowered, quietly saying “Those two stuck-up nobles were asking for it. The lashings were worth it. They sure as hell don’t think air is such a stupid element to control now.”

With the small talk aside, the pair crept up to the lower walls of the courtyard, where they immediately noticed the closed gate. This would have been a problem for a normal thief, but with both his palms open and pointed downward, Gareth was able to raise the portion of ground they were standing on into a platform that continued to rise and allowed them to step onto the top of the southern wall. From there, the two jumped down into the courtyard, directly into the shadow of the much more imposing wall of the castle.

Keeping his eyes trained on the windows, turrets, and guard towers, Fuji spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “There wasn’t anybody in town today, not even the guards.” For some reason, there weren’t even guards stationed at these openings in the castle walls.

Gareth nodded. “I noticed that as well. There is definitely an assembly happening, and it’s a big one. Keep your eyes and ears open.”

With that, the pair moved silently through the courtyard before arriving directly in front of the castle wall, keeping along the courtyard wall the entire way. With practiced ease, Gareth started scaling the castle, grabbing the smallest of fingerholds and extending them after for Fuji, displaying his true prowess with the element of earth. Once up to an open window, Gareth pulled himself inside and extended a hand for Fuji to grab hold. The hallway they were in was richly adorned with tapestries depicting famous battles. Directly below each tapestry was a small display cabinet that housed a weapon from that battle, ranging from bows to swords to maces and everything in between.

Luck was upon them. The two had chanced upon one of the most valuable areas of the castle: the Battle Hall. All had heard of this legendary hallway, but few villagers had ever even laid eyes on a single weapon. Fuji had to admit, it was a little intimidating and quite humbling to be amidst so many famous weapons. One tapestry in particular caught his eye. It depicted a lone soldier clad in ruddy mail posed on a cliff, facing off against a strange creature about the same size as a human. The soldier hefted a two-handed sword above its head, clearly intending to strike the creature. The creature had horns protruding from various places on its body, a single arm extending from its back that was long enough to reach around to its front and then some, a large gaping mouth with lightning crackling between its jaws, and an open palm in which a black hole rested.

Fuji walked up to it as though in a trance, unable to comprehend how such a powerful being could exist. Lightning was a rare enough element to possess, and dark matter was unheard of. The weapon that lay below was at first glance a plain two-handed sword, but a closer inspection revealed incredibly detailed runic writing inscribed all over. Embedded in the hilt was a transparent egg-shaped gemstone. A memory invaded Fuji’s mind far faster than he was prepared for. Himself peering around a doorway, seeing his father in a chair resting a sword on his lap. A sword-belt hanging from a wall with a sword in a sheath. Tearfully watching his father from a window as he left the house in the company of a few soldiers.

“I recognize this sword!” Fuji exclaimed, then winced as he realized he had spoken at too high a volume.

Gareth glared at him from down the hall, two tapestries tucked under his arms with an assortment of weapons rolled up in each. “Dumbass, you’ll alert the guards!”

The warning came too late, as they could already hear a few shouts and the sounds of sabatons clanking up a set of stairs to their right. Gareth rushed to the window they had used for an entrance and attempted to jump, but his packages prevented him from doing so. He dropped one and retried, this time successfully landing outside on a new platform of earth. Fuji gazed longingly one last time at the tapestry before grabbing the sword and following Gareth, who was already on the ground. Fuji performed the same maneuver, though he utilized a small upboost of airflow to keep himself aloft and gently lower himself to the ground. Gareth had already escaped the courtyard when Fuji landed, and he looked back to see a guard poking his head out the window they had just removed themselves from and hear his shout. Fuji felt no desire to spend the rest of his life in chains or to feel the bite of a whip, and so he propelled himself over the courtyard wall and into the relative safety of the grounds beyond.

He noticed the line of trees that marked the start of the forest that surrounded the village to the north, and rushed under the canopy before allowing himself to relax. Laughing in spite of himself at their daring escapade, Fuji spotted Gareth hauling ass back to the village, where he would remove the stolen items from his person quicker than Fuji could blink. Out of the corner of his eye, Fuji noticed a figure lowering itself from a castle window in an eerily similar manner to how he had done. A second passed before the figure registered in Fuji’s mind as their very own Lord, Erazzmuz.

‘Why would our Lord be leaving the castle in any way but through the main gate?’ Fuji was intrigued by this, but gave the strange exit no more thought as the weight of his stolen sword came back to him. Although he had never held the sword or seen it up close, Fuji knew this was his father’s sword, which meant the tapestry it had been resting under was a battle his father had taken part in, and the lone soldier must have been his father. The gemstone was now faintly glowing with a reddish tint infused with the transparency from before. Fuji’s father had never explained the purpose of the inscriptions or the gemstone, but before he could ponder the meaning of this development, a sudden decrease in the air around him and a flare stole his attention by the reins.

The village was on fire! Before Fuji could muster up any reaction, a purple glow enveloped the area, and the fire hurriedly burned itself out. A torrent of wind rushed towards the village as the air pressure corrected itself. Fuji threw a palm directly below himself and collected a funnel of air to project himself off the ground and into the village. He didn’t bother to worry about a safe landing, and instead tumbled to the ground just outside the crumbling remains of Uther’s shop. The smell of charred corpses struck his nose like a galloping horse, and a minute’s worth of retching was wasted. Fuji jettisoned again directly to his house after collecting himself, barely registering the sword banging against his hip. All that remained were a few blackened beams and ashes. Fuji hastily dug through in a feeble attempt to locate his mother, hoping against hope she would somehow still be alive. A long white something was revealed, and with a little more digging, a skeleton.

Tears flowed down Fuji’s cheeks, but he emitted no sound. His own mother, the person he had loved most, and perhaps the only person he had loved save his father, was now a pile of bones, and he couldn’t even say goodbye. Why had this happened? Who had performed such a cruel and merciless act? No answers, only questions. Fuji collapsed in the rubble of his home. His voice finally returned to him, and he let loose with a single cry, “WHY???”