Red Hair

I was born with natural red hair that oftentimes attracted attention. Growing up, people kept telling me how my hair made me look similar to that famous entertainer, Saaya Itsuwa, which was how I got named after.

I grew up in a village in Moa Island, Tinamou State. The island was known for its mining industry. Like everybody else, my parents worked as miners.

As an only child, I spent most of my childhood alone at home. Sometimes, other kids from the village came to play with me. However, since my parents told me not to go out without their permission, I always refused their invitation whenever they asked me to play outside, which eventually made them stop inviting me to play with them.

One day when I was 6 years old, my parents brought me to a research facility. They told me I had a ‘special gift’ and that place would help me better develop it.

At first, they visited me quite frequently, twice a week. Yet, after sometime, they began to visit me less. Twice a week became once a week, became once every two weeks, became once a month, became once every two months, and so on. When I turned 8, they had stopped visiting me altogether.

After they stopped visiting me, I was moved into another bigger research facility in another state. They said it was a better and more advanced research facility than the one I was in.

Everyday I kept wondering if my parents were ever gonna visit me. I kept praying for them to come visit me again.

When I turned 10, someone broke into the facility and took me away. He destroyed everything, killed everyone, and turned everything into smithereens; except for me.

He saved me. He was my hero.

I never saw my parents ever since.

“Chief Saaya?”

Haru asked Saaya who was just lost in her own thought. She recalled a memory when she was young.

Saaya and Haru were walking around the area. Saaya asked him to join her for a walk, which Haru accepted.

“Ah, yes. Where was I?”

“You were explaining about the Premier,” Haru answered.

“Oh, right.”

Although one of the main duties of Garuda Squad was to escort the Premier, not everyone got the chance to actually meet him in person. This was due to the fact that the members were oftentimes assigned to escort other Temple Members, including the state governors and ministers who were visiting the area. The only person frequently met the Premier from Garuda Squad was the leader herself, Chief Saaya. Several other members had seen him in person, while the rest never actually got to meet him.

The Premier had 3 mentors who helped him with his studies and affairs. The Holy Monastic helped him with his religious studies such as ancient texts, religious teachings, ancient tongue, and the Holy Scripture. The Lord Commander of the Sacred Guards helped him with his combat skills, including physical combat, fyx training, sorcery, and weapon mastery. Lastly, Premier’s Advisor helped him with political affairs such as current condition of the nation, the relations with other nations and the Capital, and members of the Temple.

Technically, the Premier had very limited political power as he had not been considered of age. Once he turned 25, he would receive a seat in the Temple Members Assembly and act as the leader/moderator of the council.

After a while, the two of them stopped by a storage room. Saaya brought something out of the storage.

“Here is something essential that you must always bring with you as a member of the Garuda Squad.”

She handed him an item on her hand, a ball that split into two compartments attached into one another.

“It may not look like it, but this is lumina handcuffs. By imbuing your fyx into it, it will entangle the person you intent to capture upon contact. Only Garuda Squad members are able to disable the handcuffs.”

Haru put the ball inside his pocket.

“Well....I think that’s about it. There isn’t much to do today, so you can rest for the day until further notice.”

Haru bowed to her and walked toward his room.

On his way, Haru saw someone someone training at the field.

Another member of Garuda Squad was training archery. Haru was really intrigued since archery was not a very common choice of weapon in this nation.

“What’s up?”

Even without turning her head, she noticed that Haru was silently looking at her practicing. She could sense his presence even from a far distance.

“Nothing. I just wanted to watch.”

“You wanna try?”

The woman turned her head and looked towards Haru.

The woman had yellow silky hair in ponytail. Her arms were buff and vascular, especially her forearms. “As expected from someone who does archery,” Haru thought to himself.

She threw a bow at Haru which he failed to catch. When he tried to pick it up, Haru was surprised that the bow was heavier than he expected.

“Heavy, huh? Everyone expects being an archer is easy, when it certainly is not.”

The woman continued shooting her arrows right on target, spot on. All of her shots had been perfect so far.

Haru tried shooting an arrow. He only did it once in academy for fun, so he still did it sloppily.

“Seriously, a three year old can do better than you.”

The woman trids to teach Haru by helping his arms bend like they’re supposed to when shooting. She told him to stand strong, breathe rhythmically, and focus on the target before releasing the arrow.

Haru followed her every step, and managed to land an arrow on the target. It was slightly shifted from the centre.

“Not bad for a first timer.”

Haru was happy to hear the compliment. He tried a few more shots, but none was as good as the first one.

After a few hours of training, the woman decided to return to her room to get prepare for dinner.

“Haru, is it?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me that. I’m a fellow member, just as you are.”

The woman reached out her hand to Haru for a handshake.

“I’m Yara Kizetsuya. Nice to meet you, Haru.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Kizetsuya was a famous clan known for their archery. They had a special legendary weapon called “Kizetsuya Bow” that had been passed on from many generations. Currently, Yara was holding the bow as the next head of the clan.

The two of them later separated on their own way and went to their respective rooms.

A few days later, the leader of Garuda Squad, Saaya, announced that there would be a tournament amongst the members.

Everyone is gathered at the field, including Haru and Meixia.

“Alright, everyone. It’s been so long since we have a friendly duel between ourselves. Now that there is a new member in the squad, let’s decide the ‘order’ of the squad.”

Haru looked confused. He didn’t quite understand what Saaya meant by that. He then asked Meixia about it.

“She meant the order of strength. Obviously she’s the strongest, but since you’re new here and we haven’t really tested your strength yet, this could be a means to do just that.”

Haru did not expect that there was some kind of hierarchy within the squad itself. Nonetheless, he looked excited by the challenge.

“I have made the chart for the tournament.”

Saaya rolled out a scroll showing a chart of all the competitors of the tournament, excluding herself. There were 8 competitors in total which would be participating in this tournament.

Haru noticed that he would be fighting Yara, the one with the arrows. “She’s gonna be a tough opponent,” He thought to himself.

“Ah, right. Since it’s gonna be boring if there is no prize for the winner, the winner will be assisting me in escorting the Premier for next week’s Lantern Festival.”

Everyone sounded excited. There were some who had been looking forward to meeting the Premier in person.

Arudo raised his hand, wanting to say something.

“Sorry, I can’t attend next week. I was summoned by the Lord Commander to help him with something.”

“Oh, right. You have that. Alright, Arudo will not be participating in this tournament. That means Bing won the first round by default.”

“Alright!” Bing shouted in joy.

Haru looked very determined. It had been his lifelong goal to meet the Premier in person. In order to achieve that goal, he had to come out as the winner of this tournament and prove his strength in front of other members.

The tournament started right away. The first battle is between Zum and Kogane. Other members of the squad were allowed to watch on a distance.

“The rule is simple. Once your opponent gets knocked out or gives up, you win.”

Saaya prepared the first match. The two of them stood in front of one another.

“You are allowed to use any weapon, physical combat, and fyx.”

The two of them stood their ground, posing their fighting stance.

“Ready, set.....fight!”

The first battle commenced.