I'm Not a Good Storyteller

“And then the Rabixz warriors left the forest, uncertain of their future. But one thing they were sure of was that they would help their new companion save the world from the evil wizard Luxcae. And that's the end of the story, and I have to go.”

“But Mr. Kai, what happened next? What did they do?” asks one of the children. “Come on… tell us!!”

“That's right! The story can't end there,” exclaims a girl, joining the boy. There are four of them, all quite insistent.

I just wanted to spend time by the fire alone, but these four kids showed up from nowhere, demanding a story, as is the custom in this tribe where our group is staying.

“Uhhhm, well…” I really want to go to sleep, so I try to summarize. "This group of friends, Ratbiz—”

“Wasn't it Rabixz?” one of them corrects me.

“That's what I said… The Rabixz group trained non-stop for over a year. They and the prince had a lot to learn. The prince needed to be strong and recognized to return to his empire. No one knew him and no one would believe him. The evil plaguing the world had stopped for some reason, so the group decided to keep training until they figured out how to save the world.”

I pause, unsure of how to conclude the story. This is the only story I know, my story. I feel I’m missing information, as I’m just a part of the story. It scares me where my path will end.

“After much training, they managed to defeat the Luxcae wizards. They emerged victorious and the world recognized the prince as its savior. His first decree was that annoying children would be made to eat coal every night. And that's the end of the story. Goodbye.”

“You're terrible at telling stories, Mr. Kai.”

“Really bad. I wanted the group to die and everything to be doomed!”

“The dark world is better! I wish the Luxcae wizards existed and would eat your brain, Kai.”

“Little brats!” I shout as I stand up and they run off, either blending into the night's shadows, going to their mothers, or bothering other people.

I sit back down on the long log, warming my hands by the fire. I'm genuinely tired; Killing two snow beasts was exhausting. Recounting this story, or rather sharing altered memories, makes me think of my early days hunting Mchafu and precisely one cycle and four Twelmoths ago when we rescued the prince.

“You look serious, Kai,” I hear Yuki's gentle voice and turn to see her approaching with a steaming cup, which she hands to me. “They’re right, you're pretty bad at storytelling.”

“I know. I'm not a storyteller.” We laugh and sip the warm drink. “Hunting in snowy mountains wasn't something I imagined a year ago.”

“A year ago, we wouldn't have believed we'd be with P-Five. Life can change in an instant.”

I'm still not used to calling the Fifth Prince “P-Five.” Sometimes I slip up, but luckily no one was around. “Your beard looks better, Kai, but it needs trimming,” she says and I can't help but smile at her. Seeing those eyes every night makes me very happy. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You're beautiful, Yu,” I say, moving closer to her. She blushes as she takes my hand.

“Why say that so suddenly?”

“I'll never get tired of saying it. And you never know what can happen tomorrow.” I kiss her hand, wanting to hug her, but the hot drink in my hand makes it tricky. “Our first kiss was pretty awkward, wasn't it?”

“Just the first one? You looked like a fish.” Yuki opens and closes her mouth, making weird noises, like imitating me in the past.

“Oh, come on! I wasn't that bad…” She looks at me skeptically. "Okay, maybe for a few twelmoths,” I move closer to her neck, giving her soft kisses and then biting gently.

“No, don't bite,” she says, moving her neck away. I pull back to kiss her lips. “You've improved,” she says when we break apart.

We get up and head to the tent where Raion and Daichi are. The prince is already asleep and Dai is outside the tent by a small fire. Even though we're under the protection of a nomadic mountain tribe, he chooses to stand guard to protect him. From day one, Daichi has been vigilant about protecting the prince, like a father.

He never told us what happened that day when he let nature take over and killed the prince's ally. Since then, he wasn't himself, but after hunting a massive snake called Zalcoatlez, we got separated and Daichi was left alone with the prince for several days. Gradually, he returned to his old ways, I suppose they could have an honest talk there.

We greet each other, I try to convince him to sleep, but he says he's not tired and prefers to stay outside. It's been two nights of him standing guard and it's unnecessary. I go inside with Yuki, we lie down on the stuffed fabrics and cover ourselves with animal pelts.

The tent is large enough for six people although we are just four, now three… I look at the prince and he sleeps so peacefully. It's been just over a year, but for him, it feels like six or more. He looks much older. His golden hair seems a bit duller, or maybe it's just dirty. I touch my hair and then my beard, realizing it's grown quite long and, indeed, needs trimming.

Yuki hugs me and soon we fall asleep.

When I wake up, it's still night and Daichi is still outside. I quietly get up, grab two large pelts and go outside. He was dozing off, but seeing me, he wakes up and I cover him with the pelts.

“Thanks… I didn't need it,” he says, adjusting the pelts to cover himself better; he was cold. “I can keep watch.”

“I know you can, but I want to join you.” I throw a few more logs on the fire to make it burn brighter and sit next to him. “Are you okay? You don't seem well… Or are you missing Vivrras?”

He smiles, “The Prin— Raion is having stronger nightmares and that worries me.”

“We can't do anything about those invisible nightmares. He needs rest. Maybe our training is wearing us out? The more tired we are, the more mistakes we might make…”

“That's true, but we still need to level up for when the time comes,” Daichi says, poking the fire with a stick. “We don't know the level of what awaits us.”

“And if the time comes and we're completely exhausted?” I counter his argument. “We also didn't know the level of those enemies when we rescued Pri— P-Five, dammit!”

He smiles as he speaks, “I feel it's different… I don't know, we'll have to discuss it with the others.”

“You know…,” I say, thinking about something I've been pondering for a long time. “You never told me about your brother.”

Daichi nods, recalling that scene and moment. He's about to speak when a scream from inside the tent interrupts us. I guess the talk and the virras will have to wait for another day.