Tales of Dester
Chapter 1: A Desert Boy
Beat stared at the one cloud that managed to reach the desert sky above him. He could feel his pursuer growing near. He sucked in a deep breath and broke into a mad dash trying to reach the cover of the village he grew up in. He had get to the town square, that's where he'd find the chief.
He ducked as a knife buried itself into the desert sand. He continued running, not risking to look back to see how close his assailant was. The young Dester had been trained rigorously by his adopted father, Romero. He knew his teacher needed to know what was happening, but he doubted he'd make it to the village safely. As the hidden village entered his sights, Beat felt his resolve strengthen. He used all his energy trying to increase his speed, what he wouldn't give for an Agility Fairy right now. He could see someone was waiting at the main entry point to the village, he had to get there and tell them!
"That's enough Grimsley!" shouted his pursuer.
Beat stopped and felt his feet slide in the restless sands. "I have to tell them. You know how I am." stated Beat boldly.
"You can't tell them, or else I'd really have to hurt you." growled his pursuer coming closer.
Beat knew the girl that had been chasing him. Her name was Alexandria, she was from the same village. He also knew how to make her angry. "But wouldn't Timber be so happy to hear what his favorite pupil is doing out in the desert?" he asked a smile growing.
Alexandria pulled another knife from her belt and walked up to Beat, and placed the knife's edge against his throat. "Do it, and I'll cut your throat!" she hissed.
"There's nothing wrong with creating your own style of fighting." shrugged Beat.
Alexandria put her knife away and scowled. "It's not finished yet."
"Well you've only been practicing. You haven't tried it on a moving target." Beat said with a smile.
"Then I'll use you. Tomorrow after our lessons I'll meet you at the looking post." she said with hint of anger in her voice.
"Don't forget the knife you threw at me!" called Beat as he ducked under a flying blade.
"Give that back to me tomorrow, too." she waved over her shoulder.
Beat shook his head. "Alex never knows when to quit." he laughed. He retrieved the knife and went towards his home.
Along the way he heard the notes of a violin being played in town square. He knew he'd find Romero there, so he followed the merry sounds. As he reached the home of their chief, Timber Riche, he heard the song come to an end.
"Thank you all for coming." boomed a loud deep voice.
Beat smiled as he saw what was going on.
He spotted the old chief giving the tattoos that symbol maturity to his classmate Mason. Mason let no sound escape his lips as the chief pressed the burning coals to his right arm.
Beat still wasn't sure why they did this as the right of passage. You go through unrelenting training, and when you prove yourself ready, you face one final test. That test is always kept secret, so Beat had no clue what his friend had to do for the test. But once the challenge is cleared, the tattoo will be given. And the way it's come about being given is painful. A sack of burning coals is placed on the arm, and the parts of the arm that don't burn are then coated in the ink that will stain the arm for the rest of the recipients life. Somehow, the burns always leave patterns showing what that person is going to master.
Beat watched in awe as they pulled the coals away and Mason showed no pain. Then Timber pulled a bottle of ink and a feather from his bag. He dipped the feather's tip into the ink and then traced the pattern that will forever mark Mason as a mature Shido. The symbol was soon made clear as to what Mason had ahead of him. He had a net made of what appeared to be lightning coating his arm. When the chief nodded Mason kneeled before him and awaited his chiefs verdict.
"Mason, you are to be a great man. You have withstood our people's greatest test, and showed no pain or fear throughout the entire procession. You came here as a child, now rise as an adult." he boomed.
Mason rose and smiled. "Thank you Chief."
As Mason stepped off the ceremonial stage Beat walked up to his friend. "Good job. How much do you need to scream right now?" he teased.
"A lot. Now let's get going, I'm starving." groaned the newly appointed adult.
"I'd suggest going to Emilia first. You need to get the burns treated first so your tattoo doesn't get altered by the healing skin." reminded Beat.
"Right, off to Emilia." nodded Mason. "Why do you have one of Alexandria's knives?"
"Oh you noticed that? I had to get away from her a while ago. That's the reason I was late to the ceremony. I have to return it tomorrow." explained Beat.
"Why was she chasing you?" grumbled Mason rubbing the burn.
"I have to keep my mouth shut or I get my throat slit." yawned Beat.
"Typical." smiled Mason. "Let's hurry up."
"Yeah, let's go." nodded Beat.
When they found Emilia they found her in an unpleasant mood.
"Doing the ceremony unannounced, ugh. The least that useless brother of mine could of done was tell me to prepare some remedies to ease the pain and all the other things needed. I swear my brother does these things on purpose." growled Emilia as she ran through her supply of medicines. "Oh how I wish I had a healing fairy." she sighed.
"Are you sure you should talk about the chief that way?" mumbled Mason.
"Are you sure you want to argue with the person trying to treat those burns?" yawned Beat from his seat on one of her counters.
"How many times have I told you not to sit on the counter?!?" snapped Emilia throwing a roll of bandages at him.
Beat simply shrugged and hopped off the counter. "I'm gonna go talk with Romero, come find me when you're all fixed up."
"Tell him not to come here. He's as guilty as Timber." called Emilia as Beat walked out the door.
Beat waved to show he understood and started towards his home. He had thoughts of his own ceremony, growing closer. How many more days till he received his tattoos? Only two weeks kept him from earning his place as one who endured all of the Shido's training. He smiled as he continued towards his home. He heard the sounds of a violin playing again and figured it was Romero's way of calling him. He and his father always got each other's attention by playing a song on the violin. He followed the sounds to the watch tower, a place he often met Romero when he wanted to talk about his plans. Beat figured Romero was planning on taking another trip.
When he reached the top of the tower he found his father running his fingers through his black hair.
"What's up Romero?" Beat asked as he stepped off the ladder.
"I'm thinking of going on another little trip to the capitol. Wanna come?" yawned Romero placing his hands behind his head.
"I've got my graduation ceremony in two weeks. I can't go on any wild goose chase." sighed Beat shaking his head.
"Oh yeah." mumbled Romero starting to pluck a string on his violin.
Beat knew what had happened. He gritted his teeth and began to descend the ladder to the ground.
"Beat, c'mon son! I forgot!" groaned Romero getting up to follow his son.
"Yeah, just like always!" snapped Beat. "Just like you and the chief forgot to give Emilia the heads up on the ceremony. She doesn't want you near her clinic." Beat then turned and ran away from the tower, leaving a shamefaced Romero standing alone.
"I don't believe it." growled Beat as he ducked under a fist flying at full speed.
"Kid you should know by now." spat the black-skinned man throwing punches at Beat. "I've known him since he was born, he's always been this way."
"But Procter..." started Beat.
"No buts!" snapped Procter planting his fist in Beat's stomach.
Beat hunched over and coughed as his instructor returned to the glowing green ball of light he usually was.
"Time to wash up dear." instructed Emilia carrying a pot to the table set for three. "Procter, care to join us?" she offered.
"No thank you. I've got to check on that useless man you married." muttered Procter flying off.
Beat ate in silence along with the closest person he had to a mother.
"Honey, how are you feeling? You're usually hard to keep quiet." Emilia asked concernedly.
"I'm not really hungry." muttered Beat getting up from the table. "I'm headed for bed."
Emilia watched him as he walked into his bedroom. "Damn you Romero." she sighed.
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