It was an arduous journey, undertaken by the most desperate of men and women. Years of building and surviving wave after wave of Enthipids went by. Fleet Captain Kamakura was nowhere to be found as Cain Liu took the mantles of responsibly which he had left behind.
A capable leader, he used his experience to guide humanity to safety and prosperity during its early turbulent years. Understanding that putting themselves out in the open would only attract attention to the then unknown hordes of monsters, he sent scouts to find potential areas of safety upon which the foundations of community could be built.
Though the wastelands were, for the most part, barren of elevated lands, Cain Liu helped the people seek refuge through the underground. Passages leading into vast caverns which could be utilized effectively for creating villages cropped up and scouts continued to search for new venues upon which the natural barriers could deter potential predators.
Through his actions, the first ever village system was established, right below the surface of what would later be known as the city of Neo-Kamakura. This surprised Aio, who thought the city was the first of the territory to be established by his ancestors.
And what of the Captain? he thought. Aio wasn’t able to track the Captain’s whereabouts in the Fringe. It was as if this vision was…limited in a sense, but for what purpose, he wasn’t quite sure.
Watching years pass in the blink of an eye, Aio witnessed a growing Alyssa Kamakura in the middle of all this, holed up as a normal girl in a village quite familiar to Aio.
The Guardian’s Village.
Wanting to find out more about her father, who had been declared missing since that fateful day in which he travelled out into the heart of the Fringe, Alyssa decided to embark on a journey in search of him. Fearful for her safety, Cain objected at first, but found the budding Kamakura to be every bit the leader that her father was. Convinced otherwise, he decided to lend her aid instead. This led to her long pilgrimage into the wastelands.
“I want to be able to choose who comes with,” she said, selecting from a small group of individuals who would later be known as the founders of the city.
The journey was long, and fraught with perils and dangers. Storms which rose like a tower’s peak surrounded the crew on all sides. Each of the pilgrims accompanying Alyssa were cloaked in drabs, just like her, cloth around their face which obscured their features. Sand kicked up around them as the light from the suns above struggled to pierce through the veil.
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In the distance, Aio could sense the movements of small creatures.
The common ones, he thought, though once again, these Standard-Grade Enthipids were still smaller than expected.
They ran across the plains in the distance, each pacing themselves with the pilgrims as they struggled their way forward.
“Are you sure this is the way?” a man around Alyssa’s age asked. He had short brown hair and purple eyes, a trait Aio swore he saw somewhere before.
“There are no guarantees Eredict,” Alyssa said, “but I can hear something, out there through the storms – something…calling me.”
And so hours became days, and the motley crew, resting under the shelter of rocky outgrowths which provided some, but not much, protection against the ever-increasing winds, began to pitch tents crafted from sturdy fabric. Though, even with the layers of protection, and the natural barriers of the tall rocky formations around them, the thunderous noises continued to rage outside. Nights were calmer, but not by much, and soon members began to feel the fatigue of the journey and, with the continual fear of ambushes from the monsters which surrounded them, started to question Alyssa’s leadership.
“Alyssa,” an older gentleman, wrinkled in features, whose hair shined a pure gray, began to speak. He was strong of build, despite his apparent age, whom Aio thought may be within the late 40s or so. “We won’t be able to make it back with the supplies we have right now. There is no food here, and water is scarce. How much longer?” His tone was marked by more than just concern, but with a skepticism bolstered by years of experience dealing with people in the past. His tone basically stated that if Alyssa couldn’t lead them to where they needed to be soon, then one way or another, he or someone else was going to bring the crew back home.
“It’s close,” Alyssa said. “So close. I think…I hear my father’s voice? And…something else…”
At that moment, the storm stopped, and when the crew stepped outside, Aio saw what they saw in the distance. Clouds surrounded them, and the torrents continued in the outskirts, but here, the storms have stopped suddenly.
“Eye of the storm,” Eredict stated. “Like the weather patterns of Onyx”.
And in the eye, at the far end, a giant shadow loomed over the terrain. Alyssa walked towards it, despite vehement shouts of opposition behind her, and stopped near the base, and looked up to find a being most would call a god. Mountainous mounds seemed to appear where she could have sworn there were none before, but she continued to trek forward. Pain began to engulf her as the voices she heard began to ring louder and louder, until it became almost unbearable.
The Supreme Enthipid, encountered by the first of the founders, looked to Alyssa Kamakura, and spoke.
“As the old ones pass, the new carry the honor of the mantle…”
This was how it all started.
