[Graded] [Closed]The Fate Line

[Valkier]

It had been some time since Rika had been out on the field herself rather than sending one of her underlings. However she had been feeling rather cooped up and so at Marina’s urging she had taken the opportunity to get out of the office upon receiving word of a new ruin having been discovered. It was honestly quite the exciting opportunity.

That was how she had found herself in the depths of a cave network far from home, carefully taking in her surroundings as she walked. The cave system housed what seemed to be remnants of a very old building, a crumbling stone ceiling above her and walls with strange markings to her left and right. The only problem was that the ceiling especially seemed a bit unstable… though she was willing to take that risk.

She walked for a while longer, stopping in place and staring in awe as she came out of a tunnel and into a wide open chamber. Much like the rest of the place it wasn’t in the greatest of shape but it did grant the clearest view of what the place had once been like. It appeared to have once been a temple of some kind, though she had no way of knowing what it had been dedicated towards. That was a topic she would have to research upon returning home.

With that in mind she took a seat against a nearby wall and pulled out her sketchbook, beginning to draw a rough sketch of the room, even taking notes on anything particularly interesting or noteworthy.

Some time passed as she got absorbed in her drawing. Once satisfied she looked up and around at her surroundings, noting that it had gotten a bit darker. And so feeling it best to wrap up her exploration for the day she put her stuff away and got up from her seat, stumbling a bit as she did.

Once she had recovered her footing she began making her way out of the ruins for the time being. It was at that moment that she heard a loud howl from further in, the walls and ceiling shaking with the noise. For a moment she contemplated going further in in search of the beast but in the end rationality won out. Whatever it was, it was threatening the already unstable foundation of these ruins and it was for the best to pull out for now.

Her survival instincts kicking into high gear she turned to flee, running back into the caves and towards the exit. It was as the exit came into sight that she heard various cracking sounds but even worse, debris beginning to fall around her.

”Shit!” she swore under her breath as she attempted to speed up. Unfortunately she had never been the most athletic sort, even moreso these days with how much she had been cooped up in her office. As she ran she lost her footing, her head smacking hard into the ground as she fell.

With her head throbbing and vision swimming she didn’t even bother standing up, instead crawling the last bit of distance out of the caves. Luckily nothing major happened from there and she managed to escape, though didn’t make it far otherwise… her vision fading to black shortly after exiting the mouth of the cave.

---

It would be quite some time before she awoke. ”Ooooh my aching head. What happened to me?” she groaned as she sat up, clutching her head as she took a look at her surroundings. It appeared to be a small though rather cozy bedroom with minimal furnishings, only having the bed she had woken up on and a few other necessities.

”You’re lucky to be alive, my daughter found you lying unconscious near some caves.” a voice sounded, followed by the appearance of an adult woman with long black hair carrying a tray. ”You must be hungry.” she spoke, gently smiling as she handed over the tray, with was carrying a simple meal of fish, soup, and rice.

Though confused Rika gratefully accepted the meal. ”What was I doing near a cave and why was I unconscious?” she asked between bites as she began eating, some part of her fearing the answer. She had a feeling there was something important that she was forgetting about but she couldn’t think of anything…

At that question the woman frowned, tilting her head to the side as she took a seat in a nearby chair. ”You mean… you don’t know?” she asked, her frown deepening as the girl shook her head. Well, that certainly could be a problem. ”Well let’s start with introductions and we can go from there. I’m Nakara Kiyomi”

”Nice to meet you. I’m… huh?” Rika attempted to respond only to freeze, her mouth agape as she tilted her head, her head only aching further as she attempted to recall her name or anything at all.

”I don’t know… I don’t know who I am or where I’m even from.” she sat down her utensils, a distraught look on her face as she looked over towards Kiyomi. ”I can’t remember anything.” she quietly muttered, tears beginning to fill her eyes as fear of the unknown, of not even knowing her own identity, threatened to overwhelm her.

”Oh dear, you must have been knocked upside the head. The cause is likely related to why you were found outside of that cave system.” Kiyomi spoke, getting up from her seat. ”You poor dear, you must be terrified.” she gently hugged the crying girl, the most important thing for now being to soothe and calm her down.

---

A couple hours later the pair were in the house’s living room, now joined by Kiyomi’s daughter Ayaka, whom appeared to be around Rika’s own age. ”Umm… thank you for saving me.” Rika spoke to the other girl, bowing deeply as she did.

”Nah, it’s no issue, I couldn’t just leave someone in trouble like that.. I’m just glad to finally see you awake. It’s been weeks.” Ayaka responded, wearing a wide grin as she pulled the amnesiac girl into a hug. ”So, what’s yer name?” she asked, frowning as she noticed a sad look crossing the girl’s face. Wordlessly she looked over towards her mother, her frown deepening as the woman smiled sadly.

”She took a big knock to the head and can’t remember a thing.” the older woman responded to the unasked question, Ayaka unable to help a gasp in response.

”That’s it! You should stay with us until your memory comes back!” the girl proclaimed, a fire seeming to burn in her eyes as she looked first towards her mother and then towards the amnesiac girl in her arms.

”Um but… I… Is that really okay? Wouldn’t it be a hassle?”

In response Kiyomi shook her head, smiling all the while. ”I would never forgive myself if I left alone a poor child with nowhere to go. Of course the decision is ultimately up to you, we can’t force you to stay if you don’t want to.”

At that Rika fell deep into thought for a moment before letting out a sigh. ”Well… if you’re so sure I wouldn’t be a bother…” she very quietly responded, letting out a surprised squeak as Ayaka tightly hugged her.

”Of course it won’t be a bother, but um…” Ayaka blinked as she realized something fairly important. She needed to give the girl a name. ”Oh I know! Reina!” she suddenly exclaimed, both the mystery girl and Kiyomi giving her a puzzled look. ”That’s going to be her name. She can’t remember her real name right? And she can’t just go without one.”

For a moment ‘Reina’ simply blinked, head tilted in confusion. Soon enough however… ”I love it. Thank you.. for the name and everything so far and that’s yet to come...” she spoke, smiling for perhaps the first time since she had woken up after her incident. It was scary not having any memories but she had a feeling that everything would end up working itself out and perhaps someday… she would even remember who she was. For now though, she would just enjoy her new life and worry about whatever would come when it came

She wasn’t entirely certain of it but she just had a feeling that was the right thing to do...

[Kabu]

Some amount of time had passed since the amnesiac Rika, currently known as Reina to herself and others, had come into the care of Nakano Kiyomi and her daughter Ayaka. She had recovered from her wounds and was slowly growing more used to her new life. There was one thing however weighing on her mind…

”I want to learn how to defend myself!” she shouted during breakfast one morning, the suddenness leaving Kiyomi and Ayaka to simply at her from across the table. ”You know… because I was found unconscious and there are only so many ways that could have happened.” she continued on after a moment’s silence, blushing heavily as she spoke.

There was another brief silence before it was interrupted by a chuckle from Kiyomi. It was certainly unexpected but she could see where the girl was coming from. It was good that she had some kind of drive even despite her situation. ”I understand. Meet me in the dojo later and we’ll see what we can do.”

---

About an hour later Reina found herself standing in the small dojo attached to the house, taking practice swings with a Kodachi that Ayaka had given to her as a gift while she waited for Kiyomi. It was strange, she was somehow certain she had never held a sword in her life and yet it felt right in her hand. Suddenly having a thought, she used her other hand to pull out the Kodachi sheathed on her other hip. She wasn’t sure why she had been given two but she wasn’t about to complain… it honestly felt kind of great to be dual wielding.

With that in mind she set back to her practice swings, this time with two swords rather than one. It quickly became very clear however that while she was adept to some degree with both hands, she was able to move her right with much more ease. She had to wonder how much of that had to do with her left arm being false… whatever had happened to make it that way.

In any case it was clear that there was work to be done if she wanted to use both hands with equal dexterity. While her body remembered how to use her false arm her mind wasn’t able to quite keep up. And so she sheathed the sword in her right and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she imagined an opponent in front of her.

”Toryah!” She opened her eyes and with a battle cry ran forward, dancing around the room and swinging her sword, clumsily at first but slowly becoming more and more graceful as she figured out how to readjust her stance and redistribute her weight.

Once she had the general movements figured out she drew her other blade once more, swinging the two in tandem as she danced around the room. She couldn’t help a grin as her training seemed to show results, a level of equity having been formed between both of her hands.

Even with that success however she still had to wonder... What on earth was taking Kiyomi so long? What kind of training did she have lined up for her?

Jutsu Trained 536/400Show

*[Zantou • Ambidexterity]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
After practicing for a long amount of time with the concept of using both of their hands with equal skill, the user has developed a level of ambidexterity that allows them to utilize both hands equally and as effectively without any penalty. This extends to other methods of combat or simple everyday life as well.