Captain's Log:

[7eleven]

This is a story of trajedy, of pain, of death.

The story of one boy's parents, and entire clan, that died about 7 months ago as a result of a giant monster attack about 14 years ago.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really understand how this happened, but that's not the point. The point is, a young man was orphaned.

This is his story.

--

Ekitai was sitting alone, trying to catch his breath. He hadn't been taking part in the actual fighting; He wasn't nearly strong enough for that. But, he was doing his part by bussing the injured to the hospital. He felt guilty for taking a break, even a short one, while others were out there risking their lives to defend the village, but he could barely walk. He'd force himself to continue, but, for now, he needed some water and a short rest.

And that's when he heard, across the room, a bit of information that had caught his attention. "...all dead."

"Really, all of them?"

"Well, not all, but any of them that were involved in the Ichibi attack are probably dead. I believe Jaku to still be alive, but I'm not positive."

Ekitai's blood ran cold, and he tried to stand, but couldn't; Partly because of his throbbing knees, and partly because of shock. There's no way he had heard that correctly. He had to have been hearing things.

After the two people talking parted ways, the woman, a med nin, walked past Ekitai. "Um, excuse me! You weren't just talking about the Ruisan clan, were you?"

The woman turned, lines of exhaustion at the edges of her face. "Ye- Oh!" And then she noticed who it was she was talking to. The blue hair characteristic of all Ruisan clan members gave it away, most likely. "Oh my, I am...so incredibly sorry..."

"What do you mean, you're sorry? What exactly happened?" Ekitai stood slowly, testing the strength of his legs.

"Well, from what I gather...during the Ichibi's last moments, it crashed it's tail through a crowd of Ruisan clan members. They had gathered in one large mob for a torrent of bullets-" But, Ekitai was gone. He had taken off out the door, he had to see for himself. The woman couldn't be right.

As he exited the hospital, he leaped to the nearest roof, and proceeded that way towards the village gate, where the fighting had been taking place. The fastest way from point A to point B was a straight line, and he had no intention of wasting any time on turning for roads. As he arrived, it became apparent that the woman had not been lying or misinformed.

Ekitai stood on a rooftop, staring out over the wreckage of the village entrance. The bodies of his fallen family members lay piled along with building debris, sand, and large chunks of wooden pillars. Everyone seemed to be walking around in a daze, with no idea of what to do.

--

Several days passed, though Ekitai barely noticed. He spend the majority of his time after the attack sitting alone, trying to come to terms with what had happened. The pain of loss hadn't quite hit him yet; He wasn't quite able to grasp the magnitude of losing nearly every one of his family members in one night. He was thankful that his uncle, Jaku, had survived. He didn't know him all that well, but he had known of him, and the great things he was capable of. If there was anyone capable of securing a page in history for the Ruisan clan, it was Jaku.

He attended the mass funeral (it would have been impractical to have individual funerals, the loss of life was too great, and the village was in both physical and mental disarray). The ceremony was incredibly long, and Ekitai had no desire to be there. Seeing the dead bodies lined before him gave no consolation. It didn't bring any of them back.

He went by himself, but he did spot a few familiar faces in the crowd. Tousha was at the front, considering he had to give some sort of speech in rememberance of the fallen. Jaku was across the crowd, indentifiable by the same blue hair that signalled to Ekitai the death of his kin. He'd always associate that color with death; Ironic, considering it was usually associated with sadness. Normally, a revelation like that would have brought a quiet chuckle to his lips, but he didn't have it in him.

After the ceremony, Tousha approached him and gave him a few words of consolation. He found little solace in this, and hardly even remembered them beyond the next few days. His ability to function had been completely disturbed in every way imaginable.

Though, eventually, Ekitai came to terms with it. He never exactly got over it, but it didn't really hurt to think about it any more. But that gaping hole where his clan once was would never be filled.