A Long Time Coming (Open to One)

[orphans]

Azza chewed thoughtfully on another piece of jerky as she wandered the remaining tatters of the fishing village. Whatever had happened here didn't seem like violence and it certainly looked much more abandoned than just a few years. There were no signs of fires and even if looters had picked the place clean, they certainly wouldn't take the bones of the corpses. Aside from the crumbling buildings it was rather clean given the circumstances.

The black dog followed after her at her heels the whole time and Azza certainly didn't have the heart to shoo it away. "Everyone left you behind huh?" A whine from the dog. "Want to come with me?" A slight tilt of its head. Without warning the dog then bit and held onto the hem of her robe and began to tug her towards a ruin. "H-hey! Alright, alright! I'll take a look."

Thankfully Azza didn't have to stumble-step for too long before the two stopped in front of a smithy. Well, what was left of a smithy if she had to guess by the anvil still standing outside. The dog didn't wait for her as it clambered over some of the broken timber and barked at something. When Azza didn't follow and only continued to look over the broken-down building, the dog poked its head up from the rubble and barked again at her.

"I can't believe it; I'm being lead around by a stray dog..." Azza sighed out, but nevertheless she began to climb up and over the fallen debris to find where the dog had gone. Was it still here because of its master? Was there someone trapped beneath the rubble? No, that' can be it - they'd be dead by now. Pointless thoughts followed one another until she clambered over a rotting log to see down inside where the dog had gone.

A sword was the last thing she had expected to be there. Looters and scavengers would have already picked it up, so why was this left? Well, that and the area around it was curiously clean compared to everything else. The dog, on the other hand, looked quite pleased with itself as it sat behind the blade and barked at Azza once more.

"I don't suppose you're a spirit are you?" she asked while descending into the ruin. "Just handing out blades to young girls passing by?"

The dog made a large huffing sound and then, "Never!"

Slipping on the last bit of the descent, Azza caught herself on a loose bit of salt crusted rope and managed to remain standing. "If I didn't know better, I could have sworn you just said something."

There was no mistaking it now as the dog gave a snort and eyed the girl standing before the blade. "You heard me. I am Rab and I am not just a spirit; I'm the spirit that inhabits this sword."

Azza frowned at the dog and sword. The sword itself wasn't exactly remarkable in any way. If anything, it looked chipped and worn from years of having been left in the elements and the salty sea air near the coast did the metal no favors. There wasn't even a handle anymore. "I thought spirit bound objects never degraded."

The dog scoffed at her, though it did look to the weapon standing in the middle of all the rubble with a bit of irritation, or at least what Azza imagined what looked to be irritated in dog form. Both Azza and the spirit stayed silent for a while with only whistling sea breeze making any noise through the creaky walls that still stood. "... I was dying when I wandered here. To live on I sealed myself within this broken blade and slumbered."

Sitting down onto the sand, Azza waved a hand for the dog-spirit to continue. "Why wake up now?"

"I felt your warmth."

Azza blinked at the reply and stared back at the black dog. "Pardon?"

"I felt your warmth."

"Yes I get that, but could you elaborate?"

Rab sighed as it looked towards the open sky above before looking to Azza with a slight tilt of its head. "For us spirits your mana is warm. Like the sun. Comfortable. Even though you don't hide it, we aren't scorched by it. Greater spirits that can manifest, such as I, can awaken and be strengthened by it while the lesser spirits play in your glow."

"That can't be right... whenever my kind come into contact with spirits, they diminish in power in our hands."

"Curious... were the spirits awakened like me or were they sleeping within the objects?"

The question gave Azza pause as she wracked both her memories of this life and her former one. In the end she managed an embarrassed smile. "I uh, I don't know. I've never dealt much with spirits and I've certainly never heard of them being able to manifest and talk."