“So, young man, what you got to do is quite simple; Clean out the old attic. I would have done it myself, but this frail body can’t handle that kind of work anymore.” The old lady spoke with a stern yet mild demeanor, akin to what one would expect from an old grandma. Yet beneath it all there was a keen intellect, and perhaps something resembling a sly glint in her eyes. “So, unless there is anything you’re wondering about, up up up you go!”
Sazawari had been interrupted during his afternoon… Nap would be not be the right thing to call it, but more of a break from everyday life, time usually spent daydreaming, pondering, talking to himself, whatever he could occupy his mind with. The old lady Nashagima had come knocking on his door with a sealed writ from the academy, bearing the signature of one of the teachers. These scrolls had been popping up like weed lately, always demanding more work of him. With a heavy sigh, he began the ascent up the old stair case and into the oblivious darkness above him.
*Man… She sure got a lot of crap stored up here…* He had just finished stacking a third set of three by four boxes, making the storage above the old lady’s residence appear more… spacy. Open, if you would. The only thing left was the huge cabinet in the far end of the dark room which was illuminated by a single gas lamp. Brushing the cob web away from his face, he strode decisively towards the wooden construct, determined to wrap this up as soon as possible.
He hadn’t come to appreciate the size of the furniture until he had closed the few meters of distance, but as he stood before it he realized that moving this thing would be virtually impossible for someone of his stature and strength. However, he had a mission, and he didn’t want to get any crap for failing to do so. First, he attempted to push the cabinet towards the corner of the attic, but quickly found that his presumptions were true; he definitely lacked the strength to move the monstrosity.
“Oh my, what a great job you’ve done. You don’t need to move that thing, though. I don’t really expect you to be able to, it took my late husband, may he rest in peace, three of his friends to help move it up here. I just need you to clean it out; remove any dead vermin, dust it off, brush the webs and so on. I’ll prepare some iced tea for you till you get down.” Only the head of the old lady was visible in the gloom as it popped up the stair case to the attic. *How nice of you to tell me that before I tried to bust my back moving this behemoth…* Setting his mind to the last task, he opened the cabinet, expecting a cloud of dust to explode in his face.
He was partially correct. True, a cloud of dust did explode into his face, causing him to cough violently, but that was not what caused him to jump; A giant bat, a monster in its own way, flew out, screeching, attempting to gnaw on Sazawaris face. Unsheathing his newly acquired ninjatou, he prepared himself for the inevitable battle. A quick stab, missing, followed by a sideways slash, again missing, completing the combination with a third slash, upwards this time, finally hit home, and he could feel the sharp steel bite through flesh and sinews and bones.
The sack of dead meat landed with a muffled bump on the bottom of the stairs, splattering blood and bat gore around on the floor. “Ma’am, I believe this is yours?” His mission was to clean the attic, not mop up after dead flying rodents. “Now, how about that iced tea?”
WC: 648
Sazawari had been interrupted during his afternoon… Nap would be not be the right thing to call it, but more of a break from everyday life, time usually spent daydreaming, pondering, talking to himself, whatever he could occupy his mind with. The old lady Nashagima had come knocking on his door with a sealed writ from the academy, bearing the signature of one of the teachers. These scrolls had been popping up like weed lately, always demanding more work of him. With a heavy sigh, he began the ascent up the old stair case and into the oblivious darkness above him.
*Man… She sure got a lot of crap stored up here…* He had just finished stacking a third set of three by four boxes, making the storage above the old lady’s residence appear more… spacy. Open, if you would. The only thing left was the huge cabinet in the far end of the dark room which was illuminated by a single gas lamp. Brushing the cob web away from his face, he strode decisively towards the wooden construct, determined to wrap this up as soon as possible.
He hadn’t come to appreciate the size of the furniture until he had closed the few meters of distance, but as he stood before it he realized that moving this thing would be virtually impossible for someone of his stature and strength. However, he had a mission, and he didn’t want to get any crap for failing to do so. First, he attempted to push the cabinet towards the corner of the attic, but quickly found that his presumptions were true; he definitely lacked the strength to move the monstrosity.
“Oh my, what a great job you’ve done. You don’t need to move that thing, though. I don’t really expect you to be able to, it took my late husband, may he rest in peace, three of his friends to help move it up here. I just need you to clean it out; remove any dead vermin, dust it off, brush the webs and so on. I’ll prepare some iced tea for you till you get down.” Only the head of the old lady was visible in the gloom as it popped up the stair case to the attic. *How nice of you to tell me that before I tried to bust my back moving this behemoth…* Setting his mind to the last task, he opened the cabinet, expecting a cloud of dust to explode in his face.
He was partially correct. True, a cloud of dust did explode into his face, causing him to cough violently, but that was not what caused him to jump; A giant bat, a monster in its own way, flew out, screeching, attempting to gnaw on Sazawaris face. Unsheathing his newly acquired ninjatou, he prepared himself for the inevitable battle. A quick stab, missing, followed by a sideways slash, again missing, completing the combination with a third slash, upwards this time, finally hit home, and he could feel the sharp steel bite through flesh and sinews and bones.
The sack of dead meat landed with a muffled bump on the bottom of the stairs, splattering blood and bat gore around on the floor. “Ma’am, I believe this is yours?” His mission was to clean the attic, not mop up after dead flying rodents. “Now, how about that iced tea?”
WC: 648