Shi's Tale ~ Prologue - Aiko's First Festival

Until the introductions are finished, I'll humour everybody else with this. Enjoy.

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Dark. Everything was dark. Normally, I would not mind. The Night was my friend. But now...
“No, please! Don’t leave me! Don’t – don’t leave me behind!”
All was silent, so silent it was unnerving. Nobody was around. All I could hear was the sound of my own petrified breathing. “Guys? Are you there?”
Silence. I was alone. Nobody else but me.
I let out a long, anguished wail...
“AIKO! For the sake of - ! Aiko, wake up!”
Persistent shaking roused me from my slumber – and my nightmare. It had all been a dream. Just a dream. One that seemed familiar... A name tugged at the back of my memory, urging me to unearth it, but what was I trying to recall?
“Aiko, hurry up and get out of bed!”
“A-ah, Ni – san! Sorry for the trouble.”
I forced myself to sit up. It was that nightmare again, that I knew. It had been pestering me for a long, long time. But why couldn’t I remember its contents, other than a cry?
“Aiko, come on! There’s a festival today and we’re going!”
A festival? Oh, right! “Agh! Gomen, Nanashi!” With that, I hurriedly got out of bed...
My name is Nakashima Aiko. As you can see from my name, I am from the Nakashima Clan. While not necessarily a renowned family, my clan plays an important roles in festivals. After all, the Nakashima are experts at this area of work. And guess what? Today, my parents will be letting me help out at my first one. The Festival of the Elemental Spirits. For some reason, I’m more excited than usual...
I hurriedly pulled my festival robes on. They were the traditional robes of a female magic healer, a cleric. Every female compatible with magic in my clan became one and I was certain to follow suit, a cleric of the water. The males were allowed to choose from becoming a sword-wielder or a magic-user. My own brother, Nanashi, was a Dark magic-user, just like Father. When I turned 13 in a few days’ time, the Water Elemental Spirits would unlock the power I held within me and then I would become a fully fledged cleric of the water. But I would have to be content with my festival robes until then.
“Aiko, you ready yet?” I nodded with a smile. My first festival...
Little did I know that it might have been my last.
The streets were crowded with people, chattering happily to each other and pointing out several places of interest here and there. I followed closely behind my brother as he guided me to where our parents were waiting. He had gone through so many festivals, he didn’t even need to look for landmarks. I, on the other hand, looked around curiously, taking in as many new sights as possible. This was required for me to memorise the exact location of the assembly area of the Nakashima. It would never do for the next cleric of the water to forget her festival destination.
“Alright, this is the place.” Nanashi had stopped walking. Unfortunately for me, I had been preoccupied with my surroundings and thus walked straight into his back. “Ow.” I mumbled, rubbing my sore nose. Still, sore noses were the least of my worries.
Time for my first festival.

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What do you like about it? Sasu says she likes the nightmare... -.-