I Am Still a Beast at Bay

Memento Mori
"I'm hooooooooome!!!"

Souka Hanabira walked through the door to his home with a big grin on his face. This day had been productive. A faint scent wafed in from what would be considered the kitchen... Of course they were having soup. They had water, and it wasn't as if food was that plentiful...

But that was why he was in such a good mood!

As he began to brush himself off of in an attempt to remove some of the dirt and foilage that had collected on his clothes while hunting, he set a bag full of game, edible plants, his bow and quiver of arrows, and the kindling wood he had collected on the table inside the small hut him and his family lived in. Today had been wonderful! He had easily killed several low-level hollow feeding on one poor unfortunate soul... But beggars can't be choosers. Regardless, he had also found a lot of edible mushrooms and roots. Some fruit, a few berries...

His mother left the pot that contained their dinner and walked towards the bag of game. She held a stern look to her face until...

Souka hugged her, smiling warmly. Once he did, her own expression broke and she hugged him back, wearing a similar smile. "How was it, honey?" She asked, breaking the hug. Dinner wasn't going to cook itself.

"It was fine! Nothing special really happened..." He trailed off purposely. Telling her of the plus the hollows he killed devoured would unecessarily worry her.

"Good to hear. If you're not busy, I'd like you to go to the store for me, to pick up something."

"Alright!"

Souka's mother handed him some game from out of the bag to trade with, and he was out of the house in a heartbeat, walking along the road until he came to town.

A tightly-wrapped white package was in Souka's hands as he left the store. He just mentioned his mother's name, and the man gave it to him... It was special ordered? Because it was for his mother (and because he was sure he wouldn't able to look at it without being found out) he resisted his curiosity and did not look; but, from just holding it, he could make guesses as to what it was.

It was soft. Made of cloth, maybe. So, a piece of clothing? He couldn't imagine what his mother would want with something like that...

And, as he rounded the corner, he saw it.

A huge crowd had gathered in the street, and overed their murmurs of excitment he could hear exotic music playing. From the head count, he could see that they were giving something room to do something.... But, he had to get home to his mother! Dinner would be ready soon...

....

But he wanted to see!!

With his curiosity getting the better of him, Souka found himself pushing through the crowd.