Feeble Life

            That night was really impossible to carry on walking. I could hardly feel my legs, a warning that I should have stopped long ago. The storm kept on tormenting me ferouciously and tiredness was all over me. It was a series of storms sweeping through Siberia two whole weeks non stop. Far away, almost invisible, laid a forest. Certainly it would take a long time until I arrived to the next village, and it would take me at least to more days to  reach Kohotek. “Great”, I thought to myself, “I´ll arrive late and, to make matters worse, frozen”.

            Before I left, I had promised Arisha to try to arrive in time for the birth of her baby. I don´t think I will make it anyway, unless it waits for me a little longer before coming to this world. I wouldn´t like to miss that. Arisha has always been nice to me, ever since I started my saint training at the village. She soothed me in my moments of sadness many times and not living up to my given word would let her down. On the other hand, if I didn´t get out of the biting cold, my legs would surely freeze.

            Suddenly, a far away light caught my eye. Whoever owned that light, I was positive he would give me shelter, even if I had to bargain for it. My legs were really unresponsive then and I hurried to get there soon.

            It was a simple shed, but well kept. I knocked at the door, already fancying a warm bed and lots of mantles. It was unusual for me to feel so much cold, even here in Siberia, but this storm was just overwhelming.

            “Could you give me shelter, please?”

            “Go away! I don´t want anyone here!”

            The voice that echoed from the inside was that of a crying woman. That was new. All my life, I have already asked for shelter uncountable times, but I have never come across a person in such state of mind. Never.

            “Please, madam! My legs are freezing!”

            “I don´t care! Go away!”

            This was the kind of thing in which Ikki would break in using all his power, not even caring about the person who was behind the door.

            “Madam, please! I can help you with the house for as long as I stay there. I don´t have anyone else to turn to now!”

            “I don´t need you! Leave me in peace!”

            The wind had gotten stronger by then, sending me chills down my spine, despite the thick coat I was wearing.

            “Madam, I can hear you crying now, but if you don´t give me shelter this night, even this I won´t be able to do tomorrow morning! I promise I won´t disturb you!”

            After a brief moment of silence on the other side, the door opened halfway and a young woman popped her head outside, peering carefully at me, from head to toes, through reddened eyes. I couldn´t make it out before because of the sobbing, but she was a woman in her late twenties.

            “Who are you?”

            “I´m Hyoga. I´m on my way to the village of Kohotek.”

            She studied my face, which was probably a little pale and opened the door further, giving me entrance to her house.

            “Come in already.”

            “Thank you for letting me spend the night here.”

            “There you have a bed. The mantles are in the closet.”

            Soon as she finished speaking, she headed to her own room, certainly intending to drown herself in sadness again. I was curious to know what could have upset her so, but if I sneaked into her life she would most likely kick me out of her house. I then headed to the small guest room and made sure to rest well for the next day. I was almost certain I would miss the birth of Arisha´s baby, unless I continued my quest through the night. My chances grew smaller and smaller while I stayed there, but I had no choice.

            I know I should have fallen fast asleep that night, but I woke up to the sound of her crying getting closer. Then followed some unrecognisable noises and soon afterwards she went back to her room. Not wishing to call her attention, I peered into the hall silently.

            There was a wooden craddle at the corner of the hall, which she must have brought from her bedroom. Looking at it closely, I could see a baby inside but, much to my horror, it wasn´t alive. Its lungs didn´t reach for air anymore and the little child was as white as the snow outside. I understood then the reason of such sadness. I went back to bed and decided to think about what to do in the next morning.

            When I got up, I packed my stuff for the travel yet to be accomplished. I didn´t want to miss a minute, so bad I wanted to arrive at Kohotek. But before that I had to pay my homages to the poor baby. When I entered the hall, I found on the table a bottle of wine and a basket with some bread in it.

            “Help yourself.”

            I stared at her, who was carrying in her arms the small corpse wrapped up in a mantle. It was easy to figure by her eyes that she had slept little and cried a lot the night before. I proceeded on staring at her, mildly surprised to be offered such a meal after a welcome as cold as my legs had been.

            “I´m sorry about being rude at you last night. I wasn´t feeling very well.”

            After saying that, she grabbed a shovel and went out. I sat at the table and stared blankly at my plate, while sadness dragged me down. Suddenly, arriving at Kohotek didn´t seem the right thing to do, even obliged by the promise made to Arisha.

            After breakfast, I took my coat and went out. That annoying storm was still blowing hard. Some feet down the hill stood the young lady, looking sadly at her child´s tomb. I ran into the forest, trying desperately to find some flowers to offer in her child´s memory, but obviously I wasn´t successful. Then a better idea hit me.

            I slowly approached the lady and stood by her side. My presence didn´t seem to bother her, so we stood still for some minutes. Beside the small tomb, there was a larger one. A thread of tears traced its path down her face and she cast her eyes down.

            “It got sick a week ago. Nor I, nor Yosef, my husband, knew what it was. He left immediately to look for help, but he didn´t come back. I found his body near here, two days ago. He had been attacked by some animal, probably a bear. At least I know he won´t be alone on the other side…”

            Her soft spoken words of resignation made me even more angry. I gave a step forward and unleashed my cosmos. The young woman stepped back, frightened by its brightness.

            “What are you doing?! Are you some kind of a monster?”

            “Do not worry.”

            I continued to heighten my cosmos until I reached the seventh sense. I burned it to the edge just to assure myself. The land around me began to freeze, creating layers and layers of pure ice, until there were two large blocks, each one bearing a cross. The coffin that I learnt from Camus.

            “They won´t melt, not even in the summer.”

            She looked at the coffins for a few minutes, still a bit frightened, and then threw herself onto my chest, crying her heart out. I let her cry for as long as she wished to. Afterwards, she gave me a sweet smile, as if apologizing for her tears.

            “I´m sorry for taking your time. I know you long to leave.”

            “I needed to stay here. Are you going to be fine by yourself? Don´t you want to go to the village or to the city?”

            The lady nodded negatively, wiping her tears and turning back home.

            “Go away.”

            Not wishing to bring her further things to worry about, I took my stuff and left. The storm didn´t bother me anymore, even being as strong as before. I also didn´t feel much hunger in the following two days of travel. My mind was still set on that woman who, so early in life, was already widow and mother of a dead baby. So much grief soon after the happiness of giving birth to her first child. It occured to me that Arisha could have been in this woman´s shoes, facing the same adversities. This line of thought much contributed to deepen even more my feeling of helplessness.

            When I arrived to the village, Yacov ran towards me with a big smile plastered to his face.

            “Hyoga, I´m so glad you came! Arisha´s baby was born in the afternoon, the day before yesterday! It´s a girl!”

            I dropped my stuff at home in a mess and hurried to Arisha´s place. She was sitting on the bed and by her side were her husband, Fokei, and her mother, already aged, but always joyful, Kristya. Around the bed stood the family´s friends. All of them saw me become a warrior at that small village. In its mother´s arms, the little one was restless. Everything told me it was a healthy child. Arisha smiled when she saw me, despite my tired eyes and ragged looks. I smiled back, trying to forget what had happened two days before, even though I couldn´t.

            “Sorry, Arisha. I couldn´t make it in time, but as far as I can see, you are now the mother of a lovely little girl.”

            “Come here, Hyoga. Do you want to hold her?”

            The girl was passed carefully from Arisha´s arms to mine. She didn´t seem to be afraid of me, maybe because I had already helped to look after several babies in the village. At that moment, I remembered the sight of that woman carrying her child´s dead body carefully, as if it was alive, to bury it outside.

            While I held Arisha´s baby, a simultaneous wave of joy and sadness took over me.

* THE END *

Obs: Saint Seiya belongs to Masami Kurumada, Shueisha and Toei Animation.