Another event dearly anticipated by the natives of kauoha is the 'black day'. The black day is the day in a year that the sun doesn't come up, it is taught by legends that black day was created during the gods era in the garden, they stopped the sun from rising that day cause it was being debated who would guard and keep the garden, after the debate, the knights were created. So on black days, it is believed that the gods comes down in mortal form to be with the knights, only a knight can spot a god on black days. On black days, every native dresses in white apparels and the academy lits up the whole godsdom. There are lots of activities, feasting and rituals performed on such a day. The day starts with everyone fellowshiping at twilight then families step out to exchange pleasantries, good tidings and gifts, they meet and greet in groups, the elderly gathers toddlers and children to tell them the story of the land and about the day. Special music and dances are performed. Each house door is painted white to resonate with the stars and boost the radiance of the land, people paint their bodies with bio luminescent paint that glows like the ambiance of the sky above. It is the most beautiful dark time in the land of Kauoha. Everyone is in high spirit throughout the day and it is strongly believed that prayers and wishes offered that day is most sure to be granted.
Being at the academy was no exemption to celebrating the black day with the rest of the land. Fact is, the day is celebrated much more at the academy. Different soldiers display in the air, on the grounds, on water and so on, they harness different elements and erect beautiful sculptures to display the story and reason behind the day in the most creative ways possible. The stbsk also paints their bodies, mostly on their tattoos to make them glow and raise their pride. On black days, the academy opens up its gates for visits from the families of the stbsk and the soldiers that serves there.
Diah was more than excited to see Hsu, she had a lot to tell him about her progress and the tournaments they've embarked on, she narrated everything to him and introduced him to Snow, Briggard, Onyx, Sharna, Ross and Kibi, Hsu was more than excited to meet diah again after such a long time, he was happier when he learnt she made new friends. Prior to diah's enrolling to the academy, all she had as companions was hsu and lily, she didn't make friends and barely spoke to her colleaugues at work, she prefers talking to lisa's horses to anyone at the castle. She showed hsu her tattoo, though it didn't appear on her arm like others' did hers appeared on her neck and narrowed down her back to her left cleavage, though called a tattoo, hers looked like a scar, it appeared as a dark shade shape and pattern, even the monks couldn't tell what it was. After the incidence with leviathan it cleared up a bit and appeared less shady. Hsu found it rare and somewhat odd, cause he'd never or seen such a tattoo before.
"It's rare and probably indicates uniqueness. Glad it didn't create a huge issue with the officials or hinder your entrance to the academy." Hsu said gladly.
"Yeah. I most times wished it was like the rest of the stbsk's, i hate suspense and surprises. What if it stays forever like this?" She asked a bit worried.
"Well, let's hope it doesn't" he patted her shoulder.
"Hate how it's so spread out. I look like a fire soldier that got burnt on her first fire quest." She made a joke about it and they both laughed hard.
"My heart missed your jokes. Can't wait to have you become a knight and move to a big castle and be together forever."
"A knight papa? You rate me too high"
"And you should too. Cause you have all it takes to be one"
She looked at him confused.
"Forget i ever said that. Let's go"
Unlike the rest stbsk she didn't paint her tattoo cause of the appearance. She hoped hsu was right about it and it wasn't a curse stain by the gods.
She had fun with the families of Briggard, Onyx, Sharna, Snow. Ross' family didn't come instead they sent a letter through his skill master and best friend, Ross was glad he came instead of them, he loved his master so much as a friend and brother, they were introduced to each other when they were both youngsters and ever since has been fond of each other's presence. They spent most times together due to the constant absence of Ross' parents, Ross prefers his master's company to his parents' he didn't even cared if they were around or away. His master taught him a great deal of skills and they got into a lot troubles together. They chatted, played and had a great fun time together.
While the fun was going on, the team didn't forget the mission for the day, they scanned through for the supposed person on a death list, everyone had their tattooes painted so it made the job a whole lot easy. Every candidate had their tattoo on their neck or arm, nothing seemed odd or out of place. The team scanned the whole place and didn't find the odd stbsk.
"This is a wild goose chase" snow complained.
"Yeah, my eyes are dizzy from seeing different glowing tattooes all day" onyx chipped in.
"Aiish! What do we do now?" Snow asked.
"If you had a unique tattoo that indicates your chances of becoming a knight what would you do?" Diah asked.
"Duh, paint it the most beautiful and flaunt it regardless the part of my body it's at" Snow answered.
"Really? Even if it marks you as target for bad people?" Sharna asked.
"Hmm... I guess not. What would you do?" Onyx asked.
"I'd paint my arm or neck to blend with the rest of the stbsk." Ross chipped in.
"There! That's the reason why our search has been futile, everyone has a glowing arm or neck tonight." Sharna said.
"Everyone, except Diah and the supposed stbsk we're searching for" Onyx said and everyone turned and stare at Diah.