InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Blood and Lust ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

Author's note: Alright, I know, I know….It's taken forever, and all I've done is rewritten what I had. Well, that's what you think. So, what I've done here is basically changed how the whole story was written. I'm also changing character development a bit. I'm not happy with how I developed Rin's character (and her age is slightly altered), so that shan't be the same. I hope you all will bear with me.

Life. Such a small word, yet it holds so much complication. Perhaps it is just meant to confuse us lowly humans and toy with our minds. Or, perhaps there is a greater meaning. If there is a way to tell, there are few who have discovered the secret.

-

The wolves howled at the brightness interrupting the black of night. Trees whispered their secrets to one another as the wind brushed through their tangled vines. The night was calm and cool; nothing seemed out of place. Even the most cautious of creatures slept soundly. After all, what could disturb them in this, Gaia's haven? The Mother watched over her creatures, guarding her precious children. Normally, she wouldn't compromise the safety of her loved ones, but tonight - tonight, something wandered through her woods and caught her heart.

The little creature was foreign to her; none had passed before that looked so strange. It hobbled on two feet, falling nearly constantly. Dirt and tracks of water stained what appeared to be its face and what the Mother supposed were its eyes were large and hollow.

Sadness rolled off the creature in waves; it was apparent that something terrible had befallen this child. Yes, the Mother decided, this was a child, something that needed to be taken care of. She dropped a few vines and let them caress the tear-stained face of her new child, a comforting gesture. This only caused the little one to again stumble and fall. This time, it did not get up.

The Mother sighed her concern in a soft breeze and wrapped a warm blanket of air around her new daughter to help her rest.

Previously…

"Rei-chan! Come inside, it's getting dark! You'll catch cold!"

"Haaaaaaai!" The head of black hair swiveled and flew in the wind as the girl twirled on her heel and dashed barefooted toward the small hut. She ran her hand through the long, tangled locks and wiped her feet off on the mat before slipping inside and bowing to her father. "Otou-san, is Mama ready with supper? I've worked up an appetite keeping an eye on the animals."

Her father chuckled, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening with his kind smile. He opened his arms for a hug and kissed her forehead, tickling her skin with his graying beard. "Okaa-san is setting the table for us as we speak. Go wash up, Tenshi, and find your brother. Then we may eat."

The girl wrinkled her nose at him and frowned playfully. "You know I don't like being called that, Papa. I'm far from being an angel, and you know it." She kissed him on the cheek and skipped back out of the hut. Her father simply smiled lovingly and shook his head.

She slowed her pace as she neared the water pump. Her brother was already washing up, struggling to pump the water for himself. "Shuku, do you want some help?" She smiled to herself, knowing that he wanted to be a big boy and would deny any assistance she offered.

As predicted, the small boy whined at her. "Rei! I can do this myself!" He lifted the handle and tried to push it down again, but failed miserably.

She giggled and poked at his side. "I'm sure you can, but you're being too slow!" Her fingers began wiggling against his skin and he squirmed, filling the air with childish laughter as his sister tickled him incessantly. "Do you give in?"

He did his best to fend her off, but his small hands were no match for her larger ones. Age did have its advantage sometimes. "Alright! Alright, I give in! I need help."

The girl immediately stopped her attack and lifted him to his feet. "Well, then. Let's get cleaned up before Mama sends Papa out here to look for us!" The two giggled and splashed each other as they washed the dirt off of their faces and hands, but eventually managed to finish and dry themselves.

Later that night, the girl sat on the dirt floor by the window of the small room she shared with her brother. The air was cool and crisp, keeping her awake and slightly chilly. Something about the night drew her attention; everything was so beautiful out there. She had been cooped up in her little town all her life, and that was just the beginning.

A legend in her village of an ancient miko and a fearsome demon combining to create a powerful artifact somehow frightened her neighbors. The legend went that the miko had battled the great youkai and had sealed both herself and the youkai inside the relic. The battle continued inside, and any who touched the object would tip the fight one way or the other.

Only one could ever unseal their souls, and the legend would have it that the creature was a soulless god, one with a black heart and a taste for evil. It went that the god would touch the artifact and a great evil would be unleashed in the world, consuming all things good. The only description that could be had was that the god had a red crescent mark on its chest, above its collarbone, and that it would be reborn into human children.

The girl had the unfortunate luck to have been attacked by wolves when she was small. The wolves tore at her flesh and scarred the skin on top of her collarbone. The crescent wound had never completely healed and still burned every now and then, but always remained a vibrant, blood red color.

She sighed, absentmindedly bringing her hand to the mark that would forever haunt her. She would never be safe so long as the legend remained; she would always have to hide her scar.

Suddenly, she was so tired. The bedding on the floor looked so comfortable to her, and her brother's body would keep her warm in the cold night air. Yawning, she crawled toward it, slid underneath the blankets, and let herself drift off into a dreamless slumber.

Not more than two hours later, the door to the small bedroom was shoved open, the girl's father pulling the blankets off of his two children. "Wake up!" was all his hoarse voice could manage.

Two pairs of eyes fluttered open and two pairs of hands subsequently rubbed at them. "What's going on, Papa? Are wolves attacking the herd again?"

"Tenshi…" Her father wet his lips and clenched his eyes tightly shut. "Tenshi, you must get out of here. Now."

"Papa, it's late. What's going on?"

The girl put a reassuring hand on her brother's shoulder. "Shuku, sit up and put on a coat." In less than two minutes, the two siblings were dressed and completely awake. "I am ready, Papa."

The man's face seemed to have aged decades in the few short hours since they had eaten. His eyes were tired and sad, wrinkles were forming on his forehead in worry. "Good. Your mother has packed you some food. The two of you are to run into the forest and wait there. I do not want either of you coming back here until either your mother or I come and get you." He paused for a shaky breath. "There is a tree at the top of the hill next to the stream. It has a hollow on the far side, beneath the roots. The villagers will not find you there."

So that was what this was about. The villagers knew. Her shirt had probably torn while she was out playing yesterday and one of the boys must have seen it. Mama had always told her not to play with the boys, but she never listened. "Act like the woman you almost are," Mama always said. Far be it for her to actually have listened.

She hugged her father and took her brother's hand. "Don't forget, Papa. You promised you'd come get us; don't forget." She rushed out of the room, brother in tow, before he could answer her. Her mother handed her a basket and her brother a blanket before kissing them both.

"Remember," she whispered, "we love you both very much."

Goodbye…

The two siblings rushed out of the little hut and pushed their way past the herd of animals and around the small garden of herbs and carrots. The walk to the stream would have been nearly half an hour, but they ran. Their feet crashed on the soft earth beneath them and rocks sliced into the flesh, causing blood to drip steadily into the dirt. It took many minutes, but they finally made it.

They looked down the hill behind them at their village, when the girl suddenly had a deep pain in her chest. Torches were lit and a crowd of people trailed from her house and into the village. Her home was on fire, and she could hear the screams of her mother.

Her breath shook and she stumbled back a few steps in shock. All of this…because of her. "Sh..Shuku…They…"

His hand gripped hers almost painfully. "Nee-chan…Mama to Papa…" He suddenly ripped his hand from hers and ran, tumbling, down the hill.

"Shuku! No!" The girl dropped the basket she had been carrying, the weave splintering on a large rock in the grass. She began to run after him, reaching out for him. Please, don't go there…I can't lose everyone…

Her breathing stopped. Time slowed. Everything seemed to spin around her, bringing her to her knees.

Blood seeped from the stump that had once been her brother's neck. His eyes seemed to stare up at her from his severed head, pleading with her to help him, do something, anything.

She didn't know how she managed it, but she was running, running, through the woods, across the stream. Her soaked clothing caught dirt as it flew up with the wind and her frantic steps. Empty tears streamed down her cheeks and the wind burned her eyes.

They were all dead.

-

The Mother gently caressed her child's cheek, soothing and comforting. Perhaps a good night's sleep was all she needed.