InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Resistance ❯ Resistance ( Chapter 1 )

A/n: I know that this won't seem to relate to Inuyasha but it will I promise!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but I do own the story line and the creation of my sirens (hands off! XD)

 

The Resistance

 

 

Ages ago our kind was merely a myth. We were never seen or heard, we lived in our watery homes and watched the land dwellers go about their lives from the shadows of the corals we played in. Then our king died after two thousand years of ruling. It had happened before and a peaceful coronation was held, a new ruler stepping up to guide our people. But not this time.

 

Kaito, the nephew of the king was made ruler, the king's wife having died before birthing a child. He was a cruel being, I remember him in the reefs when we were children, he was sixteen years my elder, a very young king. He hated land dwellers, he hated that they could walk and swim when we could only swim, he hated that they could sing without fear of hurting someone, but what he hated more than anything was that they ate sea creatures. Were we had accepted it as a fact of life he was determined to pay them back. He declared that all sirens were to lure humans in with our voices, then kill them. That would be our new food source.

 

I was only four when this law was made, I didn't understand why we had to eat the beautiful laughing creatures from above. I would cry when I saw a land dweller carried through our city. Fortunately I didn't have any power yet, siren's don't gain the ability to control forces with their voice until the age of ten, I didn't have to hunt. But my older brother did.

 

He was sixteen, and a kind boy, he used to take me to the corals whenever I asked and he cooked me seaweed simply because he knew it was my favorite. He was my favorite person, but he was changed by the king. Three months after Kaito's coronation he sent out palace soldiers to scout out strong sirens. My brother, father, and mother were chosen.

 

You see, all sirens when they reach the age to gain power, are blessed with one of three gifts. We can manipulate one of three forces, air, water, or plants. Your appearance foretells your power, black hair controls air, blue hair and blue eyes controls water, and green hair and green eyes manipulates plant life. My brother and father had black hair, and my mother and I had green.

 

By the time my family was chosen the Kaito's plans to wipe out land dwellers was no longer rumor but fact. My father had no wish to kill anyone, and my mother didn't want me or my brother involved. My brother disagreed, his training had been taken over by a soldier, and ideas of how awful and loathsome land dwellers were was instilled in my brothers head. He wished to join the army and on the night of the full moon after he had been selected he joined the troops marching onto shore.

 

It had been discovered that on the night when the moon was full and bright in the sky, and the seas were at their strongest, our people could leave the water for the night. It was a fact that had been known for centuries, but previous kings never allowed us to wander past the beaches, no one knew how land dwellers would react.

 

I distinctly remember the confusion of that night. It began when the sun was setting, hurried packing on my mothers part as my father argued with my brother. I sat in an oyster shell in the corner covering my ears, not knowing why my mother said I had to leave everything behind. They had decided to escape the tyranny, my brother on the other hand, wanted to join it.

 

As we left our house, my brother still with us at the time, we met up with a group of ten other families also wishing to escape. When the moon was high in the sky, we snuck up the drop off and onto the shore. As soon as we hit sand my father scooped me up into his arms and we ran into the trees. I was terribly frightened, I had noticed that my brother had run the other way, I wanted to hold his hand but he had left us. I tried yelling for him but my father covered my mouth. He said it was too late, that my brother had made his choice. I thought he was being mean, but even at four years old I could see how it pained him to say it, my mother had tears streaking down her face. It confused me why the tears were staying on her face not drifting off like they used to under the water.

 

I obeyed my father and kept quiet; we ran all night and stopped as the sun began to rise. That's when the substance of my nightmares today began. One family and the father of another suddenly began to scream, everyone watched in horror as their flesh started to disintegrate. As the sun rose fully past the horizon their bodies disappeared as dust in the wind. Everyone stared in shock, and the three other children, like me, were crying and hiding behind our parents. It was my father who figured it out.

 

I remember the discussion; I was sitting in my mothers lap, marveling how our hair was bright green in the sunlight. I heard my father asking who in the remaining group had ever consumed human flesh. Not one of them had. My father then went on to explain that he had gone to a meeting with the men of the other two families, when they were still only discussing the escape. He remembered that one of their wives had served food; they had met at the man's house. It had smelled strange, a sickly sweet stench that my father said he would never forget, it had burned his nose. The man had explained that human flesh, when cooked, gave off that smell.

 

The man had said to my father, “I despise the law, but if eating this keeps my family safe then so be it.” Apparently soldiers had been enforcing the law in their neighborhood, something our family had escaped. My father hadn't eaten any, but the other man at the meeting had. He was the father would had died from the other family. Understanding dawned upon the group; if you ate human flesh then you were bound to the water except for on the night of the full moon. If those who had eaten it didn't reenter the water before the sunrise, then they would die. It was a clear advantage. We had a month to get as far away from the ocean as possible.

 

We headed North and settled in the middle of Japan, a good three days travel from any ocean. We began to build our homes. The family, whose father had died, moved in with us, the mother and her son. It was a time of discovery for our little village, the boy that lived with us, Takumi, and I became fast friends. We discovered all the bugs in the dirt and how to climb a tree. Food sources were found, and we only consumed plants, sadly four people in the village died before we found which plants were poisonous.

 

A month after my fifth birthday, it was the night of the full moon, we had ceased to fear it, no one could reach us in one night. Takumi and I were playing in a pond just outside the village, under the watchful eyes of my mother. We had to stay near water, we had to drink it many times a day in order to live. Fortunately there were streams nearby and various ponds scattered all over, we could swim in them without fear for sirens only lived in salt water. Takumi and I were underwater imitating the fish; we had retained the ability to breath underwater, when I heard my mother scream. It was muffled by the water, but I heard the fear in it clear as day, I started swimming to the surface when Takumi had caught my ankle. He had shaken his head no, I didn't understand.

 

“They're here!” He had said, and pointed at the surface. He was seven; he knew that they would kill us. I was five, I didn't know why they wanted to, my brother had wanted to join them, he wouldn't harm me so why would they. He held me underwater until the last of the soldiers had passed by the pond, I was crying, I could see my mother lying on the ground next to the pond, her gorgeous green hair spotted with red. Finally as I broke the surface I ran to her, she was gasping and her chest was a bloody mess.

 

“Stay here.” She had said, “Wait here for your father.” She had pleaded with us until we had agreed; I had laid on her stomach her hand stroking my hair until her hand went limp. I remember that I couldn't look; I just stayed frozen, pretending she was asleep. Takumi held my hand, he wouldn't admit it, but he was scared too. We could hear the screams from the village, and plumes of smoke were rising, rapidly clouding the sky. After ten minutes that felt like days we finally heard footsteps running in our direction.

 

We hid, ducking behind a thick group of reeds, waiting. Then we heard them call our names, and we both jumped out from behind the plants. It was my father, his mother, and about fifteen others who had survived the attack. I ran into my fathers arms, and he picked me up. His eyes wet as he saw my mother. I hid my face in his shoulder as he walked over to her, I heard him telling her how much he loved her, and how he didn't know what to do, and he couldn't raise a daughter on his own. I remember hearing that then telling him that I would be a son if it made it any easier, as long as he didn't leave me. He had stroked my head, telling me not to worry; I was perfect as a daughter.

 

The group split up, my father, I, and two other young men headed north, four others to the east, and the rest to the west, that included Takumi. I cried myself to sleep for many nights after that. Finally we split up from the two with us; we entered a village of humans, something none of us had dared to do before.

 

“We have to hide ourselves; we made it too easy for them to find us before. We have to try and blend in Nami.” He told me. Easy for him, air benders looked human, my green hair stood out. We walked carefully into the town, we were expecting them to reject us, but women from the village came to us to help. They gave us new clothes and braided my hair; even let us sleep in one of the houses. My father began to work for the man of that house. He chopped wood and tended to his fields, the man was getting old. I watched him in the fields, learning the secrets.

 

A year later the man fell ill, I was six and beginning to understand more and more of what was going on. The man told my father that he would give him his farm and house on one condition. My father had to marry the man's daughter. I didn't like it, she couldn't be my mother, not only that but she was mean, cared only for herself and her appearance. I remember thinking that she wasn't even that pretty. My father however, consented. The girl was only seventeen, but they married that year, my father telling me that he still loved my mother, but he did this for a home and so I might have a female influence. It was too late, I realize now that by then I was already so much like my father.

 

The girl's father died when I was eight, two years after my father had married the girl. We lived in relative peace, I didn't like my new mother but she treated me like an angel around my father. She insisted that I should learn the ways of a household and start wearing a full length kimono, but I disagreed and thankfully so did my father. I was still allowed to work in the fields with him in my short kimono.

 

One night another siren entered the village, his hair green like mine. He came to our house and spoke to my father. I eavesdropped through the screen. He told my father that Kaito, the king, had figured out the secret for living on land, he was training an army that would be able to. A resistance had been formed; people who had consumed humans but who wished to stop the tyranny, served as spies. Those who lived on land were joining together to fight. The siren told my father of another disadvantage we had. We could only reenter the water on a full moon as well. My father disagreed; he told him that he swam in the river all the time. The siren had agreed with that, but said that we could only enter or leave salt water on full moons.

 

My father didn't argue, none of us had ever tried. The siren continued, he spoke of strategies for trapping the soldiers on land, even if they didn't burn in the sunlight, they wouldn't know how to survive. He spoke of building an army of our own, how it had already been started. Then he asked my father to join.

 

Land sirens, he called us, had heard of my father, how he and others from our first village had fought off the first battalion the king had. The test group of soldiers that could stay on land, how my father and the village had killed them all, preventing the king from learning any information. My father had said no, that they were weak when they came. The siren didn't give up, he asked for him to join, and after an hour, my father agreed. He was now part of the Resistance.

 

For a year, nothing happened, then messengers started coming, informing my father of occurrences across Japan, our numbers were small, nothing in comparison to the kings, but we were efficient. At nine years old I was beginning to feel the anger for my past, I was ready to join the resistance. Then the girl, my father's wife, asked for children. One thing that was solid between the races of sirens and humans was that it was a husband's duty to give the wife any kids she wanted. A month before I turned ten my little sister, Rin, was born.

 

It was the first time a half siren was born; we were unable to tell if she would have any power. For she had black hair and brown eyes like my father, but many humans had those features.

 

My father began my training after I turned ten; it took me less than two weeks to be able to use my plant manipulation power. My voice was rich, I loved to sing and watch the vines twist in the air before me. My father warned me to be careful though, not only did sirens use their voices to use their power, but they could control humans and animals as well, I didn't have enough control to stop my voice from making someone do something dangerous. I was only allowed to sing with him nearby and only if I had complete focus on what I was doing. Eventually I would be strong enough to control the nature without singing, and to sing without harming anyone. My father said that would take a lot of practice though.

 

Two years later, when I was twelve, Rin's mother bore two twin sons. Around that time two sirens came bearing the mark of the resistance. A tattoo behind their left ear depicting three dolphins twisting around each other in the air, a vine of ivy writhing around them. It was created after the Resistance discovered that Kaito had been enslaving creatures and sirens, it was meant to show the freedom we used to have. He walked with them out to the fields; I was playing with Rin in the house. I heard the yell and my heart stopped, I knew the sound of fighting. I placed Rin in her cradle and walked slowly outside in time to see my father fall, the two men dead next to him. I ran as fast as I could to his side and fell to my knees beside him. He was looking at me, and he smiled.

 

“You're a good girl, you're going to be strong, take care of your siblings okay?” He asked me, reaching out to take my hand, “I love you Nanami of the seven seas.” With that he closed his eyes and I sat there, numb, all night.

 

The burial passed in a blur. The next thing I remember is my stepmother ordering me to work in the fields the day after the burial. That was when it began; she treated me like a slave. She was convinced that my appearance would attract more men like the ones that had killed my father, my hair was to be bound in a scarf at all times. I hadn't realized how high my father had risen in the ranks of the resistance, but many times when the sun was setting and I was going inside I would see a siren praying at my father's grave.

 

I started to fall behind, the work of maintaining a farm was too much for my thirteen years, especially when I was forbidden to use my powers. But, another year passed before my stepmother took any notice. Finally she asked her best friends son, a boy of fifteen, to help in exchange for a share of the harvest. He began to help me, we became tentative friends. Some days he would tell me to go enjoy myself; I took those opportunities to train.

 

When I turned fifteen and Rin was five, I caught her watching me one day. She was fascinated, but I knew her mother would be livid if she knew, so one night a week I took Rin with me and she would watch me train, asking me questions about our father. It continued this way for another year.

 

On my sixteenth birthday, I had to work in the fields. The boy who helped me was seventeen then, it was as if I opened my eyes suddenly. I fell for him, I loved his smile and his strong arms, but I acted the same. I had no reason to believe that a human boy would fall in love with a girl with green hair. Three months later I had taken a bath late at night and was combing my hair outside the house. He walked by, he had worked late in the fields, I heard him stop in front of me, blocking the moonlight from me.

 

He told me how beautiful I looked that night. He fingered a loose strand of my nearly dry hair. Then he tilted my chin up and kissed me. I was shocked; I had no idea what I should do, so I kissed him back. We were caught by my stepmother.

 

She threw a fit, she dragged me by my hair back into the house and it took all I had not to hit her. She screamed and yelled at me, telling me I was unworthy, I wasn't allowed to love anyone. To her I was selfish for putting anyone in danger; just speaking to someone put them in danger. I stood there, but by this time I was tired and angry, I told her that it was up to us as to what we did. I was sure that he wouldn't have kissed me if he didn't love me.

 

I was so very wrong. He denied everything, saying I kissed him and used my voice to lure him in. He never looked at me as he said this, he was scared of me. I was livid, years of doing as I was told. I was tired of obeying this witch, scared everyday that someone would come for me. Not being able to leave and fight with the resistance as I so wanted to, but I had kept my promise to my father. I had stayed and looked out for my siblings. I was tired of being treated like an outsider in a human village, I was tired of being the freak, having whispers shot at me when I walked by. I snapped.

 

I told my stepmother I was leaving. I gathered up my father's sword, and changed into a short Kimono and left the house forever. I wrote Rin a letter and before I left I handed it to her, she had chased me from the house. I told her to hide it from her mother, and to read it one month before she turned ten. The letter told her I would return, and take her with me if she wished; she would need someone to train her if she had any siren power.

 

My name is Nanami, I now have lived for twenty years and I now lead the resistance.