Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Kazemaru and Miharu ❯ Chapter 2

The morning sun made the clouds outside the cavern lighten, and Kazemaru got up. He hadn't been able to sleep all night, so he had simply watched the woman sleep. What had she said her name was? Miharu? It was a pretty name, and one he could appreciate. “Clear Skies.” He would ask her about it. Maybe it would calm her down. She probably wouldn't be as composed as she had been last night.

 

The sun rose higher in the sky and still she didn't wake. He began to get worried, and thought perhaps he should wake her. He strode across the cavern but halted when he reached the pile of feathers where he normally slept. She looked so peaceful, her ebony hair was strewn about and riddled with white feathers, a light smile lay on her face and one hand delicately clutched the front of her kimono. She looked perfect.

 

But it was getting late. He cleared his throat but she didn't stir. He made a few other noises, and tried saying her name. But she slept like…. With that thought he grew brave enough to gently take hold of her hand, as if it would break. It was still warm, but just barely.

 

“My lady,” he spoke a little louder, tightening the grip on her hand a little. “My lady Miharu, wake up.”

 

Her eyes opened suddenly, and she drew in a quick breath. He jumped back, certain he had frightened her. She sat up and looked around, visibly confused.

 

“Where am I?” she sounded curious.

 

He looked at her. She was way too calm. Something in him wanted to antagonize her. “This is where I live. And that,” he nodded to where she was “is where I sleep.”

 

She looked around again, and then patted the feathers. “It's very soft.”

 

Kazemaru lifted a hand to his eyes, and then passed it over his face. “My lady, I am afraid you do not grasp the seriousness of this situation.”

 

She smiled that sweet little smile of hers. “Of course I do. This is a dream.”

 

That would explain it. “No, my lady, it is not. If it were, you would awake when you pinched yourself.”

 

True to human curiosity, she pinched her arm. “Ouch.” She said softly, and then looked around again. Her face fell. “Then, this isn't a dream?”

 

“No, my lady,” he said simply.

 

She pulled her arms around herself and drew her knees up. She looked at her surroundings with a wary eye now. “Where is this place?”

 

“This is a cave in a cliff on an island.”

 

“Island… which island?”

 

“The biggest one, locally, other than the mainland of course.” He explained.

 

She frowned. “Monkey Island? But that's so far away!”

 

He sighed. The humans' name for this place was so… stupid. “Your guess is correct. And no, it's not as far away as you think.”

 

She looked at him as if sizing him up. “I'm supposed to be your hostage, right?”

 

He leaned against a wall. “I suppose you could say that.”

 

She looked at the entrance of the cave. “What's to keep me from running away?”

 

He looked at his feet, and then back at her. “Go ahead,” he gestured to the entrance. “I won't try to stop you.”

 

She got up and off of the feathers, tried to brush them off her kimono and quickly gave up. She headed towards the entrance.

 

Miharu wondered if he was bluffing. As she stepped closer, her heart pounded with every inch. Any minute now he would catch her. Or worse, kill her. What had happened to the kind person she had met last night? At last she came to the edge, and the wind suddenly caught her breath. 120 feet strait down, the surf beat against the cliff and many rocks that lay about it. In the distance she could make out the coastline, and the world seemed to drop beneath her feet. So, he didn't need to stop her.

 

“Impressive, isn't it?” a voice came from directly behind her.

 

She startled, and tipped off balance dangerously. He caught her before she even began to fall, clutching her tightly against him as if she might loose her balance again.

 

“Careful,” he warned. “It's a long way down.”

 

She still couldn't breathe, but her mind no longer dwelled on the cliff inches behind her. It was his perfect face, inches from hers, which held her attention. His eyes were so deep and intense, and she felt as if they were drawing her in, their vibrant color uninterrupted except for a small brown fleck in one eye. His mouth, too, was fascinating, and she found herself watching it until she realized what she was doing. She felt her face darken, as she mentally chided herself.

 

He furrowed his brow, and then his eyes widened. So he had noticed. She felt her face blush more, and he mercifully let her go, making sure she wouldn't fall again. She looked around the undecorated cave walls. It wasn't really that bad, but it was so alien to her. She hugged her arms, drawing herself inward. For some reason she suddenly remembered all those lessons on appearance she'd been forced to listen to, and looked down at herself.

 

“Um, would it be permissible to ask for a little time alone to compose myself, Lord Kazemaru?” she tried to bring the edges of her kimono closer together.

 

He nodded, and then looked at her feather-riddled hair. “Just a moment.” He walked to the other end of the cave and opened a little chest. He dug around until he found what he was looking for, a small ivory comb. She was probably hungry, too, and he took out a sword. There was an old lady he knew who would trade anything for the food she cooked, and she was blind.

 

“Here.” He handed the comb to Miharu. “You may use this.”

 

She took it gingerly. “This is beautiful…” she breathed. “Wherever did you find it?”

 

He hadn't the heart to tell her, so he shrugged. “It washed up on the shore one day.” It wasn't exactly a lie. He didn't need to tell her there was a girl attached to it at the time, or that she had been drowned by her own father as a sacrifice. Humans were beyond understanding.

 

“I am going to the village of Yokosuka. I'll be back in an hour.” He said shortly.

 

Miharu nodded, still holding the comb in her hands. She watched as Kazemaru walked to the edge of the cliff, wondering how he would get out. But he simply walked off, falling out of sight.

 

She screamed. Was he crazy? Why would he do something like that!? And then his head and shoulders popped back up above the floor.

 

“Is something wrong, my lady?” he asked.

 

She rushed to the edge of the cliff. Maybe he was holding on to something. But no, he was simply standing on thin air.

 

“How…” she stammered.

 

He rose so that he was eye level to her, so his feet were a ways below hers, still standing on nothing.

 

“I am a demon, lady Miharu. I control the wind. I'm simply using an updraft to support my feet.”

 

“You can fly?” she asked incredulously.

 

He smiled a little. “Well, yes, to be honest, but this isn't flying. This is just magic.”

 

Some explanation! She nodded though, and went back into the cave.

 

“I shall return within the hour,” he said, and left.

 

She sat down on the chest, her mind reeling. So he really was Yokai. She didn't know why she couldn't make it sink in. He looked like a demon, and he could certainly do things humans can't. But even though he was a little frightening, he wasn't, well… evil. At least it seemed that way to her. She began to run the comb through her very tangled hair as she thought.

 

There really wasn't any other way to get here, was there? He must have flown her up here. Judging by the condition of her hair they had flown all the way from Kurihama Palace. She wondered what was going on at the palace. She didn't remember anything after seeing those two guards' heads fall off. Even now the thought of it made her a little lightheaded. She had never seen anything like that. They were probably trying to find her, but she doubted they would be able to track Kazemaru since he had flown. It was all so strange.

 

At last she had gotten all the knots and feathers out of her hair, and set the comb down to work on her kimonos. She removed her obi and set it on the chest. Praying Kazemaru wouldn't return while she was doing this, and slipped off the three kimonos she had put on the night before. She shook them out, in order to get all of the feathers out. She then carefully put them on, making sure they were the right length and fit snugly. The obi was the biggest challenge; it was hard to do on herself. She managed to make a simple bow, and hoped it looked good.

 

Lastly, she twisted up the top half of her hair into a bun and used the comb to secure it. She looked around the room, it was sparsely decorated, but for a cave it was fairly nice. There was the pile of feathers that served as a sleeping pallet, the chest, a small writing desk that had an empty vase on it, a large rug on the floor, and a cupboard. Both the chest and the cupboard wouldn't open, even though they didn't seem to have locks. She wondered where he had gotten so many pure white feathers for the pallet, but she didn't know what kind of birds lived here either. Finally she sat down and decided it must have been at least forty-five minutes since Kazemaru left, so he should be back soon. She decided to wait.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A/N:

 

Before you ask, yes, these are real places in Japan. Well, there's no palace at Kurihama, but there is a great big garden called Kurihama Flower World. That's kinda where it's set. My husband is stationed in Yokosuka, and Kurihama is nearby.

 

I've got a lot of chapters to post, so there might not be too many comments.