Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Warnings: AU, mentions of neglect, death and abuse
Chapter One: And so it begins…
Unspecified Realm - 1543
Everyone is afraid of death. The Roman philosopher Cicero said death is not to be feared, but if that's true then why am I so scared right now? I was dying and there was nothing I could do about it. Thick smoke surround me and fires burned and raged too close for comfort. My village was in shambles and I was left to die alone. Everyone else had already died and it was only a matter of time before I joined them.
My name is Sasha Satome and the year is 1543.
I have to say, I wasn't expecting this to happen, but of course no nine year old child expects to die. I remember how the day went; I woke up, ate breakfast, went to school and came back home to do chores. Cara and Cameron, my older siblings who were twins helped me with my homework and by the time Father returned home it was supper time.
But Father was acting strange, he was sad and looked really tired, even more so than usual. Mother sent us off to bed and stayed up to talk with him. They mumbled so I couldn't hear them but I guess Cameron could because he got mad. He confronted them and started yelling. I didn't like it when Cameron yelled.
Then he and Father got into a yelling match, something about keeping someone safe. Then there was a knock on the door. Mrs. Caper heard the yelling and was worried, she said someone must've called the police force because they were on their way to the house. I only knew this because I'd snuck out in the hallway by then.
Father had resolved to speak with them but that was when the screaming started. Within seconds my village was thrown into turmoil and chaos. Rogues had come and they were determined to cause hell.
Mother panicked and Father went out to fight. I heard the gunshot only seconds after he walked out the door and immediately knew he was dead. Mother's mission now was to get the rest of us to safety. We didn't take anything but the clothes on our back and a small pouch of money. Cameron led the way, he said he was prepared to fight for us. Cara and Mother guided me out the back, but Cameron was struck down.
Before I knew it, Mother had pushed me and Cara and told us to run. She was cut down as well. Cara picked me up and ran wildly. The rogue that killed Mother and Cameron couldn't keep up and soon we lost him in the chaos of our burning village.
Cara and I thought we were in the clear when she stuffed us inside a hollow tree. We were both quiet for a long time and as the sky grew darker and darker, the chaos slowly simmered down.
We were wrong.
Cara was snatched from me and I screamed and cried as I was dragged out too. The grip on my leg was iron hot and I thrashed around. Cara was killed in front of me mercilessly, but those savages had their fun with me. I was carved and cut, beaten and bruised. They laughed drunkenly before leaving me to perish in the ruins of my village.
Anger consumed me as did pain, sadness, hopelessness, and a million other emotions. Then I saw him. He was beautiful with silky blond hair and shining amethyst colored eyes. He smiled so gently, so serenely that I felt as if everything would be alright. He held out a hand covered in a soft white glove and reached for me. With extreme difficulty I reached out to him and brushed his hand.
Blinding white light engulfed us both and all I felt was soothing warmth. I collapsed into the warmth, embracing it for all that it was worth. Soon enough I closed my eyes and slept, dreaming of amethyst gems and the sensation of flying. Somewhere in the distance I could've sworn I heard a large cat roar.
0o0o0o0o0o
Present Time – Japan
The Dursley family was quite proud of their normality. Petunia Dursley was a normal woman with a loving and normal husband and the apple of her eye was her cute and normal son Dudley. A glimpse of unruly black hair made Petunia's pleasant smile quickly shift into a disgusted frown. The black mark that marred the perfect image of the perfectly normal Dursley family.
Harry. What a positively horrid name. Nothing like the radiant name of her Duddykins. Petunia realized that she was in public and quickly schooled her face into a charming smile. To onlookers she resembled a horse with its lips pulled back. She nodded politely to a tall Japanese man who passed and he cringed away from her.
Harry's mouth twitched at the reaction of the man but he dared not to outwardly show it. The loud thumps of Vernon's steps beside him made him worry a bit. It sounded like the man was going to crack the pavement. The looks the "family" received were actually rather amusing. Many of the Japanese folk seemed like they couldn't understand why a child was walking alongside a beached whale, walrus and horse.
Harry merely remained quiet as the Dursley's talked rambunctiously. They were drawing attention to themselves and didn't seem to mind it. Meanwhile, they left Harry to blend into the background. Soon enough they walked past an odd looking stand with papery coverings hanging down. A crowd of people blocked the entrance and only a few moments as Harry spotted the stand, the crowd burst into applause.
The noise piqued the interest of Dudley and he immediately tugged on Vernon's shirt. The man (if you could even call him one) resisted at first. But then Dudley's face turned an unsightly shade of purple and red (quite similar to how Vernon reacts to Harry) so the walrus-man was forced to adhere to his son's demand in order to not cause a scene.
No thought of punishing the boy even briefly flickered through Vernon's mind.
Harry wasn't all that surprised, after all what Dudley wanted, Dudley got. The trio (the Dursley's refused to acknowledge Harry) walked over to the stand to see what all the commotion was.
Vernon pushed through the crowd to the front, it was actually quite easy because of his size. The crowd was so surprised by the intrusion. Some glared and others just threw dirty looks. Harry was able to slip in between peoples legs to get to the front. Unfortunately he ended up away from his "family" so that meant he had to keep an eye on them in order to not be left behind.
Harry turned his attention to the crowd gatherer and was surprised to see a young girl – not too much older than himself – sitting calmly in a straight backed chair. Her face was schooled into a cool smirk and her hazel eyes held a fierce determination. Across from her sat a rather large and buff man with a scruffy dark beard. His arm was extended and his hand clasped hers in a classic arm-wrestling pose.
Compared to the muscled man she looked as if she'd be snapped in half.
Regardless of how it looked, she still had her smirk placed firmly on her face. Next to him an American man had to yell in order to be heard by his friend. "Who're ya bettin' on?"
His friend, Japanese by the looks, merely laughed and replied back just as loudly. "Definitely the guy, I mean do you see him?! There's no way she can win!"
Harry's focus remained on the girl. It was almost as if she could hear the man as clear as day with the way she was looking at him. The young boy shivered, if looks could kill that man would've been thrice times under. The match had yet to start however, as people were still placing bets. The girl sneered at the Japanese man next to Harry who dissed her strength.
The match was to begin soon and she went to place her focus back on her opponent. In an instance, hazel eyes and green met. It seemed as if they were locked in a staring contest for the longest of times when she tore her gaze from his. The "referee" called the match to begin and the cheers increased in volume.
Harry watched, fascinated as the girl didn't budge an inch when her opponent put all the force he could into taking her hand down. The smirk was back on her face and her eyes glinted dangerously. It was then that Harry realized that the man was no match for her. Her opponent was getting tired from the exertion, Harry could clearly see the muscles in his arm bulge and flex trying in vain to move her slimmer arm.
Slowly her smirk grew into a lopsided half-smile and she flexed her arm. The muscle showed under dusky brown skin and with a fast movement she slammed her opponents arm onto the table, snapping the wood in half. The man went down and hit the floor with a hard thud. Silence reigned over the crowd before those that bet on the girl burst out into cheers.
The dumbfounded silence of those that had bet against her was amusing to Harry. The girl stood from her chair calmly and slid a navy blue jacket on, covering the plain black shirt she was wearing. She collected the money offered and walked out. Harry had the strong urge to follow her but realized that he had to be getting back to the Dursley's.
With sickening feeling Harry realized that he had took his eyes off of them. Frantically he looked around, nearly giving himself whiplash. His aunt was nowhere to be found and neither was the beach ball form of his uncle. He stood stiff where he was filled with dread.
He had been abandoned.
0o0o0o0o0o
He didn't know how long he'd been walking. It seems like forever. Being lost in a foreign country was something no eight year old would ever expect but Harry felt he should've known better. He knew the Dursley's didn't care for him but leaving him like this was a new kind of low.
After attempting to ask a random citizen where the nearest police station was (and failing) Harry gave up. He would resign himself to wandering around aimlessly. Just where were the American tourists anyway? It was like they all had disappeared.
Actually, Harry blinked, "Where is everyone? Anyone?" he asked aloud.
True to his belated observation, there was no one roaming the streets. Harry couldn't even hear distant sounds, it was all silent. A cold feeling crept up the boy's spine and his emerald green eyes showed extreme worry. He had a bad feeling about this.
The nondescript street was barren and broken down. Old houses and buildings lined the sides and if Harry wasn't mistaken, there was some blood littering the broken windows. What sounded like a can being kicked startled Harry and he whipped around to face the direction. Not wanting to be the dumb character in the horror movies that always gets yelled at, Harry made to run in the opposite direction.
Before the boy could move two steps forward a large shadow fell over him. Harry became paralyzed with fear and suddenly understood why horror movie victims stayed still. It was a large and hulking figure, complete with numerous poison purple eyes and many tentacles. The monster had no definite shape, it merely looked like a large… blob of some sorts. Slime and goop dripped off its body and it opened its hidden mouth to reveal dozens of sharp teeth as it loomed over Harry.
Finally having some sense kicked into him Harry released a strangled scream and tears sprung to his eyes. With clouded vision the boy spun around once again and prepared to run. It was a failed attempt however when a strong tentacle wrapped around his waist and ankle to drag him back.
"No, no, no! Let me go! Please let me go!" Harry screamed hysterically. It all had happened so fast and within moments he was dangling in the air and then he was thrown. Skidding across the rocky street earned him more than enough scrapes and bruises and he was sure a bone or four had broken. In the midst of his air adventure Harry's glasses had flown off and his already bad vision clouded with more tears and pain.
With extreme difficulty he lifted his head a fraction and found that he couldn't even scream because he was in so much pain. His vision faded in and out and he wished that he would just pass out to keep from seeing all of the blood surrounding him.
The dangerous monster could only move but so fast but Harry saw that it was inching closer to him again. Mouth open and teeth gleaming, it raised a tentacle to strike at him for the final time.
'So this is how I die? Not by a beating from Vernon or Dudley or poisoned by Petunia, but some creature that I don't even know exists? Am I really so unloved? I don't want to die…'
Harry closed his eyes, preparing to breathe for the last time. He tensed as he felt the wind fly by the tentacle…
The air seemed to have stilled and Harry found himself wondering why he wasn't dead yet. Cautiously cracking his eyes open a sliver, he was faced with a back. But not just any back, he realized that this back was somewhat familiar. Wavy dark hair tumbled gracefully down navy blue clad shoulders and tied off into two low ponytails by big red circle holders. The jacket stopped at the waist of the person and showed the somewhat long legs clad in black jeans and blue high top trainers. The girl tilted her head to the side and revealed wide, almond shaped hazel eyes and an easy-going smile.
"Hey, kid," she said reassuringly. "It's gonna be alright."
Harry couldn't even nod. He merely stared blankly at her and he guess something showed because her gaze became more worried and concerned. The monster pushed her back some and she turned her focus back to it, gaining a steely look of determination in her eyes.
She huffed in irritation, "You waltz around like you own the damned place and I don't like that. Then you go and hurt an innocent child. I value few things above all else, but one of those few things is that children are to be protected and cherished! 立ち去る!¹ And do not return!"
Harry watched it all through barely open eyes. The girl glowed a dim white and murmured under her breath, "Release, 秋雨². Unleash the depths of Hell and devour!"
A dark mass covered her right arm and slowly a katana formed. With quick movements, the monster was sliced in half and dissipated into black particles. The particles scattered and slowly vanished to nothingness. Harry relaxed, seeing that the immediate danger was gone. His vision faded more drastically and he went limp.
The girl banished her sword and quickly picked Harry up, carefully cradling him in her arms. Harry's head lolled back and he murmured incoherently. The last thing he saw was her radiant smile.
0o0o0o0o0o
.
.
And so the first chapter is done! For those of you that follow my other stories, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates. I don't feel motivated enough, especially when no one reviews. Anyway, this is the result of me watching Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East and becoming mildly obsessed with Shino Inuzuka. He's just so adorable!
But please enjoy this story and remember to review! I need reviews and not getting them makes me think that I'm doing something wrong. My story, Little Dove, has been taken down because I felt that I could've done so much better with the premise.
A.P is outty!
Ciaossu~