This story's so gonna rule. I can feel it. Just so you know, the prologue is confusing. If you aren't sure what's going on by the end of it and you're questioning who all the people are…well then I've done my job well. I'll be interested to see who can figure out what and how quickly, but mostly I'm excited for how cool this story's gonna be. Well, don't take my word for it. Just read on…
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Gossamer Dreams
Prologue
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"Hold your head up, dear." A plump middle-aged woman with her hair pulled back tightly in a severe bun patted the hand of the very pregnant woman sitting beside her in the public carriage that traveled as far as the border that Fukumaden shared with it's long-time enemy, Seiiki. Of course, Kaede had no way of affording passage back to her motherland, and even if she did, she doubted that she could make it past the rigorous inspections there. She was only continuing on until the capital, Yuurei, where she had lived for the past twenty years in relative peace and quiet despite her origins. "We'll be stopping soon enough and then you can have a bite to eat. Until then, try to keep your spirits up."
"She's rather badly off, isn't she?" the only other person in the carriage spoke up. He was a grubby young man carrying a large bundle of dirty clothes in his arms as though it was all he owned in the entire world. Kaede hated traveling by coach, but there had been no way around it. She could no more afford private transport than she could refuse the summons of an old friend in need, dragging her from her home to the Fukumadenian countryside. She had helped Hanami to disappear from the view of the authorities over ten years ago, and the girl was not to be ignored or forgotten. She couldn't possibly refuse to help when Hanami fell ill, much to the terror of her doting husband. He was a simple man who likely had no idea what Hanami really was, and she had already borne him a son whom he valued almost as much as her, if not more. Hanami had always been a small woman, slight and poorly built for the strain of pregnancy, and it seemed that her current state was altogether too taxing for the young girl who had reached the age of twenty only last spring. Kaede had meant to visit soon anyway, if only to confirm what Hanami had told her regarding her son. He bore no signs of being Gifted, but as far as Kaede was concerned, that was for the best. Her kind simply was not allowed to live happily in Fukumaden. That was why she had dedicated herself to helping those who, like her, found themselves trapped in the country with no hope of escaping unscathed. "Any idea what's wrong with her?"
"For one, this coach is miserably hot and suffocating as the city night outside." Kaede told the man primly. "She's not a happy looking child, that's for sure. Where were you heading, dear?"
"Seiiki." The woman spoke up for the first time since she'd asked leave to sit next to Kaede when she entered the coach that morning, her face red and tear-streaked.
"Got family there?" the man asked, his provincial accent carrying a conversational tone. Kaede was glad he'd spoken, for the name of her old home struck the older woman momentarily speechless. "I got a cousin as lives there, to tell the truth. Not one of them of course, just a normal kinda guy. A farmer."
"Is that so?" Kaede asked, trying to keep the cold anger out of her voice. It was ridiculous how even now, the war between Youkai and Gifted pitted even the uneducated peasants of Fukumaden against her kind. Not that they would be able to recognize the Gift, anyway. Very few outside of the ruling classes knew that there were certain signs, which made the Gifted easily spotted by those looking for them. If she hadn't learned early how to hide those signs, she might have long since died in the dungeons of the deepest prison in Yuurei. Returning her attentions to the ashen-faced woman beside her, Kaede's voice filled with warmth and sympathy. "If you are bound for the Seiikian border, then you have a long journey ahead of you yet."
"I know." She answered, uncommon determination and dignity in her tone that sounded somehow regal to the older woman's ears, and when she looked up, Kaede nearly yelped in surprise. Her eyes…
"My child, soon enough we shall reach Yuurei, and that is where I myself am bound. I live there, you see, and you are more than welcome to share lodging with me for the night if you have need." Kaede lowered her voice so that perhaps the dirty man across from them wouldn't invite himself along as well. She had no time for thoughtless vagabonds.
"You…needn't worry." The woman offered Kaede a strained grin. "It's this air…so thick. I'll be fine."
"I insist that you stay for the evening. I would enjoy the company of another woman, and besides that, your face reminds me of home." Kaede hoped the woman would catch her hint, and indeed she did. She made a strangled noise before covering up with a forced cough and then smiling warmly at the older woman.
"Perhaps we shall speak of your childhood?" she was staring hard at Kaede's gray eyes, obviously wondering how much the old woman could possibly know; if she was sympathetic or just hoping for a quick reward turning in a Gifted to the authorities.
"It's been many years since I've spoken freely of such things." That answered the other woman's questions, and she sighed before leaning back and closing her eyes wearily.
"What is your name, old woman?" she asked after a long pause.
"Kaede." The older woman hoped that she would not refuse her offer after all.
"You may call me Mikomi." The pregnant woman told her, rolling her head to the side and looking out the window. "I shall accept your kind offer, Kaede. Many thanks to you."
"I also could do with lodgings." The dirty man spoke up. "My son's near starved as me, and we been traveling a long ways. Name's Keisotsu." Kaede raised a graying eyebrow in surprise. So that was what he was holding in that bundle of clothing.
"I could never turn away a child in need." Kaede admitted, feeling rather foolish as she leaned forward slightly. Sure enough, just under a filthy fold of cloth she spotted a shock of black hair that must be the poor thing's head. "We shall all of us have a dinner together."
"That sounds fine." Mikomi looked a bit worried, and it was no wonder. Kaede would have never allowed a man like Keisotsu into her home but for her pity for his child. "I didn't realize there was a baby under all that cloth." She told the man speculatively, obviously trying to catch a glimpse just as Kaede had.
"Barely a baby, I'd say. Most of seven years old now, my kid." The man peeled back a bit of the cloth so they could see the puny child's dirty, hunger-pinched face. Kaede had no doubt the child was starving to death from the way he looked. "He's sleeping now. I like to keep him all bundled when we're moving about or he can be louder than a banshee." Keisotsu laughed as though this was a hilarious comparison. "His mother had no trouble shutting him up, but I never got the hang of it."
"Where is his mother now?" Mikomi asked politely as the carriage drew to a stop. Kaede saw people leaving the coach ahead of them laden with personal belongings, and she began gathering her own meager possessions.
"Dead seven months now." Keisotsu told them, hefting the child up in his arms. "Was the winter what finished her off, poor sweet woman."
"That's horrible, I'm sorry." Mikomi apologized as Kaede helped the young woman gather her own belongings. Neither woman seemed very surprised when Keisotsu left the carriage and stood waiting for them without offering any assistance himself.
"She must have been an amazing woman." Kaede offered snidely as all three of them began the short walk to her small home.
"My wife?" the man seemed unsure at first, but at Kaede's slight nod he agreed enthusiastically, unaware that the comment had been meant merely as jest. "Oh, sure enough! Never much for hard labor, but she was smart as a whip and made the best potato casserole you ever tasted!"
"A shame she's gone." Kaede stopped as they reached her little hovel. "I always thought nothing complimented a sharp wit as well as a masterful potato casserole." Kaede finally dug her key out of the deep pockets of her skirts, letting her guests in. "I apologize for the disorder. I wasn't expecting guests. Go ahead and set your things down. I'll get a fire started…" Kaede set her own bags down before quickly lighting a few candles and hunching over to set up a fire.
"It's very cozy, isn't it?" Mikomi spoke after a bit, still standing even though she was clearly exhausted. Keisotsu had helped himself to a chair, and his bundled child had been carelessly discarded on the floor at his feet. Kaede sometimes wondered how nature justified allowing such people to be responsible for the lives of innocent children, but decided there was little she could do to help the boy.
"Cozy's a very nice way to say it's too small." She turned to the pregnant woman. "Please, sit down dear. I'll make soup if you aren't opposed. Perhaps some nice biscuits as well…"
"That would be lovely, thank you very much." Mikomi spotted the boy on the floor, who finally seemed to be stirring from his prolonged nap. She sat down, watching the bundle expectantly, but after some time the stirring ceased and it seemed that while the boy was in fact alive, he was not about to wake up. "Does he always sleep so much?"
"Aw, yeah. He likes sleeping cause then he forgets to be hungry." Keisotsu chuckled at this. "Growing boys, ya know? And also, that's his mother's old dressing gown he's all wrapped in. Keeps him happy."
"Poor baby," Mikomi leaned over with some effort, reaching into the filthy bundle to stroke the boy's head. Keisotsu watched silently as the contact actually caused the boy to stir, climbing up into the pregnant woman's chair and nuzzling up to her before falling asleep again. "What a darling he is."
"You seem more than ready to be a mother." Kaede spoke as she mixed the biscuit dough while her soup simmered over the fire.
"I love children." She answered readily, still stroking the boy's unwashed hair. "Not like adults. They don't pass judgment without good cause. Their world is too pure for politics and prejudices." Kaede darted a glance at Mikomi and saw that the woman's eyes were shining with unshed tears. Bustling over to Keisotsu, she dug a few coins out of her pockets.
"Keisotsu, why don't you go down the street and see if you can get some milk for your boy. And cheese, if they've got a bit." Kaede nearly pushed the man out the door before returning to Mikomi's side.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't get so worked up, and yet…" Mikomi shook her head mournfully, still cuddling the little boy beside her. "Are you one too?"
"Yes." Kaede returned to making her biscuits. "I found a way to hide the eyes, you see. An herbal infusion, but if you haven't any skill spiritually, it won't work. They look grey, don't they?" Kaede looked up, widening her eyes for Mikomi to see.
"Very clever." Mikomi admired. "And with that, do you think I could cross the border?"
"Do you have a Mark?" Kaede asked. "Mine is horrible, you see." She hitched up her skirts to display a large maroon blotch on her calf. "Impossible to hide from border officials, so I've no hope of returning any time soon."
"Mine is lucky." Mikomi pulled her gleaming black hair out of its haphazard knot, mussing it slightly before pointing to a certain spot on her scalp. Kaede moved closer and saw the patch of maroon skin, nearly impossible to make out under the mass of dark strands.
"That is lucky." Kaede agreed. "Though even luckier are the two I've met who were born without one. Not every Gifted has even half a chance getting back into Seiiki, but if you can hold onto your strength and take the herbs, I believe your child will be born there."
"I had worried." Mikomi admitted. "It will be a close thing, don't you think?"
"Most Gifted would decide to leave Fukumaden before getting to that point." Kaede agreed. "How long since you've seen home?"
"Four months." Mikomi answered. "I crossed with Musouka, the baby's father, so no questions were asked. When he proposed to me, we never expected that no one in Seiiki would marry us. Then I became pregnant, and he suggested we try here, but it was a touchy thing. He left me at his family's country estate and took his coach to Yuurei to appeal to his family there. They knew that he was to be wed, but not the details of the match…and when his coach was attacked on the road to the city…"
"He was killed?" Kaede gasped. "And now you plan to leave Fukumaden? Without an escort…he was Youkai, wasn't he?"
"Yes, Musouka ka'Neko." Mikomi darted a sidelong glance at the older woman to see how she viewed such a union. "No one would agree to marry a ka'Neko to a member of the sei'Junjou. Our names alone made our blood ties utterly obvious, and then if that wasn't clear enough…with my eyes and his ears…everyone with any knowledge of Youkai and Gifted refused to have anything to do with us."
"What if your child has Youkai signs?" Kaede asked.
"I suppose…I could bring it back here to live with Musouka's family. He wrote to tell them I was expecting, but he wanted to meet with them in person to tell the rest." Mikomi sighed sadly, obviously not excited at the idea of giving up her child. "If only…it didn't really matter to us what people said. I didn't need to marry him officially; just knowing that he loved me was enough. And yet…it seemed to us that we were breaking down barriers, fighting prejudice…we were so idealistic. If it hadn't been that way, he'd still be here." And with that, tears started flowing down Mikomi's face. Though she sniffled a few times, she was a rather quiet crier, and the boy nestled against her was not in the least bit disturbed. Mikomi continued to pet him as lovingly as though he were her own son.
"There are theories that the child of a Youkai and a Gifted is born completely without traits of either, a normal human." Kaede watched the biscuits baking over her fire while stirring the soup carefully.
"I guess I'll learn the answer soon enough, won't I?" Mikomi was fully distracted as the boy in her lap began fussing, likely reminded of his incessant hunger by the rich smell of broth filling the tiny home.
"Is he hungry?" Kaede stood up, wringing her hands at the increasingly vociferous squalling of the boy, his mouth open wide and his eyes clamped shut. She looked around, finding a stale end of bread, which she quickly soaked in the bubbling soup. She blew on it, hoping it wouldn't burn the child's mouth, before handing it to a grateful looking Mikomi. "Have him suck on that until his father returns with the milk and cheese."
"Look at him," Mikomi sighed as the boy accepted her offering eagerly, trying to cram the entire piece of bread down his throat. "He's utterly malnourished."
"Dead mother, and a father like that…who can be surprised?" Kaede sighed wearily. "I always want to take the poor children home with me. Perhaps it's only because I never had any of my own."
"You're a good woman, Kaede." Mikomi smiled up at the woman, glad to see her charge was finally getting fed. "You protect the Gifted, live peacefully in a Youkai country, feed the hungry. And how do you make a living for yourself?"
"As a simple herbalist." Kaede answered, pulling the biscuits from the fire and emptying the tray into her large wooden bowl to cool them. "It's a rare occupation here. It seems that about fifty years ago, Youkai still feared Gifted spies enough that they had anyone practicing the art executed. Attitudes changed when rich Youkai children began falling ill with no hope of treatment from any surviving healer who wanted to live. However, a fear still exists, and it isn't a highly desirable position. Of course, it pays well since there are so few. That's how I can afford my own home, small though it might be. I don't need anything more, and there's space in the back for me to grow my herbs as well as a few vegetables for my own meals. A cherry tree as well, though I'm afraid you just missed the fruits."
"Would it be too intrusive if I asked where you went?" Mikomi asked, turning to address the older woman while rocking the bread-sucking boy in her arms.
"To visit a friend." Kaede replied easily, setting about pulling down her entire collection of four mismatched bowls and spoons. "A girl named Hanami. I hid her years ago, when she was only a child."
"How many Gifted have you helped?" Mikomi wanted to know.
"Quite a few, I suppose." Kaede considered as she set down her set of carved wooden cups, an old gift from a man whose leg she had healed six years ago. "I don't count most as helping, really. Advising, like with you, I've done a lot. And then there are a few who are managing just fine, but like the chance to talk to someone who can understand about life away from home. There are a number that I had to train so they could use the eye-color herbs effectively. Many needing money, food, shelter, maybe some help finding a place to hide if they couldn't be smuggled back to Seiiki. You wouldn't believe the number of Gifted in Fukumaden, and thanks to our willingness to help each other, relatively few end up being caught."
"Could I ask…do you know what happens to the Gifted who are caught? Are they killed?" Mikomi wanted to know.
"Hard to say. Once, I helped a girl who was only seventeen and claimed that she'd been serving the past three years in the royal palace before she managed to escape. She wouldn't explain more. I think they made her a maid of some sort. She was born into a high family in the Seiiki aristocracy originally, so it was probably very shameful for her, serving Youkai as though there wasn't a drop of the Gift in her soul. Of course, she was completely untrained as so many young ones are these days, and she couldn't have used her abilities to escape. She never said how she got away, but she was very pretty, and I wouldn't be surprised if that alone won her freedom. Men have an unfortunate habit of assuming that if a woman has a pretty face, she doesn't have a deceptive bone in her body. Oftentimes it leads to their downfall, and they go down with a smile on their face, never knowing that the woman they still trust so blindly is the one leading them to their end."
"I always heard they killed all the Gifted they caught." Mikomi shrugged before noticing the boy had finished his crust and turning her attention to keeping him happy until his father returned with the rest of their dinner. "Where is Keisotsu, I wonder?"
"Should we start without him?" Kaede began ladling soup into three of the four bowls, setting two bowls on an empty crate serving as a makeshift table next to Mikomi's chair so that she didn't have to get up. "There you are." Kaede smiled at the little boy, but he was blushing and refused to meet her gaze. "Doesn't seem very outgoing now that he's got food, does he?"
"Adorable, though." Mikomi shifted to help the boy with his soup and Kaede handed out biscuits before sitting down with her own dinner. More than any other part of the home she so distantly remembered, Kaede missed sharing dinners with her family, and for once she felt almost natural, even though she was in a land that would likely never accept her for a mere circumstance of birth.
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"Gods save me!" Mikomi's scream rent the thick air of Kaede's candlelit home. The young woman was on the floor with bundles of cloth and endless herbs being applied by a panicking Kaede who was swiftly learning that Mikomi was in serious trouble.
"You need to breathe Mikomi!" Kaede, normally calm and reassuring when helping others, was reacting to the built up worries of the day in addition to her stress over Hanami's difficult pregnancy. She had taken in another Gifted who happened to be painfully pregnant with the child of a Youkai. Then there was the matter of Keisotsu, who still had not returned for his son or for his dinner. Kaede had been up late, worrying that the man had abandoned the child for her and Mikomi to care for when Mikomi had called out in her sleep, the first hint of a very difficult bout of labor.
Three hours later, the woman was bleeding and screaming horrendously, and the fact that the little boy had woken up and was now crying hysterically as Kaede futilely attempted to calm him down, staunch the blood flow, and successfully deliver the child was not helping matters any. For some reason the baby, no matter how it was manipulated and turned refused to drop properly, and it seemed as though the baby would never make it through the fatally narrow hips of it's mother.
"I'm going to turn the baby." Kaede was exhausted, but she was sure that Mikomi must feel much worse than her at the moment, so she attempted to continue as though she hadn't already reached a point of despair as far as the delivery was concerned. She had to keep trying for Mikomi's sake, and for the sake of the child that would die if it could not clear the birth canal sometime soon. If Kaede could help it, all of this would end soon enough, with a happy, healthy baby and a new mother who was exhausted, but essentially healthy as well. And yet, Mikomi's screams were fading into whimpers of pain, and just as Kaede's hope was fading as well, she felt the baby miraculously do what she had been wanting it to, dropping through the barrier that had held it and crowning. Mikomi was hardly fit to put out any sort of effort anymore, but Kaede was able to pull the baby out herself now that the head was out. The little girl cried out, and Kaede didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until she cried out in relief, swiftly bundling the baby up as Mikomi cried out again. At first Kaede thought she was senseless with the stress of the delivery, still trying to push the baby that had already been born, but upon closer inspection she noticed something was still obstructing the birth canal.
"Another?" her eyes went wide as Mikomi let out a last shuddering shadow of a scream before passing out completely. Kaede had no time to rouse the woman as she maneuvered and twisted until the second little girl obeyed her skilled coaxing and met the world with a cry much louder and stronger than her sister's had been. Of course, the first baby seemed quite all right now, a healthy pink glow to her hastily cleaned skin as she bawled on next to her quickly bundled twin. Kaede then turned to the ailing mother, but it seemed that even though the children had survived the ordeal, it had been the last of poor Mikomi's miseries. Now Kaede found herself alone with a dead woman, two screaming baby girls and one child who was staring at her and Mikomi in terrified fascination.
"Komi?" his eyes were wide as he made the inquiry, stepping closer and wiping his dirty, tear-streaked face. Kaede was about to bury her face in her hands when she did a double take, pulling the little boy closer to verify what she'd thought perhaps was a trick of the light. Purple eyes.
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The End (Of the Prologue, That is)