They say elephants never forget. As I lay in a growing pool of my own blood
here, forgotten in lieu of this battle, I know that I have not forgotten,
and there would be much to remember for the story of my life. I miss you,
Kaos, and I miss being a kitten. Anything to try to change the way in which
I die, or at least the connections with those I will leave behind.
I remember being a kitten, playing with my brother in the hills while our
mother looked on. I remember a poacher shot my mother, while she was
hunting for us, how she made it back, but not beyond that. I remember the
cold, hungry nights my brother and I suffered before Kaos's daughter found
us and took us in.
She was about 10 at the time, so interested in animals because the other children didn't interest her. I felt her coming, through the underbrush, her aura pulsing along the ground. And she never had that human stench. My brother and I were well under weight, too tired to go on for the day and would probably have died or been eaten by the next morning had she not come for us. She picked us up and placed us in a cloth bag, as gingerly as she could, and placed the bag on her shoulders, carrying us back to the village. It seemed like a very long walk for her from where we were found until she finally stopped. I was very greatful that she didn't run the entire way as I'm sure my brother and I would have been juggled around painfully. I felt her remove the bag and set it down, then helped my brother and I out of the bag so we could place feet on firm ground again. The girl ran away toward a large stone covering and a figure standing beneath it, embracing the figure as they met. I could hear her voice faintly from where I sat, dazed. My brother only laid down, not paying attention to anything. I'm not sure why, but he was far worse off than I was at this point and I doubted that he would make it.
"Papa, I found two little ones who needed my help today. Will you come look?"
"I'll be right there, Makoto." The man's voice echoed in my ears and nearly in my head. I thought to my brother, did you hear that? He was confused, telling me he didn't understand human speech, wondering how I understood it. I was thinking about that very thing as Makoto approached us with a large bowl of water and the leg of a deer.
"I hope you two aren't too young to eat meat." She set the bowl between my brother and I and I watched as the water sloshed around. She removed a knife from the knapsack on her chest and placed a gash in the leg, clear down the leg and to the bone, then placed it on the ground before me while kneeling. I started to eat from one side, but my brother lay still, breathing lightly. I looked up from the leg at Makoto and a look of worry passed over her face. She scooted over to my brother and placed a hand on his side. I could feel her aura warm and swell and in a few moments my brother's breathing returned to normal. Makoto noticed and smiled, and the warmth subsided and her aura returned to its normal size. Suddenly, my brother rose and snapped at her, nipping at her hand and drawing blood. She drew back, quickly moving to her feet and taking a few slow steps back, then stopped and took her injured hand in the other. Her mouth was open, her face distraught and she whispered, "Why?" I rose and walked to her side, sat next to her and glared at my brother as Makoto's father's strides closed the distance between he and we.
"Makoto." Simply saying her name made her turn around and hold out her hand to her father's waiting hands. His aura reached out and healed her hand, nearly without leaving a scar. They both kneeled next to me and inspected me, wondering why I responded the way I did, and why my brother responded the way he did. "You'd better go home to your mother before she worries."
"Mother always worries, papa." But she kneeled down next to me and petted me, asking me if I could run and if I'd go with her. I hoped I could, she seemed so lively and cared so much about me already that I wanted to be as nice to her as I could. The man, Kaos, stayed near my brother, silencing his snarls with the strong aura and tied a long piece of string around his neck, then led him in the direction Makoto and I ran.
We reached a humble but large home and a woman stood on the porch, her arms crossed on her stomach. "And what rescue mission were you on today, Makoto? You had chores to do and you left me here to take up your slack." She seemed harsh with her words, but her face was covered by a hearty smile. Makoto ran to the woman and hugged her, leaving me off the porch, sitting and watching her point at and speak about me. The woman looked at me, still smiling, then behind me, where Kaos must have been and her expression changed from that of happiness to that of a young girl in love. I looked behind me and saw the soft smile on Kaos's face as he looked at his wife. "Your daughter hurt herself again, didn't she?"
"Inusya, she is our daughter, mine for the mission she took on, yours for actually getting hurt after it was over." He continued to smile as he walked toward the woman, quickly tying my brother's string to a tree nearby and took Inusya in his arms, twirling her around. I thought it was very sweet that their love was not a façade, and Makoto stood, beaming at the both of them.
I always felt bad that my brother had to be tied up outside with only the porch as a shelter while I slept in Makoto's room, but every chance he gave me, I would tell him how wrong he was for biting the hand that would feed him. I felt quite at home with Kaos, Makoto and Inusya, and decided to respond to the name they gave me, Byakuen. I hear it means white blaze, and I wouldn't think much of it except they named my brother Kokuen-oh, meaning black blaze. I never noticed before, but he looked dingy, even when he was clean. Kaos, however, didn't name him for his color, rather the shadow he attempted to cast.
Soon, my new family spoke of moving, and I went to speak with my brother about it.
-They're leaving soon, you know.
-Yes, they're leaving, I'm sure we won't be going with them, brother. But I suppose that is for the best.
-I'm sure you're wrong, brother. They will take us with them.
-I'd rather die than follow them like a pet.
-That's why they call you Kokuen-oh, you're always trying to bring darkness to a good situation.
-I will never let them call me by that name.
-Mother once mentioned it, for you.
-Then I surely will not let humans call me what Mother would have called me.
-These people aren't normal humans, Kokuen-oh.
-And now you call me by that name. You're not human, and you're not Mother.
I must admit, I was a little hurt by both of those statements, not sure whether Kokuen-oh was insulting me and my new family, or me and Mother. -You watch, they care about us and we will go with them. Well.. Maybe not you.
With that, Kaosu and Makoto stepped outside, Makoto reaching down to pick me up and pet me.
"Soon, you won't be able to lift Byakuen, Makoto, so be careful." He paused, watching my brother sulk, sitting somewhat behind the tree to which he was tied. "You know, we cannot take Kokuen-oh with us."
-I knew it. I told you they were no good.
"But Byakuen?" Makoto looked hopefully toward Kaos.
He looked at me, my head turned toward the action and paws resting on Makoto's shoulder. "What do you think?" And he was actually asking me! I bumped Makoto's head with my nose as a sign of approval and Kaos chuckled. "He will come with us. And don't worry about Kokuen-oh, even though he bit you more than once, I will not wish him harm. We just are not the right family for him."
A little boy about Makoto's age came running up the path to our house from elsewhere in the village, panting. Makoto took notice and smiled at him, then turned to Kokuen-oh, still sulking behind his tree.
"Kokuen-oh, this is Suree." Suree looked foreign, his skin darker and his hair much thicker than Makoto's. He looked as if he were in a perpetual state of stand-off-ish-ness, and I knew he and my brother would get along well. "Suree will take good care of you." Makoto told my brother as she untied him from his tree. Kokuen-oh stalked over to the boy and looked like he would bite an ankle just for novelty's sake but stopped short. He breathed deeply at the boy's ankles and a smile came over his face like one I've never seen on him before.
-He smells like mother.
-Don't be silly.
-I don't care what you say, I like this guy.
I bid my brother farewell and wondered if I would see him again.
She was about 10 at the time, so interested in animals because the other children didn't interest her. I felt her coming, through the underbrush, her aura pulsing along the ground. And she never had that human stench. My brother and I were well under weight, too tired to go on for the day and would probably have died or been eaten by the next morning had she not come for us. She picked us up and placed us in a cloth bag, as gingerly as she could, and placed the bag on her shoulders, carrying us back to the village. It seemed like a very long walk for her from where we were found until she finally stopped. I was very greatful that she didn't run the entire way as I'm sure my brother and I would have been juggled around painfully. I felt her remove the bag and set it down, then helped my brother and I out of the bag so we could place feet on firm ground again. The girl ran away toward a large stone covering and a figure standing beneath it, embracing the figure as they met. I could hear her voice faintly from where I sat, dazed. My brother only laid down, not paying attention to anything. I'm not sure why, but he was far worse off than I was at this point and I doubted that he would make it.
"Papa, I found two little ones who needed my help today. Will you come look?"
"I'll be right there, Makoto." The man's voice echoed in my ears and nearly in my head. I thought to my brother, did you hear that? He was confused, telling me he didn't understand human speech, wondering how I understood it. I was thinking about that very thing as Makoto approached us with a large bowl of water and the leg of a deer.
"I hope you two aren't too young to eat meat." She set the bowl between my brother and I and I watched as the water sloshed around. She removed a knife from the knapsack on her chest and placed a gash in the leg, clear down the leg and to the bone, then placed it on the ground before me while kneeling. I started to eat from one side, but my brother lay still, breathing lightly. I looked up from the leg at Makoto and a look of worry passed over her face. She scooted over to my brother and placed a hand on his side. I could feel her aura warm and swell and in a few moments my brother's breathing returned to normal. Makoto noticed and smiled, and the warmth subsided and her aura returned to its normal size. Suddenly, my brother rose and snapped at her, nipping at her hand and drawing blood. She drew back, quickly moving to her feet and taking a few slow steps back, then stopped and took her injured hand in the other. Her mouth was open, her face distraught and she whispered, "Why?" I rose and walked to her side, sat next to her and glared at my brother as Makoto's father's strides closed the distance between he and we.
"Makoto." Simply saying her name made her turn around and hold out her hand to her father's waiting hands. His aura reached out and healed her hand, nearly without leaving a scar. They both kneeled next to me and inspected me, wondering why I responded the way I did, and why my brother responded the way he did. "You'd better go home to your mother before she worries."
"Mother always worries, papa." But she kneeled down next to me and petted me, asking me if I could run and if I'd go with her. I hoped I could, she seemed so lively and cared so much about me already that I wanted to be as nice to her as I could. The man, Kaos, stayed near my brother, silencing his snarls with the strong aura and tied a long piece of string around his neck, then led him in the direction Makoto and I ran.
We reached a humble but large home and a woman stood on the porch, her arms crossed on her stomach. "And what rescue mission were you on today, Makoto? You had chores to do and you left me here to take up your slack." She seemed harsh with her words, but her face was covered by a hearty smile. Makoto ran to the woman and hugged her, leaving me off the porch, sitting and watching her point at and speak about me. The woman looked at me, still smiling, then behind me, where Kaos must have been and her expression changed from that of happiness to that of a young girl in love. I looked behind me and saw the soft smile on Kaos's face as he looked at his wife. "Your daughter hurt herself again, didn't she?"
"Inusya, she is our daughter, mine for the mission she took on, yours for actually getting hurt after it was over." He continued to smile as he walked toward the woman, quickly tying my brother's string to a tree nearby and took Inusya in his arms, twirling her around. I thought it was very sweet that their love was not a façade, and Makoto stood, beaming at the both of them.
I always felt bad that my brother had to be tied up outside with only the porch as a shelter while I slept in Makoto's room, but every chance he gave me, I would tell him how wrong he was for biting the hand that would feed him. I felt quite at home with Kaos, Makoto and Inusya, and decided to respond to the name they gave me, Byakuen. I hear it means white blaze, and I wouldn't think much of it except they named my brother Kokuen-oh, meaning black blaze. I never noticed before, but he looked dingy, even when he was clean. Kaos, however, didn't name him for his color, rather the shadow he attempted to cast.
Soon, my new family spoke of moving, and I went to speak with my brother about it.
-They're leaving soon, you know.
-Yes, they're leaving, I'm sure we won't be going with them, brother. But I suppose that is for the best.
-I'm sure you're wrong, brother. They will take us with them.
-I'd rather die than follow them like a pet.
-That's why they call you Kokuen-oh, you're always trying to bring darkness to a good situation.
-I will never let them call me by that name.
-Mother once mentioned it, for you.
-Then I surely will not let humans call me what Mother would have called me.
-These people aren't normal humans, Kokuen-oh.
-And now you call me by that name. You're not human, and you're not Mother.
I must admit, I was a little hurt by both of those statements, not sure whether Kokuen-oh was insulting me and my new family, or me and Mother. -You watch, they care about us and we will go with them. Well.. Maybe not you.
With that, Kaosu and Makoto stepped outside, Makoto reaching down to pick me up and pet me.
"Soon, you won't be able to lift Byakuen, Makoto, so be careful." He paused, watching my brother sulk, sitting somewhat behind the tree to which he was tied. "You know, we cannot take Kokuen-oh with us."
-I knew it. I told you they were no good.
"But Byakuen?" Makoto looked hopefully toward Kaos.
He looked at me, my head turned toward the action and paws resting on Makoto's shoulder. "What do you think?" And he was actually asking me! I bumped Makoto's head with my nose as a sign of approval and Kaos chuckled. "He will come with us. And don't worry about Kokuen-oh, even though he bit you more than once, I will not wish him harm. We just are not the right family for him."
A little boy about Makoto's age came running up the path to our house from elsewhere in the village, panting. Makoto took notice and smiled at him, then turned to Kokuen-oh, still sulking behind his tree.
"Kokuen-oh, this is Suree." Suree looked foreign, his skin darker and his hair much thicker than Makoto's. He looked as if he were in a perpetual state of stand-off-ish-ness, and I knew he and my brother would get along well. "Suree will take good care of you." Makoto told my brother as she untied him from his tree. Kokuen-oh stalked over to the boy and looked like he would bite an ankle just for novelty's sake but stopped short. He breathed deeply at the boy's ankles and a smile came over his face like one I've never seen on him before.
-He smells like mother.
-Don't be silly.
-I don't care what you say, I like this guy.
I bid my brother farewell and wondered if I would see him again.