Demon of Memory
Demon of Memory
"Kid, why don't you just leave me alone for once? You know who I am, don't you…" "Yeah, I know who you are, and I don't care! You saved me and I still haven't paid you back yet, and I'm not going to leave you alone till I do." "…Fine. Do what you want, but I won't be the one responsible for whatever happens to you…." "You don't have to worry about me; I can take care of myself!" "Yes…that's why I had to save you from simply falling off a cliff, and I'm starting to wish I hadn't." "Hey! Don't say that, that's mean you know." "Well if you still intend to follow me around you might as well get used to it"
You look away and continue walking on without saying a word. Just why the hell was this little kid following you around all of a sudden? He clamed to know who you are, but still insisted on following you anyway. He must know the kind of punishment he will receive from the village later for being near you, not to mention what his parents will say for being away from home for so long. This kid is either stupid, or just has a death wish.
"Um by the way…Miss Ayaka, where exactly are we going?" "For one, you are not to call me Miss, and second, I'm going in search of something." "Oh, really?! What is it? Do you know what it looks like? I can help you find what ever it is you're looking for!" "No, you can't…no one can; it's something I must find on my own." "…Ayaka?"
You swiftly turn to face the boy. "I've changed my mind; it's about time you headed home. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you by now." At these words the young boy just turns his head toward the ground and wears a sad, sorry expression on his face. It looks as though he was going to cry. "They're not; they died a long time ago." You look away with a slightly pained look on your face. "I'm sorry." "It's ok. I mean, I miss them a lot, but at least I don't have to worry about getting in trouble all the time. Plus I can do whatever I want, so it's not all bad." You turn to face him, and see that he is clearly trying to fake a smile. You wonder to yourself how many times a day he must be lying to himself about losing his parents.
"Regardless, you do know the village rule about any kind of interaction with me don't you? I'm sure the village elder won't be too happy with you. So for the last time, go home, and stop bothering me, before you get hurt." "Oh, I don't care about that. The elder is just an old fart that doesn't know anything anyway. Besides I already told you that I can take care of myself, and I'm gonna follow you till I can pay you back. Why do you keep trying to get rid of me anyway?" "Because, you annoy me." "Ggrr. You know, you should be a little nicer to people! That's probably why all the adults tell us to stay away from you, you know!" "It would be wise of you heed their advise and do as your told."
You continue to walk on, trying to ignore him. Perhaps if you did he would get bored and leave. You keep it up until nightfall. You find a nice place to camp for the night and decide to stop there. As soon as you look back, there he is right behind you, ready to set up camp for the night. "Go down to the river and catch three fish. I'll take care of the fire and tent tonight." You look up at him just in time to see him get the largest grin he can fit on his face before running as fast as he can down to the river. "Hmm, I'm surprised he followed me for so long. Sure is a strange little kid." You go back to what you were doing, and try not to think about it. Finally you finish setting up camp and starting the fire, but the kid still hasn't come back yet. You decide to check on him.
When you get to the river, you find him soaking wet, still trying to catch a fish with his bare hands. "All you're going to catch by doing that is a cold." You walk into the river with him, your knife at the ready. "But, at lest you're persistent. Now watch, this is what you need to do…" you stand there for a few minutes, watching the fish carefully, then suddenly throw your knife into the river. The boy just stands there with a confused look on his face. You reach down and pick up your knife, and smile at the sight of a fish on the end if it. You hand the kid your knife. "Now try it like that. Just watch them and wait for a good-sized fish. Then at just the right moment, nail him." He stands there for a minute, then clumsily throws the knife. When he picks it back up, there's no fish on it. You chuckle to yourself and walk over to him. "I didn't expect you to get it on your first try; it took me awhile to get it." You take the knife back from him. "Now, why don't you go back and warm yourself up, before you get sick. I'll take care of the fish." He nodes and heads back.
When you get back with the fish, you find the kid, in his sad and sorry state, asleep next to the fire. You decide not to bother him and cook the fish. When the fish are done, you wake him up, and hand him his share. You sit down on the other side of the fire, and watch in amusement as he devours his fish. What is up with this kid? Just what is his story? The only thing you know about his is that his parents died and he lives in the village. Hell. You don't even know his name, but here he is, eating dinner with you and insisting that you let him travel with you. You sit there silently for a minute, thinking things over. "…..Ok kid," he looks up at you at the sound of his apparently new nickname. "I'll let you come with me." As soon as he hears that he looks as happy as can be. "But….I need you to tell me who you are." He suddenly gets a worried look on his face. "Wha-what….do you mean….who I am?" "I mean, tell me about what happened to your parents. How you ended up in the village, just tell me about yourself. Let's face it kid, I don't even know your name…." He sits there with a scared look on his face. "Um, well….there's really not much to tell. I mean," "Just tell me anyway." "….Ok." he takes a deep breath, ready to tell his tale.
"When I was 7, still just a little kid, my parents and I lived up in the far north. It would snow there a lot, and when it did….we would always play together for hours. We would make angels in the snow, and throw snowballs at each other. When it got late, or too cold, we would go in and snuggle together by the fire with hot tea, telling stories and laughing. Sometimes we would stay up all night like that……" There was a faint smile on his face at the thought of his parents. He looks like he might cry again, so you tell him to go on so he won't break down right there. "One day, this strange man in black came. He asked my parents if they would let me help him with an errand he needed to run. He said he was traveling and didn't know his way around the village, and would pay me for the trouble. But when I got back…the stranger was gone and my parents where lying dead in the snow…" He can't hold it in anymore. He starts to cry into his knees, and tries to cover his face at the same time. But considering how many times he has to bring his head up to try and catch air between sobs, it's not working very well.
You look away, knowing he doesn't want you to see him in this state, but then you hear his raspy voice, it's barely audible. "I'll ne-never forget his f-face though….. He had l-long black hair, and he had a jagged scar all do-down his face, and his hand looked like it once badly burned. T-that was when I promised myself, and my parents, that I would train hard and when I was ready, I'd find him…." You look up at him to find an angry and determined face. "and kill him… After that I left the village and went traveling, but I didn't pack enough food and I ran out after about three weeks, I was really hungry. That was when the village elder found me and brought me to his village. I stayed there the whole time, but when they told us about you," He looks up at you now with a dry face and a fierce fire in his eyes for some odd reason. "I decided I needed to train harder than ever and find you. I thought if I stuck with you, then I'd have a better chance of finding the guy that killed mom and dad."
You stand and turn away. "Hmm, well I'll say one thing kid, I admire your determination." "My names Takanashi Nowa, not kid!" You turn swiftly on him to see him standing as well, and looking like he is ready to hit something. You guess it's because his past emotions are catching up with him. "Besides, I'm already 12 years old, so I'm not a kid anymore, got it?!" You let out a small laugh, "Ok, Takanashi it is. But until you're sixteen, my age, you're still a kid." "By the way Ayaka, I just told you about me…but what about you? I know that all the adults kept saying something about you being some kind of danger to the village or something, and that you don't have a place to belong… What did they mean?"
You turn away again and stare blankly into the distance, not knowing what to say. It's true that you don't have a place to belong, but why does everyone say you were so dangerous? You had never tried to do anything to harm an innocent person before…or had you? You find it aggravating how everyone else knows so much about you, when you don't know a single thing yourself. Why? Why can't you remember anything! It seems like everywhere you go, people run and hide, or avoids you like you're no better than some stray demon. People huddle together and say such things as 'it's her' and 'has she no shame' or perhaps the worst, 'careful, lest she kills use all, the good for nothing monster!' But this kid… You turn to look at him. He doesn't seem to fear you. He doesn't run and hide; he doesn't persecute you for anything…why? You can't make sense of anything, but don't want to fight it…
"There's nothing for me to tell. The village told you everything you need to know about me." "But," You look up at the sky to see it full of stars. "It's late. There's a blanket for you in the tent. Go to bed, we're getting an early start tomorrow." "Come on Ayaka, I had to tell you about my past, it's only fair that," "I told you to get to bed. If you're expecting to come with me, you need to have better training than what you were doing before, especially if want to find the man that killed you mother and father…" "…Ok. Good night Ayaka." "Goodnight."