Hey there! Whether you came from my other fic, Alignment or if you're coming here completely new (in which case check out Alignment lol), welcome to Ephemeral! Because nothing lasts forever amirite. The chapters here are going to be generally short but staggered out. I've written 90% of this fic and when it's published corresponds to events in Alignment.
But this is perfectly fine to read as a standalone too! I actually rather like what I've written for this story, so regardless I would've published it either way. I love constructive criticism but try not to spoil Alignment in the review box here. I really appreciate it!
So please enjoy! Read and review!
She remembered warmth. Not the sort that caused her to curl into herself under a blanket in contentment but suffocating and she clawed at her throat with the need for anything else.
She also remembered a fist slamming into her jaw—then, she fell. But what after that? Her predeveloped mind scrambled for answers in the hope she'd distract herself from her inability to move without a Herculean effort.
She couldn't remember anything else. She was a person. Yes, a person. A woman? Yes, that felt right. Name? All that could come to mind was, 'What's in a name?' If she'd remembered the words to do so, she would've cursed.
Then, a high-pitched wail and the beeping of a monitor. Her chest tightened, and she mustered the strength to shake her body. Her baby—her baby was being taken again, she couldn't let them—
She forgot what she was thinking when she was blinded (and it only then occurred to her she'd been blind).
And when she took her first breath, she cried in relief, and all was forgotten.
Echiko. Her name. She thinks. That's the word they say most often, and she likes the way it rolls off their tongues.
But her only problem is she doesn't know who they are. Everything blurs and melts together, and her eyes often remained closed because the room is just too bright. If she could trust her hearing (which was horribly hypersensitive—she could hear a single cricket if given a chance), there are two of them and both women. At first, she doesn't find herself too bothered with the labels they give themselves. Eventually a single syllable found itself common when they spoke about themselves.
Kaa.
She finds it not too much of a bother to restrict herself to small, infantile movements. She accepts reincarnation easily, having been a vigorous believer in her previous life.
She thinks she was. She remembers in fragments; an image of a television, a car, a city. A few words here and there.
A scream or three.
Her real concern is if this form is a reward or curse? The question plagues her for some time, the sins of then weighing down her now.
Only her mothers' (and she had come to accept them as just that) smiles placate her, and she giggles for them. She will make amends through them, she thinks.
Her first few months pass by without incident. She is docile and sweet towards her parents, only crying if she is startled or she needs changing. Her Mama, (who she'd taken to calling in her head) is home the most often, and she grows familiar with her presence. Children are hypersensitive to their parents' location, she thinks as she braces herself for her Mum's boisterous entrance. She felt her walking through the door, the way she stops to kiss Mama tenderly before bounding up the stairs to her room.
And if she can't feel her, she smells her. She thinks her parents know of her sensitive nose and as a result different scents are gradually introduced to her.
"Where's Kaa's favourite pup?"
She somewhat understands, and gurgles a reply, reaching up and out of her crib. She relies on her instincts to respond to her Mum's hugs. Her touch is kind, but unfamiliar. She recognises the Japanese, however that does not help in her understanding whatsoever. Slowly, if she tries hard, she can decipher words here and there, respond to more than her name.
Food. Water. Sleep. Outside. Dog. Leaf.
Makes sense to learn the necessities, she thinks, but why is leaf so important?
Then she hears 'ninja.' At first, in a story, where she assumes the word will stay. But, her Mama and Mum use it again, and again in what is (to them) a normal conversation. Echiko (because she had long discarded her other name), begins to wonder if she is the child of drug users.
She discards the idea as preposterous, and simply labels her parents weird, returning to stacking alphabet blocks.
"Echiko-chan, let's go on a walk!"
Mama hefts her up from the crib, resting her on her hip. She is capable of crawling now, but needs to wait longer for her body to grow to withstand walking. Hazy memories of outside stay with her, but her spirit, no matter how old, couldn't fight against human biology.
So why could her Mama?
When she jumps from their apartment balcony, Echiko screams. When she lands on another roof, she could not even sob her shock was so great. Her Mama immediately turns back for home and holds her close, stroking her hair.
"It's alright, oh I'm so sorry Echiko-chan."
She doesn't need an innate understanding of the Japanese language to know what she's saying. From then on, her Mama takes a slower pace when she introduces her to this strange mode of transport until Echiko begrudgingly enjoys the thrill. Their excursions become more frequent and her Mama tries to show the village to her (and vice versa occasionally).
She stares up at a cliff face that truly lives up to its name. At its very left, an imposing head. Her Mama notices her confusion and titters, pointing up to the stony-faced man.
"That's our Hokage, Echiko-chan. He made our village, Konoha, and all the trees here!" A few approving nods from passers-by. "His name is Senju Hashirama."
Hokage. A new word she thinks as her parent whisks her away to the dango stand.
At least food is still good.
She tries to convince herself her Mama must be a gymnast and obviously that's why she can jump distances suicidal for the average human being.
Then her Mum walks across the ceiling to retrieve her wooden star from atop the fan and Echiko concludes light heartedly she is now a character in a fantasy RPG, and simply puts the matter to rest entirely. Wherever she is, she's meant to be.
She never knew how eerily close she was to the truth.