Prologue- Born From Death
A pale hand slowly inched through the air.
Just a little itsy bit closer.
Lips pursed in concentration, the small child watched as the doggy sat and stared. This is the closest she had ever managed to get to one of the pretty animals and she was determined to become bestest friends with it! She had watched as her mommy and daddy approached them with ease and talked to them. She swear she even saw one talk back one! So focused on the task at hand, the young girl didn't even notice the person approaching the clearing behind her house. She did however, notice the quick scream of fear that sounded.
The child let out a quick scream of her own. Her face twisted into a pout as the dog bolted. She turned around only to see one of the villagers standing at the edge of the tree line. The woman had the look of complete terror etched on her not so pretty face. Really, was that a mole or some dirt on her chin? The child thought. The woman started to back away as the child continued to stare with her unyielding gaze. Huh, she can run pretty fast for someone with that big of a butt. The child snorted to herself as she watched the retreating back of the woman.
"Suna-chan! Who was that?"
Setsuna turned her head to see her mother walking towards her from the back of the house. She frowned as she came closer and Setsuna gulped. Her mother's dark brown hair flew in the wind. So much unlike her own.
"Just some weird lady from the village Momma. The one with the weird mole."
The child watched as her mother froze and frowned. Stumbling as she walked towards her mother on short legs, Setsuna quickly reached her mother. Pulling on her apron, she gave her mother a confused look.
"Momma? I was just tryin' pet the doggy again. Then the lady screamed like a baby and ran off. Why'd she do that anyways?"
"She saw you?Trying to pet the doggy? Setsuna!" Her mother looked furious and Setsuna winced at the look. Seeing her child's fear, the mother calmed down and reached down to pick the girl up. " I've told you Suna-chan, they aren't dogs, they're wolves. And what have I always said about staying away from them?"
Setsuna had the decency to look sheepish. At the age of five, she was already learning to ignore what she didn't deem important. This had obviously been one of the times when she had not judged the subject correctly. Just like when she tried to grab one of the cookies from the oven. Her mother had scolded her and she had badly burnt her hand but mmmm, had those cookies been good. Now though, she was kinda craving one of those.
"Setsuna!"
Startled from her train of thought, she was quick to answer. "You said not to…but you and Daddy always talk to them! So I wanted to! 'Cause you and Daddy are the coolest!"
A small chuckle escaped her mother's lips before she turned around and uttered that her father was home. Wriggling out of her mother's grip, Setsuna set off at a sprint towards her home. Her mother followed, a grim expression settled on her face.
"Daddy!" The little girl squealed as her father spun her around the room. Pulling on her father's hair, a dark shade much like her mother's, to stop him the little girl giggled.
"And how was your day my darling?" Her father asked. Setsuna began giggling again as she began to reply.
"Sora, we need to talk." Setsuna glanced towards her mother as she was interrupted. She looked far to serious facing her father Sora. Setsuna's feet met the ground as her father set her down.
"What is it Koyuki?" Her father had also become quite serious in a few short seconds causing Setsuna to pout at the sudden change in attitude.
"Setsuna happened to try to make friends with one of the local 'doggies' in front of a villager." Gulping, said child blushed. Had what she done really been that bad? Turning to his child, Sora ushered her outside once again.
"Go play in the yard for a bit honey, me and your mom have to talk. Grownup stuff."
Frowning, Setsuna followed her father's directions. Or so they think, the child thought, a broad smile working its way onto her face. Creeping around the side of the house, Setsuna soon came across a large stack of wood logs. Daddy's gonna have to get some more soon. The pile was growing small, and that wouldn't be good for the upcoming snowstorm. Living so far north had its downsides. Shaking her head, Setsuna scaled the pile of wood and peeked through the small window above. Pressing her ear to the glass, Setsuna strained to hear the conversation.
"…to young! They don't understand…no harm!"
"…we aren't like that! They don't realize…we won't hurt them!"
"..think she's a demon!...already sticks out…" Setsuna frowned at that one before pulling a strand of her snow colored hair infront of her eyes. She liked her hair. Focusing on the strand, her golden eyes crossed. Blowing her hair out of her face, she tried to focus on the conversation again, only to find that it had already ended. Huffing, Setsuna watched in fascination as her breath condensed into fog.
"Rawr! I'm a dragon!" Laughing to herself at how awesome she was, Setsuna leaped off the stack of wood before dashing across the lawn, blowing air out of her mouth the entire way. Oh yah, she was totally the coolest kid ever!
"Suna-chan, sweetie? Come here real quick, we have to talk to you." Turning back to her house, Setsuna glanced longingly at the forest before heading back inside.
"Coming Momma!"
Night had fallen much sooner then it had during the summer months and the moon already hung low in the dark sky. Despite this, a certain five-year old found herself tossing and turning in her bed.
Setsuna's head was filled with the information so recently given to her. Her Mommy and Daddy had tried to keep it simple, but there was only so much you could simplify something so...well, complicated. They had told her how she couldn't try to talk to the doggies, no, not doggies, wolves, in front of anyone ever. When she questioned why, her parents had informed her that where they lived, the people were scared of that kind of thing.
People here, her mother had said, get angry when they don't understand things. We happen to be one of those things.
Setsuna hadn't quite understood what she meant and when she voiced this, it was her father that took over the explanation. Looking down at her, Sora began his story.
"Our ancestors were great people Setsuna, people called shinobi. They could preform all sorts of amazing tricks. Walking on water, breathing fire, summoning animals. The larger countries all have them. They are used to protect the country and fight for the country. Our family used to do the same. They lived further south, where ninja were common. Later however, they migrated north, and soon began to die out. Your mother and I, and you of course, are the only ones left of our line.
Even now though, we are hardly what one could call a ninja. We barely know the easiest of skills, but still, up here, we are looked down upon. The people of this village no nothing of the great things ninja can do. They only see the evil that some have done. The villagers hate ninja and see them as demons. That's why you can't try to talk to the wolves, OK Setsuna? If you do that, the villagers will become scared. Your appearance already puts them on edge, so please refrain from doing anything like that again sweetie." Her father looked at her for a response, so she slowly nodded, still not quite understanding the situation. Looking relieved, her parents herded her into her room.
Now that she was left alone to ponder the new information, Setsuna was beginning to get a bad feeling. Rolling over to glance out of her window, Setsuna stared at the almost full moon. Suddenly, something else caught her eye. Sitting up to get a better view, a red glow appeared on the horizon. Shouting soon reached her ears. Heart practically beating out of her chest, Setsuna could only watch as the glow soon grew close enough to see what it really was.
Villagers, a lot of them. And they were carrying sticks on fire.
The door to her room was smacked open with a bang and Setsuna jumped. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was being gathered into her mother's arms and dragged out of the room. The shouts from outside were coming closer and Setsuna could now understand what they were shouting
"Demon! Kill the demon child! Monster!"
Whimpering, Setsuna could only watch as the front door to the house was kicked down. A small group of people entered looking very threatening with their weapons. Her mother was trying to calm her down but she found that it was getting much harder to breath. Suddenly her father was infront of them with his arms spread wide.
"I won't let you harm my family! Leave us be and we'll do the same to you!" It was then that Setsuna realized how cool her dad actually was.
` One of the villagers stepped in front of the rest. The room grew quiet almost instantly.
"This has gone on long enough Sora! We won't stand to have your kind here! You and your family were barely tolerate before. It doesn't matter that you lived outside of town, we won't stand for it. You are all disgusting demons! If we let you live, there's no doubt that you'll slay us in our sleep. Just today Misumi here saw your devil child conversing with a wolf! If that ain't witchcraft I don't know what is! The threat needs to be disposed of!"
With that, the entire crowd of villagers cheered. A loud crash sounded to the right and Setsuna watched in horror as a curtain quickly caught fire. The small crowd that had found its way inside rushed out as the flames grew.
Setsuna screamed as her father grabbed her mother by the arm and pulled her outside. Sitting in the snow, Setsuna could only watch as the place she grew up in was burnt to the ground. Her mother cried from beside her while her father stood in front of them once again.
"Koyuki, get up. Setsuna, run into the forest and hide. Just like when we play, OK?" Her father's tone held no room for argument so she nodded once and dashed into the surrounding woods. Right before she breached the tree line, she turned around to see her parents. What she saw shocked her. Both were standing strong , backed by the light of the fire, and looked indestructible. Her breath was stolen as she saw the image of her parents standing side by side facing the crowd of villagers. Facing the woods once more, Setsuna set off into the dark.
Racing through the trees, Setsuna froze as the sound of screams broke through the night air. Collapsing to the ground, the little girl took a shaky breath before grabbing at the spot above her heart. Wiping the tears from her face, Setsuna continued in the forest.
Hide-and-seek. Gotta find a place to hide. Hide from the the bad people. These thoughts were the only thing that kept the child moving, even as the shouts started up again, even as they grew closer.
Gotta hide.