Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or anything having to do with that
series. Darn. I do, however, own the character(s) I made up for this
story, so no touchy.
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New Lilies
By Alexa Gray
Ch. 1
The boy strode into the building confidently, sloppily cut black hair in a high ponytail and a small smile on his face. Or perhaps it wasn't a smile at all, only the perpetual cheerfulness adhered to the teenager's countenance. He carried a strangely long bag slung over his shoulder that would reach to his waist from the ground. Flickering and glowing from time to time, his eyes resembled green fire.
He approached two men having a heated conversation about something that seemed important. After studying them both, he addressed the one that seemed in charge during a lull in the argument.
"Excuse me, sir."
The man, looking about forty or so and not in such a good mood, turned to him annoyedly. "Yes?" he replied in a voice that dripped condescension.
"I am looking for a job. You see-"
"No jobs open." He went back to his partner.
The other one seemed interested, however, and asked the boy, "What sort of job?"
He grinned inside. He could get somewhere with this one. "Any one you have."
"You said we were a man short," he reminded Leader Man.
"I said a man." he reminded Nice Man.
"I'm fourteen," the boy said honestly.
"I don't know." Leader Man considered him. "You look awfully soft, kid. Are you sure you can handle the kind of work we do around here?"
"I assure you, sir, I am the hardest boy you'll ever meet!" he boasted, hoping that he took pity on the poor idiot he seemed to be.
An involuntary gesture caught Nice's eye, and he saw bandages wrapped around both of the boy's hands up to the fingertips. "What happened there?"
"Oh." He looked at his hands as if he had forgotten they were there, and sighed. "Burns. My house burnt down with." he paused and looked at his feet. ".my family inside. I tried to get them out, but this is all I got," he finished, holding up his hands.
"You poor boy." Nice said softly. He looked at Leader pleadingly, silently imploring him to have a heart.
Leader looked guilty for a moment, then motioned for the boy to follow as he left through the back door. "Alright, you've got a job for today. Hey, what's your name?"
"Katsu," he replied with a grin, not far behind.
* * * * *
The day was over, and Katsu was finished with his work. It had been a hot summer day, but he was only a little tired, not exhausted as he pulled of his clothes to bathe in a slow flowing river. First his outer clothes, including his 'bandages.' They came off easily to reveal perfectly healthy skin, along with a long claw at the tip of each finger. Then came the cloth wrapped tight around his chest that took some time to unravel. After a minute or so, it came off too, revealing something a little more than what is expected for a teenage boy.
For you see, this Katsu was no boy. This Katsu was not even completely human. He was actually Sayuri, a part-demon girl.
Sayuri sighed deeply as she sank into the river's liquid embrace, regretting the lies she had told to such kind people earlier. But it could not be helped. She consoled herself by telling herself that they would forget her tomorrow or the next day, that her story was just a push for them to hire her. It wasn't as if she used it as a begging story. 'But,' that voice insisted, 'it was a lie, and it was wrong.'
Stupid voice. What did it know? 'The only reason you're able to give me guilt is because I feed you, buddy,' Sayuri told it smugly. With that, the cool water lost its pleasure and she had no choice but to leave it. The night's welcome was still present, though. After she had dried and dressed again, she built a fire in her little spot in the wood beneath the watching stars.
"To dinner," she toasted herself, serving herself a bit of the bread and cheese she bought today. She made a sound of primal bliss as it slid down her throat, quieting her roaring stomach. She put most of it away in her bag for another day, and took the few steps to the river again.
It was so calm. Not like her raging heart. She knew there was no way around concealing her true nature. If she revealed she was even part youkai, she would never be able to work in a village. If she revealed that she was a girl, she would be marked by bandits who thought her vulnerable, or worse.attractive. Not that she couldn't handle herself (for she often had to hide her strength among humans, just as she hid her claws), but she did not want to draw unwanted fights. Sayuri raged against something else. Why did she leave her home for this? Living day to day is no life. She had a mother and a father there, and even younger siblings. Even if they were not blood relatives, it was all she knew. Why would she give something that precious for some family she never knew, probably should never know? Even Sayuri herself couldn't completely understand it. But she thought it had something to do with the stories she knew of them. Her angel of a mother, and her hero of a father. Sayuri wanted to see these great people whose traits she possessed. But both the angel and hero had fallen. They were both dead.
She wanted desperately to be like little Ume and Isamu, who didn't know how lucky they were to have someone to call Mama or Papa. But, from the stories, she knew that her mother was actually from the future, and she had traveled to this time through the old dry well in Inuyasha's Forest. So time travel was possible. Sayuri just had to find a way to go back about fourteen years to see them. Just to see them. Maybe, just maybe, (her heart jumped at the thought) meet them. Then she would return to her correct time with incredible satisfaction.
Yes, it seemed to be a good plan. It was just that "finding a way" part that vexed her.
Sayuri gazed into the dark water, surface only dimly lit by stars and fire. She let down her short hair around her face. That midnight color was from her mother, she knew from her adoptive mother, Sango. Her husband, Miroku, told her once that she simply looked like both her parents. Even though she had never seen them, somehow Sayuri didn't believe it. She searched her features now for something of father in her cheekbones, something of mother in her eyes. Maybe her father gave her long fingers?
She struck the water in frustration, sending her reflection into bouncing and shaking chaos. Sayuri remembered Sango's voice as if she were sitting beside her with a hand on her shoulder instead of a nearly four year old memory. "Don't lose heart." She said that the day before Sayuri left, she remembered. Perhaps it was not such a good idea to leave so abruptly, and without even telling them beforehand.
Sayuri shook her head. 'Regrets have no place with me.' She splashed water over the fire to put it out, and picked up her bag. She found handholds in a large tree nearby, and so began to scale it. Trees were marvelous protection, she had found, and besides that, they were somewhat comforting. They didn't waver or falter, no matter what came their way. Once she reached a good wide branch, she straddled it and leaned against the trunk. She quickly fell asleep.
* * * * *
Sayuri rose to dawn's blush in the sky, framed by sparse pink clouds. After yawning and stretching, the young inu-youkai dropped directly to the ground. She yawned again and ran her fingers through her hair. With a thud, her bag fell to the ground and she began searching for her hair tie. While she could pass for a boy with soft features, her hair being around her face would be too much. She finally found it and tied it up slowly, thinking of ponderous matters.
She had journeyed for three years looking for youkai, human, or anyone to grant her impossible wish. But she had been sure that she would have succeeded in that time. 'Now I'm fourteen, and going to be fifteen this year. Maybe it's all been in vain.'
Desolation rose within her, and she stared through her bag at its hidden cargo hungrily. Perhaps she could be with her parents not in this world, but in the next.
It was then. It was then when her hope returned. She heard a small clink near her, and looked toward the source. There was a small, jeweled amulet on the ground, seemingly a gift from heaven. Sayuri looked up but saw only a shadow pass over her quickly. Her eyes followed it, and found an elegant violet-colored songbird perched in a high branch in a tree. It watched her. Sayuri was very startled by a bird trying to give her something, but she decided that if she truly wanted what she'd been looking for all this time, she had better take every opportunity. "What do you want?" she asked the bird. It merely glanced at the amulet, and back to the girl. Sayuri looked at it too, and picked it up. She turned again to the bird to see if it approved, but it was gone. She directed her attention again at the necklace, and found the gold chain delicate and finely made. The pendant was round and had a single, transparent jewel in the center. Sayuri guessed it must be a diamond, for she couldn't see the point in making such a lovely thing only to put glass in its heart. Turning it over in her hand, she noticed something exquisitely engraved on the back. 'Take this chance, my lily.' Sayuri blinked, and squeezed the amulet in a fist. She had the sudden urge to do something that she had tried many times before, but had failed each time. She ran toward it.
She ran hard and fast through the forest, through the day and through the night. Her heart soared with anticipation and also a bit of fear. She couldn't know if she could trust the strange entity that gave her this chance, but she had to at least make an effort. Otherwise, she would forever wonder. Finally, when Sayuri became too exhausted to continue, she knew she reached her destination. The well.
She walked up to it slowly, nervously. She had no idea why her head had been suddenly filled with thoughts of and the single desire to be here. Securing her bag on her shoulder, she leaned over the edge. All darkness. She tossed the necklace over her head, tucked it underneath her shirt, and jumped to the bottom without hesitation.
The well was deeper than she thought. Sayuri fell for a few seconds, and landed neatly on her feet. Or, she thought she landed. It seemed that her feet traveled straight through the ground into water, and kept on falling. Sayuri yelped in surprise, but her voice was muddled and strange, as if she had screamed into her hands and the sound had echoed.
She held tight to her bag and squeezed her eyes shut, but suddenly it was over, and she was standing in the dry well again. She couldn't control the wild, frenzied beating of her heart, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. The adrenaline pumping through her lifted her into the air as if she was nothing, and this time she really did land neatly on her feet outside the well. Sayuri looked up to see something she never expected.
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Author's Note: Not really a cliffhanger, but I bet you want to know what happens next! If anyone is reading this, that is.Anyway, not to worry, since I am working on the next chapter as we speak. ^_^ By the way, Sayuri means 'small lily' in Japanese. My only sustenance is Inuyasha and my reviews, so please feed me!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Lilies
By Alexa Gray
Ch. 1
The boy strode into the building confidently, sloppily cut black hair in a high ponytail and a small smile on his face. Or perhaps it wasn't a smile at all, only the perpetual cheerfulness adhered to the teenager's countenance. He carried a strangely long bag slung over his shoulder that would reach to his waist from the ground. Flickering and glowing from time to time, his eyes resembled green fire.
He approached two men having a heated conversation about something that seemed important. After studying them both, he addressed the one that seemed in charge during a lull in the argument.
"Excuse me, sir."
The man, looking about forty or so and not in such a good mood, turned to him annoyedly. "Yes?" he replied in a voice that dripped condescension.
"I am looking for a job. You see-"
"No jobs open." He went back to his partner.
The other one seemed interested, however, and asked the boy, "What sort of job?"
He grinned inside. He could get somewhere with this one. "Any one you have."
"You said we were a man short," he reminded Leader Man.
"I said a man." he reminded Nice Man.
"I'm fourteen," the boy said honestly.
"I don't know." Leader Man considered him. "You look awfully soft, kid. Are you sure you can handle the kind of work we do around here?"
"I assure you, sir, I am the hardest boy you'll ever meet!" he boasted, hoping that he took pity on the poor idiot he seemed to be.
An involuntary gesture caught Nice's eye, and he saw bandages wrapped around both of the boy's hands up to the fingertips. "What happened there?"
"Oh." He looked at his hands as if he had forgotten they were there, and sighed. "Burns. My house burnt down with." he paused and looked at his feet. ".my family inside. I tried to get them out, but this is all I got," he finished, holding up his hands.
"You poor boy." Nice said softly. He looked at Leader pleadingly, silently imploring him to have a heart.
Leader looked guilty for a moment, then motioned for the boy to follow as he left through the back door. "Alright, you've got a job for today. Hey, what's your name?"
"Katsu," he replied with a grin, not far behind.
* * * * *
The day was over, and Katsu was finished with his work. It had been a hot summer day, but he was only a little tired, not exhausted as he pulled of his clothes to bathe in a slow flowing river. First his outer clothes, including his 'bandages.' They came off easily to reveal perfectly healthy skin, along with a long claw at the tip of each finger. Then came the cloth wrapped tight around his chest that took some time to unravel. After a minute or so, it came off too, revealing something a little more than what is expected for a teenage boy.
For you see, this Katsu was no boy. This Katsu was not even completely human. He was actually Sayuri, a part-demon girl.
Sayuri sighed deeply as she sank into the river's liquid embrace, regretting the lies she had told to such kind people earlier. But it could not be helped. She consoled herself by telling herself that they would forget her tomorrow or the next day, that her story was just a push for them to hire her. It wasn't as if she used it as a begging story. 'But,' that voice insisted, 'it was a lie, and it was wrong.'
Stupid voice. What did it know? 'The only reason you're able to give me guilt is because I feed you, buddy,' Sayuri told it smugly. With that, the cool water lost its pleasure and she had no choice but to leave it. The night's welcome was still present, though. After she had dried and dressed again, she built a fire in her little spot in the wood beneath the watching stars.
"To dinner," she toasted herself, serving herself a bit of the bread and cheese she bought today. She made a sound of primal bliss as it slid down her throat, quieting her roaring stomach. She put most of it away in her bag for another day, and took the few steps to the river again.
It was so calm. Not like her raging heart. She knew there was no way around concealing her true nature. If she revealed she was even part youkai, she would never be able to work in a village. If she revealed that she was a girl, she would be marked by bandits who thought her vulnerable, or worse.attractive. Not that she couldn't handle herself (for she often had to hide her strength among humans, just as she hid her claws), but she did not want to draw unwanted fights. Sayuri raged against something else. Why did she leave her home for this? Living day to day is no life. She had a mother and a father there, and even younger siblings. Even if they were not blood relatives, it was all she knew. Why would she give something that precious for some family she never knew, probably should never know? Even Sayuri herself couldn't completely understand it. But she thought it had something to do with the stories she knew of them. Her angel of a mother, and her hero of a father. Sayuri wanted to see these great people whose traits she possessed. But both the angel and hero had fallen. They were both dead.
She wanted desperately to be like little Ume and Isamu, who didn't know how lucky they were to have someone to call Mama or Papa. But, from the stories, she knew that her mother was actually from the future, and she had traveled to this time through the old dry well in Inuyasha's Forest. So time travel was possible. Sayuri just had to find a way to go back about fourteen years to see them. Just to see them. Maybe, just maybe, (her heart jumped at the thought) meet them. Then she would return to her correct time with incredible satisfaction.
Yes, it seemed to be a good plan. It was just that "finding a way" part that vexed her.
Sayuri gazed into the dark water, surface only dimly lit by stars and fire. She let down her short hair around her face. That midnight color was from her mother, she knew from her adoptive mother, Sango. Her husband, Miroku, told her once that she simply looked like both her parents. Even though she had never seen them, somehow Sayuri didn't believe it. She searched her features now for something of father in her cheekbones, something of mother in her eyes. Maybe her father gave her long fingers?
She struck the water in frustration, sending her reflection into bouncing and shaking chaos. Sayuri remembered Sango's voice as if she were sitting beside her with a hand on her shoulder instead of a nearly four year old memory. "Don't lose heart." She said that the day before Sayuri left, she remembered. Perhaps it was not such a good idea to leave so abruptly, and without even telling them beforehand.
Sayuri shook her head. 'Regrets have no place with me.' She splashed water over the fire to put it out, and picked up her bag. She found handholds in a large tree nearby, and so began to scale it. Trees were marvelous protection, she had found, and besides that, they were somewhat comforting. They didn't waver or falter, no matter what came their way. Once she reached a good wide branch, she straddled it and leaned against the trunk. She quickly fell asleep.
* * * * *
Sayuri rose to dawn's blush in the sky, framed by sparse pink clouds. After yawning and stretching, the young inu-youkai dropped directly to the ground. She yawned again and ran her fingers through her hair. With a thud, her bag fell to the ground and she began searching for her hair tie. While she could pass for a boy with soft features, her hair being around her face would be too much. She finally found it and tied it up slowly, thinking of ponderous matters.
She had journeyed for three years looking for youkai, human, or anyone to grant her impossible wish. But she had been sure that she would have succeeded in that time. 'Now I'm fourteen, and going to be fifteen this year. Maybe it's all been in vain.'
Desolation rose within her, and she stared through her bag at its hidden cargo hungrily. Perhaps she could be with her parents not in this world, but in the next.
It was then. It was then when her hope returned. She heard a small clink near her, and looked toward the source. There was a small, jeweled amulet on the ground, seemingly a gift from heaven. Sayuri looked up but saw only a shadow pass over her quickly. Her eyes followed it, and found an elegant violet-colored songbird perched in a high branch in a tree. It watched her. Sayuri was very startled by a bird trying to give her something, but she decided that if she truly wanted what she'd been looking for all this time, she had better take every opportunity. "What do you want?" she asked the bird. It merely glanced at the amulet, and back to the girl. Sayuri looked at it too, and picked it up. She turned again to the bird to see if it approved, but it was gone. She directed her attention again at the necklace, and found the gold chain delicate and finely made. The pendant was round and had a single, transparent jewel in the center. Sayuri guessed it must be a diamond, for she couldn't see the point in making such a lovely thing only to put glass in its heart. Turning it over in her hand, she noticed something exquisitely engraved on the back. 'Take this chance, my lily.' Sayuri blinked, and squeezed the amulet in a fist. She had the sudden urge to do something that she had tried many times before, but had failed each time. She ran toward it.
She ran hard and fast through the forest, through the day and through the night. Her heart soared with anticipation and also a bit of fear. She couldn't know if she could trust the strange entity that gave her this chance, but she had to at least make an effort. Otherwise, she would forever wonder. Finally, when Sayuri became too exhausted to continue, she knew she reached her destination. The well.
She walked up to it slowly, nervously. She had no idea why her head had been suddenly filled with thoughts of and the single desire to be here. Securing her bag on her shoulder, she leaned over the edge. All darkness. She tossed the necklace over her head, tucked it underneath her shirt, and jumped to the bottom without hesitation.
The well was deeper than she thought. Sayuri fell for a few seconds, and landed neatly on her feet. Or, she thought she landed. It seemed that her feet traveled straight through the ground into water, and kept on falling. Sayuri yelped in surprise, but her voice was muddled and strange, as if she had screamed into her hands and the sound had echoed.
She held tight to her bag and squeezed her eyes shut, but suddenly it was over, and she was standing in the dry well again. She couldn't control the wild, frenzied beating of her heart, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. The adrenaline pumping through her lifted her into the air as if she was nothing, and this time she really did land neatly on her feet outside the well. Sayuri looked up to see something she never expected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: Not really a cliffhanger, but I bet you want to know what happens next! If anyone is reading this, that is.Anyway, not to worry, since I am working on the next chapter as we speak. ^_^ By the way, Sayuri means 'small lily' in Japanese. My only sustenance is Inuyasha and my reviews, so please feed me!