Chapter one
Celestial maiden
The dark haired beauty winced at the pain in her side as the wound, she had a narrow escape…she may not have come out of it unscathed….but she was free! The stinging in her wound would not subside and her green-eyed vision began to blur….I can't hold on much longer, she thought woefully to herself. The sun had risen high, the heat was becoming too much and it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. Come on Hana…just hold on a little longer…you can't go back…you can't let them find you….you can't let them take you back! Unfortunately…no matter how strong her heart was and determined her spirit, her body was growing weaker…she couldn't hold on any longer, her body finally failed her and she collapsed onto the green grass beneath her. She gazed up to the sky, so clear and blue, she smelled the flowery breeze…if this was the last time she'd see the sky, smell the air…feel the warmth of the sun and prickliness of the grass, then it had befallen on a good day…a very good day. Even though it was brief….I had tasted freedom, I can die in peace….mother, come for me now. Darkness engulfed her surroundings, the sound of birds faded…she was no longer conscious of the things surrounding her…
Jinenji was sorting through the various medicinal herbs that grew on his father's farm, his heart still heavy with grief at the recent loss of his mother, that was the cruel fate any demon (even a half demon) would have to face if they cherished a mortal, the inevitable death they would face. It tore his insides apart to bur the woman who raised him, the one who defended him against all those who sought to harm him. His mother was and would always be the only woman capable of loving him in any way…. that was a fact he forced himself to accept long ago. She never saw him as a burden, if she did then she was very good at concealing it. He often wondered why…or rather, how, his mother could find that strength to love and protect him, many other young women would have tossed him aside, refusing to believe that it was even possible for them to have birthed such a disfigured creature. In all truth if it was not for her, Jinenji knew his heart would have grown as twisted and warped as his face, through all the constant ridicule there was someone who was there to ease the sorrow, to give him comfort, she taught him to be kind and compassionate, she taught him that it was pointless to hate his deriders, but to pity them…for minds were closed, for they would never be able to appreciate true beauty the way he does. Through everything, through all the hate….he had one thing for certain, his mother, but she lived on borrowed time and the day came when she had to give it back. He did not hate life because of it, Jinenji's mother had always warned him this day would come and when it did…he was not to be angry, it was okay to be sad…but not hateful, it was the natural order of things and it was something they would both have to accept. He did accept this, but still…now he had no one…all he had left of his heritage, was his father's farm and he would cherish that with every fibre of his being!
Plucking away at the herbs and separating them from the weeds, he sadly recalled the night of her death, before old age took her . "Jinenji my boy" she croaked touching one side of his hideous face "I will not leave you alone…I will send you a heavenly being…a celestial maiden…I will send her to look after you, to love you and see what I have seen from the moment I first beheld you…a good and beautiful soul" with that she passed on, he let out a great cry that almost brought down the entire hut. Months had passed and the promise she made remained un-kept, this of course did not surprise him, still for moment…when he saw the sheer sincerity in her dying eyes…he almost believed her.
He sighed heavily and continued with the task at hand hoping it would distract for at least a moment. A breeze suddenly swept across the blades of grass and carried with it a strange unfamiliar scent, the scent of wood-poppies, a clear stream….and blood, fresh blood. By some internal instinct he fled towards the source, following his nose and some kind of fierce magnetic force. He ran as quickly as he gigantic build would allow him to; until he came across the most artfully beautiful creature his blue bulging eyes had ever come across.
There laid a young woman, dressed in a fine silk kimono of many beautiful metallic pastel he. Her skin seemed untarnished (aside from the gaping wound at her side) as white as milk or a spring cloud, so smooth by appearance like a pearl! Her mounds of thick raven hair splayed out in luxurious waves, like a vast dark ocean at night with stars there mirrored and twinkling so brightly. There so tempting and teasing upon her face quivered her peach-pink lips that Jinenji had resisted the urge to trace his fingers upon. Her eyes were closed softly her long black lashes resting on her well defined cheek bones. His earlier thoughts again came to mind…was she a celestial maiden, he could quite easily believe that she had indeed fallen from the heavens and was harmed along the way. Another scent pricked at his huge nostrils, it seeped from her wounds with the blood…some sort of poison, one he did not quite recognise. This woman had been stabbed by a blade edged with poison…and without knowing exactly what sort of poison, it was impossible to estimate how long she had left. But some inside voice pleaded him to do all he could, to do everything and anything in his power to save her!
With such ease he vigilantly took the fragile woman into his large hands, so timidly…he was so afraid that she would shatter him, that his clumsy strength would break her like delicate porcelain….
With such swift care he brought her to the hut and tenderly placed her down on a freshly made bed of leaves and various sweet smelling flowers. He noticed her growing cold and her perfect lips darkening to a dangerous shade of blue. He laid a warm blanket over her and lit the fire-pit at the centre of the room. He first He'd see to the wound before she bled to death, then he would rid her of whatever poison was now coursing through her veins.
A deep scarlet blush burned at his snout as he removed her clothing to get to the wound, were she conscious he had no doubt she would be screaming at him, begging that he do nothing, to just let her die…she'd probably say that she would rather die than have him touch her!
Soon enough the bleeding ceased and he discovered the name of the mysterious poison and its antidote, by the fact that the smell was so weak he could conclude that the one who wielded it could not have given her such a large dose. A strange warmth he had never felt before spread its way across his chest, he was relieved…happy even….for there was a chance she would survive this, that she would open her eyes and he would for the first time behold their shade!
If his calculations were correct, he had till nightfall till the poison would spread to her vital organs, that gave him just enough time to make the antidote that would save her. Sure enough as the stars appeared and the moon rose high, he had given her the cure and now awaited to such anticipation, the moment she would awaken and behold the face of the one who had rescued her….