Chapter 1: The Dogs with Antlers

It was a bright day out with no clouds in sight. The sky was a perfect shade of deep-sea blue. I could feel the warmth from the sun hugging my skin, and the birds chirping and singing songs with each other. I was sitting down, leaning against a tree under the shade to cool off. There was a lake beside me. I decided to lean over and gaze into the water and stare at my reflection. I analyzed my long, silky black hair that reached down to my lower back. My bangs grew out to a point that the white, upside down crescent moon with a dot in the middle was showing. I averted my emerald eyes from my hair to my antlers. They weren't fully grown, and they had three pieces branching off. My dog-like ears that looked like they were just parts of my hair sticking up, twitched when I heard a twig snap just a few feet away from me.

Immediately I stood up and whipped around, "Who is there?!" I yelled. "Suki, is that you?" I assumed it was Suki only because she has always been good at masking her scent to smell like her surroundings.

"Sis!" A younger girl, about eight years of age, ran out from behind a tree. She has brown hair that one side has length that stopped mid-way passed the top her right elven-like ear, and the left side had a length that stopped at her shoulder. Her antlers were much smaller; they were nubs. I looked into her emerald eyes and softened my expression. My lips curved into a smile. "Sis, I found some herbs for our village!" She said. I looked down and saw she curved the bottom of her red and white kimono up to use it as a carrying aid for all of the herbs she picked.

"Good girl," I started walking over to her and patted her head, "let's get back then before it gets too dark." Suki nodded and we both started to walk back to our village.

We got back to the village. The village was hidden amongst the trees. It consisted of very basic huts that contained a maximum of three rooms, or a minimum of two rooms. The shape was circular and the roofs were made of heavy straw and sticks. This was not one of the bigger villages, as it contained only ten huts. We walked up to a hut that was smaller, meaning it contained two rooms. Only a mother and her son lived here. I turned and knelt down so that I was eye level with my younger sister. "I need you to stay right here, and I will be back in a little bit" I told her. She nodded, and I took some of the herbs from her and walked inside the hut.

"Lady Kasumi! You've returned!" a young boy with short black hair cried out.

"How is your mother?" I asked.

His eyes started to tear as he spoke, "she's still breathing heavily, it seems she is getting worse… Her sweat is starting to drench her kimono.

I nodded and went into the room the young boys' mother was in and sat down by the desk I set up earlier. The young boy followed me inside. The desk had my teapot on the top hovering over a small burner. I ignited the flame and allowed the water inside the teapot to start to warm up. While doing so, I grabbed my small wooden plate and placed the herbs on it and started to grind them down. The teapot started to let out steam. I grabbed a small wooden cup and pour the water inside, then sprinkled some of the grinded herbs into it. I stood up and turned to the boy, "now, Shiro, I need you to do as I say and within six days and five nights, your mother should be feeling better." He nodded for me to continue, "I will leave my teapot and necessities here until she is better, warm the water up in the teapot until you see steam coming out, pour the water into a cup, sprinkle some herbs, stir, wait till it cools down, then set your mothers head onto your lap so that she is perched and let her sip the water. She must drink it twice a day for those six days. Morning and night, do not forget."

"Thank you so much, Lady Kasumi!" the young boy exclaimed and hugged my legs. I smiled and patted his shoulder, then turned to walk out of the hut.

I walked outside and saw Suki playing with an earthworm. She stopped and stood up once she realized I came outside. "So, let us go to the next one, shall we?" I smiled at her and she nodded.

We finished going to everyone's hut to check on them before it got dark. We started walking back to our hut when my little sister decided to ask, "Sis, can we go to a hot spring and bathe? I feel very dirty."

I sighed and responded, "Suki, you know it's dangerous to leave the village while it's dark."

"But I have you to protect me, I smell really bad!" She pouted and crossed her arms. She knew I could not resist her pouting expression.

"Alright, but not for long. Deal?" I tried to compromise with her.

Her expression immediately lightened, and she started to jump up and down with a huge smile on her face. "Deal!"

We took a right heading towards the springs. The springs were not far from the village, so I was able to keep an eye on her as well as be in hearing range in case something were to happen to the village. We walked a mile away and the springs started to come into view. Surrounding the springs was a small clearing with the exception of one tree that loomed over the spring, some of the trees branches and leaves were touching the water.

Suki took off her red and white kimono, while I took off the two black belts around my waist, and the one going diagonally from my left shoulder to the right side of my waist, then I took off the two black belts that tied around my left thigh. The belts that tied around my thighs carried three daggers, while the one diagonally across my chest carried a hook that held my sheathe and sword. After that, I removed the black leather over coat that covered my whole right arm and side and swooped in the middle tying to my right side. I folded them and set them aside. I then took off my red, cloth dress that reached just below my bottom along with my black under-shorts, and finally my black leather boots.

Suki ran and dipped her toe in the water, giggled, then proceeded to jump into the water causing a small splash. I giggled and walked close to the edge, knelt down, and stared once again at my reflection. I focused my vision to see if I could find her. It was too late. She jumped out of the water and latched her small hands to the back of my neck and pulled me into the water with her. My eyes widened when she did this and I had no time to react properly. In the spring I went. I came back up gasping for air and balled my hand into a fist and gave a slightly irritated look towards Suki, "you little twerp!" I gave her a playful glare. She gave me a snarky grin in return which caused me to tackle her into the water as payback.

We played in the water for a while now and decided it was time that we head back to the village. "Let's head back, Suki."

"Okay, sis." She was not one to really argue with me. Most of the time she would listen to me.

I grabbed her and helped her out of the spring, then lifted myself out. I started to grab my clothes when I smelt something suspicious. That smells like human blood… I thought to myself. I quickly turned around to tell Suki to get dressed quickly only to be distracted by a very sad look on her face. Confused I asked, "what is the matter?" She looked down and started to tear up. "Suki…" I knelt down, my hair covering my front. "Tell me what's wrong."

"It's just… Your back… It… Makes me so sad…" She could barely get out what she was trying to say.

I took her into my arms and held her tightly. "Don't worry yourself over it, dear. It's passed. Now hurry and get dressed. After you're dressed, I need you to hide in a bush and cover your scent. I will be back soon." She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. This caused me to let go and turn around to get dressed myself. I watched her go hide, then proceeded back to the village as quickly as I could. Something isn't right… I shouldn't be smelling the blood of those humans that took me and my sister in.

I arrived at the village only to see fire everywhere. I quickly patted myself down looking for my smoke mask. I found it tied to the belt around my waist and tied it on. All of this smoke is going to make it hard figuring out who did this. "Tch!" I gritted my teeth and ran into the village. I had to find who did this and save the lives of the humans.

I looked around everywhere. I saw two survivors, and just as I got close to them, a man jumped from the top of one of the huts and killed them with his claws. I stopped in my tracks immediately and tightened my hands into fists. "Who are you!?" The man stood in front of me. Silent. "I said, who are you?!" I yelled even louder. His silence was driving me crazy. He wouldn't say anything. I did not understand what made him want to do this to the village. He was just going on a killing spree. There is nothing here but humans… What could he want? I clenched my teeth, baring my fangs and gave a deathly glare to the man standing in front of me. I finally decided I should analyze what he looks like.