Disclaimer: yeah, yeah, I don't own YYH, but this entire first chapter is mine!
Spirit Child
I hate people. I suppose I always have. The teeming masses of humanity are so cliché that I would rather vomit than utter a word to one. Animals, however ironic, have a decent civilization. They can be just like humans, but for one difference, that they cannot feel pleasure at pain. A carnivore kills for herself, or her cubs, or even her pack. She does not kill to make a point, nor to prove her worth to a boss or head of the company. That is probably why I despise my race so, because we are cowardly enough to allow such atrocities as the genocides and the many civil wars to occur. And who gets the short stick? Why, nature of course. But I am one person, one soul. I have no human friends, and only one beloved, my dearest Kai.
"Come on, Kai!" I laughed at his antics. The lanky German Sheppard was after a squirrel, and only heeded my call after the said rodent mocked him in squirrelese. Kai loped on up to me, his deep brown eyes apologetic and his tongue out laughing. We strolled carelessly to the park, a Frisbee tucked under my arm, and a leash dangling uselessly from my fingers. As we jogged over to Rover Field, I threw the Frisbee as hard as I could, and was rewarded with a rusty flash from my side. Kai leapt up, caught it, and trotted back, another set of teeth marks in his favorite toy.
I threw it again, and again, knowing full well that it would be sunset before my Kai found himself tired. As we played, I had tied the leash around my waist to keep from losing it. Inside the main part of the city, I was required to keep Kai on a leash at all times. Here, in the suburbs, it wasn't so bad, but I still got glares every now and then. He hates the leash, but understood even as a puppy what happens to a leash less dog. Even with identification, if a dog is found without a leash or an owner, that dog is automatically put to sleep. When I learned this rule, and what it really meant, I kept even my cats on leashes when we went out. As I've said, I love animals with all my heart, and refuse to let them be hurt by my own foolishness.
Unfortunately, I suppose my negative attitude to my species caused a disturbance with a powerful god, because when I was about to call Kai back for the night, the faded yellow disc that I had launched into the air flew above the street, and Kai followed helplessly. A sports car, driven by none other than the leading jock at my school, ran right over Kai, and kept on going. He didn't even look back to see the once bright eyes of my baby dim and fade away.
"KAI!" I had screamed, but it was too late. He was dead before I could have warned him, and cooling when I reached his battered body. I did not cry, because crying solves nothing, and I needed my strength. With a heavy heart, I gently picked up his thin body, and walked home. No one stopped me, no one said a thing. I laid him in a hastily dug grave within my little garden at home.
That night, I lost all hope, all tolerance for the human race. After my parents finally went to bed, having discussed my actions long into the night, I snuck into my father's office, and stole away a very precious item of the past. It had once accompanied my samurai great-grandfather into battle, and it would serve it's purpose yet again. The sickening exhilaration I felt when I picked up that blade arced through my body, and I felt like I had just run a hundred miles. I had a desperate, lunatic idea of peace and tranquility to end this ripping, tearing pain that twisted in my chest. I left my home, and headed for the downtown district a little before dawn.
Confusing? Maybe. But I promise in the next chapter that you'll understand what happens, okay?
KD