1
I am the Lost One. I have no memory. I know not who I am nor where I came from. As I know it my life began six months ago when I stumbled upon the village of Edo. I came from the surrounding wood and I had been beaten and bloodied. I do not know what happened that day, I only know the consequences. The villagers of Edo, where I have remained these past months, believe I was taken against my will by a demon. It would fit the circumstances and my brutal injuries which have since faded to pink scars. It may also explain my condition.
I carry a child in my womb and that has been truth since my memories began. The villagers fear my unborn child. They believe it will be a monster; cursed, dangerous, and ugly. I refuse to believe their fears. Though, maybe my denial is due to my growing love for my unborn child. I refuse to believe that the precious being that I am caring for within me will be a monster even if it maybe a demon.
Though the villagers fear me and my child they tolerate me. Most likely their tolerance stems from their pity. They allow me to reside in a small cottage well on the outskirts of the village near the woods that surround the village. I was told by Yukayu, the aging village midwife, that an old mad man lived there and he died several months before I appeared. They allow me ample food and in return I tend a small rice paddy near my hut. Yukayu joins me to help some mornings. I would not be so bold as to say that she is a close friend, but she is the only one among the villagers who does not fear me. She eases my loneliness when I grow desperate for companionship.
My simple life continued on such as this for many months until I began having visions in my sleep. They were mostly vague and untelling but they told me small truths. The first was full of dark and painful memories. It was a dream of sensations more than visions. It was dark and wet. Pain radiated through my cold naked body. I was walking through the dark, sometimes running. Occasionally I would slip on the mud and roots. Blood coursed down my body from numerous wounds and made me weak. Then came a scream. I do not know if it came from me or another but it was the scream of a desperate woman.
"Inu-Yasha!" it screamed over and over again. Sometimes the screams took on inquisitive tones as if she were searching for this 'Inu-Yasha'. Sometimes she screamed the word with such terror that it would seem that she was mortally afraid of it.