"Meliko! You don't belong here! Why don't you go live with your mother? Oh, yeah, she died so she didn't have to take care of you. How pathetic is that? Meliko you are a dirty half breed and should just save this village the horror of having to have you living here. Just go kill yourself." the rather tall young fire apparition yells at the small raven haired girl.
"Go to the netherworld! You're all asses." I was nearly in tears but could afford to let these boys see me cry. "The only reason you all are even here is because you all have no where else to turn! The Ice apparitions have been attacking every clan but ours. Our fortress is the last fire strong hold. Everyone knows it. I hope you realize that it will be only a matter of time before they attack here. I know I can fight, I hope you all don't freeze up when they come cuz if you do they'll kill you." I started walking away when something hit the back of my head hard enough to make me see stars. Damn boys and their aim.
The next thing I know I'm on the ground and they're kicking me. I guess I pissed them off. Someone had the foresight to grab a stick and was hitting my sides with that. Oh, well, another day in my life.
"I'm home dad, how'd the meeting go? You think the Ice apparitions are going to attack us yet? I told some of the boys that and well they didn't like that much. Where's my spell book from mom. I think I need to fix my nose." Luckily my father never coddled me, and since I could remember he would always talk to me about any of the goings on whenever the clan leaders held a meeting.
"Meliko, why do you let them do this to you. I've taught you to fight for a reason, not to let them beat you up every time that they feel the need. Your book is where you left it, right by the hearth." My fathers eyes seemed burdened, more so than usual. The usual sparkle that was there seemed dimmed by worry.
"Thanks dad, I'm going to fix my nose and then go by the river. I think we'll have fish tonight if I can catch any." I know my father said something about the fact that we had a market, one of the few clan strongholds that did and we could just go there and get some. I ignored it.
My mothers spell book was a beautiful thing. The cover was dragon hide and the pages high quality. Father tells me that my mother was a very powerful sorceress and that if I took my time I'd become even better than her. I doubt that, but it makes him happy that I try. Flipping through the pages I find the spell I want and quickly mutter the words, I feel a snap and know that my nose was back in it's rightful place. I hadn't expected them to go for my face. Shrugging off the annoyance of having to fix my nose I head down to the river that runs through the stronghold and the surrounding country.
I loved this river. Today it was peaceful, running languidly and steady; she seemed at rest. Sitting down at the bank I hear my river hitting something down where the trees branches sunk into the river. Now throughly annoyed at the world I get up and walk over to the noise. I came down to the river to get some peace and quiet and then something, of course, has to ruin it. Can't this day get any better?
Getting to the spot I notice something laying face down in the water and immediately recognize it as a demon. Of course this had got to happen to me. I wade into the water and make my way to the very wet and very unconscious form. He was heavier than I thought he would be, it was obvious that it was a he when I turned him over. After what seemed an eternity of going against the current and finally getting to the bank I dropped the soaking mass onto the sandy beach. He's going to wake up with sand everywhere. I must have dropped him a little harder than I thought because a few moments later he started coughing up a whole lot of water. Any kid old enough to go to the river by themselves is taught to take care of drownings and that sparked into my mind and I helped him onto his side.
"Careful, you don't want to choke on this water." Looking into his eyes I couldn't help but be mesmerized. They were a beautiful shade of red. "My name's Meliko, what's yours?" I could swear that he had a look of surprise on his face.
"I don't have a name. No one ever gave on to me." his voice sounded strained. He must have drank up more water than I thought.
"Thats fine, but if you want to keep your voice you shouldn't talk for a little while. If your up to it I can help you up the the stronghold and we can get you dried off and into some warm clothes. Thankfully he was smart enough to listen to me and just nodded his head. I lifted his right arm, wrapped it around my shoulders and we made our way back to my home.
"DAD! I'd like a little help here." My father must have thought that I'd been hurt again and bolted to the front door where my stray and I were standing. I was getting more wet by the second and felt like a drowned kitten. I must of looked peeved because when Dad saw the both of us he laughed and picked the boy up in his arms.
"Well now, it's not very often we have Meliko bring someone home." Laughter grew in his voice as he continued. "I must admit, she's never brought one home soaking wet through. Let's get you out of these clothes and into a robe. Then you can sit by the fire and get warm." Normally fire apparitions, which this boy was clearly, bodies were hotter than normal demons or apparitions, but as kids we don't have the control to keep ourselves warm when something like that happens. That's why when a blizzard roars through we have to make sure all of the children are in their homes at the first sign of it. If we're not inside and the snow drops we can die, ironically not from the cold but from our bodies creating too much heat. It's kind of like burning from the inside out; not pretty and very messy. The boy was nowhere near that point but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Come Meliko, tell me what happened." my fathers stern gaze met mine and the story poured out of me. Dad never interrupted me, but let me finish before he smiled. "I guess he'll be staying with us then."
"Come on Meliko, why don't you want to play with us?" the usual group of boys were jeering at me. I'd ignore them until my temper got the better of me, which would be soon.
"Oh yeah, she's got her own little slave now doesn't she? The little kid that keeps following her all around. Say, where is he now? Maybe he could stick up for you." Another of the group mocked.
"Go away all of you, really, don't you have something better to do?" I snapped at them. Then suddenly the leader fell to the ground and the boy I saved from the river was on top of him with a sword to his neck.
"No! Don't!" I yelled at my stray. He really needed a name. "They aren't worth it. That's why I never bother to fight any of them. They just aren't worth it." Coldly I knew that all the group were listening. Slowly river boy stood up, never removing the sword, and stared at me with a very confused look.
"When someone threatens you you have to kill them or everyone will walk all over you, Meliko."
"Fine, but they are just kids. They don't know what they are really doing." I knew somewhere deep inside of me that he was right. That all this crap was just to hide the ugly truth that we were all going to go down fighting. The kids where doing this to me because they thought me the weak link. At that moment I could almost agree with them.
"Meliko..."
"No, Hiei, you just don't kill kids. Not in this village, not in my home." The look of surprise on his face was comical. I'd given him a name and he didn't seem to know what to do. "Hiei, you say thank you when someone gives you a name." The kids seemed to think this was a good time to sneak away and did so at that moment while Hiei and I were locked in a staring contest. The name fitted him grandly.
"What's it mean?" he finally asks.
"It means flying shadow, and you better like it because I'm sick of not having a name for you. I can't keep calling you the stray or the kid who I saved from the river." I looked back into his crimson eyes and we both smiled.
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Well, I know that there are some time disparaties, so I'll pretend they don't exist. For sake of Youko's age, he will gain a tail every 100 years, not 1000. I can't remember if Hina gave Hiei a name before watching him fly off the cliff, so cuteness abound Meliko names him. I had wanted to get farther in Highway to Hell but this was begging to get put to paper, err computer. Demons age slower than humans and that being they stay kids longer. Oh, and don't worry the happy feeling won't last long, next up! The Ice apparitions attack! Stay tuned and remember I looooooooooooooovvvvvvvveeeeeee reviews. ;)