Well, here I am with the long awaited first part of the trilogy. Some of
you might have already read Runaway Angel, and some of Spirits of the Wind,
but I assure you, they're going to be changed in a BIG way. I've already
started the second chapter here, so whether I get any reviews or not, it
won't deter me from writing. I love this trilogy and it's a heap of fun to
write. Please, don't steal the plot, or ideas, Hikari and I are working
very hard on this trilogy. If you want to use it in your site, please e-
mail either me or her.
Karisa: karisa_temura@yahoo.co.nz
Hikari: starfire1246@yahoo.com.au
And now, onto the disclaimer
Disclaimer: We don't own CCS.
On with the story...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Witch of the Healing Woods ~ Prologue * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
I sit here. There's nothing more that I wish that all this suffering would cease. My kind and my father's kind are stranded here. There is nothing that we can do. I look to the sky and see that it is a bright hue of dark red. Blood has been spilled during the night. They have taken others. It is clear.
They are never going to stop. I know that, my mother knows that, my father knows that and so do the village elders. They have warned us to stay indoors. Stay away from this ferocious set of people. I have met a few though, and they are hardly as bloodthirsty as the elders say that they are. The people that I met were very friendly. Of course they didn't know what I was, but even then they treated me nicely, they didn't even know if I was friend or foe. So what is truly so bad about them? They are not going to harm us. One said that he would do anything to see me again. Even sneak into my village. I told him with a wry smile that that would not be a very wise idea. My village is very well protected against uninvited visitors and anyone that found him would not think highly.
He asked me why.
I just stayed silent. There was no way that I could tell them truly what I was, even though I feel revolted against it. Mama says that that's no reason though. I shouldn't be like this at all. At least, that is what she thinks. I hardly think that way at all. I mean, what's the point? What's the point of isolating ourselves from these people when they are very friendly and don't even mind visiting us.
He asked me of my name.
Again, I stayed silent.
I could see that he was starting to get frustrated, as I was not saying anything about who I was. I then asked him of his name.
He gave me the same silence that I gave him.
Like he was feeling, I was starting to get a little bit annoyed as well. I clearly asked him to state who he was and what he wanted to do here.
He merely raised an eyebrow, obviously slightly surprised at this barrage of questions. He then shrugged his shoulders and I felt like strangling him. I honestly did! He was so infuriating!
I think as soon as he saw the fire of the frustration in my eyes, he split. He fled away as fast as possible.
I was looking innocent, feeling slightly confused.
What was that about?
He had just run away for no reason at all. Little did I know...
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* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Witch of the Healing Woods ~ Chapter One * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
In the small village of Merekara, a teenage girl sat on the grass, sewing a dress. It was an incredibly hot day. She looked at the sky, then surveyed her fingers, which were now pricked and red. She had been sewing the dress for a good few hours and because her co-ordination was not very good, she wasn't very good at stopping the needle before it pierced her skin. And that pain was inkling at her all the time now. It was afternoon and the hot sun was in about the middle of the sky. Nadeshiko figured that it was probably about midday.
She was relieved to hear the sound of her mother calling her. "Nadeshiko!"
"Coming!" she answered right back as she tossed the dress aside, but to her bad luck, it landed right in the mud. She cursed under her breath. That shouldn't have happened.
Her mother immediately heard the language, it was all part of a witch's honed senses, they were able to see, hear, smell and sense some things better than other people, other races. Which Nadeshiko was quickly figuring out the hard way. No one wanted to teach her about what her origins and heritage were all about, not her sisters or even her parents. It was so frustrating because here she was, trying to learn and everyone else refused to teach her. What was so wrong with her?
Nadeshiko quickly picked up the dress and hurried inside her house. "Mama?" she asked quietly, venturing in. She had the dress under her arm and when her mother saw it, Nadeshiko knew that her mother would be furious with her. Of course, there was always the option of cleaning, which she knew that her mother would put her on as soon as she had the chance. Nadeshiko hated that job. She despised it most of all that her mother usually made her do.
"Nadeshiko, come in here," a voice called through the house.
Nadeshiko winced. That voice belonged to her mother. She walked quietly through the house to where her mother was. "Mama?" she asked quietly. "What do you want with me?"
Nadeshiko's mother, Amaya, turned around. "You've done wrong again, my child. I'm afraid that this is the last time. You need to go."
Nadeshiko's eyes filled with fear, and the dress that she had been sewing dropped to the ground in folds. "Mama, what do you mean?"
"You've done wrong, child. You've become a damned soul. You're polluting our family, making us ashamed of you." Amaya's voice was calm. "Hence, why you need to go."
Amaya's simple words penetrated her daughter like white-hot knives. She didn't have to want to send the girl out, but the words of her own mother came rushing back to her. "Cast the girl out, or I'll disown you. Not just you, but your sister too. You'll have no access to what knowledge we have. No herbs or anything, so if any of you become sick, we won't help you." Amaya was quite dependent on her mother. She couldn't accept that fate. So, she was casting her daughter out. The bright one, Nadeshiko. It was the only way and Amaya knew that she would be kept safe.
Nadeshiko's eyes filled with tears. "Why, mama, why?"
It broke Amaya's heart to see her daughter like that. It was all that she could do to keep a calm, rational face. She had to do this, she just had to. For the good of her family. Amaya had hoped that Nadeshiko would just accept her words and leave the older woman in peace. But that would not be the case, her senses didn't even need to tell her that.
She knew what was coming next.
Nadeshiko just stayed still for a few moments and finally bolted out of the room with no further words exchanged between the two women. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she hid her face in the bend of her elbow. Why had her mother had to do this? She wanted to know. Nadeshiko looked at the photo that she had of her and her mother sitting on her table and she swiped her hand at it, knocking it off the table and sending it crashing to the hard slate floor.
The frame shattered, like Nadeshiko's heart when she had heard those words that her mother had said. She was shaken. "Why?" she whispered, her eyes red and puffy as she looked at the mirror. She knelt down beside her bed, buried her face in her arms and sobbed.
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Nadeshiko woke up in the early hours of the morning and began packing her bag. With every single little thing that she put in it, a tear trickled down her face. "Mama..." she whispered. She had gotten a little sleep long after she stopped crying. But her eyes were still red rimmed and puffy. Her cheeks were tear-stained.
Finally, when she finished packing, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out the front door. When she got to the gate, she looked back to the place that she had called 'home' for the past fifteen years. When she turned around again, she never looked back as she started walking down the road that would lead her out of her village. Merekara.
But at the window, a lone figure watched her go. "May the winds be with you, my child," the figure whispered before the light in the window winked out.
Nadeshiko heard the words and her hair blew in the winds all about her as she kept walking. The last thing she heard was, "May the winds be with you, my child," before she was out of the village and on her journey.
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Thanks for reading. Review if you want to. Next chapter will be out soon, sometime within the next two weeks. While I'm at it, thanks Matt for being the beta-reader! You're a lifesaver!!!
Until next chapter everyone.
Karisa Temura
Karisa: karisa_temura@yahoo.co.nz
Hikari: starfire1246@yahoo.com.au
And now, onto the disclaimer
Disclaimer: We don't own CCS.
On with the story...
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Witch of the Healing Woods ~ Prologue * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
I sit here. There's nothing more that I wish that all this suffering would cease. My kind and my father's kind are stranded here. There is nothing that we can do. I look to the sky and see that it is a bright hue of dark red. Blood has been spilled during the night. They have taken others. It is clear.
They are never going to stop. I know that, my mother knows that, my father knows that and so do the village elders. They have warned us to stay indoors. Stay away from this ferocious set of people. I have met a few though, and they are hardly as bloodthirsty as the elders say that they are. The people that I met were very friendly. Of course they didn't know what I was, but even then they treated me nicely, they didn't even know if I was friend or foe. So what is truly so bad about them? They are not going to harm us. One said that he would do anything to see me again. Even sneak into my village. I told him with a wry smile that that would not be a very wise idea. My village is very well protected against uninvited visitors and anyone that found him would not think highly.
He asked me why.
I just stayed silent. There was no way that I could tell them truly what I was, even though I feel revolted against it. Mama says that that's no reason though. I shouldn't be like this at all. At least, that is what she thinks. I hardly think that way at all. I mean, what's the point? What's the point of isolating ourselves from these people when they are very friendly and don't even mind visiting us.
He asked me of my name.
Again, I stayed silent.
I could see that he was starting to get frustrated, as I was not saying anything about who I was. I then asked him of his name.
He gave me the same silence that I gave him.
Like he was feeling, I was starting to get a little bit annoyed as well. I clearly asked him to state who he was and what he wanted to do here.
He merely raised an eyebrow, obviously slightly surprised at this barrage of questions. He then shrugged his shoulders and I felt like strangling him. I honestly did! He was so infuriating!
I think as soon as he saw the fire of the frustration in my eyes, he split. He fled away as fast as possible.
I was looking innocent, feeling slightly confused.
What was that about?
He had just run away for no reason at all. Little did I know...
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* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * Witch of the Healing Woods ~ Chapter One * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
In the small village of Merekara, a teenage girl sat on the grass, sewing a dress. It was an incredibly hot day. She looked at the sky, then surveyed her fingers, which were now pricked and red. She had been sewing the dress for a good few hours and because her co-ordination was not very good, she wasn't very good at stopping the needle before it pierced her skin. And that pain was inkling at her all the time now. It was afternoon and the hot sun was in about the middle of the sky. Nadeshiko figured that it was probably about midday.
She was relieved to hear the sound of her mother calling her. "Nadeshiko!"
"Coming!" she answered right back as she tossed the dress aside, but to her bad luck, it landed right in the mud. She cursed under her breath. That shouldn't have happened.
Her mother immediately heard the language, it was all part of a witch's honed senses, they were able to see, hear, smell and sense some things better than other people, other races. Which Nadeshiko was quickly figuring out the hard way. No one wanted to teach her about what her origins and heritage were all about, not her sisters or even her parents. It was so frustrating because here she was, trying to learn and everyone else refused to teach her. What was so wrong with her?
Nadeshiko quickly picked up the dress and hurried inside her house. "Mama?" she asked quietly, venturing in. She had the dress under her arm and when her mother saw it, Nadeshiko knew that her mother would be furious with her. Of course, there was always the option of cleaning, which she knew that her mother would put her on as soon as she had the chance. Nadeshiko hated that job. She despised it most of all that her mother usually made her do.
"Nadeshiko, come in here," a voice called through the house.
Nadeshiko winced. That voice belonged to her mother. She walked quietly through the house to where her mother was. "Mama?" she asked quietly. "What do you want with me?"
Nadeshiko's mother, Amaya, turned around. "You've done wrong again, my child. I'm afraid that this is the last time. You need to go."
Nadeshiko's eyes filled with fear, and the dress that she had been sewing dropped to the ground in folds. "Mama, what do you mean?"
"You've done wrong, child. You've become a damned soul. You're polluting our family, making us ashamed of you." Amaya's voice was calm. "Hence, why you need to go."
Amaya's simple words penetrated her daughter like white-hot knives. She didn't have to want to send the girl out, but the words of her own mother came rushing back to her. "Cast the girl out, or I'll disown you. Not just you, but your sister too. You'll have no access to what knowledge we have. No herbs or anything, so if any of you become sick, we won't help you." Amaya was quite dependent on her mother. She couldn't accept that fate. So, she was casting her daughter out. The bright one, Nadeshiko. It was the only way and Amaya knew that she would be kept safe.
Nadeshiko's eyes filled with tears. "Why, mama, why?"
It broke Amaya's heart to see her daughter like that. It was all that she could do to keep a calm, rational face. She had to do this, she just had to. For the good of her family. Amaya had hoped that Nadeshiko would just accept her words and leave the older woman in peace. But that would not be the case, her senses didn't even need to tell her that.
She knew what was coming next.
Nadeshiko just stayed still for a few moments and finally bolted out of the room with no further words exchanged between the two women. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she hid her face in the bend of her elbow. Why had her mother had to do this? She wanted to know. Nadeshiko looked at the photo that she had of her and her mother sitting on her table and she swiped her hand at it, knocking it off the table and sending it crashing to the hard slate floor.
The frame shattered, like Nadeshiko's heart when she had heard those words that her mother had said. She was shaken. "Why?" she whispered, her eyes red and puffy as she looked at the mirror. She knelt down beside her bed, buried her face in her arms and sobbed.
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Nadeshiko woke up in the early hours of the morning and began packing her bag. With every single little thing that she put in it, a tear trickled down her face. "Mama..." she whispered. She had gotten a little sleep long after she stopped crying. But her eyes were still red rimmed and puffy. Her cheeks were tear-stained.
Finally, when she finished packing, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out the front door. When she got to the gate, she looked back to the place that she had called 'home' for the past fifteen years. When she turned around again, she never looked back as she started walking down the road that would lead her out of her village. Merekara.
But at the window, a lone figure watched her go. "May the winds be with you, my child," the figure whispered before the light in the window winked out.
Nadeshiko heard the words and her hair blew in the winds all about her as she kept walking. The last thing she heard was, "May the winds be with you, my child," before she was out of the village and on her journey.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Thanks for reading. Review if you want to. Next chapter will be out soon, sometime within the next two weeks. While I'm at it, thanks Matt for being the beta-reader! You're a lifesaver!!!
Until next chapter everyone.
Karisa Temura